Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Norwegian Star, one of the flagship vessels of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), made her triumphant arrival to the Indian region as part of Norwegian Cruise Line’s voyages in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Manoj Singh, Country Head, India – Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, says, “The return of the newly-refurbished Norwegian Star to India reinforces our commitment to the Asian region, following the opening of our India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and China offices last year. We have always viewed this region as a hot bed for growth and have planned to roll out some incredible offerings for the region in the coming months. One of those offerings include Norwegian Cruise Line’s most innovative ship to date, the Norwegian Joy which had been developed especially with the Chinese market in mind. We plan on introducing this new ship in July 2017.” Other key initiatives include the coming of Norwegian Jewel to the Asia Pacific region starting from November 2017, home porting in Australia with an exciting array of domestic and Trans-Tasman sailings. Norwegian Jewel’s sensational 2018/19 Asia itineraries will be announced in the coming months and seek to provide travelers a diverse selection of experiences in line with the brands signature Freestyle Cruising concept. NCLH’s premium cruise brands, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas are also operating Asian itineraries this year. Meanwhile, Seven Seas Voyager, one of the most luxurious ships in NCLH’s ultra-premium all-inclusive Regent Seven Seas brand is also based in Asia until April this year, fresh from an extensive 25-day refurbishment in November as part of Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ $125 million fleet-wide refurbishment program.

Asia Pacific region’s hotel exhibition by AccorHotels – AccorHotels Showcase kicked off its 2017 India leg today at Sofitel Mumbai BKC and will travel to New Delhi on March 24. Joined by AccorHotels’ executives from across 95 countries representing more than 4,100 hotels and resorts worldwide, the event will offer attendees an insight into the group’s new developments, products and services. In its 14th year touring the region, AccorHotels Showcase provides travel agents, wholesalers, corporate clients, tourism partners and MICE organisers an opportunity to discover AccorHotels accommodation trends, news and stunning hotels and resorts from around the world. This year, AccorHotels commences its 12-destination series as it moves through cities, visiting landmark AccorHotels across Asia Pacific. In India, exhibitors from globally sought-after destinations such as France, Spain, Malaysia, Indonesia, UAE and Singapore will be present at the event, representing celebrated hotels like Fairmont Ajman, SO Sofitel Singapore & Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort and Spa, Pullman Paris Eiffel Tower, Swissôtel The Bosphorus Istanbul, Novotel Madrid Center and more. Over 400 guests comprising top corporates from India, Travel Management Companies, Travel Agents and Tour Operators, PCOs and Wedding Planner are set to attend the event in each city.

According to WTTC’s Economic Impact Report 2017, South Asia was the second fastest growing region in terms of travel in tourism in 2016, with a growth rate of 7.9 per cent. Southeast Asia (8.3%) was the region with the fastest growing travel and tourism sector in 2016, driven by the expanding Chinese outbound market and the countries own growing markets. Latin America (0.2%) was the slowest growing region. Globally, travel and tourism grew by 3.3 per cent in 2016, generating $7.6 trillion worldwide, which is 10.2 per cent of global GDP when the direct, indirect and induced impacts are taken into account. The sector supported a total of 292 million jobs in 2016, which is 1 in 10 of all jobs in the world. David Scowsill, President & CEO, WTTC, said, “This is the sixth year in a row that travel & tourism has outpaced the global economy, showing the sector’s resilience, and the eagerness of people to continue to travel and discover new places, despite economic and political challenges across the world.” The sector is expected to grow by 3.8 per cent in 2017, generating $ 7.9 trillion. This growth is slower than previously forecast, as a result of a downgrade to the global economy and a dampening of consumer spending.

Australian Pacific Touring (APT), represented by InterGlobe AirTransport (IGAT) as its exclusive sales agency in India for luxury cruise and tours, introduced its premium products for river cruising in Vietnam, Cambodia and Europe. The product education through roadshows for the travel agents began in New Delhi and will be followed by Bengaluru and Mumbai on March 22 and March 23 respectively. IGAT is responsible to market and promote these products in the India market to their vast network of travel partners through roadshows, educational workshops and product presentations. Sunil Talreja, Vice President-International Passenger Sales, InterGlobe Air Transport, said, “This is a new venture for us and we are very excited about it. I feel the reach that we can provide to APT with our pan-India network is unmatched. Initially we will focus on large markets of the metro cities namely Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It is not a run of the mill product and we intend to spread awareness and identify our uniqueness in te market as the first step.” According to Craig James, Strategic Parterships Manager, APT Global Head Office, India is a multi generational market and there is a lot of scope to educate the segments on river cruising which is very different from an ocean cruise. “The Magnificent Europe is one the most popular products which is from Amsterdam to Budapest for 14 nights and 15 days. We are unique as we offer three royal experiences that money can’t buy, once in a lifetime opportunity which includes an exclusive invitation to the Namady Castle, day trip on Majestic Imperator and a cocktail reception and concert at Vienna’s High Baroque-style City Palace,” said James.

