International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day, a global day to celebrate the social cultural and political achievements of women and rally for their empowerment .
 
Travel and tourism is one prominent sector, where women , across the world have made significant achievements by way of participation and employment during last decade .In fact, travel and tourism has potential to provide women with more opportunities for workforce participation, leadership, entrepreneurship and empowerment than many other sectors. Studies have shown that globally, tourism has almost twice as many women employed than in other sectors and that 54% (global average) of people employed in tourism are women.
 
India too has great potential to accelerate women’s participation and employment in travel and tourism sector for the reason that India has only 12.1 % share of women in the total work force in travel and tourism sector( as per WTTC study report) and that a huge women work force is choosing professional careers in the country.
 
To ensure greater empowerment of women through tourism, it is however necessary to mainstream gender equality in the national tourism policies and plans ; Include tourism in gender sensitive macroeconomic policy; Develop skills and leadership for women in tourism ; Support grass root women’s organisation in tourism communities and increase women’s participation in training on Digital technologies in tourism.
 
The theme for International Women’s Day 2021 is ‘’Choose to Challenge’’. A challenged world is an alert world; And from Challenge comes Change. It is therefore the year to ‘Choose a Change’ for greater empowerment of Women in Travel and Tourism.
 
I once had the privilege to speak on empowerment of women through tourism at a global forum at ITB Berlin, in an event ‘CELEBRATING HER’ Global Awards for Empowered Women, and had the pleasure to give away awards to the Women Awardees, from across the World, who did exceptional work in Tourism.
 
 
 

‘’Buddha Trail Triangle’’ ( a Mini Buddhist Circuit ) comprising Bodh Gaya , Sarnath and Kushinagar

India tourism can now aggressively promote another Golden triangle , the ‘’Buddha Trail Triangle’’ ( a Mini Buddhist Circuit ) comprising Bodh Gaya , Sarnath and Kushinagar , as all the three world famous destinations, having Buddha’s footsteps, are now connected with international airports.
 
The good news is that DGCA, a few days ago, has issued license for allowing operations of commercial flights from the new Kushinagar International Airport.
 
Bodh Gaya and Sarnath ( Varanasi Airport), already have International Airports. The State tourism departments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar , the airline operators ,the travel trade and the hospitality industry must make all possible efforts to draw mileage from the airport infrastructure and air connectivity at the three globally renowned destinations.
 
Buddhist tourism in India, is not for religious tourism alone, for international travellers arriving from Buddhist countries.
The ‘philosophy’ and ‘teachings’ of Lord Buddha is also the fountainhead of heritage, spiritual and education tourism, that can be a great attraction for domestic travellers of our country too.
 
Today , with domestic tourism being in focus of all tourism stakeholders and ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ as the flagship campaign of Ministry of Tourism , it would be a good idea to promote this ‘triangle’ ,now having an end -to -end air connectivity, for domestic tourists ,particularly as a weekend / extended weekend getaway for domestic tourists.
 
I too look forward to visiting Parinirvana Stupa Mandir at Kushinagar, where I could not visit earlier, because of no air connectivity.
 

Happy National Voters Day 2021

25th January is a day of great importance for the people of India. On this day , the nation also celebrates National Voters Day along with National Tourism Day.

National Voters Day symbolises the strength of India’s vibrant democracy, and reminds the Voters of our Country about their electoral rights, powers and responsibilities.

It was on 25th January 1950, when Election Commission of India was founded.
The setting up of Election Commission, a day before India became Republic, speaks volumes about India’s commitment to Electoral and Democratic Governance.

And it was a privilege for me, that National Voters Day celebrations commenced in the year 2011, when I was part of the Election Commission of India, as Deputy Election Commissioner.

Wishing all Voters of India, a ‘Happy National Voters Day 2021’.

Happy National Tourism Day 2021

Wishing All, a Happy National Tourism Day 2021.
Let us celebrate this day, by making ‘Dekho Apna Desh as our new ‘Mantra’ for 2021, and help India Tourism to become sustainable, resilient and ‘atma-nirbhar’.

