Inaugural Skift India Summit Agenda Announced

Flipkart-owned online travel company Cleartrip has launched ‘Out of Office’, a corporate travel management product. The product launch comes against the backdrop of Cleartrip’s aim to focus primarily with corporate booking travel.

Amid rising diplomatic tensions, India has now slipped to the fifth position for tourist arrivals into Maldives in January, with just over 13,000 visitors, as per the latest data from the Maldives tourism ministry. Russia claimed the top spot for inbound arrivals in the Maldives in January, followed by Italy, China, and the UK.

Skift India Summit – which will undoubtedly be the best travel industry conference ever seen in India – kicks-off in Delhi-NCR on March 20 and will bring together a top-notch line-up of speakers focused on the region’s future. 

On our latest episode exploring Skift’s Megatrends for 2024, Skift Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit is joined by Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia and Middle East reporter Josh Corder to talk about this year’s travel Megatrends centered on India and the Middle East.

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) looks to open an average of 2 hotels per month or even more in fiscal year 2024-2025, Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and CEO of IHCL, announced during an earnings call on Friday.

Indian airlines inducted 112 aircraft in 2023, according to the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. The ministry added that with this, the total number of aircraft in the fleets of scheduled airline operators stood at 771 as on December 31, 2023.

Indian nationals now receive a pre-approved visa on arrival when landing in Dubai, provided they fly in with Emirates. Emirates is the city’s national carrier and one of the world’s largest airlines, and currently serves nine destinations in India with 167 weekly flights.

Statues of 41 deities in bright robes and garlands watch as we walk, silent and sock-footed, through endless intricate archways and air that smells of sandalwood and jasmine. A mirrored table under the elaborate central dome reflects rings of dancing figures. The Shri Sanatan Hindu temple, opened in 2010 on the Ealing Road, is a mesmerising slice of north India surrounded by grey London suburbs. The walls and more than 200 limestone pillars were hand-carved in Gujarat, featuring birds, animals and scenes from Hindu scripture.

Expedia Group announced after its fourth quarter 2023 earnings call that Ariane Gorin would become the online travel agency’s CEO on May 13, succeeding current CEO Peter Kern. Gorin will join the board of directors, where Kern will remain. Barry Diller will continue in his roles as Expedia Group’s senior executive and chairman.

This May, low-cost airline Avelo will begin flying between its Southern Connecticut hub, New Haven Airport, and four new cities: Atlanta, Concord-Charlotte, Knoxville, and Destin.

India’s recently-unveiled Union Budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025 gave a big increase to the tourism ministry, but the amount for the global promotion took a major hit: A 97% reduction to just INR 30 million ($361,000).

The civil aviation ministry is looking to integrate DigiYatra, the digital initiative for airport check-ins, for international travel. Jyotiraditya Scindia, the civil aviation minister, recently met airport operators to discuss it.