Invest In Our Tourism Sector, Says MP Tourism

Heritage building Minto Hall looking spanking new after a Rs 64 cr refurbishment was the venue of the fifth edition of the Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart (MPTM) which showcased the state's varied tourism offerings to industry stakeholders from across India and invited them to invest in its tourism sector through an attractive tourism policy.

- Steena Joy

Minto Hall, the venue of the opening ceremony of the recently concluded fifth edition of Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart (MPTM), is Bhopal’s first international convention center. The heritage structure built in 1909 just underwent a 64 crore refurbishment by the state government recntly and is now open for business.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Hari Ranjan Rao, principal secretary, MP Tourism said, “We take pride in telling the world that the heritage Minto Hall has been converted into a first class international standard convention centre. It was a very challenging project to convert a 100 year old heritage building into a convention centre, ensuring that it did not lose its heritage character while equipping it with the most modern conferencing amenities. Conservation architecture is a subject we should be proud of because India has such rich heritage which needs to be conserved.”

Alongwith Rao, the MPTM was inaugurated by Pramod Kumar, tourism minister of Bihar; Captain Swadesh Kumar, president, Adventure Tour Operators’ Association of India (ATOAI); P P Khanna, president, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) and T Ilaiya Raja, managing director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC).