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 …

The Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chapter of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has announced a first-ever Badminton League that will be played in Lucknow on September 11, 2016.  Chapter Chairman, Sunil B. Satyawakta, said, “For the first time, our chapter will be organising a ‘TAAI Badminton League 2016’ and the prestigious trophy this year would be known as ‘Tigerair Cup’. Over 85 travel agents have registered themselves to play and include both TAAI members as well as non-members, staff and their family members, airlines and GDSs from all over Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Besides the players, we also expect a large number of our fellow agents visiting and cheering the players. It has been our endeavor to bring the fellow trade partners together so that they can bond, understand and interact.” The matches will be played at Babu Banarsi Das Badminton Academy in Lucknow on 11 September 2016. The TAAI Chapter has hired the entire academy, consisting of eight courts, for the day. Besides that, it will have the lawns for putting up the food court as well as a Selfie Point.  

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in various areas of airport operations, including security, passenger experience, cargo, airport development, consulting and training. The MoU was signed by Conrad Clifford, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific, and Hari Marar, BIAL’s President for Airport Operations, on the sidelines of an industry event in New Delhi. This MoU is the first of its kind that IATA has signed with an Indian airport. One of the highlights of the MoU could see IATA and BIAL implementing trials of new technologies and processes, and testing concepts at Bangalore International Airport. “This will place Bangalore International Airport in the forefront of airport operations. These trials will ensure that global best practice solutions can be appropriately adapted to the Indian environment, and will provide guidance for rolling out the implementation to other Indian airports,” said Clifford. The IATA Fast Travel initiative, Passenger Facilitation program and Smart Security are among the initiatives being considered as part of the MoU. “An important objective of the MoU is to promote the efficient development of civil aviation in India to meet growing demand. By 2035, India’s passenger traffic is forecast to exceed 400 million passengers, more than double that of today. The industry will support 19 million jobs and $172 billion of India’s GDP. But for this potential to become reality, India’s airports need to have the necessary infrastructure capacity while implementing efficient processes that embrace the latest technologies,” said Clifford.

Assam Government has allocated Rs 15 crore to ‘Awesome Assam’ brand. “Tourism will be promoted as ‘Awesome Assam’ with Rs. 15 crore allocated for publicity focusing on the one-horned rhino, Assam Tea and the mighty Brahmaputra,” said Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister of Tourism, Government of Asssam. A new logo of Assam Tourism has also been launched. Sarma informed that aggressive publicity will be carried out outside the state with a single-window clearance policy being initiated for issuing permission to shoot films in Guwahati. In order to harness the tourism potential of tourist attractions like Kamakhya Temple and Majuli river island, the government has sanctioned Rs 33 crore for the development of infrastructure of Kamakhya. Sarma also revealed that PSUs like ONGC, OIL, NHPC and others have also expressed interest to invest in the tourism sector as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the Centre has allocated Rs 120 crore for the five national parks in the state. Sarma invited ideas and plans for the development of tourism and informed that the state will develop tourism through partnership with the people.

Australia-headquartered Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) has expanded its portfolio in India with the launch of FCM Incoming focusing exclusively on inbound travel. FCM Incoming will focus on leisure travel experiences in and around the Indian subcontinent, including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Prashant Narayan has been appointed as Country Head, FCM Incoming. He will be responsible for brand expansion with a specific focus on building inbound holiday solutions for individual and group requirements of leisure travellers. FCM Travel Solutions and Flight Shop MD India Rakshit Desai said, “FCM Incoming has been launched to delve into the potential of the Indian subcontinent as an inbound market, and showcase the regions rich offerings to a global audience.” Narayan joins FCM Incoming with an experience of over 22 years within the service industry. Prior to this, he was associated with Thomas Cook as COO-inbound business and was also a member-executive committee of Thomas Cook (I) Ltd.

Arunachal Pradesh Department of Tourism has roped in Bollywood actor John Abraham as the brand ambassador for the mystical land of Arunachal Pradesh. Joram Beda, Tourism Secretary, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, said, “Our focus this year lies in boosting the tourism sector and making Arunachal Pradesh a ‘Must See, Must Experience’ state. For this vision’s success, we need like-minded partners that see and understand our vision and can help us chart this path. We found such a partner in Viacom18 who have helped us get John Abraham, a superstar, an adventurer and a great human being on board. John has played a pivotal role in promoting North East India, primarily by putting NEUFC on the map of sports. We believe our association with him will strengthen our purpose of putting out our state in the Indian diaspora as a prominent tourist destination.” Commenting on the partnership with Arunachal Pradesh and roping in John Abraham as the brand ambassador for the states’ tourism, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said, “Arunachal Pradesh is a traveler’s paradise and a land of untold tales. In John we have a celebrity who shares our enthusiasm of weaving the stories of the mystical land into a single narrative of ‘Must See, Must Experience’ Arunachal Pradesh tourism. After all a journey is best when it is entertaining!” Excited about representing Arunachal Pradesh tourism, John Abraham said, “I am honored to have been chosen to promote the tourism of Arunachal Pradesh. I have always been fascinated with North East India: each state has its unique beauty, history and culture. It’s a state rich with culture, mysticism, great people and stunning views. When I’m there, all I need is …

The Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) for the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in Ministry of Tourism has approved projects to the tune of Rs. 450 crore for development of Heritage circuit in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Ramayana Circuit in Uttar Pradesh, North East Circuit in Sikkim and Coastal Circuit of Tamil Nadu. The Heritage Circuit in state of Madhya Pradesh, covers Gwalior- Orchha- Khajuraho-Chanderi-Bhimbetka-Mandu with total project cost of approximately Rs. 100.00 crore. The project envisages world class infrastructural development of the sites which includes developing a Theme Park and Convention centre in Khajuraho, Sound and Light Show in Mandu. Site Illumination, Construction of Tourist Facilitation Centres and parking area are other intervention proposed in the circuit. The Heritage Circuit in Uttarakhand is on developing Tourism Infrastructure in Jageshwar-Devidhura-Katarmal-Baijnath sites with total project cost of approximately Rs. 83 crore. The highlights of project in Uttarakhand are development of Eco Log Huts, Sound and Light Show and Upgradation of Temple Pathways. Coastal circuit in State of Tamil Nadu envisages development Chennai- Mamamallapuram-Rameshwaram-Manpadu–Kanyakumari with total project cost of approximately Rs.100 crore has been approved. Sound and Light Show, development of Beach amenities, Construction of Pedestrian Bridge connecting Vivekanand memorial with Tiruvalluvar Statue are major highlights of project. Ramayana Circuit in State of Uttar Pradesh envisages development of two destinations viz. Chitrakoot and Shringverpur. The Project cost for this circuit is approximately Rs.70 crore for development of Parikrama marg, food Plaza, Laser Show, Foot Over Bridge connecting MP and UP part of Chitrakoot. Development of Ghats, Tourist Facilitation Centre and Parking area. Ramayana Circuit in Uttar Pradesh also includes Ayodhya for which the State Tourism Department of Uttar Pradesh is preparing Detailed Project …