To push its two products – villas and homestays – in the Indian market, Tripvillas is looking to tap offline travel agents. Roshan D’Silva, CEO, Tripvillas, says, “We currently do not have a direct tie-up with offline agents and have chosen to work through aggregators. In India, a travel agent can have access to our product through Via.com and international travel agents can access our product through Tourico travels in Florida. However, we are actively looking for new reputed travel agents to appoint as our General Selling Agents.” It is looking for travel agents with a strong presence in the upper mid-market as well as specialised agents handling family travel, corporate groups, weddings, and celebrity travel. “We are open and supportive to any ideas and would be happy to engage with other companies for mutual benefit. In the pipeline are multiple training programs, materials and in-person seminars for the travel trade. We offer special payment terms to travel agents who are IATA-certified and pass our credit checks. Our policies are travel agent-friendly and gives them a good opportunity to generate additional revenue and provide a valuable service to their customers,” he adds. It has also tied up with OTAs such as MakemyTrip, Goibibo, Yatra, Travelguru, Via.com as well as international online companies like Ctrip, Ostrovok, Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia

The cash crunch has severely affected the tourism sector since demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 currency notes came into effect from November 8 last, stated Kadakampally Surendran, Minister – Co-operation, Tourism and Devaswoms, Govt. of Kerala. There has been a decrease of 10-15 per cent in the number of foreign tourists arriving while the number of domestic tourists dipped by 20-30 per cent, he added. He pointed out that the state netted a revenue of Rs 25,000 crore every year from the tourism sector. “The currency crunch arose during the tourism season itself and so, things went wrong to a great extent,” Surendran said, adding that foreign tourists were not getting enough cash at airports on their arrival. Tourists were also spending very little money in the state now which had affected the local traders, he stated. The houseboat business, one of the main attractions of backwater tourism in Kerala, was “on the verge of collapse”, he said and added that the state government would do “everything possible” to boost the tourism sector. Surendran, who also holds the Co-operation portfolio, said the cooperative sector was in a “bad shape” and alleged that even though the Supreme Court had directed for provisions for cash in the sector, no step had been taken in that regard.

Bali-based destination marketing company – Diorama Travel Management (DTM) – plans to enter the India market to leverage the huge potential it offers. Sutrisno Bin Saudji, Managing Director, DTM, says, “We plan to visit India soon. It will be more to develop friendship and network with the Indian travel agents and understand the Indian market, the lifestyle of the Indian tourists and follow it up with a suitable product to match their needs. With this knowledge we will be able to innovate our products that we can offer the Indian market. As per our study, the India market prefers readymade holiday packages for Indonesia. That’s the reason why we will visit India in the coming years. I want all my agent friends to become ‘Indonesia Specialist Agents’.” He added that DTM plans to organise a destination briefing with agents and introduce them to eight new destinations in Indonesia apart from Bali. The company is a wholesaler inbound tour operator that runs the SIC (Seat-In-Combined) holiday packages in eight destinations in Indonesia. All its Indonesia holiday package are based on GV2 which means a minimum of only two people can go on a group departure fare.

With expansion and consolidation as prime areas of focus, Air India plans to add 35 new planes this year, as well as more number of international as well as domestic routes, its CEO & MD Ashwani Lohani has said. “I expect almost 35 new planes to join the Air India family during 2017 and all of us need to be in full readiness to receive them, fill them and fly them,” he said in a New Year message to the employees. With the addition of new aircrafts, the group would have a fleet of more than 170 planes. Currently, the group has around 140 aircraft. While Air India has 106 planes, its low cost international arm Air India Express has 23 aircrafts. Besides, there are around 10 planed with Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the national carrier that operates in regional routes. “We are going to fly to many new international destinations and also connect new domestic destinations as part of the regional connectivity thrust of the government,” Lohani said, adding that fill more and fly more is the motto.

