The 35th annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) was inaugurated at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in Kolkata. The association is organising the convention in Kolkata after 17 years with the theme, ‘Is Tourism Thriving? Challenges and Opportunities’. The Day 2 of the convention will mark the opening of India Tourism Fair 2019. The convention was graced by Goutam Deb, Tourism Minister, West Bengal, Indranil Sen, Minister of State, Dept. of Information & Culture Affairs and Tourism, Government of West Bengal, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Minister for Tourism, Odia Language, Literature and Culture and Atri Bhattacharya, Principal Secretary Tourism, Government of West Bengal apart from many stalwart of the travel trade were present during the glittering opening ceremony. Apart from highlighting the host state, West Bengal, who was seen promoting Durga Puja, as the part of theme, IATO Convention will play host to 13 other states and Union Territories, who will showcase their tourism products and offerings. On the theme of Durga Puja, there will also be a live demonstration of idol-making. The IATO Hall of Fame Award for 2019 was given to Patu Keswani, CMD, Lemon Tree Hotels. IATO Run for responsible Tourism will be organised on the last day of the convention on September 14.

LOT Polish Airlines, a member of Star Alliance has launched its 8-hour long flight to Warsaw, Poland. The airline will operate this route five times per week on Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This will provide more connectivity from India not only to Poland but also give an option of seamless travel to Central, Western and Eastern Europe. New Delhi is now LOTs sixth destination. “LOT provides not only the shortest and most convenient way of travel to Warsaw but also a perfect gateway to all passengers travelling from Delhi catchment area to Europe. LOT is the leading legacy carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, the fastest growing region of  the continent. There is a huge potential for air travel, almost 9.5 million passengers travelled between India and Europe and  3.3 million between Delhi and Europe during the last 12 months. Our convenient schedule, including an overnight eastbound flight, a comfortable on-board product and seamless connectivity via Warsaw will certainly increase the flow of business and leisure travelers coming to and from India” , says Rafał Milczarski, CEO of LOT Polish Airlines

The Singapore Cruise Forum, held at The Le Meridien, New Delhi, saw major players from the travel trade coming under one roof to discuss and explore the cruise market in India and trends around the same. GB Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, International Group, Singapore Tourism Board, addresses the gathering and mentions the key highlights related to this industry. He says, “The Cruise Forum today sets out to achieve two objectives. First, for the cruise and travel trade partners here to gain insights from the thought-leadership presentations, and secondly, to exchange views during the panel discussions and engage in meaningful conversations and networking with like-minded individuals for us to grow cruise holiday-makers in India and continue entrenching Singapore as a major cruise destination and hub.” 

According to a recent report by JLL, the largest number of hotel room openings in the country in the first half of 2019 were in the state of West Bengal, which welcomed 926 rooms. These keys were part of the four new hotels that opened in the state, of which ITC Royal Bengal alone opened 490 rooms. The report also suggests that Gujarat had the maximum number of hotel signings, with 18 hotels and 1593 rooms, during the same period. Giving a detailed overview of the market, Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels & Hospitality Business, JLL, said, “Occupancy wise, a market that remained a bit challenged in the last first half of the year was Ahmedabad. Goa saw a dip, but that’s not a sustainable challenge. The main reasons for this were the grounding of Jet Airways and a prolonged election season because of which a lot of travel either got deferred or cancelled. Also, there was more outbound travel than travelling within India.”

Robinville Intech concluded a successful roadshow in India in association with its partners: Location Austria, Innsbruck Tourism, Top of Innsbruck – Nordkette, Top of Tyrol – Stubaier Glacier, aDLERS Hotel Innsbruck, Creative Creatures – Film Production Innsbruck, Zell am See – Kaprun Tourism, Vienna Tourism, Vienna Mozart Orchestra, Harry’s Home Hotels, Salzburg AG, Salzkammergut Touristik DMC, Traunsee – Almtal, Salzkammergut Dachstein, McArthur Glen Designer Outlets, Saxony Tourism and Budapest Festival & Tourism Center. The event titled ‘Robinville Tourism Conclave – The Roadshow’, had presentations from all partners which highlighted Austria, Germany and Hungary as the preferred destination for not only Indian outbound travellers but also Indian Film Productions as well. The 2019 Roadshow was held in Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi, and offers Indian Agents and Operators the opportunity for B2B meetings. Ishvinder Maddh, Managing Director & Producer Robinville Intech at the event, said, “Since our 2009 representation of Austrian businesses, tourism interests’ have soared in India, however, the most significant game changer was the emergence of the Indian Film Industry & Indian Productions in Austria in a noticeable way. Additionally, through our cross border relationships we have been able to strengthen the ties between India and Austria, but we have been instrumental in significantly increasing Indian overnights by over 100% across the last 4 years.”

