Category Archives: Agents

In a move that will ease the visa application process for potential travellers from the surrounding regions of Delhi/NCR, the Embassy of the Czech Republic and VFS Global have opened a Visa Application Centre in Gurugram. Earlier this month, visa applications centres were also opened for the Czech Republic in Chandigarh and Jalandhar. H.E. Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India, said, “The Gurugram centre marks the launch of another important location within Delhi and NCR where people can submit their Schengen visa applications for travel to the Czech Republic via VFS Global. We thus continue to deliver on our promises. This is not the end of our endeavours, as we will soon announce the opening of additional Czech Visa Applications Centres in the market.” Commenting on the new VAC in Gurugram, Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, said, “It is our privilege to be the trusted partner of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in India. The extension of our association with this esteemed client across the region reflects their faith in our ability to provide services to enhance the visa application experience for travellers. In view of the increase in travel to the Czech Republic, we are confident our efforts will make the travel experience seamless and smooth.”

Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Airlines Group organised a six-city road show over 10 days across India and Colombo with participation from 39 Singapore stakeholders and over 800 in-market travel agents. India continues to be the fourth-largest source market in terms of visitor arrivals and third-largest tourism receipts generating market for Singapore. The roadshow in India commenced on July 10 in Pune followed by Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata and Hyderabad and concluded in Colombo on July21. Themed ‘Growing Tourism into Singapore, Together’, the delegation was led by G.B Srithar, Regional Director, South Asia Middle East & Africa, STB; Adrian Kong (Area Director, South Asia, Mumbai; and Yuemin Li-Misra, Area Director, South Asia, Delhi. The roadshows featured stakeholders from Singapore representing hotels, airlines, integrated resorts, attractions, Destination Management Companies (DMC) and cruise operators interacting and networking with STB’s travel and trade partners in India. There was also an update session on Singapore’s upcoming tourism offerings as well as Singapore Airlines Group’s range of cabin products and experiences. Srithar spoke about fostering collaborations with the travel trade partners especially from secondary cities across India. He said, “India has always been an important market for us. For the second time in a row, Singapore received more than one million Indian visitors in 2016. As the region’s middle-class becomes more affluent, there will be immense opportunities for international outbound travel and tourism, especially among families, working millennials and incentive movements. Through the roadshows, we seek to renew our ties with the travel trade, entrenching existing partnerships and forging new ones. Through these partnerships, we seek to bring Singapore’s tourism offerings to our target audiences through creative promotions, and in the process, ensuring meaningful results for …

India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (ITDC), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Air India to upgrade the skills and knowledge base of the national airline’s senior executive & cabin crew in hospitality and service industry. The MoU was signed in the presence of Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India and Sudha Chandra, Principal, Ashok Institute of Hospitality & Tourism Management (AIHTM) and General Manager, HRD ITDC at Air India Head Quarters, New Delhi on May 29, 2017. In line with the MoU, AIHTM conducted a 5-Day training program on Leadership Excellence from July 11-15, 2017 for the first batch of senior executives of Air India at Hotel Samrat, Delhi. Speaking oat the Valedictory function held at Hotel Samrat on July 15, 2017, Piyush Tiwari, Officiating Chairman &Managing Director and Director Commercial & Marketing, ITDC said that, “ITDC is grateful to Air India and Shri Ashwani Lohani for their faith in ITDC’s expertise in hospitality training and management. We are proud that we have been the biggest force to drive tourism in India and have always contributed in nation building and progressive development of the industry. Our talented team at AIHTM has specially designed curriculum for Air India employees in consultation with best faculties and Air India management. We are going to plan more programs in the coming quarters for enforcing strength and leadership quality in other organisations as well. ITDC and Air India are two most prominent and visible PSUs in service sector and have lots of common traits and can work for mutual benefit.”  

BuyForexOnline.com has announced the launch of convenient and affordable online remittance services for Indian students planning to study abroad. BuyForexOnline’s wire transfer services allows students to make university payments online at attractive rates. Wire transfer services are available in 26 currencies to 200+ countries worldwide and are executed within 48 hours. “Wire transfers or remittances are a popular method of transferring funds abroad using the SWIFT platform. To remit money one needs to have a sending bank account and a receiving Bank account. The prevailing Forex rate viewed online will be frozen at the time of placing the order, and the sending fee levied by the sending bank and a Beneficiary fee or BEN charges levied by the receiving Bank are also transparently displayed ”said Ananth Reddy, Founder and Managing Director of BuyForexOnline. “So for instance if you are sending US$10,000 abroad through a bank or offline vendors, you might be charged a sending fee of Rs 2,500 and BEN charges of up to US$50, and be offered rates at a margins of up to four per cent, which all could add up to a cost of around Rs 30,000! We are trying to make the process affordable by offering the lowest wire transfer rates and zero sending fee, so a similar remittance transaction online with us would cost the student just about Rs 5,000 or less.’’ “Wire transfers are still an indispensable way to make university payments, especially during the university application and Enrollment phases, though Forex cards are gaining in popularity for making in-person University Fee payments and for maintenance expenses. And to bring-in added convenience we have made documentation much easier by enabling online upload and offering …

