Category Archives: States

Odisha Tourism continues to enhance its digital strategy to encourage tourist inflow with a six-month content partnership agreement with TripAdvisor. Under this agreement, TripAdvisor has created a microsite with an entire inventory of places to visit in Odisha, as well as things to do, events and other travel information for global travellers to discover Odisha online. The site also includes campaign branding by Odisha Tourism which is also the host partner of one of the country’s marquee sporting event – Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018. The reach covers India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and UK. Vishal Dev, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government, Odisha Tourism, said, “It’s great to have a global name like TripAdvisor on board to help us get more travellers to Odisha especially in the coming months when the state will be buzzing with activities across all sectors. We are also host partner of the Men’s Hockey World Cup Bhubaneswar and are expecting substantial foreign footfall. We want to leverage TripAdvisor’s global network and strong understanding of regional travel trade and market nuances, to shape and spur growth in this region.” Sarah Mathews, Head of Destination Marketing for Asia Pacific said, TripAdvisor, said, “We are glad to have the opportunity to work with Odisha Tourism to ensure that travellers who consider visiting India will not only visit its popular destinations but go beyond and experience all that Odisha has to offer.”  

Goa Tourism has been contributing immensely to the digital transformation of the country’s travel sector. Goa Tourism through Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) recently launched Goa Miles, an app-based taxi service to streamline the entire tourist transportation process within the state. GTDC has also launched an e-commerce portal and a mobile application to provide tourists a digital experience of Goa. Visitors can browse through various options ranging from holiday packages, hotel bookings to adventure trips, spice gardens and water parks, among others. Speaking on the occasion of World Tourism Day, Goa Minister for Tourism Manohar Ajgaonkar said, “At a time when tourism boards are competing hard, Goa Tourism has gone ahead to increase its reach to the world and the results are visible. From digitalising our internal processes to our tourism services, Goa Tourism has come a long way in this digital transformation. I wish our tourism partners, stakeholders and each and every visitor to Goa a pleasant experience with Goa Tourism.” Goa Tourism recently launched an aggressive social media campaign ‘Tourism by Tourists’ to promote Goa as a ‘must-visit’ destination. To achieve this, Goa Tourism partnered with over 500 amateur photographers (through crowd-sourced Instagram activity: #PickMyGoaPic), more than 100 bloggers and 30 YouTube content creators to harness their content while touring Goa. The content shared by them was amalgamated into a video promoting Goa as a ‘must-visit’ destination. The campaign bagged a Gold at the National Tourism Awards by the Tourism Ministry for ‘Best use of Social Media in promotion of a Tourism Board’ in 2017.

West Sikkim is set to host World Tourism Day 2018 on September 26 and 27 on this year’s theme of ‘Tourism and the Digital Transformation’ with a series of workshops, adventurous tourism and other activities in Pelling. The event is being organised jointly by the Tourism & Civil Aviation Department, West District Administration and West District Tourism Society (WDTS) with the support of tourism stakeholders of West Sikkim. A state-level celebration committee has been constituted headed by Sikkim Tourism Minister Ugen T Gyatso Bhutia and UDHD Minister NK Subba as the chief patron and other MLAs of West District as patrons. The committee has Sushil Tamang as Working President of WTDCC. In view of the challenges being faced by Sikkim’s tourism sector, a panel discussion on the digital transformation in tourism in the context of Sikkim is being organised. Seniormost representatives of leading online travel companies, digital news and media companies, travel writers and leading local hoteliers, travel agents and tourism stakeholders have been invited to join the panel. These include the likes of Ruchi Lahoti, Area Manager—India, Booking.com; Sandip Roy, acclaimed novelist and writer; Ugyen Choppel, a noted filmmaker and chairman of the Chumbi Group; Bjorn De Niese of Mayfair Hotels & Resorts, among others. Discussions will focus on insights and opportunities in promoting Sikkim tourism in the digital age, changing the travel landscape as well as creating digital linkages for marketing Sikkim’s homestays and Sikkim’s organic produce with tourists.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board (MPTB) highlighted the state’s historical monuments and cultural heritage through its participation at India Tourism Mart (ITM) recently held at The Ashok New Delhi. The focus was to showcase and revive the fast-growing tourism sector of Madhya Pradesh. The stall of MPTB was visited by industry influencers, travel enthusiasts, corporate, business heads, travel operators and media professionals from different corners of the city to exchange views and opinions on Madhya Pradesh Tourism. MPTB is going to organise two major events in Bhopal this year – Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart from October 5-7 and Adventure NEXT from December 3-5. The former is organised by ATTA in collaboration with MPTB in association with ATOAI. ATTA has chosen Madhya Pradesh because of its adventure-friendly destinations and efforts of MPTB to promote adventure tourism in the state. As quoted by the officials of MPTB, “Madhya Pradesh is flourished with historic marvels, home of wildlife animals and warm people. It is also called the tiger state of India. We expect major inbound tourist footfall mainly from UK. If you look at the statistics, a lot of international destinations like Switzerland, Singapore are now filled with Indian tourists. So if Indians are willing to go abroad and see destinations of the world, why not explore our own country. So we are having a balanced approach in all the sectors of tourism such as adventure, wildlife, heritage and many more.”

