Category Archives: MOT

Albert Tjoeng, Assistant Director, Corporate Communications, Asia Pacific at International Air Transport Association (IATA),  takes heart from the Union Budget. “The Finance bill 2017 has added new provisions for the future introduction of submission of PNR data by airlines to the Indian Customs, he says. He adds that IATA hopes that the established global standards for transmission of PNRGOV data would be adhered to. “We would also urge that stakeholder consultations precede the development of any regulations detailing the form and data elements for this information,” he concludes.

Vikram Madhok, Managing Director, Abercrombie & Kent India, says that the budget really has not taken tourism into much consideration. “Yes, a lot has been said about the railways in the budget and we welcome any other infrastructure investment, but there is not much that is going to help the industry directly. This year’s budget has nothing much for tourism,” he added.

IATO President Pronab Sarkar says budget did not give any encouragement to the tourism industry. “There was no mention of the tourism industry, and no benefits or plus points were announced. Apart from speaking about five tourism circuits and second phase of the Incredible India campaign, nothing else was mentioned.” Detailing their expectations and the disappointment that followed, Sarkar says, “We were expecting e-visa changes to be applicable, which were announced in December. The Prime Minister is talking about branding India and mentioning tourism amongst the five pillars, but no one has looked into the prospects of this Industry. Thus, the government needs to be sensitised. As association, we tried seeking appointment with him and did write to him on Twitter, but haven’t heard from anyone as yet.”

P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI, says, “The Union Budget didn’t directly focus on tourism, but was more directed at the rural sector, youth and infrastructure. However, there was a mention of the Global Incredible India campaign. Also, the proposal of developing India International Institutes for foreign languages would really benefit the tourism industry, and would offer employment to almost 1 lakh students graduating from these institutes every year. The dedication towards Clean India and Skill India would also result in a boost to tourism and creating employment in this sector, and boosting domestic tourism.” He highlighted another positive which is the waiving off of Service Charge on IRCTC bookings. “The focus on rural tourism might lead to better infrastructure and education in these areas, which in turn would help bring tourists to these areas as well. However, the effect of all these things would only be seen in three to five years.”

Homa Mistry, CEO, Trail Blazer Tours India, takes a very despair outlook to the omission of tourism and hospitality from the Union Budget 2017-18. “Tourism has been going through very tough times and we have realized we are on our own. I did not have any expectations from the government and as always the Budget did not have anything for the tourism and hospitality industry. I am just not surprised,” he says. Mistry remains cautious about the upcoming Goods and Services Tax. “We are however looking forward to the Good and Services Tax (GST) Bill which too shall be more of a bomb dropped on us,” he adds.

The Government of India has liberalised its visa policy for Thai nationals. It has decided to grant five-year multiple entry Tourist Visa and five-year multiple entry Business visa to Thai nationals with immediate effect with continuous stay of 90 days during each visit. It has also started Express visa service where visa will be issued by next working day. Separate Immigration counters and facilitation desks will be provided for Medical Visa. This service will initially be available at international airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. India has also relaxed the minimum salary limit and fixed at Rs 9.10 lakhs per anum for Employment visa to those Thai nationals who will be engaged at teaching faculty in the IITs, Central Universities, NITs etc. Foreign teaching faculty employed at South Asian University and Nalanda University will be exempted from minimum salary limit for the purpose of employment visa. Indian Embassy will grant Intern Visa to Thai nationals to pursue internship in Indian companies, educational Institutions and NGOs up to a maximum of 50 interns per year. Indian Embassy will also encourage Thai nationals to shoot feature film in excellent Indian locations and they will be provided Film Visa.

Bharat Parv is set to promote the rich cultural diversity of the country from January 26-31 2017 at the Red Fort. The highlights of the celebration include display of the Republic Day Parade Tableaux, performances by the Armed Forces Bands (static and moving), a multi-cuisine food court, crafts mela, cultural performances from different regions of the country and a photo exhibition by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The event will be inaugurated on January 26, 2017, and will be open to the public from 5-9 pm on the first day and from 12-9 pm from January 27-31, 2017. There will be 11 theme State Pavilions where each State would showcase their achievements and initiatives, tourism products and destinations, etc. The Ministry of Information Broadcasting is also setting up a Photo Exhibition on the theme “Mera Desh Badal Raha Hai, Aage Badh Raha Hai”. A big attraction of the event is the Republic Day Parade Tableaux which will be stationed at the venue for the duration of the event. The Food Court will have 50 stalls set up by the States / UTs, National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) showcasing food from different regions as well as by the Institutes of Hotel Management and ITDC. The Crafts Mela with 50 stalls will showcase the diverse handicrafts of the country, arranged by the State Governments and Ministry of Textiles through the Office of the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts.

FTAs during the period January-December, 2016 were 88.90 lakh with a growth of 10.7 per cent as compared to the FTAs of 80.27 lakh in January-December 2015. FEEs from tourism in rupee terms during January-December 2016 was Rs. 1,55,650 crore with a growth of 15.1 per cent. December 2016 registered a 13.6 per cent growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) over the same period in 2015 with 10.37 lakh arrivals. FEEs was Rs.16,805 crore as compared to Rs. 14,152 crore in December, 2015 with 18.7 per cent growth rate. USA (18.33%) occupied highest percentage share in FTAs followed by Bangladesh (13.02%), UK (11.71%), Australia (5.43%), Russian Fed (4.18%),Canada (4.13%), Malaysia (3.38%), Germany (2.80%),  China (2.53%), Sri Lanka (2.25%), Singapore (2.12%), France (2.01%), Japan (1.79%), Afghanistan (1.38%) and Nepal (1.34%).

TMI Academy of Travel, Tourism & Aviation Studies, has recently been appointed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, to train students from the Backward Classes in Tourism. More then 2000 students will be trained all over India in 2017  by TMI Academy. This is under the direct supervision of National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation under the Ministry. The trainees will be certified by National Skill Development Corporation. Trained students will be placed by TMI Academy in the industry.

A total of 162,250 foreign tourists arrived in December 2016 on e-Tourist Visa (eTV) as compared to 103,617 during December 2015 registering a growth of 56.6 per cent. The UK (22.4%) continues to occupy top slot followed by USA (16.4%) and Russia (7.7%) amongst countries availing eTV facility during December 2016. The number of e-Tourist Visa availed by foreign tourists visiting India during the month of December, 2016 has registered a substantial growth rate over the corresponding month of 2015. During January-December 2016, a total of 10,79,696 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 4,45,300 during January-December 2015, registering a growth of 142.5 per cent. This high growth may be attributed to introduction of e-Tourist Visa for 161 countries as against the earlier coverage of 113 countries. The percentage shares of top 10 ports in tourist arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during December, 2016 were as follows: New Delhi Airport (36.6%), Mumbai Airport (23.1%), Dabolim (Goa) Airport (13.6%), Chennai Airport (6.0%), Bengaluru Airport (5.1%),Kochi Airport (4.7%), Kolkata Airport (2.5%), Hyderabad Airport (2.4%), Trivandrum Airport (1.9%) and Ahmadabad Airport (1.7%).