Category Archives: MOT

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India participated in FITUR from the 18th to 22nd of January in Madrid which is one of the world’s largest international travel exhibitions. In cognizance of the situation after the pandemic, This participation is significant to step up the recovery of inbound tourism to pre-pandemic levels. The Ministry of Tourism took a space of 253 sq. meters, with over 30 participants co-exhibiting with the India Pavilion to participate in the Exhibition. The India Pavilion was graced by the presence of the King and Queen of Spain and was formally inaugurated by His Excellency, Mr Dinesh K. Patnaik, Dr Abhay Sinha, DG SEPC, Indian Ambassador to Spain, Mr Mohammed Riyas, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Kerala, and Mr Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. The Inauguration of the India Pavilion was done with Ribbon Cutting followed by Indian cultural performances and Yoga sessions. After the inauguration, the Indian delegation and participants went around the India Pavilion and booths of various participating states and tour operators. The participation was coordinated by Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC). During the day, Incredible India organized various Culture Performances, Yoga Sessions, Mehndi and Bollywood Dance Performances. The Indian Delegation led by Mr Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism participated in key business meetings with senior leadership from Melia Hotels International, Palladium Hotel Group, Expedia Group, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Cushman & Wakefield, and the Indo-Spanish Chambers of Commerce. These meetings facilitated by the dedicated Industry Development & Investment Promotion (IDIP) Division at the Ministry of Tourism managed by Invest India, had discussions around investment opportunities in the Indian tourism & hospitality sector. …

Sunaina Mehta, Joint director, Tourism, J&K, has said that, “We are looking forward that more investments take place as we are in the process of  outsourcing the assets and we look forward that better players come forward for PPP, so that some better avenues are also generated for earning livelihood for the youth of J&K and at the same time explore the potential at various destinations.”

The MoT has issued fresh guidelines for recognition of tourism service providers. Based on te requests from stakeholders, the MoT will now consider turiner of 2019-20 applicable till Dec 2023. The minimum annual turnover required for this was Rs 20 lakh.

The Centre will organise the country’s first Global Tourism Summit on April 10-12, in New Delhi as part of India’s G-20 presidency. Tourism Ministry officials from various northern region states emphasised how G20 will be the Centre’s main area to establish India as a key tourism destination, during its year-long leadership. Arun Srivastava, Deputy Director General, Publicity, Ministry of Tourism, said: “The summit is being organised to showcase various opportunities for investment and trade in the sector, especially in the hospitality sector. This will allow global visitors to explore Indian tourism products and services that will provide an opportunity to the local players to cater to the global demand and compete in this sector.”

G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism, said, “Without connectivity, there cannot be any investment or development, which is why connectivity is the key to the country’s growth. India is the only nation that builds 30 km of national highway every day, thus creating continuous connectivity.”  

Ministry of Tourism is organizing roadshows across the country to draw investors ahead of the Global Tourism Investors Summit 2023. Roadshow have already been organised in Bengaluru & Kolkata and are due to happen in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Guwahati on 17, 19 and 20 January 2023.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism has said, “We have supported the UDAN scheme in several tourism routes and will continue to do so. The scheme has gained attraction and it has helped to provide connectivity and access to remote areas to smaller airports and airports which were never heard of.”

The Ministry’s new scheme ‘PM’s Development Initiative for the NER – PMDevINE – with an outlay of Rs 6,600 cr has been approved earlier in Oct 2022 separately under which larger and high impact proposals under infrastructure, social development and livelihood sectors are taken, says G. Kishan Reddy, Minister, DoNER. Scheme will transform the North-Eastern Region and boost socio-economic empowerment and enable livelihood opportunities.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, MoT said that the government wants to focus on green growth, sustainable development, and penetration of digital initiatives in tourism. “Our penetration in tourism is not so much and that is one of the areas where we rank low in our global rankings”, he said.