Tag Archives: Director

The Lux Hotels has tied up with Red Titanium, a social media marketing company, to offer digital auditing. Bhupesh Kumar, Director, The Lux Hotels says, “Other than social media marketing, Red Titanium also does online audit for properties and I thought why not do it for our members and see how it works. They are generous to have offered to do the audits free of cost for some of our members. The audit has been done for some of the members which will help them to understand where they stand in the social media scenario.” Amit Solomon, Managing Partner, Red Titanium says, “If we first do it free of cost that will catch people’s interest and bring down their apprehensions about going digital.”

Atout France India has announced that Indian arrival figures to France touched the 5,00,000 mark in 2015. Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France India, said, “India’s largest incentive movement to France comprising of 2,200 passengers also took place in December 2015 enhancing France’s positioning as a preferred incentive destination. The growing influence of Bollywood has had a positive impact on tourism. With the much awaited Yash Raj’s ‘Befikre’ shot in its entirety in France to be released in December this year and last year’s ‘Tamasha’ shot partly on location in Corsica, France is steadily gaining favour with Indian film-makers as well.” Atout France’s recently-concluded annual showcase saw a record-breaking participation of 29 French-Indian delegates that was an interesting mix of established partners and new entrants. A large contingent of the delegation was from the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region that showcased its alpine destinations and activities. Held between September 12-16, the showcase commenced in Mumbai, travelled to Kolkata for the first time with a finale in Delhi. Munshaw also announced the launch of a first ever MOOC (Massive Online Programme) for the French travel industry enabling them to better understand the Indian market specificities and in turn better serving the Indian traveller. Optimizing on France’s popularity as a wedding destination, a destination wedding guide was released this summer in France to better acquaint the French travel and hospitality industry with the nuances of planning the Indian Wedding.

The fifth edition of the Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) has added a new city – Pune – which helps it cover the Vidarbha as well as the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. Madhu Saliankar, Director, EntReps Solutions, that promotes GPS, says, “We are adding a new city this time – Pune – which will be the sixth city to GPS. So in Maharashtra, we will be touching the Vidarbha region which also has a lot of potential as well as the Marathwada region. So two different regions in Maharashtra will be addressed in this edition of GPS. We will also be announcing the prices for the six cities. People can start booking their space. The participation price for one city is Rs 1 lakh, which includes accommodation for one person for two nights, participation fee, setting up of the booth, and networking dinners. We also have extra delegate charges. We are not doing the airfare this time as there are a lot of last-minute changes. For participation in all six cities, the fee is Rs 5,30,000 plus taxes.” The B2B travel event will start with Nagpur from January 19-21, 2017, and then go on to other cities starting from July and through August 2017.

Anna Davidyan, Founder, Travel Armenia, a luxury DMC for Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan, has appointed Vineet Gopal, Director, Representation World, as its representative for India. Gopal says, “We have been appointed as the India representative for Armenia. It will open new opportunities for Indian travellers travelling to Armenia. Armenia is a scenic country offering great nightlife and experiences. It is very well connected to India through Dubai, just 3 hours away from there. Visa is also not a problem. It will attract good MICE business from India. It is already getting a lot of MICE groups.”

The latest UK Visa and VisitBritain statistics show that more visitors than ever before are visiting the UK from India. Visa statistics for the year ending June 2016 show that over 380,000 visit visas were issued, an increase of six per cent or 20,000 visitors. Meanwhile the latest VisitBritain figures from the Office of National Statistics, International Passenger Survey show that over 422,000 visitors came to the UK from India last year, an eight per cent increase from 2014 and a 20 per cent increase from 2012. Sumathi Ramanathan, VisitBritain Director for Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa said, “India is a priority growth market for Britain and is one of the seven markets globally to receive additional funding for tourism promotion. Our partnership with the airlines, travel industry and Indian movie industry has enabled us to reach new customers in the major cities of India. Increasingly, we are seeing demand for British itineraries covering London, Manchester, Oxford, Birmingham and Edinburgh. As the market evolves, we will continue improving and enhancing the travel offer for the Indian visitor.”

Travstarz Global Group continues its growth spree after India and Thailand Offices with the opening of its DMC Office in Mauritius. This was announced by Sucheta Nagpal, Director & CEO, Travstarz Global. “As we look to spread our wings further, we are always looking for Strategic Partnerships and Acquisitions with established local DMCs across the world to bring them under the Travstarz Banner. Travstarz Mauritius is another step in the direction. The Mauritius Office will not only be an inbound DMC for Mauritius but will also look after the Sales & Marketing of our Online Portal www.travelrezonline.com for the Mauritius and other African Markets”, Sucheta Nagpal added. Fardeen Ebrahimsaib, the Director for Travstarz Mauritius says “We have had a strong presence in Mauritius for the past several years with our own fleet of Vehicles, Permanent Airport Representatives and almost all major contracted hotels and we are very glad to be a part of Travstarz Global Group now, which in recent years has been the fastest growing Travel Wholesaler & DMC in India driven by the young and dynamic couple duo of Sucheta and Pankaj Nagpal”.

