Acknowledging that in 2021, approach towards policy-making and implementing them will be vastly different, Union Minister for Tourism & Culture Prahlad Patel said that India’s wellness centres, Ayush hospitals offering alternative care will draw tourists post the pandemic and the ministry is in talks to tie up such centres with insurance firms so that tourists can avail insurance before arriving in India for treatment.

The new tourism policy aims to attract large scale investments in the tourism and encourage organisations in the sector, Minister for Tourism Avanthi Srinivasa Rao. Releasing the ‘Andhra Pradesh Tourism Policy 2020-2025’ he said that four circuits (Rayalaseema, Coastal Andhra, North Andhra and Godavari) will be developed for which investor meets will be organised in the next couple of months. A restart package of Rs 200 crore for tourism is also being sanctioned.

After establishing air bubbles with USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar and Maldives, the government is in the process of establishing arrangements with 13 more countries. Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said negotiations are underway with Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand to allow bilateral flight operations.

FlyBig plans to commence three times weekly Ahmedabad-Indore service from Jan 3, 2021. From its Indore hub, FlyBig started flights to Bhopal and Ahmedabad with Jabalpur to follow later on. FlyBig started booking for Raipur-Indore from Jan 13, 2021. Its second phase will focus on North East India market for which it will set up a base in Guwahati. Apart from the Delhi-Shillong route, it will serve Imphal and Aizawl. It is yet to debut operations using its own aircraft ATR72-500.

Ministry of Tourism’s Regional Office, Indiatourism Mumbai conducted a domestic tourism marketing campaign ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ under the theme ‘Explore Incredible India’ with a brand activation event in Reliance Mall, Borivali in Mumbai from Dec 25 until 31 Dec. Mall visitors were provided information on special promotional packages prepared by local travel agents and tour operators.  

GB Srithar, Regional Director (India, Middle East & South Asia), Singapore Tourism Board, has said that the STB Virtual Tradeshow would allow them to reconnect with the travel trade in India. “It is in line with our ‘United we stand’ messaging for the travel trade in this crisis time. We would like to show our solidarity with the travel trade fraternity in terms of  communication and messages. We want to tell them that we are getting prepared, and as and when the restart happens, we hope to welcome Indian travellers to Singapore through the help and cooperation of our travel trade partner friends,” he said. The STB India Virtual Tradeshow is scheduled on Jan 12, 15, 19 and 21 for South, North, West and East India respectively. Register on: www.stbindiatradeshow2021.com, email: Jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com, or call +919650196532.

Regional commuter airline Flybig started its first flight from Shillong direct to Delhi on December 21, 2020. However, it used a SpiceJet aircraft for the same. Part of Big Charter, Flybig was awarded the contract for this route through a tender floated by Meghalaya Transport Corporation at the beginning of 2020. It will initially operate this route twice a week.

The first flight from Belgaum (Karnataka) to Surat (Gujarat) to Kishangarh (Rajasthan) was flagged off on December 21, 2020 by Star Air India under RCS-UDAN. This flag-off marks the inauguration of the 303rd route under the scheme and the 20th UDAN route by the airline. The airline is being provided Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under the scheme to keep fares affordable. The airline will operate thrice-weekly flights on the route and will deploy its 50-seater Embraer-145.

After nine months of restriction on the entry of tourists to Meghalaya due to the pandemic, the state re-opened its doors on December 21, 2020. The Tourism Department has issued SOP for all tourists wherein they will need to mandatorily register on ‘The Meghalaya Tourism App’ and generate an e-invite for the proposed itinerary.

With widespread travel ban on the UK introduced overnight, Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said, “While protecting public health is paramount, blanket travel bans cannot be the answer. They have not worked in the past and they will not work now. If a comprehensive and quick turnaround testing regime were in place at airports to test all travellers before they depart, it would ensure only those infected with COVID-19 are isolated. There would be no need for countries to introduce damaging and counterproductive wholesale bans on UK travellers.”