Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

After becoming the pharmacy of the world, India has emerged as a medical tourism hub on the global healthcare map, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, she said India’s medical tourism industry is estimated at $9 billion, which makes India the 10 th biggest global medical tourism hub. “It is good medical institutions that train and mould good doctors. About 2 million patients from around 76 countries visit India for medical, wellness and IVF treatments, generating $6 billion for the industry. This is expected to increase to $13 billion by 2026” she added. Sitharaman said India is already recognised as the pharmacy of the world as the Indian pharma industry is sought after by most countries mainly due to its expertise in producing medicines in accordance with global standards and for its cost competitiveness.

In view of rapid expansion of air services within India and on international routes to/from India and with the increase in the volume of passenger traffic, it has been noticed that sometimes Airlines downgrade passengers (tickets). For example when a passenger who has booked his ticket on first class, business class or premium economy, is downgraded to a lower class at the time of check-in due to various reasons like unserviceable seats, change of aircraft, overbooking, etc. In order to cater to such situations, DGCA is in the process of amending its Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) “Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights.” to protect the rights of air travellers affected by downgrading of their ticket. The amendment will allow the passenger, who is downgraded involuntarily from his booked class of ticket, to receive the full value of ticket including taxes as refund from the airline and the airline will carry the passenger free of cost in the next available class.  However, this proposal will go through stakeholder consultation and the final regulation shall be published and made applicable afterwards.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, mentioned that the recovery of India’s tourism post Covid can be witnessed through the whooping number of tourists of approximately 20 lakhs, who visited Jammu & Kashmir till October 2022. “As most of the countries of Asia Pacific opened up a little late post Covid as a preventive measure, we are still going slow on global tourists coming into India, affecting our inbound numbers but we have been able to revive strongly due to our rapid vaccination drive and prompt Government action for opening up to the globe attracting foreign tourists,” he said.

Commenting on the recent paragliding accident in Kullu involving a 30-year tourist from Maharashtra, Ajeet Bajaj, President, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), says, “It is a very unfortunate incident and we send our heartfelt condolences to the family. The ATOAI stands for responsible adventure travel and we have issued safety guidelines which have been endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism and we expect all adventure tour operators across India to follow the guidelines in letter and in spirit to mitigate risk in adventure activities. For tourists, our request is to always do their due diligence and opt only for government-approved, licensed adventure operators.”

Akasa Air operated its first flight from Lucknow – the 11th city in its network, marking the airline’s entry into Uttar Pradesh. Akasa Air will offer daily flights on the Lucknow-Bengaluru and Lucknow-Mumbai route starting today. The first flight on the Lucknow-Mumbai route departed at 1100 hrs IST from Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow. Commenting on the commencement of the first flight from the state, the Honourable CM of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath stated, “Uttar Pradesh is one of the leading states in domestic tourism and tourist movement in India. Our state is transforming into the most preferred investment destination in India and therefore, enabling new growth trajectories for shaping the vision of a new India. Witnessing India’s newest airline, Akasa Air, starting operations in Uttar Pradesh early in their journey, reaffirms my faith in the potential of the state in generating employment and ensuring economic prosperity for our country.” Commenting on the commencement of the maiden flight from Lucknow, Vinay Dube, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Akasa Air said, “We are thankful to the Honourable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath-ji for his support on this momentous occasion as we launch our inaugural flight from Lucknow, the 11th city in our fast-growing network. Lucknow is renowned for its rich culture, architecture, and cuisine while being a popular tourist destination, established textile and an emerging automobile hub. We believe, with the important work being done by the Honourable Minister to further boost tourism in the state, Lucknow will surely become an important part of our plans while we start today with connecting this key state capital with Mumbai and Bengaluru.” “The Akasa story is aligned with …

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board’s Rural Tourism Programme could not have come at a better time. The target was to make tourism destinations friendly through a cultural experience-based tourism which involved local communities. With the intention of offering new products and experiences to tourists visiting Madhya Pradesh, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board came up with the Rural Tourism Programme. The intention behind the Rural Tourism Programme is to connect rural communities with tourism for their social and economic development besides preserving the local environment. Rural tourism not only provides tourists with a completely new experience, it creates engagement between city and village dwellers through meaningful interactions. It also strengthens the rural economy, generating employment at the village level, minimises migration towards urban areas, preserves local culture & heritage, and encourages art and craft as well as landscape conservation. MP Tourism Board launched the Rural Tourism Programme in 2018. Covid slowed progress a bit but the work went on. The work first started in about 10 villages on a pilot basis. Villages close to prominent tourist sites, like Orchha, Khajuraho, Panna National Park and Sanjay-Dubri National Park, were initially selected. Seeing positive results, the scheme has been extended to many more villages. MADHYA PRADESH’S PIONEERING RURAL TOURISM PROJECT MP Tourism Board has launched its Rural Tourism Project under the auspices of the Madhya Pradesh Responsible Tourism Mission. Under the Rural Tourism Project, 100 villages across MP have been identified with the goal of developing them as Tourism Villages. As per the scheme, the state has been divided into six key cultural experience regions. Baghelkhand, Bundelkhand and Chambal in the north and northeast apart from their cultural specialities, also showcase the essence of …

Sudeep Jain, MD, SWA, IHG Hotels & Resorts, has revealed that in the next 2-3 years, they plan to add another 52 hotels in South-West Asia, out of which 42 hotels will be added to their portfolio in India. “We also see potential of debuting our global brands such as Regent, Kimpton, Voco and the recently launched Vignette Collection, at the right time with the right partners, at the right location,” he claimed.

Sandeep Dwivedi, COO, InterGlobe Technology Quotient, has said that they expect travel to be at the peak of renewal next year and international traffic to pick up pace at around 120 per cent of the pre-COVID levels.

Jatinder Taneja, Chairman, PATA India Chapter, has said that they will work with MOT to conduct result-oriented roadshows to key source markets. “This is to supplement the efforts of MOT. Apart from that we are in talks with state governments to conduct roadshows to overseas markets in 2023,” he added.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has said that the Mission LiFE by Govt has lot of relevance for travel & tourism. “All the stakeholders can contribute to mission life by adopting responsible tourism practices,” he added.