After 2 years of the pandemic, the Etihad team launched a mega sales blitz across 10 cities in the Indian Sub-continent to re-engage with customers and promote their brand new A350 aircraft along with sustainability initiatives and enhanced connectivity options through the new codeshare with Air Arabia Abu Dhabi from 7 cities in India.    

Nok Air, one of Thailand’s most popular airline will launch non-stop services between Thailand and India from Winter 2022. Nok Air, will connect India to Thailand, via its hub at Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) in Bangkok. The new routes will be operated by state-of-the-art Airbus 737-800 with 189 seats. The new route launch will provide the most convenient connections from various Indian gateways to Bangkok, and beyond to over 20 destinations in Thailand including Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai etc. “Welcoming incredible India to Amazing New Chapters of Thailand, with the current COVID situation improving daily, it is time that we look forward to expanding our markets towards the west, especially India. There are many areas there we have not yet tapped into to gain more revenue. As the airlines are slowly gaining their strength, it would be wiser for us if we are the first to take advantage of the situation and gain a foothold through this door. Indian market is booming and it would benefit us greatly if we are one of the few airlines that the Indian people choose to travel to Thailand with” –Mr. Wutthiphum Jurangkool CEO. Nok Air is a budget carrier under the management of Nok Airlines Public Company Limited and is proud to have Thai Airways International as a major shareholder along with other forward-looking investors in the company. The company was initially registered on 10 February 2004 under the name ‘Sky Asia Limited’, this was subsequently changed to Nok Airlines and has since been trading in the Stock Exchange of Thailand from 20 June 2013 ‘Nok’ means birds in Thai. It is a symbol of freedom, air travel and friendliness. Mission: …

India’s vibrant travel market place has a bright new B2B entrant promising to revolutionize the way travel bookings and businesses will be conducted and turn on the revenue tap for the travel agents and tour operators keen to get back into business in the post-pandemic world. The new foray is Elan Experiences Pvt. Ltd., a B2B wholesaler and a next generation travel distribution platform. The revolutionary travel start-up is headed by Ami Parekh, a dynamic go-getter and prominent travel industry face of over two decades. Ami has engaged with travel companies at every possible levels, from identifying issues related to travel sales to discovering new areas of opportunities. She is widely regarded as one of the finest destination experts and top minds in travel sales and promotion. Elan offers an entire gamut of travel-related services across hotels, air, transport and logistics, tours and packages, personalized events and picnics, corporate event management, Visa services, and round-the-clock customer support. The platform also brings in the spotlight small little services like travel updates, offer updates, and destination blogging services, among others, to cater to every conceivable need and want of the travel industry. Elan’s user-friendly interface and technology-driven automation seamlessly connect travel partners, both in India and overseas, with every potential product across attractive price ranges and with tremendous ease of selling. Commenting on her company’s foray in India’s B2B travel marketplace, Ami Parekh, Director, Elan Experiences, said, “Elan Experiences will redefine our travel partners’ product buying experiences with the wholesalers in the B2B market space, be it just air or hotel products or package tours in the domestic and international market for luxury holidays or special interest tours, or corporate requirements for …

According to a report by ICRA, international traffic is expected to reach 80-85% of the pre-Covid level in FY2023 as against earlier estimates of 70-75%. The major destinations driving the international traffic demand are Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Further, the domestic air travel is expected to recover back to pre-Covid levels in FY2023 and the international traffic in FY2024.  

Additional Secretary Tourism Rakesh Verma said that it is important to sensitise and empower the local communities in developing sustainable skill development that are required for green tourism. Promotion of homestays, investment plans and destination development need to link with green and sustainable tourism policies and all the other aspects of sustainable tourism. 

Indian Railways has decided to increase the limit of booking maximum 6 tickets in a month to 12 tickets by a user ID that is not Aadhaar linked and the limit of booking maximum 12 tickets in a month to 24 tickets by a user ID that is Aadhaar linked.  

The report titled ‘India’s Treasure Trove of Cultural Travel 2022’ by OYO said with over 3.5 times growth over the past year, Srinagar clocked the highest growth in bookings among cultural destinations in 2022. Besides Srinagar, Pahalgam and Jammu in J&K also ranked among the top cultural destinations in India 

Reaffirming its credo of ‘Responsible Luxury’ with a comprehensive focus on sustainability, health and hygiene, ITC Hotels is proud to announce that 3 of its properties in India have been ranked as the world’s top 3 LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Zero Carbon certified hotels, a first-of-its-kind achievement globally. ITC Windsor, Bengaluru, became the 1st hotel in the world while ITC Grand Chola is one of the largest hotels in the world to have received the prestigious LEED Zero Carbon Certification. ITC Gardenia has become the third hotel in the world to receive the certification.  LEED Zero Carbon recognizes buildings operating with net-zero carbon emission and LEED® Platinum is the highest rating awarded by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). ITC Hotels is the world’s largest chain with the maximum number of LEED Platinum Certified Properties as per USGBC. From using renewable energy and recycling solid waste to conserving water, actively mitigating single-use plastic, and reducing the carbon footprint at every step, ITC Hotels have been delivering luxury experiences with planet positive offerings embedded in product, processes, people & progress. Over 40% of consumable food materials used at ITC Hotels is sourced locally and the properties have adopted infra–red based efficient cooking in kitchen leading to near 20% energy savings.  Living upto its promise of ‘Responsible Luxury’, ITC Hotels launched a path–breaking“WeAssure” programme, adopting highest standards and protocols in health, hygiene, safety and infection control management. For this initiative, ITC Hotels became the first hotel chain in the world to receive Platinum level certification under DNV’s My Care Infection risk management programme. In addition, the hotel group introduced waste segregation methods to achieve more than 99% waste recycling and also pioneered mitigation of single use …

Secretary Tourism, Arvind Singh said that the Ministry of Tourism with the objective to provide experience to the tourists launched Swadesh Darshan Scheme and has till now sanctioned 76 Projects. With the learnings of this scheme, we have now revamped the Swadesh Darshan Scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0. “The idea of Swadesh Darshan 2.0 is to undertake holistic development with the vision to develop Sustainable and Responsible Tourist Destinations. While formulating the guidelines for SD 2.0 we have kept various elements in mind in order to undertake destination development in a sustainable and responsible manner. Through the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 sustainable and responsible tourism practices will be implemented in various projects and initiatives. The Scheme will encourage the adoption of principles of sustainable tourism including environmental, socio-cultural and economic sustainability”, he added.

The hospitality sector is a critical part of the tourism industry. COVID-19 has had a detrimental impact on Maharashtra, and the state government has been taking concrete steps to revive the tourism industry. In this regard, the Maharashtra government had announced that from 1 April 2021, hotels in the state registered with the Union Ministry of Tourism to be charged an industrial rate for electricity, seed fee, water tax, property tax, development tax, increased carpet area index, and non-agricultural tax. Hotels that are not registered with the Union Ministry of Tourism will be charged tax at the industrial rate only after meeting the stipulated criteria for attaining basic minimum standards. The state government also established an expert committee for this cause and also ensured that the process of meeting the criteria is completed within the duration of two months. Following that, hotels that meet the conditions for the online application process are levied taxes and fees at the industrial rate. The state government issued this decision in compliance with the approval given at the cabinet meeting on 5 November 2020. The mechanism in place is assisting in the growth of hospitality businesses by providing industry status in a fast and effective manner, as well as promoting sustainable practices.