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The theme of Maharashtra Tourism’s stall at ITB Berlin this year was ‘Sustainable Tourism’ and ‘Tourism 360-degree’ to offer new avenues of tourism. The delegation was led by Vijay Gautam, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Culture and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC who presided over key B2B meetings and spoke about the prospects of ensuing collaborations with counterparts to attract tourists all across the globe. Maharashtra aims to provide a meaningful experience to travellers, creating awareness about sustainability matters and encouraging these practices among them. The response generated by travel and tour operators for MTDC’s initiative at ITB Berlin 2018 was promising.

In an effort to increase the domestic and foreign tourist influx into Nashik Valley, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has associated itself with Nashik Valley Wine Cluster to promote India Grape Harvest 2018, a wine festival set to be held from February 9-11, 2018. The aim is to recognise the involvement of farmers to harvest grapes of the finest quality and produce the best wine as per the international quality in Nashik. Through this festival, MTDC aims to create awareness around the Nashik Valley as one of the leading tourist destinations to promote wine tourism. The festival will comprise workshops and seminars aimed to promote Make in India campaign to educate the youth and emerging entrepreneurs. Grape-stomping, wine-tasting, food courts, farmers’ market, live kitchen-cooking with wine, round-trip to bird sanctuary, kite flying, cycling and hot air balloon tour will be conducted to attract visitors during the festival. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, “Nashik is blessed with fertile landscape and enjoys suitable climatic condition which is favourable for good crop produce. This wine festival offers an outstanding platform for the key decision makers to emphasise on the massive opportunities in terms of wine tourism in Maharashtra.”

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) showcased various culinary offerings of the state through the Maharashtra Food Festival held in Nagpur from December 20-25, 2017.  The six-day festival offered authentic vegetarian and non-vegetarian Maharashtrian delicacies. MTDC has also held a meeting with several hotels and restaurant chains in Nagpur to create awareness about this event. Apart from food, activities like a musical show by popular Marathi singer Savani Ravindra, fashion show by LAD College, lavani performance, rock band show and folk dances were also held. The art forms, handlooms and handicrafts of the state were also be exhibited. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, said, “The aim behind organising such a festival is to bring together people from different walks of life to taste the diverse cuisine of the state. The food festival is guaranteed to satisfy the taste buds of every traveller. The Hospitality & Tourism industry in Maharashtra is expected to grow at a rapid pace between now and 2025. We are also planning to tie-up with the private hospitality colleges to offer internship to students in our resorts and generate employment opportunities.”    

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has organised the Sarangkheda Chetak Festival 2017 from December 3, 2017 – January 2, 2018 to attract domestic and foreign tourists to the Nandurbar district. Witnessing the arrival of more than 2,500 horses, the month long festival will exhibit horse dance shows and pawara, a tribal dance by the locals of Nandurbar. Inaugurating the festival, Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, said, “We want to promote the rich legacy of horses and take this festival on a global platform. Sarangkheda has been organising this festival for more than 300 years. The festival displayed horses from states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Afghanistan and Gujarat.” An amount of Rs 4.98 crore has been allocated for the horse museum which will educate visitors about the numerous qualities of breed, marking, lifespan, colour, etc. of horses. The dome-shaped museum will be constructed on 6.5 acres land along the Tapi River. MTDC and Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra is dedicated to take this festival to a global podium through the development of infrastructure, advertising and promotion.  

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) participated at World Travel Market, London, to showcase the rich diversity of Maharashtra. Maharashtra pavilion at WTM London 2017 was inaugurated by Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, in the presence of Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC. This year, MTDC promoted wildlife tourism, heritage tourism, fort tourism, heli tourism, medical tourism, city tours, wine tourism, mine tourism, cruise tourism and wellness tourism. Maharashtra is fast emerging as one of the most interesting and productive state for the travel industry both for leisure and business purpose. MTDC is also focusing on associating with hospitality colleges including ICE to develop and build skills and provide internship to students in MTDC’s resorts at various locations in Maharashtra. Rawal say, “It is wonderful to discover the world under one roof and get encouraged by industry leaders and their innovations in the travel sector. This is a brilliant stage to growour businesses and meet the new stakeholders around the world under one roof. Maharashtra has rich tourist destinations to fulfill the needs of tourists across the globe. Participation at WTM London 2017 was our golden opportunity to aggressively market the tourism inventories, vibrant culture, unique destinations and investment opportunities in Maharashtra.”

