Category Archives: MOT

The India pavilion at World Travel Market 2018 in London was packed with activities for the trade and consumers alike. Addressing a press conference, Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, enlisted the achievements of the Ministry. Accompanying Verma were Pramod Kumar Singh, Tourism Minister, Bihar; Vellamandi N Natarajan, Tourism Minister, Tamil Nadu; Aashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism and Charanjeet Singh, Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK. Verma highlighted, “Last year has been a very good year for India tourism with a growth of about 14 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals and about 19 per cent in terms of foreign receipts, much more than the global growth of 6.8 per cent. We also crossed the 10 million mark for the first time. This was possible because of our adoption of the multi-pronged strategy. We focus hugely on creating world-class infrastructure in and around our tourist sites.” She pointed out, “Incredible India 2.0 campaign is more thematic in nature. Looking at the needs and demands of major markets like the US and the UK, we have made some thematic films on niche products like adventure, yoga, Ayurveda, etc. This campaign focuses heavily on social media besides print and electronic media. We are hopeful that through this new Incredible India campaign we will be able to encourage people to revisit india, stay longer and experience the various products we have on offer.” The MOT also recently concluded two new events — India Tourism Mart (ITM) and Paryatan Parv —to create awareness about India both internationally and domestically. “More than 250 foreign buyers participated at the first-ever ITM. Buddhist Conclave was also held to showcase various Buddhist destinations in India.” The key initiative of introduction …

India has witnessed a total of 51,63,343 Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in 2018, a growth of 7.9% compared to 2017, reveals a latest report ‘India Tourism Statistics at a glance 2018’ by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT). Last year, from January to June, the country saw 47,84,847 FTAs. However, in 2016, there were 41,68,864 FTAs during the same months. When compared, an increase of 14.8% was found in FTAs from 2016 to 2017. The report also mentions that in FY2016-17, the months of April and June saw 21.3% increase in the number of FTAs – the maximum in the year. In April 2016, there were 5,92,004 FTAs in the country, whereas 7,17,899 in 2017. The report also highlights that in the current year, March 2018 records the highest percentage (18%), with 10,25,830 FTAs in India.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Korea for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism. The main objectives of the MoU are to expand bilateral cooperation in tourism sector, increase exchange of information and data related to tourism, encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders including hotels and tour operators, establish exchange programmes for cooperation in Human Resources Development, encourage investment in the tourism and hospitality sectors, exchange visits of tour operators/media/opinion makers for promotion of two-way tourism, exchange experience in the areas of promotion, marketing destination development and management, encourage participation in travel fairs/exhibitions in each other’s country and promote safe, honourable and sustainable tourism. India and Korea have enjoyed a strong diplomatic and long economic relationship. The two parties now desiring to strengthen and further develop the established relationship for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism. Korea is one of the leading tourist generating markets for India from East Asia. Signing of the MoU with Korea will be instrumental in increasing arrival from this source market.

CzechTourism has witnessed a significant rise in Indian arrivals over the years having seen a growth of 128 per cent from 2015-2017. In 2017, Czech Republic welcomed 85,680 Indians, a growth of 27 per cent in Indian arrivals over 2016, according to the Czech Republic Authority. The Czech Tourist Authority – CzechTourism – along with the Embassy of the Czech Republic, successfully conducted three-city roadshow in New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai on October 8, 9 and 11, respectively, to promote the Czech Republic’s unique attractions. On the occasion, HE Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India, stated, “With the Indian economy growing at a pace no one has seen before, the number of people visiting other countries is skyrocketing. And, it’s no surprise that the Czech Republic is very high on the list of countries to visit. We’re happy to see this kind of growth and we believe that with events like this roadshow, we’ll be able to connect the right people to ensure that every holiday in the Czech Republic will be as smooth and well-organised as possible.” Veronika Janečková, Head of International Markets Management, Czech Tourist Authority – CzechTourism added, “We see India as a promising market; Czech Republic has a lot to offer to the Indian travellers in terms of unexplored destinations and unique experiences. The country hosts a diverse array of natural landscapes that appeal to visitors of every kind – be it architectural lovers or adventure seekers. Through this roadshow, we are able to reach out to new markets and further strengthen our relationship with Indian travel trade partners.”

