Category Archives: Agents

According to Rajiv Subramanian, Vice President, Cleartrip, “There are very initial signs of recovery with reduced caseloads and relaxation of restrictions by several states. Traffic and booking volumes have almost doubled from a couple of weeks back. Share of round trips and advance bookings has also seen an uptick. This recovery should continue with more cities seeing reduced caseloads and accelerated vaccination.”

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said that he has written to Commerce Secretary as well as Revenue Secretary to release 2019-20 SEIS payments on priority. “I also spoke to Principal Advisor in the Ministry of Finance for the same,” he added. Inbound tour operators in the country have been pleading the government to clear their SEIS dues for a long time.

Representative heads of six travel trade associations from Gujarat met the State Tourism Minister Jawahar Chavda on June 8 to urge for support to the trade for survival and revival in these challenging times. The six associations include the state chapters of TAAI, TAFI, IATO, ADTOI and Global Travel Agent Association (GTAA) as well as state-specific trade association of Tour Operators & Travel Agents Association of Gujarat (TAG). The minister heard the delegation out and has promised to look into the issue.  

Members at a recent educational seminar conducted by Indiatourism Mumbai that was attended by more than 50 participants, requested to re-open e-visas for foreign tourists. NS Rathor, Chairman (Western Region), IATO, says, “Since international travellers start planning six months in advance, this would be the tight time to open up e-visas which would allow them to plan for the upcoming tourist season. It is important that our next steps are planned so that inbound tourism can open up smoothly and safely.”

The General Authority of Civil Aviation, UAE has suspended all inbound passenger movement to the UAE from India until July 6, 2021. This excludes UAE nationals. Passengers are advised to reschedule their tickets for travel at a future date. Dubai’s Emirates had earlier said that passenger flights from India would remain suspended at least until June 30. The suspension of incoming passenger traffic from India to the UAE began on April 24. It was extended on May 4 by the UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) in light of a deadly second wave of Covid-19 currently affecting India.

Reacting immediately to the fire incident that occurred at the Bhawan in Katra yesterday, KB Kachru, Member of Board of Trustees, Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board, J&K, says, “At around 4.00 p.m. on 8 June a fire incident took place at Bhawan. The fire hydrants were pressed into service and the fire was brought under control by 4.25 p.m. No person has been injured in the said incident. There has been no hindrance to the yatra. The Yatra to the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji is progressing smoothly.”  

EbixCash Private Limited is progressing towards its prospective IPO, reveals Robin Raina, Chairman, President & CEO Ebix Inc. The company has appointed S Ravi, as a new independent director to the EbixCash Board. Ravi is presently serving as the Chairman and Director of Tourism Finance Corporation of India. “As the Chairman of Tourism Finance Corporation of India, he also has a thorough understanding of the travel industry. All of these attributes are extremely valuable to his role on the EbixCash Board as we chart our next cycle of growth and progress towards the prospective IPO,” said Raina.

Sharing his view on the RBI’s decision to open an ‘on-tap liquidity window for contact-intensive sectors’, aggregating ₹15,000 crore till March 31, 2022 for the tourism sector, Aditya Agarwal, CFO, Cleartrip, has said, “This measure helps alleviate the stress in the sector, provides much-needed support to industry participants, and allows the industry to be well prepared to meet customer needs.”

Over 15 top Regional Tourism Boards, Attractions and DMCs of Korea are confirmed to exhibit at the Korea Travel Expo, to be held from 22-24 June 2021. This will include representatives from Seoul & Busan tourism boards, Jeju Convention & Visitor Bureau and Lotte World with its collection of theme park, aquariums and observatory. Young-Geul Choi, Director, Korea Tourism Organization, New Delhi office, says that currently there are 16 confirmed exhibitors. “My office will also have a virtual booth so that makes it a total of 17 as of now. The exhibitors are a mix of Regional Tourism Organizations (RTOs), DMCs and Tourist Attraction. Regions represented by RTO’s are Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Gyeonggi, Jeju, Gyeongsangbuk-do. In DMC’s, some of them are participating for the first time in the India market and are excited to meet Indian buyers. For tourist attractions, we have the famous Lotte World, which will have a 3-people team and showcase their array of Theme-Park, Aquariums and Observatory. They are also exhibiting in India for the first time. In fact, 1/3rd of the delegation is coming to explore the India market for the very first time or after many years,” he adds. Register at www.koreatravelexpo.com, email Jaspreet at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

During an online presentation organised by Indiatourism Mumbai on Recognition of Tourism Service providers by Ministry of Tourism, D Venkatesan, Regional Director (West & Central Region) Indiatourism Mumbai highlighted the importance of being a recognised tourism service provider and also enlightened the participants about various benefits that a travel agent is entitled to, on being recognised by MOT.