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Vistara starts offering travel insurance to passengers on all flights

Full-service carrier Vistara, which completed seven years of its operations on 9 January, stated on Friday that it has entered into an association with Allianz Partners to provide optional travel insurance to its passengers. "Effective 16 February, Vistara customers have the option to avail travel insurance while booking their domestic or international flights," read the airline's statement. The optional travel insurance coverage will provide protection in various cases such as trip cancellations and interruptions, significant travel delays, missed connections, medical emergencies abroad and baggage issues, it noted. Insured customers will also be covered for medical emergencies including Covid-related illnesses, mandatory personal quarantine, and denial of boarding due to a suspected illness. While the option is currently only available to Indian citizens residing in India, it will be extended to other global markets, including Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Europe in the second phase over the course of the year. The airline had earlier in January said that its fleet has crossed 50 aircraft with over 12 planes added in the last 21 months alone despite pandemic challenges. In addition to this, Vistara said it has flown 30 million passengers since its launch on 9 January 2015 in both domestic and overseas markets. The Delhi-based airline, which is a 51:49 joint venture between India's salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group and south-east Asian carrier Singapore Airlines, started flying on international routes in August 2019.

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Kerala Tourism to go local in revival bid

Destination Challenge, a project to promote local tourism, will be one of the major strategies of the Tourism Department to revive the badly hit sector. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan also announced a revolving fund for industry stakeholders in his policy address in the Kerala Assembly on Friday. He observed that the sector needs to bounce back after recording its highest negative growth during the pandemic. The domestic tourism sector is currently on the path of revival recording a growth of about 14% during the first nine months of 2021, when compared to 2020. Caravan tourism While Destination Challenge will focus on developing local areas with potential as tourism destinations in collaboration local self-governments, responsible tourism will be given support for its new initiatives. Mr. Khan said that Chief Minister’s COVID-19 Relief Supporting Scheme for tourism entrepreneurs will be continued during 2022-23 also. He added that the caravan tourism project, the latest initiative of the department, would be implemented shortly. The stakeholder-friendly project offers a novel experience to the tourists by providing customised camping options in specific destinations.

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Tourism Ministry signs deal with Alliance Air Aviation to boost tourism in India

In an attempt to augment the tourism industry in the country, the Union Ministry of Tourism (MoT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Alliance Air Aviation Limited (AAAL) on Thursday. With this, the Tourism Ministry endeavours to position India as a preferred destination in the tourism-generating markets, whereas AAAL, with its vast domestic network, plays a vital role in the promotion of tourism in the country, as per the official statement. The official statement further noted, "the MoU was signed with a view to achieve the common purpose of joint domestic promotion and considering the need to synergise the activities of MoT and AAAL in the tourism markets." Additional Director General in the ministry Rupinder Brar and Vineet Sood, the chief executive officer of AAAL, signed the MoU. Alliance Air is the frontrunner in promoting the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), which is being promoted under the Prime Minister's UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme. The objectives of the MoU are to meet an integrated marketing and promotional strategy and a synergised campaign in association with AAAL. The ministry has said, the specific elements of promotional efforts undertaken include advertising in the print and electronic media, participation in fairs and exhibitions, organising seminars, workshops, road-shows and "India evenings", printing of brochures and collaterals, brochure support and joint advertising.

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Rajasthan: Bird boost to tourism & meditation

AJMER: Migratory birds have become 's favourite tourists over the years and have kept their winter date with the city even in the pandemic years. Ten years ago, when there was relatively less water in the lake, it was visited by hundreds of flamingos. Now, with the water level up and a plethora of fish, pelicans fly in here. "As some water from the city flows into Anasagar, there is enough organic matter that breeds algae, fish and generates enough feed for pelicans. Hence, in recent years, the number of pelicans has gone up. Moreover, the old buildings at one end of the lake provide ample sample for their perching," says city environmentalist Manoj Mathur. After a whole day of activity, as sunset nears, the pelicans begin gathering at the old Vishram Sthali on the other side of the lake where they rest for the night. This daily spectacle to witness from the newly beautified Anasagar pavement has brought another dimension of to the city. For city enthusiasts, birding, almost like, brings better concentration and fresh air. At this time of the year, there are between 25-30 species of birds that can be spotted here. Besides Rosy and Dalmatian pelicans and a host of cormorants, there is ample of colour added to the hues of Anasagar with pied kingfisher, common kingfisher and white throat kingfisher. Painted storks, a prime attraction for visitors to Bharatpur Sanctuary, can also be seen and there are around 80 in the lake-area right now. There are striated heron, Asian openbill, Eurasian spoonbill and mallard as well. This year, a never-seen-in-history bird has been spotted here, too. "The white stork comes to India but is either seen in the wetlands of Kutch or in the upper-part of Rajasthan. There has been a rare sighting of the white stork in Ajmer," says Dr. Vivek Sharma, faculty member of the zoology department at Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer. With the number of visiting birds going up, and the various bird fairs held in the city, the interest in birding courses started by the university has also gone up, he shares. With the Sagar Vihar wetland and newer developments on the Anasagar pathway, Ajmer now has more spaces for bird watching. Whether you are at Ram Prasad Ghat, Baradari, Sagar Vihar or near Regional College, the birds are all over.

