Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The first-ever Travel Experiential Show concluded with 650 meetings conducted among 23 exhibitors and 25 buyers on Dec 18, 2016 at Le Meridien Gurgaon where representatives from destination management companies, hotels, travel agents and tour operators, among others, met under one roof to network and explore opportunities. “From the feedback we’ve received, the show was a huge success,” stated Punam Singh, Associate, Pacific Leisure Group. “We welcomed a lot of familiar faces but also some new ones and the platform helped them discover newer avenues to further their business. We will surely be back next year to bring more people together.” Speaking at the inauguration, keynote speaker Sushil Shamal Wadhwa, Founder & CEO, Platinum World Group, highlighted, “The whole idea of experiential travel is presenting something exclusive and unique, be it the most expensive dinner that costs $300,000 for five people, or activities like archery and falconry in a destination like Mongolia. Experiences like these first turn you speechless and then into a storyteller. As the demand for luxury increases and people become more open to trying newer experiences, the segment will continue to evolve and grow.”

The two editions of Travel Show held on Dec 17 and 18, 2016, at Le Meridien Gurgaon recorded 1,300 meetings between around 25 exhibitors as well as 25 buyers on both days. The closed-door event which focused on MICE on the first day, and on Experiential and Luxury travel the second day, was inaugurated by Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators’ Association of India; Sushil Shamal Wadhwa, Founder & CEO, Platinum World Grroup and Shahnawaz Shah, Manager Marketing, SKICC. It presented an exclusive networking opportunity to a selective list of travel and hospitality professionals in a pre-scheduled one-on–one meeting format. Commenting on the show, Sarika Rawal Bhambani, General Manager, Travel Show said, “Successful meetings took place between the selected exhibitors and top-level buyers. It is an excellent platform for companies which are looking to gain a slice of demand or are looking to grow their existing shares.”

India has signed open skies agreement with six countries namely Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sri Lanka, at the International Civil Aviation Negotiations (ICAN) 2016. The open skies agreement as per NCAP 2016 allows unlimited number of flights to six metro airports namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai. R.N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation revealed that the conference saw in attendance 106 countries out of ICAO membership of 191 countries. India held negotiations with 17 countries and ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ was signed with 12 countries. India resolved major issues at these negotiations as per the directions in National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2016). Firstly, India renegotiated traffic rights with Oman increasing the entitlements with 6,258 seats effective from Summer 2017 as the existing entitlements were nearly exhausted. The points of call remained unchanged. India agreed with Saudi Arabia to increase the capacity by 8000 seats per week from IATA season when Indian carrier’s utilisation reaches 80 per cent. This was in response to the needs of increasing traffic between the two countries where Indian carriers have been utilising open sky in Damman to mount more flights than the Saudi Arabian side. Indian also agreed with Ghana to increase the present allocation of 2 frequencies to 7 frequencies per week to encourage connectivity between the two countries. ICAN was held recently in Nassau from December 5-9, 2016 The new arrangement will encourage connectivity and passenger travel between India and these countries. There were new Air Service Agreements signed with Jamaica and Guyana. In the present scenario code shares provide seamless connectivity to the travelling passengers and make possible connectivity between far off destinations not served by direct flights.  As …

Travel Show is all set to commence its Travel Business Show-Beyond MICE, and Travel Experiential Show-Beyond Luxury editions on December 17 and 18, respectively, at Le Meridien Gurgaon. The event expects to attract more than 30 corporates and 25 agents for the two-day forum that offers unmatched networking opportunities in a pre-scheduled one-on–one meeting format. “We are thrilled to announce the launch of our Experiential and MICE show. After the outstanding response we received for Travel Wedding Show in July, we are expecting it to be a fruitful amalgamation for the industry people,” said Sarika Bhambhani Rawal, General Manager, DDP Exhibitions.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given ‘in-principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment of CPSEs including Pawan Hans Limited based on the recommendations of the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment. CCEA has approved the recommendation for disinvestment of 100 per cent shareholding of Government of India to strategic buyer identified through two-stage auction process in the CPSEs including Pawan Hans Limited (PHL). This was revealed by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, in a reply in Lok Sabha.

