India bans tiger tourism hotels

The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily banned any form of tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves to aid conservation efforts.

“We make it clear that till final directions are issued by this court, the core zones or core areas in the tiger reserves will not be used for tourism,” justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla said in their order.

The core zone is an area determined on the basis of scientific and objective criteria as required to be kept inviolate for tiger conservation. For instance, the Corbett tiger reserve’s total area is 1318.54 sq. km., while its core area is 520 sq. km.

Right to information activist Ajay Dubey had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court in July 2011 after his petition to ban tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves was rejected by the Madhya Pradesh high court in January that year.

Dubey welcomed the order. “The Wildlife Act was ineffective for an endangered species like the tiger, but this judgement will make sure that the Act is implemented,” he said over the phone from Bhopal. Tiger numbers in the country will improve, he said.

The ruling is not the final decision of the court, said Anuradha Mutatkar, counsel for the Association of Jungle Lodges of Kanha. The ban on tourism in the core areas is till 22 August, when the Supreme Court will give a final ruling in this matter. “The SC (Supreme Court) will look into the guidelines prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and give a final decision,” she said.

Officials of the ministry of environment and forests said they cannot comment until they received an official order.

Conservation efforts have helped reduce tiger deaths, increasing their numbers to 1,706 in 2010 from 1,411 in 2006, according to the latest official numbers available.

But some activists worry that the large number of tourists visiting tiger reserves may be disturbing their habitats. India has 41 tiger reserves. The most visited among them—Corbett, Kanha, Periyar, Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh—attract 150,000-200,000 visitors each every year.

A tiger task force constituted in 2005 to review the management of tiger reserves had recommended that “tourism activities should not be allowed in the core of the national parks and the tiger reserves,” and that wildlife tourism need to be regulated.

“Tourism in tiger reserves needs to be extremely well managed to ensure that the direct impact on the habitats due to tourism is mitigated. The chain of command as well as the management of tourism in tiger reserves has suffered from multiple governing institutions as well as confusion in policy and regulations so far,” the task force said in its report, adding, “Done badly, it (tourism) can lead to further stress on the tiger’s habitat.”

But Vishal Singh, director of the Travel Operators for Tigers lobby group, said there was no scientific evidence to prove that the number of tigers was going down because of tourism.

“Blanket ban in core areas is not the solution. Rules will have to be different for each park,” he said, adding that since the best tiger sightings are in the core areas, tourism revenue will be affected.

Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India said, “Tourists act like the eyes and ears for protection of tigers and tigers have lost them today.”

Courtesy: Livemint.com

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39 sites in Western Ghats get world heritage status

A cluster of 39 sites spread over 7,953.15 sq km in the Western Ghats will now be inscribed in the World Heritage list. These include tiger reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserved forests in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Kerala leads with 20 sites being inscribed in the heritage list followed by Karnataka with ten, Tamil Nadu five and Maharashtra four. In Maharashtra, the Kas plateau, the Koyna wildlife sanctuary, the Chandoli national park and the Radhanagari Wildlife sanctuary in the Sahyadri range have been given the world heritage site tag.

The decision to include the 39 sites was taken by a 21-nation panel of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) at its meeting currently on at St Petersburg, Russia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the official World Heritage advisory body on nature, in its recommendation did not include the Western Ghats as four of the sub-clusters were not contiguous as contended by India and many did not have buffer zones. Among the concerns expressed were mining in Sindhdurga district (Radhanagari Sanctuary) and that there was no overarching management plan for the nominated sites.

India had submitted the nomination dossier to the Unesco World Heritage Centre, Paris, in February 2010. Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh had pushed hard for their inclusion and had also set up the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel to study and provide recommendations to protect the ghats.

In its media release, the WHC said a series of protected areas across the Western Ghats in India were added to Unesco's list of iconic places after a persistent campaign for world heritage status by the Indian government. "Mountains, rainforests, rivers and waterfalls are all part of the 160,000 sq km area, recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot. The Western Ghats are home to a number of flagship mammals including the endangered endemic lion-tailed Macaque, the endangered Asian elephant and the tiger.''

Lena Pillars Nature Park in Russia was also added to the prestigious list by the WHC.Crosswoods holidays 2012

Courtesy : Times Of India

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Houseboat strikes mar tourism prospects of Kumarakom

The frequent strikes by houseboat operators and workers not only put the houseboat industry in Kumarakom in turmoil, but also left a deep scar on the image of the popular tourist destination.

It was sheer uncertainty that prevailed in the last three weeks here by the unexpected strike called by the workers who demanded hike in salary. The houseboat owners too suspended the services later disagreeing with the employees' demands. This had put both domestic and foreign tourists, who had made advance bookings, in trouble.

On Monday, hours after beginning the strike, a section of houseboat workers temporarily withdrew from it following the intervention of local police.

"Government did not handle the situation properly. They are responsible for tarnishing the image of Kumarakom," said Sreekumar, a tour operator based in Kumarakom. "When my guests insist on houseboats I am forced to book houseboats in Alappuzha. It is the houseboat owners and the workers in Kumarakom who will suffer in the long run if bookings are directed to Alappuzha," he said.

"As tour operators, we only try to increase bookings and it will benefit Aleppey while Kumarakom will be at a loss," he said.

Another tour operator Binu said that the resorts here too will suffer due to the strike if the tourists are forced to remain confined to their rooms owing to strikes and it will in turn affect the whole tourism industry here.

Meanwhile, All Kerala Houseboat Owners Association (AKHOA) member R R Joshiraj said that there were no such issues in Alappuzha houseboat industry.

"Now, here is no problem between the houseboat employees and owners. If the houseboat employees in Kumarakom continue their strike, we expect more foreigners to Alappuzha for houseboat cruising," he said.

All Kerala Houseboats and Resorts Workers Union (CITU) leader C K Sadasivan MLA said, "If employees and owners conduct such strikes again, it will destroy the industry. So we will abstain from such strikes," he said.

Tourists, especially foreign tourists who stay in resorts here now depend on 'Kerala model Kashmir Shikaras'. Kunjumon who owns such a boat said that the demand for these boats is high at present. "But these boats can be used only for canal cruise and not in the backwaters," he said.

On Monday, a section of the houseboat workers began strike in the morning and tried to stop the boats which were in service. Following this, the owners sought police protection, said Pushkaran, president of the owners' association. Police briefed the workers that they were violating the agreement reached upon in the discussion with the tourism minister earlier.

Kumarakom SI M J Arun held talks with the workers following which they temporarily withdrew from the strike. "The workers said that they would discuss the issue with district CITU leaders and decide on the future course of action," he said. Meanwhile, Pushkaran said that the whole issue was the result of immaturity of the leadership of the workers.

"We have informed about the situation to the CITU senior leaders," he said.

According to the new two-year-agreement, the boat workers will get Rs 6,750 per month and a monthly allowance of Rs 170. But the workers on strike in Kumarakom wanted to reduce this contract period to one year.

Courtesy : TimesOfIndia

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Hospitality skills gap to be bridged through education and skill development

The Ministry of Tourism reckons an additional manpower requirement of 2.03 lakh in the hospitality sector during the 12th Plan period. The Ministry proposes to achieve this through expansion of institutional infrastructure; broad-basing of hospitality education; skill up-gradation and certification of service providers; skill development through short duration courses, through hotels and in niche and other products.

