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Vol. XXVII Issue 2; January 2nd fortnight i ssue 2015 A DDP PUBLICATION Pages : 56

13-01-15FINAL_JANUARY-2ND:TT Layout 1/19/2015 10:33 AM

This is great news. The new govern-ment is giving emphasis to tourism.Now is the right time to apply a syner-gistic approach to tourism, we need tohave a single vision where all depart-ments should work towards a commonobjective. The state governmentsshould all be onboard. Hygiene is alsoimportant and campaigns like theSwachh Bharat Abhiyan should help.

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JANUARY 2ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2015 TRAVTALK 3

In a path-breaking initiative,Dr Mahesh Sharma, Ministerof State with Independent

Charge for Tourism & Cultureand Minister for Civil Aviation,Government of India has recent-ly launched the 24-hour TouristInfoline service. The bi-lingualhelpline number 1800-111-363will be available in English andHindi currently. Giving moreinformation about the develop-

ment, he said, “There was aneed for the all-India helpline

number and the ministry waskeen to provide the same in the

backdrop of harassment andfleecing of tourists at the hands

of touts and other unscrupulouselements. The helpline serviceis being operational in two lan-guages Hindi and English tobegin with. Going forward, theservice will be available in 12other foreign languages, includ-ing Russian, German, Frenchand Spanish.” Dr Sharma wasspeaking after announcing aslew of initiatives related to theUnion Ministries of Tourism andCulture in Delhi as part of the

The Ministry attempts to re-launch itself on Good Governance Day. It has launched an e-portalof the Culture Ministry—Swacch Bharat - Swacch Smarak; Welcome Cards for foreign tourists;Incredible India Infoline Service; E-ticketing for Taj Mahal and Humayun’s Tomb, etc.

Heralding a tourism revolution

MEGHA PAUL

L to R– Usha Sharma, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Dr Lalit K Panwar, Secretary - Tourism, Government of India; Dr MaheshSharma; Ravindra Singh, Secretary - Culture, Government of India; and Dr Rakesh Tewari, Director General, ASI releasing the Welcome Cards

Contd. on page 26

Hurray! 7.46mn FTAs in 2014Forget 7 million, the FTAs in 2014 have now reached 7.46 million. speaks to the present Tourism Secretaryand his predecessors about their thoughts on where tourism is now headed.

We are very happy with inbound figurestouching the 7.46 million mark. Ever sinceits launch on November 27, 2014, morethan 26,000 ETAs have been processedtill the first week of January. And if theresponse continues, we expect the for-eign tourist arrivals to double in the nextthree years. This is a great impetus fortourism and the Prime Minister in hisspeech at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divashas again talked about tourism.

Indian tourism has finally acquired themomentum where every two years youcan expect an additional 1 million for-eign tourists, and with a gamechangerlike the eVisa, the growth will only befaster. If things remain the same andthere are no untoward incidents, Iexpect the FTA to go up to 8 million in

2015. The 7.46 million figure that we haveright now is provisional, once the real figures come out byMarch 2015, I expect this number to be around 7.5 million.

Dr Lalit K PanwarSecretaryMinistry of TourismGovt of India

Parvez DewanFormer SecretaryMOT

RH KhwajaFormer Secretary MOT

BY PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

India ispoised toreceive1.1bntourists in 3 yearsDr Mahesh Sharma

Minister of State forTourism (I/C)

For complete story, please read pg. 8

22k visas after ETAFor complete story, please read pg. 29


BULLETIN

Identifying areas of conver-gence between tourism and

culture, the Ministry of Culture,Government of India is lookingat taking its Festivals of Indiaprogramme to more overseasdestinations this year.

According to RavindraSingh, Secretary-Culture,Government of India, thedepartment will organise simi-lar shows in Malaysia,Indonesia and Myanmar in thenext leg after its huge impactin ASEAN countries such asLaos, Cambodia, Thailand,Vietnam, Singapore, Chinaand Japan. Regarding thenumber of cities to be coveredthis year, he replied, “We haveearlier covered as many as 22cities in some countries aswell. Thus, the number of citiesto be covered in each country

will be determined by the sizeof the country.”

Taking a cue fromSwachh Bharat, the Ministry ofCulture has also now launchedits Swacch Bharat Swacch

Smarak initiative for pro-tecting and preserving thesanctity of monuments ofnational heritage. Singh who

was speaking at the GoodGovernance Day celebrationsorganised by the UnionMinistries of Tourism andCulture in Delhi also empha-sised on the need to promoteimportant museums as tourist

destinations by integrating theactivities of both departments.The Ministry also launched ane-booking portal for Taj Mahal

and Humayun’s Tomb.Regarding the new initiative, herevealed, “There are around100 ticketed monuments in thecountry. All the ticketed monuments will be broughtunder the e-booking system by April 2015.”

Another programmecalled the ‘Adarsh Smarak’ pro-gramme will also be implement-ed on a public-private partner-ship mode, Singh said. “TheMinistry of Culture plans to ropein corporate entities for this pro-gramme under CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR) ini-tiatives. We want to involve allstakeholders, including touroperators, tourist guides, transport operators, etc., for this programme,” he added. TheMinistry of Culture has identified25 monuments in the country tobe elevated as ‘adarsh’ (model) monuments.

The Ministry of Culture will organise similar shows in Malaysia, Indonesiaand Myanmar in the next leg after its huge impact in ASEAN countries,says Ravindra Singh, Secretary-Culture, Government of India.

‘Festivals of India’ beyond ASEAN

ME G H A PAU L

There are around 100 ticketed monuments in thecountry. All the ticketedmonuments will be broughtunder the e-booking

system by April 2015

Ravindra SinghSecretary-Culture

Government of India


INBOUND

VIEWPOINT

Exceeding expections

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Thanks to the eVoA; we arelooking at more internationaltourist arrivals. We predict 15per cent growth in inbound.This will help India achieveone per cent of the share ofglobal tourism. Due toenhanced air connectivity,more airlines are also expect-

ed to come forward, with India as their hub in Asia. Indiawill be the choicest destination for MICE, Medical, andSpiritual Tourism. All this will mean big business for thetravel agents, tour operators and hotel players.

Subhash GoyalChairman, STIC Travel Group

With 0.7 per cent share ofworld tourism, our countryranks 10th in internationalinbound in Asia. Going for-ward, we need to removeroadblocks at policy level. Weneed to revisit policy to eradi-cate double taxation andensure GST gets the much-

deserved level-playing field. We also have to removethe perception of India as an ‘unsafe’ destination by sen-sitising the stakeholders.

Nakul AnandExecutive Director, ITC

With the ETA, we only seehappy times for the inboundmarket. The inbound frommany of our conventionalmarkets, especially the USwill grow tremendously.However, there has been asharp decline in Russiantourists due to steep fall inrouble and the Ukraine crisis. Offbeat destinations likeNorth East will see better growth than previous yearsand so will specialised luxury and wedding segments.

Dipak DevaCEO- Destination Management, India & South Asia,

Kuoni Destination Management

Our internal research andanalysis teams reveal that2015 is expected to witnessimmense scope of growthacross MICE, inbound, out-bound as well as domestictravel. The recent increase inhotel inventory at tourist loca-tions certainly is an encour-

aging initiative. We consider this to be a positive devel-opment as this will lead to rate correction at tourist loca-tions and spur demand from the inbound market.

Prashant NarayanCOO and Head-Leisure Travel Inbound Business,

Thomas Cook India

New visa regime (ETA) is abig game changer for India asa travel destination. I believethat India need not have waittill 2020 to see the internation-al inbound double. It wouldhappen in the next couple ofyears. As we predict anincreased demand for hotels,

we are looking at opening 10 to 12 new hotels in 2015.We will bring in our luxury brands like St Regis and Winto India soon. We also see tremendous opportunitiesin conversion space this year.

Dilip PuriManaging Director-India, Starwood Hotels & Resorts

eVisas has been the high point for the Tourism Ministry in 2014. Going forward,the ministry has launched welcome cards for foreign visitors and operationaliseda long-awaited tourist helpline. speaks to industry stalwarts to understandhow this will boost inbound tourism this year.

Inbound has been a challenge till now. However, with the government’s new initiative of theeVoA, things will be back on track soon. Also, this is in time for the peak tourist season. Thenew e-visa system will prevent line-ups in front of the visa desks at airports, reduce theworkload of staff working at airports, save time for staff at Indian consulates and embassies,provide easier visa facilitation for foreigners that visit India for tourism and business purposesand increase the number of the visitors as well as tourism and foreign trade revenue.

Jyotsna SuriFICCI, President

MEGHA PAUL

Leap forward for inbound tourism

Contd. on page 8

Luxury travel is on the rise frommarkets such as the US andFar East. Experience, which isauthentic, is one of the keydrivers for travel and this trendwill only grow stronger thisyear. An important develop-ment is the entry of AirAsia andTata-SIA Airlines in the domes-tic skies. Also, the introductionof ETA by government has removed bottlenecks for foreignvisitors. We can expect more customers opting for expe-riential holidays as this is the new trend.

Vikram MadhokManaging Director, Abercrombie & Kent India

For those who have been hankering for themagic figure of 7 million, we have

news - the Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) inIndia for 2014 have gone up to 7.46 million.Yes, that is the number of foreign tourists thatwe have received in the last one year. Andthis is just the provisional figure, when theactual figure is out in March 2015, we expectit to cross the 7.5million mark. Anachievement indeed for the industry! Andnow with the government having opened upeVisa facilities to nationals of 43 countries,we expect that this figure will only go up,every year. Add to that we have news comingin that ever since its launch on November 27,2014, more than 26,000 ETAs have beenprocessed till the first week of January. Theindustry is buoyant about this newdevelopment and we can’t wait to see howeVisas will change the face of the Indiantourism industry.

On Good Governance Day, the Ministryof Tourism vowed to revolutionise tourismand boost the industry by focusing mainly oncleanliness, hospitality and safety. WelcomeCards for foreign tourists; a 24-hour TouristInfoline service in English and Hindi; E-ticketing for Taj Mahal and Humayun’s Tomb,etc are some of the driving forces that havebeen launched to work towards betteringtourism facilities and welcoming more foreigntourists to our country.

However, while everyone is so buoyantabout the development of tourism in Indiathere are a few issues that still continue torankle tourists, safety being the mostimportant one. Only if we pay due attentionto the safety and security of our tourists, willthey feel comfortable enough to visit variousparts of the country. The volume of singlewomen travellers is only growing in numberand if we are able to tap this segment andensure their safety and security, we willsurely become a favourite.

At a time when everything seems to begoing in favour for Indian tourism, we needto make sure that safety and security oftourists is ensured.

Are we ready for this challenge? If theanswer is yes, then there’s no way anyonecan stop us from being the Incredible Indiathat we are!


The WTM Africa HostedBuyer Programme guaran-

tees the attendance of top-leveldecision makers to the eventby providing their flights,accommodation and transfers.In return, Hosted Buyers com-mit to attend pre-scheduledappointments with exhibitors oftheir choice at WTM Arica,which will be held at CapeTown International ConventionCentre (CTICC) from April 15- 17, 2015.

The Hosted BuyerProgramme enables buyers tomaximise their time at WTM Africa and engage in asmany business discussions aspossible during the three daysof the show. As a hosted

Buyer at WTM Africa, you will benefit from; a person-alised diary of appointmentswith exhibitors of your choice,complimentary flights, trans-fers and accommodation,exclusive formal and informalnetworking opportunities,access to the VIP lounge andexclusive pre/post WTM Africa tours.

In 2014, WTM Africareceived a phenomenal interestfrom the global travel industrybuyers from; Argentina, Jordan,United States of America, India,France and Canada, amongstothers. Of the Hosted Buyersinterviewed, 95.8% were satis-fied to extremely satisfied and89% are likely to extremely like-ly to attend the 2015 WTMAfrica. Vicky Stirling, Directorof Farside Africa, UK describingthe Hosted Buyers Programmesaid. “WTM Africa was a greatsuccess and everything workedvery smoothly and it was a verygood show’. Whilst BernardBacle from Club Adventure inCanada said, “The show isexcellent! Quality of sellers, theorganisations and services aretop-notch.” WTM Africa HostedBuyer Manager Paulina Lundsays, “We are actively targetingnew buyers for 2015. We have also received a great

response from those register-ing their interest to be qualifiedas a buyer for 2015. It’s encour-aging to see that there are

key industry players interested in applying,from not only our tradition-al source markets but also from many Africancountries. With the WTMAfrica vision in mind, we

are confident that we can present a wide variety of buyersto our exhibitors for next year’s event.”

World Travel Market Africa’s (WTM Africa) world-renowned Hosted Buyer Programme offers a unique opportunityfor key qualified, travel industry buyers with direct purchasing power to attend WTM Africa. It enables buyers tomaximise their time at WTM Africa and engage in as many business discussions as possible.

More meetings at WTM Africa this year

TT BU R E AU

J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 7EXHIBITIONS

WTM Africa 2015 has been expanded to a three-day event, following the hugely successful inauguralshow. WTM Africa launched in spring 2014 as a two-day event in Cape Town and immediately establisheditself as the leading B2B tourism event in Africa. The inaugural event saw almost 4,000 industry professionalsnegotiate deals worth $314 million (£189 million). Following the success of WTM Africa 2014 – and in responseto demand among exhibitors and visitors – the event has been expanded by a full day in to a three-day event.Furthermore, WTM Africa 2015 exhibition floor space will be 50% bigger due to increased interest from bothprivate and public sector companies around the world looking to take part. The 2015 show will again takeplace at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and will run from 15th -17th April

It’s now a 3-day event

Paulina LundHosted Buyer ManagerWTM Africa


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

Weekend trips, corporateteam-building trips, incen-tives, conferences and annualconventions will facilitate thegrowth in domestic tourism.The trend towards more FITsand ad-hoc groups will con-tinue. We will also seeimmense growth from the

inbound segment, with the new introduction of theonline visas. There has been an increase in room inven-tory with a number of international hotel chains andbrands entering the country as well.

Sunil C GuptaDirector, Travel Bureau

Win for inboundContd. from page 6

Tourism continues tobe one of the most

important socio-economicactivities globally and it isvery relevant for India’seconomy as well. Aninvestment of `10 lakhgenerates 18 jobs in agri-culture, 45 jobs in manu-facturing and 78 jobs inthe tourism sector hencetourism plays an impor-tant component in thesocio-economic developmentof the country.

