Travtalk January 1st Issue

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` 50/-A DDP PUBLICATIONVol. XXVI No. 1; January 1st fortnight issue 2014 Pages: 48 (Excluding cover)

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JANUARY 1ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014 TRAVTALK 1

TAAIPresident

Iqbal Mulla

Iqbal Mulla wasdeclared the TAAI (TravelAgents Association of India)President for a secondterm. He was entitled to a second and casting vote which reaffirmed his appointment as theAssociation President....And the journey till now

MOT plans for year ahead...As we welcome 2014, the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) is readying a slew of initiatives to further the promotion of Indian Tourism. Here are some of the things that the travel fraternity can look forward to in the New Year.Promotion

MOT had been actively researching markets for theirpotential to promote tourism to India. While traditional mar-kets like USA & UK are still very productive, new ones likeGermany are also key contributors to global tourism and area ‘must focus’ source market. While China would generatesignificant traffic, the average traffic and days of stay wasat the lower end. Therefore, it is imperative to invest market-ing funds in markets which have both high visitor and spendpotential. The Incredible India website will also be revampedand the new one will be ready by 2014.

Tie-up with Lausanne Institute of HotelManagement

The MOT has tied up with the world-renownedLaussane Institute of Hotel Management to supporta 360 degree upgrade in the curriculum of govern-ment-run hotel & tourism management institutes. Thiswill help bring an enhanced skill set to service visitorsto India. The joint initiative will not just upgrade thecurriculum, but it will also improve teaching methods,and there will also be an exchange programme forthe faculty of these institutes.

Visa on Arrival In addition to the present pro-

gramme, Visa on Arrival (VoA) for crew onchartered flights is also on its way to beingimplemented. For visitors attending conferences/conventions in India, it wouldno longer be necessary to verify thebonafides of the convention organisers, as has been the case in the past resultingin limiting of participation in conferences/conventions.

2013 was the year when theMOT promoted a series ofcampaigns to promote thebrand Incredible India. FindWhat You Seek, Go Beyondand 777 Days of the IndianHimalayas were three majorcampaigns which helpedtriggering the inbound growthfor the Indian market.

Hinting at a revival in growth ahead of the peak inbound season, the Foreign Tourists Arrivals (FTAs) clockedan impressive growth of 7.9 per cent in July 2013 over July 2012, said the statistics released by the Ministryof Tourism (MOT). The campaigns launched by MOT here had worked as ‘silent crusaders’ and kept alive

interest in Incredible India,which now merits due praise.

777 Days of theIndian Himalayas

Beginning with a major new campaign, the MOT launched a specialcampaign ‘777 days of Indian Himalayas’ on WorldTourism Day. As per K Chiranjeevi, Minister for

Contd. on page 5

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NEWS

Gujarat Tourism announcedthe fourth and its biggest

edition of Gujarat Travel Mart (GTM) in Ahmedabadfrom March 27–29, 2014. The venue for the mart will be the Mahatma MandirConvention & ExhibitionCentre, Gandhi Nagar.

The state of Gujarat, overthe years, has contributedtowards being a large part ofthe India’s ever-growingtourism arrival figures, both towithin Indian destinations andoverseas. The fourth edition ofGTM is set on a B2B platformwith over 285 registered buyers from over 30 countriesexploring business opportuni-ties for discerning travel andtourism products.

The hosted buyers will beinvited from Netherlands,Bahrain, Australia, Canada,France, Greece, Israel, Japan,Lithuania, Norway, Poland,South Africa, Sri Lanka, UAE,UK, USA, South Africa, etc.

The event is supported by major travel tradeand hospitality associations inIndia such as Association ofDomestic Tour OperatorsAssociation of India (ADTOI),Adventure Tour OperatorsAssociation of India (ATOAI)and Indian Association of TourOperators (IATO).

Over 1,000 travel agents are expected to visit the Mart this year, whichwill have 200exhibitors fromIndia from over 20diverse tourismsegments.

Gujarat has been one ofIndia’s biggest tourist attrac-tions with its wide arena ofattractions. The exclusive pavil-ion of Gujarat shall showcasethe different facets such as fes-tivals of Gujarat, its beaches,Mahatma Gandhi orientedtours, heritage hotels, Buddhisttrails in Gujarat, wildlife resorts

and national parks, medicaltourism, destination manage-ment companies, travel agentsand tour operators, religioustourism, handicrafts, culturalvistas, etc.

The Buyer Programme at thelast year’s edition of Gujarat

Travel Mart had for the firsttime in the country a refund-able caution deposit systemfor all buyers to enhance theseriousness of the event. Theamount will be refundable onthe successful completion of the mandatory sellerappointments.

Over 285 registered buyers from over 30 countries will explore businessopportunities at the event. The hosted buyers will be invited from Netherlands,Bahrain, Australia, Canada, France, Greece, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Norway,Poland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, UAE, UK, USA, South Africa, etc.

Gujarat Tourism Mart in March

TT BU R E AU


VIEWPOINT

Are we forgetting the real agenda ofassociations in the tug-of-war of politics?

There are many issues plaguing thetravel & tourism industry at this time, issuesthat need to be taken up seriously byassociations with relevant officials on behalfof distressed members. Associations needto position travel and tourism as a strategicsector in employment growth and economicbetterment. Just talking about it is notsufficient. The steps taken towards our goalshave to be convincing for policy makers(read government) and this can only happenif the industry stands together andappreciates the causes of one another…

The tables seemed to be turned in ourindustry. The government seems to be doingmore than the private sector here. Take forexample, Visa-on-Arrival, the Clean Indiacampaign, online initiatives like WoNoBo andthe Incredible India website that generates2,000 queries per day, 777 Days of theHimalayas, continuous roadshows andparticipation at innumerable internationaltravel shows. The International Tourism Mart(ITM) is a pet project of the Ministry ofTourism (MOT), for which they have invitedalmost 100 buyers to grow inbound traffic tothe North East sector. Is the industrymatching them step for step?

Despite the platform laid out by MOT, hasthe industry done enough to redirect thetraffic that should have come to us as a resultof the problems faced by Thailand, Egypt,Japan, Philippines, Turkey? Did we get thedesired result from the rupee depreciation?Frankly, has inbound traffic actually grownmanifold?

Budget allocation is another sore point.Travel and Tourism was left out last yearonce again from the priority list of the CentralGovernment. Are we readying ourselves forit this year? The time is fast approaching…

It’s not too late to wake up and take the initiatives since we have a supportiveMinistry to see us through… All is still not lost!

Wake up! It’s 2014

STATISTICS

Beware during travelRajiv and I landed in

Mumbai on Oct 3 at 2:40 am.We were taken aback at theextremely long lines and com-plete chaos in the green chan-nel lines, but putting it down toIndian business as usual, wecalmly assumed our spot inthe line till finally Rajiv loadedour luggage for the X-rayscreening in the green chan-nel line. They wanted us toopen our hand luggage toexamine Rajiv's laptop and

camera and my hand bag to look at the jewellery Iwas bringing to wear at ourniece’s wedding.

They casually asked,"Are you carrying anyrupees?" Rajiv and I both trav-el to India several times a year(this was Rajiv's 5th trip thisyear) and have our Indian wal-lets which have the rupees leftover from the last trip. Weleafed through our wallets,and said "We think we have

about ` 30,000- 40,000between both of us.”

So customs duty officeralong with his supervisor AKSingh said we had to turn inthe rupees we had. We askedfor a receipt. When wedumped out our wallets ontheir counter 5 feet away andwhich they counted, there wasonly ` 18,500 in there.

Both of them togetheryelled at us and told us we

had to produce the rest of themoney. When I offered toempty out my handbag toshow him there were no addi-tional rupees in there, theythrew us out of the office, notwanting to recount or look atour empty wallets and orderedanother customs lady tosearch our luggage. We point-ed out that we had nottouched our checked-in lug-gage. Plus their office had

After assuming the role ofthe ATOAI President earli-

er this year, Akshay Kumarwhile talking about the road-blocks in the development ofadventure tourism in India, hadsaid in an interview to :

“The ban on use of satel-lite phones by privateoperators in India is limit-ing our capability to pro-vide effective evacuationand rescue service in thewilderness. Many foreignagents do not featureIndia for wilderness travel

as their insurance requires theuse of Sat phones. The rulesare such that they do not evenallow fixed satellite communi-

cation systems ifthey are fixed on moving plat-forms like cruiseships, etc.”

However, things defi-nitely seem to be looking upfor the industry and they areon the verge of a break-through on satellite phones.We talked to some of the rep-resentatives of the adventuretourism industry for their takeon the issue:

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

The adventure operators in India have been pushing for the use of satellite phones in remote locations, and things definitely seem to be lookingup for the industry. talks to some of the industry experts to find out howthis can be a gamechanger….

Satellite phones for operators?

Tejbir Singh AnandImmediate Past President, ATOAI

If there is an unpleasant incident or an acci-dent enroute one of the expeditions, then the mosteffective way to communicate is through satellitephones. If we have the phones at our disposal, it

also helps build the confidence of our clients – thetravellers. The fact that satellite phones are bannedfor use by private operators in India sends a negativesentiment around the world. If satellite phones docome into play, then this will send a very positivemessage to travellers around the world and we willsee a surge of bookings.

Sanjay BasuVice President, ATOAI

The importance of satellite phones for adven-ture tourism in remote regions of the country isparamount to the industry. Without satellitephones, it is a life and death situation. Even thoughall precautions are taken during an expedition, it’sadventure sports, so, there is a risk of physical danger. When accidents take place, themost important thing that one needs at that time is to establish communication, that is where satellite phones come

in. Foreign insurance companies need satellitephones as a prerequisite for insuring a person soas a result many people avoid India as an adventuretourism destination. While China, Nepal and Bhutanallow the use of satellite phones for adventuretourism, India does not. If we want to bring econom-ic development in remote regions and provide employment to porters and grassroots service providers, we can do this through adventure tourism. If satellite phones do become a

reality, the world will start recognising India as an adventuretravel destination.

Akshay Kumar President, ATOAI

The ministry has been veryproactive for the past six months.Private operators are not allowedto use satellite phones in moun-tainous regions or areas whereconnectivity is an issue. We have

been waiting for a solution to come in place. Wewanted private operators who are members ofATOAI or government-recognised private oper-ators to get access to these satellite phones. TheUttarakhand disaster has served as a wake-upcall. The home ministry has now accepted thata system should be put in place and the homeministry and the Ministry of Tourism have beenworking towards it.

Contd. on page 5

Contd. on page 43

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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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All advertisements must comply with the Indian andInternational Advertisements Code. The publisher will not beliable for any damage or loss caused by delayed publication, erroror failure of an advertisement to appear.

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J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 5COVER STORY

Mandeep Singh SoinFounder & ManagingDirector, Ibex Expeditions

We are still waiting tohear good news on thisfront. We wanted the privateoperators to have their ownsets so that we can sendthem with our teams. Also, most of the expeditions, that involvedanger like mountain-climb-ing etc, go through theIndian MountaineeringFoundation, so the IMF canhave a bulk of thesephones with them and theyin turn can rent it out to theirapproved expeditions. Andin remote villages whereconnectivity is an issue andwhich are frequented bytravellers and climbers,satellite phones can bemade operational 24x7.

Ajeet BajajManaging DirectorSnow Leopard

If satellite phones areput in place, it will be agame changer for adven-ture tourism in our country.We had been fighting forthis for a long time. We arevery greatful to the ministerfor having take it up in sucha strong manner and forhaving supported us in theway that they have done.

