Tag Archives: Delhi

Kerala Tourism is organising partnership meets and participating in in ten cites across India in the first quarter of 2020, in order to attract domestic tourists to the destination. The cities include Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Guwahati, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Minister, Kerala, revealed that domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala in 2019 saw an overall increase as compared to 2018. The number of domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala is up by 16 per cent for the first three Quarters in 2019

According to the data released by South African Tourism office in India, Mumbai continued to be the leading source market for South Africa in India. Between January to June 2019, around 43% of total Indian visitors to the Rainbow Nation were from Mumbai. Delhi managed to be the second leading source market for the destination in India contributing 21% of the total Indian visitors during the same period. One thing remained common for both cities – the summer and winter holiday months of April, May and December emerged as preferred travel months among Mumbaikars as well as Delhiites for their South Africa trips. With 81,316 Indian arrivals as of October 2019, the destination board shared a positive outlook for the Indian market, noting that as of September 2019, total spends by Indian travellers in South Africa had reached a four-year high. The average length of stay witnessed a year on year increase of 8% in the first half of 2019.

The existing supply in Delhi is expected to experience an increase of approximately 768 keys over the next 1-2 years, reveals JLL’s report titled Delhi NTR-Charting Delhi’s Tourism Potential. Delhi currently has a total room inventory of 16,912 rooms, spread across more than 80 branded hotels. Although the growth of new supply is moderate with Delhi’s position as a mature and established hospitality market, there are ten hotels in various stages of development, which are expected to add more than 1,800 keys over the next 3-4 years. The bulk of the upcoming supply coming from the Upscale segment and luxury segment.

Launching its flight on the Delhi-Istanbul sector, IndiGo has announced to use its expanding fleet of A320neo and A321neo aircraft to connect more Indian cities to China, Vietnam, England, Myanmar and Saudi Arabia. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “We are looking very seriously into other points in South East Asia, notably the obvious ones of Vietnam and Myanmar. We also want to operate shortly to Saudi Arabia on the west side. We are seriously interested in getting in China as soon as we can. We are still selecting precise destinations.” The airline plans to add 125 A321neo aircraft in its fleet over number of years. In 2019, it will receive 20-25 of these aircraft from Airbus, he said. While Delhi-Istanbul flight is being operated in A321neo aircraft having 222 seats, Boulter clarified that the flights to China would be based on A320neos. The Delhi-Istanbul flight plans to connect 20 forward destinations using the codeshare pact that was signed between India’s largest airline and Turkish Airlines on December 21 last year. Codeshare pact allows passengers to travel on a single ticket on flights operated by the partner carrier. Source: PTI

The Indian trade delegation that is currently in France to attend the annual show Rendezvous en France 2019 organised by Atout France has been exploring the potential of regions yet unfamiliar to the Indian travellers. The 32-member delegation hosted by Atout France India includes tour operators from Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Bengaluru. The regions that the Indian delegates found appealing for their clients include Provence and the Rhône-Alpes. The two-day show is being held in Marseille this year to promote the region in the international markets. About 915 tour operators from 73 different countries are attending this B2B travel show, one of the biggest trade events in France.

Hotel occupancy in Delhi and Pune crossed 70 per cent, according to a latest report by Horwath on ‘India Hotel Market Review 2018’. Delhi has grabbed the opportunity presented by GST replacing a usurious luxury tax with both hands, the report says. It performed well in all the parameters with occupancy rising to 71.7 per cent, ADRs at 7.5 per cent and RevPAR at 11.6 per cent. Aerocity hotels have fully dialled in – rooms demand, ADR and banqueting. Corporate, MiCE and retail business which chose Gurugram over Delhi because of major tax savings under Luxury tax have shown preference for Delhi once an even playing field was created. Aerocity itself has expanded its commercial spaces. Pune, too, had a good year in 2018, crossing 70 per cent occupancy and pushing through over 7 per cent ADR growth to post 11 per cent RevPAR increase. A solid Tier 1 business city, Pune’s growth can be attributed to MiCE and partly to the shift of some IPL games to this city.

