Category Archives: MOT

Manisha Saxena, DG Tourism, MOT, said, “The decrease in the budget for overseas promotion is merely a technical reduction. There has been an increase in the allocation for domestic tourism. It is a matter of revamping the schemes and using them in tandem for domestic as well as overseas promotion.

MOT recently released the number of total number of jobs, direct and indirect, in the tourism sector. For 2021-22, it recorded 70.04 million jobs, an uptick in comparison to 68.07 million in 2020-21. Industry leaders believe more jobs could help in unlocking the full potential of India’s tourism sector.

The 6th HAI Hotelier’s Conclave was held in Delhi with the theme ‘Hospitality: The Engine for GDP Growth and Employment.’ Industry leaders highlighted the importance of tourism as a job creator. Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and former CEO of Niti Aayog, stated, “Tourism is a significant driver of growth. Globally, it is a $5 trillion industry, with India’s share being less than 2%, a figure that needs substantial increase. From a political perspective, politicians primarily understand one thing: the number of jobs generated by the tourism sector. Tourism has a significant multiplier impact, creating seven indirect jobs for every direct job. However, the tourism industry has not effectively communicated to politicians its role as a major job creator. It would be worthwhile for the tourism industry to set a target of informing the political system at both the central and state levels that focusing on tourism could result in the creation of 25 million jobs by 2030.”

A parliamentary panel has observed that out of the total 45 sanctioned projects under the PRASHAD scheme only 20 have been completed, noting that its progress is very slow. The committee has suggested MOT to evolve its mechanism to collect data on the arrival of foreign and domestic tourists.

Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) elects PATA India Chapter to its board to represent 28 Chapters around the globe. The Ministry of Tourism has also been elected to the PATA board. PATA will officially announce the same after their general meeting to be held in May 2024 at Macau.

Appreciating an increase in budget allocation to the Tourism Ministry in Interim Budget 2024, Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, said, “Though we welcome the increase in budgetary allocation to  ₹2,000cr from last financial year’s  ₹1600cr and mention of branding in the budget speech of the FM, we must remember that unless we don’t do roadshows overseas, familiarisation trips and publicity campaigns abroad till then we would not be able to draw tourist to our country.”

According to the detailed Expenditure Profile for Interim Budget 2024-25, total estimated outlay for tourism is ₹2449.62cr. For overseas tourism promotions, allocation is ₹3.02cr vis-a-vis ₹100cr in FY23-24. For domestic promotions ₹176.97cr is proposed, up from ₹95cr in FY23-24.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister, in her budget speech has said, “To address the emerging fervor for domestic tourism, projects for Port connectivity, tourism infrastructure and amenities will be taken up on our islands including Lakshadweep. This will help in generating employment.”

Announcing the Interim Budget 2024-25, Nrmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister of India, said, ” There will be comprehensive development of tourist centers. The success of organizing G20 meetings in 60 places presented diversity of India to Global audience. Our economic strength has made the country and attractive destination for business and Conference tourism. Our middle class also now aspires to travel and explore tourism including spiritual tourism has tremendous opportunities for local people. States will be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centers branding and marketing them at global scale. A framework for rating of the centers based on quality of facilities and services will be established long-term interest free loans will be provided to States for financing such development.”

MOT participated at FITUR in Spain with 40 + Indian co-exhibitors with a vision to promote India globally. India has recorded the arrival of 64,756 foreign tourists from Spain in 2023, which signifies that Spain is one of the important source markets for India.