Tag Archives: Kolkata

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) conducted a member’s meet in Mumbai last week to introduce the new team to the members in the Western Region. Present at the event were the association’s Executive Committee (EC) led by its President, Mahendra Vakharia. He said, “We have decided to have the EC meeting once a month on every second Saturday so everyone can plan their month accordingly. It will be held in different cities but predominantly in Delhi and will rotate between Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.” Speaking about the association’s upcoming convention, he said, “It is shaping up very well. We will announce the name of the country in a week. We are doing it with the support of the destination’s tourism board and it will be held sometime in August or September 2018. The team will start working on the logistical details now like airlines, hotels, etc.” The next EC meeting will be held on May 14, 2018 in New Delhi. The EC members had met earlier in the day to discuss the plan of action for the association as well as its upcoming convention. Ajay Sengar, Chapter Chairman – Western India, OTOAI, who is from the tier city of Akola in Maharashtra, was also present at the networking event. Some other EC members had flown down from New Delhi including Shravan Bhalla and Rajeev Sabharwal, along with General Secretary Chitra Bhatia.

AirAsia India has announced the induction of its 18th aircraft and the introduction of four new routes connecting Kolkata. The 18th aircraft will be stationed in Kolkata, which is also the third base for AirAsia India, connecting it to Imphal, Pune, Vizag and Guwahati, in addition to increasing the frequency of flights between Kolkata and Bagdogra. Source:UNI

Travel Tours, the flagship leisure travel brand of FCM Travel Solutions, has inaugurated their second retail and first franchise store at Salt Lake City, Kolkata. The store was inaugurated by Shravan Gupta, Executive Director – Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions and Sitaram Sharma, President, Bharat Chamber of Commerce & The Consular General of Belarus. With the launch of this store, FCM Travel Solutions now has 28 operational Travel Tours stores across India. The new Travel Tours store in Kolkata aims at redefining travel experience from the region by focusing on both tailor-made vacations and group holidays catering to different kinds of travellers in the city. Spread over 1200 sq. ft., the outlet at Salt Lake City will cater to needs of up-market urban consumers – families, business travellers, honeymoon couples and groups of travellers. The new retail outlet will offer a range of products and services – domestic and international flights, customised and group holidays, hotels, car transfers, visa, cruise vacations, honeymoon packages, adventure holidays and more. Commenting on the launch, Gupta said, “Our second store in Kolkata is a reiteration of our strategic intent at Travel Tours, FCM to expand our footprint across key markets in East India. Through this launch, we aim to provide unbeatable travel experiences to our patrons in an untapped market.”    

In an effort to expand its reach further in the market, Kolkata-based ‘A Travel Duet’ has moved its head office to Mumbai. Pritish Shah, Founder, A Travel Duet, who has also moved to Mumbai, says, “We had a branch office in Mumbai while being headquartered in Kolkata. But we soon realised that if we want to expand, Mumbai is the place to be, specially with the kind of products we offer. Mumbai is also a trendsetter in many ways. We also have a huge emphasis on having Preferred Partners such as Relaix & Chateau, Four Seasons, and Luxury Lodges of New Zealand and we are keen to expand that portfolio from about 10 brands right now to 100 this year. That is also one of the reasons why we wanted to move to Mumbai.” The Mumbai office will have a staff strength of about 15-20 people and will be located in Khar West. The company offers high-end, exclusive leisure holidays to couples. Speaking more about expansion plans for this year, Shah adds, “We want to make the company the best luxury travel brand for couples in India. At a later stage, we will also open an office in Delhi which will purely have a sales and operations team.”    

Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) and The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco hosted a joint event in Delhi. The occasion was graced by His Excellency Mohamed Maliki, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, along with the senior management of Cox & Kings Ltd. The event showcased Moroccan culture and various tourist attraction in Morocco from the imperial cities to stunning beaches. “I’m honoured to co-host the travel agents event together with CKGS, which gives us opportunity to promote the Kingdom of Morocco as an Authentic and Exotic destination and showcases the numerous Tourism potential it has. Foreseeing growth and significance of the Indian tourism market to Morocco, we are also planning to open of a full-fledged Moroccan National Tourism Office in Delhi very soon.” said His Excellency, Mohamed Maliki. CKGS has recently opened Morroco Visa application centres in different cities of India including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Goa and Indore. Centres in more cities will be opened shortly. “We provide visa application services to Indians travelling to Morocco through our various offices in India. we have taken one more step further to promote Indian outbound travel to Morocco by partnering with The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco for this event.” said Venku Murthi, Chief Operating Officer, CKGS.

