Author Archives: TBM Staff - Mumbai

28 seaplane routes, 14 water aerodromes under development: Hardeep Singh Puri

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A total of 28 seaplane routes and 14 water aerodromes across the country are in various stages of development at a cost of INR 450 crore, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.

In order to develop seaplane flight services in India, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

At the event, Puri said, “Twenty-eight seaplane routes under the regional connectivity scheme and 14 water aerodromes in Gujarat, Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep are at various stages of development at the cost of INR 450 crore.”

“Under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN, financial incentives from the Centre, state governments and airport operators are extended to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and underserved airports, and keep airfares affordable.

Puri said the MoU is a formalisation and the beginning of an institutional process to develop seaplane services in India.

He clarified that he has never seen any hurdles coming his way from anywhere when it comes to starting seaplane operations.

Puri told his Ministry’s officials to operationalise the seaplane routes as soon as possible because of their immense potential.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on October 31 last year inaugurated SpiceJet’s seaplane service between the Statue of Unity near Kevadiya in Gujarat’s Narmada district and Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad.
However, this seaplane service has not been operational for the last two months due to COVID-19, said Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Mandaviya, who was also present at the MoU signing event.

TOFTigers unveils online resource of best sustainable practices for accommodation providers

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TOFTigers has launched an online resourcee demonstrating that good business can go hand in hand with care for nature and local communities in a push for sustainable tourism once Covid-19 eases. The resource aims to spread good practice amongst the accommodation sector in nature and rural destinations and show travel companies and travellers what good looks like.

Inspiring case studies and tips for good practice are presented in nine overlapping themes spanning local employment and enterprise, community support, water, energy, waste, sustainable building, cultural heritage and nature education and conservation. Health and safety are also included with links to guidelines on Covid-19 developed by the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India in partnership with TOFTigers.

The examples draw on TOFTigers’ PUG certification, Asia’s highest standard for accommodation providers in nature destinations recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. More than 250 properties have been PUG eco-rated with a complementary Footprint certification programme also available for properties in rural and urban areas.

“India is ranked 14th in natural heritage but is only 128th out of 140 countries in environmental sustainability. This resource showcases that India can be outstanding in both. With world leaders meeting this autumn for COP26 to address the climate crisis and the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals looming, I’m hoping this new resource will be used by the government and the travel industry to harness tourism as a force for good in the economic recovery we are all hoping for,” said Julian Matthews, Chairman, TOFTigers.

 

SpiceJet unveils ‘Extra Seat-Extra Baggage offer’

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SpiceJet has launched an ‘Extra Seat-Extra Baggage offer’ under which passengers can avail an additional check-in baggage allowance of 10 kg on booking a private row and 5 kg on booking an extra seat.

This is a limited period offer available on all direct domestic flights of SpiceJet for booking and travel till June 30, 2021. For passengers who have booked a double seat, baggage allowance will be an additional 5 kg and for those who have booked a private row, the airline will provide them an extra baggage allowance of 10 kg. These allowances are over and above the existing 15 kg which all customers are eligible for while booking a SpiceJet ticket. Besides this passengers will also be entitled to enjoy complimentary priority service, “You 1st” – which includes Priority Check-In, Priority Boarding and Preferred Bag-Out.

Customers can avail the offer on the seat map page while making the booking. It can also be availed during Web Check-in and through ‘Manage My Booking’ section on the airline’s website.

To enjoy the benefits ‘SpiceJet Extra Seats’ must be booked up to 6 hours prior to the scheduled departure of the flight. Extra seats are subject to availability on a first come first serve basis. It is non-refundable, non-transferrable and is not applicable for group bookings.

Uttarakhand defers opening Char Dham yatra

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The Uttarakhand government has withdrawn its decision to open the Char Dham yatra for people living in three districts from Tuesday, reversing a decision that it announced just a day earlier despite concerns that the pilgrimage could lead to an increase in Covid-19 cases.

The U-turn comes at a time the government is investigating if private labs mandated to carry out Covid-19 tests during the Haridwar Mahakumbh issued fake Covid reports, possibly to meet targets, reports Hindustan Times.

A Covid-19 test report was mandated for the Char Dham yatra as well, according to the announcement by Cabinet Minister and government spokesperson Subodh Uniyal on Monday. He had said the yatra was being opened for residents of Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi, the three districts where the shrines are located, from Tuesday provided they have a Covid RT-PCR test report.

