Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Continuing its focus on growing its domestic presence, Jet Airways will introduce 144 weekly flights in the first phase of its forthcoming summer schedule. Jet Airways will strengthen connectivity between the country’s capital and the North Eastern region via a bouquet of non-stop services including thrice-a-week flights to Aizawl and Jorhat and four times-a-week flights to Silchar from New Delhi. The airline also commences four times-a-week non-stop service to Imphal from Delhi. The airline is also commencing direct, one-stop services between Mumbai and the North Eastern cities of Jorhat and Imphal, marking its return to the capital of Manipur. Imphal will also be connected with Pune with direct flights via Guwahati and Kolkata, enhancing access and connectivity between the North-East and its hubs in Mumbai and Delhi. Raj Sivakumar, Senior Vice President, Network Planning and Revenue Management, Jet Airways, said, “The burgeoning demand for air travel pan-India is increasingly witnessing guests travelling to more than one destination. Our summer schedule has therefore been designed to facilitate the above developments via a mix of new services – non-stop as well as direct flights, between emerging cities, key metros and our hubs in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, in an endeavour to promote faster, easier and more efficient movement of guests throughout our network, both pan India and worldwide.”

The Royal Oman Police (ROP) has announced that visas will only be granted electronically, effective March 21, 2018, and there will be no more hand-processed visas at the airport. Royal Oman Police, Sultanate of Oman said, “The migration to electronic visas is due to its simplicity and effectiveness, its alignment with modern technology and is in line with the e-government project of the Sultanate. Further, it will save tourists and visitors’ time by avoiding long queues at the airport. The system has been thoroughly tested and more than 12,000 users have already benefited from it. The system is considered to be one of the safest and most confidential in the world, having achieved an ISO certification.” The e-visa application explains clearly the process of obtaining visas either individually or collectively such as obtaining a visa through a tourism company in a simplified way. Additionally, the application clarifies the visa formalities for various groups of countries. In addition, specialists at ROP are available 24 hours a day to provide support. Applicants can obtain visas via the URL- evisa.rop.gov.om, and seek assistance through the official account of eVisa system on twitter- @OmanEvisa. The new e-visa system, coinciding with the opening of the new Muscat International Airport, supports the Oman Tourism Strategy in attracting more tourists and tourism investment into the country, whereby the number of tourists to Oman in 2040 will reach over 11 million by 2040.

As part of its mandate to further enhance India’s digital drive in the travel and tourism industry, FICCI is set to organise the third edition of Digital Travel, Hospitality & Innovation Summit from March 21-22, 2018 at Federation House, New Delhi. The Summit will witness the presence of who’s who from the travel and hospitality industry, and will cover various topics related to the future of travel and innovation. FICCI and KPMG India will also jointly unveil the knowledge paper ‘Expedition 3.0- Travel & Hospitality Gone Digital’ at the inaugural session of the event. The paper looks at unravelling the technology trends in travel and hospitality segment that will help better define the future of the industry, how digitalisation has impacted the evolution of this industry and what can be achieved by overall technology inclusion across the stakeholders in the industry ecosystem. The Summit will also offer an opportunity for travel startups through Travel Tech Launch Pad, a platform for travel start-ups to learn from experts in the field of travel, exhibit their business ideas, and display their products and services in addition to providing a unique opportunity to connect with the right set of ecosystem partners.

Blue Square Consultants has been appointed as the sales and marketing representative for ‘Australia & Beyond Holidays’ in India. Formed by Simon Bernardi, Australia’s inbound travel management operator provides global solutions to Indian travel agents, from both DMC products and FIT. Through its online Agora booking system, the company offers thousands of land products and hotels worldwide, many with allocations. Simon Bernardi, Director, Australia & Beyond Holidays, said “India continues to be an important tourism market for Australia, with growth of over 15 per cent in arrivals over last year and a 30 per cent increase in travel spend. The Indian market spends on average 13 nights in Australia allowing us to develop itineraries to inspire our customers from India. Blue Square Consultants is the apt partner to have in India because of their highly professional team and undisputed knowledge of the travel trade in India.” Lubaina Sheerazi, COO, Blue Square Consultants, added, “Our emphasis has always been to associate with reputed clients and we have achieved this once again with our recent alliance with Australia & Beyond Holidays. We are confident that our association will not only be beneficial for the client but also for Australia as a destination.”  

Andaz Delhi has been awarded the ISO 22000:2005 certification, a food safety management system, which can be applied to any business in the food chain from farm to fork. Andaz Delhi ensures that they follow the established code of food hygiene practices that are applicable nationally as well as internationally. The hotel follows food safety and hygiene regulations through close monitoring, verifications and training of employees, involvement of people and delegation of authorities. “Achieving the ISO 22000:2005 is a testament to the Andaz Delhi’s commitment to excellence. This indeed a matter of pride and the credit for this this outstanding accreditation goes to our entire team and I am grateful to them for all their efforts,”said Madhav Sehgal, General Manager, Andaz Delhi. ISO 22000:2005 also requires a business to have created a fully documented system in place and implemented which includes: programmes to ensure a clean sanitary environment, hazard analysis and critical control plan to prevent food safety hazards, and established food safety standards throughout the organisation at all levels.

