Sabre Corporation has announced that it will set up a Quality Assurance Center of Excellence (CoE) at Indira Gandhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW) in Delhi to build an ecosystem of industry-ready test engineers. “The incubation center is a first of its kind in the Indian market focused towards an all women technical university and will bring awareness of test engineering practices, processes and the critical role it plays in the software development lifecycle,” said Shail Maniar, Vice President and Managing Director, Sabre India. “With complex and mission critical software products being built at Sabre’s development center in Bangalore, we see an increased demand for trained test engineers in automation, performance engineering and big data testing. We believe this program will benefit IGDTUW, the industry and Sabre.” Sabre and IGDTUW signed a memorandum of understanding to set up the knowledge center that will nurture student skills on industry standard test engineering practices through a combined program of workshops and webinars at IGDTUW, Delhi and a six month internship program at Sabre’s development center in Bangalore. On successful participation in the CoE program and completion of the internship, Sabre will also facilitate International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) certification for students based on their performance. “I am very happy to learn that Sabre is establishing a Quality Assurance CoE at IGDTUW. The center will provide hands-on training to the Masters in Computer Application (MCA) students of IGDTUW in using Quality Assurance tools effectively, while developing an insight into the latest software testing techniques used in the IT industry, ” said Nupur Prakash, Vice Chancellor, IGDTUW. “This would give them an opportunity to learn and use Quality Assurance tools from industry experts, which …

The share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India in the International Tourist Arrivals around the world during 2015 was 0.68 per cent. Union Minister of State for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma had said that India is poised to receive one per cent of global tourists in three years. Initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism in the recent past for development and promotion of tourism and attract more tourists in the country are e-Tourist Visa (eTV), publicity and promoting India as a holistic destination in the international markets, participation in travel fairs and exhibitions; organising roadshows, Know India seminars & workshops; organizing and supporting Indian food and cultural festivals; publication of brochures, offering joint advertising and brochure support, and inviting media personalities, tour operators and opinion makers to visit the country under the Hospitality programme of the Ministry. This information was given by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Civil Aviation in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

The Government of India (GoI) has granted ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 14 Greenfield airports namely, Mopa in Goa; Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra; Shimoga, Gulbarga,Hassan and Bijapur in Karnataka; Kannur in Kerala; Pakyong in Sikkim; Datia/Gwalior (Cargo) in Madhya Pradesh; Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh; Karaikal in Puducherry; and Dholera in Gujarat. Further, the government has laid down Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) of air transport services taking into account the need for air transport services of different regions of the country. However, it is up to the airlines to provide services to different regions depending on their commercial viability subject to compliance of RDG. This information was given by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off Train 74619/74620 Banihal-Baramulla Fast Passenger (DEMU) and 74617/74618 Budgam-Baramulla Demu through video conferencing between Rail Bhawan New Delhi and Anantnag Railway Station. This was carried out in the presence of Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti graced the inaugural function at the Anantnag Railway Station along with other dignitaries. Chairman, Railway Board, other Board Members and various other dignitaries were among those present at the Rail Bhawan. Baramulla-Budgam-Banihal section is presently being served by 13 pairs of train services which mean 26 single services are presently running. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Railways said that seamless rail connectivity among all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir has always been a long-standing demand of this beautiful valley and the new services of trains will prove a great comfort to the people of the state. He said that being a hilly area the road transport generally takes around 6 hours between Baramulla-Banihal but now one can cover this distance in just 2 hours 20 minutes by using new DEMU train that too in just Rs. 30 fare. He said that the state of Jammu & Kashmir has great importance from the tourism point of view where national and international tourists visit throughout the year and thus this connectivity will give a boost to tourism in the state. He said that Railway is also working with the help of IRCTC to bring Jammu & Kashmir on a tourism map which will not only …

Australia is implementing the trial of a three-year multiple-entry visitor visa for India from July 2016. The trial, which is targeted at frequent short-term travellers to Australia, will allow entry into Australia multiple times on the same visa with each stay valid for up to three months. India is among four countries – Thailand, Vietnam and Chile – where the trial will be implemented. Welcoming the move, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu, said, “Australia welcomes the tremendous interest Indians have in visiting Australia for tourism and business. With India among Australia’s nine key tourism markets, the trial will naturally drive our tourism growth from this part of the world.” The trial will make it easier for Indian visitors to make repeat visits. Travellers will not need to re-apply for visa within the three-year period, Sidhu added. The trial applies to eligible applicants within the tourist and business visitor visa streams. The announcement was made as part of the Australian Government’s 2016-17 Budget to boost Australia’s future tourism growth.

