The 11thedition of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar Exhibition (GITB) 2019 kicked off on Monday in Jaipur with pre-scheduled 5,600 B2B meetings.

Joint Secretary, Tourism, Suman Billa inaugurated the 11thedition of The Great Indian Travel Bazaar Exhibition (GITB) 2019. 

Also present on the occasion were Principal Secretary, Tourism, Art & Culture, Government of Rajasthan, Ms Sreya Guha; Past President, FICCI & Chairperson of FICCI Tourism Committee, Dr. Jyotsna Suri; Director, Tourism, Government of India, Ms Aashima Mehrotra and Ambassador of Japan to India, Mr Kenji Hiramatsu.

As many as 10 States apart from the host State of Rajasthan are participating this year; Gujarat, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, Goa, Punjab and Chandigarh.

Rajasthan's luxury train, Palace on Wheels (POW) bagged deal worth Rs. 5.2 crores during the GITB 2019 on account of 20% advance bookings for the next two seasons of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. 

The two drafts were presented to Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Ms Sreya Guha at the Rajasthan Tourism pavilion.

The first draft of Rs 4 crores was presented by CEO, Ebix Group, Mr. Naveen Kundu and Managing Director of Mercury, Mr. Arun Kundu. Total business from Ebix Group will be Rs. 20 crores in the season.

The second draft worth Rs. 1.5 crore was presented by CEO, Worldwide Rail Journeys, Mr Manish Saini on account of 20% advance booking for the seasons of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

The next two upcoming seasons (2019-2020 and 2020-2021) of POW already have an advance booking of 40%. With today's deposits, the total advance bookings are now at 80%.

Over the years, GITB has evolved as one of the biggest travel and trade shows in South Asian subcontinent.

The first day of GITB 2019 had 5,600 pre-scheduled meetings between major inbound foreign buyers and 300 exhibitors from the hospitality and travel trade. In all, there will be over 11,000 structured meetings at GITB 2019 over the two days.