In view of the recent security alert in the country, Air India has requested passengers to report at the counter at least three hours prior for check-in to allow passengers and their baggage to undergo more stringent checks at airports and avoid any delays to the flight departures owing to these procedures. Though the minimum reporting time for domestic flights is 75 minutes and for international flights it is 150 minutes before the scheduled departure of flights, the airline has advised passengers to report three hours before the scheduled departure of flights. Currently, check-in counters for domestic flights close 45 minutes before scheduled time of departure. For international flights, counters close 60 minutes prior to departure. Counters for flights (both domestic and international) operating from International Terminals like in Mumbai close 60 minutes before scheduled departure of flight. Boarding gates in both cases close 25 minutes prior to departure.

The first-ever meeting of the National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board will be held under the Chairmanship of Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation on January 13, 2016 at Hotel Samrat, New Delhi.  The meeting will draw short-term and long-term road maps and strategies for marketing and promotion of medical and wellness tourism, both within India and abroad. Future activities aimed at creating synergy between the tourism sector and the healthcare sector will be outlined. Key members other than stakeholders and the representatives of related government departments, tourism and hospitality sector and experts in various disciplines including Wellness and Yoga will be participating in the meeting. The National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board was constituted by the Ministry of Tourism in October 2015 to provide leadership of the Government within a framework of prudent and effective measures, thereby enabling promotion and positioning of India as a competent and credible medical and wellness tourism destination.

India continues to remain the second-fastest growing market for Southwest Germany after China in percentage terms. India recorded a growth of 23.3 per cent for the period January to October 2015 with 27,615 visitors. Hector Dsouza, Director – India, Southwest German Tourism, says, “India is miles ahead. It is still has the highest number of overnights per visit, currently its 5.9 days per visit. The international average for Southwest Germany is 2.3 days. For the period ended October 2015, we recorded 162,843 overnights from India. By the end of 2015 we will have 2,00,000 overnights, which we targeted at the beginning of 2015. We are now expecting 40,000 Indian visitors in 2016 doing 2,50,000 overnights, an increase of 25 per cent from 2015.”

India is the eighth best source market for Tourism Australia, said Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia. He added, “We crossed the 200,000 arrivals landmark in 2015, A$ 1 billion spend, and improved our ranking to be the eighth-largest inbound market for Australia from 11th rank in 2014. The Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) is predicting 245,000 visitors from India for 2015-16 and a 12 per cent increase over 2014-15.” There were 187,000 visitors from India in the first 10 months of 2015, bringing the total for the year-ended October 2015 to 2,27,000; an increase of 18 per cent relative to the same period last year. For the year ended September 2015, Indian visitors contributed A$ 1.1 billion to the Australian economy; an increase of solid 34% over the previous year. Tourism Australia has unveiled its latest advertising campaign in collaboration with its key distribution partners – Cox & Kings, Mercury Travels, Kesari, MakeMyTrip, Yatra, TUI, Vacations Exotica, Kulin Kumar Holidays and SOTC. The integrated advertising campaign will retain the brand theme ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ and put the spotlight on the country’s attractions.

Registering a huge surge over last year, the Philippines has recorded a growth of 40.54 percent in visitor arrivals from India in October 2015. According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines, there were 6590 visitor arrivals in October 2015 against 4689 in October 2014. Between January-October 2015, 61,155 Indian tourists travelled to the Philippines, recording an increase of 24.13 per cent. The India has jumped up to the 12th position for tourist arrivals in the Philippines in September 2015 and is consistently maintaining the position in the top 12 markets. SanJeet, Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office India, has attributed the showing to be in line with DOT’s plan of achieving 100,000 Indian tourist arrivals by 2017. He said that the double-digit growth in arrivals can also be attributed to major metros as well as feeder markets. “One of the main reasons is the increase in disposable income for leisure and travel related pursuits amongst middle and affluent class travellers. There has also been a steady increase in MICE movements as well as FITs and small groups travel from India,’’ he said. Travel agents credited continuous efforts made by the Philippines Tourism Marketing Office for increase in visitor arrivals. Samina Munshi, Director, N Chirag Travels, said, “We have seen an increase in demand and more people are willing to visit the Philippines as a holiday destination. Due to the increase in awareness, we get many queries on a daily basis. We are quite hopeful that 2016 would definitely double the visitor arrival numbers for the Philippines.” Agents also mentioned that there is a definite requirement of new destination matching features such as sightseeing, shopping, entertainment, friendly, economical and safety. …

