Tag Archives: Ministry of Tourism

Odisha tourism department plans to start a special drive to encourage its citizens in Bhubaneswar to provide homestay facilities to the tourists from the first week of November. The tourism department will accord licence to house owners, who register themselves with the former. Under the scheme, the house owners can offer up to 5 rooms or 10 beds with good facilities. The house owner will be required to provide Indian breakfast to the guests and display the room tariff. Tourism officials will regularly visit the houses and take feedback of the tourists. “We will carry out awareness campaigns through advertisements so that people come to know about the homestay facility. From November first week, we will start direct registration of homes at our department. Earlier, people were applying to the Ministry of Tourism. Now the ministry has asked us to receive applications from people and conduct verification before permitting them to start homestay facility,” said Nitin Jawale, Director-Tourism, Government of Odisha. He further stressed that this move would help augment rooms for tourists in the city and other places. The state tourism department will also train the house owner, family members, caretakers and other staff on how to deal with tourists. Preferably those houses will be selected which is not crowded. Location of the houses, hygiene and safety aspects will also be considered during the inspection. Source: Times of India

M. M. Sadana, Dy. Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has been promoted to the post of Joint Director General . He will continue to operate from India Tourism’s Delhi office.

Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, flagged off a cycle rally at India Gate, New Delhi as part of the ‘Paryatan Parv’ of the Ministry of Tourism. The rally was organised to create awareness about tourism, environment and sustainability. Around 75 riders participated in the rally. It concluded at Qutub Minar, New Delhi. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in collaboration with central ministries, state governments and stakeholders is organising this Paryatan Parv across the country from October 5 to 25, 2017. It is being organised with the objective of drawing focus on the benefits of tourism, showcasing the cultural diversity of the country and reinforcing the principle of ‘Tourism for All’.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in partnership with other central ministries and state governments is organising ‘Paryatan Parv’ from October 5-25, 2017. Addressing the media regarding the ‘Paryatan Parv’ and the Swachhta initiatives, Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State (IC) for Tourism, said that programme is being organised with the objective of drawing focus on the benefits of tourism, showcasing the cultural diversity of the country and reinforcing the principle of ‘Tourism for All’. Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and senior officers were present during the breifing. The Minister announced that the Parv will be inaugurated at the Humayun’s Tomb on 5th October 2017. The formal inauguration of the event will be held at 5:00 PM at the venue which will include a cultural programme. The Paryatan Parv will culminate in a 3 day event in New Delhi from the October 23 to 25, 2017 which will showcase the cultural diversity of the country, with cultural performances, crafts bazaar, food court showcasing folk and classical dance & music, handicrafts & handlooms and cuisine from all regions and States of the country. The “Adopt A Heritage” project launched by the Ministry of Tourism will be implemented at key sites during this period. Wayside Amenities for tourists will also be launched at important sites in identified circuits. Central Ministries have also proactively come forward and will be part of the event. In addition, the mega event will see active participation by Cultural Associations and Organisations, Travel & Hospitality Industry, Institutes of Hotel Management, Indian Institutes of Tourism & Travel Management, Service Providers, Students and Youth and the Local Population

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India awarded Abercrombie & Kent India the first prize in Category-I as the Best Inbound Tour Operator, for 2015-16. This is A&K India’s fourth National Tourism Award. The award was received by Vikram Madhok, Managing Director and Arunendu Roy, Director (Finance). Speaking on this occasion, Madhok said this award reinforces and enhances Abercrombie & Kent’s reputation for conducting our business in an honest, ethical and reliable manner, demonstrating integrity in everything we do. The award was presented by the Hon’ble President of India Ram Nath Kovind, in the presence of Minister of State for Tourism and other select dignitaries & invitees from the travel fraternity at New Delhi on September 27, 2017.

