Category Archives: MOT

The Ministry of Tourism plans to introduce facilitation centers at six major airports for international patients coming to India for treatment. The first centre will open at the Mumbai airport in October. The purpose of these centers is to allow patients and their relatives, smooth passage for the treatment in the country without being approached by touts and these centers will be operational 24×7, throughout the year. The Ministry has sought help from the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations. “Mumbai will be a pilot project. Depending on how it works out, centers will come up in Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad,” said Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, President, IMA and member of the ministry’s medical tourism board. Aggarwal further informed that the centers will have trained personnel who will guide patients and their relatives if they have already short-listed a hospital and will provide information about accredited hospitals in case they are yet to short-list one. “Often, when some of the patients land up undecided, they are misguided by touts. Through the centre, we can eventually eliminate the touts and avoid these patients from landing up at some quack,” said IMA member Dr. Jayesh Lele, adding that the centre will come up right after the customs clearance. The ministry also plans to have a telephone link at the counter to the Incredible India info helpline for assistance while dealing with persons in need of language services. Source: The Hindu

Ravneet Kaur, has been appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC). Before this, Kaur was Joint Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. She is from the 1988 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre and has now been promoted to Additional Secretary level.

According to data provided by Ministry of Home Affairs, the number of medical visas issued by India in 2016 rose by 45 per cent over 2015. India issued more than 1.78 lakh medical visas in 2016, including for follow up treatment, as against 1.22 lakh in 2015, according to the data. A Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report titled “India Services Sector—A Multi-trillion Dollar Opportunity for Global Symbiotic Growth 2017” stated that the presence of world-class hospitals and skilled medical professionals has strengthened India’s position as a preferred destination for medical tourism. Treatment for major surgeries in India costs only a fraction—in some cases as low as 10 per cent of that in developed countries. “Majority of the patients coming to India for treatment are from the Middle East, Africa, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Maldives, Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. India’s cost advantage will significantly open doors to the US and Europe over future, due to lower cost than the US and almost half that of Europe.” Dental tourism accounts for 10 per cent of the medical tourism and the government is keen to promote it. “India provides competitive cost advantage at one tenth of the cost of the US and Europe. By 2020, medical tourism industry of India is expected to touch $8 billion,” the report said. Source: Livemint

During the month of June 2017 total of 0.67 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 0.37 lakh during the month of June 2016, registering a growth of 81.7 per cent. During January-June 2017, a total of 7.17 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 4.72 lakh during January-June 2016, registering a growth of 52 per cent. The percentage shares of top 15 source countries availing e- Tourist Visa facilities during June, 2017 were: USA (17.7%), UK (10.8%), China (6.8%), Australia (5.2%), Singapore (5.1%), Korea (Rep.of) (4.5%), France (4.3%), Germany (3.9%), Canada (3.4%), Malaysia (2.6%), Spain (2.2%), South Africa (1.7%), Thailand (1.6%), Netherlands (1.5%) and Italy (1.4%). The percentage shares of top 15 ports in tourist arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during June, 2017 were as follows: New Delhi Airport (42.4%), Mumbai Airport (20.6%), Chennai Airport (10.0%), Bengaluru Airport (9.2%), Kochi Airport (3.7%), Hyderabad Airport (3.3%), Kolkata Airport (2.8%), Tirchy Airport (1.8%), Ahmadabad Airport (1.4%), Trivandrum Airport (1.3%), Amritsar Airport (0.9%), Cochin Seaport( 0.7%), Dabolim (Goa) Airport (0.5%), Pune Airport(0.3%) and Jaipur Airport (0.3%).

Foreign Tourist Arrivals during the period January-June 2017 were 48.85 lakh with a growth of 17.2 per cent, as compared to the FTAs of 41.69 lakh with a growth of 8.4 per cent in January-June 2016 over January-June 2015. The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during June 2017 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (29.23%) followed by USA (19.70%), UK (6.14%), Malaysia (3.82%), Australia (2.56%), China (2.52%), Singapore (2.31%), Sri Lanka (2.24%), Japan (2.21%), Canada (2.19%), France (1.96%), Germany (1.92%), Nepal (1.84%), Republic of Korea (1.50%) and Afghanistan (0.98%). The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during June 2017 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (22.16%) followed by Haridaspur Land Check Post (17.06%), Mumbai Airport (14.98%), Chennai Airport (9.06%), Bengaluru Airport (6.72%), Kolkata Airport (4.82%), Hyderabad Airport (4.37%), Cochin Airport (3.57%), Gede Rail Land Check Post (3.09%),Ghojadanga Land Check Post (2.08%), Tiruchirapalli Airport (1.93%), Ahmadabad Airport (1.60%), Trivandrum Airport (1.35%), Hilli Land Check Post (0.94%) and Changrabandha Land Check Post (0.86%).

