Tag Archives: Pune

VFS Global, in partnership with United Kingdom Visas and Immigration, inaugurated a new Visa Application Centre in Pune to allow travellers from the city easy access to the United Kingdom. The newly opened centre offers a number of benefits to customers in Pune including more application counters to make it quicker and easier for customers to submit their visa applications. In addition the VAC has a new Premium Lounge which offers complimentary drinks and a separate lounge so that customers can apply for their visas more quickly and in more luxurious surroundings. The VAC is co-located with the Schengen Visa Application Centre to make it more straightforward for customers to apply for both visas at the same time. Speaking at the launch, Nick Crouch, Regional Director-South Asia, UK Visas and Immigration, said, “The UK continues to welcome more and more visitors from India. The latest visa figures show that over 395,000 Indian visit visas were issued for UK last year, a six per cent increase from 2015. We hope to see even higher numbers for 2017. India is an incredibly important market to the UK which is why we continue to make improvements to our visa service. Last year we introduced a new Visit Visa Application form which for the first time is translated into four regional languages and allows customers to download a completed Schengen visa form. We will continue to listen to feedback from our customers in order to make further improvements where we can.” Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer- Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, added, “VFS Global and UK Visas and Immigration continue to invest and improve the visa service we offer Indian customers. Due …

Musafir.com has announced the launch of its third technology centre in Pune. Musafir.com is looking to double its technology team by the end of the year. The Pune centre will complement the technology and product teams that are already operating out of centres in the UAE and Mumbai. “Musafir.com was founded with the promise of a stellar user experience backed by the best technology. The establishment of our third technology centre in Pune, reinforces our commitment to this promise. Our aim is to double the strength of our engineering team by the end of the year, and herald a new generation of innovative user experiences for our travelers,” said Albert Dias, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Musafir.com. “The launch of our technology centre reiterates our ever growing focus on the Indian market. Technology is a key ingredient in the growth recipe for any business today; we understand and appreciate this more so than ever, being a travel ecommerce player. Technology is core to our long term strategy and-our technology centre in Pune is an essential cog in the wheel that will propel Musafir.com through the next decade of exponential growth.” said Rajesh Pareek – Group CEO, Musafir.com. Musafir.com has plans to expand further in India and add more countries to its GCC portfolio and this technology and product team based in Pune will help to accelerate the delivery of next-generation web and mobile applications, along with innovative products and solutions for travellers worldwide.

In line with the strategy of aggressive promotional campaign, Jammu and Kashmir Tourism organised various events in Maharashtra and Pune. The event titled Shaam-e-Kargil focused to promote the unexplored regions in the state which special focus on Kargil, informed Farooq A Shah, Secretary Tourism and Managing Director, Jammu and Kashmir State Tourism Development Corporation (JKSTDC). Addressing the travel fraternity in Maharashtra as dost-e-Kashmir, Shah explained how the trade in this region has always been a supporter and taken initiatives in promoting Jammu Kashmir as their priority destination. The delegation from the state tourism department interacted with various trade associations and travel agents and displayed publicity material about the products and services on offer in the state. The Secretary also conducted a series of meetings with the airlines and other allied sector representatives in order to ask for better facilitation and balanced fares to the destination.

Vistara has announced the launch of two new routes to cater to growing customer demand. Starting March 26, 2017, Vistara will fly direct daily between Kolkata and Pune, and starting April 15, 2017, will also fly direct between Delhi and Port Blair (Andamans) on Saturdays and Sundays during the upcoming summer season. These new flights are in addition to Vistara’s recently announced service to Amritsar from both Delhi and Mumbai, and to Leh (Ladakh) from Delhi, both starting in March. Vistara’s Kolkata-Pune flight will serve business professionals as well as a large population in Pune that hails from Kolkata. The Delhi-Port Blair flight will cater not only the people residing in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands who visit the national capital, but also attract businesspeople and tourists from northern India to discover the history, beauty and trade potential of the Andaman Islands. Bookings for these flights are now open. Customers can book their flights on Vistara’s official website (www.airvistara.com), on its iOS and Android mobile apps, and through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and other travel agents. Vistara’s GDS partners including Amadeus and Travelport allow customers to book via all major channels worldwide, including through our global interline airline partners.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau recently conducted a roadshow for the travel trade and wedding planners in Mumbai, with an aim to increase footfalls to the emerald island. The roadshow saw an attendance of 27 participants from Sri Lanka comprising leading travel companies and hoteliers besides the national carrier, SriLankan Airlines. Speaking about India as a market, Madubhani Perera, Director of Marketing, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, who attended and addressed the gathering said, “We have seen an annual rise in arrival numbers from India over the years. The roadshow was conducted to increase destination awareness and highlight the new attractions in Sri Lanka. We hope this event will add a positive impact and further increase Indian footfall in Sri Lanka. We have now planned several promotional activities for Indian markets.” Apart from the roadshow in Mumbai, the SLTPB has plans of conducting roadshows in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune later in the year. The promotion plans for 2017 also include joint promotions with international partners and a digital marketing campaign targeting potential Indian travellers. Sri Lanka received a 12.8 per cent increase in Indian tourist arrivals in 2016 and are expecting an even better double digit increase in 2017.

Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority will conduct a five-city roadshow in India from February 27 to March 4, 2017,  covering Chandigarh, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The roadshow will enable Indian trade partners in each city to interact with Mauritian delegation comprising airlines, resorts, attractions, DMCs, among others. Vivek Anand, Country Manager, MTPA India, said “We are conducting this Roadshow so that the Indian tour operators, MICE companies and wedding planners learn more about the destination and have an opportunity to meet and explore ways to collaborate with the Mauritian suppliers”.

Japan will open 13 new visa application centers in India. The centers will be opened at Gurgaon, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa, Bengaluru, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Puducherry and Hyderabad. This was informed by Ryoichi Matsuyama, President, Japan National Tourist Office at the opening ceremony of the 2017 the year of Japan-India Friendly Exchanges and the Announcement of Japan-India Collaboration Film Project. “Last year Japan saw 120,000 Indian arrivals whereas 230,000 Japanese visited India. Though the number of Indians visiting Japan is steadily increasing, the current figure is yet modest despite the vast size and scale of India and more so given the long-standing relationship between the two countries,” said Matsuyama. The Japan-India Collaboration Film Project was also announced. The event was attended by Kenko Sone, Minister, Economic and Development, Embassy of Japan; Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, Government of India, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Ayog, Government of India, Kenchi Takano, Executive Director- Preparation Office for New Delhi, JNTO amongst others. His Excellency Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India added that there will be a number of cultural and tourism related events are planned to be held all around India in 2017.

VisitBritain is organising a three-day destination showcase in Pune for travel agents. The showcase started with a panel discussion on the travel trends which included panellists from the industry. Followed by two days of B2B appointments with the sellers. There were 76 buyers from across 9 cities and 28 suppliers from 25 organisations present at the showcase. Previously, VisitBritain had hosted the destination showcase in Delhi and Mumbai and this year in Pune. On the occasion, Sumathi Ramanathan, Director-Asia Pacific, Mid East & Africa, VisitBritain, commented, “We want to explore the opportunities that the Pune market has to offer and we see good potential is this market as well when compared to the other cities in India.”

As part of its two year celebration, Vistara has increased its frequency between Delhi and Pune, starting January 9, 2017, to twice a day. The airline now offers a daily morning and evening departure from Delhi, except on Saturdays. The rapidly growing airline connects 20 destinations across India and a fleet of 13 A320s, serving more than 500 flights a week at present. Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara said, “We complete two years today and we are still as excited as we were on the day Vistara was born! It is extremely heartening to see that we have carved a niche for ourselves in the Indian aviation industry with our extraordinary products and services. Together with my entire team, I say a big ‘thank you’ to each and every customer and trade partner of ours, who has believed in us and helped us become stronger and more confident. It has been a challenging, yet extremely satisfying journey so far, and we promise to continue offering a seamless, world-class flying experience to our customers.” As part of the second anniversary celebrations, Vistara, in association with the NGO, Round Table India, took off with a group of less-privileged children and enabled a ‘Flight of Fantasy’ for them to Ahmedabad, where they had a day packed with fun-filled and educational activities, including visit to the Gandhi Ashram, play-acting the professions of their dreams at Kankaria Kids City and a boat ride to have the time of their lives. To celebrate the momentous milestone with its customers, Vistara has curated an exclusive menu of delectable desserts like Banana & Praline Bavarois and Toasted Almond & Chocolate Parfait, which is being served on especially designed …

redBus has launched its latest service, called Bus Hire, which would offer customers mini-buses or tempo-travellers if they are seeking to hire buses. Bus Hire will provide a one-stop access to leading chartered bus providers in a particular city who offer best-in-class vehicles and superior service quality. The platform gives transparent and all-inclusive prices along with value added information such as bus photos and convenient payment options to help customers make an informed and suitable choice. This service is presently available in seven cities across India- Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Ahmedabad and is soon being extended to other towns. The range of vehicles that customers can choose from is very extensive, and includes luxury buses, regular buses, mini buses, tempo travellers and cars. Prakash Sangam, CEO, redBus.in, expressed his enthusiasm about the new service, commenting, “Often group travel such as corporate outings, weddings and pilgrimages require a full vehicle to be hired. There was no easy way for travellers to connect with multiple vehicle providers to hire a bus of their choice. With our new Bus Hire product, we aim to simplify the process by providing customers with a customised, transparent and quick method of evaluating and choosing among different vehicle options. For charter bus operators, it opens up another avenue for attracting customers and growing their business.” Once a customer provides basic details of his or her desired trip, the bus operators on redBus Bus Hire platform respond with quotations that are transparent and all-inclusive. The base fare, driver charges, tolls, permit fees and taxes are all specified in the quotations. Customers can also view images of the bus before they confirm a booking. Customers can …