Domestic passengers will account for around 63 per cent of the total growth by 2037, or 228 million additional passengers, as per a recent ‘Project Rupee Raftaar’ report by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Foreign passengers will contribute less to overall growth, representing 37 per cent of the total market growth, equal to 131 million additional passengers. Of the 6.1 per cent average annual growth in Indian air passenger demand over the next 20 years, improvements in living standards (via higher incomes) are expected to contribute the major share, at 5.1 percentage points. Favourable population and demographic factors are forecast to contribute 0.6 percentage points to annual growth. Other factors, mainly future technological gains, will contribute 0.8 percentage points per year.

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘The Digi-Smart Indian Business Traveller’ forecasts that amongst Asian business travellers, face-to-face interactions have become the least-popular option, except for hotel check-ins. They value the transparency of choice and information that autonomous digital channels, such as AI, can provide. Similarly, Indian business travellers are shifting to digital, with only 17 per cent of them preferring face-to-face interactions for process like flight check-ins. When choosing flights, convenient schedules and direct flights were consistently amongst the top-three priorities across all business travellers. Travel managers are aware of this and choose travel providers based on their ability to provide convenience and ease travellers’ journeys. Some these functions can be taken over by AI, which can process large about of data faster, and hence increase the efficiency and reduce cost.

A report ‘Journey of Me Insights’ by Amadeus reveals that 60 per cent of Indian travellers receive the most relevant travel recommendations via online channels. Besides, these channels also provide the most relevant travel recommendations to 50 per cent APAC travellers as well. According to the report, travel review sites also contribute to relevant travel recommendations for 54 per cent Indian travellers and 47 per cent APAC travellers. Several other sources for the same include travel agencies, hotel concierge, airline in-flight magazine and social network (family and friends), among others.

The Ultimate Travelling Camps (TUTC) has uber luxurious seasonal camps in Leh and Nubra Valley have begun operations from May 15, 2019, until end of September— a favourable time to visit Ladakh. A delight for the senses and soul, Chamba Camp Thiksey has a newly introduced Wellness Hermitage – Swadhya that will introduce guests to the most unique self-discovery and healing rituals waiting to be rediscovered. These healing therapies are an amalgamation of Ayurvedic and Tibetan healing that has been practiced for thousands of years in Ladakh. The packages start from Rs. 96000 per tent (on double sharing) for 3 night package in Diskit and Rs. 108000 per tent (on double sharing) for 3 night in Thiksey.

The Philippines welcomed 2,204,564 foreign visitors in the first three months of 2019, reflecting a 7.59 percent rise from last year’s 2,049,094 over the same period. The Indian arrivals in the country were 36,275, registering a growth of 9.93%. For March numbers alone, the DOT reports a visitor arrival of 714,309 or an 11.13 percent growth versus the same month last year. Indian arrivals in The Philippines were 10,086, up with a 1.52 percent increase vis-a-vis 9,935 of last year. “Record-high international tourist arrivals posted in the first quarter of the year present an encouraging sign that tourism in the Philippines is on the right track,” states the Department of Tourism (DOT).

OYO Hotels & Homes has announced that it has now become the second-largest hotel group in China and is the world’s sixth largest chain of leased and franchised hotels, homes and living spaces. OYO has expanded its presence to 320 cities, nearly 10,000 OYO-branded hotels and 450,000 rooms, surpassing the scale of traditional and established hotel chain brands in China, such as Home Inn, Hanting and others. The franchisee contract renewal rate of more than 97% has been highly encouraging and reflective of the value that OYO creates for asset owners, while providing quality affordable accommodations to guests. Commenting on the development, Sam Shih, COO, OYO China said, “OYO Jiudian (Hotels) operates like a Chinese company and delivers better living for middle-income people across the country. We have ensured that for the first time you can get a great living space in less than RMB 150 as well. Everyday, over 200,000 heads are on OYO Jiudian pillows in China due to the great experience at low cost. Also, we have enabled jobs for over 100,000 young people due to the occupancy rise and, as more people stay in our hotels, more economic opportunities are created. I am humbled to see that over 97% of franchisee partners have come back and renewed their contracts, a testament to the impact we have had on their business, both at occupancy and revenue levels. Today, we are less than 2% of the country’s accommodation market that stands at ~35 mn rooms. We have an incredible opportunity ahead of us and we are just getting started.”

According to the recent traffic report by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Apr 2019 were 464.47 lakhs as against 453.03 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 2.53%.  However, The passenger load factor in the month of Apr 2019 has shown decreasing trend compared to previous month due to end of vacation period of various sectors.

Thai Smile Airways, the wholly owned regional subsidiary of Thai Airways will resume its Bangkok-Jaipur flight from June 1, 2019. Earlier, the airline used to operate daily flights till March 31 and stopped the operations due to construction of a taxi track parallel to the runway. The flight will take off for Bangkok at 2:15 am from Jaipur International Airport. Reportedly, no flights have been operating between 10 pm to 5 am since March 31. Currently, Air Asia operates flights to Bangkok four days a week.  

The national carrier Air India will be offering an additional 3,500 seats per  week from June 1 on Mumbai-Dubai-Mumbai route. Also, from June 2, 2019, the airline will offer an additional 3,500 seats in a week on the Delhi-Dubai-Delhi route. On domestic front, Air India will be introducing new flights on Varanasi-Chennai-Varanasi route and Bhopal-Pune-Bhopal route starting from June 5, 2019. The flights on the Delhi-Raipur-Delhi route will be increased to 14 flights per week from the existing seven flights per week schedule. The number of flights per week will be increased on Delhi-Amritsar-Delhi, Delhi-Bengaluru-Delhi, Chennai-Kolkata-Chennai, Chennai-Ahmedabad-Chennai, Mumbai-Vizag-Mumbai and Delhi-Vadodara-Delhi routes.

Skyscanner, the world’s travel search engine, has announced its latest partnership with SpiceJet, the Indian low-cost carrier, which will allow Skyscanner users around the world to search for flights and view airfares with SpiceJet. The flight integration, powered by Skyscanner’s global flight search technology, enables travellers in India to have direct access to competitive fares from the Indian airline, which launched in 2005. Mike Ferguson, Commercial Director, APAC at Skyscanner said, “We are truly delighted to announce our latest partnership with SpiceJet. This integration is a great example of how Skyscanner continues to grow our global partnerships and means our platforms will better serve the needs of our 80+ million monthly active users. Travellers are at the very heart of what we do at Skyscanner.” Skyscanner also assimilates b2b agents like Akbar in India