Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Don’t miss out on today’s Thomas Cook India webinar that will discuss ways in which the trade can help restart travel recovery. The company will highlight its latest initiative ‘TravShield’ as well as its ‘Travel Now Pay Later’ concept. All attendees will receive gift vouchers worth Rs 1,000 along with a Thomas Cook participation certificate. They will also be able to participate in a unique holiday bidding contest to win a trip for two pax for a 7-day holiday in Ladakh! What’s more – three agents who attend the entire session will stand a chance to win a 2-night stay with Sterling Holidays. Inviting the trade to attend this, Romil Pant, Senior Vice President – Holidays, Thomas Cook India, says, “We look forward to each one of you joining us on the occasion as we talk about ‘TravShield’ and ‘Travel Now Pay Later’ idea and assist the trade in re-inventing travel. We promise you a lot of interaction and fun during the webinar as we give all participants.” To participate, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532, or register directly at https://event.webinarjam.com/register/264/wy0z2bk8

A number of FAITH association heads met with the new Cabinet Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, G. Kishan Reddy and welcomed him on his taking over the charge in his office. The delegation comprised of Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH; Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO & Hony. Secretary FAITH, Jyoti Mayal,  President, TAAI & Vice Chairman FAITH, P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI & Board Member FAITH; and Ravi Gosain, Vice President, IATO. Members of the delegation assured full support to the Minister for the revival of tourism and sought similar support from him. The Minister assured all his support to the industry.

IRCTC will be starting services of a special train in September, which would cover many top tourist destinations, including Char Dham—Badrinath, Jagannath Puri, Rameshwaram, and Dwarkadhish. This comes in line with the reduction of positive COVID cases across the country. IRCTC has also launched another popular pilgrimage circuit ‘Chardham Yatra’ by ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ Deluxe AC Tourist Train. It will be second such service to be offered by the IRCTC after the great popularity and success of the ‘Shri Ramayana Yatra’ train operated on the Ramayana circuit.

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has said that by appointing three ministers for tourism (including one cabinet minister) and three ministers for culture, the Prime Minister has given a heavy weight focus to tourism. “We always had a lot of expectations from MOT, but now being given a cabinet berth, we expect much more and quicker decisions to take place. This is because the Government is looking at tourism as the industry, which would quickly revive the economy. Else, the PM wouldn’t have put so much of manpower into it,” she said.

Dr. V Venu (IAS) has been appointed as Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism Department, Government of Kerala. An IAS officer of 1990 batch, he has been appointed several times before in the tourism department during his tenure. He has also been appointed as the Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education. Apart from this, he will be having additional charge of Member Secretary, Planning Board.

Ajay Bhatt, the newly appointed Minister of State, Tourism, took charge and shared that the priorities for him in the new role is to take the country forward and tourism sector at the top position. “We will take briefing and will come to know things clearly. Then, we would know what can be done about the issues and problems. The hotel industry is completely closed and small shops around tourist sites have been out of jobs, this include locals, rickshaws, taxis, guides, daily wagers, etc. All of them have faced problems. For them, the Government has created many schemes. Now that the situation is improving day by day, we hope to soon come back to the old level of tourism in India,” he said.

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai continues with its hour-long webinar series in July that has been exclusively designed for the Indian travel trade. The final one for this series will be held today at 3 pm IST and will focus on the World Heritage Cities of Spain. Those who attend all three webinars and participate in the educational quiz stand a chance to win Amazon gift vouchers. To register, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532. Visiting Spain brings you into direct contact with the history of its civilizations. There are 15 stunning UNESCO World Heritage cities to be seen in Spain, each with its exceptional sights and unique scenes. Take the time to explore their local cuisine, learn about their customs, and take part in their fiestas for a complete experience and an unforgettable trip. This webinar will inspire you to plan a culturally oriented journey into the art and splendour of Spain.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that the national strategy and roadmap for sustainable tourism would involve a certification scheme, which would initially cover accommodations and tour operators based on sustainability criteria of India, which can later be extended to destinations and other industry stakeholders as well. “We will also work with industry, states and NGOs on information education and communication campaigns amongst the stakeholders about sustainable tourism and also the adverse environmental impact of tourism in certain parts of the country. There will also be an effort to do a state assessment and ranking, which we have seen to be successful in certain aspects of national priorities. This will be a key strategy to motivate states to adopt sustainability in tourism and it will be used to identify the status of various initiatives in the states and build their capacity and future roadmap towards better sustainable practice tourism,” he added.

Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) while launching the Thomas Cook India TravShield – Safe Travel Commitment, said, “To provide guidance to our MICE Corporates and build confidence that it is safe to travel again, we have designed a 3 pronged strategy that covers personal, financial and mental safety. Our TravShield is a comprehensive safe travel commitment designed with meticulous health and safety protocols to safeguard our MICE customers and encompasses and enhances the companies’ existing Assured Insured Secured Travel Program. We want Thomas Cook to be the ‘Safest Travel Partner’ when consumers start travelling again.” Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel have announced a two-pronged strategy: TravShield and Holiday First & Pay When You Return. TravShield is designed with meticulous health and safety protocols to safeguard customers across Holidays, MICE and Business Travel and encompasses and enhances the companies’ existing Assured Insured Secured Travel Program. The health and safety Assured Program, in partnership with Apollo Clinics, is inbuilt into TravShield. The Holiday First & Pay When You Return scheme provides customers the flexibility of paying once they return from their holiday.

Rakesh Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism has said that the ministry will launch a responsible traveller campaign on the upcoming World Tourism Day 2021. “This World Tourism Day, we would be formally launching the responsible traveller campaign. I would like to request state governments to also support the campaign and make it a great success,” he said.