The Fern Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of The Fern Silvanus Resort, Alibaug, offering 34 cottages. The cottage rates start from an average Rs. 3000 plus taxes. The Resort is located in the coastal town at a distance of 9 km from the Nagaon Beach while the Kolaba Fort is 40 mins away. Other tourist attraction includes Akshi Beach, Varsoli Beach and Kihim Beach which are in close proximity to the resort. All cottages are spacious and offer a view of the surrounding hills and are equipped with all modern amenities required for a comfortable stay. On-site amenities at the resort includes all day dining at multi-cuisine restaurant ‘Vista’ , Swimming Pool and Games Room where leisure and relaxation becomes top priority which makes it an ideal place for a relaxed holiday or a corporate getaway. The unit is owned by Silvanus Resort and managed by Concept Hospitality, part of CG Hotels and Resorts.

H.E. Archil Dzuliashvili, Ambassador of Georgia to India, has informed that the Government of Georgia has signed an air service agreement with the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation to connect six Indian cities with the country. “Soon, we will meet Indian airline companies to launch flight services between both the countries,” he said. The Ambassador also informed that India-Georgia economic relationship will expand manifold in the near future as both the countries are conducting feasibility study to sign free trade agreement (FTA). “Within six months, the report of the study would be ready and we would launch formal negotiation for the agreement. Georgia already has an FTA with the European Union and it has initiated discussion on FTAs with USA and Canada,” the Ambassador added. Indian companies can invest in Georgia and make it a gateway for their entry into European Union. Georgia is located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. It is establishing rail and road connectivity with Bulgaria, Romania and other neighbouring countries in the Black Sea.

Royal Orchid Hotels announced the launch of its third hotel in Mysore with Regenta Central Herald. The hotel is located on Nelson Mandela Road, Bannimantap in Mysore which is approximately just 4 kms from Mysore Railway Station. The hotel offers 70 rooms, fitness centre, mini bar and a multi cuisine restaurant. One can also enjoy MICE facilities with multi-functional banquet spaces which can accommodate up to 300 guests making it an ideal venue for social and corporate events. With this launch, the Royal Orchid chain of hotels stands proudly today with 43 hotels in 28 different cities in India and ready to add 5 more hotels in its portfolio for coming months. This is Royal Orchid’s third hotel in Mysore and adds to Royal Orchid Brindavan Garden & Royal Orchid Metropole in Mysore, Karnataka, which opened a decade ago. With the addition in Mysore, Royal Orchid hotels will have an attractive offering of the Mysore City attractions i.e. Mysore Palace, Brindavan Gardens, Chamundi Hills etc. Moreover, the Royal Orchid Hotels will be looking for more properties to manage untapped areas across India and other countries. The Royal Orchid Group of hotels is in a strategic alliance, with the owners of Regenta Central Herald for managing the operations of the hotel, which is also a part of an identified plan for their growth in India. On the occasion of the launch, Chander Baljee, Chairman & MD, Royal Orchid Hotels Limited stated, “As we embark on this expansion drive, we are very particular in identifying strategic, high value markets that present a unique fit for our time-tested services and ambitious growth plans. We are in a consolidation mode & are looking at …

FCM Travel Solutions, the Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group, Australia, can now undertake various permissible outward remittance activities for travellers across segments(leisure travel, business travel, medical treatment, education, emigration and employment).The upgrade comes into effect post receiving the Authorised Dealer Category II (AD-II) license, as granted by the Reserve Bank of India. In addition, FCM Travel Solutions will be able to release/ sell foreign currency in form of multi-currency prepaid travel cards, currency notes and Travellers Cheques for visas, emigration and emigration consultancy fees, employment and processing, assessment fees for overseas job applications, students who intend to study overseas or seek to apply for proficiency examinations, international film shootings and medical treatments abroad. Gagan Malhotra, National Head, Foreign Exchange at FCM Travel Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. said, “We are pleased to be a part of the few AD-II license holders in the travel fraternity. The elevation not just widens the scope of availability of foreign exchange through different channels but also makes the pre-trip process more convenient and hassle-free for our customers. It will also help us seek better currency rates.”

