Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Travel technology vendor Sabre said it’s seeing corporate bookings recover steadily. During an earnings call, Sabre CEO Sean Menke said, “We’re encouraged. The underlying piece of this is that corporations are happy to have their employees back on the road. So unless there’s a hiccup relative to more Covid cases, we’re moving towards recovery.”

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the 11th edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) today, opening one of the largest tourism industry congregation in Kochi. The conclave is expected to boost Kerala’s revival of tourism sector through business meets over two days. It will have caravan and adventure tourism among its focal themes, alongside responsible tourism.

The Hotel Association of India (HAI) has submitted a recommendation to the Director General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Santosh Kumar Sarangi urging the Directorate to review the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCG) and provide relief to the struggling industry. The association has highlighted that, at the time of availing the duty benefits under the Scheme, no one could have envisaged the impact of Covid and the resulting dip in the foreign currency earnings.  In light of the changed economic and geo-political scenario, HAI has said that it is imperative to review the EPCG policy and provide relief for the industry to survive and be able to fulfil its obligations under the scheme. Hotels are facing huge challenges of liquidity, revenue losses, negligible foreign exchange earnings, high costs that are mostly fixed in nature and several other operational difficulties. Hotels require more time to fulfil obligations under the scheme. The industry body also requested the government to not issue notices to hotels, propose punitive action against them for non-fulfillment of obligations and not encash hotels’ bank guarantees. HAI pointed out that the hospitality sector is one of the most impacted industries due to the pandemic. Hotels were closed for almost 6-8 months during 2020-21 and re-opened in phased manner. The aftermath of the second and third wave has left a dent on the sector’s road to recovery. It added that the hospitality industry is expected to be back to pre-covid levels only by FY24-25.   RECOMMENDATIONS SUBMITTED BY HAI ·    5 Years Extensions: In addition to the currently available extensions as          per the EPCG guidelines, it is requested to provide additional 4 years extension for all …

Africa’s Travel Indaba officially opened today with a call for the continent to work collaboratively to drive tourism growth, so as to accelerate the sector’s recovery. Held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, over 634 and 625 buyers took their place at the travel trade show, as it opened its doors after a three-year hiatus. Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu opened the trade floor, effectively putting into motion 22,000 scheduled meetings between exhibitors and buyers. “Africa’s Travel Indaba is a springboard for the continent to achieve even greater levels of recovery. We are here because we have a collective responsibility to reignite the African continent’s tourism growth and economy.” Sisulu called for greater collaboration among African countries to advance tourism on the continent, particularly when it comes to domestic and regional travel. “As we do business, we must remember that our continent is also our own market.  All countries in Africa have potential for domestic tourism growth. Intra-continental tourism from Africa’s rapidly growing economies and growing middle class is an opportunity begging to be explored. We need improved collaborative efforts between our countries to achieve this.” Sisulu said all role players in the industry must continue to drive growth in tourism numbers by bringing together a range of Africa’s best and most unique stories and products from across the continent, and connecting them with buyers from across the world. She added that the event is about reigniting the spark in old relationships and building new, meaningful connections. “As a sector, we are here to cement our partnerships and collaborations. It can only be to our benefit that we are a sector committed to sharing ideas and knowledge, in a bid …

Goa Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said an agency would be appointed for integrated management of beaches, which would include round the clock cleaning of the shoreline. “The integrated module for beach management will include tourism information centre, convenience centre, beach cleaning round the clock, surveillance cameras, proper illumination. Since police can’t be posted round the clock at beaches, the tourism department will employ personnel to curb illegal activities like touting, unauthorized vending,” the minister said. 

JK Mohanty, CMD, Swosti Group, has said that the Ministry of Tourism should include Odisha in their Incredible India campaign worldwide. “Odisha has many natural and heritage sites. However, it’s missing from the MOT’s Incredible India campaign. I request the MOT to include it in the campaign so that it gets foreign tourist arrival too,” he said. 

As summer travel approaches, Lotus Destinations will conduct a quick webinar on Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruises, for the travel trade, today at 3 pm IST. Be Summer ready by attending this important webinar which will focus on the itineraries. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

As summer travel approaches, Lotus Destinations will conduct a quick webinar on Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruises, for the travel trade, on Wednesday, May 4 at 3PM IST. Be Summer ready by attending this important webinar which will focus on the itineraries. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that the Global Media Campaign, which was stuck up due to some issues in the government of India Ministry of Finance level, is now set to be launched in May. “We are in dialogue with the Ministry of Finance and I hope to get those issues sorted out quickly, so that we be able to launch our digital and TV campaigns along with the participation in all the marts. And I think this just process will start in the month of May, if all clearances are received by then,” he said. 

Citing the unprecedented rise in inflation, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has requested the GST Council to evaluate the present GST structure for the hospitality sector and appealed for it to be rationalized. FHRAI has suggested that all F & B revenue of hotels be delinked from their hotel room tariff slabs and allowed to charge GST at 5 per cent without ITC under the composite scheme and 12 per cent GST with ITC.