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.

Sri Lanka reopens its borders to international travellers

The island nation of Sri Lanka is now open to tourists from all countries. Both international airports in the country have reopened with effect from January 21. “The livelihood of around three million people depends on tourism in Sri Lanka,” Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga told media. “It is our national responsibility to take into consideration the needs of our citizens that depend on this industry,” he added.

As part of efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Sri Lanka created a "bio bubble," which will give visitors a relative amount of freedom to travel within the country, while still observing safety protocols. Though there is no minimum time that a visitor must spend in the country, anyone coming from abroad must stay in a government-approved hotel or resort for up to two weeks upon arrival. That means that travellers only coming for a short trip will just stay in their resort the entire time, while people who are planning longer stays will be able to move more freely within Sri Lanka once they complete their two-weeks of semi-quarantine.

Travellers can also leave the hotel during quarantine to go sightseeing, provided they do so carefully. About a dozen tourism sites and attractions are open to foreign visitors, but with caveats. For instance, as part of the "bio bubble," attractions like Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, both in the central city of Kandy, require visitors to come as part of an organised tour group or with an approved Sri Lankan guide and must travel in a private vehicle.

Currently, 55 hotels and resorts fall under the "safe and secure level one" guidelines. They are not allowed to accept any local guests or host any events while they're part of the bio bubble. All prospective travellers must apply for a visa online and download the Visit Sri Lanka app.

Ras Al Khaimah launches ‘FUNDERFUL’ campaign

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) is inviting visitors to make this season more interesting by automatic entry into the grand raffle and bi-weekly draws while staying two nights or more at the participating hotels through new ‘Funderful’ campaign with complimentary hotel stays, restaurant experiences, tickets to adventure and cultural attractions like Suwaidi Pearls farm, Jebel Jais Flight, Jais Sky Tour and Jais Sky Maze, and the recently opened Bear Grylls Explorer Camp.

There is a Grand Prize - an ocean view apartment for a year up for grab, the campaign has many other interesting activities as well like tackling the campaign’s delightfully quirky tongue-twister ‘absoluxuchillexcitinfunderful’ via dedicated radio competitions to test how well they can get their tongues round the word that so deftly captures all that the Emirate has to offer as well as winning prizes.

Ras Al Khaimah became the first city in the world to be certified as safe by Bureau Veritas and the first Emirate in the United Arab Emirates to receive the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels Stamp. All 45 hotels in Ras Al Khaimah have received the Bureau Veritas certification.

Tourism Fiji introduces Care Fiji Commitment programme for travellers’ safety

In anticipation of its borders re-opening to travellers, Tourism Fiji has introduced the Care Fiji Commitment which is a programme that includes enhanced safety, health and hygiene protocols to ensure the utmost safety of travellers to Fiji. The programme represents a destination-wide assurance that Fiji is ready to welcome travellers safely back to its shores upon re-opening.

Although Fiji’s borders are still closed to international travellers, the introduction of the programme represents a destination-wide assurance that Fiji is ready to welcome travellers safely back to its shores upon re-opening.

“The Care Fiji Commitment is our assurance to travellers that the health and safety of everyone who lives and travels here remains our number one priority,” says Robert Thompson, Acting CEO, Tourism Fiji. “Now, with this added layer of confidence in place, Fiji is primed to be an ideal post-pandemic destination – one that is and has remained Covid-19 safe, allows natural social distancing, has a wide variety of islands to choose from, offers mostly boutique resorts with under 50 rooms total, and is known for its wide-open beaches and expansive rainforests,” Thompson added.

Nearly 200 of Tourism Fiji’s industry partners including the resorts, restaurants, tour operators, attractions and more have gone through an extensive training process as their first step in making the Care Fiji Commitment. The process is still ongoing and a full list of approved partners will be available once complete.

Amazing Thailand launches Thailand Traveller Voice online survey platform

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched the Thailand Traveller Voice online survey platform that encourages tourists to provide feedback and recommendations on issues affecting tourist destinations, attractions and establishments, especially on safety, hygiene, and general travel services.

“The Thailand Traveller Voice online platform formed part of the TAT’s strategy to utilise technology to develop a smart data system that can better support tourism development and serve the needs of tourists to help move Thailand forward,” Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor explained.

Available in English and Thai, the www.thailandtravellervoice.com platform is open for information and feedback from tourists on the sanitary standards under the Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA), the safety standards, and various aspects of tourism products and services. Tourists can give comments, criticisms, or complaints on their experiences at any travel service providers in terms of quality, services, prices, information and assistance. They are encouraged to provide details in writing accompanied by images or video clips if any. They can also choose to omit personal information or provide for contactable customer support.

