UAE cabinet chaired by HH Sheikh Mohammed, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai announced that UAE has approved a multiple-entry tourist visa for all nationalities of all countries to strengthen the UAE’s status as a global economic capital. The cabinet also adopted a new remote work visa that enables employees from all over the world to live and work remotely for one year from the UAE even if their companies are based in another country. The first-of-its-kind visa is aimed at establishing the UAE as a major ‘global tourism destination’.

A parliamentary committee on transport, tourism and culture has revealed that they are concerned over slashing of budget estimates of MOT, when the travel and tourism industry is reeling from huge losses, owing to COVID-19 pandemic. The panel led by BJP leader T G Venkatesh highlighted that the budgetary allocation of Rs 2,026.77 crore for 2021-22 for the MOT would not be sufficient for the ministry to even run activities related to the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the PRASHAD scheme and others to realise the vision of increasing tourism sector’s contribution to India’s GDP to Rs 8.50 lakh crore, the panel led by noted.

Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder, Infosys, has said that in Asia recovery of sectors like travel, tourism and hospitality will start seeing a quick recovery in the coming months, provided the pace of vaccination is increased so the region arrives at a herd immunity. Speaking at a virtual session at the World Government Summit Dialogues (WGS Dialogues), he said, “Many of the industries that were laid low by the pandemic, like travel, tourism and hospitality will start seeing a quick recovery in the coming months. If we can distribute vaccines throughout Asia as quickly as possible, we will be able to achieve community immunity that precedes any new mutations in the virus. This step will enable everyone to return to normal life and revitalize travel and tourism. The recovery will come from the consumers. I see a burst of consumption across the region, and that’s very good news in terms of creating economic opportunities and boosting consumer confidence,” he said.

Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance, in a written reply to Lok Sabha has said, “The closure of travel and tourism industry due to Covid-19 had a cascading effect on the livelihood of people dependent on tourism. Ministry of Tourism has engaged NCAER to conduct a study on ‘India and Coronavirus pandemic: Economic losses for household engaged in tourism and policies for recovery’.” he also stated that considering the challenges faced by tax-payers due to outbreak of covid-19, the government has taken several taxation measures to improve the liquidity in different sectors including tourism and hospitality.

IndiGo Airlines will start direct Mumbai-Agra-Mumbai flight starting 29th March, 2021. The thrice-a-week flight will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. It will depart from Mumbai at 10:50am and will arrive in Agra at 12:55pm, and will again depart Agra at 13:25pm and arrive in Mumbai at 15:35 on the same day.

SpiceHealth has launched the country’s cheapest Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing facility for the general public at just INR 499/-. Also, SpiceHealth has tied up with SpiceJet to offer a special price of INR 299/-, which is one-third of the prevailing market rate, for its passengers who wish to get the crucial Covid test done and thus contributing to making flying even more safe and convenient. Avani Singh, CEO, SpiceHealth said, “After testing over a million people in Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana and Haridwar and working closely with the respective local governments, SpiceHealth has now come forth to offer the cheapest and fastest RT-PCR testing directly to the people taking forward our goal to maximise testing. We are proud to extend our quick, seamless and smooth testing facility to the public at large in Mumbai and Delhi, to start with, and we strongly believe that testing remains as important as ever in our fight against this pandemic as that’s the only way to quickly identify, isolate and treat those infected.”

Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, said that there is a need for health passports, across the world, and that vaccination is not the only solution for travel recovery. “Health passports are not only about vaccination. Vaccination is not the only solution for travel recovery. Testing is also here to stay. It’s the combination of both—having the vaccine, having a way or mechanism to be able to track who is being vaccinated, when have you been vaccinated, what type of vaccine you’ve received etc. and the same things with testing. This is where the health pass is becoming critical for trans-border travel in the future. It’s important that moving forward, we have one standard protocols across the world for accepting testing.”

Air Seychelles is all set to resume commercial passenger flights between Mumbai and Seychelles, starting from Thursday, 8 April 2021, in line with the air bubble agreement between India and the Seychelles. The flights from Mumbai will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, whilst the returning flights from will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays. All travellers to the Seychelles, regardless of vaccination status, must present a negative PCR test certificate taken 72 hours and complete the mandatory Health Travel Authorization at seychelles.govtas.com prior to departure from Mumbai. Travellers will not undergo quarantine on arrival but will need to wear a face mask in public places and social distance. Travellers to Mumbai in addition to the negative COVID-19 PCR test will need to self-report on the airsuvidha portal and undergo 14 days home quarantine upon arrival.

Dan Whitehead, Senior Business Development Manager, Premium Ticketing and Corporate Accounts, Lancashire Cricket, Emirates Old Trafford, shares that the VisitBritain Cricket Carnival is a fantastic initiative and the lucky winner of this contest will get a special hospitality package for one full day at the Century Lounge of Emirates Old Trafford. “The winner can enjoy a relaxed atmosphere and also enjoy the test match from an elevated balcony viewpoint or a reserved seat in the grand-stand below,” he said. To win, register on http://bit.ly/VisitBritainCricketCarnival or contact Vartik Sethi on vartik.sethi@ddppl.com or +91 83684 28139.

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has signed a 2-year long MoU with the Educational Tour Operators Association (ETOA). The plan aims to develop tour products for schools, universities and other educational institutes for international field trips and study tours. “I am excited to work with ETOA to make South Korea the No. 1 choice of Indian schools and universities for their international field trips. Korea is one of the safest countries in the world and also one of the global leaders in technology and manufacturing. It is the ideal destination for students to know and learn about the future. By the end of our MoU team next year, I am confident we will have a fully developed self-sustaining Korea travel product category,” said Young Geul-Choi, Director, KTO New Delhi office.