August - Travel News Digest

Transcription

Volume III l Issue 18
INDIA 10
Pages 32
asia 18
www.travelnewsdigest.in
oceania 20
Ministry of Tourism promotes
films as niche tourism product
P# 10
Tourism Malaysia promotes Tier II
cities in North Indian market
P# 18
New Zealand emerges as an
incentive destination for Indians
P# 20
Oman promotes itself as an ideal
wedding destination for Indians
P# 22
Romania: Significant increase in
river, cruise and beach tourism
P# 24
Mexico Tourism repackages
popular destinations
P# 26
` 50 / us $5
middle east 22
europe 24
T
he festival of Diwali marks one of the
high seasons for leisure travel for
domestic, outbound as well as inbound
sectors. As the festival is closely followed
by the winter season and the New Year
period, there are multiple opportunities
for Indian travellers to take a break, ranging from the long haul, to short haul, and
even weekend gateways. The period is
also peak season for inbound travellers,
helped by pleasant climatic conditions,
and the overall festive atmosphere. The
season thus acts as a great boon for travel
agents, tour operators, hoteliers, airlines,
and the entire travel and tourism industry. This is all the more applicable in the
high-potential western India markets.
Besides a plethora of fairs and festivals, the period from September to January is also marked by a large number
of events, like national and international
trade fairs, conferences, seminars, roadshows, incentive tours, AGMs, etc. making it a busy time for the MICE segment.
To cap it all is the settling down of the
political scenario and the resultant uptick
in business and industry.
Thus, as TTF, India’s oldest and the
largest travel show network, is set to
embark on its west India tour, it expects
an upbeat Diwali and winter vacation
season.
To cater to this huge demand, TTF
covers major Diwali and winter vacation
travel markets in western India covering
Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai and Pune,
and the hinterland areas served by these
metros. With participation by National
TTF&OTM is the undisputed leader in
travel trade shows in India. It is not only
the oldest and the largest, but it is the
only show which has a pan-India network of events in ten cities.
Competitive Landscape
Market Share in 2013 - 2014
8%
3%
TTF / OTM
48%
15%
SATTE
IITM
MISC
P# 29
africa 28
caribbean 29
events 30
If you are in
Travel Business do not miss...
Ahmedabad
22, 23, 24 August
Gujarat University
Exhibition Hall
Surat
29, 30, 31 August
Surat International Exhibition
& Convention Centre, Sarsana
Mumbai
5, 6, 7 September
Nehru Centre
Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli
Pune
12, 13, 14 September
Ishanya, Opp. Golf Course
Yerawada
TTF is the only place where you can meet hundreds of travel companies along
with National and State tourism boards from all over India and abroad, wanting
to discuss business with you. Come, get a first-hand insight of the travel &
tourism market place, see trends and clinch deals. Make sure you are there!
Attractive combined exhibition space packages available for travel agents, tour
operators, hotels and resorts.
www.ttfotm.com  For space booking contact - Rajarshi-9007780788, Tarique-9831075090, Mahesh-9880676884
Tourism Organisations as well as the
State Tourism Boards, along with a host
of travel agents, tour operators, hoteliers,
online travel agencies, cruise liners and
resorts, TTF is the most cost-effective and
comprehensive networking and marketing opportunity for the travel industry.
The series provides exhibitors a platform to network with the travel trade in
the respective locations, to inform them
about their upcoming packages and offerings, and to strike deals going forward,
including contracting and deal-making
for even the summer season ahead. For
the tourists it is an opportunity to see
what destinations and options are being
showcased by the exhibitors, and make
spot bookings for best deals and packages. TTF Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai
and Pune are set back-to-back over four
consecutive weekends in August and
September, providing the travel industry
a power-packed and action filled marketing month!
Exhibition space in the series is sold
out, and exhibitors are looking forward
to woo the travel trade and general visitors at the House-Full shows!
TTF&OTM: The Undisputed Market Leader,
MoT Confirms Participation in 10 Cities
9%
Caribbean Tourism bounces back
on track with new goals
Americas 26
TTF West Series to help tap upbeat market
for Diwali & Winter Vacations
Seychelles Tourism conducts its
first ever roadshow in India
P# 28
01-15 august 2014
17%
as on April 25, 2014
IITT, Mumbai
IITB, New Delhi
According to a recent study, it commands 48% of the market share; compared to 17% by the number two (see
infographics).
This year TTF is celebrating completion of 25 years of successful leadership.
With participation of more than
2,500 exhibitors from 70 countries and
36 Indian States and Union Territories,
TTF&OTM is the most trusted market
leader in the country.
This month, the TTF pre-Diwali
series will start in lucrative Western
India markets of Ahmedabad, Surat,
Mumbai and Pune.
The grand finale will be the OTM
Mumbai and Delhi in February 2015.
Dozens of countries and states have
already confirmed participation in
these. On the sides of OTM Mumbai will
be held International Tourism Summit
and Travel Industry’s Top Producers
Awards, building up on the success of the
Most Influential Person Awards organised this year.
A brand-new hosted buyer program
has been also launched recently, for the
accredited buyers to visit the OTM.
For more details, visit www.otm.co.in
2 • COVER STORY
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2014
TTF completes 25 years of pioneering leadership
TTF 2014-15 series added a new city to its network, Guwahati. It is now organised in 10 cities in India, annually. With consistent support
from MoT, state tourism boards, national tourist offices and hundreds of private exhibitors, TTF is the undisputed leader in the tourism market
of India. Here is a recap of recently concluded Guwahati, Kolkata and Hyderabad shows celebrating 25 years of glorious success.
TTF Guwahati
The new 2014-15 series saw the launch of TTF
Guwahati at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre. Dhruba
Hazarika, Secretary to the Government of Assam,
Department of Tourism inaugurated the show having over 100 stalls from 20 Indian states. He commended TTF as an appropriate platform to send the
message to the Indian and global tourism markets
that Assam is a safe destination like any other destination in the world.
As per the policy announcements of the new government at the centre, special emphasis is being laid
on improving the intra-regional connectivity and
border infrastructure in the northeast, especially
to promote tourism. It is noteworthy that this part
of India comprising the seven sister states and Sikkim can boast of unique attractions for the tourist.
Apart from world’s richest biodiversity, the region
also has some of the most holy shrines for Hindus
and Buddhists. The formation of North East India
Tourism Confederation (NEITC) is a welcome step
in this direction, considering that the states in the
region have a shared future, as far as tourism is concerned. The members of NEITC from entire northeast India assembled at the TTF to discuss in depth
what are the challenges and strategies to promote
tourism in the region.
products in the consumer markets which is equally
important, as the trade sells what the consumers
demand,” said Sanjiv Agarwal, Founder & CEO of
Fairfest Media, the organiser of the show.
Participants from all over India and abroad came
together to celebrate TTF’s completion of 25 successful years and do effective business networking
by showcasing their best destinations and related
travel products to the travel industry and tourists of
this region.
TTF Kolkata
Attractive pavilions were put up by Odisha,
West Bengal, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir and many other
states, to cater to the local tourists. China Tourism
participated as the Feature Country. Assam Tourism,
as the Host State, also had a large pavilion.
The city of joy hosted TTF at the Netaji Indoor Stadium and Khudiram Anushilan Kendra as always.
It was during the perfect time in Kolkata, when the
travel loving people would be planning their vacations for the Puja holidays ahead.
“Back in 1989, it all started here in Kolkata (Calcutta then), with hardly a few participants and visitors. TTF is now organised in 10 cities in India annually, with hundreds of participants and thousands
of trade and general visitors. It is widely recognised
as the most effective platform for business interaction among the travel trade. TTFs also act as an
effective promotional opportunity to introduce travel
Editorial
Marketing
Production
Administration
Editor & Publisher
Sanjiv Agarwal
Advisor
Abraham John
Associate Directors
Rajarshi De
Raj Kapoor Singh
R Mahesh
Tarique Ebrahim
Nitin Telang
General Manager
Fatima D’Costa
Deputy General Manager
Shruti Aggarwal
Project Managers
Kavita Kalra
Pratiksha Rajapure
Purbita Dutta
YC Anil
Shreyas Jain
Assistant Project Managers
Philomena D’Souza
Deepti V Murthy
Shiv Shankar Dutta
Ramesh Chauhan
Kanika Singh
Media Director
June Mukherjee
Joint Managing Director
Rajiv Agarwal
Design Team
Dilip Manna
Ritam Maity
Hirak Roy
Suman Pramanik
Executive Director
Harsh Agarwal
Editorial Director
Gazanfar Ibrahim
Content Team
Srimati Mitra
Shaoni Banerjee
Priyanka Bangera
Web Team
Mrityunjay Kumar
Apurv Bhagat
Chief Technology Officer
Rudradeb Mitra
Senior Manager - Accounts & Finance
Uma Sureka
With over 300 stalls from 9 countries and 28 Indian
States & Union Territories, the three-day travel trade
show brought together state tourism boards, national
tourist offices, hoteliers, airlines, tour operators and
travel agents, online travel companies, railways and
cruise lines under one roof.
The domestic tourism sector, backbone of the
country’s tourism industry, was strongly represented
at TTF Kolkata, with participation from Uttarakhand,
Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam,
Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Meghalaya, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar,
Delhi, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Odisha,
Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.
One of Kolkata’s all-time favourites, Uttarakhand had to pull out at the last moment last
year due to the emergency situations, but this
year the state was back with a bang. Their pavilion at TTF was the largest, humming with brisk
business being done this year by tens of hoteliers
and operators within the pavilion. Their dynamic
Tourism Minister Dinesh Dhanai was in the city
to lead the delegation and woo Kolkatans to visit
Uttarakhand.
West Bengal Tourism, the Host State, not
only did put up a large pavilion but also went all
out to make TTF Kolkata a grand success. From
Travel News Digest (TND) is
printed and published by
Sanjiv Kumar Agarwal on
behalf of Fairfest Media Ltd.
Printed at International
Print -o-pac Ltd, C-4 to C-11,
Hosiery complex, Phase-II,
Extension, Noida - 201 301,
Distt. G. B. Nagar, UP.
Published at 216A/1Gautam
Nagar, Gulmohar Park,
New Delhi-110 049
Editor
Sanjiv Kumar Agarwal
No responsibility will be
accepted for unsolicited
manuscripts and photos
received. Despite careful
selection of sources, no
responsibility can be taken
for accuracy.
The Publishers and the Editors
do not necessarily individually
or collectively identify
themselves with the views
expressed by respective writers
and contributors in this journal.
The views expressed are those
of the authors only. The
magazine assumes no liability
or responsibility of any kind in
connection with the
information thereof.
All right reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in
part is strictly prohibited
without written permission
from the publisher.
Fairfest Media Limited
(CIN - U74140WB1988PLC045101)
Head Office
216A/1, Gautam Nagar,
Gulmohar Park,
New Delhi - 110 049
Tel: (91)(11) 26866874
Registered Office
25C/ 1, Belvedere Road, Alipur,
Kolkata 700 027
Tel : (91)(33) 24790010-14
Branch Offices
MUMBAI (91) (22) 26372883 / 95
HYDERABAD (91) (49) 27896149
BANGALORE (91) (80) 26761598
AHMEDABAD (91) (79) 2791 1177
….…………………………………………
Volume III - Issue 18
For feedback and information,
write in at [email protected]
Web : www.travelnewsdigest.in
COVER STORY •
conducting a road show for the visiting travel and
media, to hosting dinner, from promoting Beautiful
Bengal to promoting new MICE venue Eco-Park,
West Bengal Tourism did not miss any opportunity
to aggressively promote West Bengal. The Tourism
Minister of West Bengal Bratya Basu inaugurated
the show and outlined the policy of his department
to promote tourism in the state.
A special section branded as the Outbound Village had participants offering International travel.
The participants in this section were Bangladesh,
Bhutan, China, Nepal, Oman, Switzerland, Thailand and UAE, all looking for the right kind of
opportunity to tap the thriving India outbound
market. Oman made its debut in Kolkata TTF.
According to data from the Indian Government
sources there are some half a million outbound
tourists directly taking foreign travel from Kolkata.
3
There must be many more outbound tourists from
the city flying via more popular international airports of Mumbai and New Delhi.
To enhance and showcase their respective offerings, aside from attractive and elegant stalls, participating states and countries at TTF Kolkata
presented daily cultural events and marketing presentations to trade visitors and the media.
TTF Hyderabad
TTF Hyderabad 2014 took place at HITEX Exhibition Centre at a historic time when the newly born
Telangana state is shaping its future. This is the first
time Telangana Tourism participated in any trade
show. A beautiful pavilion with Telangana’s maiden
campaign ‘It’s all in it’ had been set up side by side
Andhra Pradesh Tourism’s gorgeous pavilion with
its latest theme ‘Everything’s Possible’.
200 participants from 11 countries and 19 Indian
States and Union Territories were there to showcase their destinations to the travel industry and
tourists from this part of the country. There were
colourful displays by Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep,
Maharashtra, Delhi, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil
Become an
Ireland Specialist!
WIN A SPOT ON A MEGA
FAM TO IRELAND IN 2015!
Complete all
modules by
30th September
and 5 lucky
Gold and Silver
Specialists stand a
chance to win an
Apple Ipad Mini!
Register at
www.irelandspecialists.com
Tourism Ireland
No. 52 Grants Building Annexure, Next to Strand Cinema, Colaba, Mumbai - 400 005. India
Tel: +91 22 3296 1624 / +91 22 3296 1725.
4
• COVER STORY
Guwahati is a big city in
northeast India and also a very
important source market for China.
China Eastern Airlines and China
Southern Airlines also joined us to come here
to promote China Tourism. I think you have
done very good preparations. And I do hope
in future TTF will grow here and I am grateful
for your support for China Tourism.
Li Qiangua
Director
China National Tourist Office (New Delhi)
Assam showcases new tourism offerings
One of the most vibrant and resourceful states,
Assam has been blessed with all the charms of nature.
Tourism in the state has all the properties and qualities to cater to the needs of visiting tourists.
A roadshow on Assam Tourism was held at TTF
Kolkata on July 5, 2014. Dhrubo Hazarika, Secretary
to the Government of Assam, Department of Tourism said, “Ever since 2000, there has been an increase
in footfall in Assam. Earlier there was a fear-psychosis, but those days are gone. There is a new understanding of where Assam is heading both industrially and non-industrially. And non-industrially
means tourism will remain a focus.” He further
explained that the state is promoting 5 types of tourism that includes wildlife tourism, religious tourism,
golf tourism, river tourism and cultural and historical tourism.
Wildlife tourism includes the five national parks,
including the UNESCO World Heritage Sites designated Kaziranga and Manas National Parks, and
twenty wildlife sanctuaries.
Popular for its tea across the globe, there are more
than 750 large tea gardens and some of them have 9
to 18 hold golf courses, such as the Thengal Manor of
Jorhat, the Wild Mahseer of Balipara, the Kaziranga
Golf Resort of Changsua, etc.
The 8th century old door-jambs of Da Parbatia
(Tezpur), caves and votive stupas of Shree Surya
Pahar, The Royal Palace of Gargaon, and many
others are finest examples of Historical tourism in
Assam.
The massive river Brahmaputra boosts up the
river cruising activities in the state with luxury cruise
vessels like, Jolporee, M.V. Charaideo and Mahababu. Assam Government also holds the famous
Ambubachi Mela and other religious festivals.
Assam Government has also taken up initiatives
for infrastructure development and other basic
amenities.
Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and others. Sri
Lanka Tourism participated as the Partner Country.
Malaysia, Thailand and Oman were present as Feature Countries. Among other countries, UAE, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Nepal and Cambodia were
also represented.
Encouraged by last year’s response, Visit Malaysia, in partnership with Malaysian Airlines, offered
unbelievable prices: per person 2N/3D package for
as low as `26,999/- and 4N/5D package for `30,999/-.
The packages cover destinations like Kuala Lumpur,
Genting, Johor Bohru and Penang, and include airfare, accommodation, breakfast, airport transfers
Very encouraging news for
tourism industry in northeast,
when we heard TTF is coming to
Guwahati. This kind of fair can
help people travelling from northeast to
outside northeast and also those who are
already in the business. The North East
India Tourism Confederation (NEITC)
conference held in TTF Guwahati was an
eye opener. It is the starting of marketing
efforts and strategies that can be adopted
by the northeast.
E B Blah
President
North East India Tourism Confederation
(NEITC)
T TF is an appropriate
platform to send the message
to the Indian and global tourism
markets that Assam is a safe
destination like any other destination in the
world. I definitely feel that TTF is a sound
platform to offer myriad destinations to
intending tourists from Assam for visiting
the other parts of the world.
Dhruba Hazarika
Secretary, Department of Tourism
Government of Assam
TTF is indeed a very good
platform for showcasing our
potential and tourism products. It
is really a privilege to be a part of
this great event at Guwahati. Since long
time we have been associated with TTF and
Guwahati is a good source market for
Odisha.
M R Patnaik
Director-cum-Additional Secretary
Department of Tourism, Government of Odisha
Managing Director, OTDC
NEITC focuses on tourism promotion in northeast India
The formation of the North East India Tourism
Confederation (NEITC) by tourism stakeholders of
northeast India has been a welcoming step, keeping in mind that the states in the region share a common future in tourism. The confederation consists
of different Tourism & related associations from the
8 states of North East India.
The Confederation deals with the challenges and
strategies related to the tourism sector and works
toward making tourism an important vehicle for
the economic development in the region. Highlighting the problems faced by the tourism industry in
northeast India and then finding solutions to such
issues are few of the objectives of NEITC.
Recently, a seminar entitled “Challenges faced
by Tourism in North East Region and Marketing
