According to a recent report by HVS, India ranks amongst the countries with the highest cost of capital for the hospitality industry. Lending norms for the industry are extremely stringent with interest rates ranging between 11% and 14% for borrowings as against an average of 4% to 5% in most developed economies. Given the higher cost of servicing debt, the quantum of debt available to the sector averages at 50% of the total project cost further restricting the capital available for hotel development. And finally, the cherry on this cake is the short tenure for repayment of debt which averages at circa 10 to 12 years including the construction period moratorium. Assuming a three-year construction moratorium and a three-year period for hotel revenues to stabilise, the effective repayment term ranges from 4 to 6 years causing severe stress on hotel owners and operators. Given the cyclical nature of the business, if the hotel enters the market in a down cycle phase, it is almost certain to head towards becoming an NPA as has been evident from the last cyclical downturn.

Air passengers travelling to France are facing delays and cancellations as French air traffic controllers go on strike. There are also strikes across the country, meaning other modes of transport are also affected. As air traffic controllers joined the strikes on January 9, all flights in and out of France, as well as over French air space, could be affected. Travellers are advised to check the current status of flight with the airline. From the UK, easyJet passengers will be among the worst affected. EasyJet has to cancel 20 flights of its French programme, two of which are UK touching. British Airways are also affected, with the airline cancelling 12 flights from Heathrow to various French cities. Similarly, Ryanair have also cancelled a number of flights. Likewise, Eurostar will also be cancelling more services.

Famous tourist landmark and one of Puerto Rico’s most cherished natural wonders, Punta Ventana has collapsed after an earthquake shook the island. Punta Ventana, which translates to “Window Point,” was a stone arch shaped like a round window located in Guayanilla along the southern coast. The rock formation was one of the island’s most iconic treasures and major tourist attractions. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake had struck the island, wiping out the natural structure. A colonial church constructed in 1841 has also been totally collapsed. It is likely the most damaging quake to impact the island since 1918.

Southwest and American Airlines have issued travel warnings ahead of winter storm Isaiah, which could pose travel problem in Southern US states. The storms are expected to bring tornadoes, large hail, flooding and high winds through North Texas. It is expected to bring snow and ice to parts of the Plains, Great Lakes and New England on Saturday. American Airlines said that people traveling to, from or through Dallas-Fort Worth International on Saturday may be eligible to make a one-time change to their ticket for free. While Southwest is also allowing passengers to rebook their flights without an additional charge.

Major airlines around the world rerouted or cancelled flights to avoid airspace over Iraq and Iran as tensions escalated in the Middle East following the Iranian missile attack. The moves come after the US Federal Aviation Administration banned US carriers from the region after Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at US forces in Iraq. The airspace ban prohibits US passenger airlines from flying over Iraq, Iran, the waters of the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The European Aviation Safety Agency also recommended that EU commercial flights avoid Iraqi airspace. Air India and Air India Express have rerouted flights over Iranian airspace, which will increase flying times by up to 40 minutes. France suspended all flights over Iranian and Iraqi airspace, while data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed British Airways was also rerouting flights. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines said its flights to Europe had been diverted. Australian carrier Qantas said it was adjusting its flight paths over the Middle East to avoid the airspace over Iraq and Iran until further notice.

In 2019, Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index ranked Bangkok as the No. 1 city for the fourth consecutive year in terms of international overnight visitors, while Paris overtakes London for the No. 2 spot. London stood at No.3 spot, while Dubai was at No. 4, followed by Singapore at No. 5.

According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com titled ‘India Outbound Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (M!CE) Tourism to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries – Market Trends and Opportunities to 2025’ released in December 2019, UAE is the top destination for Indian MICE tourists. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain accounted for more than 15 per cent of the share of the total outbound MICE spending by Indians in 2018. The India outbound MICE market to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is set to surpass US$ 5 Billion by 2025. The report uses a country-focused analysis to explore India outbound MICE tourism market to GCC countries. The report includes historical data from 2014-2018 and forecasts until 2025. It covers six GCC nations: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain.

A total of 1854.93 million domestic tourist visits were recorded to various states and UTs across India in 2018, revealed Ministry of Tourism’s report titled ‘India Tourism Statistics at a Glance 2019’. It recorded an increase of 11.9 per cent increase over that recorded in 2017 (1657.55 million).

The percentage shares of top 15 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facilities during November, 2019 were highest from UK (12.22%), followed by USA (10.75%), China (8.06%), Russian Fed (7.85%), Malaysia (5.71%), France (4.61%),Germany (4.60%), Australia (4.16%), Canada (3.85%), Thailand (3.25%), Italy (2.32%), Singapore (1.87%), Spain (1.64%), Vietnam (1.50%) and Israel (1.40%), reveals Ministry of Tourism.

Hahn Air added 39 new carriers to its leading network of over 350 partner airlines over the course of 2019. The flights of all new partners can be issued by travel agencies around the world on the insolvency-safe Hahn Air ticket. 17 of the new partner airlines are using the product HR-169 and have entered into an interline agreement with Hahn Air. The remaining 23 carriers are taking advantage of the products H1-Air or X1-Air for airlines that are looking to expand their GDS presence, thereby extending their reach through ten major GDSs to 100,000 travel agencies in 190 markets. “2019 was an incredible year for Hahn Air”, comments Jörg Troester, Head of Corporate Strategy, Industry and Government Affairs at Hahn Air. “In the 20th year of our ticketing business, we have introduced our NDC platform, Hahn Air Technologies and our new solution for corporate shuttle flights, HR-Corporate. In addition, we received IATA Level 3 NDC certification, issued the world’s first blockchain-generated air ticket and added 40 new airlines to our partner network. We are ready for 2020 with a focus on our products H1-Air and X1-Air, new technologies and sustainability. We’ll be able to share more news soon.”