Seminar on Tourism and Hospitality Industry – Omission, Innovation and Challenges

Chandigarh: To fulfill its objectives of becoming one of the leading educational institutes in the country offering quality education, training, research and consultancy in the field of hospitality, tourism, travel and allied sectors, on 15-16 October, University Institute of Hotel Management and Tourism (UIHMT), Panjab University Chandigarh is organising its first ever seminar on "Tourism and Hospitality Industry – Omission, Innovation and Challenges" which is dedicated to address a wide vista of related issues. Around 153 delegates from various parts of India will participate in the seminar and it is expected that there will be 108 research presentations.     
One of the primary objectives of the seminar is to provide a platform for creating an environment conducive to the growth of tourism and hospitality industry in India, particularly in the region through initiating advisory and consultative processes amongst the stakeholders of industry.   There will be the investigation of current scenario of tourism and hospitality industry, driven by the fast-paced advances in the information & technology field; and in the light of the changes that are characterized in terms of innovations. The other objectives of seminar are:   
•     To discuss the changing dimensions, upcoming trends and innovations in global tourism and hospitality industry.     
•     To evolve with strategies for imminent challenges to the tourism and hospitality industry.     
•     To discuss the impact of different policies/events on the tourism and hospitality sector     .
•     To propose to overcome dimensions requiring changes in tourism and hospitality industry, based on findings of seminar.   
This seminar will be inaugurated at 1200 HRS on 15th October at ICSSR seminar hall by Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources.  Prof. R.C. Sobti, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University will deliver the presidential speech.  Noted tourism author and researcher Prof. Erik Cohen; Professor Emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel is going to deliver the keynote address.   
At this occasion Dr. R. N. Pandey, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Prof. Manjula Chaudhary, Director, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management will be the guests of honour.
On Saturday there will be a plenary session with presentations by Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board on Destination Punjab; by Prof. S.P. Bansal (Director, Institute of Integrated Himalayan Studies, Himachal Pradesh University) – on sustainability issues in tourism and hospitality industry; by Dr. R.N. Pandey- on tourism statistics; by Prof. Manjula Chaudhary on the tourism and hospitality education; by Mr. Anil Malhotra (Taj Group) on Hospitality Industry Insights and By Prof. S.C. Bagri (Director-Tourism and Hospitality Studies, Garhwal University)- on learning from past.   
On Sunday there will be six technical sessions, Contemporary Practices; Human Resource Development for Tourism and Hospitality Industry; Issues in Sustainable Development; Tourism Destinations: Policy, Planning and Development ; Destination Punjab and Looking for future ; Marketing and Branding of Industry.   
The valedictory function will be on Sunday at 4 PM, with Mr. Dhanpat Singh, FC&PS (Tourism), Haryana as chief guest, while the function will be presided by Prof. A.S. Ahluwalia, Dean Student Welfare, Panjab University.

At this Occasion Dr. K.K. Rattu, Director, Doordarshan; Prof. Deepak Kapoor, Dean, Faculty of Business Management; Mr. Navin Kumar, Principal, IHM, Chandigarh and Mr. T.K. Rajdan, Principal CIHM, Chandigarh will be guests of honour.