With the British pound taking a hard hit as the UK voted to leave the European Union, the fall by over 8 per cent to Rs 91.36 within a day is expected to increase India’s outbound traffic to the UK. Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), says that it will mainly benefit Indian travellers who are immediately travelling to the nation. “The outbound surge will be momentary – outbound tourism will increase till the GDP remains low. But things are very unpredictable as of now due to the uncertain circumstances,” he said.

Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off five new trains services for Bihar through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan, New Delhi. The latest train to be flagged off is 63213/63214 Patna–Ara MEMU (Daily) train service. The other trains are Danapur-Saharsa ‘Janhit Express’ (Daily, No. 13205/13206), extension of Jaynagar-Saharsa Janki Express Upto Katihar (Daily, Tr. No. 15283/15284), extension of Patna-Murliganj Koshi Express upto Purnea Court (Daily, Tr. No. 18697/18698) and extension of 53581/53582 Jasidih-Chandan Passenger train up to Banka. This is the first passenger train between newly constructed Chandan-Banka line.

In a bid to expand its India portfolio, Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO, Oman Air, said that Oman Air wants to increase its weekly flights from the current 126 from Muscat to 175 weekly flights by 2018. He said, “We currently fly double daily flights to six out of the 11 destinations in India with 21,147 seats. Our current bilateral agreement allows us only so much. If we are allowed more, we will opt to go triple daily to these six same cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad as our load factors are already close to 90 per cent thanks to the travel trade.” Gregorowitsch was visiting Mumbai to talk about Oman’s national carrier’s growth, strategy and expansion plans. The airline also hosted its agent partners for a networking and Iftar party. The airline celebrates 23 years of its India operations.

POP, the new low-cost, long-haul airline on the anvil, plans to operate non-stop flights from the UK to Amritsar (ATQ) and Ahmedabad (AMD). POP directly targets these whilst offering the business sector two new routes with a tailored, non-stop service. The needs of the VFR and leisure/tourism markets will be met at affordable prices that will ensure market penetration by word of mouth. Nino (Navdip) Singh Judge, Chairman and Principal of POP, commented: “POP is different – it is going to be a UK airline whose DNA is Indian. The Punjabi and Gujarati communities in both the UK and India historically have had strong family and business connections and that desire for both communities to keep in touch and visit each other has not abated over the years. Add to that India’s booming economy and the rise of the middle classes – including the expansion in their numbers, their larger disposable income, their increasing spending power and their insatiable desire to travel all means there are vast numbers of potential passengers waiting for an airline like POP to offer them the opportunity to fly. Combine the fact that passengers are contributing to the improvement of their own society in both the UK and India – perhaps even helping a village or an individual known to them personally – means there is an excellent chance for POP’s two proposed routes to Amritsar and Ahmedabad of being a great success.” Currently flights between the UK and India are predominantly between London Heathrow and just two main destinations, Mumbai and Delhi, and three supporting ones, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. There are also a number of indirect UK to India routes through the Middle …

MBD Group and Steigenberger Hotel Group (SHG) have announced a joint venture to manage and franchise hotels under the brand MBD STEIGENBERGER for the Indian Territory. MBD Group will have a 51% stake while Steigenberger Hotel Group will hold a 49% stake in the joint venture company. Management of the joint venture company would be in the hands of the MBD Group looking after the India wide operations of the brand including business development, management and franchising of hotels, India marketing, pre-opening and post-opening assistance, etc wherein Steigenberger would be providing international sales and marketing support, training and brand standards to be deployed in the Indian region to suit the expectations of a luxury traveller. The joint venture would target to open at least 20 hotels in India over the next 15 years with projected annual revenue of hotels under management and/ or franchise of nearly 2000 cr. MBD Steigenberger brand, in-line with the international positioning of the Steigenberger brand, shall be positioned to target the luxury segment in India, a segment that is expected to grow at an extremely fast pace in India. The flagship hotel under the JV will be the MBD Zephyr Bangalore – An MBD Steigenberger Hotel located in the heart of Whitefield Bangalore – the silicon city of India offering 184 rooms and 118 service apartments, interpreting luxury in the true sense of the word. Sonica Malhotra, Managing Director of the Joint venture & Joint Managing Director of the MBD Group, said, “We are extremely proud to announce our association with Steigenberger Hotel Group. The association will ensure that German excellence joins hands with the warmth of Indian hospitality providing the next level experience to …

Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) has started its preparations for elections. Jyoti Kapur, President, ADTOI, has revealed that the election process has been initiated and they have also appointed the Returning Officer (RO) for managing the voting process. He said that Harbans Singh, Retired Secretary, Election Commission of India, has been appointed as the RO. While he did not reveal the election date, he said that they will be sending the notice for the same to the General House next week.

Pawan Hans is all set to develop the first heliport in the country in Rohini, Delhi, and it will be done within a month, reveals B. P. Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director. Speaking at an event today, he said, “Under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, governance has taken a lead and we are bringing up the first heliport of the country in Rohini, Delhi. It will be ready in a month’s time for the use of people of the people in Delhi and its neighbouring states. And the policy also promotes to bring similar hubs.”

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Northern Region members are going to Colombo, Sri Lanka from July 8-11, 2016, for their monthly meeting, reveals Rajan Sehgal, President, TAAI-NR. “We are taking a total of 60 members from the Northern Region to Colombo, Sri Lanka, for our monthly meeting. We will be meeting the hotel associations as well as the Sri Lanka Tourism Board to educate our members about the destination. This will be followed by an excursion to casinos and other attractions in the city,” he said.

Vistara has announced the addition of Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, as its 18th destination, effective September 30, 2016. Port Blair will be served daily from Kolkata and from New Delhi (same aircraft service via Kolkata). With this new flight, frequency between Delhi and Kolkata will also increase to three flights daily. Twice daily service to Kolkata from Delhi had commenced on June 10 this year, and has seen very high demand for Vistara’s product. One way fares start from Rs 5,500 from Kolkata and Rs 9,850 from New Delhi. Tickets are now available for sale on all channels.

jüSTa Hotels and Resorts has launched Design Hotel Chennai, at Phoenix Market City, Chennai. A 26-room boutique hotel, the property aims to seamlessly connect past and present international design movements to the timeless local traditions of South India. Designed on the styles of four distinct contemporary art, each floor at Design Hotel is an infusion of traditional South Indian Art / Architecture, namely – Ati, Maya, Rooh and Nunya; and has been designed by renowned interior designer – Pronit Nath.