Mizoram Tourism recently organised a training programme for Prescribed Authorities under the Mizoram Registration of Tourist Trade Act 2020. The Government of Mizoram has designated Sub-Divisional Officers as Prescribed Authorities under their jurisdiction to regulate and supervise the tourism service providers in the state.

Addressing a webinar ‘India’s Heritage: Powering Tourism’ organized by Ministry of Tourism on World Heritage Day, Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture, Prahlad Singh Patel, said “We have several ancient sites and temples but they have not received their due they deserve on the global platform. It is essential to bring together our pool of conservationists, archaeologists and historians who can throw light on our heritage on the world platform.”

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has reviewed its annual membership subscription renewal for the year 2021-22 in view of the pandemic’s second wave. It has therefore decided to reduce its renewal fee by 40% for all active, associate and allied members. The rebated annual membership subscription shall be only applicable if the same is paid and credited to TAAI account latest by 31 May, 2021. Thereafter normal annual fees shall be payable.

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai will conduct their next webinar “I Travel Because Its My Turn” for travel trade professionals on April 22 at 3pm IST. This interactive session will be conducted by representatives from the AVE Cities Network. Attendees stand a chance to win Amazon vouchers on attending all the webinars. To register, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Three female bikers — from Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram – are on a road journey to promote tourism in the north east region. The trio who are promoting their trip on social media are touring all the 7 sister states of the Northeast Indian region within a span of 7 days.

The recently-held AGM of the Tour Operators Association of Assam (TOAA) in Guwahati was marked by the formation of the new Executive Committee where Debajit Borah was selected as the new President, Rajkumar Das, Mukul Medhi and Dipak Sarma as Vice Presidents, Kundol Roy as Secretary, Nipan Sarmah as Treasurer, Pranjal Bora and Sushmita Hazarika as Joint Secretary along with 10 new EC members. The outgoing President is Ranjeet Das.

Abhishek Narang, a 2008 IRS-IT officer, was has been appointed as Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Culture for a period of four years. He is currently on ‘compulsory wait’ in the Department of Personnel & Training. Narang will relieve his duties immediately as per instructions to take up his new assignment in the Ministry of Culture office.

Virtual networking hub, GPS Connect 2021-22, a year-long platform for tourism industry is now open for registrations and will be held virtually from 1 May, 2021. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) said, “Exhibitor participation starts from as low as Rs 1,500 and gives an opportunity to businesses of all sizes located anywhere in the world and interested in developing business from India to exhibit and optimise their returns and stay connected year long.”

In a virtual address at the inauguration of the mega tourism promotion event in Srinagar titled, ‘Tapping the Potential of Kashmir: Another Day in Paradise’ Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Tourism & Culture, said, “The country has seen a five-time hike in tourists in January 2021 compared to January 2020 in Jammu and Kashmir. This initiative will further help to revive tourism in the UT.” He added that tourists started visiting J&K after the abolition of Section 370.

The government has directed airlines to serve or sell in-flight meals from April 15 only on those domestic flights that have a duration of over two hours, in wake of the sharp surge in Covid-19 cases. However, there are no restrictions on inflight meals on international flights as of now. The move is aimed at preventing the passengers from taking off their masks while on the aircraft.