Category: India

India’s Ministry of Tourism has partnered with OutsiteVR, a travel tech startup, to empower people to travel within India virtually. OutsiteVR is an experiential platform that allows you to virtually travel across popular heritage sites, historical monuments and tourist attractions using a smartphone, desktop, or VR headset. Here, one can explore interesting places in the country right from the ancient Key Monastery, Himachal Pradesh in the north to the picturesque Kannur Light House, Kerala in the south. You can also stroll the streets of the west for handicraft and traditional culture and finally venture all the adventures of India’s beautiful ... Read more

Goa has framed new quarantine rules by which institutional quarantine has been made mandatory for symptomatic passengers till test result is available. The new directives require all passengers landing in Goa to go for 14-day home quarantine or 14 days of paid institutional quarantine. Passengers can skip home quarantine in the following cases: If the passenger furnishes a COVID-19 negative certificate issued by an ICMR-recognized lab. The test should not be older than 48 hours prior to the arrival in Goa. If the passenger chooses to take a swab test upon landing at a cost of INR 2000, and goes ... Read more

Sayaji Hotels has reopened its Indore, Pune, Vadodara, Kolhapur and Raipur properties. The Hotel Group has also put in place a ‘Care beyond compare’ initiative, designed to meet the health and safety challenges presented by COVID-19. Through this programme, the patrons will be informed and updated about the change in services, designs & standards of operations that will be congruent to the norms of social distancing, safety & hygiene of the staff and cleanliness of the hotel. The properties have been opened after a two-day cleanliness inspection conducted by Rakshit Sharma, Head-HR and Dinesh Dahiya, VP Sales, Sayaji Hotels Ltd. Said ... Read more

TGI Hotels and Resorts has announced that seven of its properties have won the TripAdvisor 2020 Travellers’ Choice Awards. La Montana by TGI – Ooty, TGI Star Holidays Resort – Yercaud, TGI Kairos – Yelagiri, TGI Grand Fortuna – Hosur, South End by TGI – Bangalore, Fountain Tree by TGI – Bangalore and TGI Apple INN – Jaipur are the properties that have won the awards. “We are immensely delighted about the recognition. This incredible news could not have come at a better time for our team,” said Amit Kumar – Chief Marketing Officer of TGI Hotels & Resorts. “It is uplifting and much appreciated to ... Read more

Kerala should look to convert its vacant houses into Airbnb-type accommodation to increase the state’s carrying capacity, Muralee Thummarukudy said on Thursday. Delivering a talk at the online webinar organised by the Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI), Thummarukudy said Kerala has over one million vacant homes, which can be effectively utilised to generate tourism revenues. “In Kerala, one can find 5-bedroom houses even in remote areas. So, finding space should not be a problem,” he said. The challenge would be incentivising that possibility.  Right now, Kerala feels content with the number of tourists that visit the state every year. ... Read more

ITC Hotels has reopened its Grand Goa property after taking into account all possible safety and hygiene measures. With its ‘We Assure’ initiative, ITC Hotels is trying to offer guests comfort and peace of mind, keeping in mind the pandemic situation. At ITC Hotels, all additional safety measures have been deployed to mitigate the risk of infection, the hotel chain said in a press release. The ‘new normal’ protocol makes thermal screening, safe distancing and usage of masks mandatory across all levels of operation at the hotel. Usage of disposable gloves during service and additional protective gear, where required is ... Read more

Sinclairs Hotels has announced that three of its properties namely, Sinclairs Retreat Ooty, Sinclairs Retreat Kalimpong and Sinclairs Siliguri have won the Tripadvisor 2020 Travellers’ Choice Awards. These three properties have been ranked in the top 10% of hotels worldwide and placed in an exclusive group ‘Best of the Best’ based on ratings and reviews from travellers across the world. Swajib Chatterjee, Chief Operating Officer, Sinclairs Hotels Ltd. said, “We are delighted that three of our iconic properties have won the prestigious Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice ‘Awards. The credit goes to our team for the consistently high standards of service to ... Read more

