Tag Archives: Ministry of Tourism

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 …

The Ministry of Culture has offered a total of 116 ASI monuments to the Ministry of Tourism (MOT), which would then be open to PPP model, it was revealed by Rashmi Verma, Secretary of Tourism, in a meeting with FAITH recently. Under the PPP model, these monuments will be taken over by private players for the upkeep, maintenance and to be illuminated for night tourism as well.

Karnataka Tourism is planning to intensify its 2017 campaign ‘The Year of the Wild’ by installing intelligent displays at 279 railway stations, which will enable it to reach 10 crore people a month. The campaign is running across 7 states including Maharashtra, Telangana, Bihar, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka. This has been made possible as Karnataka Tourism has entered into collaboration with outdoor media company, Vyoma Technologies. From eco-trekking along the scenic Western Ghats, to celebrating the iconic Golden Chariot, tourism in Karnataka is definitely on the uptake, recording a 15.5% growth in tourism in 2016 as recorded by the Ministry of Tourism.

During the month of April 2017, total of 1.14 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 0.7 lakh during the month of April 2016, registering a growth of 63.4 per cent. The January-April 2017 period saw a total of 5.82 lakh tourists who availed e-Tourist Visa as compared to 3.91 lakh during January-April 2016, registering a growth of 48.8 per cent. Tourists from UK (21.6%) availed the most number of eTVs, followed by USA (10.2%), China (6.1%), Russian Fed (6.1%) and France (5.1%). The top five ports in tourist arrivals on e-TV during April, 2017 were New Delhi Airport (48.6%), Mumbai Airport (20.4%), Dabolim (Goa) Airport (7.2%), Bengaluru Airport (5.4%) and Chennai Airport (5.1%). The number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in April 2017 were 7.40 lakh as compared to FTAs of 5.99 lakh in April 2016 with a growth rate of 23.5 per cent. FTAs during the period January- April 2017 were 35.85 lakh with a growth of 15.4 per cent, as compared to the FTAs of 31.08 lakh with a growth rate of 10.1 per cent. The percentage share of FTAs in India during April 2017 among the top five source countries was highest from Bangladesh (23.07%) followed by USA (10.65%), UK (10.51%), Germany (3.28%) and Australia (3.15%), while the percentage share among the top five ports was highest at Delhi Airport (29.20%) followed by Mumbai Airport (15.48%), Haridaspur Land checkpost (12.88%), Chennai Airport (6.56%) and Bengaluru Airport (5.67%).

Rashmi Verma (IAS), of 1982 batch from Bihar Cadre, has joined as the new Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Before this, Verma was serving as the Secretary in Ministry of Textiles. Not new to tourism, she has previously served as the Chairman & MD of Bihar Tourism Department as well as Additional Director in Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. She will be replacing N. K. Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, who had taken up the additional charge as Secretary Tourism after Vinod Zutshi retired from the position.

India has been participating at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) since its inception 24 years ago and this year is no different. Speaking at a media briefing held at ATM 2017, HE Vipul, Consul General of India, Dubai said, “We have 54 participants in total from India who are here at ATM including goverment agencies like IRCTC, ITDC, as well as a number of private tour operators. Two state governments Jammu & Kashmir and Kerala have put up stalls while officials from Madhya Pradesh are also participating. The theme this year is yoga and wellness and Dubai particularly has embraced yoga in a big way. There has been a consistent and positive growth from this region to India over the last 3 years with 2016 having registered an overall growth of around 17 per cent over the previous year. India is today the biggest source of tourist arrivals in UAE with the numbers increasing every year and with the simplification in e-Tourist Visa and introduction of e-business and e-medical visa, we expect more tourists to travel to India.” Gyan Bhushan, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, highlighted the country’s growing tourism figures, and said, “India registered a growth of 10.6 per cent in 2016, which is higher than the global average of about 4.3 per cent. It is an all round destination and offers diversity throughout the year since we have the Himalayas, the desert, beaches, plains and much more. Our focus on health & medical tourism, wellness, cruise tourism, among others has grown as well since these are booming sectors.” Saket Saran, Country Head, Air India, reiterated the fact that traffic has been strong between Dubai and India and said, “The …

