According to Travelport’s latest report based on 2021 booking data, the global travel industry recovered nearly 60% of its gross activity by the end of 2021. In October and November 2021, travellers booked 304% more flights for travel in 2022 versus the same time period in 2020 for travel in 2021. Travelport’s predictions for 2022 include a global travel industry recovery of 85% of its gross activity by the year end, international bookings will once again exceed domestic bookings for the first time in nearly two years by early 2022.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has said that on 25th January, 2022, they will be having a big event at Pochampalli, which was one of the villages recommended to UNWTO for rural tourism. “We are going to set up a nice big event there. Also, there is world’s largest tribal festival, which we will be celebrating in Mulugu from 16th-19th February. We are going to bring some interesting stories and activities from there,” she said.

Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi’s Webinar titled, ‘Reunite #InAbu Dhabi – Family’ is scheduled today at 3pm IST. Hear more about family friendly attractions, unique hotels, culture, entertainment and lots more directly from our destination partners in Abu Dhabi. To register, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

Vandana Dhingra, Partner, La Esperanza Travels, Richard John Macwan, BDM, Travelicious Trip, and Kirti Shah, Founder, The Nomads Co. are the third week’s three lucky winners for successfully subscribing to Singapore Tourism Board (STB) India’s WhatsApp Channel. Every week STB India is giving away exciting prizes to its new subscribers. One can easily subscribe to this WhatsApp channel by clicking on this link http://bit.ly/stbindia and stand a chance to be the next winner. STB India’s WhatsApp channel provides updates on Destination Singapore in a more direct, swift and timely manner for the travel trade. Win exciting prizes by subscribing to STB India’s WhatsApp Channel: Subscribe to Singapore Tourism Board India’s WhatsApp Channel and stand a chance to win prizes every week. Get real time updates on Destination Singapore and STB’s initiatives.     Subscribe by following 3 simple steps: Click this link (http://bit.ly/stbindia) to fill the form Send the prefilled WhatsApp message Save STB India’s contact card or number  

Ravi Luthra, Director, Landmark Tours & Travels and Supriya Kandhari, Managing Director, Chrysalis Holidays, are the second week’s lucky winners for successfully subscribing to Singapore Tourism Board (STB) India’s WhatsApp Channel. Every week STB India is giving away exciting prizes to its new subscribers. One can easily subscribe to this WhatsApp channel by clicking this link http://bit.ly/stbindia and stand a chance to be the next winner. STB India’s WhatsApp channel provides updates on Destination Singapore in a more direct, swift and timely manner. Win exciting prizes by subscribing to STB India’s WhatsApp Channel: Subscribe to Singapore Tourism Board India’s WhatsApp Channel and stand a chance to win prizes every week. Get real time updates on Destination Singapore and STB’s initiatives. Subscribe by following 3 simple steps: Click this link (http://bit.ly/stbindia) to fill the form Send the prefilled WhatsApp message Save STB India’s contact card or number      

Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) conducted its first roadshow in 2021 across three Indian cities to enhance commercial ties with the Indian travel trade fraternity that focused on outbound MICE travel. The roadshows were held in the cities of Chennai on December 6, Bengaluru on December 7, and Kolkata on December 9, 2021.  The events commenced with a destination presentation which focused on key developments, tourism infrastructure in Israel as well as opening of new hotels and tourist attractions. Following the presentation was an interactive session between the Israel Tourism team and the travel partners, which concluded with light snacks. The Israeli delegation was led by Mr. Sammy Yahia, Director of Israel Ministry of Tourism, India & Philippines along with Judah Samuel, Director of Marketing, Israel Ministry of Tourism, India. Speaking about the roadshows, Sammy Yahia, Director of Israel Ministry of Tourism – Israel & Philippines said, “The last two years have been extremely challenging for everyone, especially the tourism industry. With restricted number of flights and constant changes in travel policies, many Indian travellers chose domestic travels, similar to Israel. With borders opening for international travel, we are delighted to host our first roadshow since 2019. The aim was to have a concerted group of about 30 attendees in each city, with a focus on reviving interest in Israel as a destination, especially with the MICE segment. The presentation highlighted the upgrades that have been made to the tourism infrastructure in Israel, as well as new and exciting initiatives that have been implemented. It was heart-warming to meet our partners in each city and I am glad to see the enthusiastic response from the travel trade in marketing Israel …

Qatar Tourism attended ILTM Cannes 2021 with a strong Qatari delegation, to profile the new tourism projects and luxury offerings in the country. Qatar is becoming a leading destination as it expands its tourism proposition, in line with Qatar’s National Vision 2030. Its tourism strategy puts the visitor at the heart of all new programmes and initiatives. As part of the ‘Qatar Tourism Strategy 2030’, the country has added a variety of exciting experiences, including a wave of new luxury hotels, theme parks, shops, and major leisure projects, that have recently opened, or are set to open in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM. Over 100 new hotels and serviced apartments are currently under construction which will add to Qatar’s already extensive portfolio of properties. Some of the new properties include a Raffles Hotel and Fairmont Hotel and Resort at Katara Towers, Rosewood Doha and the St. Regis Marsa Arabia Island. The hotels will broaden Qatar’s appeal to high value travellers, offering more choice to its existing 80 five and four star hotels. With the aim of raising the tourism sector to 12% GBP by 2030, Qatar will grow and improve assets and attractions, enhance the end-to-end customer experience, invest in Service Excellence and deploy a tailored marketing strategy to target point-to-point (P2P) and stopover visitors. Chief Operating Officer of Qatar Tourism, Berthold Trenkel, said: “We are continuing to expand our tourism offering and are excited to introduce guests to the best of Qatari hospitality. In 2019, we saw over two million visitors to Qatar and we hope to see similar growth trends now that we are welcoming visitors back to the country again. “We are now …

The new Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Singapore and Sri Lanka now allows fully vaccinated travellers quarantine-free access to both countries. This was highlighted for the travel trade in a webinar titled ‘Welcome Back to Singapore’, organised by STB, Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport Group. All short-term visitors and long-term pass holders are required to have a Vaccinated Travel Pass and fulfil VTL conditions in order to qualify for quarantine-free travel under the VTL.

Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) will conduct a “Welcome Back to Singapore” webinar for the Sri Lanka travel trade on Dec 10 at 11:30am The Singapore-Sri Lanka Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) will be launched on December 16th.  STB, SIA and CAG will conduct a webinar to provide an update to the Sri Lanka trade partners on the VTL, SIA flight operations and the passenger experience at Changi Airport and the facilities within the Jewel Changi Airport. The session will be on Friday, December 10 at 11:30am Colombo time. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532 or click here https://event.webinarjam.com/register/346/xyo1rbv1

The Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia recently took stock of the preparedness, testing capacities, and the situation on the ground with regards to crowd management at both private and AAI airports. He tweeted, “Have put an action plan with 8 compliances on immigration queues, expanding RT-PCR service providers, ramping up help desks and forex counters, along with seamless floor management. Rest assured, MoCA  is monitoring the situation on a daily basis and passengers shall not face any inconvenience at airports.”