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India’s diversity of tourist destinations goes well beyond the beaches, hills, and cities. As one of the oldest civilizations in the world with an all-embracing confluence of spirituality, heritage and traditions, India has always been a top choice for cultural travel at a global stage. As the pandemic pushed Indians to explore domestic destinations, cultural travel has witnessed its biggest boom in the past two years. Tracking consumer travel sentiment across India, OYO has published ‘India’s Treasure Trove of Cultural Travel 2022’ report. As per the report, with over 3.5 times growth over the past year, Srinagar clocked the highest growth in bookings among cultural destinations in 2022. Besides Srinagar, Pahalgam and Jammu in J&K also rank among the top 5 cultural destinations in India, citing increasing travel interest in the region. As per OYO’s booking data analyzed between January to April 2022, Srinagar, Pahalgam, Bodhgaya, Shirdi and Jammu are among India’s top 5 cultural destinations in order of ranking. India is known for its spirituality around the world. Within the culture-travel category, OYO’s data highlights rising consumer interest in pilgrimage and heritage destinations. Varanasi, seen by many as the spiritual hub, tops the charts as the most popular pilgrimage destination in India in 2022. This is followed by Tirupati, Puri, Amritsar and Shirdi. Besides this, OYO’s Mid-Summer Vacation Index also highlights keen consumer interest in visiting Vaishno Devi this summer. As per the report, when it comes to heritage sites, with 25% votes each, Ajanta & Ellora caves in Aurangabad and Taj Mahal in Agra tied for the top spot. Hampi, Khajurao and Mahabalipuram round up the balance of the top 5 heritage sites. Commenting on the rise in …

Speaking about future plans, Dr Dhananjay Sawalkar, Joint Director, Directorate of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, revealed, “We have created a Responsible Tourism policy for the state because we are seeing instances of over-tourism, land pollution and even water shortages where tourist footfalls are high. This will help is disperse tourists to adjoining places, reduce impact on environment and channelize benefits to the local communities. This policy is already ready; some government level decisions are pending. Hopefully we will release it soon.”

In an elderly-friendly decision, Kerala Government has announced 50% concession for senior citizens in entry fee in all state-run tourism centres. Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas said, “This is part of elderly friendly policies across all sectors in the state. This will encourage the senior citizens to mix with the society.” The Kozhikode Human Rights Forum had made a submission before the Assembly Committee urging it to consider the possibility of giving concession in entry fee for senior citizens in tourism centres. After studying the submission, the house panel recommended the Government that the request could be considered positively

Steve Borgia, Chairman & Managing Director of INDeco Leisure Hotels, emphasising upon the pandemic as a driver of organic tourism, has said, “There are manifold opportunities for local communities that Indian tourism has to offer.” He also brought forth the role of youth as a catalyst to forging the nation’s tourism with a vision of sustainability.

As Singapore gets ready to welcome fully-vaccinated Indian visitors back to cruise from its shore, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Resorts World Cruises (RWC) and Royal Caribbean International (RCI) are conducting the ‘Reimagine Cruising from Singapore’ today at 11:30 AM IST. The aim is to update the trade about Singapore’s latest cruise offerings. Register on https://event.webinarjam.com/register/405/5v7qwi1w or contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Additional Secretary Tourism Rakesh Verma said that it is important to sensitise and empower the local communities in developing sustainable skill development that are required for green tourism. Promotion of homestays, investment plans and destination development need to link with green and sustainable tourism policies and all the other aspects of sustainable tourism. 

Indian Railways has decided to increase the limit of booking maximum 6 tickets in a month to 12 tickets by a user ID that is not Aadhaar linked and the limit of booking maximum 12 tickets in a month to 24 tickets by a user ID that is Aadhaar linked.  

The report titled ‘India’s Treasure Trove of Cultural Travel 2022’ by OYO said with over 3.5 times growth over the past year, Srinagar clocked the highest growth in bookings among cultural destinations in 2022. Besides Srinagar, Pahalgam and Jammu in J&K also ranked among the top cultural destinations in India 

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said that we need to make use of cleaner fuels. “State tourism policies should recognise sustainability principles and the Sustainable Development Goals in their vision and strategic direction for tourism. With the vision to create a sustainable future for tourism, the Ministry of Tourism has also taken various steps in this direction”, he added.

After a day-long workshop conducted by West Bengal Tourism for industry, a detailed ideation was undertaken with officials led by Tourism Secretary. Dr. Saumitra Mohan. A milestone and timeline-based implementation roadmap will be put in place by the joint task force for subsequent consideration by the Government of West Bengal.