Tag Archives: Tourism Minister

Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray and Minister of State Aditi Tatkare yesterday unveiled the new logo and new feedback QR code of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC). They also unveiled the logo of Boat Club in Nashik. During the event, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed with Airbnb, an online marketplace company, to boost tourism in the state. Speaking on this occasion, Mr Thackeray said that the culture of Maharashtra is reflected in a meaningful way in the new logo of MTDC. He said, there is a huge scope for the development of the tourism sector in the state in the post-Corona period. He noted that in such a scenario, the role of MTDC’s resorts and various initiatives in the state are important. He said that employment generation from tourism in the state would be boosted in future. Minister of State Aditi Tatkare said that at present, the Department of Tourism and MTDC are jointly implementing innovative initiatives to boost the tourism and hospitality business in the state. She said, the new logo of MTDC is a testament to the culture, bravery and richness of nature of the state. Ms Tatkare said, this will introduce a new dimension to tourism in Maharashtra. She said that the new initiatives being implemented by the corporation would provide more facilities to the tourists coming to the state. The Ministers applauded Head of the Indian School of Design and Innovation Dr. Indu Shahani and her team for creating the new logo.

Satpal Maharaj, Tourism Minister, Uttarakhand, has said that “Our Government is considering bringing culinary art at a front line of the state’s tourism sector. If the hidden treasure of cuisine tourism is explored and implemented efficiently and effectively then within a very short period, the state will place itself as the culinary hub in the global map. Uttarakhand has a repository of polyherbs, spices that are known for its therapeutic use and used by the Rishis and exponents of the Ayurveda for centuries. The treasure trove of immunity-boosting delicacies of Uttarakhand can derive huge benefits from Healthy Cuisine tourism.”

The Maharashtra Cabinet approved ease of doing business policy by bringing down the number of licenses required to start a venture in the hospitality sector from 70 to 10. HRAWI said, “Due to the continued efforts and liaisoning of Hrawi this is possible and is finally a dream come true. State Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray said in a tweet, ‘This was long overdue.’ He added that his dept is setting up a single-window system for one online application for permissions to facilitate faster approvals.

FAITH and its cause partner AIRDA, have requested the negative travel advisory from the USA to India to be addressed. FAITH Associations have requested the tourism minister to urgently take it up with Minister of External Affairs, for him to take up with his American counterpart for an immediate revision. The United States of America recently released a travel advisory, which rated level 4 for India (as on 23rd Aug 2020). On a scale of 1-4 this is the highest level of risk rating, carrying with it the advice of ‘do not travel’. As stated, reasons for the same, apart from restrictive COVID-19 protocols, the rating highlights terrorism, crimes against women and insurgency among others as concerns. The associations under FAITH have claimed that USA is the most important long-haul source market for India for most segments of travel. As India has begun the process of opening up its air corridors, such an advisory for India is detrimental to kickstarting all leisure, business & mice tourists from the USA. Additionally, travel advisory as such from the United States of America tends to send a wrong signal for the rest of the developed countries as they start opening up their international air travel. This advisory appears to have been last updated on 6th August 2020. The favourable revision of the travel advisory would be a big boost in beginning the process of creating a positive sentiment for travel, which will slowly put in motion revival for the inbound tourism industry

In an exclusive interaction with TravTalk, PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, said that during their meeting with the Tourism Minister, he suggested that MOT bring out a comprehensive study on domestic tourism so that trade members are aware about hotels, transporters, communication and infrastructure in a particular state, to help avoid chaos and confusion.

Kerala Tourism is organising partnership meets and participating in in ten cites across India in the first quarter of 2020, in order to attract domestic tourists to the destination. The cities include Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Guwahati, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Minister, Kerala, revealed that domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala in 2019 saw an overall increase as compared to 2018. The number of domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala is up by 16 per cent for the first three Quarters in 2019

South African Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom is all set to visit India from January 23-26, 2019, travelling to Mumbai and New Delhi. As a part of the South African delegation to India in the lead up to India’s 69th Republic Day, the minister along with Sisa Ntshona, Chief Executive Officer, South Africa Tourism and Maropene Ramokgopa, Consul General will engage with key representatives of the Indian travel and tourism ecosystem including trade partners. The South African Tourism India office has recently been elected and elevated to function as the Hub Office for the Middle East and South East Asia regions. The minister will seek key market insights in an effort to further grow outbound tourism from the region by deepening awareness for South Africa’s diverse tourism offering and addressing barriers to growth. Speaking about the visit, Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – MEISEA, South African Tourism, says, “We are delighted and honoured to welcome the Minister of Tourism, CEO, South African Tourism and the Consul General to one of our largest source markets. The visit reaffirms India as a key market and our commitment to deepen our engagement. During their visit, we intend to address a range of challenges and have constructive, solutions-driven discussions with the tourism trade on how to meet the growing demand for our destination from India.”

