TBO Group hosted its first roadshow for its preferred hotel partners in India. The roadshow, with 30 hoteliers from Las Vegas, Baku, Dubai, Maldives and Thailand,  travelled across three cities starting with Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The event brought together 700 decision makers from the Indian travel fraternity resulting in almost 8,000 business meetings across the three city footprint. Ankush Nijhawan from TBO Group said, “This is a first initiative from the TBO Group to engage our India B2B partners first-hand with our preferred hotels to enthuse a sense of confidence and transparency. This one-on-one interaction with hoteliers will ensure a seamless experience for our partners, their groups and FIT requirements as facilitated for them through the TBO online Portal.” The roadshow was spearheaded by Andy Tan, Global Director –Contracting and Supplier Partnerships, TBO Group who led the delegation of hoteliers comprising Sales Directors and General Managers from leading hotels Like Wynn – Las Vegas and Encore, Pan Pacific Hotels group, AccorHotels, Park Hotel Group, Hilton London Metroplole, Papillon Group, Fairmont Baku, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, to name a few. All roadshows featured 30 raffle draws, conducted for all attending B2B partners. 85 lucky winners won for themselves hotel room nights coupled with special privileges at various partner hotels.

Travel Tours, the flagship leisure travel brand of FCM Travel Solutions – Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group Australia, recently inaugurated its fifth store in Bengaluru. The store was inaugurated by Rakshit Desai, Managing Director, India at Flight Centre Travel Group. With the launch of this store, FCM Travel Solutions now has 30 operational Travel Tours stores across India. The new store in Bengaluru aims to fulfill the diverse needs of travellers in the city by offering both personalised vacations and group tours. The store will cater to the needs of high-end urban consumers such as families, business travellers, honeymoon couples and large groups of travellers. Expressing his thoughts on the launch, Desai said, “The launch is a further development of our expansion and strategic intent at Travel Tours across the Southern India. Bengaluru contributes to 22 per cent of leisure travel at Travel Tours overall and 35 per cent in South India. This year has been exciting for us and as we expand rapidly into the year, we plan to open 50+ stores by 2020.” Travel Tours current footprint extends to a total of 30 stores across Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Anand and Nagpur via a combination of owned branches and newly opened franchise outlets.

Treebo Hotels has come on board as a preferred hotel brand on Atlas Travels Online platform offering exciting deals to Atlas’s 20,000 agent network. The campaign kick-starts with roadshows for travel agents across the country with Treebo hosting lucky draws where winners get four-days and three-nights stay at Treebo properties. Atlas Travels is running a month-long campaign for its agents network offering 5 per cent cashback for booking Treebo properties through Atlas’s platform. Vikas Mulchandani, Business Head, Treebo Hotels, says, “With Treebo’s widespread reach in more than 80 Indian cities with 400 hotels and Atlas’s large network of travel agent partners, this partnership is just the beginning of many exciting things which can be done together to create value for the guests and travel partners alike. There is a great fit between the two brands where both Treebo and Atlas are committed towards delivering superior service level without compromising on the quality and I truly believe that the two brands coming together provides a great platform for the B2B agents to cater to the customer’s both travel and accommodation needs. I would like to congratulate both the teams and wish all the best for the success for the campaign.” Talking about their relationship with Treebo, Param Sidhu, COO Atlas Travels Online, says, “Our constant endeavor is to bring best deals, bouquet of varieties across the verticals of air, hotels, visa, foreign exchange that we offer to our agents network helping them to expand and grow their business. Our excellent tech and process driven support helps agents and suppliers to transact seamlessly. We are excited about our alliance with Treebo, with whom we are expanding our existing hotel inventory and running a …

Amid growing demands, the Government of India has included Madurai airport in the list of entry points where persons holding e-visa can enter India. According to a circular released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, visitors holding valid e-visa can enter the country without going to the nearby airport with e-visa on arrival facility. This facility is expected to benefit a large number of tourists from Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Mauritius, the US and the UK. Overall fourth in Tamil Nadu, the Madurai airport is the 26th airport to get the facility in the country.

Sterling Holiday Resorts is set to launch its latest resort, ‘Sterling Mysore’, thereby increasing its network to 35 resorts across the country. Sterling Mysore will be launched through a management agreement between Sterling Holiday Resorts and Tapovan Projects. The property is located in a peaceful enclave, within easy reach from Mysore city and Mysore Airport. Sterling Mysore features 16 well-appointed guestrooms, 16 one bedroom suites, 16 luxurious suites with private plunge pools and 24 two-bedroom villas with plunge pools. The resort offers amenities such as a 24/7 fitness centre, spa, holiday activity centre, swimming pool and a 200-seater best-in-class conference hall. Multicuisine dining options are available at the all-day dining restaurant, along with a poolside bar for guests to unwind. Speaking on the launch of Sterling Mysore, Ramesh Ramanathan, Managing Director, Sterling Holiday Resorts said, “In line with our strategy of establishing our presence across holiday destinations throughout the country, we are launching Sterling Mysore, shortly. Mysore is at the heart of heritage and cultural experiences and attracts tourists from different parts of the world. This resort will further bolster ‘Brand Sterling’ in providing experiential and immersive holidays to its guests.” Commenting on this partnership, K Sriram, Managing Partner, Tapovan Projects, said, “We are delighted to partner with Sterling and we believe ‘Brand Sterling’ brings immense leisure hospitality expertise, and with this launch we look forward to establishing Sterling Mysore as a premier resort in this vibrant holiday destination.”  

