Rapid penetration ofInternet, proliferationof online travel agen-

cies (OTAs) and availability oftravel products online... Allthis underline the fact thattechnology is playing a vitalrole in the growth of travelindustry. Consequently, theconventional travel agent hasbecome a mere facilitator orprovider of tailor-made pack-ages. However, not all is lost.

Winning the Battle forRelevance

Darshan Shah,Treasurer, TAFI, believes thattravel agents who reinventthemselves and their business models have a solid future. “It has been dif-ficult for travel agents toadapt to the digital landscapeand the ensuing changes inconsumer behaviour. Newbusiness models are evolv-ing. Yes, gone are the dayswhen travel agents used to‘control’ the Indian tourism

industry. However, I remainconvinced that the travelindustry is always at the

leading edge ofbusiness revo-lution. There isenough scopefor travelagents to rein-vent them-selves. If youcan adapt, it isa wonderfulfuture,” he

says. With the burgeoningtravel products and increas-ing use of Internet by endconsumers, it is difficult tochoose a particular travelplan. In this scenario, the roleof travel agent is of utmostimportance. “Travel agentsdeliver their services withtrust and recommend thebest available deals to theirtravellers. But along withthis, agents need to be moreaware and should keep them-

selves updated about the lat-est products and services inthe market,” he adds.

Beyond 2013According to A. Basheer

Ahmed, Joint Treasurer, TAFI,the bottom-line advice is tochange the business model,acting like a concierge provid-ing a full range of servicesrather than an agent for an air-line or hotel, add value

through follow-up and addedvalue. “Travel agents shouldthrow away their brochureracks and give customers a

simple menu of services thatoutlines what the travel firmprovides to its customers.They need to get innovative intheir approach and start think-ing ‘out-of-the-box’ to expandtheir business horizons,” hepoints out. Technology helpsto get innovative and start tap-

ping the tech-savvy travellersby offering travel products ata ‘click’. Travel fraternityneeds to understand the

changing needs of the Indiantraveller and the global traveltrends, he adds.

Room to growKnowledge is power

and travel agents are now re-branding themselves as travel consultants,

The Indian travel agent is now reinventing himself. To recreate and re-establish his belief in the industry,the annual Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) Convention 2013 in Durban (South Africa) is chalkingout strategies for the way forward. speaks to TAFI committee members to gauge more...

Time to reinvent & stay ahead

ME G H A PAU L

Weeklysettlement wasforced upon us.We managed to delay it withmuch persuasion

With countrieseyeing India as apotential market,India is onlygrowing as adestination

Agents shouldfind new ways ofearning besidesticketing in theform of insurance,car rentals etc

Jayesh TharaniCommittee MemberTAFI

Promod KohliCommittee MemberTAFI

Urvashi DograCommittee MemberTAFI

Travel agentsneed to getinnovative in their approachand think out ofthe box

The travelindustry isalways at theleading edge of businessrevolution

Darshan ShahTreasurerTAFI

Basheer AhmedJoint treasurerTAFI

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Contd. on page 8

A DDP PUBLICATION

This promotion will runfrom February 15 to May

14, 2013 and would offertravel agents the opportunityto avail special rates andincentives on participating

hotels of Resnet World on theTravelport Worldspan andTravelport Galileo platform.

Talking about the associ-ation, Sandeep Dwivedi, Chief Commercial Officer,InterGlobe TechnologyQuotient said, “This promo-tional idea not only empowers

the travel agents with conven-ient means to book ResNetWorld hotels at special rates,but would also help them pro-vide a wide range of choices tothe end consumers.”

ResNet World providesonline presence and e-distri-bution services to partnerhotels in the Middle East,India, Africa, and South East Asia regions. ZubinBillimoria, Managing Director

ResNet World said, “Our com-mitment to our hotel partnershas always been to maximiserevenue and profitability byincreasing online presenceand e-distribution revenues.We also work very closelywith our hotel partners to

help them process travelagency commissions to theGlobal Travel Trade.”

In today’s economic cli-mate, it is critical for hoteloperators to maximise theirglobal visibility and to takeadvantage of booking channels

that fill empty rooms.Hoteliers today are bombardedwith a maze of technology-based solutions in these are-nas. Accessing these powerfultools is only the first step inrealising revenue goals. A suc-cessful internet marketing and

e-distribution strategy is basedon properly utilising thesetools to drive your sales andmarketing efforts. With itsheadquarters based in Dubai,ResNet World offers the local knowledge and supportnecessary todrive this power-

ful electronic sales and marketing machine.

InterGlobe Technology Quotient, a strategic business unit of InterGlobe Enterprises and the official distributorof Travelport Galileo and Travelport Worldspan, through Calleo Distribution Technologies, has announced theirpartnership with ResNet World, to launch a promotion for travel agents.

Special rates to agents via ITQ & ResNetTECHNOLOGY TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2 TRAVTALK 3

TT BU R E AU

Sandeep DwivediChief Commercial OfficerInterGlobe Technology Quotient

J B SinghPresident and CEO, InterGlobeTechnology Quotient

The new idea empowers thetravel agentsto book ResNetWorld hotels at special rates

Benefits

INTERVIEW4 TRAVTALK TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2

Travel agents are con-fronted by a plethora of

old and new challenges,which have led to diminishedimportance of travel services.Here, Ajay Prakash,Immediate Past President,TAFI said, “Grandiose,sweeping themes need to bebacked up by clear, on-the-ground solutions or, at least,practical suggestions if they are to prove meaningful.The first step is to identify the immediate challenges,and then to assess the long-term impact.”

“Extended credit andrampant undercutting remainthe chief concerns for ourindustry, which should beamong the first issues to beaddressed. It's a pity thatagents are competingamongst themselves on thebasis of how much credit anddiscount they can offer. Fromspecialised service providers,they've downgraded them-selves to cut price order tak-

ers and/or financiers. That'snot a recipe for success.”

According to Prakash,the biggest challenge beforeagents today is to re-estab-lish their relevance. “Theentire system of IATAaccreditation and its ever-eroding value is another

major cause of concern.Some airlines have disen-franchised hundreds ofagents - preferring to dealonly with a select few; otherscompete openly with theirown accredited agents; zerocommissions coupled withback-end productivity-linkedincentives have effectivelyrendered IATA accreditation

meaningless, since 80% ofagents are unable to issuetickets under their own val-idation. A new model needsto be found urgently. Unlessthese critical issues areaddressed, forget navigating- you're adrift without a rud-der,” added Prakash.

Highlighting theachievements of the pastTAFI Conventions, Prakashsaid, “In the past, we havebrought in business leaders,writers, thinkers, legal andmanagement experts and col-leagues from other interna-tional travel associations asguest speakers who made animpact with their talks and

presentations. I look forwardto the speakers and sessionsat this convention, too and Ihope the Convention com-mittee has expended seriousthought on formulating thevarious Business Sessionswhich to my mind constitutethe core of any Convention.”

