Category: India
Bilateral air bubbles will kick off international air travel: Hardeep Singh Puri
Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that bilateral air bubbles will be the way forward in resuming international travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “I think the answer is bilateral air bubbles – which will carry a number of people but under defined conditions – as countries continue to impose entry restrictions including India,” Puri said at a press conference. Puri said Air France will operate 28 flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to Paris from July 18 till August 1, while United Air will operate 18 flights from Delhi, Mumbai to Newark till July 31. Scheduled international ... Read more
Puducherry looks at opening up tourism sector from August 1
Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy has said that the administration is contemplating reopening the Union Territory for tourists from August 1. He said that he would write to the Union Tourism Minister to ease the lockdown and open up tourism, to revive the economy. “The Puducherry administration managed to contain the spread of COIVID 19 due to the coordinated efforts of all sections of people. The COVID-19 recovery rate in the Union Territory is 65% and the death 1.5% of the total number of cases,” he said. The Tourism Ministry should facilitate foreign and domestic tourists to visit Puducherry so ... Read more
Madhya Pradesh – the heart of Incredible India
Madhya Pradesh’s bio-diversity, tiger reserves and national parks have made it a fascinating travel destination. The Ministry of Tourism presented a webinar on ‘Wild Wonders of Madhya Pradesh’ under Dekho Apna Desh webinar series, providing an immersive virtual safari experience of the state, which is also known as the heart of Incredible India. The webinar was moderated by Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism and was presented by Suyash Keshari, a young wildlife filmmaker who was born and brought up in Madhya Pradesh and worked extensively on its wildlife. Madhya Pradesh is an amalgamation of natural wildlife, history ... Read more
Air India authorises CMD to send any non-performing employee on leave without pay
Air India has decided to allow its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) to recommend that a non-performing staff member be compulsorily sent on leave without pay for a period of up to five years. Employees will be assessed by a board in the following categories: Suitability, efficiency, competence, quality of performance, health of the employee, instance of non-availability of the employee for duty in the past as a result of ill health or otherwise and redundancy. Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal can now send employees on leave without pay “for six months or for a period of two years extendable ... Read more
‘Tiger tourism’ – India’s unique calling card
India is home to nearly 3,000 tigers. According to the latest census, the tiger population rose from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2018 making India one of its biggest and most secure habitats. India counts its tigers once every four years – so the next census is likely to be in 2022. Tiger tourism has been a big draw with travellers, especially domestic visitors. The Ministry of Tourism organised a webinar on ‘Tigers and Tourism’ under the Dekho Apna Desh series, unveiling the rich heritage of tiger habitation in India and its relevance with tourism. The session was moderated ... Read more
Thomas Cook India and SOTC launch premium chauffeured van tours to encourage private trips with fewer people
Thomas Cook (India) and group company SOTC Travel Ltd have announced the launch of Private Journeys, a premium offering that provides chauffeured van tours designed for smaller groups of family or friends. Private Journeys covers more than 32 countries, for travel from September at a starting price of Rs 25, 800. Curated by experts, the companies said these exclusive private experiences include both sightseeing and food. Destinations include, France, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Russia, Romania, Kenya, South Africa, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Thailand and Vietnam, among others. A guest will have access to premium, private vehicles with English speaking drivers, centrally located four-star ... Read more
Sign of the times? Online travel firm Yatra.com partners upGrad to foray into edutech space
Online travel company Yatra.com on Tuesday said it has entered into a partnership with upGrad Enterprise (the B2B arm of online higher education firm upGrad), thus foraying into the educational technology (edutech) segment. As the company aims to diversify its portfolio beyond travel, this partnership will enable its corporate clients to deliver advanced learning and skill development for their employees, Yatra.com said in a statement. Yatra.com, however, did not disclose any financial details of the partnership. “In a tough economic climate, it is important to develop and reskill the workforce to overcome the challenges being presented. We are excited to join forces with ... Read more
Jammu & Kashmir reopen to tourists arriving by air, subject to strict safety guidelines
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
Andhra Pradesh tourism loses Rs 60 crores during pandemic
Andhra Pradesh is preparing to develop its tourism sector after suffering heavy losses over the past six months. As part of this, tourism minister Avanthi Srinivas conducted an industry review recently and decided to set up five-star and seven-star hotels across seven tourist destinations in the state by forging public-private partnerships. He said the tourism department had lost a total of Rs 60 crores at the rate of Rs 10 crores per month due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this year, the tourism department had completed the construction of nine tourism control rooms in various districts across the state for ... Read more
Himachal – the breathtakingly beautiful soul-stirrer
The Union Tourism Ministry organised a webinar under its “Dekho Apna Desh” series on the topic ‘Himachal: Around the next bend’ focusing on the beautiful villages, mountains, pristine rivers, culture and heritage of Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh is a northern Indian state in the Himalayas. It’s home to scenic mountain towns such as Dalhousie. Host to the Dalai Lama, Himachal Pradesh has a strong Tibetan presence. This is reflected in its Buddhist temples and monasteries, as well as its vibrant Tibetan New Year celebrations. The region is also well known for its trekking, climbing and skiing areas. Swathed by cedar, ... Read more
Hotel Association of India urges investors to support growth of Jammu & Kashmir tourism
Hotel Association of India (HAI), the apex body of the hotel industry in India, has said it will wholeheartedly support Jammu & Kashmir’s further development as a tourism destination. At the recently concluded India Global Week, KB Kachru, Vice President, Hotel Association of India and Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group called on investors to consider J&K for their new ventures citing good returns based on promising infrastructure and in the Union Territory. The India Global Week 2020 was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and witnessed the presence of several luminaries from across the ... Read more
Vistara announces new safety initiative – Flyer Code
Full-service carrier Vistara has announced a set of safety measures for its customers as part of its safe-flying initiative. The “FlyerCode” initiative comes following a survey conducted by the airline recently in which as many as 55% of the respondents expressed fear of exposure while travelling and apprehension about fellow passengers not following health and safety protocols, Vistara said in a release. The airline has urged the customers to follow the set of measures for safe-flying and remain careful, observant, distanced and empathetic, whenever they fly. As part of the FlyerCode, Vistara has urged its customers to provide all their ... Read more
Haryana’s folk music, slow village life, historical significance need a marketing push
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
Chhattisgarh to focus on developing water sports projects to attract local tourists
Chhattisgarh Tourism Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu has said the state will concentrate on promoting domestic tourism to overcome the impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector. Accordingly, Chhattisgarh Tourism Board will develop water sports and cafeteria at all the prominent dams and water bodies of the state, Sahu told a meeting of the Board’s directors. The coronavirus crisis has hit the tourism industry the most, the minister said. Now the best bet is to work on the policy of drawing local tourists to the state’s tourism spots, he added. Sahu has asked the Tourism Board officials to work on a ... Read more
Piyush Goyal wants Indian hospitality sector to become Atma Nirbhar; slams luxury hotel industry for not being able to stand on its own feet
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said the government will help the travel and tourism industry only if they give recommendations regarding tackling the coronavirus situation. The minister advised the sector to help the Centre in achieving its objective of creating an Atma Nirbhar Bharat, even as the sector is struggling to keep itself alive in the wake of the global pandemic. Before the industry representatives attending the webinar realised what hit them, the minister fired the next salvo. He slammed the industry for its “bad practices” and “wrong doings”, asking it to look within. The officials of the ... Read more