Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Uzbeksitan Airways has appointed Aeroprime as its PSA (Passenger Sales Agent) for India. Aeroprime will be responsible for the airlines’ sales, reservations, customer service and ticketing. Abhishek Goyal, Executive Director, Aeroprime stated, “We are honoured to be working with Uzbekistan Airways in India. Our appointment is a perfect reflection of Aeroprime’s specialised offering of localised expertise and networks, which gels perfectly with the airlines’ philosophy and vision. The airline will be supported by international best practices of Aeroprime, to expand their market share and sales in India.”

EbixCash Private Limited is progressing towards its prospective IPO, reveals Robin Raina, Chairman, President & CEO Ebix Inc. The company has appointed S Ravi, as a new independent director to the EbixCash Board. Ravi is presently serving as the Chairman and Director of Tourism Finance Corporation of India. “As the Chairman of Tourism Finance Corporation of India, he also has a thorough understanding of the travel industry. All of these attributes are extremely valuable to his role on the EbixCash Board as we chart our next cycle of growth and progress towards the prospective IPO,” said Raina.

Sunjae Sharma, Vice President & Country Head – India, Hyatt, confirms, “As a result of no funds forthcoming from Asian Hotels (West) Ltd, the owner of Hyatt Regency Mumbai, to sustain the operations of the hotel, a decision has been taken to temporarily suspend all operations for Hyatt Regency Mumbai. The hotel will remain closed until further notice. Future reservations through Hyatt booking channels will remain temporarily unavailable. We are working closely with the hotel’s owner to resolve this situation.”

Korea Travel Expo, to be held from 22-24 June 2021, will mimic a real-life exhibition, says Young-Geul Choi, Director, Korea Tourism Organization, New Delhi office. “It is a 3-day event, and the 1st day we have reserved for ‘by invite only’ buyers who we would be inviting personally. The next 2 days are open for all Indian travel agents who want to meet our Korean exhibitors. The platform offers the option of both pre-scheduled meeting as well as on-spot meetings by visiting the exhibitor booth as you would do in a physical exhibition. While people wait for their meetings, we will also have an interactive fun page where people can get interesting Korea related information, watch videos and participate in quiz/activities to win exciting prizes. We have kept everything very practical and business focused and avoided having any preloaded or live presentations or too many interactive features, which at times slows down the interface.” points out Choi. Register at www.koreatravelexpo.com, email jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

Jatinder Taneja, Vice Chairman, PATA India Chapter, has said that they will wait for some time before planning any activities for the association, and said that the Government should do the same. “They need to plan a roadmap for inbound tourism and probably they need more time for the same. Unless covid numbers are controlled and vaccination drive is fast we can’t expect international arrivals,” he added.

The Tourism Office of Spain – Mumbai continues with its webinar series exclusively designed for the Indian travel trade with one-hour webinars in June-July. The next one will be held on Thursday, 10 June at 3pm IST and will focus on Valencia. 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.

Liz Ortiguera, the CEO of PATA, has said that travel recovery is being driven by a complex range of factors, from varying market policies regarding virus control and containment to local citizens’ sentiments on vaccine take-up. “In the travel industry, a ‘duty of care’-based approach in delivering services and products will support a more sustainable recovery,” she explains.

CAPA Advisory, in its Airline Outlook FY2022, has said that there will be strategic consolidation in the Indian airline sector once the COVID umbrella has lifted. If there is no consolidation (although such a scenario appears unlikely) and if the privatisation of Air India does not proceed, then the Indian aviation sector may emerge from COVID with more airlines than it went in with.

Sharing his view on the RBI’s decision to open an ‘on-tap liquidity window for contact-intensive sectors’, aggregating ₹15,000 crore till March 31, 2022 for the tourism sector, Aditya Agarwal, CFO, Cleartrip, has said, “This measure helps alleviate the stress in the sector, provides much-needed support to industry participants, and allows the industry to be well prepared to meet customer needs.”

Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL) has received the final credit sanction for Rs3,725 crore from the State Bank of India (SBI) for the development of Noida International Airport (NIA). Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA) is the main shareholder of YIAPL and is injecting Rs2,005 crore into the development of NIA.