Category: India

Air India will operate special flights to India from June 15-30, for Indians stranded in Europe. The bookings will begin today at 8 am GMT (1.30 pm IST). This is under the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission. “Please note that the applicant should be registered with the local Indian Embassy/High Commission,” Air India tweeted. Many passengers, however, may not be able to book domestic tickets to their home states. The High Commission of India, London, has said all passengers who wish to travel to any destination in India may travel to Delhi. However, passengers will have to undergo quarantine ... Read more

The Centre and state governments should leverage India’s massive network of heritage sites as a tool for development and employment generation by providing improved services to domestic and international tourists, a NITI Aayog report suggested. Each Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) site should be a profit centre, NITI Aayog said. “Food and beverage revenues are not leveraged to the extent possible, and sites with already heavy footfalls are losing a massive opportunity. Lease, rental and revenue sharing models are used globally in this respect and the same can be mirrored here,” noted the working group report on ‘Improving Heritage Management ... Read more

Hiring declined by 61% in May due to the nationwide lockdown to contain COVID-19 pandemic, a study has said. This is the second consecutive month in which more than 60% decline in hiring has occurred. Recruitment fell to 910 job postings in May compared to 2,346 in the same month last year, according to the study by NaukriJobSpeak Index, which is a monthly index that calculates and records hiring activities based on the job listings on Naukri.com. The report further revealed that the decline in hiring is led by industries like hospitality, travel, and aviation (91%), retail (87%), auto ancillary ... Read more

Given the current COVID-19 outbreak, it is important that all hotels, restaurants and other hospitality units take suitable measures to restrict any further transmission of the virus while providing accommodation and other tourist services post lockdown, the Ministry of Tourism has said. The guidelines aim to minimise all possible physical contacts between a staff and guests and maintain social distancing and other preventive and safety measures against COVID-19. It also tries to make the traceability of the guests easier, in case a situation in future warrants so. These guidelines will apply to Bed and Breakfast (B&B), Homestay and Farmstay units. ... Read more

Hotels in Uttarakhand will not be allowed to take bookings from customers arriving from “high-load” Covid-19 cities, the state government has announced. While issuing guidelines to reopen restaurants, shopping malls and religious places of worship, chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh said guests from cities with less number of cases will have to stay for a minimum of seven days. Officials said that if a person is carrying some infection, there are chances of manifestation within seven days. If people keep coming and going, it will become difficult to track the cases, they added. “Initially when we are starting, we want to ... Read more

Karnataka has come out with a set of protocols to ensure safety for tourists. Self-declaration by guests and tour operators about their preparedness for various tourist destinations, safety and hygiene status, social distancing requirements and awareness of the pandemic are all part of the new guidelines. “The Covid-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for the tourism sector across the world. In this aftermath, health and safety of people is of utmost importance for the government. With the tourism industry expected to resume operations over the coming months, it is necessary to have protocols in place that can ensure hygiene and ... Read more

Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have so far ferried 66,831 Indians from overseas on 365 flights, as part of its repatriation drive. Another 17,180 passengers have travelled on 369 outbound flights by the national carrier to various foreign countries, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday. Air India opened bookings on Friday, for around 300 flights to various countries like the USA and the UK, under the third phase of its Vande Bharat Mission. The airline faced an overwhelming demand for tickets, which were sold out in no time, forcing it to increase the number ... Read more

Abad Hotels & Resorts will restart its properties across Kerala from today, after the government decided to lift lockdown restrictions to revive the economy. Abad, one of the best-known hospitality groups in Kerala, has properties in Kochi, Munnar, Marari Beach, Wayanad, Kumarakom, Thekkady, Kovalam and Alleppey. “Keeping pace with the present times, we have revised and enhanced our standard operating procedure to provide greater care to guests,” Abad Hotels & Resorts stated in its note, while announcing the reopening of its units. ·     Temperature check on arrival for all residential and non- residential guests. ·     Safe status on Arogya setu app as ... Read more

Sinclairs Hotels on Monday reopened its Siliguri property, a few days after restarting operations at Sinclairs Burdwan. The hotel has been opened in line with protocols laid down by the authorities, the hospitality group stated in a press release. Located at the Pradhannagar area, Sinclairs Siliguri is an expansive property spread over a campus of around 3 acres with a large lawn, a huge terrace and ample open spaces. It has taken extensive steps in sanitizing the entire property and setting up safety protocols to ensure that all norms with regard to touch-free check in and check out as well ... Read more

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has recommended that hotels should appoint a special officer nominated among managers, who will be responsible for Covid-19 response planning and implementation. In its reopening manual, addressed to all registered hotels and resorts in the country, FHRAI said the special officer will be the contact point for Covid-19 emergencies, having decision making powers as required. The officer has to be supported by the operations head, quality control, HR and a medical officer connected with the property. All hotels and resorts have to replace finger touch biometrics with alternatives, sanitise luggage ... Read more

As part of its repatriation drive, India has announced additional flights from Doha, to meet demand. The Indian Embassy in Qatar has updated a list of repatriation flights from Doha to various cities in India. These flights are set to operate between June 9 and June 19. Air India Express will now be operating flights from Doha to Coimbatore, Delhi, Kannur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Madurai, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Trichy. The third phase of Vande Bharat Mission is set to commence on June 11 and will be carried out until June 30.

Repatriation flights from Kuwait to Kerala will begin on June 9. Only three flights are scheduled to Kerala from the Gulf country in the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission, The Indian government has scheduled a total of six flights from Kuwait to India. The first flight to Kerala will take off from Kuwait on June 9 at 2 pm and land at Kozhikode by 9.20 pm. The second flight will take off on June 12 at 3.40 pm and land at Thiruvananthapuram at 11.10 pm. The last flight to Kerala will leave Kuwait on June 14 at 11.30 am ... Read more

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to permit 820 protected monuments to open across India, but Taj Mahal in Agra isn’t one of them. The Taj Mahal has been closed for tourists since March 17, the longest closure of the monument in its existence. The list put out by ASI has only centrally protected monuments that have active places of worship. Although the Taj Mahal has a mosque where regular Namaz is conducted every Friday, the monument is closed on that day and hence will have no impact on tourism. Rajiv Tiwari, President of the Federation of Travel ... Read more

Air India will be opening its bookings for special repatriation flights from various destinations in the USA and Canada, starting June 8. In a tweet the airline said, “Indian citizens and OCI cardholders who wish to travel to India on evacuation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission, from USA and Canada, may kindly book tickets through the Air India website for flights on or after 11th June ’20.” The air carrier further stated that it is mandatory for the applicants to be registered with the Local Embassy/High Commission, for the same. Tickets on the Air India website will be available ... Read more

ITC Hotels has launched Lavanderia, a contact-light laundry service, now available to customers in various metros across India. The initiative offers strict monitoring of safety and hygiene norms at each step. The service allows customers to hand over the items at a designated point at the hotel. The laundry would be ready for pick up by the customer within 24 hours, where the customer would be intimated via a message which would include a payment link to enable contactless payment. The entire process remains contact-light with safe distancing at every point. Anil Chadha, COO, ITC Hotels said, “We endeavour to ... Read more