North East as a Tourism Destination” was held on
June 28, 2014 during the TTF, Guwahati. The seminar
identified various problems related to the tourism
industry of the northeast India and also suggested
related solutions. The members of North East India
Tourism Confederation (NEITC) from the entire
region assembled to participate in the seminar. The
seminar urged the importance of employment generation and economic development of the diverse,
beautiful, cultured, simple, happy, peace loving citizens of northeast India.
COVER STORY •
West Bengal offers the complete tourism package
West Bengal roadshow took place on July 5, 2014 as a
part of TTF Kolkata at Eco-Park, New Town offering
a detailed insight about the tourism products that are
offered by the state.
West Bengal divides its tourism products into
five sub-sectors- Darjeeling Himalayas, Forest & Tea
Gardens, Heritage Bengal, Mega City Kolkata, and
Beaches & Mangroves.
Darjeeling, one of the most magnificent hill resorts
in the world, is the land of breathtaking scenic beauty,
adorned by the majestic Himalayas.
Moving on to Forest and Tea garden Tourism,
laying in the Himalayan foothills in North Bengal,
Dooars offers lush green tea gardens and wildliferich tropical forests.
Wasef Manzil in Murshidabad, Dakhil Darwaza
in Gaur, Adina Mosque in Pandua, Jhargram Rajbari,
Shantiniketan, etc.- they all showcase the rich and cultural heritage of West Bengal.
The capital of the State, Kolkata is a whole tourism
package and is famous for its art and culture, cuisine,
music, cinema, literature, dramas and theatre, heritage sites, lively nightlife and shopping destination.
The coastal strip of West Bengal presents some
beautiful options in sea resort, such as Digha, Shankarpur, Mandarmoni, etc. while the Sunderbans is the
largest single block of tidal, halophytic mangrove forests in the world.
Apart from these, West Bengal also offers Cultural Tourism, Adventure Tourism, Golf Tourism,
Rural Tourism, Monasteries Tourism and Religious
Tourism.
The roadshow was held inside a beautiful
2,800 sq ft glass house, which offers a 360° view of
the Eco-Park across the lake. Spread over a massive
480 acres with a 200 acres covered with artificial lake,
Eco-Park has been developed, seeking a balance
between ecological regeneration, resource conservation and fulfilling the need to build a recreation urban
open space.
Tourism raises total
employment, directly or
indirectly and is a main sector
of socio-economic development.
That is why we should strengthen
tourist infrastructure and facilities that
tourists need. It is our duty to showcase the
assets and tourist products so that tourists
from other parts of the country and from
international arena can visit our country and
state in particular.
We are now trying to promote
Gajoldoba and Jangal Mahal
for both domestic and foreign
tourists. We are trying to create a
wide range of promotions for our state. We
are also thinking about roping in local as
well as big actors/actresses as brand
ambassadors of state’s tourism. I want to
urge everybody to come and see our
booming Bengal.
Bratya Basu
Umapada Chatterjee
Tourism Minister
Government of West Bengal
Director - Tourism
Government of West Bengal
This year we are promoting destinations like Ko
Samui, Krabi, Phuket, Chiang Mai and others. We
are promoting wedding and honeymoon tourism along
with the regular family vacations at TTFs and getting
great response.
Deepak Arora
Information Officer
Tourism Authority of Thailand
TTF is one of the best platforms for us. It gives us an
opportunity to build ourselves and aware others
about Sri Lanka. People in Hyderabad are very interested
about Sri Lanka and especially about the Ramayana sites.
We are planning to participate next in OTM New Delhi and Mumbai.
Vijay Somasundaram
Manager, Royal Holidays
Sri Lanka
and sightseeing. These offers were only valid for bookings made at TTF
Hyderabad.
SpiceJet was the official airline partner of TTF Guwahati, Kolkata and
Hyderabad offering special fares for the participants and visitors from different parts of the country.
5
6
• COVER STORY
Andhra Pradesh Tourism plays major role in state’s development
Andhra Pradesh is one of top tourist destinations in
India. Offering variety of tourist attractions including beaches, hills, caves, wildlife, forests and temples, Andhra Pradesh attracts both international and
domestic tourists in a large number. The government
had allocated `220 crore for Andhra Pradesh for the
development of tourism last year.
K.S Reddy, Managing Director, Andhra Pradesh
Tourism has recently presented a roadshow in TTF
Kolkata, announcing that the new motto of the state‘Everything is Possible’. On the topic of new Chief
Minister being elected, Reddy said, “Chandrababu
Naidu has a good vision for Andhra Pradesh. He
has come after 10 years and will give a great boost to
Andhra Pradesh.”
Tirupati and Kailasa were some of the highlighted
tourist hubs. Borra Caves, Araku Valley, jungle areas,
tribal preserves and Kalinga patnam—the historical
area, were some of the popular sites mentioned. The
state also promoted its vast coastline of 972 kms, which
offers some beautiful and exotic tourist destination.
Andhra Pradesh also showcased full potential in
Eco-Tourism, Temple Circuits, Budhhist circuits and
Cruise Tourism.
Nowadays tourism seems to
be an industry. It provides
jobs as well as it improves the
economy of that state or country.
Almost everybody is giving importance to
tourism and travellers. Tourism sector is
playing vital role in economy after
agriculture sector in the country. The
government had allocated `220 crore for
Andhra Pradesh for the development of
tourism last year, and this year also we are
expecting the same. We want to develop
the tourism amount to generate revenue
for both Centre and State government.
P Raghunatha Reddy
IT & Culture Minister
Government of Andhra Pradesh
I think it is the correct step at
this point of time to introduce
TTF in Guwahati. Guwahati
deserves it because the destination
is also a gateway to other northeastern
states apart from being a tourism
destination itself.
Telangana Tourism makes debut appearance in TTF
The newly formed state, Telangana government is
leaving no stone unturned to give a boost to tourism.
Telangana offers an array of famous and exciting
destinations for the tourists. The state is also building strong connections by attending and organising
roadshows and other tourism events.
Apart from the capital city of Hyderabad, which
houses Charminar, Golconda Fort, beautiful pearls
and mouth-watering biryani, the Kakatiya circuit
with Warangal as the hub and the adjacent Karimnagar are also under mega tourism project. Bhuvanagiri Fort, Gadwal Fort, Warangal Fort and
Qutub Shahi Tombs are other magnificent tourist
destination of historic origin in Telangana.
Other tourist destinations include Jinnaram
near Kawal Tiger Sanctuary and the lake resorts of
Kadem (Adilabad), Alisagar Lake (Nizamabad) and
the beautiful temple Dichpally Ramalayam.
Blessed with the best of nature, Telangana is
home to numerous enchanting waterfalls, such as
Gayatri, Kanakai, Kuntala and Kortikal (B) waterfalls. Other spots which come under nature tourism of Telangana are Anantagiri Hills, Laknavaram
Lake, Papikondalu, Mallela theertam, and PillalaMarri. Farahabad Tiger Forest and Nehru Zoological Park take care of state’s wildlife tourism sector.
Chandana Khan
Special Chief Secretary
Government of Andhra Pradesh
Telangana, the youngest state
of India, offers a number of
exciting destinations for the
tourists both from India and
abroad. Apart from the capital city of
Hyderabad, which is known for Charminar,
Golconda fort, magnificent palaces, pearls
and biryani, the Kakatiya circuit covering
Warangal and Karimnagar, offers a flavour
of the glorious heritage of the area. We are
also promoting a host of lesser known
places in the State, such as, Jannaram near
Kawal tiger sanctuary and Kadem lake
resort in Adilabad, Alisagar lake resort in
Nizamabad for those interested in adventure
and eco-tourism. Come… Discover
Telangana!
B P Acharya
Principal Secretary, Planning and Tourism
Government of Telangana
COVER STORY •
Uttarakhand encourages tourists to visit, declares the state as safe
Uttarakhand, with its gigantic Himalayas, holy rivers, the spiritual mystery, stunning landscapes and
a mesmerising flora and fauna has always remained
one of the most loved tourist destinations. To promote the destination, Uttarakhand had one of the
largest stalls at TTF Kolkata this year and also
held a road show at the event. Dinesh Dhanai who
attended the event for the first time this year said,
“Even I have just become a minister recently, but
coming to Kolkata was very important. Uttarakhand shares deep ties with Kolkata and West Bengal. I felt very nice coming here and got the chance
to state that Uttarakhand is safe. Nainital, Mussorie, Jim Corbett are all safe.”
“Tourists continue to come and the government
tries to ensure safety of the visitors in spite of the
rains. Government is ready with helicopters and
doctors and has arranged several measures. Disaster forces are ready in case anything happens.
Uttarakhand government has even made Victor
Banerjee, the brand ambassador. He is popular in
Bengal and has recently returned from Kedarnath.
We have quoted him saying it is quite safe and thus
encourage people to trust in the government. Uttarakhand’s slogan is ‘Atithi Devo Bhavo’ and we are
ready to welcome all tourists who visit the state,”
Dhanai added.
It is very important for us to
visit T TF Kolkata, as
Uttarakhand has old and
memorable tourism connection
with the Kolkata and even whole west
Bengal, and its people. We want to express
that Uttarakhand is absolutely safe and
open for visitors. We have given special
attention towards tourists’ safety and
security, along with their fooding and
lodging facilities. We have also set up a
number of emergency centres, helpline
numbers and medical facilities.
Dinesh Dhanai
Tourism Minister
Government of Uttarakhand
TTF is a very good platform
to promote one’s tourism
products and build connections.
Bangladesh is promoting beaches
Cox’s Bazar, wildlife of Sundarban,
historical sites like Paharpur and many
other beautiful holiday destinations like
Rangamati, etc.
Like West Bengal, J&K too has
a Shakti Peeth Maa Vaishno
Devi Ji which is visited by more
than one crore people in a year
and the major chunk is from West Bengal,
Gujarat and Maharastra. I would like to
welcome TTF in Jammu & Kashmir also to
hold an event there.
Mohammad Motahar Hossain
Soujanya Sharma
Deputy Manager
Bangladesh Tourism Board
Director Tourism (Jammu)
Government of Jammu & Kashmir
It’s a very good step that TTF has come to Guwahati.
TTF is a very good platform for tourism, airlines, etc.
I have been to TTF Kolkata several times and I will attend
next year as well.
Owen Zhou Zengrong
General Manager – India
China Eastern Airlines
7
8
• COVER STORY
We participated at TTF Kolkata for
the first time this year and were
happy with the turnout at the exhibition.
We wanted to enter the Kolkata market
to gauge and understand the needs and
requirements of the travellers residing in East
India. TTF was an effective platform as it allowed
us to meet both travel trade and potential
customers. The event was very well organised and
we appreciate the effort, the organisers took to
conduct a successful trade fair.
Lubaina Sheerazi
We expect a lot from TTF Kolkata
We have been a fairly big and loyal
and in return we always get the
supporter of TTF Kolkata. Like
results. Bengalis are very good travellers
people associate Gainwell with Kolkata,
and we are getting excellent response
they also support TTF with Kolkata. In
from them. This year Maharasthra is promoting Kolkata, the footfall is generally very high and we
wildlife, beaches, Bollywood tourism and the hill have had some good enquiries.
stations. We will definitely take part in TTF Kolkata
Manoj Saraf
next year again.
Managing Director
Moushami Kose
Gainwell Travel & Leisure
Manager-Domestic Exhibitions, Resort Operations
Maharastra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC)
India Representative, Oman Tourism
The TTF is one of those events which
It is my pleasure that we are here
Gujarat Tourism participates in all
today at TTF Kolkata. This year
the destinations, for the reason it draws
Lakshadweep tourism is promoting the
the maximum buyers. I think TTF is a
helicopter package. And although not
very good platform for a state to sell its products, decided yet, the talks of Lakshadweep tour, from
to display the tourism events, and launch the new October onwards, are currently ongoing.
destinations. We are promoting the lesser known
Saraswati Chowdhury
products from Gujarat Tourism such as Rann
Krish Tours & Travels
Utsav and Saputara.
Authorised Agent, Lakshadweep Tourism Sports
When TTF Kolkata was opened to
the general public, we had very
good response. That’s why I am very
happy. Whatever the expectations were
from the event, it was fulfilled.
Abhijit Dhar
Resident Manager
Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation
Soman S Pathy
Liasion Officer, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited
Everything is going right and we are
having several people who are
demanding new spots. So we are
promoting new spots like Khara pathar,
Chindi, Sangla and Chitkul. We will definitely
come back next year to TTF Kolkata. It is one of
the most famous fairs in tourism sector and we
are getting good response from it.
Since 1991 we have been
participating in TTF in various
destinations all over India. As usual we
are getting a good response of people of
Kolkata. We have our popular destinations like
Shillong and Cherrapunji while Jakrem and
Chandigre fall under rural tourism, which we are
promoting for this year.
TTF is one of our favourite
exhibitions. We got a lot of
response from Kolkata and we have
generated a lot of business from here.
We are promoting Goa as a wedding destination
now, and along with that we are also showcasing
eco tourism, our beaches, and white
water rafting.
Ravinder Sandhu
Surajit Basu
Rajesh Kale
Asst. Manager, Marketing Office
Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation
Liaison Officer, Tourism Department
Government of Meghalaya
Assistant Director & Executive Magistrate (South)
Department of Tourism, Government of Goa
TTF is going very good and we have
generated many businesses. We are
getting a very good response from
people of Kolkata. We are promoting the
major destinations of Punjab like Amritsar,
Ludhiana, Patiala, Bhatinda, etc. and also our
new concept Virasat-e-Khalsa- a heritage
building in Ropar. We will be definitely
participating in the next TTFs and OTMs.
Gursharan Singh & Hardeep Singh
Tourist Officers, Department of Tourism
Government of Punjab
We are feeling very good and we
TTF Kolkata is a very well organised
have always received a good
event. We get a lot of awareness by
response from the crowd of Kolkata.
participating in TTF Kolkata. Last year
Manas National Park always gets more
also we participated. The response has
guests from Kolkata area. We are very satisfied been very good. TTF always satisfies our
participating in TTF every year. Now we have expectations and it’s a good experience.
more crowd coming in and definitely we are
Sarath Sankar
benefiting from the fair.
Head - Sales, The Tamara Coorg
Bhuma Rani Bargayary
Asst. Tourist Information Officer, Department of Tourism
Bodoland Territorial Council
We attend all the events by TTF in
We are getting a huge response from
all over India. We get a very good
the people of West Bengal and they
opportunity to interact with all the
really appreciate Sikkim. This year we are
tour operators who are here. We are in
promoting Namchi, Chardham and
B2B business and TTF is a good platform where encouraging home stays. Kolkata TTF is always
we can interact, explain, exchange products memorable event for Sikkim and we will definitely
and ideas.
come again next year.
Madhu K G
Executive Director
Spiceland Holidays
TTF Kolkata is very nice and we have
received a great business. We will
definitely come back again next year
and will recommend other hoteliers and
travel agents to attend the TTF.
Rajiv Mishra
General Manager, Sales & Marketing
Pine Spring Group of Hotels
This is the second time we are
participating in TTF Kolkata and it
has been good so far. We are satisfied
and we will definitely participate again
S Sadhu in the coming years.
Assistant General Manager
Sikkim House, Travel Division
Ravi Kamesh
Manager - Supplier Relations, Stayzilla.com
COVER STORY •
9
This is the first time we are
We have been working with TTF for
This is electrifying, the way B2B and
participating in Kolkata TTF and we
the last 10 years, back to back in
B2C are turning in. We got a good
are getting a very good response. Our
every fair. It’s a lovely forum for not only
response and it’s hugely crowded in TTF
company Evoque Hotel Marketing is
interaction, but I think TTF is doing a
Kolkata. This is the first time that we are
new and we are feeling good. We were not great job promoting tourism in India. The quality participating and every this has gone right for us;
expecting to receive so many visitors and this of products that TTF has, none of the other it’s just according to our expectations.
experience is beyond our expectation.
competitors have. TTF has evolved and
Swarnavo Paul
understood the need of travellers, hoteliers, and
Gita Chaudhry
Representative, The Traveller
travel agents. And with changes every year TTF
Partner, Evoque Hotel Marketing
is meeting the greater satisfaction level of people
and that goes for me also.
TTF Kolkata is great platform for
I am participating in TTF Kolkata for
Vijendra Singh Kumpawat
travel agents, hoteliers and budget
the first time to promote my
General
Manager
hotels. I have come here to interact with
property. I think it’s a wonderful
Fort Rajwada, Jaisalmer
the travel agents- big or small.
experience. I am meeting a whole lot of
new
people
and making new contacts.
Vivek Thakur
Sales Manager, Amritara
Sona Bhattacharjee
Senior Sales & Marketing Manager
The Manu Maharani, Nainital
Munmun Mandal
TTF Kolkata is a nice fair. Travellers
CMO
as
well
as
the
tour
operators
and
Deepalay Guest House, Kolkata
We receive lovely responses from
hoteliers
are
getting
help
out
of
this
TTF Kolkata. The event gives a
This is my second visit to TTF Kolkata
forum. So we should continue this
platform to interact with several travel
and my best experience. I am
agents and promote our products. TTF every year.
looking for many business tie-ups and
Ashis Roy
connects people of all region and we encourage
state participation. I came here from
Senior
Reviewer,
Destination
Expert
all to visit Nainital.
Durgapur
to further promote the exhibition that
TripAdvisor
Pawan Kumar
we organise there.
TTF is doing very good because
Business Development Manager, Nature Fresh Hospitality
Kolkata never has such a big travel
TTF Kolkata is very good event and
trade fair like the TTF organised by
it’s a core place to meet all the
This is the first time I am attending
Fairfest. Lot of hoteliers, travel agencies,
hoteliers and travel agents and travellers
TTF. I have come from Delhi to visit
etc. And many people all come under one roof,
can also witness a variety of destinations
TTF Kolkata. It’s a good platform for
interacting, exchanging cards and getting to
to choose from for their next trip. I am enjoying
people who are in the hospitality
showcase their products. It’s a great attempt by
being here, and I make it compulsory to visit TTF
industry
and
i am having a great experience here.
Fairfest for organising the fair all this while.
every year.
Indira Maitra
Seema Thakur
Representative, Balaji Travels
