Travel Agents Association of India – Northern Region (TAAI-NR) welcomed Cristina Ionela Tarteata, Deputy Minister, Tourism, Government of Romania and H.E. Radu Octavian Dobre, Charge d’affaires, Romanian Embassy in New Delhi, to present the destination to its members. The minister made a small presentation at the event, and said that they want Indians to consider Romania as a destination of choice for leisure as well as business travels. She also answered questions by the TAAI-NR members and urged them to promote Romania in their itineraries. Before the presentation, TAAI-NR team, presided by Chairman Rajan Sehgal also held its members’ meet and updated members about what the association is doing.  

The Student of the Year contest, powered by InterGlobe Technology Quotient (ITQ), took place at Ibis New Delhi Aerocity in an attempt to hone budding talent from tourism institutes to launch dream careers for the best candidates. The final round of the contest was held amongst five finalists who presented on a tourism-related topic, and were judged by an esteemed panel consisting of Ashish Kumar, Managing Partner, Agnitio Consulting; Geeta Jain, CEO, Carlson Wagonlit Travel India; and Prof. (Dr) M Sajnani, Director – Tourism Management, Amity Institute of Travel and Tourism. Anil Parashar, President and CEO, ITQ, said, “The contest has been growing every year and this time, a total of 160 colleges participated in this out of which five reached the finals. Student of the Year aims to give the best talent from tourism universities a chance to acquire the ideal skill-set for a technology-first future, and is our way of ensuring a win-win situation for the student, as well at the industry. Elaborating on the same, Sandeep Dwivedi, Chief Financial Officer, ITQ, stated, “Our idea is to give students from the industry a platform to showcase their talent and fast-forward their career. This is our anvil event and since several of the participants are from different corners of the country, we would like to make it regional in the coming future so that more students get a chance to participate.” Also present on the occasion for the awards ceremony were Cristina Ionela Tarteata, Deputy Minister – Tourism, Government of Romania, along with His Excellency Radu Octavian Dobre, Chargé d’Affairs, Romanian Embassy in New Delhi, India.   

Starting May, Pacific Travels has become the solely authorised visa submission and processing centre for an Iran business and tourist visa. The centre accepts submission of business, tourist and pilgrimage visas currently with a processing time of 3 working days. According to Nasir Zaidi, Managing Partner, “Thanks to the increased connectivity between India and Iran, the centre receives nearly 600 – 800 visa applications on a weekly basis, with corporate and tourist visas accounting for nearly 30 % of the total visa applications.” Pilgrimage visa though still accounts for the bulk of the visa application for Iran.

Absolute Hotel Services India has announced the opening of Eastin Hotel Kurseong Darjeeling, the first International four-star deluxe resort hotel in Kurseong Darjeeling. The hotel has opened its door to guests on April 15, 2017 with special opening rates starting from Rs. 4,999++ per room per night. Located on the foothills of the Himalayas, Eastin Hotel Kurseong Darjeeling will offer 35 rooms under Deluxe, Executive and Suites with views of the Himalayan mountain range, green woods and tea estate. Other recreation activities include star gazing sightseeing, local dance and music, trekking, bird watching and tea tourism. Facilities include a signature all day dining multi-cuisine restaurant, specialty vegetarian restaurant, lounge bar, terrace café to relax and admire the scenic beauty, banquet and meeting centre, wellness spa,, gym, meditation and yoga. It will also feature first of its kind teahouse which will offer finest Darjeeling tea and spiced up creative tea mocktails/cocktails to the guest.  The contemporary wooden interiors will provide guests a warm cosseting atmosphere reminding them of the colonial era. The resort hotel has easy access to attractions like Eagle Craig, Dow hill, Giddapahar View Point amongst many, along with tea estates, temples, churches, museums, as well as famous historic schools that were setup during the British colonial days.

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd has carefully curated a segment to address the unique needs of mothers and mothers-to-be (mother and baby-moon packages) and incorporates the special interests of India’s women travellers with engaging experiences like shopping, sampling global cuisine while learning to cook it, as well and local cultural tours and rejuvenating spa-wellness programmes. Thomas Cook India’s Mother’s Day tour packages feature easy to access short-haul International destinations like Singapore, Dubai (including a stay in the resort destination of Ras-Al-Khaimah), Thailand, Sri Lanka, Oman, Maldives and Mauritius. Rajeev Kale, Thomas Cook India’s President & Country Head-Leisure Travel, MICE, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said, “India’s Mommy travellers are clearly the next growth drivers and our product teams at Thomas Cook India have developed unique packages, personalized to serve their needs. We understand that the Protagonist Traveller of today looks beyond the ordinary & likes to customize her packages, which is why we have taken into consideration not just accommodation and sightseeing, but also exciting elements like water sports, local cuisine & cooking, shopping; equally safety and cultural sensitivities of each country.”

