Tag Archives: FICCI

SpiceJet will soon connect Assam’s northern district of Lakhimpur with Jorhat in the south, announced Ajay Singh, Chief Managing Director, SpiceJet at Advantage Assam-Global Investors Summit’18 in Guwahati. The move will, if it comes through, form part of Centre’s UDAN or Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), an initiative taken to make air travel to India’s Tier-II and III cities affordable and at the same time putting remote regions on the country’s aviation map. “For India to grow, it is critical that North East grows. And, the region cannot grow without connectivity. SpiceJet connects cities of Guwahati, Silchar and Dibrugarh to other parts of the country and under UDAN, we will soon be connecting Lakhimpur and Jorhat,” Singh said. The two-day event showcased the state’s manufacturing opportunities and geostrategic advantages to foreign and domestic investors. The summit was organised by the Assam Government, in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). There were a number of focus sectors identified by the state, which includes agriculture and food processing, organic farming, bamboo, handloom, textile and handicrafts, inland water transport, riverfront development and logistics. Source:ANI 

The government shall soon roll out its much-awaited National Tourism Policy, expected to provide single window clearance for organisation of meetings and conferences, informed Satyajeet Rajan, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, while addressing the second edition of Global MICE Travel Mart, organised by FICCI jointly with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, on September 14 at The Lalit, New Delhi. He said that there was a need to provide incentives to this sector to make it competitive in the world market. He added that there was a pressing need to conduct a study to assess size of the industry and a consultant was being appointed to suggest a workable roadmap for the development of the sector. During the inaugural of this mart, which is underway until Sept 16, a FICCI-MRSS Knowledge Paper on ‘MICE Tourism Powerhouse of a New Era Tourism’ was unveiled by the dignitaries. The six-point agenda of the study suggested a six-point roadmap for development of India as a MICE tourism hotspot. Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB and Managing Director, Alpcord Network Travel & Conferences Management Company, said that MICE was an economic activity and there was an imperative need for the creation of a market for the sector. Besides, he emphasised on the need for readily available comprehensive database, building capacities and capabilities while taking into account competition to make India a MICE hub. Highlighting the immense potential of MICE tourism in West Bengal, Amitava Rathod, Deputy General Manager, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation, said that that with new convention centres projects such as HIDCO, Digha and Bagdogra coming up in the state, West Bengal is bound to lead the country in …

FICCI along with the Department of Tourism, Government of Odisha, organised a roadshow in Delhi to inform the various stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality industry about the upcoming Odisha Travel Bazaar (OTB) to be held at Bhubaneswar from October 15-17. Dr. Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee and CMD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, informed that OTB, FICCI’s maiden show in Odisha will be modeled on the lines of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) conducted annually in Rajasthan. “At Odisha Travel Bazaar, as many as 40 foreign tour operators from 19 countries; 10 top of the line inbound operators and wedding planners and 20 leading domestic tour operators from across India will be participating as hosted buyers. The tourism fraternity of Odisha comprising of hotels and tour operators will be promoting the tourism products of Odisha as sellers,” she said. Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Government of Odisha, addressed the stakeholders and informed them about the various achievements of the state in terms of tourism and also discussed the various projects open for investment in the state. He said, “I invite all travel trade associations to host their conventions and other events in Odisha. It is important that the travel trade looks beyond the usual regions and focuses on the Eastern part of India to market and promote it as a favourable destination for inbound and domestic tourism.” Other dignitaries present at the roadshow included Dr. Nitin Bhanudas Jawale, Director and Additional Secretary, Department of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha; J. K. Mohanty, Chairman-Tourism Panel, FICCI Odisha State Council and CMD, Swosti Group; Dr. A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI and Rahul Chakravarty, Consultant, FICCI. Representatives …

The second edition of the Global MICE Travel Mart (GMTM) organised by FICCI, will be held on September 14-16, 2017. This was announced by Rahul Chakravarty, Senior Director – Tourism, FICCI on the sidelines of FICCI’s Tourism Investors Meet that took place last week. The annual event will be instrumental in putting MICE destinations in India on the itineraries of the foreign tour operators and opinion leaders from India. Recognising the need to propel the highly-potential MICE industry to greater heights, FICCI introduced GMTM in 2016 where the inaugural edition saw a participation of over 30 buyers from 12 countries. Face-to-face meetings among exhibitors and buyers were held in full swing, along with a panel discussion where insights and challenges of the MICE industry were discussed.

Realising the potential of the Indian wedding industry, FICCI organised the first-ever Wedding Tourism Summit at The Lalit to give impetus to the booming segment. The gathering was welcomed by Dr Jyostna Suri, Past President, FICCI and Chairperson – FICCI Tourism Committee. Also present at the inauguration were Ajay K Sharma, Deputy Director – Tourism, Govt of Rajasthan, along with Siddharth Chaturvedi, CEO, Eventcrafter and Secretary, EEMA. The Wedding Tourism Summit will conclude on May 26, 2017. The two-day summit gives buyers and suppliers an opportunity to interact and explore potential business opportunities under one roof and also address issues and concerns pertaining to the wedding segment. Suri said, “Weddings not only benefit the hotels where the events take place, but also the destination as well as ancillary services like florists, caterers etc. We need to tap countries like UK where there are many tourists looking for good destinations to get married in and what better place than India, with its historic hotels and other sites. The objective of this platform is to create a bigger awareness of India and the various destinations as a sought-after wedding location.” Suman Billa, Joint Secretary – Tourism, Govt of India delivered the inaugural address where he stated, “If we want to achieve our target of attaining 2 per cent of global international tourist arrivals into India by 2025, we need to address all segments that have the potential to grow, and weddings is definitely one of them. People who come for weddings stay longer and spend more so there is a need for us to come up with a game plan on what we need to do to promote it. We need to look …

