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INDIA 04 AsIA 11 europe 20mIDDle eAst 18 AmerIcAs 21 cArIbbeAN 25 respoNsIble tourIsm 31techNology 26AfrIcA 22 oceANIA 24 globAl 27 eveNts 28

The Western India Region, comprising the most potential travel markets in the country, is gearing up for hectic marketing activity with the Travel

& Tourism Fair (TTF) Series coming up at Ahmedabad (2-4 Sep), Surat (9-11 Sep), Mumbai (16-18 Sep) and Pune (23-25 Sep).

TTF Ahmedabad has grown phenomenally over last year. It has the distinction now of being the largest in the annual circuit of TTF spanning 9 cities.

TTF Surat and Pune move to the city centers this year, with a promise of huge footfalls. TTF Surat has moved back to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium, bang in the heart of the city. TTF Pune is also relocated to the brand new Messe Global Pune at Season’s Mall, cen-trally located in the upmarket Koregaon Park and Magar-patta area.

Located in the country’s biggest travel markets, TTF Ahmedabad and Mumbai are well on their way to being 25% bigger than last year.

To enhance and showcase their respective offerings, aside from attractive and elegant stalls, participating states and countries at TTF will present daily cultural events and marketing presentations to trade visitors and the media.

Keeping up with the current trends and challenges, Travel StartupKnockDown+ will be organised by TravHQ in association with TTF at Ahmedabad and Pune to highlight the emerging travel technologies across various cities in India.

With a wide array of tourism offerings country

representations from Macao, Thailand, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Nepal and more have set the bar high at var-ious TTFs this year.

Among the state tourism boards who have in-princi-pally committed big participation in various TTF editions are Uttarakhand, Goa, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Mad-hya Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Sikkim, Karnataka, Tripura, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media Ltd, commented, “Western India in general and Guja-rat and Maharashtra in particular are the most impor-tant travel markets of India. In addition to the unique Diwali vacation travel, the region has a lucrative busi-ness travel and MICE market. That is the reason we have

a 4-events series in the region, spread over weekends over a month, covering top cities. TTF Ahmedabad surpassed our expectation by growing 25% over last year. It is fol-lowed by Surat, Mumbai and Pune, back-to-back, offer-ing the travel industry the most comprehensive market-ing opportunity.”

Fairfest Media Ltd, organiser of the TTF and OTM branded travel shows have strengthened their unpar-alleled lead as India’s No. 1 travel trade show organ-iser, with about half the market share. It organ-ises every year TTF branded travel marts in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru and New Delhi, in addition to the grand finale OTM Mumbai- the largest travel trade show of India.

ttF West series to give impetus to Domestic and Outbound travel

I had the pleasure to inaugurate TTF for the first time in Kolkata in July this year and I was impressed with the size of the show and the large number of national and international stakeholders attending TTF, befitting its track record as India’s oldest and largest travel mart network. West Bengal Tourism is happy to be associated closely not only with TTF Kolkata as the Host State, but also through our participation at the other TTF locations like the ones coming up in Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune. West Bengal Tourism hopes to benefit in a big way from this platform for reaching out to the travel industry and tourists.

GOutAm DebTourism Minister

Government of West Bengal

The objective of participation at TTF is to promote Maharashtra as the world-class tourist destination, and offer opportunity to travel and tour operators to interact with foreign buyers, exhibitors, policy makers, investors. TTF is a perfect platform for us to showcase our best aspects with more than 2,500 exhibitors from 80 countries and 36 Indian States/UTs. Participation at TTF is

our opportunity to showcase the tourism inventories, vibrant culture, unique destinations and investment opportunities in Maharashtra. From exotic beaches to historic forts, scuba diving to fort trekking, heli tourism to Deccan Odyssey, delicious cuisine to culture and heritage monuments there is a lot to explore in Maharashtra.

