Category Archives: Agents

Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) will release a detailed FAQ on service tax for the travel industry that is available on the GPS mobile application free of cost. Keeping up the initiative of being an e-event or green event, GPS has made the service tax ready-reckoner available to the travel trade through the GPS event app. It will further continue to add a lot more information relevant to the travel and hospitality trade  through this application. GPS is organised by Nagpur-based Jagsons Travels. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Founder, GPS said, “We want each and every travel agent to understand and know about service tax, how it has to be applied and implemented in the day to day travel business. To educate the travel trade we had conducted workshops on service tax  at all the five shows of GPS 2016. The handbook will be online by September 10, 2016. Agents can download the GPS app available on Android and iOS platforms. Users can also send us their queries related to service tax on tax@gps-india.com, which will be addressed. The presentation that we had made on service tax to all the attendees at GPS is also uploaded on the application.”

Registering over 1 million flight and bus ticket bookings on its travel marketplace in August, Paytm will further invest Rs 300 crore on its travel business as it plans to launch new categories and ancillaries owing to its exponential growth. The flight bookings have been driving a 4X month-on-month growth and the company expects twice the growth over the next six months. Paytm’s bus tickets segment recently turned break-even while the hotels section is expected to break-even soon. Abhishek Rajan, Vice President, Paytm, said, “We have seen exponential growth in all categories and will soon offer new services to our customers. Leveraging Paytm’s significant market penetration and strong brand proposition, we hope to grow India’s online travel booking pie by introducing new customers from tier II, III towns and cities to this category.”

Australia-headquartered Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) has expanded its portfolio in India with the launch of FCM Incoming focusing exclusively on inbound travel. FCM Incoming will focus on leisure travel experiences in and around the Indian subcontinent, including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Prashant Narayan has been appointed as Country Head, FCM Incoming. He will be responsible for brand expansion with a specific focus on building inbound holiday solutions for individual and group requirements of leisure travellers. FCM Travel Solutions and Flight Shop MD India Rakshit Desai said, “FCM Incoming has been launched to delve into the potential of the Indian subcontinent as an inbound market, and showcase the regions rich offerings to a global audience.” Narayan joins FCM Incoming with an experience of over 22 years within the service industry. Prior to this, he was associated with Thomas Cook as COO-inbound business and was also a member-executive committee of Thomas Cook (I) Ltd.

Caper Travel Company is all set to launch a new transport company. According to Bharat Bhushan Atree, Managing Director, Caper Travel Company announced about the new venture at the cocktail evening they hosted for their partners in the travel trade. He revealed that initially they will start off with 100 luxury cars, which will have GPS and state-of-the-art software for tracking movements, to ensure the safety of their clients.

Thomas Cook India Limited’s education and training vertical, Centre of Learning, felicitated 270 students of the 2015-2016 batch at its fifth Convocation Ceremony held at the Indian Merchants Chamber, Mumbai. The ceremony was graced by the Chief Guest Craig Astridge, Regional Head, Marketing and Commercial Services, Asia-Pacific International Air Transport Association. Other guests at the event included Lokesh Matta – Regional Training Business Development Manager, South Asia at International Air Transport Association (IATA) along with Soraya Homchuen – Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India), and Smeeta Gulvady,‎ Vice President & Head- Centre of Learning at Thomas Cook (India). The Centre of Learning Convocation Ceremony honoured its students who had successfully completed the Travel Professional Program, a Post Graduate Course in Travel & Tourism Management, Certificate Course in World Tour Management, IATA. Scholarship certificates and special prizes were awarded to top performers of Centre of Learning’s Travel Professional Program – a Post Graduate course in Travel & Tourism Management.

Threeland Travel, an inbound operator for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar represented by Global Destinations in India organised an eight day familiarisation trip for key travel trade agents in Vietnam in August 2016. The visit showcased cultural, leisure and historical offerings of Vietnam such as the Temple of Literature, boat ride to the three caves of Tam Coc, trip to My Son – to discover the hidden treasure of the Cham culture, discovering Cu Chi tunnels, a network of over 200km of tunnels and more. Pruthvi Khetani, General Manager – Mumbai, Global Destinations says, “The Indian travel trade fraternity plays a great role in highlighting not just the usual offerings of the country but also educating potential travellers on various activities they can experience in Vietnam. It is culturally rich destination that offers a wide range of leisure experiences to travellers. More importantly, it is easily accessible from India, which makes it preferred for visitors of different age groups. The teams of Threeland Travel and Global Destinations worked tirelessly to make this visit a grand success.” The journey extensively covered activities from the South to North of Vietnam including a trip to two remaining sanctuaries in Hoa Lu, witnessing show of water puppetry, cruising through the rock formations of Halong Bay, visiting the glamour town of Hoian, boat cruising in the canals of Ben Tre, exploring Ho Chi Minh City and dinner on Indochina Junk Cruise.

