Sarovar Hotels expands its footprint in Rajasthan, with the opening of Sairafort Sarovar Portico, Jaisalmer. The property offers 53 deluxe rooms and six suites, all equipped with state-of–the-art amenities and comfort. The other facilities offered are spa, gym, nosh- all day dining, suroor- the bar, conference and meeting rooms, swimming pool and a kids’ zone. The hotel is made of golden sandstone, which has become a unique identity of the town. Intricately designed stone carvings, jharokhas and arches create a design that is a token of the rich history of a bygone era. Anil Madhok, Executive Chairman, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, said, “I am delighted to welcome guests to the Sairafort Sarovar Portico in Jaisalmer. For us, it is one of the most significant destinations in Rajasthan, and our sixth in the state. We have ensured the inclusion of everything necessary to make each stay an upscale experience for our guests.”

The Tourism Minister of Western Australia, Paul Papalia, was in Mumbai recently, to announce Tourism WA’s commitment to the India market in terms of funds, and has appointed a dedicated marketing representative based in Mumbai. The Minister also held key meetings with, and delivered business cases to six Indian airlines in a bid to attract a direct service between India and Perth. Papalia said, “The State Government is serious about growing WA’s tourism industry and entering a new market such as India, with the potential to deliver thousand more visitors. We are working with Perth Airport to secure a direct air link between Perth and India, and this marketing activity will help promote WA and create even greater demand for these flights once they begin. Our extraordinary state has much to offer to Indian travellers, whether they’re visiting for business, education or leisure. Perth boasts the best hotels in Australia, with more than 3,000 new rooms opening in the past few years. It is also the perfect launching pad to visit our spectacular regions. Western Australia is also an attractive option for Indians looking to study overseas, with the Premier recently announcing he will give high-achieving education graduates – PhD, Masters, Honours and other higher degree graduates – a pathway to skilled migration.”

Indian nationals having supporting document are now eligible for Turkish e-Visa – equivalent to the sticker visa issued at Turkish missions. Getting e-visa costs 45 USD less than sticker visa and it takes only 3 minutes at the said website. Turkish mission in India delegates no handling company for e-visa. One needs to log on to official web site https://www.evisa.gov.tr. Turkish e-visa is only valid when the purpose of travel is tourism or commerce. For other purposes, such as work and study, Turkish Embassy or Consulates will issue visa. E-visa kiosks at any airport in Istanbul will not be available after October 28, 2018. One needs to get e-visa before departure to Turkey.

Travelport has become the first GDS operator to manage the live booking of flights using the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) New Distribution Capability (NDC) technical standard. The first transaction was made by a British agency, Meon Valley Travel, on October 19 for a short-haul low-cost flight from London to Milan issued by a major European carrier. The new capability allows bookings to be made for any services on the airline without incurring a surcharge. Travelport’s new NDC capability is enabled using similar XML connections to those Travelport already deploys with APIs for over 20 low-cost carriers. The company published a roadmap for its initial range of NDC products in February, having been the first GDS operator in December 2017 to acquire Level 3 certification from IATA as an aggregator. It will also be followed by a series of product enhancements, including a version for online agents in 2019. Gordon Wilson, President and CEO, Travelport, said: “We are delighted to have taken a lead in bringing the NDC era to life. It has required an extraordinary amount of skill and expertise to make this happen and I want to thank my own colleagues at Travelport as well as our partners. We are still at the earliest stages of NDC deployment. Its evolution will continue to take time as we learn from the practical experience of its first use. Meanwhile, we continue to offer a comprehensive global travel commerce platform capable of handling mass volumes of searchable and bookable content at speed for the world’s travel providers and agents.”

EbixCash has acquired assets of Business Travels and has appointed its owner Praveen Chugh as the Chief Operating Officer of Via agency sales. The company announced that it has decided to further invest in the growth of its B2B business under Chugh, who has immediately taken over as Chief Operating Officer of Via. As a part of the hiring, Chugh’s existing travel company Business Travels Private Limited assets was also acquired by Via. Chugh has been empowered by the company to recruit as many as one hundred domain specific travel sales executives, besides opening up new travel locations across the length and breadth of the country. Robin Raina, Chairman, President and CEO, Ebix, said, “We are excited to have Mr Praveen Chugh on our side. His vast experience, success record and contacts in the world travel industry provide us with an industry veteran who can lead Via B2B Sales to new heights. He has the ability and drive to grow our Via travel division business at high double-digit rates. We believe that the strength of our vast retail network, end-to-end enterprise travel technology and functionality, coupled with strong sales leadership, positions us to grow our travel business aggressively internationally.”

