Enterprising Knot of Travel & Tourism Associates (EKTTA), organised its first annual convention in Bhubaneswar, with an aim to develop local tourism and bring forward the unexplored destinations of the state to the limelight. The event was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Priyadarshi Mishra, MLA, Bhubaneswar North and Guest of Honour, Aruna Mohanty, Padma Shri awardee and renowned Odissi Exponent, Utpal Kumar Pati, Joint Director, Odisha Tourism and Sarat Kumar Lenka, Nodal Officer, IITTM. Addressing at the inaugural ceremony, Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, President EKTTA recounted the journey of the association and briefed about the activities and initiatives it has taken to help its members and the tourism fraternity. The convention was aimed to bring all the stakeholders of the tourism together at once stance with a motive to develop the concept of MOS (Man, on Spot) and WOS (Woman on Spot) keeping the local representatives at focus. EKTTA further aims to spread the importance of Odisha Tourism worldwide and develop new points and ideas to create a proper mechanism and channel for tourism management.

The ‘FB Travel Report’ commissioned by KPMG, Facebook and Nielsen suggests that nearly 90 per cent of hotel bookings in India are expected to be mobile-influenced by 2022, while nearly half of the hotel bookings in 2022 are expected to be Facebook-influenced, both nearly three times their current levels. This growth is expected to be driven on the backdrop of the swell in the traveller pool from an emerging middle class, niche experience-seeking consumers and increase in OTA bookings through mobiles in the five years between 2017 and 2022. Brands, therefore, have a USD 12 billion worth of incentive to re-look at their marketing strategies and adapt to the fast-evolving mobile-first internet economy of India.

In a bid to promote the Government’s Digital India initiative, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched its own payment aggregator system, IRCTC iPay. With the new launch, IRCTC will have full control of the payment system because of its direct relationship with acquiring banks, card networks and other partners. The exclusive digital payment gateway will provide an improved online digital payment convenience and ease of doing business to passengers availing online travel related services through the IRCTC website, revealed an IRCTC statement. “With the launch of IRCTC iPay, the passengers will not need any third-party platforms as the IRCTC iPay provides payment options like credit card, debit card, UPI – Unified Payment Interface, International Card. The option of IRCTC prepaid card cum wallet, auto debit shall also be available shortly,” the statement said. This will help reduce the gap between IRCTC and banks which will eventually lead to substantial reduction in payment failures. Moreover, in case an online transaction is unsuccessful or some other error occurs, IRCTC can directly get in touch with the bank instead of relying on an intermediate source which usually delays the process.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, signed a long-term management agreement with Panchshil Corporate Park to launch The Ritz-Carlton, Pune, expected to open in 2019 with 198 rooms.  The company also announced The Ritz-Carlton, Mumbai, which slated to debut in 2020 with 238 rooms. Its debut will mark the brand’s second property in India and is one of three Ritz-Carlton hotels in the pipeline for the country. The Ritz-Carlton brand entered India in 2013 with the launch of The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore.

Vistara has added Dibrugarh to its network, making it the 24th destination for the airline, and its second destination in Assam after Guwahati. The flights will start from April 3, 2019, and will connect Dibrugarh and Bagdogra with daily direct flights between the two cities, while also connecting Dibrugarh and Delhi with convenient same aircraft one-stop flight via Bagdogra. Passengers flying from Dibrugarh can also take convenient connections via Delhi to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. Dibrugarh, known as the ‘Tea City of India’, is the nerve centre of industry, communication and healthcare of the upper Assam region, and is also the emerging communication and industrial hub of Northeast India. The new service will offer business and leisure travellers more choices as well as the option of three classes of service to choose from, including India’s only Premium Economy class. Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara, said, “At Vistara, our aim is to bring ‘the new feeling of flying’ to more business and leisure travellers across the country, and we are pleased to add Dibrugarh to our growing network. Hot on the heels of our announcement of service to Raipur, this announcement of service to Dibrugarh is the second in a series of flight additions Vistara has planned starting this summer.” Travellers from Dibrugarh travelling to and from international destinations via Delhi will also benefit from seamless same-terminal international transfers at Delhi’s T3, from where Vistara operates.

