After having successfully completed 100+ sailings along both the east and the west coast of India, covering 7 ports in total, doing 300 plus shows and serving more than 100,000 guests in the last 12 months of operation, Cordelia Cruises has positioned itself as one of the most preferred cruises in the country. Commenting on the Indian cruising scenario and his experiences, Jurgen Bailom – President and CEO – Cordelia Cruises explains “Our goal with the Indian market was to create change and make cruising a top priority on every traveler’s wishlist and looking at the numbers, we can certainly confirm that we have been successful. We are overjoyed and humbled in equal measure with the response we have received since our launch. Families come in large numbers, weddings and important events are being hosted on board and guests are making memories of a lifetime through the stellar food, entertainment and destination experiences being offered by Cordelia Cruises. We’re onto a great journey in the Indian market and we will continue to work towards curating top notch experiences for our guests.”

Sharing an update on Advantage Abu Dhabi (AAD) Meetings & Incentives (M&I) 2.0 programme, Mubarak Al Shamisi, Director Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau said, “The program, is an incentive scheme to help our partners, clients to push more business events toward the destination. India is one of the most important source markets that we are pushing from a MICE perspective to the destination.”

Atlys is organizing a webinar for the travel trade on how getting a visa is now easy, simple, fast and painless. The webinar on 19 September will highlight how Atlys automates entire visa functions and streamlines operations. In fact, one can get a UAE visa within two hours with Atlys. To register contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com +919650196532.

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, has said that India should do some kind of advertising that our country has the Presidency of G20 and that people should visit India during this period. Kit needs to be done to increase Forex earnings and to increase business.

Ministry of Tourism is organizing the National Conference of State Tourism Ministers in Dharamshala from 18-20 September. The three-day conference will be held at D’Polo Club & Spa Resorts, and will be chaired by G Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, has said that earlier, countries that took G20 Presidency, used it as an opportunity to project their nation to global community. “Thus, it is an opportunity for us to utilise in 2023. We look forward to positioning India as an important destination for the rest of the world,” he claimed.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has identified 54 new destinations for the next phase of the UDAN 5.0. It will aim to add or revive air strips closer to wildlife sanctuaries, tourist destinations or spiritual places.

Senthil Nathan S, Director, EP (Services), Ministry of Commerce, mentioned that Commerce Secretary recently said that exports is merchandise contribute almost 60 per cent and more of our exports and services contribute to almost 37-40 per cent. “However, going forward, within the next decade by mid-2030s or so, services, given their momentum of growth and their inherent potential are going to outstrip the exports of merchandise. Within services exports, sectors like tourism and hospitality are going to do well because of their potential,” he said.

Nikhil Desai, MD, GTDC, has said that a 1400 seat convention centre is being built in the capital city of Panjim. “That will take care of the medium sized conventions, both domestic and international. Apart from that we have plans to have a 5000 seater convention and expo centre right in Dona Paula, which is on the outskirts of Panaji City, with all facilities like hotels, parking and entertainments features.”

India’s foreign trade policy will offer a slew of incentives for hotels, tourism, transport, education, and healthcare industries, sectors that were the worst hit by the pandemic. “We are mulling a package for the services sector. But we are yet to finalize it, and discussions are still on. We want to support sectors that really require it, like tourism, hospitality, education, etc., and not those unaffected by the pandemic,” revealed a government official. According to estimates by the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), shared with the government, travel and transportation services, one of the worst hits during the pandemic, are set to make a strong recovery in the current fiscal.