Minister visits Spain & Portugal for Sikkim tourism promotion

PRITAM LAMA

GANGTOK,: Tourism & Civil Aviation minister Tshering T. Bhutia, along with officials from the Tourism & Civil Aviation department, Government of Sikkim, visited Spain and Portugal as part of the State government's efforts to strengthen global tourism ties and promote Sikkim as a prime travel destination.

A high-level delegation from Sikkim, led by minister Bhutia, engaged in discussions with the Indian Ambassador to Portugal, Puneet Roy Kundal, at the Indian Embassy in Lisbon on Friday.

Accompanying the minister were Tourism & Civil Aviation principal secretary CS Rao and principal chief engineer Neeraj Pradhan. They were joined by first secretary Asha Antony and Ronnie from the Indian Embassy.

The meeting focused on tourism promotion, investment opportunities, and marketing strategies to enhance Sikkim’s global presence in the tourism sector.

The minister outlined Sikkim’s tourism potential, emphasizing its unique offerings, investment opportunities, and the incentives announced by the state government.

A detailed presentation on Sikkim’s tourism sector was delivered by the tourism principal secretary, highlighting the state’s strengths and untapped opportunities and areas for foreign investment.

Both sides discussed strategies to enhance tourism promotion and marketing for Sikkim on an international platform.

Recognizing the potential of Sikkim as a premier travel destination, the ambassador invited Sikkim to participate in the Better Tourism Lisbon (BTL) Travel Market 2025, Portugal’s largest and a prestigious international tourism fair scheduled from March 12–16.

The Embassy assured its full support to help Sikkim showcase its tourism potential to a global audience and facilitate business-to-business (B2B) interactions. The visit to Portugal and Spain was part of a larger international tourism promotion initiative of the Sikkim government.

Earlier, the delegation also participated in FITUR 2025 in Spain, one of the world’s largest tourism trade fairs, where they represented Sikkim as co-exhibitors in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

With the successful Portugal tour, the Sikkim tourism delegation has wrapped up its official promotional program in Spain and Portugal.