is it ‘the time’ for india to create an effective...

MAY 2020, PAGES 32, `100 VOL. 8, ISSUE. 5

IS IT ‘THE TIME’ FOR INDIA IS IT ‘THE TIME’ FOR INDIA TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE

MAINTENANCE PACKAGE FOR MAINTENANCE PACKAGE FOR DOMESTIC TOURISM?DOMESTIC TOURISM?

REDISCOVERING ‘APNA DESH’REDISCOVERING ‘APNA DESH’A COLLAGE OF INDIAN A COLLAGE OF INDIAN

SPECTACLES TO RESURRECT SPECTACLES TO RESURRECT THE WANDERLUSTTHE WANDERLUST

Urges all to#StayPositive

#StandStrong

• Wash hands often• Use mask properly • Have temperature checked regularly• Avoid large crowd • Never touch your face with unclean

hands

ALWAYS REMEMBER

207, Satya Mansion, Commercial Complex, Ranjeet Nagar, New Delhi-110008

Versatile Media

TravelScapes

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Dear Readers,

Yet another month or striving and surviving and we are still here! Amidst the current turmoil and tragedy that the globe is experiencing, it seems that we are undergoing an unstated third world war where the opponent is nothing but a minuscule, imperceptible virus and yet that no power can withdraw. And in the middle of all such destruction of both lives and economies, suffers further the tourism industry in no lesser degree. A large percentage of total tourism business activity of India, which is estimated at USD 28 billion+ in FOREX and upwards of INR 2 lakh crores in domestic tourism activity, will be at economic risk through the year.

However, as it is believed that international travel will take a backseat once travel restrictions are eased or lifted, domestic tourism will lead the industry’s recovery. Speaking of bringing back the glorious tourism days for India, the answer now largely depends on how the government is creating a magnitude and helpfulness of invigorating domestic tourism. Experts have emphasised on the need and potential to tap domestic tourism and the impact that social media has in capturing the imagination of potential travellers as the way forward to come out of the situation. It seems that the very thought of “Of the people. For the people. By the people” comes out pertinent for Indian tourism, today. Taking a note from that, our May issue captivatingly focuses on the revival of Indian tourism

by creating more tourism within the boundaries of India. We joined our minds with some of the experts of the fraternity to comprehend when and how will the country get resuscitation from the current downfall while it catapults the much-needed fillip towards a better (tourism) tomorrow.

Furthermore, we broaden our vision and look beyond the country’s facility to hold on to their travellers and look at how the international destinations are unvaryingly keeping their hopes high from their high priority market called India. As the entire travel industry has been pushed to the verge of collapse, the foreign travel industry needs to come out with a set of recovery measures and an immediate revival plan. TravelScapes converses with the travel and tourism marketers of various tourism authorities/destination representatives about their approach and immediate plan-of-action, as they seize the moment during this sudden halt of life and business.

We value your feedback and suggestions so please do write us on [email protected].

Happy reading!

Every dark cloud seems to cast a silver lining; Indian travel to bail out India’s tomorrow

Varun MalhotraPublisher & CEO

PUBLISHER & CEO Varun Malhotra [email protected]

DIRECTOR Pranav Khullar [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Gagneet Kaur

ASST. EDITOR Sayanti Halder

REPORTER Kritika Dua

BUSINESS HEAD Shilpi Sharma

AGM SALES & MARKETING (MUMBAI) Aarti Rajkhewa

CONSULTANT Anindya Malhotra, Jitin Mann

ART DIRECTOR Rakesh Kumar

ACCOUNTS Chandan Kumar Jha, Swati Jauhari

ADMIN HEAD Sneha Gaur

EXECUTIVE-CIRCULATION Hari Puri, Raja Rari

Editorial & Marketing Office: Versatile Media: 207, Satya Mansion, Commercial Complex, Ranjeet Nagar, New Delhi-110008Contact: 011 - 45530380/83 • [email protected] information in TravelScapes is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisement Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear.Owned and published by: Varun Malhotra, Editor & Publisher, EB-63, Maya Enclave, Hari Nagar, New Delhi - 110064 and printed at in-house facility.

TravelScapes

4 travelscapesonline.com MAY 2020

CONTENTS

24 TRAVEL TRADE STANDS TOGETHER WITH TRAVELSCAPES FOR A “DOSE OF OPTIMISM”

6 .........................................................................................................................................................................................MoT12 .................................................................................................................................................................................... Trade15 ..........................................................................................................................................................................Hospitality26 ...........................................................................................................................................................................Outbound29 ...............................................................................................................................................................................Aviation31 ...................................................................................................................................................................... On the Move

REGULAR UPDATES

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MAY 2020 VOL. 8, ISSUE. 5

CENTRE STAGECENTRE STAGE

While the global travel and tourism industry has been hit drastically by the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), India too has dealt with a heavy blow that has eventually brought its tourism and hospitality sector to a screeching halt. According to the experts and recent studies, the nearing times are bound to see a drastic dip in confidence levels for travelling overseas which eventually gives a window of opportunity to India for encouraging its domestic tourism strengths, assuming the fact that the country takes all the necessary precautions, keeping the infection curve line flattened. While the role of domestic tourism in the Indian economy has remained largely unacknowledged, the government finally seems to take notice the segment as a magic potion that is expected to help majorly in utilising this crisis as an opportunity and further aid the revival. But the entire process involves three key aspects to be looked at- the struggling industry working along with the government, the gaps (such as hygiene maintenance and safety) that need immediate addressal and reinventing the ways of doing tourism business. Therefore, the need of the hour for the government is to lend a helping hand to the industry stakeholders who are not just the valuable linking dots for the various segments but also the only credible sources that can help bring back the glorious days for tourism while filling the cracks that if not taken care of, can probably paralyse the already fragile economy. We asked for predictions of the optimistic industry captains on how the coronavirus crisis will help to fuel India’s domestic tourism growth engine and would further strengthen our distinct advantage- the diverse culture, colossal heritage and much more, helping India devise a well-preserved package for a flourishing domestic tourism future

TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE PACKAGE FOR DOMESTIC TOURISM?

IS IT ‘THE TIME’ FOR INDIA

MAY 2020 travelscapesonline.com 5

UPDATE REPORT

EXOTIC INDIA

23 Travel agents that main-tain emotional connect with consumers will emerge stronger post COVID-19

27 REDISCOVERING ‘APNA DESH’A COLLAGE OF INDIAN SPECTACLES TO RESURRECT THE WANDERLUSTTruth should be told that the misfortune of the present time, that the globe is experiencing, has shuddered its travel tribe as well. However, it is also believed that the ‘road to recovery’ isn’t a long one thus, staying optimistic and resilient is the key mantra as Indians might pause but would never stop travelling. Bringing up further hope, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has come up with a very innovative diagram to promote travel and tourism within India by launching a campaign called ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ to add fillip to both knowing India, as a tourist destination, today and selling India tomorrow. TravelScapes knows the importance of travelling as we literally swear by it and therefore, in the hardship of our travel days, we hand-pick some of the ‘must-visit’ destinations in India, based on the priority list of the MoT, that are surely poised to re-establish our conviction for travelling tomorrow

GUEST COLUMN

SPOTLIGHTSPECIAL FOCUS

14 “People are likely to spend on holidays, travel and expe-riences post the adversity is resolved”Dr Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group takes account of how the virus has affected the hospitality segment in India and what can be done to restore it, while containing its consequences

18 SEIZING THE MOMENT FOR BETTER TRAVEL DAYSNTOS RE-BRANDING TRAVEL FOR INDIATravelScapes joins the dots for tomorrow’s travel with all the leading overseas tourism boards as they remain positive about the travel industry’s ability to manage this ever-evolving situation

16 Industry stakeholders de-liberate on ‘Impacts, Survival and Revival’ for tourismPanel on the FICCI webinar suggested maintaining cash-flows, encashing the probabilities of boosting domestic tourism, formation of a national taskforce, moratorium extension and discovering new ways for marketing to help industry revive and thrive


UPDATE MoT TravelScapes

Sensing an opportunity to establish domestic tourism to reduce the dependency on inbound and penetrate into the outbound

travel market, the Ministry of Tourism recently launched its "DekhoApnaDesh" webinar series to provide information on the many destinations and the sheer depth and expanse of the culture and heritage of our Incredible India. Till date, ministry has conducted 14 webinars touching the prime destinations and experiences of India, as a tourism spot.

The Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India is organising a series of webinars on the overall theme of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ with the objective to create awareness about and promote various tourism destinations of India – including the lesser known destinations and lesser known facets of popular destinations. In addition, thematic webinars are also being organised on subjects such as accessible and responsible tourism along with heritage, unconventional and fresh scopes of travelling.

From the Jaisalmer fort to rafting in Rishikesh; from the backwaters of Kerala to the national parks in Karnataka. Whether it was a hearing impaired couple or a visually impaired couple, travellers on wheelchairs, groups or solo travellers from across the globe, all these destinations have been conquered by them.

In addition to its fatal effects on human lives and livelihoods, the COVID-19 outbreak has instilled fear in several industries

including restaurants, hotels and aviation. As governments and public health agencies stress upon the importance of social distancing as a way to ‘flatten the curve’ over time.

The white paper was released by the Additional Director General of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Rupinder Brar. She recognised the merits of 'Contactless Dining' as a confidence-building measure to bring back diners and reiterated the importance of following the recommended practices when it comes to restaurant operations. This is to ensure that restaurants are safe spaces for diners as well as staff members.

Brar said, “ In the past, humanity stands witness to the opportunities created out of the challenges people have faced. And this is another one from them, a situation which we are facing all over the world. Technology can always be used in a big way in such situations. I am glad to see through your initiative that technology can be used to create a safe environment for everyone, and hence re-assuring that basic protocols while dining out are in place.”

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH) has

appealed to the Chief Ministers of each state for coming up with a state-specific package. FAITH has shared with each state their share of domestic and foreign tourists and how most of those total tourist footfalls will now not be available for 2020-21.

This tourism business has almost completely come to a standstill in FY 2020-21. Almost all of India’s top performing foreign source markets for tourism (USA, Canada, UK, Germany, China, Japan, Singapore, Russia, Italy, Spain), are severely impacted and are not likely to travel before FY 2021 - 22.

The interstate domestic season which happens almost 60 per cent+ in the April to July period has collapsed for the year FY 2020 - 21 and will be negligent for the rest

of year with stringent travel restrictions and reduced connectivity across Indian states. FAITH has said that the Tourism industry of India first needs to “Survive”, then needs to “Revive” and then only can it “Thrive”. FAITH has appealed to the Chief Ministers of each state for coming up with a state-specific package.

According to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, Coronavirus will

change how we view the world and India needs to be prepared for this transition. Speaking recently, Sangma said the North East's relative success in controlling the transmission of COVID-19 should help promote it as a safe zone for tourism. "Meghalaya and North East can be marketed as safe zones for tourism. People want to travel but to places that are not too crowded. We can promote the North East in that way," he said.

"There is no doubt this is a crisis but every crisis can be turned into an opportunity. There is a lot of scope for agriculture and organic food farming in the North East, we can bring an agricultural revolution here.

This region can become the hub for food and vegetable farming," Sangma added.

Sharing how Meghalaya managed to be completely red-zone free, Sangma said that it was only possible due to early intervention on his government's part. "We imposed restrictions in the state from March 16 that greatly helped. On March 13, 12 cases were found from one house, after we worked religiously on our containment strategy. Today only one active case remains, the other 10 have recovered and one person has died," he said. The Meghalaya government also conducted door-to-door testing in red zones, supported farmers and MNREGA workers and allowed movement of vehicles outside Shillong. Nearly 50,000 people were quarantined in the state.

Tourism Ministry launches "DekhoApnaDesh" webinar series

MoT releases White Paper on ‘guidelines’ post lockdown

FAITH urges states’ CMs for state-specific tourism packages

After COVID-19, NE to be promoted as a safe zone for tourism: Meghalaya CM

Conrad Sangma


TravelScapes

While the global travel and tourism industry has been hit drastically by the outbreak of

COVID-19 (Coronavirus), India too has dealt with a heavy blow that has eventually brought its tourism and hospitality sector to a screeching halt. According to the experts and recent studies, the nearing times are bound to see a drastic dip in confidence levels for travelling overseas which eventually gives a window of opportunity to India for encouraging its domestic tourism strengths, assuming the fact that the country takes all the necessary precautions, keeping the infection curve line flattened. While the

role of domestic tourism in the Indian economy has remained largely unacknowledged, the government finally seems to take notice the segment as a magic potion that is expected to help majorly in utilising this crisis as an opportunity and further aid the revival. But the entire process involves three key aspects to be looked at- the struggling industry working along with the government, the gaps (such as hygiene maintenance and safety) that need immediate addressal and reinventing the ways of doing tourism business. Therefore, the need of the hour for the government is to lend a helping hand to the industry

stakeholders who are not just the valuable linking dots for the various segments but also the only credible sources that can help bring back the glorious days for tourism while filling the cracks that if not taken care of, can probably paralyse the already fragile economy. We asked for predictions of the optimistic industry captains on how the coronavirus crisis will help to fuel India’s domestic tourism growth engine and would further strengthen our distinct advantage- the diverse culture, colossal heritage and much more, helping India devise a well-preserved package for a flourishing domestic tourism future

TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE PACKAGE FOR DOMESTIC TOURISM?

