For most of us, reuniting with friends and family is the main reason to travel in 2023. Agoda’s Travel Trends survey asked travelers from India, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam to share their top travel goals for the new year. India (21%), the United States (25%), Australia (31%) and Taiwan (33%) are where travelers will most likely plan a holiday reunion with family or friends. Many also wish to embark on trips to recharge themselves, mentally and physically, with wellness contributing to the number two spot in the ‘reasons to travel’ ranking of Agoda’s Travel Trend survey. Countries with high inclination include India (20%), South Korea (24%), Singapore (25%) and Thailand (29%). Among people from Japan (44%), Taiwan (24%) and Vietnam (23%), the biggest travel appetite is for (re)discovering food, arts & culture. In fact, a staggering 44 percent of Japanese travelers listed this as their main travel goal, the highest number for any travel objective in a single country. Four times more than Philippines, where only 11 percent are looking to travel for food, arts & culture and seeking adventure is the main reason to leave home (30%). Adventure travel ranks highest among travelers from Indonesia (23%) and India (20%). The study concluded with reuniting with loved ones, wellness and food, arts & culture making the top three reasons to travel, and adventure and celebrating a milestone rounding out the top five.

The Grand Bazaar, İstanbul’s historical shopping and trade centre, was visited by 39,766,801 people in 2022, following its restoration. This magnificent structure with a labyrinthine interior features thousands of shops selling all kinds of products from textiles to antiques and has been a destination for shopping for centuries. The Grand Bazaar, a covered complex that resembles a small city with a daily circulation of thousands of employees and shoppers, started welcoming visitors to its renewed structure after the restoration last year. The number of visitors to the Grand Bazaar rose by almost 56% from 25.5 million in 2021, to approximately 40 million in 2022 out of which 2 Lakhs visitors were Indian travellers. With this figure, an average of 100,000 people per day visited the Grand Bazaar last year. İstanbul’s history and shopping route  Located between Nuruosmaniye, Mercan and Beyazıt in İstanbul, the history of the Grand Bazaar dates to the middle of the 15th century. Within the scope of the Ottoman-era foundation system that covered almost all socio-economic and cultural life, structures such as bazaars were built near religious and other social and charitable sites to meet such needs as maintenance and repair costs.  The foundation of the Grand Bazaar, one of the most important landmarks in İstanbul, was laid in 1461 with the structures erected by Fatih Sultan Mehmet to bring income to Hagia Sophia. The Grand Bazaar, which became the region’s most important trade centre over time, has started to serve as an important financial centre where jewels and precious metals from all over the world are traded. Defined not only as the oldest but as the largest shopping centre in the world, the Grand Bazaar has undergone …

Adventure tourism in the Sultanate of Oman has been witnessing an increasing global demand, even as the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism makes efforts to achieve optimal utilization of natural and cultural resources which contribute to developing the tourism and heritage sector and achieve the objectives of Vision 2040. The Ministry follows growth in adventure tourism and provides all necessary services for tourists and shows Oman as the safest tourist destinations in the world. This is done by studying global practices, safety standards, legislative framework and via setting various projects in the light of a wide response by the tourism companies including this product in their programs. Youssef bin Rashid Al Harassi, Head, Product Development Department, Directorate of Product Development and Tourism Experiences, Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, said, “Diversification of tourism products is one of the important methodologies in enhancing experiences for tourists.” He said there are several indicators for measuring the adventure tourism demand in the Sultanate such as Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort in the Wilayat Al Jebel Al Akhdar at Al Dakhiliyah Governorate, where the number of adventure tourism practitioners from January to December 2022 reached 1,950 tourists. Similarly, the number of tourists in Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort reached 2,000 tourists, he said, adding that the number is constantly growing in all governorates. applying security and safety standards and the legislative aspect, and Oman signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the New Zealand government. He said the Ministry is working overtime to implement projects that add value to natural ingredients. Under this, the first phase of the slide wire project at the Governorate of Musandam will be launched during 2023, he concluded. Global growth of …

Karnataka Tourism promoted inbound tourism, particularly its wildlife, heritage, culture, beaches, and adventure activities at Fitur Madrid, which was held on January 18 to 22, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. The main objective behind the event was to promote the state as an all-round tourism destination offering a range of services. Service providers from Karnataka were present at the exhibition viz. Skyway International Travels, Dhole’s Den, Mysore Taxiwala, Green Path Eco-Hotel Resort (Organic Restaurant), Gamyam Ayurveda and Yoga Retreat, and Cholan Tours. The Government was represented through its Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka, KSTDC (Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.), and Jungle Lodges and Resorts. The Karnataka Tourism stand at FITUR Madrid was inaugurated by Dinesh K.Patnaik, Ambassador of India to Spain in the presence of Kapil Mohan IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism, Government of Karnataka and other stakeholders of Karnataka Tourism. Karnataka offers an exciting portfolio of tourism attractions that have earned worldwide recognition like UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Hampi, Pattadakal and the Western Ghats. In addition, it is home to 35 wildlife sanctuaries and 5 national parks, 17 hill stations, 320 kms of beaches, 600 species of birds, 40 waterfalls, 6000+ elephants and 524+ tigers. It is a land lived, ruled and enriched by renowned dynasties like the Kadamba, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, Hoysala, Vijayanagara and Wodeyar dynasties. It is also home to 747 unique protected monuments, temples and palaces viz. Bidar, Badami, Gol Gumbaz, Aihole, Belur, Halebid, Mysore Palace and Shravanbelagola. Its 320 kms coastline is dotted with famous beaches and activities like surfing, parasailing, snorkelling and other water sports. Kabini, Bandipur, Dandeli and Nagarhole are the best places for Jungle Stays and to spot elephants and tigers. …

