Category Archives: MOT

The Ministry of Tourism is planning theme based events for attracting tourists in the country, revealed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, while addressing he members of Indian Association of Tour Operators in New Delhi. He said, “We are working on theme based events in India in the next six months. We have shortlisted three themes—medical tourism, adventure tourism and MICE tourism. We want to create a buzz about India and partner with FICCI or some other organisation and organise an international event, to attract the world’s attention to the country. However, we will focus on only one such event this year.”

Madhya Pradesh, once again was declared the best state at the National Tourism Awards for the year 2014-15. Gujarat and Karnataka clinched the second and third spot in the best state category. Kerala also took home four awards under various categories. The awards were given away during a function held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on July 30, 2016. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan graced the occasion as Chief Guest and gave away awards in various categories. Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture presided over the function. Invitees for the function included Tourism Ministers of States and State Government Officials, members from the travel and hospitality industries including leading hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, MOTm in his welcome address said that the Tourism sector has now been accorded very high priority world over. Our GDP has grown with the development of Tourism. Foreign Tourists Arrival has now touched a new height and our Domestic Tourism is also booming. Many new initiatives of Ministry of Tourism in past two years are remarkable. Uday Pratap Singh, Addl. Secretary, MOT proposed the Vote of Thanks

An Investment Desk will be set up by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and Invest India to facilitate investment for tourism, revealed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Govt. Of India at the Tourism Investors Summit 2016. In his keynote speech, he stressed that with tourism in India facing exponential growth, the infrastructure needs to be amped up to be on par. This year, foreign tourist arrivals in the country have been growing at an average of 8-9 per cent. With tourism occupying a 12.36 per cent employment share and a 6.88 per cent contribution to GDP, Zutshi stated that the core infrastructure – road, rail, air, and waterways, needs new additions as well as renovation.

The Ministry of Tourism has confirmed that they are looking to extend the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) facilities to 36 other countries, among which Italy is one of the key countries. “The e-Tourist Visa has been the biggest game-changer for the industry,” commented Suman Billa, Joint Secretary-Tourism, Government of India. “Initially, we began with a handful of countries which were our eight major source countries. We now stand at 150 countries and are looking to expand the list. Most of our most important source countries have already been included but Italy is one of the other major markets that will receive this facility after approval.” During January-June 2016, a total of 4,71,909 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 1,26,214 during January-June 2015, registering a growth of 273.9 per cent. A total of 36,982 tourists arrived in June 2016 on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 15,557 during the month of June 2015 registering a growth of 137.7 per cent.

Ministry of Tourism is pushing for medical e-visa for attendants who will accompany patients travelling to India for medical purposes, revealed Suman Billa, Joint Secretary-Tourism, Government of India. “There are several aspects that are being looked into to develop medical tourism facilities in the country. Currently, the patient has to report to the FRRO within 15 days of entering the country. However, we are trying to empower the hospital to file the FRRO clearance for the patient.” Billa added that MOT is also trying to simplify the requirement of providing medical certificates from local doctors – a mandate applied for several African nationalities who travel to India for medical purposes.

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 25 projects under the Swadesh Darshan scheme worth Rs. 2048 crore so far to 21 States and Union Territories since its launch of in January 2015. These States and UTs include Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura. For northeastern states, the Ministry has sanctioned 9 projects worth Rs. 821 crores covering all the 8 states. For Tribal areas, the Ministry has sanctioned 3 projects for Rs. 282 crores to Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. For Buddhist Circuit, the Ministry has sanctioned 2 projects worth Rs. 108.11 crore to Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. The Ministry of Tourism has launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014-15 with an objective to develop theme based tourist circuits in the country on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner by synergizing efforts to focus on needs and concerns of all stakeholders to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities. Under this scheme, 13 Thematic Circuits have been identified, for development namely: North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) is all set to hold Bharat Parva from Aug 12-18 in line with the Independence Day celebrations. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India, revealed, “We are hosting a Bharat Parva at the India Gate Rajpath Lawns and it is part of the India Independence Day Celebration from August 12-18.  The Tourism Ministry will organise the same and we are going to bring in lots of attractions for the people. The idea is to create a festive and patriotic mood and involve people. We will have state pavilions and they are very excited about the same. The festival will have cuisines, food court, handicrafts and cultural programmes from all states on all the days. We’ve also involved local, state and regional associations based in Delhi for the festival as well.”

