Tag Archives: Amitabh Kant

Amitabh Kant Former Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog said “We brought back Ayurveda to the centre stage as an alternative medicine form. We are seeing a big focus on wellness, and a demand for experiences that are personalised.” 

Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, has said that Tourism is not about government. Every single player is from private sector, including tour operators, taxi drivers and resorts. “Government must assist, facilitate, and act as a catalyst to ensure that the private sector is able to put up good facilities at destinations,” he said.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, visited the Red Fort Museum and claimed that he was delighted to see the museum,w which was developed by Dalmia Cements under the ‘Adopt A Heritage’ scheme. “It is highly experiential, interactive, immensely creative and is the best designed museum in India. My compliments to PM Narendra Modi for promoting PPP in heritage,” he added.

In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, CEO, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, had an interaction with the Administrative Secretaries of different Departments in Srinagar today. Kant said that long term growth needs the involvement of private players in a transparent and competitive manner.”The industrial sector is the one having a major role in creating jobs, therefore focus on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ which will help bring in private players and that NITI will support the government through transaction advisors in range sectors that may need to involve private players, besides, creating an ecosystem for large companies,” he added.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog has said that the travel, tourism and hospitality industry have to go digital and green to convert the crisis into opportunity. He highlighted that this is important for attracting capital as well as enhance valuation. Kant was addressing the hoteliers at the HICSA Hotel investment conference in Delhi. The global pandemic will demand radical changes the way businesses are operated. Europe will be putting rigorous restrictions on unsustainable travel beyond 2026. The travel tourism industry have to take those as challenges and change themselves by going green, Kant said.

Amitabh Kant participates in Investors conference on Eco Tourism projects at Minicoy, Kadmat & Suheli islands. In a tweet, he mentions that responsible & sustainable tourism is based on carrying capacity in Lakshadweep islands. “Sensitive tourism can emerge as a big job creator for local islanders,” he said, stressing on the need to develop sustainable tourism products on the island.

Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has submitted a representation to the CEO of NITI Aayog – Amitabh Kant – highlighting hospitality industry’s plight with reference to Oyo’s business model. The Association has specifically pointed out that certain recent activities conducted by Oyo to earn goodwill have actually come at the expense of partner hotels.

Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog, has said that Maharashtra’s Aurangabad needs both an international airport as well as a state-of-the-art convention centre to boost tourism in the region. Kant announced this at his recent two-day visit to Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC), and added that while other newer cities took time to establish, Aurangabad already has ready infrastructure.

Jyoti Mayal, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Vice Chairperson, FAITH, met Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, on July 2 and discussed the concerns and challenges faced by the members. Some of the major issues discussed in the meeting were airline refunds; challenges faced to retain employees, their salaries and avoid unemployment in the sector; moratoriums and reliefs to trade due to COVID-19 lockdown and loss of business; allowing accredited travel agents to book Vande Bharat flights for Air India and also informing foreign carriers undertaking such flights to permit the same; revival challenges and long-term facilitation for the trade with airlines; protection of the agents from airline defaults and suspension of services; direction from government to airlines on remuneration for promoting the airlines; direction seeking travel agent corporate credit cards to be used for airline ticketing; reduction of credit card merchant fee by banks to below 0.75% so as to promote Digital India for aviation, travel, tourism and hospitality sectors as a whole. Seeking support from the government, Mayal requested Kant to ensure the same and assist in guiding the trade, enable creation of demand for growth, and opportunities for all travel and tourism-related activities.

President & Vice President of IATO along with Presidents of ATOAI and ADTOI met Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog today to seek government’s support for the survival and revival of tour operators and other stakeholders of the industry. During the meeting financial support was sought along with long term loans and a hike in SEIS incentive from 7% to 10%. The NITI Aayog CEO gave a patient hearing and has assured full support. During the meeting, Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO emphasised that Inbound Tour Operators who bring in foreign tourists and earn valuable foreign exchange for the country are on the verge of collapsing due to Covid-19 pandemic and need urgent help to survive as there is zero billing and consequently zero cash flow.  Apart from Sarkar, Rajiv Mehra, Vice President was representing IATO. Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) and PP Khanna, President, Association of Domestic Tour Operators Association of India (ADTOI) were also present. The delegation sought financial support to tour operators so that tour operators do not close down and continue their business with their experienced staff after the COVID – 19 is controlled and tourism is back to business, under MSME Special Non-collateral and interest-free long term loans (5-10 years) to be provided to the tour operators for the survival of the business and aggressive marketing once tourism is back to business.  In addition, IATO sought an increase in incentive offered in Service Export from India Scheme (SEIS) from 7% to 10 % which will allow them to offer competitive packages vis a vis neighbouring countries. Kant gave a very patient hearing and assured the delegation full support to the tourism …