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The National Tourism Programme (Ministry of Economy) concluded its three-city roadshow titled ‘Visit UAE’ in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and finally Mumbai – the city that sees the maximum number of tourists visiting the UAE every year. This is the third roadshow in India in the recent few years. UAE welcomed 2.6 million Indian tourists in 2017. Abdulla Saleh Al Hammadi, Director, National Tourism Programme, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to revisit the city of Mumbai, which my country is familiar with and visits often. India is one of the most promising markets, and the UAE delegation is looking forward to build relationships and further strengthen ties with the people, especially the tourism industry, under the banner of the ‘Visit UAE’ campaign.” The ‘Visit UAE’ roadshow included a huge delegation of tourism officials, airlines, and senior members from the UAE’s tourism and hospitality industry. Local tourism departments included Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing–Dubai, Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, Ajman Tourism Development Department, Fujairah Tourism & Antiquities Authority, Dubai Police and Dubai Health Authority.

Indian tourist arrivals to Israel have increased by 31 per cent from January to December, 2017 with around 60,000 Indian tourists visiting the country last year. This marks a growth of 48 per cent in the last two years, according to statistics released by Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT). Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India & Philippines said, “2017 has been outstanding and by far the best year for Israel tourism in India and worldwide. By October, 2017 we already saw 49,000 Indians arrive in Israel, breaking previous records, and we were positive to close the year with 60,000 travellers to Israel from India. With over 20 million outbound tourists a year, India has been an important market for us. Introducing initiatives, including easing of the visa process and with airlines in India and Israel expressing interest to increase connectivity between the countries, I am confident that this growth will help us achieve 1 lakh Indian arrivals in 2018.”

India ranks in top five list of highest number of visitors to Thailand after China, Malaysia, Korea and Laos. In 2017, over 1.4 million Indians travelled to Thailand which is over 18 per cent increase as compared to last year. Thailand welcomed over 35.3 million international visitors in 2017 and earned 1.82 trillion baht in tourism revenue. The precise number of overseas tourists visiting Thailand in 2017 was 35,381,210; showing an increase of 8.77 per cent over 2016. Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai said, “TAT is initiating many unique activities and projects this year with a focus on promoting women, family and first-time traveller segments for the Indian market.” Santi Chudintra, Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and the South Pacific) said, “Our new campaign ‘Open to the New Shades of Thailand’ aims to give more attention to unique local experiences and inclusive tourism, reflecting Thainess and Thai people’s warmth in welcoming visitors. The new campaign ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’ has been launched to support the government’s national tourism development plan, ensuring that Thailand remains a preferred destination.”  

SLW, a golf management company, in association with Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched Thai Golf Pass, a reward and loyalty programme to offer Indian golfers a seamless golf experience in Thailand. Every Indian golfer who plays golf in Thailand will receive points depending on the services used from the service providers. Anil Dev, Managing Director, SLW, stated, “Indian golfers can be a part of this amazing rewards programme whenever they tee off in amazing Thailand. A number of quality service providers like Thai Airways, Cox & Kings, Callaway and a number of golf courses, resorts and hotels have come together to partner this initiative.” “As India is a leading market for Thailand, we have launched Thai Golf Passport to ensure value added services. This will help golfers to enjoy the game in their favourite destination and help us in connecting with the golfing fraternity in India,” said Isra  Stapanaseth, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand. The Thai Golf Passport was launched in New Delhi by Stapanaseth along with Vani Kapoor, leading Indian golfer; Gajendra Panwar, Vice President, Cox & Kings and Prashant Singh, General Manager, Callaway Golf India.

Nine leading travel agents from India were among 130 other agents from 16 countries to attend the 7th Israel ‘Where Else’ Tourism Conference held by the Israel Ministry of Tourism for the world travel industry. The travel agents from India were accompanied by Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism, India and Philippines. The group explored beach tourism in Eilat and Dead Sea, tours in the North focusing on religion and history and city breaks in Tel Aviv- Jaffa and Jerusalem. In addition, business meetings were held between the Indian delegates and Israeli wholesalers and hoteliers. Elaborating on this Fam, Madah said, “Israel has witnessed another year of record breaking tourist arrivals with over 55,000 Indians who have travelled to the country through November 2017. It was important for us to showcase Israel to key Indian travel trade through our biggest annual tourism conference in Israel. The conference was a wonderful experience that exposed the Indian travel trade to varied offerings and experiences in Israel.” The week-long convention aimed to expose attendees to the tourism brands in Israel along with the country’s recreation, entertainment and leisure options.

The Tourism Department of Kerala has commenced the registration process for the fifth edition of Kerala Blog Express (KBE) to kick-start in March 2018. Aspiring bloggers have already started promoting their KBE profiles on social media to get maximum votes by their followers by January 2018. The selection process is in such a way that the submission forms uploaded by the bloggers from around the world would be reviewed by a panel. Post approval, the bloggers’ profiles would be up for voting. As soon as the bloggers get approval, they could share their Kerala Blog Express profiles among friends and followers to seek votes in their favour. Post evaluation by a panel of judges, names of final participants of ‘Kerala Blog Express 5’ would be announced. P. Bala Kiran, IAS, Director, Kerala Tourism, stated, “Encouraged by the success of the previous edition of Kerala Blog Express, we are optimistic to receive the maximum number of entries this year. The tourism department has made this initiative unique by combining various aspects such as campaign on social media, familiarisation trip, bloggers’ meet and road trip in a major way.”

