Sunil Kumar, Immediate Past President of TAAI, has been re-elected as the President of UFTAA at the Annual General Assembly (Virtual) held on 29th June, 2021. UFTAA’s General Assembly unanimously resolved to draw the attention of governments on ‘Vaccine Equity’ related to uniform policy on the corridor of travel formalities The introduction of complex procedures by few governments, in the opinion of UFTAA, can delay the most required turnaround of Travel & Tourism industry to its previous robust levels.

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai continues with its hour-long webinar series in July that has been exclusively designed for the Indian travel trade. The final one for this series will be held on Thursday, July 8 at 3pm IST and will focus on the World Heritage Cities of Spain. Those who attend all three webinars and participate in the educational quiz stand a chance to win Amazon gift vouchers. To register, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532. Visiting Spain brings you into direct contact with the history of its civilizations. There are 15 stunning UNESCO World Heritage cities to be seen in Spain, each with its exceptional sights and unique scenes. Take the time to explore their local cuisine, learn about their customs, and take part in their fiestas for a complete experience and an unforgettable trip. This webinar will inspire you to plan a culturally-oriented journey into the art and splendor of Spain.

In its monthly overview of the hotels and hospitality sector, HVS ANAROCK reveals that while hotel occupancy in most cities witnessed month-on-month decline in May due to restrictions and lockdowns in various states, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai observed the highest occupancy in the country (31-35%) during the month.

Pradeep Shetty, FHRAI’s Joint Honorary Secretary, has said that while they are happy the disastrous state of affairs of the sector and the plight of millions of workforce employed in the sector have been recognised by the government, the promotion of domestic tourism is the need of the hour. “Therefore, we request the government to incentivise domestic tourism as well,” he says.

Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA, has said, “Data must drive global restart policies that manage COVID-19 risks while reviving livelihoods and boosting economies.” He adds that travel cannot be restricted only to those who are vaccinated because data suggests that testing, not quarantine, is the solution. Screening can keep COVID-19 importation at manageable levels.

McKinsey analyses that more than 17 per cent of global commercial aviation CO2 emissions could be addressed with lower-carbon technologies such as green novel propulsion, such as electricity. And while these solutions will not be available for long-haul flights nor large aircraft in the next decade or two, they are promising for smaller, shorter-range aircraft.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture, Government of India, recently chaired a review meeting on eSamikSha platform with Ministry of Tourism officials. Also present were Arvind Singh, Secretary – Tourism and Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General – Tourism. eSamikSha is a digital governance platform for easy, instant and secure exchange of information. The portal has a flexi dashboard which provides officials the facility of customisation based on priority or requirements. It has a single-window communication channel linked with three layered robust tracking through Dashboard, Notification, email/SMS alerts.

IRCTC has cancelled first 17 scheduled departures of Maharajas’ Express from Oct 3, 2021 to Jan 23, 2022 due to operational reasons. The decision has been taken considering the current situation when the global tourism Industry is going through a very difficult time in the wake of COVID-19 and the lockdown that has severely impacted inbound business, revealed and IRCTC official.

CAPA Advisory (India) says that while reforms are just a start, they are required to instil confidence. It has recommended some reforms to fix the core of the aviation sector, including implementing a refund protection scheme for consumers and extending the airport tariff control period in the AERA Act from five years to eight years, among others.

Anil Oraw, Regional Director, Indiatourism North, has said, “One support we give to tour operators is that if they are doing online activities and have a website with 50-100 itineraries, we give financial assistance of up to Rs50,000 to revamp the website. If a tour operator is doing a campaign on Facebook or Google, we will support them.”