Parag Thakker, Director, Shri Mahalakshmi Vacations, along with his wife Shilpa Thakker, Director, Shri Mahalakshmi Vacations, have announced that they have now acquired a stake in online consolidator Multilink for an undisclosed amount. This is the third company that they have invested in, the most recent one being JustClickKaro.com. in Jan 2019, they had acquired arzoo.com. Mumbai-based Multilink is headed by Nikhil Shah who recently forayed into utilities as well, thereby offering a wide range of products in the online segment.

Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) has finalised the dates for the 2nd edition of the India Tourism Mart (ITM). Subhash Goyal, Honorary Secretary, FAITH, said that the 2019 edition of trade show will be held from September 23-25, 2019 at The Ashoka, New Delhi. He also said that the association is expecting to shortlist around 500 international buyers in this year’s ITM. In 2018, around 250 buyers attended the show. “The process of selection is very transparent, everything detail is available online. For this year’s show, we will also have representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, who will be present in the selection process. This year, we will not allow buyers who came for the show last year,” he informed. “We have had meetings of the board members, where all the arrangements are being done in a transparent manner. We are also in the process of choosing an advertising and marketing promotion agency. We have already called for tenders and we will be soon finalising it,” he further added. Goyal reiterated that the objective of India Tourism Mart is to promote inbound tourism to India.

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) is all set to open its Northeast Chapter in Guwahati on April 6, 2019 at Vivanta by Taj, Guwahati and will coincide with Rongali Festival. PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, shared the news saying that it will be the Association’s 10th chapter. “The inauguration ceremony of the chapter will be graced by the presence of the Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of Assam, tour operators and hoteliers. The Chairman of the Northeast chapter of ADTOI will be Arijit Purkayastha, MD, Koyeli Tours. The launch event will be followed by B2B meetings between ADTOI members and the local agents in Guwahati.” Arijit Purkayastha, MD, Koyeli Tours, who will be the Chairman for Northeast Chapter, ADTOI, said that his main aim would be to connect the tour operators based in various parts of India to those in the Northeast. “We would want everyone in India to know about the Northeast region, since many tour operators from Meghalaya and Assam are not participating in travel shows in other parts of India. Also, people and even tour operators living in other parts of India are sceptical about the safety and connectivity in the region. Our main agenda is to make people aware of the safety in the Northeast region.”  

Lords Hotels & Resorts has announced its latest property in Lucknow which will be named as Lords Eco Inn. The hotel will be operational by mid 2019 and will have 30 rooms along with an F&B outlet and a banquet hall. It is Located in the heart of Lucknow in Hazratganj and the nearest airport is Lucknow Airport which is at a distance of 14 kms and the nearest railway station is Lucknow Railway Station which is just 4 kms from the hotel.

DGCA has approved the summer flights schedule of Jet Airways for March 31 to April 25 only, according to an official document, accessed by PTI. The summer schedule of flights of all other domestic airlines such as Vistara, IndiGo, Air India and GoAir have been approved till October 26, according to the document. As per the international practice, DGCA approves two flight schedules in a year, namely, ‘summer schedule’ effective from Sunday of the last week of March and ‘winter schedule’ effective from Sunday of the last week of October. The summer schedule begins on 31 March, 2019 for all the airlines.

Amidst turbulent times of the domestic airlines industry. Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Civil Avation has said that government cannot interfere in their-day-to-day operations. He further said that efficient operations and financial performance are individual responsibilities of the carriers. “In view of intense competition, rising costs, shortage of pilots and grounding of planes is hurting many domestic carriers. The government has been constantly responding to industry conditions and cited measures taken, including reduction in central excise duty on jet fuel to 11 per cent from 14 per cent,” the minister said to PTI. Prabhu further said the airline industry is a dynamic industry which requires continuous adjustment according to global and domestic needs. “It is our endeavor to support the industry, however, as stated we cannot interfere in day to-day operations of the airlines,” he noted.

Furaveri Island Resort & Spa enters India market through a market representation agreement with India Sales Associates. “Regarded as a Truly Maldivian resort with modern facilities, Furaveri Island Resort & Spa is the perfect getaway in Maldives. Expansive green landscape in 23 hectors, overlooking a white sandy beach and panoramic ocean views are the setting for a relaxing holiday in the most beautiful surroundings. Furaveri Island Resort & Spa is located 151 kilometers (95 miles) north from Malé International Airport, is accessible by direct scenic seaplane flight or domestic flight followed by a 45-minute speedboat journey, offers an unmatched experience for individuals, couples and families. Whether you are an adventurer seeking the underwater experience, an explorer looking for a remote exotic island or a fishing enthusiast ready for the big catch” – said Manas Sinha, Director, INDIA SALES ASSOCIATES. Led by one of the Maldives most celebrated chef, resort is geared to serve the authentic Indian cuisine and Jain meals, aside the wide variety of International and specialty Fusion Asian and Casual Mexican cuisine.

Air India is all set to fly from Delhi-Kannur, starting April 2, 2019. The newly launched flight will be operating five times a week. The flight will commence from Delhi at 0905 hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and will reach Kannur at 1215 hours. After this it will continue to operate from Kannur at 1300 hours to Kozhikode at 1330. The flight will return to Delhi by 1845 hours on the same day via Kannur.

GVK led Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has completed its runway re-carpeting and maintenance work at the intersection and will resume regular work after a twenty-one-day runway shutdown. The key to success of this project was handing precision on-time re-carpeting work of the runway within its stipulated six hours, maintaining Mumbai’s challenging flight schedule. The re-carpeting of the 50,000 sq. mt. intersection was carried out using state-of-the-art technology which allows ease application, quick-setting features and enables airports to take a load of normal air traffic immediately after application. The resurfacing work was carried by a team of 600 workers in-line with a well-planned exercise to ensure that the work in hand is completed on-time. A military disciplined process was followed right throughout the planning, designing and construction stages with limited aircraft downtime. Mumbai airport is the busiest single-runway airport in the world, having two cross runways, 09/27 (main runway) and 14/32 (secondary runway) handling about 950+ aircraft movements per day. Operating to over 112 destinations in India and around the world, CSMIA has helped the airport set a new record by handling 1,004 aircraft on a single runway on December 8, 2018, surpassing its previous record of handling 1,003 flight movements in a day in June 2018.

In 2018, 23,69,941 tourists have arrived in India through e-tourist visa, according to a report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). Tourist arrivals through increased at a CAGR of 251.59 per cent during 2014-17 to reach 1,697,000 tourists in 2017. The government has recently made a series of amendments in the e-visa regime to make it more tourist-friendly. The duration of stay in India of e-tourist and e-business visas is maximum up to one year with multiple entry subject to the stay stipulations. Also, the existing restriction of allowing foreigners for a maximum of three times has also been removed. On e-tourist visa, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days in case of nationals of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa except nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan. In case of nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days. In all cases, no registration will be required. On the changes in e-business visa, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days in case of nationals of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa. No registration will be required if the stay is for a period of less than 180 days. The e-visa is valid for entry through two more designated airports (Bhubaneswar and Port Blair), raising the total number of such airports to 28.