Tag Archives: Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism

The who’s who of India’s travel and hospitality fraternity, diplomats and several business leaders gathered at a glitzy evening gala hosted by Cox & Kings at the Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, New Delhi, to mark the 260th anniversary of Cox and Kings, also the world’s oldest travel company. The evening was graced by KJ Alphons, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism, who lauded the company for its continuous service to the tourism industry. Alphons said, “I am very happy to be a part of Cox & Kings’ 260th year celebration and congratulate everyone who has contributed to this rich legacy by enabling holidays and spreading happiness into the world. The tourism sector in India is looking very positive this year as we have crossed the 10 million mark for foreign tourist arrivals and earned revenue of 27 billion dollars through foreign tourist arrivals. This has been possible because of companies like Cox & Kings who have been working together with the government. In the next three years, we aim to double the foreign tourists inflow and the revenue we earn from the foreign tourist arrivals and that is only possible if the industry continues to work together.” Speaking at the event, Peter Kerkar, Group CEO, Cox & Kings, said, “We are unique in the leisure space with an unrivalled tradition of 260 years of service to our customers. It is with pride that I commend our staff for making our company so successful and more particularly relevant even today. Our longevity is a testimony to their ingenuity and transformative spirit that Cox & Kings remains a world leader in the travel, education and hotel space.”

KJ Alphons, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism, launched the Incredible India digital calendar in Delhi and also released the Incredible India wall and desk calendars for the year. Alphons said, “We want to keep up with technology and thought to do something very innovative. The digital calendar will be a very dynamic one where you will get updated pictures everyday. Therefore, for the first time in the wall calendar, we are showing India at night. Each picture of the key tourist site, displayed in the calendar has been taken at night. Unique feature of the calendar is that when you hang it in your room, then the monument or the site glows. You get to get a feel of the monument under moonlight. The timing of the picture has also been given in the calendar. Photographs have been enhanced using radium ink. Also, most of the tourists see these destinations during the day, we wanted to showcase how they look at night.” Elaborating on the key features of the digital calendar, Rashmi Verma (IAS), Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, said, “It is for the first time we have a digital calendar, and it can be downloaded on your Android and Apple mobile phones. It can be used as a planner and everyday, as per the festival and the occasion the picture in the digital calendar will change. Sometimes, for one day you may get more than one picture, in case there are two three festivals in one day. The Incredible India digital calendar application enables users to know about the events and festivals happening in India on the go. The digital calendar can also be used …

Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism has said that the Ministry of Tourism observed ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ during September 16 to October 2, 2017, by organising various cleanliness activities/programmes at the premises of its offices/educational institutions/prominent tourist places, etc. All educational institutes under Ministry of Tourism adopt at least one tourist place to maintain cleanliness in a sustainable way. Addressing the media, he said that the Prime Minister called upon the nation to begin a campaign, ‘Swachhata Hi Sewa’, ‘Cleanliness is Service’, from September 15 to October 2, 2017 which coincided with the “Swachhta Pakhwada” of M/o Tourism. Ministry had organised Swachhta Drive at various tourist/pilgrim places all over the country through the its India tourism offices. The campaign had been organised at more than 80 places all over the country during the period which was kick started at Juhu Beach on September 15, 2017. Besides, major clean-up activities, pledge swearing, awareness activities, essay competition, nuked natak etc were organised during the campaign. The Minister said that he himself volunteered various cleanliness activities at India Gate on September 17, 2017, at Janpath Market on the World Tourism Day (September 27, 2017) and at Smith village, Shillong, Meghalaya on  September 30, 2017. Officers of Ministry of Tourism as well as Students from Institutes of Hotel Management (IHM) were also present. The cleanliness activities carried out by the the Minister at various spots drew the attention of visitors as well as shopkeepers/ vendors and conveyed the importance of maintaining the places clean to the public. Minister interacted with the visitors as well as shopkeepers and urged everyone to contribute to make the country clean and beautiful. He also administered the …