Tourism Minister (I/C) Dr. Mahesh Sharma has given directives to allow purchase of monument tickets in Agra in bulk with payments through Demand Draft with immediate effect. The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) had urged the Ministry of Tourism and ASI to suggest alternatives regarding purchase of ASI Monument tickets after December 15, 2016. As for all the other monuments, tickets are available for purchase online, except for some monuments in Agra, especially Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort and Itimad-ul-Daula’s Tomb. Also, there will not be any passport details required for bulk purchase, revealed Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO. He added that installation of Debit/Credit Card swipe machines at the monuments are also being explored.

Sabre Corporation’s board of directors has appointed Sean Menke as President, CEO and a member of Sabre’s board, effective Dec 31, 2016. Menke will succeed Tom Klein, who has served as president, CEO and board member since 2013. “After an extensive search of qualified candidates, the board unanimously concluded that Sean is the right choice to lead Sabre. Since his arrival last year, Sean has demonstrated that his strong industry knowledge and expertise coupled with his decisive, results-oriented management style are an effective combination. These traits will help Sabre drive innovation as the travel industry’s technology leader and serve the needs of airlines, hotels, travel agents and travelers alike.  I look forward to working with Sean to make this happen,” said Larry Kellner, executive chairman of Sabre’s Board of Directors. Menke joined Sabre in October 2015 and currently serves as executive vice president of Sabre and president of Sabre Travel Network, Sabre’s largest line of business.  Under Menke’s leadership, Sabre Travel Network has won major new business opportunities, increased global market share and secured Sabre’s position as the leading global distribution system in three of its four major operating regions (North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific), and successfully extended new multi-year agreements with many of its largest global travel management companies, online travel agencies and travel retailers.  In addition, he has led the innovation that enables the sale of more customized fares and ancillary products through Sabre Travel Network and strengthened the technology solutions that will be offered to travel agencies next year as part of the launch of the new Sabre Red platform.  Prior to Sabre, Menke served as CEO of Frontier Airlines and held senior executive positions at …

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has issued directions to the respective car parking licensees across all AAI controlled airports for evolving a mechanism of e-payment transactions in the form of debit/credit cards, digital wallets (PayTM, Freecharge, Mobikwik, Reliance Jio etc.). This was revealed by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, in Lok Sabha, AAI has also keep sufficient change of currency in small denomination of Rs.10, 20, 50 & 100 to smoothen the process of parking at all airports. Besides Car Parking Licensees, AAI is evolving a mechanism so that digital payment alternatives through various modes is available at all concessions providing passenger facilitation services at airports (such as Food & Beverage Outlets, General Retails, Car Rentals, Pre-paid Taxi Services etc.

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) is conducting the Turkey Mega Educon Programme with Turkish Indian Tourism Council (TITC) from March 12 to 15, 2017, in Istanbul. The pre tour programme will be held from March 9-12 in Turkey. The main Istanbul programme would include the destination training and meetings with local suppliers. March 15 to 18, will be the post tour programme in Turkey. The pre and post tour destinations proposed are a selection from 4 cities – Antalya, Cappadocia, Izmir-Kusadas, Pamukkale, and Bodrum-Marmaris-Fethiye. TITC will also be arranging with the Turkish Embassy and its consulate in India to assist the OTOAI members for their visas ex New Delhi and Mumbai. The deadline for application for OTOAI members is December 19, 2016.

Effective December 17, VFS Global in India and Nepal will no longer accept Schengen visa applications on behalf of the Embassy of Spain or Consulate General of Mumbai in India. Applicants who have confirmed appointments with VFS Global up till December 16, 2016 shall continue to have their applications processed at the VFS Global office in and Nepal. The VFS Global website stated, “For all other queries from 17 December 2016 onwards, please get in touch directly with the Spain Consulate General OR Embassy of Spain in your city. For queries regarding visa applications submitted on/before 16 December 2016, please note, our website, online appointment system, call center line and helpdesk email support will be operational until December 26, 2016. VFS Global will continue to process Schengen visa applications on behalf of the other European member states served by VFS Global.”