“The right speakers,given the right topics, canhelp to bring insight and per-spective to our members whoare often caught up in theday-to-day business that theyreally have no time to lookbeyond. A convention pro-

vides the opportunity to pon-der the past and project intothe future, using insights andexperiences from other fieldsand other markets - but forthat to happen, the selectionof speakers is critical.Conventions have sometimesbeen derided as mere occa-sions to party. When you'reaway from your mundaneexistence, there's bound to besome partying, but, to me,intellectual content hasalways been the most impor-tant part of a travel conven-tion,” he added.

One of the beneficiariesof the TAFI convention is the host destination, as dele-gates get first-hand experi-ence of the destination andopportunity to build relation-ships with their peers and colleagues in the host destination.

“Travel and tourism isa 'people' business. It givesthem the chance to experi-ence the destination forthemselves. It's an opportu-nity to sample the various

tourism products on offer atfirst hand and it betterequips them to promote a new destination with confidence to their clients,”said Prakash.

“With 14 million plusoutbound tourists and grow-ing, India remains a primemarket for nations seeking toincrease tourism. The dramat-ic increase in Indian tourists toChiang Mai, Kota Kinabalu,Macau- all TAFI Conventiondestinations - is ample proofof how destinations benefit forhosting a TAFI Convention. I'm sure KwaZulu Natal will soonsee the difference, too,” he added.

The convention committee is expected to build sound content that bring insight and perspective to membersby introspecting the past and projecting the future trends…

Travel agents need practical solutionsTT BU R E AU

Ajay PrakashImmediate Past PresidentTAFI

It's a pity that agents are competingamongst themselves on the basis of howmuch credit and discount they can offer.They've downgraded themselves to cutprice order takers and/or financiers.That's not a recipe for success

There has been a dramaticincrease in Indian tourists toChiang Mai, Kota Kinabalu,Macau- all TAFI Conventiondestinations

TAFI is hopeful that KwaZuluNatal will soon see thedifference too

Host of Benefits

As per the findings of therecent American Express

Business Travel Monitor, airfares in India acrossdomestic and internationaltravel saw an overall pricerise of 9 per cent QoQ, with domestic fares withinIndia witnessing a consider-able increase of 29 per cent.

Moreover, fares fromIndia to the EMEA region aswell as the Intra-Asia Pacific

fares saw a 5 per centincrease. Similarly, fares to the Americas saw an overall marginal increase of 2 per cent.

As per Sandeep Shastri,Vice Presidentand GeneralManager,GlobalBusinessTravel,AmericanExpress India,“The increasein traveldemands,

steady increase in inflation,reduction in capacity andflight network disruptionsleading to reduced supply inthe market, are some of thecontributing factors for theincrease in airfares. Webelieve the environment willcontinue to remain dynamicand to stabilise expenses onbusiness travel, companiesshould look at cost effectivetravel programmes and exe-cute multi-year contractswith key domestic and inter-national carriers.”

“As the sharp rise in air-fares continues to add extra

pressure on companyexpense, there is a need forgreater compliance as well astransparency in managingtravel expenses,” he added.

In the last quarter, Indiaobserved a strong 5 per centrise in airfares for both Intra-Asia Pacific and EMEA desti-nations. There was a signifi-cant increase in businessclass airfare for Intra-AsiaPacific travel by 13 per centin full fare and 9 per cent indiscounted fare QoQ.

Airfares from India tothe Americas region haveseen a marginal increase of 2per cent QoQ and travel tothis region remained flat in full business airfare as well as in full economy segments with no increaseQoQ in fares.

Meanwhile, Asia-Pacificregion witnessed an overallincrease of 3 per cent in theairfares across all categories.Domestic airfares saw a 5 percent price increase in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the othertracked fares in the AsiaPacific region, according to the report.

With the international and domestic airfares rising northwards, the travel trade needs to get more savvy while providing services to their corporate clients.

High, higher, highest: Airfares shoot upTT BU R E AU

Source: American Express Business Travel Monitor

Source: American Express Business Travel Monitor

Companies should look at cost effective travelprogrammes

Execute multi-year contractswith key domestic andinternational carriers

Business Bargain

AVIATION6 TRAVTALK TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2

Establishing the grow-ing importance of

emerging domestic sectorsincluding North Easternmarket, IndiGo hasannounced the launch of14 new flights on itsdomestic network. India’slargest carrier will nowoperate its first new dailynon-stop flight betweenBengaluru and Guwahatiand between Bengaluruand Agartala viaGuwahati. Additionally, 6Ewill operate its seventhdaily flight betweenBengaluru and Mumbai,the sixth daily non-stopflight between Hyderabadand Bengaluru, fourthdaily non-stop flightbetween Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

IndiGo also recentlylaunched Trivandrum-Dubai and Mumbai-Dubaiflights. There are newflights connectingBengaluru, Goa andKolkata and others con-

necting Chennai withSingapore.

The new flights high-light the airline’s expansionplan, and the month-on-month growth IndiGo hasseen in the domestic net-work. Both corporate and

leisure customers travel-ling from northeastern des-tinations and other metroswill now have the opportu-nity to experience hassle-free, on-time travel.

Speaking on thelaunch of new flights,

Aditya Ghosh, President,IndiGo says,

“We are delightedto launch 6E’sfirst new dailynon-stop flightbetweenBengaluru andGuwahati;betweenBengaluru andAgartala viaGuwahatieffective thismonth.

These new flightswill allow many studentsfrom North East to travelto key metros at low fares.IndiGo will also operate itsnew additional flightsbetween Bengaluru andMumbai, Ahemdabad andMumbai, Hyderabad andBengaluru.”

Ghosh further adds,“IndiGo will continue toexpand its network tomeet the requirements ofboth business and leisuretravellers, wherever theydemand it. It is our con-stant endeavour to providemore flexibility of choice

for our customersas IndiGo contin-ues to offer themon time, hassle-free and alwaysaffordable flyingexperience.” It alsogives its passen-gers the freedomto pre-assign seatsand choose seatswith extra legroomand avoid check-inlines with the useof Q-busters.

Additionally, IndiGo todayis the only Indian airlinewith a boarding ramp.

With 63 brand new Airbus acquisitions, it is set to operate 391 flights, connecting 33 desti-nations. It recently launched its first daily non-stop flight between Bengaluru and Guwahati.

IndiGo launches 14 new flights

TT BU R E AU

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugu-rated the brand new integrated terminalin the Netaji Subhas Chandra BoseInternational Airport in Kolkata. It has acapacity to handle 20 million passengersannually as compared to the present 7.46million. The state-of-the-art facility has

been built by ITD Cementation IndiaLimited in a joint venture with its parentItalian-Thai Development Public Co Ltd,Thailand. With 128 check-in counters,plush VIP lounge and in-line baggagehandling facilities, Terminal 2 can accom-modate more than 7,000 passengers perhour. Touted as a green building with fivetiers, Terminal 2 is also a monument toBengal's leading icons RabindranathTagore and Subhash Chandra Bose.