On Tuesday, Uniyal explained the decision to defer the yatra to the hearing by the Uttarakhand high court. Also, hotels, resorts and shops are still going to be shut due to the extension of the Covid-19 curfew in the state till June 22, he said.

“Also, I was apprised that Char Dham Devasthanam Board needs more time to complete the preparations for the yatra. So due to these factors, we will now take a decision about opening the yatra on completion of preparations and lifting of the Covid curfew in the state.” The Devasthanam Board controls the management of 51 temples in Uttarakhand, including the famous four Himalayan temples also called ‘Chardham’.

To be sure, the Uttarakhand High Court has repeatedly expressed concern over allowing the Char Dham yatra. On June 9, the judges also expressed displeasure that the State’s Tourism Secretary Dilip Jawalkar hadn’t visited the shrines to assess the preparations needed before opening them to pilgrims in phases. (Source: Hindustan Times)

 

Centre to reopen all ASI monuments from June 16

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[media-credit name=”https://www.tajmahal.gov.in/” align=”none” width=”300″][/media-credit]

The Taj Mahal and all other centrally protected monuments, museums and sites, closed for around two months due to the Covid pandemic, will be reopened on June 16, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) order issued on Monday said. These include 3,693 monuments and 50 museums across India.

An ASI official said visitors will be able to book entry tickets online. However, no offline booking facility will be available, the official added.

According to the ASI order, the opening of the monuments will be in strict compliance with the executive orders, if any, issued by the state, district or the disaster management authority.

“Today @MinOfCultureGoI has given @ASIGoI approval to duly open all the monuments of India from 16 June 2021. Tourists can visit the monuments following the Corona rules. Good luck to all,” tweeted Union Culture and Tourism minister Prahlad Patel.

Appropriate guidelines and SOPs issued by Union and states governments, ministries and departments will be scrupulously followed while regulating the flow of visitors, the order said.

In an order on April 15, the ASI had shut these monuments till May 31.

Last year, all monuments and sites maintained by the ASI were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 17. They reopened in July with strict restrictions like mandatory wearing of masks, a cap on the number of visitors and social distancing.

The curbs were relaxed later in the year.

However, due to the surge in cases again this year, these monuments were closed for the public.

Superintending Archeologist, Agra Circle ASI, Dr Vasant Kumar Swarnkar said Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and other centrally-protected monuments, sites and museums will be reopened from Wednesday.

“We will maintain social distancing among the visitors and sanitisation of the monuments premises will be done thrice in a day. The body temperature will be checked through a thermal thermometer. Besides, the shoes of the tourists would be properly sanitised,” he told PTI.

“Tourists would not be allowed to touch any object inside the Taj Mahal and other monuments and sites. They have to follow social distancing norms while sitting as well,” he added.

 

Travel enquiries, bookings pick up as the second wave of Covid-19 slows down

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According to a report in The mint, as daily infection cases decline and restrictions start to ease across the country, consumers stuck at home are back to planning travel. Even though travel and hospitality firms have seen limited bookings for June, they are flooded with enquiries and expect better business in July and August. Travel operators said that they have witnessed upto 50% jump in enquiries in the last ten days.

Varying travel guidelines across states are also leading to increase in enquiries. Goa, for instance, requires either a negative RT-PCR certificate or full covid vaccination certificate. To enter Himachal Pradesh, one needs a valid e-pass and a negative RT-PCR certificate. Uttarakhand, on the other hand, is conducting on-arrival covid test for passengers arriving from certain states with high number of covid cases like Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka among others.

SOTC said that there has been a 35-40% increase in week-on-week enquiries. “Customers are looking for guidance and handholding more than ever before. Our teams are working closely to support customers with our flexibility in rebooking/changes and free cancellation,” said Daniel D’souza, president & country head, Leisure, SOTC Travel.

Thomas Cook India said visitor traffic on its website in June is already up by 33% over May and lead demand for holidays has seen a healthy jump of over 30% in the last week.

“Top searches and queries are for domestic favourites like Ladakh and Kashmir. Millennials, young working professionals and ad hoc groups of family/ friends are the segments driving demand currently. In addition to metros, mini metros and tier II source markets like Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow are also fuelling travel demand,” said Rajeev Kale, president & country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd.

MakeMyTrip said that booking patterns indicate that confidence is building back in travel with cancellations being limited to only 10% of overall bookings being made on the platform for the month of June. This is equivalent to the number of cancellations that were made in February this year.