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Revving up wellness tourism in India, the state capital will host the fifth edition of the Global Ayurveda Festival, the largest ever business-to-business meet on Ayurveda-based medical tourism. The event would bring together over 150 tour operators from India and abroad to clinch business decisions with major wellness institutions and service providers.
The focal theme of the event – GAF 2023-, scheduled to be held here from December 1 to 5, is “Emerging Challenges in Healthcare & a Resurgent Ayurveda,” a statement said here.
The prime focus of the wellness B2B segment at the meet, scheduled for December 3 at nearby Greenfield Stadium, is to attract international and domestic tourists seeking Ayurveda-based wellness and rejuvenation solutions and create a network of tour operators, ayurvedic institutions, service providers and other stakeholders, it said.
“This B2B meet at GAF will be a big boost to tourism while globally positioning Ayurveda as a holistic solution to address serious health challenges staring at the humanity,” said G G Gangadharan, Working Chairman, GAF.
As home to world renowned Ayurvedic institutions and where the most authentic form of the time-tested Indian system of medicine is practised, Kerala will especially benefit from the event as wellness tourism is a fast-growing domain in the state, he said.
The meet will provide a platform for networking, knowledge sharing and collaboration between the tourism industry and Ayurveda institutions, said Dr C Sureshkumar, Chief Co-ordinator, GAF.
The foreign tourist arrivals figures coming in for medical services climbed from 495,000 in 2017 to 644,000 in 2018, and further to 697,000 in 2019. There was a notable rebound in FY23, with FTA reaching 304,000, indicating a resurgence. Besides encouraging medical tourism, the agreement’s aim is to merge traditional medical systems into the core of the National Health System.
This meet assumes added significance as it comes in the backdrop of increased global awareness about Ayurveda and the Ayush Ministry, the Centre and all state governments promoting wellness tourism prominently, with special focus on Ayurveda and other indigenous medical systems, Sureshkumar added. Also, an expo of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Ayurveda will be held as part of GAF, enabling a wide range of enterprises from different parts of the country to showcase products and services, it said.
Now into its 5th edition, GAF will see focused deliberations on a diverse range of topics related to Ayurveda by experts from across the globe on all five days.
The biennial event is being organised by the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA), in association with the union ministry of Ayush, state government of Kerala, and various associations of Ayurveda, the statement added.
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