Tag Archives: Uttar Pradesh

Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) will be having their 37th Annual Convention in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, announced Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO. “The exact date and venue for the convention will be announced by the end of next week in consultation with UP Tourism. Uttar Pradesh is changing for the better and is being developed like never before. With new destinations, especially Ram Mandir in Ayodhya coming up in a few years, it will be a huge attraction for tourists. Just like we promoted Amritsar and Varanasi internationally, we will promote Ayodhya and UP as well,” he said.

During the last five years (FY 2016-17 to FY 2020-21), an amount of Approx. Rs. 17784 crore has been spent by the Government/Airports Authority of India in renovating/building airports, according to information given by General (Retd.) V K Singh, Minister of State, Ministry of Civil Aviation. He also said that during the last three years, Government of India (GoI) has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of two Greenfield Airports across the country namely Jewar (2018) in Uttar Pradesh and Hollongi (2019) in Arunachal Pradesh.

Applauding the progress of the work of Jewar Airport, Yogi Adityanath, CM, Uttar Pradesh, has said that the airport would not only prove to be a milestone in the development of Uttar Pradesh, but would also give a new dimension to  make air connectivity universal and world class in the country. “Jewar Airport is a great medium for us to pursue the future prospects, which will help in making Uttar Pradesh a one trillion economy,” he added. He further informed that the work on Kushinagar International Airport had been almost completed may start  international flights anytime.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the much-awaited Rudraksh convention centre at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. In a tweet, the PM said, “I am delighted to be inaugurating the Rudraksh convention centre in Varanasi. Constructed with Japanese assistance, this state-of-the-art centre will make Varanasi an attractive destination for conferences thus drawing more tourists and businesspersons to the city.”

The IATO Executive Committee recently reviewed and restructured the IATO Regional and the State Chapters to expand its wings and strengthen its membership base in Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. In continuation, IATO has further expanded its wings by appointing Co-Chairman and in-charge in various states and union territories. Rajasthan being a large state with a strong membership basis was considered to have a Co-chairman and Mahendra Singh of Holidays N Vacations, Jaipur has been appointed as Co-Chairman of Rajasthan. It was for a long time in the mind of IATO EC to have a Co-Chairman of Uttar Pradesh who should be based in Varanasi, keeping in view the importance of Varanasi as a big tourist attraction,  both for international and domestic tourists and Bhuvanendra Vikram Singh of Prime Value Tours Pvt. Ltd has been given this responsibility. Sikkim being a prime tourist destination needed a Co-Chairman, keeping in view the distance between North Bengal and Sikkim.  Namgyal P Sherpa of Namgyal Treks & Tours, Gangtok has been appointed as co-chairman to assist the Chairman of Sikkim and North Bengal Chapter who is based in Siliguri, Darjeeling. Similar is the case of Andaman & Nicobar and Mohamed Jadwet has been appointed as Co-Chairman in Andaman & Nicobar to assist the Chairman based in Chennai. Besides the above, two-state in-charge have been appointed in Manipur & Tripura to assist Chairman of IATO North East Chapter and H Radhakrishna Sharma, of Seven Sisters Holidays and Soumen Dutta of Hindustan Tour & Travels have been appointed State In-Charge of Manipur and Tripura respectively. Rajiv Mehra, President of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) expressed his happiness and mentioned …

Ministry of Culture has constituted new ASI circles in six states. Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of Tourism & Culture, announced, “In MP, Jabalpur has a new circle; for Bundelkhand (UP), Jhansi will be a separate circle and for South UP, Meerut; in Gujarat, Rajkot will be the second circle; Hampi and Delhi will be full circles; in Tamil Nadu, Trichy and in West Bengal, Raiganj will be separate circles.”

Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) concluded its first online members’ meet on March 31, which was attended by close to 100 members from across the country, including Kerala, Assam, Ladakh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The meeting, moderated by Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI and Vinayak Koul, Hony. Secretary, ATOAI, helped members and the Association share constructive ideas to survive in present times. Members also got a chance to share their experiences. The keynote speaker for the meeting, Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH, briefed members on various topics related to the COVID-19 crisis and explained that the strategy going forward should broadly be divided in two phases – phase-I being survival and phase-II being revival. He also informed members about the various efforts of FAITH for the tourism industry.

