Tag Archives: Government of India

The much awaited all-new Incredible India website, which was set to go live from December 25, 2017, will now be launched in the end of January 2018. This was informed by Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India. “We could have launched the website as planned because in terms of technology, the website is ready. However, we are currently sourcing more content and images to make the website a complete solution and thus, by the third week of January, we should be ready to launch it, she said. Verma underscored various initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism (MOT). MOT is shortlisting some iconic tourist sites to develop into world-class sites in collaboration with various other ministries like Transport, Environment, Culture and Aviation. Five destinations under the Buddhist circuit are being developed with basic amenities and connectivity in collaboration with Ministry of Transport. She further added that MOT has planned to develop Special Tourism Zone and a proposal has been extended to all the states.

Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will lead PATA India Chapter as its Chairperson for the term 2017-19. This was announced during the 47th Annual General Meeting of PATA India Chapter held at The Claridges, New Delhi on December 19. While SanJeet, Director, DDP Publications, was re-elected as the association’s Vice Chairman; J.S. Taneja, MD, Travel Spirit International, will continue to hold the post of Hon. Secretary, and the post of Hon. Treasurer has been re-assigned to Vikram Madhok, MD, Abercrombie & Kent. The association also elected its Executive Committee for the term 2017-19. Under the Active Government Category, Rashmi Verma and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India will hold the post, while Ravneet Kaur, CMD, ITDC and Sanjiv Garg, Additional Member T&C, Ministry of Railways will be EC members under the Associate Government Category. Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India, has been elected EC member under the International Carrier category. Under the Domestic Carrier category, Ragini Chopra, VP, Jet Airways and M.P. Mall, CMD, IRCTC have been elected. The four posts for Travel Agents/Tour Operators category have been given to Vikram Madhok, J.S. Taneja, Snirmol Ghosh, Director, Indo Asia Tours and Anoop Kanuga, Director, Bathija Travels. Under the Hotels/ Associate Hotels category, the three members are: Renu Basu, VP, Indian Hotels; Arjun Sharma, MD, Select Holiday Resorts; and Rohit Arora, GM, Apeejay Surendra Park Hotel. SanJeet will be an EC member under the Sustaining Member category.

The Ministry of Finance announced December 27, 2017 as the late date for filing the TRAN-1 form under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to avail input tax credit. The Ministry, in a release, informed that a taxpayer could file Form TRAN-1 and avail input tax credit on the basis of closing balance of the input tax credit declared in the last return under the pre GST regime. In keeping with the philosophy of voluntary compliance, revision of Form TRAN-1 has also been provided. The last date for revision of TRAN-1 is also December 27. The Ministry noted that some taxpayers have availed extraordinarily high transitional credit of CGST. Such behaviour leads to breach of trust between the taxpayer and the tax-administration, the release said. Taxpayers who have claimed transitional credit erroneously are advised to avail of the opportunity to revise Form TRAN-1 within the deadline, failing which the tax administration would be constrained to initiate audit and enforcement action against the identified units, the release mentioned.

The Indo-American Business Chamber of SME in association with Lords Hotels & Resorts recently organised a comprehensive forum on Goods & Service Tax (GST) for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai. The forum witnessed a number of entrepreneurs from various industries including manufacturing, real estate, hospitality and banking. Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance, Government of India who was the chief guest for the evening addressed many concerns expressed by the attendees and clarified nuances around the latest GST resolutions announced last month. While applauding the Govt. and its revolutionary tax reform, P R Bansal, Chairman & Managing Director, Lords Hotels & Resorts, also raised a few concerns affecting the real estate and hospitality sectors. In his speech, he appealed to the Minister to consider the pleas and convey the concerns to the GST Council for deliberation. “The reduction in GST rate for restaurant was made by the GST Council based on the feedback we received from people. We are happy that we not only reduced the GST rate from 18 per cent to 5 per cent but also made it uniform for all restaurants,” Shiv Pratap Shukla concluded.  

Ambience Mall, Gurugram played host to a two-day Korea Festival showcasing South Korea’s art, culture and heritage for the visitors to the mall. Organised by (KTO), the event was targeted to the consumers and had a separate stall where travel partners for KTO also showcased their itineraries and travel products to people. The event was inaugurated by Min Hong Min, Executive Vice President, KTO and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. The event also saw high energy B-boying performances and Nanta performance by professionals flown in from South Korea, especially for the event.

