Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

GITB in its 11th year will see 291 Foreign Tour Operators from 47 countries to meet, interact and do business with 260 Indian exhibitors with around 11,236 pre-scheduled B2B meetings. The two-day event was inaugurated at The Lalit, Jaipur in the presence of the Chief Guest, DB Gupta, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan, who delivered the inaugural address. The keynote address was delivered by Sreya Guha, Principal Secretary- Tourism, Arts & Culture, Government of Rajasthan. From the Ministry of Tourism, Aashima Mehrotra, Director- Tourism, Government of India addressed the gathering while Dr Jyotsana Suri, Past President of FICCI & Chairperson, FICCI, Tourism Committee delivered the welcome and the theme address. The inauguration of the Exhibition was done by Suman Billa; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India amid the presence of other dignitaries at the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre. 2020 edition to be held from April 19-21 Apart from the host state, Rajasthan, Tourism Departments of states like Gujarat, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Punjab and Chandigarh are also participating.

TBO Group unveiled its industry first ‘B2A’ strategy at the Arabian Travel Market. Talking about this new strategy, Gaurav Bhatnagar, Co-founder TBO Group, said, “B2A for us means two things – Back 2 Agents which is an acknowledgement of the fact that more and more travellers are now going back to travel agents for advise and bookings. Studies show that millennials are increasingly feeling fatigued by the information overload and lack of trust in online channels. Further, as people’s travel needs mature, they look for more and more exotic experiences which can’t be booked online. B2A also means Business 2 Agents. Travel Agents provide the most effective distribution and marketing channel for destinations, hotels and experience providers to reach out new customers. TBO platform has over 47,000 travel agents across more than 100 countries. TBO Academy is an innovative learning platform which allows travel bookers to learn about new destinations. We encourage all travel suppliers, and specially hotels to think about the B2A channel differently from the B2C and B2B channels to reach out to the offline customers without fear of rate abuse” The travel distribution business has so far largely been segregated between B2C and B2B. While B2C stands for direct to consumer OTAs, B2B has been used to broadly cover all other indirect distribution channels. TBO believes that this kind of classification short changes a very important part of the distribution change – Travel Agents. Travel Agents account for the bulk of travel sales globally. Travel Agents act as a very important link between travel suppliers and the end consumers, educating travellers on new destinations, new hotels and new experiences. Travel Agents provide end to end fulfilment for …

Vineet Gopal, Director, Meet 2 Travel said,” We are excited for Meet 2 Travel to join Corporate Alliance Group family. This acquisition is of two likeminded companies having same values and business interest, definitely with Corporate Alliance Group we will be bigger and better, the new M2T connect & expertise will help clients optimize their travel spend and improve their travel booking experience. The acquisition creates clear opportunities, including a significant increase in scale and network reach, volume as well, all resulting in stronger customer service.” Barun Gupta, Vice President, Sales Strategy, Business Development & Partnerships, India said this acquisition is start of new phase at Corporate Alliance Group as we are planning and shortlisted other acquisitions in near future in South Asia and South East Asia . We are excited by the exceptional opportunities we expect we will see in the future.”

Air Tanzania, the flag carrier airline of Tanzania based in Dar es Salaam, will start its Mumbai operations from July 17. The airline will operate thrice a week-Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Air Tanzania will also launch 4x weekly flights between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg using their Boeing 787-8.

Europamundo Vacations is a JTB group company, the largest travel and tourism Company in Asia. Europamundo Vacations has introduced 21 special tours for the Arabic Market with Arabic speaking tour leaders. Europamundo is majorly knows as an European coach tour operator but they also have popular coach tours to Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, Turkey etc. Globally 1,50, 000 passengers from 51 different nationalities have travelled with Europamundo. On the global tours which is just in the 3rd year of operations have already crossed 10,000 passengers this year and still counting.

