In a bid to bring back the economy to normalcy and kick start the tourism industry, Government of Sri Lanka is thinking of allowing vaccinated travellers a hassle and quarantine free entry to the country from mid of April, according to reports. Initially, as a precaution, vaccinated travellers may be required to produce a negative PCR result obtained within 48 hours prior to landing. Such travellers might be allowed to walk out as usual. Vaccinated travellers, without a PCR result with him/her will be required to obtain a PCR test upon arrival and could be transferred to a nearby quarantine transit hotel till his/her result is out. All arriving passengers, including Sri Lankan passengers, might go through the same process. To consider as a vaccinated passenger, he or she should have had both doses of vaccine, where the type of vaccine requires two doses .

Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) has launched a one-year long virtual exhibition, called GPS Connect, for global exhibitors and buyers from across India, which will start in April. Harmandeep Singh Anand, MD, GPS, shares, “It’s a year-long platform, and one can come for one-day or as many days they prefer. This virtual platform can culminate into a hybrid and physical event in future as well, as an when we require. Also, it will not be limited to just Tier-II and III agents, but will have buyers from across India. We have a following of over 50,000 travel professionals and we are expecting at least 8000-10,000 of them to register for the same. The buyers just need to do one-time registration, whereas the exhibitors would be from around the globe. Meetings can happen without any fear of getting COVID, as no one needs to travel.”

Talking about the GST refund for international travellers, Rupinder Brar, ADG, Tourism, revealed that as part of the statute, it has already been brought under the GST statute. “We have to wait for international travel to resume for putting the pilot in place. India also has GST refund for inbound travellers as a statutory provision, just like getting a VAT refund in some countries. Just before COVID happened, there was progress made in terms of enabling it, but because we had to shut our borders to inbound tourists, running a pilot wouldn’t have made sense. People need to travel in the country and shop,” she added.

Speaking at The Art of Travel roadshow in Delhi, Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visas, Thomas Cook India, said, “Corporates have realised the importance of physical MICE events. MICE is an art and this art is going to be experienced by travelling. There is no alternative to a physical MICE event. It will bounce back heavily and we need to be prepared for it.”

Mamta Pall, with almost a 2-decade experience in the industry and having worked with some of the top travel companies and well-known hotel brands, has launched her own venture—FootprintsWorldwide. The company will not just offer end-to-end sales, marketing and PR solutions to boutique resorts / hotels / brands in India and overseas, but will also establish hotel products into the market from scratch, and position them on the basis of their unique features. Since Pall has a huge experience in this domain, she plans to build her portfolio gradually. There are already a few boutique properties under the portfolio, which include Desert Tulip Jaisalmer, 7 Hills Resort and Kings Paradise Kanatal, Uttarakhand. She soon plans to add international brands into her range of products.

Flipkart is allegedly in talks to purchase majority stake in online travel aggregator Cleartrip and this move by the ecommerce giant into the travel segment will see it competing with Indian OTAs. According to reports, negotiations are on and the proposed deal is for the sale of a majority stake in Cleartrip. Flipkart is owned by US retail chain Walmart.

Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC Travel, shared that it was an electrifying experience to watch ICC World Cup, India v/s Pakistan match at Old Trafford in Manchester. “Both inside the venue, and outside the stadium, the experience was electrifying.” If you want the same experience, make your Dream 11 team with VisitBritain Cricket Carnival Season-1 and win many prizes, including ticket for two at Old Trafford, Manchester for the hospitality lounge when India tours England later this year. Register on http://bit.ly/VisitBritainCricketCarnival or contact Vartik Sethi on vartik.sethi@ddppl.com or +91 83684 28139.

BLS International has revealed that it has started accepting visa applications for the Embassy of Thailand in Delhi. Shikhar Aggarwal, Jt. Managing Director, BLS International, said, “We are pleased to partner with the Embassy of Thailand and will ensure a smooth, efficient and delightful experience for the applicants. Our endeavour has always been to facilitate best-in-class services to the travellers by creating value for our stakeholders. We at BLS have reinvented the wheel of visa services by making it a holistic solution with dedicated and professional teams that bring highest levels of customer satisfaction.”

The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), has suggested to the Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of the state, to allow chartered flights in the state from ‘safe destinations’ under an ‘air bubble’ agreement to boost tourism. In a memorandum, they have suggested to form travel bubbles with Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, other CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, the UK, Poland and Finland for commercial flights.

Unveiling a new product, TravelBullz is offering travel agents to book online Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) Hotels in Thailand  on its portal which is designed to become a new opportunity to earn for travel agents selling outbound packages. With instant confirmation, trade partners can easily complete COE to Thailand, do visa formalities and book the quarantine hotels at the best rates on www.travelbullz.com