Tag Archives: Kochi

VFS Global recently received authorisation from the Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi and its Consulates in Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai to process Thailand Visa Application Centres across India. In order to provide convenience to the travellers from across East, West, North and South India, VFS Global has expanded its network of Thailand Visa Application Centres to 13 cities. VFS Global has already been servicing Thailand visas in East, North and South India, with centres in the cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Kochi and Chandigarh. With the addition of operations in Western India, travellers can now also apply for a Thailand visa at any one of the VFS Global Thailand Visa Application Centres in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Goa. Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, says, “Thailand has long been a popular destinati0n for Indian travellers, and a long-standing partner of VFS Global. For well over a decade, we have proudly served The Royal Thai Embassy and The Royal Thai Consulate General in India, with nine centres. It is therefore an honour to announce that VFS Global has been authorised to expand its Thailand visa services across India through its network of visa centres in 13 cities.” With Thailand emerging as one of the top destinations for Indian travellers, VFS Global’s appointment as a service provider will greatly benefit the growing volumes of applicants from India. When applying through VFS Global, applicants will be able to avail of the additional benefits on offer across VFS Global’s Visa Application Centres including services such as SMS updates, courier services, online tracking services, among others.

In its last leg for the year, Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) hosted it’s first ever showcase in the city of Pune. The Pune edition of GPS witnessed a response of 900 plus registrations. The first day which included product presentations and GST session by CA Manish Gadia, Tax expert, GMJ &Co had a attendance of over 350 plus attendees. Apart from buyers from Pune the attendees include buyers coming from cities like Nashik, Satara, Sangli, Kohlapur, Ahmednagar, Baramati, Karad etc. Next year, GPS will continue to showcase at Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Kochi and Pune. GPS will also be introducing Lucknow as a new city in 2018 and is also looking for other probable cities to host the exhibition.

Reaching out to the South India market, the Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) debuted in Kochi today. After successful shows in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Kolkata, GPS Kochi started with 750+ registrations on the first day. Buyers from cities like Salem, Coimbatore, Thrissur, Trivandrum, Calicut and nearby cities will be attending the three day event. The first day witnessed knowledge presentations by Interglobe Technology Quotient, FXkart, Genting Hong Kong, cyber security session by Prevoyance Cyber Forensic, Trawelltag Cover-More, Sahibji Group of Companies, Zanzibar Tourism and the much waited GST session by team GMJ & Co followed by presentations from Infozeal and Cleartax. The next two days will notice more buyers coming in as one on one b2b meetings begin.

Nine months after Scoot and Tigerair announced their intention to pursue a single brand and operating licence under the enhanced Scoot brand, the airline industry bid farewell to Tigerair Singapore as its last flight departed Singapore for Tiruchirappalli on July 24. Now, all previous Tigerair flights will be operated under the Scoot brand and Scoot flights will operate under the TR flight designator code. This marks the completion of the Scoot-Tigerair integration process that began last May when the airlines were brought under a common holding company, Budget Aviation Holdings. After successfully commencing operations in India last year, value airline Scoot is all set to take up new destinations under its umbrella that were running under Tigerair. These include Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli and Lucknow which will now operate under the single brand name – Scoot from July 25, 2017. Scoot CEO, Lee LikHsin said, “As we come to the end of Tigerair’s journey, we open up a brand new chapter for Scoot. Building on what Tigerair and the old Scoot had achieved since their respective inceptions, we are stronger than we have ever been before, and consequently in an even better position to offer our guests more choice, connectivity and value. The enhanced Scoot that we are introducing today is spunky and sassy, and promises to create more travel opportunities for our guests.” “Scoot was very well received after the launch of our first three destinations in India last year, the response was remarkable. We hope to create the same impact in Bengaluru, Tiruchirappalli, Kochi, Lucknow and Hyderabad by bringing great prices without compromising on the safety and comfort of the passengers. When flying with a young and passionate airline like …

The Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala in association with Association of Tourism Trade Organisations (ATTOI) will host the International Conference on Tourism Technology (ICTT) in Kochi. The three-day long event that will begin on June 8 will be formally inaugurated by Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on June 9, and it will address the challenges related with technology faced by Indian tourism and hospitality industry. The inaugural function will see a string of high-profile attendees, including Hibi Eden MLA, Dr Venu V, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, and P Bala Kiran, IAS, Director, Department of Tourism. Dr. Venu will launch the twitter campaign #Kerala #IndiaForBeginners and Shri Bala Kiran will launch the Facebook campaign during the inaugural ceremony. “Kerala Tourism has always been a pioneer in taking significant steps to promote state tourism and support the growth of the tourism industry. This conference on tourism technology is yet another initiative undertaken in association with ATTOI. Keeping pace with the technological advancements also helps in reaching out to international tourists by being easily accessible through social media platforms,” said Minister for Tourism, Kadakampally Surendran. “Kerala Tourism, with its new tourism policy, is preparing for a big leap in promoting responsible tourism that benefits the visitor as well as local communities. The government is confident that the progress of the state through tourism is unfinished without the idea of inclusion in terms of increased participation of the community in general,” he added.