Continuing its focus on developing the cruising market in India, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will organise another edition of its Singapore Cruise Forum on 12 September, today, in New Delhi. The theme of this year’s forum will be ‘Growing Cruise Connections – Achieving Together’ and will be an event involving thought leaders and cruise professionals.

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department Corporation (MPTDC) has issued global tenders to sell seven hotels, which the corporation handles in the state, including the well-known Ashoka Lake View hotel in Bhopal apart from Ujjain’s Hotel Avantika, Pili Kothi in Umariya and a tourist motel in Mandla. The department has also planned to rent heritage sites in the state for marriage celebrations during the upcoming season. This is not the first time that private players have been roped in by the MP Tourism Department. In 2016, the then-government gave many state-owned hotels and motels like those in Datia, Neemuch, Khajuraho, Katni and Pipariya to private operators. It had then made a provision in the state tourism policy to give hotels to private operators under the condition that the company taking the hotel will operate it and pay the lease money annually to the government. Any violation of the agreement lead to the hotel being taken back by the tourism development corporation.

Tejas Express, IRCTC’s first private train is all set to start operations on October 4, 2019 between Delhi and Lucknow. This is also India’s first private train that will be operated, run and managed by the IRCTC. The train will run on all six days of the week except Tuesdays. The train will have facilities and convenience similar to an airline for the passengers. According to reports, after the first few runs and services, IRCTC might give operation controls of Tejas Express to private players. Also, the tickets for the trains can be booked 15 days prior to the journey. As far as ticket prices are concerned, a dynamic fare model might apply for the Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express. The executive class passengers will get lounge facilities at the stations, for which they’ll have to pay a marginal fee. The lounges at the stations will be well-equipped with all the modern conveniences similar to airports. In addition, passengers can also organise business meetings inside the lounge. Tejas Express will have a train driver, guards along with RPF (Railway Protection Force), which will be provided by the Indian Railways. The ticketing staff, housekeeping and catering inside the train will be controlled by IRCTC. It is expected that IRCTC will soon invite tenders for private firms to take over Tejas Express services.

The 4th Odisha Tourism Conclave is going to be held on 18 September at Bhubaneswar.  Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India Prahlad Singh Patel will be attending the inaugural ceremony along with the Minister of Petroleum, Natural Gas & Steel- Dharmendra Pradhan, State Tourism Minister- Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Secretary Tourism, Govt. of Odisha- Vishal Dev, IAS and Governor of Odisha Ganeshi Lal. The day long function will conclude with Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha Sri Naveen Patnaik doing the Valedictory Ceremony along with State Tourism Minister Sri Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Hon’ble Minister, Industries, Govt. of Odisha, Sri Dibya Shankar Mishra, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Odisha Sri Asit Tripathy, IAS and Secretary Tourism, Govt. of Odisha Sri Vishal Dev, IAS.

As part of the week-long Onam celebrations, Kerala Tourism is all set to host the State Tourism Ministers’ Conclave, to be inaugurated by Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan on September 16 in Thiruvananthapuram. Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Minister, Kerala said that the conclave will deliberate on key issues likes sustainable tourism, challenges faced by the industry, and branding and promotion of State Tourism Boards apart from showcasing the story of Kerala’s post-flood resurgence. Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture will be the chief guest at the meet at Leela Raviz, Kovalam. Last year, Onam Week Celebrations were dropped as the state was overwhelmed by the devastating floods. This year, the celebration kicked off from September 10, showcasing the state’s vibrant classical and folk dances, modern art and performing traditions at multiple venues in the state capital and various District Centres.