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About India Outbound Magazine

India Outbound, a brand of Media India Group, is India’s only B2B travel media platform, that encompasses a print magazine, a website, an online TV channel and dynamic social media platforms, entirely dedicated to the promotion of foreign destinations and products in India. India Outbound is a niche platform not just for tourism destinations and products to promote themselves to the Indian travel industry, but also for decision makers to build/change their strategy in a context where the Indian outbound market is not only growing but changing with new dynamics. India Outbound brings to you the latest trends of the market with in depth analysis.

The Netherlands lifts ban on passenger flights from India

The Netherlands has lifted ban on passenger flights from India. The ban was imposed on April 26 in view of the rising Covid-19 cases in India.

“As per the Dutch Government, ban on passenger flights from India that had come into force on April 26, 2021, has been lifted with effect from June 01, 2021,” the Indian Embassy in Amsterdam tweeted.

However, there is still a European Union ban on non-EU travellers from countries where the coronavirus situation is considered very high risk.

Turkey says it is ready for summer 2021

The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) hosted ambassadors of foreign missions, in the Safe Tourism event held in Antalya, Turkey from May 21 to 23. Indian Ambassador to Turkey Sanjay Panda also attended the event and experienced the measures on-site. The ministry aims to ensure that all safe tourism measures are experienced directly by the representatives of foreign missions to Turkey.

“As a leading country in safe tourism, Turkey welcomed more than 16 million guests in 2020, and we are looking forward to 2021 to be a year of heightened safety in tourism season. We are ready for the summer 2021 season with more than 10,000 certified tourism facilities across Turkey,” said Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

Starting in 2021, Turkey made Safe Tourism certificate compulsory for all accommodation facilities with a bed capacity of 30 and above. Turkey has also given priority to tourism personnel within the scope of the national vaccination programme.

Heathrow Airport opens a separate terminal for ‘red list’ countries including India

London’s Heathrow airport has opened a dedicated new terminal for arrivals from countries designated as “red list”, including India. Travellers on direct flights from red list destinations will now go through Terminal 3 and then move directly to a government-approved quarantine facility booked at the passengers’ own expense, news agency PTI has reported.

This move came after the London airport’s staff raised fears for their safety due to overcrowding, amid concerns that travellers arriving from red list countries from where travel is effectively banned except for British and Irish nationals or limited exceptions were mixing with those from green and amber.

“Red list routes will likely be a feature of UK travel for the foreseeable future as countries vaccinate their populations at different rates,” a Heathrow Airport spokesperson said. “We’re adapting Heathrow to this longer-term reality by initially opening a dedicated arrivals facility in Terminal 3 from June 1 for red list passengers arriving on direct flights,” the spokesperson added.

Currently, there are 43 countries on the UK government’s red list to cover regions linked with high-risk Covid-19 variants such as India, Brazil and South Africa.

Bangladesh extends border closure with India till June 14

The Bangladesh government has decided to extend the ongoing ban on public travel through land ports to India till June 14 in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Amid the rise in Covid-19 cases in the neighbourhood, Bangladesh's land border has been closed with India since April 26.

May 31 was supposed to be the last day of the ban, however, the ban was extended yet again. The government has also decided to stop travel through two more land ports to stop the spread of the virus. The newly-closed land ports with India are Darshana of Chuadanga and Sona Masjid of Chapainawabganj. Darshana port will be closed for one week, while Sona Masjid will remain closed for two weeks. However, cargo movement will continue as usual. Although land ports have been shut with India, stranded Bangladeshis can return home from four other land ports namely Benapole, Agartala, Hili and Burimari.


India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group