IS IT ‘THE TIME’ FOR INDIA

By Gagneet Kaur

CENTRE STAGE


TravelScapes

SUJIT BANERJEE SECRETARY GENERAL, WTTC, INDIA INITIATIVE

PP KHANNAPRESIDENT, ADTOI

EM NAJEEBSENIOR VP- IATO & CHAIRMAN - ATE GROUP OF COMPANIES

It’s time to make them embrace holidays in India and discover the myriad new destinations still lying hidden”

Industry stakeholders are looking for immediate government support to revive and survive from the catastrophe”

Tourism in India would emerge and come back, may be in a better format”

very clear preference of customers to gravitate towards Airlines, Hotels or Accommodation, Transport Services that are able to demonstrate and effectively communicate hygiene, health and safety and sanitation protocols. Once situation normalises, for 3-4 month, the travel would be more of staycations, motorable

of COVID-19. Pay cuts, lay offs are in the offing when situation return to normalcy. The loss caused by the pandemic COVID 19 across the globe is immeasurable. Indian Tourism Industry is in a standstill mode since

industry, but we have to look at the new shape and model it evolves, and we got to quickly adapt to the new needs. Tourism in India would emerge and come back, may be in a better format. Among the various options in front of us, domestic tourism is a good and immediate bet.

Domestic travellers also are worried about their health and safety as anybody else and they could be more discerning

First and foremost thing will be to open up all modes of transportation to connect destinations for people to travel for their immediate needs. Govt. has to provide boost to the economy by extending packages like interest free loan, GST holiday, deferring the payment of EMI on loan availed by companies. ADTOI has taken up directly with concerned Ministries as well as through FAITH, for relief to stakeholders of the industry for the revival of tourism in the country. ‘DEKHO APNA DESH’ is the lifeline for all the industry stakeholders as such it will take the least period to revive domestic tourism

At this point of time and in times to come, India’s self-employed and salaried individuals would be facing financial strains arising out of the COVID19 fallouts. Post normalcy , Government must ensure two steps- a GST waiver for Airlines, Hospitality & Travel Services to ensure and encourage domestic tourism in the recovery phase and a 100% tax rebate for Indian Citizen’s individual’s spend on Domestic Travel to a cap of Rs 1 lac per Assessee to spur and stimulate domestic demand. These, we believe will enable India’s tourism sector to revive its heartbeats.

About 60% of the population is in its prime youth and their holidaying needs are huge. The industry will continue being robust servicing this very sector. The Central and state Governments are looking at this option very seriously and trying to facilitate wherever possible. Domestic movements would mobilize the economy well within the country and keep this business going. Also, we got to wake up and look at our products and inventory for the Domestic traveller. Rework and spruce up our service delivery, train the human resources in a new perspective and urgency, communicate to the traveller in a new digital options. We got to make our destinations “Happy Destinations”, for all, including the youth, elders, families, children and women. Indian travellers are mostly family travellers

Road To Revival

Road To Revival

Road To Revival

tourism, weekend getaways within 5-7 hours driving distances. Social distancing will be a new norm, gloves and masks the new fashion statement – new protocols for security, welcome, check in, at Airports & Hotels, use of staircases rather than lifts in Hotels, plated food instead of Buffets, usage of restaurants, bars, pools, gyms, spas will have new codes. Destinations, tourist attractions will need to develop new codes for tourist entry and for experience management. These new protocols will involve innovative digital technology. The 27 mn plus Indian Outbound may not have many overseas destinations to go to and it’s time to make them embrace holidays in India and discover the myriad new destinations still lying hidden in India. No better time to do it!

long and industry stakeholders are looking for immediate government support to revive and survive from the catastrophe caused by the COVID 19. We, as an association, are keeping the morale of our members high by organizing Webinar on tourism promotion and imparting knowledge session in association with the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, State Tourism Boards, Hoteliers, Media Partners etc. This gives an insight into the tourism products, infrastructure facilities available at places of tourist attraction on PAN India basis for promoting and marketing destination among domestic tourists.

about their choices. But the biggest advantage is that the originating markets and destinations are well within the country. It is easier to know the needs and provide them to the Indian travellers. Destinations and tourist centres in India should equip themselves and be innovative in offering the holiday packages and services to satisfy them. The industry cannot satisfy them anymore with the same old offers. The fear will slowly recede and confidence will increase. The industry players have to recommit themselves to professionalism, safety, innovation, keeping promises, customising services for the traveller, and being a perfect host to the visitors.

Once the domestic movements increase slowly the inbound traffic from international markets also would trickle in. Kerala already is a healing and tranquil destination and the tourism industry here is creating safe and healthy hospitality options for the domestic tourists.

Domestic Tourism is certainly the magic potion that will revitalize the Indian Tourism Sector once situation normalizes and the new normal is defined. This will be defined by the customer behaviour. The age groups of 18-45 may be more adventurous and first to start stepping out of their homes. We believe that there will be a

Due to this pandemic, the Indian economy as a whole and tourism industry in particular, is on the brink of collapse. Tourism sector provides employment to millions of people who are now the victims

No doubt we have to revive the industry at the earliest, looking at the best available options. While being responsible to fight this menace, we have to look at all the possible options to slowly revive this great industry back to life. Tourism has always been a ‘never say die’ industry even as it has gone through many very crucial challenges. So we are hopeful of this

CENTRE STAGE


TravelScapes

RAJAT BAGARIAJOINT SECRETARY & CO-CHAIRMAN - CONVENTION COMMITTEE , TAFI

RAJIV MEHRAVICE PRESIDENT, IATO

AJAY BAKAYAMANAGING DIRECTOR, SAROVAR HOTELS AND RESORTS.

ROHIT KOHLI JOINT MANAGING DIRECTOR, CREATIVE TRAVEL

Domestic tourism seems to be the first hope of revival”

The Central and State Governments should allow all MOT approved tour operators to operate LTC tours”

The immediate business market will be for sure the domestic segment for coming six months”

What we need now is an aggressive action plan which is ready to be launched the moment the dust settles”

International tourism turnaround will take time. At the same time, the pro-activeness of our government to implement the lockdown, already has a certain parts of India COVID-free.

Domestic tourism seems to be the first hope of revival. The lockdown

at this time India needs a more focused approach towards revival. To my mind, the Government has completely lost the plot, they seem to have given up. it's very sad that the senior most officials of the MOT have gone on record basically

This is a good time for the government to start afresh, before we all go back into our hullabaloo. The government needs firstly to classify "Tourism" as a Industry - especially when it forms 10% of the GDP. Entry / Exit rules, licensing, renewal of licensing, areas of participation based on licensing should be controlled. Govt. needs to set up work standards of working and ensure that all sectors of the trade follow their guidelines and ensure the growth of their partners in the trade. The govt. to invite PPP for high standard efficient tourism infrastructure. It's a good time to make India the "MICE" capital of the world

Outbound and inbound will not begin till the time a vaccine is found. Thereafter, the govt. should do a lot of advertisement abroad to revive this market. The Central and the State Govts should allow all MoT approved tour operators to operate LTC tours which presently are restricted to govt.-owned Travel Agencies. Also some kind of incentive in the Income Tax should be given to everyone who opts for a holiday within India during 2020-21

The recovery of the travel industry will take another 6-12 months. We look for government support & expect larger loan and interest deferrals from the centre for at least four quarters. From states and UTs, we expect electricity billing on actual usage. We expect one quarter waivers or deferrals on property/municipal taxes, liquor and other licenses

What we need now is an aggressive action plan which is ready to be launched the moment the dust settles. India has suffered a few past years of poor reputation because of Crime, pollution, riots, that put off people from traveling to our country. Now all that can be in the past if India seized this opportunity to launch ‘Incredible India 2.0’, and get the world to relook at India. The govt. will be unequivocally responsible for millions of job losses in tourism alone. On the flip side, if they did act alongside the industry quickly, India can show it's magic on the world stage

Road To Revival

Road To Revival

Road To Revival

Road To Revival

has brought out some good sides - like a pollution free environment, cleaner rivers, clean cities which the government and the sector should take efforts to maintain. Even at the end of April - Mumbai still has a much cooler weather than previous years. A revival of the domestic tourism will improve the morale of the population at large, and will be the steps forward on a total revival from the Covid effect. However, the government should issue very strict rules to be followed on Domestic travel. This is a good opportunity for us to start with a clean slate in maintaining cleanliness and hygiene. There is an urgent need for the trade to work together and to set a certain set of rules and guidelines between themselves for the survival and growth.

heralding the demise of inbound tourism – this is both bizarre and distressing. The tourism industry has once again been let down by the Government, and have been asked to fend for themselves. The industry, and the country need the MOT to have a plan for the next 6,12, 18 months.. but they have gone into the opposite direction. This is not just a factor of COVID-19, this has been symptomatic for a few years now. Our MOT has some wonderful officers who mean well, but they unfortunately have no teeth beyond a certain point, because the Government doesn’t give tourism any importance, even though it's proven how much tourism contributes to India’s GDP and employment. If the government is indeed serious, then it's time for them to show their true intention, enough lip service.

We are in unprecedented times. We don’t have a pre-set guideline on the best way forward. However, considering that the entire world is in a lockdown and major tourism destinations of the world are affected much worse than ours, we do understand that

I am personally very confused with the Ministry of Tourism’s sudden obsession with domestic tourism. I'm all for traveling within India, and I fully support Indians exploring their own country, but

I believe that after the restrictions are lifted, it will take some time for people to even go on a domestic holiday. I believe that everyone, whether he is a businessman - small or big or a person who is working in an office, will first ensure that his business / job is secured. Thereafter, he might go for a holiday nearby from his place of work over a weekend. This would develop a new concept called neighbourhood tourism.

The industry contributes 10% of the GDP and provides 50 million jobs which are at risk owning to the deep losses in the business. The immediate business market will be for sure the domestic segment for coming six months. We can see more of car travel, tapping that market will help to recover faster. We’ll reach to all possible market opportunities. Pharma to be one imp. focus area, domestic market will respond faster, though the recovery will be gradual, specially MICE.

CENTRE STAGE


TravelScapes

AASHISH GUPTA CONSULTING CEO OF FAITH & FOUNDER OF STRATEGYPLUTO

SUHAIL KANNAMPILLY CEO, THE FERN HOTELS & RESORTS

Once everyone starts putting in efforts with a focused strategy, the revival of domestic tourism will happen in a structured manner”

The govt. should realize the importance of hospitality and tourism sector and create a comprehensive plan for its revival”

the first quarter of 2021 for India’s inbound tourism looks quite bleak. The question here is how do we then sustain the crisis? Encouraging the Indians to travel within their country is a suggestion at the moment. There is a need to incentivize domestic travel, the people (locals) including

There is hardly any money left with the individuals and I don’t think they will be willing to spend their money on tourism. Also, there will be health concerns and no one would like to take

A GST holiday for the industry will be a huge financial incentive by the government that would accelerate the demand and will eventually put some money back into the economy. Also, moving in tandem with the situation, FAITH has been asking the govt. to create a national taskforce of tourism involving the state governments which will be quite impactful when it comes to development on intra-state level. Once everyone starts putting in efforts with a focused strategy, the revival of domestic tourism will happen in a structured manner. We also have to create strong communication about safety and hygiene to bring back the trust of the travellers travelling to India

The government can play a positive role in ensuring that the sector starts kicking. Some tax concession is a must. Besides lot of hoteliers take huge amount of loans to build the property, their EMIs need to be adjusted. The government should understand that as a sector it employs a large number of people. Then there are several other sectors which it supports indirectly and create jobs. So, the govt. should realize the importance of hospitality and tourism sector and create a comprehensive plan for its revival

Road To Revival

Road To Revival

the corporates who’d earlier preferred to travel overseas for business. And giving the additional tax benefits to all the corporates in India who choose to do the business conferences within the country will further add an impetus. Apart from this, a very strong domestic tourism branding with focused and specific targets would help stimulate the segment to recover faster.

