Indian travellers in 2023 will continue to prioritise travel but will be more mindful over how to make the most of their travel budget and what takes precedence. As per Booking.com, 69% of Indian travellers will invest in a vacation as it remains a top priority for them, but being budget conscious is key, with nearly 75% Indians continuing to spotlight travel while seeking more value for their spend.

Tourism Principal Secretary KS Srinivas said the state’s tourism and hospitality industry has already regained the pre-pandemic robustness. “This is evident from the fact that Kerala recorded a staggering 196% spike in domestic tourist arrivals during the first three quarters of the current year as compared to the corresponding period a year earlier,” he says. Kerala recorded a total of 1,33,80,000 domestic tourists in the nine months till this September, registering a 1.49 per cent increase as compared to the same period of pre-COVID 2019.

The risk with defining new-age travellers, says Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Value Added Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel, is that it is often mistaken with the age of the traveller. “According to me, being a millennial traveller is not about age at all, it is about a mindset. They travel for local experiences that the destination has to offer, rather than to see a place. It needs to be authentic, and to that, it can be about people, culture, art, food, dance, anything. To my mind, this is a major element that separates the new-age traveller,” he says.

Europamundo Vacations collaborates with the Tourism Board of Spain to launch their products for 2023-24 season. Join their webinar on Wednesday, Nov 30, 2022 to find out more about these products and stand a chance to win Europamundo trip to Spain. For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

J&K Pilgrim & Leisure Tour Operators Forum (PILTOF), the premier Tourism body of J&K having iconic members with more than 40 years’ experience in travel trade held the season’s first interactive session with top 140 Travel Agents of Thailand & members of Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA). In his welcome address, the Chairman Showkat Pakhtoon while welcoming the guests emphasized the need for marketing India and Kashmir aggressively since all the travel trade fraternity has suffered due to the pandemic and it is our responsibility that PAN India destinations are to be sold in THAI market aggressively. Dharmendra Singh, First Secretary (Economic & Commerce) and Head of Chancery, Embassy of India in Thailand who was the Chief Guest assured Thai agents all support from Embassy for facilitation to visit India. The Indian Embassy Official present Bhaskar Kalra also gave a presentation on Incredible India. The TTAA was represented by its Vice Presidents Shivek Sachdev and Sittichai Odomkitthanakul, Asstt Secretary NINA, besides other Office Bearers. PILTOF was represented by Chairman, Showkat Pakhtoon, Vice Chairman, Noor Shangloo, Event Head Nasir Shah and senior members Mohammad Akram Siah, Mir Anwar and Ather Yameen.

Tourism Australia and Qantas have joined forces to extend a warm and welcoming invitation to Indian travellers as part of the recently launched Come and Say G’day campaign from the national tourism organisation. The multi-market partnership, will include a range of joint activities including a series of new co-created TVCs run on premium OTT platform Disney+Hotstar, YouTube and Meta – all designed to inspire travellers to plan and book an Australian adventure. The new co-created TVC sees Tourism Australia’s Brand Ambassador, Ruby, a souvenir kangaroo who is brought to life with CGI animation, onboard a Qantas aircraft enjoying the warm Australian hospitality offered by Qantas. Qantas Group Chief Marketing Officer Petra Perry said the partnership showcases how to plan and book trips to Australia with Qantas and encourages international visitors to discover regional centres as well as its major gateway cities. “Qantas is proud to be the airline partner for Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G’day campaign. In addition to driving inbound visitation, the campaign is building awareness that international tourists can easily travel directly to Australia and explore over 65 destinations across the country when they choose to fly with Qantas.” Tourism Australia’s South and Southeast Asia Regional General Manager, Brent Anderson, added, “Tourism Australia is proud to be partnering with Australia’s national carrier, Qantas. The partnership is designed to inspire and encourage travellers to come and say G’day and have a trip of a lifetime Down Under.” “Indian travellers have been critical to Australia’s recovery this year and with the tripling of aviation capacity on the India – Australia route, we expect continued growth in visitor numbers from India. When they travel with Qantas, they will not only receive a …

Thomas Cook (India) has announced the launch of Holiday Mate –  an online B2B tool that empowers its travel agent partners to deliver swift, seamless and accurate services to the end consumer. The Company has consistently demonstrated innovation, agility and digital astuteness in leveraging technology to deliver increased benefits for customers and the business. In line with the Company’s Digital First strategy, the launch of its innovative digital solution – Holiday Mate gives Thomas Cook India valuable first mover advantage in the holiday space. Thomas Cook has deployed end-to-end digital solutions & processes across business lines to ensure seamless delivery of contactless, scalable, secure solutions to customers. In an initiative to simplify the processes and effectively manage time, Holiday Mate allows Thomas Cook’s travel agent partners to manage end-to-end holiday bookings seamlessly online – right from selecting suitable products, customisation, to payments. Thomas Cook’s Holiday Mate benefits the Company in its outreach to India’s viable tier 2, 3 and 4 key source markets, thus significantly expanding the Company’s market share. 4 Easy Steps to book holidays: (For Travel Agents) Select Product & Review booking Sign in Enter traveller details Payment For the first phase of the launch, the Holiday Mate offers Thomas Cook’s Group Tours (GIT), with Individual Travel (FIT) to follow in the next phase. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India), said, “This is the new era of travel! Our accelerated digital transformation is aimed at delivering an exceptional experience for our key stakeholders. Our newly launched B2B platform – Holiday Mate has been strategically designed to empower our travel agent partners. The portal offers end-to-end solutions in easy steps without the need of human intervention, right from choosing …

Held in Abu Dhabi, Europamundo Vacations’ annual convention was attended by 200 participants from 44 countries. The news about the tour operator were revealed, while the guests were able to learn more about the host destination. ‘Towards New Destinations!’ was the leitmotif of the convention. With it, it honored both the multitude of new projects that the company is carrying out, as well as new routes that have been created in the region and were presented at the event. Thus, three interesting days took place in the Emirati capital, where more than 200 participants representing 70 companies from 44 countries met. All of Europamundo news in a single event Luis García, founder of Europamundo; Alejandro de la Osa, CEO of the company; Berend Christian, Director of Corporate Planning; and Gabriel Sánchez, Chief Financial Officer; they conducted a dynamic event where topics of various kinds were discussed: expectations by destinations, new brochure, challenges of post-pandemic tourism, computer developments and new routes, among many others. Besides all of this, very complete work sessions were added, in which more colleagues of the also participated, such as members of the Operational Management, including Alberto Ballesteros, Marisol Amo, Carlos Nogueira and Úrsula Stein. In this context, Mónica Ruiz referred to the Europamundo Academy, Lucas Ozuna did the same about the Tourist Protection Code, Lola Aguilera shared her wonderful descriptions of destinations, while Justo Palma and Luz Tribaldos elaborated on the innovative projects that the company carries out as CSR. These were just some of all the news presented. The Convention was also supported by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Board, warm hosts who, together with Etihad, an airline based in the United Arab Emirates’ capital, and the …

Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa India, said, “G20 is the right blend of developed and developing nations. With Indonesia holding the current presidency role, handing over the baton to India in December and then India to Brazil, talks loud that emerging markets will play a major role in the G20 Presidency.”

With India assuming the G20 Presidency from December 1, the MoT delegation launched ‘Visit India 2023’ at WTM to invite more tourists to the country. Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, MoT, stated that India has achieved phenomenal growth in enhancing infrastructure, along with the massive vaccination drive. It will help India achieve pre-pandemic levels of international tourist arrivals. It also offers huge opportunities for investors and an Investor Summit will be organized by the Ministry in February 2023.