VALsA NAIr sINGHPrincipal Secretary

Tourism & Culture, Government of Maharashtra

The vibrant state of Gujarat is richly endowed with tourism assets. Its geographical diversity, rich culture, glorious past and solid infrastructural backbone make it the perfect tourist destination. The Tourism Department, Government of Gujarat is glad to partner with TTF and we are certain that this platform will aid us in showcasing our

sincere efforts to transform Gujarat into a world class tourism hub and further boost our tourist inflow. Our hard work has also been recognised by the Government of India by honouring the state of Gujarat with the National Tourism Awards for the past three years.

N srIVAstAVAManaging Director and Commissioner

Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 2 • COVER STORY

editor & Publisher Sanjiv Agarwal

executive editorSulagna Ghosh

media DirectorJune Mukherjee

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DesignDilip MannaRitam Maity

managing Directors Gazanfar IbrahimRajiv Agarwal

Directors Harsh AgarwalAmit NagVijay Adhikari

Associate DirectorsRajarshi DeRaj Kapoor SinghR MaheshTarique EbrahimK Shankar Hema Manghnani

Advisors Abraham JohnSheila Leong

managersFatima D’CostaUma SurekaPratiksha RajapureShreyas JainYC AnilPhilomena D’SouzaDeepti V MurthyTania DasRamesh ChauhanSugandhi VarmaSanjeev Gupta

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Madhya Pradesh Tourism engages in various activities to promote its products and destinations. We will be participating in travel marts like the TTF and others organised across the country with a much larger space and a common theme aligning with our TV campaign to give a better recall to our brand. This year, the Jal Mahotsav (Water Festival) will be organised for a month at Hanuwantiya from December 15, 2016 to January 15, 2017 and our special impetus

will be to bring in the international tourists. Though Kanha National Park and Pachmarhi a lovely hill resort makes the most of business in the western part of the country; this year we would like to focus on the heritage corridor which is rich and diverse in its nature.

HArI rANJAN rAOCommissioner Tourism & MD

Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation

Tourism from India to New Zealand is increasing and we are confident to keep this momentum for our new fiscal year as well. We announced Bollywood actor, Sidharth Malhotra as the ambassador of Tourism New Zealand for India as he visited New Zealand to experience the country first-hand. TTF helps us network and educate travel agents on creating itineraries to promote New Zealand through our participation. We will be showcasing the benefits of travelling to New Zealand in spring and autumn, as well as highlighting both well-known and ‘off the beaten track’ regions in New Zealand.

steVeN DIXONRegional Manager - South and South East Asia

Tourism New Zealand

TTF is playing a very important role for the State Tourism Boards and other private stakeholders to meet at one place, promote their products and get business. Uttarakhand is known as the Dev Bhumi (Land of Gods) where lots of people come for Pilgrimage Tourism. Apart from pilgrimage, the state tourism board is focusing on promotion of Adventure Tourism, Yoga, Leisure Tourism and Homestays. Uttarakhand Tourism is organising Tehri Adevnture Festival in the second week of October in which various activities like paragliding, hot air ballooning, water sports will be promoted. Earlier this year, UTDB also conducted first paragliding event at Pithoragarh where paragliders participated in large numbers.

sHAILesH bAGAuLISecretary, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board

At the TTF West Series, we will promote our overall destination objectives in India through the travel service providers we meet at the event. These goals include expanding our share of the women traveller’s segment and increasing our appeal to the family segment. Additionally, we will focus on the wedding segment as well since Ahmedabad and other cities in the Western India also have a high potential for destination weddings. Thailand

has hired a brand ambassador, Anusha Dandekar to help target the bachelorette segment and the exponentially growing women’s travel segment.

sOrAYA HOmCHueNDirector - Mumbai

Tourism Authority of Thailand

We at Macao Government Tourist Office (MGTO) are working hard in all aspects to adopt new promotional theme this year to promote Macao to Indians, striving to attract visitors and at the same time, enhance the city’s attractiveness as a tourist destination. The promotional theme of Macao is ‘Experience Macao your own Style’. Our focus is on making the Indian traveller well versed in all the family oriented activities that Macao has to offer along with some amazing

festivals that the city will celebrate from September onwards. Macao has seen a 4.2% growth since last year until June 2016. We are positive these numbers will grow by the end of this year.

