The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) announced that New Delhi, India would be the host of the 5th Global Travel & Tourism Summit, taking place in April 2005.

The Summit is the industry's highest profile event and attracts Chief Executives, Chairmen and Presidents of the world's foremost Travel & Tourism companies. The event provides a unique platform for discussion between leaders of the global private sector and senior government officials from around the world. Together, these leaders and their decisions help to shape the future of one of the largest industries on earth- Travel & Tourism.

Over the past few months, several countries entered a competitive bid with the aim of hosting the 5th Global Travel & Tourism Summit. The WTTC Executive Committee convened a special meeting earlier this week, to decide the winning destination.

Jean-Claude Baumgarten, WTTC President said "We are delighted to accept the invitation of the Tourism Minister of the Government of India to host the Summit in New Delhi in April 2005. India is a truly remarkable country which offers an enormous potential for Travel & Tourism growth and development over the next ten years".

According to WTTC's exclusive TSA Research, India is one of the fastest growing tourism economies in the world today. Growing at an estimated 8.8 per cent annualized real growth over the next ten years, India is the second fastest growing Travel & Tourism economy in the world. By 2014, India's Travel & Tourism economy is expected to generate US$90.4 billion of total demand and nearly 28 million jobs.

Lalit Suri, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Hotels added, "As a board Member of WTTC and Chairman of the India Initiative established by WTTC some five years ago, I look forward to welcoming the 5th Global Travel & Tourism Summit to New Delhi in 2005".

The event in 2005 will be based upon WTTC's groundbreaking "in-the-round" format, which promotes genuine, lively discussion, and encourages leaders of the industry to express their opinions candidly.

Unlike the majority of commercial and political conferences that are effectively a procession of speeches, with a very small amount of time built in for questions, the Summit will revolve around a series of highly interactive discussions, moderated by internationally recognized journalists and TV presenters, who will expect and request contributions from the audience.