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Ministry of Tourism starts the process of setting up Incredible India Digital MarketPlace

The Tourism Ministry has started the process of setting up a Digital MarketPlace for Incredible India to engage and promote Indian Tourism through a digital market. The Ministry, through its nodal agency, India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has started the process of shortlisting a private agency for setting up Incredible India Digital Market Place Platform (IIDMPP). ITDC has floated an e-tender to appoint a private agency on a turnkey basis for conceptualisation, designing, developing, upgrading, developing the portal, portal-hosting, and maintaining the IIDMPP. As per the e-tender, the proposed digital India marketplace will provide an online virtual platform to connect with, engage, educate and enlighten the travel fraternity in various source markets across the world about the potential of India as a tourist destination in the area of leisure, MICE, medical, adventure, golf, wildlife, rural tourism, culinary experience, etc., in predefined international markets. Besides these, the platform has to provide services like interacting and exploring Indian destinations, virtually connecting with Indian destinations, scheduling B2B meetings, promotion of Indian destinations, experiences, and products for inbound tourists from across the world, getting marketing insights from thought leaders in the industry. The senior officials of the Ministry had an elaborate discussion with the trade associations on the proposed platform a couple of months ago. The government has also studied various successful models prevalent and used by various tourism boards overseas in this context. While the platform will help in filling the vacuum being felt in overseas marketing through physical roadshows and campaigns, it is also expected to fill the gap which has been created due to the closure of Indiatourism overseas offices.

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Ahmedabad airport to remain shut for nine hours daily till May 31, 2022

A part of Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport will be closed for nine hours every day from Monday onwards due to planned ‘recarpeting work’ on the runway. At least 52 flights arriving and departing from the airport will be rescheduled during the entire duration. As per the airport officials, the work will begin today and go on till May 31 this year. The resurfacing work will be carried out on all days, barring Sundays and public holidays, from 9 am to 6 pm. The work was supposed to begin in November 2021 but got delayed due to the festive season. Airport officials have taken steps to ensure that minimal revision of flight schedules takes place during this time so that passengers do not face inconvenience. “The work will include runway overlaying, runway strip grading and slope assessment, runway end safety area (RESA) grading and slope assessment, along with storm water drain construction and reinstallation of signages in the maneuvering area,” read a statement issued by an airport spokesperson. “Runway maintenance closures are mandatory procedures in line with international safety standards to ensure aircraft safety and increase runway life,” it added. Meanwhile, Gujarat registered 10,150 fresh coronavirus positive cases on Sunday, raising the state tally to 9,26,240, the health department stated. There were eight Covid-19 fatalities, one of the highest tolls in a single day in recent months. With this, the death toll climbed to 10,159 in Gujarat including two each in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar and one death each was reported from Vadodara and Tapi districts, the state bulletin read.

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Thailand mulls resuming quarantine waiver for foreign visitors

Thailand is considering bringing back a quarantine waiver for vaccinated visitors, its Health Minister said on Monday, as part of a proposed easing of some Covid-19 measures later this week. Thailand reopened to vaccinated foreign visitors in November to help a vital tourism industry that collapsed during nearly 18 months of strict entry policies. It saw about 200,000 arrivals last year, compared to nearly 40 million in 2019. The 'Test and Go' policy, which allows visitors to skip the mandatory quarantine if they test negative on arrival, was suspended late in December over concerns about the spread of the Omicron Coronavirus variant. "We will propose measures that can be done safely and are medically sound," Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told Reuters. "If approved it can start by February 1," he said of the quarantine waiver. Thailand recorded 6,929 new Covid-19 infections and 13 deaths on Monday. More than 2.3 million people have been infected overall, with 22,000 deaths.

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Delhi's Lodhi Garden, three other parks to be upgraded, NDMC says

Four major gardens in New Delhi - Nehru Park, Lodhi Garden, Talkatora Garden and Sanjay Jheel - will be upgraded with world-class facilities with smart lighting, nursery and walking tracks, etc, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) said on Monday. "NDMC takes pride in its gardens and intends to now further develop them in a manner befitting their location. It is proposed in this year's budget to get all the designs finalised by engaging a consultant under NDMC Smart City Projects for four major gardens. The consultant for the project would be appointed," NDMC vice chairman Satish Upadhyay said. Upadhyay said some of these tasks are already being implemented on a pilot basis at Nehru Park. "NDMC is developing a cycle track around Nehru Park for fitness freaks. After the 2.7 km 'Synthetic Rubber Track' at Nehru Park received encouraging feedback from visitors, a similar track will be laid on a 2 km stretch at Sanjay Jheel-Laxmi Bai Nagar. "The idea is to give visitors a better walking experience," he said. Smart irrigation through drip and sprinklers, manicured lawns, enhanced lighting in parks through smart lighting, improved walking tracks, aesthetic boundary wall railing in uniform pattern, upgraded bonsai and bamboo garden, provision for bird feeding and drinking water facility will be among the facilities made available at the parks.

