Need to market fair, festivals to attract tourists: Minister

In order to attract more domestic and foreign tourists, tour operators need to market fairs and festivals of different parts of the country in their packages, Union minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch said today.
"Tour operators need to weave not only major fairs and festivals but also fairs and festivals of different parts of India in their tour packages to attract both Indian and foreign tourists," said Katoch, Minister of Culture.
She was speaking at a seminar on 'Fairs and Festivals of India' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here, which saw participation of tour operators not only from India, but also from countries like Singapore, Thailand, UK, Turkey.

The Minister noted that the greatness of India's fairs and festivals deserves more importance, as they are celebrated throughout the year and this also reflects country's diversity.
Citing an example of Kumbh Mela, Sujit Banerjee, Secretary General, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), said that the event generated Rs 12,000 crore of revenue and more than six lakh jobs.
"Thus Indian festivals and fairs have a huge potential for generating revenue and creating jobs. But they need to be marketed in a systematic and well thought of way with preparing a yearly calendar of events which are very Indian in nature," Banerjee said.