Dr. Mahesh Sharma,Minister of State for Tourism,

Culture and Civil Aviation saysthat India is poised to receiveone per cent of global tourists inthree years. Discussing this at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Dr. Sharma says, “Presently,India receives about 7 millionforeign tourists annually and thetarget is to get one per centshare of the global touristarrivals which is around 1.1 billion in three years. The Union Government introducedElectronic Travel Authorization(ETA) for 43 countries on 27thNovember, 2014, looking at theprogress of this.” Dr. Sharmaadds, “In the last five weeks, the

total number of visasissued online hascrossed the figure of22,179. These 43 coun-tries covered about 42per cent of the sourcemarket for Indian Tourismat the world level andMinistry of Home Affairshas been requested toinclude China, UK,France, Germany, Spainand Italy also in this list ofETA countries. These countries would bring in

20 per cent of world tourismmarket for India.”

Presently India receives about 7 million foreign tourists annually and the targetis to get one per cent share of the global tourist arrivals which is around 1.1billion in three years, says Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism.

‘India poised to get 1.1bn tourists’

TT BU R E AU

In the last five weeks, the total number of visas issued online has

crossed the figure of 22,179.These 43 countries coveredabout 42 per cent of thesource market for

Indian TourismDr. Mahesh Sharma

Minister of State for Tourism (I/C)

With the recent clearance ofeVoA, we understand theimportance of tourism as astrong revenue generator forthe country. Goa, over theyears, has emerged as atourist hotspot, for Indian aswell as foreign tourists . Thecheerful and friendly natureof Goans has cemented Goa’s position as a top touristdestination. Goa has many other things, and our planfor 2015 is to draw the attention of the world to all thatGoa has to offer.

Ameya AbhyankarDirector, Department of Tourism-Goa

� In the last five weeks, thetotal number of visas issuedonline has crossed thefigure of 22,179

� Ministry of Home Affairshas been requested toinclude China, UK, France,Germany, Spain and Italy also in this list of ETA countries

Smashing Records


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

The ‘Land of Creation’ willsoon bear witness to the

birth of many ideas in the mindsof the Travel Agents Federationof India (TAFI) members. Withits theme of ‘The Challenge ofChange’, the convention hasplanned about six businesssessions that will deliberate onwhat travel agents must do tomake the transition to the nextlevel. Speaking about thetheme, Zakkir Ahmed,President, TAFI, said, “Wechose this topic for this yearbecause the industry is goingthrough a change at themoment. It has become very

dynamic, which is not alwayseasy to adapt for everyone. Wehave therefore arranged forinternational speakers (apartfrom Indian speakers) who willbe able to give the memberstheir side of the story – a per-spective on what is happeningin other markets.”

Pradip Lulla, the associ-ation's National General

Secretary, who is also part of the TAFI ConventionCommittee, said, “Our mem-bers are currently feeling verydemotivated because of themarket situation and they have

realised that they will need tomake a few changes and dealwith the challenges that comewith it. The business sessionsthat we have planned are inkeeping with this idea.”

Technology, Ahmedrevealed, will be the main underlying subject. “As we allknow, Israel is big on IT and we will probably have someonefrom Israel speaking on it,” he said.

Lulla added that so farthe convention committee hasnot finalised the businesssessions or the speakers. “As always, we will have aguest of honour for the open-ing ceremony. We also plan toinvite a good motivationalspeaker who can give theattending delegation a per-spective and inspire them tothink out of the box and comeback with energy and enthu-siasm,” he said.

One of the sessions, headded, will possibly be on safetyand security “but nothing hasbeen firmed up yet.” TheManaging Committee will alsotake this opportunity to decidethe associations’ focus areas for2015. When asked why theassociation had chosenJerusalem as the destination forits convention, Lulla said, “Israelis much more than a pilgrimagedestination; it has a lot of culture,wellness as well as great MICEfacilities. Apart from this, it is ofspecial importance to agricultur-alists because of their advancedsystems. The people are warmand friendly and it is a safe destination. I don’t see why itcan’t gain popularity amongIndian travellers.”

The main focus of the TAFI Convention this year in Jerusalem will be to lift the spirits of its members toenable them to face the challenges that 2015 will bring with it. To facilitate this, the convention committeeplans to invite a motivational speaker to address the delegation.

Coping with the challenge of change

HA Z E L JA I N

Our membersrealised that theywill need to makea few changesand deal with thechallenges

The Challenge ofChange was chosenas theme becausethe industry is goingthrough a change atthe moment

Zakkir AhmedPresidentTAFI

Pradip LullaNational General SecretaryTAFI

Since December 29, 2014, when the registration for the TAFIJerusalem Convention 2015 opened, it has already registered around100 members, said Zakkir Ahmed, President of TAFI. "Due to limitedseats on flights between India and Israel, we have limited number ofregistrations available for the convention. That is why we urge our mem-bers to sign up at the earliest. We have already registered around 100members in a span of a week. Going by this, we may have to close theregistration before the scheduled date of January 27, 2015."

Seats filling up fast

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and a coalitionof national travel agent associations (The Group) are collaborating ona study to look at options that could benefit travel agents as the New Distribution Capability (NDC) XML standard is considered forimplementation by airlines and technology providers

TAFI, part of coalition to develop NDC study


Targeting technology com-panies that work with the

tourism industry, the section onthe exhibition floor will beexpanded to meet the demandand showcase the new products that are available.Exhibitors already confirmedfor next years’ event include TravelClick, QuadLabsTechnologies, Mystifly, IllusionsOnline and Wooba.

WTM Latin America 2014Exhibitor Sergio Rosarios,Regional Vice President, Latin America & Caribbean,TravelClick commented, “Afterthe launch and success of theTravel Tech Zone at WTM LatinAmerica last year, we arepleased to be back at the showin 2015. We expect the TravelTech Zone will be bigger andbetter and are excited to con-tinue educating Latin Americanhoteliers on how to increasetheir revenue.”

Travel Tech exhibitorGaurav Chiripal, CEO atQuadLabs Technologies said,“QuadLabs is happy to beassociated with WTM LatinAmerica since its inception. Wefind it a perfect platform toreach our target market. Agreat place to interact with theindustry leaders and explorenew opportunities.”

To further strengthen theTravel Tech Zone, a largerfocus will be put on the Travel

Technology seminars takingplace over the three days, withwell known expert speakerslined-up and a dedicatedspace for games, applicationsand live demonstrations whichvisitors and other exhibitors willbe able to take advantage of.

New technologies will bediscussed in the Innovation

Zone where companies willpresent new products andplatforms, explaining itsoperation and affordability.The aim is to educate partic-ipants on the importance oftechnology to the currenttourism market.

The importance of traveltechnology is not only evident

at WTM Latin America. WorldTravel Market which takesplace in London has seen

Travel Technology becomethe fastest growing sectionon the exhibition floor overthe past few years, so muchso, that in 2013 The TravelTech Show at WTM waslaunched. It became its owndedicated event and cur-

rently holds the position as thelargest dedicated travel tech-nology event in the UK.

World Travel MarketLatin America remains strong in its bid to be a business generator forexhibitors, buyers and industry professionals. Thisyear more than $341 millionwas transacted in contractssigned during and after the event. With further growthpredicted for 2015.

After great results in 2014, the third edition of World Travel Market Latin America, incorporating the 43rd BraztoaBusiness Event, will this year devote a much larger area for the growing Travel Tech Zone at the event. It will beorganised from April 22 to 24, 2015 at Expo Center Norte in São Paulo.

A tech boom for 2015@WTM LA

TT BU R E AU

We find WTM LAa perfect platformto reach ourtarget market. Itis a great place to interact with the industryleaders andexplore newopportunities

Gaurav ChiripalCEO QuadLabs Technologies

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


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

Careers in hospitality management are one of the most diverse and dynamic worldwide. What opportunities does adegree-level hospitality education open for graduates? The industry offers exciting career paths all over the world and across prestigious industry leaders. A hospitality degree programme in Switzerland is perhaps, par excellence, the pathway to some of the most elite-level career portfolios in the world.

A glimpse into Swiss hospitality education

What makes Swiss hospitality educationunique for businesses?

Switzerland is the birth-place of classic hospitality edu-cation. Experiential learning isa perfected art amongst hos-pitality institutes in Switzerland,usually accompanied by a rig-orous program of intellectualdevelopment.

Experiential learningdemands that students man-age real kitchens that createhigh-end cuisine, and masterthe art of bespoke service,thus developing an intrinsicability to deliver customer-ori-ented service with both impec-cable aesthetics and precision.More than any other discipline perhaps, Swiss hospitality teaches students to recognise the psychologicalneed of consumers to enjoy an experience, rather thanconduct a transaction. Thenumber of high-net-worth individuals in India is expected to rise by 17.1%

in 2014 to 293, 921 according to the London-based wealth consultancyWealth Insight. This is the sec-ond highest rate of growth inthe world, and will be accom-panied by a commensurategrowth in demand for profes-sionals who can provide thequality experiences that theseconsumers expect.

Experiential learningalso implies professionalinternships and real-life proj-ects within both Swiss-basedand international companies.Through these internships,Swiss hospitality studentsdevelop a raft of soft-skills,such as leadership and inter-cultural fluency, which aretransferable to any sector and

give them a competitive edge over other graduates. By the time they graduate,Swiss-trained studentsalready have an impressiveprofessional resumé.

The reputation Swisshospitality institutes enjoy ispertinently illustrated by thefact that top-tier companies

will conduct regular recruit-ment sessions on the cam-puses of the highest-rankedSwiss hospitality institutes. AtLes Roches InternationalSchool of Hotel Management,for example, at least 50 com-panies visit each semester. Itis not unusual for students tograduate with a dilemma: not,‘will I get a job?’ but rather‘which job offer shall I take?’

These jobs can varydepending on the coursesselected. Some alumni takeup Manager in Training posi-tions in wealth managementfor private banks or estatemanagement. Some willchoose to work in marketingor events for the OlympicGames or World Cup, and stillothers will opt for the traveland tourism sector. This high-lights two important points:prospective students need toselect a Swiss hospitality insti-tute that offers a) businessdegrees; and b) course specializations, to tailor

studies to professional objec-tives. Course specialisationsin Marketing, Finance,Sustainability, Entrepreneur-ship, Event Management and Culinary BusinessManagement open a widerrange of doors than a simple Swiss hospitalitycourse. They maximise thepotential that the training andreputation of a Swiss hospital-ity education offers.

(Sonia Tatar is the CEO of Les RochesInternational School of Hotel

Management worldwide (Switzerland, Spain, China)

Les Roches faculty & students

Contd. on page 14


NEWS

Boeing Dreamliner 787-900 for Delhi route

2015 will bring in excitingtimes for Virgin Atlantic in India.We will start flying one of ourbrand new Boeing Dreamliner787-900 planes to Delhi from

the end of March this year. Thisis a sign of great commitmentto India as we bring out latestaircraft straight into Delhi. Theairline is currently flying one ofthe Airbus A330s to Delhi. Thiswill now be replaced by the

new 787-9s. We are seeinggrowth in the India-US market.The combination of our excel-lent timing and our productsand services is working well forus in Delhi. We are gettingexcellent load factors in ourDelhi route. Going forward, withthe enhanced cabin atmos-

phere owing to the launch ofthe new Dreamliner, our per-formance in the Delhi route isexpected to be boosted further.Thus, even as we trim capacityto the country as part of ouroverall strategy, we will contin-

ue to deliver excellent servicesand build on our success inDelhi that we have achievedover the last 14 years.

Trimming Mumbai routeLast September, we

announced to pull out our flightfrom Mumbai in 2015. We arepulling out from London-Mumbai route from January-end 2015. We were projectinga certain kind of growth fromthe Mumbai route and this didnot happen. High levels ofcapacity combined with stag-nant market growth unfortu-nately impacted our ability tobe profitable and our revenueswere insufficient to offset ourcosts. Additionally, our globalstrategy also changed. The tie-up with Delta offers VirginAtlantic an opportunity toexpand the US network. Thedeal now allows our airline tosell on Delta’s flights beyondLondon to points in the US, aswell as on Delta’s domesticroutes in the US, increasing its revenue possibilities. Thus, trimming the capacityfrom Mumbai is a part of our

overall strategy to shift focusand flights on to the transat-lantic routes.

Commitment to traveltrade

Travel trade is an impor-tant partner for our airline andwe have many long-term part-ners here. In a market like India,agents are our connection pointwith the passengers. We willonly build our relationship withthe travel fraternity further thisyear. We want to make sure that more travel agents areusing the knowledge hub for the travel trade from VirginAtlantic – vsflyinghub.

In an exclusive interview with , Nick Parker- Country Head, India andMiddle East, Virgin Atlantic talks about the British carrier’s plans for theIndia market in 2015. He goes on to talk about the significance of the Delhiroute and relationship with the Indian trade. Excerpts

Delhi route vital for Virgin Atlantic

MEGHA PAUL

The combination of ourexcellent timing and ourproducts and services isworking well for us in Delhi.We are getting excellent loadfactors in our Delhi route.Nick ParkerCountry Head India and Middle East Virgin Atlantic � Virgin Atlantic will start

flying one of its brand newBoeing Dreamliner 787-900planes to Delhi from the end of March

� The tie-up with Delta offersVirgin Atlantic anopportunity to expand theUS network.

New Offerings

Rajgir Mahotsav: A cultural treatn Rajgir Mahotsav, a festivalof dance and music was heldin Rajgir, Bihar, fromDecember 28, 2014 toJanuary 15, 2015. The festi-val was held in the mainhanger stage at Rajgir’s QilaMaidan. It is a flagship pro-gram of the Government ofBihar’s Department ofTourism and Bihar StateTourism DevelopmentCorporation and was organ-ised with the support of Nalanda DistrictAdministration.

Given the popularity andthe increased footfall overthe years, the format of theinternationally acclaimedRajgir Mahosav was extend-

ed from three to 15 days. Itwas further extended twiceat the advice of state tourismminister and on populardemand from visitors andbusiness houses. To assisttourists during the festivalthe state tourism depart-ment had arranged for bus

service from Patna and alsomade special tour packagesavailable.

A slew of cultural pro-grammes were organised atthe event to allow thetourists a peek into the cul-tural heritage of the state aswell as meet artists and arti-

sans from across the coun-try. The Nalanda districtadministration also organ-ised a film festival for chil-dren at InternationalConvention Centre, Rajgir.Other special attractions ofthe festival included: her-itage walk, agriculture fair,food fair and sports festival.The district administrationalong with the tourismdepartment had also organ-ised a grand craft model vil-lage showcasing the handi-crafts and textile industriesof the region.

The Mohotsav, was start-ed in 1986, as an annualthree-day event, at SwarnaBhandar area of the state.

What makes Swisshospitality educationunique for students?

