Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) thanks the BMC and the Government of Maharashtra for the 3-month waiver on property tax for the industry. However, it has requested to grant waiver to all hotels as well as restaurants for a six-month period, during which they were asked to remain shut. Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, HRAWI, adds, “We have not been paid for the cost of operation borne by us towards quarantining essential workers.”

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, in Parliament, said Air India’s only 21 routes, including nine domestic and twelve international, are profitable. Only these routes can cover the total cost of operating flights on 100 routes on which the airline operated between April 2019 and March 2020, he further added. Puri’s response indicated that Air India operates in 56 domestic and 44 international destinations and out of those 101 domestic and 10 international routes, it does not cover variable costs. “Air India continuously monitors market developments and the performance of its flights and conducts studies with the aim of withdrawing, introducing new routes or increasing / decreasing the frequency of existing routes. Air India has withdrawn flights that did not meet fixed / variable costs,” said Puri. He said that services on loss-making routes will be analyzed based on their strategic importance before deciding whether to withdraw or continue those routes.

In a webinar organised by ITDC on the revival of the hotel industry, Rakesh Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism said that the first challenge for hotels and ministry after reopening of hotels to rebuild consumer confidence. “We have to jointly convince people that they have to trust the industry, otherwise the demand will not pick up,” he said.  

JB Singh, President & CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, has said that to drive the industry where we want to go, big policy intervention is needed. “One cannot drive policy intervention without changing the structure. I think the policy must have something that can do transformational change,” he said while speaking at CAPA India Webinar.

The first winner of the ongoing Tripjack Fantasy League contest is AR Vinoth Kumar, Proprietor, VKM Travels, from Port Blair. He wins the second prize of 7,500 Tripjack coins that he can redeem on the Tripjack website. Commenting on this, Kumar says, “I love cricket and follow IPL regularly. I have been working with Tripjack for two years and like their quick payment and auto-update system online.” Join the IPL Fantasy contest now on tripjack.com and win daily prizes.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) will conduct a destination presentation on Friday, September 25 at 11am that will have a special focus on Busan. Along with KTO, the webinar will also have representatives from Busan Tourism Organization and a DMC joining in from Korea for product updates. Young Geul Choi, Deputy Director, Korea Tourism Organization, New Delhi office, says, “Each region of South Korea has its own unique feature and characteristic. To bring a better understanding of each special region, we decided to conduct a destination presentation with a special focus on Busan – South Korea’s second-most populous city. The local charm paired with attractions and shops are what draw people back to Busan. It is the perfect destination for slow travel, filled with hidden attractions in its side streets. It is also a food haven with its streets lined with restaurants and food vendors. The city is home to landmark attractions like the Yongdusan Park escalator and the popular Busan Tower among others. With this webinar, travel agents can add more value to their South Korea itineraries and recommend it as the first choice once travel between India and South Korea resumes.” To sign up, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

Tourism New Zealand virtually launched its new campaign ‘Messages from New Zealand’ today in presence of Steven Dixon, Regional Trade Marketing Manager, Asia, Tourism New Zealand and His Excellency, David Pine, New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India. ‘Messages from New Zealand’ features everyday New Zealanders sharing video messages of hope and care with their international whānau (family), presenting a unique Kiwi perspective about what is important to them. The campaign showcases locals who embody the values of manaakitanga (hospitality) and kaitiakitanga (care for the land) through positivity and encouragement. This beautifully captures their wholesome messages of kindness and compassion to family, friends and loved ones all around the world. The campaign will be released through social and digital channels. Each of these ‘Messages’ will show that New Zealand is a country which is driven by what matters in life, underpinned by the purity of its values such as Manaakitanga and Kaitiakitanga. And to build on the success of these webinars, and further engage and educate agents, Tourism New Zealand will launch a ‘Virtual Road Trip’ campaign later this week. The ‘Virtual Road Trip’ will showcase a different region of the country each month. This campaign will be shared on Tourism New Zealand’s travel trade website. To bring to life the campaign in India, Tourism New Zealand will be partnering with its Indian whānau, including influencers – who have a strong affinity with New Zealand – highlighting their own personal experiences and connections with the country. Commenting on the campaign, Dixon says, “The travel industry has been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis tremendously in the past few months and it is important now more than ever, that we stay connected to visitors and our travel …

After the recent Unlock 4 guidelines coming into play and movement starting to normalize, the Uttarakhand tourism sector has started to revive at a slow but steady pace. In order to breathe life into tourism industry during the ongoing COVID-19 scenario, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has been coming up with several guidelines which are being issued in accordance with the pandemic. Sharing his views on the revival of tourism industry, Secretary, Uttarakhand Tourism, Dilip Jawalkar, says, “UTDB has been coming up with several schemes during the revival period to support various sectors in the tourism industry. To ease the travel of visitors coming to Uttarakhand, we have removed all kinds of movement restrictions for tourists having the mandatory COVID-19 negative test report. Such people are allowed to enter the state and stay in a hotel for any number of days they want. We are also planning to deploy tourist facilitation counters at all important state borders and provide on-the-spot COVID-19 testing facility to visitors not carrying the COVID-19 negative test reports.” He adds, “Simultaneously, it is our collective efforts at UTDB to constantly be in touch with all the stakeholders and to thoughtfully and mutually come up with apt guidelines, in order to support the industries at every step during these difficult times. For instance, recently we held an online meeting with the stakeholders and effective steps during the revival period of adventure tourism were discussed.” Adventure Tourism contributes to a majority part in the state’s overall tourism industry. Uttarakhand is a heavenly destination when it comes to offering various adventure activities to tourists. White Water River Rafting Rishikesh is the name that pops-up when someone talks about …

International Tourist Arrivals drop by 56% in 2020, from that of 2019, which recorded 1.5 Billion arrivals across the world, revealed UNWTO. In Asia-Pacific, this drop was 60%, in Middle East 52%, while in Africa it was 47%. Europe saw a percentage decline of 58% in arrivals, and for US it was 47%.

Strengthening their presence in the North, Cygnett Group of Hotels and Resorts have launched their First Hotel in Punjab— Cozzet Stay Amritsar, with 40 rooms, which is located about 400 meters from the Golden Temple.