FIEO participates in FITUR
A 21-member team led by FIEO President Mr. Ganesh Kumar Gupta participated in FITUR International Tourism Trade Fair held in Madrid from 30th January to 3rd February. A total of 13 companies from the tourism sector took part in FIEOs "Explore India Pavilion."
This was the first participation by FIEO in a tourism fair. FIEO’s initiative aimed at providing a platform to small players in the tourism sector which lack the resources to participate on their own.
FIEO Pavilion was inaugurated by Indian Ambassador to Spain Ms. Sujata Mehta who advised the Federation to strengthen its trade engagements with Spain. The fair had participants from about 170 countries and was visited by over 1.5 lakh people.
Participating members claimed to have got the opportunity to meet businessmen from Spain and other European countries and develop business contacts with them during the fair. Meanwhile, it was suggested that FIEO should request the Ministry of Tourism for making one big India Pavilion with adequate space for FIEO, state governments and other companies in the tourism sector rather than having stalls scattered at different places. They feel it will provide better mileage to India Pavilion.
FIEO President took the opportunity to meet representatives of various government institutions and chambers of commerce to explore how the two countries could step up bilateral trade and investment relations. As a fallout of his meeting with Mr. Jose Garcia - Morales, Director and Mr. D. Alvaro Schweinfurth, International Relations, Confederation of Employers and Industries of Spain (CECE ), a major representative institution of Spanish business community, FIEO and CECE are planning to jointly organize ‘India Week’ in Madrid during this year to promote sectors like tourism, construction, infrastructure, automobiles, agro industries, IT, energy and water resources.
In another meeting, FIEO President interacted with the officials of PROMOMADRID, a government owned institution in Spain responsible for attracting and assisting foreign investments. The Director General of PROMOMADRID, Mr. Genaro Gonzalez Palacios informed FIEO President that a delegation of Spanish businessmen would be visiting Mumbai and other places in India during October-November this year and said he would look forward to active interaction with FIEO during the visit.
During a meeting with Mr. Julio Juberias, Chairman, Spain India JBC, Mr. Fernando Puerto, Director and Ms. Carmen Perez Manager, High Council of Chamber of Commerce (a national Chamber of more than 88 Chambers), FIEO President observed that Spain was looking towards foreign investments in sectors like construction, infrastructure, tourism etc.
During meetings with different institutions and Chambers, FIEO
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| Ms. Sujata Mehta, Indian Ambassador in Spain inaugurating the FIEO Pavilion. On her right is Mr. Ganesh Kumar Gupta, President, FIEO, and Ms. Asha Gupta with other Indian delegates & visitors. |
President observed that the name of FIEO was quite misleading and created the impression of an organization dealing only in exports and as a result these organizations were hesitant to have meetings with FIEO. Some of the institutions even suggested the President to change the name of FIEO.
FIEO President also observed that to promote the trade by services sector, the Federation should participate in more and more international exhibitions. FIEO has now decided to participate in two major international exhibitions - WTM (London) and ATM (Dubai) during this year.
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Foreign Tourist arrivals in India 1996-200 Year Foreign % growth
Tourist over previous
Arrivals year
(in million) 1996 2.29 8.0% 1997 2.37 3.5% 1998 2.36 0.4% 1999 2.48 5.1% 2000 2.65 6.9% 2001 2.54 -4.2% 2002 2.38 -6.3% 2003 2.73 14.7% 2004 3.46 26.7% 2005 3.92 13.3% 2006* 4.45 13.5% *Provisional Source: Bureau of Immigration Foreign Exchange Earnings (in US$ million) from Tourism in India 1996-2006 Year Foreign % growth
Tourist over previous
Arrivals year
(in million) 1996 2832 9.6% 1997 2889 2.0% 1998 2948 2.0% 1999 3009 2.1% 2000 3168 5.3% 2001 3042 -4.0% 2002 2923 -3.9% 2003 3533 20.9% 2004 4769 35.0% 2005 5731 20.2% 2006* 6569 14.6% *Provisional Source: Reserve Bank of India |
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Ms Sujata Mehta writing in visitors Book at FIEO Pavilion. On her right is Mr. Ganesh Kumar Gupta and on her back side is Mr. Sudhir Kumar, Counsellor, Indian Embassy. Ms. Asha Gupta at extreme right. |
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| Mr Ganesh Kumar Gupta in discussion with foreign delegates during the Fair. | |
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Mr. Ganesh Kumar (2nd from right) with the officials of PROMOMADRID (from left) are Mr. Vicente Orts, Executive Director, Mr. Genaro Gongzalez Palacios, Director General; Ms. Margarita Ortiz, Deputy Director; and Mr. Alberto Lopez, Director |
The tourism sector in India has registered significant development over the years. The foreign exchange earnings from tourism have increased from US$ 2832 million in 1996 to US$ 6569 million in 2006. The visit of the foreign tourists to India has also increased from 2.29 million to 4.45 million during the same period. The US and UK still remain India’s largest markets, however, visits by tourists from near-by countries are also growing. There is good inflow of tourists to India, but the country still lags behind the smaller Asian countries like Singapore and Hong Kong which received 8.8 mn and 22.8 mn tourists respectively during Jan-Nov, 2006. On the other hand, Spain is one of the biggest tourist centers of the world and attracted about 60 million tourists in the year 2007, which is much larger than Spanish population of 40 million.
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FIEO Plans India Week in Spain
In order to improve the bilateral trade in services between India and Spain, FIEO and Confederation of Employers and Industries Madrid (CECE) have planned to jointly organize "India Week" in Spain during this year to promote bilateral economic engagements in sectors like tourism, construction & infrastructure, agro industries, automobiles, IT, energy and water resources.
The sectors and the scope of the programme are being worked out by the two organizations.
CESE is the largest regional business organization of Spain and represents more than 240 industry and regional organizations within Madrid.
Indian Ambassador in Spain has assured to provide all required support for holding India Week. |
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Mr. Ganesh Kumar Gupta (centre) with Mr Jose Garcia Morales, Director & Mr Alvaro Schweinfurth Enciso, Confederation of Employers & Industries of Spain on his right & left. |
Mr. Ganesh Kumar Gupta (2nd from left) with the officials of High Council of Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Fernando Puerto, Director (extreme left) and Ms. Carmen Perez, Manager (3RD from left). At extreme right is Mr. Julio G Juberias, President, India Spain J.B.C. |
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| A view of Fitur | Business visitors at FIEO Pavilion |
