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.

A consortium of Tata Group and two foreign entities, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and SSG Capital Management have agreed to invest Rs 8,000 crore ($1.2 billion) to buy around 20 per cent stake in GMR Airports, which runs India’s biggest airport. (Delhi International Airport). Post the deal, GMR Infrastructure and its units will hold about 54 % stake in the airports business, while the company’s Employee Welfare Trust will own 2%. Tata Group will hold about 20 %, with GIC and SSG holding stakes of about 15% and 10%, respectively.   Tatas would invest Rs 3,650 crore, while GIC and SSG will put in Rs 2,670 crore and Rs 1,780 crore respectively, making it possibly the largest foreign PE investment in India’s airports space.   According to a statement, the deal will pump Rs 1,000 crore into GMR airports as equity infusion, which will be used to retire the airport operator’s debt. The three investors will use the remaining ₹7,000 crore to buy GMR Airports shares from parent GMR Infrastructure and its units, which will also be used to pare debt.   This will mark the second corporate behemoth’s entry into India’s airport sector this year. Recently, the Adani Group won bids to operate five airports owned by the state-run Airports Authority of India across the country.

As per the latest statistics, Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) witnessed a 43 per cent jump in tourist arrivals from India in 2018. The revenue generated was 80 per cent higher than 2017. Bahrain Tourism has had its presence in India since January 2017 and has been aggressively promoting the destination in the market. Over the last few years, Bahrain has also emerged as a prime wedding destination due to various offerings like the short flying time from India which is below four hours, the number of five-star international chain of hotel options and a variety of venues.   The Kingdom has infrastructure ready with convention centers, accommodation facilities and scenic locations that are capable to host small, intimate to large events. Bahrain is also building a new state of the art exhibition and convention center that will have 10 exhibiting halls with a total 95,000 sqm. and a conference hall that can house 4,000 people.  In order to increase tourist arrivals, Bahrain is going to launch world’s largest underwater theme park, covering an area of over 100,000 square meters.  The ecofriendly project will be undertaken in partnership with the Supreme Council for Environment, Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA), and the private sector. This is in line with the BTEA’s strategy to promote the MICE and wedding sector and further develop the country’s tourism sector under the slogan of ‘Ours.Yours.’, which contributes towards Bahrain’s economy and the 2030 Economic Vision.

Travel industry veteran, Praveen Chugh, passed away in Delhi on March 26, 2019 after suffering a massive heart attack. He was serving as the President of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) and was also the Chairman of World Travel Agents Association Alliance (WTAAA). Born on October 16, 1955, Chugh recently became the COO of Agency Sales for Via.com by EbixCash, which acquired his company Business Travels Private Limited. He is survived by two daughters. Known for his guidance and expertise in ticketing, Service Tax and GST, he has represented Indian travel industry at various international forums time and again. Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, said, “My relationship with Praveen Chugh started ever since he joined TAFI, and he took it to great heights with time. He started his company Travel Services International (TSI) from scratch and made it one of the most successful companies in India. He was one of the finest people I know and was a pillar of strength, not only for TAFI, but for FAITH as well. He was always enthusiastic about new things and had a positive attitude. He was of great help for the India Tourism Mart (ITM), and even sent his staff for the ticketing. He contributed a lot to the industry, especially with Service Tax and GST matters, which he was very clear of. He educated and guided the industry in case of any issues on the same as well as worked on agent commissions along with TAAI and other industry organisations. He has been representing India on various international platforms as well. It is a very sad moment for the entire industry and a personal loss for me as he was …

The Accor Showcase this year saw more than 1,400 attendees that interacted with Accor representatives from hotels and resorts in India and abroad representing 1,500 properties. For the past three years, the Accor Showcase has brought together key industry and Accor hotels and resorts representatives from India and around the world. Over the years, the Showcase has served as an ideal platform to ideate on working together to leverage a thriving domestic and outbound tourism market in India. This year saw some of the most prominent corporates, wedding planners, leisure travel planners, travel agents, OTA’s (Online Travel Agencies), etc. as attendees. The event saw participation from countries such as Seychelles, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Hungary, New Zealand, Australia, Mauritius, Maldives, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Spain. Some of the participating hotels were Raffles Seychelles, Raffles Maldives, Rixos Premium Belek Antalya, Fairmont Monte Carlo, Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi, SO Sofitel Vienna, Fairmont Nairobi, Fairmont Dubai, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Fairmont & Swissotel the Stamford Singapore, Fairmont Marina Abu Dhabi, Swissôtel The Bosphorus Istanbul, Novotel and MGallery Phuket, MGallery Bangkok, Sofitel Budapest, Mövenpick Hotel Switzerland, Movenpick Colombo, Pullman Bali, Pullman Baku, Grand Mercure Bangkok, Novotel Madrid Center, Adagio Paris. Weddings and MICE travel was the primary focus of most attendees for both Indian and international properties. The most popular destinations amongst the attendees were Bali, Istanbul, Seychelles, U.A.E, Baku amongst others. The Accor Showcase 2019 was fruitful for many properties as they were able to close deals within the event hours.

