ITA Airways will launch non-stop services between India and Italy w.e.f. December 4, 2022. The new flight will be operated with Airbus A330 with three weekly frequencies every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from 4th December 2022 with departure from Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi at 3.50am and arrival at Rome Fiumicino at 8.10am, local time. The flight from Rome Fiumicino instead foresees departure at 14.10 and landing in New Delhi at 2.00am, local time. The new route launch will provide the most convenient connections from New Delhi to Rome and beyond to key destinations within Italy, Europe, North America & South America. DEX GROUP, one of the leading GSA Groups in India, will represent ITA Airways as their General Sales Agent (GSA) in India. “We are confident that DEX Group will support ITA Airways to establish a strong sales and marketing network across India to achieve our commercial goals from the Indian market” said Fabio Bigotti, the recently appointed ITA Airways Country Manager for India.

Flipkart has announced it is launching a new hotel-booking service to strengthen itself in the travel sector, providing “superior service” as it partners with its travel website Cleartrip. Flipkart Hotels will provide room bookings at 3 lakh domestic and international hotels. It will offer customers services like flexible travel and booking-related policies, and easy EMI options.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India Bengaluru office recently organised a workshop to sensitise the MSMEs in the tourism and hospitality sectors on its ‘Incredible India Bed & Breakfast and Homestay Establishments’ scheme and its benefits. The workshop was followed by stakeholders meet in Manipal. The objective of the program was to sensitise the MSME stakeholders in coastal Karnataka about the demand for experiential tourism from inbound and domestic tourism source markets.

Research by ICICI Lombard states an increase of 76 % in India’s travel insurance on international travels post-pandemic compared to 50% before pandemic, as 94 percent of those planning to travel overseas will subsequently purchase travel insurance for their trip. Additionally, digital adoption is high for travel insurance purchases, as almost 1/3rd of customers looking for travel insurance visit insurance company websites to purchase, while the other 30% purchase from online aggregators and online travel platforms.

There is palpable excitement, says Ajay Prakash, President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), as he discusses the upcoming convention. “The enthusiasm is remarkable because our convention is happening directly after 2018. The destination is interesting as well as it is a relatively unknown destination for the Indian travel trade. We opened registrations for the convention on August 5 and within just two weeks we received over 400 registrations already. However, seats are limited, and we are not taking more than 500 people. We are also only taking members who are actively involved in the trade and of course the first preference is for our members,” he says.

The travel industry is once again spurring economic recovery for the country, as search data from international guests for Airbnb Stays in India shows it grew by more than 60% year-over-year from Q1 2021 to Q1 20221. Moreover, long-term stays on Airbnb emerges as a popular choice for guests in India. An Airbnb survey conducted by YouGov showed that 87% of Indians are planning to work while travelling or living elsewhere.

India’s aviation sector is expanding and the overall fleet size is expected to almost double in the next five years, says Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. “In 5 years we are looking at 1,200 fleet size in the country which will be almost double of the current 700 aircraft,” he says. He is confident that the sector will touch 400 mn pax annually in 7-10 years from the current 200mn.

Catering to increased demand, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is pleased to announce a 100 per cent restoration of its pre-Covid services to Bengaluru. Starting 30 October 2022, the Airline, which currently flies seven times weekly from the city, will go back to operating 16 times a week. To celebrate the occasion, the Airline has also announced promotional fares when they book tickets between now and 14 September 2022. for travel from Bengaluru to popular countries across Asia, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. The additional flights from Bengaluru will not only provide greater flexibility for arrival into Singapore, but will also give customers more options and better connections for travel to key onward destinations in the SIA network such as Australia, New Zealand and USA. Sy Yen Chen, General Manager India for Singapore Airlines said, “We have been steadily restoring our operations across India to pre-Covid levels, and Bengaluru is no exception. We have seen healthy demand from the city, and this increase in capacity coupled with special fares to popular holiday destinations, will give our customers many attractive options to pick from when they plan their overseas trips in the coming months.” From 30 October 2022, subject to regulatory approvals, Singapore Airlines will have restored 100 per cent of its pre-Covid services to India, i.e. the Airline will operate 96 flights weekly from eight cities across the country.

IATO has thanked the Government for withdrawing completely 5 percent Tax Collection At Source (TCS) charged on sale of overseas tour packages to foreign tour operators. Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, said, “This means that both foreign individuals and FTOs (buyers) buying overseas tour packages from the Indian Tour Operators will be exempted from TCS provisions.”

Thanking the govt to offer foreign tourists GST refund for local shopping, FHRAI has proposed to extend this to all shopping. Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI, says, “The government is considering piloting the system to offer GST refund on purchases made by foreigners at only Cottage Industries Emporium. This is a welcome move and we request that the benefit be extended to all purchases that they make in the country.”