Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) will release a detailed FAQ on service tax for the travel industry that is available on the GPS mobile application free of cost. Keeping up the initiative of being an e-event or green event, GPS has made the service tax ready-reckoner available to the travel trade through the GPS event app. It will further continue to add a lot more information relevant to the travel and hospitality trade  through this application. GPS is organised by Nagpur-based Jagsons Travels. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Founder, GPS said, “We want each and every travel agent to understand and know about service tax, how it has to be applied and implemented in the day to day travel business. To educate the travel trade we had conducted workshops on service tax  at all the five shows of GPS 2016. The handbook will be online by September 10, 2016. Agents can download the GPS app available on Android and iOS platforms. Users can also send us their queries related to service tax on tax@gps-india.com, which will be addressed. The presentation that we had made on service tax to all the attendees at GPS is also uploaded on the application.”

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has offered to join hands with the Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) at the 5th edition of the Annual Convention of IHHA held on 3rd September, 2016 at Fateh Prakash Palace in Udaipur. At the convention, Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, stated, “IHHA has played a significant role in reviving the rich culture and heritage of the country and has given a new dimension to world tourism. Maharashtra is a state that has some of the most historic and magnificent monuments and tourists from across the world look forward to experience such places. Jadhavgadh fort was converted into the state’s first heritage hotel in the memory of Shri. Chhatrapati Shahuji. Dhepewada is also one of the unique properties which is a newly constructed Wada based on Maratha Architecture. There are 450 forts and palaces on the beaches of the state that remain untapped. With the aim of reviving the rich culture and heritage of Maharashtra and the country, we look forward to associate with Heritage hotels for the development and conservation of the heritage of the state.” Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Cultural, Government of Maharashtra, said, “Indian Heritage Hotels Association acknowledges that travellers today want the flavour of heritage and genuine culture blended with urban chic and comforts. Maharashtra is a state of historic forts and monuments which are a testimony to the era when the regime of Rajas and Maharajas was at its zenith.  The state possesses many untapped assets in quaint locations which remain unexplored. By associating with IHHA, we envisage to give a boost to heritage tourism in the state which is steadily gaining importance.” Some …

India and Greece have signed an open skies agreement which will allow airlines from India to operate unlimited number of flights to Greece while Greek carriers have been granted unlimited traffic rights to six Indian metro cities which are Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai. “Greece has become the first country to have an open sky agreement with India under the new policy,” said Rajiv Nayan Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. At present, there are no direct flights between India and Greece and passengers travel one stop via Gulf states or Turkey to Greece. Prior to this, India had entered into an open skies agreement with the US and Britain. The open skies with Britain covers airports excluding London Heathrow. (Source: Business Standard)

The Ministry of AYUSH, in collaboration with Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), is organising a two days BRICS Wellness Workshop in Bengaluru from September 10-11, 2016. The workshop, being held in Bengaluru, is designed to have sessions related to traditional systems of medicine, trade and economy, wellness and sustainable development goals (SDGs), wellness indicators for BRICS, wellness and tourism among others. It will also include a session on WHO strategy for traditional medicine. Simultaneously, the Ministry of AYUSH is also organising a four day Arogya Fair, a comprehensive health and wellness fair showcasing strengths of traditional systems/wellness sector in India as well as other BRICS partner countries during September 10-13, 2016. Secretary level officers and traditional medicine/wellness experts from the BRICS countries will participate in the BRICS wellness workshop. Speaking on the significance of the BRICS Wellness Workshop, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Ajit M. Sharan said that traditional medicine has assumed an important role in contemporary community health care due to its health promotive, disease preventive, curative, rehabilitative and rejuvenation properties. The Workshop has been organised to promote partnerships with BRICS nations, have knowledge sharing and push forward AYUSH initiatives in these countries which will further help in globalization of AYUSH, he explained. Highlighting the growing importance of AYUSH in BRICS countries, Sharan said that many of these countries have already taken steps in this direction, eg, China has set up college of Yoga while Ayurveda is gaining popularity in Russia. The Arogya fair to be organised simultaneously at Palace Grounds, Bengaluru will provide a good exposure for manufacturers/importers of Traditional Medicines/Raw Materials of the BRICS Countries to have first-hand experience of Indian Traditional Medicinal products/manufacturing facilities. …

Ministry of Railways have decided to introduce the flexi fare system for Rajdhani/Duronto and Shatabdi trains. The base fares will increase by 10% with every 10% of berths sold subject to a prescribed ceiling limit. There will be no change in the existing fare for 1AC and EC class of travel. Other supplementary charges like reservation charges, Superfast charge, Catering charges, Service tax etc., as applicable shall be levied separately. Vacant berths left at the time of charting would be offered for current booking. Tickets under current booking shall be sold at the last price sold for that class and other supplementary charges like reservation fee, superfast charges, catering charges, service tax etc., as applicable shall be levied in full. The information should also be displayed to the passenger during the booking in case the fare of lower class becomes higher than the higher class to exercise option to travel by the higher class. The last price for every class of tickets for the particular train should be printed in the reservation chart for the purpose of charging of difference of fare in the train or charging the passengers of the train without ticket etc. The present limit of berths set aside for Tatkal quota in these trains shall be operated as per the existing guidelines. However, no additional charges as “Tatkal charges” will be levied.  The berths assigned under the Tatkal quota shall be booked at the rate of 1.5 times of the base fare for all classes (2S, SL, 2A, 3A and CC) except 1AC and EC. Other supplementary charges like reservation fee, superfast charges, catering charges, service tax etc., as applicable shall be levied in full.There shall …

