The Ministry of Railways has shared that in order to revert back in a phased manner to the pre-COVID levels of service, its passenger reservation system will be shut down for 6 hours during the lean business hours of the night for the next 7 days. This is to enable upgradation of system data and updating of new train numbers. Since huge amount of past (old train numbers) and current passenger booking data are to be updated in all Mail/ Express trains, this is being planned in a series of carefully calibrated steps and implemented during night hours in order to minimise impact on ticketing services,” the ministry said.

Sharing some initial plans for the association’s annual convention, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, reveals that this year, the team is looking at hosting it within India. He says, “We are talking to various state governments on the possibility of holding our convention within India next year. We would like to do a convention or a conclave or a congress in India which TAFI has not done. It is important that with the entire Dekho Apna Desh campaign, I think it is necessary for our members to explore newer destinations within India. We are talking to states to see where we can get some assistance. Hopefully, we should be able to plan something in India.”

Rupinder Brar (IRS), ADG, Tourism, speaking at a recent webinar on border tourism, appreciated the efforts taken by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for improving connectivity in Ladakh region. “Connectivity is the key for tourism anywhere in the world and especially in border areas. The role of Border Tourism in bringing local communities together is crucial in today’s time,” she says. She emphasised that there is a need for capacity building and skill development as it will help to scale up the quality of human resources while creating employment opportunities for the locals.

Travellers can travel without quarantine between Singapore and India. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced the VTL expansion, under which travellers from Indonesia and India will be able to enter Singapore from 29th November. “The Ministry of Health has updated its public health assessment and will upgrade India to Category II from 19 November. Our discussions with India are progressing well, and we aim to start 2 daily VTL flights each from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai by 29 November,” says S Iswaran, Minister for Transport, Singapore.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that they will soon launch digital and social media campaigns. “We are working on that and we have plans to have wherever possible some physical events also. We want to launch the campaigns this month itself,” he says. Singh further adds, “Apart from our India tourism offices, the government has nominated 20 nodal officers in the missions. With their help also, we intend to launch promotional campaigns.”

Remarkable Rwanda, which is home to the mountain gorilla, has in recent years, also become the MICE Hub of the EAC region. The country is now poised to register a sharp increase in religious tourism arrivals, to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Marian Apparitions at KIBEHO on November 28, 2021. The Holy Land of Kibeho is situated in the Southern Province of the country and it is about five hours away from the spotlessly clean capital  city of Kigali. It was on November 28,  1981, when the Blessed Virgin Mary first  appeared to a young teenager, Natalie, saying  “I am the Mother of the Word” . This first Apparition was followed by several others, when not only Natalie, but two other teenagers, Alphonsine and Marie Claire also saw the Blessed Virgin Mary. They were implored to tell the people to mend their evil ways, repent for their wrongdoing and forgive one another.  If not, they were warned that Rwanda would become a “river of blood”. Unfortunately, no one in the country took these three teenagers seriously and just brushed off their apparitions as dreams and fantasies. Thirteen years later, Rwanda witnessed one of the worst genocides in the history of mankind – the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Within a short span of just one Hundred days, over one million innocent men, women and children were brutally massacred, turning the country, as they were warned, into a “river of Blood”. To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Marian Apparitions,  a Virtual Adoration Service will be live streamed from St. Michael’s Church,  Mahim, where every Wednesday, before the lockdown  in March 2020, thousands of people from all communities and from …

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai will conduct a one-hour virtual panel discussion on Spain (Schengen) visa for travelers from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Nov 9 at 3pm IST. Speakers include José María Ridao, Ambassador of Spain in India; Fernando Heredia Noguer, Consul General of Spain in Mumbai; Helena Escorial López who is the Head of the Consular Section of the Embassy of Spain in India, Ambica Shrestha, Hon. Consul of Spain in Nepal; Priya Jayawardena, Hon. Consul of Spain in Sri Lanka; and Director of Turespaña in India – Elisa Robles. To register, please visit https://event.webinarjam.com/register/327/n7kngavw or write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call on 9650196532.

Jammu & Kashmir’s gets its first-ever open-air floating on the Dal Lake. The theatre was inaugurated by J&K chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta, and is aimed at attracting more tourists to the region. On this occasion, a Shikara rally, adorned with shining lights passed through Nehru Park to Kabootar Khana with local artists singing and dancing to Kashmiri songs which entertained guests and passersby. Old Indian film ‘Kashmir ki Kali’ was screened during the festival.

Aaditya Thackeray, Tourism & Environment Minister, Maharashtra has said that in the post COVID world, tourism sector will be our sponge industry which will absorb the highest number of employment growth, highest revenue for the state, and it will have a ripple effect on the country’s economy.

Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, Executive Director of Tourism and Marketing at DCT Abu Dhabi, has said that as per the Global COVID-19 Sentiment Survey conducted by DCT Abu Dhabi, 65% of Indian travellers’ decisions depend on low COVID-19 case numbers in the destination of their choice and 43% of Indian travellers perceive Abu Dhabi as an ideal holiday destination for families. “Taking this sentiment into account and the understanding that Indian travellers are more likely to take short haul flights than mid-long-haul flights, Abu Dhabi is ready to welcome business and leisure travellers from India,” he adds.