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In service exports, tourism is a big opportunity for India in Australia: HC

Manpreet Vohra, High Commissioner of India to Australia has opined that among the services exports, tourism services is a big opportunity for India in Australia as Australians are deprived of international travel for two years and there is a huge pent up demand in the market. He advocated intensive marketing and promotional campaigns in Australia to attract first time travellers. Vohra was delivering a keynote at the first Global Services Conclave organised by Service Export Promotion Council (SEPC) in Delhi early this week. He asked for attractive packages and support from the airline partners to keep the rates at affordable levels. Airlines like Qantas and Air India have already announced commencement of scheduled flights between Delhi and Sydney, the High Commissioner said. Other destinations will also follow as the situation improves, he added. “Our collective approach should be to get the first time visitors and then convert them into repeat visitors,” he said, cautioning to be alert of the competition from traditional destinations in South East Asia. He asked for friendly and favourable visa policies to enable more travel as countries open their borders. He suggested enhancement of validity of Indian e-Tourist Visa from the present 30 days and making it multiple entry. During December-January holidays, people will be looking at taking longer vacation and combining more than one country into their itinerary, Vohra said. Medical and Wellness travel has a lot of potential and India can become the hub if there is a sustained marketing effort. Australians travel for dental, cosmetic surgeries because of high cost and long waiting period. Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore are currently preferred destinations for Australians. India can target this market through good targeted campaigns, Vohra said. Australia has by and large overcome the pandemic with high levels of vaccination. Borders are finally reopened, Vohra said. Out of the total service imports into Australia, India’s share is currently 3 per cent. Out of this half is contributed by IT/ITeS and Tourism. Although there has been promising growth in the number of Australian visitors into India over the years, India’s share in total Australian outbound is quite small. India received 4.20 lakh Australian visitors in 2019 compared to 1.40 lakh in 2008

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Visiting Lakshadweep? Covid curbs revised in view of improved situation. Details here

In view of the improvement in the coronavirus situation and almost 100% vaccination coverage in the Union Territory, the Lakshadweep administration on November 12 revised the travel restrictions and quarantine norms in the archipelago. The Lakshadweep administration has issued an order indicating the revised restrictions and norms like non-requirement of a coronavirus test to travel there from the mainland or for moving from one island to another for those who have taken both doses of vaccine 14 days prior to the trip. Those fully vaccinated 14 days prior to their travel would not be quarantined either on arrival at the island from the mainland or the other islands of the archipelago, the notification read. Non-vaccinated or partially vaccinated persons, however, need to have a negative Covid-19 (RT-PCR) test result not older than 48 hours from date of travel and they would also have to undergo three days mandatory quarantine on arrival, it said. The other norms are that shore leave would be granted only to those ship crew who have been fully vaccinated and that thermal-scanning of passengers has to be carried out at Kochi and all ports of arrival. Deputy Collectors or Block Development Officers have been directed to ensure strict enforcement of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour in all islands at all time, the order said. Meanwhile, Lakshadweep is close to achieving full coronavirus vaccination of its eligible population while the coverage is over 70 per cent in Sikkim, Goa and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. "Lakshadweep (99.2 per cent) is close to achieving full COVID-19 vaccination of its eligible population, while Sikkim has achieved 87.8 per cent, Goa 79.7 per cent and Andaman and Nicobar Islands 72.2 per cent," an official source told PTI.

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Returning after celebrating Chhath Puja? Check list, full schedule of special trains here

With the culmination of the four-day Chhath Puja festivities on Thursday, people who returned to Bihar from other states to celebrate the festival at home will be returning to work. To facilitate their return journey, Indian Railways, which earlier operated festival specials for Diwali and Chhath Puja, will operate another set of special trains. These trains will connect cities such as Patna and Danapur to Delhi, Howrah etc. Here's their list: (1.) 01683/01684 Patna-Anand Vihar Terminal Gati Shakti Superfast: The train will leave Patna for Delhi at 5:45pm on November 12, 14, 16 and 18, reaching its destination at 9:50am the following day. In the reverse direction, it will depart for Patna at 11:10pm on November 13, 15 and 17, and arrive at its destination at 3:45pm the following day. Halts at Danapur, Pandit Deen Dayal Junction, Varanasi, Prayagraj Junction and Kanpur Central, among others. (2.) 03358 Danapur-Howrah Chhath Special: Journey will begin at 2:30pm on November 12, and conclude at 2am on Saturday. Halts at Patna, Bakhtiarpur, Mokama, Kiul and Jhajha etc. (3.) 03695/03696 Rajgir-Anand Vihar Terminal Festival Special: Service scheduled for departure at 2:45pm on November 13 and 16, with arrival at 10:30am the next day. Return journey on November 14 and 17 at 12:30pm, with arrival at 7:30am the next day. Stoppage at Bihar Sharif, Bakhtiarpur, Patna, Ara, Buxar and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction etc. (4.) 03679/03680 Rajgir-Anand Vihar Terminal Festival Special: Train will leave at 2:45pm on November 12, 15 and 18, with arrival at 10:30am the following day. Return journey scheduled to commence at 12:30pm on November 13, 17 and 19, and conclude at 7am the next day. Bakhtiarpur, Patna, Ara, Buxar and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction among stoppages. (5.) 08010 Patna-Shalimar Festival Special: With halts at Rajendranagar Terminal, Patna Sahib, Fatuha, Bakhtiarpur, Mokama, Kiul etc, train will leave at 3:15pm on November 14, and arrive at 9:10am on November 15. (6.) 08112 Patna-Tatanagar Festival Special: Departure scheduled at 3:15pm on November 15, with arrival at 5:05am on November 16. Halts include Rajendranagar Terminal, Patna Sahib, Fatuha, Bakhtiarpur, Mokama, Kiul. (7.) 04551 Raxaul-Anand Vihar Festival Special: Train will leave at 1pm on November 12, and arrive at 7pm the following day. It will stop at Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Barauni Junction, Mokama, Bakhtiarpur, Patna, Danapur, Ara, Buxar and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction. (8.) 06044 Danapur-Ernakulam Festtival Special: Journey scheduled to commence at 1:30pm on November 14, and conclude at 3:40pm on November 15. Stoppages include Patna, Bakhtiarpur, Mokama, Kiul etc.

