Akasa Air operated its first flight from Lucknow – the 11th city in its network, marking the airline’s entry into Uttar Pradesh. Akasa Air will offer daily flights on the Lucknow-Bengaluru and Lucknow-Mumbai route starting today. The first flight on the Lucknow-Mumbai route departed at 1100 hrs IST from Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow. Commenting on the commencement of the first flight from the state, the Honourable CM of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath stated, “Uttar Pradesh is one of the leading states in domestic tourism and tourist movement in India. Our state is transforming into the most preferred investment destination in India and therefore, enabling new growth trajectories for shaping the vision of a new India. Witnessing India’s newest airline, Akasa Air, starting operations in Uttar Pradesh early in their journey, reaffirms my faith in the potential of the state in generating employment and ensuring economic prosperity for our country.” Commenting on the commencement of the maiden flight from Lucknow, Vinay Dube, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Akasa Air said, “We are thankful to the Honourable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath-ji for his support on this momentous occasion as we launch our inaugural flight from Lucknow, the 11th city in our fast-growing network. Lucknow is renowned for its rich culture, architecture, and cuisine while being a popular tourist destination, established textile and an emerging automobile hub. We believe, with the important work being done by the Honourable Minister to further boost tourism in the state, Lucknow will surely become an important part of our plans while we start today with connecting this key state capital with Mumbai and Bengaluru.” “The Akasa story is aligned with …

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board’s Rural Tourism Programme could not have come at a better time. The target was to make tourism destinations friendly through a cultural experience-based tourism which involved local communities. With the intention of offering new products and experiences to tourists visiting Madhya Pradesh, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board came up with the Rural Tourism Programme. The intention behind the Rural Tourism Programme is to connect rural communities with tourism for their social and economic development besides preserving the local environment. Rural tourism not only provides tourists with a completely new experience, it creates engagement between city and village dwellers through meaningful interactions. It also strengthens the rural economy, generating employment at the village level, minimises migration towards urban areas, preserves local culture & heritage, and encourages art and craft as well as landscape conservation. MP Tourism Board launched the Rural Tourism Programme in 2018. Covid slowed progress a bit but the work went on. The work first started in about 10 villages on a pilot basis. Villages close to prominent tourist sites, like Orchha, Khajuraho, Panna National Park and Sanjay-Dubri National Park, were initially selected. Seeing positive results, the scheme has been extended to many more villages. MADHYA PRADESH’S PIONEERING RURAL TOURISM PROJECT MP Tourism Board has launched its Rural Tourism Project under the auspices of the Madhya Pradesh Responsible Tourism Mission. Under the Rural Tourism Project, 100 villages across MP have been identified with the goal of developing them as Tourism Villages. As per the scheme, the state has been divided into six key cultural experience regions. Baghelkhand, Bundelkhand and Chambal in the north and northeast apart from their cultural specialities, also showcase the essence of …

Showing concern about the recent spurt in Covid cases, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, said, “To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson ‘The price of good health is eternal vigilance!’ We’ve all gone back to business as usual and assumed that the virus has been conquered but the recent spurt has clearly demonstrated that there is no room for complacence. So, while it might affect tourist numbers in the short term, there is a need to reinstate some health and screening measures, especially for international arrivals.”

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that Amritsar and Chandigarh together have 42 air traffic movements internationally per week, including 33 in Amritsar and nine in Chandigarh. He expressed confidence that whenever Indian carriers will expand, Punjab will be a very key element of that. “We have international connectivity from Amritsar and Chandigarh to almost 7 countries: UK, Qatar, Dubai, Malaysia, Sharjah, Singapore and Italy. As far as Amritsar is concerned, we have 17 air traffic movements per week to Singapore, Doha, Kuala Lumpur, as well as to Tibilsi and Milan Malpensa.”

Rajnish Kaistha, Hon Secretary, IATO, said, “We have been pushing for more than 8 months now to allow e-tourist visas for many countries which had not been original list. This has caused lots of heartburn among our members and has been loss to all of us as tour operators, hotels and of course revenue loss for the Govt. I am glad that in the last one month the Govt finally started seeing our point of view with e-visa for UK, followed by Malaysia and now much needed Canada. This will help us for 2023 and beyond from these tourism generating countries. We continue to push for remaining countries like South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, etc for e-visas.”

Akasa Air has announced the addition of Goa, the 12th destination to join the airline’s fast-growing network. It offers two daily flights from Goa to Bengaluru, increasing to three daily flights from February 1, 2023, and two daily flights from Goa to Mumbai. Commenting on the new destination announcement, Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder, and Chief Commercial Officer, Akasa Air, said, “We are pleased to announce our 12th destination, Goa with flights from New Goa Manohar International Airport (Mopa), one of the newest airports that was inaugurated by our Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi-ji on December 11, 2022. We are really excited to connect Goa with two of our strong metro cities in the South and West, Bengaluru & Mumbai. We launch Goa with five daily departures connecting to Bengaluru and Mumbai. The city of beaches, Goa, has played a significant role in putting Indian tourism on the global map and is one of the most popular tourist destinations within India, all year round. It has also emerged as a manufacturing base for several leading companies, that constantly require greater connectivity to metro cities. The commencement of this route will enable us to enhance connectivity between these cities while offering our signature warm and efficient service to our passengers. Our operations from the city will cater to business and leisure travellers who are on the lookout for convenient and affordable flying options.” Akasa Air, which commenced operations in August 2022, has been progressively scaling up its operations and has taken delivery of 10 aircraft, carrying over 5 lakh revenue passengers in less than six months from the start of its operations. By end-December 2022, the airline expects to cross over 500 …

