The Goods and Services Tax (GST) for hotels will be charged on the rack rates, or declared rates of hotels, which will have a considerable impact on the hotel industry. According to the notification number 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate) New Delhi, dated June 28, 2017, “For accommodation in hotels, inns, guest houses, clubs, campsites or other commercial places meant for residential or lodging purposes, the ‘declared tariff’ will be the basis of tax to be levied.” Declared tariff has been explained as to  include charges for all the amenities provided in a unit of accommodation (given on rent for stay), like furniture, air conditioner, refrigerator or any other amenities, but without excluding any discount offered on the published charges leading to some ambiguity. However, Rashmi Verma, Secretary Tourism, Government of India, had announced in an interactive meeting in Mumbai that the GST rates are on actual invoiced rate and not on published tariff. She also assured to look into any discrepancy or anomaly in the language or wordings of the same.

Singapore is mulling over increasing airline services to India, which reportedly could make India the fastest-growing air-traffic generating market for Changi Airport, leaving behind China and Indonesia. There are talks of new flights being launched to Pune, Madurai, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati from Singapore, according to Lim Ching Kiat, Managing Director for Air Hub Development, Changi Airport Group. A total of nine airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Tigerair, Air India and Jet Airways, fly between Singapore and India. Over 1.7 million passengers travelled between Singapore and India between January and May this year, which is a 15 per cent increase over last year. IndiGo also launched a new flight between Singapore and Bengaluru last month.

Passengers travelling to the United States from Abu Dhabi International Airport can now carry their electronic devices with them. According to a statement released by Etihad Aviation Group, following the successful validation of security measures at the US Preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi Airport today, the US Department of Homeland Security lifted the electronic device ban on flights between Abu Dhabi and the United States. It is anticipated that Etihad Airways is one of the first airlines to be able to satisfy the short-term measures required by the Transportation Security Administration due to the superior security advantages provided by the preclearance facility. “We welcome the decision by the US Department of Homeland Security to lift the electronic devices ban on flights between Abu Dhabi and the United States. Effective immediately, the removal of the restrictions allows passengers flying to the US to carry all laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices onto the aircraft, subject to enhanced security measures. We would like to thank our guests for their understanding and loyalty while the ban was in place,” said the statement.

In order to serve their clients better in India, Serena Hotels has appointed Nijhawan Group as their local representative in the country. Serena Hotels is a leading hospitality brand offering quality accommodation, unique holiday and conference solutions, and cultural heritage and adventure tourism in East Africa, with 24 upmarket hotels, safari lodges, resorts and safari camps located in some of the most exquisite and prime locations in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Mozambique. Announcing this partnership, Priyanka Nijhawan, Director – Representations, Nijhawan Group explained, “We will support the tour operators and travel agents in their sales and marketing efforts to maximize the numbers of Indians staying at Serena Hotels. With the addition of Serena Hotels to our representation portfolio, we can now offer a niche product in East Africa to our travel partners to further enhance the experience of their clients”.

In a bid to prepare its members for the new Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India(ADTOI) organised a workshop for its members on July 1, 2017. The workshop was conducted at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. G. D. Lohani, Commissioner, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC); Shikhar Pant, Assistant commissioner, CBEC; Ashish Gupta, Consulting CEO, FAITH; Gyan Bhushan, Economic Advisor, Government of India and other officials from Ministry of Tourism were present during  the meeting to interact with the members and  answer their queries on GST.

Air Canada inaugurates new, non-stop Toronto–Mumbai service on July 2, the only non-stop flight from Canada to India’s financial hub. The four-times weekly service will be operated with Air Canada’s most modern aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The aircraft feature 29 International Business Class lie-flat seat suites, 21 Premium Economy and 247 Economy Class seats, with upgraded in-flight entertainment at every seat throughout the aircraft. With the new Toronto–Mumbai route, Air Canada now offers three Boeing 787 Dreamliner routes between Canada and India, including year-round daily Toronto–Delhi service and seasonal Vancouver–Delhi service, which resumes in October and will be expanded to up to five times weekly this winter from three-times weekly last winter. “Our non-stop flights from our Asia-Pacific Vancouver hub feature 787-9 Dreamliner service and offer the shortest elapsed flying time from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles to the Indian subcontinent,” said Duncan Bureau, Vice President, Global Sales, Air Canada. “Our non-stop flight, coupled with our streamlined and seamless connections process at Vancouver translates to a savings of three to five hours compared to itineraries with connections in Europe or Asia.”

