Tag Archives: Director

In an effort to encourage more Indian travellers to visit Israel, the country has reduced its visa fee to INR 1,100 from its previous INR 1,700 charge for Indian citizens. VFS Global currently offers visa processing services for Israeli visas in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Centres will soon open in Hyderabad and Kolkata to service the residents in these cities, who will not be required to send their documents to the Consulates in Mumbai and Bengaluru or the Embassy in New Delhi. The revised application fee is on the B2 visa category, where a visit to Israel is for purposes including business, meeting or conference or tourism. Commenting on the initiatives, Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism – India & Philippines said, “We are happy to announce the reduction in visa fees for Indian travellers with immediate effect. I am confident that this move will encourage more people to choose Israel as a holiday destination and boost inbound numbers from India. I am confident that the revised visa fees will help grow the numbers.” In September 2017, the Ministry introduced one-year multiple entry visas for business travellers to Israel. Steps are being taken towards bringing more changes to make the process faster and easier for Indian travellers to visit Israel.

Korea Tourism Organization New Delhi Office has launched its India website www.visitkorea.in as part of its marketing plan for the year 2018. The website mainly caters to the travel industry and individuals seeking tourism related information specific to the Indian outbound travelling requirements. The website was launched to provide a quick access of everything an Indian traveller would like to see and do in South Korea. Regular updates on offers and announcements will keep the visitors apprised of what’s happening. The KTO India website features highlight the mandatory travel information for India market such as visa information, currently available South Korea packages, incentive programme details, Indian food available in South Korea, main destination and attractions for Indians to enjoy, etc. According to Jong Sool Kwon, Director, Korea Tourism Organization New Delhi, “The usual practice of prospective tourists and travel agents was to find a local travel agent partner, get information from brochures or wait for the tourism board to organise training sessions for updates about South Korea from Indian traveller’s perspective. This website will be a one-stop solution for both the trade partners and travellers to gather updated information. Although the global website was available for all to access information about South Korea, however, it has been so difficult for tourists to find India-centric information about the destination.”  

Switzerland Tourism has introduced its global e-learning programme created for travel agents to sell the destination in the India market. This was launched in January this year and its India-specific programme created especially for this market was discontinued. Speaking about the decision behind this development, Claudio Zemp, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, says, “We are very proud to introduce our new e-learning programme – the Switzerland Travel Academy – in India. This is a global programme for travel agents all over the world and is now also available for the Indian agents. We observed that the demand and the requirements from the India market as well as the knowledge about the destination were fast evolving and for that reason we have now started using the same e-learning programme for India.” The NTO recently did a series of four webinars this year that got overwhelming response with about 600 people joining each webinar. The numbers are also good, as Zemp reveals. “We had an increase of 23.4 per cent in terms of tourists generated out of India in 2017 over the previous year. The first three months of 2018 saw an increase of 16.4 per cent over the previous year during the same period, which is traditionally not a busy season for us,” he says.  

Nirupa Shankar, Director, Brigade Hospitality, has become the Face of the Future. As an entrepreneur, Shankar has been instrumental in launching five hotels, with 12 more in the pipeline. She has been associated with the company for eight years and has tremendously contributed to its growth. Apart from hospitality, she oversees the office of Public Relations and Innovations for the group. She recently completed a triathlon, half marathon and swimmathon and is also trained as a six sigma Black Belt. Her industry experiences are strongly underscored with education; she is an Economics graduate with a Master’s degree in Hospitality.

InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) has announced the appointment of Rahul Bhatia as its interim Chief Executive Officer who will continue as the director of the company. InterGlobe has also announced the appointment of Gregory Taylor as Senior Advisor to the company reporting directly to Bhatia. Aditya Ghosh will resign from the post of President of IndiGo effective July 31, 2018 and as a Director of the Company with effect from April 26, 2018. In the coming months, the Board will consider the appointment of Taylor as President and CEO of the Company, subject to receiving the necessary regulatory approvals and paperwork. Bhatia said, “We are delighted at Greg’s decision to rejoin the IndiGo team and welcome him back to the company. His enormous and varied experience and understanding of the complexities of the airline industry will be invaluable to our future plans. At the same time, we thank Aditya for all his hard work and contributions and for the successes that the company has enjoyed.” Ghosh, meanwhile, added, “For the last ten years, it has been a relentless, exhilarating and a most satisfying task building IndiGo.  It is now time for me to step off the treadmill and sometime in the near future embark on my next adventure. I wish all my colleagues at IndiGo the very best as they move on to the next phase of growth.” Taylor has more than 40 years of experience in large, world class airlines. During 2016 and 2017, he was the Executive Vice President of Revenue Management and Network Planning at IndiGo. Prior to that he held various senior management roles at United Airlines and US Airways in the areas of Corporate Planning, Strategy, …

StayWell Holdings has announced its first Park Regis portfo in South India, with the rebranding of Aveda Resort & Spa in Kumarakom to Park Regis Aveda. The 44-room hotel will be the the first hotel to open post the acquisition of StayWell Holdings by Prince Hotels. Located in Kerala, Park Regis Aveda is in an international tourism hub, with the region renowned for its palm-lined beaches and backwaters, as well as the spice and tea covered hills of the Western Ghats. Simon Wan, President & Director, StayWell Holdings said, “Opening a hotel in Kerala presents many benefits for StayWell in India, as well as operators in the local region. Kerala is a popular tourist destination and Aveda Kumarakom has fast become the preferred accommodation for guests who place emphasis on privacy and luxury while travelling. We will continue to look for opportunities to expand our brands both in India and internationally.” On the tie-up with StayWell Holdings, Prashant Chawla, Owner, Park Regis Aveda, Kumarakom said, “I am thrilled to be working alongside a brand with the global recognition of StayWell Holdings and am certain the hotel experience will be elevated under their leadership, offering an unmatched hospitality and par excellence service.  This partnership will not only open up our horizons in India, but also internationally, and we look forward to taking this association beyond one property.” Park Regis Aveda will be StayWell Holdings’ 23rdth operational property and marks the brands move into a new space of luxury travel.  

