TravTalk March 1st 2014

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` 50/-A DDP PUBLICATIONVol. XXVI No. 5; March 1st fortnight issue 2014 Pages: 76 (Excluding covers)

24-02-14-FINAL ITB_MARCH-1ST_ITB:TT Layout 3/3/2014 3:25 PM Page 1


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MARCH 1ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014 TRAVTALK 1

Making Incredible India credible

VoA: A historical move for tourism

Calling the VoA movehistoric, ParvezDewan, Secretary,

Ministry of Tourism, said that

while everyone’s talking about180 countries being allowedVoA, they are actually talkingof all the countries in theworld, except the eight coun-tries, whose visa applications

would be sent for prior refer-ence to Delhi before the visais given. Talking about workingon VoA, he said that it’s nowtime to get down to the funda-mentals. He informed that the

Planning Commission hassaid that the money for theinfrastructure and staff will beprovided, all that remains is tofind a place at the airports.

From calling the move ‘historic’ to ‘a new dawn in Indian tourism’, the decisionto extend Visa-on-Arrival to other countries has been welcomed by all leadersin the industry and everybody has pledged support to the government.

TT BUREAU

Parvez DewanSecretary MOTGovernment of India Contd. on page 4

The National Tourism Awards weregiven on February 18 at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi. Shashi

Tharoor, Minister of State for HumanResource Development, was the chiefguest at the function and gave away theawards to the winners.

Tharoor shared the dais with dignitaries,including Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Ministryof Tourism; Girish Shankar, AdditionalSecretary, MOT; Usha Sharma, AdditionalDirector-General, MOT; Anand Kumar,Joint Secretary, MOT and AK Gupta, Additional Director-General (MR), MOT.Representatives of the states and other travel and tourism organisations were present to receive the awards.

NewsBulletinWest Bengal mullsno ‘dry day’ policy

See full story on page 9

Taj expansion tocontinue: Bickson



Summer Trends: Longhauls, new places

Promoting ‘AgraBeyond Taj’


TT BUREAU

Contd. on page 65

LEADER TALK



NEWS

The Jammu and Kashmirgovernment is looking at

unveiling direct Srinagar-Dubaiflights in the near future. Thiswas revealed by Talat Parvez,Director, J&K TourismDepartment. Parvez, whorecently attended the promo-tional and marketing campaignby J&K Tourism in Dubai, said,“The proposal to startSrinagar-Dubai flight service isin process. Once completed, itwill be forwarded to the Union Civil Ministry forapproval. The demand fordirect connectivity (betweenKashmir and the Gulf coun-

tries) has come up during theproceedings of this roadshow.”

Throwing more light onthis recent promotion in theMiddle East, Parvez informed,“J&K Tourism Department has

launched a promotional andmarketing campaign in MiddleEast starting from Dubai. Thecampaign seeks to promoteJammu and Kashmir tourismamong leading travel agenciesof UAE. It also aims to invite

non-resident Kashmiristo invest in J&K tourismindustry.” Tourists fromGulf countries havecarved a niche amongthe ‘high-end’ categorythe world over. However,Kashmir has failed toget its share from theregion, he laments.

According toParvez, Kashmirreceived more thanone million tourists in

2013. Majority of this includeddomestic travellers. “We hard-ly get any share from theGulf, owing to the unavailabil-ity of shortened air routes for it,” he pointed out. To combat this, the tourismdepartment is also planningto introduce Arabic touristhotline and text messageservice that will be availableround-the-clock.

The state is also target-ting Southeast Asia andRussia to promote J&K as atourist destination. “The stateoffers great potential foradventure tourism with numer-ous activities such as trekking,paragliding, skiing, moun-taineering, mountain-biking,cycling, rappelling, ice skating,snowboarding, white-waterriver rafting, cruising, camp-ing, etc. Authorities haverecently taken up resurrectionand beautification of theJhelum River in Jammu &Kashmir. So far, the drive hasseen an expenditure of `3.33crore in the drainage anddevelopment of a flood channel during the firstphase,” he affirmed.

The state tourism department has kicked off a campaign in the Middle East topromote Jammu and Kashmir tourism among leading travel agencies of UAE. Italso aims to invite non-resident Kashmiris to invest in the J&K tourism industry.

Promoting J&K in Middle East

ME G H A PAU L

Talat ParvezDirector, J&K Tourism Department

J&K Tourism Department haslaunched a promotional andmarketing campaign in MiddleEast. It aims to invite non-residentKashmiris to invest in J&Ktourism industry

Fast Facts� Kashmir received more than

one million tourists in 2013

� J&K is also targettingSoutheast Asia and Russiato promote Jammu &Kashmir as a touristdestination


NEWS

VIEWPOINT

Convenience is the epitome of the Internet.Getting information at your fingertips and

doing your work in the shortest span of time iswhat sells today. While talking at an event inNew Delhi, Parvez Dewan, Secretary MOT,GOI, got it absolutely right when he said theElectronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for India,which will be in place soon, should be evenmore exciting than the Visa-on-Arrival (VoA).ETA will be issued through an online systemfor a short visit. ETA holders can then get theirShort Visit Visa at their port of entry into India.

The tourism industry is probably the largestuser of the Internet for marketing. For almostfive years now the trend in Internet Marketinghas been in the form of social media, it’s thenew communication channel in the tourismindustry (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+,and more). It’s a fabulous way of sendinginformation in every direction instead of one-way or top-down. Trust and belief ride highwhen people generate and share their owncontent, with opinions and recommendations,which is vital for destination marketing, hotels,packages, etc. Blogging and Vlogging (VideoBlog) are also becoming extremely popular forfocussed marketing to push traffic to websites.

The Indian tourism industry is very quicklyrecognising the importance of the Internet. Itis looking for people trained in this line to build interactive websites, to implement search optimisation and make destinationvideos to attract tourists to their countries, for leisure, health, pilgrimage, medicalremedies, adventure, sports, festivals,business, incentives, etc.

It was said by many that the Internet wouldtake away jobs as less people would berequired to do the same work, but everyadvancement in this field of travel & tourismand hospitality leads to further specialisation,more employment, rural sustainability &development and growth of national economy.Google has just released the first 360-degreeonline images of 30 iconic Indian heritage siteson Google Maps and Google Cultural Institute.

Signing off while asking the industry to stay signed in!

Tourism’s online Avatar

TRAVTALK is a publication of DDP Publications Private Limited. Allinformation in TRAVTALK is derived from sources, which we consider reliable and a sincere effort is made to report accurate information. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. The publisher regret that he cannot accept liability for errors and omissions contained in this pub-lication, however caused. Similarly, opinions/views expressedby third parties in abstract and/or in interviews are not neces-sarily shared by TRAVTALK. However, we wish to advice our readersthat one or more recognised authorities may hold different viewsthan those reported. Material used in this publication is intendedfor information purpose only. Readers are advised to seek specific

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We are delighted to welcome theVisa on Arrival and the ElectronicTravel Authorisation facility that willbe extended to visitors from 180countries, when they visit India.This is one of the most progressivesteps taken by the Government inpromoting tourism to India and will contribute significantly inenhancing the value of the VisitorEconomy to India’s GDP.

Necessary infrastructure to implement these facilities is beingput in place and, in the next tourist season, visitors should beable to avail this facility.

Runeep SanghaExecutive Director

PATA India Chapter

The new liberalised visa regime hasthe potential to make India one of themost favoured tourist destinations ofthe world. This is a well-timed movejust as the next tourist season setsin. Instead of 11, travellers from 180countries can avail VoA to India. TheVoA facility will enthuse global par-ticipants to attend the forthcomingIITB. Despite ‘not-so-liberalised visaregime’ last year, India received68.48 lakh foreign visitors.

Jyotsna SuriSr. Vice President - FICCI and C&MD

The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group

V A: For renewed inboundVoA is something that we, in IATO, have been working on since the day we took office. We have hadhundreds of meetings on this issue with the Ministry of Tourism, External Affairs and Home Affairs andhave sat through many presentations on the terms and software to be adopted. This move by the Govtwill truly be a game-changer. Plus, it will increase our business opportunities. We hope this will beoperative in a few months. On behalf of my team, I want to congratulate each and everyone involvedand welcome you to a new dawn in Indian tourism.

Subhash GoyalPresident

IATO

The VoA move is an excellentstep to promote tourism andincrease foreign tourist arrivalsin India. I would like to compli-ment everyone who has con-tributed to make this a reality.However, to get the desiredresults, we need to make surethat the tourists are not burdenedby various taxes. Hotel taxesshould be removed and entry fees to monuments and other places of interest shouldbe made reasonable for foreign tourists. The taxes on trans-portation should also be removed, and last but not the least,the process of burdening foreign tourists with double (orsometimes triple taxation) should be removed.

Iqbal MullaPresident, TAAI

It is a very good initiative by theGovt of India. With this, there willdefinitely be an increase in inboundtourism. Travellers from manycountries find the process to get anIndian tourist visa very cumber-some, and this measure willencourage all to visit our country.However, we also need to improvethe infrastructure of places that are frequented by tourists.Infrastructure at the airports is good enough; however, weneed to improve the infrastructure of other places simultane-ously. In the first year, I expect FTAs to go up by 10-15 per cent.Despite the government’s best efforts, inbound had not beenincreasing the way we expected. Hopefully, this move will pro-vide the necessary boost.

Zakkir Ahmed President

TAFI

On behalf of FHRAI, I applaud the historic steps announced by the Central Govt to modernise India'stourist visa regime. We are particularly grateful that the Govt has accepted our proposal to adopt asystem of Electronic Travel Authorisation, which will offer multiple advantages of speed, efficiency,convenience and flexibility, while minimising security-related risks. With the strong support from theMinistry of Tourism, FHRAI had been assiduously pursuing this issue with the Union Ministry of HomeAffairs. These measures to simplify visa norms will give a much-needed impetus towards leveragingtourism's intrinsic potential to spur job creation and boost our country's foreign exchange earnings. We look forward to extending our full support to the Home Ministry and other Governmentagencies, so that this initiative can be operationalised well before the peak tourist season this year.

SM ShervaniPresident, FHRAI

Contd. from page 1


What is your reaction toVoA for 180 countries?

With a lot of lobbying, wehave finally been successfulfirst to get the 60 day re-entryrestriction removed, secondlythe group landing permit, andfinally the VoA for 180 coun-tries. This is a historical step.One of the biggest bottlenecksfor inbound tourism was visahassles. Now, inbound tourismshould grow at least by 40-50per cent, if not 100 per cent.This would result in new hotelscoming up, thousands of jobs

being created and millions ofdollars worth of foreignexchange coming in. However,we need to reduce discrimina-tion against tour operators inservice tax to make our coun-try competitive. If an exporterearns foreign-exchange, hedoesn’t pay service tax, but thetourism industry has to payservice tax. Tourism alone canoffset the imbalance of foreignexchange payments that wehave, plus it can also wipe outthe current account deficit.

How will IATO as an organisation support thegovernment’s VoA move?

We have sent a mes-sage to all our members thatthey should let us know what-ever problems they face. Allour active members arerecognised by the MOT, weare major foreign-exchangeearners, and we know whatthe actual problems are andwhat the foreign tour opera-tors want. Based on our inter-actions, we are giving inputs

to the government regularlyand we will support the government in whatever waythey want us to help imple-ment this move. A lot of man-power has to be trained andwe are willing to do this, notjust for Delhi, but also for othergateway cities.

What about the impendingIATO elections?

I have not given thought tothe elections. I have a secondterm that is pending, but it alldepends on what the publicwants. I was reluctant to contestagain, but a lot of members toldme that VoA needs to be imple-

mented; the service tax issue isstill there, so the whole teamshould go in for a second term.If people want us for a secondtime, we’ll contest; and if theydon’t want, we won’t contest.

The MOT now wants toorganise roadshows to

ASEAN countries to pro-mote Buddhist trails. How isIATO working on that?

The Buddhist circuit isone of the most important cir-cuits in our country. We are sur-rounded by countries thatbelieve in Buddhism and wehave a lot of monasteries and

historical sites related toBuddhism. IATO has attendedseveral meetings and givenseveral suggestions. We havetaken a decision to look atJapan, Taiwan, Thailand,Myanmar and Sri Lanka forroadshows to promote theBuddhist circuit.

While calling VoA for 180 countries a historical move, Subhash Goyal, President, IATO, says IATO is willing tosupport the government to help implement this move. IATO is also keen to promote the Buddhist circuit.

With VoA, FTA will grow by 40-50%PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

We have taken adecision to look atJapan, Taiwan,Thailand, Myanmarand Sri Lanka forroadshows topromote theBuddhist circuit

Subhash GoyalPresident, IATO

M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 5ASSOCIATIONS


MOT6 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

The MOT has identified following circuits to be

developed as Buddhist Circuits with the help of Central Government/StateGovernment/Private stakeholders:

MOT provides CentralFinancial Assistance (CFA) fortourism projects, including proj-ects for Buddhist sites, basedon the proposals received from State Governments/UTAdministrations which are com-plete as per the Scheme

Guidelines, priority andsubject to availability offunds. A loan agreementfor Japanese Yen 7331million was signed in2003 with JapanInternational CooperationAgency (JICA) for PhaseII of Ajanta ElloraConservation and TourismDevelopment Project. Itsvalidity has been extend-ed till July 2014.

The Ministry ofTourism, GOI, DoTs of theGovernments of Bihar and UttarPradesh and InternationalFinance Corporation (World

Bank Group) have entered into an agreement to cooperatein upgrading the quality of

services and goods provided for tourists along the BuddhistCircuits in UP and Bihar. This information was given

by the Minister of State forTourism (I/C) K Chiranjeevi in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) attempts to identify integrated tourism circuits in partnershipwith states, the private sector and other agencies based on India’s unique civilisation, heritage,and culture, including Buddhist Tourism.

MOT for Buddhist circuit development

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Circuit 1The Dharmayatra or theSacred Circuit - This will bea 5 to 7 day circuit and willinclude visits to Gaya(Bodhgaya), Varanasi(Sarnath), Kushinagar,Piparva (Kapilvastu) with aday trip to Lumbini in Nepal.

Circuit 2Extended Dharmayatra or Extended Sacred Circuit orRetracing Buddha’s Footsteps - This will be a 10 to 15 daycircuit and will include visits to Bodhgaya (Nalanda, Rajgir,Barabar caves, Pragbodhi Hill, Gaya), Patna (Vaishali, LauriyaNandangarh, Lauriya Areraj, Kesariya, Patna Museum),Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar and Piparva (Kapilvastu,Shravasti, Sankisa) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal.

Circuit 3Circuit 3: Buddhist Heritage Trails (State Circuits)

� Jammu and Kashmir - Ladakh, Srinagar (Harwan,Parihaspora) and Jammu (Ambaran)

� Himachal Pradesh - Dharamshala, Spiti, Kinnaur andLahaul

� Punjab - Sanghon

� Haryana – Jind (Assan), Yamunanagar (Sugh)

� Maharashtra - Aurangabad (Ajanta, Ellora, PithalkoraCaves), Pune (Karla Caves), Mumbai (Kanheri Caves),Pune (Bhaja Caves) and Nashik (Pandavleni Caves)

� Andhra Pradesh - Amravati, Nagarjunakonda and Vizag(Borra Caves, Salihundum Caves)

� Madhya Pradesh - Sanchi, Satdhara, Andher, Sonari andMurulkurd

� Odisha (Dhauli, Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri, Udaygiri, Langudi andKhandagiri)

� Chhattisgarh – Sirpur

� West Bengal - Kolkata (Indian Museum)

� Sikkim - Rumtek, Enchay and other Monasteries

� Arunachal Pradesh –Tawang and Bomdila

News in Brief

Special airfares fortourists visiting New Zealand

Tourism New Zealand(TNZ) in association withMalaysia Airlines andAuckland InternationalAirport, aims to providecompetitive airfares toAuckland, New Zealand,making it more accessibleto Indian travellers. Asthe Indian summer coin-cides with the NewZealand Winter, TNZ aimsto make New Zealand anideal holiday destinationfor Indian vacationersthrough this promotion.

The campaign, whichis now online, providesspecial fares to thosetravelling to Auckland,New Zealand. The newspecial fares will be valid on Malaysia Airlinesflying to Auckland from Delhi, Mumbai,Hyderabad, Bangalore,Kochi and Chennai.


The B2B Partnership Meetwas divided into two

episodes—one was inSeptember-October andanother one was in January-February. In September-October 2013, Kerala Tourismorganised the meets at 14 dif-ferent cities, followed by themeets in Bengaluru, Chennai,Coimbatore, Mumbai,Guwahati, Kolkata andHyderabad in January-

February 2014. The eventswere attended by a significantnumber of hoteliers, tour oper-ators and allied organisations.