After positioning itself in travel markets in major parts of India and becoming a name that is recognized for its accountability and dedication, One Above Global DMC has expanded its journey of success by opening a new branch in Chennai on 14 December 2022. The aspiration is the same, offering travel products at affordable rates along with flawless services. It is planning to grow its business on an all India level and its Chennai office is one of the attempts for the same. The inauguration was graced by many travel agents followed by a Thanksgiving networking dinner to all the potential partners. As per Rahim Aslam, Director and Founder of the company, “Our branch office in Chennai will ensure that our customers going for International holidays will not face any kind of difficulty and we shall be able to provide them value for money vacation. On receiving so many holiday queries from Chennai on a daily basis, opening a branch office was essential for us.”

Spree Hospitality expand its footprint in Delhi, announced the opening of its new luxury hotel, Zip by Spree Hotels Delhi. This 4 – star property is located in Greater Kailash, one of the most sought after and posh residential areas in Delhi, known for its wide selection of attraction, this place is must see for the travellers. Commenting on the opening, Sagar Khurana, Vice President of Spree Hospitality said “We are delighted to extend our Spree Hospitality portfolio in Delhi with the addition of Zip by Spree Hotels Delhi. Delhi is a major business and cultural centre and we remain committed to growing our presence in North India. We are delighted to partner with Mr. Mittal.” Spree Hospitality acquired by EaseMyTrip is fastest growing hotel chain having 30 plus properties across India in business of Hotels, Clubs and Guest house known for its gorgeous interiors and rooms with relaxing ambience. The nearest airport is Delhi International, 19.3 km and railway station, 4.46 km away from the property. The property has 40 cool spaces. The hotel also features all day multi – cuisine restaurant, banquet hall the perfect venue for meetings, seminars and other business functions. Spree Hospitality is set to welcome guests from January 2023.

Tripjack will now offer Resorts World Cruises to its customer base that include travel agents and leading corporates. Resorts World Cruises is an established Asian luxury and dynamic lifestyle cruise brand that is rich in Asian heritage, offering a personalized cruising lifestyle with diverse international experiences. The partnership aims to give a boost to the international cruise category in the B2B space by improving awareness and discovery, providing seamless booking experience and personalised support. Tripjack will tap its strong B2B presence across India and offer these unique travel experiences. Resorts World Cruises aims to redefine the cruising experience altogether by providing exciting and unique offerings, a variety of accommodations, including the world-class luxury accommodation, “The Palace” – a luxury ship-within-a ship private enclave with its own exclusive restaurant and private amenities, as well as European style butlers a theme park with multiple attractions, on board entertainment and international performances, retail outlets and luxury boutiques, popular and fine-dining and bars, MICE facilities and more. Speaking on the announcement, Abdul Thingna, Vice President, Hotels & Holidays, Tripjack said, “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Resorts World Cruises. With our extensive B2B network, cutting-edge technology, and excellent customer service, we are a natural fit with one of the most recognisable cruise lines in the world. At Tripjack, we are committed and consistently working towards providing a plethora of travel experiences that cater to the B2BC market.” “We are excited to partner with Tripjack to offer and expand cruising options to its customer base, which will further boost the Fly-Cruise sector across different market segments, including the MICE segment. With an added and valuable partner like Tripjack, we are confident that our …

During COP15 in Montreal today, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (the Alliance) announced a new collaboration which will bring together the public and private sectors in a shared vision to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. The vision sees the global Travel & Tourism sector supporting and inspiring governments, businesses, and society to implement the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and help to transform our relationship with the natural world. Signatories to the vision have committed to adopt a nature positive approach to tourism through integrating biodiversity safeguards by reducing carbon emissions, the impact of pollution, the unsustainable use of resources, and by protecting and restoring nature and its wildlife. New governance and business models, enhanced capacity to monitor positive change and scaling up green jobs are all part of the solution as we move ahead together This collaboration follows the release of WTTC’s ‘Nature Positive Travel & Tourism’ report, which was created jointly with ANIMONDIAL, and focuses on halting and reversing damage to nature so the living world can recover from its current depleted state. This involves minimising ongoing harm and taking positive action to restore nature to produce an overall benefit to biodiversity and help achieve Net Zero. Almost 150 organisations have signed up to the vision so far including international hotel groups, tour operators, travel agents, destinations, and international wildlife charities. Complementing the power of the private sector, UNWTO, as the voice of tourism at the global governance level, will work to bring governments and international organisations on board and announce the shared vision of tourism as a pillar of wildlife conservation and habitat …