Amit Sankhala, Managing Director, Encounters Asia, has been awarded the DDP Face of the Future title. Having explored wildlife and remote cultural experiences from around the world, he worked with the best photographers to capture magical moments. With a legacy to uphold in wildlife conservation, his grandfather was the first director of Project Tiger which established the tiger reserves of India. Today, Sankhala runs safari camps in Central India and puts together out of the ordinary experiences, to showcase the best that the country has to offer and to be able to use tourism as a medium to support wildlife conservation and community partnerships.

Hanneli Slabber, Regional General Manager, Asia, Australasia and Middle East, South African Tourism, has been honoured with the DDP Game Changer award. An industry veteran with over 25 years of experience in the tourism and hospitality sector, she served as the Country Head of South African Tourism for the India market. Her in-depth knowledge of South Africa’s beautiful landscape and the right kind of destination packaging has led to the creation of many global marketing campaigns, which helped boost travel numbers to South Africa. Slabber began her career in the hotel industry before moving to sales & marketing. With experiences in both inbound and outbound companies, she then moved to South African Tourism.

Pankaj Srivastava, Commercial Director & Board Member, Air India, bagged the DDP Trailblazer award. Having joined Indian Airlines as Management Trainee after completing MBA, he is now responsible for ground handling, strategy and planning, sales and marketing, inflight services and cargo with Air India. Additionally, he is a Board Member of Alliance Air, Air India Express and Air India Airport Transport Services. With more than three decades of experience in aviation, Srivastava held some significant portfolios in his career including Staff Officer to CMD, Indian Airlines; Regional Director for Middle East and Executive Director – Sales & Marketing. He has been responsible for starting Gulf Flight Operations for Indian Airlines.

Sujit Banerjee, Secretary General, WTTC, India Initiative, has been honoured with the Legend in Public Service award. He retired as Union Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism. Banerjee has served the Government of India in various capacities in his distinguished career as an Officer of the Indian Administrative Service. In his career, he has served as Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission; Secretary and Chairperson of National Authority, Chemical Weapons Convention. He also headed a committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to formulate guidelines for forest and wildlife ecotourism in the country. He has served as Member on the Ethics Committee of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises; as Chairman, Advisory Committee on World Heritage Matters, Ministry of Culture; as a part-time non-official Director on the Board of SAIL and as Chairman, Committee for National Heritage Sites, Ministry of Culture.

Krishan Kumar Amla, Chairman & Managing Director, Broadway Enterprises has been conferred the Gallery of Legends trophy at the North India Travel Awards. Instrumental in growing the tourism and hospitality industry in Jammu & Kashmir, Amla has held various positions over the years, including Member, Board of Directors, Indian Airlines; Vice Chairman, PATA – India Chapter; Member – J&K Advisory Committee on Tourism; Member – Board of Governors, IHM, PUSA, New Delhi and Member – Managing Committee – Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI). He was also part of the Team of Technocrats under Rajiv Gandhi and has been the Senior Vice President and Treasurer, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee. With a Bachelor’s degree in science from Kashmir University and hotel management degrees from Lancashire in the UK and Cornell University, USA, he has a business experience of over 50 years.

The fourth edition of North India Travel Awards concluded today at The Lalit New Delhi amidst the presence of the stalwarts of the travel and tourism industry. The chief guest for the ceremony was Vijay Goel, Minister of State for Statistics & Programme Implementation and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India. Guest of honour Shivdular Singh Dhillon, IAS, Special Secretary-cum-Director, Department of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Archaelogy, Museums & Archives, Punjab and CEO, Punjab Heritage & Tourism Promotion Board, also attended the ceremony. The North India Travel Awards salutes the best in the industry and awardees are selected based on a non-biased system of voting.

India has emerged as Australia’s fastest-growing source market for tourist arrivals. One of the main reasons for this is the introduction of electronic lodgement of visa applications for Indian passport holders, which is likely to further boost arrivals. 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 ninth-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. Tania Gerlach, Chief Migration Officer, Department of Immigration and Border Protection, says, “We are extremely pleased with the success of the e-lodgement 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 lodgements. 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.”

MakeMyTrip has launched its latest product for the domestic market—Made for You Holidays. Coinciding with the holiday season, these 150 holiday experiences offer a range of hand-picked escapades for discerning travellers. These domestic travel packages are specially targeted towards those who want to make the most of long weekends at destinations in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and many more. Mohit Gupta, COO, MakeMyTrip, said, “At MakeMyTrip, we are bringing a balance between personalisation, authenticity and reach to offer holidays that will resonate with discerning travellers looking beyond cookie-cutter package tourism. By tracking social media, website analytics, search metrics, traveller reviews, etc., we want to align our product offerings to match what holiday goers are looking for.” Made for You Holidays is being rolled out under six themes for holiday-goers including Wildlife, Romantic, Friends & Family, Once in a lifetime, Rugged Getaways and Indulgence.

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.”