Category Archives: MOT

In a webinar organised by MOT and IATO to address queries related to filling Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) by tourism industry stakeholders, Suman Sharma, ADG, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), said that she and her team are trying to devise an industry-wise standard list of documents, which can help firms while filing SEIS claims. “The work on the document is almost complete from my end. I will submit the same to DGFT for their approval. It will probably help all the industries including tourism and will help them know what additional documents DGFT needs while they file SEIS and reduce the time of processing their application. Currently, DGFT doesn’t have FAQs specific to SEIS filing and claim procedure. Hence, a lot of travel industry professionals are facing issues with the same.” During the webinar, Rupinder Brar, ADG, MOT inquired about the FAQs looking at the number of queries from the trade and Suman Sharma agreed to do the same to help travel trade. Sharma is also the nodal officer to deal with SEIS claims and issues on tour and travel cases.

In order to give a boost to M!CE Tourism and attract more M!CE events to the country, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has decided to extend the benefits to M!CE organisers in the form of certain incentives under the Champion Sector in Services Scheme (CSSS). For this purpose, a M!CE fund has been set up under CSSS. Under this initiative to encourage M!CE operators to bring more conferences/meetings/seminars to India, they will be entitled to avail certain financial incentives in the form of GST reimbursement. The incentive would be made available for a period of three years. A prior approval from MOT will be required to avail incentives under the scheme along with a NOC from the concerned travel trade association. MOT has made India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) as the nodal agency for steering and promoting the scheme who in turn would motivate Indian Travel Planners / Societies / Associations towards publicising the scheme.

Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, says that the newly constituted National Tourism Task Force, will be discussing and laying out the kind of safety measures and protocols that will be followed by tourism stakeholders, including hotels, agents, tour operators, etc. This is the reason that various associations will be a part of the task force. She adds, “We want to widen the ambit of inputs because there are so many people to value add to tourism and hospitality as an industry. We would be benefitted by wider participation and inputs, as each sector would have something different to say and each sector would have its own issues. The Hon. Minister is keen that we work on this task force with different sectors.” The National Tourism Task Force is part of the ongoing initiative the MOT to continue its dialogue with different stakeholders. These are unprecedented times for everyone and the MOT wants to hear the industry’s problems and also some ideas on what can be the way forward, what can be done, and how do we take tourism forward and take care of all our stakeholders.

The outbreak of COVID 19 has had a major impact on the tourism sector and its revival is of paramount importance, it’s the major contributor of employment as well as GDP. National Tourism Task Force constituted by MOT will meet the challenge posted by the outbreak of Covid 19 and make appropriate recommendations for the revival of the tourism sector in the country. The task force will be headed by Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (IC), and it will include: State Tourism Ministers; Joint Secretary level officers of the concerned central ministries; Industry associations, CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, WTTC, etc and the heads of Tourism and Hospitality Associations. Ministry of Tourism will hold the first meeting of the National Tourism task Force shortly in all probability through video call.

Archaeological Survey of India‘s (ASI’s) Delhi circle expressed gratitude for Corona Warriors by illuminating historical sites  like Red Fort, Qutub Minar & Humayun’s Tomb in a special way on the occasion of World Heritage Day in New Delhi. The gesture was to show gratitude towards corona warriors for their selfless services to the humankind. In the evening ASI Delhi circle illuminated all the three monuments in a special way. At Red Fort, the candles (Diyas) were arranged in the shape of India’s map with a massage ‘Hum Jitenge’; at Qutub Minar. candles (Diyas) were arranged in the shape of house with a massage ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’; at Humayun’s Tomb, 41 candles were lighted in addition to the general illumination. This symbolized our fight against CORONA outbreak for which 41 days of lockdown is being observed. ASI Delhi circle also administered oath to school students through video conferencing to safeguard and respect the monuments and their heritage.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Tourism & Culture (I/C), launched the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of India on World Heritage Day. MOT celebrated the special occasion by conducting a series of webinars, titled ‘Dekho Apna Desh’. Patel addressed live through the webinar on Ancient Temple city of Mamallapuram which had participants from all over the world. The second webinar was titled ‘World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism at Humayun’s Tomb’. Speaking on the occasion Patel said, “India houses a repository of unique Intangible Cultural Heritage(ICH) traditions, 13 of which have also been recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The National ICH List is an attempt to recognise the diversity of Indian culture embedded in its intangible heritage. He said that It aims to raise awareness about the various intangible cultural heritage elements from different states of India at national and international level and ensure their protection. This initiative is also a part of the Vision 2024 of the Ministry of Culture.” Patel also added, “Our tradition and culture is not only ancient but also invaluable. He further said that in the present crisis where the world and our country also is dealing with COVID-19, it is the values of humanity and warm hospitality of our heritage which define us and make us what we are. He alluded to the shloka ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbhakam’(the world is our family) from the Maha Upanishad wherein India’s spirit is demonstrated in its warmth and humility through the help extended to all tourists stranded in India.” Following UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, this list has been classified into five broad domains in which intangible cultural heritage …