RARE has taken on board, Pepper Trail, located in 200 acres of spice plantation in Wayanad, north Kerala. A part of the plantation heritage, Manglam Carp Estate founded by Colin Auley Mackenzie, Pepper Trail is a sliver of dense land that is visually fenced in by flat paddy lands, large swathes of forests and a road leading up from Sultan Bathery. Accommodation in the tree houses, bungalows and pool villas are designed as intimate abodes to relax, play, walk, read, cycle or indulge in a spa till city life claims you or your itinerary urges you ahead. Thoughtfully plated meals, serving Kerala’s delicacies with a hint of surprise, cater to well-travelled palates. ‘Pazhey Bangala’ – the beautifully restored Mackenzie colonial home offers two suites. Soon, two beautiful pool villas will be ready within the plantation Wayanad stretches across the Western Ghats, ranging between 700m to 2100m. The higher regions induce a kind of misty romanticism intensified as the sun goes down and dusk turns its head to the sun at dawn. Picture this on a continually farmed, active plantation of tea, coffee and spices from the high grounds of a 200 acre plantation and you are in nature’s idyll.

Sabre Corporation has announced a new global distribution partnership with Scoot-Tigerair. This partnership is in line with Scoot-Tigerair’s vision to bring affordable flight options and seamless customer experience for passengers around the world. With the market becoming more competitive as travel service providers adapt to the changing habits and behaviours of travellers, particularly around addressing the demand for low-cost flight options, Sabre’s technology will enable Scoot-Tigerair to maximise its reach through the Sabre Travel Marketplace, connecting them to more than 425,000 travel agents globally. This helps ensure that consumers have access to the best possible deals available while creating more revenue opportunities for the airline and travel agents. “Low-cost carriers (LCCs) are the biggest growth drivers in the region. This trend is likely to continue as countries in the region experience rising incomes and a propensity for short- to mid-haul travel. Airlines like Scoot-Tigerair are expanding their reach rapidly to cover destinations across the region to keep up with traveller demands. As one of the first LCCs in the region, we are honoured to work with Scoot-Tigerair, and our technology will allow them to compete more effectively in a very competitive environment,” said Rakesh Narayanan, vice president of Supplier Commerce, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific. Effective May 2017, Scoot-Tigerair’s fares and ancillary offerings will be available to Sabre travel agents globally, allowing them to choose the most cost-efficient routes and packages for their customers. “Scoot-Tiger Airways has offered affordable airfares since Tigerair started in 2004 and Scoot in 2012. We have been adding more destinations constantly and entered into partnerships with airlines and alliances to ensure that we provide the best value for our customers,” said Trevor Spinks, Head of Sales …

New Zealand has witnessed a steady increase in arrivals from India with 53,424 travellers visiting there as of March 2017, a 14.9 per cent growth from same period last year. To further boost the Indian tourist numbers, Tourism New Zealand is tying up with two airlines to promote the island country in the India sub-continent. The partnership between Tourism New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand is valid from May 2017 to April 2018 and will seek to position Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines as the preferred carriers for travelling to the country and promotional fares will be offered to passengers. The strategic partnership aims to encourage more travellers from key cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram and Vishakhapatnam. “New Zealand is the ultimate destination for many Indian travellers and special promotional fares provide a great opportunity to turn their dream holiday into reality,” said Tourism New Zealand regional manager, South and South East Asia, Steven Dixon. Elaborating on the initiative, David Lim, General Manager, India, said, “We offer 98 weekly connections from 11 cities in India to Singapore and together with our partner – Air New Zealand, we provide over 25 weekly, onward connections to three cities (Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington) in New Zealand.” Scott Carr, Regional General Manager-Asia, Air New Zealand, said, “India is one of our fastest-growing emerging markets and we’re excited about the potential of this campaign to reach more Indian travellers. Through our alliance and code share services with Singapore Airlines, we connect passengers from 11 Indian cities to Singapore, where they can access three non-stop flights a day to New Zealand.”

After the recent transfer of several IAS officers in Maharashtra, Nitin Gadre (IAS 1989 batch) who was Enquiry Officer at General Administration Department, has now been posted as Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, according to a report. Valsa Nair Singh, (IAS 1991 batch), Principal Secretary Tourism and Culture, has been appointed the Principal Secretary, Enquiry Officer, GAD, Civil Aviation and Excise.

Etihad Airways has launched a fourth daily non-stop service between Kozhikode in Kerala and its Abu Dhabi hub offering convenient onward connections to cities worldwide. The airline is celebrating 10 years of flying to the southern Indian state with the introduction of additional flights to the destination. The extra capacity takes to 63 the total number of weekly services between Abu Dhabi and its three Kerala gateways of Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. This represents over 30 per cent of Etihad Airways’ frequencies from across 11 Indian cities it serves. In addition, strategic Indian partner Jet Airways operates seven flights a week from Kochi to Abu Dhabi. The services largely cater to the huge expatriate population from all three Kerala cities and the surrounding areas, living and working in the Gulf region. Neerja Bhatia, Etihad Airways Vice President Indian Subcontinent, said: “With our multi-frequency scheduled flights to and from Kerala, Etihad Airways has demonstrated a commitment to this vibrant state by offering convenient global access and boosting the domestic tourism industry. We have been able to bring the world closer to this beautiful state and connect the people of Kerala to destinations in the Gulf, including our Abu Dhabi home, which has also been the base for thriving ventures by Kerala business houses. Reaching a 10-year milestone is fitting tribute to the support Etihad Airways has received from the state government of Kerala in making our operations a success.” Dr Venu Vasudevan, Principal Secretary Kerala Tourism, said: “Kerala Tourism is delighted to learn of the extra flights launched by Etihad Airways, which adds more connectivity to Kerala. We congratulate Etihad Airways on a decade of flying to Kerala and look forward to conducting …