PHOTO & INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: 10.30 AM MONDAY 6 NOVEMBER
MADHYA PRADESH TOURISM STAND AS130

There are VIPs, and then there are Jungle VIPs… Fresh out of the wilderness and off the plane, Mowgli will leave the safety and beauty of Madhya Pradesh to meet media and photographers on the Madhya Pradesh Tourism WTM stand (AS130) at 10.30am on Monday 6 November. Mowgli and state representatives are eager to share their love of home state Madhya Pradesh, but beware of Mowgli as he's not used to cities or city folk, so he may find clothing and cameras oddities. Oh, and he may let out the odd jungle call…

Travel media and trade are encouraged to come and meet Mowgli on the Madhya Pradesh Tourism stand (AS130) each afternoon (3-4pm) and take a wild selfie with him shared to Madhya Pradesh social media to win gift bags, courtesy of Madhya Pradesh, the land of the Jungle Book. Photos will be posted on Madhya Pradesh Tourism's UK Facebook page, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mptourisminternational/) and Twitter pages (https://twitter.com/MPIntltourism) and tagged #mowgliWTMLDN #MowgliMP and #theheartofindia #landofjunglebook.

Bringing other highlights of Madhya Pradesh to WTM, the Madhya Pradesh stand will showcase an interactive feature that means visitors can take photos in front of famous Madhya Pradesh monuments, such as Gwalior Fort and The Great Stupa of Sanchi, or with tigers, langoor (a long tailed arboreal monkey) or barasingha (a swamp deer - the state animal of Madhya Pradesh). The Kanha tiger reserve is the only place in the world where this species exists. Take a photo and have it emailed to you to have a Madhya Pradesh WTM keepsake, and your very own #mymadhyapradeshmoment.

Trade partners such as resorts and hotels in Madhya Pradesh that are exhibiting at WTM will also be offering special deals and early bird discounts to agents and travellers.

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. 

Madhya Pradesh 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. 

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.

There are currently 17 flights from the UK to India every day, from a variety of airlines including British Airways, Air India, Jet Airways, Emirates, Qatar and Etihad Airways.

-ENDS-

Notes To Editors:
Madhya Pradesh will be at World Travel Market 2017. Stand number: AS130      
To arrange interview opportunities with the tourist board, please email MPT@gecpr.co.uk

Image Captions:

• Image 1: Madhya Pradesh is known as the land of The Jungle Book and the Mowgli character is based on a real human child in Madhya Pradesh who was nurtured by wolves.
• Image 2: Have an on-stand #mymadhyapradeshmoment and take a photo with a tiger
• Image 3: Take a photo of you at The Great Stupa of Sanchi at WTM then share your #mymadhyapradeshmoment

Contact Details:
GEC PR | MPT@gecpr.co.uk