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.”

The 24th Session of the UNWTO General Assembly, which met in Madrid (30 Novemer-3 December) unanimously approved Dr.  Mlambo-Ngcuka’s nomination for the position of Chairperson, World Committee on Tourism Ethics. She will serve as Chair for four years, starting on 3 December 2021, taking over from Pascal Lamy, former Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and President Emeritus of the Jacques Delors Institute.

V Vigneshwari IAS is the new Managing Director of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), taking charge from VR Krishna Teja IAS, Director of Tourism. Vigneswari, was earlier the Director of Collegiate Education, and is a Kerala Cadre IAS officer of 2015 batch. Shri Krishna Teja’s two-year tenure as KTDC’s executive head was marked by a string of initiatives that saw the state-owned hospitality major making major strides, despite the pandemic-induced challenges.

Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, has said that MOT is ready with a campaign that would focus on India being a safe destination and is ready to welcome travellers, and it will be launched very soon. “The content is ready, and the messaging will be both direct and indirect. One promotion will focus on India being vaccinated and the other will feature our hotels, hotel staff, cab drivers, airports, roads, shopping malls, etc. communicating that the country is safe to travel. Discussions with channels is done and we will be doing a soft launch on digital mediums initially.

Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, Tourism has said MOT has come out with a draft National Tourism Policy in a bid to bring structural changes to the sector and lay down an ambitious framework for tourism growth. “It has 5 missions, which include National Green Tourism Mission, National Digital Tourism Mission, Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Mission, Destination Management, and Developing Tourism and Hospitality MSMEs. The policy is out for consultation and in around 5-6 weeks, we should be close to finalising the draft,” he said.

OTOAI held its General Meeting today in New Delhi, where they discussed about the work the association is doing with airlines and tourism board with the association members. Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI, revealed that the association is focusing on building relationship with stakeholders and are extending their support in providing all the necessary information required. “This is the time of cooperation and building relationship so everybody can strengthen their business, said Munshi.