Tag Archives: Delhi

The Indian travel trade welcomed nine companies from Ireland during Tourism Ireland’s India Sales Mission that concluded recently. Its aim was to facilitate the Irish industry to engage with Indian travel professionals who are currently selling the island of Ireland, or who have strong potential to sell the destination and to position Ireland as one of the most desirable destinations for travellers from India. Business links between tourism companies from Ireland and influential travel professionals in India were strengthened during the sales mission, through a busy programme of workshops, presentations and networking events. Siobhan McManamy, Director of Markets, Tourism Ireland said, “Our sales mission is a key element of our promotional programme in India. It will give our tourism partners a platform to inform and influence the Indian travel trade about what the island of Ireland has to offer and, importantly, encourage them to include the destination in their brochures and programmes. Tourism Ireland is committed to growing visitor numbers to the island of Ireland from India and our sales mission will play a significant role in helping us achieve this goal.” The workshops were held in Mumbai and Delhi with over 100 leading travel agents and tour operators in attendance. The companies who were represented at the event include Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Northern Ireland, Guinness Storehouse, Winterfell Castle – Game of Thrones Visitor Attraction, Stena Line, Hotel Solutions, The Savoy Hotel, Andras House Group and Irish Rugby Tours.  

Registering an annual traffic of over 89.1 million for 2018, Dubai International (DXB) has retained its position as the world’s busiest airport for the fifth consecutive year with Indian travellers emerging as the largest source of traffic for the airport. India continued to hold to its position as Dubai’s top destination country by passenger numbers, with traffic for the year reaching 12,279,485 – propelled mainly by top destinations like Mumbai, Delhi and Kochi. Saudi Arabia was number two on the list with 6,471,142 customers, followed closely by the United Kingdom with 6,284,771 customers. Other destination countries of note include the US (3,205,524 customers) and the fast-growing markets of China (3,512,075) with 6 per cent growth and Russia (1,533,654) which grew 14.5 per cent. The top three cities were London (3,817,889 customers), Mumbai (2,540,750) and Kuwait (2,194,576). Eastern Europe was the fastest growing region with double-digit growth of 16.7 per cent, followed by CIS at 12.9 per cent and Africa growing 9.8 per cent. A statement released by the airport said that the annual traffic at the major transit hub rose just over 1 per cent to 89.15 million passengers in comparison to 2017. Although the figure was a new record high, it missed on the 90.3 million passengers that Dubai airport had projected for 2018.

The Department of Tourism, Kerala organised Kerala Tourism Partnership Meet 2019 in Delhi to brief the media and trade about developments and initiatives in the state besides highlighting its marketing and promotional plan for the year. The presentation was followed by a cultural programme that showcased Kerala’s dance, art and music forms. On the occasion, BS Biju, Tourist Information Officer, Kerala Tourism informed, “Delhi is one of the most promising markets for us. Business meetings are being organised by Kerala Tourism in both domestic and international markets annually as part of our marketing strategy. 32 tourism industry players and trade partners including tour operators, hotels and other service providers from Kerala held meetings with their counterparts in Delhi.” To further reach out to the domestic market, a series of Partnership Meets are planned in 10 cities. After Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Delhi, the Meets will be organised in Jaipur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Madurai in February. According to the data released by Kerala Tourism, domestic arrivals in the state increased to 1,46,73,520 translating into an 11.39 per cent year-on -year growth in 2017 while international arrivals during the year was 10,91,870, an increase of 5.15 per cent over the 2016’s figures.

SpiceJet, which is all set to start its international operations, will reportedly start flying to London from Delhi and Amritsar starting this summer. According to reports, the airline will be operating its wide-body A330 planes on these long-haul routes, which would range between 6-12 hours in duration. It is believed that the Amritsar-London Heathrow flight may commence from March-end, the services to Gatwick are expected from May. Currently, SpiceJet has a fleet of 45 Boeing 737s and 737 Max planes. The airline flies to eight international destinations, which are of up to 4-hour duration.  

Fortune Park Hotels has unveiled its 47th hotel, ‘Fortune Select Forest Hill, Solan. Owned by M/s Forest Hill Resort, the property is located amid a forest and on a hill that offers a wide range of guest services and facilities to today’s traveller. Set in the Solan Valley, the hotel is 300 km from Delhi and 50 km from Chandigarh. With easy navigation by Google Maps, the property can be reached in less than 20 km of hilly drive. Commenting on the launch, Samir MC, Managing Director, Fortune Park Hotels, said, “We are extremely delighted to partner with the Owning Board of M/s Forest Hill Resort. This is a crown jewel in the brand’s collection of hotels in leisure destinations. We are excited to present a new destination for holidays and are confident of its success as a preferred destination for family getaways and social celebrations. Fortune, member ITC’s hotel group, is known for providing contemporary accommodation and great value for business and leisure travellers.” The hotel offers guest rooms that are grand and spacious. It is planned with a fusion of classical, colonial and contemporary architecture, with a tasteful sprinkle of art deco. Guests can enjoy majestic mountain views from the rooms and live in the comfort of idyllic bliss. It offers 3 signature food and beverage destinations – Zodiac an astral coffee shop, Neptune bar and lounge, and Fortune Deli. It also has plenty of recreational activities like trekking, cooking classes, bonfire and more to keep the guests engaged. Other in-house facilities include: infinity swimming pool, pool table, football, table tennis, lawn croquet set and board games, among others.

