Category Archives: Agents

The captivating Indian superstar comes face-to-face with his new figures, launching in the London and Singapore attractions 18th December 2023 – Bollywood’s golden boy Ranveer Singh meets not one, but two, figures of himself at Madame Tussauds! The international star, known for box-office-breaking performances, unapologetic personal style and magnetic personality, visited the world-famous attraction in London to welcome his two new figures. He was accompanied by his mother, who, as a child, first introduced the would-be megastar to the world of Madame Tussauds London by showing him album pictures of her own visits to the iconic attraction. This is the first time the Bollywood star has been immortalised by Madame Tussauds and guests will be able to meet his new figures at Madame Tussauds’ London and Singapore attractions. Singh’s rise to fame was nothing short of iconic, with a streak of back-to-back blockbuster hits, solidifying him as a much-loved staple of Bollywood. He has starred in many awe-inspiring films internationally, from his acting debut in Band Baaja Baaraat (2010) to beloved films Bajirao Mastani (2015), Padmaavat (2018), and Gully Boy (2019). Maintaining his high-octane presence in India for over a decade, the star has appeared in Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 list every year since 2012 and has been celebrated by GQ, India Today, and The Indian Express as one of the nation’s top 50 most influential and powerful people. Ranveer Singh was involved throughout the creative process and specifically chose the distinct looks and styling for his figures. The London figure pays homage to Ranveer’s culture and heritage with the neon sherwani designed by Manish Arora as part of his wedding celebrations. The eye-catching outfit includes hundreds of individually sewn …

India became the first international market to hit pre-covid levels for Australia says, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager- India & Gulf, Tourism Australia. He adds, “Arrivals from India for year-ended Sept 2023 were 386,000, which were at par with 2019 levels. Total trip spend by Indian tourists for the year ended June 2023 was A$ 2.2 bn, approx. Rs 12,000 crore, which was 24% higher than pre-Covid.”

According to CAPA Advisory Mid-Year Guidance on India Aviation Outlook FY2024, international operations are coming into greater focus and will receive an increasing share of planned capacity. It adds that both domestic and international airfares are normalising from post-pandemic highs, despite the capacity shortages. It expects this to be particularly visible from Q4.

SITA explores shifting trends that have emerged in the last year and states that while some megatrends identified in 2022 have witnessed rapid growth in the last 12 months, others also continued to develop, including digital travel, with the emergence of digital identities. According to SITA’s 2023 Air Transport IT Insights, by the end of 2026, 82% of airlines will use biometric-enabled digital identity technologies for aircraft boarding, a further 67% confirmed using touchless and 50% single token.

Concluding a tenure of 7.5 years as Regional Director (IMESA) at Singapore Tourism, GB Srithar, stated, “This year has been an interesting year for us. The arrival of Indian visitors has been steadily increasing post-COVID, month by month. As of November 2023, we have recorded 977,500 visitors and we anticipate surpassing 1 million by the year end.” He passes on the baton to Markus Tan from January 1, 2024.

Sharing his expectations from 2024, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, said, “We hope that in the new year, India will also look at liberalizing its visa regime so that foreign tourists will be able to travel to India more freely and with fewer hassles. Travel is increasing and India needs to get a fair share of inbound traffic.”

Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, led a meeting with key representatives from the airline industry on issues pertaining to performance and services provided by them. He laid emphasis on enhancing On-Time Performance of each airline, and instructed AAI to relook technical specs at VFR-equipped (Visual Flight Rules) airports to help enhance OTP of airlines. He also reviewed the self-monitoring mechanism with regard to airfares followed by each airline and stressed on keeping fares in check on select routes. The DGCA Tariff Monitoring Unit has been institutionalised to routinely monitor airfares on routes selected on a random basis.    

Cross Hotels & Resorts Bangkok is organising an exclusive webinar for the travel trade highlighting the offerings of the property in Bali on Thursday, 14 Dec 2023 at 3pm. Get ready to win exciting prices and register to attend the webinar. Contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

The MTF Team is getting ready for an exciting day of picnic at a surprise location near Mumbai as a warm-up towards the main match day. Close to 200 trade members have registered for this that includes cocktails and lunch on Sunday, December 17. This will be followed by the main match day on Sunday, 14th January.

VFS Global, which has been a trusted partner for the UK Government since 2003, has won the global contract for overseas UK visa and Citizenship services. This award is the latest in a long line of wins for the world’s leading visa, passport and citizen services provider. During 2024, VFS Global will deploy 240 Visa and Citizenship Application Service (VCAS) Centres for the UK in 142 countries across Africa & Middle East, Americas, Australasia & Europe, China & Taiwan, and Asia & Asia Pacific regions. These centres will accept all categories of visa applications as well as UK passport applications in some locations. Combined, these new centres are estimated to process 3.8 million applicants every year. Beyond the scale of the deployment, VFS Global will invest to improve the customer journey and increase accessibility – including through new customer websites, and through updated in-person experiences. And VFS Global will deploy its latest technologies to maintain robust identity checks and ensure the integrity of the visa and passport application process. The new contract is expected to deliver savings to the UK Government. Zubin Karkaria, Founder and CEO, VFS Global, said, “We are delighted to win this contract and expand our partnership with the Home Office to become their service provider for all UK visa customers overseas. We are excited to begin operations in new locations, and to take the next step towards providing customers with a seamless, simple and secure visa and passport application experience. This win is a testament to our dedicated efforts to provide all our client governments with best-in-class services.”