Speaking about the Virtual Spanish Travel Show organised by The Tourism Office of Spain in India that will be held online on December 2-3, 2020, Elisa Robles-Fraga, its Director, says, “The show will help the trade make new contacts and prepare them to leap ahead as soon as international travel to Spain restarts.” To register, go to www.virtualspanishtravelshow.com

In an endeavour to empower customers with contactless and convenient holiday planning, Thomas Cook India has introduced India’s first Virtual Holiday Store. A dedicated team of travel experts will be available over video chat 365 days, from 8 am to 12 pm.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of Tourism & Culture (I/C), had a detailed discussion with MOT officials on the content for promotion of tourism in the global media. The Ministry has continuously been talking about the dire need to let the world know and generate confidence among travellers that once international travel begins, India would be a safe destination to travel to.

Tourism Ireland India will have four Irish suppliers as part of its webinar today at 3.30pm IST to discuss Ireland’s offerings and its safety guidelines. Huzan Fraser Motivala, its India Representative, says, “We have an interesting line-up of Irish hotels, attractions and tours.” Contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) conducted its 38th Annual General Meeting (AGM) virtually with members attending the proceedings online while the Executive Committee (EC) presented the financial year’s report physically at The Park Hotel, New Delhi. Sharing updates, the association also put forward its expectations from the next union budget of the government which includes deemed industry status, removal of cascading effects of GST on tourism industry, withdrawal of TCS for overseas tour packages, extension of SEIS among other.  

South Africa is now open to all international leisure and business travellers from all over the globe. All travellers coming into the country will need to supply a negative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) COVID test not older than 72 hours from the date of departure from their country.

Sharing an update on the association’s elections, Pradip Lulla, Acting President & VP, TAFI, says, “We have just concluded all our Chapter and National AGMs. We are now looking to have our national elections early next year. We are still working on the modalities of it and looking at either doing a postal ballot or conducting it virtually using a software.”

Access to technology that reduces human contact, queues and physical touchpoints is the ultimate factor that would need to be fulfilled for Indian respondents to feel comfortable travelling (40%), according to a recent study by Amadeus titled ‘Rethink Travel Global Survey India insights 2020’.

The first edition of Tourism Innovation Summit 2020 (TIS), to be held from November 25-27 in the Spanish city of Seville, will bring together the brightest minds on travel and tourism to reveal key strategies and solutions for tourism recovery in 2021, including extensive health prevention protocols. Free antigen tests will be offered to attendees. In fact, this is the main safety measure and the principle demand from the tourism industry worldwide to all the competent authorities: antigen tests at origin and destination, to recover the confidence of travellers and tourists, as it is expected that the virus will not disappear in a short time.

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai will be organising a two-day roadshow with 22 Spanish suppliers on December 2-3, 2020. The suppliers will be a mix of local tourism boards, hotels and DMCs, who will meet key travel agents and tour operators from key source markets of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. To attend as buyer, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.