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Emirates Offering Complimentary 5-Star Hotel Stay, Special Airfares on Flight Bookings to Dubai

Passengers travelling to Dubai on Emirates Airlines can enjoy a complimentary 5-star hotel stay under the new list of benefits from the airlines. One can also avail special fares and free additional 10kg baggage allowance on the ticket bookings. The hotel stay will be at the 5-star JW Marriott Marquis Dubai from 15 March to 30 June 2021 for two nights for Business Travellers and one night for Economy Travellers. Travellers will have to book tickets to Dubai from 8 to 28 March 2021 for travel between 15 March and 30 June 2021 to be eligible for complimentary stay at the JW Marriot Marquis. However, Business Class and First Class passengers who book flights during the same period can get two complimentary nights’ stay from the day of arrival. Since it safely resumed tourism activity in July, Dubai remains one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations, especially during the winter season. The city is open for international business and leisure visitors. This is not for the first time Emirates is offering a complimentary stay at the JW Marriot Marquis Dubai, one of the world’s tallest 5-star hotels on travelling with the airlines. In December 2020, Emirates rolled out the same offer to the customers for travel between 6 Dec 2020 to 28 Feb 2021. As for the airfare, Emirates is offering promotional return fares to Dubai starting from INR 17,982 in Economy Class, INR 68,996 in Business Class and INR 192,555 in First Class. Customers have options to change their travel dates or extend their ticket validity for 2 years.

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IATA says that travellers are regaining confidence to fly

According to a survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), eighty four percent of the respondents believed that the COVID-19 is here to stay, but travellers need to find a way to lead a normal life, and manage risks. This survey carried out by the airlines’ trade body showed that 4700 passengers from 11 countries had at least once boarded an aircraft in the past eleven months. The coronavirus lockdowns began sometime around March last year. The respondents to the survey belonged to India, the UK, Germany, Australia, Japan, UAE, Canada, Chile, France, Canada, and Singapore. 500 passengers from India responded to the survey. The IATA said in the survey that, "88% believe that when opening borders, the right balance must be struck between managing Covid-19 risks and getting the economy going again. 85% believe that governments should set Covid-19 targets (such as testing capacity or vaccine distribution) to re-open borders." According to the IATA, the survey now indicates that there is a growing confidence in a return to air travel, while being a sense of frustration with the travel restrictions. IATA said in a statement that while there are travel restrictions in place, travellers are getting more comfortable with trying to manage the risks of coronavirus. It has been reported by the IATA that 72 percent of these people travelled to see family and friends as soon as they could; 81 percent believe that they will be able to travel once the vaccination is done; 84 percent people refuse to travel if there is quarantine by law in the destination country.

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New Uttarakhand CM says focus will be on tourism

Tirath Singh Rawat has now been sworn into office as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, and he has said that his main focus will be on the tourism industry. Tirath Singh Rawat was declared the new leader of the Uttarakhand BJP legislature party after the resignation of Trivendra Singh Rawat. Uttarakhand has been a hot-favourite among visitors for a long time, after all the state has some magnificent destinations. This vigor to further develop Uttarakhand as a tourism destination seems like a great step forward. Moreover, tourism is already looking promising with the development of the Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Economic corridor, which is currently underway. Tourism in the state should get the much-needed boost with the help of this new corridor. The Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Economic corridor reduces the travel time by more than half between the National Capital, and Uttarakhand’s capital of Dehradun. It is being estimated that time will cut down from 6.5 to 2.5 hours, which is a lot. While the distance will be shortened by 25 km. Dehradun is the gateway to many other destinations nearby, most notably, Mussoorie. Uttarakhand has even made some progress in adventure tourism. The state has organised three national-level adventure sports since September 2020. The three sports festivals were held at Almore, Nainital, and Pauri. The state was also going to host a skiing championship in Auli, but unfortunately due to a lack of snow this year, it had to be cancelled.

