Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

As predicted by ForwardKeys’ Forecast data, this year, the number of Russian outbound travel is expected to increase by 64% when compared to 2021, and 96% when compared to 2020. Regarding when we can expect it to recover to 2019 levels, Nan Dai, China Market Expert at ForwardKeys says: “Looking at the current pattern and pace for bookings, it is expected to recover to 2019 levels approximately in three to four years.” 

As the Travel & Tourism sector begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, its contribution to the global economy could reach $8.6 trillion this year, according to a study by the World Travel and Tourism Council. Prior to the pandemic, the Travel & Tourism sector generated nearly $9.2 trillion to the global economy in 2019. However, in 2020, the pandemic killed the sector, causing a massive 49.1% drop, representing a loss of nearly $4.5 trillion. 

Nearly 6 million passengers have sailed on cruise ships since the cruise industry’s restart last year. In addition, 16 new ships will set sail this year include five liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered vessels and nine expedition ships. In addition, more than 75 percent of oceangoing capacity is already back in service—and nearly 100 percent is expected back in operation by August 2022. Best of all, travel advisors and passengers will likely see a full cruise industry recovery in 2023. 

Speaking about budget Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy expressed gratitude to PM and FM for the Atmanirbhar Bharat Ka Budget and said, “As India celebrates 75 years of independence with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we are entering Amrit Kaal and this budget presents a blueprint for India at 100. Vikas (Development) and Virasat (Heritage) go hand-in-hand and this is evident from the fact that this year’s budgetary allocations for Tourism and Culture Ministries have been significantly higher.” 

Union Minster of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday announced that 16 new airports will be built in five Central Indian states. He said that 16 new airports will come up in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa, Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur, Bilaspur and Jagdalpur, while nine airports will be built in Uttar Pradesh, one in Rajasthan and two in Maharashtra. Scindia also highlighted the need of better integration between the central and state governments for the success of PM-Gati Shakti scheme.

Recovery of the pandemic-hit Indian aviation sector will benefit from the sale of Air India and the handover of the airline to the Tata Group, the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament said. The annual report card of the economy that comes a day ahead of the Budget said the Air India handover, coupled with a boost to digital infrastructure and structural reforms in telecommunications, would have a positive impact on the pace of recovery of the aviation sector.

The Kerala Travel Mart dates have been rescheduled from 24th-27th March to 5th-8th May, 2022 at the same venue. Speaking on the change, Dr Venu Vasudevan, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary of Higher Education and Tourism, Govt of Kerala, said, “We know that in certain regions, there are still restrictions that are applicable. So having considered all these matters, the KTM society has decided to postpone the Mart. We do this to ensure that all those people who have expressed interest in participating are given the opportunity to do so. We already have more than 1,100 travel partners who’ve expressed interest in participating and we want to ensure that every one of them will gather here physically during KTM.”

To meet the fund requirements for the various schemes implemented by the Ministry of Tourism during the Financial Year 2022-23, the Finance Minister has earmarked an allocation of Rs 2,400 crore in the Union Budget 2022-23, said Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy. This allocation he said, is 18.42% higher than the Budget allocation for the year 2021-22 and 76.82% more than the allocation of 2013-14.

Boris Johnson, the British PM, has urged international tourists to visit the UK to enjoy the spectacles, claiming that UK is safe and open to visitors, with no testing required for fully vaccinated visitors. The announcement comes ahead of a new VisitBritain £10 million international marketing drive, which will debut in February and target the UK’s most valued visitor markets in Europe and the USA

Travel demand has been wiped out by Covid-19, and cruise operations were among the first to be halted when the pandemic broke out in early 2020. After the pandemic ravaged the sector and drove its German shipbuilding subsidiary into insolvency, Genting Hong Kong Ltd. has filed to wind up the company, marking one of the greatest stumbles by a cruise operator globally.