Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

A unique integrated limited validity tourist pass has been introduced by the Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal in Association with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to facilitate easy and convenient access initially to 21 places of tourist interest across Kolkata for both domestic and international tourists visiting the city of joy. This project has been initiated by the Department of Tourism as part of the FAITH policy recommendations and will soon be made available online or obtained through recognized tour operators or at any other authorized POS. The access and the validity of the pass will be managed digitally through a specially designed QR-based application. The visitor can pick and choose the places of interest and obtain the same through an online payment. Truly an effective and meaningful initiative and I am super delighted to be part of this project.

The Kerala government is planning to create a woman-friendly tourism network with over one lakh women travellers and entrepreneurs as members, said state tourism minister P A Mohammed Riyas. More than 1000 women have already registered in the programme. 

This popular excursion to Mt Titlis transports visitors to a world of ice and snow. The iconic revolving cable car, Rotair, takes visitors 3062m above sea level to the summit where panoramic views await them. This webinar will highlight the Titlis excursion along with its various offerings. Attend all webinars for a chance to win a trip to Switzerland in 2023. For more information, write tojaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

According to new research commissioned by Arabian Travel Market (ATM), and conducted at the end of September 2022 by hotel market intelligence and global benchmarking company STR, the GCC region now has over 170,000 hotel rooms under active development (planning, final planning & under construction). This is equivalent to 40% of the GCC’s existing hotel room inventory, a figure almost four times greater than the rest of the world which currently lags behind at an average of 11% under active development compared with existing supply. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Between EXPO 2020, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision2030 strategy, the GCC’s hospitality sector development pipeline remains robust in contrast to global hotel development, which is slowing, due to weak economic growth forecasts. “While the hospitality sector’s growth does highlight the region’s increasing popularity on the global stage, it is also indicative of regional government strategy, to diversify GDP growth away from hydrocarbons into tourism, that will help to drive demand still further, over the coming years. The STR report estimates 135,560 existing rooms in Saudi Arabia with an active pipeline of 82,639 rooms, with total room inventory projected for 2030, at over 218,000 rooms. Similarly for the UAE, STR currently tracks more than 202,000 existing rooms with an active pipeline of 48,910 rooms, a combined total of almost 251,000 rooms by 2030. “Interestingly, Ras Al Khaimah, is second only to Dubai, with 5.076 rooms in its pipeline, almost the same amount as Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah combined,” said Curtis. The UAE’s historic occupancy performance provides a blueprint of what the region can expect as new rooms enter the market. Rooms supply …

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has announced a financial incentive scheme of up to Rs.5 lakh per tour operator for tour operators booking international tourists for the upcoming International Yoga Festival (IYF) 2023 to be held at Rishikesh from March 1 to March 7, 2023. This incentive will be offered to tour operators for bringing international tourists to the International Yoga Festival 2023.  For this, UTDB has decided to provide incentive to these tour operators from Rs.10,000 per international tourist up to a maximum of Rs.5 lakh.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revealed that in 2023, airlines are expected to post a small net profit of $4.7 billion—a 0.6% net profit margin. It is the first profit since 2019 when industry net profits were $26.4 billion (3.1% net profit margin). In 2022, airline net losses are expected to be $6.9 billion.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism has shared that sustainability commitment needs to come in mainstream in tourism, especially with G20. “There are four tourism track meetings slated to be held during G-20.  It is the ideal time that India should take the leadership position in responsible tourism,” he said.

Cross Hotels & Resorts, along with TravClan, has organised an exclusive webinar for travel trade today at 12pm (IST). Those who want to get a chance to win exciting prizes, register with jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com, or call  +91 9650196532.

With the revival of the Indian tourism industry post pandemic, AmEx has released a report which furnishes valuable and relevant information on key indicators of tourism statistics. As per the report, 62% plan to attend music festivals to celebrate the holidays this year. Almost 87% people agree they would rather purchase experiences as gifts for their friends and family rather than material gifts.

DCT Abu Dhabi is organising an exclusive webinar to educate the travel trade about luxury hotels and experiences at the destination, which will be held today at 3pm. To register contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com , +91 9650196532.