Tag Archives: Ministry of Tourism

The Ministry of Tourism is planning theme based events for attracting tourists in the country, revealed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, while addressing he members of Indian Association of Tour Operators in New Delhi. He said, “We are working on theme based events in India in the next six months. We have shortlisted three themes—medical tourism, adventure tourism and MICE tourism. We want to create a buzz about India and partner with FICCI or some other organisation and organise an international event, to attract the world’s attention to the country. However, we will focus on only one such event this year.”

The Ministry of Tourism has confirmed that they are looking to extend the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) facilities to 36 other countries, among which Italy is one of the key countries. “The e-Tourist Visa has been the biggest game-changer for the industry,” commented Suman Billa, Joint Secretary-Tourism, Government of India. “Initially, we began with a handful of countries which were our eight major source countries. We now stand at 150 countries and are looking to expand the list. Most of our most important source countries have already been included but Italy is one of the other major markets that will receive this facility after approval.” During January-June 2016, a total of 4,71,909 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 1,26,214 during January-June 2015, registering a growth of 273.9 per cent. A total of 36,982 tourists arrived in June 2016 on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 15,557 during the month of June 2015 registering a growth of 137.7 per cent.

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 25 projects under the Swadesh Darshan scheme worth Rs. 2048 crore so far to 21 States and Union Territories since its launch of in January 2015. These States and UTs include Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura. For northeastern states, the Ministry has sanctioned 9 projects worth Rs. 821 crores covering all the 8 states. For Tribal areas, the Ministry has sanctioned 3 projects for Rs. 282 crores to Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. For Buddhist Circuit, the Ministry has sanctioned 2 projects worth Rs. 108.11 crore to Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. The Ministry of Tourism has launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014-15 with an objective to develop theme based tourist circuits in the country on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner by synergizing efforts to focus on needs and concerns of all stakeholders to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities. Under this scheme, 13 Thematic Circuits have been identified, for development namely: North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) is all set to hold Bharat Parva from Aug 12-18 in line with the Independence Day celebrations. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India, revealed, “We are hosting a Bharat Parva at the India Gate Rajpath Lawns and it is part of the India Independence Day Celebration from August 12-18.  The Tourism Ministry will organise the same and we are going to bring in lots of attractions for the people. The idea is to create a festive and patriotic mood and involve people. We will have state pavilions and they are very excited about the same. The festival will have cuisines, food court, handicrafts and cultural programmes from all states on all the days. We’ve also involved local, state and regional associations based in Delhi for the festival as well.”

Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has approved projects worth Rs. 275 crore for the development of Krishna and Heritage circuit in Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) for the Swadesh Darshan Scheme met under the chairmanship of Vinod Zutshi, Secretary – Tourism where senior officers of MOT and State Governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana participated in the meeting. Under Krishna Circuit in State of Rajasthan, the sites of Shrinath Ji (Nathdwara), Govind Devji (Jaipur), Kanak Vrindavan (Jaipur), Charan Mandir (Jaipur), Galtaji Temple Complex (Jaipur), and Khatu Shyam (Sikar) are covered with total project cost of approximately Rs. 98.00 Crore. Sites located in and around Kurukshetra (Haryana) have been included in Krishna Circuit for State of Haryana. Major thrust areas of development for sites of Jyotisar, Brahma Sarovar, Sannhit Sarovar, Narkatari: Baan Ganga, Amin: Abhimanyu Ka Tila are bathing ghat facilities (lockers, changing rooms, etc.), construction of Mahabharata Theme Park, multi-purpose tourist information centre, among many others. The total project cost for integrated development of Krishna Circuit in Haryana is estimated at Rs. 96.00 Crore. The Heritage circuit of Gujarat focuses on Gandhi theme, covering sites of Ahmedabad (Kochrab Ashram,Sabarmati Ashram,Dandi bridge, ) Rajkot (Alfred High School, Kaba Gandhi no Delo, Rashtriya Shala ), Porbandar (Kirti Mandir), Bardoli (Sardar Patel Museum) and Dandi (Gandhi Smriti railway station,Karadi village,Dandi Memorial). The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 80.00 crore.

India Tourism is the Premier Partner for World Travel Market London 2016, as it looks to promote the diverse tourism product the country offers. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, said, “India is privileged to be Premier Partner of WTM London 2016. The event is the perfect platform to promote the diverse tourism products the country has to offer, from cultural heritage to beaches, cruises, eco-tourism, medical tourism and religious tourism and to showcase that India is truly “Incredible”. “There is an ever-increasing amount of new and exciting products to educate the world’s leading buyers about. WTM London is an event when the Indian tourism stakeholders get to meet the world’s buyers and sign business agreements. The Ministry of Tourism and the Indian exhibitors look forward to a very successful WTM London 2016.”The Indian Government has in the last 18 months invested more than $300 million on developing its tourism infrastructure around the country as it aims for more than 13 million visitors a year by 2020. India is experiencing a 10 per cent annual growth in foreign tourist arrivals this year taking visitor numbers to a projected nine million in 2016. The Ministry of Tourism will be looking to speak to WTM Buyers’ Club members from its key source markets of the USA, UK, China, Australia, France, Germany, Canada and Spain as well as the growing markets of South East Asia, the Middle East and Russia. The key to India’s strategy is also to focus on a variety of products including heritage, cultural, rural, wellness, medical, adventure, and golf. A special focus is being put on coastal and beach tourism, cruise and eco-tourism. The government is developing …

The annual National Tourism Awards of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will be held at the Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, on July 30, 2016. Hon’ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Sumitra Mahajan will be the Chief Guest and she will be giving away the awards for the year 2014-15. The National Tourism Awards are held annually to honour various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. These awards are presented to State Governments/Union Territories, hotels, heritage hotels, travel agents, tour operators and tourist transport operators, niche tourism facilities, individuals and other private organisations in recognition of their performance in their respective fields and also to encourage healthy competition with an aim to promote tourism.

The third edition of the East India Travel Awards celebrated the accomplishments of the travel and tourism industry of East India at Novotel Hotel and Residences, Kolkata, on July 15. J. P. Shaw, Regional Director (East), India Tourism-Kolkata, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, was the Chief Guest for this prestigious award ceremony. The awards commemorated the achievers from different segments of the industry, such as airlines, GDS, Hotels, Travel Agents, Tour Operators and allied services.

The Ministry of Tourism has partnered with CII for the Global Travel Mart and have changed the dates of the event from January to now February 1-4, 2017, according to an engagement letter by Federation of Associations of Indian Travel and Hospitality (FAITH) sent to its members. The letter reads that FAITH was in discussion with MOT and had prepared a concept statement for the global travel mart with them. Two key highlights of that, were, if that mart were not in partnership with FAITH, then it would be competitively bid out to PCOs who have created & run world scale tourism events, so as to start off with a Big Indian Tourism Bang. The other key requisite was the hosting date of the mart, to be in the shoulder period of 10th-14th January 2017. However, as of 30th June MOT has joined hands with CII and the dates have been now shifted to February. FAITH has addressed its concerns to the ministry regarding partnering with them and its member associations, and will be discussing it again.

Udai Pratap Singh has joined the Ministry of Tourism as Additional Secretary. He succeeds Girish Shankar. The 1984-batch senior IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre was previously the Resident Commissioner of Jharkhand in NCR before which he was posted as Officer on Special Duty to Chief Minister, Jharkhand Bhavan, New Delhi.