Category Archives: States

The Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021 with a voice vote. According to the new section 27-A inserted in the Rajasthan Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) Act, 2010, the offence will be cognizable and bailable. If the offence is in Section 13 (3) then whoever commits subsequent offence of touting shall be arrested without warrant by police and, on conviction, be punished with rigorous imprisonment of up to three years or fine of up to Rs.30000 or both.

Rising to the demands and preferences of tourists in the post-pandemic world, Kerala announced a comprehensive, stakeholder-friendly Caravan Tourism Policy, promising the visitors safe, customized and closest-to-nature travel experience. The two major components of this activity are Tourism Caravans and Caravan Parks. While the first involves specially- built vehicles for travel, leisure and stay, the Caravan Parks are designated places to park the vehicles and enable the visitors to spend a night or a day or station for an extended period to explore the destination.

A three-team delegation from the Department of Tourism, Jammu & Kashmir Govt was in Mumbai recently to meet with key tour operators as well as members from the film fraternity. Dr G N Itoo, Director Tourism, said, “We are here to build confidence among the trade and promote little-known destinations in the UT that are as beautiful. As things reopen, we will look at conducting roadshows as well. “

Speaking at a forum in Assam, G. Kishan Reddy said that the Ministry has sanctioned 16 projects under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in the North Eastern region. He added that through the schemes, his ministry is giving special emphasis on developing infrastructure, ground capacity and skills in the region as well as providing branding and marketing assistance. He revealed that projects worth approximately Rs 200 crore has been sanctioned for these projects.

The West Bengal cabinet has announced the new guidelines for the recognition of tourism service providers of Bengal. Under the new guidelines, the State Tourism Department will extend recognition to the eligible tourism service providers registered in West Bengal in the segments of tour operators, travel agents and tourist transport operators. This would certainly help the state to position Bengal as one of the top line destinations in India by ensuring quality service providers for the travellers across the world.

Recently, an interaction session with Gujarat Tourism was held in Delhi, where the new developments and new places to visit in Gujarat were showcased in video presentations. A presentation on tourist’s facilities, monuments, national parks and other attractions were presented. Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, said that they are seeking an approval from the Gujarat government and proposing to have the IATO convention in Gujarat in December.

Kerala Tourism Department launched its mobile app which ensures a hassle-free travel for tourists coming to Kerala and giving them an opportunity to discover unexplored attractions themselves and record their impressions during the visit. It provides all information about destinations at finger tips. It identifies unexplored destinations in all panchayats in Kerala and will help attract local tourist spots to grab global attention.

The Indian Railways has recently started two Vistadome train services in Assam and North Bengal. The Vistadome tourist special trains will run between Guwahati and New Haflong in Assam and New Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar Junction in North Bengal. There are jungles, wildlife and tea gardens on the route between NJP and Alipurduar, thus providing a tourist with the opportunity to view the natural beauty of Dooars during their travels.

World’s highest motorable road for the general public at a height of 18,600 feet, which connects Leh to the Pangong Lake was inaugurated in Ladakh by Jamgyal Tsering Namgyal, MP of the UT. The stretch passing through Kela Pass, has been constructed by the 58 Engineer Regiment of the Indian Army, and it will reduce 41 km of travel from Leh (Zingral to Tangtse) to the picturesque Pangong Lake crossing the Kela Pass. Until now, the Khardungla Pass was the world’s highest motorable road for the general public at a height of 18,380 ft.

The high court of Bombay at Goa on Monday permitted the state government to allow the entry of fully-vaccinated persons in Goa without a COVID-19 negative test report. Partially vaccinated and non-vaccinated persons will still have to produce a negative Covid test report for entry. The expert committee has also unanimously agreed and decided to explore the possibility of issuing a universal pass which is linked to the Co-Win portal as adopted and issued by the government of Maharashtra.