Tag Archives: Tourism Minister

The Government of Kerala is looking at 50 per cent increase in the number of domestic tourists and 100  per cent increase in foreign arrivals by 2021, Tourism Minister, Kadakampally Surendran has said. “Digital platforms are the key to achieve the aim. Year after year, we see a constant growth in the number of tourists we host. Hence the industry needs to evolve in accordance with the changes in global market. Kerala Tourism has been exploring new media as a key platform and has witnessed the reach and response to it,” he noted. Dr. Venu V, IAS, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism, says, “Kerala Tourism has always been in the forefront as we were the first tourist destination to start a website. Later, we spread our presence to other social media platforms. The technology platforms are gently stronger. Hence we need to redesign and reengineer to cater the demands of guests.”

In an attempt to boost cruise tourism from North Kerala, the state government has drawn the Maland-Malabar Cruise Tourism project which aims at linking rivers and backwaters in the region. Funds to the tune of Rs. 300 crore have been sanctioned for the same. This was informed by Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Minister, Government of Kerala. He said, “The aim is to ensure that the project is ready by early next year.” Surendran further added that this project is expected to be a milestone in the region’s development. A committee with Kannur’s district collector as chairman will be constituted to monitor the project which also envisages development of basic amenities and tourism infrastructure facilities. Walkways and boat jetties will be constructed at Parassinikadavu and Pazhayangadi for which the state government has sanctioned Rs 15 crore. The River Bank tourism project envisages linking of the rivers and water bodies at Valapatnam, Kuppam, Perumba, Anjarakkandy, Mahi, Thalassery, Nileswaram, Thejaswini, Vilaya, Paramathadakkam and Chandragiri and their art forms and places of natural beauty has been drawn up. In order to provide homestay facilities for tourists, Kerala Institute of Travel Tourism Studies has been assigned the task to provide basic training to the owners. As part of responsible tourism, three islands will be brought under the Malabar Cruise tourism project. (Source: PTI)

In a bid to boost tourism, Maharashtra Tourism has signed an MoU with Ola. Under this MoU, the state tourism and Ola will set up a mutual system of cooperation based on the respective expertise, to reinvent the ‘Mumbai Darshan’ package with its own offers pertaining to Ola Rentals. These packages offer 10 hour rides or for 100 kms subject to the conditions provided on the Ola App in four categories namely Mini, Prime Play, Prime Sedan, and Prime SUV. The Mumbai Darshan package will cover 10 must visit destinations of the city. Those identified are Gateway of India, Haji Ali, Juhu Beach, Bandra-Worli sea link, Hanging Gardens. Marine Drive, Shahrukh Khan’s bungalow ‘Mannat’. The locations can be modified basis the requirement of the customers. The first batch of exclusively co-branded Mumbai Darshan and Maharashtra Tourism cars were flagged-off by Jayakumar Rawal, Tourism Minister,  Government of Maharashtra, along with Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary-Tourism, and Pranay Jivrajka, Founding Partner at Ola, in Mumbai on April 12, 2017. The state tourism department in association with Ola will train drivers in imparting information related to Mumbai Darshan, Bollywood trivia, details of heritage legacy and hidden gems. Pick up points across the city have been provided by Ola who are the official partners for the ‘Visit Maharashtra’ Campaign. Rawal said,  “Keeping in mind the global trends and the boom in the digital market scenario, we are glad to partner with Ola. Transportation is one of the most important areas where technology can make a big difference. Ola is a pioneer in public transport space and we are confident that this tie up will benefit the entire transportation ecosystem in the state. This not only lets …

To leverage tourism sector in Assam, the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned funds to the tune of Rs 98.35 crores for a Heritage Circuit in the state. This was announced by Mahesh Sharma, Tourism Minister, Government of India. This amount which has been sanctioned for development of the Tezpur, Majuli and Sivasagar circuit under the scheme of Swadesh Darshan includes development of a composite tourist infrastructure in Majuli, comprising of an interpretation centre near Kamalabari ghat, log huts, watch towers, cafeteria, elevated walkway, solar illumination and landscaping worth Rs. 61.26 crores, development of Ranghar, Joy Sagar and Talatal Ghar in Sivasagar and development of Kanaklata Udyan and Bamuni Hills in Tezpur. Also, the Tourism Ministry has decided to transfer the rights of Brahmaputra Ashok Hotel, currently managed by ITDC, to Government of Assam. All necessary modalities to formalize the transfer of rights will be executed within next 15 days. An amount of Rs. 2 crore was also sanctioned by MoT for the Namami Brahmaputra festival organized for the first time by the Government of Assam to glorify the river Brahmaputra as well as to promote tourism, economy and civilization of the state at global arena. Source: Economic Times

