IHG Hotels and Resorts has announced the debut of its extended-stay brand, Staybridge Suites® in India with the signing of Staybridge Suites Bengaluru Thanisandra. Signed as a management agreement in partnership with NR Greenwood Construction, the hotel is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2023. Staybridge Suites is IHG’s upscale extended-stay hotel brand which offers amenities such as a fully equipped kitchen in suites, a dedicated outdoor space, daily complimentary hot breakfast with signature items and an evening social event three nights a week.  

Reiterating that IATO has always been and will always remain a national apex body of the industry, Rajiv Mehra, contesting for the IATO President from the Team Moving Forward in the upcoming IATO Elections on 6th March said that it’s wrong to say that IATO is a Delhi-centric association. “For some years now, we have had chairmen of our chapters across the country who have been very active. Plus, there are Regional Chapter Chairmen in all regions. All are equally involved and doing their job wonderfully. When the notice for elections goes out, every member is entitled equally to volunteer, to participate, to nominate themselves, No one has ever stopped anyone from any part of the country from being part of the election process. So it is very wrong to say IATO is Delhi centric. We very pan India in everything we do,” he said. “Change for the sake of change is very easy and also very dangerous. I and my team are very experienced and committed to serving IATO members. My team has individuals who over the years have made very good relationships and understanding with various Government bodies be it the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce, Finance, Civil Aviation. Besides this, we also enjoy very good relations with bodies like FICCI, CII, PHD etc. We have the full understanding of issues being faced by all of us and we promise to deliver. I am confident of this,” he further said. Sharing more inputs, Mehra said, “We have already shared the highlights of our efforts and achievements by email to the entire active membership. You can gauge our capabilities from the glimpses of our document. Equally, you can assess our …

The VisitBritain Cricket Carnival that is currently running on the ‘Dream11’ mobile app until March 28, 2021, will inspire trade partners in India to form their ‘Dream Teams’ and participate in the tournament. Vishal Bhatia, Country Manager – India for VisitBritain, says, “It will also feature weekly cricket-themed contests and trivia on Britain as a holiday destination with prizes to be won every week! We believe sports tourism will continue to play a huge role in driving tourism to Britain.”

In order to showcase Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) has launched ‘Journeys in Arabia’, an exclusive online event curated especially for travel trade partners around the globe. It’s India ‘Journeys in Arabia’ webinar recently brought together local travel trade partners, for an opportunity to hear from thought leaders in the industry, along with a welcome address by Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO, STA. The virtual engagement series, taking place across six markets around the world including India, is a first-of-its-kind initiative for STA to inform partners about the diverse products and experiences that Arabia offers

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, speaking at the ITM 2021 inauguration assured that the government intervention for tourism is necessary and would come at the right time. “Tourism cannot grow in isolation, but will grow with many other sectors, and the infrastructure-focused budget is going to be a catalyst of that growth. Government is fully aware of the challenges of the sector,” he said.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, in his address at the ITM Virtual 2021, said, “After I joined the ministry, I made my customary calls to all senior dignitaries in the Government and the feedback I got was that the top leadership of the government is looking at tourism sector to be one of the major drivers of the economy in the post-COVID world.”

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, speaking at the Virtual ITM, said that India is emerging as a crucial place as far as medical tourism is concerned. “To encourage it further, we have already started issuing medical visa and are planning to soon restart e-tourist visas as well as scheduled international flights,” he said.

The Goa government has granted an extension of 6 months to the off-shore casinos operating on Mandovi river in Panaji till an alternate location is recommended to them. Vessels with casinos can continue their operations for another 6 months from 31 March to 30 September.  

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has proposed the closure of the Jammu airport for civilian traffic for 15 days from March 6 to March 20 for runway resurfacing work. On the daily basis, Jammu airport has about 20 operational flights with over 3000 travellers.  All the airlines operating their flights in the sector have stopped booking for the period.  

Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI) & cause partner AIRDA in association with Ministry of Tourism and KPMG as its Knowledge Partner, kick-started it’s annual India Tourism Mart (ITM) with a physical inauguration today. India Tourism Mart – ITM, which is a buyer-seller meet is taking place in a virtual format from 18th – 20th Feb 2021. In his inaugural address, Subhash Goyal, Chairman – ITM 2021 and Hony. Secretary, FAITH emphasised how the year gone by was the darkest in the history of mankind and tourism was the worst hit where the travel fraternity was literally left hanging from a thread. He urged the industry to come together and consolidate their efforts for the revival of tourism in India. “For us to revive the tourism industry and save millions of jobs, we look forward three key actions from our policymakers – re-starting of e-tourist visas; reinstatement of scheduled international flights, at least to those countries with which India has air-bubble arrangements, with the necessary precautions on safety to allow willing travellers the opportunity to travel again and modification of policies to help subsidise or reduce the financial burden on the sector.” Reiterating Goyal’s viewpoint, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of India said, “We have already started issuing medical visas and we are planning to soon restart E-Tourist Visas and schedule International flights in a phased manner. On a reciprocal basis, first with those countries with whom we have an air bubble agreement. …