The Ministry of Civil Aviation is looking at a benchmark of 20 minutes for passengers at immigration, said Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation while addressing a gathering at CAPA Conference in Mumbai via a video link. Speaking about the steps taken at the Delhi airport in response to the recent spike in international travel, Sinha pointed out, “We recently saw a dramatic spike of 30 per cent in international travel in the winter schedule, particularly at the Delhi airport. Mumbai did not grow as much due to slot constraints. But these are two airports where we are facing some congestion. In response to that, we along with the Ministry of Home Affairs acted swiftly by increasing capacity for immigration officers as well as immigration counters at the Delhi airport. In Mumbai however, we are much more constrained even though we have added capacity, although it is not at the same level as Delhi. We are thankful to Ministry of Home Affairs for acting so swiftly. Our benchmark as far as immigration is concerned is 20 minutes. If anyone has to wait more than that, then we are not doing our job well.”  

India has moved up to the third position from the fourth in terms of visitor arrivals to Singapore along with a double digit growth of 17 per cent growth until October 2017, and continues to be the third largest tourism receipts generating market for Singapore. Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has organised a two-city roadshow in Mumbai and Jaipur to deepen this relationship with the Indian travel trade. G.B. Srithar, Regional Director–South Asia Middle East & Africa, STB said, “India has always been a key source market for Singapore. We are happy to have already crossed 2016’s full year 1.1 million visitor arrivals mark from India as end October 2017. We thank all our trade fraternity for their support in bringing our destination promotion messages to our audiences. Through our roadshows, we seek to renew our ties with the travel trade, entrench existing partnerships and forge new ones through creative promotions.” Year 2017 was a landmark year for STB with strategic associations with a Bollywood movie ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’, participation in cruise forums, travel trade conferences, partnerships with airlines, launch of the Vegetarian Food Guide, penetration in the regional markets such as Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, etc. and the unveiling of a new brand identity.’

The Maharashtra government has renewed its MoU with Wakayama Prefectural Japan (WPJ) for five years. The agreement was signed by Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Yoshinobu Nisaka San, Governor of Wakayama. The MoU commenced in 2013 with the purpose of enhancing relations between Maharashtra and Japan for expanding association in the field of tourism and investment, and promote agro and food processing units. More than 40 delegates from WPG visited Indian Merchant Chamber to promote the prospects of Wakayama. The delegates also visited various heritage sites and commercial hubs in Mumbai including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalay (CSMVS), Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and BSE to understand the importance of these heritage sites and explore the diversity of the state. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, said, “I am delighted to be associated with Wakayama Prefectural Government and the MoU is a great stage for us to surge our global footmark and put Maharashtra on the international map. This MoU has strengthened the ties between two states of the nations.”

Ajay Singh, Chairman, SpiceJet, has confirmed that the airline will not bid for any stake in the process of privatisation of Air India. Speaking at the recently-concluded CAPA India Aviation Summit 2018 in Mumbai, he said, “We are just too small to bid for Air India. We may not be the appropriate candidate for this. Vistara and Singapore Airlines will probably do it. Conceptually, we are too small for this. Nevertheless, it’s a great asset and a fantastic brand.” Speaking about government’s move to privatise the national airline, Singh added, “The government has taken an appropriate decision and the reason for that is not lack of performance. I think we had some really great managers at Air India. Problem is the government system itself. If Air India is required to take every decision through a tender process, it is almost impossible to function. Either you need to allow them to run like a private operator or sell it to a private operator. .” He also confirmed that SpiceJet will expand its international routes albeit without mentioning any destinations. CAPA acknowledged his effort in turning around the airline over the last 32 months.

Sarovar Hotels & Resorts announces the opening of Taurus Sarovar Portico, New Delhi – IGI Airport. Strategically located near the IGI airport, Taurus Sarovar Portico features 83 guestrooms and it is the second hotel opening of the year by Sarovar Hotels after the opening in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The hotel offers state-of-the-art business and conferencing facilities, Fitness Center, Alfa 63 – an all-day dining multi-cuisine restaurant, In-Room dining, and meeting rooms. The hotel is owned by Taurus International Projects. Commenting on the opening, Ajay K. Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels, said, “We are delighted to be consolidating our presence further in the Capital city. The opening of Taurus Sarovar Portico seeks to complement the demand for quality accommodation, especially near the airport both by business & transiting travellers. Our superior banqueting facilities will make meetings and events easier, complemented with our signature Sarovar hospitality, whether it a business get-together or a social occasion.” Sarovar Hotels is targeting to have 100 hotels under its portfolio by 2020. Expected openings in 2018 include hotels in Jaisalmer, Jhansi, Jaipur, Somnath, Dibrugarh, Junagadh, Gorakhpur and Lusaka, Zambia.

Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar along with other officials and representatives from the government, Goa police, traffic police, municipal bodies have deliberated over the last few weeks to take stock of every minute detail towards ensuring the successful conduct of Goa’s gala festival – Carnaval, set to be held from February 10-13, 2018. Polluting vehicles in the junk car category will not be allowed in the parade and no offensive exposure will be permitted. Consumption of liquor and carrying of lethal weapons will not be permitted on the floats during the parade. All committees are in the process of submitting their centrewise programmes to be carried out during Carnaval. Likewise, committees have been directed to take assistance from the police and district administration for ensuring security arrangements at the events and parade routes. Float parades in the four major cities will be held as follows – Panjim on February 10, Margao on February 11, Vasco on February 12 and Mapusa on February 13. All floats in the parades will be screened  by a committee to ensure that it follows the theme and does not violate any of the rules and regulations.

Expanding its bouquet of hotels, Fortune Park Hotels launched its 46th hotel in the country, Fortune Park, Haridwar. Located on National Highway 58, this first-class full-service hotel is just 5 km from SIDCUL, the industrial hub, 10 km from Haridwar Railway Station and 12 km from Har Ki Pauri. Fortune Park, Haridwar offers a selection of 48 contemporary rooms, including 30 Standard Rooms, 6 Fortune Club Rooms and 12 Suites. All the rooms are replete with modern amenities including 24 hour room service, satellite LED TV, hi-speed Wi-Fi internet connectivity, electronic safe, mini bar and  hair dryer. Commenting on the launch, Samir MC, Chief Operating Officer, Fortune Park Hotels, said, “We are delighted to partner with the promoters who have reposed their confidence in our brand. We would put in our best to uphold this trust and also look forward to more alliances with the group in the near future. Keeping in mind the rapid strides this city has made during the recent years, we are confident of receiving a good response for this hotel.” The dining choices at the hotel include Orchid, an all-day dining multicuisine restaurant featuring a selection of Indian, Oriental and Continental delicacies and Fortune Deli offering confectionery and delicious breads.  

Under ‘Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’ project, Letters of Intent for 40 monuments to nine agencies of Phase-II and Letters of Intent for 22 monuments to eight agencies of Phase-III were handed over by the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Tourism, during the closing ceremony of ‘Bharat Parv’ held at Red Fort. The project was launched to preserve the rich cultural and natural heritage and promote tourism across the length and breadth of our country. In addition, the MoUs were signed with Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) and State of Jammu & Kashmir for two natural sites, namely, Mt Stok Kangri trek route, Ladakh, J&K and Gangotri Temple Area & Trail to Gaumukh, Uttarakhand. Addressing on the occasion, K.J. Alphons, Minister of State for Tourism said that the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project plans to entrust heritage sites to private and public sector companies, and individuals for the development of tourist amenities. The basic and advanced amenities in the tourist destinations would be provided by them. He called upon people to actively take part in the Swachhta Abhiyan for cleanliness in tourist destinations.

Sharing plans for 2018, K. Shyam Sundar, CEO, Air India Express, said that the focus for the LCC will be Kannur, located about 90 kms north of Calicut, which is slated to get a brand new international airport this year. Sundar says, “The focus market for us for 2018-19 will be Kannur. We expect the new airport to be functional by June 2018. We have requested the Kerala Government to allow us to be the first carrier to operate international flights from the new airport. In fact, the two aircraft we are going to induct is probably going to be based or largely operated to and from Kannur. We intend to connect Kannur to about four to five destinations in the Gulf.” Kannur is an extremely important market for AIE. The new airport is a PPP project and will be larger than the one in Calicut in terms of runway length. It will be a table-top airport. Currently, passengers from Kannur have to travel to Calicut to take flights. Sundar also revealed that AIE will make its four-month old non-stop Madurai-Singapore flight to a daily in the summer schedule. It will also add some new routes in the summer which will be a direct link between Kochi, Kuwait and Bahrain. Air India Express currently flies to 15 international destinations: Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Kuwait, Muscat, Salalah, Singapore, KualaLumpur, Riyadh & Dhaka from 15 Indian cities – Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthpuram, Mangalore, Chennai, Tiruchirapally, Mumbai, Pune, Amritsar, Lucknow, Jaipur, Varanasi, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chandigarh. On the domestic front, it operates flights between Chennai-Thiruvananthpuram-Chennai, Kozhikode-Thiruvananthpuram-Kozhikode, Kochi-Thiruvananthpuram-Kochi and Kochi-Kozhikode.

SOTC Travel strengthens its presence in Bengaluru with the inauguration of its first-ever experiential store offering Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. SOTC created a first-of-its-kind customer experience zone where customers can be inspired by the different destinations through VR’s for real time experience of the key destinations that SOTC provides like New Zealand, South Africa and other destinations like Australia, Abu Dhabi, South Korea. The store at St. Marks Road comprises of a digital screen that features video itineraries of destinations and holiday experiences for the customer which could be viewed from an iPad. Speaking about the launch, Daniel D’souza, Head Sales, India and NRI Markets, SOTC Travel, said, “We believe customer experience is the key in making our business successful in this competitive and growing industry. It is extremely important for us to ensure that we keep delivering and enriching holiday experiences for our customers. Virtual Reality technology will allow us to know the clients’ needs before he even knows what he wants.” He further added, “The store is one of our efforts to reinvent the buying experience for our customers. Its strategic location offers convenience and accessibility. We ensure that we provide superior service to our customers by meeting their every expectation”.