Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

The Singapore-India Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) had been launched on November 29th.  STB, SIA and CAG will conduct a second webinar to provide an update to the Indian trade partners on the VTL, SIA flight operations and the passenger experience at Changi Airport and Jewel. The session will be on Tuesday, December 7 at 11:30am IST. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532 or click here https://event.webinarjam.com/register/345/6v7qri2o

The Ministry of Culture & Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan & Kazakh Tourism Board has appointed Rohit Shorey, Founder, Kazin DMC as their M!CE Tourism Ambassador For Kazakhstan in India. Kairat Sadvakassov, Deputy Chairman of Kazakh tourism board said that Shorey, has made a significant contribution to the overall development of tourism to the country from India region, especially M!CE. In a reception held at the Marriot hotel in Nur Sultan on the 27th November 2021, the board presented Shorey with a certificate of Ambassadorship. The reception was attended by Vishal Jain, Director, Kazin International, who signed the MoU and collected the award. Rohit & Vishal remains very bullish on Kazakhstan as a destination with vast potential in the field of tourism. owning to its wide diversity of offerings for all verticals of tourism. They feel that India & middle east will become a major source market for tourism to Kazakhstan and this is one the reasons why Kazin Dmc has maintained 100% focus on this destination since 2016. Kazakh Tourism, being the country’s brand manager for tourism and a subsidiary of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, serves the government’s goal of achieving an 8% contribution to GDP from tourism. The government is significantly developing the tourism infrastructure of the country by opening numerous branded hotels to cater the increasing demand of tourists. Almaty airport is going through a multi-million-dollar expansion to accommodate more airlines to serve the country. Air Astana has announced that they will resume direct flights between Almaty & Delhi effective 16 December after a 20-month hiatus. As the world is gearing towards normalcy, this announcement could not have a come at a better time.

Anna Paul, Head MICE North India, Inorbit Tours and Shailesh Patel, Proprietor, Sambhav International Travels are first week’s lucky winners for successfully subscribing to Singapore Tourism Board (STB) India’s WhatsApp Channel. Every week STB India is giving away exciting prizes to its new subscribers. One can easily subscribe to this WhatsApp channel by clicking this link http://bit.ly/stbindia and stand a chance to be the next winner. STB India’s WhatsApp channel provides updates on Destination Singapore in a more direct, swift and timely manner. Win exciting prizes by subscribing to STB India’s WhatsApp Channel: Subscribe to Singapore Tourism Board India’s WhatsApp Channel and stand a chance to win prizes every week. Get real time updates on Destination Singapore and STB’s initiatives. Subscribe by following 3 simple steps: Click this link (http://bit.ly/stbindia) to fill the form Send the prefilled WhatsApp message Save STB India’s contact card or number

Consulate General of Malaysia and Tourism Malaysia Mumbai organises a Langkawi SOP briefing session to select Travel Trade Associations, Educational and MICE Operators. Taking gradual, calibrated measures to reopen international borders, Malaysia will allow the entry of fully vaccinated foreign tourists in Langkawi without quarantine.  The Malaysian government is implementing a pilot international tourism bubble project which will initially run for 3 months started from 15 November 2021. According to the SOPs issued by the Malaysian government, Malaysia will target fully vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine for the bubble projects. Travellers will also have to present a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours before departure to Langkawi. They will also be required to hold travel insurance of a minimum USD 80,000 with them. It is also necessary for foreign tourists to engage tour operators and guides licensed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MOTAC) for the trip.  Tourists must also register on the MySejahtera app before departing or upon arrival in KLIA 1. As a way forward strategy, Tourism Malaysia will be collaborating with its Airlines and product partners for many joint promotion campaigns, which will boost Indian footfalls in Malaysia. More than 97% of Malaysia’s 32 million population are vaccinated, government statistics show.

