To help tourists from Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has got signages put up in Sanchi in Sinhalese language, which is the native language of the island nation, revealed Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture. He says, “Majority of Sri Lankan tourists go to Sanchi, and there we have put up signages in Sinhalese language within 7 days. As a result, we got appreciation within the country as well as in Sri Lanka. Those who are less educated and do not know the language other than Sinhalese, got a chance to read things in their language, which made them feel relieved as well as proud. This is an example would only help us in working in the future. Wherever we have one lakh or more tourists coming, who are not comfortable in Hindi and English, we can offer the signages in their languages and make it easy for them.”

Driving forward the vision of Skilled India, Tourism & Hospitality Skill Council (THSC), one of the sector skill councils approved by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), has announced its collaboration with Marriott India to promote Apprenticeship in Tourism and Hospitality sector. Marriott will engage 5000 apprentices through its network of 90 properties in the country. The apprentices will be provided with an opportunity to receive hands-on experience at Marriott hotels for developing broader expertise in the sector, preparing them to cater to the demands of the tourism and hospitality sector.

According to India Hospitality Industry Overview 2019 by HVS, 2019 saw a substantial increase of 31% in brand signings by keys and an 11% in brand signings by hotels over 2018, signifying an increase in average keys per hotel. Domestic brands with their aggressive growth strategies have overtaken the international brands in brand signings for 2019. They, however, continue to sign smaller format hotels with average keys for domestic brand signings being almost half of their international peers.

Madhya Pradesh, the Tiger State of India, has reiterated its focus on wild-life tourism and strengthening its ongoing efforts towards combating the threats of climate change by focusing on wildlife conservation and upliftment of forest dwellers. The state will also be focusing on creating favourable conditions for the conservation of tigers especially the endangered Bengal Tiger and the rare White Tiger. Madhya Pradesh ranks first in the country with 526 tigers as per the results of the All India Tiger Assessment declared on July 29, 2019. The state has six tiger reserves (combining parts of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries) namely Kanha, Pench, Satpura, Bandhavgarh, Panna and Sanjay. The state also plans to create around 11 new protected areas within the state from the current numbers of 24 wildlife sanctuaries and 11 national parks. The new areas, covering over 2,100 sq. km, represent perhaps the largest addition of protected areas attempted by any state in the past three decades. According to Faiz Ahmed Kidwai (IAS), Secretary Tourism, Govt of Madhya Pradesh and Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, “Madhya Pradesh is referred to as wildlife state of India with numerous sanctuaries and reserves. At a time where the numbers of many animal species are declining, Madhya Pradesh has played a pivotal part in India’s wildlife conservation programs. As the World Wildlife Day approaches on 3rd March, we would like to reiterate our commitment to protecting endangered wildlife, specially tigers through a scientific, planned and people-centric approach with strict enforcement guidelines and team support.” “From preserving tiger population, to being the state with the highest leopard, vultures and gharial (an endemic crocodile species) population to having successfully increased the population of …

In 2020 as well, Accor Showcase in New Delhi and Mumbai saw an enormous response from the travel and tourism fraternity. The fourth edition of the Accor Showcase saw participation from more than 50 Accor properties globally. The hotel representatives interacted with more than 1000 tourism leaders at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity (26th February) and Sofitel Mumbai BKC (28th February). Consecutively for four years, Accor Showcase has acted as a catalyst for the growth of both inbound and outbound tourism. Over the years, Accor Showcase has focussed on elevating and promoting MICE through its representatives. This year as well, the roadshow saw positive conversions for many participants and especially for Baku, Turkey and London. Many prominent corporates, travel partners, wedding planners, travel agents, airline partners and others attended the event. Luxury and leisure segment being the key aspect for Accor, created a great buzz at the Showcase. The most awaited brand, Raffles, also attracted conversation amongst the participants. Also, the upcoming Fairmont in Mumbai was discussed amongst the industry peers. The new loyalty programme, ALL- Accor Live Limitless and its offerings was a big conversation point. Speaking on the success of Accor Showcase 2020, Kerrie Hannaford, VP, Commercial, Accor India and South Asia, said “The hospitality industry is geared up for the year ahead and Accor has multiple campaigns and initiatives planned for the upcoming months. With our new loyalty programme ALL and Raffles debut in India, we are certain that Accor will get a lot of traction from the fraternity. Accor Showcase provides a great platform to interact with our partners and portray the great products and services provides by Accor globally.” Rohit Chopra, Regional Director Sales – India, …

