GoAir in a statement has said that ahead of rainy season in Maldives, the airline has decided to curtail flight operations to Velana International Airport, Male for the period between July – October 2019. “Across the world airlines operate leisure destinations on the basis of seasonality and load factors. Post that, GoAir management team will take a call and resume flights.” GoAir spokesperson said.

The Global Travel & Tourism Resilience Council is organising the 1st Asian Resilience Summit in Kathmandu on May 31. Hosted by Nepal Tourism Board, the event is supported by UNWTO, PATA, IIPT, TripAdvisor, CNN, BBC, Qatar Airways, PEAK DMC and ETOA. The event has been planned in the region to celebrate the successful resilience efforts demonstrated over the last several years by the Nepal Tourism Board in overcoming the devastating effects of the 2015 earthquake and will review successful policies in Nepal which led to stabilization, regeneration and growth of the travel sector. The Summit will be an opportunity to share the strategies that have enabled the country to recover despite the different economic, political, natural and anthropogenic changes in the last few years. Further, the event is seen as a platform to foster opportunities for partnerships, trade and foreign direct investment. A highlight of the Summit will be the IIPT Peace Through Tourism Destination Awards which will be presented at a gala dinner as the culmination of the Summit. Ajay Prakash, President IIPT India and Kiran Yadav, Vice President will travel to Nepal to present the Awards in four categories: • Resilient Tourism Community Award • Resilient Tourism Business Award • Resilience Efforts Through Cultural Diversity • Change Maker in Tourism Award Government and travel industry leaders will come together sharing experiences and insights at the Summit. Well-known names such as Taleb Rifai, Xu Jing, Mario Hardy, Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, Deepak Joshi and H.E. Edmund Bartlett will join with Ministers of Tourism and other dignitaries to highlight opportunities in Nepal, strategies for resilience and explore further opportunities for Nepal’s continued growth, international perception management and also highlight the activities …

Group packages to Europe traditionally covered five to eight destinations within a couple of weeks. However, millennial travellers are expressing a preference for visiting fewer destinations on a single trip, reports a study by CAPA India and Expedia titled ‘The Inflection Point for Indian Outbound Travel’. There are two drivers to this. Firstly, a desire to better discover and experience the places visited. This is supported by the increasing affordability of travel which means that people believe that they will have the opportunity to travel again in future, rather than a trip being a once-in-a-lifetime event where they need to tick multiple destinations off a list. Secondly, travel is increasingly seen as a means to rejuvenate and recharge and hence more leisurely itineraries are preferred.

Emirates and Latam Airlines have entered a new codeshare partnership agreement with Latam Airlines Brazil, under which it would cover domestic services in Brazil. Emirates passengers travelling to and from Brazil will now be able to connect with 17 cities in Latam’s domestic network covered by the codeshare agreement including Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Foz do Iguaçu. Passengers travelling to/from these cities will now be able to connect seamlessly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro with Emirates’ flights to its Dubai hub, which serves over 150 destinations worldwide. Under the deal, Emirates passengers get more choice to travel to/from Brazil with minimum connection times to destinations in Emirates’ global network such as Japan, Australia and India amongst others. “We’re pleased to establish a partnership with Latam Airlines Brazil, providing our passengers with increased choice, flexibility and ease of connection to different cities within Brazil. We continuously invest in providing more benefits to our customers. With our award-winning product and strong partners in Brazil, we look forward to continue supporting the country’s growing inbound tourist numbers and business trade opportunities,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president, Strategic Planning, Revenue Optimisation and Aeropolitical Affairs.

Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has chosen Thomas Cook (India) to sign a strategic agreement that involves bringing more tourists from India to Sentosa. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this was signed between Mahesh Iyer, Executive Director and CEO, Thomas Cook (India) and Quek Swee Kuan, CEO, SDC in Mumbai. This three-year strategic agreement is aimed to strengthen Sentosa’s position as a top-of-mind destination for all Indian tourists visiting Singapore, increase Sentosa’s capture rates of the India market particularly in tier 2 and 3 cities, and grow visitorship to and spend on the island. To this end, both parties will collaborate on a multipronged effort comprising activities such as product development, joint consumer promotions, as well as publicity to raise Sentosa’s profile in the India market.   According to Sentosa’s visitorship numbers, India is currently ranked as the island’s top source market. While Sentosa has been featured as part of Thomas Cook India’s Singapore portfolio, the company has now focussed on curating exclusive Sentosa packages as well. Additionally, as part of the partnership, Thomas Cook India will offer enhanced access to multiple Sentosa attractions, coupled with exciting promotions and special offers on accommodation and attractions.  

OYO Hotels & Homes has announced that it has agreed to acquire Amsterdam-based @Leisure Group. @Leisure is a leading vacation rental company in Europe and manages holiday homes, holiday parks, and holiday apartments. @Leisure Group, through its Belvilla, DanCenter, and Danland brands, offers more than 30,000-fully managed holiday homes across 13 countries in Europe and through its Traum-Ferienwohnungen brand, offers a subscription-based home management service with over 85,000 homes across 50 countries. This represents a total inventory of 300k+ rooms. @Leisure Group has the unique ability to offer varied collections of managed homes across Europe to customers from across the world. The acquisition helps OYO move a step closer in realizing its vision of becoming a global real estate brand while maintaining leadership in the hospitality industry.

From Amsterdam, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will operate 777-300ER to Mumbai on May 10, 12 and 13, instead of 787-9. This will allow the airline to carry more passengers as 777-300ER will have additional 114 seats.  

International tourists’ spend on hotels in India expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 14 per cent by 2022, as per a latest study by KPMG and Google. Indian players currently enjoy a 55 per cent share of revenues in the accommodation industry. This is expected to reduce to 50 per cent by 2022 as international players plan to expand aggressively into Tier I and Tier II cities in India. Accommodation providers in these cities are set to witness influx of international travellers. Cities like Manali, Ooty, Gangtok are gaining popularity. Tier I and Tier II cities see the majority of leisure travel spending (approximately 87 per cent of overall international tourist spending is for leisure purposes). The accommodation market in these cities is dominated by several small and unorganised Indian players. Indian players have tapped into the opportunity through tie-ups with multiple sales representation companies for lead generation, global promotion campaigns and loyalty programmes. Promotional activities are supported by comprehensive marketing campaigns globally. Select large players have set up hotels overseas whereas smaller players depend on international travelers visiting India as it is challenging for these players to operate internationally without the desired scale. Online travel aggregators play an important role in organising the fragmented market and bridging the accessibility gap for international travelers by creating a transparent ecosystem.

PATA India Chapter’s First ‘Tourism MasterClass’ to be held on May 15, 2019 at the Le Meridien, New Delhi from 9:15 am – 5:30 pm for tourism professionals. It is a platform for gaining knowledge and learning from the experiences of well-known leaders of the tourism fraternity. MasterClass is targeted to attract middle to senior business leaders and help to add to their professional strengths to deliver a differentiated and profitable product offering  and will be inaugurated by Assistant Director General (ADG)- Meenakshi Sharma, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

Travel and tourism is expected to provide employment to nearly 53 million people in India, directly and indirectly, by 2029, as per a latest report on inbound tourism commissioned by FICCI and Yes Bank. The sector has been a key source of employment as well, directly accounting for 26.7 million jobs in 2018. Further, the total jobs from indirect and induced activity stood at 42.7 million. The number is estimated to reach 43.7 million in 2019, accounting for 8.1% of the total employment in the country.