Category Archives: Agents

As part of BESydney’s business events financial support, a new program the Ignite Sydney Business Event Fund has been launched in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam for corporate meetings, incentives and conferences held in Greater Sydney in 2023.  Applications officially open 6 October. The BESydney funding will offset costs for events with 200-400 delegates, whereby the client will receive support to the value of AU$40 per person and for events with a group size over 401 delegates, it will be deferred to a customised funding offer. Applications will be assessed on a first-come first-served basis. “BESydney’s Ignite Sydney Business Event Fund is an exciting initiative, to stimulate a return to hosting incredible corporate events and incentives in our harbour city,” said BESydney CEO, Lyn Lewis-Smith. “We want to support our important meeting planners and encourage the return of our Asian incentive and corporate market to Sydney to experience the vibrancy and energy of the city, as well as our new products, attractions and venues,” she said. Information on the Ignite Sydney Business Event Fund program can be found at besydney.com.au/incentives/ignite-sydney-2022/ and applications open 6 October.  Financial support is limited, so events which qualify, need to act quickly in order to be successful.  Applications close on 18 November 2022 (or earlier if funds have been allocated). Sydney has seen the opening of a number of new and exciting event venues and attractions over the last two years including: the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga Zoo where you can wake up with a koala; the $57M renovation of the Australian Museum where you can host events in the shadow of a dinosaur; the multi-million dollar restoration of Watersedge at Campbell’s Stores …

DCT Abu Dhabi will be conducting #InAbuDhabi webinar today at 3pm for the travel trade. Participants would learn about upcoming events, experiences, attractions, hotels, among other offerings. Register with jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

With New Zealand borders reopened since August, Tourism New Zealand extends an invitation to curious travellers to visit and quench their curious minds. Its new global campaign titled ‘If You Seek’ is a call to visitors who wish to seek more through extraordinary travel experiences. The campaign is set to launch in India through key trade partners like Thomas Cook, MakeMyTrip and Kulin Kumar Holidays. Its objective is to convert pent-up demand for New Zealand through these partnerships to boost recovery.

Spree Hospitality announced the signing of a new hotel in the city of lakes, Udaipur. It is located 1.3 km from Udaipur bus stand and 1.1 km from Pichola lake. This hotel comprises 30 rooms with spacious and luxurious amenities, an all-day dining restaurant, lounge and banquet hall. Commenting on the signing, Sagar Khurana, Vice President of Spree Hospitality said, “We are delighted to partner with Mr. Bilochi. This is our second property in Rajasthan. Udaipur is known for an important tourist destination and this encouraged us to sign the hotel in the city.” With the signing of this hotel, Spree Hospitality started to increase its portfolio in Rajasthan.

Speaking on the occasion of Paryatan Parv recently, Rajiv Jalota, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust, said, “Earlier we used to be fascinated by international vessels making calls on Indian coasts, especially Mumbai. But of late, river and domestic cruising on the coastal waters and the inland waterways is growing by leaps and bounds. Three years prior to the pandemic, the growth of cruise tourism in India was at 39% annually. Today, there is a high-level taskforce in place under various ministries that has been taking some pathbreaking decisions towards developing cruise tourism in India.”

Asia Pacific is at the centre of growth in the travel industry and Sabre is seeing very rapid acceleration in the recovery, says Brett Thorstad, VP (Travel Solutions), Agency Sales, Asia Pacific, Sabre. He says, “India is the third-largest travel market in the world just behind the USA and China. We are seeing rapid growth in the India market with high single-digit GDP growth every year. This is also translating into the travel market as the demography of the Indian population is changing. India is a very important market for Sabre and that is why we are planning to make some significant investments in India in the next several years and take advantage of the travel recovery here.”

Abdullah AlAbdouli, CEO, Marjan, was recently in India to explore opportunities with investors, developers and institutional funds who would be interested in participating in the real estate development in RAK. He says, “We would like them to explore the success story of Al Marjan island in RAK with us. Al Marjan island is an iconic real estate development where we are looking for investors and developers to develop own real estate model whether it is a hotel, resort, service apartments, or F&B products.” Marjan, RAK Hospitality Holding and Wynn Resorts are working together to develop the first Wynn Resort in the Middle East

VFS Global is organising a webinar on ‘How to make the most of the Visa At Your Doorstep (VAYD) service on 11 Oct at 11am. It will elaborate how the travel trade and customers can benefit from it. Register at https://event.webinarjam.com/register/452/n7kngam6.  

The Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) has embarked on a preliminary promotional trip to India with the aim to reconnect and revive the tourism and business events industry in Penang and India through press conferences and networking night.  The trip is essential for demonstrating the market readiness in India. Some of the Indian local airlines have expressed interest in expanding into Penang after attending PCEB’s annual roadshow last year. Following the interest, the PCEB team together with YB Yeoh Soon Hin, the State Executive Councillor for Tourism & Creative Economy had a meeting with a few airlines to discuss direct flights opportunities to Penang from key cities in India. It is essential to maintain marketing momentum in order to keep airlines enthusiastic about the Penang-India link. “The efforts to ensure tourism is sustainable was taken well into consideration by incorporating the idea of Responsible Tourism into the travel and tourism sector post pandemic. Penang is the first state in Malaysia to launch a well-designed SOS safety APP, making Penang once again the trendsetter in Malaysia’s tourism environment. With your support, we can restore travellers’ confidence to visit Penang and ensure that it remains a top destination for people from all over the world,” said Yeoh Soon Hin, the State Executive Councillor for Tourism & Creative Economy “PCEB’s dedication has not wavered, and our team is dedicated to fostering mutually beneficial relationships and working closely with the Indian community. The establishment of a direct flight between India and Penang is one of the primary topics of conversation at the moment. We are already in discussion with airlines both in India and in Malaysia about the possibility of establishing additional direct flight …

As per the India Tourism Statistics 2022 released today, UAE was the top source nation for Indian Nationals’ Departures (INDs) in 2021, followed by the USA, Qatar, Oman, the United Kingdom, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bahrain, and Kuwait. In 2021, the Top 10 nations accounted for around 85.93% of all INDs. In comparison to 2020, there was an increase in INDs from India. In 2021, 8.55 million Indian nationals departed from the country, up from 7.29 million in 2020, a 17.30% increase. The number of Indian citizens leaving after 2019 has dramatically dropped as a result of the pandemic. INDs frequently travel by air, which is also the most common method.