In an effort to use sports as a communication tool to celebrate the spirit of partnership and healthy competition, Turkish Airlines brought eight travel agencies and 24 players together for its annual bowling tournament in Mumbai. In India, this is the sixth year of the tournament, but is the first ever edition to be held in Mumbai. In addition to Turkish Airlines’ passenger agencies in India, over 1000 agencies and 3000 players from all around the world will participate in the tournament. Ibrahim Hakki Guntay, General Manager – West and South India said, “I would like to thank all of our travel agency partners who made Turkish Airlines Bowling 2018 a huge success in Mumbai. Learning about team members and understanding team dynamics in an engaging manner can go a long way in improving productivity and building relationships beyond work.” This year’s Turkish Airlines Bowling Tournament saw participation from top travel agencies. The team from American Express Global Business Travel- Team GBT won the tournament and will stand a chance to represent India in the Turkish Airlines Bowling Grand Finale to be held in Istanbul. The Champion of the Grand Finale will win a flight ticket and a vacation in Antalya.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation inaugurated the Mormugao Port Trust and Drishti Marine’s inland ferry services in the port city of Vasco in Goa. The inaugural plaque was unveiled at the newly constructed Airport Ferry Terminal (AFT) at Baina beach. The ferry service is aimed at offering transport to tourists and locals from and to the airport to different parts of Goa. Drishti Marine operates passenger ferry operations on behalf of the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT). It undertook this project and constructed the fully dismantleable and environmental-friendly floating jetty and terminal at Baina Beach. At the inaugural ceremony, Gadkari said, “Our country has a 7,500 km long coastline, which can help the development of our country. The biggest advantage of tourism is that 49 per cent of the capital investment is utilised for job creation. If one wants to travel by road, the cost is Rs. 1.5 (per km), by railways the cost is Re. 1 (per km) and by water the cost is 20 paise (per km). The first phase will see the opening of routes between Vasco and Panaji and will eventually extend to other areas. Phase Two will start from the Airport Ferry Terminal to Baga, Siquerim, as well as Chapora Fort.

Garuda Indonesia will now serve Denpasar and Mumbai with direct flights starting April 23. This new route will offer a variety of connection flights to Indonesia for Indian tourists as the airline has served Jakarta–Mumbai route since 2016. Sigit Muhartono, Director of Cargo, Garuda Indonesia, who is also in charge for international routes said that the opening of Denpasar-Mumbai route is part of Garuda Indonesia’s international network development programme particularly in the South Asia region as the number of Indians visiting Indonesia is projected to grow to 500,000 in four years compared with 262,000 in 2015, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism. “This new service is also facilitating the Indonesia Ministry of Tourism’s programme to increase the number of tourist visitors to Indonesia, especially India. To support the joint synergies of both countries, Indonesia and India, Garuda Indonesia continues to strive to maximise the base connectivity between the two countries that is expected to further strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and India,” Muhartono said. The Denpasar-Mumbai route will be served twice a week from 23 April (Monday and Thursday) and will be increased to three times a week on June 2 (Monday, Thursday and Saturday). The flight will be served by GA 814, leaving Denpasar at 15.40 LT and arrive in Mumbai at 20.25 LT. On the return flight, GA 815 will depart from Mumbai at 21.50 LT and will be arrive the next morning at 07.55 LT in Denpasar.

Tourism Fiji has appointed actor Ileana D’Cruz as its brand ambassador for the India market. Following a successful collaboration with the Bollywood celebrity in 2017, Tourism Fiji now aims to showcase more of its offerings to travellers from India through more engagements with her. As part of this engagement, D’Cruz will be travelling to Fiji in April this year to experience more activities. For year ending December 2017, Fiji saw 30 per cent increase in arrivals from India as compared to 2016. Faiyaz Siddiq Koya, Fijian Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Lands and Mineral Resources, said, “India is a key emerging market for Fiji and we have been receiving steady positive growth in visitor arrival numbers from India over the past five years. Fiji and India share an age old connection with over 40 per cent of Fiji’s population being of Indian origin. With D’Cruz as our brand ambassador, we hope to get more Indians to come and experience the diverse culture of our island country.”

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) held its conclave recently on ‘Synergising Food Safety Standards & Regulation in Hospitality Industry’ at The Imperial, New Delhi in association with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Speaking at the press conference, Pawan Aggarwal, CEO, FSSAI said, “We have moved a long way since last year in building trust with the food businesses. With our focus on trainings, 16-18000 people have been trained and about 850 training sessions have been held. Our focus remains on preventive safety.” On the upcoming projects, he said, “In a few months, we will be launching a new generation of IT platform, Food Safety Compliance System (FSCS), which will provide a history sheet of food permissions and their compliances. We are also trying to establish clean street food hubs by demarcating areas for street food.” Plenary sessions were held on ‘Simplification of Food Safety Regulations for ease of doing business’ and ‘Save Food Share Food Share Joy Initiative’. An awards ceremony also took place to felicitate HRANI member units for implementation of Food Safety Training and Certification(FoSTaC).    

