The board of Cox & Kings Ltd. has approved the demerger of its foreign exchange division into a separate financial services company to be named Cox & Kings Financial Service Ltd. (CKFSL). The demerger is effective April 1, 2017, and is subject to High Court and other regulatory approvals. Whilst the Tours & Travels and Foreign Exchange (‘Forex’) businesses are complementary in nature, the businesses operate quite distinctly from each other. The Forex business has 125 licenses across India to provide foreign exchange to captive customers as well as to third-party customers. Peter Kerkar, Chief Executive Officer, Cox & Kings Group, said, “Strong macro drivers coupled with a strategic brand presence will enable CKFSL to flourish. There are abundant, large-sized avenues for natural product diversification and the timing of this demerger is most opportune.” The working capital needs of the Forex Business are quite different from those of the Tours & Travels business. With a view to enable the Forex business to capitalize on growth opportunities in an independent manner it has been decided to demerge the business into a separate company. The demerged entity has the potential to grow substantially as a standalone business with separate financing and operations and focused leadership and management attention. The opportunities as well as risks and competitive environment within the Forex Business are distinct and the said business is capable of attracting its own set of investors and strategic partners, lenders and other stakeholders. It is proposed that the Forex Business of the Company be demerged and transferred to the Resulting Company, a wholly owned subsidiary company of the Company, so as to maximize value for all the stakeholders of the Company. In …

Flag carrier Air India has announced direct flights between New Delhi and Copenhagen thereby adding its 11th destination in Europe. Starting from September 16, these flights will operate thrice a week. “We aim to serve 37,500 passengers each way for the entire year. If we touch that figure then we will make it a daily service,” Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, reportedly said at an event. This is the third international flight launched by the national carrier this year, besides services to Washington from July 7 and to Stockholm from August 16, Lohani added. In his Facebook post last month, the CMD had also announced plans to connect Los Angeles from September 1 as well as Tel Aviv, Nairobi and Dallas this year. In 2016, traffic between the two countries grew by 10.1 per cent, according to a statement issued by the Embassy of Denmark. The number of visas to Denmark issued in India increased by 20 per cent compared to the year before, the statement added. Copenhagen airport is the third busiest airport in northern Europe and averaged 726 daily departures and arrivals in 2016 and served a total of 29 million passengers. (Source: PTI)

Following the commencement of first flight between Delhi and Shimla under regional connectivity scheme, Air India’s wholly owned subsidiary Alliance Air will begin its second flight service under Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme on Delhi-Gwalior-Indore-Mumbai route starting May 31, 2017. The newly launched flight service will be operated by the 70-seater ATR 72-600 all economy class aircraft. Delhi-Gwalior, Mumbai-Indore and Indore-Mumbai routes will not fall under regional connectivity scheme while benefits of the scheme will apply on other routes that is Gwalior-Delhi with fare of Rs. 1830, Gwalior-Indore with fare of Rs. 2500 and Indore-Gwalior with fare of Rs. 2500. Operating three days a week on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, flight 9I 628 will depart from Delhi at 0950hrs and reach Gwalior at 1050hrs. The onward flight from Gwalior will depart at 1120hrs to reach Indore at 1235hrs and then leave Indore at 1305hrs to land at Mumbai at 1450hrs. Flight 9I 627 on Mumbai-Indore-Gwalior-Delhi route will leave Mumbai at 1030hrs and reach Indore at 1215hrs. The flight will then leave Indore at 1250hrs to reach Gwalior at 1400hrs and furthermore, the flight from Gwalior will leave at 1430hrs and land at Delhi airport at 1530hrs.

InterContinental Hotels Group has announced the launch of National Sales Office (NSO) in South West Asia (SWA) offering a central point of contact for IHG’s growing number of hotels in the region. The NSO is headquartered in Gurgaon and has team members located in key cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. The NSO team consisting of 28 associates will support hotel-based sales teams in SWA and corporate sales teams around the world, in growing business, loyalty and customer satisfaction in the market. IHG has doubled its scale in the SWA region (India, Nepal, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh) in the last four years, to 30 hotels across 14 cities, and is set to double the number of properties in three to five years as it opens 39 hotels in its development pipeline – increasing presence to 23 cities*. The NSO will represent 30 IHG hotels across SWA including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express to cater to the corporate demand for transient travel and MICE, as well as demand from international government bodies and institutions. Speaking on the launch Shantha de Silva, Head of South West Asia, IHG, said “Following a successful pilot with positive feedback from owners and key account representatives, we have opened the NSO to provide clients with a central point of contact through which to book IHG hotels and raise brand awareness in this fast-growing market.”

Flight Shop, a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of FCTG, Australia, has announced a joint-partnership with Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) to offer combined holiday packages to the discerning Indian traveller. As both tourism boards come together for the first time, the collaboration intends to strengthen mutual relationships and expand their presence in the Indian market. Commenting on the collaboration, Shravan Gupta, Executive Director – Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions India, said, “We are extremely delighted to have collaborated with Japan and Korea Tourism boards in India. As a first-of-its-kind, the partnership aligns with our commitment to offer unbeatable escapades to our customers. The popularity of these destinations amongst Indian travellers has driven us to create the finest itineraries with exciting opportunities and unforgettable lifetime experiences. As key long haul destinations, Japan and South Korea have witnessed a robust growth of 30% in Indian outbound travelers; the joint collaboration aims to double this growth over the next few years. As both destinations bet high on India, we will focus primarily on key and emerging metros.” Byungsun Lee, Director, Korea Tourism Organization, said, “We are elated to collaborate with Flight Shop and Japan Tourism Board to promote Far-East in India as we strongly believe that the Korea-Japan combination holiday is a star-offering for Indian market this summer season. Carriers in India (Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airways, All Nippon Airways) offer excellent connectivity to both the counties with bare minimum connecting times. Together, South Korea and Japan combined will offer an unmatched experience to Indian travellers, especially to families with theme parks, shopping, etc. as the focus themes.” Kenichi Takano, Executive Director, Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) said, “Japan is a destination for …

