News

New eco-tourism project begins in Gulf of Mannar

The forest department of Ramanathapuram, along with the local community, has started a community-based eco tourism project at Pichaimoopanvalasai in Erwadi zone of the Gulf of Mannar. A.S. Marimuthu, Wildlife Warden of Ramanathapuram and Director of Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust, inaugurated the boating services at the site on January 29. Zonal Officer M. Loganathan said that there will be two boats at the site- a passenger boat and a glass bottom boat. “Passengers can travel for an initial distance on the passenger boat and then travel on the glass bottom boat, through which they can see the corals”, he said. Passengers can register in advance for the boating services. A website is under construction for this purpose, he added. The entry fee for each passenger is ₹200. All passengers must wear face masks and undergo thermal screening before travelling on the boat.

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Rashtrapati Bhavan to reopen for public from February 6

The Rashtrapati Bhavan will re-open for visitors from Saturday, nearly 11 months after it was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an official statement issued on Monday. It will be open on Saturdays and Sundays (except on government holidays), the statement said. Visitors can book their slots online on the website https://presidentofindia.nic.in or https://rashtrapatisachivalaya.gov.in/, said the statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan. “Visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan, which was closed due to COVID-19 since March 13, 2020, will re-open from this Saturday i.e. February 6, 2021 for the public,” it said. As earlier, nominal registration charges of Rs 50 per visitor will be levied. To maintain social distancing norms, three pre-booked time slots at 1030 hrs, 1230 hrs and 1430 hrs have been fixed with a maximum limit of 25 visitors per slot, the statement said. During the tour, visitors will have to follow COVID protocols such as wearing masks, maintaining social distance etc., it said.

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Dubai announces new set of precautionary measures against Covid-19

New precautionary measures have been set out by the Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management. The new set of measures is taken in response to the rise in violations of preventive measures. It takes effect immediately starting February 2 to February 28, 2021. The announcement was made via the Dubai Media Office on their official Twitter account on the evening of February 1. The measures are as follows: -50 per cent reduction in the capacity of outdoor seated venues including cinemas -and entertainment and sports venues. -Hotels will have to operate at 70 per cent capacity. New bookings should comply with the capacity limit. -Capacity of swimming pools and private beaches in hotels are limited to 70 per cent. -Restaurants and cafes are required to close by 1am. Pubs/bars will be closed. -Malls to operate at 70 per cent capacity. Those who don’t follow the preventive measures will face tougher penalties. It is added that the public is encouraged to report violations by individuals or establishments through the Dubai Police call centre on 901 or on the ‘Police Eye’ service through the Dubai Police Smart App. According to the Dubai Media Office, in January 2021, the Dubai Economy shut down 14 commercial establishments, imposed fines on 213 and alerted 30 after various violations of the precautionary guidelines. These occurred on field inspections conducted in open markets and shopping centres. The violations were chiefly related to face masks and physical distancing.

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India’s hotel bookings recover with the news of the vaccine

RateGain Technologies recently mapped the latest as well as emerging trends in the post-pandemic travel and hospitality landscape in India in the second edition of its PULSE report. With the long wedding season behind, Indians of all age groups have begun moving out of cities, filling flights to almost 100 per cent capacity to domestic destinations as International travel was mostly restricted to UAE. The millennial travelers inspired by social media have been heading to remote destinations to enjoy a well-earned break from 2020. Majorly dominated by last-minute travel bookings, India consistently made higher travel bookings than last year in December. India’s recovery was above 100 per cent for all the weeks of December. It was observed that Indians booked last minute travel mostly to travel during the end of December and first week of January. Popular destinations such as Goa, Shimla, and Jammu still figured in the top 10 destinations for the first month of 2021. The recently released annual Edelman Trust barometer suggested that close to 80 per cent Indians surveyed were willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine within the first 6 to 12 months of it being available, which was close to 2.5 times higher than the global average of 33 per cent. “In the new normal ,the Indian millennial traveler would play a critical role in the recovery of the region and therefore this recovery is not encouraging for the domestic hotel industry but also for neighboring Asian markets that rely on China and India to drive their tourism markets,” Kamesh Shukla, EVP and Head APMEA, RateGain said. “Inspired by the travel taken by their family and friends, travelers continue to travel to tourist destinations such as Goa, Shimla, and Jammu two weeks after the new year emphasizing the role that social media is now playing in the recovery of the industry.” Another key trend observed in India was that 65 per cent of these bookings were for the first two weeks of January with no surge observed for the upcoming Republic day long weekend, proving that in the new normal, Indians are booking at the last minute, making it more difficult for hoteliers to plan demand and continuously changing their forecast. Top social media trends: Hotels in Maldives got ten times more engagement on their social media in the last quarter of 2020, owing to the corridor it opened with India, welcoming over 65,000 tourists. Indian hotels saw their highest surge in engagement during November, due to a surge experienced by hotels in Mumbai, as they received their guests during the long Diwali weekend for staycations. Hotels in Mumbai drove the most engagement on Facebook and Instagram, almost 150 per cent higher than the average engagement received by hotels in other cities. The Bangalore industry witnessed the least engagement from Indian travelers. Goa which was the most booked destination in December and had the most check-ins in December and January saw three times higher engagement during November on Facebook. It is also evident that hotels in India are driving more followers on Instagram by almost ten times as compared to new fans on Facebook, showing that hotels are targeting the younger generation that is joining the workforce and would be most likely to travel.

