In a recent update, Air India has announced that it will commence direct flight to London’s Stansted Airport. Fliers can now fly to Amritsar from three Airports of UK. The flights will operate thrice a week from October 31. The airline has also geared up to launch another non-stop flight to Nairobi from November 27 and Doha from October 29.

Aviation is undergoing a revolution and the pace of technological advancement is providing both opportunities and challenges, says Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation. He adds, “It has been our effort to ensure that policy fundamentals are contemporary, and that technology acts as an enabler and catalyst for growth.  Expanding use of unmanned Aircraft Systems (Drones) is one such example.  India is favourably placed to be a leader in this sector and serve as a model for balancing the opportunities that drones bring for social and economic development with the obligation to maintain public safety and security. Responsible use is the way forward.” 

Sri Lanka’s domestic military airport in the Jaffna peninsula has been upgraded from where direct international flights will be operated to several southern Indian cities from this month. Palaly Airport was converted into an international airport following the work which commenced in July this year. It will be formally declared as an international airport on October 17. The regional flights operations service from Palaly to Indian destinations and the Maldives is expected to commence from October 15 with the completion of the first phase of the development. Out of the total cost of investment of rupees 2,250 million, the government was to allocate rupees 1,950 million while the Indian assistance will provide 300 million rupees. Sri Lankan officials said India had shown interest in developing Palaly to have direct flights from Jaffna to the southern Indian cities of Madurai, Tiruchi and Thiruvanathapuram. It is the fifth international airport in the island after the airports in Colombo, Ratmalana, Batticaloa and Hambantota.

Nearly half (44%) of travellers have now used voice search to help manage travel, with use greatest among Gen Y travellers (61%) and lowest among Baby Boomers (12%), reveals Travelport’s Global Digital Traveller Research 2019, which surveyed 23,000 people from 20 countries. One quarter (25%) of Gen Y travellers today ‘nearly always’ use the technology for this use. When the technology is used by travellers, some of the most popular requests made are for information relating to the weather at their destinations (60%) and getting live traffic updates (54%).

The largest travel consolidator in the Middle East, Gold Medal has now launched in India at a launch ceremony in New Delhi. With its service, travel agents in the country can now benefit from the company’ extensive sales, marketing and operational expertise, advanced booking and reporting system. The company is planning to launch its full product portfolio, including hotel, car hire, insurance services and visas in India by the end of this year. Sharing more details at the launch event, Preetham Kiron, Managing Director- India, dnata said that Gold Medal will initially provide its Indian travel trade with access to flight bookings, offering over 100 airline partners’ servies at competitive rates.

During Aug 2019, a total of 760 passenger related complaints had been received by the scheduled domestic airlines, reveals Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the month of Aug 2019 has been around 0.64. While Vistara received least number of complaints (only 1/10,000 pax), Air Deccan received the maximum complaints (86/10,000 pax).

A total of 157,000 Indians took cruises of up to 3 days in 2018 as compared to 117,000 Indians taking the same duration of cruises in 2017, making it a YoY increase of 35%, revealed by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). Cruises of 4-6 days duration saw an increase of 10% with 32,000 Indian passengers, which was 29,000 in 2017. Around 24,000 Indians took cruises of 7-day period in 2018 as compared to 20,000 Indian passengers in 2017, recording a YoY increase of 19%. Long haul cruises of 8-13 days were taken by 5,000 Indians in 2018, which was the same in 2017 as well.

During the month of August 2019, a total of 1,66,424 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa, as compared to 1,50,457 during the month of August, 2018, registering a growth of 10.6%, according to statistics released by Ministry of Tourism (MOT). During January- August 2019, a total of 17,00,717 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 14,18,534 during January-August 2018, registering a growth of 19.9%.

Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Tourism, along with Usha Sharma, DG, ASI; Meenakshi Sharma, DG, Tourism and Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, launched the Audio Guide facility Audio Odigos for 12 sites of India, which includes Iconic Sites as well. Listeners will be offered various versions of history like synopsis, detailed history and podcasts. The audio can be chosen in their preferred language & version of the history. The app was unveiled on the second day of Paryatan Parv, and the MoU for the same was exchanged with Resbird Technologies last year, as part of the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme. Speaking on the occasion, Tripathi said, “This is a very good example of the PPP model, wherein the Government works hand-in-hand with the public sector to enhance the tourism products for both international and domestic tourists.” The Audio Odigos app contains an inbuilt map of the site for a smooth navigation during the tour.

Ministry of Tourism has released 11 itineraries, that will trace the life of Mahatma Gandhi, under the ‘Gandhi Gramin Circuit’, announced Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Tourism. Tour operators are going to promote the circuit throughout the year to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations. All these locations are directly connected with Mahatma Gandhi. Not only his birthplace, Porbandar, Gujarat, but all the locations he worked, lived and connected with people throughout his life. These locations include Mani Bhavan in Mumbai, Aga Khan Palace in Pune, Champaran in Bihar, National Gandhi Museum in New Delhi, Birla House (Where Gandhi was assassinated), Rajghat (Memorial dedicated to Gandhi) and certain places in Kolkata as well, where he led his movements during the freedom struggle of the country. Crafting some diverse tours and packages to sensitise the people about Gandhi, the itineraries include Shimla as well, where Gandhi spent a significant amount of time in his life.