Further, if the industry has to survive, the government needs to look into the measures that can endorse the country’s strengths in the right manner. And for that to happen, a few roadblocks have to be looked at closely and the industry and its organisations need handholding support.

the risk of travelling with the family initially. So, once the business is on track, only then the domestic tourism can see an upsurge. At The Fern Hotels, we are gearing up to open all our properties as and when restrictions are over. Fortunately, a large number of our properties are business hotels, we are hopeful that they will do better business. Resorts which are away from the cities should do well. The health and hygiene standards across the board needs to be upgraded so that the traveller be it business or leisure should feel safe and comfortable.

The first requirement is to monitor and control the situation around the virus. Once that happens, there is a logical sequencing to it. Seeing that international travel to India happens during a certain period of time and looking ahead at negligible demand for travelling in the coming months,

Once the lock down is over and travel restrictions are eased, the first few people who would start travelling will be the business travellers. As of now the economy has come to a standstill.

ROHIT VIGREGIONAL MANAGING DIRECTOR (INDIA) & DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT, STAYWELL HOSPITALITY GROUP-INDIA

Creativity is the key to succeeding in driving more domestic business opportunities”

and the impact of this on the hospitality sector will last for quarters post the lockdown. We have shut most of our hotels and are gearing up to relaunch them once the situation improves with new practices, hygiene and customer safety being the epitome.

I fully endorse along with my commercial team, that at present to target domestic and local businesses, we should align all our revenue generation strategies while driving more business

I believe that Government should review and consider a 12-month corporate tax holiday to tourism and hospitality sector, waive / reduce GST on products offered by the sector for one-year period. Incentivising travel by introducing a one-time opportunity for Leave Travel, allowance to be part of the new income tax slabs and most importantly, considering annual renewal of licenses paid for in 2020 should be extended till the end of 2021 without an incremental fee or charges

Road To Revivalopportunities in an innovative manner after winning the trusts from the guests that our hotels are safe. Creativity is the key to succeeding in driving more domestic business opportunities. Considering partnering up with local tour operators, adjusting our offers to appeal to locals and using paid media to target local traffic are another steps towards survival. At present, we are primarily focusing on understanding the scenario analytically so that we can shape new operative strategies which can transform our challenges into opportunities.

The hoteliers will have to pull up their socks, witness major changes, and adapt new working style post to lockdown. The digital platforms have always been a boom in order to increase visibility and bandwidth of a brand. It is the need of hour to take in consideration our ecosystem. Each of us should pledge to not disturb its diversity at any cost.

With the globalized world going into partial or complete lockdown over the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism is currently one of the most affected sectors and we, as hoteliers need to come up with smart strategic decisions. We all need to follow the current measures imposed by the government to stop the spread COVID-19. Things will also change for the hospitality sector post COVID. The situation is currently unpredictable

CENTRE STAGE


UPDATE TravelScapes

Arabian Travel Market (ATM) will now be held at the Dubai World

Trade Centre on May 16 to 19, 2021, following the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid Al Fitr celebrations. “In light of the changing global situation relating to the COVID-19 virus, we have continued to monitor the impact it is having not just on our industry, but on society in general. Many meetings took place with the Dubai World Trade Centre and we reviewed other options to organise an event in the last quarter. However, after consultation with our

key stakeholders and after listening to our industry, ultimately it became apparent that the best course of action, and with everyone’s best interests in mind, is to postpone the event to 2021,” said the official statement.

“The live show will be rescheduled to 2021 but until then, we’ll keep you connected. We are firmly focused on delivering positive business and networking opportunities to the Middle East’s vast travel and tourism community and as such are excited to announce that we will be running an

ATM Virtual Event from June 1 to 3, 2020. Join webinars, live conference sessions, speed networking events, one-on-one meetings, plus so much more keeping the conversations going

and delivering new connections and business opportunities online. We will be in touch with you separately on details on how to take part,” the statement added.

Eastbound Group, a consortium of travel and tourism businesses offering solutions for experiential journeys, integrated travel representation, end-to-end event

management and B2B hotel distribution becomes one of the only four Indian travel companies to be certified by Great Place to Work Institute.

“This is a proud moment for us all and I thank my employees for their continuous commitment in making us the organisation we are today. I hope that we make great strides in surpassing these assessment results and keep raising the bar,” said Manish Pratik, Co-Founder and Director, Eastbound Group.

“We are proud and yet humbled to have received this certification from Great Place to Work Institute. This is a real feather in our cap and it will only encourage our employees” Prrithviraj Singh, Co-founder and Director, Eastbound Group. “We are traversing through difficult times right now, much like any other travel and tourism business, therefore this recognition is a true reinforcement," added Amit Kishore, Co-founder and Director, Eastbound Group.

The pandemic has prompted all destinations worldwide to introduce restrictions on travel, research by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has found. This

represents the most severe restriction on international travel in history and no country has so far lifted restrictions introduced in response to the crisis.

The latest data from the United Nations specialised agency for tourism shows that 100 per cent of destinations now have restrictions in place. Of these, 83 per cent have had COVID-19-related restrictions in place already for four or more weeks and, as of April 20, so far no destination has lifted them.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said, “Tourism has shown its commitment to putting people first. Our sector can also lead the way in driving recovery. This research on global travel restrictions will help support the timely and responsible implementation of exit strategies, allowing destinations to ease or lift travel restrictions when it is safe to do so. This way, the social and economic benefits that tourism offers can return, providing a path to sustainable recovery for both individuals and whole countries.”

Airports Council International (ACI) World and the

International Air Transport Association (IATA) have come together to call for governments to quickly grant financial relief to assist airport operators and airlines during the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and support the essential connectivity the industry will provide for economic recovery.

The industry is united with governments around the world in efforts to stop the spread of the virus, and, in the face of massive government imposed travel restrictions, the industry is doing all it can to maintain air cargo operations vital to supporting global supply chains, including medical shipments critical to fighting COVID-19.

The economic impact of these measures on all involved in the global air transport industry has been severe. With passenger demand plummeting to unprecedented levels, revenues are falling beyond the ability of even the most extreme cost-

cutting measures to mitigate. Airports and airlines continue to face a financial liquidity crisis.

The current state of the global air transport industry risks the loss of millions of jobs. The aviation industry supports 65.5 million jobs around the world, including 10.5 million people employed at airports and by airlines, and supports USD 2.7 trillion in world economic activity. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, airports and airlines around the world are engaged in a battle to sustain essential operations and to preserve jobs.

ACI and IATA are calling for urgent balanced support to the industry via taxation relief, including alleviation of payroll taxes, corporate taxes, concession fees or other government incomes from the industry and secondly through loans, loan guarantees or direct support to maintain financial liquidity across the aviation ecosystem.

Some governments have recognised the urgency of action.

Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2020 shifted to May 2021

Eastbound Group gets certified by the ‘Great Place to Work’

100 pc of global destinations have COVID-19 travel restrictions ACI, IATA call for urgent

financial help to protect jobs

TRADE


UPDATETravelScapes

Genting Cruise Lines is pleased to announce the introduction of enhanced preventive measures

for its Dream Cruises and Star Cruises fleet with an increase in safety levels for the cruise industry due to the continuing COVID-19 situation globally. As the health and safety of Genting Cruise Lines’ guests and crew remain its top priority, various precautionary measures with stringent health screening processes in accordance with regional government policies had been implemented from the onset of the pandemic. As a result, to date, there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 among guests or crew while on board or transmitted via any of Genting Cruise Lines’ ships.

In order to further provide peace of mind and better understanding of the implemented precautionary measures for future cruising guests, Genting Cruise Lines has outlined detailed preventive steps for the recommencement of its Dream Cruises and Star Cruises ships in the near future, which is set to become the new norm for preventive standards for the fleet. These include stringent health screening processes and protocols prior to embarkation and disembarkation, as well as thorough sanitisation and disinfection and enhanced hygiene practices for guest cabins, various on board public areas and recreational activities, food and beverage safety and also the health of its crew members.

“At Genting Cruise Lines, the safety and health of our guests and crew are of paramount importance to us. With the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak regionally and globally, many guests as well as crew have developed higher awareness and expectations with regards to the safety and preventive measures of cruise ships,” said Kent Zhu, President of Genting Cruise Lines. “As a responsible cruise company, it is our duty to adopt a pro-active approach to meet and also strive to exceed the growing expectations and concerns of the public. As such, we have carefully

reviewed our prevention and response plan with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind to devise and provide enhanced and comprehensive measures across our fleet. We have taken the positive opportunity during this hiatus period to also implement comprehensive crew training to reinforce effective cleaning procedures, health and hygiene protocols and efficient guest interaction, which we will adopt as the new safety norm for our fleet and we hope for the industry too.”

To boost confidence in future reservations for guests, Genting Cruise Lines has also launched its “Cruise As You Wish” program in which all new and existing Dream Cruises and Star Cruises bookings

prior to or on October 30, 2020 will have the flexibility to cancel up to 48 hours before sailing and receive 100 pc future cruise credit to be redeemed of any Dream Cruises or Star Cruises sailing embarking on or before March 31, 2021.

In addition to these enhanced safety and preventive measures, Genting Cruise Lines will further collaborate with the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association (CCYIA) to contribute to the publishing of a white paper for the cruise industry’s prevention and response plan against COVID-19, providing a comprehensive and unified standard for the cruise industry to ensure the safety and well-being of all cruising guests and crew members.

The recent official statement informs that Rakesh Kumar, Chairman, India Exposition Mart Ltd.

(IEML) has urged the central government to support the Indian exhibition industry that has incurred a revenue loss of INR 3570 crores for the entire sector in the COVID -19 crisis.

The size of the Indian exhibition industry is INR 23,800 crores with more than 550 events conducted annually in the organised sector. The exhibition industry sector enables trade/business transaction of over INR 3,00,000 crores, boosting and supporting the growth of various spectrum of industries while also being a colossal employment provider with nearly 1,20,000 people employed in this industry. With a steady growth rate of almost eight per cent, the exhibitions sector has been consecutively growing

during the past few years.The release further informs that approximately 90

shows have been reported to be either postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19 during the time-period, summing up to approximately 15 per cent of the total events conducted annually in the organised sector, with a resultant estimated loss of INR 3,570 crores for the entire sector. Considering the preparation time for organising an exhibition which ranges from a minimum period of eight to 12 months, the revenue and cash flow cycles for the sector have been adversely affected.

The postponement or cancellation of these shows translates into doubling of the total turnaround time for the realisation of the amounts incurred in the preparatory stages, while the organisers and allied service providers would bear the burden of fixed costs and salaries, without any returns flowing in.

Genting Cruise Lines announces enhanced preventive measures for the fleet and cruise industry

IEML urges the central government to support the Indian exhibition industry

TRADE

Rakesh Kumar


TravelScapesGUEST COLUMN

The hospitality & tourism industry is currently facing extreme bad

weather conditions. On a business level; the impacts of the crisis have reached every industry in the world, with the travel and tourism taking a massive hit. Many hotels find themselves empty and looking to fill the once full lobbies and rooms. Food service teams and chefs, worldwide, are mobilised in order to arrange free meals to the medical staff while putting themselves at risk in order to battle the crisis. In Dwarka, Roseate Hotels is feeding over 1000 underprivileged every day in conjugation with CII and the Dwarka Police. The Roseate Reading, UK has shown its appreciation to the frontline NHS fighters by arranging wholesome meals.

The situation we are in, the Hospitality industry is also bringing up new business models and opportunities, in defining for instance new delivery concepts. Our industry will have to learn to function in a way not seen before. As the relationship between each brand and consumer starts by building trust,

regaining customer confidence will be the first step in overcoming the crisis. Strict sanitary and hygiene measures will need to be applied, with new practices put in place to monitor and control the environment in which the business takes place.Roseate has started sharing a camera link with its guests and customers so that they can see their food getting prepared in the kitchen and observe the strict hygiene protocols in place themselves.

Also to minimise physical contact with customers at their restaurants, Roseate Hotels and Resorts has launched 'Care by Roseate', a novel approach towards instilling confidence among its customers about their safety while dining at restaurants across their six properties in India and UK. Under

this new initiative, touchless dining is going to be paramount. Here for dining, the guest while booking a table can see the menu and order from it. The guest shares her location with the hotel so that the hotel staffs start preparing the food when the guest is enroute to the hotel restaurant.

As far as the re-opening of the hotels is concerned we are already in process of sanitising the properties with

the help of the certified professional vendors to maintain the cleanliness as per the WHO standards. We have been taking all possible measures such as temperature checks even before the lock down started.

Governments can help with the recovery of the market by introducing

measures that encourage the renewal of tourism initiatives. Few of the points requested for include short term interest free or low interest loans for rebuilding business and immediate transmission to all industry segments; a deferment for twelve months of all statutory dues whether GST, Advance Tax payments, PF, ESIC, Customs Duties at the Central Government level or at any state government and TCS exemption under GST.