Representative, Global Connections
Representative, Sai Sana di-ge Hospitality
I have come from West Sikkim and
feeling great to be a part of this
event. I have been sent by Sikkim
Government.
TTF Kolkata is the right place where
every trade partner can visit to share
their ideas and promote their products.
TTF is the best place for me.
TTF Kolkata is extremely good and
doing well. We have lots of suppliers
and buyers here. I have come from
Kerala to promote my products in TTF
Gauri Chhetri
Amit Kumar
Managing Director, Hitaishi Homestay
All India Sales Head, Make India Journey
Pawan Kejriwal
TTF Kolkata experience is very good
TTF is a great platform for
because it’s a good business
connecting and interacting with
platform. We come to know about
travel agents, where we can receive
many agents and it’s very fruitful for the
good references upon participating.
business. TTF is a good platform for networking. Visiting TTF Kolkata every year is a must and I feel
something is missing if I miss the event.
Sonali Mondal
Representative, The Himalayas 360°
Debdut Chatterjee
Partner, Simana Chhariye
with us.
We came from Bangladesh and we
found out that TTF Kolkata is really
good. In TTF we can build connections
and also invite them to come and work
Kolkata.
Sheeba K R
Director of Sales, Thomas Hotels and Resorts
Many congratulations to the team
of TTF for completing 25 years. The
event is going on fine and we are really
enjoying it. We are getting good
response here and really liking the ambience. All
the very best to all of you.
Tanzeem Khan
Representative, Sales & Business Development
Daiwik Hotels
As always TTF is a very good
TTF is a beautiful platform for the
platform for travel agents and
travel agents, participated by so
hoteliers, from abroad and India. So we
many state tourism, international
have come in from Delhi and it has been
tourism boards, individuals, and travela nice experience.
tour related companies.
Mohammad Nuruddin Bhuiyan (Nasim)
Shreshtha Singh
Mustak Khan
Representative, Shams Bhuiyan Pvt.Ltd
Head - Revenue & System Control, Travgenie.com
Tour Executive, Emeralds Holidays
INDIA
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2014 •
10
Ministry of Tourism promotes films as niche tourism product
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture
& Tourism Shripad Yesso Naik
announced that the tourism
ministry is considering films
as one of the significant tools to
promote tourism in India. Several steps have been taken during the past years to promote
Film Tourism as an important
Niche Tourism product.
The Ministry of Tourism
has developed guidelines to
financially aid various State
Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations to
promote Film Tourism. Further, Ministry of Tourism had
also entered in a MoU with
Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting in 2012 to promote Cinema of India as a sub
brand of “Incredible India”
globally. During the same time,
various State Governments/
Administrators of various UT
Administrations were urged
to realise the potential of Film
Tourism in India and develop
special bodies/departments
for a better filming process in
the States/Union Territories.
PATA India, Ministry of Tourism
conduct U.S. roadshow
PATA India Chapter and
Ministry of Tourism, conducted the U.S. roadshow in
four cities – New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San
Francisco.
The roadshow witnessed
participation from about
21 sellers and a turnout of
50-60 tour operators at each
location.
Vikram Madhok, Vice
Chairman, PATA India
Chapter said, “The focus of
the roadshow is to promote
inbound tourism from the
largest source market for
India.”
“PATA India is excited to
host the roadshow in the U.S.
as we go back to the U.S. after
five years. Also, we introduced a new format of buyerseller interaction this year.
The conventional method
is where the sellers sit on
a table and buyers move
around the room. This time
the buyers sat and sellers
moved from table to table.
The motto is that each seller
should get to meet each
buyer.
We had about 21 sellers
embarking on this roadshow,” Madhok added.
Indian Railways to offer Office on
Wheels for business travellers
The Government of India is
planning to introduce a new
measure for business travellers, known as the “Office on
Wheels”.
On a pilot basis, the Railways Ministry will soon set
up cabins equipped with computers, printers, internet and
refreshments in a few selected
trains along with some AC
Express trains to provide
work related amenities for corporates on the move.
A step like this will help
the MICE and business travellers to a great extent. However, railways are planning to
charge the travellers who opt
for “Office on Wheels” facility,
a substantial amount over the
basic fare.
The Ministry of Tourism also launched a National
Tourism Award ceremony in
2012 for “Most Film Promotion Friendly State/UT”.
Additionally, Ministry of
Tourism and the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting have recently participated
in the Cannes Film Festival &
Market, International Film
Festival of India (IFFI), and
Goa and Film Bazaar, Goa.
“A proposal of the State
Government of Chhattisgarh namely ‘Producing
Tourism Documentary Film
and TV Commercials’ has
been prioritised by the Ministry of Tourism for grant
of Central Financial Assistance (CFA) during the
financial
year
2014-15,”
said Naik.
India’s Visa on Arrivals increase
by 99% in June 2014
India’s Visa on Arrival scheme
saw a record increase of 98.9%
in June. During June 2014, a
total of 2,112 Visa on Arrivals (VoA) were issued as
compared to 1,062 VoAs in
June 2013.
The nationals of the 12 countries for whom the VoAs were
issued are South Korea (663),
Singapore (410), Japan (261),
the Philippines (228), Indonesia (217), New Zealand (214),
Finland (51), Myanmar (27),
Vietnam (20), Cambodia (14)
Laos (4) and Luxembourg (3).
A major part of the Visa on
Arrival scheme has attracted
mostly business travellers
from South Korea, Japan
and Singapore.
During the first six months
of 2014, the highest number
of VoAs were issued at New
Delhi airport (5,542) followed
by Mumbai (2,428), Chennai (1,607), Bengaluru (820),
Kolkata (782), Kochi (346),
Hyderabad (305) and Trivandrum (123).
Ministry of Tourism promotes Bed and
Breakfast / Homestay Establishments
The Ministry of Tourism,
Govt. of India, New Delhi is
promoting “Incredible India
Bed and Breakfast / Homestay Establishments” with
an aim to provide a wholesome Indian ethnic experience to the tourists. Travellers can avail comfortable
home stay, local culture, cuisine, customs & traditions
with good standards of facilities & services at an affordable
cost. The focus is to make their
stay a memorable one and also
supplement the availability of
accommodation.
As part of 100 days plan,
India Tourism jointly with
Maharashtra Tourism have
organised a sensitisation
workshop on August 5, 2014 to
promote the “Incredible India
Bed and Breakfast / Homestay
Establishments” scheme. The
workshop was well attended
by the travel trade and hotel
associations, tourist guides
and already running Bread
and Breakfast owners who
shared their experience. It was
presided over by Dr. Jagdish
Patil, Managing Director and
Satish Soni, Joint Managing
Director of Maharastra Tourism Development Corporation. The workshop was aimed
to sensitise the people to come
up and offer their extra rooms
to the tourist, which will help
to meet the shortage of hotel
rooms in the country.
INDIA • 11
Key features of Union Budget 2014-15 to boost tourism
• Project on Ganges called
“Jal Marg Vikas’ to be developed
between Allahabad and Haldia
• Scheme for development
of new airports in Tier I and
Tier II cities to be launched
• `100 crore is provided for
construction of a war memorial
in the Princes Park, which will be
supplemented by a War Museum
• `50 crores provided for
construction of National Police
Memorial
• `200 crore provided
to build the Statue of unity
(National project)
•Facility of Electronic
Travel Authorisation (e-Visa) to
be introduced in phased manner
at nine airports in India
• Countries to which the
Electronic Travel authorisation
facility would be extended would
be identified in a phased manner
• `500 crore provided for
developing 5 tourist circuits
around specific themes
National Mission on Pilgrimage
Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD)
National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana
(HRIDAY)
• `100 crore provided
for
Archaeological
sites
preservation
•Sarnath-Gaya-Varanasi
Buddhist circuit to be developed
with world class tourist amenities to attract tourists from all
over the world
Detailed Project Reports for linking of rivers
• `2037 crores provided for
Integrated Ganga Conservation
Mission “NAMAMI GANGE”
Ghat development and beautification at Kedarnath, Haridwar,
Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad,
Patna and Delhi
• NRI Fund for Ganga will
be set up
development of rail connectivity
in the North Eastern Region
• Duty free entitlement for
import of trimmings, embellishments and other specified items
increased from three percent to
five percent of the value of their
export, for readymade garments.
• For passenger facilitation,
free baggage allowance increased
from `35,000 to ` 45,000
•Withdraw concessional
excise duty (two percent without
Cenvat benefit and six percent
with Cenvat benefit) on smart
cards and a uniform excise duty
at 12%
•Services by air-conditioned contract carriages and
technical testing of newly developed drugs on human participants brought under service tax
•Services provided by
Indian tour operators to foreign tourists in relation to a tour
wholly conducted outside India
to be taken out of the tax net and
Cenvat credit for services of renta-cab and tour operators to be
allowed to promote tourism
• 24X7 customs clearance
facility extended to 13 more airports in respect of all export
goods and to 14 more sea ports in
respect of specified import and
export goods to facilitate cargo
clearance
This is the best ever budget for the tourism industry in the history of India. We are grateful
to the Ministry for considering our long-pending demand for E-Visa. With this, international
tourist arrivals to India will grow by 30-40% on a yearly basis and also generate additional
employment for 50 million people and substantial increase in Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs).
A lot of other hopes from the Budget have also been met like streamlining of taxation system,
exemption of Service Tax on some services, CENVAT Credit allowed to tour operators, to create five tourist
circuits across the country, and to enhance rail connectivity to the North East.
Subhash Goyal
President, IATO
(Indian Association of Tour Operators)
The Union Budget 2014-15, has set a landmark precedent for our industry with two firsts.
Within the first ten minutes of his speech the FM mentioned the tourism industry and how
E-visa implementation would stimulate it further, the first ever time tourism has been mentioned
upfront. Second, the amount of print space given to tourism in this budget would probably be
one of the highest ever in any recallable budgets. TAAI is happy that one of its important
representations to the Ministries has borne fruit - availment of CENVAT Credit of service tax paid by renta-cab operators and tour operators.
Harmandeep Singh Anand
Secretary General, TAAI
(Travel Agents Association of India)
FHRAI welcomes the announcement regarding implementation of the ETA/E-Visa policy
and the allocation of `500 crore for the development of five theme-based tourist circuits.
We endorse the strong emphasis that the Finance Minister has laid on leveraging PPP mode for
executing key infrastructure projects. We applaud the initiative to set up an `10,000 crore fund
to provide equity, soft loans and other forms of risk capital for start-up companies. FHRAI had
recommended in our pre-budget memorandum that we must focus on institutional mechanisms aimed
at transforming our youth from being job-seekers to job-creators.
S M Shervani
President, FHRAI
(Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India)
for more
information
Call :+91 11 41589538 / 48
+91 11 41570538
+91 9818329911 / 9818349911
EMail :[email protected]
Web :http://www.spicevacation.com
Value Products
Spicevacations offer A - Z travel solutions and will make sure that your tour
lasts in your mind forever. Hospitality is a word synonymous with us; hence
you can never be uncomfortable with our service. We offer you affordable and
wonderful tour packages which will mesmerize you. Choose your favorite destinations and have a happy holiday.
Air Tickets | Helicopter Services |
Travel Insurance | Western Union
Money Transfer | Group & Incentive
Tours | Hotel Reservations Worldwide | Cruises | Visa Assistance |
Deluxe Coaches | Air Ambulance
12 • india
Odisha: Sand Art Park to be
developed in Puri
To promote the tourism
and art on a larger scale,
Odisha
Government
has
urged for the establishment of
a Sand Art Park at Puri, Odisha. Chief Secretary Jugal
Kishore Mohapatra and Tourism & Culture Secretary
Dr Arabinda Padhee have been
working over the various prospects and developing it as tourism project.
Discussions have been held
related to the formation of an
institutional base for the project in shape of a society. It has
been decided that the land
required for the park, which
is about 2-3 acres, will be provided to the department free of
premium.
The project has been initiated not only to attract more
tourists to Puri, but also to
educate and train the budding
sand art artists and encourage amateurs into this field.
In near future, the project is
also planning to provide services including regular sand
art training classes, short term
course for tourists, creation of a
sand sculpture gallery of international standard, establishment of a sand art photo gallery and sand animation studio.
Chief Secretary Mohapatra further wants the support
of internationally known Odia
sand artist Sudarshan Pattanaik in the planning and implementation of the project.
Assam promotes several tourism sectors to diversify the industry
Assam Tourism Minister,
Chandan Brahma announced
that although rhino is one
of the most important tourist attractions of the state, it
is not the only attraction and
Assam has many other important offerings for the tourists.
“The rhino is an internationally-known tourist attraction,
but at the same time the vast
natural resources of Assam,
greenery, diverse culture and
religions, heritage sites etc.,
are also some other tourist
hotspots,” he said.
Brahma further explained
that river tourism in Assam is
yet to bloom to its full potential and special focus has
been given to make the Brahmaputra River a tourist hub.
Karnataka promotes river rafting while
searches for brand ambassador
This monsoon season, Karnataka is offering a splendid
opportunity of river rafting for
the adventure seekers. Three
major rivers are offering the
thrill of rafting, one of the most
popular sports of Karnataka.
Travellers can enjoy river
rafting and other water sports
in Karnataka at Bhadra River,
Cauvery River, Sita River and
Vanivilas Sagar Dam.
To further boost the tourism of the state and generate
more investments, Karnataka
Government wants to appoint
a brand ambassador for the
state’s tourism. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has showed
interest in the proposal as he
wants to project Karnataka
globally.
“It would be apt to appoint a
well-known face from the state
as its brand ambassador to
showcase Karnataka to investors as well as tourists. One has
to follow the trend of the times.
A final decision would be taken
after consultation with experts
and professionals in various
sectors,” Siddaramaiah said.
“This is in line with the
government’s plans to attract
overseas investors and tourists through the Global Investors’ Meet, international trade
shows and tourism promotion
campaigns,”
Siddaramaiah
added.
World Bank to fund Punjab’s tourism projects
The World Bank has expressed
keen interest in Punjab as a
global tourist destination and
has offered to fund projects for
the promotion of religious, heritage, health and ethnic tourism in the state. For the procedure, Punjab will soon send a
detailed proposal of different
tourism projects in need to be
developed through financial aid
from the World Bank.
Recently, a four-member
team of senior WB officials, led
by Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank, conducted a
meeting with Parkash Singh
Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab,
and asked the state government
to work further on this concept.
Additionally Brahma has also
asked his officials to submit a
proposal to make Kulsi a tourist hotspot involving the Gangetic river dolphin.
Apart from that, Assam
Government is also encouraging golf tourism in the state.
Supporting the initiative,
Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi
is urging to boost the sector
and major investment has also
been made. Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, cinema halls, museums, parks, good restaurants
etc., can act as important
attractions for the promotion
of urban tourism in Assam.
Big hotel chains like the Marriot, the Taj etc., are also coming to Guwahati to establish
their hotels.
Rajasthan: `97.50 crore approved
for tourism projects, VAT slashed
Under the Centrally Sponsored
Scheme (CSS) of the Union
Tourism Ministry, nine tourism
infrastructure projects worth
`97.50 crore have been approved
by the Centre for Rajasthan, prioritised for 2014-15.
Among these projects are
the development of a Mega
Desert Circuit (JaisalmerJo d h p u r -B i k a n e r - S a m b har-Pali-Mount Abu), Sawai
Madhopur-Karauli,
Sahelion ki Baoli at Udaipur and
Hadoti Circuit by connecting
Jhalawar-Baran-Bundi.
Other projects include the
development of Dholpur as a
tourist destination, light and
sound programme at Machkund, development of Talab
Shahi and a cruise in the Chambla River.
“The Centre has also sanctioned `50 lakh for the organisation of festivals,” said Sanjay Pande, Additional Director,
Department of Tourism.
For further boost in tourism Rajasthan’s Chief Minister
Vasundhara Raje announced
that several heritage hotels in
Rajasthan will pay less valueadded tax (VAT) this summer
season. Guesthouses and hostels with fewer than five rooms
will also benefit from this tax
reduction scheme. Raje has further cut down the VAT on turbine fuel from 20% to five percent, citing that the move will
attract more flights to the state.
Incorporating Luxury Travel
l
l
a
C
t
Las tion
tra
s
i
g
e
R
for
The 22nd IT&CMA
and 17th CTW Asia-Pacific
www.itcma.com • www.corporatetravelworld.com
30 September - 2 October 2014
Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld, Bangkok, Thailand
We Are All
About Results
Strong Business Generation
86% of 2013 exhibitors expect
to receive orders over the
next 6 to 12 months
Proven Procurement Platform
Over 40% of buyers confirmed
purchases at the event
Quality Exhibitors and
Business Appointments
according to 90% of buyers
Fresh Procurement Opportunities
60% New Buyers + 47% New
Corporate Travel Managers
The best show
Great platform to
we have participated at with
true quality buyers
Ark Travel Express Inc, Philippines
Maria Paz R Alberto, President
explore venues for our
association’s
upcoming regional & international congresses.
International League Against Epilepsy, Ireland
Richard Holmes, International Director of Meetings
Good mix of
buyer profiles.
Genuine buyers, with zero no-shows
Go Vacation, Thailand
Sarinya Holloway, Group & Events Manager
An excellent event that
improves every year.
POP Inc, Japan
Robert Cotter, International Editor
Correct decision
makers present.
Excellent calibre
of speakers
Exhibitors are one of the best in the region
