Category Archives: Agents

Highlighting India’s potential, Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – ME, India and Southeast Asia, South African Tourism, says that post Covid, she is seeing India’s outbound tourism market bounce back much stronger compared to rest of the world. “Given the immense potential that lies in the Indian market, it continues to remain among our top three focus markets for 2024 and holds a position of strategic importance,” she said.

Nexa Travel and Incentive, a DMC of Turkey with more than 15 years of experience in the travel and events business, has appointed Global Destinations as their representative in India. This partnership aims to strengthen Nexa’s presence in the Indian market. This collaboration enhances their presence and services in the Indian market. Global Destination is a distinguished name in the travel and hospitality representation sector, carrying a wealth of experience and expertise in promoting international travel destinations. Nexa Travel and Incentive is one of Turkey’s DMC & MICE company that provides tailored products based on the client’s requirements and budget. Nexa specializes in a range of services: Meeting & Incentives Destination Wedding Management Innovative & Creative Turkey Packages & Tours Corporate Travel Medical Travel Beneficial Land Services Figen Albayrak, Managing Director, Nexa Travel and Incentive states, “We are thrilled to partner with Global Destinations as our representative in India. Their extensive experience, market knowledge, and commitment to excellence align perfectly with Nexa’s values and vision. We are confident that they will be instrumental in steering Nexa Travel and Incentives within the travel trade fraternity pan-India; making travel to Turkey more accessible, enjoyable, and memorable. Together, we look forward to delivering innovative solutions and exceptional service to travelers to Turkey.” “We are honored to represent Nexa Travel and Incentives,” commented Mr. Pranav Kapadia, Founder and Director, at Global Destinations. “Nexa’s reputation for quality and product innovation precedes them, and we are excited to introduce them to our Indian travel agents. This partnership marks the beginning of a fruitful collaboration that will benefit travel companies across the country.’

Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, Oman invites the travel trade for an exclusive webinar focusing on the latest offerings of Oman. Gain valuable insights to help create enriched itineraries for your clients, showcasing the best of what Oman has to offer. Unlock Oman’s beauty for your valued clients. For more information, or to register, please contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

New York City Tourism + Conventions led a delegation of six tourism partners along with Turkish Airlines (they were the part during the Mumbai events) and has concluded its annual sales mission in India, held from January 29th to February 3rd in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Delhi. Throughout the mission, New York City Tourism + Conventions and the partners participated in a series of events, appointments, and meetings, aimed at re-engaging the travel trade across the market. The initiative successfully strengthened ties with the Indian travel industry, positioning New York City as a premier travel destination. As part of this mission, representatives the NYC Tourism delegation engaged with key stakeholders and travel agencies in three feeder cities – including Ahmedabad (first time post pandemic) – across India and showcased the diverse offerings that New York City has for Indian travelers. “We were pleased to be back in India, a rapidly growing feeder market for New York City tourism, for our annual sales mission, said Makiko Matsuda Healy, Senior Vice President, Tourism Market Development for New York City Tourism + Conventions. “Recently, we introduced the Travel Trade Academy program, thoughtfully enriched with Hindi subtitles to ensure that the Indian travel trade can fully engage with the five-borough destination. By incorporating Hindi subtitles, we aim to empower the trade to adeptly respond to evolving consumer demands, providing a diverse and personalized array of NYC experiences that resonate with the preferences of the Indian audience.” New York City Tourism + Conventions partners participating in the mission include: Empire State Building, Trump International Hotel & Tower NY, Hudson Yards, Millennium Hotels, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, and Madame Tussauds. In Mumbai New York City Tourism + …

BTFL Travel, a Mumbai-based representation company, has been appointed by Indonesia DMC – Travel Hanger as their India representative to handle the B2B market pan India. Travel Hangar Bali is a premier destination management company that specializes in curating tailored journeys for clients. From the pristine beaches of Bali to the cultural richness of Yogyakarta and beyond, its experts ensure seamless logistics, authentic encounters, and personalised itineraries.

Naveen Kundu, Managing Director, EbixCash Travel, said, “Investments will pour into India, as the focus is rapidly shifting to 100-150 cities, towns, and districts of India. This is where growth will come from, primarily driven by funds that will invest in real estate, hotel projects, convention centers among others.”

VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions appoints GB Srithar as the Head of Tourism Services effective 01 February 2024. Srithar joins VFS Global from Singapore Tourism Board (STB), where he spent over 27 years in a career that spanned multiple functions, including Human Resources, Organizational Development, and International Marketing. He notably served as the Area Director for South India & Sri Lanka and was instrumental in leading the International Marketing and Brand Campaigns teams at STB’s headquarters. His last role as the Regional Director saw him responsible for STB’s regional marketing, tourism development, and trade partnership work across India, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Srithar will support our Client Governments by offering specialised services in Travel, Trade, and Tourism Services. This support will add value and enable these governments to achieve their strategic goals of boosting tourism and trade in their respective countries. According to Zubin Karkaria, Founder and CEO, VFS Global, “GB Srithar is a valuable addition to our team, bringing a wealth of experience, knowledge, and a proven track record. His expertise positions him to lead our efforts with our Client Governments to promote travel, trade, and tourism from key source markets.” GB Srithar, Head, Tourism Services, speaking about his new role said, “I am very pleased to join VFS Global – a very prestigious brand and global leader in its field. VFS Global gives me an incredible opportunity to leverage my experience on a global scale working with our Client Governments to promote and add value to Travel, Trade and Tourism Services in both established and emerging markets.’’ This appointment is very much in line with …

In a bid to boost number of incentives coming from India, Business Events Sydney has announced new funding available for travel agents and meeting planners in India. Kristian Nicholls, Executive GM, Client Engagement, BESydney, shared that applications to the Sydney Meetings Fund (SMF) are open for a limited time and can be used to cover/offset an event’s on-the-ground expenses in Sydney. This funding is designed for 100–250-person group and is accessible through BESydney’s website.

The 6th HAI Hotelier’s Conclave was held in Delhi with the theme ‘Hospitality: The Engine for GDP Growth and Employment.’ Industry leaders highlighted the importance of tourism as a job creator. Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and former CEO of Niti Aayog, stated, “Tourism is a significant driver of growth. Globally, it is a $5 trillion industry, with India’s share being less than 2%, a figure that needs substantial increase. From a political perspective, politicians primarily understand one thing: the number of jobs generated by the tourism sector. Tourism has a significant multiplier impact, creating seven indirect jobs for every direct job. However, the tourism industry has not effectively communicated to politicians its role as a major job creator. It would be worthwhile for the tourism industry to set a target of informing the political system at both the central and state levels that focusing on tourism could result in the creation of 25 million jobs by 2030.”

“This year we are forecasting India to be a £924 million market which would be approximately a billion-pound market from India! We are also predicting 695,000 visitors from India which is back to pre-covid levels. India has recovered and there is real excitement about the market. We also see an increase in spend per visitor – people are spending 30%-40% more than they were pre-covid,” VisitBritain CEO, Patricia Yates says.