Chander Mansharamani has been re-elected as Vice Chairman of India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) for another two-year term. Amaresh Tiwari and Girish Kwatra will also continue on their respective posts of Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer. This was declared during the association’s 30th Annual General Meeting and Elections for the Governing Board held at The Ashok in New Delhi which was also attended by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Chairman, ICPB. New appointments were made in the Hotel, Tour Operator and Congress / Convention Centres categories. The two new appointments in the hotel category were Hemant Mediratta and Saurabh Bhargava & Abinash Manghani (due to a tie for the second post). Gunjan Suri and Naveen Chibber took up the two new posts in the travel agency category while Ajay Vinayak and Anuj Wadhwa took the two posts in tour operator category. The post for the Congress / Convention Centres went to Sudeep Sarcar. Talking about the key priorities for the bureau now, Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB, said, “the government has been looking at us as the frontal organisation for marketing India as a convention destination. Keeping that in mind, we are completely invested to take things to the next level. Currently we have outlined three core areas to focus on; first is market creation wherein creating our chapters and bidding of international conferences will be a part of that. Market creation will involve conducting roadshows both in India and international markets. The second priority is Visa, lobbying and making the entire process easier to get a visa for delegates attending conferences in India and thirdly we want to sensitise the central and state governments on the …

All travel trade agencies recognised or approved by the Ministry of Tourism are required to submit their data on digital transactions on a monthly basis, positively by the 20th of every month starting August 1, 2017 to the Ministry. The Ministry of Tourism had assigned travel trade associations including IATO, TAAI, ITTA, ADTOI and ATOAI the responsibility to promote digital transactions in the tourism sector. MOT had mailed the associations on Sept 22, 2017, regarding furnishing and submission of the same to the Ministry. The MOT will consolidate the data on digital transactions in the organised sectors for review by the PMO through the Ministry of Electronics and Information & Technology.

The Ministry of Railways has commissioned a second glass-roof Vistadome Coach, funded by the Ministry of Tourism, on the Jan Shatabdi Express plying on the scenic Mumbai-Goa route, to provide a panoramic view of the picturesque Western Ghats. The Vistadome Coach boasts of a glass roof which has electrically-controlled opalescence, that is, it can be made transparent or opaque at the turn of a switch. Passengers seeking a better view can head for a special observation deck. All seats are rotatable by 360 degrees and are pushback chairs. The coaches are fitted with automatic sliding compartment doors, multiple TV screens and wider body side door. Ministry of Tourism provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs12 Crore @ Rs.4 crore per coach to Ministry of Railways for the manufacture of three glass top coaches, for developing rail tourism in the country. The first Vistadome Coach was commissioned by the Ministry of Railways on the Vishakhapatnam–Araku Valley Route in April 2017 and is attracting a large number of tourists.

According to the data released by Ministry of Tourism, Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) during the month of August, 2017 were ₹13,922 crore as compared to ₹12,553 crore in August, 2016 and ₹11,411 crore in August, 2015. The growth rate in FEEs in terms of rupee during August, 2017 over August, 2016 was higher, with 10.9 per cent as compared to the growth rate of 10.0 per cent in August, 2016 over August, 2015. The FEEs during the period of January- August, 2017 was recorded at ₹1,16,004 crore, amounting to a growth of 16.5 per cent as compared to the FEEs of ₹99,587 during January-August 2016 which amounted to a growth rate of 13.9 per cent over January- August, 2015.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) this August were 7.24 lakh as compared to FTAs of 6.52 lakh in August 2016, and 5.99 lakh in August 2015, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Tourism. The growth rate in FTAs in August 2017 over August 2016 is 11 per cent compared to 8.8 per cent in August 2016 over August 2015. FTAs during the period January-August, 2017, were 63.98 lakh with a growth of 15.2 per cent over the same period of previous year, as compared to the FTAs of 55.54 lakh with a growth of 9.5 per cent in January-August, 2016, over January-August, 2015. On the other hand, FTAs on the e-Tourist Visa, during the month of August 2017 was a total of 1.13 lakh as compared to 0.66 lakh during the month of August 2016 registering a growth of 71.3 per cent. During January-August, 2017, a total of 9.49 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 6.06 lakh during January-August, 2016, registering a growth of 56.5 per cent.