According to a PHDCII report, 35% of Bollywood films were shot in India during 2014-2016, while 45% were shot abroad and 20% were shot both in India and abroad. Some of the popular foreign destinations for Bollywood film shootings include England, Thailand, UAE, and South Africa. In order to leverage Film Tourism in India, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, organised a conference – Global Conference on Film Tourism-India: The Focal Hub – at The Lalit on September 16. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs (I/C), Government of India, graced the conference as the Chief Guest. “We look forward to new ideas so that film tourism gets a new direction in India and promotes tourism in the country,” said Dr. Mahesh Gupta, President, PHD Chamber. Prominent film directors like Madhur Bhandarkar and Prakash Jha, Ambassadors from various countries including Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Vietnam, Austria, Romania and Latvia, government officials and travel agents were also present at the conference. An extensive study on tourism was released at the event.

Skyscanner launches partner quality ratings for providers that will give users the ability to distinguish between airlines and OTAs based on the quality of the booking service and not just on price alone. The quality ratings offer the opportunity for airlines and OTAs to gain feedback from Skyscanner users, rewarding companies who offer the very best in booking experience, and allowing travellers to base their decisions on more than just price. The new feature also provides an instrumental yardstick for travel providers who are able use to the feedback to improve the quality of their service provision. The ratings, determined from Skyscanner travellers over the past 91 days, score travel providers based on the quality of the booking site, additional fees, the after sales customer support experience and the accuracy of the prices shown. Travellers will see the score in the search results for a flight after they choose an itinerary. As part of the roll-out of the new feature, all of Skyscanner’s airline and OTA partners have been given access to the search engine partner portal Connect. The dedicated portal has been designed by Skyscanner to allow the meta site’s partners to fully understand how well they are performing in the market to help them improve and optimize their performance. Travel agent and airline partners have access to a host of analytics including detailed meta-data breaking down the feedback from customers, in addition to their current market share on key routes, and API performance. Skyscanner’s Chief Commercial Officer Frank Skivington, said, “Skyscanner aims to be a true product comparison marketplace, and the first choice distribution platform for airlines and OTAs. Our new quality ratings are intended to highlight airlines …

NYC&Company, New York City’s official, destination marketing organisation, is leading a tourism delegation to Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi from September 16-23 to promote travel to New York City. The tourism delegation is part of NYC & Company’s trade and media efforts to promote the “new” NYC in the Indian market. “New York City welcomed an estimated 283,000 visitors from India in 2015, reflecting a growth of 9% since the previous year.” said Makiko Matsuda Healy, Senior Vice President Global Tourism Development. “The City maintains its position as one of the most desirable destinations for both business and leisure travellers from India.” In 2015, New York City welcomed a record 58.3 million visitors, an increase of 1.8 million visitors over a year ago. Visitation for 2015 comprised 46 million domestic and 12.3 million international visitors, both all-time highs. In 2015 a record 6.1 million meetings and conventions delegates visited the City’s five boroughs, contributing to the total 12.3 million business travelers that came to New York City. New York City is the nation’s number one big city destination, the number one port-of-entry for foreign visitors, and has the highest share of overseas visitation to the U.S. – approximately one-third. NYC & Company member businesses joining the delegation include Broadway Inbound, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises and One World Observatory, who will be conducting one-on-one meetings and workshops with various travel trade partners.

The Government of Assam, Tourism Department has declared to open the Kaziranga National Park from the first week of October this year till middle of May 2017. Earlier, it was from November 1 to April 30 every year. The BJP-led government is taking steps to keep the Park open for the tourists for eight months instead of the normal six months with an aim to increase tourist inflow to UNESCO’s world heritage site, which suffered due to the recent floods.

Udaan India has launched Udaan Destination Marketing Conglomerate (Udaan DMC). The company, which has been a frontrunner in visa facilitation, has ventured into the new realm two years after marketing Croatia. Sumit Banerji has been appointed as the Chief Commercial Officer for Udaan DMC. Rajan Dua, MD, Udaan DMC said that with the new venture they can offer more products to their existing clients and ensure good business in the market. He also informed that they will be opening a new office in Noida for Udaan India, and all their offices across the country will also have a team for Udaan DMC.

