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Accor is taking a leap in technology this year as its going to introduce its day use service in India where the guests can stay for 12 hours anytime in the day and will pay 60% less of the actual room price. Speaking more on this, Arif Patel, VP, Sales, Marketing, Loyalty and Distribution, India & South Asia, Accor, says, “Today, if you want to use a hotel room from 8 am to 8 pm, its very difficult to book. To solve this, Accor will soon enable its guests to book the room maximum for 12 hours any time in the day that suits them. It will up to the hotel if they want to release their 6 am to 6 pm slot of 7 am to 7 pm, 12 pm to 8 pm etc. You will be able to book hotel room just for the day use, online. One can make this booking with a discount of 60 per cent on the total room rate.”

Thai Smile is all set to start operating from Kolkata to Bangkok, five times a week, from March 31, 2019. The aircraft used for the operations on this route is Airbus 320. The starting fare for the flight is Rs. 8993 all included. The direct flight will also place TG-coded flight numbers on this route. The flight from Kolkata would take off at 01:00 hrs and would arrive in Bangkok at 05:30 hrs on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. From Bangkok it will fly every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 22:05 hrs and would land in Kolkata at 23:30 hrs.

Further enhancing its customer experience, Indigo has introduced 3 new routes while adding 14 additional flights on its network. The low-cost carrier will operate its first flight between Chennai-Raipur, Hyderabad-Gorakhpur and Kolkata-Gorakhpur. The airline will also add flights on its existing routes connecting, Chennai – Trivandrum, Bengaluru – Mangalore, Bengaluru – Udaipur and Bengaluru – Chennai.All new services will commence from April 2019. Providing details, William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo, said, “We are very excited to add14 new flights to our network along with along with 3 new routes connecting Chennai, Raipur and Gorakhpur. IndiGo has completed 12 years of successful operations in the India market as a low cost carrier, and adding new flights to its network will further augment the connectivity that we aspire to provide to our customers. It is our constant endeavour to provide our customers on-time, courteous and hassle-free service, and an affordable flying experience always.”

The female share of employment in tourism in India accounts for 12.1 per cent, according to a latest report by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) titled ‘Travel & Tourism: Driving Women’s Success.’ There could be an 11 per cent increase in global GDP if every country achieved the fastest rate of progress in its region on closing the three key gender gaps of workforce participation, the report states. Travel and tourism can provide women with more opportunities for workforce participation, leadership, entrepreneurship and empowerment than many other sectors, particularly in developing countries and as such it can have a tremendous effect on poverty reduction in rural communities. At the macro level, a stronger representation of women in travel and tourism relative to other areas of economy is due to the sector’s unique characteristics: often less emphasis on formal education and training, greater emphasis on personal and hospitality skills, flexible working opportunities, and increased options for entrepreneurship that do not require heavy start-up financing. While there are wide variations in gender equality by region, socio-economic class, ethnicity and age, women’s labour force participation rates are gradually approaching those of men in many developed countries, supported by public policies including family support, rights to paid leave, and affordable childcare services for working mothers. Women also have some of the highest rates of participation in developing countries, reflecting economic necessity.

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘Redefining Corporate Travel Management’ forecasts that the Indian business travel market is highly fragmented, with 70 per cent of corporates spending less than Rs 10 million. IT companies have the highest share amongst those spending more than Rs 10 million followed by engineering and pharmaceutical companies. IT, BPO/ITeS and pharmaceutical industries have higher travel spends as a percentage of their revenue. The cost incurred while travelling for business is the second highest operational cost for most organisations. Business travel is central to both maintaining business as well as expanding it and due to rising cost of travel, it is becoming imperative for corporates to drive higher levels of efficiency in their managed travel programme.

