India Chairs First BRICS Tourism Working Group Meeting 2026, Sets New Cooperation Agenda

In the first edition of BRICS Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting India has formally launched the tourism cooperation under BRICS 2026 Chairship, this meeting was conducted as virtual mode. This initiative will  bring together the tourism agenda among the BRICS nations, focusing on innovation, resilience, sustainability and people to people connectivity.

India Launches BRICS Tourism Cooperation Agenda

The 1st BRICS 2026 Tourism Working Group Meeting was chaired by the Joint Secretary of Tourism under the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

The virtual meeting served as the first formal platform for the BRICS nations to discuss tourism collaboration under India’s leadership.

The theme for the India’s BRICS tourism agenda is the Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.

This meeting has allowed member countries to present introductory remarks and align themselves with the India’s priorities for strengthening tourism cooperation.

Key Tourism Priorities Under India’s BRICS Chairship

India has outlined four major thematic priorities that will shape BRICS tourism cooperation in 2026.

Use of AI in Tourism

India puts strong emphasized on the growing role of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform the tourism services.

AI can improve the personalized travel experiences, tourism forecasting and analytics and smart destination management.

Sustainable and Responsible Tourism

Sustainable tourism is the need and India has highlighted the need to encourage the,

• Eco-friendly tourism practices
• Conservation based destination management
• Community participation
• Reduced the environmental footprint

Tourism Skilling and Capacity Building

Recognizing tourism as the employment-intensive sector, India proposed the stronger cooperation in to the,

• Workforce training
• Hospitality skills development
• Tourism entrepreneurship
• Knowledge-sharing initiatives

This could strengthen the employment generation across BRICS nations.

What Happens Next? Jaipur to Host Major BRICS Tourism Meetings

After the inaugural virtual meeting, India has also announced the next stages of tourism cooperation.

2nd BRICS Tourism Working Group Meeting

Date: 19-20 August 2026

Venue: Jaipur, Rajasthan

This in person meeting will help the members to deepen discussions and finalize collaborative proposals.

BRICS Tourism Ministers Meeting

Date: 21–22 August 2026

Venue: Jaipur, Rajasthan

This high-level ministerial gathering will provides the political direction to BRICS tourism cooperation.