Category Archives: Agents

Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) is all set to present itself to a new city in its next edition—Hyderabad. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, GPS, revealed, “We are taking GPS to a new city in 2018 and we will be having GPS Hyderabad from February 8-11, 2018. The venue still needs to be decided. With this new addition, GPS 2018 will be held in a total of eight cities around India.”

After the success of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS)’s Educational Destination Workshop-International (EDWIN) in Ladakh, it is now set to go to Bali, Indonesia in November. Harmandeeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, GPS, has revealed that the registrations for EDWIN – Bali have started, and interested delegates can choose to fly from Delhi on November 29, 2017 and from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Coimbatore and Kochi on November 28, 2017. The 5 nights/6 days package starts at Rs. 32,000 all inclusive. The workshop would allow agents and tour operators from various cities to experience the destination.

The Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) launched its first ever South Korea specialist programme in India with an aim to educate Indian travel trade partners about the travel assets of South Korea. The content is specifically designed as per the needs, requirements and expectations of the Indian travellers. The course is structured into four modules, each focusing on different aspect of tourism offerings of the destination. Upon completion, the participants will be duly acknowledged with Korea Specialist certificates. The course is created and hosted on TravelGyaan website. After completing the module, the participants can further take up the itinerary challenge and stand a chance of winning an I Phone 8. Approximately 450 travel agents have registered for the programme so far while 170 have finished their training programme. Jong Sool Kwon, Director, KTO, said, “Indian outbound market has tremendous potential and diverse requirements based on which we would like to educate the travel trade partners about South Korea’s tourism assets. We urge all the travel agents to come forward and make the most of the knowledge we intend to impart.”

Travel insurance provider TrawellTag Cover-More planned an accelerated growth strategy with the recent acquisition of Cover-More Group by Swiss-based Zurich Insurance Group. Dev Karvat, CEO, TrawellTag Cover-More said, “Zurich Insurance Group is one of the top three insurers in the world. With this development, we will benefit from their infrastructure and technology. Our Customer Care facility has now merged with Zurich’s World Travel Protection. We will not only manage claims now but also have a fully in-house support system to take care of customers anywhere in the world.” “The mother brand will continue as is and while the front-end will not change for its travel partners in India, the back-end will in terms of better facilities and infrastructure,” Karvat adds. He also revealed that TrawellTag Cover-More planned to tie up with another airline in the next few months. It currently works with GoAir to offer travel insurance to its passengers.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India awarded Abercrombie & Kent India the first prize in Category-I as the Best Inbound Tour Operator, for 2015-16. This is A&K India’s fourth National Tourism Award. The award was received by Vikram Madhok, Managing Director and Arunendu Roy, Director (Finance). Speaking on this occasion, Madhok said this award reinforces and enhances Abercrombie & Kent’s reputation for conducting our business in an honest, ethical and reliable manner, demonstrating integrity in everything we do. The award was presented by the Hon’ble President of India Ram Nath Kovind, in the presence of Minister of State for Tourism and other select dignitaries & invitees from the travel fraternity at New Delhi on September 27, 2017.

Karan Anand, Head-Relationships and Supplier Management, Cox & Kings Ltd, was conferred the prestigious Gold Medal for Tourism (Médaille d’Or du Tourisme) by the French Government during a special ceremony hosted at the French Consulate in Mumbai. This is the first-ever Gold Medal given by the French government to an Indian in the tourism industry. Anand was awarded the gold medal by Yves Perrin, Consul General of France in Mumbai, for his pioneering contribution in promoting France in India. Perrin said, “We are pleased to give the gold medal to Mr. Karan Anand for his efforts in strengthening touristic ties between our two countries. As the Consul General of France, I would like thank him for his distinguished work towards the promotion of France as a prime tourist destination.” Sheetal Munshaw, Director – Atout France, added, “We are absolutely elated that Mr. Anand is the first Indian recipient of this prestigious gold medal in tourism conferred by the French Republic. Mr. Anand has been a great friend of France since several years and has actively contributed to the evolution of tourism to France. He has lent his expertise consistently and has over the years willingly extended his unwavering support to showcasing destination France in his capacity as member of the Advisory Board for Atout France. Our association with Cox & Kings has resulted in many innovative promotional programs showcasing the myriad experiences France has to offer. The role of Cox & Kings in introducing new destinations such as Chamonix Mont Blanc, the Grevin Wax Museum in Paris has been instrumental in our showcase of France. In 2016, a joint collaboration resulted in the creation of a first ever gastronomic brochure …

