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About India Outbound Magazine

India Outbound, a brand of Media India Group, 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. India Outbound brings to you the latest trends of the market with in depth analysis.

EU countries advised to halt non-essential travel from India

The European Commission has asked European Union member States to temporarily halt non-essential travel from India, to limit the spread of a Covid-19 variant. The EC advisory follows the World Health Organisation's proposal on Monday to reclassify the B.1.617.2 variant of Covid-19 found in India as a 'variant of concern', raising the alert from a 'variant of interest'. EU countries should apply an "emergency brake" on non-essential travel from India, it said in a statement.

“It is important to limit to the strict minimum the categories of travellers that can travel from India for essential reasons and to subject those who may still travel from India to strict testing and quarantine arrangements,” it added.

Last week the Commission proposed that the EU's 27 member states ease Covid-19 travel restrictions from June to allow foreign travellers from more countries to enter the bloc, while keeping the option to quickly restrict travel from countries where the health situation deteriorates sharply. The member States have not yet adopted this recommendation but could individually opt to ban non-essential travel from India before it is adopted.

Maldives bans Indian arrivals including transits

The island nation of Maldives which was booming with Indian tourists immediately after the first wave of the pandemic, and the destination became a go-to place for the Indian holiday-seekers, has banned all Indian tourists including those who are transiting. Along with India, the country has banned all south Asian countries as well. All tourist visas for those travelling from these countries have been temporarily halted from May 13 onwards.

The Maldives had earlier imposed a ban on Indian arrivals at guesthouses and hotels located on inhabited islands from April 27. The report had led to confusion among Indian travellers who were not sure about being allowed to travel to the Maldives. The tourism department had then issued a statement on social media, clarifying that the restriction does not apply to resorts and hotels located away from the local population and that Indians were allowed to visit all Maldivian resorts located on separate islands with a negative RT-PCR test taken within 96 hours of the flight to the Maldives. The tourism department had also stated that Indians who had already checked in to hotels and guesthouses would be allowed to stay at such facilities for the duration of their bookings.

Nepal extends international flight ban till May-end

The aviation regulator of the Himalayan nation of Nepal announced the extension of ban on international flights till midnight of May 31. The earlier flight ban was set to expire on May 14, which has now been extended. “The suspension period of international scheduled flights (except two flights in a week between Kathmandu and New Delhi, one flight each by Nepal Airlines and Air India, under the Air Travel Bubble Arrangement) is extended till May 31st 2021 midnight (23:59 NST),” Hirajan Kafle, a civil aviation spokesperson said in a release.

In a notice, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has directed airline companies not to open new bookings to and from Nepal until further notice. “Airlines are informed to facilitate refunding of air tickets or extension of travel date as required by passengers,” he says.

Portugal lights up historical Pacos do Concelho with Indian tricolour

Expressing solidarity to India’s ongoing struggle against Covid-19, and to coincide with the EU-India Leaders’ hybrid meeting at Palacio de Cristal, VisitPortugal had lit up the famous heritage building, Pacos do Concelho in Porto with the Indian tricolour. The historical building was lit up on May 8 and 9. The building situated in the heart of the downtown is known for its 70 m high tower with a carillon clock.

Commenting on this, Claudia Matias, director, VisitPortugal in India said, “Portugal expresses its solidarity and a message of hope and strength to all Indians in this challenging time in their fight against the pandemic. We are sending across our deepest fast recovery wishes to India, by illuminating with Indian tricolour flag an iconic landmark in Porto.”

Porto is a World Heritage City well known for its intense cultural life, imposing monuments such as the iconic Luís I bridge, the Cathedral and the spectacular baroque church of São Francisco. The city is also one of the most beautiful and oldest bookshops in the world, Lello, which was an inspiration for J K Rowling and Harry Potter books.

Vistara to fly Delhi-Tokyo from June 16

Vistara has announced special, non-stop flights between Delhi and Tokyo starting June 16, 2021. The airline will fly once a week between the two capital cities under India’s travel bubble agreement with Japan. The airline will use its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with three-class cabin configuration to serve the route. Vistara has also trained its cabin crew in the Japanese language to facilitate the passengers onboard. The Delhi–Tokyo-Delhi round trip fares range from INR 45,049 for Economy class to INR 150,399 for Business class.

“Far East has been an extremely important geography for our global expansion from the beginning for its tremendous growth potential. We are delighted to add Japan to our international network, under the travel bubble and look forward to providing the best of Indian hospitality while maintaining the highest standards of safety and hygiene for our customers on this sector,” says Leslie Thng, chief executive officer, Vistara.

Cathay Pacific permanently closes Kolkata operations

Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific has announced the withdrawal of its flights from Kolkata with immediate effect, and has informed that post the opening of the Indian skies will continue to operate passenger flights out of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.

Cathay Dragon, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, used to operate five weekly flights between Kolkata and Hong Kong till early March 2020. The airline then suspended operations because of the Covid-19 related lockdown. Sources said the contracts of the Kolkata-based employees of the airline had been terminated. However, the spokesperson goes on to confirm that Cathay Pacific Cargo will continue to operate cargo services into Kolkata as per the market demand.

Many passengers from Kolkata and eastern India used to fly on Cathay Dragon to Hong Kong and from there onwards to the US, Japan and Australia.

“In October 2020, the Cathay Pacific Group had announced the need to create more focussed, efficient and competitive business by harnessing our strengths and a corporate restructuring ceasing Cathay Dragon’s operations,” an official of the airline wrote in a mail to tour operators of Kolkata.


India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group