Apart from the issue ofcareer optimisation, studyingat a Swiss hospitality instituteoffers students many otheradvantages. Switzerland isreputably one of the safest,cleanest, most efficiently-run

countries in the world, rankingamong Europe’s highest inthe OECD’s Better Life Index.

Famous for its historicalcities and monuments(Switzerland has 11 classifiedUNESCO world heritage sites),and stunning scenery, as muchas its fine wine and dining cul-ture, Switzerland offers stu-dents an incredibly rich lifestyle

that creates memories for a life-time. Those Swiss schoolsthat are based up in the Alpsoffer a unique experience ofwinter and summer sports onthe doorstep. Students will findthemselves becoming expertsat golf and skiing in addition tohospitality. The Greek word forthe hospitality concept is xenia.It means ‘guest-friendship’ and herein lies perhaps one

of the most valuable outcomesof pursuing hospitality educa-tion in Switzerland. The friend-ships made here – because ofthe cultural diversity, becauseof level of practical group tasks– last a lifetime. And in a world where who you know is as important as what you know, the importanceof this factor cannot be underestimated.

Swiss touch to hospitalityu Contd. from page 12


NEWS

QTell us about theCentenary of the

Great War that was pro-moted last year.

The Year 2014 markedthe Centenary Year of WorldWar. It is interesting to note thatthe Indian army also played asignificant part in this WorldWar. In August 1914, as theGerman army made rapidadvances in to Belgium andFrance, the Allies found them-selves in want of more man-power to guard the WesternFront. With its strength of161,000 men, the Indian armyof Undivided India seemed thebest option and the Lahore andMeerut infantry divisions wereselected for service in Europe.They were thrown into battlenear Ypres soon after theyarrived in early October andboth divisions incurred heavylosses. After the First Battle ofYpres, Khudadad Khanbecame the first Indian to beawarded the Victoria Cross.

QHow did you lever-age this piece of his-

tory to attract moretourists to France?

As part of boostingremembrance tourism to vari-ous sites, the ‘Great WarCentenary Destination’ wasimplemented in November2013. This kick-started anunprecedented collaborationamong players in the remem-brance tourism industry. Acoherent strategy allowedthose promoting sites on theWestern Front to work togetherunder one banner – ‘The Great

War on the Western Front’. Byjoining forces they were able toachieve a greater visibility onan international level.

QWhat kind of attrac-tions did the visitors

get to experience?Visitors were privy to

artistic depictions in the form ofinstallations and exhibitionsnew site openings and renova-

tions. Visitors also had theopportunity to embark onremembrance trails tracing thefootsteps of the war.

QHow has this boost-ed the number of

visitors to memorialsites?

In 2014, remembrancetourism benefited greatly fromthe ‘Centennial Effect’. Theestablishment of the Great WarCentenary DestinationAgreement stimulated a signif-icant growth in the number ofinternational visitors, particularlyfor sites in the Western Frontregions. First World War com-memorations boosted the num-

ber of visitors to memorial sitesin 2014. Certain sites on theWestern Front even doubledtheir admission numbers, sur-passing the attendance levelsfor all of 2013 as early asAugust! This has been averitable windfall for accommo-dation providers, who have alsoseen a rise in reservations for2015, and even 2016. In addi-tion to an increase in tourists

from European countries, pro-fessionals have also noticed anotable increase in the numberof long-haul visitors.

QHow did you pro-mote this in India?In order to inform both

travel trade professionals andthe discerning audience aboutefforts undertaken in thisdomain, press communiqués onthe activities planned for 2014were diffused to B2B and B2Cpress as well. Articles onCentennial events were alsopublished on our website –www.rendezvousenfrance.com– as well as our social media platforms.

Catherine Oden, Director, Atout France, speaks toabout how they managed to up their international

tourist arrivals with the help of a coherent strategy.

The ‘Centennial Effect’

TT BUREAU

The establishment of theGreat War CentenaryDestination Agreementstimulated a significant

growth in the number ofinternational visitors.

Catherine OdenDirector, Atout France

STIC: GSA for Saltours InternationalSaltours International has

appointed STIC Travel Groupas their exclusive India GSAeffective December 2014.Established in 1977,Saltours, since 1998, hasbeen distributing and sellinghotel bookings and tourpackages to travel agentsand tour operators in India.

This new collaborationenables Saltours to leverageon STIC’s domain knowledgeand its national reach acrossIndia to further grow its business in the region.Representing Saltours is per-fectly in line with STIC’s viewof future expansion plans inthe non-air segment.

Speaking on the occasion,Imran Salehjee, GroupManaging Director, SaltoursInternational said, “It’s withgreat pleasure that weannounce the appointment ofSTIC Travel Group as

Saltours International’s offi-cial GSA in India, both com-panies share the same valuesand have been pioneers in thetravel industry for 40 years.

With this partnership, we aimto deliver added value to thetravel trade via SALVATION,Saltour’s new online bookingplatform, providing FIT anddynamic rates of our vastinventory of hotels aroundthe world. I would like tothank the travel agents inIndia for their support.”

Subhash Goyal,Chairman, STIC TravelGroup said, “We are veryexcited to represent adynamic and competitivebrand like Saltours in India.Saltours pioneered the con-cept of B2B distribution ofhotels in India. We hope tobuild on this foundation tofurther revolutionise hotelbooking solutions offered totravel agents and tour operators with the newbooking platform “SALVA-TION”. We will work hard toprovide quality service totravel agents and tour oper-ators not only in the mainmetros but also in Tier-IIand Tier-III cities acrossIndia. The new Saltoursbooking system will furtherempower the agent toincrease their income andefficiently service theirclients thereby building arobust business.”

Subhash GoyalChairman, STIC Travel Group


1 8 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 QUICK BYTES

They are fighters and you can hear them roar! speaks to a few women professionals in the travel industry, whichtoday boasts of numbers too big to ignore, to find out if they face any challenges in the work environment.

The travel tigresses in India

HA Z E L JA I N

“The travel industryrequires a person topossess soft skills likepassion, patience andperseverance all ofwhich are attributes ofa woman. Women arenaturally hospitable,courteous and service-orientated, which are

pre-requisites of being in the travel industry. Thenature of the industry also allows a woman to takea sabbatical for domestic purposes and when shedecides to return, she is welcomed back with openarms. Unlike other sectors such as IT, nothing inour industry becomes redundant. We can literallystart-off from where we left off!

The only challenge is the late hours. Working indifferent time zones becomes inevitable and weare required to be accessible in the local time ofthe destinations. Fortunately, with technology, it isnot difficult to fulfill these requirements. Accordinglyto me, a career in travel is extremely rewarding fora woman!

Renuka Natu Director, Renuka Natu Travel Representations

I don’t think it’s difficult for women to enter and work in this industry. The idea itself questionsa women’s creditability. Women, time and again, have been successful in managing and bal-ancing not only home but work equally and effectively.

One challenge I face is that sometimes I come across as too serious and to the point. That attimes is a problem as one needs to be more approachable in the industry. Overall though,women are often not taken seriously but it is with a focused mind, determination and experiencethat one can overcome such hurdles.

Jenaifer DaruwallaGM, Maison de Voyage

I would not say that it is difficult forwomen to enter and work in ourindustry or any other industry. Itdepends on how focused we are andwhat heights we want to reach. Thebiggest obstacle in creating my owncompany was figuring out how to getclients. But I soon found out thateveryone I knew in the industry waswilling to help me – friends, acquaintances, and even formeremployers. Many women feel that they will not be successfulin this field but that is only because they lack encouragement.To that, I say: surround yourself with people who will uplift youand believe in you. But most of all, believe in yourself.

Anjum LokhandwalaDirector, Outbound Konnections

Today, our industry is fullof women entrepreneursand women at all levels inthe hospitality industry. Intoday's environment, Idon’t think it is difficult forwomen to work in travel. Ihave always been my ownboss and I don’t think Ifaced any challenges at work. The challenges wereon a personal front, balancing home and office. Formy part, I have hired mostly women employees inmy company and we give them a lot of flexibility tohelp them balance their family life.

Anju TandonDirector, ARK Travels

When I joined the industry, our team had an equal numberof men as women. There will always be people who have anarrow mind, but overall the industry accepts women asentrepreneurs or team mates equally. I faced the same prob-lems as any other person would. I would not say it wasbecause I am a woman. Yes, our industry demands longworking hours and travelling can get hectic, so family life doesget affected. But I have a very supporting family and theyhave always stood by me.

Dipti Pradhan ThakoorDirector, Adventure Holidays

Nothing is difficult till we feel it is. Success in the industrydepends on your knowledge and passion for travel and noton your gender. I made sure that I had enough experiencebefore I started on my own. I was lucky to have a supportivehusband who pushed me to swim through all the hurdles.

Balancing home and work is challenging but over time I havelearned to manage it well. Yet, even today, some men areunable to digest that a woman can run her own businessefficiently but that only makes my determination stronger.Hard work and dedication take anyone a long way.

Jyoti SinghCEO & Proprietor, Sailor Travels & Tours and MC member of TAFI (Western Region)

First World Conference on TourismThe First World Conference

on Tourism and Culture willbe held in Siem Reap,Cambodia, from February 4-6, 2015. This will bringtogether, for the first time,Ministers of Tourism andMinisters of Culture fromaround the world, expertsand stakeholders from bothsectors to explore new mod-

els of partnership betweentourism and culture. Over thecourse of two days, partici-pants will explore differentroles and mandates on fivekey topics – governance andpartnership models, culturalpreservation, living culturesand creative industries, cul-tural routes and urban regen-eration through cultural

tourism. Confirmed speakersinclude King Simeon II,Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser,UN High Representative forthe Alliance of Civilizations,John Delaney, Senior VicePresident of Seabourn, andElizabeth Becker, award-win-ning author and former correspondent for the New York Times.


J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 1 9NEWS

The TAAI Northern Regionrecently organised its

bimonthly members meeting

in New Delhi. China TouristOffice was a partner for theevening. Rajan Sehgal,Chairman, TAAI–NorthernRegion, said, “An MoU wassigned by us with ShanghaiTourism Board as the years2015 and 2016 are going to be ‘Visit India’ and ‘VisitChina’ years.”

Talking about the year2014, Sehgal said that theyear was a difficult one as thetravel trade and hospitalityindustry went through crisis.

But it is a motivation for all inthe industry to see the newgovernment and the PrimeMinister prioritising tourism.He said, “In the next sixmonths, we will work veryclosely with the new team.”

Sehgal seemed positiveabout 2015 and added, “We are

planning to take our membersto destinations both within andoutside India to meet differentDMCs, hotels etc. and see forthemselves, before sendingtheir customers there.”

“The two importantagendas are to getthe credit and thecommission back to the Indian travelindustry,” he added.

TAAI Northern Region wants to work hard to bring backall the luck for the Indian travel industry in 2015. RajanSehgal, Chairman, TAAI–NR tells that the mainaim of the association is to bring back credit.

TAAI’s tie with Shanghai

SA M A P T I DAS

� The years 2015 and 2016are going to be ‘Visit India’and ‘Visit China’ years

� It is a motivation for all in theindustry to see the newgovernment and the PrimeMinister prioritising tourism

� TAAI-Northern India isplanning to take ourmembers to destinationsboth within and outsideIndia to meet differentDMCs, hotels etc

Plans for 2015

MoU signing by TAAI-NR and Shanghai Tourism

The sales and marketingactivities include travel

trade focussed initiatives toensure achievement of rev-enue goals by tapping into rel-evant market segments.

Ocean Park Hong Kong isa world-class marine-basedtheme park featuring animals,rides and other attractions. ThePark is situated in the SouthernDistrict of Hong Kong, and is thecity’s unique homegrown themepark with over 130 million visita-tions since its opening in 1977.

Vivian Lee, ExecutiveDirector of Sales & Marketing atOcean Park, said, “Since 2008,Indian guests at Ocean Parkhave more than tripled, makingthe country a top-three sourcemarket, excluding China. Thefirst half of 2014 has alreadyrecorded a 14% year-on-yearincrease in Indian visitors toHong Kong. Our partnershipwith Nijhawan Group to estab-lish our Indian representation is

a major milestone for OceanPark, and signifies the impor-tance we place in this market.As Ocean Park’s representative,Nijhawan Group will identify andwork with high potential travelagents and tour operators toensure Ocean Park is incorpo-rated into the FITs (frequent indi-vidual travellers), group andMICE itineraries arranged bythese agents. ”

Commenting on the occa-sion, Ankush Nijhawan, MD -Nijhawan Group, said, “We aredelighted with this collaboration

as India is one of Hong Kong’sfive new key markets & thenumber of Indian visitors toHong Kong continues to grow.Ocean Park provides all theguests with memorable experi-ences that combine entertain-ment and education, whileinspiring lifelong learning andconservation advocacy. India isone of the fastest growing markets of outbound tourists,and with an estimated potentialof 50 million outbound travellers by 2020 makes it akey market to be captured byOcean Park.”

Nijhawan Group has been appointed by Ocean ParkHong Kong as its Sales and Marketing Representativein India. The group will focus on designing sales andmarketing strategies for Ocean Park Hong Kong.

Ocean Park HK in India

TT BU R E AU

Vivian LeeExecutive DirectorSales & Marketing at Ocean Park

Ankush NijhawanManaging DirectorNijhawan Group


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

QWith the formation of newstate of Telengana, what are

your plans for tourism?We are a very young state, only

a few months old. We have 10 districtswith Hyderabad being the biggest

catch. We have planned 52 weeks of‘Happening Hyderabad’ (not only bythe government but also private par-ticipation) – and have set up a sepa-rate organisation to manage this.

There is a lot of demand from the soft-ware industry. There are many people,including expatriates, coming forweekends. A lot of things will be hap-pening in Hyderabad – festivals, musicconcerts. Besides Hyderabad, theother major city is Warangal where wealready have a sound and light show.

There is a lot of tourist demand so weare developing a religious circuit for it.There is also the Yadagiri Templeabout 40 km outside Hyderabad. A lotof people visit this temple.

QWhat is the mode of trans-port you will use for travel on

these circuits?It’s going to be package tours

because the Hyderabad TransportUnit is with us. We still have theUSP of selling packages to Tirupati and to Srisailam, now withAndhra Pradesh. We haveMercedes and Volvo buses, ourown caravan and other transport.We are now starting a Sikh pilgrimage package tour. A lot ofSikhs come to visit Hazur Sahib Nanded (in Maharashtra)and the Bidar Gurudwara (inKarnatka), but the closest point is Hyderabad, which hasexcellent connectivity.

