Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture laid the foundation stone of six development projects under Spiritual Circuit of Swadesh Darshan Scheme in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh. These projects include Trilokteerth Dham, Badagaon; Maa Manasa Devi Mandir, Badagaon; Pura Mahadev Mandir, Pura; Parashuram Bhagwan Mandir, Pura; Laakshagrah, Barnawa; and Shri Chandraprabhu Digambar Jain Atishay Mandir, Barnawa. Distinguished guests like Dr Satyapal Singh, Member of Parliament, Baghpat among others, were present on the occasion.

InterGlobe Air Transport (IGAT) has been appointed as the exclusive sales agency in India for luxury cruise and tour operator APT. IGAT shall be responsible for promoting and selling APT’s eligible products in the country, the development of  sales channels and the marketing of APT products through promotions, roadshows and product presentations. IGAT will promote three main APT products in India: APT River Cruising programs in Europe, Vietnam & Cambodia; APT Small Ships cruise program; and APT Land Touring program (various destinations). Commenting on the partnership, Ajay Bhatnagar, Business Head, InterGlobe Air Transport, said, “We at InterGlobe are delighted to be associated with APT River Cruises headquartered in Australia and operates some of the world’s leading luxury tour operations. We are confident of support from our trade partners who will find the offerings very compelling for their discerning clients. The programs will be rolled out with an aim to ensure availability of products to summer vacation travellers in India.” Damian Borg, Channel Strategy Manager, APT said, “APT is excited to have found an ideal partner in the Indian market who can introduce our products to a new group of travellers.” Award winning tour and cruise operator APT takes guests on breath-taking journeys to dream destinations on every continent. At every opportunity, APT endeavours to delight its customers by providing amazing travel experiences and excellent customer service.

Indonesian national carrier Garuda Indonesia has launched flights between Jakarta and Mumbai via Bangkok. The thrice weekly service is the first direct link between the two countries. Speaking on the occasion M Arif Wibowo, President and CEO, Garuda Indonesia, said, “We see India as a potential market and we see good traffic coming from Mumbai region. India to Indonesia market size is more than 3,00,000 travellers to Indonesia and around one-third of this traffic comes from Mumbai which is 1,00,000 and gets divided into two destinations 45 per cent to Bali and 55 per cent to Jakarta. At this stage we have started the flight from Jakarta to Mumbai keeping Bangkok as transit point and would consider having a direct flight as the market grows or even a direct flight from Bali to Mumbai. We may also look to start operations from Delhi and Chennai later, currently we will observe the growth pattern from Mumbai for the first three months and if we see an increase in demand we may increase the flight frequency from Mumbai to Jakarta.” The flight from Jakarta-Mumbai route via Bangkok will be flying every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The flight service will be operated by Garuda’s Boeing 738 aircraft with a two-class cabin configuration featuring its business class service concept and its best economy class. The aircraft is capable of carrying 156 passengers (12 Business Class seats and 144 Economy Class seats). The opening of Garuda Indonesia’s flight to Mumbai is part of its international network development program, especially in the South Asia region, as well as the manifestation of the airline’s commitment to continuously support the Indonesian government’s program to double the number of …

After strategic tie ups with six state tourism departments across India, Stayzilla now gets on board with Andhra Pradesh Tourism for the joint promotion and development of homestays in the state. The MoU was signed in the presence of Ankit Rastogi, Vice President Marketplace, Stayzilla and Himanshu Shukla, IAS, Director Tourism of APT at Vijayawada. With this association, APTDC becomes the first Tourism Board to associate with a homestay aggregator in South India. Under this agreement, Stayzilla will lend its expertise to APT to conduct verification procedures and jointly boost homestays and unique stay experiences within Andhra Pradesh. This partnership will also enable verification and training of these new Homestays being developed right from the start. Stayzilla’s team in the South, headed by Stayzilla headquarters of Bangalore, will be part of the Service and Quality Assurance Committee under APT for Inspection, which includes property verification and screening. .

Sarovar Hotels forayed into yet another international market as it signed a hotel in the Ethiopian capital city, Addis Ababa. The hotel in Ethiopia marks Sarovar’s presence in the fifth country in Africa after Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan and Zambia. This move comes after the group recently took over the management of a hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. The 101-rooms hotel will be called Sarovar Premiere Addis Ababa. This will be Sarovar Hotels’ seventh hotel in Africa. The group currently manages New Africa Hotel in Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), The Heron Portico in Nairobi, The Zehneria Portico in Nairobi and Panorama Sarovar Portico in South Sudan. The Lazizi Premiere opens in Nairobi in February 2017 and Sarovar Premiere Lusaka is expected to be opened in 2018. Commenting on the new endeavor, Ajay K. Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels, said, “We are very excited to be expanding to another new destination in the African region. With Sarovar Premiere Addis Ababa, we exceed a total of 1000 rooms in Africa. Being Ethiopia’s biggest commercial hub and the host location of the African Union headquarters, Addis Ababa has become a major destination for many travellers to the continent, business as well as leisure. We see great growth potential in this market with high demand and this development makes a momentous step in our growth and expansion strategy in the overseas market.”