Revamped airportin Kolkata

Aditya GhoshPresidentIndiGo

QUICK READBlyde River Canyon inSA is the third largestcanyon in the world –and the largest greenone. The Grand Canyonin the US is the biggest,and the Fish RiverCanyon in Namibia thesecond, but both aredry as bones.

After establishing its pres-ence in India in 2010,

MSC Cruises focussed ongroup segment with a littlefocus on FITs. But withincreasing awareness aboutcruise holidays and highspending power of Indiantravellers, the company start-ed focussing on FIT segmentfrom early 2012 and hasexceeded the growth expec-tations last year. This year,the cruise liner will strength-

en its focus on FIT withenhanced relationship withthe travel trade in metro andTier II cities in India.According to Amit Mathur,Country Head – India, MSCCruise; from over 160 cruising itineraries, the most popular ones among Indian travellers are in theMediterranean regions whichare expected to perform better in 2013.

Mathur informed thatthe cruise business in India isgrowing at 15-20 per cent and

MSC Cruises is also on thesame growth level. However,with immense growth record-ed from FIT segment in 2012,the company expects to growmore than the industry aver-age in 2013. He said, “Ourfocus, this year, will be to asso-ciate closely with the trade(tour operators, TMCs and

cruise consolidators) throughour key partners, conducteducative sessions from acrossthe country to ensure our trav-el consultants are comfortableselling our products. I thinkthe travel trade recognises andappreciates the transparencyin business that we havemaintained with them.”

Talking about the focusmarkets in India for this year,he said, “Metros have tradi-tionally been our major mar-kets, having said that, a lot ofpotential lies in tier II and IIIcities and they just cannot beignored. There are multiplecities in states like Punjab,Gujarat, Central India, Tamil

Nadu, Karnataka etc., whichhave immense potential thatneeds to be unlocked.”

Adding further, onincreasing the visibility ofMSC Cruises in India, Mathurinformed that the companyplans to showcase the prod-uct through roadshows andtrade fairs. Talking about the

growing popularity of cruiseholidays in India, Mathursaid, “It’s such a great con-cept; you see multiple coun-tries/cities without any wor-ries of packing and unpack-ing. I think the Indian trav-ellers are now realising it, wecan already see an upsurge inthe enquiries we handle.”

This year, MSC Cruises aims at enhancing its visibility in India. To start marketing the products in Tier II cities,it plans for organising sales missions and educational seminars for the trade.

MSC Cruises to align with travel trade AGENTS TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2 TRAVTALK 7

AN I TA JA I N

Our focus, thisyear, will be toassociate closelywith the tradethrough our keypartners,conducteducativesessions fromacross the

Amit MathurCountry Head – IndiaMSC Cruise

MOT8 TRAVTALK TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2

Incredible India has linedup a multi-prongedapproach to aggressively

promote tourism in India, saidK Chiranjeevi, Minister forState for Tourism withIndependent Charge to theglobal audience that had gath-ered to witness the grandfinale of the World TravelAwards in India.

“Our ministry has pre-pared a multi-pronged strat-egy to increase India’s sharein World Tourist Arrivals. Itincludes the development ofthe world-class infrastructureand manpower and undertak-ing aggressive promotionaland marketing activities. Therecently launched phase twoof Incredible India campaignindicates a paradigm shift

with the focus now being onconsumers. The emphasis ison the fact that internationaltourists can find their desti-nation or product of desire inIndia,” said Chiranjeevi. Indiaoffers a wide variety of trav-el attractions, which exhibitour traditional culture, ethos and modern outlook.

Tourism also draws strengthin India from its diversewildlife, breath takingmountains and vibrant festivals. In fact, Indiabagged three prestigiousWorld Travel Awards (WTA),namely World’s Leading

Destination- India, World’sLeading Tourist Board-Incredible India and World’s Leading TouristAttraction- Taj Mahal.

“Tourism is now recog-nised as the driver of the

economic growth. It’s alsoreckoned as the best tool topromote sustainable development and address theinclusive growth concerns.Tourism has the potential to stimulate other economic factors through its linkages

with a host of sectors like agriculture, manufactur-ing, etc. Another uniqueaspect of the tourism sector is that it provides employmenteven to the unskilled and semi-skilledmanpower,” said Chiranjeevi.

The new initiative includes developing world-class infrastructure and training manpower. It also includes undertaking aggressive promotionaland marketing activities…

India ready with a new approach

TT BU R E AU

K ChiranjeeviMinister for State for Tourism

Our ministry has prepared a multi-pronged strategy to increase India’s share in World Tourist Arrivals

To highlight the tourism potential of the North East region in the domestic and international markets, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India organisedan International Tourism Mart in Guwahati from January 18- 20, 2013. The overseas delegates included Deputy Tourism Minister from Lao PDR, executiveheads of National Tourism Organisations from Cambodia, Singapore, Bangladesh and Bhutan, 55 tour operators, 9 hoteliers and 14 media representatives.Besides foreign delegates, there were approximately 70 domestic buyers from other parts of the country and 108 sellers from the nine participating states.

Team MOT taps feet on tourism beat

Promod Kohli, CommitteeMember, TAFI opines. Whileclose to 90 per cent of theinternational tickets continueto be routed through travelagents, a major setback hasbeen on the domestic airlineticketing with market share ofagents reducing to may be 40per cent. With commissionhaving been an issue, thetravel industry paradigm hasundergone a massive change.

As a way forward, Kohliemphasises on the importanceof new markets, new seg-ments and new technologies.“Diversification has been thekey, leisure travel (both inter-national and domestic) hasincreased and creation of niche

products has seen a quantumleap,” he adds.

Herculean tasks aheadThe travel agents need

to understand where theystand, the opportunitiesavailable and how to moveforward. Laments JayeshTharani, Committee Member,TAFI, “Travels agents have toconstantly find new ways ofearning. The associationought to hold regular dia-logues with airlines, DGCA,Service Tax authorities, etc.”

Reiterates UrvashiDogra, Committee Member,TAFI, “Weekly settlementwas forced upon us. With lotof persuasion at differentlevels, we managed to delay

its implemen-tation. This isa big chal-lenge. Agentswill have totake it upwith corpo-rates andreduce creditfacility theycan offer.”

Go and innovate...Contd. from page 1

In India, the overall rate rose12 per cent following a

surge in demand from domes-tic travellers as overseas des-tinations became more expen-sive. For the first time in fiveyears, travellers paid more fortheir hotel rooms during thefirst six months of 2012, in allparts of the world and globallyaverage hotel prices rose byfour per cent over the last yearindicating the hotel industryis staging recovery. Launchedin 2004, the HPI looks atprices that people actuallypaid for their hotel roomsaround the world.

