Anna Davidyan, Founder, Travel Armenia, a luxury DMC for Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan, has appointed Vineet Gopal, Director, Representation World, as its representative for India. Gopal says, “We have been appointed as the India representative for Armenia. It will open new opportunities for Indian travellers travelling to Armenia. Armenia is a scenic country offering great nightlife and experiences. It is very well connected to India through Dubai, just 3 hours away from there. Visa is also not a problem. It will attract good MICE business from India. It is already getting a lot of MICE groups.”

British Airways has launched a Trade Graduate Programme that aims to recognise, motivate and reward travel agents for their commitment to the airline. The Trade Graduate Programme will equip the airline’s trade partners with the product knowledge and network information with respect to British Airways. The trade partners enrolled under the programme will be encouraged to complete nine incentivised training modules as part of the programme. Participants will get 15 days to complete each module. Moran Birger, British Airways’ regional general manager, South Asia said, “We, at British Airways value the relationship we share with our trusted travel trade partners as they play an instrumental role in providing excellent service to our customers in India. We have invested heavily in facilities including a call centre that provides round the clock assistance in order to build a long standing association with our trade partners. The Trade Graduate Programme is an extension of our efforts in supporting our partners in their endeavour to serve our customers better.” To make this exercise twice as much fun and beneficial for its valuable participants, British Airways is giving away exciting prizes in the form of Amazon and Croma shopping vouchers. With five winners per module, this programme is offering 45 travel trade partners the opportunity to win shopping vouchers. Additionally, participants who complete four, seven and all nine modules also get a chance to win shopping gift vouchers worth Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000. The first module is on World Traveller Plus, British Airways’ premium economy product and will be available till 30th September. New modules will be available every fortnight and participants will be notified through the Speedbird Club Newsletter. Names of lucky winners …

The 4-star premium apartment hotel Eastin Residences Vadodara opened its doors for regular, business and leisure travellers. Special launch rates start from Rs 4,000++ per room per night inclusive of the signature Eastin buffet breakfast, broadband internet, airport pick up with provisions of early check in from 9.00 am and late check out till 4.00 pm. Room configurations include studio and one bedroom well-appointed apartments, with contemporary design and stylish décor. The attached kitchenette provides a distinctive edge to the functionality and convenience of every apartment. All studio apartments are furnished with twin/king beds, which comprises of a sofa-cum-bed in the sitting area, walk-in wardrobe, kitchenette with microwave, refrigerator and heating facility, etc.

A total of 66,097 tourists arrived in August 2016 on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 22, 286 during the month of August 2016 registering a growth of 196.6 percent, revealed the Ministry of Tourism. During Jan-Aug this year, a total of 6,06,493 tourist arrived on eTV as compared to 1,69,976 during Jan-Aug last year, registering a growth of 256.8 per cent. UK continued to be the highest source market with 19.4 per cent share, followed by USA (13.2 per cent) and China (6.7 per cent). The other top major source markets included France (6.4 per cent), Spain (6.1 per cent), UAE (5.5 per cent), Germany (4.6 per cent), Australia (3.7 per cent), Canada (3.5 per cent) and Korea Republic (2.4 per cent). New Delhi Airport contributed the highest percentage share of top 10 ports in tourist arrivals on eTV during August with 45.30 per cent, followed by Mumbai Airport (21.53 per cent), Chennai Airport (8.82 per cent), Bengaluru Airport (7.58 per cent), Kochi Airport (4.60 per cent), Hyderabad Airport (3.52 per cent), Kolkata Airport (2.07 per cent), Amritsar Airport (2.01 per cent), Ahmadabad Airport (1.44 per cent) and Trivandrum Airport (1.36 per cent). This high growth may be attributed to introduction of eTV for 150 countries as against the earlier coverage of 113 countries.

The latest IVS report released by Tourism Australia revealed that the expenditure made by Indians on their visits to South Australia has jumped up to a total of AUD 23 million as of June 2016 from AUD 21 million in June 2015. The State saw 13,000 Indian visitors during the year with an average spend of approximately AUD 1,799 per traveller. The healthy growth in expenditure by almost eight per cent indicates a growing interest among Indian travellers for South Australia as a holiday destination. Dana Urmonas, Regional Director-Southeast Asia & India, South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) says, “India as a market holds great potential for us. We had a record number of visitors last year, by hosting the ICC World Cup Match between India and Pakistan in Adelaide. We are happy to see that Indian travellers are starting to recognise Adelaide as a holiday destination and are keen to leverage the momentum built. With the on-going marketing initiatives planned for India we are extremely positive about a progressive growth in visitor and expenditure numbers over the next few years.”

