Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

The Government of India has set a target of 20 million foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) by 2020 and double the foreign exchange earnings as well, according to a latest report by Ministry of Tourism. The number of FTAs in March 2018 were 1.03 million as compared to FTAs of 905,000 in March 2017, showing an year-on-year growth of 13.4 per cent. In CY 2017, foreign tourist arrival in India stood at 10.177 million and reached 3.13 million in January-March 2018. Growth in tourist arrivals has been due to flexible government policies, developed rail and road infrastructure, ease in availability of e-visas to foreign tourists. The Government of India is working to achieve 1 per cent share in world’s international tourist arrivals by 2020 and 2 per cent share by 2025.

India ranked eighth in the world in 2017 in terms of absolute direct contribution of travel and tourism sector’s to its GDP, according to World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC’s) Economic Impact 2018 report. It is the third largest foreign exchange earner for the country. The tourism and hospitality sector’s direct contribution to GDP in 2017 was Rs 5.94 trillion (US$ 91.27 billion). This is expected to reach Rs 12.68 trillion (US$ 194.69 billion) in 2028, implying a CAGR of 7.23 per cent during 2012-28.

United Kingdom Visas & Immigration, (UKVI), a division of the UK Home Office, responsible for deciding who can visit and stay within the UK, has awarded Sopra Steria a new contract to enable visa renewals for those individuals who are already in the UK. BLS International Services will be supporting Sopra Steria and UKVI by establishing and delivering some of the key value-added services under the contract. BLS International Services currently handles approximately 12 million visa applications annually across its global network. It will now assist in the processing applications for permission to remain in the UK on behalf of the Home Office. Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, BLS International, comments, “We are privileged to be part of this new partnership in the United Kingdom. It reinforces our company’s position within the UK and significantly enhances our stature as a leading service partner to client Governments worldwide. We will deploy our world class solution to provide an innovative and convenient service to the UK Home Office and its applicants.”

Korea Tourism Organization New Delhi Office has launched its India website www.visitkorea.in as part of its marketing plan for the year 2018. The website mainly caters to the travel industry and individuals seeking tourism related information specific to the Indian outbound travelling requirements. The website was launched to provide a quick access of everything an Indian traveller would like to see and do in South Korea. Regular updates on offers and announcements will keep the visitors apprised of what’s happening. The KTO India website features highlight the mandatory travel information for India market such as visa information, currently available South Korea packages, incentive programme details, Indian food available in South Korea, main destination and attractions for Indians to enjoy, etc. According to Jong Sool Kwon, Director, Korea Tourism Organization New Delhi, “The usual practice of prospective tourists and travel agents was to find a local travel agent partner, get information from brochures or wait for the tourism board to organise training sessions for updates about South Korea from Indian traveller’s perspective. This website will be a one-stop solution for both the trade partners and travellers to gather updated information. Although the global website was available for all to access information about South Korea, however, it has been so difficult for tourists to find India-centric information about the destination.”  

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced the rebranding of Hyatt Bangalore MG Road to the Hyatt Centric brand, marking the brand’s first hotel in India and 23rd worldwide. The Hyatt Centric brand targets millennial-minded travellers who want to be in the middle of the action. “We are delighted to introduce the Hyatt Centric brand to our guests in India with the opening of Hyatt Centric MG Road Bangalore,” said Sunjae Sharma, Vice President – Operations, India, Hyatt. “Based in the hustle and bustle of Bangalore’s city centre, we are confident that Hyatt Centric MG Road Bangalore will serve as a platform for guests to easily explore and share all that is vibrant, and exciting, about the garden city. The launch of a Hyatt Centric hotel in India strengthens Hyatt’s portfolio in the country and highlights our commitment to offering the authentic experiences guests want.” Designed by Studio HBA, the hotel boasts a contemporary feel with eclectic touches that capture the city’s cosmopolitan vibe. Its 143 contemporary and playful guestrooms, including four suites with terrace gardens overlooking the aquamarine blue pool, have been stylishly redecorated and infused with local flare. With features like complimentary Wi-Fi and a 48-inch flat-screen TV, each guestroom offers the perfect setting to relax after the day’s adventures.

