In a bid to rebuild confidence among its travel partners, U & I Holidays has revised its cancellation and refund policy. Not only is it offering a full refund or floating deposit on cancellation, it is also offering two nights free in Bali and one complimentary dinner in an Indian restaurant there for travel validity until March 31, 2018. Shyam Upadhyay, Director, U & I Holidays, says, “Over the past couple of months following the situation of Mt. Agung, we have noticed serious concerns for travel to Bali. I’m sure with these amendments, our clients will be in a position to comfort their customers and encourage them to travel to Bali. This is our way of thanking them for the continuous support and business for Bali and Malidives.” The ‘no cancellation fee’ policy is applicable in the case if volcano erupts or airport closes. Any payment/deposit will be given the option of full refund or to keep as floating deposit for future travel. In case of airport closure due to Mount Agung eruption, U & I Holidays also promises to accommodate the departing guest in a three-star hotel for two nights with one dinner at an Indian restaurant on complimentary basis for bookings closed through them.

Lauding the Maharashtra Government’s notification allowing shops and establishments to remain open 24*7, Dilip Datwani, President, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), said, “This is a welcome move and a sign of progress. The biggest benefit of this decision will be employment and it holds the potential to increase employment opportunities by 25 per cent in the State. This is a definite boost to tourism and economy and will help the hospitality sector to emerge even stronger. Although, we would have wished for the act to be extended to bars too. HRAWI appeals to the Government to consider allowing bars operational at least up to 3am, if not 24*7.”

The IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) and the I-Top team has issued the first NDC ticketing in India. Last week, Magellan Travel Services in Chennai issued the first NDC ticket in India on a British Airways flight for the MAA/LON sector through I-Top using the Vertiel Technologies Direct connect platform. It has issued the NDC tickets at a price lower than all OTAs in India. Reservation and NDC ticketing on Lufthansa and Emirates airlines are also ready and 10 agents across the country shall be starting the pilot run by next week through I-Top. The advantage and the specialty of the I-Top powered by TravelShore is that the portal can be used to issue tickets simultaneously through both GDS connectivity (presently Galileo, which will be followed soon by Amadeus and Abacus) and Verteil Direct Connect for NDC ticketing using BSP mode of settlement. A major benefit is that the NDC ticketing will curtail discrepancies and agents will be free from any ADMs. Biji Eapen, President, IAAI, says, “Our experimental trial runs have turned out to be successful and prove that the I-Top users using NDC ticketing can easily avail better prices than any OTA in India. Especially in a country like India, where zero commission prevails, I-Top will serve as a ‘magic lamp’ for agents to generate revenue. Once I-Top becomes fully operational and more members start using, together and consistently, we will negotiate with airline operators for ‘consolidated special deals’ so that the user member shall be substantially remunerated for their services rendered to the airlines. I-Top shall be offered to the common memberships by second week of January as a New year gift.”

Kerala Tourism is gearing up for a three-month long international campaign in its bid to lure foreign tourists to God’s Own Country. The Phase II of the campaign would commence with the participation of Kerala Tourism in Vakantiebeurs, the tourism-leisure fair of The Netherlands, followed by FITUR, the international tourism trade fair of Spain. The German cities of Dusseldorf (January 23) and Hamburg (January 25) would be the venues for the first roadshows in Phase II. The roadshows in the emerging West Asian markets will be held between February 26-28, 2018, which includes Qatar (Doha- February 26), Oman (Muscat-February 27) and the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi-February 28). Later in April 2018, B2B meets will be organized in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. On January 24, the campaign will kick-start in New York City of the United States, followed by the New York Times Travel Show scheduled to be held from January 26 to January 28. Further road shows will be organized in Los Angeles (January 30) and San Francisco (February 1), which has been escalating foreign tourist arrivals to Kerala. The campaign would culminate with BIT, the international travel expo and road show at Milan in Italy (February 11 – 13, 2018). The Tourism Department of Kerala had received overwhelming response to the Phase I campaign, at International Trade Fairs and B2B meets in 12 countries, which ended last month. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Co-Operation, Tourism and Devaswom, Government of Kerala, stated: “With the promotional strategy, we aim to showcase diversified tourism products across high-potential markets in order to attract tourists to visit the state. Kerala Tourism has been centered on leisure tourism, but now we aim to re-brand Kerala …

Considering the tourism potential of Bargi, Jabalpur Tourism Promotional Council (JTPC) is organising the first edition of Jheel Mahotsav from December 21 to January 1, 2018. The 12-day festival, taking place at Bargi Dam built on Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh, will witness water sports activities from leisure cruising to jet skiing. Folk dance performances and melodious music by renowned bands reflecting the culture of Madhya Pradesh, all form a part of Jheel Mahotsav.

Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will lead PATA India Chapter as its Chairperson for the term 2017-19. This was announced during the 47th Annual General Meeting of PATA India Chapter held at The Claridges, New Delhi on December 19. While SanJeet, Director, DDP Publications, was re-elected as the association’s Vice Chairman; J.S. Taneja, MD, Travel Spirit International, will continue to hold the post of Hon. Secretary, and the post of Hon. Treasurer has been re-assigned to Vikram Madhok, MD, Abercrombie & Kent. The association also elected its Executive Committee for the term 2017-19. Under the Active Government Category, Rashmi Verma and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India will hold the post, while Ravneet Kaur, CMD, ITDC and Sanjiv Garg, Additional Member T&C, Ministry of Railways will be EC members under the Associate Government Category. Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India, has been elected EC member under the International Carrier category. Under the Domestic Carrier category, Ragini Chopra, VP, Jet Airways and M.P. Mall, CMD, IRCTC have been elected. The four posts for Travel Agents/Tour Operators category have been given to Vikram Madhok, J.S. Taneja, Snirmol Ghosh, Director, Indo Asia Tours and Anoop Kanuga, Director, Bathija Travels. Under the Hotels/ Associate Hotels category, the three members are: Renu Basu, VP, Indian Hotels; Arjun Sharma, MD, Select Holiday Resorts; and Rohit Arora, GM, Apeejay Surendra Park Hotel. SanJeet will be an EC member under the Sustaining Member category.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts continues its rapid expansion plan in India with the addition of two new hotels in New Delhi. They are the first international hotel brand to make inroads into Paharganj in Central Delhi.  The pre-opening activities for the newly constructed upper midscale ‘Best Western Plus Central’ have been initiated with a soft opening slated in January 2018. The midscale ‘Best Western Pearl’, which is a conversion hotel, is scheduled to open in September 2018 after renovation. Both the hotels have been designed to meet the needs of business as well as leisure travellers. Best Western Plus Central will feature 71 well-appointed rooms, including rooms with a private balcony for large families or small groups, a multi-purpose hall, health club, and three F&B outlets. Guests can cool off in the outdoor Jacuzzi, enjoy sumptuous kebabs at the terrace Barbeque that offers a pleasant view of the old city and the distant high rise buildings of Connaught Place. Best Western Pearl will have 35 rooms, one multi-cuisine restaurant connected to a terrace restaurant, fitness center, and a small conference room. A street café will be added to the facilities offered by the hotel soon. “As we continue our journey in taking the reimagined Best Western brand into the future, we are dedicated more than ever to offer the best in hospitality to our guests,” said Atul Jain, Chief Operating Officer, Best Western Hotels & Resorts – India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka. “It gives me immense pleasure and pride to announce our partnership with one of the largest hotel companies in the world having 4,200 hotels in more than 100 countries. Our association with Best Western Hotels & Resorts …

Delhi-based destination management company, STHI Group hosted roadshows in Raipur and Nagpur on the 16th and 18th of December, respectively. Over 45 travel agents attended the event in each city. The Nagpur roadshow is STHI Group’s 12th roadshow this year. The company has been focusing on Tier-II and III cities as part of their marketing activities. STHI promoted airlines like Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Scoot Airlines and Singapore Airlines. The destinations showcased included Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Adelaide, Malaysia, Singapore and Victoria. Hotels showcased included Banyan Tree Hotels, Shangri La, Centara Hotels and Sheraton. Speaking at the roadshow, Lalit Singh, COO of STHI Group, said, “We have been hosting such roadshows every month and this is our 12th roadshow in Nagpur. The response we are getting from the travel agents is phenomenal and it’s a good platform to connect with the agents. We have recently started promoting USA as a destination to our partners. This year we had a double digit growth as compared to last year and we continue to do such activities.”

The Cruise Lines International Association’s (CLIA) recently-released report ‘2018 State of the Cruise Industry Outlook’ offers an in-depth look at the cruise industry’s overall global economic impact as well as the trends impacting cruise travel in 2018. Joel Katz, Managing Director, CLIA Asia, said, “With an annual source market growth of more than 40 per cent, Asia is emerging as one of the most significant cruise destinations and cruise source markets in the world. Cruising is expected to capture a much larger percentage of the Asian population in the near future, which could catapult Asia’s share of the global market.” As part of the 2018 State of the Cruise Industry Outlook, CLIA forecast nine top cruise travel trends for the coming year. As per the report, travel agents continue to see a steady demand from consumers in planning and executing holidays. One of the trends reported in the study indicates that the next evolution of experiential travel sees travellers taking a step further to seek ‘transformational’ experiences. Some upcoming cruise itineraries include the opportunity to indulge in local cuisine, guided tours through small villages and even visits inside private homes.  

With an aim to encourage Indian travellers to visit Israel, the country has simplified the visa application procedure for Indian citizens. The relaxed visa rule involves less documentation for Indians who have availed visas of Schengen countries, US, Canada, Australia or Israel and have completed their travel to these countries.  For these travellers, the documents include a valid passport, completed visa application form, two photographs, cover letter with travel information, traveller’s insurance and passport copy. Hassan Madah – Director of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, India, says, “Easing the visa requirements will not only make the application process faster but will also increase travel to Israel as well. We are also working on an express service with VFS which will be introduced soon. In addition to this, we are working towards e-visa processing as well as easing the group visa process.” In September this year, one year multiple entry visas for business travellers was introduced. Visa processing is available through VFS processing centres located all over India for the Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai and Bengaluru as well as the Embassy of Israel in Delhi.