Tag Archives: Director

The latest official figures from VisitBritain record 562,000 visits from India to the UK in 2017, up 35 per cent on the previous year, with Indian travellers spending a record £454 million in the UK last year, an increase of 5 per cent on 2016. Tricia Warwick, Director – Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, VisitBritain, said “India is a very important market for VisitBritain and it is fantastic that more people than ever are travelling and enjoying experiences that you can only have in Britain, from the exciting and contemporary culture to innovations in food and drink, from exploring the stunning countryside to the vibrancy of its cool cities.” “Britain is offering great value for visitors from India and we are working hard with partners including tour operators and airlines to make it easier to book and explore more of the country, inspiring more visitors to travel right now,” she said. VisitBritain is also inspiring visitors from India to put the UK at the top of the list as their must-visit destination through its ‘Find Your GREAT Britain, I Travel For…’ digital campaign launched earlier this year.  

Princess Cruises has unveiled new details revealing features onboard its new ship Sky Princess, including a first look at its first-ever Sky Suites. The accommodations are centrally located on the top decks of Sky Princess and feature the largest private balconies ever offered by the line. Measuring 700 square feet, the balconies will provide a private vantage of the ship’s Movie under the Stars screen and create the ultimate space for entertaining. The two suites will also offer a 270-degree panorama and have sleeping capacity for five guests, and more for entertaining — making them ideal for families. “Our two new Sky Suites reflect Princess Cruises’ continued commitment to offer new and expansive accommodations that meet the needs of our guests who wish to explore the world in ultimate comfort,” said Jan Swartz, President, Princess Cruises. She also added that Princess Cruises’ guests could look forward to the roll-out of more new features as the cruise line’s fleet expanded debuting in the Mediterranean in October 2019. The 143,700-ton Sky Princess will include the best of the stunning features found on its three sister ships as well as new offerings that represent an evolution of the current ships’ designs. In addition to the Wake view pool, Sky Princess guests will enjoy two new deep-tank top deck pools, a restorative Retreat Pool, and more jacuzzis than previous Royal-Class ships including two jacuzzis cantilevered over the deep-tank pools. Nishith Saxena, Founder & Director, Cruise Professionals, shared, “Princess Cruises has always been in the forefront of meaningful innovations which enhance customer experience and it is great to see innovations like Ocean Medallions & Sky Suites which are changing the way high-end clients perceive cruising.

Taking a deep dive into the hotel searching habits and preferences of Indian travellers, travel search engine Kayak has launched its first Hotel Travel Report. The report highlights the most popular month and best combinations for booking hotels, as well as the most popular destinations for Indians, both for short breaks and longer holidays. The report also revealed that Thursday is the most popular weekday to search for a hotel destination among Indians. Abhijit Mishra, Director of India and Middle East, Kayak said, “While travelling, factors such as the destination and flight prices are extremely important. Equally, the choice of travel accommodation plays a crucial role in determining the holiday experience. A great hotel can be the saving grace of a disappointing holiday, while a bad one can ruin an entire trip.”  

Adding one more feather to its cap, Linkin Reps recently bagged the media representation account for Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India. Linkin Reps, through a well thought strategy and year-long media plan, will work towards highlighting Turkey as a destination for Indian travellers, ease of travelling, cultural affinity and present its lesser known destinations to the Indian audience. Promoting Turkey as a complete tourism destination will be the prime focus of Linkin Reps during its tenure. The decision was driven by Turkey’s growing outbound demand, witnessed in the steady rise in visitation from India, along with rises in the length of stay and spending power of Indian travellers. Speaking after the announcement, H Deniz Ersöz, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India, said, “Our partnership with Linkin Reps will further strengthen our outreach and presence in the country. We have a very interesting calendar planned out for the year which will be executed in partnership with Linkin. We are aiming at increasing the outbound travel from India to Turkey and invite more of Indian travellers to experience the rich culture and beauty of the Republic of Turkey.” Commenting on the appointment, Komal Seth, Director, Linkin Reps said, “With a series of campaigns planned, we will strengthen Turkey’s positioning as the first choice of destination for tourists from India.” Turkey is the home of unique nature, culture’ and deep-rooted historical and religious prestige, which reflects in its 18 world heritage sites, recognised by UNESCO.

Travstarz Global Group has recently opened its Mumbai Regional Office. Speaking on the development, Pankaj Nagpal, Managing Director, Travstarz Global Group, added, “We already had presence in Mumbai with our sales team, but we have now opened our full-fledged office with our Sales and Operations teams to be based in Mumbai to look after the entire West India region catering to Gujarat, Maharashtra and even MP. The team will be led by Hema Manghnani, Executive Director of the company based in Mumbai. The team size will be around 15 for the time being in addition to the sales teams at various locations”. Hema Manghnani said “We expect a huge surge in business from the Western Region after the opening of our office and with our operations team stationed here as local presence and local language speaking team makes a big difference.” Sucheta Nagpal, Director & CEO, Travstarz Global Group, also announced the start of their DMC operations for Egypt. “As per our expansion strategy, we have been making strategic investments overseas and Egypt is our latest addition for our DMC operations. With our own fleet of vehicles, we are contracted with all major hotels in Egypt.” He added    

