India is the top international source market for Dubai as per the latest 2015 annual figures revealed by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism). With a year-on-year growth of 26 per cent, bringing in over 1.6 million tourists, India was the second fastest growing top 10 source market for Dubai Tourism in 2015. Overall, Dubai attracted more than 14.2 million overnight visitors, recording a strong 7.5% increase over 2014 – double the United Nations World Travel Organisation’s (UNWTO) projected 3-4% global travel growth for the same period. South Asia has been one of the largest regions by volume bringing in 2.3 million visitors reflecting a 21.7% increase versus 2014. His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, said “2015 has been a very strong year for Dubai’s travel sector with double the global industry growth levels firming up our position as the fourth most visited city in the world. South Asia, especially India, has performed phenomenally well. India has always been a key market for us and we believe our efforts to adopt a highly segment-specific approach in cities with the highest connectivity and latent capacity, as well as building stronger trade ties in market with digital travel intermediaries, have yielded results and will continue to enable Dubai capture share of the growing Indian upper middle-class family and business segments. His Excellency Almarri added, “Repeat visitation from Indian travellers remains a priority and as our destination proposition continues to grow and diversify, we are better placed than ever to continually offer visitors more reasons to come back time again, whether for leisure or as part of an ever increasing business and event line-up. We are also seeing …

The entry fee for all Grade I monuments all over India will be increased from Rs 250 to Rs 750 and from Rs 100 to Rs 250 from April 1, 2016 for all foreign visitors. N.S. Rathore, Chairman (Western Region), Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), says, “We have approached the tourism minister who fortunately is also in-charge of ASI. We have requested ASI in New Delhi and they have deferred it till April. But if they implement this it will be a huge problem for agents. We have suggested that instead of increasing Rs 500 in one shot, do it piecemeal – Rs 250 in this year and Rs 250 in the following year. Business has anyway been bad. Cancellations will only happen when this is implemented. Some of our agents from Germany have said that if this is implemented they may cancel all their departures to India.

Switzerland Tourism, Swiss Travel System, and Rail Europe have launched the Swiss Travel Pass Superstar Program 2016 to promote brand awareness and enhance knowledge of various Swiss Travel Passes among the travel agents and tour operators in India. Ritu Sharma, Deputy Director & Media Manager- India, Switzerland Tourism, said, “Swiss Travel Pass Superstar program 2016 is meant for the travel agents and tour operators. It will be a 6 month program in which, every month, agents have to answer 10 questions and also sell maximum number of travel passes to stand a chance to win exciting prizes. Also travel agents will have to upload the number of travel passes being sold by them.  At the end of every month a winner will be announced and at the end of the six months there will be a grand winner. The top 30 performers will win a week long holiday to Switzerland which includes airfares, hotel stay, sightseeing, meals etc.” Sharma revealed this during a roadshow in Mumbai recently. In 2015 the program witnessed around 850 participants and this year Switzerland Tourism along with their partners expects double the number of participants than last year. The Switzerland tourism board also recorded a 21 per cent growth in 2015. The main thrust is to encourage agents to sell more travel passes with longer durations to customers. The minimum number of days is 3-4 and with this program agents are expected to sell travel passes for eight days so people enjoy longer stay in Switzerland. Switzerland tourism along with its partners will be doing training sessions in three other cities including Chandigarh, Delhi and Ahmedabad apart from Mumbai. India is the top source market for …

A new 45-km long railway line connecting Pakyong in Sikkim to Sevoke in West Bengal is currently in progress, according to Jitendra Singh, Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER). He said that the funds to the tune of Rs 4,190 crore have been allotted for the railway line, which will also include 14 tunnels and 28 bridges. “This railway line will offer an exclusively picturesque and scenic journey while passing through the foothills of the Kanchenjunga mountain range and the Teesta river valley,” the minister said. Referring to the ongoing Greenfield Airport project at Pakyong, he said that it is expected to be ready by 2017 at a revised cost of Rs 605.59 crore. Singh revealed that 183 projects supported by the Ministry of DoNER have been completed in Sikkim at a cost of Rs 487.91 under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR). Furthermore, 41 additional projects worth Rs 721.89 crore are underway.

