Category Archives: MOT

Sharing his observations and concerns over the star categorisation criteria for hotels in India, G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for tourism, culture & DoNER, said, “The current categorisation system doesn’t really differentiate between a 100+ room hotel and a 10-20 room hotel. It ruins the whole India experience for a traveller.” He also said that he’s in talk with the government to change criteria for hotel classifications.

Ajay Bhat, Minister of State for Tourism and Defence, speaking at the National Tourism Awards ceremony in Delhi, said that the government’s vision is to increase the GDP contribution of the tourism sector in the economy of the country.

In response to hotel industry’s demand for amendment in the definition of infrastructure status, Arvind Singh, Secretary, MOT said, “We are looking at changing the definition of infrastructure status for hotels to help the industry attract investment. It has the attention of the higher authorities and we will have an order on it shortly.  It is currently as per 2011 census and needs to change to accommodate the demands of hospitality business today.”

Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Arvind Singh while presenting the welcome address said that Indian Tourism sector has emerged as one of the key drivers of growth for Indian economy. He also shared that India plans to position itself as a major tourism destination during its presidency of G20 for 2023-2024, where it wants to position itself as a must-visit destination at the global level.

Minister of Tourism, Culture & DoNER, G. Kishan Reddy Ji said that India’s tourism sector is recovering well with strong contribution from domestic travel. He shared that the various schemes like Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD scheme initiated by PM Narendra Modi Ji has helped in holistic development of the tourism sector. He also mentioned that the National Tourism Awards have over the years emerged as a prestigious recognition of achievements in the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors, that has helped motivate the stakeholders involved here.

As per the India Tourism Statistics 2022 released today, UAE was the top source nation for Indian Nationals’ Departures (INDs) in 2021, followed by the USA, Qatar, Oman, the United Kingdom, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bahrain, and Kuwait. In 2021, the Top 10 nations accounted for around 85.93% of all INDs. In comparison to 2020, there was an increase in INDs from India. In 2021, 8.55 million Indian nationals departed from the country, up from 7.29 million in 2020, a 17.30% increase. The number of Indian citizens leaving after 2019 has dramatically dropped as a result of the pandemic. INDs frequently travel by air, which is also the most common method.

To support Unique Tourism Projects under Maharashtra Tourism Policy 2016, DoT signed an MoU with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) with a desire to light up (sound and light show) the Gateway of India, thus making it a destination to further attract tourists. The IOCL will finance the project through the CSR funds and facilitate the operation of sound & light show through its technical expertise. Similarly, another MoU was signed with Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) to begin the concept of Mining Tourism in Maharashtra to explore the state’s mineral treasure. Tourists will get to experience mine tourism at Saoner (UG) and Adasa (OC) in Nagpur Area, Niljai (OC) Wani Area and Bhatadi (OC) in Chandrapur Area.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism shared that the World Tourism Day will be celebrated in full fervour today, with National Tourism Awards to be held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Also, the iconic week for tourism will also start today under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations with World Tourism Day celebrations and will end in Mumbai with a Paryatan Parv to be inaugurated by the Hon. Union Minister of Tourism.

Celebrating World Tourism Day, the Ministry ofTourism, will present the National Tourism Awards to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Further, as India celebrates 75 years of independence, the Ministry of Tourism commences its Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) iconic week on 27th September 2022, and also recognizes the efforts of industry stakeholders by conferring the National Tourism Awards.

Ministry of Tourism released the Dharamshala Declaration 2022 after the conclusion of the three-day National Conference of State Tourism Ministers in Dharamshala. The document lists the short-term and long-term goals to ensure positioning of India as one of the leaders in the tourism sector by 2047.