The 11th edition of GITB will be held from April 22-24, 2018, at Jaipur, announced Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, Tourism Committee, FICCI. “GITB has become the biggest show for inbound tourism in India and the most exclusive one that promotes all segments of tourism in the country. It has grown over the last 10 years from 260 buyers to 275 buyers, from 3000 to 10,800 meetings over the last few years. It has played a vital role in the influx of foreign tourists to India and Rajasthan. Since it is held in Jaipur, it gives maximum exposure to the state of Rajasthan. We hope that the foreign buyers attending the show become our ambassadors and bring more and more tourists to the country.”

The Great Indian Travel Bazaar opened with 275 foreign buyers and 288 exhibitors at The Lalit Jaipur on April 23. The inbound show committed to boost tourism in India and in Rajasthan was inaugurated by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, and Krishnendra Kaur, Tourism, Art and Culture Minister, Government of Rajasthan, Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, Tourism Committee FICCI, Nihal Chand Goel, Additional Chief Secretary (Tourism, Art & Culture), Bhim Singh, President, Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan, and Rahul Chakravarty, Senior Director and Head-Tourism, FICCI. Addressing the show, Billa said, India is truly on a growth path. We have grown at a rapid pace of 11 per cent in 2016 and since January to date we have grown at a staggering rate of 16 per cent, there is nothing in the market to suggest that it will slow down. Domestic tourism forms a key part of Indian tourism. Last year we had 1.7 billion domestic travellers and we are growing at 8-9 per cent Y-o-Y. Admittedly we are growing on a narrow base but the potential of tourism in India is immense. All of you here are at the right place to lay the seeds for what will become a great engagement for a market that has huge potential. He also informed that accordingly to the World Economic Forum report, India improved its tourism competitiveness by 25 places over three years and tourism is the government’s main agenda.

FICCI Digital Travel, Hospitality and Innovation Summit opened with over 125 delegates. The attendees from various verticals of the travel and hospitality industry like technology providers, travel management companies, hotels, airlines, online travel agencies, GDS, etc., attended the event. The FICCI-Avalon knowledge paper-Travel 2.0-The Next Generation of Travel, was released at the event which details suggestions on mapping the travel industry better and trends that can offer insight to grow the industry. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said, “Travellers are moving away from exploring routes to exploring experiences. Social media is a legitimate research source and reviews are becoming increasingly important. Bloggers as a marketing channel have become important as they turn around niche products and create interest groups. The digital space has opened avenues for not just big players but even the smaller players in the industry can position themselves through digital platforms. Going digital is imperative and we have to see how fast we can become digital and at the same time look into what different we can offer in order to stay relevant in the market. The brick and mortar agencies have to embrace the technology curve and take on the challenge.” Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee and Chairperson and MD, Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, said “Adapting and adopting technology is the need of the hour and at FICCI we are happy to take on this vertical and offer a platform for thoughtful discussions and deliberation on the future of travel.”

FICCI and Avalon Global Research (AGR) joint publication of the knowledge paper ‘Travel 2.0 – The Next Generation of travel’ is slated to be unveiled at Digital Travel, Hospitality and Innovation Summit on March 22 -23, 2017, at  FICCI, Federation house, New Delhi. The proposed knowledge paper would focus on the evolution of travel, tourism and hospitality industry through digital adaption and the role of new technologies and automation in streamlining the business processes across value chain, highlighting the speed and convenience of the business in this industry from an end-user perspective. “We are in a digital era and travel and hospitality is not an exception. The rampant penetration of smartphone has transformed travel consumption pattern of the end user. The FICCI -Avalon Knowledge report will highlight all these with pointers to the future of travel in India,” informed Rahul Chakravarty, Director and Head–Tourism, FICCI. The report would also emphasize on adaption of big data analytics and the influence of social media on service providers and aggregators to address the challenges such as intensive competition and requirement of direct interaction with the end users. “Technology and  enhanced economic and aspirational activities have impacted how travel is perceived , reviewed , distributed and consumed .Therefore a mature research aspect allows the travel ecosystem to innovate to make itself future proof and ready for Travel 2.0. This report sets out in this direction,” added Ashish Kumar, Member, FICCI Travel Technology Committee.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, observed that demonetisation did not have any impact on the Foreign Tourist Arrival and Foreign Exchange Earnings. In November, 2016, 8.91 lakh FTAs were recorded as compared to 8.16 lakh in November, 2015, registering a growth of 9.3 per cent. An official statement from MOT claimed, “after demonetisation, the Government has taken a number of steps to ensure that no hardship is faced by the tourists and the industry is not affected. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) smoothly transitioned to cashless mode of payment by simplifying process of e-tickets. Government efforts have paid dividend as there has been a notable growth in the comparative figures of Foreign Tourists Arrival (FTA) Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) and online sale of e-tickets after demonetisation.” It may also be noted that the number of e-tickets sold during November 09, 2016, to December 08, 2016, increase to 28,176 from 2807 during October 09, 2016, to November 08, 2016, with corresponding amount being Rs 181.49 lakh and Rs 3.10 lakh respectively. It can therefore be seen that sale of e–tickets and earnings from have increased significantly by 10 and 58 times respectively as people are buying tickets for ASI monuments online through cashless payments.