QWith the new airport, do youthink it could become a hub

for the country?It already is becoming a hub. I

think Hyderabad airport is one of thefinest in the country and it is alreadybecoming a hub. We are concentratinga lot on religious tourism; we have oneof the biggest and oldest Jain templescalled Kulpakji, 40 km fromHyderabad. Then we have the MedakChurch built by a British missionaryway back in 1920.

QHow do you think of promot-ing tourism in Telangana? We have thick forest cover like

Hazirabad where we have started aneco tourism resort. In fact, the largest

number of tigers is in the KawalWildlife Sanctuary. We are close to theborder of Nagpur so the highwaypasses through Nagpur, Hyderabadand the rest of Telangana. So we aregoing in for Highway Tourism. LikeHaryana Tourism, we are really devel-oping our highways, with cottages,hotels, restaurants and parks on eitherside of the highways. It will probablytake about two years to really comeinto shape.

QHow is MICE tourism devel-oping in the region?MICE tourism is very big in

Telangana, with the HyderabadConvention Bureau which has plentyof hotel rooms around it. We recentlyhad the Metropolis conference, whichwas a big international conferenceand we have some more major con-ferences in the pipeline. We are visit-ing Barcelona now to market conven-tions there. For MICE, as we all know,HICC is the biggest ConventionCentre in the country and we haveplenty of hotel rooms around it. Wehave heritage hotels and modernhotels, like the Falaknuma, the PalaceHotel run by Taj, two Hyatt hotels andthree Taj hotels.

With friendly tourism policies in Telangana, and a new government which is pro tourism, the industry is finallylooking up in the state. In coversation with , Telangana Tourism Managing Director Sumeet Singh revealedthat a range of measures are in the piline to meet the surging tourist demand in the young state.

52 weeks of Happening Hyderabad

DE E PA SE T H I

I think Hyderabad airport is one ofthe finest in the country and it isalready becoming a hub. We areconcentrating a lot on religious tourism

Sumeet SinghMD, Telangana Tourism

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad


NEWS

So far, Indians coming toCroatia have just been

coming through an arrange-ment with neighbouring coun-tries like Italy, Austria andHungary, but now the time has

come that Croatia becomes adestination for Indians. Thisstatement by Amir Muharemi,Ambassador of The Republic ofCroatia to India, set the tone forthe launch of Namaste Croatia,an initiative by Udaan India, inassociation with Uniline to pro-mote Croatia in India, Bhutan,Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Talking about Croatia’spotential as a tourist destina-tion and the India market,Muharemi said, “Croatia is acountry that caters to tourists

and we welcome Indians toCroatia. We have very longcoasts, Croatia is famous for1,247 islands, so as a touristdestination it is one of the mostbeautiful countries in Europewith tourists, tradition andcapacity. Whoever comes from

India falls in love with Croatia.Unfortunately, so far we havenot put in so much effort, wehaven't worked with touragents and did not have organ-ised travel from India. But nowwe intend to make efforts tobring Indian tourists in anorganised way.”

Even before the launch,Udaan India has started get-ting queries for Croatia andRajan Dua, MD, Udaan India,is happy with this positiveresponse. He said, “Our key

players are MICE and FIT pas-sengers. There is a lot ofuntapped potential, as Indiansare always looking to discovera new destination. The coun-tries that have become popularamong Indian holidayers in thelast 5-6 years are destinationsthat weren't promoted in India.Croatia’s advantage is that it isin Europe and because of thisalso bookings will pick up. Also,it is a very safe destination, thepeople are warm, the infra-structure is superb, the her-itage culture what they havemaintained is also very good. I don’t think the country lacks anything.”

Talking about visa issues,he said, “Schengen visa isvalid for Croatia which is no wa part of the European Union.In the next 6-7 months time,they will be a part of Schengen,people who don't have aSchengen visa can apply for avisa in the embassy of Croatiain Delhi, they also have an hon-orary consul in Mumbai.”

Providing more choice to Indians, Udaan India will promoteCroatia. Rajan Dua, MD, Udaan India says they’ll promotethe destination primarily among MICE and FIT passengers.

Udaan to promote Croatia

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

Schengen visa is valid forCroatia which is now a partof the European Union. In thenext 6-7 months time, theywill be a part of Schengen,people who don't have aSchengen visa can apply

Rajan DuaMD, Udaan India

� Croatia is famous for 1,247islands, so as a touristdestination it is one of themost beautiful countries inEurope with tourists,tradition and capacity

1,247 islands

RezLive.com FAM to Turkey, UK, Estonia & Finland

RezLive.com - Kuwait rewarded patronage of their Travel Agents in Kuwait by extending opportunity to familiariseon their top and upcoming designation in partnership with airlines and hotels. The FAM trips were organised tocountries like Turkey, United Kingdom Estonia & Finland in order to make the travel agents familiar with the locationvisited and promote the same to their customers.

New facility at IGI Airport’s website Indira Gandhi International

Airport’s new facility in itswebsite can be used to trackreal time flight arrivals anddepartures at Delhi'sInternational airport-also

valid for domestic flights onAir India and Jet Airways. Forthose expecting friends orfamily from overseas or ondomestic segments on AirIndia or Jet Airways, the

website will help track flights at weather affectedDelhi. The link to the websiteis http://www.newdelhiair-port.in/liveflight-informa-tion.aspx


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

The second edition of the Global Hospitality Conclave 2014 at The Leela Gurgaon was an initiative by the alumni of the erstwhile Oberoi School of HotelManagement (OSHM), now The Oberoi Centre for Learning & Development (OCLD). The Conclave organised by the alumni of OSHM/ OCLD (the first batchgraduated in 1968) brought together over 100 participants including industry veterans. The objective of the Conclave was to get the alumni together annuallyand go beyond the customary batch reunions by creating a compelling platform of knowledge exchange, experiences and networking opportunities.

Bringing the Oberoi alumni together

New Year Celebrations@DDP GroupNew Year ushered in DDP with lot of fun and fervour. While the DDP team was seen entering the office premises following a Bollywood theme dress code, there were many other activities keeping the employees’ busy. They were seen gettingengaged in Ballon blowing, bride making competition, antakshariand 2-minute movie act.


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

Present in the market for overtwo decades, Pune-based

Pearl Travels has tweaked itsbusiness model to include ready

packages and is actively lookingto appoint GSAs and PSAs tobuild its network.

Jayesh Ashar, MD,Pearl Travels, says, “Wealready have about eight tonine PSAs in South India inAndhra Pradesh, Telanganaand Karnataka. We want tosign up more PSAs elsewhere

like Gujarat, Punjab, Delhi-NCR, Tamil Nadu and WestBengal. We do not charge anyfee; all we want them to do isto be active in promoting andhelping the clients.”

So far, it has appointed asingle PSA in Karnataka andanother with multiple locationsin the states of Andhra Pradeshand Telangana. “Each PSA hasexclusive rights as the presenceof multiple PSAs could lead toconflict. But for Gujarat andPunjab, we are looking for city-wise exclusive PSAs as themarket is very congested,”

Ashar says. Pearl Travels copiesevery transaction to the PSA fortransparency. It recentlyappointed a GSA in SaudiArabia to look after the country.

Upgraded website foragents

It has also recently re-launched its website for thetrade with upgraded featuresand a new design. Ashar givesmore details. “Earlier our focuswas mainly on selling roomnights to agents. But werealised that they may not nec-essarily be experts on all des-tinations and therefore beunable to accurately guide theirclients. We have changed ourbusiness model to combineevery aspect of travel andfocus on packages now sinceour expertise lies in creatingitineraries,” he says. The con-solidator has also just re-launched its website(www.pearltravels.com) inNovember 2014 that reflects itschanged business model.”

The site has a dynamichomepage that promotes six dif-ferent destinations every month.

He specifies that request forbookings on the new websitecan be sent online with a copyemailed to the agents. “This kindof automation saves a lot of timeand increases the speed oftransaction. It doesn’t have apayment gateway but mostagents prefer bank transfer overpaying online by credit cardsince the amounts are large,”Ashar adds.

Market to growAshar is of the opinion

that the market is slated togrow at least six to sevenfolds. “We are looking at anoutbound figure of at least 50million passengers in a fewyears! What will change isbusiness shifting from largerto smaller agencies that canprovide personal attention toclients. Moreover, it’s a myththat OTAs will not let smalleragencies survive becausethey (OTAs) are effectively adistributor. Clients need ahuman connection and willtherefore fall back on agenciesthat in turn will need to learnhow to use technology as atool,” he states.

Pune-based Pearl Travels, a global wholesaler for packages, is activelylooking to expand its network and appoint PSAs across India. It is alsobusy promoting its website that was recently re-launched with upgrades.

‘Pearl’ dives deeper for PSAs

TT BU R E AU

It’s a myth that OTAs will not letsmaller agencies survivebecause they (OTAs) areeffectively a distributor.Clients need a human connection and will thereforefall back on agencies.Jayesh AsharManaging DirectorPearl Travels

During his five-decade-longleadership role of Marriott

International, JW has taken thehotel company from a family

restaurant business to a globallodging company with nearly4,000 properties in over 70countries and territories.

According to the organis-ers, the award will be receivedby Simon Cooper, President &Managing Director- Asia Pacific,Marriott International on behalf

of JW Marriott, Jr. “HIFI will behonoring JW ‘Bill’ Marriott, Jr.,with the HIFI Hall of FameAward. A special ceremonypresentation will be held inrecognition of Marriott on 15January. Although Marriott him-self is unable to attend, we arepleased that the President &Managing Director Asia Pacific,Simon Cooper, will be acceptingthe award on his behalf,” saidJim Burba, President, BHN.

Similarly, another presti-gious award by HIFI, ‘AatithyaRatna’ award, will be presentedto Narendra Somani, Chairman& Managing Director of TGBBanquets & Hotels, a leadingcompany in the food and hospi-tality business in Gujarat. Theawards jury also nominatedNirupa Shankar, Director,Brigade Hospitality for the‘Rising Star’ South Asia Award of HIFI. As Director,Shankar was instrumental in driving the hospitality business of the Bengaluru-based Brigade Group.

JW Marriott, Jr., Chairman & CEO ofMarriott International Inc, will be conferredwith the ‘Hall of Fame’ award by HotelInvestment Forum India (HIFI) at theirforthcoming annual investment meet.

HIFI Hall of Fame Award

TT BU R E AU

JW Marriott Jr.Chairman & Chief Executive Officer ofMarriott International Inc



To ring in the good times for Christmas, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Northern Chapter organised a dinner for agents. The event was a fun-filledaffair that brought together stalwarts from the tourism and hospitality industry.

TAAI rings in the festive times

Good Governance Day celebra-tions of the government. Atourist (domestic/inbound) cancall the number from anywherenow if he or she wants to lodgeany complaint or know aboutany particular tourism site, he added.

In a major step at touristfacilitation, the Ministry hasalso launched a WelcomeCard, a first of its kind, foroverseas tourists. “As part ofupgrading security for foreigntourists to India, they will beprovided with Welcome Cardswith contact addresses ofIndia Tourism offices and thecontact persons. A set of eightWelcome Cards have beenlaunched. These Cards will be offered through nine airports in the country,”he remarked.

The Minister alsolaunched an e-portal of theCulture Ministry – SwacchBharat Swacch Smarak (CleanIndia-Clean Monuments) and e-ticketing for Taj Mahal andHumayun’s Tomb. The facility willbe extended to all ticketed mon-uments in a phased manner. Dr.Sharma also inaugurated theIncredible India Calendar 2015.The other major initiatives whichwere launched by the Minister

included booklet on BadhteKadam-Hunar Se Rozgar Tak,Swachh Bharat SwachhPakwan (Hunar Zayka), Mega Project DestinationDevelopment of Gwalior, BrailleBook on Delhi monuments andAdarsh Smarak programme in which 25 monuments will be developed as model monuments.

According to Dr.Sharma, with these new initia-tives, an attempt has been ini-tiated by the Ministry to re-launch tourism and takeIndia’s rich cultural heritage toall corners of the world. TheMinister said that during theperiod January- November,2014, India received a total of6.8 lakh visitors. This is thehighest number of visitorsreceived till November in anyyear during the last decade,also showing a commendableincrease of 7.1 per cent overthe previous year.

Relaunch of tourismContd. from page 3

� The Minister launched ane-portal of the CultureMinistry – Swacch BharatSwacch Smarak (CleanIndia-Clean Monuments)and e-ticketing for Taj Mahaland Humayun’s Tomb

Going the eWay

Udaan calls All India Meet 2014

All India Meet 2014 was held at MappleEmerald, New Delhi on Dec 26-27, 2014. Theobjective of the meeting was to discussachievements, expectations in 2015, new ini-tiatives & projects and areas of focus. Udaanhas its presence in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,Kolkata and Gurgaon and has SalesRepresentations in Pune and Ahmedabad.Udaan plans to further expand its wings toTier-II cities in 2015. Namaste Croatia is oneof the important projects for Udaan in 2015.It also looks forward to providing technologydriven Visa Facilitation Services to its clientsas well as a world-class experience.

P Ashok Gajapathi Raju,Minister of Civil Aviation,inaugurated the Meeting ofChief Ministers and StateCivil Aviation Ministers in

New Delhi on December 30to discuss the Draft CivilAviation Policy and otherissues related to civil aviationsector. Speaking on the occa-sion, the Minister said the

civil aviation sector in India hasbeen growing steadily register-ing a growth of 13.8 per centduring the last 10 years. Hesaid, though the rate of growthcame down during the last twoyears due to the overall eco-nomic slowdown, it is recover-ing fast, with the year 2013-14showing a growth of 6 per cent.Raju expressed concern that

despite high growth rates, mostof the airlines in the country arereported to have incurred lossesand some airlines are strugglingto stay afloat. He said, thoughthere is a need for helicopteroperations in India, helicopterpopulation in the country hasnot improved in recent years.The number of small aircraftand seaplanes is stagnant.

P Ashok Gajapathi RajuMinister of Civil Aviation

Draft Civil Aviation Policy discussed with states


J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 2 9AGENTS

India is one of the fastest-growing outbound travel mar-

kets in the world. This furtherhas been explained by thespokespersons of Visegrad

counties when recently theyvisited the capital. DoraSzaffner, Head of productDevelopment office, HungarianTourism, said, “Last year, wehad 10,000 tourists from Indiaand we expect 5-6 per cent ofgrowth this year.”

Emilia kubik, ProjectLeader-I like Poland, however

mentioned that the growth ofIndian tourists in Poland is nothigh but she didn’t show scep-ticism as far as continuousgrowth is concerned. She

said, “Response from Indianmarket has been slow but it’sdefinitely there. We have about35,000 arrivals each year andwe are expecting growth.”

