Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

From lush mountains to pristine islands, 2025 is the year of eco-conscious tourism, authentic experiences, and mindful exploration. According to the Agoda 2025 Sustainable Travel Survey, India has emerged as the second-most sustainability-conscious travel market in Asia, with a staggering 82% of Indian travellers making eco-friendly choices—far surpassing the Asian average of 68%. India’s Sikkim is among the top sustainable travel destinations for 2025.

KR Naidu, Aviation Minister, GoI, said, “We are going to extend the UDAN scheme for another 10 years starting from April 2027. During the 10 years, 120 new destinations will be added to the existing ones. The scheme will benefit 4 crore people, just like how we have seen addition of 1.5 crore people in the last 8 years.”  

As Australia and India continue to strengthen their trade ties under the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), the demand for premium Australian agrifood products in India is rapidly increasing. The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) in partnership with the state governments of Queensland and New South Wales is bringing together 11 Australian brands to display their products at the Australian Pavilion located at Hall No.1, Stand No.1G-02A in Aahar 2025. Aahar 2025 serves as a significant platform for Australian food and beverage companies to showcase their world-class quality, innovation, and sustainability. With a strong reputation for high food safety standards, advanced production techniques, and environmentally sustainable practices, the exhibition will provide an opportunity for Indian buyers, retailers, and food service professionals to explore the superior taste, nutrition and versatility of Australian produce, reinforcing the growing trade opportunities between the two nations. The Australian Pavilion at Aahar 2025 will highlight a diverse portfolio of Australian brands across categories like packaged food, nutritional supplements, and gourmet ingredients to world-renowned meats and seafood. Over 85% of Australian goods exports by value to India are now tariff-free after the AI-ECTA entered into force on 29 December 2022. Australian businesses have a wonderful opportunity to expand their footprint in India’s dynamic market and Aahar is a step towards this – as well as a step toward the provision of further inputs into India’s food processing industry. Speaking about Australia’s participation at Aahar 2025, John Southwell, Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner – South Asia, Australian Trade and Investment Commission, said, “India and Australia share a deep and growing trade relationship, strengthened further by AI-ECTA. Through the implementation of AI-ECTA, Australia’s agrifood exports to India …

Anuraag Bhatnagar, Chief Executive Officer, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, emphasised the need for public-private partnerships to drive destination marketing at state and national levels. “States can support the industry by incentivising international films and collaborations to showcase destinations globally,” he said.

Mandeep Lamba, President, South Asia, HVS, stressed the need for infrastructure status in the hospitality industry. He said “Infrastructure status is the first requirement for hospitality, as it enables access to long-term financing. Hotels are a highly capital-intensive business.” This move would drive investment and sectoral growth.

Suman Billa, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said, “One of the targets we could perhaps place for ourselves is how to double tourism’s GDP contribution from 5% to 10% in the next ten years and probably add 25 million jobs in the next five years.” He emphasised the need for strategic efforts to achieve this growth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “I urge stakeholders to invest in promoting health tourism and take advantage of the opportunities. We must also fully tap into the potential of yoga and wellness tourism. There is immense scope in education tourism and I hope for in-depth discussions and the development of a strong roadmap.”

Manish Puri, Head of Sales, Air India, said, “Air India is one of the fastest airlines in the world to adopt NDC. As our content becomes available, the share of international business via NDC will increase significantly. With our fleet expected to grow to 400-500 aircraft in the next three years, the ratio of bookings through NDC will shift.” 

Anoop Tewari, CCO, ITQ Technologies, said, “Our global survey found that 56% of travellers believe travel has become more complex over the last decade, and 75% expressed the need for a single platform addressing all their travel needs. We are focused on multi-source content that is optimised and authenticated to make bookings seamless for agents.” 

Rohit Khosla. Executive Vice President – Operations, North and West India, IHCL said that tigers are Madhya Pradesh’s specialty and a key driver of tourism. The company currently operates nine hotels in MP, including Bhopal and Indore, has signed an MoU for six more, and plans to add 11 more hotels while preserving the state’s history, nature, and wildlife.