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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.

British Airways replaces CEO with immediate effect

The British Airways (BA) chief executive officer Alex Cruz has been sacked after four and half years on the job with immediate effect as the Covid-19 pandemic has battered airlines around the world. International Consolidated Airlines Group, BA's parent company, said in a statement that Cruz had been replaced by Sean Doyle, previously the boss of Irish airline Aer Lingus, another carrier in the group. Doyle worked at British Airways for two decades before moving to head Aer Lingus nearly two years ago.

BA has been criticised in recent months for its handling of 12,000 job cuts while the airline's passenger traffic dropped 95 per cent from a year earlier in the second quarter, leading to a first-half operating loss of Euro 4.04 billion (USD 4.77 billion).

Vistara to operate more flights from Delhi to London

Starting November 21, Indian carrier Vistara will increase the frequency of its Delhi to London flights. Instead of the current four, the airline will operate five flights a week on the route and a daily service from December 1, Vistara stated in a media release. As part of the bilateral air bubble arrangement formed between India and the United Kingdom, Vistara is operating these aircrafts.

“The increase in frequency demonstrates our success on the Delhi-London route, its importance in our network, and the steady demand for a world-class, full-service carrier from India,” says Vinod Kannan, chief commercial officer, Vistara.

The joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines has also decided to change timings of the Delhi-London flights with effect from October 25.

The additional frequency from Vistara comes at a time when another Indian carrier SpiceJet is also gearing up to launch Delhi-London flight. SpiceJet will operate two flights a week (Friday & Sunday) from December 4. While SpiceJet plans to deploy a leased A330neo on the route, Vistara has deployed a Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Virgin Atlantic launches flights to Manchester

Virgin Atlantic will be launching flights from New Delhi and Mumbai to Manchester as the airline ramps up flying from its home in the north of England. Flying three times a week from Mumbai to Manchester beginning in December and twice weekly from New Delhi starting in January, these new services will go on sale on October 20 and will complement the airline’s existing services from Mumbai and New Delhi to London's Heathrow.

With over 32 million Indians living outside the country and 500,000 living across the north of England, India has the world’s largest diaspora. These new services will open up over 130,000 seats between India and Manchester and aim to respond to the large, fast-growing demand to visit friends and relatives as well as capturing demand for business and leisure travel to the region as global economies gradually recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As well as flying customers, Virgin Atlantic will offer a fast, efficient cargo service presenting new opportunities for companies looking to export and import goods such as fresh produce, pharmaceuticals and textiles between prime markets in the UK, the U.S. and India.

‘‘We are excited to welcome passengers onboard Virgin Atlantic services from Delhi and Mumbai to Manchester for the very first time. Manchester is our home in the North of England and is positioned as a fantastic hub for onward travel. We are the only airline operating these routes to Manchester direct and passengers can enjoy the same fantastic customer service that we have offered from India to Heathrow for the past 20 years. We will operate one of our newest and most fuel-efficient aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner,’’ says Alex McEwan, Country Manager – India at Virgin Atlantic.

UNWTO to share data and insights with Expedia

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has said that it will share the data and insights and will work the Expedia Group to strengthen ties between the public and private sectors towards tourism recovery from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will see them collaborate on a range of topics, with the common goal of driving recovery and making the sector more resilient and sustainable.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili met with representatives of the Expedia Group in Brussels. Pololikashvili said, “From the very start of this crisis, UNWTO has been a strong advocate of close cooperation between the public and private sectors. This enhanced partnership will help improve our knowledge of global tourism trends, allowing us to respond to new challenges and guide tourism’s recovery. It will also help us place innovation and sustainability at the heart of this recovery, ensuring tourism emerges stronger than before.”

The partnership between UNWTO and Expedia Group will see both parties share data on tourism trends and developments, both at the global and the local scale. This will help informed decision-making, producing data-based policies aimed at tourism’s sustainable recovery and future development.

Peru opens Machu Picchu for a single tourist after seven-month wait

Peru opened the ruins of Machu Picchu for a single tourist from Japan after he waited for almost seven months to enter the Inca citadel, while trapped in the Andean country during the coronavirus outbreak. It shows the desperation of not only the tourist, but also of a famous destination, a world heritage site deserted for months with no visitor.

Jesse Katayama’s entry into the ruins came thanks to a special request he submitted while stranded since mid-March in the town of Aguas Calientes, on the slopes of the mountains near the site, said Peru's Minister of Culture, Alejandro Neyra.

“He had come to Peru with the dream of being able to enter,” Neyra said in a virtual press conference. “The Japanese citizen has entered together with our head of the park so that he can do this before returning to his country.”

“This is so amazing! Thank you!” said Katayama in a video recorded on the top of Machu Picchu mountain.

Minister Neyra said that the stone ruins of Machu Picchu will be reopened in November for national and foreign tourists, without specifying the exact date. The site will permit 30 per cent of its normal capacity of 675 people per day. “We are still in the middle of a pandemic,” Neyra said. “It will be done with all the necessary care.”


India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group