According toHarikishore, the Delhi meetwas attended by 250 buyersconsisting of travel agents,tour operators and allied serv-ice providers to interact with50 tourism-related companiesfrom Kerala. At this meet,Kerala Tourism unveiled twomajor new initiatives—‘Seaplane Project’ and ‘ProjectMuziris’. The seaplane projectis aimed towards improvinglast-mile connectivity by air toits destinations across state.The plan is to provide serviceinitially in the priority circuit,consisting of the three airportsof Thiruvananthapuram,Cochin and Calicut and primedestinations like Astamudi,Punnamada, Kumarakom,Bolgatty and Bekal.

The Muziris project isdirected to reinstate the histor-ical and cultural significance of

the legendary port of Muziris.Related to this project, 11 newmuseums will be inauguratedby February 2014 and another14 will be ready by 2015.

Kerala Tourism has alsoannounced some other signifi-

cant projects, which include‘Spice Route Revival Project’and soft adventure holidaysprogramme called ‘Natventure’.The state government is pro-moting the two millennia-oldSpice Route that links thesouth-western coast of India to

Europe. The objective behindNatventure is to use keytourism products like wildlife,hill stations, beaches, backwa-ters and soft adventure.

Kerala Tourism is nowfocussing more on Tier-II

cities to strengthen domestictourism.

Kerala Tourism is alsopromoting responsible tourismand exploring northern part ofthe state, which is hithertountapped. And, to beef up the

new initiatives of KeralaTourism the state governmenthas allotted `207 crore for theFY 2014-15. The governmenthas declared Sales Tax relaxation during June toAugust monsoon session tocertain areas.

The State Government has announced new initiatives for attracting tourists, with special emphasis on the domesticsector at its 5th Partnership Meet for the year 2014, held in New Delhi on February 12. spoke to S Harikishore, Director, Kerala Tourism, to know details of those initiatives and future programmes.

Kerala beckons domestic travellersM A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 7STATES

RATA N KR PAU L

We are heavilypromotingMICE, wedding,seaplane,heritage andresponsibletourism

S HarikishoreDirectorKerala Tourism


EXHIBITIONS

Reed Travel Exhibitions(RTE) made a presenta-

tion to the travel trade commu-nity in Delhi on February 19.Present at the function wereSimon Press, SeniorExhibition Director, World

Travel Market (WTM) andShane Hannam, SalesDirector, Key Accounts, RTE.

With a special focus onWTM, the event served tohighlight all travel and tourismexhibitions organised aroundthe globe by RTE. While talkingto the delegates from theIndian travel and trade commu-nity, they talked about leverag-

ing the RTE platform to gainthe maximum out of it.

Happy with the responseto their first MICE event - IBTMIndia - in Mumbai last year, theyinformed that IBTM would nowmove to Chennai and would beheld from September 3-5.

Talking about increasingparticipation, Press andHannam said that, with aunique network of offices andinternational sales promoters,their market reach is extensive.In 2013, over six million partic-ipants attended the eventsorganised by RTE.

Press added “WTM 2013was a great success, which

witnessed increases in all par-ticipant types and a recordamount of facilitated business.Asian and Indian exhibitors willbenefit hugely from the suc-cess of WTM 2013, and Iexpect to see a record amountof business conducted byAsian and Indian exhibitors.”

Parvez Dewan,Secretary, Ministry ofTourism, who was the chiefguest at the event, talkedabout his experience at WTM 2013. He was happy toshare that the Indian booth atWTM was the most welcom-ing of all stalls. He shared that at WTM 2014, the Indianstall would be modelled onthe Taj Mahal.

Reed Travel Exhibitions hosted the Indian travel and tradecommunity in Delhi recently to a presentation highlightinghow travel shows can help them transform business. TheSecretary, MOT, was the chief guest at the event.

RTE brings biz for India

TT BU R E AU

IBTM wouldnow move toChennai andwill be held fromSeptember3-5

Asian andIndianexhibitors willbenefit hugelyfrom thesuccess ofWTM 2013

At the WorldTravel Mart2014, theIndian stallwould bemodelled onthe Taj Mahal

Parvez Dewan SecretaryMinistry of Tourism

Simon PressSenior Exhibition DirectorWorld Travel Market

Shane HannamSales DirectorKey Accounts, RTE

Riya Holidays awarded

Riya Holidays, the holiday division of Riya Travel & Tours India, has bagged the award for ‘Best Outbound Tour Operator-2011-12’ fromKerala state tourism department. The awards were announced by Tourism Minister AP Anil Kumar recently. GMJ Thampy, Chairman &Managing Director, Riya Group said, “We are extremely honoured to be receiving such an award.”


In a bid to establish WestBengal in the tourist map of

inbound travellers, the TourismDepartment of West Bengal islooking at a plan to do away

with ‘dry days’ or no-liquor days in popular tourist spots of the state.

According toKrishnendu NarayanChowdhury, Tourism Minister,

West Bengal, it makes nosense to clamp the prohibitoryorders on alcohol in touristspots of the state such asDarjeeling, Dooars, Digha andSunderbans. Chowdhury hasalready mooted the proposalto Amit Mitra, Finance Minister,West Bengal, who also heads

the state’s Excise Department.“The Finance Minister has wel-comed the idea and we wouldbe soon submitting a detailedproposal to the department,”Chowdhury said.

Once the proposal iscleared, liquor will be available

in West Bengal’s populartourist spots round the year.“The dry day restrictionsshould not be applicable on thenational holidays as thetourists try to plan out their hol-iday itineraries in and aroundthese days well in advance,” headded. As the ‘dry day’ ban has

a chain impact on the hospital-ity industry, tour operators,travel agents and other relatedverticals, the industry has wel-comed the proposal.

Looking forward to itsparticipation in ITB Berlin inMarch 2014, he informed, “The

Government of West Bengal ispromoting the state as an idealtourist destination with spe-cialised tourism products. TheUSP of participation at thisinternational travel forum is tomarket the tourism opportunityin WB to tour operators acrossthe world.”

As the ‘dry day’ ban has a chain impact on the hospitality industry, tour operators, travel agents and other relatedverticals, the industry has welcomed the proposal.

West Bengal mulls no ‘dry day’ policy

TT BU R E AU

STATES M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 9

The dry dayrestrictionsshould not beapplicable on thenational holidaysas the tourists tryto plan out theirholiday itinerarieson and aroundthese days

Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury Tourism Minister West Bengal

MalaysiaAirlines’ newoffice in Delhi

Malaysia Airlines, thenational carrier of Malaysia,opened its new office inNew Delhi. It was inaugu-rated by the HighCommissioner of Malaysia,Datuk Naimun AshakliMohammad in the pres-ence of Azahar Hamid,Regional Senior Vice-President, South Asia &Middle East, MalaysiaAirlines. The new office is the first of its kind outside Malaysia. Besidesaccommodating corporate,sales and other depart-ments, the office will cater to all ticketing,reservation and alliedneeds of passengers, allunder one roof.


AGENTS

While the hotel industry inIndia didn’t look too opti-

mistic in 2013, the timeshareconcept has been evolving atthe hospitality landscape. Theconcept has helped the indus-try tide over tough times.Timeshares or vacation own-ership offer the right to use aresort unit at different locationsfor a specific period (say, aweek) each year for a specifiednumber of years (say, 25years). The apparent costincludes a one-time member-ship charge and annual main-tenance fee. By paying anexchange fee, time-share own-ers could also opt to stay inresorts of other vacation own-ership companies in India orabroad. If used consistently ona long-term basis, timesharescould work out cheaper thancomparable hotel rooms.

Seeing the potential ofthe timeshare concept, eventour operators and travelagents are looking at increas-ing their stake in the segment.The TCIL transaction is expect-ed to close by the fourth quar-

ter of 2014, subject to custom-ary closing conditions and reg-ulatory approvals. With thismerger, Thomas Cook will gainaccess to Sterling’s network of19 resorts in 16 holiday desti-nations across India. Accordingto Madhavan Menon, MD,TCIL, the merger reaffirms thecompany’s commitment toinvest in mutually-beneficialpartnerships. “It creates multi-

ple avenues to grow ourrespective businesses and tocreate valuable opportunitiestogether,” he informed.

Ramesh Ramanathan,MD, Sterling Holiday Resorts

(India), pointed out, “ThomasCook customers will haveaccess to our pan-India networkof well located, full-service, qual-ity resorts which offer great hol-iday experiences. Sterlingstands to benefit from TCIL’siconic brand reputation and itslarge base of domestic andinbound travel customers. Thereis a scope to add value toSterling’s vacation ownership

members through synergiesbetween the two companies.”

Mahindra Holidays andResorts will invest ` 500 crorein the next financial year 2014-15 in around seven propertiesacross the country. “We will beadding 500 rooms every yearover the next three years,”Arun Nanda, Chairman,Mahindra Holidays andResorts (MMHR), revealed.“This is a business where long-term credibility is a must andsince the product has to beserved for longer period, peo-ple are not comfortable withgroups or companies with notrack record,” he said.

The Jukaso Group hasalso announced its latest ven-ture into timeshare business.The group is working on acquir-ing vacation properties in desti-nations like London, Dubai,Goa, Mussoorie, Nainital and inSouth India. Rajiv Khanna,Chairman, Jukaso Group, elab-orated, “There are currently onlythree lakh timeshare membersin India, whereas the potentialconsumer base is over 100 mil-lion. With quite an extensivebase of rooms to start with, wefeel we have an edge in the mar-ket. Also, we are the only onesto offer properties in Europe tobegin with for timeshare.”

Seeing the potential of the timeshare concept, even touroperators and travel agents are looking at increasingtheir stake in the segment.

Tapping the timeshare pie

ME G H A PAU L

There is alsoscope to addvalue toSterling’svacationownershipmembers

It createsmultipleavenues togrow ourrespectivebusinesses

Madhavan MenonManaging DirectorThomas Cook India

Ramesh RamanathanManaging DirectorSterling Holiday Resorts

There arecurrentlyonly threelakhtimesharemembers inIndia

This is abusiness inwhich long-termcredibility isa must

Arun NandaChairmanMahindra Holidays and Resorts

Rajiv KhannaChairmanJukaso Group

� Timeshares offer the rightto use a resort unit atdifferent locations for aspecific period each year fora specified number of years

What It Is...



ASSOCIATIONS1 2 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

What is the significance ofthe forthcoming AGM ofIAAI?

The forthcoming yearlyAGM is very important for IAAI.First, the AGM has to ratify allour deeds and activities donein 2013. Then, we will have topresent new activities andaction plan for 2014. This AGMwill be mainly focussing on the‘factors affecting sustainabilityof agents’ providing more sig-nificance to the ‘commissionissue’ and ‘weekly payment’system.

Members’ comments,suggestions and criticisms are vital for us to streamlineand formulate a strategy andto prepare the course ofactions.

• The AGM will be analysingthe whole issue on agencycommission from all angles.

• Implementation ofResolution 818g

• Ticket stock withdrawal byairlines

• APJC- India : induction ofIAAI

• New Distribution Challenges

What is the present sce-nario of travel agency busi-ness in India? What doesthe future hold for them?

The zero commissionhas already closed few travel agencies and affectedmany. The present scenario ofweekly payment will definitelywipe out another 30 per cent ofordinary agents. Indian trav-ellers, especially corporate,avail maximum credit facilities.Many times, the credit periodextends up to one month.Hence, agents will be in adilemma.

What should be the futurestrategies of Indian travelagents for survival?

Agency commissionshould be the first task for all. We should ensure and enforce the law of the land, so that each travelagent in India gets his full remuneration from airlines operating in India.They will have to reinstate the 5 per cent commission, which prevailedup to 2008.

We had already dis-cussed with many foreign air-lines and all are favouring com-mission, provided the nationalcarrier implements the same.Ultimately, the national carriershould take this initiative, whichthey won’t do, because of theirmembership entry into StarAlliance. Hence, we may haveto force Air India and govern-ment authorities. The AGM will

discuss the process and actionplan and accordingly we willformulate the strategy. Also, wehave to ensure that everyagent has stock of all airlinesoperating in India.

How would IAAI supporttravel agents to keep growing?

All these challenges thattravel agents are facing todayare purely man-made issues—like TAP, ADMs, reduction ofcommission and weekly pay-ments. Here, it is pertinent tomention that weekly paymenthas been introduced and imple-mented by APJC-India. On Aug20, 2012, APJC India passeda resolution (one airlineopposed) to implement weekly payment, effective July2015. Then it was sent to the Passenger AgencyConference, where it was cir-culated by them to all world air-lines as an agenda to approvethe same. But surprisingly, an

emergency meeting of APJCIndia was held on September3, 2012 and unanimouslydecided to enforce weekly pay-ment, effective from January 1,2014. Now, think of the 7-agency representatives inAPJC-India. Are they workingfor the travel agents or airlines?Debt-ridden countries likeGreece still enjoy one-monthcredit. And Resolution 800x clearly says a weekly pay-ment can be reversed oraltered by an APC only. Thenwhy did they approachKarnataka High Court? To misguide or confuseagents? And now, when theCourt dismissed the case,industry accepted the verdictwith 4 letters – ‘FATE’. Where isthe unity of agents? TheKarnataka High Court on May31, 2012 and February 12,2014, mentioned that airlinesare willing to open dialogueprovided all associations meetthem together.

The IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) has decided to hold its forthcoming AGM in Chennai on March 8 and 9.Speaking to , Biji Eapen, President, IAAI, said that the association would discuss the future course of actionregarding the commission and other burning issues at this meet. The following is an excerpt of the interview.

IAAI to chalk out action plan in March

RATA N KR PAU L

The zero commissionmodel has alreadyaffected many agents.The weekly payment will

wipe out another 30per cent ofordinary

agents.

Biji EapenPresident, IAAI


According to Sawhney,deregulation and the

expansion of many low-costcarriers are presenting newopportunities for all. He pointedout that India is the second-fastest growing air market inAsia-Pacific after Indonesia.The Indian online air market isexpected to expand by 62 percent to $6.6 billion by 2015, rep-resenting 53 per cent of the

country’s total air market. “Theresult is a burgeoning distribu-tion grid for travel technologysuppliers like Abacus and thetravel agents we serve,” he said.

In his opinion, mobile trav-el technology in particular isenabling suppliers to reach Tier-II and Tier-III cities for growth. Atthese locations, branded prod-ucts, local tour agencies as wellas online portals will do exceed-ingly well. “National tourismorganisations have understood

the importance of these domes-tic feeder markets and arespending more on state andprovincial marketing,” Sawhneyunderlined.

He also asserted thatmulti-national OTAs also are

likely to reap benefits in draw-ing traffic from new marketstoo, because of AbacusCustomer Via.com’s expansionacross Asia. According to him,OTA penetration of the totaltravel market presently is high-est in the region in India.

“Inbound tour operators arealso looking good for 2014,attracting business online fromoverseas,” he added.

Abacus’ strategy is todeliver world-class technologyto India’s major travel technol-

ogy brands and to developsecond-tier agencies so thatthey also mature and thrive.“Essentially, we help traveloperators attract new cus-tomers and scale their busi-ness with superior point-of-

sale, mid and back-office solu-tions,” he emphasised.

“In view of the fact thattravellers are increasingly turn-ing to solutions such as 3G andwireless broadband for mobile

Increased numbers of corporate and leisure travellers are taking to the skies, particularly in India, China andIndonesia where demographic changes are creating massive domestic and international demand. In an interviewwith , Jeet Sawhney, MD, Abacus Distribution Systems (India), elaborates on the company’s strategies.

Budget products to benefit agentsTECHNOLOGY M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 1 3

RATA N KR PAU L

Mobile traveltechnology inparticular isenablingsuppliers toreach Tier-IIand Tier-IIIcities for growth

Jeet Sawhney Managing DirectorAbacus Distribution Systems (India)

� 39% of Indian businesstravellers are now makingtravel arrangementsincluding bookings viamobile while on the move

� 51% of all searches arerelated to travel

� 54% searches are foraccommodation

� 27% searches are for airtravel

Quick Facts

Contd. on page 68


ASSOCIATIONS1 4 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

What is being promoted in Agrabeyond the Taj? How areyou directly involved?

In our endeavour to pro-mote ‘Agra beyond Taj’, we

are actively involved in thepromotion of places likeBateshwar (aarti) for itsfamous Shiv temples and theMaha Aarti held in theevening on the Ghats of RiverYamuna. With active supportfrom the forest department,

Patna Panchi Vihar has beendeveloped and today thiswonderful lake boasts ofmany species of migratorybirds. We are also promotinglesser known monuments likeChini ka Roza, Tall FerozKhan, Itmad-Ud-Daula,

Swami Bagh, Marium Tomb,Roman Catholic Cementry(Red Taj) and many more.

