The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will start constructing ‘Delhi-Mumbai Expressway’ in March this year. Set to be completed by March 2022, the expressway will reduce travel time between the two biggest metro cities — Delhi and Mumbai — from 25 hours to 12.5 hours. Over 12,000 hectare land has been acquired for this project. On completion, the expressway is set to become the longest in the country and will pass through five states.

IRCTC has partnered with Bharti AXA General insurance company to provide free-of-cost travel insurance to customers who book air tickets through the IRCTC’s air ticketing website. IRCTC Air is set to offer free air travel insurance worth up to Rs 50 lakh for the customers. It is a first-of-its-kind initiative and the travel insurance will provide passengers with financial protection against accidental deaths as well as total permanent disability, according to a statement by IRCTC. The premium for the insurance will be borne by IRCTC to secure the passengers from any untoward incident during any journey. The aim behind this partnership is to make air travel hassle-free. The travel insurance cover will be for both one-way trips and round trips of air travel, when booked on the IRCTC air ticketing portal.

Desaru Coast, Malaysia has appointed ‘Knack’ Marketing as its sales representative in India. The appointment will support Desaru Coast in building brand awareness, execute ongoing public relations, implementing trade programmes, providing packaging solutions to the partners in India and increasing the number of visitors from the Indian market to Malaysia. Medha Sampat, Director, Knack Marketing, said, “We are excited about this new collaboration with Desaru Coast. This is a carefully planned development to woo the tourism sector. The easy accessibility, massive infrastructure with its beautiful beach, consists of stays in luxury accommodations, its extravagant conferencing facilities, state-of-the-art theme park, stunning golf course, bundled with amazing gourmet options making it a perfect getaway for the Indian traveller.” Desaru Coast is a premium integrated destination resort and one of Malaysia’s most anticipated new tourism developments. It offers a premium experience for everyone from families and couples to business travellers and golf enthusiasts. The resort is anchored by four world-class hotels and resorts namely The Westin Desaru Coast Resort, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast, Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas and One & Only Desaru Coast for premium travellers and a Conference Centre fitted with modern facilities. Philip Whittaker, Chief Commercial Officer, Themed Attractions Resorts & Hotels (TARH), added, “We are looking forward to this partnership with Knack Marketing and are confident that together, we can strategically position Desaru Coast as the brand that will elevate the tourism industry in Malaysia.”

The growth of India’s domestic air passenger traffic slowed in November but still managed to rise in double digits for the 51st consecutive month, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA). “India posted its 51st consecutive month of double-digit domestic RPK (revenue passenger kilometres) growth in November (13.3 per cent). This was the slowest pace in 16 months, but the bigger picture is that the strong upward trend in traffic remains in place,” IATA said in its air passenger market analysis for November 2018. According to IATA, India’s domestic air passenger volume, measured in RPK, was the second highest amongst major aviation markets like Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and the US. India’s domestic RPK in the month under review rose 13.3 per cent compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. Its domestic passenger traffic growth was second only to that of Russia at 13.8 per cent, followed by China at 7.2 per cent in the third place. “As we have argued before, strong gains in the domestic India market are being supported by structural changes, including ongoing rises in living standards, as well as large increases in the number of airport connections within the country. The latter translates into time savings and has a similar stimulatory impact on demand as reductions in fares,” IATA said. In terms of capacity, India’s domestic available seat kilometres (ASK) — which measures available passenger capacity — stood higher by 19.8 per cent in November, followed by that of Russia’s 10.9 per cent and China’s 10.2 per cent

SpiceJet has announced the launch of 12 non-stop flights and frequencies from January 20. The airline, in a statement, said, “With the new flights, passengers from Dehradun, Jammu, Jaipur, Amritsar, Varanasi, Madurai and Vijayawada can now easily travel to a host of other cities.” It said, “SpiceJet will be the first Indian carrier to introduce daily direct flights on the Dehradun-Jammu, Dehradun-Jaipur and Dehradun-Amritsar routes,” . The airline has also enhanced frequencies on the Jaipur-Varanasi (2nd frequency), Chennai-Madurai (4th frequency) and Hyderabad-Vijayawada (3rd frequency) sectors. The flights on all the routes are daily, except on the Chennai-Madurai route, where the flights will not operate on Tuesdays. Source: PTI

AccorHotels has announced the opening of the 189-room ibis Kolkata Rajarhat, marking the debut of the brand in the City of Joy, Kolkata. This is the group’s 50th property in India, taking the brand’s total inventory in the country to over 3,000 rooms. At the recent launch, the multinational hospitality company also announced the arrival of a new strategy for the ibis brand, designed keeping in mind the demands of today’s travellers. Speaking at the launch, Jean-Michel Cassé, COO, AccorHotels, India and South Asia, said, “The ibis brand and hotels in India have been successful in integrating into the hearts of Indians and our partnership with InterGlobe Hotels has been integral to this success. Last year we launched ibism, a campaign curated specially for guests and employees and now with the launch of ibis Kolkata Rajarhat, we start a new revolution in the space of in-demand economy hotels.” Also speaking on the occasion, JB Singh, President and CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, said, “We are thrilled to mark our presence in this city with ibis Kolkata Rajarhat, the first internationally branded economy hotel in Kolkata. The manner in which the city has endured persistently is not only demonstrative of its strength and resilience, but also indicates its potential going forth.” ibis Kolkata Rajarhat features 2,457 sqft of a pillar-less meeting space that can further be divided into three smaller rooms with a capacity for up to 250 guests. Other facilities include Spice It, the multi-cuisine restaurant; a web corner with work stations as well as a 24-hour gymnasium.

