The 8th Annual Convention of Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) held at Hotel Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach received over 300 delegates from across the country. The convention was inaugurated by Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh; Bhuma Akhila Priya, Minister of Tourism, Telugu Language and Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh and Mukesh Kumar Meena, Secretary-Tourism and Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh along with other dignitaries from the state and ADTOI. The event initially saw over 340 registrations but had to refuse many due to logistical concerns. Naidu commented, “I really appreciate the efforts of the domestic tour operators in promoting their country by bringing to forefront the unexplored jewels of India.” Priya added, “Vizag is the City of Jewels, the crown of the sunrise state—Andhra Pradesh. We are planning to make the state a favourable tourist destination by not only promotional activities but also by creating adequate infrastructure.” P.P. Khanna, President of ADTOI, shared, “The idea to hold our convention in Vizag was to identify newer destinations that domestic tour operators can add to their portfolio and promote the state of Andhra Pradesh with its wide variety of offerings from beach tourism, agritourism, ecotourism, MICE, weddings, spiritual tourism and the Buddhist circuit.”

Expanding its network of Cyprus Visa Application Centres in India, VFS Global has launched new centres for applicants in four additional cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Gurgaon and Jaipur. The centre in Thiruvananthapuram was inaugurated by Demetrios A. Theophylactou, High Commissioner of Cyprus to India. Theophylactou said, “The opening is quite timely, also due to a noticeable increase in visa related queries from Kerala. I believe that this centre would further enhance visa services and also promote people-to-people contacts, thus contributing to our bilateral relations. The centre would work in close cooperation with the Consular Department of the High Commission to achieve the goal of efficient issuance of visas.” Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global said, “Cyprus is fast emerging as a popular destination of choice for leisure and business travellers from India due to its abundant natural beauty and historical heritage. We are proud to expand the network of Cyprus Visa Application Centres across the South Asia region as a whole.”

WelcomHeritage has launched its first farm-stay property, Ranjitvilas in Amritsar. The property has been developed and approved by the Punjab Heritage & Tourism Promotion Board under its Farm Tourism Scheme. Sunil Gupta, CEO, WelcomHeritage shared, “Ranjitvilas is a boutique property and true reflection of Indian hospitality and inheritance. bringing the perfect amalgamation of rustic feel of India with Indian hospitality values and rich heritage of the country.” The property features 20 exquisitely designed executive rooms each with a personal courtyard and two suite rooms. All rooms and suites are equipped with mini bar, LED television, temperature control, satellite channels, in-room tea and coffee maker, safe box and Wi-Fi broadband connectivity. The farmhouse boasts of handcrafted furnishings inspired by the traditions of Indian culture. “Our culture is one that empowers every individual to be his or her best, and such authentic connection inspires the way we care for each other and for our guests,” said Vikram Singh Makhni, owner, Ranjitvilas.

Westin Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott International, opened The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat, its eighth hotel in India. The property, featuring 314 guestrooms and suites, is located eight kilometres away from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. Neeraj Govil, Area Vice President, South Asia, Marriott International said, “The opening of the second Marriott hotel in Kolkata and the first under the Westin brand marks a great milestone for Marriott International. After tapping the luxury market, it was but a matter of time before we presented one of our premium brands to Kolkata.” The hotel features over 50,000 sq ft of flexible function spaces, ideal for meeting, conferences, corporate events and weddings. From large-scale events in the ballroom to smaller gatherings in one of the function rooms with state-of-the-art facilities, the professional conference and banquet team will make sure every detail is taken care of. The hotel boasts of a helipad to provide easy VIP accessibility.

Cox & Kings has opened its first Holiday Club store in Mumbai to cater to the increasing demand for holiday products. The centre, located at Dadar, is the fourth Holiday Club store in India with the other three in New Delhi. The stores aim to attract a diverse set of customers through innovative offers and customised solutions, and offer a range of domestic and international holiday packages. In keeping with recent travel trends, the company has forayed into niche segments such as Enable Travel for the physically challenged, Trip 360 for adventure enthusiasts and Getaway Goddess for the women-only travel segment. Karan Anand, Head, Relationships, Cox & Kings said, “Central Mumbai is now the hub of retail activity and our Holiday Club store is perfectly positioned to engage with customers on a one-on-one basis, as they seek personal engagement in making sure they have a memorable holiday.” The Holiday Club stores will complement the existing points of sales that Cox & Kings has in Mumbai.  

