Category Archives: States

In a bid to attract investors across the industry, a number of state tourism boards presented their ideas and prospect on tourism in their respective states during the 4th Tourism Investors Meet held at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi. The tourism boards of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur gave detailed presentations on how their state provides lucrative opportunities to investors. Each presentation counted on their USP and explained about the incentives and concessions provided by the respective state governments. The first presentation was given by the meet’s Theme State West Bengal Tourism which stressed on developing the state as an ‘ecotourism hub’. This was followed by a presentation by Partner State Rajasthan Tourism which focused on promoting heritage location and properties in the state. It also talked about opportunity of growth for adventure sports and MiCE in the state. Feature State Gujarat Tourism stressed on providing attractive incentives to investors with last mile connectivity for travellers in the state. The final presentation was given by Feature State Manipur Tourism. Highlighting the state’s rich culture and resources, the presentation talked about the prospect of developing Manipur as a ‘tourism hub’. The main focus was on Loktak lake, the largest fresh water lake in the Northeast.

In a curtain raiser event held in New Delhi, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has announced that it will host ‘AdventureNEXT’ in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh from December 3-5, 2018. The event is organised by Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). The curtain raiser saw in presence Hari Ranjan Rao, MD, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board; Gergana Nikolova, Regional Manager – Europe, ATTA; Jake Finifrock, Regional Director – Asia, ATTA; and Swadesh Kumar, President ATOAI. Rao said, “India has been a great destination in terms of adventure travel. We are grateful to ATTA that it agreed to come to India and bring so many partners from other parts of the world. I am also grateful to ATOAI who have been at the forefront to take this event forward.” Organised for the first time in Asia, AdventureNEXT is known for putting emerging adventure destinations on the world tourism map. Finifrock added, “ATTA is a member organisation that is made up of over 1300 members throughout the world. We like to provide opportunities to people to come together to learn from one another, to inspire one another, to have more opportunities to network and grow the adventure travel community. It’s not only an event for Madhya Pradesh but also for all adventure travel across India. We are expecting around 300-350 delegates to attend Adventure Next. Many of these will be international buyers who will come to see travel products available in India.”

Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) has recommenced its popular white water rafting activity on the Mhadei river from June 28, 2018 all the way through September this year. There will be two rafting trips held each day with the first trip starting at 9:30 am and the second at 2:30 pm. Each trip will go on for 2.5 to 3.5 hours running 10 km each. This year, the white river rafting experience promises to be different. Goa Tourism has tied up with a top adventure sports video company in the country to capture the rafting experience through a personalised video, which would be shared via WhatsApp or Google Drive the same day. This comes along with a souvenir framed picture as well. There are also plans to offer a bus service for Rs 200 from Panjim and the Northern beaches twice daily to make the commute seamless. Speaking on the river rafting trend in Goa, Nilesh Cabral, Chairman, GTDC stated, “This year, we decided to associate with a top adventure sports video company to create personalised videos of our adventure enthusiasts braving along the Mhadei River, which can be taken home as a memorabilia. In future as well, we will continue to explore different tie-ups that would help us enhance the experience of our travellers.” Ideal for beginners and children above the age of 10, the trip costs Rs 1,890 per person including 5% GST.

The GDP in Delhi in terms of travel and tourism is set to experience double-digit growth over each of the next 10 years (10.8%), according to a recent report by World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Its share of overall city GDP will remain relatively unchanged from the current 3.6 per cent as other industry sectors also gain prominence. The sector’s share of Delhi’s employment is also set to remain steady at 8.3 per cent over the years to 2026. The Capital generated US$3.2 billion from travel and tourism in 2016, just over one third coming from international visitors. Delhi has much less source market dominance than in other Asian Pacific cities, however, with the largest market, the US, contributing just 11% of inbound traffic.

