The Switzerland Travel Experience (STE) 2022 brought together over 60 leading travel agents and tour operators from across India associated together with 21 partners from the Swiss tourism industry including destinations, hotels, attractions, public transportation, mountain excursions, and other related companies, at its annual event held in Goa between March 14-17, 2022. In the wake of the tourism sector emerging from its most challenging years, Indian tourists are increasingly looking at Switzerland as a preferred travel destination. According to the main tour operators, there has been a 40% increase in enquiries from Indian travellers for Switzerland. This is not only because of the plethora of activities available in the scenic country like adventure, sports, culture, food but also because of the multiple experiences it offers for all types of travellers be it solos, couples, families as well as the adventure seekers. The rise in interest can also be attributed to Switzerland’s longstanding reputation as one of the cleanest countries in the world, and additionally, because the country has been keeping up with the needs of today’s traveller for authenticity, proximity to nature and considerate consumption as part of their Swisstainable sustainability strategy. Multiple safety measures put in place during the pandemic like the ‘Clean and Safe Label’ which promotes strict protection plans laid down by the government and boosts the guests’ confidence in Switzerland as a travel destination have also led to great confidence in the country among Indian travellers. “As the borders opened up, confidence in travel returned with the acceleration in vaccination programs making travellers seek out new experiences to make up for the many months spent under restrictions. This has led to pent-up demand among travellers who have been waiting for …

Air Mauritius is pleased to announce that its operations to Mumbai (BOM) will be increased up to five weekly flights as from 27 March 2022, namely on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays with the Airbus A330-900neo.  

Keeping in view the improvement in COVID-19 situation in India, the Government has considered the need for further relaxation of visa and travel restrictions. With immediate effect it has been decided that currently valid e-Tourist Visa issued for five years, which was suspended since March 2020, shall stand restored to nationals of 156 eligible countries. They will also be eligible for issuance of fresh e-Tourist visa. Moreover, currently valid Regular (Paper) Tourist visa with validity of 5 years, issued to foreign nationals of all countries, which remained suspended since March 2020, shall stand restored. Currently valid old Long duration (10) Regular Tourist Visa which remained suspended since March, 2020 shall stand restored for the nationals of USA and Japan. Fresh Long duration (10) Tourist Visa can also be issued to the nationals of USA and Japan.

Minister of Tourism, G. Kishan Reddy, said that his ministry will introduce ‘Medical’ visa which can be given for specific purpose to foreign travellers coming to India for medical treatment. ‘E-Medical Visa’ and ‘E-Medical Attendant Visa’ have also been introduced for travellers from 156 countries. The Ministry provides financial Assistance under its Market Development Assistance Scheme to medical tourism service providers accredited by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) for participation in fairs, conferences, and roadshows.

Indonesia has extended its ‘Visa on Arrival to Bali’ program on March that was launched on March 7 for holidaymakers flying in from 23 countries, including India in a bid to spur foreign tourist arrivals. It also revoked the obligation to have a sponsor for a tourist e-visa request. Indonesia’s Tourism & Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said, “The tourism ministry proposed to add several countries to the VoA list, including India, and it has been approved.”

The Government of India has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country. So far, eight Greenfield airports namely, Sindhudurg and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh, Kalaburagi in Karnataka and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh have been operationalised. Under RCS-UDAN, 405 routes connecting 65 airports including 8 heliports and 2 water aerodromes have been operationalised as on 8 March, 2022.

A study by ParkSleepFly analysed the cost of an adult’s single-day admission ticket to 30 of the world’s top tourist attractions, as well as the number of ‘poor’ and ‘terrible’ reviews received by each attraction. The attractions were then given a normalised ‘value score’ out of ten to reveal the world’s best value for money tourist attractions. Ranking in second place is The Taj Mahal. Known for being one of the most beautiful examples of architecture in the world, the landmark is also relatively affordable, with an entry ticket costing $14.61(£10.81/€12.89). Just 1% of visitors to the Taj Mahal leave a bad review, representing the excellent value.

Ethiopian Airlines has announced that effective March 27, 2022 it will resume its regular  passenger services daily from Mumbai and Delhi. It is nearly two years since the resumption of normal services, prior to which it had to rely on the air bubble agreement of once a week flights from December 04, 2020 and before that ADHOC special repatriation flights. Bengaluru will also be reconnected after two years effective March 29, 2022, with thrice weekly flights.  With three Indian cities back on the radar, Ethiopian Airlines will continue to play a significant role in bringing India and Africa together in general and India and Ethiopia in particular.

Chalo DMC LLP is pleased to announce the appointment of \Pranav Kapadia as the Director Sales and Marketing and Sumit Jain as Director Finance to the organization effective 12th March 2022. A leading destination management company having a philosophy to specialize in key destinations, ChaloDMC very recently merged their Domestic arm – Sapphire Ventures and brought their South Africa vertical Chalo South Africa, powered by Albatros Travel under the parent Company – ChaloDMC. With these significant appointments of Kapadia and Jain, the firm now plans to move towards expansion and strengthen its business presence across India. These leaders bring unique skillsets and fresh perspectives to the business and are much admired by their peers for their expertise and management styles in their respective fields. Together they aim to exemplify Chalo DMC’s reach and business with innovative thinking, passion, and business-like mindedness. Pranav Kapadia with a tourism experience of over 30 years in Sales & Marketing, started his career in Mumbai with Lufthansa German Airlines and held leadership roles at Air New Zealand and South African Airways prior to starting his own travel representation company, Global Destinations in 2008. Pranav’s vast tourism experience has ensured a 25% YOY growth for all companies represented by Global Destinations. Sumit Jain an alumnus of IIMA and JBIMS with experience of 22 years in Finance, Supply Chain is currently focussed on building an organizational culture of performance-based service delivery, driven by IMU philosophy translating to the customer and employee experience. Founder Director Chalo DMC \Siddharth Jain, highlighted – “This is an exciting time for Chalo DMC and our team. Our success has come from putting our clients first and by making these strategic appointments we aim …

To accelerate travel recovery momentum in India, South African Tourism looks at capitalizing on strong consumer demand in the country with their biggest travel trade initiative in India – their annual Roadshow. The tourism board showcased long-term investment and interest in the Indian market and outlined a strategic roadmap to garner 64% YoY increase in Indian visitors in 2022. Travelling to the Indian cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad this year, the 36-member South African trade delegation reiterated the tourism board’s emphasis on expanding the destination and product offering – thus, offering Indian consumers More & More! In addition to experiences, representatives from accommodation establishments, destination management companies, South African Provinces, SMMEs and women-owned companies showcased their product and services, while engaging Indian travel and trade associates. India retains its place amongst the top-3 focus markets for South African Tourism. This is aided by the fact that prior to the pandemic, India served as the 8th largest international source market for South Africa. The country is expected to maintain its position in the top-10 this year as well. Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune continue to be top Indian source markets to South Africa. “We have spent the last two years hoping for and preparing for this exact moment – the return of travel! As South African businesses land on Indian shores, we are excited to be introducing our partners and consumers to a host of value-driven and thoughtfully crafted adventures. Our evolved brand strategy will help us drive South Africa’s value proposition across stakeholders while creating customized engagement models to suit the unique requirements from each of our target regions within India. We are already seeing an uptick …