Releases..........pt1

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Ministry of Home Affairs  

Government will pursue quiet diplomacy in J & K says Chidambaram

New Delhi: October 14, 2009

 

Government will follow the policy of quiet diplomacy to find a solution to the problem in Jammu & Kashmir. The Union Home Minister, Shri P.Chidambaram said this while addressing the All India Editors' Conference on Social and Infrastructure issues in Srinagar today. The Government recognizes that there are different shades of opinion in the State and will hold consultations with all sections. The Union Home Minister said that the whole effort would be quiet until the contours of a political solution to the problem are found. This is essential to take the process forward. Shri Chidambaram said that the ultimate solution must be honourable and acceptable to the vast majority of people of Jammu & Kashmir and must recognize the unique history and geography of the State.

 

On the security situation in the State, the Union Home Minister said that there has been a marked improvement. The number of violent incidents in the first nine months of the current year was 395 which is the lowest during the period in the last 8-9 years. The Government's approach to violence in Jammu & Kashmir is of zero tolerance. Shri Chidambaram said that the violence in the State is largely attributable to infiltration from across the international border and LOC. Better systems to check infiltration have now been put in place and it has come down. He expressed confidence that due to increased vigil, it would be possible to bring infiltration to the barest minimum.

 

On the developmental front, the Union Home Minister informed the gathering that mechanisms have been put in place to speed up the execution of various projects under the Prime Minister's Reconstruction Plan. A group of Secretaries led by the Cabinet Secretary recently visited the State and held a detailed review of the progress. Secretaries of individual departments will visit the State next month to hold discussions with the State Government regarding the progress of the projects pertaining to their departments and also make field visits.

 

Earlier, the Union Home Minister released the first issue of the "Jammu & Kashmir Update", a publication of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It has been brought out in Hindi, English and Urdu.

 

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Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Ministry of Tourism  

Union Ministry of Tourism to provide all possible assistance to J&K in Tourism Sector

New Delhi: October 14, 2009

 

The Secretary Union Ministry of Tourism Shri Sujit Banerjee has issued following statement on the status of Tourism in Jammu & Kashmir here today. The statement has been issued on the occasion of All India Editors' Conference on Social Sector and Infrastructural Issues being held in Srinagar which was addressed by him.

 

·               Jammu & Kashmir is one of the most attractive tourist destinations, both for foreign as well as domestic tourists. The state includes Jammu, Kashmir valley and Ladakh region.  Kashmir valley is perched securely between bewitching snow-clad peaks, glaciers, interspersed with beautiful lakes and famous gardens.  The emerald blue skies peeping through the chinks of the clouds, the tall chinar trees swaying to the rhythm of the gusts of wind make the surrounding breath-taking.  It is, therefore, rightly described as the 'paradise on the earth'.  Existence of important shrines, oldest monasteries, temples and cave temples in all the three regions is other attraction for the tourist.  Jammu is considered to be a hub of pilgrim tourism in the State being abode of Mata Vaishno Devi attracting millions of tourists/pilgrims throughout the year.  The valley has immense potential for adventure tourism such as mountaineering, trekking, skiing, rafting, hand-gliding and para sailing besides leisure tourism.  The cold arid desert area of Ladakh comprises two districts namely, Leh and Kargil and its surreal landscape has often been termed as 'moonland'. The state has become an all-the-year round destination.

 

Tourist Arrivals

·               Tourist Arrivals have increased over the last few years in the State. During the year 2006, there were 76,46,274 domestic tourist visits which increased to 79,15,271 in the year 2007. In the year 2008, the number of domestic tourists visiting the state was 76,38,977. As regards Foreign Tourist Arrivals in the state, in the year 2006, the number of Tourist Arrivals was 46,087 which increased to 52,754 in the year 2007. During the year 2008 there were 54,697 Foreign Tourist Arrivals in the state.

 

Infrastructure Projects

·               Development and promotion of tourism is primarily the responsibility of the State Government. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, however also extends the financial assistance to augment the tourism infrastructure in the state and to provide the required publicity for promotion of Tourism in the state under various schemes.

·               During the 10th Plan Period, the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India sanctioned the Tourism Projects amounting to Rs.128.23 crore to Jammu & Kashmir. These include infrastructure development projects as well as the Grants for fairs & festivals.

·               In the 11th plan, so far, the Ministry of tourism has sanctioned tourism infrastructure projects amounting to Rs.130.98 crore. Keeping in view the difficulties faced by the State Govt. owing to the topography and difficult terrain of the region, the implementation period of a project for which Central Financial Assistance is provided by the Ministry of Tourism has been increased to 36 months.

·               The above sanctions also include the projects approved under the Prime Minister's Reconstruction Plan providing financial support for 12 Tourism Development Authorities at Patnitop, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Lakhanpur-Sarthal, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Kokernag, Sonamarg, Leh and Kargil.

·               The Ministry of Tourism has identified Spritual Destination of Leh-Ladakh as a Mega Tourist Destination in which central financial assistance upto Rs.25 crore can be provided.

