Manmeet Singh, Chairman, IATO Punjab Chapter & ADTOI Haryana & Chandigarh Chapter has shared that he, along with other tourism stakeholders of the region met with Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, Punjab, and apprised him with the issues plaguing the industry. “We had a meeting with the honourable Chief Minister of Punjab, where we reiterated the points which we had earlier emphasised. The CM gave us a patient hearing to our points, which were pending. He also wanted to know what is the current scenario in which we were facing problems, especially the movement restriction owing to night curfew in the region. The said that he will get back to us. We have also been sharing things with the bureaucracy,” he said.

Rajya Sabha MP Dr Bhagwat Karad in the Parliament said that it is necessary to build infrastructure for the growth of tourism and economic development at the Ajanta, Ellora caves. “At the same time, efforts should be made at the government level to advertise these places. Accordingly, this can be made possible through various mediums and initiatives,” he said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a new order and said that international passengers are exempted from the mandatory week-long institutional quarantine on arrival at Mumbai Airport if they have received both the doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

To commemorate the 75-week long celebration of India@75, Indiatourism Delhi organised various activities including a Heritage Walk in the Mahrauli area to commemorate the Shahidi Diwas and a photo exhibition at Indian International Center in Delhi.

As part of Tourism New Zealand’s virtual road trip series, the region to be covered this month is Northland. The webinar is scheduled for March 23, 2021 at 11am and will be similar to what it did with Auckland, Christchurch, West Coast, Nelson Tasman, Queenstown and Wellington wherein pre-recorded video content shared by the New Zealand product operators will be shared. Northland is New Zealand’s northernmost subtropical region. It is also a place of deep cultural and historical significance. To experience this road trip, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Reacting to a social media post by Air India on March 18, Pradip Lulla, Acting President, TAFI, said that the association has written to the national carrier, asking for clarification. The post said, ‘Passengers traveling on AI flights to Rome, Toronto and Vancouver from India may kindly note that booking for these flights will not be available through travel agencies based in India.’

Tourism Secretary, GOI, Arvind Singh at the Closing ceremony of ‘Hazaar Baar Dekho, North East Dekho’ event said for developing tourism infrastructure in the region, MOT has invested Rs 1,565 crore under Swadesh and PRASAD scheme in 22 projects covering all 8 northeast states. “A number of these projects are complete or are near completion,” he said.

Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways in Lok Sabha said that at present, works for redevelopment of Railways stations have been initiated in Nagpur, CST & Ajni in Maharashtra; Habibganj & Gwalior in MP; Gandhinagar & Sabarmati in Gujarat; Ayodhya & Gomti Nagar in UP; Safdarjung & New Delhi; Tirupati & Nellore  in Andhra Pradesh; Dehradun Amritsar, Ernakulam and Puducherry station.

Greece and Iceland have decided to open its borders for COVID-19 vaccinated travellers or who have antibodies, or test negative. All tourists will be subject to random testing. While Iceland opened its borders from March 18, Greece will allow vaccinated travellers from May 14.

FHRAI and IRCTC have come together to offer hotel accommodations to tourists. The collaboration will allow hotel members of the FHRAI and its Regional Associations to provide their inventory for sale as online Accommodation Partners through the IRCTC tourism website and its associate portal. As part of the special partnering offer, a discount of 2 per cent on the commission payable to IRCTC is offered to the hotel or chain of hotels in the 3-star category or with equivalent facilities.