Category Archives: MOT

MOT has launched ‘Meet in India’, a distinct sub-brand under ‘Incredible India’ to position the country as a M!CE destination. This was shared during India’s participation at AIME 2024. It will highlight exclusive features: excellent connectivity, world-class infrastructure, a knowledge hub, and unique tourist attractions.

Manisha Saxena, DG, Tourism, said that under the MICE Tourism Policy, the Ministry of Tourism is working to develop city-level bureaus to promote venues internationally and for events of every size to be hosted in India. This initiative is expected to escalate inbound tourism in India and will attract more M!CE events.

Speaking at an event, Manisha Saxena, DG Tourism, Government of India, shared, “While high room rates in India may be prompting some weddings to move abroad, it’s crucial to offer venues that cater to various budgets and preferences. While five-star hotels are ideal for large weddings, affordability remains a consideration for many.”

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.

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.

The 6th HAI Hotelier’s Conclave was held in Delhi with the theme ‘Hospitality: The Engine for GDP Growth and Employment.’ Industry leaders highlighted the importance of tourism as a job creator. Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and former CEO of Niti Aayog, stated, “Tourism is a significant driver of growth. Globally, it is a $5 trillion industry, with India’s share being less than 2%, a figure that needs substantial increase. From a political perspective, politicians primarily understand one thing: the number of jobs generated by the tourism sector. Tourism has a significant multiplier impact, creating seven indirect jobs for every direct job. However, the tourism industry has not effectively communicated to politicians its role as a major job creator. It would be worthwhile for the tourism industry to set a target of informing the political system at both the central and state levels that focusing on tourism could result in the creation of 25 million jobs by 2030.”

A parliamentary panel has observed that out of the total 45 sanctioned projects under the PRASHAD scheme only 20 have been completed, noting that its progress is very slow. The committee has suggested MOT to evolve its mechanism to collect data on the arrival of foreign and domestic tourists.

Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) elects PATA India Chapter to its board to represent 28 Chapters around the globe. The Ministry of Tourism has also been elected to the PATA board. PATA will officially announce the same after their general meeting to be held in May 2024 at Macau.

Appreciating an increase in budget allocation to the Tourism Ministry in Interim Budget 2024, Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, said, “Though we welcome the increase in budgetary allocation to  ₹2,000cr from last financial year’s  ₹1600cr and mention of branding in the budget speech of the FM, we must remember that unless we don’t do roadshows overseas, familiarisation trips and publicity campaigns abroad till then we would not be able to draw tourist to our country.”

According to the detailed Expenditure Profile for Interim Budget 2024-25, total estimated outlay for tourism is ₹2449.62cr. For overseas tourism promotions, allocation is ₹3.02cr vis-a-vis ₹100cr in FY23-24. For domestic promotions ₹176.97cr is proposed, up from ₹95cr in FY23-24.