Tag Archives: Ministry of Tourism

N. K. Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, has been given the assignment of additional charge of the post of Secretary, Ministry of Tourism with immediate effect and until further orders. He is an IAS officer of Bihar cadre, 1980 batch. This announcement came after the superannuation of former Secretary-Tourism, Vinod Zutshi.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, in January 2017, a total of 9.83 lakh foreign tourist arrivals were recorded in India as compared to FTAs of 8.44 lakh in January, 2016 and 7.91 lakh in January, 2015. The growth rate in FTAs in January, 2017 over January, 2016 is 16.5 per cent as compared to 6.8 per cent in January, 2016 over January, 2015. MoT also informed that a total of 1.52 lakh foreign tourists arrived on e-Visa to India in January, 2017 as compared to 0.88 lakh during the month of January 2016 registering a growth of 72.0 per cent. The share of tourists availing e-Visa facility in January 2017 reached 15.5 per cent as against 10.4 per cent in January 2016. The percentage share of FTAs among the top 15 source countries was the highest from USA (15.01%) followed by Bangladesh (14.91%), UK (11.11%), Canada (4.63%), Russian Fed. (4.46%), Australia (3.65%), Malaysia (3.15%), Germany (2.92%), France (2.89%) and China (2.54%), Sri Lanka (2.45%), Japan(2.15%),Afghanistan (1.84%), Rep. of Korea (1.61%) and Nepal (1.60%). The percentage share of FTAs among the top 15 ports was the highest at Delhi Airport (28.30%) followed by Mumbai Airport (18.23%), Haridaspur Land checkpost (8.17%), Chennai Airport (7.32%), Goa Airport (6.51%), Bengaluru Airport (5.32%), Kolkata Airport (4.32%), Cochin Airport (3.73%), Ahmedabad Airport (3.37%), Hyderabad Airport (2.74%), Gede Rail Land checkpost (1.77%), Trivandrum (1.62%), Trichy Airport (1.38%), Ghojadanga land checkpost (1.08%) and Amritsar Airport (1.02%). The percentage share of top 15 source countries availing e-Visa facilities during January, 2017 was highest from UK (22.9%), followed by USA (13.6%), Russian Fed (8.3%), China (6.3%), France (5.6%), Australia (4.4%), Germany (4.1%), Canada (3.6%), Korea (Rep.of) (3.2%) and Ukraine …

Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, attended FITUR 2017, organised by Ifema in Madrid, encouraging the Indian travel fraternity at the first large-scale travel show for this year. FITUR in its 37th year has seen almost 10% more exhibition space, 62,494 square meters, and a 6% increase in direct stand holders with a total of 755 displaying the offerings of 9,672 companies, configure a professional business platform which sees its international offerings reinforced by 9% in terms of main standholders. UNWTO has picked FITUR as the venue for kicking off the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

PATA India Chapter’s meeting with the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India and Air India discussed initiatives for the upcoming year and also highlighted the past year’s achievements. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Govt. of India, was optimistic about tourism’s prospects for 2017 and shared, “We have been exceeding the global growth of tourism and have marked stuck to our target of 10 per cent growth on an average for this year. Not only have we seen a drastic increase in international tourist arrivals, the domestic sector is equally flourishing. From 30-40 per cent growth in 2015, we are expecting the domestic tourism growth to touch around 60-70 per cent.” Zutshi also mentioned that the 1363 helpline which was launched in mid November 2015, receives around 4000 queries per week, up from 1000 per week, and revealed that suggestions received from pre-budgetary sessions would help yield a favourable budget. Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India, stated that expansions and consolidation for the national carrier will go hand-in-hand, with plans to add atleast 13 new destinations afoot. “We will be launching a minimum of six new routes in 2017 and about six more in 2018. The whole idea is to add 100 new aircrafts by 2020 and to convert the existing fleet into a relatively newer one. “2017 will also focus on turning profits for Alliance Air along with the rapid expansion of Air India’s fleet and number of destinations,” he added.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with the North East states and West Bengal is organising the ‘International Tourism Mart’ in Imphal, Manipur from November 23–25, 2016. 57 Buyer delegates from ASEAN, Japan, Korea, Australia,  New Zealand, Spain, Russia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Kenya, Oman, Canada, Brazil , South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, United Kingdom and USA are participating in the Mart.The event is being held in the City Convention Centre, Sanjenthong, Imphal, Manipur and will be inaugurated on November 24, by Okram Ibobi Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur in the presence of Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi and other dignitaries from North East states. Besides the foreign delegates, 80 domestic stakeholders in Tourism sector from other parts of the country including sellers from the North Eastern States and West Bengal are participating in the Mart. Representatives of State Tourism Departments of these State Tourism Departments are also present to showcase their tourism destinations and to interact with the delegates. The annual event is organised in the northeastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets. Buyer and Media delegates from around the world and from different regions of the country are participating in the Mart and will engage in one-to-one meetings with sellers from the North East Region. This will enable the tourism product suppliers from the region to reach out to international and domestic buyers, with the objective of promoting tourism to the region. An exhibition by State Tourism Departments from the North Eastern States and West Bengal is also being organised   to show case the tourism products of respective participating States. Post-mart familiarisations to …

