Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Booking.com has launched its new Content API for accommodations channel managers, content providers, and property management companies. These new specifications give free access for providers so they can instantly send all necessary information for building and maintaining multiple listings on Booking.com. This includes property photos and info about their facilities and policies through a direct connection– dramatically reducing the time to upload content from weeks to hours. After implementing the code required to connect to the API, providers can automatically send all information required to build new listings on Booking.com from start to finish. Previously, photo content, facilities information, and policies had to be uploaded manually on a per property basis, often taking several weeks, depending on the number of properties in a provider’s portfolio. Now with the new Content API, providers can instantly push all the relevant information for thousands of properties directly to Booking.com’s system, cutting the content upload process down from several weeks to a couple of days. “We’re constantly looking at innovative ways to create a more seamless, intuitive and automated experience for our partners,” said Remco van Zanten, Global Director of Partner Services at Booking.com. “We know that having great content is key to engaging effectively with consumers, which is not only vital to a great customer experience, but allows our partners to generate more incremental business via our platform. That’s why we’ve created a scalable solution that helps PMCs and other providers list dozens or even thousands of properties on Booking.com more quickly and at no cost.”

India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), the public sector undertaking under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism, posted a significant performance in half yearly results of the current financial year 2016-17. The total turnover in H1 ending September 2016 increased to Rs.221.34 cr as compared to Rs.205.88 cr in the corresponding H1 last year. The total turnover registered a jump of 7.51% as compared to the same period in last financial year. The company registered Profit Before Tax (PBT) at Rs. 8.58 cr as compared to Rs. 4.28 cr in the corresponding H1 last year i.e. 2016-17, an increase of substantial 100% as compared to the last financial year.

Minister of State for Education, Technical Education, Culture, Tourism, Horticulture, Floriculture and Parks, Priya Sethi said that efforts are being made to develop Jammu into an international level golf destination. Addressing delegates of India Travel Mart, Jammu, Sethi said the State Government with the support of Centre would give a big push to the development of the state. The Minister said that Jammu and Kashmir has a geographical advantage which when properly utilised can make J&K frequent host for the international level golf tournaments. ‘Whereas the golf courses available in Kashmir are open to people in summers, Jammu Tawi Golf Course provide year round location available to the national and international golf lovers’ the Minister added. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh, Minister for Cooperatives, T Dorjey, Secretary Tourism Farooq Ahmad Shah, Director Tourism Sushma Chauhan, senior officers of State administration besides representatives of Tourism Departments of many states, tour and travel bodies were present in the inaugural function of the three day event.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to suspend the collection of parking charges at all airports till midnight of November 21, 2016. This has been done in order to facilitate the smooth movement of passengers, following the government’s move to demonetize 500 and 1000 currency notes.

Nestled in the verdant hills of Coorg & Chikmanglur, Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee announced the launch of its new corporate brand identity and website. The new brand identity signifies the ongoing evolution of the Plantation Trail estate to perfection. Characterized by elements of ‘Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee’ varied offerings like heritage bungalows, picturesque coffee and tea estates and unique guided trails of these estates, the logo retains the icons that signify each of these experiences. The base design graphically demonstrates the icon of a ‘trail’ merging with the ‘coffee bean’ icon, while the ‘tea leaf’ and ‘coffee leaf’ flank are placed at the sides. The ‘trail’ passes through the centre of the ‘coffee bean’ and finally make its way ‘home’. Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee has embarked upon this transformational journey with a clear vision to reach out to patrons effectively and maintain a visual identity powerful enough to have a lasting effect. The redesigned website is user-friendly and provides ease-of-navigation, giving patrons a look and feel of the Plantation Trail by Tata Coffee Bungalows in a visually stunning format. The contemporary layout also has embedded social media buttons for faster and improved communications, thereby enabling guests to connect via multiple platforms, as per their convenience. Commenting on the re-branding exercise Gautam Prakash, Head- Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee Limited said, “Our new brand identity is in line with the growth and transformation that Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee has witnessed over the past years. With a brand new website in place, we are aiming at a digital integration that will enable us to narrate our store in a content rich format, which also ensures effective communication with …

Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi inaugurated the Ministry of Tourism’s ‘Incredible India’ stand at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The Incredible India stand located at Hall No. 18 (Stand No.25) aims to nurture the tourism potential of less frequented destinations which are located closer to the popular destinations for attracting domestic visitors. Inaugurating the stand, Zutshi said, “The stand has been designed with an idea of promoting “lesser Known destinations”. Domestic tourism continues to be an important contributor to the tourism sector providing much needed resilience. There has been a continuous increase in domestic tourist visits, with the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of domestic tourist visits to all States/UTs from 1991 to 2015 being 13.63 per cent. In 2015, it grew by 11.63 per cent to reach 1431.97 million visits. And there is an encouraging sign for the Inbound Tourism too. Inbound travel to India has increased.  Foreign Tourist arrivals in India during the period January- September, 2016 were 6.2 million with a growth of 10.5% as compared to the Foreign Tourist Arrival of 5.6 million with a growth of 4.8% in January-September, 2015 over January- September, 2014. This positive development is expected to continue during remaining period of this year. The Ministry of Tourism is participating in the IITF after a long gap. The attraction of the stand are two ‘Selfie Points’ with the Taj Mahal and the Valley of Flowers as background.