Ringing in a change

Contd. from page 4

The road to higher tourism numbersTourism; the new campaignpublicised the tourism poten-tial of the Indian Himalayasand promoted this touristproduct internationally. Theaim of this campaign is topromote not only theHimalayan States, but alsothe gateway cities which willserve them with their interna-tional and domestic airportsand railway stations.

Contd. from page 1Find What you Seek and Go Beyond

The other two major ongoing campaigns, ‘Find What You Seek’ and ‘Go Beyond’heralded a change in marketing focus of the MOT. The Incredible India campaign,which was launched in 2002, in its second phase was moved away from a productor destination focus to go consumer-specific. The shift was in line with MOT’s objectiveto promote India as a 365-day destination in the overseas market and deliver to theinternational visitors exactly the experience they desired. MOT’s international cam-paign was called ‘Find What You Seek’ highlighting the fact that India offers a widerange of experiences like no other destination; that includes conventional cultural,heritage, history, nature based experience to niche products like adventure, sports,eco, golf, and wellness to name a few. Further, MOT also launched Go Beyond toencourage domestic travellers.

Group landing permitsWith group landing permits, the Ministry of Tourism

gave a larger role to agents. Now, agents should pay backby ensuring better service to travellers. The governmenthas allowed collective landing permits togroups comprising four or moretravellers. This move will definitelyprovide larger benefits to the industry inthe long run. Although the Ministry did notpredict this policy to make impact in the year2013, but it expected the scheme to show revolu-tionary positive changes by 2015-16.


EXHIBITIONS6 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

MOT is willing to support states even beyond the ` 50 lakh benchmark to help individual states promote fairs andfestivals at various domestic and international platform. reports.

Promote fairs and festivals: Shankar

At the national seminarorganised by CII on

National Fairs and Festivals,many thought leaders cametogether for the inaugural ses-sion. Setting the stage up,Sujit Banerjee, SecretaryGeneral, WTTC highlighted in

his welcome address that theKumbh Mela itself had gener-ated revenue worth ` 12,000crore and more than 6 lakhjobs. All the Indian festivals andfairs have huge potential forgenerating revenue and creating jobs. “There is anurgent need to build an annualcalendar of events that pro-vides details of all the majorfairs and festivals in India,”added Banerjee.

In the keynote address,Girish Shankar, AdditionalSecretary, MOT, said, “The

Ministry of Tourism supportsstates to promote its fairs and festivals in as many ways

at various domestic and inter-national platforms. We areeven willing to support stateseven beyond the ` 50 lakh benchmark that we have for respective states onannual basis.”

But, Subhash Goyal,President, IATO pointed outhere that fairs and festivalsneed to be marketed in a systematic and well thoughtmanner. A yearly calendar of events can also be prepared, which are veryIndian in nature.

As part of the panel,Ozgur Ayturk, Tourism

Counsellor, Turkish Culture &Tourism; also acknowledgedthat fairs and festivals havegreat employment creationpotential. Runjaun Tongrut,Director, Tourism Authority ofThailand made another very important observationcalling the present era to be Asia-Pacific centric.

VI V E K SE T H I

There is an urgent need to build anannual calendar of events thatprovides details of all the major fairsand festivals in India

Sujit Banerjee, Secretary General, WTTC

The Ministry of Tourism supportsstates to promote its fairs andfestivals in as many ways at variousdomestic and international platforms

Girish Shankar, Additional Secretary, MOT

Fairs and festivalsneed to bemarketed in asystematic andwell thoughtmanner. A yearlyevents calendarcan also beprepared

Subhash Goyal President, IATO

Ayturk, Banerjee, Shankar, Katoch & Tongrut during the lamp-lighting ceremony at the CII National Fair

� All the Indian festivalsand fairs have hugepotential for generatingrevenue and creatingjobs

Effect of Tourism

Contd. on page 13


Addressing the RoyalAeronautical Society at the

International Civil AviationOrganisation (ICAO) headquar-ters, UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai called forincreased visa facilitation andthe liberalisation of air transport.

In his address, Tourismand Aviation: BuildingCommon Policies forSustainable Growth, he reiter-ated the need to position bothsectors collectively to stimulatethe growth of overall economyand create opportunities foremployment and entrepreneur-ship. “If we are to achieve theforecasted rise in internationaltourist arrivals from 1 billion in2012 to 1.8 billion in 2030, withall the concomitant economicand social benefits, we mustwork as one,” Rifai said.

Increased coordinationamong airlines, tourism desti-nations and airport authoritiesat national level, and the jointwork of UNWTO and ICAO atthe global level, will help posi-tion travel and tourism as astrategic sector with air trans-port at its core, he added.

Rifai emphasised marketliberalisation as a key factor forthe development of civil avia-tion and tourism. He citedWorld Trade Organisation(WTO) estimates showing that

replacing the most restrictivebilateral air agreements bymost liberal ones mayincrease traffic by over 75 percent. On visa facilitation, Rifaistressed that restrictive visaissuance policies and compli-cated entry formalities are stillstifling travel and tourism

growth, particularly fromemerging economies. The lat-ter are some of the fastest-growing source markets fortourism. Supporting visa facil-itation will help stimulate theeconomy and generateemployment - as many as 5.1million additional jobs in the

G20 economies by 2015, and2.6 million new jobs in the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation economies by2016, according to a recentresearch by UNWTO and theWorld Travel and TourismCouncil. Other key issuesaddressed were tourist/con-

sumer protection, intelligenttaxation and the fight againstclimate change, issues whichhe maintained were areas ofcommon concern for both thetourism and aviation sectors toachieve a significant impact inpromoting sustainable growthand development.

There is a need to position tourism and aviation sectors collectively to help stimulate the growth of the overall economyand create opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship.

Remove visa, aviation hurdles: RifaiTT BU R E AU

J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 7VISA

If we are toachieve theforecast rise ininternationaltourist arrivalsfrom 1 billion in2012 to 1.8billion in 2030,we must workas one

Taleb RifaiSecretary-GeneralUNWTO

� Visa restrictions

� Aviation Policy

� Intelligent Taxation

� Entry Formalities

Points to Ponder


VISA

Subhash Goyal, President,IATO said, “Our associa-

tion has played an instrumentalrole in moving the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) andMinistry of Tourism (MOT) to liftrestrictions on re-entry of a vis-itor on tourist visa to India with-in a span of 60 days. The group landing permit at allgateways is another strategicinitiative that IATO feels willtake inbound growth far once itgets going.”

“Going forward, the e-visa facility will be a majorgame-changer for inboundsegment in India. IATO hadrepresented the side of

inbound agents at the variousmeetings held with MHA andMOT. We are hopeful lookingat fruitful meetings held with

the concerned authoritiesand expect e-visa facil-

ity will be madeavailable in

India shortly.It is likely to

beextend-

ed to all countries that pose nosecurity threats. Singapore,Dubai and Turkey had successfully utilised the e-visa facility to attract inbound tourists. We are certain to witness over 25-30% growth in inbound seg-ment with e-visa facility inplace,” he added.

Goyal also takes pride inhaving encouraged his team toparticipate in the associationand work cordially. “OurMumbai and Kochi conven-tions were a big success dueto the participation of all ourmembers. Today, our silentauction and Run forResponsible Tourism hademerged as independentbrand of events,” said Goyal.

“We are in advance stage of bringing together allthe regional travel agents andtour operators associations.We are also toying with theconcept of creating a North-East Travel Mart like its coun-terpart in the South thatattracts both national and inter-national players to Kerala,”Goyal added.

Singapore, Dubai and Turkey had successfully utilisedthe e-visa facility to attract inbound tourists. India muststart this facility soon for all countries sans securityhassles, says the IATO President.

E-visa to grow inbound by 30%

TT BU R E AU

In a bid to encourage arrivalsfrom India, the Tourism

Minister of Egypt recentlyannounced that the Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) facility will beextended for Indian market forgroups of four persons andmore in a few weeks’ time. Thiswas revealed by ElhamyElZayat, Chairman, EgyptianTourism Federation (ETF) atthe TAAI Convention inBengaluru in December 2013.At present, visa on arrival facil-ities are only available forgroup travel of over 10 peoplewith fixed day departures. The

Federation is the apex body ofthe five industry associations

in Egypt. “Egypt has been apopular destination in India,and the country is an importantand a high-potential market forus. While there has been a dipin the number of visitors due tothe political unrest, we havewitnessed a major dip in num-bers from the Indian market.The introduction of Visa onArrival for groups will helpincrease visitor arrivals fromIndia,” ElZayat said.

Talking about the poten-tial of Egypt in the tourismdomain, he added, “Egypt is afascinating blend of ancientand modern and has destina-tions and products to cater tothe interests of all kinds oftourists. We are also keen ontapping the MICE market inIndia, especially Incentivessegment and can make specialarrangements for their visarequirements.”

The country has recently announced that the Visa-on-Arrival facility has been extended for the Indian marketfor groups of four pax and more.

VoA for boosting Indian tourists

We are also keenon tapping theMICE market inIndia, especiallythe incentivessegment

Elhamy ElZayatChairman, Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF)

TT BU R E AU

� The Federation is theapex body of the fiveindustry associations inEgypt

Wooing India

We are certainto witnessover 25-30%growth ininboundsegment withe-visa facilityin place

Subhash GoyalPresident, IATO


STATES

In a bid to holistically developthe tourism potential of

Uttarakhand and to aggres-sively promote it, the travel andhospitality stakeholders in thestate have come together to bea part of Uttarakhand TourismPromotion Forum (UTPF). Thesetting up of UTPF was in thepipeline for a while and has

now been set up with the private sector participation,according to UmakantPanwar, Secretary-Tourism,Uttarakhand.

Formulated on the linesof an industry think-tank, UTPFwill have participants from thehotel industry of the state aswell as others attached to thesegment - tour operators, traveland logistics providers andother prominent people fromUttarakhand. In an advisoryrole, UTPF is an effort of the

private sector to jointly promotesustainable and responsibletourism in Uttarakhand.

As a first step, UTPF willcreate a dossier of the 50 top tourist destinations inUttarakhand and share it withthe trade. In addition, creatinga definitive “places to see” factsheet for the top 10 tourist des-tinations (Mussoorie, Nainital,

Ranikhet, Dhanaulti, Chamba, Rishikesh, Haridwar,Lansdowne, Mukteshwar, andCorbett) will be primary focus.It will come up with effectivemarketing tools like brochuresand websites on tourismpotential in Uttarakhand,Panwar added.

“For the holistic develop-ment of the tourism potential inthe state, it is imperative thatwe work together to focus onall components that makeUttarakhand so special. The

unparalleled scenic beauty anduntouched territories haveremained unexplored andhence ‘unmarketed,” PraveenSharma, Joint HonorarySecretary, HRANI and theleading hotelier fromUttarakhand, said. UTPF willwork on creating increasedawareness about the state ofUttarakhand and on facts making it so unique, he opined.

As pointed out by SahilGulati, Director-Operations,EllBee Hotels, this is a welcome step. “The Ministry ofTourism recently launched‘777 Days of the IncredibleIndian Himalayas’ campaign to centre stage the IncredibleIndian Himalayas on the worldtourism map. This will go along way in promoting the hill state of Uttarakhand. Inaddition to this, the UTPF willalso help in buoying the traveller sentiment,” he commented.

