Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The latest edition of UNWTO World Tourism Barometer shows that the lockdown led to a 98 per cent fall in international tourist numbers in May when compared to 2019, and a 56% year-on-year drop in arrivals between January and May. This translates into a fall of 300 million tourists and US$320 billion lost in international tourism receipts.

WTM London is going ahead this year as planned on 2-4 November, 2020 at ExCeL. If attendees aren’t able to travel for the live event, WTM is also hosting ‘WTM London Virtual’ on 10-11 November. The virtual event will feature live conference sessions, roundtables, speed networking sessions, one-to-one meetings, and virtual networking sessions. The theme of WTM this year will be ‘Connecting the industry together’.

The government has notified changes in FDI norms on civil aviation, which will permit non-resident Indian nationals to own 100% stake of Air India. The gazette notification states that foreign investments in Air India, including that of foreign airlines shall not exceed 49% either directly or indirectly except in case of NRIs, who are Indian Nationals, where it is permitted up to 100%.

Meenakshi Sharma, DG, Ministry of Tourism, has said that they are in the process of making some changes in the new tourism policy, making responsible tourism as its foundation. She added that responsible tourism cannot be discussed as a separate entity; it should be a part of everything we do going forward. “We will add more elements to responsible tourism as we move forward. One will be health and hygiene. It’s also about developing new practices and behaviour of the tourist as a responsible visitor. It cannot be the responsibility of only the service provider, but also the one receiving the services. Honestly, we had not put our minds into this aspect as much as we should have earlier. It will be our priority now,” she said.

Venkatesan Dhattareyan, Regional Director (West & Central India), Indiatourism Mumbai, Ministry of Tourism, said, “By enrolling in our ‘MoT Recognized Service Provider’ programme, agents can use the Market Development Assistance (MDA) which includes financial support. MDA for domestic tourism was earlier Rs 30,000 which will be enhanced keeping the pandemic in mind. MoT is also working on relaxing certain requirements for this programme.

Budget carrier SpiceJet will operate its first long-haul flight between Amsterdam and Bengaluru on August 1. The airline was given permission by the DGCA to operate flights to Europe and the US as a scheduled carrier last week. The flight will depart Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport at 2:45 pm on August 1 and reach Bengaluru in the early hours of August 2 before heading to Hyderabad.

The Indian Railways has started introducing contactless ticketing system with QR code-enabled tickets, which will be scanned on handheld devices and mobile phones at the stations and on the trains. VK Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board said while 85 per cent train tickets are currently being booked online, a QR code will also be available for those buying tickets from counters.

Accor is all ready to set footprints in Chandigarh with its popular brand, Novotel. Being developed in the city centre close to the airport, the Novotel Chandigarh Tribune Chowk will offer 120 rooms, two food and beverage outlets, function rooms of various sizes, a swimming pool, and a gymnasium. This 21st Novotel is scheduled to open by early 2021.

The Mizoram government is working on a new tourism policy, which will aim at enhancing the livelihood of people and make way for more funding support. It is also planning to construct a 5-star hotel in Aizawl to attract more tourists. A draft of the new policy has already been shared with tour operators, ticketing agents and hoteliers. A total of 1,61,677 tourists from the country and abroad visited Mizoram during 2019.

According to CAPA India, four largest private airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are expected to see a revenue shortfall of Rs 5,700 to Rs 6,600 crores in FY2021 because of COVID-19. The final outcome will depend upon the eventual operating expenses.