Russia Tourism has signed a five-party agreement to promote the destination for tourism more aggressively in India. The document was signed on 30 September 2016 in St. Petersburg between: Northwest Regional Office of the Russian Union of the Tourist Industry (RUTI); co-founders of Russian Information Center (RIC) in India – Ekaterina Beliakova and Paresh Navani; Adviser on development projects coordinator ‘Visit Russia’ (Federal State Unitary Enterprise National Centre for Marketing Tourism Rostourism); Director-General of the Union of national and international tourist information organizations (SONATO); and St. Petersburg State University of Economics. The agreement focuses on increasing outbound tourist traffic from India to Russia and creation of comfortable conditions of stay in the country of Indian tourists. Navani, Co-Principle, RIC, explains, “RUTI will help RIC in organising the ground services when we roll out the India-friendly policy later this year. The university on the other hand will offer the training and certification to all service providers in Russia once RIC draws up the framework of the India-friendly policies, which is in the process.” The India-friendly policy will involve the tourism and hospitality industry in Russia.

India’s ranking among the Philippines’ top source markets has gone a notch higher this year with the country occupying 12th position, up from 13th last year. Speaking at the launch of a promotional campaign in New Delhi, SanJeet, Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism said, “In 2015, over 74,824 Indians travelled to the Philippines, recording a growth of 22.36 per cent while between January-July 2016, 53,498 Indians have already visited the country. That’s a growth of 25.41 per cent more than the same duration last year. India is now the 12th most important international source market for the Philippines. Once there is direct flight connectivity, we expect the numbers to grow even further.” It has been observed that an increase in MICE movements has lead to the rise in tourism. Additionally, the country is also working on launching visa-on-arrival for groups.

Optimistic by the increasing number of tourists from India, the Department of Tourism (DOT) Philippines along with Her Excellency, Ma. Teresita C.Daza, Ambassador, Republic of Philippines to India launched 135 branded taxis in New Delhi as part of a promotional campaign. Through it, the country attempts to raise awareness of the lesser known places, as well as the popular cities. Speaking at the launch, the ambassador said, “This is one way of raising awareness about the Philippines as each taxi displays various destinations from the country. We hope to encourage more and more Indian travellers to visit the country. The Philipppines has a lot to offer and its slogan, ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines’ has been very helpful in attracting more tourists.” Additionally, 100 radio cabs were branded in Ahmedabad and Pune earlier this year in an attempt to promote the destination. 2015 recorded a growth of 22.36 per cent over the previous year with 74,824 Indians visiting the country.

In order to boost tourism facilities in Rajasthan, the Government of Rajasthan has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore. “Singapore has been a close friend and partner of Rajasthan in infrastructure and tourism development. With these MoUs, we aim to deepen this association and develop the state as a world-class, global tourist destination with advanced urban infrastructure,” said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The MoU seeks to aggregate Singapore’s expertise through tripartite collaboration between the government, tourism institutions and industry partners to strengthen Rajasthan’s ‘knowledge capabilities.’ Rajasthan is also seeking to utilise Singapore’s public and private sector proficiency in the development of tourism. The otheragreement focuses on enhancing Rajasthan’s international appeal and connectivity, facilitation of private sector participation in a bid to rejuvenate the state’s heritage areas and critical urban and smart solutions. The MoU will also train 100 Rajasthan tourism officials. The 36-month programme is supported by the Temasek Foundation International with a $484,000 grant, and co-funded by the Rajasthan tourism department. Singapore will also share expertise in areas like inter-modal transport integration, waste management solutions and affordable wireless connection.

Andhra Pradesh has registered 20 per cent growth in tourist arrivals in the first 8 months of 2016 over the corresponding period last year. The state which has some of the most pristine beaches, hill stations, temples, backwaters etc. have recorded 9.78 cr tourist footfalls till August in this year. The figures reflect a massive increase in foreign tourist arrivals; till August as many as 2.32 lakh foreigners visited the state which is a whopping growth of 122 per cent compared to the corresponding data last year. Anantapur district which houses the famous Puttaparthi and Lord Veerbhadra temple at Lepakshi, became the most visited destination by foreign tourists. Majority of the foreign tourists were from the South – East Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Middle East countries such as Dubai among others. Andhra Pradesh also registered domestic footfalls of 9.76 Cr during the period as against 8.14 Cr in the last year, which is an increase of 20%. The state has witnessed a lot of traction from tourists who came for business, education and pilgrimage. Dr. Srikant Nagulapalli, I.A.S., Secretary to Government, Tourism & Culture, said, “The tourist arrivals into the state is very encouraging and will motivate us to work harder to progress towards our endeavor of creating a tourism friendly environment in the state. Our focus on fast tracking projects will eventually enhance infrastructure and engagement at tourist sites.”

