Continuing to remain as one of the most popular destination among Indians travelling abroad, Destination Germany witnessed 921,123 visitors overnights in 2018 making for a 8.1 per cent growth in comparison to 2017. Owing to the steady growth, the German National Tourist Office (GNTO), India forecasts a 6-8 per cent growth in visitor overnights in 2019. With experiential travel becoming the most sought after genere in leisure travel, GNTO will promote the destination with the core theme and worldwide campaign on ‘100 years of Bauhaus’, as part of the centenary celebration of foundation of legendary Bauhaus movement in Weimar,” said Romit Theophilus, Director, German National Tourist Office, India. The famous Bauhaus art school opened in Weimar in 1919, and during its short lifespan, it moved to Dessau and then to Germany. “With more and more travellers visiting Germany, we want to promote the country as a stand-alone travel destination. We are looking to focus more leisure segment than business. Northern Germany is still unexplored by the Indian travellers, so we want more and more Indian travellers to go and experience Germany in a new way,” further said Theophilus.

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), with an aim to increase Indian tourist inflow into Japan, has appointed Blue Square Consultants as its India representative through its associate K&L Communications India to enhance the trade and media outreach for destination Japan in India. Kenichi Takano, Executive Director, Japan National Tourism Organization, Delhi office, expressed, “India has been an important source market for us owing to the emergent disposable income groups and changing lifestyles. We have recorded a growth of 14.7% amounting to 154, 029 Indian tourist arrivals in 2018, and we are expecting the market to perform even better in the forthcoming years. Banking on the favourable dynamics, we are keen on augmenting our targets by a higher margin through strategic positioning of Japan in key metro cities. We are confident that Blue Square Consultants will help us in reaching out to the right stakeholders with innovative channels of communication. Through this association, we hope to bring out the best of what Japan has to offer and weave a unique experience for aspiring Indian travellers.”   Lubaina Sheerazi, COO, Blue Square Consultants, quoted, “We are elated to be appointed as the representative of JNTO in India. The tourism industry is undergoing an exponential shift wherein new age platforms are acting as catalysts to influence the next generation travellers. It is a privilege to represent a technologically advanced yet culturally rich country like Japan. We look forward to bringing out the best of the destination through our gamut of services and achieve fruitful results for JNTO.”

Travellers flying from the Kempegowda International Airport will have to spend more for tickets booked from April 16 to August 15 as the User Development Fee (UDF) has been increased. The UDF (User development fee) rates for domestic and international embarking passengers shall be Rs 306 and Rs 1226 respectively instead of Rs 139 and Rs 558.

Currently, the GLP facility works as a visa for foreign tourists who are arriving in groups of four or more. Tourists who are sponsored by Indian travel agencies approved by the tourism ministry with a pre-drawn itinerary are granted collective landing permits for a period not exceeding 60 days, with multiple entry facility to enable them visit a neighboring country. Considering the feedback received, a view has been taken that Group Landing Permit facility may be scrapped for passengers of those countries which have been extended e-Visa facility, as its sole purpose has been served and because, e-Visa facility has been presently extended to 166 countries.  

Chandigarh International Airport will now be functioning round the clock. Earlier, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) was functional for a limited number of hours. With this, the city will see better connectivity to international flights with the extension of the watch hours to 24 hours. Also, the runway upgrade for full-sized wide bodied aircraft is almost complete.

V Resorts, one of India’s leading leisure hospitality start-ups, with over 150 properties spread across 22 states, has announced the raising of $10 million in Series A funding to mark their next phase of growth.  The fresh round of investment is led by various HNIs. Existing investors, including Bedrock Ventures and RB Capital, also participated in the round. Through this investment, the company has plans to expand its footprint in India and also enter new markets across South Asia and the Middle-East, with a target of reaching 1000+ properties and 15,000+ rooms in the next three years. Within India, a significant part of the growth will be focused on entrenching markets such as Andhra Pradesh where the company is already in talks with the Andhra Pradesh Government to promote state-wide tourism.  The company, with its in-house tech infrastructure, also plans to invest more on the technology platform, giving customers a 360-degree independent travel experience, and plans to now build its own SAAS products for the hospitality industry.

