Tag: K J Alphons

The 150-km long Gavi – Vagamon – Thekkadi tourism project, which was sanctioned in 2015, is all ready and will be inaugurated on February 17, 2019. “The work on the Gavi – Vagamon – Thekkadi tourism project has been completed at a cost of Rs 76.55 crore and its inauguration will be held on February 17. A project for a spiritual circuit connecting 133 shrines across the state will be launched on February 16,” said Union Minister for Tourism K J Alphons. The circuit will have a host of new facilities such as trekking, archery and rock climbing. In Vagamon-Thekkady area, there ... Read more

Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, K J Alphons announced that the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned projects worth Rs 85.23 crore for the development of Spiritual Circuit III for Kerala under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The sites identified under the circuit are spread across all 14 districts of the state and cover 133 religious places. He said the districts where the projects would be implemented are : Kasargode, Wayand, Kannur, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamhitta, Kollam and Thiruvanathapuram . The Minister said the destinations have been selected keeping in view the inherent historic, cultural ... Read more

Kumarakom, Kerala The Ministry of Tourism has entered into a pact to develop mobile audio-video guide application for 5 tourism sites across India. Letters of Intent has issued to seven agencies under ‘Adopt a Heritage’ Scheme for Vision Bidding. The Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, K J Alphons has handed over a Memorandum of Understanding under the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme to Resbird Technologies for development of a mobile Audio Guide App for five iconic sites. The five iconic sites for which the mobile Audio Guide App is to be developed are Amer Fort (Rajasthan), Kaziranga (Assam), Colva Beach ... Read more

Rs 727.16 crore has been sanctioned for development of 41 religious sites under the Prasad scheme till now, said Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism K J Alphons. For development of tourism infrastructure in the country, the Ministry of Tourism launched the schemes of PRASHAD-Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive and Swadesh Darshan – Integrated Development of Theme-Based Tourist Circuits and in the year 2014-15. Under PRASHAD Scheme, 41 religious sites have been identified for development in the country namely Amaravati and Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Kamakhya (Assam), Parasuram Kund (Lohit District, Arunachal Pradesh), Patna and Gaya (Bihar), Balmeshwari Devi Temple ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned the project “Development of Ahmedabad- Rajkot- Porbandar-Bardoli- Dandi” in Gujarat under Heritage Circuit theme of Swadesh Darshan scheme in the year 2016-17 for Rs 93.48 crore. The components sanctioned for Dandi under the above project include Tourist Facilitation Centre, Site Illumination, Development of Parking, Landscaping, Handicraft store/Khadi Exhibition Centre, Basic Tourist Amenities like public toilets, drinking water ATMs etc. “The project is under implementation stage. As per the utilization certificate received form the State Government an expenditure of Rs 2.69 crore has been incurred at Dandi,” said Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, K ... Read more

Ramayana Circuit is one of the fifteen thematic circuits identified for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of Ministry of Tourism. The Ministry has initially identified fifteen destinations for development under the Ramayana Circuit theme namely Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh), Nashik & Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu). The details of projects sanctioned under the Ramayana Circuit theme of Swadesh Darshan during the last two years: Development of Ayodhya under Ramayana Circuit theme in Uttar Pradesh (2017-18) and Rs 133.31 crore ... Read more

The Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India on medical visa during 2016 and 2017 were estimated at 4, 27, 014 and 4, 95, 056 respectively, registering a positive growth of 15.9 per cent. “Medical Tourism holds immense potential for India. The Indian systems of medicines, viz. Ayurveda, Yoga, Panchakarma, Rejuvenation Therapy, etc., are among the most ancient systems of medical treatment in the world. India can provide medical and health care of international standards at low costs. India excels in the state of the art medical facilities, reputed health care professionals, quality nursing facilities and traditional healthcare therapies,” said K J ... Read more

Under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, the central Tourism Ministry has sanctioned 73 projects with Central Financial Assistance for Rs 5873.26 crores covering 30 States/UT Administrations till date. “The sanctioning of new projects under Swadesh Darshan scheme is a continuous process. Projects for development under the scheme are identified in consultations with the State Governments/UT Administrations and are sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilization of funds released earlier. All the projects sanctioned under the circuits are at various stages of implementation,” said K J Alphons, Union Minister of State (I/C) ... Read more

Rashmi Verma (IAS), of 1982 batch from Bihar Cadre, has retired from her service today as the Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India. She had joined as the Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, in May 2017. “Secretary Tourism, Rashmi Verma, retired today after doing an exceptionally outstanding job in my Ministry. She has contributed greatly in getting India Tourism to 3rd rank in the WTTC report 2018,” said Alphons K J, Minister for Tourism, in twitter. Before getting appointed as the Tourism Secretary, Verma was serving as the Secretary in Ministry of Textiles. She had previously served as the Chairman ... Read more

Photo for representative purpose only Tripura will host three-day 7th International Tourism Mart from November 22. As many as 80 international tour operators from 21 countries including Bangladesh, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Thailand, South Africa and Russia will attend the fair and engage in dialogue with the state tour operators, attend seminars and visit different tourist spots of the state. The event is organised with an estimated budget of Rs 2.60 crores, which is provided by the Ministry of Tourism. Union Minister of State for Tourism K J Alphons will inaugurate the International Tourism Mart on November 22. The event will ... Read more

Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma at the roll out of the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) Programme. Rashmi Verma , The Union Tourism Secretary rolled out the  Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) Programme in New Delhi on 15th November 2018. The programme was launched in Septet by the Union Tourism Minister, K J Alphons on the occasion of National Tourism Awards function & World Tourism Day. The participants will now be able to register for this programme through an online digital platform.  IITFC will enable Indian citizens to develop and enhance the skills associated with tourism, and where one ... Read more

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has inaugurated the 5th North East Connectivity Summit at Tawang, organised  by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Tourism Connectivity’. “North East has unique and distinctive culture.The people are known for great hospitality.The Ministry of tourism wants to advertise it globally and put everything related to North East on the Global Map. Let #NorthConnectivitySummit be a good start #SustainableTourism,” tweeted Alphons K J, Union Minister for Tourism. The two-day summit is being attended by representatives and delegations from neighboring countries such as Bhutan and Bangladesh, ... Read more

Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi – Terminal 3 K J Alphons, Union Minister for Tourism, inaugurated the Tourist facilitation and information counter at Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi, today. The facilitation counter is located at the T3 terminal arrival gates of the IGI Airport on 5th November 2018. The Tourism Ministry is also starting Facilitation Counters in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Gaya and Varanasi. Opening the facilitation center for visitors, which is first-of-its-kind by the Government in IGI airport, the minister said that this shall be of great help to the tourists visiting the country. The Minister of State ... Read more

Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent charge) K J Alphons has assured that the Central Government will provide more monetary assistance to Manipur if the state comes up with interesting projects. “Manipur is ideal for grooming handlooms and textiles industry due to the presence of ample number of weavers who have thorough knowledge of the trade,” the minister said. “Tourism, handlooms and textiles and handicrafts are the sectors that the state preferably needs to focus for economic boost,” he opined while speaking as guest of honor at the launching programme of “Samveg, the momentum” which was held in celebrating the role ... Read more

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, has written to Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism, K J Alphons, and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, for developing Maharashtra coast as a tourist hotspot. He said that the marine leisure sector is the fastest growing segment of the travel industry and growth of cruise ship industry, seaside destination resorts, marine parks, scuba diving and aquariums. India, with a coast line of 7500 km., has tremendous potential for development in this sector. Commerce Minister said that the Ministry has received a proposal from the Services Export ... Read more