Tag Archives: Madhya Pradesh

Gujarat has received an overwhelming response in terms of investment in tourism projects after it launched its Tourism Policy 2015-2020 in September 2015, according to Jenu Devan, Managing Director, and Commissioner of Tourism, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited. He says, “It has become a tremendous success. Till date, there are 220 applications for various tourism projects like hotels, resorts, amusement parks, etc. worth Rs 9,000 crore. So in the next few years, Gujarat is poised to have a fantastic tourism infrastructure for both the inbound and domestic tourists.” Gujarat received a total of 448 lakhs tourists during 2016-17. This was 16.9 per cent higher than the flow in 2015-16. The flow of tourists within Gujarat also increased with a 15 per cent growth. Speaking about the source markets in India and abroad, he adds, “We see the entire India as our source market. However, we get maximum traffic from our neighboring states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Internationally, UK tops the list followed by USA. We would like to receive more traffic from the South East Asian markets as they are short-haul destinations for India.”

The 4th edition of Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart (MPTM) will be held from October 27-29, 2017 in Bhopal, informed Hari Ranjan Rao, Secretary, Tourism and Public Service Management and Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation. Over 200 national and international buyers and around 100 exhibitors of distinct Indian markets are expected to participate in the mart.According to Surendra Patwa, State Minister, Tourism and Culture (I/C), Kisan Kalyavan and Agriculture Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh, “I am hopeful that this year’s MPTM will open way for more investment in tourism sector in the state. This event will give us the opportunity to create a new tourism policy, water tourism policy, heritage policy, policy of providing accommodation facility centres and home state schemes.” With the theme, Seek-Discover-Explore, the mart will offer a B2B platform to bring together tourism stakeholders and representatives from heritage hotels, conference venues, tour operators and wildlife parks etc. The mart is supported by various trade organisations, like ADTOI, ATTOI, IATO, FAITH, TAAI and TAFI. Rao informed that this year, the number of attendees to the mart is expected to cross over 9 crore. International participants attending the show include representatives from Singapore, Spain, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Thailand, Poland, Austria, Australia, France etc. Rao said, “The travel mart is an opportunity in which the tourism aspects of the state and the policies ad schemes are conveyed to the investors. In the last three years of the Travel mart in Bhopal, it has been experienced that through this one-to-one discussion with tourists, tourism, hospitality and participants of the hotel industry, the efforts being made for the expansion of the area are also being …

In an attempt to promote its home-stay scheme in the state, the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MakeMyTrip. Under this collaboration, MakeMyTrip would promote and help in implementing the state-run MPSTDC’s scheme which is meant for the owners of apartments, bungalows, cottages at the places of tourist interests. The homeowner, who can provide accommodation and food facility to domestic and international tourists, may register under this scheme. According to a state official, the programme has seen a good response so far. It was informed that so far, 82 people have registered themselves under the home-stay scheme with the highest number-26- being from Indore followed by Bhopal at 13. Among others, nine each have registered themselves in Ujjain and Pachmarhi, five in Amarkantak and four each in Jabalpur, Gwalior and Balaghat.

Lemon Tree Hotels has announced the opening of two new hotels – the Lemon Tree Hotel, Candolim in Goa and the Lemon Tree Wildlife Resort, Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. The Lemon Tree Hotel Candolim is the group’s second property in Goa. The hotel offers 34 rooms, with base category rooms measuring around 27 square meters. It also features an all-day dining restaurant, a terrace-top bar, a rooftop swimming pool and a conference room of approximately 800 square feet. The Lemon Tree Wildlife Resort, Bandhavgarh is located in close proximity to Tala Gate, the most tiger inhabited zone of the Bandhavgarh National Park, and marks the group’s entry into the wildlife resort segment. Spread over five acres, the hotel features 11 cottages measuring approximately 34 square meters, an all-day dining restaurant, a swimming pool and a 480-square-foot conference hall.

Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation has successfully concluded the 3rd edition of Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart, from Oct 14-16, at Hotel Lake View in Bhopal. About 70 international buyers from 28 countries, 135 domestic buyers and 45 sellers were part of the 3-day exhibition. The event was inaugurated by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan along with State Tourism Minister Surinder Patwa, MPTDC Chairman Tapan Bhoumik, IATO President Pronab Sarkar, ADTOI President P.P. Khanna, and ITTA President Krishan Dutt Yadav. Hari Ranjan Rao, MD, MPTDC, said, “This is the 3rd MPTM and the success of this mart can be best evaluated by buyers and sellers, more so for the sellers. All the sellers have been very happy with the planning of this event. Sellers’ feedback is that choice of buyers is very good. They feel that buyers are serious, and they have done their homework and research. Most of the buyers are first-timers, which is a good thing. We have also increased the number of sellers. Of course, we are not satisfied yet because the scale has to be much larger, but it’s the right beginning. “

