The Israel Ministry of Tourism, India Office will conduct a virtual presentation for the Indian travel trade in all the seven states of the North East region of India on Tuesday, 6 July at 3 pm IST. The session will highlight various offerings on the theme of the Christian faith. To sign up, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

UK-based start-up airline Hans Airways has revealed the initial board line-up to spearhead its drive to gaining its Air Operator Certificate from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) later this year. The carrier plans to begin direct non-stop flights from the UK to India in Autumn 2021. The airline will soon make announcements about the structure of the senior management team.

Ajay Singh, Chairman & MD, SpiceJet said that SpiceJet has decided to raise funds of up to Rs 2,500 crore. “To ensure our long term growth and sustainable operation we have decided to raise funds, these funds will be used to significantly strengthen our balance sheet,” he said. The airline has reported a net loss of Rs 998.3 Crore in FY2021.

Recognising the significance of social media in transforming the country, The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) on the 6th anniversary of Digital India said that a total of 33,898 accommodation units have been registered under the National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry (NIDHI) portal as on 30th June 2021. The number of self-certified units under the SAATHI initiative are 10,646.

The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a 16-member-committee to come up with a revival plan for the tourism sector and suggest COVID-19 SOPs for tourists in the state. Director- Tourism will be the Chairperson of the panel which also includes representatives from TAAI, IATO, TTM, SIHRA, TTTHA, FICCI, CII and South India MICE Association (SIMA).

VFS Global has informed that it has started accepting applications for The Netherlands Visa for select visa categories in India with safety measures in place. At present, visa applications are only accepted in cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad. For more details on visa categories, operational days and safety norms, visit, www.visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/nld

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai continues with its hour-long webinar series in July that has been exclusively designed for the Indian travel trade. The next one will be held on Thursday, July 1 at 3pm IST and will focus on the Xacobeo Holy Year. Those who attend all three webinars and participate in the educational quiz stand a chance to win Amazon gift vouchers. To register, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Reacting on the Finance Minister’s relief measures announcements announcement for the tourism industry, Subhash Goyal, President, Confederation of Tourism Professionals of India said the announcement is ‘too late and too little’. “Already 10 million people in the industry have become jobless and thousands of companies have become bankrupt,” he said.

Korea Travel Expo, which was held from 22-24 June, recorded a total of 1100 buyers having 2669 meetings with over 15 exhibitors from South Korea. The delegation, led by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), consisted of representatives from around 9 DMCs, 6 regions and 1 attraction. South Korea is expected to open its borders for inbound tourism this year.

Tourism is in an upswing as Himachal Pradesh has seen 2.57 lakh vehicles entering the state in the last two weeks. On average around 18370 vehicles are entering Himachal Pradesh since the COVID curfew has been lifted on 14th June. 1,31,276 vehicles entered the state between June 13 and June 20 while 1,25,963 vehicles entered between June 20 and June 27. Almost all tourists places in the state are getting a huge influx of visitors.