Etihad Holidays, the tour operating arm of the UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways, has launched in India, offering travellers a wide range of holiday packages to destinations worldwide. Etihad Holidays has teamed up with leading Indian travel company TUI to distribute its products to over 900 registered travel agents across India. Etihad Holidays has numerous travel options that include flights, accommodation and tour choices with stopovers in Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi hub. Agents have the opportunity to earn commissions by selling Etihad Holidays’ products. Commission levels range between five and 10 per cent on packages booked, dependent on class of travel. The packages are bookable through the VAX trade e-platform or through a local sales support team over the phone. Destinations across North America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Gulf and Asia are featured in the packages. Popular markets from India include Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, the GCC, United States, Canada, European cities, as well as South Africa and the Indian Ocean. Among the most attractive packages is the Abu Dhabi Stopover Programme allowing guests to break their journey in the UAE capital and take advantage of the two-for-the price-of-one night accommodation offers. Neerja Bhatia, Etihad Airways Vice President Indian Subcontinent, said, “The strong presence of Etihad Airways and Jet Airways in one of the most dynamic markets in the world makes it a natural and compelling proposition for Etihad Holidays to launch in India. We have many exciting plans in India during the months ahead offering our guests more choice, greater travel options and increased flexibility to help them plan their flights and holidays.”

A new cross-border rail service to connect India with Bangladesh might get operational in January, to coincide with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina’s state visit to India. A senior Railway official reportedly said that the new route would connect Kolkata with Khulna. The 155km line between Kolkata and Bangladesh’s third largest city already handles freight traffic, but it will now carry passenger trains.

The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), Virginia USA, has inducted Rajeev Jalnapurkar, Chief Executive Officer, Ramoji Film City, into its Asia Pacific Government Relations Subcommittee. IAAPA represents facility, supplier, and individual members from 99 countries and Jalnapurkar would be serving the committee for the year 2017. Jalnapurkar brings with him a rich experience of 20 years in the field of theme parks and amusement industry and is also the only Indian to be selected for this prestigious position. He is the Director of IAAPI and Education Subcommittee of Education at Asia. “India offers a tremendous opportunity to increase the number of amusement destinations. Beyond the metro cities amusement parks are accessible to a much larger community. With this objective we aim to work with the national/ state governments to create much better entertainment avenues for the people. I am honored to be a part of IAAPA and hope that I will be able to contribute to its mission,” said Jalnapurkar. In 2017, the Asia Pacific Government Relations Subcommittee will world towards creating an advocacy effort that supports key global, regional and local initiatives. It will also formulate a three-year tactical plan to increase understanding and awareness of the amusement parks and attractions industry in Asia Pacific region.

Royal Orchid Hotels announces the opening of two hotels under its brand Regenta Inn in Vadodara and Kolkata on Dec  15, expanding to 40 hotels by the end of 2016. Regenta Inn Vadodara is located at the newly constructed Ved Transcube Plaza adjacent to the Central Bus Terminal, walking distance to the Vadodara Railway Station and a short ride to the airport. The hotel offer 94 well-appointed room and is part of Ved Transcube Plaza that uniquely hosts various different shopping outlets, a flea Market, an Indian Heritage Lane, an Art Cafe, PVR Cinemas, a Thematic Food Court and Kids Game Zone. The hotel offers multiple banquet and conference facilities for upto 500 guests with state-of-the-art business facilities and Wi-fi services. Chander K. Baljee, MD of the Royal Orchid Hotels said, “We are glad to bring our brand of hotels in these cities. Kolkata has always been an important market for hoteliers in terms of both business and leisure segments. Whereas Gujarat tourism is already witnessing a boost and we intend to tap this segment with our existing portfolio along with our second property in Vadodara.” Regenta Inn, Kolkata is a budget friendly hotel consisting of 45 well-appointed rooms making it ideal for business & leisure travelers’ seeking accommodation next to the airport in new Kolkata city. The property offers choices between Executive rooms and premium rooms for a luxurious stay. The hotel offers optimum banquet spaces for small occasions, an all-day dining restaurant and a swimming pool.

Assam Tourism has appointed leading Bollywood lady Priyanka Chopra as its brand ambassador. She has signed a two-year contract with the state government to promote Assam tourism both at the national and international levels. This was informed by Himanta Biswa Sarma, Tourism Minister, Government of Assam. Sarma said “She would arrive here on Saturday and address an international tour operators’ meeting. She will also feature in still and video commercials of Assam tourism and promote Assam tourism wherever she goes.” Talking about the marketing plans of the state tourism, Sarma said, “This time, our tourism campaign will go global instead of being confined within the country. We will focus on countries like the UK, the US, Japan and Germany.” He further informed that the financial component of the tourism campaign will be included in the next budget and while Chopra will not charge anything for being the brand ambassador for Assam tourism, she will be paid a fee for the time she spends shooting for commercials and for whatever activity she undertakes for promotion of state tourism.

