AGENTS

The deadly coronavirus outbreak continues to hurt tourism as travel plans are being suspended even to destinations that claim to be safe. We spoke to a few travel advisors to find out how they have been affected amidst this chaos. EM Najeeb, Senior VP, IATO “While this is the initial …

The proposed amendment in Section 206C of the additional tax on remittances made outside India might make outbound tours costlier. The outbound trade fears this would divert customers to OTAs outside India. They explain… Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI “We are going to write to the government about it and try …

Abhishek Hajela, Travel Photographer, Eastbound, talks about the growing impact of photography tours and how they started this division at Eastbound. Nisha Verma Eastbound is offering photography tours to its clients, and the main idea behind these tours, according to Abhishek Hajela, Travel Photographer, Eastbound, is to build strong community-based …

The travel fraternity believes that the sector needs more nurturing from the government to reach its potential, as it hails the recent policy amendments in terms of GST and e-Visa fee. Naveen Kundu, Managing Director, EbixCash Travel & Holidays “Tourism is not a pampered sector just because GST adjustment has …

Can a stable government promote tourist traffic into India? This, many feel, is the key to India tourism’s troubles. The industry largely believes that recent policy amendments and strengthening of relations with other countries have actually helped boost numbers to India. Inder Raj Ahluwalia finds more… Subhash Goyal, Chairman, STIC …

Warning bells have not stopped ringing as a series of wildfire raging predominantly in southeast Australia, is expected to go on for months. We speak to six travel advisors to find out what the ground reality for them is, with a majority of them agreeing that tourism remains largely unaffected. …

The primary agenda for Kesari MICE now is to expand out of Maharashtra and to cater to people in high-potential cities of Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Delhi. Service and innovation will lead the way forward. Hazel Jain “I believe that in the coming years, M!CE will see a …

In an effort to make visa application more convenient for travel agents, VFS Global will soon start an exclusive Visa Application Centre (VAC) for them in the heart of New Delhi. Manas Dwivedi To maintain and strengthen relationship with the travel trade, VFS Global is taking a slew of measures …

Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) will go completely digital in 2020, with the first event of the year being hosted in Nagpur between January 27 and 28. Nisha Verma Harmandeep Singh Anand, MD, GPS, has said that starting with GPS Nagpur from January 27-28 this year, they will go completely digital …

As the Budget draws closer, spokespersons of the tourism and hospitality industries talk about their expectations, some of which include, further reduction in GST and improvement of tourist facilities. Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH The tourism industry should be treated on a par with the export industry, particularly export of …