Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

According to a recent report by HVS ANAROCK, 2018 has seen growth in performance over 2017 in almost all major markets across India, with the momentum carrying into the first quarter of 2019, where performance of January & February 2019 is a stellar 11% higher in RevPAR performance than same period last year. The impact of elections on the industry combined with a strong growth in hotel supply in the year. Given the headstart that 2019 has received coupled with the general momentum that has built over the last two years, we are of the opinion that RevPar’s will grow.

A total of 26 million international trips were taken by Indians last year, as per a Google and Bain & Company report. Last year, they took a staggering 1.8 billion trips — domestic and international — giving the travel and tourism industry a major boost in India. Indian travellers spent nearly $94 billion on transportation, lodging and consumption during their travels. While business travellers spent $37 billion in 2018, leisure travellers spent $57 billion.

The proportion of online bookings has been increasing rapidly and is expected to reach 33 per cent of all hotel bookings by 2021 due to a proliferation of online aggregators, according to a latest study titled ‘How does India travel?’ jointly prepared by Google and Bain & Company. The report states that during key research-heavy phase of interest, research and experience, digital plays a pivotal role with over 86 percent of consumers being influenced by online channels. During this phase, travellers spend their maximum time on search, travel tour provider websites, price comparison websites, and travel articles. Online video too plays a significant role with 21 per cent of travellers being influenced by this platform. In the booking and sharing phase, the report states that nearly 60 per cent of customers book transport and lodging online, and over 50 per cent share feedback online with social media being the dominant platform. Talking about the market opportunities for online travel players, Vikas Agnihotri, Country Director – Sales, Google India said, “New users perceive that online channels are geared towards the more frequent flyers and experience-oriented travellers; and existing travellers research online but the lack of trust in payments and booking experience make them end up booking offline. If travel players tap these online users through personalised marketing, messaging and travel plans, they can further augment online travel bookings. This can be done by adopting digital technologies to influence customers early in the journey and moving from one-time engagement to ongoing relationships to have a positive impact.” “There is a perception amongst consumers that online channels are geared towards premium customers, along with a marked distrust around payment and pricing terms. It is imperative for businesses …

The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has invited bids for India’s first undersea tunnel, which is part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor. The bullet train which will cover a distance of 508 km between Mumbai and Ahmedabad has a 21 km underground corridor. Going by the tender, the work has to be completed within 1,280 days or 3.5 years. The tender is for construction of tunnelling works including testing and commissioning for double line high speed railway using tunnel boring machine (TBM) and new Austrian tunnelling method (NATM) for the project.

Clarks Inn Group of Hotels has opened its latest property in Chhattisgarh. The 52-room property is located in the city-centre and is in close proximity to the Raipur Airport. This would be the first property by Clarks Inn in Chhattisgarh. S N Srivastava, President & Co-founder, Clarks Inn Group of Hotels, said, “We are ecstatic to announce the newest addition, Clarks Inn Suites Raipur, to our ever-expanding portfolio. We are particularly thrilled to debut in the fast-growing hospitality market of Chhattisgarh with such a wonderful and top-of-the-line hotel property. We expect this property to be the most sought-after hospitality address of Raipur and will also strive hard to leverage our presence here to put Raipur and Chhattisgarh on the tourism map of the country.” Exuding old-world-charm with its heritage style architecture, the property has on offer the latest in amenities and world class guest services. For corporates and social occasions, the hotel boasts huge event space, as well as several F&B outlets, lounge and bar, health club, spa and more. Srivastava added, “Clarks Inn Group of Hotels has made giant strides as a hospitality chain and has emerged as one of the most admired and fastest growing hotel companies in the South Asia region. Today, we have established our presence in over 20 states of India and Nepal with a slew of developments to unfold in various parts of the country and overseas in the South Asia and ASEAN region in the coming months.”

Lion Group’s Malaysian affiliate, Malindo Air, will start its Varanasi operations from July 18. Boeing 737-800 will be deployed on this route which will operate three times a week- Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday. Malindo will be the only airline serving Varanasi from Kuala Lumpur. Right now, Malindo serves destinations like Amritsar, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Trivandrum and Tiruchirappalli etc. India has been an important market for Malindo since shortly after the airline launched.

