Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Civil Aviation, has said that in the last few months, the ridership for domestic operations has increased from 29,000 on first day to almost 1.8 lakh, which is a jump of virtually six times. This increase validates that all the safety measures taken by airlines and airports have worked, and indicates that the second phase of operations will see us rapidly grow from 50% to almost near normal.

Helipad service for devotees going to Kedarnath Dham, which had been stalled for a long time due to COVID-19, has now restarted. It has begun at three places – Gupt Kashi, Sirsi and Fata helipad. Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Authority has started online booking of heli tickets. Seven aviation companies are operating helipad services from Sirsi, Phata and Gupt Kashi in which Aero Air Craft from Guptkashi to Kedarnath, Pawan Hans for Fata to Kedarnath, Thambi Aviation, Pinnacle Air, Chipson Aviation and Ketral Aviation to Kedarnath from Sirsi, Himalayan Heli and Arrow Air Craft are being served. Fare per passenger is Rs7,750 from Guptkashi, Rs4,720 from Fata and Rs4,680 from Sirsi.

Genting Cruise Lines has announced that Dream Cruises will be the first cruise brand to restart service in Singapore with World Dream, as she makes her homeport debut from November 6, 2020. World Dream will also be the newest built cruise ship to homeport in Singapore, offering 2 and 3-night experiences for Singapore residents. Dream Cruises continues to be at the forefront as the first cruise brand in the world to resume operations in a safe manner with two key homeports in Asia, starting with deployment in Taiwan in July 2020. A mandatory COVID-19 test will be conducted on all guests aged 13 and above before embarking on World Dream.

COVID-19 has shrunk flight booking lead times across the Asia Pacific region since March 2020, with last-minute booking trend led by India and Thailand. As per Amadeus’ first COVID-19 Travel Insights bulletin, flight bookings across the region have been made 17 days later on average compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019. Indian travellers appear to be the most last-minute in the region with an average of only 10 days before their departure date between March-July 2020. This is followed by Thai and Singaporean travellers, who have been making bookings on average 21 and 25 days prior to departure during the pandemic.

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Speaking about what he thinks the travel industry needs to do to restart business, Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director of Thomas Cook (India), says, “Adaptability is part of our DNA. Trust me, each and every travel agent will adapt, and is adapting already. I can see agents approaching us to book holidays for their clients, asking if we can provide them with packages. If you have the will to survive, you will adapt, however big or small you are. Even we are now adapting, with an increased focus on domestic business, which we had never put in before.”

Kapil Kaul, CEO, CAPA India, has suggested that leadership and governance will be essential in making structural changes in tourism. “Since tourism is going to be very dynamic going forward, we may require a specialised Tourism Administrative Service, which has policymakers on the lines of IAS. Since tourism covers so many aspects, unless we have policymakers who specialise in tourism, institutional foundations can’t be fed. There is also a need for a legally empowered tourism council on the lines of GST council, which can comprise of union minister of tourism, state tourism minister, secretaries and all other experts whose job should only be focused on policy and regulatory effectiveness, competitiveness, ease of doing business, financing, education and training,” he recommended.

Puneet Dhawan, the newly-appointed Senior VP Operations at Accor India & South Asia, has said the group will continue to grow its network in India. He adds, “The 20th ibis will be launched in Mumbai with the ibis Vikhroli, in the middle of next year. We are also looking forward to introduce Raffles Udaipur early next year, and will be adding Novotel Chandigarh soon.”

Hemant Mediratta, Founder, One Rep Global, has said that Indian travellers are optimistic and are already booking charters for future trips. “There has been a surge in the number of queries in the past four weeks for flights to Europe and island destinations where guests are travelling with their family. Queries just short of half a million USD are in different stages of fruition. Savvy Indian travellers are also buying 30 to 50 flying hours valid for the next 12 months,” he says.

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