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.
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Tourism Authority of Thailand New Delhi successfully concludes expert programme
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), New Delhi concludes a three-month programme with the TBO Academy which provides online courses exclusively for travel & tourism around the world. In a bid to encourage tourism traffic to Thailand, the programme consisted of a five-module training programme, an e-flyer contest and a series of webinars to promote various natural and cultural marvels that Thailand has to offer to its visitors.
The core of the modules included an introduction to adventures in Thailand; Bangkok and beyond with insights into 'The City of Angels'; current SOP’s administered by Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA); southern Thailand that is a paradise for beach enthusiasts, mainly Phuket and beyond and an introduction to Chiang Mai and other cities neighbouring Myanmar and Laos at the northern border of Thailand.
Along with Vachirachai Sirisumpan, the director of TAT New Delhi office and Ankush Nijhawan, the co-founder of Travel Boutique Online other stakeholders like Angsana Laguna, Minor Hotels, Siam Siam Hotels, Berkeley Hotel, Ocean World and Madame Tussauds Bangkok joined the panel for various webinars.
The purpose of these virtual interactions was to communicate the latest information about the established safety guidelines, the latest updates straight from Thailand and promotion of new attractions and destinations in the country. The programme is aimed at aggressively promoting Thailand as a destination in North and East India through TBO Academy’s network of online travel agents and travel agency members. TAT India along with TBO Academy has created this module also to reach out to new travel agents in the market and increase visitor arrivals in the upcoming season.
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Tourism Malaysia India prepares for border reopening
In anticipation of border reopening, Tourism Malaysia India offices resumed networking with the travel industry by conducting meeting sessions with the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) starting with Bengaluru to set sights on strategic planning and come up with key initiatives, strategies and activities.
Officials of Tourism Malaysia New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai offices met with the tour operators and travel agents of Bengaluru to get feedback on the current Covid-19 pandemic to woo back Indian tourists to Malaysia. The meetings also served to update the partners on Malaysia’s latest situation as well as tourism products and developments in the post-pandemic scenario.
“The recent Malaysia Airlines achievement in receiving full marks for its Covid-19 health and safety measures by Airline Ratings shows Malaysia’s preparedness and commitment to safety and hygiene. Therefore, we will continue to build confidence and awareness that hopefully will translate into a desire to travel to Malaysia once the crisis ends,” Sulaiman Suip, director of Tourism Malaysia, New Delhi says.
“The other focal point is the much-anticipated opening of the outdoor theme park in Genting Highland in the second quarter of 2021. The official opening of this ‘Genting Skyworlds’ is music to travellers’ ears and the travel industry alike,” adds Hafiz Hashim, director of Tourism Malaysia, Mumbai.
“Malaysia is also committed to brand itself as an ecotourism destination, with an outlook towards balancing the development and conservation of its natural environment & heritage,” Razaidi Rahim, director of Tourism Malaysia, Chennai says.
India remains one of the top source markets for Malaysia and contributed 735,309 international tourist arrivals in 2019. The first two months of 2020 recorded cumulative growth of 29 pc before the pandemic led to border closures.
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Hong Kong Tourism to target high yield visitors
Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) will reinvent the city’s tourism branding to reflect the image of the city and to make the destination more appealing to the high yield international visitors. In a statement issued by, to thank the government for allocating additional funds for HKTB in the annual budget, Pang said that the national tourism agency will step up international promotions as and when the international travel resumes.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has brought global tourism to a standstill for over a year,” HKTB chairman Y K Pang said in a statement, adding “Regional competition for visitors is expected to be fiercer than ever. The HKTB must therefore step-up promotions in source markets to maintain Hong Kong’s competitiveness.”
“In addition to its continuous efforts to enhance the local atmosphere and support the travel trade, the HKTB’s goal is to encourage visitors to choose Hong Kong as their first destination when cross-border travel resumes. Looking ahead, we will reinvent the city’s tourism brand and captivate the high-yield visitor segments," Pang added.
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UK bans non-essential international travel till at least May 17
United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a fresh ban on non-essential international travel from and to the country till at least May 17. The extension of the ban came as the new Covid-19 strain has been spreading in the UK and as part of a new four-step plan to ease the lockdown could see all legal limits on social contact lifted by June 21, if strict conditions are met.
The UK government will report on April 12 with recommendations about how international travel should resume, while managing the risks of new variants of coronavirus.
“The government will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May,” it said in a statement. However, Britain is looking at a system of allowing vaccinated individuals to travel more freely internationally, the statement added. Johnson said domestic overnight stays and self-contained accommodation will be allowed no earlier than April 12, but non-essential international travel will remain banned.
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IATA in talks with Indian airlines for Travel Pass
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is in talks with the leading Indian airlines to sign them up for its digital Travel Pass, a top official at the global aviation body said.
IATA’s Travel Pass aimed to help revive international air travel squeezed by pandemic curbs, will manage and verify the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories and travellers. Several leading global airlines like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad and Air New Zealand have already signed up for IATA’s Travel Pass.
“IATA is in discussions with all major Indian airlines for Travel Pass. We hope they sign up,” IATA’s Asia-Pacific regional vice president Conrad Clifford told the media. “Two single largest barriers to travel (currently) are quarantine and lack of knowledge of regulations. Airlines want to get information out to customers. So, this is a logical extension of capabilities we provide to airlines," he added.
So far, international travel remains restricted in several countries, including India, to curb the spread of the covid-19 pandemic, though certain flights for repatriation and those under the air bubble agreements with select countries are allowed to operate. India currently has such agreements with more than 24 countries.
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