Category Archives: Agents

Celebrating 20 years of operations, Happy Tours will conduct a live webinar on Slovenia today at 3 pm (IST). Happy Tours has offices in Slovenia, Croatia, London and Athens and a dedicated team based in Pune. Happy Tours is an inbound European tour operator for both M!CE and leisure groups throughout Europe. It also owns a hotel near Plitvice Lakes – Hotel Lyra www.lyraplitvice.com in Croatia and has its own coaches. To register, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

According to a comprehensive survey conducted by EbixCash Travel & Holidays to understand travel trends in a new normal scenario, 82% of respondents feel that people will start travelling within the next 3-12 months. While the rest 18% feel it that they will travel only after a year. The responses were collected from 5,124 respondents comprising travel enthusiasts, corporates and stakeholders from M!CE sectors.

More than 2,300 tourism and hospitality students and academicians from 77 universities around the country have been registered with CSR-initiative started by Voice of India Tourism (VOIT) started to educate and enlighten the young minds of the industry through daily live learning sessions. Industry leaders from different sectors and fields are sharing their experience on video call sessions which is complementary and free of cost for students. Lucknow University is the partner for the online virtual training program of the students.

The leading international travel marketing alliance, Travel Consul reveals that while lockdowns and movement restrictions had brought business to a standstill, tourism stakeholders (46%) kept clients engaged through live chats – the most preferred mode of communication amongst all the technology available today. These virtual face-to-face interactions were followed closely by a mix of telephone calls, emails and social media participation.

Malaysia Airlines has introduced an enhanced Economy Class flexible fare options across its entire network for all passengers to enjoy, offering unparalleled safety, security, flexibility and a completely hassle-free, premium experience based on the needs of each customer. Earlier limited to domestic, ASEAN and South Asian destinations, passengers will now have access to three unique fare options (Lite, Basic, Flex), to all destinations except Malaysia to Japan and Japan to Malaysia, Jeddah and Madinah, beginning 22 June 2020. Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Captain Izham Ismail said, “With the world slowly recovering from the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as our passengers begin to travel again, Malaysia Airlines seeks to take them to the skies without the burden of worry, with a truly hassle-free experience. Putting their needs as priority, we took the time to listen and gain invaluable insight to our passengers through extensive feedback, and from there we redesigned, redefined and are proud to introduce our enhanced fare family, providing our dear customers with a comprehensive product that caters to their every need, no matter the nature of travels. As the first airline in the Asia Pacific region to fully introduce flexible fare options across our network, these fares will allow greater personalization for our passengers, balancing a simple and intuitive booking experience, alongside unforgettable Malaysian Hospitality onboard and on the ground, creating a stress-free and seamless travel experience. This reaffirms our commitment to putting our passengers first, especially in these uncertain times where passengers may be apprehensive to travel. With this we hope to instill a sense of confidence and trust in them to Fly Malaysia once again.” Regardless of your travel needs, all passengers …

A recent survey by Travel Consul, the leading international travel marketing alliance, reveals that to ensure their survival amid the COVID-19 pandemic, most travel trade stakeholders in India (43%) have had to adjust their business model to changing times by focusing more on training programmes (40%) and investing in technology for enhancing both product and customer service (35%). Stakeholders have resorted to improving their current products, designing new products, examining new destinations as well as audiences, and strengthened customer service while even improving the supply base.

When asked what it is that destination management organisations can do to facilitate business growth for their partner travel agents and tour operators, most respondents (83%) cited introduction of a health and safety certification as the most important criteria. The survey was conducted by Travel Consul, a leading international travel marketing alliance.

In the financial results announced for the year ending March 31, 2020, Thomas Cook (India) has revealed that despite witnessing the growing impact of COVID-19 across its global network as early as January 2020, its consolidated revenue from operations grew three per cent from Rs66 billion to Rs68.3 billion. The tour operator has now implemented a comprehensive ‘Reimagine Program’ across businesses and processes to adapt to the COVID-19 era of travel. The group witnessed the growing impact of COVID-19 in January 2020 for the Hong Kong business, February for Thomas Cook and SOTC, and in March for the inbound business in TCI.

Amidst the ongoing tensions between China and India, Travstarz has initiated talks with Rezb2b, a CTRIP Subsidiary which holds a minority stake in Travstarz to buy back 100 per cent of its shares. Pankaj Nagpal, Managing Director, Travstarz Global Group shared this update and said, “Travstarz shall soon be a 100% Indian Company once again and all shares will be held by us and my son, Raghuv Nagpal, too shall be joining the Board post the transaction which will be finalized soon.”

NITI Aayog’ CEO Amitabh Kant has said that systematic tourism promotion campaigns will be important in the near future for the growth of Indian tourism industry. He also said that a domestic-focused Incredible India 2.0 campaign that showcases what the nation offers to Indians could be the post-pandemic plan for the tourism sector.