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IndiGo to start Agra to Bengaluru & Bhopal flights from March 28

As part of its strategy to bolster its regional connectivity, IndiGo has announced Agra as its 64th domestic destination. The airline will connect Agra to Bengaluru and Bhopal through direct flights under the RCS (Regional Connectivity Scheme) from March 28. A weekly flight to Goa is also likely to start early February, sources said. The bookings are open with one-way fares starting at INR 2,523 for Bhopal and INR 3,789 for Bengaluru. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, IndiGo said, "We are pleased to have the Golden Triangle cities mapped on the 6E network, with the addition of Agra as our 64th domestic destination. This will not only enhance connectivity for domestic travellers, but also aid in expanding international air traffic once restrictions are lifted and travel opens up. Additionally, these connections will help promote tourism, trade and commerce, with Agra being home to multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites, one of the hubs for leather goods production and known for its food and delicacies." The Agra tourism industry is upbeat as it expects a big inflow of tourists, both domestic and foreign, in the coming days. The industry had long been demanding air connectivity from Agra to major destinations in India. A lone flight to Jaipur was also halted some months ago. The last 10 months saw a major setback to tourism, with the footfall of foreign tourists falling to just one per cent. The Taj Mahal and other monuments remained closed due to Covid-19 for over six months. With restrictions now removed, the flow of visitors has increased and the hospitality industry is hoping to make good in the coming months. The daily evening cultural show at the Kalakriti Auditorium - Mohabbat the Taj - has resumed, as weekend crowds have begun thronging Agra again. The inter-state buses have also begun operations, particularly to Delhi, from Monday, bringing relief to thousands of commuters heading for Palwal, Faridabad, Gurugram and other neighbouring areas. Welcoming the announcement by IndiGo to start daily flights from Agra to Bangalore, Bhopal and Lucknow, Sunil Gupta, Chairman IATO, Northern Region, said, "Tourists were hesitant to visit Agra as there are no flights which are usually considered very safe during the pandemic. We are hoping the number of visitors will now increase. We have demanded international flights also from Agra." Vice president of the Tourism Guild, Rajiv Saxena said "The flights will be very helpful and boost tourism in Agra. For the tourists, it will be such a big help as travel time would be reduced." Before the pandemic, Agra was annually visited by more than seven million tourists. "With three World Heritage monuments, and a number of other tourist attractions, plus Mathura and Vrindavan close by, Agra badly needed air connectivity. But due to pressure from the Delhi lobby of hoteliers and travel agents, all kinds of hurdles were being created, but now the Modi government has taken a huge initiative which should see a turnaround in the fortunes of the hospitality industry in Agra," said founder president of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association, Surendra Sharma.

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Bulgaria will have all travellers entering the country take Covid-19 test

Bulgaria will make everyone coming into the country take Covid-19 tests to stop the spread of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus, health minister Kostandin Angelov said on Monday. Bulgarian health authorities say they have so far recorded eight cases of the new variant that was first identified in Britain. "Today we will undertake actions to make PCR tests compulsory for all travellers that want to enter the country, including from the European Union," Angelov told a government meeting. The country has seen a significant drop in new infections in recent weeks and is planning to ease some restrictions and reopen secondary schools, shopping malls and gyms from February 4.

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Maharashtra to start jail tourism from January 26

The Maharashtra government will start 'jail tourism' in the state from Pune's Yerawada prison on January 26 to facilitate people to visit and see from close quarters the historical prisons, a minister said on Saturday. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will inaugurate the jail tourism initiative at Yerawada Central Jail on the Republic Day, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said in a press conference. This is the first of its kind initiative in the country, he claimed. "Jail tourism in the state will start from the Yerawada jail in the first phase. Students from schools, colleges and other people will get a chance to visit these historical places," he told reporters at Police Gymkhana here. "Under the British rule, several freedom fighters, including Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Tilak, Motilal Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Sarojini Naidu, Subhas Chandra Bose had been imprisoned in Yerawada jail and their memories have been preserved there," he said. Deshmukh said that guides will be provided to the visitors and ticket prices will range from Rs 5 to Rs 50. "In view of the coronavirus pandemic, only 50 visitors will be allowed daily," he said. The prisons in Thane, Nashik and Ratnagiri will also be part of the jail tourism initiative, the minister added.

