Tag Archives: CEO

Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, said that there is a need for health passports, across the world, and that vaccination is not the only solution for travel recovery. “Health passports are not only about vaccination. Vaccination is not the only solution for travel recovery. Testing is also here to stay. It’s the combination of both—having the vaccine, having a way or mechanism to be able to track who is being vaccinated, when have you been vaccinated, what type of vaccine you’ve received etc. and the same things with testing. This is where the health pass is becoming critical for trans-border travel in the future. It’s important that moving forward, we have one standard protocols across the world for accepting testing.”

Speaking exclusively to TravTalk on the sidelines of the annual five-day global trade event ExploreGB, Sally Balcombe, CEO of VisitBritain, said, “We expect 2022 to be a stellar year. The event will see around 30 buyers from India this year and we are expecting huge numbers from India when international travel resumes. India is one of the fastest growing markets for us.”

In order to further strengthen domestic connectivity, IndiGo plans to initiate flights from seven new stations subject to regulatory approvals and slot allocation. Ronojoy Dutta, CEO, IndiGo, says, “We plan to open Leh and Darbhanga in February, followed by Kurnool and Agra in March, Bareilly and Durgapur in April, and Rajkot in May 2021.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the two-day North East Festival, Santanu Kalita, CEO, SpiceJet – Sea Plane department, said, “Sea planes can bring a revolution in the tourism sector, especially in the North East which is one of the most beautiful natural lands in India. We will reflect on the planned fly-scheme for Guwahati to Kaziranga to Dima Hasao, etc. We have sufficient eight months to set the fly-plan scheme which will result in flourishing of tourism in the region.” Kalita played a key role in getting the maiden seaplane service of the country off the ground in Kevadia, Gujarat.

‘Unlocking Nepal: Understanding Tourism Opportunities’ webinar is all set to take place today at 10:45am. Sharing information aboit Nepal at the virtual event will be Dr. Dhananjay Regmi, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board, along with Laxman Gautam, Officiating Director, Tourism Marketing and Promotion Department, Nepal. To register, email Jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com, or call +919650196532.

Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, has said that it is the importance of resilience that will be the biggest take away from 2020.  “We have always been told in the past to have a financial reserve personally as well as for the business, and till 10 years ago people said that thus one needs to save as reserve for 3 months, which later became 6 months, and then one year. However, in the current situation, one probably needs several years of reserve, to be able to sustain this type of crisis we are facing today. At PATA, we are very fortunate that we built a very strong reserve for the last couple of years, which allows us to sustain this crisis and for the foreseeable future. 2020 highlighted which I already knew and highlighted the importance of saving, to prepare us to be more resilient in the future because sadly this is not the only crisis we will be facing in years to come, but certainly it is the largest I have ever experienced in my life so far,” he added.

Alliance Air, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, has appointed Harpreet Singh as Chief Executive Officer. Among her many feats, Singh was appointed as the first woman commercial pilot of Indian Airlines in 1988. With the new appointment she has become the first woman to head an Indian carrier.

Saudi Arabia will be extending its e-visa facilities for Indian tourists soon, revealed Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO, Saudi Tourism Authority (STA). Hamidaddin said that Saudi is home for nearly 5 million Indians, and the proposed e-visa facility will help in unlocking the huge potential that exists for Visit Friends & Relatives (VFR) from India to Saudi Arabia. “You can expect the good news soon,” he said. The STA CEO has said that the eVisa has proved to be quite successful for Saudi Arabia and around 5 lakh travellers have used the facility since its introduction to visit the country.

Kapil Kaul, CEO, CAPA India, has suggested that leadership and governance will be essential in making structural changes in tourism. “Since tourism is going to be very dynamic going forward, we may require a specialised Tourism Administrative Service, which has policymakers on the lines of IAS. Since tourism covers so many aspects, unless we have policymakers who specialise in tourism, institutional foundations can’t be fed. There is also a need for a legally empowered tourism council on the lines of GST council, which can comprise of union minister of tourism, state tourism minister, secretaries and all other experts whose job should only be focused on policy and regulatory effectiveness, competitiveness, ease of doing business, financing, education and training,” he recommended.

The first Virtual PATA Travel Mart (PTM) 2020 opened to a massive number of attendees. Addressing them through a virtual message, Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, said, “Virtual PTM is the perfect place to begin, with Asia Pacific predicted to be the leading force of global tourism recovery from COVID-19, as both inbound destinations as well as robust source markets. As PATA acts as a catalyst for the responsible tourism development to, from and within the Asia Pacific region, we understand that both the public and private sectors must work together in order to build a more resilient, responsible and sustainable global travel and tourism industry, and hopefully Virtual PTM provides such a platform for the industry. In addition, there are buyer-seller meetings where I encourage delegates to take part in various networking opportunities. One can gain further insights into the travel and tourism industry during the PTM forums, quick-fire presentations and group chats. At the 2020 PATA Gold Awards Presentation, we will celebrate, recognise and support outstanding achievements in Asia Pacific travel and tourism.”