The Indian Railways has put an ambitious target towards augmenting rail infrastructure, earmarking investment of Rs 856,000 crore between 2015-16 and 2019-20. Network decongestion and expansion, and safety comprise 60 per cent share of the overall capital expenditure. The capital investment on infrastructure creation is expected to sustain at high levels on the back of long-term financing via Life Insurance Corporation of India, funding by multilateral agencies, and building relationships and partnering with the private sector. Over the last three years, 33 per cent of the total capital investment was towards construction of new lines, track renewal works, gauge conversion and safety works. Likewise, broad gauge line and electrification projects gather momentum. The commissioning of both in the last three years almost doubled, from 1,500 km during 2008-09 to 2013-14 to 3,000 km in 2016-17 for broad gauge, and 1,100 km to 2,000 km for electrification.

Hellenic Travel Network has opened a sales office in India in co-operation with Griffon in Mumbai. With more than 30 years of proven experience in the travel industry, the company owns a fleet of cars and mini vans having capacity from 1-19 passengers. Besides this, the company also has an in-house IT department and launched an online B2B booking engine. Andreas Genthe, VP, Hellenic Travel Network, Greece, says, “We are excited to open our India sales office with Griffon in Mumbai. Vivek Jain, MD, Griffon, has been dealing with the Greek market for over 15 years as GSA of various cruise lines and airlines. He is well-versed with Greece mainland and islands and we are confident of our India sales office.” Hellenic Travel Network has launched a special India brochure that has packages designed for Indian travellers keeping in mind their special needs such as Indian vegetarian food, personalised private transfers and tours, and visits to monuments having special interest to Indian travellers. Hellenic Travel Network S.A. has also introduced private villa stay options so large families or close friends groups can stay in private villa which are fully equipped with swimming pool, gardens and even direct access to the beach.

Travelport has announced the signing of a multiyear agreement with Qantas Airways that includes distribution of the Australian national carrier’s content and integration into Qantas’ recently announced NDC platform, the Qantas Distribution Platform (QDP). Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding merchandising solution has been deployed, giving over 65,000 of Travelport-connected travel agencies globally access to images of cabins and meals. These agents will also be able to book ancillaries such as extra legroom seating. Stephen Shurrock, Chief Commercial Officer, Travelport commented, “This agreement is testament to Qantas’ commendable forward-looking vision. Whether it’s the deployment of Rich Content and Branding or our new NDC capabilities, Travelport is uniquely equipped to support Qantas in optimizing content distribution globally.” Travelport is the first operator of a global distribution system to be granted the highest certification by IATA for its New Distribution Capability (NDC) airline distribution technology. With this, Travelport is well-positioned to support the QDP, improving the flexibility of content distribution, as the airline becomes one of the first to deploy NDC content later this year. It is the only such company to be cited by Qantas as an early adopter.  

Switzerland Tourism has introduced its global e-learning programme created for travel agents to sell the destination in the India market. This was launched in January this year and its India-specific programme created especially for this market was discontinued. Speaking about the decision behind this development, Claudio Zemp, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, says, “We are very proud to introduce our new e-learning programme – the Switzerland Travel Academy – in India. This is a global programme for travel agents all over the world and is now also available for the Indian agents. We observed that the demand and the requirements from the India market as well as the knowledge about the destination were fast evolving and for that reason we have now started using the same e-learning programme for India.” The NTO recently did a series of four webinars this year that got overwhelming response with about 600 people joining each webinar. The numbers are also good, as Zemp reveals. “We had an increase of 23.4 per cent in terms of tourists generated out of India in 2017 over the previous year. The first three months of 2018 saw an increase of 16.4 per cent over the previous year during the same period, which is traditionally not a busy season for us,” he says.  

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has signed a new Ginger hotel in Visakhapatnam. It will be Ginger’s second hotel in the city. Ginger Hotels’ portfolio has 45 operating hotels and seven hotels in the pipeline. The announcement reflects the company’s strategic domestic expansion to drive growth momentum. Deepika Rao, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Roots Corporation said, “We are delighted to partner with SSR Builders in Visakhapatnam for this hotel. We are happy to expand our presence in Visakhapatnam, a key city in Andhra Pradesh.” The new Ginger in Visakhapatnam with 56 rooms, an all-day diner, meeting room and a fitness centre located at Gajuwaka amidst a commercial hub with close proximity to companies like Tata Motors, Nestle, BHEL, GAIL and many others. The hotel is slated to open mid-2019. IHCL has two other hotels in the city – The Gateway Hotel Beach Road Visakhapatnam and a 68-room Ginger hotel close to the Visakhapatnam railway station.