As the clock ticks down to the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting under India’s presidency, to be hosted by Srinagar, the Tourism Department of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday organised a Model G20 Summit at SKICC, Srinagar, replicating the original meeting scheduled next month.

The third meeting of the G20 Tourism Working Group is scheduled to take place in Srinagar from May 22 to 24.

The three-day global event will host delegates from 20 countries and will involve a series of discussions under the rubric of tourism.

The mock summit, in the run-up to the global event, was organised at the same venue and saw the participation of students from Jammu & Kashmir and across the country, replicating foreign delegates.

“We are here for the mock G20 summit and are replicating delegates from each and every member-state. I am representing Saudi Arabia. My friends are representing other countries like South Korea, Brazil, and Canada,” said Gurudas Veeranekar, a student from the Institute of Hotel Management, Srinagar.

He said it was a “very good experience to be a part of the mock event”.

Ifrah Ahmed, who was replicating a delegate from France, which is also part of the G20, said, “I am replicating a delegate from France and during my mock address, I talked about sustainable tourism and women’s participation in tourism activities in France. I also dwelt on how women face barriers when it comes to being involved in tourism activities. I also talked about the policies and initiatives of the French government.”
The mock event ahead of the original summit was also graced by several officials from the administration in the Union Territory and others.

Fazl-ul-Haseeb, director, Kashmir Tourism, said, “The Department of Tourism organised today’s event. This event [G20 Model Summit] was organised to replicate the original G20 Working Group meeting, scheduled next month. In this mock event, students from colleges and universities were invited to pose as G20 delegates from different member countries.
He said the students spoke well on a range of subjects, which will be part of the agenda for the working group meeting next month.

Syed Abid Rashid Shah, secretary, J&K Tourism and Culture, said, “We are delighted and proud at the opportunity to host the G20 delegates for the third Tourism Working Group meeting in the last week of May. In the run-up to the main event, our Tourism department thought of putting together a G20 Model Summit wherein students from schools and colleges, replicating the delegates, spoke on issues relevant to the member-states and the world.”

The top Tourism official said he hoped that the global event will help project Jammu and Kashmir as a tourism destination and also benefit the stakeholders associated with the tourism industry.

“This will give us an opportunity to project the true picture of Jammu & Kashmir. Tourism is the backbone of our economy and the G20 event comes as a great opportunity to take tourism in J-K to global heights and help it rank among the top tourism sites of the world,” he added.