Category Archives: MOT

Rakesh Verma, a 1993-Batch Punjab cadre officer has joined as the new Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism. He has succeeded Suman Billa, who has joined UNWTO as Director, Technical Cooperation & Silk Road Development. Before this appointment, Verma was serving as the Secretary, Technical Education and Industrial Training. He has been appointed for a tenure of five years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He has also held posts like Principal Secretary, Department of Science, Technology & Environment, Government of Punjab; Secretary, Medical Education and Research; Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana, Managing Director of Punjab ICT Corporation (Punjab Infotech), Deputy Commissioner, Patiala and Kapurthala. He has also held the Directorial post at the Department of Technical Education and Transport Department. An alumnus of IIT Delhi, Verma has pursued B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering.  

During the month of December 2019, a total of 3,77,092 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 3,08,430 during the month of December 2018 registering a growth of 22.3%, revealed statistics by Ministry of Tourism (MOT). During January- December 2019, a total of 29,28,303 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 23,69,941 during January- December 2018, registering a growth of 23.6%.

The Sun Temple at Konark, Odisha will soon be included in the list of iconic tourist sites, said the Union Tourism Minister, Prahlad Singh Patel. Last year, the government announced in budget to develop 17 tourism sites across the country under the Iconic Tourist Sites Development Project with a budget of Rs 5000 crore. Leaders and stakeholders from Odisha have since then demanding to include the Sun Temple of Konark in the list. No other destination from the state was included in the list. “The people of Odisha will soon receive the good news about Konark being included in the list of iconic sites. We will organise a special event to announce the inclusion very soon,” said the Minister while addressing at the concluding ceremony of two-day long National Tourism Conference at Konark. He also visited the Sun temple and reviewed the necessary preservation plans with the Archaeological Survey of India officials. Last year, there was a huge hue and cry about Konark not making it to the list announced by the Ministry of Tourism. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had requested the Union Tourism Minister to include at least two tourist places of importance from the state in the list of iconic tourist sites to be developed by the Centre.

The event was inaugurated by Special Secretary & Financial Adviser of Ministry of Tourism, R K Chaturvedi. Director General (Tourism). Meenakshi Sharma, Addl. Director General (Tourism), Rupinder Brar and other senior officials of the Ministry of Tourism were also present during the inauguration. The theme of the event is ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ and ‘Celebrating 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi’. The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has organised Bharat Parv from January 26-31, 2020. Now, an annual affair, the ‘Parv’ will showcase the cuisine and culture of different states of India. Earlier Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General (ADG), Tourism, had said, “We are extremely excited about the upcoming Bharat Parv. The event gets a lot of footfall and attraction from people across the country. We are looking forward to an exuberant response this year, just like the previous ones and we are prepared to showcase the food, arts, culture and also the tableaus that will come from the Republic Day parade.”

In a bid to encourage more footfall at domestic tourism destinations, the Ministry of Tourism has started a unique “Dekho Apna Desh” campaign asking travellers to take a pledge to visit at least 15 different tourism locations in India by the year 2022. The Ministry also said that it will reward tourists, who visit 15 destinations in a year, by funding their expenses. The ministry has planned to back this motivational campaign with some incentives including lucky draws and gifts which may include tickets and travel packages. However, Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has said that the move should not be construed as a monetary benefit, but as an incentive. “The tourism ministry will fund the travel expenses of tourists who visit 15 destinations in the country in a year and submit the photos on our website. Tourists, however, must travel outside their home states to be eligible for contention. We should honour these people as brand ambassadors of Indian Tourism,” he said. To take the pledge, an individual will have to sign up on https://pledge.mygov.in/my-country/. The language for the pledge can be selected between Hindi and English and once the individual recites the pledge, he or she will be given a certificate for the same through email or through mobile text. One can get its printout from the same webpage also.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the period January- December 2019 were 1,08,95,305 as compared to 1,05,57,976 in January- December 2018 registering a growth of 3.2%, reveals recently released statistics by Ministry of Tourism. FTAs in December 2019 were 12,25,672 as compared to 11,91,948 in December 2018 registering a growth of 2.9%.

The Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC), which was rolled out on January 1, 2020, already has 3200 enrolments, reveals Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General (ADG), Ministry of Tourism (MOT), Government of India. She said, “The programme started off really well and there has already been a growing interest of people in joining the programme. Currently, there are about 3200 people who have enrolled for the programme.”

The theme of the Indian delegation at FITUR will be ‘Finding the Incredible You’, revealed Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Tourism. The delegation will be led by Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Tourism. To be held from January 22-26, 2020, FITUR is an important market for India. Speaking about the same, Brar said, “Spain is an important market and is itself one of the top countries visited by Indians. So, these are occasions also for us to learn best practices of other counties that come into these events. We look forward to that. As far as showcasing India is concerned, the theme remains ‘Finding the Incredible You’. The idea behind the campaign is that there is so much within us that is not exposed and India is a place that allows you to visit the places and also discover yourself. I am sure that there is so much of spirituality and mysticism attached to India, along with the modernity that is a part of our lives now, we have a unique quality as a country. We are lapping up all the modern technologies, being a cutting edge nation and yet we are carrying along with it all our traditions that are coming to us from thousands of years. That is the USP of our country, and we are looking forward to showcasing that in FITUR also. The Indian delegation is being led by Secretary, Tourism, and he shall be accompanied by the officers of the departments, and the officers that are in Europe will also be part of the delegation.”

Kutni Island Resort near Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, has been inaugurated by Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism, on January 18, 2020, reveals Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General (ADG), Tourism. Sharing details of the project, she said, “One of the most exciting projects that have been launched recently is the Kutni Island Resort, which is around 12 km from Khajuraho, using the fully-funded Swadesh darshan scheme of MOT. This project has been completed in 2.5 years and it’s on a reservoir made on the river that passes through Khajuraho. There are 10 double rooms. It’s a beautiful facility that has been created, and only takes about 25 odd minutes to get there. We want to encourage everybody to go there.”

FTAs from India’s top 10 markets increased at a CAGR of 5.5% during 2008–2018, reveals CAPA India. China’s rank improved to 7th in 2018 from 10th in 2017.  FTAs from Russia registered the highest CAGR of 11.2% during the last 10 years, followed by China (11.2%), Malaysia (10.7%) and Australia (9.0%). In 2018, Sri Lanka (16.5%) and c(14.0%) were the only two source markets (amongst the top 10) that saw double-digit year-on-year growth.