Steigenberger Hotels AG is changing its brand architecture and consolidating its three hotel brands into one umbrella brand: Deutsche Hospitality. Puneet Chhatwal, CEO, Steigenberger Hotels AG, says, “These two words combine our German roots and our international vision. The new umbrella brand is a vital lever that will unleash dynamism, help us to expand internationally, and drive innovation.” Deutsche Hospitality unites three hotel brands under one name: Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts; Jaz in the City, and IntercityHotels. A total of 116 hotels in twelve countries and on three continents are part of the Deutsche Hospitality umbrella brand. 20 of these hotels are under construction or in the planning stage.

Ayana Hospitality, a joint venture between the ICS Group (India) and Mantis Group (South Africa), will open its new hotel in Kochi called Ayana Fort Kochi in November 2016. Located in the heart of Fort Kochi, Ayana will be a luxury boutique hotel offering local architecture, culture and cuisine. Akhil Behl, CEO, Ayana Hospitality, says, “This converted hotel has the distinction of having been the court house during the Portuguese occupation and is said to be almost 200 years old. The main hotel reception has high wooden sloping roof, showcasing the perfect venue for a court proceeding. All 16 rooms feature authentic Indian Athangudi tile floors, combined with classic Art Deco interiors, successfully blending history with modern luxurious comfort.”

After the success of its joint initiative with TAFI recently, the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has requested IATA to conduct workshops on the IBSP billing system in smaller cities as well. Jay Bhatia, Hon. National Treasurer & Chairman Tourism Council, TAAI, said, “We have requested IATA to cover smaller cities like Rajkot, Indore, Bhopal, Srinagar, Jalandhar and Amritsar as well. We are confident that this too shall be soon taken up in case the agents require the same once the system is implemented around mid of October 2016.” The workshop that was conducted in metro cities from September 14 in 16 chapters across India until September 29, 2016 saw more than 1,200 IATA agents sign up. It updated them on the new reports that shall be generated and the process to understand the same. Bhatia added, “We shall have a clearer picture on the same as detailed queries will start only once it is implemented. This round of workshop included only the theory aspect.”

Hungary witnessed a growth of 70 per cent in Indian arrivals in 2016 till date, while 40,000 Indian tourists visited the country in 2015, informed Mark Kinces, International Marketing Manager, South-East Europe, Hungarian Tourism Agency. This was revealed at the roadshow conducted by Central Europe comprising of Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in Mumbai and New Delhi in order to promote the region in the Indian market. “We are not only receiving leisure tourists but also mid-sized groups and MICE travellers to Hungary,” says Kinces. According to Emilia Kubik, Asian Markets Project Leader, Polish Tourist Organisation, 26,000 Indian tourists visited Poland in 2015 and the country expects a 10 per cent increase in Indian arrivals by the end of 2016. Kubik also informed that Poland is also planning to introduce a destination specialist programme for the travel trade in 2017. Czech Republic is expecting to receive 50,000 Indian tourists from India by the end of 2016 revealed Karina Vitkova, International Marketing Manager, Long-haul Markets, Czech Tourism while Slovakia has seen a few thousand Indian arrivals and is hoping to increase awareness about the country amongst the travel trade in order to attract more arrivals explains Robert Vincze, Head-Slovak Convention Bureau, Slovak Tourism Board.

