KTM Virtual 2020 which was to be held from November 23-27 has been postponed to first quarter of next year due to the pandemic. The new dates will be announced later. Registrations will however remain open. KTM 2020 was originally supposed to be held in Kochi on Sept 24-27, 2020 before it announced its virtual version. The timings for the five-day virtual event will be from 12 noon to 12 midnight, in line with the different time zones of the buyers.

IATA has announced that Alexandre de Juniac, its Director General and CEO, will step down from his role at the association effective March 31, 2021. He made known his intention to step down several months ago. The IATA Board of Governors will recommend the appointment of Willie Walsh, former CEO of International Airlines Group to become IATA’s eighth Director General from April 1, 2021.

Concept Hospitality has announced the complete opening of its 45-room The Fern Residency, Noida in Uttar Pradesh. This is the third hotel the company is operating in both the state and in the NCR. The other operational properties in UP are in Agra and Sarnath. This takes the number of hotels managed by the company in India, Nepal and Seychelles to 74 operational hotels, with 6 more scheduled to open by the year-end.

The two-day Gulf Travel Show (GTS) concluded successfully with more than 2,500 buyers from 59 countries who met 40 exhibitors from across the world. The first-ever two-day virtual event of the region witnessed more than 3,000 one-to-one meetings between suppliers and travel agents, tour operators, tourism boards, airlines, hotels, TMCs and international agencies.

Sharing an update on the ongoing discussion with the GST Council, Pradip Lulla, Acting President and Vice President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), has said, “We had requested the GST Council and the Finance Ministry to review the refund of GST on air ticket refunds, and extend the date applicable for refund GST till March 31, 2021 due to the delay in total refunds by airlines. However, we have received no update on this. In fact, we even took this matter up during the APJC meeting. Unfortunately, the airlines argued that the government is not abiding by that. So agents who have submitted refunds after October 1, 2020 will not receive any refunds and GST will be deducted, because the airline has to pay to the government. Those who have submitted before October 1, their GST will not be cut, and will be duly refunded. The government is not willing to extend any leniency in this matter; since its a liability to the government, they will not allow anything to agents.” As per rule, if tickets are not refunded till September 30, 2020, then GST will not be refunded and customers will end up losing 5% in the economy class ticket and 12% in business class of the ticket value. TAFI has also filed a case in Supreme Court for airline refunds.

Aloke Singh has taken charge as the new CEO of Air India Express with tenure of three years. The former Senior Advisor- Airline Consulting, CAPA South Asia who has also worked with Oman Air as Chief Officer Network Planning takes over from K Shyam Sundar, who was leading the airline since March 2014. The profitable low-cost arm of Air India reported its highest-ever net profit of Rs 412.77 cr in financial year ending March.

Gujarat Tourism has been conducting multi-city roadshows across India to promote its tourism offerings at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia. They have so far conducted B2B meets at Chennai, Bengaluru, Raipur, Kolkata, Patna, Nagpur, Lucknow, Indore, and Bhopal. The state department is also participating in WTM Virtual to promote Statue of Unity among other things.

In India, regional aviation has always been a great business proposition on paper, says Varun Kumar, Team Leader – Consulting & Research at CAPA India. “In reality, it is extremely difficult to create a long-term sustainable business model for regional aviation in our country. Carriers such as Air Mantra, Air Pegasus, Air Costa and Air Carnival ceased operations within a span of few years, with some not lasting beyond a year,” he adds.

Commenting on the possibility of physical events, Dr. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, says, “While China has re-started full-scale domestic events and exhibitions with strict health protocols, not many other destinations have. No country has really started cross-border events due to borders still being closed and the risk of spreading the virus. I believe we will see most events being conducted virtually in 2021 with some being hybrid where local participants come together at a physical venue.”

The Assistant Director of Tourism in Leh, Jigmet Namgail, met with members of three tourism associations to discuss adventure and winter tourism – All Ladakh Tour Operator Association (ALTOA), Ladakh Mountain Guides Association (LMG) and the India Mountaineering Foundation (IMF). The team discussed the promotion of adventure and winter tourism in Leh. Ladakh government plans to set up a ski institute in Kargil to promote winter sports.