Rajiv Mehra, President – Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has been nominated from IATO EC to step in as the Honorary Secretary of FAITH.  A veteran of the travel trade, since 1977, Rajiv has been associated with the IATO Executive Committee since 2011, initially as its Executive Committee Member, thereafter as its Vice President and recently as its President.

Sharing the idea behind exhibiting at JTB India’s upcoming virtual MICE show slated to be held on April 28, Saket Dhandhania, Director (Alliances), DreamSetGo, says, “Year 2020 was a difficult year for all of us. MICE Engage 2021 is offering us all the opportunities to demonstrate our capabilities and efforts in reviving the travel business. We have had a long-standing relationship with JTB India and through this event we are looking at networking with key corporates, decision-makers and also building on some of our existing business relationships.”

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri has hailed the ‘Corona Warriors’ of the civil aviation sector saying that “They have been diligently performing their duties despite great personal risks to ensure that we can continue to reach out to our people in their hour of need.” He called the civil aviation essential staff members ‘relentless and undaunted’.

Speaking on day one of WTTC’s Global Ssummit in Cancun, Gloria Guevara, CEO & President of WTTC, said, “The global recovery of the travel and tourism sector has begun. We are leading by example demonstrating how to execute a successful hybrid event with over 600 CEOs of the private sector attending and adhering to all health and safety protocols in place.”

Amid hospitals across the country scrambling for medical oxygen due to rising number of Covid-19 cases, an Air India flight brought 318 Philips oxygen concentrators from New York JFK Airport to New Delhi on Monday.  

AVIAREPS, the India representative for Budget Rent A Car, will conduct it’s first-ever presentation for the Indian travel trade on Tuesday, 27 April at 11am 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.

Sharing a key development for the virtual show slated to be held on April 28, Anil Srinivasan, Executive Director at JTB India, says, “We are very excited to have Dubai Expo as our Platinum Partner for the event, which will give us a big boost in terms of the value we will bring to the buyers. We have confirmed 30 exciting exhibitors.”

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.

In view of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Bengal Tourism has issued Tourism Industry Operation Guidelines. It has also formed a special C19 Tourism Taskforce under the Chairmanship of Principal Secretary, Nandini Chakravorty along with a five-member team from the tourism department and the tourism industry.

Informing that accessibility to Khajuraho has been increased, Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary, Culture, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, said, “Madhya Pradesh is developing Khajuraho as a family destination by adding more dimensions like eco-tourism, heritage trails, and rural homestays. Air India was going to start bi-weekly flights from Delhi to Khajuraho via Varanasi from 1 May but actual schedule may be affected.”