Category Archives: States

Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant has said that the cancellation of lights connecting the UK and India will affect tourism in Goa. “Tourism in Goa is dependent for its revival on international tourists, mainly those coming from the UK and Russia, so definitively there will be an impact,” he said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is likely to provide a Rs 2,100 crore loan to the Tripura government for the development of urban areas and tourism in the state. Out of this, Rs 500 crore will be earmarked for tourism development.

Regional commuter airline Flybig started its first flight from Shillong direct to Delhi on December 21, 2020. However, it used a SpiceJet aircraft for the same. Part of Big Charter, Flybig was awarded the contract for this route through a tender floated by Meghalaya Transport Corporation at the beginning of 2020. It will initially operate this route twice a week.

The first flight from Belgaum (Karnataka) to Surat (Gujarat) to Kishangarh (Rajasthan) was flagged off on December 21, 2020 by Star Air India under RCS-UDAN. This flag-off marks the inauguration of the 303rd route under the scheme and the 20th UDAN route by the airline. The airline is being provided Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under the scheme to keep fares affordable. The airline will operate thrice-weekly flights on the route and will deploy its 50-seater Embraer-145.

After nine months of restriction on the entry of tourists to Meghalaya due to the pandemic, the state re-opened its doors on December 21, 2020. The Tourism Department has issued SOP for all tourists wherein they will need to mandatorily register on ‘The Meghalaya Tourism App’ and generate an e-invite for the proposed itinerary.

Goa Tourism might have suffered a loss of around Rs2,000 to Rs7,200 crore and approximately 35-58% job losses because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report titled, ‘Coping with COVID-19: Survival and Revival of Goa’s Tourism Industry’ by Goa Tourism Ministry and KPMG Advisory Services.

Aaditya Thackeray, Cabinet Minister, Tourism & Environment, Government of Maharashtra, has said that they want to make tourism a priority sector. “I have been personally available to remove any hurdles that might come in the way because we want to develop this sector across the state and not just Mumbai,” he said.

The TAAI UP and UK chapter visited UPSTDC and met Director General Ravi Kumar to discuss promoting UP as a wholesome tourist destination for domestic as well as international passengers.

Satpal Maharaj, Tourism Minister, Uttarakhand, is focusing on developing ancient temples in the state and promote tourism around the same. In this regard, he conducted a meeting with the Uttarakhand Tourism Board (UTDB) to ponder over the plan and look at the possibility of developing a temple circuit for tourists. He also shared that he will be inviting filmmakers to shoot films and projects around Uttarakhand’s famous personalities.

In a bid to tap the potential of Rajasthan’s cultural heitage, the Rajasthan Tourism and UNESCO have joined hands for a project, wherein 10 cultural tourism hubs are being developed in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, and Barmer districts. These hubs are being developed by adopting the ‘Art of Life’ methodology. The project is adding prosperity to the life of 884 performing artists and 594 handicraft artists and safeguarding the traditional art forms.