G20 events will play a crucial role in increasing awareness about many Indian cities which have the potential of becoming important tourist destinations.
Author
Tridivesh Singh Maini, Assistant Professor, Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
While seeking to benefit from India’s G20 Presidency, the Government of India has planned to declare 2023 as ‘Visit India Year’ with an eye on attracting more international tourists. This is a laudable step towards tourism in India’s G20 Presidency. The Ministry of Tourism (Government of India) will work with other stakeholders – central government, state governments and the private sector – to achieve the objective of drawing more international tourists to India.
It would be pertinent to point out that over 200 events are likely to be held in over 50 Indian cities, before the final summit – the 18th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit – will be held in Delhi in September 2023 (September 9th and 10th).
While G20-related meetings have so far been held in Udaipur (Rajasthan), Bengaluru (Karnataka) and Kolkata (West Bengal), several meetings will be held under the tourism track in the Rann of Kutch (Gujarat), Siliguri (West Bengal), Srinagar (J&K) and Goa. During these meetings, the focus will be on giving a boost to green tourism, effective use of technology for the promotion of responsible tourism and training to youth for setting up Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups linked to tourism.
Tier-2 cities and the North-East region
As a result of events being held in different parts of India, not only will the infrastructure of cities be spruced up, but tier-2 and tier-3 cities which often get relegated to the sidelines will get an opportunity to showcase themselves. In recent years, both international and domestic travellers have been showing greater interest in India’s tier-2 and tier-3 cities because of better air connectivity, more information via social media on the tourist attractions in many of these cities and the economic potential of tier-2 cities. G20 events will, however, play a crucial role in increasing awareness about many of these cities which have the potential of becoming important tourist destinations.
Published in: TheRise.co.in
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