Category Archives: States

The state government of Meghalaya has implemented a number of different initiatives such as encouraging ecotourism and locally developed products, with the goal of making tourism more sustainable. These also include promoting festivals like Cherry Blossom Festival and the Shillong Literary Festival. Meghalaya also hosted ‘Megha Kayak festival’ in October 2022.

Over the past few years, Odisha, under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister  Naveen Patnaik, has undertaken several ground-breaking sports initiatives to transform itself into a ‘preferred global sports destination’. From hosting marquee events to developing world-class infrastructure to strengthening sports grassroots programs, Odisha has been at the forefront of supporting all forms of sports. It is also the hub of High Performance Centres. The state has contributed massively to the development of sports is a prime example of sports tourism. Hockey is deeply connected to Odisha’s rich culture. It has produced champions like Dilip Tirkey, Pramod Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Sunita Lakra, Amit Rohidas, Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, among others. Hon’ble Chief Minister himself was the goalkeeper for his school team, hence he has  a deep   emotional connect with the sport. Hockey is integral to the state and attracts audience in  thousands. Odisha has been one of the pivotal reasons behind Indian Hockey’s success in the recent years. The Odisha State Government became an official partner of Hockey India in 2018, and since then Indian Hockey teams have significantly improved. Over the years, Odisha has hosted various marquee tournaments such as Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, FIH Men’s Series Finals 2019, Olympic Hockey Qualifiers 2019, FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021, FIH Hockey Pro League 2020, 2021-22 and 2022-23. The FIH Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 was hosted with grandeur at the state-of-art Kalinga Hockey Stadium, which was refurbished with two new galleries, increasing the capacity to 15,000 seats.  It received an overwhelming response from hockey followers world-wide. It attracted massive tourists from India as well as around …

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board’s Rural Tourism Programme could not have come at a better time. The target was to make tourism destinations friendly through a cultural experience-based tourism which involved local communities. With the intention of offering new products and experiences to tourists visiting Madhya Pradesh, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board came up with the Rural Tourism Programme. The intention behind the Rural Tourism Programme is to connect rural communities with tourism for their social and economic development besides preserving the local environment. Rural tourism not only provides tourists with a completely new experience, it creates engagement between city and village dwellers through meaningful interactions. It also strengthens the rural economy, generating employment at the village level, minimises migration towards urban areas, preserves local culture & heritage, and encourages art and craft as well as landscape conservation. MP Tourism Board launched the Rural Tourism Programme in 2018. Covid slowed progress a bit but the work went on. The work first started in about 10 villages on a pilot basis. Villages close to prominent tourist sites, like Orchha, Khajuraho, Panna National Park and Sanjay-Dubri National Park, were initially selected. Seeing positive results, the scheme has been extended to many more villages. MADHYA PRADESH’S PIONEERING RURAL TOURISM PROJECT MP Tourism Board has launched its Rural Tourism Project under the auspices of the Madhya Pradesh Responsible Tourism Mission. Under the Rural Tourism Project, 100 villages across MP have been identified with the goal of developing them as Tourism Villages. As per the scheme, the state has been divided into six key cultural experience regions. Baghelkhand, Bundelkhand and Chambal in the north and northeast apart from their cultural specialities, also showcase the essence of …

Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh, has revealed, that usually one crore tourist used to come in a year in Varanasi, but this year, the destination received one crore tourists in one single month during monsoon.”

Rohan Khaunte, Minister of Tourism, Goa, has said that as per the state government’s projection, the tourist numbers would reach the 2019 level, touching the 81 lakh- or 8.1 million-mark. Around nine lakh international tourists and 72 lakh domestic tourists had arrived in Goa in 2019.

Mukesh Kumar Meshram, Principal Secretary Tourism and Director General, UP Tourism, has said that Uttar Pradesh is hosting the convention after 18 years of gap. “It will boost the state’s tourism as there are many destinations to be showcased. UP is fats emerging as a popular tourist destination along with a boost in infrastructure. Thus, people will love Uttar Pradesh,” he claims.

Madhya Pradesh kickstarted the two-month mega event, Jal Mahotsav, to promote water-based tourism in the state. Due to its popularity and potential opportunities for investors and visitors, the state tourism board wants to create more such projects that will offer the same experiences like Jal Mahotsav. Principal Secretary Tourism and Culture Department and Managing Director, MP Tourism Board Sheo Shekhar Shukla added that 15 similar sites have been identified in the state now where the work will start soon.

A unique integrated limited validity tourist pass has been introduced by the Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal in Association with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to facilitate easy and convenient access initially to 21 places of tourist interest across Kolkata for both domestic and international tourists visiting the city of joy. This project has been initiated by the Department of Tourism as part of the FAITH policy recommendations and will soon be made available online or obtained through recognized tour operators or at any other authorized POS. The access and the validity of the pass will be managed digitally through a specially designed QR-based application. The visitor can pick and choose the places of interest and obtain the same through an online payment. Truly an effective and meaningful initiative and I am super delighted to be part of this project.

The Kerala government is planning to create a woman-friendly tourism network with over one lakh women travellers and entrepreneurs as members, said state tourism minister P A Mohammed Riyas. More than 1000 women have already registered in the programme. 

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has announced a financial incentive scheme of up to Rs.5 lakh per tour operator for tour operators booking international tourists for the upcoming International Yoga Festival (IYF) 2023 to be held at Rishikesh from March 1 to March 7, 2023. This incentive will be offered to tour operators for bringing international tourists to the International Yoga Festival 2023.  For this, UTDB has decided to provide incentive to these tour operators from Rs.10,000 per international tourist up to a maximum of Rs.5 lakh.