Tag Archives: Maharashtra

The Maharashtra government has renewed its MoU with Wakayama Prefectural Japan (WPJ) for five years. The agreement was signed by Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Yoshinobu Nisaka San, Governor of Wakayama. The MoU commenced in 2013 with the purpose of enhancing relations between Maharashtra and Japan for expanding association in the field of tourism and investment, and promote agro and food processing units. More than 40 delegates from WPG visited Indian Merchant Chamber to promote the prospects of Wakayama. The delegates also visited various heritage sites and commercial hubs in Mumbai including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalay (CSMVS), Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and BSE to understand the importance of these heritage sites and explore the diversity of the state. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, said, “I am delighted to be associated with Wakayama Prefectural Government and the MoU is a great stage for us to surge our global footmark and put Maharashtra on the international map. This MoU has strengthened the ties between two states of the nations.”

A top-level delegation led by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Govt of India, gathered inside Mumbai Port to lay the foundation stone for the new international cruise terminal. Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) proposes to handle 80 per cent of the cruise passengers that will arrive at the port once the terminal is complete. Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, MPT, said, “As per our consultant’s report, we have the potential to bring in 30 lakh passengers. Based on that projection, we have prepared a second SOP on a national level. We have also recently exempted cruise passengers from e-visa and this is in line with our efforts to make immigration process for international tourists easier and faster. With the new terminal, the area of cruise terminal will be 4.15 lakh sq feet, almost 10 times bigger than what we have today.” Bhatia added that the new terminal will have all the facilities of the domestic airport. Also present at the ceremony were Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra and Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of India.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in association with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, is set to launch the first edition of the Mumbai Shopping Festival (MSF). India’s first-of-its-kind citywide three-week festival will be celebrated from January 12-31, 2018 across Mumbai. The festival will include immersive retail experiences clubbed with live performances across the city. In lieu of the recent notification by the Government of Maharashtra where shops and establishments can now stay open 24X7, the Ministry of Tourism and MTDC will set up Mumbai’s first-ever Night Bazaar Flea Market which will go on till 4 am on weekends only. To enhance visibility of the Mumbai Shopping Festival, MTDC has teamed up with various associations with various retail and commerce bodies. Shopping partners for the Mumbai Shopping Festival 2018 include major malls and retail chains in Mumbai. Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, said, “I am pleased to announce this festival as we launch Mumbai as a world-class shopping destination. We are delighted to see interest from our partners including retailers, brands, restaurants, who have given innumerable hours to making the Mumbai Shopping Festival a reality. We look forward to the participation of each and every Mumbaikar, and citizens of the country in joining us to celebrate this mega extravaganza.”

Maharashtra contributes most tourists to Australia followed by Delhi. Speaking in New Delhi, Nishant Kashikar, Country Head-India and Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “Tourism Australia first started its representation agency in Delhi before setting up their office in India. We have developed a great relationship with the travel trade in the city of Delhi and have seen great growth from this market. We have had almost over 32,000 tourists only from the state of Delhi, who travelled to Australia last year. These tourists contributed almost close to 165 million Asutralian dollars, which is an increase of 26 per cent as compared to the previous year.”

Maharashtra’s Minister of Tourism Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal met H.K Mauder Kakkur, Managing Director, NYC & Company New York, to discuss the prospects of tourism in Mumbai and Maharashtra in order to promote ‘The Brand Maharashtra’ in the City of New York. Vijay Waghmare, Managing Director, MTDC and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC, were also present at the event.

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 Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, Jayakumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, met the delegates from Wakayama Prefecture to discuss tourism potential between the two countries. Also present at the event were other dignitaries like Vijay Waghmare, Managing Director, MTDC, and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC. The international delegates included Hiroyuki Tsui, Director General, International Planning Division, Wakayama Prefecture Government, and Onishi Tatsunori, International Planning Division, Wakayama Prefecture Government. The Japanese delegates from Wakayama Prefecture also explored the well-known Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat to see the traditional way of washing clothes.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has announced that its Maharashtra Chapter will come together once again in Karjat on June 21. IATO’s National Committee along with Chairman of Western Region, N.S. Rathor are expected to present for this. Announcing this is Himanshu Agashiwala, Chairman, Maharashtra Chapter, IATO, who says, “Our Maharashtra chapter conducts at least four to five meetings in a year. One such meeting will be held on June 21 at Hotel Radisson Blu in Karjat. It is a day-long event and we have even invited our executive committee from New Delhi to join us. They might stay overnight. This will be third time that the executive committee from Delhi will be attending a Western Chapter meeting. They normally meet in Delhi itself. One of our members Arika Holidays has managed to get rooms and lunch at the hotel for our members.”

After the recent transfer of several IAS officers in Maharashtra, Nitin Gadre (IAS 1989 batch) who was Enquiry Officer at General Administration Department, has now been posted as Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, according to a report. Valsa Nair Singh, (IAS 1991 batch), Principal Secretary Tourism and Culture, has been appointed the Principal Secretary, Enquiry Officer, GAD, Civil Aviation and Excise.

The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in association with Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) has introduced mine tourism in Nagpur to showcase the abundant coal mining resources in Maharashtra and outline the intricacies of coal mining. It has started selling packages that are valid from March 31, 2017 to April 30, 2017. Tourists will get to descend 500 metres below the surface into the WCL coalmine in Saoner near Nagpur to experience the hardship of miners and learn about the machines involved. Additionally, they will also get an opportunity to tour an eco-park and visit the open cast mine in Gondegaon. The one-day itinerary costs Rs. 650 and includes transport, lunch and security equipment.