Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

In a bid to bring back the economy to normalcy and kick start the tourism industry, Government of Sri Lanka is thinking of allowing vaccinated travellers a hassle and quarantine free entry to the country from mid of April, according to reports. Initially, as a precaution, vaccinated travellers may be required to produce a negative PCR result obtained within 48 hours prior to landing. Such travellers might be allowed to walk out as usual. Vaccinated travellers, without a PCR result with him/her will be required to obtain a PCR test upon arrival and could be transferred to a nearby quarantine transit hotel till his/her result is out. All arriving passengers, including Sri Lankan passengers, might go through the same process. To consider as a vaccinated passenger, he or she should have had both doses of vaccine, where the type of vaccine requires two doses .

Speaking exclusively to TravTalk on the sidelines of the annual five-day global trade event ExploreGB, Sally Balcombe, CEO of VisitBritain, said, “We expect 2022 to be a stellar year. The event will see around 30 buyers from India this year and we are expecting huge numbers from India when international travel resumes. India is one of the fastest growing markets for us.”

Shuja Mehdi, B2B Manager – India, VisitBritain, shares that VisitBritain Cricket Carnival Season-1 allows travel trade to play virtual and win actual. “Prizes range from shopping vouchers to UK trips, including hotel stays across Lake District and other parts of North England. The grand prize is two tickets for India v/s England at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester, in the hospitality lounge.”

VisitBritain is gearing up to host virtually its flagship global travel trade event ExploreGB from 1 to 5 March. It will bring together more than 350 global buyers to connect online with 350 tourism industry suppliers and destinations from across the UK to do business. Delegates can manage their own diaries across the five-day event with the virtual platform open daily from 06.00-23.00 GMT. Travel industry buyers from 20 countries are joining the event. More than 1000 pre-scheduled one-to-one virtual business meetings will take place during the event.

In order to showcase this new destination to the India market, the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) will be organising its first-ever roadshow for the India market virtually from March 2-3, 2021 between 8am – 8pm IST. The event titled ‘Journeys in Arabia’ will showcase the best of what Saudi has to offer and will give the trade an opportunity to meet senior representatives from up to 30 destinations, experiences and hospitality brands one-on-one. To register, visit https://www.journeysinarabia.com/india-roadshow-request/

Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board has announced 10 lucky winners for its Facebook campaign it had launched recently to promote its new B2B dedicated Facebook page ‘Los Angeles Tourism – Travel Trade’. The campaign drew the attention of travel agents from across the country and helped popularise the destination’s social media page among the trade. The winners are Seema Narang (Dewan Travels), Prateek Jain (Thomas Cook India), Sushmita Angolkar (Red Carpet Travel), Gagan Singh (The Holiday Planner), Abhishek Anavkar (Veenaworld), Nikita Sarrof (Pristine Travels), Srinath Telukunta (Travel world), Harjit Singh (Signature Tours), Sumit Churiwalla (Nimbus Tours), and Himmat Gori (My Dream Holidays).

In order to showcase this new destination to the India market, the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) will be organising a two-day roadshow on March 2-3, 2021 between 8am – 8pm IST. The event titled ‘Journeys in Arabia’ virtual roadshow will showcase the best of what Saudi has to offer. It will also offer the trade an opportunity to meet senior representatives from up to 30 destinations, experiences and hospitality brands one-on-one.

With the India v/s England third Test Match series starting from February 24, the last date to enter the VisitBritain Cricket Carnival tournament is today. Vishal Bhatia, Country Manager – India, VisitBritain, therefore urges the travel trade to sign up today and stand to win prizes every week. “Form your ‘Dream Teams’ on the ‘Dream11’ app and participate in the tournament now!”

In anticipation of border reopening, Tourism Malaysia India Offices (Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai) are engaging with TAAI, TAFI as well as tour operators and other travel agents to come up with key initiatives, strategies and activities to once again woo Indian tourists to Malaysia, as well as update partners on Malaysia’s products.

The VisitBritain Cricket Carnival that is currently running on the ‘Dream11’ mobile app until March 28, 2021, will inspire trade partners in India to form their ‘Dream Teams’ and participate in the tournament. Vishal Bhatia, Country Manager – India for VisitBritain, says, “It will also feature weekly cricket-themed contests and trivia on Britain as a holiday destination with prizes to be won every week! We believe sports tourism will continue to play a huge role in driving tourism to Britain.”