Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

With emerging cases of new COVID-19 strain, the British government will introduce pre-departure COVID testing requirements for all inbound passengers to England effective 4 am, 15th January.

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) Western India Chapter has announced that its current team has returned to office unopposed. Jitul Mehta is the Chapter Chairman, Burjis Mehta as the Secretary, and Jay Kantawala as the Treasurer. The team will take over office for the two-year term starting January 2021. Jitul Mehta says, “The work that we started in our previous term will continue with more vigour and determination now with a focus on getting the industry back on its feet.”

ARRA Hotel Group is on an expansion spree and has signed up 25 properties across India, which are under various stages of reinvention as per our standards. Anshu Malik, MD, ARRA Hotel Group, says, “We will operate the above properties under our flagship Brand Arra which is our upscale brand and Twist which is Budget young feel brand. We are opening 5 properties by February 2021 in Gurugram, Manesar, Jim Corbett, Nainital and Dehradun with 450-room inventory.”

Hotel Association of India (HAI) has launched its West Bengal Chapter, and has submitted a memorandum of industry demands to West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee and Finance Minister Dr. Amit Mitra, seeking industry status for the hospitality sector. The association has suggested that this will help in reducing costs and encourage re-investment while bringing greater transparency in the sector functioning. A favourable policy decision of according industry status and allowing benefits available to manufacturing will strengthen the Indian hospitality industry, preserve and unlock its immense potential to make a significant contribution to the State’s GDP and jobs, supporting the post-pandemic economic revival of the region. MP Bezbaruah, Secretary General, Hotel Association of India, said, “The Association believes that granting industry status to the sector will enable hotels across the state to avail benefits towards electricity and water tariff at an industrial rate, lower property tax, rationalisation of taxes & license fees, simplified approval process for hotel projects & hotel operations and other benefits accorded to industries – thus helping in ushering transparency, reduce costs, and encourage reinvestment. Such small steps are crucial for revival of the sector after the disastrous impact of the Pandemic and essential considering the extent of employment and income the sector generates.”

STB India Virtual Tradeshow 2021 is all set to kick-off today for South India. The virtual show will begin from 10am till 4pm, where Singapore stakeholders and travel trade from South India can engage in B2B meetings. The subsequent editions of the show will be held on 15th, 19th and 21st of January in North, West and East India respectively. Register on www.stbindiatradeshow2021.com, email: jaspeet.kaur@ddppl.com, or call +919650196532.

STB India’s Virtual Tradeshow 2021 will begin tomorrow from 10 am to 4pm. The subsequent editions will take place on the 15th, 19th and 21st of January for North, West and East India, respectively. You can register for free on www.stbindiatradeshow2021.com, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91-9650196532.

Election of office bearers for the Northern India chapter of TAFI will be held tomorrow at The Park hotel in New Delhi. Contenders for the post of Chairman are Khushvinder Sarna of The Federal Travels & Tours and Vijay Kumar Gupta of Golden Phoenix Travel. Arush Mittal of Blue Skies Travels and Tours stands unopposed for post of Treasurer.

IRDAI has proposed a standard travel insurance policy with common coverage and policy wordings. Its draft guidelines issued on December 28 stated, ‘The standard product shall have the basic mandatory covers as specified in draft guidelines which shall be uniform across the market. The product may be both an individual product and a group product.’

India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal will soon hold a discussion to determine a possible course of action for the revival of tourism in the region. India has proposed to resume tourism and aviation activities with appropriate restrictions through the travel bubble concept. India and Sri Lanka decided this during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s Colombo visit.

Learn about the new labour laws, HR policies, and the new draft of the appointment letter at IATO’s webinar, in association with TravTalk, on Wednesday, January 13, 11:30 am onwards.