ArZAN KHAmbAttAHead of India Representative Office

Macao Government Tourist Office

Goa Tourism is known for being a land of diverse cultures. Our focus at the TTF West Series is to campaign aggressively on festival tourism and promote it widely. We have festivals and events all throughout the year which includes Grape Escapade- the Wine Festival, Carnaval, Shigmo, Food and Cultural Festival, Monsoon Festivals, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Tripurari Festival, International Film Festival India, Christmas,

New Year’s Eve and many more. Festivals and events are a big draw for tourists as they showcase Goa’s traditions and culture which are unique to the State.

NIKHIL DesAIManaging Director

Goa Tourism Development Corporation

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 3 COVER STORY •

The Business and Luxury Travel Mart (BLTM), the first full-fledged travel mart of its kind in India is receiving strong support from a wide variety of trade bodies, which will drive assured visitorship of target audiences and best-in-class knowledge and networking sessions.

Being organised at the Hyatt Regency Gurgaon from October 24-25, 2016, BLTM will feature sellers from global business, MICE and luxury travel suppliers, who will interact with hundreds of qualified hosted buyers from all over India, in addition to thousands of buyers from Delhi National Capital Region, which is arguably the biggest source market in India for these segments.

“We are committed to creating BLTM as India’s premier show focused on Business, MICE and Luxury Travel segments,” remarked Sanjiv Agarwal, Chair-man of Fairfest Media Ltd. “Hundreds of genuine hosted buyers will be flown in from all parts of India and neighbouring countries. Additionally, the venue Gurgaon NCR will provide a rich hinterland of high-value corporate buyers in thousands, who will be also accorded the same status as hosted buyers,” he added.

The Host State- Haryana Tourism will be support-ing and participating in BLTM to promote itself as an emerging MICE destination.

Leading trade bodies like Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) India, Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA), India Association Network (IAN), Indian Golf Travel Association, (IGTA) and Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), have con-firmed their support, and will be curating education and networking sessions during the two-day event.

A clutch of apex organisations from the film indus-try, including The Film & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd, Motion Picture Association of America- India office, National Film Development Corporation

of India will actively participate to highlight the mar-keting opportunity of promoting destinations for and through film shoots.

To cater to the growing segment of weddings, BLTM has roped in WedWise, India’s first ‘community driven’ wedding start-up with 31,000 active members includ-ing the top wedding planners in India.

‘A’ list of hosted buyers containing 500 top corporate buyers from all over India is being offered fully hosted buyer status. In addition, the sellers also have a quota of nominating buyers.

Among those who have confirmed their partic-ipation as Sellers at the BLTM include Accor Hotels, Chancery Hotel Bangalore, Clarks Group of Hotels/ 1589 Hotels, Club Mahindra, Hotel Fairmont– Jaipur, Lemon Tree Hotels/Redfox Hotel, Ottila, Pride Group

of Hotels, Shanti Maurice, The Ambassador Hotel Group, The Lodhi Hotel, The Paul Bangalore/Kuma-rakom Lake Resort, The Royal Orchid, The Tamara– Coorg, Travel Motivations, Variety Cruises.

International destinations like Korea, Nepal, Malay-sia, Zimbabwe etc, are the early birds who have con-firmed their intention to participate. Confirmations are awaited from at least 10 more countries.

BLTM will also provide unique opportunities for the Indian states to promote their Business Travel, MICE and Luxury products. Among the ones who have shown keenness to participate in BLTM along with the private sector are Goa, Rajasthan, and of course Host State Haryana, with confirmations also expected shortly from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

bLtm garners strong support from the industry

Travel StartupKnockDown+ heads West inviting budding startups to engage with investorsTravHQ and TTF are geared up to bring the new editions of Travel StartupKnockdown+ to Ahmedabad and Pune. These will bring together promising travel industry startups and industry experts for knowledge exchange. The past initiatives have been supported by organisations like Amadeus, Indian Angels Network, NASSCOM, Calcutta Angels Net-work, Unitus Seed Fund, Agnitio, Hyderabad Angels and more.

