Category Archives: MOT

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Tourism & Culture (I/C), has told the parliament that there has been a massive loss of revenue, foreign exchange and jobs in tourism owing to the pandemic. “Several rounds of discussions and brainstorming sessions with industry stakeholders indicate massive loss of revenue and jobs. In view of the highly unorganised nature of the tourism sector, the impact in numerical terms can only be ascertained in due course,” he told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Tourism & Culture (I/C), has announced that they will be launching NIDHI- National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry on September 27, 2020, i.e. World Tourism Day. MOT is also working on another platform, SAATHI – System for Assessment, Awareness and Training for Hospitality Industry. Both these platforms come in line with the brainstorming sessions that MOT had with industry stakeholders. In his Tweet, Patel said, “NIDHI will be a source of information for the country and the world. MOT had 1600 hotels registered with it; after the discussion with stakeholders, this figure has reached 21,000.”

Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel along with MOT officials met legendary cricketer and Padma Bhushan awardee Kapil Dev to discuss the promotion of tourism, especially golf tourism in India.   .  

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, has said that it has emerged from her discussions with industry stakeholders that the most significant enabler in the times to come is the safety factor and that there is need for harmonisation of quarantine rules across states. “People have to feel safe to travel, which means safety protocols need to be in place, but equally important is to create the perception of safety, for which, the Government, associations, industry and citizens should work together. In order to create ease of travel, we also need to create harmonisation around the rules within different states, owing to local conditions,” she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech on Independence Day, has said that as part of development work in Ladakh, work is going on towards starting new courses for hotel and management in the Union Territory. “Nestled in the heights of the Himalayas, Ladakh is progressing towards new heights. Work is going on for a central university, setting up new research centres, new courses for hotel and management. Plan is also under way for the creation of 7,500 MW Solar Park. Ladakh has several specialties. Not only do we have to preserve them, we must nurture them as well. As Sikkim has made its mark as an Organic State in the northeast, Ladakh, Leh and Kargil can also create their own niche as a Carbon Neutral unit. Indian government has joined hands with the locals of the region to create a new model of development as per their own requirements.

In an exclusive interaction with TravTalk, PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, said that during their meeting with the Tourism Minister, he suggested that MOT bring out a comprehensive study on domestic tourism so that trade members are aware about hotels, transporters, communication and infrastructure in a particular state, to help avoid chaos and confusion.

PATA India Chapter requested the Minister of Tourism that since all states have different SOPs and quarantine rules, there is a need to develop on the One Country One Rule concept. Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India Chapter said, “The MOT website should be one point of authentic information for tourists, and if there are any changes, they should first be intimated to MOT, who can update its website accordingly before they are put into the public domain. We also told them that tourism is a perishable commodity, and if the moment is gone, the opportunity is gone, and the result is that you lose revenues which will never come back. Therefore, it’s important for related ministries to understand that and work together with MOT as one. Another point we made was that there are over 50 NTOs that are jostling for the attention of FTOs, so we should focus on FTOs, work hand-in-glove with them for promotions and incentives and if we do that =, our returns will be better. In advertising, we should focus on travel trade media rather than mainstream media, because the rate of response to travel trade media will be much higher than that in mainstream media. On domestic tourism, there should be commonality of rules and regulations between states, and they should provide relief to people who go on domestic holidays. Instead of twice in a block of 4 years, they should make it every year.”

Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that the tourism minister will be starting series of next round of discussions to further discuss the preparedness to deal with COVID-199 from 10th August. There will be layers of discussions with a common goal for the ministry and the stakeholders to work together, she said.

Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has virtually inaugurated the “Thenzawl Golf Resort” Project implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in the presence of Tourism Minister of Mizoram, Robert RomawiaRoyte and other officials. The competitive advantage of Thenzawl Golf Course with 30 Eco-log huts is that it will provide quality golfing experience and international facilities at a fair price.

Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that there is a great opportunity to boost domestic tourism or regional tourism by creating synergy between neighbouring states, since most of the people today feel safer while opting for self-drive holidays instead of travelling by air or train. She also said that safety and hygiene will be priorities for tourists because they will travel to destinations only if they are assured that the place they are visiting, eating at and staying in is safe.