Apart from pushing for investments in PPP mode forrebuilding and upgradation, the state’s newly establishedUttarakhand Tourism Promotion Forum (UTPF) is aprivate sector effort to promote sustainable tourism…

Stakeholders form UTPF

ME G H A PAU L

This will go along way inpromotingthe hill state.The UTPFwill also helpin buoyingthe travellersentiment

It is imperative that we focus on allcomponentsthat makeUttarakhandso special

As a first step,UTPF willcreate adossier of the50 top touristdestinations inUttarakhandand share itwith the trade

Umakant PanwarSecretary-TourismUttarakhand

Praveen SharmaJoint Honorary Secretary HRANI

Sahil GulatiDirector-OperationsEllBee Hotels

SpiceJet, Tigerair sign 3-year agreementSingapore’s Tigerair has

formed a new partnershipwith SpiceJet that will expandair connectivity betweenSingapore and India. Thethree-year interline deal kicksoff on January 1, 2014, andwill offer single-ticket travel

between the Tigerair andSpiceJet networks, connectingat Hyderabad’s Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport. Tigerairpassengers from Singaporewill be able to connect toSpiceJet’s flights fromHyderabad to 14 domestic

destinations – Bhopal,Mumbai, Kolkata, Coimbatore,Delhi, Goa, Indore, Mangalore,Madurai, Pune, Pajahmundry,Tirupati and Visakhapatnum.Indian passengers from all ofthese destinations will be ableto connect to Tigerair’s flights.


FAMILY ALBUM1 2 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

The PATA India Chapter Membership’s meeting with the Ministry of Tourism in Delhi was attended by approximately 35 members. The meeting witnessedthe presence of Parvez Dewan, Secretary, MOT, Usha Sharma, Additional DG, MOT, AK Gupta, Additional DG (MR), MOT, Vikram Madhok, Vice Chairman,PATA India Chapter, SanJeet, Honorary Secretary, PATA India Chapter as well as Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India Chapter. Dewan highlightedseveral initiatives taken by the ministry to further the promotion of tourism in India. The efforts of the MOT were unanimously lauded by the house.

PATA India Chapter Membership meet

CII seminar on fairs and festivalsCII highlighted the need for building a calendar of fairsand festivals at this nationalseminar, which had ChandreshKumari Katoch, Minister ofCulture as its chief guest. Hostof experts from the travel andtourism industry also attendedthe programme.

Wine soiree for travel partnersSouth African Airways hosted an exclusive wine-tasting session forits travel partners recently at the ITC Grand Central, Parel. The eventsaw the attendance of Gcobani Mancotywa, Regional General Manager- Asia Pacific Region, South African Airways. Guests were treated tofeted wines from the Stellenbosch Kloof region of South Africa.


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

Highlighting the culture through fairs“Earlier, we used to getmajority of foreign tourists

from the developed world.Today, majority of tourists are

coming from Asia Pacific,” she added. The seminar also had participation fromSingapore, and UK.

In the inaugural address,Chandresh Kumari Katoch,Minister of Culture,Government of India, said,“The Greatness of India’sFairs and Festivals do deservea more importance, as theyare celebrated throughout the

year and are truly amazing intheir diversity. Tour operatorsneed to weave not only the

major fairs and festivals butmany more fairs and festivalsof different parts of India in

their tour packages to attract both Indian and foreign tourists.”

Earlier, we used to get majority offoreign tourists from the developedworld. Today, majority of tourists arecoming from Asia Pacific

Ozgur Ayturk Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Culture & Tourism

Contd. from page 6

Jet Airways hasannounced the additionof two daily flights toenhance flight connec-tivity into Saudi Arabia.Effective January 15,2014, Jet Airways willintroduce two dailyflights from Kochi andChennai to Dammam inthe Kingdom of SaudiArabia. While the

Chennai flight will beoperated via Abu Dhabito Dammam, the Kochi-Dammam flight will be served by a dailydirect flight.

Jet Airways flight9W 570 will departKochi at 0620 hrs andarrive in Dammam at0920 hrs (local time).The return flight 9W569 will departDammam at 1020 (LT)and arrive at Chennai at1720 hrs (LT).Furthermore, JetAirways offers its guestsfrom Kochi an eveningoption to Dammam viaAbu Dhabi. 9W 576Kochi to Abu Dhabi willbe rescheduled todepart Kochi at 2040 hrsand arrive into AbuDhabi at 2330 hrs,which in turn connectsto 9W526 Abu DhabiDammam. The airlineswill now offer six non-stop flights to SaudiArabia, with more one-stop options.

Jet Airwaysannounces twodaily flights toDammam

Tour operators need to weave not only the major fairs and festivals but many more fairs and festivals ofdifferent parts of India in their tour packages to attract bothIndian and foreign tourists

Chandresh Kumari KatochMinister of Culture, Government of India


HOTELS1 4 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

The growth of the middleclass is by far one of the

most important contributingfactors, said Douglas Martell,Vice President of Operations,South West Asia, IHG.

“Currently, we have 14hotels in operation. If we hadcome in 2-3 years earlier, wewould have been in a strongerposition than we are at pres-ent. But, with the amount ofresources and manpower weare bringing in, we should beable to catch up pretty quickly.We are investing for the future.”Thus, after US and China,India features in the top 3 mar-kets for the Group.

The hotel giant is opti-mistic about the hospitalityfuture in India, and is focussingon the emerging middle classmarket. The brands, Holiday Innand Holiday Inn Express areexpected to cater to this marketspecially. In future, 88 per cent

of the growth is expected fromthese two brands. The Groupexpects to open the Holiday Innbrand in 25 cities by 2020 and40 in 2030, and to establish theHoliday Inn Express brand by 2030. There are currently 57 hotels in the pipeline, among which 50 (Holiday Inn

brands) will cater to the mid seg-ment market.

Talking about the recentinitiative taken by theMaharashtra Government indecreasing the number of per-mits and forming a single win-dow clearance system, Martelladded, “Red tape, permits andlicenses are big hurdles tocross. Such initiatives willattract more companies tobuild hotels. At the moment, it is not so much the money thatmust be paid; it’s the time ittakes. Thus, the process mustbecome more business-friend-ly.” Similarly, with respect to the

inclusion of hotels and conven-tion centres in the HarmonisedList, Martell feels that the bar-rier needs to be reduced by atleast 35 – 40 per cent.

Travel agents do play animportant role for IHG, wherethe company pays 10-15 percent commission to them.However, with an increasingrole of the OTAs in the sector,the Group connects to its customers through its website,offering a com-petitiveprice to all.

In 2013, the Grouplaunched its Chennai propertyon December 18, and is gear-ing up to unveil Holiday InnAerocity in Delhi. The firstHoliday Inn Express inHyderabad Gachibowli will beunveiled in the first quarter of2014. There are a few hotels inthe pipeline for the Easternmarket as well as in the citiesof Kolkata, Siliguri andJamshedpur. Regarding the

MICE segment, Martell said, “The MICE segment in India isvery fragmented. At themoment, we can only attractthe small MICE events. InDubai, Kuala Lumpur,Shanghai, Singapore... thesheer volume of people attend-ing a conference is near 4,000– 5,000.” He adds, “India must focus on more conventioncentres. That is where the realmoney is.”

With the recent unveiling of their newest property in Chennai, InterContinental Hotels Group has kept a firm eye onthe middle-class India market.

India is among the top 3 markets: IHGRAMYA JS D’ROZARIO

Douglas MartellVice President of Operations,

South West Asia, IHG

Martell speaks:“We are actively developing strate-gic partnerships to expand in Indiaand will invest in these partner-ships to support our growth. Wehave recently signed a 10 HolidayInn Express hotels deal with theBrigade Group of South India. Wealready have a 20-year manage-ment contract with Duet IndiaHotels Group to develop 19Holiday Inn Express hotels (3,300rooms) in the next couple of years.With the Amrapali Group, we willbe opening 7 hotels – 1 CrownePlaza, 2 Holiday Inn and 4 HolidayInn Express. We’re also looking atthe right partners to grow theInterContinental brand in key loca-tions across India.”

India must focus on more convention centres.That is where the real money is


Consolidated as one of theleading events for the

tourist industry, theInternational Tourism TradeFair, an event organised byIFEMA, will turn FERIA DEMADRID into a world show-case for the industry from 22 to26 January 2014 next.

South-East Asia,which headed thegrowth for foreigntourist arrivals onthe Continent in2012 with anincrease of 9%, willpresent its richnatural heritageand marvelloustourist attractionsat FITUR 2014.

Furthermore, at the trade fair,visitors will be able to discoverthe landscapes and culturesof countries as fascinating asCambodia, Vietnam andMyanmar. South-East Asiaachieved the highest rate ofgrowth with regard to touristnumbers amongst the differentregions of Asia in 2012, largelydue to the strong and ongoingincrease in intra-regionaldemand, according to theWorld Tourism Organisation.In absolute terms, this growthwas headed by Thailand,based on an increase of threemillion foreign tourist arrivals(+16%) compared to 2011.Cambodia (+24%) andVietnam (+14%) also enjoyedsignificant two-digit rates ofgrowth, whilst Myanmarenjoyed the highest rate of rel-ative growth with an impres-sive figure of 52%. In 2012,Asia and the Pacific togetherwitnessed an increase of 15million foreign tourist arrivalscompared to 2011, in whichrespect their share of worldtourism rose to 23%.

This trade show, whichmarks the beginning of theinternational calendar ofevents for the industry, will offer

professionals the means toimplement their marketingstrategies through an extensiveexhibition of destinations,

not to mention the differenttools and forums proposed by FITUR.

Participants will also beable to learn about the latesttechnologies to help themboost their operations and facethe challenges of a constantly-evolving world market.

Meetings such as Fitur Know-How & Export, Fiturtech,Fiturgreen, Investour Africa,Fitur B2B, Receptivo España(Inbound Spain) and FiturLGBT, not to mention themeetings organised by theWorld Tourism Organisation(UNWTO) and the Excelturand Cimet Forums, among

others, all help to shape a business event of the firstorder, one where the leadingplayers within the travel industry can strengthen theirrelations and gain access tonew marketing, managementand promotional channels for their tourist products and destinations.

South-East Asia, which headed the growth for foreign tourist arrivals in the Continent in 2012, will promote itsmain tourist attractions at FITUR 2014.

SE Asian attractions@FITUR-2014TT BU R E AU

EXHIBITIONS J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 1 5

Attractions in AsiaVisitors to FITUR 2014 willbe able to discover themain natural and culturalattractions of South-EastAsia, including the charmsof countries such asCambodia, Vietnam andMyanmar. Here they willcome across a number ofimportant temples andarchaeological sites, suchas those bequeathed bythe Khmer Empire.


INTERVIEW1 6 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

How important is Indiamarket for Malaysia?

India figures among thetop 10 markets for Malaysia.We acknowledge the fact thatthe country is an upcomingeconomic giant. Indian is animportant market for us and weare very serious about increas-ing arrivals from India toMalaysia. At the moment, wereceive about 650,000 touristsfrom India on an average. Theonly reason we are maintainingthis number is because that wehave regular flights betweenthe two countries. Now, if weincrease that accessibility and we provide more flight seats, then we canincrease the number of Indianarrivals to 780,000.

How differently will youpromote Malaysia inIndia in 2014?

In 2014, we have our VisitMalaysia campaign. For this,

we are introducing specialpackages. We are also workingvery closely with tour operatorsin India and introducing newpackages like helicopter tours,luxury tours, special honey-moon and family packages.The country’s first internationaltheme park - Legoland, BukitGambang Resort City andareas like Langkawi are suit-able for families. We are alsolooking into the incentive mar-ket. Going by the way in whichwe receive large incentive

groups from India, it seemsthat the demand for the incen-tive market is increasing forMalaysia, so we are going toconcentrate on this.

How was 2013 forTourism Malaysia?

2013 was a little slowand this was obviously due tothe shock of the rupee depre-ciation. In the second half ofthe year, we saw a decreaseof three per cent; however,things started looking up by

October and the number ofarrivals increased, so eventhough the second half maynot have been very good, wecame to understand that peo-ple are gradually adapting tothe change.

