Speaking about future plans, Dr Dhananjay Sawalkar, Joint Director, Directorate of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, revealed, “We have created a Responsible Tourism policy for the state because we are seeing instances of over-tourism, land pollution and even water shortages where tourist footfalls are high. This will help is disperse tourists to adjoining places, reduce impact on environment and channelize benefits to the local communities. This policy is already ready; some government level decisions are pending. Hopefully we will release it soon.”

In an elderly-friendly decision, Kerala Government has announced 50% concession for senior citizens in entry fee in all state-run tourism centres. Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas said, “This is part of elderly friendly policies across all sectors in the state. This will encourage the senior citizens to mix with the society.” The Kozhikode Human Rights Forum had made a submission before the Assembly Committee urging it to consider the possibility of giving concession in entry fee for senior citizens in tourism centres. After studying the submission, the house panel recommended the Government that the request could be considered positively

Steve Borgia, Chairman & Managing Director of INDeco Leisure Hotels, emphasising upon the pandemic as a driver of organic tourism, has said, “There are manifold opportunities for local communities that Indian tourism has to offer.” He also brought forth the role of youth as a catalyst to forging the nation’s tourism with a vision of sustainability.

As Singapore gets ready to welcome fully-vaccinated Indian visitors back to cruise from its shore, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Resorts World Cruises (RWC) and Royal Caribbean International (RCI) are conducting the ‘Reimagine Cruising from Singapore’ today at 11:30 AM IST. The aim is to update the trade about Singapore’s latest cruise offerings. Register on https://event.webinarjam.com/register/405/5v7qwi1w or contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

As per the latest report by Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel, there is a strong 35% growth in Spiritual Tourism. In a focussed endeavour to tap into this high potential yet unorganised segment, the Companies have expanded their portfolio to include a range of ready-to-book pilgrimages and personalized spiritual journeys. Products start at an affordable Rs. 20,000.00 per person for a 5-day tour, with premium-personalised options priced at Rs. 200,000.00 per person for a 6-day tour.

Fraud detection and prevention company mFilterIt released its study of top frauds in travel industry. Amit Relan, its Director & Co-Founder, says, “According to some reports, credit card fraud is the most popular form of fraud these days, in which a client uses a fake or stolen credit card to make a transaction, resulting in a chargeback to the site. Customers must be made aware of such rising fraudulent activities taking place in the travel sector and keep themselves at bay when planning their future travels, also reporting these fraud websites to the concerned authorities. We hope our study will help in spreading the awareness on this topical subject.”

The ‘Consultative Meeting with Union Ministers on Draft National Tourism Policy’ has commenced. G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Tourism, Culture & DoNER, said, “The meeting featured discussions on approaching the pre-covid tourism numbers and innovative ways to tourism development through the Public Private Partnership model. Deliberations were done on wellness and medical tourism through ayurveda. Categorisation has been done on the basis of selected cities, selected hospitals and strategies have been prepared for leveraging arrivals from countries such as Gulf countries, African countries and South Asian countries. Special emphasis was given upon the development of tourist circuits in North Eastern region. The meeting also featured discussions on the development of regional connectivity scheme such as UDAN and infrastructure development such as seaplane and helicopter usage.”

John Koldowski, Advisor, PATA, has said that in terms of International Visitor Arrivals (IVAs), Asia is predicted to become a stronger component of the market mix or the visitor mix into India and both Europe and the Americas are going to become less in a relative sense. “These markets will still generate numbers, but in a relative sense, they will be less than those of Asia,” he said.

Liz Ortiguera, Chief Executive Officer, in her presentation at the PATA India webinar, titled ‘Asia Pacific Destination Forecast’ shared that India has outperformed many Asia-pacific countries in the recovery with faster capacity rebuild. “We expect India to be the ‘new China’ over the next five years,” she claimed.

The pandemic with its unprecedented hardships/challenges have caused Indians to actively seek spiritual solace. Thomas Cook (India), and its Group Company, SOTC Travel, have witnessed a strong 35% growth in spiritual tourism. In a focussed endeavour to tap into this high potential yet unorganised segment, the Companies have expanded their portfolio to include a range of ready-to-book pilgrimages and personalised spiritual journeys. Products start at an affordable Rs. 20,000.00 per person for a 5-day tour, with premium-personalised options priced at Rs. 200,000.00 per person for a 6-day tour. India’s seniors segment and 45+ age group form the core segment for Pilgrimage Tours. Keeping this in mind, the Companies’ top pilgrimage tours extend across: the popular Char Dham Yatra and Do Dham Yatra (option to charter a helicopter as well; VIP darshans) Muktinath in Nepal, Amarnath Yatra, Vaishno Devi shrine with Kashmir, Varanasi with Prayagraj, Ayodhya, etc. India’s couples and solo travellers (30-45 yrs) are displaying strong preference for the Companies’ customised spiritual tours that include meditation, yoga and wellness programs like the Yoga Centre/Ashram in Coimbatore, Dharamshala and Rishikesh; Panchakarma programme at Kumarakom, etc. India’s millennials/young professionals and families present the highest growth opportunity – and their preference is for spiritual journeys in combination with outdoor-adventure and authentic local culture/culinary experiences. Thrilling experiences like white-water rafting and night trekking in Vaishno Devi, Kathadi (close to Rameswaram – an emerging hub of water sports), Badrinath’s famous valley of flowers trek; bungee jumping in Rishikesh, etc. are inspiring India’s millennials to explore the land of spiritual journeys. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) said, “Post the pandemic, we are witnessing a definitive surge in Spiritual …