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has started conducting educational workshops on GST for its members across all chapters along with its consultant and Service Tax expert, Manish Gadia, Partner, GMJ & Co. Jay Bhatia, National Treasurer and Chairman (Tourism Council), TAAI, says, “We did a session on GST in Ahmedabad on Saturday, May 27 and are doing another one in Mumbai on June 1. We have planned this pan-India for our chapters and the dates and cities will be announced soon.” The association will conduct another one in Lucknow on June 8. Gadia, who recently conducted a session on the same topic for Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) members in Mumbai says, “The main doubt of the IATO members was whether they have to go for five per cent or 18 per cent, whether they have both options, what will be the place of supply, and how can they get the maximum benefit from GST. Any change will always have some pros and cons. Introduction of GST is one the biggest economic reforms for India. So the tour operators will have to change the way they are doing business today.”  

The seventh edition of South African Tourism’s annual training program titled ‘Learn SA’ will start from July 2017. The program equips travel agents with the best tools and tips to sell South Africa in the Indian market. Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism-India, says, “South African Tourism promises that the 2017 version of ‘Learn SA’ will have new, exciting and useful sessions that will ensure a profitable South Africa business and repeat customers for travel agents who attend the training. Also on offer for the first time ever, attending travel agents displaying high interest levels and strong potential, stand the chance of being invited to participate in marketing activities supported by South African Tourism.” Registration for this is free and travel agents are encouraged to sign up multiple participants. ‘Learn SA’ will cover 17 cities to ensure that travel agents all over the country are given the opportunity to learn and thereby sell the destination. It starts from July 6 in Mumbai and continues to other metro cities and tier II cities across India.  

Andaman and Nicobar Islands is planning to boost tourism in the territory besides showcasing the heritage and culture of the destination. Under the aegis of Swadesh Darshan and other schemes of the government, the tourism department has reportedly identified Cellular Jail along with prominent beaches in different parts of these islands for development of tourism. Amit Anand, Director – Tourism, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, reportedly said that execution of all schemes in the tourism sector is being closely monitored. “The administration is committed to holistic development of these islands and to showcase Andaman prominently in the world tourism atlas. Various schemes for development of tourism launched by the government are being implemented here in the right earnest and the sector is poised to witness rapid growth in the days to come,” he added. The administration has plans in the pipeline to improve facilities and safety measures at beaches like Ross and Smith, Baludera, Ramnagar, Lalaji Bay, Lakshmanpur, Bharatpur, Elephant, Kalapathar, etc. Under schemes for the Union Territories, the administration has formulated plans to introduce ropeway from Port Blair to Ross Island, tented accommodation facilities at Neil, Long Island and Baratang, introduce submersible scooters for adventure water sports, canopy walk at Chidiyatapu besides launching promotional campaigns in a big way. Wayside amenities along the Andaman Trunk Road at Baratang, Scuba Diving Centre are set to be available soon in the Middle Andaman region. Source: The Echo of India

In an attempt to boost tourism in the valley, the tourism department of Jammu and Kashmir has announced to offer rebates on lodging and transport charges. “Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) will provide 50 per cent rebate on lodging and transport charges or even on total packages in some cases to the tourists visiting the Valley,” said Ghulam Jeelani Zagar, Deputy Director of  Kashmir Tourism. He further informed that private tourism players were also offering 32 per cent concessions in boarding and lodging or on total packages to the tourists. Zagar also informed that West Bengal topped the list in domestic tourist inflow in the valley. The total tourist inflow in the valley during 2016-17 was nearly 17 lakh though the state is hoping that this number would be more this year following massive campaigns to boost the sector. ““Foreign tourists, however, was only about 35,000 during the year 2016-17, of which majority were from South Asia,” said Zagar. The state government is emphasizing on carrying out a mass publicity campaign to attract more tourists from other states and abroad to the valley

Following the recent announcement of the 28 per cent GST rates for hotels in the luxury category and those that charge a tariff of more Rs. 5000, to be applicable from July 1, the hospitality industry in South India is protesting the move. K. Syama Raju, President, SIHRA, says, “The recent developments and policies belie the importance of our industry and fail to recognise that this Industry is one of the largest employment generators and net foreign exchange earners with an expected exponential growth. It is imperative that we impress the government of our displeasure on these recent developments that are adversely affecting our industry. We commend the authorities for recognising the value of tourism by lower GST rates for one value chain of tourism i.e. travel, tours and transportation but are extremely disappointed that for the other part i.e. hotels & restaurants a regressive GST taxation regime has been applied. Hotel & restaurant businesses are striving to create higher standards and get higher ratings but the more punitive is the GST regime. Economic & visionary development of the industry cannot simultaneously be branded by exclusivity. The main objectives of GST is to minimise the cascading effect of taxation, harmonise the tax base, laws and administrative procedures across the country, creating a common playing field to promote healthy competition amongst the states that will ensure certain standards across the industry and most importantly minimizing tax slabs to avoid classification issues. The industry is coming together to protest on May 30, 2017, to register dissent against the adverse impact of the proposed GST rates in southern states.”