With around 1200 registrations over two days, the 7th edition of the Global Panorama Showcase Nagpur concluded on January 22, while setting a new benchmark in Tier II and III markets. The show witnessed buyers from more than 85 cities with 100 exhibitors showcasing their products and offerings. The event was inaugurated during a glittering ceremony amid the presence of chief guest, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dato’ Richard C K Koh, Founder & GMD, Only World Group, Malaysia and other dignitaries including Gulshan Pal Singh Anand, Chairman, GPS; Claude Blanc, Portfolio Director, Reed Exhibition; Sunil Kumar R, President, UFTAA & TAAI; Anil Parashar, President & CEO, Interglobe Techologies; Jagat Mehta, President, Enterprising Travel Agents Association; Arun Anupam, Country Head & Senior Vice President, CVENT; Vishal Bhatia, Country Manager, Visit Britain and Manish Gadia, CA, GMJ & Company. Tweaking the format this year, GPS has created a forum called KIT (Knowledge-Inspiration-Training) Talk.

The Maintenance, Repairs & Overhaul (MRO) Association of India (MAOI) has appealed to the Finance Ministry to, on priority, fix the lop-sided tax policies to create a level playing field between the Indian MRO industry and foreign MROs. The MAOI has stated that in the current financial year 2018 -19, the industry has registered negative growth. With 90 per cent of the MRO requirements of India being imported, the import driven policy has lost 90,000 direct jobs to countries like Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, France and Germany. The MAOI has made recommendations to the government for the future and growth of the Indian MRO industry: reduce GST for Indian MRO services to 5 per cent to bring it on par with foreign MRO services. Alternatively, customs duty on MRO services (where such capabilities exist in India as per DGCA CAR 145 approved organisations list) should be applied at 18 per cent on all imports and grant of ‘infrastructure’ status to MRO industry. Bharat Malkani, President, MAOI, says, “Based on data from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), the current fleet of 550 airliners is expected to grow to 1000 by 2023. The government is focused on creating new infrastructure and is encouraging domestic carriers to expand their fleet size. While this is a positive development for Indian Aviation, it has no bearing on its immediate ancillary MRO sector. This is because the present GST for importing MRO services to India is levied at 5 per cent, whereas the same services offered at home are taxed at GST of 18 per cent. Of the several requests we are making to the Ministry through the pre-budget memorandum, our highest priority is to have the GST …

Fortune Park Hotels has unveiled its 47th hotel, ‘Fortune Select Forest Hill, Solan. Owned by M/s Forest Hill Resort, the property is located amid a forest and on a hill that offers a wide range of guest services and facilities to today’s traveller. Set in the Solan Valley, the hotel is 300 km from Delhi and 50 km from Chandigarh. With easy navigation by Google Maps, the property can be reached in less than 20 km of hilly drive. Commenting on the launch, Samir MC, Managing Director, Fortune Park Hotels, said, “We are extremely delighted to partner with the Owning Board of M/s Forest Hill Resort. This is a crown jewel in the brand’s collection of hotels in leisure destinations. We are excited to present a new destination for holidays and are confident of its success as a preferred destination for family getaways and social celebrations. Fortune, member ITC’s hotel group, is known for providing contemporary accommodation and great value for business and leisure travellers.” The hotel offers guest rooms that are grand and spacious. It is planned with a fusion of classical, colonial and contemporary architecture, with a tasteful sprinkle of art deco. Guests can enjoy majestic mountain views from the rooms and live in the comfort of idyllic bliss. It offers 3 signature food and beverage destinations – Zodiac an astral coffee shop, Neptune bar and lounge, and Fortune Deli. It also has plenty of recreational activities like trekking, cooking classes, bonfire and more to keep the guests engaged. Other in-house facilities include: infinity swimming pool, pool table, football, table tennis, lawn croquet set and board games, among others.