With international tourists expected to grow in the next few years, it is important that India has the right product to meet the need of the visitors. Peter Walton, President and Chief Executive, International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO), says, ‘India is an incredible kaleidoscope of destinations and experiences and so are the golf courses. I can see doubling of golf tourism revenue in India by 2021. India is still an undiscovered golf destination, even though you have 230 golf courses. Through golf, visitors will be able to experience India. 70 per cent of golf travellers are looking for a unique place which they ahev not discovered earlier.” Sharing statistics on the value of the market he adds, “Since the global economic crisis in 2008-2009, that impacted the entire leisure industry, golf bounced back within 18 months to two years, because golfers will not be denied their annual golf travel fix. Since 2011, golf tourism has grown every year at a rate between 8 and 10 per cent. So, on an average double the rate of growth of an average leisure tourism which is about 4 per cent. That carried on until 2018, we actually anticipate now that the rate of growth will slow to 5-7 per cent per year for the next three years. Mainly due to the lack of sufficient golf courses of a suitable standard in destinations people want to travel to. So, demand is still there but supply in the most popular destinations at the most popular time of the year is insufficient to cope with the demand. That is why new destinations like India can really advantage of the strong situation in the market.”

The Indian travel agents market is expected to reach USD40 bn by 2022, as per a latest study by KPMG and Google. The share of Online Travel Agents (OTAs) is set to increase to 47 per cent in 2022. Currently OTAs in India cater to a range of travel related booking services –airlines, accommodation and lodging, package holidays, cab rentals, cruise sales, travel insurance and other transport services. This includes both leisure and business travel sales. Leisure travel forms a majority of sales for OTAs and continues to remain the focus for major Indian OTAs in the near future. Few players in the accommodation and cab rental spaces maintain their own inventory. While aggregators are focused on on-boarding service providers onto their platform, players with own inventory are more focused on differentiating via service quality.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has 3400 rooms in India. Ignace Bauwens, Regional Vice President for the Middle East, Eurasia and Africa at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, says, “If you look at India as a market and its evolution, the middle class is travelling more. What we need is more mid-scale hotels of quality. That’s why I strongly believe that the brand that will be successful in India will be Wyndham Garden. This brand has the potential for growth in this market. We are still in discussions; the product is very specific, so we are looking for the right location. We have four brands that are active in India – Ramada, Ramada Encore, Howard Johnson, and Days. We are looking for sites to develop 20 Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham for Eurasia mainly India.”  

Ministry of Tourism has identified 17 sites in 12 clusters in the country for development under Iconic Tourist Sites Development Project, pursuant to Budget Announcements of 2018-19. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism says, “One of the big plans that we are working on is to develop our iconic sites. We have picked out the 17 most iconic sites in India like the Taj Mahal, Kaziranga and we are working backwards to make them world class. We think that all the first-cut master plans are done, so I think that will be a big push as to how we can really make these most iconic sites as truly world-class tourist experiences.” Speaking on the growth of tourism in the country he said, “There is no doubt that tourism will emerge as an economic engine for growth for this country and I don’t think there will be any confusion on that politically. Whatever work that we have been doing and the way that the tourism sector has been pulling together that will continue strongly.” The sites that will be redeveloped are- Uttar Pradesh- Taj Mahal & Fatehpur Sikri; Maharashtra- Ajanta & Ellora; Delhi- Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort & Qutub Minar; Goa- Colva beach; Rajasthan- Amer Fort; Gujarat- Somnath & Dholavira; Madhya Pradesh- Khajuraho; Karnataka- Hampi; Tamil Nadu- Mahabalipuram; Assam- Kaziranga; Kerala- Kumarakom; Bihar- Mahabodhi.

Jet Airways recently has suspended all its domestic and international operations until further notice. Amidst this, the travellers are concerned about the fate of their JPMiles or Jet Privilege Miles. According to a recent, letter from Jet Privilege to all JP Miles holders, these frequent flyer miles are still valid and can be used for flights, hotel stays, fuel and merchandise options. In a statement, on its website, Jet Airways says, “We, at Jet Privilege, as part of Etihad Aviation Group, want to reassure you that your JPMiles are secure and their value remains intact. We know that you have earned and nurtured your JPMiles over the years and we consider it our foremost duty to safeguard the trust you and our partners have placed in us. As always, you can continue to use your JPMiles on hotel stays, fuel & 2500+ merchandise options at the JetPrivilege Reward Store.”