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Jaipur attracts large number of tourists over the last six months

The last eight months have been harrowing for people across the world. The COVID-19 virus is still causing a lot of problems for the travel and hospitality industry. Travel during the pandemic surely feels a lot different, but we haven't stopped exploring, especially here in India. Jaipur's historic monuments have been attracting a large number of tourists despite the pandemic and travel restrictions. The last six months saw over three lakh tourists visit Jaipur, which is a large number considering the pandemic. Domestic tourism is thriving in the pink city as more Indians are looking to local destinations. International travel is still largely banned, baring the few air travel bubbles that are in place. Jaipur's famed Amber Fort in fact has resumes elephant safari since tourism seems to be thriving in the city. According to Prakash Chandra Sharma, Director, Department of Archaeology, tourist footfall has gone up since the monuments first opened during Unlock 1.0. The department has now put in place safety regulations for the benefit of both locals and tourists. Masks and social distancing are mandatory for guests at the sites in Jaipur. Moreover, elephant rides in Amber Fort had already begun, starting November 24. Jaipur is known for some of India's finest forts and monuments. One of the most three destinations in India's Golden Triangle tour, the city is a favourite among international tourists as well. Now during the pandemic, you are encouraged to book tickets to its forts and monuments online.

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Snowfall at Kufri cheers tourists, tour operators

The latest spell of snowfall, although brief, has brought some cheer to the distressed small-time tourism operators at Kufri. Following the snowfall, there has been some spurt in the arrival of tourists at the famous tourist spot. The tour operators say it has pushed the business up by around 10 per cent. “The business had hit rock bottom following the massive spike in Covid cases after Diwali. The snowfall has attracted tourists from the neighbouring states,” said Sohan Thakur, president of the horse union. Thakur and they were now looking forward to White Christmas and the New Year. “A good snowfall around Christmas will give some fillip to the business here, which has been in the doldrums since the lockdown in March,” he said, adding, “That’s only if the Covid situation doesn’t deteriorate in the state.” — TNS

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United Airlines connects Delhi & Chicago with daily non-stop flights

United Airlines inaugurated its new daily non-stop service between Dehi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and its hometown hub at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Saturday December 11. These flights are being operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. With the introduction of this new route, United will operate four daily nonstop flights from India. The airline additionally operates daily year-round services from Mumbai and New Delhi to New York/Newark, and from New Delhi to San Francisco. United also expects to introduce a new daily non-stop service between Bengaluru and San Francisco commencing May 8, 2021. United will be the first U.S. carrier to provide non-stop service from Bengaluru to the U.S. and will offer more such services from India than any other U.S airline. “We are excited to inaugurate our daily, non-stop service between New Delhi and our hometown Chicago O’Hare hub,” said Harvinder Singh, Country Manager India, United Airlines. “This new flight strengthens our international route network and provides our customers from India with even greater travel choice, as well as the option of our Polaris business class service with flat-bed seats. With a network of connections from our Chicago O’Hare hub to 84 other destinations across the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean, the new service opens up opportunities for both business and leisure travellers alike.” Commenting on the inaugural United Airlines flight from New Delhi, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO-DIAL said, “At Delhi Airport, we are delighted to welcome United Airlines’ non-stop flight service between New Delhi and Chicago. This route will provide individuals with another opportunity to fly non-stop between the two countries. It will not only help improve the business-related travel experience, but also encourage personal visits by a large Indian diaspora based in Chicago." The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner features a total of 252 seats – 48 flat-bed seats in United Polaris business class, 88 seats in United Economy Plus and 116 seats in United Economy.