Hahn Air has celebrated the 20th anniversary of its ticketing business which was launched in 1999. It is the leading provider of ticketing and distribution solutions for other airlines and travel agencies that includes seven international travel agency events, sponsorships of leading industry events and special competitions for travel agents. Nico Gormsen, co-founder, co-owner and General Manager, Hahn Air, said, “Our ticketing business has certainly come a long way. In 1999, we saw a business opportunity: many airlines were eager to sell tickets outside of their key markets through travel agencies but could not shoulder the costs of participating in the settlement systems that exist in almost every market, so-called BSPs. Over the years, Hahn Air joined almost all BSPs and established connections with all major GDSs that are used by travel agents to book and issue tickets. This infrastructure enables other airlines to sell their flights on Hahn Air’s HR-169 ticket.” Today, Hahn Air has over 350 air, rail and shuttle partners and it reaches more than 100,000 travel agencies in 190 markets. With its services, Hahn Air creates business opportunities for all parties involved, as Nico Gormsen explains, “The airline gains more passengers and incremental business in additional markets, the travel agents can sell tickets of more carriers and the customers benefit from greater choices of airlines and destinations.” “For the future, our main ambition is to continue to provide leading services and solutions to our transportation and travel agency partners”, continues Gormsen. “We are especially looking, for example, to expand our offer of interline EMDs which enable our partners to sell additional travel-related services and thus increase their revenue. Moreover, we are working on solutions to support …

VisitBritain India has partnered with Reliance JIO to promote tourism to Britain, as the date gets closer to the biggest celebration of Cricket, which will be hosted by England and Wales. VisitBritain and Reliance JIO have created a five-part Travelogue series with celebrity and social media influencer Tridha Choudhury to promote the best of Britain, which shows her travelling around the country experiencing the culture, food and drink as well as its sporting offer. The series is scheduled to be aired on JIO TV from January 21-25, 2019. Tricia Warwick, Director, APMEA, VisitBritain, said, “India is a very important market for VisitBritain and we want the UK to be the number one destination globally for Indian travellers. A shared passion for cricket is a very strong connection between our countries. With this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup being hosted by England and Wales, it provides us with a fantastic and valuable opportunity to promote our associated destinations and tourism activities as well as the amazing experiences that Indian travellers can only have in Britain. We are working with partners in India including tour operators, OTAs, content partners and airlines to amplify our marketing reach and convert the aspirations to visit Britain this year into bookings, promote regional destinations and make it easier for visitors to explore more of our nations and regions. It is a great time to book a trip.”

Lufthansa City Center (LCC), which is operating a franchise model consisting of IATA-affiliated independent travel agency entrepreneurs, is now piloting an Affiliate Program in India, for which it has partnered with Travels and Rentals. As a Premium LCC member, Travels and Rentals is now authorised to serve as a hub agency for directly connected LCC affiliate members in India. With more than 570 offices in over 90 countries and a total turnover of approximately 5.3 billion euros, Lufthansa City Center is the biggest independent travel agency franchise system worldwide.

South African Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom is all set to visit India from January 23-26, 2019, travelling to Mumbai and New Delhi. As a part of the South African delegation to India in the lead up to India’s 69th Republic Day, the minister along with Sisa Ntshona, Chief Executive Officer, South Africa Tourism and Maropene Ramokgopa, Consul General will engage with key representatives of the Indian travel and tourism ecosystem including trade partners. The South African Tourism India office has recently been elected and elevated to function as the Hub Office for the Middle East and South East Asia regions. The minister will seek key market insights in an effort to further grow outbound tourism from the region by deepening awareness for South Africa’s diverse tourism offering and addressing barriers to growth. Speaking about the visit, Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – MEISEA, South African Tourism, says, “We are delighted and honoured to welcome the Minister of Tourism, CEO, South African Tourism and the Consul General to one of our largest source markets. The visit reaffirms India as a key market and our commitment to deepen our engagement. During their visit, we intend to address a range of challenges and have constructive, solutions-driven discussions with the tourism trade on how to meet the growing demand for our destination from India.”

