Lemon Tree Hotels is all set to cash in on growing Indian tourists and corporate travel to the UAE, as it plans to operate eight properties in the next three years in the region. The company will be opening a mix of hotels and serviced apartments in Abu Dhabi, Fujairah and Dubai, where it expects to operate its first property. According to Rattan Keswani, Deputy Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotels, they are trying to harness the spending power of Indians through this development. Lemon Tree has tied up with the Sydney-based real estate agent Raine and Horne to open Lemon Tree properties in the region, including in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The company, which operates properties under the Lemon Tree and Red Fox brands, said the planned hotels would have between 60 and 100 rooms on average, and could include pool, spa and up to three restaurants. Lemon Tree Hotels is also looking at Sri Lanka and the Thai capital Bangkok. Sanjay Chimnani, MD, Raine and Horne, said it would be looking at neighbourhoods in Dubai such as Jaddaf, Business Bay, City Walk, Al Barsha, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Jebel Ali and Jumeirah Village Circle to open more properties.

Ras Al Khaimah has recorded a growth of 37 per cent in visitor arrivals from India during the period of January to April 2016, a remarkable surge over the same period last year, according to Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (TDA). The positive figures indicate that 2016 is witnessing a strong start from India, the fourth largest international inbound market for Ras Al Khaimah. In line with the current tourism development strategy, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Authority recently conducted roadshows and one-on-one interactions with Indian travel trade partners to educate them about the tourist offerings of the emirate. Haitham Mattar, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah TDA, said, “As part of our tourism strategy to attract 1 million visitors to Ras Al Khaimah by the end of 2018, we place great importance on diversifying our source markets and creating sustainable tourism growth. Our recent trade missions and industry partnerships in India are a key part of our strategy, and have resulted in a positive increase in visitor arrivals from India. We recently launched our new brand positioning which emphasizes Ras Al Khaimah’s natural assets, luxurious indulgence, range of activities for different types of travellers, and authentic Arabian heritage and culture. We are very hopeful that visitors from India will continue to grow as more leisure and business travellers discover the emirate’s unique offerings.” Furthermore, in the first quarter of 2016, Ras Al Khaimah’s hotels reported an occupancy rate of 71%, up by 18% over Q1 2015. Coupled with a 9.2 per cent year-on-year increase in RevPAR, this demonstrates the highest growth across the GCC region.

Sunil Kumar, President of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has revealed that the association has met and proposed to the Ministry of Tourism in Delhi to create a specialist programme for India for its inbound and domestic tour operator members. He said, “We have suggested to the MOT to create a programme called ‘India Specialist’ for our members like we have done for other countries like Turkey and South Africa. We have spoken to the Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi about this. We will send a detailed white paper proposal to the ministry and expect an agreement and confirmation to follow once the government has approved the programme. Since TAAI is the only travel trade association with 20 regional units with over 2300 members, we will be able to train around 2,000 agents and operators at one go. We want to launch this in a few months as government procedures take time. We have to set up the curriculum for this and invite the MoT to extend their blessings to us and certify this programme.” He added that TAAI will launch this in phases.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) welcomes Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (TDA) as its newest government member. The TDA’s aim is to establish the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah as a destination for leisure and adventure travel whilst maintaining its appeal for sun seekers, beach loving couples and families. PATA CEO Mario Hardy said, “As our newest government member Ras Al Khaimah now has a much better opportunity to achieve their growth target of 2.9m visitors by 2025 by connecting with many of our members and by showcasing their destination to a much broader audience. The emirate also now enjoys access to our insightful research and expertise to assist in them developing a sustainable and responsible tourism industry. This is particularly relevant for the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority in their bid to highlight the many authentic cultural, historical and natural Arabian experiences.” Haitham Mattar, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah TDA said, “As we continue to work towards our goal of attracting one million visitors by the end of 2018, we are keen to establish partnerships that will enable us to achieve sustainable tourism growth. Asia Pacific, in particular India and China, are fast growing emerging markets where we have recently signed an agreement with Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, as well as Cox and Kings in India. Becoming a member of PATA is a key step towards further establishing Ras Al Khaimah as a tourist destination in its own right amongst Asia Pacific travellers and investors.” Ras Al Khaimah TDA was established in May 2011 to develop the emirate’s tourism infrastructure and promote it, both domestically and abroad.  In order to achieve its goals, the …

Air India has announced special fares for students on its domestic network. Under this offer, students after providing required documents would be able to avail tickets at Rs 3,500 (all inclusive) for distance up to 1000 km and at Rs 5,500 (all inclusive) for distance over 1000 km. The booking period for this offer started from June 1, 2016 and tickets can be booked till August 31, 2016 for travel between July 1, 2016 to August 31, 2016. Students travelling for various academic reasons like proceeding to join their school, college or to give entrance exam would be able to benefit from this special offer. To avail these special fares, students are required to provide photo copy of the following documents while booking: Admit card/ Examination hall ticket or admission slip/ Photo Id of the institution. The tickets can be booked at Air India city and airport booking offices. Air India offers the best flying experience with more legroom and value for money.

