Tag Archives: Mumbai

Crystal Cruises offering luxury ocean cruises, river yacht cruises and yacht expeditions showcased its offering to the Indian travel trade in Mumbai. Speaking on the occasion Edie Rodriguez, President and CEO, Crystal Cruises, said, “Crystal Cruises touches all seven seas and all seven continents. In the year 2018 our ship will be docking Mumbai for 3 nights. We look for Indians who want to fly away and sail in our cruises around the world.  We are an all inclusive brand so we offer tremendous value and experience for the price to our guests.  Crystal cruises consists of two vessels Symphony and Serenity each hosts about 1,000 guests and do itinerary of around the world from 5 nights to 128 nights.” One of its four world cruises which will be leaving in January 2018 from Cape Town, South Africa will make its way across India touching several ports in India in the first quarter of 2018. As fly away vacations in the month of august Crystal Cruises will be launching crystal air cruises around the world by private jet as well as crystal luxury which is the bombardier global express having a 12 seat capacity. Crystal Air Cruises which will be launched in August 31 this year which will consist of a 777 aircraft which usually has a seating capacity of 350 guests has been configured for only 84 guests offering flatbed crystal exclusive class seating. Air cruises will take guests around the world for 2, 3 and 4 weeks. This year in summer Crystal Cruises will be taking delivery of two new river vessels which will be doing Rhine-Main in Danube. In the mid 2019 it will take delivery of …

Lufthansa Group has announced that it will deploy its latest long haul aircraft, Airbus A350-900, to Mumbai during the summer schedule of 2017. From April 16 onwards, Mumbai becomes the third destination worldwide to welcome the state-of-the-art aircraft. Flying on Lufthansa’s Munich (MUC) to Mumbai (MUM) route, the A350-900 will offer Mumbai area residents travel choices and better connections to Lufthansa’s vast global network. Earlier this month, Lufthansa Group marked a key milestone in Indian aviation by starting the first commercial operations of A350-900 to Delhi.

The relocated France Visa Application Centre was inaugurated by Yves Perrin, Consul General of France in Mumbai, on February 27, 2017. Residents of Pune can now apply for visas to multiple countries, including France, under one roof, at the modern and centrally-located Joint Visa Application Centre in Viman Nagar. The Centre also serves 15 other Schengen countries besides France, including Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Latvia, Sweden, Swiss, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Estonia. In addition to this, the centre will also cater to the client governments of Australia, UK, Ireland, Canada, USA, Malaysia, South Africa, Turkey and UAE. Many of these centres were earlier located in Tadiwala Road and Kalyani Nagar areas of the city. With the launch of the new Joint Visa Application Centre, VFS Global has consolidated all visa requirements under one roof. With a larger space and state-of-the-art infrastructure, the new Joint Visa Application Centre has an increased number of application counters making the visa application process quicker and more convenient for applicants. The centre is equipped with dedicated counters for individuals, representatives and travel agents making the visa application experience hassle-free and convenient for all.

In 2016, Thailand welcomed 1.19 million Indian travellers, as per the recent numbers released by Department of Tourism, Thailand, and for 2017, the target is 14 per cent increase in revenue and eight per cent increase in footfalls expected from India alone. This was revealed by Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai. “The focus destinations this year will be mainly the local communities along with Chiang Mai, Krabi, Trat and Bangkok. While Thailand is a thriving modern nation that offers luxury and comfort of the 21st century, it’s the unique Thai traditions and attractions that are often most memorable for visitors. In 2017, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) aims to offer ‘Value for Experiences’ to travellers coming to the Kingdom by focusing on ‘Unique Thai Local Experiences’. On a global scale, India is ranked sixth in terms of tourist arrivals in Thailand,” she revealed. TAT has announced the theme for 2017 – ‘Discover Unique Local Experiences’. The objective behind this campaign is to promote Thailand as a wealth of cultural heritage with a competitive edge in the travel and tourism sector. Srisuda Wanapinyosak, TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and the South Pacific) and brand ambassador Anusha Dandekar attended the event. Srisuda Wanapinyosak, TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and the South Pacific) said, “India has always been one of the significant markets for us as each year we see an increase in the footfalls. This year too we are expecting a phenomenal growth of 8 per cent. When you visit Thailand, you always discover something new and unique which makes you want to visit the kingdom time and again. This year, with Discover Unique Local …

Having grown its annual roadshow from five cities to six now, Mumbai-based U&I Holidays is keen on adding Tier-II cities from next year. Shyam Upadhyay, Director, U&I Holidays, says, “This time, we wanted to include a new city so we added Kolkata, which to our surprise was a hit. Most of the participants found good potential there. Every city got more than 100 attendees but Kolkata was at 150 which is really good for a city like that.” The six cities were Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. The roadshow had 32 participants from Bali of which 31 were hotels plus one caterer. Speaking about Kolkata, Ashish Indulkar, Director, U&I Holidays, adds, “Although we have been doing some activities in Kolkata, we never ventured full-fledge into the market. We were very happy with the turnout. It is a very interesting market because there are whispers that AirAsia India is planning to launch a direct Kolkata-Bali flight via Kuala Lumpur.” Upadhyay adds that next year’s roadshow will continue to travel to six cities but a new set of cities which will include a Tier-II city like Nagpur, Jaipur or Pune. U&I Holidays sent 15,000 Indian pax to Bali last year. “In 2015, it was 12,000, and this year we are expecting bigger numbers. We are focusing more on MICE as well,” Indulkar adds. U&I has its own office in Bali and they are also a DMC for Maldives. Last year, U&I Holidays entered the wellness segment by opening Ashoka Spa outlet in Mumbai. It opened another one in Bali in December 2016. It will now focus on hotel spas in Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra and are already in talks …

