The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has estimated that there could be losses up to $500 million because of cancellations from tourists from China and other countries due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to an estimate, more than 50,000 Chinese tourists were expected to visit during January-February and most of these bookings have now been cancelled, as India has blocked the entry of people from China and Hong Kong apart from many other countries. “We fear an immediate loss of up to $500 million as the coronavirus outbreak has hit the arrival of tourists from China, Hong Kong and neighbouring countries,” said Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO. He said losses for domestic tour operators would be much higher, as many outgoing local tourists to China and other countries were also cancelling bookings after the outbreak. “There is a panic in the tourism sector as thousands of bookings have been cancelled,” said E.M. Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO. He said foreign as well as domestic tourists were cancelling travel to Kerala.

Prague is seeking restrictions on Airbnb and other short-term letting platforms in the city to curb over-tourism. City’s mayor, Zdeněk Hřib, said under proposed restrictions, property owners are barred from renting out homes or apartments in their entirety, except when it’s their own home and they’re not present for the duration of the rental. Rentals would be limited to single rooms where the owner also lived. Between 2016 and 2018, the number of visitors to the Czech capital increased by 840,000 to over nine million. At the same time, accommodation capacities in the city’s hotels and hostels only increased by around 1.4%. Short-term letting platforms stepped in to fill the gap, namely Airbnb, which increased its capacity by 34%, according to a 2019 hospitality study from Deloitte.

Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s largest airline has announced the launch of direct flights between Mumbai and Almaty effective June 1, 2020. The flight KC291 from Almaty will fly on Mondays & Tuesday at 0705 hours and land in Mumbai at 1105 hours. On Thursdays and Saturdays, it will fly at 2205 hours from Almaty and land at 0210 hours. From Mumbai, flight KC292 will depart at 0310 hours and reach Mumbai at 0805 hours on Fridays and Sundays, the same flight will operate on 1205 hours from Mumbai and reach its destination at 1655 hours on Mondays and Tuesdays. For more details, reach out to Kazin Travel Consultants at ops@ktc.travel.

The South African Airways will cancel all its domestic flights, except for a reduced service to Cape Town, as well as eight international routes by end of February as it undergoes a business restructuring aimed at cutting costs. From February 29, it will no longer serve Abidjan via Accra (Ghana), Entebbe (Uganda), Guangzhou (China), Hong Kong, Luanda (Angola), Munich (Germany), Ndola (Zambia), and Sao Paulo (Brazil). On its domestic route network, it will continue to serve Cape Town from Johannesburg on a reduced basis but will end all other destinations, including Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth. Domestic routes operated by its low-cost subsidiary Mango will not be affected. Customers booked on cancelled flights will receive a full refund or be re-accommodated on services operated by Mango. International services between Johannesburg and Frankfurt, London Heathrow, New York, Perth and Washington via Accra will be retained.

Spain has launched a new low-fare, a high-speed rail line that connects passengers from Madrid to Barcelona with prices starting from just €10 (US $11) each way. The new line is known as AVLO, from the national rail company Renfe, and tickets will be priced between €10 and €60 (US$66) per journey, depending on the route and time of travel.  The high-speed AVLO service will offer three daily trains each way between Madrid and Barcelona, Spain’s busiest travel route. Travellers under the age of 14, who are accompanied by an adult, will pay just €5 (US$5.51). Commencing services in April, the rail line is offering passengers an average discount of 60% on fares between Madrid and Barcelona compared to the cost of the existing high-speed AVE trains (whose one-way tickets start from €32.30/US$35.60).

The number of Indian travellers to Middle East market is expected to increase by a compound annual growth rate of 10% to 9.8 million travellers by 2024, reveals a study by Colliers International as part of Arabian Travel Market series. Out of the 26.1 million travellers who took outbound trips from India, 5.4 million Indian tourists arrived in Middle East region in the year 2018. The Middle East countries like UAE, Bahrain and Oman are taking initiatives to increase share of Indian travellers through roadshows and easing of visa regulations. These countries are focusing on the Indian wedding and M!CE segments, diversifying from traditional leisure market.

India is among the top 11 destinations in terms of International Visitor Arrivals (IVAs) in Asia Pacific, and will record an Average Annual Growth Rates (AAGR) of 11.5 per cent between 2019-24, reveals the Executive Summary of the Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2020-2024, by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). The other destinations in top 11 include Cambodia, Bhutan, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Japan, Northern Marianas, Vietnam, Maldives and Korea. The report has predicted that nine out of 10 of these destinations will have  AAGRs of over 10 per cent between 2019-2024.

Tricia Warwick, Director, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa for VisitBritain, said that India is a huge tourism opportunity for Britain. “It is a priority market for Britain and forecast to generate more than 22 million outbound visits globally by the end of 2020, with inbound tourism from India to the Britain looking set to continue to increase by +50 per cent visits and +64 per cent spend between 2018 and 2025. According to the International Passenger Survey results for the first nine months from January to September, 2019, visitors from India to Britain set new records for visits and spend. Overall, there were a record 452,000 visits from India to the UK in those months in 2019, up 13% year on year. Those visitors spent a record £499 million, up 44% on January –September 2018,” she confirmed.

Hotel performance in India was subdued in December 2019 due to temporary softening of demand, reveals Hotels & Hospitality Overview India (January 2020) by HVS. December recorded an ADR of Rs. 6697.8 in top 13 markets in India recording a Month-on-Month (M-o-M) decline of -1.10 % and Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) decrease of 0.63%. The occupancy was 70.5% with a 6.51% decline M-o-M and 0.35% decrease Y-o-Y. The RevPAR in December was Rs 4719.1, recording a -7.54 decrease M-o-M and 0.98% Y-o-Y.

The two-day conference and exposition, Hi AiM kickstarted in Delhi where the theme “Emerging Trends” will be explored. The conference is expected to bring key stakeholders, developers and designers of the industry together. K.B. Kachru, Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor- South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group said, “It’s a great privilege to be here amongst distinguished designers, owners and suppliers. It’s a great platform for people who work behind the scenes to get the hotel running and also it’s a valuable platform to discuss pertinent issues of the industry. With the theme of 2020 Hi AiM, “Emerging Trends”, the Indian hospitality industry want to be in sync with the current trends.”