Category Archives: MOT

Anirban Chakraborty, MD & CEO, Tourism Finance Corp India (TFCI) has praised the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Policy, saying that instead of tinkering with Reverse Repo Rate, RBI has continued its accommodative stance. “The decision of status-quo shall provide relief to the economy, especially affected sectors like hospitality, retail, real estate, auto, etc., for some more time. Further, allocation of Rs. 2,400 crore to the Ministry of Tourism in the Union Budget this year (18.42% higher than the previous year), coupled with low interest rate regime, shall greatly benefit the hospitality sector. 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have released a new set of protocols and SOPs for international travellers, airlines and all points of entry (airports, seaports and land border), under which, effective February 14, there will be a uniform health protocol applicable to all international travellers. Travellers entering India would have to upload self-declaration form on Air Suvidha along with a copy of RT-PCR report within 72hrs OR Certificate of full vaccination. Two per cent of pax on flight will be randomly selected for screening. However, the government has removed the requirement for quarantine unless tested positive during random screening. A reciprocal agreement for recognition of vaccination certificates between India and 82 named countries has been released and the ‘at risk’ doesn’t exist anymore for any country, with rules being uniform for all countries.

The matter regarding extending the validity of the approval/ recognition of the existing stakeholders (tour operators/ travel agents/tourist transport operators) given by the Ministry of Tourism and grant of provisional recognition for the new agencies in view of crisis caused due to the Covid-19 pandemic has been considered in the Ministry. It has been decided to give extension to the existing validity of the tour operators, travel agents and tourist transport operators upto 30.06.2022.

G. Kishan Reddy, the Union Culture Minister, will launch the summit. It will focus on best practises and strategies to develop India’s museums. The Global Summit will bring together prominent figures, domain experts, and practitioners from India and around the world to explore best practises and strategies in the field of museum development and management. The Summit is being held in collaboration with Bloomberg.

Ministry of Tourism has recognised the immense potential of Rural Tourism and has been actively working on promotion and development of this niche area of tourism. The Ministry of Tourism has accordingly formulated a National Strategy and Roadmap for Development of Rural Tourism in India- An initiative towards Aatma Nirbhar Bharat, which has been circulated to concerned Central Ministries, all State Governments/UT Administrations and Industry Stakeholders. 

Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet, at a post-budget interaction with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, put forth the difficulties being faced by civil aviation, travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. He requested her to consider granting infrastructure status to these sectors to facilitate lending by banks and financial institutions. He also requested the Hon’ble Finance Minister’s support for inclusion of Aviation Turbine Fuel under GST. The FM gave a positive response to consider these issues.

Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar has said that e-passports will be launched only after ensuring efficacy of its data security features. “Testing of samples of the proposed e-passports is underway to ensure that they are secure,” he said while replying to questions of the members’ in the House.

Speaking about budget Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy expressed gratitude to PM and FM for the Atmanirbhar Bharat Ka Budget and said, “As India celebrates 75 years of independence with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we are entering Amrit Kaal and this budget presents a blueprint for India at 100. Vikas (Development) and Virasat (Heritage) go hand-in-hand and this is evident from the fact that this year’s budgetary allocations for Tourism and Culture Ministries have been significantly higher.” 

To meet the fund requirements for the various schemes implemented by the Ministry of Tourism during the Financial Year 2022-23, the Finance Minister has earmarked an allocation of Rs 2,400 crore in the Union Budget 2022-23, said Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy. This allocation he said, is 18.42% higher than the Budget allocation for the year 2021-22 and 76.82% more than the allocation of 2013-14.

The Ministry of Tourism celebrated the National Tourism Day by holding a two-hour program on a virtual platform today on the 25th of January 2022. During the program, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, Shri G. Kishan Reddy emphasised on aggressive promotion of various tourism products that India has to offer to the world. Tourism is one of the largest employmentsl generating sectors and it plays a vital role in direct and indirect employment. He also discussed the importance of domestic tourism and plans to start  Tourism Clubs to create more awareness among the students and youth of our country. Further he stressed on the promotion of tourism with special focus on North-Eastern region and to tap the potentiality of the region.