flynas, the Saudi carrier and leading low-cost airline in the Middle East, announced the launch of weekly direct flights from Riyadh and Dammam to Mumbai, starting from 20thOctober 2022. Daily direct flynas flights will connect Riyadh with Mumbai, departing from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh back and forth, in addition to King Fahad International airport in Dammam,four direct weekly flynas flights departing on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday starting from October 31, andreservations are now open through all flynas booking channels. These routes came in light of flynas expansion strategy under the slogan launched recently under the title of “We Connect the World to the Kingdom” and after the growth achieved by the company in all its operations during the first half of 2022, in line the strategic vision of the Civil Aviation Authority aims to double the capacity and reach 330 million passengers annually, from more than 250 destinations from around world by 2030? flynas also announced the resumption of direct flights between Jeddah and Karachi starting from October 30 with three weekly flights, departing on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.In addition to the resumption of direct flights from Riyadh and Jeddah to the Egyptian city of Sohag by three weekly flights starting from October 30, departing on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday from King Abdulaziz international Airport in Jeddah, in addition to flights on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from King Khaid international Airport in Riyadh to Sohag International Airport. flynas succeeded in scaling up its fleet to 38 aircraft in June 2022 compared to 25 aircraft in January 2021, an increase of 52%. Meanwhile, the number of passengers on its flights increased to about 4 million passengers during the …

Ajay Bhat, Minister of State for Tourism and Defence, speaking at the National Tourism Awards ceremony in Delhi, said that the government’s vision is to increase the GDP contribution of the tourism sector in the economy of the country.

Liz Ortiguera, CEO, PATA, has said that there is an issue of the industry staffing gap across the world, which needs to be filled. For which, she has suggested many things for employers, including fair wages, acknowledging great service delivery, ensuring a culture of respect for staff, staff feedback and engagement, concern for staff welfare, support development, creating clear and fair career paths and introduce staff to leaders they can relate to.

In response to hotel industry’s demand for amendment in the definition of infrastructure status, Arvind Singh, Secretary, MOT said, “We are looking at changing the definition of infrastructure status for hotels to help the industry attract investment. It has the attention of the higher authorities and we will have an order on it shortly.  It is currently as per 2011 census and needs to change to accommodate the demands of hospitality business today.”

Everyone deserves a holiday break, but these days, with so much news about the impact of travel on our precious planet, it is hard not to be concerned about our effect on the environment. The good news is that we can still take a hard-earned vacation while minimising our carbon footprint and getting good vibes from our leisure time. It is called ‘travelling consciously’ and Cross Hotels and Resorts have loads of ideas and inspiration for that this month. The Meaningful Travel partnership with Socialgiver is an essential and generous collaboration directly supporting the health and welfare of our precious green resources. By booking packages through the Socialgiver website, half of whatever you spend will be donated to The Big Trees Project to support nature conservation and the protection of green spaces throughout Thailand. This is a feel-good and rewarding initiative. The hotels also have great ideas about participating in World Car Free Day in September. A venture that gives us reflection time about reducing our reliance on motor vehicles. Vehicles are convenient and offer many benefits, but they also contribute to a dangerous amount of pollution. World Car Free Day is great for raising awareness about these concerns and helping to reduce emissions. So, we are suggesting we all take the lead by stepping up, out, and into your day without motor vehicle keys. People are more conscious about what they consume, and the hotels are jazzed about the reopening of the exceptional vegan restaurant, Moreganic, at Away Chiang Mai Thapae Resort. It is nestled beside the hotel’s tropical gardens and offers a relaxed and tranquil ambience. The restaurant serves delectable drinks such as banana, cocoa, and almond milkshakes, …

Hotel Association of India (HAI) will be having its conclave on 29 September, 2022 at the Lalit New Delhi, which will be inaugurated by G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, revealed MP Bezbaruah, Secretary General, HAI.

Ministry of Tourism released the Dharamshala Declaration 2022 after the conclusion of the three-day National Conference of State Tourism Ministers in Dharamshala. The document lists the short-term and long-term goals to ensure positioning of India as one of the leaders in the tourism sector by 2047.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, has said that the Government of India will continue to support MSMEs in tourism and capitalise on the employment generation potential in the sector. Ministry is also paving the way for developing responsible and sustainable tourism destinations, he informed.

Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State, Tourism, has said that the three-day National Conference of State Tourism Ministers in Dharamshala gave an opportunity to all states in India to put their best practices and issues forward and the salient points from discussions will help MOT to formulate a better tourism policy.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, concluded the 3-day National Conference of State Tourism Ministers in Dharamshala by saying that 34. India is estimated to achieve 50 Bn USD GDP contribution from Tourism, 30 Bn USD in Foreign Exchange Earnings and 15 million foreign arrivals by 2024