The 3rd Tourism Working Group meeting under India’s G20 Presidency began in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir on May 22. The three-day meeting saw participation from 60 foreign delegates and around 65 representatives of various organizations related to tourism from across the country.
Along with the delegates, Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant attended the first day of the meeting. On the first day, a side event focused on promoting film tourism was organized at the Sher-e-Kashmir Convention Centre. During the event deliberations were held on the topic ‘India as a Film Tourism Destination’. Lastly, there was a panel discussion on ‘the economic benefits of film tourism from a global perspective’ and ‘the impact of film tourism on the destination.’ G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant gave opening address during this event. He said, “The tourism industry will grow with this meeting, and high-impact tourists will come.” During this event, various speakers highlighted the various challenges and country-specific initiatives adopted to promote destinations through films. The panel discussion saw participation from Spain, Singapore, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, and India.
The three-day event will focus on five key priority areas including Green Tourism, Digitization, Skilling, Tourism MSME, and Destination. During the 3rd Tourism Working Group meeting, the representatives also visited the Arts and Crafts Market organized by the Government. Noteworthy, the first meeting of the Tourism Working Group was held in February in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat and the second was held in Siliguri, West Bengal in April.
