The Tourism Committee of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI) organized the Global Film Tourism Conclave 2017 with the theme ‘Promoting Destinations through Films’ on October 7, 2017 at 10.00 am at Hotel Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach. The programme was supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
The objective of the conclave was to promote destinations through shooting of films and bring together all the relevant stakeholders on one common platform where they can share ideas to promote Film Tourism. The Conclave was attended by Film Directors, Producers, Distributors, Writers and other film personalities of India and many other countries.
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its Knowledge Partner- BnB Nation have jointly released the study paper on Global Film Tourism Conclave which projects that the film industry is expected to grow at 11.5% year-on-year, reaching total gross realization of Rs. 238 billion ($3.7 billion) by 2020 as against its, CAGR of over 10% in the last couple of years. The paper says that the growth of the industry could be far higher if its regulations are minimized.
Inaugural Session of the Conclave witnessed Mr. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India; Mr. Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Minister for Tourism, Government of Maharashtra; H.E. Mr. Zigmund Bertok, Ambassador, Embassy of the Slovak Republic; H.E. Mr. Radu Dobre, Ambassador, Embassy of Romania in the Republic of India; Mr. Anil Khaitan, Senior Vice President, PHDCCI, Mr. Mukesh Gupta, Chairman- Tourism Committee, PHDCCI, Mr. Rajan Sehgal, Co-Chairman- Tourism Committee, PHDCCI and Mr. Yogesh Srivastav, Principal Director, PHDCCI.
Inaugurating the Conclave, Mr. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, said that movies can play an important role in exposing and eliminating the menace of terrorism and radicalism. “In India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to northeast states, beautiful locations attract not only domestic, but also foreign filmmakers to shoot their movies at these places. Organisations such as PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry can play an important role in encouraging these possibilities,” he said.
Mr. Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Minister for Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, spoke in length about the initiatives by the state promoting state tourism. Marathi movies like Shwaas, Bal Gandharv and Sairaat have left a mark on the international platform. He further added that the Ministry of Tourism of Maharashtra has started one stop pass which is one single window to apply for all possible permissions needed to shoot the film at different locations.
Leading Film Personalities- Mr. Mukesh Bhatt, Mr. Boney Kapoor, Mr. N. Chandra, Mr. Prem Sagar, Mr. Kunal Kapoor and Ms. Prerna Wadhawan were felicitated by the Chief Guest for their contribution in the world of Cinema.
Mr. Anil Khaitan, Senior Vice President, PHDCCI, told films are a great source of showcasing any country’s culture, heritage and vast economic potentials. “We are certain that our initiative will surely turn out to be highly fruitful in promoting and creating awareness about the untapped potential of Film Tourism in India, hence we wanted Indian films to portray the same,” he said.
Mr. Mukesh Gupta, Chairman-Tourism Committee, PHDCCI, said, “The effort of the Conclave was to draw the attention of the filmmakers to promote film tourism. As per a survey, Indians top the tourism charts for the number of tourists visiting the famous locations abroad.”
Mr. Rajan Sehgal, Co-Chairman- Tourism Committee, PHDCCI, said, “Film Tourism is rapidly gaining popularity with Indian films reaching out to different untapped locations across the country which have great potential to be the next hotspot tourism destination.”
Technical Session 1: ‘Promoting India as a hub for Film Tourism’ had Mr. Rajan Sehgal, Co-Chairman- Tourism Committee, PHDCCI as the moderator and witnessed Mr. Mukesh Bhatt, Indian Film Producer; Mr. Boney Kapoor, Indian Film Producer; Mr. N. Chandra, Indian Film Producer; Mr. Shivdular Singh Dhillon (IAS), Director, Punjab Heritage Tourism Promotion Board; Mr. Sudhir Sobti, Chief Manager (PR & Publicity), Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation; Mr. Sanatan Pancholi, Manager- Mumbai Office, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd; Ms. Shruti Nada Poddar, MD, Nada Vibronics Pvt Ltd; Mr. Kunal Kapoor, Noted Film Director & Partner- Family Film Entertainment; Mr. Manoj Srivastava, CEO, India Shoots- Sarke Studios JV; Mr. Amitabh Parashar, Indian Filmmaker; and Mr. Ashok Sharan, Producer-Director & Proprietor at Neon Films.
While narrating their experiences of film shootings in India, most of the Producers demanded to curb the lengthy process of approvals and permissions to shoot. Mr. Mukesh Bhatt, Indian Film Producer, who had shot over 64 Bollywood films on international locations, told shooting in Indian location is a cumbersome job. Mr. Boney Kapoor, Indian Film Producer, stressed upon to create a uniform single window system across India to get the permissions.
Technical Session 2: ‘Discover Countries, Explore Locations & Establish a New Path for Tourism’ had Mr. Kulmeet Makkar,CEO, The Film and Television Producers Guild of India moderating the session. The panellists were H.E. Mr. Radu Dobre, Ambassador, Embassy of Romania in the Republic of India; H.E. Mr. Zigmund Bertok, Ambassador, Embassy of the Slovak Republic; Ms. Nazima H. Razick, American Citizen Services and Consular Information Unit Chief at U.S. Consulate General Mumbai; Mr. Satinder Ahuja, Hon. Consul, Consul of Georgia; Mr. Prem Sagar, Producer-Director-Cinematographer, Sagar World Multimedia Pvt. Ltd; Mr. Rajat Rawail, Indian Film Producer; Mr. Aashish Singh, Vice President (Production), Yash Raj Films; Mr. Rajesh Chopra, VP- Commercial, Star Plus and Star Bharat; Mr. Vivek Anand, Country Manager- India, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority; Ms. Veronika Janečková, Head of International Markets Management, Czech Tourist Authority; and Mr. Saurav Sanyal, Managing Partner, Strategika LLP.
The panellists also highlighted the importance of Indian TV serials which are being shot abroad and promote the destinations. They urged the government to reduce the number of permissions and approvals for shootings from various governmental agencies. The current regime de-incentivizes the filmmakers to rather shoot at spots available domestically and go overseas as the procedure to shoot there is much easier and hassle free.
The State and International Tourism Boards assured their full support to the Filmmakers and also said that they will work on the policies for faster approvals for Film and TV shootings.
Countries of Romania, Mauritius, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic in addition to State Tourism Boards like Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab gave presentations on the incentive schemes for shooting a film in their destinations. International Production Houses like Family Film Entertainment also gave presentation on their expertise on film making. VFS Global also showcased their products.
Mr. Yogesh Srivastav, Principal Director, PHDCCI, gave the formal concluding remarks. The Conclave was a huge success and attended by over 250 delegates and widely covered in print and electronic media.