Category Archives: States

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.

Dr Dhananjay Sawalkar, Joint MD, Directorate of Tourism, Maharashtra, reveals that the DoT is coming up with a tour operators’ accreditation policy. “It is in the final stage and we will start offering it from July 2022. On registering with us, these operators will get a lot of benefits like presence on our website, participation in international and domestic roadshows with us, famils, use of our logo, ad incentives, etc,” he says.

The transport department of Delhi issued 4,286 International Driving Permits (IDP) from February till June 7. In fact, in June alone, they issued 439 IDPs to residents of Delhi who had moved abroad to study, work, and other business purposes. Of the international permits issued this year, 1,150 were issued for the United States and 986 were issued for Canada.