Our latest effort hasbeen to work very closely withthe forest department and district administration to

promote the ‘Taj Nature Walk’.We are also trying to develop Golf tourism in Agrain association with the Agra Club as we have one ofthe finest golf courses overlooking the beautiful Taj Mahal.

Is there a new roadbeing built to connect the YamunaExpressway directly tothe Taj?

The original plan of hav-ing an inner ring road to con-nect the Expressway to the city

without getting into heavy traf-fic zones is still under active consideration. For now, the road into the city from Yamuna Kinara has beencompleted and traffic conges-tion has eased considerably.

How the Agra Literary Fest being promoted?

The 2nd Taj Literature fes-tival was held in Hotel ClarksShiraz on December 12-14,2013. The has grown to unbe-lievable heights by the presenceof many celebrities and stal-warts from the world of litera-ture, like William Dalrymple,Sharmila Tagore, MJ Akbar,Rakeysh Omprakash Mehraand many others like ShabanaAzmi and the late FarooqSheikh. There was a play onWhite Mughals by WilliamsDalrymple and it culminatedwith a grand performance at TajNature Walk of the famous play‘Tumhari Amrita’. Hotel ClarkShiraz is committed in partner-ing this festival in Agra in the

coming years and to make itgrow into a bigger and a lead-ing festival of India.

Which concerts wereheld recently in Agraand where? Do youthink this will boosttourism to Agra?

We are closely associat-ed with the concerned depart-ments to organise elite culturalprogrammes; like concerts byRajan and Sajan brothers, wealso staged ‘Tumhari Amrita’during the Taj Literature festivalin December by noted artistesShabana Azmi and late FarooqSheikh. On January 15, tablamaestro Ustaad Zakir Hussainmesmerised the huge gather-ing at the ‘Taj Nature Walk’. Wepropose a series of events infuture by renowned artists inthis unique setting with thebackdrop of the Taj Mahal.

Agra, unfortunately, is stillused as a one-night destina-tion, so we would like to high-light that there is much more to

Agra than just the TajMahal. There are also many night activities like thegreat dance performance‘Mohabbat-e-Taj’ at Kalakriti,soon to be followed by anotherfantastic Indian dance perform-ance, ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ atthe same venue.

Taj Mahal is a symbol ofIndia and is undoubtedly thebest place for Indian Tourism.Hence, Agra should be givenmore importance both by theCentral and State govern-ments to make it a clean and green city.

Infrastructural growth likea full-fledged terminal fordomestic flights and an inter-national airport is a must andwe all are pursuing this veryseriously. The people of Agraare united in their commitmentin making this a dream city.

Debasish Bhowmik, President of the Tourism Guild of Agra, an apex body comprisingprofessionals from hospitality, travel trade and other tourism ancillary industries, talked aboutpromoting tourism in Agra by creating a friendly environment, suggesting development andgrowth for improved tourism infrastructure and promoting new places of interest.

Promoting ‘Agra Beyond Taj’

DE E PA SE T H I

Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain was felicitated byDebasish Bhowmik

A still from the play Tumhari Amrita performed byShabana Azmi and the late Farooq Sheikh

Taj Nature WalkThe walk (9 km long) is a green area

very close to the Taj Mahal from the

East Gate. It stretches to the right bank

of the Yamuna and has a variety of trees

and is dotted with six high grass

mounds. These grass mounds provide

a unique view of the Taj Mahal from

different directions at different times.

Now peoplearound the world willbe able to explore theTaj Mahal and othernational Indian monuments onlinethrough ‘Street View’.With the support ofthe Archaeological Surveyof India (ASI), Google hasreleased the first 360-degree online imagery of30 iconic Indian heritagesites, including the TajMahal, Humayun's Tomb,Red Fort and Agra Fort on

Google Maps and theGoogle Cultural Institute.

By allowing people to vir-tually explore them online,Google aims to help sharemore of Indian culture andheritage with people athome and abroad.

The year 2013 saw the avia-tion industry grappling with

high ATF prices, slack demandand rupee depreciation. The lat-ter is especially painful for abusiness in which 75 per cent ofcosts are dollar-denominated,said Santosh Kumar Sharma,Director, Foresee Aviation. Asfar as private aircraft are con-

cerned, almost every playerincreased the chartered ratesby 8-10 per cent. “Due to this,we had to increase our pricestoo,” he added. In 2013, theoverall business was prettydecent vis-a-vis 2012, sincethey cater to both corporate aswell as travel trade. “We alsocater to medical evacuationrequirements from hospitals

and corporate houses. Thoughour main business comes frommetropolitan cities, Tier-II citieshave seen a remarkablegrowth in terms of private planeusage.” Cities like Surat,Indore, Rajkot, Lucknow, Pune,etc., have shown impressivegrowth, and they are currentlylaying down strategies to targetthese markets.

Foresee Aviation witnessed a growth of 20 per cent in the overall business.The company had an impressive season in terms of inflow of FITs.

Expanding reach across India

Santosh Kumar SharmaDirector, Foresee Aviation

TT BU R E AU

Taj through ‘Street View’


What do you feel makesITB Berlin different from allother travel and tourismexhibitions?

ITB Berlin is truly theworld´s leading travel tradeshow: Not only are all sectorsof the leisure market repre-sented, but ITB Berlin is alsostaging the largest and mostimportant convention of

industry experts in the worldsince 2004. Experts fromevery source and destinationcountry in the world find out about the latest industrytrends and discuss business strategies at the accompanying ITB BerlinConvention.

Has the participation in theIndia region increased thisyear?

As always, India´s par-ticipation is very important atITB Berlin. There has beenparticularly high demand forplaces at the world’s leadingtravel show from India. But asthe show is completelybooked and space is limitedat ITB Berlin, we cannot offermore sqm to Indian exhibitors.Hall 5.2b, occupied by India,is again booked up this year.For the first time, three Indianstates, Andhra Pradesh,Maharashtra and WestBengal will be present withtheir own stand.

What makes ITB Berlin anapt platform for Indianexhibitors?

ITB Berlin is a platformwhere exhibitors can cultivatevaluable business contacts. Thevolume of business negotiatedand concluded at the show is inorder of six billion Euros. This is

an impressive proof that ITBBerlin gives exhibitors’ businessa long-term boost. In addition,ITB Berlin offers an ideal fixedcosts’ ratio compared to the vol-ume of business initiated meas-ured against the number of buy-ers (cost per contact) and idealservices and infrastructure.

How would you differenti-ate between ITB Berlin andITB Asia, keeping in mindthe business generatedfrom India?

ITB Berlin is the placewhere Indian exhibitors can do global business very effec-tively, whereas ITB Asia is the

perfect platform for the Asiantravel industry.

What was the number of buyers visiting the show last year? What percentage of these buyersare interested in the India region?

Some 110,000 trade visitors came to ITB Berlin2013, of whom 43 per centwere from abroad. We expectthe number of trade visitors atITB Berlin 2014 to be stable. About 25 per cent ofbuyers at ITB Berlin report tofocus on Asia.

David Ruetz, Head of ITB Berlin, in conversation with , presents his views on what makes the show special, levelof participation of Indian exhibitors and what makes it an apt platform for the Indian tourism and travel trade fraternity.

India market is important for ITB BerlinEXHIBITIONS M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 1 5

ITB Berlin is theideal platformwhere bothexhibitors andattendees cancultivatevaluablebusinesscontacts

David RuetzHeadITB Berlin

TT BU R E AU


SUCCESS STORY1 6 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

2013: A bleak year The hospitality sector

faced unprecedented chal-lenges on account of the slug-gish domestic economy, freshsupply of rooms in the marketand a weak economic envi-ronment in US/Europe,which are the key sourcemarkets for high-endhotels in India.

Even leisurearrivals have not beenthat great. Businesstravel also has notbeen good. With thedepreciating rupee andthe high cost of over-seas holidays, the onlyincrease has been in thedomestic tourism seg-ment. Taj, as a brand,

has witnessed occupancy lev-els of 68 per centacross its prop-erties asopposed tothe averageoccupancy

levels of 58 per cent acrossIndian hotels.

Rising competition onthe home turf

The hotel scenario inIndia has changed dramati-cally over the last few years.

Till a few years ago, the threebig domestic hotel chains could

afford to be complacentsince they had a com-bined 60-plus percent market share in

the absence of competition.Now, there are over 50 big hotelbrands with huge loyalty pro-grammes. And since over 80 percent of visitors to India are busi-ness travellers, chances arethey would be drawn to theseforeign brands. The challenge,thus, is to maintain Taj’s domes-tic market share. Acquiring landapprovals is another challengein the Indian market. While thedemand for hotel rooms willgrow this year; the continued

commissioning of new capacityacross the key markets will putpressure on the rates.

Strategy for expansionThe idea is to have an

asset-light model via manage-ment contracts in order to getmore market share. Despitethe current pressures in theindustry, the hotel chain hascontinued to roll out new hotelsin the domestic markets withrecent launches of Vivanta,Gateway and Ginger. Thegroup, through the IndianHotels Co Ltd (IHCL), operatesfour brands – Taj (in luxury seg-ment); Vivanta by Taj (in theupper upscale category);Gateway (for the upscale seg-ment) and Ginger (in the econ-omy segment) to have a largefootprint across India. Goingforward, it will be an important

growth vehicle for Taj and weare looking at quickly scaling-up the brands to a large num-ber of hotels across India. Weopened one hotel every monthlast year. The most recentopening was The GatewayHotel EM Bypass Kolkata inDecember 2013. For this yearin 2014, we have 14 hotels inthe pipeline, including the newVivanta by Taj in Dwarka. As forluxury hotels, the cost of landis sky-rocketing. So that willsee fewer openings this year.

Exploring the overseasmarket

Our international expan-sion is through Taj, which is ourmost well-known brand.Currently, we have some inter-national properties of Vivantaby Taj that include Sri Lanka,Maldives, etc.

In an interview with , Raymond Bickson, Managing Director & CEO, Taj Group of Hotels, talks about thehotel industry and shares his business outlook along with discussing strategies about recasting Taj as not a singleluxury brand, but as a multi-branded hotel group.

Taj expansion to continue: BicksonLEADER TALK

ME G H A PAU L

We have more outbound Indian travellers than inboundtravellers. We need to cater tothis market as well

Raymond BicksonManaging Director & CEO

Taj Group of Hotels


NTO

Canadian MEVs for touristsNow, multiple-entry

visas (MEVs) will be avail-able to qualified travellersallowing visitors to comeand go from Canada for sixmonths at a time for up to10 years without having toreapply each time. Therewill as well be a single feeof CAD $100 for the pro-cessing of either an appli-cation for a single- or mul-tiple-entry visa. The fee forthe temporary resident visa(TRV) programme will nowbe reduced from $150 to$100 for the processing ofeither a single- or multiple-entry visa.

By harmonising the sin-gle- and multiple-entry visafees, the visa application

process will become simplerfor applicants and promotetourism a nd trade byincreasing the number of eli-gible travellers who are ableto make multiple visits toCanada. Citizenship andImmigration Canada willincrease other fees in thetemporary resident pro-

gramme, effective February6, 2014. These changes willreduce the burden onCanadian taxpayers andensure that fees closelyreflect the real cost of pro-cessing applications.

Every year, more than 35million people visit Canadafrom around the world.

What is Maldives promoting in India?

Maldives has a lot to offerto tourists as we have numerous options for relaxation, dining, surfing, aswell as wedding functions. InMaldives, the unique thing isthat there is one island for onehotel, so there are no outsidersto disturb you. Also, the resortshave various activities to offerlike diving, snorkelling, etc.

What are the Indian markets that you arelooking into? And whichcities are in your radar?

Our focus is mainly on primary markets like Mumbaiand Delhi, but we hope to caterto all the cities in the future,depending on how the Indianmarket reacts to the destination.

We are trying to target allthe markets, but most of theresorts in and around Maldives are of five-star cate-gory. There are a few three tofour star resorts and the inter-esting thing is that theseresorts run full throughout the

year. So, if more such resortscome up, it’ll benefit investorsa lot and there’s a good chancethat they may recover their

costs very soon. We acknowl-edge that there is a bigger market for three and four star resorts.

How are you planning toraise awareness aboutthe destination in India?

During my interactionswith various stakeholders fromIndia, I have come to know thatawareness is most importantto popularise the destination. Ifpeople know that these are the facilities available inMaldives, they will definitely

visit the destination. Therefore,we need to promote MaldivianTourism in India.

How do you plan to workwith travel agents topromote the country?

We plan to do somedestination knowledge programmes to acquaint themwith the place. Through travelagents and tour operators, weplan to tap this growing groupof travellers. In the coming five years, we are targetting 5 million tourists all across theworld, and we hope India will contribute to a sizeablechunk. In 2013, we got around33,000 Indian tourists. It’s a significant increase from 2012.

Connectivity is an issuefor Maldives. How doyou plan to counterthis?

We do realise that con-nectivity is an issue. Very soon,our national airlines –Maldivian – will be startingchartered flights to Delhi. Thecompany Island AviationServices will also be looking to extend this facility to other cities.

Talking about attracting Indian tourists to Maldives;Hussain Lirar, Deputy Tourism Minister of Maldives, saysthat the national carrier Maldivian will be startingchartered flights to Delhi in another 2-3 months.

Maldives-Delhi charters soon

TT BUREAU

Hussain LirarDeputy Tourism MinisterMaldives

MOT state initiativesUnion Tourism Secretary, Parvez Dewan, while talking about the MOT initiatives, expressed his con-cern about the off season mid May-mid September. He informed that along with the private sector,the government is working together to make sure that it gets better. The first of this initiative is the777 days of the Himalayas. The Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi had announced 50 per cent subsidyon the climbing fee of the Himalayas few months ago and that became a reality in January 2014.The Himalayan campaign is to attract international visitors to India in the hot months.


AVIATION1 8 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

Rajesh Magow, Co-founder& CEO-India, MakeMyTrip,

said, “The visitor traffic to ourwebsite went up by four timeson January 23, which was thebusiest day of the sale period.Delhi, Mumbai and Bangaloreregistered the maximum num-ber of bookings, but some sec-tors became more popular dur-ing the sale due to the dis-counts being offered. Forexample, the Delhi-Bangaloreroute, which is not among the5 top-selling sectors on normaldays, was the second-most-booked sector during the sale

period.” He added that,“Bookings on the Bangalore-Delhi route grew by 800 percent. We saw maximum book-ings of 22 per cent coming infrom Delhi, followed by 17 percent bookings from Mumbaiand 13 per cent fromBangalore. The second roundof sale also witnessed anenthusiastic response. The vis-itor traffic to our website wentup to 51 per cent, while air-tick-et bookings increased by 50per cent, compared to the lastweekend of December 2013.This time, Mumbai led the tick-et-bookings on MakeMyTripwith 18 per cent of total book-ings during the sale-period.”

Yatra.com’s PresidentSharat Dhall said, “The dis-counted airfares launched bySpiceJet and Indigo have def-initely brought good cheer toIndian travellers. With bookingshaving increased by almost 4-5 times over the past two days,

Jet and Air India also joined therace to leverage advancebookings. With the onset of

summer vacations, we haveseen significantly higher traction from South India.”

Noel Swain, EVP –Suppler Relations, Cleartrip,said, “This time around, the

discount was available only forbookings made 30 days inadvance. The results were,however, interesting on twocounts. Firstly, the growth innumber of bookings was the highest ever in a sale peri-od and secondly, customersdid not postpone their travel toavail the 30-day advance pur-chase discount. In fact, we sawa marginal increase even fortravel within the 30 day periodwhere flights continued to beavailable at non-sale fares.

This shows that airlinesmanaged to create a new market for themselves withinthe leisure segment of trav-ellers, without diluting the yieldcloser to departure. During the sale period, Cleartrip saw visitor traffic grow by 300 per cent. Besides themajor metro cities, Goa andSrinagar were the most popular leisure sectors duringthis period.

Unlike other years, the recent airline flash sale in India announced discounts only on advance purchase, and eventhen, the sale gave OTAs and travellers enough reason to cheer. An increase of over 300% in visitor traffic forOTAs saw unprecedented advance bookings with minimum cancellations.

