Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Sharing his perspective on the new entrant in the LCC segment, Gavin Eccles, Managing Partner, GE Consulting & Advisory, says, “Key for Akasa Air is to differentiate through ancillaries.  Make ancillaries a key part of the travel proposition.  And, what that means is moving beyond just ancillary development with seats, boarding, etc., but to really look at the total travel proposition.  One area growing well at the moment is an in-house tour operator that allows the airline to sell the leisure proposition via a controlled inventory system. Could we see Akasa Air Holidays?”

Travel Agents Federation of India – Gujarat Chapter has written to the Ahmedabad Airport Director regarding an announcement made for Ahmedabad runway repair from 3 January 2022 to 31 May 2022 from 9am to 6pm excluding public holidays and Sundays. The latter states, ‘We propose that this repair and maintenance work if possible should be executed in night hours from 10pm to 5am starting from March 2022 with a short completion period. We seek your immediate support to make these changes happen and save the tourism industry from losing its current pace.’  

According to new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the recovery of the sector has been hampered by the lack of international coordination, severe travel restrictions and slower vaccination rates in some parts of the world which still hamper many regions of the world. The research reveals that at the current rate of recovery, Travel & Tourism’s contribution to the global economy could see a similar moderate year on year rise of 31.7% in 2022.

IndiaTourism New Delhi office recently conducted a two-day vaccination camp at The Park, New Delhi with both Covishield as well as Covaxin vaccines being offered. It invited everyone from the travel fraternity to participate in this drive to ensure full vaccination.

Hoping to cash in on the growth potential of spiritual getaways in India, VITS Kamats Group has launched 70-room VITS The Somnath Gateway in the temple town of Somnath. Located in close proximity to the Somnath temple, it offers a peaceful abode for pilgrims with all the necessary devotional settings.

As the news of international borders and reinstating of e-visa has been announced, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has appointed tourism officers in 20 Indian missions abroad in a bid to boost overseas marketing and promotions. These officers were already posted in embassies in the countries where promotions will take place, revealed Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism.

Team India tourism, North East and the officials of Ministry of Tourism (MOT), India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and Nagaland government visited Khonoma, an Angami Naga village recently to conduct recce for ensuing ITM 2021in Nagaland. ITM 2021 is scheduled from 28-30th November 2021 in Nagaland, just before the popular Hornbill Festival in its capital Kohima. As per MOT, the idea to conduct the ITM before the event is to take advantage of the festival’s popularity.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, shares that he is running strong campaign with the Chief Ministers of all states for reduction of VAT on ATF. “I am approaching every CM sequentially and asking them to lower the VAT on ATF. There are 11 state governments, which charge between 1-5% and around 27 state governments charge between 5-30%. My target is to get as many states to charge between 1-5% VAT on ATF, so that there is increased penetration in terms of connectivity,” he said in Kushinagar.

Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has joined hands with John Cena for their new tourism campaign to promote tourism to the emirate. The actor is starring in a new tourism film for Abu Dhabi, in which he highlights why the Time is Now to visit the emirate. The film has been released after the announcement that Abu Dhabi is welcoming all international vaccinated travellers and those travelling from Green List countries back to the Emirate, without any need to quarantine.

Speaking about the impact its first virtual roadshow has made, Sthembiso Dlamini, Acting CEO & COO, South African Tourism, says, “We are delighted at the response received from all stakeholders including suppliers, buyers and corporates at the VirtuallyYoursSouthAfrica show. India is a critical market for us as we look at travel recovery and we believe that the partnerships formed and relationships built here will hold us in good stead. We look forward to creating customised itineraries specifically for the evolved Indian traveller basis the insights and inputs we received from our trade partners.”