Tag Archives: Principal Secretary

Saurabh Vijay, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Maharashtra, speaking at the Mumbai Roadshow for GTIS 2023, has said, “We have identified properties that can be developed in PPP mode. These properties will be showcased at the Global Tourism Investment Summit,” he added.

K S Srinivas, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism, has said that the state’s tourism and hospitality industry has already regained the pre-pandemic robustness. “This is evident from the fact that Kerala recorded a staggering 196 per cent spike in domestic tourist arrivals during the first three quarters of the current year as compared to the corresponding period a year earlier,” he added.

Valsa Nair, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Excise & Civil Aviation Govt Of Maharashtra, said, “The policy that has really led the tourism revival in Maharashtra is the vacation rental policy, which was a new discovery in the COVID times. A lot of independent houses and farmhouses in the state have now been thrown open to tourists. While many are ordinary ones, some are exclusive and owned by HNIs. There are many categories and the prices have skyrocketed. There are also operators who are now running such homes. As government, we are in the final stages to make it easier for the tourists to book into these vacation homes and make it easier for the owners to ensure that the right tourists come. We are also building in the food and civil supplies department. We are also bringing in the police to ensure that these are exactly used for the right purposes. The vacation rental I think is going to be the backbone of tourism revival in Maharashtra.”

In a re-shuffle of the state cabinet, the Odisha government has posted Surendra Kumar, who was the Principal Secretary – Steel and Mines, in the General Administration department with the additional charge of the Tourism department as its Principal Secretary. Vishal Dev, who was the Principal Secretary of Tourism, Sports and Youth Affairs in the Odisha government, has been appointed as the new Principal Secretary of the Finance department.

Vishal Kumar Dev, IAS, Principal Secretary, Dept. of Tourism, Sports & YS, Govt. of Odisha at a interactive meeting with HRAO members and government officials in Bhubaneswar said that new Tourism Policy in Odisha is ready to publish and will be declared after announcement of IPR. He also said that tourism has been given a priority sector by Chief Minister and as a result the tourism budget for the year 2021-22 has got doubled to Rs 1500 crore. “.  The Government is also working on various plans like development of hospitality infrastructure in the tourism sector to bring number of good category hotels to the State. He assured that next 2 / 3 years will be very exciting time for tourism to take to its greater height and will be the best tourist destination in the country,” he said.

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board (MPTB) has resumed water sports activities in the state, which were stopped in view of COVID-19. Besides boating, river rafting, kayaking and canoeing have also been permitted. Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary, Tourism & MD, MPTB said that relevant guidelines have been issued to the managers of the boat clubs in the state. It has been decided to run all boats on 50% occupancy. Speed Boats will now carry three persons instead of six, pedal boats, two instead of four, raft boats four instead of eight and cruise boats, 30 instead of 60. MP Tourism runs boat clubs at several places in the state including Bhopal, Halali, Udaygiri, Tawa, Bargi, Bhedaghat, Hanuwantia, Tighra, Gandhisagar dam, Shivpuri and Orchha.

Homestays in West Bengal is growing at a pace of 30 per cent compound annual growth rate, said Nandini Chakravorty, Principal Secretary, Tourism Department, West Bengal. She also revealed that the foreign tourist arrivals in the state have grown up by 2.57 per cent despite the slowdown in the global economy.  “The state government’s homestay policy encouraged the homestay sector and is growing at a CAGR of more than 30 per cent,” she claimed. Tourism minister Gautam Deb focused on the tourism and homestay policies and said that there are around 3000 homestays in north Bengal.

The 9th annual convention of Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), supported by Gujarat Tourism as host state, was inaugurated at Hyatt Regency Ahmedabad. Speaking at the ceremony, Vasan Aahir, Minister of State for Tourism, Gujarat, said, “We are very glad that ADTOI has brought their annual convention to Gujarat. Rann of Kutch is the ideal example where tourism has been a means for developing an undeveloped destination, while giving employment to many people. We are developing many destinations in a similar manner in Gujarat.” ADTOI also unveiled its new logo at the inauguration ceremony. PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, welcomed the delegates at the convention and felicitated the dignitaries, which included Pradipsinh Jadeja, Minister of State- Home, Energy, Parliamentary Affairs, Law, Justice (Minister of State), Police housing, Border security, Civil defense, Gram Rakshak Dal, Jail, Prohibition and Excise, Coordination between voluntary organization, Non Resident Gujarati Department, Protocol (all independent charge), Government of Gujarat; Aashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; S.J. Haider, Principal Secretary, Gujarat Tourism; Jenu Devan, Managing Director, Gujarat Tourism; and Ashwani Lohani; CMD, Air India.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has launched an e-brochure of Lonar Crater, reported as a national geo-heritage monument, located at Lonar in Buldhana district of Maharashtra. It was launched by Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, in the presence of Vijay Kumar Gautam (IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism and Culture, Government of Maharashtra and MD, MTDC. Lonar Crater is a saline lake created by a meteor impact during Pleistocene Epoch and is one of the largest, most exclusive basalt impact craters on the globe. This brochure includes all the information about the Lonar crater and the famous tourist destinations near the lake. In addition to this, MTDC is in process of developing a new Planetarium, Museum and a Research Centre near the crater which will help highlight the history behind the formation of this crater. This initiative will offer economic benefits to the local communities, increase tourist footfall and generate employment opportunities in Buldhana.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has participated in the Global Exhibition on Services (GES) to showcase the tourism potential of the state in agritourism, medical tourism, Buddhist tourism, etc to attract visitors from around the world. The fourth edition of GES aims to increase trade services between India and the globe. On the occasion of World Agritourism Day, MTDC is promoting agritourism as the state has huge potential and farmers can take up agritourism to boost their income. It is also promoting medical tourism and Buddhist tourism to tap the new avenues of tourist attraction. MTDC is also encouraging Buddhist pilgrimage in Maharashtra by developing sites where Lord Buddha was born, taught, preached and attained nirvana. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, who was present at the inauguration, said, “This is an excellent platform to grow our businesses and meet the new stakeholders from across the world. GES 2018 is a wonderful opportunity to aggressively market the tourism inventories, lively culture, exclusive destinations and investment prospects in Maharashtra.” Vijay Gautam, (IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, added, “We have observed that tourism as one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Through GES 2018, we are promoting our tourism inventories like medical tourism, agritourism and Buddhist tourism. We are now looking to create a unique identity by offering best services for the world and establish ourselves as the best tourism destination and it will pave a way for creating a roadmap for the state.”