WTTCII, appoints executive committee members for 2022-23 with Dinesh Khanna, Executive Director,Eastern International Hotels Ltd, as Chairman and Deep Kalra, Founder and Executive Chairman, MakemyTrip as Vice Chairman. Dinesh Khanna takes over from Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Spicejet who served as Chairman of WTTCII for 2020-21.

Addressing the session at The India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai: ‘Meet in India: Emerging Hub for Business and Social Events’, Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, MOT said, “India possesses excellent convention and hospitality infrastructure, unparalleled cultural, natural attractions and a rapidly growing economy all of which act as catalysts to India emerging as a hub of business and social events.”

The IATO wrote to PM seeking respite in travel norms and financial aid to overcome the crisis that, has worsened after international flights were postponed. Rajiv Mehra, President IATO, with 1,700 members, want the 7 day quarantine to be waived for vaccinated travellers with a negative RT-PCR report and urged the Centre for financial support to small and medium tour operators, to help save lakhs of jobs.

Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas unveiled the logo for the ‘Fam 2 Malabar 500’ initiative, that will bring around 500 tour operators from India and abroad to the districts of Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad, and Kasaragod this year to familiarise themselves with the region’s potential as a vibrant tourism hub.

At the session, ‘Adventure & Wildlife: The untapped potential of Incredible India’, G Kamala Vardhan Rao, DG, MOT, said, “For adventure tourism, India will emerge as a major destination. Gulmarg is identified as an alternative skiing destination by international ski lovers as Alps are already saturated with traffic. While we have infrastructure but the international standard infrastructure needs to be created, to attract more skiers.”

Madhya Pradesh Government is offering land at 8 potential land parcels & 3 heritage properties in the state to set up tourism projects, through online bidding process on attractive conditions such as; long term lease for 90 years, minimum reserved price per hectare, 1% lease rent per year of the premium, properties can be mortgaged to avail loans.

As per the analysis by Forward Keys, there are signs to be optimistic about the future in 2022. Following four key trends show the potential to make a difference in the near future- while the international travel recovered, domestic travel remained strong, the gap between leisure and business travel is narrowing, the APAC region is to reopen soon and the pent-up demand is real, people still want to travel.

Amusement Park industry will remain closed as per the latest Maharashtra govt. notification, to prevent spread of Omicron. Rajeev Jalnapurkar – Chairman, IAAPI and Director Ramoji Film City, requested the state government to allow amusement parks & theme parks to operate on 50% capacity as allowed to indoor venues like malls, cinemas, restaurants, gyms, saloons, etc for survival and employment retention in the industry.

The ETAA north India committee organized a networking event at the Taj Ambassador, New Delhi on December 8, ensuring all appropriate COVID protocols. The Chairperson, Sangeeta Manocha announced the new core committee for the north India Chapter, with Punit Bhasin taking on the role of Vice Chairman, Gaurav Arora as the Joint Secretary and the addition of the new Membership Head, Deepika Khanna, along with Saurabh Tuteja as General Secretary, Dinesh Kumar – Treasurer, Praveen Ghai – Joint Secretary.

The Ministry of External Affairs signed an agreement for the second phase of the Passport Seva Programme with TCS, for opening a Seva Kendra in every Lok Sabha constituency — where there is no Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK).The Programme is connected to more than 176 Indian Missions through Global Passport Seva Programme (GPSP), for “seamless” delivery of passport services.