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) participated at the recent PATA Travel Mart 2018 in Langkawi, Malaysia to promote the tourism prospects of Maharashtra on a global platform. Dinesh Kamble, Senior Manager, Marketing and Publicity represented MTDC at PATA Travel Mart 2018. MTDC pavilion at PATA Travel Mart 2018 was visited by Mridal Kumar, High Commissioner of India to Malaysia and Sudeshna Ramkumar, Director – India Tourism Singapore, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India along with Chris Botrill, Chairman, PATA and Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA. Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) showcased several prospects of tourism such as beach tourism, Buddhist tourism, adventure tourism, wildlife tourism and Bollywood tourism at the 41st Edition of PATA Travel Mart 2018. PATA Travel Mart 2018 offered a golden chance to aggressively market the tourism catalogues, vivacious culture, exclusive destinations and investment prospects in the state. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra said, “Maharashtra is leading in terms of foreign tourist arrivals (FTA). With the 41st edition of PATA Travel Mart 2018, we were able to promote the diversity of our state which offers 360 degrees dimension and the potential to cater to the needs of global travellers.” Vijay Kumar Gautam (IAS), Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of Maharashtra added, “The main objective of participation at 41st Edition of PATA Travel Mart 2018 is to encourage Maharashtra as a world-class tourist destination and help the and tour operators to network with international buyers, trade buyers, exhibitors, strategy makers and investors.”

In a bid to promote Ganesh Festival amongst travellers, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), in association with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), has made special arrangements for international tourists at Girgaum Chowpatty. A pavilion with the capacity of more than 300 people has been set up for tourists to participate in the spirit and cultural fervour of Maharashtra. Looking at the overwhelming response received last year during the festival, MTDC and MCGM are offering many amenities this year. Commenting on the occasion, Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, said, “It is a pleasure to showcase the best of Maharashtra’s rich culture and tradition. The distinct pavilion has been set up for overseas travellers to perceive our beloved deity Ganesha. The amenities offered include clean drinking water, mobile toilets, bus transport, along with refreshment. Tourists can see the Ganapati idols from all over the city at Girgaum Chowpatty.” The two corporations together aim to make Ganeshotsav an international event. Tourists can study and participate in various aspects of the Indian culture and rituals. Vijay Kumar Gautam (IAS), Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, said, “To position this festival on the global map, we are inviting international tourists to participate through MCGM registration facilities. I am certain that the festival will attract a large number of international visitors.” Suhas Diwase, Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) said, “Ganeshotsav is a festival that has always brought individuals from different cultures and communities together. Tourists from diverse countries come to experience Ganesh Darshan every year. We are happy to associate with MCGM to accommodate international tourists and give them an experience of one of the most popular festivals in …

Sending out a strong message that tourism in the flood-battered Kerala will be back on the rails in double-quick time, Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will hold its biennial meet in Kochi from September 27-30. Being held in the wake of the devastating floods, the tenth edition of KTM will focus on measures that would lead to a strong resurgence of tourism, which is the mainstay of Kerala’s economy. The inaugural session of the four-day event, being organised by the KTM Society in association with the state tourism department, will be held at Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty on September 27. In the next three days, a series of buyer-seller meets, seminars and policy deliberations will take place at Samudrika and Sagara Convention Centre at the Willingdon Island. “The response to this edition of KTM has been overwhelming with 395 overseas buyers and 1,095 domestic buyers having registered as participants. The complete list of participants for the buyer-seller meet will be released on September 10,” said Baby Mathew, President, KTM Society. KTM will serve as a strong platform to showcase its time-tested as well as new products of Kerala. The new products launched by the state government like the Malabar River Cruise project, focusing on nine rivers in north Kerala, will be showcased before the delegates.  

K V Abul Nazar, Chairman and Managing Director, Akbar Travels recently met with the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan and handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore towards the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. Owing a majority of its growth story to Kerala, Akbar Travels currently has 35 branches in the state, spanning almost all the districts of God’s own country. Currently, the company has a total of 57 IATA approved branches and 40 non- IATA offices across India.

Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society has set up a task force to carry out the relief and rehabilitation work and support the huge task of rebuilding the lives of the flood-hit people of Kerala. As many as 28 organisations in the tourism sector have been brought under the ambit of this task force, which, apart from concentrating on the relief and rehabilitation works, will also focus on creating awareness on the need to contribute to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) for the flood-affected people. The Task Force has already sent teams for the clean-up operations in various places and successfully roped in around 1500 people to carry out the relief and rehabilitation work in Munnar and nearby tourism spots. It has been decided that every organisation under the Task Force and its workers would give away their one day’s earnings to the CMDRF, Abraham George, Convenor, Task Force, said. “The relief work is going on in full swing and the members are doing an excellent job under the guidance of Baby Mathew, President, KTM Society and Chairman, Task Force,” George said. To start with, seven teams have been deployed for clean-up works in places like Paravur, Aluva, Chengannur and Munnar.

After the severe floods in Kerala, the tourism industry in the state is geared to be back in business by September 1, 2018, says Sejoe Jose, Chairman, IATO Kerala Chapter. “The airports are expected to open on August 26, and even if we keep a buffer owing to DGCA permissions, it should be operational by September 1. In fact, the airport management is insisting to resume operations from August 26,” he adds. Jose insists that tourists would be able to visit Kerala starting September. “Kerala would be ready to receive guests from the first week of September. However, nobody is expecting the bookings to start immediately as it is going to take time. There have been cancellations as well. At a recent meeting with KTM Society, we estimated a loss of Rs 1000 crores for the tourism industry, for people directly and indirectly affected. The loss owing to cancellations is estimated to be around Rs 120 crores,” he informs.