GAA SpeedJet Aviation in association with Jet Airways recently provided on-ground training to its students from the current batch of cabin crew and ground staff at a leading flying club in Madhya Pradesh. GAA SpeedJet students got exclusive access to airplanes Cessna 152 and Cessna 172 along with hands-on experience of the Simulator. Jet Airways, on its part, offered students lessons in ground duties – including airport check-in, passenger and cargo handling. GAA SpeedJet Aviation is a partnership between Gulf Aviation Academy (part of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment arm for the Kingdom of Bahrain) and domestic aviation training institute SpeedJet Aviation. Jet Airways is India’s premier international airline which operates flights to 67 destinations, including India and overseas.

The two-day long BRICS Convention on Tourism was inaugurated in Khajuraho Madhya Pradesh in the presence of South African Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom. The BRICS nations were represented by the South African Tourism Minister, Mr. D.A. Hanekom and delegations from Russia and China. The inaugural function was also graced by Tourism Minister and Chairman-Tourism, Government of Madhya Pradesh Surendra Patwa. Secretary (Tourism), Government of India, Vinod Zutshi welcomed all the delegates, senior dignitaries, officials and members of the travel trade. He stressed on the importance of the tourism sector as a major catalyst for economic growth and a source of job creation, thus contributing to the economy. He welcomed the cooperation extended by all the BRIGS nations for mutual growth of tourism between the member countries. The Minister of Tourism, South Africa expressed his great pleasure for holding the BRICS Convention on Tourism in the historic temple town of Khajuraho and highlighted that India with a long tradition, history, ancient civilisation and culture with a large number of World Heritage Sites like Khajuraho is destination to be visited again and again. He also proposed constituting a permanent BRICS Working Stream on Tourism comprising of the stakeholders of the Government and private sector. Heads of the delegation of China and Russia also emphasized greater cooperation among the member countries for the mutual benefit for the growth of tourism and looked at the convention as a platform to interact with the travel industry partners.

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (International Cooperation Division) is organising the BRICS Convention on Tourism from September 01-02, 2016, in  Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh. Delegation from the BRICS nations including Tourism Minister of South Africa is expected to participate in the Convention, which is being held as a precursor to the BRICS Summit to be held in Goa on October 15-16, 2016. The two day event will comprise of inter-governmental exchange of views and ideas, panel discussions on technology, innovation in tourism, and cooperation between the BRICS countries for promoting intra-regional tourism. B2B meetings between the India Travel Trade and their counterparts from the BRICS countries will also be organised. Elements of culture, handicrafts and cuisine from different regions of India will be showcased during the convention. The inaugural ceremony and proceedings on September 1, 2016, is being organised at the Convention Centre of Ramada Hotel, Khajuraho. Madhya Pradesh Tourism is sponsoring a gala cultural evening and dinner at Clark’s Hotel Khajuraho on September 01, 2016, for the delegates attending the BRICS convention. On September 02, 2016, panel discussions on the topics, “Cooperation among the BRICS countries for promotion of Tourism” and “Technology, Innovation in Tourism: Adapting to change” has been organised. Post-convention familiarisation tours are also organised for the BRICS delegates from September 03-06, 2016. The itineraries for the familiarisation tour would cover important tourist destinations in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which include Varanasi-Bodhgaya, Orchha/Agra, and Bhopal-Sanchi-Bhimbetka. The familiarisation tours will be hosted by the respective state governments.

Madhya Pradesh, once again was declared the best state at the National Tourism Awards for the year 2014-15. Gujarat and Karnataka clinched the second and third spot in the best state category. Kerala also took home four awards under various categories. The awards were given away during a function held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on July 30, 2016. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan graced the occasion as Chief Guest and gave away awards in various categories. Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture presided over the function. Invitees for the function included Tourism Ministers of States and State Government Officials, members from the travel and hospitality industries including leading hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, MOTm in his welcome address said that the Tourism sector has now been accorded very high priority world over. Our GDP has grown with the development of Tourism. Foreign Tourists Arrival has now touched a new height and our Domestic Tourism is also booming. Many new initiatives of Ministry of Tourism in past two years are remarkable. Uday Pratap Singh, Addl. Secretary, MOT proposed the Vote of Thanks

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) will hold its next annual convention in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, said Amitabh Devendra, Secretary General, FHRAI, adding that the tentative dates for the event are September 23-25, 2016. The theme of the convention will be ‘Brand India.’ “The contribution of Hospitality and Tourism will make ‘Brand India’ soar to great heights and help the country achieve the target of attracting one per cent share of the world tourists’ arrivals by 2020,” he said.