Category Archives: States

The ninth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) was inaugurated in the presence of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan; Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Abraham George, President, KTM Society, V. Venu Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism, among other dignitaries at Le Meridien, Kochi. 57 countries besides 20 Indian states are participating during the three-day biennial event, which is being organised by the KTM Society in association with the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala on September 27, World Tourism Day. Ten countries will be represented at the Mart for the first time, with Mexico, Georgia, Japan, China, Chile, Greece, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Botswana. The 560 total international delegates registered for KTM 2016 features the biggest-ever contingents from 10 highly-prized traditional markets, including the US, Canada and Australia. Domestic participation too has seen an uptick, buoyed by aggressive marketing campaigns. Some 1,304 Indian buyers will participate this year.

On the occasion of Navratri that is celebrated in Maharashtra with much pomp, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has announced the launch of its unique Navratri Darshan Tours for the first time for all the devotees in Mumbai. The Navratri Darshan Tour will spin across five of the most iconic Devi temples in the city which include Mumbadevi temple in Kalbadevi; Mahalakshmi temple; Dagdi Chawl in Byculla; Murubaidevi temple in Matunga and Shitladevi temple in Mahim.  The tour will commence from Bhatia Baug BEST bus depot near CST wherein 40 tourists in each AC bus will be accommodated. The online booking of this tour will start from 20 September 2016.

The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has announced that it will re-open one of its island – Bangaram island – for tourists on October 14, 2016. A.M. Hussain, Assistant Director (Tourism), Department of Tourism, Union Territory of Lakshadweep, said, “The highlight for 2016-17 for Lakshadweep is re-launching of Bangaram island resort, which was the flagship of Lakshadweep Tourism till 2010. But after the expiry of the lease period it had gone under a legal battle and after the hearing from High Court of Kerala as well as the Supreme Court, the resort has come back to us.” The resorts at Bangaram and Agatti islands – two popular destinations in Lakshadweep – had been closed for the past couple of years as they were caught in legal battles between the administration and tourism operators.

BIAL in collaboration with ThoughtWorks, a global technology company,  announced the launch of the BLR Airport App, as part of its digital platform offering. Through the digital platform bouquet of services, BIAL aims at revolutionising the travel experience at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB) through a combination of digital technologies that include the Internet of: things, people, services and data. The airport will build on its existing technological capabilities to engage with its customers and provide integrated services across various touch points. Through these efforts BIAL aims to future-proof its airport operations and services by making meaning of the abundant digital data available and create a more personalised, just-in-time travel services. A first step, as part of this digital transformation was offering passengers everything at a single click on their mobile phone through the BLR Airport app. The airport app includes a number of useful features to help simplify the passengers airport experience. The navigation provides an intimate interface with real-time flight information and commercial offerings. Available on iOS and Android platforms, the app is designed to provide customers with the best of airport navigation powered by Google Indoor Maps (the first Indian Airport to use Google Indoor Maps), context-specific operational and commercial notifications powered by beacon technology deployed by leveraging leading industry standards.

The Government of Assam, Tourism Department has declared to open the Kaziranga National Park from the first week of October this year till middle of May 2017. Earlier, it was from November 1 to April 30 every year. The BJP-led government is taking steps to keep the Park open for the tourists for eight months instead of the normal six months with an aim to increase tourist inflow to UNESCO’s world heritage site, which suffered due to the recent floods.

Tourism has been given industry status by Haryana Government for land use purpose. The tourism projects identified under land use are activities relating to amusement, recreation, theme parks; adventure tourism projects; heritage hotels except standalone hotels, tourist resorts, food streets, outdoor dining areas, food courts, restaurants; commercial components within recreational and commercial activities etc. informed Devender Singh, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Government of Haryana. Singh added that the provisions would be applicable to mega projects only involving an investment of Rs 100 crore or above or employing more than 500 people. The conditions would also be applicable with prospective effect to all the new as well as expansion projects involving an investment of Rs 50 crore or more. He also added that the notification to this effect has been issued. (Source: Times of India)

