Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, VP, FHRAI, says, “Hospitality, Travel & Tourism’ has been worst hit and a strong push from the government is required to ensure that these sectors are not wiped out. The first thing that comes to my mind is to explore ways to promote domestic tourism among India’s 22 million outbound travellers. What we must focus on today along-with the various state governments is creating awareness and putting together fantastic attractive packages to promote domestic tourism. We can make this happen when each State in India pulls up its socks and considers the neighboring State its competitor. Mere words will not work. We will have to read ourselves now, for international as well as domestic competition. We need to focus now on projecting the market condition, when it eventually will open and offer the inbound and outbound travelers offers they can’t refuse. For this, we need the help of the Government, without which nothing can happen. We can plan a lot but without the right backing and implementation, nothing can happen.”

Struggling Air Mauritius has entered voluntary administration after the board resolved that with the coronavirus grounding it would not be able to meet its financial obligations in the foreseeable future. Air Mauritius had already embarked on a transformation programme in January this year under which it was reviewing its business model in a bid to secure sustainability. Air Mauritius has become the second airline to enter administration proceedings in as many days voluntarily. Yesterday Australian carrier Virgin Australia also entered voluntary administration caused by the current crisis. In a company statement the airline’s board of directors state that while “substantial progress” was made in developing its action plan, the closure of borders and halting of air services because of the coronavirus has led to a “complete erosion of the company’s revenue base”. Air Mauritius was forced to suspend flights at the start of April because of the coronavirus restrictions. The airline’s board came to a decision following “a complete erosion of the company’s revenue base.”  In its letter, the airline stated that its entire revenue base had been eroded. The erosion has been caused by a decrease in demand tied to many different travel bans enacted by separate national governments. The airline believes that demand will not begin to return until the end of 2020. “There is uncertainty as to when international air traffic will resume and all indications tend to show that normal activities will not pick up until late 2020,” the airline says.    

KD Singh, Founder & President, TravelBullz during the 2nd TravTalk Digital Conclave said that the way travel agents do business in the industry will change post the coronavirus pandemic is over. “2020 is a halt and not stop. No country can survive without tourism. According to me, we will start to see the first set of bookings starting from August-September and people might start travelling overseas from November-December if it is safe to travel. How travel agents do business will definitely change. According to me, by April 2021, we will be back on track and start growing again,” he said.

UNWTO has urged members to increase pressure on world leaders to rethink tax and employment policies related to tourism and help businesses survive and drive wider recovery efforts. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said, “This crisis has shown the strength of solidarity across borders. But nice words and gestures will not protect jobs or help the many millions of people whose lives are dependent on a thriving tourism sector. Governments have an opportunity to recognize tourism’s unique ability to not only provide employment but to drive equality and inclusivity. Our sector has proven its ability to bounce back and help societies recover. We ask that tourism is now given the right support to once again lead recovery efforts.”

New Zealand is the home of adventure tourism. If your clients enjoy adventure sports or extreme activities, they’ll love New Zealand. Whether they want heart-pounding excitement or to simply achieve something memorable. From canyoning, rafting and zip-lining, to bungee-jumps and skydiving, New Zealand has it all. Take their breath away with exhilarating experiences amidst spectacular scenery. Thrills and excitement can be found at every turn. For more inspiration on how to include adventure activities in your itineraries, sign up for the webinar today at 1430 hrs (2:30 pm). To participate, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532.

Showing the way forward, speaking at the 2nd session of the second Digital Conclave held by TravTalk, Arjun Sharma, Chairman, Select Group, said, “My suggestion to travel agents is to focus on packaging experiences, experiential travel can also be a luxury. Travel agents need to first build their database and then identify the potential clients and then create packages for them.” He also added that travel will not stop, but it will just take some time for it to build up again.

Speaking at the first session of the second Digital Conclave held by TravTalk, Lohani, Chairman, APTDC said, “Everybody needs to get ready for domestic tourism, travelling within the state as well as the region is likely to grow. People will be apprehensive to go far but will be willing to travel within the country. India has everything to offer, now is the right time to position domestic tourism in the country. We need to commission a study on domestic tourism and all states and stakeholders need to follow that.”

Post the success of the maiden TravTalk Digital Conclave, the second edition of the e-event also had an overwhelming response with various question posed across the three sessions. The eminent speakers from state tourism boards, Indian tour operators’ associations, airlines, hotels, as well as visa and technology service providers among others, who will deliberate on the next steps in domestic tourism and India as a global source market. The list of speakers included Ashwani Lohani (APTDC), PP Khanna (ADTOI), Kerrie Hannaford (Accor), Arjun Sharma (Select Group), Ankur Bhatia (Bird Group), Sanjay Kumar (IndiGo), Vinay Malhotra (VFS Global), Sandeep Dwivedi (ITQ) and KD Singh (TravelBullz)

New Zealand is the home of adventure tourism. For more inspiration on how to include adventure activities in your itineraries, sign up for the upcoming webinar on Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 1430 hrs (2:30 pm). To participate, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532. If your clients enjoy adventure sports or extreme activities, they’ll love New Zealand. Whether they want heart-pounding excitement or to simply achieve something memorable. From canyoning, rafting and zip-lining, to bungy-jumps and skydiving, New Zealand has it all. Take their breath away with exhilarating experiences amidst spectacular scenery. Thrills and excitement can be found at every turn.

As initiated and facilitated by the Government of Srilanka, SriLankan Airlines, brought back 829 Sri Lankans who were stranded in India. They have been arriving in the country, as Sri Lanka was going into 48-hour quarantine curfew, since Friday , March 20,to Sunday 22nd 2020. The Airline wishes to state that these passengers had travelled to India on other airlines and were stranded there as the carriers concerned stopped operations to Colombo due to travel restrictions. The National Carrier took every measure to bring them home swiftly and safely, given that these passengers mainly consisted of senior citizens, an age group that has been advised to take extra precautions to be safe from the virus. Ever since the global outbreak, SriLankan Airlines has been playing a pivotal role in facilitating passage home to many Sri Lankans, which includes the mercy flight that was operated to Wuhan. The Airlines’ operational areas have been fully functional despite the government declared holidays and ‘work-from-home’ , and the staff members have been attending to their work dedicatedly and diligently, understanding fully the role that they are expected to play during these difficult times. SriLankan Airlines, going above and beyond the call of duty and not aiming at any commercial fulfillment despite the irretrievable impact this has made on business, has continued to step in and fulfil what is expected of the National Carrier, thus playing its part of staying united as a country in this crucial hour. Our Global Contact Center(0197331979), including Airport ticket office offering 24×7 service to our valuable customers for their ticket related services.