Metros make most of airline flash sale

PE D E N DO M A BH U T I A

During the saleperiod, we sawvisitor trafficgrow by300 per cent

With the onsetof summervacations, wehave seenhigher tractionfrom SouthIndia

We sawmaximumbookings of 22 per centcoming in from Delhi

Rajesh MagowCo-Founder & CEO-IndiaMakeMyTrip

Sharat DhallPresidentYatra.com

Noel SwainEVP – Suppler RelationsCleartrip

� Goa and Srinagar - mostpopular leisure sectors

� Bookings on the Bangalore-Delhi route grew by 800 per cent

Highlights


The Chhattisgarh TourismBoard (CTB) has adopted

various measures to providegood infrastructure facilities totourists and promote the hos-pitality industry of the state.These include the creation oftourist circuits, rural tourismprojects in its tribal villages and the development ofRajmergarh (Amarkantak) andMainpat as hill stations andSirpur as a major Buddhistcentre. “We have alreadyinvested ` 200 crore in infra-

structure development proj-ects, right since the state wasbifurcated from MadhyaPradesh. We are now morefocussed on providing saferand more comfortable accom-modation for tourists. We areworking on developing resorts in more picturesquelocations with better facilities,”Santosh K Misra, ManagingDirector, Chhattisgarh TourismBoard, revealed.

According to the MD,CTB is planning to double itsvisitor inflow in the next twoyears. The Board is also look-ing for Public PrivatePartnerships (PPP) tostrengthen its tourist servicesector. “Our state has an abun-dance of natural beauty and isrich in minerals. To keep itintact, we don’t want to attractcrowds, and therefore, we aretargetting HNIs. We want tostrengthen our service sector,

for which we are looking at private investments or projects based on the PPPmodel,” he added.

The ChhattisgarhTourism Board is aggressivelypromoting the state as a

retreat. “At present, a largenumber of tourists visit the state for its religious des-tinations. However, the boardis trying to build Chhattisgarhas an environment and ecology retreat. The state isvisited by foreign tourists

from France, Germany, theUS and the UK and the inflow is growing steadily,”Misra revealed.

The Board had earlier ini-tiated a campaign tapping var-ious social media platforms

such as Facebook, YouTube,Twitter, etc, with the aim ofhighlighting the lesser-knownfacts of Chhattisgarh. With reg-ular updates and constantengagements, it has been ableto acquire considerable fansand followers. Commenting on

the strategy, he affirmed,“Social Media helps to connectwith people beyond geograph-ical boundaries. Through thisinitiative we have successfullymanaged to tap a large audience and the numbers are still growing.”

To strengthen its service sector, the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board is looking at inviting private investments orprojects based on the Public Private Partership model.

Need infrastructure for Chhattisgarh

The state isvisited by foreigntourists mainlyfrom France,Germany, theUS and the UKand the inflow isgrowing steadily

Santosh K MisraManaging Director Chhattisgarh Tourism Board

ME G H A PAU L

STATES M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 1 9


NTO2 0 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

How was the responsefrom Indian travellers toPhilippines in 2013?

In 2013, we had 52,206travellers from India, in 2014we hope to grow more.

What are your plans for2014?

We will expand our par-ticipation in fairs and organisemore FAM trips. Apart fromMumbai and Delhi, we are try-ing to tap other cities likeKolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai,Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

In the first week ofAugust we will be hosting road-shows in South India. We arealso participating in Locations,a film tourism event, to gain thesupport and encourage theFilms Development Council ofthe Philippines to participate inLocations.

How has the ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ campaign helped attract

Indian travellers to thecountry?

The campaigntries to distinguish theFilipino trait of being afun loving nation fromthe rest of Asia. In2011, we launched

this campaign and it hashelped us a lot in branding thePhilippines as a fun destinationand also to attract Indian travellers.

Connectivity is an issuewhen it comes to promot-ing the Philippines in India, how do you intend totackle this?

Connectivity issues arecertainly a challenge. In June2013, we had PhilippineAirlines pulling out of Delhi.Fortunately, other carriers havetaken on the challenge andimproved connectivity from thePhilippines. They have alsoimproved the number of flightsfrom weekly to daily. MalaysianAirlines, Cathay Pacific with

Dragonair, SilkAir withSingapore Airlines, are helpingus in a big way.

Do you see any improve-ment in visa issues?

The visa scene for Indiantravellers is much better in thePhilippines than any otherASEAN countries. We allowvisa-free entry for Indians who

hold a valid and current AJAC-SSUK - US, Japanese,Australian, Canadian,Schengen, Singapore or UKvisa or permanent residentpermit. We are also workingwith the Philippines embassyin India and the bureau ofimmigration to make the coun-try a more accessible destina-tion for vacationers.

Are you also targetting theMICE crowd?

Apart from the familycrowd, we are also ready forthe incentive travel move-ment. The MICE travellers arealso responsible for thegrowth in tourism figures. Inthe past, we only had smallgroups but now we are gettingmore and are growing interms of specialists focussingon Indian travellers. We alsohosted the OTOAI Conventionin December 2013 and wewant to host more such meetsin the Philippines.

R Glen Agustin, Chief Tourism Operations Officer, India Market Development Group, Philippine Department ofTourism, talks about how Indian travellers to the Philippines have been growing and how they are now focussingon other cities like Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, besides Delhi and Mumbai.

Philippines eyes Tier-II cities in India


How happy are you about the response of the Indian travellers to Philippines?

The Indian population is getting aware of Philippines as a destination, we have witnessed a 12.5 per cent increase in the num-ber of people visiting the Philippines, year-on-year. We would liketo invite more people to the country. An ideal destination for businessand leisure, the country offers a lot of exciting opportunities. BesidesManila, there are many places to explore in the Philippines, likeCebu, Palawan, Bohol and Boracay.

Maria Agnes CervantesMinister and Consul General

Philippine Embassy, New Delhi

Philippines has much to explore

R Glen AgustinChief Tourism Operations OfficerIndiaMarket Development GroupPhilippine Department of Tourism



FAMILY ALBUM2 2 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

RTE: Maximising benefits of travel showsReed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) made a presentation to the travel trade community in Delhi on February 19. Present at the function were Simon Press, SeniorExhibition Director, World Travel Market (WTM) and Shane Hannam, Sales Director, Key Accounts, Reed Travel Exhibitions. Parvez Dewan, Secretary,Ministry of Tourism, was the chief guest at the event.


It is pertinent to mention thatthe 2013 edition (sixth

edition) of the Great IndianTravel Bazaar had more than 8,000 B2B meetingsbetween 258 foreign buyersfrom 50 countries and 269registered Indian sellers fromacross the country.

According to the organis-ers, with the sharp focus oninbound tourism and Gujaratas the theme state, the USP ofthe Incredible India TravelBazaar-2014 would be theintensive buyer-seller meetspread over two days. It will result in significant transacting and capitalising of business opportunitiesbetween international buyersand Indian sellers.

The travel bazaar wouldhave sellers offering a wide range of products cover-ing heritage, adventure,wildlife, healthcare, leisure,eco-rural, MICE, pilgrimageand other segments.

The travel bazaar wouldhave 216 booths from where205 Indian sellers will be show-casing their products. All for-eign buyers and Indian sellerswill have structured, pre-scheduled B2B meetings fixedbefore the event. The B2Bmeetings will take place at thebooth/booths of the registeredIndian sellers. About 9,000 pre-scheduled and on-the-spotB2B meetings are expected totake place between the Indiansellers and foreign buyers in

two days. Around 250 foreignbuyers from 55 countries andover 1,500 delegates fromIndia and abroad are expected

to attend it. The two-day eventwill be inaugurated by ParvezDewan, Tourism Secretary,MOT. The inaugural function

will also be addressed byJyotsna Suri, Senior VP,FICCI and CMD, The LalitSuri Hospitality Group.

With an objective of retaining the flavour, commitment, purpose and structure ofthe Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB), which was earlier organised by FICCI inJaipur, the Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Tourism and India TourismDevelopment Corporation are co-organising the first Incredible India Travel Bazaar(IITB) 2014 on April 8-9, 2014, in New Delhi.

EXHIBITIONS M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 2 3

� About 9,000 pre-scheduledand on-the-spot B2Bmeetings are expected totake place between theIndian sellers and foreignbuyers.

� Around 250 foreign buyersfrom 55 countries willattend the event.

� Over 1,500 delegates fromIndia and abroad will attendthe Incredible India TravelBazaar 2014

� The travel bazaar wouldhave 216 booths fromwhere 205 Indian sellerswill showcase theirproducts.

Hopes From IITB

Gujarat theme state for first IITB in Delhi

RATAN KR PAUL





Philippines in the City of JoyThe Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) held a roadshow in Kolkata on February 7, 2014.The event was attended by R Glen Agustin, Chief Tourism Operations Officer, DOT and Luisa A. Llave, Member, India Market Development Group, DOT. The event brought togethertravel and tour operators, like Shroff International Travel Care, Blue Horizons Travel & Tours,The Peninsula, Manila, Discovery Suites, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.



NEWS2 8 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

ASwiss company and sub-sidiary of GourmIndia

Services, GI Rentals providetravellers the option of rentingchauffeur-driven luxury vansfor family or group journeysacross Europe. Travellers canchoose from the MercedesBenz Viano and the MercedesBenz Sprinter. The luxury vanswill have features such as inter-changeable seats, navigationsystem and in-built microphoneand experienced Englishspeaking European driverswith EU license.

Maison de Voyage, aDivision of Zaka Group is theGSA of GI Rentals in India.Speaking about the newlyintroduced product, JenaiferDaruwalla, General Manager– Maison de Voyage, said,“Our current focus is on theB2B segment, which meansprimarily members of the travel trade fraternity. We want

to work closely with the travelagents so that they can pack-

age GI Rentals in their itineraries.”

The service is availablethroughout Europe, includingprime destinations like France,Italy, Switzerland, Austria andGermany among others. Thepricing of renting luxury vanswill come down with theincreasing number of days.

“This is the first year weare introducing the product inthe market. We are getting agood number of enquiries on adaily basis. Since, the bookingswill start only after March suchinterest from the market isquite encouraging,” she added.

GI rentals provide tourists the option of renting chauffeur-driven luxury vans across Europe. Travellers can choose fromthe Mercedes Benz Viano and the Mercedes Benz Sprinter.

Chauffeured through Europe

We want to work closely withthe travel agentsso that they canpackage GIRentals in their itineraries

Jenaifer DaruwallaGeneral ManagerMaison de Voyage

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� The service is availablethroughout Europe,including prime destinationslike France, Italy,Switzerland, Austria andGermany among others

Availability

The summit will culminatewith an Incredible India

Golf Tourism Award, IncredibleIndia Golf Tournament andFAM trips to golf courses for

the hosted golf tour operatorsfrom across the world.

In his speech, ParvezDewan, Secretary, MOT,underlined huge potential ofgolf tourism market in India,thanks to the development of asignificant number of worldclass golf courses in the coun-

try. According to him, India iscapable of wooing a huge num-ber of international tourists byoffering combined packageswhich include golf and othertourism products for up-market

segment. "The Ministry ofTourism will extend all supportto the industry people to pro-mote inbound golf tourism,"said Dewan. The Summit willbe jointly organised by MOTand FICCI, in association ofIndia Golf Tourism Association.The Curtain Raiser event wasalso addressed by Jyotsna

Suri, Sr. VP, FICCI and CMD,The Lalit Suri HospitalityGroup; Anand Kumar, JS,Ministry of Tourism; DidarSingh, Secretary General,FICCI; SC Sekhar, MD,

Landbase India & Sr. VP, ITC Hotels; Sanjeev Rampal,VP-Operations, Jaypee GreenGolf Resort; Greesh Bindra,GM, Crowne Plaza Gr Noida;Padamjit Singh Sandhu,Director, Professional Golf Tour of India andChitranjan Bakshi, BusinessHead, Pash India.

The first-ever international event on golf tourism,‘Incredible India Golf Tourism Summit 2014’, will takeplace from October 8-10 at The Lalit in New Delhi.

IIGT Summit in October

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Talking about positioningZagreb as a MICE destina-

tion for the Indian market,Amelia Tomasevic, CEO,Zagreb Tourist Board &Convention Bureau, informs thatZagreb will be a new MICE des-tination for India. The ZagrebConvention Bureau has partici-pated in workshops organisedwith European Cities Marketingin Mumbai, Bengaluru and NewDelhi recently. She adds, "In2012, we had 120 per centmore overnights and 67 percent more arrivals than 2011.This was driven by leisurearrivals. However, interest forincentives and meetings is alsogrowing, and I think that in thenear future, Zagreb will berecognised as a great destina-tion for Indian business travel."Regarding the air connectivity from India, ZlatanMuftic, Director, ZagrebConvention Bureau, reveals,"The connections to Zagreb

are excellent via Frankfurt,Vienna, Munich and Istanbul(Austrian, Turkish Airlines,

Lufthansa), and other hubsfrom where Croatia Airlines isflying to Zagreb."

The capital of the Republic of Croatia, Zagreb is one ofthe oldest European cities with its history going back tothe 11th century AD. reports...

Zagreb targets MICE sector

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There are goodconnections toZagreb viaFrankfurt,Vienna, Munichand Istanbul

Zagreb willturn out to bea greatdestinationfor businesstravel

Amelia Tomasevic CEO, Zagreb Tourist Board &Convention Bureau

Zlatan MufticDirectorZagreb Convention Bureau

Witnessing a steady growthin Indian arrivals, Oman

is focussing on tapping the out-bound pie from the market.“From the time we set up officein 2010 in India, we have seena good year-on-year growthfrom this region. For instance,we saw a huge jump in 2013over 2012. This was driven byleisure arrivals that grew 35 percent. In 2013, there was a 10per cent surge in tourist arrivalsto Oman from India,” LubainaSheerazi, India Representative- Ministry of Tourism, Sultanateof Oman said.

Going forward, leisuretravel and MICE will remainhuge segments for Oman. Ithas also turned its attentiontowards Indian weddings overthe past few years, and is pos-itive that this trend will furtherdrive tourist traffic from India tothe destination. According toSheerazi, Indian weddings and

honeymoon are two veryimportant markets that Oman

needs to capture. “The Indianwedding industry is worth awhopping US$ 25 billion a yearand is enjoying a 20 per centyear-on-year growth. Oman isa short-haul destination withexcellent connectivity withIndia. We want to tap this mar-ket and increase tourist arrivalsfrom here. Muscat serves asan excellent venue for anIndian wedding, with severalworld class hotels and resortsin its vicinity,” she added.

Talking about the impor-tance of travel trade in India, sheinformed, “In order to give a first-hand experience to Indian out-bound travel agents, the Ministryof Tourism, Oman in associationwith Oman Air recently, conduct-ed a FAM trip for senior man-agement of tour operators fromMumbai, Ahmedabad, Puneand Delhi. The travel trade hasremained our primary focus. Weare expanding our presence to Pune, Ahmedabad andHyderabad also.”

Oman has witnessed 10 per cent surge in tourist arrivalsfrom India in 2013. This was driven by leisure arrivalsthat grew 35 per cent during the last year.

Leisure is the way to go

Oman is a short-haul destinationwith excellentconnectivity withIndia. We want totap this marketand increasetourist arrivalsfrom here

Lubaina SheeraziIndia RepresentativeMinistry of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman

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The first South Americancountry to have ventured

into India, Argentina isaggressively marketing itselfthrough travel agents in India. According to Roberto Palais, Executive Secretary,National Institute of TourismPromotion in Argentina(INPROTUR), almost 80 percent of the bookings forArgentina from India are donethrough travel agents. “As Argentina is a new destination for the India out-bound market, the consumerhere seeks consultation andairfare booking support alongwith information about newitineraries from the traveltrade fraternity. Thus, we arelooking at working closelywith the trade in India to capture a share of the ballooning numbers of busi-ness and leisure travellersfrom India,” he says.

Talking about the growthin outbound segment fromIndia, he elaborates, “We havewitnessed a tremendousincrease in Indian arrivals toArgentina, from 3,500 in 2011to 5,000 in 2012. Even in 2013,despite the depreciating rupee,around 5000 outbound visitorscame to Argentina. We are pri-marily targetting the leisuretravellers, honeymooners andadventure seekers asArgentina is a niche destina-tion. However, last year, we received impressive MICE visitors from India, including a 150-memberMICE group into Buenos Aires.ICCA has ranked us as No. 18in the world for MICE.According to the ICCA,Argentina is the most visitedcountry in South America. Wehope to tap more MICE visitorsfrom India as well.”

Argentina is also thegateway to Antarctica and this

has opened a whole newcruise tourism opportunity forArgentina and generated inter-est in the Indian market. “Wewant to promote the nature,culture, vineyards, nightlife,handicraft and festivals ofArgentina to the Indian market,”he adds.

Regarding the position-ing of Argentina in India,Medha Sampat, Founder,Knack Marketing, opines, “Wewould like Indians to exploreArgentina as a mono destina-tion. The average length ofstay of an Indian traveller isfive days as Argentina is usu-ally combined with otherSouth American destinations.Thus, our destination training sessions are aimed ateducating and enablingagents to create itinerariesand advise travellers who arelooking at experiencingArgentina as an all-in-onetourist destination.”

