Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) has elected Captain Swadesh Kumar, Managing Director, Shikhar Travels India, as President for 2019-2021. Sanjay Basu, Managing Director, Far Horizon Tours, has been elected as the Senior Vice President; Tejbir Singh Anand, Managing Director, Holiday Moods Adventures is the Vice President; Vaibhav Kala, Founder, Aquaterra Adventures, is the Treasurer and Vinayak Koul, Director, Snow Lion Expeditions is the new Secretary. The elected Executive Committee members are Akshay Kumar, CEO, Mercury Himalayan Exploration; Ajeet Bajaj, Managing Director, Snow Leopard Adventures; Rajesh Ojha, Co-founder, Banjara Camps and Retreats; Ravi S Kalra, Managing Director, Travel Inn; Vishwas Makhija, Founder & CEO, India Insight Tours; CDR Sam Samuel, Managing Director, Kalypso Adventures and Pradeep Murthy, Founder and Director, Muddy Boots Vacations. Speaking on his re-election, Kumar says, “The focus this term as President is to bring as many adventure tour operators as possible into the fold of the Association, since there are many tour operators in the unorganised sector. There are over 15,000 adventure tour operators in India. I want them to be a part of the Association and ensure that they all function within limits of safety. The second focus is to bring adventure tourism into the limelight and mainstream, instead of being limited to as just niche experiences and keep in focus the sustainable aspects of the eco-adventure destinations.”

The TCS New York City Marathon, the largest marathon in the world with 52,811 finishers in 2018, has appointed Active Holiday Company as an official tour operator in India. In the 49 years of the race’s history, this is the first time New York Road Runners (NYRR), the organizers of the TCS New York City Marathon, has appointed an Indian company to promote and popularize the race amongst Indian marathon runners. The TCS New York City Marathon works with tour operators in 51 countries. India ranks in the top 20 markets in terms of the number of runners who travel to New York to run the race, many of who aspire to complete of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. The Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM) is a grand slam of marathons where participants run a full marathon in six of the world’s best-known races: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. Runners who complete all six races are awarded the prestigious ‘Six Star Medal’ and finishers are featured on the AWMM website. “We’re excited to welcome Active Holiday Company as an official International Tour Operator for the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon and are eager to further engage with the running community in India through this partnership,” said Michael Capiraso, President & CEO at NYRR. “We look forward to hosting this year’s runners from India and wish them all the best as they begin their incredible journey to the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon.” According to Procam International the size of India’s Marathon business is pegged at US$200mn. “We are incredibly proud to be part of the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon, one of the world’s …

Q4 has been an outstanding quarter for Sarovar Hotels Chain. Vijay Jaiswal, Senior Vice President- Sales and Marketing, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, says, “We have exceeded on our target in Occupancy, ADR and RevPar. We have seen a growth of 2% in Occupancy and ADR grew by 4% in Q4 2018 vis-à-vis Q4 2017. Amongst the cities that have performed well are all major metro cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and cities like Goa, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur. Cities that have not performed well for our hotels are Kerala and Mashobra(Shimla) due to heavy floods and monsoon in these regions. We are forecasting to do well in coming quarter and poised to meet our targets. This is based on our current trends for this quarter. However, the general elections in April & May can be an impeding in our performance.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, is in a process of drafting a National Green Aviation Policy. In this regard, a White Paper on the same has been developed for wide consultation of stakeholders. This vision document sets out a strategic framework to address the major environmental challenges of the aviation industry.

Expanding its network, AirAsia India has announced the launch of its new daily flight to Kolkata from Mumbai, starting from April 15. This would be the airline’s second destination from Mumbai after it started operating daily services to Bengaluru from the country’s financial capital. AirAsia India will now fly connecting Kolkata and Mumbai, with one daily flight, effective April 15, the airline said in a release. The introduction of Mumbai-Kolkata route comes close on the heels of AirAsia India adding eighth additional flights to its network of 19 destinations. “We recently introduced the first connection between Bengaluru and Mumbai and are now adding a new connection between Mumbai and Kolkata. It’s a key market for AirAsia and this flight will strengthen our operations in East. This new route is a manifestation of our future growth plan in these key and important business markets, said Sunil Bhaskaran, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia India. AirAsia India currently operates 19 domestic destinations with a fleet of 20 Airbus A320 planes. Source: PTI