Considering the uptick in domestic tourism, the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala recently organised B2B roadshows in multiple metros including Mumbai. The delegation from Kerala was led by Shine KS, Tourist Information Officer, Department of Tourism, Govt of Kerala and comprised 63 major players from the state’s tourism industry – the highest so far. Explaining the initiatives for 2017, Shine KS said, “The marketing initiatives for the year 2016-17 were formulated and executed based on the keen understanding of the unique appeal that Kerala holds for visitors. The marketing measures adopted by the government have elevated the state to the top-tier of ‘must visit’ destinations around the world. There has been a remarkable increase in the arrival of tourists within a single year as a result of the various initiatives implemented by the Government. We will continue with our 10-point agenda which was launched in September 2016 under the Green Carpet Initiative which focuses on giving a facelift to select tourist destinations in the state to ensure security, cleanliness, hygiene, and scientific waste management methods, apart from offering unique experiences.”

Oman Air is growing its capacity to India by increasing flight frequencies from 126 to 161 flights per week between Oman and its 11 Indian destinations to boost the tourism sector. The airline informed that from February onwards, Mumbai, Delhi, Calicut and Hyderabad will be operated with 21 weekly flights each and Lucknow with 14 weekly flights. “The demand for all 11 of our Indian destinations has always been high and the increased frequencies offer yet more choice and convenience to our guests. Oman Air first launched flights to India in the 1990s and the demand for seats has grown exponentially not only increasing tourism traffic and revenue but also promoting vital trade agreements between the two countries,” said Paul Gregorowitsch, Chief Executive Officer, Oman Air. The extended traffic entitlements will give a further boost to the tourism sector, prompting many discerning tourists to visit Oman as well as India. With this development, Oman Air is flying its wide bodied aircraft to selected destinations in India. Source: The Indian Express

RwandAir will add two new destinations to its portfolio in April this year, first Harare on the 01st of April with daily flights and then Mumbai on the 03rd of April with four flights a week. Mumbai, RwandAir’s first ever intercontinental destination, will see one of the airline’s new Airbus A330’s, configured with a Business, Premium Economy and Economy class layout deployed for the nonstop flights from Kigali. Harare will from April onwards be combined with Lusaka as flights to Johannesburg revert to non-stop services, also operated with Boeing B737NG aircraft.

Oracle Hospitality along with Airpay Payment Services, recently conducted a closed-door workshop for CIOs and IT Heads of top hotels in Mumbai and New Delhi. About 25 in Mumbai and 37 in New Delhi attended the event. The first India Oracle Hospitality Customer Event had a compelling agenda and was designed to address questions on Oracle Hospitality and the solutions it offers for the hospitality industry. The half day event had three speakers discussing various topics such as technology trends in the hospitality industry in India and globally, and maximising guest services beyond the front desk. This was followed by an overview of its products – OPERA Cloud, Hotel Mobile and Simphony Cloud. Meanwhile Amit Kapoor, CEO & Co-Founder, Airpay, spoke about the payment services company’s association with Oracle Hospitality and how hotels can re-invent consumer engagement on their portals. The two speakers from Oracle Hospitality were Jay Sherman, Senior Manager, Sales Consulting, Hotel POS, Oracle Hospitality (Asia Pacific & Japan) and Travis Macauley, Solutions Manager – Hotels.

South African Tourism sets the pace for continued double digit growth in the coming year with its annual roadshow slated for this month. The roadshow will be held in Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai where suppliers from South Africa will network with Indian travel agents. Now in its 14th edition, the roadshow will start with Chennai on 30 January, and then go on to Bengaluru on 31 January, Delhi on 1 February and conclude in Mumbai on 3 February, 2017. About 10 per cent of the delegation will be first-timers and will include hotel chains, airlines, products, attractions, DMCs and local tourism offices. Indian agents will be able to meet representatives from boutique hotel chain Lion Roars Hotels & Lodges, adventure-focused attraction Tenikwa Wildlife, care-rental Multilayer Trade Corporation and DMC Africa Incoming. Domestic airline Safair has also signed up. Additionally, Air Seychelles (which many Indians use to fly to South Africa via Mahe) that is said to be starting a flight to Durban starting March will also be present. Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism India, said, “Up until the third quarter of 2016, we noted that arrivals had grown by 26.6 per cent in comparison to 2015 and we hope to have closed the year at 27 per cent growth. By September 2016, our arrivals had hit 73,902. This makes India South Africa’s eighth-largest long-haul tourism source market.” The tourism board is expecting between 600-1,000 travel agents to attend the roadshow.