Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Meera Charnalia – Sr. Vice President and Head – MICE, Thomas Cook (India) Limited, has claimed, “We witnessed over 100% recovery vs our pre-pandemic levels for MICE sector with our robust forward pipeline reflecting a strong and growing appetite for MICE travel in 2023 and beyond.”

Kerala Tourism Minister, Mohamed Riyas said that their focus will no longer be confined to beaches, backwaters and hill stations. “We now want to transform the whole of Kerala into an interconnected tourist haven where visitors get plenty of choices and diverse experiences.”

Rajesh Magow, co-Founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip, has said that there is a need to overhaul taxation and compliance structure to boost the domestic travel industry. “We suggest that tourism exports be treated at par with other exports and services and such transactions may be zero rated for GST without stopping the flow of input credits,” he added.

PK Thakur, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Civil Aviation GOI has said, “The ministry is working seamlessly to install full body scanners and biometric entry pass. By the end of 2023, at least at the hypersensitive airports, we will have full body scanners”.

Tripjack is excited to announce the opening of a new office in Chennai, India. The office will act as a focal point for the business operations in the area and offer a variety of services to local travel partners. It will be led by a team of experienced travel professionals who are committed to delivering the highest level of service and will look at new avenues to explore business growth in the region. The team will work closely with local travel partners servicing them across all categories including Flights, Hotels, Cruises, Holidays, Rail and Visas. Speaking on the announcement, Hussain Patel, Director, Tripjack said, “We are thrilled to open a new chapter in Chennai, which is an important hub for both business and leisure travel. We believe expanding our footprint will enable us to serve our travel partners in a more personalized and direct way. Along with our high-quality service we look to explore new avenues of growth in this region.”

Shri Narayan Rao, Deputy MD, GMR Group and Chairman ASSOCHAM National Council on Civil Aviation, has said that Tier 1 and 2 airports should be privatised. “The government is planning another 25 airports in India for privatization. The most important stakeholders are airports,” he added.

According to data provided by STB, India has been ranked the second-largest tourist market for Singapore in 2022 after Indonesia, reporting 686,000 Indian arrivals. Indonesians, Indians and Australians were top spending tourists in the first nine months of 2022 with SGD 8.96 billion.

RateGain Travel Technologies through its latest PULSE report powered by Adara shared that India is amongst the top 3 inbound destinations in APAC with Y-o-Y rise of 21% in Bookings for all bookings from 15 January to 15 February.

One Rep Global has been appointed India representative for Netherlands’ iconic hotel De L’Europe Amsterdam which opened its door to patrons 127 years ago in 1896. Dedicated to luxury Amsterdam hospitality the hotel has 105 beautifully designed guest rooms including 55 suites and a peerless six-bedroom penthouse suite. With luxurious comfort at its heart, each room is an amalgamation of classic design, contemporary amenities, and the authentic Amsterdam spirit for a stay beyond compare. Home to three of the finest restaurants and the charming gentleman’s pub in Amsterdam, De L’Europe is a culinary delight to be explored during one’s stay. Flore, a two Michelin Star restaurant led by chef Bas van Kranen takes its guests on a culinary adventure with conscious and high-quality cuisine that moves with the pace of the seasons. Marie, a casual yet chic restaurant on the waterfront terrace overlooking the Amstel river serves French cuisine. For Italian cuisine lovers, there is Trattoria Graziella which serves up inspired Italian dishes in a charming space. Last but not least, one cannot miss going to Freddy’s Bar, a gentleman’s pub named after Alfred ‘Freddy’ Heineken. With an old-world charm, this place is a perfect setup for socializing for guests and locals alike. Robert-Jan, Managing Director, De L’Europe Amsterdam said, “One Rep Global provides a 360-degree approach within the luxury hospitality and luxury lifestyle industry. With De L’Europe being an independent luxury hotel, we admire the core values of One Rep Global as one of the leading hotel consultancies in India and Middle East. With their in-depth knowledge and their tailor-made services, we are looking forward to re-open the doors of De L’Europe to this inspiring and upcoming market and …

The MoT has issued fresh guidelines for recognition of tourism service providers. Based on te requests from stakeholders, the MoT will now consider turiner of 2019-20 applicable till Dec 2023. The minimum annual turnover required for this was Rs 20 lakh.