Addressing a conclave on Furthering Quality Capacity Building in Tourism-2012, Mr Sanjay Kothari, Special Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, pointed out, “The focus of the private sector should be on short duration courses; introduction of hospitality as vocational subject at secondary education and synergy of efforts with other ministries and organisations of Government of India and state governments.”

The 12th Plan (2012-17) envisages a growth of 12 per cent per annum in inbound and domestic tourists. The current initiatives and the ones proposed are expected to generate 25 million additional direct and indirect jobs in the country.

On the occasion, Mr Kothari also released the FICCI-YES Bank theme paper Furthering Quality Capacity Building in Tourism which emphasises that tourism sector touches a wide value chain, and it is imperative that investments into, and benefits garnered from the sector, spread out more widely and efficiently amongst the populace, thereby acting as a strong socio-economic enabler.

Mr Sidharth Birla, Vice President, FICCI, said, “The conclave aims to focus on furthering quality capacity building in four key and ground level elements for the tourism industry, namely tourist guides, taxi drivers, hotels and restaurants and tour operators and travel agents.”

“The hospitality sector is comparatively better developed with many training Institutes in place. However, capacity building needs to be institutionalised for emerging options such as budget hotels, serviced apartments and restaurants and hotels in the unorganised segment, to improve service levels,” he added.

Dr Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee and Chairperson & Managing Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, remarked, “The unorganised sector is a cause for concern as the level of training is uncertain although the experience of the tourists is also affected by their services. Budget hotels, restaurants, wayside amenities, small tour operators and travel agents and drivers all come under this sector.”

She called for periodic assessment by the corporate sector and the policy makers must be carried out across the key focus areas to ensure that the guidelines are adhered to and are implemented. According to Mr Tushar Pandey, President & Country Head, Strategic Initiatives Government & Advisory (SIGA) Group, YES Bank Ltd., to enhance the skills of the workforce in the travel and tourism trade, a number of initiatives would have to be undertaken by the stakeholders. These include:

The policies and guidelines have to be in sync with the market. An active industry-academia alliance is one way to ensure this, while constant interaction between the industry and the government can help the policy formulation process.

• Tour guide associations should be consultative partners during policy formulation as well as feedback.
• Assessment of training programmes is still an area of concern, since while following the criteria of ‘minimum percentage’ or ‘passing grade’ would suffice for technical, it loses its accuracy in terms of vocational education, where the purpose is ‘enabling’ instead of ‘evaluating’.
• The owner of the taxi stands/the operators on ground need to be roped in by the Department of Tourism in each state to train the ground drivers.
• The drivers, who often face precarious situations like accident and road blocks need to be trained in crisis management skills and first aid administration.
• The concept of People Public Private Partnership (PPPP) or Public Social Private Partnership (PSPP) as a more inclusive form of development is gaining force as an attempt to restore the social equity in PPP models, as the dispersive nature of the effects of incremental tourism tend to affect a wide part of the society.

Dr Arbind Prasad, Director General, FICCI, stated, “An investment of Rs 10 lakh creates 78 jobs in the tourism sector while the same generates just 18 jobs in the manufacturing and 45 in the agriculture sector.” This clearly shows the potential of the tourism sector and the conclave aims to focus exclusively on furthering the quality of capacity building to offer the tourists a pleasant and meaningful experience that would go a long way in furthering the strong image of ‘Incredible India’.

Courtesy : Indiaeducationdairy

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Western Ghats: No UNESCO tag this year

The Western Ghats may not get its World Heritage Site status in the near future.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which assesses proposals for sites of natural significance, has asked UNESCO to defer granting the WHS tag to the Western Ghats. This means that the World Heritage Convention may drop this proposal now and India can submit a fresh proposal for nomination only after three years.

The IUCN recommendation has been made in the IUCN Evaluation Report which will be presented at the 36th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) which gets under way on June 24 at Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Even last year, the proposal of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) was all set to be shot down at the WHC meeting. The Indian government at that time had fought tooth and nail, and managed to keep the proposal afloat.

Last year, the WHC had referred the nomination of the Western Ghats as a natural heritage serial site and instructed the Indian government to “harmonise arrangements between the ‘Western Ghats Natural Heritage [Management] Committee’ and the ‘Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel’ (WGEEP) and strengthen community membership and input through the establishment of the proposed ‘Western Ghats Natural Heritage Conservation Authority’ and other relevant advisory committees”.

This year, however, the IUCN assessment is acutely critical, given the Indian government’s dithering on the WGEEP report issue. Among other things, the WGEEP report had faulted the government on the virtual non-implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act. Though the IUCN document does not directly refer to the Forest Rights Act, it said that “the protection status of at least parts of the renominated property does not meet the requirements set out in the Operational Guidelines, principally due to concerns about land tenure and the strength of legal controls over development.”

The Indian government has not acted on the words of wisdom that had been directed its way last year. The government has not acted on the contentious issues of management, boundaries as well as threats posed to the Western Ghats in the year that went by.

The official proposal had hinged on two criteria primarily—that of the ecological processes of the Western Ghats and the biodiversity of the area.

The IUCN has pulled up India on both, and has in fact asked the Indian government to take into account the recommendations of the WGEEP since the panel had been specifically tasked to compile scientific data and define ecologically sensitive areas through consultation.

It has also urged India to undertake “a further consultation to facilitate increased engagement to ensure the views of all stakeholders, including local indigenous groups, are considered, in order to ensure and demonstrate broad-based support for the nomination.” This assumes significance in the light of MoEF deciding to call in for comments and views on the WGEEP report put up on its website on Wednesday.

What would be most difficult for India to adhere to would be integration of the Western Ghats area. IUCN has asked it to “establish improved coordination and integration between component sites, particularly through the preparation and implementation of an overarching management plan or framework for the serial property as a whole and through the establishment of the proposed ‘Western Ghats Natural Heritage Conservation Authority’.”

There are seven sub-clusters and 39 sites that have been mentioned in the Western Ghats nomination proposal.

courtesy : DNAindia

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India wants to double tourist numbers by 2016

India, which sees an average of six million tourists visiting the country every year, wants to double the number by the year 2016, by promoting wellness and medical tourism, Union Tourism Minister has said.

India gets just over six million tourists every year and the government wants to double this number by the year 2016, Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said.

He said that outbound tourists from India are four times more than inbound tourists and the government has decided to take steps to improve these numbers.

He was speaking to media on the sidelines of an Incredible India Road Show which was organised here yesterday.

Senior officials and tourism authorities of Assam, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra were also present on the occasion.

"We need 200,000 rooms in India. We need exhibition centres, convention centres, theme parks etc.

"There is scope for promoting wellness tourism, medical tourism by propagating ayurveda and yoga etc. We have the Himalayas, we have 7,000 km of coastal areas that are all potential tourist attractions," the minister said.

Sahai announced that a tourism promotion forum will be set up at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi which will have representation from the tourism industry.

He said that around Rs 40,000 crore is needed to develop India's tourism industry.

"The tourism promotion forum will suggest ways to improve things and we will act upon their suggestions," the minister said.

 He added that a MoU will also be signed between India and the UAE to jointly promote tourism.

Speaking on the occasion, India's ambassador to the UAE M K Lokesh said there is a lot of diversity in terms of tourist attractions in India.

India is the third largest source of foreign tourists to the UAE, he said.

