Category Archives: Agents

After review of the current status of scheduled domestic operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to remove the fare bands with effect from August 31. The airlines/airport operators shall, however, ensure that guidelines to contain COVID19 are strictly adhered to.

The government is working on mission mode to foster air, road, train and political connectivity in the North East region. Union Ministrer G Kishan Reddy said, “In the North East more than 80,000 cr has been spent on road connectivity, and 1190 km of railway track projects are underway. In the coming four years, the government plans to establish 100 more airports, and seaplane networks and increase airways connectivity to hilly regions.”

TAFI has recently announced a new chapter in Jammu Kashmir. This will be its 12th one in the country so far. Sarmad Hafeez, Secretary Tourism, said the initiative will help tourism. He said, “TAFI did not have a presence here until now. They also met some of our local tour operators and many of them have also become TAFI members now. I’m sure this will boost tourism here and the trade will benefit.”

As international tourism picks up momentum, Singapore Tourism Board recently hosted a multi-city travel trade roadshow series in India with the largest ever delegation of forty-five stakeholders to reconnect and engage with trade partners-friends. As part of the outreach, Singapore Tourism Board reached out to five key source markets – Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Accompanied by the expansive list of delegations, the trade engagements were aimed at deepening Singapore Tourism’s existing partnerships and fostering new ones with tourism stakeholders and the local travel trade fraternity.

India leads Asia-Pacific in its intent to travel in the second half of 2022 with 50% Indians expressing the desire to spend more money on booking a vacation in the world’s largest survey of travel intentions from Travel Lifestyle Network in a post-pandemic setting. While international travel remains a point of contention among many, with only 15% respondents willing to travel abroad, 29% people are planning to vacation in India. India emerged as the global leader in domestic travel with 24% people undertaking at least one vacation every month.

Carolyn Turnbull, Managing Director, Tourism Western Australia, We believe that a direct service will stimulate the market by around 50 per cent which is what we have seen in other destinations that have had direct services into WA such as Tokyo pre-covid. It saw an immediate stimulation of the market by around 50-60 per cent!” She says that if India was sitting at eleventh position before Covid, a direct service could unlock its true potential and we could see the India market fast-track to around fifth or sixth top market.

Department of Culture & Tourism-Abu Dhabi are organising a webinar titled ‘Summer like you mean it’ on 9 August 2022 at 3pm. The webinar will help the trade to learn about the summer offerings in the emirate including family friendly attractions, entertainment and leisure venues, hotels, and much more. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532.

The NIMA MICE Forum 2022 is scheduled to be held from July 29-31 at Crown Plaza in Jaipur. Speaking about the event, Jagdeep Bhagat, National Coordinator, Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA) said that the 3-day event will provide a good networking opportunity to its members. The idea behind this forum is to update members about opportunities in the industry. It will also have panel discussions, product showcases, and networking opportunities among the Indian MICE fraternity.

Minister of Tourism G. Kishan Reddy has said that adventure tourism can be a gamechanger for the Indian tourism industry. “He added, “The government has framed a roadmap to develop it as a niche tourist product. Besides increasing tourist footfalls, adventure tourism will also foster local entrepreneurship.” A national board for adventure tourism has been constituted with the aim of implementation of the strategy to promote and develop adventure tourism in the country.

South African Tourism announced the launch of an exclusive India airfare campaign in partnership with Air Seychelles. The campaign will run for a month between 25th July to 25th August 2022, offering return tickets on the Mumbai to Johannesburg route for INR 38,148 only. Travel will be valid between 25th July 2022 to 31st January 2023. Air Seychelles is also offering an additional 20% discount on the base fare for consumers who use the promo code 00G4S51T. At a time when fuel prices and air fares are rising, this value-driven offering by the tourism board is expected to significantly support and encourage the rapidly growing Indian tourist footfalls to South Africa. Through this targeted digital campaign, South African Tourism hopes to engage with millennials, double-income-no-kid households, and Indian families. The campaign will showcase the value-friendly propositions offered by the Rainbow Nation, allowing travellers to splurge more on wellness and experiences by saving on air fares. This conversion campaign is an extension of the More & More campaign launched by the tourism board earlier this year and will drive consumers to make their travel bookings with direct calls to action. Earlier this year, the tourism board outlined a strategic roadmap to garner 64% YoY increase in Indian visitors in 2022. With over 11,274 Indian visitors travelling to South Africa between January to April 2022 itself, the tourism board is well on track to surpass these targets. Speaking about the partnership, Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – Middle East, India and South East Asia, South African Tourism said, “It has been heartwarming to see the Indian travel fraternity respond positively to and welcome the unique adventures, immersive experiences and only-in-South-Africa activities that we …