India Assist, the showcase startup of GoI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide emergency travel assistance service to travelers. By signing the MoU with the largest travel aggregator, India Assist, the only Global player pioneering app-based emergency travel assistance, aims to deliver ‘On-Ground Assistance’ to any traveler who requires such help. India Assist have been providing services like, medical emergency support, on-ground support in theft, loss, emergency transit assistance, verified information and personal help, to give a seamless and hassle-free experience to travelers. India Assist have dedicated teams to guide people through perplexing situations. For instance, their ground assistance teams help people file First Information Report (FIR) at the nearest police station during cases of theft or connect them to nearest hospital at the time of medical emergency. Deliberating on the same, Mr Harish Khatri, founder and MD of India Assist, said the new initiative with IRCTC will act as a boon to travelers who are in need. “We are working towards providing a relaxing and stress-free travel to people. The initiative will deliver assistance to travelers during times of disruptions and unforeseen incidents. Our goal is to be present at the right time and place. We have already been offering personal assistance and verified information through an on-ground team system in 100 cities in the country. With the MoU with IRCTC, we expect to reach 2 million travellers,” he said. Recently, IRCTC has come up with a slew of new initiatives for the convenience of passengers of Indian Railways. Their pact with India Assist will ensure a smooth and safe travel for passengers during unforeseen situations.  

As per global travel technology company, OYO’s advance booking trends, Goa, Pondicherry, Shimla, Mysore and Tirupati are India’s top 5 popular travel destinations for the Republic Day week. As per the booking trends for Republic Day, Goa witnessed a 75% increase in demand for this 26th January compared to the same day last year. Among metropolitan cities, Hyderabad emerged as the city with the most bookings, followed by Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. Winter travel is popular across India, starting with the Christmas holiday season. A zone wise breakdown for winter travel in India indicates South India as the most favoured winter travel region followed by West, North, and East. Across South India, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Visakhapatnam were the most popular destinations. Whereas travellers in West India are set to explore Pune, Mumbai, Jaipur, Goa, and Indore. In the North zone, Delhi tops the chart followed by Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, and Dehradun. While Pune, Mumbai, Jaipur, Goa, and Indore were the most travelled destinations in East India. Commenting on these interesting holiday travel trends, Shreerang Godbole, Chief Service Officer & SVP – Product, OYO said, “We are very thrilled to witness uptick in travel demand ahead of Republic Day. Even post the holiday seasons, Indians are showing keen interest in travelling every chance they get, especially by combining public holidays with leaves to make it a long weekend. Destinations close to metropolitan cities are preferred over long-haul destinations for such short getaways. To make travel decisions easier and much more convenient for our users, we, at OYO, continue to ensure a great consumer experience on the OYO app. We have introduced several initiatives including app-level features such as ‘Pay …

Cross Hotels & Resorts is an international hotel management company wholly owned by the ASX-listed Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG). FCTG is one of the world’s largest and most progressive travel companies, incorporating diverse worldwide distribution, in destination travel experiences—transport, touring and hotel management solutions. Cross Hotels & Resorts is a part of FCTG’s Global Hotels, providing management of hotels, resorts, villas, serviced apartments, and branded residences. Cross Hotels & Resorts delivers owner services from sourcing and planning development through technical services to build and pre-open services during ongoing hotel management. Ratchaya Termsilkanok, Vice President, Strategy and Digital Transformation, who leads the intrepid commercial team, began the New Year with a great start. The team has finished 2022 by gaining a knowledge boost. The team went to Thailand and visited all properties and held training sessions at the corporate office. These workshops emphasize expert training in revenue management, reservation system optimization, distribution strategy, analytics, and digital marketing. Termsilkanok has a track record of working in the hospitality sector and is an accomplished revenue management professional. He is competent in online distribution, sales, negotiations, e-commerce, and revenue management. An analytical thinker, he can translate data into strategy. Highly driven, he is eager to run the extra mile.

Shilendran M, Vice President-Sales, CGH Earth said, “We don’t have a presence in the north at present, we are currently confined to South India. We have our hotels in Kerala, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, but we are exploring possibilities of coming to the North India, for which discussions are going on.”  

As per the order issued by general administration department (GAD), Jammu and Kashmir government is all set to outsource assets of tourism department and has set up a panel to decide the mechanism of executing the plan in a phased manner.