Normal life in a post-pandemic of Coronavirus environment will not resume until a vaccine for the virus is developed and widely distributed. However, the pharmaceutical industry has already indicated this may take up to 18 months or more. That has major implications for the hospitality and travel sector. As the global lockdown concludes, I feel people will be less interested in spending money on material possessions and instead, people are likely to spend on holidays, travel and experiences post the adversity is resolved. Therefore, the prospects of the hotel and leisure sector look good.

As the world is still coming to terms with the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, industries are grappling with the consequences of the economic slowdown. The impact of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) on India’s hospitality sector is nothing short of severe. With deteriorating numbers since February, reports predict that the latter half of 2020 will be the worst hit. While most economists expect things to rebound in the latter half of the year, uncertainty still lurks. Scrutinising the bold lines from the existing debacle, Dr Ankur Bhatia - Executive Director, Bird Group takes account of how the virus has infected India's hospitality segment and what can be done to restore it, while containing its consequences

“PEOPLE ARE LIKELY TO SPEND ON HOLIDAYS, TRAVEL AND EXPERIENCES POST THE ADVERSITY IS RESOLVED”

"Governments can help with the recovery of the market by introducing measures that encourage the renewal of tourism initiatives..."

Dr Ankur Bhatia


UPDATETravelScapes HOSPITALITY

Reflecting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asia

Pacific hotel industry reported all-time lows in the three key performance metrics during March 2020, according to data from STR. As per the USD constant currency, March 2020 vs. March 2019, the occupancy in the region was 59.5 per cent to 28.3 per cent with an average daily rate (ADR) of 17.6 per cent to USD 80.82 and revenue per available room (RevPAR) of 66.7per cent to USD 22.85. The absolute levels in each of the three KPIs were the lowest for any month on record in the region.

Speaking of the local market, China’s overall occupancy was 65.4 per cent to 23.2 per cent with ADR 35.4 per cent to CNY 332.41 and a RevPAR of 77.6

per cent to CNY 76.96. Showing green shoots of recovery, China’s absolute occupancy level was the up from February (12.8 per cent), which was the lowest occupancy month on record in the country. Key markets, Beijing and Shanghai, reported decreases in the metric of 78.7 per cent and 73.7 per cent, respectively. China’s ADR remained lower than February (CNY 406.22), but RevPAR was up slightly from that second month of the year (CNY 52.12).

While in Singapore, occupancy of 53.6 per cent to 38.3 per cent with an ADR of 19.1 per cent to SGD 212.40 and RevPAR of 62.4 per cent to SGD 81.35 was projected. The absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels were the lowest for any month.

According to reports, globally renowned hotel chains are

updating their cleanliness measures due to the new Coronavirus’ widespread. Airbnb is establishing a new "cleaning protocol" for their rental property hosts and guests, stemming from the Coronavirus outbreak. The goal of the initiative "cleaning protocol" is reassuring both rental property hosts and their guests.

For hosts, the guidelines will offer recommendations for personal protective gear, such as masks and gloves, while cleaning. Rentals will be spaced out by 24 hours for hosts who have opted into the cleaning protocols, and hosts will have the option of an online feature that automatically prevents bookings

less than 72 hours apart for an extra measure of safety.

Also, Hyatt announced such cleanliness measures earlier last week, announcing it is relying on medical experts, industry professionals and others to ensure guests feel safe. "We must critically examine the hotel experience from every vantage point – from our rooms and our lobbies to our spas and dining – bringing in the latest research, technology and innovation to make that happen," Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt President and CEO, said in a statement. By September, every Hyatt hotel is expected to have someone trained as a "hygiene manager," who will make sure their hotel adheres to new guidelines.

Pullman & Novotel New Delhi Aerocity, in association with Bal Vikas Dara (Arogya Health Center), donated essentials in the Mahipalpur

Slum area. This was the second donation drive amid the COVID-19 global pandemic and included contributions of 350 kg Rice, 350 kg Atta and 350 kg Pulses to the underprivileged. Bal Vikas Dhara (BVD) is a registered Non-Government Organisation and has been working in Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan and part of Haryana in the field of women empowerment, child rights, youth employability and empowerment activities for more than two decades.

As a part of the most recent initiative, the dual property prepared 150 takeaway boxes (including Rice, Dal, Matar Paneer and Pickle) and distributed it to Police and sanitation workers around police stations and check-posts. This was supported by a local police officer to locate policemen and women on duty around the Airport and Aerocity.

Biswajit Chakraborty, General Manager Delegate (Area General Manager), Pullman & Novotel New Delhi Aerocity said, “We are deeply committed to our social responsibility and want to focus on genuine contribution to meet the needs of the various people in the society. This is in our DNA, as a part of the ‘Planet 21 Acting Here’ program of the Accor Group. While we focus on survival and revival of the hospitality industry – we have been donating food to the needy and will be also distributing free masks in the coming months that will be produced at the hotel itself. We have immense gratitude for the Police force and Sanitation workers at the forefront of this battle against the pandemic and want to serve them.”

Maldives’ luxury island resort, Seaside Finolhu announced its temporary closure to bring forward their anticipated transformation project set to

complete its major upgrade and welcome guests in July 2020. This keenly anticipated transformation will cover guest villas, restaurants,

public areas and a state-of-the-art indoor golf studio. Aiming to modernise the property and its facilities, Finolhu will be developing a distinctive barefoot chic atmosphere that combines Maldivian-inspired touches with ultra-luxury modernity.

Marc Reader, Seaside Finolhu’s General Manager says, “Our passion and cordiality as hosts is to bring the finest guest experience. We see the importance of offering spaces that make people feel elegant and cherished, along with providing exceptional hospitality. This transformation project is perfectly in line with our vision to be a design-driven resort that appeals to international high-end affluent travellers."

Hotels in the APAC region report huge declines for March 2020

Hotel chains announce new cleaning programs amid COVID-19

Pullman & Novotel New Delhi Aerocity donate essentials

Seaside Finolhu Maldives starts transformation project


TravelScapes

The entire tourism industry is now standing on the brink of collapsing

miserably due to the uncontrollable spread of Coronavirus. The current commotion arises two crucial points- is tourism promotion by the Indian government at this time fruitful to keep up the appetite to travel and how are they planning to intervene in alleviating the struggle that tourism sector is bound to see in near future.

To collate the fact-based strategies that the government along with the industry must explore to regain the glory of tourism, FICCI recently hosted a webinar, asking both the parties of ways to extend support to one another to make the tourism survive, revive and eventually

thrive since gone will be the days when travel performance metric would just be based on boosting arrival numbers. The webinar was moderated by Ashish Kumar, Co-Chairman, FICCI Travel Technology Committee who while acknowledging the role of the govt. in the much-required recovery process also reiterated that while revival is a longer-strategy perspective, survival here means how are we going to re-engineer the costs, how the govt.'s proactive intervention will play its role and how managing the cash flows and outlining the future strategies would become the most significant. Taking a cue from this, the panel below outlined the survival and revival strategies.

Panel on the webinar suggested maintaining cash-flows, encashing the strengths of domestic tourism, formation of a national taskforce, moratorium extension and discovering new ways for marketing to help industry revive and thrive

INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS DELIBERATE ON ‘IMPACTS, SURVIVAL AND REVIVAL’ FOR TOURISM

By Gagneet Kaur

This is indeed one of the unprecedented times never experienced before. Our tourism industry being the most impacted today will take the longest time to recover. Therefore, there is a need to revisit and re-orient our aspects of travel, tourism and hospitality, preparing for a long term survival.

It is a long process and therefore, our first effort should be giving more emphasis on the revival. We understand that there is no cash flow currently but

I would like to reiterate that the situation is grim and it is going to be a long journey, here on. We will have to prepare ourselves for coming out of the stronger though the process will be quite raw. The industry including the small, mid-sized operators and even the digital players do not have any collateral. There has to be a different level of mandate that has to flow in from the top where fresh loans can be provided to us to help us maintain our cash management. Apart from the relaxations and strategies that have already been suggested, I believe that getting some real cash flowing into

As we work with and within the industry, there are a few things that need to be looked at on priority by the government that will eventually help the industry to move through this unprecedented phase. My main concern is that there are quite a many choke points on liquidity that one could end up at a situation where maybe upstream liquidity gets throttled and that will have cascading effects all through the supply chain in the tourism industry. It is, therefore, quite important to get some support from the financial institutions we are dealing with, government to ensure that there

We all are uncertain about the current situation, the longer-term impacts and therefore, there is a need to analyse the effects and create an essential need to exist and solutions to how the problems can be sorted. The studies reveal that about 70 per cent of the workforce in the tourism and hospitality sectors are the MSMEs where I believe ‘S’ (meaning small) is larger than the ‘M’ (medium). Therefore, hand holding the small enterprises (the ‘S’) a little more than the others, will surely give a chance of revival to the economy from the grass-root level.

It might just take more time than usual for the people to attain confidence in travelling and tight situations of cash flows would restrict the investments. But it is the time, to think out of the box and create packages that are relevant to the nearing times and would eventually grow confidence in travelling. It may not be the right time to get the things in action but it is precisely that hour when we look at the right products and start encouraging them. Also, the government would be delighted to engage with the industry to promote the products and methodologies in a manner that is feasible for both ends.

Dr. Jyotsna Suri,Past President- FICCI Tourism Committee & CMD, Lalit Suri Hospitality Group

Rajesh MagowCo-Founder & Group CEO, MakeMy Trip

Dhruv ShringiCo-Founder & CEO of Yatra Online (now a subsidiary of EbixCash)

Rupinder Brar ADG, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India

we still have to keep the institutions running. States also have to help us by waiving off the license fees. Additionally,

our request for moratorium has to be taken into immediate

consideration since leverage of three months is going to take us nowhere. Going

forward, we have salaries to pay, dues to clear, hefty

license fees and a huge pay-out for other miscellaneous expenses that are required to run a business and it again becomes critically important to look at survival first. The industry is on the ventilator, we need help to get off it to become a part of the revival process.

the industry would eventually help in a big way. We as an industry have been through tough situations but I

believe that these are some of the learnings.

Panicking won’t help. We have to work even harder with a lot of determination. Upping

the element of hygiene is a must if we need to revive

the segment. Another suggestion would be to the government for a much-needed boost to the domestic segment of travel as there should be a marginal deduction of expenditure from the incomes of the sellers/agents. A lot of entrepreneurs will have to lead by example and from the front so that we become tougher to tackle the worsened situations.

is adequate amount of liquidity maintained.

Further, as everyone suggests, there is a need to generate the demand

for domestic tourism since the boom of international travel is highly unlikely in the immediate future. We have to make sure that domestic

tourism gets incentivised appropriately. Additionally,

we have proposed a tax holiday provided to individuals for spending on domestic travel. Encouraging MICE travel within the country will also work in favour of promoting domestic tourism. These two things if taken into consideration will further stimulate travel demand and help in retaining the thousands of jobs that are dependent on working of these value chains.

First thing we need to do is to put more need into our argument of having the flexibility of taxes, moratorium processing,

TCS deferment, to put it before the Finance Minister and get

positive outcomes out of it. On the issues to be taken up at the state level, the respective governments should look into

the deferment of various taxes and licenses.

Talking about crafting a longer-term strategy, first way to come out of the crisis is creating immediate revival packages, partly through government and banking channels. Further, I believe with China seeing a drastic dip on the terms of tourism, it is the right time to encourage our country’s inner strengths which is through encouraging the promotions of domestic tourism and taking a cue from experts’ opinion, we started ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ series in January. It is, therefore, extremely important to go back to the strength of this market and fuel its consumption. Virtual tours are another thing that would eventually help all of us to convert these into real-time packages.

While we are talking about uplifting our economies, we should not lose sight of the fact that mankind and humanity have huge resilience to think out of the box and come out with innovative solutions as we go ahead.

SPECIAL FOCUS


TravelScapes

Talking about Rajasthan in particular, we have been the foot soldiers since the state was one of the first to take the blow and apart from the cities; the rural area got affected as well. March was one of the eventful months for us but keeping the severity of the situation in mind, we had to do the early lockdown which of course led to retraction of a lot of major events. Also, we were the first ones to react immediately to provide some relief to the industry which included bringing down the bar license fees and deferment of the state tax for three months, to begin with. Meanwhile, the government has also understood the need to bolster the industry for long-term cooperation, revival and revenue generation. What we are now looking into is the development of the exit plan which includes revival strategies like opening up the monuments, restaurants and other attractions in a staggered manner while ensuring all the health and hygiene measures are taken care of.

Since the situation is still developing, the positive reaction

Looking at the current fiasco of India’s inbound travel, we expect no business and revenue till September. Only if the things move forward in a planned and controlled manner, we might see a 25 per cent surge January onwards. While we are all talking of how and what we should be implementing, it is equally important to understand and make how and what will the situation unfold and for that to happen, few things need to be taken into consideration post the pandemic. Borders have to open, the source markets have to allow their people to travel. The liquidity portion of air revenues is highly crucial. Also, the supply chains including hotels, airline staff, guides, all need to be in a healthy shape to deliver the required service.