The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) is offering battery-operated vehicle for tourists visiting the Raj Bhavan. Owing to an increase in the number of tourists at the Raj Bhavan, the government is now looking to further develop the tourist attraction. Raj Bhavan is the authorised residence of Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao, one of the best-protected landmarks in the city, for public viewing and the gates of the inheritance building are open for public for three days a week. The two-hour trip starts at 6 am and comes with a directed walk through the Bhavan. The battery-operated vehicle will assist in offering an eco-friendly tour of the Raj Bhavan. Eco-sensitive zones will be identified by MTDC in areas including the hill stations, coastlines and spiritual sites, where diesel and petrol vehicles will not be permitted and only battery-operated or e-vehicles will be allowed for zero pollution. The state government is working on developing some cities as cycling hotspots and to encourage environmental friendly tourism. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, said, “We are delighted to offer a battery-operated vehicle to the Raj Bhavan to enhance the tourism and create the wide visibility for this heritage site in Mumbai. Raj Bhavan, the governor’s Malabar Hill home has become the town’s novel tourist hotspot and our aim is to transform Maharashtra as an environment friendly tourist destination. This is a small effort by MTDC to diversify tourism products to cater to the passions of growing travellers.”

Maharashtra’s Minister of Tourism Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal met H.K Mauder Kakkur, Managing Director, NYC & Company New York, to discuss the prospects of tourism in Mumbai and Maharashtra in order to promote ‘The Brand Maharashtra’ in the City of New York. Vijay Waghmare, Managing Director, MTDC and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC, were also present at the event.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has launched special Ganesh Darshan tours for the devotees in Mumbai, Pune and Konkan region to celebrate 125 years of Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav. On this occasion, MTDC is promoting Ganpati mandals, which was started by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Mumbai. Ganesh Darshan tours will not only surge tourism in the state, but also give a chance to foreign and domestic travellers to be a part of the celebrations. The tours will include sighting of the most popular Ganesh pandals in Mumbai, including Lalbaug-cha-Raja, Ganesh Gully, GSB Mandal, Fort-cha-Raja, Fanaswadi Ganesha, Jitekarwadi Ganesha and Bramhansabha Ganesha. The tour will commence from Prabhadevi, from where dedicated 45-seater AC buses will take tourists on this devotional ride. These tours have started from August 26 and will continue till September 5, 2017.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has taken steps to rebrand tourism in Maharashtra with the launch of its new logo “म” for the Visit Maharashtra Campaign. The logo was unveiled by Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, in the presence of Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra. Fadnavis said, “We are very happy to announce the launch of the new logo “म” Visit Maharashtra to promote the state tourism prospects worldwide. Maharashtra has an incredible potential to become the most preferred destinations for both domestic and international tourists. We are planning to organise ‘Mumbai Mela’ from December 21 to January 8, 2018, to engage with domestic and international tourists. ‘Mumbai Mela’ will offer a huge platform to various segments to explore their offerings to the tourists. I believe, this new logo of Visit Maharashtra Campaign will push Maharashtra on the global map and create Brand Maharashtra as a popular tourist destination.”

The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) organised a conference on National Agri Tourism on the occasion of the tenth World Agri Tourism Day in Mumbai. The objective was to create employment opportunities and boost investment in the agriculture sector that would encourage tourism. Jaykumar Rawal, Honourable Minister of Tourism, was present at the conference and spoke about how farmers and other stakeholders can develop their skills and farms to attract more tourists looking for a rural, farm-stay experience. The discussion at the conference also touched upon MTDC’s ‘Mahabhraman Scheme’ that showcases farmer’s lifestyle and experiencing different activities like planting trees, plucking fruits and vegetables, bullock cart rides, etc. “The Department of Tourism also intends to set up a government interface to cater to the needs of the agri-tour operators. This interface will co-ordinate and provide link with regional and local government bodies to boost employment opportunities and sustainability in the agricultural sector,” Rawal revealed.