Friday 7 November 2014

Goan disapora to be roped in to give boost to tourism

Widening the scope for promotion of Goa tourism internationally as a land of contrast and 365-day destination, Goa tourism has decided to involve the Goan diaspora. People of Goan origin settled abroad and well-known in their respective fields, will be appointed as tourism ambassadors.

No names have been finalized so far, but tourism director Ameya Abhyankar has had consultations with some prominent Goans settled abroad. More meetings are scheduled to take place on the sidelines of world travel mart (WTM), London, a three day trade international fare that begins on November 3.

Abhyankar said besides promoting Goa through conventional forums, this is another way of marketing Goa tourism. "We will engage the Goan diaspora. Many of them are well-settled and made a mark for themselves in their adopted country," he said.

"We want to know how best we can engage them in promoting Goa. They care for Goa and want to contribute for their mother land. Only thing is that they have to be provided a platform," he added explaining about the efforts made in promoting Goa internationally.

Wednesday 30 July 2014

Odisha govt green lights to sand park on sea beach

In a belated move, the state government has decided to create a sand art park in Puri. Jugal Kishore Mohapatra asked the tourism department to execute the project with technical support from famed sand sculptor Sudaran Pattnaik. "The tourism department would prepare a detailed report on the proposed project, indicating organizational structure, source of finance and timeline for its implementation," an official release said.

The government will provide around three acre free of premium to the tourism department. Jugal suggested department secretary Arvind Padhee to constitute a site selection committee for the project.

"The objectives of the project are attracting tourists to the beach town, educating and training budding talents on sand art and providing amusement to amateur artists. I will soon draw up a design of the proposed park," Pattnaik said.

Going by his plan, the park would house beautiful sand sculptures in the open. Pattnaik would also invite foreign sculptors to create magic on sand. There will be a separate block in the park to showcase photographs of Pattnaik's previous creations.

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Tourism Ministry to Set up Multilingual Helpline

India will soon have well-equipped, multilingual telephonic contact centre to provide information services to foreign tourists. The tourism ministry has initiated the action to set up a telephonic contact centre with competent, qualified and experienced partners.

This service will primarily serve those who are calling from abroad and know very little about travel within India. Also those who have reached India but don't understand Indian systems or Indian languages, often not even English, will be helped by the helpline.

The government has identified ten international languages - Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish - for the helpline. The ministry will outsource back offices for guidance services.

This helpline is expected to start by March 31, 2015.

Battery-operated vehicles for tourists at SGNP from 2015

In a bid to reduce pollution inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the national park authorities to ply battery-operated 14-seater vehicles at the park in Borivali. Once these eco-friendly vehicles begin plying, private vehicles will be banned from inside the park.

The battery-operated vehicles should be available for the tourists by January, said officials from the MTDC. “With this project, we will bring out the first sustainable tourism initiative in Mumbai. We want to market the national park as a tourist destination, keeping with the green and eco-friendly nature of the park,” said Rahul Vasaikar, executive engineer, MTDC.

Fifteen vehicles will take tourists from the entrance to the safari counters, Kanheri caves and boating counters and other destinations inside the national park. “We will make provisions to let tourists use multiple buses during the excursion in the park on a single ticket.

With this, pollution in the park will reduce and people will become more sensitive towards nature conservation and green practices,” said Chief conservator of Forest Vikas Gupta, adding that no private vehicles will be allowed inside the park, once these battery-operated vehicles are in operation.

At present, MTDC and national park officials are working at constructing up a parking area near the entrance as well as bus shelters along the park, in addition to upgrading basic amenities such as toilets, seating, and drinking water facilities at the park. CCTV cameras have been installed at various entrances to the park to improve security.

Monday 26 May 2014

MTDC plans homestays in remote tourist spots

The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has plans to introduce 'homestays' in the remotest of tourist spots in the state.

Over 50 spots with tourist attractions in forest or tribal locations will be covered in the first phase. The premise being that such spots have umpteen tourist attractions, but no hotels or guest-houses, which keeps them off the tourism radar.