AirAsia India will focus on expanding its domestic network and increase flight frequencies, before commencing international operations to Southeast Asia by early next year, as informed by Amar Abrol, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia India. Just a few days ago, the budget passenger carrier announced the addition of Nagpur and Indore to its network, effective March 17. It will also introduce new routes connecting Bengaluru, Kolkata, Goa, Indore and Nagpur. In addition, the airline will operate daily flights connecting its two hubs—Bengaluru and Kolkata—which will become operational from March 25. “We are not shying away from India. We will first commence flight operations to new domestic destinations and increase frequencies. In all, we are looking at starting flights to four to five new cities in this year,” Abrol shared. “We are making the preparations for international operations but it will most probably take place by the first quarter of 2019,” he added. When asked about the first international port of call, Abrol said, “It can be anywhere from India’s eastern seaboard to Southeast Asia, particularly to Thailand and Malaysia.”According to Abrol, apart from adding more domestic flight frequencies, the airline is “steadily working” towards “break-even” by the year-end. SOURCE: IANS

Jharkhand Tourism Department recently organised a roadshow in Delhi that saw attendance from North India’s prominent travel and trade representatives. During the occasion, Jharkhand Tourism announced its plan to celebrate the inaugural edition of upcoming Jharkhand Travel Mart (JTM) to be held in Ranchi from March 23 to 25, 2018. Sanjeev Kumar Birsa, IAS, Director – Tourism, Govt. of Jharkhand, said, “We have a clear vision for the state, with various activities planned to make Jharkhand a tourist friendly destination. The state has a great potential to offer through tourism products and attractions such as wildlife, pilgrimage, heritage and leisure. JTM will help us to promote the state and the tourism products it has to offer to the domestic as well as the international traveller.” Jharkhand Tourism is also organising mega roadshows in various cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Patna and Asansol. Dr. Manish Ranjan, IAS, Secretary – Tourism, Govt. of Jharkhand said, “Jharkhand will contribute immensely to the Indian Tourism portfolio with its diverse range of travel and tourism destinations. The event is an extension of our aggressive marketing approach to introduce more tourism destinations and attractions and reinforce the Jharkhand Tourism Brand among the media, buyers and stakeholders.” The event will seek support from all major national travel trade and hospitality associations in India.

Seychelles Tourism Board is set to conduct roadshows at Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru. The pre-fixed meetings format which was introduced last year will continue this year as well. Sherin Francis, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board, says, “Last year’s roadshow allowed top agents to meet all partners in a quick pre-fixed meeting of 15 minutes each in a round-robin flow. This no-frills format focused on serious business generation and ensured that every agent invited could spend quality time with every partner from Seychelles.” For 2018, the tourism board plans to conduct workshops with its key B2B partners in cities of Raipur, Indore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Baroda, Surat and Rajkot. “We will also continue to meet and educate agents in main cities that will include Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata. We plan to support tour operators with incentive-based trainings to encourage bigger numbers to Seychelles,” Francis adds. Seychelles Tourism Boards recently hosted an appreciation evening in Mumbai to acknowledge high performers from the travel trade in association with Air Seychelles. India emerged as the seventh-largest source market for Seychelles with an arrival of 13,518 tourists from India in 2017 which indicated a 23 per cent growth compared to 2016. In 2018, the tourism board expects a similar percentage growth.  

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts started its annual India mission at Hotel Sea Princess in Mumbai. Around 14 hotels are participating at the roadshow from destinations like Sri Lanka, Oman, Doha, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. After Mumbai, the delegation will then travel to Delhi and Kolkata, and eventually conclude in Bengaluru. Shangri-La is also promoting its recently opened Shangri-La Colombo and a new programme ‘Buds by Shangri-La’ focusing on children and families, which was launched at Shangri-La Singapore. Speaking at the roadshow, Vivek Braganza, Director of Business Development- India, Regional Liaison Office, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts said, “We plan to target MiCE, leisure and luxury travellers and would like to thank all our partners across the cities. We look to grow exponentially this year as we have in the past. India continues to be an important market for Shangri-La. We will be following this show with another activity targeted at the MiCE and wedding segment, set to take place in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore in September.”

Nepcare Hospitality Management, Kolkata has partnered with The Haven Resort Hotel, Ipoh, Malaysia for pan India representation. According to Nirmalya Chaudhuri, CEO, Nepcare, “Ipoh is a city in northwestern Malaysia, known as a gateway to the Cameron Highlands hill station.  As a destination, Ipoh is getting popular in the Indian market.