As part of Tourism New Zealand’s virtual road trip series, the region to be covered this month is Southland. The webinar is scheduled for today at 11am. Southland is a region of contrasts – from mountain peaks, the deepest of lakes, meandering rivers, fertile farmlands, lush primordial forests, and captivating coastlines, to the wild Southern Ocean and its islands. It is a land of world-renowned Bluff oysters and the launching place for a visit to Stewart Island. To experience this road trip, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532 or directly register here https://event.webinarjam.com/register/253/gw35lbnv

MP Bezbaruah, Secretary-General, Hotel Association of India (HAI), has said that the FM’s announcement on free visas has a very strong symbolic message that we have the confidence to welcome visitors and that tourism and hospitality is a strong pillar of post-Covid economic recovery strategy. “We sincerely hope that such measures will be logically followed by measures to make the industry recover and be ready to welcome tourists. Measures like liquidity support and exemption from statutory taxes. HAI would like to compliment the FM on this initiative and look forward to some more pragmatic initiatives to create jobs and livelihoods through a rejuvenated Tourism and Hospitality industry. As always HAI will be there for a committed role to be played by the Tourism and Hospitality industry in the national economic development programme,” he added.

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has said that it’s a welcome move by the Finance Minister to announce package or relief for the travel agents and the tourism people, especially the tourist guides, who are registered on the MOT website. “However, I still feel that more should have come for the tourism sector, which is really suffering a huge cash flow crunch, seeing low business and are not even looking at any business coming and reviving quickly. I think more needs to be done, as the 10% which will be useful to some of the smallest players, will not go far for the majority. Hence, the industry in general, has not been helped. However, it’s a small light at the end of the tunnel. We are also looking at the ECLGS scheme and we hope that something more will be added to it. In addition, SEIS would be another perspective that would be looked at. Hence, let’s hope there is some more coming and we keep our fingers crossed that whatever they have announced will be distributed easily and doesn’t just remain on paper. We need ease of getting that amount also. Overall it’s a good move and we are looking for more and I hope it’s the beginning to get more respite,” she added.

Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook India Group, welcomes the announcement by the honourable Finance Minister, Sitharaman, saying, “This is a much needed step towards the revival of tourism – a sector  that is a significant contributor to the GDP, foreign exchange receipts and employment generation – with a cascading force multiplier effect on allied sectors. The three-pronged approach for the sector covers 100% guarantee for loans up to Rs 10 lakhs per government recognised Travel & Tourism stakeholder (TTS), up to Rs 1 Lakh financial support to over 11000 licensed guides at a state/regional level, and 5 lakh gratis visas that will serve to catalyse much needed inbound inflows.  The stimulus announcements reflect the government’s focus on the travel and tourism sector and augurs well for the industry, while simultaneously building consumer confidence in travel.”

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has welcomed the relief measures and free-visa announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We have been in discussion with the Finance Ministry on relief measures for the tourism and hospitality sectors. We welcome the announcement, as it will help in the revival of the sector and promote inbound travel to India. Tourism is one of the sectors that has been badly hit by the pandemic, and hence these measures are welcome.” Since the relief measures are for recognised tour operators, he urged more stakeholders in the industry to get registered.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that once international travel resumes, first 5 lakh tourists who come to India will get visa for free. The scheme is applicable till March 31, 2022 or till 5,00,000 visas are issued whichever is earlier, she said. The announcement was made as part of the 8 relief measures in the wake of coronavirus pandemic declared by Sitharaman.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance minister, Government of India, has announced financial support to more than 11,000 registered tourist guides/travel and tourism stakeholders through the loan guarantee scheme for COVID-affected sectors. The scheme will cover 10,700 regional level tourist guides recognised by ministry of tourism and those recognised by state governments. It will also cover travel and tourism stakeholders (TTS) recognised by Ministry of tourism. Loans will be provided with 100 per cent guarantee up to Rs 10 lakh for TTS and Rs 1 lakh for tourist guides licensed at regional or state level. She also said that the first five lakh tourist visas that will be issued – once issuance is restarted – for free. These announcements are part of eight measures declared by the centre as relief for the COVID-hit national economy.

In a survey by Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel, 77% respondents continued to express strong preference for interaction with an expert for guidance/ reassurance – 27% opting to purchase holidays through retail outlets; 17% for home service; 33% preferred a contactless experience of a virtual store/video chat. On the other hand, 23% respondents opted for bookings via website/app. Over 4000 customers were surveyed across India’s Tier 1 – 3 cities to identify emerging consumer behaviours and trends that will drive travel preferences in the COVID era.

Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Tourism Minister, Andhra Pradesh, has announced to reopen all the prime tourist attractions as the numbers of positive cases have dropped in the country. He also said that they will plan a roadshow across the country to popularise state’s tourist attractions. Also, the tourism department’s Blue Bay hotel at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam will be developed with INR 164 crore, he shared. Some of the attractions that have opened, include Sri Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati; Rushikonda Beach, Visakhapatnam; Ramakrishna Beach, Visakhapatnam; Undavalli Caves, Amaravati; and Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam.

Travelport has announced a strategic long-term collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to use advanced cloud technology to accelerate the digital transformation of retailing in the travel industry. This deal, which brings together globally renowned expertise in travel technology, cloud technology, and hyper-personalised retailing, will focus on optimising Travelport’s recently launched next-generation platform, Travelport+. It will also drive innovation in travel merchandising with the launch of a new accelerator program that will incorporate talent from tech start-up community. “The travel industry has struggled to keep up with the pace of change in digital retail. This landmark collaboration is specifically designed to address just that. AWS’s retail heritage makes them uniquely qualified to optimize digital retail platforms, simplify complex environments, and enable game-changing innovation in the travel retailing space. With AWS as our preferred cloud partner, we are going to create a simpler, smarter, and better future for travel retailing,” said Greg Webb, Chief Executive Officer at Travelport.