Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in September 2019 were 7,50,514 as compared to 7,19,845 in September 2018, registering a growth of 4.3%, according to statistics revealed by Ministry of Tourism (MOT). The FTAs during the period January- September 2019 were 76,33,454 as compared to 74,63,664 in January- September 2018 registering a growth of 2.3%. The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India during September, 2019 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (27.86%) followed by United States (10.50%), UK (6.64%), Sri Lanka (4.18%), China (4.13%), Australia (3.45%), Malaysia (3.39%), Japan (2.65), Germany (2.34%), Canada (2.30%), Singapore (1.94%), France (1.84%), Nepal (1.81%), Korea (Rep.) (1.38%) and Afghanistan (1.29%).

India is expected to receive as many as 1.07 million Chinese travellers by 2025, owing to the year-on-year increase in arrivals, according to a report by China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI). The growth rate for India will outperform the total Chinese outbound growth rate with a cumulative increase of 280 per cent between 2018 and 2015. In 2020, the total arrival numbers would reach more than 410,000 and touch the 500,000 mark in 2021. Year 2023 is expected to see further increase in arrivals, touching 730,000, while in 2025, in keeping with the trend, India is expected to receive as many as 1.07 million Chinese tourists.

Travel MiCE Show, this year, has been scheduled for December 14 & 15 at the Trident Chennai. The show is a platform to meet over 65 buyers from across the country. The show will entail pan-India corporate meetings on day 1 and interactions and meetings with MiCE specialists on Day 2.  The show will also conduct over 1800 meetings over two days.

Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, informed that the theme of the Indian pavilion which will be promoted by the Ministry at WTM London would be, ‘Find the Incredible You’, inspired by the award-winning campaign of the ministry released globally a few months ago. The campaign focusses on digital and social media and the promotion of niche tourism products of the country. It focuses on transformative experiences, brought alive through unique storytelling in the format of autobiographies of travellers, with the tagline ‘Find the Incredible You’. “Against the earlier theme of just Incredible India, this time the theme has moved to ‘Find the Incredible You’. This essentially is the philosophy of India. There are just so many things about India, which we feel that tourists from all over the world should be coming and discovering about themselves, weather it could be realm of Yoga or wellness or adventure or heritage or just disappearing into thousand year old history that our country is able to showcase. We are also celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year. This is going to be one significant part of the Indian pavilion at WTM London. Other thing, which we are going to promote is the new destinations such as the Statue of Unity situated in Gujarat, which is also the tallest statue in the world. There are other tourism destinations developing around the statue, which would also remain as one significant theme of our pavilion,” Brar explained. Apart from the different stakeholders of the industry, including state governments, wellness organisations, tour operators and hotels are also participating in WTM London along with the Ministry of Tourism, Government …

Goa is all set to have a convention centre in Panaji, Goa. Nikhil Desai, MD, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, said, “For MiCE, there is a full-fledged convention centre in the offing at Panaji, with a capacity of 1400 people, with a mini expo centre as well. Also, there are talks about a large convention centre, with about 5000 seating capacity, to come up in Dona Paula near Panaji.” Goa has a lot of scope in terms of MiCE and is one of the most favoured destinations for events. Having convention centres in the state would certainly boost the number of conferences as well as arrivals to the state.

Lords Hotels & Resorts has recently added a new property in Vyara, a town and district headquarters in Tapi district of Gujarat. To be launched under the ‘Club & Resort’ brand, the property offers 55 rooms and suites and is expected to commence operations after implementation of its brand standards. Lords Club and Resort – Vyara offers facilities for meeting and conferences, a spa, well-equipped gym and fitness center, swimming pool, and a Game Zone and discotheque. It also has a multi-cuisine restaurant and other outdoor venues for events. The property is located at a distance of 52 Kms from Surat International Airport and 4 Kms from Vyara Railway Station. It is in proximity to famous destinations like Jalvatika Garden, Gaytri Mandir, Vyara fort, Mayadevi Waterfall Temple, Padamdugri to mention a few. The promoters of this property are KD Jain, Anmol Choriya and Vinay Choriya who felt that there was a need for branded hotel in the location. Pushpendra Bansal, COO – Lords Hotels and Resorts, says, “Vyara has emerged as a vibrant destination thus offering tremendous scope for hospitality industry to grow.” Rishi Puri, Sr. Vice President – Lords Hotels and Resorts, says, “We welcome Lords Resort and Club into the Lords family and are confident of its success once it’s launched.”

The State Government of Karnataka has decided to return the Rs 96 crore under the Swadesh Darshan programme, which was sanctioned by MOT for development of coastal tourism projects in three districts of the state, after not being able to implement the project within the stipulated time. According to CT Ravi, Tourism Minister, Karnataka, reportedly said that the Centre had sanctioned Rs 95 crore for the integrated development of coastal tourism circuits in Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi districts in 2015-16. After that MOT also released Rs 19 crore to start the work. However, the state could not make any progress, and thus has decided to return the sanctioned amount. They will now submit a new implementable detailed project report in two months and get it sanctioned again.

Charanjit Singh Channi, Cabinet Minister for Tourism & Culture Affairs, Government of Punjab, has said that the Government is investing around Rs 100 crore for developing heritage tourism. He said, “There are a lot of heritage buildings in Punjab, which we want to develop to attract tourists. Projects worth about Rs 100 crore are being carried out in Punjab for heritage tourism. Apart from that, there are a lot of other initiatives going on in Amritsar, including renovation of all the buildings.” He also adds, “Among other things, we are developing adventure sports activities in Pinkasia, which is in Ropar district. We are also developing a convention centre here. In Chamkaur Sahib, we are beautifying the façade. Also, in Fatehpur Sahib, there is a lot of development going on. In the coming days, one would see more such projects coming up in the state,” he shares. Channi said that while the state’s tourism department is leaving no stone unturned in promoting religious tourism further, it is also focusing on promoting heritage, medical, and eco-tourism.”

The Fern Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of The Fern Residency in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. This is the 16th hotel which the company is managing in the state. Overall the company’s count has extended to 69 hotels across the country and in Nepal and Seychelles. The Fern Residency, Aurangabad is a 120-room business hotel offering modern-day accommodations, swimming pool and state-of-art banquet halls.  Suhail Kannampilly, the CEO of the company said, “People visiting Aurangabad which is steeped in history will be delighted by the hospitality extended to them. The Fern brand is extremely popular in the state and this property will go a long way in further expanding the popularity.”

Gurgaon-based travel fintech company SanKash and Travel Boutique Online has entered into a strategic partnership. The association will enable the travel agents operating both online and offline to fast track the processing of their travel packages without any hassle and drive double-digit revenue growth. While TBO will bring its reach and distribution, SanKash will contribute its entire payment know-how, operations and technology to the travel agents associated with TBO. They can adopt SanKash’s Monthly Payment Plan and help customers book their dream vacation packages, which will eventually increase their customer uptake and upsell services without money becoming an issue. Aiming to make holiday trips a part of the simple and accessible pleasures of life, SanKash comes as a revolutionary travel fintech company that focuses on helping Travel Agents and Tour Operators provide pay-in-parts / monthly EMI solutions for their travellers. Through this unique value proposition, it intends to create best-in-class customer and partner focused affordability solutions for the travel industry. Sankash is a B2B service that makes payment (loan disbursement) to travel agents bank account instead of customers account, thus empowering the travel agent but enabling customers to travel.