Tourism

Minister of State for Tourism Kumari Selja made the announcement at an International Buddhist Heritage Conference in Nalanda in Bihar.

According to a tourism ministry official, any tourist, domestic or international, can call the helpline for information about a place he or she intends to visit.

"They can also call the number when in distress or in an emergency," she said.

Selja added: "In December 2009, the foreign tourist arrivals in India saw a 21 percent increase over the same period in 2008. The future looks bright. We expect buoyancy to return to the sector soon."

The project, which has been funded by the West Bengal Tourism department along with Central funds, will primarily be run by self-help groups (SHG) thereby, employing local people, state tourism minster Manabendra Mukherjee said here at a CII event.

"We will launch the first rural tourism project on February 26," he said.

Mukherjee said that another similar project at Mukutmanipur in Bankura district will also be opened soon, while work on two more initiatives at Hooghly and Bankura districts are also underway.

For all these ventures, while the state government will prepare the physical infrastructure, SHGs will undertake the daily activities, for which specific soft-skills training will be imparted.

The new rules state that those coming to India on business visas can't work until they get employment visas. There are 1,395 foreigners working on projects for the Defence Ministry and 159 for the Department of Atomic Energy, all on B-visas. So, the Centre will convert all their B-visas into E-visas.

China and Russia had taken up the matter of the new rules with the External Affairs Ministry.

"We are looking at flexibility on government-to-government category projects -- dealing with defence, DAE and nuclear power. Considering the sensitivity and national interest involved, visa conversion needs to be streamlined," a government official said.

As of now, the Home Ministry is expected to complete security vetting for an E-visa applications within 45 days. If this doesn't happen, the Indian missions "may" take it that the ministry has cleared the application and process it. "We need clarity on this," the official said.

Also, the official added, the "surge in projects" necessitates an examination of the old rule that foreigners should not exceed one per cent of the project workforce or a maximum of 20.

Citing the changes made by several countries like US and UK after terror strikes on their soil, senior officials here argued that it should be left to the home ministry to chalk out plans for securing the nation.

Ministry officials pointed out that the government had so far not received any formal complaint from any country, including the US or the UK, after the new visa rules were implemented. Only a few clarifications had been sought by Washington and they have been addressed, they said.

"When some foreign missions based in India sought clarity, we told them that if someone has to worry about tourist arrivals, it is India and not any other nation," said an official.

As per the new visa rules, no tourist having a travel document valid for 180 days would be allowed to return to the country before a cooling-off period of two months.

Source: Times Of India No change in new tourist visa norms: Govt

"Darjeeling is a destination that is almost two centuries old and there is no replacement for it. However, we are trying to bring up other destinations in West Bengal and the number of inbound tourists have been increasing at a rate higher than the national average," state tourism Manab Mukherjee said. Mukherjee said that Dooars, Malda, Murshidabad, Santiniketan as well as the sea beaches in the south of the state were being increasingly frequented by tourists. The state government, through the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC), was also working on a number of cultural festivals to act as promotional vehicles for establishing new tourist destinations.

"Next year, we are going to organise a cultural festival at Bishnupur for showcasing the musical heritage of the region and are also planning to hold a festival at the Hazarduari (Palace) in Murshidabad to promote the culture and crafts of the erstwhile Nawabs of Bengal," Mukherjee said. He was speaking at a press meet for the West Bengal Tourism & Food Festival 2010.

Ganga Heritage Cruise
West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation on Monday said that it would take at least six months for the Rs 130-crore Ganga Heritage River Cruise project in West Bengal to materialise as a re-tendering for private participation in the scheme will be undertaken next month.

"When we originally floated a tender for the (Ganga Heritage) River Cruise project last year, the private firms wanted a change in the proposed equity structure of the PPP (public private partnership) and also wanted a certain amount of land to set-up their onshore facilities. We have agreed to these changes and a new tender will be floated next month," WBTDC Managing Director T V N Rao said.

Indian security agencies are said to have pushed for the break following revelations about the activities of David Headley, the US citizen with alleged links with the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, who was arrested in October.
Investigations have shown that Headley was in and out of India repeatedly using tourist visas for two years before the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai last year, during which he reconnoitered many of the spots attacked by the terrorists on 26/11.

