Category: News

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

Abdulla Mausoom has been appointed as Maldives’ new minister of tourism. Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, in a ceremony held at the President’s Office in capital Male, officially presented Mausoom as minister of tourism. Mausoom was serving as the resident ambassador of the Maldives to Singapore, and non-resident ambassador of the Maldives to New Zealand, prior to his appointment to cabinet. Mausoom is a long-time parliamentarian who has previously served in Cabinet as minister of tourism and aviation, and minister of environment, energy and water. He was a board member of Maldives Association of Tourism Industry. Mausoom’s appointment comes following the ... 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

The iconic Emirates A380 will begin serving travellers on flights to Toronto starting August 16. The airline has already resumed A380 operations to Amsterdam, Cairo, Paris, London Heathrow and Guangzhou.  Customers can fly the Emirates A380 from Dubai to Toronto five times a week. Flights can be booked on emirates.com or via travel agents. Emirates flight EK 241 will depart Dubai at 9:10 and arrive in Toronto at 15:05 local time. The return flight, EK 242 will depart Toronto at 21:45 and arrive in Dubai at 18:30 local time, the following day. The Emirates A380 experience remains a favourite amongst travellers for its spacious ... Read more

The United States has lifted an advisory from March that said US citizens should avoid all international travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. But American travellers are still restricted or banned in many parts of the world, including in the European Union. The State Department on Thursday said it would instead resume travel services considering each country on a case-by-case basis. The announcement comes as President Donald Trump seeks a quick return to normal in the United States, which has suffered by far the highest number of deaths from COVID-19. “With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and ... 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

Leading international online travel services provider Trip.com has announced a strategic partnership with AirAsia.com, counted as ASEAN region’s fastest growing travel and lifestyle e-commerce platform.  The strategic partnership will see Trip.com Group and AirAsia.com collaborate on a range of popular products and services available on both digital platforms, including cooperation in the areas of transit information for connecting flights, membership benefits and product marketing, to deliver an enhanced and streamlined experience for travellers. The cooperation is expected to generate synergies for both digital platforms, and is a joint initiative to spur greater demand for international travel by providing travellers with an ... 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

Munich-based start-up pleycs has announced the launch of its location-based social network platform www.pleycs.com. The free website enables users to network worldwide, with regard to places of interest or places already visited. Travelling to new places, working, or even living abroad involve many uncertainties. It is always great to have a contact on the ground that can help with suggestions and insider’s tips. pleycs makes these connections happen, the company said in a press release. Access to photos and information about places of interest make it fun to explore new destinations. The experiences of the user can also be collected and ... Read more

Thailand’s Tourism Ministry is encouraging hotels to offer fair packages to expatriates, by avoiding price discrimination as the country aims to attract 2 million foreign residents to travel more domestically. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the tourism and sports minister, has urged expatriate associations to travel domestically instead of going abroad, as they may face back-to-back 14-day quarantines when arriving at other destinations and then upon returning to Thailand. The idea has received some positive feedback from expatriates, but points of concern remain regarding local sentiment towards foreigners during the outbreak and overpriced accommodations, Bangkok Post has reported. He said the Tourism Authority ... 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

Singapore is seeking to open the door to a wider range of business and leisure visitors to boost its hard-hit tourism sector, with the return of mass travel still a long way off amid the pandemic, according to the head of the country’s tourism agency. The industry expects more job losses in the coming months once existing government support for rent, taxes and salaries starts tapering off, Keith Tan, chief executive officer of the Singapore Tourism Board said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin. Job losses so far in the sector have been in the “very low thousands,” ... Read more

Nearly three million jobs in the UK – and 197 million worldwide in the travel & tourism sector globally – look set to be lost due to the collapse of travel, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). WTTC economic modelling conducted less than two months ago predicted this ‘worst case scenario’ would occur if barriers to global travel, such as quarantine measures and blanket travel restrictions were to remain in place. While some travel bans have been removed, many others remain, with new restrictions likely to come into force to tackle the continuing threat posed by COVID-19 ... Read more