Travel Warehouse, Inc., Philippines
Jaison Yang, General Manager
covering relevant topics.
Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Australia
Katherine Hopcroft, Travel Management Specialist
Exhibitors MICE, Luxury Travel and Corporate Travel
Buyers MICE, Associations and Luxury Travel
Corporate Travel Managers
Conference Delegates
Corporate Travel Professionals and Corporate Travel Suppliers
Industry Media
Scan This QR Code
To Find Out More About Participating At The Show
Hosting Programme For Buyers, Corporate Travel Managers & Media Available!
Organised By
Endorsing and Supporting Associations
Supported By
Host Country
Official Media
Media Affiliates
Contributing Media
Official Airline
Official Venue
14 • india
Maharashtra Tourism launches first-ever international office in Japan
In order to promote inbound
tourism in the region,
Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC)
has opened its first-ever international office in Tokyo, Japan.
Wakayama Prefecture has provided MTDC approximately
80 sq. ft. of its office space to
support in the promotion of
Maharashtra tourism in Japan.
Last
year,
Prithviraj
Chavan, Chief Minister of
Maharashtra, had signed a
partnership with the Governor of Wakayama Prefecture
in Mumbai to further explore
the commonalities between
the country and attain mutual
benefit.
The partnership has paved
the way to acquire financial
support from Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) for Phase-III development of Ajanta-Ellora caves,
signing of
MoU between
Ajanta Visitor Center and
Wakayama World Heritage
Centre and exchange of office
space between MTDC and
Wakayama Tourism.
A team from Maharashtra
Government has recently visited Japan to develop both sustainable business and tourism
opportunities between the two
countries.
MTDC has also asked the
centre to increase its tourism
funds to `1000 millions from
the usual `700- 800 millions.
West Bengal to develop 12 new mega tourism projects
West Bengal has attracted
12 lakh foreign visitors last year,
and the state has now undertaken the development of 12 new
mega tourism projects and the
work of upgrading infrastructure to attract more domestic
and international tourists.
Bratya Basu, Tourism Minister, West Bengal, said, “The government was laying top priority
on upgrading tourism infrastructure by improving facilities like roads, water supply and
power.” He further informed
that they are also constructing
new tourist lodges and renovating the existing ones.
“The government was keen
on promoting the state’s tourism sector through aggressive marketing, and hoped that
the number of tourists would
increase substantially once
the infrastructure plans were
implemented,” Basu added.
The projects at Gajoldoba
and Buxa-Jayanti circuits in
the Dooars, Jharkhali Island
in the Sundarbans forest, and
the Jungal Mahal circuit in the
western districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, all come under these mega
projects.
Besides improving the overall infrastructure in Gangasagar, the government will also
refurbish the Sagarika tourist lodge in Diamond Harbour
and Gangasagar tourist lodge
in Gangasagar. Additionally,
the government is working on
the final phase of developing
Henry Island in South 24 Parganas district.
Andhra Pradesh to promote
Vishakhapatnam as tourism hub
The Andhra Pradesh government is planning to develop
Vishakhapatnam and the district as a tourism hub. HRD
Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao
explained that heritage-rich
Vishakhapatnam city has a lot
of potential to be developed like
Singapore.
“The district has Buddhist
centres, the picturesque Araku
valley, Borra caves and Erramatti Dibbalu (red sand dunes)
which could be developed as
tourist destination,” Rao said.
“The State Government had
already started work to develop
beaches between Bheemili
and Visakhapatnam at a cost
of `50 crore, which will be
completed soon,” the minister
added. He further flagged off
the ‘leisure night package tour’
bus launched by the Andhra
Pradesh Tourism Development
Corporation (APTDC).
The bus covers places like
Submarine Museum, Rishikonda, Kailasagiri Hill and Shilparamam Jatara in the city.
Kerala Tourism to showcase
state’s water adventure sports
Kerala Tourism has decided
to showcase water adventure
sports to meet the growing
tourists’ demands and cover
newer tourism programmes
and projects. Tourism Minister
A P Anilkumar announced
that water sports like whitewater kayaking, para-sailing,
seaplanes, mini-cruise ships
and development of adventure
sports in the state with water
scooters can be explored more.
He further stated that they are
preparing to launch para-sailing in Thiruvananthapuram
and Kochi.
The Kerala tourism department is particularly interested
in developing the hilly district of Wayanad as an adventure water sports destination
and has already put in `4 million. Additionally, the tourism
department’s seaplane services will be launched during
the coming Onam festival season in September.
“All hitches have been
cleared and this is going to
change the face of Kerala tourism as tourists can depart from
major destinations like Kollam, Alapuzha, Bekal and Bolgatty,” Kumar said.
“The tourism and ports
departments have jointly
worked out a new product
by launching a luxury minicruise ship which will be open
for service on the sea between
Kochi and Vizhinjam, near
Kovalam, in September,”
he added.
INDIA • 15
Gujarat Tourism to facilitate J&K takes steps to boost tourism,
attract high-end visitors
private tour operators
Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL) has allowed
the private tour operators from
across the country to register
themselves with Gujarat Tourism as certified operators. Furthermore, TCGL will also be
offering the facility of online
booking of private hotels that
will be registered with it. Moreover, private operators can now
showcase their own packages
on Gujarat Tourism website,
said Kamlesh Patel, Chairman,
TCGL.
Gujarat is filled with variety
of destinations which would
cater to all types of tourism
sectors, such as beach, wildlife, eco, heritage, archaeological, religion, Gandhi circuit,
Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah
announced that initiatives
have been taken to develop
the tourism in the region and
make it more attractive for the
investors. “Pilgrim, adventure, sport and other related
tourism is being encouraged to develop along with
the growth of conventional
tourism,” he said. He further
added that steps are also being
taken to attract more high- end
tourists.
He stated that as the tourist
arrivals have increased significantly with over one million
tourists coming to Kashmir
valley during the last three
years.“Tourism has been of
a great economic resource
for the people and the State
since times immemorial,”
Buddhist sites, etc. Gujarat
will be hosting a series of
events and festivals over the
next few months attract many
more travellers. The Monsoon
Festival is set to take place
from August 16 to September
13, 2014, the Tarnetar Fair will
be held during August 29-31,
2014, the Navratri Festival
will take place from September 25 to October 3, 2014, the
Rann Utsav will be celebrated
during December 1, 2014 to
March 18, 2015, and the International Kite festival will be celebrated on January 14, 2015.
The gross tourist flow in the
state during the year 2013-14
was 287.88 lakh, which is 13.30%
higher that the flow in 2012-13.
Omar added.
“Nature has bestowed us
with plenty of tourist attractions and every one of us has
the responsibility to protect
and preserve the scenic beauty
of Jammu and Kashmir for the
generations to come. While
departments concerning tourism have special responsibility of preservation and conservation of tourist resorts,
the stakeholders in the sector
are equally responsible in this
regard besides general people,” he stated.
The much awaited train
from Udhampur to Katra,
the base camp of the Mata
Vaishno Devi shrine, was
recently flagged off by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
is expected to act as a huge step
in boosting pilgrim tourism.
IndiGo to introduce the free of charge Advance Pass service
IndiGo becomes the first airline in India to introduce the
‘Advance Pass’ service. A free
of charge service, it allows the
passenger to check-in and
receive the boarding pass in
their mail inbox 48 hours prior
to the departure.
The passenger will then
have to simply print the boarding pass before arriving at
the airport and embark on a
smooth hassle free journey. In
any case, if they are unable to
print the pass, they can always
collect the boarding pass from
the airport by following a regular queue.
Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo said, “The
objective behind this initiative is to make the journey of
www.businesstravelmice.com
INDIA’S PIONEERING TRADE SHOW FOCUSED
ON BUSINESS TRAVEL AND MICE
Mumbai
India’s Biggest Travel Market
4, 5, 6 February 2015
Co-located with
passengers more hassle free
by reducing the waiting time
for check-in.”
India is the fastest growing
business travel market
in the world. Mumbai
is the business hub of
India harbouring major
commercial organisations,
leading corporations
including multi-nationals,
with huge business travel
and MICE spending.
BTM will provide you
guaranteed access to
hundreds of business travel
and MICE buyers from top
companies in the region.
To make your visit more effective,
you can register and schedule appointments via
www.businesstravelmice.com/visitor-registration
mail: [email protected]
dial: (91) (22) 2637 2883 / (91) (22) 2637 2895
Member
Supported by
Official Trade Publication
Organised by
16 • india
Foreign airlines plan to increase
business class seats in India
Foreign carriers are introducing more business class seats
in their flights in India because
of the recent surge in demand
along with the positive growth
in India’s economy.
German
flag
carrier
Lufthansa has launched its
new Boeing 747-800 on the
Mumbai-Frankfurt
route,
currently on which it operates the 747-400. The decision
has resulted in an increase in
the number of business class
seats to 80 from 66. The total
capacity per flight has been
increased 10% to 386 seats.
Singapore Airlines is also
planning to bring full business
class upper decks on its Airbus
A380 flights to India. Replacing its Boeing 777s, the airline
has increased the number of
business class seats to 60 from
38. The airline is planning
to introduce an exclusively
business class upper deck
aboard the A380 in India, after
it did the same in U.S.
“There is a huge demand
for business, especially in
Mumbai. Even with 60 seats,
it gets a little full, especially on
weekends. They want more
and we are not in the business
of disappointing our customers,” said David Lau, General
Manager India, Singapore
Airlines.
Further, Emirates will also
introduce the A380 jumbo jet
on Indian routes, increasing
the number of business class
seats by 45% to 76 seats.
Madhya Pradesh wins CNBC
Awaaz Travel Awards 2014
The result of the CNBC
Awaaz
Travel
Awards
2014, presented by Madhya Pradesh (MP) Tourism, has been announced,
in which Madhya Pradesh
(MP) bagged the maximum
awards. MP won the award
for ‘Best Managed Tourist
Destination’ and ‘Best Travel
State’.
Tourism Minister Surendra Patwa said, “The state
has been developing in the
field of tourism as more than
5 crore people visited the
state in a year which was only
1 crore a few years ago.”
“We have developed various tourist spots in the State
and also working to develop
more places. We have various
places for water sports and
tourism in our state is
blended with cultural, religious and spiritual flavours,”
Patwa added.
MP Tourism MD Raghvendra Singh said that the
department has been planning to develop various
tourism places through PPP
model.
“Due to Sardar Sarovar
Dam, we have many big
islands in our region and
now, we are planning to
develop resorts and other
facilities on them. We are
also working for developing
Golf Tourism and we have
selected about 180 acre land
in Sanchi for the cause as
well,” Singh added.
SpiceJet adds new flights on four
existing routes
SpiceJet has recently added new
flight services on its four existing sectors namely BengaluruMangalore, Chennai-Madurai, Bengaluru-Hyderabad and
Delhi-Lucknow. The decision
has been taken keeping in mind
the increasing demand from the
passengers. All the new flights
will be served with a 189-seater
Boeing 737 aircraft.
A daily new flight has been
added on Bengaluru-Mangalore
route, as well as on ChennaiMadurai-Chennai sector. A new
flight on Delhi-Lucknow route
is being introduced that will
operate daily except Saturdays.
Further, another additional
New aviation project
involves developing
airports in 50 cities
flight has been deployed on
Saturdays on the BengaluruHyderabad route.
As Dubai airport renovation is now complete,
SpiceJet has again started its
flight operations back to normal. It has assumed daily flights
to Dubai, from Delhi, Kochi,
Ahmedabad, Madurai, and
Mumbai along with the return
flights.
Jet Airways announces second MumbaiColombo flight from November
Jet Airways will start a second
direct flight from Mumbai to
Colombo from November 5,
2014, thus enabling the facility of ‘same day return’, especially for the business travellers. Jet Airways flight 9W 252
will depart Mumbai at 1805
hrs and arrive into Colombo
at 2035 hrs (local time). The
return flight 9W 251 will then
depart Colombo at 2135 hrs
(LT) and arrive Mumbai at
0015 hrs.
Moreover, the airline has
introduced an attractive
return fare of `17,000, inclusive of taxes, with sale validity
until August 31, 2014.
Gaurang Shetty, Senior
Vice-President, Commercial,
Jet Airways said, “This flight
will enhance seamless connectivity to Europe, North America, Gulf and Domestic India
along with our code share and
interline partners.”
GM Siddeshwara, Minister of State for Civil Aviation
announced that the government has selected as many as
50 locations to develop new
airports in smaller cities
and towns across the country. During the next 20 years,
the government has further
planned to build 200 lowcost airports to connect TierII and Tier-III cities.
The locations for the new
airports include Kadapa,
Tirupati, Vijayawada and
Warangal (Andhra Pradesh),
Daparizo, Pasighat and Tezu
(Arunachal Pradesh), Jorhat,
Rupsi and Silchar (Assam),
Gaya and Raxaul (Bihar),
Bilaspur
and
Raigarh
(Chattisgarh), Daman and
Diu (Daman & Diu), Bhawanagar, Jamnagar, Kandla and
Keshod (Gujarat), Hisar and
Karnal (Haryana), Kishtwar (Jammu & Kashmir),
Deoghar and Jamshedpur
(Jharkhand), Belgaum and
Hubli (Karnataka), Gwalior,
Jabalpur and Rewa (Madhya Pradesh), Akola, Amravati, Jalgaon, Kolhapur and
Solapur
(Maharashtra),
Jharsuguda (Odisha), Ludhiana (Punjab), Kishangarh, Bikaner and Kota
(Rajasthan),
Thanjavore
(Tamil Nadu), Allahabad,
Bareilly, Faizabad, Kanpur,
Meerut, Moradabad and
Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh).
INDIA • 17
The Fern launches hotels,
resorts across 18 Indian sites
The Fern Hotels & Resorts
is one of the fastest growing
hotel brands in India with
1149 rooms and suites under
management across 18 locations. With the facilities like
responsible hospitality, sustainable tourism, excellent
guest service and environmental measures, The Fern
Hotels & Resorts has won
over 30 Indian and international awards.
The Fern is the luxury
badge for hotels & resorts
with a 5-star & above classification. It is a full-service product with premium accommodation and services, whereas
The Fern Residency is a midtiered badge for hotels &
resorts in the 3 & 4-star categories. It is a full-service product with upmarket accommodation and services.
The Fern has several hotels
and resorts in Gujarat including The Fern, Gujarat; The
Fern, Ahmedabad;The Fern
Residency, Rajkot; The Fern
India’s Only Global Travel Trade Newspaper
[email protected]
Residency, Vadodara and The
Fern, Gir Forest Resort.
Tourists can also find
The Fern Hyderabad, Jaipur,
Kochi, Mumbai, Bengaluru,
Chandigarh, Dapoli, Ganpatipule, Gurgaon, Jodhpur,
Mahabaleshwar,
Palolem,
Benaulim and Tezpur. Additionally, The Fern will make
its debut in Bhuj, Chennai,
Kolkata, Tirupur, Asansol,
Belgaum, Dwarka, Lonavala,
Mahabalipuran,
Somnath
Saputara and Solapur.
Service Tax presentation
for TAAI Goa Chapter
TAAI Goa Chapter that was
held in Taj Vivanta, Panjim
Goa was quite a success as the
members attended the interactive session on Service Tax
Presentation. The attendees
included owners, managers,
accountants and agency staff.
Even the Non-Members were
given an opportunity to attend
this presentation.
The topics that were covered in the presentation
included in-depth explanations on service tax payable of
tickets sourced from airline as
well as from consolidators if
any. Topics that were touched
on also included how to calculate service tax based on basic
fare vs service charge, how
the airlines and consolidators
have switched service tax payable from the beginning of the
financial year and how agents
can do the same, along with
how travel agents can claim
refund from airlines for service tax etc formed a foundation to other topics related to
service tax.
The programme lasted
for three and half hours with
a delicious spread allowing
informal interaction between
the members who were
already impressed by the presentation as it made the topic
of service tax much more interesting and easy.
ASIA
Tourism Malaysia promotes Tier II
cities in North Indian market
Tourism Malaysia, along with
Malindo Air is showcasing
Malaysia’s tier two cities to the
North Indian market through
a familiarisation trip for 10
selected travel agents. Malindo
Air on their part is sponsoring
the air tickets for both international and domestic sectors.
“The travel agents are members of the Outbound Tour
Operators Association of India
(OTOAI) and have been selling travel packages for Malaysia,” said Tourism Malaysia
Director-Delhi Amran Abdul
Rahman.
Rahman further stated that
the FAM trip will highlight destinations like Langkawi, Kuantan, Kuala Lumpur, Genting,
Penang, Legoland, Melaka,
Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.
“The East Coast of Peninsular
Malaysia has been earmarked
as a key sector to attract more
tourists from North India,”
he said.
This year, Tourism Malaysia
is expecting between 780,000
and 800,000 tourists from
India, the sixth top tourist generating market for Malaysia.
Singapore Airlines introduces
special discounts for Indians
Singapore
Airlines
has
announced special fares and
discounts for the Indian travellers, which are available
through selected travel agents,
on minimum booking requirement of two people. All Suites
Class passengers travelling
from Mumbai and New Delhi
on the Airbus A380 will receive
10% discount on base fare for
travel from September 11-25,
2014. Economy Class passengers travelling on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir from
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad,
Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai,
New Delhi, Vizag and Trivandrum will receive 15% discount
on base fare for travel from
September 11-25, 2014.
This year Singapore Airlines has signed an agreement
with the Formula One Group
to be the Title Sponsor of the
Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix,
thus naming the event as 2014
Formula 1 Singapore Airlines
Singapore Grand Prix. The
event is set to take place from
September 19-21, 2014 at the
Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Korea Tourism launches new logo and
slogan Imagine Your Korea
Byeon Chu-seok, CEO, Korea
Tourism Organisation along
with K-pop group B1A4 has
launched Korea Tourism Organization’s new logo and slogan
“Imagine your Korea.”
The new slogan promotes
Korea’s diverse nature, historical and cultural aspects while
