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.

India will require 1,750 new passenger and cargo aircraft over the next 20 years to meet an exponential rise in both passenger and freight traffic, according to Airbus’ latest India Market Forecast. To help meet this growth, India will need 1,320 new single-aisle aircraft and 430 wide-body aircraft valued at US$255 billion. While much of the air traffic growth is expected to be driven by the fast expanding economy, rising wealth and urbanisation, ambitious government-backed regional connectivity programmes are also set to enhance demand for air travel. By 2036, Indians will each make four times as many flights as today. As a result, traffic serving the Indian market is forecast to grow 8.1 per cent per year over the next 20 years, almost twice as fast as the world average of 4.4 per cent. Domestic Indian traffic is expected to grow five-and-half times over the next 20 years, reaching the same level as USA domestic traffic today, making it one of the world’s fastest growing markets, according to Airbus’ latest India Market Forecast for the period. Srinivasan Dwarakanath, President, Airbus Commercial Aircraft in India, says, “Make in India is at the heart of our strategy. Airbus has the largest footprint in India of any International aircraft manufacturer, nationwide across all aircraft programmes. Our sourcing volume has grown 16 times over the past ten years and it is currently at more than US$550 million annually.”

The who’s who of India’s travel and hospitality fraternity, diplomats and several business leaders gathered at a glitzy evening gala hosted by Cox & Kings at the Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, New Delhi, to mark the 260th anniversary of Cox and Kings, also the world’s oldest travel company. The evening was graced by KJ Alphons, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism, who lauded the company for its continuous service to the tourism industry. Alphons said, “I am very happy to be a part of Cox & Kings’ 260th year celebration and congratulate everyone who has contributed to this rich legacy by enabling holidays and spreading happiness into the world. The tourism sector in India is looking very positive this year as we have crossed the 10 million mark for foreign tourist arrivals and earned revenue of 27 billion dollars through foreign tourist arrivals. This has been possible because of companies like Cox & Kings who have been working together with the government. In the next three years, we aim to double the foreign tourists inflow and the revenue we earn from the foreign tourist arrivals and that is only possible if the industry continues to work together.” Speaking at the event, Peter Kerkar, Group CEO, Cox & Kings, said, “We are unique in the leisure space with an unrivalled tradition of 260 years of service to our customers. It is with pride that I commend our staff for making our company so successful and more particularly relevant even today. Our longevity is a testimony to their ingenuity and transformative spirit that Cox & Kings remains a world leader in the travel, education and hotel space.”

Air India will begin non-stop flight operations from New Delhi to Tel Aviv in Israel starting March 22, 2018, onwards. The carrier has confirmed flying thrice a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday on Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner that has 18 business class and 238 economy seats. The aircraft will depart from New Delhi at 4.50 pm and arrive in Tel Aviv at 8.25 pm. On its return leg, the plane will depart from Tel Aviv at 10.15 pm and land in Delhi the next day at 9 am. With one way duration of 7 hours and 10 minutes, Air India will be the fastest nonstop flight between India and Israel taking a straight route between the two countries. In addition to Air India, Israel’s national carrier El Al currently has four weekly nonstop flights from Mumbai to Tel Aviv and will soon increase its frequency furthermore. Arkia has also expressed interest to begin operations soon and introduce direct flights between Israel and India.The Ministry of Tourism along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to facilitate similar introductions including relaxing visa requirements and express visa services through VFS to encourage Indian travelers to visit Israel. This announcement has come at a time when Israel Ministry of Tourism has recorded a whopping growth of 50 per cent in January and 25 per cent in February 2018, of Indian arrivals to Israel vis-à-vis the same period in 2017. Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India & Philippines, says, “In light of the significant increase in incoming tourism from India over the past few years, the Ministry of Tourism has been in talks with Air India and other airlines …

Virgin Atlantic has announced the launch of three new ways to fly economy as part of a multi-million pound investment in the cabin for the 21st century traveller. Recognising that one size doesn’t fit all, from spring 2018 Virgin Atlantic will introduce ‘Economy Delight, ‘Economy Classic’ and ‘Economy Light’ tickets. The three new ways to fly will allow passengers to choose the product that suits their budget and travel style. “We’re unveiling the biggest change to our Economy cabin in over a decade – launching three new ways to fly, and a host of innovations on the ground and in the air as part of a wider £300 million investment. We know that one size doesn’t fit all, and soon our passengers can afford to be choosy and still travel in the UK’s leading economy cabin,” says Craig Kreeger, Chief Executive, Virgin Atlantic.

The Indian delegation led by KJ Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Government of India, highlighted the country’s tremendous tourism potential at the 52nd ITB Berlin as it kicked off at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds on March 7. Addressing the media, Alphons spoke about the country’s 5000 year-old civilisation, beautiful beaches, backwaters, desserts, coastline, Himalayas, and immense possibilities for millennials who are looking for adventure. The minister also apprised the audience about the growing yoga and ayurveda related activities and centres in the country, exploring the North East and the great potential of religious tourism, with emphasis on Buddhist tourism. “In terms of general numbers, India has done considerably well last year. 2017 was fantastic! We recorded 15.6 per cent, when the global numbers went up by 5 per cent. Our international tourists arrivals were 16.5 million last year. Are we happy with the numbers? No. We have so much to offer and we want to double the numbers in three years or less, double the revenues in three years or less. India’s tourism contributes about 8 per cent to the GDP of India. We have 14 million people employed in the tourism industry,” Alphons said. In terms of domestic tourism, close to 24 million Indians travelled last year. “In 2017, 1.8 million trips were made by Indians within the country and which will go up to 2 million in 2018 and we want this number to increase dramtically, its not just about international arrivals but also Indians visting India,” he said. The minister also stressed on the growing use of new technologies and methodologies in tourism, specially social media. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of …

The international airports of Mumbai and New Delhi have been rated as the number one airports in the Asia Pacific region serving over 40 million passengers a year. This is announced by the Airports Council International (ACI) – a trade association of 1,953 member airports across 176 countries – for its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) ratings it conducts every year. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) operated and managed by GVK MIAL shared the spot with Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) for the World’s Best Airport for customer experience. They were selected by millions of passengers in a survey carried out by ACI. The Hyderabad airport became the number one in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category for the year 2017. As part of the ACI’s worldwide programme, passengers were surveyed across international airports for their feedback on 34 key performance indicators including airport access, check-in, security screening, restrooms, stores and restaurants. This year an unprecedented 16 airports were first-time winners, which reflects the increasingly competitive airport industry operating environment, where continuous service improvement is a key ingredient in business performance. These include Indore and Ahmedabad apart from Athens, Zagreb and Bandung.  

WelcomHeritage is looking for expansion towards South and Northeast India with new properties. Sunil Gupta, CEO, WelcomHeritage shared, “There is a lot of potential in South and North East. WelcomHeritage is known for its best heritage properties and by further expanding to these regions, we will be bringing the values and rich hospitality of these regions on a global platform. We have already identified properties and are in discussion with the properties owners.” The next property, immediately, to be flagged will be WelcomHeritage Ashdale in Nainital, which is an old manor from the British era, owned by the Royalty of Sahaspur.  Thereafter, WelcomHeritage will be flagging two nature resorts, one in Tadoba, Maharashtra, and the other in Coorg, Karnataka. Both these properties are in the advance stages of the project, and will be launched within this financial year.