In a bid to promote responsible tourism Ola, a cab aggregator, has partnered with seven state tourism departments to encourage travel to lesser known locale. This campaign was flagged off by Priyank M. Kharge, Minister of State for Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Tourism, Government of Karnataka. The company has also roped in VJ turned actor and travel blogger, Shenaz Treasury for the seven-state, 12-day and 21 locations expedition across India with Ola Outstation, one of its product categories. The cab aggregator, in a statement, announced that it has joined forces with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), Kerala Tourism Department, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL), Rajasthan Tourism Department, Assam Tourism Department, and Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC). Source: News18.com

Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has recently signed a new hotel in Jhansi. Sarovar is one of the fastest growing hotel chains in India with over 75 operating hotels across 50 destinations in India and Africa. Some of the expected openings this year include hotels in Amritsar, Raipur, Mahipalpur, Somnath and Jaisalmer.

India Sales Associates, which has been representing Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts for many years in India, organised a showcase for the travel trade at The Park, New Delhi, for all the brands they are representing now, including Far East Hospitality Group; Panacea Koh Samui; Oasia Suites, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Nusa Dua Hotel & Spa, Bali. Representatives from two properties of Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts—Banyan Tree Seychelles and Banyan Tree Ungasan were also present at the showcase. Manas Sinha, Director, India Sales Associates, shared that they organised the event because their partners do get business from India, but not enough in terms of the potential that India has. “Our partners want to do some product knowledge with our travel partners. Hence, we have organised a closed door, by-invitation-only B2B product training as well as networking sessions. Our partners are looking to expand their base to our network as a GSA in India and further increase their market share from India,” said Sinha at the event.

Dilip Datwani has been re-elected as President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) at its 67th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held recently in Mumbai. Datwani has been serving in the role of the President for the year 2016 – 17 and will now continue to serve in the same capacity for the term of 2017 – 2018.  Gurbaxish Singh Kohli also will continue to serve as the Senior Vice President for the same tenure while Pradeep Shetty takes a sabbatical for this year and  Sherry Bhatia replaces him as the Hon. Secretary. Datwani is also the Vice President of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), the apex body of all the regional associations of hotels and restaurants across the country. He has been an active voice and part of the hotel and restaurant fraternity for over two decades. Datwani has previously served as Chairman of the Membership Committee, Chairman of the Classification Committee, and Senior Vice President of HRAWI. He is Chairman & Managing Director of Datwani Hotels Pvt. Ltd. and owns and operates Shatranj Napoli, a landmark restaurant at Pali Hill, Bandra. “Firstly, I thank all our members for re-electing me as the President. The last one year has been an eventful time for the hotel and restaurant industry, be it the recent issue of liquor ban along the State and National highways, GST, demonetization or service charge. I must mention that through all these tough times HRAWI petitioned, engaged and diligently followed up with the concerned authorities and ministries to resolve the issues faced by hoteliers and restaurateurs. The introduction of GST brings forth both opportunities and challenges. In the …

According to the data released by Ministry of Tourism, Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) during the month of August, 2017 were ₹13,922 crore as compared to ₹12,553 crore in August, 2016 and ₹11,411 crore in August, 2015. The growth rate in FEEs in terms of rupee during August, 2017 over August, 2016 was higher, with 10.9 per cent as compared to the growth rate of 10.0 per cent in August, 2016 over August, 2015. The FEEs during the period of January- August, 2017 was recorded at ₹1,16,004 crore, amounting to a growth of 16.5 per cent as compared to the FEEs of ₹99,587 during January-August 2016 which amounted to a growth rate of 13.9 per cent over January- August, 2015.

TUI India, the Indian arm of international leisure travel group TUI, has expanded its footprint in North India taking the total count of TUI stores to 12 across India. TUI will open its new store in Sector 9C, Madhya Marg in Chandigarh on September 22, 2017. Nikhil Dhodapkar, Chief Executive Officer, TUI India, says, “We are delighted to open our new store in the city of Chandigarh in partnership with Mr. Rupinder Singh Thind & Mr. Prabhjot Singh Thind and I am sure together we will a write a great success story for TUI in Chandigarh.” TUI specialises in curating holiday packages be it domestic destinations such as Ladakh, Mussoorie, Goa, Kerala and Andaman, or international destinations such as Thailand, Bali, Srilanka, Dubai, Maldives, Europe and USA. TUI stores have fully-trained travel experts who not only assist customers to decide on the holiday destination but also guide them through the trip. Customers can walk in and get a sense of the holidays being offered through images. Also, videos are shown to the customers, giving a perfect look and feel of the holiday.