IndiGo has entered a strategic partnership with Travelport which will see the airline distribute all of its fares and ancillary products to Travelport-connected customers worldwide. This is the first time that IndiGo has struck a deal with a global GDS. Through the strategic partnership with Travelport, IndiGo will place its fares, ancillary products and offers into the Travel Commerce Platform. The platform offers fully integrated, industry leading merchandising capabilities and is used extensively by travel agencies in India as well as other key target markets for IndiGo. This distribution platform, unique to Travelport, will enable IndiGo to provide its content via an API connection, rather than the more traditional fare filing methods often favoured by network carriers, and still have their fares and ancillaries displayed, compared and booked in exactly the same way. In addition, the airline will also use Travelport’s leading merchandising capabilities to bring IndiGo’s brand proposition to life for travellers arriving into India and then seeking domestic flights within the country. The distribution partnership will also help the airline reach travellers in international markets as it continues to expand its route network into destinations in the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and South East Asia. Commenting on the partnership, Aditya Ghosh, President & Whole Time Director, IndiGo said: “This arrangement with Travelport will allow us to reach new customers, both at home and overseas, in a cost effective manner without incurring the traditional costs associated with participating in global distribution platforms using old style industry mechanisms and instead, enabling our real time connectivity to the GDS platform via an XML API link.” Derek Sharp, Travelport’s Managing Director, Air Commerce, said, “It is a testament to our product leadership, …

Low-cost carrier AirAsia India announced the induction of an eighth aircraft and plans to take the fleet strength to 20 by the end of 2018. AirAsia India CEO Amar Abrol reportedly said that the airline will operate daily flights connecting Hyderabad and Kochi from October 8. It is offering limited promotional seats for all inclusive fares from Rs. 2,999 on this route. He said the airline hopes to complete the second round of funding by the month-end. However, he declined to give numbers but added that it would help the airline take its fleet strength to 20 aircraft by the end of 2018. All the aircraft will be A320s. (Source: IANS)

India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) opened its new Duty Free Shop at Kakinada Deep Water Seaport, Andhra Pradesh. The shop was inaugurated by Piyush Tiwari, Director (Commercial and Marketing), ITDC in the presence of S. Narasimha Reddy, Jt. Commissioner, Customs, Lt. General. (Retd.) Dr A S Rao, CEO, Kakinada Seaport, senior port authorities and other officials of Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. With the opening of this Duty Free Shop, ITDC has established its presence at Coimbatore Airport and 9 Seaports in the country. Strategically located inside the Port at Kakinada, the latest duty free shop has been aligned with ITDC’s aim of providing shoppers with an incredible shopping experience. Talking about the launch and ITDC’s duty free business, Tiwari said, “Kakinada Deep Water Seaport is an important port as it is the major port of Andhra Pradesh. ITDC launching its 9th Duty Free shop at this port is a major step undertaken by the corporation in its business of Seaport Duty Free Shops.  Moving forward, our aim is to further expand our seaport business, covering all major ports in the country in coming years.”

Indians planning their next vacation in Malaysia will have to pay a total of Rs. 5,600 per person starting Sept 15, 2016. The earlier fee was Rs. 3,500. The Malaysia High Commission has outsourced its visa processing to One Stop Centre Malaysia Visa (OSC) with effect from Sept 15, 2016.  The new visa-processing partner has come with a slight revision in fee. Applicants will now have to bear a total cost of Rs 5,600 (Visa fees: Rs 1000 and Processing fees: Rs 4,600). The processing time of the applications will be 5 working days for all categories. All other mandatory requirements including the three-month bank statement and a valid return ticket remain unchanged. This manual application for Malaysian visa is recommended for travellers seeking multiple entry to Malaysia. The Malaysian Government also recently introduced the Electronic Travel Authorization Visa (e-visa) for a short visit to Malaysia. At this point in time, the e-visa facility is available to Indians residing in India only and is valid for a single journey stay of maximum 30 days in Malaysia for tourism purposes. The e-visa fees would approx up to Rs 2700 (Rs 1050 for visa fees and USD 25 as processing fee) and has a turn round time of about 48 hours.

Travelport announced the creation of a new organization, Travelport Digital, as part of its strategic focus on the fast-growing digital economy. The new Travelport Digital organisation will optimise the investments that Travelport has made into various digital assets and products over the past couple of years with the aim of growing Travelport’s range of digital services. The formation of the function builds on Travelport’s acquisition last year of MTT, the leading provider of mobile and digital solutions to the travel industry, as well as its investment in Locomote, a corporate travel management platform.  Bryan Conway, a seasoned Travelport executive has been appointed Head of Travelport Digital. Alongside the formation of Travelport Digital, Travelport has also established a new Customer and Marketing Organisation, aimed at fulfilling Travelport’s vision to redefine travel commerce and deliver a market leading customer experience.  This organization will be led by Fiona Shanley, who joins from Microsoft this month. Both Conway and Shanley will report into Chief Commercial Officer, Stephen Shurrock, who joined Travelport from Telefonica Digital at the beginning of the year.