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Lemon Tree Hotels Signs A New Hotel In Mcleodganj In Himachal Pradesh

Lemon Tree Hotels Limited announced its latest hotel signing – Lemon Tree Hotel, Mcleodganj, in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. This hotel, owned by M.K Enterprises, is expected to open in September 2022. Nestled amidst the majestic hills and lush greenery, Mcleodganj is a hill station suburb of Dharamshala. Popular amongst trekkers, it is culturally blessed by a prominent Tibetan influence. Mcleodganj has one of the most mesmerising landscapes in Himachal Pradesh and attracts throngs of tourists throughout the year. Located in the Kangra district, this property will feature 39 rooms and suites, complemented by a multi-cuisine restaurant and a bar. It will also have a conference room, and a swimming pool and fitness center for recreation. Speaking on the occasion, Rattan Keswani, Deputy Managing Director – Lemon Tree Hotels Limited commented, “It is a proud moment for us where we expand our portfolio in Himachal Pradesh with our valued partner M/s M.K. Enterprises. With this signing, we will be focusing on an important market for Lemon Tree Hotels, as Mcleodganj is a very popular tourist destination. With the growing opportunities and tourist attractions in the region, this hotel will cater to these distinct and high demand micro-markets.”

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First group of tourists from India to US, post-pandemic, fly out from Kochi

The first group of tourists to the United States from India, since the outbreak of the pandemic, flew from Kochi on Friday. A group of 24 tourists took off from the international airport here. The group flew out of Kochi by Qatar Airways to JFK, New York via Doha, Qatar and will be spending 15 days in the US visiting NY, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Niagara Falls, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Soman's, the tour company, which has organised the trip said. "We understand that this is not just the first from India but the first ever group tour to the US from anywhere in the world since Covid-19 outbreak," M K Soman, Managing Director of Soman's, said in a release. Since the markets opened, we began operating in the European, Russian and Middle Eastern sectors, he added. "We were the first to operate tours to Europe from South India and second in India after Thomas Cook, when we took a group of 32 tourists to Europe on October 18. On October 30, we took another 30 to Russia. However, taking tourists to the US was a totally different ball game as the main catch was US consulates had not started issuing visas yet and we had to find people who already hold valid visas," Soman said. The company hopes to inspire tour operators and the hospitality industry across the country and the world to shun fear and start their operations.

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Train prices to reduce! Indian Railways drops ‘special train’ tags; All train services to run as regular, with pre-Covid fares

Here's some good news for Indian train passengers! The Railway Board on November 12 announced that the ticket prices have dropped and reverted to pre-pandemic fares with Immediate effect In a bid to discourage people from traveling in the pandemic, the Railways had increased the ticket prices. Since the lockdown restrictions were eased, all long and short-distance passenger trains were running as special trains with higher prices. The Railways issued an order on 12 November where it mentioned the discontinuation of this special tag for all mail and express trains. The order does not specify when the zonal railways are required to go back to their regular services. However, a senior official said that the process might take a day or two. The Board, in a letter to the zonal railways, stated that the trains will now be operated with their regular numbers and fares as applicable for the concerned classes of travel and type of train. Over 1700 trains will be restored in the next few days. Officials have also stated that even though the prices will go down, temporary restrictions on things like bedrolls, meal services and concessions would continue to exist. In terms of financial growth, the official data shows that in comparison with first quarter of 2021-22, the second quarter numbers show a sharp spike of 113% in terms of earnings from the key passenger segment of the Indian Railways.

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