Tag Archives: Arvind Singh

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that while the strategy for international marketing in terms of incentives, promotions and media campaigns will be similar, but it will change from 15th August, when we enter 75th year of Independence. “We’ll merge that kind of messaging or campaigns, which will be aimed at celebrating 75th year of India’s independence, with existing media strategies, as well as new schemes and programmes,” he said.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that after considerable follow-up from all sides, even from Ministry of Commerce, the Department of Expenditure has said that they will release over Rs2,000 crore for SEIS in this financial year and a new budget has to be created. “The formalities have to be worked out, after which the amount will reach beneficiaries,” he shared.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture, Government of India, recently chaired a review meeting on eSamikSha platform with Ministry of Tourism officials. Also present were Arvind Singh, Secretary – Tourism and Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General – Tourism. eSamikSha is a digital governance platform for easy, instant and secure exchange of information. The portal has a flexi dashboard which provides officials the facility of customisation based on priority or requirements. It has a single-window communication channel linked with three layered robust tracking through Dashboard, Notification, email/SMS alerts.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has welcomed the relief measures and free-visa announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We have been in discussion with the Finance Ministry on relief measures for the tourism and hospitality sectors. We welcome the announcement, as it will help in the revival of the sector and promote inbound travel to India. Tourism is one of the sectors that has been badly hit by the pandemic, and hence these measures are welcome.” Since the relief measures are for recognised tour operators, he urged more stakeholders in the industry to get registered.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, MOT, has revealed that the Ministry has come up with the first draft of a national strategy and roadmap for sustainable tourism with a focus on adventure and eco-tourism. “The national strategy will include a certification scheme and capacity building, and we are also thinking of a system of assessing the states and ranking them as we have done in many programmes like ‘Ease of Doing Business’,” he said.

PATA India Chapter’s 10th Update & Outlook Meeting with Mr Arvind Singh, Secretary Tourism is set to happen on 16th April 2021 at 3:00 pm. It will be the first time Singh will be addressing the PATA India membership. To participate, one can register on https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BWeGc6kQSZWgXc9_XmYh-A.

In an interaction with Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, while speaking on opening borders in 2021, Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, said, “Yes, there will be some sort of reopening. It all depends on the result of vaccination programme in India and abroad. However, I am sure that at least there wold be a partial opening of some regions of the world in this calendar year.”

Ashok Institute of Hospitality & Tourism Management (AIH&TM), a certified hospitality training institute under India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), has introduced a tailor-made program in ‘Entrepreneurship Development’ exclusively designed for graduates in the tourism & hospitality industry. The programme was formally inaugurated by Arvind Singh, IAS, Secretary (Tourism) at a webinar hosted by ITDC. Singh, said, “ITDC’s initiative to create entrepreneurs under its Entrepreneurship Development Programme is a very timely and welcome initiative with the support of Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) under their organizations namely National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) & National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD). All interested graduates, diploma holders, and professionals who have lost their jobs will be approached for enrolment under the programme. These are very tough times for the industry and we are working towards the revival of the sector. I wish the programme all success”. The webinar was convened by Shri. G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, C&MD, India Tourism Development Council (ITDC) and had in attendance eminent officials, including Atul Kumar Tiwari, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Neelam Shami Rao, IAS, DG, National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) and Gyan Bhushan, CEO ,National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology  (NCHMCT). Motivational talks and experiences were shared by Sh. Ritesh Aggarwal CEO, OYO Rooms & Sh. Abhinav Balyan, MD&CEO, Educator Extraordinaire Ltd. Under the ‘Entrepreneurship Development Programme’, graduates from hotel management institutes as well as recently unemployed and other experienced hospitality professionals would be provided with the non-financial support for running catering or hospitality-related establishments (canteen/café, Event Management, Manpower Services, Banquet services, …

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, attended the 5th Skiing Graduation ceremony at Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering, in Gulmarg, Kashmir, where he addressed the gathering and said that sustainable tourism is the only way to expand the sector and bring expected change in Jammu & Kashmir, revealed a tweet from MOT. He also inspected the facility and encouraged the students.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, in his address at the 10th ADTOI Convention has said that Kevadia is the most powerful example of how tourism can improve the standard of living of all. He also added that things are returning to normal in the last quarter of this financial year, adding that 2020 was unprecedented in many ways. Singh also informed that constant discussions are going on with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Health Ministry to relax the ban on tourist visas and the right decision will be taken in this matter when the appropriate time comes.