Expedia, Inc. and Amadeus IT Group have announced a new global, long-term agreement that enables Expedia to offer air, car, rail, cruise, and hotel products through the Amadeus global distribution system, and adds Orbitz Worldwide brands in addition to the Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, Wotif Group, Expedia Affiliate Network and Egencia brands covered by the previous agreement. The agreement builds on the companies’ established Upgrade Options partnership and ensures continued innovation for the more than 8.6 billion flight searches Expedia customers conduct every year. Expedia offers Upgrade Options for multiple carriers in North America and Europe as well as pre-paid, checked baggage offerings on certain sites around the world. Commenting on the agreement, Greg Schulze, senior vice president Global Tour and Transport at Expedia, Inc. said, “Expedia’s commitment is to deliver an exceptional air shopping and booking experience by making it easy for travelers to find exactly what they want. Amadeus helps Expedia to be the very best place to shop for flights.” Expedia is a major online travel player. We are excited to expand our partnership and to continue working together to power innovative travel experiences to delight consumers worldwide,” says Holger Taubmann, Senior Vice President, Distribution, Amadeus

Berlin has recorded 6,600 Indian overnights over the first two months of 2016 corresponding to an increase of 13.2 per cent over the same period in 2015. However the number of Indian visitors declined by 2.5 per cent with only 2000 Indian guests visiting Berlin in the first two months of 2016 as compared to the same period in 2015. This was revealed by Christian Tanzler, Spokesperson and Media Relations Manager, Visit Berlin, at the 42nd Germany Travel Mart which was held from April 17-19, 2016, in Magdeburg. Tanzler said, “Though the number of guests may have reduced, they are staying for longer periods of time which means that they spend more money in Berlin, go shopping, visit the museums and explore the city more.” He informed that in 2015, Berlin witnessed 21,000 Indian visitors and 56,000 Indian overnights corresponding to a 20 per cent increase in Indian arrivals over 2014 and 15.2 per cent increase in overnights stays from India. Tanzler also added, “To promote the city we take part in several travel marts and fairs. We had also collaborated with studios in Bollywood to shoot in the city. For the travel trade we suggest that even if they cannot visit Berlin, they can do online training and learn about the city.” Romit Theophilus, Director of Marketing & Sales Office India, German National Tourist Office, said, “This year we have 21 participants from India in GTM which includes 15 tour operators and 6 journalists.”

Flybe, Europe’s regional airline, has announced the signing of its 10th codeshare partnership, this time with Star Alliance member Air India, enabling travellers using its multi-frequency Birmingham services from Belfast City, Edinburgh and Glasgow to book seamless flights onward to Delhi. Under the unilateral agreement, Air India (AI) will place its marketing code on these Flybe flights (BE). Seats will be available for booking through travel agents from 10th May 2016 with travel effective from 1st June. The partnership allows customers to use a single ticket to fly from their local airport to Delhi via a seamless connection through Birmingham Airport onto Air India’s daily flights to New Delhi. Ashwani Lohani, Chairman & Managing Director, Air India, says, “United kingdom is the residence of large number of Indian diaspora. However, this codeshare agreement will be a huge benefit not only to the Indians living in UK but also to tourists travelling to and from domestic sectors of the UK and India. Air India is continuously working towards providing seamless connectivity to its passenger across routes and with our agreement with Flybe, Air India passengers will have an unmatched connectivity in UK. ” Saad Hammad, Flybe’s CEO says, “Our new codeshare agreement with Air India is another exciting development for Flybe and tangible evidence of our continued growth. It further strengthens our commitment to connecting our regional customers with our ‘One Stop to the World’ proposition. “We can now give customers in the UK regions convenient access to the Indian subcontinent through Birmingham Airport. This relieves them of the need to undertake long road or rail journeys to and from the UK’s congested south east hub airports. It will also serve …

Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, informed that the modification of eTV’s validity from 30 days to 60 days has been principally approved and will be put into action soon. Zutshi added that they are contemplating on creating an eTV for MICE, as well as a business tourist visa for visitors travelling to India on work purposes. “While the eTV currently allows single-entry, double-entry on eTV is also on the cards,” he shared.

The Buddhist Conclave will be held from October 3-5, 2016, in Varanasi, Sarnath and Bodh Gaya, informed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Govt. of India at the PATA India Update and Outlook meeting. “As many as 500 monks from ASEAN countries will be attending the three-day event,” he shared. Zutshi added that the International Tourism Mart (ITM) 2016 will also be held the same month in Imphal, Manipur to boost visitors to the Northeastern states. He further revealed that to develop infrastructure on the Swadesh Darshan circuits, funds to the tune of 1600 crores have been sanctioned while 284 crores have been allotted for development of the Prasad scheme circuits.