Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The 4th edition of the TravTalk Digital Conclave will begin today at 10am till 1:30pm. There will be 3 sessions each of 1-hour duration, which will lay emphasis on revenge tourism, while exploring the way forward. Experts from various sectors of travel and tourism will share their views at the digital event. To register, please email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532. Panellists for the first session titled ‘Re-engineering Tourism- Reducing fears and establishing confidence’ (10am-11am), will be Riaz Munshi from OTOAI, Sunil VA from Oman Air, Ritu Sharma from Switzerland Tourism. For the second session, titled ‘What will the travel restart look like? – Managing customer experience’ (11:15am to 12:15pm), there will be Mohamed Khater from RAKTDA, Kamal Hingorani from SpiceJet and Guldeep Singh Sahni from Weldon Tours and Travels. In the third session, ‘India Tourism Board? – A practical vision for the future’ (12:30pm-1:30pm), the panellists will be Meenakshi Sharma from MOT, Arjun Sharma from Select Group and EM Najeeb from IATO.

The state government has decided not to charge any entry fee for the first 15 days after the reopening. Rajasthan has 342 protected monuments and 32 of them are ticketed. From the third week, the monuments will open daily and 50 % discount will be offered on the ticket amount till October 31. Monuments, except those falling in curfew areas, will be open on four days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for the first two weeks.

Online travel company Yatra has announced that it has provided notice of termination of its pending merger agreement with Ebix, Inc. and sought substantial damages from the latter over “breaches of representations, warranties and covenants in the merger agreement and an ancillary extension agreement”. Separately, starting April 2020, Yatra had already implemented cost reduction initiatives, resulting in 58% fixed cost savings in May 2020 vs March 2020, and 70% savings as compared to March 2019.

While the tourism industry was disappointed with the sector not being mentioned in the stimulus package announced by the finance minister, Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary – Tourism, Government of India, has said that the new definition of MSME, which has removed the differentiation between manufacturing and services sector MSMEs, shall benefit tourism as 70-80% of the sector falls under MSME. “Throughout my tenure, I have been hearing from the industry that 70-80 per cent of the stakeholders in tourism fall under the MSME category. The biggest announcement under Atmanirbhar Bharat programme was pertaining to the MSMEs. Hence, we have clarified to the industry that the biggest announcements are there for them as well. The fact that the differentiation of definition between the manufacturing and the services sector MSME, which has been removed and the caps which have been changed for the services sector MSMEs, like tourism sector MSMEs, shall bring benefits. It’s not just the benefits which have been given, but it also further expands the scope of the tourism industry, to be part of the MSME definition and to take the benefits, which are due under the MSME category of Atmanirbhar Bharat announcements. I believe that the industry has started understanding that because they are now bringing out 1-2 difficult areas wherein the tourism industry may not get the kind of benefits it has been expecting. We are bringing up those difficulties to the appropriate authorities to see if we can resolve them, so that more benefits reach out to the MSME tourism industry,” he said.

The 4th TravTalk Digital Conclave is all set to be held tomorrow, Tuesday, 9th June, with a focus on re-engineering tourism and establishing confidence among travellers. To register, please send an email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532. The three sessions between 10:00 am and 1:30 pm will cover subjects such as a practical vision for the future, managing customer experience, and reducing fears & establishing confidence.

The Empowered Group 6 (EG 6) constituted by Government of India and chaired by Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, held a meeting with business leaders from the aviation industry and Ministry of Civil Aviation to discuss possibilities for strengthening operations and augmenting the recovery of the aviation sector under the new normal. The meeting was also attended by Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), which covers the functioning of banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and the National Pension System; and representatives of airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia, Vistara and Air India.

WTTC has unveiled the second phase of measures to rebuild global consumer confidence to encourage the return of travelling. The latest protocols are designed to enable sectors such as tour operators and convention centres, meetings and events to thrive once again. The extended measures follow the ‘Safe Travels’ guidelines that were launched by WTTC on May 12. Detailed discussions took place with key stakeholders and organisations to ensure maximum buy-in, alignment and practical implementation, to set clear expectations of what travellers may experience in the ‘new normal’. Those relating to airports and airlines have been devised following close consultation with WTTC Members IATA and Airports Council International (ACI), to rebuild trust and provide reassurance that airports and airlines will offer safe environments in which to fly once travel restrictions are relaxed.

The world is slowly opening up again, new research from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) indicates, with destinations cautiously easing travel restrictions introduced in response to COVID-19. As the United Nations specialised agency releases its Global Guidelines for Reopening Tourism, signalling a transition into gearing up for stronger and better recovery, 3% of all global destinations have now taken steps to ease travel restrictions. However, UNWTO notes that 100% of all destinations worldwide continue to have some form of COVID-19-related travel restrictions in place and stresses the need for vigilance, responsibility and international cooperation as the world slowly opens up again.

Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has requested the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to reduce the entrance fee for foreign nationals at ASI monuments, charging them the same as it would charge the nationals of SAARC countries. This, it requests, should be extended till March 31, 2022 and will help inbound tour operators reduce the package cost. The move will also help spread the message to the international travel community that India is more than willing and ready to welcome foreign tourists. The reduced fee and in turn a reduction in the package cost would enable inbound tour operators to start selling trips to India as soon as the country opens for international tourism.

Genting Cruise Lines has launched a new B2B app geared toward the company’s travel trade and business partners to provide a wealth of information, all in the palm of their hands. The “GCL India” app available on both Android and Apple devices shall deliver a comprehensive platform for business partners to access a range of helpful tools including itineraries, brochures and presentations, cruise calendars, photos and videos and important news. The goal of the app is to streamline information delivery and to speed up the turnaround time of providing essential materials to their end consumers.