The Great Indian Travel Bazaar opened with 275 foreign buyers and 288 exhibitors at The Lalit Jaipur on April 23. The inbound show committed to boost tourism in India and in Rajasthan was inaugurated by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, and Krishnendra Kaur, Tourism, Art and Culture Minister, Government of Rajasthan, Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, Tourism Committee FICCI, Nihal Chand Goel, Additional Chief Secretary (Tourism, Art & Culture), Bhim Singh, President, Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan, and Rahul Chakravarty, Senior Director and Head-Tourism, FICCI. Addressing the show, Billa said, India is truly on a growth path. We have grown at a rapid pace of 11 per cent in 2016 and since January to date we have grown at a staggering rate of 16 per cent, there is nothing in the market to suggest that it will slow down. Domestic tourism forms a key part of Indian tourism. Last year we had 1.7 billion domestic travellers and we are growing at 8-9 per cent Y-o-Y. Admittedly we are growing on a narrow base but the potential of tourism in India is immense. All of you here are at the right place to lay the seeds for what will become a great engagement for a market that has huge potential. He also informed that accordingly to the World Economic Forum report, India improved its tourism competitiveness by 25 places over three years and tourism is the government’s main agenda.

Crystal Sarovar Premiere Agra has been certified as a 5-star hotel by the Ministry of Tourism. The 112 keys hotel has received the certification for a period of five years till the year 2022. Speaking on the recognition, Ajay K. Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels Pvt. Ltd., says, “This certification reinforces our strengthening position in the leisure markets. Agra holds a high significance in the tourism map and we are glad to be able to offer the best of our signature Sarovar hospitality in this city.” Commenting on this acknowledgment, Vivek Mahajan, General Manager, Crystal Sarovar Premiere Agra, says, “We are delighted to be certified with 5 – Star ratings for Crystal Sarovar Premiere. We have been delivering a premier full-service and upscale hotel experience to guests visiting one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Crystal Sarovar Premiere will continue to set new standards by offering unmatched hospitality services to the guest at attractive price points”.

To leverage tourism sector in Assam, the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned funds to the tune of Rs 98.35 crores for a Heritage Circuit in the state. This was announced by Mahesh Sharma, Tourism Minister, Government of India. This amount which has been sanctioned for development of the Tezpur, Majuli and Sivasagar circuit under the scheme of Swadesh Darshan includes development of a composite tourist infrastructure in Majuli, comprising of an interpretation centre near Kamalabari ghat, log huts, watch towers, cafeteria, elevated walkway, solar illumination and landscaping worth Rs. 61.26 crores, development of Ranghar, Joy Sagar and Talatal Ghar in Sivasagar and development of Kanaklata Udyan and Bamuni Hills in Tezpur. Also, the Tourism Ministry has decided to transfer the rights of Brahmaputra Ashok Hotel, currently managed by ITDC, to Government of Assam. All necessary modalities to formalize the transfer of rights will be executed within next 15 days. An amount of Rs. 2 crore was also sanctioned by MoT for the Namami Brahmaputra festival organized for the first time by the Government of Assam to glorify the river Brahmaputra as well as to promote tourism, economy and civilization of the state at global arena. Source: Economic Times

The Ministry of Tourism will host the Grand Finale of “Smart India Hackathon” on April 1-2, 2017, in Kochi, Kerala, featuring 53 teams comprising of 230 students from technology institution/engineering colleges across the country. The Smart India Hackathon is being held across 26 cities in the country including Kochi with the involvement and support of 29 government departments. This Hackathon is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resources Development organised in collaboration with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and i4c and is aimed to help institutionalise the model of harnessing the creativity and technical expertise of youth in technical institutions. The Hackathon for Tourism sector, to be held at the Mar Baselios Institute of Technology and Science [MBITS], Kothmangalam, Cochin, will focus on the use of technology to solve problem statements pertaining to Tourism Sector posed by Ministry of Tourism such as Safety & Security of Tourist, Path breaking technological solutions that would catapult India as a leading tourist destination, Museum Commentary etc. The problem statements pertaining to tourism sector were given directly by the Ministry of Tourism based on the industry requirements which will be used to challenge the students for developing innovative digital solutions. The newly developed solutions/technical products will be evaluated by experts and prizes shall be distributed for winners, 1st runner up and 2nd runner up. After the event, the Ministry of Tourism will prepare a plan of action for integrating the products/software which has come out this hackathon into the Departmental functioning.