In an attempt to promote its home-stay scheme in the state, the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MakeMyTrip. Under this collaboration, MakeMyTrip would promote and help in implementing the state-run MPSTDC’s scheme which is meant for the owners of apartments, bungalows, cottages at the places of tourist interests. The homeowner, who can provide accommodation and food facility to domestic and international tourists, may register under this scheme. According to a state official, the programme has seen a good response so far. It was informed that so far, 82 people have registered themselves under the home-stay scheme with the highest number-26- being from Indore followed by Bhopal at 13. Among others, nine each have registered themselves in Ujjain and Pachmarhi, five in Amarkantak and four each in Jabalpur, Gwalior and Balaghat.

G6 Hospitality, known for its economy lodging brands, Motel 6, and Studio 6 in the U.S., Canada and Hotel 6, Estudio 6 in Latin America, announced its global portfolio expansion by signing an area development agreement with Auromatrix Holdings. This new partnership will introduce Motel 6, Studio 6 and Hotel 6 brands to India, marking G6 Hospitality’s first venture into the market. “Our mission is to build on the iconic heritage of our brands to become the universally recognised leader in economy lodging, and expanding our portfolio to such an important market like India marks a significant milestone for G6 Hospitality,” said Jim Amorosia, President and CEO of G6 Hospitality. “Motel 6, Studio 6 and Hotel 6 operations in India are designed to suit the specific needs of travellers in the area. Combined with the expertise of our partners at Auromatrix, we are uniquely positioned to successfully launch a compelling new lodging option to both leisure and business travellers,” he adds. The new properties will showcase elements of the “Phoenix” room design featured at Motel 6 and Studio 6 properties in the U.S. and Canada. Unique room features planned for the properties may include wood-effect flooring, platform beds and flat screen TVs, offering areas that are highly functional, space-efficient and with a modern décor that provides extra comfort for budget-conscious travelers. Motel 6, Studio 6 and Hotel 6 rooms will also offer unique amenities to respond to the needs of the diverse market.

Japan crossed the 100,000 mark in Indian arrivals in 2016 and witnessed a total of 123,000 Indian visitors, informed Masahiko Sakamoto, Senior Director, Tourism Division, Bureau of Industrial and Labour Affairs at Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s first promotional activity on January 30 in New Delhi called Tokyo Wonderland. He said, “We are focusing on improving the arrival numbers from India through such promotional activities to showcase the culture and tourism products of Tokyo. 2020 is the year we host the Paralympic Games and are expecting a large inflow of tourists too.” He informed that places like Ginza and Shibuya are undergoing an infrastructure transformation and are some of the things to look forward to, apart from the cuisine, shopping, numerous nature parks and theme parks. The event showcased the city and its different attractions under five themes ‘Unique Culture’, ‘Excellent Dining’, ‘Exciting Shopping’, ‘Delightful Stay’ and ‘Comfortable Nature’ and also organised a Japanese tea ceremony for the attendees to experience.

The Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines will be conducting training sessions in Ahmedabad and Delhi this February, in conjunction with the DOT’s participation in OTM 2017 in Mumbai. The training sessions will be conducted by top suppliers from the Philippines in Ahmedabad on February 24 at Hyatt Ahmedabad and on February 27 in Delhi at The Lalit New Delhi. The objective of the workshop is to educate, interact and establish commercial ties with Indian trade in these cities. Representatives from DOT Philippines along with a 14 -member delegation will interact with over 400 key travel agents and tour operators, MICE and up-market leisure operators. SanJeet, Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism, said, “India being an important source market for Philippines tourism, such training sessions ( our first of 2017) will provide an excellent platform to showcase the destination’s products and services. The Indian travellers’ palate has become experimental and therefore, through our numerous trade initiatives, we envisage the influencers of the Indian travel market to sell the destination more effectively to the end consumers.” The programme for the workshop will include presentations by officials of DOT Philippines, DMCs and hotels from the Philippines in addition to Q&A, detailed networking sessions, entertainment by Filipino artists and a special lucky draw for the participants.

