Category Archives: MOT

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) will soon be providing SIM cards for tourists who avail the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) services, informed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, MOT, Govt. of India. “We are in talks with a few service providers to partner with us for this and it will be launched very soon,” he said. Referring to the proposed eTV for MICE, he said that eTV for business tourists will most likely be rolled out first. He added the department is still working on other proposed amendments in eTV, such as modifying single-entry to multiple & extension of eTV application duration from 30  to 60 days.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has formed a task force with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to address and simplify regional connectivity scheme. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, MOT, Government of India, said, “By working together, we aim to make travelling for tourists much simpler especially for those who opt for the different theme based circuits.” A meeting was held last week between the two ministries to discuss the particulars and address complications that may arise. This would also simplify travel for the transnational Buddhist Circuit which is in the pipeline and has recently been approved.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has advised State Government/Union Territory Administrations to set up Hospitality Development Boards if the same do not exist in their respective States/Union Territories. The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has so far sanctioned 12 Institutes of Hospitality Management in the northeastern states. Out of these Central Institute of Hotel Management, Guwahati, Central Institute of Hotel Management, Shillong, State Institute of Hotel Management, Gangtok and Food Craft Institute, Nawgaon are operational. This information was given by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism in a written reply in Lok Sabha. The State Government of Maharashtra has reportedly setup Hospitality Development and Promotion Board. List of Institutes in North Eastern States for which Central Financial Assistance has been granted by MOT. 1.    Central Institute of Hotel Management, Guwahati , Assam 2.    State Institute of Hotel Management, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh 3.    State Institute of Hotel Management, Imphal, Manipur 4.    Central Institute of Hotel Management, Shillong, Meghlaya 5.    State Institute of Hotel Management, Aizawl, Mizoram 6.    State Institute of Hotel Management, Dimapur, Nagaland 7.    State Institute of Hotel Management, Gangtok, Sikkim 8.    State Institute of Hotel Management, Agartala, Tripura 9.    State Institute of Hotel Management, Jorhat, Assam 10.  Food Craft Institute, Nawgaon, Assam 11.  Food Craft Institute, Tura, Meghlaya 12.  Food Craft Institute, Namchi, Sikkim

The Ministry of Tourism is planning theme based events for attracting tourists in the country, revealed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, while addressing he members of Indian Association of Tour Operators in New Delhi. He said, “We are working on theme based events in India in the next six months. We have shortlisted three themes—medical tourism, adventure tourism and MICE tourism. We want to create a buzz about India and partner with FICCI or some other organisation and organise an international event, to attract the world’s attention to the country. However, we will focus on only one such event this year.”

Madhya Pradesh, once again was declared the best state at the National Tourism Awards for the year 2014-15. Gujarat and Karnataka clinched the second and third spot in the best state category. Kerala also took home four awards under various categories. The awards were given away during a function held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on July 30, 2016. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan graced the occasion as Chief Guest and gave away awards in various categories. Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture presided over the function. Invitees for the function included Tourism Ministers of States and State Government Officials, members from the travel and hospitality industries including leading hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, MOTm in his welcome address said that the Tourism sector has now been accorded very high priority world over. Our GDP has grown with the development of Tourism. Foreign Tourists Arrival has now touched a new height and our Domestic Tourism is also booming. Many new initiatives of Ministry of Tourism in past two years are remarkable. Uday Pratap Singh, Addl. Secretary, MOT proposed the Vote of Thanks

An Investment Desk will be set up by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and Invest India to facilitate investment for tourism, revealed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Govt. Of India at the Tourism Investors Summit 2016. In his keynote speech, he stressed that with tourism in India facing exponential growth, the infrastructure needs to be amped up to be on par. This year, foreign tourist arrivals in the country have been growing at an average of 8-9 per cent. With tourism occupying a 12.36 per cent employment share and a 6.88 per cent contribution to GDP, Zutshi stated that the core infrastructure – road, rail, air, and waterways, needs new additions as well as renovation.

The Ministry of Tourism has confirmed that they are looking to extend the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) facilities to 36 other countries, among which Italy is one of the key countries. “The e-Tourist Visa has been the biggest game-changer for the industry,” commented Suman Billa, Joint Secretary-Tourism, Government of India. “Initially, we began with a handful of countries which were our eight major source countries. We now stand at 150 countries and are looking to expand the list. Most of our most important source countries have already been included but Italy is one of the other major markets that will receive this facility after approval.” During January-June 2016, a total of 4,71,909 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 1,26,214 during January-June 2015, registering a growth of 273.9 per cent. A total of 36,982 tourists arrived in June 2016 on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 15,557 during the month of June 2015 registering a growth of 137.7 per cent.

Ministry of Tourism is pushing for medical e-visa for attendants who will accompany patients travelling to India for medical purposes, revealed Suman Billa, Joint Secretary-Tourism, Government of India. “There are several aspects that are being looked into to develop medical tourism facilities in the country. Currently, the patient has to report to the FRRO within 15 days of entering the country. However, we are trying to empower the hospital to file the FRRO clearance for the patient.” Billa added that MOT is also trying to simplify the requirement of providing medical certificates from local doctors – a mandate applied for several African nationalities who travel to India for medical purposes.

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 25 projects under the Swadesh Darshan scheme worth Rs. 2048 crore so far to 21 States and Union Territories since its launch of in January 2015. These States and UTs include Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura. For northeastern states, the Ministry has sanctioned 9 projects worth Rs. 821 crores covering all the 8 states. For Tribal areas, the Ministry has sanctioned 3 projects for Rs. 282 crores to Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. For Buddhist Circuit, the Ministry has sanctioned 2 projects worth Rs. 108.11 crore to Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. The Ministry of Tourism has launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014-15 with an objective to develop theme based tourist circuits in the country on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner by synergizing efforts to focus on needs and concerns of all stakeholders to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities. Under this scheme, 13 Thematic Circuits have been identified, for development namely: North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) is all set to hold Bharat Parva from Aug 12-18 in line with the Independence Day celebrations. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India, revealed, “We are hosting a Bharat Parva at the India Gate Rajpath Lawns and it is part of the India Independence Day Celebration from August 12-18.  The Tourism Ministry will organise the same and we are going to bring in lots of attractions for the people. The idea is to create a festive and patriotic mood and involve people. We will have state pavilions and they are very excited about the same. The festival will have cuisines, food court, handicrafts and cultural programmes from all states on all the days. We’ve also involved local, state and regional associations based in Delhi for the festival as well.”