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Manali sees spurt in tourist footfall

Manali is witnessing a heavy influx of tourists since yesterday, courtsey a long weekend. The number of tourist vehicles reaching Manali has touched the 1,000 count per day, which was around 550 in the corresponding period last year. Hoteliers said most of the units in Manali were packed to capacity. The occupancy rate was around 80 per cent. The tourists were seen in heavy numbers at various tourist spots, especially the Solang Nullah to enjoy the snow. Atal Tunnel has not yet been opened to the tourists in the wake of snow on the road and avalanche threat near both portals of the tunnel. The tourist vehicles are not allowed to go beyond Palchan. Hoteliers said the tourism had gained momentum and a heavy rush was witnessed this weekend. Anup Ram Thakur, president, Manali Hoteliers Association, said such a huge arrival of tourists in January was witnessed for the first time. He said people were eager to go out of their homes after being bound for a long time due to the Covid outbreak. The daily positive cases too had reduced significantly. Thakur said the administration and the government should be prepared and make adequate arrangements to facilitate the tourists. Snow was the major attraction for tourists. The administration should arrange snow cutters to ensure their access to snow points. He said tourist vehicles should also be allowed to go up to Gulaba or the nearest snow point towards the Rohtang Pass. This would provide livelihood to the locals. Thakur said the road to the Hamta Pass should be repaired so that tourists could be diverted to other regions, rather than flocking to one area. Adequate police personnel, equipped with communication facilities, should be deployed to monitor the entire stretch between Manali and Solang Nullah to cope with the traffic issues.

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Mount Everest reopens to tourists, trekkers

FOREIGN tourists and trekkers can now visit the Mount Everest area without any restrictions as the local authorities there have removed all Covid-19 related restrictions. Reeling from a loss of economic activity since the nation shut its doors to foreigners at the start of the pandemic, Nepal has been trying to woo back tourists to the mountainous region since October. Nepal's government had previously decided to allow foreign tourists for trekking and mountaineering from Oct 17 and all visitors needed to submit a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test report. But with the Everest climbing season set to start in March, the authorities decided to go the next step by removing any such requirement for foreigners, only for the region. Binod Bhattarai, chief administrative officer at Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, the region where Everest is located, told the Kathmandu Post that since last Saturday, sightseers visiting the Everest region were no longer required to submit a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test report or go into quarantine. "The government has lifted the lockdown fully, the rate of the spread of the virus has dropped, and Nepal is expected to begin an inoculation drive against the infection this week," said Bhattarai. "Based on all these factors, we deemed it necessary to lift the negative Covid-19 RT-PCR requirement to visit the Khumbu or Everest region." "However, if any travelling passengers are suspected to have developed Covid-19 symptoms, we have made arrangements to conduct antigen tests at Nicole Niquille Hospital in Lukla," he said. "There are no foreign tourists at this moment. But we are planning to draw some numbers this spring when the Everest climbing season begins in March," said Bhattarai. On Sunday, Nepal recorded 270 new Covid-19 cases and the total cases is now almost 270,000 with more than 3,300 active cases. In mid-December, Nepal threw open its doors to foreign tourists when it restored all tourist visas and foreign visitors were allowed to fly into the country. However, its land borders are still closed. Visitors are still required to submit a negative Covid-19 test result before being allowed entry. The Everest region is the second most popular trekking route in Nepal after Annapurna. In 2019, more than 57,000 thrill seekers walked over the trails there. The country had planned a Visit Nepal 3.0 campaign for 2020, hoping to attract some two million tourists, but it ended up becoming the worst year for tourism since 1986. The Covid-19 pandemic crisis resulted in an almost 81 per cent drop in tourist arrivals from the previous year, making it the worst year-on-year decline since Nepal opened to the outside world in the 1950s. According to Immigration Department figures, Nepal received 230,085 foreign tourists last year, equivalent to the arrivals figure of 1986. Most of them came before the country slapped restrictions on tourist entry on March 20. Between April and December, fewer than 15,000 individuals visited Nepal.

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India’s hotel bookings recover with the news of the vaccine; records 15% higher bookings YoY in December: RateGain

RateGain Technologies, a SaaS company for travel and hospitality, recently mapped the latest as well as emerging trends in the post-pandemic travel & hospitality landscape in India in the second edition of its PULSE report. In the first edition of the report, the company had focused on travel trends in the US after the presidential election and thanksgiving weekend. With the long wedding season behind us, Indians of all age groups have begun moving out of cities, filling flights to almost 100% capacity to domestic destinations as International travel was mostly restricted to UAE. The millennial traveller inspired by social media has 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% 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% 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%. This makes Indians the most optimistic about the vaccine, giving hope to the tourism industry in the fastest growing outbound market of the world of some revival. “In the new normal ,the Indian millennial traveller 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% of these bookings were for the first two weeks of January with no surge observed for the upcoming Republic day long weekend, proving once again 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.

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