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Mumbai, October 19: The 25th edition of the India International Travel Mart (IITM) exhibition ended in the city on Thursday after it attracted around 6,000 visitors. According to the organisers, whether in-bound or out-bound travel, all segments received a lot of enquiry and evoked keen interest in number of tourism plans put forward by the participants in the expo.
The highlights of the expo were ‘Experimental Tourism' and ‘Eco-Tourism'. While package holidays provided the convenience of a pre-arranged schedule at a considerably reduced cost, experimental tourism dealt with living in tea and rubber plantations of Kerala or the organic farms of Maharashtra .
According to the participants in the exhibition, eco-tourism is quite different and entails a lot of responsibility on the part of the travelers in comparison to ordinary tourism. “Eco-tourism is where the traveler enjoys the nature and environment without harming the culture and the essence of the place. It also brings in responsibility on the traveler's part,” said Rohit Hangal, Director IITM.
Due to the inherent nature of participation and the thrill of the experience, it is not surprising that eco-tourism is the fastest growing market in the tourism industry. It is also fast becoming popular in the metro cities.
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Eco-tourism a hit in travel expo