The Indian Railways has put an ambitious target towards augmenting rail infrastructure, earmarking investment of Rs 856,000 crore between 2015-16 and 2019-20. Network decongestion and expansion, and safety comprise 60 per cent share of the overall capital expenditure. The capital investment on infrastructure creation is expected to sustain at high levels on the back of long-term financing via Life Insurance Corporation of India, funding by multilateral agencies, and building relationships and partnering with the private sector. Over the last three years, 33 per cent of the total capital investment was towards construction of new lines, track renewal works, gauge conversion and safety works. Likewise, broad gauge line and electrification projects gather momentum. The commissioning of both in the last three years almost doubled, from 1,500 km during 2008-09 to 2013-14 to 3,000 km in 2016-17 for broad gauge, and 1,100 km to 2,000 km for electrification.

Hellenic Travel Network has opened a sales office in India in co-operation with Griffon in Mumbai. With more than 30 years of proven experience in the travel industry, the company owns a fleet of cars and mini vans having capacity from 1-19 passengers. Besides this, the company also has an in-house IT department and launched an online B2B booking engine. Andreas Genthe, VP, Hellenic Travel Network, Greece, says, “We are excited to open our India sales office with Griffon in Mumbai. Vivek Jain, MD, Griffon, has been dealing with the Greek market for over 15 years as GSA of various cruise lines and airlines. He is well-versed with Greece mainland and islands and we are confident of our India sales office.” Hellenic Travel Network has launched a special India brochure that has packages designed for Indian travellers keeping in mind their special needs such as Indian vegetarian food, personalised private transfers and tours, and visits to monuments having special interest to Indian travellers. Hellenic Travel Network S.A. has also introduced private villa stay options so large families or close friends groups can stay in private villa which are fully equipped with swimming pool, gardens and even direct access to the beach.

Travelport has announced the signing of a multiyear agreement with Qantas Airways that includes distribution of the Australian national carrier’s content and integration into Qantas’ recently announced NDC platform, the Qantas Distribution Platform (QDP). Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding merchandising solution has been deployed, giving over 65,000 of Travelport-connected travel agencies globally access to images of cabins and meals. These agents will also be able to book ancillaries such as extra legroom seating. Stephen Shurrock, Chief Commercial Officer, Travelport commented, “This agreement is testament to Qantas’ commendable forward-looking vision. Whether it’s the deployment of Rich Content and Branding or our new NDC capabilities, Travelport is uniquely equipped to support Qantas in optimizing content distribution globally.” Travelport is the first operator of a global distribution system to be granted the highest certification by IATA for its New Distribution Capability (NDC) airline distribution technology. With this, Travelport is well-positioned to support the QDP, improving the flexibility of content distribution, as the airline becomes one of the first to deploy NDC content later this year. It is the only such company to be cited by Qantas as an early adopter.  

Switzerland Tourism has introduced its global e-learning programme created for travel agents to sell the destination in the India market. This was launched in January this year and its India-specific programme created especially for this market was discontinued. Speaking about the decision behind this development, Claudio Zemp, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, says, “We are very proud to introduce our new e-learning programme – the Switzerland Travel Academy – in India. This is a global programme for travel agents all over the world and is now also available for the Indian agents. We observed that the demand and the requirements from the India market as well as the knowledge about the destination were fast evolving and for that reason we have now started using the same e-learning programme for India.” The NTO recently did a series of four webinars this year that got overwhelming response with about 600 people joining each webinar. The numbers are also good, as Zemp reveals. “We had an increase of 23.4 per cent in terms of tourists generated out of India in 2017 over the previous year. The first three months of 2018 saw an increase of 16.4 per cent over the previous year during the same period, which is traditionally not a busy season for us,” he says.  

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has signed a new Ginger hotel in Visakhapatnam. It will be Ginger’s second hotel in the city. Ginger Hotels’ portfolio has 45 operating hotels and seven hotels in the pipeline. The announcement reflects the company’s strategic domestic expansion to drive growth momentum. Deepika Rao, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Roots Corporation said, “We are delighted to partner with SSR Builders in Visakhapatnam for this hotel. We are happy to expand our presence in Visakhapatnam, a key city in Andhra Pradesh.” The new Ginger in Visakhapatnam with 56 rooms, an all-day diner, meeting room and a fitness centre located at Gajuwaka amidst a commercial hub with close proximity to companies like Tata Motors, Nestle, BHEL, GAIL and many others. The hotel is slated to open mid-2019. IHCL has two other hotels in the city – The Gateway Hotel Beach Road Visakhapatnam and a 68-room Ginger hotel close to the Visakhapatnam railway station.    