Bengaluru-based OTA, Via.com has partnered with seven state-operated corporation buses to offer real-time online booking on its agents’ outlets, its website and mobile App for a range of State Road Transport Corporation bus services. Currently, it has tied up with seven state corporations, including Gujarat, J&K, Odisha, Punjab, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Goa. With this move, Via.com is expecting an increase of 30 per cent in its overall bus bookings by the next quarter. Currently, VIA sells bus tickets worth of Rs 10 crore every month. To increase its presence in the land transport sector, the company is also looking at tying up with other state-run bus operators, including Himachal Pradesh, Rajashtan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharastra in the near future. Apart from the state-run buses, Via.com offers bookings across categories such as Volvo, air-conditioned, non-air-conditioned, deluxe, semi deluxe, sleeper and semi sleeper buses. VIA will offer competitive prices on bus tickets through over 5,000 bus operators and more than 75,000 routes across India, the company said. Swaminathan Vedaranyam, Chief Executive Officer, VIA said, “We are seeking to strengthen our portfolio of offerings and ensure that we remain the one-stop shop for travel solutions. With this integration, we aim to open this channel for a section of travellers who are loyal to state-run buses to make life hassle-free and easier for them.” The ticket prices for most routes range from Rs 650-1500. From April-July 2015 to April-July 2016, the growth in terms of sale bookings from the bus segment has grown 3X on Via.com, the CEO added.

Thomas Cook Tours (TCT)’s Centre of Learning, also the education and training vertical of Thomas Cook (India), intimated its holding company that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Sharad Nautiyal, General Manager Training, representing the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation Limited and Smeeta Gulvady, Vice President & Head, Centre of Learning, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. in the presence of Hari Ranjan Rao (IAS,) Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation. Under the MOU, Thomas Cook’s Centre of Learning will impart training programmes – ‘Explore Madhya Pradesh’ via engaging learning modules to over 660 travel agents, covering 20 cities (Kolkata, Noida, Gurgaon, Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur, Mumbai, Goa, Raipur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Bengaluru) in the next two months. A qualifying evaluation will be followed post the training session and top 2 winners from amongst the 660 travel agents across 20 cities will be hosted for a 2 nights/3 days hotel stay by Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation Limited.

Thomas Cook (India), in its bid to improving tourist infrastructure and promote better sanitation-hygiene at tourist destinations has announced the pilot launch of pre-fabricated sanitary installations. Udhagamandalam (Ooty) was chosen as the first site for this initiative. The Thomas Cook India toilet units can be used free of cost. Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head-Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India), said, “Through this initiative, we at Thomas Cook India, intend to improve the sanitation and hygiene of prime tourist locations across India. While the choice of location depends upon various factors like community need, land availability, clearances/approvals from local administrative bodies, availability of resources, etc., we are looking at targeting major tourists hubs to further the Government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. We have identified prime destinations in India that receive high tourist footfalls but face a deficit of sanitation facilities for this.”

Travstarz Global Group continues its growth spree after India and Thailand Offices with the opening of its DMC Office in Mauritius. This was announced by Sucheta Nagpal, Director & CEO, Travstarz Global. “As we look to spread our wings further, we are always looking for Strategic Partnerships and Acquisitions with established local DMCs across the world to bring them under the Travstarz Banner. Travstarz Mauritius is another step in the direction. The Mauritius Office will not only be an inbound DMC for Mauritius but will also look after the Sales & Marketing of our Online Portal www.travelrezonline.com for the Mauritius and other African Markets”, Sucheta Nagpal added. Fardeen Ebrahimsaib, the Director for Travstarz Mauritius says “We have had a strong presence in Mauritius for the past several years with our own fleet of Vehicles, Permanent Airport Representatives and almost all major contracted hotels and we are very glad to be a part of Travstarz Global Group now, which in recent years has been the fastest growing Travel Wholesaler & DMC in India driven by the young and dynamic couple duo of Sucheta and Pankaj Nagpal”.