 

Rural Tourism

·               As a part of National Tourism Policy 2002 Ministry of Tourism is developing and promoting the Rural Tourism sites which have core-competency in art, craft, culture/heritage, handloom, etc. The objective is to showcase rural life, art, culture and heritage at rural locations and in villages and to benefit the local community economically and socially as well as enable interaction between tourists and local population for a mutually enriching experience

·               Under the PM's Reconstruction Plan of J&K, this Ministry has sanctioned 20 Rural Tourism Projects for Rs.12.93 crores.       

 

Human Resource Development

·               The Ministry has set up an Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering (IISM) in Gulmarg for promoting skiing, mountaineering etc. and also provides funds for courses to the Institute. The Ministry has sanctioned Rs. 829.00 lakh for the building and the institute is functional. The institute offers training courses in snow skiing, water skiing and related adventure activities.  For giving a boost to adventure tourism, union budget for 2009-10 has exempted customs duty on inflatable rafts, snow-skis, sail boards and other water sports equipments and this will further increase adventure tourism activities in the state.

·               There is a functional Central Institute of Hotel Management at Srinagar which is affiliated to the NCHMCT with annual intake of 120 in degree course (B.Sc. in Hospitality and Hotel Administration) and 150 in diploma and certificate courses.

·               Ministry of Tourism had sanctioned in the year 2007-08 a Food Craft Institute at Jammu and another at Leh in the year 2008-09. The Central assistance in each case will be limited to Rs.4.75 crores of which Rs.2 crores stands released.    On being functional, each of these institutes would conduct diploma and certificate courses in Food Production, F&B Services, Housekeeping and Front Office with annual intake capacity of about 200 students per year.

·               The IHM Srinagar is also an implementing Institute for the MoT's training Programme for creating employable skills. The Programme offers two courses: one of 6 weeks duration for imparting training in food and beverage service; and the other of 8 weeks duration for training in food production. The Programme is open to young persons in the age group of 18-25 years, who are atleast 8th class pass. It has also been decided to include FCI Jammu as an implementing agency for this Programme.  The two institutes together are expected to train about 350 persons annually.

·               The Ministry of Tourism has also decided to designate the IHM Srinagar as a Skill Testing and Certifying Institute.  The IHM Srinagar will conduct, regularly, for interested service providers, orientation courses of 5 days duration each followed by skill testing and eventual certification.  This way, the skills of the service providers would be formally recognized

·               Under the policy of Broadbasing of hospitality education, existing Institutes (ITIs, Polytechnics, Government Schools, Colleges, and Universities) can be extended funds for creating infrastructure necessary for starting hospitality courses.  While a school will be eligible for funds to the extent of Rs. 25 lakhs, the others can take upto Rs. 200 lakhs each.  Under this dispensation, the University of Jammu has been sanctioned Rs. 200 lakhs.

 

Publicity and Promotion

·               The Ministry is also making efforts to promote the state for domestic tourism. A Domestic Media Campaign for the promotion of Jammu &Kashmir Region during the year 2007-08 and early 2008-09 was launched with a gross outlay of Rs.11,79,22,058/-. Advertisement spots were released in various Hindi, English and Regional language TV channels. A Print Media Campaign in National and Regional Newspapers for the promotion of Jammu &Kashmir among the domestic travelers was also launched in 2007-08 and early 2008-09. This campaign was launched for an amount of Rs. 1,64,23,024/- and the advertisements were released in various Hindi, English and language newspapers. Further the forthcoming issue of the Incredible India magazine (Oct.-Nov. 2009) covers the Boat Houses of Srinagar as accommodation option when visiting Srinagar.

 

Support under Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme for overseas promotion.

 

The Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India has relaxed the guidelines of the Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme, so as to enable tourism service providers in the state of Jammu & Kashmir to avail benefits under the scheme. Under the revised guidelines, tourism service providers in Jammu & Kashmir, approved by the State Tourism Department (and not necessarily by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India) and with a total turnover not exceeding Rs. 20 crore (not necessarily including foreign exchange earnings) can now avail financial support from the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India for undertaking promotional activities in the overseas markets, under the following categories:

 

1.            Participation in Travel Fairs and Exhibitions

2.            Sale-cum-Study Tours

3.            Printing of Publicity Material for distribution overseas.

 

IMPORTANT MILESTONES IN TOURISM SECTOR IN INDIA

Ø             Statistics of Growth in the year 2008 & 2009:

·               The foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) to India in 2008 witnessed an increase of 5.6 % over the arrivals for the same period in 2007, while the world tourist arrivals grew by less than 2% in 2008. A total of 5.37 million tourists visited India in 2008. The important source countries were US, UK, Canada, France, Germany and Japan. The foreign exchange earnings (FEE) from the tourism sector in 2008 was Rs. 50730 crore, an increase of 14.4 % over 2007.  The period January – September 2009 has seen an overall decline of 7.7% in foreign tourist arrivals as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

·               Whereas, the downward trend in foreign tourist arrivals to the country had shown improvement in the month of June 2009, which registered, for the first time in 8 months, an increase of 0.2% in foreign tourist arrivals to the country as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, followed by an increase of 0.6% in the month of July, the month of August and September 2009 has once again seen a decline of 8.6% and 4.1% as compared corresponding months of previous year, possibly due to Swine Flu..