China is a very big inbound market and that strong impact is going to be damaged. It is, therefore, a golden

Uncertainty has clouded over the tourism industry and the people involved are suffering. We don’t expect things to get back normal at least until September. TCS Tax deferment which was much talked about has been implemented till October but if we see the realistic side, this may have provided temporary relief but will still hit the outbound operators hard. A 12-month moratorium is required and the government must look through this as it has become a grave situation for all of us to flow payments and clear our dues without any revenue or support on the funding part. Debt sectoral restricting from the banks for the fraternity is required since most of us don’t have the cash reserves and required balance sheets.

We all are going through a rough cash-crunch scenario. And as the point already mentioned earlier, I would again like to emphasise that the focus needs to be more on survival rather than revival. The tour operators have paid the advances to the hotels, airlines and elsewhere and we are still under the dilemma whether we will get our clients back since they are asking for the refunds and we are getting no reverts on the same from our suppliers. This situation is quite crumbling for all; where there is no cash flow/ revenues at all and the government is asking us to further pay full salaries. SEIS should be leveraged from 7 to 10 per cent which will indeed

Pragmatism has set in very quickly, customers are curious about their refunds, employees are becoming more accepting towards remunerations being paid out principle service providers are getting more flexible and creative in the solutions they can offer. Whilst I can see that pain, it's just we are being able to take that upon us and defuse it across the ecosystem which means if we adjust a little more, we should be able

Sreya Guha Principal Secretary- Tourism, Art & Culture, Government of Rajasthan

Dipak DevaCo-Chairman, FICCI Tourism Committee & MD, Sita TCI & Distant Frontiers

Ankush Nijhawan, Co-Chairman, FICCI Travel Technology Committee & Co-Founder TBO Group & MD Nijhawan Group

Pronab SarkarPresident, IATO

Rakshit DesaiMD, FCM Travel Solutions

and course correction are a few things that will help in the journey to revival. Agreeing to what the experts

suggest, we have to now rethink and innovate the way we have

been doing our businesses, use the technology for promotion and most importantly maintain the

hygiene levels and follow the protocols. We also are in

process of creating a stakeholders group where the strategies to create survival packages and demands that can be further negotiated. Also, my request to the government is to create a national taskforce where all the states can become its part and taking suggestions from all the state bodies will act as a supportive measure. It is now quite important to look at new avenues for negotiations, promotions and work with the industry stakeholders to move forward consistently.

We need to think and implement a three-pronged strategy- survive, evolve and revival and thinking out of the box. Also, it has been proven time and again that the resilience in the tourism industry has won over any situation and I have faith that the industry will bounce back with full confidence.

opportunity for India to grab the chunk of tourism business. Going forward, we need to finalise an aggressive Incredible India strategy

where the government in close cooperation with private

sector can launch this at the right time to market the destination and get the

eyeballs shifted to India. Also, a slight slash in the

visa fee will help us revive the window of business. The government should also look at allowing us at least a 10 per cent SEIS which will in a way help us to take care of the salary load of our employees in the dead months. Also, my suggestion to the government of Goa is that they have to make the landing fees ‘free of cost’ till April 30, 2021, if they want the tourism in the state to survive. Apart from this, focus on health and hygiene, true leadership getting the upper-hand, revamped and monitored facilities at hotels and airports and confidence in domestic travelling will surely take a lead.

Speaking of reviving the segment, everybody needs to access the impact and look for opportunities. I see the

visa-regime changing significantly which is indeed a positive

advantage. True leadership or entrepreneurship will be tested in a way gauging who all had survived in the good

times and are now planning to come back stronger in the

tough times today, giving the utmost priority to their employees. Alliances will make a move forward where we will see almost everyone hand-holding to make sure they survive together. Reworking on cash flows and working capital will become one key aspect that would require frequent analysis. Guidance from the right people who can guide you to look out-of-the-box will act as an added benefit this time. If these things put in the right direction at the right time will help the industry to bounce back this year and recover much faster in 2021.

help us maintain our payment cycle to some extent. Unless there is no bailout package from the government to help the

small/mid-sized tour operators, there is no way out for us. Govt.

should also look at giving us the leverage on EMIs where we get the eight to ten months slot to help us

sustain a position to pay the dues and keep the businesses

going. Relief in GST will work as a boon to cut the package cost. Visa-free regime for one year will be another thing boosting confidence of travellers who are looking at coming to India. Maintained hygiene will also act as a pulling string. Domestic tourism will revive the fastest in India even before the outbound from India sees an upsurge. Weddings and MICE business in India will see an uptick.

to make it through. We although don’t expect the government to underwrite our business plans but moratorium on more

than just a few months can boost certain confidence in

everyone. India's tourism growth story has always been supply-driven.

What government can do for economy's sustainable

growth is to take a certain number of supply-side participants and give them the patient capital; including the airlines, a large chunk of hotels and others.

SPECIAL FOCUS


TravelScapes

SEIZING THE MOMENT FOR BETTER TRAVEL DAYSNTOs RE-BRANDING TRAVEL FOR INDIA Reputed for all the wrong reasons, the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has greatly affected the tourism industry, globally. With no international flight operations, it has brought the entire travel industry to a standstill. The actual impact of Coronavirus can only be realised once the business operations initiate again. Nevertheless, the international tourism boards and National Tourist Offices don’t seem to be disconcerted by the current fiasco as they take utmost advantage of this hibernation phase for reshaping and re-strategising their outlook and approach for its significant India market. TravelScapes joins the dots, for tomorrow’s travel, with all the leading overseas tourism boards as they remain positive about the travel industry’s ability to manage this ever-evolving situation

We are hopeful that the India market will have their confidence in our destination in the days to come. The year 2019 had an exponential rise in the tourist arrivals from India to the Maldives. It is continued to be seen this year with India amongst our top three markets. Several efforts are currently being led to maintain the destination presence and educate the Indian travel trade on maximising engagement. Webinars have been held recently to discuss various connections, destination FAQs as well as assist participating travel partners of India to further enhance their skills to promote the Maldives. If the on-going situation proceeds to alleviate, you can expect us to carry out roadshows in prominent cities and take part in major fairs.

Until then, we hope to reach out to the India market and stay connected by maintaining a virtual presence.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:As safety is the main priority, we understand the importance of taking care of oneself and others first during this crucial time. With careful planning and strategic initiatives, we expect to see a spurt in numbers by next year. On April 24, 2020, our Minister of Finance, Honorable Ibrahim Ameer has stated that the Maldives could reopen its borders by July and recommence tourism by October 2020. By then hopefully, we look forward to welcoming tourists once again

We constantly evaluate the market and work with other government authorities to ensure the right decisions are being made, prioritising the safety of our residents and visitors. We are also in constant dialogue with our partners, ensuring our full support during the crisis and educating them on all aspects of the situation. Last month, we have trained almost 1,000 travel partners through destination webinars and earlier this month, we have sent all our business partners and stakeholders a comprehensive contingency plan, which maps out short- to mid-term solutions to mitigate the negative impact of Coronavirus on travel to RAK. We believe that the Indian traveller is a resilient one and therefore, once the travel ban is lifted, they will start to travel again. We will continue to work with our partners to help keep the destination in front of mind when travellers start booking their holidays again. We are planning on co-marketing campaigns and Leisure and MICE roadshows, which will be activated immediately

once restrictions are lifted, so we can reach out to this captive audience and showcase the Emirates’ offerings. We do feel that UAE has an advantage, due to its proximity to India, as a quick getaway destination, ease of visa issuance, destination offerings as well high-level of hygiene standards, which will attract the Indian traveller to come back to the destination.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:The travel industry is resilient, and if we all work together focussing on recovery, it will come back stronger. A crisis such as this requires everyone – governments, private companies and individuals – to work together and learn from each other. We unveiled a series of Tourism Support Initiatives to complement government and local developer measures, providing the tourism industry including business owners with the most comprehensive support to sustain their businesses and ensure the welfare of their workforce

By Sayanti Halder

“India market will have their confidence in our destination in the days to come”

“We believe that the Indian traveller is a resilient one”

Thoyyib Mohamed, Managing Director, Maldives Marketing & Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC)

Raki Phillips, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA)

SPOTLIGHT


TravelScapes

Taiwan has been one step ahead of COVID-19 at all points of time with a timely reaction, whether it was closing borders, isolating possible cases, ensuring social distancing and masks or even reaching out to countries with assistance, who are still coming to terms with the situation. Our actions have been prompt, timely and transparent. It is this immediacy and transparency, which will create or renew a traveller’s faith in Taiwan. Additionally, Taiwan has announced ‘Holiday for Healing’, encouraging travellers to choose their style of holidaying and focussing on enriching holidays which emphasise on quality time being spent together by families, friends. We are ensuring that all our trade partners understand the situation, are always up-to-date with the current information and clearly understand the motivation

behind ‘Holiday for Healing’ to be able to encourage people to undertake this nature of vacation. India has been and will remain an important market for us. In the past few years, we have seen a steady increase in traffic from India. Basis how soon we can renew travel and vacations, we will release a fresh estimate.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:Taiwan has the experience of having dealt with a similar situation during the SARS virus in 2003 and understands how to re-build travellers’ confidence and the duration/process involved to bring back the tourism figures to earlier estimates. Given our handling of the pandemic, Taiwan has gained more traveller confidence in safety

parties, including a webinar that we conducted on in April. We may assure that Spain will take all the necessary health and security measures before it opens itself for guests. Till the time we overcome this crisis saying #SpainWillWait.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:We assure our visitors that the plans

are already being discussed about the steps to be taken shortly. As per the recent meeting chaired by Isabel Oliver, Secretary of State for Tourism, Spain, we are working on a homogeneous protocol and aim to open the tourism industry in a phased manner, once the COVID-19 pandemic is controlled

perfect holiday destination for Indians. We take this opportunity to expand the knowledge on our destination from the comfort of the agent’s home via webinars, virtual experiences and one-to-one interactions.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:The number of new infections in Austria is continually decreasing. Since April 14, smaller shops can open once again. Hotels in Austria will also reopen by May 29. Austria has issued clear guidelines on when and how public life will be able to restart. The objective is to ensure a gradual re-opening starting in mid-May. Events can only be held once we get towards June-end of 2020

“India has been and will remain an important market for us”

“Aim to open the tourism industry in a phased manner”

“This is not a reason to give up on our promotion”

Dr Trust HJ Lin, Director-India, Asia Pacific & Middle East, Taiwan Tourist Bureau (TTB)

Elisa Robles Fraga, Director, Tourism Office of Spain

Christine Mukharji, Market Manager-India, Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO)

Currently, we are stressing that the most important thing for everyone – in India as well as in Spain – is their health and safety. At the same time, we are utilising this time to provide information – about the wonderful destination that Spain is – to various

The recent global pandemic is changing business, work and life as we know it. It could be one of the most significant events of the decade as the ongoing outbreak has provisionally put an end to our busy, social and professional lives. Nevertheless, this is not a reason to give up on our promotion of Austria as the

India continues to be the third-largest source market for Singapore, having crossed the one-millionth mark for visitor arrivals into Singapore for the fifth consecutive year in 2019. Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has been communicating regularly with its valued partners to keep them updated of the situation in Singapore and the measures we have taken to contain the spread of the virus. We have ramped up our trade engagement efforts through a series of update sessions on ‘Destination Singapore’ with partners to up-skill their Leisure & MICE product knowledge. Also, STB India has undertaken a trade initiative called #UnitedWeStand and shared a video message to show solidarity and unity with the travel fraternity in these trying times. Also, we have started

a Tourism Recovery Action Task Force (TRAC) to develop and implement strategies to aid the tourism industry and position ourselves for recovery. Additionally, we worked closely with the National Environment Agency (NEA) and other government agencies to roll out the ‘SG Clean’ campaign.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:This is the biggest challenge that STB has faced in its 56-year history and it will not be easy to navigate, with travel at a standstill around the world. However, we are confident that we can overcome this because the fundamentals of our tourism industry remain strong. We have had good growth in the last few years, which proves that our destination is an attractive one for leisure and business visitors

“STB India has undertaken a trade initiative”GB Srithar, Regional Director-India, Middle East and South Asia, Singapore Tourism Board

SPOTLIGHT


TravelScapes

The outbreak of COVID-19 presents the tourism sector with a major and evolving challenge as it is currently one of the most affected sectors. Globally, countries are closing their borders and outbound travel has come to a standstill. It is predicted that tourists across the globe including India will take a while to travel abroad. The UNWTO expects that international tourist arrivals will be down by 20 per cent to 30 per cent in 2020 when compared with the 2019’s figures. As per our study, we have a very strong feeling that the Indian outbound market will bounce immediately compared to other countries. However, Tourism Malaysia is on its toes and preparing to welcome Indians once again with loads of attractive

packages including high safety measures. Property front liners are working on attractive incentives for travel agents. We also think some relaxation on visa front will be an added advantage to boost Indian footfalls.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:Direct flight to Malaysia like Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air, Air Asia and Indigo are working on attractive group packages to encourage Indians to travel to Malaysia. Tourism Malaysia has strategised various FAM trips for media and travel agents, various joint promotions campaigns with travel partners in India, as and when the COVID-19 crisis fades away.

