Read in Browser

About India Outbound Magazine

India Outbound 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.

click to read the latest issue

Maldives plans Facebook Live event to connect global audience

Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) has announced that it will conduct ‘Maldives, the sun will shine again’, a live Facebook event on June 8, aiming to bring hope and convey to the world that Maldives is slowly but surely on the road to recovery and the tourism industry is getting ready to start welcoming back visitors to the sunny side of life. Three hours of live feed will see celebrities, key opinion leaders, influencers, artists and fans of Maldives along with the iconic Maldivian personalities featuring musicians and local talents come together to show their love, sentiments, wishes, memories and messages to remind that indeed ‘the sun will shine again’ in the Maldives.

Thailand Tourism launches mini site dedicated to SHA project

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a mini site dedicated to the “Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration: SHA” project, and part of the efforts to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 crisis and accelerate recovery in the travel and tourism sector. The mini site (www.tourismthailand.org/thailandsha) will contain all information related to post coronavirus tourism measures everyone dealing with tourism in Thailand must know, especially the business owners, travel agents and tour operators. The certification is to prepare the industry to be ready for the return of tourism post COVID-19 and develop confidence in Thailand as a destination among international and domestic tourists. Meanwhile, TAT India offices are conducting knowledge series programmes in association with industry partners like Travelbulz, Makemytrip and Yatra and awarding certificates to those who attend the complete webinars.

Emirates Airline flights resume on May 21

After weeks of being grounded with only emergency cargo open for operations, Emirates Airline passenger flights resumed flying again on May 21, 2020. The airline announced it will resume scheduled passenger services to nine destinations, with connections via Dubai offered only to passengers traveling between the UK and Australia for the moment. There is huge demand from all over, even from India for connecting flights, but passengers will have to check for travel eligibility updates as will only those will be accepted who comply with their destination’s entry criteria and regulations from their respective country of residence. The airline say it has been busy enhancing its products and services to not just provide a better flying experience, but also ensure passenger safety. In coordination with the Dubai Health Authority, Emirates Airline flights will have staff conducting on-site rapid COVID-19 tests for those flying to countries which have requested them and thermal testing for all passengers. All aircraft have enhanced cleaning and disinfection processes in Dubai after each journey.

Abu Dhabi Tourism launches Safe and Clean Certification Programme

As hotels, malls and other attractions in Abu Dhabi prepare cautiously to welcome back the guests, the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has announced the launch of a safe and clean certification programme seeking to uplift and standardise the cleanliness and hygiene levels across all businesses and organisations in the tourism sector. The certification programme will be rolled out in phases. Phase one will be dedicated to hotels in Abu Dhabi, with other tourism attractions and businesses to follow. “Through this tourism board led programme, we hope to boost the confidence of consumers when considering Abu Dhabi as a tourism destination,” says Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, executive director of tourism and marketing at DCT Abu Dhabi.

ACI and IATA outline roadmap for aviation industry restart

Airports Council International (ACI) World and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have called on governments to ensure any new measures introduced for airports and airlines in the wake of COVID-19 are supported by scientific evidence and are consistent across the world. The aviation sector has been brought to a standstill and a balanced and effective restart and recovery depends on collaboration among the key participants in the global aviation ecosystem. ACI and IATA have jointly issued a paper laying out a pathway for restarting the aviation industry - Safely Restarting Aviation - ACI and IATA Joint Approach. ACI World director general Angela Gittens said, “There is currently no single measure that could mitigate all the risks of restarting air travel but we believe a globally-consistent, outcome-based approach represents the most effective way of balancing risk mitigation with the need to unlock economies and to enable travel.” IATA’s director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said, “Our layered approach of measures recommended by airports and airlines safeguard public health while offering a practical approach for a gradual restart of operations. It is important to remember that the risk of transmission on board is very low. And we are determined that aviation will not be a significant source of re-infection."

Nepal Tourism Board prepares survival plan

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has made three major recommendations to the government of Nepal for the survival of Nepal’s tourism industry during and post COVID-19. These major recommendations highlight the followings - NPR 20 billion Job Retention Fund for Tourism Workforce; financial support to the tourism enterprises and policy intervention. As per the first recommendation, tourism workers should present some testimonials like the last three-month salary deposited in a bank, PAN registration certificate, TDS payment proof, or Social Security Fund (SSF). It has also recommended that there should be loan repayments deferment for the last three years as well as a one-year facility for the interest capitalisation. The facility for an additional loan against existing collateral is also recommended for each firm based on their size. There should be a rebate on electricity charges and a waiver on electricity demand charges. With an aim to keep the industry afloat through domestic tourism, it has suggested mandatory Leave Travel Concession (LTC) or Tourism Travel Leave provision for all the civil servants, security personnel, employees of corporations, authorities, semi-government organisations, banking sector, and corporate sectors etc. either through direct cash amount support or through income tax rebate on the expense amount designated for LTC. The policy clearly shows Nepal wishes to consider domestic tourism as source for income, and if borders open, India will be first on its radar. However, nothing much has been clearly mentioned in the policy decision on what will be strategy in welcoming the international guests as Nepal's economy depends a lot on foreign tourists. Visit Nepal year 2020 that aimed at securing two million tourists anyway got washed out due to coronavirus pandemic, where a lot of government money was spent in its preparation. It is yet to be seen, how Nepal plans to revive the VNY2020 campaign, during the second half of the year.


India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group