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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.

International passenger flights to and from India to remain suspended till December 31, 2020: DGCA

Continuing the standstill of the outbound tourism sector, ministry of civil aviation of the Indian government has extended the suspension of all scheduled international commercial passenger flights till the end of this year in the wake of a spike in Covid-19 fresh cases. In a circular dated November 26, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said all scheduled international commercial passenger flights flying to and from India will remain suspended till December 31, 2020.

However, as earlier, these restrictions won’t apply to cargo operations and services approved by the DGCA. The DGCA also added that select international flights on limited routes may be allowed by competent authorities on case to case basis. The suspension came into effect from March 23 with the only exception of air cargo and bilateral ‘air bubble’ arrangements with select countries since July. So far India has formed air bubble pacts with about 20 countries, including the US and the UK.

Ethiopian to resume flights to entire Africa

Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it will resume its operations between Mumbai, New Delhi and Addis Ababa under the air bubble agreement from December 2, 2020, starting with a weekly flight.

With South Africa opening its doors for all international travellers, Ethiopian is targeting Indian travellers for the entire continent. According to the agreement with the Indian government under the airbubble arrangement, any Indian national, destined for any country in Africa and holding any type of visa from the destination country, can be accepted by the airline. Seamen holding Indian passports destined to Africa, subject to clearance from the ministry of shipping are also eligible to board Ethiopian Airlines flights destined to any African country.

Currently, Ethiopian Airlines is the best connection via Addis Ababa to reach South Africa which is making a strong pitch to reach out to Indian travel trade. Ethiopia receives a very low number of tourists from India and there are reasonable doubts in the post-pandemic world Indian travellers would be interested to explore any other country than South Africa and Kenya.

Emirates launches multi-risk travel insurance

Emirates, the flag carrier of United Arab Emirates has expanded its insurance coverage on top of its current Covid-19 plan. This new multi-risk travel insurance and Covid-19 cover will automatically apply to all Emirates tickets purchased from December 1 and extends to Emirates code-share flights operated by partner airlines, as long as the ticket number starts with 176.

“Emirates was the first airline to offer complimentary global Covid-19 cover for travellers back in July and the response from our customers has been tremendously encouraging. We’ve not rested on our laurels and instead continued to look at how we can offer our customers an even better proposition. We’re very pleased to be able to now provide this new multi-risk travel insurance and Covid-19 cover, which is another industry first, to all our customers,” says Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates.

“We see a strong appetite for travel around the world, especially heading into the winter holidays as people seek warmer climates and family destinations like Dubai. By launching this new multi-risk travel insurance and Covid-19 cover, we aim to give our customers even more confidence in making their travel plans this winter and moving into 2021,” he adds.

“We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Emirates and we are excited to work with them to tailor this product to meet the needs of Emirates customers worldwide,” says Jeff Rutledge, CEO of AIG Travel, a leading insurance company. “Our hope is to help alleviate some of the concerns travellers may have when planning travel during this time,” he comments.

Emirates’ cover has provisions for personal accidents during travel, winter sports cover, loss of personal belongings and trip disruptions due to unexpected air space closure, travel recommendations or advisories.

Singapore rolls out Covid-19 insurance coverage for international travellers

In a joint statement, the Changi Airport Group (CAG) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) says that three insurance companies have developed the travel insurance products and it would cover coronavirus related cost incurred by the travellers during their stay in the country, The Straits Times, a leading newspaper of Singapore has reported.

Travellers arriving in Singapore would be able to purchase Covid-19 insurance cover up to 30,000 Singapore dollars during their stay in the country. The minimum coverage sum was decided based on the recommendations by the Ministry of Health (MOH), which considered bills for Covid-19 treatment at private hospitals.

The three companies providing insurance coverage are AIG Asia Pacific Insurance, Chubb Insurance Singapore Limited and HL Assurance. While AIG and HL Assurance have started selling their insurance products, Chubb's will be available from November 27, the report said.

Maldives launches tourism marketing campaigns targeting the India market

With the reopening of Maldives’ borders on July 15, and the increase in recent flights between Maldives and India, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), has recently commenced the launch of its marketing campaigns to boost arrivals from the Indian market and regain its market share and build brand awareness for its new brand message: ‘Rediscover Maldives…The Sunny Side of Life’.

The campaign is focussed to generate awareness in certain sectors, starting with weddings and honeymoons. In association with Wedding Sutra, the aim of this campaign is to market the Maldives a worthy consideration for upcoming weddings and honeymooners. In this regard, the campaign showcases special aspects of the destination, as well as available benefits. As part of the ongoing recovery plan, Visit Maldives kick-started a campaign with India’s one of the leading Over-the-Top (OTT) video streaming platform VOOT.

Together with the tourism industry partners, MMPRC is participating in a few virtual exhibitions and roadshows to connect with the Indian buyers. Taking into consideration that during lockdown the space of the digital world came to a boom MMPRC is trying to engage with Instagram users with live interactions with Indian celebrities who have previously been to the Maldives. And as part of its global media campaign, MMPRC has planned to advertise with leading trade and consumer publications in India.

The overall objective of this recovery initiative is to present the message that the Maldives is a ‘safe haven’ for visitors and that it is one of the safest places to visit during this time, due to the health and safety measures that are in place topped with the safety offered by the unique geography of the Maldives and the one-island-one-resort concept.

Macao Tourism introduces its first e-learning programme in India

Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) India has recently launched a Macao Specialist Programme for the travel agents. To continue staying connected with the Indian travel trade, and keep them abreast about the developments in Macao, MGTO decided to introduce its first e-learning destination specialist programme in India.

The special training programme aims to educate and upskill the expertise of the travel trade agents & tour operators across the country about Macao’s offerings and points of appeal as an outbound destination. Each varied module in the programme is designed to ensure that the agents are well equipped with accurate information to promote Macao as an ideal destination for Indian travellers and will be able to provide them with interesting itineraries. Post completing and passing each module in the specialist programme, the participants will be certified as a Macao Specialist.


India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group