Category Archives: Agents

Vistara will operate special, non-stop flights between Mumbai and London Heathrow from 16 January 2021. The airline will operate these special flights thrice a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. These flights are in addition to recently-launched service between Delhi and London Heathrow as part of the ‘transport bubble’ agreement between India and the UK.

In an endeavour to empower customers with contactless and convenient holiday planning, Thomas Cook India has introduced India’s first Virtual Holiday Store. A dedicated team of travel experts will be available over video chat 365 days, from 8 am to 12 pm.

RARE India has partnered with Secret Retreats, headquartered in Singapore to promote responsible and conscious luxury travel across Asia. Secret Retreats has curated collection of independent and privately owned hotels, restaurants and boats – including boutique hotels, villas, yachts and riverboats – located throughout Asia. RARE India will help Secret Retreats in distribution through its strong B2B channels in India, UK, Europe, Australia, US and Canada. On the other hand, Secret Retreats will help RARE India with its strong worldwide B2C distribution as well as growing B2B retailer network. The collaboration of these two major conscious luxury travel communities is expected to benefit the responsible tourism industry across Asia. Speaking about this partnership, Shoba Mohan, Founder, RARE India says, “The pandemic seems to have nudged RARE India and Secret Retreats towards a slightly better world where partnerships and collaborations seem to lessen our pain. For RARE India to collaborate with Secret Retreats means to join forces towards a common destination where like siblings we seem to have grown to common values, to promote travel and experiences that are earth-friendly and people-centric. It also means many more destinations to a wider audience of world travellers.” The aim of this partnership is to help RARE India and Secret Retreat Communities to be known to a wider audience, increase market penetration for members of both the communities with the B2B and B2C markets and through the increased resources create and share a mutual value that will benefit both communities across multiple levels. “Secret Retreats shares a common objective with RARE India – to continually discover and help other people discover the heart of Asia. We share the same commitment to quality and service …

According to a recent report by Amadeus, 70% of APAC travellers are ready to travel domestically. The average time spent on holidays will not change, with half of travellers seeking trip duration of 14 days or more. Reconnecting with family and friends is the predominant reason for 55% of these travellers. 34% travellers opt to explore unfamiliar destinations and 32% desire to ‘reconnect with the outdoors’.

Travel has considerably evolved this year with numerous trends emerging. Secluded getaways are the order of the day right now, as travellers wish to leave the hustle-bustle of the city life behind in search of remote retreats. Even though quarantine couples have been busy with their Zoom weddings and intimate family wedding affairs, their much-awaited honeymoons got pushed back. However, honeymoon is a special time to celebrate love. With restricted international travel, we at Yatra.com have witnessed uptick in demand for domestic honeymoon destinations as destinations in India do make for an unforgettable honeymooning experience.   Luxury & Eco Resorts: Luxury & eco-resorts which provide a secluded and isolated experience with stringent safety and sanitization processes have seen a pickup in demand with couples opting for various packages and activities The Minimoon or Micro honeymoon: Consumers are looking for a mini-break-honeymoon-hybrid this year. Many couples want to take a short break instead of rushing off for a two-week honeymoon. It could even be a couple of nights staying at a fancy hotel and spa. This allows for the option to re-coop, save and plan for a dream honeymoon later Eco-Conscious Honeymoons: Like sustainable tourism, there is a growing popularity of eco-moons as more and more couples are prioritizing sustainability. Newlyweds are opting for ways to be less wasteful and more environmentally conscious when it comes to their honeymoon Some of the destinations (packages) from metro cities which are witnessing surge in queries are mentioned below: S.No Destination Package Package Price (INR) 1 Kerala Honeymoon Special Munnar & Alleppey 12,999 2 Himachal Pradesh Honeymoon Special Shimla & Kasauli Ex Chandigarh 12,999 3 South India Splendid Mysore & Ooty Honeymoon Special 15,999 4 Andaman Amazing Andaman Honeymoon Special 32,999 …

When it comes to hospitality no country comes closer to perfection than Thailand offering something for everyone of diverse interest, every age and every budget. From pristine sandy beaches to lush jungles, bustling busy cities to traditional villages, Michelin star menus to roadside noodle stalls, historic Buddhist temples to 21st century sky scrapers, Thailand is truly amazing! Amazing Thailand also has Amazing Golf facilities. Ideally located more than 250 golf courses throughout the country, by the sea, by the mountains, by the lakes, inside the cities even besides the airports. Top quality courses, reasonable green fees, friendly caddies. From the beach resorts in the south such as Phuket to the mountainous surroundings in the north or the bustling cities of Bangkok and Pattaya, there are golf courses to suit every preference. To promote the Amazing Golf Experience, SLW, the leading Golf Management company had launched the first ever loyalty program for a country in 2017. ‘Thai Golf Passport was launched in India to offer Indian golfers a seamless golf experience in Thailand. Indian golfers can be a part of this Amazing reward programs whenever they tee off in Amazing Thailand’ said  Anil Dev, Managing Director, SLW.’ More than 250 quality service providers like Callaway and a number of Golf Courses, Resorts and hotels are on board as partners. While travel business took a hit due to Covid19, we are gearing up to make Thailand the destination of choice when travel resumes’ he added. Vachirachai Sirisumpan, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) New Delhi Office commenting that “Golf is one of the important segments which we focus on and continue to promote Thailand as Indian Golfer’s favourite destination. In fact, destination …

The first edition of Tourism Innovation Summit 2020 (TIS), to be held from November 25-27 in the Spanish city of Seville, will bring together the brightest minds on travel and tourism to reveal key strategies and solutions for tourism recovery in 2021, including extensive health prevention protocols. Free antigen tests will be offered to attendees. In fact, this is the main safety measure and the principle demand from the tourism industry worldwide to all the competent authorities: antigen tests at origin and destination, to recover the confidence of travellers and tourists, as it is expected that the virus will not disappear in a short time.

Sharing an update on the ongoing discussion with the GST Council, Pradip Lulla, Acting President and Vice President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), has said, “We had requested the GST Council and the Finance Ministry to review the refund of GST on air ticket refunds, and extend the date applicable for refund GST till March 31, 2021 due to the delay in total refunds by airlines. However, we have received no update on this. In fact, we even took this matter up during the APJC meeting. Unfortunately, the airlines argued that the government is not abiding by that. So agents who have submitted refunds after October 1, 2020 will not receive any refunds and GST will be deducted, because the airline has to pay to the government. Those who have submitted before October 1, their GST will not be cut, and will be duly refunded. The government is not willing to extend any leniency in this matter; since its a liability to the government, they will not allow anything to agents.” As per rule, if tickets are not refunded till September 30, 2020, then GST will not be refunded and customers will end up losing 5% in the economy class ticket and 12% in business class of the ticket value. TAFI has also filed a case in Supreme Court for airline refunds.

Tourism Ireland India is organising a webinar on Nov 19 at 3.30 pm to educate the trade on its offerings and COVID safety guidelines. Huzan Fraser Motivala, its India Representative, says, “It will see participation from four Irish suppliers and attendees can win gift hampers.” Contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or +91-9650196532 to attend.

The Tourism Office of Spain in India is organising its annual travel show virtually for the first time with 18 Spanish companies. Elisa Robles-Fraga, its Director in Mumbai, says, “The Virtual Spanish Travel Show will be held over two days on December 2-3, 2020 and will include private meetings between buyers and sellers, presentations and knowledge sessions.”