Visakhapatnam | 2025-11-14 – 2025-11-15
When Andhra Pradesh hosted the 30th CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam on 14–15 November 2025, tourism was discussed as part of a wider investment and international trade agenda. A dedicated session, “From Coastal Charm to Global Conferences – Unlocking AP’s Tourism Potential,” brought together public officials and hospitality, cruise, destination and technology leaders. ADTOI President Ved Khanna was named among the panellists, representing domestic tour operators in that high-level forum.
A panel spanning policy, hotels, cruise travel and distribution
The official programme places Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh in the session chair’s role and Vikram Cotah of GRT Hotels as moderator. Fellow panellists included Manoj Kumar, Jurgen Bailom of Cordelia Cruises, Satyajeet Krishnan of IHCL, Samit Garg of E-Factor Experiences, Pavan Guntupalli of Rapido and Ravi Gosain of IATO.
The agenda ranged from tourism’s industrial status and public-private partnerships to weddings, MICE, integrated tourism ecosystems, coastal experiences and hospitality investment. The presence of a domestic tour-operator representative mattered because investment only reaches travellers when destination products are accessible through trusted distribution channels.
The CII panel composition tells a story by itself. An operator who manages domestic package distribution sat alongside hotel groups, cruise operators, mobility businesses and destination-experience companies. Each sees a different part of tourism demand. The point of the panel was to put those perspectives against the state’s investment and growth ambitions—not to treat any one enterprise as a complete tourism ecosystem.
The official programme also tied tourism growth to local arts, crafts, culture and cuisine, alongside infrastructure and conference travel. Those goals depend on the ability to translate broad state plans into actual products that travel companies can explain to customers. Khanna’s inclusion as an ADTOI panellist supplied that essential tour-operator perspective.
Ved Khanna brings domestic distribution to a global panel
Khanna’s participation put the perspective of Indian domestic sellers into a discussion otherwise dominated by infrastructure, capital and large tourism businesses. This should not be confused with a claim that he personally negotiated investment MoUs; the published summit record supports panel participation.
Tourism’s economic impact is dispersed across many industries. In such a panel, the domestic tour-operator perspective helps connect investment proposals with the traveller-facing questions that determine whether demand can be served.
Turning tourism investment into traveller experience
The session also continued an Andhra Pradesh thread in Khanna’s 2025–26 professional record—from the June ADTOI collaboration ceremony to the subsequent national travel mart in Visakhapatnam.
Behind the leadership role
Khanna’s public-facing association work complements his role as Managing Director of Tourwala Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., listed by the Government of India’s NIDHI+ portal among experienced domestic tourism service providers. Public association activity and a private travel business remain distinct; ministerial participation does not constitute a product endorsement. His professional background is outlined in the Ved Khanna profile.
Original reporting and event references
The reporting behind this account can be checked against the following original publications and institutional records: