Welcoming delegates at the  inauguration of EEMAGINE 2019, Sanjoy Roy, President, eema, said, “The only industry that has continued to grow is the events and experiential industry which is growing at a rate of 17% annually according to Ernst and Young . In our estimation over 30,000 people are involved in this industry across the country.” The theme for  EEMAGINE 2019  was a confluence of ideas to Innovate, Integrate and be inspired. On challenges the industry is facing, he  further added, “Taxation, lack of credit and infrastructure is a problem. What we want the government to do is to help build the industry, what we want them not to do is to tell us what to eat, when to drink, how to listen to music,  how many people we can have at the wedding, what we should feed them and what we should not, Government has no place in any of the above.  We want them to look at reducing GST, rationalise the tender process when it opens itself out to many MSME’s who are locked out of that process. We have taken steps to reach out to the government and get them to hear us.”

Advanced flight bookings to airports around the holy city of Mecca ahead of this year’s Hajj have increased from Asia, Europe and Oceania, according to research by Travelport, a leading technology company serving the global travel industry. According to the analysis*, India (44,611) had the second highest number of bookings in the world, and the highest in Asia. As part of its study, Travelport analyzed bookings made through all global distribution systems (GDS) to King Abdulaziz International Airport, Ta’if Regional Airport and Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport, as of Tuesday 21 July 2019, arriving from Tuesday 9 July 2019 to Thursday 8 August 2019. The company then ran comparable data for last year’s Hajj, so trends could be identified. According to Travelport’s analysis of available data*, Asia recorded the greatest growth in flight bookings made through GDS to airports around Mecca this year in terms of volume, with bookings up by 11,284 (+5%). On a country level, the greatest growth came from Bangladesh, with bookings up by +171% (13,906). The South Asian country is one of five (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Tunisia) benefiting from the Mecca Route initiative, a new service offering immigration pre-clearance for pilgrims at their points of embarkation.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, has announced that they will soon install information boards at major monuments across the country.  These would have information in three foreign languages, the choice of languages would be determined based on the countries from where that particular monument gets the maximum number of tourists. This might also be followed by a digital code on the board, where tourists can point their phones and get information of the monument in detail.

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is going to invest Rs 9,800 crore by June 2022 to upgrade the existing Terminal 1, build a fourth runway and to increase the airport’s capacity to 100 million passengers. The airport in the capital city currently handles 66 million passengers. According to the proposed plan, the entire Terminal 1 apron would be demolished and a new and expanded apron would be constructed to provide higher capacity layout with parking stand for 82 aircraft. Besides, the arrival and departure terminal in T1 would be integrated under one roof. The progressive completion of T1apron would be from July 2020 to June 2022. “We have arranged for funds. We have already gone into international bonds, The airport expansion project cost is met through combination of three components –internal cash accruals, real estate monetisation and borrowings. This includes $350 million FCB, equivalent to Rs 2,425 crore, raised as part of expansion funding and internal cash accruals of Rs 3,000 crore,” told Prabhakar Rao, Deputy Managing Director, GMR Group- which handles the Delhi airport. The DIAL stated that L&T has been entrusted entire engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works of Phase 3A.

Talking about the association of InterGlobe Hotels with brands besides ibis, J.B. Singh, President and CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, says, “Besides ibis, we are also looking at Novotel. We have one under construction now in Bengaluru and are not averse to the idea of doing more properties. But it all depends on the opportunity the market offers. But we are pretty sure, we will come up with a few more.”

Lufthansa has announced a new flight on the Munich-Bengaluru route, which will connect Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru five times a week from Munich from 31 March, 2020. The aircraft to ply on the route will be A350-900 with a configuration of 48 seats in Business Class, 21 seats in Premium Economy Class and 224 in Economy Class. Lufthansa already operates a daily flight from Bengaluru to Frankfurt. The airline has also announced its plans to increase the capacity in the Business Class with a different seat configuration on its flights from Chennai and Bengaluru to Frankfurt from summer 2020. George Ettiyil, Senior Director Sales South Asia of the Lufthansa Group Airlines, said, “Bengaluru Airport connects India’s IT and tech hub, Bengaluru, but also many next tier cities from the rest of the South Indian Region. South India has a growing number of discerning travellers, who travel frequently abroad and increasingly demand a more premium travel experience whether for business or leisure purposes. We are confident that, with this expansion, Lufthansa is catering to the growing needs of this region to explore Europe for business but also leisure.” The flight will depart from Bengaluru on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 01:45 hours and would land in Munich at 07:30 hours. From Munich it will depart on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11:55 hours and will arrive in Bengaluru at 00:05 hours the next day.

