Tag Archives: NITI Aayog

It is interesting to note that India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) score is 71 for 2023-24, which is a significant improvement from 66 in 2020-21 and 57 in 2018 as per SDG India Index 2023-24  released by NITI Aayog. This shows that India’s potential as an inbound destination has gone up with cleaner cities and better amenities.

Addressing the seventh meeting of the Governing Council (GC) of NITI Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi aid that each state should focus on promoting its 3Ts, Trade, Tourism, Technology, through every Indian Mission around the world. This was the first physical meeting of the Governing Council since the onset of the pandemic.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, visited the Red Fort Museum and claimed that he was delighted to see the museum,w which was developed by Dalmia Cements under the ‘Adopt A Heritage’ scheme. “It is highly experiential, interactive, immensely creative and is the best designed museum in India. My compliments to PM Narendra Modi for promoting PPP in heritage,” he added.

Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has submitted a representation to the CEO of NITI Aayog – Amitabh Kant – highlighting hospitality industry’s plight with reference to Oyo’s business model. The Association has specifically pointed out that certain recent activities conducted by Oyo to earn goodwill have actually come at the expense of partner hotels.

Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog, has said that Maharashtra’s Aurangabad needs both an international airport as well as a state-of-the-art convention centre to boost tourism in the region. Kant announced this at his recent two-day visit to Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC), and added that while other newer cities took time to establish, Aurangabad already has ready infrastructure.

Speaking at a webinar, Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, has said that Niti Aayog is working on infrastructure development for tourism & hospitality, and they are waiting for the Govt think tank’s report to discuss this with the industry. “Niti Aayog is working on it and even the development work in Andaman has been started as a model initiative for the same.   Even the Prime Minister wants us to exploit opportunities with our long coastline. We will be working with other ministries, as well as the private sector, once Niti Aayog comes with its report,” he said.

Efforts put in by TAAI have finally borne fruit as the government has now permitted travel agents to book Vande Bharat flights. “We appreciate Air India, MoCA and NITI Aayog for supporting our initiatives, and look forward to more compliances to support the struggling industry,” says Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI. As of now, flights to USA, Germany (FRA) and France (CDG) have been announced in the coming phase.

Jyoti Mayal, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Vice Chairperson, FAITH, met Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, on July 2 and discussed the concerns and challenges faced by the members. Some of the major issues discussed in the meeting were airline refunds; challenges faced to retain employees, their salaries and avoid unemployment in the sector; moratoriums and reliefs to trade due to COVID-19 lockdown and loss of business; allowing accredited travel agents to book Vande Bharat flights for Air India and also informing foreign carriers undertaking such flights to permit the same; revival challenges and long-term facilitation for the trade with airlines; protection of the agents from airline defaults and suspension of services; direction from government to airlines on remuneration for promoting the airlines; direction seeking travel agent corporate credit cards to be used for airline ticketing; reduction of credit card merchant fee by banks to below 0.75% so as to promote Digital India for aviation, travel, tourism and hospitality sectors as a whole. Seeking support from the government, Mayal requested Kant to ensure the same and assist in guiding the trade, enable creation of demand for growth, and opportunities for all travel and tourism-related activities.

President & Vice President of IATO along with Presidents of ATOAI and ADTOI met Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog today to seek government’s support for the survival and revival of tour operators and other stakeholders of the industry. During the meeting financial support was sought along with long term loans and a hike in SEIS incentive from 7% to 10%. The NITI Aayog CEO gave a patient hearing and has assured full support. During the meeting, Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO emphasised that Inbound Tour Operators who bring in foreign tourists and earn valuable foreign exchange for the country are on the verge of collapsing due to Covid-19 pandemic and need urgent help to survive as there is zero billing and consequently zero cash flow.  Apart from Sarkar, Rajiv Mehra, Vice President was representing IATO. Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) and PP Khanna, President, Association of Domestic Tour Operators Association of India (ADTOI) were also present. The delegation sought financial support to tour operators so that tour operators do not close down and continue their business with their experienced staff after the COVID – 19 is controlled and tourism is back to business, under MSME Special Non-collateral and interest-free long term loans (5-10 years) to be provided to the tour operators for the survival of the business and aggressive marketing once tourism is back to business.  In addition, IATO sought an increase in incentive offered in Service Export from India Scheme (SEIS) from 7% to 10 % which will allow them to offer competitive packages vis a vis neighbouring countries. Kant gave a very patient hearing and assured the delegation full support to the tourism …

NITI Aayog’ CEO Amitabh Kant has said that systematic tourism promotion campaigns will be important in the near future for the growth of Indian tourism industry. He also said that a domestic-focused Incredible India 2.0 campaign that showcases what the nation offers to Indians could be the post-pandemic plan for the tourism sector.