Category Archives: States

The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board has reportedly approved new infrastructure projects worth Rs 1,000 crore in Malabar region. According to Tourism Minister of Kerala, Kadakampally Surendran, the state is putting all efforts to leverage tourism to the Malabar region including five districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasargod and Wayanad. Surendran reportedly pointed that though a million foreign travellers and 13.1 million domestic tourists visit Kerala every year, only about a sixth of them visit the scenic Malabar and the government plans to change this with its efforts. He reportedly said that the travel destinations in Malabar will be developed in keeping with the best international tourism norms. With a new airport in Kannur about to open, the state is now installing the infrastructure to put Malabar on the global tourism map. “Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) will set up a four-star hotel in Kozhikode and three other star hotels in Bekal beach, Muzhupilangad beach and Kannur airport,” he reportedly said. The state has urged the private players to invest in Malabar. V Venu, Principal Secretary-Tourism, reportedly said that the government is negotiating hospitality projects with a number of global brands. “We’ll fill the (infrastructure) gaps with our tourism development funds,” he said. Source: India Today

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has taken steps to rebrand tourism in Maharashtra with the launch of its new logo “म” for the Visit Maharashtra Campaign. The logo was unveiled by Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, in the presence of Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra. Fadnavis said, “We are very happy to announce the launch of the new logo “म” Visit Maharashtra to promote the state tourism prospects worldwide. Maharashtra has an incredible potential to become the most preferred destinations for both domestic and international tourists. We are planning to organise ‘Mumbai Mela’ from December 21 to January 8, 2018, to engage with domestic and international tourists. ‘Mumbai Mela’ will offer a huge platform to various segments to explore their offerings to the tourists. I believe, this new logo of Visit Maharashtra Campaign will push Maharashtra on the global map and create Brand Maharashtra as a popular tourist destination.”

Sensing the immense and innumerable possibilities of promoting Kerala as a destination for ‘Adventure and Activity based Tourism’, the State Tourism Department is focusing on developing new projects to utilise the same, said Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran. Inaugurating a one day workshop organised by the department to give shape to its tourism policy, the Minister said that the need and time has come for the tourism department to evolve itself to cater to the needs of activity and adventure based tourism from now on. While the primary focus at the workshop had been to find new possibilities to take adventure tourism forward in the state, the minister stressed on the need to work closely and in coordination with the Forest Department to realise the goals in the adventure tourism sector. Kerala Tourism is currently planning to re-brand itself and find new avenues to take the sector forward in order to double the tourist arrivals by 2021. Keeping this in mind the department will now start a new ‘Tourist Circuit’ based out of North Kerala and will shift focus from areas it had been concentrating all this while to specifically give thrust to Adventure Tourism with the sole aim of attracting more youngsters to the state. Reiterating the commitment to responsible tourism the minister said that the state government has a definite stand in this regard which will be part of the Tourism Policy that the government will table at upcoming session of the state assembly. Environmental protection and raising the standard of living among the local population are the two primary objectives that the government will focus on as part of responsible tourism. The government will encourage and support new …

Odisha is planning to develop coastal tourism circuit in the state and for the same, the state government has announced an investment of funds to the tune of Rs. 76 crore. “We have taken several steps to tap the tourism potential in the state and attract more tourists,” said Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Government of Odisha. He further added that the government is giving added emphasis on the development of infrastructure facilities in tourist spots. Ashok Panda, Tourism Minister, Government of Odisha, informed that the government would develop the coastal tourism circuit with an investment of Rs 76.50 crore under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Centre. Gopalpur, Tampara, Barkul and Satapada will be in the coastal circuit tourism project. Infrastructure growth and beach development will be the priority in the state and the Central government has released about Rs 15.30 crore in the first instalment of the project and work shall begin for the same shortly. He further added that the government has provided over Rs 20 crore for infrastructure development of tourist spots in Ganjam district in the last two years. Source: PTI

