Category Archives: MOT

Providing major relief to tour operators, Meenakshi Sharma, DG Tourism, MOT, has said that the ministry is liberalising the MDA scheme (both local & international) by giving certain relaxations in the required norms. MOT will soon announce the changes officially. During the virtual IATO members meet, the association also released a promotional video which members can use to market India and restart tourism.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, has said that while domestic tourism will be a priority in the near future, inbound is also important. He claimed that by 2024, he will fulfil his promise to the Prime Minister, of doubling the number of international arrivals to India. Citing UNWTO Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index, he said that India jumped from 65th to 34th rank in 2019. “We wanted to travel to 1st position, but the COVID-19 crisis came in between. However, I can confidently say that in 2024, I will fulfil my promise to the PM to double the number of international arrivals in the country. In fact, I am sure that we will achieve that before time. We are capable of doing it and all the stakeholders are participants in that journey,” asserted Patel.

Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism (MOT), claimed that she is against regulation and prefers collaboration with the industry. Speaking at 4th TravTalk Digital Conclave, she said, “I believe in partnering and working together. However, I would like a database to be created where we can connect with each other. I am against regulation, but all for collaboration. I would be very happy if the industry takes that initiative and bring everyone together, so that we can talk.”

Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Tourism, has said that after releasing the operational advisories in line with the SOPs by MHA and MHoFW, they are now working towards a certification for service providers to create confidence in tourists about their safety and health. Speaking at the 4th TravTalk Digital Conclave, she revealed, “We are working on some kind of certification, where we are going to say that a particular destination/ service provider/ facility is safe and hygienic, in order to create confidence amongst tourists.”

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, has revealed that they have decided to launch a social platform along with the states where authentic and factually correct information is put up and it can then be shared with agencies, tourists, online aggregators, hotels, tour and travel companies. “It will be a platform by MOT, and the information available on this would mean that we have taken consent from states and have talked to the stakeholders of these states, and then we have allowed any traveller there. If everyone is not in agreement, then there are chances that they go to a state, airport, or destination and they must stay there, then it will be a dent in our trust. Hence to take such a precaution, we have thought about this platform, and it will be there for everyone,” he said.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has launched a list of advisories for tourism stakeholders, in line with the SOPs released by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), reveals Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, which will be separate for monuments, hotels, travel and tour organisations, restaurants, libraries, etc. He further added that the MOT is open to make changes in these advisories, even thrice a month, if the stakeholders come up with more ideas and solutions.

Speaking at the 4th TravTalk Digital Conclave on June 9, 2020, Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, said that one of the biggest challenges they faced as the government was with the unorganised workforce. She said, “This sector has no structure and they are not part of any regulation. This pandemic has shown us that the way we are doing things is not the best. We need to have more cross collection of data. We should have a structure to deal with the problems without making it regulatory. One thing we must have, and the industry agrees, is to be able to support without having the regulation. In any industry, a lot of engagement with the government comes with its partnership on regulation. This is not good for a sector which is ever-changing.”

Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that after the Government has laid out SOPs for tourism stakeholders, including hotels and restaurants, as well as changing the definition of MSMEs for this sector, the MOT will now be coming up with more detailed operational advisories for tourism stakeholders and states, to ensure that operations happen smoothly and consumers are confident of using their services. “We have been in discussions with the stakeholders and we have been taking inputs regarding what they feel is the right way of starting operations. We shared our inputs when the SOPs were being finalised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As the next step, to further give confidence to the state governments and industry stakeholders, we will be further be coming up with detailed operational advisories. These will be more operational advisories to help the stakeholders in ensuring that their operations happen smoothly on one side, and this would also give more confidence to the consumers that our stakeholders would be operating, not only as per SOPs, but would be following very detailed functional operational advisories. Therefore, it should help in building confidence not only among the people who are going to do the business, but also among the people who are going to use the services. We are in the final stages of doing that,” he shared.

While the tourism industry was disappointed with the sector not being mentioned in the stimulus package announced by the finance minister, Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary – Tourism, Government of India, has said that the new definition of MSME, which has removed the differentiation between manufacturing and services sector MSMEs, shall benefit tourism as 70-80% of the sector falls under MSME. “Throughout my tenure, I have been hearing from the industry that 70-80 per cent of the stakeholders in tourism fall under the MSME category. The biggest announcement under Atmanirbhar Bharat programme was pertaining to the MSMEs. Hence, we have clarified to the industry that the biggest announcements are there for them as well. The fact that the differentiation of definition between the manufacturing and the services sector MSME, which has been removed and the caps which have been changed for the services sector MSMEs, like tourism sector MSMEs, shall bring benefits. It’s not just the benefits which have been given, but it also further expands the scope of the tourism industry, to be part of the MSME definition and to take the benefits, which are due under the MSME category of Atmanirbhar Bharat announcements. I believe that the industry has started understanding that because they are now bringing out 1-2 difficult areas wherein the tourism industry may not get the kind of benefits it has been expecting. We are bringing up those difficulties to the appropriate authorities to see if we can resolve them, so that more benefits reach out to the MSME tourism industry,” he said.

The 4th TravTalk Digital Conclave is all set to be held tomorrow, Tuesday, 9th June, with a focus on re-engineering tourism and establishing confidence among travellers. To register, please send an email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532. The three sessions between 10:00 am and 1:30 pm will cover subjects such as a practical vision for the future, managing customer experience, and reducing fears & establishing confidence.