Redefining the art of bespoke luxury holidays for perceptive travellers – A Travel Circle launches today in India. For Pritish Shah – Founder & CEO, A Travel Circle, this is the newest addition to his successfully established experiential travel brands in India for the high-end traveller – including A Travel Duet that has been specialising in exclusive travel for couples for almost a decade. “This pandemic has fast-tracked us to launch A Travel Circle, as the changing travel expectations in the new normal world align very well with our product offerings – private villas for social distancing, private jets to avoid commercial airports, highest standards in safety with our carefully selected hospitality partners and other service vendors,” he said. Offering thoughtfully designed, private journeys to the most desirable destinations around the world, A Travel Circle helps guests celebrate close bonds and togetherness with their circle of loved ones. The in-house creative team has the calibre to exclusively create an array of special interest vacations and unique bonding experiences for guests. Celebrating the spirit of wanderlust, this bespoke travel brand is dedicated to crafting the most carefully planned holidays, away from the rigmarole of urban life with those who matter. With a meticulously handpicked selection of the finest private villas or small boutique hotels for buy-outs, offering customised service that suit the lifestyle preferences of each guest, A Travel Circle is a preferred partner in India for prominent luxury hospitality brands located across idyllic destinations globally, such as – Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and more. 

Genting Cruise Lines has announced the restart of operations for Dream Cruises with Explorer Dream operating two and three-night ‘Taiwan Island-Hopping’ itineraries beginning from 26 July 2020. It will depart from Keelung and calling at Penghu, Matzu and Kinmen islands. The ship has undergone deep cleaning after observing strict quarantine measures for her crew.

After serving 3 years as COO- India and South Asia at Accor, Jean-Michel Cassé has announced his retirement from the global hospitality brand. In a farewell letter to its colleagues and partners, Cassé said that his last working day will be July 15.  Furthermore, Accor announced the appointment of Puneet Dhawan as Senior Vice President Operations- India & South Asia. Dhawan will take charge from August 1.

The Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) has announced the launch of a public campaign to highlight the looming collapse of restaurants in Maharashtra. Launched as #KhadyagruhaWachva (#SaveRestaurants), the campaign will act as the voice of the industry, especially the small and medium-sized eateries that serve the working class of Maharashtra.

In order to support its member states, UNWTO has unveiled a COVID-19 Tourism Recovery package. Sharing more information Suman Billa, Director, Technical Co-operation and Silk Road, UNWTO said, “It is structured around three pillars. One, economic recovery, two, marketing and promotion and three institutional strengthening and building resilience.” The product offering will be custom made for each member state.

Celebrating 20 years of operations, Happy Tours will conduct a live webinar on Slovenia today at 3 pm (IST). Happy Tours has offices in Slovenia, Croatia, London and Athens and a dedicated team based in Pune. Happy Tours is an inbound European tour operator for both M!CE and leisure groups throughout Europe. It also owns a hotel near Plitvice Lakes – Hotel Lyra www.lyraplitvice.com in Croatia and has its own coaches. To register, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

According to a comprehensive survey conducted by EbixCash Travel & Holidays to understand travel trends in a new normal scenario, 82% of respondents feel that people will start travelling within the next 3-12 months. While the rest 18% feel it that they will travel only after a year. The responses were collected from 5,124 respondents comprising travel enthusiasts, corporates and stakeholders from M!CE sectors.

More than 2,300 tourism and hospitality students and academicians from 77 universities around the country have been registered with CSR-initiative started by Voice of India Tourism (VOIT) started to educate and enlighten the young minds of the industry through daily live learning sessions. Industry leaders from different sectors and fields are sharing their experience on video call sessions which is complementary and free of cost for students. Lucknow University is the partner for the online virtual training program of the students.

The leading international travel marketing alliance, Travel Consul reveals that while lockdowns and movement restrictions had brought business to a standstill, tourism stakeholders (46%) kept clients engaged through live chats – the most preferred mode of communication amongst all the technology available today. These virtual face-to-face interactions were followed closely by a mix of telephone calls, emails and social media participation.

Amidst the ongoing tensions between China and India, Travstarz has initiated talks with Rezb2b, a CTRIP Subsidiary which holds a minority stake in Travstarz to buy back 100 per cent of its shares. Pankaj Nagpal, Managing Director, Travstarz Global Group shared this update and said, “Travstarz shall soon be a 100% Indian Company once again and all shares will be held by us and my son, Raghuv Nagpal, too shall be joining the Board post the transaction which will be finalized soon.”