Year End Review: Ministry of Tourism

• 23 Jan 2023

For Prelims: Swadesh Darshan Scheme, Utsav and NIDHI Portals

For Mains: Sustainable and Responsible Tourism, Initiatives launched to Promote Tourism in India, Northeast India and Tourism

Why in News?

Recently, the Year-end-review of the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) was released.

• The Year-end reviews of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways were also released.

What are the Key Initiatives/Achievements of MoT?

National Digital Tourism Mission (NDTM)

• MoT appointed an inter-ministerial task force in July 2021, which, in April 2022 submitted a draft National Digital Tourism Mission (NDTM).
• NDTM is intended to connect stakeholders in the tourism eco-system digitally in the same lines of the National Health Mission.
• The mission agenda is to explore possibilities of developing a Unified Tourism Interface for the country where there are opportunities for seamless exchange of information amongst multiple stakeholders of the ecosystem.
  • Digitalization is key to bring tourism activities under a unified system.
• NIDHI+ is positioned as an important component of NDTM.

NIDHI Portal

• National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry (NIDHI) is a technology driven system to facilitate digitalization and promote ease of doing business for the hospitality & tourism sector.
  • It provides a clear picture on the geographical spread, size, structure and existing capacity of the Hospitality & Tourism Sector.
• NIDHI is being upgraded as NIDHI+ to have more inclusivity - it also envisages a larger role of the State Govts and UTs.

National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Traveller Campaign

• It was launched by MoT during the National Summit on Developing Sustainable & Responsible Tourist Destinations in June 2022.
  • The summit was organised by MoT in partnership with UNEP and Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI) in New Delhi.
• The Strategy document has identified the strategic pillars for development of sustainable tourism like
  • Promoting environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability
  • Protecting biodiversity
  • Scheme for certification of sustainable tourism
• Sustainable and responsible tourism practices are being implemented in various projects and initiatives through Swadesh Darshan 2.0.

Tourism Stakeholder Skill Training and Sensitisation Programmes

• MoT through India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is conducting skill training and sensitization programs for the tourism stakeholders including taxi/ cab drivers, tourist transport drivers, hotel frontline staff, tourist guides etc.
• The soft skill training programs include etiquette, workplace and personal hygiene, Covid protocol, foreign language amongst others.

Uniform Tourist Police Scheme

• MoT in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) organised a National Conference on Tourist Police Scheme.
• The aim is to sensitise the state/UT police departments about the specific requirements of the foreign & domestic tourists for effective pan-India implementation of Uniform Tourist Police Scheme.

International Tourism Mart (ITM)

• MoT organised the International Tourism Mart (ITM) in the Northeast Region (NER) to showcase the tourism potential of the North Eastern States of India at the domestic and international levels.
• The 10th ITM for NER was organised in Aizawl, Mizoram in association with the State Government of Mizoram.
• ITM brought together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from the 8 NE States on a common platform.

YUVA Tourism Clubs

• MoT initiated the establishment of ‘YUVA Tourism Clubs’ as part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.
• These clubs aim to nurture and develop young ambassadors of Indian tourism who would become aware of tourism possibilities in India, appreciate India’s rich cultural heritage and develop an interest and passion for tourism.
• The CBSE has come forward to support the initiative of MoT and issued instructions to all CBSE affiliated schools regarding formation of Yuva Tourism Clubs.

Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid Affected Tourism Service Sector (LGSCATSS)

• Under LGSCATSS, working capital/personal loans will be provided to people in the tourism sector to discharge liabilities and restart businesses impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The scheme will cover 10,700 Tourist Guides recognised by MoT and State/UT Administration and about 1,000 Travel and Tourism Stakeholders (TTS) recognised by the MoT.
  • TTSs will be eligible to get guaranteed collateral free loan up to Rs. 10 Lakh each and Tourist Guides can avail guaranteed collateral free loans up to Rs.1 lakh each.
• MoT will administer LGSCATSS through National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC).

Utsav Portal

• It showcases festivals and events across India to increase tourism awareness and to promote different regions of the country as popular tourist destinations worldwide.
• Additionally, the objective is also to let the devotees and travellers experience and view the sights of some of the well-known religious divine shrines in India in the form of Live Darshan.

Source: PIB