In a bid to rebuild confidence among its travel partners, U & I Holidays has revised its cancellation and refund policy. Not only is it offering a full refund or floating deposit on cancellation, it is also offering two nights free in Bali and one complimentary dinner in an Indian restaurant there for travel validity until March 31, 2018. Shyam Upadhyay, Director, U & I Holidays, says, “Over the past couple of months following the situation of Mt. Agung, we have noticed serious concerns for travel to Bali. I’m sure with these amendments, our clients will be in a position to comfort their customers and encourage them to travel to Bali. This is our way of thanking them for the continuous support and business for Bali and Malidives.” The ‘no cancellation fee’ policy is applicable in the case if volcano erupts or airport closes. Any payment/deposit will be given the option of full refund or to keep as floating deposit for future travel. In case of airport closure due to Mount Agung eruption, U & I Holidays also promises to accommodate the departing guest in a three-star hotel for two nights with one dinner at an Indian restaurant on complimentary basis for bookings closed through them.

Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will lead PATA India Chapter as its Chairperson for the term 2017-19. This was announced during the 47th Annual General Meeting of PATA India Chapter held at The Claridges, New Delhi on December 19. While SanJeet, Director, DDP Publications, was re-elected as the association’s Vice Chairman; J.S. Taneja, MD, Travel Spirit International, will continue to hold the post of Hon. Secretary, and the post of Hon. Treasurer has been re-assigned to Vikram Madhok, MD, Abercrombie & Kent. The association also elected its Executive Committee for the term 2017-19. Under the Active Government Category, Rashmi Verma and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India will hold the post, while Ravneet Kaur, CMD, ITDC and Sanjiv Garg, Additional Member T&C, Ministry of Railways will be EC members under the Associate Government Category. Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India, has been elected EC member under the International Carrier category. Under the Domestic Carrier category, Ragini Chopra, VP, Jet Airways and M.P. Mall, CMD, IRCTC have been elected. The four posts for Travel Agents/Tour Operators category have been given to Vikram Madhok, J.S. Taneja, Snirmol Ghosh, Director, Indo Asia Tours and Anoop Kanuga, Director, Bathija Travels. Under the Hotels/ Associate Hotels category, the three members are: Renu Basu, VP, Indian Hotels; Arjun Sharma, MD, Select Holiday Resorts; and Rohit Arora, GM, Apeejay Surendra Park Hotel. SanJeet will be an EC member under the Sustaining Member category.

Jatayu Earth’s Center – Kerala’s first build–operate–transfer (BOT) model ecotourism project, ‘Adventure Rock Hill’, is now open for visitors. Located at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district of Kerala, the Jatayupara Nature Park was rechristened as Jatayu Earth’s Center. Covering four hills in Chadayamangalam, there are few more ventures pending to make the Nature Park fully operational by April 2018. Adventure Rock Hill is open for a group of 10-100 people, with entry of Rs 3500 per person. Spread across 65 acres, it offers abundant activities like camping, rock climbing, trekking, 6D theatre, a virtual reality museum, a Siddha and an Ayurvedic cave resort. The key highlight of the Jatayu Earth Centre is the world’s largest bird sculpture, which has an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. Rajiv Anchal, Concept Designer, Chairman and Managing Director, Jatayu Earth’s Center, stated, “Considered as a glorious example of eco-friendly tourism in India, the center is a result of 10 years of sustained dedication. ‘Jatayu’ symbolises an era when humans and other living beings cared for each other and lived together peacefully.” P. Bala Kiran, Director, Kerala Tourism, said, “From adventure enthusiasts to families, young generation of travellers to couples, this tourist spot caters to a wide audience. The center allows the tourists to have thrilling experiences, while exploring the natural beauty of the place.”  

As part of implementing responsible tourism initiatives in the state, the Kerala Tourism department organised a workshop in Thiruvananthapuram.  P. Bala Kiran, IAS, Director, Kerala Tourism and Managing Director of Kannur International Airport elaborated on the new Tourism Policy, Responsible Tourism and the Green Carpet Action Plan formulated by the government at the workshop. He said, “The Tourism policy 2017 implementation will commence with the implementation of Green Carpet action plan 2017-18. Also, the tourism department shall implement Green Protocol in all 78 locations by Dec 15th.” Speaking on the Green Carpet Action Plan, P. Bala Kiran said that the action plan has been formulated by including nine agendas by inculcating the points from the total 16 agendas that is being discussed and deliberated upon worldwide. The Green Carpet Action Plan, in fact, aims at transforming the tourism sector in Kerala into different travel-friendly destinations. The plan is being implemented by imbibing the points in the new tourism policy. The general development aspects that have been put forward by the Tourism policy, the Green Kerala Mission and Responsible Tourism are being implemented in this regard, he said. Pointing out that Responsible Tourism forms the crux of the state government’s tourism policy. The features incorporated are People-friendliness, Nature-friendliness and aspects that remain socially acceptable. The projects and schemes undertaken toe a well charted out roadmap.