Ark Travels has finalised packages to sell Colombo and Singapore cruise packages from Mumbai starting October 29, 2016, on Genting Hong Kong’s Dream Cruises. The itineraries planned on Dream Cruises, the first-ever Asian luxury cruise line which caters specifically to the large and rapidly growing high-end market in Asia, will take travellers from Mumbai on high-seas to Colombo and Singapore. The travel company at present is focusing on selling two-night itinerary (Mumbai-Colombo, one way) on Dream Cruise. Besides, Ark Travels is also promoting six-nights (Mumbai-Colombo-Singapore, one way) and four-nights (Colombo-Singapore, one way) itinerary. Anju Tandon, CEO, Ark Travels, says, “Apart from this, we have also been focusing on charter cruises. We recently did a two-charter cruise from August 10-12, 2016 (two-nights for Singapore – Port Klang – Singapore) and August 14-17, 2016 (three-nights for Singapore-Penang-Port Klang-Singapore). We will continue to focus on selling charter cruises next year as well. With respect to the forthcoming travel season, the cruise travel company will be selling other Star Cruises brands like Superstar Gemini (ex-Singapore), Superstar Libra (ex-Penang) and Superstar Virgo (ex-Nansha) till March 2017.”

Lords Hotels & Resorts launched one of its most premium resorts in Kerala, recently. Located at Cheruthuruthy, the boutique Lords Resorts, Thrissur, was inaugurated by A.C. Moitheen, Minister for Co-operation and Tourism, making this luxury resort its 26th hotel in India and its first in Kerala. Spread over 20 acres of varied landscapes and located at a distance of 30 km from Thrissur town, the 57-room luxury resort is set on the banks of Bharathapuzha River. “Lords Resorts – Thrissur is in many ways an epitome of Kerala’s rich and varied landscape which within its premises houses a natural waterfall, a pond, butterfly farms and nature trails, all set against a backdrop of large expanse of rubber plantations. The lodgings are interspersed across the terrains and have been seamlessly merged with their environment. We are positive that a stay at our resort will make for one of the most memorable experiences for our guests,” says P.R. Bansal, Chairman & Managing Director, Lords Hotels & Resorts. The property formerly known as the Cheruthuruthy Eco Gardens owned by Pepco Group of Companies is now branded Lords Resorts – Thrissur and, will be managed and run by Lords Hotels & Resorts. The resort offers themed accommodations including tree-houses, honeymoon cottages by the pond, villas – single and duplex, and bungalows in addition to the royal and executive suites and rooms.

Harmandeep Singh Anand, Co-founder, Global Panorama Showcase (GPS), has announced dates for the fifth edition of the B2B travel event. It will start with Nagpur from January 19-21, 2017, and then go on to other cities starting from July and through August 2017. He said, “The fourth edition of GPS Nagpur was extremely successful and registered an increase in visitor footfalls from Central India. The event was followed by four new shows into the portfolio namely: GPS Ahmedabad, GPS Chandigarh, GPS Kolkata and GPS Coimbatore. GPS 2016 saw a combined unique travel trade visitor registration of over 3,000 people, firmly cementing GPS as a premier B2B travel event to reckon with for the Tier II and Tier III cities of India. GPS 2017 will take place in six cities namely: Nagpur (January 19-21), Ahmedabad (July 13-15), Chandigarh (July 20-22), Kolkata (July 27-29), Kochi (August 3-5) and Pune (August 10-12). One day will be dedicated to learnings and workshops, alongside the business meetings that will take place over the three days. Raju Akolkar, CEO, GPS, adds, “For the Nagpur edition, we will launch Voluntourism packages as we have identified a few NGOs in the region. This will also help travel agents put forth an interesting tour product for the region, that will include wildlife and community service together with local sightseeing. We will also get a local travel industry expert to speak and highlight the tourism products that available in the region and how to make it available to the industry and also to throw light about the regions traveller behavior in the context of domestic as well as outbound tourism.” Madhu Saliankar, Sales & Marketing Director, Entreps, adds, “Tourism is a …

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) India Chapter has bagged the PATA Award of Excellence 2016 which will be presented at the Welcome Board Dinner during the upcoming PATA Travel Mart. Commenting on the momentous occasion, Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India Chapter said, “It is a matter of great pride for us to be selected from 41 other chapters around the world to receive such a prestigious award. It underscores the commitments and efforts of our members, and their unending support to the tourism industry in India. Our focus is on value delivery to our members and we continue to strive for excellence for years to come.” PTM 2016 is scheduled to take place from September 7-9 in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia.

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.