The seventh edition of the M!CE Travel Show 2022 concluded successfully in Pune this Sunday. The two-day B2B table top event saw 23 exhibitors meet and interact with 45 key corporate buyers on April 23-24, 2022. Organised by DDP Exhibitions, the exclusive M!CE event plans to replicate this in other cities of India soon. Key exhibitors included Singapore Tourism Board, Oman Air, Oman Convention Bureau and Shangri-La.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that India is going to introduce a special AYUSH visa category. This will facilitate people to travel to India for AYUSH therapy. Also, he added, “’Heal in India’ can become a big brand of this decade.” Wellness centers based on Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha etc. can be very popular, he said.

According Reserve Bank of India data, the money sent abroad by Indians for travel grew threefold from $316.81 million in February 2021 to close to $1 billion ($980.45 million) in February 2022. This is under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for resident individuals. It crossed the pre-pandemic level of $539.74 million in February 2020. Indians spent about $3.23 billion for travel, sharply down from $6.95 billion in FY20.

Julia Simpson, president and CEO, WTTC has said that the EU green travel pass has now been adopted  by 62 countries. “If we are to survive another pandemic we need to fully integrate a traveller’s health status into their digital travel documents. A good example is the EU green travel pass that has now been adopted by 62 countries. Let us find a single system for the world,” she pointed out.

Julia Simpson, president and CEO, WTTC, at its Global Summit highlighted that the pandemic rewrote the rule book on how we live and how we travel. She said that WTTC is announcing its latest Economic Impact Research which shows that over the next 10 years to 2032 Travel & Tourism is poised to have an average annual growth rate of 5.8%. “By the end of 2022 we will have recovered to $8.35 trillion,” she added.

SriLankan Airlines has recorded its first profitable fourth quarter (Q4) since 2006 for the financial year that ended on 31 March 2022 with a group net profit of USD 1.7 million despite pandemic challenges. SriLankan’s expansion initiative saw the launch of flights to several new destinations in the last year including Seoul; Moscow; Kathmandu and Paris. Frequencies were also gradually increased across the airline’s network in line with the recovery of the global travel industry and demand. The airline has also carried out major campaigns to boost tourism to the country including a major initiative in India, roadshows supporting new routes and most recently sponsoring the popular French annual adventure trail, Raid Amazones, in March of this year. The airline is now back to 75 per cent of the passenger revenue it made pre-pandemic in Q4 of 2019-20. Correspondingly, passenger numbers also rose to near 700,000 for the quarter. Ashok Pathirage, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines stated, “I am pleased to note that we ended 2021-22 on a high note, given our first quarterly profit in many years. The passenger demand remained strong, and revenues continued to recover from the setbacks of the pandemic during the quarter. Our annual expenditure remained within expectations. I am thankful to all our valued employees for contributing towards this achievement.” “We anticipate some headwinds in the first half of this financial year with high fuel prices and a short-term dip in demand to Sri Lanka. We have factored in these challenges and are working towards minimizing the impact with a strong business plan and a sound turnaround strategy to return to full-year profitability. Traffic is expected to recover fully by the end of the year …

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Japan, a book launch of Novella titled ‘Healing Strings’ by Manmohan Sadana, Ex-Joint Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India was done recently. The chief guest of the occasion was Koji Yoshida, Counsellor, Embassy of Japan, New Delhi, who launched the book along with other prominent dignitaries. Talking of his book, Sadana, said, “My book will serve as a great tool to build a stronger connection and also to promote tourism between different countries.”

Tourism New Zealand has relaunched its travel trade website with the aim to deliver the best information, education, resources and support to inspire and help travel agents to sell New Zealand. The new website provides a comprehensive one-stop-shop for online training and inspirational content, as well as all sales tools and resources. The updated design and layout are more intuitive and user friendly for the agents. The website content is dedicated to informing them about New Zealand tourism product news, travel industry events and providing training opportunities to them.

Ministry of Tourism has released a digital booklet of 75 destinations to rediscover India. The book features destinations ranging from spiritual centres to cultural hubs, from royal palaces to ancient cities, these sites reflect our rich culture and heritage. The booklet comes in line with the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, through which travellers can explore 75 incredible sites in India.

Tourism Malaysia has kicked off its first roadshow to six major cities in India from 18th until 30th April 2022, after more than two years of hiatus. The roadshows are in line with Malaysia lifting sanctions on its border on 1st April 2022. Starting in Delhi, the roadshow kicks off in the city of Delhi, followed by Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai. The mission is headed by Manoharan Periasamy, Senior Director of the International Promotion Division (Asia & Africa) together with Malaysia’s tourism fraternity which consists of three (3) Malaysia-based airlines, 22 travel agents, four (4) hoteliers, and four (4) product owners.