Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Actor Ranveer Singh as Switzerland’s ambassador in India, has managed to drive a 25 per cent growth rate in overnights in the Alpine nation. Martin Nydegger, the newly appointed CEO of Switzerland Tourism, says, “We couldn’t be luckier to have Ranveer Singh as our country ambassador. He has really boosted the image of Switzerland in terms of tourism to make it younger, fresher, exciting and active. This is exactly how we want to position Switzerland in future to place it as the most desirable outdoor destination and he is helping us in doing just that.” “We are very happy to extend and continue with Ranveer Singh in 2018 and we are very much looking forward to that. We would always welcome all the production companies, stars and all the whole of Bollywood industry to continue shooting in Switzerland,” Nydegger added.    

In a first-of-its-kind, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Airbnb will be associating with the residents of Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to benefit them by providing more job opportunities. Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism & (EGS), Government of Maharashtra said, “In order to support this, the Ministry of Tourism & Culture has implemented several schemes and events offering financial assistance to people, groups and cultural administrations involved in various artforms. The Indian tourism sector is the fastest growing amongst the G20 countries and organising such a festival at the UNESCO World Heritage Site will ensure that our country’s tourism sector grow by $48 billion by 2020.” MTDC organised its annual Elephanta Festival 2018 on January 27 and 28, 2018 at Elephanta Caves. The festival included music and dance performances with a backdrop of rock sculptures, caves and pillars. More than 400 to 700 visitors participated in this festival. Considering the strategic position of the Elephanta Caves, the Mumbai Port Trust will be constructing India’s first and largest ropeway to link Mumbai with the island within the coming three years. The 8-km long ropeway will commence from eastern coastline of Mumbai, Sewri and finish at Raigad district at Gharapuri Island.

The annual hospitality event, Hotel Investment Conference-South Asia (HICSA), will be held in Mumbai from April 4-5 at the Grand Hyatt. The first 13 editions was organised by HVS but this year, the conference will be conducted by Hotelivate. Confirming this is Manav Thadani, Founder Chairman, Hotelivate, who reveals, “HICSA is being organised by the Hotelivate team and we have made a few changes to the same. The idea is to make the sessions more interesting and interactive. Firstly, there will be far fewer speakers than before as we have reduced the number of panel discussions and substituted them with more interviews, keynote addresses and master classes. So you will see a lot more interesting speakers at the conference who will talk about their experiences with hotels from their fields. Suhel Seth, Roshan Abbas and Deep Karla are just a few such names.” Thadani adds, “We believe with interest levels in hotels on the rise this year, we will have more people registering for the conference. I also believe that international participation at the event is expected to go up if we are to go by early trends in terms of who all are attending.”

Insight Vacations, brought in India by Signature Tours, has launched its new 2018 Europe Premium Escorted Journeys collection featuring 70 Insight Experiences, 100 guided vacations, and four styles of distinctive journeys. Included are eight new European Discovery Journeys as well as Regional Journeys, Country Roads and Easy Pace, different travel styles to match varying preferences. Evon Ler, President, Insight Vacations, Asia says, “Guests who have travelled with Insight Vacations know about our outstanding Insight Difference since it has been our personal mission for 40 years to create magical experiences for travellers. We are proud of our team of passionate travel directors and colleagues who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure we deliver authentic experiences that make holidays memorable. Our Insight Experiences are a curated collection of memories-in-the-making by connecting our guests with locals, unique activities and expert insights to bring each destination to life.” Ler was in India recently to launch the new itineraries. The eight new 2018 European Discoveries range from 9 to 19 days, each offering experiences to Europe’s popular destinations. These itineraries visit 12 countries.

Cygnett Hotels and Resorts has signed a new 50-room property in Dibrugarh, Assam, set to open in September this year. Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder & Managing Director, Cygnett Hotels Group, said, “We are delighted to announce the signing of a new 50 keys hotel in Dibrugarh-Assam, a brilliant location, proximity to airport, Cygnett Inn-Dibrugarh, marking our farther foray. Hotel is opening in September 2018.”