Tour operators and airline officials also attended a B2B session that was organised on the sidelines of the Road Show.

There has been a consistent growth of foreign tourist arrivals from the Gulf and the Middle East region to India over the last 2-3 years with year 2010 having registered an overall growth of around 17 per cent over the previous year.

According to India Tourism officials, foreign tourist arrivals in India touched 6. 29 million in 2011.

Till May this year, the number had reached 2.8 million and the foreign exchange earning during this period stood at USD 7297 million.

The ministry of tourism has set an aim to increase India's share in international tourist arrivals from 0.6 per cent to 1 per cent by the year 2016.

Courtesy: zeenews.com

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It's time to carve out a career in tourism sector

Two lakh job opportunities await people in Kerala in the tourism and hospitality industry, according to Dr Rajashree Ajith, director of the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS).

She was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day education expo organized by the department of tourism and KITTS at Ernakulam Town Hall on Sunday.

"According to reports of UNWTO, there will be 535 million job opportunities in South-East Asia, including India, by 2030. The benefits will definitely trickle down to Kerala and we need industry-ready, employable youth for this sector," said Rajashree stressing on the need for professional education in the field.

"KITTS will launch diploma courses for different fields such as air cargo, logistics, retail management and spa therapies by July. Due importance will be given to language skill development in German, French and Arabic. The institute claims 100% placement records.

KITTS in partnership with a Bangalore-based interface organization iNurture will be conducting courses in Thiruvanathapuram, Kochi and Thalassery," Rajashree said.

Public and private institutes in the tourism and hospitality sector are present at the expo, offering advice to those interested. The education fair was inaugurated by Hibi Eden MLA along with Riyaz Ahmed, managing director of Abad group.

"There are more than 43 lakh people in Kerala who had registered with various employment exchanges in the state. It is sad that they are trying for the 20,000-odd government job postings. Instead of waiting for it, these qualified people should look at the opportunities in this dynamic field," said Hibi.

Courtesy : Times Of India

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Condé Nast Traveller India launches Readers’ Travel Awards 2012

Condé Nast Traveller invites its readers to vote for their most memorable and treasured travel experiences by participating in the annual Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards 2012, recognized internationally as a benchmark for excellence in the travel and tourism industry. Readers can vote for their favourite holiday destinations and travel experiences by filling in the Readers’ Travel Awards questionnaire available in the Condé Nast Traveller June-July 2012 issue or by logging onto www.cntraveller.in. Entries are open till July 31, 2012 and the award winning destinations, hotels, airlines amongst other categories will be announced at an awards ceremony later in the year.

Since their introduction in India last year, Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards have been recognized as the most prestigious travel awards in India.

Divia Thani Daswani, Editor, Condé Nast Traveller India says, “We were overwhelmed by the response the awards received in their first edition in India. The Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards are widely acknowledged as the most prestigious awards in the travel industry, because they are voted for by our discerning readers, who understand, appreciate and ultimately consume luxury travel products and services. We look forward to an even greater response this year, given the increased circulation and reach of the magazine, and the growing appetite for luxury travel. And of course, the chance to win a stay at a fabulous luxury hotel in Asia is an added incentive to vote! Just buy the current issue of Condé Nast Traveller India or vote online at www.cntraveller.in before July 31, 2012. Good luck to you, and to all your favourites!”

Condé Nast Traveller India readers have the opportunity to vote across 22 categories for their favourite destinations, hotels, airlines, spas, airports and more. Five lucky participants stand to win a luxury hotel stay at world class destinations like Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok.

Talking about the success of Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards in India, Subodh Kant Sahay, Minister of Tourism, Government of India shared, “Now is the time to properly market India’s tourist destinations and achieve our vision to double the number of tourists to India. Condé Nast Traveller has contributed extensively to the Indian tourism industry since its arrival in India and we believe that the magazine will offer a significant boost to our initiatives thanks to its circulation and credentials – which are tremendous, no doubt.”

CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER READERS’ TRAVEL AWARDS INDIA 2012
INVITES READERS TO VOTE FOR THEIR FAVORITE IN THE CATEGORIES LISTED BELOW:

1. Country
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6. Emerging Destination- India
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8. Business Hotel – India
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Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Courtesy : bestmediainfo.com


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Agra may soon get international air terminal

Taj city Agra may soon get a brand new international air terminal at Dhanuali, close to the Kheria IAF base here, if the project gets the green signal from the union civil aviation ministry, says an official.

After visiting the terminal site, Raghu Raman, general manager-planning of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), held extensive discussions on the project with local administration officials and tourism industry leaders.

Raman said on Friday evening that a detailed proposal would now be sent to the ministry within a week and, if approved, "construction would begin soon".

"It may take around 18 months to two years for the terminal to be ready," Raman said.

The AAI is currently unable to optimally utilise the facilities at Kheria airport. Apart from government planes and some chartered flights, domestic majors like Indian Airlines and Kingfisher operate from here only during peak tourist season (October-March).

According to airport officer Kuldeep Singh, besides state government planes, about 60 chartered flights landed here last year.

AAI is spending around Rs.40,00,000-50,00,000 a year on maintaining the existing facilities at the airport but "this expenditure is of little use as regular flights do not touch Agra", officials said.

Officials were hopeful that there would be no hassles in acquiring 60 acres of agricultural land near the village to construct the new terminal building after paying adequate compensation to the farmers.

The airport terminal project for Agra was accorded priority after the new Samajwadi Party government took over in Uttar Pradesh in March this year.

"The Akhilesh Yadav government wants the terminal urgently. Besides, several other projects are being discussed at the highest level, including an international airport at Baldev in Mathura district," Rajiv Tiwari, president of tourism industry body Federation of Indian Travel Agents said.

"The tourism industry in Agra is demanding that immediate steps be taken to get flights resumed from Kheria airport before the start of the new tourist season. We recently submitted a memorandum to the chief minister, requesting him to grant concessions on fuel purchases and provide certain facilities at the airport," Tiwari said.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has now equipped its Kheria air base with night landing facilities and the runway has also been extended after repairs.

The new terminal could accelerate the growth of tourism sector in this region that draws a large number of foreign visitors, tourism industry sources here aver.
courtesy: zeenews.com

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Understanding domestic Indian travel behaviors

GLOBAL REPORT—As more and more hoteliers look to capitalize on an emerging travel market in India, understanding that emerging traveler’s behavior with respect to travel is critically important.

For example, the adoption of social media as a travel research tool in India has accelerated much faster than any other region of the world, according to PhoCusWright researchers on a webinar Wednesday titled “Upward and Onward: PhoCusWright’s Indian Consumer Travel.”

The top three websites visited when researching travel in India are Facebook, Orkut (a social networking and discussion site operated by Google) and Twitter, according to PhoCusWright research. Therefore, hoteliers who want to successfully capture demand need to tweak their social-media strategies to target Indian travelers.

“There is tremendous opportunity for travel providers because India is still a developing market,” said Julien Beresford, senior research analyst at PhoCusWright. “It’s critically important to know that a single channel will not work. It’s critical to have a multichannel strategy.”

Understanding the demographics 

There are more than 19 million broadband users in India, according to PhoCusWright, signifying an accelerated Internet and mobile adoption rate. Wireless coverage is increasing dramatically in the area and 4G networks will be popping up in India later this year. There has been a surge in rich-media content and social networking, which has had exponential effects on India’s travel market.