Department of Culture & Tourism (DCT) Abu Dhabi is organising Reunite #INABUDHABI- Luxury webinar on 26th November at 11:30am IST. Get a chance to learn more about upscale experiences, luxurious stay options, world-class dining and entertainment options. To join the webinar, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

Visit.Brussels together with the Embassy of Belgium in India organized a networking lunch for 35 trade partners at the residence of H.E. François Delhaye, Ambassador of Belgium to India. The event was highly appreciated with warm interactions between the trade partners and representatives from the cultural, economic and visa sections of the Belgian Embassy. In fact, representing Visit.Brussels HQ was its Business Development Leisure – Pieter Callebaut, who was seen interacting with the travel fraternity, while reassuring them about the importance of the Indian market for Brussels’ tourism industry. The highlight of the event was Belgian gastronomy wherein participants were offered a spread of Belgian delights from waffles to beers and fries to Belgian beats. H.E. François Delhaye, while addressing the trade fraternity, said, “During these last two years we have been missing our Indian friends, but now Belgium is open for tourism again and we see the number of visa applications going up. Another good news is that we’ll probably see an increase in the number of flights between India and Europe in the coming weeks. The vaccination level in Belgium is very high and our hope is that this latest wave of Covid will not last long. To our Indian friends I say “Now is the time to start planning your next spring or summer trip to Europe” and there is no better place to start than Brussels, the capital and heart of Europe, a city rich in history and famous for its gastronomy and quality of life.” In 2022, Visit Brussels is planning on continuing to grow awareness and visibility of the European Capital through workshops, sales visits, travel agent destination trainings, consumer programs and much more. Training programmes are in …

Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) is conducting a webinar for the Indian travel trade on Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna today from 3:30pm IST. Markus Kustatscher, Tourism Manager of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna will present the wonderful Imperial Collections of the Habsburg family in Vienna. “The Imperial Collections of the Habsburgs with the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, the Imperial Treasury Vienna and the Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna are one of the most important collections of artworks and breath-taking treasures in the world,” says Kustatscher. To join the webinar, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532.

Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Department has decided to organise winter carnival in the beautiful valleys of Patnitop every week to popularise the unknown or unexplored tourist places in the Union Territory. The 12-day fun-filled carnival will kick off from December 23, 2020 to January 3, 2021 and will be held at Skyview Patnitop by Empyrean, Jammu’s latest adventure and lifestyle destination.

Qantas to launch a brand-new international route from Melbourne to Delhi from 22 December 2021, connecting Victoria to the Indian capital on a Qantas-operated flight for the first time in the airline’s history. From next month, Australia will open for certain categories of fully vaccinated international travellers like students, working holidaymakers and provisional family visa holders. Qantas will connect Delhi with Sydney and Melbourne from December. Australia has approved both Covishield and Covaxin as approved vaccines.

To update the Kolkata Travel trade about the gradual re-opening of Thailand for tourism from India, Tourism Authority of Thailand New Delhi supported by Royal Thai Consulate Kolkata, organized the Amazing Thailand Presentation & Networking Lunch at ITC Royal Bengal on 10th November 2021. Around 75 guests including travel agents, media and wedding planners attended the event. The session started with a welcome address Kasemsan Thongsiri, Acting Consul General – Royal Thai Consulate, Kolkata, who spoke about the consulate matters focusing on their efforts and procedures to assist travel to Thailand for Indians. He also informed the trade about updated guidelines on entering Thailand, protocol for travellers from India as well as documents and process for obtaining Thailand pass and visa. Next information on Thailand Re-opening and situation update was given by Vachirachai Sirisumpan, Director- Tourism Authority of Thailand – New Delhi. He highlighted TAT’s new marketing campaign “Visit Thailand Year 2022” that will emphasize Thailand’s strength in biological diversity and cultural richness under the Amazing New Chapter’s concept. This was followed by a product presentation promoting popular destinations in Thailand like Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai. The presentation also introduced new products and activities in Thailand that Indian travelers could enjoy. The afternoon ended with a Q&A session where members of the travel trade engaged with the TAT representatives and the Royal Thai Consulate to clear their doubts on flights, procedures, SOPs etc to visit Thailand from India and expressed their desire to visit Thailand soon. This event was a great initiative to reach out to the travel trade in Kolkata and update them about the tourism situation in Thailand as well as to highlight steps …