Under the banner of AlUla Moments, AlUla’s events calendar published today highlights four festivals including Winter at Tantora which is back by popular demand and celebrates heritage, AlUla Skies, AlUla Arts and AlUla’s Wellness Festival.  The festivals will offer curated experiences of art, culture, music, nature, wellness, equestrian, gastronomy and astronomy. The events will include free and ticketed experiences, with tickets and information available at experiencealula.com. The four distinct festivals will commence on 21 December and run through to 30 March against the backdrop of AlUla’s many timeless wonders. Musical performances will also be back in AlUla with Maraya taking centre stage again as the venue for regional and international acts starting from this October. Winter at Tantora, the very first music and arts festival in the Kingdom returns – now in a six-week format. A stunning Candlelit Symphonic Concert at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra will set the tone for the festival season as the opening event.  Equestrian events will include the eagerly awaited new haute couture horse fashion event, Ikmah Fashion Calvary, the return of the competitive Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Race and the oh-so-chic AlUla Desert Polo. A new Citrus Festival will celebrate AlUla produce and the Harrat Observation Deck with Back to Black restaurant will offer stunning sunrise and sunset views of AlUla from the top of the Harrat Uwayrid. Archaeology and cultural workshops will be introduced at the heritage sites, there will be live immersion shows at AlUla Old Town and in the oasis. Winter at Tantora will run from 21 December to 12 February. From February 2021, the AlUla Arts festival will bring together exhibitions and encounters created by …

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) has become the first Indian hospitality association to be awarded both the ISO 9001:2015 as well as the ISO 27001:2013 certifications. Sherry Bhatia, President, HRAWI, says, “This accreditation is assurance that we have robust, clearly-defined procedures in place across all areas including handling of documents and data, strong business continuity processes, back-up plan, risk analysis and mitigation (Risk Management), communications security, office security, incident management, compliance and monitoring. To maintain the validity of the certification, HRAWI will perform regular audits to ensure compliance and identify areas of improvement.”

IndiGo recently conducted a familiarisation tour for top 10 agents of Indore to Gwalior to help the trade promote Gwalior as a new tourist destination. Also part of the group was TK Jose, TAFI Chairman (MP Chapter). They stayed at the Neemrana Heritage hotel.

Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has submitted a representation to the Home Minister, Ministry of Home Affairs –Amit Shah requesting his urgent intervention in implementing the judgement passed by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for the State of Goa and Union Territories with respect to charging of electricity tariff at industrial rates for hotels in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Radisson Hotel Group is proud to achieve a milestone of 100 operating hotels in India with the opening of Radisson Bhopal. It plans to open 14 new hotels in 2021 and more than 60 hotels in the next five years. “This is indeed a nostalgic point in our journey of over two decades. Since inception in the 1990s, Radisson Hotel Group has charted out a success story and played a significant role in transforming the Indian hospitality industry. I am truly grateful to our guests, owners, employees and the extended hospitality industry for their tremendous support to help us reach this milestone,” said KB Kachru, Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor, Radisson Hotel Group, South Asia.

Goa’s historic churches which are maintained by the ASI will be developed by the central government, which will also fund events related to the 60th anniversary of the state’s Liberation from Portuguese yoke, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy. Speaking at a helipad inauguration in Old Goa, Reddy said, “We will promote events related to the 60th anniversary of Goa’s Liberation through the Union ministry of Tourism and Culture. Churches maintained by the (ASI) will also be developed under the aegis of the central government. We will spend money on it. The PM has said that Goa should be allotted more money for tourism development,” Reddy said.

Tourism Australia has relaunched its Aussie Specialist Program to make it easier for travel sellers to gain the skills they need to better promote and sell Australia. The Aussie Specialist Program has been given a new look and feel in its 32nd year and the new program has greater personalisation, faster qualifying times and shorter more interactive training modules. The investment comes after many frontline travel sellers turned to the Aussie Specialist Program over the past 18 months to learn and position themselves as champions for Australian travel once borders re-open. Improvements to the Aussie Specialist Program were made in conjunction with more than 400 stakeholders and 1,000 existing Aussie Specialist agents.

The Board of the Company TATA SIA Airlines has named Vinod Kannan who will succeed CEO Leslie Thng effective 1 January, 2022. Thng, after leading Vistara for more than four years, will move on to take up a senior appointment with Singapore Airlines from 1st January 2022. Kannan is currently serving as Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer.

The resumption of short-stay entry visa processing for Ireland has been announced and has come into effect from 13 September, 2021. Indians fully vaccinated with COVISHIELD can now apply for short-stay entry visas to Ireland. There are no quarantine requirements for fully-vaccinated Indians with COVISHIELD or recently recovered travellers to Ireland. Travellers must fill out a Passenger Locator Form before departure.

Garima Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, emphasized on the development of connectivity in the region. There are altogether 15 airports ensuring efficiency of travel in the region. She also spoke about the new Greenfield Airport Project which is under development; the aim is to inaugurate it by 15th August ’22, in line with the celebration of 75 years of Independence. The commencement of operations at Tezu Airport in Arunachal Pradesh along with some other important projects was also brought forward in the discussion. Initiatives are being undertaken to enhance air connectivity for the development of tourism in the North Eastern Region.