News

India’s First Sand Dune Park to Come Up in Goa

Goa is set to be home to the country’s first sand dune park. The World Bank accepted the proposal of the Biodiversity Board of the state and has sanctioned a sum of 3 crores for the project. These sand dune parks, interpretations, and stretches will further boost tourism in the state. Owing to its long coastline bordering the Arabian Sea, Goa has a wonderful sand dune ecosystem. Even the National Green Tribunal had urged the Public Works Department of Goa and other relevant authorities of the state to take immediate measures to restore and regenerate the sand dune ecosystem of the state. This project will have a two-way benefit. It will benefit both the economics of the state as well as play a constructive role in creating awareness about the sand dune ecosystem. The state has finally started on a plan of action to tap into the tourism potential that will be provided by the only sand dune parks in the subcontinent. Bridges made of eco-sensitive materials will be employed in the construction of bridges under the project. This will protect the sand dune vegetation from being trampled by tourists walking over it. The interpretation and thematic centers will educate the visitors about the importance of the sand dune ecosystem and the need to conserve them. Nurseries of sand dune vegetation will be set up. Vegetation will be restored where it has been eroded on the beach stretches. This move follows the efforts of the state to shift towards an eco-friendly tourism approach.

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Sweden expects international travel from India to pick up by 2021-end

Sweden expects the number of visitors from India to increase during 2021 and go further up next year, as it undertakes a slew of initiatives to promote the country as a preferred destination here, a senior national tourism organisation official of the Scandinavian nation said. The tourism in Sweden this year has been severely impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "The urge to travel will probably be stronger after the lockdown and we are hoping that international travel from India picks up by the end of 2021 and goes up even more in 2022," Visit Sweden Manager - India Ruth Dolla told PTI. Due to the travel restrictions, there has been a massive dip in the number of tourists since the onset of the pandemic, she added. "Seeing the current situation, it is unlikely that the arrivals (in 2021) will be at par with last year, but we do estimate that the luxury travellers will opt for destination holidays depending on the lifting of the travel ban," Dolla said. In 2019, 235,445 visitors came from India to Sweden, she added. On the steps being taken by the tourism board, Dolla said in 2020, Visit Sweden, is talking about nature and promoting 15 unique experiences and accommodations in the country''s most fascinating natural surroundings. Nature experiences can help to find a way back to normality after months in the shadow of the pandemic, she added. "In Sweden, where 70 per cent of the country is covered with forest, nature is easy to reach. Visitors find open landscapes with fields and meadows, virgin forests, quiet lakes, miles of coastlines, and thousands of islands. For people waiting to travel soon, Sweden is the ideal place," Dolla said. On being asked about the profile of the visitors from India, she said: "It is both for business and leisure. VFR (visiting friends and relatives) is also a growing segment due to the increasing number of Indians now working and living in Sweden". Visit Sweden markets Sweden abroad as a destination to contribute to more jobs and increased income in Sweden. It is owned by the Swedish state through the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

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Air Seychelles appoints Bird Travels as India GSA

Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, has announced the appointment of Bird Travels Private Limited as its General Sales Agent (GSA). Besides Seychelles- Mumbai, the airline operates on international routes like Johannesburg, Tel Aviv and Mauritius, and also has domestic operations within the archipelago. Commenting on the appointment, Charles Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer at Air Seychelles said, “We are delighted to appoint India’s leading airline and travel representation company, Bird Travels as our representative in India. Even though commercial flights between Seychelles and India are currently suspended, we will work closely with the company’s experienced sales and marketing professionals, well-positioned in most Indian cities, to further develop and strengthen our presence in addition to reinforcing our sales distribution network within the Indian market.” With over 47 years of experience, Bird Group shares extensive knowledge and expertise in the commercial aviation sector including the travel and tourism industry. “We are delighted to be associated with Air Seychelles and look forward to building a strong partnership. Armed with our extensive local knowledge and experienced team, Bird Travels is well-equipped and committed to further increase the airline’s footprints, market share and revenues in the country going forward," said Vijay Bhatia, Managing Director, Bird Travels.

