Category Archives: Agents

The Globus family of brands has instituted a travel policy which states that they are proactively suspending the operation of all China itineraries – and those vacations that include stops in China – through April 30, 2020. Travellers affected by these cancellations have been informed in order to adjust their travel plans. The step has been taken in response to COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent Health Ministry warnings to avoid all travel to China. As an added precaution for the health and safety of all of its guests, anyone who has travelled from/visited or transited through China, Macau, or Hong Kong, within the 21 days prior to the start of their vacation will be restricted on Globus family tours. Additionally, some governments have implemented wider restrictions that limit the arrival of travellers who have travelled from/visited or transited through countries beyond those currently within the Globus policy above. If they have recently travelled overseas, it is recommended that travellers check the current travel policy of their final destinations. The Globus family of brands continues to monitor the situation closely to determine if additional modifications and updates are needed in accordance with the Indian and international travel advisements and policies. Therefore, Globus is offering an interim policy for its travellers and agents to adjust travel plans and help alleviate immediate concerns and related penalties. At this time, all of its tours are operating as scheduled with the exception of mainland China. Further updates are available on the websites – CosmosVacations.in; GlobusJourneys.in

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) together with 3 travel partners (Resorts World Sentosa, Dream Cruises and Royal Caribbean International / TIRUN Travel Marketing) took part in a trade engagement event organised by Sheeraz Tours in Lucknow on February, 26. The session was held in Hotel Hilton Garden and was well attended by more than 100 tour operators and agencies from in and around the city. Leveraging on Sheeraz Tours’ strength as a leading player in Uttar Pradesh on both b2c and b2b fronts, the event enabled STB and its partners an effective platform to reach out to and build connections with the local travel trade partners and providing them with an update on their respective product offerings. This was all about the new product updates and also about the speculation for coronavirus which is going in the mind of tourists travelling abroad, Raymond Lim, Area Director, Singapore Tourism Board, India has gave the presentation along with Dhirti Kapoor. Ms Diksha Batra, Vice President- Sales, Dream Cruises, Pradeep Israni-Senior Manager, Resort World Sentosa and Midhat Hussain, Head North India, Royal Caribbean Cruise were also part of the event. Apart from giving the product information for 2020, they also guided the travel agents on how clear the myth of COVID-19 from the client’s mind and what safety measures are being taken to fight the virus. S.M.A.Sheeraz, MD, Sheeraz Tours said that the session like this was required to boost the enthusiasm among the II-tier and III-tier city travel agents of Uttar Pradesh and he is working to give the best exposures for the outbound tourism in the state. Hina Sheeraz, Director-Sales, Sheeraz Tours was also present at the event as she coordinated …

Ahead of ‘The Great India Road Show’ by TravelBullz in Delhi, KD Singh, Founder & President, TravelBullz said that they are coming up with three new destinations in 2020. He adds, “We have just gone live with Dubai. We have come up with a product which takes Dubai to the next level as far as the experience is concerned. For instance, with us, clients get a complimentary one-hour stretch limo ride in Dubai. Coming up in March 2020 are two more new products that we will be offering to the industry – Singapore and Bali. We have already established our Singapore office. This will be followed by Bali over the next couple of weeks.” He further informed that the roadshow will be an annual event where hotels across the UAE, Thailand, Macau, Singapore, Bali, etc will showcase their products.

Upset by the recent proposal by the IT department to impose 5% TCS on overseas remittance as well as sale of overseas tour package, the travel trade has united to file online petitions on the PMO website urging the government to withdraw the same, claims Pradeep Saboo, Partner, Guideline Travels LLP. He said that he realised there was an urgent need to represent the travel trade to the government on this issue. “Even though I am not part of any trade association, I wanted to bring the industry together in some small way. I have started encouraging travel agents and tour operators like me to go on the PMO grievance website and post their contact details along with the message for withdrawing TCS.” The link for this is https://pmopg.gov.in/pmocitizen/Grievancepmo.aspx where the agent will need to fill in the contact details and put in their suggestion. To help with this, Saboo has also created a ready message that they can copy-paste in the feedback box. He started this on Friday, February 14, 2020 and more than 5,000 individuals signed up for this within the first 48 hours. Saboo pleads, “Please spare two minutes to make a difference to our trade which is facing a very difficult time. This will also affect those who sell cruises.” Saboo adds that he will arrange a meeting between the various trade associations and the travel agents and tour operators soon, post which they will look to send a delegation to meet the PMO or the Finance Ministry.