Value Retail, specialists in the creation and operation of luxury shopping destinations offering outlet pricing, the Collection of 11 Chic Outlet Shopping Villages in Europe and China, has appointed AVIAREPS India to support in sales, marketing and trade promotion across India. Value Retail serves the world’s leading brands in key tourism markets in western Europe and China, working with the world’s top travel trade operators to attract customers from all over the world. Value Retail has consistently delivered double-digit growth in gross sales every year since the opening of the first Village, Bicester Village, in 1995. The Villages are widely recognised as the best performing shopping centres in terms of sales densities in the world. Speaking about the partnership, Marcelo Molinari, Group Tourism Director, Value Retail, comments: “India has been a strategic market for Value Retail for many years and we are delighted to be working with AVIAREPS to extend our presence in the region. India is rapidly becoming one of the fastest growing outbound travel markets in the world, second only to China. Our award-winning Villages are just outside the major European cities and offer guests the world’s best brands along with memorable shopping experiences supported by events, food, styling services and unparalleled hospitality – there is something for everyone.” Value Retail also has specialist in-house Groups & Events teams in every Village dedicated to serving business tourism guests. The company creates tailor-made programmes for groups of between 10 and 7,000 attendees to support the needs of the growing Indian MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) and luxury tourism market. Also speaking on the association, Joseph Fernandes, General Manager, AVIAREPS India, said: “Shopping is the top activity for Indians …

Global Panorama Showcase is returning for its sixth edition in 2018 with more global exhibitors and  buyers. The registrations have now opened up for seven cities starting with Nagpur (Jan 15-17, 2018), followed by Ahmedabad (July 5-7), Chandigarh (July 12-14), Lucknow (July 19-21), Kolkata (Aug 2-4), Kochi (Aug 9-11) and Pune (Aug 23-25), reveals Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, GPS.

Agents can now book holidays from October 2017 to April 2018 with Trafalgar offering confirmed departures for autumn, winter and spring 2017-18. Nicholas Lim, Trafalgar’s President-Asia, says, “With Diwali coming up and the year-end Christmas holiday season just around the corner, we believe that this will give our agents and the trade all the confidence and peace of mind when their clients decide on a Trafalgar European holiday with their loved ones.  In a world that is constantly in flux and a notoriously late booking market here in Asia, this 100% Definite Departure guarantee presents a golden opportunity to all agents who are now able capitalise on all selling opportunities as far out as April.  With an overall 98% independent guests satisfaction rating and a high 52 per cent repeat business annually, we believe we have the product that the trade can rely on.”

Thomas Cook India has announced that its Board has approved the signing of a definitive agreement with Tata Capital Limited to acquire its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Tata Capital Forex Limited (foreign exchange) and TC Travel and Services Limited (travel services). The network of the two acquired entities includes 24 locations pan India. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals. Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook India, said, “Our acquisition of Tata Capital’s Forex and travel companies serves to further strengthen the Thomas Cook India Group’s leadership position in the Travel & Foreign Exchange sector in the country. This also gives us the opportunity to continue to serve the strong corporate portfolio of both Tata Capital Forex Limited and TC Travel Services Limited- large corporate houses including flagship Tata Group companies; as also a set of new retail customers.” He added, “The acquisition creates clear opportunities, including a significant increase in scale and network reach, volume/ buying advantages as well as technology gains, all resulting in stronger customer service and stakeholder value.” Praveen Kadle, Managing Director and CEO, Tata Capital said, “Travel and Forex services are perfectly poised for rapid and high growth. We are confident that Thomas Cook would take this business forward and help it reach its potential.”