Category Archives: States

The Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal is going to introduce exclusive Tourist Pick-up and Drop Points across the city of joy. Tour Operators in Kolkata often faced difficulties due to the traffic restrictions in and around the city while dropping off or picking up tourists in front of places of tourist interest or hotels. To address this issue and to facilitate the free movement of tourist vehicles across the city of joy, the Indian Association of Tour Operators – IATO recommended introducing pre-specified Pickup- Drop points in different strategic locations across Kolkata with specific signage where only commercially registered tourist vehicles operated by ATSP should be allowed to pick-up-drop tourists. Considering the above the Department of Tourism – Government of West Bengal has initiated a joint inspection to finalize the proposed Tourist Pickup and Drop Points along with the representatives from Kolkata Traffic Police Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Department of Transport, and Chairman IATO on 26th July 2022 and 4th August 2022 respectively. It has been proposed that the commercially registered tourist vehicles with a seating capacity of up to 10+1 will be allowed for 05 minutes and vehicles above will be allowed to stop for 10 minutes at the respective TP&D points for operations. The Department of Tourism – Government of West Bengal has already initiated the required action with the competent state government departments and a notification has been issued on 3rd November 2022 to implement this at the earliest. The idea is to facilitate the recognized tour operators and tourist transport operators to ensure seamless movement of tourists across the city of joy and position Kolkata as a Tourist-friendly City. Super happy to be a part of this …

Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat, has got three new tourist attractions, which have been recently inaugurated PM Narendra Modi— the Maze Garden, Miyawaki Forest and a houseboat service, Ekta Houseboat in Ekta Nagar. The newly added tourist attractions are expected to bring many tourists to Narmada District.

Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, inaugurated the Odisha Travel Bazaar in Bhubaneswar. He announced that they have identified 17 priority destinations encompassing beaches, biodiversity zones, heritage monuments and areas of religious and cultural importance for integrated master-planning based development.

Jammu and Kashmir has registered a tourist footfall of 1.62 crore for the first time in the history of 75 years of independent India. Reports have revealed that the tourism sector has seen a significant boost in April 2022 with the highest-ever record of 102 to and fro flights as well as around 15,199 average daily passengers.

In a country first initiative, Kerala is set to become a fully women-friendly tourism destination by implementing a comprehensive project to encourage the participation of women in all tourism activities and attract more women tourists to the state, Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas said. Launching the state-level ‘Women-Friendly Tourism’ project, an initiative of State Responsible Tourism Mission (RT Mission), Shri Riyas said Kerala already enjoys the reputation as the safest destination for women tourists. Noting the significance of the project,  Riyas said the state needs a paradigm shift at a time when the world is witnessing a sharp increase in solo trips by women as well as in groups. The Minister said this initiative is conceived not just as stand-alone package, but as a comprehensive project to ensure presence of ordinary women in various tourism activities and bring more women travellers to the state.   “Through this project, RT Mission ensures safe and hygienic places and tourism destinations for women tourists. The all-women tour packages will be controlled and operated by women, including food, accommodation, transportation and community guides” he said. The Minister also inaugurated a one-day workshop organised as part of the project. Delivering the key-note address, Deputy Representative, UN Women India, Kanta Singh, said creating a safe, reliable and hygienic infrastructure that addresses the needs of women is vital while implementing the project.  UN Women will sign an MoU with RT Mission regarding gender inclusive tourism, she said. Kerala Tourism Director, P B Nooh said while ensuring the safety of women tourists, the project will bring about a holistic change in tourism sector. Nooh called for more debates to evolve solutions for the problems regarding safe journey of …

Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has declared 2023 as the year to visit Andhra Pradesh, and the campaign will be called ‘Visit Andhra Pradesh 2023’. The campaign kickstarted on World Tourism Day and a grand launch will be done in the first week of December.

Minister of Tourism, Culture & DoNER, G. Kishan Reddy Ji said that India’s tourism sector is recovering well with strong contribution from domestic travel. He shared that the various schemes like Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD scheme initiated by PM Narendra Modi Ji has helped in holistic development of the tourism sector. He also mentioned that the National Tourism Awards have over the years emerged as a prestigious recognition of achievements in the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors, that has helped motivate the stakeholders involved here.

To support Unique Tourism Projects under Maharashtra Tourism Policy 2016, DoT signed an MoU with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) with a desire to light up (sound and light show) the Gateway of India, thus making it a destination to further attract tourists. The IOCL will finance the project through the CSR funds and facilitate the operation of sound & light show through its technical expertise. Similarly, another MoU was signed with Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) to begin the concept of Mining Tourism in Maharashtra to explore the state’s mineral treasure. Tourists will get to experience mine tourism at Saoner (UG) and Adasa (OC) in Nagpur Area, Niljai (OC) Wani Area and Bhatadi (OC) in Chandrapur Area.

Ministry of Tourism facilitated the efforts of industry stakeholders and conferred the National Tourism Awards 2018-19 to winners in different categories on the occasion of World Tourism Day at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The Chief Guest of the prestigious event was Jagdeep Dhankhar, Vice President of India, who honoured the excellence of members in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry, including State Governments. G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DONER, along with Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State for Tourism, also graced the ceremony. Ministers, representatives of states, travel trade and tourism organisations were in attendance to receive the awards. MOT also commenced its Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) iconic week to celebrate 75 years of independence with the National Tourism Awards.   List of Award Winners 2018-19 States Best State / Union Territory : Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) First Prize (Hall of Fame) Uttarakhand Best State / Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) 2nd Prize Maharashtra Best State / Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) Third Prize Telangana Best State/ Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) Hall of Fame Andhra Pradesh Best State / Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) Hall of Fame Kerala Best State / Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) Hall of Fame Goa Best District Tourism Promotional Council Kozhikode Best Maintained and Differently Abled Friendly Monument Shiv Temple, Bhojpur, Madhya Pradesh Best Tourist Friendly Airport in Class X Cities Kolkata Best Tourist-friendly Railway Station Secunderabad Best Tourist-friendly Airport in other cities Indore Best Heritage City Ahmedabad Civic Management of a Tourist Destination in India (Category …

To fuel the rise in demand for both domestic and international travel, Global Panorama Showcase announces its 9th edition for 2022-23 across 10 cities. Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) is an initiative to unleash the tourism potential that lies in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of India. GPS provides an opportunity for the travel trade to meet, network, educate and conduct business with tourism providers, hotels, DMCs, technology providers, airlines, cruise companies, tourism board, etc.