Category Archives: MOT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the much-awaited Rudraksh convention centre at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. In a tweet, the PM said, “I am delighted to be inaugurating the Rudraksh convention centre in Varanasi. Constructed with Japanese assistance, this state-of-the-art centre will make Varanasi an attractive destination for conferences thus drawing more tourists and businesspersons to the city.”

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi inaugurated various development projects in Varanasi, which includes Tourist Facilitation Centre under the Project ‘Development of Varanasi Under PRASHAD Scheme – Phase II’ and operation of Cruise Boat from Assi Ghat to RajGhat under the Project ‘Development of River Cruise in Varanasi under PRASHAD Scheme’. Anandiben Patel, Governor, Uttar Pradesh; Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh; and Minister Nilkanth Tiwari and M. P. Surendra Narayan Sinha were also present on this occasion The project “Development of Varanasi Under PRASHAD Scheme – Phase II” was approved by the Ministry of Tourism with the cost of Rs. 44.69 crores in Feb. 2018. The components viz. ‘Panchkoshi Path’, ‘Pilgrim Facilitation Center’, ‘Rameshwar’, ‘Road Development’ and ‘Signages’ have been successfully completed and dedicated to the nation. The project ‘Development of River Cruise in Varanasi under PRASHAD Scheme’ was approved by the Ministry of Tourism with the cost of Rs. 10.72 crores in Feb. 2018. The components viz. ‘Passenger Cum Cruise Vehicle’, ‘Modular Jetty’, ‘Audio Visual Interventions’, and ‘CCTV Surveillance’ have been successfully completed and dedicated to the nation. Prime Minister praised the state government for the optimum use of the funds released by the Government of India for creating the facilities of international standards.

Rakesh Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has revealed that in order to strengthen the MICE sector, they are looking at state level and city level MICE bureaus. “We are planning to offer MICE advantage programmes, because most of the cities internationally provide various incentives for international events. Thus, we have also advocated a similar programme to the states, and we are hopeful that it will have a positive impact,” he suggested.  

G Kishan Reddy, Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in his address as the chairperson of the BRICS Tourism Ministers’ meeting, stressed that BRICS member States should have good understanding of each other’s tourism products and offerings to encourage intra-BRICS tourism cooperation. Also, for tourism promotion, he stressed that BRICS alliance for Green Tourism can accelerate the recovery and development of tourism on sustainable lines.  

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will be addressing the 10th PATA and MOT Update & Outlook Meeting on 20th July at 12pm. He will be sharing the steps and initiatives by MOT with the PATA Members and the larger tourism fraternity in this meeting. Register on https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EYIAfgQRRFSMGGpL-zamhQ.

Members of the IATO’s UP Chapter and officials of IndiaTourism of Uttar Pradesh recently met to discuss various issues related to the revival of domestic tourism keeping in view pandemic in Varanasi and adjoining districts. The meeting, led by chapter chairman Prateek Hira, involved preparing a roadmap for the revival of domestic tourism in the region.  

Kamala Vardhan Rao, IAS, C&MD, ITDC, has said that India has tremendous potential for medical value tourism. Speaking at a webinar for Tourism Collaboration between India and Saudi Arabia, he added, “India holds 10th position globally as far as Medical Value Tourism is concerned, due to affordability, accessibility, and availability of medical facilities. It is the 7th dominating country in the world and 3rd in Asia Pacific region in terms of wellness tourism. India has received 4.95 lakh medical tourist in 2017 which has gone up to over 7 lakhs in 2019. With 800 NABH and 36 JCI accredited hospitals, India is a viable destination for medical facilities due to a robust ecosystem which is already well developed. Medical Value Tourism (MVT) is one of the 10 champion sectors identified by the Government of India, and we are perhaps the only country in the world with a dedicated Ministry of alternate healing and traditional medicine, the Ministry of AYUSH, which promotes Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy medicine. Ayurveda is taking off in a very big way world-wide, with its proven efficacy in the post-COVID recovery phase.”

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that while the strategy for international marketing in terms of incentives, promotions and media campaigns will be similar, but it will change from 15th August, when we enter 75th year of Independence. “We’ll merge that kind of messaging or campaigns, which will be aimed at celebrating 75th year of India’s independence, with existing media strategies, as well as new schemes and programmes,” he said.

Commenting on tourists flocking different domestic destinations and raising concerns of COVID and over-tourism, G Kishan Reddy, Cabinet Minister, Tourism & Culture, said, “While the state governments are responsible to control the spread, and they have been given advisories to follow COVID protocols, but COVID spread cannot be controlled without the cooperation of the people and tourists. Of course, the Central Government, State Governments, district and local administrations are working on it, but people’ cooperation is needed to make it happen.”

Ajay Bhatt, the newly appointed Minister of State, Tourism, took charge and shared that the priorities for him in the new role is to take the country forward and tourism sector at the top position. “We will take briefing and will come to know things clearly. Then, we would know what can be done about the issues and problems. The hotel industry is completely closed and small shops around tourist sites have been out of jobs, this include locals, rickshaws, taxis, guides, daily wagers, etc. All of them have faced problems. For them, the Government has created many schemes. Now that the situation is improving day by day, we hope to soon come back to the old level of tourism in India,” he said.