The government will remove the remaining restrictions on international travel for all passengers ahead of the Easter holidays, the Transport Secretary announced. From 4 am Friday 18 March, all COVID-19 travel restrictions will be lifted, including the passenger locator form (PLF) for arrivals into the UK, as well as all tests for passengers who do not qualify as vaccinated. This change, therefore, removes the need for unvaccinated passengers to take a pre-departure test and a day 2 post-arrival test. 

At Goa, a new airport should open later this year, one of few during the period of the coronavirus pandemic. As it will be heavily tourist-oriented there will be great interest around the world in how it performs during the winter 2022-23 period – the acid test for the industry’s ‘recovery’ ahead of schedule.  The airport is scheduled to begin operation in Aug-2022, said Center for Civil Aviation in a recent report. 

The development of Tourism is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations. However, the Ministry of Tourism under its Swadesh Darshan scheme since its inception has sanctioned 76 projects under 13thematic circuits including ‘Buddhist theme’ for the development of tourism infrastructure in the country. The projects under the scheme were identified for development in consultation with the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations and sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilization of funds released earlier, etc. 

SriLankan Airlines celebrates the undaunting spirit of women the world over by welcoming the female athletes who are participating in ‘Raid Amazones 2022 Sri Lanka,’ scheduled to take place from 13 March to 6 April 2022. Accordingly, the first batch of athletes arrived from Paris to a memorable welcome at Bandaranaike International this morning on flight UL 564, which was operated by an all-female crew led by Captain Chamika Rupasingha and Cabin Manager Anju Jayasinghe.   SriLankan announced the event at a press conference in Colombo on International Women’s Day. Further, the airline has branded an aircraft with Raid Amazones 2022 themed livery to bring Sri Lanka into the limelight as an adventure and sports tourism destination on a global scale.     SriLankan Airlines’ Chairman, Ashok Pathirage said, “SriLankan Airlines is an organization that advocates for women’s empowerment and equal opportunity. We take pride in the strides made by our female employees and have always supported the remarkable women that have become national icons. With Raid Amazones 2022, we are taking one step ahead to celebrate the strength and resilience of women in the backdrop of our home base, and hoping that it would inspire many others to follow in the trail and find their adventure in Sri Lanka. “   Raid Amazones is one of the most sought-after adventure trails in the French travel market and is held every year in an iconic tourist destination. The 20th edition of this annual sporting event features over 550 French female athletes, and will take place in the areas surrounding the Sigiriya rock fortress. The event is expected to bring over 15 million euros worth of global media visibility for Sri …

Abu Dhabi has revised its COVID-19 travel restrictions and protocols following positive indicators that signal the emirate has entered the recovery phase of the pandemic. Under the updated regulations from the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), the Green List system has been removed for all travellers flying into Abu Dhabi.  Fully vaccinated inbound travellers from India no longer need to take a rapid RT-PCR test at Indian airports before boarding their flight. They are, however, still required to show an official COVID-19 vaccination certificate with a readable QR code upon arrival. Unvaccinated inbound travellers will still need to present a negative PCR test result taken within 48 hours of their scheduled departure, or a COVID-19 recovery certificate dated within 30 days of departure, complete with a readable QR code.

As the global travel and tourism sector prepares to return to full strength in 2022, VisitOman.om aims to connect the world with Oman’s beauty by offering a full Omani travel experience through sustainable partnerships. Shabib Al Maamari, Visit Oman Managing Director, said, “Our goal is to set uniform standards for regulated routes, trip package inclusions, pricing, clear terms and conditions, and well-defined customer service agreements. The platform offers stimulating business opportunities for our network of partners, while delivering on our aim to drive tourism to Oman and support Oman’s position among global travel and tourism markets in line with the National Tourism Strategy 2040.”

India retains its place amongst the top-3 focus markets for South African Tourism. This is aided by the fact that prior to the pandemic, India served as the 8th largest international source market for South Africa. The country is expected to maintain its position in the top-10 this year as well. Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune continue to be top Indian source markets to South Africa. Where as , Ahmedabad emerges as one of the fastest growing source markets in India revealed Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, MEISEA, South African Tourism.

Centara Hotels & Resorts, Thailand’s leading hotel operator, has revealed its recent business performance, expansion plans and strategic direction for the future, including multiple new hotels, fresh destinations and new brand concepts. This exciting era of growth will help the group reach its long-term goal of becoming a top 100 global hotel operator within five years – a vision that will see it reach a total of 200 hotels and resorts by 2026, up from 88 properties at present, and with approximately half of that growth coming from destinations outside of its native Thailand. Centara has just confirmed that it achieved total revenues of almost THB 1.09 billion (USD 33 million) in Q4 2021, an increase of 54% year-on-year, despite the continued impact of the pandemic. The growth is expected to gain more momentum in 2022 with the acceleration of the global travel and hospitality recovery, which will be supported by the further relaxing of travel restrictions into Thailand, and is buoyed by the resilience and strong performance of Centara’s key international destinations such as the Middle East and the Maldives.

G Kamala Vardhana Rao, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that they are looking at promoting river cruising across the country under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration and will be talking about the various tourism opportunities that can be developed around it. He was speaking at the BBC and PATA India webinar titled  ‘New Ways of Marketing to Recharge Tourism’. 

Vikram Madhok, Managing Director, Abercombie & Kent (India), and Hon. Secretary, PATA India Chapter, has said that if the scheduled flight operations are restarted, then the last quarter of 2022 will see inbound tourism to revive in India. “In fact, 2023 will be a hockey stick revival for Incredible India,” he added.