The India pavilion at the World Travel Market 2017, the leading global event for the travel industry, was abuzz with activities for the trade and consumers alike. Addressing a press conference, Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, launched the all-new Incredible India website which will be going live from December 25.  At the three-day exhibition underway at the ExCeL-London from Nov 6-8, Incredible India showcased a lively celebration of spiritual tourism. The India stand laid special emphasis on the development and promotion of tourism for the North East States with an objective of showcasing the largely untapped tourism potential of the region. The Secretary highlighted the new initiatives for promoting tourism in India. “India Tourism has been going at a fast pace. We have jumped 25 positions as per World Tourism Forum, our ranking has improved from 65 to 40. In terms of international tourist growth in our country, last year it was 9.7 per cent as against the international trend of 3.5 per cent. This year so far it has been very encouraging and it has been at a high of 15.6 per cent. In terms of foreign receipts our growth has been commendable. The international growth has been 2 per cent, ours has been about 8.3 per cent (2016). The growth has been there but still there’s a long way to go.” Verma informed that recently India celebrated tourism fortnight with a focus on encouraging tourism. The MOT started campaigns called ‘Tourism for All’ and ‘Dekho Apna Desh’, focused on domestic tourists as well as NRIs, encouraging them to come to India not only to visit their relatives but also witness the diverse culture of the country. She pointed …

The 2nd Aero Expo organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry got off to an excellent start at New Delhi. The four-day event will also feature India’s first Heli Expo on November 4 and 5. Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the mega event, which will deliberate on the key focus areas for Indian aviation to sustain and grow itself in the coming years. Also gracing the event was Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, and Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Government of India, among other industry stalwarts and key stakeholders. Speaking about the future prospect of the country’s aviation network, the Vice President of India exclaimed, “Apart from playing a key role in promoting connectivity between various regions and creating jobs, the civil aviation sector is one of the key drivers of the economy. As such, a continued introspection of the current policies, norms and infrastructure needs to be done to ensure the sectors contribution towards the economy.” Jayant Sinha also met with the leading CEOs and CMD of the industry to discuss the future of civil aviation. With 200 million passenger trips per year currently and growing at a rate of 12 per cent, the Indian industry is looking at one billion passenger trips from across the various airports around the country and the 2nd Aero expo highlighted the investment requirements for the same.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in collaboration with other central ministries, state governments and stakeholders has organised a nationwide celebration of tourism from October 5-25, 2017, called ‘Paryatan Parv’. As a grand finale to the 21-day celebration, a three-day event is being organised at the Rajpath Lawns, New Delhi (between Rafi Marg and Janpath) from the 23rd to 25th October 2017. The event will be open to the public from 12 noon to 10 pm on all three days and will include cultural performances, a crafts bazaar, multi-cuisine food court and other interactive activities to keep visitors engaged at the event venue. The food court will have 50 stalls set up by the states/UTs, each showcasing their distinctive cuisine, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) with street food from different regions as well as by the Institutes of Hotel Management and ITDC. The crafts mela with 50 stalls will showcase the diverse handicrafts and handlooms of the country, arranged by the state governments and Ministry of Textiles through the Office of the Development Commissioners of Handicrafts and handlooms. There will be 15 Theme State Pavilions where each state will showcase their tourism products and destinations. Cultural performances by troupes from the different states/UTs of the country will be staged from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm on all three days. In addition to the cultural performances by the states/UTs, special cultural events will be staged from 6:00 pm onwards on all three days. These will include ‘Purani Dilli Ki Dastan’ presented by Begum Zakia Zaheer, Syeda Hameed and Rene Singh on 23rd October 2017, “Dhrupad Vocal” by Prashant & Nishant Mallick (Mallick Brothers) on 24th October 2017, …

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in partnership with other central ministries and state governments is organising ‘Paryatan Parv’ from October 5-25, 2017. Addressing the media regarding the ‘Paryatan Parv’ and the Swachhta initiatives, Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State (IC) for Tourism, said that programme is being organised with the objective of drawing focus on the benefits of tourism, showcasing the cultural diversity of the country and reinforcing the principle of ‘Tourism for All’. Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and senior officers were present during the breifing. The Minister announced that the Parv will be inaugurated at the Humayun’s Tomb on 5th October 2017. The formal inauguration of the event will be held at 5:00 PM at the venue which will include a cultural programme. The Paryatan Parv will culminate in a 3 day event in New Delhi from the October 23 to 25, 2017 which will showcase the cultural diversity of the country, with cultural performances, crafts bazaar, food court showcasing folk and classical dance & music, handicrafts & handlooms and cuisine from all regions and States of the country. The “Adopt A Heritage” project launched by the Ministry of Tourism will be implemented at key sites during this period. Wayside Amenities for tourists will also be launched at important sites in identified circuits. Central Ministries have also proactively come forward and will be part of the event. In addition, the mega event will see active participation by Cultural Associations and Organisations, Travel & Hospitality Industry, Institutes of Hotel Management, Indian Institutes of Tourism & Travel Management, Service Providers, Students and Youth and the Local Population

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India awarded Abercrombie & Kent India the first prize in Category-I as the Best Inbound Tour Operator, for 2015-16. This is A&K India’s fourth National Tourism Award. The award was received by Vikram Madhok, Managing Director and Arunendu Roy, Director (Finance). Speaking on this occasion, Madhok said this award reinforces and enhances Abercrombie & Kent’s reputation for conducting our business in an honest, ethical and reliable manner, demonstrating integrity in everything we do. The award was presented by the Hon’ble President of India Ram Nath Kovind, in the presence of Minister of State for Tourism and other select dignitaries & invitees from the travel fraternity at New Delhi on September 27, 2017.