Guldeep Singh Sahni, MD, Weldon tours and travels, said, “Government has taken a great step. I hope the government takes up all of the issues the travel industry is facing. There are certain clarifications needed in GST and other matters, and I would like the government to create a department to provide advance rulings on every matter so that everything is resolved and if they find any discrepancy, it can be corrected immediately. I congratulate the travel community and the government on removing this anomaly”. 

In the presidential address at the 25th Annual General Meeting, Puneet Chhatwal, President, HAI, emphasised the need to forge closer ties and collaborate with other industry bodies for a stronger and a more unified voice. He said “International travel has gone back 30 years globally and the ripple effect of tourism is affecting the economy of countries. Indian hospitality sector has rebounded due to various components of domestic travel and a vigorous internal demand.” 

The Mumbai International Cruise Terminal, the iconic sea cruise terminal coming up at BPX-Indira Dock, is expected to be commissioned by July 2024. The terminal will have a capacity of handling 200 ships and 1 million passengers per annum. Out of the total project cost of Rs. 495 crore, Rs. 303 crores will be incurred by Mumbai Port Authority and the remaining by private operators. This was informed by the Chairperson, Mumbai Port Authority, Rajiv Jalota, while addressing the media in Mumbai , on the occasion of completion of 7 years of Sagarmala – Government of India’s flagship programme for port-led development of the nation. 

In terms of travel intent, the ForwardKeys analysts have observed a shift, with the shares of flight searches increasing by 6% from the Americas and Europe from January to February 2022. The Americas hold the largest number of intents to fly to India at 42% in February. This falls in line with the easing of travel restrictions from selected ‘Category A’ countries such as the USA, Canada, and EU member states on February 14. “Once again this simply highlights the importance of (or lack of) travel restrictions implemented by governments during this pandemic,” says Olivier Ponti, VP of Insights.

Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, said that India is very rapidly moving on the issue of environment sustainability and the civil aviation sector is focusing on sustainability & net zero carbon emission which is the need of the hour. He also mentioned that 96 of India’s airports will be carbon neutral by 2024. India has been experimenting with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for two years where blended fuel has been used by some of the airlines. He highlighted the need for low-cost energy resources, to power the airport infrastructure, sustainable aviation fuel and fuel-efficient models, to encourage eco-friendliness and innovative solutions towards achieving carbon-neutrality.

Based on the latest available data, international tourism continued its recovery in January 2022, with much better results than in early 2021.  International tourist arrivals more than doubled (+130%) compared to January 2021, growing by 18 million. This increase in number of arrivals is the same as in the whole of 2021 over 2020. Despite the robust results, the pace of recovery was impacted by the Omicron variant and the reintroduction of travel restrictions across several destinations.

The Saudi Arabian government has reopened the visa-on-arrival program for holders of valid visas for the US, UK and Schengen area, effective immediately. The move comes two weeks after the country lifted all COVID-related entry restrictions and returns Saudi to pre-pandemic levels of openness. Citizens of any country who hold one of the three visas and who are travelling on one of the country’s national carriers – Saudi, Flynas or Flyadeal – can now receive a 12-month tourism visa on arrival in Saudi Arabia without needing to apply in advance. Visitors holding a valid US, UK or Schengen visa must have used it at least once to enter the issuing country or region in order to qualify for a visa on arrival in Saudi. Visitors will also need to purchase COVID-19 insurance, which they can do at any of Saudi Arabia’s international airports. Citizens of any country eligible for the e-visa program, which was introduced in 2019, may also receive a visa on arrival, regardless of the airline they are travelling with. “Restoring the visa-on-arrival program marks the final step in returning Saudi to a pre-pandemic level of openness and makes it one of the most accessible destinations in the world for leisure, business and religious travel,” said His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of STA. “This decision by the government will further support the many thousands of people who depend on tourism for their livelihoods while welcoming the world back to the destination with the warm hospitality for which the Saudi people are renowned.” On March 6, Saudi Arabia announced the lifting of all travel restrictions put in place …

After the discovery of the Omicron variant, tickets for both arrivals and departures in India dived, however, arrivals have now slowly been recovering back to pre-omicron levels and departures are not far behind, with figures for the week commencing 3rd March at 19% and 58% vs 2019 for arrivals and departures. The latest travel data reveals that the top international source markets for India are Australia, the USA, and Ireland. 

Rupinder Brar, Additional DG, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India said “When we look at infrastructure there are two parts of the infrastructure that drives tourism, one is infrastructure in terms of making sure that the tourists facilities are there, but what also drives tourism is connectivity. we are working with the roads ministry to make sure that the last mile connectivity, the highways are in good shape for all of us to travel. I am happy to share that in India today, we have the second largest network of excellent quality roads and as we speak, every day in India 36km of national highways are being carried. So, I must say it is a fantastic time to do road travel in India”. 

Lotus Destinations, as the Preferred Sales Agent of Carnival Cruise in India, takes great pleasure in conducting a Carnival Cruise webinar for the travel trade highlighting safety protocols, new fleet introductions, and new itineraries to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, Australia, and more, on Thursday, March 31 at 3 PM IST. Also, get a chance to win exciting prizes. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.