Details of precisely which categories of tourists will be affected, when and how, are not yet clear.

A message from the United States Mission in India to American citizens in the country on Wednesday, said: "The government of India is reviewing its regulations pertaining to the entry of American citizens holding long-term Indian tourist visas. To date, these new regulations are not finalized and are being implemented inconsistently."

"...It is clear that the rules will only affect those who wish to enter India on a tourist visa within two months of their last departure from India," it added.

The state-owned West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC), in an effort to attract high-end travellers both from India and abroad is planning to develop a course for tourists flying into Siliguri who like to mix business with pleasure. It plans to rope in a private partner for the project.

The aim is to launch a new tourism circuit for avid golfers in the next couple of years. To start with, WBTDC will promote Siliguri and the adjoining Dooars belt for this tourism package.

WBTDC managing director TVN Rao said plans are on to promote golf tourism either in Darjeeling or Jalpaiguri. "A boost to tourism will not only benefit the economy, but also draw in corporate bigwigs to the state. This should help attract investment in the long run. If we receive proposals from other districts of North Bengal, they would be evaluated as well," he said.

WBTDC is going to tie up with tea gardens, so that tourists can have the experience of staying in a garden bungalow as well. Officials are aiming to attract golf tourists from Shillong, which continues to be a prime attraction for those keen on wielding the club at a high altitude. "In order to cater to their demands, we thought of adding golf in our package," said Rao.

Source: Times Of India Govt plans tee-off for tea tourism

Kamal Nath, the minister of road transport, has asked the tourism ministry to identify places where such funds would be required for better road connectivity.

"I would like to suggest to the tourism ministry to identify places of tourist importance where roads need to be constructed. We (road ministry) would give Rs 50 crore to state governments from CRF to construct major district roads for better connectivity," Nath said at the World Travel and Tourism Council on Wednesday.

The CRF rules, 2007, allow the central government to provide funds to the state governments for road development. The rules also have a provision for development of connecting roads to national highways from places of tourist importance.

Source: Realty Plus Tourist destinations to get Rs 50 crore each for road building

"This is the first cruise on the Ganges after almost 200 years. Very few journeys can be as interesting as a journey into the colonial past," Managing Director of West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDCL) T V N Rao told PTI here.

The demand for the cruise is very high and tickets are already booked till 2011, he said.

"This will promote many of the less visited areas of West Bengal among both domestic and foreign tourists. We will also be venturing into the Sundarbans at a later stage," he said.

The WBTDCL has signed an MoU with Pandaw Cruises India Ltd.

Speaking to Business Standard, T V N Rao, managing director of West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Limited, pointed out, "In order to boost tourism infrastructure in the state, the West Bengal tourism department has proposed four major circuit development projects. Another nine projects are in the pipeline which is expected to be proposed within the next two months. We expect most of it to be sanctioned by the union ministry."

The four major circuits' development project which have been proposed are Western Dooars tourism circuit worth Rs 8.99 crore, Ahiran Villa worth Rs 8.04 crore, Kandi-Behrampore tourism circuit worth Rs 8.01 crore, Islampur-Lalbagh-Jiagunj Circuit worth Rs 8.34 lakh.

On the pipeline were Purulia circuit project worth Rs 8 crore, Gateway to North Bengal project worth Rs 5 crore, Malda circuit project worth Rs 8 crore, North 24 Parganas project worth Rs 8 crore, illumination of heritage monuments in Kolkata worth Rs 5 crore and Maithon tourism development project worth Rs 5 crore, informed Rao.

These circuit destination development project entails building signages, interpretation centers, illumination of monuments and historical sites, public amenities facilities, information centres, lodges, last mile connectivity and so on.

Source: Business-standard Bengal seeks Rs 75 cr for tourist circuit development

However, the ministry does not feel the need to issue any travel advisory within the country on account of swine flu.

"We don't see any reason to issue any travel advisory within the country. There is screening activity at all aiports for tourists who are coming from abroad," said Banerjee on the sidelines of the inauguration of East and North East roadshow in Kolkata.

