The Centre recently has initiated the process to setup six more airports in the new state of Telangana. Telangana’s only airport in Hyderabad is also used by Andhra Pradesh since both the states jointly share the capital for 10 years. Andhra Pradesh on the other hand has six operational commercial airports out of which three are international airports. The greenfield airports will be built by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) although the timeline for the same has not been decided yet. The state government has been pressing the issue of more air connectivity in the state. Last year, it has identified sites for setting up three airports and sought upgradation of three existing airstrips which have not been operational.

The Government has formulated special action-plan for the development of tourism in Sri Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned a project development of Heritage Circuit: Anandpur Sahib – Fatehgarh Sahib – Chamkaur Sahib – Ferozpur –Amritsar – Khatkar Kalan – Kalanour – Patiala in Punjab for Rs.99.95 crore in the year 2018-19. Submission of project proposals by the State Governments/ UT Administrations under the above scheme is a continuous process. The projects under the schemes are identified in consultation with the State Governments/UT Administrations and are sanctioned subject to their adherence to relevant scheme guidelines, submission of suitable Detailed Project Reports, availability of funds and utilization of funds released earlier.

Residents of Mumbai and New Delhi travelling to Bulgaria can now apply for their visas through VFS Global at the new Bulgaria Visa Application Centres launched in the cities. In the coming months, VFS Global will commence Bulgaria visa services in 14 additional cities across India, namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Goa, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kochi, Kolkata, Puducherry, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram. The wide network of operations will also be leveraged to promote Bulgaria as an ideal destination for Indian travellers. Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO, Middle East, South Asia and China, VFS Global said, “VFS Global has been working closely with Bulgaria, offering visa services in other regions, and is honoured have this trust reinforced through this extension of services to India. Bulgaria has been rapidly climbing every Indian traveller’s wish list, and we look forward to providing our best-in-class visa services to them.”

India’s tourism sector is adopting a new digital and social media strategy to increase the flow of visitors from the East Asian markets, with a focus on China’s millennial, said, Rupinder Brar, ADG, MOT, post Incredible India roadshow in Singapore. She adds, “The feedback from Chinese millennials has helped understand their travelling needs. With such feedback, tour operators have been urged to plan tour products that offer more than the clichés.”

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of Tourism, Government of India, unveiled ‘Indian Culture’- an interactive web portal for digital preservation of cultural artifacts of India. Patel said that this portal will be a one-stop-shop for all the information along with pictures related to rare images of monuments, detailed accounts of Indian UNESCO World Heritage Sites, rare books, paintings, cuisines and research papers. The platform is live now on www.indianculture.gov.in and hosts data of cultural relevance from various repositories and institutions all over India. The portal was envisioned by Ministry of Culture in 2016 and IIT Bombay built the resources of the portal from scratch. Apart from the content hosted on the portal, one can also browse content available on the website of Ministry of Culture organisations.  

Outbound Tour Operators Association of India, OTOAI, has elected a new team. Riaz Munshi (N. Chirag) has been elected as the President; Himanshu Patil (Kesari Tours), has been elected as the Vice President; Shravan Bhalla (High Flyer) is the new General Secretary; Vineet Gopal (Engee Holidays) has been elected as the Joint Secretary and Siddharth Khanna (Khanna Enterprises) has been elected as the Treasurer. The members of the new committee members are, Mahendra Vakharia, Adl Abdul Karim, Gurdeep Singh Gujral, Ankush Nijhawan, Arshdeep Anand and Monia Kapoor.  

The second Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) Convention and the International Buddhist Travel Mart (IBTM) kick-started in Bodhgaya, Bihar. Speaking at the inauguration, Vinod Zutshi, Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said, “I congratulate ABTO for conducting this event and it’s great to see participants from 17 international countries. I think I have never seen a bigger congregation of Buddhist tourism lovers, especially when the programme is being convened by someone in the private sector. It great to see private players promoting tourism in such a manner. We all are blessed to be here at the event.” The two-day event is supported by the Ministry of Tourism. ABTO  provides a platform for religious tourism mainly Buddhism. It’s an international organisation working for the conservation, protection, preservation of monuments & promotion of tourism around the world.    

Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has launched Royal Hometel Suites in Mumbai. The hotel features 112 rooms & suites and features two banquet halls to conduct conferences, wedding and social gathering which can accommodate up to 550 guests. Anil Madhok, Executive Chairman, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said, “The opening of Royal Hometel Suites strengthens our position in the Mumbai market in line with the brand’s growth strategy. The launch follows the growing trend of business and leisure hotels along with the brand’s quality assurance and ‘Signature Sarovar Hospitality’. Our new property is appropriate for both business and leisure travellers considering the location of the hotel.”

Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has approved Zurich Airport International as developer for Jewar airport and its construction is expected to begin in February. The formal nod from Uttar Pradesh government comes after a bidding process in which Zurich Airport beat Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), Adani Enterprises and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings on November 29. This will be NCR’s third airport after Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and Ghaziabad’s Hindon. The winning bid was then put up before the project monitoring and implementation committee (PMIC) of the state government, before being forwarded to the Cabinet. “The Cabinet has approved Zurich Airport International as developer for Jewar airport,” UP’s Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi confirmed after the meeting here. The Swiss firm offered a premium of Rs 400.97 per passenger to the government, the highest among the bidders.

The first of the three-city Incredible India roadshow was held at Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore and witnessed participation from 25 Indian tour operators and DMCs along with representations from the state governments of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. India Tourism Office in Singapore said that the roadshow provided a platform to the stakeholders of India’s tourism industry to interact with their Singaporean counterparts and position  India as a preferred destination for tourists of Singapore. After Singapore, the Incredible India roadshow will take place in Kuala Lumpur on December 10 and in Bangkok on December 12. A total of 1,75,852 tourists from Singapore visited India in 2017, a growth of 7.4 per cent on the year.