Vinod Bhat
New Delhi: The 1st BRICS 2026 Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting was successfully convened in virtual mode on 25 May 2026, under India’s BRICS 2026 Chairship. The meeting was chaired by the Joint Secretary (Tourism), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
The meeting served as an introductory and preparatory platform for advancing this year’s tourism cooperation agenda under the overarching theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”
It provided BRICS member states an opportunity to present their introductory remarks and engage with India’s thematic priorities for tourism cooperation. The key thematic priorities under India’s Chairship include Artificial Intelligence and Tourism, Sustainability and Responsible Tourism, Tourism Skilling and Capacity Building, and Tourism Exchanges and Seamless Travel Facilitation.
Building on the momentum generated by this inaugural virtual meeting, the tourism cooperation process will continue with the 2nd Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting scheduled to be held on 19–20 August 2026 in Jaipur, Rajasthan. This will be followed by the BRICS Tourism Ministers’ Meeting (TMM) on 21–22 August 2026, also in Jaipur.
Both these in-person meetings will provide a substantive platform for BRICS nations to strengthen their collaboration and advance the shared tourism agenda.
India looks forward to further deepening tourism partnerships among BRICS nations through these engagements during the course of 2026.
