Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai has announced two winners to its Spain Specialist Program ‘Know Barcelona’ quiz held alongside its webinar on the city on June 15. The winners are Shreyanka Churiwalla from Nimbus Tours & Travels and Nitish Gupta from Zenith Holidays. They take away a five-day trip to Barcelona and the surrounds in October 2022. This includes the international airfare ex-India.

Global Panorama Showcase is all set to begin its 2022 edition in Mid-September, and will be covering a total of 10 cities till March 2023. The cities are: Nagpur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Indore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Vizag and Kochi. It will be a two-day event for each city.

The Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI) signed an MoU with IDFC First Bank to facilitate digital payments. Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, who was present at the signing ceremony, said that the members can avail of this opportunity to get digital payment platforms for their agencies such as POS machines and payments links, among others. The rates negotiated between TAFI and IDFC First Bank will be a winning proposition for both the parties, Prakash said.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, flagged off the first Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train operating on the Ramayana Circuit. Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said that MOT, in association with IRCTC and Ministry of Railways has also proposed Bharat Gaurav Tourist Trains for Krishna Circuit, Buddhist Circuit and many other circuits.

Sejoe Jose, Chairman- IATO Southern Region, shares that now the world is focusing a lot on Ayurveda and Yoga. “If the benefits of Ayurveda are showcased as a dedicated promotional campaign, I am sure wellness tourism will flourish in India. Ayush visa shouldn’t be for a limited period, but must be offered through e-visa format, so that the tourists can avoid any hassle.”

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, has said, “With yoga day being celebrated worldwide, India will come to the mind of everyone and publicity will be in favour of India as a destination for the same. The message will be loud and clear for India.”

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has said that since there is a lot of interest and curiosity post-COVID on wellness tourism, “MOT will be expanding our footprint and we are in the process of making many more creative, campaigns and getting a lot more digital presence through social media for creating awareness for these products, which are truly India’s strength.”

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture will be leading the International Day of Yoga (IDY) Celebrations at Parade Grounds, Secunderabad in Hyderabad. The Chief Guest will be Vice President of India, M Vankaiah Naidu. The State Tourism Ministers, Shripad Yesso Naik and Ajay Bhatt, will be leading the celebrations at Churches and Convent of Goa and Wagah Border, Amritsar, respectively.

Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, has said, “Yoga is India’s gift to the world. Wellness Tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the industry and yoga occupies a very important place in the pursuit of wellness. The Covid pandemic brought mass tourism to a halt and as travel revives we can see a shift in the attitude of travellers – they are more focused and more discerning. India is uniquely placed as the home of three vital elements of wellness – yoga, Ayurveda and meditation, together they constitute a powerful magnet to attract the sensitive and ecologically aware tourist to our country.”

Airlines have been informed by Bureau of Immigration – Ministry of Home Affairs at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, that all passengers must carry a printed copy of paper/online visa for presentation at immigration clearance. Soft/digital copy of visas are not accepted.