Tag Archives: Mumbai

Air Arabia along with Sharjah Tourism Board recently launched its inaugural service to Baku. To promote this new flight along with the various tourism products that the destination offers, Destination Azerbaijan conducted roadshows in Delhi and Mumbai to meet with the leading DMCs and hotels from Baku (Azerbaijan). The new route, aimed at boosting tourism in the country, marks Air Arabia’s entry into Azerbaijan with a fast-emerging appeal for tourism. Flights to Baku, the financial hub of Azerbaijan, will depart from Sharjah connecting to India cities like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. Air Arabia currently operates flights to 124 destinations from five hubs across the Middle East and North Africa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for India’s first high speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad on Sep 14, 2017. PM Modi addressed a public meeting on the same occasion and reiterated the ambition and will power of the new India. He said that the bullet train will provide the speed and progress that India has been waiting for. The PM went on to say that focus of the project was to increase productivity via high speed connectivity. Modi didn’t forget to appreciate Japan’s technical and financial help for the project. The project will not only bring Mumbai and Ahmedabad closer, but also bring the people living hundreds of kilometres away closer to each other. The Prime Minister also informed that a new economic system is being developed along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, thus making the entire area a single economic zone. “Technology is useful only if it provides benefit to the common man,” said PM Modi. The project will not only benefit the Indian railways, but also give a boost to the Make in India campaign. The project will be eco-friendly and the high-speed corridor would be the regions of rapid growth in the future. The PM expressed his confidence that people would work together to finish the project in the shortest possible time.

Online travel portal, Yatra.com claims to have become the first in the online travel industry to offer self-drive car rental service on its platform in partnership with Revv Cars. Diversifying its product offerings, this alliance will allow travellers to book their local and inter-city self-driven transport on Yatra’s mobile app. Currently, the feature is live in nine cities namely Delhi/NCR, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Vizag. On every booking, customers can save up to 5% using their eCash as well as can earn eCash up to Rs 1000 on booking made above Rs 10,000. Manish Amin, Co-founder & CIO, Yatra.com, “The concept of self-driven cars is gaining popularity especially amongst the millennials and experience seekers. With self-drive option now available on the Yatra app, we are further strengthening our commitment towards offering all kinds of travel solutions for all kinds of travellers. We are confident that this new product will enable us to add more value to our existing as well as potential customer base.” In a similar collaboration, Yatra had launched a first-of-its kind in-app integration with Uber, for its customers to book their local and intra-city transport directly through the Yatra app. Yatra also offers Chauffeur-driven Outstation Cabs for inter-city travel in more than 300 cities.

Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma reportedly said that the Ministry of Tourism is considering setting up government-run offices in key markets such as the US, the UK and Russia to attract more visitors to India. It will also set up facilitation centres to address queries of tourists at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. With Incredible India 2.0 campaign expected to be launched in September, Verma reportedly said the ministry will run market-specific campaigns on it in different countries through local and electronic channels as well as digital media. “A synergy between Incredible India campaign and overseas markets will get us better results. Our offices in different countries would work on a hub and spoke model which will be in sync with our PR agency. This time the states are also complementing our plans and the industry can plan campaigns around it. Our spends are higher than last year,” said Verma. Source: Economic Times

Cathay Pacific has announced a capacity increase with the introduction of Boeing 777 aircraft on the Mumbai-Hong Kong route, bringing back the Premium Economy cabin with it. The Boeing 777 aircraft will be launched on the CX660 flight from Mumbai to Hong Kong and the CX663 flight from Hong Kong to Mumbai. This change will mark a 21 per cent increase in passenger capacity and 67 per cent increase in cargo capacity out of Mumbai on Cathay Pacific flights. It will have 40 Business, 32 Premium Economy and 268 Economy seats. Premium economy seats also come equipped with a range of extra features like extra leg room, faster check-in procedures and excess baggage to name a few. Customers can book their seats in the Premium Economy cabin now for flights departing October 29, 2017 onwards. The airline has launched a special introductory price for Premium Economy seats between Mumbai-Hong Kong, starting at Rs. 42,500. Mark Sutch, Regional General Manager for SAMEA, Cathay Pacific, says, “We see potential in the Indian aviation sector. To be the third largest aviation market by 2026 is a tremendous goal and it is testament to the potential that the market beholds. Likewise, at Cathay Pacific, we see significant opportunities in the growing Indian economy. Hence, we are delighted to announce a capacity increase out of Mumbai.”

