The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry through its newly constituted National Tourism Committee commemorated the 161st Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda by arranging an Inter-College Meet and Debate on “Swami Vivekananda- A Herald for Sustainable Tourism" on 9th January 2024 at Scottish Church College with the focus of Sustainable Tourism and Youth Empowerment followed by a Discussion session on Swami Vivekananda: A Herald for Sustainable Tourism on 17th January 2024 at The Bengal Chamber. The discussion was followed by a cultural presentation titled “Amritasya Putra”, a tribute to Swami Vivekananda.

The meet and debate session witnessed the esteemed presence of Swami Jnanalokananda Maharaj, Secretary, Swami Vivekananda Ancestral House, as the Chief Guest with other dignitaries like Dr Madhumanjari Mandal, Principal, Scottish Church College; Mr Adhip Nath Pal Chaudhuri, Co-Chairperson, National Tourism Committee, BCC&I. 

Several students from Loreto College, Bethune College, St. Xavier's College, St Paul’s Cathedral College, St. Xavier's University, Asutosh College, Scottish Church College participated in the Debate and Paper Presentation. The themes of the Debate were on three topics- Vivekananda, Sustainable Development and Tourism. The two topics of the debate were:

1. The House believes that retracing the Yatra of Vivekananda can explore the connection of spirituality and tourism in India
2. The house believes, Bahujana Sukhaya Bahujana Hitaya Cha ("for the happiness of the many, for the welfare of the many") of Swami Vivekananda can help achieve SDGs as far as tourism in India is concerned.

The entire initiative was judged by esteemed Jury members-  Mr Pinaki Bhattacharya, Tourism Researcher, Author, and Member of the BCC&I National Tourism Committee; Dr. Ratna Sinha, Fellow XLRI, ACC Mentor & Coach, HR Advisory, Mentor –  Wellness & Communities, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ms Dyuti Banerjee, Senior School Teacher at Modern High School for Girls and Lawyer at Hon'ble Calcutta High Court; and Ms Mohar Mukhopadhyay, Head Corporate Communication, Balmer Lawrie Company limited.

The winners and runners up of debate were from St. Xavier's University, St. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College, Loreto College, Asutosh College, Scottish Church College and for paper presentation were from Loreto College, St. Xavier's University.

The session on Swami Vivekananda: A herald for Sustainable tourism was addressed by Swami Mahaprajnananda, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira; Mananeeya Shri Pravin Dabholkar, All India Treasurer, Vivekananda Kendra; and Mr Arijit Dutta, Managing Director, Priya Entertainments Pvt. Ltd. The Session focused on to encourage responsible tourism, ocean tourism, niche tourism, border tourism, promoting destinations, promoting India as a responsible tourism country, and promoting Bengal as a responsible tourism state, fostering a better world.

The session was followed by a Cultural Presentation: “Amritasya Putra”, a tribute to Swami Vivekananda presented by Sri. Satyam Roychowdhury, Founder and Managing Director, Techno India Group, & Chancellor, Sister Nivedita University; Sri Saheb Chattopadhyay, Actor and Singer, Bengal Film Industry;  Smt Soumili Ghosh Biswas,  Bengali Film and Television Actress, and Classical dancer; and Smt Sudeshna Ganguly, Singer.

The initiative was partnered by Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd and supported by Ascensive Educare Ltd., Eastern Institute for Intergrated Learning in Management (EIILM), VC Communication, Savourites Hospitality Pvt. Ltd., Ruby Park Public School, Calcutta Tea Traders Association (CTTA), Tibet Tours and Travels, IRIS Reps India Pvt Ltd, The Rajbari Bawali. The entire initiative was well covered by leading media houses and attended by more than 250 participants.