Category: Round Up

The Delhi government has allowed resto-bars, hotels and clubs to sell their stock of beer expiring this month to liquor shops, in a bid to minimise their financial losses. There are around 950 hotels, clubs and resto-bars in Delhi which have an excise license, however, they have not been allowed to open since March 25, when the first nationwide lockdown was announced. They will continue to remain closed in the city till June 30. According to the Excise Act, the resto-bars, hotels, and clubs can only sell liquor to their customers. “In wake of the extraordinary situation emerging out of ... Read more

The Indian government has decided to allow certain categories of foreigners, including Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders, to enter India amid restrictions on the entry of people from abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those allowed entry into India are married couples one of whom is an OCI cardholder and another Indian national, and students who are OCI cardholders and whose one parent is Indian or an OCI cardholder. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has allowed certain categories of foreigners, including OCI cardholders and minors who hold OCI cards and whose parents are Indian nationals, a senior ... Read more

Balmer Lawrie,a miniratna public sector unit (PSU) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) and a market leader in corporate travel management, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC). In a press release, the company said that Balmer Lawrie Travel & Vacations (T&V) through this agreement will now offer accommodation facilities to all its institutional and retail customers at KTDC star hotels including heritage properties at attractive and discounted tariffs in Kerala. Balmer Lawrie T&V which provides end-to-end travel, ticketing and tourism services also provides hotel accommodation facilities to its customers. The company ... Read more

Cricket is a huge tourism attraction in India, with thousands of fans travelling to the country to get a glimpse of the stars. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the biggest annual tournament in the country that draws enormous crowds both from within and overseas. But with the tournament unlikely to be held in India this year due to the Covid-19 situation, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is exploring options to hold it abroad. IPL 2020 was suspended until further notice after it missed its April-May window due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, the BCCI is ... Read more

The Kerala government has made it mandatory for those boarding chartered flights to produce a certificate stating they have tested negative for Covid-19. Over one lakh expatriates are expected to reach Kerala from West Asian countries on chartered flights in coming weeks. The state has so far given sanction for 750 chartered flights. The direction by principal secretary E Ellangovan stated that this condition applies to all flights for which consent letters have been issued earlier. For cases in which a Covid-19 patient requires urgent medical care, air ambulance provision may be availed, it stated. Norka Roots, the non-resident Keralite welfare ... Read more

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government has decided to allot land, measuring 54.40 hectares in Sindhudurg to Indian Hotels Company Limited, which runs the Taj Hotels, to construct a  five-star tourism centre. The project has been stuck for over 25 years. The land has been given at a 90-year lease for the construction of cottages in Vengurla, part of Sindhudurg, for tourism development.  The proposal of the allotment of land for the construction of the hotel to the leading players in the hotel industry was taken after the state government announced Sindhudurg as a tourism district more than two decades ago. ... Read more

Air India on Friday stated that 10 additional flights will be operated to and from the USA under the third phase of the Vande Bharat Mission. These flights will be operated between June 20 and July 3 to bring back Indians stranded in America. Bookings for the same will open on June 13 from 6 pm onwards on the Air India website.  The 10 additional flights comprise four, to and from, New York and one each, to and from, San Francisco and Chicago.  Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava has said  that the Vande Bharat Mission has repatriated a ... Read more

Hycinth Hotels has taken a series of steps to ensure safety and security of its guests, in wake of the coronavirus transmission. Hygiene is the name of the game now, the hotel’s manager Santosh Kumar Sinha has said. “A super-hygiene culture needs to be set in place.” “We have got the ball rolling with apt measures for swiftly addressing hygiene related concerns owing to the pandemic that the world is currently fighting,” he said. “Safe, secure and quality service like never before is our primary aim now and for the days to come.” The hotel has outlined the followed guidelines: ... Read more

TUI UK has cancelled all beach holidays up to and including July 10 due to ongoing travel restrictions.  The company had previously planned to restart trips on July 1. Holidays with TUI Ireland are on hold till July 20. All customers whose bookings are affected by the change will receive a refund credit – they can also request a cash refund via the company’s online form. Customers who had booked a package holiday over this period will be given an incentive of up to 20% off if they rebook with TUI. Those due to travel with the company before the end of August can modify their booking ... Read more

On Friday afternoon, Kerala Tourism tweeted what seemed like an innocuous comment. The tweet read, “The loyal fans of the Malabar cuisine simply cannot keep their #handsoffporotta, lockdown or not. Share your favourite porotta recipes with us.” But soon, it became apparent that it had reference to a news report that frozen porotta attracts 18% Goods & Services Tax (GST) as opposed to the earlier 5%. To make matters worse, ready-to-eat rotis and chapathis did not see a rise in GST.  Malayalis erupted on Twitter, and #handsoffporotta became a viral hashtag. Kerala Tourism saw the rising wave and chipped in with ... Read more

hartered flights from UAE to Kerala have become cheaper, with voluntary organisations like Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) securing nod to operate 70 of them. With this, around 1.25 lakh people from Gulf countries are likely to reach the state shortly. A total of 407 chartered flights are waiting for permission to fly to Kerala carrying NRIs stranded in these countries. The ticket rates in KMCC-chartered flights from UAE to Kozhikode have come down from AED 1250 (around Rs 25,000) earlier this month, to AED 990 (around Rs 20,000) for the flight operated on June 11, according to a report ... Read more

International passengers flying into Kerala can directly observe 14 days of home quarantine, without having to spend a week in institutional quarantine. Passengers who wish to stay separately can avail the government’s paid quarantine facilities, which will be arranged in a hotel or tourist home.  Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that those who are allowed home quarantine must arrange their own private vehicles or e-taxis. They should notify the police, the local self -government departments and the district collector of their arrival.  Previously, air passengers coming into Kerala had to mandatorily spend a week in institutional quarantine. Those who ... Read more

The Rajasthan government has announced that interstate movement will be regulated in view of an “unprecedented surge” in Covid-19 cases in the state. Under the new guidelines issued by the Home department, all persons going out of the state will need to obtain a pass for travel from the district collector and Superintendent of Police. If the permit is issued by a sub-divisional magistrate, Deputy SP or the local police station, then they have to inform the collector or SP. According to the order signed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Rajeeva Swarup, counters will be setup at airports, railway stations ... Read more

Home sharing platform Airbnb India has said it will focus on domestic tourism and local experiences to revive business. The company said that Indian hosts earned over ₹190 crore in 2018 using its platform and it will continue to focus on providing them support during these tough times. Amanpreet Bajaj, country manager, Airbnb India, said that people in India are looking for staycations and holidays within 300 kms of their location preferably at secluded locations. “Travellers want control over the place they are staying in and they do not wish to share it with others,” he said. Since the pandemic began, ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism’s Dekho Apna Desh webinar series showcased Chhattisgarh, in an effort to highlight India’s rich diversity. The 30th session of the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series held on June 9, was moderated by Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General , Ministry of Tourism.  P. Anbalagan, Secretary (Tourism & Culture), Government of Chhattisgarh, set the background for the session with his introductory remarks. The session was presented by Jaspreet Singh Bhatia, Founder, Icecubes Holidays, Jeet Singh Arya, Founder, Unexplored Bastar and Thommen Jose, author & blogger. Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh, came into being on November 1, 2000, ... Read more