India Sales Associates has been appointed by Singapore-based Far East Hospitality & Management (FEHMS) as their Regional Sales Office (RSO) for the Indian subcontinent market. “Far East Hospitality Group (FEHMS) is a premier owner and operator of hotels and serviced residences.” It has a combined portfolio of close to 14,000 rooms under management across 90 hotels and serviced residences in seven countries. Far East Hospitality’s stable of 10 unique and complementary brands present excellent opportunities for cross-selling initiatives across different brands and geographic markets, offering guests with a greater diversity of choices and locations. In Singapore, the holding company’s hospitality management arm, Far East Hospitality Management, operates a portfolio comprising 22 hotels and serviced residences. Toga Far East Hotels, its joint venture in Australia, is a leading hotel operator across Australia, New Zealand and Europe managing nearly 70 strategically located hotels within this portfolio.  

Thomas Cook (India) strengthened its presence in North India with the inauguration of a flagship store at Connaught Place by Vijay Kumar,  Brand Ambassador, Thomas Cook India. This expansion augments Thomas Cook India’s total number of outlets to 16 consumer access centres with six owned branches and 10 Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets in Delhi. Thomas Cook’s new store will offer travellers a range of holiday products (domestic and international tickets, and hotels, cruises, individual and group tours, luxury vacations), foreign exchange, visa services and insurance. Rajeev Kale, ‎President, Country Head–Leisure Travel and MICE, Thomas Cook (India) said, “North India is delivering a strong growth of 20 per cent YoY for our leisure travel business and Delhi has been identified as a prime growth driver as part of our strategic plan. Our new branch at Connaught Place is at a prime location, thus giving our consumers convenient access to a range of holiday products, travel and foreign exchange services.”  

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to a number of amendments in the FDI Policy -one of them allowing foreign airlines to invest up to 49 per cent under approval route in Air India. These are intended to simplify the FDI policy to provide ease of doing business in the country. As per the extant policy, foreign airlines are allowed to invest under Government approval route in the capital of Indian companies operating scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services, up to the limit of 49 per cent of their paid-up capital. However, this provision was presently not applicable to Air India, thereby implying that foreign airlines could not invest in Air India. Foreign airlines can now invest up to 49 per cent under approval route in Air India subject to the conditions that foreign investment(s) in Air India including that of foreign airline(s) shall not exceed 49 per cent either directly or indirectly. Substantial ownership and effective control of Air India shall continue to be vested in Indian National.

IndiGo has expanded its regional network by commencing ATR operations from Rajahmundry. Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Nimmakayala China Rajappa along with Sanjeev Ramdas, Executive Vice President, Customer Service & Operations Control, IndiGo recently flagged off the flight from Rajahmundry to Chennai at Rajahmundry Airport. Rajahmundry will be connected to Hyderabad with twice daily frequencies, and one direct daily frequency each on Rajahmundry–Bangalore–Rajahmundry and Rajahmundry–Chennai–Rajahmundry sectors. IndiGo is the only airline that connects Rajahmundry with direct flights to three major metros of southern India, namely Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad from day one of its operations.  

The India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) held its first interactive meeting of the newly elected Governing Board and all members of the body at Hotel Samrat, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Enlisting new plans of ICPB in 2018, Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB says, “For our international roadshows in Europe, we are planning to go in for three cities- Geneva, Paris and Brussels. Most of the international organisations have headquarters in these three cities. We are raising money to hire a PR agency that can get appointments with most of the associations there.” Talking about the key takeaway from the interactive session, he says, “We at ICPB are very happy that we could build up confidence with the Ministry of Tourism, where they are coming forward to ask us what exactly we want, their wish to partner with us and do things together. For 2018, besides roadshows, training programmes and convention, we will be concentrating on the marketing side. We market India as the preferred convention destination, which involves the roadshows abroad. This is the first time we will be going abroad to do a roadshow.”  