Underway from January 15 in Prayagraj, Kumbh Mela is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 1.2 lakh crore for Uttar Pradesh, says a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report. Although the Kumbh Mela is spiritual and religious in nature, the economic activities associated with it generate employment for over six lakh workers across various sectors, CII said. The Uttar Pradesh government has allocated Rs 4,200 crore for the 50-day Kumbh Mela this time, thrice the budget of the Maha Kumbh in 2013. The hospitality sector aims at employing 2,50,000 people, airlines and airports around 1,50,000 and tour operators around 45,000. The employment numbers in eco-tourism and medical tourism are being estimated at 85,000, says a CII study. Apart from this, there will be around 55,000 new jobs in the unorganised sector comprising tour guides, taxi drivers, interpreters, volunteers, etc. This will lead to increase in income levels for government agencies and individual traders. Kumbh attracts foreign tourists from countries like Australia, the UK, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand, Mauritius, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The ‘mela’ is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 1.2 lakh crore for Uttar Pradesh, while neighbouring states like Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh will also benefit from the enhanced revenue generation with many national and foreign tourists expected to explore other destinations. Rajesh Agarwal, state Finance Minister, said, “The UP government has allocated Rs 4,200 crore for 2019 Kumbh Mela. The previous state government had spent around Rs 1,300 crore for the Maha Kumbh, which was held in 2013.” Source: PTI

The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) recently recognised Destinos India with a ‘Crystal Award for Best Destination-based Incentive Travel Program’ at the Crystal Awards Recognition Ceremony held during SITE Global Conference 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Considered the highest honour in the Incentive Travel industry, SITE Crystal Awards recognise creative, practical, and truly memorable incentive programmes that not only keep employees engaged, but also drive business results. Annamaria Ruffini, CIS, CMP, SITE President 2018, commented, “As the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence, it’s only fitting that we have our own reward and recognition programme to highlight excellence in incentive travel. The Crystal Awards programme is a long-standing SITE tradition, part of our association since 1980 and a hotly-contested, much-anticipated annual event. It confers the highest honour in our industry to incentive travel professionals who have clearly demonstrated how incentive travel leads to business results.” Destinos India selected the crown of “Incredible India” – Delhi, Agra and Jaipur – as the triple-city destination to provide the experience of a lifetime for 140 qualifiers from all over the world. Sanjay Malhotra, Director, Destinos India, commented, “Right after our inception as a DMC, this was the first dream project to put our heart and soul in to deliver an incredible incentive voyage. With detailed research, offbeat vision, sagacity, prevision, dedication and micromanagement, backed by hard work by our experienced, professional and enthusiastic team, we transformed all possible challenges to opportunities and presented an incentive journey to cherish for a lifetime. This award becomes even more special and important for us as we have got it in the very first year of our existence.” Randir Brar, Director, Destinos India, added, “It is a special …

Globus family of brands introduces Cosmos Lite — world’s first á la carte tour style. Combining the essential features of award-winning Cosmos tours with a personalised approach to daily itineraries, Cosmos Lite offers hassle-free travel with the freedom to tailor an itinerary to interests, budgets and pace. New for the current year, Cosmos Lite is unveiling 10 innovative itineraries that combine major cities with undiscovered, lesser-known destinations across Europe. Cosmos Lite vacation packages include city-to-city transportation, comfortable hotels, daily breakfasts, professional tour director, MyCosmos optional excursions and CosmosGo mobile app. Scott Nisbet, President and CEO, Globus family of brands, said, “With the introduction of Cosmos Lite, we’re giving travellers an independent touring option: a new way to see, explore and experience the world around them. We get them to each destination and coordinate comfortable accommodations but their days – and the activities they plan – are up to them.” In 2019, Cosmos Lite is introducing 10 new vacation packages in Europe: Spanish City Explorer (9 days, priced from $899) Spanish Heritage Explorer (8 days, priced from $699) Portugal Explorer (7 days, priced from $749) Italian Explorer (8 days, priced from $899) Northern Italy Explorer (8 days priced from $899) Veneto Explorer (7 days, priced from $899) Danube Explorer (8 days, priced from $899) England Explorer (7 days, priced from $899) Ireland Explorer (7 days, priced from $849) Scotland Explorer (7 days, priced from $899) Varesh Chopra, Regional Director –India, South Asia & Middle East, said, “Free of commitments and full of possibilities, Cosmos Lite’s á la carte touring invites travellers to design each day with free time, me time or see time. A Cosmos Lite vacation frees up days so travellers can …