Abu Dhabi has revised its COVID-19 travel restrictions and protocols following positive indicators that signal the emirate has entered the recovery phase of the pandemic. Under the updated regulations from the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), the Green List system has been removed for all travellers flying into Abu Dhabi.  Fully vaccinated inbound travellers from India no longer need to take a rapid RT-PCR test at Indian airports before boarding their flight. They are, however, still required to show an official COVID-19 vaccination certificate with a readable QR code upon arrival. Unvaccinated inbound travellers will still need to present a negative PCR test result taken within 48 hours of their scheduled departure, or a COVID-19 recovery certificate dated within 30 days of departure, complete with a readable QR code.

As the global travel and tourism sector prepares to return to full strength in 2022, VisitOman.om aims to connect the world with Oman’s beauty by offering a full Omani travel experience through sustainable partnerships. Shabib Al Maamari, Visit Oman Managing Director, said, “Our goal is to set uniform standards for regulated routes, trip package inclusions, pricing, clear terms and conditions, and well-defined customer service agreements. The platform offers stimulating business opportunities for our network of partners, while delivering on our aim to drive tourism to Oman and support Oman’s position among global travel and tourism markets in line with the National Tourism Strategy 2040.”

India retains its place amongst the top-3 focus markets for South African Tourism. This is aided by the fact that prior to the pandemic, India served as the 8th largest international source market for South Africa. The country is expected to maintain its position in the top-10 this year as well. Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune continue to be top Indian source markets to South Africa. Where as , Ahmedabad emerges as one of the fastest growing source markets in India revealed Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, MEISEA, South African Tourism.

Centara Hotels & Resorts, Thailand’s leading hotel operator, has revealed its recent business performance, expansion plans and strategic direction for the future, including multiple new hotels, fresh destinations and new brand concepts. This exciting era of growth will help the group reach its long-term goal of becoming a top 100 global hotel operator within five years – a vision that will see it reach a total of 200 hotels and resorts by 2026, up from 88 properties at present, and with approximately half of that growth coming from destinations outside of its native Thailand. Centara has just confirmed that it achieved total revenues of almost THB 1.09 billion (USD 33 million) in Q4 2021, an increase of 54% year-on-year, despite the continued impact of the pandemic. The growth is expected to gain more momentum in 2022 with the acceleration of the global travel and hospitality recovery, which will be supported by the further relaxing of travel restrictions into Thailand, and is buoyed by the resilience and strong performance of Centara’s key international destinations such as the Middle East and the Maldives.

G Kamala Vardhana Rao, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that they are looking at promoting river cruising across the country under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration and will be talking about the various tourism opportunities that can be developed around it. He was speaking at the BBC and PATA India webinar titled  ‘New Ways of Marketing to Recharge Tourism’. 

Vikram Madhok, Managing Director, Abercombie & Kent (India), and Hon. Secretary, PATA India Chapter, has said that if the scheduled flight operations are restarted, then the last quarter of 2022 will see inbound tourism to revive in India. “In fact, 2023 will be a hockey stick revival for Incredible India,” he added.

Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), has said that they are working towards repositioning Goa apart from sun, sand and sea. “While Goa is synonymous with sun, sand and sea, we are trying to attract the attention of tourists to various other offerings in Goa including wildlife, nature, MICE, etc.” he said. He also informed that they are seeing a huge rise in social events in the last one year at a number of properties across Goa. 

Malaysia will reopen its border to international visitors from April 1, allowing travellers who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter the country without quarantine said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Visitors will be required to undergo pre-departure tests (RT-PCR) and upon-arrival tests (RTK-Antigen under professional supervision) 24 hours after arrival.   

In a strategic initiative to capitalize on the high pent up travel desire post the third wave, Thomas Cook (India) Limited – India’s leading omnichannel travel services company and its Group Company, SOTC Travel, have organised India’s first physical consumer roadshows – across over 30 cities pan India. The holiday roadshows have been organised over weekends at viable catchment areas of India’s metros, mini metros like Pune and Tier 2 markets, including, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Hubli, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Indore, Bhopal, Mangaluru, Coimbatore, Kochi, Vijayawada, Surat, Baroda, etc.  On the back of positive announcements on easing of restrictions, reopening of borders, vaccine acceptance and reduced infection rates, the Companies’ internal data reveals high pent up travel demand from Indian consumers. With the upcoming long weekends and school spring and summer breaks, over 85% of its customers have expressed keen interest to plan their holidays.  To support its customers, Thomas Cook and SOTC’s holiday roadshows have been organised at central locations across high potential catchments across over 30 of India’s key cities. Weekends have been selected to offer families the convenience to walk-in at leisure and plan their holidays together with the companies’ experts present on-ground to guide/assist them on travel and health & safety related queries. The Companies’ product range includes India and international favourites, and a diversity of options to delight consumer segments across multigenerational families, millennials/young professionals and couples/honeymooners. In addition to special group tours (accompanied by an experienced Tour Manager), the holiday portfolio includes personalised tours for a group of friends/extended family, individual/solo trips and customised options, specially designed based on the customer’s unique preferences.  Special Offers: Buy One Get One – Companion Free* across select India & International …

Referring to the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme, Pradeep Shetty, Jt. Hon. Sec, FHRAI, says, “The single-most important factor in attracting more international tourists is for India to be in tune with global standards if we want to compete with South East Asia and Sri Lanka. This is in terms of technology, décor, property, maintenance systems, etc. Many things are not manufactured in India. Therefore, the EPCG scheme is of primary importance. But it is understood that the government is looking to scrap this scheme altogether for the hospitality industry. We understand that we are moving towards Atma Nirbhar and Make in India but we cannot do that for hospitality till a time when our manufacturing industry gives us singular products in terms of quality, pricing and technology.”