Tourism Min meets Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh officials; talks ASI monuments' footfall

G Kishan Reddy, the Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, met with the tourism secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, as well as the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) Chandigarh, Kufri, and Gurdaspur, on Tuesday.

Reddy told ANI that the ministry has set new goals for tourist departments and advised strategies to increase foot traffic at Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments. Similar assessment meetings would be held in other states, according to the Union Minister.

"We've held a scheme-wise review and have given new targets to the respective tourism departments. We have also given suggestions on how to increase footfall at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments," he said.

G Kishan Reddy holds review meeting with tourism secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh

Reduction in taxes to promote tourism 

In order to stimulate tourism and connectivity, the Gujarat government has announced a reduction in value-added tax (VAT) on aviation fuel prices.

In response to orders from the Union Aviation Ministry, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel took the decision on Monday. According to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office, the price of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) has been reduced by 5%.

Notably, the cost of aviation fuel has a large impact on airline operating costs, and the tax imposed on ATF adds significantly to its cost. Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and Andaman & Nicobar are among the states and union territories (UTs) that have already reduced the cost of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) by 1 to 4%.

"The state government said that this people-oriented decision of Patel will boost the tourism activities in the state," it added.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia wrote to 22 states and UTs earlier this month, requesting that they rationalise the value-added tax on ATF across all airports in their states between 1% and 4%. In view of a shared objective to improve air travel, connectivity, and the country's economic growth, he had also asked them to make the appropriate judgments.

Other states, including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Telangana, have already reduced aviation fuel costs, resulting in a major increase in the number of aircraft movements, according to Scindia.

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Ladakh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu are among the 22 states and union territories to which the letters were written.

Inputs: ANI 

(IMAGE: ANI)