Nepal Airlines Corporation recently organised a get-together for agents in Mumbai. After successfully operating since September 2015, Deputy Director, Marketing and Sales, Archana Khadka had flown down from Nepal especially for the event  to express her gratitude for their sincere efforts in promoting their product. She has assured her full cooperation and support for all the future endeavours. The meeting involved several exchange of suggestion and resolution of queries aimed towards mutual benefits in the longer run. It was attended by all the leading travel agencies like Akbar Travels, Riya Travel, Thomas Cook, SOTC, Kesari, Creative Travels, Atlas Online and TBO along with Nishi Travels, Vision Holidays, and Indo-Nepal Holidays.

The 2017 edition of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) began in Nagpur on January 19, at Hotel Centre Point. The first day saw education seminars on pertinent issues like GST, art of guerrilla marketing, cyber security etc., where industry experts discussed and clarified various challenges being faced by the travel and hospitality industry. Over 1000 attendees from metro cities along with Tier II and Tier III cities joined the sessions at the show on the first day. The GPS App saw over 600 active users. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, Jagsons Travels, and co-founder, GPS, says, “We have been successful in creating probably the first ever e – exhibition. We have had over 1000 registrations for the six education sessions today. The attendees are exchanging cards and their presentations trough the app and the presentations are available in the application even after the event. GPS has become the biggest marketplace in the country.” This year the event is a six city exhibition and will also go to Ahmedabad (July 13-15), Chandigarh (July 20-22), Kolkata (July 27-29), Kochi (Aug 3-5) and conclude in Pune (Aug 10-12).

Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, attended FITUR 2017, organised by Ifema in Madrid, encouraging the Indian travel fraternity at the first large-scale travel show for this year. FITUR in its 37th year has seen almost 10% more exhibition space, 62,494 square meters, and a 6% increase in direct stand holders with a total of 755 displaying the offerings of 9,672 companies, configure a professional business platform which sees its international offerings reinforced by 9% in terms of main standholders. UNWTO has picked FITUR as the venue for kicking off the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

In its statistical analysis for last month, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that  the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-December, 2016, were 998.88 lakh as against 810.91 lakh during the corresponding period of the previous year, thereby registering a growth of 23.18 per cent. According to the data, domestic air passenger traffic increased by 23.91 per cent during December to 95.52 lakh from 77.09 lakh reported during the corresponding month of last year. In November 2016, the passenger traffic had risen by 22.45 per cent to 89.66 lakh. SpiceJet registered the highest passenger load factor (PLF) during the month under review at 93.7 per cent followed by Indigo at 91.4 per cent and GoAir at 90.7 per cent. “Not only have we scored a hat-trick with the best on-time performance (OTP) for the third consecutive month in a row, we have also recorded over 90 per cent passenger load factor for 21 successive months,” said G.P. Gupta, Chief Administrative Officer, SpiceJet. The data showed that SpiceJet led the industry with 70 per cent punctuality rate at four major airports of Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. It was followed by Jet Airways and JetLite (64.3), Vistara (64.2), GoAir (63.6), IndiGo (61.6), and Air India (59). The data also highlighted that IndiGo led the industry with the highest market share of 41.6 per cent, followed by Jet Airways (15), Air India (13.3), SpiceJet (12.8), and GoAir (8.00). Vistara reported a market share of 3.2 per cent, followed by AirAsia India (2.8), JetLite (2.5), Air Costa (0.6), Trujet (0.4) and Air Carnival (0.1). (Source: Hindustan Times)

Working on boosting regional connectivity, Air India is starting new domestic routes and beefing up frequency on existing ones. A direct flight service to Port Blair will commence from Delhi in May this year. While responding to the constant public demand, Air India will also add second frequency on Delhi-Nagpur-Delhi, fourth frequency on Delhi-Ahmedabad-Delhi sector in March 2017 and second frequency on Delhi-Leh-Delhi sector in the month of May.