Jet Airways’ management has informed the Ministry of Civil Aviation, that it would fly 40 more aircraft by April end, taking the total number to 75 and assured that it would not ground any more aircraft, informed Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. “By Monday or Tuesday, Jet and the lessors should come into an agreement on getting back the grounded planes. By the end of April, Jet would be able to fly 40 more aircraft. As on today, Jet is flying 35 aircraft,” Kharola said after meeting with the Jet management including representatives of the State Bank of India (SBI). The meeting took place post the management takeover by the SBI and its subsequent Rs 1,500 crore capital infusion for emergency funding on working capital needs. A total of 75 aircraft is envisaged by April end which is around 80 per cent of the Jet’s total aircraft previously, he said. Kharola also said the government is also keeping a close watch on the airfares and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has suggested to the airlines not to resort to predatory pricing.

India and Bangladesh will start a cruise service from Friday that would take passengers through the Sunderbans to Dhaka, a senior MEA official said. Addressing a conference on Multipolarism in Asia: Issues and Challenges, Vikram Doraiswami, Joint Secretary at the External Affairs Ministry, said the move is aimed to strengthen inland waterway routes between the two countries. “We have inland waterway routes with the signing of a protocol on the use of a certain set of rivers. We are now going to start cruise services between India and Bangladesh from Friday. Essentially what will happen here is people would have the option to travel through the Sunderbans on a luxury vessels up to Dhaka and back with border formalities being done at the crossing points in both countries,” he said. He said other than road and rail, India and Bangladesh also have a very strong power connectivity. “We have started the movement of goods using the inland waterways, so goods from India can go in the cheapest possible form up to Narayanganj and Dhaka. Bangladesh was the site of largest visa operation with 14-lakh visas given to Indians to Bangladesh. About 2.6 million (26 lakh) Bangladeshi nationals visited India last year. The quality of connectivity is what stands in the way and need to be worked on,” he added. Source: PTI

Cox & Kings Ltd has opened a new franchisee store in Delhi which offers holistic travel solutions to travellers from Patel Nagar, Delhi and extended areas. The store is inaugurated by Hon’ble Mayor-North Delhi Municipal Corporation Adesh Kumar Gupta. Owned by Bharti Dhingra, presently it is Cox & Kings’ 12th franchisee store in Delhi. The other Cox & Kings franchisees in Delhi are located at Pitampura, Lajpat Nagar,Vasant Square Mall, Rajouri Garden, East Delhi, Gurugram-Sushant Lok, Faridabad, Greater Noida, Noida -Ansal Arcade, Indirapuram and Ghaziabad -Rajnagar. On expanding the footprints of Cox & Kings in Delhi, Karan Anand, Head-Relationships, Cox & Kings said, “Since the past few years there has been a 25 per cent growth in travel demand from Delhi. To cater to this demand, we felt the need to expand our presence here with a new franchisee store. A range of Cox & Kings travel services from group tours, customised travel to honeymoon, women-only tours, adventure & self-drive holidays will be made available from here.” Travellers can book from the universe of Cox & Kings line of brands including Bharat Deko domestic tours, Duniya Dekho outbound tours, Getaway Goddess women-only tours, Curious Cat Chronicles education tours, Trip 360˚ adventure outings, Enable Travel- tours for differently-abled and Self Drive 365 and much more. Other products such as insurance, foreign exchange and trade fairs will also be made available from the new franchisee store. Commenting on the current travel trends from Delhi, Anand said, “Though travelling in mixed group tours with family and friends is common, travellers from Delhi are more inclined towards customised holidays, road trips and women-only tours. Along with various domestic destinations, city escapes in Europe/ USA …