MSC Cruises, the Swiss-based privately-owned cruise line, celebrated a key milestone by welcoming its 20 millionth cruiser on board the Miami-based MSC Seaside since it started operating purpose-built cruise ships in 2003. Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises’ CEO, said, “Reaching our 20 millionth cruiser is truly a milestone achievement for MSC Cruises, and a representation of how far we’ve come while building a global brand that serves guests from over 170 nationalities across five continents. With our capacity set to triple by 2027, we will continue to raise the bar in two main areas, on board and ashore, offering our guests a unique experience each time they sail with us. MSC Seaside is the perfect example of this: she is one of the most innovative ships at sea in terms of design as well as onboard experience. She also features the latest and some of the most innovative environmental technology at sea.”

Ministry of Defence has exempted the landing and parking charges for civil aircraft operating from IAF airfields under Regional Connectivity Scheme for 32 airfields and 5 Advanced Landing Grounds. In Joint user airfields, civil apron maintenance is done by Airport Authority of India and remaining airfield area (Runway and taxi tracks) maintenance is done by Indian Air Force. The details of exemption given with respect to the airfields/ALG is given below: 1. Adampur 2. Jammu 3. Agra 4. Jorhat 5. Ambala 6. Kalaikunda 7. Awantipur 8. Kargil 9. Allahabad 10. Kanpur (Chakeri) 11. Bagdogra 12. Pathankot 13. Bareilly 14. Pune 15. Bidar 16. Sarsawa 17. Bikaner (Nal) 18. Silchar 19. Bhatinda 20. Srinagar 21. Car Nicobar 22. Tezpur 23. Chandigarh 24. Thanjavur 25. Gorakhpur 26. Uttarlai 27. Darbhanga 28. Along (ALG) 29. Gwalior 30. Passighat (ALG) 31. Hashimara 32. Tuting (ALG) 33. Hindon 34. Walong (ALG) 35. Jamnagar 36. Ziro (ALG) 37. Jaisalmer

The LaLit Suri Hospitality Group is coming up with its new property in Ahmedabad. Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson & Managing Director, LaLit Suri Hospitality Group, says, “We are currently building a new LaLit property in Ahmedabad. It’s situated on the bank of Sabarmati River and should be ready in about 18 months from now.” The hotel will most likely open by next year end and would be the first LaLit hotel in the state of Gujarat.

Odisha Tourism recently concluded its Mumbai roadshow where over 150 tour operators participated. The next leg of this roadshow will be held in various cities like Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad etc. Commissioner cum Secretary Vishal Dev highlighted key offerings of Odisha across segments such as heritage tourism, ecotourism, ethnic tourism, and spiritual tourism. He emphasised the importance of these segment in terms of enhancing the state’s global brand image.

The next convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) is likely to be held in Kolkata from September 12-15, informed Rajesh Mudgill, Hony. Secretary, IATO. He said that further details will be announced in due course of time. “The 35th convention will likely be organised in Kolkata. We had some deliberations regarding the dates but things are almost finalised now. We are looking make this convention much bigger and better,” adds Mudgill. He also said the upcoming monthly luncheon meeting of the association, scheduled on July 10 at The Oberoi, Delhi will be followed by the Executive committee meeting, where the association is expected to discuss more about the preparations for the convention. Apart from working on the new IATO website, Mudgill also informed that the association is also looking to come up with a mobile app to facilitate convenience and more information to its members.

Buzz Travel Marketing, New Delhi, is the new representative for Travel Nevada in India. A state in Western USA, Nevada, is famous for its natural landscape and various entertainment options. Besides this, the state is also famed for its museums, shopping hubs, desert canyons, ghost towns, hot springs etc. Speaking more on this, SanJeet, CEO, Buzz Travel Marketing says, “We are thrilled to represent Nevada in India. Our aim is to showcase the state beyond what people think it to be. We will begin this by educating the travel trade fraternity. We are surely hopeful of increasing the number of Indian travellers to this state and beyond the conventional attractions.”

Flynas, headquartered in Riyadh, has launched a new direct flight between Riyadh and Delhi. The flight will operate five times a week- . Stefan Magiera, Senior Vice President- Commercial, Flynas, said, “Flynas has started flying five times a week from Delhi to Riyadh. In October, we will upgrade this flight to daily. Also, in July, we will increase flights between Hyderabad and Riyadh, currently twice a week to four times a week. This represents almost 300 per cent growth between India and Saudi Arabia, the finest network. This growth is only possible with partners and the support of our friends in India and I would like to say a big thank you to all our agents in this market who have supported us tremendously in the past. We are always trying to become better and improve ourselves by listening to our trade partners and I am very happy and proud to announce that we have joined the BSP in India, something that has been designed for the market and we are in BSP India.”

GoAir has inducted 50th aircraft to its fleet and is planning to add one aircraft each month to move forward aggressively. With an Airbus A320 Neo in its kitty, the budget carrier is aiming to touch 100 million passenger-mark in the next two years. The airline flew 13.55 lakh passengers in May, which is 11.1 percent of the total 122.07 lakh domestic passenger traffic in the month. Operating 270 daily flights connecting 24 domestic and four international destinations, the airline has remarkably doubled its fleet size in less than two years. “In 2016, we looked at an aggressive business strategy. That year we doubled our Airbus A320 aircraft order to 144 to accelerate our growth and at the same time staying profitable. Those goals continue to be our guiding principle from a business perspective,” Jeh Wadia, Managing Director & acting Chief Executive was quoted as in a statement.

The number of passengers flying from Visakhapatnam has been on the rise but there has not been a consequential  increase in the number of flights to cater to the demand. Recently, Alliance Air, proposed to withdraw its Visakhapatnam-Tirupati-Vijayawada daily flight from July 16.  Vice President of Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers’ Association (APATA), Naresh Kumar said that there has been an annual increase of 20% in the number of passengers travelling by air. However, there has been no addition of aircraft. However, Vizag Airport Director, Prakash Reddy, talking to daily, says that there is no confirmation on the withdrawal of Visakhapatnam-Tirupati-Vijayawada operations. Source: TOI

Hyderabad’s Tourism professional SK Hari Kishan Valmikki was honoured with the Personality of the year award for 219 at the recently concluded 48th Skål Asia Area Congress in Bengaluru. Valmiki is a well-known travel professional in Indian as well as asian region of the Skål and has been chosen among 3600 members spread across in the Asian continent. He has twenty years of experience in tourism industry in India. Founder & the MD of Hyderabad-based, Valmiki Travel & Tourism Solutions, he is known for his contribution in creating a positive impact on the tourism industry through various initiatives. He was also part of the bidding committee and was instrumental in bringing 78th Skål World Congress to Hyderabad in 2017 under the leadership of the then President. After Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation, he collaborated with FTAPCCI as a Chairman for Tourism & MiCE Committee to organise the 1st Telangana Tourism Conclave with the primary aim to promote interaction between the tourism industry and stakeholders. He has also submitted white draft to help Government of Telangana’s tourism Policy. On winning the award, an elated Valmiki said, “ The ‘Athithidevo Bhava’ social awareness campaign introduced by the Ministry of Tourism with the objective of sensitising the stakeholders and the general public about various social awareness themes must be propagated more deeply and intensely. This award will increase the responsibility as in individual to do more and better towards the development of the tourism sector and also become a responsible citizen to do something for the society.