According to the SITA 2017 Air Transport IT Trends Insights, airlines and airports are estimated to spend nearly US$33 billion on IT this year. The report says that the airlines and airports are focusing their technology investments on similar priorities. Top of the agenda for CIOs at both airlines and airports, are investments in cyber security and cloud services. In addition, they are prioritising investments in passenger self-service. SITA’s research of the world’s airlines and airports shows that IT spend remains strong. Airlines’ spend as a percentage of revenue will rise to an estimated 3.30 per cent or US$24.3 billion in 2017. For airports, the rise is to an expected 5.05 per cent for this year or US$8.43 billion. Looking ahead to 2018 over 70 per cent of airlines and 88 per cent of airports are expecting IT spend to increase or remain at the same levels as today. With increasing IT spend, both airlines and airports say that the number one priority for their investments is cyber security. Nearly all of them – 95 per cent of airlines and 96 per cent of airports – plan to invest in major programs or R&D on cyber security initiatives over the next three years. This shows alignment across the industry on the importance of investing in this area. Ilya Gutlin, President, Air Travel Solutions, SITA, said, “The air transport industry is going through digital transformation and focusing its attention on protecting the business and passengers; making it more efficient; and improving the passenger experience. Cyber-attacks are a very real threat in the highly interwoven air transport industry so building solid defenses is essential. Cloud services provide important efficiencies which play a …

 Ministry of Development of North East Region organised two-day festival, North East Calling, which concluded in Delhi on September 9-10 that depicted the rich culture of North East. Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, inaugurated the festival. Singh also launched ‘North East Venture Fund’, a joint initiative of Ministry of DoNER and North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd, that seeks to promote entrepreneurship and start-ups in the region. The North East Tourism Development Council to promote sustainable tourism in North East India, was also launched. The event included showcase of rich cultural heritage of the North East, including music fest for bands of North East and a cultural night for the dancers as well. There were other contests like Know Your North East quiz contest, In the home chef contest and Beauty of North East photography contest. A B2B conference was also organised at the event to facilitate tourism in the North East region. PK Sinha, Cabinet Secretary, was the chief guest of the closing ceremony and N K Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Naveen Verma Secretary, Ministry of DoNER, and Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, were the other senior officials present. The event saw a huge participation from the public and the DoNER is planning to hold more such events in different parts of the country under the Destination North East Series. These events will promote the culture, art, heritage, tourism, business, cuisine and handicraft from the North East.

Tourism Australia is reaping the benefits of its aggressive marketing and campaigning in India. It recorded an increase in Indian arrivals by 14.6 per cent for the year ended June 2017. This equals to a total of 271,100 visitors in the previous financial year, making India the ninth largest inbound market for arrivals for the year ended June 2017. Not only this, the purpose for holiday or visitation also increased by 21 per cent. As a result they even spent more while in Australia. For year ending June 2017, Indian visitors spent A$ 1.43 billion (Rs 7,150 crores) on their Australian trips, an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year. Therefore the average per capita spend for Indian visitors was A$ 5,491. Of the total arrivals, 68 per cent of Indian visitors visited Australia for leisure (187,850). Other visitors travelled for business (31,900), employment (21,000), education (20,450) and other purposes (15,900). Leisure visitors are on holiday (74,550) or visiting friends and relatives (113,300).

Kerala Tourism has announced the dates of the second edition of International Homestay and Rural Tourism Meet which will be organised by the Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society (HATS). The three-day event will kick start on September 15 in Kochi at Bolghatty Palace. 1500 participants are expected to attend the travel meet as the main objective of the event is to enhance the business opportunities in the state for homestay providers, serviced villas and Grihastelly providing a platform to network with industry players. International Homestay and Rural Tourism Travel Meet is one of the largest B2B events for homestays and rural tourism in the country which will also be attended by national and international tour operators, entrepreneurs and destination management companies. “Homestays are inevitable part of Kerala Tourism and helps the industry to connect with the travel enthusiasts. The B2B meet is expected to discuss recommendations to boost the rural tourism sector.” said P. Bala Kiran, IAS, Director, Kerala Tourism. During the B2B meet, potentials and challenges of the sector will also be discussed via seminars and discussions. This travel meet will also address the changing tourism industry trends and evolving needs of the travel enthusiasts, primarily younger generation, who want to experience the village life and hence prefer to visit rural parts of the country.

With a desire to provide women with viable and interesting career options in tourism, Nirvana Excursions has launched a ‘Home Agent Programme’ aimed at housewives. This programme will allow them the flexibility of working from home, while ensuring a steady income. Nidhi Batra, Co-founder, Nirvana Excursions, says, “It is specifically designed to encourage women to use their existing network and relationships, therefore making it a point to avoid any unnecessary stress. At the same time, the agents are also provided with exhaustive and in-depth training and education. In this way, Nirvana ensures that every home agent is completely prepared to work in the travel sector regardless of whether or not they have any prior experience in this industry. Being a woman entrepreneur and a mom myself, I believe very strongly in women having the financial freedom and identity that comes with a career. That’s why, we ensure that the women of our programme receive all the help and support they need and have the confidence to create their own space in this industry.” Nirvana Excursions specialises in travel experiences and customised solutions for the discerning traveller.

