M!CEtalk Digital Conclave, powered by Cvent India, on rebooting Indian MICE landscape will be held on 25th August, 2021 at 11am. Panelists include Nikhil Desai, MD, Goa Tourism Development Corporation; Sabbas Joseph, Founder-Director at Wizcraft International Entertainment; Rajdev Bhattacharya, Global Head (Travel & Hospitality) & Business Head, WAY2GO and GM, Global Travel Services, Wipro; Arif Patel, Regional VP, Sales & Marketing, Hyatt India; and Sandeep Nagpal, VP & Head of Marketing, Cvent India. To register write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532.        

TAAI recently organised its first virtual workshop on wellness and tourism through its initiative, Women in TAAI and Travel (WITT). Rolled out only last month, WITT’s membership has now reached 300. Keeping in mind the issues and challenges faced by the women in the industry, WITT decided to organise its first workshop on wellness. Jyoti Mayal, President, WITT & TAAI said, “Within a woman is the power to create, nurture, and transform. We should remember that wellness is not simply the absence of illness or stress, but a broad practice of internal and external behaviours even when experiencing challenges.”  

The Department of Tourism, Odisha held a kick-off meeting on the preparation of an integrated tourism Master Plan for Chilika at Paryatan Bhawan. The tourism department has engaged Oman-based Bharath Engineering Innovation Design & Consulting to prepare this plan. This will include developing new tourism products like cruises at Chilika Lake, Hirakud Reservoir, Mahanadi River and Bhitarkanika. Shacks at prominent beach destinations are also being operationalised.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman has launched the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that will include the government’s four-year plan to monetise its brownfield infrastructure assets. For this project, the Centre has finalised Rs 6 lakh crore worth infrastructure assets that will be monetised. The list includes a range of assets. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, has said, “15 railway stadiums, 25 airports and the stake of central government in existing airports will be up for monetisation.”

The Karnataka government has announced collaboration of the Department of Technical Education (DTE) with Montgomery County Community College and the Harrisburg Area Community College in the US. Under this partnership, the state will offer twinning programs in travel and tourism as well as cyber-security for which students will get diplomas and associate degrees.

Speaking at a virtual meet recently, Dr Venu V, Additional Chief Secretary Tourism, Govt of Kerala, discussed plans to make tourism development in Kerala environmentally sustainable, community-led and economically beneficial to the local people. He also spoke about creating community-level linkages and encouraging adoption of responsible tourism principles and practices among stakeholders.

SriLankan Airlines, in a bid to promote greater travel opportunities from India to Sri Lanka, has announced adding more destinations and frequencies. It currently operates four flights a week from Chennai, three flights a week from Mumbai, and once a week from Bengaluru to its hub in Colombo. It will be introducing a host of frequency enhancements out of key Indian cities effective September 1, 2021. SriLankan Airlines wishes to inform the travel trade partners across India that from September, the airline will resume services between Colombo and the Indian points: Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum and Cochin with flights once a week, whilst Hyderabad and New Delhi will be connected to Colombo with twice-weekly flights. Further, the airlines’ operations out of Chennai and Mumbai will expand up to five times a week whilst its Bengaluru-Colombo services will be enhanced to flights three times a week.

AVIAREPS India has won the Integrated Sales Marketing and Public Relations mandate for Utah Office of Tourism in India for next five years. The aim is to position the tourism offerings of Utah in India. Rachel Bremer, Tourism Global Markets Director, Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, said, “The Utah Office of Tourism’s mission is to elevate life in Utah through responsible tourism stewardship. We do this through marketing, stewardship, and development. Guided by this mission, we are facing the challenge of responsibly rebuilding Utah’s visitor economy and international visitation. Our partnership with AVIAREPS will help us to not only rebuild but, to expand in India; to forge strategic partnerships that will increase our market share. Utah beckons the road-tripper, the slow traveller, the family, and the experiential traveller, those that will enjoy the viewpoints along our scenic byways, hiking in our national parks, and exploring our urban core along the Wasatch Mountains. We look forward to working with AVIAREPS to expand our product development, execute campaigns, increase Utah’s brand awareness, and work with the industry collectively.”   Speaking on the company’s diverse and expanding product portfolio, Ellona Pereira, Head, AVIAREPS India, said, “We are elated to represent the Utah Office of Tourism in India for the next five years and our immediate priority is to localize their global strategy by providing end to end solutions. In fact, some of the tourism offerings that the Utah State has to offer are apt for the Indian outbound tourists who post the pandemic, are seeking places of tranquillity, craving wide open spaces and inspiring views, as nature breaks continue to be more appealing and on-trend these days. Our team of experts will work towards the development and implementation …

India organised the IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) Tourism Ministers’ virtual meeting recently where G. Kishan Reddy met the Tourism Minister of Brazil and the Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Republic of South Africa via videoconferencing. The meeting was to promote tourism cooperation among member states. A significant aspect of the meeting was the adoption of an outcome document on cooperation and promotion for speedy recovery of travel and tourism.

The ministry of civil aviation issued an order allowing domestic airlines to increase flight capacity to 72.5% from 65% with immediate effect. This was done after review of the current status of Scheduled Domestic Operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel in terms of purpose specified in the initial order. This will remain in place until further orders. In July, MoCA hiked the capacity of domestic flights to 65% from the earlier 50%.