Matej Kristek, Managerof Marketing ResearchDepartment, Czech TourismBoard seemed pleased withthe outcome. He further

added, “2014 was much betterthan 2013. In 2013, we have28,000 tourists coming fromIndia but in 2014 we reachedthis number in the third quarterin September and are nowreaching 40,000.” Indians arebecoming experimental as faras travelling to new destina-tions are concerned. Dora tooemphasised on this and said,“I think Indians are open totravelling to new destinations.Countries like Czech Republic,Poland etc. have good combi-nation of new and fresh expe-riences which Indians areready to explore now.”

“Indians love Europe.Indians have always beenfond of Malaysia, Singaporebut now they want to discovernew options and Europe givesthem new experiences,” con-curs Emilia.

Matej believes that Indianswant to explore. He said,“Indians now know WesternEurope. They are looking forsomething new and that’s whereour destinations fit in.”

The Visegrad countries also popularly known as the European Quartet or the V4 group was inNew Delhi recently and gets in a conversation with the spokespersons of these countrieswhere they disclose about the growth in the arrivals of Indian tourists, their strategies and more!

Visegrad countries lure Indian traveller

AN U P R I YA BI S H N O I

Indians now knowWestern Europe.They are looking for somethingnew,that’s where ourdestinations fit in

We have about 35,000 arrivalseach year and we areexpectinggrowth

Last year, wehad 10,000tourists fromIndia and weexpect 5-6 percent of growththis year

Dora SzaffnerHead of product Development officeHungarian Tourism

Emilia kubikProject LeaderI like Poland

Matej KristekManager of Marketing ResearchDepartment, Czech Tourism Board

22k visas after ETA

The year 2014 willremain a historic year fortourism industry since theGovernment implementedthe first phase of TouristVisas on Arrival (TVOAs)enabled by ElectronicTravel Authorization (ETA).As a result of this, morethan 22,000 visas were

processed till December 31,2014 since its launch. Outof this, 6100 TVOAs arefrom the US and 3800 fromRussia. The Tourist Visa onArrival (TVoA) enabled withthe Electronic TravelAuthorization (ETA)Scheme was launched onNovember 27, 2014 fornationals of 43 countrieswhose sole objective of vis-iting India is recreation,sight- seeing, short dura-tion medical treatment,casual business visit, casualvisit to meet friends or rel-atives etc. for a short stayof 30 days. The Tourist Visaon Arrival facility is nowoperational from 9 interna-tional airports

Ashish ShamaPR & Marketing CoordinatorRepresentative Office in IndiaPolish Tourist Organisation



As part of the Good Governance Day celebrations of the government, the Union Ministries of Tourism and Culture organised an event in Delhi. The eventwitnessed a huge gathering of important government delegates and travel trade stakeholders. The Tourism Ministry launched an e-portal of the Culture Ministry—Swacch Bharat - Swacch Smarak (Clean India - Clean Monuments); Welcome Cards for foreign tourists; Incredible India Infoline Service; E-ticketing for Taj Mahal and Humayun’s Tomb; programme to expand Hunar Se Rozgar programme; etc, during the event.

Clean India - Clean Monuments


3 2 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 MOT

The tourism sector plays a very important role in the economy of the country and India’s tourism sector has beencontributing greatly to the country’s GDP. Foreign Exchange Earnings from tourism crossed `1 lakh crore markduring January to November 2014. The Ministry of Tourism has been making efforts to develop tourism at variouslevels. Here’s what the ministry has been doing so far.

2014 to 2015: Tourism surges ahead

Tourism for 2014-15The year that was

Inbound TourismIndia received 65.8 lakh (Provisional) visitors during the period January-November, 2014 which is the highest-ever number ofvisitors received till November in any year during the last decade. The Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during this period showeda commendable increase of 7.1 per cent over the same period during the previous year. The FTAs for the entire year 2013 were69.7 lakh showing a growth of 5.9% over the previous year. In comparison, the growth rate in International Tourist Arrivals for theWorld as a whole was only 5% in 2013.Nearly 16% of FTAs during 2013 were from the USA followed by 11.62% from UK andthen Bangladesh with 7.53%.

Domestic TouristsNumber of Domestic Tourist Visits to all states/UTs were-1145 million in 2013 showing a growth rate of 9.6% over the previous year.

Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) As per the TTCI, 2013 of the World Economic Forum, Indiaranks 11th in Asia and Pacific region and 65th amongst 140countries in tourism competitiveness. Improving ranking ofIndia from 65th to 62nd position in travel and tourism compet-itiveness has been set as a target in the Result FrameworkDocument (RFD) of M/o Tourism for the year 2014-15.

The Government has also set a target to achieve one percentshare in global tourism arrivals during 2015 which is soughtto be achieved with the help of a multi- pronged strategy. India’sshare in global tourism arrivals in 2013 was 0.64%.

Foreign Exchange EarningsDuring January to November 2014, the Foreign ExchangeEarnings (FEEs) from tourism crossed the mark of 1 lakh crorerupees (standing at `1, 07,208 crore) showing a growth of12.1 per cent over the FEEs of the same period last year. FEEfrom tourism in terms of US$ during January- November 2014were US$ 17.606 billion with a growth of 5.2%, as comparedto US$ 16.742 billion with a growth of 4.9% during January-November 2013 over the corresponding period of 2012.

Infrastructure DevelopmentThe Ministry sanctioned `929.84 cr for a total number of 136tourism projects during 2012-13 and ̀ 1801 cr for 261 projectsduring 2013-14. During 2014-15 (Till September 30, 2014),30 projects have been sanctioned for an amount of `205 cr.This includes projects relating to Product/ InfrastructureDevelopment for Destination and Circuits (PIDDC), HumanResource Development (HRD), Fairs and Festivals andAdventure & Rural Tourism for infrastructure augmentation.

EmploymentAs per provisional estimates, contribution of tourism to totalemployment (direct and indirect) for the years 2010-11, 2011-12 & 2012-13 was 10.78%, 11.49% and 12.36% respectively.During the 10th and 11th Five Year Plans, the contribution oftourism to total employment (both direct and indirect) pro-gressed from 8.27% to 11.49% and the Foreign Exchangeearnings for the corresponding period progressed from ` 20729 crore to `94487 crore.

An additional employment of 24.5 million (direct and Indirect)is targeted to be created during the years 2010 to 2016.

Use of Technology for service deliveryThe Website www.incredibleindia.org has been upgraded.New features such as Walking Tours, Audio-Tours, HolidayPlanner and 360 degree view of monuments have been addedon the website. In addition, selection of system integrator fordeveloping new website of the Ministry has been initiated. TheAndroid Mobile Application of Incredible India’s official tripplanning and destination discovery App Tripigator.com waslaunched by the Ministry of Tourism this year.

Other important measures this year:�The foundation stone for setting up of Indian Culinary Institute

has been laid in September, 2014.� Decision has been taken this year to set up Sector Skill

Council (SSC) to regulate and promote hospitality and tourismrelated education and skill development in the country.

� Culinary Survey of India for identification and documentationof recipes launched in the current year.

� Ministry has accorded approval for setting up of Food CraftInstitute at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and has sanctionedCentral Financial Assistance of `475.00 lakhs

� 3 month Tourist Facilitator Training Course organized for theExecutives of tour operator members of the Indian Associationof Tour Operators in order to overcome the bottleneck of short-age of Chinese speaking tourist guides in India.

� Six months certificate courses in 4 Hospitality Tradeslaunched.

� Capacity building programme for Tourist Transport Driversconducted

Safety Measures The MOT had advised the State Governments/UTAdministrations to deploy Tourist Police at prominent touristspots. The MOT along with all stakeholders, including theTourism Departments of all States and UTs, have adopted the‘Code of Conduct for Safe & Honourable Tourism’ MOT is run-ning the Social Awareness Campaign on television to sensitizethe masses and the stakeholders on the traditional Indian val-ues and concept ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’. The campaign consistsof two commercials; one on sensitizing against misbehaviourwith tourists and the other against cleanliness of tourist sitesand streets.

Development of Tourism in the North EastThe 3rd International Tourism Mart was held in Shillong inMeghalaya this year and was organised in the North East with theobjective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in thedomestic and international markets. Over 50 buyer delegates fromASEAN and SAARC countries participated.

Similarly, the Union Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 29 projectsof Tourism for the North Eastern States till date during the year2014-15. These include 9 projects in Nagaland, 8 in Sikkim, 5 inManipur, 4 in Arunachal Pradesh, 3 in Mizoram. An amount of ` 113.72 cr of plan funds were released in 2012-13 for tourism inthe North-Eastern region and `149.16 cr in 2013-14.

Hotel and RestaurantsGuidelines revised for classification / re- classification for the hotelsunder 5 Star, 4 Star, Heritage Classic - with alcohol service or with-out alcohol service. Sensitization workshops on Bed & Breakfast /Home stay with all States /UTs and stake holders of tourism industryheld. This will add room capacity at tourist destination in the country.List of Bed & Breakfast / Home stay establishment posted on thewebsite of Ministry of Tourism Hotel Classification/re-classification/application system simplified.

In the Budget for 2014-15, two new schemes have beenannounced with the following allocation:

� Rs 500 crore for developing 5 tourist circuits around specificthemes. The circuits identified are: Ganga circuit, Krishna circuit, Buddha circuit, North East circuit, and Kerala circuit.

� Rs 100 crore for National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenationsand Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD).

Guidelines are under finalisation to implement these schemes:� 50 circuits have been identified for development in

phases� The upgradation of Varanasi Railway Station has been

undertaken� The project for construction of new Passenger Terminal at

Marmugao, Goa Port Trust, to promote Cruise Tourism hasbeen launched.

Buddhist CircuitsFollowing are to be developed as Buddhist Circuits in the country with the help of Central Governments/StateGovernment/Private stake holders:

� The Dharmayatra or the Sacred Circuit – This will be a5 to 7-day circuit and will include visits to Gaya (Bodhgaya),Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilavastu) witha day’s trip to Lumbini in Nepal.

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

� Buddhist Heritage Trails (State Circuits) including thosein Ladakh, Srinagar, Ajanta Ellora, Sirpur, Dharamsala,Sikkim, Tawang, Sanchi among others.

Second International Buddhist Conclave in Bodhgaya andSarnath held from September 26-28, 2014 in collaborationwith the State Governments of Bihar and UP. A total of 120international delegates from 30 countries, 71 domesticTour Operators and 16 State Governments had participat-ed in the Conclave.

MOT has introduced guidelines for financial assistance toStates/UTs for holding Buddhist Festivals in theMonasteries of foreign origin to promote traffic to “CoreBuddhist Circuit”, specifically at places.

� Completion of the Phase –I of the IFC–Developmentof Buddhist Circuit in UP and Bihar. The strategy‘Investing in the Buddhist Circuit’ has been launched.


3 4 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 CRUISES

Dubai Cruise Tourismundertook a dedicated

city tour in India for the firsttime to promote Dubai as agrowing international hub forcruise tourism. Beginning inNew Delhi, the delegationfrom Dubai Cruise Tourismtravelled to Chennai,Bengaluru and Mumbai.During the visit, Dubai tourismdelegation members net-worked with 700 key Indiantravel trade partners andmedia, alongside some of thebiggest and best known com-

panies operating in the cruiseindustry worldwide - MSC,Costa Crociere and RoyalCaribbean International (RCI).

The roadshows came atthe right time with the introduc-tion of a new Multiple EntryUAE visa for cruise tourists.Indian tourists entering thecountry to take a cruise whorequire entry into multiple UAEports – for example Abu Dhabi,Dubai and Khorfakkan – cannow apply for the new visathrough their cruise line, eitherat the time or after booking.The visa is valid for 60 days

from the date of issue to thefirst entry into UAE. After thefirst entry, the visa remainsvalid for 30 days.

The Indian travel tradefraternity comprising cruisepromotion professionals alsohad the opportunity to learnmore of the recently-launchedUAE multi-entry cruise tourismvisa at the roadshows.

Dubai Tourism, with anoverseas representative officein India, has been activelyworking with India’s travel tradeto attract a larger number of

Indian outbound travellers tothe Emirate of Dubai.

During 2013, a total of888,835 Indian hotel guestsstayed in Dubai, representinggrowth of 16 per cent over thecorresponding period of 2012.

Buoyed by the potential that India holds, Dubai aims toattract a larger share of the fast-growing outboundIndian tourism sector,

and specifically the cruisetourism segment.

Commenting on the ini-tiative, Hamad bin Mejrin,Executive Director, DubaiTourism, said: “Dubai has longand very strong links with India

and its people, and from atourism perspective, the coun-try is one of our top threesource markets for visitors toour city. With the announce-

ment of a new multi-entry visafor cruise passengers, weexpect to see a furtherincrease of our share of theIndian outbound travellers,including those within thecruise segment, as this will bean added attraction to visitingthe city of Dubai,” he said.

Bin Mejrin further com-mented, “We’re delighted tobe able to meet the country’sleading travel trade profes-sionals alongside our cruiseindustry partners – MSC,Costa and RCI. In addition toconducting workshops andsharing updates on the latestattractions for cruising in theArabian Gulf and the widerregion, we look forward tounderstanding from the localtravel trade how we can bettercater to our Indian guests inthe city of Dubai, and on-board cruise ships. We arealso pleased that we canshare details of the newlyintroduced UAE multi-entrycruise tourism visa, which will make cruising in the Gulfeven more accessible forIndian travellers.”

Dubai Cruise Tourism embarks on a four-city roadshow in India for the first time as part of its overall strategy topromote the city’s strengths as a growing international hub for cruise tourism.

Multi-entry visa for Indian cruise paxTT BU R E AU

With the announcement of a new multi-entryvisa for cruise passengers, we expect to seea further increase of ourshare of the Indian out-bound travellers, includ-ing those within the cruisesegment, as this will be anadded attraction to visitingthe city of Dubai

Hamad bin MejrinExecutive DirectorDubai Tourism

Investment in new infrastructure – including a new state-of-the-art cruise terminal at Mina Rashid,Dubai’s major cruise port, and attractions such as Burj Khalifa, the Palm Jumeirah, Burj Al Arab and world-leading malls packed with international designer brands, make Dubai an ideal cruise destination – and theideal location for an extended stay at the start or end of a cruise Dubai Tourism forecasts further sustainedgrowth for the cruise sector, spurred by the upcoming opening of an additional new 27,000m2 terminal atthe city’s main port later this season, the introduction of the new cruise tourism visa and the work of theCruise Arabia partnership. Cruise Arabia is a collaborative initiative formed by Oman’s Ministry of Tourism,Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority and Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing topromote the region as a cruise destination.

