Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

VFS Global, in an exclusive partnership with the Embassy of Vietnam in India, launches the first official digital Vietnam eVisa on Arrival (eVoA) solution. Travellers can easily apply on https://vietnam.vfsevisa.com/ before departure to Vietnam. For those who seek a visa urgently to travel to Vietnam, the option of special priority services on the same day (as well as next day approvals) is now available on this officially recognised online solution. The cost of the priority services is slightly higher than the cost of the normal visa processing service. On the occasion of the visit of Vietnam’s Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh to India, VFS Global and the Embassy of Vietnam in India signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation for tourism promotion and facilitation of human mobility. In 2019, more than 18 million travellers visited Vietnam from across the globe compared to 15 million travellers in 2018.

The Madhya Pradesh (MP) government has approved the Film Tourism Policy 2020, offering incentives to filmmakers, promoting private investments and make MP an attractive destination for film shoots. According to the policy, if a filmmaker shoots a film in MP, he will get 50% of grants, the maximum amount of which may be Rs 1 crore. Apart from this, investment in film-related infrastructure will be encouraged with grants and land. Special grants will be given to filmmakers who offer screen time to tourist destinations in the state. For the grants, the filmmaker has to give credit to the state government and the tourism department. The logo of the tourism department and that of the government will be used in the film. A film facilitation cell will also be set up and services will be provided on concessionary rates in the units of MPSTDC. Facilities will be provided through single-window system for shooting films. As per the policy, land will be allotted for film studios, post-production centres, VFX centres, skill development centres, film institute etc.

Clarks Inn Group of Hotels has announced the opening of Clarks Premier Kota, which is its first five-star ‘Premier’ branded property and 100th hotel overall. Clarks Premier Kota boasts of 75 tastefully appointed rooms across different categories to suite every need. The hotel offers 27 Deluxe and 12 Executive categories rooms. There are 12 Suites and another 24 as Studio rooms with separate living area and a kitchenette to cater to bigger space requirement of guests. SN Srivastava, President & Co-founder, Clarks Inn Group of Hotels, said, “Today is a proud moment for us. Opening Clarks Premier Kota is a historic occasion for Clarks Inn Group of Hotels in more ways than one. Clarks Premier Kota is the first ‘Clarks Premier’ branded property of the company. It is an upscale five-star hotel brand and this hotel is our signature ‘Clarks Premier’ property. It is only befitting for us to open our newest property, Clarks Premier Kota, in this beautiful city as we celebrate not only the milestone of 100 hotel portfolio but also the launch of our first Clarks Premier branded hotel. This hotel will redefine the hospitality experience in the city of Kota.” Officially unveiled on 21st February 21, 2020, the hotel is located on the prominent Bundi Road, in the heart of the city. “We don’t just promote our properties but also help develop destinations that we are located in. And Kota and the nearby areas are treasure trove of cultural, historical, religious, wildlife and other tourism landmarks. Garh Palace, Madho Singh Museum, Abheda Mahal, the picturesque Jagmandir Palace in the middle of Kishore Sagar Lake, Garadia Mahadev temple, Charan Chauki, the scenic Kota Barrage, Mukundara Tiger Reserve, …

AirAsia India leads in the On-Time Performance (OTP) metric of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of January 2020 as reported for four metro airports viz. Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, according to the latest statistics released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). With a fleet of 29 aircraft catering to 21 destinations, AirAsia India currently operates over 200 daily flights and carried over 9 lakh passengers during January 2020. AirAsia India has been soaring in terms of offering its customers a mix of business and leisure destinations at pocket friendly prices. AirAsia India’s commitment to improving its guests experience has also resulted in witnessing one of the lowest cancellation and complaint ratios in Jan’ 20. Sunil Bhaskaran, CEO & MD, AirAsia India said, “We’re delighted that our efforts to streamline processes and our relentless focus on being guest obsessed have enabled us to achieve category leadership on the key industry metrics for on-time performance, complaint ratios and cancellation percentage. It has been our endeavor to provide exceptional service to our guests whilst also ensuring they reach their destinations on time, every single time”