the new logo showcases the traditional Korean design aspects.
The logo is of vibrant colours on
the letter ‘K’ and is derived from
seakdong, the colourful stripes
seen on hanbok (traditional
Korean clothes).
Furthermore, Korea Tourism Organisation is advertising
their new logo and slogan via
promotional videos featuring
the popular K-pop group Big
Bang, the honorary ambassadors for Korea Tourism.
“Korea is well known
because of Industrial image
but there are many options for
tourists too. Our new Brand
Logo “Imagine your Korea” will
establish a unique image about
Korea as Tourist Destination.
I am very confident that Korea
will fulfil all your imagination
towards the peer Leisure Destinations,” said Byungsun Lee,
Director, Korea Tourism Organization in India.
18
TAT, MasterCard collaborate
for MasterCard Thailand
Shopping Paradise
Taking their collaboration further, the Tourism Authority of
Thailand (TAT) and MasterCard recently introduced the
MasterCard Thailand Shopping Paradise. The venture
is in the form of a partnership with 17 offline and online
retailers in Thailand, which
will provide exclusive privileges to the shoppers from
July 1 to September 30, 2014.
The MasterCard Thailand
Shopping Paradise offers savings and privileges to encourage the inbound travellers and
domestic shoppers to spend
more at the local retailers and
online merchants. Some of the
Antonio Corro, Country
Manager for Thailand and
Myanmar, MasterCard, said,
“We have collaborated with
online merchants as we strive
to meet the needs of Thai
consumers who are leading
a more digital lifestyle and
demand new shopping experiences. MasterCard is continuing to lead the transition to digital payments and
deliver solutions that are simple, smart and secure.”
Vilaiwan Twichasri, Deputy Governor for Tourism
Products and Business of the
Tourism Authority of Thailand said, “Our partner-
exclusive offers include great
savings; voucher giveaways,
reward points, and MasterCard cardholders can win a
trip to the south of Thailand
or Italy.
ship with MasterCard helps
us promote Thailand as a
top tourist destination for
shopping, providing great
value, and a memorable
experience.”
Philippines witnesses a growth
in Indian tourist arrivals
One of the important contributors of international visitors
to the Philippines, the Indian
market generated 24,525
tourists during the first half
of 2014, marking an increase
of five percent as compared
to the same period of 2013. In
total, 2,061,135 international
travellers visited the country during Jan-May 2014, a
growth of 2.47% as compared
to the same months in 2013.
The Philippines has
always recognised India as
one of the fastest growing
outbound travel markets in
the world and expects international visitor arrivals to
reach 5.5 million this year.
The Philippines has further
set the target of 10 million
arrivals by 2016.
Engaged in aggressive
marketing campaign for
quite some time now, Department of Tourism, Philippines
(DOT) and the Philippines
Tourism Marketing Office,
India, have been participating in various Indian trade
events and organising roadshows across India to promote the destination.
Additionally, the Philippine Department of Tourism
(DoT) has further launched
the next phase of their tourism campaign ‘It’s More Fun
in the Philippines’. DoT has
introduced three new commercials highlighting Davao,
Manila and Cebu, adding to
the Boracay commercial,
which was launched earlier
this year and described the
destination as Asia’s 24/7
island.
asia • 19
Nepal: Indians claim the top
position in tourist arrivals
The increasing visits of Indians to Nepal have made India
the top source-country of
tourists during the last year
and made up 23% of all tourists visiting Nepal in that
period.
India also bagged the top
place in the list of foreign
visitors coming to Nepal by
air, with arrivals standing at
18,720. The reason for Indians
visiting Nepal is mainly religious tourism.
Second among the top
tourist source-countries for
Nepal is China, making up
19.2% of all tourists visiting
Nepal, coming third is Sri
Lanka with 7.5%, followed by
U.S. with 7.3% and UK with
4.7%.
To boost more tourism,
construction has been started
for the Visitor Information
Center and an administrative
building under the Lumbini
Development Master plan.
Along with that, construction of road and green-belts
are also taking place.
Further, the Great Himalayan Trail is being showcased
Sri Lanka Tourism earns $901.8 million
during first half of 2014
The first five months of 2014
witnessed earnings of $901.8
million, a massive 35.8% rise
over the same period last year.
During the first six months of
this year, a total of 727,353 tourists arrived in the island country, marking a 24.6% growth
increase over the previous
tourist arrivals of 583,573 in the
corresponding period of 2013.
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA)
stated that most of the tourist arrivals were from Western Europe with 223, 810 tourists visiting in the first six
months of this year, which is
an increase of 17% year on year.
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has seen a surge in recent
years and in 2013 tourist arrivals reached over 1.2 million
with earnings marking $1.7 billion. By 2016, Sri Lanka aims to
attract 2.5 million tourists.
in both domestic and international levels, and to uplift
the image of Nepal Airlines
Corporation (NAC), the government has ordered two
Airbus 320-200 narrow-body
aircraft for international flights.
Indonesia targets 12 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2019
Indonesia is targeting to
achieve a 25% increase in
international visitor arrivals
over the next five years. While
launching the latest five-year
development plan, Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism &
Creative Economy announced
the efforts to welcome 12.7 million overseas visitors in 2019.
The development plan
will focus on attracting more
visitors from 15 key source
markets, namely Singapore,
Malaysia, China, Australia,
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan,
the Philippines, U.S., UK,
India, France, Germany, the
Netherlands and Russia.
However,
the
Ministry’s Director General for
Marketing, Esthy Reko Astuti
said that Middle East can be
turned into an important
source market for Indonesia
as well.
She further announced
that number of foreign tourists in the last five years has
increased by an impressive
35% and it is expected to reach
9.5 million in 2014.
Indonesia’s Tourism and
Creative Economy Minister
Marie Elka Pangestu said,
“In the first five months this
year the nation saw 3.7 million foreign tourists, or 9.96%
over last year’s tourist numbers registered in the corresponding period, which stood
at 3.364 million people.”
To attract more foreign
tourists, the Tourism and
Creative Economy Ministry
has asked Garuda Indonesia
to set the ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ logo on the airlines’ 22
planes serving international
flights to 17 countries across
the world.
Macau expects largest number
of tourist arrivals this August
Hong Kong holds travel
mission in Indian cities
It is expected that the largest
number of visitor arrivals ever
in Macau will be registered in
August. Statistics and Census Bureau stated that during
the period of January to April,
the number of tourist arrivals increased nine percent to
10.3 million. GGRAsia revealed
during the month of May, a total
of 727,356 mainlanders visited
Macau on their own, marking
an increase of 21% year-on-year
while Individual Visit Scheme
(IVS) tourist numbers increased
by 20.9% year-on-year.
“The number of tourists in
Macau will continue to grow,”
Glenn
McCartney,
Assistant Professor of Hospitality and Gaming Management
at the University of Macau,
said. “There are many reasons
but as Macau is improving its
The Hong Kong Tourism
Board (HKTB) is organising
a trade mission to four Indian
cities – Bengaluru, Mumbai,
Kolkata and New Delhi – from
August 18-22, 2014, in order to
harness the growth potential
of the Indian outbound market to Hong Kong.
A delegation of over 30
Hong Kong trade members,
which include Hong Kong
land operators, cruise companies, hoteliers and popular
tourism attractions of Hong
Kong are expected to be a part
of the business sessions in the
mentioned Indian cities.
“In line with our continuing marketing initiatives to
build win-win partnerships,
we are focusing on creating
value through added offerings
for our trade partners. Taking
accessibility more people will
visit the territory.”
“Macau is perceived as an
attractive destination for the
gaming industry, of course. But
there are more reasons behind
it. It all goes back to what the
region has to offer and in the last
years the non-gaming offer to
tourists, such as shopping, has
been developing at a fast pace,”
he added.
Macau will further host the
third edition of the Global Tourism Forum in late October, while
the 45th APEC Tourism Working Group Meeting (TWG45)
and the 8th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting (TMM8) will
be held from September 9-11,
2014, and September 12-13, 2014,
respectively.
advantage of the improvements in the Indian economy,
especially improved consumer travel sentiment, we
will leverage the travel mission platform to facilitate
information and business
exchange between our Hong
Kong and Indian trade partners,” said Peter Hoslin, the
HKTB’s Regional Director of
Europe & New Markets.
A significant focus point of
this trade mission is the growing MICE segment, promoting the top venues in Hong
Kong for Indian meetings and
incentive groups.
Indian visitor arrivals to
Hong Kong reached 203,989
during the first five months
of 2014, marking an increase
of 14% over the same period
in 2013.
OCEANIA
New Zealand emerges as an
incentive destination for Indians
Tourism New Zealand and
Cox & Kings Ltd. recently
hosted an event in Bengaluru
to promote New Zealand as an
incentive destination. A similar event will take place in
New Delhi in August.
The event was attended
by about 20 Indian corporate
travellers, such as Mangalore
Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.,
Schneider Electric India Private Limited, Ashirvad Pipes
Pvt. Ltd., and Micro Lab.
Sushila Shinde, General Manager, National Sales
Coordinator, Neha Bhola,
Country Manager – India,
Tourism New Zealand, and
Hayden Rodrick, Technical
Advisor, Immigration New
Zealand/Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment were also present during the event.
The event highlighted the
growing trend of incentive
travel among Indian corporate and the emergence of
New Zealand as one of the
preferred destinations for
incentive tourism purpose.
Tourism Australia to use Virtual
Reality technology for promotion
Tourism Australia CMO, Nick
Baker, and CIO, Dave Rumsey announced that they have
upgraded and redesigned the
Australia website “to bring in
news-style content and make
greater use of social media.”
Further, they also used the
upcoming virtual reality headmounted display, Oculus Rift
and showed interest in how to
use virtual reality (VR) technology to promote Australia
across the world.
“Virtual reality could be a
future tool for telling stories
about Australia and attracting tourism, the two continued. Tourism Australia signed
up for the Oculus Rift developer programme and recently
has tested two of the VR headsets,” said Rumsey.
“Tourism Australia wants
to be the nation’s storyteller,”
said Baker. “If we can make
our story more compelling, if
we can give [the media] more
visuals to make it great, and
if we can give them already
well-written content that
they can shape and form and
understand a story, maybe
they’ll write about it.”
“If I can show people a little
bit about Australia, if I can get
them to feel this country and
see the enormity of experiences and feel like they’re part
of it, I think that will help get
the message over,” he added.
Australia launches Specialist Programme
for travel and tour operators
Tourism Australia along
with eight State and Territory
Tourism Organisations has
recently launched the Aussie
Specialist Programme especially for the travel agents
and tour operators. The programme has been designed to
provide them all the knowledge and skills needed to sell
Australia more effectively to
the customers.
The innovative online
programme asks to complete 19 core modules in
order to qualify as an Aussie Specialist. After that,
one has to score 85% or more
in the quiz questions and
he/she qualifies as an Aussie
Specialist.
Being flexible in nature, the
online learning environment
allows a person to take the
course in their own time and
pace. After qualifying, the programme-taker will be invited
to continue the online training
by completing the Advanced
Modules on niche modules.
Along with earning the status of an Aussie specialist, the
programme-taker can avail
many other personal and professional benefits. While it is
great way to boost one’s career,
Tourism Australia’s Travel
Club offers a range of special
deals and exclusive rates to
the programme. Along with
that, a specialist will be given
Travel Club Membership,
which provides special advantages on deals from Australian
Tourism, a wide range of marketing tools and resources,
invitation to attend exclusive
events, additional training
modules, e-newsletter to keep
clients updated etc.
20
Fiji Tourism and Fiji Airways
to promote Bula Festival
Fiji is all set to introduce a new
theme at the Digicel Bula Festival to attract tourists from all
across the globe.
“One of the themes for the
evening programmes would
be dedicated to the tourism
industry. We will focus on
the tourism industry, particularly the hoteliers in Fiji. We
will look at how we can promote Fiji and Nadi as a tourist destination and we will
show tourists how they can
involve themselves with charitable events while in Fiji,” said
Nadi Bula Festival Association
President Mohammed Hafiz.
Meanwhile, Fiji Airways
has increased its capacity to
Australia and New Zealand
with the arrival of a new
ATR 72. The arrival has freed
more B737s to be operated
across the region. Fiji Airways has added two additional weekly flights to Melbourne, thus making the
service daily. The airline also
added two extra overnight
services from Nadi to Auckland and two early morning
departures from Auckland
to Nadi. Further, direct services between Nadi and Honiara have been started since
early July.
More frequencies will be
added during peak periods,
i.e. July, October, December, January to Sydney and
Christchurch.
South Australia promotes Adelaide
among Indians through cricket
As Indians continue to visit
the region in large numbers, the South Australian
Government has decided
to expand the scope of the
10-year South AustraliaIndia Engagement Strategy
to include tourism, sports,
art and culture. Thus, Leon
Bignell, Minister of Tourism
and Minister of Sports, Government of South Australia
is currently leveraging on
India-Pakistan World Cup
cricket match, scheduled to
take place on February 15 in
Adelaide to promote the destination in India.
Talking about their plans
to promote the destination
in India, Bignell said, “We
will invite a high level delegation of 30-40 businessmen from India for a business round table forum
on a four-five day package around the World Cup.
The programme will consist
of networking event, tour
of the region and business
meetings with counterpart
in South Australia. This will
give an opportunity to build
relationship and invest in
tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and commercial projects.” He further
added, “We will also undertake promotional activities around the ‘Restaurant
Australia’ tourism marketing campaign.”
“Although, VFR and students constitute a major
chunk of Indian traffic to
South Australia, with new
convention centre opening by the end of this year,
we are looking at attracting
MICE travellers from India
besides leisure travellers.
Our key focus markets will
be Delhi and Mumbai. We
will look at conducting road
show and events to educate
the Indian travel trade about
the destination and the product offerings,” he concluded.
Register Now
for WTM 2014
Registration is now open for to World Travel Market
2014, the leading global event for the travel industry.
WTM 2014, which takes place between Monday 3 – Thursday 6
November, is the 35th World Travel Market and is poised to be the
biggest and best yet. WTM 2013 saw more than 50,000
participants, including 8,500 buyers conducting business
worth more than £2.2 billion.
Furthermore, WTM 2014 sees the event’s opening hours
extended to start at 9am (previously 10am) to help facilitate
even more industry business. Furthermore, Wednesday will open until
8pm with a raft of exhibitors hosting ‘WTM Festivals’ from 6pm to
celebrate WTM’s 35th event.
The final day of WTM 2014 will see WTM Blogger Speed
Networking introduced, while WTM will also host industry charity
The Family Holiday Association’s annual conference.
Furthermore, two hugely successful initiatives introduced at WTM
2013 will continue this year.
■ The Travel Technology Show, which became a stand-alone
event last year for the first time, will be a further 25% bigger.
Meaning it has doubled its size in the past four years. It will take
place alongside WTM for all four days (3-6 November).
■ A Taste of ILTM at WTM, in association with fellow Reed Travel
Exhibition’s event International Luxury Travel Market, will take place
on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 November. It will see 60 luxury
buyers from the UK meet with 60 global luxury exhibitors.
WTM 2014 Events Programme includes the new Spa & Wellness
Programme, which will sit alongside the established Responsible
Tourism, Technology, Social Media, Blogging, Aviation and Hotels
programmes.
In total more than 100 sessions will take place at WTM 2014.
WTM 2013 saw more than 16,000 delegates (8,482 unique
people) attend its events programme.
4,903 exhibitors
WTM
Means business
®
3 – 6 November 2014
ExCeL London
Register now
wtmlondon.com
Official Media Partner
MORE THAN
Official Partner
PARTICIPANTS
middle east
22
Oman promotes itself as an ideal wedding destination for Indians
Oman is promoting itself in
Indian market as an ideal
wedding destination, offering
serene beaches, picturesque
mountains and golden desert sands. An excellent blend
of modern infrastructure and
old world charm, Oman is also
close to India not only geographically but also culturally.
Lubaina Sheerazi, India
Representative, Oman says,
“As per industry estimates,
the wedding market in India is
about $25 billion and is growing
at 25% to 30% annually. Indians
are constantly on the lookout
for new wedding destinations
to conduct lavish weddings
which has become a trend now.
We feel Oman has great potential to become a wedding destination and the feedback we
got from some wedding planners after they visited the country was very encouraging and
positive.”
To understand the Indian
wedding industry more meticulously, Oman has conducted
exclusive wedding planners
FAM in 2013 and 2014, receiving a huge positive response
from the wedding planners.
Additionally, Oman also participated for the first time at
The Experiential Planner
2014 in Delhi, Mumbai and
Ahmedabad.
“Through the nascent steps
we undertook in the last one
year, we have received some
good wedding enquiries. Muscat will soon witness two largescale Indian weddings comprising of 700 and 1000 people
taking place in November and
early next year respectively,”
adds Sheerazi.
Some world-class hotels and
resorts where one can organise
Indian weddings include Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort
& Spa, Al Nahda Resort and
Spa, Millennium Resort and
Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Morocco sets the goal of attracting
20 million tourists by 2020
Morocco is eyeing to reach the
