News

Outbound travel searches, bookings witness big jump

Tour operators are reporting a significant spike in search queries and bookings for outbound holiday travel, with the pandemic receding, restrictions on international flights easing and countries starting to open up their borders. Many did not put a number to the percentage jump as it is early days, but most admitted that pent-up demand is there for premium travel stays at destinations as varied as Dubai, the Maldives, France and Spain. “Over the past few weeks, on MakeMyTrip, nearly 80% of the total searches were for bookings in the Maldives, Dubai and Europe," said Vipul Prakash, chief operating officer of the online travel firm. “As countries start to welcome back Indian travellers, there is a wave of optimism and confidence gradually building up around international travel," he said. The company has seen a significant jump in international travel bookings for November. “As the year-end travel season returns, we hope to see the numbers rising significantly for December as well. As more countries reopen for Indian tourists, international travel will make a strong comeback," Prakash said. Pent-up demand and the opportunity to vacation with family and friends are driving bookings from India, said Radhika Khanijo, managing director of luxury outbound travel company Welgrow Travels, which designs packages for high net-worth individuals. Her clients have been readying for a snowy holiday this winter, with many of them are booking destinations such as Switzerland, France, Spain, the UK and US for the upcoming holiday season, she said. “The maximum queries right now are for France, the Maldives and Spain. Some have booked plush ski resorts in Switzerland and others, the French Alps," she said. These countries have resumed commercial flights with India. So have Sri Lanka and the Maldives. “The amount of interest in travel is unprecedented right now. Almost all flights are full and holiday travel partners have their hands completely full," she said. “Having missed out on travel for more than 18 months, Indians are clearly pushing the envelope. Our data at Thomas Cook indicates a diversity of exceptional destinations and experiences emerging on our customer wish-lists from Sardinia’s clear blue waters, New Zealand’s stunning and secluded vistas, to Scandinavia’s sauna and aurora borealis experiences," said Rajeev Kale, president and country head, holidays, MICE, Visa, at Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. Bookings for private jets for destinations like the Maldives, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia are on the rise, said JetSetGo, a private aviation service. It is now getting queries for the US as the country will open up for international travel from 8 November for fully vaccinated people. The last two months have seen a rise in queries for Switzerland, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Vancouver and London, said travel firm ixigo. “Ixigo has seen a 74% increase in overall international travel bookings from 1 to 21 October as compared to 1 to 21 August," said Aloke Bajpai, group chief executive officer and co-founder, Ixigo. The company has seen a 15-20% increase in search queries for Dubai, the Maldives and Russia for leisure travel. Southeast Asia seems to be on the bucket list of Indians eagerly waiting to travel to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, when restrictions ease in the near future, MakeMyTrip said. The tourism boards of Indonesia and Mauritius said India is among the top countries they receive visitors from and are expecting tourists to be back as soon as airways open up. The Indian market is its sixth-largest, and more than 75,000 Indian tourists visited the country in 2019, said Arvind Bundhun, director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority. Indonesia, which received more than 650,000 Indian tourists in 2019, its fifth-largest market, before the pandemic, is working towards the connectivity of direct and indirect flights from India, said R. Sigit Witjaksono, director of tourism marketing for the east, south and central Asia region, of Indonesia. Pent-up demand is also driving up costs because of expensive, limited flights operated under air-bubble pacts with countries. Flights to Dubai, which were at roughly ₹20,000 for a return trip in 2019, are priced at ₹55,000 for the economy class, said travel agency Thomas Cook India & SOTC. It said ticket prices to Zurich, Paris and Istanbul have jumped from ₹45,000 to more than ₹1 lakh.

Read more

International Travel Latest News: Indian Tourists Can Fly to These Countries Without Restrictions | Full List Here