How are you planning totie up with Malindo Air?

With the launch ofMalindo Air in India, we haveplanned a major campaignwith

them. Once they start flying inIndia, from next year, we willbe working together in terms of promotions andadvertising to create aware-ness about the new airlines.We want to make sure thatMalindo sustains in India forthe long-haul.

Which are the citieswhere you are promot-ing Malaysia?

About promotion ofMalaysia in India, we are notjust concentrating on the met-ropolitan cities of Mumbai,Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.For instance, in North India,we are looking at places like Ludhiana, Chandigarh,Rajasthan and Lucknow. Weare also travelling to WestBengal and in the Northeast.We are working actively withtour operators there becausewe find that these cities are more lucrative and we get bigger spenders fromthese cities.

Amran Abdul Rahman, Director, Tourism Malaysia, says that they are concentrating on theIndian incentive market and increasing Indian arrivals from 650,000 to 780,000. A few extractsfrom the exclusive interview…

Big spenders come from small cities

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

We are working very closely with tour operatorsin India and introducing new packages likehelicopter tours, luxury tours, specialhoneymoon and family packages. Thecountry’s first international themepark - Legoland, Bukit GambangResort City and areas likeLangkawi are excellent for families Amran Abdul Rahman

DirectorTourism Malaysia

The India InternationalTravel & Tourism Exhibition(IITT) 2014 will be held atthe MMRDA ExhibitionCentre in Mumbai fromJanuary 16-18, 2014. Jointlyorganised by the AsianBusiness Exhibition &Conferences Ltd and ITEGroup, the exhibition willfeature knowledge seminarson key industry issues,expert perspectives andhighlight the challenges ofthe tourism sector. It isexpected to offer person-alised invitation badges toover 35,000 travel trade vis-itors, and the HR, adminis-tration, marketing and traveldesk managers of over 4,000corporate clients.

The IITT-2014 will witnessparticipation from bothdomestic and internationalindustry players. Exhibitorsat the event will includeNTOs, state tourism boards, travel agents, touroperators, car rental compa-nies, convention centres,cruise liners, golf courses,resorts, and hotels.

IITT-2014 tobe held inMumbai from16-18 January


NTO

The China National TouristOffice (CNTO) has been

concentrating a lot on attract-ing Indian tourists to the coun-try. This time around, theyorganised promotional cam-paigns from December 14- 22in Kochi and Chennai.

CNTO conducted promo-tional activities in Oberon Malland Lullu Mall in Kochi and CityCentre Mall and AmpaSkywalk Mall in Chennai.

“Nowadays, an increas-ing number of Indian touristshave started showing interestin China as a tourist destina-tion. This tremendous growthin outbound travel from India toChina is being seen as greatencouragement. From Januaryto October 2013, the Indianarrivals to mainland Chinawere nearly 569700, increas-ing more than 12.5% over thesame period of last year,” saidLi Qianguo, Deputy Director,China National Tourist Office.

As part of its BeautifulChina campaign, CNTO hadalso organised promotional

activities in Chandigarh fromDecember 5-7 during the firstedition of the CII Tourism Fest.

At the Tourism Fest inChandigarh, China SouthernAirlines and China EasternAirlines had also presentedtheir flights and servicestowards the high-end market inNorth India.

Happy with the responseat Chandigarh, Qianguo said,“Thousands of visitors fromChandigarh and its nearbyregions in North India flockedto the Beautiful China pavilionduring the three-day event.”

CNTO aggressively markets in South India as it organises promotional campaigns from December 14-22in Kochi and Chennai.

CNTO travels to S India

TT BU R E AU

From Januaryto October2013, Indianarrivals tomainland China werenearly 569,700;increasingmore than12.5%

Li QianguoDeputy DirectorChina National Tourist Office

� CNTO conductedpromotional activities inOberon Mall and LulluMall in Kochi and CityCentre Mall and Ampa Skywalk Mall inChennai

� As part of its BeautifulChina campaign, CNTOhad also organisedpromotional activities inChandigarh fromDecember 5-7 duringthe first edition of the CIITourism Fest

Hello China

Two of Japan' s largesttravel fairs - JATA TABI-HAKU Travel Showcase andTabi Fair - will merge intoone event called the JATATourism Expo Japan, to be held from September25-28, 2014.

The Japan Travel andTourism Association and theJapan Association of TravelAgents have agreed to inte-grate Tabi Fair Japan, adomestic tourism exhibitionhosted by JTTA, and JATATABIHAKU TravelShowcase, an internationaltravel exhibition hosted byJATA, to hold the JATATourism Expo Japan annual-ly from 2014.

The 2014 event will beheld from September 25-28at Tokyo Big Sight (EastExhibition Hall andConference Tower).

The year 2013 markedthe 18th Tabi Fair Japan. It isone of the largest domestictravel exhibitions in Japan,with exhibitors from 120regions in Japan participat-ing. The JATA TABIHAKUTravel Showcase is one ofthe largest comprehensivetravel events in Asia. In

2013, the event marked its24th year. It was composedof an international travelforum, international busi-ness talks, exhibitions,awards, and a pre-opening

reception. A total of 730organisations and compa-nies from 154 countries par-ticipated in 2013.

By integratingthese two events, the organisers will beable to presentJapan as a tourismdestination. Thecombined eventwill build on their strengths to promote outbound, inbound,and domestic travel.

The JATA Tourism ExpoJapan will then become thelargest comprehensive trav-el event in Asia, and willconcentrate on the strengthsof not just the tourismindustry, but of all industriesand regions.

The new JATA TourismEXPO Japan has been recognised by the UnitedNation’s World TourismOrganisation (UNWTO).Plus, it is the first travelshow in Asia to be recog-nised by the UNWTO.

The expo will be man-aged by the JATA TourismExpo Japan OrganisingCommittee. For theExecutive Committee to beplaced under theOrganising Committee, thechairperson will be JATA’sChairman Jungo Kikuma,and the vice chairmans willbe JATA’s Vice ChairmanHiromi Tagawa and JTTA’sDirector Yoichi Minami,with Vice ChairmanTagawa as the acting chair-person. As the centraloffice of the expo, theTourism Expo JapanPromotion Office will belocated within JATA.

Sept date for JATA Tourism Expo


INTERVIEW1 8 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

What is Travelport work-ing on lately? How willthis benefit the traveltrade community?

Travelport has alwaysbeen instrumental in providinginnovative products to stream-line the work for travel agents.Recently, Travelport haslaunched a series of productsin the global market and verysoon some of these productswould be rolled out inIndian market as well.Travelport has beenactively engaged increating groundbreaking tech-nologies andsolutions thatenable travelagencies togrow their busi-ness.

How important is thetravel trade for yourbusiness?

The travel trade contin-ues to be our strong partnerand we would like to retain our

focus

in developing tools for our part-ners that would help themabsorb technology and use itto enhance their businessgrowth. For our travel partners,we have also upped our service and support levelsthrough our ISO certified service centre.

You've recently renewedyour contract withVia.com. Do you haveany new plans for thewebsite?

Via.com has beenanother strong partnerand the contract renewaldemonstrates the fur-ther deepening of ourrelationship withVia.com and ourongoing commit-ment to this strate-gic partnership.

We are committed atoffering cost-effective,

reliable and cost efficientGDS solutions thatbring value to cus-tomers.

How do youlook at 2013and what areyour plansfor 2014?

The year2013 started on aslightly tepid sentiment with thefluctuating airfares and surgingfuel prices, and the rupee deval-uation. However, we have alsowitnessed the industry goingthrough an evolution with inno-vations in mobile technologyand how the industry is learningto embrace the internet andrelated technologies to improvetravel experience. Factors suchas improving penetration of theinternet, increasing smartphoneshare and the younger popula-tion demographics has helped

shape them-Commerce market inIndia. This has not only revolu-tionised the travel sector over aperiod of time, but would alsohelp create a larger ecosystemin the future that would includehotel bookings, car rentals etc.,in short a complete package forcustomers to plan their travel.

The year 2014 is likely tosee an increase in both thebusiness and leisure travel

segment. Domestic tourismwill see tremendous focus inthe coming year, with more andmore service providers offeringinnovative deals for travel. Theindustry is also optimistic aboutthe Jet-Etihad and Tata-SIAoperations which is believed togive impetus to the travel in thecountry and the region.

Sandeep Dwivedi, the Chief Financial Officer at InterGlobe Technology Quotient (ITQ) says that the companywould continue focussing on developing tools for their travel trade partners which would help them absorb newtechnology, besides inceasing service and support levels through their ISO-certified service centre.

2014 to focus on domestic travel

PE D E N DO M A BH U T I AFor the AgentsThe travel trade continues to be our strong

partner and we would like to retain our focus

in developing tools for our partners that would

help them adopt technology and use it to

enhance their business growth.

Sandeep DwivediChief Financial Officer at InterGlobe Technology Quotient


HOTELS2 0 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

The Novotel Experiencecomes to North Goa with a

truly Goan spirit, embodied in

a 5-star luxury resort. This isthe flagship property of NovotelResorts in India and is locatedon the arterial road fromCandolim to Calangute. The

resort offers contemporarydesign and flexibility, boastingof lots of in-room space.

Besides other leisureactivities, the hotel is also idealfor meetings. The board roomscan accommodate 2-12 per-sons at the business centre andthe ballroom with a hall space of2,800 sq ft; and a pre-functionfoyer area is ideal for larger con-ferences and gatherings. Forexhibitions and social get-togethers, Accor Beach Lawnswith 20,000 sq ft space is anideal beach-facing lawn thatcaters to up to 2,000 persons.

“The hotel is truly an idyl-lic location for a perfect get-away, and is a short driveaway from beautiful beachesand popular night-spots. Onecan switch between calm andan active day in Goa withease,” says Manish Dayya,General Manager, NovotelGoa Shrem Resort.

Talking about the posi-tioning and branding of theproperty, Dayya says, “At this

point, we want to positionNovotel Goa Shrem Resort asa very competitive resortavailable in North Goa and which offers value for money.” Besides duplex suites called the junior suiteswith four categories of rooms,the resort also has an acces-sible room for differently-abledand aged guests.

Talking about what thebrand stands for RakshitTalwar, Director, Sales andMarketing, Novotel GoaShrem Resort; he says, “Thebrand mission is to create anew and valuable midscalehospitality experience by pro-viding emotionally involvingand economically efficient con-cepts. The brand essence ismade of key words: Relaxed(Peaceful, balanced, de-stressed), Playful (fun -loving,high-spirited, light-hearted),Imagination (creativity, positive energy) & HeartfeltService (attentive, warm, and anticipatory). All thisreflects at the Novotel GoaShrem Resort.”

Novotel Goa Shrem Resort’s brand mission is to create a new and valuablemidscale hospitality experience by providing emotionally-involving andeconomically-efficient concepts.

A Novotel Experience in Goa

TT BU R E AU

The brandessence ismade of keywords: Relaxed,Playful,Imagination andHeartfelt Service

We want topositionNovotel GoaShrem Resortas a verycompetitiveresort

Manish Dayya General ManagerNovotel Goa Shrem Resort

Rakshit TalwarRakshit Talwar, Director, Sales andMarketing, Novotel Goa Shrem Resort

Fortune Park Hotels hasfurther expanded its port-

folio of hotels with the openingof the brand’s 41st hotel,‘Fortune Inn Grazia’ inGhaziabad. With the additionof this hotel, Fortune now hassix hotels operational in Delhi NCR – two hotels eachin New Delhi and Gurgaonand one each in Noida andGhaziabad. Convenientlylocated in the heart of theIndustrial Area, adjacent tothe ALT Centre, and in closeproximity to premier establish-ments in Sanjay Nagar likeIMT Ghaziabad, Fortune InnGrazia is perfectly suited toservice the business require-ments of the city.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Suresh Kumar, ChiefExecutive Officer, Fortune ParkHotels said, “We are delightedto announce the launch ofFortune Inn Grazia inGhaziabad and to partner withthe Group once again, whohave yet again reposed theirtrust in our brand.