According to the annual winter survey by Yatra.com, which showcases the outlook of Indian travellers planning their holidays this season, 30 per cent people are willing to opt for an international destination while the remaining looked at domestic travel this winter. One of the key findings was that the propensity of Indians to spend on travel has clearly increased with more than 30 per cent people willing to spend above Rs. 50,000 as against 25 percent last year. Kashmir and other hill stations topped the list for domestic travel showcasing that winter destinations are not off the list during this time of the year. South East Asian countries were international favourites and were pitted at the same percentage as Goa for a holiday this season. Sharat Dhall, President Yatra.com, said, “Vacationing in winters has become an accepted norm similar to summer travel. We have seen a number of takers opting for not only domestic but also international destinations for their winter vacations. Indians are holidaying more frequently and that’s a trend that has been on an increase over the past few years. Mobile bookings and budget accommodation are two areas where we made tremendous progress in the winter season.”  This year has been about budget accommodation and the survey also brought forth similar facts. Budget Hotels were the obvious choice of accommodation with almost 60 percent opting for lodging options under Rs. 4,000. The rest were divided between star properties, friends and family, home stays and ultra-luxury hotels, in the same order. Contrary to last year’s winter survey, family was the more obvious choice as travel partners followed by spouses, friends and solo travel. With the smart phone revolution, there …

The Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) is gearing up to celebrate its annual festival–the Goa Carnaval 2016 from February 6-9, 2016–that draws a huge amount of international and domestic traffic. This year Goa Tourism is working on a European commission project entitled ‘Destination Carnaval’ to improve the standard and quality of the float parade and performances. The main float parade will be held in the capital city – Panjim on February 6, followed by float parades in the other cities of Margao on February 7, Vasco on February 8 and Mapusa on February 9. GTDC will also organise its annual wine festival called ‘Grape Escapade 2016’ from February 4-8, 2016 at the DB Bandodkar Grounds, Campal.

Around 120 delegates made the 3rd Global Hospitality Conclave 2016 (GHC) a full house. Delegates not only reminisced fond memories of Oberoi Centre of Learning & Development (OCLD) days, but met up with old friends as well. Different sessions deliberated new ideas to better hospitality in India. Ajay Bakaya, Chairman, Organising Committee, GHC, 2016 said, “It’s an Oberoi alumni event, which started in 2014, and has grown in size and stature in last three years. We have people who are going to come in from all over the world. Wine expert from Toronto, Financial expert from US, we have a professor from Cornell in the USA. Also, there are people who have come in from Kenya and Uganda, and are handling hotels in these regions.  It’s a great gathering of people who have graduated from OCLD. The first batch graduated in 1966. It is now 50 years of graduated batches. In fact OCLD is celebrating fifty years this year. It’s a wonderful event, for us it’s a great event to interact with people who were our superiors, our peers or our subordinates. All come together to exchange ideas, camaraderie, exchange bon-homie.”.   The conclave saw three panel discussions. The discussion on ‘Competing on Analytics: The Power of Big Data’ conducted by Chekitan S. Dev, was very well received. The panellists for the same included—Sanjay Rishi, President, One India, Partner Consulting Group and Network Partnerships, ANZ       American Express; Sukanya Misra, Group Head, Advisors South Asia, Centre of Excellence, Mastercard; Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman , Microsoft Corporation India,  and Prasanjeet Baruah, Head Auto, Financial Services & New Businesses, Facebook. The power of Big Data was very well received. Presence of Rakesh Sarna, MD …

Travel website Ctrip.com has invested $180 million (about Rs. 1,200 crore) in MakeMyTrip. The deal was done in the form of convertible bonds, Ctrip.com said in a statement today. “With the investment, we will have a place in the rising online travel market in India,” said Liang Jianzhang, CEO, Ctrip.com. The partnership will benefit both companies, as there are many similarities between China and India’s online tourism, state-run Xinhua quoted Deep Kalra, CEO, MakeMyTrip. Founded in 2000, MakeMyTrip is the biggest online travel agent in India. Tourism grew by 10 per cent in the country last year, according to research company PhocusWright. Online sales rose 16 per cent last year. Ctrip.com said the move will make it easier for Chinese tourists to visit India. Over 100 million Chinese tourists visited abroad last year spending billions of dollars. The increasing numbers of Chinese tourists abroad made India and number of countries to woo them with easy visa access. India has extended the e-visa scheme to the Chinese tourists.

Vistara Airlines has successfully completed its first year of operations on January 9, 2016, and has also launched #TheOnederful year campaign which invites all its well-wishers and followers to join hands in creating history with India’s Biggest TweetCard at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. In a short span of one year, the airline boasts a fleet size of nine brand new A320 aircraft, operating 307 weekly flights to 12 destinations across the country. Vistara has already flown more than one million happy customers within one year of operations. As an anniversary gift to all lucky customers who booked on Vistara flights in the week of December 16, 2015 a flat 25 percent discount was offered for travel till April 30, 2016. Vistara is giving out colorful baggage tags commemorating the milestone. Festive delicacies in anniversary special meal boxes and tray mats are being served on-board. Vistara has also released a special anniversary edition of their in-flight magazine which features endorsement, by famous celebrities, of the twelve destinations, which Vistara currently operates to. Vistara will be adding four more aircraft to its existing fleet of nine in the year. From February, Vistara fleet will incorporate the most advanced in-flight entertainment system which will deliver highly engaging audio video content via wireless streaming to customers’ PEDs across all three cabins.