Despite setbacks from the COVID-19 crisis, German National Tourist Office (GNTO, India) prepares to bounce back in the latter part of the year by organising a series of events with trade associations to promote Germany’s appeal as a travel destination. Germany has been on the rise in recent years as a destination for both leisure and corporate meetings/incentive travel. The number of foreign participants visiting for Leisure, Corporate Meetings and Incentive Travel recorded 9,61,656 in 2019. The start of 2020 has seen a sharp decrease in international visitors due to the COVID-19 outbreak; however, Germany plans to recover from the setbacks with enhanced marketing efforts for India in the second half of 2020, which also includes the digital roadshow concept for the market.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:GNTO, in coordination with its head office (German National Tourist Board), is already on the move with the goal #SeeYouSoonBackinGermany. We are currently live with our empathy campaign #DiscoverGermanyFromHome, it bundles virtual experiences, digital offers, Spotify playlists an interactive map, quizzes and recipes, in short everything that makes a traveller want to travel to Germany. We are laying the foundation for our understanding of 'next normal' with our campaign #DiscoverGermanyFromHome. So that we can say again after the crisis: Welcome to Germany as a travel destination!

Mauritius and India have a long-established tie that surpasses the tourism boundaries and we know that Mauritius is a destination that touches the heart of our Indian guests. We thank the travel trade of India for their confidence in our destination. We know that Indians love travelling on holidays and once the crisis is over and everything is back to normal there will be a demand built-up for a much-needed break. We believe that Indians will never stop travelling. Even with the lockdown in place, MTPA India office continues to engage with the travel trade through webinars regularly, conducted to impart destination knowledge to the product and sales teams of various travel organisations. When the overseas travel restrictions, brought on by this contagion are over, MTPA plans to increase this level of engagement by organising roadshows and workshops in various cities. MTPA will also host tour operators and MICE agents to the island

to reinforce their confidence in the efforts being made by the destination to ensure the all-round safety of their guests. MTPA will strongly promote Mauritius as a perfect destination through the digital platform.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:It is currently not possible to predict when international travel will restart as it depends totally on the measures put in place by government authorities and stakeholders such as airlines, hotels etc. Having said that, we do believe that island destinations like Mauritius, itself, that fall in the short/medium-haul categories from travelling from India have also managed to effectively contain the pandemic and are likely to see good footfalls of the leisure travellers. Our blue lagoons and beaches await our Indian guests. Soon they will be greeted once again with the smile of their Mauritian friends and our warm welcome

“Indian outbound market will bounce immediately compared to other countries”

“Germany plans to recover from the setbacks with enhanced marketing efforts for India”

“Our blue lagoons and beaches await our Indian guests”

Mohd. Hafiz Hashim, Director, Tourism Malaysia-Mumbai

Romit Theophilus, Director, German National Tourist Office (India)

Arvind Bundhun, Director, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA)

SPOTLIGHT


TravelScapes

We believe that India is one of the biggest markets for Indonesia tourism sector as shown by data last year 2019 (more than 6,50,000). However, at present, we have been facing a pandemic not only in India but everywhere in the world including Indonesia. Nevertheless, we are still hopeful that this condition will recover sooner than later. And, as for India, we are sure that they will be back in Indonesia, especially Bali since India and Bali have a long history dating back many years. Apart from Bali, we have Yogyakarta which has Prambanan Temple for Hindus and many other new destinations such as Lombok / Labuan Bajo, which are considered a good match for the India market. The important key right now is the readiness in India as a point of origin and here in Indonesia as the destination. We pray for better conditions and speedy recovery so that India will be back in

Indonesia, hopefully around the last quarter of this year.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:We are preparing for rejuvenation after this pandemic is over. We are aware that shortly when tourists want to travel abroad, they will consider many aspects before deciding upon the destination. Among those considerations are safety and security, health and hygiene as well as environmental sustainable development of tourism and so forth. Therefore, if we want to attract foreign tourists including Indians, to visit Indonesia, we have to be ready to meet the market demands, particularly for niche markets, special interest and so on. Additionally, we also need to create infrastructure in our destination with more attractions, amenities and the ability to bounce back to welcome back foreign tourists including Indians

2020 started well for South African Tourism, with 7,452 Indian tourists visiting the ‘Rainbow Nation’ in January. A whopping eight per cent increase over January 2019! While the pandemic does not come with a predictable timeline, we at South African Tourism, continue to utilise this window of opportunity to proactively and meaningfully engage with our trade partners in India, as well as the local DMCs in South Africa. We are looking at up-skilling and re-skilling ourselves and our partners, aiming to identify synergies and sell South Africa in the best possible way to the Indian consumer. South African Tourism India has been invested in virtually training over 150 trade partners each week – across all travel verticals, for the last several weeks. We are also hosting webinars with key trade decision-makers to sustain top of mind recall and consideration for South Africa. Currently, we are monitoring the constantly evolving

situation, both globally and locally, and are working with our partners and stakeholders across the globe to structure recovery plans that will help us optimally restart and revive the extensive tourism machinery, when the time comes.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:Up until the pandemic brought the world and global tourism to a halt, India housed one of the fastest-growing outbound travel markets in the world and was the eighth largest international source market for South African Tourism. We believe that this vibrant nation will continue to play a critical role in achieving our international tourism goals. Our previous targets for 2020 will be refreshed in sync with recovery plans and will depend on how the tourism sector reacts once our source markets and the aviation sector open up for business

“The important key right now is the readiness in India”

“Aiming to identify synergies and sell South Africa in the best possible way to the Indian consumer”

Dr R. Sigit Witjaksono, Director of Tourism Marketing for East, South and Central Asia Region, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Republic of Indonesia

Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – Middle East, India and South East Asia, South African Tourism

India has been one of the key source markets for the Czech Republic with significant growth in tourist numbers over the last few years. With our combined efforts, we will overcome this situation. The Czech Republic has so far been able to fight this pandemic fairly well and in fact, it is amongst the least affected countries in Europe. Hopefully, we will soon be ready to invite the discerning Indian travellers to visit our beautiful and scenic country. While travel bans are still in place in India and not much active marketing is possible during this period, it is our sincere belief that the destinations that remain visible and relevant in these challenging times will also be the first ones to bounce back and attract the Indian tourists. True to this belief, we have increased our efforts to stay connected with the travel trade fraternity. Virtual Training, Social Media

communication and E-learning programs are some of the initiatives that are being implemented to educate and inform the travel trade about the various facets of the Czech Republic.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 crisis has caused a huge disruption in the travel industry but we are hopeful for the situation to get better soon and are expecting the travel situation to improve over the next few months. It will not be possible to reach the previous year’s growth in arrivals in 2020, but we are optimistic to see some recovery in the last quarter of this year. We, at CzechTourism, remain committed to our long-term goal of developing India as one of the major source markets for tourism to the Czech Republic

“We will soon be ready to invite the discerning Indian travellers”Arzan Khambatta, Head, Czech Tourist Authority – CzechTourism India

SPOTLIGHT


TravelScapes

It was predicted by UNWTO that there would be 20 million tourists who will travel from India. There is a current pause, be it international or domestic, but this will not deter Indians when the situation comes back to normalcy. We can’t predict the exact time but we in the tourism sector are hopeful it would be shortly. Experts suggest that short-haul destination will see the first movement of tourist but this depend on the precaution measure laid down by both governments. We, in BTEA, are positive that Indian tourists will lookout for a new destination in the Middle East. BTEA-India is conducting regular webinars on the destination and Zoom Call interaction with travel agents and tour operators. For the consumers, BTEA- India is

keeping the destination visible in Social Media with content stories and videos.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:With the Indian government enforcing the lockdown, there is a hope that the situation coming to normalcy soon. We, in Bahrain, are taking all the steps to ensure COVID- 19 will be brought in control and for this various measure have been initiated by the National Task Force. BTEA would keep the trade and consumer updated on the current developments. When Bahrain is “tourism ready”, all precautionary measures will be implemented and BTEA –India will have travellers well informed

Even once the current restrictions have been lifted, we understand that from a consumer’s perspective- trust, safety and security will be key factors in destination choice. In line with this, consumers will no doubt have a preference for travelling to destinations, which have emerged stronger through phases of recovery. Hence, we will continue to communicate all necessary health, safety and well-being measures are undertaken by Australia, to ensure the safety of international visitors. As most of the world faces lockdown, we aim to reach out to audiences across the world by sharing content that continues to inspire to consider Australia for their next holiday, when travel resumes, by engaging them online and via our social media channels. We’ve significantly ramped up our online training initiatives and have trained over 5,000 travel agents over the past six weeks through webinars focusing on various segments and destinations within Australia. We are also

supporting the travel industry at each end including our airline partners and key stakeholders to ensure that they are an integral part of our recovery plans.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:While the timelines for the lifting of travel restrictions on tourism are not yet known, we need to realise that the industry will revive quickly once these restrictions are lifted. The latest results from the Australian Government’s International Visitor Survey, for the year ended December 2019 indicate that Australia was in a very strong position with 9.5 million (+2.4 per cent) international visitors who spent AUD 45 billion (+three per cent) on their Australian trips, thereby reinforcing that tourism is a major economic driver for Australia. We are certain that it will continue to play an important role when we are over the COVID-19 crisis

Levi came to India market just closer to a year now and the pandemic has hit us to a very large extent like any other destination got affected. Visit Levi have paused all and only post-June 2020, we will come out with our plans and activities as we are monitoring the flight situation and the new norms which will be implemented in the future. We are also anticipating changes in visa rules n regulations. Till all are not put in order, it is difficult to come with a plan now.

PROMISES OF PROSPERITY:All that lies in the future depends upon the pandemic.

We are only speculating and hypothetical at the moment. Honestly, I don’t expect any great numbers from India, with Levi being a long-haul destination, for this winter 2020-21. But as we know, travelling will never stop. Once the economy picks up and people are more secured, travel will be in their priority list. It is just a pause now and with new perceptions and outlook, travel will eventually gain momentum

“Indian tourists will lookout for a new destination in the Middle East”

“It is essential for us to realise that the industry will revive quickly once these restrictions are lifted”

“Travel will eventually gain momentum”

Sunil Mathapati, Country Manager – India, Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority (BTEA)

Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, Tourism Australia

Papori Bharati, India Representative, Visit Levi

SPOTLIGHT


TravelScapes UPDATE REPORT

Travel brands hold an emotional attachment with their consumers

but those that can introduce simple initiatives to maintain a connection with their customers throughout this global pandemic have a higher chance in retaining customer loyalty, says GlobalData.

Johanna Bonhill-Smith, Travel & Tourism analyst at GlobalData, comments, “Post COVID-19, the competitive landscape will be even more challenging. Travel agencies that operate through a multi-branded strategy are already at a strategic advantage as they are likely to encounter quicker financial recovery due to servicing a wide market base. Flight Centre Travel Group for example operates a flagship leisure brand alongside services for niche sectors such as mass, youth, premium cruises and corporate travel services for organisations.”

The travel group released a travel inspiration video named ‘Open up the World’. The short clip aimed to inspire travellers generating wanderlust and to reassure consumers that agents were still working from home to aid queries. A later announcement between March 15 and April 7 saw browsing time

increase by 91.62 pc compared to 2019, this highlights how a simple action can gather additional traction.

Bonhill-Smith adds, “Smaller, independent agencies are naturally at greater risk of collapse and yet it all depends on the company response to this exogenous event of COVID-19. Intrepid Travel set an example by releasing an initiative named ‘#BeTogether’ where travellers, agents and hosts alike are encouraged to write a letter reminiscing on a previous travel experience, which is then in turn published across the company's social media channels.

Simple initiatives such as those explored by both Flight Centre Travel Group and Intrepid Travel will help organisations form a deeper relationship with their existing consumers whilse captivating the interest of many others.

Bonhill-Smith concludes, “In light of the current situation, the prospect of identifying a new market opportunity will seem ludicrous to many as all companies simply strive for survival over the next few months. Yet this is now the time for strategic evaluation, where any opportunity for increasing brand recognition should ultimately, be a key priority.”