The virtual webinar organised by the Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI), to discuss the future of tourism will be inaugurated by Kerala’s tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran later today. The webinar features two eminent individuals – Claudia Wagner, managing director of German tour operator FIT Reisen and Muralee Thummarukudy, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction in the United Nations Environment Programme.  The theme of the webinar is “We will overcome”. While Claudia Wagner will speak on the topic ‘Impact of Covid-19 and the revival of tourism’ from 3.30-4.30 pm, Muralee Thummarukudy will deliver his talk in Malayalam on the subject ... Read more

Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has inaugurated the ‘Thenzawl Golf Resort’ project implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism. The project is expected to give a big boost to India’s golf tourism initiatives. An amount of Rs 92.25 crore has been sanctioned for the golf resort at Thenzawl, which is located 90 km away from Aizawl, Mizoram’s capital. Thenzawl is an important centre for Mizoram’s handloom industry. Mizoram Tourism Minister Robert Romawia Royte and Commissioner and Secretary of the state tourism department Esther Lal Ruatkimi also attended the virtual inauguration.   Golf tourism in India has a ... Read more

The Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI) is organising a webinar on August 6, featuring two eminent individuals – Claudia Wagner, managing director of German tour operator FIT Reisen and Muralee Thummarukudy, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction in the United Nations Environment Programme. The theme of the webinar is “We will overcome”. While Claudia Wagner will speak in English on the topic ‘Impact of Covid-19 and the revival of tourism’ from 3.30-4.30 pm, Muralee Thummarukudy will deliver his talk in Malayalam on the subject ‘Is there a spring season awaiting Kerala tourism?’, from 4.30-5.30 pm. Wagner’s session is sponsored by ... Read more

OYO, the Indian hotel-booking startup backed by Masayoshi Son’s Softbank, is merging its operations in Japan and appointing a new chief executive officer to oversee the combined entity. The reorganisation involves Oyo’s hotel-booking and apartment-rental units coming together into a single company called Oyo Japan, to be led by Ryoma Yamamoto as CEO with Ryota Tanozaki as his deputy. Both of them have been promoted from senior roles in the existing Oyo operations, said a Bloomberg report. Japan has been a focal point for Oyo’s international expansion due to Son’s endorsement and association with the Softbank brand name. The company operated Oyo Hotels and Oyo Life ... Read more

Jalesh Cruises has said that it will commence cruise operations from November 6, following the Indian government’s decision to allow sailing from October 1. As a result, MV Karnika will set sail on that day, the company said in a press release on Tuesday. To offer a safe and secure holiday on the sea, Jalesh Cruises will offer all passengers free rapid Covid-19 testing at the time of embarkation. Passengers will receive their test results in 15 minutes, board the ship without any fears or worries and set sail into the blue. Jurgen Bailom, President and CEO, Jalesh Cruises said, “The announcement ... Read more

India’s Ministry of Tourism as part of its Dekho Apna Desh series held a webinar on “Heritage tourism in Gujarat”, presenting the fascinating and diverse heritage of the state of Gujarat ranging from ancient archaeological sites and majestic medieval monuments to modern architectural marvels.    Presented by Ranjit Sinh Parmar, Secretary-Heritage Tourism Association, Gujarat and Anil Mulchandani, author, travel writer and food critic, the webinar showcased the varied tourism products of Gujarat like its beautiful forts, palaces, havelis and other historical properties that have been converted into heritage hotels or opened as homestays. The presenters recounted how being on the West coast of India with approximately 1600 kms of coastline, Gujarat had attracted traders, ... Read more

VG Jayachandran, CEO of Tour Designers, says product development and research must be the main functions of the State tourism department, not marketing. At present, in the name of marketing, millions are spent which never hit the target, he says. Any organisation, which doesn’t have the participation of all stakeholders, will not find a place in this situation – whether it is FAITH or any other confederation. They are just old wine in used bottles, he says. Excerpts from an interview: Q: Why do you think governments – both at the Centre and State levels – have ignored the pleas of ... Read more

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued fresh guidelines for international arrivals. These guidelines will be operational from 00.01 hours, 8th August 2020) Before Planning for Travel: i. All travellers should submit self-declaration form on the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72 hours before the scheduled travel. ii. They should also give an undertaking on the portal that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health. iii. Only for compelling reasons/ cases of human distress such as ... Read more