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Kashmir witnesses record tourist arrivals in November; snowfall in Gulmarg attracts more visitors

Early snowfall in the Valley, particularly in Gulmarg, has also prompted more people to make way towards the ski resort with advance bookings in most of the hotels. Overall, more than 5.49 lakh tourists came to Kashmir this year till December first week. The tourist arrival in Kashmir in November crossed a seven-year high mark even as the overall visitors this year so far in the Valley almost reached 5.5 lakh, officials said. The early snowfall, Covid-induced global restrictions and vigorous campaign by the administration have triggered more inflow of tourists in the Valley as the union territory is upbeat and opening more offbeat and virgin destinations to keep the sector thriving throughout the year. Zeeshan Khan, assistant director, tourism department, said over 1.27 lakh tourists toured places in the Himalayan valley in November. “This is a seven-year high in November. Last year we had just 6,000 tourists in November,” he said. “Overall more than 5.49 lakh tourists came to Kashmir this year till December first week,” he said. Early snowfall in the Valley, particularly in Gulmarg, has also prompted more people to make way towards the ski resort with advance bookings in most of the hotels. “We are seeing a footfall of 4,000-5,000 every day this month. Up to December 6, we received 26,000 visitors,” he said.“Snow was a blessing in disguise. The December outlook is looking good. There is a full house at Gulmarg. There is hardly any hotel which is not booked,” Khan said. The month of October witnessed a record footfall of 91,000 – which is otherwise considered a lean month.On Saturday, on International Mountain Day- 2021, the tourism department released trekking maps of offbeat destinations and organised mountain biking and cycling events at Zabarwan, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Naranag, Nowgam and other locations. “Kashmir valley is registering impressive tourist arrivals which have been the result of sustained efforts by the department in terms of sustained capacity-building of stakeholders, vaccination drives and promotions across markets in the country,” said adviser to lieutenant-governor, Farooq Khan during a tourism function held in Srinagar on Saturday. From Christmas last year, tourism had started picking up again as the Valley had witnessed heavy snowfall. Zeeshan Khan said they have their eyes set on Christmas, New Year and winter carnivals. “For the first time we are keeping Sonamarg open this winter. We are hoping December figures to reach 2 lakh. The way numbers are going up since September this year, our hopes will be fulfilled,” he said. Secretary, tourism, Sarmad Hafeez, on Saturday’s function said the department has devised an activity calendar for the coming seasons and they are planning to celebrate Christmas and New Year with renewed fanfare and festivity.

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Austria removes lockdown restrictions for fully vaccinated people

In a recent travel update, Austria has ended lockdown restrictions for those who are fully vaccinated. The Austrian government had imposed travel restrictions three weeks ago to put a cap on the rising number of the virus positive cases in the country. As of now, the government has allowed the theaters to reopen along with museums and several cultural and entertainment venues. In some regions, restaurants and hotels have also been allowed to reopen and funcion like before but there will be a 11 PM curfew for restaurants. Calling the action an “opening with a seatbelt,” Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that the government has given permission to each of Austria’s nine regions to loosen or tighten restrictions based on the situation. People who are unvaccinated will have to face the lockdown restrictions. Such people have been asked to stay at home. The lockdown has proved to be effective in the country as the number of new cases have gone down. The small Alpine nation recorded 367.5 new infections per 100,000 residents on Friday. The officials have said that vaccination is necessary to control the virus at a high rate. In Austria, only 67.7 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, which is a low rate for Western Europe. Meanwhile the government is trying several measures to put pressure on unvaccinated individuals to take the vaccine.

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Singapore and India resume two-way air vaccinated travel lane

Fully vaccinated travellers from Singapore have been allowed to fly into India without serving quarantine since 9 December. On 30 November, Singapore was put on a list of territories considered by India to be at high risk of Covid-19 infections, which meant travellers flying from Singapore to India had to take Covid-19 tests and serve a seven-day quarantine after arriving in India from 1 December. On 9 December, India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) removed Singapore from the list. After resuming the two-way air vaccinated travel lane (VTL), travellers from Singapore to India must still monitor their health after their arrival. Additionally, a random sample of 2% of travellers must undergo a Covid-19 test upon arrival in India, according to MOHFW guidance (1-page / 374KB PDF). Mayumi Soh of Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore joint law venture between MPillay and Pinsent Masons, said: “Travellers should be alert and keep themselves updated on changes to the travel requirements of the relevant countries.” The VTL arrangements allow travellers who are fully vaccinated to enter Singapore without quarantine, provided that they undergo Covid-19 testing before departure and upon arrival at Changi airport. From 6 December, travellers must take supervised daily antigen rapid tests (ART) for a week after they arrive in Singapore. Singapore launched its VTL with India on 29 November. There are currently six designated VTL flights to Singapore daily from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.