Mumbai’s Sassoon Dock will soon become a tourist attraction once the upgradation project initiated by the Mumbai Port Trust is complete. Sharing details of this is Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust, who says, “Sassoon Dock is getting a complete revamp. We are doing this in four phases. The first phase is just complete. The area that is known to be dirty is getting some sort of a status and upgrade. We are going to spend Rs 51 crore altogether on the revamping of Sassoon Dock.” Tenders have been invited and the work is expected to start in about three or four months, Bhatia said. “This is being done along with the state government and Sagarmala Project. Meanwhile, work has already started at the international cruise terminal whose foundation stone will be laid by the CM and the Shipping Minister on January 11. This will take about two years to get completed. Currently, the demolition work of two godowns is underway after which the construction work shall begin.”  

The Ministry of Tourism, Oman has launched a new promotional website ‘www.experienceoman.om’ that will serve as a one-stop-shop for all Oman Tourism related information. The website was launched under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture during a gala dinner recently hosted in Muscat on the sidelines of the 2nd UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman said, “The launch of the website comes as a part of the Ministry’s initiatives to support the development of the tourism sector in all areas, especially in the use of electronic platforms and digital marketing. Providing insights into suggested travel itineraries; list of tour operators, hotels, and services; MICE opportunities; the website also orients tourists with the latest events in Oman and can be viewed in six languages.” The Ministry aims to enhance the Sultanate’s presence in the digital world by shedding light on the most popular landmarks, creating a platform to interact with visitors and responding to their enquiries through the website. The ‘www.experienceoman.om’ will complement the existing Oman Tourism website to provide diverse information about the latter.

To reach out to the domestic market, Kerala Tourism is organising a string of Partnership Meets in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Kolkata, Patna and Delhi in the 1st quarter of 2018. At the Partnership Meet in Mumbai on January 09, Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Co-Operation, Tourism and Devaswom, Government of Kerala, said, “To ensure the accomplishment of an ambitious target of a 100% increase in arrival of foreign tourists and 50% in domestic tourists in five years, a tourism regulatory authority has been formed. This would help put a stop to any unhealthy practices and guarantee better intervention of the Tourism Department through scrutiny and a licensing system.” The new Kerala Tourism Policy also forms a major highlight of this year’s domestic campaign. The revamped fare with an array of new tourism products was showcased at Mumbai today.

Arrivals from India to Australia grew by 15 per cent for the year ended October 2017, with an influx of 294,000 visitors, compared to the same period last year. This makes India the 9th largest inbound market for Australia, and inches it closer towards achieving its Tourism 2020 goal of 300,000 visitors annually, three years ahead of target. Indian visitor spend in Australia for the year ended September 2017 reached AUD 1.45 billion (approx. Rs. 7,200 crore), an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year, making India the 8th largest market in terms of spend by tourists. With an impressive double-digit growth in arrivals and spend for the fourth consecutive year, India has emerged as Australia’s fastest growing inbound market. Tania Gerlach, Chief Migration Officer, Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) commented, “We are extremely pleased with the success of the e-lodgment process, with over 60 per cent of the total tourist visa applications now received online. The month of November 2017 has witnessed the highest-ever tourist visa lodgments. Online lodgment offers benefits such as 24/7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visa application charge and the ability to check the status of applications lodged online. Processing times for these visas will now be faster, as both applications and supporting documentation are immediately available to the processing office. This is good news for every Indian visitor planning to visit Australia, whether they are travelling for business or pleasure”. Commenting on the success, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “It is an extremely proud moment for us to achieve the fastest growing market status in our 50th anniversary year of marketing Australia to the world …

Cygnett Hotels Group has announced the signing of a new hotel in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder & MD, Cygnett Hotels Group, said, “We are delighted to announce the signing of a new hotel in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, a brilliant location, proximity to the new upcoming airport, ‘Cygenett Inn’ marking our farther foray.” Cygnett Inn is the budget brand of the Group that does not adhere to the “budget” definition in any way except in it’s prices. It is a full service hotel with modern design, next generation in-room technology among other offerings.