Tag Archives: Ministry of Tourism

Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Tourism, has said that apart from coming out with the incentive schemes for tour operators in the form of MDA for promotions nationally or internationally, they are also relaxing the rules for approval of tour operators, so that the benefits can go to those who haven’t been involved with us and also for the start-ups. “This is because the promotion and marketing budget for the smaller formations are not burdened to them and the Government can pick up some of that tab,” she added, while addressing a CII Webinar recently.

IATO has shortlisted 14 short-distance itineraries for tours of 2-3 days and submitted the list to Ministry of Tourism on the latter’s request. The ministry had also asked IATO to give suggestions for promoting seaplane travel, golf and Buddhist tourism. The Association has submitted the same after receiving inputs from its chapter chairmen.

Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, has revealed that the Association is in discussion with Ministry of Tourism to host a hybrid ITM by the end of this year. He said, “One interaction with the government has happened; and we are still in the progress of deciding how we are going to conduct it, whether it will be entirely virtual or hybrid. However, we will have ITM by the end of this year and we hope to announce the exact dates very soon.”

Devendra Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, chaired a webinar by Ministry of Tourism, where he updated tourism stakeholders regarding the various policies that they can use to develop their businesses, and educated them about registration process under udyam, how to use public procurement policy for their benefit, come up with projects under the scheme of cluster development, and apply for loans under the priority sector to as an MSME.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, has said that it has emerged from her discussions with industry stakeholders that the most significant enabler in the times to come is the safety factor and that there is need for harmonisation of quarantine rules across states. “People have to feel safe to travel, which means safety protocols need to be in place, but equally important is to create the perception of safety, for which, the Government, associations, industry and citizens should work together. In order to create ease of travel, we also need to create harmonisation around the rules within different states, owing to local conditions,” she said.

Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that the tourism minister will be starting series of next round of discussions to further discuss the preparedness to deal with COVID-199 from 10th August. There will be layers of discussions with a common goal for the ministry and the stakeholders to work together, she said.

Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that there is a great opportunity to boost domestic tourism or regional tourism by creating synergy between neighbouring states, since most of the people today feel safer while opting for self-drive holidays instead of travelling by air or train. She also said that safety and hygiene will be priorities for tourists because they will travel to destinations only if they are assured that the place they are visiting, eating at and staying in is safe.

Since different states in the country have different SOPS, guidelines and quarantine rules, there is a need for uniformity and common protocols across the country, so that people don’t have a fear in travelling, says Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Tourism. “We need to start working towards making the state governments agree to it. If we start now, may be in 2-3 weeks’ time, we can have some consensus, and even ICMR and Ministry of Health might come up with suggestions on the request of MOT and the industry.”

Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has decided that provisional certificates can be issued in favour of all categories of Tour Operators (Inbound, Domestic, Adventure) / Travel Agencies / Tourist Transport Operators who have submitted fresh applications, complete in all respects and have also made the required payment for grant of recognition as a new case. This has been done at this time, when physical inspection of office premises of applicants is not being undertaken by the Inspection Committee headed by the Regional Director, India tourism Offices in India. The Provisional Certificate would be valid for a period of six months from the date of submission of complete fresh application or till the time of actual physical verification / inspection and subsequent final decision of the Ministry with reference to grant of recognition, whichever is earlier. However, such Tour Operators/ Travel Agencies / Tourist Transport Operators who are issued  Provisional Certificates, shall not be eligible for any financial benefits under MDA or any other scheme of the Ministry, till such time a final decision regarding grant of  recognition is taken by the Ministry.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism & Culture, along with Chief Minister of Gujarat Sh. Vijaybhai Rupanion, joined the inauguration of project ‘Development of Pilgrimage Amenities at Somnath, Gujarat’ under the PRASHAD scheme. Sanctioned under the PRASHAD scheme in March 2017, the project has been successfully completed with the cost of Rs. 45.36 crores. High quality world-class facilities for parking, tourism amenities centre and solid waste management have been developed under the project.