“The hotel industrybounced back in thefirst half of 2012from a number ofnatural and politicalcrises in 2011 and itis encouraging to seegrowth in thesector,”

David Roche, President,Hotels.com said. The first sixmonths of 2012 have proveda promising start for mosthotels. However, the secondhalf of the year, with increas-ingly mixed economic signals,will be interesting to watch,

he added.

Travellingoverseas

With anaverage figureof 7,353 INR,Indian trav-ellers were the19th in the tableof the biggest

spenders abroad for the firsthalf of 2012. The Top 10biggest spending nationsremained the same but therewas much movement in thetable. The Japanese spent themost away from home onceagain on 9,599 INR, followedby the Australians on 9,153INR, moving up from thirdplace to second, bumping theSwiss down to third place on9,016 INR. The Chinesemoved up one place to sixth,parting with an average 8,418

INR and the Brazilians climbedthree places from tenth to sev-enth, paying 8,351 INR.

Travelling at homeIndian travellers once

again had the best eye for abargain, being the nation,spending the least for a hotelroom at home on an average4,709 INR a night, followed bythe Spanish on 4,884 INR andthe Chinese on 4,974 INR. Atthe other end of the table, thetop three held their places in

the first half of 2012 withthose from Switzerland payingthe most when travellingdomestically on 10,410 INR,followed by Norway on 9,572INR and Singapore just behindon 9,551 INR. The Australiansagain moved up the table fromseventh to fourth on 9,114INR. The South Koreansmoved into the Top 10 at No 6on 7,962 INR. Foreign travelbecame more expensive forIndian travellers as the Rupeefell in value against many

major currencies, particularlyin the latter half of the period. Other factors also hadan impact. For instance, areasthat were facing serious polit-ical or natural upheavals in thefirst six months of 2011 recov-ered their equilibrium, leadingto prices in areas such as theMiddle East and Japan, return-ing to more normal levels.These factors also had amarked influence on the costof a hotel room as pricesincreased in all but one of the destinations included inthe HPI.

Fuelled by the rise in demand for hotel rooms from domestic travellers, the hotel tariff went up by 12 per cent inthe first six months of 2012 in India. This has been revealed by the Hotel Price Index (HPI) report which says thatthe hotel industry witnessed a promising start in first half of 2012 for most of the hotels.

Hotels taking recovery route in India

Average hotel room prices by star rating during H1 2012 in INRTT BU R E AU

David RochePresident, Hotels.com

STATISTICS1 0 TRAVTALK TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2

1 New Delhi 2 Mumbai 3 Bengaluru 4 Chennai 5 Goa 6 Jaipur 7 Agra 8 Hyderabad 9 Calcutta 10 Cochin

Top Destinations for overseas travellers

Destination ** *** **** ***** Bangkok N/A 3,176 5,206 9,526 Dubai 4,957 4,512 7,494 14,304Hong Kong 3,479 7,700 10,026 N/A Las Vegas N/A 4,265 7,161 12,238London 5,074 7,486 12,441 N/A MUMBAI 2,806 5,347 7,876 11,112NEW DELHI 1,749 3,730 7,984 11,198New York 9,295 12,333 16,242 N/A Singapore 4,652 7,660 10,702 19,582

The annual Union Budget is a mixed bag for the

stakeholders in the tourismindustry, who look upon the budget presentation

with baited breath. brings to you the key sectoral perspective proposals put forth by the leading travel tradeassociations. Here are selected excerpts…

Hotelindustry eyesstimulus foradditional1,80,000 roominventory inthe 12th FiveYear PlanPeriod The

hotel industry is eyeingstimulus for creating addi-tional room inventory ofover 1,80,000 rooms spreadover the 12th Five Year PlanPeriod. It is in line with thegovernment’s target to dou-ble the inbound and domes-tic tourists’ arrivals andmeet the demand of project-ed 12 million foreigntourists and 1.5 billiondomestic tourist visits,which presently stands at6.31 million and 850 millionin 2011 respectively as perprovisional data of theMinistry of Tourism.

The tour operators and hotel industry want relief from high rate and instances of double taxation in general,while expecting relief on specific issues pertinent to their respected sectors. has more details…

How Budget 2013 can be a treasure trove

AVIATION1 2 TRAVTALK TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2

VI V E K SE T H I

Subash GoyalPresident, IATO

Guldeep Singh SahniPresident, OTOAI

Vivek NairPresident, FHRAI

Nakul AnandPresident, HAI

The Hotel Association of India (HAI), in its pre-budget mem-orandum, has built a strong case for grant of Infrastructure statusto hotel industry in the Budget 2013-14, highlighting the need ofadditional room infrastructure in line with the government’s targetto double the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the 12th PlanPeriod. HAI estimates that the hotel industry is required to createadditional hotel accommodation infrastructure of 1,81,752 roomsto cater to the needs of the additional 5.66 million tourists by 2016,which will require the industry to mobilise financial resources ofthe magnitude of ` 20,00,000 crore. HAI also wants benefits ofSec 80-ID of Income Tax to be extended to all cities, which presently

HAI & FHRAI

is available to hotels located in National Capital Territory, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Gautam Buddh Nagarand Ghaziabad presently for five years.

Further, both The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and HAI hadhighlighted administrative difficulties imposed by Section 194H of Income Tax for hotels, as thepayments received from travel agents and credit card companies by hotels are net of commission.This may be revised to exclude commission payments to travel agents and TDS on commission pay-ments to Travel Agents may therefore be exempted. Similarly, both associations suggest that thehotel should obtain PAN only when the payment is made in cash. It is further recommended thatprescribed limit for reporting may be increased to ̀ 1,00,000 against the existing unit of ̀ 25,000.

Both hotel industry associations had highlighted that there should be no duplication of taxes.HAI expects the introduction of Goods & Services Act to help the Industry currently reeling undermultiple and heavy taxation, making it competitive as compared to hotels in other South East Asiancountries where tax is about 5-10 per cent. FHRAI has also highlighted the difficulty being faced byhotels that had been asked to explain the Eco-Tourism activity in the projects, wherein the hotelshad sought deduction under Sec 80IC of Income Tax. As per FHRAI, there must be a suitable clar-ification issued to allow benefits under the said act to the hotel industry. Further, FHRAI also wishedthat Income Tax benefits should be extended to players in the hotel industry that supports cause ofrestoring, or building heritage hotels.

Contd. on page 14

Subha Aviation has been inthe industry since 1998

and has seen endless growth.Pioneers in air charters andespecially for big aircraft, thecompany has seen a year-on-year growth of 35% since2005. “Till 2000, we sawexcellent growth in thisindustry in spite of the factthat charter flights were avery raw concept at that timein India. We saw a slowdownafter 9/11 and 2005 onwards,the industry picked up again.We have recorded a 35 percent growth each year. Nowagain, there has been a slow-down in the business becauseof the high percentage ofservice tax; it’s over 12.36per cent. This high tax brack-et has affected the wholeindustry,” says MadhukarKher, Head, Ops & BusinessDevelopment, SubhaAviation.

