Madhya Pradesh Tourism has been sanctioned Rs 98 crores for wildlife circuit project, and Rs 75 crore for Buddhist circuit under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Tanvi Sundriyal, Additional Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation informs, “We have been sanctioned Rs 98 crores for Wildlife Circuit, Rs 75 crores for Buddhist circuit and Rs 98 crores in principle for Heritage circuit.” Sundriyal informs, “Wildlife circuit is the one in which we are adding value to the people visiting the wildlife places by giving them something extra. Buddhist Circuit looks at infrastructure development in various Buddhist oriented sites in Madhya Pradesh. These two have been completely approved but the third one, the Heritage circuit has got an in-principle approval. The places which fall under this circuit are Orchha, Khajuraho, Gwalior, Chanderi, Mandu and lesser known destinations in and around these places.”

Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) has launched the revamped version of its official website www.delhitourism.gov.in. Keeping in mind previous year’s overarching theme of World Tourism Day, “One Billion Tourists – One Billion Opportunities,” DTTDC refurbished its website to attract more number of visitors to its website and encourage them to visit the city to explore the city and thus increase tourism in the state. The new look for DTTDC website was launched today by Padmini Singla, MD & CEO, DTTDC along with other senior officials of DTTDC at DTTDC Headquarters. Singla said, “Dotted with historical monuments and ruins, there is a lot that Delhi can boast about. The new look for Delhi Tourism official website will not only provide ease of access but will encourage tourists to plan their trip as per their preference.” The website’s features, such as ‘About the city, How to travel, Modes of transportation available, Best season to visit, Hangout zones, Cuisines, Events, Accommodations, Planning Itinerary, Packages, HO-HO Bus Service, Historic and Heritage Places to visit, Regular Walks & Tours, Museums and Dilli Haats, besides various other properties of Delhi Tourism like Garden of Five Senses, Azad Hind gram, GTB Memorial, etc. The e-commerce based booking services for the national & international packages offered by DTTDC and its travel partner provides various services like booking of Air Fare, Booking of Accommodation, booking of Car/Coaches, booking of Tour Packages & providing Travel Insurance. Downloadable Tourist Literature & Informations about the city and Photo Galleries to enable visitors to become acquainted with the city and encourage them to explore the rich heritage and magnificent monuments, savour various Indian delicacies and thus increasing tourism within the city. …

The Fern Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of The Fern Hillside Resort, Bhimtal, a premium Resort nestled in the hills of Bhimtal and overseeing Bhimtal Lake. The resort offers 30 spacious rooms with a contemporary design. The room rates start from Rs 2250 plus taxes. All rooms are spacious and offer a beautiful view of the surrounding hills, equipped with all modern amenities required for a comfortable stay; the resort also offers a multi-cuisine restaurant, a meeting space, in-door activity options such as Pool Table, Table Tennis, board games. The Resort also arranges for adventure sport activities such as rappelling, river crossing, rock climbing, kayaking, paragliding, trekking and boating. Located in the pristine hills of Bhimtal at about 30 minutes drive i.e 20 kms from Nainital Lake and a short 5 minutes drive i.e 2 kms from Bhimtal Lake. Other places of interest include – Ghorakhal Temple, Kainchi Temple, Naukuchiatal and Sattal are all in close proximity to the resort. The unit is owned and promoted by Pawar Hotels and Resorts. The hotel is managed by Concept Hospitality, part of CG Hotels and Resorts portfolio.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism is organising multi-city roadshows in the country in order to strengthen relations with the travel fraternity and the various private players. With the roadshow starting from Delhi on May 27, it will move to Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru. Tanvi Sundriyal, Addil. Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation, says, “Roadshows are a way in which we are bidding partnerships with our private sellers and the buyers in the form of travel and tour operators of various cities. We’ll start with Tier I cities and then move on to the Tier II cities.”

Skyscanner, the flight search engine, has launched the Facebook messenger bot that lets users search for flights through the chat interface. Users will be able to enter destinations and receive flight prices, as well as ask for recommendations. Filip Filipov, Director, Skyscanner commented, “The messaging economy and conversational search are areas which we believe are incredibly important evolutionary features for the travel industry. It has been a top priority for us to take a pioneering approach when it comes to building a bot for the Messenger Platform. We want to make travel search as easily accessible as possible, and believe that the launch of our Messenger bot will allow more people to search for their travel in a fun and informative way.”

A horde of travel agents and tour operators from across Australia, keen on knowing more about India, attended the ‘Know India Better’ event held in Sydney on May 24. A joint initiative of India Tourism and Australia India Travel & Tourism Council (AITTC), this was the final of a series of sessions launched last year, aimed to educate the industry with updated travel information on India covering flights, hotels, infrastructure developments, visa, tours and safety awareness. According to Sandip Hor, Chairman AITTC, this project has immensely aided the industry allowing agents and tour operators to excite potential travellers on India. “Australia has moved from ninth to the seventh position in the list of foreign tourists arriving India”, said Kanchan Kukreja, Acting Director India Tourism Sydney. Attendess heard about this exotic destination from various presentors – India Tourism, Intrepid Travel and Air India and on India’s various touristy drawcards , including some of the economic and technological developments. Madhu Mathen, Manager Air India emphasised how the direct flights between Sydney/ Melbourne and Delhi are contributing to the growth in bilateral travel. While Kukreja in her presentation engaged the audience through various showstopping scenes of India, Sandip Hor expressed thoughts of initiating similar program in India to update market with more information on Australia, AITTC objective being to promote bilateral tourism. Representatives from Air India, Accor Hotels, Intrepid Travel, Insight Vacations, Far Horizon, Taj Hotels, Grace Hotel, Special Holidays Travel were also present.

