Category Archives: States

EM Najeeb, President, Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry (CKTI), met Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Minister of Kerala and thanked him for the Rs 445cr package and support on behalf of the entire tourism industry. “The minister has informed me that another package for the houseboat sector, homestay sector as well as the tourist guides will be announced this week,” he revealed.

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.

Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has virtually inaugurated the “Thenzawl Golf Resort” Project implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in the presence of Tourism Minister of Mizoram, Robert RomawiaRoyte and other officials. The competitive advantage of Thenzawl Golf Course with 30 Eco-log huts is that it will provide quality golfing experience and international facilities at a fair price.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has launched a social media campaign called #BufferMeinSafar to promote wildlife tourism in the state. The campaign aims to attract tourists to its national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. While the core area of the forests are closed during monsoon until September, the buffer areas remain open for visitors. Activities in its buffer areas include safaris and bird watching besides spotting various species in the buffer zones. MP Tourism is offering packages for tourists that are specially designed keeping in mind safe travel, stay, and excursion during pandemic. The board has come up with short road itineraries mainly for two to three nights for weekend travel from neighbouring states.

The Mizoram government is working on a new tourism policy, which will aim at enhancing the livelihood of people and make way for more funding support. It is also planning to construct a 5-star hotel in Aizawl to attract more tourists. A draft of the new policy has already been shared with tour operators, ticketing agents and hoteliers. A total of 1,61,677 tourists from the country and abroad visited Mizoram during 2019.

Faraway Tree, a B2B operator specialising in holidays packages to the Andaman Islands, will conduct one-of-its kind virtual tour for the trade today at 11am, followed by an extensive product update. One lucky couple can win a 6N/7D holiday worth Rs 80,000. To register, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

The Rajasthan government has approved a proposal to provide relief under Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme for one extra year to units in tourism & hotel sector. The cabinet also decided to extend the period for reimbursement of SGST to hotel and tour operators by three months to one year, from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

The tourism department of Goa is investing in technology to capture tourists data and create personalised products. Menino D’souza, Director, Department of Tourism, says, “We are currently completing our data repository formulation and policies to that effect. We have realised that social media is going to be the next go-to travel agent. Culling out relevant information from there and analysing it, and not only analysing but coming out with a response system so that in case of any issues, we are able to respond immediately. Such intelligent systems have to be put in place. We are looking at replacing the personal touch with technology. AI-based interventions are something we are looking forward to in the coming few years.”

Ashutosh Salil (IAS) has been appointed as the new Managing Director of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) from July 20, 2020. Salil is a Fulbright Scholar from Harvard Law School. Before this he was the Joint Commissioner of BMC. He will report to environment and tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray.

After the recent news of Regional Transport Office (RTO) warning travel agents in Uttar Pradesh to obtain registration licenses within 10 days, Siddharth Yadav from the Assistant RTO (ARTO) Enforcement Office in Lucknow has clarified that this license is required only by those travel agents who are into car and bus rentals. Air ticketing agents do not fall under their purview. Interestingly, registration of travel agents and tour operators is part of the tourism policy passed by Uttar Pradesh but which is yet to see the light of day.