The Centre has given a go ahead to Arunachal Pradesh to conduct the International Tourism Mart (ITM), a mega tourism Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh event at Tawang, bordering China in October 2014.

India’s secretary for tourism, Parvez Dewan informed the state Tourism Minister Pema Khandu during a meeting at New Delhi last Friday, official sources told the Times of India. The meeting, which was attended by tourism secretary and director of all North East states besides West Bengal.

Khandu expressed that successful conduct of the mega event would depend principally on resumption of helicopter service from Guwahati to Tawang and assured to take up the matter with the state government.

“With the tourism industry likely to increase to US$275.5 billion by 2018 at a 9.4% annual growth rate in India, it is high time for the Union Tourism Ministry to shift the focus to the North Eastern states, particularly Arunachal Pradesh, which is endowed with huge potential for all kinds of tourism including the popularly growing niche tourism,” Khandu said.

Furthermore, Khandu has appealed the Centre for relaxing the provision of Protect Area Permit (PAP) and Restricted Area Permit (RAP), which were posing a major hurdle in foreign tourist flow to the state.

1223 | September 06, 2013