Category Archives: Agents

With the mission of creating awareness about Utah as a potential tourism destination for Indians, AVIAREPS India along with Utah Office of Tourism organized its first exclusive B2B virtual sales mission in India on 8th March 2022. The virtual event was attended by the representatives of Utah partners like Visit Salt Lake, Kane County Office of Tourism, Bryce Canyon Country, Explore Utah Valley and Utah Office of Tourism among others. Indian trade partners like Thomas Cook, Flamingo, Make my Trip, N. Chirag, Kesari were also a part of it. Zach Fyne, Global Markets Specialist, Utah Office of Tourism, said, “India has been among the Top 10 markets for the state of Utah in international visitation over the last five years, so we’re excited to further increase our efforts and exposure of what our state has to offer to the Indian visitor. We are confident the Indian market will be delighted by the experiences and beauty Utah that has to offer from our Mighty 5® national parks and 44 state parks, to skiing the Greatest Snow on Earth® at our 15 world-class ski resorts, to taking in the night sky at the 24 internationally-recognized dark sky areas and parks, to everything in between that is connected by driving through our 28 scenic byways. We’re excited to welcome more people from India to the beehive state!” Elaine from San Juan County shared, “We are happy to participate in the first of hopefully many, virtual India B2B sales missions. We know we already have travellers from India who are visiting San Juan County, so we are really looking forward to the opportunity to speak directly with travel trade partners in India to not …

After a monumental year of exciting development and new experiences, Los Angeles’ Comeback Story is unfolding in Southern California. To educate and engage travel trade partners from across the globe, Los Angeles Tourism has created an on-demand webinar on what’s new in LA, including new hotels, attractions, experiences, and more. In addition to the latest news, travel trade partners will learn what their clients can expect as they start their own comeback story in the City of Angels. Viewers will also experience an exclusive virtual tour of the revamped Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood. “The importance of travel trade to Los Angeles can’t be overstated,” said Kathy Smits, Senior Vice President, Global Tourism. “We are so grateful for the continued support of our valued partners and hope these webinars will serve as a useful tool.” The on-demand webinar can be accessed at any time and represents the first in a series of travel trade webinars promoting L.A. Travel sellers can visit the Webinar Library to rewatch the What’s New webinar as needed and keep an eye out for new webinars in the future.

Commencing their India market activation, Ajman Department of Tourism Development has announced Intrepid Marketing and Communications as their representative, who will be implementing all sales, marketing and communications initiatives in key target markets. Ajman Department of Tourism Development is venturing into the evolving Indian outbound market for the first time to capitalize on the upcoming travel season and accelerate footfalls to the smallest city of the United Arab Emirates. Ajman Tourism Development Department, will be penetrating their reach in the wedding, MICE and luxury FIT segments in India through sustained activities assisted by Intrepid Marketing & Communications. On the appointment of its India representative, Khadija Turki, Director of Tourism Development and Marketing, Ajman Department of Tourism Development, said, “We are ecstatic to set foot in the India market as we are aware of the country’s unique travel appetite and look forward to welcoming our guests seeking an exquisite getaway. India is an exciting yet a complex market for several factors and we are thrilled to work with Intrepid Marketing and Communications team and collectively derive the best methods to establish and expand our presence. The team will be endorsing our products and itineraries across key segments and markets and provide their core insights to make Ajman one of the fastest emerging destinations amongst outbound Indian travellers.” Acknowledging the latest addition to Intrepid Marketing & Communication’s growing portfolio, Madhuri Verma, Director, said, “We are stoked to introduce Ajman Department of Tourism Development to India and promote the city’s diverse tourism aspects amongst the travel trade community. Although UAE has been an established destination, Ajman as a destination is relatively new and hence will be exciting for both agents and travellers. We …