Singapore Airlines has announced the introduction of its A350 services to India. Mumbai will be the 16th destination within its network to receive the Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The daily scheduled Singapore Airlines flight SQ421 will be served by this new aircraft and the inaugural A350 service will depart from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai at 1145hrs on 01 July 2017. With advanced technology and superior operating efficiency, the A350-900 offers customers an improved travelling experience with features such as higher ceilings, larger windows, an extra wide body and lighting designed to reduce jetlag. Customers will also be able to enjoy our latest-generation cabin products as well as the award-winning, KrisWorld inflight entertainment system. The aircraft is fitted with 253 seats, in a three-class configuration – 42 in Business Class, 24 in Premium Economy and 187 in Economy. Singapore Airlines took delivery of its first A350-900 in March 2016 and now has 15 of the aircraft type in its fleet, with another 52 on firm order, including seven of an ultra-long-range A350-900ULR variant. Singapore Airlines is the launch customer for the A350-900ULR, for which deliveries will begin in 2018. The aircraft will be used to re-launch non-stop flights between Singapore and both New York and Los Angeles. “Singapore Airlines continually looks for opportunities to enhance the travel experience of our Indian patrons. The launch of A350 services to India is a testament to our commitment towards operating a modern and young fleet across the world,” said David Lim, General Manager India, Singapore Airlines. In conjunction with Singapore Airlines 70th anniversary, travellers from Mumbai can enjoy the A350 experience with special fares starting from Rs 22,070 to Singapore.

Indian passenger travel market is projected to grow at 11-11.5 per cent to $48 billion by 2020 with the biggest contributor, air travel expected to grow at 15 per cent to $30 billion. Hotels will grow at 13 per cent to $13 billion by 2020 while railways will remain $5 billion. This was revealed in a report on the growth opportunities in the Indian hospitality market over the next four years, released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Google India. The report titled, ‘Demystifying the Indian Online Traveler’ charts the decision making journey of the Indian traveler and provides insights on the potential growth opportunities for travel businesses till 2020. Additionally, as more people come online, smartphone penetration increases and use of digital payments goes up, the report estimates that India’s online hotel market will grow to $4 billion with 31 per cent penetration at a CAGR of 25 per cent. Speaking about the key findings of the report, Vikas Agnihotri, Industry Director, Google India, said; “India’s domestic travel market is on an acceleration path. One of the key findings of the report is that by 2020, one in three hotel rooms will be booked online – a clear indicator of the growing importance of digital in travel research, planning and booking. There are several actionable insights for domestic online travel players including the role of mobile and the level of curation and personalisation that Indian travelers are looking for.” Demystifying the travel planning journey of the typical Indian consumer, the report shows that for many Indian consumers, a vacation is an event planned in advance as opposed to being an impulsive purchase. Consumers typically spend 46 days on average …

Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA) organised a session on GST in Mumbai for its members. The event was attended by 75 plus travel agents. The session was conducted by CA Yash Parmar, from Gabhawala & Company. Commenting on the occasion Jagat Mehta, President, ETAA, said, “We had a lot of queries coming in regarding GST and we decided to keep a session on GST to answer doubts of our members. Our expert brought some clarity on how GST is an effective tool and an inevitable truth for all industries, he highlighted the GST implications on the travel trade. We also plan to do GST sessions in Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune where we have member presence. We are worried with competing with OTA’s as they are not registered in India and how that will affect us as agents due to GST and will be doing more such sessions on GST until things are clear.”

Treebo Hotels has announced its association with TripAdvisor, which will open up a global audience of 390 million monthly users looking to make hotel reservations for budget hotel chain. Commenting on the partnership, Sidharth Gupta, Co-founder, Treebo Hotels, said, “TripAdvisor is one of the key touch points for us to connect with our users. These users have already been posting and reading reviews of Treebo’s top-rated properties on TripAdvisor. Now they’ll also see be able to see the best available prices and book hotels on TripAdvisor itself. We are expecting TripAdvisor to contribute close to 5 per cent of monthly bookings in the next three months, becoming a key distribution channel for us.” This partnership will allow TripAdvisor users search and book – via meta – quality hotel experiences across over 50 Indian cities. Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India, commented, “TripAdvisor’s aim is to help the Indian traveller save time and effort when planning their travel with tools that make it easy to find the best hotel offering that suits their needs wherever they are going. With Treebo on board, both local and international travellers will be able to find good quality budget accommodation in India they know they will have a good experience at.”