GoAir is set to expand its international footmark with the launch of direct flights on Kannur – Muscat – Kannur route effective February 28, 2019. The airline will operate three direct flight services per week and bookings are now open at an attractive all-inclusive one way fare starting from INR 4999. Speaking on the occasion, Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir said, “It gives us immense delight to add Muscat as our third international destination. Muscat is a key market for us and is in line with our growth strategy and more so for the Middle East. We are hopeful that this service would also prove equally popular with our flyers. We will continue to deliver convenient and hassle-free connections and we stand committed to provide our customers with superior experience at best affordable prices.” Recently, GoAir added Kannur as its 24th domestic destination and was the first and only domestic airline to launch services when the airport commenced its maiden operations. On the domestic front, the airline currently connects Kannur to Bengaluru with 13 weekly flights, Chennai with 4 weekly flights and Hyderabad with 3 weekly flights. On the international front, the airline has recently introduced direct daily connectivity to Phuket from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. It also operates 4 direct weekly flights on the Mumbai-Male route, 3 weekly flights on Delhi-Male and 2 weekly flights on Bengaluru-Male route.

Poland flag carrier LOT Polish Airlines will launch a new non-stop service between Warsaw and New Delhi, commencing on September 17, 2019. Like all LOT long-haul flights, the new route will be operated by state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner five times per week. The announcement was made by LOT Polish Airlines during the Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai. The new route launch will provide the shortest and most convenient connection from New Delhi directly to the centrally located hub in Warsaw as well as access to many central, eastern and western European cities. The first flight will commence on September 17 from Warsaw Chopin Airport to New Delhi’s Terminal 3 (with the return flight taking off from New Delhi on September 18). Rafał Milczarski, CEO, LOT, says, “The long-awaited flight between Poland and India is becoming a fact. I am pleased to announce that this magnificent destination is being added to LOT’s growing network today. This is a great moment in our 90-year history and evidence of our dynamic development. Poland, located in the very heart of Europe will be a gateway for Indian passengers, enabling access to various destinations across Europe. Over 8.9 million passengers travelled between India and Europe in 2017. A convenient schedule provided by LOT, including an overnight eastbound flight, a comfortable on-board product and seamless connectivity via Warsaw, will certainly increase the flow of business and leisure travellers coming to and from India,” he adds. Five weekly flights connect the hometown airports of Star Alliance member carriers: LOT Polish Airlines and Air India. The new route launch features excellent connectivity via Warsaw, starting from 40 minutes connecting time to/from London City Airport, Paris, Brussels, Kraków, Geneva, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, …

Thai Airways will operate triple daily making a total of 21 flights a week from Delhi to Bangkok and beyond. The additional day flights starting from February 3, 2019 will offer more options to passengers travelling to destinations within Thailand (Phuket and Chiang-Mai), Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China, Australia and New Zealand. Increase in services to Bangkok will enable the airline to capitalise on the steadily growing round-the-year demand on the highly popular sector, offering guests greater flexibility and choice throughout the day, and helping create a far superior and well-differentiated travel experience for them. Thamanoon Kuprasert, General Manager – India, Thai Airways, said, “Being the first service provider to Thailand from Delhi, Thai Airways has sustained itself successfully in Delhi since 1969 by offering world-class reliable services to passengers for Thailand, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It is our endeavour to ensure that our passengers enjoy a comfortable and happy journey on THAI. We are constantly improvising as per customers’ expectations.”

Air Italy and Vistara have signed an interline commercial agreement to offer single tickets for all customers from Italy to a range of Indian destinations with effect from January 7. Under the agreement, Air Italy will offer its customers the opportunity to fly to and from Chennai, Goa, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kolkata and Hyderabad, in connection with its Milan Malpensa-Delhi and Milan Malpensa-Mumbai flights launched respectively on December 6 and 13, 2018. Rossen Dimitrov, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Air Italy, said, The commencement of our partnership with Vistara is great news for passengers of both airlines. We are glad to strengthen our relations with our Indian partner which has rapidly expanded its network and services in a very short time. Our India-bound customers departing from the US and from Italy can now benefit from a wider selection of cities in addition to Delhi and Mumbai within a single ticket. Our aim is to ensure our passengers a smooth and enjoyable flight and along with our commercial partner to enable them to discover every part of this magnificent country.

Facilitating the movement of passengers during Kumbh Mela (January 15 to March 4), Air India has announced the launch of new flights to Allahabad from Delhi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. The new flights will operate from January 13 to March 30, according to an official statement. Air India said the new flight on Delhi-Allahabad route will operate on five days of the week–Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while flights on Ahmedabad-Allahabad route will operate on Wednesday and Saturday. The flight on Kolkata-Allahabad route will operate on three days of the week–Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, the airline said. Source: PTI