BRICS nations for deeper cooperation in sustainable tourism, easier travel
Jaipur: BRICS member countries have called for deeper cooperation in the fields of sustainable tourism, skills development and easier travel.
The grouping adopted a Declaration after a meeting of their Tourims ministers which was hosted by India here.
The Brics Tourism Ministers’ Communique 2026 recognises the potential of responsible, safe and human-centred artificial intelligence and digital technologies to reshape the tourism sector, including through cooperation on tourism planning, destination management, visitor services, multilingual communication and travel facilitation.
“The tourism sector has the ability to take economic growth beyond major centres to towns, villages and remote regions,” Indian Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, underlining its role in India’s goal of becoming a developed economy by 2047.
Tourism supports livelihoods across hotels and homestays, transport, tourist guides, artisans, weavers, farmers and entrepreneurs, he said, adding that millions of families depend directly or indirectly on the sector.
The declaration, which followed work by the Brics Tourism Working Group during India’s chairship, sets out four broad priorities: artificial intelligence and tourism; sustainability and responsible tourism; tourism skilling and capacity building; and tourism exchanges and seamless travel facilitation.
The ministers also called for greater protection of natural and cultural heritage, community-centred tourism, investment in tourism infrastructure and promotion of a wider range of tourism products.
They backed continuous skilling and upskilling of tourism professionals, stronger links between industry and academia, greater exchange of tourism data and statistics and sharing of best practices among member countries.
India’s chairship has come as Brics has expanded beyond its original members, bringing a wider set of emerging economies into the grouping and increasing the scope for cross-border tourism cooperation.
Tourism ministers and heads of delegation from nine Brics countries attended the Jaipur meeting. Participants included Brazil’s Tourism Minister Gustavo Costa Feliciando, Iran’s Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Reza Salehi Amiri, South Africa’s Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille and UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri.
China, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Russia were represented by heads of delegation.
On the sidelines of the meeting, India held bilateral discussions with Brazil, Iran, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates to advance cooperation in tourism.
Shekhawat said India was working to build a tourism ecosystem that was economically prosperous, environmentally responsible, technologically enabled and culturally authentic.
The visiting delegations were also given curated experiences focused on traditional arts, crafts and community-based tourism. They are scheduled to visit Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal, City Palace and Amber Fort on Saturday as part of their exposure to the city’s heritage and tourism offerings.
The Jaipur Declaration also seeks to improve people-to-people connectivity across BRICS countries, with the ministers calling for greater tourism exchanges and measures to facilitate smoother travel. (BVI)
