Tag Archives: Pune

Air India will connect Pune to Chandigarh for the first time with a direct flight from January 16, 2017. This new flight is yet another move to promote regional connectivity by the national carrier. The flight, AI 813 will take off from Chandigarh at 1050 hrs and arrive in Pune at 1320 hrs. The return flight AI 814 from Pune will depart at 1400 hrs and land in Chandigarh at 1630 hrs on all days except Saturday and Sunday. The non-stop flight will operate with an Airbus A-320 aircraft on the Pune-Chandigarh-Pune route. It will provide a much needed connectivity between the two cities and will help to promote industrial development and at the same time also give a fillip to tourism as passengers can avail of good connectivity to holiday destinations such as Kulu, Shimla and Manali in the north and Lonavala and Shirdi near Pune.

Air Asia India plans to increase its flight connectivity between Bengaluru, Pune and Goa. The low-cost carrier will now operate two flights from Bengaluru to Pune, adding to the frequency to its current one daily flight between these cities. Also, the airline will operate its fourth daily connection between Bengaluru and Goa, starting December 18. “Our flights from Bengaluru to Pune are doing extremely well, so are our three existing connections to Goa. We see immense demand in this sector. We are confident that this new connection is going to be well received by our guests,” said Amar Abrol, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Air Asia India. The Bengaluru-based budget carrier currently flies to 11 destinations with its two hubs in Bengaluru and New Delhi covering Chandigarh, Jaipur, Guwahati, Imphal, Pune, Goa, Vizag, Kochi and Hyderabad.

A portfolio of seven Premier Inn hotels located in two of Thailand’s top destinations, Bangkok and Pattaya, as well as India’s most visited cities, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Goa, are being offered for sale through an international tender process with JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group. The tender for bids is scheduled from December 19 to 23, 2016. Owned by UK company Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants International, the portfolio offers two hotels in Thailand with a collective key count of 388: one property is located in the heart of Bangkok’s retail and entertainment precinct, Sukhumvit Soi 11, and is set to be completed in the first half of 2017; the other hotel is minutes away from Pattaya’s popular Second Road and enjoys close proximity to the town’s beaches, retail malls and famous Walking Street. Premier Inn’s India portfolio, comprising five hotels in prime locations in the nation’s best performing cities, will be among the largest hotel portfolios offered in India in recent times, with a total of 583 room keys. “Hotel portfolios with vacant possession, occupying prime central locations and of this scale are rare and hard to come by in the current market,” says Mr Mike Batchelor, Managing Director of Investments Sales, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, Asia. “There is an expected high level of interest from global, regional and domestic investors attracted to this opportunity as they are able to immediately rebrand the hotels to the operator of their choice upon purchase.” India continues to be ranked as one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a 2016 forecast GDP growth of 7.6 percent. On India’s growing hospitality investment sector, Paul Chakkrit, Senior Vice President, …

Optimistic by the increasing number of tourists from India, the Department of Tourism (DOT) Philippines along with Her Excellency, Ma. Teresita C.Daza, Ambassador, Republic of Philippines to India launched 135 branded taxis in New Delhi as part of a promotional campaign. Through it, the country attempts to raise awareness of the lesser known places, as well as the popular cities. Speaking at the launch, the ambassador said, “This is one way of raising awareness about the Philippines as each taxi displays various destinations from the country. We hope to encourage more and more Indian travellers to visit the country. The Philipppines has a lot to offer and its slogan, ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines’ has been very helpful in attracting more tourists.” Additionally, 100 radio cabs were branded in Ahmedabad and Pune earlier this year in an attempt to promote the destination. 2015 recorded a growth of 22.36 per cent over the previous year with 74,824 Indians visiting the country.

Singapore Tourism Board recently organised a 10-day, six-city road show across key markets in India and Colombo in Sri Lanka. Themed “Extending Hands in Partnership”, the delegation was led by GB Srithar, Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) newly appointed Regional Director for South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA). The initiative is envisioned as an annual platform for the region’s trade partners to get updated on the latest leisure and MICE offerings in Singapore. The Singapore delegation comprised representatives from top hotels, cruise liners, attractions, airlines and Destination Management Companies (DMCs), which travelled to the cities of Colombo in Sri Lanka and then to the Indian cities of Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Jalandhar. The sessions saw an enthusiastic turnout from travel trade professionals with an average participation of 135 agents per city. Srithar said, “As we move into the next exciting phase of promoting Singapore to wider audiences in tier II cities, we look to fostering closer strategic and tactical partnerships with the travel trade to entrench the positioning of Singapore as one of the must-see destinations for the Indian audiences.”

Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has inaugurated Wi-Fi services at eight Mumbai Suburban Railway Stations in Maharashtra viz., Churchgate, Bandra, Bandra Terminus, Dadar Western Railway, Dadar Central Railway, Khar Road, Kalyan and Lokmanya Tilak. The WiFi facility for the visitors and rail users of these eight busy stations of Mumbai Suburban Rail Network has been commissioned by a Railway PSU, RailTel in association with Google for providing high speed state-of-the-art world class internet experience to the commuters. It is being provided at a speed of 1 GBps. A total number of 318 access points, 120 access switches and 30 fibre switches has been installed at these eight stations to provide seamless fast WiFi to the huge number of commuters visiting these stations. In addition to eight stations being launched, RailWire Wi-Fi has been soft launched at eight more stations, Sealdah, Allahabad, Pune, Puri, Tambaram, Chennai Egmore, Hazrat Nizamuddin and Chandigarh. They will be formally launched soon in different parts of the country. During the launch Prabhu said, railway stations are the places where the cross section of the society is available. This initiative is part of bridging the digital divide and providing high speed access network to all rail users. Once implemented this shall be one of the largest public WiFi project in the world. On the occasion of launch, CMD of RailTel said, “Our intent was to fulfill Indian Railway’s vision of providing access to high speed internet to railway passengers through our Optical fiber communication network.”

Tourism Authority of Thailand’s offices in Mumbai and Delhi are in the midst of a four-city roadshow. TAT Delhi began the roadshow with Raipur on August 18 and Bhubaneshwar (August 20) while TAT Mumbai will take the annual initiative to the travel trade in Hyderabad (August 22) and Pune (August 24). “We are taking the Thailand product beyond metros because we are also experiencing huge traffic and interest from these cities,” says Soraya Homchuen, director, TAT Mumbai office. “The focus of the roadshow will be new segments and new regions. In Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata we have already announced our focus on families, women-only holidays, bachelorette parties and luxury-seekers. We have already begun to see traction for new regions such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi, Rayong, Koh Samet, Koh Chang, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan,” adds Homchuen. The Amazing Thailand roadshow will see over a dozen suppliers visit all four cities. Sellers will be briefed on each city’s unique needs and way of doing business, along with demand-related information, trends and connectivity to ensure that they are on the same page as the travel trade who will attend the roadshow. “The focus of the roadshow will be new segments and new regions. In Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata we have already announced our focus on families, women-only holidays, bachelorette parties and luxury-seekers in a clear shift away from bachelor parties and budget holiday makers. Additionally we have showcased and begun to see traction for new regions all over Thailand such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi, Rayong, Koh Samet, Koh Chang, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan,” adds Homchuen. She and the team …

Air India boosts regional connectivity by commencing operations to Pune via Raipur from Bhopal. Flight AI 9865 operating with a 70 seater ATR-72 will ply on the route Bhopal-Raipur-Pune. The flight will operate thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Air India offers a direct air link on this route for the first time. The flight will leave Bhopal at 0845 hrs and land at Raipur at 1015 hrs, will depart from Raipur at 1045 hrs and arrive in to Pune at 1300 hrs. The return flight AI 9866 will leave Pune at 1330 hrs and reach Raipur at 1545 hrs, depart Raipur at 1615 hrs and will touch down at Bhopal at 1745 hrs. Present on the occasion to launch the flight Minister of Home and Jail, Madhya Pradesh, Babulal Gaur, said, “We congratulate Air India for starting this flight as it will save travelling time for passengers commuting to regions like Raipur and Pune from Bhopal. The 100% occupancy on the first flight is a testimony of the demand for such flights to push regional connectivity.” At Raipur the flight was received and flagged off by Minister for Agriculture, Chhattisgarh Brij Mohan Aggarwal. The passengers arriving at Pune were greeted by the Airport Director Shri Ajay Kumar who also gave the boarding card to the first passenger to check-in for the return flight to Raipur.

As a part of its marketing development strategy, the Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines has recently branded 100 radio cabs in Pune and Ahmedabad. The DOT, Philippines successfully conducted the ‘Visit the Philippines Year (VPA) 2016’ roadshow for its travel trade partners based in the cities of Pune and Ahmedabad on February 22 and 24, respectively. Speaking at the event, Raymond Glen A. Agustin, Chief Tourism Operation Officer, Market Development Group- Russia, India & the Middle East, DOT Philippines, affirmed that India is an important source market for the Philippines with 74, 824 Indians visiting the destination last year, which was a 22.36 per cent year-on-year increase. Overall, the Philippines expect to welcome 100,000 Indian tourists by 2017. VPA 2016 campaign’s aim is to drive excitement among travellers so that they revisit the country in 2016 for more fun and adventure and to garner fabulous memories to cherish.

The Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines is conducting its ‘Visit the Philippines Year (VPA) 2016’ roadshow today in Pune for its travel trade partners in the city. A 25-member delegation, comprising hoteliers, resorts, spas, and representatives of tour attractions, will interact with key travel and tour operators, MICE providers, up-market leisure operators and media personnel. Raymond Glen A. Agustin, Chief Tourism Operation Officer, Market Development Group- Russia, India & the Middle East, DOT Philippines, will lead the delegation. The roadshow will include interactive B2B sessions, education programmes and workshops to aid trade members in planning itineraries and responding to customer queries in these cities. The Indian market continues to be one of the important contributors of international visitors to the Philippines. In the upcoming year, targeting over 25% rise in outbound travel from India.