The Reunion Island Tourism Board (French Island in Indian Ocean) has announced the appointment of Representation World LLP as its representative office in India. Representation World LLP has been tasked to implement ongoing public relations and travel trade programs, to educate potential travellers on the destination’s unique attributes, thereby attracting a larger number of visitors to Reunion Island from India. Reunion Island aims to receive more Indian Tourist, with this Partnership with Representation World. “Reunion Island offering Activities for all segment of the travellers be it in Air – Paragliding, Heli Tours , On Land – Casino, Culture Tour, Lava Caves. In Water – Deep Sea Diving, Coral Tours, Surfing, Canyoning etc will surely be interest of Indian Traveller and 42% whole Island is Protected by UNESCO world heritage and only place to see Volcanic Eruption even by hiking. The Mars Surface resemblance will definitely attract Indian Visitors Said Mr. William TECHER Head of Marketing & Promotion INDIA. Vineet Gopal, Director, Representation World LLP added, “We are thrilled & honoured to represent the Reunion Tourism Board in India. The destination offering will definitely attract Indian Honeymooners, Family, Adventure Tourist, etc. Also the 15 Days Short Stay Visa simplification for Indian who wish to travel to Beautiful Reunion Island will also boost Tourism from India to Reunion Island.”

Tourism Malaysia has appointed Sulaiman Suip as the new Director, North & East India operations. He will spearhead Tourism Malaysia’s marketing and publicity efforts from the New Delhi office to continue focus on bringing innovative products and promoting unique experiences to the Indian travel community. Previously, Suip held similar positions in Thailand and as deputy director at Tourism Malaysia’s Japan office. Speaking about his latest tenure in India, Suip said, “India is an important market for us as it contributes to the 6th largest arrivals to Malaysia. This year we have a target of welcoming one million Indian tourists.  The face of Indian travel is changing a lot and now it’s not just about status symbols or checking places off a list. Experiential holidays like spa holidays, art and culture trips, culinary vacations are catching the fancy of the Indian traveller. So there will be a conscious effort to promote this sector to the discerning traveller. Focus will also continue on promoting theme parks and the shopping segment, as Malaysia is seen as a perfect family destination with something for everyone in the family.” Suip was instrumental in setting up the Tourism Malaysia offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai during his tenure as the Desk Officer overseeing promotion for South Asia market from 2000 until 2002. “Life seems to have come to a full circle with this new stint and I look forward to doing some good work in the eclectic Indian market,” Suip adds.

Amadeus has renewed its distribution agreement with AccorHotels for another three years to ensure that the hotel’s full inventory is made available to Amadeus-connected travel agencies and travellers worldwide. AccorHotels covers all market segments, from economy to luxury accommodation, and Amadeus currently exclusively distributes ibis Budget hotels, AccorHotels’ benchmark budget brand and a European leader in its category. Comfortable, no frills accommodation is increasingly relevant for both leisure and business travellers, and Amadeus currently distributes 150 Ibis Budget properties, with more soon to become available.“The industry is dramatically changing due to the growth of large online players, so hoteliers now more than ever need to retain ownership over their distribution strategy. In response to this, we have seen an increase in demand from hoteliers to distribute their hotel inventory through the GDS channel,” says Peter Waters, Director, Hotel Distribution at Amadeus. “We are delighted to renew the distribution agreement with AccorHotels and look forward to supporting them meet the needs of both business and leisure travellers.”

Dubai Tourism conducted a cruise tourism roadshow in New Delhi on July 21, 2016. The 6-city roadshow aims at fostering a close working relationship with key members of the Indian travel fraternity. Speaking at the roadshow, Jamal Humaid Al Falasi, Director, Cruise Tourism, said, “This is our second roadshow in India. Last year we did the roadshow in three cities, but since we see a huge demand from India, this year we are doing it in six cities. This would allow us to have more passengers opting for cruises from Dubai. The number of cruise tourists to Dubai has increased substantially over the years. From 6904 tourists in 2001, we recorded 463,055 cruise tourists in 2015 and are aiming to 1 million by 2020. India’s ranking as a cruise source market for Dubai was 21 in 2013 and it came to 14 in 2015.” The participating cruise companies included MSC Cruises; Costa Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises represented by Tirun Travel Marketing in India. Carl Vaz, Director, Dubai Tourism–India, said, “This time we are travelling to six cities for the Dubai Cruise Tourism Roadshow—Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. We’ve been very fortunate in 2015 to have 1.6 million Indian overnight  visitors in Dubai, these include hotel and hotel apartments guests as well.”