Africa’s Travel Indaba officially opened today with a call for the continent to work collaboratively to drive tourism growth, so as to accelerate the sector’s recovery. Held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, over 634 and 625 buyers took their place at the travel trade show, as it opened its doors after a three-year hiatus. Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu opened the trade floor, effectively putting into motion 22,000 scheduled meetings between exhibitors and buyers. “Africa’s Travel Indaba is a springboard for the continent to achieve even greater levels of recovery. We are here because we have a collective responsibility to reignite the African continent’s tourism growth and economy.” Sisulu called for greater collaboration among African countries to advance tourism on the continent, particularly when it comes to domestic and regional travel. “As we do business, we must remember that our continent is also our own market.  All countries in Africa have potential for domestic tourism growth. Intra-continental tourism from Africa’s rapidly growing economies and growing middle class is an opportunity begging to be explored. We need improved collaborative efforts between our countries to achieve this.” Sisulu said all role players in the industry must continue to drive growth in tourism numbers by bringing together a range of Africa’s best and most unique stories and products from across the continent, and connecting them with buyers from across the world. She added that the event is about reigniting the spark in old relationships and building new, meaningful connections. “As a sector, we are here to cement our partnerships and collaborations. It can only be to our benefit that we are a sector committed to sharing ideas and knowledge, in a bid …

  After the launch of a pre-paid solution targeted to international visitors in 2019, Bouygues Telecom has gone a step further and launched MyEuropean eSim, a new digital product. The telephone operator is supported in this endeavour by Atout France, the France Tourism Development Agency, and its worldwide network of 30 offices, that will help showcase the development of its solution. With My European eSim, a pre-paid offer with an e-SIM, Bouygues Telecom ensures that visitors stay connected constantly while on holiday in France and the rest of Europe. Thanks to a dematerialised SIM card, users will no longer need to keep several phone devices to keep in touch with their network of contacts back home while travelling abroad. The eSIM, which can be accessed via a QR code, allows for simple and immediate use of My European eSim.  The offer, which includes a 20GB data package to be used in France and Europe, unlimited calls and SMS, €25 credit for international calls, is designed specifically for visitors travelling in France and Europe who want to stay connected. My European eSim can be purchased online on Bouygues Telecom’s website or through the local travel trade, such as tour-operators, retail agencies and OTA who have joined Bouygues Telecom affiliation programme. India is a resilient market that shares a strong and stable relationship with France. A deal friendly market, the product offering provided by the My European eSim will be a perfect match with not only the needs and requirements of the Indian traveller planning a French holiday but also with MICE, corporate movements or even students pursuing their higher studies in France. In order to improve the travel experience, My European …

Sharing some news from Ananta Hotels & Resorts, Gagan Katyal, its CGM (Sales & Marketing), says, “We have resorts pipeline in Gir, Goa and a couple in Rajasthan. Overall, we will have around 18 resorts in the next three years across the country. The demand from corporates is high right now and that is quite encouraging as they are looking at news destinations within India.”

VFS Global is organising a webinar for the travel trade today from 11am-12pm IST. The online session will give updates on VFS Global’s operations, latest visa guidelines for the summer travel season and all the convenient services on offer. Register for this informative webinar on https://event.webinarjam.com/register/394/xyo1rbr1 and hear senior executives from VFS Global speak about their services, solutions and what’s new.

Russia’s military offensive risks hampering the return of confidence to global travel, as per UNWTO. UNWTO Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness assesses that the US and Asian source markets could be particularly impacted, especially regarding travel to Europe, as these markets are historically more risk averse. As source markets, Russia and Ukraine represent a combined 3% of global spending on international tourism as of 2020. A prolonged conflict could translate into a loss of US$ 14 billion in tourism receipts globally in 2022.

More than 120 travel agencies from Mumbai and Pune attended the first knowledge session on TCS organised by TAFI. The association invited not only its members but kept it open to non-members as well at a nominal fee. The session was also open to the CAs of agents. Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, said, “We may look to replicate this in other cities for other TAFI chapter as well in order to help them resolve confusion around it.”

