Message of the Month

October 2016

This month I would like to share some useful takeaways from the recently held Incredible India Tourism Investors' Summit 2016 (IITIS). Held in New Delhi, this path-breaking event extended over three days – from September 21 to 23, 2016 – drawing participation from over one thousand delegates.

IITIS was an initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The event was clearly positioned as a platform for large domestic and international investors – enabling interactions to develop the country’s tourism sector and support infrastructure.

The objectives of Incredible India Tourism Investors' Summit (IITIS)

• Provide the right environment for domestic and international investors participating at the summit.
• Showcase a bouquet of investment-ready projects – including opportunities from private project owners.
• Identify opportunities for local players to move up the value chain through technical collaborations and global partnerships.
• Facilitate the germination and growth of fruitful relationships - within a landscape that is encouraging and supportive.
• Enable a cross-linking of facilities and resources – through B2B and B2G meetings within a result-oriented framework.

Exploring opportunities across an upbeat tourism skyline

• India offers a geographical diversity - attractive beaches, 32 world heritage sites, and 25 bio-geographic zones.
• India has a diverse portfolio of niche tourism products – cruises, adventure, medical, wellness, sports, MICE, eco-tourism, film, rural and religious tourism.
• Tourism in India accounted for 6.88% of the GDP during 2012-13 - the third largest foreign exchange earner for the country.
• India registered 7.7 million FTAs in 2014, registering an annual growth of 10.2% over the previous year.
• The FEEs from tourism during 2014 were USD 20.236 billion.
• India is 15th in the world in terms of international tourism receipts - with a share of 1.58% of global figures
• Projects entailing investment of INR 200 crores and above have been included in the harmonized list for grant of infrastructure status.
• The centrally funded scheme of Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD enable Public Private Partnership (PPP) for improved project sustainability. Additionally, Viability Gap Funding may be provided under the schemes in accordance with the relevant guidelines/instructions of the Government.

(Fact & figures quoted here, courtesy IITIS event website)

Concluding notes from the IITIS summit

• The IITIS summit focused on the development of core infrastructure for tourism, and among the key topics discussed was in the area of foreign investments through FDI. The exhibitions at the event provided an excellent opportunity for networking, knowledge exchange, ideation and forming new partnerships. A meeting ground that brought together tourism industry stakeholders across the globe - with opportunities to explore new avenues and mutually rewarding relationships.
• Among the attendees at this milestone event were our Tourism Minister, Ministry of Tourism officials, cabinet ministers, state government representatives and stakeholders from the concerned industry bodies. Key representatives from AIRDA were also present at the IITIS summit, to represent its active member base in the country.

At AIRDA, we too are working at making significant contributions, with a focus on setting up timeshare resorts in select destinations in India. One of AIRDA’s members has signed three MOUs for building timeshare resorts in Rishikesh, Dwarka and Shirdi. Two other members have spiritual theme-based resorts in Amritsar and Tirupati.

We can now see a whole new dimension in India’s tourism sector – with new paradigms of growth and new avenues for entrepreneurship, employment and income generation.

The future is bright for tourism in India.

B. S. Rathor
Advisor & Member - Executive Committee

(Fact & figures quoted here, courtesy IITIS event website)