Tag Archives: Ministry of Tourism (MOT)

Venkatesan Dhattareyan, Regional Director, South, West & Central, Ministry of Tourism, GOI, said, “This year the National Tourism Day celebrations will be held across the country, the flagship event being the Bharat Parv, which is being held in Delhi. Besides that, the MOT has also been stressing on promoting lesser-known destinations. If you look at UDAN scheme, which has opened a new destination with flight connections etc., we see importance in pushing such lesser-known destinations. This will also take away the pressure from the mainstream destinations and these are places, which are interesting. We are looking forward to promote lesser known destinations through various events as well.”

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that they will soon launch digital and social media campaigns. “We are working on that and we have plans to have wherever possible some physical events also. We want to launch the campaigns this month itself,” he says. Singh further adds, “Apart from our India tourism offices, the government has nominated 20 nodal officers in the missions. With their help also, we intend to launch promotional campaigns.”

Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Tourism, has said that after releasing the operational advisories in line with the SOPs by MHA and MHoFW, they are now working towards a certification for service providers to create confidence in tourists about their safety and health. Speaking at the 4th TravTalk Digital Conclave, she revealed, “We are working on some kind of certification, where we are going to say that a particular destination/ service provider/ facility is safe and hygienic, in order to create confidence amongst tourists.”

Addressing concerns from member agencies regarding refunds/credits from airlines/ IATA due to the impact of Covid2019 as customers are demanding refunds from travel agents, TAAI has said, “With reference to the unilateral decision of the airlines to give credit notes and no cash refunds, we have made it very clear to all concerned that, cash refunds are required due to the global pandemic situation. It is the right of the passenger to get back his amount paid in stipulated time. Cancellation charges shall not be borne by the traveller due to the cancellation of flights/ lockdown situations/ banning of flights by government of India as well as of other countries, etc.” In an official statement by TAAI to its members, it was written, “We are in daily communications with the Indian Prime Minister’s office(PMO), Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Tourism (MOT), Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), Niti Aayog, IATA Global Head Quarters, IATA-India, all airlines individually including Low Cost airlines in India. We are working in support with, all associations of travel, tourism & hospitality trade under UFTAA, FAITH, CII and other leading trade bodies. Our concerns have been voiced not only in our communications but also in mainline media being TV channels & newspapers, trade media as well as social media.” The TAAI team urged its members to be patient, claiming that the as Govt. of India, is prioritising the requests of citizens, industries, trade, travellers, etc. and are actioning to the best of their abilities, with timelines. “Their main objective right now is to ensure the health safety of all persons and providing proper medical …