There are more than 46 million Facebook users in India. The country has a population of 1.21 billion; 339 million of those are urban residents and approximately 61 million are considered “upper echelon,” which is the group doing most of the traveling in India today.

India has seen significant investment related to its tourism industry, including the expansion of four metro airports.

All of this has led to approximately 55,000 rooms in India’s hotel development pipeline, according to PhoCusWright.

The typical Indian traveler is a young male between the ages of 25 and 44 and has a graduate degree. While regional languages are spoken primarily, most Indian residents read English primarily, which presents an opportunity for international hoteliers.

Young Indians are spending much more than they did just two years ago, said Deepak Jain,
research associate with PhoCusWright. Significantly more travelers today are doing so with friends, family and other adults, as opposed to traveling alone. Fifty-eight percent of upper-echelon Indians take just one trip in a year; one in four plan to take three or more leisure trips.

“Even though they are traveling less (than U.S. travelers), they are optimistic about future plans. Indians plan to take more trips, spend more and stay longer,” Jain said.

India’s channel mix

Approximately 6 billion travel bookings are made online in India on an annual basis. Recently, more than 2 billion (about 33%) of those bookings were made with online-travel agents and the remaining 4 billion were made directly with suppliers, according to PhoCusWright research. However, approximately 50% of those supplier-direct bookings were made on RailToursimIndia.com; without those bookings, the mix would be spilt about 50-50 between OTAs and supplier direct, Jain said.

When researching travel, the most-used online destinations are search engines and social media. Forty-five percent of Indian travelers reported using social media as a primary research tool, much higher than PhoCusWright has seen in any other region, Beresford said.

When it comes to booking online versus offline, many travelers in India still book travel through traditional offline travel. According to PhoCusWright research, 31% of Indian travelers “usually or always” book online, while 42% “usually or always” book offline. When asked how their last trip was booked, an overwhelming number of survey respondents reported booking offline.

Mobile and social media

In India, 55% of leisure travelers have a smartphone. Only 2% of Indian travelers don’t have a mobile phone at all, according to PhoCusWright research.

Social networks are a primary travel tool. Indian travelers are using the sites primarily to get travel advice, get recommendations about activities, plan trips collaboratively and share travel updates.

“There has been some activity by the telecom operators to drive consumers to social-networking sites by lowering data charges,” Beresford said. “But I think it’s more than that. There is an acceptance of social networking to interact with travel providers and OTAs to an extent we don’t see yet in the U.S. and Europe.”
Courtesy : www.hotelnewsnow.com

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Sikkim to be one of the largest beneficiaries of adventure tourism promotion

With its exotic locations, wilderness and mesmerizing natural beauty, Himalayan state Sikkim is going to be one of the largest beneficiaries of GoI's ongoing initiative to promote adventure tourism in order to popularize Indian adventure tourism in global platform, GoI is standardizing different facets of the fast growing sector especially the safety parameters.

Out of total 25 national projects already identified to boost up Adventure Tourism in India under Central Financial Assistance (CFA), Sikkim alone has 7, highest in number amongst Indian states. These include 3 heliports and three destination development projects.

According to ATTA ( Adventure Travel Trade Association), a global network of adventure tourism companies, global annual adventure tourism business volume is expected to cross $ 60 billion by the end 2012.

And, "With proper infrastructure development, Sikkim can enjoy a significant portion of this," said Mr. S. Sanyal, President Eastern Himalayan Tour and Travel Operators Association.

"We are ready to utilize the tourism potential in all possible ways without jeopardizing our rich natural biodiversity, delicate ecosystem and natural beauty," Sikkim CM Mr. Pawan Chamling told ET earlier.

The roadmap of Union Tourism Ministry to promote Indian adventure tourism in global platform has been chalked out based upon inputs from state Government and Adventure Tour Operators Association of India. Apart from finding different circuits, the Ministry is developing a well framed safety parameter conforming international standards for all the stake holders to follow.

With 82% of its 7000 sq km geographic area under forest cover, 3% under Glaciers and 14% under round the year snow cover, Sikkim is a hotspot for adventure tourism with its hilly terrain ranging from 900 ft to 28,000ft altitude above mean sea level.

Beside 26% of the total flowering plant species cache of the whole country, Sikkim hosts 424 identified medicinal plants or near 600 orchids in its flora and 552 birds or 700 species of butterflies in fauna to attract adventure tourists from the whole world.

Courtesy: indiatimes.com

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Top 5 Increasingly Booming Industries in India- Tourism and Hospitality are on the list

Since the advent of industrialization in India we have witnessed setting up of many new industries in various sectors. Indian industrialists after the 65 years of independence have come a long way. Some sectors have developed and some are still developing. Most of the sectors have even attracted foreign investments to the country. Following is an insight to some of the top increasingly booming industries in India.

Tourism

Tourism is one of the most important industries to any country as it is the best source for inflow of foreign currency into the country. A tourist, with him brings foreign currency and thus his every little spending is contributing in a better way to the country’s economy. Its contribution is around 6.23 % to the national GDP and generates 8.78% of the total employment. It is estimated that around US $375.5 billion will be generated by this particular sector by 2018. India being such a large and diverse destination has become a major attraction for tourists all over the world. The fact that it has 28 different states, and each one has a different and a unique culture of its own, adds to the curiosity of the tourists.

There have been efforts to increase new forms of tourism such as rural, medical and eco-tourism. Medical tourism over the years has attracted a large chunk of tourists to Asia especially for plastic surgeries. India, despite having some of the world class medical facilities has suffered due to its low levels of sanitation. This remains one of the biggest hurdles in development of medical tourism here. But one of the major challenges is of security of the tourists. Domestic tourism is over 800 million.

Another challenge is shortage of hotels and tourist accommodation places in the country. Lately, government has also started promoting tourism and awareness about tourism in country under the programme of “Incredible India”.

Power Generation

Electricity has become one of the most basic necessities of one’s life today. India has the 5th largest power consuming market in the world. In the 11th five year plan, the planning commission displayed “electricity for all till 2012” as the aim of government but 2012 has arrived and we are not even close to this goal. Power generation sector provides great opportunities to the investors as it promises higher returns. Coal, despite being termed as major pollutant still continues to generate 55% of total power generated. Though government has taken steps to generate electricity from hydro, nuclear and solar energy but there share is still very low as compared the thermal energy.

Hospitality industry

With increasing tourism and with the advent of modern life styles and westernization this particular sector has witnessed a sudden and massive boom.Hospitality industry is one of the world’s largest service generating sectors. In India though it is new but people are investing in it and also more people are opting for hotel management course to enter this promising industry.

This sector can be divided into two; the entertainment and accommodations sectors. Discs, bars hotels have become part of the urban lifestyles. On the other hand with an increase in tourism in India has lead to need of more hotels and infrastructure.

Animation industry

This particular sector has witnessed a much required boom over the past few years. With the increasing use of 3D technology in movies and many other animation technologies, this industry has managed to create a demand for creative animators, and other technicians.According to a study this industry is growing at rate of 30% annually. A slight government help to the animation industries in terms of loan can provide a futher increase and profit to new but rapidly growing industry.

