The Great Indian Travel Bazaar 2008 beginning here this Monday is going to be a major pan-Indian travel mart, focusing for the first time on in-bound travel. As many as 163 key foreign tour operators and travel writers from 42 countries are scheduled to join the which will have 200 booths showcasing and marketing various tourism products in India. Hosted jointly by the Rajasthan Department of Tourism, the Union Ministry of Tourism and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the three-day event has the support of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators (RATO), the Hotels & Restaurants Association of Rajasthan (HRAR) and the Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA). Over a dozen international airlines are flying in the tour operators on a gratis basis. Among the 14 States participating in the mart, nine -- West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu -- are "partner States'. The Indian Railways, Indian Airlines, key personnel from tourism bodies, hotels, resorts and spa owners, investors, health care institutions, members from chambers of commerce and industry, media and travel writers are also to be here. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will inaugurate the mart. Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni will be the chief guest. While the tourist season here is at its fag end, they will be talking tourism as tour operators are coming in from the US, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Singapore, Jordan, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Lebanon, South Africa, Japan, Philippines, Australia, Finland, Thailand and Chile. Wonderful response "The response of the international travel industry and the domestic players has been wonderful. That's because the world is seeing India as a happening place, an economy that is ticking along at 8 per cent plus growth, where infrastructure is being spruced up,' said FICCI Secretary-General Ashok Mitra. "The main objective of this prestigious international business-to-business (B2B) event is to reinforce India as a world class destination', said Rajasthan Tourism Commissioner Usha Sharma. she added. The travel mart is primarily a B2B event but it will be open to the visitors on Wednesday. This is to give an opportunity to non-participants to interact with booth-owners.