The Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (Independent charge), Prahlad Singh Patel held a meeting with all local stakeholders related to tourism sector in Ladakh. The Minster announced that the Ministry of Tourism will provide full support to the local administration in preparing a new Tourism Policy for  Ladakh. He also assured them that if needed, the Ministry people will visit every month to Ladakh to provide their support and help regarding this matter. The Minister also said that right now Ladakh region has only 14 monuments under ASI protection and the Ministry is willing to increase it to double or triple fold.. He further added that there are several many unknown yet important monuments available in Leh and Kargil regions which can be protected by ASI. In the meeting, the local stakeholders appreciated Minister’s initiative to visit Ladakh and hold fruitful meetings. They demanded support of Government of India in various matters like better connectivity, better infrastructure, rebate in taxation to boost tourism industry, to promote village tourism and adventure tourism among others. The Union Minister assured them that the Ministry and Government of India have taken their demands positively and full support will be provided to Ladakh to enable quality tourism in order to make it one of the best tourist destinations in the world . The Meeting started with a presentation given by ShriVikas Rustagi, Joint Director General, Ministryof Tourism regarding roadmap to boost tourism in Ladakh region. In the presentation it was showcased that Ladakh has great potential to attract tourists from across the globe and we need to capitalize the opportunity with better planning. He said that, a special place has been given to …

Passengers flying via Air India will avail a meet and greet service called ‘Namaskar Sewa’ from 23 September. This service can be availed at Rs 750 for domestic passengers and Rs 1500 for international fliers. In this service, dedicated personnel will receive customers at the airport entry gate and assist them till they are seated in the aircraft. Air India, which is already offering similar services to first class passengers, will be starting the initiative on a pilot basis at the Delhi airport in September. The Namaskar Sewa will be provided to passengers for a nominal fee, according to an airline official. He stated further that the initiative would be focusing more on international passengers, particularly those in transit, as they have to go from one terminal to another. Air India would have a dedicated team of up to three personnel to help passengers who register for the services through the web link ‘namaskarsewa.in’. “The number of personnel will depend on the number of customers or group’s size,” the official shared. The initiative is being rolled out at a time when Air India is dealing with stiff competition and grievances regarding services from passengers. After Delhi, the Namaskar Sewa will be rolled out at Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata airports, where Air India has sizeable international operations.

Travel Luxury Show 2019 is scheduled from September 14-15, 2019 at the Crowne Plaza Jaipur. This show will connect sellers to the travel trade luxury buyers across India, targeting Tier-II and Tier-III cities.  The show will also stage knowledge session where industry stalwarts will educate the audience on the evolving luxury travel market in the country.

In a recent interview, Jean-Michel Cassé, Chief Operating Officer (COO) – India & South Asia, Accor, says, “We saw tremendous growth in Q1 as compared to the second quarter and this can be attributed to multiple factors. Overall India witnessed strong demand in Jan-Feb which worked in our favour. Most cities recorded double digit growth with high MICE demand, weddings and corporate movement. Most of our hotels in constraint markets witnessed strong rate increases as well during this period.  Beginning of the year we also launched two properties Mercure Goa Devaaya Retreat and ibis Kolkata Rajarhat, which helped us increase our visibility across states.”

ADTOI is going to launch its 11th Chapter in Madhya Pradesh on September 08, 2019 at Minto Hall, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Surendra Singh Baghel, Hon’ble Tourism Minister of Madhya Pradesh has very kindly accorded his consent  to grace the occasion as Chief Guest of the function. Shri. Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board will also be present during the chapter launch.   Names of the nominated Office Bearers of the ADTOI M.P. chapter are as follows:-ATUL SINGH OF TRAVEL CONNECTION, INDORE-  CHAPTER CHAIRMAN. PRATUL TRIVEDI OF LETZ GO MICE, INDORE-  CHAPTER SECRETARY SANDEEP PANDYA OF TOUR TRAVEL WORLD, BHOPAL-   CHAPTER TREASURER NEELAM SINGH OF TRAVEL INDIA TOURISM, BHOPAL-   CHAPTER LADY ENTREPRENEUR OFFICER (LEO) 

Forty years ago on September 1, 1979, the first flight of SriLankan Airlines was made, the aircraft rising gracefully from Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport to wing its way to Bangkok. It was the modest start of the National Carrier’s four decades as the mainstay of air travel and air cargo transportation for the island nation’s economy. Today, SriLankan Airlines is a global award winning airline that carries millions of passengers each year with a route network of 109 cities in 48 countries, including codeshare operations in partnership with the world’s finest airlines. It is firmly established as one of the leading airlines in the Indian Ocean region, being the largest carrier to both Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and the largest foreign airline in India. Vipula Gunatilleka, Group CEO of SriLankan Airlines said: “Our objective is to become the most customer-centric airline in Asia, both in the air and on the ground, building on our four decades of excellence in customer service for which we have won numerous international accolades with our emphasis on safety, punctuality and service.” A member of the prestigious oneworld global airline partnership, SriLankan Airlines also connects travelers to over 1,000 cities in 160 countries through its oneworld partner airlines. Travelers get to enjoy SriLankan’s all-Airbus fleet of modern aircraft with their latest on-board comforts such as flatbeds in Business Class and sophisticated in-flight entertainment that complement its world class service. With SriLankan being repeatedly named one of the most punctual airlines in the world, they also get to enjoy on-time departure and arrival, a rarity in air travel. But SriLankan isn’t only an airline. To support the operations of every airline that flies to Colombo, …

India has jumped up six places to rank 34th on world travel and tourism competitiveness index by World Economic Forum. The total number of international tourist arrivals in 2019 are 15,542,900 with US$ 27,365.1 million international tourism inbound receipts. The average receipt per arrival is US$ 1,760.6. In 2015, India ranked 52nd and 40th in 2017.

J K Mohanty, CMD – Swosti Group, has revealed that they are coming up with two beach resort projects in Odisha, one at Gopalpur on Sea and another at Puri.  He says, “We already have land at Puri and acquired a patch of land at Gopalpur on Sea. Very soon, Swosti Group will put up world-class luxury beach resorts at these places. Besides, beach resorts in Puri and Gopalpur, Swosti Group is also working on two leisure destination resorts at Satapada and Bhitarkanika, the place called the Mini Amazon of India. Swosti Group is also planning to expand its hospitality business in Daringbadi (which is known as Kashmir of Odisha) and at Belghar (Phulbani area).”

For Accor, H1 performance was higher than last year by 13 percent in line to budget in terms of room revenue but slightly below budget for Food and , Beverage because of the MICE segment, said Jean-Michel Cassé, Chief Operating Officer (COO) – India & South Asia, Accor. Bangalore hotels recorded maximum occupancy growth with almost 20 percent rate growth. Goa had a soft Q1 with under 5 percent RevPAR growth. Hotels in Mumbai recorded around 80 percent occupancy with almost 12-15 percent rate increase. Delhi NCR hotels were at around 75 percent with double digit ADR growths.

In a recent interview, Atul Jain, Chief Operating Officer, Best Western Hotels & Resorts, India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, says, “By the end of this year, 6 more Best Western-branded hotels are on track to open their doors. This include Best Western brand in New Delhi, Nawanshahr and Goa;  Best Western Plus brand in Vijag and Gurgaon. We look forward to introducing guests the exciting new brands of Best Western in the future, as we continue to develop a collection of high-quality hotels in key cities and resort locations, all across India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka.”