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Weekday demand improves at hotels in Rajasthan

Weekend rush is now spilling over to weekdays as corporate movement has started though at a smaller scale. After tourist destinations like Mount Abu, Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh, Pushkar and outskirts of Jaipur benefitted first from the rush of cooped up vacationers, now occupancy in star category city hotels have witnessed an uptick. Rajendra Pachar of Indian Heritage Hotels Association said, “The occupancy in resorts in Pushkar are over 90 per cent in weekends while the same on weekdays have improved to about 40 per cent.” More importantly, the room night tariffs have increased to pre-Covid levels in the resorts, he said. The city hotels, which were late to benefit from the tourist movement, are also witnessing demand both on weekends and weekdays. Ranvijay Singh, joint secretary, Hotels and Restaurants Association of Rajasthan (HRAR) said, “The corporate travel movement has just started. The new Covid cases in Rajasthan are miniscule now. That has given confidence to companies. If the current situation continues, the city hotels’ demand will also rise.” Confirming the rise in occupancy in city hotels, Atal Bhargava, general manager of a star hotel said, “Corporate travel movement started from August onwards. Both leisure and business travelers are now contributing to occupancy.” Although Bhargava said the occupancy in city hotels have gone up to 60 per cent even on weekdays, others said the case could be true for some hotels. “Even, events are going to resorts and hotels on the city outskirts. We were dependent on inbound tourists though business travelers contributed a bit. Now, we have lost inbound or foreign travelers and the corporate segment yet to pick up for us,” said Pachar, who runs a hotel in the city. As per SOPs, the size of gathering at weddings are restricted to 50 guests. Singh said it’s time the government lifted the curbs and allow at least 200 guests at a wedding

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Fully vaccinated travellers can visit Bangkok from October 1

In a big COVID travel update, Bangkok has announced it will reopen completely for fully vaccinated travellers from October 1. Thailand has been meaning to restart tourism for a long time now but given the rise in infection cases, the plan couldn’t take shape. But now, with people getting vaccinations, it has given hope to the world of tourism once again. Before the world was hit by the pandemic, tourism took the fifth spot in Thailand's national income. But today, because of COVID, tourism has been the economy's weakest link in over 20 years. But now, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has announced that from October 1, international travellers who have taken both the vaccine shots will be able to visit Bangkok along with four other provinces. Also, if you are fully vaccinated, you won’t have to undergo 14-days hotel quarantine rule. Also, the country has introduced a sandbox theme under which tourists need to stay at one place for a week after arriving in the country and take COVID tests. The initiative is expected to be available in five regions, including Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan provinces. According to the officials, by October 21 other important tourist destinations will also be added to the list including Chiang Rai, Sukhothai and Rayong. As per government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, under the sandbox scheme, more than 29000 fully vaccinated overseas visitors were recorded in Phuket which generated nearly $50 million in revenue. However, the third wave in the country is not yet fully over, so the tourism agency has warned that the plans could change in future. Apparently, when the world was struggling with the deadly virus in 2020, Thailand was mildly affected and recorded low numbers. But the Delta variant took the country by storm and Thailand recorded more than 1.3 million cases, and nearly 14000 deaths.

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Big initiative: Indian Railways plans to spread rail-based tourism

Indian Railways on Saturday (September 11) announced their plan to spread rail-based tourism among masses through leasing of coaching stock to interested parties to run them as theme-based cultural, religious, and other tourist circuit train. This has been planned to tap the potential of the tourism sector and to leverage the core strengths of the professionals of the tourism sector in tourism activities like marketing, hospitality, etc. An Executive Director level committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Railways to formulate the policy and terms and conditions. According to the Railways Ministry, the proposed model would have the leasing of coaches as per the desired configuration of interested parties. Outright purchase of coaches can also be done. "Leasing to be done for a minimum period of 5 years and extendable till codal life of coaches," said the ministry. The proposed model would have a minimum train composition for leasing purposes as per policy guidelines. It was also informed by the ministry that a simple registration process would be conducted for the interested parties based on the eligibility criteria. Indian Railways will levy haulage charges, nominal stabling charges, and lease charges. As per the ministry, some key features of the proposed model are that punctuality would be its priority and timely approvals would be provided for coach refurbishment and itineraries. The proposed model would also permit third-party advertising inside the train.