The International Visitor Survey results released by Tourism Research Australia for the year ended September 2017, indicate an 18 per cent rise in Indians travelling to South Australia in comparison to the year ended September 2016. This makes India the eighth largest source market for the state and the third highest in terms of growth in arrivals during the year. In addition to this, spend by Indians visiting South Australia registered a substantial increase amounting to AUD$37mn, a jump by 33 per cent compared to last year. Commenting on the results, Dana Urmonas, Regional Director (India & Southeast Asia), SATC said, “The double-digit growth in arrivals and spend over the last year indicate that South Australia is steadily becoming a favoured destination among Indian travellers. We are extremely pleased that our trade and consumer programmes are yielding positive results and we are confident we will see sustained growth over the next few years as well.” In 2018, the SATC will focus on attracting honeymooners, families and independent travellers, especially cricket lovers, between the age of 25-45 years in the primary markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.

Themed on ‘ASEAN-Sustainable Connectivity, Boundless Prosperity’, the ongoing 37th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2018) at the Chiang Mai Exhibition and Convention Centre will conclude on January 26. Hailed as the largest travel trade event of the ASEAN region, ATF is rotated annually among the 10 ASEAN countries. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said, “This year, we are proud to mark the first ATF after commemorating the 50th anniversary of ASEAN in 2017. We are delighted to have participated strongly in the ‘Visit ASEAN@50’ campaign with a series of carefully selected Thai products, tour packages and offers to bring memorable travel experiences.” ATF is the only annual opportunity for both public and private sectors of the ASEAN travel and tourism industry to get together and discuss issues and trends of the ASEAN tourism industry. Thailand is hosting the event for the sixth time, but has relocated it for the first time to Chiang Mai as part of the policy to promote secondary destinations, create more jobs in the rural areas, ensure better distribution of tourism earnings and highlight Thailand’s linkages with the Greater Mekong sub-region countries.    

Parineeti Chopra, Bollywood actress and ‘Friend of Australia’, released a series of videos that encapsulate her recent holiday experiences in the Australian states of Queensland and Northern Territory. As an advocacy campaign for Australian holidays, the videos will be promoted on media platforms to influence her followers and motivate potential travellers seeking an idyllic holiday destination. The actress has sung the background score with lyrics for the video showcasing Queensland. The videos feature a spectacular montage of iconic Aussie experiences. In the films, Parineeti can be seen cuddling a koala, learning to surf at the Gold Coast, getting a taste of Australia’s freshest produce, enjoying a bird’s eye view of Surfers Paradise on the Skypoint climb, spotting whales, watching the sunset over the Red Centre in Uluru and standing amidst Brunce Munro’s s beautiful art installation. Commenting on the videos, Chopra said, “I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Australia and the videos reflect every bit of fun I had there. From immersing in the aboriginal culture at Uluru to the fun and frolic in Queensland, I was fortunate to have an enriching experience of two completely different sides of the country.”

Residents of India wishing to travel to Ukraine can now apply for both short and long term visas at the VFS Global Visa Application Centre in New Delhi. Ukraine was recently signed on as VFS Global’ s 57th client government worldwide, when the Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and VFS Global signed a contract to provide visa services on behalf of the Eastern European nation across eight countries in the Africa region, Lebanon in the Middle East region, India in the South Asia region and China in September 2017. The contract entails the launch of 10 visa application centres across these eight countries by January 15, 2018, with the one in New Delhi being the first step toward that goal. Vinay Malhotra, COO – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, remarked,  “It is with great pride that VFS Global announces its partnership with Ukraine. It is with even greater delight that we launch the first Ukraine Visa Application Centre in New Delhi, India. Ukraine is fast becoming a popular destination for Indian travellers and we look forward to offering travel enthusiasts in the region our best in class visa application services to ease their submission process.”

Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) has opened a Morocco Visa Application and Information Centres (MVAIC) in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by His Excellency Mohamed Maliki, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, in the presence of Venku Murthi, Chief Operating Officer, CKGS. Maliki said, “Both Morocco and India have shared values and a history that goes back over several centuries. Foreseeing growth and significance of the Indian tourism market to Morocco, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco has decided to outsource the visa application services and entrusted CKGS to open visa application centres in India. The opening of the visa application centres in major cities in India is an important milestone which reflects the strength of the two countries’ relations as well as Morocco’s outreach to Indian travellers.” In the first phase, centres have opened in the four key metros—Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Murthi said, “We are happy to be entrusted with the role of providing visa application services by the Embassy of Morocco as this is an opportune time to tap the growing Indian outbound travel market. Our offices across 11 centres in India will seamlessly facilitate visa processing, thereby increasing the number of Indians travelling to Morocco.’’