Category Archives: States

Pramod Sawant, CM, Goa, has said that they have no plans to open the tourism sector in the state, and the state curfew has been extended for another week. He said, “We are seeing an average of one or two COVID deaths daily and the case positivity rate has been down around 2%.” While curfew restrictions are in force since May, the state has seen increased tourist arrivals. Sawant has requested people to take precautions.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture & DoNER, held a meeting with Invest India team to discuss the strategy policy for the promotion of tourism in Ladakh. In a tweet, Reddy said, “This will help in paving the way for the UT’s tourism sector by bringing growth and investment.” The MOT is also planning to visit Ladakh this month with a huge delegation and also release a vision document on the destination as well.

Valsa Nair, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Excise & Civil Aviation Govt Of Maharashtra, said, “The policy that has really led the tourism revival in Maharashtra is the vacation rental policy, which was a new discovery in the COVID times. A lot of independent houses and farmhouses in the state have now been thrown open to tourists. While many are ordinary ones, some are exclusive and owned by HNIs. There are many categories and the prices have skyrocketed. There are also operators who are now running such homes. As government, we are in the final stages to make it easier for the tourists to book into these vacation homes and make it easier for the owners to ensure that the right tourists come. We are also building in the food and civil supplies department. We are also bringing in the police to ensure that these are exactly used for the right purposes. The vacation rental I think is going to be the backbone of tourism revival in Maharashtra.”

Tourism ADG Rupinder Brar has announced that the country will have a uniform national travel guidelines soon, stating that demand for balancing internal travel has been raised by private industry stakeholders. “The Ministry is working on this and directions will be given to states in this regard. The Ministry is also in dialogue with Ministry of Health and is working on systems that can assure safety to reopen destinations for international travel.”

Gujarat Tourism recently conducted a physical roadshow for travel agents and tour operators of Telangana. It was also attended by Chairman of Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation, Uppalla Srinivas Gupta who stressed the need to promote tourism ties between the two states. Sai Rupa Datta, Assistant Director, India Tourism, was also present at the event.

Tourism Minister of Uttarakhand, Satpal Maharaj has said that comprehensive strategies of state governments will bring tourism back on track. He added, “We have worked on a two-pronged strategy in our state. On the one hand we have provided Rs200 crore relief package to respective stakeholders related to the tourism industry, and on the other hand rolled out various schemes to encourage self-employment opportunities for the local youth.”

In a bid to bring some much-needed relief to its tourism industry, the Andaman & Nicobar administration has announced that all tourist activities in South Andaman and North & Middle Andaman district have re-opened. Tourists will only have to undergo quarantine at hotels till the availability of their RT-PCR report; a free test will be conducted on arrival at Port Blair.

Meghalaya Tourism Director, Cyril VD Diengdoh, said that the state has seen a steady growth of tourist arrivals from Bangladesh over the years. He said, “In order to enhance the experience of tourists, the state government is following the three fundamentals – right pricing, carrying capacity and zero waste. Meghalaya Tourism has come up with a mobile app that provides a one-stop solution to tourists who wish to plan a trip and helps in contactless check-in at their hotels following the safety protocols.”

The Karnataka government has passed an order making RT-PCR negative tests mandatory for people entering the state from Kerala and Maharashtra. However, airlines allowed those with vaccination certificates to travel until Sunday. From now on, passengers flying in from these two states will not be issued boarding passes if they don’t produce negative RT-PCR test at the port of boarding.

In his opinion piece on Moneycontrol.com, Suman Billa, Director, Technical Cooperation & Silk Road at UNWTO, advised, “Enable travel in a predictable and hassle-free manner. A national committee with the Ministries of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Health along with representatives from the states and industry should be set up to prescribe and harmonise travel restrictions across India.”