The Ministry of Tourism started the Destination Based Capacity Building programme. The objective of the program is to train, upgrade, sensitize and to bring the services/trainings at the door steps of the local people and service providers residing near tourism sites and destinations who cannot afford to travel to the cities/towns to take training.

Till now more than 12000 candidates have been trained under this initiative and more than 150 such training has been conducted at various tourist destinations across the country.

To position India as a preferred global destination for sustainable and responsible tourism, Ministry of Tourism has formulated National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. Following strategic pillars have been identified for the development of sustainable tourism:

1. Promoting Environmental Sustainability
2. Protecting Biodiversity
3. Promoting Economic Sustainability
4. Promoting Socio-Cultural Sustainability
5. Scheme for Certification of Sustainable Tourism
6. IEC and Capacity Building
7. Governance

To assist the Ministry in implementation of National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism, Ministry has designated Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management (IITTM) as the Central Nodal Agency – Sustainable Tourism (CNA-ST).

Under the Scheme of Domestic Promotion and Publicity including Hospitality, Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) up to Rs.50.00 Lakh to State Governments and up to Rs.30 Lakhs to UT Administrations on the proposal of fairs/ festivals and tourism related events (i.e. seminars, conclaves, conventions etc.).

The components covered under the scheme are as under:-

i.          Creation of semi-permanent structures.

ii.         Production of posters, pamphlets, advertisement in newspaper and production of film.

iii.        Remuneration of artists.

iv.        Sitting arrangements, lighting, sound, lodging & boarding, transportation, hiring of space and other similar activities.

The Scheme Guidelines do not have any specific provision to provide special arrangement and protection to the tourist to see local festival and cultural fairs. However, State Governments provide adequate protection to tourists in their respective jurisdictions.

The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) under the Schemes of “Swadesh Darshan”, “Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive”  PRASHAD and “Assistance to Central Agencies” provides financial assistance to State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations/Central Agencies for the development of tourism related infrastructure and facilities at various tourism destinations in the country.

To encourage the State Tourism Departments to take major IT initiatives for improving tourist information and facilitation as well as marketing and publicizing their tourist products, the Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance to the States and UT Governments to enable them to adopt wide-spread use of information technology in their tourism products and services, comprising publicity, promotion, marketing, etc. Under this scheme, financial assistance up to 50% of the IT project (of States or UTs) is given to the State/UT Governments, restricted to an annual ceiling for each State/UT, which would be 90% of the total project cost or Rs.50 lakhs, whichever is lower.

This information was given by Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DoNER Shri G. Kishan Reddy in LoK Sabha today.

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