·               The domestic tourist visits in India increased from 309 million in the year 2003 to 563 million in the year 2008. 

Ø             A series of promotional initiatives have been taken in the overseas markets such as Scandinavia, Australasia, Russia, USA, West Asia, etc. for promoting tourism and increasing foreign tourist arrivals to the country.

Ø             It is also decided that the Ministry of Tourism will support state Govts. / UTs to have one Convention Centre in every state/UT for promotion of MICE Tourism.

Ø             The Institutes of Hotel Management (IHMs) have initiated a six to eight week fast track skill training programme for youth under twenty five years of age, who are at least eighth pass.   These programmes would be in food production   and food and beverage services.  It is expected that after this training, the participants would be able to get gainful employment in the growing hospitality / hotel sector.  It is estimated that around 5000 youths would be trained in the year.

Ø             Ministry of Tourism has initiated the Scheme for Certification of skills of those service providers who are working in the hospitality sector.  Under the scheme, the service providers opting for certification would undertake a three-day orientation programme followed by test that would be based on practical and viva voce.  Those who pass the test would be provided a certificate (recognizing them as MoT certified service provider), which would make them more employable in the market.  A minimum of 5000 service providers would be certified in the year.

Ø             A revised and more liberalized Incredible India Bed & Breakfast/Homestay Scheme launched and the states/U.T.s encouraged to formulate their own scheme to develop Bed & Breakfast/Home stay units.

Ø             The CCEA also approved the policy of broad basing hospitality education to ITIs, vocational schools, polytechnics, universities and colleges to meet the growing demand of trained manpower in hospitality sector.

Ø             ITDC declared a dividend of 20% on paid up capital amounting to Rs.12.15 crore for the year 2007-08. 

Ø             As a responsible tourism initiative, 142 rural sites are being developed as a rural tourism product.  The traditional artisans from these sites have been given exposure to national/international platforms.   Mega shopping festivals are providing an opportunity for sale of art and craft products.

Ø             Niche Tourism Products

 (i)           Caravan Tourism:  A new policy guideline has been announced to promote Caravan Tourism in India and to facilitate the infrastructure required for Caravan Tourism.

Considering the diverse tourism products and the multitude of landscapes in India, Caravans and Caravan Parks have a potential to add an exciting new facet to tourism in Incredible India and would attract a wide range of market segments including young people, families, senior citizens and international tourists

 (ii)          Heliport Tourism:     With a view to promote tourist destinations in hilly and remote areas of the country,  the Ministry of Tourism has issued guidelines to extend financial assistance to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations for construction of heliports under the Scheme of Product/ Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits.

Two projects for construction of heliports at Mangan and Geetang Khola in Sikkim have also been sanctioned under this new initiative of the Ministry of Tourism. Both the projects are likely to be completed within two years.

Ø             Initiatives taken to counter the impact of the global meltdown.

To discuss the Industry problems as a fall out of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai as well as issues affecting the industry due to the ongoing financial melt-down, the National Tourism Advisory Council (NTAC) and the stakeholders met on December 15, 2008. Following measures have been taken subsequently:

i.              Strengthening the Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme

ii.             Organizing Familiarization Tours for Overseas Media and Travel Trade Representatives:

iii.            Subsidy to the trade and state governments for participation in international travel fairs and exhibitions:

iv.           Extending the benefit of the Marketing Development Assistance Scheme of the Ministry to active Members of India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB):

v.            Medical & Wellness Tourism is to be supported through the Market Development Assistant (MDA) Scheme.

vi.           A Visit India Year 2009 Scheme has been announced by the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with all stakeholders including airlines, hotels, tour operators, State Governments, for incentivising travel to India during the period April to December 2009.  Scheme details have been hosted in the www.incredibleindia.org website of the Ministry of Tourism for worldwide publicity. 

Ø             International Accolades 

PATA Gold Award 2009 – Marketing Media – Travel Advertisement Broadcast Media

PATA Gold Award 2009 – Marketing Media – Travel Poster

Conde Nast Traveller, UK in its Readers Travel Awards 2008 ranked India among the top 2 most favoured countries in the world. 

Incredible India Website winner of PC World Web Award

"World Travel Award 2008" for "Responsible Tourism" 

Global SASI (Shop America Salutes Innovation) Award to Incredible India by National Geographic Society

Grand Prix Award at the International Film Festival in Plock and also Das Golden Stadttor Award at ITB 2009 for the Incredible India promotional film "Nirvana"

New Frontiers Award to Mumbai at Arabian Travel Mart 2009 for outstanding resilience.

 

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