International Travel Latest News: As the coronavirus cases are going down, more and more countries across the globe are reopening their borders for international travellers. Putting an end to the long list of restrictions, several countries have recognized India’s vaccine certificates and have withdrawn quarantine guidelines for travellers. Earlier in the day, Singapore relaxed its restrictions for Indians. Prior to that, Thailand did the same. Notably, these two Southeast Asian countries have announced the removal of India and five other countries from their travel restriction list. Here’s a list of other countries which have allowed Indian travellers to fly to their nations without any restriction.Also Read - Uttar Pradesh Reports First Zika Virus Case in Kanpur, Team of Experts Sent From Delhi United States: Recently, the US government relaxed Covid-related travel restrictions on 33 countries, including India. Now the4 Indian travellers will have to produce a negative Covid PCR report from a sample taken no more than three days before the date of departure. Nottably, there was a ban on travel to the US for 18 months that crippled the tourism industry. Also Read - Bihar: Gaya Residents to Face Legal Action If Unvaccinated; Will not Be Entitled to Receive Food on Subsidised Rate Canada: Canada has also withdrawn the ban on commercial passenger flights from India and the first flight to Toronto from Delhi left on September 22. The air passengers travelling from Delhi must carry an RT-PCR report for a test done 18 hours before the boarding time. Flights to Canada resumed after four months. Also Read - Over 17,000 Covid-19 Vaccine Doses Given to Inmates in Delhi Jails; Tihar Records the Highest Turkey: The Turkish Embassy recently has exempted fully vaccinated Indians from mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival. Italy: Italy has also announced that Indians, who are vaccinated with Covishield, are eligible for Green Pass and are eligible to travel. UAE: Most significantly, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it has relaxed travel guidelines and COVID protocols for travellers from India ahead of Expo 2020 Dubai. Thailand: Last month, Thailand had reopened its doors to Indian travellers under the “Phuket sandbox” programme. However, Indians do not feature in its list of quarantine-free visitors. For the time being, the Indian travellers will have to undergo quarantine upon their arrival in the country. Singapore: On Saturday, Singapore announced the removal of India and five other South Asian countries from its travel restriction list as the island-state continues to adjust border measures in response to the global Covid-19 situation. Now the Indian travellers with a 14-day travel history to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be allowed to enter or transit through Singapore from Wednesday. UK: The UK government has also remove the travel restrictions for Indian travellers. However, Serum Institute-manufactured Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are not recognised by the country. Germany: Germany has also removed the entry ban for Indian travellers and reclassified India to “high (Covid) incidence areas”, from the higher travel restriction level of “virus variant areas”.

Read more

USA to outline vaccination rules on international travel reopening

The White House first disclosed on Sept. 20 it would remove restrictions in early November for fully vaccinated air travellers from 33 countries. The extraordinary US travel restrictions were first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of Covid-19. The rules bar most non-US citizens who within the last 14 days have been in the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen countries in Europe without border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil. The White House plans to outline the legal framework requiring Covid-19 vaccinations for most foreign air travellers replacing the current restrictions, as well as rules for exemptions from the requirements. The Biden administration will also detail requirements airlines must follow to confirm foreign travellers have been vaccinated before boarding US-bound flights. The White House announced on Oct. 15 that the new vaccine rules would take effect on Nov. 8. One concern among US officials and airlines is making sure foreign travellers are aware of the new vaccine rules that will take effect in just two weeks. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to issue new contact tracing rules requiring airlines to collect information from international air passengers. The White House said earlier airlines will provide the information "upon request to follow up with travellers who have been exposed to Covid-19 variants or other pathogens." The CDC said this month it would accept any vaccine authorized for use by US regulators or the World Health Organization and will accept mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from travellers.

Read more

Spirit of Jammu and Kashmir Iconic Week Festival: Tourism industry bets big on Kashmir post Article 370

Jammu and Kashmir needs stability and that stability will boost the tourism potential of the union territory that is regarded as “a heaven on Earth”. This is the message that came out of a panel discussion ‘Spirit of Jammu and Kashmir’ held as part of the week-long Iconic Week Festival organised at the Lalit Grand Palace, Srinagar. The discussion was moderated by Navika Kumar, Group Editor, Times Network, and Editor-in-Chief, Times Now Navbharat. It was attended by Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson and Managing Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group’; Rohit Khosla, the Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj Group of Hotels); and Vilas Pawar, Choice Hospitality India. Suri said during the discussion that Kashmir has seen a jump in tourists footfalls over the past few months, which has been surprising. “The last two years have been completely devastated by COVID. The tourism industry was badly hit. For three months at a stretch, there was not a single guest. What happened in the last 2 years post the initial lockdown though has been a bit of anomaly. Suddenly last year, there was a spurt in footfalls of visitors and this (Lalit Hotel) was full of people,” she said. Suri pointed out that the abrogation of Article 370 – which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir - in August, 2019, has brought in a ray of hope. “The abrogation of Article 370 was certainly was the beginning of some change, we hope there will be stability which we need and the people will get economically engaged,” she stated. Khosla said the post COVID-19 lockdown era has been good for Jammu and Kashmir. He also talked about the fragile nature of the tourism industry that gets impacted by events beyond its control. “We have had some very good time in the last couple of months, post the Covid lockdown era. Our industry is extremely fragile, a lot of things that happen around the industry impact it. It (the industry) is not just a hospitality business, it is also about employment generation, contributing back to the economy, giving local art and handicrafts people involved in the industry a livelihood indirectly,” he stated. Khosla said Kashmir is such a beautiful location, a heaven on Earth, that it is imperative for any government, specifically the Government of UT of J&K, that “we create an environment that is safe and accessible”. According to him, as far as accessibility is concerned, there is great flight connectivity. There are about 60 flights a day and 8,000 people to be taken care, which is great, Khosla said. “There has been an influx of brands coming to J&K; hotels are opening across the UT. We are in the right direction,” he said, sounding hopeful about the tourism potential of J&K. Pawar, on his part, said that Kashmir is one of the topmost tourism destinations and there is a huge opportunity for tourism to grow here.