BigBreaks has announced the launch of ‘Self Drive Holidays’, a unique product in association with Myles, India’s leading car rental company. At the initial stage, the holiday packages have been designed for Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, which would soon extend to other major cities too. At an all inclusive price, travellers can book a complete holiday, that includes self drive car rental and hotel accommodation on pre-planned routes. “Designed for young travellers, these self drive holidays have seen an excellent response”, said Kapil Goswamy, Founder & Managing Director, BigBreaks. Another recent launch by BigBreaks was Pilgrimage Holidays. Given the size of the pilgrimage market, both among resident Indians and non-resident Indians, Goswamy is extremely bullish on this segment. “From Kedarnath and Badrinath in the north, Rameshwar in the south, to Jagannath Puri in the east and Dwarka in the west, we’ve launched Pilgrimage Holiday options to over 20 of the important pilgrimage spots in India, and more are being added everyday. The most popular so far have been Chardham Yatra’s , where for those short on time, we’ve even begun offering Do Dham Darshan in just one day ex Delhi, Goswamy shared.

Ezeego1.com has opened a second franchise store in Delhi to cater to the city’s growing travel demands. Managed by Neha Malhotra, the outlet is located at Spaze i-Tech Park, Sector 49, Gurgaon and will provide a bouquet of travel services like flight tickets, hotels, packages, rail and cruise holidays. Speaking at the launch, Neelu Singh, CEO & Director, Ezeego1, said, “Distribution is the key to success in the growing travel market and the opening of our new franchise will help us gain a foothold in this market. Our offerings are curated from a slew of travel aggregators and we enable and distribute it through our platform.” It now has a total of 60 franchises including one in Chennai and Chandigarh each. Ezeego1 will provide the franchisee with an active marketing, technical and store development support. The marketing activity will include print and radio advertising, attractive and preferential commercials. Store development support will include store designing to reinforce the brand’s look and feel. Training and technical support will be provided to all franchisee staff to effectively address the changing technology and enhance customer interface.  

Oman Air has taken delivery of the second of 30 Boeing 737 Max 8s. The 737 MAX family offers the greatest flexibility, reliability and efficiency in the single-aisle market, with 8 per cent lower operating costs than its main competitor. Oman Air expects to receive a total of five 737 MAX by September 2018. The aircraft have been configured with 162 seats in two class – 12 in business and 150 in economy with enhancements across both cabins. With the addition of the new MAX, Oman Air’s fleet currently consists of seven Boeing 787 Dreamliners, six Airbus 330-300s, four Airbus 330-200s, five Boeing 737-900s, 21 Boeing 737-800, two Boeing 737 MAXs and four Embraer 175s. In June, Oman Air will also receive the first of its three 787-9 Dreamliner on order, two of which will have a new First Class product with eight full privacy mini suites, 24 Business class seats and 232 Economy seats. The aircraft will be equipped with leading technology, latest in comfort and amenities, including cutting edge entertainment to enhance the travel experience of their guests. In 2018, Oman Air will be launching three new destinations – Casablanca (Morocco) in June, Istanbul (Turkey) in July and Moscow during the winter schedule 2018. The three new routes are part of Oman Air’s strategic expansion plan.  

The theme of Maharashtra Tourism’s stall at ITB Berlin this year was ‘Sustainable Tourism’ and ‘Tourism 360-degree’ to offer new avenues of tourism. The delegation was led by Vijay Gautam, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Culture and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC who presided over key B2B meetings and spoke about the prospects of ensuing collaborations with counterparts to attract tourists all across the globe. Maharashtra aims to provide a meaningful experience to travellers, creating awareness about sustainability matters and encouraging these practices among them. The response generated by travel and tour operators for MTDC’s initiative at ITB Berlin 2018 was promising.

Marriott International has announced the opening of its 200-key JW Marriott Jaipur Resort & Spa, marking the debut of the global luxury brand in Rajasthan. The resort features 200 guest rooms, villas and suites, including Royal Terrace Rooms, Royal Courtyard Rooms and Royal Pool Villas with private plunge pools, as well as two-bedroom Palace and Presidential Suites. It has a Kids’ Club and a full schedule of family-friendly programming – from sessions with a local magician to creative culinary workshops with friendly hotel chefs. “This beautiful city is a serene modern oasis steeped in ancient traditions and culture and is the perfect setting for the newest JW Marriott in Asia-Pacific,” said Bruce Ryde, Asia-Pacific Vice-President for Luxury Brands and Brand Marketing, Marriott International. The resort has indoor and outdoor banqueting venues of over 52,000 square feet, featuring multi-functional event spaces equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual systems, including a 11,000-square-feet pillar-less Ballroom, making this the great venue for weddings and events. “We welcome our guests with modern, contemporary hospitality that is steeped in the warmth and beauty of Rajasthani tradition,” said Chandrashekar Joshi, General Manager, JW Marriott Jaipur Resort and Spa. “We offer our guests unforgettable experiences, whether it is through our impeccable service, culinary memories that honor the region’s flavours brought to life by our master chefs, or exciting experiences for guests of all ages to discover Jaipur’s rich history and culture.”