ASSOCHAM, in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, hosted the 10th International Conference Cum Awards on Civil Aviation, Cargo and Tourism, in New Delhi, where leaders of tourism, cargo and aviation industries deliberated on opportunities and challenges under the UDAN scheme; opportunities and challenges of cargo industry; roadmap for development of new airports; and also, the impact of GST on civil aviation, cargo and tourism sectors. Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Government of India, who was the Guest of Honour, addressed the gathering and said “We are very fortunate that we have hit a price point and a comfort level where everyone wants to fly today. We know that the value proposition of flying is very good. Flying is actually as cheap as Rs. 5-6 per km, almost equivalent to travelling in an auto rickshaw. India has the largest order book for new aircraft. Currently, we operate around 500 aircraft, which we plan to take to 1350 in the next 10 years. In UDAN round 1, in one year we added 31 new airports to the aviation sector.” Other dignitaries present at the conference included Sandeep Jajodia, President, ASSOCHAM; K Narayan Rao, Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Civil Aviation; Pawan Kumar Agrawal, Senior President – Corporate Finance Infrastructure Banking, YES Bank; O.P. Singh, Director General, Central Industry Security Force (CISF); and Kamal Hingorani, Co-Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Civil Aviation.

Indian Air Force’s Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad is set to become the second airport in Delhi-NCR this winter season, but only for regional commercial flights, it has been reportedly announced by the government. According to the authorities, they have got approval from the Indian Air Force to allow regional airlines to launch flights out of their Hindon airbase instead of the existing Delhi airport, as it is not constrained. R N Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, has said that they will not be able to add any new regional flights out of the Mumbai airport because there are no slots available. Apart from that, he said that even Delhi airport is facing slot constraints. Hence, they will be offering the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad for regional flights. For this, he informed that the ministry will talk to Delhi airport for their approval for the usage of another airport within 150km radius of the existing Delhi airport. Source: The Economic Times

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) will conduct its annual convention in two different places in Turkey this year – a first for any travel trade association. One part of the convention will be held in Dalaman and the other one in Antalya. The convention, which is to be held from Oct 27-31, 2017, has been split between two destinations so as to enhance the members’ experience of Turkey.

Mauritius tourism held the Delhi leg of its roadshow at The Imperial, New Delhi recently, which was well-attended by the trade community in the capital. Speaking on the sidelines of the roadshow was Kevin Ramkaloan, Director, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), who said that India is an important market for them, and they are expecting the visitor numbers to rise from the country. “India has been amongst the top 10 markets for us. We have been in this market for the last 20 years. It gave us 80,000 pax last year, but we feel that in the last two years, it should have reached 100,000 pax. We are convinced to reach that mark by 2018 for sure,” he claimed.

Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has appointed Puneet Chhatwal as its new CEO. He was earlier the CEO of Deutsche Hospitality, which owns the Steigenburger chain of hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Chhatwal reportedly said, “IHCL has some of the most iconic hotel properties in India and at key gateway locations across the world. I look forward to working with the talented teams at IHCL and under Mr. Chandrasekaran’s leadership to take this iconic company forward.” He will replace Rakesh Sarna who is stepping down with effect from September 30, 2017.  Chhatwal started his career with ITDC and was the Chief Development Officer of the Rezidor Hotel group, which owns the Radisson brand of hotels, before joining Deutsche Hospitality in 2012. Raj Rana, CEO, South Asia at Carlson Rezidor, reportedly said, “I welcome him back to the hospitality industry in India where he started his career.” Source: The Economic Times

Starting on August 29, the 10th Conventions India Conclave (CIC) of India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) is underway until August 31, at the Hyderabad International Convention Center. The event started with the lighting of lamp, in the esteemed presence of dignitaries including Chief Guest, Madhusudana Achary – Speaker, Telangana Legislative Assembly; Guest of Honour, B Venkateshan – Principal Secretary Tourism, Government of Telangana; Christina Z. Chongthu – Managing Director, Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation; Suman Billa – Chairman ICPB & Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Chander Mansharamani – Vice Chairman, ICPB; and Amresh Tiwari – Honorary Secretary, ICPB. During the inaugural address, Billa revealed how 52 per cent of travel revolves around MICE and the need to leverage this market and tap its potential internationally as well. He also mentioned about the implementation of a corpus fund, created half by the government and the remaining half by ICPB, to help open the Indian conference market to the world. The Conclave shall have an exhibition, where the over 330 registered buyers and sellers aim to interact and exchange business. B2B meetings and sessions on topics of sustainability and associations to help member engagements are also scheduled to be held during the event. During the press conference, Billa talked about setting up an agency to procure relevant information for the destinations globally. They shall get a world-class consultant to help the government prioritise destinations and put a roadmap in place to help know the different nuances of different industries so as to structure and organise the meetings and conferences industry. On the follow-up of the announcement of e tourist visa and group visa for MICE, he said that the …

Thomas Cook (India) has announced a strategic partnership with Euronet Worldwide, to introduce significant additional benefits on its unique prepaid travel cards—Thomas Cook Borderless Prepaid multi-currency and One Currency cards in India. Euronet becomes the exclusive technology partner for Thomas Cook India’s unique prepaid travel card programmes: Borderless Prepaid and One Currency. The Borderless Prepaid multi-currency card is a secure and convenient way to carry 8 global currencies in one card (US Dollar, Great British Pound, Euro, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar, Japanese Yen, Singapore Dollar, Swiss Franc), with benefits of emergency cash, surcharge-free ATM withdrawals in certain countries and insurance against fraudulent transactions. The Thomas Cook One Currency Card is USD loaded and guarantees a zero cross currency conversion fee across the globe. Thomas Cook’s prepaid travel cards can be used across merchant outlets, online portals and ATMs globally. All cards issued by Thomas Cook India will be hosted and managed on Euronet’s payments processing and card issuing platform. This platform not only offers the routine features of a prepaid card system, but is configurable to help Thomas Cook roll out customised options to meet specific customer needs – across business, leisure, b-leisure, student, etc.

After successfully launching direct daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Amsterdam last year, Jet Airways is all set to commence a new connection between Bengaluru and Amsterdam. Ragini Chopra, Vice President – Corporate Affairs & Public Relations, said, “Jet Airways will start its third daily flight from Bengaluru to Amsterdam starting October 29, 2017, and would connect the IT capital of India to Holland. Amsterdam has proved to be an excellent gateway for Jet Airways, from where we connect to the entire Europe and the US through onward flights on Jet Airways as well as our codeshare partners including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as well as DELTA Air Lines.”

In a bid to promote its products and offerings, NBTC Holland Marketing hosted its sales mission in New Delhi in association with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Jet Airways. Carola Muller, Global Travel Trade Manager, NBTC Holland Marketing, said, “ India is an important and growing market for Holland and we want it to grow further. In fact, India is pour fastest growing market and we foresee a 15 per cent rise in arrival numbers by the end of this year.” The three-city sales-mission will now go to Bengaluru and Mumbai to educate the trade about íts destination and products. Other partners for the mission include Blue Boat Company, Efteling, Henri Willig, ITO Tours and Madurodam.

The Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, Jayakumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, met the delegates from Wakayama Prefecture to discuss tourism potential between the two countries. Also present at the event were other dignitaries like Vijay Waghmare, Managing Director, MTDC, and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC. The international delegates included Hiroyuki Tsui, Director General, International Planning Division, Wakayama Prefecture Government, and Onishi Tatsunori, International Planning Division, Wakayama Prefecture Government. The Japanese delegates from Wakayama Prefecture also explored the well-known Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat to see the traditional way of washing clothes.