Tag Archives: Secretary Tourism

The third edition of IIMTC, a first of its kind niche tourism congress, was held from September 3-4 in Hyderabad. B. Venkatesham, Secretary Tourism, Government of Telangana, inaugurated the conference. He said, “Hyderabad has immense potential for medical tourism. The world class medical tourism facilities, nursing, qualified doctors along with a vast heritage and culture, beautiful landscape makes Hyderabad an ideal place for medical tourism. The tourism department along with the health department of the state is working to highlight this aspect of travel.” Representatives from various countries like CIS countries, USA, UK, Germany, Middle East besides representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Health , Health and Ayush departments, Government of India, Chambers of Commerce, international associations, academicians as well as healthcare professionals  were present at the two day conference.

In an attempt to leverage medical tourism in Telangana, the Tourism Department and Health Department of the state have come together to form a Medical Tourism Society. The society is aimed at creating a single platform for all stakeholders both public and private to interact and address issues regarding medical tourism. B.Venkatesham, Secretary Tourism, Government of Telangana, said, “Till now we have involved the hospitals, accreditation bodies, health officials and tourism officials in improving medical tourism but we understand the importance of medical travel facilitators and thus this platform will allow the travel agents to put up their issues and participate. The government will also assist and act as a facilitator to the travel agents functioning in this segment of tourism.”

Bharat Parv, a cultural celebration organised by the Ministry of Tourism from August 12-18 at Rajpath, will see participation from 17 states, revealed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Govt. of India. Defence Minister Manohar Parikar inaugurated the event. Held in commemoration of Independence Day, the celebrations exhibit the vast tourism offerings of the country through a crafts bazaar and cultural performances, and showcase the variety of delicacies in the country. Highlights of the week-long affair include an exhibition by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting termed ‘Azadi 70 Saal – Yaad Karo Kurbani’ along with performances by bands from the Armed Forces. With celebrations commencing midday, the event is free for general public but identity proof will be checked at entries of the venue.

An Investment Desk will be set up by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and Invest India to facilitate investment for tourism, revealed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Govt. Of India at the Tourism Investors Summit 2016. In his keynote speech, he stressed that with tourism in India facing exponential growth, the infrastructure needs to be amped up to be on par. This year, foreign tourist arrivals in the country have been growing at an average of 8-9 per cent. With tourism occupying a 12.36 per cent employment share and a 6.88 per cent contribution to GDP, Zutshi stated that the core infrastructure – road, rail, air, and waterways, needs new additions as well as renovation.

As part of the action plan, the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) will launch an aggressive marketing strategy to enlist more bed and breakfast establishments to the Incredible India Bed & Breakfast /Home Stay Scheme and involve online travel agents in its promotion. Rationalisation of taxes and simplification of procedures will be addressed to move towards ease of doing business while groups were constituted to study various aspects of this scheme and submit recommendations in a time bound manner. Through this action plan, MOT aims to fill the desired additional hotel capacity and give impetus to establishments run by the central and state government as well as those run by OTAs since construction of hotels has a long gestation period. This was imparted by Vinod Zutshi, Secretary – Tourism, at MOT’s workshop  on Incredible India Bed & Breakfast /Home Stay Scheme held on 30th May 2016. The workshop was attended by officials from MOT and various State Governments, representatives from the hospitality and the travel trade industry and CEOs of OTAs.

Vinod Zutshi, Secretary – Tourism, Govt. of India, expects inbound tourism to flourish in 2016 after witnessing a growth of 6.8 per cent in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during January 2016. “We are aiming at a 10 per cent growth in FTAs this year. February 2016 alone received a total of 1,17,210 tourists visiting India on e-Tourist Visa (eTV), recording a growth of 369.1 per cent month on month- the effects of eTV will be observed this year.” Commenting on the expansion of domestic tourism Zutshi added that it would grow even further in the coming years. “Domestic tourism has flourished immensely. We had about 1.45 billion domestic tourist visits in 2015 and expect a 15 growth this year. Additionally, we are aiming to reach 2.2 billion domestic tourist visits by 2019.”

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. Of India and the Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) to propagate the cause of responsible and sustainable tourism to the next level. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary – Tourism, said, “ESOI works towards promoting sustainable and responsible tourism practices so we have joined hands with them since our agendas are the same. ESOI will partner with us and assist in sensitising the travel trade first, and then the general public.” It was also announced that a 10-year road map for advocacy and certification under the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India will be charted. Steve Borgia, Honorary President, ESOI, said, “This MoU is also going to set a plan-of-action for the next 10 years for sustainable and responsible tourism.  The planning needs to be aggressive. Regional workshops will also be organised at various cities all over India with different guidelines for each destination.” ESOI, through stakeholder consultations will formulate criteria and classification guidelines for certification for the accommodation and tour/travel operators within the STCI guidelines and later develop standards for destinations which will also be in sync with the internationally accepted Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The two bodies previously formulated and published the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) and plan to put these practices to the forefront through the MoU.

Vinod Zutshi, IAS, Secretary, MOT, Govt of India, said, “MOT is contemplating on organising a Mega Tourism Investor’s Summit around July/August this year for promoting investments in tourism sector. The summit will witness participation of all important states coming with their incentives and packages. The summit will provide to the private investment, stakeholders within India and abroad a chance to cease the immense opportunity of investment in the tourism sector in India.” He said, “I urge all stakeholders to make use of this forthcoming Mega Summit to help us promote Incredible India and Make in India.” Speaking at the launch of the ‘Swachh Parayatan Mobile App’, Zutshi said tourism in 2016 has began on an optimistic note and the Ministry of Tourism is committed to carry on its juggernauts of new initiatives and drives in the coming days. International Branding and promotional campaign has begun. He added, “The forthcoming financial year will see a more aggressive marketing and promotional campaign from Incredible India all over the world. MOT has sanctioned tourism infrastructure projects over Rs 1,500 crore, in the past six months, which shall continue in the forthcoming financial year. We are hopeful that huge public investment of this nature will trigger and promote private sector investments in the tourism sector.”