In a bid to strengthen its connectivity, GoAir has announced 28 additional flights, starting April 26, offering passengers multiple FlySmart options. The new flights will be connecting 12 destinations, namely, Mumbai (8 flights), Delhi (7), Nagpur (3), Ahmedabad (2), Goa (1), Chandigarh (1), Ranchi (1), Jaipur (1), Lucknow (1), Patna (1), Pune (1) and Kochi (1). The new flights for the first time are: Delhi-Nagpur-Delhi and Delhi-Kochi-Delhi. The 28 additional flights cover the length and breadth of the country and is believed to alleviate the shortage of flights and inconvenience caused to passengers due to the Jet Airway’s flight cancellations. Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir, said: “GoAir is pleased to announce 28 flight options this summer in addition to our existing flights. There are two sectors that GoAir is launching for the first time, namely, Delhi-Nagpur-Delhi and Delhi-Kochi-Delhi. GoAir is committed to provide travelers a value for money proposition through highest standards of customer service and affordable air fares – as low as Rs 1368 on select routes. GoAir is also committed to provide secure and efficient transportation at all times with attention to essential details. Proud to say that for the 7th month in a row, GoAir has ranked top in ‘On-Time-Performance (OTP)’ signifying our efforts towards operational efficiency.” In Mumbai, all flight numbers starting from G8 2000 to G8 2999 will depart and arrive at Terminal 2, effective 26th April 2019.

Ramesh Daryanani, Vice President, Global Sales – Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China), in a recent interview to Tourism Breaking News, said, “India is a very important market for us. Across all our brands, the luxury ones are performing well. The performance of JW, Ritz Carlton, Sheraton Grand are robust and Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru are our top performing markets.”

Contiki has appointed MakeMyTrip as one of their preferred sales agents (PSA). The OTA will feature Contiki’s bestseller trips and promote them through its website as well as their retail outlets and B2B channels. India is a growing market and key area of focus for Contiki, with trip bookings increasing three-fold over the past five years. With Make My Trip, Contiki hopes to further expand its reach and inspire young travellers to embark on a trip of a lifetime to Europe and beyond. With three main travel styles, Discoverer (‘see it all, do it all’), Iconic Essentials (‘stretch your budget’) and In-Depth Explorer (‘go local’), travellers have a wide variety of trips to choose from, ranging from trips spanning a few days to over one month. “Our agent partners have shared that over 80% of their millennial customers make enquiries about international travel, and most specifically Europe is trending. More importantly, the majority of our customers are searching for their trips via mobile and digital devices. As Contiki offers trips specifically for 18 to 35-year-olds, and with our diverse range of 300 trips across 6 continents, we are excited to embark on this partnership with MakeMyTrip to connect with young travellers seeking worldwide adventures where they can travel with no regrets. We know that our customers are after local insight, and are looking for experiences that they may not be able to find on their own. With this in mind, Contiki is the best choice where we’ve got everything covered – from the essentials to the awesome people from all around the world that choose to travel with us!” says Timothy Su, Senior Sales & Marketing Manager, Asia. Commenting on …

With Jet Airways suspending its operations temporarily, as many as 440 slots are vacant at Delhi and Mumbai airports. There are 280 vacant slots at Mumbai and over 160 at the Delhi airport. The Civil Aviation Ministry in a statement has said that allocation of the slots of grounded Jet Airways at various airports around the country is purely temporary and is being allocated to airlines inducting additional aircraft. The ministry said that vacant slots have been allocated for a period of three months to reduce the inconvenience of passengers and facilitate induction of additional capacity. It further said that the historic rights of Jet Airways, as per provisions of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s guidelines for slot allocation, will be protected. The slots will be made available to Jet Airways as and when it revives operations. The government said that to ensure the slots are allocated in an equitable and transparent manner, it has set up a committee of representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, private operators and slot coordinators.