The outbound traveller in India seeks consultation, airfare booking support and informationabout new itineraries from the travel trade fraternity. Thus, INPROTUR is looking at workingwith the trade in India to capture a share of business and leisure travellers from India.

Travel trade indispensable for Argentina

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Our destinationtraining sessionsare aimed ateducating andenabling agents to create itinerariesand advisetravellers

We are targettingthe leisuretravellers,honeymoonersand adventureseekers asArgentina is a nichedestination

Roberto PalaisExecutive SecretaryINPROTUR

Medha SampatFounderKnack Marketing

ITB BerlinBloggersSpeed Datingevent

This year’s ITBBloggers Speed Datingevent will be taking placefor the second time. Forexhibitors and bloggers,admission to this eventon 6 and 7 March is freeof charge. The ITBBloggers Speed Datingevent will not only pro-vide hotels and tourismdestinations such asAustralia, Finland,Florida, Kenya, Jordanand Portugal with a plat-form for meeting travelbloggers from around theworld, but a number offederal States such asLower Saxony andThuringia as well. Theaim is to show exhibitorsnew possibilities for mar-keting their products andservices.




YEATS (Youth Education and Tourism Services), a tourism event targetted at the youth took place in Mumbai on February 5-6, at Hotel Sea Princess inJuhu. The event provided a unique opportunity for Tourism Boards, DMCs, Tour operators, Embassies, Consulates and other allied services to come directlyin contact with students, school and college principals, parents and the young travellers of India. The event was inaugurated by celebrated Filmmaker andChairperson, Children’s Film Society of India, Amol Gupte.

The YEATS motto: Catching them Young



ANALYSIS3 6 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

With a comparatively stabilised economy, industry experts predict a positive summer holiday season which willwitness travellers taking long holiday breaks.

Summer 2014: Long hauls, new places

Outbound

The summer season mightbring cheer to the tourism

industry with 2014 being touted as a ‘comeback year’.With the devaluation of theIndian Rupee against the US

dollar, rigid taxation issues and policy level decisions,2013 was comparatively agrim year.

However, experts acrossinbound, outbound anddomestic sectors believe thatpeople will be travelling more

this summer season.spoke to industry stalwarts onhow the Indian GeneralElections will impact the

summer holiday season, thepopular destinations world-wide and the upcoming newtourist spots.

SAU M YA TE WA R I

The last two years haven't been that rewarding, but Ibelieve there will be a boom this year. One of the devel-opments has been the Thailand unrest, but as a destina-tion, the country hasn’t really gone down.Travellers arenow willing to explore new destinations in South-East Asia.Popular destinations this summer would be Italy, Burmaand Canada. Europe would also entice tourists and therewill be takers for experiential offerings in Antarctic/Arcticcruises.

Ratti DhodapkarMD, Abercrombie & Kent Vacations

Inbound

2014 will be a good year for domestic and international travel. Kashmir willcontinue to charm tourists. People are willing to explore destinations likeKasauli and Darjeeling, beyond popular spots like Shimla and Manali.Travellers are again showing an interest in Uttarakhand’s tourist spots likeValley of Flowers. The tourism industry will boom if the upcoming electionsgo peacefully as travellers prefer a secure and peaceful country.

Subhash GoyalChairman, Stic Travels

We are expecting less amount of growth in the inbound sector this summerseason. This is largely due to the unstable political scenario in the country.Around 50 per cent of travellers coming to India with a dual purpose; they seekinvestment and business opportunities in the country while holidaying. I believethis segment will be hesitant in visiting the country due to the existing uncertaintyin the political set-up. In terms of destinations, South India and Rajasthan willshow better growth than last year. New upcoming tourist spots will also includeKumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand.

Praveen ChughMD, TSI Yatra

Domestic

The domestic tourism market will be on a rise. The only roadblock couldbe the impending General Elections which are expected around the sum-mer holiday season. The travellers have become quite mature, and theyprefer to visit less number of places in one vacation. The trend of peopleexploring new destinations is there, but any new tourist spot will take atleast 10 years to develop as a proper destination.

Mukesh JaggaDirector, Viva Holidays Tours & Travels

I think popular spots like Kerala and Goa will always be good attractions. Theother destinations that are fast becoming popular are North-East states likeSikkim, Darjeeling and Gangtok, due to good connectivity and durable pricing.I think the General Elections will not have any major impact on the season. Ibelieve off-beat destinations are there, but usually they have less accommodationspace and connectivity issues.

Rakesh LambaDirector, Prakriti Holidays

The summer outbound trend is looking quite positive.2013 was not that great for both inbound and outbound.South Africa is picking up as new destination. Spain hasbeen a popular destination and we are still getting lots ofqueries on it. Late last year, the outbound industry sufferedbecause of the turmoil in Thailand but, as a destination itis still immensely popular. 2014 would witness an upwardtrend with more people travelling to different countries.

Jatinder TanejaMD, Travel Spirit International

The year 2013 was marginally down, and I believe, wewill witness a turnaround this year. New destinations likeAustralia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands and US areattracting lots of interest. Italy, Philippines, South Africa,Maldives, Abu Dhabi are some of the upcoming destinations.China is showing a lot of interest in theIndian market. Earlier, Canada was synonymous onlywith Toronto and Vancouver. Now, people want to go toAlberta and Alaska in Canada as well. People also wantto visit Brazil and Chile.Travellers are skeptical about vis-iting Thailand, but the unrest is primarily restricted toBangkok and the rest of the country is safe to travel. People are travelling and shop-ping from places Koh Samui and Phuket, however the volume may not be compa-rable to that of Bangkok.

Guldeep Singh SahniMD, Weldon Tours and Travels






The carrier flies to India,connecting Dar es

Salaam, Nairobi, Bangui,Johannesburg, Entebbe,Mombassa, Zanzibar,Khartoum, Lagos, Abidjan,Contonou, Harare and Ndolu.

India has a lot of potentialand is a growing economy, saidTekeba H Selassie, RegionalDirector - India sub Continent,Ethiopian Airlines. “The Airlineshas been operating into India for more than fourdecades and envisages futuremarket growth. India is one ofthe airline’s major destinations,”he said.

With the Indian aviationindustry facing stiff competitionfrom foreign and domestic air-lines and with the price warcontinuing, Selassie believesthis is a healthy competition. As

operating margins remain lowand competition intensifies, air-lines are identifying factorsother than price to attract cus-tomers. In-flight entertainmentand connectivity are key pointsfor airlines to achieve differen-tiation, at least at the moment.

The airline has been aStar Alliance member sinceDecember 2011. Serving anetwork of 80 passenger des-tinations, 16 domestic and 17freighter, the airline pins greatimportance to its in-flight enter-tainment.

Ethiopian, the national carrier of Ethiopia, flies to twocities in India, Delhi and Mumbai. However, come winter2014, the airline hopes to fly to Chennai if the requisitepermits are received.

Ethiopian to fly to Chennai

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In-flightentertainmentand connectivityare key pointsfor airlines toachievedifferentiation

Tekeba H SelassieRegional Director - India sub ContinentEthiopian Airlines

� Serving a network of 80passenger destinations,16 domestic and 17freighter, EthiopianAirlines pins greatimportance to its in-flightentertainment.

Quick Fact

Adding the Portuguese touch

A luxury consortium, The Private Collection of Portugal, came to New Delhi this February. With the objectiveof initiating a productive dialogue with key players from the luxury segment of Portugal, the consortium hosteda brunch at Cherie One with select agents to interact with them about their offerings.

Completing a 4-city roadshow

Grayline Latin America organised a multi-city roadshow from January 27-31 in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluruand Mumbai. Over 400 product planners and frontline staff were trained in all the four cities. This is the first timea Latin America roadshow such as this was held covering countries like Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Colombia andPeru. The roadshows were supported by Proexport Colombia and Latam Airlines



ATTRACTIONS4 2 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

Berlin, the capital of Germany,is one of the most vibrantfaces of Europe, with events,festivals, gourmet delights.The city is famous for itsmuseums, vibrant nightlifeand many festivals such asthe Berlin Film Festival andCarnival of Cultures.

Things to do in vibrant and eclectic Berlin

The Berlin WelcomeCard offersunlimited travel within the publictransport network for 48 hours, 72hours or 5 days in Berlin andallows discounts of up to 50 percent on more than 200 touristattractions and cultural highlights.And the best part? It´s available foronly €18.50!

Do not miss the dazzling glamour of BerlinWith modern music, elaborate lights andcontemporary dance culture, SHOW MEis an outstanding entertainment set onthe biggest theatre stage in the world.Subtly poetic moments are juxtaposedwith excellent wow effects, including 60dancers in futuristic LED suits and anover 20 metre high waterfall.

Recommended minimum age – from12 yrsDuration – approx 2.5 hours, includ-ing a 25 min breakTickets can be booked online. The range starts from € 20 to € 200.

Visit the CastleIn Berlin, one must visit nearbySanssouci, the favorite castle ofKing Friederich the Great, built in1745-1747.

Must see in BerlinBrandenburg Tor (Gate) is oneof the most recognisable land-marks in Europe. The gate wasbuilt in 1788-1791 to enter thecity. Visiting the gate puts youfront and centre for several otherhistoric landmarks. On one side,and a block up, you have theReichstag and special stones inthe ground which indicate wherethe Berlin wall once ran.

Find traces of the Berlin Wallthroughout the city. Its former pathis embedded in the street andsections still stand today to serveas a reminder to visitors.

Museum Island orMuseumsinsel located inthe Spree River is hometo 5 world-class muse-ums. Check out part ofthe Ishtar Gate at thePergamon Museum orthe Bust of EgyptianQueen Nefertiti at theNew Museum.

NE E LA M SI N G H

Explore Berlin in just € 18.50

Where to Shop? Berlin has a thriving record shop scene centred aroundplaces like Oye and Hard Wax. More conventional shoppingcan be found on Kurfustendamm in the west, with an Applestore and flagship Uniqlo opened recently. In the east,Friedrichstrasse offers a similarly up-market selection, butwith slightly younger fashion at places like the Quartier206store. For cutting-edge designers, head to the area aroundMulackstrasse in Mitte, where you will find interesting bou-tiques or try Das Neue Schwarz, for haute-couture at knock-down prices.

With over 60,000 sqm of selling space, the Ka De We orKaufhause des Westens, is claimed to be the largest depart-ment store in Continental Europe. Spread over 8 floors, it hasteverything from designer labels and jewelry to cosmetics. Don'tmiss the legendary gourmet department on the top floor.

Tip: Don't expect to do much shopping on a Sunday.



STATISTICS4 4 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

Inbound-2013: Picking up speedForeign tourists have surely taken a fascination for India and even though the first half of the year 2012-2013 wasa little slow what with the economic downturn and the fall of the Rupee. However, things are picking up now andeveryone in the industry is hopeful of a great 2014, here’s wishing we reach that elusive figure and inbound shines.

6.58 millionForeign tourist arrivals which visited India in the year 2012

` 94,487crore

Source: MOT

The foreign exchange earnings from tourism

US$17.74 billion

Contd. on page 46



STATISTICS4 6 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

Gliding towards higher tourism stake

Western Europe 1750342 1838695 1853066 30.31 29.14 28.17 5.0 0.8

North America 1173664 1239705 1295968 20.32 19.65 19.70 5.6 4.5

South Asia 1047444 1139659 1171499 18.14 18.06 17.81 8.8 2.8

South East Asia 439043 521755 540914 7.60 8.27 8.22 18.8 3.7

East Asia 411947 475951 535622 7.13 7.54 8.14 15.5 12.5

West Asia 235317 278773 290996 4.07 4.42 4.42 18.5 4.4

Eastern Europe 227650 274598 312686 3.94 4.35 4.75 20.6 13.9

Australasia 210275 233165 244511 3.64 3.70 3.72 10.9 4.9

Africa 204525 232386 261428 3.54 3.68 3.97 13.6 12.5

Central & South America 62728 60988 63699 1.09 0.97 0.97 -2.8 4.4

Not Classified elsewhere 12757 13547 7356 0.22 0.21 0.11 6.2 -45.7

Total FTAs in India 5775692 6309222 6577745 100.00 100.00 100.00 9.2 4.3

FTAs in India from different regions of the world 2010-2012

Region/Country

No of Arivals Proportion to the Total % Change

2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012 2011/10 2012/11

1.65%The share of India inInternational Tourism Receipts

41India’s rank in WorldTourism Receipts

FTAs From Top 3 Markets(Numbers in million and Percentage share)

1.040 (15.81%)

USA0.788 (11.98%)

UK0.487 (7.41%)

Bangladesh

Contd. from page 44




BRYS Hotels is aiming totake leisure and business

travel to the next level. A part

of the BRYS Group, the BRYSHotels’ portfolio includes BRYSFort in Jaisalmer and therecently launched BRYSCAVES at Jim Corbett. WhileBRYS Fort encapsulates the

legendry Rajputana grandeur,BRYS CAVES is an ultra-luxu-rious resort with soul of thewild. The group is shortly com-ing up with BRYS Elan in

Sahibabad, Uttar Pradesh tosupport the MICE segment aswell.The flagship property ofthe group, BRYS Fort,Jaisalmer offers a breathtakingpanoramic view of the Golden

City. Spread over nine acres,BRYS Fort has been built tocarry forward the magnificentarchitectural legacy of theRajputana Royalty in a

different league.

The second prop-erty of the group is therecently unveiledBRYS CAVES inMohan. It is a luxuryresort, nestled amidstlush greenery in JimCorbett. The resort wel-comes the traveller toenjoy the sound ofsilence embraced bythe luxurious caves,designed on the con-cept of PaleolithicStone Age with thenovelty of modern inte-riors. The destination

attracts weekenders, honey-mooners, inbound, corporate,MICE, and vacation segments.So far, the company is witness-ing a good response for thenewly launched property.

The group has unveiled two properties in Jaisalmer andJim Corbett in the last two years and is looking forward toopening its third property in Sahibabad soon.

Luxury@BRYS Hotels

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How do you work to easevisa processing?

In our organization, wehave employees who have beenhandling visa queries for a longtime and are experienced in thisfield. For each country, we havean expert team looking into

every detail to help consumersget their visas in a snap. Themembers in this team are wellequipped to guide the travellersto the best of their ability so that

they do not miss out on any ofthe formalities.

How does it help travelagents?

We provide travel agentswith timely updates and informthem in case there is a changein the visa norms of a particularcountry. We also make sure

that we share proper guide-lines about filling up docu-ments and forms, so that thereis no discrepancy and theirclients get their visas on time.

With visa outsourcing, howhas visa processingchanged in India?

Earlier, getting a visa to aparticular country from theirembassy was an extremelytedious and time-consumingprocess. However, outsourcinghas now changed the game. Alltravellers need to do is contactagencies like us and we canguide them, check their docu-ments and submit it for them.We also provide them with aone tracking ID so that theycan track the status of theirvisa online.

How helpful is technologyfor you?

Technology has the greatadvantage that it allows service industries to replace expensive human labor, notonly reducing costs, but alsoavoiding issues of customerservice. Yet, technology maysometimes also produce awhole new set of unintendedconsequences.

Imran Khan, Director, Visa Master, says that the members inhis team are well-equipped to guide travellers to the best oftheir ability so that they get their visas hassle-free and on time.

Visa power for travellers

For us, technology allowsus to help our clients. It

provides an easy way toknow about visa status

and helps them apply for avisa online.

Imran KhanDirector, Visa Master

BRYS CAVES

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AGENTS M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 5 1

Indian outbound has grownsubstantially over the years

and many global brands areeyeing to tap this emergingmarket. In a bid to facilitatetheir entry in the country,Tourism Enterprises providesquality marketing and adviceto B2B travel partners to efficiently market their product in India.

The company was set uplast year by a team of Indianprofessionals having over 20years experience in thetourism industry. It works invarious fields relating totourism viz. marketing, promo-tions, research, product devel-opment, public relations andproduct development etc.

Talking about the compa-ny’s focus, Ravi Gusain,Managing Director, TourismEnterprises said, “We have setup this company to promoteDMCs, hotels and tourismboards to the B2B market inIndia. So far, we are gettinggood response from the out-bound market and agents aresupporting the initiative.”

The company hasalready signed up with DMCsin Srilanka, Dubai, Brazil, Peru-Ecuador, Panama,Morroco, Malyasia, Spain andRomania. Its focus is on bothmetropolitan as well as Tier-II& Tier-III cities.

