FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘Redefining Corporate Travel Management’ forecasts that there is a growing demand for mobile capabilities in business travel due to higher volumes of millennial travellers. These travellers prefer to research and book both flights and accommodations on mobile. When booking a trip themselves, 60 per cent of India’s millennial business travellers do so online through their desktop or laptop, with 47 per cent of them booking through their smartphones. Travellers today want relevant and timely content at their fingertips. The shifting trends among Indian business travellers, before and during their journeys, is pushing the business travel industry to adapt continually to provide responsive, relevant and timely services for customers. Millennial travellers rely on technology for the entire travel booking process – from online reviews to mobile booking and check-in to staying connected with colleagues in a new city. Majority of travellers prefer online methods of research as it provides greater information, occasionally better deals and higher level of convenience. Hence, providing a seamless and mobile friendly travel experience in a business ecosystem, can help improve an employee’s overall travel experience. Business and leisure travellers alike are demanding greater omni-channel support throughout their travel journey. This presents a significant opportunity for travel management companies, as well as other businesses that support them. Such companies need to provide digital processes and support to enhance their customer’s experience.

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts expands its portfolio in Delhi- NCR region with the signing of another project in Ghaziabad. This will be Sarovar’s eighth property in Uttar Pradesh. The other hotels of the group are in Agra, Vrindavan, Lucknow, Jhansi and a recently signed hotel in Greater Noida West. Commenting on the development, Anil Madhok, Executive Chairman, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said “In order to maximize further growth and expansion opportunities, we are delighted to consolidate on our presence in Delhi NCR. With the opening of Sarovar Portico, we aim to cater to these markets by offering best value to business and leisure travellers in sync with Sarovar’s signature hospitality.  

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), New Delhi, is planning to roll out express check-in counter service for air passengers taking domestic flights from the airport. The service can only be availed by travellers with handbags as luggage. Reportedly, the Delhi airport will introduce this facility by April 2019 at Terminal 2, where low-cost airlines such as Indigo, SpiceJet and GoAir operate. The facility is expected to be extended to Terminals 1 and 3 in future.  

The growth of more than 20 per cent in the number of new routes in India provided a sizeable boost to passenger demand in the market, according to a latest report by International Air Transport Association (IATA). The surging number of international flyers is drawing airlines to new air routes in India. The increase in international air traffic from India and a focus on business and leisure travellers has prompted not only foreign airlines such as Air Italy and NokScoot to launch new routes to destinations in the country but has also got several Indian carriers including Jet Airways and IndiGo to start operations on foreign routes. Although the combination of GDP and network developments explain more than three quarters of the variation in domestic revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) growth rates over time, other factors such as tourism attractiveness, availability of travel alternatives, trade flows and demographics account for the residual growth in traffic in the country. India has become the third largest domestic aviation market in the world and is expected to overtake the UK to become the third largest air passenger market by 2025, states a report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). The report reveals that by 2036, India is estimated to have 480 million flyers, which will be more than that of Japan (just under 225 million) and Germany (just over 200 million) together.

Atlas Tours & Travels, a pioneer in the Hajj, Umrah and Halal tourism business in India with over 33 years of experience in this industry, launched India’s first online Umrah booking portal in 2018 to further widen its reach across the country. The platform serves as an end-to-end reservation and servicing tool for its booking centers. Hasan Patel, Director, Atlas Tours & Travels, says, “With listings of our various tour programs year-round, it serves as an easy to use booking engine for our partners. India is seeing very high growth for Umrah tours and many travelers are from tier II and tier III cities. This surge of new travelers in the interiors provides us with a great opportunity to empower our partners present in various cities, towns and districts in India. Atlas is a brand synonymous with Umrah and is known for providing quality. We do this by controlling the entire supply chain and our strong operations team based in Saudi Arabia. Our on-ground capabilities combined with technology and distribution makes us a formidable strength in the industry.”

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced that 2019 will mark record growth for Hyatt in India. Expansion plans foresee the addition of over 2,100 guestrooms through the opening of more than 14 new properties over the next 24 months. Aside from growth in the larger capital cities, the emphasis will be on leisure and cultural destinations, with a focus on emerging cities within India. As a result of an increasingly favorable business climate and heightened tourism spend, encouraged by relaxed visa rules and a growing upper middle class, there is a general demand for growth in the hospitality industry in India. This expansion includes hotels in eight new markets in the country, thereby establishing Hyatt’s brand presence across 27 cities in India over the next 24 months. “Hyatt is one of the longest-running international hotel management brands in India, the first Hyatt hotels in India opened over 30 years ago,” said Dhruva Rathore, Vice President Development-India, Hyatt. “Our heritage and experience in this complex market, paired with the strong relationships we hold with local developers and owners has helped make India one of the top three growth markets for Hyatt globally.”

TBO Group has announced the acquisition of Island Hopper and Clickitbookit; who are leading companies in terms of passengers visiting the island nations of Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles. Speaking on the acquisition, Ankush Nijhawan, Co-Founder, TBO Group, said, “Island Hopper and Clickitbookit has enjoyed a ‘Numero Uno’ position in these markets and with this acquisition TBO will expand its leisure travel product footprint and scope in these island nations too.”

Popular wisdom says travel to Europe is only for the summers. Globus is now challenging this with the introduction of Escapes By Globus. They are urging travellers to travel in the ‘low season’. For 2019 – 20, new vacations have been introduced for Italy, Scotland, Spain and Egypt. Beyond Europe, there are vacations to Brazil and Argentina as well. Launched in 2017, ‘Escapes’ showcases vacations to destinations which are attractive even during the winter months from October to April. Travellers can now visit the must-see landmarks and experience the culture without the crowds—and even better—without the high-season prices. Starting from as low as $100 per person per day, these Escapes offer the trademark premium quality that Globus provides to all its travellers. Just like a regular Globus tour, an expert Tour Director escorts them around, indulges them in authentic destination experiences and the group comprises of international travelling companions. “Escapes by Globus is for the travellers who are looking to explore Europe hotspots without the high price tag and deluge of summer tourists. Besides travelers paying less for their Globus tour, with far less tourists about there will be plenty more opportunities to experience the local culture” says Varesh Chopra, Regional Director – South Asia and Middle East. “We are very excited with the selection of new tours for the 2019/ 2020 season, with such great itineraries we envisage an even greater success of the Escapes by Globus for this year.”

Singapore’s Changi Airport has been declared the world’s best airport for the seventh time in a row, while New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport features at  59th and 64th spot respectively, according to the UK-based consultancy firm Skytrax’s World Airport Awards. The Delhi airport has also been adjudged as a global 4-star airport  and ascribed as Best Airport in India and Central Asia. The other Indian airports in the list were the Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport at 66, up 10 points and Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport at 69, down five points from last year’s rankings. Delhi airport was ranked 66th in 2018, while Mumbai airport stood at 63rd position last year.   The Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) was ranked number 2, up one place from 2018. It also won World’s Best Domestic Airport and World’s Cleanest Airport.   The 3rd spot was bagged by Incheon International Airport along with the prize for World’s Best Transit Airport. Last year, the airport stood at number in the ranking of best airport.  

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Croatia in the field of tourism. The MoU in the field of tourism will help the two parties in creating an institutional mechanism for enhancing cooperation in the tourism sector. The MoU has been signed on 26 March, 2019 during the visit of President of India to Croatia.