Vinod Zutshi, Secretary – Tourism, Govt. of India, expects inbound tourism to flourish in 2016 after witnessing a growth of 6.8 per cent in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during January 2016. “We are aiming at a 10 per cent growth in FTAs this year. February 2016 alone received a total of 1,17,210 tourists visiting India on e-Tourist Visa (eTV), recording a growth of 369.1 per cent month on month- the effects of eTV will be observed this year.” Commenting on the expansion of domestic tourism Zutshi added that it would grow even further in the coming years. “Domestic tourism has flourished immensely. We had about 1.45 billion domestic tourist visits in 2015 and expect a 15 growth this year. Additionally, we are aiming to reach 2.2 billion domestic tourist visits by 2019.”

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. Of India and the Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) to propagate the cause of responsible and sustainable tourism to the next level. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary – Tourism, said, “ESOI works towards promoting sustainable and responsible tourism practices so we have joined hands with them since our agendas are the same. ESOI will partner with us and assist in sensitising the travel trade first, and then the general public.” It was also announced that a 10-year road map for advocacy and certification under the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India will be charted. Steve Borgia, Honorary President, ESOI, said, “This MoU is also going to set a plan-of-action for the next 10 years for sustainable and responsible tourism.  The planning needs to be aggressive. Regional workshops will also be organised at various cities all over India with different guidelines for each destination.” ESOI, through stakeholder consultations will formulate criteria and classification guidelines for certification for the accommodation and tour/travel operators within the STCI guidelines and later develop standards for destinations which will also be in sync with the internationally accepted Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The two bodies previously formulated and published the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) and plan to put these practices to the forefront through the MoU.

Oman received 299,022 Indian arrivals last year recording 17 per cent growth in 2015 over 2014. Oman’s National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) released the figures from India which highlight an increase in inbound numbers. The statistics also reflect a growth of 60 per cent in Indian arrivals to Oman in the last five years. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman, said, “The increase is very encouraging and reflects all the hard work we have put in promoting and marketing the destination in India. Since 2014, we started promoting Oman as an ideal wedding destination for Indians as Muscat is close to India. Our efforts were rewarded as we witnessed several large-scale weddings take place in the last two years. Many Indians are now visiting Oman for destination weddings. MICE has also seen an increase and to attract more MICE activities this year, our efforts are aimed at increasing interactions with tour operators and corporates.”

Jet Airways has launched its new flight from Delhi- Muscat starting March 21. The inaugural fare for the new flight to Muscat is Rs 13,105 one way and Rs 29,466 for the round trip in economy class. The daily flight was launched to strengthen the airline’s network in the Gulf region. Alok Sawhney, Head – North India & Nepal, Jet Airways, said, “We are expanding our operations in the Gulf region with the addition of a new daily flight to Muscat from March 21. We are adding another flight to Dubai, making the Delhi-Dubai frequency to three flights a day. Also, we are growing our operations from Mumbai to Dubai, which would make it six flights a day. With this addition on the gulf routes, we are looking forward to an encouraging response from our travel partners.”

Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) is all geared up for its Convention to be held from March 17-21, 2016 in Bali, Indonesia. Riaz Munshi, Convention Chairman, OTOAI, says, “We are expecting around 240 delegates. We have booked close to 220 tickets from India and we also have people coming from Singapore, The Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.” Though the names of the panelists at the Convention have not been disclosed yet, Munshi informs that the business sessions are going to be informative with panel discussions on the current scenario of the market and the dynamic changes taking place in it.

According to data released by Department of Tourism, Govt.of Goa, there was no drop in foreign tourist arrivals in 2015. A total of 52,97,902 tourists visited  Goa in 2015 which includes 47,56,422  domestic  tourists and  5,41,480 foreign tourists. While the state has recorded an overall 30.54 per cent increase in tourist arrivals for 2015, domestic tourist arrivals were up by 34 percent and foreign tourist arrivals up by 5.4 per cent. Tourist arrivals during the monsoons (June, July and August 2015) recorded a 22 per cent increase as against an 18 per cent increase in 2014. Foreign tourist arrivals to Goa from  UK, Russia, UAE, USA, Portugal, South Africa and many others have shown an increase in arrivals to the  State despite  continued recession and crises’ that hit the European regions. The eTV regime introduced by the Central government in December 2014 has also facilitated easy access of foreign tourists to Goa. Within a year (Till December 31, 2015) a total of 49,626 eTVs were issued to foreign tourists. Dilip Parulekar, Minister for Tourism, said, “We are extremely delighted to know that despite various negative geo-political situations across the globe these have not hit Goa Tourism in any way. We have received a good response from foreign and domestic tourists in 2015 as in the past. Our new initiatives, marketing and promoting is showing substantial results and we are optimistic that tourists will choose Goa as their destination for holidaying.”

With a view to achieve better connectivity to remote areas and different regions of the country, the Government has laid down certain route dispersal guidelines. The government is persuading the state governments to reduce VAT on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), allowing direct import of ATF by Indian carriers as actual users. The participation of foreign airlines up to 49 percent in the equity of scheduled air transport undertaking is also being permitted. This will allow external commercial borrowings (ECB) for working capital requirement of airline industry for a period of one year subject to a total ceiling of US $1 billion. Furthermore, tax concessions for parts of aircraft and testing equipment for third party maintenance, repair and overhaul of civil aircraft are also a part of the measures.

Air India has launched an Air Pass for pilgrims to major Buddhist cities in India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. This coupon-based scheme for journeys originating in Yangon and Colombo, and is applicable to all types of journeys in economy class, except group travel. Under this scheme one can combine destinations Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India in a single journey. The fares are divided into four schemes—two for flights originating from Myanmar and two from Sri Lanka. Under scheme one can avail ex-Yangon six flight coupons for US$600, while scheme two offers eight ex-Yangon coupons for US$800. Schemes three and four are for flights from Sri Lanka, which offers six coupons for US$450 or eight coupons for US$800. Tickets can be booked at Air India offices or through travel agents, and are valid for 60 days from the start date of the journey.

India Tourism was awarded the “3rd Best Tourism Destination in Asia for 2016”, at ITB, Berlin, Germany. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism along with the members of Indian team received the award certificate presented to India Tourism, for “3rd Best Tourism Destination in Asia for 2016”, on March 12, 2016.

Continuing with its agenda to inspire the spirit of sportsmanship among the travel trade, Emirates Airlines will organise the second edition of its ‘Emirates Cricket Trade Tournament 2016’ for the travel trade on March 12-13, 2016 and then again on March 19-20, 2016 for the finals in Mumbai. It unveiled the cricket trophy in a pre-event networking event where former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes made a special appearance, enthralling everyone. The format has been made more competitive with 416 players in 32 teams playing 45 games over four days over two weekends. Sunil Kallyat, Regional Manager-Western India, Emirates Airline, wished the players all the best at the networking party.