India has been ranked at the third place in WTTC’s new Power and Performance report, which looks at the performance of 185 countries over the last seven-year period (2011-2017) – after the financial crisis ended and when most countries commenced their journeys to recovery. At the first position in this list of Top 30 is China followed by USA. The countries have been ranked using WTTC’s annual economic impact data across four main indicators— total contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), visitor exports (international tourism spend), domestic spending and capital investment. Countries were ranked in terms of absolute size of growth and speed of growth to create two separate types of rankings – power and performance rankings. China took the first place, driven by the strongest absolute growth out of all countries in three indicators – GDP growth, domestic spending and investment growth. The USA (with the largest total Travel & Tourism GDP) and India comfortably took the second and third place. Mexico, a well-established Travel & Tourism economy, came fourth, driven by a strong performance across all four indicators.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved agreements between India and Uzbekistan for cooperation in tourism. An MoU was approved by the Cabinet for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism, signed during the Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to India on October 1. The signing of the MoU in the field of tourism will help the two countries in creating an institutional mechanism for enhancing cooperation in the tourism sector. It will also help in increasing foreign tourist arrivals from Uzbekistan to the country. This, in turn, will result in economic development and employment generation. The agreement shall create favourable conditions for long-term tourism cooperation for mutual benefits of all stakeholders within the broader framework and areas of cooperation. In addition, the MoU shall explore to incorporate the best practices to implement the measures that will realise the objectives set out in it. Source: ANI

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated two Swadesh Darshan Scheme projects of the Ministry of Tourism – ‘Development of Kakinada – Hope Island – Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary – Passarlapudi – Aduru – S Yanam – Kotipally and, Development of Nellore- Pulikat Lake – Ubblamadugu Water Falls – Nelapattu -Kothakoduru- Mypadu – Ramateertham – Iskapalli’ in the presence of Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism K J Alphons, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister Bhuma Akhila Priya and Union Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma in Tirupati. The projects are the first projects under the Swadesh Drashan Scheme to be inaugurated in the Southern region. Naidu also inaugurated the state-of-the-art Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) campus, Tirupati. Alphons said that the tourism ministry is one among the major contributors to employment generation in the country and this culinary institute will help in imparting skills to more youth, thereby further generating employment. The project Development of Kakinada – Hope Island – Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary – Passarlapudi – Aduru – S Yanam – Kotipally was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in March 2015 for Rs 69.83 crore. The second project was sanctioned in December 2015 for Rs 59.70 Crores. Nellore has huge potential to be developed as a leading tourist destination in the region because of its proximity to Chennai, Bangalore and Tirupati and also due to its abundant natural resources.    

The Ministry of Tourism has clarified that the Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India from the USA during 2017 have registered a positive growth of 6.17 per cent over 2016. Since 2010, the number of FTAs from the USA in India has never declined. However, it is observed from the report of National Travel & Tourism Office (NTTO), USA, that the outbound tourists from the USA to India have declined by 7 per cent in 2017, as compared to 2016. The figures of outbound travellers in the report are 1,195,000 and 1,111,000 for the years 2016 and 2017, respectively. In the said report released by NTTO, it is also mentioned that traveller volume is based on the US Department of Homeland Security Advanced Passenger Information System wherein all airlines are required to electronically submit passenger data on flights arriving into and departing from the United States. Thus, it is obvious that the source of data for the report is only airlines reporting. In the cases where direct flight between the USA and India is not operating, it is not known whether the final destination is reported as India by the passengers. Moreover, departures at international check posts other than airports are not captured in the report.

The maiden India Tourism Mart (ITM) is being organised from September 16-18, 2018 by the Ministry of Tourism, along with Federation of Associations in Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) at The Ashok, New Delhi. The mart will be formally inaugurated by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways, Coal and Corporate Affairs, in the presence of KJ Alphons, Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Tourism. The mart is being attended by 250 delegates from 60 countries, who also attended the Paryatan Parv at the Rajpath Lawns. The buyers were welcomed at The Ashok by Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH, who met with all the presidents of associations under the FAITH umbrella, as well as the exhibitors. ITM will give an opportunity to the buyers to see world-class tourism facilities available in the country such as airports, hotels, tourist destinations, MiCE facilities, potential in the field of adventure tourism and other niche products.

The Paryatan Parv by the Ministry of Tourism was inaugurated by Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister, in presence of KJ Alphons, Union Minister for Tourism; Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and other dignitaries from participating Central Ministries and State Governments at Rajpath Lawns, New Delhi. This is the second edition of Paryatan Parv — a nation-wide celebration of Tourism, from September 16-27, 2018. Inaugurating the Parv, Singh said that India is the only country where all major religions of the world, diverse culture, customs and cuisines are found, and we should see and experience this Incredible India. The Home Minister added that the Government has ensured ‘ease of travel’ through various steps like simplification of process of e-tourist visa application. The Minister also urged Indians to visit various places in the country and thereby understand its rich and varied culture and heritage, while also enjoying its natural beauty. Speaking at the event, Alphons said that Indians have made 1.8 billion domestic trips in the last year and added that the Ministry is aiming for twice these visits in next 3 years. The Tourism Minister also called upon everyone to see, experience and get transformed by travelling across India.