TRAVEL AGENTS THAT MAINTAIN EMOTIONAL CONNECT WITH CONSUMERS WILL EMERGE STRONGER POST COVID-19: GLOBALDATA

Under the newly updated forecasts from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the most likely scenario for international visitor arrivals into and across Asia Pacific in 2020 is that visitor numbers are likely to reduce by 32 per cent year-on-year. Taking into account the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of arrivals is now expected to reduce to fewer than 500 million this year.

That effectively takes visitor volume back to levels last seen in 2012. At this stage, growth is expected to resume in 2021, returning to forecast levels by 2023. Much of course, depends on how quickly and completely the COVID-19 pandemic is contained and controlled. A more optimistic scenario suggests arrivals still falling in 2020 but by 16 per cent year-on-year while a pessimistic narrative predicts a reduction of approximately 44 per cent.

The impacts are expected to be most severe in Asia, especially Northeast Asia, which is now predicted to lose almost 51 per cent of its visitor volume between 2019 and 2020 (most likely scenario), followed by South Asia with a reduction of 31 per cent, and then Southeast Asia with a 22 per cent drop in visitor arrivals. West Asia is projected to lose almost six percent in visitor arrivals, followed by the Pacific with a projected contraction of 18 per cent and the Americas with a loss of a little under 12 per cent.

Recovery rates relative to 2019 are expected to occur in most destination regions/sub-regions in 2020, however, Northeast Asia is likely to take a little longer and exceed the 2019 volume of arrivals in 2022.

The same is essentially true for visitor receipts as well as they are expected to drop by 27 per cent between 2019 and 2020 under the most likely scenario, reducing to USD 594 billion, significantly below the original 2020 forecast of USD 811 billion.

ASIA PACIFIC VISITOR NUMBERS LIKELY TO REDUCE BY 32 PER CENT IN 2020, BUT RETURN IN 2021

UPDATE MoT TravelScapes

TRAVEL TRADE STANDS TOGETHER WITH TRAVELSCAPES FOR A “DOSE OF OPTIMISM”


UPDATEMoTTravelScapes

TRAVEL TRADE STANDS TOGETHER WITH TRAVELSCAPES FOR A “DOSE OF OPTIMISM”



TravelScapesUPDATE OUTBOUND

On March 20, 2020, Finland was announced as the happiest country in

the world for the third year running by the United Nations World Happiness Report. “If you ask a Finn, which makes us happy, one of the answers in nature. We Finns like to put on a pair of rubber boots, head to the woods to slow down and calm our mind,” mentioned the official release.

“About 70 per cent of our country is covered by forest and travellers fall in love with Finland’s clean air, serenity and silence. Now, however, is not the time to travel but rather focus on the health and wellbeing of oneself and those around us,” it further stated. Visit Finland would like to share some simple tips on how to find your calm at home – the Finnish way – while you dream about your next adventure.

TIP 1 – START YOUR DAY WITH A COLD SHOWER (Instead of a dip in a lake or the sea) The Finns love winter swimming as much as they love the sauna. The secret of plunging into icy water lies in the feeling that surges through your body once you get out of the water – as soon as you’re back on dry land your circulation kicks in and your body starts to warm up and makes you feel happy. If you do it in the morning, your day couldn’t ask for a more refreshing way to start your day. Dive into your inner Finnish mentality “Sisu”, and just do it! You can alternate cold and warm showers to get a “sauna” feeling.TIP 2 – MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD BY READING (Instead of visiting a library) Books are close to the Finns’ hearts. There are many libraries in Finland with Helsinki’s Oodi being the newest library to open in 2019 and was awarded the best public

library in the world the same year.

TIP 3 – EXPERIENCE A RELAXING FOREST PATH ON YOUR SOFA(Instead of walk-in an actual forest) There is something magical about the forest and the Finnish soul has always been linked with it. The green colour is calming; the gentle rustling of the leaves and pine needles is like music. Finns feel good in the forest. The forest roots us and help us remember who we are and where we come from. In the forest we don’t feel being alone or even lost – the forest provides protection and peace for us.

TIP 4 – MAKE A WORLD BETTER (AND TASTIER) PLACE BY BAKING A CINNAMON BUN(Instead of a visiting a Finnish café serving them) Korvapuusti translates into “slapped ears” in English but they are essentially cinnamon buns baked Finnish style with a dash of cardamom. We Finns love our coffee (we are heavy drinkers of coffee, almost 10 kg per person per year) and korvapuusti so much that there is a special word for it, “pullakahvit”, which means “bun coffee”, either it is home-made, enjoyed at a café, or work with your workmates – at the moment we’re doing with virtual “pullakahvi” pauses. TIP 5 – TRANSPORT YOUR THOUGHTS THROUGH ONLINE(Instead of visiting a museum) Finland’s contemporary art scene embraces everything from experimental artist-run initiatives and commercial galleries to flagship art institutions. There are more than 55 art museums and numerous art galleries packed into our cities. Finland is a country of extremes and contrasts and along with the Finns"

Macao Government Tourism Office – India has adopted a focused approach during this period of pandemic and has

increased its efforts to educate and inform the travel trade fraternity with latest developments in the destination through various online and text messaging training. Travel industry today is facing a huge setback with the outbreak of COVID-19. In this time of uncertainty, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) India is conducting various training programs through online live platforms and text and voice messaging platforms like WhatsApp to educate travel trade partners about the new developments in the destination.

These training aims to keep interested in the destination active in the India market as well as enhance knowledge of the travel trade fraternity via these training programs. These training are interesting and interactive and ensure the relevant information is shared with the partners.

Speaking on the same, Arzan Khambatta, Head of Macao Government Tourism Office- India commented, “The lockdown has given us a chance to educate and connect with our travel trade partners virtually. Through the training, we are imparting knowledge about the destination and its offerings to agents who we could not reach out earlier. Since it is an online training, we can cater to a wider base of agents across India ensuring they receive the updated information about Macao. Our training is informative and engaging providing opportunity to agents to interact with us live as well and ask any relevant questions.”

Known for its blinding white sandy beaches and glimmering turquoise blue waters, Maldives is a fascinating unique

destination. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has released a very crisp, relevant and powerful ‘#visitmaldiveslater’ campaign that encourages everyone to stay home and Visit Maldives later. MMPRC requests everyone to follow their country’s medical guidelines and rules during the pandemic so that we can defeat COVID-19; and #visitmaldiveslater.

Finland announced as the “happiest country in the world” for the third year

Macao Tourism conducts webinars and training for agents in India

Visit Maldives kicks off its ‘#visitmaldiveslater’ campaign Reports suggest that Dubai aims to

re-open its tourism by July 2020, according to the Director-General of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Al Marri. During a recent statement, Al Marri said, “The reopening process will be gradual and could be delayed until September, depending on the situation and global trends surrounding COVID-19. The thing about the scenario is a global question. Many countries remain

closed and it’s more about the bilateral discussion.”

The emirate’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism. Dubai began to ease the lockdown restrictions last week including reopening shopping malls after their closure for nearly a month. In 2019, Dubai welcomed 16.7 million tourists. The top three important markets after China were Saudi Arabia, India and the United Kingdom (UK).

Dubai aims to re-open its borders for tourism by July 2020


UPDATEMoTTravelScapes

REDISCOVERING ‘APNA DESH’

A collage of Indian spectacles to resurrect the wanderlust

Truth should be told that the misfortune of the present time, that the globe is experiencing, has shuddered its travel tribe as

well. However, it is also believed that the ‘road to recovery’ isn’t a long one thus, staying optimistic and resilient is the key mantra as Indians might pause but would never stop travelling. Bringing up further hope, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has come up with a very innovative diagram to promote travel and tourism within India by launching a campaign called ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ to add fillip to both knowing India, as a tourist destination, today and selling India tomorrow. TravelScapes knows the importance of travelling as we literally swear by it and therefore, in the hardship of our travel days, we hand-pick some of the ‘must-visit’ destinations in India, based on the priority list of the MoT, that are surely poised to re-establish our conviction for travelling tomorrow

Throughout the pages of history, the Indian subcontinent has witnessed the rise and fall of some of the world’s largest empires, but no dynasty stands out quite like the Mughals. For a glimpse of the grandeur and enduring architecture of Mughal India, set your sights on some the associated Indian monuments in Delhi. New Delhi is a huge, sprawling metropolis. An ancient city with a storied past, Delhi is one of the most historical cities on earth. It also has a very vibrant present as the capital of the world’s largest democracy. There are so many things to do in Delhi, it is hard to even know how to begin a Delhi city guide and what Delhi travel tips to offer, to visitors and tourists who want to explore and experience the best sights, hotels, attractions, landmarks and fun along with some of the trendy entertainment and things to do. Not to forget, its amazing gastronomic splendour mixing the spectacles of all the possible clans and cultures that have occupied or even touched the soils of New Delhi in the past pages of history.

Experience Heritage: DELHI

By Sayanti Halder

EXOTIC INDIA


TravelScapes

Experience Culture: WEST BENGAL Experience Responsibility: KERALA

Experience wonders: MADHYA PRADESH

Locally, Kolkata is regarded as India’s intellectual, artistic and cultural capital. India’s third-largest city is a daily fiesta of human existence, simultaneously noble and squalid, cultured yet outlandish, decidedly futuristic while splendid in its decays. This city is more relaxed than some of its modern Indian counterparts while the residents claim a strong relationship to its both colonial and zamindari (feudal) pasts. In the ‘City of Joy’, one may learn about the local history, culture, food and people as one moves around the bustling streets and quaint avenues of the city. In Kolkata, learn how the British East India Company, the Dutch as well as the Nawabs had authority over India for years and hear the stories about the local shops, architecture and take pictures of the famous Victoria Memorial. Moreover, the vehemently reputed Durga Puja that acts as the epitome of all art and culture culminated in borders of Bengal is currently the prime reason why Kolkata bring more than what true culture has to speak for itself.

Kerala is a narrow sliver of land at the southern tip of India that's blessed with a diverse landscape and mesmerising culture. You experience sweeping mountain vistas, expansive tea estates set up during colonial rule, tranquil backwaters and pristine beaches. While the natural beauty of the land will soothe the senses, Kerala’s ancient art forms like Kathakali and Theyam will enthral each of its tourist and visitor. But unlike many other travel destinations, Kerala has managed to develop its tourism while still maintaining the beauty of the land, the wellbeing of its people and their culture. Kerala has emerged as one of the prime tourism destinations on both the national and international map and is considered as the tourism trendsetter in the country. The availability of plenty of natural resources, skilled manpower, supportive entrepreneurial community, strong local-self-governments, civil society organisations, a multitude of micro-enterprises, streams of professionals and academicians, responsible media and responsive tourism industry, provide the state with an ideal setting to implement and practice 'Responsible Tourism.'

Often referred to as the ‘Heart of India’, there couldn’t be a more apt name for the vibrant Madhya Pradesh. Despite the large number of experiences that this beautiful state offers, it is an underrated destination in India. Exploring the second-largest state in the country is not an easy feat. The sheer size of the state overwhelms even seasoned travellers and you can be assured that one trip is simply not enough to explore Madhya Pradesh. Each city deserves at least a couple of days and unless you have one month in hand, you’ll be coming back for more. What also sets Madhya Pradesh apart from other destinations is that the state offers a unique mix of history, natural beauty, wildlife, delicious culinary experiences, shopping, adventure and spirituality. Home to world-famous tourist attractions and UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Madhya Pradesh tourism effortlessly takes you on an enthralling tour. The mesmerising temples of Khajuraho, the majestic Sanchi Stupa, Bandhavgarh National Park, the temples of Ujjain and Gwalior Fort are only a few highlights mentioned in our Madhya Pradesh travel guide to tempt you to plan your trip.

EXOTIC INDIA


TravelScapes UPDATE

According to the Travel Agents Federation of India’s (TAFI) recent notice to its members,

the associations attended a joint call organised by the MoCA on April 16 along with representatives of Indigo, Spicejet, Vistara, GoAir and AirAsia. The Civil Aviation Secretary, Pradeep Singh Kharola gave a platform to all the parties to present their urgent issues. Consequently, he has requested the airlines to look into the issues presented by the agents and “revert with a solution within a short period”, as per the notice. TAFI thanked Kharola for taking such an initiative and looks forward to a continued discussion in getting relief.

“While the circular on the refunds from the Ministry of Civil Aviation was very limited in its clarity and support but at least some response was made as a start. If refunds will have riders and not allow full refunds, it defeats the purpose of following the government guideline of reducing travel for only essential needs,” stated the official statement. “What the travel trade and passengers need is a precise and clear understanding on what will be the refund policy by airlines here on and that requires MOCA to make things simpler to follow the Prime Minister’s advice of reducing essential travel.”

