SriLankan Airlines was adjudged the ‘Leading International Airline’ in South Asia for the third consecutive year at the South Asian Travel Awards 2019 (SATA) and also bagged the ‘Leading Airline Passenger Class – Business’ award for the third year running from among airlines in the region. Vipula Gunatilleka, Group Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines, said: “We are delighted to once again be recognized as the airline of choice in the South Asian region. SriLankan has positioned its services to provide rapid connectivity throughout the Indian Ocean region, serving destinations throughout South Asia, the Far East, Australia and the Middle East.” The 4th annual SATA Awards ceremony was held this year on 20th September at Amari Galle and featured airlines from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives. SATA (www.southaisantravelawards.com) is recognized by 15 national tourism bodies and travel trade organisations, and this year drew over 700 nominations for its awards in more than 50 categories ranging from airlines to many different types of hotels, destinations, airport lounges, convention centres, adventure services, destination promoters, dive centres, transport providers, houseboats, travel technology providers and tented camps. The SATA awards ceremonies have been held twice in Sri Lanka, and once each in India and the Maldives. The 2020 ceremony will once again be held in the Maldives. SriLankan has been consistently winning prestigious accolades, including two awards at the World Travel Awards 2018 and 2019 Asia and Australasia; a prestigious Four Star Rating from the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX); ‘Best Full Service Airline in Central & South Asia’ at the Future Travel Experience Asia Awards; and ‘Innovation in Commercial Airline Cabins’ at the In-flight Asia Pacific Awards. Its latest …

According to a recent report, Tourism Source Market Insight: India by ResearchAndMarkets.com, Indian expenditure on outbound tourism is growing at a substantial rate. Total outbound expenditure grew from US$23.7 bn in 2017 to US$25.4 bn in 2018, at a YOY increase of 7%. The report also states, Indian residents between the age of 35 and 49 took the most holidays in 2018. Indian residents within the 25 to 34 age range are one of the quickest growing market segments in terms of traveling.

ITB Asia opened its doors at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Over the next three days from 16 – 18 October 2019, the show will see organisations from across the travel industry gathering to establish contacts and conduct business. ITB Asia continues to break records with exhibitor numbers at all time high. Record number of over 1,300 exhibitors and more than 1,250 buyers are present at this year’s show. The opening ceremony was graced by four guests-of-honour: Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education, Republic of Singapore, who was attending for the second year running; Michael Müller, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, who is attending ITB Asia for the first time; Christian Göke, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Messe Berlin GmbH and Keith Tan, Chief Executive of Singapore Tourism Board.

Pune Airport becomes one of the 1st AAI Airport to start the trials of body scanner for security check. Pune Airport has recently updated that this measure will ensure improved intelligence input for screeners which will enhance the security setup. It will also bring down the waiting time at the security point. The Centre has directed 84 airports across the country to install body scanners by March 2020, replacing existing door frame metal detectors and hand-held scanners besides pat-down searches of passengers to detect metallic objects, according to an official document.

India Government will commence bidding for UDAN under round four of the regional connectivity scheme. The next phase of UDAN is expected to include routes vacated by Jet Airways such as Allahabad-Lucknow, Allahabad-Patna, Delhi-Ozar, Allahabad-Indore, Nagpur-Allahabad among others. Bids are also likely to be invited for routes cancelled by airlines like Zoom Air, Air Odisha, Deccan Charter etc, those which did not get any bids in the last round of the regional connectivity scheme and a large number of routes of north-eastern region will also find place in the upcoming bidding round, sources said.

A recent report by Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition states, following a successful year in 2017 when outbound trips from Russia rose 25%, growth of another 5.8% was seen in 2018, bringing the total up to 42 million trips. In 2017, 40 million trips were made by Russians abroad. Despite the slower pace, outbound tourism in Russia continues to rise. Russians remain as one of the highest spending groups in the world. The statistics were released by Russian Federal State Statistics Service.

Madhya Pradesh is set to get its 7th tiger reserve, which has been proposed to be carved out of the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, and will be called the Ratapani Tiger Reserve. The declaration was reportedly made recently and the committee of the state government has submitted a report consisting of the final outline of the core and buffer areas of the tiger reserve that was proposed. The proposal for creating the Ratapani tiger reserve has apparently been pending with the Government for over a decade. the Ratapani wildlife sanctuary is spread across an area of 823.065 sq km, out of which, 763.812 sq km is the area which has been proposed as the core area and the remaining 59.253 sq km as the buffer area of the proposed tiger reserve. Source: Indian Express

Civil Air Terminal at Hindon Airport has recently commenced its commercial flight operations, Pithoragarh-Hindon. Air Heritage will be operating on this route. However, Star Air has also announced that they will operate flights for Hubli-Hindon-Hubli with effect from 6 November. Star Air will fly EMB-145 (Jet engine), a 50-seater aircraft on this route.

The Fern Hotels & Resorts has opened The Fern Ranthambhore Forest Resort, in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. Overall the brand count has extended to 67 hotels across the country and in Nepal and Seychelles. The Fern Ranthambhore Forest Resort offers 46 cottage rooms, a swimming pool, volleyball & badminton courts, elegant lawns, restaurant and a bar.Suhail Kannampilly, the CEO of the company said, “We are very happy with the company’s growth. We are increasing our presence in key leisure destinations as well which is a very good indicator of the company’s overall progress”Green Valley Restaurant at The Fern Ranthambhore Forest Resort offers a panoramic view of the surrounding nature and the swimming pool. The dining room is decorated in a simplistic, feel-good style and offers cuisines ranging from traditional, authentic to contemporary favourites.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) and GMR group could turn competitors as the bidding process for the Greater Noida airport begins. Official sources said the AAI is in the process of taking legal opinion for placing its bid for the proposed international airport in the national capital region (NCR). It is also consulting the parent Civil Aviation Ministry on the plan and is confident of getting the go-ahead.