IFEMA MADRID has reconfirmed the dates for the International Tourism Trade Fair: from 19th to 23rd January. The decision has been unanimously approved at a meeting convened by the Chairman of IFEMA’s Executive Committee, José Vicente de los Mozos. The meeting had representatives of the Government of Spain, the Madrid Regional Government, Madrid City Council, the World Tourism Organisation, and private sector organisations. Everyone agreed that “holding FITUR is the best way to ensure support for the tourism sector at a critical time for its full recovery and a return to pre-pandemic business activity levels. Once again, in January, Spain and Madrid will send out a hopeful and unambiguous message about the potential of this industry that needs to get back to normal business activity, an industry that in recent months has demonstrated its tremendous resilience.”

Suba Group is the first pan India hotel group to operationalize EVCS  (Electric Vehicle Charging Stations) on their premises. Electric Vehicles (EV) can now get a quick charge with the DC Fast Charging system at reserved parking areas on the property and get ready for their journey forward while guests enjoy the hospitality of Suba Group. You can have a quick refreshment and avail special F&B offers while your vehicles are getting recharged.

Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has claimed that they are bringing out new hotels almost every day. He informs, “We just signed a contract for another Taj Wellington Mews. We signed another property in a resort in India. We are very much on track to deliver one hotel a month, which can also become 1.5 or 1.3 hotel a month, owing to the lockdown or construction bans because of pollution.”

Puneet Dhawan – Senior Vice President – Operations, Accor India & South Asia, has said that they want to focus on expanding their luxury and premium brands portfolio in India. “Also, we look forward to some of our much-awaited new openings like Novotel in New Delhi City Centre and Jodhpur, an ibis in Mumbai Thane and another in Hebbal, Bangalore,” he said.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, visited the Red Fort Museum and claimed that he was delighted to see the museum,w which was developed by Dalmia Cements under the ‘Adopt A Heritage’ scheme. “It is highly experiential, interactive, immensely creative and is the best designed museum in India. My compliments to PM Narendra Modi for promoting PPP in heritage,” he added.

Speaking about their plans for 2022, Sunil Talreja, Vice President- India operations, InterGlobe Air Transport (IGAT), said that they are planning to enter the hotel bookings business which will be executed very soon. “This new portfolio will surely complement our already existing airline and car representation business that InterGlobe Air Transport (IGAT) is well-known for,” he said.

Nasir Shah Chairman – IATO Jammu & Kashmir Chapter, has shared that they J&K Tourism has plans to conduct a roadshow in Thailand in March-April if international flights start by that time. “We have seen from our partners in other countries that they are ready and as soon as flights start, they will start coming back to Kashmir. We have a roadshow in Thailand planned in March-April, but it now depends on restarting of international flights,” he said.

In a bid to boost film tourism into the state, Madhya Pradesh is offering a seamless one-window application policy. The state has earmarked a budget of ₹225 crore for various tourism-related activities in 2021-22. As many as 45 shows, movies, and documentaries have been shot in the state in calendar year 2021 with an investment of about ₹200 crore by various film-makers, reveals Sheo Shekhar Shukla, principal secretary, tourism, and managing director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board.

In his address at the 36th IATO Convention in Gandhinagar, G Kamala Vardhan Rao, DG, Tourism, commented on the scare over the Omicron variant, and said that while the new variant is infectious, but not fatal. “We are sure that this will not be there for a longer time. We believe that by Feb-March we could see brighter days,” he added.

Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, Tourism, has said that the draft tourism policy has five missions at its core, and the first one is National Green Tourism Mission, which looks at mainstreaming sustainability in the tourism sector. “It’s a key challenge the sector faces and it is also one of the lessons from the pandemic that we need to develop tourism on sustainable and responsible lines.”