Category Archives: MOT

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that inbound tourism is projected to recover faster in 2023. “There is a strong interest of the hospitality industry to invest in the North-East and Southern islands which is an encouraging sign,” he said.

In a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, shared that domestic tourist visits in India fell from 2.32 billion in 2019, to 677 million in 2021, owing to the impact of the pandemic.

Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, Tourism, has said that the tour operators are the most significant members of the value chain. “They interface with the customer & the markets and the role is going to get increased. They are the ones who get impacted by the changes in the industry,” he added.

Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, Tourism, has said that IATO has organized some great sessions and there will be brainstorming on various issues on how industry can accelerate growth and how both government and industry can work together. “I think this will be a very meaningful convention with lot of ideas to benefit the sector,” he added.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, in his address at the convention, said, “Domestic tourism has revived and is significantly above pre-COVID levels. “As the theme is ‘Inbound tourism – What Lies Ahead’, I hope this convention contributes to raising the bar for inbound tourism and everyone would workout strategies for faster recovery,” he added.

The parliamentary standing committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, in its 331st report said that with the increased competition among various countries to attract more foreign visitors, it is an imperative need for India to prepare a better marketing strategy by hiring marketing experts to attract foreign visitors.

A parliamentary panel has recommended that the Ministry of Tourism identify and develop revenue-generating domestic tourist destinations in states to promote innovation in production and service in the sector. The standing committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, which submitted its report said that despite the fact that India offers a diverse portfolio, share of International Arrivals was merely 1.59% in 2021.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Tuesday said check-in counters left unmanned by airlines were leading to congestion at major airports in the country. ‘Airlines are therefore advised to deploy sufficient manpower at all check-in/baggage drop counters well in advance to ensure decongestion and smooth flow of passengers at airports,” the MoCA’s said in the letter. A surge in air travel – airports have seen over 400,000 domestic flyers a day for 10 consecutive days – has strained the infrastructure at the country’s busiest airports such as Delhi and Mumbai and forced the MoCA to order a reduction and shifting of peak-hour flights. “It has come to the notice of the MoCA that the airline check-in counters at certain airports are found unmanned or inadequately manned during early morning hours leading to congestion at the airports, thereby causing inconvenience to the passengers,’ MoCA’s letter stated, requesting airlines to place real-time data on their social media feeds regarding waiting time at respective airports’ entry gates.

Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for AYUSH, has said that the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi, will add value to Goa’s tourism brand and be a big boost for medical value travel. “It will also be a model research & wellness hub for Ayurveda promoting medical tourism,” he added.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, has shared that they have set up a 24×7 Multi-Lingual Tourist Info-Helpline on the toll free number 1800111363 or on a short code 1363 in 12 Languages including 10 international languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic), Hindi English for domestic and foreign tourists to provide support service in term of information relating to Travel in India and to offer appropriate guidance to tourists in distress while travelling in India.