Sarovar Hotels has recently signed an agreement for a new hotel, KST Sarovar Portico, a 48 keys hotel located in Chattarpur. Ideally located in the major wedding hub of the city, KST Sarovar Portico features 45 rooms and 3 suites. Each room is well-appointed with modern amenities and elegant furnishings. Ensuring guests a seamless service and memorable occasion, the hotel offers remarkable and personalised service starting from 24 hours concierge and personal assistant service to a round the clock in room dining service offering traditional Indian and Mediterranean cuisine. KST Sarovar Portico is ideally located at convenient distance to main shopping & entertainment centers, religious spots as well as accessible to corporate hubs in South Delhi and Gurgaon. Nido, the bar and lounge facility, takes guests on an incredible gastronomic journey with its innovative food offerings.

To boost tourism in the state, Chhattisgarh Tourism Board has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Thrillophilia to collaborate to promote tourism in Chhattisgarh. Under this collaboration, the idea is to digitalise the most unique travel experiences that the state and local tours and activity providers in the state have to offer and promote them across the world via digital channels. The focus areas would also be to impart education and training to all the registered tours and activity providers with Chhattisgarh Tourism Board, on best practices such as online listings, content management, operations, and handling bookings. Thrillophilia will provide them with personal web dashboards and mobile apps to manage their inventory and bookings. Thrillophilia will also lend expertise and strong assistance on the technology front in areas of online payments and bookings, web software application and content management. Commenting on the collaboration, Abhishek Daga, Co-founder, Thrillophilia says, “We are extremely delighted and take sheer pride in collaborating with Chhattisgarh Tourism Board. The state has so much to offer to all travel lovers yet a lot of it remains untouched and unexplored. We firmly believe that the synergy between Chhattisgarh Tourism Board and Thrillophilia would result in a massive boost in tourism in Chhattisgarh.”

The Government of India has liberalised its visa policy for Thai nationals. It has decided to grant five-year multiple entry Tourist Visa and five-year multiple entry Business visa to Thai nationals with immediate effect with continuous stay of 90 days during each visit. It has also started Express visa service where visa will be issued by next working day. Separate Immigration counters and facilitation desks will be provided for Medical Visa. This service will initially be available at international airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. India has also relaxed the minimum salary limit and fixed at Rs 9.10 lakhs per anum for Employment visa to those Thai nationals who will be engaged at teaching faculty in the IITs, Central Universities, NITs etc. Foreign teaching faculty employed at South Asian University and Nalanda University will be exempted from minimum salary limit for the purpose of employment visa. Indian Embassy will grant Intern Visa to Thai nationals to pursue internship in Indian companies, educational Institutions and NGOs up to a maximum of 50 interns per year. Indian Embassy will also encourage Thai nationals to shoot feature film in excellent Indian locations and they will be provided Film Visa.

The department of Tourism, North Bengal Development Department and Eastern Himalaya Travel & Tour Operators Association (EHTTOA), the largest body of tourism industry in North East, jointly organised the second edition of three-day long Bengal Travel Mart (BTM) in Siliguri under Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It is the first event in the state where at least 144 delegates from different states along with delegates from Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka participated. It also included more than 200 stakeholders (buyers and sellers) for BTB meet and practical visits of the tourism sports in the region. The main motto behind the BTM is to enhance West Bengal tourism. The participants in the mart stakeholders said that this would boom their tourism industry as a whole.

After launching its Rajasthan chapter, ADTOI is all set to launch its Punjab and Haryana chapter in the first week of March, revealed P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI. While more new chapters are on cards, Khanna revealed that the biggest concern for them right now is service tax and help its members sail through this crisis.

Oracle Hospitality along with Airpay Payment Services, recently conducted a closed-door workshop for CIOs and IT Heads of top hotels in Mumbai and New Delhi. About 25 in Mumbai and 37 in New Delhi attended the event. The first India Oracle Hospitality Customer Event had a compelling agenda and was designed to address questions on Oracle Hospitality and the solutions it offers for the hospitality industry. The half day event had three speakers discussing various topics such as technology trends in the hospitality industry in India and globally, and maximising guest services beyond the front desk. This was followed by an overview of its products – OPERA Cloud, Hotel Mobile and Simphony Cloud. Meanwhile Amit Kapoor, CEO & Co-Founder, Airpay, spoke about the payment services company’s association with Oracle Hospitality and how hotels can re-invent consumer engagement on their portals. The two speakers from Oracle Hospitality were Jay Sherman, Senior Manager, Sales Consulting, Hotel POS, Oracle Hospitality (Asia Pacific & Japan) and Travis Macauley, Solutions Manager – Hotels.