Federation of Telangana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI), a 105 Year old organisation started during Nizams era, elected its new tourism committee and Valmiki Harikishan, MD, Valmiki Travel & Tourism Solutions, has been elected as the leading chairman of the committee for the fourth consecutive year in row. He says this year, they have plans to initiate 2nd edition of Telangana Tourism Conclave. The Tourism Committee will work more closely with Govt of Telangana in rolling out and announcing Tourism Policy, promoting UNESCO Heritage site Ramappa Temple in Warangal, UNWTO recognised Pochampally Village and many more historical sites, as per the tag line of Telangana State- ‘For all reasons and all seasons’.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced passenger data for July 2022 showing that the recovery in air travel continues to be strong. India’s domestic RPKs rose 97.8% in July and are now exceeding 81% of 2019 levels.

Travel experts at Bounce analysed the world’s landmarks on a variety of factors including annual visitor numbers, entry prices, Tripadvisor ratings, and Instagram posts, to reveal the world’s most loved landmarks. in Taj Mahal in India is the 2nd best-loved landmark in the world, with 6,532,366 annual visitors, following Niagara Falls in Canada with 11,700,000 visitors annually.

According to the latest Economic Trends Report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), India has been ranked sixth in terms of travel and tourism’s contribution towards GDP. India contributed $178 billion towards GDP in 2021. The first position was secured by the United States with $1271.2 billion dollars contribution of travel and tourism towards GDP.

‘Welcome to St. Petersburg!’ roadshow was held in Mumbai and Delhi. St. Petersburg is open and ready to welcome  Indian tourists, with direct flights to Russia and payment mechanisms both for travel professionals and tourists.

G Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism & Culture, has said that Green Tourism Mission is making sustainability the premises of the tourism mandate. He also informed the recent initiatives including the setting up of resource centres to guild our villages to learn global practices & listing Green Tourism on the priority list of the G20 presidency to encourage responsible hospitality.

Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, has revealed that the upcoming MOPA international airport in Goa is likely to attract 4.67 million tourists in the first year of its operations. “It will connect about 31 domestic destinations and more than 14 international destinations.

Interlaken is a popular holiday destination for travellers across the year. It a starting point for numerous excursions such as Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe, as well as a hub for various adventure activities. Switzerland Tourism kickstarts its 2022 webinar series with an exciting presentation on Interlaken and its various tourism products and services. Attend all the webinars for a chance to win a trip to Switzerland in 2023. For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

With an aim to tap the burgeoning Indian outbound market, Visit Iceland in association with the Embassy of Iceland New Delhi hosted a roadshow, press meet and networking evening in New Delhi and Mumbai in September. Being held under the aegis of Iceland’s new Ambassador to New Delhi H.E. Mr. Gudni Bragason, Visit Iceland roadshow was by Representation World in organising its events across Mumbai and New Delhi. H.E. Mr. Gudni Bragason, Ambassador to New Delhi says, “As India is the first major Asian market to open after Covid, it is most important for us to tap its potential. Travel had almost stopped during the pandemic, but now we are hoping for a swift revival. Iceland has a lot to offer for Indians as our nature is strikingly different from anything you can experience in India. There are breath-taking Glaciers, Northern Lights, Clean Air and Geothermal heated pools. Besides, Icelandic food is known for its freshness and can easily be adapted to Indian palette. Through this Roadshow and interactions, our aim is to further promote our destination and interact with the Travel Agencies in India and present them with opportunities of selling Iceland while understanding the obstacles they face in doing so.” Thorleifur Thor Johnsson, Visit Iceland says, “Indian outbound traveller is on a lookout for fresh and unexplored destinations, which is where Iceland fits in perfectly. In 2019, 19,852 Indians visited Iceland, which was a steady increase from 10,944 in 2017. However, these numbers came down drastically in the last two years due to the pandemic and now Iceland is back in India to work on these numbers as believe India a potential source market for its tourism. To …

The central government has issued new guidelines for the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) availed by employees, which will now include air tickets. The Centre in a missive sent to all central ministries and departments said that the Department of Expenditure’s circular from June regarding air travel on government duty will also be applicable for air travel for LTC. The circular stated that air tickets to be availed under LTC shall be only bought from three Authorised Travel Agents (ATAs), which are Balmer Lawrie & Company Limited, Ashok Travels and Tours and Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation. LTC is an allowance given to employees for meeting travel expenses when the employee is on leave from work. The same is exempted from tax under the Income Tax Act.