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Gartang Gali, the famous skywalk in Uttarkashi, is all set to reopen from April 1

The famous Gangotri National Park (GNP) and the historic Gartang Gali skywalk are all set to reopen for the public after a four-month long winter break. Reportedly, visitors will be able to access them from April 1. Referring to this, GNP officials stated that they are geared up to welcome visitors to the park, which is famed for its exotic rich flora, fauna, trekking and mountaineering trails. This park was founded in 1989 and, if reports are to go by, it’s the third largest national park in the country. Covering a total area of 2390 sq km, this park is situated next to the Indo-China border. Reportedly, both pilgrims and adventure lovers visit the national park every year to witness its rare flora and fauna, with snow-capped Himalayan peaks at the backdrop. Also, the major highlight of this park is the 136-m-long historic Gartang Gali skywalk, which was built to serve as a trade route between India and Tibet. After undergoing restoration, this 150-year-old wooden bridge was thrown open to visitors in August last year. Deputy director of Gangotri National Park RN Pandey stated that they are repairing the area and removing snow from the 18-km-long trail from Gangotri to Gomukh. However, he mentioned that the guest houses of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) and other agencies have not not opened. As such, there will be no accommodation or food options available for visitors inside the park, he added. Because of this, permissions will be granted to only those tourists who are coming via registered trekking agencies. He further added that they have deputed guards and installed CCTVs too.

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Maharashtra likely to ease vaccine for travel and masking rules

With Covid cases and casualties on the wane, Maharashtra may revoke the Disaster Management Act, 2005, as advised by the Centre. According to a report, a final order is likely before March 31 after discussions with the Chief Mister and task force members. Since many curbs such as mandatory masking and social distancing were backed by the law at the pain of penalty, they are likely to become advisories once the law is lifted. Maharashtra is also considering doing away with the requirement of vaccination as a criterion for relaxing Covid curbs, which means complete vaccination will no longer be mandatory for using public transport or entry to public places like malls, theatres, parks, beaches in the state. “Although we are considering doing away with the Disaster Management Act, we are telling the public they should continue with the precautions,” said a senior official. Awareness campaigns on vaccination and masking will continue. On Tuesday, the state executive committee (SEC) of the state disaster management authority (SDMA) headed by the chief secretary decided to further relax Covid curbs across the state. Officials said that so far, only 14 districts with double vaccination coverage of 70 per cent and single dose above 90 per cent were allowed to open up. “We plan to allow all districts to open up as per the pre-Covid norms," said an official. Many Covid restrictions like regulating prices of medicines, hospitals costs were enforced using the Epidemic Act, 1897, and they will continue. Other curbs and penalties for violation were largely controlled by the Disaster Management Act. The SEC, said the official, took the view that with the cases declining, the restrictions have to be completely done away with. The restrictions can always be brought back if cases surge.

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Singapore readies Changi airport as travel curbs ease

Singapore's Changi airport is gearing up to receive more passengers as the city-state eases travel and other Covid-19 restrictions, amid it hopes will see a return to pre-pandemic levels of traffic. With nearly 7,500 flights a week in March, 2019 and 68 million passengers in that year, Changi was one of the world's busiest airports before the pandemic, and has been named the world's best airport at least eight times, according to Skytrax, an airport review agency. But like the travel industry as a whole, Changi was hit hard by the pandemic, with passenger volume dropping to as low as 1.5 per cent of its usual numbers. Singapore had tight border controls in place for much of 2020 and 2021. Last week it announced it was dropping quarantine and a Covid travel pass requirement for fully vaccinated travellers from April 1. The Southeast Asian country of 5.5 million aims to recover air passenger volume to half of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, the government has said. That includes easing strict rules on movement within the airport and allowing travellers to use the terminals' facilities, services, shops and restaurants. The government has also committed SGD 500 million (USD 369.66 million) to support aviation companies and workers in the coming financial year as air travel picks up, transport minister said previously. Minister of Transport, S Iswaran said on Wednesday the aviation industry is looking to recruit more workers. "...The excitement and the optimism is palpable," he said. "Because I think they all want to see Changi (airport) buzzing again," he added.

