Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Cleartrip has announced the launch of Shortlist feature to facilitate a more seamless, hassle-free booking experience for its users. Shortlists can be shared with other users to enhance planning amongst groups travelling together. Ankit Rastogi, Vice President, Hotels Cleartrip, says, “Constant improvement and evolution focused on improving the travel process make Cleartrip the platform of choice for millions of users. We’ve made it simpler, quicker and more collaborative an experience when you book hotels with Cleartrip. With Shortlist, we hope to drive 25% higher conversion to begin with and optimise it even further along the way. We will be tracking engagement and conversion from this feature to continue improving it.” The purpose of the feature is to improve how user’s research and plan for a trip by allowing them the flexibility to select amongst thousands of available hotels at their convenience, without having to start from scratch every time they resume their search. Users can, moreover, compare the location of shortlisted properties and the price on a map of the area, adding new insights to help them make their choice.

The number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in January 2018 was 10.66 lakh as compared to FTAs of 9.83 lakh in January 2017 and 8.45 lakh in January 2016. The growth rate in FTAs in January 2018 over January 2017 was 8.4 per cent, compared to 16.4 per cent in January 2017 over January 2016. During January 2018, a total of 2.40 lakh foreign tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 1.52 lakh during the month of January 2017 registering a growth of 58.5 per cent. The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during January 2018 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (16.36%) followed by USA (14.10%), UK (10.81%), Canada (4.63%), Russian Federation (4.49%), Australia (3.60%), France (2.76%), Germany (2.64%), Malaysia (2.63%), Sri Lanka (2.59%), China (2.27%), Japan (2.08%), Republic of Korea (1.93%), Afghanistan (1.86%) and Nepal (1.59%). The percentage share of top 15 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facilities during  January, 2018 was as follows: UK (18.6%), USA (10.6%), Russian Fed (6.5%), France (5.4%), Canada (5.3%), China (4.8%), Australia (4.3%), Germany (4.0%), Korea (Rep.of) (3.9%), Oman (3.4%), Italy (2.4%), Thailand (1.9%), Israel (1.4%), Netherlands (1.4%), and South Africa (1.4%). The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during January 2018 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (28.03%) followed by Mumbai Airport (17.47%), Haridaspur Land Check Post (7.63%), Chennai Airport (7.17%), Goa (6.19%), Bengaluru Airport (5.16%), Kolkata Airport (4.81%), Cochin Airport (3.77%), Ahmadabad Airport (3.01%), Hyderabad Airport (2.56%),Gede Rail Land Check Post (1.82%), Trivandrum Airport (1.56%), Tiruchirapalli Airport (1.25%), Ghojadanga Land Check Post (1.11%), Amritsar Airport (1.01%).

The Mexico Tourism Board plans to target over 200,000 Indian outbound visitors to visit Mexico by 2022. In 2017, Mexico received 64,900 Indian visitors by nationality, a 10 per cent increase compared to 2016 and 22,431 Indian visitors by country of residence, 9.5 per cent increase compared to 2016. Melba Pria, Ambassador of Mexico in India, said, “We are happy that over the years, we are seeing a steady growth in Indian tourists and are confident that this trend will continue. We are extremely delighted in targeting the outbound tourists from India by focusing on the vibrant, multi-faceted experiences that keep visitors coming back to Mexico and its hundreds of destinations.” Guillermo Eguiarte, Regional Director – Mexico Tourism Board, shared the campaign of ‘A world of its own’- it embodies Mexico to be the world that awakens the drive to explore, to imagine, to feel. He said, “Mexico’s sustained, fast growth is testament to the incredible quality and diversity in the tourism offering, both internationally and domestically. The Indian outbound tourist is expected to be around 50 million globally, and Mexico is targeting a 4 per cent market share of this.

Thomas Cook (India) has partnered with the Government of India for the Khelo India School Games, a part of the Khelo India Programme initiative of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to create a sports ecosystem and revive sports culture at a grassroot level in India. Thomas Cook India was selected as Hospitality Partner for the Khelo India School Games, held from January 31-February 8, 2018 in New Delhi, where India’s Under-17 athletes were invited to participate across 16 disciplines. Thomas Cook India had set up a dedicated team of 160 members during the Khelo India School Games to project drive this strategic initiative. The team has successfully executed the partnership by providing both accommodation and meals for an approximately 5000-strong contingent for a duration of 10 nights. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head- Leisure Travel, MICE, Thomas Cook (India), said, “The Khelo India programme is inspirational in its aim to scout young talent from schools in various disciplines, groom them as future champions and thereby, serve to catalyse the sporting culture of the nation. It is hence, truly an honour for us at Thomas Cook India to have been selected to partner with the Government of India for this unique initiative.”