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-October, 2017, were 954.45 lakhs as against 813.70 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering a growth of 17.30 per cent. In Oct, SpiceJet continued to lead passenger load factors at 93.7 per cent, closely followed by GoAir at 87.6 per cent and IndiGo at 87.3 per cent. Air Asia came close at  83 per cent while, Jet Airways and Vistara recorded 80.5 and 80.2 per cent, respectively. The passenger load factor in the month of October 2017 has shown slightly increasing trend compared to previous month primarily due to the onset of tourist season. During October 2017, a total of 656 passenger related complaints had been received by the scheduled domestic airlines. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the month of Oct 2017 has been around 0.63.

Kuwait-based low cost airline, Jazeera Airways, inaugurated its daily flights to Hyderabad. Kochi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad will follow in early 2018 as the airline expands its network to serve its Indian sub-continent targeting the nearly 1 million Indian nationals residing in Kuwait. Flight J9 608 departed November 16 at 18:40 hours from Kuwait International Airport and landed in Hyderabad at 01:35 hours. The return flight J9 608 will depart Hyderabad at 02.20 hours and arrive in Kuwait at 05.10 hours. The new evening route has a weekly capacity of 4,000 seats and allows passengers to conveniently enjoy a full day at their destination. To mark the special occasion, all 165 passengers flying from Kuwait to Hyderabad received a gift box of traditional Kuwaiti sweets. Rohit Ramachandran, CEO, Jazeera Airways, said, ‘This is a proud moment for us marking the expansion of our network in to India. We are delighted to start with Hyderabad, a 400-year old city and a technology hub, bringing more choice to Indian travelers, connecting them to Kuwait, Riyadh, Jeddah, Bahrain and Dubai. In addition, we offer for religious travellers connections to Taif in KSA, Najaf (Iraq), Mashad (Iran) and Amman. He further commented, “This new service will address surging travel demands with low cost fares at convenient frequencies for leisure, business or religious travel. India is a financial and tourist powerhouse and we are eager to capitalize on the enormous opportunities ahead.” SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, said, “We welcome Jazeera Airways to Hyderabad and we are very happy to note that they have chosen Hyderabad Airport as their first Indian destination. We are confident that this will further boost the tourism potential between India and various …

The maiden Cambodia Travel Mart kicked off at Sokha Siem Reap Resort and Convention Centre on November 17. The three-day mart, which will host local and international buyers, suppliers, trade professionals and media partners, will allow participants to meet and exchange the latest developments of the tourism industry in Cambodia. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was presided over by Yim Chhay Lay, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia, and Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism, Cambodia, along with other dignitaries. The tourism minister of Cambodia said at the event, “In 2016, the number of tourists visiting Cambodia increased about 5 per cent, we received about 5 million tourists. In 2017 we hope to receive 5.5 million tourists and we expect this number to go up to 7 million in 2020. The first event of CTM in Siem Reap this year is a key factor to develop tourism in Cambodia and to achieve the expected goals.” The next edition of the Cambodia Travel Mart will be held at Phnom Penh from October 11-13, 2018.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has revealed its final nominee list for its upcoming national elections. Running for presidency are three members – Harmandeep Singh Anand, Marzban Antia, present Vice President of TAAI, and current national president Sunil Kumar. Two nominees for the Vice President position are Jay Bhatia who is currently serving as TAAI’s Honorary Treasurer and Tourism Council Chairman and Sanjay Narula. Running for the position of Honorary Secretary General are two members: Lokesh Bettaiah, current Secretary General, and Jyoti Mayal, Member of the Managing Committee. Two members have signed up as nominees for the position of Honorary Treasurer. One of them is Shreeram Patel, current Co-Chairman, Airline Council, TAAI, and Imtiaz Qureshi, who is a MC member. The national elections will be held on November 28, 2017 at The Lalit Mumbai.

Royal Orchid Hotels has announced the opening of a hotel in Kanpur – Regenta Central The Crystal – taking the number of properties under Royal Orchid group  to 45. Located at the heart of the city, the hotel offers 44 rooms and three suites and is a 45-minute drive from Kanpur airport. Chander K. Baljee, Managing Director, Royal Orchid Hotels, said, “We have added four properties – Mysore, Ahmedabad, Dehradun and Kanpur – in the current financial year. We are on target to take the number of properties to 50 under the Royal Orchid Group before the end of this financial year. We will continue to pursue our model of management contracts to build our hospitality business.” The  ‘Regenta Hotels’ brand is an upscale arm of the Royal Orchid Hotel group. It is designed for the corporate traveller whose watchword is value and convenience. It is categorized into Regenta, Regenta Central, Regenta Resorts and Regenta Inn.