This season, the number of vessels using Dubai Cruise Terminal as their home port increases to sixand these vessels are expected to make a total of 83 trips in comparison to 63 trips in the 2013/2014 season.

Here comes a cruise destination



The Visegrad countries also popularly known as the European Quartet organised a roadshow in the Capital recently where the various spokespersonsdisclosed their plans for the Indian market and their strategies to promote tourism in their respective countries.

Visegrad countries tapping tourism from India

The Dubai Cruise Tourism's debut roadshow in India was a huge success as it proved Dubai’s strength as the Middle East’s leading cruise destination.Dubai Tourism, with an overseas representative office in India, has been actively working with India’s travel trade to attract a larger number of Indianoutbound travellers to the Emirate of Dubai. The roadshow that kicked off in Delhi travelled to Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Buoyed by the potentialthat India holds, Dubai aims to attract a larger share of the fast-growing outbound Indian tourism sector, and specifically the cruise tourism segment.

Dubai cruises on a smooth tide in India


In 2014, China NationalTourist Office (CNTO) contin-

ued its endeavour to tap theIndian market and strengthentourism links between the twocountries. Many events focus-ing on Beautiful China, 2014 -Year of Smart Travel were heldin India. For the year 2014, thetotal Indian visits to mainlandChina are expected to surpassthe mark of 7 lakh, which is ahistorical milestone.

In September 2014,Chinese President Xi Jinpingpaid a state visit to India. Thenational leaders of China andIndia designated 2015 as the‘Visit India Year’ in China and2016 as the ‘Visit China Year’ in India.

Li Qianguo, DeputyDirector, China National TouristOffice, said, “Under this, thetwo sides will carry out a seriesof promotional activities toboost two-way tourism flowsand strengthen people-to-people bonds. The friendly

relations between countries liein the close contact of the peo-ple. In future, CNTO will contin-ue its efforts in promoting thedestination of Beautiful Chinaamong Indian general publicand enhancing the mutualunderstanding between thetwo people of China and India.The support and cooperationof travel media and associa-tions is of the highest value toChina Tourism.”

Talking about 2015, he added, “Another latestdevelopment is that the year of 2015 has been designated by China NationalTourism Administration(CNTA) as Beautiful China,2015-Year of Silk RoadTourism. All the tourists from home and abroad are welcome to exploreBeautiful China along the Silk Road.”

The year 2015 has been designated by China National Tourism Administration as Beautiful China, 2015-Year ofSilk Road Tourism. gives details of the future strategies of the country.

Over 7 lakh Indians visit China in 2014TT BU R E AU

The Silk Road is a famous ancient overland trade channel with a total length of over 7,000 km whichtraverses Asia and links Europe and Asia. The silk road in China is long for over 4,000 km, over half of thetotal. Jointly applied by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in June 2014, part of the Silk Road was addedto the UNESCO World Heritage List. The application consists of 33 historical sites along the millennium-old trade route, including 22 in China, eight in Kazakhstan and three in Kyrgyzstan. On September 7, 2013,Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at Nazarbayev University, proposing to build ‘economiczone of the Silk Road’ to strengthen economic ties and deepen more mutual cooperation including traveland tourism industry between European and Asian countries. Another important initiative is the 21stCentury Maritime Silk Road, a vision put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in late 2013 to revive theancient maritime trade and cultural routes between China and its neighbors & partners.

2015–Year of Silk Road Tourism

J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 3 9NTO

In future,CNTO willcontinue itsefforts inpromoting thedestination ofBeautifulChina amongIndian general public

Li QianguoDeputy Director China National Tourist Office

� The national leaders ofChina and Indiadesignated 2015 as the‘Visit India Year’ in Chinaand 2016 as the ‘VisitChina Year’ in India

� With the Indian visits tomainland China in 2014expected to surpass themark of 7 lakh, ahistorical milestone hasbeen reached

Travel Ties


NEWS

Rwanda is busy makingarrangements to receive

40 passengers from over 10countries under its forthcoming

international business forumcalled ‘Rwanda Calling 2015’which will be held in Kigali fromJanuary 26-29, 2015. Of this,around 20 will be from India.

Sharing details about thisClarence Fernandes, IndiaRepresentative for RwandaDevelopment Board said, “Weconduct this program twice ayear – once in January andthen in May. This year, we have

finalised about 40 delegates,of which 22 are flying in fromIndia. Rwanda is a hub for EastAfrica and we are thereforeoffering facilities to Indian busi-nessmen that allow them to

start a business in Rwandawithin only six hours!”

According to this facility,the entire procedure of settingup a legitimate business canbe done at their hotel withoutthem having to visit any gov-ernment office. Fernandesadds, “In 2015, we will stronglyfocus on MICE and attractingcorporates and businessmen.We recently opened the

Rwanda Convention Bureau(RCB) and are busy getting thestate-of-the-art KigaliConvention Centre (KCC) ready.With KCC, we want to positionthe capital city as a leadingMICE destination in East Africa.”

The Rwanda HighCommission had also launchedits ‘Meet in RemarkableRwanda’ campaign in India in2014 that offers various facilitiesto companies, trade associa-tions and social organisations.

Fernandes said thatRwanda Tourism will activelypromote itself through theupcoming TTF-OTM inFebruary and participate inother expos for corporates. “Wewill also be making presenta-

tions to trade associations andone-on-one meetings with thetrade to explain our propositionto them,” he said .

By offering a facility to start a business within a six-hour window, Rwanda isgoing all out to encourage Indian businessmen. This, along with its recently-opened convention bureau, goes to show that its focus for 2015 is MICE.

Rwanda woos Indian bizmen

HA Z E L JA I N

We conduct this program twice ayear – once in January and thenin May. This year, we havefinalised about 40 delegates, ofwhich 22 are flying from India

Clarence FernandesIndia Representative for Rwanda DevelopmentBoard

The Kigali Convention Centre,built at a cost of US$ 300 million,is due to open in 2015, and willbe able to accommodate 2,600delegates. It encompasses atranslucent dome and a multi-functional hall with a maximumcapacity of 2,600 pax. In tandemwith KCC, a number of five-starhotel brands are under develop-ment at Kigali, namely RadissonBlu, Marriott, Park Inn, Sheraton,and South Africa's Protea GroupInternational bringing in about600 rooms into the market.

About KCC

QYou are venturing into the B2B market,

what will you be focusing on?

For us, B2B would be pri-marily holidays and visas. We’vejust started building a team afew months ago. We believe it isa huge segment and by the firstquarter of 2015, we are planning to launch a full-fledgedportal catering to the B2B seg-ment, predominantly for the holidays and visa services that we offer.

QWhich section willyou be focusing on?We are planning to do

this for Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III cities. We have aggressiveplan for all these sections. Thebusiness coming from Tier-IIand Tier-III cities has been very encouraging.

QThe OTA segmenthas many players

coming in, how do youplan to keep afloat inthis business?

In OTAs, many playershave come, but only 3-4 havesurvived. The Education min-istry has mentioned that about4.4 million students graduateout of colleges every year.This is what I keep telling myteam that’s 4.4 million peopleare our customers and poten-tially 90% of them would beonline customers. Over thenext 10 years, we’ll have 50million new users. The marketis huge and this is just thebeginning. If you are in the e-commerce business in

India, it is a long run. Lookhow things have changed forChina. With 35-40% internetpenetration, see where the e-commerce guys have takenoff. Online is a scalable model,unless you have a very nicheproduct, but otherwise if you

are in the trading or travelbusiness it is about scaling.Look at IRCTC, it is a classiccase of how they succeededgoing online. We planned tolaunch ourselves all over theMiddle East, India, sub conti-

nent and we wanted to growin different markets, so onlinewas the way to go.

Q What are you focus-ing on in 2015?We are very pleased

with the response we have

received in 2014. For 2015,we are targeting the corporatebusiness. We have a very exciting corporate book-ing tool which will give us a unique advantage in the market.

Vijay Kesavan, CEO, Musafir.com says that by the first quarter of 2015, theyare planning to launch a full-fledged portal catering to the B2B segment andare also targetting corporate business.

Musafir to launch B2B portal

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

The market is huge and thisis just the beginning. If youare in the e-commerce business in India, it is a longrun. Look how things havechanged for China

Vijay KesavanCEO, Musafir.com � The Education ministry

has mentioned that about4.4 million studentsgraduate out of collegesevery year

� With potentially 90% ofthem set to be onlinecustomers, over the next 10years, 50 million new userswill come into the market

Focus OTA

I think the award for everyregion is a great idea.SanJeet has put together

something really very nice.It is very motivating to get an

award and I think thisencourages everyone to work

harder in their respectivefields. I am really thankful to TravTalk for giving me

this award.

Dr Jyotsna SuriWinner, India Travel Awards Northand Chairperson & Managing DirectorBharat Hotels

I think theawards werevery well-organisedand it is agood thing tomakepeopleparticipate in such events because it

makes them more competitive and also setsstandards for everyone to improve theirperformances. It is good that the awards arebeing organised region wise as travel comprisea huge industry and through this each andevery region gets an exposure. I am very gladthat my office participated in other regions tooand bagged an award in the West as well.

Subhash GoyalWinner, India Travel Awards North and Chairman, STIC Travel Groups

India Travel Awardsis an amazing ideaand I’m delightedthat I’ve receivedtwo awards. TheFace of theFuture Awardis the one for which people are looking up

to me and I’m sure that I will be able to liveup to this recognition. I am thankful toDDP for organising this grand awardceremony and then organising it in

different regions. I’m sure that this isgoing to grow bigger and better.

Ankush NijhawanManaging DirectorNijhawan Group

India Travel Awards finally reached North India with a zest. The winners held‘Maya’ with pride and shared theirfeelings about how they felt to have the

‘Goddess of tourism’ in their hands.

… . And the winnershold Maya with pride

The regionalrecognition bythe India TravelAwards is a greatidea. It is a greatfeeling and a greatway to go and overthe years, I think, itwill be built on. Forany awards, the biggest thing is sanctity and makingsure that the awards are given for the right reasonand not for the strong lobby one has for the awards.I’m proud that we are here today as we were luckyenough to position ourselves at the right place atthe right time.

Ajay BakayaWinner, India Travel Awards North and Executive DirectorSarovar Hotels & Resorts


NTO

For as long as one canremember, India has been

regarded as a mature trav-eller’s or couple’s travel desti-nation only, and worldwidepeople have been hesitantabout travelling to India withfamilies and young children.Trans India Holidays took itupon themselves to rectify thisnotion, and educate the travelagents and tour operators thatIndia has excellent offerings forfamilies as well. Talking aboutthe general misconception,Kapil Goswamy, ManagingDirector, Trans India Holidaysremarked, “I had very oftenheard from FTOs that clientswith young and teenage chil-dren were hesitant to travel toIndia, presuming , and quiterightly so, that the childrenwould be very quickly bored ofseeing temples and visitingforts and palaces in India.”According to him, FTOs alwayssaid that clients with youngchildren went to destinations

where there were activities tokeep kids busy, or where, inaddition to regular city tours,they could do at least onechild-friendly or, adventurous

activity a day. Thus, the kidscould enjoy the holiday asmuch as the adults.

Keeping this in mind,during late 2014, Trans Indiaput together a small set of itin-

eraries, specially designed forfamilies with young andteenage children. “Touring inDelhi was modified, to notonly have the standard city

tours, but to also have activi-ties like the Segway tour.Likewise, touring in Jaipur, ofcourse has the City Palaceand Museum, but also havean early morning or late after-noon Hot Air Balloon ride and

a visit to the Dera Amer or theElefantastic, where the youngand old alike enjoy the inter-action with the elephants.Touring options in places likeJodhpur, for family audiencesnow include, beside the usualMehrangarh Fort visit, the zipline adventure, which is awonderful way to get a bird’seye view of the Fort and thesurrounding city.” The familyholiday options have provenextremely popular, andaccording to Kapil Goswamy,the company is in the processof putting together another setof itineraries with destinationsand activities , that will bepopular with families.

Regarding new offeringsplanned in the near future, headded, “Among the new offer-ings, there will be skiing holi-days in Gulmarg, easy andmoderate treks in the EasternHimalayas, horse safaris inRajasthan, and village walks inthe Himalayas.”

Trans India Holidays is educating agents and operators that India hasexcellent offerings for families too. The firm has introduced itinerariesto keep kids engaged.

Indian holiday for families

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Among the new offerings,there will be skiing holidaysin Gulmarg, easy andmoderate treks in the

Eastern Himalayas, horsesafaris in Rajasthan, and

village walks in theHimalayas

Kapil GoswamyManaging Director

Trans India Holidays

As part of a marketing strat-egy to expand the under-

standing and product portfolio;Dubai’s Department of Tourismand Commerce Marketing(DTCM) hosted the largestever tourism industry MegaFAM trip. A total of 440 repre-sentatives of the Indian travelfraternity were provided with afirst-hand experience of Dubai.

“This FAM trip wasa huge success, wewere pleased to welcome and hostsuch a large groupfrom India, which isone of our keysource markets.

In the first six months of2014, India was our second topsource market and sawtremendous growth. It contin-ues to be a key focus for usand roadshows to India andFAM trips such as this are agreat way to ensure our part-ners in the market remain upto date with everything goingon in Dubai – the first-handexperience is also the idealway to drive enthusiasm for the

destination! In addition, thiswas a valuable exercise for ourstakeholders in Dubai whothrough face-to-face meetingsand networking sessions wereable to exchange informationand ideas which will prove ben-eficial as we further strengthenbusiness relationships with ourpartners in India,” says IssamKazim, CEO, DTCM.

In 2013, the total numberof Indian visitors stood at888,835, placing India on thesecond spot among the topsource markets for Dubaitourism, preceded by SaudiArabia. Aligning with its Dubai’s

vision for 2020, Dubai is nowlooking beyond the clichés andoffers experiences for thewhole family. Focusing ontourist-centric sectors, Dubai isbroadening its portfolio andcreating enough knowledge forthe same.

In a bid to emerge as aone-stop destination for prac-tically everything, Dubai seemsto stop at nothing, “There's somuch more to Dubai than justshopping, we are now show-casing a lot more culture, her-itage, art and focusing on theoverall experience. We areplanning to work closely with

DMC’s and educate them further on the product offeringsin the city. Listening to ourtourists and making sure we offer what they want is also important to us,” saysMark Bennett, Senior VicePresident, InternationalOperations, DTCM.

Bennett talks about therecent success of Happy NewYear and hopes it will showgreat results in the comingyear. He adds,

“We are changingthe way Dubai has been positioned.