“All DMCs we are pro-moting are leading agencies intheir respective destinationsand are trustworthy. At pres-

ent, we have been receivingregular queries for Srilanka,Dubai and Spain. Brazil, SouthAmerica and Romania aresome of the upcoming destina-tions. There is a lot of interestin Romania among MICE oper-ators because of its location inEurope with moderate prices

for hotels and tours,” he explained. TourismEnterprises focus on marketingand promotions where as alloperations and pricing aredone directly with these DMCs.The company is regularlystudying and understandingthe need of Indian travellers,

which helps in bringing newdestinations to India.

Informing about compa-ny’s future plans, Gusain said,“We have seen growth for allour destinations in 2013 andwe are quite hopeful that thisyear it will continue to grow at

a good pace. We have plans toorganise workshop, seminarsand destination promotionalactivities in 2014 for B2B mar-ket on regular basis. This willenable us to educate outboundoperators and generate more interest for our destinations.”

Tourism Enterprises helps destination management companies promote themselves to B2B travel partners inefficiently marketing their products in India.

Putting a new spin on inbound tourismTT BU R E AU

There is a lot ofinterest inRomania amongMICE operatorsbecause of itslocation andhotel prices

Ravi GusainManaging DirectorTourism Enterprises

� Tourism Enterprisesfocusses on marketing andpromotions and alloperations and pricing aredone directly with theseDMCs.

What It Does...


HOTELS5 2 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

When the long-awaitedtrain link to Katra, in

Jammu and Kashmir, opens

soon, the passengers,pilgrims and tourists alike willbe delighted to see a plush,real railway hotel right at thestation, welcoming them. TheVasishnodevi IRCTC GuestHouse, Food Station andShopping Lounge, as the

complex is called, has over ahundred beds, spread over arange of accommodation,including a/c rooms and a/cand non a/c dormitories, and

a 200 cover food outlet,offering wide variety ofcuisine. Rakesh Wazir, whooperates the complex, isexcited at the prospects of thetrain passengers, as also othervisitors to Katra, going to theholy shrine of Mata Vaishno

Devi, enjoying the comforts atthe hotel at reasonable rates.The tariff, ranging from `184 to `2,200, includescomplimentary breakfast,mineral water bottle and pick-up and drop from the bus standand Banganga starting pointfor the trek to the shrine.

The hotel is in closeproximity to the bus stand,helipad and the main market.It commands a panoramic viewof the holy shrine and themountain range.

The train link to Katra and the hotel complex at theIRCTC station are significant landmarks for the peoplenot only of Jammu and Kashmir, but for others also.

IRCTC guest house at Katra

AN I L MAT H U R

Rakesh WazirOperatorVasishnodevi IRCTC Guest House

This season, Jodhpur has wit-nessed a large number of

weddings, which brings in agood share of revenues for thehotels, being it a year roundmarket. “Jodhpur is a perfectdestination which providessplendid wedding experience.Hence, this city is a muchsought after destination for wed-dings, thus giving a fair share toall the hotels,” PoonamGundecha, Director, IndanaPalace Jodhpur, pointed out.

Hotels in Jodhpur havewitnessed an incrementalgrowth from domestic marketover the inbound. Plus, they tookadvantage of receiving businessfrom the extended itinerariesfrom the Jaipur LiteratureFestival. Polo and Sufi festivalsare also fast gaining grounds forattracting tourists.

Commenting on the per-formance of Indana Palace

Jodhpur, she appeared to bequite satisfied. “Since it wasour first year of operation, wehave performed well andalmost met with our budget.

Indana Palace Jodhpur hasbeen accepted by the peopleas a property which offers apalatial experience with mod-ern comforts,” she maintained.And, she expects weddingsand MICE segment to contin-ue as strong potential forJodhpur. “Indana PalaceJodhpur supports this seg-ment by providing a set up of10,000 sq ft pillarless hall, per-haps the largest in Jodhpur,with an attached 40,000 sq ftlandscaped lawn to host large groups, meetings andconference arrangements,”she highlighted.

Poonam also informedthat Indana Hotels is comingup in Jaipur and Udaipur to strengthen its footprints in Rajasthan. “We stronglybelieve that it is no longer about selling a product, but selling an experience which has becomefar more important,” she concluded.

Though the hospitality industry in India is passing throughtesting times, the performance of hotels in Jodhpur andIndana Palace Jodhpur, in particular, has been satisfactory.

Jodhpur bets big on MICE

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It is no longerabout selling aproduct, butselling anexperience

Poonam GundechaDirectorIndana Palace Jodhpur




Kerala turns towards domestic touristsAt the 5th Partnership Meet for 2014 held in Delhi on February 12, officials of the Kerala Tourism interacted with the travel agents. New initatives and future programmes for attracting domestic tourists were also tabled at the roadshow.

7,107 reasons of successAt OTM-2014, Philippines, while showcasing its 7,107 islands, won the best booth in the outbound mediumin Delhi and Mumbai. R Glen Agustin, CTOO, India Market Development Group, Philippine DOT, and SanJeet,Tourism Attaché, India, Philippine Tourism, were awarded the Most Influential Persons in the travel industry.


According to NishithSaxena, Director, Cruise

Professionals, the year 2014looks promising for the cruiseindustry. Talking about newproducts, he says, “For PrincessCruises, we have a new ship –Regal Princess – debuting inMay 2014. Also, PrincessCruises has become the firstluxury liner to introduce a largedeployment for cruising inJapan.” Regal Princess wouldbe deployed in Europe for theentire summer season. Aftersailing on three-week long itin-eraries, she would be deployedon Princess’ famous 12-dayGrand Mediterranean itinerary,sailing between Barcelona andVenice. Regal Princess movesto the Caribbean later in the yearand would be offering seven-dayitineraries to choose from.

Regarding the growth inthe cruise tourism from India inthe last year, he affirms, “The

last two years have beenextremely challenging withrespect to growth in overall

vacation spend. Though out-bound travel is increasing, pas-sengers opting for cruises fromTier-II and Tier-III cities is still low due to lack of awareness and presence ofproactive travel agents.”

Saxena adds, “There is anincrease in passengers optingfor long-haul destinations such

as Alaska, French Polynesia,South America, etc. We are alsowitnessing a demand for newerdestinations and exotic itiner-aries in existing destinations like

Scandinavia, Mediterranean,China and Japan.” CruiseProfessionals have been con-ducting product updates androadshows in metros and mini-metros to enhance the cruisemarket share. “One of the keydifferentiators we offer to ourtravel agents is CancellationFee Waiver programme onCunard and Princess Cruises,

which saves passengers fromhigh cancellation fees, in caseof cancellation of bookings upto three working days prior tosail date,” he informs.

CRUISE M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 5 5

The year 2014 has started on a positive note, with a lot of cruise queries and bookings, which have already been confirmed in the first six weeks of the year.

Regal Princess to debut in May

We arewitnessing ademand for newerdestinationsand exoticitineraries

Nishith SaxenaDirectorCruise Professionals

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SenKay bets big on inbound

The group’s primarygoal is to make the travellerexperience a unique jour-ney, which leave behind anunforgettable memory. Theobjective of SenKay Toursand Travels is to maketravellers experience thereal spirit of India comfort-ably with the highest level

of priority to customerservice. Talking about theUSP of the company, AnilKumar, Director-Marketing, ProductDevelopment Operationand Contracting, SenKayTours and Travels says,“One of the key strengthsof SenKay is to be distinc-tive. Our primary goal is to

make the traveller experi-ence a unique journey,which leave behind anunforgettable memory. Thechoice of routes is impor-tant, but not more than itscontent.”

“In the last two years,we have achieved a decentgrowth, not only in our busi-ness volumes but also in ourcredibility in the domesticand international market.The knowledge and under-standing of the present daytravellers help us to analyseand work out our marketingstrategy,” he adds.

Regarding the chal-lenges in promoting India forinbound tourists, he laments,“We keep on hearing aboutthe changes in the visa issu-ing procedures. However, inreality there is a lot thatneeds to be done. These arechallenges in promotingIndia as a safe destination forthe inbound guests.” Thegroup is participating in ITBBerlin Fair this year to intro-duce and promote new des-tinations and directly interactwith FTOs.

Anil KumarDirector-Marketing, ProductDevelopment Operation andContracting, SenKay Tours and Travels

Regal Princess



Established in late 2009,FOSS has three basic offer-

ings: premium and hospitalityticketing, where they provideaccess to major sporting eventsaround the world; specialisedholidays based on sports; andcorporate events centred onsports events. In short, it pro-vides a one-stop sports tourismservice. Thus, the firm offers

Indian public an easy access tointernational sporting eventssuch as MotoGP, Royal Ascot,Grand Prix, etc.

Based in Bengaluru, thekey target markets depend onthe fan base. The Tier-I citiesthat offer a large client baseare Bengaluru, Delhi NCR,Mumbai, Chennai, etc. “NorthWest India posts good oppor-tunities as cities, such asNagpur, offer a strategic sportshub across Central India,” saidArun Raghu, Co-Founder andDirector, FOSS.

According to Raghu,sports tourism graduallyevolved in India. “After the1983 World Cup, Indian mediastarted publicising sportingevents manifold. And, with theadvent of cable TV era, Indianpublic was exposed to a vari-ety of international sportingevents. Also, with the influx of24x7 sports channels, corpo-rate houses realised that suchevents could be used as a

platform to advertise and pro-mote their brands.” Thesethree key elements led to theevolution of sports tourism inIndia, he explained. The com-pany also offers customised

packages for MICE groups. IfFOSS receives the rights fora particular event, then noextra fee is charged from thecustomer. However, if norights are bought, then a

service fee is charged.International sports tourismmarket has strict touting lawsand as a company they do not indulge in secondary market.

With niche sectors cropping up in the tourism industry, Fans On StandsSports (FOSS) offers a unique proposition. Being one of India’s first sportsmarketing company, it aims to bring the best of international sportingexperiences to audiences in India.

Offering international sporting experiencesAGENTS M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 5 7

RAMYA JS D’ROZARIO

Northwest Indiaposts goodopportunities ascities, such asNagpur, offer astrategic sportshub acrossCentral India

Arun RaghuCo-Founder and DirectorFOSS

Sports tourism in India faces lack of involvement by corporatesand the government. With transport and hospitality costs beingso high in India, international events offer a cheaper and qual-itative product. “The Singapore Grand Prix has witnessed arepeat trend every year. Almost 300 to 400 Indians go toSingapore for three days. There is immense government par-ticipation, ample infrastructure and support which give touristsmore reasons to come back every year.” The Indian govern-ment must think along these lines, and plan accordingly toeffectively sell India as a sports tourism hub.

Challenges



FICCI tees off golf tourism in IndiaParvez Dewan, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, announced at a curtain-raiser event recently held atFICCI House, New Delhi, that the first-ever international event on Golf Tourism called 'Incredible IndiaGolf Tourism Summit 2014' will take place in October at The Lalit in New Delhi.



NEWS

Both the properties arestrategically-located and

offer two entirely different yetenticing experiences. Speakingto , Ashok Kumar,Director, Xperience IndiaHotels & Resorts, says, “Weare projecting Cottage Nirvanaas a spiritual retreat. Travellers,who are seeking peace of mindand break from their hecticschedule, should come here.”

Kumar says that they areaiming to reach 55 per centoccupancy for Cottage Nirvanaand activities like the yogaretreat for occupants will beorganised to provide them withspiritual and calming experi-ence. The other property of thecompany ‘River Connect’ is the

only campsite on this location,says Kumar, which is a USP ofthe property. It has 20 deluxerafting camps which overlooksthe Ganga and mightyHimalayan Mountains.

“Rafting is a seasonalactivity, hence we are target-ting 80 per cent occupancy

currently. Although, Rishikeshhas many rafting campsites but‘River Connect’ providesunique experience as it is oneof the longest campsite on thebank of Ganga River and weare the sole operator on thislocation. Also, we haveensured highest level of safetyfor our clients,” says Kumar.

Xperience India Hotels & Resorts have launched two newproperties in Uttarakhand in Mukteshwar, and a camp-sitelocated at Gujjar Dera, Marine Drive, Rishikesh.

(E)Xperience in U’Khand

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(L-R) Satyendra Marken & Ashok Kumar

Continuing its bid to focuson religious tourism,

IRCTC has come up with aspecial train for Sikh pilgrims.The Panj Takht Specialincludes a 9-night/10-day

package tour, ex-Dhuri, inSangrur District, Punjab. VijayInder Singla, MP fromSangrur, who flagged off thePanj Takht Special Train, said"This train will be taking thedevotees to the Panj Takhts,which have a great signifi-cance for Sikhs. Through this,the 10-day journey to thesacred Takhts which arelocated in three differentStates can now be covered ata low cost, which was notpossible earlier.”

The train will have around trip from Dhuri to Dhuriand will take tourists to thefamous Takhts situated in var-ious parts of the country like SriHazoor Sahib at Nanded, SriPatna Sahib at Patna, SriDamdama Sahib in Bhatinda,

Sri Harmandir Sahib (Sri AkalTakht Sahib) at Amritsar andSri Keshgarh Sahib atAnandpur Sahib.

This package will enabledevotees to visit and worshipall the sacred Takhts, whichare scattered over three dif-ferent States of the country, ina single trip. Special arrange-ments were made for thenight stay for passengers atTakht Sahibs, whereverrequired. Keeping in mind the

elderly passengers, onboardsecurity and housekeepingservices have also been pro-vided. Tour escorts accompa-ny the tourists during the visitof the Takht Sahibs at variousdestinations. The train has 7sleeper class coaches andone pantry car. The all-inclu-sive cost of the 10-day trip is`8,250 per person.

Passengers can booktheir tickets online at IRCTC’stourism portal www.railtouris-mindia.com. At the function,Rakesh Tandon, MD, IRCTC,announced that on March 21and April 18 more Panj TakhtSpecial trains will run.

Singla also informedthat the new Sri Ganganagarto Jammu Tawi train(announced in the recent railbudget) will run via Dhuri. Hefurther stated that he hasrequested the RailwayMinister to extend theAndaman Express to Katra,once the Udhampur - Katrasection is operational to havedirect rail connectivity withMata Vaishno Devi shrine. Atpresent, Andaman Expresstravels between Chennai and Jammu three times aweek via Lehragaga, Sunam, Sangrur, Dhuri and Malerkotla.

After the Mahaparinirvan Express, IRCTC now flags offthe Panj Takht Special train in a bid to bolster thedevelopment of religious tourism.

Developing religious tourism

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India has completed threeyears without wild polio virus

being detected. However, thevirus continues to circulate inAfghanistan, Nigeria andPakistan. There have also

been recent outbreaks follow-ing importation in Ethiopia,Kenya, Somalia and Syria.Since 2000, more than 45countries that were earlierpolio-free had wild polio virusimportations. Thus, India facesa risk of importation of poliovirus importations. To mitigatethis risk, all such travellers arerequired to take a dose of OralPolio Vaccine (OPV).

These mandatoryrequirements for travel will beeffective from March 1, 2014.An OPV vaccination certificatewill be issued after this addi-tional dose, and will be valid fora period of 1 year. Indian res-idents travelling to these seven

countries are required to takea dose of OPV at least fourweeks prior to departure,regardless of age and vaccina-tion status. Passengers in transit through polio-infectedcountries do not need addition-al OPV dose.

“I have, on behalf ofRotary Club, tried to eradicatethe disease in various areas.This is similar to the policy thatrequires travellers to get yel-low fever vaccination whentravelling to certain countries,”said Subhash Goyal,

President, IATO. All DistrictImmunisation Officers (DIOs)in India have been designatedto arrange vaccination withOPV and issue a certificate totravellers. The OPV and certificate will be provided free of cost.

“The government should authorise private hospitals to administer the vaccine to travellers prior to their travel, rather than depend on the govern-ment hospitals alone,” he added.

As India celebrates its victory on polio, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, recentlyannounced that all travellers coming to India from seven polio endemic countries and those with polio viruscirculation, will be required to take a dose of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) following importation.

Polio vaccination: A must for travel

RAMYA JS D’ROZARIO

NEWS M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 6 1

We have tried toeradicate thedisease in variousareas. This is similar to the policy thatrequires travellersto get yellow fevervaccination whentravelling to certain countries

Subhash Goyal PresidentIATO

Tallest sandcastle of Indiain Goa

Sand Cult, in associ-ation with Goa Tourism,presents Goans and vis-itors to the state with avisual treat – a chanceto see the 20-foot tallsand castle which hasbeen put up atCalangute Beach.

The sand castle atCalangute Beach will beopen to public till May31, 2014.



Felicitated with a nation’s applauseThe National Tourism Awards were given away on February 18 atVigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. In his welcome address, Parvez Dewan,Secretary, MOT, thanked the attendees and congratulated the winners.Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for HRD stressed on makingIncredible India a credible place for tourists to visit. He commendedthe government’s efforts for undertaking various initiatives like the collective landing permit, 90-day free entry for Maldivians visiting Indiafor medical tourism and the Visa-on-Arrival facilities.


