Tag Archives: Coimbatore

Low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines Group, Scoot, plans to strengthen its presence in India with the addition of Coimbatore, Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam. The new routes are due to be transferred over from SilkAir, and Scoot will be the only airline operating direct non-stop flights from Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam to Singapore. Flights from Trivandrum to Singapore will commence as soon as May 7, 2019, and flights from Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam will start from October 27, 2019, subject to regulatory approval. In India, Scoot already operates seven existing routes from Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, and Tiruchirappalli. To commemorate the new routes, Scoot has introduced a major limited-time sale on flights from all its India points, including Trivandrum, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam – starting from January 14 to 28, 2019 on www.FlyScoot.com. One-way promotional fares (inclusive of tax) begin from as low as INR 4,500 for Economy FLY, for trips to 27 exciting cities in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam via Singapore. Vinod Kannan, Chief Commercial Officer, Scoot, said, “With three new cities, India is a big part of our growth in Asia this year. As we ramp up our operations in the region and establish a local team to help support our long-term objectives, customers can look forward to more affordable fares and innovative offerings from us.”

Chennai and Bengaluru have been among the top source cities from South India for visitor arrivals from India to Singapore in 2017. Cities like Coimbatore, Trichy, Hyderabad and Kochi registered growth in traveller numbers to the city. The factors contributing to the strong visitorship numbers are the short three-plus hours’ travel time, increased direct flight connectivity of nine cities to the city and quick weekend holidays. In January 2018, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) organised a consumer-centric mall activity in Bengaluru, featuring the various travel offerings one can indulge in while in Singapore. In the middle of the year, it conducted, together with key trade partners from Singapore, an extensive travel trade roadshow series across Trichy, Coimbatore, Kochi and Visakhapatnam.

Tourism Australia has introduced a second tier to its specialist program in India with the introduction of the Premier Aussie Specialist Program. Membership in the Premier Aussie Specialist category is an acknowledgement of the destination expertise, insider knowledge and strong ties with the Australian travel industry of Aussie Specialist agents with an established record of selling Australia. As part of the launch, 70 agents from across cities like Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Pune have been inducted into the Premier Aussie Specialist Program in India. The programme offers professional validation for retail agents selling Australian holidays to discerning consumers. As part of the membership, Premier Aussie Specialists are invited to attend exclusive travel industry workshops, market updates and training events hosted by Tourism Australia and Australia’s States and Territories. Speaking at the launch, John O’Sullivan, Managing Director, Tourism Australia said, “The Premier Aussie Specialist Program seeks to recognise the invaluable advocacy that travel advisors, who have been selling Australian holidays for many years, deliver for the destination. This group of elite agents are important contributors to our efforts to make Australia a destination of choice for travellers from India and it is a proud moment for us to congratulate and show our appreciation to these industry friends for their incredible passion and dedication to selling Australia.” Tourism Australia’s distribution strategy for India includes an enriched trade engagement programme. As one of the pioneers of the online destination training, Tourism Australia’s Aussie Specialist Program has recruited more than 2,981 travel agents across India.

In a focused effort to cater to its growing south region travellers, SOTC has organised special regional Tamil tours. For SOTC, Tamil Nadu has recorded a growth of over 25-30 per cent annually as compared to the previous year. Cities like Salem, Coimbatore, Chennai, Erode and Pondicherry continue to show impressive growth. With the emerging potential witnessed from Port Blair as well, SOTC will be venturing into opening a branch shortly to meet its demand. SOTC’s entry into the Tamil Nadu market segment has drawn focus to not only the business travellers but also the leisure business segment and the highly viable b-leisure segment (business plus leisure). The company’s highest enquiries come from the State include leisure, bleisure and MiCE. Daniel D’souza, Head of Sales – India & NRI Markets & E-Commerce, SOTC Travel said, “The Tamil Nadu market is an advanced market and they look to travel and indulge in new experiences and culture. Tamil Nadu currently contributes significantly to our overall SOTC business and given the strong YoY growth and high potential, we have identified the state as a key strategic focus for our company.” He added, “To offer value to our loyal and growing Tamil customer segment, we had created unique regional tours that offer a regional touch while on an international holiday and this has been inspiring impressive uptake with a growth of 25-30% YoY.”

During the recently-concluded 3rd Skål International India National Congress in Kolkata, Ranjini Nambiar, President, Skål International India has announced the commencement of three new Skål clubs by April 2019. “We are planning to come up with a new Skål club in Jammu & Kashmir, Coimbatore and Bhubaneswar. There is also a possibility of a club in Vizag as well. We are aiming a total of 20 Skål clubs by 2020.” Skål International Asia Area Congress 2019 will be held in Bengaluru from June 27-30, 2019.  

