The inauguration of the 17th edition of SATTE saw Tourism Minister Kumari Selja, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, and Delhi Chief Minster Sheila Dikshit as the chief guests at the event. The other guests included secretary for tourism Sujit Banerjee and officials from the states of Gujarat, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking on the occasion Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit bid a warm welcome to all the foreign delegates who came for SATTE. “This event showcases India’s heritage, its capacity, its capabilities and its craft and textile culture etc. The number of stalls that I did manage to see here while I was coming here showcased the whole of India and its capabilities. I think, through this exhibition our guests will go back with a wonderful sense of India,” stated Dikshit.

The inauguration also saw senior ministers ask serious questions on India’s tourism potential and what more could be done to harness it. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel pointed out that, “I feel that India’s tourism has grown in the last five years or so but we need to grow at a much faster pace. It is truly unfortunate that Singapore and Dubai attract four to five times more tourists than the whole of this great country. And while many could be tourists for a very short stay unlike those who come to India, it shows that we still need to do a lot more to build up tourism.”

Despite this point the Civil Aviation Minister pointed out the positives that had occurred in Indian tourism in recent times. Air connectivity was the key he said, and in that regard India was doing very well. Statistics showed that in 2004 India had only 47 operational airports but today it had almost double the figure bringing it up to 88. Another promising indicator was the number of lights from India to the UK. In 2004 there were just 19 flights a week each between the two countries. Today that number was 150 and the government was doing even more to boost connectivity. “Today we have a new airport policy which allows the creation of greenfield airports which will give more and more connectivity to smaller places. If there are people in the private sector who want to come forward to act on this, the government has formulated a policy which gives single window clearance from all related agencies. This will make the creation of new infrastructure more easier and more viable,” said Patel

The Civil Aviation Minister’s remarks on how India had not realized its potential struck a chord with Tourism Minister Kumari Selja. Speaking about the state of tourism today, she said, “We have to put the past behind us and be a little more aggressive now. Admittedly, the last one or two years haven’t been very good for tourism for our country. But things are now looking up. In the last part of 2009, things were far better and this year promises to be much better. We must capitalize on this.” The minister, however, did point out that for tourism to work in India, all the stakeholders needed to get involved. “We have our Incredible India campaign which has been much appreciated the world over. But we need to think about our other campaigns. For instance we need to talk about Atithi Devo Bhava. It’s not a campaign only from the tourism ministry. We need to become a tourist friendly nation. Whether it’s the government of India, whether it’s the states, or other stakeholders, we need to remember that negative incidents show us all in a bad light. The spirit of Atithi Devo Bhava needs to come from within,” she stated.

Secretary for tourism Sujit Banerjee echoed the minister’s sentiments and revealed the slew of initiatives the government had already taken (since the Mumbai attacks) to get Indian tourism back on track. “Within a year of the 26/11 attacks, we carried out roadshows in 24 countries to tell them that ‘India is safe and secure. Come back to do business.’ Also within a year we issued visa on arrival to five nations - Singapore, Japan, Luxembourg, Finland and New Zealand. Finally as far as the hospitality industry is concerned, the RBI has delinked hotel projects from the Commercial Real Estate category (CRE). This is a major step which will go a long way in taking the hospitality industry forward,” informed Banerjee.

But the inauguration wasn’t all about India. Various state tourism officials showcased the tourism potential in their states and ensured that their states had world class facilities for both domestic and foreign tourists. Vipul Mitra, secretary tourism Gujarat pointed out the sterling efforts by Chief Minister Narendra Modi who has taken initiatives to strengthen the infrastructure and power, with the result that Gujarat was one of the few states today with surplus power supply. As for tourism in the state he said, “Gujarat has a natural advantage when it comes to tourism. We already have the Dandi circuit, we are one of the very few places where the relics of the Buddha are present and we have various festivals like the International Kite Festival.” He went ahead to inform that the government supplemented this in 2004 which had been declared the ‘Year of Tourism’ in Gujarat.’’ A concerted effort was reportedly made to upgrade the infrastructure in terms of roads, electricity and other facilities on important tourist destinations. “We will follow this up with aggressive marketing. Through the efforts of our Chief Minister, we already have Amitabh Bachchan as our brand ambassador,” said Mitra.

Following Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir too made a strong case for itself as tourist destination. As Nawang Rinzing Jora, Minister for Tourism and Culture, Jammu and Kashmir pointed out the only problem for tourism in the state was problem of perception. “There is a perception that J&K is not safe which is wrong. The state is as safe as Delhi or Mumbai.” On the government’s efforts to promote tourism in the state he said, “We are coming up with a golf circuit to promote golf tourism in Kashmir. The Royal Springs Golf Course is one of the best golf courses in the country. Apart from that we are tying up with two other golf courses which includes one at Gulmarg (the world’s highest golf course). We are doing some upgradation and by June-July, the course should be functional. The second golf course is in Pahalgam.”

Nasir Aslam Wani Minister of State for Tourism & Culture, Jammu and Kashmir echoed Jora’s words and added, “I also urge our friends in the media to present J&K in a better perspective so that our visitors travel without the excess baggage of fear. The situation in terms of security has improved enormously and we are sure the coming season will be a better one. The government on its part will continue to provide all support that will spur tourism activity in J&K.”

Moving from Jammu and Kashmir to Orissa, Devi Prasad Misra, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Higher Education, Orissa said that unlike other states which have suffered due to the recession last year. Orissa’s tourism had actually grown. “In the last year, we have recorded a tourism growth of 6.9 percent and for the three pervious consecutive years we have recorded an annual growth of 13 percent on average in terms of footfalls domestic and international. We are developing new circuits, destinations and packages and strong participation from our private stakeholders. Tourists are happy to come to our state. Madhya Pradesh may be the heart of India but Orissa is the essence of Incredible India,” revealed Misra.

Taking about SATTE and its importance to tourism in India, Navin Berry, Chief Coordinator, SAATE said that, “Many world tourism events get linked to a city. Our endeavour too is to make SATTE grow as the face of New Delhi.” He added, “This is our first SATTE as a co-branded show with ITB Berlin – the world’s largest tourism event. This is also our first year with CII as our national industry association partner. Business travel and MICE tourism will be the key components here.” He informed that this year SATTE had 19 countries exhibiting, 23 states and 445 travel and tourism organizations on the floor. “We have 195 buyers which have come from 29 countries and we have 615 Indian hosted buyers which have come from 46 cities from across the country. That is the big step forward we have taken in terms of hosted buyers, where the Indian buyer component has become a significant factor in terms of buying MICE tourism, business travel as well as leisure,” said Berry.

Unfortunately, Dr Martin Buck Director, Logistics, ITB was unable to make the inauguration, being unwell. However, a prepared text from his side was read out, “I would have loved to see how the show works at the new hall and with the new timing. Both features are proof of the innovative energy of SATTE this has made it the leading travel trade show in South Asia and certainly will contribute strongly to its continued success. ITB Berlin is proud of being SATTE’s strategic partner and this is only the beginning of the strong cooperation between out two shows.”

Subhash Goyal Chairman, STIC Travel rounded off the inauguration with a vote of thanks. “This is the first time that ITB has collaborated with an Indian organization, so I compliment Navin Berry. We are also grateful to SATTE for bringing the entire industry together. We have representatives of IATO, TAFI & TAAI along with J&K Houseboat Owners Association, Haryana Tourism Mart, Kerela Tourism Mart, ASSOCHAM, Federation of India Export Organizations and several domestic tour operators present today. On behalf of all of them I would like to thank every foreign buyer who has come to SATTE,”