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Arrivals from India to Australia grew by 15 per cent for the year ended October 2017, with an influx of 294,000 visitors, compared to the same period last year. This makes India the 9th largest inbound market for Australia, and inches it closer towards achieving its Tourism 2020 goal of 300,000 visitors annually, three years ahead of target. Indian visitor spend in Australia for the year ended September 2017 reached AUD 1.45 billion (approx. Rs. 7,200 crore), an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year, making India the 8th largest market in terms of spend by tourists. With an impressive double-digit growth in arrivals and spend for the fourth consecutive year, India has emerged as Australia’s fastest growing inbound market. Tania Gerlach, Chief Migration Officer, Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) commented, “We are extremely pleased with the success of the e-lodgment process, with over 60 per cent of the total tourist visa applications now received online. The month of November 2017 has witnessed the highest-ever tourist visa lodgments. Online lodgment offers benefits such as 24/7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visa application charge and the ability to check the status of applications lodged online. Processing times for these visas will now be faster, as both applications and supporting documentation are immediately available to the processing office. This is good news for every Indian visitor planning to visit Australia, whether they are travelling for business or pleasure”. Commenting on the success, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia, said, “It is an extremely proud moment for us to achieve the fastest growing market status in our 50th anniversary year of marketing Australia to the world …

Cygnett Hotels Group has announced the signing of a new hotel in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder & MD, Cygnett Hotels Group, said, “We are delighted to announce the signing of a new hotel in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, a brilliant location, proximity to the new upcoming airport, ‘Cygenett Inn’ marking our farther foray.” Cygnett Inn is the budget brand of the Group that does not adhere to the “budget” definition in any way except in it’s prices. It is a full service hotel with modern design, next generation in-room technology among other offerings.

The third luxury train in Rajasthan run by Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) – Heritage Palace on Wheels (HPOW) – departed from Durgapura Railway Station in Jaipur for its maiden voyage, with 27 domestic tourists and a foreign tourist from South Africa. The passengers were given a warm reception up on arrival at the Gandhinagar Station with music and traditional garlanding along with a gala celebration by the RTDC and the Department of Tourism. This train, which departed on December 30, 2017, will run with two itineraries – first three nights (Golden Triangle) Delhi-Jaipur-Sawai Mahdopur-Agra-Delhi and four nights (Desert Triangle) Delhi-Churu-Bikaner-Jaipur-Agra-Dholpur-Delhi. The train can also be booked for facilities like conferences, board meetings and even pre-wedding ceremonies. Pradeep Bohra, General Manager, HPOW, informed that the train arrived at Jaipur’s Gandhinagar Station on the last leg of its ‘Golden Triangle Circuit Tour’.

Sharing its operational plans from Colombo, IndiGo has announced that Colombo will become its eighth international destination effective January 20, 2018 with daily direct flights from Chennai and Bengaluru. With these new flights, the airline will also offer connections to and from Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and other major Indian cities. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “It gives us immense pleasure to add Colombo to our growing network, which will not only help us cater to the growing tourist potential of the city, but also provide affordable travel options to the Indian workforce who can now look forward to visiting the city more frequently. We are also delighted to partner with Hemas as our GSA partner in Sri Lanka for our sales and distribution services.” Malinga Arsakularatne, Managing Director, Hemas Leisure Travel Aviation Group added, “We welcome IndiGo to Sri Lanka and it is indeed our great pleasure to embark on this exciting partnership. We are confident that the team at Hemas Aviation would deliver the growth ambitions of the airline. We look forward to a long-lasting and a win-win relationship with IndiGo.”

Sarovar Hotels announces the signing of a new hotel deal in Dahisar, a 112 suites Royal Hometel Suites. Owned by Lion Pencils, Royal Hometel Suites is expected to open in 2018. With a key location, the hotel under development will offer all facilities of an international standard hotel. Allowing guests a comfortable stay and pleasant experience, Royal Hometel Suites will feature All Day Dining, Bar, Banquet Halls, Conference & Meeting Facilities, Swimming Pool, and Gymnasium. Commenting on the development, Anil Madhok, Executive Chairman, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said, “We are delighted to sign yet another hotel in Mumbai which is one of our most significant markets. We are already present in Mumbai with all of our three brands Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar Portico and Hometel. With this new addition, we look forward to further growth in this city.  It is an important location for us and a significant addition to our portfolio.”

