Tag Archives: Ministry of Tourism

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism (MOT), has revealed that in order to promote tourism and to augment tourist arrivals to the Buddhist sites in India, the MOT is proposing to organise the 7th International Buddhist Conclave in November 2021. “The exact dates will be revealed when we are proposing it at Delhi, Bodhgaya and Rajgir,” he shared.

Eco-tourism has been identified as one of the niche tourism areas by Ministry of Tourism for development in the country. Recognising the potential for the development of eco-tourism in the country, the Ministry of Tourism has identified ‘Eco Circuit’ as one of the 15 thematic circuits under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. MOT has been laying stress on maintenance of environmental integrity, considering the importance of developing tourism in an ecologically sustainable manner.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that after considerable follow-up from all sides, even from Ministry of Commerce, the Department of Expenditure has said that they will release over Rs2,000 crore for SEIS in this financial year and a new budget has to be created. “The formalities have to be worked out, after which the amount will reach beneficiaries,” he shared.

The Ministry of Tourism has invited entries for the National Tourism Awards 2018-19. The last date for receipt of entries in the respective divisions in August 10, 2021, 16:00 Hrs. Entries are requested in hard copy, with accompanying material to send in a digital format. This year, MOT has included the Hall of Fame award as well.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture, Government of India, recently chaired a review meeting on eSamikSha platform with Ministry of Tourism officials. Also present were Arvind Singh, Secretary – Tourism and Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General – Tourism. eSamikSha is a digital governance platform for easy, instant and secure exchange of information. The portal has a flexi dashboard which provides officials the facility of customisation based on priority or requirements. It has a single-window communication channel linked with three layered robust tracking through Dashboard, Notification, email/SMS alerts.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has welcomed the relief measures and free-visa announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We have been in discussion with the Finance Ministry on relief measures for the tourism and hospitality sectors. We welcome the announcement, as it will help in the revival of the sector and promote inbound travel to India. Tourism is one of the sectors that has been badly hit by the pandemic, and hence these measures are welcome.” Since the relief measures are for recognised tour operators, he urged more stakeholders in the industry to get registered.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, revealed that the International Yoga Day was organised at 75 cultural heritage locations across the country to commemorate 75 years of Independence. Considering the current pandemic situation, the number of participants for Yoga was restricted to 20 at each site.

Ministry of Tourism and its field offices have initiated week-long online activities within the country and abroad to celebrate International Yoga Day 2021. Besides organising a webinar titled ‘Yoga for Immunity’, various programmes ensuring the wide participation of people from different segments of society and age groups have also been planned to create more awareness about Yoga.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has drafted separate national strategies and roadmaps for MICE as well as medical & wellness tourism. Before proceeding to finalise the draft strategy document and to make the document more comprehensive, MOT has invited feedback/ comments/ suggestions to be sent to the Ministry on or before June 30, 2021.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism has said that there is great concern at all relevant levels of MOT regarding SEIS, and they understand that it will be of great support to the industry. “Secretary, Tourism is himself leading all the discussions with the concerned officials, and we hope to get a positive news very soon on that,” she added.