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) recently organised special Mumbai Darshan Tours for senior citizens on the occasion of Daan Utsav – the festival of giving week. This initiative was undertaken by MTDC along with the assistance of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI). The Mumbai Darshan Tours was inaugurated at the hands of Swati Kale, General Manager, MTDC. The tour commenced from Dadar (East) and covered all the iconic places in Mumbai like Siddhivinayak Temple, Gateway of India, Mani Bhavan to name a few.

ITC Hotels is all set to open three new properties in 2017. Dipak Haksar, Chief Executive, ITC Hotels & Welcom Hotels, revealed, “ITC is a rapidly growing chain and we are building new hotels. In 2017, we’ll have a second hotel in Hyderabad— ITC Kohinoor. We will also be coming up with a hotel in Coimbatore as well as in Amritsar. In 2018, we’ll come up with a hotel in Kolkata. We are going through a very exciting phase.”

The Centre of Excellence for Tourism Training (CETT) in Udaipur is scheduled to begin operations later this year and will have an annual intake of 480 students. The centre has been established by Rajasthan’s Department of Skills, Employment and Entrepreneurship in collaboration with the Institute of Technical Education, Singapore and will provide skill and vocational training in services related to travel and tourism. The institute inaugurated by Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Government of Rajasthan and Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister, Government of Singapore, will offer up to six courses including retail services, hospitality operations and culinary arts. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Principal Secretary, Department of Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Government of Rajasthan said, “Tourism is one of the most important sectors in Rajasthan. We want to capture the entire tourism market throughout India and also abroad. The centre’s training could also help Rajasthan workers get jobs in cruise liners and airlines.” Skills development is a key area of cooperation between Singapore and India and the Udaipur centre is one of three institutes that Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is helping to start in India. The first, the World Class Skill Centre in New Delhi, is running, and another is being planned in the state of Assam in the North East.

In order to ease travel booking Cleartrip has launched two new features- Price Lock and Pay@Hotel. Price Lock will allow clients to lock prices by paying a fee and pay only if the plans are confirmed. Thus a traveller can hold the lowest price well in advance and be protected from price increases. Pay@Hotel, on the other hand, lets the traveller book now and pay later at the hotel. The traveler pays only after he stays. Also, in case the hotel turns out to be different from what he saw at the time of booking, Cleartrip offers a ‘Sleep promise’ feature and will find another hotel that is more suited to the traveller’s needs. Cleartrip currently offers the largest collection of Pay@Hotel inventory in India. Subramanya Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Cleartrip said “Travel bookings are generally associated with anxiety. Travellers worry whether they are getting the right price, the right hotel and whether it is the right time to book. With Price Lock and Pay@hotel features, we believe that we are solving for the core anxiety moments in flight and hotel booking.” Cleartrip is also releasing two television commercials to educate the clients about the new features. The films will be launched across offline and online mediums including television and popular digital platforms.

H.E. Rizali Wilmar Indrakesuma, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to India said that while Indonesia is still working on starting direct flights to India, charters between the two countries are more likely to be launched first. The ambassador was addressing the media at the inauguration of Indonesia Exposé Day 2016 in New Delhi and said, “We have been welcoming around 250,000 Indian tourists annually, but the numbers have not grown at a significant rate compared to the numbers to Singapore and Thailand receives. Connectivity is the main issue here and we have been trying to implement direct flights but that is going to take a while. Direct charters will in all probability be launched first.” The Indonesia Exposé Day 2016 is being held from October 7-9 in Le Meridien New Delhi, and aims to enhance strategic economic partnership and bilateral cooperation among all stakeholders by means of concerted consolidation in trade, industry, tourism, investment and services.