The 3rd edition of BITB India Tourism Summit will be a grander affair, bringing together 50 speakers from the top echelons of government and industry for a half-day analysis on all things tourism. Emerging themes, challenges and possibilities in tourism and its diverse segments will be deliberated by decision makers in back-to-back sessions. A star-studded line up of speakers includes Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik; Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog; Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary Tourism, GoI; Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India; Patu Keswani, CMD, Lemon Tree Hotels and Deep Kalra, Founder, MMT, besides several other top names in the country.
The Plenary Session will focus extensively on the emerging Big Picture in tourism and 11 industry leaders will highlight larger trends and insights in their respective sectors. Major developments in areas like aviation, inbound tourism, online and technology, culinary tourism, industry associations and hospitality, among others will be shared by speakers. Secretary tourism will deliver the concluding remark, sharing the government perspective on developments that are expected to impact the industry, also responding to the arguments put forth by speakers.
There will also be a sharp focus on the challenge of distribution of the larger tourism product in the digital age. With representation from hotels, OTAs, traditional travel agent and the aviation segment, the session would seek to undertake a holistic assessment of distribution and the way forward in a digital age.
The session on learning curve to sustainable tourism will look at facets of sustainable and responsible tourism, challenges in implementing measures and the way forward for the Indian tourism industry in adopting responsible practices. With the presence of top decision makers from luxury hotels, high-end adventure travel, and policy influencers, the session will provide valuable insights on the road ahead.
A 360-degree perspective on the Indian inbound segment will also be discussed at the upcoming ITC. The idea being to carve out a detailed understanding of issues involving inbound tourism, with representation from MoT, a high-end inbound tour operator, international hotel chains, among others. Bottlenecks in driving larger numbers will be another area of discussion.
NITI Aayog’s vision document on India’s tourism@2022, too, will be put under the scanner. Senior industry leaders from different segments will suggest how the industry could better align with the government to ensure meeting the laid-out objectives. Further, they will discuss recommendations suggested in the document and analyse its consequences on business prospects.
The final session is titled: ‘Agents of Change’ and will bring together government and industry veterans who have played a key role in driving big-ticket changes in the Indian business ecosystem. The list of speaker includes Excellency Satya Pal Malik, Amitabh Kant, Ashwani Lohani, Patu Keswani, Deep Kalra and Jose Dominic. Perhaps in a first for any tourism industry event in the country, Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, will make an appearance.
The event will conclude after networking cocktails and dinner.
The event is expected to be attended by 400+ delegates through the day and will be hosted on 28th of February at Taj Mahal Hotel, Mansingh Road, New Delhi.
