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Celebrity Cruises has announced the launch of two new ships – Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Flora in Mumbai with operations beginning from December 2018 and May 2019 respectively. Capable of hosting about 2952 guests onboard, Celebrity Edge has an innovative design with an infinite veranda, magic carpet and a suite. Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises said, “The first itineraries of Celebrity Edge will be in the Caribbean this year followed by Europe in April 2019. Based on the travel patterns and desires of the Indian market, we plan to work here to bring Indian guests onboard throughout the itineraries we will be offering in Europe from Barcelona and Rome. Celebrity Flora is also a brand new ship purposefully built for the Galapagos Islands, a bucket-list destinations for many people around the world. The ship is an environment friendly ship with 50 suites for 100 guests. The design of the ship is like a yacht and the sailing starts from May 2019 for seven-night cruise itineraries.” Celebrity Cruises also revealed it will be investing USD 400 million to modernise its fleet of ships between 2019 to 2023. Four of the ships will undergo complete renovation of the staterooms and bathrooms. Redesigning the public space on the ships will also be part of the modernisation.

Commerce and Industries minister Suresh Prabhu has been given additional charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry, a day after the resignation of TDP’s Ashok Gajapathi Raju was accepted by President Ram Nath Kovind, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said. In a brief communique, the spokesperson said, “The President, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed that Suresh Prabhu, Cabinet Minister, shall be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in addition to his existing portfolio.” Raju and another Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Y S Chowdary had resigned from the council of ministers after party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu decided to pull out his ministers. Naidu took the decision after facing relentless attacks from the opposition for “failing” to secure special category status for Andhra Pradesh. SOURCE: PTI

India will require 1,750 new passenger and cargo aircraft over the next 20 years to meet an exponential rise in both passenger and freight traffic, according to Airbus’ latest India Market Forecast. To help meet this growth, India will need 1,320 new single-aisle aircraft and 430 wide-body aircraft valued at US$255 billion. While much of the air traffic growth is expected to be driven by the fast expanding economy, rising wealth and urbanisation, ambitious government-backed regional connectivity programmes are also set to enhance demand for air travel. By 2036, Indians will each make four times as many flights as today. As a result, traffic serving the Indian market is forecast to grow 8.1 per cent per year over the next 20 years, almost twice as fast as the world average of 4.4 per cent. Domestic Indian traffic is expected to grow five-and-half times over the next 20 years, reaching the same level as USA domestic traffic today, making it one of the world’s fastest growing markets, according to Airbus’ latest India Market Forecast for the period. Srinivasan Dwarakanath, President, Airbus Commercial Aircraft in India, says, “Make in India is at the heart of our strategy. Airbus has the largest footprint in India of any International aircraft manufacturer, nationwide across all aircraft programmes. Our sourcing volume has grown 16 times over the past ten years and it is currently at more than US$550 million annually.”

Trafalgar’s definite departures now extend to 17 countries and five continents. Following its announcement of 100 per cent definite departures to Italy, Ireland, Hawaii and Discoveries, Trafalgar has extended these guarantees to departures covering Europe (Spain, Scandinavia, Scotland, Portugal and Germany), Asia (China and India), Africa (Morocco), and North and South America (Canada, Alaska, National Parks programmes, Southern USA, Peru and Costa Rica). Nicholas Lim, President, Trafalgar, Asia comments, “At Trafalgar, we firmly believe that success breeds success, so we thank our partners for the stellar role they’ve played in the exceptionally positive results we are seeing that have resulted in so many definite departures. We hear you and are always here to turn words into actions to put #AgentsFirst. When it comes to closing sales for 2018, there truly is no time like the present to reap the rewards.” Additional incentives to get clients over the line are early payment deals of 7.5 per cent for payments made before March 29, 2018.  

After launching its new office in New Delhi in partnership with RL Group, Oman Air is now planning to open offices in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. Sunil V.A., Regional Vice President-ISC, Oman Air along with Chetan Gupta, Chairman, RL Group; Varun Mohindra, Head of Sales & Marketing, RL Group and Vijay Bhatia, President, Bird Group were present for the inauguration. “We have 162 flights operating from India, all connect well to the destinations. With our focus on Europe and Europe GCC, we are now planning to sell the east. We are not just dependent on the online network but also looking at the offline too.” said Sunil V.A. Oman is currently focusing to develop MICE segment in 2018 with a launch of its new airport on March 20, 2018.