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Kumbh Mela special trains: Indian Railways adds 12 more pairs on Haridwar route

Gearing up for Kumbh Mela 2021, the Indian Railways on Wednesday announced 12 more pair of special trains in addition to those already being operated on the Haridwar route. The Railways hopes to ease the pressure on the network in view of the heavy rush expected for the mega festival. Also, the 15 pairs of trains already running on the Haridwar route have been augmented to accommodate more passengers, the railways added. A centralised state-of-the-art control room has also been set up at Haridwar Railway Station to monitor and manage the network which will see heavy activity in the coming days. Railway officials said all nearby railway stations have been connected by CCTV cameras, the feed of which be streamed at the control room. The mega event will be held from April 1 and continue for a shortened period of 28 days owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Kumbh Mela is not only a religious gathering but it is also known for being the biggest congregation of humans in one place. It is celebrated four times over a course of 12 years and spans four locations -Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nasik, and Ujjain. This year the Kumbh Mela will be held at Haridwar. It is expected to attract 1 million people on a regular day and about 5 million people on auspicious days. The auspicious days include Magh Purnima, Mahashivratri, Somvati Amavasya, Baisakhi, Ram Navmi, and Chaim Pura. These days are expected to witness a huge surge of crowd congregating at Har Ki Pauri Ghat, Haridwar, to take a holy bath.

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Tourism Ministry forms committee to promote tourism in northeast region

The Ministry of Tourism has formed a committee of stakeholders for "aggressively" promoting tourism in the northeast region of the country, a senior official of the ministry said on Wednesday. The Ministry of Tourism under its different schemes such as Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD provides financial assistance to northeastern states including those for development of tourist infrastructure, promotion of fairs/ festivals, tourism-related events in the region and publicity campaigns. "The Ministry of Tourism has launched campaigns to promote tourism in the North Eastern Region on various platforms in digital, print and social media. For promoting the region more aggressively, the ministry has formed a Committee of stakeholders active in NER with focus on promotion of the northeast, identifying new destinations, developing itineraries around them, identifying the places where events can be organised to create awareness, organise workshops/ seminars for the local stakeholders in terms of providing them necessary skills," an official said. The ministry has held 8 editions of International Tourism Mart (ITM) in various states of the northeastern region since 2013 with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and global market. Since April 2020, under the "Dekho Apna Desh" campaign, the Ministry of Tourism is conducting webinars on various tourism products including NER and some of the webinars were dedicated to the North East Region. The upcoming webinar on March 13, 2021 would be on the topic 'cuisines of North East Region'. Indiatourism, Guwahati (field office of Ministry of Tourism) is organising an event "1,000 Bar Dekho- North East Dekho" (Visit NER 1,000 times) inspired by the tagline of "Dekho apna Desh" and "FIT INDIA" from 7th -17th March. As part of this activity, Sanjay Bahadur, a solo cyclist, will cover 1,000 km by cycling all across Assam, according to a ministry statement. He will start the journey from Bir Lachit Ghat on Brahmaputra River Bank, Guwahati on March 7 and will finish it at Khanapara on March 17. During the event, the ministry will be organising cultural events and 'Instalive' shows to promote the lesser known destinations of all 7 states of the northeastern region and Sikkim, it said.

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Greece to welcome vaccinated and Covid-negative tourists from May

Tourism is a major income earner for Greece, which has led calls for an EU-wide vaccination certificate to help unlock travel. The industry accounts for about a fifth of the Greek economy and employs one in five workers, but arrivals collapsed last year because of the pandemic. Greece is aiming to kick off its vital summer season by mid-May, said Theocharis as he addressed the ITB Berlin trade show from the Athens Acropolis Museum, home to sculptures from Greek antiquity. "Greece is ready with a complete protocol for summer 2021," he said. "Tourists will be welcome if before travel they are either vaccinated, or have antibodies, or test negative. All tourists will be subject to random testing." He said the authorities would prioritise the vaccination of people working in the hospitality sector once the most vulnerable were vaccinated, and were mandating the frequent testing of employees. Greece has imposed a lockdown in several parts of the country to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic after a surge in new infections piled pressure on its health system, but it has still fared better than most of Europe with almost 7,000 deaths since the pandemic began.

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