Upset with this elevatedservice tax, Kher added,“Aviation is the backbone ofthe tourism industry and ifthey want to promote thissegment they have to provide

some cut-backs to the avia-tion sector. Some relief isrequired and the Governmentseriously needs to look intothese factors.”

Subha Aviation workswith large number of DMCsin India and offers great dealsespecially for big bird char-ters. They deal with a minimum 20 person charterand the largest so far hasbeen 340 people.

“We are in a soundposition butcontinue to aimmuch higher andare planning tofurther expand andlaunch a regionalairline based in New Delhi.

We have ambitions totake this forward, but at pres-ent, the market is too volatileand liaisons have kept ridicu-lous conditions for the Indianmarket. Leasing an aircraft isbecoming very difficult andwe’ll watch the market andthen decide,” he adds.

Kher further praisesthe company saying, “Wehave a vision and with theknowledge and experienceof our Managing Director,Gautam Sahni, we arebound to achieve greaterheights. We are also lookingat the corporate segmentand increasing our footholdin this area. We offer reliability, confidence andexperience. Sahni has been involved in scheduleplanning for over 20 yearsand know his work well. Wealso don’t compromise onservice levels.”

After dominating the air charter industry, Subha Aviationis now working on a plan to develop its regional airline.The company spokesperson speaks to about hisplans and the big aircraft the company offers.

Regional way for ‘Subha’

TT BU R E AU

SriLankan Airlines havegrown rapidly in India

and are steadily increasingtheir presence in the country.“When we started four-fiveyears back, we only had a fewflights to India. And now, weare flying to Chennai fourtimes a day. We just startedflights to Madurai, we havedouble-daily flights to Trichyand we fly daily toTrivandrum and Delhi once aday. From February, we willadd five more flights a weekto Delhi operating 12 flightsa week. I also look after MihinLanka and these are flightsfor both the airlines as theyboth operate under oneumbrella”, says NishanthaWickramasinghe, Chairman,SriLankan Airlines group.

From February 1, SriLanka-based airline MihinLanka has increased its IATAcommission and is now offer-ing a five per cent commis-sion for sales conducted bytravel consultants, onlinetravel portals, travel manage-ment companies and consol-idators in India only.

Working with travelagents from across the coun-try is priority for the airline.Discussing their USP,Wickramasinghe says, “Ourin-flight service is up to

scratch and good connectivitymake us an ideal airline. Wesell at very affordable andcompetitive prices and stilloffer five per cent IATA com-mission. We work very closelywith IATA and feel our agentsare our most important.”

Discussing the reasonfor their continuous rapidgrowth, Wickramasinghe

adds, “This demonstrates themarket (India) and its growthpotential. There is not muchpoint-to-point traffic fromIndia and we aligned ourstrategy to offer the best con-nections to transit passen-gers. A lot of passengers aretransiting through Colomboand go to either the Far Eastor the Middle East. We arealso a popular choice for a lotof the work traffic to theMiddle East. Around 60 percent of the passengers fromIndia are transit.”

He further highlightsthe importance of the Indiamarket for the airline byadding,

“India is the marketof today, tomorrowand the future.

Our two countries havea very close relationship.India is a growing economyand is least affected by worldcrises. Traffic is growing fromthe region and we areincreasing our frequency tothe region. India is the mar-ket of the future and I put mymoney on it.”

From increasing flights to Delhi to offering five per centIATA commission, SriLankan Airlines along with theirregional carrier Mihin Lanka is investing in their mostimportant market- India.

5% for agents: Mihin Lanka

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Madhukar KherHead, Ops & Business DevelopmentSubha Aviation

Nishantha WickramasingheChairmanSriLankan Airlines group

GUEST COLUMN1 4 TRAVTALK TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2

All eyes set on Union Budget 2013The inbound sector needs

Government support and afair treatment in terms ofavoiding been discriminatedin terms of levy of service taxon tour operators. Inboundtour operators, perhaps, is theonly service which is beingtaxed in a manner, which hasto bear excessive burden ofservice tax.

Tour operator’s serviceswere initially brought withinthe ambit of service tax in theyear 1997. Year after year, theGovernment has extended thescope of service tax, whichhas resulted in increase in theinput costs of the tour opera-tor has increased because ofthe levy of service tax.

Inbound Tour operator

services are within the servicetax net since 1997. Prior to 1stMarch 2006, while availingsuch abatement, the CENVATCredit of service tax paid oninput services was alsoallowed. In NotificationNo.26/2012-ST dated June2012, such abatement hasbeen revised in respect of cer-tain taxable services, forinstance, renting of hotels,inns, guest houses etc. Onthe other hand, inrespect of certain serv-ices such as transportof passengers by airand renting of hotels, innsetc, CENVAT Credit can beavailed in respect of relevantinput services. However, touroperator service has been dis-

criminated andCENVAT Credithas been absolute-ly denied eventhough all its inputservices have beentaxed, while earli-er CENVAT Creditof service tax wasallowed to the touroperators.

The members of Outbound TourOperators Association (OTOAI), in itspre budget memorandum to theMinistry of Tourism, have highlightedthe lack of clarity that persists on var-ious provisions that were amended inthe previous union budget. Thisincludes significant changes in themethod of taxation of services with theimplementation of the Negative list

regime and Place of Provisionof Service Rules 2012

(PPS Rules). In terms of the provisions in the

negative list, prior to the enactment ofnegative list, service of arranging

tours was qualified as tour oper-ator service and was subject to

service tax in India. However, outboundtours as the services were performedoutside India and the consideration wasreceived by the tour operator in con-vertible foreign exchange, the samewere considered as zero rated supplies.Moreover, in our understanding as perthe PPS Rules made effective from July2012 that determine the place of pro-vision of services depending on itsplace of consumption, outbound toursshould not be subject to service tax as

place of performance is outside taxableterritory. The tax on outbound tours inhands of tour operators makes the serv-ices of outbound tour operators lesscompetitive. This for the reasons thatan Indian booking a hotel overseas onhotels website will not be subject toservice tax, while the same transactionwill be subject to service tax if donethrough an outbound tour operator.

Further, there is an exigent need toprovide exemption from service tax tosub agents as to avoid instances of double taxation. The outbound sector involves various stakeholdersincluding agents, sub-agents, and evensub-sub agents, who operate togethermany times to serve the end user. The taxation on services provided by tour operators acting as sub-agentsleads to multiplicity of taxation, as the same service is taxed at the handsof multiple instances. Here, the abatement rates should be increased forthe tour operators keeping in mind thepresent scenario that has seen erosionnet margin due to gradual shrinking of commissions earned on air tickets and challenging global economicenvironment.

