Category Archives: Agents

Rakesh Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that they will be appointing international marketing representatives within 3-4 months. “We have done preliminary work before 2nd wave . We identified some of the markets, where we need to position these representatives. We are working on it, and in about 3-4 months, we would be having them in position, so that whenever international travel happens, we will have them on ground to really help us,” he added.

Nepal Tourism Board has announced the second edition of its Mt. Everest Fashion Runway scheduled to be held in the Everest region with 20 super models and 200 ‘super audience’ from September 22, 2021. The event promotes sustainable fashion and responsible consumerism addressing climate change and global warming. The fashion show will kickstart in September 2021 at an altitude of over 5,800 metres in the Mt Everest region at -30-degree Celsius and less than 50 per cent oxygen present in the atmosphere.

The Maharashtra government has approved the state’s new adventure tourism policy which covers around 25 adventure activities. The policy will cover the promotion of adventure activities as well as registration, regulation, monitoring, planning, promotion, training etc. of various adventure event organisers and adventure training organisations. Organizers will be given a temporary registration certificate from the Directorate of Tourism (DoT) and a final registration certificate after obtaining all the required equipment details and qualifications. Under this policy, the organisers of adventure activities will gain several benefits like refund of SGST, discount in stamp duty and power charges.

After completing a long and successful stint at the Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India, Dr. Himanshu Talwar has now joined the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) as Executive Director. He thanks everyone for extending their unwavering support over the years.

Subhash Goyal, President, Confederation of Tourism Professionals, has said that the Government should announce immediately E-Tourist Visa and Scheduled International flights in the month of September/October. “The Tourist season to India is from October to March. While domestic tourism is helping a few hotels but people like Govt. recognized Tourist Guides, Tourist Transport Operators, Tourist Taxi Drivers pan India and small Tour Operators and Vendors are starving. We have to fulfil our Prime Minister’s dream of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy,” he said.

A new Collinson and Centre for Aviation (CAPA) survey of C-Suite travel industry insiders says a return to ‘normal’ is unlikely before 2023. Over half of travel experts surveyed (51%) expect that robust testing protocols will remain key to reopening global borders until end of 2022. They also believe that a widespread fear of fraudulent tests and vaccine passports may undermine use.

To maximise on the opportunity of available space at attractive commercial considerations, Team SOTC moved into its new owned premises at Marathon Futurex building (13th floor) in Lower Parel. A special puja arranged on June 14th marked an auspicious beginning for Team SOTC. Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC, said, “We have seamlessly shifted to our spacious new office premises and have hit the ground running as we leverage on India’s pent-up travel demand. The location is property owned by our Group and comes with significant advantages: a valuable cost savings for us and with easy access – to collaborate and interact with our common resource pool of product-contracting-operations at Thomas Cook India – in the same building!”

The State of Qatar has re-opened its borders to international travellers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with vaccines that are approved for use by the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar. A new streamlined set of measures designed to make travelling to Qatar as easy as possible, while maintaining the necessary precautions to continue to protect against the spread of COVID-19, has been implemented and is effective immediately. The new measures will allow people who are fully vaccinated to visit Qatar without the need for quarantine. The new arrangements will also make it easier for citizens and residents of Qatar to travel in and out of the country, enabling fully vaccinated people to bypass the quarantine requirement when returning to Qatar. All visitors – vaccinated or non-vaccinated – will be required to undertake a PCR test up to 72 hours prior to travel. However, travellers are advised to check the entry requirements of the country they are travelling from and will return to from Qatar, before booking any flights and should understand that those policies can change with very little notice. In order to visit Qatar – international visitors, citizens and residents – must register and upload required documentation such as a vaccination certificate, valid PCR test up to 72 hours prior to travel, and personal details through the ‘Ehteraz’ website (www.ehteraz.gov.qa). Travellers have to apply for the authorization through the ‘Ehteraz’ website (free of charge), at least 12 hours before their planned departure to Qatar. All in-bound travellers are advised to submit their application as soon as they have all their required documentation, to ensure they can board their flights as planned. Airlines are advised to only …

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will be addressing the 10th PATA and MOT Update & Outlook Meeting on 20th July at 12pm. He will be sharing the steps and initiatives by MOT with the PATA Members and the larger tourism fraternity in this meeting. Register on https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EYIAfgQRRFSMGGpL-zamhQ.

Members of the IATO’s UP Chapter and officials of IndiaTourism of Uttar Pradesh recently met to discuss various issues related to the revival of domestic tourism keeping in view pandemic in Varanasi and adjoining districts. The meeting, led by chapter chairman Prateek Hira, involved preparing a roadmap for the revival of domestic tourism in the region.