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Maharashtra: Central Railway's vistadome coaches see impressive response

The Vistadome coaches on Central Railway have received an overwhelming response from passengers, its officials have claimed. “Whether it is the breathtaking views of the valleys, rivers and waterfalls along the Mumbai-Goa route or the spectacular views of the Western Ghats along the Mumbai-Pune route, these coaches with glass tops and wide window panes have proved to be a hit,” a railway official said. The Central Railway has registered an occupancy of 20,407 passengers registering revenue of INR 2.38 crore between October to December 2021 through these coaches. “The CSMT-Madgaon-CSMT Janshatabdi Express is the foremost with an occupancy of 100 per cent i.e., 7,754 passengers registering a revenue of INR 1.40 crore. The CSMT-Pune-CSMT Deccan Express is close behind with an occupancy of 90.43 per cent i.e., 7,185 passengers and a revenue of INR 50.96 lakh, followed by the Deccan Queen with 5,468 passengers and a revenue of INR 46.30 lakhs. The Deccan Queen is more popular in the Up direction i.e., from Pune to Mumbai with an occupancy of 94.28 per cent,” the official added. The Vistadome coaches were first introduced in the Mumbai-Madgaon Janshatabdi Express in 2018. The immense popularity of these coaches led to the introduction of these coaches in the Mumbai-Pune Deccan Express with effect from June 26 last year. Due to the huge demand from the passengers, the second Vistadome coach on Mumbai-Pune route was attached to Deccan Queen from August 15 last year. “The unique Vistadome coaches, apart from having a glass rooftop, has a number of extra-ordinary features like wide window panes, LED lights, rotatable seats and pushback chairs, GPS based info system, multiple television screens, electrically operated automatic sliding compartment doors, toilets with ceramic tile flooring and the viewing gallery. The Vistadome coach in the Deccan Queen has been refurbished and decorated by Matunga workshop of Central Railway. The Vistadome coaches have boosted tourism and have revolutionised the concept of luxury travel on Indian Railways,” the CR official pointed out.

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India’s tourism gets a huge push at Expo 2020 Dubai

Dubai: India’s Tourism Fortnight at EXPO2020 Dubai concluded yesterday with the sector highlighting the country’s core strengths across different areas of tourism including medical, luxury, adventure, sustainability and MICE. Inaugurated on January 3 by Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, the inaugural session highlighted the new policy framework by the Ministry of Tourism and unveiled five missions that will boost growth in the sector. The Tourism Sector Floor at the India Pavilion showcased the various facets highlighting India as a tourism destination and the growth potential across different kinds of tourism. The five missions included were National Green Tourism Mission, to mainstream sustainability in the tourism sector; National Digital Tourism Mission, to digitalise the sector; Sectoral Mission on skill development to ensure that the country has the best trained and qualified manpower to maintain high standards of service; National Mission on Destination Management to focus on ensuring synergy and coordination amongst public and private stakeholders and National Mission on Tourism MSMEs to support and facilitate the start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises. The inaugural session was also attended by Hoor Al Khaja, Associate Vice President, International Operations – Department of Economy and Tourism of Dubai, where she talked about India’s importance as a global tourist destination. The Tourism Fortnight comprised various sessions which were presided over by representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and various Indian states including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir among others. Medical tourism The session on medical tourism was crucial in highlighting India’s strengths and the ability of the country to offer both modern and traditional systems of medicines, thereby, providing a holistic healing destination across the world. The session on luxury tourism focused on showcasing the changing face of luxury tourism in India, luxury tourist destinations across the country and initiatives taken by the Government to make travel safe and secure. The session on spiritual tourism highlighted the opportunities and potential for India to become a hub for spiritual and religious tourism, as the country offers vast cultural and religious diversity. The session on MICE tourism was also pivotal in showcasing India’s impressive combination of accommodation and conference support facilities that make the country a successful MICE destination globally. As a part of World Majlis event, Off the Beaten Path - Travel in the 21st Century, held on January 13, Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, talked about the ways in which the tourism sector in India is evolving. Given the growing importance of sustainable tourism, the session on sustainable tourism was crucial to address key challenges for the tourism sector and the ways in which the future of tourism can be shaped by sustainable and responsible policies and action by the governments and private sector. The sessions held during the ‘Tourism Fortnight’ were crucial in showcasing India’s geographical diversity, potential as a tourist destination and highlighting India’s roadmap for the sector.

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