One Rep Global has been appointed as the India representative the iconic Caesars Palace Dubai. Caesars Palace Dubai recognises the importance of the Indian market and is excited to welcome travellers, business professionals, family and friends for the ultimate luxury experience. Speaking on this partnership, the Commercial Director, Paula Tannous, says “We are very excited to be working with One Rep Global, as a company driven by an experienced team of passionate professionals and seasoned luxury hoteliers. Together we will develop business opportunities and awareness of Caesars Palace Dubai across the Indian Market and those guests seeking a tailored and unique stays in Dubai.” Adding to this , the founder of One Rep Global, Hemant Mediratta, said “ We are absolutely delighted at this partnership with the iconic Caesars Palace Dubai that needs no introduction. The Indian luxury traveller is constantly seeking newer products and experiences – whether its cultural, culinary, wellness or just spending time with their loved ones. Caesars Palace Dubai is the perfect fit for all this and more. Not just for FITs, the hotel has a separate block of rooms designed for experiential destination weddings , MICE or Social Events. We have full faith in the resilience of the Indian market and our travel trade fraternity to support and accelerate demand for this beautiful jewel in Dubai. Located in the heart of the Bluewaters community, Caesars Palace Dubai is an immersive, luxury lifestyle resort. Offering a curated selection of unconventional, unforgettable experiences for all ages, the hotel is renowned for its contemporary, Roman-esque inspired design and uninterrupted views of the Arabian Gulf and Dubai’s skyline. Positioned at the western edge of Bluewaters Island, the resort has …

Rakesh Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism has been upgraded to the level of Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. Verma is a 1993 batch IAS officer from Punjab Cadre. In a recent circular, ACC mentioned that they have approved the in-situ upgradation of many officers to the level of Additional Secretary to the Government of India, as a measure personal to them by temporarily upgrading the post held earlier.

The Singapore-India Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) had been launched on November 29th.  STB, SIA and CAG will conduct a second webinar to provide an update to the Indian trade partners on the VTL, SIA flight operations and the passenger experience at Changi Airport and Jewel. The session will be on Tuesday, December 7 at 11:30am IST. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532 or click here https://event.webinarjam.com/register/345/6v7qri2o

Ministry of Tourism has recently tweeted that for strengthening tourism in Northeast, under the PRASHAD scheme, Rs 37.87 Crore have been sanctioned for the development Parshuram Kund in Arunachal Pradesh, which has been an iconic destination in the country.

Subhasish Panda (IAS), Principal Secretary– Tourism, Government of Himachal Pradesh, at a recent webinar informed that Himachal Pradesh is slowly recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic with around 45 lakh tourists visiting the state in 2021. “Tourism remains a key contributor to Himachal’s economy with its current share of approximately 7% to the state GDP. The state government is in the process of taking its second loan from the Asian Development Bank worth Rs. 2100 crores for developing infrastructure to create new destinations. He also informed that heliport services in Shimla district is likely to start in a week’s time which will give further impetus to the tourists.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, on his recent visit to Goa, said that the MOT is working in synergy with the Rail Ministry, Civil Aviation and Shipping Ministry to encourage cruise tourism under Sagar Mala. “Cruise tourism will be developed on a mission mode which will greatly benefit Goa,” he said. He also informed that there are plans to connect Chennai, Vizag and Andaman with Goa through cruise tourism.

Deepak Narula, MD, GRNconnect, has said that they are planning to launch DMC for Egypt and a DMC for India. “During COVID time – we focused a lot on technology and product upgradation by adding some Key Suppliers in our portfolio. Now we have ambitious plans on distribution front. We have made some major tie ups and we will go live on these platforms as early as Jan’22. We also plan to launch DMC for Egypt and a DMC for India.”

Government of Goa has constituted a 19-member tourism board and has dissolved three panels called the state-level promotion and marketing committee, the high-powered monitoring committee, and the state-level permission committee. Hence, all decisions pertaining to tourism in the state will be taken by this committee. Confirming the news, Nikhil Desai, MD, GTDC, has said that they have already been taking care of infrastructure, development and hotels under GTDC. The marketing had been taken care of by Goa Tourism, and will now be under the purview of the committee.

The Ministry of Culture & Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan & Kazakh Tourism Board has appointed Rohit Shorey, Founder, Kazin DMC as their M!CE Tourism Ambassador For Kazakhstan in India. Kairat Sadvakassov, Deputy Chairman of Kazakh tourism board said that Shorey, has made a significant contribution to the overall development of tourism to the country from India region, especially M!CE. In a reception held at the Marriot hotel in Nur Sultan on the 27th November 2021, the board presented Shorey with a certificate of Ambassadorship. The reception was attended by Vishal Jain, Director, Kazin International, who signed the MoU and collected the award. Rohit & Vishal remains very bullish on Kazakhstan as a destination with vast potential in the field of tourism. owning to its wide diversity of offerings for all verticals of tourism. They feel that India & middle east will become a major source market for tourism to Kazakhstan and this is one the reasons why Kazin Dmc has maintained 100% focus on this destination since 2016. Kazakh Tourism, being the country’s brand manager for tourism and a subsidiary of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, serves the government’s goal of achieving an 8% contribution to GDP from tourism. The government is significantly developing the tourism infrastructure of the country by opening numerous branded hotels to cater the increasing demand of tourists. Almaty airport is going through a multi-million-dollar expansion to accommodate more airlines to serve the country. Air Astana has announced that they will resume direct flights between Almaty & Delhi effective 16 December after a 20-month hiatus. As the world is gearing towards normalcy, this announcement could not have a come at a better time.

DGCA in its latest order has shared that in view of the emergence of new COVID variants, they will be reviewing the resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger airline services to or from India. They will currently watch the situation and would notify its decision on the same in due time. Hence, international flight services, which were earlier touted to restart from 15th December, might face a delay now.