Category Archives: MOT

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to release funds to the tune of Rs 2,482.07 crore fund for the development of infrastructure and tourist amenities under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme project. Out of this, Rs 627.40 crore has been sanctioned for the 10 Swadesh Darshan Scheme projects sanctioned during 2018-19. It also gave its approval for the release of an additional Rs 1,854.67 crore for sanctioning of new projects during 2019-20 in the scheme. Under the scheme, the Ministry of Tourism is developing critical tourism infrastructure in a sustainable and inclusive manner. The provision of this critical infrastructure will catalyse the private sector investment in revenue-generating projects which in turn would lead to positive enhancement of overall experience of tourists. This would lead to increased footfall in the areas, growth of revenue and employment.

During the month of November, 2019, a total of 3,75,484 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 2,61,959 during the month of November, 2018 registering a growth of 43.3%. During January- November 2019, a total of 25,51,211 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 20,61,511 during January- November 2018, registering a growth of 23.8%. The percentage shares of top 15 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facilities during November, 2019 were highest from UK (12.22%), followed by USA (10.75%), China (8.06%), Russian Fed (7.85%), Malaysia (5.71%), France (4.61%),Germany (4.60%), Australia (4.16%), Canada (3.85%), Thailand (3.25%), Italy (2.32%), Singapore (1.87%), Spain (1.64%), Vietnam (1.50%) and Israel (1.40%).

According to the data released by the Ministry of Tourism, Government, Foreign Tourist Arrival (FTA) in India has registered a growth of 7.8 per cent in the month of November 2019 in compared to the same month last year. FTAs in November 2019 were 10,91,946 as compared to 10,12,569 in November 2018 registering a growth of 7.8 per cent. Whereas, FTAs during the period January- November 2019 were 96,69,633 as compared to 93,66,478 in January- November 2018 registering a growth of 3.2 per cent.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog in New Delhi has said that tourism is one of the most pampered sectors by the government. He also said that if India has to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025, the tourism sector can be the biggest driver of India’s growth and jobs generations. Sharing his views during the CII Annual Tourism Summit, he said, “ The government has taken right policy decisions as far as promoting tourism is concerned. We have done every possible thing in that direction. The tourism sector has got such a pampered treatment by the government whether it be for a reduction of GST on hotel accommodation tariffs or the reforms in the e-Visa regime. No other sector in the country has received such progressive reforms by the government.” He also said that if growth has to take place with jobs, which India requires, tourism has to be the key sector to drive both growth and jobs. “Tourism has immense multiplier impact in the economy but its impact as far as direct and indirect job creation is concerned, is truly formidable. Therefore, if there’s one sector which greatly creates jobs, it is the tourism sector and that’s what India needs, growth with jobs,” he said. He further said, “But, I am also a believer that tourism is essentially a private sector with stakeholders such as tour operators, tour guide, transport operator, hotels, airlines involved. Therefore, if tourism in India has to grow, the private sector in tourism will have to be the key driver of growth. The government at best can be the catalyst. Secondly, it’s not the numbers of tourist which is critical, I believe that unit …

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has identified 138 monuments as must-see monuments and information of all these monuments is made available on ‘must-see’ portal of ASI, revealed Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/c) of Culture and Tourism. He said that there are 38 World Heritage Sites in India, out of which 22 cultural sites including monuments/ buildings and caves are under protection of ASI. There is no such division between repair and maintenance activities. Conservation includes all actions at the site for repair, maintenance and protection of the monuments. The expenditure is incurred as per the requirement of works at different sites and availability of resources.

According to India Tourism Statistics 2019, 52,66,898 foreign tourists visited India in the first half of 2019, registering a growth of 2.2 per cent over the same period last year, when 51,51,321 FTAs were registered. However, this is still a steep decline when compared to FTA growth in 2018 over 2017, which stood at 7.7 per cent. In the first half of 2019, the month of January recorded the highest number of foreign arrivals, registering 11,03,380 FTAs.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, organised a workshop in  Delhi on its ambitious online Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification Programme (IITF) for industry stakeholders to give them an overview about the training programme. The registration for the programme starts from December 20 and the course will begin from January 1, 2020. The fee for the same is Rs 2,000 and applicants belonging to SC/ST category and residents of J &K, Ladakh are exempted from any fee. 10+2 is the minimum educational qualification to enrol into the programme. However, applicants above 40 years of age need 10th passing certificate. Going forward, the Ministry is looking to come up with an e-market place, which can accessed by individual travellers too. For providing support and assistance, the Ministry has also released a new toll free helpline number.   Expressing her views during the workshop, Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India said that the Ministry has received a very good response since they have announced the programme. “We have already received 7,500 queries for IITF on our system. We are expecting to get around 20,000 registrations in one month’s time after it starts. It is very encouraging to see such a response,” she said.   The content of the course and module has been designed by the Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management (IITTM) and strategic and technological support has been provided by Wipro.  

The Government has formulated special action-plan for the development of tourism in Sri Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned a project development of Heritage Circuit: Anandpur Sahib – Fatehgarh Sahib – Chamkaur Sahib – Ferozpur –Amritsar – Khatkar Kalan – Kalanour – Patiala in Punjab for Rs.99.95 crore in the year 2018-19. Submission of project proposals by the State Governments/ UT Administrations under the above scheme is a continuous process. The projects under the schemes are identified in consultation with the State Governments/UT Administrations and are sanctioned subject to their adherence to relevant scheme guidelines, submission of suitable Detailed Project Reports, availability of funds and utilization of funds released earlier.

India’s tourism sector is adopting a new digital and social media strategy to increase the flow of visitors from the East Asian markets, with a focus on China’s millennial, said, Rupinder Brar, ADG, MOT, post Incredible India roadshow in Singapore. She adds, “The feedback from Chinese millennials has helped understand their travelling needs. With such feedback, tour operators have been urged to plan tour products that offer more than the clichés.”

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of Tourism, Government of India, unveiled ‘Indian Culture’- an interactive web portal for digital preservation of cultural artifacts of India. Patel said that this portal will be a one-stop-shop for all the information along with pictures related to rare images of monuments, detailed accounts of Indian UNESCO World Heritage Sites, rare books, paintings, cuisines and research papers. The platform is live now on www.indianculture.gov.in and hosts data of cultural relevance from various repositories and institutions all over India. The portal was envisioned by Ministry of Culture in 2016 and IIT Bombay built the resources of the portal from scratch. Apart from the content hosted on the portal, one can also browse content available on the website of Ministry of Culture organisations.