Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Founded by Jerrin Jos and Satheesh Satchit, Verteil Technologies is a travel technology company that is transforming the 40-year old legacy airline distribution space with its retailing and distribution platform using the new distribution capability (NDC) standards promulgated by IATA. Kochouseph Chittilappilly, Chairman Emeritus of V-Guard Industries, has made an investment in this Kerala-based travel technology start-up Verteil Technologies as part of its Pre-Series A funding round. Verteil has on-boarded more than 26 airlines from around the globe, including Emirates, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa Group, British Airways, and Singapore Airlines. Verteil operates from Kochi, Kerala and has an operating unit in Tokyo, Japan. A beneficiary of the vibrant start-up ecosystem in Kerala, Verteil has been backed by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). The amount of the Pre-Series A Round was undisclosed. Verteil will use the money raised for onboarding more airlines into the platform and will invest further in technology to augment additional features to the current product.

Speaking exclusively to TravTalk on the sidelines of the annual five-day global trade event ExploreGB, Sally Balcombe, CEO of VisitBritain, said, “We expect 2022 to be a stellar year. The event will see around 30 buyers from India this year and we are expecting huge numbers from India when international travel resumes. India is one of the fastest growing markets for us.”

HVS ANAROCK’s monthly report titled ‘Hotels & Hospitality Overview’ reveals that in the month of January 2021, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Goa witnessed the highest increase in occupancy compared to the previous month. In fact, for the Indian hotel sector, occupancy remained between 46-48% on average, almost a 2% growth over December 2020.

In a discussion hosted by Indiatourism Guwahati on World NGO Day, panellists concurred that active participation of NGOs in the tourism sector has been a successful phenomenon in the First World, and that their role in the Northeast is evolving. ‘Such associations for the sustainable development of tourism industry has now gradually started in India,’ the MOT also Tweeted.

Rani George, Principal Secretary – Tourism, Government of Kerala, has said that the new tourism campaigns by the state government are helping Kerala resume tourism and that Ayurveda can be an added attraction for tourists arriving in the state. “We are also seeking suggestions from tourism stakeholders on how we can further promote domestic tourism in Kerala,” she added.

About 700 participants are expected at the SingapoReimagine MICE Virtual Show, an event organised by Singapore Tourism Board for local and international MICE players to connect and showcase their offerings. This is its first such collaboration with local MICE players. The two-day event will be held from 3 to 4 March 2021 and is part of Singapore’s efforts to catalyse the MICE industry’s recovery and generate business opportunities for its partners. The event will see up to 40 suppliers like hotels, convention centres and tour operators. Exhibitors include Gardens by the Bay, Singapore Airlines and Sentosa Development Corporation. The top 5 voted buyers will each win a hosted trip to Singapore on Singapore Airlines, inclusive of a hosted stay and exclusive experiences.

Zuheb Hasan MZ, Founder, Travel Bee, has won the VisitBritain Cricket Carnival Season-1 for the third Test Match. Sharing his excitement, he says, “I participated in a contest after a long time. This is a great initiative, and can be extended beyond sports with travel quizzes as well. I used to play cricket at the state level, but had to discontinue. However, I know the game and hence, I chose players I thought would perform better. I am excited about the grand prize and participating in all the games.”

Noida International Airport (NIA) and the Government of UP have signed a state support agreement in Lucknow. The  agreement lays down the State Government’s support to establish and continuously improve surface access to the airport, establish and expand utilities required to run the airport (water, electricity, waste water), maintain law and order, including monitoring at the airport and grant the necessary clearances to build and operate the airport.

FHRAI has written to Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan,  and has requested for recognition of hospitality workers in the country as ‘Frontline Corona Warriors’ and be nominated for priority vaccination. In its letter, FHRAI stated that hotels and restaurants across the country provided their support to the Government by offering rooms for housing quarantined passengers, doctors, health workers and the police, among others while restaurants served over 3 lakh meals per day to the needy.

Vishal Kumar Dev, IAS, Principal Secretary, Dept. of Tourism, Sports & YS, Govt. of Odisha at a interactive meeting with HRAO members and government officials in Bhubaneswar said that new Tourism Policy in Odisha is ready to publish and will be declared after announcement of IPR. He also said that tourism has been given a priority sector by Chief Minister and as a result the tourism budget for the year 2021-22 has got doubled to Rs 1500 crore. “.  The Government is also working on various plans like development of hospitality infrastructure in the tourism sector to bring number of good category hotels to the State. He assured that next 2 / 3 years will be very exciting time for tourism to take to its greater height and will be the best tourist destination in the country,” he said.