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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.

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India set to resume limited international commercial flights

After a gap of almost four months, India will reopen its airports to international commercial flights. On March 22, in view of the coronavirus pandemic, India had shut all its airports to overseas passenger flights. A few weeks later, it started in a limited manner, mounting special flights under Vande Bharat Mission to evacuate Indian citizens stuck overseas due to the pandemic. Initially limited to Air India, gradually other Indian airlines were allowed to join the mission. In the meanwhile, India has been under increasing pressure from various countries to allow their airlines to also fly to India. It is in this light that civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri has announced that India had established individual bilateral bubbles with the US, Germany, UK and France allowing airlines of these countries to operate scheduled commercial flights to India. He said air bridges or air bubbles would be the way to resume international air travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier the same day, Air India sent an email to its sales agents inviting them to start selling tickets following the resumption of scheduled commercial passenger flights to Paris and Frankfurt from July 22 till August 31, 2020. The communiqué stated Air India will fly to Paris three times a week and to Frankfurt four times a week from New Delhi. However, in the press briefing Puri said, “Till international civil aviation can reclaim its pre-Covid numbers, I think the answer will lie through bilateral air bubbles which will carry a possible number of people but under defined conditions as countries are still imposing entry restrictions including India.’’ He added, Air France would be operating 28 flights between New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Paris from July 18 to August 1 while the U.S. carrier United Airlines would be flying 18 flights between India and the U.S. from July 17 to July 31. The minister further clarified India was planning to establish a bubble with the UK soon, under which there would be two flights per day between Delhi and London. “We have request from German carriers to permit flights to India and we are processing it,” he said.

France pushes for restarting tourism with reopening of Eiffel Tower and Disneyland

Eiffel Tower is perhaps the most iconic tourist attraction in the world and by reopening the top floor of this most-visited monument along with the partial reopening of Disneyland Paris, Europe's most frequented theme park resort, France has sent a strong message of restarting tourism to the world. The French tourism industry also received a good boost with this move. Disneyland Paris was partially opened to the public after four months’ of closure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The park in Marne-la-Vallee, to the east of the French capital, is opening its doors in a phased way starting with Disneyland Parks and the Walt Disney Studios following enhanced safety measures including managed attendance, reduced capacity to support social distancing, bolstered cleaning and disinfection of rides and spaces. After the first two floors of Eiffel Tower were opened on June 25, the top floor was reopened on July 15 with limited capacity. The Eiffel Tower officials have said that a maximum of only 250 people will now be allowed at the top floor at a time to enjoy the panoramic views of the City of Lights. The 19th century iron monument saw its longest closure since World War II.

Tourism Authority of Thailand conducts India’s first ever luxury virtual connect

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) conducted India Luxury Virtual Connect (ILVC), India’s first ever virtual road show, which was designed exclusively for leading travel partners across key metro cities in India to touch base with the Thai private sector while maintaining social distance from their respective homes. The first ever India Luxury Virtual Connect (ILVC) conducted on July 15-16 witnessed participation from around 28 Thai luxury sellers along with close to 175 travel agents across Indian cities. The ILVC interface, developed by Travel Gyan, is a virtual platform for leading travel partners to experience the road show exactly in the same format as the physical road show. The objective of ILVC was to introduce brand new products to cater to the luxury segment in India and further to share situation update in Thailand for the Indian buyers to understand the changing landscape of tourism. Basis industry predictions, TAT is presently concentrating its outreach measures on the luxury segment as the Indian elites are expected to make the first travel movements post complete unlocking of restrictions in India. ILVC followed round-robin setup wherein the buyers and sellers followed a pre-fixed meeting schedule and interacted and shared information relevant to the product. They also got a chance to download brochures, fact sheets and exchange business cards from the virtual resources centre. The daylong event ILVC marked as the commencement of a new remarkable era in the travel trade industry through which the world of travel can be connected by only few clicks. Cholada Siddhivarn, director, TAT Mumbai said, “We are extremely delighted to have introduced a platform like ILVC to the Indian market and help the Thai private sector and reach out to buyers across the country and discuss the future of travel in the post unlocking period. We are certain that this networking will help us drive arrivals to Thailand as soon as international travel is permitted.” Vachirachai Sirisumpan, director, TAT New Delhi added, “Though it is still not clear when the international tourists from India will be able to travel to Thailand but it is important for us to stay connected with our partners. TAT India Offices would like to connect our Thai hospitality and travel businesses with travel agents in India and use this platform to update the products and services as well as all safety and health measures be taken in order to ensure and boost confidence of tourists. Luxury travel segment is a very important market for Post-Covid travel period which Thailand can ensure to meet the wish list of all travellers for luxury experiences and accommodation as well as gastronomy, arts and crafts, nature and beaches.”

