Tag Archives: MoT

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.

In an exclusive interaction with TravTalk, PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, said that during their meeting with the Tourism Minister, he suggested that MOT bring out a comprehensive study on domestic tourism so that trade members are aware about hotels, transporters, communication and infrastructure in a particular state, to help avoid chaos and confusion.

PATA India Chapter requested the Minister of Tourism that since all states have different SOPs and quarantine rules, there is a need to develop on the One Country One Rule concept. Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India Chapter said, “The MOT website should be one point of authentic information for tourists, and if there are any changes, they should first be intimated to MOT, who can update its website accordingly before they are put into the public domain. We also told them that tourism is a perishable commodity, and if the moment is gone, the opportunity is gone, and the result is that you lose revenues which will never come back. Therefore, it’s important for related ministries to understand that and work together with MOT as one. Another point we made was that there are over 50 NTOs that are jostling for the attention of FTOs, so we should focus on FTOs, work hand-in-glove with them for promotions and incentives and if we do that =, our returns will be better. In advertising, we should focus on travel trade media rather than mainstream media, because the rate of response to travel trade media will be much higher than that in mainstream media. On domestic tourism, there should be commonality of rules and regulations between states, and they should provide relief to people who go on domestic holidays. Instead of twice in a block of 4 years, they should make it every year.”

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.

Meenakshi Sharma, DG, Ministry of Tourism, has said that they are in the process of making some changes in the new tourism policy, making responsible tourism as its foundation. She added that responsible tourism cannot be discussed as a separate entity; it should be a part of everything we do going forward. “We will add more elements to responsible tourism as we move forward. One will be health and hygiene. It’s also about developing new practices and behaviour of the tourist as a responsible visitor. It cannot be the responsibility of only the service provider, but also the one receiving the services. Honestly, we had not put our minds into this aspect as much as we should have earlier. It will be our priority now,” she said.

Venkatesan Dhattareyan, Regional Director (West & Central India), Indiatourism Mumbai, Ministry of Tourism, said, “By enrolling in our ‘MoT Recognized Service Provider’ programme, agents can use the Market Development Assistance (MDA) which includes financial support. MDA for domestic tourism was earlier Rs 30,000 which will be enhanced keeping the pandemic in mind. MoT is also working on relaxing certain requirements for this programme.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, has said that in order to improve the number of Buddhist tourists coming to India, we should fill the deficiencies and make travel easier for them. Addressing a webinar by Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO), he said that we need to remove the obstacles for Buddhist tourists from coming to India and improve the numbers.

Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that they have joined hands with the Quality Council of India (QCI), which is coming out with a certification based on a simple assessment and a small questionnaire to support and handhold all service providers in the tourism industry, from the smallest to the biggest. “We can say that if you have this certification, there is a high level of assurance, and it can create confidence. We are hoping that all the state governments and industry will support this initiative because that will create more confidence in the travellers and there will be one single voice saying that India is ready to receive customers,” she informed.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, has said that his ministry has encouraged state governments and Union Territory administrations to consider providing relief measures to the sector. These measures include waiver of penalty or interest to be levied on payment of dues owed to the state bodies, relief from excise fees, electricity duty, and reduction of property tax.

Providing major relief to tour operators, Meenakshi Sharma, DG Tourism, MOT, has said that the ministry is liberalising the MDA scheme (both local & international) by giving certain relaxations in the required norms. MOT will soon announce the changes officially. During the virtual IATO members meet, the association also released a promotional video which members can use to market India and restart tourism.