Category Archives: MOT

Ministry of Tourism (MOT), has sanctioned Rs 1,400 crore worth projects in the eight northeastern states in the past five years under Swadesh Darshan scheme, revealed Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel. Of Rs 1,400 crore, Rs 896 crore were released for a total of 16 projects, he added. Of this, two projects each were for Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura. The projects included heritage development of Tezpur-Majuli-Sibsagar in Assam, wildlife tourism in Assam (development of Manas-Probitora-Nameri-Kaziranga-Dibru-Saikhowa), eco-tourism in Mizoram (development of Aizawl-Rawpuichhip-Khawhphawp-Lengpui-Durtlang-Chatlang-Sakawrhmuituaitlang-Muthee-Beratlawng-Tuirial air field-Hmuifang), tribal affairs (two projects) in Nagaland, (development of Mokokchung-Tuensang-Mon and Peren-Kohima-Wokha), and spiritual tourism in Manipur (development of Shri Govindajee Temple, Shri Bijoy Govindajee Temple-Shri Gopinath Temple-Shri Bungshibodon Temple-Shri Kaina Temple). Patel said the Union Home Ministry (MHA) had declared Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim as partly protected area and partly restricted area.

The Ministry of Tourism, under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, has sanctioned a total of Rs 380. 12 crore for development of Tribal Circuit across the country, specifically in states like Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, revealed by Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism. Around 97.36 crore have been sanctioned for the development of Tribal Circuit Peren- Kohima- Wokha in Nagaland, apart from another one worth Rs 99.67 crore for the Mokokchung–Tuensang-Mon circuit in the same state. In Telangana, Rs 83.88 crore have been sanctioned for the integrated development of Mulugu-Laknavaram-Medavaram-Tadvai- Damaravi –Mallur – Bogatha Waterfalls as Tribal Circuit. On the other hand, Rs 99.21 crore have been sanctioned for the development of Tribal Tourism Circuit in Jashpur-Kunkuri-Mainpat- Ambikapur-Maheshpur -Ratanpur-Kurdar-Sarodadadar Gangrel- Kondagaon –Nathyanawagaon -Jagdalpur Chitrakoot -Tirthgarh in Chhattisgarh.

Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has identified Rural circuit as one of the thematic circuits for infrastructure development, with an objective to develop basic infrastructure for showcasing rural sites and culture of the country to tourists, revealed Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel at the Lok Sabha. He shared that MOT will enhance public infrastructure like tourist parks and tourism clusters in 15 identified circuits across the country. The minister highlighted that the initiative was taken under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. “Under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, Integrated Development of Theme Based Tourist Circuits is developing tourism infrastructure in 15 identified circuits, across the country, having tourist potential in a planned and prioritised manner,” he said.

According to the recent Economic Survey, Ministry of Finance, outbound tourism has increased in recent years, with the number of departures of Indian nationals from India at 23.94 million in 2017 as against 21.87 million in 2016, with a growth rate of 9.5 per cent in 2017. This was more than double the foreign tourist arrivals in India.

A recent whitepaper titled ‘Indian Tourism Infrastructure- Investment Opportunities & Challenges’ released by FICCI, reveals that employment generated through in 2017-18 was 81.1 million, which was almost 5 million more than what it was in 2016-17 (75.90 million). In 2015-16 employment created by tourism was 72.3 million, which was 69.5 million and 67.2 million in 2014-15 and 2013-14 respectively. The reports used data released by Ministry of Tourism (MOT), which was based on Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), which comprises of a set of 10 standard tables which are key to estimating the economic contribution of tourism in the economy. According to 3rd TSA, the share in employment generated by tourism increased from 12.19 in 2016-17 to 12.38 in 2017-18.

