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Delhi Government has earmarked Rs 10 crore for development of tourism infrastructure in 2016-17. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia announced this while presenting the 2016-17 Budget in the Delhi Assembly. The government also proposed to create a new campaign called ‘Brand Delhi’ and has earmarked Rs 30 crore for Brand Delhi and Delhi Festival in 2016-17. “We will re-develop the online presence of destination Delhi through websites, Apps, maps, social media and micro-sites,” Sisodia said. The government has also propose a skywalk way from Qutub Minar Metro Station to the Qutub Minar, a first of its kind is proposed to be developed in 2016-17. The said walkway will go over the Mehrauli archaeological complex.

In a bid to simplify tax regime, Delhi Government has announced increase in threshold limit of Luxury Tax from existing Rs 750 to Rs 1,500. “This will reduce tax burden on citizens and tourists and make it easy for small hotels to do business,” said Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia. The government has decided to introduce self declaration in Luxury Tax. Assessment of all hotels is compulsory and will be done on random basis. The revenue collection from Luxury Tax has seen an increase of 36.7 per cent. As against last year’s Rs 322 crore of revenue from Luxury Tax, this year will exceed Rs 440 crore is estimated to be collected. Last year, the government had enhanced Luxury Tax from 10 per cent to 15 per cent for all applicable establishment.

Andhra Pradesh reportedly attracted 1,218.3 lakh tourists in 2015 from across the globe. Domestic footfalls to the state increased to 1218.3 lakh in 2015 as against 933 lakh in 2014, thereby registering a growth of 30 per cent. Neerabh Kumar Prasad, I.A.S., Principal Secretary to Government, Tourism & Culture, says, “In our endeavor to make Andhra Pradesh as India’s most preferred tourist destination, this data comes to us as a great encouragement. Under the leadership of our Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu and with a focused strategy in place, we are hopeful of this growth momentum to be replicated year after year going forward. We will continue to invest and focus to develop tourism in Andhra Pradesh of global standard.” Anantapur district which houses the famous Puttaparthi and Lord Veerbhadra temple at Lepakshi, became the most visited destination by foreign tourists with a footfall of 1.37 lakh foreigners. Among international tourist arrivals, 2.37 lakh tourists visited the state during the year 2015 as against 66,333 visited in 2014. Majority of the foreign tourists were from the South – East Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Middle East countries such as Dubai among others. Dr. R.P. Khajuria, I.F.S., Commissioner, Department of Tourism says, “Andhra Pradesh is one of the few states in India, which has such a rich diversity in terms of tourism and has the capacity to attract tourists across all age groups. The potential that lays ahead for the state is vast and these numbers are testimonials to the fact that increasing number of tourists both in India and abroad are realizing what the state can offer.” Andhra Pradesh also witnessed large number of footfalls from business travellers …

Starting April 1, 2016, VFS visa application centres for Turkey will be launched in 16 Indian cities along with two more centres in Kathmandu, Nepal and Male, Maldives, to make the visa procedure even faster and smoother, announced H.E. Dr Burak Akçapar, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to India, Nepal and Maldives. He said, “The opening of these visa centres is a very important step in India taking its rightful place in the tourism world. I believe that the launch of these visa centres will contribute to the enhancement of the cooperation between Turkey and India in the fields of tourism and economy.” As an exclusive partnership, VFS Global has become the only authorised visa processing service provider in these three countries for the Govt of the Republic of Turkey. Vinay Malhotra, COO – South Asia and DVPC, VFS Global said, “We are truly privileged to partner with the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey and believe the opening of these centres in India, Nepal and the Maldives will well serve the needs of travellers keen to visit this beautiful country.” The visa centres will be launched in New Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru, Goa, Puducherry, Kochi, Trivandrum, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The new Maharashtra tourism policy will come in effect from April 1, 2016. The Maharashtra government has targeted an investment of about Rs 30,000 crore through the new policy which is expected to give a huge boost to the travel and hospitality industry in the state. Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Government of Maharashtra, who has been spearheading this, feels that the new policy will turn out to be the biggest launch pad for Maharashtra to reach to the top spot in the list of destinations for travellers. Apart from the regular databases and guidelines which the policy will be looking at, we have announced a very big basket of incentives for tourism investments. There is a VAT subsidy of 50-75 per cent depending on different slabs for any investments in Maharashtra apart from the luxury tax exemption, entertainment tax exemption, stamp duty, etc. We have also launched the single-window clearance for all investments related to hospitality businesses,” she says.

