Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

India has emerged as the number one international source market for Thailand. This was revealed by Cholada Siddhivarn, Director Tourism Authority of Thailand Mumbai office in a webinar organised by DDP for Akbar Holidays along with Tourism Thailand. The webinar saw 1200 registrations and focussed on the SOPs for travel to Thailand for Indian travellers. She said, “Thailand recorded 95,272 travellers from India in the period January to May 2022 making it our top source market.”

     Based on the decisions of the Supreme Committee for dealing with COVID-19, the Civil Aviation Authority has informed all passengers and aircraft operators in the Sultanate of Oman that all precautionary measures and procedures of COVID-19 in civil aviation sector of the Sultanate of Oman are lifted.

Thailand is now open and restrictions have eased for Indian visitors! To update the travel fraternity on the SOPs for travel to Thailand, Akbar Holidays along with Tourism Thailand, will conduct an exclusive webinar today at 3PM IST. The session will also focus on Thailand packages. To sign up, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has signed a strategic partnership with Trip.com Group, a leading global travel service provider, in an online ceremony at Arabian Travel Market. The partnership’s social and economic initiatives will encourage and entice visitors worldwide to visit Abu Dhabi, promoting the UAE capital as a top-tier travel destination in 13 markets across Asia and Europe, including in India, China, South Korea, Japan, USA, UK, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The partnership marks the first time DCT Abu Dhabi has engaged Trip.com Group as a whole, rather than with its various singular entities, increasing consistent visibility across its five popular business and consumer global travel platforms. Over a period of 12 months, Trip.com Group’s primary focus is to achieve 57,000 room nights in Abu Dhabi through marketing on its five portfolio channels. These B2B and B2C subsidiaries include Trip.com, a global travel service provider with an extensive hotel and flight route network; Skyscanner, the world leader in global flight meta-search; Travix, a global OTA operating in 39 countries; Ctrip and MakeMyTrip. HE Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, Director General for Tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi said “We are very pleased to announce our global agreement with Trip.com Group, a partnership that will share Abu Dhabi’s story with international visitors – beginning with the summer season and beyond. Through strategic partnerships such as this and our ever-expanding tourism and culture offering, we are further elevating Abu Dhabi as a top-of-mind destination, providing travellers around the world with diverse, immersive and enriching experiences to discover at their own pace.” Jane Sun, Chief Executive Officer at Trip.com Group said “We are pleased to announce, …

The New Zealand Government today announced further relaxations in border restrictions, allowing all fully vaccinated international travelers, including India, to travel to Aotearoa (New Zealand) from August 1, 2022. Fully vaccinated Indian visitors will be able to travel to New Zealand without self-isolation on provision of a negative pre-departure test. Negative Rapid Antigen Tests [RAT] will be required on arrival and on day 5/6. New Zealand had been progressively opening its borders from April, first to Australian visitors and then in May to visitors from visa waver countries. Tourism New Zealand’s Chief Executive, René de Monchy said “We look forward to welcoming manuhiri [visitors], family and friends back from August. New Zealand has plenty to offer international visitors from breathtaking landscapes, rare and remarkable wildlife to our rich culture and heritage; our people and place are what make us unique, and we look forward to sharing this with the world again”.  In 2020, Tourism New Zealand in India rolled out the “Messages from New Zealand” campaign which featured everyday New Zealanders sharing video messages of hope and care with their international whānau (family). Through this initiative New Zealand reached out in a heartfelt and genuine way by sending messages of positivity and optimism to Indian travelers. As part of efforts to prepare for the reopening of borders, Tourism New Zealand has also  been supporting travel partners with new resources such as a dedicated marketing hub, regular training sessions and most recently, the launch of a revamped travel trade website.

The New Zealand tourism industry re-connected with the world, this April on TRENZ Connect 2022 through a series of exciting online events. These events are part of TRENZ Connect, a digital marketplace launched by TIA (Tourism Industry Aotearoa) last September to connect international market-ready New Zealand tourism operators with the international travel trade. This year, almost 300 travel and tourism buyers from around the globe with almost 24 from India connected virtually and discussed latest updates from New Zealand, a great indication of the support from the trade for the New Zealand tourism industry. Organised by Tourism Industry Aotearoa, the three TRENZ Connect Online events were a valuable opportunity for participants to talk business and discover new international market-ready products and learn about new developments in New Zealand’s best accommodation, transport, activities, and attractions. “The beauty of the TRENZ Connect platform is that it’s ‘always on’. It allows the international travel trade to access the details of New Zealand tourism businesses 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter what time zone they are in. Participants can start a conversation by sending a message at any time. So, all is not lost if you can’t make it to these particular events,” says Ann-Marie Johnson, Communications Manager, TIA. “TRENZ is a fabulous opportunity for New Zealand to showcase what it has to offer to international buyers. Indian travel trade are our key partners   in our efforts to promote and sell New Zealand to Indian travellers. Looking ahead at the reopening of borders to India later this year, this innovative platform will continue to help us to showcase our new tourism products and strengthen our relationship with the travel trade …

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai, along with Ibiza Tourism, will conduct an exclusive webinar titled ‘Know Ibiza’ for the travel trade today at 3pm IST. Sign up today for the Spain Specialist Program (SSP) and register now to attend the webinar. The webinar will conclude with an exciting quiz on the destination and the winner will leave with a free trip to Ibiza. For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

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 …

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 …