The 1st G20 Tourism Working Group meeting held in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat from February 7 to 10 concluded today. The meeting included two side events, an opening session, two days of working group meetings on five set priorities, a number of bilateral meetings and excursions.
The working group meeting was preceded by a side event held on the evening of 7 February on the theme “Rural Tourism for Community Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation”. At the panel discussion, the panelists gave presentations and discussed best practices, successful examples, perspectives and challenges in the field of rural tourism.
In a separate event Shri Miya Hussain Gul Beg, Dhordo Village Head (Sarpanch) highlighted the positive impact of tourism infrastructure development and tourism promotion activities like Rann Utsav on the village economy and employment generation in the area.
The inaugural session was presided over by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Sh. Bhupendra Bhai Patel, Minister of Tourism, Culture and DONER Sh. G. Kishan Reddy; and Union Minister Shri Parshottam Rupala, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
In the inaugural session, Indian dignitaries shared their views on India’s tourist destinations, government steps to promote tourism, tourist safety, digitization in the tourism industry and the impact of tourism on the local economy and employment.
During the working group meeting, there were discussions on the Indian Presidency, which identified five priority themes including green tourism: “Greening the tourism industry for a sustainable, responsible and resilient tourism sector”; Digitization: “Using the power of digitization to promote competitiveness, inclusion and sustainability in the tourism sector”; Skills: “Strengthening the capacity of young people to get jobs and entrepreneurship in the tourism sector”; Tourism SMEs: “Education of Tourism SMEs / Startups / Private Sector to unleash innovation and dynamism in the tourism sector” and Destination Management: “Rethinking the strategic management of destinations towards a holistic approach that fulfills the goals of sustainable development”.
All 5 key priority areas set for negotiations were agreed by all G20 members, host countries and international organizations.
On the last day of the meeting of the working group, a second accompanying event was organized on the topic “Promotion of archaeological tourism: Discovering shared cultural heritage”. Speakers in the panel discussion shared their views on the protection of archaeological sites and the challenges these sites face.
They also highlighted the benefits of promoting archaeological tourism for the empowerment and sustainable livelihoods of local communities. In his closing remarks, Tourism Secretary Shri Arvind Singh said that archaeological tourism can ensure socio-economic development of local communities in a sustainable manner.
During their stay at Dhordo Tent City, delegates had the opportunity to participate in sunrise yoga at White Rann. The delegates also visited the Harappan site of Dholavira, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the delegates were briefed on effective and efficient water management at Dholavira. The delegates were also introduced to the local arts and traditions of Kutchi. They also enthusiastically joined the folk artists in a dance routine during the cultural evening.
Before departure, the delegates also visited the state-of-the-art Smritivan Earthquake Memorial Museum in Bhuj.
Going forward, the tourism task force will meet again in three more meetings, including a ministerial meeting to be held in Goa. Planned outputs are a ministerial level communique and a Goa tourism plan as a means to achieve the SDGs. In addition to the four G20 meetings under the G20 Tourism group, three major tourism promotion events are also planned during India’s G20 presidency. Ministry of Tourism to organize first Global Tourism Investors’ Summit (GTIS) in April/May in New Delhi; MICE World Conference in May; and the G20 Tourism CEO Forum in June.
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