Rohit Chopra, Regional Director of Sales, Accor – India & South Asia believes that India offers great opportunities in the luxury segment. “Accor is exploring opportunities for the extended stay segment with discussions for developments under the Novotel Suites under way in Gurgaon and Bengaluru. We believe that India has tremendous scope in the luxury segment, given the increasing demand and spends in the country. We are also looking at introducing the Mövenpick and Ansagna brands in the country and plan to develop resorts in Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala, the hills and the north east of the country and Coorg.”

Through the 8th edition of the Indian Golf and Turf Expo (IGE) 2019, The Golf Industry Assocation is targeting to generate revenues of Rs 100 crore in next five years through Golf tourism. South Asia’s largest Golf Industry Trade Show is scheduled to be held at New Delhi’s Thyagraj stadium on April 26-27, 2019. Speaking at the formal launch of the event, Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, said, “The Ministry of Tourism has long identified golf as a potential tourism booster and has taken several measures including developing more public courses to grow and promote the sport in the country. In a welcome addition, this year’s IGE has also involved turf experts and professionals in a big way. This is so important to ensure that the best of infrastructure is available in the country, not only to boost the prospects of Golf, but also other sports like Football, Cricket, Polo and others where quality turf plays a critical role in boosting the standards of the athletes game. I thank all partners in making IGE a success over the years and look forward to the 2019 edition.” Deepali Shah Gandhi, President, Golf Industry Association (GIA), promoters of IGE, was also present on the occasion and said, “On behalf of the GIA, I would like to thank Suman Billa and through him the Ministry of Tourism for their continued encouragement and support to IGE, which has now become a must-attend for the entire Golf ecosystem in the country. The IGE brings together all key partners and contributors to the sport, whose tireless efforts have enabled stars like Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shubhankar Sharma to name a …

After deciding to ground the Boeing 737-MAX 8 planes operated by Indian airlines, DGCA has now decided to ban overflying of the aircraft which will also restrict take off and landing of the 737 MAX 8 planes in the Indian territory. “No B737 Max aircraft will be allowed to enter or transit the Indian airspace effective 1600hrs Indian time or 1030 UTC (Universal Coordinated Time). The timeline is to cater to situations where aircraft can be positioned at maintenance facilities and international flights can reach their destinations,” the civil aviation ministry said in a post on Twitter. Amid global backlash following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight last week, US and major European nations, including Britain, Germany and France, have also suspended operations of the aircraft. Meanwhile, SpiceJet has decided not to take further deliveries of the plane till the safety concerns are sorted out. The airline has as many as 205 B737 MAX on order.

In a significant move to connect South India to Tokyo, Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced the commencement of non-stop daily flight between Tokyo (Narita) and Bengaluru from 2020. There are no direct flight to Tokyo from any south Indian city currently. The new flight will leave Tokyo at 6:25 pm and reach Bengaluru at 12:05 am (next day). The return flight will leave at 2:45 am from Bengaluru and reach Tokyo at 2:55 pm. “The IT industry is thriving in Bengaluru and is known as the Silicon Valley of India, where global corporations focusing in telecommunications, biotechnology, and automobiles are strategically based in this unique city. As direct flights are currently not in service from Japan, the launch of this route will provide customers from North America a new option when travelling to the southern region of India,” reports the Times of India citing statement from the airline. Welcoming the move, Takayuki Kitagawa, Consul-General, Japan in Bengaluru, in a statement, said, “Launch of non-stop flights from Bengaluru to Tokyo (Narita) will herald a new era of more strengthened economic relation between Karnataka and Japan. With this development not only will tourism flourish in Karnataka and Japan but also many new businesses will be established; thereby creating lots of new opportunities,” he said. Earlier this year, All Nippon Airways (ANA) also announced its plans to launch direct daily flight from Tokyo to Chennai from October 2019.

A new DMC – One Above – that offers Destination Marketing Services, opened its new office in Mumbai recently. Located in Andheri East, it is headed by BA Rahim, Director, along with co-directors Vishal Somaiya and Irshad Dadan. It already has 15 DMCs in its kitty in countries including Maldives, South Africa, Dubai, Russia, USA, Baku, Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.