Union Tourism Minister Shri Prahlad Singh Patel to hold two days' virtual State Tourism Ministers meet on 15th& 16th October 2020

Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC) Shri Prahlad Singh Patel will hold a virtual meeting with the State Tourism Ministers on 15^th& 16^th October 2020 in New Delhi.  The agenda of meeting includes  :

1. Facilitating Ease of Travel between States/UTs for promoting Domestic Tourism
2. Incentives being offered by States/UTs to the Tourism and Hospitality Sector
3. Working on System for Assessment, Awareness and Training for Hospitality Industry (SAATHI) for the adherence of safety norms.
4. Suggestions on ‘Way Forward’ for revival of Tourism, including working on the National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry (NIDHI) Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism to create robust database of hospitality units etc.

The Ministry of Tourism under the leadership of Tourism Minister along with the stakeholders is working tirelessly to support the tourism sector. The Ministry has been in a continuous dialogue with the representatives of Tourism & Hospitality industry stakeholders to discuss solutions and way forward to revive the tourism economy by reviving demand, especially through promotion of Domestic Tourism. The Ministry has held a series of brainstorming meetings over the last six months with different segments of the tourism industry to discuss the difficulties of the industry verticals.

 In May 2020, the Minister had  virtual meeting with the Tourism Secretaries in States and UTs to discuss the challenges posed by COVID 19 and actions required to deal with the crisis and how states and Ministry can work in synergy was discussed and agreed to work on:

1. Holding dialogues with the stakeholders to ensure a perception that the Government, at the Central and State level is empathetic to the needs of the industry.
2. The Ministry and State Tourism Departments will work on providing certain facilities to the stakeholders to help them recover the crisis.
3. Active promotion of Domestic Tourism as this sector will be first to pick up.
4. As the metropolitan cities are most affected, North-eastern states and the Himalayan States which have been least affected would provide more opportunities in terms of Domestic tourism which would help to boost confidence among the public for travelling.
5. To develop Short duration intra state itineraries and its promotion by the Ministry and State Governments. 
6. To work on mechanism to develop a framework for bringing the large part of the presently unorganized workforce as an organized work force in Tourism sector.

 Initiatives of the Tourism Ministry during COVID-19 pandemic –

SAATHI :

To assist the hospitality industry in their preparedness to continue operations safely and mitigate risks arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Tourism has partnered with the Quality Council of India (QCI), to assist the Hospitality industry through an initiative called SAATHI (System for Assessment, Awareness and Training for Hospitality Industry). This initiative is aligned with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s clarion call for “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. The idea is not only to sensitize the industry on the COVID regulations by the Government but also to instill confidence amongst the staff and guests that the hospitality unit has exhibited intent towards ensuring safety and hygiene at the workplace.

SAATHI Standard has been developed based on the COVID-19 guidelines, as issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The Standard re-imposes the fact that a Hospitality Unit needs to incorporate a holistic approach in their fight against this pandemic and hence has 10 key elements integrated in its ecosystem that include the following:

This initiative is in 3 phases:

1. Self-Certification: This provides a detailed understanding of the Guidelines/Key-elements to be followed. A Hotel/Unit goes through the SAATHI framework and agrees to follow the requirements wherever applicable to the fullest extent possible. A self-certification is issued.
2. Webinars: This phase builds capacities of the Hotels on the SAATHI key elements. Self-certified Hotels/units attend webinars to clarify doubts through live interactions.
3. Site-assessment (optional): In this phase on-ground implementation of the SOPs/ Guidelines and identification of gaps is undertaken. If Hotel/Unit desires, they may undertake site-assessment based on SAATHI framework through QCI accredited agencies and an assessment report with opportunities for improvement is shared with the assessed unit.

SAATHI aims to reach out to maximum hospitality units. Adoption of SAATHI in a hospitality unit not only instills confidence amongst all stakeholders (including staff & Guests) but also enhances its image as that of a responsible Organization that has exhibited intent and commitment towards safety and hygiene of guests, staff and other stakeholders.

National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry (NIDHI) Scheme :

The global COVID 19 pandemic highlighted the urgent need for creation of a comprehensive national database of accommodation units in the country, since availability of data is crucial in framing of policies and strategies such as promotion and development of tourism, assisting tourists to find information on places for accommodation, assessing the carrying capacity of various destinations, assessing requirements for skilled human resources and formulating disaster management plans.

Ministry of Tourism with the help of State Governments and Union Territory Administrations is making efforts to register accommodation units in the country in the Ministry’s portal National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry (NIDHI). As on 13.10.2020, 25786 accommodation units have been registered on the portal which was activated on 08.06.2020.

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NB/AKJ/OA