Switzerland Tourism invites members of India’s travel trade to participate in its exclusive webinar series. The webinar series aims to educate the trade about the most sought-after destinations, activities and attractions in Switzerland and share news and updates that are important for their clients. The webinar scheduled on Monday, 17th February, 2020 at 2:30 pm IST will highlight the Swiss Travel System and its products. Viewers get a chance to learn about one of the most efficient transportation networks in the world, as well as the popular Swiss Travel Pass, an all-in-one ticket offering travellers unlimited travel by train, bus and boat including panoramic routes. Travel partners who attend all the webinars also stand a chance of winning a trip to Switzerland. Lyandra D’Souza, Sales & Marketing Manager India – Swiss Travel System, says, “Through our webinar today, the travel trade across India will have the opportunity to learn about the Swiss Travel System products, offerings and benefits for 2020. Additionally, our goal is to give the trade the knowledge and tools to sell the Swiss Travel Pass and to inspire them to develop new package ideas centered around the public transport network in Switzerland. The Indian market is vitally important for Swiss Travel System and we are looking forward to working together with our trade partners to inspire more Indians to travel by public transport in Switzerland for the upcoming summer travel season.” Those who are interested in participating can get in touch with Jaspreet Kaur for further information either via email jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91-9650196532.  

Senior bureaucrat Rajiv Bansal has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India, according to a Personnel Ministry order. Bansal, a 1988-batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, is at present additional Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The post became vacant after incumbent Ashwani Lohani completed his tenure. Source: PTI  

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators Of India (ADTOI) has announced its next convention dates, 10-12 April 2020, which will take place in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh with the support of MP Tourism. The venue of the convention will be Minto Hall, Bhopal. The last ADTOI Convention was held from 16-18 August in Ahmedabad, Gujarat which concluded successfully with over 500 registrations. PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, revealed that the convention will be inaugurated by Kamal Nath, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh and the Guest of Honour will be Surendra Singh Baghel, Tourism Minister, MP in the presence of Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Secretary, Tourism, MP.

Vilas Pawar, CEO, Choice Hotels India, has said, “We are evaluating various brands of Choice Hotels to open in the Indian market. We are scouting for properties/locations for our Ascend brand which is the most high-end brand of Choice. We are looking at the Indian market aggressively and will be opening about 7 hotels this year and all these properties will open in the next 7-8 months. We are looking at opening up 7-10 hotels every year. Besides, this, we are not looking for anything to develop in India. India is a difficult market vis-à-vis return on investment.”

Zubin Saxena, MD and VP, Operations, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, recently has said, “Over the last 5 years, we have signed close to 70 hotels, which means we have been signing 12-15 hotels every year and are opening 8-10 hotels every year. Our pace will continue and for this year again, we are looking at solid expansion where we are targeting to open 7-8 hotels. We are opening the first Radisson Red in Asia Pacific in Mohali, which will open in the third quarter of this year.”

According to HVS’ H2O (monthly newsletter),the year-on-year analysis of the 13 markets in India reveals that Bengaluru and Chennai recorded growth in RevPAR at 12.4 per cent (standing at Rs4,184) and 6.4 per cent (standing at Rs3,699), respectively. Ahmedabad and Kolkata witnessed a drop in RevPAR numbers by 5.1 per cent (standing at Rs3,147) and 3.3 per cent (standing at Rs4,922), respectively.

Accor Showcase is back with its fourth edition at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity on Wednesday, 26 February and Sofitel Mumbai BKC on Friday 28 February. This year, Showcase will be bigger and better with representatives from more than 45 Accor hotels and resorts globally coming together under one roof. Of the 50 properties, forty listed names are international properties such as, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Fairmont Singapore, Swissotel Al Ghurair, Swissotel Living Al Ghurair, Movenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives and Movenpick BDMS Wellness Resort, etc. Marking its 17th year in the industry worldwide, Accor Showcase 2020 will represent Accor’s new vision ALL – Accor Live Limitless which promises to provide an all-encompassing platform which enacts as a lifestyle companion integrating rewards, services and experiences. Aiming at bringing value, whether guests live, work or play, elevating Accor’s relationship, from transactional to emotional and encouraging them to Live Limitless.

Arabian Travel Market 2020 (ATM) has appointed Nijhawan Group to assist with the process of identifying premium quality hosted buyers from India and the Middle East region. With over 40 years’ experience in India as a leading travel conglomerate, Nijhawan Group has been sourcing hosted buyers since 2017. Commenting on the partnership, Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Direct ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “With extensive experience of the Indian and Middle Eastern travel markets, Nijhawan Group is the perfect representative to assist with this year’s hosted buyer programme and to help ensure the recruitment of key, quality players from top source markets such as India. Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, added: “We are delighted to partner with ATM for the upcoming travel showcase in Dubai. Over the coming months we are committed to ensuring a high standard of quality buyers who will benefit from meeting with sellers in a focused and organised environment.” ATM 2020 will also work with Nijhawan Group to create content on the outbound travel trends emerging from the Indian market ahead of the launch of a new series of buyer forums and networking events at this year’s showcase which will focus on India, as well as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and UAE.

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to promote rural tourism to boost economic activities in the state. PC Sharma, Cabinet Minister of Public Relations Department said the state has received Rs 229 crore as initial funding from the Central government for the same. As per reports, the MP government has identified 100 villages that could be showcased for rural tourism. This would involve a great deal of capacity building and training apart from preparing the villagers for rural homestays and other activities. “The objective of development of rural tourism in MP is to showcase rural life, culture, heritage art and craft, handloom and textile. We will select and groom village entertainment groups to unveil the local history and culture, natural and oral treasures, which are major tourist attraction these days,” said Sharma.

The Ministry of Culture has developed three virtual experiential museums at Man Mahal in Varanasi, Ajanta Caves at National Museum, Delhi and Humayun Tomb in Delhi informed Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) of Culture and Tourism. Two more such museums are under development. The Ministry has also proposed to set up a National Virtual Experiential Site Museum at Vadnagar, Gujarat. In 2016, the Ministry of Culture was given the task of establishing Virtual Museums in at least 50 locations.