MoCA connects with airlines and travel agents to hear “urgent issues”

As the travel restrictions imposed by the countries on its global network continue

to be in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SriLankan Airlines recently announced that it is compelled to extend the temporary suspension of its scheduled passenger flights till April 30, 2020. The airlines’ cargo services will continue to operate from its worldwide network and special flights, as and when required.

Dubai's national carrier Emirates has planned to operate three more flights from its

Emirati hub to Manila, the capital of Philippines, on April 20, 22 and 24, to help more Filipino nationals in the UAE get home. In a statement by Emirates on Thursday said that this follows the successful operation of two flights to Manila this week which has already brought many Filipino residents and visitors home. Flights can be booked on emirates website or via travel agents, said a statement from Emirates. Only citizens of the Philippines and those who meet the entry requirements of the destination will be allowed to board. Passengers will be required to comply with all requirements of the destination country, it stated. Similar to other repatriation flights that Emirates has operated thus far, for health and safety reasons, the airline will offer a modified inflight service that reduces contact and the risk of infection.

Virgin Australia has entered voluntary administration - making it Australia's first big

corporate casualty of the Coronavirus pandemic, said a report. The company collapsed under the weight of enormous debts following the Coronavirus travel shutdown. It was already struggling with a long-term USD five billion (USD 3.17 billion) debt. The airline is now seeking new buyers and investors, after failing to get a loan from Australia's government.

Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin

group is a part-owner of Virgin Australia, has pledged his luxury island resort in the Caribbean as collateral to help get a UK government bailout of Virgin Atlantic. The billionaire said in an open letter to staff he was not asking for a handout, but a commercial loan believed to be GBP 500 million (USD 622.8 million). Both airlines have been hit hard by the global Coronavirus lockdown and Sir Branson has appealed to governments in both countries for help.

Air Arabia has announced it will operate new repatriation flights from four cities in India

to Sharjah carrying UAE nationals back home. The special flights will operate from Mumbai and Delhi to Sharjah International Airport on April 20 while special flights will operate from Cochin and Hyderabad to Sharjah International Airport on April 22.

Air Arabia remains committed to bringing

stranded citizens back home as well as supporting requests to operate repatriation flights and is working closely with UAE authorities in this regard. The airline announced earlier that it is operating a mix of repatriation flights as well as cargo flights during April to multiple destinations. Further information about the repatriation and cargo flights is available on the website or by contacting Air Arabia call centre or respective travel agent.

SriLankan temporarily suspends scheduled flights due to COVID-19 outbreak

Emirates operates three more flights to Manila

Virgin Australia collapses; Atlantic in trouble

Air Arabia announces new repatriation flights from India

AVIATION

Pradeep Singh Kharola


UPDATE TravelScapes

Vietjet will commence operations with regular daily passenger flights

and cargo flights to supply essential commodities and necessities in Vietnam. Following the decision of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), Vietjet will operate one daily return flight between Hanoi and Da Nang and one daily return flight between Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang as well as increase the frequency of Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route to two return flights per day from April 16, 2020.

Besides regular flights, the airline will operate about 10 cargo flights daily. In addition to common goods, Vietjet’s flights will also transport medical supplies and equipment for free to support the country’s pandemic prevention and control. The airline is also offering free transportation for doctors and medical staff during this time.

Keeping the focus on improving the public health and prevent the spread of

COVID-19, Vietjet has intensively conducted disease prevention, thorough health check procedures for all passengers and crew before each flight and followed mandatory requirements of a health declaration. All Vietjet flights are in alignment with all global standards and guidelines from the local authorities, the World Health Organisation and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Vietjet resumes flight operation plan starting April

AirAsia trims staff salaries by up to 20 per cent for April

IndiGo and Vistara hault flight bookings till May 31

Reports prompt that AirAsia India has cut the April salary of its staff by up to

20 per cent to tackle the airline's finances amid the suspension of all commercial services due to the lockdown, a source said. Those drawing INR 50,000 per month or less have been spared from the wage cut. The Bengaluru-headquartered budget carrier is the latest to join the other domestic airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Vistara, who have already taken similar

measures to cut fixed cost amid grounding of their fleet.

"AirAsia India has cut the April salary of its employees by up to 20 per cent. The senior management will take a pay cut of 20 per cent while the wages of the executives falling in others categories have been reduced by 17 per cent, 13 per cent and seven per cent, respectively," the source who is privy to the development said, based on reports.

Following the DGCA’s circular issued late directing all airlines “to refrain

from booking tickets” after May 4, IndiGo and Vistara have decided not to take any bookings till May 31. SpiceJet’s website shows that the airline is taking bookings from May 16 onwards. Further attempts to book any ticket before that on various sectors shows the message “Sorry, no fares available for this date. Please select another date and try.”

A spokesperson of AirAsia India said the airline had complied with the DGCA order issued on April 19. “Until further notice from the regulators,” the spokesperson said

when asked whether the airline had stopped bookings indefinitely. The DGCA circular adds that airlines will be given sufficient notice and time for restarting operations. “This is for strict compliance by all airlines,” the circular said.

Initially, the domestic airlines declined to follow the order and asked for greater clarity on when they would be allowed to reopen bookings. But after some time, they decided to follow the latest DGCA circular, though with different dates. While SpiceJet is not taking bookings till May 15, domestic market leader IndiGo is not taking bookings till May 31.

Reports prompt that India’s aviation industry has urged

the government to take steps for financial aid, including funds infusion into airlines and airports, as COVID-19 paralyses the sector. The aviation industry needs an urgent bailout from the government, The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Aviation Committee Chairman Anand Stanley said in a letter, recently, to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. The industry body has sought tax relief, deferment of payment of goods and services tax (GST) for airlines, bringing jet fuel under GST, reduction in airport charges and overflight fees, a temporary cut in excise duty on jet fuel, as well as other financial aid.

“The government may immediately provide direct cash support to Indian carriers, so that airlines can meet their fixed costs, at least for the period where the loss of revenues and liquidity is directly attributable to the government’s directive to cease operation,” Stanley said, referring to India suspending flights till April 14 amid a three-week nationwide lockdown to arrest the spread of COVID-19. “The government could undertake some policy measures for at least 20 per cent contribution towards the total salary bill of employees with a gross salary of INR 30,000 or less per month,” he said. These steps will help airline companies retain employees, despite the headwinds, he added.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

has warned airlines not to take booking for domestic or international flights until they receive orders from the government. In a circular issued by the aviation regulator's Deputy Director-General, Sunil Kumar said airlines cannot start taking flight bookings from May 4 until further orders. "All airlines are hereby directed to refrain from booking tickets... Further, the airlines may note that they shall be given sufficient notice and time for restarting

operations," the circular further stated.

Meanwhile, Air India has stopped taking bookings for all flights, said its officials, a day after Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri "advised" airlines to open bookings only after the government decides on resuming passenger flights. The minister's comment came hours after the national carrier stated that it has opened bookings on select domestic flights from May 4 and on select international flights from June 1.

Flight restrictions to be lifted only after Coronavirus is controlled: Minister Puri

DGCA directs airlines not to take bookings until further govt. orders

Hardeep Singh Puri

AVIATION


TravelScapes ON THE MOVE

PROMOTED AT: CapitaLand Group in Singapore, SingaporeTO: CEO-Lodging

Kevin Goh is appointed as CapitaLand’s CEO to oversee CapitaLand Group’s lodging business. Lodging is one of the three pillars of the Group’s strategic businesses for sustainable growth, together with the other two pillars being Fund Management and Investment/Development. Goh is concurrently the CEO of The Ascott Limited, an appointment he held since 2018.

PROMOTED AT: Avani + Khao Lak Resort in Phuket, ThailandTO: General Manager

Moonen brings 15 years’ experience within the hospitality industry, beginning his hospitality career with a degree from The Hotel Management School Maastricht, The Netherlands. He was appointed Assistant Hotel Manager at the luxury hotel and Michelin star awarded ‘de Echoput’ before joining the IHG. In 2011, Moonen began a nine-year journey with Marriott International.

PROMOTED AT: Sheraton Grand Bengaluru TO: General Manager

The Avani Seminyak Bali Resort has appointed I Made Subrata as its General Manager. Scheduled to be rebranded in mid-2020, the resort features 21 rooms and 16 private pool villas. Subrata began his career in hospitality on his home-island of Bali as the pre-opening team of the well established InterContinental Bali Resort in 1993. In 2004, he joined Conrad Bali as Guest Activities Manager and later, to Rooms Division Manager.

PROMOTED AT: OYO Hotels & Homes in GurgaonTO: Independent Member of the Board OYO Hotels & Homes has announced the appointment of Troy Alstead as an independent member of the company’s board of directors. He will join the board with Gerardo Issac Lopez, Operating Partner at SoftBank Vision Fund, Betsy Atkins, CEO & Founder of Baja Corporation, Munish Varma, SoftBank Investment Advisers, Bejul Somaia, MD, Lightspeed Venture Partners.

PROMOTED AT: The Ascott Limited (Ascott)TO: Area General Manager-Chennai

CapitaLand’s wholly-owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), has recently appointed Supriya Malhotra as Area General Manager for Chennai cluster. In her new role, Malhotra will be responsible for Ascott’s overall operations in Chennai. She will also be leading the Pre-Opening Process of the new properties due to open in India. Malhotra has been with Ascott since 2013.

PROMOTED AT: Hospitality Management HoldingTO: Area General Manager- Northern Emirates

The former Cluster General Manager of Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman; Ramada Beach Hotel Ajman, and the Wyndham Garden Ajman Corniche, Iftikhar Hamdani has now joined the Hospitality Management Holding family and been appointed as the Area General Manager – the Northern Emirates handling the overall operations of Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel and Coral Beach Resort Sharjah.

PROMOTED AT: Radisson Blu Mumbai International Airport, India TO: General Manage

Former General Manager at Radisson Blu Pune Hinjawadi, Saxena brings with him 22 years of hospitality experience and has been represented at ITB-Berlin and WTM London several times in recent years along with participation in commercial RHG workshops across SE Asia & China Road Show 2019. He served in Exe Committee as Vice President 2011-12 Hotels & Restaurant Association of AP.

PROMOTED AT: Radisson Hotel GroupTO: General Counsel, Asia Pacific

Radisson Hotel Group has appointed Nisha Menon as its new General Counsel, Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, Menon sits on Radisson Hotel Group’s Asia Pacific Executive Committee and will report directly to Katerina Giannouka, President-Asia Pacific of the Group. With over 13 years of legal experience and expertise, Menon graduated with a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University Law College at Bangalore University in 2007.

PROMOTED AT: Patina Maldives, Fari IslandsTO: Director of Sales & Marketing

Patina Maldives, Fari Islands has appointed Simone Broekhaar as the Director of Sales & Marketing. A veteran of luxury hospitality, Broekhaar will bring unwavering passion and creativity, coupled with over two decades of experience in the industry to spearhead sales and communications strategy in the lead up to the launch of Patina Maldives in Q1 2021. Patina Maldives, Fari Islands will be the first launch under Patina Hotels & Resorts.

KEVIN GOH

STEPHAN MOONENMADE SUBRATA

TROY ALSTEAD

SUPRIYA MALHOTRA IFTIKHAR HAMDANI PANKAJ SAXENA

NISHA MENON

SIMONE BROEKHAAR

Temperature checks & health declarations by

passengers upon embarkation is mandatory.

Guest bedrooms with all linen are sanitized & disinfected regularly.

Common public areas and touch-points are

sanitized & sterilized hourly.

Self-service in the dining area is suspended. Crew

members must wear facemasks & gloves while

serving food.

Recreational & entertainment facilities

are sanitized prior & after use.

Air filters & cooling coils are thoroughly checked, cleaned & replaced to ensure healthy

air quality in cabins.

24x7 full-fledged medical centre with isolation

ward available onboard.

All front-line crew to wear appropriate protective gear & get temperature

checks twice a day.

Water samples are checked several times a

day to ensure your safety.

For online booking visitwww.jaleshcruises.com

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1800 266 8927For Queries

You will feel as safe & secureonboard Jalesh Cruises,

as you feel at home.

Multiple dining venues & special seating arrangements

to ensure ample spacing.

Seating capacity per show will be reduced & number of

shows will be increased.

Different time slots & designated areas to be

allocated to guests.

Limited passenger to be transported at a time to

avoid overcrowding.

All payments to be done through the Key Card to

ensure safety.

DINING AREA MARQUEE THEATRE ON DECK TRANSPORT PAYMENTS

PROTECTIVE MEASURES OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD CONCEPT

SAFETY MEASURES THAT ENSURE PEACE OF MIND ONBOARD

RNI No. - DELENG/2013/48401 • Licence No. : F.2(T-3) 2013 • Posting Dt. 9-10/05/2020 Place of Posting: NIEHOND 110028 • Reg. No. - DL(W)10/2208/2019-2021 • Date of publication 3-4/05/2020

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