Union Minister K J Alphons has said the country’s tourism sector fetched USD 234 billion revenue last year, registering a growth of over 19 per cent. Delivering the inaugural speech at the 2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit here, he said the country was ranked third in the tourism sector, according to the 2018 report of World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). “Last year, India generated USD 234 billion revenue from the tourism sector. While the global revenue growth was 5 per cent, it grew by 19.4 per cent in India,” the Union tourism minister said. This revenue was contributed by 87 per cent domestic and 13 per cent foreign tourists, Alphons said. “From the foreign tourists, we earned USD 27 billion, which grew by 14 per cent compared to global growth of 7 per cent,” he said, adding that around 82 million people are employed in the tourism sector. About spiritual tourism, Alphons said 60-70 per cent of the total domestic tourists fall under this category. “The Indian philosophy is yoga. We see all as one. Yoga is the way of life and it says the entire universe is part of me. If I want to be happy, others have to be happy — this is the philosophy behind yoga. Let us forget physical connectivity, this is the spiritual connectivity between us,” the minister said. Alphons also advocated for a peaceful and sustainable world, free of pollution and damage to the environment. Source: PTI

As per data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), India features as one of the most popular destinations for Australian travellers. However, travel to the eight North Eastern states – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim – each of which is gifted with a diverse range of tourist attractions from splendid nature and diverse wildlife to colourful culture and vibrant history, has been limited. To boost this, Australia India Travel & Tourism Council (AITTC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with North East India Tour Operators Association (NEITO), which comprises Ministry of Tourism-approved inbound tour operators specialised for North East destinations. The MoU was signed by Madhushmita Khound , Secretary, NEITO in Guwahati and Sandip Hor, Chairman, AITTC in Sydney. The AITTC part of the signing was done in presence of B Vanlalvawna, Consul General of India in Sydney; Chandru Appar, Deputy Consul General of India in Sydney; Barbara Ward, President, NSW, Australia India Business Council; Phillip Bonicace, Co Chairman, AITTC and Vishnu Daram, Seccretary, AITTC. “This is a major step to put North East India under the tourism radar in Australia”, said Chairman Hor after the signing. According to him, attractions of the region like the Assam’s Brahmaputra River Cruise and the Kaziranga National Park, Tripura’s Royal Palaces Sikkim’s Himalayan beauty, Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival and many more have tremendous potential to add a new dimension to international tourism growth in India. The two main purposes of this MOU are to enhance destination knowledge among Australians and to facilitate the establishment of a suitable ‘travel & tourism connect’ between Australia and North East India.

The Goa Assembly has passed a bill amending a state tourism law, under which drinking alcohol, cooking and littering in tourist places will be a criminal offence. In fact, tourists are banned from carrying away bottles or cans containing liquor from stores selling alcohol in tourist places. According to the new amendment, violators of the law will be fined Rs 2,000, and if the violation is committed by more than one person, the group will have to pay Rs 10,000. There are, however, no penal provisions in the new law. The passing of the bill has been welcomed by Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) but cautioned that failure to implement the law would defeat the purpose.

Domestic air traffic has grown by 18.6 per cent from January-December YoY, according to a latest report by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-December 2018 were 1389.76 lakhs as against 1171.76 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year. The passenger load factor in the month of December 2018 has increased compared to previous month primarily due to the ongoing tourist season.

In the Interim Budget 2019-20, the Railways has been allocated Rs 64,587 crore. The Railways’ overall capital expenditure programme is of Rs 1,58,658 crore. This was stated by the Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways & Coal, Piyush Goyal while presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 in Parliament. He said, “Indian Railways has experienced the safest year in its history as all Unmanned Level Crossings on broad gauge network have been eliminated”. On the introduction of the first indigenously developed and manufactured semi high-speed Vande Bharat Express, he said, “ This will give Indian passengers world-class experience with speed, service and safety. This major leap in wholly-developed technology by our engineers will give an impetus to the Make in India programme and create jobs.”

The Indian travel trade welcomed nine companies from Ireland during Tourism Ireland’s India Sales Mission that concluded recently. Its aim was to facilitate the Irish industry to engage with Indian travel professionals who are currently selling the island of Ireland, or who have strong potential to sell the destination and to position Ireland as one of the most desirable destinations for travellers from India. Business links between tourism companies from Ireland and influential travel professionals in India were strengthened during the sales mission, through a busy programme of workshops, presentations and networking events. Siobhan McManamy, Director of Markets, Tourism Ireland said, “Our sales mission is a key element of our promotional programme in India. It will give our tourism partners a platform to inform and influence the Indian travel trade about what the island of Ireland has to offer and, importantly, encourage them to include the destination in their brochures and programmes. Tourism Ireland is committed to growing visitor numbers to the island of Ireland from India and our sales mission will play a significant role in helping us achieve this goal.” The workshops were held in Mumbai and Delhi with over 100 leading travel agents and tour operators in attendance. The companies who were represented at the event include Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Northern Ireland, Guinness Storehouse, Winterfell Castle – Game of Thrones Visitor Attraction, Stena Line, Hotel Solutions, The Savoy Hotel, Andras House Group and Irish Rugby Tours.  

