Category Archives: Agents

Diego Barcelo Perez, Founder & CEO, CCIBA Spain in his presentation at the ‘Destination India – European Perspective and Opportunities’ webinar by PATA India, shared that India should do PR activities to reduce the perception that India is an ‘infected’ destination. He also said that this is the time for India to promote itself in Spain, because next month Spanish people will start planning their travel in 2022.

Sebastian Sarrasin, Director, Representation Plus Europe, has revealed that French people are keen to travel abroad. “Looking at the searches for online booking engines, we found that around 60% of French people are looking for a holiday next year and want to book a long haul holiday, while 29% wish to remain in Europe and only 11% wish to spend the holiday in their own country,” he said during his presentation at the ‘Destination India – European Perspective and Opportunities’ webinar by PATA India.

Alison Cryer, Founder & MD, Representation Plus, while speaking at the ‘Destination India – European Perspective and Opportunities’ webinar by PATA India, said that while UK travellers to India look for culture, spiritual, wellness, experiential, holiday of a lifetime, volunteering, and MICE. However, she said, “MICE will come back, but not before 2024.”

Etihad Airways is giving all its guests travelling into or via Abu Dhabi a complimentary ticket to Expo 2020 Dubai that will take place between 1 October, 2021 and 31, March 2022. Visitors can enjoy a visit to Expo and also explore the attractions in Abu Dhabi. The special promotion under the ‘Exponential Abu Dhabi’ campaign will run until 31 March 2022. Expo 2020 is just a 45-minute drive from Abu Dhabi. The city now welcomes fully vaccinated travellers without the need to quarantine.

According to the results of the SAP Concur study, Indian business travellers (99%) want to resume work travel within the next 12 months. Nearly 78% of business professionals surveyed in India were eager to start a journey, and according to the study, the percentage was much higher than the global average. About 84% of Indian business professionals felt that their inability to extend travel would hurt them both professionally and personally. Respondents from India said that most business activities such as new deal sign ups, (47%), customer additions (41%) and contract renewals (43%) would be adversely affected if their organizations did not increase business travel.

The base camp of Siachen glacier, the world’s highest and coldest battlefield, was opened on Monday for domestic tourists on the occasion of World Tourism Day. The step has been taken to boost tourism in Ladakh and give people a window to appreciate the tough work done by army jawans and engineers in extreme weather and inhospitable terrains. Secretary Tourism, Ladakh, Mehboob Ali Khan, flagged-off a cleanliness drive from the tourist reception centre. The department of tourism, Leh, also organised a cleanliness drive along with various stakeholders of the tourism industry such as All Ladakh Tour Operators Association (ALTOA), All Ladakh Hotels and Guest Houses Association (ALHGHA), Ladakh Mountain Guide Association (LMGA) and others.

Switzerland Tourism will conduct a webinar on Thursday, 30th September, 2021 with Interlaken Tourism. Interlaken is an extremely popular and sought after holiday destination, as well as a hub for adventure activities. The webinar will give attendees an insight into the various tourism offerings available in and around Interlaken for Indian guests across the year. To register, contact jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Under the banner of AlUla Moments, AlUla’s events calendar published today highlights four festivals including Winter at Tantora which is back by popular demand and celebrates heritage, AlUla Skies, AlUla Arts and AlUla’s Wellness Festival.  The festivals will offer curated experiences of art, culture, music, nature, wellness, equestrian, gastronomy and astronomy. The events will include free and ticketed experiences, with tickets and information available at experiencealula.com. The four distinct festivals will commence on 21 December and run through to 30 March against the backdrop of AlUla’s many timeless wonders. Musical performances will also be back in AlUla with Maraya taking centre stage again as the venue for regional and international acts starting from this October. Winter at Tantora, the very first music and arts festival in the Kingdom returns – now in a six-week format. A stunning Candlelit Symphonic Concert at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra will set the tone for the festival season as the opening event.  Equestrian events will include the eagerly awaited new haute couture horse fashion event, Ikmah Fashion Calvary, the return of the competitive Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Race and the oh-so-chic AlUla Desert Polo. A new Citrus Festival will celebrate AlUla produce and the Harrat Observation Deck with Back to Black restaurant will offer stunning sunrise and sunset views of AlUla from the top of the Harrat Uwayrid. Archaeology and cultural workshops will be introduced at the heritage sites, there will be live immersion shows at AlUla Old Town and in the oasis. Winter at Tantora will run from 21 December to 12 February. From February 2021, the AlUla Arts festival will bring together exhibitions and encounters created by …

IndiGo recently conducted a familiarisation tour for top 10 agents of Indore to Gwalior to help the trade promote Gwalior as a new tourist destination. Also part of the group was TK Jose, TAFI Chairman (MP Chapter). They stayed at the Neemrana Heritage hotel.

Tourism Australia has relaunched its Aussie Specialist Program to make it easier for travel sellers to gain the skills they need to better promote and sell Australia. The Aussie Specialist Program has been given a new look and feel in its 32nd year and the new program has greater personalisation, faster qualifying times and shorter more interactive training modules. The investment comes after many frontline travel sellers turned to the Aussie Specialist Program over the past 18 months to learn and position themselves as champions for Australian travel once borders re-open. Improvements to the Aussie Specialist Program were made in conjunction with more than 400 stakeholders and 1,000 existing Aussie Specialist agents.