Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Deepak Narula, MD, GRNconnect, has said that they are planning to launch DMC for Egypt and a DMC for India. “During COVID time – we focused a lot on technology and product upgradation by adding some Key Suppliers in our portfolio. Now we have ambitious plans on distribution front. We have made some major tie ups and we will go live on these platforms as early as Jan’22. We also plan to launch DMC for Egypt and a DMC for India.”

Government of Goa has constituted a 19-member tourism board and has dissolved three panels called the state-level promotion and marketing committee, the high-powered monitoring committee, and the state-level permission committee. Hence, all decisions pertaining to tourism in the state will be taken by this committee. Confirming the news, Nikhil Desai, MD, GTDC, has said that they have already been taking care of infrastructure, development and hotels under GTDC. The marketing had been taken care of by Goa Tourism, and will now be under the purview of the committee.

The Ministry of Culture & Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan & Kazakh Tourism Board has appointed Rohit Shorey, Founder, Kazin DMC as their M!CE Tourism Ambassador For Kazakhstan in India. Kairat Sadvakassov, Deputy Chairman of Kazakh tourism board said that Shorey, has made a significant contribution to the overall development of tourism to the country from India region, especially M!CE. In a reception held at the Marriot hotel in Nur Sultan on the 27th November 2021, the board presented Shorey with a certificate of Ambassadorship. The reception was attended by Vishal Jain, Director, Kazin International, who signed the MoU and collected the award. Rohit & Vishal remains very bullish on Kazakhstan as a destination with vast potential in the field of tourism. owning to its wide diversity of offerings for all verticals of tourism. They feel that India & middle east will become a major source market for tourism to Kazakhstan and this is one the reasons why Kazin Dmc has maintained 100% focus on this destination since 2016. Kazakh Tourism, being the country’s brand manager for tourism and a subsidiary of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, serves the government’s goal of achieving an 8% contribution to GDP from tourism. The government is significantly developing the tourism infrastructure of the country by opening numerous branded hotels to cater the increasing demand of tourists. Almaty airport is going through a multi-million-dollar expansion to accommodate more airlines to serve the country. Air Astana has announced that they will resume direct flights between Almaty & Delhi effective 16 December after a 20-month hiatus. As the world is gearing towards normalcy, this announcement could not have a come at a better time.

Switzerland Tourism will conduct an exclusive webinar today at 3pm IST, with Swiss Travel System (STS) and Rail Europe. The webinar will highlight STS’s various products and services, as well as provide an update for 2022. It will also showcase the ease in booking of these products and services through Rail Europe’s distribution network. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532

Rajiv Mehra, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), has said that the MOT has spoken about taking stalls at Fitur and ITB. “We have asked our members about the same and around 30 IATO members have expressed willingness to participate in these travel shows. Fitur is scheduled in January, while ITB is scheduled in early March, 2022.

Puvurel said that The Muraka is well suited for Indian market. “It is a first-of-its-kind, three bedroom, two-level residence with a master bedroom submerged 5 meters below sea level. Perfect for a real luxury, bucket-list experience. We have a lot of last minute travel, especially from India who come in their private jets. The Muraka is ideal for families, couples or a group of friends.”

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, told in Lok Sabha that India has sent a proposal to ten countries, including Saudi Arabia, Australia, and New Zealand, that is still pending. While India already has air bubble agreements with a total of 31 countries. International passenger flights are currently being operated in a restricted manner under bilateral air bubble arrangements with various countries.

According to the latest forecast by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the same amount was lost in 2020, making it one of the sectors hit hardest by the health crisis. The coronavirus pandemic would likely cost the global tourism sector $2 trillion in lost revenue in 2021, revealed UN’s travel body, calling the sector’s recovery “fragile” and “slow.”

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “WTTC supports the World Health Organization (WHO) position in calling for borders to remain open and safe travel to continue. Closing borders will not prevent the spread of new variants. The latest variant is increasingly being detected in countries around the world. The way to keep safe is to focus on the vaccination status of individual travellers rather than placing whole countries onto red lists”.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region – DoNER, distributes loan cheques & sanction letters to registered tour guides and operators in Delhi. During the segment of the event, the representatives from the banks such as Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India & other banks came forward, offering loan schemes on behalf of their banks.