The theme of this year`s exhibition is ‘The Future of Travel Starts Now’.

“With the reopening of the country to foreign tourists, after a gap of almost 2 years, this year`s participation of India is particularly significant. After world’s largest vaccination drive, the country is ready for international tourists. India is participating in WTM 2022 to showcase itself as a preferred destination for tourism,” the Ministry of Tourism said in a statement.

During 2019, the contribution of travel & tourism to India’s GDP was 5.19%. In 2019, the Indian tourism sector accounted for 79.86 million jobs (direct and indirect employment). The consistent efforts of central and state governments have helped the tourism industry to gradually recover from the Covid-19 shock to pre-pandemic levels.

A total of 16 stakeholders, including from state governments, central ministries, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as the industry partner, DMCs, tour operators, hoteliers, travel agents, online travel agents, facilitators of medical value travel are participating as co-exhibitors in the India Pavilion.

“The objective is to showcase the diverse tourism products and services including Medical Value travel, luxury trains and the gamut of tourism products to the international business community,” the Ministry of Tourism said.

This year, the Indian delegation is being led by Arvind Singh, secretary, tourism ministry, and will Rakesh Verma, additional secretary and other senior officials from the ministry, besides representatives from Indian travel and tourism stakeholders.

The Indian government is cognizant of the country’s potential in the tourism industry and has taken several steps to make India a global tourism hub. During the visit to WTM 2022, the Indian delegation led by Arvind Singh, Secretary Tourism, Government of India will showcase the varied tourism offerings of India to the global tourism industry stakeholders such as tour operators, travel agents, media etc.

As India is poised for massive growth in the tourism industry, this visit shall also offer opportunity to the Indian government delegation to showcase the investment opportunities and potential which India offers to the global investors.

“India is also gearing up for the G20 Presidency which is scheduled to start from 1 December, 2022. Under its Presidency, the country is expected to host over 200 meetings across 55 cities in the country,” the ministry said.

“The G-20 Presidency will give India’s tourism sector an unparalleled opportunity to highlight India’s tourism offerings and share India’s tourism success stories on a global stage,” it added.

The Ministry of Tourism aims to elevate India’s tourism industry, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic, to new heights and accelerate the transition to achieve sustainable development targets of 2030.