Namaste Turkey has launched a brochure for 2016-17 comprising of 48 pages and includes over 15 unique itineraries for Turkey and combination of Turkey & Greece. These programmes are commissionable to the travel agents and tour operators at 10 per cent. Subhash Motwani, Director, Namaste Turkey, who was recently in Cappadocia to forge an alliance with key partners, is optimistic that Turkey will be doing exceptionally well in 2016, given that Turkish Airlines has excellent connectivity to Europe, US and Africa and with a valid Schengen, UK or US or OECD country visa, you can get a Turkey visa online instantly. Namaste Turkey has also introduced for the first time eight-day full board cruises from Bodrum and Marmaris with guaranteed departures from May until October 2016. This too is commissionable to travel agents and tour operators.

From April 25-June 15, Tigerair will increase flight frequency on its Hyderabad-Singapore and Tiruchirappalli-Singapore route by adding one seasonal route each, taking the total count to seven and 14 weekly flights. The increase of the frequency on these routes is due to the overwhelming response from these markets during peak season, said Teh Yik Chuan, Director – Sales and Marketing, Tigerair. To ensure an overall memorable experience, Tigerair has partnered with Singapore Tourism Board to encourage travellers from India to witness the thrilling sights and sounds of Singapore. The budget carrier has also announced an all-inclusive return fare to Singapore for passengers travelling from Hyderabad during Mar 9-Apr 16. The special fare can be availed by booking tickets from Jan 20-31.

As of November 2015, more than 924,000 Indian travellers visited Singapore, registering 7.4 per cent growth, said Bridget Goh, Area Director India & Sri Lanka, Singapore Tourism Board. “India is the top five visitor market for Singapore with over 943,000 Indian travellers in 2014 and the average length of stay being 6.8 days,” she added. Singapore celebrated its Golden Jubilee last year by partnering with Tigerair for a successful marketing campaign targeting Indian travellers majorly from South India and Lucknow. “We are excited to continue our partnership with Tigerair and offer Indian travellers to start 2016 with attractive fares and indulge in spending quality time with loved ones in Singapore,” she said. As a popular destination among Indian travellers, Singapore has a multitude of experiences for a fun-filled family holiday as well as vibrant lifestyle offerings for working millennials seeking a short getaway.  

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) will hold its next annual convention in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, said Amitabh Devendra, Secretary General, FHRAI, adding that the tentative dates for the event are September 23-25, 2016. The theme of the convention will be ‘Brand India.’ “The contribution of Hospitality and Tourism will make ‘Brand India’ soar to great heights and help the country achieve the target of attracting one per cent share of the world tourists’ arrivals by 2020,” he said.

Giving a fillip to ASEAN Tourism Forum, President of the Philippines H.E. Benigno Simeon Aquino III, in his inaugural speech, said that ASEAN integration benefits the region and all must capitalise on this. He urged the ASEAN countries to concentrate on bio-sustainability and maintain this delicate balance. He insisted that working together is the key as no single country can achieve this alone. The President called on all brothers and sisters of ASEAN to progress as one region, showcase the uniqueness of the region, and let all tourists visit each country. Welcoming delegates to his country, Secretary (Minister) of the Philippines, Department of Tourism, Hon. Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr. talked about partnership in tourism development. He mentioned that this event in the Philippines is a milestone in flowering of the ASEAN Tourism Forum. The lively and colourful short inauguration ended with a group photo of all the Ministers of Tourism from ASEAN and then with the heads of all tourism organisations.

Starting March this year, Kuwait Airways will add two more flights on the Kuwait-Ahmedabad and Kuwait-Bengaluru routes making it five flights each. The airline recently increased its frequency to twice double daily from Kuwait to Cochin and added three flights to Ahmedabad and Bengaluru each. Philip Saunders, Chief Commercial Officer, Kuwait Airways, said, “We are seeing a change in the load factors from India. We are excited about our new schedules with new destinations like Ahmedabad and Bengaluru while consolidating our operations in other places by introducing double-daily flights to Cochin that we did in December 2015. The second reason why things will continue to improve for us is the growth of Indian market and also because our strategy is focusing on depth rather than breadth. We want to introduce more frequencies as we can and get more relevant to Indians living in Kuwait. A third reason is that we are recruiting the right people to engage with the travel agents to find new ways to co-operate with them.” The airline still offers IATA commission of three per cent in India apart from some incentive it offers to the travel agents.

Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) website will be made into an online booking portal to allow tour operators and tourists to sell and book packages to Goa at discounted rates. Private tour operators will be provided a login ID which will allow them to load their packages into the system and sell them based on commission rates, built into the portal. “We will be the first tourism board to launch such a service. A tourist can combine various activities with the packages like hot air balloon ride, paragliding, bungee jumping amongst other new products on the website, making Goa a 365-day destination. Even though we own the new product offerings, the services will be offered by the private sector where we will only be the facilitator and hand hold them for proper delivery,” said Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, GTDC. Goa Tourism is expecting at least 400,000 tourists to visit the state over three days during Goa Carnaval from February 6-9, 2016, Desai said during a press conference in New Delhi. Dilip Parulekar, Goa Tourism Minister, was also present. Parulekar said, “Goa Carnaval is one-of-a-kind event and people come from all over the globe. While the spirit of this celebration is contagious, we have taken into account aspects of safety, security and cleanliness which will ensure that the celebration is a truly memorable one.”

The Ministry of Railways has announced a number of measures on the IRCTC website. “Now, a 35-second compulsory wait has been applied before booking an online ticket to prevent faster booking through any other unscrupulous means,” said A.K. Manocha, Chairman and Managing Director, IRCTC, at a combined conference. Sanjaya Das, MD, CRIS, U. Hazarika, Executive Director, C&IS Railway Board and other senior officials from the railway board were present. Manocha said that due to increased demand of e-ticketing and capacity constraint, the Next Generation e-Ticketing (NGeT) System’s capacity to book tickets has been upgraded to book 15,000 tickets per minute. Furthermore, only two tatkal tickets can be booked for single user ID in opening tatkal hours from 10-12 hours. Statistics from the Ministry of Railways reveal that 18,30,21,842 tickets were booked online during 2014-2015. Among the total tickets booked, the share of internet ticketing passengers to total passengers travelled was 54.52 per cent. To further strengthen its Passenger Reservation System (PRS), the Ministry of Railways has taken various measures on the IRCTC website on the lines of internet ticketing, Next Generation e-Ticketing System (NGeT), scripting, and various other security measures to control hacking.

The UK Visas and Immigration office has informed that there will be changes in visa and immigration application fees over the next four years. Danielle Humphries, Entry Clearance Manager, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), informed that for 2016-17, UK Visas linked most closely to economic growth and prosperity, such as visitor, work and study visas will be restricted to an increase of 2 per cent. During the same period, fees for all sponsorship categories will be held at the current rates. There will be up to 25 per cent increase for settlement and nationality fees. There will be up to 33 per cent increase for optional premium services offered by the Home Office such as the super priority and priority visa services. The proposed maximum fee for entry clearance as a visitor for a period of six months or less is £95, as against the current maximum of £85. The proposed maximum fee for entry clearance as a visitor for a period of more than six months up to and including 12 months, calculated at fixed amount, is £200 as against the current maximum of £162. The current maximum for entry clearance as a visitor for a period of more than 12 months, calculated at annual rate, is £162 p.a. which has been proposed to increase to £200 p.a. “We are confident that our proposed fee increases strike the right balance between ensuring we continue to provide a competitive level of service and maintaining a fees structure that remains attractive to businesses, migrants and visitors,” Humphries said, adding, “We have no current plans to raise fees to the maximum amounts, and most individual fees will remain significantly below these levels.” …

Owing to high security alert in the run up to Republic Day celebrations, IndiGo has extended its normal closure of check-in time of 45 minutes to 60 minutes to minimise flight delays and congestion in the security hold area. The airline has asked its passengers to arrive 15 minutes prior against the original check-in time i.e. 45 minutes effective January 19 to January 31.