Food processing industries

Food processing industry is another rapidly growing industry in india. The central government has taken many steps to increase the growth of this sector for eg they treat all the agro processing industries with a greater priority and responsibility. This has to some extent brought more organisational factor into the food retail and agricultural sector. This is one sector which has faced a rapid increase in the foreign direct investments. Also, over the time there has been an ever increasing demand of such goods in the Indian market. This industry is growing swiftly and is estimated to cross $200 billion till 2015. This sector currently faces major problem fetching proper investment at various stages of supply. More upgraded technology is the current need of the hour.

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J&K to be prime tourism destination in India: Jora

Stating that the tourism was the mainstay of the Kashmir’s economy, Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzin Jora Thursday said that his department will turn Jammu and Kashmir as one of the premier destinations of the country. He said National Geograpic has agreed to promote State’s tourism.

“Give me one more peaceful year and you will see the sea change on the ground. Once peace is given a chance, there will be no looking back in the tourism sector,” Jora said while speaking at the annual certificate distribution ceremony of Institute of Hotel Management Srinagar.

Jora said Kashmir valley witnessed a surge in the tourist rush due to peaceful year 2011.
“We did our best to revive this industry. We want to see a record number of tourists to visit Kashmir valley. This industry received major setback during militancy. This year, we are expecting record number of tourist arrivals to Valley,” he said

Lauding the efforts of Institute of Hotel Management for its commendable job, Jora said the institute is emerging as the best institute in the country.

“For the fourth consecutive, this institute bagged national level awards,” he said.

Jora said lack of funds for tourism is hampering the developmental works in tourism sector.

“We receive only Rs 6 crore as publicity budget while as the state government has a budget of Rs 3000 crores for electricity. The more appalling thing is that Chattisgarh receives Rs 12 crore as publicity budget but Jammu and Kashmir being one of the scintillating tourist destinations gets only 6 crore as publicity budget,” he said.

“On our request, government of India will send a National Geograpic TV Channel team here which will make promotional ads on tourism in Jammu and Kashmir.”

Former Director Tourism Farooq Shah said Institute of Hotel Management is doing an excellent work in building the capacity of the students.

“The main aim of this institute is to provide professional training so that they can provide better services in tourism industry,” he said

He said the institute has trained thousands of students so far and will continue to do so in the future “Last year over 2000 students were trained in this institute. If the institute goes at this pace then there is no need for ordering manpower from outside the state and we can supply the manpower to other states as well,” he said.

Commissioner Secretary Tourism Government of J&K Atul Dullo said the courses taught here at the institute provide youth many employment opportunities.
“The institute provides free training to the youth. Thousands of students are trained here every year. It was necessary to provide this kind of training to the youth as the numbers of tourists are growing every year,” he said.

During today’s event over 700 certificates were distributed among the students who had completed their six months or one year courses in different sectors.

Among others who were present on the occasion include Principal Institute of Hotel Management Srinagar Nasheed Srivastav, Director Tourism Talat Parviz, and President Travel Agents association of Kashmir Rouf Tramboo.

Courtesy : www.risingkashmir.com

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South African Tourism to announce India as "established tourism market" by 2013

As a result of continued positive growth in inbound visitor numbers from India and China, South African Tourism is all set to recognise the two countries as established tourism markets. While speaking at Africa’s top travel trade fair, INDABA 2012, Thulani Nzima, CEO, South African Tourism, said, “We have witnessed strong growth from India in 2011 and recorded 90,367 Indian arrivals, a 26.2 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2010’s figure of 71 587. We hope to cross the 100,000 mark for tourist arrivals from India in 2012. Such increase in arrivals will give us the rationale to stop using the ‘Emerging Market’ tag for the country, which we shall do very soon, say by 2012 end or 2013.”

He added that South Africa witnessed 84,883 tourist arrivals from China in 2011, a growth of 24.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2010. He also said that South African Tourism shall continue to engage the trade and media for further promotion activities and continue to invest in both China and India. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Tourism Minister, South Africa, said that India and China registered positive growth in 2011 and continue to remain emerging and core markets for South Africa. He stressed on the importance of the two countries and re-confirmed their contributions to South African Tourism.

Organised to be held over four days (May 12-15, 2012) at Durban ICC, INDABA 2012 has over 1,500 confirmed exhibitors including accommodation providers, airlines, tour operators, car rental companies, tourist attractions and a host of other tourism businesses, around 200 hosted buyers and over 780 media. The theme of the event this year is ‘Shaping our future together’.

While delivering his inaugural speech, Schalkwyk stressed on the need for cooperation to take tourism in Africa forward. “While South Africa’s tourism sector proved its resilience in tough global economic conditions, the industry requires to work with co-opetition (cooperation and competition), which is the new way for the future of tourism. There are some areas where we need to work with our competing international players. Competition brings out the best in all of us, but cooperation is what is urgently needed, especially for the African continent, where we have to work together to remove barriers to international travel and tourism. It is only through strong partnerships and a collective approach that South Africa’s tourism industry will continue to grow. We also need to work towards responsible and sustainable tourism.”

“Tourism is a collaborative business and requires cohesion and partnership from all spheres of the tourism industry, both private and public, to ensure tourism growth. It is necessary to manage the value chain and work in collaboration with all the stakeholders involved,” Nzima added.

Speaking of challenges and hurdles that need to be addressed, Schalkwyk said that taxes such as the United Kingdom air passenger duty and the European Union’s unilateral inclusion of all international flights in their domestic emissions trading scheme (ETS), distort markets and affect passenger numbers and tourism receipts in long-haul, developing-country destinations, and will increasingly do so in the years to come. “We should work with our likeminded partners in other long-haul destinations to fight the aggressive unilateralism with which new taxes on international tourism are imposed. We are working with a number of partners to push for a global solution to replace this patchwork of unilateral measures,” he said.

Schalkwyk also stressed on aviation as a major factor for boosting tourism. He said, “We must unlock the benefits of aviation on our continent, create space for the new-model low-cost airlines, advance competition in the skies, and establish Johannesburg as one of the hubs on the continent as well as the South-South corridor. In all of this, our national carrier, South African Airways, will have an important role to play.”

Setting the target for 2020, Schalkwyk said, “Eight years from now, in 2020, the timeframe of our National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS), we want to see 15 million international arrivals for which we will be spending R 218 million in promoting our destination in Africa over the next three years and will ensure a significant presence on the continent, with five offices across Africa within five years. By 2020, we will have implemented an e-visa system that will improve security while also facilitating hassle-free travel.”

Coutesy: travelbizmonitor.com

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Kerala Tourism road show in Saudi Arabia

Kerala Tourism is holding its maiden road show in Jeddah, the thriving urban centre of oil-rich Saudi Arabia from Sunday. The three-day event will travel to capital Riyadh and Dammam on Monday and the day after.

The Tourism Minister, Mr A.P. Anil Kumar, will lead the road shows, a Kerala Tourism spokesman announced here. These are being held at a time when the middle-east is emerging as a major market for the world's exotic destinations.

“Saudi Arabia is the biggest market for outbound tourists in the region,” the spokesman quoted the Minister as saying. “We want to invite travellers from Saudi Arabia to Kerala's world renowned tourism destinations,” he added.

High-Spending

Saudi Arabian tourists are the highest spending travellers abroad from the Middle-East. Nearly half of the country's population falls in the higher income bracket.

Saudi Arabians look for holidays in the harsh summer (June to September) in their country when temperatures hover above 50 degree Celsius.

