Category Archives: MOT

The Ministry of Tourism is giving financial assistance to MOT and UT Tourism department approved tourism service providers in J&K and Ladakh for undertaking promotional activities including participation in international and domestic travel marts/fairs/exhibitions/road shows and undertaking online promotion/sales tours overseas to give boost to the tourism sector in the region, said Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel.

The outlay for Annual Budget 2021-22 of Ministry of Culture is Rs 2,687.99 Crore as against the outlay (Rs 2,211.85 Crore) approved for the revised Budget Plan 2020-21. The annual outlay in FY 2021-22 is 21.53% higher than the revised annual outlay in FY 2020-21. Rs 1,042.62 Crore has been allocated to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply to a query in Rajya Sabha said that the central government has initiated a study to quantify the quantum of loss suffered by the tourism sector due to the COVID pandemic. He also said that the record of the revenue generated through tourism was not maintained by the Ministry of Tourism.

Ministry of Tourism has no plans to approach the GST Council for reducing GST on all hotel rooms to 12%, Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said. “MOT is aware of taxes levied on tourism products, including hotels, as the same directly impacts country’s tourism competitiveness vis-a-vis other countries but presently, MOT has no plans to approach GST council,” he said.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, shared that the budget has announced the opening of wellness centres in urban as well as rural areas, which would boost wellness tourism in the country. “It is a budget of the country which will propagate the theme of Atmanirbhar Bharat further.”

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the first paperless Budget of the country focused on building infrastructure but unfortunately had no mention on tourism and hospitality industry apart from introducing Vista Dome coaches on tourist routes. The tourism budget too has been reduced by almost 18 per cent, from Rs 2,499.33 crore in 2020 to Rs 2,032.04 crore in 2021. Apart from proposing tax exemption for aircraft leasing companies and plans to monetise AAI airports in tier-II and tier-III cities, the aviation industry too didn’t receive any relief. The FM announced Rs 1.10 lakh crore for outlay of Railways and capital expenditure along with a National Railway Plan for 2030. Additionally, more economic corridors are being planned to boost road infrastructure and tax holiday for startups has been extended by one year. The FM also announced tax exemption for LTC

Under its ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ initiative, Indiatourism Mumbai office recently conducted a roadshow in Indore. This was followed by a three-day Fam tour to Mandu and Maheshwar in MP along with a city tour of Indore, sponsored by MP Tourism. Present at the roadshow were Sonia Meena, Deputy Secretary and Additional Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. More than 20 agents were a part of this Fam. The Ahmedabad-Indore-Ahmedabad tickets were sponsored by Flybig.

Minister of Tourism & Culture, Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the second edition of India Dialogues Conclave, hosted at Delhi’s Shangri-La Hotel. The platform has been created with the vision of giving voice to young India on the digital surface at large. It allows Heads of state, political leaders, social media icons, youth icons, ministers, policymakers and game changers to present their views. 

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Tourism & Culture, in his address at the launch of Bharat Parv, said that tourism was the most affected industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, but positive attitude and effective planning of the government is helping this industry to rebound in a magnificent way. “The diverse culture of India is our great strength and we can introduce it to the world through tourism,” he said.

Venkatesan D, Regional Director of Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India recently visited Indore to interact with more than 50 members of TAAI’s MP & CG Chapter led by Hemendra Singh Jadon, Chapter Chairman. The discussion was around the importance of promoting India, new products in MP, and new strategies for selling including using more and more social media to showcase experiences and destinations, as well as involving social influencers.