Category Archives: Agents

Sri Lanka is emerging as a high potential incentive destination and corporate venue for employee incentive trips and business meetings, having witnessed an impressive growth of over 15 per cent YOY, with over 233,000 MICE visitors from India in the past six years, according to data from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. Thomas Cook (India) recently hosted an exclusive corporate event in collaboration with Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and SriLankan Airlines to harness the demand for MICE travel to Sri Lanka across mid and large Indian corporates and SMEs. TCI’s internal research and consumer analysis reiterates the significant and growing opportunity of India’s corporate segment, with interest for Sri Lanka as a MICE destination having grown by 15-20 per cent YOY over the last three years. The exclusive corporate event in Mumbai was attended by the crème de la crème of the corporate world, Saroja Siresena, The Consul General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai, and Bollywood celebrity Jacqueline Fernandez.

After a 40-year break from operating product in the region, Contiki has launched an Indian itinerary titled ‘The Eternal India’ that will take intrepid young explorers on a journey through India: from Delhi to Agra to Jaipur to Goa. ‘The Eternal India’ trip is on sale now, with trips running from December 2016. The Eternal India trip will take place over 12 days, following Contiki’s more relaxed ‘In-Depth Explorer’ pace. Travellers get the chance to visit Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore, Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai and finally the beach paradise of Goa. It will include excursions to heritage sites, a safari and special stay at Ranthambore National Park and a trip to the world famous Taj Mahal. Some of the optional activities include a cooking demonstration and local family supper in Jaipur, a Bollywood tour in Mumbai, a tour of Mumbai at dawn and a Yoga class on the beach. Director of Sales & Marketing for Contiki Asia, Sam Morrah, says the new trip is not only a fantastic way to showcase India to young travellers from around the world, but will also help increase brand awareness in the India market where bookings to other destinations such as Europe have increased by 30 per cent this year. “It’s unlikely we’ll see many Indian travellers looking to travel on a Contiki trip in their own country. However young Indians will see just how many travellers from around the world choose Contiki to show them the best travel experiences and this will no doubt result in more young Indian travellers seeking to travel with us to other destinations,” he adds.

Indonesia-based travel company Panorama Destination has joined hands with Outbound Konnections Reps to establish a partnership in India and launch a range of products and organise Fam trips for Indian travel agents. Anjum Lokhandwala, Founder & Director, Outbound Konnections, said “We are happy to be appointed as the India office for Panorama Destination Indonesia and Bali. Panorama Destination is the leader in providing competitive packages and quality of services for all travel segments and we are keen to develop and multiply their market share in India. Indonesia has a lot to offer in terms of culture, scenic beauty, adventure and spas.” Panorama Destination has recently joined OTOAI (Outbound Tour Operators Association of India). There will be a range of new, diverse and competitive products created specifically for the Indian market by Panorama Destination in the coming months and a Director of Business Development will also be appointed specifically for the Indian market. The company specialises in inbound services and offering tailored tours. It has its own fleet of air-conditioned vehicles.

Bird Travels has been appointed as the GSA for Avianca Brazil in India. “We are very delighted to represent and promote Avianca Brazil as their GSA in India. Avianca is a member of Star Alliance covering 22 domestic and one international destination with over 200 daily flights. It has a modern fleet of 41 Airbus aircraft. The major hub airports are Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Salvador. In India we are also entering the BSP very soon for wider distribution,” said Praful Khosla, Executive Vice President, Bird Travels.

Club 7 Holidays and World of Wonders (WOW) Travels have come together in a strategic alliance where both companies will leverage on each other’s strengths, plans and strategies to offer dynamic tours and packages. The alliance will see WOW Travels offering assistance to Club7 Holidays with tour packages, products building, services of professional tour managers, staff training as well as marketing and sales. Sriram Rajmohan, CEO and MD, Club7 Holidays said, “We have been availing services offered by WOW, and have received positive feedback from our customers which has promoted us to enter into a joint venture. With this alliance, we can leverage the knowledge and experience of WOW and expand the base of Club7 from an East-based company to a pan India network.“ At present, both companies will function independently, targeting group holidays, FIT and MICE segments. The companies will also be organising joint roadshows for the travel trade soon. Madhav Pai, CMD, WOW Travels also added, “We are planning to introduce a wide range of products that will be innovative and economical, and will take on the best in the business.”

