Giving fresh boost to tourism and adventure sports, the Union Ministry of Tourism & Culture Prahlad Singh Patel visited Kargil on the occasion on National Tourism Day on January 25, 2021 to inaugurate the National Event of Adventure Tourism (NEAT Kargil 2021). He also announced a branch of the Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IISM) in Kargil to encourage the local youth to take up adventure.

A recent entrant in the cloud-based hotel management software domain, StreetGooser, will now launch GYPZE.com – a booking platform dedicated to experiential stays – on 14 February, 2021. It will offer booking options for under-the-radar luxury boutique home stays, villas and resorts. John Varghese, CEO and Founder, GYPZE.com, says, “All travellers have to do is choose from a select array of homestays, villas and resorts across the globe. Our bouquet of offerings include quality, secure and safe accommodation in off-trail often secret locations, known only to the discerning traveller. An added advantage is that GYPZE.com can be accessed on your mobile too.” GYPZE.com vets each property to see if it meets the company’s stringent quality standards. As per Varghese, boutique properties offering experiential stays face unique challenges – lack of online exposure, absence of a platform that focuses on experiential stays and one which highlights the USPs of each property. Without the marketing muscle of chain hotels, off-beat hideaways have to pay higher commissions to booking engines and travel agents yet have very little customer support.

Sharing his expectations from the Union Budget, Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India), says, “I look forward to Government support on soft loans to finance working capital, incentivisng tourism spends by providing income tax concessions, payment of overdue SEIS benefits, easing of indirect taxes and waiving off TCS to help aid recovery.”

Russian authorities have said that flights between Moscow and the capitals of India and three other countries including Qatar, Finland and Vietnam that were suspended since the early weeks of the pandemic, will restart from January 27, 2021, after certain epidemiological criteria were met. These routes will have several flights per week.

The International Air Transport Association and Etihad Airways have announced a partnership to launch the IATA Travel Pass for the airline’s guests. The IATA Travel Pass is a mobile app to help passengers manage their travel in line with government requirements for COVID-19 tests or vaccines. IATA Travel Pass will initially be offered to Etihad’s guests on selected flights from Abu Dhabi in Q1 of 2021.

Manipur is planning to develop war tourism in the state by preserving the historic Koirengei in Imphal, which is an old airfield in the northeast state. The British had built nine airfields in the state, all of which played some role in the war. N Biren Singh, CM of Manipur, says, “As Manipur is now on War Tourism Map with numerous British and Japanese tourists flowing in to visit the war memorial sites, it is important to develop these sites.”

According to global data provider OAG, most of the large domestic markets have stabilised at between 25-30% of last year’s levels. As per its Jan 2021 data, India’s domestic capacity is increasing from -30% down last month to -23% this month in terms of domestic market seats, making it the third-largest market after China and the US.

Blade India has resumed its by-the-seat service to Shirdi from Mumbai. Mumbai-Shirdi takes 6-7 hours on the road but with Blade, pilgrims can fly to Shirdi in an hour, and be back on the same day. It also offers customers in need of special assistance or a VIP darshan service. It flies from Mahalaxmi vertiport every Monday and from Juhu vertiport on Thursday and Saturday at 11am.

Seychelles Tourism Board has announced the appointment of BRANDit as its official representative in India. BRANDit will handle marketing, sales and public relations for the island nation in the Indian subcontinent. Commenting on the appointment, Sherin Francis, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board said, “We have commissioned BRANDit to plan our marketing and communication strategy in India. Various ideas have been chalked out to bring Seychelles tourism to a new dawn moving ahead with a fresh perspective. India is a promising market and its ever-evolving dynamic nature has always made it an exciting playing field for our outbound marketing efforts. Seychelles will serve as a safe haven and an exotic getaway for the pent-up travel demand among Indians. Despite a challenging 2020, we are positive to emerge through this phase stronger and better.”

TOFTigers, the Travel Operators for Tigers India Wildlife Association, will conduct a 10-part series of virtual destination knowledge and sustainability sessions, starting from January 13, 2021 at 2pm to educate the trade about nature destinations and sustainable travel. Ritu Makhija, Sustainability Manager says, “The idea is to share knowledge and expertise to the entire travel community.”