We expect tobridge the existing gap withour excellent service and hospitality commitment.

We are sure of receivinga good response for our hotelas it is placed strategically toserve the NCR region.”

Fortune Inn Grazia offers50 well-furnished rooms, con-sisting of 45 Standard Roomsand five Suites. The hotel pro-vides banquet facilities that canaccommodate up to 200guests. Other offerings at thehotel include business centrefacilities, swimming pool, beau-ty salon and a wellness centrewith spa and a well-equippedgymnasium. With the FortuneInn in Ghaziabad, the totalnumber of Fortune Inn catego-ry hotels in the country now stands at eight with hotelsin Gandhinagar, Jammu,Manipal, Noida, Hinjewadi,Pune and Visakhapatnamalready operational.

With the addition of this new hotel,Fortune now has six hotels operationalin the Delhi NCR.

Fortune Inn Grazia

TT BU R E AU

The Oberoi celebrates its legacyTo celebrate thelegacy of iconicThe Oberoi, NewDelhi, a sit-downhosted dinner wasorganised for aselect 100 guestsfrom travel andtrade industry on November 27,2013.


STATISTICS2 2 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

The KPMG Report, whichwas released at the ‘CII

Tourism Fest’ organised fromDecember 5-7, 2013 inChandigarh, says that com-pared to the national averagegrowth rate of 16.3 per cent,the total number of tourist vis-its in the northern states ofIndia witnessed a growth rateof 10.2 per cent during theperiod 2008-2012. While the

total number of tourist visits inIndia amounted to 1057 mil-lion in 2012, those in northernstates amounted to 303 millionin the same year. The domes-tic and international tourist vis-its in northern states wit-nessed growth rates of 10.4per cent and 3.2 per centrespectively during 2008-2012amounting to 296 milliondomestic tourists and 7 millioninternational tourists in 2012.The total market share of the

northern states in overall India tourist visits declinedfrom 36 per cent in 2008 to 29per cent in 2012.

Interestingly, Punjab wit-nessed the largest increase inmarket share of 1.7 per centmuch of which can be attrib-uted to increase in the domes-tic market share. Similarly,Delhi witnessed a marketshare increase of 1.2 per centduring the same period. While

the domestic market share forDelhi witnessed considerableincrease in 2012, the interna-tional market share suffered adecline. Other northern statessuch as Rajasthan, Haryana,Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,Jammu & Kashmir andHimachal Pradesh witnesseddecline in market shares inoverall India tourist visits.Uttar Pradesh witnessed the largest market share decline of 5.8 per cent followed by Rajasthan,Uttarakhand and Haryana at2.3 per cent, 1 per cent and0.4 per cent respectively.

RATA N K PAU L

Northern India, especially the Himalayan states, is perhaps the most lucrative destination both for domestic and international tourists. However, perennial issues like hindrance to seamless travel and tax burden on the industry need to be addressed soon to arrest the declining trends with respect to its growth. The recently-unveiled KPMG Report highlights some critical aspects of the region.

Speed-bumps in North Indian tourism

Profile of tourists in northern states

Measures to be taken

In line with the overall tourist profilein India, major proportion of tourist visitsin northern states of India compriseddomestic tourists in 2012. Punjab witnessedthe highest growth rate both in terms ofdomestic (147 per cent) as well as interna-tional tourists (114 per cent) during 2008-2012. While Delhi witnessed high growthin terms of domestic tourists (72 per cent),it witnessed almost negligible growth (0.1per cent) in international tourist visits dur-ing the same period. Haryana witnessed lowgrowth in terms of increase in domestictourists as well as in international touristsfor the state (28 per cent) and was second

only to Punjab. USA and UK account for themaximum number of foreign tourist visitsin the northern states of India. WhileHaryana and Delhi are majorly commercialand business-related destinations, HimachalPradesh and Punjab emerge clearly as des-tinations preferred for leisure activities.Himachal Pradesh witnessed the longestduration of stay by both domestic and inter-national tourists which is evident becauseof its preference as a state for leisure andvacationing purposes. Average duration ofstay is highest for the month of Septemberfor domestic tourists and December forinternational tourists.

Though the KPMG Report highlighted some positive initiatives taken by the northern states, it iden-tified some specific areas where they will have to focus on. According to the report, there is a need for enhancing the infrastructure, seamless connectivity andtourism appeal of the states in northern India in order toachieve longer tourist stays. Collective marketing andspecial strategies for promotion activities should beadopted by the state governments in order to increasethe stay duration for tourists.

The report also suggests that education and medical tourism appear as areas that require focussed efforts by state governments for promotion and marketing.


2 4 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4


J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 2 5


The civil aviation industrycontinues to feel the pres-

sure of increasing cost anddepressing yields with intensi-fied competition, said Azahar

Hamid, Regional Senior VicePresident, South Asia & MiddleEast, Malaysia Airlines. “Onone hand, the price sensitivemarket kept growing, while onthe other side, there is a notice-able increase in luxury travel.

Overall India outbound grewsignificantly and the trend isexpected to continue.”

This year, it has alsobeen noticed that the Indiantraveller is more mature now

and is equally conscious of theproduct & services that theyare flying. Hamid added, “Atthe same time, they are lookingat value-for-money deals. Theyare ready to explore new des-tinations. The Indian airline

industry holds tremendouspotential for us and gives us a chance to expand our operations.”

The E-Commerceacceptance in the market has

also shown significantincrease, he further added. Thekey inbound destinations for2014 are forecast to be –Kerala, Delhi and Mumbai.

In 2014, the Airline plansto concentrate on their sixonline points- Delhi, Mumbai,Bengaluru, Hyderabad,Chennai and Kochi. “In linewith our strategy, we havebeen strengthening our Indiaoperations over the past fewmonths. We plan to get thedouble daily operations from allover current online points andexplore new online points,”Hamid added.

With Visit Malaysia Year2014, the airline expects asteep rise in the percentage ofthe rate of growth. It isfocussing on all market seg-ments be it corporate, leisure,MICE, students, etc., which areall important. It is also planning to continue to focuson all segments to create anoptimal traffic mix.

As Malaysia is gearing up for the Visit Malaysia Year 2014, the country’s official airline, Malaysia Airlines, has witnessedthe Indian market growing at a staggering rate of 16 per cent. The Indian aviation industry holds tremendous potentialfor the airline, providing immense opportunities to expand their operations.

India contributes 16% growth to Malaysia

RAMYA JS D’ROZARIO

AVIATION2 8 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

Indians arelooking atvalue-for-money deals.They are readyto explore newdestinations

Azahar HamidRegional Sr. VP, South Asia & MiddleEast, Malaysia Airlines

� In 2014, the Airlineplans to concentrate ontheir six online points-Delhi, Mumbai,Bengaluru, Hyderabad,Chennai and Kochi

� With Visit Malaysia Year2014, the airlineexpects a steep rise inthe percentage of therate of growth

� It is focussing on allmarket segments be itcorporate, leisure,MICE, students, etc.

New Vision


ASSOCIATIONS

With an excellent venue –Vivanta by Taj,

Yashwantpur Bangalore; the61

stannual TAAI Convention

was action-packed with busi-ness sessions, TAAI TravelAwards, the India Travel &Tourism Expo (ITTE) and theTAAI national elections.

Apart from this,Karnataka Tourism alsosigned a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withTAAI to set up a training cen-tre for tourism in Karnataka.RV Deshpande, Minister ofTourism, Government ofKarnataka inaugurated theConvention and the TravelMart. The convention waswell-attended by top-end dig-

nitaries from the KarnatakaTourism department, as well as industry leaders

from every segment of theIndian tourism sector. Duringthe inauguration, Deshpandesaid, “Hardly nine per cent ofthe Indian population isinvolved in the tourism sector,but the kind of potential it has,is tremendous. The tourismsector attracts large invest-ments, foreign exchange andhelps boost the growth of thecountry’s GDP. It is time thatthe country’s state govern-ments and travel associationslike TAAI should join hands tocome together and highlightIndia on the world’s tourismmap. Travel agents have chal-lenges like competition, com-mission, infrastructure, etc; but all of these will phaseout soon.” He added that,

“Agents should now look atother revenue streams andcome forward to promote

domestic tourism. Karnatakatourism will support any initiative taken by TAAI for the betterment of domestic tourism.”

Business sessions like‘The Future is NOW’ had emi-nent speakers like Kapil Kaul,CEO, CAPA and AshwiniKakkar, Past President, TAAI;who handed out innovativebusiness strategies which pro-vided much food for thought tothe attendees. Another busi-ness session which talkedabout the agent-airlines rela-tionship ‘Principal AgencyRelationship – Way Forward’was well-attended and wit-

nessed participation fromevery section of the audienceduring the debate. Followingthe debate, a smooth and inter-esting session on ‘Evolve asWe Grow – How MarketRelevant Are We?’ received afull hall attendance. Walked byAjit Kaikini, Director –Corporate Training, Buoyanceeand Raja Natesan, President& CEO, Gateway IT & TravelSolutions successfully grabbedthe show by bringing someexciting out-of-the-box ideas tothe table. Overall, the conven-tion proved to be an excellentplatform for delegates to learnnew and start anew with theNew Year!

The annual TAAI Convention at Bengaluru proved to be an excellentplatform for exchanging business strategies and meeting the who’s whoof the Indian travel and tourism industry. Overall, it was a perfect mix ofbusiness and fun@TAAI-2013.

A collaborative effort at TAAI 2013

AN I TA JA I N F R O M BE N GA LU R U

The country’s state governmentsand travel associations like TAAIshould join hands to come togetherand highlight India on the world’s tourism map

RV DeshpandeMinister of Tourism, Government of Karnataka

Retaining and adding moremembers is an important

objective of TAAI. Thus,Harmandeep Singh Anand,General Secretary, TAAI hasspent the first week working onupdating the member database.

Interestingly, Anand is infavour of seeing TAAI as amore active organisation in theform of a corporate body.Urging the members to beinvolved in the association’sworking, he said, “Membersshould wake up and bring achange in their association. Weneed to change it into a corpo-rate body, by appointing a CEO

to run it for liaisoning with thegovernment, airlines and sup-pliers. We have a big agendato help members overcomeproblems and to get more revenue. I would love TAAI to

be an ideal association, for itsmembers and by its members.”

Anand said that the travelindustry has faced a toughyear due to the commissionissue in the aviation sector,along with the drop in the valueof the Indian rupee. “Servicetax and commission are two ofthe most burning issues for theindustry right now. Going for-ward, TAAI needs to educate

its members and show themnew ways to earn revenues,and in particular, promote theairlines and products that areagent-friendly. Airlines that givecommissions should beencouraged as preferred part-ners. Domestic air ticketing hasbeen the bread and butter formajority of our agents. So thetravel agent has to innovateand promote domestic tourismas well,” he added.

One week in office as the new secretary, Harmandeep Singh Anand speaks to about the new initiatives and challenges ahead for TravelAgents Association of India.

A more proactive TAAI is needed

ME G H A PAU L

Harmandeep Singh AnandGeneral Secretary TAAI

We need to change it into acorporate body, by appointing aCEO to run it for liaisoning with thegovernment, airlines and suppliers



TAAI: 61 yrs of working for travel agents

The 61st annual TAAI Convention was well-attended by top-end dignitariesfrom the Karnataka Tourism department, as well as industry leaders fromevery segment of the Indian tourism sector. The business sessions hademinent speakers who handed out innovative strategies, providing muchfood for thought to the attendees.


