Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Naveen Kundu, MD, Ebixcash pointed out “India is set to become a domestic cruise hub, but regulations, cruise lines, and infrastructure need immediate attention”. Additionally, he informed cruises will come to India if there is favourable environment and infrastructure

Outward remittances under the Reserve Bank of India’s liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) rose in May 2023 to $2.88 billion as compared to $2.33 billion in April, mainly due to an uptick in travel spend. People in India spent close to $1.5 billion on international travel in May, against $1.10 billion in April.

Encouraging travel agents to sell adventure tourism as well, Ajeet Bajaj, President of ATOAI, said, “Almost 80% of the market today is soft adventure travel and we want to network with travel agents and tour operators in Mumbai and other cities to discuss responsible adventure tourism, best practices as well as how to select and start working with good adventure tour operators across the country.”

Inaugurating the new terminal in Port Blair, Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia revealed, “Apart from this airport, three additional airports in Shibpur, Car Nicobar, and Campbell, as well as four water aerodromes in Shaheed Dweep, Swaraj Dweep, and Port Blair, will be established by the government with an investment of Rs. 150 crores.”

ICRA estimates pan-India premium hotel occupancy at ~70-72% in FY2024, after recovering to 68-70% in FY2023. Pan-India premium hotel average room rates (ARRs) are expected to be at ~Rs. 6,000-6,200 in FY2024. While the occupancy is expected to be at decadal highs, the RevPAR is expected to remain at a 20-25% discount to the FY2008 peak. Consistent improvement in consumer sentiments despite the inflationary environment, stable corporate performance, and domestic air passenger traffic inching above pre-Covid levels augur well for travel and hotel demand. The demand recovery has been strong in the last one year, and ICRA anticipates it to continue in FY2024 as well. Sustenance of domestic leisure travel, higher bookings from meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE), and business travel, along with an increase in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs), would support demand. The industry is also likely to benefit from specific events like the G20 summit and the ICC World Cup 2023. Vinutaa S, Vice President and Sector Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA , said: “Gateway cities like Delhi and Mumbai are likely to top the occupancy chart at 75%+ in FY2024. Demand is expected to remain healthy across markets, although Bengaluru and Pune are likely to be laggards compared to other key cities. While the G20 summit would support occupancy across cities in FY2024, improved economic activity and business associations stemming from these meetings are likely to translate into incremental demand for hotels over the medium term. ICRA expects an improving trend in ARRs as well across markets in FY2024, driven by healthy occupancy. Further, mid-scale hotels have also witnessed traction across cities and are likely to continue reporting healthy ARRs and occupancy in FY2024.” ICRA estimates …

According to World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2023 Economic Impact Research forecast, the travel and tourism sector will create more than 65,000 jobs this year, recovering almost all of the jobs lost due to the pandemic to reach almost 2.8 million. 

G Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism said, “There is immense scope for the tourism sector in India’s Northeast region, but there has not been sufficient private investment. Without private investment, tourism in any country cannot be developed and moved forward.” 

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, recently inaugurated the 4th Runway at Delhi Airport. “This runway makes Delhi Airport, the only airport in the country to have 4 runways.  This runway along with the terminal expansion will add to creating capacity to serve more than 109 million people throughput which would crest and beat even Atlanta in its capability. With that capacity in place, we would be well positioned both on an infrastructure side and a capability side for creating the international civil aviation hub in India,” he said. 

EGYPTAIR has announced special inaugural return airfares for the Delhi-Cairo-Delhi route, available for the 4x weekly flights starting 4th August 2023. The airfare for Economy class is INR 35,000 all-inclusive while for Business class the fare is INR 80,000 all-inclusive. Travellers can book and get their tickets issued before 31st July 2023. The travel period for these tickets is valid until 30th September 2023. IATA Commission of 5% is available over and above these exciting fares.  

Country Inn Premier – The Prominence, Dehradun, planned to open in August 2023, appoints Sarthak Mathur as the Operations Manager. With over 13 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Sarthak brings a wealth of expertise in transforming strategic visions into tangible results across various renowned hotels Sarthak has a commendable track record of working with esteemed brands in the hospitality industry like Marriott International and Radisson Hotel Group. His extensive experience in hotel operations and food & beverage makes him an adept professional in optimizing efficiency and streamlining processes.