Category Archives: States

The Madhya Pradesh (MP) government has approved the Film Tourism Policy 2020, offering incentives to filmmakers, promoting private investments and make MP an attractive destination for film shoots. According to the policy, if a filmmaker shoots a film in MP, he will get 50% of grants, the maximum amount of which may be Rs 1 crore. Apart from this, investment in film-related infrastructure will be encouraged with grants and land. Special grants will be given to filmmakers who offer screen time to tourist destinations in the state. For the grants, the filmmaker has to give credit to the state government and the tourism department. The logo of the tourism department and that of the government will be used in the film. A film facilitation cell will also be set up and services will be provided on concessionary rates in the units of MPSTDC. Facilities will be provided through single-window system for shooting films. As per the policy, land will be allotted for film studios, post-production centres, VFX centres, skill development centres, film institute etc.

The Jallianwala Bagh would remain closed for visitors due to its ongoing renovation work till 12th April. The work on restoration and allied services, which is estimated to cost around ₹20 crore, is being done under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and the target date for the renovation to be completed is 31st March. A new 15-foot-wide exit gate has been constructed. The old structure around the martyrs’ well has been replaced with glass walls so that visitors can have a clear view of the inside of the well. There is a new light and sound show system being installed. Revamping is also taking place of the 50-seat auditorium on the first floor with a 3-D projection system to showcase documentaries.

The Government of Odisha has approved eight more investment proposals worth Rs.1,649.49 crore in the 89th State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) meeting, out of which two are hotel proposals. The projects were approved in food processing, chemicals, plastics, tourism, steel downstream and infrastructure and will create employment opportunities for 1,450 people. In the tourism sector, a project by M/s Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Ltd. for expansion of its five-star hotel with an investment of Rs 150 crores, has been approved which will provide employment for 150 people and another proposal by M/s Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd. for expansion of its five-star hotel, with an investment of Rs. 52 crore has also been approved and it will provide an additional employment to around 160 people.

Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) is receiving warm response ahead for its 11th edition this September, with nearly 1,000 people proposing participation within the first three weeks of registration for the country’s biggest tourism event. July 31 is the last date for pre-registration of what is the country’s biggest tourism event that will bring entrepreneurs across India and abroad to the state’s products and services in the travel industry. The three-day biennial event, starting after the inauguration on September 24 evening, will be held at the Sagara and Samudrika Convention Centre of Cochin Port Trust in Willingdon Island here. As pre-registrations started on January 20, as many as 548 applications have come in from within the country, 165 from abroad. These include 47 entries from the international media and 21 from the domestic. The 2000-founded KTM Society is the biggest tourism body of Kerala. “The pre-registration rush shows that KTM continues to show the faith people have in the event,” said KTM President Baby Mathew Somatheeram. “The 2018 KTM could give Kerala’s tourism to new direction and fresh energy after the natural calamity the state faced that year. The coming edition, too, will toe that line, aiming to present innovative products and services that can rejuvenate the sector,” he added.

Bengal Travel Mart (BTM) 2020 will be held from 22-24 February in Siliguri. BTM brings together the business fraternity and tourism products and services. A varied range of sellers with different tourism products of the region will participate in the mart. This B2B event has been carefully thought out and planned in such a way that sellers and potential buyers of services have the opportunity to establish partnerships within the space of a single day or 2 days. The main aim is to expand the geography of sales of the exhibition’s participants and to introduce players to new areas and services to which they previously did not have access. For registrations, please log on to www.bengaltravelmart.in.

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to promote rural tourism to boost economic activities in the state. PC Sharma, Cabinet Minister of Public Relations Department said the state has received Rs 229 crore as initial funding from the Central government for the same. As per reports, the MP government has identified 100 villages that could be showcased for rural tourism. This would involve a great deal of capacity building and training apart from preparing the villagers for rural homestays and other activities. “The objective of development of rural tourism in MP is to showcase rural life, culture, heritage art and craft, handloom and textile. We will select and groom village entertainment groups to unveil the local history and culture, natural and oral treasures, which are major tourist attraction these days,” said Sharma.

To attract more tourists through web series, advertisements, documentaries and films, the Gujarat government is likely to announce a policy soon to provide aid and financial incentives to shoot films and videos in Gujarat. The state tourism policy contains guidelines for cinematic tourism, but it does not offer any financial support or benefits to attract film producers. “Apart from Gujarat’s proximity to Mumbai, we have the best beaches, heritage properties, mountains, deserts, rivers, modern buildings and other locations to offer. The state government has decided to form a new policy to promote cinematic tourism in the state,” said, Mamta Verma, Tourism Secretary, Gujarat.

Tourism Minister of Kerala, Kadakampally Surendran has said that after three confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state, the tourism sector is badly affected as hotel bookings have suffered mass cancellations for the month of February and March. “Several bookings in hotels for the months of February and March have been cancelled. The bookings were almost full for these months earlier. The cancellations now are much more, compared to that after Nipah virus was reported. A lot of misinformation on the virus is being spread too,” said Surendran in the state Assembly during the question hour. Urging media to exercise self-restraint during the time of calamities and keep themselves away from fearmongering, the minister said blowing up issues beyond proportion was largely affecting tourism industry. A total of 8.19 lakh tourists had visited the southern state, popularly known as the “God’s Own Country”, in 9 months in 2019, which was 10.96 lakh in 2018, the minister added.

Tripura Government is all set to host an event on similar lines of Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival from February 8-9, 2020, in order to boost tourism in the state. The two-day festival will be organised in Hathai Kortor or Baramura Hills in West district. It was decided last year that the Government will organise a festival on the lines of the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland since forest official Animesh Das said several hornbills are spotted in Tripura. The name of the festival in Tripura has not been decided yet. The forest officials have even set up a Hornbill viewpoint at Baramura hills, where fruit-bearing trees have been grown for the birds.

Kerala Tourism is organising partnership meets and participating in in ten cites across India in the first quarter of 2020, in order to attract domestic tourists to the destination. The cities include Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Guwahati, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Minister, Kerala, revealed that domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala in 2019 saw an overall increase as compared to 2018. The number of domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala is up by 16 per cent for the first three Quarters in 2019