Category Archives: States

Around 32,000 domestic tourists visited Jammu & Kashmir between August and November, marking a decline of 87% from the 2.49 lakh domestic tourists visiting the Union Territory in the corresponding month last year. With regards to foreign tourists, the dip is 82%. Zahoor Qari, Chairman—TAAI, J&K Chapter, said, “Ever since Article 370 was revoked in J&K, we have not seen any development in tourism in the region. There has been a steep decline in tourists as compared to last year, with only 10% of tourists received as compared to last year. In winter last year, we saw a lot of tourists who came to Gulmarg, Srinagar etc., but owing to the restrictions by the Government, tourists are now hesitant to visit Kashmir right now.” The ban on leisure travel to the valley was officially lifted on October 10.

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has released a list of land parcels, for which it has invited bids for development into tourist sites and hotels through PPP mode. The queries were opened for a total of seven land parcels and properties, which include Benazir Palace in Bhopal to be made into a heritage hotel; Sawant Nagar in Tikamgarh, where there is a plan to create tourism zone with minimum 5 tourism projects inclusive of 100 rooms 4-5 Star hotel or 50 rooms luxury resort; Madhavgarh Fort to be converted into a heritage property; Mehgavan, which is to be developed into hotel cum convention centre or 4-5 star hotel; Patakhali (Nagarbeda) in Khandwa, where there are plans to develop resort/ wellness centre/amusement park/theme park/adventure sports/film studio and infrastructure for film making; Juna Kathhivada in Alirajpur, where a resort/wellness centre is to be developed; and Khapa in Betul, where plans are to develop resort/wellness centre/camping sites and fixed tenting units.

The Goa government has given approval to the tourism master plan for the state, a 25-year vision. Work on the tourism vision document started in 2014 through a consortium of KPMG Advisory Services and Leisure Advisory Services, with a 38-week time frame. The new tourism policy of Goa will evaluate and prioritise tourism development initiatives in the master plan. Other areas would be to develop broad guidelines and an action plan for implementation of tourism initiatives. It took over three years to get the master plan ready. The tourism policy, which has been presented for government’s approval, has a provision to constitute a tourism board. The proposed tourism board will be headed by the tourism minister and will have equal representation of government officials and industry stakeholders.

Delhi is all set to enter the list of world’s top 10 most popular destinations in the world, according to a recent report by Euromonitor International. Currently, the city ranks at the 11th position in the list of world’s top 100 destinations and is forecast to climb to 8th place in 2019. Mumbai, the financial capital of India, has grabbed the 14th rank. The next city in line is Agra at 26th spot, while Jaipur is on 34th rank. Chennai is at 36th rank, Kolkata is at 74th spot, and Bengaluru is at the 100th spot. Overall, India has emerged as the strongest emerging destination with seven cities in the top 100 popular cities this year, according to Euromonitor report. The number 1 spot has been grabbed by Hong Kong while New York City is the most popular American destination on the 2019 ranking list.

The Supreme Court has permitted building of an additional terminal at Agra airport near Taj Mahal but made it clear that it would not allow increase in air traffic on the airfield as that will be hazardous to environment and asked the Centre to consider luxurious trains like the ‘Palace on wheels’ to the city. The apex court also directed the Centre to consider an alternative airport site to meet the increase in the air traffic due to rise in tourist influx to visit the Taj Mahal and other destinations in and around Agra in Uttar Pradesh. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde made it clear that it was willing to allow the construction of additional terminal at the existing airport but was against increasing the air traffic which could “damage” the environment in an “eco-sensitive area” having some world heritage sites including Taj Mahal.

In a bid to boost untapped tourism in the state, MP Tourism will be organising a new festival in Orchha to celebrate cultural diversity, natural beauty and architectural heritage in the state. The Madhya Pradesh Government has identified tourism as one of the leading sectors for development and will be taking multiple initiatives to promote the state for both domestic and international travellers. The festival will showcase Madhya Pradesh in Orchha bringing it alive with music, dance, heritage tours, workshops, local cuisine, arts and handicrafts.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has recently announced that the Imphal-Mandalay route will soon be included in the ‘International UDAN’ scheme. Manipur government had been pursuing the introduction of flight operations between Imphal and Mandalay for quite some time, but instead of a scheduled flight service, permission for chartered flights just for a limited duration of time was granted. The bidding process for selection of airlines to be completed within two months. The service was launched on 23 November and will be run till December 7.   (Source: Indian Express)

In a bid to promote Kerala in the China Market, Kerala Tourism with a high-profile delegation, along with the travel trade partners from the state, participated in China International Travel Mart (CITM) 2019 at Kunming and also organised two roadshows in Shanghai and Beijing. Kadakamapally Surendran, Minister, Tourism, Kerala, said, “We are trying to ensure brand visibility in East Asian markets using innovative strategies.  China is an important emerging market for Kerala Tourism. In just two decades, it has become the world’s largest outbound travel market, with some 145 million Chinese travellers visiting abroad in 2017.” Apart from Japan, Kerala Tourism is also focusing on Singapore and Japan, and participated in ITB Asia 2019 in Singapore and Tourism Expo Japan, held in Osaka, Japan.  

Goldstone Hotels & Resorts has spread its wings in the state of Bihar as the brand is set to launch two new properties; one at Motihari which will open next week and the other one in Patna, which will be unveiled in the next 15 days. Sandeep Singh, Managing Director Goldstone Hotels says, “The brand’s presence in the state was long due and we aim at having at least 7 more properties in Bihar by the end of this financial year to cater to every segment of clientele.”

Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata are the preferred destination cities for medical tourists arriving in India. Nearly 27 % of India’s medical tourists head to Maharashtra, out of which 80% go to Mumbai, reveals the report India Building Best Practices in Healthcare Services Globally 2019-20 by FICCI. Chennai attracts nearly 15% of the incoming foreign patients while Kerala handles around 5% to 7%.