Ahmedabad-based Pathfinders Holidays celebrates its 23rd anniversary this month. Led by Maitreyee and Mahendra Vakharia together with their son Karan Vakharia, the company focuses on bespoke travel itineraries to worldwide destinations and within India. Their client base is spread out not only in India but also in UK, USA and Canada and they manage their holiday arrangements from the Ahmedabad office
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There is a 5% increase in full-time work and layoffs in September as compared to June, reveals a Travel Consul Survey titled Global Travel Distribution- COVID-19 Impact’. 36% respondents informed that they moved from full time to part time, while 26% travel professionals said that they have laid-off majority of their team.
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The Goa government yesterday approved the long-awaited Goa Tourism Policy 2020, with a vision to make the state the “most preferred destination around the year for high-spending tourists” by 2024. Commenting on the new tourism policy that Goa has approved, Nilesh Shah, President, Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), says, “We welcome the new tourism policy which was a long-standing demand. But we are not happy with the way it is being implemented and it is not as per our inputs and discussions. The new policy is not what was initially visualised by Manohar Parrikar which was to leave the growth of the tourism industry in the hands of the private sector. The tourism board was to have five members from the private sector and five from the government. But I see that three members have been added to the government side and another three are to be appointed by the government from the industry. As a result, the Board now constitutes of 12 members from or by the government and only 5 to be appointed by the industry.” He added that the tourism board will not be industry-driven as was originally planned and its CEO will be appointed by the government and not from outside as was requested.
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Tripjack’s competition based on IPL matches not only has more than 3,000 winners till date but has also managed to engage its travel partners & create some buzz in the industry. Hasan Patel, Director, Tripjack, says, “We are seeing more and more users participate daily. Visit Tripjack.com and start playing now!” he said.
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A new entrant in cloud-based hotel management software domain StreetGooser is offering free tech support to help the industry recover from the pandemic. Shakthivelu M, its MD & Co-Founder, says, “Our focus is on small to mid-sized properties to provide them with technology that won’t break their banks. We tweak our technology based on the clients’ needs.”
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Sunil B Satyawakta from Lucknow has been appointed as Interim Chairman by the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) for the Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand Chapter. He joins Gayatri Khanna (Hon. Secretary) and Swati Dimri (Hon. Treasurer) as Office Bearers of the Chapter. This development took place on October 14, 2020 via a virtual meeting in the presence of the TAAI National President and the National MC. Satyawakta will retain this position until the next association elections that will take place in November 2020.
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Randhir Singh Vaghela, Chairman, Gujarat Chapter, IATO, is leading the #JanAndolan campaign that aims to spread awareness about the safety precautions that the industry needs to follow strictly. He says, “I request the travel industry stakeholders to join #JanAndolan for everyday preventive actions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We must strictly follow three things: wearing a mask at all times, sanitising hands on a regular basis and keep social distancing. For tourism to re-open safely we all have to adhere to this new normal.”
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CommonPass, or a COVID-passport, is a technology framework that can be used by apps to verify an individual’s health status. It is being trialled by two airlines across a few sectors in the world. The system hopes to become a fail-safe way to verify a traveller’s health status and tally it against local entry laws. If it works, it could inspire governments to drop bans and quarantines.
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In a bid to revive the hard-hit tourism industry, Nepal announced that foreign tourists having COVID-19 negative report will not be required to quarantine themselves for seven days from October 17. Foreign trekkers may enter without quarantine if they produce a PCR negative report from October 17. Its tourism ministry is working to carry out instant antigen test for COVID-19 for foreign tourists upon their arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport.
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Highlighting the reason why domestic tourism has not taken off in India, PP Khanna, President, Association of Domestic Tour Operators Association of India (ADTOI), said, “The GST on tour operators should be 1.8% with full set offs and not 5% which is making domestic tour operators uncompetitive. To survive, the domestic tour operators need to be supported have an operating cash subsidy to pay their salaries and operating costs.”
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