The foreign tourist inflow started declining in November 2008 after the Mumbai attack.

Devesh Chaturvedi, additional director general of the ministry, said that till 2007, the tourism industry had a growth rate of 14.3 per cent.

In 2008, the annual growth rate of tourism industry was 5.6 per cent.

Source: Business-standard Tourist inflow shows mild recovery signs

To have direct access to the pandals along with a guide, the whole-day package will cost Rs 400 per head for non-AC buses. For AC buses, a premium charge of Rs 650 has been fixed. The tour to puja pandals on the city's outskirts will cost anything between Rs 700 and Rs 1,000 per head. WBTDC had arranged 64 AC and non-AC buses to conduct the packages in collaboration with Surface Transport Corporation.

WBTDC will also organize a puja on a floating deck on the Hooghly. A special boat package will be operated by the WBTDC as well to take tourists to the floating deck.

"Around 25 % of the total seats for the pandal-hopping project have already been booked," said WBTDC managing director TVN Rao.

Existing and new hotels of all categories all over the country would now have to comply with the requirements for the differently abled persons in respect of accessibility, special rooms with bathrooms and facilities etc in the public area by 1 September 2010, an official release said.

Under the revised norms, depending on the star category, hotels are now required to have metal detectors, CCTVs, X-ray machines and under belly scanners to screen vehicles. They have also to verify staff and suppliers of food and beverage outlets (restaurants) in the hotel.

For this purpose, the minimum number and type of restaurants / food and beverage (F&B) service has been allocated depending on the location of the hotel in the country based on a system of Grade A and Grade B cities.

The Grade A cities would comprise of major metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad/ Secunderabad and Delhi. (Delhi would include the hotels falling in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, NOIDA and Greater NOIDA). Grade B cities would comprise all other cities not covered in Grade A. Hotels located in Grade A cities would require to offer more types of cuisine / number of F&B outlets compared to Grade B cities. Hotels located in Grade B cities would not be required to offer the same number of F&B outlets as that of Grade A due to the lesser demand.

With a view to provide high standards of service, it has been made mandatory for hotels to have minimum percentage of trained supervisory and skilled staff possessing degree / diploma / skilled training certificate from central / state institute of hotel management / Food Craft Institute or from National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) affiliated IHM or from other reputed hospitality schools etc.

The ministry said in formulating the guidelines, it has taken into consideration the changing requirements of international and domestic travellers as also the emerging safety and security consciousness in view of the recent incidents in the country.

These guidelines have been finalised after several rounds of interaction and with inputs from the hotel industry and the related stakeholders, the release said.

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Hotels To Be Disabled Friendly By Commonwealth Games: Tourism MinSource: Thaindian.com

"The talks are at an advanced stage as the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have shown interest for this mutually beneficial tourism project. We are trying to introduce the service before the end of the current year", said RN Nanda, director (tourism) of the Orissa government.

The project would be implemented on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode and a private party would operate the cruise.

"The proposal will take a concrete shape after the signing of the MoU. The expression of interest (EoI) would be sought from the interested parties to operate the cruise", he added.

Source: Business-standard Orissa, WB and AP to sign MoU for cruise tourism

A common entry ticket for all World Heritage Sites in the country except Taj Mahal and another ticket for the remaining monuments will be introduced in three months.

The government has also decided to issue an exclusive and new entry ticket to visit Taj Mahal.

"A common entry ticket for all the World Heritage Sites except Taj Mahal and another common entry ticket for remaining ticketed monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) are being introduced," MoS for planning and parliamentary affairs V. Narayanasamy, who also holds ad-hoc charge of culture ministry said.
"All these tickets are specially designed and will be available at the ASI headquarters and its booking counters at the monuments," he said in a written reply.

Hotels and travel agents would also be at liberty to buy these tickets in bulk.

The minister said that the government has also decided to install audio-guide system in Lal Qila and Taj Mahal after its installation in Qutub Minar in view of the Commonwealth Games.

"Expression of interest have already been received from reputed agencies having expertise in audio guide systems for all the World Heritage Sites in the country including Red Fort and Taj Mahal," he said, adding that the facility would be in place by September 2010.