Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The 7th Annual Convention of the Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) is scheduled to take place at Bharatpur in Rajasthan from September 13-14, 2018 on the theme ‘Revitalizing India as the Heritage Destination’. “We are all here to explore, debate, deliberate and arrive at a definite roadmap for resurrection of this sacred land. We have thus far taken our heritage for granted and been extremely irresponsible to provide the desired care to protect and preserve our invaluable heritage both tangible and intangible,” said Randhir Vikram Singh, Secretary General, IHHA. Several eminent national and international speakers are expected to share their respective nations’ conservation experiences.

Booking.com has partnered with Air India to offer the airline’s customers access to over 28.9 million accommodation listings, including everything from homes, apartments, villas to world-class hotels and resorts from the Air India website. Stewart Jones, Regional Director – Strategic Partnerships, APAC, Booking.com said, “Air India makes it the perfect partner for us to showcase our global online accommodation offering to their domestic and international customers. As India is poised to become the third largest aviation market by 2020 with its fast-growing outbound travel market, we are happy to combine our strengths with Air India’s to deliver the best travel experience to travellers across the country.” Madhu Mathen, General Manager – Sales and Marketing, Air India said, “Booking.com’s global reach and unique accommodation offerings is a key reason we chose the online accommodation platform as one of our first accommodation partner. As a member of the world’s largest airline alliance – Star Alliance, Air India has passengers that are globe-trotters. Partnering with Booking.com enables us at Air India to provide our customers a broad & unique variety of accommodation options in any city we fly them to.”  

The venue for the upcoming India Tourism Mart (ITM), scheduled to take place from September 16-18, 2018, has been changed by the organisers. The much-awaited travel trade event, which was earlier slated to be held at Vigyan Bhavan, will now take place at The Ashok, New Delhi. Informing about the updated schedule, Subhash Goyal, Hony Secretary, FAITH and Chairman, India Tourism Mart said, “The venue for ITM has been changed by the Ministry of Tourism looking at the overall security arrangements. It will now be held at The Ashok, New Delhi. Other programmes remain intact as per schedule.”  

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), at International Aviation Summit held in Delhi, called on the government of India to maximise the potential contribution of aviation to India’s development by addressing infrastructure constraints that limit growth and government policies that impose excessive costs on aviation. Growth forecasts for India indicate a trebling of passenger demand by 2037 when some 500 million people are expected to fly to, from or within India. Already aviation supports 7.5 million Indian jobs and Rs 30 billion of GDP (1.5% of the economy). The Summit, being co-hosted by the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Airports Authority India (AAI) and IATA, commemorates the approaching milestone of 50-straight months of double digit domestic growth for Indian aviation. “While it is easy to find Indian passengers who want to fly, it’s very difficult for airlines to make money in this market. India’s social and economic development needs airlines to be able to profitably accommodate growing demand. We must address infrastructure constraints that limit growth and government policies that deviate from global standards and drive up the cost of connectivity,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO, IATA. India’s aviation infrastructure has benefitted from significant upgrades in recent years. “It is clear that India has the capacity to develop effective infrastructure. But the job is not done. Passenger numbers will grow. And infrastructure must not be a bottleneck in fulfilling the needs of travelers and the economy,” said de Juniac who called for work in four priority areas – develop a comprehensive and strategic master plan for India’s airports, remove all obstacles to successfully opening Navi Mumbai as quickly as possible, modernise airport processes using technology in …

K V Abul Nazar, Chairman and Managing Director, Akbar Travels recently met with the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan and handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore towards the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. Owing a majority of its growth story to Kerala, Akbar Travels currently has 35 branches in the state, spanning almost all the districts of God’s own country. Currently, the company has a total of 57 IATA approved branches and 40 non- IATA offices across India.