Anna Davidyan, Founder, Travel Armenia, a luxury DMC for Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan, has appointed Vineet Gopal, Director, Representation World, as its representative for India. Gopal says, “We have been appointed as the India representative for Armenia. It will open new opportunities for Indian travellers travelling to Armenia. Armenia is a scenic country offering great nightlife and experiences. It is very well connected to India through Dubai, just 3 hours away from there. Visa is also not a problem. It will attract good MICE business from India. It is already getting a lot of MICE groups.”

British Airways has launched a Trade Graduate Programme that aims to recognise, motivate and reward travel agents for their commitment to the airline. The Trade Graduate Programme will equip the airline’s trade partners with the product knowledge and network information with respect to British Airways. The trade partners enrolled under the programme will be encouraged to complete nine incentivised training modules as part of the programme. Participants will get 15 days to complete each module. Moran Birger, British Airways’ regional general manager, South Asia said, “We, at British Airways value the relationship we share with our trusted travel trade partners as they play an instrumental role in providing excellent service to our customers in India. We have invested heavily in facilities including a call centre that provides round the clock assistance in order to build a long standing association with our trade partners. The Trade Graduate Programme is an extension of our efforts in supporting our partners in their endeavour to serve our customers better.” To make this exercise twice as much fun and beneficial for its valuable participants, British Airways is giving away exciting prizes in the form of Amazon and Croma shopping vouchers. With five winners per module, this programme is offering 45 travel trade partners the opportunity to win shopping vouchers. Additionally, participants who complete four, seven and all nine modules also get a chance to win shopping gift vouchers worth Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000. The first module is on World Traveller Plus, British Airways’ premium economy product and will be available till 30th September. New modules will be available every fortnight and participants will be notified through the Speedbird Club Newsletter. Names of lucky winners …

The 4-star premium apartment hotel Eastin Residences Vadodara opened its doors for regular, business and leisure travellers. Special launch rates start from Rs 4,000++ per room per night inclusive of the signature Eastin buffet breakfast, broadband internet, airport pick up with provisions of early check in from 9.00 am and late check out till 4.00 pm. Room configurations include studio and one bedroom well-appointed apartments, with contemporary design and stylish décor. The attached kitchenette provides a distinctive edge to the functionality and convenience of every apartment. All studio apartments are furnished with twin/king beds, which comprises of a sofa-cum-bed in the sitting area, walk-in wardrobe, kitchenette with microwave, refrigerator and heating facility, etc.

A total of 66,097 tourists arrived in August 2016 on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 22, 286 during the month of August 2016 registering a growth of 196.6 percent, revealed the Ministry of Tourism. During Jan-Aug this year, a total of 6,06,493 tourist arrived on eTV as compared to 1,69,976 during Jan-Aug last year, registering a growth of 256.8 per cent. UK continued to be the highest source market with 19.4 per cent share, followed by USA (13.2 per cent) and China (6.7 per cent). The other top major source markets included France (6.4 per cent), Spain (6.1 per cent), UAE (5.5 per cent), Germany (4.6 per cent), Australia (3.7 per cent), Canada (3.5 per cent) and Korea Republic (2.4 per cent). New Delhi Airport contributed the highest percentage share of top 10 ports in tourist arrivals on eTV during August with 45.30 per cent, followed by Mumbai Airport (21.53 per cent), Chennai Airport (8.82 per cent), Bengaluru Airport (7.58 per cent), Kochi Airport (4.60 per cent), Hyderabad Airport (3.52 per cent), Kolkata Airport (2.07 per cent), Amritsar Airport (2.01 per cent), Ahmadabad Airport (1.44 per cent) and Trivandrum Airport (1.36 per cent). This high growth may be attributed to introduction of eTV for 150 countries as against the earlier coverage of 113 countries.

The latest IVS report released by Tourism Australia revealed that the expenditure made by Indians on their visits to South Australia has jumped up to a total of AUD 23 million as of June 2016 from AUD 21 million in June 2015. The State saw 13,000 Indian visitors during the year with an average spend of approximately AUD 1,799 per traveller. The healthy growth in expenditure by almost eight per cent indicates a growing interest among Indian travellers for South Australia as a holiday destination. Dana Urmonas, Regional Director-Southeast Asia & India, South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) says, “India as a market holds great potential for us. We had a record number of visitors last year, by hosting the ICC World Cup Match between India and Pakistan in Adelaide. We are happy to see that Indian travellers are starting to recognise Adelaide as a holiday destination and are keen to leverage the momentum built. With the on-going marketing initiatives planned for India we are extremely positive about a progressive growth in visitor and expenditure numbers over the next few years.”