Delhi International Airport, a subsidiary of GMR Group, launched India’s first airport e-Shopping platform – www.shopflydel.in  – to improve the experience of airport shopping among the domestic travellers. Domestic travellers now can pre-order wide range of products of their choice online from India’s largest airport retail offering from the comfort of their whereabouts. Through this online shopping portal, now travellers have access to over 20 categories of products such as Beauty, Confectionary, Fashion, Souvenirs, Pens etc. sold across Terminal 3 and Terminal 1 domestic outlets. Products can be searched and chosen from menu listed under terminal, category, sub category or outlet. Travellers can collect their pre-ordered items from respective outlets by making the payment through cash or card. With this unique facility in place, one can book product(s) of his choice from 30 days upto 12 hours before his flight in three simple steps – Click-Pick-Fly.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has signed an agreement with the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) that is designed to enhance the promotion and development of sustainable tourism across a broad range of Pacific island destinations. A core element of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is tourism associated data that embraces accurate figures for international arrivals to each member nation of the SPTO. PATA has granted the South Pacific Tourism Organisation special access to the Association’s online data platform known as PATAmPower. In return, the SPTO will be encouraging destinations to provide all relevant statistical informal to enable PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre to provide analysis of trends and accurate, long-term forecasts. “This is an exciting collaboration for both parties. We continue to encourage tourists to visit lesser-known destinations and we are looking forward to working with SPTO in promoting further the importance of sustainable tourism development,” says Dr. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA. “There are endless possibilities for leisure, adventure and cultural tourism throughout the South Pacific and our partnership with the SPTO will raise awareness about these destinations in many influential source markets.” Christopher Cocker, Chief Executive, SPTO said,” SPTO is excited to have established a relationship with PATA. We have a common goal of promoting the Pacific Islands and providing our respective members with benefits and services which will be enriched if we, as regional tourism bodies and associations, share our expertise and experience, and work together. I’m looking forward to the exciting year that is before us when we will collaborate closely with PATA for our Pacific islands”.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju, and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, inaugurated the first ever airport in Bathinda at Virk Kalan village. Addressing the gathering on the inaugural function, Raju said, “In India there are 31 domestic airports, which are functional at the moment and now with the inclusion of Bhatinda Airport, it will rise to 32.” He also said that the government will construct another 10 airports in Punjab by April 10, 2017, including in Ludhiana, Pathankot and Aadampur, where the foundation stone would be laid very soon. Among other dignitaries who were present on the occasion are AAI chairman Guru Prasad Mohapatra, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and many BJP leaders.

Sabre Corporation and Air Seoul, Korea’s newest low-cost carrier (LCC) under the Kumho Asiana Group, have signed a multi-year global distribution agreement making Air Seoul content available to travel agents via a Global Distribution System (GDS) for the first time. The agreement between Air Seoul and Sabre will give 425,000 Sabre-connected travel agents access to even more low-cost flights and fares in the Sabre Travel Marketplace, which now includes content from over 100 LCCs globally. Air Seoul launched earlier this year, commencing domestic flights between Gimpo and Jeju in July. Last month it began its international operations, adding routes to Japan and Cambodia. “Gaining access to Sabre’s extensive network of travel buyers is a key component in our growth strategy and particularly important as we expand our operations internationally,” said Ryu Gwang-hee, president of Air Seoul. “Sabre has a vast global network of agencies using its travel marketplace which it pairs with a unique and very local approach to doing business with airlines in Asia Pacific – meaning we get the tailored support we need to market and sell our services effectively as we expand our network.” “We have a rapidly expanding portfolio of low-cost carriers distributing their fares through Sabre, making us a global leader in this area. But really importantly we’re pairing this rich content with a continued investment in technology innovation, which has allowed us to develop more advanced low fare shopping tools that help travel agents find the most relevant travel options for their customer, quickly and reliably – driving revenues for both the agent and the airline,” commented Roshan Mendis, senior vice president of Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific.

AVIAREPS has launched Aviacollect, an online payment solution that allows small to medium offline airlines, hospitality brands, including standalone hotels and resorts, DMCs and providers of travel services, such as visa application, ground transportation, airport lounge access, car hire, attractions, sightseeing and travel insurance, to economically extend their international consumer and travel agent sales networks around the world. Aviacollect was launched in response to the urgent business development needs of many small to mid-size tourism related companies to extend their sales distribution channels and presence internationally, in a manner that respects their unique brand, and is cost effective to ensure a return on investment given limited resources. The payment solution can be used as a white label solution for AVIAREPS clients, allowing them to accept payments in targeted countries with local bank connections and in local currencies. Edgar Lacker, Chief Executive Officer, AVIAREPS, says “For over 20 years AVIAREPS has seen the great potential of many small to mid-size aviation and tourism entities to expand their services overseas, however an economic solution for that was not always possible. Thanks to today’s technology and a great AVIAREPS innovation team, a solution is finally at hand! Through Aviacollect, and AVIAREPS’ global network of self-owned offices, our clients can now not only present their brands in a way that is directly relevant to the targeted markets, but comes with the in-market expertise and know-how of our sales and PR professionals on the ground to help spread the sales points of that brand.” Aviacollect is also tailored to the needs of consumers and local travel agents seeking an online one stop information and payment platform, as visitors to the site can book all types …