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) this April were 7,49,477 as compared to 7,17,899 in April 2017, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Tourism. The growth rate in FTAs in April 2018 over April 2017 was 4.4 per cent. FTAs during the period January-April 2018 were 38,76,021 as compared to 34,98,969 in January-April 2017 registering a growth of 10.8%. The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India during April 2018 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (24.32%) followed by USA (11.21%), UK (9.14%), Sri Lanka (3.48%), Australia (3.33%), Malaysia (3.06%), China (2.62%), Canada (2.53%), Germany (2.48%), France (2.33%), Japan (2.22%), Russian Federation (2.07%), Thailand (1.70%), Afghanistan (1.65%) and  Nepal (1.64%).

Ministry of Civil Aviation has revealed that passengers will have an option to go for the DigiYatra initiative after giving their Aadhar details and experience seamless air travel right from booking of tickets to airport entry, Check-in, security check as well as boarding. MoCA has finalised the technical standards for DigiYatra, which will be published shortly. Airports such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Varanasi and Vijayawada will roll out this programme in phases by January 2019. The Passenger Charter also revealed that the application AirSewa v1.5 will be launched by July 2018. According to the Draft Passenger Charter released by MoCA, the passengers can enrol in to DigiYatra program through AirSewa, and a DigiYatra verified passenger gets hassle free entry at airport through E-Gates. The ID verification will be done by the BCAS-approved Government ID. At the entry gate a single token for the passenger is created. Many other value-added services, including ground transportation, special services at airport, in-flight, etc. will also be delivered through the DigiYatra programme. The programme also enhances security while providing convenience to the passenger. The mobile app and web application for AirSewa will be redesigned to include UI/UX refresh to make it service friendly. Also, social media login will be enabled allowing users of Facebook and Google to access AirSewa, and report grievances on these channels. Other features of AirSewa includes comprehensive FAQs and Chat-bot interface; updated flight status and flight schedule information; information on facilities and services available across all airports in India.

Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Draft Passenger Charter was discussed recently by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation, along with RN Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, where Sinha revealed that both domestic and international airlines can provide internet as well as mobile services on-board and aircraft in Indian airspace, keeping in account security requirements for the same. According to the Passenger Charter, Wi-fi services can be provided from the moment the plane takes off  and personal electronic devices (PED) have to be put on flight mode. Also, mobile services can be allowed only when an aircraft is over an altitude of 3,000 metres. Choubey, explained that the licensing condition for Wi-Fi on board will be decided by the Telecom Ministry, and within 2 months passengers will be able to enjoy on-board internet when they travel.

Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced the Draft Passenger Charter, which defines the rights of the passengers, under which Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation, informed that there will be a lock-in period of 24 hours post booking for passenger, allowing them to cancel or amend the ticket without any charges. However, he said that this waiver will not be eligible for a ticket booked 96 hours (4 days) before the departure of the flight. It was also revealed that if the airline is at fault for any delays or cancellation, then under no circumstance the airline, or the OTA or agents who has booked the ticket, can levy cancellation charges which are more than the total of basic fare and fuel surcharge.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a ‘Little Chiang Mai’ guidebook in English, bringing together the city’s independent bookshops, secret restaurants and museums, as well as the province’s bicycle and running routes in a set of five bona fide designer pocketbooks for readers to use or collect. TAT Governor, Yuthasak Supasorn said Little Chiang mai’s latest English edition, would be an unique guide for international travellers looking to discover Thailand’s ‘Rose of the North’ from a new perspective. The book set combines Chiang Mai’s culture, gastronomy and art in a way that brings the city to life in a new light, targeting young active travellers looking to discover its hidden gems along running or cycling routes. He noted that it is unique both in form and content and consists of five individual sections: ‘Ride’, ‘Run’, ‘Restaurants’, ‘Gallery Museum’ and ‘Bookshops’. The initial brief from TAT was to create a map of Chiang Mai’s bookshops, restaurants and museums that bring together the city’s local establishments with bicycle and running routes in Chiang Mai being added as a bonus. What differentiates Little Chiang mai from most guidebooks is each section has a character that is relatable to its content, which is divided into five individual pocketbooks distributed within the one package.