Category Archives: States

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in association with Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has launched its special Mumbai Darshan Tours starting on August 11, 2016. The tours will start from Rs. 499 (silver package) and go to Rs 725 (gold package). For foreign nationals, it will be at Rs 1,430. It will be inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The Mumbai Darshan Tour will be divided in two tours, with different pick up and drop points, covering all the iconic places of Mumbai. Jaykumar Rawal, Tourism Minister, Government of Maharashtra, on this initiative said, “The launch of the Mumbai Darshan Tours is one step closer to advance the current tourism scenario in Maharashtra. Through this initiative we are not only aiming at highlighting the heritage that Maharashtra has to offer but also give a new outlook and revive the tourism sector in the state. The project development team has done a great job of creating and hand picking the destinations that will be covered in this tour to ensure each tourist gets a wholesome experience of what Maharashtra has to offer.”

Kerala Tourism has rolled out a taxi campaign in Dubai targeting Arab travellers, showcasing the state’s features on taxis on the Dubai roads. Around 200 Kerala-branded taxis carry the message of ‘A Faraway Land Four Hours Away’– with visuals featuring hill stations, backwaters, waterfalls and also Ayurvedic therapies. The campaign will see the cabs take to the streets sporting wrappings aimed to promote the state’s Monsoon getaways. “Apart from the favourable climate, the relative proximity and excellent air connectivity between Kerala and the cities of the Middle East make it easier to attract holiday makers to the state,” said Dr. Venu V, Principal Secretary Tourism, Kerala. “Dubai, being the hub for air travel in the region, was the logical choice of location for the marketing campaign. The exposure and footfalls gained by Kerala will bear this out.” The campaign, inspired by the previous highly successful branding efforts on London taxi cabs and the Mumbai metro, will run until August 15. Besides serving to augment Kerala’s destination pull, it is an acknowledgment of the growing importance of the Middle East outbound tourist market. Kerala received more than one lakh visitors from the region in 2015, with some 20,506 tourists from the UAE alone. The majority came from Saudi Arabia with 51,149 Saudi nationals visiting last year, while Oman accounted for 18,763 footfalls. “As the holiday season in the Middle East coincides with the Monsoon season here, Kerala is well-positioned to benefit from the influx of travellers looking to trade in the sizzle and dust for cooler climes and greener pastures,” said U.V. Jose, Director, Kerala Tourism.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) participated in India International Travel Mart (IITM) at Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, Chennai from July 29 to 31, 2016 for promotion of Maharashtra Tourism amongst the B2B, travel trade and media fraternity of Chennai. MTDC also held a road show on July 29, post exhibition to promote the state and enthrall the Chennai trade. Swati Kale, General Manager, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation said, “Tamil Nadu is one of the most developed states of India with a large class of educated and affluent society. Maharashtra has rich tourist destinations to satiate the needs of tourists from Tamil Nadu. With Chennai being an important market from tourist point of view it is imperative for us to showcase Maharashtra and its best products to the B2B, Travel Trade fraternity, stakeholders and media. From exotic beaches to historic forts, scuba diving to fort trekking, heli tourism to deccan odyssey, delicious cuisine to culture and heritage monuments there is a lot to explore in Maharashtra. The list is endless and that is what we aim to showcase through these road shows.” On these initiatives, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal commented, “The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis has declared the year 2017 as the ‘Visit Maharashtra Year’ as part of its tourism development strategy. In view of the same, Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, planned to organize a series of roadshows, events, festivals and cultural programmes throughout India to promote the state’s tourism attractions. The objective of MTDC’s participation at IITM is to promote Maharashtra as the world-class tourist destination, and offer opportunity to travel & tour operators to interact with foreign buyers, retail buyers, …

Sikkim has added another feather to its cap with the recent addition of the Khangchendzonga National Park to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites as India’s first ‘Mixed World Heritage Site’. The UNESCO recognition will give a further push to eco-tourism in our state, while also helping us to regulate the high influx of visitors to more popular destinations with only a minimal negative impact of tourism,” said Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling. “This is important since tourist arrivals to our state more than doubled to 38,479 in 2015 and our target is around 12 lakh visitors by 2025,” he said in a statement. The park was initially commissioned in August 1977 with a declared area of 850 Sq km and was extended to 1,784 sq.km some years later. Khangchendzonga National Park had been on the Unesco’s tentative list of World Heritage Sites since 2006, and has among the sharpest altitudinal variations for any site in the world — from a low of 1,220 metres to 8,586 metres — within a small aerial distance of 42 km.

The Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka has unveiled the newly formed Bengaluru Tourism Advisory Committee (BTAC) under the chairmanship of Priyank Kharge, Minister for Tourism and IT & BT. The scope of the committee is to provide quick action plans for developing Bengaluru region as a tourist destination by creating Brand Bengaluru, identifying different circuits and trails, offering tourism technologies, drawing a calendar of events, promoting art and culture, attracting PPP projects and engaging in inter-city-cooperation concepts. Understanding the tourism potential of Bengaluru and to brand it as a global city and the most favourable urban tourism destination, BTAC was formed after a month of brainstorming sessions and deliberations. Further the committee will help in positioning the state capital as a well connected holiday destination by involving local talent pool and the effective development of local employment and subsequent revenue generation. The committee will also be responsible in enhancing positive perceptions about the city through engagements with travellers across the world which, in turn, will help drive tourism, thus making Bengaluru a SMART global city. The committee will consist of the top officials in the Tourism Department and also experts from verticals such as heritage, urban, landscape, hospitality, architecture and conservationists who can contribute towards branding Bengaluru. As per the statistics provided by the Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (KIAL), the international airport alone received 18 million travellers during 2015. Yet, Bengaluru has not been able to convert these travellers’ figures into tourists. It is estimated that with at least 25% of KIAL travellers spending one day in the city, a minimum revenue of $450 mn per year can be generated.

The West Bengal Tourism department has launched a mobile App based on its theme of ‘Experience Bengal’. Alongside information on places of tourist interest, the App would be loaded with other facilities like maps and directions. The sight would be powered by information on each and district of the state and the various places that can be visited and activities that can be taken up. There would also be information on the various festivals of the state. Through some related links on the App, the users can also get access to Facebook, Twitter Page of West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation and Bengal cuisine website. Online booking facilities would also be available through the App available on android.(Source: Economic Times)

Kerala received 9,77,479 foreign tourists in the year 2015 recording a growth of 5.86 per cent over the previous year’s figure of 9,23,366. Domestic tourists footfall during the same period was 1,24,65,571 with a growth of 6.59 per cent over the previous year’s figure 1,16,95,411. Nandakumar K P, Deputy Director, Kerala Tourism, recently informed at a roadshow held in New Delhi. He also said, “Tourist figures to Kerala have been growing vigorously for the past twenty years. We only saw a little bit of slow down last year and previous year but we are still growing. So, this year we are coming out with a five year action plan to increase footfall. We are going to increase the accommodation facilities and availability and increase the number of classified hotels. We are going to introduce more than 1000 home stays also. We are also going to tap new international markets like the Eastern Europe which is an emerging market for us.” He also informs that the state aims to add 5,00,000 more employment opportunities in the tourism sector in the next five years.

Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka has appointed Dr. N. Manjula, IAS, as its new Director. Dr. Manjula, a 2002-Batch IAS officer had earlier held the posts of Director, Municipal Administration; District Collector, Chikkaballapur; CEO, Zilla Panchayath, Mysuru.

The Government of Maharashtra has appointed Jaykumar Rawal as the new Tourism Minister as on July 8, 2016. Rawal took oath as Cabinet Minister and will also be handling the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in Maharashtra in his portfolio. He holds a degree in Bachelors of Commerce from Symbiosis University, Pune and degree in Business Management from Cardiff University, England. He takes over from Prof Ram Shinde. On taking over charge of his new role as a Tourism Minister, Rawal immediately had a meeting with Madan Yerawar, State Minister Tourism, Government of Maharashtra and higher officials of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) including Valsa Nair Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Government of Maharashtra; Satish Soni, Joint MD, MTDC; Swati Kale, GM, MTDC, amongst other Head of Departments. He reviewed the current tourism projects and provided valuable guidance and direction to the Department of Tourism during the meeting. On the appointment Rawal said, “My key focus will be to advance the current tourism scenario in Maharashtra through implementation of new policies aimed towards tourism growth and skill development. We have great platforms like Visit Maharashtra 2017 campaign and SAARC Summit in Aurangabad in the pipeline. The Tourism Ministry will soon announce the launch of creative contests for logo designing for Visit Maharashtra 2017 campaign and tagline for Maharashtra Tourism.”

Kerala Government has allotted Rs 100 crore each for the Alappuzha and Thalassery Heritage Tourism projects in its budget for the year 2016-17. The annual budget was presented by Dr Thomas Issac, Finance Minister, Government of Kerala. Another Rs 400 crore was allotted for improving the existing infrastructural conditions in select tourism destinations identified across the state. A ropeway project was also announced at Ponmudi. For which Rs 200 crore shall be allotted. The budget also proposed development of air strips at Bekal, Wayand and Idukki in order to connect far flung destinations. However the bus trips to Bengaluru and Chennai will cost more now as tax of tourist buses has been increased. Green Tax on old vehicles and goods transport has also been increased by 10 per cent.