Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

In anticipation of the opening of international borders, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) invites the global conventions industry to collaborate on activating an initiative called Regenerating Legacies Recovery Roadmap. The industry is now more attuned to new realities through its relentless efforts in adapting to change. TCEB Conventions Department leans itself into this shift in mindset and behaviour to embark on this collaborative journey. “TCEB’s advocacy for industry collaboration is one of the campaign cornerstones when we launched Thailand: REDEFINE Your Business Events in 2018. Now, the Regenerating Legacies Recovery Roadmap begins with a series of conversations that call upon that collaborative spirit to revive the business of global conventions with a future-shaping attitude,” said Nichapa Yoswee, Senior Vice President at TCEB. Covid-19 aggravated Associations’ concerns around succession planning, evolutions that honour legacies and profitable innovations. The Regenerating Legacies conversations explore fundamental beliefs with association experts and industry partners to identify growth accelerators that cultivate valid advancements for the convention business ecosystems. Yoswee explains, “We seek to understand Associations’ pain points, but we cannot resolve them in isolation. We have to move beyond rumination and spearhead effective changes that reinforce the value perception of our industry.” “Redefining the future is not just an outcome. It is a journey with unexpected changes. The road to recovery challenges our resilience, but the way we respond is what matters most. Our team at TCEB is here to support association professionals in making informed decisions. What we can spearhead are robust conversations that attract agents for change and spark new approach for future generations.” A series of activities are in the pipeline to engage the convention industry on this collaborative recovery journey. Join …

Vidhi Godiawala, STR’s Business Development Manager for South and Central Asia, says, “Until March of this year, India and China were trading places for the highest intention to travel. While current travel sentiment remains clouded, recovery from the first wave gives us reason to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel for hotels in the country.”

Thomas Cook India & SOTC Travel have announced a two-pronged strategy: ‘TravShield’ and ‘Holiday First and Pay When You Return’ to cover every aspect of physical and financial safety. While the former is a comprehensive safe travel commitment to safe guard customers, the latter provides customers the flexibility and benefits of paying only once they return from their holiday.

Karnataka Tourism Society (KTS) has written to CP Yogeeshwara, Minister for Tourism, Ecology and Environment, Government of Karnataka, to lift the lockdown imposed on the state from June 21 in a graded manner, in order to ease the pressure on the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. It is estimated by KTS that the job loss in in excess of 5,00,000 and revenue loss close to Rs75,000 crore.

The government of Bihar has allocated a little over Rs13 crore for the development of a new theme park and museum in Prakash Punj, dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh. Prakash Punj covers a 10 acre area at Patna Sahib. It will have two exhibition halls, an auditorium, and even galleries. The development is planned to commemorate the 350th birth anniversary of the Guru.

The government of Malaysia has issued new guidelines for passengers travelling to Kuala Lumpur from India, including a COVID-19 swab test, the cost of which will be borne by the passenger, as well as 21 days of quarantine in a hotel. Passengers are also required to submit an RT-PCR negative report within 72 hours prior to departure.

The Airports Authority of India has achieved another milestone in getting its staff across the country, as well as their dependants, fully vaccinated. As part of this massive initiative, the Authority claims that all the staff at the Jammu airport is now vaccinated. Since the launch of the initiative, Airports Authority of India has conducted the mass inoculation drive across several airports under its aegis.

Vistara in its industry-leading efforts to ensure the highest standards of safety on board, today operated India’s first flight with pilots and cabin crew fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The special flight UK963 on 16 June 2021 departed Delhi at 0850 Hours and arrived in Mumbai at 1110 Hours, operated by the crew that have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The crew will also be operating the return flight, UK 960, which is scheduled to depart from Mumbai at 1155 Hours and expected to reach Delhi at 1405 Hours today. Vistara plans to operate more such flights in the coming days as their number of fully vaccinated staff increases. Vinod Kannan, Chief Commercial Officer, Vistara, said, “Vaccination is the best known defence against the pandemic that is helping the world get back to normalcy, subsequently aiding the recovery of the aviation industry. We have been consistently getting our staff vaccinated in our endeavour to ensure safety for them, their families and our customers whom they serve. This special flight operated by our fully vaccinated cabin crew and pilots is a sign of our continued commitment towards making ‘flying feel safe again.” The airline recently announced that it had got nearly 100% of its eligible employees vaccinated with at least their first doses. This included Vistara’s airport and corporate staff, cabin crew and pilots. Vistara continues to ramp up its efforts to ensure all eligible employees receive their second doses as well in time and are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at the earliest.

With its nationwide vaccination campaign in full swing, South Korea will allow group tours for fully vaccinated people under travel bubble agreement with countries like Singapore and Taiwan to start with, revealed the transport and culture ministries. It is believed that an air bubble with India and Korea is on the cards too. Apart from Singapore and Taiwan, the Government is planning to sign travel bubble agreements with  Thailand, Guam and Saipan for the exclusive travel partnership that have been relatively successful in containing and combating the pandemic within their respective borders, according to the transport ministry. To know more, register for Korea Travel Expo, scheduled on 23-24 June. For registrations, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com

Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways & Ministry of Civil Aviation have signed an MoU for the development of seaplane services in India. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the MoU between the two ministries will help in expediting the development of new water aerodromes and also operationalisation of new seaplane routes. “It gives a big fillip to the provision of a new kind of tourism,” he said.