The fund will be used to restore and reconstruct the government tourist facilities
Gearing up to deal with an impending slowdown in tourist arrivals, the tourism ministry is considering waiving off visa fee for foreign travellers.
Arvind Mayaram, who was shunted from Finance Ministry to Tourism only a fortnight ago, has now been transferred as secretary in minority affairs ministry even before he took charge of his new post.
In the wake of rising incidence of crime against tourists, particularly women, the Centre has decided to review safety and security measures with the state governments on January 24. A communication in this regard was sent to all chief secretaries by Tourism Secretary Shilabhadra Banerjee on Thursday, according to an official spokesman.
"Foreign tourist arrivals have increased considerably in the recent years from about 3.46 million in 2004 to 5.08 million in 2007. During January and July 2008, the FTA was around 3.14 million as compared to 2.38 million during the corresponding period of previous year," Prabhakar Dubey, director in the ministry, said at a conference in Shillong. Along with FTAs, the number of domestic tourists have also risen from 366 million in 2004 to 526 million last year.
Centre working on open-ended lease agreement to enablesale of property at the end of the agreement period
The tourism ministry's Incredible India website acquired a business dimension on Wednesday with the launch of an e-commerce platform that will allow firms to conduct a host of travel-related activities.
The proposal for setting up a National Tourism Promotion Board seems to have become unviable with stakeholders showing reluctance in accepting a parallel authority when Department of Tourism was doing the same task.
The total cost includes Rs 44 crore for contingencies and overhead expenses.
India has a shortage of 150,000 rooms and the government hopes this will create additional 7,000 hotel rooms for events like the Commonwealth Games, scheduled in New Delhi in 2010.
The India@60 event seeks to attract the world's attention, particularly that of the global Inc, to India by portraying its strengths -- democracy, diversity and demographics -- which have powered the sub-continent nation's development.
Foreign exchange earnings from tourism has risen by Rs 551 crore (Rs 5.51 billion) in June as compared to the same period last year, officials said.
The inclusion of the Taj Mahal in the new list of the seven wonders of the world has left the government worried about infrastructure requirements in Agra. The tourism ministry has scheduled a high-level meeting in the next couple of days to take sto
Budgets of Rs 25 and Rs 50 crores will be provided to select destinations.
Indian claims to the Ram story and ownership could be challenged from more places than one, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Gujarat tourism department is planning to convert the erstwhile house of Modi's family into a museum, reports Sohini Das.
Coming out strongly in favour of providing visas on arrival to tourists, Planning Commission ceputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday extended all support to the tourism ministry and said both would jointly take it up with the concerned minis
With foreign airlines competing with domestic ones, Indian fliers are in for a treat.
The middle class domestic tourist will soon get his own 'Palace on Wheels,' with the tourism ministry planning to launch a medium-fare tourist train connecting the four southern states of the country.
In yet another secretary-level change, government appointed Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981 Gujarat cadre IAS officer, as the new Financial Services Secretary replacing G S Sandhu.
The Dalimia Bharat group, under the memorandum of understanding, would maintain the monument and build basic infrastructure around it and has committed a sum of Rs 25 crore for the purpose over a period spanning five years.
Foreign tourist arrivals in the country have shown a jump between January and April of this year registering a growth of 18.3 per cent.
Pemba Dorji Sherpa (26) scaled the world's highest peak in eight hours 10 minutes, breaking the record set by Lakpa Gelu Sherpa (36) of 10 hours 46 minutes in May 2003.
Singh was among the many MPs who attended a breakfast meeting hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind on March 18 as well as a Parliamentary panel meeting on transport, tourism and culture attended by around 20 MPs on Wednesday. Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien said in a tweet, 'This government is putting us all at risk. The PM says self-isolate yourself but Parliament is on.'
The objective of the entire programme will be to promote Ayodhya, the birth place of Lord Rama, as a tourist destination.
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Relaxation in visa regime with introduction of visa-on-arrival enabling electronic travel authorisation (ETA) for 43 countries was a high point for the Tourism Ministry in 2014.
The rise of domestic leisure travel, helped by rising income levels, is helping the industry offset the sluggishness in business from foreign visitors
Subash Paul, who had fallen sick and was being taken down to safety, lost his life on Sunday night while being rescued to lower camps from near the summit point.
India charges $100 as visa fee while other countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives charge only $25.
The final decision was supposed to be taken this month, however, it has been postponed.
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