The participating startups will get a platform to showcase their prod-uct and an opportunity to network with other travel brands and poten-tial investors to explore new syn-ergies. The event participants will also get the chance to have one-to-one discussions with the mentors to receive constructive feedback about their business ideas and models.

The Ahmedabad and Pune events will feature informative discussions with Gujarat Angels and Mumbai Angels being partners on board for judging and mentoring panel. Along with the winner that emerges to be the common choice of judges, Amadeus will also select one startup to be a part of Amadeus Next. Fur-ther, Gujarat Angels and Mumbai Angels will also back selected start-ups of their choice. Through these events that have been well received so far, TravHQ and TTF are looking to reach out to different geographies of the country and offer the innova-tors the right platform to showcase their product.

Tanu Arora, Brand Manager, TravHQ, quoted, “We have received a very positive response during the recently concluded events and are

excited to continue our partner-ship with TTF to offer a community platform for travel startups. The StartupKnockDown+ events pres-ent an exciting spectrum of oppor-tunities for innovators in travel-tech to showcase their offerings and gain knowledge from industry experts.”

Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman at Fairfest Media Ltd who is also a Chartered Member of the TiE, quoted, “Building on the success-ful debut of Travel Startup Knock-down alongside the TechForum at the OTM in Mumbai, we decided to launch the shows within the TTFs in several cities across the country. Apart from serving the travel indus-try in general by showcasing and deliberating on latest technologies in travel, it also acts as a very impor-tant platform for the Startup ecosys-tem to come together.”

Fairfest Media Ltd, organisers of TTF and OTM, has leveraged the already popular events as a plat-form to showcase the technological innovations in travel. It was initi-ated with TechForum@OTM and is being propelled even further by TTF.

Interested startup can register at startupknockdown.travhq.com

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 4INDIA

The first ever Incredible India Tourism Investors’ Sum-mit (IITIS) 2016 is being organised from September 21-23, 2016 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The event is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with Tourism Finance Corpora-tion of India (TFCI) and Confederation of Indian Indus-try (CII).

The objective of this event is to position the Indian tourism sector for attracting large investments and presenting to the global and domestic investors tangi-ble investment-ready bouquet of projects from differ-ent states of India, informed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary- Tourism, Government of India.

“With the streamlining of infrastructure in the core and tourism related sectors through investments and partnerships between the public and private sec-tors, Incredible India can be catapulted amongst the most sought after destinations in the world. With 1000 ready projects, 250 domestic and international partic-ipants and opportunity to fix B2B and B2G meetings online, IITIS is providing a platform where one would

get exposed to incredible opportunities in tourism in India,” said Zutshi.

Invest India is the Investment Facilitation Partner whereas KPMG, YES Bank, HVS and TFCI are the Knowledge Partners for the event.

The three day exhibition will have State presenta-tions encompassing all investible properties, Session on

‘Why invest in India’, Panel discussion on ‘What India means to you: A celebrity session’ and Valedictory ses-sion on ‘How to boost investment in tourism sector’.

Indian States with ready investable projects, State Governments, Global Investors, Domestic Investors, Business Developers, Infrastructure Developers, Urban Developers, International Associations, Hoteliers, Ven-ture Capitalists, Tour and Travel Operators, Restau-rateurs, Cruise Liners, Helicopter Services, Banks & Financial Institutions, Entertainment Companies, Spa and Yoga Centers will all participate in IITIS.

The Summit will have dedicated space for seminars, B2B meetings and roundtables around focus themes. The Summit will provide an ideal platform for investors interested in tourism products, wherein Indian States/Union Territories shall present their respective inves-tor-ready products encompassing hospitality, wellness, roadways, infrastructure, airports, luxury and lifestyle, cruises and civic amenities amongst others.

