The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has unveiled its mascot: ‘Adyant,’ and a new tagline, representing their strategic move which is aimed at enhancing brand recognition. ITDC also plans to promote The Ashok as a wedding venue, aligning with the wedding tourism campaign.

According to VFS Global, the visa application volume from New Delhi registered a 10 per cent year over year growth in 2023. When compared to pre-COVID numbers, visa application volumes from the city reached 82 per cent. Visa application volumes from New Delhi continued to stay strong last year, it added.

Naveen Kundu, Managing Director, EbixCash Travel, said, “Investments will pour into India, as the focus is rapidly shifting to 100-150 cities, towns, and districts of India. This is where growth will come from, primarily driven by funds that will invest in real estate, hotel projects, convention centers among others.”

Manisha Saxena, DG Tourism, MOT, said, “The decrease in the budget for overseas promotion is merely a technical reduction. There has been an increase in the allocation for domestic tourism. It is a matter of revamping the schemes and using them in tandem for domestic as well as overseas promotion.

Morocco Tourism will organise an exciting webinar to showcase the destination to the travel trade today at 11:30 am. Attendees will learn about Morocco’s rich tourism assets and its experiential offerings for the Indian traveller. For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532 to register.

To boost domestic tourism and inbound arrivals, India needs to frame policies that could introduce uniformity in the sector. Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, believes that it is high time that India should come up with a National Tourism Policy, which will escalate investments and augment tourism’s share in the economy.

CRISIL Ratings estimate a rise of more than 20 per cent in the profit of the domestic airline industry in the next fiscal year. The subsequent increase in profit is being accredited to the surge in passenger traffic, the ability to pass on volatile fuel prices to flyers, and reduced fluctuation in foreign exchange rates.

Bihar’s Finance Minister Samrat Choudhary revealed in the state budget for financial year 2024-25 that the state will provide subsidies on investments for the development of tourism in the state. A subsidy of up to 30 per cent on investments up to ₹10 crore, and the like, according to a press release.

MOT recently released the number of total number of jobs, direct and indirect, in the tourism sector. For 2021-22, it recorded 70.04 million jobs, an uptick in comparison to 68.07 million in 2020-21. Industry leaders believe more jobs could help in unlocking the full potential of India’s tourism sector.

Speaking at South African Tourism’s India Roadshow 2024, Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, South African Tourism said the country witnessed a growth of 43 per cent in Indian visitors in 2023. There was a rise of 26% in outbound travel to South Africa from Jaipur, and 36 per cent from Delhi.