NEW DELHI: The Iconic Tourism Summit 2025, staged by Redhat Communications in collaboration with TV9 Network, drew policymakers, diplomats, industry bosses and cultural figures to ITC Maurya for a day of discussion and recognition of excellence in tourism.
The morning sessions, under the banner “Innovation, Transformation and Impact”, tackled themes from content-driven travel to building “iconic experiences”. Speakers included Niharika Rai, tourism secretary, Delhi; Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group chief executive of MakeMyTrip; Mugdha Sinha, managing director of ITDC; Shriji Huzur Dr Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur; Sandeep Dwivedi of Amadeus; Anshul Sethi of Indigo; and Yummi Talwar of VFS Global.
The evening climaxed with the Iconic Awards, presented by culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who shared the stage with Amitabh Kant, Jyotsna Suri, Ishika Taneja, Manoj Adlakha, Suman Billa and Sandeep Marwah. Ambassadors from Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Greece, Serbia, Seychelles and Malta lent an international sheen.
Awards spanned aviation, hospitality, travel tech and cultural achievement. Indigo, Emirates, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, ITC Hotels, Accor, Amadeus and VFS Global were among the corporate winners. Individual honours went to hoteliers, innovators and cultural figures—from Rajesh Magow, named Iconic Technology Innovator, to Dr Ruby Makhija for sustainability and Kavita Bhartia for fashion. Jyotsna Suri was hailed as the Iconic Beacon of Brilliance 2025, while Suman Billa was named Changemaker of Indian Tourism.
The jury boasted luminaries such as former governor Vinod Kumar Duggal, BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi, former ITC director Nakul Anand, craft revivalist Madhu Jain and PR veteran Dilip Cherian.
With its mix of policy talk and high-profile awards, the summit underscored India’s ambition to position tourism as both a growth engine and a soft-power asset.