VCADomestic air passenger traffic grew to 14.41 crore in 2019, an increase of just 3.74 per cent compared to 2018, revealed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).  The domestic air passenger traffic grew by 18.6 per cent to 13.89 crore in 2018. The decline in growth is attributed to the collapse of Jet Airways in April 2019. The passenger load factors of all major airlines – Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, AirAsia India and Vistara. The domestic air passenger traffic in December 2019 increased by 2.56 per cent to 1.30 crore compared to the same month in 2018. In comparison, the growth in domestic traffic in November 2019 was 11.18 per cent.

According to the data released by South African Tourism office in India, Mumbai continued to be the leading source market for South Africa in India. Between January to June 2019, around 43% of total Indian visitors to the Rainbow Nation were from Mumbai. Delhi managed to be the second leading source market for the destination in India contributing 21% of the total Indian visitors during the same period. One thing remained common for both cities – the summer and winter holiday months of April, May and December emerged as preferred travel months among Mumbaikars as well as Delhiites for their South Africa trips. With 81,316 Indian arrivals as of October 2019, the destination board shared a positive outlook for the Indian market, noting that as of September 2019, total spends by Indian travellers in South Africa had reached a four-year high. The average length of stay witnessed a year on year increase of 8% in the first half of 2019.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the period January- December 2019 were 1,08,95,305 as compared to 1,05,57,976 in January- December 2018 registering a growth of 3.2%, reveals recently released statistics by Ministry of Tourism. FTAs in December 2019 were 12,25,672 as compared to 11,91,948 in December 2018 registering a growth of 2.9%.

LOT Polish Airlines has decided to increase the number of weekly Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights from five to seven effective 14th September 2020. India-originating passengers can now further benefit from the new codeshare agreement between Star Alliance members LOT Polish Airlines and Air India, offering seamless connectivity via New Delhi’s Terminal 3 from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. On its Delhi-Warsaw route, LOT Polish Airlines features Indian meals in all three cabins (LOT Business Class, LOT Premium Economy Class, LOT Economy Class), complimentary beverages including alcoholic drinks as well as inflight entertainment system including the latest Bollywood releases in Hindi. Amit Ray, Regional Director India and DACH Markets of LOT Polish Airlines: “Our market entry in India has been a great success since the beginning. We have seen strong bookings from corporate and leisure travellers alike. We are therefore very pleased to increase our frequency.”

Travel Nevada will host a webinar for travel agents on 24th January. For registration and more details on the event, please contact, Ritesh Ahluwalia at ritesh.ahluwalia@buzzindia.in or +91 9818576755. Over 500 agents from across India are expected to participate. Through this, agents will learn about the key highlights of the destination and will be educated on what makes Nevada an ideal destination for Indian tourists.

Asia Pacific hotel performance for 2019 by STR states that Delhi hotels have recorded its fifth consecutive year of RevPAR growth (8.5% to Rs 4801.75), and the absolute occupancy level was the market’s highest for any year since 2007. STR analysts point to a 7.1% jump in demand as the driver of that performance. November was the strongest month of the year for RevPAR growth due to the Diwali festival calendar shift from November in 2018 to October in 2019. Occupancy: +4.9% to 73.0% ADR: +3.4% to INR6,581.95 RevPAR: +8.5% to INR4,801.75

Martin R. Smura, CEO, Kempinski Hotels and Chairman of the Management Board, says,”India is a very dynamic market and offers enormous potential for future growth in the hospitality sector. Our plans are to intensify our efforts to bring Kempinski back on the Indian sub-continent. India is a growing market to us where we see huge potential for future growth for outbound travellers. Several of our hotels already enjoy a strong wedding business from India. We tapped into the market last year and opened a Global Sales Offices in partnership with Nijhawan Group. Since 2018, we see very promising results with revenue from the Indian market increasing by 30%.  

Explaining the group’s plans for 2020, Pradipta Mohapatra, Asst. Vice President (Sales & Marketing), MAYFAIR Hotels & Resorts, says, “We will be opening a tea resort in Siliguri this year. Other projects in the pipeline include a 252-key five-star deluxe property in Kolkata- the work for which is also underway, and we plan to make it operational latest by early 2021. We are also in process of establishing a Golf Resort in Satapada region of Puri, Odisha, wherein our group will be investing Rs 125 Crores. It will be a Five Star Deluxe property featuring facilities like helipads.

Accor has announced its Showcase, at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity on 26 February and Sofitel Mumbai BKC on 28 February. Accor Showcase acts a catalyst for interaction with the industry representatives such as travel agents, wedding planners, corporate clients, tourism partners and MICE organisers. Accor representatives from around the world provide insights about Accor’s new developments, products, and services to enhance the overall experiences for travellers. The 2020 Accor Showcase will also represent Accor’s new vision ALL – Accor Live Limitless which represents live, work or play- the three essentials of the everyday life. ALL, our all-encompassing platform elevates Accor’s relationship with clients, members and partners from transactional to emotional and invent a completely new aspirational way to Live Limitless. ALL’s new application and website which helps guests, travel agents, trip organisers, incentive planners, to book room, experiences, even meetings and events. “Since last three years, Accor Showcase has achieved prominence in the travel and tourism industry. In the last edition of Accor Showcase we hosted around 1,600 delegates from the country. This year Accor Showcase will focus on strengthening the luxury portfolio messaging and also familiarize the delegates with our vision of ALL-Accor Live Limitless. We are hopeful that the fourth edition of Accor Showcase will create a great buzz in the industry.” said Kerrie Hannaford, VP, Commercial, India and South Asia, Accor

VFS Global is increasing its manpower and visa handling capacity by 40 per cent across its centres in South Asia region ahead of the peak season rush. Sharing the news, Sanjeet Joher, Head- South Asia, VFS Global, said that they are working to enhance the visa appointment system as well, apart from extra operational hours. “We are increasing the size of our team to provide better services to our customers. We want to ensure that they have a seamless experience when they visit VFS with the help of our customer relationship managers across our centres. In our efforts to educate the trade about our services and initiatives, we will organise more training sessions and roadshows with travel agents. We also want to debunk myths around visa application and procedures,” he said.