Oman Tourism along with Cox & Kings hosted a networking evening in Delhi and Mumbai recently. Around 40-45 attendees representing the top management and decision makers of various corporate entities were present for this session to discuss Oman emerging as the next big hub for corporate events and MiCE groups. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman said, “Conducting networking session for corporate organisations gave us an opportunity to showcase to them various MiCE offerings. For this, we feel privileged to be associated with Cox & Kings who bring along their expertise. Being a short-haul destination from India, with excellent air connectivity from major Indian cities, world-class hotels and easy availability of Indian food, Oman makes an ideal MiCE destination.” Khalid Al Zadjali, Director, Oman Convention Bureau said, “With new international hotel chains that have recently opened in Oman and many more to launch soon, we are seeing a considerable increase in the number of rooms and venues in the country. The recent revision in visa regulations (granting of Visa on Arrival for non-sponsored tourist visa for certain categories), increasing number of flights from India to Oman, diversification of tourism products and the upcoming phase II of the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) will bring momentum to MiCE tourism.”

In order to attract the growing conferences and incentives segment from India, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) is offering attractive financial incentive schemes so that MICE agents and corporates choose Cyprus as their preferred destination. There are broadly four schemes. Speaking about this Michalis Metaxas, Director, Cyprus Tourism Organisation and Cyprus Convention Bureau (CCB) says, “Cyprus is an attractive and competitive destination for the organisation of conferences, meetings and incentive trips. We have four different types of schemes for corporates depending on who they are and what their aim is.” One scheme is for MiCE directed at non-profit organisations, associations and academic institutions for conferences and meetings and licensed tourism and travel offices and companies for corporate conferences and incentive trips. The second incentive scheme is to support conference bidding and sales calls to attract conference and incentive tourism to Cyprus. The bidding for hosting of conferences should be done by non-profit organisations/associations, and educational/academic institutions that will travel abroad in order to bid for the hosting of conferences/meetings of non-profit regional, European or international organisations/associations, or educational/academic institutions on the island. Cyprus also offers incentives for inspection visits of the destination in general, and meeting Cypriot professionals within this field as well as for conducting familiarisation trips to Cyprus for MiCE.  

Israel Ministry of Tourism has joined hands with Ola cabs in India to collaborate on a two-week contest that will run on the Ola app which is valid for its Mumbai and Pune users only. The Ola users who undertake the maximum number of rides during the two weeks period and use code ISRAEL stand a chance to win a free trip to Israel for three nights or four days. Utilising Push notifications, in-App promotion, e-mailers , Ola Website and their Social Media pages, the ride-sharing company will promote the contest. Talking more about the association Hassan Madah, Director – Israel Ministry of Tourism, India & Philippines said, “Ola is one of the largest taxi services in India and have a large user base, especially in metro cities. Today, many urban dwellers use the services of taxi hiring in big cities as it is convenient. We are always thinking of distinct ways to promote Israel and felt this association with Ola cabs will help us reach Ola’s over 80 lakh users in Mumbai and Pune. We look forward to creating more awareness of the beautiful destination among Ola users so that they can plan a trip soon to Israel.” Israel has welcomed close to 10,000 Indian travellers between January and March, resulting in a 15% increase in Indian tourists arrivals compared to the same period in 2016. With the recent addition of Air India’s direct connection from Delhi to Tel Aviv, Israel hopes to witness one lakh Indian tourist arrivals in 2018.

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) introduced the ‘Culinary Germany’ theme in India, to use it as their focus for marketing campaigns this year. The country witnessed 8,52,224 visitor overnights in 2017 making for a 13.8 per cent growth over 2016. Owing to this steady growth, GNTO, India forecasts a 5-8 per cent growth in visitor overnights for the year 2018. Romit Theophilus, Director, GNTO, India said, “Food forms an integral part of any traveller’s itinerary. Experiencing the local flavours helps enhance the flavour of any holiday and makes for everlasting impressions. With over 5,000 beers from 1,300 breweries, 300 types of bread, 1,500 types of sausage, 13 wine regions, 292 Michelin-starred restaurants and 3,000 to 5,000 Christmas markets, Germany is sure to satiate any traveller’s appetite.” According to the Quality Monitor survey of the German tourism industry, 4% of international holidaymakers come to Germany specifically for the variety and quality of its food and drink. The sector, therefore, contributes at least 3.2 million overnight stays to Germany’s inbound tourism. ‘Travelling food-lovers’ are generally quite young, well-educated family people with children; they are often city dwellers and are very active on social media. GNTO, India now boasts over 1 million followers on its Facebook platform.