Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

After a gap of two years, Spain Tourism has restarted its Spain Specialist Programme (SSP), its e-learning platform designed by Turespaña to familiarise tourism professionals with Spanish culture, the regions of Spain, and its tourist attractions. All the SSP courses are free of charge and the travel trade can take it at their own convenience. Its online campus is available at http://campus.spain.travel/en-in/.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have announced a ‘Destination Tracker’ in preparation for the restart of international travel. The UNWTO-IATA Destination Tracker is a new free online tool for governments to provide information on COVID-19 requirements for travel and the measures in place at the destination. The tool is available through the websites of both organizations.

The much-awaited virtual show MICE Engage 2021 organised by JTB India will take place today from 10am IST onwards. The event will see key travel service providers exhibiting at the show who will meet decision-makers from top corporate companies in India. For more information, contact Kritika Kunden at kritika_k.in@jtbap.com or Deepali Gupta at deepali_g.in@jtbap.com.

AVIAREPS, the India representative for Budget Rent A Car, will conduct its first-ever presentation for the Indian travel trade on Tuesday, 27 April at 11 am IST. Khushbu Vora, its Account Manager, will highlight Budget’s offerings to the trade and stand a chance to win exciting prizes. To sign up, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai will conduct its next webinar ‘I Travel Because Its My Turn’ for the travel trade today at 3pm IST. This interactive session will be conducted by representatives from the AVE Cities Network and will also include a product update by BLS International. Participants stand a chance to win Amazon vouchers on attending all the webinars. To register, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai will conduct their next webinar “I Travel Because Its My Turn” for travel trade professionals on April 22 at 3pm IST. This interactive session will be conducted by representatives from the AVE Cities Network. Attendees stand a chance to win Amazon vouchers on attending all the webinars. To register, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

As part of its #UnitedWeStand trade engagement initiatives, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a Whatsapp channel that offers the latest updates on Destination Singapore and STB’s various initiatives in a real-time fashion. STB India had recently organised its first Virtual Trade-show series, under the theme “Charting Our Pathways to Tourism Recovery”, over four days in January for South, North, West and East India regions. Over 45 Singapore tourism stakeholders (comprising airlines, attractions, cruise, DMCs and hotels) attended the event. More than 2,500 buyers logged in from all over India and each booth had an average of 400 unique visitors.   The Virtual Trade-show was aimed to update the Trade fraternity about refreshed tourism offerings and experiences as well as new norms adopted by Singapore as part of Safety Management Measures to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for re-start of tourism.   GB Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, Singapore Tourism Board , says, “There is much work that lies ahead. Our theme ‘Charting our Pathway to Tourism Recovery’ is an invitation and request for all of us to come together, share and exchange ideas and jointly configure the tourism journey ahead from India to Singapore. It is a rallying call to prepare and be ready, whenever the restart comes. My team and I will continue engaging and working with the trade.”   To subscribe to STB’s WhatApp Channel, click this link: http://bit.ly/stbindia            

Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai will organise its next webinar ‘Costa del Sol-Malaga: The Real Gateway to Andalucia’ on April 15 at 3pm, conducted by representatives from the regional tourism board. Attendees stand a chance to win Amazon vouchers on attending all webinars. To register, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Türkiye started full fledge vaccination of the tourism employees in coordination with The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Health and Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA). Vaccination program will cover the employees of the airlines, airports, accommodation facilities, travel agencies as well as the professional guides. Vaccination of the entire tourism staff will be completed before the beginning of 2021 summer season. Within the scope of ‘Safe Tourism Certification Program’, vaccination program aims to welcome international travellers for the upcoming summer season and ensure the health and safety of tourism employees and its residents. Since the launch of ‘Safe Tourism Certification Program’ in June 2020, Türkiye has been following stringent health and safety guidelines and taking all necessary steps to ensure it continues to be safe. Before the opening of the season, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism started to work on inclusion of the tourism sector employees into the vaccination program to ensure that the tourism services in the country remain open throughout the year. The vaccination program is carried out meticulously in coordination with the Ministry of Health. Vaccination program of tourism employees started in line with priorities and within the scope of the ‘Safe Tourism Certification Program’. As part of continuing effort to fight against COVID-19 and further enhance position as one of the world’s safest destinations, Türkiye is continuing to invest in ‘Safe Tourism Certification Program’ which is one of the first and most successful examples in the world in this field. The Country has expanded the scope of the practice and made it compulsory for accommodation facilities with 30 or more rooms. Up to now more than 8.000 facilities were certified. As …

Atout France organised the first virtual edition of its B2B alpine showcase Grand Ski in its new avatar ‘Destination Montagnes – Grand Ski’ in the last week of March for buyers worldwide. A total of 150 French suppliers met 465 tour operators from 59 source markets including 15 agents from India. Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France India says, “Over the years, we have proactively tried to develop winter tourism through various initiatives and we are pleased to see that the concept of travelling to France in the winter has found favour with the discerning Indian traveller. The event was perfectly in sync with our strategy to showcase France as a year-round destination to Indian travellers.”