South African Tourism (SAT) began its five-city roadshow from February 12-19 with Mumbai, followed by Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi and Ahmedabad. The 60-member strong participation from South Africa’s travel trade industry and scale is a reflection of the strong consumer demand witnessed from India. One of the key focus areas is to go create awareness about new destinations such as Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Port Elizabeth and the Drakensberg region. Hanneli Slabber, Regional General Manager, Asia/Australasia/Middle East, SAT, said, “The demands of Indian travellers are in a constant and rapid state of evolution. This makes cross sharing of insights, trends and observations between our Indian and South African partners extremely crucial. We have had South African products being tailored to suit these specific needs as a testament of the value proposition we see in the market.” Alpa Jani, Acting Hub-Head, Middle East/India/South East Asia, SAT, said, “We have always recorded an outstanding response from the Indian travel trade and are eagerly looking forward to seeing the positive impact this roadshow will have towards driving Indian traveller traffic to South Africa in 2018. We are also focusing on customising our engagements and product offerings to suit the unique requirements from each of our target regions within India.”  

The Karnataka tourism department has agreed to share the profit with the Railway Board instead of collecting the huge haulage charges for running the Golden Chariot, the only luxury train of peninsular India. The train was running in loss as the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) was paying more as haulage charges to the Railways than the revenue generated. With the decision, the KSTDC will not only make  revenue from the luxury train but also generate profit for the railways. “The Railways has decided not to go for the haulage charge. They  will be sharing the revenue…whatever revenue we get will be shared between the Railways and KSTDC,” said Kumar Pushkar, Managing Director, KSTDC. He explained that earlier the Corporation made losses for many years due to very high haulage charges to Railways. Pushkar said, “The haulage charges used to be higher  than what the total revenue we were getting from the sale of  the ticket. With this arrangement, running train will be  sustainable. It can be done to promote tourism in future years  also.” Pushkar said Karnataka tourism minister Priyank Kharge had met the Railway Board chairman recently and apprised him of the challenges KSTDC was facing to continue the train. Source: PTI

SpiceJet has waived off cancellation, other charges for travel to and from Male between February 8-14. “For travel period between 8-14 February to and from Male, passengers opting to cancel their tickets will be offered full refund and cancellation charges will be waived off,” the company said in a statement. “For all change requests, SpiceJet will waiver the change charges only and will charge the fare difference. Passengers who do not want to travel, will be processed full refund.” On Thursday, Air India had waived off “applicable penalties of re-issuance, date change, no-show, cancellation and refund charges” for travel from or to the capital of Maldives, which is witnessing political turbulence for the period February 5-20. Source: IANS

The Austrian National Tourism Office hosted a press conference in Delhi on February 9. Partners from Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Zell am See-Kaprun and Swarovski Crystal World informed the media about the growth of visitor arrivals from India in 2017 and laid down the plans for 2018. Christine Mukharji, Director, ANTO, said, “Austria witnessed 177,700 arrivals from India in 2017, which was a 20.5 increase from 2016 and the overnights went up to 324,400, which is a 19.5% increase from last year.” Isabella Rauter, Public Relations Manager, Vienna Tourism Board; Andreas Reiter, Market Management, Spain, India and Arab Countries, Innsbruck Tourism; Inshvinder Maddh, India representative of Innsbruck Tourism; Klemens Kollenz, Sales and Marketing Manager, Salzburg Tourism; Christian Pfeffer, Marketing/Sales, Zell am See-Kaprun and Christiane Gasser, Head of Channel marketing, Swarovski Tourism Services, interacted with members of the press with interactive presentations on what each destination had to offer to Indian tourists.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chapter has signed an MoU with Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh to establish a cooperative relationship between the two that will help students of tourism. The MoU is with respect to offering a Bachelor in Vocational (B.VOC) Tourism & Hospitality Course, a three-year degree course. It will be conducted at Dr. RML Avadh University. Sunil B. Satyawakta, Chairman, TAAI – Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand Chapter, says, “This MOU sets the framework for the cooperative relationship between the parties to enhance quality of education in courses and designing the curriculum to make it industry relevant. This is the third MoU signed by the chapter with education institutes in the last two years. The others were with Lucknow University and Banaras Hindu University.”

India retained the top spot on Dubai’s list of source markets in 2017, contributing 2.1 million visitors and becoming the first country to cross the two-million mark in a single year. The country’s performance represented a 15 per cent year-on-year increase and validated, among other factors, the success of Dubai Tourism’s ongoing collaboration with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the #BeMyGuest campaign. Commenting on the annual performance, His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, said, “Under the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the emirate has continued to capture share of the global outbound travel market, complemented by a significant increase in tourism-driven economic contribution to the country’s GDP.” Driven by India, the South Asia region, in the third place, contributed an 18 per cent share of over 2.8 million visitors, up a strong 10.6 per cent, followed by the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and North and South-East Asia regions sharing the fourth position, each contributing close to 1.7 million visitors and independently commanding 11 per cent share, the former recording a 3.2 per cent increase and the latter, an impressive 23.6 per cent over 2016 visitation figures.