Celebrating the contribution of stalwarts in the travel and tourism industry, the East India Travel Awards commenced in full swing on July 26, 2017, at Radisson Blu Hotel Guwahati. Gathering the region’s movers and shakers under one roof, the event was inaugurated by R Sudhan, Special Secretary (Tourism), Government of Manipur, who also was the Guest of Honour for the awards ceremony. The India Travel Awards salutes the best in the industry and awardees are selected based on a non-biased system of voting.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed an MoU with Government of Uttarakhand and collaborated with Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) to develop the civil aviation sector in the state. The MoU aims to identify relevant factors influencing the development of civil aviation infrastructure in Uttarakhand; assessing commercial potential of various airports of the state; identifying technical considerations for airport operations in the state; evaluating site related technical and engineering parameters for development of projects, making estimate of the capital outlay for the future projects and development of master plan for existing and future civil aviation infrastructure in the state. AAI will also assist UCADA in obtaining necessary clearances for airport operations starting with the upgraded airport at Pithoragarh and later at Chiniyalisaur. The MoU was signed by S. Ramaswamy, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand and Anil Gupta, General Manager (Business Development). Ramaswamy said that the Government of Uttarakhand is determined to fulfil the long pending requirement of operational airports within the state. The new airports would also be part of the Regional Connectivity Scheme and will boost tourism and air connectivity for the local public.

The 4th edition of Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart (MPTM) will be held from October 27-29, 2017 in Bhopal, informed Hari Ranjan Rao, Secretary, Tourism and Public Service Management and Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation. Over 200 national and international buyers and around 100 exhibitors of distinct Indian markets are expected to participate in the mart.According to Surendra Patwa, State Minister, Tourism and Culture (I/C), Kisan Kalyavan and Agriculture Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh, “I am hopeful that this year’s MPTM will open way for more investment in tourism sector in the state. This event will give us the opportunity to create a new tourism policy, water tourism policy, heritage policy, policy of providing accommodation facility centres and home state schemes.” With the theme, Seek-Discover-Explore, the mart will offer a B2B platform to bring together tourism stakeholders and representatives from heritage hotels, conference venues, tour operators and wildlife parks etc. The mart is supported by various trade organisations, like ADTOI, ATTOI, IATO, FAITH, TAAI and TAFI. Rao informed that this year, the number of attendees to the mart is expected to cross over 9 crore. International participants attending the show include representatives from Singapore, Spain, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Thailand, Poland, Austria, Australia, France etc. Rao said, “The travel mart is an opportunity in which the tourism aspects of the state and the policies ad schemes are conveyed to the investors. In the last three years of the Travel mart in Bhopal, it has been experienced that through this one-to-one discussion with tourists, tourism, hospitality and participants of the hotel industry, the efforts being made for the expansion of the area are also being …

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu recently launched e-Inner Line Permit (eILP) to make the entry to the state paperless and hassle-free for domestic visitors. Inner Line Permit is an official travel document issued by the central government to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected/restricted area for a limited period. Khandu optimistically expressed that with this step, there would be a significant increase in the number of visitors to the state as they can now get ILPs from their homes without having to go to the designated offices physically. Visitors can apply and obtain the mandatory inner line permit online at www.arunachalilp.com. Special Secretary Information Technology, Prince Dhawan, explained that after fulfilling all criteria online, visitors will receive the ILP with unique identity number and codes in soft copy in their emails, which can be displayed on their mobile handsets or tabs at the entry gates for verification. However, ILPs can also be obtained at entry gates and other designated places (like Guwahati airport) physically on payment of fees.

The Government of Kerala is looking at 50 per cent increase in the number of domestic tourists and 100  per cent increase in foreign arrivals by 2021, Tourism Minister, Kadakampally Surendran has said. “Digital platforms are the key to achieve the aim. Year after year, we see a constant growth in the number of tourists we host. Hence the industry needs to evolve in accordance with the changes in global market. Kerala Tourism has been exploring new media as a key platform and has witnessed the reach and response to it,” he noted. Dr. Venu V, IAS, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism, says, “Kerala Tourism has always been in the forefront as we were the first tourist destination to start a website. Later, we spread our presence to other social media platforms. The technology platforms are gently stronger. Hence we need to redesign and reengineer to cater the demands of guests.”

The dry spell is over in Kerala with the state government reversing the restricted liquor policy of the previous government and allowing bars to function as usual. The government will allow the bars to function in hotels with three-star status and above. The five-star hotels are already allowed to open bars. Hotels below three-star category will be allowed to run beer and wine parlours. The bars will remain open from 11 am to 11pm. Bars will be allowed to remain open from 10 am to 11pm in tourism centres. Both international and domestic terminals of the airports will be allowed to sell liquor. The permissible age limit for consuming liquor has been increased from 21to 23. The new liquor policy will protect the interests of the traditional liquor, toddy. Bars, including the 5five-star ones, will be allowed to sell toddy. Toddy Board will be constituted to protect the interests of the industry. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the UDF policy of restricted liquor policy was a failure. “It has led to an increase in the demand for drugs. The Supreme Court order on closure of bars and liquor stores on the highways will be implemented,” he added. (Source: Economic Times)