Travellers flying from the Kempegowda International Airport will have to spend more for tickets booked from April 16 to August 15 as the User Development Fee (UDF) has been increased. The UDF (User development fee) rates for domestic and international embarking passengers shall be Rs 306 and Rs 1226 respectively instead of Rs 139 and Rs 558.

Currently, the GLP facility works as a visa for foreign tourists who are arriving in groups of four or more. Tourists who are sponsored by Indian travel agencies approved by the tourism ministry with a pre-drawn itinerary are granted collective landing permits for a period not exceeding 60 days, with multiple entry facility to enable them visit a neighboring country. Considering the feedback received, a view has been taken that Group Landing Permit facility may be scrapped for passengers of those countries which have been extended e-Visa facility, as its sole purpose has been served and because, e-Visa facility has been presently extended to 166 countries.  

Chandigarh International Airport will now be functioning round the clock. Earlier, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) was functional for a limited number of hours. With this, the city will see better connectivity to international flights with the extension of the watch hours to 24 hours. Also, the runway upgrade for full-sized wide bodied aircraft is almost complete.

V Resorts, one of India’s leading leisure hospitality start-ups, with over 150 properties spread across 22 states, has announced the raising of $10 million in Series A funding to mark their next phase of growth.  The fresh round of investment is led by various HNIs. Existing investors, including Bedrock Ventures and RB Capital, also participated in the round. Through this investment, the company has plans to expand its footprint in India and also enter new markets across South Asia and the Middle-East, with a target of reaching 1000+ properties and 15,000+ rooms in the next three years. Within India, a significant part of the growth will be focused on entrenching markets such as Andhra Pradesh where the company is already in talks with the Andhra Pradesh Government to promote state-wide tourism.  The company, with its in-house tech infrastructure, also plans to invest more on the technology platform, giving customers a 360-degree independent travel experience, and plans to now build its own SAAS products for the hospitality industry.

Air India has announced that it will resume its flight services to Madrid from New Delhi from April 18. The national carrier temporarily suspended services to Madrid, as well as Birmingham from New Delhi last month after the closure of Pakistan airspace for all West-bound flights to and from India. Air India operates three times-a-week flight services to Madrid from New Delhi on its flagship aircraft Boeing 787-800. The airline released a statement saying, “Air India is set to resume its thrice-a-week service on the Delhi-Madrid-Delhi sector from April 18, after a brief interlude to cater to the consistent heavy demand from passengers both in Spain and India.” The national carrier has announced return fares for the Madrid-Delhi-Madrid route, starting from Euro 487.

Hong Kong’s largest hotel group, Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts recently concluded its roadshow in India.  During the roadshow, from April 8 -12, the sales representatives met with more than 200 customers from corporations, professional conference organisers and travel agencies in Mumbai and Delhi. The delegates were from- Harbour Grand Kowloon, Harbour Plaza Metropolis, Kowloon Harbour Front, Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees and Harbour Plaza Resort City. “India is a key market for our hotels in Hong Kong. We like to bring to our business partner the latest updates and development of our group which include the recently renovated Harbour Grand Kowloon lobby with the ‘Prisms of light’ – a chandelier of 150,000 pieces Swarovski crystals. In the third quarter of this year, a new tower extension of the hotel with 360 brand new guest rooms and suites, all with a panoramic view of either the city or the harbour, will be opened. This will bring the total room inventory to close to 1,000, becoming one of the biggest 5 star hotels in Hong Kong”, said Priyanka, Director of Nijhawan Group, GSA for Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts in India. “We’re opening this fall a brand new hotel, which will bring the group’s total room inventory in the city to more than 9300 rooms. Hotel Alexandra, with 840 guest rooms, is well located at the North Point harbour front. The hotel is designed exquisitely melding sophisticated French neoclassicism with contemporary elements, a combination of timeless affluent elegance and modern concepts delighting even the most discerning travelers. The lobby is adorned with rich red and gold colour, accented on numerous grand chandeliers with a judicious use of mirrors, flower engraved golden doors, …