Kerala's monsoon tourism and Ayurveda are already drawing a number of travellers from Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said. Health and wellness holidays are a major segment of outbound travel from Saudi Arabia, a factor Kerala Tourism is keen to leverage in its favour.

Outbound Tourists

The country's proximity to Kerala and good air connectivity are the other factors in favour of God's Own Country.

The Middle-East has recorded more than nine million outbound tourists in 2011 and the figure is likely to touch 35 million by 2020.

Saudi Arabia accounts for 40 per cent of these, he added. Others now joining the list include United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Around 50 local tour operators are expected to participate in the road shows in each of the three Saudi Arabian cities.  

Copyright © 2012, Kasturi & Sons Ltd., Chennai All Rights Reserved.

courtesy : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/article3391526.ece

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Bollywood boosts local tourism

One has heard of Bollywood being wooed by foreign countries to promote their destinations through the films. The most popular examples being that of actor Shah Rukh Khan promoting Berlin through his film Don 2 and actor Akshay Kumar promoting Canada as a brand ambassador. The trend gained momentum with the success of theHrithik Roshan-Katrina Kaif-Farhan Akhtar-Abhay Deol starrer, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, where travel agents were bombarded with bookings for Spain. Now, a reverse trend of sorts is currently taking place in India, where tourists are not just seeking hot destinations such as Kashmir, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, but also locales like Wai near Satara made popular by films like Omkara and Dabangg or Dharavi post Slumdog Millionare, Bhopal thanks to Prakash Jha’s films and many such places amongst others.Spotting actor Salman Khan’s Panvel farmhouse from hill-stations like Matheran gives a different thrill to those taking a filmi tour. Industry experts feel that instead of boosting tourism for international places, scouting and exploring various unexplored domestic locales are not just budget-friendly, but also help in local tourism.

Akshay says, “A film can really help boost a place’s tourism prospects, not just in a small way, but substantially because it features in a film that has mass appeal. Hence when we look for places that are unexplored in our country,it should also have all the necessary ingredients to be a tourist spot.”

Travel agents and tour operators are now increasingly tapping places that have featured in popular films and say that filmi tours are gaining popularity. “For people going to Mahabaleshwar, we also offer Wai, which is very close to the hill station, as many shoots take place there, making it a tourist attraction. The reason being that they get a glimpse of their favourite Bollywood stars shooting there. But foreign tourists usually prefer to go to places like Dharavi, CST, Nariman Point in Mumbai.”

Another travel agent, Suresh Maniar, feels that South East Asia, particularly Thailand, has done exceptionally well because of the films being shot there. “Indian tourists are open to visiting places that they have already seen in the films and ads. For instance, there are places like Goa, Jaipur, and Kashmir where guides take them to various locations made popular in films. In fact, many packages are designed in such a way that they can watch a film shoot,” says Maniar.

Courtesy: dnaindia.com

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Travel courses from Thomas Cook

The travel industry in India is booming. Both inbound and outbound travel have reached dizzying heights and several new concepts like theme holidays, online booking and custom holidays are gaining popularity.

This indicates that the industry is making giant strides and Thomas Cook Centre of Learning has taken a step towards bringing in professionals to manage this growing trend by offering a Travel Professional Programme.

Course details

Centre of Learning, is an initiative from Thomas Cook (India) to develop talent for the industry.

“We offer a wide range of programmes from basic to advanced levels for travel aspirants, students and working executives, ranging from four months to two years in duration,” says Smeeta Gulvady, Vice President and Head – Thomas Cook Centre of Learning

My India My Way, a four-month undergraduate programme offers students an opportunity to master one’s knowledge on Indian tourist destinations,. They can learn how to market various cities, build operational and selling skills.

The company also offers a variety of postgraduate courses, including a three-month certificate course in World Tour Management, a one-year Travel Professional programme , which is a diploma in travel and tourism management inclusive of an internship, and a two-year International Tourism Business course in association with the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM).

My India My Way offers dual specialisations and includes case-based learning and exposure to an international business environment. The training institute also provides a wide array of IATA undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

In keeping with its vision, the Centre of Learning organises a wide range of workshops, corporate and destination training programmes. The institute recently partnered with IRCTC Western zone for its soft skills training needs.

Centre of Learning has also partnered with various Tourism Boards including Fiji, Swiss, Czech, Canada and Egypt to conduct training sessions for travel agents across the country. .

“Pursuing this course increases a student’s chances of a robust career in the travel and tourism. He/she can look at launching his/her own travel agency. Besides being in the travel operations field, candidates can join the aviation sector or even work as a travel counsellor.

An individual can also explore career opportunities in corresponding fields like event management, adventure tourism and teaching amongst others. Excellence in performance may earn one a position in Thomas Cook,” says Gulvady.

courtesy: Deccan Herald

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Gujarat to be showcased in Cannes Film Festival

Gujarat is all set to be showcased at the Cannes Film Festival. This will be the maiden attempt of the state tourism department to woo international filmmakers to the state. 

The Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL) has decided to mark its presence through the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at the Cannes Film festival which is scheduled to begin from May 16. Sources said that the TCGL has already approached CII for the space. 

Atreyee Talapatra, director, CII, Delhi, confirmed that Gujarat has shown interest in highlighting its tourism potential at Cannes. "We have been hiring space for the Cannes Film Market and this time the theme was the shooting location of India. This is the ninth year that CII will have it presence in the festival. To show the Indian location, CII had approached several states and Gujarat had shown keen interest," She said, adding that CII is also coming up with a director of shooting location. 

This is the first time that Gujarat tourism will have its presence felt at the international festival. Earlier, during the producers meeting in Mumbai, Gujarat had made presentation of its location and the facilities it offers. 

The TCGL officer said that this would be the first time that TCGL will step out of Gujarat. Earlier, the department had gone global in various tourism magazines through Amitabh Bachchan advertisement, "Khushboo Gujarat ki." 

TCGL sets up special cell for films

 The TCGL has formed a special cell to woo and facilitate film producers for shooting in Gujarat. It has also announced that all permits required for shooting will be arranged by the special cell. 

A nodal officer has been appointed to oversee the facilities for all producers coming to the state. The cell will approach and convince film producers to come and shoot in Gujarat. 

This will indirectly showcase Gujarat to the country and world and boost tourism. The special cell will not only suggest locations, but will also ensure that the necessary permits including that from the Archaeological Survey of India are obtained. "If required, the TCGL will also make arrangement for police," said the TCGL officer. 

"The cell will facilitate the producers to not only choose location, but will also give them an ideal opportunity to shoot in the state," said Vipul Mitra, principal secretary, tourism. 

"The government is keen to attract film makers and this cell will just give permission without any hassle to the producers. The recent shooting of a south Indian film in Kutch was the example of the success of this cell," said another official. 

The official said that apart from the cell, the department has decided not to collect any charge for the infrastructure facilities and even offer TCGL properties at subsidized rate. Usually other states charge even for the police protection. 

"The only condition will be that that the producer will have to give courtesy to the state and even mention the places where the shooting had taken place," added the official.

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Kerala expecting huge overseas investment: Chandy

The Kerala government is expecting huge overseas investments in about 60 sectors including infrastructure, technology, education and healthcare, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Friday.

