Published on: July 16, 2023 @ 12:36
Reporter: Aniruddha Pal
SPT News, Kolkata, July 16: The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBIA) in Kolkata will reduce the connecting time of both domestic and international flights with facilities taken over by the authority. This was stated by Airport Authority of India General Manager of Airport Authority Operations H Pulla. On 15 July 2023, a discussion cycle on “The Importance of Kolkata as Gateway to Eastern India, as a source Market and as a Destination” was held at Biswa Bangla Mela premises in Kolkata. TTF Kolkata organized this meeting. There H Pulla said this.
Who was present
Manav Soni, Chairman, Eastern India Chapter of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) moderated the discussion round. Among others who participated in the discussion were Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) Eastern India Chapter Chairman Anil Punjabi, Skull Kolkata President Amin Azgar, Airlines Operators Committee (EST) Chairman and Indigo Airlines Director (East) Rahul Wadhwa, Travel Agents Association of Bengal (TAAB) General Secretary Amitabh Sarkar. Also present were TTF Kolkata CEO Harsh Agarwal and Fairfest Media Limited Chairman and CEO Sanjeev Agarwal, sustainable tourism expert Raj Bose.
Helping Kolkata become a hub for East India Airlines – H Pulla
“New facilities have been added for Domestic to International Transfers, Domestic to Domestic Transfers, International to International Transfers and International to Domestic Transfers which will greatly reduce the connecting time at NSCBIA and help Kolkata become the hub of East India Airlines in the coming days.” At the same time he added – “The infrastructure at Kolkata airport is ready and there will be no problem if more airlines want to come here in the coming days.”
Need to bring more international direct flights from Kolkata-Rahul Wadhwa
Rahul Wadhwa, Chairman of the Airlines Operators Committee (EST) and Director (East) of IndiGo Airlines said that the airports in Northeast India need to be developed. “Kolkata and Guwahati are the only two airports operating 24 hours out of total 30 airports in East India. Among the six metro cities, Kolkata has the most potential to attract more airlines. More international direct flights need to be brought from Kolkata.”
Tourism destinations in the state need to develop infrastructure of international standards-Anil Punjabi
Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) Chairman (East) Anil Punjabi expressed his thoughts and arguments on the discussed issue. He said – “Tourism will be booming in Bengal in the coming days and people of this state travel two or three times a year and there are many opportunities to travel in the tourism sector. When you travel you become rich. The Covid-19 pandemic has put a lot of strain on travel agents. When international borders were sealed for a long time, agents were forced to focus on domestic tourism and the circuit of hill, religious, heritage tourism in Bengal. Also East India is a growing market and we need support from the government.”
He also added that the focus should be on international markets with strong currencies. Tourism destinations need to develop infrastructure of international standards while maintaining all safety protocols to attract international tourists to the state.
Additional recreational activities need to be developed for travel to Sundarbans, the world’s largest natural mangrove forest – Amin Azgar
SKAL Kolkata President Amin Azgar said – “Tourism creates 12 per cent employment in India and contributes 2.6% to the country’s GDP. Tourism destinations such as Sundarbans, Dooars, North Bengal tea plantations, Digha beach etc. need to be promoted outside the state and country. Additional recreational activities need to be developed for travel to places like Sundarbans, the world’s largest natural mangrove forest, to transform it into a major seven-day tourist destination with facilities like honey collection, adventure tourism, wildlife. safari, farm tourism etc. so that it can attract foreign tourists as well.”
“Religious tourism should be looked at and the Buddhist tourism circuit attracts a lot of foreign tourists. The relics of Gautama Buddha are preserved in the Kolkata Museum and it should be properly marketed so that the Buddhist circuit tourists coming to India go to Kolkata and Kolkata should be the hub of Taipei Airlines and not just Delhi and Kolkata. Some change in image will help Bengal to get more foreign tourists like Varanasi is getting now. He emphasized on artificial intelligence in shaping the future of tourism business in the world. said the president of Skal Kolkata.
Travel agents can play an important role in making Kolkata a center of the East – Amitabh Sarkar
Amitabh Sarkar, General Secretary of the Travel Agents Association of Bengal (TAAB) highlighted the close relationship of Bengalis with tourism and said, “Bengalis are travel lovers by nature, which helps make Kolkata a tourist hub of the East. New direct flights from Europe to Kolkata will be a plus Infrastructural development activities are underway at tourist destinations. Travel agents can play an important role in making Kolkata a center of the Orient and for this they should be trained and various travel associations and the government can jointly organize workshops for training.”
The upcoming road from Kolkata to Bangkok via Myanmar will be a game changer in terms of tourism and will help the city of Joy become the gateway to South East Asia in the days to come.
All in all, TTF helped the tourism and travel enthusiasts in attendance to get important information through an outstanding panel discussion.
Published on: July 16, 2023 @ 12:36