ABTO Convention and International Buddhist Travel Mart (IBTM 2020) organised by ABTO

Almost a year ago, the unprecedented disruption caused by covid-19, left the tourism world grappling with multiple challenges and crises. However, the commencement of covid vaccination, with Ms Margaret Keenan of UK, becoming the first person in the world to be given the vaccine, all stakeholders of travel and tourism would look forward to happier days ahead, expecting quicker revival and fast tracking of travel and tourism across the globe.
 
The process of mass vaccination across the world however is likely to take some time and therefore domestic tourism shall continue to be the best option for all nations for immediate revival of tourism. India , being a big country with a large base of domestic travellers, can reap this benefit more than many other nations in the world.
 
However ,with gradual emergence of post-vaccine world ,it is also time that nations started exploring the possibilities and avenues of international travelling.Re-starting international travel would however need all global stakeholders to build common global safety standards, follow health protocols and principles of safety, confidence and trust and increase Govt to Govt (G2G) and Govt to Industry(G2 I) collaboration.
 
To make a beginning in international travelling, ‘Cross Border’ and ‘Intra-Region’ tourism would be a preferred option before the nations. In this context, India and asian nations must work closely and synergize to kickstart international travelling in the region. India gets 40% of its total inbound tourists from asian region and the biggest driving theme for asian nations to visit India is Buddhist tourism, India being the ‘Land of Buddha’.
 
While Ministry of Tourism has taken number of initiatives to promote Buddhist tourism, Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO), with the support of the Ministry, is doing commendable work as a national platform for promoting Buddhist tourism in India and across asian region and subsequently acting as a catalyst to accelerate cross border tourism between India and asian nations. The ABTO Convention and International Buddhist Travel Mart (IBTM 2020) organised by ABTO from 10-12 Dec 2020 at Bodhgaya, is indeed another laudable step in that direction.
 
I had the pleasure to participate and address at this event’s Inaugural Session and the International Conference on the subject ‘Revival of Tourism’ , presided over by Hon’ble Union Tourism Minister of India, as Chief Guest. And it was a great pleasure to hear the Hon’ble Minister giving assurance of all possible support to the cause of promoting Buddhist tourism ,during his inaugural address.
 
The related video link is available below:
https://www.facebook.com/100025923378058/videos/776790256528413\
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Official Release of TravTour MICE magazine

Official Release of TravTour MICE magazine by Mr. Vinod Zutshi Secretary – Tourism Govt. of India along with Mr. Dilip Parulekar, Hon. Tourism Minister of Goa and Mr. Amar Kumar Bauri Hon. Tourism Minister of Jharkhand

Responsible Tourism in India in WTM 2020

Thanks to WTM 2020 and to Dr Harold Goodwin for keeping a dedicated session on ‘ Responsible Tourism in India’ .
And it was a pleasure for me to showcase during the Panel Session at WTM 2020 (Virtual) , how India is rapidly emerging as a leader in Responsible Tourism.
 
Thanks to the sincere efforts made during the last few years by Ministry of Tourism, State Governments , Tourism Industry, Community and Travellers that today, even the ‘World Travel Market (WTM) Forum’ openly acknowledges that India is now arguably leading the world in adopting a Responsible Tourism approach.
 
The full video of the aforesaid session has been placed below, for benefit of interested viewers.
 
 
 

WTM 2020 on Responsible Tourism in India

Responsible Tourism in India is taking deeper roots and expanding into a large number of regions in the country and covering most of tourism verticals.All stakeholders are working towards driving ‘Responsible Tourism’ to the centre stage of India Tourism.
 
The overarching theme of the new ‘Draft National Tourism Policy of India’ is to promote sustainable and responsible tourism, which will cut across all the strategic pillars to achieve the vision to make India as a top most destination for sustainable and responsible tourism.
 
It is a matter of pride and pleasure that a dedicated session has been organised at WTM 2020 on Responsible Tourism in India and speaking in the virtual session as a panel member would give me an opportunity to bring out before the world, our success stories and the country’s resolve to adopt responsible tourism as an integral part of tourism.
 
The video link is available below :
https://www.facebook.com/100025923378058/videos/776770909863681/