FAMILY ALBUM M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 6 3

Rewarding a year’s worth of labour



Soaked in golden glory...


AWARDS M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 6 5

Best Travel Agents/ InboundTour OperatorCategory-I1st: Le Passage To India Tours &Travels, New Delhi2nd: Kuoni Travel (India), Gurgaon3rd: Thomas Cook (India)

Category-II1st: SDU Travels, New Delhi2nd: Caper Travel Company, New Delhi3rd: Minar Travels India, New Delhi

Category-III1st: Yatra Online, Gurgaon2nd: GB Morrison Travels, New Delhi3rd: Top Travels & Tours, New Delhi

Category-IV1st: Travelite, New Delhi2nd: Midtown Travels, New Delhi3rd: Erco Travels, New Delhi

Category-V1st: Uni Crystal Holidays, New Delhi2nd: Adventure World (India), New Delhi3rd: Razdan Travels, New Delhi

Category-VI1st: Great India Tour Company,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala2nd: First Tours India, Gurgaon3rd: Hi-life Tours & Travels, New Delhi

Best Tourist Transport OperatorCategory-I1st: Parveen Travels, Chennai2nd: KTC India3rd: Bakshi Transport Service

Category-II1st: Ex Soldier Tourist Taxi Service, New Delhi2nd: Alwar Tourist Transport Service, New Delhi

Category-III1st: Bal Tourist Transport Service, New Delhi2nd: Shreya Travels, Nagpur

Best Domestic Tour Operator (Rest of India)1st: Yatra Online, Gurgaon2nd: Southern Travels, New Delhi 3rd: Heat Travels & Tours, Siliguri

Best Domestic Tour Operator (North Eastern Region including Sikkim)Heat Travels & Tours, Siliguri

Best Domestic Tour Operator (J&K Region)Yatra Online

Best Adventure Tour OperatorKash Ventures, New Delhi

Best Tour Operator PromotingNiche Segments other thanAdventure and MICEThomas Cook (India), Gurgaon

Best Overseas Tour Operator toIndia from UKKuoni, UK

Best Overseas Tour Operator toIndia from N. AmericaSita World Tours, USA & Canada

Best Overseas Tour Operator toIndia from Latin AmericaRaidho Tour Operator, Brazil

Best Overseas Tour Operator toIndia from EuropeTui Travel Plc., Spain

Best Overseas Tour Operator toIndia from East AsiaHIS Company, Tokyo, Japan

Best Overseas Tour Operator toIndia from AustralasiaAdventure World, Sydney, Australia

Best Overseas Tour Operator toIndia from Central Asia includ-ing RussiaTour Operator Kompas llP, Kazakhstan

Best International CharterOperator for IndiaPegas Touristik, Russia

Best StateRest of India1st: Andhra Pradesh & MadhyaPradesh (Joint Winners)2nd: Kerala3rd: Gujarat

Best State/UT: ComprehensiveDevelopment of TourismJammu & Kashmir

Best Heritage CityTirupati

Best Heritage WalkPune Heritage Walk

Best Website/PortalDepartment of Tourism, Kerala

Best Airport (Class X Cities)Rajiv Gandhi International Airport,Hyderabad

Best Airport (Rest of India)Swami Vivekanand Airport, Raipur

Best Civic Management of aTourist DestinationCategory ‘A’ CityKumbh Mela, Allahabad, UP

Category ‘B’ CityPachmarhi, Distt Hoshangabad, MP

Category ‘C’ CityKumarakom Grama Panchayat,Kerala

Best Hotel Five-Star DeluxeTaj Lake Palace, Udaipur

Five-StarKumarakom Lake Resort, Kottayam, Kerala

Four-StarVivanta by Taj, Kumarakom

Three-StarBrunton Boatyard Cochin, Kerala

Two-StarRed Fox Hotel, New Delhi

Best Heritage HotelBasicGajner Palace, Bikaner

Grand Fateh Prakash Palace, Udaipur

Best Eco-Friendly HotelITC Maurya, New Delhi

Best Hotel Providing BestFacilities for the Differently Abled GuestsThe Lalit, New Delhi

Best Standalone ConventionCentreLeonia International Centre forExhibition and Convention,Hyderabad

Best Hotel Based MeetingVenueJaypee Palace Hotel & ConventionCentre, Agra

Atithi Devo Bhava AwardMd. Sardar & P. Srinivasa Raju(HMV drivers of APTDC; for timely act of bravery in saving tourists’ lives)

Best Tourism PromotionPublicity Material (Pvt.Stakeholders)Le Passage To India Tours & Travels,‘India Passionate about Golf’ &; Thomas Cook (India), ‘Luxury RailJourneys’

Best Tourism PromotionPublicity Material (States/UTs)Karnataka

Best Tourism FilmMPSTDC, TV Commercial ‘Rang Hai’

Tourist-Friendly RailwayStationBangalore City Railway Station

Best Maintained & DisabledFriendly MonumentGolconda Fort, Hyderabad

Best Responsible TourismProject‘The Ladakh Eco-Tourism Initiatives’ Department of Wildlife Protection,Leh, Ladakh

Best Rural Tourism ProjectSikkim

Best Innovative and UniqueTourism Project‘Kochi Muziris Biennale Project’, Department of Tourism, Kerala

Best Film Promotion FriendlyStateAndhra Pradesh

In his welcome addressDewan thanked the atten-

dees and congratulated the winners.

Regaling the audience withhis speech, Tharoorstressed on makingIncredible India a credible

place for tourists to visit. Hecommended the govern-ment’s efforts for undertak-ing various initiatives like the

collective landing permit, 90-day free entry for Maldiviansvisiting India for medicaltourism and the Visa on

Arrival facilities for 180 countries. He also highlight-ed the fact that the tourismindustry is one of the most

rapid employment genera-tion sectors. The event concluded with Shankar’svote of thanks.

Winners of National Tourism Award 2012-13

List of Award-Winners 2012-13

Contd. from page 1



To increase the Indiantourist inflow through

innovative marketing activities,the Federal Agency forTourism, The Russian TravelAssociation - World withoutBorders, in co-operation withSalvia Travels, recently partic-ipated at OTM in Mumbai. Theyaimed at educating the traveltrade about Russia andemphasising on the growingbusiness market of the countryfor all kind of travellers.

Despite the economicslowdown and rupee depreci-ation, the growth of tourism toRussia this year is more than20 per cent.

The Russian TravelAssociation ‘World withoutBorders’ appointed SalviaTravels to promote Russianinbound tourism from India.Beyond the two major cities ofMoscow and St Petersburg,

Indian travellers are now willing to explore sites of The Golden Ring, LakeBaikal, the Trans-SiberianRailway journey, KrasnodarRegion. Sochi, the Black Sea resort and the home of2014 Winter Olympics is also becoming popular.

Russia is targetting well-travelled tourists, family trav-ellers, business travellers andMICE segment from India.Salvia Travels will also holdpromotional activities withtrade partners in India to dou-ble the visitor traffic. Aeroflotprovides direct flight connec-

tions from India (New Delhi) toRussia (Moscow) from con-necting flights to all major citiesof the country. Emirates,Turkish, Qatar, Etihad, AirArabia, Air Astana and Finnairare some of the major airlinesalready operating flights toRussia.

In a bid to increase the Indian tourist traffic, Russia intends to educate thetravel trade about the country and emphasise on the growing businessmarket of the country for all kind of travellers.

Russia beckons Indian travellers

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Swiss fam for agents

The six-month-long Swiss Pass SuperStar Program, launched in India by SwitzerlandTourism in collaboration with Rail Europe and Swiss Travel System, hosted a fam for 18travel agents in Switzerland. The trip had two groups that visited two distinct regions -Group A visited Lucerne, Basel & Zurich and Group B visited Geneva, Zematt & Zurich.

KLM introduces paymentvia social media

In the first of its kindinitiative, KLM RoyalDutch Airlines has devel-oped a method of paymentwhich enables customersto pay via social media.Customers using Facebookor Twitter to book orrebook a flight, make aseat reservation, or toarrange extra baggage,can now pay through thesechannels.KLM sends a link

to the customer in a pri-vate message on Facebookor Twitter. The customercan then select their pre-ferred method of paymentand complete the transac-tion. The social mediaservice agent at KLM thenreceives a message to saythat payment has beenreceived and the customer,in turn, receives confirma-tion of the payment.



AVIATION6 8 TRAVTALK M A R C H 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

The transition of all interna-tional flights from

Chhatrapati ShivajiInternational Airport (CSIA),Mumbai’s existing terminal tothe new Terminal 2 began withthe arrival of an Air India flightfrom Singapore. The firstdeparting flight from T2 wasthe Jet Airways flight toLondon. GVK MIAL’s ExecutiveChairman, GVK Reddy andManaging Director GV SanjayReddy welcomed the passen-gers of the first departing inter-national flight at the terminal’scheck-in hall.

The new terminalcomprises four levels:

Departure Level 4 com-prises common check-in facil-ities, international security &immigration, internationaldepartures retail, duty free andfood & beverage. Internationaldeparture gates are located atthis level. Level 3 comprises

security for domestic passen-gers, domestic departuresretail, F&B and the domestic

departure gates. Level 2 com-prises Arrivals corridor,Customs & Immigration, bag-

gage reclaim and arrivals’ fore-court. Level 1 comprisesGround services, arrival busgate lounges and baggagehandling systems.

A full-fledged TrafficControl Centre with CCTV cov-erage for the new T2Roadways is fully operational.It provides state-of-the-artoperations, control, monitoringand responses, especially dur-ing emergencies.

Jet Airways, CathayPacific, Malindo Air andSingapore Airlines have shiftedtheir international operationsto this terminal. Jet Airways,with a fleet of 112 aircraft,offers an average of 25 inter-national services to/fromMumbai to the Gulf, Far East,Europe, and North America.

Gaurang Shetty, Sr. VPCommercial, Jet Airways, com-mented, “The new terminalopens up immense possibili-

ties for the economic develop-ment of this region, as airlineswill now be able to offer seam-less connectivity.”

Rakesh Raicar,Regional Sales & MarketingManager, South Asia, CathayPacific said, “The new terminalwill add to the passenger’sexperience while flying in andout of Mumbai. It is a spaciousand impressive terminal, andis well-equipped to providepassengers with the comfortand ease of check-in, immigra-tion and security before they travel.”

The new integrated Terminal 2 at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, has officiallycommenced all international operations. An icon for modern India, the terminal will set newinternational standards across the board.

Mumbai T2 amongst the world’s Best

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It will add topassengers’experiencewhile flying inand out ofMumbai

The newterminal opensup immensepossibilities foreconomicdevelopment

Gaurang ShettySr. Vice PresidentCommercial, Jet Airways

Rakesh RaicarRegional Sales & MarketingManager, South Asia, Cathay Pacific

� India’s largest 9-level carpark with a capacity tohandle 5,200 cars

� 7,00,000 sq ft of retail, F&Boutlets and lounges

� 52 passenger bridge

� Capable of handling 40million passengers annually

Quick Facts

content, Abacus is the first GDSto introduce mobile solutions fortravel agents, with personalisedweb-based and wireless tech-nology,” Sawhney added.

Commenting on theyield management for cus-tomers during tough times, hesaid, “Reducing costs andmaking our agent customersmore profitable is our primarygoal. For example, AbacusWorkSpace includes a lowfare search capability thatallows users to present thebest available fare instantly.”Abacus also has a single PoS(Point of Sale) access to shopand book multiple types ofcontent, such as air insuranceand hotels.

Abacus has wide portfo-lio of budget airlines inAsia/Pacific, many of whichhave their sights set on theIndian outbound market.Folding in more domestic hotelcontent is also a priority tomaximise cross-selling and up-selling potential for agentslooking to strengthen theiryields and bottom lines.

Contd. from page 13

Automating workflows



APRILNATIONAL1 Mumbai Tourism Poland’s Roadshow 2 Bengaluru Tourism Poland’s Roadshow

3 Delhi Tourism Poland’s Roadshow

4 Mumbai MICE Travel Mart + Luxury & LeisureTravel Mart,

INTERNATIONAL3-5 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan International Tourism

Fair (AITF)5-6 Ottawa The Travel and Vacation Show6-8 Marseille Routes Europe8-11 Singapore Hotel Asia9-11 Beijing China Outbound Travel Tourism

Mart (COTTM)10-12 Siberia SITT (TOURSIB)15-20 The Hague International Travel & Tourism Market23-25 Sao Paulo World Travel Market

Latin America

23-25 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan International Tourism Fair (KITF)

28-30 Cape Town IBTM Africa

MARCHNATIONAL3 Delhi Kenya Tourist Board’s Roadshow4 Mumbai Tourism Victoria’s Roadshow 4 Mumbai Four Seasons Roadshow4 Chennai Kenya Tourist Board’s Roadshow5 Bengaluru Kenya Tourist Board’s Roadshow6 Delhi Tourism Victoria’s Roadshow6 Delhi Four Seasons Roadshow7 Mumbai Kenya Tourist Board’s Roadshow7 Bengaluru Tourism Victoria’s Roadshow 14-15 Raipur Indian International Travel Exhibition

(IITE)14-16 Chennai India International Tours & Travels Fair21-23 Guwahati Holiday Expo25 Delhi Tourism Ireland’s Travel Trade Workshop26 Mumbai Tourism Ireland’s Travel Trade Workshop27-29 Ahmedabad Gujarat Tourism Mart

INTERNATIONAL5-9 Berlin ITB

17-19 Tokyo International Luxury Travel Market

19-22 Moscow Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT)

24-26 Abu Dhabi GIBTM

26-28 Kiev UITT27-April 2 France Atout France’s Rendez-Vous en

France

For more information, contact us at: [email protected]

HOTELS

Opening in 2000 as the firstGrand Hyatt property in

the country and then being

operational as The GrandNew Delhi since 2002, thehotel has come a long way.One of the few standalonehotels in Delhi, The GrandNew Delhi sees this proposi-tion as a huge advantage.

“Being standalone is a greatadvantage for us. As we arenot affiliated to any hotelchain, there is great flexibilityin our operations and salesstaff. There are no pre-decid-ed procedures. The decision-

making process is faster aswe are action-oriented,” AmitModi, Vice President, TheGrand New Delhi, said.

Interestingly, the hotelbets big on its association withthe travel trade fraternity.According to Modi, the stand-alone proposition makes travelagents indispensable. “In fact,the contribution of travelagents to our bookings is a lotmore than our own websiteand OTAs. As far as the ratiois concerned, we get 100room nights from travel agentsto 80 room nights from OTAs,”he affirmed.

Located convenientlynear IGI Airport and New

Delhi’s most upscale luxuryshopping malls – DLFEmporio, DLF Promenadeand Ambience Mall – the lux-ury-cum-MICE hotel is betting big on its strategiclocation. “Despite the fact that we started operationsmuch before the malls came in, one of the biggestUSP of our property is itsproximity to them. Thus, wehave started complimentaryshuttle service to the mall forall our in-house guests,” hepointed out. Designed for thesavvy corporate guest, TheGrand New Delhi offers over 65,000 sq ft of indoorand outdoor meeting areasand exquisite banquet space, he added.

Being a standalone hotel, The Grand New Delhi sees tie-ups with the travel agentfraternity as an important part of the marketing strategy. The contribution of travelagents to the hotel’s bookings is a lot more than its own website and OTAs.

Travel trade gives a ‘Grand’ boost

TT BU R E AU

Amit ModiVice PresidentThe Grand New Delhi

We get 100 room nights from travel agents to 80 room nightsfrom OTAs.

Francis Wacziarg Co-chairman and founder of Neemrana Hotels, Francis Wacziarg, who pioneered heritage

hotels in India, passed away in New Delhi on Feb 19. He had been battling blood cancer for thepast 8 years. Originally from France, Wacziarg arrived in India 40 years ago and fell in love withthe country. Just a day before his death, Wacziarg along with Aman Nath, had been awardedthe Life Time Achievement Award by the MOT for their work in promoting heritage tourism. Theirtransformation of the 500-year-old Neemrana Fort Palace from ruins to a flourishing propertyinspired several heritage owners to do the same.

IN MEMORIAM

How is the Indian inboundindustry growing?

In recent years, Indiainbound tourism industry hasgone through its highs andlows. We saw new products,niche travel segments and newsource markets coming up, atthe same time we also wit-nessed a lot of uncertainty withsome unforeseen situationsand problems arising that ham-pered the overall inbound

growth. To overcome theseproblems, the government isshunning their stringent visaand taxation policies makingtravelling to India relatively eas-ier than the past few years. Anadditional boost to the inboundnumbers came through India’sVisa-on-Arrival (VoA) schemefor select countries at manygateway cities. Amongst thetravel trends, offbeat destina-tions like North East have seengrowth and so did the back-packing adventure travel, luxury and wedding segments.

