February 2021
Dear Friends, Guests, Patrons and Partners in Travel,
Greetings from India!!
With the rolling out of the vaccination, many countries including India, are hopeful that the end of this pandemic is not too far. With a recovery rate close to 99% and death rate just over 1%, Indian Government has eased the travel restrictions to encourage the domestic travel and also deliberating a plan to start inbound travel for international travellers.
We at Far Horizon, are fully geared with members of our Development and Operating team all having stood tall and strong through these trying times. Proud to have been blessed with a team that held the ground firm with trust and convictions that those who have the courage to weather the storm are sure to see the clear skies.
We await, fully geared to give the best of the experiences in the post covid era without compromising on the health and safety of our guests.
These are challenging times, nevertheless we are confident that as a fraternity with our partners and associates within and abroad we will collective ensure service standards are impeccable and experiences the highlight of each journey. India and the sub-continent await arrivals of guests from across the globe.
Cheers to Spring times ahead!!!
Anjali Babbar Basu
CEO
India enters phase 2 of Covid vaccination drive
India has now entered into the 2nd phase of vaccination drive to start inoculation of frontline workers. These workers include the armed forces, police personnel, disaster management volunteers, home guards, and civil defence organisations, prison staff, along with municipal workers. So far over 9 million beneficiaries have received the vaccination under the countrywide Covid-19 vaccination exercise.
Set up uniform protocols for vaccinated people for their unrestricted movement
As many countries of the world including India have started the vaccination process against the Covid-19, the national body of travel agencies in India, Travel Agents Association of India, has urged the government to set up uniform protocols and SOPs for unhindered movement of vaccinated people. There should be proper certification for people who are receiving the vaccine so that their movement becomes smooth and unrestricted, the association said in a letter to both ministers of Union Civil Aviation and Tourism.
Every person vaccinated in India must be granted a certificate and the government should tie up with all countries to verify and accept their Covid vaccine certificates as well, she said. Similarly, the government should put in place uniform protocols to accept such certificates issued by other countries so that inbound travel to India can resume without requiring a quarantine or RT-PCR test for such certified travellers.
Changing status of women in modern India - Air India flight with all-woman cockpit crew successfully
Jubiliantions and celebrtions as Air India's longest direct flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru with an all-woman cockpit crew successfully landed in Bengaluru. The total flight time on this route would be of more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed on that day. The all women team of Indian civil aviation created history.
The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours.
Lord Parsuram Kund (Arunachal Pradesh, North East India) associated with an original myth of the Brahmaputra River, will soon get a facelift
Parshuram Kund is one of the most sacred places in the country which is visited by a large number of pilgrims throughout the year and thousands of people take a holy dip in the Lohit river during Makar Sankranti (in the month of January). To make the place visitor friendly and convenient, maintaining its sanctity, an inclusive development of the Kund was proposed by the state government which central government has approved and sanctioned the budget. The tourism minister assured the governor of personally monitoring the project and said it will boost the tourism sector of the state.
Pangong reopens for tourists – Good news for the mountain lovers and travelers to Leh
The Ladakh administration has opened up for tourists the iconic Pangong-Tso lake. The Ladakh tourism department has started issuing inner line permits online. Pangong-Tso was declared out of bounds for non-locals after the deadly Galwan clashes between the India and China militaries in May and outsiders were restricted within a 40-km radius of Leh.
Qatar Airways, the first global airline to achieve the prestigious 5-star Covid-19 Airline Safety Rating
Skytax rates Qatar Airways as the first global airline to achieve the prestigious 5-star Covid-19 Airline Safety Rating.
The announcement follows a detailed audit, carried out by the Skytrax team in December 2020, which assessed how effectively and consistently the airline’s stringent Covid-19 hygiene and safety standards and procedures are adhered to, from flight check-in to services on-board the aircraft.
Sikkim government decides to open Ramam border checkpost for entry of foreigners
To boost rural, religious and adventure tourism in Sikkim, the state government has decided to open the Ramam checkpost for entry of foreign tourists from March 1. The Ramam checkpost in West Sikkim district will issue Restricted Area Permit (RAP) and Protected Area Permits (PAP) to foreigners. At present RAP and PAP are issued to foreigners only at Melli and Rangpo. Foreigners, mostly coming from Nepal will be able to enter Sikkim from Ramam checkpost instead of first going down to Siliguri in West Bengal and then entering Sikkim.
Agra will soon have the direct flights from Bengaluru and Bhopal
In a process to strengthen regional connectivity, IndiGo airline has announced to connect Agra with Bengaluru and Bhopal through direct flight effective March 28, 2021. These connections will help to promote tourism, trade and commerce, with Agra being home to multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites, one of the hubs for leather goods production and known for its food and delicacies. On the other side Bengaluru being the IT hub and gateway to Karnataka’s major tourist sites and Bhopal an ideal destination to access the Central India Wildlife parks and important pilgrimage sites. After having the direct air-connectively between Agra-Bengaluru/Bhopal, this will help in designing the unique travel experiences.
