Category Archives: MOT

To commemorate the 75-week long celebration of India@75, Indiatourism Delhi organised various activities including a Heritage Walk in the Mahrauli area to commemorate the Shahidi Diwas and a photo exhibition at Indian International Center in Delhi.

TRS member K R Suresh Reddy, during the recent Rajya Sabha session asked Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, “I would advise that instead of selling PSUs, instead of selling LIC, why don’t you sell Indian tourism? That is where you will really get money. Convince the Prime Minister. Make him the face of tourism so that the Ministry can benefit.” Patel announced that they will be unveiling the new tourism policy soon.

Tourism Secretary, GOI, Arvind Singh at the Closing ceremony of ‘Hazaar Baar Dekho, North East Dekho’ event said for developing tourism infrastructure in the region, MOT has invested Rs 1,565 crore under Swadesh and PRASAD scheme in 22 projects covering all 8 northeast states. “A number of these projects are complete or are near completion,” he said.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, will be chairing the first meeting of the Northeastern committee of tourism stakeholders in Guwahati on 19th March. “We have created a small dedicated group of people to work in the Northeast. We will bring the people who will help us craft itineraries and small promotional campaigns for the entire Northeast” she said.  

The Ministry of Tourism has launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme for Integrated Development of theme-based Tourist Circuits for the development of tourism infrastructure in the country. The Coastal Circuit, which includes beaches, is one of the thematic circuits identified for development under this scheme. The information was given by Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.  

Indiatourism Hyderabad organised a familiarisation trip for 10 tour operators from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to Chhattisgarh as part of promotion of Dekho Apna Desh initiative of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India from 11th to 14th March 2021 and fully supported by Chhattisgarh Tourism Board. The trip was led by Satrupa Dutta, Asst. Director, Indiatourism Hyderabad.

A parliamentary committee on transport, tourism and culture has revealed that they are concerned over slashing of budget estimates of MOT, when the travel and tourism industry is reeling from huge losses, owing to COVID-19 pandemic. The panel led by BJP leader T G Venkatesh highlighted that the budgetary allocation of Rs 2,026.77 crore for 2021-22 for the MOT would not be sufficient for the ministry to even run activities related to the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the PRASHAD scheme and others to realise the vision of increasing tourism sector’s contribution to India’s GDP to Rs 8.50 lakh crore, the panel led by noted.

Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance, in a written reply to Lok Sabha has said, “The closure of travel and tourism industry due to Covid-19 had a cascading effect on the livelihood of people dependent on tourism. Ministry of Tourism has engaged NCAER to conduct a study on ‘India and Coronavirus pandemic: Economic losses for household engaged in tourism and policies for recovery’.” he also stated that considering the challenges faced by tax-payers due to outbreak of covid-19, the government has taken several taxation measures to improve the liquidity in different sectors including tourism and hospitality.

India Tourism, Singapore, is organising a series of webinars cum B2B sessions titled ‘India Tourism Reconnect’ in the ASEAN region on March 11, 16 & 18, in line with the global vaccination drive. The aim is to reconnect the Indian tourism industry with stakeholders in key markets and start preparing for resumption of business as and when it is announced. The virtual meets will start on 11th March with a focus on Philippines followed by Malaysia (16th March) and Singapore (18th March). Apart from the MOT and State Tourism Organisations, leading tour operators, luxury hotel chains, river cruise and luxury train operators are also participating in the B2B session of the virtual event.

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.”