To motivate and boost the morale of the tourism industry in the country, including the North East Region (NER), and to encourage citizens to resume travelling within the country, the Ministry of Tourism has taken the following steps:-
⦁ Organised webinars, quiz, discussions, road shows and events under the “Dekho Apna Desh” campaign to promote different tourist destinations and tangible and intangible tourism products of India including those from the NER. The initiatives were extensively promoted on social media accounts and website of the Ministry of Tourism.
⦁ An initiative called SAATHI (System for Assessment, Awareness & Training for Hospitality Industry) has been implemented for effective implementation of Guidelines/Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) issued with reference to Covid-19 and beyond for safe operation of hotels, restaurants etc.
⦁ To incentivize stakeholders in the tourism industry, the guidelines for the scheme of Market Development Assistance (MDA) to provide financial support to stakeholders for the promotion of domestic tourism have been modified to enhance the scope and reach of the scheme.
⦁ The guidelines of the MDA under the Overseas Promotion and Publicity scheme has been modified to enhance the scope and reach of the scheme, so as to provide maximum benefits to the stakeholders in the tourism industry.
⦁ Validity of approval or certification of hotels and other accommodation units in certain cases was extended.
⦁ Financial support is provided under the Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid Affected Tourism Service Sector (LGSCATSS) to regional level tourist guides recognised by the Ministry of Tourism and tourist guides recognised by the State Governments/ Union Territories Administrations, and Travel and Tourism Stakeholders (TTS) recognized by the Ministry of Tourism. TTSs are eligible to get a loan of up to Rs.10 Lakh each while tourist guides can avail a loan of up to Rs.1 Lakh each. There are no processing charges, waiver of foreclosure/prepayment charges and no requirement for additional collateral.
⦁ The Ministry of Tourism also conducted various study tours for students from all over the country including the NER to promote tourism products among the youth. Post-Covid, two major tourism promotional events were organized to revive tourism in NER namely; Tourism & Culture Ministers meeting for NER under chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister for Tourism, Culture & DONER at Guwahati and; International Tourism Mart - Nagaland, Kohima.
In addition, other agencies/Ministries of Government of India have also declared stimulus packages like loan moratorium, waived off provident fund contribution, deferment of Tax Collected at Source (TCS), collateral free automation loan under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package etc. to revive the economy including the tourism and hospitality industry.