Minor Hotels and NH Hotel Group are integrating their brands under a single corporate umbrella with presence in over 50 countries worldwide. Both groups are already sharing their know-how and experience in the sector with a view of materialising opportunities in the short term, taking advantage of the complementary nature of their hotel portfolios, the scope for economies of scale with a broader customer base and exploring the development of all of their brands in different markets. A first step in this direction is the upcoming transfer to NH Hotel Group of the operations of a portfolio of 15 Minor Hotels in Portugal and Brazil

Best Western Hotels & Resorts has launched its new SureStay Hotel Group concept in India with the opening of a brand new hotel in Amritsar. The hotel features 30 contemporary guestrooms, equipped with convenient amenities, including complimentary Wi-Fi, Café Sure – multi cuisine restaurant with bar, elegant banquet hall and Let’s Talk – the private dining room cum meeting room. Every morning, guests can start their day with a sumptuous buffet breakfast. “We are delighted to unveil SureStay Hotel by Best Western Amritsar, an exciting new hotel that will redefine the smart economy hotel sector,” said Atul Jain, Best Western’s Chief Operating Officer for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. “By combining the ease and affordability of economy hotels with the international standards of a global chain, SureStay Hotel Group is sure to appeal to business and leisure travelers alike”. Its strategic location confers on the SureStay Hotel by Best Western Amritsar, Ranjeet Avenue an unmatched advantage. Guests can reach the hotel from the international airport and railway station in just 10-15 minutes, and a visit to the Golden Temple takes only 15 minutes. “Chick, comfortable and convenient, this is an ideal concept for smart business and leisure guests seeking centrally located, international quality accommodation. We are seeing rising demand for branded economy and lower-midscale accommodation in key cities across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. SureStay Hotel Group is perfectly positioned to fill this gap in the market and we look forward to introducing this exciting new concept to more cities across the region in the future years,” Atul added. SureStay Hotel Group was first introduced in late 2016, and the concept made its Asia Pacific debut in October 2017 with …

United Airlines will continue its long-standing relationship with Travelport as part of a multi-year agreement that demonstrates a joint commitment to deliver customer support and solutions for the benefit of travellers and travel agents alike. United has already benefited from Travelport’s rich content and branding merchandising solution by differentiating its offerings and dynamically distributing content across the globe. This tool allows customers to easily compare airline offerings and take advantage of United’s comprehensive route network and improved customer experience. Both companies will continue to work together to enhance the delivery of United’s product offering, including ancillaries and fare families, to agencies and corporations through Travelport’s traditional ATPCO and API platforms, including deployment of United content made available consistent with IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard. “I’m delighted to announce that our relationship with United has been extended for a multi-year term. United has seen great success with our rich content and branding solution and extended global reach, We look forward to supporting United’s growth, its dedication to providing better experiences for agencies and travelers worldwide and pioneering NDC solutions,” said Damian Hickey, Global Head of Air Travel Partners, Travelport. “While direct volumes through our award-winning website and mobile app continue to grow, we want to be available across a variety of booking channels, and collaborating with Travelport helps us do that,” said Dave Bartels, Vice President of Pricing and Revenue Management, United Airlines. “United is excited to be working together with Travelport on our NDC initiative to provide tailored content to our customers through the Travelport subscriber network, which will allow customers to better customise their travel with different amenities and experiences.”

Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister, Civil Aviation, along with Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation, have released the passenger charter. If a domestic flight is expected to be delayed by more than six hours, the airline would offer an option of ‘alternate flight’ to the passenger within that time, or it will refund the full price of the ticket. The charter also stated that if the passenger is informed of a flight cancellation less than two weeks prior to departure, the airline has to give an alternate flight to passenger or refund the ticket completely. In fact, at the time of booking, the airline has to clearly indicate the amount of refund money that will be given to passenger in case of cancellation. In case a passenger is denied boarding due to over booking of a flight, the passenger shall not hold the airline liable for compensation in case he was given an alternate flight within one hour of original flight’s departure. The charter also states that passengers can cancel tickets without having to pay any amount within a day of the booking and also claim enhanced compensation for loss of baggage from airlines. However, the new charter states that zero cancellation charge won’t apply if the tickets are booked less than seven days before the scheduled departure time of the flight.      

Amidst escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Air Canada temporarily suspended its flight services to India, following a decision by the Pakistan government to close its airspace. Air Canada cancelled one flight to Delhi from Vancouver, while another flight en-route to India returned to Toronto. Qatar Airways issued a statement asserting that due to the ongoing situation between India and Pakistan, its flight over the airspace of these two countries may experience delays due to rerouting. While Vistara issued a statement about the cancellations of flights on Amritsar, Srinagar, Chandigarh and Jammu; Singapore Airlines also released a statement about its flight delays. A Dubai-bound Jet Airways was asked by Pakistan ATC to return to Delhi. Flight operations across eight airports in Amritsar, Pathankot, Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla, Dharamshala, Kullu and Leh were shut briefly. However, the airports got operational after a few hours. As many as 47 flights were cancelled from Delhi airport, 25 were departures and 22 arrivals. Also, eight arrivals and eight departure flights were cancelled from the Mumbai Airport. Source: ANI