In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak across the world, the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) has decided to postpone its Convention to another date. The Convention was scheduled to take place in Antalya, Turkey from March 15-18, 2020. Once things are back to normal, the OTOAI Convention will take place in Turkey with fresh dates. Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI shares, “It is unfortunate that we had to postpone the convention, but given the prevailing circumstances, we thought it is best to do so. The decision has been taken keeping the safety of our delegates in mind as we would never do anything that might put their health in jeopardy. I am sure that the effect and spread of Covid-19 will subside with time and once that happens, we will re-announce the convention with a fresh set of dates.” Himanshu Patil, Vice President and Convention Chairman, OTOAI, added, “We would like to thank all the members of the travel trade, media and our partners in Turkey who have been extremely supportive. We look forward to your continued support in the future also and we are confident that as soon as the Covid-19 cases are curbed, we will announce the new dates of the convention.” In a statement, the Destination Turkey said, “Turkey is very eager to host all the delegates and the preparations are still in order. While Turkey has not reported a single confirmed case of COVID-19, the decision has purely been taken keeping the various travel advisories being issued in mind.”

Switzerland Tourism invites members of India’s travel trade to participate in its exclusive webinar series. The webinar series aims to educate the trade about one of the most popular travel destination for Indian travellers – Switzerland. Those interested can get in touch with  Jaspreet Kaur  via email at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com  or call  9650196532. This webinar that will take place on March 5, 2020 at 3:00 pm will highlight the summer attractions in Lucerne.  Lucerne is a city in Central Switzerland situated on the Lake Lucerne and surrounded by mountains. It is a popular destination for travellers and has numerous attractions and accommodation options in and around it. Viewers get a chance to learn about the various offerings in Lucerne in the summer months so that they can plan their clients’ itineraries accordingly. Travel partners who attend all the webinars also stand a chance of winning a trip to Switzerland.

The 35th edition of Aahar was inaugurated by LC Goyal, IAS, Chairman & Managing Director, ITPO. Reassuring the participants of Aahar he said, “Large complexes are sensitive to the needs and requirements of participants, I am afraid that ITPO has a long way in achieving this. They need to feel more receptive to all of you when you visit our office. I am going to revisit the entire system and make it robust. In case of any malpractice, please bring it to my attention. Infrastructure is one aspect; we need to develop the soft skills. The industry is getting very competitive, more venues are coming up, so best of service is required and we have a long way to go.” Assuring  better, transparent  and  accountable  professional  services  to  all  the   trade and industry by ITPO in future, he further adds, “ These events are extremely important, and we cannot undermine them. Last year we offered an area of 24000 square metres, this year it is 44 ooo square metres. There has been  a huge gap between demand and supply. For next year’s edition of Aahar hopefully we will be able to offer 1 lakh square metres.”

Inaugurating the  of the 35th edition of Aahar, L C Goyal, IAS, Chairman & Managing Director, ITPO, said, “Events like these help promote and transform the various sector of our economy. They are the lifeline of the exhibition industry. The industry is at a stage today where it is poised to grow at a faster pace. Recent studies have indicated that Asia and India will be at the forefront of future growth of global exhibition industry. This is a huge industry waiting to expand. This industry directly or indirectly is creating a business of more than 3 lakh crore every year. It has  a crucial  role  to  achieve  the  target  of US$5 trillion  economy by  the  year 2024 , as  envisioned  by  Prime  Minister   Modi. “

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism and Culture, Government of India, has said that they are thinking of declaring 2021 as Visit India Year, with an aim to invite people across the world to the country and showcase its diversity. “We want people across the world to know India and see its cultural heritage and its attractions. In order to showcase that we are in discussion to declare 2021 as Visit India Year. We want to make the new multilingual website and language facilities at important tourist sites, act as facilities to attract tourists from different countries across the world,” he announced at the launch of the multilingual Incredible India website in New Delhi.