Tag Archives: Ministry of Tourism

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India awarded Abercrombie & Kent India the first prize in Category-I as the Best Inbound Tour Operator, for 2015-16. This is A&K India’s fourth National Tourism Award. The award was received by Vikram Madhok, Managing Director and Arunendu Roy, Director (Finance). Speaking on this occasion, Madhok said this award reinforces and enhances Abercrombie & Kent’s reputation for conducting our business in an honest, ethical and reliable manner, demonstrating integrity in everything we do. The award was presented by the Hon’ble President of India Ram Nath Kovind, in the presence of Minister of State for Tourism and other select dignitaries & invitees from the travel fraternity at New Delhi on September 27, 2017.

Chander Mansharamani has been re-elected as Vice Chairman of India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) for another two-year term. Amaresh Tiwari and Girish Kwatra will also continue on their respective posts of Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer. This was declared during the association’s 30th Annual General Meeting and Elections for the Governing Board held at The Ashok in New Delhi which was also attended by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Chairman, ICPB. New appointments were made in the Hotel, Tour Operator and Congress / Convention Centres categories. The two new appointments in the hotel category were Hemant Mediratta and Saurabh Bhargava & Abinash Manghani (due to a tie for the second post). Gunjan Suri and Naveen Chibber took up the two new posts in the travel agency category while Ajay Vinayak and Anuj Wadhwa took the two posts in tour operator category. The post for the Congress / Convention Centres went to Sudeep Sarcar. Talking about the key priorities for the bureau now, Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB, said, “the government has been looking at us as the frontal organisation for marketing India as a convention destination. Keeping that in mind, we are completely invested to take things to the next level. Currently we have outlined three core areas to focus on; first is market creation wherein creating our chapters and bidding of international conferences will be a part of that. Market creation will involve conducting roadshows both in India and international markets. The second priority is Visa, lobbying and making the entire process easier to get a visa for delegates attending conferences in India and thirdly we want to sensitise the central and state governments on the …

All travel trade agencies recognised or approved by the Ministry of Tourism are required to submit their data on digital transactions on a monthly basis, positively by the 20th of every month starting August 1, 2017 to the Ministry. The Ministry of Tourism had assigned travel trade associations including IATO, TAAI, ITTA, ADTOI and ATOAI the responsibility to promote digital transactions in the tourism sector. MOT had mailed the associations on Sept 22, 2017, regarding furnishing and submission of the same to the Ministry. The MOT will consolidate the data on digital transactions in the organised sectors for review by the PMO through the Ministry of Electronics and Information & Technology.

The Ministry of Railways has commissioned a second glass-roof Vistadome Coach, funded by the Ministry of Tourism, on the Jan Shatabdi Express plying on the scenic Mumbai-Goa route, to provide a panoramic view of the picturesque Western Ghats. The Vistadome Coach boasts of a glass roof which has electrically-controlled opalescence, that is, it can be made transparent or opaque at the turn of a switch. Passengers seeking a better view can head for a special observation deck. All seats are rotatable by 360 degrees and are pushback chairs. The coaches are fitted with automatic sliding compartment doors, multiple TV screens and wider body side door. Ministry of Tourism provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs12 Crore @ Rs.4 crore per coach to Ministry of Railways for the manufacture of three glass top coaches, for developing rail tourism in the country. The first Vistadome Coach was commissioned by the Ministry of Railways on the Vishakhapatnam–Araku Valley Route in April 2017 and is attracting a large number of tourists.

