BigBreaks has announced the launch of ‘Self Drive Holidays’, a unique product in association with Myles, India’s leading car rental company. At the initial stage, the holiday packages have been designed for Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, which would soon extend to other major cities too. At an all inclusive price, travellers can book a complete holiday, that includes self drive car rental and hotel accommodation on pre-planned routes. “Designed for young travellers, these self drive holidays have seen an excellent response”, said Kapil Goswamy, Founder & Managing Director, BigBreaks. Another recent launch by BigBreaks was Pilgrimage Holidays. Given the size of the pilgrimage market, both among resident Indians and non-resident Indians, Goswamy is extremely bullish on this segment. “From Kedarnath and Badrinath in the north, Rameshwar in the south, to Jagannath Puri in the east and Dwarka in the west, we’ve launched Pilgrimage Holiday options to over 20 of the important pilgrimage spots in India, and more are being added everyday. The most popular so far have been Chardham Yatra’s , where for those short on time, we’ve even begun offering Do Dham Darshan in just one day ex Delhi, Goswamy shared.

Ezeego1.com has opened a second franchise store in Delhi to cater to the city’s growing travel demands. Managed by Neha Malhotra, the outlet is located at Spaze i-Tech Park, Sector 49, Gurgaon and will provide a bouquet of travel services like flight tickets, hotels, packages, rail and cruise holidays. Speaking at the launch, Neelu Singh, CEO & Director, Ezeego1, said, “Distribution is the key to success in the growing travel market and the opening of our new franchise will help us gain a foothold in this market. Our offerings are curated from a slew of travel aggregators and we enable and distribute it through our platform.” It now has a total of 60 franchises including one in Chennai and Chandigarh each. Ezeego1 will provide the franchisee with an active marketing, technical and store development support. The marketing activity will include print and radio advertising, attractive and preferential commercials. Store development support will include store designing to reinforce the brand’s look and feel. Training and technical support will be provided to all franchisee staff to effectively address the changing technology and enhance customer interface.  

Oman Air has taken delivery of the second of 30 Boeing 737 Max 8s. The 737 MAX family offers the greatest flexibility, reliability and efficiency in the single-aisle market, with 8 per cent lower operating costs than its main competitor. Oman Air expects to receive a total of five 737 MAX by September 2018. The aircraft have been configured with 162 seats in two class – 12 in business and 150 in economy with enhancements across both cabins. With the addition of the new MAX, Oman Air’s fleet currently consists of seven Boeing 787 Dreamliners, six Airbus 330-300s, four Airbus 330-200s, five Boeing 737-900s, 21 Boeing 737-800, two Boeing 737 MAXs and four Embraer 175s. In June, Oman Air will also receive the first of its three 787-9 Dreamliner on order, two of which will have a new First Class product with eight full privacy mini suites, 24 Business class seats and 232 Economy seats. The aircraft will be equipped with leading technology, latest in comfort and amenities, including cutting edge entertainment to enhance the travel experience of their guests. In 2018, Oman Air will be launching three new destinations – Casablanca (Morocco) in June, Istanbul (Turkey) in July and Moscow during the winter schedule 2018. The three new routes are part of Oman Air’s strategic expansion plan.  

The theme of Maharashtra Tourism’s stall at ITB Berlin this year was ‘Sustainable Tourism’ and ‘Tourism 360-degree’ to offer new avenues of tourism. The delegation was led by Vijay Gautam, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Culture and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC who presided over key B2B meetings and spoke about the prospects of ensuing collaborations with counterparts to attract tourists all across the globe. Maharashtra aims to provide a meaningful experience to travellers, creating awareness about sustainability matters and encouraging these practices among them. The response generated by travel and tour operators for MTDC’s initiative at ITB Berlin 2018 was promising.

Marriott International has announced the opening of its 200-key JW Marriott Jaipur Resort & Spa, marking the debut of the global luxury brand in Rajasthan. The resort features 200 guest rooms, villas and suites, including Royal Terrace Rooms, Royal Courtyard Rooms and Royal Pool Villas with private plunge pools, as well as two-bedroom Palace and Presidential Suites. It has a Kids’ Club and a full schedule of family-friendly programming – from sessions with a local magician to creative culinary workshops with friendly hotel chefs. “This beautiful city is a serene modern oasis steeped in ancient traditions and culture and is the perfect setting for the newest JW Marriott in Asia-Pacific,” said Bruce Ryde, Asia-Pacific Vice-President for Luxury Brands and Brand Marketing, Marriott International. The resort has indoor and outdoor banqueting venues of over 52,000 square feet, featuring multi-functional event spaces equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual systems, including a 11,000-square-feet pillar-less Ballroom, making this the great venue for weddings and events. “We welcome our guests with modern, contemporary hospitality that is steeped in the warmth and beauty of Rajasthani tradition,” said Chandrashekar Joshi, General Manager, JW Marriott Jaipur Resort and Spa. “We offer our guests unforgettable experiences, whether it is through our impeccable service, culinary memories that honor the region’s flavours brought to life by our master chefs, or exciting experiences for guests of all ages to discover Jaipur’s rich history and culture.”