TrawellTag Cover-More has partnered with Yatra.com as it establishes itself in the e-commerce segment. TrawellTag Cover-More India Founder & CEO, Dev Karvat, said “We will now provide our travel insurance and global assistance services to Yatra customers opting for both domestic and overseas travel. The association enables us to provide customised benefits for both leisure and corporate travellers. Our business model for Yatra.com focuses on changing customer needs and forecasted travel risks. The backbone of this model is a one-of-its kind software IMPULSE, an analytics engine that collects a feed of traveller data from the booking platform and crunches this in real time to generate customised offers for the travellers. With ease of integration, this cloud hosted tool customizes travel protection products with an exceptional speed of customer data processing.” Dhruv Shringi, Co-founder & CEO, Yatra.com said: “TrawellTag Cover-More was a natural choice as we share a common commitment; creating the most convenient travel experience for our customers. They bring along with them an impressive product range and technical know-how, more than a decade of domain expertise and a global presence which extends their service offering worldwide.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Puducherry Government and Airports Authority of India have signed a tri-partite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Regional Connectivity Scheme thereby initiating the collaborative partnership. The MOU was signed at New Delhi in the presence of Jayant Sinha, Minister of Civil Aviation for State; V. Narayanasamy, Chief Minister of Puducherry, and Malladi Krishna Rao, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation of Puducherry,. Under the MoU, the State Government of Puducherry has formally agreed to provide the concessions required from the State Governments in the Regional Connectivity Scheme. The MoU is signed by Manoj Parida, Chief Secretary, Puducherry; Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and A.K. Dutta, Member, Airports Authority of India. Speaking on the occasion, Sinha said that he hoped the subsidies would attract airlines which also needed to find the appropriate aircrafts and pilots to service the regional sector. Narayanaswamy said that he was happy to cooperate in promoting the Regional Connectivity Scheme as it would improve the connectivity to Puducherry. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had earlier released the draft Regional Air Connectivity Scheme (RCS) for stakeholder consultation, with the twin objectives of promoting balanced regional growth and making flying affordable for masses. The RCS is the key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy which was released by the Ministry on 15th June 2016. The scheme, which would be in operation for a period of 10 years, envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through revival of existing air-strips and airports. This would be achieved through a financial stimulus in the form of Central and State government concessions, as well as Viability Gap Funding to the …

With a view to showcase and project the Buddhist heritage and pilgrim sites of India, the Ministry of Tourism is organising the ‘5th International Buddhist Conclave, from October 2 to 6, 2016, in Varanasi-Sarnath in collaboration with the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Conclave was inaugurated by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister for Tourism & Culture on October 2 in New Delhi. Ministry of Tourism has received over 250 nominations from 38 countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA and Vietnam for participation in the Conclave. This year’s International Buddhist Conclave is very special as ASEAN as a Guest of Honour partner and a large participation is expected from ASEAN Countries which are also major source markets for India in general and the Buddhist Heritage sites in particular. Participants in the Buddhist Conclave will include international Buddhist opinion makers, tour operators and media, as well as state governments and domestic tour operators promoting pilgrimages to the Buddhist sites in the country. The Conclave will include Presentations, Panel discussions, Business to Business Meetings between international and domestic tour operators and State Governments, an exhibition highlighting Buddhist attractions in India, as well as visits to important Buddhist sites in and around Varanasi, Sarnath and Bodhgaya. The event will give the participants an opportunity to interact, promote, package and sell pilgrimage itineraries to the Buddhist sites in the country, for overseas visitors. International Buddhist Conclaves have earlier been organized in New Delhi and Bodhgaya (February …

In August 2016, the Indian capital’s average occupancy was 61.5 per cent last recording a 7.2 per cent increase compared to the same month the previous year, according to the latest data released by STR. Coupled with a 1.4 per cent rise in average daily rate (ADR) to Rs. 5,376 (approx. $81), Delhi’s revenue per available room (revPAR) rose by 8.7 per cent to Rs. 3,304. The upscale and upper midscale sector reported the strongest revPAR growth in Delhi in August, rising 11.7 per cent. International arrivals to the country increased 12 per cent in August along with consistent double-digit growth in terms of domestic air travel. Delhi Airport alone welcomed more than a quarter (28%) of these inbound visitors.

Marriott International has announced that it has expanded to include 30 of the most desirable hotel brands with the addition of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts portfolio. With more than 5,700 hotels and 1.1 million rooms in over 110 countries across the globe, guests now have access to the best hotels and resorts wherever they travel. Members of Marriott’s leading loyalty programs, Marriott Rewards – which includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards – and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), are also invited to link their accounts to enjoy the benefits, recognition and experiences each program has to offer. Members will have their status matched across programs and be able to transfer and redeem points across programs for travel to more destinations than ever before. Members who link their accounts will be able to transfer points at a three-to-one ratio.  

Mahan Airlines operated its inaugural direct flight from  Mashhad to Delhi on November 4, 2016. Mehdi Shiri, Station Manager, Mahan Air, India, informed that to cater demand of Indian passengers for direct flight to Mashhad, this flight has been launched. The aircraft and crew was given warm welcome at IGI Airport, Delhi. H S Duggal, Managing Director, Minar Travels India Pvt. Ltd., GSA for Mahan Air in India was upbeat and mentions, “with lifting of sanctions in Iran, Mahan has extensive plans to connect more Indian cities with Iranian cities to facilitate business and tourism traffic to grow.