Air India has announced that it will resume its flight services to Madrid from New Delhi from April 18. The national carrier temporarily suspended services to Madrid, as well as Birmingham from New Delhi last month after the closure of Pakistan airspace for all West-bound flights to and from India. Air India operates three times-a-week flight services to Madrid from New Delhi on its flagship aircraft Boeing 787-800. The airline released a statement saying, “Air India is set to resume its thrice-a-week service on the Delhi-Madrid-Delhi sector from April 18, after a brief interlude to cater to the consistent heavy demand from passengers both in Spain and India.” The national carrier has announced return fares for the Madrid-Delhi-Madrid route, starting from Euro 487.

Hong Kong’s largest hotel group, Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts recently concluded its roadshow in India.  During the roadshow, from April 8 -12, the sales representatives met with more than 200 customers from corporations, professional conference organisers and travel agencies in Mumbai and Delhi. The delegates were from- Harbour Grand Kowloon, Harbour Plaza Metropolis, Kowloon Harbour Front, Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees and Harbour Plaza Resort City. “India is a key market for our hotels in Hong Kong. We like to bring to our business partner the latest updates and development of our group which include the recently renovated Harbour Grand Kowloon lobby with the ‘Prisms of light’ – a chandelier of 150,000 pieces Swarovski crystals. In the third quarter of this year, a new tower extension of the hotel with 360 brand new guest rooms and suites, all with a panoramic view of either the city or the harbour, will be opened. This will bring the total room inventory to close to 1,000, becoming one of the biggest 5 star hotels in Hong Kong”, said Priyanka, Director of Nijhawan Group, GSA for Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts in India. “We’re opening this fall a brand new hotel, which will bring the group’s total room inventory in the city to more than 9300 rooms. Hotel Alexandra, with 840 guest rooms, is well located at the North Point harbour front. The hotel is designed exquisitely melding sophisticated French neoclassicism with contemporary elements, a combination of timeless affluent elegance and modern concepts delighting even the most discerning travelers. The lobby is adorned with rich red and gold colour, accented on numerous grand chandeliers with a judicious use of mirrors, flower engraved golden doors, …

In an attempt to stronghold its base in Mumbai, SpiceJet has announced to launch daily direct flights to Colombo, Dhaka, Riyadh, Hong Kong and Kathmandu by the end of May. “SpiceJet would be the first Indian budget carrier to launch daily direct flights on the Mumbai-Colombo, Mumbai-Dhaka, Mumbai-Riyadh, Mumbai-Hong Kong and Mumbai-Kathmandu sectors,” said the airline in a press statement. Ajay Singh, Chairman and MD, SpiceJet said, “We are delighted to connect a large number of popular international destinations from Mumbai, a city that has always been a key and integral part of our network.” “The airline already operates flights to Colombo from Chennai and Madurai, Dhaka from Kolkata, Dubai from Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangalore, Amritsar, Jaipur and Madurai, Hong Kong from Delhi and Jeddah from Hyderabad besides an upcoming flight from Kozhikode,” the release said.   The Indian budget carrier will use Boeing 737 NG aircraft on the new routes.

Enable Travel, accessible holiday specialist along with Ezy Mov, India’s first wheelchair taxi service has tied up with Red WAVE (Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle / Eco-friendly) cab services in Jamshedpur to address different travel related issues of people with disabilities and provide safe and reliable transport options to them. Through this tie-up, all three travel partners will work towards making travel around Jharkhand hassle-free and offer customised comfort vehicles for travellers as well as  fully accessible taxis to accommodate passengers with wheelchairs and other mobility issues including the elderly. Enable Travel will also offer tourists customised sight-seeing options in and around Jharkhand. Speaking about the partnership, Debolin Sen, Head, Enable Travel said, “An accessible Jharkhand will serve as a gateway to East India and further our cause towards accessibility and inclusivity. To ensure barrier-free travel and enhance transportation within a destination, we have partnered with Ezy Mov who are experienced to address this need along with Red WAVE Cabs for their expertise on local challenges. We are very proud to be continuing our commitment to make travel easy and hassle-free in India and working with like-minded partners to create an inclusive and accessible travel environment.” Bennet D’cunha – CEO, Ezy Mov said, “Our mission is to position India as the leading country with regards to accessible tourism. We have successfully implemented end to end accessible assistance in Goa and aim to replicate our success in Jharkhand and other parts of the country. With our joint efforts we want to reach out to a larger audience, address concerns of person with disabilities and senior citizens and provide the right travel solutions to them.” Sunil Kumar Dutta, Co-Founder Red WAVE said, “Accessibility is a right of …