MADHYA PRADESH, THE HEART OF INCREDIBLE INDIA, WILL SHOWCASE ITS RICH FORESTS AND ENCHANTING DIVERSITY OF WILDLIFE AT WTM 2017

COME AND DISCOVER MADHYA PRADESH
AT
STAND NUMBER AS130

TO ARRANGE A MEETING TIME AT WTM 2017, PLEASE EMAIL GEC PR | MPT@gecpr.co.uk

At the heart of India lies a region which will surprise even the most seasoned traveller. Madhya Pradesh, or MP as it is lovingly called, is both superlative in its offerings and peculiarly untouched.

Thanks to its 10,000 sq km of national parks, Madhya Pradesh accounts for almost 20% of India's tiger population. Known as the 'Tiger State', Madhya Pradesh is home to six tiger reserves and visitors keen to go tiger-watching should particularly concentrate on Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna, Satpura and Pench national parks. As Madhya Pradesh is also known as the land of The Jungle Book, promotions at WTM will focus on Mowgli, from Rudyard Kipling's famous novel. Characters from The Jungle Book will roam ExCeL London in puppet form in an effort to popularise the state. Trade partners such as resorts and hotels exhibiting at WTM are keen to offer special deals and early bird discounts to agents and the general public. There will also be prize giveaways on the stand.

Along with appearances from The Jungle Book characters, Madhya Pradesh's stand design will also showcase its rich forests, which form about 25% of its land area and are a refuge for barking deer, leopards, cheetal, wild boars, blackbucks, nilgais and crocodiles. Barasingha (literally translated to 'one with 12 horns') is a swamp deer and the state animal of Madhya Pradesh and the Kanha tiger reserve is the only place in the world where the species exists.

In the state's wilderness, peacocks wander wild through thick teak forests and tigers prowl through several of the country's best wildlife sanctuaries. The state is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the 10th century temples of Khajuraho, covered in ecstatic erotic sculpture; millennia old Buddhist monuments at Sanchi and Paleolithic cave paintings at Bhimbetka. 

Key to the strategy of increasing tourists from the UK is for Madhya Pradesh to expand its campaign to people across the entire country, with the belief that the close links between India and the UK and both cultures will encourage repeat visitors.

The UK is India's second largest source market for tourists and Madhya Pradesh will look to sign deals at WTM 2017 with UK tour operators that will see the number of visitors from the country increase further.