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Kerala Tourism launches new mobile app

Kerala Tourism has launched a new mobile app with added features. The new mobile application for Kerala Tourism was launched by cine-star Mohanlal in the presence of PA Mohamed Riyas, the Tourism & PWD Minister of Kerala, and Dr Venu V, Additional Chief Secretary - Tourism, Kerala. Apart from the usual features of a Destination mobile app like information about important destinations and facilities, the new mobile app of Kerala Tourism gives opportunities for people to introduce new destinations, share their stories about unexplored destinations, plan and create trips, ask questions, etc. One of the 100-day programmes announced by the CM after taking over the power for the second successive term, the mobile app has the objective to make tourism more inclusive and participatory in the State. The Tourism Minister Riyas said that with the introduction of the mobile app, all information related to Kerala tourism will become available on the fingertips. He said that the mobile app will also help in achieving the ambitious goal of introducing at least one tourism spot in every village panchayat in the State. Dr Venu said that the app will help the progress of Kerala tourism by leveraging a lot of user-generated content.

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This Durga Puja, more takers for domestic travel than foreign trips

Planning for Durga Puja is on in full swing and the uncertainty around the third wave has prompted many Kolkatans to leave the city and go on long-pending holidays. “Travel bookings for Puja are more than satisfactory. We didn’t expect the demand to be this much. People are clearly fed up with being at home and are longing to travel. Puja has always been one of the best times for holidays. This year, no one is sure if the night curfew will continue during Puja, so most people are planning to travel,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman, eastern region, Travel Agents Federation of India, adding, “The demand for domestic travel is way more than international destinations. While most bookings are coming for Goa, Rajasthan and Kashmir in India, for those going abroad, Russia, France and Dubai are among the top destinations.” Ishita Banerjee, a Kolkata-based professional, is going to Bangalore with her daughter Hrit Singhania this Puja. “Ever since the pandemic hit us, we haven’t travelled anywhere. Both of us desperately need a break. Since social distancing is the need of the hour, pandal hopping is out of the question. So we thought it’s better to go out of the city and decided to spend our Puja in Bangalore,” said Ishita. Businesswoman Lalia Dutta Gupta is going to be in Ranthambore with her family this Durga Puja. “We want to avoid the Puja crowd in the city because of the whole COVID situation. Besides, we haven’t had a chance to travel anywhere in the last two years. Now that we are vaccinated, we can confidently go out of the city,” said Lalia. For Sudipto Gupta, another professional from Kolkata, this Puja will be a family affair in Sikkim. “Every year we travel somewhere during Puja holidays as we are not fond of crowded places. We are all the more careful about that now with social distancing becoming the new norm. Sikkim has always been our favourite travel destination,” said Sudipto. With just one month left for Puja, travel agencies are burning the midnight oil to manage the rising demand. Usha Agarwal from a travel agency in the city is happy with the response she’s getting for Puja holiday. “After the long lull in business, things are finally looking up for the travel and tourism industry. The rush to go out during the four days of Puja is enormous this time. Most people are travelling from Saptami after spending Shashthi in the city. Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Rajasthan are the most preferred places among tourists this time.

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You can soon hop on a helicopter from Udaipur to Kumbhalgarh

Rajasthan Tourism has entered the niche of helicopter tourism in a bid to attract more tourists to the state. The service saw its first trial phase of 20 days on August 22. The welcome initiative is a collaboration between the Rajsamand administration and Skyline Services. The service aims to connect the much-loved tourist destinations of Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh and Nathdwara. Tourists will soon be able to book a helicopter ride between these destinations. Reportedly, 4-seater helicopters would be pressed into service for the same. It is expected that the service would cost tourists anywhere between INR 3000 t0 INR 4000. Rajsamand district collector Arvind Poswal said that the helicopter service would be available from Udaipur to both the places and will also include return to Udaipur. Giving more details of the service, he expressed that, “If an individual wants to visit Nathdwara then he can halt there for 2-3 hours; the chopper will pick them in the second round towards Kumbhalgarh. One can purchase, one way, two way, or one destination ticket.” The new service will also cut down on the travel time between the three places. Apart from the convenience, tourists will be able to soak in a bird's eye-view of the region, stunning to mention the least. It is reported that a number of bookings are already in place for the service, with tourists eager to enjoy the same. It is expected that similar model will be replicated at other places in the state once the new initiative turns into a success story. With this move, Rajasthan Tourism has taken another step to revive its tourism industry that was considerably hit due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns.

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