An MTDC official said the concept of home-stays is different from its 'bed and breakfast scheme', that is now available in tourists locations across the state.

"The bed and breakfast scheme is designed to increase the availability of accommodation to both domestic and foreign tourists. It provides them accommodation in bungalows, houses, flats of residents at such spots. But it is restricted to those accommodations that have a minimum of two rooms and four beds or maximum of five rooms and 10 beds. However, there are many remote villages in the state that are remarkable tourist spots and have no guest house or hotels, just humble two-room houses of residents. The homestay concept brings such houses into focus," the official said.

Light and Sound shows at three major hotspots in Odisha to draw tourists

Tourists hotspots like Khandagiri-Udaygiri, Dhauli and Konark are set to add another feather in their caps as the long-awaited light-and-sound shows will begin there soon.

"In the first phase, light-and-sound shows will start at Khandagiri-Udaygiri, Dhauli and Konark. We are hopeful of completing the projects by the year-end," said culture and tourism secretary Arvind Padhee.

Government sources said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has given its consent for the projects and the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has been assigned the task of preparing a 30 minute-script for the show. Installation works will begin soon.

The shows will be in English, Hindi, Odia and Bengali. An estimated Rs 20 crore will be spent on the project, of which Rs 15 crore will be funded by ITDC and the rest by the tourism department.

Similarly at Dhauli and Sun Temple, Konark, stories on Kalinga war and legend of Dharmapada will be narrated. The theatres will seat 24 each and be set up at interception centres at Khandagiri and Puri along with eight other places in the state.

"Around Rs 1.33 crore will be spent to set up the virtual reality theatres and on their maintenance and supervision. These theatres will have customized 3D shows of 10-minute duration," an official source said. The Odisha Tourism Development Corporation will be the nodal agency to implement the projects.

Monday 17 March 2014

Odisha Tourism gets Patwa International Award at ITB, Berlin 2014

In ITB Berlin, Odisha Tourism has put up a beautiful stall, which was inaugurated by the Additional Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Tourism Mr. Girish Shankar and Mrs Roma Singh, Regional Director India Tourism, Frankfurt on 5th March morning. Mr. M.R. Patnaik, Director, Tourism along with Mr. S.K. Pati and Shri S.S. Rath, Tourist Officer, Odisha Tourism were present at the time of inauguration of Odisha Tourism pavilion. Tour operators from Odisha like M/s Alternative Tours Pvt. Ltd, M/s Toshali International and M/s Eastern Voyages also attended the event.

Odisha Tourism has bagged an award for the Best Relaxation Culture & Beaches Destination from the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA). The award was received by Shri M.R Patnaik, Director Tourism Odisha in a glittering ceremony. This is a prestigious international award received by Odisha Tourism in ITB Berlin.

The award was received in presence of the Secretary General, UNWTO, CEO PATA, Minister Tourism Egypt, Minister Tourism and Culture Seychelles, President, International Hotel and Restaurant Association and Secretary General, PATWA. Odisha Tourism is expected to receive more response in the events from the other countries in the coming days.

Karnataka Govt urged to promote coastal tourism

A meeting on tourism development in Dakshina Kannada district has stressed on the need for marketing coastal Karnataka as a tourism destination. JR Lobo, MLA of Mangalore (South), said coastal Karnataka should be marketed as a tourism destination the way Bangalore was developed as an IT destination. The Karnataka Government has to give more thrust on developing coastal tourism, and a dedicated cell should be formed for this purpose. Lobo said that the Coastal Development Authority, set up by the State Government, should take active role in the development of tourism in the region.

Yatish Baikampady, CEO of Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project, focussed on the need to set short-term, medium-term and long-term goals for the comprehensive development of tourism in coastal Karnataka. Giving the examples of various activities of tourism attraction and festivals in the region, he said there is a need to come out with a calendar of events to popularise them to the world.

U. Jithendranath, Assistant Director of Karnataka Tourism Department, said that 36 works related to tourism development have been sanctioned to the district. Of them, 10 works have already been completed. Another 14 works are in various stages of implementation, and 12 projects are yet to be taken up, he said.