Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

India has recorded the highest domestic air traffic since the second wave of Covid-19 hit India, revealed Jyotiraditya Scindia, Cabinet Minister, Civil Aviation. “We are well on our way to gradually regaining pre-COVID-19 traffic levels!,” he said in a tweet.

Kamala Vardhan Rao, IAS, C&MD, ITDC, has said that India has tremendous potential for medical value tourism. Speaking at a webinar for Tourism Collaboration between India and Saudi Arabia, he added, “India holds 10th position globally as far as Medical Value Tourism is concerned, due to affordability, accessibility, and availability of medical facilities. It is the 7th dominating country in the world and 3rd in Asia Pacific region in terms of wellness tourism. India has received 4.95 lakh medical tourist in 2017 which has gone up to over 7 lakhs in 2019. With 800 NABH and 36 JCI accredited hospitals, India is a viable destination for medical facilities due to a robust ecosystem which is already well developed. Medical Value Tourism (MVT) is one of the 10 champion sectors identified by the Government of India, and we are perhaps the only country in the world with a dedicated Ministry of alternate healing and traditional medicine, the Ministry of AYUSH, which promotes Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy medicine. Ayurveda is taking off in a very big way world-wide, with its proven efficacy in the post-COVID recovery phase.”

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that while the strategy for international marketing in terms of incentives, promotions and media campaigns will be similar, but it will change from 15th August, when we enter 75th year of Independence. “We’ll merge that kind of messaging or campaigns, which will be aimed at celebrating 75th year of India’s independence, with existing media strategies, as well as new schemes and programmes,” he said.

Commenting on tourists flocking different domestic destinations and raising concerns of COVID and over-tourism, G Kishan Reddy, Cabinet Minister, Tourism & Culture, said, “While the state governments are responsible to control the spread, and they have been given advisories to follow COVID protocols, but COVID spread cannot be controlled without the cooperation of the people and tourists. Of course, the Central Government, State Governments, district and local administrations are working on it, but people’ cooperation is needed to make it happen.”

The Israel Ministry of Tourism, India Office will conduct a virtual presentation for the Indian travel trade on Tuesday, 13 July at 3pm IST. The session will highlight various offerings on leisure and MICE. To sign up, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com. Highlighting the importance of the India market for Israel, Sammy Yahia, Director of Tourism (India & Philippines), Israel Tourism, says, “In the last year, the travel industry around the world has experienced significant challenges, especially in the Indian trade. With new travel relaxations being introduced every day I believe that in the next few years, India will lead the international travel boom with many Indian travellers itching to experience new international destinations.  Before the pandemic, Israel welcomed over 65,000 tourists from India, setting a new record for us. I feel that in the coming months and year, when things normalise, we will double the number of arrivals from India to Israel.”

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) will finally hold its much-delayed national elections on July 24, 2021 via e-voting conducted on the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) platform. The following nine posts are open for election: President, Vice President, National General Secretary, Treasurer and five posts for Managing Committee Members.

In his discussion with the MOT, PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, has requested for inclusion of hotel charges in the MDA scheme for domestic tour operators. “The draft mentioned that for digital marketing or attending marts across India, this money would include cost of hotels, but in the final draft hotels were not included. Hence, we have requested the ADG to include hotels,” he said.

In a bid to boost tourism in the post-pandemic world, the Odisha government is decking up the ecotourism destinations in the state with houseboats as well as water-sport-based recreational facilities. Over 100 destinations are likely to be included in the plan, with boats and jetties expected to be set up by December this year.

In its latest survey that talks about travel trends, IATA reveals that 85% respondents say they will not travel if there is a chance of quarantine at the destination. The survey also reveals that travellers, though keen, are still willing to wait at least a month or two before resuming travel.

Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, the new Cabinet Minister for Civil Aviation, has shared that starting July 16, eight new flights will connect the state of Madhya Pradesh to other destinations in India via SpiceJet. The planned routes are Gwalior-Mumbai-Gwalior, Gwalior-Pune-Gwalior, Jabalpur-Surat-Jabalpur and Ahmedabad-Gwalior-Ahmedabad. Scindia says that his Ministry and the aviation industry are committed to taking UDAN to greater heights with these routes.