In a free-wheeling webinar interview organised by CAPA – Centre for Aviation recently, József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer, Wizz Air, said that his airline is doing well in terms of stimulating demand in the market. “Of course, the level of demand is not the same as before Covid-19. But if I were to look at our numbers, we are operating quite a few flights. We are performing at 10 per cent of our capacity as we speak and we are achieving a load factor of 70 to 75 per cent – an average of 200 seats per aircraft. I think we are doing quite well with regard to stimulating demand. However, we are seeing significant no-shows although it is improving. Also, while we are operational in 45 countries, no two countries have the same restrictions in place. So there are a lot of complexities out there.” He added that Wizz Air currently has an operating fleet of 121 aircraft which will go up to 135 within a year. In that period, it will be taking 22 new aircraft deliveries and retiring eight older aircraft.    

Luxury takes many forms in New Zealand. Clients can tailor their holiday to suit their needs, whether enjoying some pampering, tucking themselves away in a secluded paradise or packing in loads of adventurous activities. For more inspiration on how to include ‘New Zealand Luxury – Relaxation & Wellness’ in your itineraries, sign up for the webinar today at 1430 hrs (2:30 pm). To participate, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532.

Speaking at one of the sessions of the of the virtual conference, Hospitality Tomorrow, Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO IHCL said, “Among the segments that will come back first, I think opportunistic business is going to be key like repatriates, which we did not even know where it came from, we did not even realize that it could be a new market. Secondly people will take domestic trips, within driving distance to begin with, then some corporate demand will come up once the airports start functioning, as well as railways and highways. Step by step business demand will resume, maybe not at the same pace. Maybe some people will take vacations within the same city for an extended weekend. Since people are fed up of being inside their houses. ”

The British Prime Minister and President Macron have stressed the need for close bilateral, European and international cooperation in the fight against Covid-19. No quarantine measures would apply to travellers coming from France to the UK at this stage; any measures on either side would be taken in a concerted and reciprocal manner. The leaders spoke about the need to manage the risk of new transmissions arising from abroad, as the rate of coronavirus decreases domestically. In this regard, the Prime Minister and the President agreed to work together in taking forward appropriate border measures. This cooperation is particularly necessary for the management of our common border. A working group between the two governments will be set up to ensure this consultation throughout the coming weeks.

After the overwhelming response for the first and second editions of its Digital Conclave, TravTalk is all set to bring the third edition of the online conference on May 15 from 10 am to 1:30 pm, which would discuss pertinent issues in the industry at the time of COVID-19 crisis. There will be 3 sessions of 1 hour each and will see experts from different segments of travel, deliberating on the way forward. The panelists for first session, titled ‘The Reality of NO tourism!’ will be Rajiv Mehra from IATO, Bharat Atree from Caper Travel Company, and Debjit Dutta from Impression Tourism Services. Second session, titled ‘Hotels in the age of social distancing. Where are the robots?’ will have Mandeep Lamba from HVS ANAROCK, Dilip Puri from Indian School of Hospitality and Jatin Khanna from Marriot Hotels. For the third session, titled ‘Big ticket business! When do we start looking at weddings, corporate and M!CE travel?’, the panelists include Rajeev Jain from Rashi Entertainment, Rajdev Bhattacharya from Wipro Limited, and Rajeev Kale from Thomas Cook India.

Opening the second session titled ‘Where is the money? Selling domestic luxury’ in the second series of the Digital Conclave spearheaded by TravTalk, was Arjun Sharma, Chairman, Select Group, who believes that there is a great scope and need to develop tourist circuits on specific themes to attract the tourists having special interest in visiting such places. “Why is it that the circuits or packages available for the inbound tourists are not available for the Indian domestic traveller? There is a need to bring our circuits back to the forefront. Domestic tourism should not be positioned just as a weekend package. We should make it a five or six-day package, whether it is religious, wildlife, or experiential in nature. We need to mix and match, add standalone hotels in the itinerary. Trust me, we don’t have to fear the online giants. We have to work with them,” he says. In fact, the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism had launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme for integrated development of theme based tourist circuits in the country in 2014-15.

PP Khanna, President, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), has said that while the industry is talking about domestic tourism, they are taking the lead in educating their members on different destinations and hotels. “We at ADTOI of making our members utilise the time during the lockdown period in learning to promote domestic tourism more effectively. Hence, we spoke to a few states, tourism boards, and hotels for educating our members online, so that they can take benefit of the time in hand and learn about the potential of domestic tourism and tourist spots of the state. Also, they can learn about the hotels to promote them and learn about the steps the hotels are taking for the safety and security of the clients. Hence, we started talking to some of the state tourism boards, like Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, who came forward and gave the presentation to our members. We also spoke to hotels to give education about their hotels, so that after the educational programmes, the members can promote those hotels. Hence, brands like ITC, Taj, and Accor have already conducted educational programmes for our members and we are continuing with other hotel chains also,” he said.

In conversation with TravTalk, Kanika Tekriwal, CEO & Founder, JetSetGo Aviation Services recounts how the private aviation sector is affected due to COVID-19 and how the industry will reshape after the pandemic. “As the aviation industry has been hit extremely hard by the COVID 19 crisis, and when flying through such turbulence, it’s critical to focus on the horizon. One of the important points is consolidation. It is usually perceived that; private aviation sector is not consolidated, and few players are still working on solo mode which will make the survival difficult,” comments Tekriwal while briefing about the survival, revival and resurgence strategy in the private aviation sector which includes the operation of charter flights. Explaining further about the need of the hour in the sector, she says,” Another important step is to have a data-driven, action-oriented plan to help us emerge stronger from the COVID 19 crisis. All this needs to take into accounts the demands of flying private, safety and security of all our customers which is our utmost priority and the market structure scenarios.” According to Tekriwal, there was nine-fold raise the number of international inquiries they were receiving for charter flights but the lockdown and travel ban came as a major setback. Whether it is health risk concerns or just getting where you need to be, people and companies that have the means to fly privately, but had previously eschewed it, are now looking at the options. The industry as a whole is working on a requirement basis to help people reach their destinations. No two days will be same again in private aviation and we need to stay braced for some turbulence,” she said. Explaining …

As Delhi opened for private establishments with 33 per cent staff strength, Minar Travels started working with permissible staff strength and following sanitising and social distancing norms. The office cleaning and sanitising were completed recently under the supervision of HS Duggal, Managing Director, Minar Group.

Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, has said that there hasn’t been much happening from the Government’s side to help the industry to revive it from the impact of COVID-19 crisis, unlike other countries. “We have asked the Governments since the beginning that either give us a bail-out package, or at least give 50% salary of employees of MOT recognised operators/agents after getting the list of their employees and respective salaries from them, which is already mentioned in the balance sheet. This needs to be done if the Government wants to save the industry,” he said.