Tag Archives: tourism

The Philippines will relax an almost two-year ban on foreign visitors and businesses entering the country next month, officials said, in an effort to resuscitate the country’s devastated tourism economy as the latest coronavirus outbreak eased. Returning Filipinos would be exempt from quarantine beginning February 1 and foreign visitors from February 10, but they must be vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19.

Ministry of Tourism is planning a virtual event of about two hours on National Tourism Day on 25th January. Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, shared, “G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER will be the Chief Guest and Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, will also be speaking in this online event. We have also invited Secretary, Culture; Secretary, Ministry of Textiles; Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change as well. The celebrations are a little low-key owing to Omicron spread across the country.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a new circuit house near Gujarat’s famous Somnath Temple. In his remarks, Modi emphasised that the country is taking a holistic approach to tourism. “Today, the 4S—Swachhta (cleanliness), Suvidha (convenient), Samay (time), and Soch—are required to boost tourism” (thinking). Our tourist attractions and holy pilgrimage sites were previously unhygienic. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has changed that picture today.

Sumita Saroch, JD, Tourism, Rajasthan, speaking at the Expo 2020, has said that Rajasthan offers multiple picturesque settings and culture. During her presentation, she showcased Rajasthan as a social events destination. “Rajasthan Tourism Policy 2020 strongly focuses on promotion of wedding tourism in the state,” she said while presenting the various offerings and facilities for such events.

In his address at the 36th IATO Convention in Gandhinagar, G Kamala Vardhan Rao, DG, Tourism, commented on the scare over the Omicron variant, and said that while the new variant is infectious, but not fatal. “We are sure that this will not be there for a longer time. We believe that by Feb-March we could see brighter days,” he added.

Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, Tourism, has said that the draft tourism policy has five missions at its core, and the first one is National Green Tourism Mission, which looks at mainstreaming sustainability in the tourism sector. “It’s a key challenge the sector faces and it is also one of the lessons from the pandemic that we need to develop tourism on sustainable and responsible lines.”

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has said that MOT is ready with a campaign that would focus on India being a safe destination and is ready to welcome travellers, and it will be launched very soon. “The content is ready, and the messaging will be both direct and indirect. One promotion will focus on India being vaccinated and the other will feature our hotels, hotel staff, cab drivers, airports, roads, shopping malls, etc. communicating that the country is safe to travel. Discussions with channels is done and we will be doing a soft launch on digital mediums initially.

Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, Tourism has said MOT has come out with a draft National Tourism Policy in a bid to bring structural changes to the sector and lay down an ambitious framework for tourism growth. “It has 5 missions, which include National Green Tourism Mission, National Digital Tourism Mission, Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Mission, Destination Management, and Developing Tourism and Hospitality MSMEs. The policy is out for consultation and in around 5-6 weeks, we should be close to finalising the draft,” he said.

Rupinder Brar (IRS), ADG, Tourism, speaking at a recent webinar on border tourism, appreciated the efforts taken by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for improving connectivity in Ladakh region. “Connectivity is the key for tourism anywhere in the world and especially in border areas. The role of Border Tourism in bringing local communities together is crucial in today’s time,” she says. She emphasised that there is a need for capacity building and skill development as it will help to scale up the quality of human resources while creating employment opportunities for the locals.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that they will soon launch digital and social media campaigns. “We are working on that and we have plans to have wherever possible some physical events also. We want to launch the campaigns this month itself,” he says. Singh further adds, “Apart from our India tourism offices, the government has nominated 20 nodal officers in the missions. With their help also, we intend to launch promotional campaigns.”