Ahead of its 35th annual convention in Kolkata, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has launched the new official logo for the event during the monthly interactive luncheon meeting in Delhi while sharing details about the theme as well. Reminiscent to the cultural importance of West Bengal, the logo and the theme of the convention is based on the most popular public festival of the state- Durga Pooja. Launching the logo and inviting all the IATO members and travel trade, Atree Bhattacharya, Principal Secretary (Tourism), Government of West Bengal said that the eastern state has lot of niche products to offer for enhancing the tourism offerings of the state. “I welcome all the members of IATO to come to Kolkata for the convention and to spend some time in going around Bengal because the state has changed a lot in the recent times. We have made a lot of progress, our government and Chief Minister are very much supportive for tourism. We understand a huge amount of goodwill that can be created from large number of tourists coming to the state during and after the convention. Sharing details about the theme and sessions during the convention, Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO said, “The theme for the convention is Durga Puja. The sessions are yet to be finalised but more likely they will be themed around the tourism potential of the state, prospering cruise tourism in West Bengal, tackling challenges from Online Tour Operators, exploring experiential and heritage tourism in Kolkata. Amid the digitisation of our working styles, we will also have a session on digital tourism apart from a usual motivational session for the IATO members. Everything is well planned and in …

Expedia TAAP (Travel Agent Affiliate Programme), a booking engine which connects travel agents to Expedia Group’s global portfolio of accommodation, flights, packages, car rentals and in-destination activities has milestone of 15 million cumulative trips booked on its platform. Expedia TAAP, which is part of Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS), one of the B2B brands of Expedia Group, used by over 35,000 agencies in over 30 countries Diego Pedrani, Senior Director, Retail Distribution, Expedia Partner SolutionsTAAP brand, says: “We are delighted to mark such a significant moment forExpedia TAAP. Ourpowerful, ready-built agent booking engine has experienced dramatic growth since its creation. TAAP empowers travel agencies togrow their business by offering their travelers competitive rates and availabilities sourced by Expedia Group. Expedia TAAP also offers popular features such as in-destination experiences, last-minute availabilities and competitive package rates.”Pedrani continues: “A year ago, TAAP came under the dedicated care of our team at EPS which has provided additional resourcefor the platform to continue to thrive. As a result, the program has experienced accelerated growth, demonstrating just how much the platform unlocks the power of Expedia Group for our travel agent partners.EPS is laser-focused on providing the expertise, personalised support, technology and tools to enable our travel agent partners to reach their full potential.”

Scheduled from September 19-22 at Chennai Trade Centre, the upcoming CII Tamil Nadu Travel Mart (TTM) will be putting a new focus on Tamil Nadu. Apurva Varma, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, said, “Last TTM was very successful with the attendance of as many as 250 foreign tour operators, for whom, we also organised Fam trips. This year, we are preparing aggressively for it and want it to make it bigger and better.” S Sundar, Honorary Secretary, Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society, claims that with this mart Tamil Nadu will be promoted as a leisure destination. “Tamil Nadu has many avenues for leisure as well as wellness, which attract international and domestic travellers. People can also visit for cultural experiences and affordable shopping. Chennai’s image as a gateway to the South has shifted, which we want to re-establish. At TTM, we will be showcasing Chennai’s museums, beaches, food, and nightlife,” he said.

Kerala Tourism has regained the pre-floods tourist footfalls, registering a growth rate of 14.81 per cent in the second quarter of the current year as against the figures of the corresponding period last year. There was an increase of 639,271 tourists (both domestic and foreign) during April-June this year as compared to the figure during the corresponding period in the previous year. In the first quarter (January-March), the total number of tourist arrivals was 46,12,937 as compared to 43,18,406 during the same period in 2018. The number of domestic tourists during the second quarter of 2019 increased to 47,73,739 as compared to the figures of 41,49,122 during the same period a year earlier, clocking a hefty  15.05 per cent growth rate. Particularly satisfying for Kerala Tourism was the fact that it bucked the negative trend in foreign tourist arrivals in the aftermath of last year’s calamitous floods, attracting 182,320 visitors from abroad in the second quarter of the ongoing year — a growth rate of 8.74 per cent as compared to the same period in the previous year. The total number of arrivals from abroad was 167,666 during April-June 2018. Of the 14 districts in Kerala, Ernakulam registered the highest increase in footfalls with an increase of 1.71 lakh, followed by Idukki with 1.35 lakh. The total number of visitors in Ernakulam was 10,70,613 as against 8,98,784 in the second quarter of 2018 while the figures for Idukki were 5,27,311 and 3,91,674, respectively. Except Kollam and Thrissur, all the other districts showed positive growth rates in tourist arrivals. As for domestic tourists, the number went up by 6,24,617 when compared with the figures of corresponding period in the previous year – an increase …