Thomas Cook India has announced the launch of exclusive international packages – ‘Sharod Shubheccha’ for avid Bengali travellers this Durga Puja, one of the most widely celebrated festivals in India offering a long holiday opportunity, especially in West Bengal. Thomas Cook India has introduced special packages to some of the top favourite international destinations like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Egypt, China, Dubai, Hong Kong, Macau, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, U.K, etc. starting from INR 35,500/- onwards (per person on twin share basis) giving more than one reason to its Bengali travellers, to celebrate an auspicious occasion in a foreign locale. Kolkata & West Bengal, as also Bhubaneshwar & Orissa have been earmarked as an important market for Durga Puja holidays accounting for 10% of our overall leisure travel business and has witnessed an uptake of 27% in bookings y-o-y with consumers booking their holidays almost 2 months in advance. Thomas Cook India’s distribution and reach in West Bengal augments to 6 consumer access centers: 3 owned branches, and 3 Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets. Commenting on the Durga Puja special packages Mr. Rajeev D. Kale, President & Country Head – Leisure Travel & MICE, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said, “Durga Puja is one of the most significant festive occasions and is widely celebrated in West Bengal. Marked by grand celebrations, the 9-day festive extravaganza is one of the biggest holiday seasons in the state. Keeping in mind the strong support received from our discerning Bengali travellers, also considering their evolving preferences and demands, we at Thomas Cook India have designed special packages at exciting price points, to enable Bengali travelers celebrate their favourite festival at their dream destinations- with their loved …

Travel Boutique Online has taken equity stake in Deyor Camps, a chain of branded adventure camps in India. Travel Deyor Camps will be leveraging Travel Boutique Online’s distribution of 19,000 agents in India. Deyor Camps was founded by Dheeraj Jain, Chirag Gupta, Aakaar Gandhi and Gautam Yadav. Under the new partnership, Travel Boutique Online will enable its partners to sell branded campsites at more than 45 locations in India. Ankush Nijhawan, CEO, Travel Boutique Online, said, “Deyor Camps is a niche product, which would certainly attract the young, under 30 crowd in India as well as the MICE segment, especially within the Small and Medium Enterprises. The camps offer a great scope for team building. With the new partnership, TBO is exposing the inventory of Deyor Camps to its partners, to further sell this niche product to their customers.” Gautam Yadav, CEO, Deyor Camps, said, “Travel Boutique Online has access to 19000 travel agents, and we are sure of getting good business through that for Deyor Camps.”

More than 1000 SME tour operators and travel agents gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to protest against the unethical practices by online travel agents. The Small and Medium Tourism Action Group comprised of SME travel agents argued that OTAs are killing the small and medium tour operators by selling below the cost because of foreign funding. Subhash Goyal, Immediate Past President, IATO said, “I congratulate the small and medium tour operators for starting the national movement against the unethical practices by foreign funded OTAs who are buying a hotel room for Rs 2000 and selling it for less than Rs 1000. With this type of practice none of the small operators can compete and slowly they are going bankrupt. This is a very serious situation and the government and all travel associations must look into it.” The agents said they are against the e-coupons and cash discounts offered by the OTAs to reduce actual costs and argued that funding received by OTAs are a result of black money flowing into the industry. An association of small and medium tour operators is on the cards to unite voices against the cause. The agents have requested the government to regulate all OTAs which use the dominant position of having access to funds to kill small and medium tour operators. Memorandum to this effect was sent to the Prime Minister and Tourism Ministry and various travel and tourism associations will take up a legal battle with Competition Commission of India under unfair and unethical trade practices.

Thomas Cook India has launched its Domestic Coach Holidays, allowing travellers affordable seat-in-coach vacations to popular destinations. These destinations would be at a driveable distance from key metros/mini-metros. Currently, the Coach Holidays feature itineraries for popular destinations including Kerala, The Golden Triangle, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh, with departures from key cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kochi, at attractive prices starting from Rs. 6999 (per person on twin share basis).These Coach Holidays are pre-packaged products for customers seeking a bargain domestic holiday in the air conditioned comfort of Volvo/equivalent coaches. The Coach Holidays are targeted at two key segments; families and senior citizens, as also entry level young couples and ad hoc groups of friends. Hence, based on the booking preferences of each segment, the pre-packaged Coach Holidays are available through Thomas Cook’s extensive offline network, its India Toll Free Call Centre or online. The Coach Holidays include transportation by air-conditioned, Wi-Fi enabled Volvo/equivalent coaches and a stay in standard two star hotels with breakfast included. Rajeev D. Kale, President & Country Head – Leisure Travel & MICE, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said, “Domestic Tourism is witnessing a strong resurgence and the launch of our Thomas Cook ‘Coach Holidays’ intends to catalyse this demand. Popular drive-down locations are seeing strong interest and for today’s travel-hungry yet price sensitive audience, our focus on simple, easy to book, seat-in-coach tours offers the unbeatable quality assurance of the Thomas Cook brand. Our Coach Holidays ensure a comfortable and hassle-free voyage on wheels, for families, couples and ad hoc groups of friends.”

According to a recent judgement by the Delhi High Court, there cannot be any audit of assesse records by the Central Excise and Service Tax Department and struck down Rule 5A(2) of Service Tax Rules as ultra vires to the Finance Act, 1994. It is a general practice of Service Tax Department to conduct audit of service tax assessee for last five years by deputing their own officers of the rank of inspector and Superintendents. Service Tax Department also seeks voluminous details and seeks information in self-specified format/annexures of about 32 pages, which are not prescribed under the law. Service Tax Department without assigning any reasons and routinely conducts audit even when it is not prescribed under the law and not conducting special audit. This comes as a huge relief for travel companies who have faced instances of audit by service tax department.