Category Archives: Agents

Global Destinations announces the launch of their luxury representation vertical ‘Wanderlust Marketing’ with a  focus on luxurious and captivating travel brands and experiences. Under this vertical, Global Destinations aims to curate a compendium of unique and exclusive travel providers offering them comprehensive marketing solutions while delivering the most exclusive, bespoke and memorable experiences from around the globe to discerning luxury travellers. Pranav Kapadia, Director Global Destinations shared, “Experiential Luxury travel from India has grown leaps and bounds and continues to be on a rise. The stagnancy of the pandemic has set the pace for many travellers to look for unique and distinguished experiences. The emergence of experiential luxury travel is one of the outcomes of the pandemic, where Indian travellers now look to engage in luxurious at the same time immersive, meaningful, and sustainable travel. With the launch of Wanderlust Marketing, we are glad to be able to cater to this growing niche traveller segment.” As its premier partner on-board it introduces ‘The Nanee’ a unique 18 room, bespoke boutique oasis in the heart of Bhaktapur, Nepal, providing stylish and comfortable accommodation with purposed handcrafted experiences and services. The boutique property is scheduled to open doors to travellers in early December 2022. Situated in the world heritage historical city of Bhaktapur – an ancient Newar city in the eastern corner of Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, The Nanee is located about 13 kilometres from the capital city Kathmandu. With uniquely designed rooms, it is dedicated to connecting travellers from around the world and creating a unique memorable experience, in the ‘Museum of Life’. Their key purpose is to provide a comfortable oasis where guests connect, experience the living heritage of Bhaktapur and …

Inspiring Vacations, the leading tour provider, is organising a webinar on destination Spain for the travel trade on October 31 at 3pm IST. To know more contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

The government’s ‘Heal in India’ initiative is focused on positioning India as a global leader in health and to boost medical tourism in the country. Preparations to promote medical tourism under the central government’s ambitious Heal in India campaign are in full swing. This pan-India initiative of the health ministry caters to people across the globe. It involves a digital portal called Medical Value Travel, which will be a window of integrated Indian health care for the world. This portal is meant to assist international patients with their end-to-end medical journey in India as well as provide global presence and discoverability to Indian health facilities and health professionals, along with facilitating transparency to the sector.

Sharing his views on how Singapore has evolved over the years, GB Srithar, Regional Director (India, ME, South Asia & Africa), Singapore Tourism Board, says, “Singapore is not new to pioneering innovation in the tourism space. Quality Tourism – a development model that emphasizes innovative and capable tourism enterprises, local engagement, and attracting visitors who enhance tourism’s contributions to the economy and society – guides our continuous growth and transformation as a future-forward destination. Over the past two pandemic years, the country has made full use of the tourism downtime by radically reimagining what Indian travellers can enjoy when they visit Singapore. Today, travellers can experience the familiar-favourite Singapore that they’ve always known and loved – but with a brand-new side to what the city has to offer.”

The success of travel companies depends on delivering quick services and cloud keeps the infrastructure updated and always running during uncertain events, says Mani Ganeshan, APAC Engineering Head & Centre Head, Amadeus Labs Bengaluru. “Today as customers increasingly use online sources to search, plan and book travel, cloud technology promises a more connected, frictionless, and sustainable experience for travel businesses and travelers. It enables seamless collaboration in the travel ecosystem, helping companies support their customers better, and more efficiently by providing the information they need, when and where they need it,” he adds.

Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, provides tourists with a plethora of accommodation options and access to numerous activities and experiences. Through this webinar, we will showcase Zurich and it’s various touristic offerings. Attend all webinars for a chance to win a trip to Switzerland. For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

In a country first initiative, Kerala is set to become a fully women-friendly tourism destination by implementing a comprehensive project to encourage the participation of women in all tourism activities and attract more women tourists to the state, Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas said. Launching the state-level ‘Women-Friendly Tourism’ project, an initiative of State Responsible Tourism Mission (RT Mission), Shri Riyas said Kerala already enjoys the reputation as the safest destination for women tourists. Noting the significance of the project,  Riyas said the state needs a paradigm shift at a time when the world is witnessing a sharp increase in solo trips by women as well as in groups. The Minister said this initiative is conceived not just as stand-alone package, but as a comprehensive project to ensure presence of ordinary women in various tourism activities and bring more women travellers to the state.   “Through this project, RT Mission ensures safe and hygienic places and tourism destinations for women tourists. The all-women tour packages will be controlled and operated by women, including food, accommodation, transportation and community guides” he said. The Minister also inaugurated a one-day workshop organised as part of the project. Delivering the key-note address, Deputy Representative, UN Women India, Kanta Singh, said creating a safe, reliable and hygienic infrastructure that addresses the needs of women is vital while implementing the project.  UN Women will sign an MoU with RT Mission regarding gender inclusive tourism, she said. Kerala Tourism Director, P B Nooh said while ensuring the safety of women tourists, the project will bring about a holistic change in tourism sector. Nooh called for more debates to evolve solutions for the problems regarding safe journey of …

Tourism Australia has created a live-action short film with CGI animated characters. The short film, G’day, is part of a new global tourism campaign inviting international travellers to Come and Say G’day, and plan and book an Australian adventure of their own. Directed by acclaimed Australian director, Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and produced by FINCH, G’day the short film shows the unlikely adventure of a plush souvenir kangaroo named Ruby, voiced by beloved Australian actor Rose Byrne, and a toy unicorn, Louie, voiced by actor Will Arnett. The short film follows Ruby and Louie as they ‘break out’ of a gift shop on the Great Barrier Reef and take an incredible adventure around Australia, visiting iconic sites including Sydney Harbour, Melbourne’s laneways, and stunning natural landscapes like Uluṟu and Nitmiluk Gorge. Along the way, they explore the magnitude of travel experiences Australia has to offer, connect with Australia’s Indigenous cultures, and learn why every great adventure starts with the unmistakably Aussie greeting, “G’day!”. Tourism Australia Managing Director, Phillipa Harrison, said “Come and Say G’day is unashamedly and unmistakably Australian. After a challenging time around the world, our uplifting and joyful campaign will stand out in what is a highly competitive international tourism market.” The multichannel campaign includes new broadcast advertisements (in 60, 30 and 15 second versions), print and high impact Out of Home (OOH) advertising placements, as well as social, digital, and content marketing initiatives. The campaign activity will be further amplified by partnership activity with airlines, State Tourism Organisations, and key distribution partners including Thomas Cook, SOTC, PickYourTrail, Kesari Tours amongst others. Australia’s Indigenous cultures and peoples are at the heart of the story in G’day, and …

The cruise industry has proven its resilience throughout its more than 50-year history—as is evident in the responsible return to operations that began in July 2020. In the baseline forecast, passenger volume is expected to recover and surpass 2019 levels by the end of 2023. In the upside forecast, passenger volume is expected to recover to 101% of 2019 levels a year earlier, by the end of 2022. In all three scenarios, passenger volume is projected to recover in excess of 12% above 2019 levels by the end of 2026.

After the success of its convention, TAFI has announced it will offer online courses on its website. Ajay Prakash, TAFI President, says, “TAFI has tied up with a company to provide a 100+ skilling courses on various subjects. This includes soft skills and education on specific topics. This will be offered on our website free of cost to all our members. The integration is happening right now and these courses will be online soon. These are some of the things we will be building upon. A convention happens every year or two but what you learn and discuss during the event needs to be taken forward and that is what we want to. I do hope our members take advantage of this.”