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Uttarakhand Government have opened Mussoorie throughout the week for tourists. However, they will allow only 15000 tourists during weekend, owing to COVID-19 situation. Dilip Jawalkar, Secretary, Uttarakhand Tourism, said, “The system and rules allowing 15 thousand tourists to come on weekends are applicable from Saturday morning till 8 am on Monday. On other days tourists can easily enter Mussoorie. This is only being done to provide a safe and clean environment to the tourists.” It is mandatory for tourists to bring a negative report of one of the tests, which includes RTPCR / Rapid Antigen Test (Rat) / True Net Test / Antibody Test or certificate of dual vaccine up to 72 hours before arrival. Along with this, registration and hotel booking will have to be brought along with the registration in the Smart City Portal. Jaspal Singh Chauhan, District Tourism Officer, said that information claiming Mussoorie only being open during weekends are wrong. Tourists can easily contact helpline numbers and get accurate information regarding any changes in the guidelines.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that he hopes that other states follow Maharashtra in doing away with RTPCR test for fully vaccinated travellers. He revealed that in a meeting with associations and state tourism boards, it was agreed upon that the states will work towards having uniform protocols in the entire country.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that the Ministry will participate in World Expo 2020, being organised from Oct 2021 to March 2022 in Dubai. “We will especially be undertaking a major promotion during the tourism fortnight, which will be organised from December 31, 2021 to January 13, 2022 at the Expo. We look forward to participating as an important stakeholder at the India pavilion in Dubai,” he added.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism (MOT), has revealed that in order to promote tourism and to augment tourist arrivals to the Buddhist sites in India, the MOT is proposing to organise the 7th International Buddhist Conclave in November 2021. “The exact dates will be revealed when we are proposing it at Delhi, Bodhgaya and Rajgir,” he shared.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that while the strategy for international marketing in terms of incentives, promotions and media campaigns will be similar, but it will change from 15th August, when we enter 75th year of Independence. “We’ll merge that kind of messaging or campaigns, which will be aimed at celebrating 75th year of India’s independence, with existing media strategies, as well as new schemes and programmes,” he said.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that after considerable follow-up from all sides, even from Ministry of Commerce, the Department of Expenditure has said that they will release over Rs2,000 crore for SEIS in this financial year and a new budget has to be created. “The formalities have to be worked out, after which the amount will reach beneficiaries,” he shared.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has welcomed the relief measures and free-visa announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We have been in discussion with the Finance Ministry on relief measures for the tourism and hospitality sectors. We welcome the announcement, as it will help in the revival of the sector and promote inbound travel to India. Tourism is one of the sectors that has been badly hit by the pandemic, and hence these measures are welcome.” Since the relief measures are for recognised tour operators, he urged more stakeholders in the industry to get registered.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, MOT, has revealed that the Ministry has come up with the first draft of a national strategy and roadmap for sustainable tourism with a focus on adventure and eco-tourism. “The national strategy will include a certification scheme and capacity building, and we are also thinking of a system of assessing the states and ranking them as we have done in many programmes like ‘Ease of Doing Business’,” he said.

In an interaction with Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, while speaking on opening borders in 2021, Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, said, “Yes, there will be some sort of reopening. It all depends on the result of vaccination programme in India and abroad. However, I am sure that at least there wold be a partial opening of some regions of the world in this calendar year.”

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, attended the 5th Skiing Graduation ceremony at Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering, in Gulmarg, Kashmir, where he addressed the gathering and said that sustainable tourism is the only way to expand the sector and bring expected change in Jammu & Kashmir, revealed a tweet from MOT. He also inspected the facility and encouraged the students.