Finnair – Finland’s flag carrier airline – has added Mumbai as a new destination in Summer 2022 and announced scheduled services between Mumbai and Helsinki starting July 2022. The new launch makes Mumbai its second destination in India. Finnair will operate from Mumbai and Helsinki three times a week, i.e., on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, connecting the Indian travellers smoothly to and from Finnair’s vast network.  Finnair connects customers to almost 70 destinations in Europe and five destinations in the US; Seattle, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. When flying to Europe or the US via Helsinki, customers can enjoy the compact and uncrowded Helsinki Airport, where all the gates and services are located under one roof, in one terminal building. Helsinki Airport has recently gone through an extensive renewal, offering Asian travellers a smooth and easy transit to other destinations in Finnair’s network. Finnair will be operating the Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft for this route. With strengthening economic ties between India and Europe, the launch of new route signifies the growing importance of the region. Desmond Chacko – General Manager, Finnair said, “As the world opens up to travel, it is an opportune time to expand operations and enable better connectivity for our customers. After Delhi, Mumbai is a major airline hub in India and is home to leading global businesses. Our new services will enable both business & leisure travel from the region as global economies gradually recover from the impact of the COVID-19.” The Mumbai flights will be available for sale at Finnair.com and at travel agents starting April 05th, 2022.

The Switzerland Travel Experience (STE) 2022 brought together over 60 leading travel agents and tour operators from across India associated together with 21 partners from the Swiss tourism industry including destinations, hotels, attractions, public transportation, mountain excursions, and other related companies, at its annual event held in Goa between March 14-17, 2022. In the wake of the tourism sector emerging from its most challenging years, Indian tourists are increasingly looking at Switzerland as a preferred travel destination. According to the main tour operators, there has been a 40% increase in enquiries from Indian travellers for Switzerland. This is not only because of the plethora of activities available in the scenic country like adventure, sports, culture, food but also because of the multiple experiences it offers for all types of travellers be it solos, couples, families as well as the adventure seekers. The rise in interest can also be attributed to Switzerland’s longstanding reputation as one of the cleanest countries in the world, and additionally, because the country has been keeping up with the needs of today’s traveller for authenticity, proximity to nature and considerate consumption as part of their Swisstainable sustainability strategy. Multiple safety measures put in place during the pandemic like the ‘Clean and Safe Label’ which promotes strict protection plans laid down by the government and boosts the guests’ confidence in Switzerland as a travel destination have also led to great confidence in the country among Indian travellers. “As the borders opened up, confidence in travel returned with the acceleration in vaccination programs making travellers seek out new experiences to make up for the many months spent under restrictions. This has led to pent-up demand among travellers who have been waiting for …

Air Mauritius is pleased to announce that its operations to Mumbai (BOM) will be increased up to five weekly flights as from 27 March 2022, namely on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays with the Airbus A330-900neo.  

Indonesia has extended its ‘Visa on Arrival to Bali’ program on March that was launched on March 7 for holidaymakers flying in from 23 countries, including India in a bid to spur foreign tourist arrivals. It also revoked the obligation to have a sponsor for a tourist e-visa request. Indonesia’s Tourism & Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said, “The tourism ministry proposed to add several countries to the VoA list, including India, and it has been approved.”

A study by ParkSleepFly analysed the cost of an adult’s single-day admission ticket to 30 of the world’s top tourist attractions, as well as the number of ‘poor’ and ‘terrible’ reviews received by each attraction. The attractions were then given a normalised ‘value score’ out of ten to reveal the world’s best value for money tourist attractions. Ranking in second place is The Taj Mahal. Known for being one of the most beautiful examples of architecture in the world, the landmark is also relatively affordable, with an entry ticket costing $14.61(£10.81/€12.89). Just 1% of visitors to the Taj Mahal leave a bad review, representing the excellent value.

Ethiopian Airlines has announced that effective March 27, 2022 it will resume its regular  passenger services daily from Mumbai and Delhi. It is nearly two years since the resumption of normal services, prior to which it had to rely on the air bubble agreement of once a week flights from December 04, 2020 and before that ADHOC special repatriation flights. Bengaluru will also be reconnected after two years effective March 29, 2022, with thrice weekly flights.  With three Indian cities back on the radar, Ethiopian Airlines will continue to play a significant role in bringing India and Africa together in general and India and Ethiopia in particular.

Get ready to sell Europe, America, Asia and Australia again. Learn more about the on-ground situation and updated travel protocols of these destinations at the Thomas Cook webinar today at 3pm IST and also get a free Rs.2000 Holiday Voucher.  Register for free at https://event.webinarjam.com/register/381/3v7k1iv1 or contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com; +91 9650196532.