The 105th session of the UNWTO Executive Council, meeting in Madrid, Spain, on 12 May 2017, recommended Zurab Pololikashvili, Ambassador of Georgia in Spain, as a nominee for the post of Secretary-General for the four-year-period starting January 2018. The candidature of Zurab Pololikashvili was presented by his country, Georgia, in accordance with the UNWTO statutes. The recommendation of the UNWTO Executive Council will be submitted to the upcoming 22nd UNWTO General Assembly for ratification (September 11-16, 2017, Chengdu, China). Pololikashvili is the Permanent Representative of Georgia to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). He also has broad experience of working in both private and public sectors at high-profile positions. He has extensive diplomatic experience, having represented Georgia to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), as well as serving as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Spain. He also held a position of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2006.

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance will be adding four more frequencies to its current daily operations to/from New Delhi from July 15, 2017. A total of 11 flights a week will operate to and out of Delhi. The purpose of adding these flights is to provide passengers with added convenience and a wider choice in terms of travel between the two countries and seeking onward connectivity. The morning arrival time in Colombo for the new flight will also give convenient connections to destinations like Maldives, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok. Commenting on the occasion, SriLankan Airlines, Manager Northern & Eastern India, Chinthaka Weerasinghe, stated, “North India is a key market for us and with most of the industrialists and business families spread across Delhi & neighboring states. While we have always received a strong response from this market, Delhi serves as a key business hub for all multinational corporations. These additional flights will cater to growing business, corporate and leisure demand between Sri Lanka and Delhi.”

Continuing its strategic focus on India, SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld airline alliance, will be adding three southern Indian cities namely, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam, to its network from July 8, 2017. The introduction of these new routes, along with the scheduled frequency increases in its Delhi and Mumbai services, will see SriLankan operating over 120 flights a week to 14 cities, thus becoming the carrier that serves the highest number of points in India. Commenting on the developments, SriLankan Airlines Chief Commercial Officer, Siva Ramachandran, stated, “India has been a vital part of our strategic expansion where we will continue to explore potential to consolidate our presence. At a time the industry observes consistently developing travel movements around tier two cities as opposed to the traditional hubs, it is timely to offer these connectivity options to our valued passengers. The new routes also reinforces our commitment to strengthen the deep commercial and bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka.” The new routes will be serviced by Airbus 320/321 aircraft which will feature an array of bespoke services, world-class in-flight entertainment including a combination of practical timings and signature SriLankan Airlines’ hospitality services. These new routes are introduced with the aim of providing passengers with added convenience, seamless travel and easy onward connectivity from Colombo. Currently serving key Indian cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum, Cochin, Madurai, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya, SriLankan will be introducing four additional frequencies to its daily services from Delhi and Mumbai in July this year.

Air India Engineering Services Limited, a subsidiary of Air India today has completed a major maintenance ‘C-1’ check for the first time of Jet Airways A330 at its Mumbai facility. A330 was a part of Air India fleet till 2014, however to perform third party maintenance check Air India trained its staff and received necessary licenses to deliver major maintenance ‘C-1’ check for Jet Airways A330. The first Jet Airways A330 aircraft VT-JWR ‘C-1’ Check was inducted on 26th April, 2017 and was handed over to the airline in a short span on 11th May, 2017. The C-1 check for A330 is done every 2 years or ten thousand flight hours whichever is early. Earlier in May, 2016, Air India also completed major ‘C’ check on Jet Airways Boeing B777 aircraft at their Mumbai facility.

In the run-up to the release of the action adventure film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, VisitBritain has launched an international film tourism campaign to showcase why Britain is a legendary tourist destination. The ‘Where Stories Become Legends’ campaign inspires people to book a King Arthur-themed holiday to Britain using #OMGBLegends. “Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures on King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a fantastic opportunity to showcase to a global audience of millions the legendary experiences only available in Britain, inspiring people to book a trip right now to discover their own epic stories,” says Clare Mullin, Director of Marketing, VisitBritain. The campaign drives online ‘traffic’ to a VisitBritain King Arthur: Legend of the Sword site on visitbritain.com filled with information on British locations from the film and King Arthur-inspired holiday experiences available in 13 languages.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that starting August 2017, Air India will operate direct flights between Colombo and Varanasi. The announcement was made during the Prime Minister’s visit to Sri Lanka to attend the International Vesak Day. The new flight would encourage Buddhists from both the countries to visit the religious sites in the respective countries. Modi said that Buddhism and its various strands are deep seated in Indian culture, politics and philosophy and invited people from Sri Lanka to come visit the land of Kashi in Varanasi.