In an attempt to engage the travel trade and provide a platform to meet Scandinavian partners from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the Scandinavian Tourist Board organised a roadshow in Delhi with 28 Scandinavian partners and seven DMCs from the Nordic countries. The annual event will be held in Bengaluru next and conclude in Mumbai. Briefing about the development of tourism in Scandinavian countries, Mohit Batra, India Representative, Scandinavian Tourist Board said that there has been a tremendous growth in the number of Indians travelling to Denmark, Norway and Sweden. “We are closely approaching 500,000 room nights in 2018 looking at the figures we have till now. We have seen a surge in every segment, be they FITs, groups or MiCE,” he informed.  

Sabre Corporation recently hosted the first-ever ‘Airline Leaders’ Forum’ in Mumbai to create a unique forum for airlines, travel agents and travel management companies from across the country to delve into industry best practices regarding merchandising, distribution and fulfilment that will enable a successful evolution towards the future of travel. Sabre continues to bolster its leadership position in the India travel marketplace. In addition to providing a platform that facilitates knowledge transfer between industry members, Sabre recently announced the renewal of a long-term, full content distribution agreement with Jet Airways. Sabre also has a long-standing relationship with Air India, with whom it holds a full content distribution agreement for both India and international points of sale. “India has the potential to achieve some of the fastest growth of any aviation market in the world. Sabre plays a leading role in the transformation of India’s aviation industry by enabling companies to adopt cutting-edge technology solutions that provide a significant market advantage,” said Rakesh Narayanan, Vice President, Air Line of Business, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific. “Through our strategic partnerships and thanks to our leading global travel marketplace, which connects over 425,000 agents to global airline content, Sabre contributes to the success of its customers on an international scale,” he added.

Around 10 top travel agents and tour operators visited the ultra-luxury cruise ship Silver Muse that had docked in Mumbai and interacted with Daniel Krupp, Vice President, Silversea, onboard the liner over lunch. They also went around the ship for an inspection after a product presentation to get a first-hand feel of the exclusive experience. The ship departed from Muscat on October 23 and docked in Mumbai on October 26. It will then cruise to Kochi on October 28, going on to Colombo, Rangoon, Phuket, Pulau, Klang and finally arriving in Singapore on November 9. The product is currently promoted in India mainly by Cox & Kings and a couple of other agents.

The Den, Bengaluru has announced the launch of Layla, a rooftop mediterranean restaurant, along with a grand opening reception of the first property by The DAN group (Israeli) in India. Located in the IT hub of Bengaluru, the 226-room property provides the right blend of service and luxury for business travellers as well as fulfils the requirements of the destination connoisseurs. On this special occasion, Ronen Nissenbaum, President and CEO, Dan Hotels said, “The Den is an urban oasis and at the heart of it is authentic hospitality and philosophy to do what you want with utmost comfort, panache and just a little edge.” Vinesh Gupta, General Manager, The Den, Bengaluru, added, “The launch of Layla has been much anticipated and we are ecstatic to bring to our guests one of the best mediterannean restaurant in the city. Layla is a beverage-centric restaurant with Mediterranean cuisine with a lively, light-hearted and fun-keeping atmosphere, reflecting a touch of fine dining. We are excited with the launch of Layla and welcome people from Bengaluru to experience a unique dining experience.” Located on the 21st Floor of The Den, Bengaluru, the breathtaking location of the rooftop restaurant makes it an ideal place for a high and fun-filled dining experience with the sky view.

Fortune Hotels has flagged off its first hotel ‘Fortune Park Pushpanjali’ in the Steel City – Durgapur. Marking the celebration, the chain’s senior leadership team including Samir MC, Managing Director; Rohit Malhotra, VP – Operations; Dhananjay Saliankar, Head – Sales & Marketing and Kovid Sharma – Head Human Resources was present at the ceremony. With the inauguration of this hotel, Fortune now has 46 hotels across 39 cities in India. The property offers 89 contemporary guest rooms with full services and amenities, including 24-hour room service, high speed WiFi connectivity, satellite LED TV, electronic safe, mini bar, tea/coffee maker, iron and ironing board, among other things. Commenting on the launch, Samir MC, Managing Director, Fortune Park Hotels, said, “Fortune Hotels is building momentum across India through the launch of smart hotels as well as growth of our portfolio. After Haridwar and Vellore, we are delighted to announce our brand new hotel, Fortune Park Pushpanjali in Durgapur.” He added, “Durgapur is one of the fastest growing smart cities in India, and with excellent location, contemporary design, first-class full services, we are confident that the hotel will see great success and offer best-in-class guest experience to the travellers visiting the city.”