As part of its expansion drive and the success of the Delhi- San Francisco route, Air India is set to start another route to the United States and will start direct flight operations on Delhi-Washington-Delhi route in July 2017. This flight will be the fifth direct connection with the US and shall be operated by Boeing 777 aircraft. In addition to this, in May 2017, Air India is looking to offer a real treat to Indian travelers by connecting Bangkok, one of the most favored tourist destinations by starting direct flight operations on Chandigarh-Bangkok-Chandigarh and Kolkata-Bangkok-Kolkata sectors besides starting a second frequency from Delhi.

International tourist arrivals grew by 3.9% to reach a total of 1,235 million, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Some 46 million more tourists (overnight visitors) travelled internationally last year compared to 2015. The year 2016 was the seventh consecutive year of sustained growth following the 2009 global economic and financial crisis. A comparable sequence of uninterrupted solid growth has not been recorded since the 1960s. As a result, 300 million more international tourists travelled the world in 2016 as compared to the pre-crisis record in 2008. International tourism receipts grew at a similar pace in this period (complete 2016 receipts results will be reported in May). “Tourism has shown extraordinary strength and resilience in recent years, despite many challenges, particularly those related to safety and security. Yet, international travel continues to grow strongly and contribute to job creation and the wellbeing of communities around the world”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. By region, Asia and the Pacific (+8%) led growth in international tourist arrivals in 2016, fuelled by strong demand from both intra- and interregional source markets. Africa (+8%) enjoyed a strong rebound after two weaker years. In the Americas (+4%) the positive momentum continued. Europe (+2%) showed rather mixed results, with double-digit growth in some destinations offset by decreases in others. Demand in the Middle East (-4%) was also uneven, with positive results in some destinations, but declines in others.

FTAs during the period January-December, 2016 were 88.90 lakh with a growth of 10.7 per cent as compared to the FTAs of 80.27 lakh in January-December 2015. FEEs from tourism in rupee terms during January-December 2016 was Rs. 1,55,650 crore with a growth of 15.1 per cent. December 2016 registered a 13.6 per cent growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) over the same period in 2015 with 10.37 lakh arrivals. FEEs was Rs.16,805 crore as compared to Rs. 14,152 crore in December, 2015 with 18.7 per cent growth rate. USA (18.33%) occupied highest percentage share in FTAs followed by Bangladesh (13.02%), UK (11.71%), Australia (5.43%), Russian Fed (4.18%),Canada (4.13%), Malaysia (3.38%), Germany (2.80%),  China (2.53%), Sri Lanka (2.25%), Singapore (2.12%), France (2.01%), Japan (1.79%), Afghanistan (1.38%) and Nepal (1.34%).

Brijesh Modi, Head-Finance & Commercial, SOTC Travel, says, “Due to the changes in the taxable services from 30 per cent to 60 per cent on holiday packages (bundled services), the effective service tax rate will see an increase from 4.5 per cent to nine per cent.” He adds that the tax on hotel accommodation services provided by travel agents is expected to increase from the current 1.5 per cent but agents are still seeking clarification on the same. “On transport services provided by travel agents, the current service tax rate will remain at six per cent. Above change in service tax will increase the selling prices of holiday packages,” Modi says.

Seychelles continued to impress Indian tourists, recording a 42 per cent annual increase in tourist arrivals from India in 2016 compared to 2015. Around 11,000 tourists from India visited Seychelles in 2016 compared to around 8,000 in 2015 and as a result India broke into the list of top 10 source markets for the tourism board. This increase can be attributed to the India tourist office’s committed focus on promotion of the destination, interest and efforts from the hotels and DMCs to capture the Indian market, increased customer awareness due to Bollywood associations and innovative digital presence along with an increase in Air Seychelles daily flights from four to five times a week. Sherin Francis, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board said, “We are thrilled with the interest created in the market about Seychelles that made it possible for the momentum of success to continue. We have seen a phenomenal increase in arrivals since we opened office three years ago. The increase in arrivals from India was 42 per cent making Seychelles one of the top choices for a holiday. This would not have been possible without the constant support of Air Seychelles, the DMCs and the hotels who walk with us hand in hand in going the extra mile to ensure year on year success. It is this passion due to which we have been able to position Seychelles as a destination which is meant for all- families, couples, small groups, celebrations and MICE.”