The Ministry of Tourism conducted a joint discussion on July 22 with travel and hospitality associations to seek inputs and suggestions regarding the upcoming Incredible India Tourism Investor’s Summit, to be held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, from September 21-23, 2016. Representatives of IATO, ADTOI, FAITH, PATA India Chapter, WTTC- India initiative, ITTA, ICPB, EIS, IHHA, and ESOI were present at the occasion. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India, sought support and suggestions of all the trade bodies for the event. He said, “The Incredible India Tourism Investors Meet is aimed at sensitising everyone. Though we are having a very high and tremendous growth in tourism arrivals, this growth needs a supply chain for better infrastructure. The ministry has decided to create an environment for investment and this is one such event, which will be led by MOT and we have Invest India on board and we have also requested the embassies of various countries. We are going to make it an annual event. We have also decided to make an investment cell which is going to continuously monitor everything about the investments. We seek cooperation of all the hospitality and travel associations and suggestions to get the right investors for the summit, right investment opportunities in the country, and also ways to move forward with the summit.”

Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has approved projects worth Rs. 275 crore for the development of Krishna and Heritage circuit in Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) for the Swadesh Darshan Scheme met under the chairmanship of Vinod Zutshi, Secretary – Tourism where senior officers of MOT and State Governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana participated in the meeting. Under Krishna Circuit in State of Rajasthan, the sites of Shrinath Ji (Nathdwara), Govind Devji (Jaipur), Kanak Vrindavan (Jaipur), Charan Mandir (Jaipur), Galtaji Temple Complex (Jaipur), and Khatu Shyam (Sikar) are covered with total project cost of approximately Rs. 98.00 Crore. Sites located in and around Kurukshetra (Haryana) have been included in Krishna Circuit for State of Haryana. Major thrust areas of development for sites of Jyotisar, Brahma Sarovar, Sannhit Sarovar, Narkatari: Baan Ganga, Amin: Abhimanyu Ka Tila are bathing ghat facilities (lockers, changing rooms, etc.), construction of Mahabharata Theme Park, multi-purpose tourist information centre, among many others. The total project cost for integrated development of Krishna Circuit in Haryana is estimated at Rs. 96.00 Crore. The Heritage circuit of Gujarat focuses on Gandhi theme, covering sites of Ahmedabad (Kochrab Ashram,Sabarmati Ashram,Dandi bridge, ) Rajkot (Alfred High School, Kaba Gandhi no Delo, Rashtriya Shala ), Porbandar (Kirti Mandir), Bardoli (Sardar Patel Museum) and Dandi (Gandhi Smriti railway station,Karadi village,Dandi Memorial). The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 80.00 crore.

India Tourism is the Premier Partner for World Travel Market London 2016, as it looks to promote the diverse tourism product the country offers. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, said, “India is privileged to be Premier Partner of WTM London 2016. The event is the perfect platform to promote the diverse tourism products the country has to offer, from cultural heritage to beaches, cruises, eco-tourism, medical tourism and religious tourism and to showcase that India is truly “Incredible”. “There is an ever-increasing amount of new and exciting products to educate the world’s leading buyers about. WTM London is an event when the Indian tourism stakeholders get to meet the world’s buyers and sign business agreements. The Ministry of Tourism and the Indian exhibitors look forward to a very successful WTM London 2016.”The Indian Government has in the last 18 months invested more than $300 million on developing its tourism infrastructure around the country as it aims for more than 13 million visitors a year by 2020. India is experiencing a 10 per cent annual growth in foreign tourist arrivals this year taking visitor numbers to a projected nine million in 2016. The Ministry of Tourism will be looking to speak to WTM Buyers’ Club members from its key source markets of the USA, UK, China, Australia, France, Germany, Canada and Spain as well as the growing markets of South East Asia, the Middle East and Russia. The key to India’s strategy is also to focus on a variety of products including heritage, cultural, rural, wellness, medical, adventure, and golf. A special focus is being put on coastal and beach tourism, cruise and eco-tourism. The government is developing …