Promoting tourism awareness and social history, the Ministry of Tourism has launched its ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ webinar series to provide information on the many destinations of the country and share the sheer depth and expanse of the culture and heritage of our Incredible India. The first webinar, which was part of a series that shall unfold, touched upon the long history of Delhi as it has unfolded as 8 cities, each unique in its character and leaving behind traces which makes Delhi the magnificent city that it is today. The seminar was titled ” City of Cities- Delhi’s Personal Diary’. The next webinar is on the 16th of April from 11 am to 12 noon and based on the amazing city of Kolkata. The core of the session-based itself on tourism awareness and social history. Laced with interesting anecdotes the session which was conducted by the India city walks for Ministry of Tourism, had enthusiastic participation with 5546 persons registering and many interesting questions were raised which depict the interest of the participants. The webinar shall be available in public domain soon and so if you missed it then do see it on the official links of the Ministry’s social media handles- IncredibleIndia on Instagram and Facebook. Rupinder Brar, ADG, MOT mentioned that the series of webinars shall be an on-going feature and the Ministry would work towards showcasing Incredible India. She requested that stakeholders should work with MOT to build positive messaging for the promotion of domestic tourism so that people are encouraged to travel as soon as the country has COVID 19 behind it.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has said that MOTs marketing and promotional campaigns have to be re-aligned according to the markets that could come out of the impact of COVID-19 earlier and have the disposable incomes to travel again. While speaking at the first TravTalk Digital Conclave, she said. “We would need to re-align our promotions and marketing campaigns in the light of the situation worldwide and we are still in the middle of this crisis. Quarter 2 would require us to now sit down on the drawing board and really work and re-align some of our marketing plans. Even regarding the Global Media Plan that we worked out in November-December this year, we need to be expanding our footprint. We have started our campaigns in Latam and we have identified some countries from Africa where the campaign will be followed. We need to work on the metrics of the impact of COVID in different countries to identify markets, and also see in those countries what kind of disposable income and what is the age bracket will be open to travel. Accordingly we need to picture the marketing plans for those countries.”

The StrandedinIndia portal of the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) continues to provide support to the tourists. Until 9th April, the number of tourists who have been assisted are 1194. In addition, the regular toll-free helpline 1363 which the MOT runs has had 779 calls from 22nd March to 9th April. Besides this, the Ministry officials are working round the clock with the tourism and hospitality industry to understand the immediate and long term issues that are coming up as an impact of COVID-19.  

During the TravTalk Digital Conclave, Suman Billa, Director, Technical Cooperation & Silk Road Development, UNWTO said that it may take almost 7 years for tourism to scale back growth achieved in recent years. According to him, the global tourism demand will not be the same again post-COVID-19 crisis is over. “COVID-19 may cost tourism seven years of growth – that’s seven years of lost jobs and lost opportunities. UNWTO’s recommendations for recovery urge governments to act decisively to protect jobs, protect companies and include tourism in all recovery plans,” the former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism. In its analysis estimating the global impact, UNWTO predicted a loss of 290-400 million international tourist arrivals globally.