Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has submitted a representation to PM Narendra Modi, FM Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of MSME Nitin Gadkari and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel requesting for urgent support to save the sector from imminent collapse. It has stated that financial reliefs extended during the first pandemic wave were inadequate and improperly implemented. The FHRAI has pleaded for immediate fiscal measures including a 3-year moratorium extension on all loans and a complete waiver of interest on loans.

Rajiv Mehra, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has made an appeal to all its members and all the tourism professionals to get themselves, staff and their families to register on for Covid-19 for vaccination. While requesting the members and others, he mentioned that it is very important for all of us in the tourism and hospitality industry to get ourselves and staff vaccinated at the earliest possible and once the vaccinations is done, same should be conveyed to all your counterparts/foreign tour operators to create confidence amongst them that vaccination programme in India is going on in full swing and all our staff and the frontline workers  i.e., airport representatives, drivers, guides, escorts and tourist felicitators, hotel front office, reception and restaurant staff, etc. have been vaccinated.    

A total of 71 deals (comprising M&A, private equity, and venture financing) were announced in the global tourism sector during April, which is a decline of 34.3% over 108 deals announced in March, according to data and analytics company GlobalData. Aurojyoti Bose, its Lead Analyst, says, “Although the rebound in deal activity in March brought in some cheer, it could not be sustained for long with April again reversing the trend.”

Union culture minister Prahlad Singh Patel shared a notification that stated that the Archaeological Survey of India has decided to keep all its monuments closed till May 31, or until further orders, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On April 15, ASI announced the closure of all the centrally-protected monuments under ASI till May 15.

With the financial security renewal of IATA-accredited agents scheduled for 30 June 2021, the IAAI director board recommends GoLite accreditation to travel agents in India after doing an extensive study on the IATA accreditation services. Since the IFCO TOKIO General insurance company withdrew their insurance guarantees for travel agents, the IAAI director board studied various services – Standard (with and without Easy Pay) Go Lite and Global (multi-country) regarding its application, facilities and benefits. In the absence of an insurance guarantee, agents’ are forced to provide a bank guarantee or Joint Bank guarantee under travel associations, which are more expensive than the existing insurance guarantee system. Through virtual meetings, the IAAI director board has considered the various aspects that constrain agents’ survival. It feels IATA Standard Accreditation is a ‘white elephant’ in the present economic turmoil and frustration due to the pandemic situation for most of travel agencies as they are SMEs. A travel agent has to annually spend around USD 783 for IATA Standard accreditation and using BSP link facilities in addition to the financial guarantee and other expenses. Biji Eapen, President of IAAI, says, “In the present scenario, this expenditure may not be a viable business solution for most of agents in India and foreseeing that the present pandemic situation may continue much longer and delay in the redemption of international flights may take 2 years or more to reach the level of pre pandemic situation, IAAI National committee would like to suggest IATA Accredited Travel agents to convert their accreditations to GoLite accreditation. Even though it curtails credit facilities, it drastically reduces overall costs and empowers IATA Accredited Agencies to survive this unprecedented difficult situation.” Eapen adds, “Since …

Abu Dhabi, which currently requires travellers to quarantine for 10 days unless they are from a green-list country, will end quarantine for all international arrivals starting from July 1, according to Gulf News. The emirate is also looking at extending the green list to cover a majority of the markets that it is tapping into and hopefully, by the 1st of July, everybody will be allowed to travel to Abu Dhabi, Gulf News adds.

TK Jose, CEO of Jose Travels, has been re-elected as Chairman for the Madhya Pradesh chapter of TAFI for the term 2021-2023. The election was conducted through an electronic voting process owing to the pandemic. “We will collectively work for the betterment of our chapter and will take up various issues faced by our travel fraternity with the concerned department or airline,” Jose said.

The World Committee on Tourism Ethics, an independent body under the aegis of the UNWTO, met recently to assess the implications health certificates might have on tourism ethics. The Committee has recommended that COVID-19 certificates for international travel must be free, universally available and non-discriminatory. They must also be limited in time and use, it says.

At FITUR, the international Spanish tourism trade fair in Madrid from May 19-23, UNWTO will ensure sustainability, innovation and responsibility are a central part of the conversation. The hybrid event will celebrate the diversity of the award-winning ideas for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals and the people behind them.

In its recently-updated guidelines, Ministry of Civil Aviation has advised airline operators to accept only those passengers who are carrying a negative RT-PCR test report with QR code for boarding international flights departing from lndia May 22 onwards. This will ensure minimum physical contact and smooth movement of passengers.