Bahrain’s Civil Aviation Affairs has announced the suspension of entry for travelers arriving from red list countries, namely – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Bahraini citizens and residency visa holders are not subject to the suspension but will have to present an approved PCR test certificate conducted no more than 48 hours prior to boarding and undertake another PCR test on arrival and on the tenth day of stay.

The Maharashtra government has prepared and submitted a tentative ‘serial’ nomination in order to seek the World Heritage Site tag for 14 forts in the state. All 14 of them belong to the era of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century and these forts have been built on the theme of Maratha Military Architecture. The Ministry of Culture after a serial nomination by the Archaeological Survey of India has forwarded the list to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

One of the global leaders of Safe Tourism, Turkey is ready for 2021 summer season with heightened safety measures. Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) hosted the ambassadors of foreign missions, in the Safe Tourism event held in Antalya, Turkey from May 21 to 23. Indian Ambassador to Turkey also graced the event with his presence and experienced the measures on-site. The ministry aims to ensure that all safe tourism measures are experienced directly by the representatives of foreign missions to Turkey. Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, talked about the preparations for the 2021 summer season and stated in his speech that,  “As a leading country in safe tourism, Turkey welcomed more than 16 million guests in 2020, and we are looking forward to 2021 to be a year of heightened safety in tourism season. We are ready for the Summer  2021  season with  more than 10,000 certified tourism facilities across Turkey.” While addressing the ambassadors during the event, Minster Ersoy also mentioned that, “Tourism safety has been our top priority over the last year and we had a successful season of certification program that has become one of the best practices worldwide. In our national vaccination program, more than 27 million doses of vaccine have been applied to Turkish citizens to date. The vaccination program, in which we prioritize tourism workers, will continue to accelerate in June,” added Minister Ersoy. Launched by Turkey in June 2020, Safe Tourism Certificate certifying compliance with global safety standards for tourist spots,  accommodation facilities and airports. The Certificate have been awarded to more than 9,800 businesses as it enters its second …

It is with deep sorrow we would like to share with you all about the tragic demise of Ms Meenu Sachdeva, being the Founder Member and MD of TI Infotech sadly passed away on 11th May 2021. We at TI Infotech are left with her vision, commitment towards the TI Family. She served for almost 31 years in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality sector including organizations like International Travel House, MakeMyTrip, SITA World Travel (KUONI India) before forming TI Infotech in 2005. In this journey, she worked on various projects giving solutions across industries in different parts of the world. Her problem-solving approach was incredible which has helped not only in TI Infotech but many of our customers and even to the extent of helping many at personal levels. We have some extremely fond memories of  Meenu, she will always be in our prayers and her legacy will continue to guide and inspire us. She was a feisty and strong leader and always passionate in all she did. She cherished challenges and had an amazing problem-solving capability. TI Infotech and the entire team is so committed to her legacy even in her physical absence to continue the journey she left in between. This will be our tribute to her. May God bless the departed soul to his Heavenly Abode and give the entire TI family strength and courage to bear this irreparable loss. – Arjun Sharma, Chairman, TI Infotech

Prateek Hira has been appointed as the Chairman of FICCI Tourism Committee, Uttar Pradesh State Council. Prateek Hira brings 27 years of experience in the tourism industry and expertise on the subject with many tourism researches to his credit. The committee shall advise the government of Uttar Pradesh primarily on the issues plaguing the tourism industry and will work closely with the government of Uttar Pradesh to revive tourism in a time-bound manner after the present situation of pandemic eases. A detailed white paper will be presented to the government that will enlist the measures required for the earliest revival of tourism. The government of Uttar Pradesh has resolved to create employment opportunities through tourism and make tourism a key driver of growth and FICCI through its Tourism Committee under the chairmanship of Prateek Hira will be a catalyst to make this happen soonest.

Yatra Online has announced the launch of a new platform ‘Covid Connect’, which enables people to get verified information on COVID-19 resources. The team and volunteers at Yatra.com have put in efforts to ensure that the resources are verified beforehand for quick and accessible information. The platform has resources on the availability of oxygen, hospital beds, ambulances, medicines, food services, test centres, doctor consultations, and home ICU options. At present, the platform includes information from Delhi and Mumbai and its nearby areas. Additionally, interested people can also volunteer to be a part of the team and contribute to the platform for resource verification and resource curation. Commenting on the new initiative, Dhruv Shringi, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Yatra.com said, “We at Yatra, have always believed in creating memorable travel experiences for our customers, however, with COVID – 19 we are currently operating in such uncertain situations. Owing to the same, we as a company are stepping up to provide easy access to reliable information to the consumers. We are focused on using our resources and voice to assist in curating a platform with crucial and verified information regarding COVID resources.” The new platform aims to bring together people to combat the pandemic. For COVID resources, click here: https://www.yatra.com/covid-resources For volunteering, click here: https://forms.gle/D6UzwLieim4AGZxLA  

IATO Executive Committee has relooked and restructured its Regional and State Chapters to expand its wings and strengthen its membership basis. Separate chapters have been created for Uttarakhand and Ladakh with Nidhish Sharma, Managing Director, Garhwal Adventure, Dehradun and Tsering Namgyal, Managing Director, Windhorse Expeditions India, Ladakh being appointed as Chairman for Uttarakhand and Ladakh respectively.

CAPA India has said that the chances of a successful divestment of Air India may be less certain as of May 2021. It furthe said that the Government would need to at least have a plan B ready. Earlier, CAPA India in January 2021 had mentioned that the government’s commitment to privatisation of Air India and airports is laudable.

Tourist hotspots like Calangute and Candolim in North Goa will continue to be under lockdown, even as the government has lifted the lockdown in other parts of the state, Goa’s Ports Minister Michael Lobo has said. The panchayats of Calangute, Candolim and Arpora-Nagoa have passed orders to continue the lockdown to curb the spread of the infection, said the MLA from Calangute.

FHRAI has submitted a representation requesting the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman to provide a ‘Special Credit Guarantee Window’ to the Hospitality sector under ECLGS. The association has asked that the Government standardizes and aligns tenures and moratorium facilities floated under ECLGS 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. It has also sought relief in the tenure of loan and moratorium facilities granted under the ECLGS 3.0.