Kerala government has said that its tourism scenario has breathed a sigh of relief with the Nipah virus scare, having been subdued. The virus outbreak had threatened to affect tourism arrivals to the state.  The state government also said that there has been no new cases of the Nipah virus attack reported over the past 21 days, and the state health department believes that the scare has waned off. “The health advisories issued by the State Health Department on May 22 and 25, 2018, soon after the Nipah virus had made its appearance, have now been withdrawn. The government believes that it is absolutely safe for travelers to arrive in Kerala,” a statement by the state government said. As per the latest health advisory released by the Kerala Health and Family Welfare Department, the Nipah virus outbreak is over in Kerala. The advisory substantiates this with the fact that there has been absolutely no new cases of the virus attack reported over the past 21 days, and this is more that the longest recorded incubation period of the virus. Travellers who had been putting off their travels plans owing to fear of the virus, can now be sure enough that it is absolutely safe to travel to Kerala. The scare has died off and the state’s destinations are safer as before, the statement said.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has launched an e-brochure of Lonar Crater, reported as a national geo-heritage monument, located at Lonar in Buldhana district of Maharashtra. It was launched by Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, in the presence of Vijay Kumar Gautam (IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism and Culture, Government of Maharashtra and MD, MTDC. Lonar Crater is a saline lake created by a meteor impact during Pleistocene Epoch and is one of the largest, most exclusive basalt impact craters on the globe. This brochure includes all the information about the Lonar crater and the famous tourist destinations near the lake. In addition to this, MTDC is in process of developing a new Planetarium, Museum and a Research Centre near the crater which will help highlight the history behind the formation of this crater. This initiative will offer economic benefits to the local communities, increase tourist footfall and generate employment opportunities in Buldhana.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has strengthened its ties with Airbnb with the introduction of Tourism Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme which aims to boost the tourism prospects in the state. It will also drive economic growth in local communities by helping micro-entrepreneurs in hospitality sector grow their business thorough four key pillars of support- Training, Enabling, Access and Promotion.  The programme will first be launched in Elephanta village where MTDC and Airbnb will associate with Gram Panchayat and identify 35 homes and get aligned with Airbnb standards. Hosts of these homes would be first set of entrepreneurs benefitting from this programme. Commenting on the programme Jaykumar Rawal,  Minister of Tourism, Maharashtra said, “Tourism is not only a source of revenue for the state, but is also key source of growth for local communities. In Airbnb, we have found a global partner whose vision to create skilled micro-entrepreneurs in hospitality and homestay ecosystem to further expand Maharashtra’s tourism potential. We are pleased to expand our partnership with Airbnb and launch the Tourism Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme, which will help mentor and support budding entrepreneurs in hospitality sector and build strong homestay network across key destinations. “ Airbnb has trained around 500 partners last year partnering with MTDC and with launch of the programme its aims to achieve 1500 micro-entrepreneurs with at least one entrepreneur in each village. To start off with the programme will cover destinations like Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Palghar with special focus on Elephanta Island. Chris Lehane, Global Head of Policy ad Communications, Airbnb said, “Airbnb’s commitment to create 50,000 hospitality micro-entrepreneurs in India.”

The Hotel & Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO) is set to organise a state-level workshop on the development of tourism in western Odisha on June 20. The workshop, scheduled to be held at Hotel The Grand Siba in Sambalpur, will be attended by hoteliers, tour operators, travel agents and other stakeholders. Important decision makers, government officials, media and political leaders have also been invited to give their inputs for giving a boost to the tourism growth of Western Odisha. With the addition of Jharsuguda, Rourkela and Jeypore airports in the state, the association now wants to make Odisha a 21-night destination. “With the benefits of the new tourism policy, the HRAO is now willing to spread out with additional 5000 rooms in all tourist locations of the state, specially Western Odisha. Currently, we have the lowest number of star hotels (10 hotels) and classified rooms (670 rooms) in Odisha,” said J K Mohanty, Chairman – HRAO & IATO, Eastern Region.

Cleartrip has tied up with the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) as its exclusive online booking partner for local tours and activities. Under the association, KTDC will sell all of its exclusive set of activities through the Cleartrip platform, including both existing and new inventory of conducted tours and boat trips. The partnership is also Cleartrip’s first with a government tourism board, marking a major milestone for the online travel agency. Commenting on the association, Ankit Rastogi, VP- Experiences and Accommodation, Cleartrip, said, “The biggest benefit of this tie-up will be to the travellers, who now can access and book all of KTDC’s inventory of tours and activities online on a single platform. We hope that this partnership will spur more such associations where Cleartrip partners with other government tourism promoters to make their offerings available through its online portal.” Mr Rajmohan, Marketing Manager, KTDC, commented, “Our goal is to extend greater convenience in terms of planning and booking these popular activities. We have recently launched a new set of conducted tours to highlight local experiences which best convey the state’s distinct culture and heritage. Cleartrip’s pioneering efforts in the tours and activities space made it our first choice when it came to choosing a partner to help us connect with and engage young travellers.”

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has participated in the Global Exhibition on Services (GES) to showcase the tourism potential of the state in agritourism, medical tourism, Buddhist tourism, etc to attract visitors from around the world. The fourth edition of GES aims to increase trade services between India and the globe. On the occasion of World Agritourism Day, MTDC is promoting agritourism as the state has huge potential and farmers can take up agritourism to boost their income. It is also promoting medical tourism and Buddhist tourism to tap the new avenues of tourist attraction. MTDC is also encouraging Buddhist pilgrimage in Maharashtra by developing sites where Lord Buddha was born, taught, preached and attained nirvana. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, who was present at the inauguration, said, “This is an excellent platform to grow our businesses and meet the new stakeholders from across the world. GES 2018 is a wonderful opportunity to aggressively market the tourism inventories, lively culture, exclusive destinations and investment prospects in Maharashtra.” Vijay Gautam, (IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, added, “We have observed that tourism as one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Through GES 2018, we are promoting our tourism inventories like medical tourism, agritourism and Buddhist tourism. We are now looking to create a unique identity by offering best services for the world and establish ourselves as the best tourism destination and it will pave a way for creating a roadmap for the state.”