In a bid to improve and develop airport infrastructure to meet the growing traffic needs, Airports Authority of India (AAI) is taking up new development works at Lucknow, Deoghar and Allahabad airports. Apart from this, AAI will also develop a greenfield airport at Hirasar, Rajkot. AAI plans to construct new integrated passenger terminal building at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow, with an estimated cost of Rs. 1230 crores resultant of the increasing passenger traffic during last five years. The new terminal will be able to handle 4000 passengers during peak hour and 6.35 million passengers per annum. In addition, AAI will develop Deoghar airport in Jharkhand, to facilitate the joint use of civil operation up to Airbus-320 and DRDO operation up to C-130 type of aircraft. The work will be carried out at an estimated cost of Rs. 401.34 crore on fixed cost basis and Rs. 427.43 crore on completion cost basis. An MoU was signed between the Government of Jharkhand, DRDO and AAI in March, 2017. As per the MOU, there will be financial input to the tune of Rs. 50 crore by Govt. of Jharkhand, Rs. 200 crore by DRDO and balance cost to be funded by AAI. To meet the demand of increasing air travel in Allahabad, a new civil enclave at Allahabad will be developed by AAI at an estimated cost of Rs. 125.76 crores. The new terminal is to be made operational before the ‘Ardh Kumbh Mela’ to be held in January 2019. AAI will also take up the work of development of greenfield airport at Hirasar, Rajkot in Gujrat on Build, Operate and Maintain basis. Govt. of Gujarat has provided the land free …

The number of passengers carried by domestic airlines during January and August, 2017, were 754.11 lakhs as against 644.68 lakhs during the corresponding period of the previous year, thereby registering a growth of 16.97 per cent, according to the latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In terms of Passenger Load Factor, SpiceJet was ahead of its peers with 94.5 per cent PLF in the month of August. IndiGo ruled in terms of On Time Performance (OTP), recording a percentage of 86.6 per cent in OTP.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) this August were 7.24 lakh as compared to FTAs of 6.52 lakh in August 2016, and 5.99 lakh in August 2015, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Tourism. The growth rate in FTAs in August 2017 over August 2016 is 11 per cent compared to 8.8 per cent in August 2016 over August 2015. FTAs during the period January-August, 2017, were 63.98 lakh with a growth of 15.2 per cent over the same period of previous year, as compared to the FTAs of 55.54 lakh with a growth of 9.5 per cent in January-August, 2016, over January-August, 2015. On the other hand, FTAs on the e-Tourist Visa, during the month of August 2017 was a total of 1.13 lakh as compared to 0.66 lakh during the month of August 2016 registering a growth of 71.3 per cent. During January-August, 2017, a total of 9.49 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 6.06 lakh during January-August, 2016, registering a growth of 56.5 per cent.

The member States of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) have approved a historical document – the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics. The Convention, approved at the 22nd UNWTO General Assembly transforms the Code of Ethics for Tourism into an international convention, the first in the life of the organisation. The Convention covers the responsibilities of all stakeholders in the development sustainable tourism, providing a framework that recommends an ethical and sustainable modus operandi, including the right to tourism, the freedom of movement for tourists and the rights of employees and professionals. “In an interconnected world where the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, ‎food products or automobiles, it is important to set out a legal framework to ensure that growth is dealt with responsibly and that it can be sustained over time. Tourism is a power that must be harnessed for the benefit of all,” said the Chairman of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics (WCTE), Pascal Lamy. Appointed as Chairman of the WTCE in 2013, Pascal Lamy, together with his colleagues in the Committee, has been instrumental in the process of presenting the Convention on Tourism Ethics to the 22nd UNWTO General Assembly. The conversion of the Code, which was adopted in 1999, into a proper Convention represents a significant step towards ensuring that tourism development is done with full respect for sustainable development, social issues, local community development, improves understanding between cultures and addresses labour issues. “This is an historical moment for UNWTO, said the Secretary-General”, Taleb Rifai. “The approval of the Convention is a strong legacy of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development that we celebrate this year. …