Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Element has announced a partnership with travel technology company Zenmer to provide its latest advanced booking tool to Travel Management Companies (TMCs) and corporates across the globe. Headquartered in India, Zenmer builds innovative booking solutions for TMCs using the most advanced technologies that connect with all GDSs, NDC, direct airline connects and hotel consolidators and aggregators. This latest product has been developed for corporate travellers that want a leisure experience when using an enterprise corporate booking tool (CBT). Element, which provides cutting-edge travel technology, consultation and support to TMCs across the globe will be adding this CBT to its extensive portfolio. Gavin Smith, Director at Element, says, “We are extremely proud to bring Zenmer out of their home region and make this CBT available to our clients across the world. The team at Zenmer have developed and built a great platform that gives TMCs the CBT they have been looking for” Through its TMC clients Zenmer drives business travel for more than 200 corporates. This flexible platform allows TMCs to self-manage the commercials, suppliers, back-office, and management information while corporates are able to configure the travel policies, approvals, and reporting. Nikunj Agrawal, CEO Zenmer, explains, “There’s a huge synergy between Zenmer and Element in the thoughts, vision and strategy going forward. Gavin and Lizzie Dakin, Element’s director of technology, have the experience needed for this partnership to be successful and we are proud to be associated with their passion. This agreement provides opportunities for both parties, from sales to marketing and technology. We are looking forward to working together to develop time and cost saving technology focused products with the new traveller in mind.” Smith further explains,“Nikunj and his team …

It is famous for its tapas, flamenco, fiestas and endless beaches. But Spain is so much more. To participate, please contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532. A country with four official languages, home to 15 UNESCO World Heritage cities, and diverse gastronomy and landscapes, Spain is also home to the most extraordinary architecture and a perfect wedding destination. Its cities are as diverse as the landscapes, but one thing that never changes is the Spanish lifestyle. But all this can wait. #SpainWillWait until the global crisis of COVID-19 is over. For now, the Tourism Office of Spain invites the travel trade to learn more about the destination through its webinar titled ‘The Spanish Travel Experience’ today at 1500 hrs (3 pm)

The Indian hotels sector has come to a standstill in the last one month, with most of the hotels partially or completely shut. HVS has revised previous estimates of the overall revenue loss that the industry will face in 2020. The overall revenue of the Indian hotels sector is expected to decline by approximately INR 90,000 cr in 2020, reflecting an erosion of 57% compared to last year. RevPARs in the organized segment are expected to decline by approximately 58%. Occupancy is expected to decline by 31.6 per cent. In the organised sector the loss is expected to be INR 40,309 cr; in the semi organised sector the loss is expected to be INR 8,379 cr and in the unorganised sector it is expected to be INR 41,126 cr. The source for the above data is HVS Research as on 17 April 2020. The industry has not witnessed such an unprecedented decline in RevPARs in the last 2 decades, since HVS has been recording this data. The unorganised segment, which is 10 times the size of the organized segment, is also anticipated to witness a similar quantum of decline. COVID-19 is a disruption that nobody anticipated, but it is now time to use the learnings from this disruption and plan for the new realities beyond COVD-19

The outbreak of COVID 19 has had a major impact on the tourism sector and its revival is of paramount importance, it’s the major contributor of employment as well as GDP. National Tourism Task Force constituted by MOT will meet the challenge posted by the outbreak of Covid 19 and make appropriate recommendations for the revival of the tourism sector in the country. The task force will be headed by Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (IC), and it will include: State Tourism Ministers; Joint Secretary level officers of the concerned central ministries; Industry associations, CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, WTTC, etc and the heads of Tourism and Hospitality Associations. Ministry of Tourism will hold the first meeting of the National Tourism task Force shortly in all probability through video call.

Opening the second session titled ‘Where is the money? Selling domestic luxury’ in the second series of the Digital Conclave spearheaded by TravTalk, was Arjun Sharma, Chairman, Select Group, who believes that the industry will go through a deep and prominent transformation in these coming months. “It is just a matter of realising the importance of domestic tourism. Our domestic market is the biggest catchment area after the Chinese domestic market. In fact, all our neighbouring countries have survived on this – be it Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, or Dubai. They have all existed because of the Indian outbound market. I think this is the first time that the Indian travel industry can reposition itself dynamically to create the paradigm that is necessary for that domestic traveller to look at India as their next luxury holiday destination,” he says

In a bid to analyse the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on staff salaries across the industry, TravTalk has initiated the ‘Travel and Tourism Salary Survey 2020’. The 2-minute survey is anonymous can be taken by clicking on https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3WP3JHM. Share your inputs without having to reveal your name or email. The survey would gauge how every sector is dealing with the crisis and possibly trigger discussions on best employment practices in the industry.

Taking a step further in the virtual engagement sphere, the Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) has announced that it is preparing to conduct a virtual familiarisation tour for travel agents soon. Sharing this information is Florian Sengstschmid, CEO, Azerbaijan Tourism Board, who via a Zoom interview said, “We will conduct our first virtual familiarisation trip for the Indian travel agents in May 2020. We will select a few key partners and invite them to be part of this tour. It will be in real time and highlight the attractions of Azerbaijan, just like a regular fam trip with agents visiting our key attractions, hotels, etc. with the possibility of asking questions and interacting with us the way it is on a fam.” ATB is also preparing to launch 20 virtual experiences in Baku soon on its Salam Baku website.

Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO, South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Americas, VFS Global, during the 2nd TravTalk Digital Conclave, said that VFS Global had processed over 32 million visas in 2019. “Out of this data, India contributes a major share as it is among the top three source markets for us. In fact, India is also the fastest-growing outbound market for us,” he said. Also sharing his view on the revival of the industry in the post-COVID era, he said that travel agents needed to come together and stimulate demand across the country.

Going by a recent report from JLL, more than 60 per cent of organised hotels in India have already shut and several others are operational with single-digit occupancies. The report also estimates that at least 30 per cent of hotel and hospitality industry revenue could be impacted if the situation doesn’t improve by the end of June 2020. Industry estimates indicate that in India, branded and organised hotels annual revenue is INR 38,000 crore (US$ 5 bn). Corporate businesses will be left with less money to spend on travel, lodging and entertainment. Behavioural changes will lead to reduction in socialising, which in turn will impact F&B in hotels. All this will impact GOPs and further reduce yields to hotel owners.

Under the newly updated forecasts from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the most likely scenario for international visitor arrivals into South Asia in 2020 is that visitor numbers are likely to reduce by 31% year-on-year. That effectively takes visitor volume back to levels last seen in 2012. At this stage, growth is expected to resume in 2021, returning to forecast levels by 2023. Much of course, depends on how quickly and completely the COVID-19 pandemic is contained and controlled. South Asia is also expected to suffer a loss of US$13.3 billion.