As per the statistics shared by Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), 72,145 Indian tourists visited Mauritius in 2015. This is an increase of 18 per cent as compared to 61,167 tourists who visited in 2014. Speaking on this subject, Sanjay Sondhi, CEO, OM Tourism, said that the growth was due to the stupendous efforts of the MTPA India team. He further added “We are looking forward to an even better 2016.” Vivek Anand, Country Manager, said, “We have seen a remarkable rise of Indian footfalls to Mauritius from all target groups i.e. FIT, MICE, Wedding, Families and honeymooners. We expect the numbers to increase by another 20 per cent next year with more weddings and MICE groups visiting Mauritius. We will continue promoting Mauritius as a MICE, Wedding, Honeymoon, Adventure, Golf, Family and Luxury destination in 2016.”

Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) announced its 2nd mega convention from March 17-21, 2016 in Bali, Indonesia. Riaz Munshi, Vice President, OTOAI, was announced as the Convention Chairman. He revealed, “the venue of the convention will be Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali Resort and around 300 delegates are expected to attend the convention.” The theme of the convention is ‘India Outbound: The Game Changer.’ The three-day convention will be followed by a day trip to Ubud. OTOAI will be working on the convention with their local partners PACTO.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has decided to create a government liaison committee to facilitate detailed interaction with the government and suggest reforms for the industry. The team led by National President, Sunil Kumar, met Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation in New Delhi on January 29. Kumar said, “The government’s role in India on aviation practices, particularly, between airlines and agencies has been extremely limited. We discussed a lot of issues and have requested him to ensure that the government plays an important role to establish healthy industry practices including remuneration that must be provided to the agencies. We also talked about forming a round-table of agency representatives and airlines led by the government to resolve decisions on the marketing practices.”

Trans India Holidays Group, one of India’s leading offline travel agencies, is now entering the online travel space with its new venture BigBreaks. It aims to touch the unreached aspect of travel planning, and customise travel plans to meet customer requirements to the last detail. Kapil Goswamy, Managing Director, BigBreaks, said, “Unlike other OTA’s which are primarily technology companies selling travel, we are a travel company adopting the latest internet technologies to give our clients the advantages of lower costs, wider variety and the convenience of 24×7 bookings. Being a late entrant in the online space may mean that other OTAs already have an established presence in the field, but it also gives us a unique advantage of having a clear picture of what needs improvement in the industry. We have modeled our services to remove the problems existing in the industry including lack of flexibility in product offering, poor responses from Customer Service teams, slow and tedious refund processes etc.  It is these important customer requirements that we seek to fulfill.” According to a survey by US-based Travel Consulting Firm Phocuswright, the size of the Indian travel market in 2014 stood at Rs 90, 000 crores, out of which the share of online travel market was just Rs 36,000 crores.

The Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) is organising a Conclave on February 27, 2016 at Le Meridien, New Delhi. The theme of the conclave is “Hospitality & Tourism- Gateway to Growth”.  The HRANI Conclave will be a one-day event that aims to highlight the issues and aspirations of tourism and hospitality sector. This conclave will be a quarterly feature for the association and will be conducted in its nine member states on a rotational basis. Delhi Tourism will also launch ‘Brand Delhi’ Campaign in 2016 with a vision of encouraging tourism and increasing tourists inflow in the state. With HRANI shared aspiration of making Delhi, a top destination of choice, for both foreign and domestic tourists, the organisation is privileged to announce endorsement of Delhi Tourism Ministry towards the HRANI Conclave. A delegation led by Luv Malhotra, President, HRANI; Garish Oberoi, Hony. Secretary, HRANI; Bharat Aggarwal, Treasurer, HRANI; and Renu Thapliyal, Secretary General, HRANI, met Kapil Mishra, Minister of Tourism, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, to discuss about jointly organising a tourism and hospitality Conclave in the capital.

Following the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on the Zika virus, UNWTO recalls that according to WHO there should be no restrictions on travel with the affected areas. WHO released a statement on the first meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) Emergency Committee on Zika virus and observed increase in neurological disorders and neonatal malformations. UNWTO reiterates that there should be no restrictions on travel or trade with countries, areas and/or territories with Zika virus transmission. Travellers to areas with Zika virus transmission should be provided with up to date advice on potential risks and appropriate measures to reduce the possibility of exposure to mosquito bites. Standard WHO recommendations regarding disinfection of aircraft and airports should be implemented, it said. UNWTO will continue to monitor the situation in close contact with WHO and the relevant tourism authorities. UNWTO also recalls that health and tourism authorities are working together to inform residents, tourists as well as the industry about the precautions to be taken and the tourism sector is working closely with health authorities to follow WHO prevention recommendations. As per the impact on the tourism sector, it is too early to make any effective assessment considering the evolving nature of the situation, UNWTO observed.