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A camel beauty pageant? It happens only in Abu Dhabi

We all have heard and seen weird things happening, but ever heard of a camel beauty contest? Yes, you read that right! Every year, the UAE hosts the Al Dhafra Festival in Abu Dhabi. The festival is also the greatest showcase of Bedouin lifestyle in the world. Nearly 25000 camels take part in this beauty pageant every year. Where is it held? In its 15th year now, Al Dhafra Festival began on December 14 and will run until December 23 in Madinet Zayed in Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi. During this unique event, camel owners will make and exchange millions of dirhams. What to expect? First thing first, all the participating camels are first tested by medical and screening committees. The much-awaited festival began in the early hours and there were 65 valuable prizes for the winning camels. Contestants at the beauty pageant will be judged on their physical attributes and only purebred camels from the Asayel and Majaheem bloodlines are allowed to participate. Prize money for the four camel beauty pageants will total $30 million (AED110 million). The prize money was earlier increased by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed to promote the United Arab Emirates’ Bedouin heritage. Auctions and private sales will also be organised for the purebred camels. There will be falconry competitions as well and some 300 Arabian horse, camel, and saluki races will also be held during the festival. Apparently, camel beauty pageants are becoming common across Gulf states. These festivals promise to preserve the cultural heritage of the people and place.

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Goa tourism: First charter post Covid-19 lands with over 150 tourists from Kazakhstan

To cheer the inbound tourism industry of the country’s most popular beach destination, an Air Astana charter plane carrying 159 tourists landed in Goa on Wednesday, giving a ray of hope to travel and tourist stakeholders expecting business from international tourists and travellers in the current season. The coastal destination, where charter tourism is one the most popular among foreign tourists, especially from nations like the UK, Russia, and CIS countries, has been reeling under huge losses and zero billings since the Covid-19 pandemic impacted foreign tourist arrival in the country. This is the first time in almost 20 months that a tourist charter has landed in Goa after the government announced the resumption of Tourist Visa to international travellers for group tourism from October 15 and individual tourists from November 15. However, the revival hit a major roadblock with the suspension of scheduled international commercial flights, which were earlier touted to commence from December 15 but got postponed due to the threat of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant. The DGCA has currently extended the suspension to January 31 after reviewing the current situation. The arrival of foreign tourists in groups after a long halt was fittingly celebrated by the airport officials, state government, and Goa Tourism, who gave a warm welcome to the tourists on arrival in the presence of state Minister for Transport, Panchayats, Housing, Protocol, Hospitality, Legislative Affairs, Mauvin Godinho. The Goa airport in a statement said that they have laid down all security norms and health screening protocols that are duly ensured issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India for international arrivals.The officials of Goa Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism,Goverment of India also wished all the tourists a comfortable and safe stay in India.

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TAAI collaborates with Amadeus to educate its members on NDC and future of airline ticketing

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has associated with Amadeus to educate its members on NDC and termed it the way forward for airline ticketing to enhance and up sell activities to clients. The association has a motive to prepare its members for the future technological changes to adopt, educate and enhance the business potential through the New Distribution Capability (NDC) along with Amadeus 1A platform. Speaking at an event, Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI emphasised on the need to focus on two words as of now that is “Re”; restructuring, rebooting, realigning to rebound businesses which has seen a massive setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Going down in the history, TAAI and Amadeus have had a long relationship and we are once again collaborating for our mutual benefits. NDC is basically a new communication protocol replaced by the old protocol that has been around since 1980’s and through this channel we are allowing airline service providers to deliver rich content to our customers since this is the only way to market ourselves and develop a distinguish brand name,” she stated. Mayal further added that their top priority as a travel association is to cater to the needs of customers which has doubled since this pandemic. “Therefore, not just collaboration but actively working on it to bring about the desired results is the need of the hour for the re-emergence of the businesses,” she commented. She concluded by highlighting the benefits that TAAI members could garner. “They can get the latest updates on industry trends and Amadeus’ upcoming NDC enabled solutions first-hand from the industry experts like the booking of NDC content in Amadeus, selling platform connect, checking out the key capabilities, how to get connected to NDC content in Amadeus. They could further learn about latest airlines that are Amadeus NDC enabled and insights on future NDC roadmap.

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