{"id":82101,"date":"2026-02-07T13:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T08:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/07\/eu-chambers-tourism-conclave-in-mumbai-vijayta-raheja-says-india-leads-globally\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T13:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T08:26:17","slug":"eu-chambers-tourism-conclave-in-mumbai-vijayta-raheja-says-india-leads-globally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/07\/eu-chambers-tourism-conclave-in-mumbai-vijayta-raheja-says-india-leads-globally\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Chambers Tourism Conclave in Mumbai: Vijayta Raheja Says India Leads Globally"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 07: <\/strong>A panel discussion was convened by The Council of EU Chambers of Commerce in India at the Conclave to decode the impact of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the Tourism &amp; Hospitality Industry.<\/p>\n<p>The session was led and moderated by Vijayta Raheja (COO, K Raheja Group) and featured distinguished panellists:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rajeev Kale, President &amp; Country Head \u2013 Thomas Cook Ltd., a leading travel company that reported over \u20b98,000 crore in revenue in FY25.<\/li>\n<li>Anahita Avari, Head \u2013 South Asia, VFS Global.<\/li>\n<li>Delna Jasoomoney, Vice President \u2013 Industry Sales, Indian Hotels Company Ltd. (IHCL), which operates iconic hotel chains including Taj, Selections, and ama stays.<\/li>\n<li>Aparna Chaturvedi Basumallick, Country Head \u2013 Europamunda Vacations (EMV), part of the JTB Group, one of the world\u2019s largest travel groups founded in Japan over 100 years ago.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-68346 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/pnndigital.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/PNN-7-2-26-4.jpg\" alt=\"EU\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Delivering the opening note, Vijayta Raheja asserted that Tourism and Hospitality has evolved beyond a mere service sector to become a powerful corridor that enables global trade and fuels economies. She described the expanse of the interdependent ecosystem \u2014 from single hotel operators to global hospitality groups; from neighbourhood travel agents to digital platforms that orchestrate millions of journeys with a click. Vijayta highlighted the sector\u2019s inclusivity, acknowledging that from pilots, porters and cruise captains to engineers who design and build railways, highways and airports; from the visa enablers and immigration desks that facilitate mobility up to the tour guides who bring culture and heritage to life \u2013 everyone is a part of the ecosystem of Tourism &amp; Hospitality. \u201cWe are all an important part of this industry,\u201d she affirmed, underscoring that every role is vital to the sector\u2019s strength and its contribution to national prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the discourse, Rajeev Kale noted that European countries remain perennial favourites for Indian travellers; he also mentioned the pioneering measures his company has introduced in response to volatile geopolitical conditions, including the rollout of insurance on bookings to give travellers greater ease and confidence.<\/p>\n<p>Anahita Avari reflected on VFS Global\u2019s transformational impact on visa facilitation\u2014moving the process away from time\u2011consuming consulate visits to a systematic, one\u2011roof model that applies industry best practices and significantly improves the traveller experience.<\/p>\n<p>Aparna Basumallick highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in resolving customer grievances more systematically and efficiently, ensuring faster redressal and improved satisfaction. Meanwhile, Delna from IHCL noted that with the new EU-India Free Trade Agreement, hotels are preparing for both inbound and outbound travel exchange, customizing their delivery to match the evolving requirements of the travel base.<\/p>\n<p>Midway through the discussion, Vijayta Raheja capturing the conclave\u2019s tenor and India\u2019s changing global perception stated: \u201cToday, India is an equal. We are leading the way and leading the change. No longer can anyone call us a Third World Nation.\u201d adding a note of Thanks to Hon. Prime Minister Mr. Modi for his progressive leadership. She also highlighted what the Union Budget for Fiscal Year 26-27 had for the industry and lauded the govt. for the reduction in TCS, steps taken to establish a National Institute of Tourism and the brilliance of the penetrative railway corridor planning that will connect the larger cities to the smaller cities and increase employment across the country; and open new avenues for the Tourism &amp; Hospitality Industry.<\/p>\n<p>The conclave concluded with optimism for 2035 and Rajeev added that post pandemic people are looking forward to experiential travel and that is a trend to stay; Anahita said she was hopeful of great business across verticals.<\/p>\n<p>A Token of Appreciation was given by Mr Nikhil K Raheja (MD \u2013 KRG) to Mr. Rajeev Sharma \u2013 President EU Chambers, Mr Robin Bannerjee \u2013 Sr. VP \u2013 EU Chambers, Mr. Siladitya Sarangi \u2013 VP \u2013 EU Chambers, Dr Renu Shome \u2013 Director General EU Chambers, Ms Sheetal &#8211; ATOUT France &amp; Mr Mandar Sharma and was attended by distinguished Guests including Mr Sudip Mullick from ELP, Ms. Sandrine Clarac \u2013 Group Director \u2013 Fairfest and Mr Sanjeev &amp; Mr Swanand from KRG.<\/p>\n<p>The EU Chambers Tourism &amp; Hospitality Conclave 2026 was held at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai supported by the ongoing OTM\u00a0<em>(certified as the \u201cLeading Travel Trade Show in India and Asia\u201d in a study by NielsenIQ, commissioned by Fairfest Media).<\/em>\u00a0OTM hosts over 50,000 global trade visitors and 2,200+ exhibitors from 60+ countries, making it one of the most influential platforms for the travel industry.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, please visit LinkedIn:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/k.-raheja-group_a-panel-discussion-was-convened-by-the-council-ugcPost-7425479287438405632-EScL?utm_medium=ios_app&amp;rcm=ACoAADFdtUoBCrAKLjfh32LjK9nmborKPhkQoU8&amp;utm_source=social_share_send&amp;utm_campaign=copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>YouTube Video Link:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@VijaytaNikhilRaheja\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@VijaytaNikhilRaheja<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>If you object to the content of this press release, please notify us at pr.error.rectification@gmail.com. We will respond and rectify the situation within 24 hours.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 07: A panel discussion was convened by The Council of EU Chambers of Commerce in India at the Conclave to decode the impact of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the Tourism &amp; Hospitality Industry. The session was led and moderated by Vijayta Raheja (COO, K Raheja Group) and featured [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":82100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[497,800],"class_list":["post-82101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-alembic-pharmaceuticals","tag-vijayta-raheja"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newswireindia.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}