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has announced the formal launch of its new business division wholly dedicated to hotel distribution – RoomIt by CWT. The new division is focused on creating and delivering a new and innovative experience to expanding access and providing greater variety to customer accommodations around the world. Scott Brennan, President, hotels, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, says, “RoomIt by CWT simplifies the hotel booking process and puts the most relevant lodging options all in one place. CWT is committed to giving our clients a wide range of global options at the most competitive rates and our investment into RoomIt will enable better, more personalized service to our travelers.” RoomIt is designed with increased functionality and personalization capabilities while equipping companies with the tools to effectively monitor employees’ travel schedules.

The second edition of Global Panorama Showcase in Chandigarh took off from where it left Ahmedabad last week, with a packed crowd and a plethora of business opportunities for the trade. The first day saw select product presentations from the likes of InterGlobe Technology Quotient, FXKart, Tourism Office of Spain, Genting Hong Kong, Sahibji Group of Companies and Voice of Chandigarh. This was followed by the much-awaited session on GST by CA Manish Gadia from GMJ & Co which gave the present representatives of the travel trade valuable insight into the workings of GST. Day 2 will commence the B2B sessions and with that it will bring to the front the tourism potential of this Tier II city.

Amadeus India celebrated its two decades of successful market leadership across the Indian Subcontinent, with top customers during an evening of entertainment at Roseate House New Delhi on July 13, 2017. Rakesh Bansal, Chief Executive Officer, Amadeus Indian subcontinent said, “We are delighted to share this accomplishment with all our stakeholders. I feel immense pride that Amadeus continues to be the market leader and preferred technology partner for the travel industry. This could not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our employees as well as the unwavering support of our valued customers. As we look forward to many more years of continued success, we would like to express our appreciation to our partners who have shown consistent trust in Amadeus.”

Akbar Travels has re-introduced its Super Saver Wednesdays promo that offers zero convenience fee and is valid for bookings done on Wednesdays on the company’s website (www.akbartravels.com) as well as the App. Customers are also exempted from paying service fees on ticket cancellations, reissue, adding baggage and seat selection.

The second leg of this year’s GPS starting July 13 will bring with it another unique programme. Announcing this is Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, GPS, says, “We have started working with international tourism boards to do an educational workshop for travel agents starting this September-October. Titled ‘GPS Educational Destination Workshop – International’ (EDWIn), it will involve interested agents signing up to travel to a particular international destination to learn about the country at a highly subsidised participation fee.” GPS has already tied up with Singapore Airlines as its international airline partner as well as Genting HK. It is also in talks with various NTOs including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, UAE, Egypt, Turkey and Greece. GPS will soon launch a similar programme for domestic destination in partnership with various state boards. Agents are requested to register for the same at GPS will shortlist about 20-25 travel agents from each city that GPS travels to. The selection will be based on their level of participation, the number of meetings they do, their level of networking and the amount of business or leads they generate during GPS shows. Anand explains further, “They also have to attend all presentations and sessions. These agents will be chosen to attend these educational workshops that we will conduct in association with the tourism boards. The visits will include hotel inspections, meeting local DMCs and travel agents from that destination and doing activities that they can include in their itineraries. It will turn out to be very cost-effective for them. This will be open only to tier II and tier III travel agents as they are the ones who don’t get enough exposure to …

Online travel company TravelTriangle recently organised a session on GST for travel agents associated with their platform. TravelTriangle roped in reputed law firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys to facilitate the session, which was conducted by Kapil Kumar Sharma. Aimed at educating TravelTriangle’s travel partners about the impending GST rollout and its implications on their business, the seminar gave attendees an overview of GST and changes in the taxation structure. Changes in law governing the travel industry in context of a marketplace were also discussed, as were the compliance requirements under the GST regime and the grey areas that still exist. Other critical aspects, such as the transition from the current market approach to the ‘One Nation, One Tax, One Market’ model proposed under the GST, were also deliberated over in detail. Speaking on the reason behind the undertaking, Yuvraj Khemani, Finance Controller, TravelTriangle said, “While the GST rollout is expected to benefit all stakeholders in the fast-growing Indian travel industry, the actual impact of the new tax regime is still not completely understood by a vast majority of businesses across the country. This was a knowledge gap that we wanted to address with this session. TravelTriangle always endeavours to support its partners at every step of their business journey and this session was a step in the same direction.” The company has launched a GST guide focussing on the travel-relevant aspects of the GST rollout, and has set up a dedicated email address for agents to mail their GST-related queries. Apart from that, TravelTriangle is also training its internal teams to aid agents with the GST registration process as well as its operational aspects.