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.”

Small Luxury Hotels of The World (SLH), with its India Representatives, ISA Tourism, conducted series of sales meetings with important travel partners and organised Key Partners Meet in Mumbai and New Delhi. SLH has more than 500 member hotels in over 80 countries. In Asia Pacific, there are more than 100 member hotels in its portfolio that offer unique luxury experiences complemented with the highest standards of intuitive service to independently minded upscale travellers. “To augment the brand presence of SLH and to grow the number of discerning Indian guests at our hotels and resorts, it is our first meet conducted at Mumbai and New Delhi with first batch of select key partners that are already booking with us. The meet was also aimed to educate the partners about new SLH affiliated hotels and update them on the channels of bookings. Now with our representative office in India, it is important for us to enhance our local sales presence and provide better customer service to our travel partners.” said Mark Wong, Vice President Asia Pacific of SLH. The event focused onboosting SLH brand awareness with the travel trade and driving reservations from the luxury outbound travel market. Additionally, it will generate leads for small corporate meetings and leisure groups including family travel and small wedding groups. Travel consultants were given more insight on the destinations, niche accommodation, unique activities et al, that is not easily accessible to a casual browser (end customer) planning a trip.

As part of a new facility to ease visitors and skip the queue at Qutub Minar, tourists can purchase tickets online at a discounted rate or just by scanning the QR code through their mobile cameras. Tickets can be booked at asi.payyoumoney.com. Tickets for foreigners is Rs 600, if bought online or by scanning QR codes, they will get it at Rs 550 and for Indians a ticket costs Rs 40, but after discount it will be Rs 35. The culture ministry is planning to extend the discount to all other monuments also. The ministry has also decided to illuminate the Qutub Minar from 7pm-11pm with architectural LED at a monthly cost of Rs 16,615 to boost night tourism. As part of the effort to increase footfall in the evening, timings for public entry at Red Fort, Safdarjung Tomb and Humayun’s Tomb have also been extended to 9 pm. Qutub Minar, however, is already open till 10 pm.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has proposed two resorts – one in Pahalgam in Kashmir and the other in Leh, Ladakh, to boost tourism in the two destinations. The state cabinet has approved the proposal and set aside a token amount of Rs 2 crore. The Maharashtra government will either seek land or ask the local government if they have land and want to construct a resort or if there is a hotel, which they want them to run. A land survey to identify the location will be undertaken in 15 days, Maharashtra tourism minister said he will visit the area in the next 15 days and decide on the proposal. Maharashtra is likely to be the first state in the country to propose investments in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370.

Tamil Nadu will soon see an influx of buyers from within India and other countries to attend CII Tamil Nadu Travel Mart (TTM) scheduled from September 19-22 at Chennai Trade Centre. Participants can also opt for one of four post-event tour programmes that will take them to the inner regions of Tamil Nadu. Most of these tours are already getting booked, T Nataraajan, President, Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society & CEO of GRT Hotels & Resorts claims. “Our Society’s objective is inbound tourism. Tamil Nadu can offer all forms of tourism and is already well-known across the world. The TTM Society is now projecting hitherto unknown aspects of Tamil Nadu spread across its various districts,” he adds.

Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) started his 3-day tour to Leh for exploring the opportunities of increasing tourism in the region. Union Tourism Minister is leading a delegation of senior officials of the Ministry of tourism to meet local administration and tourism stakeholders to discuss and draw plans for development of tourism sector in Ladakh region. After reaching Leh, the Minister started series of meetings with various stakeholders  and discussed proposals of promoting tourism and cultural activities in Ladakh. MP from Ladakh Shri Jamyang Tsering Namgyal was also present during the meeting. The minister also held meeting with members of Cultural Society of Leh. The Minister also held a meeting with Travel Trade Alliance of Ladakh region to understand the problems of stakeholders in tourism sector. In the meeting different stakeholders from the alliance raised their problems before the Minister. They also gave suggestions to Minister for expanding opportunities in  tourism sector in the region. Promoting adventure tourism, winter tourism and cheap and better connectivity from different part of countries to Leh, Kargil and Nubra Valley in all seasons remained the highlight of the discussions. They also requested the Minister to facilitate opening of Hotel Management Institute and Mountaineering Institute in the area to promote local talent in the region. The Alliance members also gave a memorandum regarding their concerns to Union Minister. In response to Alliance concerns and suggestions, the Minister assured them that the Government  is very positive regarding their concerns and full support will be given to Ladakh regarding development of tourism in the newly announced UT. He said that central government has arrived at the doorstep of Ladakh to fulfil the …