Uttarakhand Tourism Minister, Satpal Maharaj has set up a committee to find land for the construction of an international airport between Dehradun and Haridwar. The state Tourism Secretary has also been asked to examine procedures required for the construction of an international airport. Besides, District Magistrates of Dehradun and Haridwar have been asked to help the department during the process.

Vishwas Makhija, President, ATOAI has said that his association is finding ways forward to create new Chapters at the state level. “We have identified five states where we will go forward with our detailed Chapter formation and have ATOAI-representative on the ground in every state. There will be 2 liason each from the local association, state government and tourism authorities,” he said.

Kerala’s West Coast Canal project traversing through 11 districts is all set to be a tourism water highway. Around 50 tourism spots will be created along the banks of the WCC corridor from Kovalam in the south to Kasaragod in the north with the involvement of local bodies. The government aims to connect the existing canal network with the rest of the state.

The government has further enlarged the scope of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ELGS) by including the aviation sector. The government also removed the loan outstanding ceiling of Rs 500 crore on sectors like hospitality, travel and tourism, leisure and sporting, and civil aviation, which means that even bigger entities with even higher outstanding loans in these sectors can avail of the ECLGS scheme.

Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Vijay Shah has said that the state has reopened national parks and tiger reserves from June 1 till June 30. The parks and reserves were shut amidst COVID-19 restrictions for the last 2 months. He said that travellers will have to follow COVID-19 guidelines during their trip. Madhya Pradesh is home to several tiger reserves such as Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Satpura and Panna.

Keeping in mind the prevailing tough times where the tourism sector has been one of the worst hits, the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) has waived off the annual membership fee for the financial year 2021 – 22. The Association had reduced the fees by 50% for the financial year 2020 – 2021. The move is a testament of the fact that the association recognises and empathises with the challenges being faced by the outbound tour operators in India today.   Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI said, “This is not the time to make money or fill up reserves. We understand the plight of our fellow industry colleagues and this gesture is our way of showing our solidarity to them. The outbound from India has been severely affected and it will indeed take a while before things go back to normal. The second wave has hit all businesses, especially tourism (which had started to pick a little in December / January) severely and different entry laws/requirements by different countries has made outbound travel very challenging. I would also like to urge people in the travel fraternity to get themselves vaccinated at the earliest possible so that whenever tourism opens, our customers do not hesitate to reach out to us and it will also send out a positive message to the world.”

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), New Delhi office has announced its 1st virtual ‘Korea Travel Expo’ B2B event for India market from 22nd- 24th June 2021. Participants will get a chance to interact with over 15 top Regional Tourism Boards, Attractions and DMCs of Korea, which are already confirmed to exhibit in the event. The ‘Korea Travel Expo’ is aimed at reconnecting Indian travel agents to their previously known suppliers and also a variety of new exhibitors who are looking forward to connect with the Indian market for the very first time. Interested travel agents can register themselves at www.koreatravelexpo.com, email Jaspreet at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

NIMA, on the occasion of its 7th Foundation Day, has reconstituted its Executive Team, and has announced Jagdeep Bhagat from Vee Bee Tours as the National Coordinator for the second time. Gajesh Girdhar from Paryatan, Muzaffarnagar, has been announced as the Chairman Emeritus, while SanJeet from Buzz Travel Marketing is the Mentor for the association. Vikas Khanduri of Holiday Merchants is the Advisor for the team.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board is all set to launch a special project ‘Safe Tourism Destinations for Women in MP’ with the support of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD). The project will be implemented in a phased manner at 50 destinations in the state in the next three years at a cost of Rs 27.98 crores.

During ATM Virtual, Arival research carried out with 1500 respondents on the outlook for tours, activities, attractions, and key trends shaping the sector’s revival post-COVID-19 pandemic revealed that as travel resumes, self-guided tours and experiences will become a viable alternative to large group experiences. The research identified that almost all operators (99%) implemented health and safety measures.