The US embassy has revealed that due to a backlog of applications, Indians will have to wait until 2024 to successfully book a visitor visa appointment. The US State Department website reveals the average waiting for a visa appointment in the US consulate at New Delhi is 522 days for visitor visas and 471 days for student visas. In Mumbai, it is 517 days and 10 days respectively.

Goa government and TTAG have urged the Centre to extend e-visas facility to UK travellers. If e-visas are not issued to Britishers in the coming tourist season, the trade fears fewer British visitors will visit Goa. The UK has been excluded from the list of nations that are eligible for e-visas. “We are expecting some positive news in the next 15 to 20 days,” Nilesh Shah, President Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG).

Thanking the government for considering its appeal for earmarking an ECLGS for the sector, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, VP, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), said, “The decision to approve an additional ECLGS worth Rs.50,000 Cr specifically for hospitality and tourism sectors is welcome. The additional line of credit was much needed by the hospitality sector which is still grappling with massive debts and is simultaneously trying to keep business running. Several hospitality establishments cannot sustain operations without sufficient liquidity, but the extended ECLGS could help businesses buy some more time to keep the wheels in motion.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has informed a parliamentary committee that the Indian aviation sector is expected to directly employ 1 lakh more people in the next two years. “Conservative estimates show that the current direct employment in the aviation and aeronautical manufacturing sector is around 2,50,000 employees,” MoCA revealed.

Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism & Culture has informed that to harness the potential of Cruise Tourism in the country, a Task Force has been constituted with Secretary (Tourism) as the Chairman and Secretary (Shipping) as the Co-chairman.

Parliamentary Committee on Tourism has recommended the Ministry of Tourism that a Visa guidance Helpdesk should be present at all the Overseas Tourist Offices as well as the Indian Missions for effective guidance of tourists, as visa rules change from time to time.

The Indian hospitality sector witnessed strong growth in Q2 (April – June) 2022, according to JLL’s Hotel Momentum India (HMI) Q2, 2022. Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) witnessed an exponential growth of 339.3 % year-on-year (YoY) in Q2, 2022 over Q2 2021.

TAFI to host their convention in Kuching, Malaysia with 700 delegates from 20-23 September 2022. Exclusively for the members, it will have 550 TAFI members and 200 Malaysian delegates. “We want to educate the members, add value to the people who attend the convention and improve the business”, said Anil Kalsi, Joint Secretary, TAFI.

Department of Culture & Tourism-Abu Dhabi are organising a webinar titled ‘Summer like you mean it’ today at 3pm. The webinar will help the trade to learn about the summer offerings in the emirate including family friendly attractions, entertainment and leisure venues, hotels, and much more. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532.

Speaking at the launch of the maiden flight of Akasa Air, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, said “Because of the foresightedness and visionary goal and zeal of the Prime Minister that we have seen first time in India, the democratisation of the civil aviation. In next 4 years we are expecting 40 crore travellers through Civil Aviation in India.”