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Uttar Pradesh emerged as top destination in 2019 attracting over 53 crore tourists

India saw a steady rise in its international tourism with foregin tourist arrivals experiencing an annual growth rate of 3.5% in 2019. The foreign exchange earnings from tourism alone accounted for 30 billion dollars. Earnings from tourism is around US$30 billion in 2019. Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the top destination for attracting the highest number of domestic tourists in 2019. The Indian Tourism Statistics (ITS), 2020, has announced that as many as 53.6 crore domestic tourists visited Uttar Pradesh in 2019 which was much higher as compared to 2018 when the state had got the second position after Tamil Nadu. Uttar Pradesh attracted the highest number of domestic tourists in the country in 2019 with a share of 23.1% travellers visiting the state. Tamil Nadu was the star in the international tourism sector, recording an international tourist count of 68 lakh. The state also ranked second in terms of domestic tourism accounting for 21.3% of local tourism in the country. Tourists from Bangladesh accounted for the largest share of international tourists to India followed by those from the USA, UK, Australia and Canada.

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North Goa: Beach shacks likely to open from November

The tourism department has started the demarcation of beach shacks along the North Goa coast, and the process will likely be completed in the next 10-15 days. This was recently announced by Tourism Director Menino D’Souza. Reportedly, the tourism department is now working along Goa's North coastal belt, which includes Candolim, Calangute, and Anjuna. This process of area allotment for the beach shacks, has come as a major relief to many business owners, who have been waiting to resume operations soon. However, in the wake of COVID pandemic this year, the previous schedule set for October has been delayed. With the work in progress, the beach shack owners are hoping to get their business operation with shacks up and running by November first week. They are hoping that the upcoming festive season might likely help them boost their sales. As of now, the state is registering incoming domestic tourists; foreign arrivals have not started yet, and charter flights are yet to be functional. There are shack operators that rely exclusively on charter tourists; however, this season will likely be different as the holiday season will begin without any charter arrival. With COVID-19 still not gone and losses suffered by operators due to the pandemic, the government has announced to reduce the licence fee for shacks by 50 per cent. However, the said process of demarcation of beach shacks in South Goa is yet to start as the tourism department is short of manpower to get started with it. Reportedly, many tourism department officials have taken up COVID related duties at the South Goa Collectorate building, which will be taking some time.

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Vistara to operate more flights from Delhi, Mumbai to Goa to service demand

Vistara will operate more flights to Goa from Delhi and Mumbai from Sunday as there has been a "positive response and demand" on these sectors, said a senior airline official on Wednesday. The airline plans to operate two more weekly flights on the Delhi-Goa route and one more weekly flight on the Mumbai-Goa route, the official said. Goa sees a huge influx of tourists during every winter. "Vistara is currently operating 9x weekly flights between Delhi and Goa, and 10x weekly flights between Mumbai and Goa," Vinod Kannan, Chief Commercial Officer of Vistara, told PTI. "Considering the encouraging response on these sectors, we plan to increase it to 11x weekly flights between Delhi/Mumbai and Goa in the winter schedule starting 25 October 2020," he added. The coastal state sees a high number of foreign tourists, including a sizable number from Russia and Britain, during the winter season. From August 28 onwards, Vistara started operating special flights on Delhi-London route using its newly-inducted Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. "The (Delhi-London) flights have also been re-timed, effective October 25, to enable convenient connections to and from several cities across India, including Goa," Kannan said. The airline would operate five flights a week on the Delhi-London route from November 21, instead of four a week being operated currently, and a daily service from December 1. The increase in frequency to and from Goa as well as on the Delhi-London sector are resultants of the positive response and demand on these routes, Kannan noted. "We do expect travel to further pick up, especially around the festive season in India, however, customers' considerations will still largely depend on health and safety measures, and streamlining of quarantine requirements," he said. The aviation minister had also recently said that airline traffic and demand for domestic travel is expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels by the end of 2020, Kannan added. India had resumed its scheduled domestic passenger flights from May 25 after a gap of two months due to the pandemic. Currently, airlines are allowed to operate maximum 60 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic flights. "According to our customer survey concluded in June, 65 per cent of the respondents expected to take their next Vistara flight before December. This gives us confidence as we continue to monitor passenger demand and scale up our operations in a calibrated manner," Kannan said. Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, special international passenger flights have been operating between India and various other countries, including the UK, under air bubble arrangements. Vistara's London flights are currently being operated under the India-UK air bubble pact. In such a pact, airlines of both countries can operate special passenger flights to each other's territories under certain restrictions.

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