Category Archives: MOT

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has welcomed the relief measures and free-visa announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We have been in discussion with the Finance Ministry on relief measures for the tourism and hospitality sectors. We welcome the announcement, as it will help in the revival of the sector and promote inbound travel to India. Tourism is one of the sectors that has been badly hit by the pandemic, and hence these measures are welcome.” Since the relief measures are for recognised tour operators, he urged more stakeholders in the industry to get registered.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that once international travel resumes, first 5 lakh tourists who come to India will get visa for free. The scheme is applicable till March 31, 2022 or till 5,00,000 visas are issued whichever is earlier, she said. The announcement was made as part of the 8 relief measures in the wake of coronavirus pandemic declared by Sitharaman.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance minister, Government of India, has announced financial support to more than 11,000 registered tourist guides/travel and tourism stakeholders through the loan guarantee scheme for COVID-affected sectors. The scheme will cover 10,700 regional level tourist guides recognised by ministry of tourism and those recognised by state governments. It will also cover travel and tourism stakeholders (TTS) recognised by Ministry of tourism. Loans will be provided with 100 per cent guarantee up to Rs 10 lakh for TTS and Rs 1 lakh for tourist guides licensed at regional or state level. She also said that the first five lakh tourist visas that will be issued – once issuance is restarted – for free. These announcements are part of eight measures declared by the centre as relief for the COVID-hit national economy.

Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel recently chaired a hybrid meeting of the Central Advisory Board on Culture (CABC) in New Delhi. In the meeting, detailed discussions were held on the ongoing activities undertaken by the government and the way ahead in the celebration of 75 years of India’s independence – Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The Members of the CABC took cognizance of the activities and gave their valuable suggestions in this regard.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has said that after the reopening of monuments, they will be promoting domestic tourism. “Just like last year, considering that domestic tourism will open first, the Dekho Apna Desh webinars, which have been temporarily put on hold, will also be restarted. As we get better inputs from local administrations as well as the central health ministry, we will be taking up more campaigns in the domestic markets.”

India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), through its education wing AIH&TM organized a session on ‘Yoga For Health & Wellness’ for its employees. The session conducted on the occasion of International Yoga Day was led by Shri Yoga Acharaya, who taught ‘Vedic Aashtanga Yog’ and shed light on simple yet powerful tools to manifest health & vitality in life. Further, the session also discussed the protocols of Yoga & Pranayam by the Ministry Of Aayush, Government of India.

Highlighting the importance of yoga on International Yoga Day, Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (I/C), said, “We know that the discussion around the world regarding mental health as well as post-Covid wellness – if anyone has a permanent solution for that it is India – whether it is in the form of Yoga, Ayurveda or Ayush.”

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, revealed that the International Yoga Day was organised at 75 cultural heritage locations across the country to commemorate 75 years of Independence. Considering the current pandemic situation, the number of participants for Yoga was restricted to 20 at each site.

Ministry of Tourism and its field offices have initiated week-long online activities within the country and abroad to celebrate International Yoga Day 2021. Besides organising a webinar titled ‘Yoga for Immunity’, various programmes ensuring the wide participation of people from different segments of society and age groups have also been planned to create more awareness about Yoga.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has drafted separate national strategies and roadmaps for MICE as well as medical & wellness tourism. Before proceeding to finalise the draft strategy document and to make the document more comprehensive, MOT has invited feedback/ comments/ suggestions to be sent to the Ministry on or before June 30, 2021.