Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Global Destinations is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The company has grown to be one among India’s largest and most reputed destination representation companies. They have for a decade and a half been facilitating both their partners – international stakeholders and clients – the Indian travel fraternity to further develop and establish business growth in the international tourism arena. Global Destinations is the brainchild of Pranav Kapadia, who brings with him over 30 years of sales and marketing experience in the travel industry. Established in the year 2008, the Head Office is in Mumbai, followed by a competitive pan India presence. In 2022, Global Destinations expanded further by announcing the launch of their luxury representation vertical, ‘Wanderlust – Bespoke by Global Destinations’, with a keen focus on luxurious and captivating travel brands and experiences. “Fifteen years ago, the idea of representing a tourism product in India was a concept only a few knew of and even fewer had heard of. It was back then the travel agents were faced with many obstacles and wished for an easier way out – an intermediary that would be a one-stop solution, tending to all their queries and needs regarding a specific destination. In order to bridge the gap and cater to the arisen industry requirements, Global Destinations was brought to life” highlighted Pranav Kapadia, Founder and Director Global Destinations. As a highly experienced and very energetic tourism solution provider, Global Destinations prides itself on offering top-quality service to an ever-growing, very discerning customer base. They aim to bring newer global tourism products to an Indian audience and at the same time, be of the best assistance to the Indian Travel Trade. The …

India wants to be a $1 trillion tourism economy with 100 million international visitors by 2047, the centenary year of its Independence. In order to achieve this, the focus is on various government-led initiatives under PPP mode, Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy said. “The vision of the second G-20 TWG meeting was to project domestic tourism in a mission mode. It will also make India maximise its potential in the tourism sector. In order to give impetus to the tourism sector this year, the government is observing ‘Vision India-2023’, a programme which invites the world to explore India,” he said.

Minister for Development of North-Eastern Region, G. Kishan Reddy said that the Government of India has taken the ‘Yuva Sangam’ initiative to strengthen people to people connect especially between youth belonging to NER and other States and provide an immersive experience under five broad areas – Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development), Prodyogiki (Technology) and Paraspar Sampark (People-to-people connect).

As per Cvent Travel Managers Report, demand for sustainable travel has taken off among the corporates as 36% of travel managers say it is now a more important factor than it was pre-pandemic. Sustainability is also having a direct impact on choice of venue. In total, 92% of travel managers say this factor influences which hotels they book as part of programs – with almost 40% claiming sustainability concerns play a significant part in selection.

Sharing details about increase in air connectivity between India and Israel, Sammy Yahia, Consul, Tourism Affairs, Israel Ministry of Tourism, India & Philippines, says, “We are aiming to cross the 1,00,000 mark this year in terms of visitor arrivals from India. We will have two carriers flying directly from BOM-TLV which will be EL AL Airlines and Air India. it will be approx. a five-hour direct flight, three times a week. Moreover, Air India will be flying from BLR as well from October 2023. Arkia will also be resuming operations via Goa and Kochi directly to TLV and Israir announced they want to start operations in India too. With this increase in air connectivity, tourism from India is expected to multiply.”

Thomas Cook (India) inaugurated new Forex outlets at the new Manohar International Airport – at Mopa, Goa. The Company has won a 5 year contract for setting up and operating 4 foreign exchange counters at the new Goa Airport. This expands Thomas Cook India’s forex network/consumer access in Goa to 6 outlets: 2 branches and 4 airport outlets. In addition, the company operates 25 airport counters across India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius. In an initiative to ensure safe, seamless and convenient merchant payments, Thomas Cook’s Goa airport counters will empower foreign nationals from G20 nations and NRIs, with UPI enabled Indian Rupee transactions on arrival. Travellers can then access their INR wallet to ensure smooth and secure digital payments across millions of merchant establishments equipped with the UPI QR facility pan India. The prepaid payment product is issued by Pine Labs under the PPI authorisation obtained from RBI. Goa is a key and significant growth market for tourism – for both inbound and outbound, in addition to the domestic market. With strong pent-up demand and easing of restrictions driving positive consumer sentiment, consumers are displaying high travel desire. The new Mopa Airport is expected to serve approx. 4.3 Mn passengers in the first year with an increase to approx. 13.1 Mn passengers within 5 years. The new forex counters at the airport offers Thomas Cook significant opportunity to capitalize on the foreign exchange requirements of both inbound and outbound travellers. Thomas Cook’s new airport counters have been designed around the concepts of “Ethnicity – Luxury – Comfort”, creating a refreshing and vibrant appeal. The outlets prioritise passenger comfort with an open layout concept and high/low counters. An important factor is the focus …

According to Forwardkeys, post-Covid, non-stop connections and simple flight itineraries have become decisive factors for travellers concerned about the inconveniences of varying travel requirements and the likelihood of flight disruptions. Despite travel restrictions now being lifted in most destinations around the world, this trend is expected to persist in 2023.  

Prem Krishnan, Additional Director, Kerala Tourism, stated that Caravan Tourism has been recently launched and is gaining momentum. As part of the initiative, 14 tourist hubs are planned to be established along with caravan parks. Private players interested in investing in the caravan business are being offered incentives by the government.  

The government is planning to launch two mega adventure tourism trails in the Himalaya and the Ganga this year. Addressing a session at the G20 tourism working group meeting, Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy said, “The trails are expected to be launched this year. The ministry will work with states and industries for development of two adventure mega trails in 2023 — the Ganga trail and north-western Himalayan trails.”

Liam Findlay CEO Miral Destinations said M!CE was the first industry to recover from the pandemic, with India being the fastest-recovering market. “To tap the potential, our company has dedicated resources and a specialized team to attract M!CE companies and events to come Yas Island. We offer a very attractive incentive scheme”, he said.