One Above has added another feather to its cap and has opened an office in Taiwan – One Above Taiwan. Sharing this update is Rahim Aslam, Director, One Above, who says, “One Above Taiwan is going to be as big as Hong Kong for Indian travellers. Taiwan has the best of culture, shopping, cuisine and entertainment for every Indian traveller. Emily who heads One Above Taiwan comes with immense experience handling the Indian market in Taiwan. Under her guidance, One Above Taiwan will offer unique, high-quality travel, MICE experiences and cruise travel in Taiwan. We look ahead to 2021 with great confidence, optimism and resilience. The pandemic is far from over. However, with the global roll-out of vaccines, international borders re-opening and global economies slowly recovering – we anticipate a more promising year ahead.”

Of all the hiring in 2020, metro cities of New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai accounted for nearly half of the job postings on Indeed. Maximum aspirants for these jobs, however, emerged  from Jalandhar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, and Lucknow. This was an interesting departure from the top cities in 2019 where job seekers looked for hospitality and tourism jobs, namely popular tourism hubs before the pandemic set in such as Goa, Panchkula, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Delhi.

Giving fresh boost to tourism and adventure sports, the Union Ministry of Tourism & Culture Prahlad Singh Patel visited Kargil on the occasion on National Tourism Day on January 25, 2021 to inaugurate the National Event of Adventure Tourism (NEAT Kargil 2021). He also announced a branch of the Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IISM) in Kargil to encourage the local youth to take up adventure.

A recent entrant in the cloud-based hotel management software domain, StreetGooser, will now launch GYPZE.com – a booking platform dedicated to experiential stays – on 14 February, 2021. It will offer booking options for under-the-radar luxury boutique home stays, villas and resorts. John Varghese, CEO and Founder, GYPZE.com, says, “All travellers have to do is choose from a select array of homestays, villas and resorts across the globe. Our bouquet of offerings include quality, secure and safe accommodation in off-trail often secret locations, known only to the discerning traveller. An added advantage is that GYPZE.com can be accessed on your mobile too.” GYPZE.com vets each property to see if it meets the company’s stringent quality standards. As per Varghese, boutique properties offering experiential stays face unique challenges – lack of online exposure, absence of a platform that focuses on experiential stays and one which highlights the USPs of each property. Without the marketing muscle of chain hotels, off-beat hideaways have to pay higher commissions to booking engines and travel agents yet have very little customer support.

Sharing his expectations from the Union Budget, Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India), says, “I look forward to Government support on soft loans to finance working capital, incentivisng tourism spends by providing income tax concessions, payment of overdue SEIS benefits, easing of indirect taxes and waiving off TCS to help aid recovery.”

Russian authorities have said that flights between Moscow and the capitals of India and three other countries including Qatar, Finland and Vietnam that were suspended since the early weeks of the pandemic, will restart from January 27, 2021, after certain epidemiological criteria were met. These routes will have several flights per week.

The International Air Transport Association and Etihad Airways have announced a partnership to launch the IATA Travel Pass for the airline’s guests. The IATA Travel Pass is a mobile app to help passengers manage their travel in line with government requirements for COVID-19 tests or vaccines. IATA Travel Pass will initially be offered to Etihad’s guests on selected flights from Abu Dhabi in Q1 of 2021.

Manipur is planning to develop war tourism in the state by preserving the historic Koirengei in Imphal, which is an old airfield in the northeast state. The British had built nine airfields in the state, all of which played some role in the war. N Biren Singh, CM of Manipur, says, “As Manipur is now on War Tourism Map with numerous British and Japanese tourists flowing in to visit the war memorial sites, it is important to develop these sites.”

According to global data provider OAG, most of the large domestic markets have stabilised at between 25-30% of last year’s levels. As per its Jan 2021 data, India’s domestic capacity is increasing from -30% down last month to -23% this month in terms of domestic market seats, making it the third-largest market after China and the US.

Blade India has resumed its by-the-seat service to Shirdi from Mumbai. Mumbai-Shirdi takes 6-7 hours on the road but with Blade, pilgrims can fly to Shirdi in an hour, and be back on the same day. It also offers customers in need of special assistance or a VIP darshan service. It flies from Mahalaxmi vertiport every Monday and from Juhu vertiport on Thursday and Saturday at 11am.