IndiGo has introduced a new flight connecting Chennai with Muscat, effective December 15, 2016. IndiGo will be offering introductory fare of Rs 7999, all-inclusive one way from Chennai. The introduction of the new daily service will further strengthen IndiGo’s presence in the Gulf with 16 daily flights, catering to the large number of Indians in the Gulf. The new service from the city will complement the airline’s existing daily Gulf operations to Muscat and Dubai from several cities in India. Elaborating on the new flight launch, Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo said, “We are absolutely delighted to announce the new daily and direct flight between India and Oman, and specifically, between Chennai and Muscat. It is an indication of the strong demand on this sector. IndiGo has established itself as a prestigious brand on account of the warmth of its service and quality of its in-flight product and we are confident that this daily service would also prove equally popular with our flyers. Expanding operations on these routes are in line with our growth strategy outlined for Oman.”

Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (HRANI) has urged the government to classify tourism and hospitality businesses (hotels & resorts, tour operators, travel agents, tourism transport operators, convention centres, destination/ amusement/entertainment infrastructure creation companies) in the lower slab at 5 per cent. They have also asked the government to ensure zero per cent rating for foreign exchange earning tourism, travel & hospitality businesses. A meeting of HRANI Managing Committee was held at Wildflower Hall in Shimla on November 8, 2016, followed by a press meet. A representation on the same was submitted to Shrikant Baldi (IAS) Addl. Chief Secy. (Finance, Planning, Economics & Statistics, Twenty Point Programme). To discuss the same in details Sanjay Sood, President, HRANI and CEO, the Devicos, Shimla; Surendra Jaiswal, Hony Secretary and Garish Oberoi, Treasurer, HRANI and MC members of HRANI met V.C. Pharka, IAS Chief Secretary Tourism & Civil Aviation, Tribal Development, Information & Public Relations. The issues concerning the hospitality fraternity of H.P. were submitted to him and Hon’ble Minister of forest including other concerned officials of Himachal Government. During the briefing, Jaiswal emphasised that in order to boost inbound or outbound tourism, GST should be brought at lowest slab of 5% for hospitality and tourism making India a competitive tourist destination. Oberoi, Treasurer, HRANI, said that GST at lowest slab will attract more investment in the country and will also be conducive to business and growth in the sector.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Mumbai organised a two-day expo in the city that brought a huge delegation of Indonesian sellers from various industries together under one roof.  ‘Expo Indonesia 2016’ saw 35 companies participate from industries like travel and tourism, furniture, handicrafts and food. Also participating in the expo was Garuda Indonesia which has announced a direct flight between Mumbai and Indonesia sometime in December 2016, making it the first direct flight to Indonesia. It is considering Bali and Jakarta for this connection. The airline is still working on the schedule and will be loaded in the GDS for sale soon. The Consul General added that they are pushing for more cities between the two countries: Bali – Mumbai, Jakarta – New Delhi  and Chennai – Medan.  On the sidelines of the expo was a seminar dedicated to tourism. Saut Siringoringo, Consul General, Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, said, “We want to do everything to push relations between the two countries. Indonesia has huge potential in the India market. The achievement of 16 billion USD in trade value between India and Indonesia is no small achievement. We can see this growth even in tourist arrivals from India which grew 68 per cent last year with 2,70,000 Indian tourists visiting Indonesia. This year we expect 3,50,000 – 4,00,000 Indian arrivals into Indonesia.”

Air fares will be capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights on unserved and under-served routes and flyers will have to shell out more as air fares are likely to increase as per the government’s ambitious Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). The RCS, unveiled on Nov 11, was mooted in the New Civil Aviation Policy as part of the government’s plan to serve smaller cities, has been put up for stakeholders’ consultations including state governments, airlines and airport operators. It will target 90 airports. The stakeholders have been given three weeks time to submit their comments and suggestions on the draft scheme, which is expected to be finalised by August. Also as part of the proposed scheme, a new category of airlines, scheduled commuter airlines, is being created where a new operator may be allowed to start operations with just one plane. Under the proposed scheme, the government would be providing Viability Gap Funding (VGF) – which would be financed through Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF). Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju while unveiling the draft policy said RCF would be created for funding RCS “through levy on certain flights.” In this regard, the government would be charging a levy in the form of per domestic departure from the airlines on certain routes, a move which is expected to push the airfares marginally higher. The Ministry would contribute 80 per cent of the VGF, while respective state governments would chip in with the remaining 20 per cent to the fund which will have a corpus of Rs 500 crore each year. When asked how much levy is likely to be charged, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said, “We are giving …