Italy ups promotion of India as Wedding Tourism destination

Panaji, June 2: Italy and India can increase tourist footfalls by promoting new trends like 'wedding tourism', which has been a big draw for both the nations, a senior envoy said.

"Between India and Italy, there is a high potential of increasing the number of tourists. There is a strong possibility to increase flow of tourists from respective countries," Daniele Mancini, Italy's Ambassador to India, told reporters on Saturday.

"A number of new avenues have opened up. There is boom in weddings taking place in Italy. Now, probably Italian tourists can come to Goa for weddings," he said.

India should stop selling as a country and it should be sold as a destination, Mancini suggested. "For the visitors, it is not a matter of money but time available for vacations," he said.

Italy has reopened its national tourism board office in Mumbai recently. Over 100,000 Italian tourists visit India.

"You should do a better job to promote India in Italy and other European countries," he said.

There is room for interconnection between tourism promotion agencies of both the countries, Mancini added.

PTI