Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

In a country first initiative, Kerala is set to become a fully women-friendly tourism destination by implementing a comprehensive project to encourage the participation of women in all tourism activities and attract more women tourists to the state, Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas said. Launching the state-level ‘Women-Friendly Tourism’ project, an initiative of State Responsible Tourism Mission (RT Mission), Shri Riyas said Kerala already enjoys the reputation as the safest destination for women tourists. Noting the significance of the project,  Riyas said the state needs a paradigm shift at a time when the world is witnessing a sharp increase in solo trips by women as well as in groups. The Minister said this initiative is conceived not just as stand-alone package, but as a comprehensive project to ensure presence of ordinary women in various tourism activities and bring more women travellers to the state.   “Through this project, RT Mission ensures safe and hygienic places and tourism destinations for women tourists. The all-women tour packages will be controlled and operated by women, including food, accommodation, transportation and community guides” he said. The Minister also inaugurated a one-day workshop organised as part of the project. Delivering the key-note address, Deputy Representative, UN Women India, Kanta Singh, said creating a safe, reliable and hygienic infrastructure that addresses the needs of women is vital while implementing the project.  UN Women will sign an MoU with RT Mission regarding gender inclusive tourism, she said. Kerala Tourism Director, P B Nooh said while ensuring the safety of women tourists, the project will bring about a holistic change in tourism sector. Nooh called for more debates to evolve solutions for the problems regarding safe journey of …

Travalyst, the not-for-profit sustainable travel organisation set up by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, welcomes Amadeus to its coalition. Amadeus is a global travel technology company with more than 16,000 employees worldwide, and headquartered in Madrid, working in over 190 countries. Often referred to as the backbone of the travel industry, its technology platforms power hundreds of the consumer-facing travel companies that millions of travellers and thousands of travel agents interact with on a daily basis through the broad range of its technology offering. Amadeus becomes Travalyst’s eighth partner (alongside Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Skyscanner, Tripadvisor, Trip.com Group, and Visa). Their considerable expertise as a global travel technology provider will enhance Travalyst´s reach and reinforce the objective to help travellers make sustainable travel choices. In conjunction with its coalition partners, Travalyst is developing a framework of shared principles and preferred methodology for reporting sustainability – focusing initially on aviation and accommodation – which has begun to be implemented by some of Travalyst’s travel distribution partners. Sally Davey, CEO, Travalyst said, “Amadeus is an important partner for us strategically and an ideal company to join the coalition at this stage in our journey. The partnership with Amadeus brings us significant reach within the travel industry and agent community, allowing us to embed our strategy and frameworks more deeply. This is going to be a significant step forward, making it easier for the industry and its consumers to bring sustainable travel into the mainstream,” she added. “Amadeus is fully aligned with the stated mission of the Travalyst coalition to help travellers to make sustainable travel choices. We are building together towards a uniform sustainability framework that is consistent, credible, and easy to understand for …

Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, provides tourists with a plethora of accommodation options and access to numerous activities and experiences. Through this webinar, we will showcase Zurich and it’s various touristic offerings. Attend all webinars for a chance to win a trip to Switzerland. For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Sandeep Dwivedi, Chief Operating Officer, ITQ, has announced that they have signed a multi-year agreement with Cleartrip where we are going to empower a GDS connectivity on Cleartrip platform. “Our market share will increase, we will become a dominant player in the OTA  area where all OTAs will use our technology,” he said.

Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, has said that the United Kingdom is on track to get back to processing Indian visa applications within its standard 15-day period. He also mentioned that they dealt with a great surge in demand for student visas, which is 89 per cent up on last year.

Pradeep Shetty, EC Member, FHRAI & President, HRAWI, has shared that CCI has imposed penalties of Rs.223 Cr and Rs.168 Cr on Go-MMT and Oyo for anti-competition practices. “This is by far one of the biggest wins for the hospitality industry against the dominance of the aggregators,” he said..

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that India’s global tourism indices will go up by improving the safety and security aspects of tourism and would go a long way in making India one of the favourable destinations. He urged all the tourism stakeholders to work closely and strengthen the security aspect of the tourist destinations.

Tourism Australia has created a live-action short film with CGI animated characters. The short film, G’day, is part of a new global tourism campaign inviting international travellers to Come and Say G’day, and plan and book an Australian adventure of their own. Directed by acclaimed Australian director, Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and produced by FINCH, G’day the short film shows the unlikely adventure of a plush souvenir kangaroo named Ruby, voiced by beloved Australian actor Rose Byrne, and a toy unicorn, Louie, voiced by actor Will Arnett. The short film follows Ruby and Louie as they ‘break out’ of a gift shop on the Great Barrier Reef and take an incredible adventure around Australia, visiting iconic sites including Sydney Harbour, Melbourne’s laneways, and stunning natural landscapes like Uluṟu and Nitmiluk Gorge. Along the way, they explore the magnitude of travel experiences Australia has to offer, connect with Australia’s Indigenous cultures, and learn why every great adventure starts with the unmistakably Aussie greeting, “G’day!”. Tourism Australia Managing Director, Phillipa Harrison, said “Come and Say G’day is unashamedly and unmistakably Australian. After a challenging time around the world, our uplifting and joyful campaign will stand out in what is a highly competitive international tourism market.” The multichannel campaign includes new broadcast advertisements (in 60, 30 and 15 second versions), print and high impact Out of Home (OOH) advertising placements, as well as social, digital, and content marketing initiatives. The campaign activity will be further amplified by partnership activity with airlines, State Tourism Organisations, and key distribution partners including Thomas Cook, SOTC, PickYourTrail, Kesari Tours amongst others. Australia’s Indigenous cultures and peoples are at the heart of the story in G’day, and …

The Ministry of Tourism, in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), organised a national conference of DGs/inspector generals of the police departments of all states and UTs to discuss implementation of Uniform Tourist Police Scheme. Objective of the national conference was to bring the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Home Affairs, BPR&D and state governments and UT administration on the same platform, so that they may work together in close coordination with the state and UT police departments and sensitise them about specific requirements of foreign and domestic tourists.

The cruise industry has proven its resilience throughout its more than 50-year history—as is evident in the responsible return to operations that began in July 2020. In the baseline forecast, passenger volume is expected to recover and surpass 2019 levels by the end of 2023. In the upside forecast, passenger volume is expected to recover to 101% of 2019 levels a year earlier, by the end of 2022. In all three scenarios, passenger volume is projected to recover in excess of 12% above 2019 levels by the end of 2026.