Rajiv Mehra, Vice- President, IATO, shares that in the all association meeting with the minister recently, they suggested that once the number of COVID cases come down and the government decides to welcome international tourists, IATO must be consulted to make the policy for e-tourist Visa. “The e-tourist visas should be free until 31st March, 2022 to attract tourism. Then from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2024, the visa fee should not be more than $10 for a one-year visa and not more than $25 for a five-year visa,” he shared.

JLL’s Hotel Momentum India (HMI) Q2 2020, has revealed that Goa saw the sharpest decline in RevPAR in Q2 2020, with a 93.9 percent drop compared to the same period in the previous year.

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has said that they had met Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of Tourism & Culture, along with the other association heads, where they have requested him to initiate a meeting with Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, so that they can discuss their issues with him, especially regarding restructuring tourism business, refunds, money stuck with airlines, and also about Air India and the service fee that the agents charge for booking VBM flights.

Mehernosh Colombowalla, Director, Beyond Borders Travel Management Company, believes that going forward, when travel restarts, there should be relaxation in refunds and cancellations form service providers like hotels, airlines and tourism boards. “Going forward, I would like to see a little more relaxed policies from service providers in terms of cancellations and refunds so. For example, when a client is overseas and gets infected by the virus, we would expect the hotel to give refund on the remaining part of the stay, and airlines should be more accommodative in both charges for re-booking or even refund on the return portion of the journey, whatever the fare type maybe, in case the client has to come back on the first available flight. Hence, collectively we just need to work together to build trust and make sure that the client does not feel that he’s going to have huge losses if he contracts the virus when he is on a vacation overseas,” he commented at the 5th TravTalk Digital Conclave.

Mahendra Vakharia, MD, Pathfinders Holidays, believes that the key to do business in the time of crisis, as well as after it. “We generated business and revenue during COVID because we remained connected with our clients, kept in touch with them and showcasing them the possibilities and options. Going forward, we will have to do a lot of handholding of our clients throughout the journey, especially regarding their safety and educating them about the protocols and rules,” he said while speaking at the 5th TravTalk Digital Conclave.

Steve Borgia, CMD, INDeco Leisure Hotels, has said that it was constant innovation and doing what was permissible during the lockdown, that has made them make profit in June, and survive the lockdown. Speaking at the 5th TravTalk Digital Conclave, he said, “After a lot of problems, continuous innovation and continuous cost cuts, we are now comfortable. We launched a number of packages for weddings, local guests, parents of NRIs, young women with babies, as well as for bachelors. All this helped us make profit. We need to constantly transform and innovate, and create a price advantage.”

According to the latest analysis from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 40% of all destinations worldwide have now eased the restrictions they placed on international tourism in response to COVID-19. This latest outlook, recorded on 19 July, is up from 22% of destinations that had eased restrictions on travel by 15 June and the 3% previously observed by 15 May. It confirms the trend of a slow but continuous adaptation and responsible restart of international tourism.

OTOAI has recently written a letter to almost all European Embassies in India, requesting them to issue Gratis Visas to those travellers, who despite having a valid travel visa, could not undertake the planned holiday. Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI, says, “OTOAI has written to most of the European Embassy requesting them to issue a Gratis Visa to the visitors who despite having paid and processed the Visa fee and due procedure, could not undertake the journey for reasons known to all of us.”

On behalf of the hotel industry of Odisha, J K Mohanty, MHCIMA, Chairman – Hotel & Restaurant Association of Odisha & IATO Eastern Region, has written a letter to Reserve Bank of India, to extend the moratorium period up to March 2021 and exempt hoteliers from payment of interest during this period as it is not possible to pay interest without earning. He also expressed his gratitude to RBI for announcing immediate action to avoid the crisis by allowing relief on loan moratorium on interest and principal repayment for a period three months and later extended to six months.

Air India, in a circular, has written to the travel agents against overcharging for the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights. The national carrier has recently opened the Vande Bharat Mission flight booking for travel agents and other OTAs. Now, they have warned travel agents against overcharging for VBM flights and said that if any agents found doing the same, they will lose their authority to sell Air India tickets. Air India has asked passengers to check fares on https://bit.ly/309voT7 and not overpay for Vande Bharat Mission flights.