Mumbai: Speaking at the World Tourism day, the Principal Secretary, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department, Government of Maharashtra, Mr Vijay Gautam in his key note address, informed of a Bollywood theme park being set up by Mahindra & Mahindra Group, which will give the much needed boost to the Mumbai tourism in particular and the state in general. He said since the declaration of the states’ Tourism policy in 2016, the state has attracted 6600/- crore worth of investments into tourism infrastructure and facilities. He said the state is endeavoring to add international flavor to the various tourism initiatives and the next big activity is being undertaken to promote and enhance facilities at the Elephanta. In a major step to put the state on global tourist map, he informed the world largest circus Cirque Du Soleil would be touring Mumbai in November – the first of its kind to ever visit India.

He said tourism has a great potential in generating employment with a multiplier effect. He said the digital transformation taking place is making it easy in “Do It Yourself” concept where the tourism has moved from destination to exponential tourism.

Earlier welcoming the Chief Guest, the Director General of IMC, Mr Ajit Mangrulkar, said the digital initiatives in the tourism and hospitality sector is making a paradigm shift in broad basing the activities and services of the sector. He said the increased usage of smart phones, internet and the launch of travel and hotel booking portals by specialized service providers is adding to the employment and to the country’s GDP. He said innovative products such as medical tourism, rural and culinary tourism will open new vistas of economic growth and development.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Siddharth Bhardwaj, Chief Marketing Officer, UFO Moviez said, “On the occasion of World Tourism Day, we are happy to be a part of this prestigious event organized by IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Due to extensive technological transition and innovation, tourism sector in India and across the globe has become a high growth industry segment. Entertainment and Travel are part of discretionary spends and we at UFO strongly believe that cinema plays a major role in changing travel habits and driving travelers to explore different destinations and experiences.”

A panel discussion, with panelist from Indian Hotels Company Ltd., Rainmaker Ventures, MakeMyTrip.com, Booking.com, Facebook India & South Asia, Adobe was also organized on ‘Tourism and Digital Transformation’ during the event to talk about various new developments in customer expectation and digitization of the sector.