About India Outbound Magazine

India Outbound is India’s only B2B travel media platform, that encompasses a print magazine, a website, an online TV channel and dynamic social media platforms, entirely dedicated to the promotion of foreign destinations and products in India. India Outbound is a niche platform not just for tourism destinations and products to promote themselves to the Indian travel industry, but also for decision makers to build/change their strategy in a context where the Indian outbound market is not only growing but changing with new dynamics. These trends, India Outbound analyse and predict them.

UK introduces point-based visa system to attract the ‘brightest and the best’

The home secretary of United Kingdom, Priti Patel has unveiled a new point-based visa system to attract the ‘brightest and the best’ from the world, including from India, and at the same time to reduce the number of cheap and low-skilled workers coming to the country.

The new system will come into force from January 01, 2021, at the end of the transition period after the UK’s exit from the European Union on January 31, 2020 which will formally end free movement of people within the economic bloc for the UK as a non-member.

The new post-Brexit system, which will apply equally to the EU and non-EU countries like India, is based on assigning points for specific skills, qualifications, salaries and professions, with visas only awarded to those who gain enough points.

“Today is a historic moment for the whole country. We’re ending free movement, taking back control of our borders and delivering on the people’s priorities by introducing a new UK point-based immigration system, which will bring overall migration numbers down,” said Patel, the senior-most Indian-origin cabinet minister.

Under the scheme, foreign workers who wanted to come to the UK would have to speak English and have the offer of a skilled job with an ‘approved sponsor’. They would be awarded 50 points if they fulfill these criteria.

In total, immigrants would have to reach 70 points to be able to work in the UK, with points also being awarded for qualifications, the salary on offer and working in a sector with shortages.

Azerbaijan Tourism Board to host Travel Business Azerbaijan for tourism stakeholders

Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB), the national tourism promotion body of the country will be hosting a large group of travel and tourism stakeholders from around the world this April. Taking place in the capital city of Baku on April 29, the event titled Travel Business Azerbaijan will bring together local and international tourism professionals to strike partnerships and profitable business deals.

The event is a first of its kind in the Caucasus country, and is expected to welcome approximately 400 industry professionals to establish direct communications while serving as a platform to showcase the tourism potential of Azerbaijan.

As part of its strategy to enhance the destination’s value proposition and double the inbound tourism by 2023, ATB launched its ‘Take another look’ marketing campaign in late 2018. In just over a year, it celebrated setting a historical record for Azerbaijan with 3.2 million inbound travellers – an impressive 11.4 pc increase over 2018.

“It’s a very exciting time for the tourism industry of Azerbaijan and we’re delighted to accelerate and enhance our proposition with Travel Business Azerbaijan. For the first time, representatives from key source markets will have the opportunity to connect with the local tourism and hospitality industry on this large scale, to build fruitful partnerships,” said Florian Sengstschmid, the chief executive officer of Azerbaijan Tourism Board.

Thai travel industry unites to discuss measures to overcome the impact of Coronavirus crisis

More than 500 members of the Thai travel and tourism industry recently attended a top-level brainstorming session in Bangkok organised by the ministry of tourism and sports to discuss unified and well-coordinated strategies and actions to facilitate a recovery from the inbound tourism downturn caused by the Coronavirus crisis.

The session began with an opening remarks and a policy statement by the minister of tourism and sports, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, followed by a number of high level academic lectures to understand the trends, directions and impact of the epidemic on the global and local Thai economy as well as the tourism industry. “We now have to convert a crisis into an opportunity. It is important to get the private sector back on its feet, which is considered the main mechanism to drive the country’s tourism industry,” the minister said.

In the afternoon session, the participants were divided into four groups to discuss more specific actions on 1) stimulating travel and tourism for both Thai and foreign tourists, 2) enhancing tourism standards, 3) building confidence among the Thais and the foreigners, and 4) setting the recovery measures.

Yuthasak Supasorn, the governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand acknowledged that the entire industry had suffered but it was important for all sectors to unite and cooperate. He also presented the range of TAT activities to communicate the facts and status updates in order to present accurate, reliable news and build confidence amongst both Thai and foreign tourists.

United Airlines and Vistara announce code-share agreement

United Airlines and Vistara announced the start of a new code-share agreement allowing the United Airlines customers to book travel on 68 Vistara-operated flights to 26 destinations throughout India for travel beginning February 28. The code-share builds on the agreement between the airlines in which MileagePlus and Vistara’s loyalty programme members earn and redeem miles when flying on either of the airline’s route network.

The agreement offers customers a simplified experience when planning travel between dozens of destinations throughout India including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Goa, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur, Varanasi and more.

“We are excited to offer our shared customers the option of building a seamless itinerary when planning travel to cities beyond New Delhi and Mumbai,” said John Gebo, the senior vice president of alliances at United Airlines.

Vistara’s chief commercial officer, Vinod Kannan said, “Vistara today connects the length and breadth of India, and we are delighted to offer the country’s only five-star flying experience to customers of United Airlines on their Indian domestic flights.”

ITB Berlin 2020 shows strong demand from the Arab countries, Africa and India

ITB Berlin is in strong demand, and with 10,000 organisations and companies from over 180 countries attending it is booked up again this year. “Our fully booked halls are proof that even in the age of flight shame, over-tourism, climate change and the coronavirus, ITB Berlin is still the focal point for the travel industry and radiates an international aura. For the global travel industry participating in large numbers and face-to-face meetings are important. For us, responsible decision-making and success in business are directly linked, which is why the slogan of the ITB Berlin Convention is ’Smart Tourism for Future,” said David Ruetz, the head of ITB Berlin.

In their role as emerging tourism destinations other than the Partner Country Oman, Arab countries are strongly represented, where all the emirates can be found. Saudi Arabia is making an impressive debut. After suffering a massive decline in visitors, Egypt is back as a tourism destination and is being represented by numerous hotels and resorts. Morocco’s displays have grown by 25 pc, highlighting the importance of tourism for the economy.

The Africa Halls with numerous exhibitors include Namibia, Togo, Sierra Leone, Mali and Zambia among the other biggies. The India Hall is also fully booked. Goa and Rajasthan have larger stands. The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, a newcomer to the show and India’s first private museum for modern and contemporary art, is exhibiting its art treasures. There is news from the Asia Hall where Pakistan and Bangladesh are exhibiting for the first time.

India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group