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Travel firms witness spike in bookings for Christmas, New Year holidays

NEW DELHI: As 2020 draws to a close, travel firms are witnessing 25-30% increase in bookings -- both for air travel and accommodations -- for holidays during the Christmas and New Year. Destinations close to dwelling city is top priority but travellers have started booking for domestic as well as international destinations which require air travel, albeit short haul. To boost travellers' confidence, MakeMyTrip has partnered AirAsia India and Indian Hotels Company Ltd, that runs the Taj group of hotels, to launch its special bubble holiday to Goa for Christmas. The curated package includes prior covid-testing, sanitized cabs for transfers, charter flights with middle row vacant and luxury stays at Taj properties. MakeMyTrip said it will lease out a part of the property at Cidade De Goa for the duration of the holiday to minimise outside interaction for the bubble holiday travellers. Apart from Goa, Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar, Pondicherry, Coorg, Shimla, Manali, and Darjeeling continue to be top destinations for the winter holiday season. "There’s 25% month-on-month growth in flight bookings to domestic leisure destinations and we hope to see this traction growing during the Christmas and New Year period. In the outbound travel segment, Dubai and Maldives continue to remain the most searched short-haul leisure destinations and as trends indicate these destinations will continue to rank high on the consideration set of travellers in the coming weeks as well," said Vipul Prakash, chief operating officer at MakeMyTrip. Booking.com said it is offering last minute and early booking deals while also extending Flexible-1 Day policy to offer travellers the option to change their plans given the continuously evolving travel policies of states due to covid. "Currently, hotel bookings for the Christmas and New Year period stand at one-third during the same period last year. However, the recovery in the past few months makes us confident that these numbers will continue to show an upward trend as we close-in on the holiday season," said Ritu Mehrotra, country manager – India, Sri Lanka and Maldives at Booking.com. The online travel agent has partnered with top hotels such as Marriott, Accor, Taj, Leela Hotels, WelcomHeritage, and Hyatt Hotels that are offering discounts upwards of 10% and complimentary add-ons.

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Daily Delhi-Kolkata Direct Flights Allowed Now Instead Of 3 Days A Week

Kolkata: Direct flights between Delhi and Kolkata will now be taking off daily instead of three days a week, the West Bengal government announced today easing restrictions. Earlier, flights between the two metros were functional only three days a week as a precautionary measure against coronavirus and to restrict movement from cities where cases were high in number. Bengal had banned direct flights to and from Delhi and five other COVID-19 hotspots across the country on July 4. From September 1, direct flights were allowed on three days a week for the six metros. The other days, passengers had to take connecting flights to reach their destination. However, for the other five cities, which include Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Nashik, flights will be allowed to and from Kolkata only on selective days of the week. Earlier, on hard lockdown days, no flights were allowed to take off or land at the Kolkata airport. Schedules for flights and hard lockdown days were announced periodically by the government. Delhi recorded 1,984 cases on Sunday while Bengal registered over 2,500 cases. Delhi's total case count is over 6 lakhs while Bengal follows suit at 5.2 lakh infections.

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New Year may give travel industry a long-awaited boost

NEW DELHI: There’s a bright spark in the winter chill for the travel and tourism industry. After months of negative and stagnant growth in tourism figures, travel aggregator Goibibo’s latest survey shows things are beginning to look up in December with 35% respondents to its recent survey saying they are headed for a vacation to usher in the New Year. About 60% of the respondents who said they will travel during the winter holidays also said they will spend the year-end vacationing in the hills or by the beach, while over 70% picked family, spouse or their partner to holiday with. The upward trend in leisure travel has also been reflected in the assessment done by RateGain, a travel and hospitality software company for the travel industry. The company’s deep dive into room bookings between Weeks 50 and 52 of the current year show that while bookings were at a negative 22% in Week 50, and fell further to a (-)55% in Week 51, bookings have finally inched up with a 3% increase in the last week of the year. While Alleppey registered a 67% increase in room nights being booked over the last week, Bharatpur in Rajasthan saw a whopping 160% jump in bookings over the last week. Co-Founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip Limited, which includes MMT, goibibo and redBus, Rajesh Magow, said, “Pent-up wanderlust is real...Bookings for the winter festive holiday season on goibibo indicate an increase in travel to domestic leisure destinations, including Goa.” Magow added that the upward trend is expected to continue as the mass vaccination drive against coronavirus picks up pace

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