Category Archives: States

Uttarakhand Tourism Minister, Satpal Maharaj has set up a committee to find land for the construction of an international airport between Dehradun and Haridwar. The state Tourism Secretary has also been asked to examine procedures required for the construction of an international airport. Besides, District Magistrates of Dehradun and Haridwar have been asked to help the department during the process.

Kerala’s West Coast Canal project traversing through 11 districts is all set to be a tourism water highway. Around 50 tourism spots will be created along the banks of the WCC corridor from Kovalam in the south to Kasaragod in the north with the involvement of local bodies. The government aims to connect the existing canal network with the rest of the state.

Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Vijay Shah has said that the state has reopened national parks and tiger reserves from June 1 till June 30. The parks and reserves were shut amidst COVID-19 restrictions for the last 2 months. He said that travellers will have to follow COVID-19 guidelines during their trip. Madhya Pradesh is home to several tiger reserves such as Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Satpura and Panna.

Kerala’s Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas has assured stakeholders in tourism that the government will unveil various projects focusing on the revival of the sector. “Apart from completing the present projects on a time-bound manner, two new heritage projects focusing on Ponnani and Aranmula will be planned and implemented quickly,” he said, adding that more tourism circuits will also be formed.

Tourism stakeholders of the Andaman Islands, Gujarat and Karnataka have sought urgent financial relief from their respective state governments and tourism departments, while also suggesting measures of revival. Said representations have been made by Andaman Association of Tour Operators, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Karnataka Tourism Society, respectively.

A high-level meeting presided by the new Kerala Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas has decided to finalise projects and implement them at the earliest, for instilling confidence in travellers and woo them to a number of places across Kerala. The state is charting measures to revive its tourism sector by rolling out packages that encourage domestic travellers to visit the destinations in the state. In a month, the various approval/classification schemes under Ease of Doing Business will go online. Authorities will draft new COVID-19 protocols for tourists arriving from other states.

Tour operators from Kashmir Tourism Trade Bodies Joint Forum (KTTBJF) have demanded some measures that need to be taken by the Government for the revival of the tourism industry in J&K. They demanded that tour and travel operators have gained popularity and need to be recognised as a tourism unit and all the industrial benefits must be given to the tour operators as are given to the hoteliers. They also urged that the tourism incentive scheme should be extended for the next 15 years and travel agents and tour operators should be included, and all the pending cases should be cleared at the earliest. They also demanded a waiver on the GST and claimed that the Government should first let the tourism sector breathe first. They also pointed out that the adventure tour operators are going through many problems and for the last 3 years they have not been able to pay the bank EMIs of the loans they have taken for increasing the infrastructure for adventure tourism.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board is all set to launch a special project ‘Safe Tourism Destinations for Women in MP’ with the support of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD). The project will be implemented in a phased manner at 50 destinations in the state in the next three years at a cost of Rs 27.98 crores.

The Maharashtra government has prepared and submitted a tentative ‘serial’ nomination in order to seek the World Heritage Site tag for 14 forts in the state. All 14 of them belong to the era of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century and these forts have been built on the theme of Maratha Military Architecture. The Ministry of Culture after a serial nomination by the Archaeological Survey of India has forwarded the list to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Tourism department started a special vaccination drive for the people associated with travel and hospitality sector in the age group of 18 to 45 years at TRC Srinagar, Pahalgam and Gulmarg. Dedicated vaccination centres have been established for centralised and fast-tracked coverage of all identified beneficiaries after proper verification. It has also allocated nodal officers and help desks at each centre.