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.  

Air China has been rated 4.1 out of 5 on the Safe Travel Score for the Asia Pacific region by Safe Travel Barometer. Air China, among Asia Pacific’s largest airlines, emerged as the leading airline in the region with a Safe Travel Score of 4.1 out of 5, having carried out various traveller health and safety initiatives. Air China was among the first carriers globally to resume domestic services after the COVID-19 outbreak grounded its fleet earlier in 2020. While the airline had basics covered such as mandatory face masks and sanitizers for passengers, it also initiated fogging of aircraft before or after every flight.

With easing of restrictions, Thomas Cook India and its group company, SOTC Travel, have announced the first physical holiday roadshows since lockdown – Thomas Cook India’s Freedom Month Celebrations and SOTC’s Freedom Month Carnival. The series of roadshows, in association with Accor and Marriott hotels, will be held on Sunday, November 8, 2020 from 11am to 5pm across key source markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune, Kochi, Jaipur and Baroda. With a range of domestic and international destinations on offer, customers can avail of special deals/discounts and attractively priced flight-inclusive holidays starting at Rs. 10 790.00* – with a free holiday to Dubai* to be won. To ensure customer health and safety together with a personalised experience, an online pre-registration enables customers to book their preferred time slot. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India). said, “To assist our customers plan their perfect holiday and guide them through the new/updated travel protocols, we have simplified the booking process by bringing our Freedom Month Celebrations right to our customers’ doorstep! Held at Accor and Marriott hotels across India, we intended to provide Indians with a safe and smooth holiday booking experience and the assistance of our holiday experts, while availing of great offers.” He added, “Our Assured Program in partnership with Apollo Clinics ensures meticulous health & safety protocols. To further assist our customers, we have tied up with ICMR accredited labs to offer end-to-end COVID-negative certification services with contactless facilitation – across India. Our Safe Holiday Helpline is yet another meaningful consumer initiative – a free service to support customers in safe holiday planning.”

Eyeing the pent-up demand for travel, Thomas Cook (India) and its group company, SOTC Travel have introduced Crazy Deals in partnership with IndiGo with a range of options and value add-ons. On offer are domestic destinations such as Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur, Kerala, Himachal, North East, Ranthambore, Mussoorie, Rishikesh, Chittorgarh, Andaman, among others, and international short haul destinations such as Dubai and Maldives.   Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) said, “These great-value air-inclusive holidays are easy to book. With our pricing and inclusions, we aim to catalyse demand across India. Our Assured Program in partnership with Apollo Clinics ensures meticulous health and safety protocols across every touch-point and to further assist our customers, we have tied up with ICMR accredited labs to offer seamless, contactless end-to-end COVID-negative certification services – across India. Our Safe Holiday Helpline is yet another meaningful consumer initiative – a free service to support customers in safe holiday planning.”   Daniel D’souza, President & Country Head, Leisure, SOTC Travel said, “While Indian travellers are price conscious, they also seek value in their holiday package. SOTC has launched Crazy Deals in partnership with IndiGo. Travellers with pocket friendly budgets can now avail the best deals that offer air-inclusive value packages to domestic and international destinations. As customers recognise the value and peace of mind of booking with reputed brands, we have introduced a range of assured, insured holidays in line with our Safe Travel programme.”   Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer, IndiGo said, “We are pleased to partner with Thomas Cook India and SOTC to introduce air inclusive holiday deals. We also introduced products like 6E double seat, …

The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority (BTEA) has assigned Intrepid Marketing & Communications to undertake all its trade, marketing, and communication initiatives across the country to establish Bahrain as Indian travellers’ go-to short-haul destination. Addressing the appointment, Dr. Ali Hasan Follad, Acting Director of Marketing and Tourism Promotions, BTEA, said, “We are thrilled to commence our partnership with Intrepid and are confident that they will be instrumental in navigating Bahrain through the current challenges affecting international travel. We’ve worked with Intrepid’s management and they’ve been instrumental in positioning Bahrain as a notable short-haul destination for the Indian families, couples and adventurers. We are certain that this partnership will enhance our existing relations with the travel fraternity in India. Also, Intrepid will be building new bonds with the online travel communities.” Sunil Mathapati, Director, Intrepid Marketing and Communications, said, “The team is elated to work with BTEA and explore the ‘new normal’ of international travel. As travel restrictions are changed and lessened, we are working on expanding Bahrain’s presence, stirring conversations around experiential travel and ‘dream itineraries’ around Bahrain. The Indian travel market remains promising as always; we want to engage with the consumers directly and position Bahrain as one of the most hype-worthy travel destinations.” As on October 2020, Bahrain’s COVID-19 cases are under control, said Dr. Ali Follad. “The National Medical Task Force, a part of ‘Team Bahrain’ led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy  Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, is doing a tremendous job in fighting Covid-19,” he added. Assuring the safety of Bahraini citizens and residents alongside international travellers, he said Bahrain is prepared and ready to …

One Above has acquired a DMC in the Mediterranean destination of Greece called Orama Travel, which means ‘travel with a vision’ in Greek. Now called One Above Greece, the new office starts operations from its new location in Athens. Speaking on this occasion Rahim Aslam, Founder, One Above, says, “One Above Greece promises the visitor diverse experiences beyond the stereotypical sea and sun holiday usually associated with Greece. Yes, Greece is incredible for offering riveting summer holidays but there is more to Greece than this. Consider a holiday in Greece any other time of year and you will begin to appreciate its diversity and discover a side of it that you didn’t know existed!” He adds that the One Above team specialises in offering exceptional services to tourists travelling to Greece. “Our expertise and rich experience of 30 years, inspired by the knowledge and the taste of our customers originating from all over the world make us an essential partner for everyone wishing to organise their travel, be it for leisure or business. Over the years, we have learned to respect the traveller, consider the travelling experience with a different outlook, and continually improve all our travel destinations as per the current trends,” he adds. Rahim adds, “One Above Greece will provide the critical knowledge necessary to make all travel arrangements successful. Our reputation for high quality, creative service is based on our ability to help you manage your clients travel arrangements more effectively. It is based on our philosophy of service with an extra measure of value, service that goes above and beyond the typical requirements of a DMC. Our mission is to provide every client with the best …

Rail Europe will launch its Rail Expert Program 2020 – a month-long programme wherein the travel fraternity gets an opportunity to learn about various European Rail products and also gets a chance to win exciting prizes. The Rail Expert India Program will be live from 1 November till 30 November, 2020. It is Rail Europe’s exclusive training programme on European trains and now in its third year. It has companies like Eurostar, Deutsche Bahn, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and TGV participating in this year’s programme. This educational programme is for the travel fraternity wherein travel agents and tour operators can participate and learn on selling the key European rail products. The program is designed to encourage travel advisors to increase and improve their knowledge on rail products with each training session. The quiz is available on Rail Europe’s global platform. Travel agents have to sign up and complete five modules of 10 questions each and they will be provided with the course material in the form of a presentation. On completion of the course and securing the minimum qualification they get the Rail Expert Certificate as well as a chance to win exciting prizes.