IRCTC has launched packages for professionals to continue with their work from the comfort of hotel rooms. A statement by the Corporation said, “Professionals can pick their favourite destination in Kerala among the list of hotels offered under ‘work from hotel’ concept.” Destinations presently offering the service are Munnar, Thekkady, Kumarakom, Marari (Alappuzha), Kovalam, Wayanad and Kochi.

In a bid to curb the spread of the new COVID-19 variant, the European Union has urged all countries of the bloc to halt all non-essential travel from India. “It is important to limit to the strict minimum the categories of travellers that can travel from India for essential reasons and to subject those who may still travel from India to strict testing and quarantine arrangements,” it added.

Etihad Airways has introduced its ‘Verified to Fly’ travel document initiative for travellers flying from Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways. The move enables travellers to validate their COVID-19 travel documents before arriving at the airport. Future developments are in progress to introduce the service for other destinations.

Turespaña has launched a new feature within the TRAVEL SAFE microsite of the official Spanish tourism portal www.spain.info, whereby international tourists who wish to go to Spain can consult the travel restrictions due to COVID-19 in the country, as well as the entry and exit requirements for their respective countries. TRAVEL SAFE microsite has included an information system, permanently updated on travel restrictions due to COVID-19, which allows to consult the information necessary to make any trip from 50 countries, including India, to Spain.

In a marathon session fielding member queries, Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, urged everyone to register themselves on the Ministry of Tourism website. She said, “Agencies who don’t do this may not be allowed to call themselves a travel agent.” The association has also written to MoCA to help resolve matters with Air India bookings multiple times, and has sought an online appointment directly with the PM.

The IATO Executive Committee recently reviewed and restructured the IATO Regional and the State Chapters to expand its wings and strengthen its membership base in Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. In continuation, IATO has further expanded its wings by appointing Co-Chairman and in-charge in various states and union territories. Rajasthan being a large state with a strong membership basis was considered to have a Co-chairman and Mahendra Singh of Holidays N Vacations, Jaipur has been appointed as Co-Chairman of Rajasthan. It was for a long time in the mind of IATO EC to have a Co-Chairman of Uttar Pradesh who should be based in Varanasi, keeping in view the importance of Varanasi as a big tourist attraction,  both for international and domestic tourists and Bhuvanendra Vikram Singh of Prime Value Tours Pvt. Ltd has been given this responsibility. Sikkim being a prime tourist destination needed a Co-Chairman, keeping in view the distance between North Bengal and Sikkim.  Namgyal P Sherpa of Namgyal Treks & Tours, Gangtok has been appointed as co-chairman to assist the Chairman of Sikkim and North Bengal Chapter who is based in Siliguri, Darjeeling. Similar is the case of Andaman & Nicobar and Mohamed Jadwet has been appointed as Co-Chairman in Andaman & Nicobar to assist the Chairman based in Chennai. Besides the above, two-state in-charge have been appointed in Manipur & Tripura to assist Chairman of IATO North East Chapter and H Radhakrishna Sharma, of Seven Sisters Holidays and Soumen Dutta of Hindustan Tour & Travels have been appointed State In-Charge of Manipur and Tripura respectively. Rajiv Mehra, President of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) expressed his happiness and mentioned …

In its latest order, Government of Goa has prohibited inter-state movement for tourists till May 24. Exceptions to the rule are people who are residents of Goa or are entering Goa for work, or who have with them full vaccination certificate or COVID-negative test report for a test done a maximum of 72 hours prior to entering Goa.

Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, will hold a two-day international conference on the potential of Agri-tourism on May 15-16, 2021. The virtual event will include interactive sessions to discuss farm tourism in India, and will focus on empowering and encouraging the rural women farming community to embrace new opportunities in the realm.

Indian carrier Vistara will fly to the Japanese capital Tokyo from New Delhi June 16 onwards. The weekly flight will depart from Delhi every Wednesday at 03:00 hrs, while the return flight will depart from Tokyo every Thursday at 17:50 hrs. The airline will fly once a week between the two capital cities under India’s travel bubble agreement with Japan. The airline will use its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with three-class cabin configuration to serve the route. This makes Vistara the only Indian carrier to offer the choice of flying Premium Economy class in addition to Business and Economy cabins. Vistara has also trained its cabin crew in the Japanese language to extend the warmth of true Indian hospitality to travellers from Japan. Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said, “Far East has been an extremely important geography for our global expansion from the beginning for its tremendous growth potential. We are delighted to add Japan to our international network, under the travel bubble and  look forward to providing the best of Indian hospitality while maintaining the highest standards of safety and hygiene for our customers on this sector.” Bookings for the flights are being progressively opened on all channels, including Vistara’s website, mobile app, and through travel agents. Introductory, all-inclusive, round-trip fares between Delhi and Tokyo are as follows:   Route Economy Premium Economy Business Delhi–Tokyo-Delhi INR 45,049 INR 73,699 INR 150,399 Tokyo–Delhi-Tokyo JPY 90,099 JPY 184,699 JPY 410,999   SCHEDULE OF FLIGHTS TO AND FROM TOKYO HANEDA: Sector Flight No. Day of Operation Departure Arrival Delhi (DEL) – Tokyo Haneda (HND) UK083 Wednesday 0300 Hrs 1450 Hrs Tokyo Haneda (HND) – Delhi (DEL) UK084 Thursday 1750 Hrs 2335 …

Indiatourism Mumbai along with IHM Mumbai conducted a session on ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ for the institute’s students and faculty. The online session, attended by 120 students, was a commemoration of the Revolt of 1857 and the lesser-known freedom fighters of India. It was guided by Venkatesan Dhattareyan, Regional Director, West & Central, Indiatourism and Malti Dutta, Assistant Director, West & Central, Indiatourism. This was the first of many sessions that will be conducted following the programme charted out for ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.