News

Corbett Tiger Reserve opens for round-the-year tourism

The Corbett Tiger Reserve was opened on Tuesday for round-the-year tourism. Five ranges of the reserve including Garjia, Bijrani, Dhara-Jhirna, Dhela and Pakhron were opened this afternoon for day visits for the whole year, Corbett's Director Rahul said. Corbett's opening generated great enthusiasm among wildlife lovers with around 50 bookings made for the day safaris on the inaugural day, he said. Opening the reserve for round-the-year tourism will help people whose livelihoods are connected with it, Rahul said. Corbett's revenues have been hit hard by the Covid pandemic and a measure like this will help offset the impact, he said. Uttarakhand's Forest and Environment Minister Harak Singh Rawat had recently announced that Corbett and Rajaji tiger reserves will be opened for tourists for the whole year. Wildlife experts have been opposed to the move saying it will not be good for animals inhabiting the reserves.

Read more

Goa COVID update: No COVID negative certificate required for fully vaccinated visitors

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has announced that fully vaccinated travellers will not have to carry a COVID-19 negative test report anymore. Travellers who have vaccination taken both the vaccine shots will be permitted to enter the state without a negative certificate. The CM said, "People who have taken both the vaccination shots and possess a complete vaccination certificate will be allowed to enter Goa. It can be for those who are coming for tourism, business or other reasons.". He further said that the positivity rate in Goa has dropped to six percent and the recovery rate has also gone up. As of now, the state government is planning to set path labs to set up testing facilities at all the prime railway stations in Goa. Talking more about the Coronavirus condition in Goa, the CM said that in the coming days, the positivity rate is likely to drop to five percent. He said that the COVID-19 situation in the state is gradually coming under control and that the positivity rate is decreasing while recovery rate is increasing. “By July 30, we will have covered 100 per cent of the first dose," Sawant said. Apparently, Goa had shut its borders during the second wave of COVID-19 and negative RT PCR test report was made mandatory for all.

Read more

Dubai's flag carrier Emirates likely to resume flights from India July 7 onwards: Report

Dubai's flag carrier Emirates may resume its flights from India to Dubai from July 7, over two months after the UAE suspended its operations owing to the surge in coronavirus cases in India, according to a media report. However, the airline is awaiting exact travel protocols and guidelines from the government regarding the resumption of the flight operations, the Khaleej Times reported on Sunday. “We're expecting to resume our flights from India to Dubai from 7th of July 2021... We're waiting for the exact travel protocols and relevant permits from the government authorities. We hope to have more details soon," the report said, quoting the airline in response to a query from a passenger on its Twitter account. The airline's website shows seats are available for booking from July 7, the report said. The airline's social media handles have been buzzing ever since authorities announced a few days ago that flights from India to Dubai would resume from June 23. But on Thursday, Emirates informed passengers that flights from India to Dubai remained suspended. On April 24, the UAE’s General Authority of Civil Aviation and the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) announced that entry from India will be suspended for all incoming flights on national and foreign carriers due to the surge in the cases of coronavirus.

Read more

Air India Express announces flights to Malaysia and Singapore

Air India Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian flag carrier Air India, has announced flights between Malaysia and India for the month of July, 2021. Under its new schedule, the low-cost airline will operate flights connecting Kuala Lumpur with Indian cities including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Trichy, and Vijayawada. Bookings are open for these flights. The July schedule also includes flights connecting India and Singapore. Sectors on which the airline will fly are Chennai-Singapore; Trichy-Singapore; Kochi-Singapore and Hyderabad-Singapore. The airline has also opened bookings for flights between Kuwait and India. From July to October, it will operate flights on routes such as Kuwait- Vijayawada- Kozhikode; Kuwait-Kannur- Trichy; Kuwait- Trichy- Kochi and Kuwait-Mangalore-Trichy.

Read more

Boost to the tourism sector in India! Modi govt announces this scheme for tourist guides, travel agencies; details

Travel and tourism sector in India set to get a financial boost! The coronavirus pandemic that struck the country in March last year hampered the tourism sector in India almost immediately as all kinds of domestic and international travel was restricted. While things started opening up in May, the lockdowns were placed on and off based on the active cases in the states, which led to a very slow recovery of the tourism industry. And it was just getting on the path to a better recovery, when the second wave struck and the industry was once again shut due to the states not allowing tourism of any sort in order to prevent COVID-19 spread. While restrictions on travel and tourism were essential to ensure the health of the people of the country, it led to the loss of livelihood of numerous people associated with this industry. Now, in a positive development for the sector, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a scheme to support the sector financially. Announcing the Loan Guarantee Scheme for COVID Affected Sectors on Monday, she said that people in the tourism sector would be provided with personal or working capital loans to facilitate them in discharging their liabilities and restart their businesses that had otherwise been adversely affected due to the coronavirus pandemic. Under the scheme, the government would cover 10,700 regional-level tourist guides who have been recognised by the Ministry of Tourism, and those Travel and Tourism Stakeholders (TTS) that have also been recognised by the Ministry of Tourism under the scheme. As per the scheme, the stakeholders and guides would be provided loans with 100% guarantee, meaning that if the borrowers default on the repayment of the loan, the amount would be covered by the Centre. Loans up to Rs 10 lakh per agency for TTS would be provided under the scheme, while tourist guides licenced at the Regional or State level would be given a loan of up to Rs 1 lakh. There would also be no processing charges or requirement of additional collateral on these loans, and any foreclosure or prepayment charges would also be waived off. The scheme would be administered by the Ministry of Tourism through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC). The announcement is likely to come as a relief to thousands of licenced tourist guides and recognised travel agencies, as the pandemic has left the entire tourism sector in the country gasping for breath.

Read more

Indian govt to waive off visa fee for 5 lakh tourists

In a bid to revive tourism sector in India, the government will provide free visas to the first five lakh tourists visiting the country, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Monday. The scheme will come into effect once the international travel resumes, she said in a press conference in Delhi. It will remain applicable till March 31, 2022, or after distribution of the first 5 lakh visas, whichever is earlier, she also said, adding that an international tourist will be allowed to avail the benefits only once. The announcements were part of the financial package and new schemes presented by Sitharaman to boost various sectors ravaged by Covid-19. The government will also provide financial support to the more than 11,000 registered tourist guides, travel and tourism stakeholders to revive the tourism sector battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the scheme, a ₹10 lakh loan will be given to travel agencies, while registered tourist guides will be eligible for a loan of ₹1 lakh. The economic measures come as the tourism sector is severely hit by the Covid induced restrictions, especially local tourists guides who make most of the earnings from international visitors. They are a major source of income for them since the percentage of domestic tourists availing of their services is negligible.

Read more