Category Archives: MOT

To distribute the tourism load and reduce the pressure on already popular destinations while encouraging destination weddings in lesser-known regions, Mugdha Sinha, DG, MOT GoI, said, “We need to ensure that wedding tourism contributes positively to local communities and is aligned with environmental sustainability. By developing tier-II & III cities as wedding destinations, we can ensure that the economic benefits of tourism are more evenly distributed.”

In a first-of-its-kind initiative to attract more foreign tourists to India, the Ministry of Tourism is all set to launch the Chalo India promotional campaign on the sidelines of the ongoing World Travel Mart in London. Under the initiative, the government will allow one lakh free e-visas for “friends” of diaspora members. Five foreign nationals nominated by each Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder on a special portal will be eligible for a gratis e-visa (visa granted without fees).

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister for Culture and Tourism, GoI, announced that under the decongestion and new product development initiative, several big-ticket projects worth ₹8,000 crore have been submitted by states. In Jammu & Kashmir, three new tourist destinations are being developed under a budget of ₹5,600 crore.

In a key initiative to showcase the Kurukshetra region’s historical and cultural richness, the Ministry of Tourism’s Northern Regional Office is hosting the second Mahabharata Circuit Conference and Familiarization Tour. The event, scheduled from 4-6 November, will gather around 130 participants, including tourism professionals, media representatives, and officials from various tourism departments.

Praising FHRAI’s new Centre of Excellence, Pradeep Shetty, President of FHRAI, says, “This has been a long-standing desire of our federation, as we have often faced challenges when approaching the government regarding policy issues, regulatory bottlenecks, compliance burden, and the overall ease of doing business One of the major gaps we identified was the lack of comprehensive data to support our claims and recommendations. With the Centre of Excellence, we aim to address this gap head-on.”

Underlining the importance of wedding segment for India, DG Tourism, Mugdha Sinha says “Wedding as a market is worth US$ 130 billion with 8 to 10 million annual weddings in India, second only to China. Delhi had the most weddings about 30,000 in one month of November 2023 that energised the whole paraphernalia around the weddings from invites, to wedding planners to apparel, jewellery, gifting, accommodations, logistics, photography, which adds up to the employment generation and contribution to both GDP of economy and creative economy. As a policy maker we also look at issues like permissions, taxes, incentives, that need resolution to make India an attractive destination for Wed in India, for celebrating wedding anniversaries and for honeymooning in India.”  

Speaking about the significance of research and data in the tourism industry, Suman Billa, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism said, “Being in the sector which is vast and multifaceted, it is essential to have accurate and comprehensive data to inform our decisions. While government data provides a solid foundation, it often captures only one facet of the entire landscape. To truly understand the dynamics of the tourism and hospitality sectors, we must triangulate this data with insights from industry bodies, international organisations like the WTO, and other reliable sources.”

Suggesting that India has to create an enabling environment for the market forces to unleash with aggression in terms of investments in the sector to realise the sector’s true potential, Suman Billa, Additional Secretary, MOT, said, “Tourism currently contributes 5.6% to the country’s GDP which is quite low. The task is to double it in the next 10 years by encouraging market forces to invest aggressively in the sector.”

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and held discussions on promoting the state’s religious sites, adventure tourism, eco-tourism, and cultural heritage at the national and international levels. He also requested the Union Minister for cooperation to develop infrastructure in view of the state’s increasing population.

Suman Billa, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, inaugurated FHRAI’s Centre of Excellence in New Delhi. Billa, said, “It will create a comprehensive data ecosystem and play a vital role in generating analytical insights that can guide government policy and help us better support the industry.”