Three-day 'Indian Travel Mart' organised in Jammu to boost domestic tourism

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], March 21 : In an effort to boost domestic tourism, the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Tourism has organised a three-day 'Indian Travel Mart' in Jammu.
Colourful displays of various places one can visit, with details of their various attractions and attractive pavilions have been put up by the tourism departments of various states and representatives of various hotels and resorts from Jammu and Kashmir and nearby cities.
Speaking to ANI, Ajay Gupta, Managing Director, India Travel Mart, said, "Post COVID, this is the first such kind of physical exhibition in Jammu and Kashmir. The main aim of this event is to promote domestic tourism. The reason behind doing this in Jammu and Kashmir is to promote the Union Territory as a film location and encourage destination weddings, ice tourism, adventure tourism here. 100 to 150 tour operators and travel agents have come to participate in the event."

"This has been organised at a time when international borders are closed and domestic tourism is receiving a very good response. The theme of this event is "Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat" and we are proving very good packages for tourists. Earlier those people who used to prefer international locations for weddings and film shooting are now picking locations within the country for the same events. Here people are getting different packages for different domestic locations under one roof through this three-day event," he added.
VK Sehgal, a travel writer and journalist, said, "This event is a kind of advertisement and networking. Whenever there is a crisis, there is always a need for a resurgence after this crisis. So, this programme, post-COVID is very good as it provides a platform for the people for interaction. Secondly, there are places that are otherwise nowhere to be seen on a tourist map, people are made aware of them too in such events. This programme also gives information to the tourists planning to travel to newer places."

"These programmes lead to cultural exchange, capacity building because wherever a tourist goes, they always contribute to the economy of that place. Moreover, when people travel taking precautions, it also gives out a message that now we have started overcoming the crisis situation and things are normalising," said Sehgal.
Satish Ambardar, a travel agency operator hailing from Jammu said, "Now when people are not able to go out, they are focussing on domestic tourism. India has vast tourism with many things to explore. So, our main focus is on domestic tourism. The pandemic broke the spine of the tourism industry last year. But now people are going out, planning trips which are good for the country's tourism and tourism industry."
After browsing through different exciting options, one can have a face-to-face interaction with tour operators, travel agents and hoteliers from across the country and gather information about the upcoming holiday season.
The basic purpose of holding this showcase and conclave is to boost domestic tourism awareness.
Members of National local travel trade associations like Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI), Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Network of Indian Mice Agents (NIMA), India Golf Tourism Association (IGTA), Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), Indian Association of Travel and Tourism Experts (IATTE), Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA), Tourism Leaders Club of Gujarat (TLC) are the supporting partners of this event.