With domestic tourism in Kerala having suffered losses of INR33,000 crore from March 2020 to December 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has said unexplored tourist destinations are being identified to bring in more travellers for reviving the key sector. According to Tourism Minister P A Mohammed Riyas, the tourism sector has also suffered a loss of INR7,000 crore in foreign exchange earnings as the number of domestic and international travellers has dropped drastically since 2016 and especially during the pandemic period. He said that meetings have been held at panchayat level in all the districts of…
Author: Prasenjit Chakraborty
Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Kazak Tourism signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) yesterday. The signatories were Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI and. Kairat Sadvakassov, Acting Chairman of the Board “Kazakh Tourism”. This MoU aims to promote mutual interest and tourist arrivals between Kazakhstan and India via cooperation and collaborative relationship and experience changes on reciprocal basis. Tourism Product Promotions which includes bilateral assistance in organizing events and demonstrating tourism potential of the two countries during trade shows and training programs and webinars through over 2500 members of TAAI in India. TAAI members will get an opportunity to showcase…
The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi has bagged the 2021 Skytrax World Airport Awards crown for best airport in India and Central Asia for the third consecutive year. The recognition — the airport industry’s most prestigious accolade — is awarded on the basis of an assessment of customer service and facilities at over 550 airports. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a GMR Group-consortium that operates the facility, made the announcement in a press statement. The Delhi Airport is the only Indian facility among the world’s top 50 airports. Our agile and effective response to the pandemic and crisis…
As many as 90 per cent of people in a survey carried out to assess issues faced in getting refund for cancelled travel bookings, including of flight tickets, in the wake of COVID-19, want the government to formulate a pandemic-specific cancellation refund policy. According to the survey by online platform LocalCircles, based over 37,000 responses received from citizens across 359 districts, some travel agents (online and offline), airlines as well as hotels did not initiate any refund with people losing the complete booking amount. As per the platform, only 12-13 per cent of those who cancelled travel bookings due to…
With the rising popularity of K-Wave (including K-Food, K-Drama, K-pop, K-Beauty) in India, Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Korikart.com have collaborated to provide a special discount for the Korea lovers. India’s leading one-stop online store for Korean products, Korikart has associated with Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO), the organization of Republic of Korea under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It is commissioned to promote outbound tourism to Korea from India. The main objective behind this association is to introduce the Kingdom Friends, the new tourism faces of South Korea and engage consumers interested in Korea and its tourism by providing…
Kerala Tourism Minister P A Mohammed Riyas said the Tourism department would be celebrating Onam virtually this year in order to promote domestic tourism and bring together Malayalees all over the world on a digital platform in view of Covid-19 travel restrictions. The minister said that the state government was working to revive domestic tourism by identifying unexplored tourist destinations in various districts and collating them on an app so that they can be brought to everyone’s attention worldwide. He said the step was being taken as due to the pandemic, from March 2020 till December 2020 the tourism sector…
“Work has been awarded for implementation of Biometric Boarding System (BBS) by using facial recognition technology at six airports namely – Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Varanasi and Vijayawada. The project is at the trial stage. Upon successful completion, the same will be implemented across other airports in the country in a phased manner,” informed VK Singh, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, in Lok Sabha. The minister also informed that Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to invest around INR 25,000 crore in next 4-5 years for expansion and development of existing and new terminals, using modern technology. Singh, in…
Amid complaints by air travellers over “high-fares” in the India-UK flights, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought details of fares in this route from airlines. The civil aviation regulator DGCA’s announcement has come in the wake of uproar by passengers who complained as India-UK flights restarted on Sunday after a gap of around three and half months after the UK government has moved India from the ‘red’ to the ‘amber’ list with effect from Sunday. The DGCA has sought details of airlines’ fares for the India-UK route. It is learnt that the minimum one-way fare on the…
Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) and Air India have joined hands to relaunch direct London services from Kochi after the United Kingdom (UK) moved India from its Red to Amber list, a categorisation created for facilitating international travel during pandemic times. Accordingly, Air India will operate Heathrow-Kochi-Heathrow services on Wednesdays from August 18, said a communication from CIAL on Saturday. Interestingly, CIAL has decided to waive parking and landing fees as part of efforts to attract more European carriers to Kochi. CIAL is the only airport in the State that offers direct connectivity to London. Air India will deploy Dreamliner…
With eco-tourism turning out to be a better alternative to provide a livelihood for the people in remote areas, the Odisha government has approved an action plan worth INR 30 crore for development, up-gradation and creation of new tourist destinations, an official said. Odisha eco-tourism has recorded 96 per cent growth in footfalls and 49 per cent growth in revenue generation during the last two years while providing a decent alternative livelihood to the poor. It has also enhanced economic activities in the community, the official said. Conservation of forest and nature is turning out as a sustainable treasure for…