Contd. from page 12

IATO urges for fair tax treatment OTOAI expects more clarification on service taxissues in budget FY 2013-14

The hotels should be included as anInfrastructural facility eligiblefor benefits under Income TaxAct like Airports, Seaports andRailways. Our Industry shouldbe granted deductions onForeign Exchange Earnings onthe same lines as being givento other foreign exchangeearnings Industries. All statesin India may be requested torecognise Tourism as an indus-try. The present limit for quot-ing PAN Number while makingcash payments to Hotels &Restaurants against bills must be increased from

` 25000 -100000.

Biji EapenPresident, IAAI

Give industrystatus totourism: IAAI

Tourism is an Industrywhich generates millions

of job through business hous-es run by small and mediumentrepreneurs, which urgentattention of the Government.Our tourism products costmuch higher than our neigh-boring countries due to highincidence of multiple taxation.As a result, Incredible Indialoses to its competitor desti-nations a major share of globaltourist’s arrivals. Further,question arises as to how wecan achieve a target of 1 percent of world tourism or 12million tourists by 2016 withlengthy visa process, shortageof International air seats, lackof infrastructure like roads,

connectivity, economicalhotel rooms, Tourist vehicles,foreign language speakingguides etc.

As per the new serv-ice tax rules definition ofService tax replaced as“Place of Provision ofServices Rules, 2012, w.e.f.July 1, 2012 under Reversecharge of service tax noti-fication no. 15/2012 is appli-cable on Tour Operator &Transport Operators also.This means those serviceproviders who were liable ornot liable under previouslaw but providing servicesto the principle operators,

now the responsibility lieswith the principal operatorto deposit the service taxavailing such services.

For example trans-porters who were not liableto or not depositing theservice tax in this case,those who are availing theservices, have to deposit100 per cent service tax andthose transporters are pay-ing service tax, one has to

deposit on abetted value.With the introduction ofabove notification i.e. July1, 2012 all tour operatorshave to pay service tax onservices provided by theperson located in non – tax-able territory and received

by any person located in thetaxable territory. For exam-ple : A person located in tax-able territory and receivingservices from a person located in non-taxable ter-ritory (Jammu & Kashmir), service receiver (personlocated in taxable territory)have to pay service taxunder Reverse ChargeMechanism. Similarly, alltourism related services are

covered under servicetax on outbound toursi.e. all foreign countries,Nepal, Bhutan & SriLanka.

With this multi-plicity of Governmenttaxes following is thechart showing an exam-ple that on a touristspending $100 in India,taxation attractsapproximately 22 percent under variousheads in some cases

double tax is applicable.This 22 per cent tourism taxis one of the highest tourismtaxes in the world.

(The writer is PronabSarkar, Managing Director of

Swagatam Tours)

Incredible India levies one of highest incidence of taxes on tourism in the world, which results in our competitors garnering major share of global tourist arrivals.

Tax burden hurting travel industry

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On Hotel – Luxury tax @ 10% on room rent (inaccommodation some states on rack rate not on

selling rate

– Service Tax @ 7.42%

Meals – Sales tax 12.5%

– Service tax 4.94%

Transportation – Service tax @ 4.94%

– Interstate road tax (different state chargeat different rate some times it is morethan/ equal to the transport cost)

– Petrol/Diesel cost already burdened withheavy taxes 40-50%

Air Ticket – Air Turbine Fuel Taxes 4% to 25%depending on state to state

– Fuel Surcharge Tax – Airline Service tax 2.48%– Passenger Service fee 4.75%– User development charges–Del,

Blr, Bom, Hyd etc– Airpor t tax International ` 1200

per travel– Service Tax issuing agent 0.618%

– Service tax 3.09% ON TOTAL PACKAGETOUR

A tourist is charged followingTaxes on their travel expenses

On the basis of above calculations each tourist spending US$.100 in India pays approximately US$.22TO 25 as Government taxes under various heads, in some cases double tax is applicable. This 22%to 25% tax on tourism is one of the highest tourism tax in the world.

Guide charges/ entranceto the monuments/escort charges / touroperator’s markup

Pronab SarkarManaging DirectorSwagatam Tours

Our tourism products costmuch higher than ourneighboring countries due tohigh incidence of multipletaxation

As a result, Incredible Indialoses to its competitordestinations a major share ofglobal tourist arrivals

Reduce Taxes

South Africa has the oldest meteor scar inthe world, just across the Vaal River near Parys,called the Vredefort Dome. The meteor plummeted to Earth nearly two billion years ago(Earth is said to be 4,5 billion years old), pre-dating the heady days of oxygen and

multi-celled life.

The rocks around Barber ton inMpumalanga are some of the most ancientin the world – over three billion years old.Because they are also the most accessiblesuch formations, NASA scientists come hereto gain an idea of how life might form ondistant planets.

AGENTS1 6 TRAVTALK TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2

This year, RockyMountaineer has

launched the new CoastalPassage route, which willconnect Seattle, Washingtonand the Canadian Rockies.This new product marks thefirst time the RockyMountaineer will depart andarrive into the United States.With over 40% of their guests

combining one of their railjourneys with an Alaskancruise, Coastal Passage willoffer cruisers out of Seattlean incredible opportunity toride the rails in luxury whilewitnessing the beauty of thePacific Northwest through tothe destinations of Canada’sWest.

Guests on the CoastalPassage route will traversethe coastal shorelines of the

Pacific-Northwest, therenowned landscapes ofBritish Columbia and themajestic mountains of theCanadian Rockies from thecomfort of Rocky

Mountaineer’s award-win-ning GoldLeaf Service.

Onboard, they will enjoyluxurious surroundings in abi-level custom-designeddome coach with panoramicviews, gourmet cuisine in aprivate dining room and per-sonalised service by RockyMountaineer Hosts. CoastalPassage will be available onAugust 24 and 25, bothnorthbound and southbound,with packages allowing forstays in Seattle, Vancouver,and the resort towns of Banffor Jasper, Alberta.

“We, at RockyMountaineer, are thrilled toannounce details of an excit-ing new destination - Lake

Louise, Alberta, which willenhance its First Passage tothe West route in 2013. Thisnew travel option marks thereturn of passenger rail serv-ice to Lake Louise for the first

time in over two decades andis a first for RockyMountaineer,” says AshishSaran, Group GeneralManager CanadianDestinations Marketingwhich represents RockyMountaineer in India.

Guests booking anyseven day package on RockyMountaineer can get up toCA$ 1,500 ** per couple inadded value which can beavailed towards bookingadditional hotel nights, sight-seeing, excursions meals,transfers in Western Canadafrom a select list of pre-approved offers. For detailsvisit www.agent.rockymoun-taineer.com or www.rocky-mountaineer.com

Rocky Mountaineer is offering an added bonus to Indian travellers who book ahead of the 2013 season. It believes that thisyear is poised for bigger and better numbers and hence is focussing on pushing the Early Booking Bonus in the Indian market.

