Destination Canada recorded a significant growth of over 37 per cent in Indian arrivals to Canada in the month of April 2017, compared to the same period last year. This rise in the growth rate substantiates the fact that a large number of Indian visitors had explored the tourism offerings of Canada in April. SanJeet, India Representative, Destination Canada, said, “The 37 per cent increase in Indian footfall to Canada is a big achievement and motivation for us. Having shown such a huge growth proves that Indians are looking at exploring Canada for its exclusiveness. From scenic beauty, shopping avenues, adventurous experiences, train journeys to self-drives, Canada has everything to offer for Indian travellers. We are optimistic about breaking our previous arrival records by the end of 2017.”

During the month of June 2017 total of 0.67 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 0.37 lakh during the month of June 2016, registering a growth of 81.7 per cent. During January-June 2017, a total of 7.17 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 4.72 lakh during January-June 2016, registering a growth of 52 per cent. The percentage shares of top 15 source countries availing e- Tourist Visa facilities during June, 2017 were: USA (17.7%), UK (10.8%), China (6.8%), Australia (5.2%), Singapore (5.1%), Korea (Rep.of) (4.5%), France (4.3%), Germany (3.9%), Canada (3.4%), Malaysia (2.6%), Spain (2.2%), South Africa (1.7%), Thailand (1.6%), Netherlands (1.5%) and Italy (1.4%). The percentage shares of top 15 ports in tourist arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during June, 2017 were as follows: New Delhi Airport (42.4%), Mumbai Airport (20.6%), Chennai Airport (10.0%), Bengaluru Airport (9.2%), Kochi Airport (3.7%), Hyderabad Airport (3.3%), Kolkata Airport (2.8%), Tirchy Airport (1.8%), Ahmadabad Airport (1.4%), Trivandrum Airport (1.3%), Amritsar Airport (0.9%), Cochin Seaport( 0.7%), Dabolim (Goa) Airport (0.5%), Pune Airport(0.3%) and Jaipur Airport (0.3%).

Foreign Tourist Arrivals during the period January-June 2017 were 48.85 lakh with a growth of 17.2 per cent, as compared to the FTAs of 41.69 lakh with a growth of 8.4 per cent in January-June 2016 over January-June 2015. The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during June 2017 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (29.23%) followed by USA (19.70%), UK (6.14%), Malaysia (3.82%), Australia (2.56%), China (2.52%), Singapore (2.31%), Sri Lanka (2.24%), Japan (2.21%), Canada (2.19%), France (1.96%), Germany (1.92%), Nepal (1.84%), Republic of Korea (1.50%) and Afghanistan (0.98%). The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during June 2017 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (22.16%) followed by Haridaspur Land Check Post (17.06%), Mumbai Airport (14.98%), Chennai Airport (9.06%), Bengaluru Airport (6.72%), Kolkata Airport (4.82%), Hyderabad Airport (4.37%), Cochin Airport (3.57%), Gede Rail Land Check Post (3.09%),Ghojadanga Land Check Post (2.08%), Tiruchirapalli Airport (1.93%), Ahmadabad Airport (1.60%), Trivandrum Airport (1.35%), Hilli Land Check Post (0.94%) and Changrabandha Land Check Post (0.86%).

Korea Tourism Organisation has announced the appointment of Michael Kwon as the new Director of Korea Tourism Organization, India Office. He will be heading the India office for next three years. Previously working as the Director of International Tourism Strategy team at Korea Tourism Organisation head office, he has all-round exposure across different verticals of KTO like HR, Planning & Coordination, Inbound Marketing & Performance Evaluation. He was the Deputy Director of KTO Chicago office between 2005 & 2007 and has successfully established KTO office in Jakarta in 2011. Holding a major in tourism, Kwon has been associated with KTO for 25 years. He is also a certified Public Labor Attorney in Korea.

Amadeus India celebrated its two decades of successful market leadership across the Indian Subcontinent, with top customers during an evening of entertainment at Roseate House New Delhi on July 13, 2017. Rakesh Bansal, Chief Executive Officer, Amadeus Indian subcontinent said, “We are delighted to share this accomplishment with all our stakeholders. I feel immense pride that Amadeus continues to be the market leader and preferred technology partner for the travel industry. This could not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our employees as well as the unwavering support of our valued customers. As we look forward to many more years of continued success, we would like to express our appreciation to our partners who have shown consistent trust in Amadeus.”

