As per the DGCA advisory to restrict international traffic from Turkey and Malaysia, IndiGo will be cancelling its flights between Delhi-Istanbul and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur from March 18, 2020 until March 31, 2020. The airline has already cancelled flights between Bangalore-Kuala Lumpur until March 31, 2020 and Delhi-Kuala Lumpur until April 30, 2020. These are purely temporary and precautionary measures. We understand that these measures will cause inconvenience to our customers and we will be refunding the full amount to the impacted passengers.

Former CMD of Air India, Ashwani Lohani has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) with the rank of a cabinet minister. The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed the former bureaucrat for a tenure of one year. A retired officer of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers, Lohani had previously served as CMD of the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and also as Chairman of the Railway Board.  The AP government expects Lohani’s experience in varied sectors would help harness the tourism potential of the state.

All ASI-protected monuments, including Taj Mahal, and central museums across the country will be shut till 31st March in view of the threat of COVID-19. Confirming the same, Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said that an order regarding the same will be issued soon. There are 3,691 centrally protected monuments and sites under the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The culture ministry officials said given the fact that there are huge footfalls at such monuments as well as museums, it was imperative to shut them down in the wake of the disease outbreak.

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang has banned the entry of foreign and domestic tourists into the state and shut down public places such as educational institutes till April 15 in view of novel coronavirus outbreak. He also appealed to the people of Sikkim to avoid travelling outside the state unless it is an emergency. There will be a complete ban on visits of even domestic tourists in Sikkim, the chief minister said, adding a notification in this regard will be issued on Tuesday. The Himalayan state is a favourite destination of both domestic and foreign tourists. Over 1.33 lakh foreigners visited Sikkim in 2019, while nearly 12 lakh Indians visited the state till September last year, according to government data. The Tourism Guest House at Rangpo will be converted to a quarantine centre and similar arrangements will be made at Melli, he said. All government and private schools, colleges and universities and public places such as discos, casinos, gyms, fairs and festivals will remain closed till April 15, the chief minister said after a high-level meeting in Gangtok. Students should stay put in Sikkim and refrain from travelling outside even if it means travelling to their home states, Tamang said. He asked people to take these decisions positively as nothing is more important than public health and life.   PTI “Sikkim is fortunate to have not a single case of coronavirus, but we should continue to take all precautionary measures,” the chief minister said. Tamang said the authorities concerned have been directed to store all essential commodities to avoid any shortage in future.

B2B DMC, TravelBullz’s new online booking engine named ‘Phoenix’ is live now and users can start using it, informed KD Singh, Founder & President, TravelBullz. Expressing his views, he said,” Welcome to a new era of B2B booking experience. With the chat box option on our new website, you can reach us by just typing in your message. We are now more accessible than ever before. The company’s website says that all existing tours and transfer bookings for travel starting 18th March 2020 would now be available on Phoenix.  For all the old bookings and record, users can go to www.bookings.travelbullz.com. According to TravelBullz, Phoenix is the most advanced B2B booking engine with new dynamic package module and the best user experience.

Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism in a letter to all the travel trade associations on taking measures on COVID-19 has said that as an industry, we should start formalizing plans for revival, once the situation stabilizes and is under control. “Tourism stakeholders have made several suggestions on measures that could be taken to keep the confidence of the industry, consumers and stakeholders, which will be considered for taking up with the concerned authorities. We look forward to everyone’s support and assure you of ours in overcoming the situation,” said Sharma. She was talking in reference to a meeting with stakeholders chaired by the Tourism Minister on March 16.

Aviation regulator DGCA has directed all domestic and international carriers to “scrupulously” follow the fresh travel restrictions announced by the government on Monday, which cover countries from the European Union and the UK, and Turkey. With cases of coronavirus swelling in the country, the government on Monday prohibited entry of passengers from EU countries, Turkey and the UK from March 18 till March 31. “Travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the UK to India is prohibited with effect from March 18. No airline shall board a passenger from these nations with effect from 1200 GMT on March 18. The airline shall enforce it at the initial port of departure,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular. It also said the government has expanded compulsory quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days for passengers coming or transiting through Qatar, UAE, Oman and Kuwait and this will also come into effect from 1200 GMT of March 18 at the port of first departure. “Both these restrictions are temporary measures and shall be in force till March 31 and will be reviewed subsequently. “All scheduled Indian and foreign airlines engaged in international transportation to and from India, therefore, are directed to scrupulously follow above advisory and not to carry any passenger in violation thereof,” the DGCA said in the circular.

Lords Hotels and Resorts have recently added a new property in Arunachal Pradesh at Dirang. To be launched under ‘Inn’ branding, the property is expected to commence operations after implementation of Brand Standards. Pemaling Lords Inn will feature 24 well-appointed rooms and a multi-cuisine Restaurant. The property is located at West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. Dirang is a mesmerizing halt on the way to Twang. The pleasant weather, scenic beauty, rich culture and comfortable accommodation options here make it a much-favoured town for tourists, particularly for those who want to take an overnight halt on their way to Tawang. Commenting on the occasion, Pushpendra Bansal, Chief Operating Officer, Lords Hotels and Resorts said, “Dirang welcomes you with snow-capped mountains, gushing streams and lush greenery”. We see immense potential for leisure tourism and are proud to introduce Lords Inn in this region”. Buban Prasad, Promoter, Pemaling Lords Inn Dirang stated, “There was a need for a branded hotel of this calibre in this location and we found Lords Hotels and Resorts to be the best partner for the project” Rakesh Mathur, Director and Principal Advisor, Lords Hotels and Resorts further added, ”Arunachal Pradesh is a growing market and is witnessing an escalating demand for quality accommodation. Lords Hotels and Resorts aims to bridge this gap by offering its True Value hospitality”. Vikas Suri, Sr. Vice President, Lords Hotels and Resorts concluded, “We are delighted to expand our presence in North East with first property in Guwahati and now the second one in Dirang. We believe that this hotel will deliver a notable experience to our guest.  

The UAE government, has announced the suspension of visa services for foreign nationals as a precautionary measure.  As per the instructions received from Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship, the UAE visa services for all foreign nationals are temporarily suspended. Our visa services will remain suspended till further instructions. Passengers having valid visas issued prior to 17 March 2020 are allowed to travel as per the information received.

Beautiful Soul Travel Company merges its travel businesses with Bangalore based global accommodation provider TravelSync. The merger is part of TravelSync efforts to diversify and increase their market share in western and central India. This alliance will allow us to provide hotel accomodation services to an even wider set of travellers & new customer base in western and central India” says Vishwas Subbaiah MD TravelSync. TravelSync was incorporated in 2010 with the sole intent of providing Business travellers the best available accomodation options within their travel budget. Beautiful Soul founded by Hotelier Rajan Kalra in 2018, have innovated and grown to providing bespoke travel solutions to travellers. Vishwas and I saw a great opportunity to join forces and I am excited that this merger enables all of us to continue a great journey together as the leading travel service provider in India” said Kalra