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

A time for honouring the TAAI stars



TAAI networking, with a smile


“The idea behind organis-ing this workshop was to

educate travel agents inBengaluru about LAN and TAMproducts and services to SouthAmerica; how they can sellfrom India and how they canuse our flexible and attractive

air-passes,” said NayanSrivastava, Sr. Sales &Marketing Manager, India,Interglobe - GSA India forLATAM Airlines Group.

Held in Bengaluru forthe first time, the workshophas been previously held in Delhi and Mumbai for over

a year. “The response fromthe agents was very encour-aging in Delhi and Mumbai. Since the responsewas so good, we extendedthis workshop to South Indiaas well. If the response fromBengaluru continues to begood, then we may organiseworkshops in Chennai and

Hyderabad as well.” InBengaluru, the target audi-ence was mostly corporateagents, and a few MICE andleisure travel agents too. Theairline does not offer anycommission to the agents; butfor large groups (be it leisureor MICE), the airline offersspecial prices.

So far, the SouthAmerican market has not beenable to capture the IndianMICE market yet. “The situa-tion is not too good at themoment, but this year we sawtwo large MICE movements toSouth America. Such MICEmovements visit Rio deJaneiro, Iguasu Falls majorly,

and sometimes they couple itwith Argentina as well.”

Srivastava furtheradded, “From India to Europe,you can use our partner air-lines, and then from Europeonward, there is a direct flightto South America. The focuswas to educate the agents

about the product, how to pro-mote LAN and TAM fromIndia, which is an essentialfactor since the airline doesnot fly into India.”

LATAM Airlines Group held a workshop for travel agents in Bengaluru on November 15, 2013. The workshopconstituted a 2-hour presentation, followed by dinner, and it saw over 70 agents in attendance.

LATAM workshop for Bengaluru agentsTT BU R E AU

AVIATION3 4 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

If the responsefrom Bengalurucontinues to be good, thenwe mayorganise workshops inChennai and Hyderabadas well

Nayan Srivastava Sr. Sales & Marketing Manager, India, Interglobe- GSA India for LATAM Airlines Group

As per the Ministry ofTourism, the 2nd TourismSatellite Account (TSA) ofIndia–2009-10 and subse-quent estimation, the con-tribution of tourism in totalemployment of the countryduring 2009-10, 2010-11and 2011-12 increased from10.2 per cent, 10.8 per centand 11.5 per cent, respec-tively. The PlanningCommission has recognisedthat Tourism sector will bea main contributor toemployment creation in the12th Plan Period.

Tourism’s contribution to national employment up to 11.5%


Trafalgar, part of The TravelCorporation, has rolled out

special incentives for its traveltrade partners in India.Elaborating on its strategicintent, Nicholas Lim,President, Asia, Trafalgar, said,“We announced additional 10per cent commission to its

Indian partners, who wouldwork with them. It’s to tap moreoutbound business in the pres-ent year-end season. Trafalgaroffers 10 per cent commissionto its travel associates and theadditional 10 per cent remu-neration will be valid till Feb2014. We’ve done exhaustiveresearch over the past fewyears, both on-site and byword-of-mouth, to make surethat we’re offering Europe’smost incredible and authentic

travel experiences for our trav-els partners guests.”

“In our 2014 Europe &Britain programme, we haveput on 44 diverse regions withtheir choice of 104 enhanceditineraries, enabling our travelagent partners sell their guests

the most iconic sites as well asthe less travelled places. Ourmajor focus is on tapping highend market with 317 exclusiveInsider European experiences,52 ‘Be My Guest’ dining expe-riences that are not found inguidebooks. It’s not enough forus to take our guests to the typ-

ical spots around Europe –through our unique Insiderexperiences, like touringBelfast with a local cabbie andsharing canapés with balleri-nas in St.Petersburg, we pro-vide them with the opportuni-ties to weave their own travelstories," he added.

Trafalgar relies most onthe strength of B2B distributionand plans to leverage thesame route here in India. “99per cent of our business comesfrom travel trade partners allover the world, including India.In fact, we had registeredstrong growth in the past year

that saw us double our vol-umes in India. In fact, we arescaling up our presence inIndia. On the emergingtrends, East Europe, SouthAmerica has been seeingmuch higher interests amongtravellers and growth as well,”said Lim.

Trafalgar attempts to entice travel agents in India with an offer to earn as much as 20 per cent remuneration onits offerings. They offer over 44 diverse regions with their choice of 104 enhanced itineraries.

Trafalgar offers 20% commission TT BU R E AU

AGENTS J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 3 7

Trafalgar offers 10 per centcommission to itstravel associatesand the additional 10 per centremuneration willbe valid till Feb2014

Nicholas LimPresidentAsia, Trafalgar

The Incredible Indialogo, which was originallyintended for the Ministry of Tourism, is now beingused by five ministries, viz Ministry of Tourism, I&B Ministry, CultureMinistry, Ministry Of HomeAffairs and External Affairs Ministry.

Incredible India logoadopted by five ministries


Carzonrent has become thefirst organised Indian play-

er to launch a self-drive brandnamed Myles that will cater tothe requirement of self-driveservice across India.

As per Rajiv K Vij,Managing Director, CarzonrentIndia, “The time has come for

the self drive segment to flour-ish. We see a strong potentialin this segment. Hence, wehave launched Myles, our self-drive brand. It has started in 10metropolis cities with 100 cars.We will pump in ` 400 croreover next three years to build afleet of over 5,000 cars.”

“There are inherent benefits of using a self drivevehicle for domestic tourists.They get additional privacy,save ` 1000 at least every day on driver and haveenhanced freedom to roamaround in vehicle of theirchoice,” he added.

In fact, Myles also hasgood news for travel agents.Especially, those travel agentswho want to make remunera-tion out of tourist transport seg-ment. They can now earnhandsome commission, oreven talk detailed businessrelationships. “We are keen to

use our travel trade network.We offer 10 per cent commis-sion to the travel agents to actas our extensions. In the pres-ent scenario, travel agencieshad been facing stiff pressureson margins and this newavenue will help them steadytheir top-line,” said Vij.

“We are also keen toenter into a franchise agree-ment with strategic travel busi-ness partners. We would havea more elaborate remunerationstructure for such partners thatcan be used as pick and droppoint for our Myles brand at keypoints,” he added.

Carzonrent recently launched self-drive brand Myles, offering 10 per cent commission to travel agents in addition toa new business association opportunity. reports…

Offering agents self-drive businessTT BU R E AU

NEWS J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 3 9

We are keen touse our traveltrade network.We offer 10 per centcommission to the travelagents to act as ourextended arms

Rajiv K VijManaging DirectorCarzonrent India

Etihad Airways recentlyannounced its decision tolaunch a daily servicefrom Abu Dhabi to Jaipur.The new flights, whichwill commence from April1, 2014, brings the totalnumber of Indian citiesserved by Etihad Airwaysto 10. The existing routesinclude Ahmedabad,Bengaluru, Chennai,Hyderabad, Kochi,Kozhikode, Mumbai, New Delhi andThiruvananthapuram.The airways will operatethe daily service to Jaipur with Airbus-A320aircraft in a two-classconfiguration.

Etihad to operate dailyAbu Dhabi-Jaipur service



10 years of Turkish Airlines in India

Turkish Airlines celebrated the completion of 10 successful years of its operations in India recently in Delhi. The event was attendedby prominent people from the travel trade. Standing for ‘Widen Your World’, the airline has been operating in India since 2003 andhas achieved major milestones since then.


NEWS4 2 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

New Year, New Venue, More BusinessOne of the major consolidators of air tickets in Western India, Blue Star Air Travel Services (I) has opened anew state-of-the-art centralised office in the heart of Mumbai in the upcoming business hub ElphinstoneRoad. They have added models to their business in the form of B2B-friendly web portal and even franchisedistribution which have already started performing well.

“India is an ideal tourism mar-ket for us as it gives us busi-

ness during our low season,”says Antoine Burnet,Marketing and CommunicationsDirector, Compagnie du Mont Blanc.

The company, whichappointed representation inIndia in 2011, has recordedexcellent response from thismarket and is aiming at furtherenhancing the market focus. Itis focussing on Indians travel-ling to France, Switzerland andEurope, who are keen toexplore the Alps and the moun-taineous region of the conti-

nent. It would also add moreattractions to the region toimprove the overnights fromthis market and build morerepeat travellers’ base. Forinstance, it has recentlyunveiled the newest attraction– SKY WALK ‘Pas dans le

Vide’. With this, travellers canexperience ‘walking’ throughthe sky at an altitude of 3,842metres and view the MontBlanc range.

On the new attraction,Burnet said, “With India being

one of our key Asian markets,we are very keen to pre-announce the launch of thesame, and we certainly hopethat this will give Indian trav-ellers yet another reason tocome visit us in our beautifulvalley of Chamonix.” He said,“By working closely with Indiantravel trade, we aim to furtherenhance their destinationknowledge and awareness.”

Currently, Mont Blancreceives close to 6,000 groupsand 1,000 FITs from India withan average of one night stay.With enhanced marketingactivities and business strategyfor 2014, it is aiming to wel-come about 10,000-12,000Indians in few years and alsoencourage overnights to threeon an average. “As per our lat-est research in major Indianmetros, we are the third mostpopular destination after Parisand Nice for FIT travellers ontravel agent’s itinerary.” It willcontinue to organise FAMs andoffline training programmes forthe travel trade.

The company aims at attracting well-travelled Indiantourists. It also plans to work closely with the trade.

Strategic focus on India

AN I TA JA I N

Antoine Burnet Marketing and Communications DirectorCompagnie du Mont Blanc

Mumbai-based Iris Reps isall geared up to enhance

its market share and marketvalue of Reunion Island in theIndian market this year.Currently, the company has adiversified portfolio of resorts,tourism boards and DMCs. Toenhance the brand positioningof various brands, the companywill be participating in variousroadshows, B2B platforms, trav-el trade fairs and also organisefam trips for agents in 2014.

Alefiya Singh, Director, IrisReps, said, “

The year 2014looks positive, butit still dependslargely on theupcoming election results,the Budget, stockmarket trends andlastly, on the valuation of theIndian rupee.

Our expectation is toincrease our market share andmarket value in the Indian mar-ket. In general, however themarket reacts; we will befocussed to showcase ReunionIsland as must-see destinationsfor Indian traveller.”

Talking about the plansfor this year, she said, “Beingbranded as highly professionalin our field and rendering com-plete satisfaction to all our part-ners, we are expanding care-fully in the upcoming year. Wehave opportunity with some

interesting and challengingtourism boards and resortchains. Once these firm up, wewill keep the market informed.”

However, with the indus-try sentiments being positiveyet cautious about 2014, IrisReps is tapping the rightopportunities to beat chal-lenges like fluctuating Indian currency and electionsright before the Indian peakholiday season.

According to Singh; newairlines, airports, expandingroutes of domestic and international airlines in mini metros and Tier II citiesare great opportunities.

She said, “With new air-lines starting, I see moreopportunities and less chal-lenges. The outbound marketis growing rapidly and there isenough room for improvement.Niche destinations are indemand and we need to tapthe right segment with propermarketing strategies.”

Optimistic about growth in 2014, Iris Reps will tap thetourism potential in mini-metros and Tier-II cities.

Eyeing Tier-II cities in 2014

TT BU R E AU

Alefiya SinghDirectorIris Reps

� Mont Blanc offers morethan just mountainexperience. It offersspa, wine, adventureand much more.

� It aims to welcome10,000-12,000 Indiansin a few years.