Strengthening its presence in the Indian market, Austria has registered 8.6 per cent growth in the number of tourists from India in 2018. The central European country welcomed 192,000 visitors in 2018. The Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) is looking to focus on families this year. Addressing a press conference at Le Meridien, Delhi, Christine Mukherjee said that 40 million tourists from over the world travel to Austria every year. “India is very a crucial market for us. I am happy to inform that overnight stays by Indian travellers has doubled over last one year.” ANTO organised a three-city workshop in India which started in Mumbai, followed by Ahmedabad and concluded in Delhi. According to Mukherjee, 140 tour operators attended the workshop in Mumbai, while over 100 and 110 agents turned up for the workshop in Ahmedabad and Delhi, respectively. Industry partners and representatives from Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Swarovski Crystal World also attended the workshops and showcased their products to the travel trade. Thomas Bachinger, Market Management, Vienna Tourist Board; Andreas Reiter, Market Management—Spain, India and Arab Countries, Innsbruck Tourism; Klemens Kollenz, Sales and Marketing Manager, Salzburg Tourism and Christiane Gasser, Head of Marketing & Communication, Swarovski Tourism Services, interacted with members of the press on what each destination had to offer to Indian tourists.

The Average Daily Rate (ADR) for Indian mid-scale hotels crossed 3,ooo for the first time in 2018, according to a latest report by Horwath on ‘India Hotel Market Review 2018’. Mumbai is the only market at the top right hand corner – unfortunately, it fell back from strong occupancy position, without materially gaining in ADR. Several occupancy shifts have been in the negative direction. Bengaluru, Goa and Jaipur dropped Occ between 2.7 pts and 4 pts. Bengaluru is particularly surprising because there is no supply growth in this segment. Bengaluru and Goa at least made up on the ADR front; the former added over Rs 300 to comfortable cross the Rs 3k level. Goa ADR growth was more modest but is now pushing the Rs 4k level. Jaipur dropped rate as well – only Rs 60 but that’s material when one is in the low Rs 2k level. Delhi, Gurugram, Pune and Chennai moved up to the right, gaining both Occ and ADR. Occupancy gains varied from 0.8 pts to 1.5 pts; while ADR gains spread significantly between 3.3 per cent and 12.6 per cent. Improving product quality at the mid-scale level (e.g. the revitalised Ginger and Park Inn by Radisson) could enable improve performance for this segment. It really needs Occ growth in key markets to compensate softer initial period results from smaller cities and towns in which this segment must penetrate.

Qatar Airways has introduced a new online payment scheme for bookings made on its website exclusively for customers with credit cards issued by Indian banks. The new payment option now makes it possible for passengers to pay for their booking through monthly instalments of 3, 6, 9 or 12 months respectively. The service aims to ease and enhance passengers’ travelling experience by making their booking transactions much more affordable and flexible. It also makes it easier for travellers planning to fly with family and friends, with only a minimum installment fee needed to be paid to complete the purchase. Naveen Chawla, Senior Manager Commercial–ISC, Qatar Airways said, “The launch of the new EMI option gives our passengers tremendous benefits as they can now book their tickets online at their convenience through our website, and also instantly access our latest offers. Through this new user-friendly and affordable payment scheme, Qatar Airways passengers with credit cards issued by Indian banks will now have greater flexibility when it comes to planning their travel itinerary. Those who previously couldn’t book online due to their credit limit or a large outstanding balance will now be able to pay for their bookings effortlessly using their credit card. This service is testament to Qatar Airways’ ongoing commitment to be innovative when it comes to enhancing the travel experience of our customers.” Qatar Airways currently operates 102 weekly flights between Doha and 13 destinations in India, including Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram.  

In a mutual agreement with Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) to benefit the travel trade, IndiGo is set to provide special extra baggage rates exclusively for IATO members. Keeping in view the free baggage allowance of 23 kgs allowed by international airlines into India, IndiGo has agreed to extend special prepaid excess baggage rates for the members of IATO, when they are handling foreign tourists on the airline’s domestic network. During the IATO Interactive Luncheon Meeting organised in Delhi, Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO informed, “With reference to our meetings and points discussed with IndiGo, we are pleased to extend this facility to all our members. Tourists can avail 8 kg of extra baggage for a special rate of Rs 1000. Likewise for 15 kg extra baggage, they can avail the facility by paying just Rs 1500. By informing the concerned authority before 72 hours of date of travel, IATO members can avail this facility.” The bimonthly IATO luncheon meeting was aimed at discuss key issues about the association’s activities and its deliberations on future event. On the occasion, IATO invited Ashwani Lohani, Former CMD, Indian Railways Board and former CMD, Air India to bid farewell to him, who superannuated from his services on December 31, 2018. Mehra also shared details about the celebration of IATO Annual Day on February 17, 2019 at Heritage Village Resort & Spa, Manesar.