WOW air has announced flights to Vancouver from New Delhi that will operate thrice-a-week (Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) commencing from June 2019. The airline has introduced inaugural fares for the sector with WOW basic fares starting from Rs 21,999 and WOW premium starting from Rs 63,160. The offer will be valid on select flights only when booked on a round trip. The airline will also be offering convenient connecting flights to and from Vancouver for passengers travelling between New Delhi and Iceland. Also, the flight from Vancouver will have the lay-over in Iceland for 3 hrs 20 minutes and flight to Vancouver will have lay-over of 2 hrs 25 minutes. Announcing the new destination, Skúli Mogensen, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, WOW air, said, “We are happy to announce the new flight to Vancouver from New Delhi. The feedback we have received from the Indian consumers is remarkable and this new addition will definitely give a boost to the response from the Indian market. We are waiting for the operations to begin from New Delhi in December.” The airlines is serving number of destinations from New Delhi including Iceland, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles and Orlando. WOW will begin service from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi (DEL) on December 7, 2018 with three weekly flights connecting passengers to North America and Europe over their hub in Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF). In January, the airline will be flying five weekly flights.

GoAir will make Phuket as its Thailand hub and fly to the beach island from eight more Indian cities by the end of next year. The carrier currently flies to Phuket and Male in Maldives from Mumbai and New Delhi as part of its overseas route network. It had commenced its international operations on October 11 with flight services to Phuket from New Delhi.

Thomas Cook India has opened its new franchise in Delhi’s Kamla Nagar. Inaugurated by Romil Pant, Sr Vice President, and Jatin Sharma, Associate Vice President, Thomas Cook India, the expansion augments Thomas Cook India’s distribution and reach in Delhi-NCR to 17 consumer access centres: six owned branches and 11 Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets. The Gold Circle Partner outlet offers consumers end-to-end travel solutions with a bouquet of travel and travel-related financial services, including international and domestic holidays value-added services like travel insurance, visa services, etc. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head, Leisure Travel & MiCE, Thomas Cook India, said, “The North market continues to feature strongly as a prime driver, delivering significant growth of 32 per cent YoY for our leisure travel business. We have selected Delhi-NCR as it has a strategic market basis. The Thomas Cook Gold Circle Partner programme increases the brand’s reach across the country, giving consumers access to the company’s products and services in metros/mini-metros and strongly emerging Tier II and III markets.  

The world’s top ten cities in terms of job creation through tourism are Jakarta, Beijing, Mexico City, Shanghai, Bangkok, Chongqing, Delhi, Mumbai, Ho Chi Minh City, Shenzhen, according to World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Annual Cities Report released recently at the WTTC Asia Leaders Forum in Macau. The world’s top ten cities in terms of tourism market size are: Shanghai (US$35bn), Beijing ($32.5bn), Paris ($28bn), Orlando ($24.8bn), New York ($24.8bn), Tokyo ($21.7bn), Bangkok ($21.3bn), Mexico City ($19.7bn), Las Vegas ($19.5bn) and Shenzhen ($19bn). The report covers 72 of the world’s most important tourism cities, which together generated over $625bn contribution to GDP last year (24.3% of global travel and tourism GDP). Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC commented, “With 54 per cent of the world’s population living in urban areas, cities have become global economic hubs, driving growth and innovation. They attract huge quantities of people who travel to experience their culture, do business and live. This growth has also resulted in a rise in city tourism – a trend which is forecast to maintain momentum. Our report highlights the crucial importance of cities to travel and tourism worldwide, and likewise how vital this sector is to the economy. Over half a billion trips are made to cities annually representing 45 per cent of global international travel.” Of particular note, Chinese cities have matured rapidly over the past decade, and are forecast to continue dominating the growth charts between 2017 and 2027. Shanghai, for example, went from being the eighth largest city in terms of travel and tourism GDP in 2007 to become the largest in 2017 – a position it is expected to maintain until 2027.

In an initiative to promote Turkey as a preferred wedding destination for Indian weddings, Turkey Cultural & Tourism board, India, recently organised a familiarisation trip for top Indian wedding planning agencies. Agencies were selected on the quality of their work as well as their experience in planning weddings abroad. The visit offered the Indian contingent with the opportunity to view and experience Turkey as a unique destination for holding Indian weddings. The week-long trip had wedding planners travelling to cities of Antalya, Bodrum, Istanbul where they had the opportunity to visit more than 25 hotels and resorts and interact with the representatives of these luxury hospitality chains. In addition, a city tour was also organised in each city where the Indian delegation had the chance to visit some of regions most popular tourist attractions. Special cultural events, culinary galas and B2B sessions also kept the delegation busy. The trip helped wedding planners understand the current offerings in Turkey and how it could be explored as a destination for lavish Indian weddings. Talking about reasons to promote Turkey as a wedding destination, Deniz Ersöz, Culture and Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India, said, “Weddings in India are becoming larger than life and destination weddings are getting more and more popular among Indians. Turkey has great potential to become a wedding destination and the feedback we got from the wedding planners after the Fam trip was very encouraging. It is a destination with the most amazing and diverse topography, which is perfect for an Indian wedding as you could have every event set against a unique backdrop.”