Category Archives: States

G Krishan Reddy, Union Minister For Culture, Tourism And Development Of North Eastern Region holds interactive meeting with various tourism stakeholders of Goa along with Department of Tourism, Goa, to discusskey issues pertaining to promotion of tourism in the state and various developmental initiatives & welfare programs of the government. Shripad Y. Naik, Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Tourism Govt. Of India was also a part of the meeting.

Nasir Shah Chairman – IATO Jammu & Kashmir Chapter, has shared that they J&K Tourism has plans to conduct a roadshow in Thailand in March-April if international flights start by that time. “We have seen from our partners in other countries that they are ready and as soon as flights start, they will start coming back to Kashmir. We have a roadshow in Thailand planned in March-April, but it now depends on restarting of international flights,” he said.

In a bid to boost film tourism into the state, Madhya Pradesh is offering a seamless one-window application policy. The state has earmarked a budget of ₹225 crore for various tourism-related activities in 2021-22. As many as 45 shows, movies, and documentaries have been shot in the state in calendar year 2021 with an investment of about ₹200 crore by various film-makers, reveals Sheo Shekhar Shukla, principal secretary, tourism, and managing director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has said that on 25th January, 2022, they will be having a big event at Pochampalli, which was one of the villages recommended to UNWTO for rural tourism. “We are going to set up a nice big event there. Also, there is world’s largest tribal festival, which we will be celebrating in Mulugu from 16th-19th February. We are going to bring some interesting stories and activities from there,” she said.

V Vigneshwari IAS is the new Managing Director of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), taking charge from VR Krishna Teja IAS, Director of Tourism. Vigneswari, was earlier the Director of Collegiate Education, and is a Kerala Cadre IAS officer of 2015 batch. Shri Krishna Teja’s two-year tenure as KTDC’s executive head was marked by a string of initiatives that saw the state-owned hospitality major making major strides, despite the pandemic-induced challenges.

Ministry of Tourism has recently tweeted that for strengthening tourism in Northeast, under the PRASHAD scheme, Rs 37.87 Crore have been sanctioned for the development Parshuram Kund in Arunachal Pradesh, which has been an iconic destination in the country.

Subhasish Panda (IAS), Principal Secretary– Tourism, Government of Himachal Pradesh, at a recent webinar informed that Himachal Pradesh is slowly recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic with around 45 lakh tourists visiting the state in 2021. “Tourism remains a key contributor to Himachal’s economy with its current share of approximately 7% to the state GDP. The state government is in the process of taking its second loan from the Asian Development Bank worth Rs. 2100 crores for developing infrastructure to create new destinations. He also informed that heliport services in Shimla district is likely to start in a week’s time which will give further impetus to the tourists.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, on his recent visit to Goa, said that the MOT is working in synergy with the Rail Ministry, Civil Aviation and Shipping Ministry to encourage cruise tourism under Sagar Mala. “Cruise tourism will be developed on a mission mode which will greatly benefit Goa,” he said. He also informed that there are plans to connect Chennai, Vizag and Andaman with Goa through cruise tourism.

Government of Goa has constituted a 19-member tourism board and has dissolved three panels called the state-level promotion and marketing committee, the high-powered monitoring committee, and the state-level permission committee. Hence, all decisions pertaining to tourism in the state will be taken by this committee. Confirming the news, Nikhil Desai, MD, GTDC, has said that they have already been taking care of infrastructure, development and hotels under GTDC. The marketing had been taken care of by Goa Tourism, and will now be under the purview of the committee.

Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and DoNER, reviewed the various tourism projects funded by the Government of India in Visakhapatnam recently. “We will develop the beautiful coastal city of Vizag not just as a world tourist destination but also as a centre of trade & commerce,” he said. He also assured all stakeholders that the Government will revive the industry and support the development of the tourism infrastructure.