Garuda Indonesia recently hosted an Open House for the travel trade in Mumbai in association with Visit Indonesia Tourism Office. The airline has appointed Bird Travels as its GSA that has eight offices across India. The purpose of the event was to create awareness about the airline’s new office in Mumbai and informing the trade about the various opportunities available to promote Indonesia as a destination. Garuda Indonesia recently inaugurated its office in Mumbai. Product presentation was given to the travel fraternity to update them more on Garuda Indonesia Services and to promote Indonesian destinations beyond Bali. To enable passengers to take advantage of the summer holiday season, Garuda Indonesia is running a special return promotional fare valid for travel until April 26, 2017. Mumbai to Jakarta and Denpasar (Bali) all-inclusive Economy class return fares starts from Rs. 22,000 and Business class from Rs. 58,000. (T&C apply) The fares are available for purchase from the Garuda Indonesia, Mumbai sales office and the appointed travel agents. Garuda Indonesia’s Jakarta-bound service operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and is operated by Garuda’s state-of-the-art 162-seater, Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

After recent incidents of unruly behaviour with its employees on board, Air India might put in place new rules, which might have steep fines up to Rs. 15 lakhs. The airline, reportedly is planning to impose a fine of Rs 5 lakh for delaying a flight up to an hour; Rs 10 lakh for delay of 1-2 hours and as much as Rs 15 lakh for delay over two hours. According to official, a plan to curb such behaviour has been drafted and awaiting approval from Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India.

Jet Airways’ passengers can now buy tickets online using the industry’s latest payment mechanism – Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The new system allows funds to be transferred instantaneously between any two bank accounts, using a smartphone. UPI becomes the airline’s 21st digital payment option and Jet becomes the only Indian airline to offer this payment solution. “We are continuously exploring ways to embed technology by way of smarter solutions to provide value to the connected traveller. Our latest payment interface – Unified Payments Interface (UPI), backed by leading banks – is yet another smart solution that is simple, convenient and secure,” said Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways. Guests booking via Jet’s website or mobile apps can now opt for the ‘UPI payment option’ during the booking process, in order to transact via a Virtual Payment Address linked to their bank account. This means that customers don’t need to enter their bank details online.

Tourist arrival figures from India into South West Germany has shown an increase of 29.9 per cent increase for the period January-February 2017 versus the same period last year. Revealing this is Hector Dsouza, Director-India, South West German Tourism, says, “As compared to 2,784 Indian visitors for the period of January-February 2016, the state of Baden Wuerttemberg received 3,645 visitors from India in January-February 2017, representing a 29.9 per cent increase for the year 2017. This percentage increase is the highest as compared to tourists from other countries visiting South West Germany. India is now the fastest growing country in percentage terms, symbolising the tremendous potential India, as an outbound market holds for South West Germany.” Indian visitors continue to hold the record of the highest number of overnights per visit which is 5.2 days, as compared to the average of 2.3 days per visit in Europe. India now ranks 15th in terms of total overnight visits. The most favored destination for Indian visitors is the Stuttgart region, Black Forest and Heidelberg.

The Ministry of Indian Railways has prepared a first-of-its-kind draft policy to promote tourism and has asked tour operators, citizens for their suggestions and feedback on the same till April 24. According to this draft, tourism will be one of the frontline activities with the railways and the scope will be increased by focusing on domestic and international tourists and by making value-addition to tourism products, especially designed for this segment. Products like luxury tourist trains, semi-luxury tourist trains, Buddhist Special train, Bharat Darshan trains, Astha Circuit trains, state tirth trains, flexi-package tourist trains, ordinary tourist trains, ordinary tourist coachs, dedicated tourist coaches, hill tourist trains, steam tourist trains, value-added tour package, and foreign tourist quota will be positioned for each segment of travel. The draft states that booking of specialized tourism products will be done online through the websites of IRCTC or State Tourism Corporations and the charging principle of tourist trains will be decided separately on case-to-case basis. IRCTC is expected to be positioned as a onestop shop for all the requirements of both domestic and international tourists. Source: Indian Express

The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) witnessed the fly-in of the Airbus A350-900 XWB by Lufthansa German Airline, making it the only airport in India to handle daily operations of two Airbus A350-900 XWB, the world’s most advanced premium passenger aircraft. The newest addition to the Lufthansa fleet will embark on daily 8-hour flights to Munich, which is also one of the airline’s hub location. With a maximum seating capacity of 293 passengers, the cabin has 48 passengers in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy Class and 224 in Economy Class. The luxury aircraft ensures a spacious atmosphere with its wide seating and high ceilings, and provides a quiet, well-lit cabin, with a relaxing environment and the best of in-flight amenities, in all classes. The aircraft is fitted with state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment with a Wi-Fi adaptive cabin that offers passengers access to movies on demand and mobile phone connectivity, letting them keep themselves updated with work, news or even browse social media and play games online. The Airbus A350-900 XWB marks a generational shift in long haul aircrafts, emphasizing passenger comfort and environment-friendly operations as much as flight range and load capacity. With increasing number of passenger travelling to international destinations, CSIA, Mumbai, one of the busiest airports in the world with single runway system, has through the development of its state-of-the-art infrastructure, actively encouraged airlines to operate on new foreign routes with wide bodied aircrafts so as to meet the rising passenger demand, despite constraints. With over 46 international airlines operating to/from Mumbai, handling more than 12.4 million international passengers in a year, the airport is a key gateway into India, connecting it to key European and other global …