Kairali Ayurvedic Group’s signature resort ‘The Ayurvedic Healing Village’ is the latest property to come under the Lux Hotels umbrella for marketing and promotion. Bhupesh Kumar, Director, Lux Hotels, spoke about the development, saying, “We are elated to have partnered with Kairali Ayurveda for their global and national brand awareness and developing incremental business. Also, we want to increase the visibility of the brand in the global and national market.” Kairali Ayurvedic group, came in to being in 1989 with the aim of propagating the ideologies of Ayurveda throughout the world and has been a name to reckon with in the wellness industry.

Ezeego1 has launched an advanced B2B web portal for travel agents in North East India. Neelu Singh, CEO & Director, Ezeego1, said, “We see strong potential in the North-East India, that is set to witness rapid progress in the travel and tourism industry. The advanced portal aims to support the need of the growing client base of travel agents and tour operators in North-Eastern cities of India. Our portal will give travel agents access to our strong distribution network and technological expertise to market their products and expand their travel business.” The portal’s characteristics assign agents with unique login credentials and allows them to sell their products to customers with their own branding. Further, it enables agents with optimal flexibility through GDS and LCC integration as they can access schedule, fares and make flight and hotel bookings instantly. The ‘Hold’ option feature allows agents to book flights in advance, lock-in the flight fares for a specific time period while they confirm the bookings with the customer. Additionally, travel agents will get access to 5,00,000 hotels worldwide, can review and choose hotels based on suppliers and deals. The advanced B2B portal was introduced at an event in Guwahati and saw an overwhelming response from more than 50 leading travel agents and leading domestic and international airline partners including Air India, Vistara, Jet Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Etihad, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Cathay Pacific.

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of Sheraton Grand Pune Bund Garden Hotel, a newly renovated property set to welcome business and leisure guests. The hotel recently completed an extensive rebranding and renovation, featuring a complete transformation of its 177 well-appointed guest rooms, lobby and public spaces as well as added meeting facilities. The new hotel joins a portfolio of 36 Sheraton Grand properties. Owned by BrahmaCorp, Sheraton Grand Pune Bund Garden Hotel is the second ‘Sheraton Grand’ hotel in India and the fourth Sheraton hotel in the country. Jaswinder Narang, Complex General Manager of Sheraton Grand Pune Bund Garden Hotel, said, “We are thrilled to expand the Sheraton Grand presence in India with the opening of our second premier-tier hotel in the country. As Pune continues to make it possible for business travelers to find success as the IT capital of India, Sheraton is committed to delivering luxury to guests through excellence in service. Through this renovation and opening, we have worked diligently to solidify Sheraton as a leading global hotel brand of choice.”

New Delhi-based BLS International Services, a specialist provider for outsourcing of visa, passport and attestation services across the globe was awarded with a 175 million euro contract by the Government of Spain. With this agreement, BLS International will open almost 100 Global Consulate Offices in more than 38 countries for exclusively processing Spanish visas globally. The company expects to process approximately 1.8mn applications every year. Of the total, 53 Spanish Visa Application Centers (VACs) will get operational in December 2016. Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint MD, BLS International Services, said “This year has been phenomenal for BLS International as we have seen exponential growth in our business. The exclusive global agreement with Spanish Government is a testimony to the fact that we have delivered to our promises made to our customers. The contract with Spanish Government will expand our global footprint and help catering to wider range of customers, hence adding to the overall profitability for the company.”

The Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA) of non-IATA travel agents has announced its second Domestic Convention to be held at Leonia Resorts, Hyderabad from March 3 to 5, 2017. Jagat Mehta, President, ETAA, said, “With a tourism focused government, we as a leading trade association decided to do our bit in promoting our country by announcing a Domestic Convention this year specially in the newly crafted and youngest state of Telangana. We expect over 250 of our members from across the country to attend the same owing to capacity constraints. The convention will provide a perfect setting for enhancing destination and product knowledge about the state and the resort and will also present excellent networking opportunity among the members and the suppliers and exhibitors who participate at the convention during the planned B2B sessions.” The association plans to expand its footprints with an East India Chapter in the near future.