By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: Embassy of India, Kuwait hosted a business-to-business (B2B) event on Wednesday titled ‘Exploring Incredible India’, spotlighting the complete tourism experience that India can offer to Kuwaiti visitors. The event held at the Millennium Hotel & Convention Centre consisted of a symposium on tourism involving presentations by leading destination management companies and renowned hoteliers from India in addition to representatives of over 150 travel agencies from Kuwait.

“India offers a complete tourism experience”, said Indian Ambassador Dr Adarsh Swaika in his opening remarks. He highlighted six specific points—abundant natural beauty and varied tourist destinations in India; world-class tourism infrastructure; Indian cultural ethos and cuisine; ease of travel through digital applications; and economically cheap compared to similar facilities in other countries. The Ambassador also highlighted the ease of obtaining a six-month multiple entry tourist visa which is being issued by the Indian Embassy in Kuwait within one day.

“India is home to as many as 42 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and many more are yet to be included,” the ambassador added. He said India is an important and growing tourist destination in the ‘map of world tourism’. The international tourist arrivals in India during 2018 and 2019 were around 18 million. Since last year, the International tourist arrivals are picking up momentum. Augmenting tourism infrastructure, easing of visa regime, assurance of quality standards in services of tourism service providers, promotion of sustainable tourism etc have been a strong focus of India government, he stated.

“Our endeavor through this event, and through future activities and social media, is to systematically work towards encouraging awareness about India’s tourism opportunities to our Kuwaiti friends and foster connections between all stakeholders,” Dr Swaika pointed out. Tourist facilitation and information counters are available at 9 international airports in India catering to non-English speaking tourists where the tourists can speak directly with the foreign language agents and get guidance, including in Arabic, he added.

The representatives of Indian travel and hotel industry gave a vivid description about tourism options, luxury destinations, different theme-based circuits such as summer, winter, adventure, spa and wellness, nature, culture and shopping, and end-to-end travel solutions and packages. Eminent travel bloggers and travelers from Kuwait shared their India experiences during the occasion. The event also included a lively and information-rich interaction through panel discussions, presentations, and videos along with dedicated sessions for B2B networking.

The event was also live-streamed on Embassy social media platforms. An e-brochure on different facets of Indian tourism was unveiled by the Ambassador which is available on the Embassy’s website and social media platforms.