New Delhi: Ministry of Tourism in its ongoing effort to strengthen the hospitality and tourism industry has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on November 11. Earlier, the Ministry of Tourism had already signed similar MoUs with Ease My Trip, Cleartrip, Yatra.com, Make My Trip and Goibibo.

The primary objective of this MoU is to provide extensive visibility to accommodation units, which have self-certified themselves on System for Assessment, Awareness and Training for the Hospitality Industry (SAATHI) on the OTA platform. The MoU also outlines both parties to encourage units to register on NIDHI and thereby on SAATHI and encourage the local tourism industry with appropriate safeguards for curbing the spread of COVID-19. The idea is also to gather more information on accommodation units in order to gain actionable insights and design evidence-based and targeted policy measures and promote safe, honourable and sustainable tourism.

The MoU has been signed by Deputy Director General (Hotels and Restaurants), Ministry of Tourism and JGM, Tourism, IRCTC in the presence of Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism. The event was organised as per the agreement between the Ministry of Tourism and the Quality Council of India (QCI) for implementing measures for strengthening the Indian hospitality and tourism industry.

The Ministry of Tourism and IRCTC shall endeavour to take necessary steps to encourage and promote strategic and technical co-operation in the Indian hospitality and tourism sector for the overall benefit in the identified areas through the MoU, said an official statement on Friday.

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