Category Archives: States

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has appointed Suhas Diwase as its new Managing Director. Currently, he is also working as the Chairman and Managing Director of Maharashtra State Warehousing Corporation. Prior to taking up his appointment as Managing Director, MTDC, Diwase worked in various districts at several positions. He was Director of Disaster Management and CEO of Pimpri-Chinchwad New Town Development Authority and Collector of Bhandara district. Diwase said, “It’s a pleasure to take over in my new role at Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation. Tourism is one of the most important and rapidly growing sectors in India contributing significantly to the economic development of our country. Therefore, my focus would be to develop and analyse and understand the present tourism avenues in Maharashtra through new programmes and policies aimed at developing and sustaining tourism in the state.” Diwase holds a Master’s degree in Horticulture. He has also done Public Administration from The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore. Currently he is perusing Ph D in Disaster Management.  

Goa Tourism is on a fast track towards scaling up skill development in the tourism sector to young local Goans seeking avenues in tourism through self-employment opportunities. Sharing insights into how the state is catering to the industry requirements in terms of resources and skills development, Menino D’Souza, Director of Tourism, Govt of Goa said, “We are extremely keen on encouraging more youth to venture into tourism and providing them with all the necessary training, education and knowledge on latest developments in the tourism sector.” To begin with, Goa’s Institute of Hotel Management, Porvorim offers the best of education to those aspiring to enter the hospitality sector. Both degree and diploma courses, short term courses and trainings are conducted all year round. Around 500 to 600 students are availing education and training through IHM. Similarly, several professional colleges in the state are also offering courses in hospitality and food production, catering and restaurant management. Considering the increase in demand for hotel management, the Goa government is also in the process of setting up a state-of-the-art Hotel Management Institute in Goa. Following a slow-down in the mining sector, today Goa’s economy is surviving on tourism and the state government through the Department of Tourism and  Goa Tourism Development  Corporation is opening new doors and opportunities. More than one-third of Goa’s population is now engaged in tourism, both directly and indirectly.  

Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala inaugurated the Malanad-Malabar cruise tourism project worth Rs 325 crore at Parassinikkadavu near Kannur to highlight the tranquil waterways of Northern Kerala and encourage tourist arrivals to lesser-known destinations of the state. Kerala Tourism will implement this unique project in association with the state government. Vijayan said, “This initiative will focus on improving the quality of tourism and make sure that all the visitors will have exceptional experiences. Tourists come in hopes of exploring our land’s rich natural resources and heritage. So it is important that we maintain and keep our culture intact while also accommodating all the required modern amenities in an eco-friendly manner in accordance with sustaining traditional occupations in Kasargod and Kannur districts.” Kadakampally Surendran, Honorable Minister for Cooperation, Tourism and Devaswoms, Government of Kerala said, “We were unable to explore the tourism potential in North Malabar. With the commencement of this initiative that calls for an integrated plan, Malabar regions in the state will finally be able to expedite tourism opportunities. With the functioning of the Kannur International Airport, the cruise project would attract travel and adventure enthusiasts to the state. Within the last year 600 Crore has been allocated for North Malabar and a government order issued 75 crore for Kannur district and 12.5 crore for Kasargod district.” The Malabar circuit will feature cruises based on the themes of its culture. While the martial arts and Kalari cruise on Mahe River will memorialise the origins of ‘Kalari’, the Pazhassi Raja and spices cruise on Anjarakkandy River will commemorate Pazhassi’s struggles.

Udaipur has been ranked as the most preferred wedding destination in India, according to a recent survey conducted ahead of Travel Wedding Show. What better than getting married in the most romantic city with a passionate flavour floating in the air. Besides, one can have a mini honeymoon in Udaipur as well right after the wedding day. Several celebrities like Neil Nitin Mukesh and Raveena Tandon chose Udaipur for their royal wedding. As Udaipur is counted amongst the most appropriate destinations for having a lavish destination wedding, people from all around the world choose it for their special day.

In a bid to attract investors across the industry, a number of state tourism boards presented their ideas and prospect on tourism in their respective states during the 4th Tourism Investors Meet held at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi. The tourism boards of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur gave detailed presentations on how their state provides lucrative opportunities to investors. Each presentation counted on their USP and explained about the incentives and concessions provided by the respective state governments. The first presentation was given by the meet’s Theme State West Bengal Tourism which stressed on developing the state as an ‘ecotourism hub’. This was followed by a presentation by Partner State Rajasthan Tourism which focused on promoting heritage location and properties in the state. It also talked about opportunity of growth for adventure sports and MiCE in the state. Feature State Gujarat Tourism stressed on providing attractive incentives to investors with last mile connectivity for travellers in the state. The final presentation was given by Feature State Manipur Tourism. Highlighting the state’s rich culture and resources, the presentation talked about the prospect of developing Manipur as a ‘tourism hub’. The main focus was on Loktak lake, the largest fresh water lake in the Northeast.