New Vision

The International AirTransport Association (IATA)released the IATA AirlineIndustry Forecast 2013-2017, showing that airlinesexpect to see a 31% increasein passenger numbersbetween 2012 and 2017. By2017, total passenger num-bers are expected to rise to3.91 billion—an increase of

930 million passengers overthe 2.98 billion carried in2012.

The IATA AirlineIndustry Forecast 2013-2017is a consensus outlook forsystem-wide passengergrowth. Demand is expectedto expand by an average of5.4% CAGR between 2013and 2017. By comparison,

global passenger growthexpanded by 4.3% CAGRbetween 2008 and 2012,largely reflecting the nega-tive impact of the 2008 glob-al financial crisis and reces-sion. Of the new passengers,approximately 292 millionwill be carried on interna-tional routes and 638 millionon domestic routes.

Airlines expect 31% rise in passengers


HOTELS J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 4 3

In line with InterContinentalHotels Group’s (IHG) expan-

sion strategy to capture thegrowing domestic travellersand widen its reach to newregions, the Holiday InnAmritsar has been launched.Holiday Inn Amritsar isPunjab’s first InterContinentalHotels Group (IHG) property.Launched in July 2013, thehotel has brought a new levelof comfort and style to theholy city. It is also the onlybranded hotel in the city cen-tre in its category.

Talking about the newproperty and the scope of mid-segment hotels, KunalShanker, General Manager,Holiday Inn Amritsar RanjitAvenue says, “The hotel hasbeen recently opened in Julylast year. The city has recentlyexperienced a sudden growthin the full service mid-scalehotels. Thus, Amritsar witness-es around 40-50 per centoccupancy throughout theyear. We certainly want tomake a strong foothold in themarket with our strong interna-tional brand, genuine serviceand authentic food and ourunique Stay Real service cul-

ture. Our objective and focusin the first year of operations isto match the city averageoccupancies.” Regarding themain target clientele at theproperty, he adds, “Amritsar isknown to be a religious desti-

nation, supported byJallianwala Bagh and BeatingRetreat at the Wagha Border.Our main target market will beleisure tourists from India(mainly Delhi NCR, Mumbai)and across the world (US,Canada, UK and Eurpoe, etc.).The other major market seg-ments growing in the city arecorporate conferences, wed-dings and other social groups.”

Giving details of MICEfacilities in the hotel, he elabo-rates, “Our stunning GrandBallroom has been built toaccommodate weddings, cor-porate events, conferencingand combines contemporaryinterior design with smart func-tional technology. The GrandBallroom, pre-function lobbyand banquet lawn togetherallows us to comfortablyaccommodate up to 450guests. Holiday Inn Amritsarhas quickly established a repu-tation for providing the highest-quality food and service in themarket, helping our guests tocreate lasting memories.”

TT BU R E AU

Launched in July 2013, Holiday Inn Amritsar has brought a new level ofcomfort and style to the holy city. digs out details on the property.

Betting big on mid-segment

Our main targetmarket will beleisure touristsfrom India andacross theworld

Kunal ShankerGeneral ManagerHoliday Inn Amritsar Ranjit Avenue

several CCTV screens cover-ing the area where our lug-gage was put which provedthat we had not tucked any ofthe rupees away. In any case,they would not listen and oneby one they opened our lug-gage- suitcases and hand lug-gage. Another Rs 10,000 wasfound in an envelope, whichhad been a very generous andkind gift from a dear cousin-still in the envelope that shehad given, forgotten in myusual ‘India hand bag’. So nowwe were up to Rs 28,500. Thesearch left the searcher ladyembarrassed, since all shefound was chocolates, cheese,cookies, and old clothes.

They would not let us go.They wanted Rs 40,000. Theyinsisted. They said, do whatyou want, you have to turn inRs 40,000. You said you hadRs 40,000. We said we had notcounted, we had estimated infront of them with our walletsopen, in front of them. But noone would listen. They said wehad to produce the total Rs40000 even if we had to con-vert our dollars. So Rajiv wasescorted to the bank counterby the lady officer and he con-

verted our dollars at the lousyand pathetic airport rate andsaid OK, here are the rupees,we want an official receipt.

It took an entire slew ofIndian customs officers almost5 hours to find ledgers, get sig-natures and fill forms to pro-duce a receipt for us. We leftthe airport around 8 am longafter every other passengerwho had been detained wasgone. Don't know how all otherreceipts were made so prompt-ly. Don't know how over 1000passengers who came throughin that time did not have anything that kept them detainedin customs for so long as us,but I do know that there was noIndia Shining moment whenwe finally emerged.

We follow the rules. Wewere willing to give whateverrupees we had, since we didnot know about the rule thatemerged in May 2013. Wewere not happy about this, butwe gave them what we had.They wanted more. They madeus convert dollars to rupeesand took that. Then we askedfor an official receipt, whichtook 5 hours. India Shining?

Kenneth Duke

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Contd. from page 4


For more details, contact:[email protected]

CALENDAR OF TRAVEL EVENTSJANUARY

FEBRUARY NATIONAL3.............. Delhi...................... Fiji Tourism’s Roadshow3-4 Mumbai SATTE Mumbai West4 Mumbai Austrian National Tourist Office’s

Roadshow5 Chennai Austrian National Tourist Office’s

Roadshow5.............. Mumbai................. Fiji Tourism’s Roadshow6 Delhi Austrian National Tourist Office’s

Roadshow7 Bengaluru Fiji Tourism’s Roadshow7-9........... Mumbai ................ Outbound Travel Mart10 Bengaluru Tourism Authority of Thailand’s

Roadshow11 Chennai German National Tourist Office’s

B2B Event11 Kolkata Philippines Tourism B2B Workshop12 Chennai Tourism Authority of Thailand’s

Roadshow13............ Kolkata................... German National Tourist Office’s

B2B Event13-15 Delhi Outbound Travel Mart14 Mumbai German National Tourist Office’s

B2B Event14 Ahmedabad Tourism Authority of Thailand’s

Roadshow17............ Delhi...................... Tourism Malaysia’s Sales Mission18 Chennai Tourism Portugal’s Roadshow19 Bengaluru Tourism Portugal’s Roadshow19 Mumbai Tourism Malaysia’s Sales Mission20 Mumbai Tourism Portugal’s Roadshow21........... Ahmedabad........... Canadian Tourism Commission’s

Workshop

21 Bengaluru Tourism Malaysia’s Sales Mission

24 Chennai Canadian Tourism Commission’sWorkshop

24 Kochi Tourism Malaysia’s Sales Mission

JULY

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

NATIONAL4-6 Kolkata Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF)11-13 Hyderabad Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF)18-20 Bengaluru IITM Bangalore25-27 Chennai IITM Chennai

AUGUSTINTERNATIONAL29-31 Johannesburg Gauteng Getaway Show

NATIONAL3-5 Chennai, India IBTM 5-7 Gurgaon India International Travel Mart 12-14 Mumbai India International Travel Mart

INTERNATIONAL11-13 Ho Chi Minh City International Travel Expo

Vietnam16-19...... Moscow, Russia..... Meetings Industry & Business

Travel RUSSIA

16-19 Moscow, Russia International Trade Fair For Luxury Travel

17-19 Beijing, China China Incentive Business Travel Market (CIBTM)*

22-25...... Mexico.................. International Luxury Market Americas

23 Kiev, Ukraine Luxury Travel Market

23-26 Moscow Hospitality Industry

24-26 Astana, Kazakhstan Astana Leisure*

25............ Birmingham........... Group Leisure & Travel Trade Show

25-28 Tokyo, Japan JATA Tourism Expo Japan

30-Oct 2 Bangkok, Thailand Corporate Travel World Asia-Pacific

NATIONAL3-5 Nagpur Holiday Expo

INTERNATIONAL1-3 Kiev, Ukraine Ukraine Travel Market

7-9........... Tashkent.................Tashkent International Tourism Fair

14-16 Las Vegas IMEX America

15-17 Ukraine Tour Expo

22-23 Paris MAP Pro Le Monde A Paris

24-26.......Montreal, Quebec...International Tourism & Travel Show

29-31 Singapore ITB Asia

INTERNATIONAL3-6 London, World Travel Market*

United Kingdom (WTM)

7-10......... Taipei......................Taipei International Travel Fair8-9 Sydney Work & Travel Expo Sydney12-14 Shanghai FHC China-Retail & Hospitality14-16...... Bremen ................. Reiselust25-27 Barcelona, Spain EIBTM

NATIONAL3-5........... Bengaluru............. Travel & Tourism Fair10-12 Chennai Travel & Tourism Fair13 Chandigarh Queensland Tourism’s B2B workshop14 Delhi Queensland Tourism’s B2B

workshop15............ Chennai.................. Queensland Tourism’s B2B

workshop16 Kolkata Queensland Tourism’s B2B

workshop16-18 Mumbai India International Travel &

Tourism Exhibition17 Mumbai Queensland Tourism’s B2B

workshop17-19 Kochi India International Travel

Mart Cochin17-19.......Kochi..................... India International Travel Mart 20 Kolkata South African Tourism’s B2B

Roadshow21 Delhi South African Tourism’s B2B

Roadshow22 Chennai South African Tourism’s B2B

Roadshow23 Mumbai South African Tourism’s B2B

Roadshow24-26.......Kolkata.................. India International Travel Mart24-26 Nagpur India International Travel Exhibition 27 Delhi Grayline Latin America Roadshow28 Ahmedabad Grayline Latin America Roadshow28 Mumbai Visit Britain’s Trade Mission29-31.......Delhi ...................... SATTE New Delhi29 Bengaluru Grayline Latin America Roadshow30-31 Mumbai Grayline Latin America Roadshow

INTERNATIONAL 22-26 Madrid, FITUR*

Spain

31- Feb 2 Istanbul, Turkey EMITT*

DECEMBERNATIONAL1-2 Delhi Atout France’s B2B Mission3-5 Mumbai Atout France’s B2B Mission

26-Mar 1 Kochi Focus Canada – India

INTERNATIONAL18-19 Melbourne, Asia Pacific Meetings and

Australia Incentive Expo (AIME)

25-26 Johannesburg, South Africa Tourism’ Meetings South Africa Africa

FEBRUARY

February Contd....

20142014

The dates shown on the annual event calendar are subject to change.Please refer to Event Talk in TravTalk to track the changes in dates

MARCH

MAY

NATIONAL14-15 Raipur Indian International Travel Exhibition

(IITE)14-16 Chennai India International Tours & Travels Fair21-23 Guwahati Holiday Expo27-29 Ahmedabad Gujarat Tourism Mart

INTERNATIONAL5-9 Berlin, Germany ITB

17-19 Tokyo, Japan International Luxury Travel Market

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

24-26 Abu Dhabi, UAE GIBTM*

26-28 Kiev, Ukraine UITT*

INTERNATIONAL2-3......... Cape Town...........World Travel Market

Africa

5-8 Dubai, UAE Arabian Travel Market (ATM)*

9-11 Shanghai, China World Travel Fair10-12..... Durban,............... Indaba Expo

South Africa11-13 Stuttgart, German Travel Mart

Germany18-21..... Auckland............. Trenz

New Zealand27-30 Vancouver, Canadian Tourism

Canada Commission’s Rendezvous Canada

29-Jun 1 Seoul, S. Korea Korea World Travel Fair

APRILINTERNATIONAL 3-5 Baku, 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 China Outbound Travel Tourism

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

Latin America*

23-25.......Almaty,................... Kazakhstan International Tourism Kazakhstan Fair (KITF)*

28-30 Cape Town, International Luxury Travel MarketSouth Africa Africa (ILTM Africa)

JUNENATIONAL27-29 Guwahati Travel & Tourism Fair Guwahati

INTERNATIONAL2-5 Shanghai, China International Luxury Travel

Market Asia (ILTMA)* 10-12 Chicago, USA Americas Incentive

Business Travel & Meetings Exhibitions (AIBTM)*

12-15 Hong Kong, International Travel ExpoSAR China

19-21 Dhaka, Bangladesh Bangladesh International Tourism Fair22-24 Zimbabwe Routes Africa Victoria Falls


FAMILY ALBUM

Annual Charity Polo Match

The Jaipur Polo Ground played host to the annual Charity Polo Match organised by Cdr. C P Sharma,President of Neptune Foundation, an NGO committed to the cause of the girl child and the aged. TheChief Guest was Admiral DK Joshi, Chief of Naval Staff and the Guest of Honour was Chalit Manityakul,Ambassador of Thailand, accompanied by his wife. The event was also attended by senior defencepersonnel, bureaucrats, socialites and people from the travel fraternity. Neptune Cup was playedbetween Team Austria and Amazing Thailand.