Global hospitality major Wyndham Hotel Group is looking to add 40 new hotels in India by 2020 as part of its expansion plans in the country. The company currently has 35 operational hotels with 3,258 rooms under the Ramada, Ramada Encore, Howard Johnson and Days brands in India. “We aim to have 75 operational hotels in India by 2020 and plan to further expand our footprint in other high potential countries in the region by exploring new opportunities,” Deepika Arora, Eurasia Regional Vice President, Wyndham Hotel Group. Emphasising that India is a key market for the Group, she said the company is also planning to introduce some new brands in the coming years such as Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, Wyndham Grand and Wyndham in India. Wyndham Grand is scheduled to open in Bengaluru in 2020. Elaborating on the growth strategy, Arora said, “In India, as part of our development strategy, we look to provide global connectivity and brand recognition with further expansion into secondary and tertiary cities as well as leisure destinations.” The company’s upcoming openings will add leisure locations like Kasauli and Lonavala, pilgrim destinations like Tirupati and Dwarka in Gujarat and business locations like Ghaziabad, Trivandrum, Bhubaneswar among others, she added. Wyndham Hotel Group has two global business models but it primarily follows franchise models for its hotel brands although in many markets, the company also operates properties under management contract. In India, the company has largely grown through the franchise model, she added. “The franchise model has worked well for us and within a short time frame, we grew in India from eight hotels in 2010 to 35 operational hotels to date in 2018,” Arora said. When …

IndiGo has added another flight to its Tirupati network. Tirupati will be connected by three daily non-stop flights to Hyderabad and double daily non-stop flights to Bengaluru. Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju along with Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo flagged-off the second flight from Tirupati to Hyderabad at Tirupati International Airport. Apart from this, Tirupati will also be connected to many new cities on IndiGo’s existing network of Airbus 320s and ATRs. IndiGo will connect Tirupati to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Dubai, Singapore among other cities via Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mangalore.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be reducing the prices of luxury trains, informs Sarab Jit Singh, MD, Travelite (India) who recently attended IRCTC’s 1st Tourism Interactive Session with Travel Trade Partners and Associations. Singh informs that Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, Indian Railway Board, had a meeting with the major stakeholders in the travel trade, where he revealed this news. “Mr. Lohani is looking at rationalising the rates of luxury trains, which are extremely high at the moment. They will be starting the lowering down of rates with Maharaja Express. This is the first ever meeting by anybody from Railways with the travel trade. They had taken all notes and they will be taking necessary action which will benefit both tourism industry and railway board. It’s a very positive sign and we are very hopeful with Mr. Lohani taking such initiatives,” informed Singh.

InterGlobe Hotels and AccorHotels has announced the opening of ibis Pune Hinjewadi (IPH). The launch of ibis Pune Hinjewadi marks AccorHotels’ third property in the city. Featuring 136 well-appointed rooms, the hotel offers unparalleled comfort and convenience with its range of in-room amenities and signature Sweet Bed bedding concept by ibis. To celebrate its opening, ibis Pune Hinjewadi is offering a special price of Rs. 3,699 per night, with breakfast for two from now until 31 March, 2018. Strategically located within 5 km of the Mumbai-Bangalore highway, the hotel is in close proximity to the International Biotech Park and with various multinational corporations such as Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Accenture and IBM located nearby. The hotel is situated approximately 20km from Pune Airport and the railway station. The hotel also offers complimentary high speed Wi-Fi access to ensure that guests can enjoy a relaxing stay. For food aficionados, ibis Pune Hinjewadi features the signature ‘Spice It’ restaurant – a culinary concept tailor-made for India serving Indian, Oriental and European cuisine prepared from the freshest locally sourced ingredients. It also offers well-priced, quality home style and healthy food and beverages with both buffet and a-la-carte options – including an eight hour all-day breakfast concept starting from four in the morning until noon. J.B. Singh, President & CEO, InterGlobe Hotels said, “InterGlobe Hotels is committed to continue its rapid expansion over the next few years in key locations across the country. Specific to Maharashtra, Ibis Pune Hinjewadi is our 5th hotel to commence operations in the state. We also have 3 additional properties within Maharashtra in various stages of development which will be operational by 2021. As a destination, Pune sees a …

NITI Aayog, in its report on the debt-laden Air India, has said that it is “unviable” to provide financial support to the national carrier. Air India has a debt of Rs 51,890 crore. The Government informed the Parliament that it has initiated a process for strategic disinvestment of Air India as part of efforts to revive the national carrier. As part of a turnaround plan approved by the previous UPA dispensation, Air India was to receive a bailout package of up to Rs 30,231 crore for a period of 10 years, starting in 2012. “NITI Aayog in its report on Air India has stated that further financial support to an unviable non-priority company in a matured and competitive aviation sector would not be the best use of scarce financial resources of the government,” said Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation. The total outstanding loans of Air India as on September 30 last year stood at Rs 51,890 crore as per provisional figures. Of this, the aircraft loans account for Rs 18,364 crore and the working capital loans were at Rs 33,526 crore. In 2016-17, the airline had a net loss of Rs 3,643 crore, while the operating profit rose to Rs 215 crore, the provisional figures showed. Source: PTI