Siliguri (WB) | The meeting of the second Tourism Working Group held under India's G20 presidency concluded here with discussions on green tourism, skill development, and creating livelihood opportunities for local communities in the tourism sector.
The meeting, being held in Darjeeling and Siliguri in West Bengal from April 1 to 3, is being attended by more than 130 participants, including delegates of G20 members, invitee countries, international organisations, industry partners, state tourism officials, and local tour operators.
The working group meeting was preceded by a side event on April 1 on the theme 'Adventure Tourism as a vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.' At the panel discussion panellists held discussions highlighting the best practices, success stories, prospects, and issues in the field of Adventure tourism. The panel discussion was attended by representatives from the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Japan, and Brazil.
Among other topics, discussions were held on promoting adventure tourism and presentations on global and Indian scenarios of adventure tourism were given.
Giving opening remarks at the meeting, Tourism minister G Kishan Reddy said the vision of the conference is to project domestic tourism in mission mode.
"It will also make India maximise its potential in the tourism sector," he said.
"The Union Ministry of Tourism has also formulated a comprehensive tourism policy with holistic flavour for a sustainable and responsible growth of the tourism sector in the country," he stated.
The delegates also visited the tea estates and participated in the moonlight tea leaf plucking and tea tasting.
A delegate from Germany said several hours of discussions were held and now time is to see the hard work getting translated on ground.
"A lot of discussion was held on Green tourism, skill development and livelihood opportunities for local communities which is important for all of us," the delegate told PTI, after coming out from the closed door meeting. He said a roadmap was laid for the next meet in Goa.
Another delegate said her main takeaway from the meeting was how MSMEs can play an important role and what can different countries learn from it.
Another delegate told PTI discussions were also held on how to overcome the impact of COVID and the practices followed by different countries to tackle it.
Welcoming the delegates to Siliguri, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs John Barla said West Bengal is the land from where India got its national anthem.
"West Bengal is a favourite destination for tourists from not only India but across the world as well and hence infrastructure development and promotion of tourism are going on in tandem to draw more globetrotters to this part of the country," he said.
A side-event focussing on adventure tourism also held during its three-day run saw Reddy announcing two new adventure trails in the country.
Reddy said the government is planning to launch two mega adventure tourism trails in the Himalaya and the Ganga this year.
"The ministry will work with states and industries for development of two adventure mega trails in 2023 -- the Ganga trail and northwestern Himalayan trails," he said.
A senior official said the government is starting with these two trails but will be launching other trails in future too.
"There will be Narmada trail from Amarkantak to Arabian sea, Kaveri river trail, West coast trail from Kutch to Kanyakumari, east coast trail from West Bengal to Kanyakumari," the official said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, a senior tourism official told the media how the government is coming with a law for adventure tourism safety which will have provisions for constitution of state level safety bodies, penalties for violations and a requisite insurance scheme.
The day started with a yoga session organised by the Ministry of AYUSH for the delegates from G20 member countries.
Later, a Himalayan Car Rally was flagged off by Reddy, who was accompanied by Barla, MP Raju Bista, the tourism secretary, and a few foreign delegates.
The delegates also travelled through the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway from Ghum station to Darjeeling station.
The delegates visited Batasia loop and War memorial. Ghum station is the highest railway station in the country.
The delegates also met the governor of West Bengal Dr C V Ananda Bose at the Governor's house.
In the evening the participants enjoyed a cultural performance at Chaurasta, Darjeeling.