Uzbekistan Airways recently organised an event in Mumbai to promote tourism to Uzbekistan from India. There are currently six flights to Uzbekistan, Tashkent from New Delhi. The event titled ‘Visit Uzbekistan’ was chaired by Atabek Atabaev, Country Manager of Uzbekistan Airways. Also present were Vijay. G. Kalantri, Honorary Consul General of Uzbekistan in Mumbai, Anish Arya, Passenger Sales Agency, Aero World Travels, Tolik Odilov, Managing Director, STG Travels, and Sachin Shinde, Manager-Cargo Sales, Uzbekistan.

The Tourism Office of Spain in Mumbai has revealed that it has crossed the 100,000-mark as far as Indian arrivals were concerned in 2016. Ignacio Ducasse, Director and Tourism Counsellor, Tourism Office of Spain, Mumbai, says, “Spain registered 105,646 Indian arrivals in 2016, an increment of 17.08 per cent over the previous year. In this way, for the first time it has surpassed the number of 100,000 tourists coming from India. Our latest data indicates that their average stay was seven to eight nights which makes it a total of approximately 780,000 nights. The main destinations that Indian tourists visited continue to be Barcelona, Madrid, Andalusia, Valencia and Ibiza. However, there is some interest in new destinations such as Bilbao, Mallorca and Canary Islands.” In addition, data collected during the first half of 2017 suggests that the growth in the number of arrivals from India will be even greater during this year.

The Ministry of Tourism in Indonesia is planning to improve the tourism potential of 10 new destinations through its initiative- ‘Beyond Bali’. Under this initiative, top 10 priority destinations have been earmarked for accelerated development as ‘New Bali’ destinations. These destination include Lake Toba, Tanjung Kelayang, Tanjung Lesung, Seribu Islands, the Borobudur, Bromo-Tengger-Semeru cluster, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, Wakatobi and Morotai, informed Saut Siringoringo, Consul General of Republic of Indonesia, Mumbai. According to official figures, during January-May 2017, as many as 183,558 Indians visited Indonesia, recording an increase of 20.72 per cent against the same period in 2016. India ranked sixth in terms of international tourist arrival in Indonesia with a growth of 28.42 per cent in 2016 over 2015. In terms of visitors to the island of Bali, India stood at fifth position in the same period with an increase in tourist inflow by 57.61 per cent. Of the 376,802 Indian tourists who visited Indonesia in 2016, Bali alone attracted 186,638 tourists. “Bali is an iconic destination in Indonesia occupying 60 per cent of tourist inflow to the country. Ministry of Tourism is determined to develop other destinations too under ‘Beyond Bali’ initiative. The results have already started to show as 12 million people visited the country in 2016. Our aim is to make it to 20 million visitors by 2019,” said Siringoringo. He informed that currently tourism stands in the fourth position in terms of contribution to the GDP of Indonesia which the destination is hoping to make the highest contributor by 2025-2030. “Countries like Malaysia are attracting one million Indians per year. We have realised the market potential of Indian tourists and improving air connectivity is our top concern,” …

Mumbai witnessed the gathering of a high-level delegation from different ministries and government authorities who announced their collective plan and focus to develop cruise tourism. Sharing their perspectives were: Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping, Government of India; JaykumarRawal, Minister of Tourism Government of Maharashtra; Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust; Vijay Waghmare, MD, MTDC; and David Dingle, Chairman, Carnival UK. Titled ‘Dawn of Cruise in India’ the seminar was aimed at encouraging cruise tourism in India, more specifically Mumbai, by improving infrastructure, facilitating quick and easy movement of cruise passengers, and easing taxation for cruise companies. Gadkari identified the reasons why cruise tourism had not taken off in India. As one of the initial steps, all relevant government agencies such as port authorities, security agencies, immigration authorities, customs, and port health authorities were identified and formed a task force to first assess the current condition and then look at the global best practices. Speaking at the conference, Rawal said, “Maharashtra is pleased to be the homeport of choice for cruises in India. The association with the shipping Ministry mutually assist to formulate policies to support Maharashtra’s position as a cruise hub. Therefore, there is huge potential for cruise tourism among domestic as well as international travelers. Cruise tourism will assist to earn huge foreign exchange and generate job opportunities.”

The Tourism Office of Spain in Mumbai along with Pullmantur Cruises, represented by its GSA in India Griffon, conducted a workshop in Mumbai for a few select travel agents. While Ignacio Ducasse, Director and Tourism Counsellor, Tourism Office of Spain in Mumbai, spoke on the Canary Islands of Spain, Vivek Jain, Managing Director, Griffon, gave a presentation on the winter sailings of Pullmantur’s Horizon and Sovereign cruise liners starting this November. The Canary Islands are the seven islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro in Spain.