Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

In anticipation of Fiji’s borders re-opening to travellers, Fiji has introduced a ‘Care Fiji Commitment’ programme dedicated to enhanced safety, health and hygiene protocols to ensure the utmost safety of travellers to Fiji. Although Fiji’s borders are currently still closed, this programme represents a destination-wide assurance that Fiji is ready to welcome travellers safely back. Due to the country’s quick and effective response to COVID-19, Fiji was able to contain the virus from an early stage. The government’s effective containment measures put in place in March 2020 meant Fiji was able to officially declare itself COVID-contained in June 2020. Now, with the introduction of the Care Fiji Commitment, travellers can be assured that Fiji is a safe destination to enjoy on their next vacation to the islands. “The Care Fiji Commitment is our assurance to travellers that the health and safety of everyone who lives and travels here remains our number one priority,” says Tourism Fiji Acting CEO, Robert Thompson. “With this added layer of confidence in place, Fiji is primed to be an ideal post-pandemic destination – one that is and has remained COVID-19 safe, allows natural social distancing, has a wide variety of islands to choose from, offers mostly boutique resorts with under 50 rooms total, and is known for its wide-open beaches and expansive rainforests.”

One Above has added another feather to its cap and has opened an office in Taiwan – One Above Taiwan. Sharing this update is Rahim Aslam, Director, One Above, who says, “One Above Taiwan is going to be as big as Hong Kong for Indian travellers. Taiwan has the best of culture, shopping, cuisine and entertainment for every Indian traveller. Emily who heads One Above Taiwan comes with immense experience handling the Indian market in Taiwan. Under her guidance, One Above Taiwan will offer unique, high-quality travel, MICE experiences and cruise travel in Taiwan. We look ahead to 2021 with great confidence, optimism and resilience. The pandemic is far from over. However, with the global roll-out of vaccines, international borders re-opening and global economies slowly recovering – we anticipate a more promising year ahead.”

Of all the hiring in 2020, metro cities of New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai accounted for nearly half of the job postings on Indeed. Maximum aspirants for these jobs, however, emerged  from Jalandhar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, and Lucknow. This was an interesting departure from the top cities in 2019 where job seekers looked for hospitality and tourism jobs, namely popular tourism hubs before the pandemic set in such as Goa, Panchkula, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Delhi.

Giving fresh boost to tourism and adventure sports, the Union Ministry of Tourism & Culture Prahlad Singh Patel visited Kargil on the occasion on National Tourism Day on January 25, 2021 to inaugurate the National Event of Adventure Tourism (NEAT Kargil 2021). He also announced a branch of the Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IISM) in Kargil to encourage the local youth to take up adventure.

A recent entrant in the cloud-based hotel management software domain, StreetGooser, will now launch GYPZE.com – a booking platform dedicated to experiential stays – on 14 February, 2021. It will offer booking options for under-the-radar luxury boutique home stays, villas and resorts. John Varghese, CEO and Founder, GYPZE.com, says, “All travellers have to do is choose from a select array of homestays, villas and resorts across the globe. Our bouquet of offerings include quality, secure and safe accommodation in off-trail often secret locations, known only to the discerning traveller. An added advantage is that GYPZE.com can be accessed on your mobile too.” GYPZE.com vets each property to see if it meets the company’s stringent quality standards. As per Varghese, boutique properties offering experiential stays face unique challenges – lack of online exposure, absence of a platform that focuses on experiential stays and one which highlights the USPs of each property. Without the marketing muscle of chain hotels, off-beat hideaways have to pay higher commissions to booking engines and travel agents yet have very little customer support.

Kazin DMC has entered into an exclusive agreement with Almaty Multiprofile Clinical Hospital to bring free medical assistance to its travellers as part of standard inclusion in each package. This first-of-its-kind arrangement by a DMC includes door-to-door ambulance service, doctor on call, first-aid assistance and overnight hospitalisation.

HVS ANAROCK’s latest report titled ‘Room for Growth’ states that the three Indian cities (Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai), though still underpenetrated, have been performing at par with other Asian cities, especially on the occupancy front. As for RevPAR, Bengaluru is in the same range as Beijing and Shanghai.

In response to suggestions requested from tourism stakeholders to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) recently issued for restoration of tourist visa, the trade has recommended that Conference Visa may also be restored along with the tourist visa for supporting the M!CE market, and that SOPs be customised for the same.

Royal Jordanian Airline has appointed STIC Travel Group as its India GSA for passenger services. “Travel agents can contact any of the STIC offices across India. I hope that together we can contribute to growth of business,” says Subhash Goyal, Chairman, STIC Travel Group.

Hyatt has announced the launch of Hyatt Delhi Residences in New Delhi’s Aerocity. The property includes 124 apartments divided into 70 one-bedroom, 42 two-bedroom and 6 three-bedroom apartments, and 2 two-bedroom and 4 three-bedroom duplex townhouses, with spacious interiors paired with Hyatt’s signature service excellence. This hotel does not participate in World of Hyatt.