The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with the North Eastern States is organising the “International Tourism Mart” (ITM) in Guwahati, Assam from 5-7 December, 2017. The event will be held in Taj Vivanta, and will be inaugurated on 5th December by His Excellency, Shri Jagdish Mukhi, Governor of Assam in the presence of Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister Assam and Shri K.J Alphons MoS (IC), Ministry of Tourism & MoS, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Union Secretary Smt. Rashmi Verma and other dignitaries from Central Ministries and North Eastern States.

The 6th International Tourism Mart, will put the spotlight on India’s “Act East Policy”, blossoming ties with ASEAN and the larger East Asia region, home to the world’s rapidly growing economies and India’s emerging tourism markets. Besides deliberations on promotion of tourism in the North East Region in general, keeping the objectives of the ''Act East Policy” in view, the panel discussions will also focus on promoting cultural ties, people-to-people contact with countries in the ASEAN region providing enhanced connectivity to the States of North Eastern Region with other countries in our neighbourhood, thereby developing inter-regional tourism between the ASEAN and North East Region of India. The ITM 2017 will also see an active participation by the Ministry of DONER to synergize the process of development of tourism of the North East Region.

This is the 6th International Tourism Mart and an annual event organised in the North Eastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets. It brings together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from the eight North Eastern States. The event has been planned and scheduled to facilitate interaction between buyers, sellers, media, Government agencies and other stakeholders. The North East Region of India comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, is endowed with diverse tourist attractions and products. The varied topography of the region, its flora and fauna, the ethnic communities with their rich heritage of ancient traditions and lifestyles, its festivals, arts and crafts, make it a holiday destination waiting to be explored.

Buyer and Media delegates from around the world and from different regions of the country are participating in the Mart and will engage in one-to-one meetings with sellers from the North East Region. This will enable the tourism product suppliers from the region to reach out to international and domestic buyers, with the objective of promoting tourism to the region, a total of 76 foreign Buyer delegates from over 29 countries namely Australia, Bhutan, Brunei, Canada, China, Combodia, Cyprus, Fiji, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, USA, UK, Vietnam, Turkey, South Korea.

Besides the foreign delegates, 50 domestic stakeholders in Tourism sector from other parts of the country and 86 sellers from the North Eastern States are participating in the Mart. Representatives of State Tourism Departments of these North East States will also be present to showcase their tourism destinations and to interact with the delegates.

International buyers and media delegates from countries around the world and from different regions of the country are participating in the Mart. They will be engaging in business-to-business meetings with sellers from the North Eastern Region. In addition to these the three-day event also includes presentations by state governments on their tourism potential, cultural evenings, sightseeing visits to local attractions in and around Guwahati and a press meeting on 6th December 2017.

An exhibition by State Tourism Departments from the North Eastern States including display of beautiful handicrafts and handlooms is also being organised to show case the tourism products of respective participating States.

Overwhelming response has been received for taking post-mart familiarisation tours to the North Eastern states by foreign buyer delegates. This will create awareness about the rich and varied tourism products of the North Eastern region and to give them a first-hand experience of the destination.

The International Tourism Marts are organised in the North Eastern States on rotation basis. The earlier editions of this mart have been held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal.