Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The Registry Collection, the world’s largest luxury exchange programme, announced its affiliation with two new properties, Ramada Kumbhalgarh in Rajasthan and 1 Khandala Valley in Maharashtra. Both these resorts make for a perfect weekend getaway for travellers. Ramada Kumbhalgarh is located in the westerly range of the Aravali Hills of the Rajasthan district, about 82 km from Udaipur. The latter is nested on the Western Ghats and is a private, secure, gated community that sprawls over 37 acres. Commenting on the affiliation, Sabina Chopra, Managing Director, RCI India said, “Ramada Kumbhalgarh and 1 Khandala Valley are great additions to our growing affiliate network. Our affiliation with Ramada and Khandala Valley will add to our members’ choices of high-quality properties in premium holiday destinations, allowing us to provide amazing vacation experiences to our members and create memories that will last a lifetime.” The Registry Collection, part of  RCI, is an exclusive programme with 200 affiliated properties in more than 40 countries and approximately 50,000 members. It provides members with access to an elite global network of the finest vacation properties at some of the world’s premier destinations.

The 14th Annual Convention of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) is set to be held in Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh from October 25-28, 2018. Keeping the tradition of holding the convention in an adventure destination every year, ATOAI has selected the Araku Valley this year as a venue for its annual convention. ATOAI is expecting over 250 participants mostly the leading adventure tour operators, hotels, DMCs, State Tourism Boards, travel trade from Andhra Pradesh as well as the neighbouring states in South India, officials from the Ministry of Tourism, bloggers and media to interact and network during the convention days. “The idea is to bring small operators from far-flung areas of the state and connect them with the adventure tourism experts, introducing a day of adventure activities to strengthen the fraternity,” said Capt Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI. The convention will offer structured opportunities for the travel trade and tourism boards to network for business development. These include networking sessions and a buyer-seller expo where companies may take up table space to promote their products and services. ATOAI has appointed Shekhar Babu (recipient of Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in year 2009 as well as Adventurer of the Year Award by ATOAI in 2017) as Co-chairman of the convention from South India. Delegates will also get an opportunity to go on pre or post-convention Fam tours hosted by Andhra Pradesh Tourism and state industry players.

GoAir is all set to commence its international flight operations by offering India’s first-ever direct service to Phuket, Thailand effective October 11, 2018 from Delhi and Mumbai. This will be followed by its second international service connecting Mumbai and Delhi with Male, Maldives effective October 14, 2018. These destinations will also be connected from Bengaluru in the near future. GoAir will continue to operate its A320 aircraft in all operations and on both these international routes. The airline will operate three direct flight services per week between Mumbai – Phuket – Mumbai at a return fare starting from Rs 18,999 (all inclusive); two direct flight services per week between Delhi – Phuket – Delhi at a return fare starting from Rs 18,999 (all inclusive). Similarly the airline will operate three direct flight services per week between Mumbai – Male – Mumbai at a return fare starting from Rs 17,999 (all inclusive); 2 direct flight services per week between Delhi – Male – Delhi at a return fare starting from Rs 18,999 (all inclusive). Commenting on the launch of their international operations, Cornelis Vrieswijk, CEO, GoAir said, “Phuket and Male are key tourist destination and hold a lot of promise. As an LCC, we have always strived to offer the best value for money to our customers and now we extend this proposition to the international traveller as well. The international schedules have been planned to allow quick and convenient connections for customers and is a reflection of our continued journey towards excellence.”    

Essel Group, a multi-faceted business conglomerate, has announced the appointment of industry veteran Jurgen Bailom as President and CEO of the Group’s upcoming cruise line business, Zen Cruises. With his appointment, Essel Group heralds the announcement of India’s premium cruise line with the purchase of its first ship, the Pacific Jewel – a 70,285-ton, 2000 passenger ship from P&O Australia. He will be based in Mumbai. With a career spanning over 30 years in the cruise and hospitality industry, Bailom was President & CEO of Grupo Vidanta Cruises prior to Essel Group. He has also held senior Corporate Director positions within several of Royal Caribbean’s brands such as Sky Seas, TUI and Celebrity Cruises, Island Cruises and most recent as the Chief Operating Officer & Vice President of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Pullmantur. He has also been Vice-President of The Maho Group, Sonesta Collection Resorts, Casinos, Spa & Real Estate, to name a few. Commenting on his appointment, Bailom said, “I’m thrilled to be a part of the Essel Group which has done pioneering work across sectors. India has a 6,632 km long coastline along nine states and two union territories which presents tremendous potential to promote and grow cruise tourism in India. We intend to take the cruise liner experience to a new level for people in India.”  

The upcoming India Tourism Mart (ITM), jointly organised by Ministry of Tourism and Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), have selected a total of 274 buyers out of over 600 applications received for the same. MOT and FAITH, with representatives of its various member associations held a curtain raiser of the India Tourism Mart in New Delhi, where updates were shared on the progress of the event scheduled to be held from September 16-18, 2018. Subhash Goyal, Honorary Secretary, FAITH, shared, “We have selected 274 buyers out of over 600 applications by a screening committee to ensure that we only have genuine buyers. For sellers, we have about 16 participating states, out of which the major partner states are Punjab and Gujarat. Around 70 small booths have been taken by tour operators, worth Rs 60,000 on individual basis and Rs 30,000 each on sharing. This totals to about 100 tour operators. Besides, IATO has taken six booths with 12 operators each, for whom IATO has subsidised the rates at around Rs 15,000 each. Similarly, ATOAI has taken a number of booths. We have even given booths for operators in the Northeast.”

About 650 participants from across Asia Pacific have gathered at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore to get an in-depth understanding of Sabre technology offerings across the airline, hotel and travel distribution portfolios. The new Sabre approach is highly content driven and offers an array of technology solutions under one roof. Participants have gathered from over 30 countries for this innovative and informative event.    

In line with industry growth and strong demand for skilled professionals, the Centre of Learning, a Thomas Cook initiative, has seen a 35 per cent YoY growth in its diploma students and a placement of 76 per cent. Mona Cheriyan, President & Group Head – Human Resources, Thomas Cook (India), said, “In the context of high growth and increasing customer expectations, talent management is one of the critical challenges that the travel industry faces. This relates to both shortage of actual numbers and the desired capability levels- from a technical and managerial perspective. We are hence proud of our achievement in bridging the gap by building a resource pool of skilled travel professionals for the sector. What is noteworthy is that our efforts are equipping entrants with both academic knowledge and practical skills via on-the-job training.” At its seventh Convocation Ceremony held in Mumbai, the Thomas Cook Centre of Learning felicitated a strong contingent of over 300 students who had successfully completed courses across the Travel Professional Programme – a Post Graduate Course in Travel & Tourism Management, Certificate Course in Travel and Tourism Management, Certificate Course in World Tour Management and IATA Foundation in Travel and Tourism. Scholarship certificates and special prizes were awarded to top performers of Centre of Learning’s Travel Professional Programme – a Post Graduate course in Travel & Tourism Management & Certificate Course in Travel and Tourism Management.    

The Holland Sales Mission kicked off on August 28 in New Delhi amidst a packed gathering at Shangri-La Hotel. The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC), in collaboration with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Jet Airways, is organising the three-day, three-city roadshow from August 28-30 in Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. “For 2018, this is our key activity in the market. This year, we expect a growth of over 25 per cent from the Indian market. We are mainly focusing on leisure tourists, and MiCE is more on a reactive basis. In terms of marketing, we have a 360-degree approach, so we focus on the travel trade, consumers, as well as press and PR. These are the three key elements for promotions,” said Carola Muller, Global Travel Trade Manager, NBTC, when speaking about the agenda this year. The Indian market continues to be one of the most important contributors of international visitors into the Netherlands. The country recorded a growth of 31 per cent in visitor arrivals from India in 2017, attaining a remarkable surge over the previous year. NBTC has confirmed recording 67,000 visitors from India until May 2018, and this year’s Sales Mission aims to achieve good numbers.

Travel Money, the flagship foreign exchange brand of FCM Travel Solutions, Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group Australia, strengthened its presence in South India with an inauguration of its first owned retail store at one of the key locations in Vijayawada. The outlet was inaugurated by Gagan Malhotra, Vice President, Foreign Exchange, FCM Travel Solutions India. This expansion augments total number of outlets to the 34 stores across India, out of which 14 are in South India. Spread over 1,000 sq ft at M G Road, the store offers a range of foreign exchange services such as forex, travel cards and outward remittances for education or close relative maintenance. Malhotra said, “According to the BCG report titled ‘Demystifying The Indian Online Traveller 2017’, the Indian travel market is projected to grow at 11 to 11.5 per cent to the tune of $48 billion by 2020. Indian travel given the significant outbound tourism growth in South India market, we aim to deliver quality and convenience in all aspects of foreign exchange including remittance for students, Leisure & Business travel, Prepaid Travel Cards, and much more to our travellers.” Travel Money’s current footprint extends to a total of 34 stores across India in all major cities including Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Cochin via a combination of owned branches and franchise outlets.

The number of UK visas granted to Indian nationals has continued to experience strong growth, according to the latest update from the UK Office for National Statistics. The latest figures show that there has been a 32 per cent increase in student visas and a 10 per cent increase in visit visas from India. This means that 550,925 Indians were granted UK visas in the year ending June 2018 while visit visas increased by 10 per cent to 454,658, which demonstrates that Indians are continuing to choose the UK as a holiday destination. T4 visas granted to Indian students touched 15,390, an increase of 32 per cent on the previous 12 months. Over 6,500 Indians came for short-term study in the UK during the same period. This is the third successive year that student visa numbers have increased. India continues to receive more UK work visas than the rest of the world combined with over 60,000 work visas issued last year. Dominic Asquith, British High Commissioner to India, said, “The latest figures reinforce a trend we have noticed for some time – that across the board more and more Indians are choosing the UK as a destination to visit, work in and study. I’m particularly pleased to note that numbers of Indian students have increased by 32%. I welcome this evidence that international students wish to study at our world class institutions and are succeeding in securing places there.”