In an effort to ease the woes of tourists, the Ministry of Tourism is planning to launch a Twitter-based grievance redressal mechanism for tourists to file their complaints in real time. The ministry wants to replicate the External Affairs Ministry’s Twitter Seva Service, which was launched in 2016 with an aim to centralise and expedite its grievance redressal mechanism. Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel had a meeting with officials of Twitter this week and requested them to create a dedicated mechanism. The ministry is also likely to create a dedicated cell to address the issues raised by tourists on the handle so that they can be resolved within a given time frame. Union ministries such as the railways receive a lot of complaints from passengers on their Twitter handle and these are addressed by the divisional railway managers concerned as well as the public relation officers. It’s been said that Twitter has advised the ministry to first create a cell comprising personnel from the ministry. Currently, tourists can register their grievances on a 24×7 toll-free multi-lingual tourist helpline.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has spent Rs 1,687.06 crore and Rs 1,986.04 crore during the years 2017-18 and 2018-19, respectively under its plan scheme on tourism sector. The budget estimate under the plan scheme for the sector during the financial year 2019-20 is Rs 2,075.12 crore. The Ministry has taken several initiatives to boost tourism in the country and this budget will be spent on activities that include activities such as organisation of the annual global tourism mart for India in line with major international travel marts being held in countries across the world, organisation of biennial International Buddhist Conclave, organisation of annual international tourism mart for promotion of tourism in North Eastern states, promotional activities in overseas markets through its India tourism offices, conducting roadshows and ‘Know India’ seminars, etc. This was revealed by Minister of State (I/C) for Culture & Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel. The tourism sector contributed an estimated (direct + indirect) 5.06% to the Gross Domestic Product of the country during 2016-17. The estimated share (direct + indirect) of jobs due to tourism was 12.38% during 2017-18. An estimated additional 13.92 million jobs (direct + indirect) were created due to tourism during the years from 2014-15 to 2017-18.

The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has sanctioned the highest number of projects in Uttar Pradesh under its Swadesh Darshan scheme. This number stands at eight with Rs 505.38 cr sanctioned for it. Following close on its heels are Kerala with six sanctioned projects at a budget of Rs 503.83 cr sanctioned for it and an equal number in J&K with Rs 561.45 cr set aside for it, making the state the recipient of the largest dole from MoT under this scheme. At the other end of the spectrum though is Karnataka with zero projects sanctioned under both schemes that were launched in 2014-15. MoT, under its schemes of Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD, provides financial assistance to state governments/Union Territories/Central agencies for developing tourism infrastructure in the country. For this, the state governments and Union Territories administrations regularly submit utilization certificates for the funds released to them by the Ministry based on which the next instalment of funds are released in conformity with the GFRs and the directions issued by the Ministry of Finance from time to time.  

A report by India Brand Equity foundation, titled Tourism & Hospitality, revealed that domestic tourists will lead the growth of tourism in terms of spending. The share of foreign tourist spending in 2018 was 12.8 per cent, while that of domestic visitor spending was 87.2 per cent, which was 74.4 per cent more. The report estimated the domestic travel revenues at US$ 215.38 billion in 2018, which is anticipated to further increase to US$ 40.5.8 billion by 2028.

The Ministry of Tourism has so far issued Letters of Intent to 37 agencies under its ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project done in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs Governments. Revealing this was Aashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism, who was in Mumbai for a cultural event organised by the Ministry of Tourism for creating awareness about this project. She said, “We have come up with a unique concept called Vision Bidding for which you will not find any parallel anywhere in the world. This does not involve any financial bidding but it is given to the best vision instead. It depends on how best you can develop a site. So far we have issued Letters of Intent to 37 agencies for 106 monuments and we have signed 11 MoUs which are in various stages of implementation. We are going slow because this project is very sensitive in nature and we want to see what the agencies can offer. So we are not in a hurry to award heritage sites to them.” The scheme ‘Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’ was launched on September 27, 2017 to preserve the rich cultural and natural heritage and to promote tourism across the length and breadth of our country. The Project began with selected ASI ticketed monuments and the scope has now been expanded to include other natural and cultural sites across the country. It was strongly emphasised that tourist experience is the prime parameter to evaluate our performance in the sector.