Nok Air has appointed DEX GROUP as its General Sales Agent (GSA) in India. Also, the Thai carrier will launch non-stop services between Thailand and India from winter 2022. Nok Air, will connect India to Thailand, via its hub at Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) in Bangkok. The new routes will be operated by state-of-the-art Airbus 737-800 with 189 seats

MakeMyTrip has introduced Book Now Pay Later (BNPL) payment option while booking travel (flight or hotels) on MakeMyTrip as well as on the Goibibo app. TripMoney, MakeMyTrip’s fintech arm, has established a marketplace attracting 15 leading fintech players and NBFCs/Banks including Capital float, Zest Money, IDFC Bank, Kissht, Lazypay, Simpl, HDFC Bank among others, to offer easy travel credit to the travellers.

The government of Goa has set an aim to have 1,000 certified tourist guides in the state within the next two years after Goa tourism department adopted the ‘Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF) (basic) certification programme of Ministry of Tourism. The plan is to enhance the travel experience of tourists in Goa through guided tours, and hence the state government has planned to train Goan youth and provide tourist guide certification.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, along with State Tourism Ministers Ajay Bhatt and Shripad Yesso Naik, held a meeting to review various upcoming & ongoing projects of Ministry of Tourism, New Delhi. Senior officials of the ministry were present.

Effective 1 June 2022, IATA Commission on all tickets issued using South African Airways paper for international, regional and domestic travel, will change from 3 per cent to 0 per cent for the Indian Market, revealed the airline. The same will apply on for all codeshare flight tickets issued on South African Airlines paper. It has been communicated by South African Airways to IATA and all GDS’ to update all systems accordingly.

Hotel Association of India (HAI) has urged Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor, Jammu & Kashmir and highlighted the recent unfair and adhoc raids, imposition of fines and threat of legal action on member hotels in the State. HAI pointed out that these impromptu actions by the state government were motivated by complaints of exorbitant prices and service deficiencies from tourists.

G Kamala Vardhan Rao, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that the 3 Ts, as far as Tourism is concerned – Trade, Technology & Tourism, the mantra for the 5 Trillion economy. Speaking at the International Cruise Conference 2022, also said, “The promotion of coastal tourism through beach tourism, lighthouse tourism, and cruise tourism will help communities.”

Rohan Khaunte, Minister of Tourism, Goa, said the state is trying to position itself as a tech-tourism state by attempting to sell sun, sand and software. “Goa has all the potential in port, air, road; we will look at more infrastructure support through the Sagarmala projects”, he said.

Speaking at the International Cruise Conference 2022 in Mumbai, G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister, Tourism, said, “Our aim is to promote domestic and international cruise terminals at selected ports by 2023. Since many Indians visit foreign destinations for cruises we are making efforts to promote it within India”.

Consolidating the business post the pandemic, Kishan Biyani, Managing Director of the erstwhile Ark Travels announces a complete rehaul and rebranding of the company. Sharing details, he says, “We have rebranded ourselves. The new company is called Ark Travel Group and will expand its focus from not just cruising but also tour packages and representation. So we have four main arms: Ark Journeys, Ark Representation, Ark Tech and Ark Cruises that will be led by different people from the company.”