The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has released a list of land parcels, for which it has invited bids for development into tourist sites and hotels through PPP mode. The queries were opened for a total of seven land parcels and properties, which include Benazir Palace in Bhopal to be made into a heritage hotel; Sawant Nagar in Tikamgarh, where there is a plan to create tourism zone with minimum 5 tourism projects inclusive of 100 rooms 4-5 Star hotel or 50 rooms luxury resort; Madhavgarh Fort to be converted into a heritage property; Mehgavan, which is to be developed into hotel cum convention centre or 4-5 star hotel; Patakhali (Nagarbeda) in Khandwa, where there are plans to develop resort/ wellness centre/amusement park/theme park/adventure sports/film studio and infrastructure for film making; Juna Kathhivada in Alirajpur, where a resort/wellness centre is to be developed; and Khapa in Betul, where plans are to develop resort/wellness centre/camping sites and fixed tenting units.
Read More »Goa state government approves tourism masterplan, new tourism policy takes shape
The Goa government has given approval to the tourism master plan for the state, a 25-year vision. Work on the tourism vision document started in 2014 through a consortium of KPMG Advisory Services and Leisure Advisory Services, with a 38-week time frame. The new tourism policy of Goa will evaluate and prioritise tourism development initiatives in the master plan. Other areas would be to develop broad guidelines and an action plan for implementation of tourism initiatives. It took over three years to get the master plan ready. The tourism policy, which has been presented for government’s approval, has a provision to constitute a tourism board. The proposed tourism board will be headed by the tourism minister and will have equal representation of government officials and industry stakeholders.
Read More »RwandAir reduces agent commission from 3% to 0%, starting Jan 1, 2020
RwandAir has announced that effective January 1, 2020, the airline will cut down the IATA agent commission to 0% from the current 3%. Announcing a revision in its commission structure, RwandAir revealed that the 3% commission would only be effective till December 31, 2019, and starting 2020, there will be no commission for agents. The airline thanked the trade fraternity for their support.
Read More »5 airports in Haryana open for bidding under UDAN 4.0
Five unserved airports in Haryana, namely Bhiwani, Hisar, Karnal, Narnaul and Sirsa, are now available for bidding under UDAN 4.0, revealed Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). The opening of these five airports would give a boost to regional connectivity and promote tourism opportunities in the state, claimed MoCA in a tweet recently. MoCA has opened bidding for many such airports in different states recently.
Read More »VisitBritain announces 2-city sales mission in January 2020
VisitBritain has announced its two-city sales mission in January 2020. The tourism authority will conduct its sales mission in India after a gap of three years. The sales mission is scheduled to take place in Mumbai followed by New Delhi on January 13, 2020 and January 15, 2020, respectively. Vishal Bhatia, Country Manager, India, VisitBritain, said, “For this we have the biggest ever contingent from the UK participating this time which speaks volumes about the demand they see from India and the kind of confidence we have in the market. We are looking at around 44 companies from British organisations across DMCs, DMOs, as well as UK Visas & Immigration coming in for this.” The primary focus for the participants will be leisure but there will be many suppliers who will also focus on MICE. Bhatia adds, “There will be a big contingent from north of England as well. Marketing Manchester has been working extremely closely with us over the years and we have 20-odd suppliers coming from the north who can handle big MICE groups as well – like the Lancashire Cricket Club which is where the India-Pakistan match took place in June. The trade will also be able to meet some football clubs who can host big MICE groups. We have a lot of suppliers coming in for the first time, almost 60-70 per cent are first-timers. This is possibly due to new air connections launched recently between India and the UK.” The last such sales mission was conducted in 2017 in Pune with 22 suppliers from the UK who met 90-odd hosted buyers from India.
Read More »Singapore Tourism Board partners with Zomato to bring the Singapore Food Experience to Delhi
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) partnered with Zomato for Zomaland Season 2, a multicity food and entertainment carnival across ten cities in two formats – Zomaland in Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai; and Zomaland Picnics in Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad. This association is an integral part of STB’s efforts to engage with foodies in India through the showcasing of Singapore food and experiences through a designated “Singapore Experience Zone” at Zomaland. Over three days (13th to 15th December), attendees to Zomaland Delhi enjoyed food from the world’s first Michelin Star hawker, Liao Fan Hawker Chan’s famous Soya Sauce Chicken Rice at the “Singapore Experience Zone”. In addition to this, they will also got to savour signature dishes like Kaya toast, Char Kway Teow (Stir-fried Rice Noodles), Chicken Satay and Ice Milo by Nasi and Mee, a popular restaurant chain in India serving Singaporean dishes. Speaking about this association with Zomato, Lim Si Ting, Area Director, India & South Asia (Mumbai), Singapore Tourism Board said, “We are happy to partner with Zomato for the first time, and believe Zomaland brings us closer to the Indian audiences through a common love and passion for food. By highlighting authentic Singaporean cuisine and the varied dining options, we hope to entice more Foodies in India to visit Singapore for even more culinary delights. We are also excited to have Hawker Chan from Liao Fan Chicken Rice – the world’s first Michelin-star Hawker from Singapore, to share both his Soya Sauce Chicken Rice dish and stories about his passion as a chef with the Indian audience. We look forward to sharing more of such immersive experiences at Zomaland Delhi and the other …
Read More »VFS Global brings Polish visa services to New Delhi and Mumbai
Indian residents can now apply for a Polish visa through VFS Global with the inauguration of Visa Application Centres in New Delhi and Mumbai. VFS Global will soon offer Polish visa services in 8 other cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kolkata. The centre in New Delhi was officially inaugurated by H.E. Adam Burakowski, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan.
Read More »Air Asia India appoints Ankur Garg as CCO
AirAsia India has appointed Ankur Garg as its Chief Commercial Officer in place of Sanjay Kumar, who stepped down from the position last month. Garg was the Vice-president for revenue management, ancillary revenue and distribution for IndiGo. In his new role, Garg will be managing day-to-day commercial operations of AirAsia India, including network and revenue management, marketing & sales and cargo.
Read More »Airlines in India to register $600 million loss in FY 2019-20: CAPA
In its latest report, CAPA has forecast that Indian airlines will post a combined loss of $600 million and induct fewer aircraft in the current financial year. In June, CAPA reported that Indian carriers will post $500-700 million in profit. However, owing to weak results by IndiGo and SpiceJet, CAPA’s latest forecast reports losses by Indian carriers. IndiGo and SpiceJet posted losses of Rs 1,062 crore and Rs 462 crore, respectively, in the quarter ending September. According to CAPA, IndiGo will post an annual profit of $70-90 million, which is much lower that the $400-500 million forecast in June. AirAsia India, Vistara, and Air India are also likely to post losses, while GoAir is expected to register a $25-30 million profit. CAPA estimates Air India to post a loss of $500 million this year.
Read More »ABTO opens Asia office in Thailand, signs MoU to promote tourism exchange
Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) has opened its Asian office in Pattaya, Thailand. ABTO also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) for co-operation in the field of travel and tourism, with an aim to promote Buddhist pilgrimage tourism between the two countries. The MoU was signed by Kaulesh Kumar, Secy. General, ABTO and Bang-on Janasanthia, Committee Member, ATTA.
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