Tag Archives: New Delhi

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, represented by Embassy of Georgia in New Delhi launched its visa facilitation centre in the capital city in collaboration with VFS Global, which will be operational from June 23. Four other centres in Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai will begin operations by the end of this month. The key features of the centre include extended operating hours to enable visitors to submit applications at their time of convenience, dedicated website for easy access to information including visa categories, requirements, checklist, application fees and visa status update; premium lounges for personalised service, etc. The new centre in New Delhi was inaugurated by Giorgi Tabatadze, Director of Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and His Excellency Archil Dzuliashvili, Ambassador of Georgia to India. Dzuliashvili informed that in 2016 Georgia recorded 350,000 Indian visitors but is now looking at ways to increase the two-way traffic given the long standing history that the countries have shared. “I am happy to note that after several months of intensive consultations, we have successfully accomplished negotiation process with VFS Global and finally signed the contract which allows us to facilitate and offer more accessible services to the Indian travellers through the several VFS Visa Application Centres in India,” said Dzuliashvili. He further added that Georgia is emerging as a very popular destination amongst Indians and the country will try to reduce the turn over time for granting visas to Indian nationals for tourism, business and education. The destination is promoting tourism from Georgia to India as well. Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operation Officer-Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global commented, “We are honoured to enter into this partnership with …

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance will be adding four more frequencies to its current daily operations to/from New Delhi from July 15, 2017. A total of 11 flights a week will operate to and out of Delhi. The purpose of adding these flights is to provide passengers with added convenience and a wider choice in terms of travel between the two countries and seeking onward connectivity. The morning arrival time in Colombo for the new flight will also give convenient connections to destinations like Maldives, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok. Commenting on the occasion, SriLankan Airlines, Manager Northern & Eastern India, Chinthaka Weerasinghe, stated, “North India is a key market for us and with most of the industrialists and business families spread across Delhi & neighboring states. While we have always received a strong response from this market, Delhi serves as a key business hub for all multinational corporations. These additional flights will cater to growing business, corporate and leisure demand between Sri Lanka and Delhi.”

About 50 travel agents gathered at Mumbai’s Ballard Pier to get onboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s luxury cruise ship called Seven Seas Voyager that made its way from Bangkok into the Indian Ocean and onwards to Rome. The agents were from Mumbai as well as other cities like New Delhi, Gujarat and even Bengaluru. They did a ship inspection followed by a sit-down lunch at one of the ship’s fine-dining restaurants while interacting with Steve Odell, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Promoted as the most luxurious ship ever built, Regent Seven Seas was docked in Mumbai for two days and had 99 per cent occupancy.

Jet Airways will add 42 weekly flights connecting three new city pairs as part of strengthening its domestic network to meet growing demand between metros and emerging cities. Introduction of additional frequencies and wide-body deployments between key metros will also boost capacity on existing sectors this summer as the airline bolsters its already extensive network to meet an expected surge in demand during the holiday season. The carrier will commence operations between Nagpur and New Delhi, Lucknow and Kolkata, and Kozhikode and Bengaluru as part of its broader strategy of connecting India’s emerging tier II cities with India’s metros via direct flights. It will also introduce additional frequencies on the highly traveled Delhi – Amritsar and Mumbai – Kolkata sectors and boost capacity on the New Delhi – Bengaluru and New Delhi – Bhopal routes with the introduction of the wide-body Airbus A330 and Boeing 737 services, respectively. The changes are a part of Jet Airways’ summer schedule which will see the airline operate upto 650 flights per day connecting 65 destinations in India and abroad. Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said, “Our summer schedule has been meticulously planned to meet the expected surge in demand over the holidays. New flights, additional frequencies, greater capacity including the introduction of wide-body services across more sectors are meant to offer our discerning guests greater choice, convenience, connectivity and added comfort.”