Assam Government has allocated Rs 15 crore to ‘Awesome Assam’ brand. “Tourism will be promoted as ‘Awesome Assam’ with Rs. 15 crore allocated for publicity focusing on the one-horned rhino, Assam Tea and the mighty Brahmaputra,” said Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister of Tourism, Government of Asssam. A new logo of Assam Tourism has also been launched. Sarma informed that aggressive publicity will be carried out outside the state with a single-window clearance policy being initiated for issuing permission to shoot films in Guwahati. In order to harness the tourism potential of tourist attractions like Kamakhya Temple and Majuli river island, the government has sanctioned Rs 33 crore for the development of infrastructure of Kamakhya. Sarma also revealed that PSUs like ONGC, OIL, NHPC and others have also expressed interest to invest in the tourism sector as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the Centre has allocated Rs 120 crore for the five national parks in the state. Sarma invited ideas and plans for the development of tourism and informed that the state will develop tourism through partnership with the people.

Arunachal Pradesh Department of Tourism has roped in Bollywood actor John Abraham as the brand ambassador for the mystical land of Arunachal Pradesh. Joram Beda, Tourism Secretary, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, said, “Our focus this year lies in boosting the tourism sector and making Arunachal Pradesh a ‘Must See, Must Experience’ state. For this vision’s success, we need like-minded partners that see and understand our vision and can help us chart this path. We found such a partner in Viacom18 who have helped us get John Abraham, a superstar, an adventurer and a great human being on board. John has played a pivotal role in promoting North East India, primarily by putting NEUFC on the map of sports. We believe our association with him will strengthen our purpose of putting out our state in the Indian diaspora as a prominent tourist destination.” Commenting on the partnership with Arunachal Pradesh and roping in John Abraham as the brand ambassador for the states’ tourism, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said, “Arunachal Pradesh is a traveler’s paradise and a land of untold tales. In John we have a celebrity who shares our enthusiasm of weaving the stories of the mystical land into a single narrative of ‘Must See, Must Experience’ Arunachal Pradesh tourism. After all a journey is best when it is entertaining!” Excited about representing Arunachal Pradesh tourism, John Abraham said, “I am honored to have been chosen to promote the tourism of Arunachal Pradesh. I have always been fascinated with North East India: each state has its unique beauty, history and culture. It’s a state rich with culture, mysticism, great people and stunning views. When I’m there, all I need is …

In an attempt to leverage medical tourism in Telangana, the Tourism Department and Health Department of the state have come together to form a Medical Tourism Society. The society is aimed at creating a single platform for all stakeholders both public and private to interact and address issues regarding medical tourism. B.Venkatesham, Secretary Tourism, Government of Telangana, said, “Till now we have involved the hospitals, accreditation bodies, health officials and tourism officials in improving medical tourism but we understand the importance of medical travel facilitators and thus this platform will allow the travel agents to put up their issues and participate. The government will also assist and act as a facilitator to the travel agents functioning in this segment of tourism.”

Gujarat Tourism is offering 32 tourism projects to attract private investments at the forthcoming Incredible India Tourism Investor’s Summit (IITIS) to be held from September 21-23 in New Delhi. The total estimated value of the projects is around Rs 8,000 crore which include innovative projects with global appeal like Dev Ni Mori Buddhist tourist site development (Rs 1,200 crore), Sant Nagari, highlighting lives and contributions of India’s saints (Rs 600 crore), Giant Wheel at Sabarmati Riverfront (Rs900 crore) etc. S. J. Haider, Principal Secretary-Tourism, Government of Gujarat, says, “Gujarat will be a key partner state at IITIS. We will highlight around Rs 8,000 crore worth of projects in the summit. These will include major religious tourism projects like Dev Ni Mori, Sant Nagari and others. At the same time we will be putting forward modern tourism projects like the Giant Wheel at Sabarmati Riverfront, Global Village, Mini India at Adalaj in Ahmedabad, cruise tourism, aero sports etc.”Haider further informed that the state government aims to take up all these projects on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. (Source: Times of India)