Dates for next travel mart

TT, Siliguri, Feb. 28: Minister Gautam Deb announced the dates for the second edition of Bengal Travel Mart 2017 today, the last day of this year's event.

Yesterday, while speaking at a technical session on how the tourism industry in the state can move ahead, Tejbir Singh Anand, who runs a travel house in Delhi and is associated with the Adventure Tour Operators' Association of India, said announcements of such events should be made in advance. "If the dates are announced early, more people from different parts of the country and abroad would turn up," he had said.

The Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators' Association (EHTTOA) that had organised the event discussed the idea with the tourism department and North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb.

Today, Deb said at a news conference in Uttarkanya: "The second edition of BTM will be held from January 27 to 29 in Siliguri next year."

This year, the three-day travel mart held at Mainak Tourist Lodge Complex here since February 26 was attended by 93 buyers, including 15 from abroad. "There were 86 exhibitors from Bengal, Telangana, Assam, Nepal and Bhutan. Every day, around 300 visitors came and 2,760 business meetings were held. We are expecting an additional business of around Rs 46.50 crore over the next year," said EHTTOA president Subhasish Chakraborty.

Sunil Agarwal, joint director of tourism (north Bengal), said: "The inflow of domestic tourists to the state has increased by around 250 per cent in the past couple of years. The arrival of foreign tourists in north Bengal has doubled in 2014-2015 ..."