Travelport has launched a new Trip Manager portal on Travelport+, offering self-service for travelers to carry out fast, easy transactions for their trip on the go and continues its Intelligent Storefrontmission by making it easier for agents to understand offers and compare brands with similar attributes on a like-for-like basis. Agencies using Travelport can also better manage the hotel bookings they sell with a simple self-service rules engine, the Content Optimizer.

The GBTA, along with its European partner organisations is urging for a concerted effort to the validity duration of the European Digital Covid Certificate, (DCC). The organisations urged nations to come together on the 270-day validity for certificates in a joint statement to the European Union and its member states. As per the statement, several member nations continue to apply their own rules, causing confusion for travellers.

Boris Johnson, the British PM, has urged international tourists to visit the UK to enjoy the spectacles, claiming that UK is safe and open to visitors, with no testing required for fully vaccinated visitors. The announcement comes ahead of a new VisitBritain £10 million international marketing drive, which will debut in February and target the UK’s most valued visitor markets in Europe and the USA

Travel demand has been wiped out by Covid-19, and cruise operations were among the first to be halted when the pandemic broke out in early 2020. After the pandemic ravaged the sector and drove its German shipbuilding subsidiary into insolvency, Genting Hong Kong Ltd. has filed to wind up the company, marking one of the greatest stumbles by a cruise operator globally.

In 2021, BNPL had a great year, with cities all throughout India adopting and making Buy Now, Pay Later a habit. According to the India BPNL report, travel was the fastest growing category among all the segments used by Millennials and Gen Z, with a 2.3 times growth in travel transactions, with a 50% increase, just in November and December of 2021.

The Philippines will relax an almost two-year ban on foreign visitors and businesses entering the country next month, officials said, in an effort to resuscitate the country’s devastated tourism economy as the latest coronavirus outbreak eased. Returning Filipinos would be exempt from quarantine beginning February 1 and foreign visitors from February 10, but they must be vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a new circuit house near Gujarat’s famous Somnath Temple. In his remarks, Modi emphasised that the country is taking a holistic approach to tourism. “Today, the 4S—Swachhta (cleanliness), Suvidha (convenient), Samay (time), and Soch—are required to boost tourism” (thinking). Our tourist attractions and holy pilgrimage sites were previously unhygienic. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has changed that picture today.

The WHO recommended at the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on COVID-19 that, the nations should remove the travel bans and restrictions. As per report, they do not provide value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress and further stated that these restrictions have been incompetent in capping the international spread of the Omicron variant.

Thailand’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has approved the resumption of the Exemption from Quarantine (TEST & GO) entry scheme, the reopening of the Pattaya and Ko Chang Sandbox destinations, and the reintroduction of the Sandbox Extension programme for vaccinated travellers from around the world, all of which will take effect on February 1, 2022.

In a message to the people on the 50th statehood day, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that, with the Centre formulating a comprehensive action plan for development and tourism, Meghalaya could become one of the most developed states in the country in the next 25 years. Dedicated efforts have been undertaken in Meghalaya for the development of infrastructure over the last several years.