Amadeus has partnered with Wingify to offer Online Travel Agents (OTAs) customers access to Visual Website Optimiser (VWO), the company’s A/B testing and conversion optimisation platform. The platform helps customers analyse how consumers interact with their website and make data-driven decisions. This will help improve conversion rates at every touch point within their travel website and ultimately optimise the look-to-book ratio, a crucial part in securing more bookings through their site. Today, online travel is bigger than ever, with 148.3 million travel bookings made over the Internet each year.  India-based Wingify is one of the world’s top three software providers that specialise in A/B testing and conversion optimisation. A/B testing is a process that compares two versions of a webpage to determine which one performs better for a defined conversion goal. VWO, Wingify’s A/B testing and conversion optimisation platform, has been used in various use cases, delivering strong results to organisations across diverse industries including Virgin Holidays, KPMG, Samsung and Toyota. Sparsh Gupta, CTO of VWO, said, “Website testing and optimisation can be a significant differentiator for companies in highly competitive markets, such as the travel industry in Asia Pacific. An A/B testing and optimisation programme helps OTAs get a better understanding of how consumers engage with their websites, so businesses can pinpoint where customers are dropping off along the online purchasing journey. By using the insights and proven statistical results to address the leaks and improve their websites, businesses can see returns in the form of higher conversion rates and increased revenue.” Sebastien Gibergues, Global Head of Online Travel at Amadeus, said, “We are committed to adding greater business value for our OTA customers, by equipping them with the …

The 11th edition of GITB will be held from April 22-24, 2018, at Jaipur, announced Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, Tourism Committee, FICCI. “GITB has become the biggest show for inbound tourism in India and the most exclusive one that promotes all segments of tourism in the country. It has grown over the last 10 years from 260 buyers to 275 buyers, from 3000 to 10,800 meetings over the last few years. It has played a vital role in the influx of foreign tourists to India and Rajasthan. Since it is held in Jaipur, it gives maximum exposure to the state of Rajasthan. We hope that the foreign buyers attending the show become our ambassadors and bring more and more tourists to the country.”

The Great Indian Travel Bazaar opened with 275 foreign buyers and 288 exhibitors at The Lalit Jaipur on April 23. The inbound show committed to boost tourism in India and in Rajasthan was inaugurated by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, and Krishnendra Kaur, Tourism, Art and Culture Minister, Government of Rajasthan, Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, Tourism Committee FICCI, Nihal Chand Goel, Additional Chief Secretary (Tourism, Art & Culture), Bhim Singh, President, Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan, and Rahul Chakravarty, Senior Director and Head-Tourism, FICCI. Addressing the show, Billa said, India is truly on a growth path. We have grown at a rapid pace of 11 per cent in 2016 and since January to date we have grown at a staggering rate of 16 per cent, there is nothing in the market to suggest that it will slow down. Domestic tourism forms a key part of Indian tourism. Last year we had 1.7 billion domestic travellers and we are growing at 8-9 per cent Y-o-Y. Admittedly we are growing on a narrow base but the potential of tourism in India is immense. All of you here are at the right place to lay the seeds for what will become a great engagement for a market that has huge potential. He also informed that accordingly to the World Economic Forum report, India improved its tourism competitiveness by 25 places over three years and tourism is the government’s main agenda.

Israel has witnessed a positive growth of 49 per cent in Indian arrivals from January to March 2017 vis-à-vis the same period in 2015. More than 8,300 Indians have already visited Israel in the first three months of 2017 as per statistics released by Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT). Speaking about this growth, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India office, said, “India is one of the world’s fastest-growing outbound tourism markets and an important emerging market for us. Keeping this in mind, we have increased our investments heavily in India. We are certain that our continued efforts in targeting the Indian holiday planners through our specially designed advertising campaign for India, ‘Begin your journey to Israel now’ will yield even better results by the year end.” The statistics also revealed almost 93 per cent growth in Indian arrivals to Israel merely in the month of March 2017 as compared to the same time in 2015. Madah adds, “We have seen a steady growth in tourist arrivals from India over the years and are confident that this trend will continue. Currently, El Al flies nonstop between India and Israel while Air India has also announced that they will begin operations on the New Delhi-Tel Aviv route in 2017. Increased air connectivity will surely act as an added impetus for more Indians to visit Israel for a holiday.”

Over 2,600 exhibitors and an expected 30,000 visitors will participate at the 24th Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017, the largest travel trade event in the Middle East taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 24-27. Over 150 countries are participating, with more than 100 new exhibitors set to make their ATM debut. New to ATM 2017, ILTM Arabia will play host to one-on-one, pre-scheduled appointments, between suppliers of luxury products and destinations from around the world to an audience of high net-worth individuals. Meanwhile marketing to experiential travellers will be an integral part of the ATM Travel Tech seminar programme. The UNWTO & ATM Ministerial Forum returns, uniting more than 20 ministers with industry leaders in the MENA region to consider methods of capitalising on tourism growth and building a sustainable ecosystem for the sector to unlock its potential within each country’s national agenda.

Passengers carried by Indian domestic airlines during Jan-March 2017 were 272.79 lakhs as against 230.03 lakhs during the corresponding period of 2016 thereby registering a growth of 18.59 per cent, informs the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). SpiceJet recorded the highest passenger load factor (PLF) during March 2017 at 91.4 per cent followed by GoAir at 84.8 per cent and IndiGo at 81.6 per cent. According to the data released by DGCA, domestic air passenger traffic passenger load factor in the month of Mar 2017 has declined slightly when compared to previous month, due to lean period. IndiGo recorded the highest punctuality rate at 88 per cent at four major airports of Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai followed by SpiceJet (85.7), Vistara (85.1), Go Air (81.8), Jet Airways+JetLite (80.7) and Air India (79.7).