According to the data released by Ministry of Tourism, Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) during the month of August, 2017 were ₹13,922 crore as compared to ₹12,553 crore in August, 2016 and ₹11,411 crore in August, 2015. The growth rate in FEEs in terms of rupee during August, 2017 over August, 2016 was higher, with 10.9 per cent as compared to the growth rate of 10.0 per cent in August, 2016 over August, 2015. The FEEs during the period of January- August, 2017 was recorded at ₹1,16,004 crore, amounting to a growth of 16.5 per cent as compared to the FEEs of ₹99,587 during January-August 2016 which amounted to a growth rate of 13.9 per cent over January- August, 2015.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) this August were 7.24 lakh as compared to FTAs of 6.52 lakh in August 2016, and 5.99 lakh in August 2015, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Tourism. The growth rate in FTAs in August 2017 over August 2016 is 11 per cent compared to 8.8 per cent in August 2016 over August 2015. FTAs during the period January-August, 2017, were 63.98 lakh with a growth of 15.2 per cent over the same period of previous year, as compared to the FTAs of 55.54 lakh with a growth of 9.5 per cent in January-August, 2016, over January-August, 2015. On the other hand, FTAs on the e-Tourist Visa, during the month of August 2017 was a total of 1.13 lakh as compared to 0.66 lakh during the month of August 2016 registering a growth of 71.3 per cent. During January-August, 2017, a total of 9.49 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 6.06 lakh during January-August, 2016, registering a growth of 56.5 per cent.

The government shall soon roll out its much-awaited National Tourism Policy, expected to provide single window clearance for organisation of meetings and conferences, informed Satyajeet Rajan, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, while addressing the second edition of Global MICE Travel Mart, organised by FICCI jointly with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, on September 14 at The Lalit, New Delhi. He said that there was a need to provide incentives to this sector to make it competitive in the world market. He added that there was a pressing need to conduct a study to assess size of the industry and a consultant was being appointed to suggest a workable roadmap for the development of the sector. During the inaugural of this mart, which is underway until Sept 16, a FICCI-MRSS Knowledge Paper on ‘MICE Tourism Powerhouse of a New Era Tourism’ was unveiled by the dignitaries. The six-point agenda of the study suggested a six-point roadmap for development of India as a MICE tourism hotspot. Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB and Managing Director, Alpcord Network Travel & Conferences Management Company, said that MICE was an economic activity and there was an imperative need for the creation of a market for the sector. Besides, he emphasised on the need for readily available comprehensive database, building capacities and capabilities while taking into account competition to make India a MICE hub. Highlighting the immense potential of MICE tourism in West Bengal, Amitava Rathod, Deputy General Manager, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation, said that that with new convention centres projects such as HIDCO, Digha and Bagdogra coming up in the state, West Bengal is bound to lead the country in …

Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma reportedly said that the Ministry of Tourism is considering setting up government-run offices in key markets such as the US, the UK and Russia to attract more visitors to India. It will also set up facilitation centres to address queries of tourists at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. With Incredible India 2.0 campaign expected to be launched in September, Verma reportedly said the ministry will run market-specific campaigns on it in different countries through local and electronic channels as well as digital media. “A synergy between Incredible India campaign and overseas markets will get us better results. Our offices in different countries would work on a hub and spoke model which will be in sync with our PR agency. This time the states are also complementing our plans and the industry can plan campaigns around it. Our spends are higher than last year,” said Verma. Source: Economic Times

The latest data from January to May 2017 shows an increase of 20.72 per cent over the same period last year, with 183,558 Indian visits to Indonesia. India has now become the sixth largest source market with this growth displacing South Korea. Speaking about the new development, Vinsensius Jemadu, Director for Asia Pacific Tourism Promotions, Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia said, “India with the rise in aspiring middle class travellers and robust economic growth has become a potential contributor towards inbound tourism to Indonesia and Bali in particular. In Bali, the total number of India arrivals has increased over 35 per cent every year in the past six years. We are hopeful Indians will equally value Badung as their preferred destination in Indonesia.”

PATA India Chapter has launched an upgraded website www.pataindia.org packed with dynamic features and graphics. The website was launched at the office of Ministry of Tourism by Joint Secretary Suman Billa in the presence of all Executive Committee members following the 235th EC meeting of PATA India. A presentation was given by Jatinder Taneja, Hon. Secretary, PATA India Chapter, where he informed that the website is CMS-based compatible with desktops, smartphones and tablets such as iPad, etc. He said, the website data is well aligned and informative with member information, and event catalogue. The upgraded website has a well-structured homepage with recent and upcoming ‘Events’ section. Ministry of Tourism website is hyperlinked on the homepage for relevant updates. The updated homepage, loaded with attractive graphics, will soon hyperlink member website to add value to membership and hasa new ‘Members’ section with brief profile