Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

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.  

Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality and cause partner AIRDA has further revised upwards it’s value at risk to Indian tourism to rupees 15 lakh crores. FAITH’s first guidance which was calculated and was shared with the Government in March 2020 had put tourism’s economic value at risk at rupees five lakh crores from this pandemic. FAITH revised this further during the quarter as the situation deteriorated and the value at risk was put at rupees 10 lakh crores. This has been revised again to touch a value at risk of up to rupees 15 lakh crores in terms of the economic output of tourism in India The direct and indirect economic impact of Tourism industry in India is approximately estimated at ~ 10 per cent of India’s GDP.  This roughly puts the full-year economic multiplier value of tourism in India at ~ rupees 20 lakh crores. Minimum three quarters of tourism will be fully impacted. This value covers the whole tourism value chain from airlines, travel agents, hotels, tour operators, tourism destinations restaurants, tourist transportation, tourist guides. Each of these segments of tourism is non-performing or under performing and will stay that way for many months of this year.

Ashwani Lohani, Former CMD Air India and Chairman of the Railway Board, has joined as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for GMR Group’s Services Business (which includes railways). Lohani had recently joined as the Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Board. The latest move could be a good news for GMR, as it was looking at expanding its wings in the Railways sector by showing its interests in the private train project, station redevelopment plans and dedicated freight corridors (DFC).

Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has decided that provisional certificates can be issued in favour of all categories of Tour Operators (Inbound, Domestic, Adventure) / Travel Agencies / Tourist Transport Operators who have submitted fresh applications, complete in all respects and have also made the required payment for grant of recognition as a new case. This has been done at this time, when physical inspection of office premises of applicants is not being undertaken by the Inspection Committee headed by the Regional Director, India tourism Offices in India. The Provisional Certificate would be valid for a period of six months from the date of submission of complete fresh application or till the time of actual physical verification / inspection and subsequent final decision of the Ministry with reference to grant of recognition, whichever is earlier. However, such Tour Operators/ Travel Agencies / Tourist Transport Operators who are issued  Provisional Certificates, shall not be eligible for any financial benefits under MDA or any other scheme of the Ministry, till such time a final decision regarding grant of  recognition is taken by the Ministry.

The Selling Happiness webinar, powered by TravTalk, is all set to be held today at 11 am. The hour-long session will help agents understand how to make the best Indian itineraries inclusive of Yoga, wellness, spirituality, Ayurveda and meditation. To register, log on to https://event.webinarjam.com/register/153/yy8npbg9 or email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +919650196532.

Tornos, an established name in the tourism industry since the last 26 years, has become the first travel company of Ayodhya. Having worked and researched extensively on the revival of Ayodhya as a tourist destination, it now sets a foot in Ayodhya by coming up with its office in this temple city and will provide all travel related services to incoming tourists. Specialising in immersive travel experiences, Tornos has been associated with projection of Ayodhya internationally. ‘Mokshdayni Walk’ and ‘Ram Vivah’ have been company’s most innovative tourism products based on Ayodhya which were till now being operated and managed from Lucknow but now with its own set up in Ayodhya, these would be operated locally, bringing down its cost and making these more affordable. Tornos is looking at providing employment opportunities to locals and to come up with many more immersive travel experiences to showcase this deserving destination to the world. Prateek Hira, President && CEO, Tornos has been involved in the conceptualisation and of Ayodhya’s much-celebrated Diwali event, ‘Deepotsava’ that has been Uttar Pradesh government’s calendar event and draws a lot of attention. He says, “Ideal tourism should benefit local communities the most and the best local experiences can only be delivered by locals, so we decided to set up our office in Ayodhya. I am seeing Ayodhya coming up as one of the finest tourism destinations in the coming years and my confidence is renewed when our Prime Minister himself has taken it up so seriously. Ayodhya can be seen as a sought after tourist destination and both state and the central governments are possibly seeing tourism to be Ayodhya’s main economic driver.” In the time when travel …

In its webinar, ‘Reinventing the Airport Business Model in India’, CAPA India said that the current crisis must force a re-think and re-invention of the airport business model over the next five years. To increase aero and non-aero revenue, airports need to attract more non-stop, long-haul and wide-body services. Post-COVID, passengers may prefer non-stop flights instead of flights via a hub. CAPA India also talked about the need to reinvent the approach to route development, which should be more holistic and include forward bookings, travel search trends, consumer survey and travel trade research.