Union Minister of State (I/C) Tourism K J Alphons, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Minister Jarkar Gamlin inaugurated two projects under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism at PTSO Lake in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. These projects are ‘Development of Northeast Circuits: Bhalukpong- Bomdila – Tawang Project & Nafra- Seppa- Pappu, Pasa, Pakke Valleys- Sangdupota- New Sagalee- Ziro- Yomcha Project’. Other important dignitaries were also present on the occasion. Speaking at the event, Alphons said, “The efforts of Ministry have shown positive results and the foreign tourist arrivals in the region have shown an upward trend over the years. The region received a total of 1.69 lakh foreign tourist visits during 2017 as against 1.45 lakh in 2016 registering a growth of 16.7% over 2016. The domestic tourist visits reached to 95.47 lakhs in the year 2017 against 77.71 lakhs registering impressive double digit growth of 22.8% over 2016. The increased number of tourists in turn has created better employment opportunity for the local population in the region.” Under the project development of Bhalukpong- Bomdila – Tawang, the Ministry has developed facilities like accommodation, cafeteria, wayside amenities, last mile connectivity, pathways, toilets, multipurpose hall at Jang, Sorang Monastery, Lumpo, Zemithang, Bumla Pass, Gritsang TSO lake, PTSO Lake, Thingbu and Grenkha Hot Spring, Lumla, Sela Lake. The facilities developed under Nafra- Seppa- Pappu, Pasa, Pakke Valleys- Sangdupota- New Sagalee- Ziro- Yomcha include helipad, trekking trails, rafting centre, log huts, craft bazaar, eco park, tourist facilitation centres, parking, festival ground, etc.  

The India pavilion at World Travel Market 2018 in London was packed with activities for the trade and consumers alike. Addressing a press conference, Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, enlisted the achievements of the Ministry. Accompanying Verma were Pramod Kumar Singh, Tourism Minister, Bihar; Vellamandi N Natarajan, Tourism Minister, Tamil Nadu; Aashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism and Charanjeet Singh, Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK. Verma highlighted, “Last year has been a very good year for India tourism with a growth of about 14 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals and about 19 per cent in terms of foreign receipts, much more than the global growth of 6.8 per cent. We also crossed the 10 million mark for the first time. This was possible because of our adoption of the multi-pronged strategy. We focus hugely on creating world-class infrastructure in and around our tourist sites.” She pointed out, “Incredible India 2.0 campaign is more thematic in nature. Looking at the needs and demands of major markets like the US and the UK, we have made some thematic films on niche products like adventure, yoga, Ayurveda, etc. This campaign focuses heavily on social media besides print and electronic media. We are hopeful that through this new Incredible India campaign we will be able to encourage people to revisit india, stay longer and experience the various products we have on offer.” The MOT also recently concluded two new events — India Tourism Mart (ITM) and Paryatan Parv —to create awareness about India both internationally and domestically. “More than 250 foreign buyers participated at the first-ever ITM. Buddhist Conclave was also held to showcase various Buddhist destinations in India.” The key initiative of introduction …

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently inaugurated India Travel Mart (ITM) Lucknow in the presence of Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Tourism Minister, Uttar Pradesh and other senior dignitaries, delegates, exhibitors, hoteliers, travel agents, tour organisers and media from various parts of the country. Many tourism departments like Host State – Uttar Pradesh Tourism, Partner State – Gujarat Tourism & Rajasthan Tourism, Himachal Tourism, Jharkhand Tourism, Uttarkhand Tourism, Madhya Pradesh Tourism, West Bengal Tourism, Delhi Tourism, Spiceland Holidays, Globewel Holidays Dubai, Club Mahindra, Country Inn Group of Hotels & Resorts,  Travel Mail, Hoteliers, travel agents and tour organisers participated at the event.