Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, Apr 23: In a major step towards promoting ease of doing business and boosting the tourism sector in Ladakh, Lieutenant Governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena today approved some landmark reforms that would deregulate the tourism industry and enhance the overall experience of the tourists visiting Ladakh.
The reforms have been undertaken to reduce compliance burden on stakeholders and create a unified, streamlined and citizen-friendly registration mechanism for tourism units in the Union Territory.
The initiative follows a series of meetings held by the LG with tourism stakeholders and delegations representing various tourism associations. It is also aligned with the vision of PM Narendra Modi’s dictum of “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.”
“It is a transformative step for the tourism sector in Ladakh by making the processes simpler, transparent and people-friendly. Reducing compliance burden and ensuring ease of doing business would empower local stakeholders and significantly enhance Ladakh’s standing as a premier tourist destination. I am confident that these reforms would help position Ladakh among the top tourism destinations not only in India but globally,” said LG Saxena.
To begin with, the registration validity of tour operators has been increased from one year to five years, thereby eliminating the need for renewal every year.
Similarly, tour and travel operators engaged in adventure and mountaineering activities were earlier required to register separately as “Adventure Tour Operator” and “Mountaineering Tour Operator” at an additional registration fee of Rs 3000 each.
This requirement, too, has been done away with.
A unified category under the nomenclature “Travel Agent” has been introduced, which will authorise the registered entity to undertake all activities permitted under the Registration of Tourist Act.
The number of documents required for registration of tour operators has been reduced significantly from 7 documents to 4 documents.
Under the new framework, the requirement of a character certificate, a fixed bank balance and educational qualification for running a tour and travel agency has also been removed, thereby making the registration process easier.
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