Early Booking Bonus by Rocky MountaineerTT BU R E AU

Ashish SaranGroup General Manager CanadianDestinations Marketing

Credit / Value add amounts as below (CA$):Qualifying Red Silver Gold GoldPackage Leaf Leaf Leaf Delux4 – 6 nights 150 275 375 3757 nights or more 300 550 750 750

Whistler Sea to Sky Climb

Extra accommodation nights inany destination

Additional tours in the Rockies

Meals, plans and meals

Transfers

Activities

RM Rail & Cruise packages(with the rail portion being thequalifier for the offer)

Added value creditscan be used toward:

This move will helpstrengthen connections

between the two countriesand further open a directconnection between the twoAsian cities. The flights willcommence from Mid-Apriland will give an opportunityto the India travellers toexplore a new destination.Kyrgyzstan, also known asthe Switzerland of Asia,offers trekking tours, horsesafari, fishing, diving andadventure tours whichinclude motor tours,paragliding and rafting.

“Minar Travels hasbeen appointed as a GSA forpassenger and cargo operations in India and we

signed an agreement withJaldoshbek Bekturganov,President, Kyrgyzstan AirCompany in Bishkek,” saysHS Duggal, ManagingDirector, Minar Travels(India).

Bishkek, the capital ofKyrgyzstan, has four-starplus hotels and good infra-structure, especially for theMICE segment. It is a rela-tively new city and has lim-ited historical sites, but itmakes a great place to startyour trips to the mountainsand alpine lakes. Bishkek isan interesting example of aczarist planned city. It is acity of wide boulevards andmarble-faced public build-ings, combined with numer-ous apartment blocks sur-rounding interior courtyardsand thousands of smallerprivately built houses. Manytravellers find Bishkek'snightlife a delight and thepeople are friendly and veryhospitable.

From April, the Kyrgyzstan Air Company is increasing itspresence in India by adding two additional flights on theDelhi-Bishkek route. Minar Travels has been appointedtheir GSA for passenger and cargo operations.

Kyrgyzstan Air for expansion

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HS DuggalManaging DirectorMinar Travels

Ark Travels representsStar Cruises, Norwegian

cruise Lines, MSC and SilverSea cruises apart from sellingriver cruises and luxury yachtvacations. Sharing the USPof the company, Anju Tandon,Director, Ark Travels, says,

“2012 was a fantasticyear for Ark Travelsas they were declaredthe No 1 PreferredSales Agent for StarCruises for the year,as well as recognisedas India's largestseller of cruises by TAAI.”

Tandon also seems con-fident of the year ahead, asaccording to her, the year hasstarted off on a sound track.

“Starting 2013 off with abang, Ark Travels just suc-cessfully completed the first

Indian Wedding on a cruiseship on board SuperStarVirgo. This was a uniqueevent as it combined theromance of sea and a desti-nation wedding - all in one.Without the hassle of packing-unpacking , the couple cele-brated their wedding in threecountries with the Star Cruiseitinerary, covering Singapore,Phuket and Penang,” sheinforms.

Ark Travels proposes toorganise more such events on-board luxury liners andcontinues to innovate. Thecompany makes sure that the travellers get the best experience with the best itin-erary made by its profession-als, keeping their comfort in mind.

As India's leading cruise vacation wholesaler, Mumbai-based Ark Travels now partners with over 1,500 partners across India. highlights the company’saccomplishments this year…

1st Indian wedding on cruise

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Anju TandonDirectorArk Travels

Quick FactsAbout SA

The Tugela Falls is the secondhighest waterfall in the world, wherethe water tumbles down 850 metres.First place goes to the Angel Falls inVenezuela at 979 metres. There aretwo trails to the Tugela Falls. Themost spectacular trail is to the top ofMount-Aux-Sources, which starts atthe Sentinel car park.

Kimberley may have the biggest man-made hole in the world, but did you knowthat the southern Free State town ofJagersfontein has the deepest vertical man-made hole (and that a pair of Verreaux’sEagles breed in it?

LiteratureThis year January 28,

marked the 200th anniversaryof one of England’s most pop-ular novels – Jane Austen’sPride & Prejudice. From theannual Jane Austen Festival inBath, to special exhibits atWinchester Cathedral andJane Austen’s House Museumin Chawton, celebratoryevents are planned throughoutthe year.

DH Lawrence’s Sonsand Lovers, another eminentEnglish novel, turns 100 thisyear. The annual 10-day D HLawrence Festival inEastwood, Nottinghamshireincludes a full programme oftalks, exhibitions, readingsand workshops celebratingLawrence’s works.

Two other literaryanniversaries fall in 2013 – the50th anniversary of the deathof CS Lewis, and the 40th

anniversary of the death of J RR Tolkien. These two literarygreats were close friends atOxford University, and The CSLewis and JRR Tolkien OfficialGuided Walking Tour conduct-ed by Blue Badge guides is anexcellent way to visit theplaces they knew and loved incentral Oxford.

ArtCumbrian-based arts

organisation Eden Arts haslaunched a new visual artsproject for 2013, CANOPY,which will result in a spring/summer exhibition of art-works displayed in trees andwoodland throughout theEden Valley.

Norfolk’s Houghton Hallis set to host HoughtonRevisited: The WalpoleMasterpieces from May 17 toSeptember 29, 2013.Meanwhile Yorkshire’s‘Sculpture Triangle’, whichencompasses four majorsculpture venues within closeproximity – the Henry MooreInstitute, The HepworthWakefield, Leeds Art Galleryand Yorkshire Sculpture Park– has unveiled ambitiousplans to make Yorkshire thesculpture capital of Europe.

The joint initiative aims toraise the profile of Yorkshire’sunique sculpture heritage and to establish the area asthe best place to see sculpturein the world.

Music Britten 100, marks the

centenary of BenjaminBritten (1913 – 1976), the

world’s most performedopera composer born in the20th century. A new BrittenTrail, developed by theBritten–Pears Foundation andlocal community groups, willlink various Britten-associat-ed sites together in a walkingtour around the town fromEaster 2013. The first ever

Bristol International Jazz &Blues Festival will take placein the city during the week-end of March 1 – 3, 2013.

Theatre October 2013 marks

50 years since the NationalTheatre Company opened atthe Old Vic with its first pro-duction of Hamlet starring

Peter O’Toole and MichaelRedgrave. A permanentexhibition, Stage by Stage,on the history of the

National is open to the pub-lic on the third floor of theNational Theatre in theOlivier Circle Gallery.

If 2012 was England’s year of sport, then 2013 is shaping up to be the yearof culture. VisitEngland plans to celebrate the best of English culture.

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VisitEngland charts out cultural calendarNTO TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2 TRAVTALK 1 7

AVIATION1 8 TRAVTALK TA F I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 - D A Y 2

Being the only airlineoffering direct connec-

tions on Mumbai-Johannesburg route, SouthAfrican Airways is consider-ing to further expand its foot-print in India.

