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Assam Tourism: Know About Assam Tourism and Tourism Industry of Assam

Assam is one of the eight states of Northeast India which is known as the Gateway of Northeast. The state is known for its tourism because of its natural beauty and availability of flora and fauna. The state Assam located in the Northeastern region of India is known widely for various reasons mainly for its widespread bio-diversity, tea plantations, ancient culture, wildlife and archaeology. Availability of the Indian One-horned Rhinoceros makes Assam a place a most visit tourists destination from all over the world. Rich mineral resources, huge water bodies with varieties of fish species and petroleum production are other important characteristics of the state Assam. Assam has abundant of plants and herbs that are used for medical purposes in curing diseases. The state holds large groups of various ethnic communities but the official language of the state is Assamese. Tourism in Assam provides soothing essence of nature along with spiritual values in the places of pilgrimage which brings calmness and peace loved by many. The history of Assam is something very interesting which is possible to understand in deep only after exploring the historical aspects of the state. Assam is in between the northeastern states of Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland and shares a border with Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan along the Eastern and Northern boundaries. On its west is Bangladesh lying in the Southwestern area. The tourism industry has become a growing service sector in the country that adds upto 6.23 percentage to the nationwide GDP. Assam is the state at the middle of the world's richest bio-geographic areas which is accurately favoured with natural resources and hence appreciated for the chance for growth and development among the enthralling force if tourism is persuaded as a flourishing industry. Gradually Assam has become the hub of tourists' destination as loaded with rich cultural heritage, ethnic values and economic resources. This results in producing more job opportunities in the state with good income.

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Oriental Hotels expects recovery to be driven by domestic leisure, tourism

Oriental Hotels Ltd, an associate company of The Indian Hotels Company Ltd, on Wednesday said the company expects business recovery to be driven by domestic leisure and business tourism. The company, which has seven hotels including Taj Coromandel, Taj Fisherman's Cove Resort and Spa, Chennai, recorded a standalone net loss at Rs 4.97 crore for the quarter ending September 30, 2021 as against a net loss of Rs 17.71 crore recorded during corresponding quarter previous year due to the impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenue during the quarter grew to Rs 53 crore from Rs 17.93 crore recorded in corresponding quarter previous year. Commenting on the financial performance, company Managing Director Pramod Ranjan said, "with easing of lockdown restrictions, post the second wave of Covid-19, the company witnessed significant recovery in the current quarter". "Predominantly the business came from leisure and wedding segments. The company declared a positive performance despite the restrictions in Kerala. Revenue grew by 196 per cent while EBITDA by 143 per cent over Q2 FY20-21", he said in a company statement. In Kerala, the company operates Taj Malabar Resort and Spa, Cochin. In Tamil Nadu, Vivanta in Coimbatore, The Gateway Hotel Pasumalai in Madurai. On the impact of Covid-19, the company said business has been impacted during the half year period on account of the pandemic. During the first three months of the financial year, the company witnessed softer revenues due to the second wave of Covid-19 and consequent lockdowns in several states across the country. However, during the beginning of the second quarter, the lockdowns were lifted due to lower active Covid-19 cases and increased vaccinations and the company witnessed positive recovery of demand, especially in leisure destinations and business gradually expected to improve. The company has undertaken a series of actions to ensure adequate liquidity and cost optimization. Cash conservation measures have included deferral of discretionary spending and capital expenditure, unless absolutely required, it said. "We expect the recovery in business to be driven by domestic leisure and tourism. We do not expect any significant challenges to our supply chain..", the statement added.