The growth of the LCC market for India has been significant, according to a recent ‘Project Rupee Raftaar’ report by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Around 55 per cent of all seats in the market are offered by low cost carriers (LCC). Focusing on the domestic market alone, the LCC share of total seats is almost 70 per cent. While the share of LCC seats offered on India’s international routes is much smaller, at just under 25 per cent, this share has risen from essentially zero in 2004. Arguably, the emergence of LCCs has facilitated the democratization of air travel and fueled aviation growth, albeit in various ways across different markets. In emerging markets, LCCs have broadened the market and allowed more people the opportunity to fly for the very first time. In more mature markets, LCCs have deepened the market allowing people to fly more often.

The report, ‘The Future of Rail: Opportunities for Energy and the Environment’ released recently by International Energy Agency said the annual investment in rail infrastructure will increase to USD 330 billion in 2050 globally on the basis of projects currently in various stages of construction and planning. Indian railways will have a share of 40 per cent of the total global rail activity and save around USD 64 billion on fuel bills by 2050, a report by International Energy Agency said. “Rail activity in India is set to grow more than any other country, with passenger movements in India reaching 40 per cent of global activity. The biggest part of the increased investment goes to infrastructure for urban rail (nearly USD 190 billion) and high-speed rail (USD 70 billion); the additional costs of the trains are small in comparison,” the report said. “As a result of these investments, in 2050 fuel expenditures are reduced by around USD 450 billion, relative to the base scenario. India could save as much as USD 64 billion on fuel expenditures by mid-century,” the report stated. The report also stated that the pace of infrastructure build is fastest in urban rail. The length of metro lines under construction or slated for construction over the coming five years is twice the length of those built over any five-year period between 1970 and 2015. The result, it said is unprecedented growth in passenger movements on urban rail.

Paytm has launched domestic hotel booking service and will be investing Rs 500 crore for scaling its operations and expanding the portfolio. The company has also acquired Nightstay, a luxury hotel-booking platform for an undisclosed amount. In the first phase of the launch, the company has partnered with over 5000 hotels across the budget, luxury and business segments. These include the Zuri, Sarovar, Treebo, Vresorts, Sterling, Ginger and Bloomrooms across top cities. With the acquisition, Paytm will leverage Nightstay’s acumen to further expand its portfolio in this vertical. Nasr Khan, founder, NightStay will be leading this category at Paytm and will be responsible for the overall growth and development as well. Paytm Travel, which had started in 2014, sells over 60 million tickets a year, and has become the leading player for IRCTC tickets, bus tickets, and flight bookings. Earlier this year, Paytm Travel also started offering foreign exchange bookings for international travellers. “The momentum we’re building in our travel vertical is remarkable, with leading positions in rail, bus and flight bookings. The launch of domestic hotel bookings is an important step forward as it will help travellers around the country conveniently plan and book their perfect trip on Paytm. We want to offer the broadest travel selection on our platform, and look forward to continuing our expansion with the help of our trusted travel partners,” Madhur Deora, Chief Financial Officer, Paytm said. Paytm aims at having two million hotels and alternate accommodations globally, with the availability of 50 million rooms within the first 18 months.

GoAir further expands its international footprint with the launch of direct flights on Kannur–Abu Dhabi–Kannur route effective March 1, 2019. The airline will operate four direct flight services per week between the destinations with bookings now open at an all-inclusive one way fare starting from Rs 6099. This sector will further strengthen the airline’s growing international network to the Gulf and travellers will now have the opportunity to experience affordable travel experience that GoAir is acknowledged with. Speaking on the occasion, Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir said, “Commercial and cultural links between India and UAE are flourishing and GoAir is committed to contribute in facilitating and enhancing the growth of trade and the strong demand for tourism. Kannur, an incredibly beautiful part of India, is now accessible from Abu Dhabi with direct flights and an affordable and convenient travel option.” Recently GoAir announced international operations out of Kannur to Muscat. GoAir will operate three direct flight services per week between Kannur–Muscat–Kannur effective February 28, 2019. On the domestic front, GoAir currently connects Kannur to Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.