Royal Orchid Hotels adds another property Regenta Central Point in Srinagar to its portfolio. Located at city centre, Regenta Central Point is 12 kms away from the airport and a 10 minute walk from Dal Lake. The four-star property has 46 rooms in a range of options – Deluxe Rooms and Executive Suites with modern amenities. Chander K Baljee, Managing Director, Royal Orchid Hotels said, “We are happy to announce the opening of our new property in Srinagar. Srinagar is a well known travel destination and we are privileged to be associated with this beautiful city. This adds to our expansion plan with prime focus on mid market segment. Currently, we operate 47 properties in 33 cities across the country with close to 3,500 rooms. Following our asset light model we are looking to add 15 more properties for FY19.” The hotel also offers a multi-cuisine all-day dining restaurant, specializing in Kashmiri cuisine and has an outdoor seating arrangement, gymnasium and steam and sauna.”

rooms XML and getabed have announced merger of their businesses. Both roomsXML and getabed are independently owned and have been successfully providing accommodation to travel and wholesale partners in their respective markets. Ruchir Bang, Executive Director, roomsXML commented, “We currently are in a very interesting phase within the travel wholesale industry and certainly see a great future if we have the right mix of passionate team, user-focused technology and strong financials, and that’s exactly what both roomsXML and getabed bring to the table.” He added “This all started with the vision on where we want to see our businesses in future and what growth opportunities we can bring to our valued staff members across offices, rather than just seeing if the balance sheet numbers added up.” Under the new structure, owners of both roomsXML and getabed will continue to play an integral part in running the combined business, with Ruchir Bang as the CEO and Matt Stuart as the Chief Commercial Officer. The remaining senior leadership roles will be announced soon. The joint business will provide significant benefits and scale, which will then be passed on to their customers and suppliers.  As a result of the merger, they now offer a genuine global business with deep penetration in travel agency space across India, Middle East, APAC and Europe. Matt Stuart, MD, getabed said, “This is a hugely exciting time for both getabed and roomsXML. With the accommodation wholesale market evolving rapidly, we needed to ensure that we remain relevant. “

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), in association with Global Vipassana Pagoda in Gorai, is looking to encourage visitors across the globe to experience tool of meditation for individual and global wellness and peace. In 2014, the Union Ministry announced plans to develop new Circuits to cover routes of important Buddhist destinations of the country. The Global Vipassana Pagoda in Gorai focuses on the Vipassana form of meditation, which stresses on the systematic investigation of the self, a phenomenon that is unique to the Buddhist tradition. The Pagoda also provides an insight to Buddhism by engaging visitors in a healthy and spiritual way from the hustle and bustle of the city. The Circuits in the coastal area of Nalasopara, Chaityabhoomi in Dadar, the Mandapeshwar Caves in Borivali, the Kanheri Caves in Sanjay Gandhi National Park and the Elephanta Caves are definitely going to increase the flow of tourists in the State. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra conveys, “MTDC in association with the Global Vipassana Pagoda is promoting the Buddhist Circuit and wellness tourism in the state. Our aim is to endorse the Buddhist circuit, among other spiritual sites that engage people to experience and learn about the rich legacy through Buddhist monuments.”

The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC) has recorded 30 per cent growth from India in 2017 over 2016. Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador, Kingdom of the Netherlands, spoke about this growth in New Delhi recently and said that the numbers of Indians visiting Holland is on a rise and vice versa. He revealed that they are expecting 2018 to record double digit growth as well. Attributing this growth to the increased air connectivity, he said, “With Jet Airways offering direct connections from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam; as well as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines starting flying from Mumbai to Amsterdam, the number of travellers between the two countries is increasing. Amsterdam is acting as a hub for Indians to not only land in Holland and explore the destination, but also go to other European countries from there, especially with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines offering connections to all of Europe and America. This added with Jet Airways offering connections all across India, is only going to boost the traffic between both the countries.” He also added that this year’s theme for marketing for NBTC would be luxury, and the country has many offerings and experiences for travellers in this segment.

Lemon Tree Hotels announced the formal opening of its new hotel, Lemon Tree Hotel, Siliguri, marking its entry into West Bengal. Carnation Hotels, the hotel management arm of Lemon Tree Hotels, will be managing this midscale hotel owned by Unitech Mercantile. The management agreement was signed by Rattan Keswani, Deputy Managing Director – Lemon Tree Hotels & Whole Time Director – Carnation Hotels, and Binod Kumar Gupta, Co-promoter, Unitech Mercantile. Speaking on the occasion and overall expansion plans across India, Keswani, said, “We are delighted to add Lemon Tree Hotel, Siliguri, West Bengal to our portfolio and look forward to welcoming our guests here. This hotel opening brings us another step closer to our aim of becoming the fastest growing hotel chain in the country. This occasion marks a few firsts for Lemon Tree Hotels (through our management arm, Carnation Hotels) that will be operating in Siliguri.” Speaking on the hotel launch, Parvez Gupta, Co-promoter of Unitech Mercantile said, “This is the first hotel project undertaken by the company. With Lemon Tree Hotels as our partner, we are able to fill the gap for a good branded hotel in Siliguri.” The hotel boasts of a vibrant lobby, innovative interiors and inspiring artwork that make for a setting that is truly refreshing, contemporary and stylish.