Tourism Australia has launched a new bespoke tourism promotion campaign in India and Southeast Asia. The latest chapter in Tourism Australia’s evolving There’s Nothing Like Australia campaign, UnDiscover Australia specifically targets high value travellers in India, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. The campaign challenges perceptions and stereotypes of what Australia offers as a tourism destination by showcasing unusual, unfamiliar and unexpected attractions and experiences. To sustain growth in arrivals and yield, the campaign seeks to entice Indian travellers by providing a multidimensional understanding of Australia’s high-quality experiences, showcasing the journey of renowned Bollywood actor Parineeti Chopra. The campaign plays on some of the prevalent misconceptions about Australia highlighted by research carried out in the region, showing that there is much more to Australia than the typical stereotypes of beaches, furry animals and popular icons. Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager – India & Gulf, Tourism Australia said, “This campaign will shine a spotlight on some of our undiscovered and hidden holiday gems, showing there’s much more to an Australian holiday for Indians in addition to experiencing our well-known icons. Yes, you can watch a game of cricket at the magnificent Adelaide Oval, but are people aware that they can also do an amazing rooftop climb offering 360 views of the city? Or that there are plentiful immersive experiences amidst untouched natural landscapes in close proximity to our vibrant cities,” he said. The campaign will be executed in two phases in India – September to November and January to April to coincide with the holiday planning periods for the peak travel season during the year-end and Indian summer respectively.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has inaugurated the Holiday Inn Express Gurgaon Sector 50, the first Holiday Inn Express hotel in Gurugram. As part of IHG’s partnership with SAMHI for a portfolio of 14 Holiday Inn Express hotels, this property will be the first to open its doors to guests on September 15. Marking this celebration, IHG’s regional leadership team including Kenneth Macpherson, CEO-EMEAA and Pascal Gauvin, MD, IMEA, were present at the ceremony. Holiday Inn Express Gurgaon Sector 50 offers 205 intelligent, design-led, contemporary rooms, providing an efficient environment to guests. Boasting of an excellent location, Holiday Inn Express Gurgaon Sector 50 is strategically situated in a mixed-use complex populated with a shopping mall, restaurants, entertainment and wellness facilities, making it a perfect destination for business travellers as well as leisure seekers. Vivek Bhalla, Regional Vice President – SWA, IHG said, “We are delighted to launch the first Holiday Inn Express hotel as a part of our partnership with SAMHI. Our growth in India is fuelled by the Holiday Inn brand family, and this partnership underscores our commitment to grow our midscale offering in the country. We are confident that Holiday Inn Express Gurgaon Sector 50 will offer an uncompromising and modern guest experience to travellers visiting the city.” Ashish Jakhanwala, MD & CEO, SAMHI added, “The conversion and the rebranding exercise of our existing portfolio to the Holiday Inn Express brand is one of the largest in the hospitality industry. We strongly believe that a combination of strong locations, a vibrant product and the power of the brand Holiday Inn Express, will lead the way for the midscale hotel space in India.”   

Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society has set up a task force to carry out the relief and rehabilitation work and support the huge task of rebuilding the lives of the flood-hit people of Kerala. As many as 28 organisations in the tourism sector have been brought under the ambit of this task force, which, apart from concentrating on the relief and rehabilitation works, will also focus on creating awareness on the need to contribute to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) for the flood-affected people. The Task Force has already sent teams for the clean-up operations in various places and successfully roped in around 1500 people to carry out the relief and rehabilitation work in Munnar and nearby tourism spots. It has been decided that every organisation under the Task Force and its workers would give away their one day’s earnings to the CMDRF, Abraham George, Convenor, Task Force, said. “The relief work is going on in full swing and the members are doing an excellent job under the guidance of Baby Mathew, President, KTM Society and Chairman, Task Force,” George said. To start with, seven teams have been deployed for clean-up works in places like Paravur, Aluva, Chengannur and Munnar.

Uttarakhand Travel Mart (UTM), a B2B buyer-seller meet and travel and tourism exhibition, is set to be held in Dehradun from October 24-26, 2018. The event will be a strong platform for exhibitors to network with buyers and invited delegates. Satpal Maharaj, Minister of Tourism, Uttarakhand, released the Uttarakhand Travel Mart (UTM) brochure in New Delhi to boost tourism and promote the mart.  

SOTC has launched ‘Holiday Essentials’, keeping in mind the type of vacation and destination requirement. The Holiday Essentials range is an integral part of SOTC’s services and have been designed to make every vacation worry free by understanding the customer’s minute necessities. SOTC Travel has witnessed the change in travel experiences over the years and has observed a growth in queries for the inclusion of various kinds of experiences which is about 30% to 35% as compared to the last year. Being a new age travel curator, SOTC strives to make holidays a priority for every Indian. To accommodate these new requirements of the present day traveller, SOTC has included a strong line up of their own Holiday Essentials range of travel merchandise along with a few other Indian and international brands on their website https://www.sotcholidayessentials.com/. This merchandise website currently provides around 70 unique products across categories. Bringing together a range of accessories to help relieve discomfort and boredom are a fantastic way to beat the travelling blues! SOTC ‘Holiday Essentials’ line offers a wide array of products, from neck pillows to hand warmers, adaptors to backpacks. There are plenty of nifty gadgets too; such as compact portable luggage weighing scales, padlocks and waterproof pouches. It includes SOTC’s private label under the brand name of “Holiday Essentials” and mix of international brands like Osprey, Nrit, Trekmates and award winning Indian brands like Tag8. Customers can also place orders at their nearest SOTC store.