Travel M!CE Show has been scheduled for December 14 & 15 at the Trident Chennai. The show will be conducting one-on-one meetings with 60+ pre-approved buyers. The show will conduct 1800 meetings over two days. The show will entail pan-India corporate meetings on day 1 and interactions and meetings with MiCE specialists on Day 2.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will set up another museum to house objects excavated from across India which have been lying in the Central Antiquities Collection at Purana Quila. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 2 crore and is proposed to be opened by April 2020. The museum will be housed in the arched cells of Purana Quila. Central Antiquity Collection Section is a centre for housing the collection of antiquities explored and excavated by Archaeological Survey of India. These antiquities date back from the pre-historic period to post independence era. The objective to open new museum is to display antiquities such as tools, potteries, terracotta, beads of semi-precious stones, sculptures, architectural fragments, etc. for general public, students and research scholars. This information was given by the Minister of State (I/c) of Culture and Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

In a bid to promote Kerala in the China Market, Kerala Tourism with a high-profile delegation, along with the travel trade partners from the state, participated in China International Travel Mart (CITM) 2019 at Kunming and also organised two roadshows in Shanghai and Beijing. Kadakamapally Surendran, Minister, Tourism, Kerala, said, “We are trying to ensure brand visibility in East Asian markets using innovative strategies.  China is an important emerging market for Kerala Tourism. In just two decades, it has become the world’s largest outbound travel market, with some 145 million Chinese travellers visiting abroad in 2017.” Apart from Japan, Kerala Tourism is also focusing on Singapore and Japan, and participated in ITB Asia 2019 in Singapore and Tourism Expo Japan, held in Osaka, Japan.  

As a part of MITT 2020, ‘MITT Digital’ will be held on 17 March which will talk about startup technologies for travel agents and tour operators, current technology trends of incoming tourism to Russia etc. MITT Digital programme will also include sessions by leading international and Russian experts about online travel sector, current trends, new opportunities for business, and future or tourism business.

Goldstone Hotels & Resorts has spread its wings in the state of Bihar as the brand is set to launch two new properties; one at Motihari which will open next week and the other one in Patna, which will be unveiled in the next 15 days. Sandeep Singh, Managing Director Goldstone Hotels says, “The brand’s presence in the state was long due and we aim at having at least 7 more properties in Bihar by the end of this financial year to cater to every segment of clientele.”

Nepal has undertaken several projects with the support of the Asian Development Bank to attract religious tourists from various countries, including India. As part of infrastructure development by ADB, an international airport near Lumbini is expected to be operational by March next year and is expected to attract tourists from Buddha circuit in India. More than five countries, including India, have shown interest in starting airline operations from the upcoming airport.

Medical travellers can save up to 50% more in India than any western country, reveals a report by FICCI and E&Y. The report revealed that the average daily cost of travel in India is 31 dollars (about Rs. 2,232) as compared to the United States of America (about Rs. 16,056). Apart from that, even the mortality rate after 30 days of surgery is less in India (1.4 per cent), as compared to the United States of America (1.9 per cent).

The Hotel Momentum India report by JLL revealed that 15% of new hotels signed in Q3 2019, in India were conversions of old hotels. The report also highlighted that domestic hotel operators signed more properties than international hotel operators with the ratio of 67:33.

Overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of October 2019 has been 1.46%, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The least cancellations happened for IndiGo at 0.28% cancellation rate, followed by Vistara at 0.31%. GoAir recorded 0.36% of cancellations, while SpiceJet at 0.54%. Air India had a cancellation rate of 4.20% and Air Deccan recorded 45.68%.

During the month of October, 2019 total of 2,77,062 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 2,22,134 during the month of October, 2018 registering a growth of 24.7%, reveals Ministry of Tourism. During January- October 2019, a total of 21,75,727 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 17,99,552 during January- October 2018, registering a growth of 20.9 per cent.