Winner of multiple India Travel Awards, online B2B Destination Management Company TravelBullz will kickstart its two-city roadshow titled ‘The Great India Road Show’ in Mumbai on February 19, 2020. It will bring together more than 50 hotels and attractions from Thailand. The ‘Great India Road Show’ is a unique platform for hoteliers and travel partners to meet under one roof. Over 200 agents are expected to attend the event in Mumbai. TravelBullz will also take this opportunity to announce new products and initiatives to its travel trade partners. It will launch its new, revolutionary B2B online booking engine “Phoenix” – with its enhanced user interface and ease of booking experience for its partners. It will also launch its first-ever B2B dynamic packaging module along with the showcasing destination – Dubai – that has been recently added to its product portfolio.

The Globus family of brands – Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and Avalon Waterways – has launched a completely new online travel specialist programme for 2020. Titled Globus Family of Brands University, the specialist programme offers three different courses for Avalon waterways, Globus & Cosmos and Monograms. To encourage and inspire travel agents, Globus family has announced a gift voucher of Rs. 500/- to all the agents who complete the modules successfully before 29 February 2020. Upon successfully finishing the programme, travel agent partners will receive a host of benefits including a Certificate of Completion and getting showcased on the Globus & Cosmos websites as experts. “We have noticed, on average, about 30 per cent increase in sales from agents who have completed our specialist programmes. If an agent or agency is serious about increasing their revenue, specialising in selling the Globus family of brands increases their knowledge of our vacations manifold and makes them extremely profitable,” said Varesh Chopra, Globus family of brands’ Regional Director, India, South Asia & Middle East.

Arabian Travel Market 2020 (ATM) has appointed Nijhawan Group to assist with the process of identifying premium quality hosted buyers from India and the Middle East region. With over 40 years’ experience in India as a leading travel conglomerate, Nijhawan Group has been sourcing hosted buyers since 2017. Commenting on the partnership, Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Direct ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “With extensive experience of the Indian and Middle Eastern travel markets, Nijhawan Group is the perfect representative to assist with this year’s hosted buyer programme and to help ensure the recruitment of key, quality players from top source markets such as India. Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, added: “We are delighted to partner with ATM for the upcoming travel showcase in Dubai. Over the coming months we are committed to ensuring a high standard of quality buyers who will benefit from meeting with sellers in a focused and organised environment.” ATM 2020 will also work with Nijhawan Group to create content on the outbound travel trends emerging from the Indian market ahead of the launch of a new series of buyer forums and networking events at this year’s showcase which will focus on India, as well as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and UAE.

Bus Big Tours, the leading operator of open-top sightseeing bus tours in the world has announced that Los Angeles-based East West Marketing (East/West) will serve as its partner in India. East West will oversee business-to-business development and serve as the in-market sales agency for Big Bus product training and solutions from February 2020. “The Indian market is of major importance to us, and we’re excited to leverage East West Marketing’s vast trade network to expand our presence in India.” Said Omid Golshan, EVP Global Growth, Big Bus Tours. “The Big Bus digital transformation has allowed its trade partners to integrate faster,” said Rati Dhodapkar, CEO, East West Marketing India. “With these new tools and efficiencies, we’ll be able to bring the Big Bus brand to new partners in India and introduce more customers to the great cities of the world through its iconic hop-on, hop-off sightseeing tours. It’s invigorating to launch this new partnership in India.”

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has identified 180 tourist sites for organizing Swachhta Action Plan (SAP) activities during the year 2019-20 to create Swachhta Awareness amongst the tourists, students of schools/colleges and stakeholders across the country. Besides, Swachhta Pakhwada and Swachhta-Hi-Seva activities have also been undertaken by MOT at several locations across the country. Facilities like drinking water, toilet, interpretation centre, wi-fi, illumination, ramps, pathways, publication sale counter etc. are provided at the World Heritage and Ticketed monuments. Further, existing facilities are upgraded as per requirement and its up-gradation is a continuous process.

Online travel company MakeMyTrip on Tuesday reported the elevation of Rajesh Magow as the Group Chief Executive Officer while founder Deep Kalra will take up the role of Executive Chairman.“We believe that separating the roles of Group CEO and Executive Chairman will allow us to focus more on long-term strategic opportunities within and outside India, while maintaining our market leading position in our existing businesses,” MakeMyTrip founder Deep Kalra said.