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Aymanam to launch innovative 'STREET' tourism project

Kottayam: After receiving international recognition for its model responsible tourism initiatives, Aymanam village in Kottayam district of Kerala is implementing the innovative ‘STREET’ project for visitors. ‘STREET’ stands for ‘Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic, Tourism hub’. The project was prepared by the Responsible Tourism Mission of the Kerala Government based on the latest theme of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), ‘Tourism for inclusive growth.’ “STREET will, in fact, democratize tourism and also offer a new experience to travellers,” said K Rupesh Kumar, coordinator of the Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission. The project will be implemented in wards 1 and 20 of Aymanam panchayat. Streets in these wards will be spruced up to highlight various themes such natural scenery, ethnic cuisine, traditional lifestyle and backwater views which are the specialities of Aymanam. When the project- carried out under a public-private partnership- takes off, various areas in the village will be known as Green Street, Cultural Street, Ethnic Food Street, Agri-tourism Street, Water Street and Art Street. The term of the ‘STREET’ project is four years. “We will soon decide which all works in this regard should be taken up initially,” said Sabitha Premji, president of the Aymanan panchayat. The pastoral charm of Aymanam village in Kerala, which was the setting of Arundhati Roy's 1997 Booker Prize-winning 'The God of Small Things', was featured in Conde Nast's 30 best places in the world to visit in 2022. Aymanam, located on the state's picturesque backwaters near Kottayam, shot into prominence in November last year, when its Responsible Tourism (RT) Village project was awarded 'Indian Responsible Tourism One to Watch' at the World Travel Market (WTM) for its travel initiatives showcasing heritage and culture while keeping things clean and plasticfree besides creating more community jobs. The village, bordered by Lake Vembanad and River Meenachil, is "the stuff that makes people dream of taking a writing retreat to become a published author, or plugging out in a digital detox, or living a simple life close to nature," points out Conde Nast in its commendation of the place. It also beckons tourists to visit Aymanam for undertaking bird watching tours, walking in paddy fields, visiting temples and churches, watching the martial art Kalaripayattu and the classical dance Kathakali, enjoying boat rides, and savouring delicious coconut-rich preparations "Aymanam may be a tiny village, but its pristine charm is spellbinding and its cultural diversity spectacular. Till recently, it was largely an unexplored area for tourists, but its recognition as a model RT Village has changed its profile on the global tourism map. The recognition by Conde Nast is a huge testament to it," said Kerala Tourism Minister PA Muhammad Riyas. "It is an important recognition which will spur us to give an impetus to our efforts to set up Responsible Tourism projects across the state," added the minister

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Belgium just got the coolest and most fun passport in the world

Passports are a lot of things, from being the most powerful to the fanciest, to even the weakest. But have you ever heard of the most fun passport in the world? Belgium has just got that. The country has launched a new passport on January 27, 2022, with some of your favourite cartoon characters printed on it. Some are calling it the coolest, others say it is the most fun, as these passports become available to the public from February 7, 2022. The all new passport comes with Belgium’s most recognisable fictional characters printed on its pages. So you have characters such as Tintin, the Smurfs, Lucky Luke, Mortimer, among others. Belgium’s Foreign Minister, Sophie Wilmès said in a statement that the new passports are even more secure, and come with new personalisation techniques. She further added that these new passports will be "recognizable thanks to its original design, which honours one of the jewels of our culture: the heroines and heroes of comic strips." The Minister thanks the publishers, authors, and right holders of these comic characters who have participated in the project, resulting in this all new fun, and cool passport. Much like the traditional design, the new passport comes in burgundy colour, with the terms, European Union, Kingdom of Belgium, and Passport written in four languages, Dutch, German, French, and English. Passport holders will get to see a red and white checked rocket at the very start. Indicating Destination Moon, a comic book that features Tintin.

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