With growing popularityof South Africa as a destina-tion, the airline increased itsfrequency from four flights aweek to daily services duringthe end of 2012. The airlinealso replaced its old Airbus

aircraft with the latest A330-400 aircraft which has thecapacity of 222 passengers(36 business class and 186economy class). It is now con-sidering to start flying fromNew Delhi soon to providedirect connectivity to NorthIndian travellers to SouthAfrica. Additionally, the air-line is also looking at on wardtraffic from India to SouthAmerica and USA.

Talking about the Indianmarket, Sajid Khan, CountryManager – India, SouthAfrican Airways said, “Indiahas always been an interest-ing market for aviation indus-try. Despite being an expen-sive aviation market to oper-ate in, international airlinesare operating out of India dueto its immense growth andfuture opportunities. Weincreased our flight frequencyon the Mumbai route fromfour to seven a week due tothe response we received

from the market. We recordedan average load factor ofabout 80 per cent in 2012 andare positive to record higherfigures this year. We are eagerto introduce more routes con-necting India with SouthAfrica but it should commer-cially make sense for us.”

The airline is workingclosely with the travel tradein India and supporting themwith 5 per cent agency com-mission as their remunera-

tion for servicing airline pas-sengers with handling, pro-cessing and managing book-ings on behalf of the airline.Khan said, “Travel trade isthe integral part of our distri-

bution channel. All our book-ings come via travel agentsas our online portal is not yetoperational. We rely totally onour trade partners and offerincentives and other schemesto encourage them to contin-ue booking with SouthAfrican Airways.”

Being positiveWith just one city con-

nection from India to SouthAfrica, the airline is stillvery optimistic to record

growth. Khan explains say-ing, “We are positive aboutthe growth from the Indianmarket due to certain rea-sons. Firstly, because ofincreasing awareness of

South Africa as a tourist andMICE destination, second,our partnership during TAFIConvention, which will pro-vide first-hand experienceto the travel trade about our

onboard services to helpthem sell our tickets and lastbut not the least, because ofour excellent connectionswith US and SouthAmerican destinations.”

However, he informedthat the biggest deterrent forIndians to keep South Africain the second option is due tovisa issue. South Africanvisas are issued in five work-ing days for Indian passportholders and with India, beinga last minute booking market,it is tough to opt for the des-tination at the last minute.On the other hand, India, asa destination, has alreadyoffered Visa-on-Arrival service for South African residents which SouthAfrican government is think-ing over and will soonannounce if it’s accepting thisoffer or denying it.

South African Airways is keen to expand route network in India by considering destinations which will makecommercial sense along with healthy loads. Looking at the rising popularity of South Africa as a destination, theairline has done everything from increasing the flight frequency from four flights to a daily service and fromreplacing its old Airbus aircraft with the latest A330-400 aircraft which has the capacity of 222 passengers.

SAA keen to spread wings in India

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The airline is not just targetting the Indian traffic flyingdirectly to South Africa but is also targetting the passengersflying to North, Central and South America. The airline con-nects Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia,Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, USA, Uruguay and Venezuela. Theairline is also offering excellent one-stop connectivity withattractive fares and minimum stop-over duration. “We areoffering convenient schedules for Indians travelling to USand South America which are long-haul flights. To encourageIndian travellers, we are first increasing interest of our tradepartners who have the power to convince end travellers.”

Transit Traffic from India

Sajid Khan Country Manager – India South African Airways

If Indians get Visa-on-Arrival service to South Africa, I’m sure the number of Indian travellers to thecountry will double overnight

Being the flag carrier ofSouth Africa, South AfricanAirways is the lead airlinepartner for TAFI Convention2013. Expressing apprecia-tion for the support, PradipLulla, General Secretary,TAFI said, "This is the firsttime TAFI is happening in anAfrican country. The biggestchallenge for us was puttingtogether the logistics andarranging travel facilities forover 1,000 delegates. SouthAfrican Airways has reallyhelped us manage the book-ings and supported us in agreat way to unbundle thelogistical issues." The associ-ation is also thankful toSATSA and South AfricanConsulate in Mumbai andSouth African Embassy inNew Delhi for supporting the

convention with easy andfaster visa services.

According to Lulla, closeto 80,000 Indians visitedSouth Africa in 2012 and

close to 1,00,000 are expect-ed to travel in 2013. "We willcontinue to support SAA asthey encourage us withhealthy five per cent agencycommission. Through this

convention, our memberswill experience the first classservices of SAA that will helpthem sell the product in abetter way.

We would like to assure SAA that it will receive fullsupport from the Indian travel tradefraternity oncethey start a newconnection from India to make it acommerciallyviable route for theairline," adds Lulla.

‘SAA to get full support from India’

Pradeep LullaGeneral Secretary, TAFI

Quick FactsAbout SA

Therapsids are the trueancestors of mammals, andlived over 200 million yearsago, long before the upstar tdinosaurs of the Jurassic Age(which ended abruptly 65million years ago). Most of the world’s proto-mammalianfossils are found in the Karoo, a semi-desert natural region ofSouth Africa, along with a 280 million year old fossilized shark.

The world’s largest diamond was theCullinan, found in South Africa in 1905. Itweighed 3,106.75 carats uncut. It was cutinto the Great Star of Africa, weighing 530.2carats, the Lesser Star of Africa, which weighs317.40 carats, and 104 other diamonds ofnearly flawless colour and clarity. They nowform part of the British Crown Jewels.

Tourism Authority ofThailand launched its secondedition of the Wedding book‘Weddings & Celebrations inThailand’ at a gala eveningheld at The Leela Palace Hotelon the January 15. The firstedition ‘Fall in love in Indiaand get married in Thailand’was so popular and extremelysuccessful that 2nd editionwith more information hasbeen produced. The bookshowcases the enormousrange of facilities and servicesthat Thailand has for hostingIndian weddings. “We are

very pleased to circulate thisinformative book among ourvaluable partners: weddingplanners, wedding organizers,media and others,” saysRunjuan Tongrut, DirectorTAT New Delhi Office.

Thailand has firmlybecome established as a per-fect venue for Indian wed-dings. In 2012, over hundredcouples from India celebratedtheir weddings in Thailand.The popular destinations forIndian weddings are Bangkok,Hua Hin, Phuket, Khao Lak,Pattaya, Kanchanaburi and

Chiang Mai. In a 2011 sur-vey, Indians voted Thailandas ‘The World’s Best Weddingdestination’ survey done byTravel & Leisure magazine.And in Nov 2012 Thailandalso received the “BestWedding Destination” Awardat the 8th Annual InternationalAwards 2012 organized byHospitality India and Explorethe World.

This resounding vote ofconfidence is sure to encour-age more couples to plan theirweddings in Thailand in thecoming years.

Weddings & Celebrations in Thailand