The tourism department of Jammu and Kashmir has revealed that 600,000 tourists have visited the valley in the past four months—the highest in the last ten years. The famous Kashmir valley has hotels and houseboats fully booked with tourists queuing up for shikara rides on the Dal Lake. The tourist destination is witnessing record-breaking tourist footfall in the past one decade.

As summer travel approaches, Lotus Destinations will conduct a quick webinar on Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruises, for the travel trade, on Wednesday, May 4 at 3PM IST. Be Summer ready by attending this important webinar which will focus on the itineraries. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Leaders of the global tourism industry praised the Philippines’ successful hosting of the 21st Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) as it closed with high hopes for an industry battered by two years of the pandemic. “I’m not often stumped for words, but I am now. Wow! What an amazing summit. We really have rediscovered travel,” said Julia Simpson, president and CEO of the WTTC, who considered the “extraordinary Philippine welcome” as her personal highlight of the two-day summit. “That warmth, that passion, that generosity, that smile. I haven’t walked out one corridor without people saying to me ‘Good morning!’. It’s incredible. You live it. It’s not a show – it really is in your DNA,” she said after the closing ceremony. In her closing speech, Simpson said the success of the summit was “testament that the country’s tourism industry is well on its feet.” The summit, which gathered world leaders of the tourism industry, has given the Philippines the opportunity to showcase “how beautiful the country is,” Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said on Friday. She said the Philippines is now a top-of-mind destination for delegates, many of whom had decided to stay to savor the rest of the country where “we are setting an example of how to open safely.” “This has been a wonderful global summit and, to echo your brand campaign, we certainly had lots of fun in the Philippines. This is an experience all the delegates of the Summit can definitely attest to,” WTTC Chairman Arnold Donald  said in his closing address. Gloria Guevara, special advisor of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism and former president and CEO of WTTC, said the Philippines …

World tourism executives and scores of delegates from across the global travel and tourism sector gather in iconic Manila for the 3-day 21st World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit under the theme, “Rediscovering Travel”. Earlier in the opening ceremony at the Manila Marriot Hotel, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat welcomed the WTTC delegates attending in person and online, saying the summit “marks the beginning of a new era” for Philippine tourism. “Now is the time for us to revive our connections and engagement with people,” she said. Puyat was joined on stage by WTTC Chair and Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson. On the opening day, the Philippines was lauded by the global tourism leaders attending the event on site. “Here in Asia-Pacific, the reopening is just beginning. And I have to say I congratulate the Philippines and Minister Bernadette, a nation that showed determination and courage to reignite travel in this region,” Simpson said. Puyat also served as one of the speakers during the summit’s first panel discussion titled Redefining Travel in a Changing World, sitting alongside Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths, Marriott International Group President Craig S. Smith, and The Global Rescue Companies CEO Dan Richards to talk about how travel and tourism sector continue to offer incredible experiences and drive social progress while still protecting health, preserving the environment, and responding to a rapidly changing landscape. Smith shared that the sector is well on its way to recovery, sharing his surprise at how fast tourism–in the Philippines–has been bouncing back. “I’ve never seen a recovery this fast: average rates, first time interest rates. Take the Philippines for example. We have …

The seventh edition of the M!CE Travel Show 2022 organised by DDP Exhibitions in Pune recently also saw a serious panel discussion on Sustainable Business Travel where panellists discussed the possibilities of reducing carbon emissions while travelling. Pratima Badhwar, Head of Commercial (India & South Asia), Accor, said, “Nowadays every hotel chain has its own sustainability goal. At Accor, our target is to have net carbon zero footprint by 2050. We launched a project in 2005 called ‘Planet 2021’ which is based on four main pillars: our guests, our owners and vendors, our associates and employees, and our community.”

According to Air Travel Forecast by Bain & Company, travel projections between Europe and Asia have taken a significant hit, dropping from 70 per cent to 56 per cent of 2019 levels, reflecting both the impact of China’s lockdowns and soaring operation costs due to bans on flights over Russian airspace.

Hotel Association of India (HAI) has submitted a recommendation to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, highlighting the steep rise in insurance premiums for hotel properties in the last few years. HAI has urged the government to restore the insurance premium rates for hotel properties to the level of FY 2018-19. MP Bezbaruah, Secretary-General, HAI said, “The current very high insurance premium rates as compared to pre-FY 2018-19 is a major disincentive.”

Ministry of Tourism has kicked off its one-month long virtual roadshow, titled Reconnect 2022, starting with Oman. At the same time, IATO has written to the Prime Minister to help the tourism industry for revival of inbound tourism. In the letter, Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO has suggested that MOT should participate in all major international travel marts/fairs along with industry stake holders and conduct Physical B2B meeting during structured roadshows along with Indiatourism offices and embassies.

The Hotel & Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO) conducted its 33rd Annual General Meeting-cum-Election FY 2023-25 recently and elected their Office Bearers. JK Mohanty has been named the Lifetime Chairman of the association.Dr. Srinibash Subudhi, Bhubaneswar was elected as Working President. Millind Gupta Bhubaneswar was elected as Secretary General, while Sujit Kumar Mohapatra was selected as Treasurer, Prasant Kumar Jena was chosen as the Joint Treasurer. HRAO started in the year 1984 with six members and today has 286 members across the State.

Rohan Khaunte, Tourism Minister, Goa, has said that online approval and registration services for the tourism industry will be rolled out within a week. Speaking at a Travel and Tourist Association of Goa (TTAG) event, he said that the state needs to focus on a long-term strategy to attract high spending tourists.