Commerce and Industries minister Suresh Prabhu has been given additional charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry, a day after the resignation of TDP’s Ashok Gajapathi Raju was accepted by President Ram Nath Kovind, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said. In a brief communique, the spokesperson said, “The President, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed that Suresh Prabhu, Cabinet Minister, shall be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in addition to his existing portfolio.” Raju and another Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Y S Chowdary had resigned from the council of ministers after party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu decided to pull out his ministers. Naidu took the decision after facing relentless attacks from the opposition for “failing” to secure special category status for Andhra Pradesh. SOURCE: PTI

AirAsia India will focus on expanding its domestic network and increase flight frequencies, before commencing international operations to Southeast Asia by early next year, as informed by Amar Abrol, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia India. Just a few days ago, the budget passenger carrier announced the addition of Nagpur and Indore to its network, effective March 17. It will also introduce new routes connecting Bengaluru, Kolkata, Goa, Indore and Nagpur. In addition, the airline will operate daily flights connecting its two hubs—Bengaluru and Kolkata—which will become operational from March 25. “We are not shying away from India. We will first commence flight operations to new domestic destinations and increase frequencies. In all, we are looking at starting flights to four to five new cities in this year,” Abrol shared. “We are making the preparations for international operations but it will most probably take place by the first quarter of 2019,” he added. When asked about the first international port of call, Abrol said, “It can be anywhere from India’s eastern seaboard to Southeast Asia, particularly to Thailand and Malaysia.”According to Abrol, apart from adding more domestic flight frequencies, the airline is “steadily working” towards “break-even” by the year-end. SOURCE: IANS

Identifying the state of Uttar Pradesh as a significant growth market for its foreign exchange business, Thomas Cook (India) has opened two new counters at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi. The outlets were inaugurated by Anil Kumar Rai, Airport Director in the presence of Shouvik Chatterjee and Amit Gupta, Associate Vice Presidents of Thomas Cook India’s Foreign Exchange business. The two new airport counters extend Thomas Cook India’s Foreign Exchange distribution and reach for Uttar Pradesh to a total of 12 consumer access centres – seven owned branches and five Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets. Deepesh Varma, Senior Vice President & Head—Sales & Relationship Management Foreign Exchange, Thomas Cook (India) said, “At Thomas Cook India, we have identified Varanasi as a powerful source market given strong growth continuum of 17 per cent YoY for our Foreign Exchange business. Our two new Foreign Exchange outlets at Varanasi’s Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, will offer travellers easy access to Thomas Cook India’s range of Foreign Exchange products and services- right at the airport on arrival or departure.” Industry data highlights that Varanasi Airport has witnessed strong growth in passenger numbers from one million in 2014-2015 to 1.9 million passengers in 2017–2018.

Jharkhand Tourism Department recently organised a roadshow in Delhi that saw attendance from North India’s prominent travel and trade representatives. During the occasion, Jharkhand Tourism announced its plan to celebrate the inaugural edition of upcoming Jharkhand Travel Mart (JTM) to be held in Ranchi from March 23 to 25, 2018. Sanjeev Kumar Birsa, IAS, Director – Tourism, Govt. of Jharkhand, said, “We have a clear vision for the state, with various activities planned to make Jharkhand a tourist friendly destination. The state has a great potential to offer through tourism products and attractions such as wildlife, pilgrimage, heritage and leisure. JTM will help us to promote the state and the tourism products it has to offer to the domestic as well as the international traveller.” Jharkhand Tourism is also organising mega roadshows in various cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Patna and Asansol. Dr. Manish Ranjan, IAS, Secretary – Tourism, Govt. of Jharkhand said, “Jharkhand will contribute immensely to the Indian Tourism portfolio with its diverse range of travel and tourism destinations. The event is an extension of our aggressive marketing approach to introduce more tourism destinations and attractions and reinforce the Jharkhand Tourism Brand among the media, buyers and stakeholders.” The event will seek support from all major national travel trade and hospitality associations in India.

India has won the ‘Best Exhibitor Award’ at ITB Berlin on the concluding day. The event was convened at Berlin, Germany from March 7-10, 2018. India was represented by KJ Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism along with other officials from the Tourism Ministry. India’s ‘Incredible India’ (Ministry of Tourism) presented a short film named ‘Yogi of the Racetrack’ during the meet. The film received 3.2 million hits in 60 hours. More than 100 countries participated at ITB Berlin with their respective Tourism Ministers.