The High Commission of India in Malta organised an Indian tourism event at The Phoenicia on Wednesday.

Guests from Malta’s tourism and travel industry attended the gathering. These included Anthony Zahra, president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) and the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation (MTF), who recalled his first visit to India about 50 years ago.

Paul Fleri Soler, country manager for Emirates in Malta, spoke about the air connectivity to India from Malta as offered by Emirates, while Merve Yigit, a Malta-based yoga practitioner and trainer, spoke about how her yoga training in India helps her connect Malta to India through yoga.

In January, India’s tourism minister launched the Visit India Year 2023 campaign. This is significant as India’s presidency of G20 brought more than 100,000 foreign delegates to India this year.

Riding on the back of the momentum created by the recovery of the global tourism industry, Indian tourism is on a mission to unlock the country’s untapped potential by making India a 365-day destination.

As the country prepared for the G20 presidency, as well as the grand celebrations of India@75, the tourists could get to see how India presented itself to distinguished guests from the world over.

The new ‘Visit India Year 2023’ logo, shaped as ‘Namaste’, is a microcosm of the countless stories India holds – from heritage to gastronomy to art and rich wildlife.

The logo design is inspired by the Indian belief system of Atithi Devo Bhava (a Sanskrit phrase meaning guest is akin to God). Namaste holds cultural significance in India as it is not just a quintessential way to greet people but also a noble gesture to welcome them. By folding hands, India and its citizens invite the world to visit India.

The focus of the current campaign is to highlight varied tourism offerings by leveraging the country’s richness in culture, heritage, spirituality and natural beauty, and focusing on promoting diverse categories of tourism like sustainable tourism, rural tourism, wellness tourism and others.