In a curtain raiser event held in New Delhi, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has announced that it will host ‘AdventureNEXT’ in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh from December 3-5, 2018. The event is organised by Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). The curtain raiser saw in presence Hari Ranjan Rao, MD, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board; Gergana Nikolova, Regional Manager – Europe, ATTA; Jake Finifrock, Regional Director – Asia, ATTA; and Swadesh Kumar, President ATOAI. Rao said, “India has been a great destination in terms of adventure travel. We are grateful to ATTA that it agreed to come to India and bring so many partners from other parts of the world. I am also grateful to ATOAI who have been at the forefront to take this event forward.” Organised for the first time in Asia, AdventureNEXT is known for putting emerging adventure destinations on the world tourism map. Finifrock added, “ATTA is a member organisation that is made up of over 1300 members throughout the world. We like to provide opportunities to people to come together to learn from one another, to inspire one another, to have more opportunities to network and grow the adventure travel community. It’s not only an event for Madhya Pradesh but also for all adventure travel across India. We are expecting around 300-350 delegates to attend Adventure Next. Many of these will be international buyers who will come to see travel products available in India.”

Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) has recommenced its popular white water rafting activity on the Mhadei river from June 28, 2018 all the way through September this year. There will be two rafting trips held each day with the first trip starting at 9:30 am and the second at 2:30 pm. Each trip will go on for 2.5 to 3.5 hours running 10 km each. This year, the white river rafting experience promises to be different. Goa Tourism has tied up with a top adventure sports video company in the country to capture the rafting experience through a personalised video, which would be shared via WhatsApp or Google Drive the same day. This comes along with a souvenir framed picture as well. There are also plans to offer a bus service for Rs 200 from Panjim and the Northern beaches twice daily to make the commute seamless. Speaking on the river rafting trend in Goa, Nilesh Cabral, Chairman, GTDC stated, “This year, we decided to associate with a top adventure sports video company to create personalised videos of our adventure enthusiasts braving along the Mhadei River, which can be taken home as a memorabilia. In future as well, we will continue to explore different tie-ups that would help us enhance the experience of our travellers.” Ideal for beginners and children above the age of 10, the trip costs Rs 1,890 per person including 5% GST.

The GDP in Delhi in terms of travel and tourism is set to experience double-digit growth over each of the next 10 years (10.8%), according to a recent report by World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Its share of overall city GDP will remain relatively unchanged from the current 3.6 per cent as other industry sectors also gain prominence. The sector’s share of Delhi’s employment is also set to remain steady at 8.3 per cent over the years to 2026. The Capital generated US$3.2 billion from travel and tourism in 2016, just over one third coming from international visitors. Delhi has much less source market dominance than in other Asian Pacific cities, however, with the largest market, the US, contributing just 11% of inbound traffic.

Kerala government has said that its tourism scenario has breathed a sigh of relief with the Nipah virus scare, having been subdued. The virus outbreak had threatened to affect tourism arrivals to the state.  The state government also said that there has been no new cases of the Nipah virus attack reported over the past 21 days, and the state health department believes that the scare has waned off. “The health advisories issued by the State Health Department on May 22 and 25, 2018, soon after the Nipah virus had made its appearance, have now been withdrawn. The government believes that it is absolutely safe for travelers to arrive in Kerala,” a statement by the state government said. As per the latest health advisory released by the Kerala Health and Family Welfare Department, the Nipah virus outbreak is over in Kerala. The advisory substantiates this with the fact that there has been absolutely no new cases of the virus attack reported over the past 21 days, and this is more that the longest recorded incubation period of the virus. Travellers who had been putting off their travels plans owing to fear of the virus, can now be sure enough that it is absolutely safe to travel to Kerala. The scare has died off and the state’s destinations are safer as before, the statement said.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has launched an e-brochure of Lonar Crater, reported as a national geo-heritage monument, located at Lonar in Buldhana district of Maharashtra. It was launched by Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, in the presence of Vijay Kumar Gautam (IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism and Culture, Government of Maharashtra and MD, MTDC. Lonar Crater is a saline lake created by a meteor impact during Pleistocene Epoch and is one of the largest, most exclusive basalt impact craters on the globe. This brochure includes all the information about the Lonar crater and the famous tourist destinations near the lake. In addition to this, MTDC is in process of developing a new Planetarium, Museum and a Research Centre near the crater which will help highlight the history behind the formation of this crater. This initiative will offer economic benefits to the local communities, increase tourist footfall and generate employment opportunities in Buldhana.