Under India’s G20 Presidency, the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting began in Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) on May 22. Along with the delegates, Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant attended the first day of the meeting. The first meeting of the TWG was held in February in the Rann of Kutch (Gujarat) and the second in April in Siliguri (West Bengal).
On the first day of the meeting, a side event focused on promoting film tourism was organized at the Sher-e-Kashmir Convention Centre. During the event deliberations were held on the topic ‘India as a Film Tourism Destination’. Lastly, there was a panel discussion on ‘the economic benefits of film tourism from a global perspective’ and ‘the impact of film tourism on the destination.’In his opening address during the event, India’s G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said, “The tourism industry will grow with this meeting, and high-impact tourists will come.” During this event, various speakers highlighted the various challenges and country-specific initiatives adopted to promote destinations through films. The panel discussion saw participation from India, Spain, Singapore, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa and Brazil..
During the 3rd Tourism Working Group meeting, the representatives also visited the Arts and Crafts Market organized by the Government. The 3-day meeting saw participation from 60 foreign delegates and around 65 representatives of various organizations related to tourism from across the country. The three-day event is being focused on five key priority areas: Green Tourism, Digitization, Skilling, Destination and Tourism MSME.
