According to a recent data by Directorate General of Civil Aviation, (DGCA), Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Aug 2019 were 943.58 lakhs as against 913.95 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering annual growth of 3.24% and monthly growth of 3.87%. Also, GoAir has been reported as the most punctual airline for 12 months in a row by DGCA.

Indian tourist arrivals in The Netherlands registers a growth of 15% in the first half of 2019. The number of Indians travelling to The Netherlands from January-June was 1,00,000 as compared to 85,000 during the same period last year. The total number of Indian arrivals last year to The Netherlands was 1,75,000. The growth from India has been significant in The Netherlands, especially in May and June, this year- 23,000.

The second edition of the India Tourism Mart (ITM) opened to a full house, where over 240 foreign buyers and more than 140 exhibitors are participating. The maximum number of buyers are from United States, followed by China. The State of Gujarat is the partner state at ITM 2019. Sharing his view during the inauguration, Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Tourism and Culture, said that ITM is the best example of working together to promote tourism in the country with public private partnership. “I welcome all the foreign delegates, who have come to the second edition of ITM. I want to express my gratitude to FAITH and everyone in the industry to organise such a mart. The ministry is working hand in hand to move forward and grow tourism in the country. We are trying to take forward the recommendations and suggestions of the industry to the government and I am happy to say that five major steps have been taken for the industry. I would like to thank the Prime Minister and the government for their support and proving relief in various aspects. It’s like a Diwali gift for the industry. I would say that, money is important but perception is more important to promote India globally. We are growing in the different rankings and parameters around the world, which is evident of the fact that we are growing in the field of tourism. We are working now on how we can reach on top. Let us show the world what they have not seen and want to see in India,” he said. Welcoming the delegates at the inauguration, Subhash Goyal, Honorary Secretary, FAITH …

In a bid to encourage tourists and promote tourist destinations, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has upgraded 23 of its resorts in Maharashtra. The Corporation has also successfully completed take-over of 98 per cent of the restaurants linked with all the resorts across the state that were previously owned by private players. Abhimanyu Kale – Managing Director, MTDC commented, “Tourism industry in Maharashtra has tremendous potential given the rich historical and cultural heritage of the state. Having said that, we have observed that there is a surge in demand from a lot of local travelers, travelers from outside Maharashtra from other states and even foreign tourists who are keen to visit the various destinations across the region. And to compliment the same, we have undertaken and successfully completed the project of revamping 23 resorts across the state which took around six months and was done in a budget of around INR 1 crore.”      The state of Maharashtra has some unexplored and attractive tourist destinations which consist of beaches, forts, hill stations, heritage and sanctuaries. And MTDC has its resorts located across Pune, Amravati, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Nashik, Ratnagiri and even Mumbai. MTDC puts a lot of impetus to manage and improve the infrastructure to meet global standards and hence they have taken the initiative to upgrade their properties.

Lords Hotels and Resorts continues its mission in bringing smiles by entering in to a strategic tie up with Save The Children India – a most trusted NGO that has changed the lives of more than 1 CRORE Indian Children since 2008.   Lords Group has placed donation boxes in front office at all its hotels. The amount collected every month is donated by respective hotels to the NGO. The NGO helps children with the donation money and provides them access to quality education, food and shelter. Commenting on the occasion Pushpendra Bansal, COO – Lords Hotels and Resorts said “At Lords we aim to create enduring value in the lives of children coming from marginalized communities. This tie up will surely help them leverage future opportunities.” Rakesh Mathur, Director and Advisor, Lords Hotels and Resorts further added “We aim to enrich lives of underprivileged children for a better future through this endeavor”.

The GST Council has lowered tax rate on hotel tariffs to make India a more viable tourist destination. The GST on hotel room tariff between Rs 2500 to Rs 7500 has been reduced from 18% to 12% and GST on hotel room tariff above Rs 7500 has been reduced from 28% to 18%. This is a good news for inbound MICE, where India has been losing out to neighbouring countries. This move is expected to give boost to the tourism industry of the country. With this, the hotel industry has been removed from the 28 per cent tax slab, the highest under the GST regime.

When booking a flight, value is a top priority for over four out of five (86%) travellers today with just one in five (18%) now booking solely on cost, reveals Travelport’s Global Digital Traveler Research 2019, which surveyed 23,000 people from 20 countries. This trend is apparent across all age groups led by Baby Boomers (91%) who prioritize value marginally more than younger generations. To find offers of value, travellers ‘nearly always’ use a combination of travel review sites like TripAdvisor (42%), price comparison sites like Kayak.com (38%), recommendation sites like Kiwi.com (36%) and have conversations with travel consultants (31%).

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Aug 2019 were 943.58 lakhs as against 913.95 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year, registering annual growth of 3.24% and monthly growth of 3.87%, revealed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The majority of Chinese travellers coming to India are middle-aged visitors, reveals China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. A total of 57,451 Chinese travellers between the age group 30-49 years visited India, making it around 68% of the total Chinese travellers travelling to the country, claimed the report, implying that potential visitors from the neighbouring country coming to India are middle-aged.

India moved up to 8th position in 2019 from 9th position in 2018 in terms of cultural resources & business travel across the world, according to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2019 edition. China was at the top when it comes to cultural resources & business travel owing to its oral and intangible cultural heritage and cultural & entertainment tourism digital demand. India stepped up one place on these standards because of getting more international association meetings in the country.