SpiceJet has announced its third daily direct flight on the UDAN routes of Hyderabad-Puducherry, starting August 16, 2017. After the new flight, Puducherry will be connected with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Vijaywada and Varanasi with convenient onward connections. SpiceJet was awarded six proposals and 11 routes in the first phase of Ministry of Civil Aviation’s UDAN scheme. Out of the six finalised proposals, four will cater to the unserved markets of Adampur, Kandla, Puducherry and Jaisalmer, and the other two will be for the underserved markets of Porbandar and Kanpur. Flights have already started on Mumbai-Porbandar-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kandla-Mumbai routes from July 10.

Jet Airways has launched three direct flights from Indore to Jaipur, Ahmedabad and New Delhi. In addition, Jet Airways also started new daily flights from Silchar in southern Assam to New Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati. All flights started on July 16, while flight from Indore to Ahmedabad started on July 17. With the three new launches, Jet Airways will operate a total of nine flights from Indore.

Emirates and flydubai have announced extensive partnership agreement which will include an expansive codeshare agreement, schedule alignment and network optimisation. Passengers will benefit by gaining access to over 200 unique destinations, seamless travel experience and frequent flyer programmes alignment. Both airlines will continue to be managed independently, but will leverage each other’s network to scale up their operations and accelerate growth.The two airlines will also further develop their hub at Dubai International, aligning their systems and operations to ensure a seamless travel experience through the ultra-modern airport; currently the world’s busiest for international passengers. The innovative partnership goes beyond code-sharing and includes integrated network collaboration with coordinated scheduling. The new model will give flydubai customers seamless connectivity to Emirates’ worldwide destinations spanning six continents. For Emirates’ customers, it opens up flydubai’s robust regional network. HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group and Chairman of flydubai, said, “This is an exciting and significant development for Emirates, flydubai, and Dubai aviation. Both airlines have grown independently and successfully over the years, and this new partnership will unlock the immense value that the complementary models of both companies can bring to consumers, each airline, and to Dubai.” Emirates today has a wide-body fleet of 259 aircraft, flying to 157 destinations (including 16 cargo-only points). flydubai operates 58 New-Generation Boeing 737 aircraft to 95 destinations. The current combined network comprises 216 unique destination points. By 2022, the combined network of Emirates and flydubai is expected to reach 240 destinations, served by a combined fleet of 380 aircraft.

Ginger Hotels, the dominant budget hotel chain from the house of TATA continues its growth in the country with the opening of Ginger Mumbai, Andheri East. This is their second hotel in Mumbai. Strategically located off the Western Express highway, 3.5 kms from the airport, Ginger Mumbai, Andheri East is in close proximity to the Bombay Exhibition Center as well as the railway station. The hotel also provides convenient access to the city’s thriving corporate hub on the Andheri Kurla Road. With 142 rooms, this hotel offers a unique check-in experience of Coffee and Keys, an interactive social lobby, seamless high speed free Wi-Fi, a multi-cuisine restaurant and bar, a pan Asian eatery, a state-of-art fitness center, RFID access control and efficient meeting facilities. Ginger is a great choice for today’s value conscious and discerning travelers. Sharing his thoughts on the opening, Rahul Pandit, MD & CEO, Ginger Hotels said, “We are proud to expand our presence in the commercial capital of India with the opening of Ginger Mumbai – Andheri East, our second hotel in Mumbai. This Ginger hotel gives our customers a small insight into the refreshed Ginger experience. Ginger Hotels is the pioneer and the largest chain of branded budget hotels in India with a resilient promise of safety, cleanliness, a relaxing sleep experience, an invigorating shower experience, a hearty breakfast and seamless Wi-Fi. We assure travelers of a consistently pleasant experience across our 42 properties in 30 locations around the nation.”

Austria witnessed a growth of 28 per cent in Indian arrivals from January-June 2017,  informed Christine Mukharji, Market Manager-India, Austrian National Tourism Office (ANTO). She added that they are hopeful to welcome over 150,000 Indian arrivals by the end of the year. “Like last year, this year as well India has been a great market for Austria. We witnessed 25 per cent year on year growth from India in 2016 and till June 2017, we have already seen a growth of 28 per cent in Indian arrivals. This also shows that our market share in comparison to our competitors is increasing as Indians realise that we can offer everything from culture, snow and soft sports activities at the destination.” Austria saw the maximum increase from the FIT segment but Mukharji also pointed out that the destination witnessed an Indian wedding in the month of May with 700 people which was a huge revenue booster for Austria. “Not only has the percentage of Indian overnights has gone up for Austria, we have also seen an increase in revenue as these FIT travellers tend to stay mostly in 5-star properties. There has also been an increase in the length of stay amongst the Indian travellers which varies from city to city. Innsbruck has been traditionally a one night destination and the average duration of stay in Vienna is 2.4 days. However Salzburg has developed as a popular tourist destination amongst Indians and the average duration of stay increased from one night to 1.9 nights amongst Indian travellers,” says Mukharji.