Category Archives: MOT

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture will be leading the International Day of Yoga (IDY) Celebrations at Parade Grounds, Secunderabad in Hyderabad. The Chief Guest will be Vice President of India, M Vankaiah Naidu. The State Tourism Ministers, Shripad Yesso Naik and Ajay Bhatt, will be leading the celebrations at Churches and Convent of Goa and Wagah Border, Amritsar, respectively.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has said that MOT will be working very closely with both Ayush and Home Ministry to make sure that this visa gets enabled very fast. She also said, “As seen in the last few years, e-visa facility has grown for not just tourism but medical visa as well. It has only helped India forge its position in these sectors.”

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has revealed that all three ministers of tourism will be leading the event at major sites on behalf of MOT. “Union Minister of Tourism G Kishan Reddy will be at the Anand Sagar Lake in Hyderabad and State Tourism Ministers Ajay Bhatt and Shripad Yesso Naik will be at Wagah Border in Punjab and Churches and Convents of Goa in Old Goa respectively.

Additional Secretary Tourism Rakesh Verma said that it is important to sensitise and empower the local communities in developing sustainable skill development that are required for green tourism. Promotion of homestays, investment plans and destination development need to link with green and sustainable tourism policies and all the other aspects of sustainable tourism. 

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said that we need to make use of cleaner fuels. “State tourism policies should recognise sustainability principles and the Sustainable Development Goals in their vision and strategic direction for tourism. With the vision to create a sustainable future for tourism, the Ministry of Tourism has also taken various steps in this direction”, he added.

Secretary Tourism, Arvind Singh said that the Ministry of Tourism with the objective to provide experience to the tourists launched Swadesh Darshan Scheme and has till now sanctioned 76 Projects. With the learnings of this scheme, we have now revamped the Swadesh Darshan Scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0. “The idea of Swadesh Darshan 2.0 is to undertake holistic development with the vision to develop Sustainable and Responsible Tourist Destinations. While formulating the guidelines for SD 2.0 we have kept various elements in mind in order to undertake destination development in a sustainable and responsible manner. Through the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 sustainable and responsible tourism practices will be implemented in various projects and initiatives. The Scheme will encourage the adoption of principles of sustainable tourism including environmental, socio-cultural and economic sustainability”, he added.

The hospitality sector is a critical part of the tourism industry. COVID-19 has had a detrimental impact on Maharashtra, and the state government has been taking concrete steps to revive the tourism industry. In this regard, the Maharashtra government had announced that from 1 April 2021, hotels in the state registered with the Union Ministry of Tourism to be charged an industrial rate for electricity, seed fee, water tax, property tax, development tax, increased carpet area index, and non-agricultural tax. Hotels that are not registered with the Union Ministry of Tourism will be charged tax at the industrial rate only after meeting the stipulated criteria for attaining basic minimum standards. The state government also established an expert committee for this cause and also ensured that the process of meeting the criteria is completed within the duration of two months. Following that, hotels that meet the conditions for the online application process are levied taxes and fees at the industrial rate. The state government issued this decision in compliance with the approval given at the cabinet meeting on 5 November 2020. The mechanism in place is assisting in the growth of hospitality businesses by providing industry status in a fast and effective manner, as well as promoting sustainable practices.

The ‘Consultative Meeting with Union Ministers on Draft National Tourism Policy’ has commenced. G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Tourism, Culture & DoNER, said, “The meeting featured discussions on approaching the pre-covid tourism numbers and innovative ways to tourism development through the Public Private Partnership model. Deliberations were done on wellness and medical tourism through ayurveda. Categorisation has been done on the basis of selected cities, selected hospitals and strategies have been prepared for leveraging arrivals from countries such as Gulf countries, African countries and South Asian countries. Special emphasis was given upon the development of tourist circuits in North Eastern region. The meeting also featured discussions on the development of regional connectivity scheme such as UDAN and infrastructure development such as seaplane and helicopter usage.”

Union Minister for Culture & Tourism, Kishan Reddy recently launched an app called ‘Museums of India’. He said, “It is a digital archive showcasing 750 glorious heritages from 8 national museums. The app offers features like Search & Retrieval, Access to 3D interactive objects, and Category-based browsing. This app will enable all of us to see and listen to stories, paintings, photography and speeches from the museums across the country.”

Shripad Yeso Naik, Union Minister of State for Tourism, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, has said that as the effects of coronavirus are waning, the tourism industry is slowly reviving and regaining its hold over the markets large-scale job creation along with adoption of newer and improved technology should be the end-goals of the tourism sector.