"We are expecting huge investment commitments" during the Sep 12-14 "Emerging Kerala 2012" global investor connect meet in Kochi, Chandy said after meeting top diplomats, including ambassadors and high commissioners, heads of trade missions and chiefs of international agencies here.

The chief minister was accompanied by his cabinet colleagues like Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty and officials at the meetings. Chandy said he had met the ambassadors of Canada, China and some Gulf countries to convince them to participate in the Kochi event.

"The meeting with ambassadors, high commissioners of select countries, trade missions and heads of multilateral agencies is the most appropriate forum to flag off such an important event," Chandy said at a news conference here.

Chandy said the government had identified almost 60 areas in which it would attract overseas investments.

The chief minister said his government had also identified core sectors for sustainable development of the state.

These include tourism, IT and IT-enabled services, healthcare, food and agro-processing, ports, ship building and logistics, energy, bio-technology, light engineering and automotive industries.

The government is also giving priority to development infrastructure, including roads, high-speed train, urban infrastructure and industrial parks and corridors.

Chandy said most of the projects will be developed on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, providing huge business opportunities to both overseas and domestic investors.

Kerala plans to develop the country's first high-speed rail corridor. Almost $20 billion investment will be required for the proposed corridor that will run from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangalore.

The state, which has a 600 km-long coast line, is developing an international container trans-shipment terminal at Kochi. Kerala is also developing natural gas pipeline infrastructure and airports in several cities.

Quoting a World Bank report, Chandy pointed out that Kerala was ranked second in India in terms of ease of doing business. Karnataka is ranked the most business-friendly state in the country.

Industry Minister Kunhalikutty said the state government was "keen to create an enabling environment for investors with proactive policy initiatives."

Kunhalikutty claimed that the state government was taking all possible efforts to facilitate investments.

The three-day event will be organised by the state government in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Nasscom.

Courtesy : New York Daily Times
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Tourism industry of Pakistan and India demanding Peace Park for 20 years

The Chief of Army of Pakistan, Gen. Kiyani, along with the President of Pakistan, during a visit to the Giyari sector on Wednesday, talked about the fact that Pakistan and India should withdraw forces from the Siachen Glacier. The recent avalanche that buried more than 139 Pakistani soldiers, has given a chance for army generals to think about the demand for peace. For years, critics have considered this war zone one of world's most pointless military deployments, where two developing nations are engaged in a costly standoff over an uninhabitable patch of mountain and ice.

Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said on Wednesday that Pakistan followed the doctrine of peaceful coexistence with its neighbors, especially India. “We want peaceful co-existence with India as amicable neighbors; however, our desire should not be misconstrued as weakness," the COAS remarked.

Talking to media, after reviewing the search operation that is underway to unearth the 139 martyred troops in the Gayari sector who aer buried under tons of snow, the COAS said Pakistan was open to talks with India to de-militarize Siachen.

He said, "Both countries should sit together to resolve all the issues including Siachen." He said the reason why was the Pakistan Army was on the Siachen was not a secret to the world. “It [was] Indians who carried the war onto Siahcen, forcing us to get up there and stop them in their tracks; we only mounted a natural tactical response," Gen. Kayani said.

COAS also made it clear that the army was protecting the country's borders on Siachen. "We are only manning the border on this frigid outpost in the line of duty."

"Siachen consumes a mammoth amount of national exchequer, which must be diverted to the people of both countries respectively,” General Kayani said. The country's armed forces do not want more spending on defense due to disputes.

On the Gyari rescue operation, he said, "We are trying to reach the bodies of the martyrs with all we are worth in the face of inclement weather; no stone has been left unturned, we are not far from them now.”

The statement of the Pakistan Chief of Army has born a hope for the possibility that at last sanity may prevail and both countries may withdraw forces from Siachen Glacier and make it a Peace Park - a very old demand of peace lovers of both countries. Both countries lost more than 3,000 young soldiers and millions if not billions of US dollars on this pointless and some say useless war. Retired generals from both of the countries believe that the Siachen issue is one of the easiest to solve, but it is hostage to general mistrust and hard-liners on both sides who don't want to give up their claim on the territory.

The Siachen war is being considered an ego problem between the two armies, instead of a tactical or operational problem. The region is just east of the world's second-highest peak, K-2, which has killed far more than artillery fire, due to its temperatures as low as -60 C, vicious winds, and altitude sickness. Casualty figures have not been released by either military, because both are sending very young soldiers that they call “Green Soldiers,” because the environment and weather is so unfriendly, that only young boys can survive there.

Analysts say resolving Siachen should be possible before the much more difficult dispute over Kashmir is attempted. Because no one lives in the region and it is of no strategic value, a joint or even unilateral withdrawal from one side could break the logjam.

In a survey and interviews conducted by eTN to know the viewpoint of the general public, experts, academia, and former personnel of the Pakistan Army, it was understood that majority of all wish to complete demilitarization of the Siachen Glacier and make it a tourism spot and Peace Park to promote harmony in the region.

These people were of the view that that Indian development in the trade sector was marvelous and Pakistan needed to worry about its economy.

India could afford the boarding and lodging of its army at Siachen, but it was hard for Pakistan to sustain its presence in the region, and both countries should solve the issue, and the billions of US dollars being spent on the war should be directed towards people's prosperity.

Prof. Hassan Askari Rizvi, who is one of the most important experts of regional studies, was of the view that said deployment of troops at Siachen was wastage of money and resources. He said that the issue started in 1984, and later it became a matter of ego and pride for India and Pakistan. The professor said the ceasefire line was demarked and it ended exactly near Siachen, making the area a disputed territory.

He said India and Pakistan had signed two “understandings” - one in 1987 and the other in 2007 - in which relocation of troops was suggested but nothing happened afterwards. He said the armies of both countries should withdraw and make Siachen a culture spot, jointly organized by India and Pakistan. Rizvi said the people of the two countries and especially the social sector should pressure their governments to end the conflict that was consuming millions of rupees daily.

Courtesy  : http://www.eturbonews.com/28877/tourism-industry-pakistan-and-india-demanding-peace-park-20-year
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India eyes 10 mn tourists annually

Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said the government wished to achieve the target of increasing the number of foreign tourists visiting India annually to 10 million.

Speaking at the fifth edition of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) on Sunday, Sahai said: “Currently, we have about 5.7 million foreign tourists visiting every year, and we want to have another 5 million tourists. We want to double that number in the current Five Year Plan.”

Seeking help from the hospitality industry to cater to the increased number of foreign tourists, the minister said: “We need at least 20 million hotel rooms to accommodate the tourists.”
Courtesy: Indian Express
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Tourism Sector to Generate 2.5 Crore Jobs During 12th Five Year Plan Says Subodh Kant

With the Ministry of tourism  targeting over 12 % growth rate in in-bound as well as domestic tourists, it has been projected that tourism sector will generate additional jobs of about 2.5 crore, both direct and indirect, during the 12th Fiver year Plan. This was stated by Union Minister for Tourism Shri Subodh Kant Sahai while presenting National Awards for excellence in hospitality education for the year 2010-11, here today. He said the direct employment in hospitality sector will also be substantial. Shri Sahai said Employment related to hospitality trades alone would be around 36 lakhs. The Minister informed the gathering that hospitality industry needs about 2 lakh trained persons every year but the supply is just about 18000 persons, which gets further reduced to about 12000 persons after adjusting an attrition of about 30 to 35 %.  Shri Sahai said, “As per our estimate, by the close of the Eleventh Plan, our efforts to expand the institutional infrastructure and broad-basing of hospitality education through Universities, Colleges, ITIs, Polytechnics and Schools is expected to increase the supply of trained persons in a major way.”

