Category Archives: States

Travel companies from Maharashtra conducting tours within and outside the state will have to upload details of their trips and travellers on the tourism department website. These details will be shared with district disaster management teams. Supriya Karmakar, deputy director, state tourism department, said it will soon make this mandatory. “We are currently in the process of registering all tour operators online.”

Sachin Kurve takes charge as Secretary of Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand and CEO, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board. Kurve is a 2003 batch IAS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre and has held several senior key positions spanning close to two decades including key positions in the Government of Uttarakhand and Maharashtra. During his tenure, he took responsibility as the District Magistrate of Rudraprayag, Tehri-Garhwal in Dehradun, and Haridwar and as the Director and Additional Secretary, Panchayati Raj Department, and also as the Additional Secretary to the Governor. In early 2015, he moved to Maharashtra on deputation wherein he held several key positions including District Collector, Revenue and Forest Department in Nagpur and Mumbai Sub Urban. Other prime positions include his role as the Secretary to the Chief Minister, Secretary to the Governor, and Investment Commissioner, Industries. In the middle of September 2020, he shifted back to Uttarakhand and took up the charge as Secretary, Industries and Excise, positions which he still holds along with food, civil supply & consumer affairs with his current role as secretary of Tourism and CEO of Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board.

According to Tourism Minister of Uttarakhand, Satpal Maharaj, Auli will become a year-round tourist destination. He added that a skiing village will also be developed in Auli, in addition to various activities related to adventure tourism that will also be organized in Auli throughout the year, e.g., skiing in winter, and adventure sports like trekking, hiking, and rock climbing in the other seasons. 

Ministry of Tourism launched a website named utsav.gov.in and called for the content of various events and festivals, and live darshan details of temple deities from all the States/UTs. As per the state ranking list revealed by MOT declared Maharashtra as number 1 on the portal with 10 published live darshan listings and, among the top 10 states with 8 published events and festivals’ listings.  

The governments of West Bengal and Sikkim have signed an agreement to help tourists travel between the two neighbouring states with ease in a bid to boost tourism. The agreement will allow West Bengal-registered commercial vehicles to drop tourists at their hotels in different destinations of Sikkim. 

Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha, has announced that direct flights will be operated between Bhubaneswar to UAE very soon. Patnaik made this announcement while addressing the diaspora from Odisha in Dubai recently. Odisha government has already proceeded with a viability gap funding (VGF) plan for direct flight services between Dubai and Bhubaneswar.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, said that showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the Vijayanagar Empire, Ministry of Railways is redeveloping Karnataka’s Hosapete Junction Railway Station on the theme of Hampi.

V.R.K. Teja Mylavarapu IAS (KL 2015), Director of Tourism is transferred and posted as Director, Scheduled Caste Development Department. He will hold the existing additional charges. P.B. Nooh IAS (KL 2012), Chief Executive Officer, Life Mission is transferred and posted as Director of Tourism. The officer will hold the additional charge of Chief Executive Officer, Life Mission.

Tamil Nadu has surfaced as the leading tourist destination for domestic travellers. As per the India Tourism Statistics – 2021, Tamil Nadu emerged as the state with the highest percentage of visitors. The state’s share hovered at 23 percent, followed by Uttar Pradesh with a visitor share of 14.1%. The data reflected the number of visitors that Tamil Nadu entertained in the year 2020. As per the report, Tamil Nadu, in 2020, had roughly 14 crore domestic visitors, whereas the second leading state in domestic tourism, Uttar Pradesh, had around 8.6 crore visitors 2020.

PATA India Chapter showcased Kerala as a destination in its ‘Jewels of India’ webinar, where Krishna Teja IAS, Director, Kerala Tourism, said that 2022 can be the year of Kerala Tourism. “This is because we have lined up a series of adventure activities and festivals across the year,” he said.