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Sabre Corp sees travel recovery broadening

Sabre Corp, , leading technology provider for the global travel and tourism industry, on Wednesday reported continued gains in leisure travel through March and the travel booking software provider said international and corporate bookings have accelerated since the start of the year. Sabre is the latest company to report improved booking patterns as travelers take summer and spring vacations after the pandemic disrupted previous travel plans. "We expect the March 2022 recovery versus the same period in 2019 for both international and corporate bookings to be at their highest levels since the pandemic started in mid-March 2020," the company said in a regulatory filing. To date, the recovery has broadened, with all regions showing strong improvement from January, it said. The company reported gross air bookings are up to about 48per cent in March 2022 compared to the same period in 2019. Net air bookings and passengers boarded also recovered at 50per cent and 76per cent respectively. Gross hotel central reservation transactions recovered about 105per cent. Sabre also said revenue generated in Russia in 2019 represented a low-single digit percentage of Sabre's total 2019 Travel Solutions revenue, its travel business unit. The company terminated it's distribution agreement with Russian airline Aeroflot in early March.

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New e-visa portal goes live to make travel to Azerbaijan easier

A new e-visa portal, https://azerbaijan.vfsevisa.com/ that went live on March 30, 2022, is set to enhance travel to Azerbaijan. The portal was developed as a part of a cooperation agreement signed between VFS Global and the E-GOV Development Center (EGDC) in the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has been a chosen destination for a diverse segment of travellers globally. Currently, travellers from 70 nationalities are eligible to travel to Azerbaijan with travel restrictions to open for other markets. Commenting on the development, Fariz Jafarov Director of EGDC, said “We are delighted to partner with VFS Global in our endeavour to encourage seamless travel to Azerbaijan. We are confident that travellers across the globe would realise the advantages of e-visa service and leverage its benefits.” “Azerbaijan is the 64th client served by VFS Global. This mandate reiterates our proven record of nurturing trusted partnerships, excellence in business delivery, and our approach to customer-centricity over the past two decades,” said Noel Swain, Business Head – Passport Services, e-Visa & Tourism services, VFS Global. Key features Applications to be submitted on https://azerbaijan.vfsevisa.com/ Ease and flexibility of the e-visa: Standard e-visa in three days or urgent e-visa in three hours. More than 2,000,000 travellers issued e-visas to Azerbaijan since 2017. 70 eligible nationalities to travel to Azerbaijan https://azerbaijan.vfsevisa.com/who-can-apply-for-eVisa Simple process in just 3 Steps: Application-Payment-Download With 3531 Visa Application Centres (VACs), operations in 141 countries across five continents, VFS Global has processed over 238 million applications (since its inception in 2001) as of February 28, 2022.

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Oceania Cruises Launches New Tour Series

Oceania Cruises announced the addition of dozens more dedicated staterooms for solo travellers along with the debut of the line’s Go Green and Beyond Blueprints shore excursion series as part of its industry-leading OceaniaNEXT initiative. Each of the four ships will feature 14 Solo Oceanview Staterooms, which debut aboard Regatta on 25 September 2022; Nautica on 26 September 2022; and Insignia and Sirena on 1 October 2022. With the addition of these 56 staterooms, plus those that debuted to a sell-out success on Vista last year, Oceania Cruises is reinforcing its commitment to solo travellers. The line also revealed two new shore excursion series – Go Green and Beyond Blueprints – to provide curious travellers with even more options for discovery, exploration, and personal connections with the destinations visited. “One of the greatest factors in Oceania Cruises’ success is that we not only listen to the feedback our guests and travel partners provide, we act on it. Our guests and travel partners wanted more options for solo travellers and more diverse tour offerings, and we are delighted to deliver,” stated Howard Sherman, President & CEO of Oceania Cruises.

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