Category Archives: States

Andhra Pradesh government has issued the ‘AP Tourism Trade (Registration and Facilitation) Guidelines, 2020’, under which it will be easier for tourism service providers to register themselves. Rajat Bhargava, Special Chief Secretary, Tourism and Culture. AP, said that they will provide a simple mechanism for registration of tourism trade, which would allow them to collect statistical information from service providers and establish a database on tourism for planning and development of tourism in the state.

Uttarakhand Tourism has approved the Tourist Incentive Coupon Scheme, under which tourists opting for e-bookings for their stay in hotels and homestays, will get a rebate of Rs 1000 for a 3-day stay, revealed Satpal Maharaj, Minister of Tourism, Uttarakhand. “The tourists will be given the discount coupon while registering themselves on the government portal under tourist category. They will then be able to use the coupon during their stay in a hotel or homestay in the tourist spots of the state. The tourist will have to provide his Aadhaar card details while registering to avail the coupon and have to stay for minimum three days in the hotel or homestay. The scheme will also apply for the Char-Dham pilgrims,” said Maharaj. He also revealed that under the scheme the tourists will be given a discount of ₹1000 or 25% of the hotel charge per day, whichever is less. Source: Hindustan Times

The Rajasthan cabinet has approved a new tourism policy for the state. The new policy aims to rebuild the marketing policy for international branding of tourism and promote domestic tourism. The policy proposed to strengthen the tourist assistance force, encourage startups. Two or three prominent monuments and sites will also be developed in every division as ‘Iconic monuments’ or sites. For MICE and wedding tourism, the policy lays out a plan to identify, grade and list facilities. The policy also outlines a scheme for classifying all tourism units such as hotels, paying guest houses. An annual event, ‘Rajasthan Startup Tourism Connect’, will be organised to bring innovation to the sector.

As per the order dated 31 August, 2020 by the Office of District Magistrate, North Goa, there is no requirement for COVID-19 testing for travellers coming to Goa whether by road, rail or air. This is compulsory only for international passengers. Bars have opened, however ban on casinos and river cruises will continue.

Claiming that the hospitality and tourism industry has taken a hard hit during the COVID-19 crisis, JK Mohanty, CMD, Swosti Group; Chairman, HRAO and Hony. Secretary, HAI, has said that state government needs to play a greater role in attracting investments from the private sector by providing attractive incentives for a period of at least 3 – 5 years to make Odisha an attractive destination competing with other neighbouring states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, etc. “Around five thousand additional number of hotel rooms in different star category should be set up to compete with the hotel infrastructure of the other states of India. We, therefore recommend that the Government should allow 30% capital investment subsidy up to a maximum limit of Rs.25 crores and 5% interest subsidy up to 11 years on repayment of term loans. If the subsidy is given only for 3 years, many hotels will come up as required,” he added.

The Agra district administration (ADA) is mulling plans to reopen the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort for tourists in the second week of September. A final date has not been decided yet. However, it is speculated that other ASI protected monuments in the region like Fatehpur Sikri and Sikandara Tomb will open by the end of this month.

Rajan Sehgal, President, Indian Golf Tourism Association (IGTA) and MC member of TAAI, believes that golf tourism in India will be in great demand after the monsoons are over. “The first thing that opened after Unlock 1.0 were the golf courses. They opened all over the world. Even the ones in Delhi-NCR are full. This is because they offer open spaces, give us a chance to connect with nature, and physical distancing is maintained. I think, golf tourism in India will be in great demand after the monsoons  because Indian golfers, who used to travel to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam for golf, will now travel within India. It will give a big boost as Delhi golfers will travel to Rajasthan, South India, and Central India to play golf. We had a serious session with the advisor to Governor of Kashmir, and we requested him to open tourism at the earliest in the UT, so that we can attract a lot of visitors from across India to Jammu & Kashmir,” he said.

EM Najeeb, President, Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry (CKTI), met Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Minister of Kerala and thanked him for the Rs 445cr package and support on behalf of the entire tourism industry. “The minister has informed me that another package for the houseboat sector, homestay sector as well as the tourist guides will be announced this week,” he revealed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech on Independence Day, has said that as part of development work in Ladakh, work is going on towards starting new courses for hotel and management in the Union Territory. “Nestled in the heights of the Himalayas, Ladakh is progressing towards new heights. Work is going on for a central university, setting up new research centres, new courses for hotel and management. Plan is also under way for the creation of 7,500 MW Solar Park. Ladakh has several specialties. Not only do we have to preserve them, we must nurture them as well. As Sikkim has made its mark as an Organic State in the northeast, Ladakh, Leh and Kargil can also create their own niche as a Carbon Neutral unit. Indian government has joined hands with the locals of the region to create a new model of development as per their own requirements.

Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has virtually inaugurated the “Thenzawl Golf Resort” Project implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in the presence of Tourism Minister of Mizoram, Robert RomawiaRoyte and other officials. The competitive advantage of Thenzawl Golf Course with 30 Eco-log huts is that it will provide quality golfing experience and international facilities at a fair price.