Category Archives: Agents

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has decided to remove a host of tax exemptions and hike rates for an even larger number of mass-consumption items. It approved a proposal to impose a 12% tax on hotel rooms costing below Rs 1,000 per day. So far, only hotels above the threshold were charged 12% GST. The two-day GST Council meeting in Chandigarh, is being chaired by the FM.

Tamil Nadu has surfaced as the leading tourist destination for domestic travellers. As per the India Tourism Statistics – 2021, Tamil Nadu emerged as the state with the highest percentage of visitors. The state’s share hovered at 23 percent, followed by Uttar Pradesh with a visitor share of 14.1%. The data reflected the number of visitors that Tamil Nadu entertained in the year 2020. As per the report, Tamil Nadu, in 2020, had roughly 14 crore domestic visitors, whereas the second leading state in domestic tourism, Uttar Pradesh, had around 8.6 crore visitors 2020.

MakeMyTrip has become a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).  Vipul Prakash, COO, MakeMyTrip, said, “We look forward to working closely with GSTC to help accelerate understanding and adoption of sustainable tourism practices in the country.”

With the rapid revival of business travel and corporates accelerating their digital transformation, Thomas Cook (India) Limited – India’s leading omnichannel forex services company has launched FX-Now – a pioneering digital tool that empowers its corporate segment with convenient, customizable and contactless end-to-end foreign exchange services. Foreign exchange procedures require careful documentation and approvals – resulting in complex/cumbersome processes. In an initiative to simplify the process, yet maintain necessary checks and balances, Thomas Cook India’s FX-Now ushers in a digitized foreign exchange model that ensures speed, accuracy and seamless services for its on-the-go business travellers

The Sigmund Project is tourism’s first digital not-for-profit dedicated to supporting innovation through the power of collaboration. Since Sigmund’s launch in June 2021… org has received 50,000+ visitors from over 110 countries. The Sigmund team has hosted 64 mentor calls with entrepreneurs from across the globe. 223 ideas have been presented that aim to advance tourism for good. In the last twelve months, The Sigmund Project’s small yet mighty team has created the first-of-its-kind, open-source platform for entrepreneurs in travel & tourism. TheSigmundProject.org connects these entrepreneurs with collaborators from around the world who can help them take their ideas to the next level (ie. scale, pivot, attract new users, build tech, hire, etc.). Reflecting on its first year, the founder of The Sigmund Project, Alan Elliott Merschen said, “Thank you all that have visited our site and to the 8,500+ tourism professionals who have joined The Sigmund Collective… so far. You are an integral part of ‘The SigmundVerse’, and we thank you for your openness to collaborate for a better tomorrow. For anyone interested in helping entrepreneurs in travel take their ideas to the next level, we invite you to browse the OPEN · SOURCE platform and see how you can lend your expertise. Let’s see what’s possible.” In seeking out new ideas to transform the tourism industry, Sigmund is guided by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and encourages its entrepreneurs to align their business with these important indicators. Sigmund is interested in business ideas that have a triple bottom line. It’s always in search of the next socially minded, environmentally conscious, and fiscally sound idea to transform tourism. Sigmund champions ideas from sustainability to DEI to accessibility. Examples …

Department of Tourism & Culture (DCT)- Abu Dhabi is organising a webinar titled ‘Summer like you mean it’ today at 3pm (IST). The aim is to educate the Indian travel trade about the various offerings in Abu Dhabi for families and leisure travellers. Agents can learn about family friendly attractions, culture, entertainment & activities options. To register contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or +919650196532.

Dr Dhananjay Sawalkar, Joint MD, Directorate of Tourism, Maharashtra, reveals that the DoT is coming up with a tour operators’ accreditation policy. “It is in the final stage and we will start offering it from July 2022. On registering with us, these operators will get a lot of benefits like presence on our website, participation in international and domestic roadshows with us, famils, use of our logo, ad incentives, etc,” he says.

On the occasion of World Music Day, G Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER inaugurated Jyotirgamaya, a festival to showcase the talent of rare musical instruments from across the country, including street performers and other unsung performers. He said, “The festival also envisages sensitising people about the need to safeguard the craft of making as well as the skill of playing rare musical instruments, and to give a voice to ‘unheard’ artistes.”

From July 1, companies providing incentives such as foreign trips, cars, gold coins or gift items exceeding 220,000 to their dealers and distributors, will need to deduct tax at the rate of 10 per cent. This comes after a new Section was added in the Finance Act. 2022.

India’s diversity of tourist destinations goes well beyond the beaches, hills, and cities. As one of the oldest civilizations in the world with an all-embracing confluence of spirituality, heritage and traditions, India has always been a top choice for cultural travel at a global stage. As the pandemic pushed Indians to explore domestic destinations, cultural travel has witnessed its biggest boom in the past two years. Tracking consumer travel sentiment across India, OYO has published ‘India’s Treasure Trove of Cultural Travel 2022’ report. As per the report, with over 3.5 times growth over the past year, Srinagar clocked the highest growth in bookings among cultural destinations in 2022. Besides Srinagar, Pahalgam and Jammu in J&K also rank among the top 5 cultural destinations in India, citing increasing travel interest in the region. As per OYO’s booking data analyzed between January to April 2022, Srinagar, Pahalgam, Bodhgaya, Shirdi and Jammu are among India’s top 5 cultural destinations in order of ranking. India is known for its spirituality around the world. Within the culture-travel category, OYO’s data highlights rising consumer interest in pilgrimage and heritage destinations. Varanasi, seen by many as the spiritual hub, tops the charts as the most popular pilgrimage destination in India in 2022. This is followed by Tirupati, Puri, Amritsar and Shirdi. Besides this, OYO’s Mid-Summer Vacation Index also highlights keen consumer interest in visiting Vaishno Devi this summer. As per the report, when it comes to heritage sites, with 25% votes each, Ajanta & Ellora caves in Aurangabad and Taj Mahal in Agra tied for the top spot. Hampi, Khajurao and Mahabalipuram round up the balance of the top 5 heritage sites. Commenting on the rise in …