goal of 20 million tourists by
the year 2020 with the help of
the Wessal Capital, a joint venture investment created by
Morocco and four Gulf States,
namely the UAE, Kuwait,
Qatar and KSA. The investment fund is for financing
large scale infrastructure projects and spur Morocco’s tourism resources. In 2013, tourist arrivals reached 10 million
tourists for the first time and
the tourism sector of the nation
represented a major 8.6% of the
Moroccan GDP. The sector also
helped the country to attract
$9.5 billion of tourist receipts.
Recently, Morocco’s Tourism Observatory launched a
tourist satisfactory report of
2013, which indicates that 25%
of tourists visiting the nation
were “very satisfied,” and 45%
were “satisfied”. About 87% of
total number of tourists said
that they either “really want
to’’ or “want to’’ visit Morocco
again. Marrakesh and Rabat
are the favourite cities of tourists, followed by Agadir.
Additionally,
Moroccan National Tourist Office
reported that Morocco is welcoming more number of Spanish travellers than ever before.
Morocco received more than
680,000 visitors from Spain
in 2013 and in 2014 it expects
to welcome 745,000 Spanish
tourists.
“Morocco is targeting new
international tourism markets such as the Gulf countries, Eastern Europe and
Latin America, by diversifying
and consolidating the infrastructure sector, which represents 8.5% of the GDP,”
Minister of Tourism, Lahcen
Haddad said.
Dubai-based Astamb Holidays celebrates
15 years of success in travel sector
Astamb Holidays, based in
Dubai, is celebrating 15 successful years in the travel and
hospitality sector. As a sign of
appreciation, the group will be
presenting the 15th Anniversary Package, effective from
September 1, 2014 at special
rates.
The city of Dubai has transformed into a Global Trade Capital and is equipped with latest
infrastructure and new projects. Dubai is also the host for
the World Expo 2020, a major
event that is to bring together
millions of tourists and businessmen to the city and thus
help it in advancing as a globally
renowned tourist destination.
The World Expo 2020 will
without a doubt be the next big
attraction and has the potential
to develop Dubai as an upcoming Global Business and Tourist Destination.
Keeping this in mind,
the Destination Marketing
Company in Dubai has been
launched by the group, aiming
at offering special rates to all
the travel partners with collaborative packages from five star
hotels to fully-furnished family
apartments. All rooms and restaurants have been upgraded
and refurbished and restaurants with upscale facilities
provided for better customer
satisfaction.
Etihad Airways continues with the
next phase of India growth plan
The major upgrade in Etihad Airways services to
Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai,
Kozhikode and Hyderabad will
soon provide travellers with
more connections between
India, the UAE and other key
markets around the world.
Due to the rising demand
from passengers, especially
from business and leisure travellers, a double-daily frequency
will be introduced to Bengaluru,
Chennai and Kozhikode,
and
Hyderabad
from
October 1. Therefore, guests can
now choose from daytime or
overnight flights, and improved
connections between India and
key markets in the GCC, Middle
East, Africa, Europe and North
America are expected to form.
Double-daily frequencies
were also introduced to Kochi,
Mumbai and New Delhi routes
within the last few months,
supporting a long-term development plan in India.
James Hogan, President
and Chief Executive Officer of
Etihad Airways, said, “As one of
the largest, fastest-growing and
most exciting travel markets in
the world, India continues to
QMICE: Qatar’s one stop
solution for event
planners and organisers
Qatar Airways has introduced
QMICE, a new and easy one-stop
solution for meeting and incentive planners and conference
organisers. Through QMICE,
planners can arrange meetings
and incentives, manage events
for 20 to 300 passengers, and
block seats at pre-agreed fares by
submitting a group fare request
online.
Planners will also benefit from flexible booking conditions, including bookings from
multiple points of origins for less
than 10 passengers per departure
across multiple flights and dates,
receiving event quotes more than
12 months ahead of departure.
Additionally,
conference
and exhibition organisers who
play an important role in our
growth plans. Last year alone,
more than 885,000 people flew
on our Indian services, a substantial increase of 20% on the
previous year.”
Furthermore, Etihad Airways has also announced
expansion of its first flight
operations to North-East India
with the launch of a daily service between Abu Dhabi and
Kolkata, commencing on February 15, 2015.
“The launch of our new
Kolkata services demonstrates our enduring commitment to serve the Indian market and people, whether in
India or overseas. We are confident that this new service, our
first to north eastern India, will
boost travel and trade between
the UAE and India, further
strengthen our presence in
India, and connect key strategic
cities with Abu Dhabi,” Hogan
added.
are managing events with more
than 300 participants, along with
international associations and
their appointed travel agents,
may take advantage of attractive
discounts by using the Preferred
Airline function offered through
QMICE. Discounts include providing attendees, who book
online or through an appointed
travel agent, discounts of up to
25% on Qatar Airways and Oneworld feeder flights. Organisers may also enjoy the same discounts for their site inspection
trips to the event destination
and earn incentives in the form
of Qmiles through their attendees’ travel.
QMICE also allows organisers the convenience of booking
Al Maha Meet and Greet, Doha
Stopovers, Doha City Tours,
and visa arrangements for
Qatar through Qatar Airways
Holidays.
middle east • 23
Egypt: VoA for Indians travelling
via Egyptian agents
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism
along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have initiated the
facility of Visa on Arrival (VoA)
to Indian tourists, who are travelling through an Egyptian
travel agent/supplier.
In an official statement by
the Egyptian Tourism Office
in Mumbai, it was stated that
those Indian travellers who cannot opt to travel via an Egyptian
travel agent/supplier will have
to apply for visa at the Delhi
Embassy or Mumbai Consulate.
Bahrain relaxes visa rules for Indians
Bahrain is mulling the implementation of a new visa policy,
under which nationals from
64 countries will be provided
a one-month visa on arrival, it
was revealed by the Bahrain
Economic Development (EDB).
The policy, expected to be
implemented in January 2015,
also allows for the visa to be
renewed for an additional three
months.
India, Pakistan, South
Africa, European nations such
as Romania, Portugal and
Poland and South American
nations feature on the list of the
new nations, EDB confirmed.
The policy has the potential to affect over 2.5 billion people, and is aimed at enabling
Egypt Air to launch
three weekly direct
flights to Delhi
EgyptAir has announced thriceweekly flights between New
Delhi and Cairo in October 2014.
Apart from this newly launched
service, there is already an existing four-times-weekly service to
Mumbai.
Egypt’s Tourism Minister
Hisham Za’zou commented,
“The ministry is now seeking to
open new tourism markets like
India to boost cultural tourism.”
Adel El Masry, Director,
Egyptian Tourism Office in
India, said, “In 2010, about
170,000 Indian tourists visited
Egypt while the 2013 count was
90,000. In 2014, Egypt expects
about 100,000 Indian visitors.”
Tasneem Sharafally, Director,
Mumbai-based Global Destinations, added,“I expect about
25% growth in 2015 with the
help of these additional flights,
if the destination is politically
stable.”
expatriates who do business in
Bahrain to easily travel to boost
its tourism industry.
A similar visa policy is
already in place for nationals
from 38 countries, and once
implemented, it will be available to 102 countries in total,
EDB stated.
The new policy was presented in a cabinet meeting earlier this week by Crown Prince
Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa,
Bahrain’s first deputy PM and
Chairman of the EDB.
He
emphasised
that
“reforms such as this, which
support the business environment in the Kingdom, will help
to continue to attract inward
investment and drive forward
economic growth and job
creation.”
Kamal bin Ahmed, Minister of Transportation and
acting CEO of the EDB, said:
“Throughout history, Bahrain’s
economic progress has been
built on a tradition of openness, based around its role as
an established hub for trade and
investment.”
“The new visa policy – one
of the most flexible visa policies
in the region – follows that tradition, enabling citizens from
more than 100 countries to
enjoy easier and quicker access
to the Middle East’s most open
economy, as ranked by the Heritage Foundation’s 2014 Index of
Economic Freedom,” he added.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign tourist
arrivals reach 14 million
Hamad Al-Sheikh, Vice President of the Saudi Commission
for Tourism and Antiquities
(SCTA) for Marketing and Programs, announced that foreign
tourist arrivals in Saudi Arabia
during a year have reached 14
million.
The recently held tourism
information
meeting
in
Riyadh, AL-Sheikh further
revealed that about half of the
foreign travellers are visitors
of the Two Holy Mosques and
other half has been travelling
to the Kingdom for business,
tourism or visiting friends and
family.
Jordan connects with tourists
via A World of Stories
Royal Jordanian (RJ) has
launched a brand campaign,
‘A World of Stories’, focussing
on passengers’ experience of
flying on the airline.
The multi-platform campaign has been launched with
an aim to reflect the travel
experience, starting from the
moment the tickets are purchased to the moment the passengers land; it covers everything in between, such as
planning to travel, seat booking and issuing the boarding pass — all through the RJ
website, which can be accessed
anywhere in the world — airport services, including the
Crown lounge at Queen Alia
International Airport, board
the aircraft and travel in
Crown and Economy Class.
The campaign urges passengers to treasure their very
own travel experience and
narrate the details of their
flight and share its excitement
to family and friends. And in
return, through A World of
Stories, RJ narrates its own
story of five decades.
Further, Jordan Tourism
Board also started its Online
Specialist Programme to
increase the travel trade’s
knowledge, capability, and
sales of Jordan as a destination. The Jordan Specialist
certificate will be awarded to
those individuals who successfully complete the online
programme. After the completion, these travel and tour
agents will be encouraged to
utilise the knowledge gained
about Jordan in promoting the
nation. The programme covers all the basic information
about Jordan, such as flights,
things to do, currencies, visas,
weather, etc.
Abu Dhabi witnesses a record
hike in tourism figures
Data from Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority
stated that about 1,435,932
guests stayed in Abu Dhabi’s
155 hotels and hotel apartments during the first five
months of this year, marking
a 30% growth as compared to
the same period in 2013.
Meanwhile, the guest
nights reached 4,375,395, up
22% year-on-year, while the
hotel revenues rose by 14% to
AED 2,675 billion, with
food and beverage income
climbing by 12% to just over
AED 1 billion.
Internationally India is
now the top source market for
the emirate, marking a growth
of 38% year-on-year. The UK
is the emirate’s second strongest market with 85,956 British
citizens staying in Abu Dhabi,
a 28% rise on 2013. Russians
remain Abu Dhabi’s longest
stayers, averaging 6.22 nights
each in the emirate.
“Overall the performance
makes for good reading. Abu
Dhabi constantly produces
more compelling reasons to
visit and to stay longer,” said
HE Jasem Al Darmaki, Deputy Director General, TCA
Abu Dhabi.
“We are poised to achieve
our 2014 guest arrivals target of 3.2 million and anticipate increased business
from Australia and Italy with
Etihad Airways’ planned
launch of new routes from
Perth and Rome,” added Al
Darmaki.
Further, passenger traffic at the airport witnessed an
increase by 27.4% in May as
around 1.63 million passengers passed through the airport in that month, compared
with 1.28 million a year ago.
europe
Romania: Significant increase in
river, cruise and beach tourism
Romania’s Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority
(ARBDD) released a data which
stated that a total of 16,400 tourists visited the Danube Delta
during the first half of 2014, out
of which 10,000 were foreigners,
marking an increase of 17.6%
year on year. ARBDD further
informs that in June alone, 63%
of tourists that checked-in in the
Danube Delta were foreigners.
The number of cruising tourists coming to Romania will
record an increase of approximately 20% in 2014. If in 2013
approximately 54,000 passengers visited the harbour of Constanta, in 2014 up to this date,
there have been almost 64,500
passengers. The increase is
due to the efforts of CN Administratia Porturilor Maritime
Constanta, Asociatia Litora
– Delta Dunarii and the local
authorities.
Corina Martin, Chairwoman
of the Litoral – Delta Dunarii
Association further stated that
the number of foreign tourists
spending their holiday on the
Romanian seaside, like Mamaia,
is witnessing a significant boost.
Keeping in mind the rising demands of beach tourists, more numbers of hotels on
the Romanian seashore have
adopted all-inclusive services
over the past two years.
24
Monaco attracts Indians via
culinary tourism and nightlife
Famous for the variety and
inventiveness of its cooking and delicious cuisines,
Monaco is the perfect meeting
place of two cultures. Monaco
cuisine inclines towards the
French and Italian due to the
past influences.
The principality has over
170 fine dining restaurants
and finest chefs to cater to the
taste buds of Indians, with
Seafood and fish being the
prominent elements of the
cuisine. The famous restaurant Nobu at Hotel Fairmont
Monte Carlo, the famous and
historical Cafe de Paris, the Le
Louis XV, which is also wellknown for its collection of old
rare wines, Elsa restaurant,
situated at the Monte Carlo
Beach Hotel, Le Vistamar and
Yoshi, all are famous for its
cuisine of exceptional quality.
For Indian food lovers,
Monaco not only offers nonvegetarian, but also offers the
best of vegetarian cuisines.
Along with the best food,
Monaco has a diverse nighttime entertainment menu.
The palatial casinos and
glitzy clubs of the famous
Monte Carlo area are worthwhile if you are looking for
a high glamour factor. Pubs,
plazas, bars, cafes, and live
music clubs are also found
in Monaco. These venues
give the destination a wellrounded after-dark scene that
offers something for everyone, no matter what their
taste is. Places, such as Casino
de Monte Carlo, Sun Casino,
Casino La Rascasse, Jimmy’z,
Alang Bar, NI Box Night Club,
and many more make Monaco
the favourite place for party
lovers.
Switzerland eyes tourist arrivals
from India and other BRIC nations
Research and Markets, world’s
largest market research store,
announced the release of the
“Travel and Tourism in Switzerland to 2018” report. The
report revealed that during the
next four years, i.e. from 20142018 Switzerland is expected
to witness a rising number of
inbound travellers from BRIC
nations- Brazil, Russia, India
and China.
Among the BRIC areas,
Indian travellers are visiting
Switzerland more than others
due to region’s excellent facilities. India has always remained
one of the major source markets as the tourism board of
Switzerland organises consumer programmes and training workshops for the travel
agents in various Indian cities.
Switzerland
tourism
strongly believes that Zurich is
emerging as the new business
tourism hub. With the completion of the large scale airport
real estate “The Circle” project
at Zurich airport by 2017, the
area will attract more business
travellers.
The Swiss tourism board
also wants to strengthen the
luxury traveller base. Switzerland is further showcasing
itself as a perfect destination
for adventures, seniors, honeymooners and gourmet holidays.
Eden Incoming, DMC Italy appoint Global
Destinations as India Representative
Eden Incoming and DMC Italy
have appointed Global Destinations as their Sales and Marketing representative in India, from
July 1, 2014.
Global Destinations Founder,
Pranav Kapadia said, “This is
another feather in our cap and
we are really excited to have the
opportunity to promote a destination as diverse as Italy. The
country that has welcomed over
250,000 Indian travellers in 2012
has become a stand – alone destination in our market with
discerning travellers exploring places like Amalfi, Puglia,
Sardinia and Sicily apart from
the ever popular Rome, Venice, Florence and Milan. We
look forward to working with
our trade partners on pan India
basis to further develop this
product.”
Eden Incoming is a part of
Italy’s leading Tour Operator
– Eden Viaggi, which has been
promoting Italy for the last 31
years. They have their own
resorts and hotels across the
world whereas Eden Incoming
is one of Italy’s leading wholesalers of hotels and ground service products.
There are over thousands of
travel suppliers who make their
products available to the travel
agents and travel operators who
would possibly innovate something interesting and new for
their client. Eden Viaggi being
a renowned name in the Italian
Travel Industry, is known for
its amazing inventory that has
Spa & Luxury Resorts, Summer
Holidays, Escorted Tours, City &
Town Hotels, Group Programs.
These are constantly scrutinised
with regular quality checks.
Eden Viaggi stays true to
its word of being “flexible” as
it allows delivery and creation
of unique experiences of their
offered products. With more
than 500,000 people travelling in 2013, the numbers not
only depict the popularity of the
brand but also the passenger
satisfaction, as most stated that
they prefer their vacations with
Eden Viaggi.
Spain launches mobile
version of tourism web portal
Spain has launched the mobile
version of the country’s official
tourism portal, www.spain.
info. And along with it a new
app generating platform has
been unveiled, named as ‘Apps
in Spain’, to meet the demands
of the digital tourist. The aim of
this launch is to use new technologies to raise the competitiveness of Spanish tourist
destinations and the quality of
services they offer.
A recent finding by the
Tourism Ministry revealed
that one in four visits to the official tourism site came from a
mobile device prompt the idea
of launching a mobile version
of the site. Available in four
languages (English, Spanish, French and German) and
the mobile version comes with
improved geolocation resources
as well as content optimised for
on-the-go travellers.
Meanwhile, the ‘Apps in
Spain’ tech platform focuses
on developing tourism-related
applications. It features accessibility tools, the possibility of
incorporating user-generated
content and reviews, designing
postcards and creating routes.
The series of apps includes specific destination guides, beach
apps, apps for travelling with
children and booking apps.
EUROPE • 25
Cyprus takes first step towards
strengthening culinary tourism
The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) has been launched a
promotional campaign highlighting the Cypriot breakfast as
an integral part of a wider plan
to strengthen the island’s tourism potential.
The project is based on a
study which showed that tourists are always seeking authentic tastes offered by the local
cuisine.
