Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO has thanked Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO and the entire team at The Indian Hotels Company Ltd. for rolling out the Taj Hotels Promo Code Special Rates for IATO Members. In a statement, he has revealed that each member has been given a Unique Agency Code and booking can be done on line without any hindrances.  Promo Code Special Rates are exclusively for inbound business only and not valid for domestic leisure and are only for FITs.

VisitBritain has launched the ‘GetReadyForBirmingham’ campaign with TravTalk to promote West Midlands, England region, using the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as a hook. Log on to www.GetReadyForBirmingham.com and get clicked at the virtual photo booth offering the most scenic backgrounds in West Midlands, which is playing host to the games.

Rajiv Jalota, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust, has said that according to a study initiated by them, by 2042-43, a growth of more than 10-12 times with 40 lakh cruise passengers is predicted, out of which over 20 lakh will be domestic cruise passengers. Domestic cruises have bigger potential from infrastructure point of view. It would need smaller vessels and less infrastructural availability.

Sunil C Gupta, Chairman-Northern Region, IATO revealed that there have been two corporate charters on Maharaja Express in December, which was almost 2 years after the luxury train operated in March 2020. “It’s the best train in India on IRCTC. This opens another avenue for incentives to happen on luxury trains. It’s a great idea, which has caught on and more groups are likely to operate in May-June, once things normalise,” he said.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that the role of the state or national authority would be to incentivise the sustainable practices by local stakeholders and also to popularize responsibility and talk about responsible travel amongst tourists. Singh was speaking at the ‘World Majlis: Off the Beaten Path – Travel in the 21st Century’ session during the India Tourism Fortnight at Expo 2020.

Sumita Saroch, JD, Tourism, Rajasthan, speaking at the Expo 2020, has said that Rajasthan offers multiple picturesque settings and culture. During her presentation, she showcased Rajasthan as a social events destination. “Rajasthan Tourism Policy 2020 strongly focuses on promotion of wedding tourism in the state,” she said while presenting the various offerings and facilities for such events.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has released latest guidelines for international arrivals from 11th Jan, 2022, under which all international arrivals to India to undergo mandatory home quarantine for 7 days. This must be followed by a RT-PCR test to be carried out on 8th day, and the report has to be uploaded on the Air Suvidha portal. All arriving passengers must have ‘Arogya Setu’ App downloaded on their smartphones. Before travelling they have to upload a self-declaration form and a negative RTPCR report of test conducted 72 hr prior to travel. Those arriving from at risk countries have to go for a COVID test at the point of arrival. If negative they will go for 7 day home quarantine and undertake RTPCR test on 8th day, the result of which has to be uploaded on Air Suvidha portal.

Kashmir recorded the highest tourist footfall of decade with a total of 1,27,605 tourists in November in 2021. According to J&K govt officials, the number is more than all the figures in the month in the past seven years. As per officials, only 6327 tourists visited Kashmir in November 2020 which is a lot lesser than the present number of nearly 1,27,000. Dr GN Itoo, Director, Kashmir Tourism, revealed that almost 1,27,000 tourists visited in November and almost 93,000 tourists visited in October and that it is the first time in the past seven years that Kashmir recorded such large numbers of tourists in these two months.

FHRAI has signed MoU with the Government of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to promote hospitality and related infrastructure in the Union Territory. Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President represented the hospitality industry at the event and signed the joint MoU for FHRAI at the Real Estate Summit 2021. Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs graced the event.

Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director, UNWTO, said that there is a need to rethink the whole sector, boost rural tourism, and improve safety for travellers. “This has been very tough two years, but we see that in the future, we need to rethink the sector fully and that maybe an opportunity,” she said.