Air Asia India will now be flying to Kolkata and Ranchi. The airline added these two new destinations and will be making Kolkata its third hub after Bengaluru and Delhi. With the new additions, Air Asia India will now be flying to a total of 15 destinations in the country. The airline acquired its 9th A320 aircraft this year, after which it launched these connections.

IndiGo has appointed Cindy Szadokierski as Vice President – Airport Operations and Customer Services. With a career in aviation spanning over 30 years, she has held senior leadership positions primarily in the areas of airport operations as well as several other roles in operations, reservations and sales at United Airlines. She brings with her the experience and expertise through a proven record of operational leadership and delivering customer services at a large scale. She will take on the role of Vice President – Airport Operations and Customer Services effective April 17, 2017, and will be reporting to Executive Vice President, Sanjeev Ramdas.

Bengaluru-based BuyForexOnline has launched a new B2B forex platform for travel agents and education consultants. A pilot launch in Bengaluru saw more than 250 agents registered for the platform. The Total Agent Module (TAM) allows agents to effortlessly place Forex and remittance orders for their clients. The additional burden of sales, payment, delivery, escalations and customer support is then completely handled by the BuyForexOnline Team, leaving the agent free to focus on their core travel competencies. The platform will now be rolled out across India to primarily target SME travel agents and student consultancies specialising in overseas education. Ananth Reddy, Founder and Managing Director of BuyForexOnline says, “Forex in the B2B space is a largely disorganized sector with Agents ordering Forex for their clients through multiple offline channels, often requiring additional resources both in time and manpower for coordinating the transaction. This becomes challenging, especially when it comes to determining rates, arranging for delivery, and collecting payments. TAM was launched to address these challenges and to streamline the process. It is an easy lead-generation tool, and once the lead is triggered, the BuyForexOnline team then takes over and contacts the client to close the lead.” The key advantage of TAM is that the lead is mapped to the agent, and their commission is automatically captured by the system even for all subsequent transactions by that client. An in-depth report can be viewed on the system by the travel agent to monitor their commissions. “Our rates are the lowest in the market, and travel agents are free to add-on a further margin for their clients, which will be protected for them.” added Reddy.

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) has revived its Turkey Educational Tour for its members from May 3-7, 2017. Organised in association with Turkish Indian Tourism Council (TITC), the registration for the tour started on March 20, 2017. Riaz Munshi, Vice President, OTOAI, revealed the details saying initially the educon will take members to Mugla.

Oman’s national carrier will reportedly start a new daily direct flight between Salalah, a southern Omani city and Kozhikode in Kerala from next week, in addition to Oman Air’s flight service between Muscat and Kozhikode which is the latest destination in the airline’s fleet and network expansion programme. “Oman Air is committed to support the economic development of the Dhofar region, which is a key market for us. We are extremely happy to announce this new direct service between Salalah and Kozhikode,” Oman Air CEO Paul Gregorowitsch said. The daily service will be operated by a Boeing 737-800. Existing frequencies between Muscat and Kozhikode have also been increased from once daily to twice daily since February this year. Oman Air is growing its weekly capacity to India with frequencies increasing on five of the airline’s key Indian destinations. Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad increase from twice daily to three times daily. Kozhikode increases from once daily to three times daily and Lucknow increases from once daily to twice daily. The growth in capacity follows the revised flight agreement Oman and India in December 2016, when the number of weekly seats was increased to 27,405 seats for both countries, compared to 21,145 seats, an increase of 6,258 seats per week.

A new cruise tourism policy is underway to position India on the global map for cruising and efforts are on to identify such circuits, besides a slew of steps, to boost infrastructure, informed Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Government of India. “A high-level task force has been appointed and top global consultants are drawing up blueprint for it,” said Gadkari. Five circuits each are being identified for international and domestic cruise services and a report is likely by May this year. Steps to promote cruise tour include relaxation of policies and developing infrastructure. “The government is very keen to promote cruise tourism as India has vast opportunities,” added Gadkari. India saw 1.76 lakh cruise passengers in 2016-17, a merely 0.5 per cent of the global pie. Domestic cruise passengers are estimated to grow to 1.5 million by 2031-32. Of the 12 major ports, only five namely Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, New Mangalore and Chennai have facilities to berth international cruise ships. One of the circuits identified so far is coastal circuit for development of coastal tourism infrastructure. A decision has also been taken to have passenger terminals at all major ports to cater to cruise tourists. The government is developing a modern 2 lakh square feet terminal in Mumbai at an estimated cost of Rs 225 crore to make it a landmark destination, which will have infrastructure to accommodate cruise ships with size for 4,000 passengers. The project includes hospitality, retail, shopping, restaurants and will allow general visitors during non-cruise seasons.   Source: The New Indian Express/ PTI