TAAI’s limited edition convention in Srinagar has gathered keen interest from the trade. “Within 24 hours of opening registration, we received over 100 forms. Registrations for the TAAI Convention opened on February 19 and more than 200 delegates have already confirmed their participation. The hotels are in huge demand,” confirms Sunil R. Kumar, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI). Set to be held from March 27-30, 2018, the TAAI Convention is being organised in association with the Ministry of Tourism, Jammu & Kashmir with a view to promote a more visible J&K and its outstanding attributes that extensively support tourism and culture.

Thomas Cook (India) has partnered with the Government of India for the Khelo India School Games, a part of the Khelo India Programme initiative of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to create a sports ecosystem and revive sports culture at a grassroot level in India. Thomas Cook India was selected as Hospitality Partner for the Khelo India School Games, held from January 31-February 8, 2018 in New Delhi, where India’s Under-17 athletes were invited to participate across 16 disciplines. Thomas Cook India had set up a dedicated team of 160 members during the Khelo India School Games to project drive this strategic initiative. The team has successfully executed the partnership by providing both accommodation and meals for an approximately 5000-strong contingent for a duration of 10 nights. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head- Leisure Travel, MICE, Thomas Cook (India), said, “The Khelo India programme is inspirational in its aim to scout young talent from schools in various disciplines, groom them as future champions and thereby, serve to catalyse the sporting culture of the nation. It is hence, truly an honour for us at Thomas Cook India to have been selected to partner with the Government of India for this unique initiative.”

Garish Oberoi, President, FHRAI, says the hospitality industry has been repeatedly asking for infrastructure status which hasn’t been mentioned this year as well. “Among the positives in the Budget is the Rs. 500 crore allocation for ‘Operation Green’ to promote Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management,” Oberoi adds. He notes that focus on technology is very relevant in this digital age. “The Budget allocated to the Railways to the tune of Rs. 148, 528 crore to build infrastructure, laying tracks, Wi-Fi and CCTVs will help improve them. In tourism 10 prominent tourist sites will be made into national tourist sites. New Greenfield Airports are in the offing and building airport capacities to handle 1 billion trips can give a boost to connectivity. Post demonetisation and GST many hotels have become Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). We still await measures by the government to deal with NPAs. In totality, the Budget is more for the ease of living and not so much the ease of doing business. While the focus on healthcare and education is commendable, the biggest challenges to growth and employment generation are low credit offtake and ease of doing business, neither have been supported by the Budget,” Oberoi says.

PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, said they had been looking forward to some GST relief in the Budget. “There has been no relief in GST in the Union Budget 2018-19, we had been looking forward to it. However, the budget offers some SOPs to tourism sector by announcing 10 prominent tourist sites to be developed into iconic ones and enhancing visitor experience in 110 Adarsh monuments under the ASI, with railways to have Wi-Fi and CCTV cameras on all trains and stations. Enhancement of sea plane activities and boosting aviation sector with the present 124 airports, the government plans to take this up five times to accommodate one billion trips per year. Focus on infrastructure, education, healthcare, creation of jobs has been highlighted in the budget, which is a good move.”

Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, expresses his discontent over the Union Budget 2018, saying there was nothing in it for tourism. “The Union Budget 2018 has nothing to offer to the tourism industry. We are not happy as there was no relief from double taxation in GST which was our major concern. Even after focusing on job creation, the government has ignored that tourism could be a major facilitator for job creation. Under GST Goods and services should be under the same purview. Since there is no respite from cascading taxation, India would remain a costlier destination than its neighbouring countries for tourists. The only positive is the focus on infrastructure, wherein they have introduced sea planes, 99 smart cities, 10 new destinations, enhanced experience at 110 Adarsh monuments, airport expansion, etc. Also, Corporate Tax of 25 per cent is extended to companies with turnover up to Rs. 250 crore in financial year 2016-17. Earlier, this was for companies with turnover of Rs. 50 crore. Even road and rail transport have got an increased budget. However, businesswise there is no change,” Sarkar said.