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Uttarakhand Secretary Tourism presents ‘Badrinath Master Plan’ to Top PSU’s

Dilip Javalkar, Secretary Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand recently presented ‘Badrinath Master Plan’, in front of representatives of top public sector undertakings across the country at Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi. The meeting was held with the representatives of PSUs like HPCL, ONGC, NTPC, PFC, THDC, Coal India, Oil India Limited, NHPC, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum under the Ministry of Energy, Coal, Petroleum and Hydropower with the aim of ensuring the PSU’s participation in developing of the region. Speaking at the occasion Dilip Jawalkar, Secretary, Uttarakhand Tourism said “Shri Badrinath Dham is one of the four major pilgrimages of India. Over 10 lakh devotees visit here every year. Due to the increasing number of devotees, limited resources and geographical restrictions, it has become necessary to develop it under a master plan to increase the capacity of this holy abode.” During the meeting, Jawalkar presented an animated version of Badrinath dham featuring various work proposed under the Badrinath Master Plan related to Temple Complex Development, Plaza Development, Road Construction, Construction of Ghats, Command Control Center, Street Fasad, Road Alignment and crowd management. “Most of the construction works are proposed on government land, however if private land is required, then the interests of local residents will be taken into consideration in the process of land acquisition,” Jawalkar added. Secretary Tourism also highlighted that Kedarnath Charitable Trust will act as a nodal institution for the Badrinath Master Plan Scheme. He also called upon private individuals to donate land and money to achieve this huge objective. He said that with the development of tourism facilities in Badrinath Dham, tourists will be able to get a better experience and will provide opportunities of self-employment to the local people. On this occasion, senior managers of PSUs include HPCL S. Subba Rao, ONGC's SS. Pratibhan and D.K. Singh, NTPC's D.K. Patel, PFC's R. Murari, THN's RN Singh, HS of Coal India Mishra, R.P. of NHPC K. Aggarwal and Vishwajit Basu, Apoorva Chaturvedi of Oil India Limited, LL of Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Khongsai BPCL's DR Gokhale and Rajneesh Verma were present. On behalf of Uttarakhand Government, Additional Local Commissioner Ila Giri, Public Relations Officer Kamal Kishore Joshi, Senior Arrangement Officer Uttarakhand Sadan Ranjan Mishra and Information Officer Anju Dhapola were present at the event.

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India: Scheduled international flights suspended till February 28

Scheduled international flights will not start operating as of now. As per the latest reports, Indian government has extended suspension of scheduled international flights till February 28, 2021. However, scheduled flights under the travel bubbles and Vande Bharat Mission flights will continue to operate. So far, India is in travel bubble agreement with 24 countries, including United States, Kenya, Bhutan, France, and Germany. Referring to the, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an order recently regarding suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India till 11.59 PM (IST) of February 28, 2021. The order further added that this restriction will not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by DGCA, and that international scheduled flights will be allowed only on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis. The Coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international flights was imposed on March 23, 2020, which has now been further extended till February 28, 2021. Since the flights were suspended, India has been operating Vande Bharat Mission flights to many places and has also formed air bubbles with more than 20 countries. International air travel has been happening on both air bubble and VBM arrangements for selected category of travellers. Apart from this, all-cargo international flights are being allowed, whereas the DGCA approves flights on a case-to-case basis.

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