The Indian Rail Catering Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has announced tour packages between Mumbai and Vadodara-Ahmedabad in Gujarat to boost occupancy on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express. Speaking at a press conference Rahul Himalian, Group General Manager, IRCTC West Zone, revealed that the packages might be launched in December, and they haven’t yet decided on the rates for the same. However, it could cost around ₹2000 per person per day. “The travel includes optional tourist itineraries of 3 nights/4 days and 4 nights/5 days covering historical, cultural and exotic destinations in and around Vadodara and Ahmedabad with the Statue of Unity in Kevadia as one of the main attractions. Passengers can travel on board the Tejas Express and explore Vadodara and Ahmedabad from Mumbai. Similar packages for Mumbai for passengers traveling from Gujarat are also being prepared by IRCTC. These tours will have accommodation in three or four star hotels and vehicles for sightseeing,” he said. He also revealed that the occupancy of the train, which has 736 seats, was at just 25 to 40 per cent as against 50-80 per cent before the outbreak.

Air India will operate additional flights between India and the UK from December 11, 2020 until March 27, 2021. Also, the national carrier will operate additional flights between India & France from 3rd January to 22nd March, 2021 under the air bubble agreement. The UK flight will be Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham every Friday and Birmingham-Amritsar-Delhi every Saturday. Bookings are now open. These flights are in addition to the existing flights operating between India and the UK.  The new Delhi-Paris flights will be operating four days a week in the new year – from Delhi to Paris on Thursdays and Sundays, and from Paris to Delhi on Mondays and Fridays

Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has announced Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme 2.0 (ECLGS) for the 26 stressed sectors identified by Kamath Committee, which include tourism, aviation, hotels & restaurants. Under ECLGS 2.0, banks would be able to provide collateral-free, fully guaranteed loans to borrowers on capped interest rates. It supports companies with outstanding dues of Rs 50-500 crore as on 29th Feb, and they would be able to borrow up to 20% of their outstanding dues as on 29th Feb, with a loan tenor set at 5 years. Also there will be a one-year moratorium on principal repayment. The scheme will be available till March 31, 2020.

Andaman Association of Tour Operators conducted an awareness meet on COVID-19 SOPs and guidelines under the leadership of M. Vinod, President at hotel Aries Grand on 7th Nov, 2020. Stakeholders from AATO, ACCI, hoteliers, boat owners and adventure sports operators participated in the meet. Chief guest Suneel Anchipaka, DC (SA) mentioned that A&N Administration is making all possible efforts to revive tourism in the Islands following all COVID protocols. He also mentioned that safety of the islanders is paramount and we will have to ensure that all precautionary measures are followed while conducting tourism activities in the Islands.

Satpal Maharaj, Tourism Minister, Uttarakhand, has said that “Our Government is considering bringing culinary art at a front line of the state’s tourism sector. If the hidden treasure of cuisine tourism is explored and implemented efficiently and effectively then within a very short period, the state will place itself as the culinary hub in the global map. Uttarakhand has a repository of polyherbs, spices that are known for its therapeutic use and used by the Rishis and exponents of the Ayurveda for centuries. The treasure trove of immunity-boosting delicacies of Uttarakhand can derive huge benefits from Healthy Cuisine tourism.”

EbixCash has launched the ‘Phir Se Ghoomega India’ campaign and offering value-for-money deals to the consumers looking to travel in the festive season. The offers will be available on its portal, Via.com. “I am excited at the campaign and equally optimistic about its success as we are experiencing a great response post-lockdown,” said Naveen Kundu, MD, Ebixcash Travel Group. The airline partners for this campaign are Vistara, AirAsia and GoAir, and the hotel groups having joined this campaign are Taj Group, Marriott, The Park, Radission Hotels, ITC Hotels, Sterling Holidays and Accor. The cab partners for this campaign are EbixCash Cab – AHA Taxis and EbixCash Gift Card.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Sarnath light and sound show in Varanasi among many other projects through video conference. In his address, he said that tourism is also a part of the development plan of the city and countryside in Varanasi. He also stressed that the connectivity of Varanasi has always been a top priority of the Government. Also, he added that new infrastructure is being constructed so that the people of Kashi and the tourists don’t waste their time in traffic jams.

Sunil C Gupta, EC Member & Chairman-Northern Region, IATO and Director, Travel Bureau, Agra, has said that the Minister of Tourism and Culture needs to review the capping of tourist numbers at the Taj Mahal, since that is creating a chaos and black marketing of tickets. Reacting on reports of tourists not getting tickets at Taj Mahal, he said, “It is very said that we have mismanaged and now there is a cap of 2500 tourists for morning and afternoon. This unnecessary shortage of tickets creates panic, fear, chaos and frustration among tourists. It’s totally unwarranted and impractical. We humbly request our dear tourism minister and DG-ASI to kindly review this as there is no need for any capping. This is sending a wrong a message to tourist and is counter-productive to the efforts of MOT and MOC for revival of tourism.”

Around 34% of Indians are still wary of travel, saying they would not feel comfortable traveling until a vaccine for COVID-19 is available, and the same sentiment is seen worldwide, according to the Amex Trendex, a trend report from American Express. It also revealed that 32% Indians already dreaming about their next holiday and 1 in 2 (50%) Indian adults are interested in receiving a trip in 2021 as a gift this holiday season.  They also marked a strong preference and were willing to pay extra for lodging and hotels that offered private and/or socially distanced amenities, eg: socially distanced spas (49%) and private pools (49%). 45% of Indian respondents said they are saving more money for their next trip as a result of the pandemic.

Alitalia has announced that they will restart the flights from Rome (FCO)-Delhi (DEL)-Rome (ROM) on 2nd March, 2021. The non-stop flights between Rome (FCO) and Delhi (DEL) will resumed and will operate 3 times a week ex Delhi on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and ex-Rome on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  Starting March 27, Alitalia will resume with daily operations.