Odisha Tourism | New Flight to Ethiopia | Saudi visa on arrival | New Istanbul Airport

1) Destination update – Odisha eyes 5 lakh FTAs by 2022
Odisha Tourism is targeting to receive 500,000 foreign tourists out of a total of 2.5 crore by 2022. The state tourism board is also keen on promoting Odisha in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and replicate its environmentally-sensitive Marine Drive Eco Retreat model at suitable times of the year.

2) Airline update – New Flight to Ethiopia
After seeing huge success from its Bengaluru flight, Ethiopian Airlines will not only increase route capacity but also launch a new India-Ethiopia connection from April 3, 2020. Ethiopian Airlines is looking to expand in the South Indian market with the launch of Chennai flights to its capital, Addis Ababa.

3) Hotel update – 2 new hotels in Bengaluru
Twenty14 Holdings, the hospitality investment arm of LuLu Group International, is developing two properties in Bengaluru that will open in 2020 and 2021, respectively.As its name suggests, Twenty14 Holdings was established in 2014 and aims to become a billiondollar investment company by 2025. It is an asset-heavy hospitality investment arm of LuLu Group International and already has a few properties operating in different parts of the world. It is now planning to expand further in India

4) Visa update – All Schengen, UK or US visa holders can apply for Saudi visa on arrival
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has relaxed its visa norms for visitors to the country, encouraging travellers from around the world to visit. The Saudi Commission for Tourism & National Heritage (SCTH) has announced that visitors can now use their existing UK, US, or Schengen area country visas to obtain a Saudi Arabia visitor visa upon arrival in the country through visa kiosks at immigration, irrespective of their citizenship.

5) Tourism Board update- Nordic tourism to GCC to reach US$810 million by 2024
Nordic tourists travelling to the GCC from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, are expected to generate an estimated US$810 million (Dh2.9 billion) in travel and tourism revenue by 2024, according to data published ahead of the Arabian Travel Market, ATM, 2020. “Driving this demand in the UAE, Emirates currently operates direct flights to Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and last year introduced a direct flight to Iceland, following the closure of low-cost Icelandic carrier, WOW air. Meanwhile, Norwegian Air operates direct flights between Oslo and Dubai five times a week and flydubai has direct flights between Dubai and Helsinki in Finland.

6) Airport update – Full operations begin at the new Istanbul airport
The new Istanbul airport is now fully operational after several delays and will take over all flights that were previously handled by the old Atatürk Airport. In ten years, it will become the largest airport in the world, if the goal of the new airport’s management becomes reality.  After four and a half years of construction work, the main terminal including the apron and two of the planned six runways are completed. The current capacity should be around 90 million passengers. With more than 1.4 million square metres, the completed terminal is the second largest in the world under one roof, after Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport. Over the whole weekend, Turkish Airlines, as a future home carrier, is carrying out what it calls the “biggest move in the history of aviation”. Most of its fleet is currently flying over from Atatürk to the new airport, a flight of just under 40 kilometres.