Lions Clubs International (LCI) announced its first LCIcon in India that will be the biggest international conference to be held in the country from July 1-5, 2022, in New Delhi.  The conference is expected to host nearly 35,000 delegates from more than 120 countries over five days. This was announced by Dr. Naresh Aggarwal, First Vice President, Lions Clubs International, who will take charge as the 101st Worldwide President for the Clubs on July 4, 2017. Mahesh Sharma, Tourism Minister, Government of India presided over the event as Chief Guest and said, “It is a matter of great pride for us that India will be showcased on the international tourism map through this conference. The Lions Clubs International’s philanthropic activities are a sign of giving back to the society and we are very privileged to be the host of the biggest international conference.” The 105th conference of LCI is planned to coincide with the celebrations of 75 years of Indian independence in 2022. “Indira Gandhi Stadium, Pragati Maidan (ITPO) and almost 10,000 hotel rooms are already booked well in advance in all 5-star hotels in New Delhi. Tourism worth $50 million is expected during the five days of the conference and also from its pre and post visitation,” said Aggarwal. He further informed that this is an achievement which has come through with the support of the government and association bodies like ICPB and only after a rigorous bidding process where India competed with international destinations like Mexico, San Francisco, Brazil etc.

Haitham Mattar, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTD), said there has been a 35 per cent growth in Indian arrivals in Ras Al Khaimah in the first quarter of this year. “Indian travellers have grown a lot more for the destination. We have seen close to 25 per cent growth Year-on-Year in 2016 and the first quarter of this year has been even more promising with 35 per cent growth from the Indian market.” Ras Al Khaimah organised its roadshow at The Imperial, New Delhi, which saw the representatives from the travel trade in attendance.

The country’s first Medical and Wellness Policy will be launched on June 21, 2017, announced Dr Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister – Tourism and Culture, Govt. of India at a press conference in New Delhi. The policy will be instrumental in streamlining the process for making India a preferred medical and wellness destination, owing to its affordability and quality of services. The Board had recently held its second meeting with various stakeholders to discuss the framework of the policy. As many as 201,333 foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India on Medical Visa were recorded in 2016, while there were 1,34,344 FTAs in 2015 and 75,688 FTAs in 2014.

Post the success of last year’s ‘Travel Experiential Show– Beyond Luxury,’ the next edition of the show will be held from April 8-9, 2017, at WelcomHotel Sheraton, New Delhi. Over 60 pre-vetted, high-profile travel buyers and exhibitors across the world are expected to be present under one roof owing to the Experiential Show. Its one-on-one meeting format will give the exclusive list of luxury buyers and leading global suppliers an opportunity for serious B2B meetings, unrivalled networking opportunities and the know-how to cater to existing and potential clients. The specialised event is aimed to identify and drive trends in the experiential travel sector, and in turn attract highly sought-after, difficult to reach clients. The show will be inaugurated by luxury travel specialists followed by cocktail and networking gala dinner on April 8, 2017. “We look forward to the second edition of India’s Premier Travel and Experiential Show. After the outstanding response from the previous affair in December, we are expecting it to be a fruitful amalgamation for the industry people,” said Sarika Rawal Bhambhani, General Manager, DDP Exhibitions.

Australian High Commission in India has advised visa applicants not to finalise their travel arrangements until they get a visa. The visa office at the Australian High Commission, New Delhi is currently experiencing a very high volume of Visitor visa lodgements from applicants travelling to Australia from India, especially in the upcoming summer months.  As a result, visa processing is taking longer than usual. Visitor-Tourist visa applications are currently taking up to 17 working days (over 3 weeks) to be processed. Visitor-Business visa applications are currently taking up to 10 working days (up to 2 weeks) to be processed. Hence, they have recommended to lodge the visa application well ahead of the proposed travel date and only finalise travel arrangements after the visa process has been completed. Agents are also advised to write to the High Commission only if the application is not processed within the current processing timelines.

Airbnb has officially launched its new platform Trips in New Delhi, adding 15 bookable local experiences to the thousands of homes available to stay in. Trips is a way to experience a different side of the city, immersing themselves in communities through the eyes of locals. For cities, it can help to diversify tourism away from busy city centers. It also allows local people to participate and benefit from tourism by sharing their interests and passions, while enabling them to make a little extra money. Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Community of Airbnb, said, “Trips is the most significant development in the history of Airbnb. We’re moving beyond just the home, bringing together where you stay, what you do and the people you meet all in one place.  I’m excited to launch India Trips as we’ve handpicked unique experiences, designed and led by locals, to reflect the diversity and variety of the city.” Launched in November 2016, Airbnb Trips currently has over 800 active Experiences available, with bookers from over 73 different countries giving 91 per cent of Experience bookings a 5-star rating.