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.

Leading online travel companies form association, CHATT

Leading online travel agencies including OYO, Airbnb, EaseMyTrip and Yatra have joined hands to form an association titled Confederation of Hospitality, Technology and Tourism Industry (CHATT). Travel and tourism technology companies did not have an organised representation in the country so far. While the Union Tourism Minister, Prahlad Singh Patel formally inaugurated the association through a virtual conference, the leaders of the new association said that CHATT will represent the voice of those segments of the industry which is largely micro and small and therefore neglected in the Indian tourism industry.

Ritesh Aggarwal, founder & group CEO of OYO said that the issues of the micro and small segments of the industry are not represented or highlighted by any of the established industry associations in their discussions with the government and therefore the necessity was felt for a dedicated association.

Amanpreet Bajaj, general manager, Airbnb India and South East Asia said that digital acceleration is happening on both at the consumer end and at the business level and digital technology will be playing a key role in defining tourism in the post pandemic world.

Dhruv Shringi, co-founder & CEO of Yatra.com said there is need for the government and the industry to work together to evolve a synchronised and homogeneous travel policy for the country to help the revival of the tourism in the country.

OTOAI hosts presentation on procedures & advantages of becoming a MoT approved agent

Keeping in mind the tough times ahead, the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) hosted a training session on the procedures and advantages of becoming an accredited/approved agent/operator of Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Government of India. The session was attended by over 80 members of OTOAI and was presided over by D Venkatesan, the regional director (West, Central & Southern Region), India Tourism.

Despite being focussed on outbound tourism, the need of the hour is to survive and for that agents need to recalibrate themselves till the international borders reopen for India. “Vaccinated people are now keen to travel within the country and promoting domestic tourism will provide confidence not just to travellers but also the travel agents,” Venkatesan said. He also highlighted the numerous programmes or courses that the agents can undertake to enhance their knowledge and become government accredited agents. “Being recognised by the Government of India is a stamp of value and adds a sense of credibility to the agent while assuring the customer of quality service,” he added.

The president of OTOAI, Riaz Munshi kick-started the event by emphasising on the importance of travel agents getting recognition from the government. “The session was extremely informative and a value addition to the members of OTOAI. Becoming a government accredited agent can act as an added advantage for a tour operator and can act as a step to gain recognition and being taken more seriously. The interested agents, in the meantime, can also look at promoting domestic and inbound tourism during these challenging times. The insightful presentation also highlighted the government ‘incentives’ granted to the recognised tour operators, which many were unaware of. Going forward, we would be working closely with Ministry of Tourism on more such product training sessions and opportunities,” Munshi said.

Airbnb announces ‘Live Anywhere’ programme

Inspired by the growing flexibility to work and live from anywhere, Airbnb has launched “Live Anywhere on Airbnb”, a programme for 12 individuals to live exclusively in listings on Airbnb for approximately 12 consecutive months from July 2021 to July 2022. Whether it's joining Zoom meetings by the beach, taking family on the ultimate road trip, or learning a new language in a favourite city – participants can make the world their home. The campaign will ask that they share their experiences with Airbnb to help inform future product upgrades and innovations on the platform to better accommodate nomadic living. Airbnb will cover the cost of accommodations and provide an allowance for transportation for the duration of the programme.

According to the Airbnb Report on Travel & Living, the share of stays 28 days or longer on Airbnb increased 10 pc in nights booked when comparing 2019 to Q1 2021. About 11 pc of the long-term stay bookers in 2021 reported living a nomadic lifestyle, with 74 pc of consumers surveyed across five countries expressing interest in living someplace other than where their employer is based after the pandemic is over.

Through this programme, participants will provide real world insights on features, services, and the experience of living nomadically, that could help shape the future of long-term living on Airbnb, including product changes and resources that could help improve the long-term living experience as well as ideal types of accommodations for solo travellers or groups like families. It also addresses connections to local community members and businesses and better understanding of financial benefits of hosting while travelling. Applications for Live Anywhere on Airbnb are open until June 30, 2021. The 12 participants will be selected by the panel of interviewers in July and will begin travelling in September 2021.

Tel Aviv to host the iconic pride parade

Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality has announced the return of its iconic Tel Aviv Pride Parade on June 25, representing the first mega-event in the city since the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year.

The Tel Aviv Pride Parade will be one of the first mass parades worldwide to return in a physical, in-person format – courtesy of Israel's high vaccination rates and lifting of restrictions following the country's emergence from the pandemic.

The famous parade marks the climax of the annual Pride Month celebrations that have been taking place in the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo every year in the month of June since 1998. The Pride celebrations in Tel Aviv have attracted hundreds of thousands of international visitors and Israelis who join in the citywide festivities every year. The 2019 parade was attended by over 250,000, making it one of the leading events on the global LGBTQ calendar and the largest event of its kind in the Middle East.

India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group