In a major setback to state-run Air India, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana has overruled the national carrier’s decision to shift domestic ticket-booking business exclusively on Travelport, asking it to continue using the services of Amadeus and others to book domestic and international flights. Air India had discontinued services of all other global distribution system (GDS) portals from December 5, 2018. The judgement of the HC read, “An interim direction is issued to Air India Limited to continue to allow using GDS of Travelport, Sabre and Amadeus, as was being used prior to Decemeber 4, 2018 and till further orders, Air India inventory will be made available to Amadeus also, as was being done prior to December 4, 2018.” The court has given Air India three weeks’ time to respond to the judgement with relevant documents. The court noted that under Article 12, the Air India was duty-bound to invite bids before giving exclusive rights to any agency for GDS. It is further contended that Air India was duty-bound to call bids in the form of tenders and that Amadeus could not be arbitrarily excluded from sale of tickets for domestic flights. Source: Moneycontrol  

Indian Railways is planning to seal stations just like airports and passengers would be advised to arrive 15-20 minutes before scheduled departure of trains to complete the process of security check. Arun Kumar, Director General, RPF, told PTI, “The security plan has already been put in motion in Prayagraj, in anticipation of the Kumbh Mela, and at Hoobly railway station in Karnataka with a blueprint for 202 more stations ready for implementation. “The plan is to seal the stations. It is primarily about identifying openings and to determine how many can be closed. There are areas which will be closed through permanent boundary walls, others will be manned by RPF personnel and some will have collapsible gates.” He further added, “At each entry point, there will be random security checks. However, unlike at airports, passengers need not come hours in advance, but just 15-20 minutes ahead of their departure times to ensure that they are not delayed because of the security process.” Kumar said that while security will increase, presence of security personnel will not. “If we are inventing in technology, then manpower requirement will reduce,” he said. These steps are a part of a security plan under the Integrated Security System (ISS) which was approved in 2016 to strengthen surveillance mechanism at 202 railway stations. Source: PTI

TIRUN Travel Marketing, the exclusive India representative of Royal Caribbean International has announced that the cruise line is bringing two of its most exciting ships, ‘Spectrum of the Seas’ and ‘Explorer of the Seas’ to the Indian shores. The two ships are scheduled to come to India in 2019, offering Indian guests an incredible chance to sail to/from their home country to some idyllic locations across Asia. Spectrum of the Seas is the first of the quantum ultra class of ships and is the largest ship (1,139 feet-long) ever to sail to/from India, having a capacity of accommodating 5,622 guests. Guests can opt for the 5-night Dubai to Mumbai cruise from May 4 to 9, or the 9-night Mumbai to Singapore cruise from May 9 to 18 onboard Spectrum. Through these sailings, guests can enjoy the beauty of Asia’s most stunning ports of call including Dubai, Muscat in Oman, Cochin, Penang in Malaysia and Singapore. Explorer of The Seas, one of the most popular ship in Royal Caribbean International’s fleet, will also offer a world of experiences in itself. Travellers can opt for the first segment of the cruise, a 5-night itinerary beginning from Singapore and reaching Cochin (India) on April 18 via Penang, Malaysia. In the second segment, the cruise willv sail from Cochin (India) to Dubai via Mumbai (India). Speaking on Royal Caribbean’s top-of-the-line ships sailing to India, Varun Chadha, Chief Operating Officer, TIRUN Travel Marketing said, “India is a growth market for cruising and we are thrilled that Spectrum and Explorer will offer Indian cruise enthusiasts easy access to experience the marvels of Royal Caribbean’s services, amenities and many on-board adventures. We are sure that these itineraries …

Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K Sangma has inaugurated the project “Development of North East Circuit: Umiam (Lake View) – U Lum Sohpetbneng- Mawdiangdiang – Orchid Lake Resort” in Umiam, Meghalaya, implemented under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Others present on the occasion were Metbah Lyngdoh, Minister of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya; Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Sanbor Shullai, Chairman, Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation. The project was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in July 2016 for Rs 99.13 crores. Under it, the ministry has developed facilities like traditional healing centre, tribal rejuvenation centre, tourist information centre, multi-purpose hall, log huts, cafeteria, sound and light show, souvenir Shops, water sports zone, zip line, canopy walk, trekking routes, cycling track, last-mile connectivity, caravan parking, public toilets and solid waste management. The nort-east region received a total of 1.69 lakh foreign tourists during 2017 as against 1.45 lakh in 2016 registering a growth of 16.7 per cent over 2016. The domestic tourist visits reached 95.47 lakhs in the year 2017 against 77.71 lakhs, registering impressive double-digit growth of 22.8 per cent over 2016.