From free salons to discounted room rates, hotels are offering it all.
Concerns over health and safety were reasons cited by 3,400 business and leisure travellers surveyed from 14 countries across the globe for their preference of nations other than India.
Travel restrictions are in place only for a limited number of countries but people are cancelling or postponing travel to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Sources at Mumbai airport said seat occupancy has declined from around 70-72 per cent to 60-64 per cent in last three-four days as passengers are postponing or cancelling trips.
The key risks against a fast recovery would include long delays in business travel resumption, delays in commissioning, etc.
This deferred or reduced spending is now extending across most major consumption sectors such as discretionary food and groceries, clothing and home textiles, consumer durables and home appliances, jewellery, furniture and furnishings, leisure travel, and entertainment. Oddly, the response of many manufacturers, marketers and retailers has been counter-intuitive.
"World over the cruising industry has grown consistently. Its compounded annual growth rate is 6.5-7 per cent. In India, cruising is growing 8-10 per cent year-on-year (albeit on a much smaller base) for the three-four years. It can improve with better infrastructure," said Royal Caribbean Cruise India representative Gautam Chadha.
Giving a new impetus to Marine leisure activity, India's first World class Marina, built at a cost of Rs 8.21 crore, was today commissioned by Union Defence Minister A K Antony on Saturday.
'Top lines will grow, volume growth will be there, but margins might also be impacted.'
Personal accident cover should be purchased by everyone, irrespective of age, occupation or health condition, as one does not know when an accident could occur, causing hardship to the family.
These measures are part of initiatives by these nations to attract Indian tourists, says Aneesh Phadnis.
The domestic aviation industry is expected to report a net loss of Rs 25,000-26,000 crore this fiscal with elevated jet fuel prices and fare caps continuing to pose a major challenge for the airlines' profitability, domestic rating agency ICRA Ltd said on Thursday. The domestic airlines, however, are likely to post a reduced net loss of Rs 14,000-16,000 crore in the next financial year on the back of a "notable recovery" in air passenger traffic and lower level of debt, ICRA said. The ratings agency also estimates that the industry will require an additional funding in the range of Rs 20,000-22,000 crore during FY22-FY24.
The reason for the directive, the first of its kind by the airline, is that Air India does not want its own staff to occupy seats that can be sold to fare-paying passengers.
Nearly 52,000 new hotel rooms are expected to be added in India over the next five years on rising demand from travellers as global economic conditions improve.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates- promoted luxury hotel group Four Seasons on Monday said it will have four new properties in India within the next five years
'Bottomline, hairline and waistline -- you have to watch them always.'
'I have worked every day of my life for the last 62 years and suddenly there is a cap on doctors over 55, who are not allowed to practice.' Dr Dolly Gurbaxani shares her lockdown experience.
Indian and global airlines such as SpiceJet, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic among others too are marketing Covid-19 insurance products to attract passengers.
Few people know Ratan Tata as well as R K Krishna Kumar does. Widely perceived to be among the managers closest to Tata, Krishna Kumar assesses Ratan Tata, the man and business leader, in this exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Travel companies are expecting a heavy rush to the US following the withdrawal of curbs on fully vaccinated travellers from select countries, including India, on November 8. The move will benefit those holding long-term tourist, business, and work visas. Also, new and extra flights by Air India and American Airlines are expected to provide better travel options.
Encouraged by a steady recovery seen in the first two weeks of February, hospitality firms expect the business hotels in metros including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad that have been lagging the leisure hotels in terms of revenue per available room (RevPar) to catch up in the coming months. Huge pent-up demand for MICE (meetings, incentives, conference and exhibitions) as companies slowly return to hosting physical events coupled with easing of the recently announced restrictions on international travel, will also help in getting closer to pre-Covid levels of revenue, they said. The Omicron wave that peaked in January had derailed the strong month-on-month recovery seen by the hotels since August.
Sooryavanshi and Annaatthe have already collected 6 percent of the film industry's 2020 revenue.
BestMed Tourism, a joint venture between Kochi-based Focuz Group and Canadian leisure travel company, Unbelievable India Tours, kickstarted its Indian operations recently.
Indian coffee shops market over the next four-five years will grow between 6 and 18 per cent CAGR, all due to the growing coffee culture among the youth, increasing urbanisation, rising disposable income levels and changing eating and drinking preferences, says Atanu Biswas.
India's Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, which has a high population of expatriates driven by the information technology sector, is getting more reasonable on cost of living
According to highly placed sources, the finance ministry is likely to extend ECLGS and other loan guarantee schemes for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), hospitality and tourism sector, and the health infrastructure beyond March 31, Business Standard has learnt. This is likely to be announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of her Budget speech on February 1.
'China has gone too long as a rogue power, trashing international norms, agreements, and treaties as if they were not the paper they were written on.' 'The ill-advised attack on Ladakh may be the beginning of the end of that nonsense,' advocates Rajeev Srinivasan.
An interview with Anoop Prakash, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson India.
'We will see footfall returning to pre-COVID levels by January.'
Travel companies Cox & Kings and Thomas Cook explore initiatives aimed at tapping the niche market of travel packages for kids and the disabled.
Jagdish Khattar, Maruti Suzuki's managing director, talks about the need for small cars, global players expanding in India, and why his company will prosper.
Kerala will be one of those places where the line between tourism, a land, a people and their way of life will blur. It won't be tourism; it will be a visit to experience Kerala.
The company is confident that more hotel owners will be keen to associate themselves with the Hilton brand, the second-biggest hotel chain globally after Marriott.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the much-awaited 2022-23 Union Budget on February 1. While there has been strong recovery in some sectors, touch services like hospitality, tourism and leisure continue to suffer after two Covid-19 waves. Household savings have been hit due to increased spending on health care. Consumption has still not reached pre-pandemic levels.
'This offers us many opportunities to meet people in different ways, and we will do this with full respect to India.'
The global recall of millions of vehicles has put the focus on quality.
The average load factor for November stands at 75 per cent, as leisure travel records a rise at this time.
Parents should enroll their children in coding classes only as a leisure time activity, that too with strict curbs on screen time.
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