Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (I/C), Prahlad Singh Patel, in a virtual meeting with tourism ministers and officials of 21 states & UTs discussed facilitating ease of travel between states & UTs for promoting domestic tourism and incentives being offered by them to the tourism and hospitality sector.

A recent study by Cirium on travel in the age of COVID-19 predicts that people will book trips for a minimum of two weeks, if not a month or longer (they might have annual leave to use up), and combine it with remote working or even a sabbatical.

With the pandemic having had a substantial impact on in-person exhibitions and events, Ministry of Culture has issued guidelines for holding cultural events and activities in virtual or online mode under various scheme components of Central Sector Scheme ‘Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana’ (KSVY), ensuring continued financial assistance to tide over the present crisis.

Suman Pandey, President, Explore Himalaya Travel and Adventure (Nepal), has been appointed as Secretary/Treasurer under PATA’s newly-announced Executive Board.

UNWTO will work alongside the Expedia Group to strengthen ties between the public and private sectors, and drive tourism’s recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The partnership will see them both share data on tourism trends and developments, both at the global and the local scale. This will help in informed decision making through data-based policies aimed at tourism’s sustainable recovery and future development.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, has said that the extension of travel bubble arrangement till March is only under the realm of speculation. However, he adds, “I would like to plan as we go towards the end of the year, but whether it happens till March depends on whether there is a readily available vaccine, as countries will feel more confident when frontline warriors or other people have access to the vaccine.”

Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Civil Aviation, has said that in the last few months, the ridership for domestic operations has increased from 29,000 on first day to almost 1.8 lakh, which is a jump of virtually six times. This increase validates that all the safety measures taken by airlines and airports have worked, and indicates that the second phase of operations will see us rapidly grow from 50% to almost near normal.

Helipad service for devotees going to Kedarnath Dham, which had been stalled for a long time due to COVID-19, has now restarted. It has begun at three places – Gupt Kashi, Sirsi and Fata helipad. Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Authority has started online booking of heli tickets. Seven aviation companies are operating helipad services from Sirsi, Phata and Gupt Kashi in which Aero Air Craft from Guptkashi to Kedarnath, Pawan Hans for Fata to Kedarnath, Thambi Aviation, Pinnacle Air, Chipson Aviation and Ketral Aviation to Kedarnath from Sirsi, Himalayan Heli and Arrow Air Craft are being served. Fare per passenger is Rs7,750 from Guptkashi, Rs4,720 from Fata and Rs4,680 from Sirsi.

Genting Cruise Lines has announced that Dream Cruises will be the first cruise brand to restart service in Singapore with World Dream, as she makes her homeport debut from November 6, 2020. World Dream will also be the newest built cruise ship to homeport in Singapore, offering 2 and 3-night experiences for Singapore residents. Dream Cruises continues to be at the forefront as the first cruise brand in the world to resume operations in a safe manner with two key homeports in Asia, starting with deployment in Taiwan in July 2020. A mandatory COVID-19 test will be conducted on all guests aged 13 and above before embarking on World Dream.

COVID-19 has shrunk flight booking lead times across the Asia Pacific region since March 2020, with last-minute booking trend led by India and Thailand. As per Amadeus’ first COVID-19 Travel Insights bulletin, flight bookings across the region have been made 17 days later on average compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019. Indian travellers appear to be the most last-minute in the region with an average of only 10 days before their departure date between March-July 2020. This is followed by Thai and Singaporean travellers, who have been making bookings on average 21 and 25 days prior to departure during the pandemic.