Chamari Rodrigo, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai, has said that the visa-on-arrival scheme for visitors of Indian nationality continues undisturbed. Sri Lanka had suspended its plans to grant visas on arrival for citizens of 39 countries after the devastating Easter suicide bombings. But it was unclear whether India was one of them. The country had started offering free visa on arrival to Indian travellers as part of the its efforts to promote tourism starting May 1, 2019 for six months in its initial run. This scheme was aimed at a total of 36 countries that include India as well as Pakistan. The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai, India along with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) have started taking measures to ensure that tourists return to the island nation soon. They have already met two travel trade associations – Travel Agents Association Of India (TAAI) and Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) – and will soon be meeting the travel trade as well. Rodrigo said, “The country’s security situation now is normal, stability reigns across the country and children are back to school. However, it has had a direct impact to tourism and we have taken some measures to help revive the industry.” In 2017, Sri Lanka saw 3,83,000 Indian nations visiting the country. In 2018, this number jumped to 426,000 but still falling short of their targeted 450,000. Sri Lanka is looking to promote the destination for weddings and film shoots as well apart from FIT leisure.

The European Union Council has announced that travellers in need of a Schengen Visa will need to pay a higher visa fee starting from January 2020. The changes come after the European Union Council gave the final nod to an updated Schengen Visa code on 6 June. The new EU Visa regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Six months after, it will come into force and start applying to all third-country nationals that need a visa to the Schengen zone. Source: www.schengenvisainfo.com

Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru is going for expansion worth 1.2 billion dollars, under which it will get a new runway by the end of this year and a new terminal by 2021. Arun Chandra, General Manager- Aviation Business, Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru, claimed, “Being customer centric airport where each effort and focus of ours goes into making the customer experience different from other airports. That’s what puts us in the league above the rest and therefore we deserve this recognition. The airport has a massive expansion plan, wherein around 1.2 billion dollars will be invested. We are coming up with a new runway by end of this year and a new terminal for about two years from now. Hence, a lot of things are happening, and capacity increase is almost 100 percent, where we will move from the current 26 million capacity, to a 35 million, growing to 45 million capacity over the next two years.”

In an exclusive interview to Tourism Breaking News, JB Singh, President & CEO, says, “We are currently up to 19 hotels and we have exhibited strong growth. We have a committed pipeline of 5-6 hotels. In another 3 years, we will cross 4000 rooms. We continue to look at Tier-1 markets very aggressively. We have also started to look at strong Tier-2 markets as well.”

Air China has announced the suspension of flight CA 890 from Mumbai to Beijing Capital and CA 889 from Beijing Capital to Mumbai from July 21 to October 26, 2019. The airline has also announced the cancellation of flight CA948 on Friday/Saturday and CA 947 on Thursday/Friday on the Delhi- Beijing Capital-Delhi route from September 1 to October 26, 2019. The Chinese flag carrier has advised the passengers planning to travel from Mumbai to re-route/re-issue their travel via Delhi with NO ADC. Air China has advised the tour operators to waitlist the PNR in the same RBD and send them confirmation, if the seats are not available on GDS.

According to a report titled ‘Hospitality insights from the Indian CEO’s desk’ by CII and PwC, the biggest driver in the growth of domestic travel in India is high disposable income. With the buoyant growth in the Indian economy, the Indian middle class has higher disposable income. This has been identified, by about 94 per cent of the respondents as a key factor for the increased domestic travel across the country. Over 40 per cent of the respondents believed that the increased demand would come from new locations largely due to better access and improved infrastructure. Therefore, a significant supply is being developed and likely to develop at such locations. Higher disposable income is driving domestic tourism. In terms of promotion, all the options available today can be seen online and it is very convenient for customers to access the available options. This has made a huge difference to the industry. Growth in the domestic travel has also accentuated the demand for different categories of hotels. Affordability and quality of experience are key factors in defining this shift away from five star to more budget category hotels. Although travellers value loyalty programmes and promotional schemes, the survey participants do not see it as a key determinant in selecting their accommodation. Other factors that are contributing to the growth in domestic tourism include access to online travel and hotel bookings.

With the app economy gaining prominence and hotels increasingly encouraging consumers to have direct transactions, the role of mobile in hotel bookings is expected to increase. As per a study by KPMG-Facebook, 9 out of 10 bookings in the hotel category are expected to be mobile-influenced by 2022. The findings further suggest that in case of hotel bookings, 16 per cent of consumers drop out due to media friction and enhancing the media mix with mobile can reduce this friction by 3 percentage points, leading to a USD 2 billion opportunity for the brand within the category by 2022.

According to FICCI’s recent report titled ‘Opportunities and Financing  Outlook for Aviation Sector’, there will be a huge number of aircraft deliveries in India in the next few years. The report quoted a CAPA study, which estimated that out of 400 aircraft deliveries by FY22 to Indian carriers, 70-80 per cent of them will be either on direct lease or sale and leaseback transactions. To fulfil growing demand, the Government has envisaged huge capex of around US$ 15.5 billion towards development of Greenfield airports, expansion of Brownfield airports, fleet addition & maintenance by Indian Carriers and strengthening ancillary services like skill development, MRO, Cargo handling, amongst others in the value chain. This development plan by airports and airlines requires strong support from Banks, Lessors, Private Equity Firms and other Financial Institutions to cater their funding requirement.

Hans Hotels is looking at opening new properties in Rajasthan and Goa. Rita Shah, CEO, Hans Hotels, said, “We are currently in the planning stages and want to expand the company further. We are deciding on the destinations and are looking at Rajasthan and Goa for opening new properties. Things need to coordinate and combine with the hotel company profile. Currently, our three hotels are running and doing well, and that’s why we are looking to go further. The new properties will be either build by us or will be acquired. The company believes in owning their own properties and running it, and not go for management contracts.”

Trulyy India Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of- The Maharana Bagh in Udaipur. This luxurious resort hotel set in the lap of mountains of Aravalli range to provide a perfect retreat and holiday experience to those who are seeking for some retreat from city life. Ideally located a few kilometers away from the hustle-bustle of the main city of Udaipur, The Maharana Bagh comes across as a gorgeous looking property inside out. While there is abundance of nature all around, the hotel houses comprehensive range of amenities, regal hospitality and a highly pampering stay that will make you want to come back again.