New Zealand has witnessed a steady increase in arrivals from India with 53,424 travellers visiting there as of March 2017, a 14.9 per cent growth from same period last year. To further boost the Indian tourist numbers, Tourism New Zealand is tying up with two airlines to promote the island country in the India sub-continent. The partnership between Tourism New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand is valid from May 2017 to April 2018 and will seek to position Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines as the preferred carriers for travelling to the country and promotional fares will be offered to passengers. The strategic partnership aims to encourage more travellers from key cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram and Vishakhapatnam. “New Zealand is the ultimate destination for many Indian travellers and special promotional fares provide a great opportunity to turn their dream holiday into reality,” said Tourism New Zealand regional manager, South and South East Asia, Steven Dixon. Elaborating on the initiative, David Lim, General Manager, India, said, “We offer 98 weekly connections from 11 cities in India to Singapore and together with our partner – Air New Zealand, we provide over 25 weekly, onward connections to three cities (Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington) in New Zealand.” Scott Carr, Regional General Manager-Asia, Air New Zealand, said, “India is one of our fastest-growing emerging markets and we’re excited about the potential of this campaign to reach more Indian travellers. Through our alliance and code share services with Singapore Airlines, we connect passengers from 11 Indian cities to Singapore, where they can access three non-stop flights a day to New Zealand.”

M.P. Purushothaman, Chairman & Managing Director, Empee Group, has been named as the DDP Trailblazer at the South India Travel Awards in Kochi. He forayed into the industry with a three star hotel. Thanks to his vision, today he is at the helm of a conglomerate that includes sugar, hospitality, property, power, and packaging across South India. He has been the President of Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI), for three terms and has also been the President of the Tamil Nadu Hotels & Restaurants Association for 18 long years, and President of South India Hotels & Restaurants Association for 10 years. It was under his leadership that FHRAI had set up a world-class institute for hotel management in 2016.

K.C. Chandrahasan, Managing Director, Kerala Travels Interserve, is the stalwart to enter the Gallery of Legends at the 4th South India Travel Awards in Kochi. A visionary in the travel and tourism industry, he has been the President of TAAI- Kerala Chapter as well as the Chairman of Air Passenger Association of India. A renowned author of several Malayalam plays and writer and director of two Malayalam films, Chandrahasan has even won a National Award for ‘The Thekkady Tiger Trail’ project. He is one of the brains behind Interserve, which was reckoned as Indian travel industry’s answer to the inundation of multinational companies in India.

After the recent opening of its new property in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Hyatt India has plans to expand further in India in Lucknow and Hyderabad. Kurt Straub, Vice President-Operations, Hyatt India Consultancy Private Limited, reveals, “The next two years for us will be positive and interesting as we have a number of developments coming up in a number of cities in India. We have recently opened the Hyatt Place in Rameshwaram, and we have the Hyatt Regency in Lucknow coming up very soon as well as Hyatt Place in Hyderabad which will be our third hotel in Hyderabad. A really big opening will be our Grand Hyatt Kochi.”

The Ministry of Tourism will host the Grand Finale of “Smart India Hackathon” on April 1-2, 2017, in Kochi, Kerala, featuring 53 teams comprising of 230 students from technology institution/engineering colleges across the country. The Smart India Hackathon is being held across 26 cities in the country including Kochi with the involvement and support of 29 government departments. This Hackathon is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resources Development organised in collaboration with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and i4c and is aimed to help institutionalise the model of harnessing the creativity and technical expertise of youth in technical institutions. The Hackathon for Tourism sector, to be held at the Mar Baselios Institute of Technology and Science [MBITS], Kothmangalam, Cochin, will focus on the use of technology to solve problem statements pertaining to Tourism Sector posed by Ministry of Tourism such as Safety & Security of Tourist, Path breaking technological solutions that would catapult India as a leading tourist destination, Museum Commentary etc. The problem statements pertaining to tourism sector were given directly by the Ministry of Tourism based on the industry requirements which will be used to challenge the students for developing innovative digital solutions. The newly developed solutions/technical products will be evaluated by experts and prizes shall be distributed for winners, 1st runner up and 2nd runner up. After the event, the Ministry of Tourism will prepare a plan of action for integrating the products/software which has come out this hackathon into the Departmental functioning.