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has now introduced mine tourism in Wani in Yavatmal district where tourists will get an opportunity to visit the coal mines in Bhandewada and Ukani to understand the intricacies involved in coal mining. In order to create awareness about the significance of coal mining, MTDC and Western Coalfields have entered into an agreement to promote mine tourism while ensuring the safety of the visitors. The Wani-Yavatmal mine tour includes a visit to Bhandewanda mines along with a workshop in addition to an excursion into the open cast mine in Ukani to view the heavy earth-moving vehicles at the site carrying tons of coal. The trained tour guides will brief and educate travellers about the mining processes. Apart from mine tourism, Yavatmal district is also known for pilgrimage sites which attracts thousands of pilgrims every month. Madan Yerawar, State Tourism Minister, Government of Maharashtra, says, “Mine tourism is a niche segment and we are expanding it further by introducing new site in Wani, Yavatmal to attract tourists from across the globe. The mine locations in Saoner and Gondegaon are already attracting tourist footfalls and we believe that this new site will help in catalysing the growth of tourism in Maharashtra.”

Tasaduq Mufti, Tourism Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, along with Sunil Kumar, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI),  welcomed the attendees at the 64th TAAI Convention in Srinagar on March 27. Mehbooba Mufti, Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, was the chief guest at the event. The convention saw the registration of around 650 delegates and opened with a golf tournament at the Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar, followed by the formal inauguration at SKICC, Srinagar. The evening saw the attendance of ministers and senior officials of the Jammu and Kashmir government as well as representatives of airlines and the tourism industry. Mehbooba Mufti welcomed the delegates and hoped that the convention shall bring with it more tourism for the state. “We have a lot of tourism products — from mountains, waters, culture, golf courses, pilgrimage and many other diverse products,” she said in her speech. Sunil Kumar said that the TAAI Convention has always brought tourists to the destination and it will do the same for the state. Saying that it’s the 8th TAAI Convention in Jammu & Kashmir, which has come after 30 years to the state, he assured that they will not take this much time again to come back.

With an array of cruising choices on offer for the discerning travellers, the Globus family of brands is celebrating its 90 years of operation in the travel business. In 2018, the company plans to showcase its nine-decade journey through a revamped corporate website and is also offering a discount of five per cent on all Globus Europe vacations. Varesh Chopra, Regional Director – South Asia and Middle East, says, “Our journey began 90 years ago on March 28, 1928 & now, nine decades later we are still paddling, steering and cruising travelers across the world through the wonders of six continents. We want to thank all our agent partners for being such a strong support for us through this journey. Without them, we would not have been able to achieve this huge success. We want everyone to be able to celebrate this landmark anniversary with us and hopefully toast with us to another 90 years. On this occasion, we are offering five per cent off on all our Globus Europe vacations.”

One of the key takeaways from the AccorHotels Showcase 2018 was that MiCE is on the rise globally – with multiple events being held internationally, and also in India which is increasingly becoming a chosen destination for MiCE. Furthermore, with globalisation and Indian corporates opening offices around the world, the hospitality industry has seen traction for corporate travel both inbound and outbound. The AccorHotels Showcase 2018 witnessed participation from 35 hotels and resorts from the global network along with 22 hotels from India. The event was the ideal platform to discuss how to work together to benefit from the burgeoning travel market. The delegates were representing India’s topmost travel agents, wholesalers, corporate clients, tourism partners and MiCE organisers in attendance. Arif Patel, Vice President – Sales, Marketing, Distribution & Loyalty, AccorHotels said, “By 2020, Indian outbound travel is estimated to reach 48 million and foreign tourist arrivals is forecasted to cross the 10 million mark. This annual AccorHotels Showcase gives an opportunity for our attendees to engage with AccorHotels’ representatives from around the world to see how best we can work together given the opportunities in the market.” The daylong event in Mumbai on March 21 and Delhi on March 23 was packed with networking sessions where customers discovered the group’s newest offerings and met with hotel representatives from across the region.

Ethiopian Airlines has announced that effective March 25 and until October 26, 2018, it will increase capacity in its India operation by deploying the ultra-modern B777 aircraft on its twice daily operation to/from Mumbai and 767-200 aircraft on its twice daily operation to/from New Delhi. Both the B777 and 767-200 aircraft will have flat beds in business class. Tadesse Tilahun, Regional Director, India Subcontinent, Ethiopian Airlines, remarked, “As part of our strategy to expand in India, we have been increasing frequency and upgrading aircraft in the past few years to accommodate the growing demand to Africa. As a customer focused airline, we have the passenger’s comfort level in mind at all times with a view to continuously enhance our customers‘travel experience and meet their growing expectations.” Tilahun further added “India is a very strategic market for Ethiopian Airlines and we are on the final stage of preparation to launch one more entry point to South India. With our 47 years of service to India, the Ethiopian Airlines has played significant role in bringing India and Africa together in general and India and Ethiopia, in particular.”