In an attempt to stronghold its base in Mumbai, SpiceJet has announced to launch daily direct flights to Colombo, Dhaka, Riyadh, Hong Kong and Kathmandu by the end of May. “SpiceJet would be the first Indian budget carrier to launch daily direct flights on the Mumbai-Colombo, Mumbai-Dhaka, Mumbai-Riyadh, Mumbai-Hong Kong and Mumbai-Kathmandu sectors,” said the airline in a press statement. Ajay Singh, Chairman and MD, SpiceJet said, “We are delighted to connect a large number of popular international destinations from Mumbai, a city that has always been a key and integral part of our network.” “The airline already operates flights to Colombo from Chennai and Madurai, Dhaka from Kolkata, Dubai from Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangalore, Amritsar, Jaipur and Madurai, Hong Kong from Delhi and Jeddah from Hyderabad besides an upcoming flight from Kozhikode,” the release said.   The Indian budget carrier will use Boeing 737 NG aircraft on the new routes.

Enable Travel, accessible holiday specialist along with Ezy Mov, India’s first wheelchair taxi service has tied up with Red WAVE (Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle / Eco-friendly) cab services in Jamshedpur to address different travel related issues of people with disabilities and provide safe and reliable transport options to them. Through this tie-up, all three travel partners will work towards making travel around Jharkhand hassle-free and offer customised comfort vehicles for travellers as well as  fully accessible taxis to accommodate passengers with wheelchairs and other mobility issues including the elderly. Enable Travel will also offer tourists customised sight-seeing options in and around Jharkhand. Speaking about the partnership, Debolin Sen, Head, Enable Travel said, “An accessible Jharkhand will serve as a gateway to East India and further our cause towards accessibility and inclusivity. To ensure barrier-free travel and enhance transportation within a destination, we have partnered with Ezy Mov who are experienced to address this need along with Red WAVE Cabs for their expertise on local challenges. We are very proud to be continuing our commitment to make travel easy and hassle-free in India and working with like-minded partners to create an inclusive and accessible travel environment.” Bennet D’cunha – CEO, Ezy Mov said, “Our mission is to position India as the leading country with regards to accessible tourism. We have successfully implemented end to end accessible assistance in Goa and aim to replicate our success in Jharkhand and other parts of the country. With our joint efforts we want to reach out to a larger audience, address concerns of person with disabilities and senior citizens and provide the right travel solutions to them.” Sunil Kumar Dutta, Co-Founder Red WAVE said, “Accessibility is a right of …

Wallonia in India (AWEX Mumbai), Visit Brussels and Wallonia Belgium Tourism jointly organised a destination training workshop in association with Maratha Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture and TAAP in Pune recently. The presentation highlighted the hidden gems of Belgium. Introducing Wallonia to the audience, Emmanuelle Timmermans, Trade and Investment commissioner from AWEX, said, “We realised that even regular visitors to Belgium are not always aware of some of the hidden gems of Belgium. One of those is the new sensational city of Dinant, which was voted one of Europe’s Best Destinations in 2019.” She highlighted the most popular tourist attractions in Wallonia. Talking on Belgium’s promotional goals for 2019 and 2020, Timmermans said, “We would like to attract an increased number of visitors from India to our Region. Wallonia tourism is truly hidden as many truths are unknown to the world. Tourism trends are changing now, tourists believe more in unique experiences such as amazing activities, beautiful memories, mysterious places. Wallonia is one destination for all generation group and for all type of tourism interests let it be, FIT, Luxury, family, MICE or educational tourism, Wallonia has lots to offer to everyone.”

Srijit Nair has recently joined Rail Europe as the Regional Sales Director, Greater India (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan). He will be based in Mumbai. He worked previously as the General Manager – Sales, heading the NRI business (International Markets/Non-Resident Indian) in the B2B and B2C sales structure at Thomas Cook India Ltd. Prior to that role, Nair was responsible for leading the B2B business channels for the Western and Southern regions at Thomas Cook India. He was actively involved in building the franchisee model, new acquisitions of franchisee partners and with a focused approach on B2B space specially with the Preferred Sales Agents and the travel agents. Nair has done Masters in Marketing Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies as well as received a post graduate diploma in Tourism & Travel from Garware Institute, Mumbai and Bachelor of Management Studies from University of Mumbai.