Shripad Yesso Naik, Union Minister of State for Tourism, stressed on the importance of coming up with a new medical tourism policy. “In order to improve medical tourism, the government in the upcoming budget will include subsidies and benefits for patients coming to India,” he said.

Amidst ongoing controversial remarks by Maldive’s politician, a lot of agents and companies are cancelling Maldives bookings. Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI, said, “Approximately, Maldives faces 40%-50% cancellation by Indian trade. Due to this comment, there is uproar in social media, impacting sentiment of people in India. Some outbound operators have also cancelled their bookings”.

EbixCash joins hands with Sheraton Travels to inaugurate their new EbixCash Travel Experience Centre in Connaught Place, Delhi. Naveen Kundu, Managing Director, EbixCash Travel, announced, “We plan to open approximately 30 centers similar to this one in tier two, tier three, and tier four cities across the country.”

Ryanair confirmed  a number of online travel agents (OTA), including Booking.com, Kiwi.com and Kayak, removed Ryanair‘s flights from sale on their websites in early Dec-2023. Ryanair stated the removals “may be the result of pressure from Consumer Protection Agencies”, or a response to the recent Irish High Court ruling which granted the LCC a permanent injunction against Flightbox. Ryanair expects the removal of flights from the OTA websites to reduce short term load factors by 1% or 2% in Dec-2023 and Jan-2024, and to soften short term yields. The LCC does not expect the removals will materially affect FY2024 traffic or profit after tax guidance. Ryanair noted it will aim to lower fares “where necessary” to encourage passengers to book directly on its website. 

According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global luxury travel market size reached US$ 2,049.2 Billion in 2022. Looking forward, the market is expected to reach US$ 2,683.9 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 4.60% during 2022-2028.

Following the annual convention held in Nairobi, OTOAI has received 15-30 new applications for enrollment. The association is also stringent about accepting the applications and is not approving every application that comes in. “We are now working towards capitalizing on the convention,” said Riaz Munshi, President of OTOAI.

As per HVS Anarock, in line with the season, Goa regained its spot at the top with the highest average rates (surpassing ₹12,000) followed closely by Mumbai (also exceeding ₹12,000). Kolkata saw a substantial 30% spike in its average rates from the previous month and a 23% increase compared to November 2022.

P A Mohamed Riyas, Kerala Tourism Minister, mentioned, “Heli-tourism endeavour enables tourists to save time during their visits to destinations. Travellers may sometimes face a few hiccups with surface travel in the state. Thus heli-tourism will be of immense benefit”.

Larry Yim, General Manager, Away Bangkok Riverside Kene, mentions that we want to focus on closely working with some Indian partners to boost direct booking this market for the Indian market. We are also focusing on incentives & FIT groups from this market.

Bali provisional govt introduces tourism tax system from all international arrivals  with effect from 14 February 2024. The compulsory levy will see all international tourists pay IDR 150,000 (US $10). The authorities claim that payment process will take only 23 seconds at Bali Airport.