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered screening of passengers from four more countries- Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia in a bid to further strengthen precautionary measures to avert entry of Novel coronavirus (COVID-19). With this move, fliers from as many as 10 countries would be screened at Indian airports. The decision was taken after Rajiv Guaba, Cabinet Secretary on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting to review the status, actions taken and preparedness of States/UTs regarding management of Novel Coronavirus (COVID19). Hence, post the review, in addition to the universal screening as per earlier advisories, universal screening at airports is now being planned for flights from Kathmandu, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, the officials had said. Until Saturday, 21,805 passengers have been brought under community surveillance. In addition, 3,97,152 flight passengers and 9,695 travellers at sea ports have been screened.

Ahead of ‘The Great India Road Show’ by TravelBullz in Delhi, KD Singh, Founder & President, TravelBullz said that they are coming up with three new destinations in 2020. He adds, “We have just gone live with Dubai. We have come up with a product which takes Dubai to the next level as far as the experience is concerned. For instance, with us, clients get a complimentary one-hour stretch limo ride in Dubai. Coming up in March 2020 are two more new products that we will be offering to the industry – Singapore and Bali. We have already established our Singapore office. This will be followed by Bali over the next couple of weeks.” He further informed that the roadshow will be an annual event where hotels across the UAE, Thailand, Macau, Singapore, Bali, etc will showcase their products.

Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, has said that they are very happy about the budget announcement, and will be using the same for developing infrastructure for iconic sites and other existing schemes by the MOT, apart from global promotions.  She says, “We are getting a budget of around Rs. 2500 crores and we have sufficient funds to go on with our existing schemes. We also look forward to develop the iconic sites, for which we will use more funds. For the iconic sites, our responsibility is to create major infrastructure. Hence, the focus will be on iconic sites, Swadesh Darshan, and Prasad schemes. OF course, the global promotions always remains an important thing. The Incredible India 2.0 scheme has panned out very well. We will be continuing with our theme. For domestic promotions—Dekho Apna Desh, the Prime Minister has already urged all Indian to visit Indian destinations before going anywhere else. This is something we are also going to talk about in our domestic promotions.”

Accor will open Grand Mercure Bengaluru, Raffles Udaipur, ibis Mumbai LBS Road and Novotel Mumbai International Airport by end of this year, says, Jean-Michel Cassé, Chief Operating Officer (COO) –India & South Asia, Accor. He further says, We also have the Raffles Jaipur and Fairmont Mumbai Sahar in the pipeline. At Accor, we have budgeted for a 12 percent RevPAR growth for 2020.”

Tarja Koivisto, Account Manager, Global Sales Promotions, Visit Finland, has revealed that the country has recorded a 27% increase in 2019 over 2018. “I am extremely happy about the Indian market. We had this milestone of 100,000 overnights, and we crossed that last year. In 2019, we had a 27% increase from 2018 in overnights. We measure overnights at Visit Finland and do not consider arrivals. Hence, we would like people to stay longer when they come to Finland,” she said. Koivisto was speaking at the side lines of the Visit Finland India Workshop in Delhi. A total of 14 Finnish partners participated in the workshop in Delhi and Mumbai.

The Government of Odisha has approved eight more investment proposals worth Rs.1,649.49 crore in the 89th State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) meeting, out of which two are hotel proposals. The projects were approved in food processing, chemicals, plastics, tourism, steel downstream and infrastructure and will create employment opportunities for 1,450 people. In the tourism sector, a project by M/s Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Ltd. for expansion of its five-star hotel with an investment of Rs 150 crores, has been approved which will provide employment for 150 people and another proposal by M/s Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd. for expansion of its five-star hotel, with an investment of Rs. 52 crore has also been approved and it will provide an additional employment to around 160 people.