Read more

Metro system, Airport expansion, Helipads in Jammu and Kashmir soon

Metro, airport expansion, helipads in Jammu and Kashmir! In the coming years, Jammu and Kashmir will undergo massive development. The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah recently visited the Union Territory to inaugurate the new campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Jammu and while addressing the public, he announced various infra projects. The Union Home Minister said that currently, development work is continuing on a six-lane expressway from Delhi to Katra via Amritsar. Earlier, the people of Jammu had to go to the national capital to show their children the metro rail, the minister said. However, after two years they will not have to take their kids to Delhi to travel in the metro, because the metro system itself will come to Jammu, Shah further said. According to the Union Home Minister, a large piece of land has also been allotted for Jammu Airport. He further mentioned that the airport will be developed with an amount of Rs 700 crore. Shah also said a helicopter policy has been announced under which the government of Jammu and Kashmir will develop helipads in every district. People belonging to the private sector will invest and different sectors will be connected together, he added. A few months ago, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had informed that the frontline warriors of Jammu Airport facilitated more than 16 lakhs doses of Covid-19 vaccine and handed over to the representatives of the State Immunization Department, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The ministry had also said that the airport had ensured a safe and secure journey experience. The airport followed well sanitization. Besides, the airport for passengers and workplace for staff were maintained by the airport as per the Standard Operating Measures of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the ministry claimed.

Read more

Vaccine Passport: Understanding the Digital Pass for International Travel

There have been very few global incidences that altered the functioning of the world and created as much havoc as COVID-19 did in the recent past. While almost every other industry faced a slump during the pandemic, the travel industry or more specifically aviation sector took a huge blow, so much so that experts are anticipating that we can only reach pre-pandemic levels of air travel by 2023. With almost all countries stopping international flights to contain the spread of the virus, and only a few allowing international travel even after 2 years of outbreak, there seems to be no respite for the industry to bounce back. There is, however, still a gleam of hope as many countries, independent agencies and airlines are looking for ways to make air travel easier and more accessible. One of the recent trends emerging globally is called the COVID-19 Passport or Vaccine Passport, which has been receiving flak off late from various countries and travellers. A Vaccine Passport is by enlarge a fancy term used for a mobile app to help passengers easily and securely manage their health documents needed for travel in line with the government's policy for either COVID-19 testing or vaccine information. A Travel Pass enables passengers to create a ‘digital footprint' that helps the destination country to verify any traveller's pre-travel test or vaccination certificate. Many governments are seeing these passports as a one-stop solution for easily managing traveller inflow in their countries. While many say a Travel Pass discriminates against the freedom of citizens. All in all, the app enables travellers to manage all travel documentation digitally for a seamless travel experience. Various countries, independent bodies and airline companies have been pitching for the Vaccine Passports and some have already implemented the same. Here's a brief list - China: China was the first country in the Asia Pacific to issue a COVID-19 certificate for its citizens, making them eligible for travel. Iceland: The Nordic state became the first country to issue vaccination certificates in 2020. All the citizens who have received two doses of vaccine are now eligible for a digital certificate. Israel: Israel’s health ministry unveiled a Green Passport that enables people who are already vaccinated to travel and be part of large gatherings. The passport is both digital and physical.

Read more