Thomas Cook (India) has successfully managed the end-to-end delivery of a spectacular ground breaking ceremony and event for the world’s first World Health Organization (WHO) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Thomas Cook India was appointed as the exclusive Event Management Agency, based on the Company’s expertise in this domain. The WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine is a global project that will focus on data, innovation and sustainability while optimizing the use of traditional medicine in the field of healthcare and wellness. The event, organised by Thomas Cook India for the WHO and Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, was graced by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi along with the Director-General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus who performed the ground breaking ceremony. The special guest for the occasion was the Hon’ble Prime Minister of The Republic of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth. The historic moment was witnessed live by an over 2000 strong audience, World Ambassadors to India, senior members of the Government, international delegations from WHO and the Republic of Mauritius, top bureaucrats and dignitaries. Thomas Cook India’s 3 pronged strategy focussed on innovation, technology and exceptional service to deliver a spectacular event. The 360-degree transformation of the venue was impressive: converting barren land into imposing marquees, the scale of massive hangar-like structures. The Thomas Cook Team deployed cutting edge technology to create an innovative digital exhibition with unique elements like foot sensors for data activation on specially installed magnum screens, ink walls and touch table technologies set against a cinematic backdrop. To ensure exceptional service, Thomas Cook India delivered bespoke arrangements for over 250 VIP guests including premium airport and ground transportation and special …

Tourism Australia has launched a Virtual Travel Fair, Discover a Great Deal More, that provides Indian travellers with the opportunity to explore attractive deals on holidays to Australia, for a limited period. In addition to airfares, travellers can also view competitive prices on holiday packages and other tourism products and experiences. The campaign aims to facilitate aviation recovery and help Australian tourism return to pre-COVID levels. As part of the campaign, Tourism Australia has partnered with six major airlines including Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Sri Lankan Airlines, Scoot and Thai Airways to offer all-inclusive, return economy-class airfares to Australia starting from just Rs. 48,300*. The sale is valid until 12 May 2022 with a travel validity of up to 31 March 2023 and will be further amplified by Tourism Australia’s key distribution partners and Aussie Specialist agents. Promoted across targeted digital and social media platforms this initiative will help to drive the recovery of tourism, with increased arrivals to Australia, as well as increased bookings on partner airlines and on tourism products, while travellers gain access to great deals. The previous versions have recorded over 100,000 bookings for partner airlines. Commenting on the sale, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia said, “Australia remains an incredibly desirable destination for visitors from India and we are always exploring avenues to keep offering great value on Australian holiday experiences to our Indian travellers. There is a huge pent-up demand for travel to Australia amongst Indian High Value Travellers, and we are confident that this campaign will offer a compelling reason for travellers to book their next holiday to Australia.” Pre-Covid, India was Australia’s fastest growing inbound tourism market for …

Directorate of Tourism (DoT), Govt. of Maharashtra,   has issued letters to all the 6 Regional Officers (ROs) and 33 Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officers (CEO) instructing maximum participation from villages in Maharashtra in UNWTO Best Tourism Village Awards. As per the letters issued, applications for participating in the contest have to be submitted before 15th May, 2022, in English. To be eligible , a village must: Have a low population density and a maximum of 15,000 inhabitants Be located in a landscape with an important presence of traditional activities such as agriculture, forestry, livestock or fishing Share community values and lifestyle Villages can apply in any of the three categories mentioned by UNWTO: Best Tourism Villages Upgrade Programme Best Tourism Villages Network The online applications received will be evaluated on basis of the following areas: Cultural and Natural Resources Promotion and Conservation of Cultural Resources Economic, Social and Environmental Sustainability Tourism Development and Value Chain Integration Governance and Prioritization of Tourism Infrastructure and Connectivity Health, Safety and Security Milind Borikar, Director, Directorate of Tourism (DoT) informed, “We have given instructions to appoint officers/staff at Panchayat Samiti level to help villages in filling the online applications. Last year when UNWTO had launched this award, Pochampally village of Telangana had bagged it. This year we are trying for maximum number of participants from Maharashtra.” For more information, please visit www.unwto.org/tourism-villages/en/

Sharing details of this session, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, says, “The focus is to explain the nuances of TCS, FEMA and a few other laws and regulations which perhaps not all our members are familiar with. So sometimes they make an error which can have grievance consequences. So we are getting very senior experts from Jayantilal Thakkar & Co in the field to come and talk to our members and educate them and make them aware of what they need to be careful about when conducting business.”