Thomas Cook and SOTC launch chauffeured van tours, private journeys

Thomas Cook India, along with its group company, SOTC Travel, has launched Private Journeys, that offers premium, chauffeured van tours, strategically designed for family, extended family or friends. Private Journeys will cover over 32 countries, for travel from September 2020-2021, and at prices starting from INR 25,800. Rajeev Kale, president & country head - holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook India said, "As we enter a new era of travel with an increased focus on health and safety, our Private Journeys intends to bring back consumer confidence with a unique concept of premium, chauffeur-driven van tours, specially designed for smaller/secure groups of family or close friends. The easy-paced itineraries promise a relaxed holiday with an in-depth exploration of each destination. And while we have included delightful premium experiences, the pricing has been kept very affordable." Daniel Dsouza, president & country head, leisure, SOTC Travel said, "Private trips is an emerging trend, that lets families and friends enjoy and explore a destination in privacy and safety in the Covid-19 era. It comfort of a chauffeur-driven van ensuring a safe and private holiday all throughout their journey. Private journeys comes with the assured program - in association with Apollo Clinics and includes comprehensive insurance cover for Covid-19 related hospitalisation for a stress free travel journey."

Macao getting ready to welcome international tourists

Macao is all set to reopen its borders to welcome tourists again, after nearly six months of closure. Arzan Khambatta, head of Macao Government Tourism Office - India said, "Macao is all set to take its first step to prepare the destination from the devastating effects of the pandemic with effective preventive measures. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020, Macao has proven itself capable of battling the spread of the pandemic with lowest reported cases and zero deaths till date. Right now Macao is taking steps to overcome the coronavirus-induced tourism slump as well, we have started a new campaign to encourage local tourism…but we hope it will soon be available for international travellers once travel bans are lifted.”

Monaco launches Monaco Safe Certification

To support economic recovery, while fostering a reassuring sense of health confidence, the government of Monaco has launched Monaco Safe Certification, which is designed to offer customers and visitors to the Principality of Monaco the best possible welcome in shops, hotels, restaurants, convention centres and all other premises that are open to the public, in accordance with the current health regulations to stop the spread of Covid-19. "It is an additional selling point available to the tourism and retail sectors: the Principality of Monaco is safe and attractive, and will continue to be so," said the government. In addition, the Tourist and Convention Authority and the Welcome Office will involve professional bodies and the Monaco Economic Board in publicising the Monaco Safe Certification to as many people as possible, and far beyond the borders.

Czech Tourism brings e-classrooms to train Indian travel trade

During the lockdown period, Czech Tourism India office has been conducting e-classrooms to train the Indian travel trade on the various regions and experiences in the Czech Republic, especially emphasising those beyond Prague. While both the countries wait for recovery, Czech Tourism India office is making an effort to educate the travel trade about the various facets of the destination, which are still new to the India market. The e-classrooms are not only helping the tourism board to stay connected with the travel trade partners but on top is keeping them equipped with updated information about the Czech Republic for the time so that when the travel bans will be lifted agents can promote the country to the discerning Indian travellers with appropriate product knowledge. Czech Tourism is also set to roll out an e-learning module for travel trade partners in India. Through completing and passing the e-module successfully, agents in India can be certified as the Czech Republic Specialist. The Czech Republic has so far been able to fight Covid-19 pandemic fairly well and is amongst the least affected countries in Europe. Czech cities have been hosting an increasing number of visitors from India, and the numbers are increasing with every passing year. While Prague and its attractions remain popular among the Indian travellers, an increased interest has been recorded in newer experiences such as heritage cities of Olomouc, Litomysl, KutnaHora, and Kromeriz, which have old-world atmosphere and abundant in sites protected by UNESCO. The joyful cities of Karlovy Vary and Liberec offer experiences that are ideal for families and couples.

ITB Asia 2020 to turn virtual through ITB Community

Messe Berlin (Singapore) has announced that ITB Asia, MICE Show Asia and Travel Tech Asia will turn virtual from October 21 – 23, 2020. Originally scheduled on the same dates, the annual travel trade show will instead be held on a virtual platform, due to the uncertainty over continued global travel restrictions and safe distancing measures. The virtual event will be hosted on a newly developed platform, also known as the ITB Community set to launch on August 12, 2020. In addition to hosting this year’s edition of ITB Asia, MICE Show Asia and the inaugural Travel Tech Asia, ITB Community will also facilitate a year-long virtual engagement programme for key stakeholders, which will allow them to continue forging new partnerships and strengthen existing business relationships with important players in the region. Katrina Leung, managing director, Messe Berlin (Singapore) said, “ITB Community will be the latest permanent addition to a wide variety of offerings we have for our customers to tap into for their business success.”


India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group