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned four new projects for Rs 190.46 crores under the tourism infrastructure development schemes, Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD in Meghalaya, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Under north east circuit of Swadesh Darshan Scheme, the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned the project ‘Development of West Khasi Hills (Nongkhlaw- Krem Tirot – Khudoi & Kohmang Falls – Khri River- Mawthadraishan, Shillong), Jaintia Hills (Krang Suri Falls- Shyrmang- Iooksi), Garo Hills (Nokrek Reserve, Katta Beel, Siju Caves)’ in Meghalaya for Rs. 84.95 crore. Through this project, the Ministry will be developing facilities like festival grounds, tourist facilitation centre, last-mile connectivity, public conveniences, cable suspension bridge, cafeteria, trekking routes, boating facilities, illumination, solid waste management, drinking water facility, caving facilities, visitor centres, adventure sports activities, craft haats, etc. in the state. Development of Gorakhnath Temple (Gorakhpur), Devipattan Temple (Balrampur) and Vatvashni Temple (Domariyagunj) has also been sanctioned for Rs 21.16 Crores under spiritual circuit of Swadesh Darshan scheme. The facilities being developed under this project include tourist facilitation centre, toilet blocks, pathways, shelters, landscaping, gazebos, illumination, CCTV camera, benches, dustbins, informative and directional signages, etc. Under the PRASHAD scheme, the ministry has sanctioned the project ‘Development of Govardhan’ in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh for Rs 39.74 crores. The sites taken up in the project include Govardhan Parikrama Marg, Kusum Sarovar, Chandra Sarovar and Manasi Ganga. The facilities like development of bus stand, toilets, illumination of ghats, parking, pathways, landscaping and beautification, PA system, benches, toilets, etc. are also being developed under the project. The ministry has also sanctioned the project ‘Development of Pilgrimage Amenities at Somnath – Phase II’ for Rs 44.59 crores under the PRASHAD scheme. The facilities being developed …

More than 12 crore pilgrims are expected to visit Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 starting January 15 at Prayagraj (formerly known as Allahabad) in Uttar Pradesh, including 10 lakh foreign tourists. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has joined hands with the Government of Uttar Pradesh in promoting the one-of-its-kind event. Suresh Kumar Khanna, Urban Development Minister, Uttar Pradesh announced the details of Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 in Mumbai recently, saying, “This event is organised at four places in the country. The event held at Prayagraj itself is a subject of attraction and curiosity for the country and the world. Following the efforts made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UNESCO has included Kumbh in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.” Programmes based on ancient cultural heritage will be organised, in addition to cultural programmes, food, festival etc. To seek support for Kumbh 2019 from Maharashtra, Khanna met Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra, and handed over an invitation to him on behalf of Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh. The team also discussed the preparation by the state for this sought-after event. The Government of India has made a historic increase in number of flights by constructing a new air civil terminal in Prayagraj, which is now connected to the country’s several main cities like Bengaluru, Indore, Nagpur, Patna etc. A heliport is also being set up here and arrangements are being made to provide the facility of helicopter joy ride to tourists. Also, to provide high-quality facilities to tourists, a premium tent city is being developed in the Kumbh Mela area.

Ramayana Circuit has been identified for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of Ministry of Tourism. The Ministry had earlier identified fifteen destinations for development under the Ramayana Circuit theme namely Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh), Nashik and Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu). The details of projects sanctioned under the Ramayana Circuit theme of Swadesh Darshan during the last two years are: development of Ayodhya under Ramayana Circuit theme in Uttar Pradesh (2017-18) – Rs 133.31 cr sanctioned; development of Wayside Amenities in Buddhist Circuit and Ramayana Circuit: Varanasi-Gaya; Lucknow-Ayodhya- Lucknow; Gorakhpur-Kushinagar; Kushinagar-Gaya- Kushinagar (2018-19) – Rs 18.10 crore sanctioned. For the state of Chhattisgarh, the Ministry has sanctioned the project for development of Tribal Tourism Circuit in Jashpur- Kunkuri-Mainpat- Ambikapur- Maheshpur -Ratanpur- Kurdar-Sarodadadar- Gangrel- Kondagaon– Nathiya Nawagaon- Jagdalpur- Chitrakoot- Tirthgarh in the year 2015-16 with a total sanction amount of Rs 99.21 crore. Submission of project proposals by the State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme is a continuous process. The projects for development under the scheme are identified in consultation with the State Governments/UT Administrations and are sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilisation of funds released earlier.