Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

At an appreciation dinner organised in New Delhi, the Singapore Tourism Board thanked cruise lines and cruise travel intermediaries for promoting cruising from Singapore. GB Srithar, Regional Director – India, Middle East & South Asia (IMESA), Singapore Tourism Board, presented ‘Valued Tourism Partner’ awards to representatives from key cruise lines operating out of Singapore and travel trade partners selling cruise holidays. Representatives of cruise lines were, Nalini Gupta, Managing Director, Lotus Aero Enterprises (Costa Cruise India); Nishith Saxena, Founder & Director, Cruise Professionals Ltd. (Princess Cruises), Naresh Rawal, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Genting Cruise Lines and Ratna Chadda, CEO, Tirun Travel Marketing (Royal Caribbean International). Four travel agents nominated by Costa Cruises, Genting Cruises and RCI were also felicitated at the ceremony.

Travel Luxury Show has kick-started in Jaipur. More than 1800 meetings are expected over two days (14-15 September) at the sixth edition of the show. Over 60 buyers and thirty exhibitors will be part of the event. The show will offer participants an opportunity to have one-to-one meetings with exhibitors from luxury hotels, destinations promoting luxury holidays and other products targeting high-end travellers from the country. The two-day event will also witness panel discussion with keynote speakers who will give an in-depth update of the industry.

Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society, supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu is organising the 2nd edition of Tamil Nadu Travel Mart to showcase the potential of Tamil Nadu’s tourism on a global platform from 19-22 September in Chennai.  TTM will also have a parallel event- Tamil Nadu Medical Travel Mart, in association with Health Department Government of Tamil Nadu

The 35th annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) was inaugurated at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in Kolkata. The association is organising the convention in Kolkata after 17 years with the theme, ‘Is Tourism Thriving? Challenges and Opportunities’. The Day 2 of the convention will mark the opening of India Tourism Fair 2019. The convention was graced by Goutam Deb, Tourism Minister, West Bengal, Indranil Sen, Minister of State, Dept. of Information & Culture Affairs and Tourism, Government of West Bengal, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Minister for Tourism, Odia Language, Literature and Culture and Atri Bhattacharya, Principal Secretary Tourism, Government of West Bengal apart from many stalwart of the travel trade were present during the glittering opening ceremony. Apart from highlighting the host state, West Bengal, who was seen promoting Durga Puja, as the part of theme, IATO Convention will play host to 13 other states and Union Territories, who will showcase their tourism products and offerings. On the theme of Durga Puja, there will also be a live demonstration of idol-making. The IATO Hall of Fame Award for 2019 was given to Patu Keswani, CMD, Lemon Tree Hotels. IATO Run for responsible Tourism will be organised on the last day of the convention on September 14.

LOT Polish Airlines, a member of Star Alliance has launched its 8-hour long flight to Warsaw, Poland. The airline will operate this route five times per week on Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This will provide more connectivity from India not only to Poland but also give an option of seamless travel to Central, Western and Eastern Europe. New Delhi is now LOTs sixth destination. “LOT provides not only the shortest and most convenient way of travel to Warsaw but also a perfect gateway to all passengers travelling from Delhi catchment area to Europe. LOT is the leading legacy carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, the fastest growing region of  the continent. There is a huge potential for air travel, almost 9.5 million passengers travelled between India and Europe and  3.3 million between Delhi and Europe during the last 12 months. Our convenient schedule, including an overnight eastbound flight, a comfortable on-board product and seamless connectivity via Warsaw will certainly increase the flow of business and leisure travelers coming to and from India” , says Rafał Milczarski, CEO of LOT Polish Airlines

The Singapore Cruise Forum, held at The Le Meridien, New Delhi, saw major players from the travel trade coming under one roof to discuss and explore the cruise market in India and trends around the same. GB Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, International Group, Singapore Tourism Board, addresses the gathering and mentions the key highlights related to this industry. He says, “The Cruise Forum today sets out to achieve two objectives. First, for the cruise and travel trade partners here to gain insights from the thought-leadership presentations, and secondly, to exchange views during the panel discussions and engage in meaningful conversations and networking with like-minded individuals for us to grow cruise holiday-makers in India and continue entrenching Singapore as a major cruise destination and hub.” 

According to a recent report by JLL, the largest number of hotel room openings in the country in the first half of 2019 were in the state of West Bengal, which welcomed 926 rooms. These keys were part of the four new hotels that opened in the state, of which ITC Royal Bengal alone opened 490 rooms. The report also suggests that Gujarat had the maximum number of hotel signings, with 18 hotels and 1593 rooms, during the same period. Giving a detailed overview of the market, Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels & Hospitality Business, JLL, said, “Occupancy wise, a market that remained a bit challenged in the last first half of the year was Ahmedabad. Goa saw a dip, but that’s not a sustainable challenge. The main reasons for this were the grounding of Jet Airways and a prolonged election season because of which a lot of travel either got deferred or cancelled. Also, there was more outbound travel than travelling within India.”

Robinville Intech concluded a successful roadshow in India in association with its partners: Location Austria, Innsbruck Tourism, Top of Innsbruck – Nordkette, Top of Tyrol – Stubaier Glacier, aDLERS Hotel Innsbruck, Creative Creatures – Film Production Innsbruck, Zell am See – Kaprun Tourism, Vienna Tourism, Vienna Mozart Orchestra, Harry’s Home Hotels, Salzburg AG, Salzkammergut Touristik DMC, Traunsee – Almtal, Salzkammergut Dachstein, McArthur Glen Designer Outlets, Saxony Tourism and Budapest Festival & Tourism Center. The event titled ‘Robinville Tourism Conclave – The Roadshow’, had presentations from all partners which highlighted Austria, Germany and Hungary as the preferred destination for not only Indian outbound travellers but also Indian Film Productions as well. The 2019 Roadshow was held in Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi, and offers Indian Agents and Operators the opportunity for B2B meetings. Ishvinder Maddh, Managing Director & Producer Robinville Intech at the event, said, “Since our 2009 representation of Austrian businesses, tourism interests’ have soared in India, however, the most significant game changer was the emergence of the Indian Film Industry & Indian Productions in Austria in a noticeable way. Additionally, through our cross border relationships we have been able to strengthen the ties between India and Austria, but we have been instrumental in significantly increasing Indian overnights by over 100% across the last 4 years.”

Continuing its focus on developing the cruising market in India, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will organise another edition of its Singapore Cruise Forum on 12 September, today, in New Delhi. The theme of this year’s forum will be ‘Growing Cruise Connections – Achieving Together’ and will be an event involving thought leaders and cruise professionals.

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department Corporation (MPTDC) has issued global tenders to sell seven hotels, which the corporation handles in the state, including the well-known Ashoka Lake View hotel in Bhopal apart from Ujjain’s Hotel Avantika, Pili Kothi in Umariya and a tourist motel in Mandla. The department has also planned to rent heritage sites in the state for marriage celebrations during the upcoming season. This is not the first time that private players have been roped in by the MP Tourism Department. In 2016, the then-government gave many state-owned hotels and motels like those in Datia, Neemuch, Khajuraho, Katni and Pipariya to private operators. It had then made a provision in the state tourism policy to give hotels to private operators under the condition that the company taking the hotel will operate it and pay the lease money annually to the government. Any violation of the agreement lead to the hotel being taken back by the tourism development corporation.