Celebrating partnership with tradeThree hotels from the IHG portfolio – Crowne Plaza Kathmandu-Soaltee, Holiday Inn Cochin, Kochiand Crowne Plaza Kochi organised a get-together for its travel trade friends in Delhi.


CLIPBOARD J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 4 7


MOVEMENTS4 8 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

PATA BangkokMario Hardy has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officereffective January 15, 2014. Based at PATA HQ in Bangkok, he willsupport CEO Martin Craigs. Hardy has been Chairman of the PATAFoundation since June 2012 and has been atthe forefront of the Foundation’s responseto tropical storm Haiyan in the Philippinessince November 8. An investor, entrepreneurand senior executive with more than 28years of combined leadership, corporatedevelopment and change managementexperience, Hardy was Vice President – AsiaPacific of UBM Aviation (OAG)between 1999 and 2013, withpostings in Singapore,Beijing and London.

The Taj West End, BangaloreBengaluruSomnath Mukherjee has recently joined The Taj West End asGeneral Manager. He has been with The Taj Group of Hotels since1992 and brings with him the expertise andexperience in hospitality industry spanning20 years. Mukherjee’s portfolio includestenure at Taj Bengal – Kolkata, UmaidBhavan Palace, Nadesar Palace, TheGateway Hotel Ganges Varanasi andRambagh Palace. An established pro-fessional, Mukherjee grew up in Kolkataand is an alumnus of IHM, Jamshedpurand TMTC, Pune. He is also a part of theemerging leaders at The Tata’s.

Manish Dayya has joined as the General Manager of the newly-launched Novotel Goa Shrem Resort. Manish comes with 16 years

of experience in hospitality industry. Prior to join-ing Accor in February 2013, Manish was

the General Manager at the Raintree Hotel,Chennai. He also spearheaded the open-ing of The Raintree in Anna Salai with230 rooms. He was also the HotelManager at the Lemon Tree Hotel,Chennai.

Rakshit Talwar has been appointed as the Director of Sales andMarketing, Novotel Goa Shrem Resort. He comes with about 11

years of experience in the hospitality indus-try. Prior to joining Accor India, Rakshitwas the Director of Sales at MarriottResort and Spa in Goa till May 2013.Rakshit’s understanding of the Goamarket is critical to his role as theDirector of Sales and Marketing at

Novotel Goa Shrem Resort.

Shangri-La's - Eros HotelNew Delhi Alok Chakravarty has been appointed as the Director of Salesand Marketing at Shangri-La’s - Eros Hotel, New Delhi. With overtwo decades of rich experience in the hospitality industry, he brings

with him knowledge and skills in diverseareas of both corporate and leisure busi-ness. In his current role, Chakravarty willconceptualise and implement salesstrategies to support the group’s busi-ness and financial objectives.

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, Vivek Sethi & Peden Doma Bhutia

Gopal Rao, Regional VP, Sales & Marketing, South West Asia,IHG, says the New Year is always a time to rest, reflect and

retrospect. “That’s exactly what I plan to do,and am looking forward to spending a fewquality days with family at home inToronto. Given how much we travel,sitting in airplanes or sleeping in hotelrooms (no complaints here as it allows meto spend time with our hotel colleagues)its refreshing to stay grounded for a few

days! Reading is what I enjoy. Mainly non-fiction, and life-inspirational work…Deepak

Chopra, Robin Sharma among myfavourites. And after that wouldhave to be exploring all the culinarydelights of the Big Smoke (asToronto is fondly referred to!)”

Stefan Ionkov, Head of Commercial & Economic Dept, Embassyof the Republic of Bulgaria says he loves to read, watch movies,

spend as much as time as possible with his familyand friends and travel to new destinations

worldwide. “Recently, I became the fatherof a lovely daughter - Teddy - and nowadaysmy entire free time is devoted to her.Otherwise, when I'm in India, I usually liketo go out to meet friends and meet new

people, go to the shopping malls andrestaurants in Delhi and try to practice

sport a little in between.” Whenin Bulgaria, he says he likes totravel a lot as the distancesare not too long and there arefascinating things to do.

Aman Aditya Sachdev, Senior Vice President- India,Rotana, Sachdev is a fitness enthusiast. “In my free time, I

like to work out a lot.” Biking is passion andhe loves to go for a ride wheneverpossible. Kerala and Goa are hisfavourite holiday destinations in thecountry. “I love Goa for the completechilled out and carefree experience itoffers. Kerala with its pristine

undulated backwaters also features inmy top list,” he chuckles.

The SuryaaNew DelhiKuntal Malviya has joined The Suryaa, New Delhi as the QualityAssurance Manager. Malviya comes with a noteworthy experience

of 7 years in hospitality brands like Le Meridienand Sheraton. She is also handing PR &

Marketing of the hotel. Her prime focushas been on implementation of BestPractices, monitoring and reviewingaudit reports and quality analysis ofproperty. She is creating a strategicmarketing communications plan toensure the brand to be promotedas Delhi’s favorite hotel.

Novotel Hyderabad AirportHyderabadJaved Parvez has been appointed as the Director of Sales atNovotel Hyderabad Airport with effect from January 1, 2014. He hasalso been entrusted with the additional responsibility of Marketing

Department of the hotel. He has over 13years experience in sales and marketing.Prior to this, Parvez was the AssociateDirector of Sales at the Ista HotelHyderabad (Pre-Opening), and the sales& marketing manager at the The ParkHotels’ Regional Sales Office,

Hyderabad.

GoAir MumbaiGirish Nair has been appointed as the Chief Commercial Officerof GoAir. Nair brings experience of 18 years in diverse sectorslike media, information technology and aviation. He has beenworking in the aviation sector from the past13 years with focus on brand manage-ment, marketing strategy & businessdevelopment. His last assignment wasas the Assistant Vice President, Headof Marketing and Aviation Contractswith Bangalore International Airpor tLimited (BIAL), where his primary focus was businessdevelopment and formulat-ing marketing strategy forthe airport.

Novotel Goa Shrem ResortGoa

Roombookpro.comNew DelhiRam Gopal Singh has been appointed as the General Manager- Sales (North India) of Roombookpro.com (online B2B hotel bookingengine). He has been a part of the airline/travel industry for over 30

years. In his new role, Singh will be leadingthe Sales & Operation Teams and will beresponsible for Sales & Services of keyaccounts and develop new business forRoombookpro.com in North India.


HIGHLIGHT

Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 15th-16th

of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91Date of Publication:30-12-2013

On December 18, Muthyannounced the launch of

the new flights. “We are provid-ing more options for travellersfrom India to go to Malaysiaand Indonesia, on Malindo Air,with connectivity to destina-tions like Bali, Penang,Langkawi, Bangkok andJakarta. And we will also helpbring more passengers toIndia. It is a win-win situation,”said Muthy.

The airline started itsoperations on March 22, 2013,and is a hybrid airline based atKuala Lumpur InternationalAirport. “As a new airline in theaviation market with ninemonths of operation record,we have clocked over 70 percent load factor and 87 percent On Time Performance(OTP), and have carried over800,000 passengers. In India,we are aiming at the tourist

market segment, corporatebusinesses and are attractingfamilies and students,” headded. The airline is a jointventure between NationalAerospace and DefenceIndustries (NADI) of Malaysia

which owns 51 per cent share while the remaining

49 per cent stake is of Lion Air of Indonesia.

Regarding travel agents,Muthy revealed, “We have gota good support from travelagents. We also give commis-

sions to all travelagents that sellMalindo Air tickets.We are starting at 3per cent commission

and are also providing incen-tives worth 2-3 per cent; thus,totalling near 6 per cent.”

With this year being the‘Visit Malaysia Year 2014’, boththe Airline and the Malay gov-ernment are expecting toattract more number of Indianarrivals. “We are expecting atleast 200,000 – 250,000 Indianpassengers to travel toMalaysia next year, usingMalindo Air, to support VisitMalaysia Year 2014.”

This inaugural flight willbe followed by flights fromTrichy to Kuala Lumpur, com-mencing January 2, 2014; theAhmedabad-Kuala Lumpurflights will start from January27, followed by Mumbai-KualaLumpur flights from February15, 2014. Since a large number of Malaysia’s Indianpopulation is from Trichy and surrounding region, the Airline hopes to witness an

encouraging passengergrowth from this region.

With increasing competi-tion gearing up in the Indianaviation market, Muthy saidthat a good product will beatother offers. “We have brandnew aircraft, a range of in-flightentertainment, bigger legroom, excess luggageallowance in business class

worth 20 kg, and you arriveinto an international terminal. I believe the Indian market will love this product,” Muthystated firmly.

The Airline is offeringspecial introductory rates, andreturn fares will start from` 19,900 all-inclusive fromDelhi and Mumbai to KualaLumpur, and ` 10,000 all-inclusive from Trichy to KualaLumpur.

We have got good support fromtravel agents. We also givecommissions to all travel agentsthat sell Malindo Air tickets. We arestarting at 3 per cent commissionand also provide incentives worth2-3%; thus, totalling near 6%

Malindo Air in India market

New Flights� The inaugural flight will

be followed by flightsfrom Trichy to KualaLumpur, commencingJanuary 2, 2014

� The Ahmedabad-KualaLumpur flights will startfrom January 27,followed by Mumbai-Kuala Lumpur flightsfrom February 15, 2014

Chandran Rama MuthyCEO, Malindo Air

Malindo Air recently announced the launch of its first scheduled commercialDelhi-Kuala Lumpur flight from Dec 30, 2013. talks to Chandran RamaMuthy, CEO, Malindo Air to know more about the airline’s plans.

RA M YA JS D ’RO Z A R I O

I’m very excited about the arrival of MalindoAir in India, we don't have enough airlines

for this sector. This will give tourists more opportunity to travel.As of now, I was told that for their first week of operation, theMalindo Air seats are already fully booked. This shows howimportant the Indian sector is for us. The Indian sector is veryvery important and we are also linked very strongly as the 2countries are connected historically as well as socially.Malaysia is a known top-spot destination and we hope that thecoming of Malindo Air will give us extra seats and hopefullythis will boost the number of Indian travellers visiting Malaysia.

We want to attract more peo-ple to come to Malaysia andwith this in mind, we arelooking to create new prod-ucts specifically to cater tothe Indian market. Theseproducts will be beyond theusual, things that are notvery common and are moreniche. For this, we needmore airlines to come in toassist people to come toMalaysia

Datuk Naimun AshakliMohammadHigh Commissioner, Malaysia

TopTalk:

(Inputs from Peden Duma Bhutia)


Travtalk January 1st Issue

Documents

Transcript of Travtalk January 1st Issue