Category: India

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

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

Flight bookings from India to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah will resume from today, Air India has announced. The airline has opened bookings for India-UAE flights on the departure leg of the repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission. The bookings will be open till August 15. Bookings are however open for residence visa holders with ICA or GDRFA approval and a valid Covid-19 PCR test report in the printed form, from a government-approved laboratory. The airline has notified passengers not to travel with expired ICA or GDRFA approvals. Only resident permit passengers with stamped passport copy can book tickets ... Read more

Flagging off the first helicopter service by Pawan Hans in Uttarakhand under the UDAN-RCS scheme, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the launch of the heli-service will support tourism in the region. Commencement of the new heli services will enhance the aerial connectivity between hilly regions in Uttarakhand and bring down the average travel time to 20-25 minutes. This will also assist the Char Dham Yatra pilgrims. Char Dham is a set of four pilgrimage sites in India comprising Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri and Rameswaram. Pawan Hans Ltd will operate thrice-weekly helicopter services on this route. Viability Gap Funding (VGF) is ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism is facing criticism for allegedly favouring facilitators with minimal qualifications over approved tour guides, who have played the role of cultural ambassadors for years. Syed Imtiyaz Jaleel, Aurangabad’s Member of Parliament, has written to the ministry pointing out that these facilitators chosen by an online process are often just 10+2 qualified. “It seems, it is the policy of the tourism department to promote these facilitators to work as facilitator-cum-guides,” Jaleel wrote in his letter to Minister of Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel.  The Department of Tourism was established 60 years ago and since then, the department has been ... Read more

he Hotel Association of India (HAI), which represents over 300 hotels across categories, has sought the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) support to tide over the financial crisis. The sector is staring at a ₹90,000 crore revenue loss in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The current debt levels in the organized hospitality sector, which is barely 10% of the total industry, stands at ₹45,000 crore, the association said. RBI had announced relief on loan moratorium on interest and principal repayment for six months till August. “Unfortunately, an immediate term solution will only defer the crisis as what is needed is ... Read more

The Mizoram government is working on a new tourism policy, which will aim at enhancing livelihood of people, North East Now has reported. The new policy will make way for more funding support from the Centre and other stakeholders, the report said quoting an official. A draft of the new policy will be circulated among the various government departments for assessment, and it is expected to be tabled during the next Assembly session after approval from the State Cabinet. “Though the government has an existing tourism policy, we are drafting a new one known as Mizoram Responsible Tourism Policy, 2020, ... Read more

The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has said that Indian and foreign airlines be allowed to operate, to revive the travel industry. The industry body said the government should allow foreigners to travel to India on a reciprocal basis. While there has been a substantial easing of lockdown conditions in line with phase one and two, phase three remains a crucial decision for the country, it said, according to a report by news agency ANI. FICCI said clear-cut dates should be announced by the states to open tourism, monuments, tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and bars. All restaurants ... Read more

Tourism, hospitality and aviation are among the worst affected sectors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the latest survey by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said. About 90% of the respondents said that recovery within the tourism sector appears bleak in the next six months. The aviation sector came a close second, with about 85% categorising the future prospects as extremely bleak. Bankers said aviation is most likely to require support as the sector is highly leveraged, with high fixed costs. The survey findings suggest that the ill-effects of COVID may remain for next 3-5 years and may impact the quality of credit ... Read more

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), the nodal federation of all the national tourism associations, has revised the sector’s economic risk guidance to ₹15 lakh crore in view of the coronavirus situation. In its initial guidance, which was calculated and shared with the industry and the Central government in March, the federation had put the tourism sector’s economic risk at ₹5-lakh crore due to the pandemic. Later, it was revised upwards to Rs 10 lakh crore, as the situation worsened. Now, the figure has been further revised to ₹15-lakh crore as the pandemic continues to ravage the sector. FAITH ... Read more

Thomas Cook (India) and its group company, SOTC Travel Ltd, have partnered with ICMR-accredited medical centres pan India, to offer COVID-negative certification services. This initiative is an extension of the Thomas Cook & SOTC Assured Safe Travel Program in partnership with Apollo Clinics.  Through this service, the travel agency will ensure that the travellers receive the report results within 24 to 48 hours. The Thomas Cook & SOTC COVID-negative certification services include: assistance on requirements/procedures for COVID testing via ICMR accredited centres, information on multiple locations/options available for the test, scheduling appointments for the tests etc. The service will also enable ... Read more

K Vijaya Mohan, President of the Tours and Travels Association of Andhra, has said that travel agents in the state have suffered a cumulative revenue loss of Rs 2,000 crore due to COVID-19 outbreak. At this rate, they would end up losing Rs 3,400 crore by the year-end, he said. In a letter written to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, he said the government should give certain benefits to bail out the travel sector. He noted there are about 1,000 travel agencies in the state and one third of them are in Visakhapatnam, many of whom are suffering economically. ... Read more

Foreign guests will likely stay away from India not just this year but the next as well, EIH executive chairman PRS Oberoi has said. EIH is the listed entity of The Oberoi Group that runs hotels under Oberoi and Trident brands in the country. The travel industry was among the first to be affected by the pandemic and will, in all probability, be the last to recover, Oberoi said in his address to shareholders in the latest annual report. “Due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, we expect very few foreign travellers to visit India in the current year and in the next ... Read more

Air India’s northern regional office has formed a committee to identify “redundant” or “surplus” employees who would be asked to go on a compulsory leave without pay (LWP) for up to five years. P S Negi, Regional Director (RD), Northern Region, Air India, issued an order stating that an empowered committee is being constituted for the identification of such employees, news agency PTI has reported. Negi’s order, which has been accessed by PTI, said the general manager (personnel), general manager (finance) and departmental heads will be the members of the empowered committee. “GM (Personnel) will share the staff list with ... Read more

A consortium of Flight Simulation Technique Centre, Big Charter and Imperial Capital Investments LLC has reportedly secured $100 million that will be pumped into Jet Airways in order to revive the defunct airline. The consortium is one of the two bidders that submitted resolution plans for Jet Airways earlier this week. Lenders had shortlisted it, along with three other entities, for Jet Airways’ insolvency process back in June. Biraja Jena, Chairman of Dubai-based Imperial Capital, told Moneycontrol that they have secured $100 million from their partners. The investment banking and wealth management firm has also roped in Middle Eastern business house Taha Group as ... Read more