Delhi ranks 6th among the emerging world cities in terms of infrastructure and smartness as per the JLL Cities index- research covering 131 major established and emerging markets identifying cities that have the strongest short-term economic and real estate market momentum. Apart from Delhi’s commercial importance, the city is also an important tourist destination, displaying a rich and diverse cultural heritage. Reflective of Delhi’s rich history as one of the centers of the Mughal Empire and the cultural center of North India are a number of religious monuments, forts, tombs, museums and art galleries spread across the city. Delhi’s vast economic base has proven beneficial to Delhi’s lodging industry, which has witnessed consistent growth over the past few years and continues to be a prime area of focus.

CAPA India forecasts that in a medium scenario, India will achieve 20 million Foreign Tourist Arrivals by air by 2031 and to achieve this, Indian carriers will need to increase seat capacity almost 4x, and foreign carriers almost 3x for India to achieve the 20 million FTA target. The recent CAPA India Research and Analysis has also concluded that, air access will remain a key strategic barrier to achieving the target. The bilateral policy settings need to be aligned with the tourism targets and a viable and profitable aviation industry needs to exist.

The World Travel & Tourism Council India Initiative (WTTCII) and Hotelivate has released sixth edition of the India State Ranking Survey along with an award ceremony to felicitate the best-performing states. Goa has been awarded ‘Destination Leadership Award 2019 for the overall best performance in 2019 where the state has managed to score 121 points out of 165, followed by Tamil Nadu which scored 111 points and Delhi which managed to fetch 110 points. Rajeev Talwar, Chairman – WTTCII & CEO, DLF adds, “We are delighted to present to you the 6th Edition of WTTCII-Hotelivate State Ranking Survey 2019. Back in 2009, with the launch of the first State Ranking Survey, the basic premises behind this endeavour was to encourage the state governments to take cognizance of the Tourism industry, which can contribute significantly towards the State’s GDP, employment, infrastructure, as well as have tangible social impact. It is encouraging to see the significant progrress made by certain states as well as to have new states emerge among leaders. States such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Tripura have shown remarkable improvement since we started in 2009 and this is just the purpose of this report. The 6th Edition of this State Ranking Survey also notes, that the North Eastern States are taking rapid strides in Tourism. Their geographic position and infrastructural disadvantages, connectivity issues are something the Government & Industry should take cognizance of. Together, we need to inspire the North Eastern States to grow their unique tourism products for the world of travel.”

According to India Tourism Statistics 2019, 52,66,898 foreign tourists visited India in the first half of 2019, registering a growth of 2.2 per cent over the same period last year, when 51,51,321 FTAs were registered. However, this is still a steep decline when compared to FTA growth in 2018 over 2017, which stood at 7.7 per cent. In the first half of 2019, the month of January recorded the highest number of foreign arrivals, registering 11,03,380 FTAs.

In Q3, 100 rooms have been signed in Meghalaya and 71 have been signed in Nagaland. Right now, there are no branded hotels/rooms in these states. Also, according to an official, the state of Meghalaya already has a Courtyard by Marriott under construction.  In a Hotel Momentum India Report for Q3  by JLL, 36 hotels with 2867 rooms have been signed in the region. However, branded hotel openings during the same period are 22 which have 1474 rooms.

Jewar Airport will come up in 5,000 hectare area when fully constructed and is estimated to cost Rs 29,560 crore. Zurich Airport International AG will develop this airport on the outskirts of Delhi. The proposed airport is said to have six runways, at par with a few world’s largest airports like Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The airport in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar district will be the third in the National Capital Region after Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and in Ghaziabad’s Hindon.

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has announced that, 20 airports are available for bidding under UDAN 4.0 in Maharashtra. These airports include Akola, Baramati, Darna Camp, Dhulia, Jath, Kawalpur, Latur, Osmanabad, Shirpur, Chandrapur, Deolali, Gondia, Karad, Kudal, Lonavla, Paltan, Waluj, Amravati, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri. This will boost the regional connectivity and help promote tourism opportunities in these regions.

MITT has introduced the new Travel Technology sector for its 2020 edition. At its last edition, 4,000 visitors said they were interested in travel technologies such as online booking systems for hotels, transport, and transfers, payment systems, insurance companies and travel agencies. Over 6,000 visitors to MITT 2019 were travel agents. MITT’s event programme includes the popular annual MITT Digital conference, where industry experts discuss the most pressing issues facing travel, current trends, new business opportunities and the future of the tourism industry. This highly-anticipated event creates additional interest and helps attract a targeted audience of travel agents.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, organised a workshop in  Delhi on its ambitious online Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification Programme (IITF) for industry stakeholders to give them an overview about the training programme. The registration for the programme starts from December 20 and the course will begin from January 1, 2020. The fee for the same is Rs 2,000 and applicants belonging to SC/ST category and residents of J &K, Ladakh are exempted from any fee. 10+2 is the minimum educational qualification to enrol into the programme. However, applicants above 40 years of age need 10th passing certificate. Going forward, the Ministry is looking to come up with an e-market place, which can accessed by individual travellers too. For providing support and assistance, the Ministry has also released a new toll free helpline number.   Expressing her views during the workshop, Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India said that the Ministry has received a very good response since they have announced the programme. “We have already received 7,500 queries for IITF on our system. We are expecting to get around 20,000 registrations in one month’s time after it starts. It is very encouraging to see such a response,” she said.   The content of the course and module has been designed by the Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management (IITTM) and strategic and technological support has been provided by Wipro.  

Virgin Atlantic has announced the introduction of their new Indian flying icon- Aria, which will feature on the side of their aircraft from 2020. Aria is the name of Sir Richard’s Great, Great, Grandfather’s wife who was from India. This forms part of a series that have been created to showcase the diverse range of men and women that represent modern Britain. Virgin Atlantic’s use of the Flying Lady was inspired by figureheads that have decorated ships since 16th century and the original version was inspired by the pin up girls made famous by Alberto Vargas in the 1930’s and 40’s and this move represents the changing face of one of Britain’s most loved brands. Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Atlantic, said, “India holds a very special place in our hearts and we are excited to be celebrating 20 years of flying here in 2020. We thought that the best way to celebrate this milestone would be by adding more choice of routes for our customers to fly directly between Mumbai & Delhi to London. We are committed to this market and will continue to invest and grow our operations at the same time as offering an unrivalled service for those choosing to fly with us to the UK and onto the US.’’ With the additional daily flight to Delhi and the newly launched Mumbai service, Virgin Atlantic will offer more choice to India than ever before. Together with Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic will offer seamless connections between Delhi and New York JFK, Boston, Detroit and Atlanta via Heathrow.tgers