In the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for creating digital museums at stations using QR code, Ministry of Railways has recently made ‘digital screens’ operational at 22 stations as an innovative low-cost solution to spread awareness among public about the heritage of Indian Railways. Being initiated on a pilot basis, the project aims at showcasing the legacy of Indian Railways through one to two minute-long movie clips on digital LED screens at the entrance gate of railway stations and also at different comfort areas. The short films will showcase heritage buildings, locomotives and much more to make people aware of the rich heritage of Indian Railways. For now, the screens have been set up at New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Howrah, Sealdah, Jaipur, Agra Cantonment, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Varanasi and other railway stations. In addition, QR code based posters on Railway Heritage are also being displayed at these stations. Passenger can scan the QR code on their mobile to view a streaming video on their mobile on various facades of Railway heritage.  

Having inked its first business acquisition, OYO has entered into an agreement with Chennai-based service apartment company, Novascotia Boutique Homes. The acquisition will add to the company’s existing portfolio and reiterate its focus on corporate service. Commenting on the development, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, OYO said, “The acquisition forms an integral part of our inorganic growth plan, in line with our ambition to create quality living spaces and add value to every form of real estate. OYO is poised to deliver 180,000 keys by the end of 2018 and with Novascotia’s strength, we will be adding service apartments to our existing portfolio.” With this acquisition, OYO will bring its distribution, operational, transformational and technological capabilities on board for offering corporate travellers accommodation options. The acquisition will boost OYO’s portfolio by 350 rooms across locations where Novascotia has its footprints. Novascotia has built a portfolio in locations including Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi and Trivandrum. OYO plans to expand these offerings to 12 cities by the end of 2018. These serviced apartments are located in the heart of business hubs equipped with spacious rooms, upscale interiors, meals, gym and dining area to cater all the requirements of business travellers.  

Marriott International announced the opening of its brand new hotel- Fairfield by Marriott in Coimbatore. Neeraj Govil, Area Vice-President, South Asia, Marriott International, says, “We believe the market is ideal for Fairfield, which is a brand that enables purpose driven travel and delivers optimised value at a great price. As Marriott further expands its brand portfolio across the growing Tier II markets in India, we definitely see great potential and the opportunity for Fairfield by Marriott becoming a favourite with business and leisure travellers in the city.” The property offers 126 guest rooms, amenities include an inviting living area in the lobby, smart, contemporary interiors and high speed Wi-Fi connectivity. The hotel also has an all-day dining restaurant plus a 24/7 Market where one can shop for an assortment of drinks and snacks when required. The hotel has both banqueting and meeting room facilities with modern technology and a fitness centre.

The Lemon Tree Hotel Company is on an expansion spree and will be opening 8-9 hotels at various destinations in India this year. Rattan Keswani, Deputy Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotels & Director, Carnation Hotels, said, “In the Carnation operating space, we have 8-9 hotels opening in this fiscal year. Since the demonetisation pressure, some of our properties are getting delayed by another three months or four months. We will open hotels in Sikkim, Siliguri, Jammu, Corbett, Trivandrum, Coimbatore and we will open one hotel in Sohna Road as well. Also, there will be 7-8 hotels in managed space. But mid next year, there will be few openings that we will be doing in our own spaces. We will have Kolkata and Pune open and even Udaipur could be on cards.”

Continuing its strategic focus on India, SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld airline alliance, will be adding three southern Indian cities namely, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam, to its network from July 8, 2017. The introduction of these new routes, along with the scheduled frequency increases in its Delhi and Mumbai services, will see SriLankan operating over 120 flights a week to 14 cities, thus becoming the carrier that serves the highest number of points in India. Commenting on the developments, SriLankan Airlines Chief Commercial Officer, Siva Ramachandran, stated, “India has been a vital part of our strategic expansion where we will continue to explore potential to consolidate our presence. At a time the industry observes consistently developing travel movements around tier two cities as opposed to the traditional hubs, it is timely to offer these connectivity options to our valued passengers. The new routes also reinforces our commitment to strengthen the deep commercial and bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka.” The new routes will be serviced by Airbus 320/321 aircraft which will feature an array of bespoke services, world-class in-flight entertainment including a combination of practical timings and signature SriLankan Airlines’ hospitality services. These new routes are introduced with the aim of providing passengers with added convenience, seamless travel and easy onward connectivity from Colombo. Currently serving key Indian cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum, Cochin, Madurai, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya, SriLankan will be introducing four additional frequencies to its daily services from Delhi and Mumbai in July this year.