Karan Anand, Head (Relationship), Cox & Kings, has been nominated by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India to the National Tourism Advisory Council for a period of three years. The Council will act as a ‘Think Tank’ and advise the government on policy matters relating to tourism in the country. The committee comprises luminaries from the central government and the private sector. Anand will continue to carry out his responsibilities at Cox & Kings.

Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi inaugurated the Ministry of Tourism’s ‘Incredible India’ stand at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The Incredible India stand located at Hall No. 18 (Stand No.25) aims to nurture the tourism potential of less frequented destinations which are located closer to the popular destinations for attracting domestic visitors. Inaugurating the stand, Zutshi said, “The stand has been designed with an idea of promoting “lesser Known destinations”. Domestic tourism continues to be an important contributor to the tourism sector providing much needed resilience. There has been a continuous increase in domestic tourist visits, with the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of domestic tourist visits to all States/UTs from 1991 to 2015 being 13.63 per cent. In 2015, it grew by 11.63 per cent to reach 1431.97 million visits. And there is an encouraging sign for the Inbound Tourism too. Inbound travel to India has increased.  Foreign Tourist arrivals in India during the period January- September, 2016 were 6.2 million with a growth of 10.5% as compared to the Foreign Tourist Arrival of 5.6 million with a growth of 4.8% in January-September, 2015 over January- September, 2014. This positive development is expected to continue during remaining period of this year. The Ministry of Tourism is participating in the IITF after a long gap. The attraction of the stand are two ‘Selfie Points’ with the Taj Mahal and the Valley of Flowers as background.

PATA India Chapter, in cooperation with Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, conducted its business development roadshow in six European cities from October 17-27, 2016, which was attended by nearly 80 Buyers from the market. Air India & Jet Airways have contributed to augment the connectivity between important European cities and India. The roadshow started in Helsinki (Finland) on October 17, and moved on to Stockholm (Sweden) on October 18, Copenhagen (Denmark) on October 20, Vienna (Austria) on October 24, Prague (Czech Republic) on October 26, and concluded in Warsaw (Poland) on October 27. PATA India Chapter’s Executive Director, Runeep Sangha, said, “We are more than satisfied with the response we have received from the European market. Since last year we have covered European Countries and hope to firmly establish ‘Share of Mind’. Scandinavia represents a high end long haul market and the interest shown by Travel Agents and Tour Operators from Helsinki, Stockholm & Copenhagen is encouraging. Vienna, Prague & Warsaw are emerging European source markets and demonstrate keen interest in India. The Indian Ambassadors in the Helsinki & Prague spoke to the participating Buyers and assured them of their fullest cooperation to not only facilitate travel to India but also partner in promotional activities. Similarly Consular staff in Stockholm, Vienna & Prague supported the Roadshows with their presence and assurance. At the event, India was represented by 14 sellers including Airlines, State Tourism Boards, Ayurveda Resorts and Destination Management Companies. Dr. U.S. Mishra, Additional Director India Tourism, Amsterdam, and Mr. Jitendra Jadhav, Additional Director, India Tourism, Frankfurt, made significant contribution to the hosting and coordination of these Roadshows were also present in their respective markets. The event brought …

The third edition of North India Travel Awards felicitated achievers in the travel and tourism industry of the region during a glittering ceremony held at Hyatt Regency, Gurgaon on October 21, 2016. The Chief Guest for the event, Om Prakash Singh, Tourism Minister, Uttar Pradesh Government, inaugurated the event along with other dignitaries in the presence of the who’s who of the travel industry from North India. The North India Travel Awards salutes the best in the industry and awardees are selected based on a non-biased system of voting.

Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, launched the Implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) in association with Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI). He recalled the MoU signed in March 2016 between ESOI and Government of India to launch the STCI programme across the country. Zutshi indicated the importance given to sustainable tourism in the National Tourism Policy that is to be released soon. Speaking on the occasion, Steve Borgia, President, ESOI, hailed the commitment shown by  Ministry of Tourism. India is one of the few countries in the world to have a criteria of its own. C.B. Ramkumar, Board member, Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) presented the  global picture and also suggested the direction which India could go in this regard. The STCI was curated with the need for developing criteria for sustainable tourism specific to India given the environment that the tourism industry operates in.