New Delhi (TIP)- A number of tourism-related activities will be held in India in the next few months under the country’s presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), officials said on Thursday, February 9.

Uzbekistan, in September last year, had handed over the rotating presidency of the eight-member SCO to India in the historic city of Samarkand. As part of the tourism track activities under India’s chairship, the Ministry of Tourism has planned various activities such as SCO Tourism Mart during SATTE (South Asia’s Travel and Tourism Exchange) from February 9-11, they said. An SCO Expert Level Tourism Working Group Meeting and SCO Tourism Minister’s Meeting in Varanasi will be held from March 13-17 and SCO Food Festival in Mumbai from April 13-19, they said.

India has conceptualised an SCO Tourism Mart along with SATTE to promote the SCO brand of tourism. This will provide an opportunity to the member countries, observer countries and dialogue partners of SCO Fraternity to showcase their varied tourism products and cultural aspects.

SCO Tourism Mart conceptualises to bring SCO countries to common place for joint awareness of tourism and create adequate tourism movements within the SCO fraternity, officials said.

Ministry of Tourism has fabricated 390 sqm of space in the SATTE.

During SCO summit held in September 2022 in Uzbekistan, Varanasi was selected as the first “Tourism and Cultural Capital” of the SCO region 2022-23 and the SCO Tourism Ministers’ meeting will be culminating at Varanasi. Launched in Shanghai in June 2001, the SCO has eight full members, including its six founding members, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017.

                Source: PTI