OD-TRAVEL-REWARD

Govt to reward travellers visiting 15 tourist spots in a year
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    Bhubaneswar, Jan 25 (PTI) Bringing cheer to travel
enthusiasts, the government has decided to reward people
visiting 15 tourist spots in a year by funding their expenses.
    Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said the
move should not be construed as a monetary benefit, but as an
incentive.
    "The tourism ministry will fund the travel expenses of
tourists who visit 15 destinations in the country in a year
and submit the photos on our website," he said on Friday
evening at the concluding ceremony of the two-day National
Tourism Conference in Odisha's Konark.
    Tourists, however, have to travel outside their home
states to be eligible for contention.
    "We should honour these people as brand ambassadors of
Indian Tourism," Patel added.
    The minister also said the Sun Temple at Konark would
be included in the list of 'iconic sites'.
    A special event will be organised to announce this
very soon, he said.
    Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General of Tourism,
said the ministry has been organising certificate programmes
for candidates intending to work as tourist guides.
    "But, participation of Odisha in this programme is
very low and it needs to be enhanced. The state government
should encourage students to take part in the certificate
course," she said.
    On the concluding day of the conference, jointly
organised by the Odisha government and Ficci, a Memorandum of
Intent (MoI) was signed between the state and Gujarat for
cross-promotion of tourist sites, officials said.
    A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), mentioning the
key frameworks and policies, will be signed soon after
discussions with relevant departments of both the states, said
Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, Director of Tourism, Odisha. PTI SKN
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)