What are the sectors thatyou specialise on?

We specialise in all theclassic Indian sectors such asthe Golden Triangle,Rajasthan, India with Nepal,South India, Kerala, CentralIndia, Bhutan with Sikkim,Trans Himalayan, Ladakh and Srilanka.

How has business beenthis year? How do youthink will 2014 be?

Though in the first 9months, we saw a good 13 percent increase in the FTAs ascompared to the 5 per cent of2012, but the overall growthwas not on expected lines. Theeconomic slowdown andUttarakhand floods contributedto this. To offset these, theIndian tourism ministry

launched new strategies likeVoA at gateway airports andIndia Travel Mart to promoteIndia as a 365-day destination.

The outlook for 2014looks bright as the benefits ofdevaluation of the rupee aretaking effect. It is also expectedto be a good year, especiallydue to the emergence of newersource markets, and new trav-eller segments like senior citi-zens, last minute travellers andthe youth.

How do you receive thenews of VoA for 180 countries?

Increasing the number ofcountries for VoA facility is def-initely a welcome move. It issure to give a boost to theinbound numbers making Indiaa well sought after and easy toarrive at destination in the com-ing future.

Ishank Ahuja, Director, Indian Zing Tour, says that though 2013 was a mixedbag of good and bad times for the Indian inbound industry; 2014 is expectedto be a good year, especially due to the emergence of newer source markets.

‘2014 looks brighter for inbound’

TT BU R E AU

Ishank Ahuja DirectorIndian Zing Tour

� Offbeat destinations likeNorth East have seengrowth and so did thebackpacking adventuretravel, luxury and weddingsegments

� Increasing countries for VoAis a welcome move

Need To Know

MAYINTERNATIONAL2-3 Cape Town World Travel Market

Africa

5-8 Dubai Arabian Travel Market (ATM)

9-11 Shanghai World Travel Fair10-12 Durban Indaba Expo11-13 Stuttgart German Travel Mart

18-21 New Zealand Trenz20-22 Frankfurt IMEX 201427-30 Vancouver Canadian Tourism

Commission’s Rendezvous Canada

29-Jun 1 Seoul Korea World Travel Fair



NEWS

Other Sarovar hotels inthe state include two

hotels in Chandigarh - ParkPlaza and Hometel, and twoproperties in Ludhiana -Park Plaza and City HeartSarovar Portico.

The Park PlazaZirakpur is located 6 kmfrom the Chandigarh Airportand 9 km from the railwaystation. It is located on theAmbala-ChandigarhNational Highway-21, whichalso connects Zirakpur withDelhi, Haryana, Punjab andHimachal Pradesh.

Anil Madhok, MD,Sarovar Hotels and Resorts,speaking at the launch, said“We intend to look at the MICEmarket and product launches.We cannot let weddings go

away, which is one of thebiggest businesses in Punjab.Zirakpur is a rapidly-developingsatellite township ofChandigarh. In addition,Zirakpur is also known as thewedding capital of Punjab, andPark Plaza will offer the largestbanqueting facility in the tri-city

(i.e. Chandigarh, Mohali andPanchkula).”

Talking about otherSarovar properties in Punjab,he said, “In both the hotels, wefind that banqueting is doingvery well and is an extremelyimportant market. Our Hometel

brand does not have ban-queting, but we added thesame in Chandigarh;because in Punjab, ban-queting is a big business.”

Puneet Saigal,GM, Park Plaza Zirakpur,said that the hotel has104 keys with three cat-egories: Deluxe,Superior and Residentialsuites with multiple on-site dining options. “Wehave a capacity to han-dle 10 to 3,000 guests.The USP of the hotel isits largest banqueting

space in the tri-city.”

GS Virk, Owner, ParkPlaza Zirakpur, said that it’sbeen a three year journey for them to build the hotel andthey are looking forward toincreasing the brand-value ofthe hotel.

A 104-key full service hotel, the upscale Park Plaza Zirakpur is the SarovarGroups’ 67th property in India and 5th property in Punjab.

10th Park Plaza opens in Zirakpur

KA N C H A N NAT H

Puneet Saigal, GM Park Plaza Zirakpur; Anil Madhok, MD, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts and GS Virk,Owner, Park Plaza Zirakpur at the launch.

The focus of the summit wasjob-creation and Foreign

Exchange Earning capacity oftourism. Deepakraj Gupta,Head, Department of Tourismand Travel Management, CUJ,said that the true potential oftourism can be reached bybeing entrepreneurs, and notjust job-seekers. DineshAwasthi, Director,Entrepreneurship DevelopmentInstitute of India, Gandhinagar,Gujarat, said that to meet thegrowing requirements of thetourism industry, good entre-preneurs are required. MIParry, Director, Jammu andKashmir EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Institute, askedthe youth to be 'change agents'.

SC Bagri, Vice-Chancellor, Himgiri ZeeUniversity, Dehradun, gaveseveral examples wheretourism-related ventures had been successful, in fields like eating places,books, guides and other activities.

SS Bloeria, Vice-Chancellor, CUJ, said that peo-ple are on the move and have to

be looked after. Eco-tourism andhealth-tourism are among theareas worth exploring, VC said.

G Anjaneja Swamy,Professor, School ofManagement, PondicherryUniversity, added a new dimen-sion to the subject by explodingsome myths connected withentrepreneurship.

Himmat Anand, founderof Tree of Life Resort and Spa,near Jaipur, gave up his lucra-

tive job to set up his own ven-ture. He asked the youth to putfull commitment, consistencyand communication skills to besuccessful. Use of socialmedia was very importanttoday, as was the will to suc-ceed, he advised. GourKanjilal, Executive Director,Indian Association of TourOperators, and a formertourism official, asked theyouth to have a global outlook,with the rise of the internet.Rajive Gupta, VC, asked the

youth to develop ideas, havehigh standards, ethics andrepay society. Some of the proj-ects prepared and presentedby the students included - her-itage village in Sandhara, inHimachal Pradesh, ruraltourism project in Kashmir,Dogri culture and cuisine inJammu, Tehri Dam rural devel-opment, Ocean Hamlet nearPuducherry, an old hotel con-cept near Ajanta, andagro/rural projects nearMumbai.

The National Tourism Entrepreneurship Development Summit (NTEDS),held in Jammu from January 30-31, 2014, was unique in more ways thanone. It was organised by the newly set-up Department of Tourism and TravelManagement, Central University of Jammu.

Jammu meet on job creation

AN I L MAT H U R



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Radisson Hotel KhajurahoKhajurahoArun Kumar Manikonda has been appointed hotel manager forRadisson Hotel Khajuraho beginning February 14. Manikonda brings

with him 11 years of experience in hospitality,having worked for Carlson Rezidor, FortunePark Hotels, Golden Tulip Hotel and TajHotel Group. He has two degrees fromAllahabad University in Visakhapatnam:master of business administration and

bachelor of business administration.

Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business ParkBengaluruShiv Bose has been appointed as the Executive Assistant Managerof the Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park. Bose comes with over

a decade of experience in the hotelindustry, with his most recent andsuccessful stint at StarwoodHotels & Resorts as OperationsManager- South Asia. He has also

held prestigious appointments atTrident Hotel, Mumbai and atMillennium & Copthorne Hotels.

The Grand New DelhiNew DelhiAshima Besoya has been appointed as Manager – Marketing andCommunications at The Grand New Delhi. In this position, she is

responsible to implement The Grand NewDelhi’s overall Marketing and Media

Strategies and help support the com-pany’s aggressive growth plan inthe region. She also holds an MBAin Marketing and Finance fromFORE School of Management,New Delhi and B.com (Hons)from Shaheed Bhagat SinghCollege, Delhi University.

Hilton Garden Inn TrivandrumThiruvananthapuramManish Garg has been appointed the General Manager for Hilton Garden Inn Trivandrum. He brings with him over 17 years ofexperience in the hospitality industry.Garg has held several positions inFood and Beverage Operations, aswell as Conference and Events withFour Seasons and Marriott Hotels& Resorts in India, Australia and the United Kingdom. Gargjoined Hilton Worldwide in July 2011as the Director of Operations forHilton Chennai.

Novotel Hyderabad AirportHyderabadMaverik Mukarje has been appointed as General Manager ofNovotel Hyderabad Airport, effective February 2014. Befoe this, hewas the Area General Manager of ibis Hotels,Maharashtra, managing four Accor Hotels(Ibis Mumbai Airport, Ibis Navi Mumbai,Ibis Nashik and Ibis Pune). Before this,Mukarje has also extensive experienceof hospitality in New Zealand. He has aDiploma in Hotel Management & CateringTechnology from IHM, Bhopal.

Radisson Blu Plaza HyderabadHyderabadRajneesh Malhotra has been taken on as the General Manager ofthe Radisson Blu Plaza Hyderabad. He has over 23 years of expe-rience working with hotels and restaurantsin India and United States of America.Prior to this posting, Malhotra led theopening teams and managed operationsof Radisson Blu Suites Gurgaon,Radisson Blu Indore, Radisson BluNagpur and Park Plaza Noida as theExecutive Director of BestechHospitalities.

Hyatt PunePuneVishal Singh is the General Manager of Hyatt Pune. Singh comeswith about 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry. This is

Vishal’s second stint with Hyatt. Previously,he had worked with Hyatt for seven years.Singh started as the Conferencing &Banqueting Manager at Hyatt RegencyDelhi and was promoted to AssistantDirector of F&B there. Then, he was theAssistant Director of F&B at Grand Hyatt,

Mumbai, and the Director of Food&Beverage at Park Hyatt Goa. Vishal’s

last assignment was as DirectorOperations with DoubleTree byHilton, Gurgaon.

The Lalit JaipurJaipur Piiyush Kapoor has been appointed as the new General Managerat The Lalit Jaipur. His experience in the hospitality industry spans

over 21 years. Prior to this, he was associatedwith hotel chains such as InterContinentalHotel Group IHG, Wellworth Hotels, ITCWelcome Heritage, Jaypee Hotels, HyattRegency and many more. In his new role,he will uphold The Lalit’s brand position in

Rajasthan region and will carry forward theinnovations in services and F&B sec-

tion of the hotel.

The Lalit Great Eastern KolkataKolkata Rakesh Mitra has been appointed as the General Manager of TheLalit Great Eastern Kolkata. His experience in the hospitality industry

spans over 17 years, which includes 5 citiesand two continents, India and Australia.Prior to joining The Lalit Great EasternKolkata, he was associated with severalother properties under The Lalit Suri

Hospitality Group such as IntercontinentalThe Lalit Mumbai, Intercontinental TheGrand Goa Resort and The Lalit Temple

View Khajuraho. He was also associatedwith The Leela Goa, Sarovar Park Plaza

Hotels in Goa, Chennai, Bangaloreand Raffles Merchant Court

Hotel in Sydney.

Talking People is a special dedicated corner, created as a sounding board for who’s who of the Indian and International travel industry. With Talking People, it is our endeavour to bring you face-to-face with people.Contributed by: Megha Paul, Ramya JS D’Rozario & Peden Doma Bhutia

Wolfgang Will, Director South Asia, Lufthansa, has just recently movedfrom Mexico to India (Delhi). He feels there are a lot of similarities in

the two countries. His wife is presentlylooking for a suitable accommodation.Being vegetarian, he is thrilled to be inIndia, where he does not have toexplain why he and his wife don't eat

meat. And, they love their food spicy.Will is health conscious, enjoys cyclingand running. He also likes reading andhas a love for golf, which he is looking

forward to pursuing duringhis tenure in India.

Ryna Sequeira, Marketing Manager India, Tourism and EventsQueensland, says, “Because I live in a city as hectic as Mumbai, I love

getting out. I have done 2-3 road trips lastyear, too. I love exploring new places,

meeting new people. I love watchingthe sun rise behind the mountainsand set on the beach. I lovetravelling in India as there is somuch to see and explore in India.I drove to Gokarana for mybirthday last year in the rains,

and everything was sobeautiful. McLeodganj isanother favouritedestination of mine.

Seema Pande, Group Director- Sales and Marketing, The AddressHotels+Resorts, says, “I realised long back that one should do what

he/she enjoys doing. If you can make yourhobby your vocation, nothing can be

better than that. And this is myprimary job. So my work does keepme going all the time,” she reveals.She has two grown up kids, whoare 15 and 17 years old. “This isthe 19th year of my stay in Dubai.But as Dubai has changed so

much, it feels like I havebeen in 10 differentcountries,” she laughs.



HIGHLIGHT

Postal Reg. No.:DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.:U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 16th-17th

of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91Date of Publication:28-02-2014

QHow do you lookupon your leader-

ship as TAAI Presidentin your first term?

During my last tenure asthe President of TAAI, I put ina lot of effort to achieve suc-cess on several fronts. Thedeferment of weekly settle-ments was one of them. I havealso been negotiating for thecommission issue, and it hasalso come to a concludingstage. The efforts that we havebeen making for the last sev-eral years in Bengaluru forweekly settlement have finallyborne fruit; our request hasbeen recognised by theBangalore HC and they haveput on interim order that theweekly settlement should notbe implemented. The weeklysettlement is not a part of ourplan and what they have beeninsisting on, is wrong.

QWhat will you workon now, that you

have been chosenPresident a secondtime?

I'm here to look after thewelfare of the travel fraternity;they should be able to surviveand reap success. My man-agement is insisting that Ishould continue whatever I

have been doingfor the last twoyears; I'll try mybest to ensurethat the entiretravel industryshould benefitby getting aminimum of 5per cent

commission. The New Yearhas given good news to us,thanks to Indigo Airlines’effort of giving 2 per centcommission by way of trans-action fee. Issues like highinsurance premium is alsosomething that I want to workon. We have to reduce theinsurance premium for ourmembers. Credit card pass-through is another issue I'mworking on. The new financialcriteria from IATA also have tobe looked into so that it does-n't burden the travel commu-nity. Training is another veryimportant issue, there arevery few youngsters cominginto the travel industry for acareer. When we don't haverevenue for ourselves, howcan we pay our employees?So now, I’m trying to train ourmembers and others as well,to convert themselves into‘travel consultants’ instead of

‘travel agents’.These are mygoals and withthe support ofmy managingcommittee andmembers, Ihope to achieveall this.

QYou laud IndiGoAirlines’ effort of

giving away 2 per centcommission. How doyou hope to achieve 5per cent commission foragents?

What IndiGo has doneis taken baby steps; I’ll alsobe talking to other airlines,like SpiceJet, GoAirways, JetAirways, etc., about thesame. Airlines should under-stand that agents cannot sur-vive without them, and theytoo cannot survive without us.It’s a symbiotic relationship.In a month's time, I’m meetingall the airlines.

The deferment of week-ly settlement is also of greathelp to airlines, it’s not just forthe benefit of travel agents. Ifthe amount at stake is verylarge and the money cannotbe arranged in that short peri-

od, there will be a defaultwhich means a further delayof 6 months. I'll talk to eachand every airline to under-stand our situation and theyshould remunerate us for ourhard work and dedication. It’sa good sign that the airlinesare willing to sit across thetable and talk it out. Even thegovernment seems to haverealised that commissionshould be a part of the travelfraternity's remuneration. Wehave taken this forward andI’m sure the airlines will alsofollow. With other airlinescoming up, there is a lot ofcompetition in the market.Cooperation is the only wayand we need to sit togetherand resolve issues amicably.

QHave you made anydecisions about the

TAAI Convention for2014? Will we get tohear anything from yourside soon?

We have been gettingplenty of offers for the TAAI Convention. The US ison the cards, Egypt too, how-ever, it all depends on thedecision of the managingcommittee and it depends onhow connectivity is taken careof. This time, we want toannounce the conventionearly. If everything works out,we'll announce it very soon.The convention will be differ-ent this time. It will not just begoing around and meetingpeople, we want to sign a fewMoUs during the conventionand make sure that there aresolid results out of the con-vention. The convention,henceforth, should be a win-win situation for everyone.After these conventions, peo-ple should get something inreturn to take their businessto the next level.


Major Issues� To reduce the insurance

premium for ourmembers

� Credit card pass-through

� To look into the newfinancial criteria fromIATA

� Providing training to newcomers

Iqbal Mulla, President, TAAI

Airlines should understand thatagents cannot survive without

them, and they too cannot survive without us. It’s a symbiotic relationship

After being elected TAAI President for a second term, Iqbal Mulla talks toabout Indigo Airlines’ effort of giving 2% commission by way of

transaction fee and how he is working to ensure 5% commission for agents.

The road ahead for Iqbal Mulla


Documents

TravTalk March 1st 2014