In a bid to boost tourism, Maharashtra Tourism has signed an MoU with Ola. Under this MoU, the state tourism and Ola will set up a mutual system of cooperation based on the respective expertise, to reinvent the ‘Mumbai Darshan’ package with its own offers pertaining to Ola Rentals. These packages offer 10 hour rides or for 100 kms subject to the conditions provided on the Ola App in four categories namely Mini, Prime Play, Prime Sedan, and Prime SUV. The Mumbai Darshan package will cover 10 must visit destinations of the city. Those identified are Gateway of India, Haji Ali, Juhu Beach, Bandra-Worli sea link, Hanging Gardens. Marine Drive, Shahrukh Khan’s bungalow ‘Mannat’. The locations can be modified basis the requirement of the customers. The first batch of exclusively co-branded Mumbai Darshan and Maharashtra Tourism cars were flagged-off by Jayakumar Rawal, Tourism Minister,  Government of Maharashtra, along with Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary-Tourism, and Pranay Jivrajka, Founding Partner at Ola, in Mumbai on April 12, 2017. The state tourism department in association with Ola will train drivers in imparting information related to Mumbai Darshan, Bollywood trivia, details of heritage legacy and hidden gems. Pick up points across the city have been provided by Ola who are the official partners for the ‘Visit Maharashtra’ Campaign. Rawal said,  “Keeping in mind the global trends and the boom in the digital market scenario, we are glad to partner with Ola. Transportation is one of the most important areas where technology can make a big difference. Ola is a pioneer in public transport space and we are confident that this tie up will benefit the entire transportation ecosystem in the state. This not only lets …

Celebrity Cruises is eyeing the Indian cruise market for its newly introduced ship-Celebrity Edge, which will begin sailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Eastern and Western Caribbean region in December 2018. Represented by TIRUN Travel Marketing in India, the cruise line has opened its early bird bookings and is luring the ultra luxury market in India. Talking about the expectations from the India market, Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing, says, “We are not looking for the masses. It is those customers who see value in our offering and are looking for an experience that only we can offer them. The industry and in general and our distribution partners in particular are required to break the myths surrounding cruising in India. It is only then will people see the value in this segment, which is definitely not a niche product.” The new ship has introduced a new concept of Infinite Staterooms that take the entire room right to the vast sea’s edge, informs, Apple Woo, Head- Sales and Marketing, Celebrity Cruises. The ship offers 1467 staterooms with double occupancy capacity of 2918 out of which 918 are Edge Staterooms with Infinitive verandas. The ship also has 176 suites, an increase to 12 percent from Celebrity’s other ships, adds Woo.

The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), in collaboration with Visa International (Thailand) Company Limited, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thai Airways, Thai Smile Airways Company Limited, and Department of International Trade Promotion, Ministry of Commerce, has launched the Spice Up Thailand 2017 campaign for the fourth consecutive year. The campaign offers special privileges for MICE travelers, such as 10 per cent hotel discounts, 50 per cent discounts for car rentals and airport transfers, Bt500 cash coupons for shopping, 25 per cent restaurant discounts, and 50 per cent off golf course green fees. In addition, other hotel, shopping, dining, wellness, activity and transportation promotions have been made available.  In 2017, the Spice Up Thailand Campaign is working in alliance with registered organizations with more than 60 exhibitions in total. Nopparat Maythaveekulchai, President,  TCEB, said,  “Promoting MICE-related business through adopting an online marketing strategy has been a significant tool applied by TCEB, aimed to boost the domestic and international market of MICE travelers. Consistent with the government’s Digital Economy policy, this will drive the growth of Thailand’s MICE industry, while also supporting the overall economic growth of the country.” TCEB has developed the Spice Up Thailand campaign together with five partners in order to promote and create awareness of the MICE industry overseas, as well as delivering a first-class experience to MICE travelers; in turn,  help to increase spending and encourage MICE travelers to extend their stay in Thailand. The campaign has been carried out for the previous three years and is continuously developing in terms of adding new privileges for domestic MICE travelers, and targeting the MICE industry in Asia, specifically CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) countries. In the previous year, …

AVIAREPS  has been appointed as the sales and marketing representative for  Budget Car Rental in India. Under the agreement, AVIAREPS will run a self-drive information centre which will enable consumers to book budget for self-drive reservations outside of India. Speaking on the occasion, Sandra Hutchinson, International Commercial Manager, Avis Budget Group EMEA said, “We are thrilled to be working with AVIAREPS on the launch of Budget Car Rental.  It is an exciting time for Indian travellers and adding a Budget Car to European and worldwide travel itineraries will provide the flexibility and enjoyment for a trip to remember.  With competitive leisure rates and more than 3,500 locations around the world, Budget is great value and an excellent choice for the international traveller.” The company will work closely with the Indian travel trade to tap the fast-growing outbound self-drive segment, informed,  Puneet Singh Pesricha, Sales Manager, AVIAREPS India. Commenting on the partnership, Joseph Fernandes, General Manager, AVIAREPS India, explained, “We are elated to be appointed by Budget Car Rental as their representative in India. They have a global presence and are well-known for rendering value for money. In addition, self-drive vacations have seen an upward swing in the recent years thanks to the growing inclination of Indian travellers who want to experience the freedom of renting a car when travelling overseas.”