GOVERNMENT

National & state tourism policies should recognise sustainability practices, Sceretary Tourism

News Desk

RT-PCR not required for fully vaccinated traveller to Kerala

Arvind Singh, Secretary – Ministry of Tourism said that many tourism destinations have been embracing sustainability and taking action to address the environmental impacts, but this practice should be more universal. Similarly, businesses in tourism, large and small, have introduced environmental management systems to keep up with the demands of the sector. He was addressing a webinar on 'Sustainable Tourism: Confidence to Explore India Responsibly' at FAE 2020. He informed that the Government has come out with a Draft National Strategy and Roadmap for Sustainable Tourism. "Some of the measures that we have proposed in the strategy is the certification scheme for sustainable tourism. This can later be extended to destinations and other industry stakeholders as well. We will also work with industry, NGOs for the dissemination of information, education and communication campaigns on sustainable tourism and the adverse environmental impacts of tourism in certain parts of the country," he said. "There will also be an effort to do a state assessment and ranking. This will be a clear strategy to motivate states adopt sustainable tourism. This assessment will be used to identify initiatives in the states and build a capacity and future roadmap towards better sustainable practises in tourism. We will aggressively promote sustainable tourism certified products and enterprises,” added Singh. Kerala Government has done away with the mandatory requirement of negative RT-PCR test results for inter-state travel and appearing in examinations for persons who have received two doses of COVID vaccine. State Disaster Management Authority made the decision on grounds that the Covid-19 vaccination was progressing well. People attending activities that call for a negative RT-PCR result should carry the vaccination certificate showing they have received two doses of vaccine. However, those who have developed symptoms of COVID shall undergo RT-PCR test and carry the negative result.

Maharashtra Government approves new ‘Adventure Tourism’ policy

News Desk

The Government of Maharashtra has approved a policy for ‘Adventure Tourism’ to streamline the activities across the state. The new policy has focused on the safety of the people and covers all tour operators that organise adventure tourism except adventure sports, performanceoriented sports, forest safari and nature trips. The activities that come under adventure tourism are mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, mountain biking, cycling, canoeing, scuba diving, rafting, kayaking, zip-lining, paragliding, hiking, exploring, canyoneering, sandboarding, caving and rock climbing. Maharashtra is the fifth state in the country in terms of organising a number of adventure tours and is expected to be on top with the help of this policy. The policy will establish a regulatory framework for the sector with guidelines on necessary training of personnel and equipment etc. It will make it mandatory for tour operators to register with the state tourism directorate and take all necessary precautions while organising adventure tours. Aaditya Thackeray, Tourism and Environment Minister, Govt of Maharashtra said: “There were no rules related to adventure tourism and accidents were also happening. The policy is an attempt to streamline the activities by covering all the three mediums of adventure tourism — land, water and air. It will cover all tour operators that organise adventure tourism. It means they will have to follow all the rules while organizing adventure tourism tours for amateurs and tourists.”

Speaking on the sameline, Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary, Maharashtra Tourism said: “There are lots of fly-bynight people in the profession who are not following regular safety procedures. We have brought in registration and guidelines so that the safety and security of tourists is not compromised.” She further said the guidelines will be strict, making it mandatory to have experts in the team going for adventure tourism, equipment, first-aid preparedness, insurance etc. There will also be a mandatory site inspection for completing the registration process for tour operators.