Ministry of Civil Aviation, hosted the first edition of WINGS 2017 – ‘Sab Uden, Sab Juden”- Expanding Regional Connectivity in New Delhi.  The plenary session was chaired by  P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister of Civil Aviation.  Around 338 delegates from the government and civil aviation sector participated in the event which included key stakeholders from all states, tourism departments and tour operators. The stakeholders interacted amongst themselves in 112 one to one discussions (G2B meetings) with the airlines operators in an attempt to showcase their destinations and routes as viable business market for the airlines. They represented airline consumers to facilitate interaction with various airlines, airport operators, cargo operators and other ecosystem players at a common forum. Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation;Rajiv Nayan Choubey, Secretary, MoCA; B S Bhullar, Director General of Civil Aviation; Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, Airports Authority of India; Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Pratyush Kumar, Chairman, FICCI National Aviation Committee also attended the sessions. 19 states made presentations emphasising the incentives or special packages to the airlines other than the support offered by Government of India under RCS- UDAN. The closed-door event entailed incentives to the airlines operators such as underwriting of seats, reducing the tax on ATF, additional VGF, night parking, concessional electricity and water charges, infrastructural support etc. and routes and airport wise benefits. This event proved to be an ideal platform for states to project themselves as a viable aviation market and showcasing the strength and opportunities in the aviation sector to the potential airlines.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) for hotels will be charged on the rack rates, or declared rates of hotels, which will have a considerable impact on the hotel industry. According to the notification number 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate) New Delhi, dated June 28, 2017, “For accommodation in hotels, inns, guest houses, clubs, campsites or other commercial places meant for residential or lodging purposes, the ‘declared tariff’ will be the basis of tax to be levied.” Declared tariff has been explained as to  include charges for all the amenities provided in a unit of accommodation (given on rent for stay), like furniture, air conditioner, refrigerator or any other amenities, but without excluding any discount offered on the published charges leading to some ambiguity. However, Rashmi Verma, Secretary Tourism, Government of India, had announced in an interactive meeting in Mumbai that the GST rates are on actual invoiced rate and not on published tariff. She also assured to look into any discrepancy or anomaly in the language or wordings of the same.

The number of visits by domestic tourists and foreign tourists has increased by 12.68% and 5.92%, respectively, during 2016 over 2015. The number of domestic tourists rose from 1431.97 million to 1613.55 million with the top states being (in millions), Tamil Nadu (343.81), Uttar Pradesh (211.71) and Andhra Pradesh (153.16). The number of foreign tourist visits in the country rose from 22.33 million to 24.71 million with the top states being (in millions), Tamil Nadu (4.72), Maharashtra (4.67) and Uttar Pradesh (3.16). This data was compiled by the Market Research Division of Ministry of Tourism for various State/Union Territories (UTs) through information given by the Departments of Tourism of each State Government and UT Administrations.

Guidelines for wellness and yoga tourism in India will be released on June 21 on the occasion of International Yoga Day while the policy for medical tourism in India will be announced in three to four weeks subsequently, informed Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism and Culture, Government of India. This was announced during the third meeting of the National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board (NMWTPB) where members of the board discussed ways to improve the structure of the policy and make it more comprehensive. Sharma said, “Medical and wellness tourism plays a major role in overall growth of tourism. India offers some very intricate treatments at one sixth the cost in comparison to many countries; have the best professionals and the most acclaimed paramedical staff. To harness the potential of this segment, we are going to divide the segment in two phases. On June 21 we will release the guidelines for wellness centers, spas and yoga centers for tourism purposes. We have asked the members of the Board for suggestions to prepare a draft Medical Tourism Policy, which will be then reviewed and later released in a matter of three to four weeks. We are also working on a dynamic, interactive web portal which will be one stop shop for medical value travel needs. The purpose is to standardise the rates of various services, provide a list of medical tourism providers and offer a single window system to medical and wellness tourism in a transparent manner.” Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, added that generally medical and wellness tourism are seen as separate entities but the NMWTPB is a landmark committee where …

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on e-Tourist Visa during May 2017 were 0.68 lakh as compared to 0.44 lakh during the month of May 2016 registering a growth of 55.3 per cent. During January-May 2017, a total of 6.50 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 4.35 lakh during January-May 2016, registering a growth of 49.4 per cent. The percentage shares of top 15 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facilities during  May, 2017 were as follows: USA (15.1%), UK (13.1%), China (8.4%), Germany (4.3%), Australia (4.1%), France (4.0%), Canada (3.9%), Korea (3.4%), Singapore (2.8%), Malaysia (2.5%), Russian Fed (2.2%), Spain (2.1%), UAE (2.0%), Thailand (1.9%), and South Africa (1.6%). The percentage shares of top 15 ports in tourist arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during May, 2017 were as follows: New Delhi Airport (45.1%), Mumbai Airport (21.4%), Bengaluru Airport (8.6%), Chennai Airport (7.8%), Kochi Airport (3.6%), Hyderabad Airport (2.8%), Kolkata Airport (2.5%), Dabolim (Goa) Airport (1.9%), Ahmedabad Airport (1.4%), Amritsar Airport (1.2%), Tirchy Airport (1.1%), Trivandrum Airport (1.1%), Jaipur Airport (0.4%), Calicut Airport (0.4%)and Pune Airport(0.3%).