The Government of Uttar Pradesh’s Department of Tourism, in collaboration with FICCI, has announced the 6th Edition of the UP Travel Mart, scheduled to take place from April 25 to April 29, 2024, in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
A Curtain Raiser event, including a joint Press Conference, was organised at The Taj Mahal Hotel in Lucknow on March 12, featuring esteemed speakers: Jaiveer Singh, Minister of Tourism and Culture of Uttar Pradesh; Mukesh Kumar Meshram, Principal Secretary and DG Tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh; Prakhar Mishra, Director Tourism; and Prateek Hira, Chair of FICCI’s Tourism Committee.
Minister Jaiveer Singh expressed the state’s ambition to lead in foreign tourist arrivals, building upon its current position as the top domestic tourism destination. He highlighted Uttar Pradesh’s unparalleled safety, infrastructure development, and rich cultural heritage, emphasizing the state’s readiness to showcase its tourism potential to the world.
Mukesh Kumar Meshram elaborated on the state’s efforts to unlock the potential of its heritage sites and highlighted the success of the PPP model in advancing the state’s interests. Now is the opportune moment to present the state to the global stage and harness the potential of tourism via UPTM. The State Government is fully prepared to host tour operators from across the globe. He emphasised that UP Tourism’s Policy promises mutual benefits for all stakeholders, a message that will be reiterated during the 6th UPTM organised by FICCI.
Prateek Hira, Chairman of FICCI’s Tourism Committee, provided insights into the upcoming event, which is set to host over 150 delegates, including foreign and domestic tour operators, travel writers, and bloggers. He outlined plans for familiarisation trips to Buddhist and Eco-Tourism sites, including Ayodhya, and highlighted interactive sessions alongside B2B meetings.
Prateek Hira further said that FICCI’s strong presence in the tourism domain and its experience in organising successful travel marts around India in most of the Indian states will be an advantage for UP. Five UPTMs have been very successful in the past and now after the pandemic break, the revival of UPTM in its 6th edition is going to be a catalyst to increase the footfall of tourists in the state of Uttar Pradesh which has so many positive changes that need to be showcased to the world. Prateek Hira has been associated with UPTM from its inception in 2014 and now in the capacity of Chairman of FICCI’s Tourism Committee in UP, he has a greater role and responsibility to oversee the 6th edition of the mart this year. Hira commented, “The change that UP has seen in the last four years after the 5th edition of UPTM was held here in 2019 is commendable, and it is time now to invite the foreign and domestic operators to show them all of it.”
He also laid stress on seeing tourism as a soft power rather than just as an economic activity.
Prakhar Mishra, Director Tourism, of Uttar Pradesh, delivered the Vote of Thanks and spoke about how UP as a state is empowering the travel trade and private sector to harness the full potential of tourism in Uttar Pradesh. He called for full support of the trade in Uttar Pradesh for a successful UPTM from April 25 – 29, 2024, being organised in Gorakhpur, very close to Kushinagar.
The revival of the UP Travel Mart has sparked excitement among the travel and hospitality trade, particularly foreign operators areeager to explore Uttar Pradesh’s new infrastructure, facilities, and product offerings since the last edition in 2019.
Since 2019 the state of Uttar Pradesh has changed quite a bit in terms of new infrastructure, facilities and product offerings.
