Dress Code for Tamil Temples

From 1 January there are new rules regarding the clothes you may wear to visit a temple in Tamil Nadu.  The new code was announced with immediate effect and the list of clothes visitor are allowed to wear inside the temples are all South Indian local clothes and nothing that a foreign tourist is likely to have in his/her suitcase!  The rules specifically state that jeans and tight leggings would not be allowed.  The ruling is being disputed and we hope that something more sensible will be agreed upon.  In the meantime we recommend to all our customers that they dress modestly and respectfully.  Cover your legs and shoulders and don’t wear anything too tight or revealing.  At this stage I don’t think you will have to go out and buy a South Indian outfit!  Suggest you discuss this with your driver as they are likely to know the current situation. 

Beware Fake eTV websites

It has come to our attention that there are some scam Visa websites.  To obtain your visa you need to make an online application.  The official website is https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/  This is used for eTVs and for regular visas (although British citizens go through VFS Global).  But some of our customers have recently discovered that there are ‘Visa Agencies’ that appear to be the official site.  The site has a visa application form and the text may be an exact copy of the official site – but they are agencies and if you are successful in completing the application (so far none of our customers have been and this was how we were alerted) it you can expect to pay extra for their service.  We have no idea if they will actually supply you with a visa!  Ensure you go to the site listed above. If you are in any doubt – contact us.    

We offer an eTV service to our clients (for a small fee).  If you do it through us then you know you are getting a genuine visa. 

Visa on Arrival

We are very pleased to report that it has just been announced that the UK has been added to the list of countries that can obtain their Indian Tourist Visa on arrival.  The e-Tourist Visa (eTV) process will begin on 15 August 2015.  

The eTV fee at US$60 appears to be cheaper than the current system (UK£82 plus charges of £7.44 or more) but there are limitations eg it allows a maximum of 30 days in India and single entry only.  Also you must arrive into an Indian Airport that is set up to process the eTV – there are currently nine: Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Trivandrum with a further seven added from 15 August: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Gaya, Jaipur, Lucknow, Trichy, Varanasi.  Unfortunately Calicut is not on the list and this is an airport we regularly book for our customers.

Tourists can still get their visa in advance and for arrival into Calicut or holidays longer than 30 days some people will have to.  But for most people this announcement is good news – although you may find that it takes longer to get through immigration.
We will monitor the situation and update our Visa Advice as we learn more.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR is a new piece of legislation that has not yet hit the headlines.  From 1 October 2015 all businesses in Europe must offer their customers a method of resolving disputes without the need to go through the small claims courts which can be costly, time-consuming and stressful for both parties.  As ABTA members we already give our customers the option to use their arbitration service.  The good news is that ABTA’s ADR scheme has been approved by Trading Standards – in fact it is the first in the travel industry to be approved.

I am pleased to report that so far – since we launched this company in 1998 we have never had a complaint that we have not been able to resolve.  But it is good to know that ABTA have an approved scheme that we can offer our customers. 

Now you can pay us in foreign currencies

We are pleased to advise our customers who live outside the UK that we have a new credit card terminal that means we can take payments in 36 of the most common foreign currencies.  Previously we took payments only in UK pounds and customers would not know until they received the statement from their credit card provider how much it cost.  Many of our customers (particularly those from the USA) were shocked by the exchange rate used by their credit card suppliers.  Our new terminal uses competitive rates updated daily and we can tell you the actual cost in your own currency at the time of payment.  So no nasty surprises when your credit card bill arrives. 

Again we supplied the most bookings for CGH

We are delighted to report, for the second year running, Kerala Connections has provided the CGH Earth group of hotels (Coconut Lagoon, Marari Beach Resort, Spice Village etc) the most business in the Foreign Tour Operator leisure segment.  CGH get lots of business from us because we are happy to recommend their hotels to our customers because we know that they will enjoy the experience.  These customers then return from a good holiday and recommend us and the CGH Earth hotels to their friends.  All this activity means that we enjoy really good rates at these hotels so our customers also get great value for money as well.