With a fleet of about 50 aircraft globally, Oman Air is growing by 21-22 per cent Year-on-Year. “In India we have just increased our capacity by 6000 seats which includes for metropolis and Calicut in Kerala. And in Goa, the moment we see we are ready, the connectivity will be tweaked. We have a split schedule in Goa as some flights leave at night while others leave early morning,” says Ihab A Sorial, Global Senior Vice President, International Sales, Oman Air. Very soon, in about a month’s time, Oman Air will be opening up in Manchester too. Only last month they made their presence felt at Nairobi in Kenya. Sorial was in Goa to attend a conference which Oman Air conducts every quarter for India. This conference is to discuss the business strategy and how to maximise the revenue, sales and stress on the focus points. “India is very big for Oman Air and it is the third biggest point of sale in terms of revenue,” added Sorial. On a question why they not fly for USA and Australia, Mr Sorial felt that the strategy is to focus on what they have. “We do not want to stretch ourselves thinly on all the points. The Board and the senior management is of the view that to consolidate first on what we have. Then after that may be will look at other sectors. Our business is very competitive and margin of profit is very limited. We have to do careful expenditure,” said Sorial.

Jet Airways has announced the launch of two new flights directly connecting Chennai with Paris and Bengaluru with Amsterdam. The launch of these new routes will enable guests to travel to destinations in Europe and North America with its codeshare partners Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Jet Airways will operate a daily service between Bengaluru-Amsterdam, while the flight between Chennai-Paris will be operated five days a week. These new flights will complement the airline’s existing direct operations from Delhi & Mumbai to Amsterdam and onwards to Toronto as well as direct flights from Mumbai to Paris. Flights are available for sale from 20th April 2017. Commencing October 29, 2017, Jet Airways 9W 236 will depart from Bengaluru at 02:25 hrs (LT) and arrive at Amsterdam at 08:35 hrs (LT). On the return leg, Jet Airways 9W 235 will depart from Amsterdam at 10:50 hrs (LT) and arrive at Bengaluru at 00:40 hrs (LT). These flights will be operated in conjunction with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines, with each airline placing their respective codes on the service. On the same day, Jet Airways 9W 128 will depart from Chennai at 01:45 hrs (LT) and will arrive into Paris at 08:10 hrs (LT). Departing from Paris at 10:10 hrs (LT), Jet Airways 9W 127 will return to Chennai at 00:15 hrs (LT). Both Air France and Delta Air Lines will be codeshare partners on these flights. Gaurang Shetty, Whole time Director, Jet Airways, said, “Providing guests with a greater choice of travel destinations and connectivity options is an important differentiating factor which sets us apart from our competition. Demand for enhanced connectivity to global …

The number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in March, 2017 were 9.05 lakh as compared to FTAs of 8.17 lakh in March, 2016 and 7.29 lakh in March, 2015. The growth rate in FTAs in March, 2017 over March, 2016 is 10.7% compared to 12.1% in March, 2016 over March, 2015. During March, 2017 total of 1.46 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 1.16 lakh during the month of March 2016 registering a growth of 25.8%. During January-March 2017, a total of 4.67 lakh tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 3.21 lakh during January-March 2016, registering a growth of 45.6%. The percentage shares of top 15 source countries availing e- Tourist Visa facilities during  March, 2017 were as follows: UK (21.5%), USA (11.8%), Russian Fed (10.3%), France (6.4%), China (6.2%), Germany (4.8%), Canada (3.7%), Australia (3.7%), Korea (Rep.of) (2.2%), South Africa (1.9%), Malaysia (1.7%), Singapore (1.7%), Spain (1.6%), Netherlands (1.5%) and Japan (1.3%). The percentage shares of top 15 ports in tourist arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during March, 2017 were as follows: New Delhi Airport (46.5%), Mumbai Airport (17.1%), Dabolim (Goa) Airport (13.8%), Chennai Airport (5.5%), Bengaluru Airport (4.8%), Kochi Airport (2.9%), Kolkata Airport (2.3%), Amritsar Airport (1.8%),Hyderabad Airport (1.7%), Trivandrum Airport (1.2%), Ahmadabad Airport (1.0%), Tirchy Airport (0.6%), Jaipur Airport (0.6%),Gaya Airport (0.1%)and Luck now Airport(0.1%) . FTAs during the period January-March 2017 were 28.45 lakh with a growth of 13.4%, as compared to the FTAs of 25.08 lakh with a growth of 10.0% in January- March 2015 over January- March 2014. The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during March 2017 among the top 15 source countries was highest from …

Lions Clubs International (LCI) announced its first LCIcon in India that will be the biggest international conference to be held in the country from July 1-5, 2022, in New Delhi.  The conference is expected to host nearly 35,000 delegates from more than 120 countries over five days. This was announced by Dr. Naresh Aggarwal, First Vice President, Lions Clubs International, who will take charge as the 101st Worldwide President for the Clubs on July 4, 2017. Mahesh Sharma, Tourism Minister, Government of India presided over the event as Chief Guest and said, “It is a matter of great pride for us that India will be showcased on the international tourism map through this conference. The Lions Clubs International’s philanthropic activities are a sign of giving back to the society and we are very privileged to be the host of the biggest international conference.” The 105th conference of LCI is planned to coincide with the celebrations of 75 years of Indian independence in 2022. “Indira Gandhi Stadium, Pragati Maidan (ITPO) and almost 10,000 hotel rooms are already booked well in advance in all 5-star hotels in New Delhi. Tourism worth $50 million is expected during the five days of the conference and also from its pre and post visitation,” said Aggarwal. He further informed that this is an achievement which has come through with the support of the government and association bodies like ICPB and only after a rigorous bidding process where India competed with international destinations like Mexico, San Francisco, Brazil etc.