According to IATA, India’s domestic passenger market ranks number four with a double-digit annual growth of 26.2 per cent and PLF level of 84.5 per cent in July. This has been propelled by strong growth in real consumer spending and because airlines are adding lots of airport-pairs and frequencies, which cuts journey times for passengers and has the same effect on demand as a large cut in fares. International traffic flown by Asia Pacific airlines rose by 9.8 per cent year-on-year in July, with signs that the upward trend in seasonally-adjusted traffic is reasserting itself. Reports suggest that Asian passengers are being put off by terrorism in Europe: traffic on the Europe-Asia route fell by 0.9 per cent year-on-year in June (latest available), and it has been the weakest-performing major route so far in 2016. It appears that Asian travellers may be substituting to destinations closer to home: international traffic growth within Asia accelerated to a four month-high of 8.1 per cent year-on-year in June.

The Travel Agents Association of India’s (TAAI) 63rd convention that will take place in Abu Dhabi from October 14-16, 2016 is likely to get about 600-700 delegates from across India. Jay Bhatia, National Treasurer and Chairman (Tourism Council), TAAI, revealed this, adding, “We are also expecting our overseas members to participate that include DMCs and operators from the UAE and the Middle East region. We are currently awaiting fares from airlines for the package that we are giving to members starting from Rs 24,900 plus registration per person on twin-sharing basis.” For four-star hotel stay, the package is from Rs 22,300 plus registration and airfare. TAAI has so far met Jet-Etihad, Emirates, and Oman Air. Abu Dhabi, he adds, was chosen because of its proximity to India and good connections from most major cities of India. “That way our members don’t waste time flying and members from all our regions and chapters can directly connect to Abu Dhabi or Dubai. The Abu Dhabi Tourism & Cultural Authority also came forward to offer us full support for the Indian Travel Congress,” Bhatia adds.

Registering over 1 million flight and bus ticket bookings on its travel marketplace in August, Paytm will further invest Rs 300 crore on its travel business as it plans to launch new categories and ancillaries owing to its exponential growth. The flight bookings have been driving a 4X month-on-month growth and the company expects twice the growth over the next six months. Paytm’s bus tickets segment recently turned break-even while the hotels section is expected to break-even soon. Abhishek Rajan, Vice President, Paytm, said, “We have seen exponential growth in all categories and will soon offer new services to our customers. Leveraging Paytm’s significant market penetration and strong brand proposition, we hope to grow India’s online travel booking pie by introducing new customers from tier II, III towns and cities to this category.”

Rhätische Bahn (RHB) in partnership with Turkish Airlines recently hosted a familiarisation trip to Davos Klosters and Engadin St. Moritz in Switzerland for leading travel agents based in Delhi. The objective of the Fam was to increase visibility for luxury destinations like Davos Klosters and Engadin St. Moritz, along with the scenic Bernina Express train journey. Make My Trip, Yatra, TUI, Flight Shop, Ottila International, Experiential Travel, Thomas Cook and Ambe World Travels participated in the Fam. The group spent 6 nights in the Graubünden region; 3 nights each in Davos & St. Moritz. They visited Europe’s highest brewery – Monstein, Clavadeler Alp where they experienced the art of cheese making, a scooter ride along the Sertig Valley and attended a music show led by the regional band from Davos “orgalifründä Rinerhorn”.  In St. Moritz the group was taken on a food safari night at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, one of the highlights of during their stay. The itinerary also included hotel inspections such as that of Da Primo Hotel, Intercontinental Davos, Arabella Hotel  Walduus Davos , Turmhotel Victoria, Swiss Mountain Hotel Ameron in Davos,  Badrutt’s Palace and other 3-4 star properties in St. Moritz, to famirialise the trade with budgeted options in the luxury destination.

In a bid to promote Incredible India destinations on the social network, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has launched its account on five major social media websites, namely, Instagram, Pintrest, LinkedIn, Periscope, and Vimeo. Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi, along with Joint Secretary-Tourism Suman Billa and other MOT officials made the five accounts live in the presence of travel and tourism professionals, state governments and private players. Zutshi observed that the clientele involved in tourism is much more tech-savvy than any other industry. MOT wants to take a 360-degree approach to interact with consumers for which it has decided to actively leverage social media platforms, he added. He also said that it is for the first time that MOT has appointed an agency for marketing and promotion, and is developing a content sharing network with Incredible India offices and state governments. “The ministry has also kept aside a sizeable amount of budget for promotion through e-media platforms,” Zutshi said. MOT’s Twitter presence has increased by 94,000 between May-August, 2016, Billa revealed. He also called upon state governments, Incredible India offices across the country and the world, private players and tourism associations to actively participate in social media campaigns and share their high resolution images, videos and other tourism related information which can be shared on social media platforms for promoting a destination. Billa revealed that the upcoming Incredible India Tourism Investors Summit will be played out on LinkedIn in a big way to get in touch with the precise target HNI and travel trade. He also called up on tourism associations to share their new packages and workshops and live images and videos from their annual conventions with MOT so as …