The Tourism Minister said  Central Government, on its part, has been actively trying to bridge the skilled manpower shortage by setting up more govt. sponsored IHMs and FCIs, broad-basing training & education through the aegis of   Universities, ITIs, Colleges, Polytechnics, PSUs, Schools etc., establishing short-term hospitality courses, upgrading the skills of existing as well as aspiring service providers through “Hunar Se Rozgaar” programme, skills testing & certification of the existing service providers. Shri Sahai said, “This will be a significant improvement but would still not be enough.  In any case, given the fact that the Industry engages about 5 million persons generating huge revenues, much of the efforts and resources for creating world class hospitality service will have to come from within the Industry.”

The Union Tourim Minister said the efforts of the Central Govt., though important, have to be necessarily supplementary and catalytic  and here, our IHMs and FCIs have to raise themselves to the level of Institutes of excellence to spur and stimulate similar efforts in the Private Sector. He said, “ I therefore urge the Institutes to make earnest effort to raise their standards so as to be acceptable internationally, to become model institutes.  The Ministry will always be there for you in its supportive role.”

Referring to the  encouraging trends in International and Domestic tourism Shri Subodh Kant Sahai said tourism is now being recognized as one of the key drivers of growth and employment generation in the country. He said the contribution of tourism to the GDP is estimated to be more than 9%.

The Minister referred to an independent study carried out by his Ministry  to identify major gaps that existed in terms of infrastructure and service delivery at major tourist destinations. He said this study concluded that, for both the foreign and domestic tourist, the lack of Hygiene and Sanitary conditions in and around monuments/ destinations, poor Solid Waste Management around the monuments/destinations and absence of hygienically maintained public amenities like Toilets were the key factors that were impeding our efforts to catapult India as a leading tourist destination. Shri Subodh Kant said,“Campaign Clean India” is aimed to undertake both sensitization and action at field level on bringing our tourism destinations and their surroundings to an acceptable level of cleanliness and hygiene. He said the objective is also to ensure that these levels are sustained through ownership and involvement of private and public sector stakeholders. Shri Sahai said, “The IHMs and FCIs are expected to play a leading role in setting standards of cleanliness in and around monuments for all other educational institutions to follow.”

            

Shri Subodh Kant said in order to preserve, propagate, research, document and patent the numerous hues of the Indian cuisines through an institutional mechanism, the Ministry of Tourism has already initiated steps for the setting up of the Indian Culinary Institute with six of its centres across the country.

            

The National Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Education (2010-11) were presented in three categories i.e. awards to the students, awards to  the teaching faculty and awards to the Institutes.

The awardees in the first category were the students who had excelled in academic performance during the year 2010-11. In all, 23 students were awarded.  Each winner received a medal, a certificate of academic excellence and a cash prize. The list of students who received the awards is given below:-

	Position	Program	Name	Institute
	First	M.Sc. Hospitality Administration 2009-11	MS. FARIDA ANJUM	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi
2	First	M.Sc. Dietetics & Food Service Management 2009-11	MS. NIHARIKA SHUKLA	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi
3	First	B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2008-11	ARJUN MUKUND	SRM Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai
4	Second	B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2008-11	NARESH KUMAR H	SRM Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai
5	Third	B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2008-11	SUBRAMANIAN SRIKANTH	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi
6	First	3rd Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2010-11	ARJUN MUKUND	SRM Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai
7	First	2nd Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2010-11	RAMANDEEP SINGH	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi
8	First	1st Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2010-11	MS. SANA KHAN	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi
9	Second	3rd Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration  2010-11	MITHUN PAUL	Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai
10	Second	2nd Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2010-11	MS. YAMINI SINGH	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi
11	Second	1st  Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2010-11	MS. DEBOLINA GHOSH	Institute of Hotel Management, Kolkata
12	Third	3rd Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2010-11	NARESH KUMAR H	SRM Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai
13	Third	2nd Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2010-11	MS. ADITI SABHARWAL	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi

14	Third	1st  Year of B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Administration 2010-11	MS. ZAINAB SHABBIR KHERALUWALA	Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai
15	First	PG Diploma in Accommodation Operations & Management 2010-11	PATITAPABAN BEHERA	Institute of Hotel Management, Bhubaneswar
16	First	Diploma in Food  Production 2010-11	PRIYARANJAN MALIK	Food Craft Institute, Balangir
17	First	Diploma in Food & Beverage 2010-11	BIN JIA	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi
18	First	Diploma in House Keeping Operation 2010-11	CHANDRA SEKHAR	State Institute of Hotel Management, Puducherry
19	First	Diploma in Front Office Operation 2010-11	SHRIKANT TRIVEDI	Food Craft Institute, Udaipur
20	First	Diploma in Bakery & Confectionery 2010-11	KANIKA CHANDNA	Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi
21	First	Craftsmanship Certificate Course in Food Production 2010-11	MOUSUMI PAUL	Institute of Hotel Management, Kolkata
22	First	Craftsmanship Certificate Course in Food & Beverage 2010-11Service	SAMBIT K. TRIPATHY	Institute of Hotel Management, Bhubaneswar
23	First	Craftsmanship Certificate Course in Food & Beverage Service 2010-11	RAJU RUPSINGH CHAVAN	Institute of Hotel Management, Goa

In the Teachers category 10 awards were given. The Teachers were selected for the award on the basis of pre-determined objective evaluation parameters. The list of awardees is as follows:-

   

A.P.S. Jolly, Lecturer	IHM, Srinagar
R.K. Gupta, Sr. Lecturer	IHM, Pusa, Delhi
Nimisha Seth, Lecturer	IHM, Pusa, Delhi
Anita Sharma, Sr. Lecturer	IHM, Pusa, Delhi
A.K. Goyal, Lecturer	IHM, Pusa, Delhi
Ms.Balabynta Kharshing, Sr. Lecturer	IHM, Shillong
Tarun K. Bansal, Lecturer	IHM, Lucknow
Rajesh K. Singh, Lecturer	IHM, Lucknow
Ms. Ishrat Ara, Lecturer	IHM, Srinagar
Meenakshi Sumbly, Lecturer	IHM, Pusa, Delhi

Awards to the Institutes were given under the following categories:-

The Minister of State for Tourism Shri Sultan Ahmed, Senior officials of the Tourism Minister and eminent personalities of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry were also present during the ceremony.

	CATEGORY	BEST	SPECIAL AWARD
1	IHM - All Round Performance	IHM, Pusa, Delhi	IHM, Hyderabad
2	IHM - All Round Performance in North-East & J&K	IHM, Srinagar	-
3	FCI - All Round Performance	FCI, Balangir	-
4	Academic Performance	IHM, Pusa, Delhi	IHM, Chennai
5	Placement Performance	DIHM, Lajpat Nagar	IHM, Hyderabad
6	Operational Performance	IHM, Hyderabad	IHM, Shillong
7	Administrative Performance	IHM, Mumbai	CIHM, Chandigarh
8	Performance in Capacity Building of Service Providers	IHM, Srinagar	IHM, Hyderabad

Courtesy : PIB, Govt of India

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