Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Andhra Pradesh government has issued the ‘AP Tourism Trade (Registration and Facilitation) Guidelines, 2020’, under which it will be easier for tourism service providers to register themselves. Rajat Bhargava, Special Chief Secretary, Tourism and Culture. AP, said that they will provide a simple mechanism for registration of tourism trade, which would allow them to collect statistical information from service providers and establish a database on tourism for planning and development of tourism in the state.

Uttarakhand Tourism has approved the Tourist Incentive Coupon Scheme, under which tourists opting for e-bookings for their stay in hotels and homestays, will get a rebate of Rs 1000 for a 3-day stay, revealed Satpal Maharaj, Minister of Tourism, Uttarakhand. “The tourists will be given the discount coupon while registering themselves on the government portal under tourist category. They will then be able to use the coupon during their stay in a hotel or homestay in the tourist spots of the state. The tourist will have to provide his Aadhaar card details while registering to avail the coupon and have to stay for minimum three days in the hotel or homestay. The scheme will also apply for the Char-Dham pilgrims,” said Maharaj. He also revealed that under the scheme the tourists will be given a discount of ₹1000 or 25% of the hotel charge per day, whichever is less. Source: Hindustan Times

The Rajasthan cabinet has approved a new tourism policy for the state. The new policy aims to rebuild the marketing policy for international branding of tourism and promote domestic tourism. The policy proposed to strengthen the tourist assistance force, encourage startups. Two or three prominent monuments and sites will also be developed in every division as ‘Iconic monuments’ or sites. For MICE and wedding tourism, the policy lays out a plan to identify, grade and list facilities. The policy also outlines a scheme for classifying all tourism units such as hotels, paying guest houses. An annual event, ‘Rajasthan Startup Tourism Connect’, will be organised to bring innovation to the sector.

GRN Connect now has a new provider on board, which would give agents the access to a wider selection of accommodation anywhere in the world. From now on, agents would see Booking.com rates and availability in its search results. Also, subscribers to GRN Connect will get exclusive access Booking.com discounted rates. There is also more availability and choice, within budget, closer to where your travellers need to be. There will be no changes to agents’ current way of booking.

In today’s FHRAI webinar with Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Government of India suggested FHRAI to put forth their general problems along with other Associations like CII and FICCI. The main problem that Association addressed pertains to restructuring of loans and extending the moratorium period. They also said that onetime restructuring which was allowed till March 31 is not taken very seriously. Sanyal said that the restructuring guidelines addressed in KV Kamanth Committee will not be considered in a normal account, banks may not be taking the guidelines seriously but RBI is. Plus, he suggested that it is important to focus on the schemes that are already existing in the framework and push it forward. Association also requested that moratorium should continue until the situation is better and banks could get a solution. They also mentioned that Amitabh Kant is making some progress in deal with Saudi Arabia for a new credit line. To which Sanyal said that funds is not a problem, economy is doing good, there is liquidity in the market, the task is how to leverage it.

Korea Tourism Organization will conduct a destination presentation today at 11am with a special focus on Gyeonggi region. Along with KTO, the webinar will also have representatives from Gyeonggi Tourism Organization and a DMC joining from Korea for product updates. To sign up, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com

According to TravTalk CEO Survey, economic activities are expected to return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic level by Q1 2022. 48.1% of respondents feel recovery will happen by Q1 2022, while 34.6% feel the pre-pandemic level will be achieved by Q1 2021.

Sharing his experience in Thailand, Sanjay Mehta, CEO, Trans Globe Travels, “Two years ago, I went on a Mega fam trip to Thailand. It was a refreshing and amazing experience visiting Thailand. The weather was really good and I loved spending time on the pristine beaches. I visited Koh Chang and Pattaya and it is truly a hidden gem of Thailand.  Enjoyed Kayaking, snorkelling and spending time at pristine beaches during the trip. Overall, the country is the best place for a holiday.”

Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) will host its biggest virtual travel trade event “Travel Business Azerbaijan Online” (TBA 2020) on October 14. The online event will bring together local and international tourism professionals in hopes to forge partnerships and profitable business deals. The event aims to bring together 300 buyers from around the world.

Malaysia will block citizens of India, Indonesia and the Philippines from entering the country starting September 7. The restrictions will affect those with long-term passes, students, expatriates, permanent residents as well as family members of Malaysians. All foreign tourists have already been banned from entry since March and the same restriction has also been extended till 31st December 2020.