Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in association with Goa Tourism Development  Corporation (GTDC) will have a special carnival charter coach from Mumbai during Goa Carnival with a GTDC tour package specially designed for passengers between February 6-9, 2016. This is part of the joint venture between the GTDC and the IRCTC to promote holiday special trains after the Railways Ministry approved the running of special holiday trains to Goa, and an MoU was signed between the two organisations. Bookings for travel on this train are online only. Passengers buying this package will get an opportunity to enjoy the four-day carnival. The Goa Carnival package of five nights and six days will include Standard Comfort and Deluxe priced between Rs 7,695 and 17,395 per pax.

AirAsia has amended its pricing for bag fees, increasing the cost for purchasing checked baggage after a flight booking has been made. The new fee structure takes effect on January 28 and applies to all routes except those originating from Indonesia. At any time after a booking has been confirmed, customers will have to pay more for checked baggage, such as through the Manage My Booking page, the airline said. AirAsia said this is still a cheaper option than checking in bags at the last minute prior to departure. For example, a 20kg of checked baggage for a one-way flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore would cost RM45 at the time of the flight booking. If this is done later through Manage My Booking, customers would pay RM52 or a whopping RM355 on the day at the check-in counter. The new fee schedule has been uploaded to the AirAsia website. “You will still enjoy more savings as compared to purchasing last minute at the airport counter,” the airline said in a release.

Rajasthan has launched a multi-year, multi-modal, multi-narrative and multi-crore global campaign to galvanise tourism in the state with a view to raise the annual tourist arrivals past the 50 million mark by 2020. Unveiling the campaign, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, said, “This campaign will herald Rajasthan Tourism 3.0. Rajasthan Tourism 1.0 of the 80s was about our landscape, the harsh terrain, and the adventures immortalized by Satyajit Ray on celluloid. The 90s saw version 2.0, with a forward looking vision which included our heritage properties. With Rajasthan Tourism 3.0 we aim to implement an integrated plan that revolves around experience, infrastructure, cleanliness, security and marketing.” The campaign will play an important role in the Government of Rajasthan’s vision of doubling the annual footfall of international tourists to from 1.5 million to 3.0 million by the year 2020. In the same period, the government also aims to increasing the domestic tourist traffic from the present 33 million to 50 million tourists annually. The evening saw the launch of a new logo and brand identity for the campaign. The campaign also includes a new website and an advertisement Print, TV and Outdoor spots which are aimed at attracting both the seasoned traveler and the youth to explore Rajasthan in a whole new way. Realizing that the tourism sector in Rajasthan has a huge potential to grow, this new campaign aims to increase the number of foreign and domestic tourists visiting the state. Shailendra Agrawal, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Art & Culture, Archeology & Museums, Government of Rajasthan said, “Global trends indicate that Asia Pacific’s share in global tourist traffic will rise from 22% to 30% in the next 10-15 years. Through our campaign, …

Mahabalipuram’s first exclusive beach resort, InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort, opens with 105 rooms, as part of the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®). Set near the UNESCO world heritage site of Mahabalipuram, InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort features world-class accommodation with ocean front suites and rooms, and three dining experiences including a specialty Chinese restaurant. The Resort offers rejuvenating spa journeys and family experiences with unrivalled IHG® hospitality standards. The opening was marked by IHG’s Shantha de Silva, Head of South West Asia and Bryan Gabriel, Director of Commercial, South West Asia, who joined Vijai Singh, General Manager of the Resort and Arindam Kunar, Area General Manager, South India, for an inaugural address. Media personalities from across the country arrived to join the occasion and unwind, experience the wide range of facilities at the Resort. Shantha de Silva, Head of South West Asia said, “Mahabalipuram forms part of South India’s glorious history and InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort encapsulates authentic aspects of the soul of Madras. With an encouraging response from local and global markets since the soft-opening in October 2015, we started out what promised to be a successful first year of operations. We take tremendous pride in the Resort, which is the latest addition to IHG’s revamped resort collection.” Vijai Singh, General Manager, InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort, said, “We are thrilled to welcome guests from India and around the world to a truly special East Coast luxury resort experience. We promise to offer our guests personal connect and unparalled service. The Resort is the owning company’s second partnership with IHG® since the agreement with their sister hotel brand Crowne Plaza in Chennai in 2015.” The 105-room Resort offers a full range of …

JetPrivilege, the loyalty and rewards management programme and frequent flyer programme of Jet Airways, has entered into a reciprocal frequent flyer partnership with of Bangkok Airways’ loyalty scheme, FlyerBonus. JetPrivilege members can now earn and redeem JPMiles when travelling across the Bangkok Airways network including popular destinations like Samui, Krabi, Phuket and Luang Prabang via Bangkok. Similarly, members of Bangkok Airways’ FlyerBonus programme can also earn and redeem their miles across Jet Airways’ extensive network in India and key international destination in North America, Europe, Middle East and SAARC. Jet Airways operates three daily flights to Bangkok from its hubs in India – two from Mumbai and one from Delhi. Gaurang Shetty, Sr. Vice President, Commercial, Jet Airways, said, “This partnership with Bangkok Airways will offer exceptional value to our guests. The new codeshare destinations with Bangkok Airways are an important extension to the Jet Airways international network, enhancing our product offering and providing greater choice and convenience to our guests.” Prote Setsuwan, Vice President – Marketing, Bangkok Airways, said, “We are delighted to partner with JetPrivilege, the frequent flyer programme of Jet Airways. This will bring significant benefits to passengers of both airlines. As Bangkok Airways always continues to offer our FlyerBonus members more value and options, we hope and trust that this partnership will enhance their traveling experience with us.”