In order to attract the growing conferences and incentives segment from India, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) is offering attractive financial incentive schemes so that MICE agents and corporates choose Cyprus as their preferred destination. There are broadly four schemes. Speaking about this Michalis Metaxas, Director, Cyprus Tourism Organisation and Cyprus Convention Bureau (CCB) says, “Cyprus is an attractive and competitive destination for the organisation of conferences, meetings and incentive trips. We have four different types of schemes for corporates depending on who they are and what their aim is.” One scheme is for MiCE directed at non-profit organisations, associations and academic institutions for conferences and meetings and licensed tourism and travel offices and companies for corporate conferences and incentive trips. The second incentive scheme is to support conference bidding and sales calls to attract conference and incentive tourism to Cyprus. The bidding for hosting of conferences should be done by non-profit organisations/associations, and educational/academic institutions that will travel abroad in order to bid for the hosting of conferences/meetings of non-profit regional, European or international organisations/associations, or educational/academic institutions on the island. Cyprus also offers incentives for inspection visits of the destination in general, and meeting Cypriot professionals within this field as well as for conducting familiarisation trips to Cyprus for MiCE.  

The Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan has signed an MoU with the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR) for organising the ‘Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart’ 2018. The event will be held from July 20-22 at the B.M. Birla Auditorium in Jaipur. The Department of Tourism will be the host state partner for the event. The MoU was signed between the Additional Director Tourism, Sanjay Pande and the President, FHTR, Bhim Singh in Jaipur. The chief guest on the occasion Chief Secretary, Rajasthan, Nihal Chand Goel said that the primary objective of ‘Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart’ is to exclusively focus on the domestic tourists within Rajasthan from various parts of India. “The vision 2020 initiated by the CM had an objective of five crore tourist footfall in the state by the year 2020. But we have attained close to five crore tourists in the year 2017 itself and with new initiatives like this travel mart, we’d be able to achieve the set goal and probably outperform our own predicted numbers,” he said. President, FHTR, Bhim Singh said the sole objective is to increase tourism in Rajasthan by organising numerous road shows across the country. The event is also supported by HRAR, IHHA, RATO and ADTOI.

Israel Ministry of Tourism has joined hands with Ola cabs in India to collaborate on a two-week contest that will run on the Ola app which is valid for its Mumbai and Pune users only. The Ola users who undertake the maximum number of rides during the two weeks period and use code ISRAEL stand a chance to win a free trip to Israel for three nights or four days. Utilising Push notifications, in-App promotion, e-mailers , Ola Website and their Social Media pages, the ride-sharing company will promote the contest. Talking more about the association Hassan Madah, Director – Israel Ministry of Tourism, India & Philippines said, “Ola is one of the largest taxi services in India and have a large user base, especially in metro cities. Today, many urban dwellers use the services of taxi hiring in big cities as it is convenient. We are always thinking of distinct ways to promote Israel and felt this association with Ola cabs will help us reach Ola’s over 80 lakh users in Mumbai and Pune. We look forward to creating more awareness of the beautiful destination among Ola users so that they can plan a trip soon to Israel.” Israel has welcomed close to 10,000 Indian travellers between January and March, resulting in a 15% increase in Indian tourists arrivals compared to the same period in 2016. With the recent addition of Air India’s direct connection from Delhi to Tel Aviv, Israel hopes to witness one lakh Indian tourist arrivals in 2018.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has announced its participation in Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018, which will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22-25, 2018. MTDC plans to promote Maharashtra as the preferred destination for medical and wellness tourism, showcase its touristic attractions, meet tourism professionals and promote the opportunities of investment in creating healthcare and tourism facilities. Speaking about the state government plans, Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & Employment Guarantee Scheme, Government of Maharashtra said, “While the medical and wellness segment is largely untapped and caters to a niche segment of travellers we have seen a steady growth in this sector due to the quality and economically friendly services the state has to offer. Our goal is to position Maharashtra as a medical and wellness tourism hub. We are in the process of signing an MoU with the Indo-Arab Chambers of Commerce and Industries to highlight lucrative investment prospects within the sector.” Vijay Waghmare, Managing Director, MTDC said, “We are witnessing tourism as one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Maharashtra has one of the best qualified professionals in each field and this holds true in the domain of medical and wellness as well. We are now looking to create a unique identity by offering best health services for the world and establish ourselves as the best Medical tourism destination. At ATM 2018, we will be promoting various activities ranging from yoga, meditation to natural therapies to name some which is provided in the state.”

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) introduced the ‘Culinary Germany’ theme in India, to use it as their focus for marketing campaigns this year. The country witnessed 8,52,224 visitor overnights in 2017 making for a 13.8 per cent growth over 2016. Owing to this steady growth, GNTO, India forecasts a 5-8 per cent growth in visitor overnights for the year 2018. Romit Theophilus, Director, GNTO, India said, “Food forms an integral part of any traveller’s itinerary. Experiencing the local flavours helps enhance the flavour of any holiday and makes for everlasting impressions. With over 5,000 beers from 1,300 breweries, 300 types of bread, 1,500 types of sausage, 13 wine regions, 292 Michelin-starred restaurants and 3,000 to 5,000 Christmas markets, Germany is sure to satiate any traveller’s appetite.” According to the Quality Monitor survey of the German tourism industry, 4% of international holidaymakers come to Germany specifically for the variety and quality of its food and drink. The sector, therefore, contributes at least 3.2 million overnight stays to Germany’s inbound tourism. ‘Travelling food-lovers’ are generally quite young, well-educated family people with children; they are often city dwellers and are very active on social media. GNTO, India now boasts over 1 million followers on its Facebook platform.