Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Manoj Saraf, MD, Gainwell Travel, has said that the company has been badly hit owing to COVID-19 and the Gainwell Sports division saw a setback with cancellation of ICC T20 World Cup in Australia this year. However, during the lockdown period, they have also tied up with AMITY university and taking online classes for hospitality as well as travel & tourism students, to give them knowledge on selling certain products and how to be employable. Apart from that someone in their company is also teaching Spanish, as learning a new language is an added advantage.

Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), a statutory body under railways ministry, has invited proposal to appoint a consultant to redevelop Bhuj railway station in Gujarat. The station will be redeveloped under public private partnership (PPP) model. The consultant will have to conduct feasibility study, finalize a detailed master planning, urban designing, engineering and preparation of a detailed project report for redevelopment of Bhuj railway station. The last date for applying for participation in the bidding process is 12 August. RLDA is redeveloping 62 stations across the country in cooperation with the government’s smart city project.

The Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA) will conduct an exclusive webinar on July 24 with the Regional Ministry of Tourism Office to demonstrate to its members how they can get a ‘Ministry of Tourism Recognized Service Provider’ stamp. Presentation will be done by Venkatesan Dhattareyan, Regional Director (West & Central India), Indiatourism Mumbai, Ministry of Tourism.

The Rajasthan government has approved a proposal to provide relief under Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme for one extra year to units in tourism & hotel sector. The cabinet also decided to extend the period for reimbursement of SGST to hotel and tour operators by three months to one year, from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

Steve Borgia, CMD, INDeco Leisure Hotels, has said that by cutting costs and getting local guests & weddings at hotels, they have been able to make a profit in June 2020. “From 120 employees, we ran our hotels with 15 people. We ran many programmes to attract locals and did weddings with the gathering of 50 people. We managed to make a profit of 2.5 lakh,” he said.

Latest data on future bookings to India by ForwardKeys suggests that whilst there is no upward surge in tickets for November, travellers are generally holding onto their tickets. Ticketing history also tells the same story. Olivier Ponti, VP Insights says, “Bookings are flat as we can see a ‘wait and see attitude’ taking place, however, we expect the situation will evolve when people get more clarity regarding travel restrictions.”

Dr Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, has said that, while travel bubbles and green corridors are a great idea, but there is a lot of complexity involved in setting them up. “It is not a simple task. There are bilateral agreements involved between the two countries. It’s not only the immigration department involved but also health departments and ministries of health of the respective destinations. However, the countries need to agree to have enough trust in the healthcare system of the respective destinations to allow people to travel across their borders.”

Committing to uphold the highest standards of cleanliness, The Umrao, New Delhi has launched the #AASHVAST, a holistic programme that addresses all facets of hotels operations. From revised protocols for the heart of the house activities at the receiving store, back office, laundry, to the public areas with heightened sanitisation measures for guest luggage, elevators, room service and cover everything from handwashing hygiene and cleaning product specifications to guest room cleaning procedures. Specific steps that the hotel is taking as an organisation can be found on its website, www.theumrao.com. Virendra Teotia, Director, Umrao Hotels & Resorts, New Delhi commented, “We have launched “Ashvasht” a holistic programme that addresses all facets of hotel operations & hotel’s commitment towards health, hygiene and safety, designed in collaboration with medical professionals and disinfection experts to further enhance the existing hygiene and cleaning protocols. Further to have guest safety and avoid to contact with unknown vendors we had already in place professionally organized wedding-related venue and non-venue requirements for the new-age, tech-savvy guests. The USP was simple: a one-stop-shop enabling the promise of a great event at guaranteed guest safety as our topmost priority.”

The tourism department of Goa is investing in technology to capture tourists data and create personalised products. Menino D’souza, Director, Department of Tourism, says, “We are currently completing our data repository formulation and policies to that effect. We have realised that social media is going to be the next go-to travel agent. Culling out relevant information from there and analysing it, and not only analysing but coming out with a response system so that in case of any issues, we are able to respond immediately. Such intelligent systems have to be put in place. We are looking at replacing the personal touch with technology. AI-based interventions are something we are looking forward to in the coming few years.”

According to CAPA Fleet Database, monthly aircraft deliveries are starting to recover, but remain low. Total deliveries were already falling YoY in Jan-Feb 2020. This fell further in March 2020 by 58%. Although the number doubled from May 2020 to June 2020, it was still down by 60% YoY.