Thomas Cook India has launched ‘Thomas Cook Mini’, a strategic deployment of small technology assisted outlets to tap the growth potential emerging from India’s Tier III markets. Pathanamthitta, Kerala saw the company’s inauguration of the first of its Thomas Cook Mini outlets. Mahesh Iyer, COO – Foreign Exchange & Head Visas, Thomas Cook (India), said, “With our internal data-analytics clearly revealing the untapped yet high growth potential of Tier III markets, a low-cost, rapid penetration model was mission critical, and our Thomas Cook Mini fits the bill perfectly! Such small Tech assisted outlets give us the opportunity to set up shop, test the waters and expand- with the immediacy that was demanded and we are very excited with the initial response from our new Kerala Thomas Cook Mini at Pathanamthitta.” Thomas Cook India’s internal research having highlighted the powerful growth potential for retail transactions, including burgeoning remittance opportunities, the Company conceptualised a quick deployment strategy of small technology assisted outlets to rapidly penetrate India’s underserved Tier III markets; hence the launch of its innovative Thomas Cook Mini. The outlets have been designed optimising space and will be manned by a small team, equipped with technology via mobile devices/tablets for seamless online connectivity to central systems, thus facilitating quick customer transactions. While Thomas Cook has chosen its Foreign Exchange business to pioneer this initiative, its Thomas Cook Mini outlets will see expansion to include other Travel Related Services.

During January-December 2015, a total of 4,45,300 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa (eTV) as compared to 39,046 during the same period in 2014 registering a growth of 1040.4 per cent. In December 2015, a total of 1,03,617 tourist arrived in India on eTV, registering a growth of 635.8 per cent growth over December 2014. The high growth may be attributed to introduction of eTV for 113 countries as against the coverage of the earlier ETA enabled TVoA scheme for 43 countries. Among the countries availing eTV, UK continues to occupy the top slot followed by the U.S and Russia where the percentage shares of the top five source countries were UK (23.81%), USA (19.59%), Russian Federation (9.33%), Australia (5.44%) and Germany (4.86%) respectively. The percentage shares of the top five ports in tourist arrivals on eTV during December 2015 were New Delhi Airport (36.23%) followed by Mumbai Airport (21.90%), Goa Airport (16.54%), Bengaluru Airport (5.54%) and Kochi Airport (4.68%).

The Oberoi Group has announced that The Oberoi Philae, Luxury Nile Cruiser, Egypt will sail between Aswan and Luxor, offering a four and six night itinerary. The Group already operates another luxury cruiser, The Oberoi Zahra, and will be increasing its presence on the Nile with The Oberoi Philae. P.R.S. Oberoi, Executive Chairman, The Oberoi Group, said, “We are pleased to present The Oberoi Philae, Luxury Nile Cruiser which offers the highest standards of luxury and hospitality. The Oberoi Group has been consistently recognised as amongst the best in the world, and I am confident that The Oberoi Philae, Luxury Nile Cruiser will continue this tradition and offer travellers an unparalleled experience on the Nile.”

In an attempt to tap the opportunities of water tourism in the state, Madhya Pradesh Tourism is organising ‘Jal Mahotsav’ in Hunumantiya, Khandwa district from February 12-21, 2016. “MP Tourism has taken this initiative to raise awareness through ‘Jal Mahotsav’, which is an enthralling mix of cultural performances and adventure activities taking place against the beautiful background of the Indira Sagar Dam,” said Tanvi Sundriyal, Additional Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation. The mega event will be inaugurated by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, she added. The 10-day event will play host to a number of activities like local sightseeing, adventure sports, outdoor activities, air and land adventures along with a display of food and crafts bazaar at the venue. There are 120 tents to be made available to the tourists attending the festival and the state is expecting a huge turnout of domestic as well as international tourists. Dr. Mamta Pandey, Sr. Liason & Marketing Officer, MP Tourism, informed that more than 200 delegates from the industry and ministry attended the roadshow.

H.E. Erdal Sabri Ergen, Consul General of the Republic of Turkey, today said Turkey is in the process of changing its visa regime to make it easier for Indian travellers. Presently, Ordinary, Special and Service Indian passport holders are required to get a visa to enter Turkey. Indian travellers who have Ordinary, Special and Service passports with a valid Schengen or OECD member’s visa or residence permit may get their single entry e-Visas for Turkey valid for 30 days. Ergen said Turkey is also looking at increasing the flight frequency between the two countries. In view of the recent terror attacks in Istanbul, he said that tourism plays an important role in bringing peace in times of terrorism. Turkey boasts highest number of tourist visas issuance in Europe, at 95 per cent. He was speaking on the sidelines of IITT 2016 in Mumbai.