Taking knowledge sharing to a new level, TravTalk India has launched India’s first virtual tourism conclave—TravTalk Digital Conclave, which is all set to be held on 7th April, 2020. Starting at 10 am, the first-of-its-kind conclave will have eminent speakers from the industry. To register go to http://travtalkindia.com/digital/ or contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532. The topics would cover the various aspects of the impact of COVID-19 on inbound and outbound tourism, and the way forward for the industry. The speakers include Suman Billa-UNWTO; Rupinder Brar- Ministry of Tourism; Kapil Kaul- CAPA India; Deepak Rawat- MakeMyTrip; Naveen Kundu- EbixCash; Himmat Anand- Tree of Life Resorts & Hotels; Homa Mistry- Trail Blazer Tours India; GB Srithar- Singapore Tourism Board; Tricia Warwick- Visit Britain; and many more.

Korea Tourism Organisation invites the trade to sign up for its exclusive webinar that it will host on Friday, April 3, 2020 at 3pm. This online seminar will highlight South Korea as a tourism destination and will cover basic information and highlight the popular places along with ideas on how to create a better South Korea tour product. The webinar will cover not just FIT and leisure travel but also touch upon MICE. Jong Sool Kwon, Director – Korea Tourism Organization, New Delhi office, says, “The Coronavirus outbreak has affected the travel business greatly. The idea behind initiating these webinars is to take the opportunity of this slow business period and enhance the product knowledge of the travel agents about South Korea. As soon as the market revives from this slowdown, the travel agents will be well prepared to propose a new destination to their clients and South Korea will be the first choice for them.” For more information and to register, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

Egypt began deep cleaning the area around the Giza pyramids as authorities work to disinfect tourist spots closed down by the coronavirus outbreak. Workers wearing face masks and gloves swept and sprayed the walkways around the bases of the pyramids, as well as the ticket office and a visitor center – though the giant stone structures were not themselves cleaned.

According to ICRA estimates, considering the operating expenses of the Indian aviation industry in FY2019 and that 35-42 per cent of their expenses are fixed in nature, it is estimated that the industry will report a net loss of Rs 75-90 crore per day of shutdown of operations. While some airlines have sufficient liquidity and/or financial support from a strong parentage, which will help them tide over this disruption, some airlines, who are already in financial stress, will face serious troubles.

According to the latest data provided by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Feb 2020 were 251.50 lakh as against 238.56 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering annual growth of 5.42 per cent and monthly growth of 8.98 per cent. The passenger load factor in the month of February 2020 also saw an increasing trend primarily due to airlines offering promotional fares resulting in increased demand.

According to a recent survey conducted by Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) among its members worldwide, including corporate travel managers and travel suppliers, 75 per cent of the respondents said that their companies were frequently hosting virtual meetings as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. With advances in technology, online meetings have now become the alternative to face-to-face meetings, most of which now stand either cancelled or suspended. This may well be a trend in the near future.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that banks are permitted to allow a three-month moratorium on payment of instalments of all term loans outstanding on March 1, 2020. This decision applies to all regional, rural and co-operative banks as well as NBFCs, including housing finance companies. The moratorium will not result in asset classification downgrade and will have no adverse impact on credit history of beneficiaries. Travel trade bodies and associations have been demanding a moratorium on EMIs and bank payments for a period of one year along with a complete tax holiday.

The branded segment is expected to witness a revenue loss of US$ 3.55 billion to US$ 4.1 billion in 2020 and the second quarter of the year will be the worst hit, says Mandeep S Lamba, President – South Asia, HVS ANAROCK. “The overall revenue of the Indian hotel sector, including both organised and unorganised segments, is set to decline by anywhere between US$ 8.85 billion to US$ 10 billion, reflecting an erosion of 39-45 per cent compared to the previous year. Hotels will be unable to drive rates and may even seek to attract business at deep discounts,” he adds. With new confirmed cases being reported daily, the penetration of the COVID-19 virus in India has caused mass hysteria, the reverberations of which are expected to continue well into the second quarter of the calendar year 2020.

As flight bans multiply around the world, Qatar Airways has pledged to ‘clear the backlog’ of people wanting to get home from Asia, Africa and Australasia. Many countries have imposed flight bans that are closing down options almost by the hour. But Qatar has yet to close its airport, Doha, to flights. Having downsized operation a bit about a week ago, it is now upscaling by adding additional flights to some destinations and putting on bigger aircraft – for example its A380s are back in the sky now.

For those who miss travelling and want to get their dose of art and culture can rejoice. They can sign up for 22 amazing online tours and webcams for royal residences, museums and galleries, national parks and more in the UK. The highlight is The National Gallery, in collaboration with Google Street View, which has an online tour of its fascinating paintings across seven of its rooms and its central hall. Others are The Beatles Abbey Road 360, Victoria & Albert Museum and The Royal Academy of Arts’ online drawing class.