- Sulagna Ghosh

IItIs 2016 invites global investors to explore investment opportunities in India

Government of India organises Bharat Parv to mark Independence Day celebrations

Gujarat bags three awards at the National Tourism Awards 2014-2015

To mark Independence Day 2016 celebrations, Mano-har Parikkar, Defence Minister inaugurated the week long ‘Bharat Parv’ organised by the Government of India from August 12-18, 2016 at the Rajpath Lawns, India Gate, New Delhi.

M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation presided over the inaugural func-tion in the presence of Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism & Culture and Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.

The prime objective of organising the event was to generate a patriotic mood, promote the rich cultural diversity of the country and to ensure wider partici-pation of the general public.

Static Bands of Army, Navy and Air Force per-formed on the Rajpath. The artists of North Zone Cul-tural Centre (NZCC) displayed cultural performances on pan India basis.

The Ministry of Tourism was designated as the

nodal Ministry for the event, the highlights of which included performances by the Armed Forces Bands, a multi-cuisine Food Court, Crafts Mela, cultural per-formances from different regions of the country and a Photo Exhibition by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting had set up ‘Azadi 70 Saal- Yaad Karo Kurbani’, a Photo Exhibition on the occasion of 70th Independence Day celebrations.

The participating States and Union Territories in the event were Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu and Dadra – Nagar Haveli, Goa, Guja-rat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Maharashtra woos tourism industry in ChennaiMaharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) showcased the state’s tourism potential at a roadshow in Chennai to enthrall the Chennai trade with the state’s tourism products. There was a specific Maharashtrian food spread at the show for giving a taste of the vibrant and distinct cuisine in Maharashtra. Different aspects of Maharashtra’s cul-ture were rolled out which gave a sneak peek into the many characteristics of Maharashtra.

Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Tourism Minis-ter, Government of Maharashtra, commented, “The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis has declared the year 2017 as the ‘Visit Maharashtra Year’ as part of its tourism development strategy. In

view of the same, Department of Tourism, Govern-ment of Maharashtra, planned to organise a series of roadshows, events, festivals and cultural pro-grammes throughout India to promote the state’s tourism attractions.”

“With Chennai being an important market from tourist point of view, it is imperative for us to show-case Maharashtra and its best products to the B2B travel trade fraternity, stakeholders and media. From exotic beaches to historic forts, scuba diving to fort trekking, heli tourism to Deccan Odyssey, delicious cuisine to culture and heritage monuments there is a lot to explore in Maharashtra,” said Swati Kale, Gen-eral Manager, MTDC.

The recently held National Tourism Awards bestowed three titles to Gujarat Tourism this time, in the categories ‘Best Film Promotion Friendly State’, ‘Best State comprehensive Devel-opment’ and ‘Most Innovative Use of Informa-tion Technology-Social Media/Mobile app’ along with Kerala.

The awards, presented by Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Dr Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State of Culture and Tourism, were received by the state’s Principal Secretary of Tourism, S J Haider and N Srivastava, Commis-sioner of Gujarat Tourism and MD.

In a bid to cash in on the ‘film friendly state’ tag, the state tourism department has geared up for Vibrant Gujarat 2017, prior to which it also concluded a day-long seminar aimed at promot-ing and deliberating on ‘Cinematic Tourism’ on August 29 at Mahatma Mandir.

