Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism and Manohar Lal Khattar, CM, Haryana held a meeting for the development of tourism related projects in the state and to speed up the ongoing projects in the state. The way forward was discussed with special focus on Development of Rakhigarhi and Kurukshetra and science museums apart from other cultural and tourism hubs development.   Secretary, GoI, Tourism Shri Arvind Singh , joint secretaries of Union Ministries of Tourism and Culture and  other senior officers of Central and State government were also present during the meeting. During the meeting, the state government gave details of the proposed Krishna Circuit Project-II. Development of tourist infrastructure at important tourist/pilgrim places related to SrimadBhagwad Geeta & Mahabharata at Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Karnal, Panipat and Mewat under the Krishna circuit phase-II of Swadesh Darshan Scheme is planned under this project. Apart from this, the two sides discussed Heritage Circuit Rewari, virtual museum at Jyotisar near Kurukshetra and development of Pinjore Gardens, MorniHills , science city among others.The progress of ongoing PRASHAD projects at Nada Sahib Gurudwara and Mata Mansa Devi were also reviewed by ShPrahald Singh Patel and the state government was asked to speed up the completion.

ITB Asia 2021 will be an all-virtual event, and the physical show has been postponed to 2022. Messe Berlin (Singapore) has announced the complete digitalisation of ITB Asia, which will be held from 25 – 29 October 2021. The virtual event includes five full days of business appointments and three exclusive days of conference programme. All conference sessions are available on-demand for a month. Exhibitors will get many virtual benefits and some new perks. The event is being held in conjunction with MICE Show Asia as well as Travel Tech Asia. “Our team is committed in bringing a hybrid concept of ITB Asia, MICE Show Asia and Travel Tech Asia for the travel trade industry coming October. However, global health and travel uncertainties accompanied by the rapid emergence of new COVID-19 variants had halted our efforts. The hybrid concept garnered an excellent response with over 600 confirmed exhibitors, but it has become apparent that international delegates are unable to reasonably plan their participation and travel arrangements. Therefore, with a good lead time this year we will conduct the show virtually, offering international delegates a stronger digital platform for B2B networking, learning and knowledge sharing,” said Katrina Leung, Managing Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of ITB Asia.

In a major development for the hospitality segment following the COVID-19 outbreak, Click Hotels by Suba has acquired leisure budget hospitality chain 1589 Hotels, owned and run by Clarks Group of Hotels. With this deal, Suba added 35 new properties to its portfolio across 22 prime destinations in India which marks the milestone of total 2,000 rooms. This expansion drive is a part of Click Hotels’ acquisition of 1589 Hotels including GenX, RNB, and RNB Select. With this, Click Hotels by Suba has marked its transition to an asset-light business model and has expanded its footprint across key destinations like Ranthambore National Park, Jim Corbett National Park, and Dalhousie.

In order to widen its scope to promote India, IndiaTourism has taken the first step to reach out to outbound agents. Venkatesan Dhattareyan, Regional Director, Indiatourism Mumbai, says, “Indiatourism has conducted a session with the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) which is quite historic. They traditionally promote destinations outside of India but they have now come forward to learn about India. This is another avenue that we are trying to explore and gives them a chance to learn something new.”

In India, trust directly influences traveler purchasing behavior, claims a research by Travelport. Due to COVID-19, for example, half (50%, versus a global average of 46%) of travellers in the country said they prioritize trust over all other factors when choosing a travel supplier (such as an airline). Many travellers in India also stated, when trust is in place, they will consider purchasing multiple travel-related items (47%), upgrading their package (47%) and buying non-travel-related items such as credit cards (42%) – putting India amongst the countries with the strongest link between trust and purchasing propensity.  “The Indian travel industry has a golden opportunity to come out of COVID-19 strongly”, said Sandeep Dwivedi, Chief Operating Officer of InterGlobe Technology Quotient, Travelport’s official partner in India. “It’s clear that building consumer trust can lead to commercial success. By focusing on the most important issues for consumers in India, we can accelerate industry recovery.”

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 next one will be held today at 3pm IST and will focus on the Xacobeo Holy Year. 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. The Xacobeo Holy Year is an incredible experience that will delight you, a date that is eagerly awaited by pilgrims from all over the world. The well-known Jacobean pilgrimage routes of The Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago) are full of events throughout the year: concerts, art exhibitions, conferences, talks, films, educational and academic activities, tourism, volunteering, cuisine, etc. It is for the first time, the celebration of the Xacobeo Holy Year will be extended over two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) because of the pandemic. Attend all three webinars in July, participate in the educational quiz and stand a chance to win Amazon gift voucher.

The Royal Thai Government has officially endorsed measures for Phuket to reopen for fully vaccinated international travellers without quarantine requirements from 1st July, 2021.  Leading the reopening is Thailand’s largest island and popular holiday destination Phuket with the “Phuket Sandbox” model from 1 July 2021. This will be followed by “Samui Plus” which is the reopening of the luxury holiday destination Koh Samui and nearby islands of Koh Phangan & Koh Tao from 15th July 2021. If Phuket or Samui is the visitor’s first point of stay in Thailand, he or she must remain in Phuket or Koh Samui for 14 nights before travelling to other destinations in Thailand or depart to their home country or another country if intending to stay there for fewer than 14 nights. Travellers will need to be fully vaccinated, get an RTPCR negative report prior departure; stay in a SHA Plus approved accommodation (where at least 70% of staff are inoculated) and would have to strictly follow the formulated SOPs with taking utmost precautions of hygiene and safety. These terms will also be applicable for children of 6-18 years of age travelling with fully vaccinated parents or guardians who are required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival at their own expense. For more information please log on: https://www.tatnews.org Phuket, one of Thailand’s most loved destinations, located in Southern Thailand is often referred as the Pearl of the Andaman, It is Thailand’s largest Island located at 867 kilometers South of Bangkok. Being a big island, Phuket is surrounded by many magnificent Beaches such as Rawai, Patong, Karon, Kamala, Kata Yai, Kata Noi, and Mai Khao. Blessed by nature and smiling hospitality of its people, …

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 next one will be held on Thursday, July 1 at 3pm IST and will focus on the Xacobeo Holy Year. 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.

Reacting on the Finance Minister’s relief measures announcements announcement for the tourism industry, Subhash Goyal, President, Confederation of Tourism Professionals of India said the announcement is ‘too late and too little’. “Already 10 million people in the industry have become jobless and thousands of companies have become bankrupt,” he said.

Korea Travel Expo, which was held from 22-24 June, recorded a total of 1100 buyers having 2669 meetings with over 15 exhibitors from South Korea. The delegation, led by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), consisted of representatives from around 9 DMCs, 6 regions and 1 attraction. South Korea is expected to open its borders for inbound tourism this year.