The 40th annual Rendez-vous Canada (RVC), Canada’s premier tourism marketplace, took place from April 24-27, 2016, in Montreal, Québec. During the conference, international tourism buyers met with Canadian sellers at a record-breaking 26,000 face-to-face business appointments. Hosted by Tourism Québec and Tourism Montreal, and taking place in the iconic Palais des congrès de Montreal, this year’s sold-out event features 536 buyers from 28 countries and 582 Canadian sellers from coast to coast — boasting the best seller-to-buyer ratio ever with one seller for every one buyer. “With a record attendance of 1,680 delegates at this year’s RVC, buyers and sellers are working to captivate and drive more people to visit Canada,” says David Goldstein, President and CEO of Destination Canada. “With the incredible range of diverse, fun and authentic Canadian experiences showcased at RVC, we are demonstrating to the world that we’re not cold, we’re cool.”

The Maharaja will soon come to the rescue of wait-listed passengers of Rajdhani trains. Come June, IRCTC will provide Rajdhani wait-list passengers with the option of taking an Air India flight to their destination by paying marginally extra. Air India and IRCTC have already entered into a pact for the proposed arrangement which is expected to be in place “within a week”, the carrier’s chief Ashwani Lohani told news agency PTI. Under the proposed arrangement, people who have unconfirmed tickets across classes on Rajdhani trains would have the choice of boarding an Air India flight, provided the airline has services in the particular train route chosen by the passenger. Air India tickets would be offered to such passengers through IRCTC. Lohani, who is Air India Chairman and Managing Director, said details are being worked out and the arrangement is expected to be in place “within a week”. The wait-listed passengers of AC First Class of Rajdhani trains would not have to pay any additional amount in case they decide to take an Air India flight. In the case of those booked on Rajdhani Second and Third AC classes, the passengers would have to pay up to Rs. 2,000 per ticket as additional amount for flying Air India, Lohani said. The latest move is expected to help Air India in filling up more seats on its planes amid the carrier working on ways to turnaround its fortunes. Meanwhile, Air India is chalking out ambitious expansion plan to operate more number of smaller aircraft in various states as they look to increase regional air connectivity. In this regard, Air India’s wholly-owned subsidiary Air Alliance plans to increase the number of ATRs in …

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has announced the election of Andrew Jones, Guardian, Sanctuary Resorts, Hong Kong SAR, as Chairman of the Association’s Executive Board. He replaces Kevin B Murphy who was elected Chairman in April 2015 and who remains a member of the Executive Board as Immediate Past Chairman. Over the past 45 years he has worked in numerous senior management and corporate positions for prestigious hotels, resorts and management companies in London, Bermuda, Canada, Hong Kong SAR and across Asia. In 1996 he founded and became the Guardian of Sanctuary Resorts, a resort management company creating responsible and sustainable tourism experiences where people can balance their body, mind and spirit in an environmentally friendly space. A Certified Hotel Administrator of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, Andrew was previously a member of the Board of the Indian Ocean Tourism Organization and Director, Asia Pacific Affairs for the International Hotel and Restaurant Association. Andrew Jones said, “It is especially meaningful to me to be elected to the position of Chairman of PATA during this 65th anniversary year of the Association. During this time, after a long career in hospitality, I also celebrate my 65th year on the planet. In leading and guiding PATA in the coming year, my focus will be on the continual and future enhancement of the Association. In taking on this role I commit to pro-actively working with the Executive Board, management team and our members to continue the good work of PATA. I want us to deliver on our promised advocacy themes, especially Human Capital Development, and to encourage membership development and involvement while supporting the …

2015 was a record year for Indian visits into Britain according to the International Passenger Survey from the Office of National Statistics UK. The latest figures show visits from India in 2015 are up 8 per cent, from 390,000 to 422,000, setting a new record. Indian visitors spent £433 million in Britain last year along with 9.2 million nights. These 2015 figures mean that India retains its position as Britain’s No. 1 BRIC market in terms of visitor volume and among the 20 top source markets for Britain globally. Growing outbound travel trends fuelled by increased flight connectivity into regional Britain has helped India cement its’ position with growing visitor numbers over 2014. VisitBritain Director Asia Pacific, Mid East & Africa, Sumathi Ramanathan said, “India is the top BRIC market for Britain in terms of volume and the year-on-year robust visit figures ensure our way to achieve our 2020 target of 500,000 visits. Our focussed strategy for the India market featuring the Bollywood Britain campaign, combined with our trade engagement, targeted consumer engagements and tactical offers with tourism partners will be crucial for us to deliver our tourism targets in 2016-2017.”