Jet Airways will operate new daily services from Hyderabad to Dammam and from Mangaluru to Sharjah from August 7, 2016. The addition of these new services will bolster Jet Airways’ offering to the Arabian Gulf region, further strengthening the airline’s growing network and significantly enhancing connectivity for passengers. Dammam will be the second city in the Gulf region to be connected with Hyderabad by Jet Airways after Abu Dhabi. With the addition of Sharjah, Jet Airways will operate to three cities in the Gulf region from Mangaluru. The airline currently operates daily flights to Abu Dhabi and Dubai from Mangaluru. The new flights will benefit the large number of Indians travelling from to the Gulf region to Hyderabad and Mangaluru, from where they also have a choice of domestic connections to other Indian destinations. Jet Airways flight 9W 206 will depart Hyderabad at 20:15 and arrive into Dammam at 22:30 (local time). The return flight Jet Airways 9W 205 will depart from Dammam at 23:30 (local time) and arrive into Hyderabad at 06:00. Jet Airways flight 9W 504 will depart Mangaluru at 09:30, and arrive into Sharjah at 11:45 (local time). The return flight Jet Airways 9W 503 will depart from Sharjah at 12:45 (local time) and arrive into Mangaluru at 17:55. Travel between India and the Gulf region is witnessing rapid growth, with over 32 lakh flyers travelling to the Gulf countries from India between January to March 2016 and a similar number returning to India during the same period. With the new flights, Jet Airways will operate around 640 weekly flights between India and 12 destinations in the Gulf, making it the largest operator connecting India to this …

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has appointed Pune-based Cruise Club (Cruise Club Vacations) as PSA for its upper-premium and luxury brands, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Steve Odell, Senior Vice President and Managing Director Asia Pacific for NCLH said, “India is a significant growth market for the cruise industry and we are delighted to partner with an agent offering extensive insight into the local market. Cruise Club’s expertise are ideal for the Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands and we are looking forward to collaborating to create memorable voyages for discerning Indian travellers, beginning with the 2016-17season.” Tarique Hussain, co-founder, Cruise Club, added, “We’re excited to become the preferred partner in India for both Oceania Cruises, the upper-premium cruise line, and all-inclusive luxury brand Regent Seven Seas Cruises.”

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has been selected as a facilitator for the ‘Hunar Se Rojgar Tak’ scheme, launched by Ministry of Tourism – Government of India, to impart valuable courses at state level in the hospitality sector. MTDC has associated with identified hospitality institutions in Maharashtra for the Hunar Se Rojgar Tak scheme which primarily focuses on providing economic empowerment of the youth in the remote parts of Maharashtra. The programmes running under the scheme are free of cost for the students with an aim to empower the under privileged youth of the country ensuring economic benefit through employment generation and to reduce the skill gap that affects the hospitality sector. Dr. K. H. Govinda Raj, IAS, Managing Director, MTDC, said, “We have conducted various courses at Pune, Nasik, Baramati and Nagpur regions under the ‘Hunar Se Rozgar Tak’ scheme which has benefitted thousands of students belonging to low economic strata. MTDC has associated with reputed hospitality institutes to provide a skill based training programme in categories like food production, bakery and housekeeping which will help these students to be financially independent. Many students have benefitted from this course and are already employed and started their own career in the hospitality sector. MTDC believes in contributing towards state economy and work hard to enhance the opportunities and support youth’s contribution in the hospitality sector.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has introduced a number of passenger friendly initiatives to ease the process of flight cancellation and delays. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister for Civil Aviation, said that his ministry was committed not only to the growth of the airline industry but also to ensure that flying for most Indians becomes a pleasant experience. In keeping with this commitment, he along with Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State, Civil Aviation, presided over a presentation made by DGCA with regard to Passenger Centric Initiatives. In the presentation, the first category of amendments have been made in CARs related to refund of air tickets. The Ministry has proposed that the refund process should be completed within 15 working days in case of domestic travel and 30 working days in case of international travel. It also proposed that in case of cancellation of tickets, statutory taxes and user development fee/airport development fee/passenger service fee shall be refunded. The Ministry has also proposed in this category that under no circumstances cancellation shall be more than the basic fair. In the second category of CARs related to denied boarding, flight cancellation and flight delays, the Ministry has proposed that an amount equal to 200 per cent of booked one way basic fair plus airline fuel charge subject to maximum of Rs 10,000 would be paid to passengers in case airline arranges alternate flight that is to depart after one hour but within 24 hours of the booked scheduled departure. In the third category of CARs relating to facilities to be provided to persons with reduced mobility, airlines shall develop a procedure for making advance request of stretcher and same should be …

ITB Berlin has announced its co-branded India show, Bharat International Tourism Bazaar, the first pure outbound show for the Indian market to be held in New Delhi from October 3 to 6, 2016 (Monday-Thursday). It is an alliance that focuses on the ‘Power of the Indian Traveller,’ and the show is expected to bring over 12,000 attendees, comprising industry and government, from within India and around the world.