Mizoram, one of the seven sister states received a total of 770 foreign tourists arrivals during the nine month period from April 2016 to January 2017. This was informed by John Rotluangliana, Tourism Minister, Government of Mizoram. Rotluangliana added that efforts are underway to concentrate on eco tourism, adventure tourism and rural tourism to attract more tourists. The state is focusing on both domestic and international tourists to boost its economy. He further said that Integrated Development of New Ecotourism under Swadesh Darshan – North East Circuit was being undertaken at Thenzawl and South Zote villages in Serchhip district and Reiek village in Mamit district. Also, implementation of Rural Home Stay Scheme was being taken up in six villages in Champai district on Myanmar border with fund from the New Economic Development Policy (NEDP) of the state government. Source: The Statesman

Jayakumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Tourism Minister, Government of Maharashtra, promises to encourage and strengthen student exchange programs between India and Japan. During his tour to the Wakayama Prefecture in Japan, Rawal stated, “We are honoured to be invited by the Mayor of Tanabe City. Our discussion with the Mayor focused on several issues among the proposal by the President of Municipal Council, Dondaicha for sister city relationship with Tanabe City. We were overwhelmed with the efforts put in by the students of Toyo Junior High School and we look forward to continue cultural, tourism and other bilateral exchanges through student exchange programs between Tanabe and Dondaicha.”

Assam Tourism has appointed leading Bollywood lady Priyanka Chopra as its brand ambassador. She has signed a two-year contract with the state government to promote Assam tourism both at the national and international levels. This was informed by Himanta Biswa Sarma, Tourism Minister, Government of Assam. Sarma said “She would arrive here on Saturday and address an international tour operators’ meeting. She will also feature in still and video commercials of Assam tourism and promote Assam tourism wherever she goes.” Talking about the marketing plans of the state tourism, Sarma said, “This time, our tourism campaign will go global instead of being confined within the country. We will focus on countries like the UK, the US, Japan and Germany.” He further informed that the financial component of the tourism campaign will be included in the next budget and while Chopra will not charge anything for being the brand ambassador for Assam tourism, she will be paid a fee for the time she spends shooting for commercials and for whatever activity she undertakes for promotion of state tourism.

The 32nd IATO Convention was inaugurated in Chennai today in the presence of Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, T.K. Ramachandran, Principal Secretary-Tourism, Culture, & Religious Endowments Department, Ministry of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, Thiru. Pandiarajan K, Ministry of School Education and Sports and Youth Welfare (responsible for archaeology), Government of Tamil Nadu, Thiru. Vellamandi N. Natarajan, Tourism Minister, Government of Tamil Nadu, Ashok Chandra Panda, Tourism and Culture Minister, Government of Odisha, and senior IATO officials. Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, thanked the VIPs and the Chief Minister for having the convention in Tamil Nadu. Sarkar said, “Tamil Nadu has all the ingredients to attract tourism. Tourism is one of the major engines of economic growth in the world and has exceeded the automotive and oil industry. We organise IATO Convention to allow members to get a first-hand experience of the States and educate them about the services and offerings. I hope after this convention, Tamil Nadu will experience the growth in tourism as well.”

Arief Yahya, Tourism Minister, Indonesia, has informed that the number of Indian tourists holidaying in Indonesia has kept increasing over the past six years. The number of Indian tourist arrivals to Indonesia from January to June 2016 was recorded at 185,911 with a growth rate of 28.25 per cent amid negative growth of foreign tourists from other countries due to global economic slowdown. Compared to the same period in 2015, the number of Indian-tourist arrivals in Indonesia was recorded at 145,734 people. Indonesia conducted a two-city roadshow in Kolkata and Ahmedabad to promote its brand ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ and attract more tourists from India. The Indonesian Tourism Ministry as part of the marketing plan organised Sales Mission India 2016 in Kolkata and Ahmedabad on August 22-24, 2016. Deputy Tourism Minister for Overseas Promotion I Gde Pitana said this Sales Mission India 2016 is the continuation of the previous sales missions held in Hyderabad, New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai during the first half of the year 2016. We hope this event will also add positive impact and further increase the Indian footfall in Indonesia,” he said. Sales Mission India 2016, will facilitate the Indonesian sellers and Indian buyers to meet and produce seller-buyer transactions of tour packages of various Indonesian tourist destinations. There were around 18 stakeholders from Indonesia.

A new civilian terminal is expected to come up at the Kheria Air Force Station in Agra to provide international facilities to passengers visiting the Taj city, revealed Mahesh Sharma, Tourism Minister, Government of India. The Kheria airport is currently under the control of Indian Air Force which allows one of its air strips to be used for civilian flights. Post discussions with the district officials, Sharma informed, Rs. 100 crore has already been sanctioned for upgrading the Kheria airport and construction of the civilian terminal, for which about 50 acres of land has already been acquired. Sharma further informed that the proposed Jewar International Airport in Gautam Buddha Nagar is expected to cater to the aviation needs of the national capital region (NCR), while the Agra airport will primarily cater to the tourists visiting the Taj Mahal. (Source: Business Standard)