Category Archives: MOT

In his address on World Tourism Day, Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary – Tourism, said that this year’s global theme of rural tourism laid out by the UNWTO is in the right context and has come at the right time. “In a country as diverse as India where a significant number of people are deeply rooted to the villages, it is both an opportunity as well as a necessity that tourism develops itself and in turn develops rural communities. Rural tourism in India has significant potential, considering rich cultural and historical heritage, variety in ecology and terrains, as well as places of natural beauty spread across the country,” he said.

The World Tourism Day celebration by MOT this year will be different as the event would take place virtually. Sharing details of the same, Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, said, “World Tourism Day 2020 celebration will happen differently this year. The new initiative- which endeavours to organise a PAN-India— SAATHI-System for Assessment, Awareness and Training for Hospitality Industry, will be launched. MOT will be showcasing a small audio-video clip on IITFC initiative by MOT. IITFC aims at employment generation at the PAN-India grass-root level. An AV will also be shown on the MICE potential of India. Since the focus this year is on domestic tourism, small snippets of the Dekho Apna Desh webinars will be showcased, MOT will be giving an e-certificate of participation for these webinars for the first participant.”

In a webinar organised by ITDC on the revival of the hotel industry, Rakesh Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism said that the first challenge for hotels and ministry after reopening of hotels to rebuild consumer confidence. “We have to jointly convince people that they have to trust the industry, otherwise the demand will not pick up,” he said.  

The tourism ministry has sanctioned two projects in Bihar and Kerala at a cost of Rs 125 crore under the Rural Circuit as part of its endeavour to take tourism to villages of the country. The ministry has identified Rural Circuit as one of the 15 thematic circuits for development under ‘Swadesh Darshan’ Scheme.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Tourism & Culture (I/C), has told the parliament that there has been a massive loss of revenue, foreign exchange and jobs in tourism owing to the pandemic. “Several rounds of discussions and brainstorming sessions with industry stakeholders indicate massive loss of revenue and jobs. In view of the highly unorganised nature of the tourism sector, the impact in numerical terms can only be ascertained in due course,” he told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Tourism & Culture (I/C), has announced that they will be launching NIDHI- National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry on September 27, 2020, i.e. World Tourism Day. MOT is also working on another platform, SAATHI – System for Assessment, Awareness and Training for Hospitality Industry. Both these platforms come in line with the brainstorming sessions that MOT had with industry stakeholders. In his Tweet, Patel said, “NIDHI will be a source of information for the country and the world. MOT had 1600 hotels registered with it; after the discussion with stakeholders, this figure has reached 21,000.”

Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel along with MOT officials met legendary cricketer and Padma Bhushan awardee Kapil Dev to discuss the promotion of tourism, especially golf tourism in India.   .  

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, has said that it has emerged from her discussions with industry stakeholders that the most significant enabler in the times to come is the safety factor and that there is need for harmonisation of quarantine rules across states. “People have to feel safe to travel, which means safety protocols need to be in place, but equally important is to create the perception of safety, for which, the Government, associations, industry and citizens should work together. In order to create ease of travel, we also need to create harmonisation around the rules within different states, owing to local conditions,” she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech on Independence Day, has said that as part of development work in Ladakh, work is going on towards starting new courses for hotel and management in the Union Territory. “Nestled in the heights of the Himalayas, Ladakh is progressing towards new heights. Work is going on for a central university, setting up new research centres, new courses for hotel and management. Plan is also under way for the creation of 7,500 MW Solar Park. Ladakh has several specialties. Not only do we have to preserve them, we must nurture them as well. As Sikkim has made its mark as an Organic State in the northeast, Ladakh, Leh and Kargil can also create their own niche as a Carbon Neutral unit. Indian government has joined hands with the locals of the region to create a new model of development as per their own requirements.

In an exclusive interaction with TravTalk, PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, said that during their meeting with the Tourism Minister, he suggested that MOT bring out a comprehensive study on domestic tourism so that trade members are aware about hotels, transporters, communication and infrastructure in a particular state, to help avoid chaos and confusion.