Vol. XXXII Issue 8; April 2nd fortnight i­­ssue 2020 A DDP PUBLICATION Pages : 24 ` 20/- com ddppl.com TravTalkIndia. Scan & Share Relooking at tourism exports ..... 03 IATO postpones election ............. 20 Insurance to take priority now.... 13 Sharpen your skills online .......... 22 TravelNevada hosts webinars ..... 14 PATA takes measures .................. 24 ‘Extend credit if not cash’ Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has urged airlines to give credit to passengers in lieu of bookings made before the implementation of the initial 21-day nationwide lockdown in case they cannot refund the customers’ money. A decision on resuming operations, both domestic and international, is still awaited. Nisha Verma either. So, it has become quite in case the airline is not able to evacuation of passengers, Puri will be safe in other countries, complex. Hence, the DGCA has give him cash. That can be done says that they will be looking and then we can think of open- he lockdown in the country issued some guidelines, say- by the airline either in terms of a at resuming international flight ing international operations on a Thas brought people’s travel ing that firstly, all cancellation operations on a case-by-case case-by-case basis,” he says. plans to a standstill. International charges should not be levied basis after the lockdown is and domestic flight operations over. They will be looking at Domestic operations have been suspended, and since We have issued which countries these flights are Domestic airlines, too, are un- flights are not taking off, people coming from. “After the lock- clear on the course of action go- are being forced to cancel or re- clear advisory to down, we will be considering ing forward. “What the airlines schedule their tickets. A number all the airlines and the resumption of flights on do as part of their contingency of airlines have been charging a case-by-case basis. Even planning and prepare for the fu- Hardeep Singh Puri most of them are customers for such cancellation Minister of State (I/C) flights that will bring Indians ture is entirely up to them and or rescheduling. Addressing the Civil Aviation following it back would not be allowed to there is no directive from us. I issue at hand, Hardeep Singh come until the lockdown is am optimistic and I am hoping Puri, Minister of State (I/C), Civil throws more light on the situ- – Hardeep Singh Puri lifted,” he shares. that operations begin in a cali- Pradeep Singh Kharola Aviation, has said, “We have is- ation and says, “For bookings Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation brated manner,” says Kharola, sued clear advisory to all the made earlier, money has already and as far as possible, the To this, Kharola adds that there asserting that it is really up to airlines regarding the same and come to the airline. Sometimes, airlines should also try to re- were restrictions on interna- the airline; "they have to judge most of the airlines are following travel agents have different schedule the tickets so that credit form or a voucher or some tional flights arriving from dif- the situation and take bookings," it by giving credit because the dealings with airlines and have those who cannot travel now electronic system. ferent destinations even before he comments. bookings have been done.” paid the airlines, and they also can do so subsequently.” He the lockdown. “Even after the give a credit period to passen- adds that in case a passenger is International operations lockdown is over, the govern- With the lockdown extended to Pradeep Singh Kharola, Sec- gers. In that case, the money not able to travel to a destination, On the issue of restarting ment has to examine and take a May 3, resumption of flights retary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, hasn’t come to the travel agent he gets credit for that amount international operations for holistic view of when conditions could be further delayed. For the industry, by the industry Taking knowledge sharing to a new level, TRAVTALK Digital Conclave – India’s first virtual tourism conclave – received an overwhelming response with over 6,000 attendees for its three sessions. It helped answer some key questions. TT Bureau dustries in a post-COVID world. Session-I focused on ‘When The second session was on The conclave, divided into three will inbound bounce back? the subject ‘Outbound tourism: eld on April 7, 2020, the sessions, focused on inbound, What actions can tour Weathering the storm and gear- ism Board) and Deepak Rawat man Billa (Director, Technical Hfirst-ever Digital domestic and outbound tourism. operators take in the inter- ing up for better days’. (Senior Vice President, Interna- Cooperation and Silk Road Conclave had some of the most im?’ Speakers for this ses- tional Markets – MakeMyTrip). Development – UNWTO), eminent stakeholders of the The speakers, experts in their sion included Rupinder Brar Speakers for this session Kapil Kaul (CEO, India & tourism industry on-board to respective fields, hailed from the (ADG – Ministry of Tourism), included experts like Tricia Session-III focused on ‘Coro- ME – CAPA) and Naveen discuss present circumstances government and the trade, in- Himmat Anand (Founder – Warwick (APMEA Director navirus – A small roadblock or Kundu (Managing Director - under the COVID-19 outbreak, cluding tour operators, hoteliers, Tree of Life Resorts & Hotels) – VisitBritain), GB Srithar (Re- a major disrupter for the tour- EbixCash Travel & Holidays), while also delving on the future NTOs, OTAs, international tour- and Homa Mistry (CEO – Trail gional Director, India, Middle East ism industry?’ This session sharing their expert advice with of the tourism and hospitality in- ism bodies and travel tycoons. Blazer Tours). & South Asia – Singapore Tour- had industry experts like Su- the travel trade. BULLETIN Relooking at tourism exports Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) had an urgent meeting with Ministry of Commerce, where they discussed measures that could be taken on tourism exports. Deferment of statutory liabilities was also suggested. Nisha Verma nesses running. Thus, FAITH transfer to affected employees Vice Chairmen of the Tourism also has urged the Ministry of and a national legislative tour- Committees of CII, ASSO- n the meeting, FAITH rep- Commerce to request Piyush ism task force of Central and CHAM & FICCI for the meet- Iresentatives mulled over Goyal, who is the Minister of state governments. ing along with the Presidents measures on tourism exports, Commerce and Industries, to of the concerned FAITH which included rating the SEIS take up the concerns regarding “FAITH has also requested ESI member associations (HAI, @ 10% and crediting it imme- funds to be used for compen- Indian Association of Tour diately on the basis of previous sating employees as ‘stay at Operators, Federation of Ho- financial year, deemed export home’ is a forced and manda- tel & Restaurant Associations status, SEIS on gross forex tory curative medical need to of India, ATOAI, ICPB, ITTA, earnings, zero rating of tour- fight the virus. We have also IHHA, ADTOI, Travel Agents ism exports & GST refunds requested PF coverage of all Association of India, TAFI). to tourists, strategic focus on tourism travel & hospitality M!CE sector, EPCG on tourist employees as under the PM “FAITH and its board of vehicles and relaxing export the survival and support of the Rozgar Pradhan Yojana,” the directors are deeply thankful to obligations, among others. whole tourism travel & hospi- statement read. Ministry of Commerce for their tality industry with the PM.” support to the Indian tourism, In an official communica- FAITH has also shared ex- travel & hospitality industry,” tion released by FAITH, it was These include deferment of all amples from the US & UK, the statement concluded. stated, “Most of the tourism statutory liabilities, setting up Thailand and Indonesia where enterprises support their in- a COVID-19 tourism relief fund salary support, tax exemption frastructure (hard and soft) for interest-free 10-year work- and stimulation of domestic FAITH on Twitter by managing different tourist ing capital loan for salaries travel is being extended by FAITH has opened its seasons. As all global source and establishment costs, in- governments for tourism, travel Twitter account and will lev- markets are hit, it will be do- crease of banking moratorium & hospitality. The parent as- erage its collective strength mestic business of India which period to 12 months without sociation had requested and across India for connecting will keep India tourism busi- any interest or for direct benefit was joined by the Chairmen/ with policy makers through that route as well. The temporary background pro- Worldometer is a reference website that provides counters and real-time file on their page reads: ‘The clock is ticking for Indian statistics for diverse topics. It was launched in 2008 and has gained popularity Tourism. The time for policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available in 34 languages. relief is now.' GUESTCOLUMN An open letter to IATA Seema Luthra, Founder & Managing Partner at Travel Metrics, has written an VIEWPOINT open letter to Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO, International Air Transport Association (IATA), in response to his open letter to the travel agent Safe India to Save India community wherein it was mentioned that the solution for ticket refunds shall be credit vouchers instead of cash refunds. The letter reads as below: hough India’s inbound tourism is expected to Tbe the first to bounce back from the impact of Dear Mr Juniac, cash refunds is fine, but what if rienced this when I booked a COVID-19, the disappearance of the disease alone With reference to your open let- the issuing airline goes bankrupt ticket through an Indian OTA will not help the sector rise from the ashes.