CTO announced that this
is the first step in a wider strategic plan to develop culinary
tourism in Cyprus. The Cypriot
Breakfast project is currently
being tested in Paphos hotels,
aiming to implement it islandwide within 2015.
‘‘Carob
syrup,
epsima
(concentrated grape juice), fresh
goat milk and cheese, as well as
fresh herbs and smoked meats
of Cyprus are all traditional
products that will be used,’’ the
CTO said.
First integrated hotel
launched in Zagreb
First integrated hotel in Croatia, “ZigZag”, has been inaugurated in Zagreb in the presence
of Tourism Minister Darko
Lorencin. A new category by
the Tourism Ministry, the integrated hotel is an accommodation to promote the system
of family-run accommodation
facilities, facilitate their integration and improve service quality
and professionalism.
New tourist services in the
family-run
accommodation
sector include integrated and
diffuse hotels, consisting three
or more accommodation units
and a reception. The first diffuse
hotel was also recently opened
in Polaca near the coastal city
of Zadar.
ZigZag Hotel owner Igor
Kordic explained that the work
system in integrated hotels has
made work easier in terms of
logistics. He further recommended the service to both
companies and households in
the tourism business.
An integrated hotel can consist of three or more facilities
in a town, which must have a
joint reception desk, a common
room and other hospitality services. Accommodation units
are rooms, apartments, studio
apartments and holiday houses.
France presents new initiatives to attract Indian tourists
On his first two- day visit to
India, Laurent Fabius, Foreign
Affairs & International Development Minister announced
a slew of measures to attract
Indian visitors to France,
when he met professionals
from the tourism industry, in
Mumbai recently.
In a bid to boost France’s
image to Indian tourists as
the most welcoming and beautiful destination, the Minister announced that effective
from January 1, 2015 French
Visas will be issued within
48 hours. Moreover, an official app called “Chalo Paris”
has been designed for smart
phones and tablets for Indian
travellers heading to France.
This will be launched in summer 2014 with an initial focus
on Paris and other French
destinations.
Today, France is ranked
as the world’s no.1 tourist
destination of which Indian
tourists account for nearly
300,00,00 visitors. According
to the Minister “the French
Government is looking at a target of 100 million foreign tourists annually” as announced
at a National Conference
held from November 2013 to
June 2014, in efforts to mobilise all public and private players in the sector including the
local government.
Later at the same event,
Bollywood actor Shahrukh
Khan was conferred the insignia “Chevalier de la legion
d’Honneur” (Knight of the
Legion of Honour) by Laurent Fabius. Speaking on the
occasion, the Minister commended Shahrukh Khan for
being a Brand Ambassador to
several world leading brands.
Shahrukh
Khan,
on
receiving this recognition
remembered his late mother
whose birth anniversary had
passed recently. He spoke
with emotion of how proud
his mother would have been
to witness her son being
honoured with France’s
VisitEngland launches cycling
themed tourism campaign
VisitEngland has recently
launched its cycling themed
national marketing campaign,
aimed to inspire Britons to
take a cycling holiday in England this year. The campaign
will focus on a wide range of
cycling related tourism products and experiences with an
aim to strengthen the enthusiasm for the sport.
The value of cycling market
after the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
and events like Yorkshire’s
Grand Depart is expected to
be worth over £3 billion by
2015.
VisitEngland Chief Executive James Berresford said,
“It is wonderful to see the
increasing enthusiasm for
cycling continue to grow following the Olympic and Paralympic Games and amidst
the excitement of events like
the Grand Depart in Yorkshire this weekend. We want
to continue to build on this
momentum and showcase
the wonderful opportunities
to explore England on two
wheels and the fantastic bike
friendly holidays on offer.”
Tourism Minister Helen
Grant said, “Recent British
success at Olympic and Paralympic Games and at the Tour
de France inspired many to
get on their bikes. Hosting the
first three stages of the most
famous bike race in the world
will build on this further. It
gives us a great opportunity
to showcase Yorkshire as an
outstanding tourist destination and promote cycling in
England.”
most prestigious title. Khan
spoke a few words in French
which drew applause from
the audience. Further, he
even
complimented
the
Foreign Minister for pronouncing names of his Hindi
films correctly.
Greece’s international
tourist arrivals increase by
17.1% in first half of 2014
During the first six months
of 2014, international arrivals
increased 17.1% or by 760,000,
contributing well towards
achieving the target of
19 million international arrivals in 2014, set by the Greek
Tourism Enterprises Association (SETE). The target also
includes road and sea arrivals. Apart from this, another
2.2 million are expected
to arrive to Greece on
cruise ships.
According to data released
by SETE, Athens continues
its excellent performance with
an increase of 32.8% or about
400,000 additional arrivals
in the first six months of 2014,
paving its way to fulfil the
target of 750,000 additional
arrivals in the capital. In the
meantime, a large increase of
over 20% has been recorded at
the airports of Chania (24.1%),
Santorini (26%), Kalamata
(58.5%) and Samos (22.1%).
americas
26
Mexico Tourism repackages popular destinations
Mexico’s tourism industry
is showing steady progress,
lately it is witnessing significant growth. Recently held
Tianguis Turístico, Mexico’s
largest tourism trade show in
Quintana Roo, home to Cancún and the Riviera Maya. In
its 39th year, several travel
agents, travel wholesalers,
destination agencies, hotel
and airline companies, and
the press participated in the
show. During the inaugural
speech, President Enrique
Peña Nieto announced his
plans to invest $13.8 million
in tourism infrastructure.
Also, a major development
project- Maya Ka’an- which
combines Mayan culture and
ecotourism has been undertaken. The government agencies, eco-tourism groups and
private businesses are now
working together to ensure
the sustainability of the Riviera Maya’s natural attributes
and its Mayan communities.
The Sian Ka’an Biosphere
Reserve is now offering Kayaking, bird watching, nature
tours and even a night-time
spooky bike ride. The area
protects million acres of
lagoons, canals, mangroves,
and reefs along a relatively
undisturbed Riviera Maya
coastline south of Tulum.
Cirque du Soleil, on the
other hand, has unveiled its
new custom theatre at the
Grand Mayan resort, with
regular performances of
“Joya”.
Further, five cruise lines
have returned for the 20142015 seasons, carrying an
estimated 200,000 passengers. Puerto Los Cabos will
receive a new Secrets resort
in December 2015 while a JW
Marriott is currently under
construction.
Canada launches the CAN+ programme
for Indian travellers
As the number of Indians
visiting Canada continues to
increase, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has
announced the CAN+ programme in India. This programme is aimed at initiating
smooth and efficient processing for Indian visitors coming
to Canada.
“The programme is open
to Indian nationals who have
travelled to Canada or the U.S.
within the last 10 years. They
will benefit from expedited
processing, which will free
up visa officers to work on
other cases, improving overall processing time for all
Indian travellers,” Alexander said.
A CAN+ pilot programme
in India will witness issuance
of visas within five days and
with over 95% approval rate.
Individuals eligible for this
programme will not need to
provide as many supporting
documents when submitting
their documents.
During the launch event of
the programme, Alexander
met representatives of India’s
business, tourism and education sectors and discussed
successful government initiatives that are boosting travel
to Canada from India.
Brazil witnesses one million foreign
tourist arrivals this World Cup season
Tourism officials in Brazil have
announced that a total of one
million foreign travellers visited the country during the
recently held football World
Cup. Around 600,000 more
foreign tourists entered Brazil,
than the Tourism Board had
originally expected. Over 60%
travellers were in the country
for the first time. The tourism
authorities further announced
that about 95% of the foreign
visitors who came for the World
Cup said they intend to return.
Brazil was already expecting a boost in its tourism revenue after the World Cup, which
will be followed by the upcoming 2016 Olympics in Rio de
Janeiro. The World Travel &
Tourism Council stated that the
nation is expecting 6.4 million
international tourist arrivals in
2014, and that this number will
go up to 14.2 million by 2024.
“We had a strict plan in
place to follow up with the
construction works of stadiums. We controlled every delivery step of each ground,” said
Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo
Rebelo.
“We’re one of the few countries able to stage such a complex event, providing quality
infrastructure and organisation, with such a wonderful
people, who welcomed everyone so well,” said Luiz Alberto
Figueiredo, Brazil’s Minister of
External Relations.
Air Canada named Best Airline in North
America for fifth consecutive year
Air Canada bagged the title of
‘Best Airline in North America’ in the Skytrax 2014 World
Airline Awards at the Farnborough International Airshow. For the fifth consecutive
year, Air Canada has been recognised as the best airline in
North America. The result has
been decided based on surveys
of nearly 19 million global passengers, where product excellence and customer satisfaction were the key benchmarks.
“We are extremely pleased
that the Skytrax World Airline
Awards have recognised Air
Canada as the Best Airline in
North America for five straight
years. The North American
aviation industry is highly
competitive and it is therefore
a source of great pride for Air
Canada to consistently lead in
this geography in terms of both
service excellence and industry-leading products. Being
the ‘Best Airline in North
America’ also places Air Canada amongst the leading airlines of the world and sets
the bar very high to continue
improving. We are delighted
to have established a leadership position in such a global
industry from a Canadian
base,” said Calin Rovinescu,
President and Chief Executive Officer.
NYC & Company, GTA and Virgin Atlantic
Airways offer FAM trip for Indian travel agents
NYC & Company, along with
GTA and Virgin Atlantic Airways has launched an exciting incentive programme
that allows the Indian travel
trade to visit New York City
on a Familiarisation (FAM)
trip. To avail the FAM trip,
the agents should be certified NYC Specialists. Each
fortnight from June 6 to
August 31, 2014, one agent
who makes the maximum
bookings with GTA on Virgin Atlantic to New York City
will be selected and the top
seven agents will be invited
for the FAM.
“We are delighted to bring
this exciting opportunity
enabling the Indian travel
trade to experience both Virgin Atlantic’s fabulous service and the New York City.
We connect passengers seamlessly through our London
hub and are witnessing a huge
surge in sales from both Delhi
and Mumbai on this popular
route. We appreciate that the
passengers today enjoy taking a break during the journey, stretching their legs and
shopping in Duty Free. We
are confident that leveraging
the synergies of the partnership with GTA and NYC & Co
will really drive up the number of passengers travelling to
the Big Apple this year,” said
Stephen King, General Manager, Virgin Atlantic India.
americas • 27
Hawaii renovates series of hotels
to boost MICE tourism
Hawaii is showcasing itself as
one of the leading MICE destination with a series of new
investments or renovations.
Following a renovation of
$15 million, the new 50-suite
Montage Kapalua Bay has been
opened on the northwest coast
of Maui providing comfortable
luxury, gracious service, and
regionally inspired dining.
Further, Outrigger Enterprises Group has announced
a $100 million investment to
start the renovation of Outrigger Reef on the Beach in
Waikiki. The planned renovation will add a 34,000 sq ft open
recreation space, enhanced
swimming pools, landscaped
lounging areas, open-air dining facilities, and a new tower
with over 200 full-service hotel
rooms. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2017 and be
completed in 2019.
The Four Seasons Resort
Lanai at Manele Bay has also
started with another phase of
its multi-million dollar renovation, where the rooms will
feature extraordinary commissioned artwork, contemporary interiors including rosewood, leather, iron and linen
furnishings.
Additionally, Hilton Waikoloa Village is all set to unveil its
new improved property and
showcase the 235,000 sq ft of
renovated meeting, convention,
and outdoor function areas by
September.
The Kahala Hotel & Resort
announced the launch of its
new business center and hospitality suite, with short-term
use of personal computers and
printers, while the The Royal
Hawaiian Theater declared the
recent renovation and its availability for high-profile events
including award shows and
incentive trips and conferences.
Peru: Internal and Business Tourism
to see significant revenue growth
Internal tourism in Peru
records more than U.S. $7.5 billion per year. Domestic tourism
is growing and changing along
with the rest of the Peruvian
economy.
Diego Arbulu, Director of
travel website Turismoi.pe,
said, “Internal tourism is an
industry that has been evolving over time, but lacks the digital tools to support its growth.
About 77% of travellers look for
information online.”
“We’ve categorised more
than 10,000 tourist attractions, 4,000 geolocated places
on Google Maps, and that’s
generating more than 140,000
monthly visits to the site,”
Arbulu added.
Another tourism sector
which is witnessing a significant growth is the Business
Tourism in Peru. According to the National Chamber
of Tourism (Canatur), business tourism is expected to
generate U.S. $2 billion in
revenues in 2014, up from
the U.S. $1, 2 billion recorded
last year.
“Business tourism will show
greater dynamism from August
as more international meetings,
congresses, forums and several
visits for market research will
take place starting that month.
Business tourists will visit Peru
to monitor their trading and
investment activities, to visit
their clients, to train their staff
travelers, San Francisco Travel
has completed a new campaign
for spring titled “Never the
same. Always San Francisco,”
highlighting the fact that with
every visit, the city has something, new, unique and fresh to
offer to its tourists.
San Francisco Travel is also
embarking on several new
Six Flags Great America
theme park in Gurnee, Illinois
has unveiled Goliath-the fastest wooden roller coaster in
the world with 72 m/ hr speed
and features the world’s tallest drop at of 180 feet, which
is also the steepest at 85°. The
roller coaster goes upside
down twice making it the
most extreme roller coaster
of its kind in the world. It has
already grabbed three world
records since it opened in June.
“Goliath is innovation at its
best and will forever change
the skyline of Six Flags Great
America,” said Hank Salemi,
Park President. “This park
provides the most thrills for
all ages at any park in the country and we are committed to
bringing new and innovative
rides, shows and attractions
to our guests every year.”
The addition of Goliath
makes Six Flags Great America home to the most wooden
roller coaster tracks of any
theme park in the world.
and to program their activities for the following year,”
explained Canatur’s President
Jorge Jochamowitz.
He further stated that
business
tourists
usually visit the country during September and October,
in order to make schedules
for next year and Chile,
the United States, Brazil and
Spain are the key source market for Peru.
San Francisco welcomes record
number of tourist arrivals
The San Francisco Travel Association announced that last
year San Francisco welcomed
16.9 million visitors, an increase
of 2.3% from 2012, while these
visitors spent $9.38 billion in
2013, citing a record growth of
5.1% from 2012.
The tourism industry in the
city generated $607 million in
taxes, up 8.1% from the previous year. In 2013, there was an
average of 134,231 visitors in San
Francisco each day, while visitor
spending equated to $25.7 million daily.
Additionally, San Francisco Travel has booked 41 conventions at Moscone Center so
far, filling 945,000 hotel rooms
between 2014 and 2028.
To keep San Francisco’s
message in front of the leisure
Goliath: Record-breaking
roller coaster opens in Illinois
marketing initiatives, including,
a completely redesigned website
in the works that is due to debut
in September. New research
into San Francisco’s domestic and international visitors is
currently in progress and new
direct marketing capabilities led
by a to-be-named executive with
database marketing expertise.
Chicago: Tallest building to add
observation deck for tourists
Under a $50 million makeover project, the tallest building in west of Chicago, the U.S.
Bank Tower is planning to
add an outdoor observation
deck and restaurant to three
top floors. The refurbishment
will take place on the 69th,
70th, and 71th floor. The lobby
and entrances will be remodelled to keep office tenants and
tourists separated.
“Renovations are underway at the 72-story building
is expected to be completed
in the third quarter of 2015,
said Richard Stockton, Chief
Executive Officer, Americas
at Overseas Union Enterprise.
“It’s a bona fide tourist attraction that would be adding to
downtown. We’d expect a minimum 500,000 visitors a year.”
However, the U.S. Bank
Tower will soon lose its tag
as the tallest building in Los
Angeles, after the 73-floor
Wilshire Grand Center, a $1
billion hotel-and-office complex is scheduled to open in
2017 with a “sky lobby” offering similar views.
Africa
28
Seychelles Tourism conducts its first
ever roadshow in India
Seychelles Tourism Board
conducted its first ever roadshow in India at Le Méridien
in New Delhi and at The Trident, in Mumbai. The roadshow enlightened the Indian
travel trade community about
Seychelles and encouraged
to build a strong communication process between the Seychelles’ private sector and the
Indian travel agents.
Commenting on his trip
to India, Hon. Minister of
Tourism and Culture Alain
St. Ange said, “We are ready
to claim a fair share of the very
important Indian market. The
roadshow is just a start. Our
local business partners are
ready to work with us and we
are on the verge of making a big
announcement that will bring
to the front the new level of
cooperation between India and
Seychelles. We look forward to
the support of the Indian travel
trade community in our efforts
to promote Seychelles.”
Seychelles islands have a lot
to offer making it an ideal holiday option for honeymoon,
family vacation, adventure,
eco-tourism and luxury. It is
famous for its flora, fauna,
ethnicity, architecture, cuisine, stunning beaches, traditions, festivals and activities.
The islands offer excellent diving, fishing, trekking, eco-holidays, spa & wellness and golf
opportunities.
South Africa focuses on wooing Indian travellers
South Africa is focussing on
the Indian market with great
interest to promote its tourism products. “With the evolving taste of the Indian travellers, South Africa is the ideal
destination that has something
to offer to suit every travellers
needs. The focus is on highlighting the kind of different