We had all the facilitiesand products all along but thiswasn’t communicated wellenough. We will very soon gradeall the destination managementcompanies. Thus Indian con-sumers can get the correctrange of products and find theright balance and the mostappropriate product offering.”

To further help theagents sell the destination, “ We are now investing a lot onthe digital and online platform.

With Indians being the second largest source market for Dubai, a totalof 440 members from the Indian tourism fraternity from across 16 citieswere invited on a mega FAM organised by DTCM.

The biggest Indian FAM to Dubai

DEVIKA JEET FROM DUBAI

Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketingand Mark Bennett, Senior Vice President, International Operations, DTCM

Contd. on page 52


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

Ahost of senior executivesfrom the parent companies

– Tata Group and SIA – wereonboard the first flight of Vistarafrom Delhi to Mumbai. Amidstpalpable excitement PrasadMenon, Chairman, Vistara, litthe ceremonial lamp at thecheck-in counter along withMukund Rajan, Mak SweeWah, Members of the Board ofDirectors, Phee Teik Yeoh, CEOVistara, Madhu Kannan, NSRajan, Tata Sons GECMembers, TK Lim, SingaporeHC to India and PrabhakaraRao, CEO, Delhi InternationalAirport and was handed overthe first boarding pass. Childrenfrom the Salaam Baalak Trustaged between 7-12 years, wereboarded first to enjoy their firstflying experience ever. Theywere followed by the rest of thepassengers and the dignitaries.The fully loaded Airbus A320-200 branded in royal aubergineand gold then took off forMumbai's GVK ChhatrapatiShivaji International Airport,Terminal 2.

While congratulating theentire team at Vistara and theexecutives from Tata and SIA,Dr Sharma said: “Though Indiais projected to be the thirdlargest aviation market globallyby 2020, and the sector open-ing up to allow 49 % FDI willattract many new players, thefocus will be on safety andquality, which is more impor-tant. Also it is the PrimeMinister’s vision to developIndia as a leading tourism huband connectivity is imperativeto achieve this. So we welcome Vistara”.

Conveying his wishes,Ratan N Tata, ChairmanEmeritus, Tata Sons, said, “Ithas been a long-cherisheddream for the Tata group toestablish a world-class fullservice airline in India, in part-nership with SingaporeAirlines, and today that dreamhas come to life. I would like todedicate this day to JRD Tata,the man who started it all, andestablished India's first inter-national airline. His futuristicvision continues to inspire usand we salute his spirit anddream. I would like to extend

my best wishes to the Vistarateam as they embark upon aremarkable journey today.”

GM Rao, Chairman,GMR group, said, “Vistara isthe latest entrant into our familyof partner airlines and weextend our heartiest congratu-lations and best wishes to theteam for everlasting success.Vistara is a promising brandwith a strong lineage and I amconfident that they will deliveran unmatched flying experi-ence to travellers. My team andI join in celebrating this

momentous occasion togetherwith the Tata group, SingaporeAirlines and Vistara.”

Goh Choon Phong,CEO, Singapore Airlines said,“India’s aviation market hasbeen expanding rapidly andwe have been eager to direct-ly participate in and contributetowards this growth story formany years. We are confidentthat Vistara will help to stimu-late market demand and provide economic benefits to India, and are committed to supporting Vistara to deliver on its brand promise toIndian travellers.”

Menon, said, “Todaymarks the start of the new excit-ing chapter in Tata Group’s his-tory as we take to the skiesagain. I feel honoured to be partof this journey of Vistara, whichhas its core philosophy steepedin the same tradition as the Tatagroup. For long now, we haveheld on to this particular dreamand today I can proudly say thatour persistence has been wellworth it and has paid off.

Vistara’s first flight is a commencement of a unique flying experience.”

Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO,Vistara said, “To see Vistaratake flight in record time is amatter of great pride to me andmy entire team that has beenworking tirelessly for the pastmany months. The flight todayhas re-energized the teamwhich is now focused onensuring that we live up to ourbrand promise of a seamlessand personalized Vistara expe-rience. Today I would like toinvite India to ‘Fly the NewFeeling’ with Vistara.”

Vistara’s inaugural flight to Mumbai took off from Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport onJanuary 9 at 12:30pm. The event took place in the presence of Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture,Tourism and Civil Aviation and several other dignitaries.

Vistara takes first flight from Delhi’s T3

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� Children from the SalaamBaalak Trust agedbetween 7-12 years, wereboarded first to enjoy theirfirst flying experience ever.

� They were followed by therest of the passengersand the dignitaries.

Lift Off

The dignitaries with children at the launch


Harmandeep Singh Anand, MD ofJagsons Travels and Hon Secretary

General of the Travel AgentsAssociation of India (TAAI), reveals to

what the attendees can expectfrom this year’s exhibitors and talksabout the focus on educational work-shops for agents.

QHow many participants haveyou confirmed this year?We are anticipating over 80

exhibitors to take part in GPS 2015.Some of the international participantsinclude Tourism Malaysia, Spain,Thailand Convention Bureau, Bulgaria,Fiji, Canada, Indonesia, Mauritius,Seychelles, Jordan, New Zealand,Germany, and Philippines. Apart fromthis, we have local and internationalhotel chains, airlines, DMC, cruise lin-ers, travel insurance, visa serviceproviders and other ancillary serviceproviders participating as well.

QCan you shed some light onthe workshops that will be

conducted?The workshops are educational in

nature and this is an opportunity for the

local agents and tour operators to knowmore about the destination or productfirst-hand from the tourism board andDMCs. Apart from senior managementand owners, the front-liners and thecounter staff who are invited to attendthe workshop also end up benefitingfrom it as they get to know more about

the products. The workshops are inter-active and allow the participants to askquestions relating to destinations, prod-ucts and visas that will help them in cre-ating itineraries and explaining to theircustomers better.

In 2014, we had also allowedtourism and hospitality colleges toattend and get exposed to various work-shops and benefit from the same.

QCan you share some detailsabout the pre and post

event tours?

GPS, apart from showcasinginternational tourism products, alsobelieves in highlighting the tourismproducts of the region. Wildlife whichis a popular tourist attraction in Nagpur will be showcased during the

post tour. Apart from this, people willalso be exposed to certain touristattractions here.

QHow do you see GPS growingin the coming years?GPS is aimed at developing the tier

II cities of India to get tourism promi-nence. GPS acknowledges Central Indiaas one of the upcoming and potentialtravel trade and consumer markets inIndia. The theme for GPS 2015 is‘Explore the Heart of India’.

Today, the focus is on CentralIndia and we are showcasing fourcities – Indore, Bhopal, Raipur andNagpur — which are high on the radarof economic growth. As the citiesprogress, the availability of disposableincome increases, as the cost of livingin the tier II cities is not as high as themetros. The availability of disposableincome in turn encourages travel, beit domestic or international. GPS aimsat bringing to the doorstep of thesecities the wide range of tourism prod-ucts available so that consumers are directly exposed to them, and in turn can ask their travelagents/tour operators to include themin their packages.

Nagpur-based Jagsons Travels will yet again host its global buyer-seller meet ‘Global PanoramaShowcase’ from February 8-10, 2015. The second edition of the three-day event will be held atHotel Centre Point, Ramdaspeth, in Nagpur and is expecting participation of over 80 exhibitors.

4 6 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 AGENTS

GPS expects over 80 exhibitors

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With ‘Explore the Heart of India’ as the theme forGPS 2015, the focus will be on Central India,showcasing four cities – Indore, Bhopal, Raipur

and Nagpur — which are high on the radar ofeconomic growth

Harmandeep Singh AnandMD of Jagsons Travels and

Hon Secretary General of theTravel Agents Association

of India (TAAI)

Marriott openssecond Kochiproperty at LuLu Mall

Marriott International, Inc.has opened Kochi MarriottHotel, the fifth hotel underthe company’s flagshipMarriott Hotels brand inIndia. This will be the secondMarriott International prop-erty in the city and is located

at the LuLu Mall campus.Kochi Marriott Hotel offers274 guest rooms, whichinclude 25 club suites, onevice presidential suite, andone plush presidential suite.Rajeev Menon, Area VicePresident - South Asia,Marriott International, said,“Kochi Marriott Hotel is anexciting addition to theMarriott Hotels portfolio. Webelieve the city of Kochi hastremendous potential forbusiness and hospitalitygrowth, making it an obviouschoice for the Marriott Hotels brand.”

Rajeev MenonArea Vice President - SouthAsia, Marriott International


J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 4 9HOTELS

QHow has Hotel Grand Veniziabeen doing?The year 2014 has been great for us.

We managed to get a budgeted occupancywith the premium in ADR. The focusremained on the corporate segment, sportsmovement and social segment along withthe transit stay as we are strategically locat-ed in North Delhi which gives us an edge.Travellers staying in New Delhiget the luxury at a budget price.

The year 2015-2016 seems tobe bullish as we are alreadyholding 25 per cent confirmedreservations. The block com-prises social, sports and leisuresegment and with times, we willbe able to close good business.The hotel offers a panoramicview of lush green lawns frommost of its rooms.

QWhat are the occupan-cies of the hotel?The occupancy in

summer hovers between 60–65 per cent and the surge ismostly seen post August,which leads the occupancy toclose at 88 per cent.

QWhat are your futureplans?We plan to make our

facility ultra luxurious to lever-age on existing set of roominventory, thus giving us betterRevPar. We feel that there is a big gap of services to be looked upon in social segment. We are in process tocreate the exquisite packagesand offers for the social segment guests.

QWhere all in India are you plan-ning to open a property?We are planning to open a property

in Agra. It is a place where we are keen toopen a four star boutique hotel with focuson Food & Beverage outlets.

QHow are you planning to do the positioning of the

property?

We are a luxury prop-erty at budgeted price andwe have been perceived asa boutique luxury hotel. Wecontinue to strive ourselvesto be the choiceamongstbudget hotels but at thesame time the feel luxurytouch will remain the eminent part.

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Enjoying an ideal location amidst lush greens of North Delhi, Grand Venizia is now all set to open its doors in the city of The Taj, Agra. Arpit Bindal, Director–Sales & Business Development of the Hotel tells

about their plans to open a four star boutique hotel with a special focus on Food & Beverage outlets.

From Delhi to the city of Taj

We are aluxuryproperty atbudgetedprice and wehave beenperceived asa boutiqueluxury hotel

Arpit BindalDirector–Sales & Business Development, Hotel Grand Venizia


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


NEWS

Previously known as CountryClub India, the 25-year old

leisure infrastructure conglom-erate is expanding its worldviewto include travel agents in itssales spectrum. Y VarunReddy, COO, Country ClubHospitality & Holidays, whojoined the company aroundeight years ago, revealed this.

“We are always looking forDirect Selling Agents (DSAs) inIndia to sell our membership. Tothis effect, we are also activelylooking to include travel agentsto exclusively sell our member-ship. We have never focused onthem in the past. We plan toexpand our membership basefrom the current 3.5 lakh to 10lakh over the next five years,”Reddy said. The companyunderwent re-brandingprocess and it now promotes

four verticals: Holidays, FitnessCentres, Clubs and Events.“We promote ourselves by participating in internationaltrade shows like ATM Dubai,”Reddy added.

Focus areasThe young COO revealed

that corporates is one of the top

focus areas for the companythis year. “We have MICE andwedding facilities along withoutdoor team-building activitiesand they are significant revenuegenerators. Also, corporatememberships come with a lotof flexibility in the sense thatthey can change the name (ofthe employee and their family)

any number of times they wantto in any city they want,” he said.

Another focus area forthe company is to create syn-ergies with the hospitalityindustry. One of the ways it willdo this is by dealing with itslong-term debt that stands at `400 crore. Reddy said, “Wehave no capex plans for thenext few years and our entirefocus now is to reduce debt.”

He added that to matchits demand, the company alsoleases hotel rooms from reput-ed properties to give its mem-bers more choice. In Goa, itoffers 200-plus rooms but only50 are owned. “We add roomson a monthly basis and are always looking to lease out more rooms, floors actually,in places that are driving distance from any major city,” he adds.

Country Club Hospitality & Holidays is keen on exploring newergrounds. After renaming and re-branding itself, the company is lookingto team up with travel agents to exclusively sell their membership.

Country Club eyes travel agents

HA Z E L JA I NWe are also actively looking

to include travel agents toexclusively sell our membership. We plan toexpand our membershipbase to 10 lakh over the

next five years

Varun ReddyCOO

Country Club Hospitality& Holidays

Official FIFA 2014 agentTowards the end of

January last year, Cox & Kingsannounced to India that it hadbeen awarded the official rightsto promote hospitality pack-ages for FIFA World Cup 2014,which was to take place inBrazil from June 12-July 13, 2014.

An adventurous twistLater that year in March,

Cox & Kings Ltd together withEzeego1.com, the online trav-el site, put a spin on adven-ture tourism in India. Theyformed an alliance with GAdventures, the largest small-group adventure travel com-pany in the world that offerssocially and environmentallysensitive travel.

Tie-up with Liverpool FCE.L.I.T.E.S

The next month, Cox &Kings Ltd entered into an agree-ment with LFC E.L.I.T.E.S(Education & Learning InitiativeTraining Entrepreneurs inSport), which is the global edu-cation and training partnershipbetween Liverpool Football Cluband London School of Business& Finance (LSBF).

Culinary holidays In May that year, Cox &

Kings introduced special culi-nary holidays for Britain. Thisholiday included an opportunityto interact with award-winningMasterChef Pankaj Bhadouria,the first ever winner ofMasterChef India. The holidaysoffered clients the opportunity tolearn the secrets of using herbsand spices.

Sale of HBR’s campingdivision

A month later, Cox &Kings Ltd decided to take a steptowards consolidation andannounced the sale of thecamping division ofHolidaybreak for ̀ 892 crore. Ofthis, ̀ 855 crore was to be madepayable in cash on completionand the rest deferred relating toa tax refund. Peter Kerkar,Director of Cox & Kings, hadsaid at the time, “Our main focusis on education and leisure mar-kets. This sale is consistent withour strategy. Our net debt standsat `4,200 crore and the cashfrom this sale will go straighttowards its reduction.”

Outsourced partner forDeccan Odyssey

By August, Cox & Kingswas appointed as Maharashtra

Tourism DevelopmentCorporation’s (MTDC) out-sourced partner to operate theluxury train, Deccan Odysseyfrom October 2014. The agree-ment is for a period of fiveyears with scope for extensionfor another five years.

