Category Archives: Agents

Singapore Tourism Board invites travel trade for a webinar today at 3pm, focusing on latest offerings that are tailored for India’s MICE requirements. Gain valuable insights and curate enriching itineraries on Singapore for your clients. For more info, please contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Singapore Tourism Board invites the travel trade for an exclusive webinar focusing on the latest offerings for world-class events that are tailored for India’s MICE requirements. Gain valuable insights to help create enriched itineraries for your corporate clients, showcasing the best of what Singapore has to offer. For more information, or to register, please contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532. Registration link: https://event.webinarjam.com/register/655/5v7qwi3k5  

The TAAI Northern Region team celebrated its 73rd year of establishment in Delhi, marking a significant milestone for the travel industry. Gracing the occasion were RK Suman, Regional Director North, Ministry of Tourism, and Neeraj Malhotra, Chairman, TAAI-Northern Region. The event brought together TAAI members, travel agents, and key industry stakeholders, fostering dialogue on pressing issues and collaborative opportunities. Members leveraged the event to discuss the challenges being faced by them in diverse areas and activities to be conducted in the future. A presentation on how to use the NIDHI portal has also been held to guide members on registering as travel agents. NIDHI ID (NID) is a unique national identifier for relevant stakeholders in the tourism, which improves delivery of services. One can avail of the benefits and incentives through it. Apart from this, registered entities can apply for relevant Certification/Classification/Recognition on this portal. Emphasising his commitment to educate members and provide support to them, Neeraj Malhotra, said, “My priority is to empower our members through knowledge-sharing events like these. I am dedicated to resolving their issues, be it with IATA, VFS, hotels, or airlines”. Aligning with TAAI’s national leadership vision of ‘members first,’ he informed us he is taking multiple initiatives to resolve members’ concerns including staff insurance policies and regular feedback forums. He also revealed that the launch of the association’s new logo will be held in January, 2025. Looking ahead, Malhotra expressed excitement about future milestones. “January 2025 will see the launch of TAAI’s new logo, to be unveiled in Delhi and Mumbai, as we gear up for TAAI’s 75th year in 2026—our golden jubilee,” he shared. Highlighting a major concern, he called out the inefficiencies …

In a significant move to strengthen tourism ties with India, South Africa has come up with a newly gazetted Trusted Tourist Tour Operator System Scheme which will take effect on 20 January 2025. Aimed specifically at the Indian and Chinese markets, it will allow for bulk visa processing for group travellers. 23 Indian tour operators applied in the first phase.

To stay ahead of emerging trends, travel agents are seeking new tools, technologies, and resources to meet clients’ needs. Robin Lawther, Vice President, Expedia TAAP, says, “They prioritise platforms that offer seamless, all-in-one functionalities. The ability to plan, book, and manage trips within a single portal is crucial, with 18% of agents citing this and ease of use as primary factors.1 These preferences underscore an industry-wide demand for efficiency, where streamlined workflows are critical to a travel agent’s success.”

Jungle Camps has set the stage for IPO, aims to raise ₹29.42 crores fund to be utilised for strategic expansion plans and upcoming four properties across India, namely Sanjay Dubri National Park, Sheopur Fort, Kukru Jungle Camp near Melghat Tiger Reserve, and 4-star hotel in Mathura. They are going to offer special schemes to travel agents bringing around 1000 room nights to the upcoming properties, while their current offerings include US$130-US$200 rates depending on rooms per night to inbound travel agents for their existing properties.

At its 16th annual convention, ATOAI launched the Roadmap & Toolkit for Arunachal Pradesh, positioning it as a model for sustainable adventure tourism. Aimed at enhancing its identity as the “Last Shangri-La,” the initiative integrates ecological, cultural, and technological advancements, promising a balanced approach to promote pristine experiences while preserving local heritage.

Rail Europe, together with Lufthansa Group, Swiss tourism boards, and high-speed rail operators, recently organised an exclusive familiarisation tour to Switzerland and Paris for its key partners. Rail Europe planned this trip after a gap of almost four years post pandemic and this trip was a reward to their GSAs for their continuous efforts to sell train travel in Europe. Their adventure began in the picturesque Swiss Alps in Interlaken region. The unique experiences were the Raclette rafting on the lake of Brienz with a backdrop of snowcapped mountains, chocolate making workshop, adventurous activities like First Glider where everyone could fly like an eagle and the First flyer on the Grindelwald First mountain. Then the group headed to Montreux region with experiencing the Prestige class on the scenic train of Golden Pass line and enjoyed some snow activities on the Glacier 3000. The highlight of this region was cellar wine tasting at the Domian Bovy, Charlie Chaplin’s Museum, and the stunning view from the Chillon castle. The objective of this trip was to showcase the agents the benefits of Swiss Travel Pass and their add-ons such as discounts on mountain excursions and free entry to museums, and to experience the high-speed TGV Lyria from Geneva to Paris – the headquarters of Rail Europe. From the romantic Swiss Alps, they boarded the high-speed train to the city of Love Paris. The group strolled through the streets of Montmartre, explored the city with hop on hop off city tour, got on the highest level of the Eiffel tower and ended the mesmerising FAM trip with the romantic dinner on the Seine river cruise. This trip was a resounding success where they experienced Rail …

Travstarz Global Group, a Trip.com invested company hosted a networking evening and training for its travel agent partners at Hotel Hyatt Regency, Amritsar on 25th November, 2024. The extremely successful event saw a packed crowd with over 45 agent partners joining in for the evening from Amritsar and even Jallandhar. Pankaj Nagpal, Managing Director, Travstarz Global Group added, “Over the last one year this is our 3rd event at Amritsar besides Chandigarh and Ludhiana covering all major Punjab cities and we have received an overwhelming response each time at our events. Other than the event, we have received tremendous support for all our destinations from Punjab partners specially Amritsar for Baku, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Dubai & Abu Dhabi and USA and Canada. The show showcased our entire portfolio of products and destinations specially focussing on Japan and Georgia which has been recently added to our DMC list. We already have unmatched offerings for USA and Canada both with over 600 short and long-haul itineraries for these countries alone now with our headquarters in Los Angeles, USA and Punjab has been a strong support market for these destinations” Vani Singh, Vice President, Travstarz Global Group said, “Our focus has always been Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and we have witnessed the large volume of outbound business coming from these cities. These shows and networking events are our way to reconnect with our partners to apprise them of all new products and to thank them for their support to us. We plan to host more events in each of the coming months till April 2024 across the country moving to South India as well”  

In January 2025, VisitBritain will launch a major marketing campaign aimed at showcasing the UK’s cultural richness through the lens of popular films and TV shows. “Our Starring Great Britain campaign is all about bringing the magic of British films and TV to life. Whether you’re walking the streets of Bath like in Bridgerton or visiting locations from Peaky Blinders in Birmingham, we want visitors to feel like they’re part of these cinematic landscapes,” said Patricia Yates, CEO, VisitBritain.