Jalesh Cruises first premiere cruise line catering to the Indian domestic and international cruise business, received its first ship, Karnika, the erstwhile Pacific Jewel from P&O Australia, in Singapore recently. The vessel, which is the first in the fleet of the multi-destination cruise line Jalesh Cruises, will reach Mumbai on April 17. Keeping with tradition, the 2,000 passenger ship, which weighs 70,285 tons, will go through its naming ceremony at a gala event in Mumbai on April 19. Mr. Jurgen Bailom, President & CEO, Zen Cruises, said, “Today marks an important day for the Indian cruise tourism industry with the acceptance of Jalesh Cruises first ship. We are going to offer a memorable vacation to passengers on board with exotic culinary experiences, international hospitality and best of entertainment shows at high seas. With Karnika, we mark the beginning of memorable cruise holidays that will bring joy and delight to the Indian and global community.” Karnika will dry dock in Singapore at Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard over the next few weeks for a extensive refurbishment exercise to customize the ship to suit Indians travelers. It will then proceed from Singapore to Colombo via Kochi, New Mangalore, Goa and finally arrive in Mumbai on April 17. The cruise liner will be sailing initially between Mumbai and Goa for first few weeks till May, 2019 before proceeding to the Middle East where it will remain till mid-September. The cruise liner will be exploring the huge coastal length of India and giving the customer to enjoy and savor the same. Between May, 2019 and September, 2019, cruise passengers will have a choice of itineraries between Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Muscat and Sir Ban …

Accor is taking a leap in technology this year as its going to introduce its day use service in India where the guests can stay for 12 hours anytime in the day and will pay 60% less of the actual room price. Speaking more on this, Arif Patel, VP, Sales, Marketing, Loyalty and Distribution, India & South Asia, Accor, says, “Today, if you want to use a hotel room from 8 am to 8 pm, its very difficult to book. To solve this, Accor will soon enable its guests to book the room maximum for 12 hours any time in the day that suits them. It will up to the hotel if they want to release their 6 am to 6 pm slot of 7 am to 7 pm, 12 pm to 8 pm etc. You will be able to book hotel room just for the day use, online. One can make this booking with a discount of 60 per cent on the total room rate.”

Thai Smile is all set to start operating from Kolkata to Bangkok, five times a week, from March 31, 2019. The aircraft used for the operations on this route is Airbus 320. The starting fare for the flight is Rs. 8993 all included. The direct flight will also place TG-coded flight numbers on this route. The flight from Kolkata would take off at 01:00 hrs and would arrive in Bangkok at 05:30 hrs on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. From Bangkok it will fly every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 22:05 hrs and would land in Kolkata at 23:30 hrs.

Further enhancing its customer experience, Indigo has introduced 3 new routes while adding 14 additional flights on its network. The low-cost carrier will operate its first flight between Chennai-Raipur, Hyderabad-Gorakhpur and Kolkata-Gorakhpur. The airline will also add flights on its existing routes connecting, Chennai – Trivandrum, Bengaluru – Mangalore, Bengaluru – Udaipur and Bengaluru – Chennai.All new services will commence from April 2019. Providing details, William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo, said, “We are very excited to add14 new flights to our network along with along with 3 new routes connecting Chennai, Raipur and Gorakhpur. IndiGo has completed 12 years of successful operations in the India market as a low cost carrier, and adding new flights to its network will further augment the connectivity that we aspire to provide to our customers. It is our constant endeavour to provide our customers on-time, courteous and hassle-free service, and an affordable flying experience always.”

The female share of employment in tourism in India accounts for 12.1 per cent, according to a latest report by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) titled ‘Travel & Tourism: Driving Women’s Success.’ There could be an 11 per cent increase in global GDP if every country achieved the fastest rate of progress in its region on closing the three key gender gaps of workforce participation, the report states. Travel and tourism can provide women with more opportunities for workforce participation, leadership, entrepreneurship and empowerment than many other sectors, particularly in developing countries and as such it can have a tremendous effect on poverty reduction in rural communities. At the macro level, a stronger representation of women in travel and tourism relative to other areas of economy is due to the sector’s unique characteristics: often less emphasis on formal education and training, greater emphasis on personal and hospitality skills, flexible working opportunities, and increased options for entrepreneurship that do not require heavy start-up financing. While there are wide variations in gender equality by region, socio-economic class, ethnicity and age, women’s labour force participation rates are gradually approaching those of men in many developed countries, supported by public policies including family support, rights to paid leave, and affordable childcare services for working mothers. Women also have some of the highest rates of participation in developing countries, reflecting economic necessity.