Category Archives: States

Goa Tourism will be focusing on improving their infrastructure as they wait for things to come back to normal, reveals Nikhil Desai, MD, Goa Tourism Development Corporation. “In the coming year, we will focus on domestic market and further consolidate our presence in weddings, M!CE, adventure and leisure tourism. We are also using this time to ramp up our tourism infrastructure to world-class standards and focusing on introduction of new services and products. We are also focusing on completion of Swadesh Darshan projects sanctioned by the MOT. We are looking forward for sanction of financial assistance by MOT for development of UNESCO World Heritage site at old goa under PRASHAD scheme. We are also undertaking work for development of hinterland circuit in North Goa under Swadesh Darshan scheme. So, while we wait for things to come back to normal, we have doubled our efforts on improving the tourism infrastructure,” he said.

Providing relief to the tourism, hospitality and transport sectors, Uttarakhand Govt. has announced many exemptions and relief measures worth Rs 75 crore for the industry. The government has decided to transfer Rs 1,000 each in the bank accounts of about 2.43 lakh workers directly associated with 1,09,818 units. The State Govt would bear the financial burden of Rs 25 crore for the measure. It also decided to reimburse the interest incurred on the principal amount for the first trimester (April to June) on the loans taken under Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali tourism self-employment scheme and Deen Dayal homestay schemes. Similarly, the annual increase in the bill of water for the hotels, restaurants and other roadside Dhabbas has been pegged at 9 per cent instead of the usual 15 per cent this year. The State Cabinet decided to provide an exemption of one year for renewal of permits for all types of commercial vehicles. Owners of these vehicles would not have to pay road tax for three months.

Tourism Minister of Maharashtra, Aaditya Thackeray has said that Maharashtra government will be the first state to announce something promising for the tourism sector and deliver on it while also creating a task force with equal contribution from the travel and hospitality industry along with government and industry-specific experts for the economic revival of the state and the industries. Speaking during a webinar conducted under the FHRAI, the minister also asked the travel and tourism industry experts to prepare documents to consider short, medium and long term measures to revive the tourism and hospitality sector in the state. “We have to take the state of Maharashtra ahead, pitch it to the world. I am really keen to make Maharashtra the first to declare and deliver something for the hotel industry. We have to revive very quickly, take the sector ahead and figure out how we can work with the other sectors. A task force has been set up, we can work in sync, understand what is doable in the medium-term and long-term,” said Thackeray. The webinar was attended by Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI; Dilip Datwani, Former President, HRAWI and CMD of Hotel Jayshree; Jimmy Mistry, CMD & Principal Designer, Della Group; Sanjay Sethi, MD, Chalet Hotels; Param Kannampilly, Chairman of Fern Hotels; SP Jain, MD of Pride Hotels; and Vivek Nair, CEO, Leela Group. Some of the problems faced by the members of the hotel and restaurant industry were presented to the Minister including the need for liquidity and working capital.

In a bid to assess the extent of losses, current needs, and proactive measures to be taken in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Goa Tourism in association with KPMG Advisory Services is conducting a state-wide survey among tourism stakeholders including hotels, activity operators, tour and travel services, event organisers, taxi drivers, tourist guides, photographers, and others. The survey will also factor in expectations the sector has of the government. In a statement, the tourism authority said that the hospitality industry in the state has been hit the most due to the pandemic. All the stakeholders can access the survey at http://goa-tourism.com/covid19survey. The data, as per the statement, will remain fully confidential. For the sake of data security, you will be required to use an OTP. Goa Tourism said that the opinions of stakeholders would be helpful in developing a suitable strategy to revive tourism in the state and collectively come out stronger from this crisis.

Tourism Minister of Telangana, V Srinivas Goud has directed the tourism department to prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for development of their respective vacant lands which will be considered for development of tourism. He directed to identify vacant lands belonging to the tourism department and prepare three DPRs for each proposed project. The tourism authorities were asked to prepare proposals to develop the existing hotels and restaurants of Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation and make them profitable ventures. The proposals will be taken up with Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for approval. The officials were asked to list out cases pertaining to land leases and rents pending in courts, for filing counter-affidavits. The Minister also sought to know minor disputes and cases with the leaseholders including the extension of the tourism activity in violation of existing norms, for initiating necessary legal action. He directed them to increase the lease amount and rents of tourism properties wherever necessary.

PP Khanna, President, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) during the 2nd TravTalk Digital Tourism Conclave said that it is important for states, hotels and travel agents to come together and do joint promotions for domestic tourism and boost it further. “Both states and hotels should look towards doing joint promotions with the travel agents to boost domestic tourism in India. M!CE is a big segment and according to 2018-19 data, this segment earned a revenue of Rs25,000 crore. With new ventures like banquet halls, trade fairs and facilities in cities like Delhi coming up, it is expected that by 2022, this revenue could double to the tune of Rs40,000-50,000 crore. All the states should consider opening new M!CE facilities.”

Tourism Minister of Karnataka, CT Ravi has proposed a five-phase recovery to bring tourism industry back-on-track. One of the most important steps amongst them is promoting local tourism on the lines of Singapore Tourism’s ‘Love Your Local’ campaign. In the detailed proposal sent to the CM, the minister said that five-stage recovery is based on suggestions received from officials and industry representatives. While the first stage involves creating awareness among citizens on the coronavirus, the second one will have local tourism activities – Nodu Baa Nammoora (Come, See Our City), dining out within the city and ‘Love Your Local’ based on the Singapore model. In the third stage, the government will look at the regional or inter-state tourism followed by the fourth stage where preparation will be made to attract domestic and international tourists. The final stage will see staggered tourism activities involving domestic/international tourists. “Consumer mindset, guarantee of safety and hygiene are two things that will have an impact on the revival of the sector,” the minister further said.

Goa might open for tourism after the lockdown gets over on May 17, it was revealed by Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister, Goa, has said that they will welcome tourists, provided the Central Government allows it. Speaking on the same, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) said, “Just like all the stakeholders, Goa Tourism is also eagerly awaiting normalisation of the current situation. The current priority is to fight COVID 19, However economic livelihood of the people is also extremely important. For a state like Goa, which depends overwhelmingly on tourism, it’s important that situation normalises at the earliest. We are looking forward to early commencement of tourism season.” However, when asked if it would be the first state to bounce back after lockdown, especially with no reported case of COVID-19, Desai, said, “Unfortunately, until and unless the situation in rest of the country stabilises and comes back to normal, Goa alone being COVID free cannot do much. After all we are banking heavily on domestic tourism to see us through this current season. All will depend on how fast the flights and rail connectivity returns to normal and only then we can expect a sizeable flow into Goa.

The Sikkim government has decided to close its borders for all kinds of visiting tourists until October 2020 to control the spread of COVID-19 in the state. As of date, Sikkim is the only Indian state that has not reported any COVID-19 case so far. Making the announcement, Ganga Prasad, Governor, Sikkim said that the state will be closed for all tourists activities for the next 6 months. Reportedly, Sikkim was also the first Indian state to enforce statewide lockdown on 17th March. The state borders are closed since then.

Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, APTDC, has said that this is the time to commission a good study on domestic tourism, which details the action plan for the way forward to boost domestic tourism. Speaking at the second Digital Conclave by TravTalk, Lohani said, “Now is the time to commission a good study on domestic tourism, which is not too long but only 25-30 pages of action points. Then make all the states and stakeholders start following that. A lot of small things must be done. Collectively, they become very big and they impact the state. For energising domestic tourism, we need to have a very aggressive campaign, which can create that desire in the hearts of people to explore their own country.”