Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) launches its first Buddhist Circuit train today, which will take tourists to all the major Buddhist sites in India and Nepal. The destinations that will be covered by the train include Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, Bodhgaya in Bihar where Buddha got enlightenment, Sarnath in Varanasi where Buddha gave his first sermon to his five disciples, and then Kushinagar in Nepal where Buddha attained nirvana. According to a statement by IRCTC, “The significance of these destinations can be seen in the Mahaparinirvana sutra, wherein the Lord Buddha tells his followers that they can attain merit and a noble rebirth by going on pilgrimages to these places.”

Travel MiCE Show, this year, has been scheduled for December 14 & 15 at the Trident Chennai. The show is a platform to meet over 65 buyers from across the country. The show will entail pan-India corporate meetings on day 1 and interactions and meetings with MiCE specialists on Day 2. The show also guarantees 60+ pre-scheduled B2B meetings in two days.

Israeli carrier Arkia Airlines has expanded its network in India with the launch of its flight service to Goa from Tel Aviv. The full-service carrier Arkia has deployed 220-seater Airbus 321 neo plane to service the new route, which will have one flight per week. Goa is the second Indian destination for the West Asian airline after Kochi. “We announce the commencement of one more international flight today from Goa international airport connecting Tel Aviv and Goa,” Airports Authority of India recently commented.

The India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) has elected its new team for the upcoming term at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association held in New Delhi. Amaresh Tiwari, Director, A T & Seasons Vacations Travel has been elected unopposed as the Vice Chairman. Earlier, the position was held by Chander Mansharamani, Alpcord Network Travel & Conference Management. Girish Kwatra, CEO, Meetings & More, who was earlier the Hon. Treasurer, has been elected as the new Hony. Secretary. Whereas, Anuj Wadhwa, CEO, Plan It! Meeting and Conferences India has been elected as the new Hony. Treasurer. He was earlier the Member in the Governing Board. Other elected members in board includes, Abinash Manghani, Area Manager & Head Travel Industry Sales, ITC Hotels, Shampa Dhali, Area Director, National Sales India, Marriot International, Sudeep Sarkar, CEO, India Exposition Mart, Mausam Bhattacharya, Director of Sales and Marketing, Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty, Madan Kak, CEO, Minar Travels, Director, Amit Saroj, Attitude Events, Lalitha Rai, Partner, ‎Marundeshwara Enterprises, Neeraj Dhawan, Director, Falcon Exhibitions, Riyaz UC, MD Spiceland Holidays, Ripudaman Singh Chauhan, GM, Translink Express India and Avinash Browne, Director, Sun Business Machines.

PATA India Chapter will organise the second edition of its Tourism Powerhouse on December 6, which will see a variety of speakers from the travel industry in India and abroad, revealed Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India Chapter. He adds, “The theme of the event is ‘The Big Leap Forward’ and the speakers at the Tourism Powerhouse will be sharing their experiences and suggestions to accelerate growth.”

Robin Raina, President & CEO, Ebix Inc and EbixCash has said that EbixCash Travel will be taking over all the inbound holiday business of Cox & Kings and the company has got the former COO of Cox & Kings, JP Singh on board for that, who will also lead one of the division of the company. He also announced that the travel vertical of his company is gearing up for aggressive marketing initiatives to promote and popularise itself in the Indian market. During an interaction organised for industry stakeholders after the conclusion of company’s two-day global conference in New Delhi, Raina said that EbixCash will do advertisement campaigns on Radio and TV. “We have partnered with Republic TV for exclusive branding via its studio. We are also sponsoring the IPL team Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals. Many more exciting updates are yet to follow,” he said. He also announced at the event that Arjun Seth, formerly associated with Pearl Travels is going to lead the B2B operations at EbixCash Travel in India. While, Swaminathan Vedaranyam will continue to look after international B2B operations and Via.com (B2C). Similarly, Naveen Kundu will continue to look after Mercury- A Luxury Initiative by EbixCash and the corporate, luxury & MiC travel business of the company. Sharing his vision, Raina further said, “We like to integrate very tightly, we value human capital, we value the people who understand the industry. We want to cohesively build an end to end travel solution in the industry. You have seen us make acquisitions, we were not just buying travel agents, we are looking to empower them. In the coming days, you will see us enter into stock …

Trulyy India has acquired a new property in Rathambore- Trulyy The Tiger Bagh. The property houses 50 rooms divided into three categories- Deluxe, Super Deluxe and Family Rooms. Being a luxury resort near Ranthambore National Park, the resort is the best blend of luxury and nature that renders comfortable hospitality amidst complete wilderness. This hotel offers the perfect Ranthambhore experience for all kinds of  travellers.

Etihad Aviation Group and Air Arabia, have joined hands to launch a new Low Cost Carrier (LCC), called Air Arabia Abu Dhabi. The new airline would be offering increased budget travel options to travellers going to and from the UAE. Currently Etihad and Air Arabia operate a combined fleet of 162 aircraft, including 109 by the former and 53 by the latter. Air Arabia flies to 170 destinations across 50 countries through its Sharjah, Morocco and Egypt hubs while Etihad flies to 80 destinations. Tony Douglas, group CEO of Etihad Aviation Group, said the carrier will offer passengers a new option for low-cost travel to and from Abu Dhabi. “We look forward to the launch of the new airline in due course,” he said.  Adel Al Ali, group CEO of Air Arabia, said the UAE has developed over the years to become a leading travel and tourism hub and this partnership will further serve the growing low-cost travel segment locally and regionally.”

StayWell Holdings have re-launched the Stay Well Rewards Program – a modern loyalty program offering guests of StayWell Holdings’ The Prince Akatoki, Park Regis and Leisure Inn brands the ability to earn points and receive exclusive perks for their stays. The global program, which is available across all StayWell properties around the world, including participating hotels in Australia, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, gives members the ability to earn points that can be redeemed for complimentary award nights. Points earned can also be redeemed with dozens of partners globally, allowing guests to cash in on airline miles, online retail, social media currencies and charitable contributions. Fiona Godfrey, Global Director of Revenue Generation at StayWell Holdings said the program will take customer experience to the next level and deliver guests a broad range of premium rewards and benefits. “After reviewing several hotel reward program platforms for our valued guests, we decided to relaunch our previous offering and operate a loyalty program that gives members the opportunity to earn rewards how, where, and when they want,” she said. Peter Gorla, CMO of Hospitality Marketing Concepts and Managing Director of VOILÀ Hotel Rewards said HMC is committed to ensuring the new programs’ success and longevity in the market. “We’ve worked hard to create an innovative and exciting member-centric loyalty proposition which complements the ever-growing digital world and StayWell Holdings’ global offering. Built on the proven VOILÀ Hotel Rewards loyalty platform, managed and enhanced for over 13 years by HMC, the Stay Well Rewards program will enrich the StayWell Holdings experience by providing members with a world-class hotel loyalty program,” he said.

PATA India Chapter has elected its Executive Committee in Delhi. Jatinder Taneja, Managing Director, Travel Spirit International has been elected as Vice Chairman, Vikram Madhok, Managing Director, Abercrombie & Kent India is now the Honorary Secretary and SanJeet, Director, DDP Publications has been elected as the Honorary Treasurer. Runeep Sangha remains the Executive Director of PATA India Chapter.