According to a Travel Wedding Show survey on how to generate business for weddings, 43 per cent of the business gets generated through social media; so the more one is on social media, he will get enquiries for international weddings, 25 per cent is by search engines. 13 per cent by referrals and rest is by other sources. In India, 50 per cent of the business gets generated through referrals; 20 per cent from social media; 15 per cent through search engine and 15 per cent from other sources. “Destination wedding for the next five years will be the biggest thing. Weddings are big business, and everyone wants a piece of the pie. If as wedding planners we have to survive, we need to go out, to different cities and destinations and procure more business. Indian and international destination weddings will remain, the next business thing,” says Rajeev Jain, Founder and Director, Rashi Entertainment.

Building on 125 years of Norwegian pioneering heritage, Hurtigruten marked its anniversary by banning single use plastic and throwing the world’s longest plastic free birthday party, extending over 11,000 nautical miles, from Seattle in the west and Hong Kong in the east, to Svalbard in the High North, and along the Norwegian coast. The birthday was celebrated in Hurtigruten ports, destinations, ships and offices, without use of any single use plastic items. “The initiative to ban single use plastic needs to be applauded as this signifies that there are businesses which are conscious of their surroundings and would do all possible to minimise the damage to the environment. Very recently, we have heard that Maharashtra is the first state in India to ban single use plastic – if similar initiatives could also be taken in other cities as well then our cities would not choke on plastic and be more liveable, said Nishith Saxena, Director, Cruise Professionals – the sole GSA for Hurtigruten in India.

The Ethiopian Immigration and Nationality Affairs Main Department in collaboration with Ethiopian Airlines has recently launched an e-visa service for all international visitors to Ethiopia. The e-visa is processed and issued online on a single webpage where applicants apply, pay and secure their entry visa online. Once the application is approved, applicants will receive an email authorising them to travel to Ethiopia and they will get their passport stamped with the visa upon arrival in Addis Ababa. Regarding the newly revamped service, Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines remarked, “Ethiopia, the oldest independent civilisation in Africa and one of the oldest in the world, is endowed with historical places, natural beauty, colourful and diverse cultural activities and various endemic wild animals which are of great interest to international tourists. However, we have not made best use of these natural resources to attract large number of tourists. To this effect, this project is part of a new national initiative to transform the tourism sector in the country.” Gebreyohannes Teklu, Director – Main Department for Immigration & Nationality Affairs commented, “We are glad that we have been working together with Ethiopian Airlines for the effective implementation of e-visa facilities at Bole International Airport. Now international visitors to Ethiopia, from any country in the world will make use of this service.”

Representation World has been appointed as the official India representative for Reunion Island Tourism for the fourth time in a row. Speaking on re-appointing the company as their face in India, William Techer, Head of Promotion & Marketing India, Reunion Island Tourism Board, said, “We are extremely happy to announce Representation World as our official India representative. Under their focused aegis, we have delivered various successful campaigns in the past and tourist arrivals from India to the destination has increased to multiple folds. We are very happy to associate with them and look forward for another encouraging inning with them. India is a promising market and there is a huge opportunity for Reunion Island to tap this burgeoning market. We will also be introducing new marketing strategies and few innovative campaigns, exclusively for India market that will further strengthen India and Reunion Island travel, relationships.” Vineet Gopal, Director – India, Reunion Island Tourism Board shared, “We are extremely happy and feel proud to be appointed as India representative for the Reunion Island Tourism Board. This country has a lot to offer to Indian travellers and there is lot to be explored and experience there. We will ensure that we keep up doing good work and will deliver as per the expectation of the tourism board”. Representation World has already started the activities from June 2018 and will take over all the India market activities from immediate effect.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced a partnership with SDB Developers to bring a second Holiday Inn hotel to Kolkata. As part of the agreement, the 110-room Holiday Inn Resort Kolkata NH6 will have 90 rooms operational by the end of 2018, with 20 additional rooms expected to be operational by 2020. Sprawling across 12 acres of land in Uluberia, a city that comes under the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, Holiday Inn Resort Kolkata NH6 is strategically located to offer excellent connectivity to central Kolkata. Well suited to cater to leisure, business and MiCE guests, the resort will be an hour’s drive from the City Centre and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. The resort will also be well connected to the National Highway and the Orissa Trunk Road. Commenting on the announcement, Sudeep Jain, Vice President – Development, South West Asia, IHG said, “The signing of Holiday Inn Resort Kolkata NH6 is in line with our strategy to grow our portfolio of midscale hotels in the country, comprising the Holiday Inn brand family. Given the location, facilities and best in class amenities that will be available at the resort, we expect strong demand from various guests’ segments including, leisure, MiCE, social events and weddings.” Pawan Bhimsaria, Director, SDB Developers said, “With IHG’s strong global and domestic track record, robust distribution systems and an excellent loyalty programme, we are confident Holiday Inn Resort Kolkata NH6 will be a popular choice amongst guests visiting and residing in the city.”