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Announce E-tourist Visa & International flights by September, suggests Subhash Goyal News Desk
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resident, Confederation of Tourism Professionals, Subhash Goyal feels that the pandemic (Covid-19) which has spread across the world and changing its variant frequently is going to stay for a long, and the people across the world has to learn to deal with it. Goyal feels that when there is uncertainty about the end of pandemic, the Indian government should announce e-tourist visa and operation of international flights by September or October this year. “The sooner we do this, the sooner it will help our economy revive,” added Goyal. “This will not only help to save millions of jobs but also enable India to further boost its exports and become a global leader which is a dream of our Prime Minister,” he says. “Just like Africa allows people with yellow fever vaccine to travel, similarly – we should allow fully vaccinated international tourists to travel to India, and Indians to travel abroad to countries which are open to Indians via schedule flights,” stressed Goyal.
Thousands of Travel Agents & Tour Operators have already become bankrupt.
“We have to fulfil our Prime Minister's dream of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy. Tourism is the only industry, which is labour intensive and has a multiplier effect on the economy. Therefore, we need to act now before it is too late,” he emphasised.
Like all other countries in the world they have not received any financial support or bailout package. The only hope for survival is starting of e-tourist visas and scheduled international flights.
While explaining the need of the hour Goyal made several points mentioned as below: The tourist season to India is from October to March and we need not to lose this opportunity in the year 2021 since year 2020 was a total wash out. In 2019, India earned Rs.2,10,981 crores Foreign Exchange from the period January to December or 3.1 billion US dollars in the month of December 2019 (source MOT). We received more than 10 million tourists in 2019. International tourism accounts for almost 10% of India's GDP and approximately 11% of direct & indirect taxes. Majority of these Tourists come between October and
We have vaccinated over 350 million people and they should be allowed to travel internationally. March therefore we should not miss this season. Hospitality & Tourism industry employs about 58 million people directly and about 75 million people indirectly in India. About 10 million people have either lost their jobs or are on leave without pay. While domestic tourism is helping a few hotels but people like Govt. recognized Tourist Guides, Tourist Transport Operators, Tourist Taxi Drivers pan India and small Tour Operators and Vendors are starving.
The whole world is opening up for people who have received both the vaccination or have tested negative. Some of the countries who are already allowing scheduled international flights are:Switzerland, UK, Russia, Turkey, Sweden, Maldives, Mauritius, Armenia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, South Africa, Egypt, Serbia, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Dubai, Phuket, Montenegro, Zambia and Rwanda.
Ixigo appoints Amrish Kumar as Vice President Technology News Desk
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mrish Kumar will head tech innovations for Ixigo under the leadership of Rajnish Kumar, Co-Founder & Group CPTO, Ixigo. Having worked with reputed corporates, Amrish has managed several projects aligning business goals with technology solutions. His major areas of technical expertise include architecture, building large scale e-commerce systems, hybrid/cloud-based
6 August 2021
systems, systems using AI/ ML & building big-data based platforms. He has worked in large and entrepreneurial setups across the US and brings in considerable experience in AI, machine learning & data science. “We are pleased to bring aboard Amrish Kumar as the Vice President- Technology to drive the company’s technology vertical and contribute towards innovating and offering relevant solutions to our customers. We
are confident that Amrish’s addition to our leadership team and his technological expertise will further add momentum to our next phase of growth,” said Rajnish Kumar, Co-Founder & Group CPTO, ixigo. Launched in 2007, ixigo is an AI-based travel app based in Gurugram, India. ixigo services Indian travellers and their travel utility, planning and booking problems using technology and artificial intelligence.