experiences an Indian family can engage in during their
holiday in South Africa,” said
Thulani Nzima, CEO, South
African Tourism (SAT).
He further stated that SAT
is planning to host a number
of roadshows and FAM trips
in India keeping in mind the
products and areas of interests of the Indian travellers. To
enlighten the travellers about
such events, SAT is planning
to take various initiatives.
“The popular travel agents
will be hosted for FAM trips
to South Africa through the
year in association with South
African suppliers. SAT will
be entering into joint marketing agreements with leading
travel companies in India to
launch attractive travel packages for consumers,” he added.
Nzima explained that
Indian tourists are moving
towards newer concepts like
self-drive holidays or expressing interest in exploring new
destinations in South Africa.
Indians who visit South Africa
now look for niche and unexplored destinations over the
traditional ones.
“Keeping this in mind, our
360 degree trade and marketing initiatives aim to build
an aspiration around South
Africa as an ideal holiday destination, catering to diverse
interests of Indian travellers.
With the Indian outbound
market expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, we
will continue to woo Indian
audiences with our unique
and innovative consumer and
trade initiatives in 2014,” concluded Nzima.
Tourist arrivals in Mauritius
rise during first half of 2014
During the first half of 2014,
the number of tourist arrivals in Mauritius rose four
percent, compared with the
same period last year. Official
figures stated that the growth
was the result of higher arrivals from Asia. Statistics Mauritius further stated that arrivals in the first six months of
2014 increased to 490,697
from 471,664 a year ago and
numbers from Asia rose
26.6% to 81,193, where China
acted as the key source market with 86.9% tourists.
The number of tourists
visiting from Europe, which
accounts for two-thirds of visitors to Mauritius, rose marginally by 0.8% to 266,295.
Statistics
Mauritius
further added that it is
expected that the arrivals for
the year 2014 will rise to
3.5% to 1,030,000. Also, the
Bank of Mauritius is hoping for 44.4 billion Mauritius
rupees ($1.49 billion) tourism
earnings this year, up from
40.6 billion in 2013.
Reunion Island launches Visa on
Arrival facility for Indians
Reunion Island has recently
launched the Visa on Arrival
(VoA) facility to Indians, under
which the visa is valid for 15
days.
Stephane Bonneau, Manager – Indian Ocean and Asian
Markets, Reunion Island Tourism Board, said, “The VoA is
free of charge and can be availed
by Indian travellers who have
booked packages (flight tickets
and accommodation) through
an Indian agent or tour operator working with a local DMC
(Destination
Management
Company) in Reunion Island.’
“The introduction of the
VoA facility underlines the
importance and the potential
of the Indian market and we
expect to attract greater number of Indian visitors. India and
Reunion share strong links,
and almost 20% of the population on the Island are of Indian
origin. While Mauritius is a
popular destination among the
Indian market, Reunion Island
is still relatively unknown. We
want Indian tourists to combine the two islands. Reunion
is just 30 minutes away by
flight from Mauritius, yet it is
very different. Reunion Island
is an exclusive and not a mass
tourism destination. It is a
niche destination that offers
UNSECO World Heritage Sites,
adventure, culture, wellness
and natural beauty,” added
Bonneau.
Alefiya Singh, Director, Iris
Reps, said,” Reunion Island,
which is known as the mini
Hawaii in the Indian Ocean, is
a highly attractive proposition
for Indians looking for a niche
and experiential destination.”
Nigeria promotes tourism through Nigeria, Our Heritage project
Stakeholders are spreading
awareness on the need to promote Nigeria’s tourism potential so as to avoid dependence on
only oil and gas for revenue generation. Keeping this in mind,
Fidelis Ekwunife Anosike, collaborating with the Ministry of
Tourism, Culture and National
Orientation, initiated the ‘Nigeria, Our Heritage’ (NOH) project
in Abuja, which is fully endorsed
by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Howard University Alumni Association.
The project has been started
to market Nigeria as a top five
world economy by 2114, through
documentaries, publications,
conferences, events, road shows,
among others. Further, the
project will also look towards
showcasing Nigeria’s image
abroad as an investment destination and to promote the
country’s tourism potential
and cultural heritage for wealth
creation.
The Minister of Tourism,
Culture and National Orientation, Edem Duke, said, “We
shall be working with the initiators of this programme to
engage in Nigeria’s global image
overhaul and promote our tourism potentials and cultural heritage for the patriotic purpose
of creating wealth for national
development and securing
international trust for foreign
investment.”
He further announced that
the project will be adopted
under the federal government’s
policy on Public Private Partnership (PPP). He expressed his
beliefs that NOH would support
and uphold the cardinal principles of his Ministry. He further
encouraged a strong partnership between Nigerian companies, the media and government
in order to transform and promote Nigeria as an investment
destination in the world.
CAribbean
29
Caribbean Tourism bounces back on track with new goals
Outgoing Chairman of the
Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Beverly Nicholson-Dotty stated that because
of the recent improvement in
the economy in U.S., Caribbean tourism is witnessing steady progress and a
rebound in the sector.
“We are finally seeing that
the U.S. economy, which still
remains our key market for
the region, is improving, and
so has our tourism numbers,”
she said. “The forecast for
this year is just a little under
the two percent up, year over
year. Revenue, in terms of
room revenue, is increasing;
U.S. Virgin Islands tops list of best
places to visit in the Caribbean
The U.S. Virgin Islands bagged
the top position on the U.S.
News & World Report- “Best
Places to Visit in the Caribbean” list for 2014-2015. It
was followed by the Cayman
Islands, and third position
went to St. Kitts and Nevis.
“We’re proud to be recognised as the top-ranked Caribbean destination, and honoured to know that it was from
the recommendations of our
visitors and the U.S. News
& World Report’s editorial
staff,” said VI Tourism Commissioner Beverly NicholsonDoty. “This recognition further
illustrates our increased focus
and work with partners to provide world-class tourism offerings that create long-lasting
impressions. Tourism truly is
all of us, which means this honour is a testament to all of us.”
U.S. News & World Report
stated that the Carnival
celebrations, St. John’s serenity
and St. Croix’s history, as well
as its prominence in the cruise
industry have led this win to
the U.S. Virgin Islands.
U.S. News and World
Report Staff Editor Allison
Michaels said, “Since this
island trio is a major port for
Caribbean-bound cruise ships,
U.S. Virgin Islands’ visibility is
growing – and travellers seem
to like what they see.”
“The timing of this recognition is perfect, aligning with
our current ‘Virgin Islands
Nice’ summer travel promotion,” said Nicholson-Doty.
Bahamas Tourism announces rise in air arrivals
Bahamas has witnessed a positive turn around in air arrivals
over the first quarter of the year
with overall air arrivals for the
entire nation growing by 3.1%.
Director of Airlift in the
Ministry of Tourism Tyrone
Sawyer said Grand Bahama is
also experiencing an increase in
airlift via the nation’s national
flag carrier.
“Bahamasair is operating scheduled services from
May 2014 – October 2014 into
Grand Bahama Island with
two flights per week from
six U.S. cities: Newark, New
Jersey; Baltimore, Maryland;
Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh,
North Carolina; Birmingham
Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; Columbus Ohio and Cincinnati, Ohio,” Sawyer said.
Minister of Tourism Obie
Wilchcombe further gave this
credit the rise in stopover arrivals to the successful marketing
prgrammes. “This shows that
all the work the Ministry of
Tourism is doing is not in vain.
We are working hard to grow
the tourism industry through
our promotions through the
development of our niche
markets like sports, religious
and culinary tourism and the
list goes on. Our marketing
efforts are doubling through
social media. We are growing, we’re going to continue to
grow and take our place as the
top destination in the region,”
he added.
St. Kitts and Nevis promote tourism
through renovations
The efforts for tourism development in the twin islands of
St. Kitts and Nevis have been
considered impressive. A new
private jet terminal has been
opened, officially named as
‘YU Lounge’ and offers facilities like VIP arrival service, a
crew lounge, arrival and departure lounges for passengers and
ground handling services.
Tapping the megayacht market, the Christophe Harbour
project, set to be completed in
late 2015, will include an 18-hole
Tom Fazio-designed golf course,
restaurants, home sites, villas and several hotels set on
2,500 acres.
Further, the Park Hyatt is
expected to open in late 2015
while the 224-room Royal St.
Kitts Hotel will complete its
$20 million renovation project
next year.
Rosalyn Hazelle, CEO of the
St. Kitts Promotion and Investment Agency (SKIPA), said,
“SKIPA, in collaboration with
the Ministry of Tourism and the
Tourism Authority, is responsible for having the Federation’s
Brand marketed internationally.
The idea is to brand St. Kitts as a
place to visit a place to live and a
place to invest. And so we work
hand-in-hand with the Tourism
Authority.”
“We do investment conferences in different areas. We
just came back from an invest
conference in Miami called
C.H.R.I.S, which is the Caribbean Hotel Resort Investment
Summit, and we were able to
talk about St. Kitts and who we
are as a country,” Hazelle added.
spending of people coming to
the region is increasing again.
Those are all positive indicators for us that the economy is
rebounding, but also that the
region is out there collectively,
and with the 30 members
within the CTO, the diversity
of our product makes people
want to come back again and
again.”
She further stated that the
aviation sector of the region
still needs special focus and
encouraged the Incoming
Chair of the CTO to do so.
“Inter-Caribbean travel is
a significant part of the business segment for our small
hotels product in the region,
but overall, as well, I think
we have to improve the aviation needs of our region, not
just for the inter-Caribbean
visitors, but for the fact that it
connects families,” she added.
Puerto Rico strengthens airline and
cruise industries to attract tourists
Puerto Rico wants to attract
greater number of tourists to visit the region, and
in order to succeed Puerto
Rico Tourism aims to tap
the markets, which are outside of the northeast U.S.
Ingrid Rivera, the Government of Puerto Rico’s
Head of Travel and Tourism, is focussing on improving the transport structure,
such as the planes and boats
that bring visitors to the
region.
With the goal of boosting airport arrivals from 8.4
million to 10 million annual
passengers, 2014 already
witnessed a 2.2% increase
in passengers, for a total of
60,000 passengers.
Further, government has
also asked Seaborne Airlines to change its headquarters from St. Croix to
Puerto Rico. Seaborne can
now smoothly carry passengers from the states to small
islands through its partnerships with American
Airlines and JetBlue.
Puerto Rico’s latest marketing campaign in TripAdvisor, where reviews are
read by local celebrities and
spread around social media,
has also contributed in air
traffic growth.
Apart from airlines,
another major focus for
Puerto Rico’s Tourism
Department is to draw
greater number of cruise
passengers and ships.
Puerto Rico is also
encouraging ships to port
earlier and leave later to
provide the passengers a
longer stay on the ships.
Jamaica Tourist Board: Paul Pennicook
appointed as the Director
Paul Pennicook has been
appointed as the Director of
Jamaica Tourist Board effective. “I’m thrilled and honoured to return to service at
the Jamaica Tourist Board.
In the last few years, I have
gained invaluable experience
in the international industry and this will be brought
to bear while working on the
front lines of Jamaica’s multilayered hospitality industry,” commented Pennicook.
“Jamaica has always been at
the forefront of Caribbean
tourism and I look forward to
continuing in that tradition,”
he added.
“Paul Pennicook is a solid
choice to lead the Jamaica
Tourist Board’s future,” commented Chairman Dennis
Morrison. “Paul was selected
for his highly accomplished,
well-rounded experience as
an hotelier, an airline executive and tourism director. He
will hit the ground running
building on the JTB’s current
momentum, thus propelling
Jamaica’s success to the next
level.”
Minister of Tourism and
Entertainment, Wykeham
McNeil explained, “I am
very satisfied with the decision of the Jamaica Tourist Board. Pennicook is a
well known figure in Jamaica’s tourism industry and
is highly respected at home
and abroad. As we meet the
challenges of modernising
the operations of the Board
and deepening the partnerships with industry players,
I am confident that the JTB
has found the right man for
the job.”
EVENTS
WTM extends Responsible
NIMA pledges to showcase
Tourism Programme,
potential of Indian MICE agents
highlights Wellness Tourism
World Travel Market (WTM)
2014, the leading global event
for the travel industry, is
extending it’s Responsible
Tourism Programme, which
will include some of the leading names in travel including
Tui, Thomas Cook, Kuoni,
Virgin Holidays and ABTA.
For the first time, the programme will continue for all
four days.
The
opening
event,
‘Increasing the Local Economic Impact of Tourism’
will be followed by ‘Reducing
Energy and Water Consumption – Good for the Environment and Good for the bottom
line’. The following debate
in line will be ‘How can you
use Responsible Tourism to
increase sales’.
Next the programme will
discuss the issue of wildlife tourism’s relationship
with responsibility for captive wild animals followed
by issues about accessibility
and opportunity at a session
titled: ‘Everyone Deserves a
Holiday: Social Inclusion’.
This year, WTM is also
highlighting Wellness Tourism. With the global market of
$438 billion global market,
Wellness Tourism is a travel
undertaken in order to maintain or enhance one’s personal
well-being. Wellness Tourism expected to grow more
than nine percent per year
through 2017.
WTM will take place from
November 3-6, 2014 and registration is open now.
To showcase the potential of
Indian MICE agencies who
are contributing in the tourism segment, the of Network of Indian MICE Agents
(NIMA) has been formed.
Gajesh Girdhar (Paryatan)
has been appointed as Patron,
Founder and National Coordinator of the association
while the Founder Member
and Coordinator Branding
is Jagdeep Bhagat (Vee Bee
Tours).
“The objective of NIMA
is to bring together concurring people to work towards
taking the MICE segment to
new heights. The association
believes that it is essential to
form a proper and productive liaison among airlines,
ITB Berlin focuses on human rights and
related abuses in tourism industry
hotels, transport companies, cultural organisations,
boutiques and travel agents
to target the MICE segment’s potential clients,” said
Bhagat.
“NIMA will promote both
domestic and overseas destinations through educational
and training sessions, roadshows, workshops, advertisements, joint promotions,
trade shows and Familiarisation (FAM) trips on a panIndia basis,” Bhagat added.
“It will also highlight the
importance of players and
agencies from Tier-II and
III cities, which are developing rapidly, attracting MICE
business from local networks
and chapters.”
NIMA will also keep its
members well updated about
various MICE-related events
happening both in India and
abroad.
“The association is soliciting Hospitality and Destination Partners from among
domestic/international
hotels and national/international tourism boards to
join them to establish the
vital, transparent and effective connect with NIMA’s
network members. So far,
Tourism Authority of Thailand, Catalunya Convention Bureau, Catalan Tourist
Board and Cyprus Convention Bureau have consented
to be the Destination Partners
of NIMA,” Bhagat concluded.
India’s Only
Global Travel Trade
Publication
A new study by the German Society
for International Cooperation has
revealed details about human rights
abuses in tourism industry. This
year’s, ITB Berlin Convention provided the visitors a first look at the
study which deals with violations of
hotel workers’ employment rights,
taking place over the last ten years.
The study outlines workers’ rights
in the tourism industry around the
world, for example, the right to information, the right to be involved in
decision-making processes, appropriate working and living conditions,
being protected against sexual exploitation, etc.
Although there are examples of
successful tourism projects that are
in accordance with human rights,
but figures for human rights abuses
show that these goals are not met
everywhere.
The UN guidelines on the economy
and human rights and the global code
of ethics of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) are focussing on
combating human rights abuses.
Dr Martin Buck, Director of Travel
& Logistics at Messe Berlin said, “The
ITB Berlin Convention is an important platform, in particular for debating compliance with human rights at
tourism destinations. We can definitely say that our commitment to
this topic has led to people becoming
more and more aware of the problem.” ITB Berlin is a member of the
Round Table on Human Rights in
Tourism.
www.travelnewsdigest.in
For regular newsletters, email: [email protected]
follow us
30
2500
36
New Delhi
New Delhi
Posted at NDPSO, New Delhi - 110002 on 5/6 & 20/21 of every month.
Date of Publication 01/02 &15/16 every month
Postal Registration No. DL(S) - 01/3404/2012-14
RNI No. DELENG/2011/40217
MUMBAI - 4, 5, 6 Feb'15
OTM is India’s
leading travel trade show,
in the biggest travel market in India – Mumbai.
With attractive add on option for New Delhi, the second largest travel market of India,
OTM provides you the most effective reach to a continent size market like India
Mumbai (33%) is the largest source market of Outbound and Domestic tourists,
followed by New Delhi (26%). All the major International travel companies operating
out of India, like Kuoni, Thomas Cook and Cox and Kings are headquartered in Mumbai.
Participation Package
Tariff *
Mumbai - 4, 5, 6 Feb’15
USD 395/sq m
Early Bird Offer *
#
1 July to 30 Nov 2014
USD 345/sq m
New Delhi - 10, 11, 12 Feb’15 USD 195/sq m @ USD 195/sq m @
* Service Tax & Educational Cess extra @ 12.36%
* Payment is due at the time of booking
# Early Bird Offer is strictly as per date of payment
@ Add-on rate with OTM Mumbai
To book your vantage stand at OTM
please write to us at [email protected]
or visit www.otm.co.in.
Some of our Partners & Supporting Organisations at OTM 2014
Book Now and Avail Early Bird Offer**

August - Travel News Digest

Transcription

Similar documents

Phyoe Wai Yar Zar Joint Secretary General

The Biesbosch Nationaal Park

Peak of everything

Dark Tourism in Auvergne

Minimizing damage

to read the full presentation

www .ouranos.ca

Ministers` Programme - World Tourism Organization UNWTO

INSTITUTE OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT CATERING TECHNOLOGY

“Get China Ready” Greenwich Workshop Go China Case Study