Category: Top Three Stories

The Indian Government and the State Government of Kerala should be held responsible for their criminal negligence towards the struggling travel and tourism sector, tourism body ATTOI has contended, citing instances of employees committing suicide. While many other countries, both developed and developing, have come forward with plans to support the industry, the Indian government and the state of Kerala have ignored the sector, ATTOI President Vinod CS has said. Even neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and states such as Himachal Pradesh have given shape to financial packages and benefits for tourism employees, but God’s Own Country hasn’t come to ... Read more

Kerala Tourism will increase its cooperation with other state tourism departments and the Central Government to avoid issues in inter-state travel, said Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Friday. The Minister said he expects tourists to start visiting Kerala Tourist Places in the next one or two months. He was speaking at the concluding session of the two-day e-Conclave organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with the participation of representatives from various states and the Central Government on the future of tourism. In the first phase, ayurveda, eco-tourism and adventure tourism sectors will be strengthened ... Read more

India’s aviation regulator DGCA on Friday extended the suspension of scheduled international flights to and from the country till August 31. However, this restriction will not apply to international cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA. “The government has decided to extend the suspension on the scheduled international commercial passenger services to/ from India up to 2359 hours IST of 31st August,” the DGCA said in a statement.  DGCA, on July 3 had extended the ban on international flights until July 31 after it was suspended till July 15. According to senior government officials, the ban was extended ... Read more

Travel firm TUI said it will shut 166 stores in the UK and Ireland in response to the downturn in travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters has reported. COVID-19 has wiped out holidays abroad for Europeans for months. Now the threat of a second wave of infections and new restrictions on travel during the usually lucrative summer season are causing more pain in a sector where balance sheets are already strained. TUI’s UK unit was forced to cancel thousands of holidays earlier this week when Britain advised against travel to Spain, bringing back a 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals ... Read more

Kerala’s Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran will undergo self-quarantine after an employee at his official residence tested COVID-19 positive. On Tuesday, all employees at the Minister’s residence and office underwent an antigen test. It is reported that the Minister tested coronavirus negative. However, Kadakampally stated that he decided to enter self-quarantine from Tuesday afternoon as a precaution. The Minister has directed all of his employees, who worked with the COVID positive person, to enter self-quarantine.Kadakampally Surendran, who is in charge of the COVID-19 prevention activities in Thiruvananthapuram, had attended various meetings since Tuesday morning. The district Collector and many other high ranking officials ... Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unforeseen challenges to global tourism. With geography gaining significance and the importance of shorter distances becoming more pronounced, regional tourism is likely to grow. Governments must thus pivot to focus considerably more attention on regional tourism through investments in infrastructure and services, particularly digitisation to reduce human transactions, a new report by Brookings India has said. India, in particular, will have to leverage the wide range of cultural similarities with its neighbours such as the regional Buddhist trail and pilgrimage, etc, the research report noted. Such a push would also contribute locally through employment and ... Read more

In yet another setback, 60 Air India pilots who flew repatriation flights to bring back Indians stranded abroad have tested positive for coronavirus, the airline has said in a letter to the government. The Vande Bharat mission to repatriate Indians came “with a heavy price to pay for those on the frontline. As of date, at least 60 plus pilots have been tested Covid positive,” senior pilots of the national carrier have stated, in the letter addressed to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri. “This has had a ‘devastating effect’ on their family members,” said the letter. The pilots are already ... Read more

A Travel, Hospitality and F&B collective of the Entrepreneur’s Organisation (EO) has requested the government to provide goods and services tax (GST) waivers among other demands to revive tourism in India. In a nine-point demand letter, the body said it requests the government for immediate survival measures to prevent mass bankruptcy and crores of unprecedented layoffs in the hospitality and travel sector that normally contributes to almost 10% national GDP, due to the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drafted in consultation with top industry leaders, the letter requests an immediate rebate to save the tourism sector and crores of jobs associated ... Read more

Indian Railways will introduce the first set of 12 private trains in 2023, followed by 45 more in the following fiscal. According to an initial timeline drawn by the Railways, all 151 private trains will be introduced by the end of financial year 2026-27. Proposals have been invited from companies to run these modern passenger trains on 109 pairs of routes across the country. The project would entail an investment of about Rs 30,000 crore. The request for qualification (RFQ), floated on July 8, is likely to be finalised by November. The financial bids will be open by March 2021 and selection ... Read more

IndiGo, India’s largest private airlines, has decided to lay off 10% of its workforce due to the economic crisis induced by COVID-19 pandemic, its chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta said on Monday.  “It is for the first time in the history of IndiGo that we have undertaken such a painful measure,” Dutta said in a statement. “From where things stand currently, it is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations,” Dutta said. “Therefore, after carefully assessing and reviewing all possible scenarios, it is clear that we ... Read more

Jammu and Kashmir reopened to tourists on Tuesday, allowing only air travellers to enter the territory. The decision to partially reopen the region was taken by the government, which stated that safety guidelines will have to be strictly followed by the tourists. “There will be partial opening of the tourism sector for visitors from outside J&K, limited to tourists arriving by air only,” the government said in a statement. “In the view of the COVID related measures, it was imperative to put in place a protocol to be followed by the tourists as well authorities engaged in the hospitality sector.” ... Read more

Haryana is not a hotspot on most people’s tourism maps. But a good look into what Haryana can offer, can draw domestic tourists towards the state. The Ministry of Tourism had organised a webinar on “Haryana: Culture, Cuisine and Tourism” showcasing the rich and varied heritage of Haryana, as part of its Dekho Apna Desh series. The webinar was moderated by Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General,  Ministry Of Tourism and was presented by Rajbir Deswal, a retired IPS officer and practising advocate along with Mahasingh Poonia, Director of cultural youth and Affairs, Kurukshetra University and Ashish Dahiya, a professor at ... Read more

Expedia Group Media Solutions, the global digital advertising organization of Expedia Group, has announced further details of its destination relief programme, as part of its $275 million commitment to helping travel par­tners rebound from the impact of COVID-19 and fuel industry-wide recovery efforts. To help re-ignite travel demand to destinations, Media Solutions is making $25 million of advertising relief available, which includes products, programmes and media value add from Expedia Group brands for display campaigns across Expedia Group sites. Several brands within the Media Solutions portfolio – including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, Wotif, ebookers and CheapTickets – are offering customized brand ... Read more

The Delhi High Court has asked SoftBank-backed Oyo Hotels & Homes to file an affidavit in the court in two weeks on its unencumbered assets. The July 7 order came in a case filed by hospitality company Anam Datsec, which has accused Oyo of non-payment of dues for its Golden Sands property at Calangute in Goa and sought more than Rs 8 crore in damages. Anam Datsec claimed that Oyo had agreed to pay Rs 14 lakh a month as the minimum guaranteed amount when it entered into a management services agreement with the company for the property in 2018. ... Read more

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the Travancore royal family has the shebait rights over the  management of Thiruvananthapuram’s iconic Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The shebait is like the trustee of a religious endowment, as per the traditions of maintaining and preserving the idol and property. The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of India’s richest temples, which draws thousands of tourists to Thiruvananthapuram annually. It’s a major fixture in South India’s religious tourism circuit. In its verdict, the apex court said that death will not affect the rights of shebaitship of the family over the deity, and it will continue according ... Read more