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Thailand announces quarantine-free travel from 46 countries

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has announced that starting from November 1, 2021, Thailand will open the country to visitors from 46 low-risk countries without the need for quarantine instead of only 10 Covid-19 low-risk countries as announced earlier. He said it was now necessary to speed up the opening. “If we wait until everything is fully ready, we’ll be too late. Besides, tourists may choose to go elsewhere,” read the post on his Facebook page. He further added that he was aware the acceleration brought with it the risk of more local infections. “But this is a risk we must take. I think, like other countries, Thailand is now better equipped to deal with the risk. And we need to learn to live with it.” Visitors from the 46 countries, described as the first low-risk group, may enter Thailand by air without quarantine, provided they have been fully vaccinated and have evidence of pre-flight negative test results. They must also agree to take another test upon arrival. Gen Prayut added that in the meantime the Public Health Ministry would speed up vaccinations locally. He urged people to adhere to the prescribed Covid-19 health measures — wearing masks, cleaning hands frequently and observing social distancing. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the names of the 45 countries and a territory shortly after the prime minister’s announcement. India is not featured in this list. Countries/Territories according to the Notification of the Operation Centre for Measures on the Entry into and Departure from the Kingdom, and Protection of Thai Nationals Abroad dated October 21, 2021, are Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Hong Kong.

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Hawaii to welcome tourists from Nov 1, 2021

For those who have been waiting for a Hawaiian holiday, your dream is about to come true! One of the most beautiful island destinations in the world, Hawaii has announced it will officially welcome tourists back on November 1. The announcement was made by the governor of the state David Ige on Tuesday. He took to Twitter and tweeted, "I'm encouraged by the continuing trend of lower case counts of COVID in our islands. Our hospitals are doing better and seeing fewer patients. This gives us the ability to move forward in our economic recovery and safely welcome back fully vaccinated domestic travelers." The state will allow non-essential as well as business travellers to visit the island. The governor further said that they will keep monitoring case counts and hospitalisations in the islands as the health and safety of the residents is most important. Earlier, the governor had asked travellers to Hawaii to delay their trips because of rising cases COVID-19 cases on the island but he never officially stopped the state's 'Safe Travels' program. Under this program, domestic visitors were allowed to skip quarantine if they came with proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test. In his tweet, the governor also said, "We're continuing to seek information from the federal government about plans for international travel and will have an appropriate plan in place prior to Nov. 8".

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No Mandatory RTPCR Test Required For Visiting The Netherlands

The Government of the Netherlands has updated travel requirements for Indian travellers from August 14 as India has been removed from the list of Virus Variant Countries to the list of Very High-Risk Countries. European nations are among the countries identified as “at risk” (from Covid perspective) countries by India. As of now, Netherlands does not figure in the list of countries (called category A) with which India has an agreement for mutual recognition of vaccination certificates for individuals fully jabbed with nationally/WHO recognised Covid-19 vaccine. Due to this, all arrivals in India from the Netherlands and other at risk countries not in the category A list, will from next Monday (October 25), need to submit a sample for the post-arrival Covid-19 test at the point of arrival after which they will be allowed to leave the airport. They must be home quarantined for seven days. Re-test on the eighth day of arrival in India and if negative, further self-monitor of their health for the next 7 days. Everyone flying into India has to undergo a Covid RT-PCR test 72 hours.

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Qantas to start Delhi-Sydney flights from December 6

NEW DELHI: Australian carrier Qantas will after more than a decade start nonstop services to India this winter. From December 6, Qantas will have a thrice-weekly on between Delhi and Sydney using its Airbus A330, which will become a daily by the end of the year. “The flights will initially operate until at least late March 2022, with a view to continuing if there is sufficient demand. Delhi to Sydney flights will operate nonstop, while flights from Sydney to Delhi will operate via Darwin,” Qantas said in a statement. The launch of this new route follows Australia’s decision to reopen its international borders from November 1, 2021, removing quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated arrivals into Sydney. Accordingly, Qantas is gradually restarting international services, with the first commercial flights now scheduled to resume between Sydney and Los Angeles and Sydney and London from November 1, 2021, for Australian citizens and permanent residents and their immediate families as well as certain visa holders. Flights to other destinations will resume from December 2021 and into 2022. This will be the first time Qantas has operated direct commercial flights from India to Australia since 2009. Over the past 12 months, the airline has operated more than 50 repatriation flights from India on behalf of the Australian Government to bring Australians home. Qantas says while many aspects of international travel will be the same for customers as they were pre-COVID, some things will look a little different, particularly in the short term. Passengers need to be vaccinated with approved Covid jabs, except children under 2 and medical exemptions. A negative report from a Covid PCR test taken 72 hours before flying to Australia is needed for entry into Australia.

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