Jet Airways is set to introduce as many as 56 new weekly flights this month and the next, ahead of the busy festive season. In a series of industry-firsts, the airline will introduce daily flights from Pune, connecting them to Guwahati via Kolkata as well as to Coimbatore. In other notable step, Jet Airways is also set to commence flight operations between Bengaluru and Silchar, as well as to New Delhi and Jorhat. The airline will be the only airline in the country to have flights on these routes which will not only bolster connectivity from Pune, but will also improve connectivity of the North East with the rest of the country. The airline is also introducing additional non-stop frequencies on certain existing routes such as Pune – Kolkata, Jaipur – New Delhi, Guwahati – New Delhi and Chennai – New Delhi, reflecting the growing demand for its services to facilitate the travel aspirations of its guest Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways said, “Introducing the new flights and frequencies will strengthen our presence in the emerging cities. We will be able to provide greater choice, convenience and connectivity to our guests, who can easily connect with our hubs in Mumbai and Delhi and onwards into our wide international network.”

Air France celebrates 50 years of its operations on the Paris-Mumbai route ever since it added Mumbai to its historic Far East network by launching flights from Mumbai to Paris on September 7, 1967. The airline now operates a daily service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and India’s economic capital by Boeing 777-200 equipped with the latest long-haul travel cabins. On this occasion of completing half a century, Max Smits, General Manager, Air France-KLM, Indian Sub-Continent said,  “We are proud to celebrate 50 years of service between Mumbai and Paris. Air France has been present in Mumbai since 1967 and has been investing continuously with the aim to provide a great product and excellent connection opportunities to the Indian passengers from its hub at Paris, Charles de Gaulle. We take this opportunity to thank our loyal customers and partners in reaching this great milestone and are absolutely thrilled to celebrate this occasion with our passengers taking the flight 07 Sep from Mumbai to Paris with a small surprise celebration at the Mumbai airport”.    

After successfully concluding its annual convention in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from September 7-10, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has announced its first outbound convention in Sri Lanka. Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, reveals, “We have been given a green signal from the Sri Lanka Tourism Board for our first outbound convention that will be held from October 2-5, 2017 in Colombo. We will be working on that now and will inform our members as soon as we return to New Delhi. This will be the first outbound convention that will be organized by IATO. We will discuss the agenda for that and announce it within a few days.”  

The Singapore Tourism Board has unveiled to the Indian audiences the country’s unified brand, ‘Passion Made Possible’. This is the first time that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) have come together to develop a unified brand to market Singapore internationally for tourism and business purposes. The unified brand aims to communicate the country’s value proposition in addressing the needs of travellers and companies and help Singapore stand out on the international stage. G.B. Srithar, Regional Director – South Asia Middle East & Africa (SAMEA), STB, announced the official launch of the brand in India. He said, “With Passion Made Possible, STB and EDB are presenting a brand that can tell a fuller Singapore story beyond just tourism. The brand articulates what we stand for as a country and supports the telling of many stories about this destination and its people. It brings to the international audiences stories from Singapore through the voices of Singaporeans. We are happy and humbled by the fact that Singapore remains a highly popular travel destination among Indian travellers. We welcomed a record 1.1 million visitors from India in 2016. The unveiled brand will allow us to build a deeper and more personal connection between Singapore and our fans and friends in India, even when they are not actively thinking about travel. It is in line with Quality Tourism as it will appeal to the more sophisticated tourists who are seeking more aspirational value propositions in their travel.” The Passion Made Possible campaign in India Following its debut, Passion Made Possible will be unveiled in various cities worldwide through consumer launches, trade events, industry partnerships, and global marketing campaigns …

Destinations worldwide welcomed 598 million international tourists in the first six months of 2017, some 36 million more than in the same period of 2016. At 6 per cent, growth was well above the trend of recent years, making the current January-June period the strongest half-year since 2010. Visitor numbers reported by destinations around the world reflect strong demand for international travel in the first half of 2017, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Worldwide, international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased by 6 per cent compared to the same six-month period last year, well above the sustained and consistent trend of 4 per cent or higher growth since 2010. This represents the strongest half-year in seven years. Results are underpinned by robust growth in many destinations and a continuation of the recovery in those that suffered declines in previous years. Of UNWTO regions, growth was strongest in the Middle East (+9 per cent), Europe (+8 per cent) and Africa (+8 per cent), followed by Asia and the Pacific (+6 per cent) and the Americas (+3 per cent). The first half of the year usually accounts for about 46% of total annual international arrivals, with the second half longer by three days and including the Northern Hemisphere high season months of July and August. Growth was strongest in the Middle East (+9 per cent), Europe (+8 per cent) and Africa (+8 per cent), followed by Asia and the Pacific (+6 per cent) and the Americas (+3 per cent). “The first half of 2017 shows healthy growth in an increasingly dynamic and resilient tourism market, including a strong recovery in some of the destinations impacted by security challenges last year,” said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai ahead of the 22nd session …