Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The swiftly emerging hospitality company, Espire Hospitality Group has signed an agreement with Ranjana Overseas Private Limited to introduce Country Inn Tarika Goa, Varca Beach, located just 200 meters away from the Varca Beach. This resort featuring 48 keys will be launched in September this year. Espire Hospitality Group currently has three resorts under its Country Inn Hotels & Resorts brand and this signing will strengthen the important mid-segment portfolio of the company. Located in the most scenic part of this popular leisure destination, South Goa, the resort is at a walking distance from Varca Beach and in close proximity to other beaches such as Colva Beach and Marjoda Beach. Country Inn Tarika Goa, Varca Beach will feature well-designed cottages for a leisurely stay, a poolside bar, a multi-cuisine all-day dining restaurant, fitness centre and a ballroom. Commenting on this important signing, Akhil Arora, Chief Operating Officer, Espire Hospitality Group said “We are thrilled to take the first step towards our expansion plan of having 20 resorts in our portfolio by 2023. Goa has latterly started attracting travellers throughout the year and is an extremely important market for us. We are already planning to add more resorts in Goa, in the near future.” He further added: Our Country Inn Hotels & Resorts brand has always been successful, for the consistent warm hospitality and for creating inspirational family experiences. We will continue to expand this brand exponentially, making it a leading mid-market resort brand in the country. Mr. Girish Batra, Director, Ranjana Overseas Private Limited, added: “We have decided to work with the Espire Hospitality Group as we recognize them as a trusted partner for creating a success story. Our resort’s …

Vietjet has officially launched four more services linking top destinations of India and Vietnam including Mumbai – Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi routes and New Delhi/Mumbai – Phu Quoc services. The new routes’ launch ceremony was held in Mumbai during the visit of Ho Chi Minh City’s leaders to Mumbai as India and Vietnam mark their 50th Anniversary of diplomatic relations. The ceremony witnessed the presence of Phan Thi Thang, Vice Chairwoman of People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, representatives of Consulate General of Vietnam in Mumbai along with Vietjet’s leaders. On the side-lines of the event, the Vietjet spokesperson also said the carrier is planning more routes from India to Vietnam by launching services from cities such as Hyderabad, Ahmedabad etc. The Mumbai – Phu Quoc route will operate four weekly flights on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, starting September 9, 2022. The services between New Delhi and Phu Quoc will also commence on September 9, 2022 with three weekly flights on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi – Mumbai routes started operation in early June, 2022. The two countries’ two first direct services connecting New Delhi with Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi resumed operation earlier this year in April with the frequency of three to four flights per week for each route. Passengers can book these routes’ air tickets now with fares starting as low as US$18 for one way. (*) Nguyen Thanh Son, Vietjet’s Vice President said: “Vietjet’s Vietnam-India’s flight network expansion will boost and strengthen travel connectivity and trade ties between the two countries. We have been the first carrier operating direct services between Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi and its largest city of …

Experience Hub, the trade and promotion arm of Yas Island Abu Dhabi and a subsidiary of Miral and Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT) partnered to host 45 Indian leisure and MICE travel agents on a four-day familiarization trip to Abu Dhabi. The group was invited to be part of the glitz and glamour of the IIFA Awards along with discovering and participating in all of Abu Dhabi’s and Yas Island’s attractions. Yas Island,  one of the world’s fastest growing leisure and leading entertainment destinations hosted one of the grandest celebration of the Indian Cinema; the 22nd International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) 2022. The event took place at the Etihad Arena, the Middle East’s largest state-of-art indoor entertainment venue and was organized in collaboration with the Department  of Culture and Tourism—Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), and Miral, Abu Dhabi’s leading creator of immersive destinations and experiences. The trip saw the agents experiencing rides at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi and Warner Bros. World™  Abu Dhabi to trying their hand at golf at Yas Links Abu Dhabi, venturing to Yas Mall for some shopping, appreciating the amazing artworks at the Louvre Museum, marvelling at historical landmark Qasr Al Hosn, the presidential palace Qasr Al Watan, and then visiting the largest mosque in the country, none other than the architectural masterpiece Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque to learn about the Emirate’s culture. They had the opportunity to experience the best of hospitality as Yas Island has more than 2,000 rooms and suites across 10 hotels including the Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island. Located on the Waterfront, Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island features a 545-room and around 2000 sqm …

Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai has announced two winners to its Spain Specialist Program ‘Know Barcelona’ quiz held alongside its webinar on the city on June 15. The winners are Shreyanka Churiwalla from Nimbus Tours & Travels and Nitish Gupta from Zenith Holidays. They take away a five-day trip to Barcelona and the surrounds in October 2022. This includes the international airfare ex-India.

Global Panorama Showcase is all set to begin its 2022 edition in Mid-September, and will be covering a total of 10 cities till March 2023. The cities are: Nagpur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Indore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Vizag and Kochi. It will be a two-day event for each city.

The Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI) signed an MoU with IDFC First Bank to facilitate digital payments. Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, who was present at the signing ceremony, said that the members can avail of this opportunity to get digital payment platforms for their agencies such as POS machines and payments links, among others. The rates negotiated between TAFI and IDFC First Bank will be a winning proposition for both the parties, Prakash said.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, flagged off the first Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train operating on the Ramayana Circuit. Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said that MOT, in association with IRCTC and Ministry of Railways has also proposed Bharat Gaurav Tourist Trains for Krishna Circuit, Buddhist Circuit and many other circuits.

The Sigmund Project is tourism’s first digital not-for-profit dedicated to supporting innovation through the power of collaboration. Since Sigmund’s launch in June 2021… org has received 50,000+ visitors from over 110 countries. The Sigmund team has hosted 64 mentor calls with entrepreneurs from across the globe. 223 ideas have been presented that aim to advance tourism for good. In the last twelve months, The Sigmund Project’s small yet mighty team has created the first-of-its-kind, open-source platform for entrepreneurs in travel & tourism. TheSigmundProject.org connects these entrepreneurs with collaborators from around the world who can help them take their ideas to the next level (ie. scale, pivot, attract new users, build tech, hire, etc.). Reflecting on its first year, the founder of The Sigmund Project, Alan Elliott Merschen said, “Thank you all that have visited our site and to the 8,500+ tourism professionals who have joined The Sigmund Collective… so far. You are an integral part of ‘The SigmundVerse’, and we thank you for your openness to collaborate for a better tomorrow. For anyone interested in helping entrepreneurs in travel take their ideas to the next level, we invite you to browse the OPEN · SOURCE platform and see how you can lend your expertise. Let’s see what’s possible.” In seeking out new ideas to transform the tourism industry, Sigmund is guided by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and encourages its entrepreneurs to align their business with these important indicators. Sigmund is interested in business ideas that have a triple bottom line. It’s always in search of the next socially minded, environmentally conscious, and fiscally sound idea to transform tourism. Sigmund champions ideas from sustainability to DEI to accessibility. Examples …

Department of Tourism & Culture (DCT)- Abu Dhabi is organising a webinar titled ‘Summer like you mean it’ today at 3pm (IST). The aim is to educate the Indian travel trade about the various offerings in Abu Dhabi for families and leisure travellers. Agents can learn about family friendly attractions, culture, entertainment & activities options. To register contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or +919650196532.

Dr Dhananjay Sawalkar, Joint MD, Directorate of Tourism, Maharashtra, reveals that the DoT is coming up with a tour operators’ accreditation policy. “It is in the final stage and we will start offering it from July 2022. On registering with us, these operators will get a lot of benefits like presence on our website, participation in international and domestic roadshows with us, famils, use of our logo, ad incentives, etc,” he says.