After one year of successful operations, ITA Airways has increased the number of flights to 7, allowing for a daily flight on the Delhi to Rome route. Fabio Bigotti, Country Manager-Japan and India, ITA Airways, said, “We are keenly interested in the Indian market and, based on aircraft availability, we are evaluating connections to other cities. Mumbai holds significant importance for us, and currently, we are assessing the possibility of establishing operations in a city outside Delhi.” 

Speaking at the MOT’s industry roundtable on developing India as a MICE destination, Naveen Kundu, Managing Director, Ebixcash Travel Services, advised the Ministry of Tourism to regulate companies that send people abroad for incentive travel. This trend results in significant losses for the exchequer, particularly concerning the outflow of foreign exchange.  

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced strengthened profitability projections for airlines in 2023, which will then largely stabilize in 2024. Airline industry net profits are expected to reach US$25.7 billion in 2024 (2.7% net profit margin). That will be a slight improvement over 2023 which is expected to show a US$23.3 billion net profit (2.6% net profit margin). 

María Valcarce, Managing Director, FITUR said, “India is a destination that offers a variety of options, and its cultural and heritage richness is immense, as is the beauty of its natural landscapes. It is a dream destination for every traveller and the presentation of the tourism proposals of the different regions of India at FITUR arouses much interest among both professionals and the public visiting the fair at the weekend.” 

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said that 40 per cent revenue and 8 per cent of employment of the tourism sector comes from the MICE industry. “It shows that there is huge scope and we all need to focus on developing this sector. Gujarat has developed several MICE destinations over the years. Gujarat has hosted several national and international-level events, including the G20. This makes Gujarat the most suitable place for MICE. Now, we are focusing on developing conference tourism”, he said. 

Agoda has revealed the top travel locations of the year for Indian travellers. Domestically, New Delhi and NCR was the most booked and for Indians travelling abroad, Thailand’s capital Bangkok leapfrogged Dubai to claim the top spot. Additionally, Agoda rankings also revealed that in terms of foreign travel preferences, Indians tend to favour short-haul destinations around the region. Bangkok, Dubai, Bali, Singapore and Pattaya have emerged as the top five outbound destinations.   

The last edition of Global Panorama Showcase in 2023 has commenced in Guwahati. Harmandeep Singh, Managing Director, GPS, said that there is a need to sell ancillaries for travel agents in the Northeast to compete with OTAs and other service providers. 

Minister of State Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) outlined MoCA’s initiatives for carbon neutrality in Indian airports, standardizing carbon accounting, advising operators on emissions mapping. Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru attained ACI’s Level 4+ Accreditation, becoming carbon neutral, while 66 airports operate on 100% green energy, as per his Rajya Sabha statement.  

Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI said, “We are now offering 100-plus online courses for free to our members– from how to be a better travel consultant, how to be an effective counter staff and many soft skills. It is rich in content, and we hope our members will take advantage of this”. TAFI has also tied up with another firm to provide 100+ skilling courses on various subjects.

Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy shared in Lok Saha that Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India haven’t yet rebounded to 2019 levels. In 2022, 85.9 lakh foreign tourists visited, contrasting with 3.14 crore in 2019. Figures dropped significantly in 2020 and 2021 to 71.7 lakh and 10.5 lakh, respectively.