`1000 crore through QIP

The holidays and education travel groupannounced towards the end of2014 that it had raised around` 1,000 crore throughQualified InstitutionalPlacement (QIP), of equityshares of face value of `5 each. According to Kerkar, “Bulk of the proceedswill be utilised to pare downthe debt and this will furtherstrengthen the Group Balance Sheet.’’

A look at Cox & Kings’ activities in the year gone by shows that it mappedan uncharted course with innovative products and tie-ups. reviewsits step-by-step progression chronologically.

C&K defined innovation in 2014

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JANUARY 2015NATIONAL

16 -18 Bengaluru Travel & Tourism Fair

16 -18 Kochi India International Travel Mart

19 Mumbai Gray Line Latin America 2015Roadshow

19 Kochi Dubai Tourism Roadshow

20 Hyderabad Gray Line Latin America 2015Roadshow

21 Kolkata Gray Line Latin America 2015Roadshow

21 Ahmedabad Dubai Tourism Roadshow

22 Delhi Gray Line Latin America 201Roadshow

22 Nagpur Dubai Tourism Roadshow

22 - 24 Mumbai Hosts

23-25 Nagpur India International Travel Exhibition

23 -25 Coimbatore Holiday Expo

29-31 Delhi SATTE

INTERNATIONAL

28-1 Feb Madrid Spain FITUR

FEBRUARY 2015NATIONAL

2 Mumbai South Africa Tourism Board RoadShow

2 Delhi Tourism Fiji Road Show,2 Mumbai Austrian Tourism Media Launch2 Kolkata Dubai Tourism Roadshow3 Kolkata Tourism Fiji Road Show3 Mumbai Austria Tourism B2B Workshop3-4 Mumbai SATTE4 Ahmedabad South Africa Tourism Board Road

Show4 Chennai Austria Tourism B2B Workshop4 Mumbai Tourism Fiji Road Show4 Chennai Dubai Tourism Roadshow4-6 Mumbai Outbound Travel Mart4-6 Mumbai Business Travel And Mice4-6 Mumbai Travel & Tourism Fair5 Bengaluru Dubai Tourism Roadshow5 Bengaluru South Africa Tourism Board

Road Show5 Delhi Tourism Fiji Road Show5 Delhi Austria Tourism B2B Workshop6 Delhi South Africa Tourism Board Road

Show6 Chennai Tourism Fiji Road Show6 Delhi Austria Tourism Media Lunch6 Mumbai Dubai Tourism Roadshow10-12 New Delhi Outbound Travel Mart10-12 Delhi Travel & Tourism Fair11 -13 Mumbai IAAPI Amusement Expo12-14 Raipur India International Travel Exhibition20 -22 Kolkata India International Travel Mart20 -22 Bhubaneshwar Indian Tourism Fair20-22 Guwahati Holiday Expo22-24 Lucknow Uttar Pradesh Travel Mart21-23 Ahmedabad India Travel Mart26 -28 Mumbai Maharashtra International

Travel Mart27-1 Mar Vijaywada India International Travel Exhibition

INTERNATIONAL

16-19 Johannesburg IIPT World Symposium

22-24 Jerusalem TAFI convention

24-25 Melbourne AIME

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

Our app, which is rolling out,will help consumers identifyingwith Dubai and building theirown itineraries. This will makeit easier to approach Dubai asa family destination and iden-

tify one’s interests. Anotherinnovative initiative is#MyDubai. It encourages res-idents and visitors to post pho-tos on social media with thehashtag MyDubai to create adynamic and intimate sketch

of the city,” says Kazim.Overall developing the desti-nation and preparing for theinflux of tourists, Dubai alsoidentified its shortage of mid-market hotels and is nowdeveloping this sector as well.

Having incentivized setting upof mid-market hotels, growth isnot far. If the hotel becomesoperational by 2016 or 2017,the government will waive offits municipality fee for two tothree years.

Dubai takes on digital platformContd. from page 43


J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 5 3CLIPBOARD

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5 4 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 MOVEMENTSVFS Global New DelhiVinay Malhotra has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer(COO) for South Asia effective January 1, 2015. South Asia is animportant region for VFS Global and his key focusareas include evolving business strategy, man-aging key client relationships and businessdevelopment. Malhotra will be based in NewDelhi. He holds an MBA degree from BradfordUniversity, UK and his experience spans overtwo decades in the travel industry. Malhotrawill also continue in his role as the Global Headfor Dubai Visa Processing Centre(DVPC). He has been a part ofVFS Global since 2013 and hasbeen honoured with severalawards and accolades.

Six Senses Samui SamuiGary Antony Henden has been appointed as the General Managerof Six Senses Samui. Prior to this posting, he held the same positionat Six Senses Ninh Van Bay in Vietnam. Garyjoined Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas in2005 as an executive chef, quickly climbingthrough the ranks of operational and exec-utive management in its Asian and IndianOcean properties. His tenures include theformer Six Senses properties Soneva Fushiin the Maldives and Soneva Kiri in Thailandfollowed by Six Senses Ninh Van Bay,Vietnam before moving to SixSenses Samui, Thailand.

Marriott Hotels IndiaPuneAbhijit Chitnis has been promoted to Market Director of Sales &Marketing – Pune for Marriott Hotels India. After a successful two-

year stint as Multi-Property Director of Sales& Marketing, Abhijit will now oversee thesales & marketing function for the PuneMarket. Abhijit has been the pre-open-ing sales leader for both the CourtyardHinjewadi as well as the JW MarriottPune, both of which are success storiesfor the company. Chitnis was instrumen-

tal in bringing the Marriott brand into Punecity with its first Courtyard opening in 2009

and also played a key role in establishingPune as a key MICE destination in

India as well as the conversionof the JW Marriott Pune.

Renaissance Mumbai ConventionCentre Hotel & Lakeside ChaletMarriott Executive Apartments

MumbaiGaurav Aggarwal has been appointed asDirector of Catering Sales at theRenaissance Mumbai Convention CentreHotel & Lakeside Chalet Marriott ExecutiveApartments. Aggarwal has been an indis-pensable part of the Marriott family, leadingthe role of Director of Sales at Fairfield and

Courtyard before joining RenaissanceMumbai. He has been a strong asset for

the company, strengthening themotto of providing impeccableservices that Marriott hotelsstands by.

Star ToursMumbai Krishna Samji has joined Star Tours as International BusinessDevelopment Manager. He has 25 years of experience in thediverse fields of the travel industry. Over the years, he has beenmanaging jobs related to sales, marketing teams, developingbusiness in India and also in other countries.He has also rendered his services in the Middle East and USA. He will bemanaging the growth of Star Tours, his key responsibilities include lookingafter the expansion plans of the compa-ny in India besides managing the FIT &groups traffic.

JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut GroveResort and Spa MussoorieSunil Kumar has been appointed as the Executive Chef at the 115-key JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort and Spa that isslated to open in October 2014. Chef Sunil isa graduate from the Asan MemorialInstitute of Hotel Management in bak-ery & pastry as well as western cui-sine. Chef Sunil started his careerwith The Oberoi, Bangalore in theyear 2000 as a commis chef. Afterspending three years at The Oberoi,Chef Sunil moved to PNOCruises from 2003 to2005. In April 2011 ChefKumar moved to the GoaMarriott Resort and Spaas the Executive Chef.

Hyderabad Marriott Hotel &Convention Centre and Courtyard ByMarriottHyderabadJomy Abraham has been promoted as theDirector Food & Beverage at TheHyderabad Marriott Hotel & ConventionCentre and Courtyard by Marriott,Hyderabad. He has worked with theMarriott in Hyderabad for the last 19months and has over 11 years’ experi-ence in the hospitality business. He start-ed his career with the RenaissanceMumbai Hotel & Convention Centre in 2001and since then has grown tremendously withthe Marriott.

JW Marriott PunePuneMallika has been promoted as the Director of Sales and Marketingfor the JW Marriott Pune. With over 10 years of experience in hotel

sales. In her new role, she will lead theproperty sales & marketing team, andwill be responsible and oversee reac-tive and proactive sales functions aswell as the PR and Marketing port-folio for the hotel. Having been withMarriott for about 6 years now,Mallika has been a key member inthe opening of Courtyard by MarriottHinjewadi and Courtyard byMarriott City Centre. In her free

time Mallika enjoys travel-ling, listening to musicand reading .

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: Hazel Jain

Sajid Khan, Country Manager (India) for South AfricanAirways, loves spending time with his daughter duringthe week. “On most weekends, I goparagliding in Kamshet. That’swhy I love Himachal Pradesh; itsBir-Billing area is a popular sitefor paragliders, both Indians andforeigners,” he says. Not manyknow that Khan also loves to jive.Internationally, he loves France.“Not Paris but the outskirts ofFrance are beautiful. You get asense of history there. The chateausare still functioning and they giveyou an idea of how peopleused to live there yearsago,” Khan adds.

An IIM Bangalore alumna, Gauri Jayaram, founder of ActiveHoliday Company, is a traveller at heart. Her favouriteholiday destination in India is Pelling in Sikkim. “ThoughI love all places with tall snow-cappedmountains like the Himalayas andthe Alps, I also love the energyof New York and London. Icreate one memorableholiday moment each yearas I travel with mydaughters. The mostrecent one was rafting inBhutan,” she says. Shede-stresses by going ona long run whilelistening to rockmusic.

The best way for Rajesh Menon, Regional Sales &Marketing Manager (South Asia) for Cathay PacificAirways, to de-stress is by playing a sport. “We are luckyto have a provision for table tennis in our office and I usethe opportunity to play a gamewhenever time permits. I alsoplay cricket and volley ball whenI get the chance. If there is notime for a sport, just joggingwill do it,” he reveals. Onething about him that not toomany people know is that inhis leisure, he loves to cook.His favourite holiday destinationsin India are the backwaters ofKerala and South Goa. “Outside India, I wouldrecommendAustralia as agreat place toholiday,”Menonreminisces.

Aakar Lords Inn, Saputara, Gujarat SaputaraPrabir Chaki has been appointed as Operations Manager in AakarLords Inn, Saputara, Gujarat. He brings with him more than 14 yearsof rich experience in the hospitality industry withspecialisation in F&B Operations. Prior to hisnew role, he served as Executive AssistantManager at The Duke Retreat. He is aHotel Management graduate from IHRM,Kolkata. In his new assignment, he will beindependently responsible for the entireoperations and F&B of the hotel.


13-01-15FINAL_JANUARY-2ND:TT Layout 1/21/2015 1:07 PM

Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2015-16-17; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2015-17 for posting on 1st-2nd and 16th-17th

of the same month at New Delhi PSO, New Delhi - 110001, RNI No.: 53492/1991Date of Publication:15-01-2015

QConsidering the government as well as the private sector,

how big is the share of India in theFITUR pie?

Relations between both countrieshave increased and there are now around60,000 Spaniards travelling to India eachyear, according to industry data. Spain is

also highly attractive to visitors from India,who, according to the Spain-India CouncilFoundation, value aspects such as secu-rity, a pleasant environment and nature,well-organised tourist packages and qual-ity accommodation. FITUR 2015 will show-case the latest trends presented by com-panies and institutions from all over theworld and will also host the largest tourismbusiness and promotion forum on a world-wide scale. Present in these spheres andactively participating in them will be insti-tutions and business representations fromIndia. Furthermore, at FITUR 2015, Indiawill be showing some of its major land-scape and cultural attractions such asDelhi, Agra and Jaipur.

QWhat are your criteria for buyersand do you plan on developing

them further?We will place every facility at the

disposal of buyers. The Trade Show willwelcome the worldwide tourism industrywith the most comprehensive exhibitionof proposals and destinations and will

turn itself into the greatest business plat-form for the tourism sector. The workshopformula will take centre stage here,focused on incentivising agreementsbetween potential investors and growingmarkets such as Africa, which willadvance its business opportunitiesthrough the INVESTOUR Africa B2BWorkshop. These specialised sessionswill also have their own workshops, suchas “fITH Network, financing technologyin hotels” within FITURTECH and“Managing Big Data in the TourismIndustry” in FITURGREEN, among oth-ers. Added to them is the 5th HostedBuyers Workshop, which puts registeredcompanies in contact with a carefullyselected range of international buyersinvited by the Trade Show.

QThe Innovation and TourismTechnology Forum will have its

own showroom dedicated to thetourism of the future. How importantdo you think technology is for pro-moting tourism?

The symbiosis between technologyand tourism is ever increasing, and technological developments have changed the way we plan and make trips.For example, according to the air transportspecialist SITA and Air Transport World, 47per cent of travellers use their mobiledevices to book a trip, and 37 per cent topurchase their flight ticket. At FITUR, wewill be able to view the present and thefuture of technology in the specialisedFITURTECH section, in a special show-room dedicated to the tourism of the future(proposals combining design and new tech-nologies will be presented) and in thestands of a large number of exhibitors.

QWhat do you think countriesshould look out for while trying

to woo Spanish tourists?

Spaniards make more than 100 mil-lion overnight stays per year outside ourcountry and holiday trips involve an average stay of nine nights, double thefigure of overnights in domestic trips.Furthermore, the type of accommodationis another differentiating characteristic ofoutbound tourism given that tourists who head for foreign destinations use hotels as their main accommodationto a greater extent. For all these reasons, the quality and service of hotel is crucial in attracting Spanish visi-tors. But this is also the case with thediversity, specialisation and possibilitiesof each destination’s offering. For exam-ple, health and shopping tourism isattracting more and more tourists. This iswhy this year at FITUR we will devote two

specialised sections to this - FITURHEALTH and FITUR SHOPPING. TheTrade Show will also demonstrate thegrowing interest in gastronomic, sports,nature, cultural, gay, leisure and othertypes of tourism.

QWhat is the way ahead forFITUR? Any expansion model

that you'd like to shareDiversification and specialisation will

determine the future of tourism and will become one of the principal tools available to the different actors in the industry in promoting and developing theirbusiness. In achieving this goal, they willhave the wholehearted collaboration of theInternational Tourism Trade Show, whichin its 35th staging will again this yearbecome the largest worldwide tourismbusiness and promotion forum, with thepresentation of numerous projects seekingto dynamise the way the sector is run. TheTrade Show will offer its participants aunique space in which to promote andmarket their latest tourism products.

FITUR to diversify & specialise With health and shopping tourism attracting travellers, FITUR 2015 will devotetwo specialised sections to these two sectors. Ana Larrañaga, Director,FITUR, says the trade show will welcome the worldwide tourism industrywith the most comprehensive exhibition of proposals and destinations.

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

FITUR 2015 will showcase the latest trends presented by companies and institutions from allover the world. Present in these spheres andactively participating in them will be institutionsand business representations from India.

Ana LarrañagaDirector, FITUR


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