India’s low-cost airline GoAir has introduced two new flights from Patna to New Delhi and Bengaluru. The airline discontinued its Patna-Kolkata service and introduced these routes. According to Santosh Kumar, Assistant General Manager – Air Traffic Management, Patna airport, “The proposal submitted to director general of civil aviation (DGCA) was for additional eight flights. However, a few operators later withdrew their proposals.” With the introduction of the new routes, the Patna airport now operates 42 flights daily.

Nagpur-based Western Coalfields Limited’s effort to promote eco-friendly Mine Tourism at a green zone within a coal mining belt at Saoner village, found its mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ speech. Modi who has been encouraging people to tour different parts of the country in his speeches, said Coal India deserves special mention for creating such a facility. He said that works like WCL’s eco-park at Saoner which has drawn 10,000 visitors so far can change the mindset.The eco-park, which was started in November 2015, is a major attraction situated at around 40 km from the city. It is a forested route up to two km from the Saoner town. The park has a water body, bamboo plantation and most of the natural forest has been kept in its original shape. Around 500 visitors come here on weekly basis and the entry, is free, he said. “Normally the very name of a coal mine gives an impression that one should stay away from such a place. The pictures available show that it may not be worthwhile visiting a mining area. However, WCL has turned a coal mine into an attractive tourist spot. Developing an eco-friendly tourist circuit in a coal mine area is indeed a novel idea,” Modi said in his speech.

Tata Sons has entered into an agreement with Air Asia (India), Telestra Tradeplace and two of the directors of the Company, being S. Ramadorai (Chairman) and R. Venkataramanan, under which Tata Sons proposes to increase its stake in the company to 49 per cent from its existing stake of 41.06 per cent, by acquiring 7.94 per cent equity stake from Telestra. S. Ramadorai and R. Venkataramanan, in their individual capacity, propose to acquire 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent shareholding respectively of Telestra’s remaining 2 per cent equity stake in the Company. AirAsia Investment Ltd. will continue to hold its 49 per cent stake in the Company. The agreement was entered into on March 14, 2016, and the transaction is proposed to be completed in April, 2016, subject to completion of the relevant corporate approvals and processes.

The first aircraft of Jet Airways landed on Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Effective March 27, India’s premier international airline will operate three daily non-stop flights from Amsterdam to Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto. The airline offers all inclusive return fare (Tickets purchased on or after Mar 1, 2016) on Delhi – Amsterdam – Delhi of Rs 1,50,001 (Première) and Rs 49,822 (Economy) and on the Mumbai – Amsterdam – Mumbai sector all inclusive return fare in Première Rs 2,41,697 and in Economy Rs 54,323. For Première, travel must commence on or after Mar 27, 2016, and Economy, travel must commence between Mar 27, 2016 and Apr 8, 2016. Before the first departure of Jet Airways flight 9W 233 to Delhi, a traditional prayer ritual was performed. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol will be the new European gateway of Jet Airways. Together with codeshare partners KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines, Jet Airways will offer one stop codeshare access between India and 30 destinations across Europe and 11 destinations in the United States and Canada. Customers flying via Mumbai and Delhi will also be able to access Jet Airways’ network of 48 destinations within India as well as destinations in the Indian subcontinent and Asia. Naresh Goyal, Chairman of Jet Airways states, “Finally, we have arrived in the Netherlands. Today marks the start of our new service connecting three continents, together with our codeshare partners KLM and Delta Air Lines. We are thrilled to operate daily flights from Amsterdam to Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto and thereby facilitate trade and co-operation between India and the Netherlands”.

Sandeep Shetty, General Manager, Products & Operations, WOW Holidays, says, “The terror attacks on Brussels will definitely affect tourism to Europe though on the whole outbound tourism industry will not be adversely affected as travellers will continue to travel. Though the group travellers will not be affected much as bookings take place in advance, the FIT segment of tourism will be hit. Regions like France, Amsterdam, surrounding regions of Brussels and long haul destinations in Europe may witness less number of tourists over a short period of time and many short haul destinations like Croatia may get a boost from the same.”