Indonesia received 262,000 Indian tourists in 2015 meeting their target for the year, stated Taufik Nurhidayat, Deputy Director – Office of the Deputy for International Marketing, Ministry of Tourism Indonesia at the sales mission organised by the Visit Indonesia Tourism Officers (VITO) India in New Delhi. He shared that they are targeting 350,000 Indian visitors this year and is optimistic after the recent regulation of a 30-day visa-free entry into Indonesia for Indian tourists. Delegates from the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism will also participate in SATTE as part of their sales mission.

Thailand’s Minor Hotel Group (MHG), has announced the first Oaks property in India with the development of Oaks Neemrana, in partnership with India-based NSP Associates (India). Neemrana is a fast developing business hub located southwest of New Delhi, on the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, a mega infrastructure project worth US $90 billion, approximately 90 km from Gurgaon and 140 km from Jaipur. Its history dates back to the 15th century with the construction of the famous Neemrana Fort Palace, which was restored in 1991 and subsequently converted into a hotel that began attracting tourists to the destination. Oaks Neemrana is under development in the centre of the town and is scheduled to open in 2017. Facilities at the 116 unit Oaks Neemrana will include an all-day dining restaurant with sky garden, a lobby café and lounge area, a pool bar, meeting space of 160 square metres with capacity to accommodate up to 80 people, plus a gym and a kids’ play area. There will be three different room types: 68 Studio Apartments; 40 One Bedroom Apartments and eight Two Bedroom Apartments. Dillip Rajakarier, CEO, Minor Hotel Group, commented, “We are excited to announce both the first Oaks in India and also the first Minor Hotel Group property in India. The Oaks brand is a great fit for this market, which represents a huge opportunity, and we are confident that the property will be a great success. We are delighted to be partnering with NSP Associates and look forward to working closely with the team to bring this new hotel to the market.”

Passport services can now be availed with greater convenience in a five-day appointment window, shared the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, on Twitter. As part of a citizen-centric initiative, the new provision would allow applicants to choose any appointment date online from the earliest five available dates while scheduling appointment for passport related services. Steps to liberalise the police verification procedure for passport issuance have also been implemented with the paperless end-to-end digital flow of Police Verification Report (PVR) process, further reducing the time required for PVR within the desired time limit of 21 days. Henceforth, normal passport applications of all first time applicants furnishing Aadhaar, electoral photo identity card (EPIC), permanent account number (PAN) card, and an affidavit in the format of Annexure-I will be processed on post-police verification basis without payment of any additional fees, subject to successful online validation of Aadhaar number. Furthermore, mPassport Police app has been launched for digital submission of PVR by field officers. 1.20 crore passport services were rendered in 2015 registering an increase of 21 per cent over 2014.

After gaining immense popularity in India, Travel TV has made its way into the Middle East markets. Launched this year, this news channel is rapidly increasing its viewership in the GCC region. Capturing the essence of the industry and offering timely news, Travel TV Middle East has been warmly welcomed in this new territory.

India’s first tourism news channel, Travel TV has been gaining immense popularity since its inception in August 2015. This new way of viewing the news reaches over 500,000 industry professionals in their mailbox thrice a week and provides relevant news to better their business. Easily downloaded and effortlessly shared amongst peers, Travel TV is available on email as an attachment; WhatsApp, and through a mobile App. Focused on growing the industry, Travel TV provides relevant and timely news and information that can be easily forwarded amongst colleagues. This digital news format is gaining popularity across the world and subscribers are on an all-time high.

Bringing travel and tourism news closer to you and making it more easily accessible, Travel TV has launched mobile Apps for iOS and Android users. This free App is easy to use and can be downloaded in a few clicks. Viewing the latest news while on the move has now become much easier. The App will keep you connected with the newest developments in the industry and make sure you don’t miss out on anything.

Sriram Rajmohan has been appointed as CEO and Managing Director of Club7 Holidays Limited with immediate effect. He is currently an Independent Director in Club7 Holidays Ltd and has been instrumental in securing relationship with various tourism boards, adding new corporate customers and growing the relationship with the trade partners. In the last two years of his association with the Centrum Group he has brought in tremendous value to the group through on-line visa and other travel products. Prior to joining Centrum Group, Rajmohan was the Group CFO of Kuoni Travel India.

ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) will be held from January 16-20 next year. “Singapore is honoured to host the next ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in 2017 with the theme – ‘Shaping our Tourism Journey Together’. This theme speaks to the importance of continual, collective efforts by ASEAN members to address challenges and opportunities as we jointly develop and grow the tourism industry in the region,” says Lionel Yeo, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board. To commemorate its 50th anniversary, ASEAN will also launch a year-long travel campaign to promote the region’s diverse offerings. Within the ASEAN Economic Community, Tourism is one of the priority sectors for integration by 2015, and to achieve this, ASEAN had adopted the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2011-2015. ASEAN will further build on this momentum and develop the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) 2016-2025. “This will strategically transform our region into a competitive, sustainable, and more socio-economically inclusive and integrated tourism destination,” Yeo remarks. TRAVEX, a key component of ATF where sellers from ASEAN get to meet buyers from all over the world, will be held in Singapore from January 18-20, 2017.

OYO Rooms has crossed its one millionth hotel check-in. OYO Rooms presently operates in over 165 Indian cities through more than 4,500 hotels offerings 45,000 rooms. Having established its market leadership in India, OYO Rooms has also recently launched operations in Malaysia. Speaking on the occasion, Abhinav Sinha, COO, OYO Rooms, said, “OYO rooms was conceived with a vision to change the way travellers view out-of-home stay. We pioneered the transformation of unbranded hotels to offer a predictable, standardized and affordable experience to our customers. This latest milestone of crossing one million check-ins is yet another validation of the enthusiasm with which customers have responded to our offering.”

According to findings in the latest TripBarometer study, conducted on behalf of TripAdvisor by independent research firm Ipsos, shows that 76 per cent of Asian travellers want to ‘try something new’ this year (compared to 69 per cent of global travellers). 29 per cent Indian travellers are set to take a more adventurous trips in 2016. These findings are summarised in the new PATA Connected Visitor Economy Bulletin, highlighting six key travel trends for 2016. The TripBarometer study notes that one in four Asian travellers will travel solo while 21 per cent will opt for a cruise and one in five will look for adventure travel experiences. Indonesian travellers are the biggest thrill-seekers, according to the study, with 30 per cent planning to book an adventure travel holiday in 2016. Besides this, 29 per cent Thai travellers too will take more adventurous trips. Global economic uncertainties appear to be having minimal impact upon travel budgets. The study finds that one in three global travellers is planning to spend more on leisure trips this year. Although inflation contributes to rising travel costs for some, nearly half of those planning to spend more (49%) state that it’s because they and/or their family members deserve it – for Asian travellers, the proportion is higher with 52 per cent saying they will spend more because they feel they deserve it. Thirty one percent of travellers globally believe that such spending is an important contribution to maintaining good health and wellbeing. The PATA Connected Visitor Economy Bulletin is published regularly by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). The TripBarometer study surveyed 34,026 consumers who are TripAdvisor website users or members, and 10,756 representatives from accommodation …