The 6th International Tourism Mart 2017 inaugurated in Assam

The 6th ‘International Tourism Mart’ (ITM) was inaugurated by Assam’s governor Jagdish Mukhi in Guwahati, Assam on 5 December 2017.

The mart has been organised by the Ministry of Tourism in association with the North Eastern States. It will be held from 5 to 7 December 2017. Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal and Union Tourism minister (I/C) K L Alphons also attended the inaugural programme along with other dignitaries from the Central Ministries and the North Eastern States.

Main Objective

The mart aims to put special emphasis on India’s ‘Act East Policy’, blossoming ties with ASEAN and the larger East Asia region, which is home to the world’s rapidly growing economies and India’s emerging tourism markets.

The International Tourism Marts are organised in the North Eastern States on a rotation basis. The earlier editions of the mart were held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal.

It is aimed at creating awareness about the rich and varied tourism products of the North Eastern region in the domestic and international markets and to give the visiting delegates a first-hand experience of the destination.

Key Highlights

• The event will witness participation from 66 foreign delegates comprising stakeholders and media persons from 29 countries across the world and 50 domestic stakeholders in Tourism sector from different parts of the country and 103 sellers from north eastern states.

• Representatives of state tourism departments of the north eastern states will also be present to showcase their respective tourism products and to interact with the delegates.

• The north-eastern state tourism departments would also be organising an exhibition to display their native handicrafts and handlooms.

• The event has been planned and scheduled to facilitate interaction between buyers, sellers, media, government agencies and other stakeholders.

• It will witness senior officials from Railway, Civil Aviation, DoNER, Road Transport ministry share their views for the betterment of the tourism sector of North East including Assam.

• It will also host various programmes including panel discussions, workshops, business to business meetings and cultural programs.

• Besides deliberations on promotion of tourism in the North East Region in general, the panel discussions will focus on promoting cultural ties, people-to-people contact with countries in the ASEAN region.

• The move is aimed at providing enhanced connectivity to the north-eastern states with the neighbouring nations, thereby paving way for the development of inter-regional tourism between the ASEAN and North East Region of India.

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Background

The North East Region of India comprising states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim is bestowed with diverse tourist attractions and products.

The varied topography of the region, its flora and fauna, the ethnic communities with their rich heritage of ancient traditions and lifestyles, its festivals, arts and crafts, make it an ideal tourist spot.