Tourists can also help review the Amazing Thailand SHA standards at certified establishments and services as well as events and festivals. Using the SHA ID, if any, for reference, they can fill out a questionnaire and series of rating based on a five-point scale on sanitary standards, staff hygiene, distancing measures, and any other concerns, accompanied by images or video clips if any. The information will be submitted to the Amazing Thailand SHA Safety Standards Audit Committee.

Russia lifts restrictions for travel to and from India

Russia has lifted restrictions on air travel to and from India. An executive order signed by the Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin has lifted the travel restrictions on entry imposed due to the spread of coronavirus, for citizens and residence permit holders of India, Finland, Qatar and Vietnam.

The order further states that citizens of these countries and those who have a residence permit there are allowed to enter Russia through air checkpoints. The Russians, in turn, can also fly to any of these countries. Air travel between India and Russia will initially commence with twice-weekly flights between Delhi and Moscow.

Earlier, taking into account the epidemiological situation in individual countries, the operational headquarters had made a decision to resume international flights from January 27, 2021, with these countries on a reciprocal basis.

Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency had recently announced that airlines can resume twice-weekly services from Moscow to the cities of Delhi, Hanoi and Helsinki as well as three-time weekly services to Doha from January 27 onwards. Taking into account the epidemiological situation in individual countries, Russia decided to open commercial air operations to India, Vietnam, Qatar and Finland on reciprocal basis. The decision was arrived at after the four countries were reporting less than 40 new cases of coronavirus infection per fortnight per 100,000 population.

Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau virtually meets Indian buyers

Malaysia’s Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) has conducted its annual roadshow in India for travel agents in four cities of Kochi, Chennai, New Delhi and Mumbai. This year’s show was carried out online to connect Penang's and other Malaysian sellers to qualified Indian buyers from different industry segments including business events, leisure travel, weddings, team-building events and filming. The virtual show had a total of 25 registered sellers from Penang and the larger Malaysia travel and business events industry, and welcomed more than 200 buyers in total.

“We can return the form of India being the top five market for Business Events Penang if we continue to work together to build the business. The partners and participants for the roadshow who are present shows our commitment to ensuring the sustainability of the India–Penang travel business,” Ashwin Gunasekeran, CEO, PCEB commented.

flydubai adds Malta and Salzburg to its European network

Dubai-based airline flydubai has announced that Catania and Naples in Italy, Salzburg in Austria and Malta will be joining its European network from May 2021. The carrier has grown its network to more than 65 destinations as countries continue to gradually lift travel restrictions.

With these additions, the low-cost carrier will operate flights to 20 destinations in Europe including Belgrade, Bucharest, Helsinki, Istanbul, Krakow, Prague and Sofia.

flydubai flights to Malta International Airport (MLA) and Catania International Airport (CTA) will begin on May 12, 2021, with four times weekly service, while flights to Naples International Airport (NAP) will resume from May 13, 2021, with a thrice weekly service.

“With the start of flights to Catania, Malta, Naples and Salzburg we continue to gradually grow our network catering to increasing demand for travel, as more passengers return to the skies and more countries ease restrictions on international air travel. Since commencing operations in 2009, we have been committed to opening up previously underserved markets and the launch of our latest routes in Europe demonstrates our continuous efforts to offer more people the opportunity to travel more often while creating free flows of travel, trade, and tourism,” Ghaith Al Ghaith, the chief executive officer at flydubai said.

Emirates will code-share on these routes and the flights will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB), offering travellers more seamless connections through Dubai’s international aviation hub to 155 destinations between both the Emirates and flydubai networks including Australia, China, Indian Ocean, Japan, India and the rest of South Asia.

Karvat Group decides to fly solo in India

In a strategic move, the Karvat Group that has been providing travel assistance and insurance services to more than five million Indian travellers every year in partnership with the international firm Cover-More, will hereon steer its business in India solo. Other than providing global medical assistance, it will also offer family protection, concierge services and other ancillary products.

“22 years in the travel ancillary domain has given us immense knowledge and experience. We are thankful to the Cover-More Group for enriching that experience with their global expertise and supporting us in enhancing our capabilities. We would be happy to welcome them back to India in the future. We are now focusing on more India-centricity in our offerings for the travel business, which has seen significant changes in the wake of the pandemic,” elaborated Dev Karvat, CEO of Karvat Group.

“With the aspiration to expand our portfolio and capabilities, I am happy to share with you the launch of a new venture - Asego. Based on a highly progressive business model, this new venture will create, develop and nurture unique general insurance solutions, with stronger travel assistance & insurance offering, driven by cutting-edge digitisation,” he announced.

India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group