Mumbai airport’s domestic Terminal 1B has been renamed as Terminal 1 (T1), effective from January 9. Terminal 1B handled low-cost airline flights which will now be operated from T1. The Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL), which runs the airport, informed that this decision was taken to help in easy identification of the terminal and to ensure hassle-free transit for air travellers. At present, SpiceJet, Indigo and GoAir operate from this terminal. Vistara, Air India and Jet Airways operate from Terminal 2 (T2), which also caters to all international flights. MIAL further added that the shifting of Air India and Jet Airways to T2 has helped make transit between international and domestic flights convenient for transfer passengers, thereby saving time. (Source: Times of India)

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Central Government has called for clarification from the Hotel Association of India, which have replied that the service charge is completely discretionary and should a customer be dissatisfied with the dining experience he/she can have it waived off. Therefore, it is deemed to be accepted voluntarily. The Department of Consumer Affairs has asked the State Governments to sensitize the companies, hotels and restaurants in the states regarding aforementioned provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and also to advise the hotels/restaurants to disseminate information through display at the appropriate place in the hotels/restaurants that the ‘service charges’ are discretionary/ voluntary and a consumer dissatisfied with the services can have it waived off. A number of complaints from consumers have been received that hotels and restaurants are following the practice of charging ‘service charge’ in the range of 5-20%, in lieu of tips, which a consumer is forced to pay irrespective of the kind of service provided to him. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 provides that a trade practice which, for the purpose of promoting the sale, use or the supply of any goods or for the provision of any service, adopts any unfair method or deceptive practice, is to be treated as an unfair trade practice and that a consumer can make a complaint to the appropriate consumer forum established under the Act against such unfair trade practices.

According to a survey by ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation, bookings received by star-rated hotels in metros have registered a decline of about 5-7 per cent due to demonetisation and the consequent cash crunch. The survey informed that many hotels had not revised rates of New Year packages and had in fact, lowered the rates by about 2-3 per cent; bundled various offers, promotions, deals and discounts on services in one package at a bargain price. The ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation had interacted with about 50 star-rated hotels in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai during the course of past midnight to ascertain how top hotels in metros are gearing up for annual New Year’s Eve parties. Simultaneously, the chamber representatives also interacted with about 250 youngsters to gauge how people in urban centres are planning to bid farewell to 2016 whereby most said they plan to usher in the New Year in a cost-effective way by opting to party indoors.  “New Year’s Eve is the perfect occasion especially for the youth to unwind and soak in the festivities with their friends and family, though with ever-growing per-capita incomes people do not mind indulging in some extravagance but cash crunch in wake of demonetisation seems to an impact on their plans this time,” said D.S. Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM. He further informed  that despite this being a good season for the hotel industry, many star-rated hotels seem to be reeling under the impact of demonetisation and are being forced to scale down their New Year’s Eve activities as they are not able to draw many people.

Indigo’s new schedule starting January 1, 2017, will see 10 additional frequencies connecting Hyderabad to Goa, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam. The airline also took delivery of its 13th Airbus A-320 Neo ‘VT–ITH’ aircraft. With this aircraft, the airline now has a 125 aircraft fleet in its 125th month of operation. Aditya Ghosh, President and whole-time Director, IndiGo, said, “The delivery of the 125th aircraft in the 125th month of our operation is indeed a landmark occasion for us. It reinforces our commitment towards the industry and living our promise of providing the best flying experience to our passengers. The entire IndiGo team has worked extremely hard to reach where we are today and we are raring to go. Here’s wishing each of you a wonderful 2017.” The new schedule has connections from Hyderabad to Goa, Coimbatore, Bhubaneshwar an Visakhapatnam.

Air India at London Heathrow is operating from Terminal-2 instead of Terminal 4, starting January 25, 2017, according to a communication from Air India to the travel industry. Terminal 2 is the designated Star Alliance Terminal at London Heathrow, which Air India will be sharing with 25 other Star Carriers. Air India will be operating out of Zone D. Terminal 2 has self-service Kiosk check-in for economy class passengers followed by bag drop. The check-in kiosk and bag drop will be shared with other airlines in Zone-D. Although, for Premium passenger, Air India will have dedicated counters.In view of self-service kiosk check-in at Ter-2, passenger may be encouraged to use web check-in, mobile check-in, advanced seat reservations etc. to have a smooth check-in experience at T-2.

Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, New Delhi recently underwent a massive renovation of its F&B outlets. For 2017, the hotel has big plans of renovating its rooms along with its spa. Parmeet Singh Nayar, General Manager, Shangri-La’s-Eros Hotel, New Delhi, says, “In addition to growing our online presence and integrating technology at every step, we have been working on exciting developments to continuously delight our guests. After revamping our food and beverage offerings, the coming year will offer revamped accommodation facilities at the hotel along with Shangri-La’s signature CHI Spa. With these new developments in the pipeline we are sure that 2017 shall be a promising year for the hotel.”