THE FIRST Global Tourism Mart India, which aims to unite the diverse Indian travel trade under one event, will be held in either New Delhi or Hyderabad on December 12 next year, according to India tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai.

Concurrently, a conference of about 40 tourism ministers, will also be held at the mart.

P. P. Khanna, director of Delhi-based Diplomatic Travel Point, said: “We need to have this impetus from the ministry for a world-class tourism event so that serious buyers are able to focus on India at large and not just a few regional and popular destination routes, as what is happening now.”

Ashwini Gupta, managing partner of Amritsar-based Dove Travels, said: “When we go as hosted buyers to international travel marts, we are often asked what event in India would encapsulate all buying options and present the largest cross-section of products, and we are at a loss, because there was no definitive trade show like that until now.

“This event, if organised well and targeted at the right buyer community, will be able to showcase Indian tourism very effectively and could help India achieve its target of 10 million inbound tourist arrivals by 2016.”

Sahai previously announced the event, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, at PATA mart in Delhi. Currently, some large shows like SATTE and the Great Indian Travel Bazaar are organised by tour operator associations or by the state tourism boards.