Raj govt to hold tourism festival 'Great Indian Travel Bazaar' from May 5-7

The tourism department of Rajasthan will host the thirteenth Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) in Jaipur from May 5-7 to promote tourism in the state.

The department is organising the event jointly with the Centre’s tourism ministry and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

The state government plans to showcase its tourism infrastructure during the event.

“The state would showcase cultural events based on art, tourism and history of Rajasthan,” a state tourism department official said.

Rajasthani dishes will be offered to visitors during the event.

A 'Wed in India Expo' will take place on the first day of the event, said Rajasthan’s tourism director Rashmi Sharma while announcing the schedule of GITB during a meeting.

Sharma said the objective of the expo is to encourage tourists from India and abroad to get married in Rajasthan.

On the second and third day of the event, business-to-business meetings will be organised with foreign tour operators. They will also be offered tours across Rajasthan from May 8.

Recently, the tourism industry in Rajasthan had decided to intensify efforts to expand the destination wedding market.

“We are ready to work with the government in this direction and GITB has come at the right time,” said Gaurav Khandelwal, a Jaipur-based travel agent.

Bhavani Shankar Mali, general secretary of All Wedding Industries Federation, Rajasthan, said that 1.5 to 2 million weddings take place every year in Rajasthan.

“Of these, 25 per cent are low budget marriages. While 50 per cent are of medium budget (of up to Rs 10 lakh), 20 per cent of marriages are high budgeted (of up to Rs 50 lakh). In 5-7 per cent of marriages, the expenditure goes around Rs 50 lakh to Rs 3 crore. In some cases, it even reaches Rs 5 to Rs 10 crore.”

“In such a situation, if efforts are made by the tourism industry and the state government collectively, Rajasthan can be promoted as a destination wedding spot. This may increase destination weddings by 5-10 per cent,” said Mali.

“If destination weddings increase (in the state), new employment opportunities will be available to lakhs of people. The government will also get revenue and people associated with the hotels and tourism sector will get good business,” Khandelwal said.