THE DEPTH OF THE SEA IS ONLY MATCHED BY ITS STORIES

Contact us:

Tourism Authority of Thailand, New Delhi Office: Tel: 91-11-46741111 | Email: tatdel@tat.or.th

Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai Office: Tel: 91-22-22042727 | Email: tatmumbai@tat.or.th

www.tourismthailand.org

THE DEPTH OF THE SEA IS ONLY MATCHED BY ITS STORIES

Contact us:

Tourism Authority of Thailand, New Delhi Office: Tel: 91-11-46741111 | Email: tatdel@tat.or.th

Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai Office: Tel: 91-22-22042727 | Email: tatmumbai@tat.or.th

www.tourismthailand.org

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 6 • india

Odisha invites fresh bids for Shamuka tourism project

Kerala-branded taxis to ply in Dubai to promote tourist offerings

Foreign tourist arrivals to West Bengal surpass one lakh in 2015The aggressive promotion of West Bengal’s tourism has borne fruit with an increase of 1.15 lakh foreign tourists in 2015, compared to 2014. The Central Tourism Depart-ment, West Bengal, has revealed a figure of 14.9 lakh for-eign tourist arrivals to the state in 2015.

West Bengal tourism now hopes to exceed the num-bers this year with new projects and packages. The department plans to design special packages specifically during the four-day Durga puja celebrations. Other than organising river cruise rides and visiting some of the oldest pujas of Kolkata, an immersion parade on Red Road will also be part of the itinerary.

“The traditional tourist spots have become con-gested. The foreigners come to visit Bengal and want

to board and lodge with locals so that they can get a first-hand feel of the regional customs and culture and relish the local cuisine. So we have developed home-stays at many places, particularly Darjeeling, Kalim-pong, Doars and even in the Sunderbans region. These homestays have received a very good response from for-eigners,” Principal Secretary of Tourism, Ajit Ranjan Bardhan said.

The infrastructure development is also on the cards for which the state has tied up with a Kerala-based com-pany to build seven houseboats for Bengal that will ply along Sunderbans, Tajpur, Mandarmani and Kolkata. Besides, an eco-tourism hub spread christened ‘Bhorer Alo’ will also come up in the Gajoldoba-Jalpaiguri area.

Uttarakhand to add lesser-known destinations to its tourism mapThe Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat is ini-tiating a comprehensive strategy along with other senior officials, to popularise lesser-known tourist destinations in the state like Jageshwar, Lakhamandal and Poornag-iri, among others.

The national tourism map should now include Harki-doon-Kedarkantha, Kotdwar-Karanaswaram, Jagesh-war-Madmaheswar, Kalsi-Hanol-Lakhamandal, Cham-pawat-Mayawati-Poornagiri, Lansdowne, Purlo-Mori, Kausani-Gwaldam-Garud-Bedini and Jakholi-Bednital, emphasised Rawat.

“Uttarakhand is increasingly becoming the favourite destination of domestic and international tourists. Once we are able to include these lesser-known tourist attrac-tions in the established tourist circuit, the tourist influx in the hill state may go up considerably, resulting in an increase in the income-generation,” he said.

Rawat also stressed on the need to boost all genres of tourism in the state, comprising adventure, health and religious tourism. “Places like Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag can be developed to boost adventure and religious tourism while destinations like Nanital, Almora and Pithoragarh should be developed for adven-ture tourism,”said Chief Secretary Shatrughana Singh.

The government of Odisha is inviting bids for revving Shamuka tourism project planned at Sipasarubali, 10 km south of Puri. The state gov-ernment revised the bid document with Pricewa-terhouseCoopers (PwC).

“The restriction by the National Green Tribu-nal (NGT) on the construction work on Shamuka tourism project is lifted. We hope to initiate bid-ding for the project by the end of this month,” said Gagan Dhal, Principal Secretary (tourism), Odisha.

The mega tourism project is developed on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The Odisha government had lined up an investment of `120 crore on external infrastructure such as water supply, electricity and roads for the project.

The project will be executed in a phased man-ner. In the first phase of re-tendering, bids will be opened for four five star hotels and a golf course after obtaining necessary approval from the appropriate authority. The three five star hotels will be spread over an area of 20 acres each while the fourth one will be established on 40 acres of land. Similarly, bids will be invited for a golf course with golf villas covering 304 acres of land in the first phase of implementation.

Apart from the 4 five star hotels, the Shamuka tourism project would have facilities like a con-vention centre of international standards with a seating capacity of nearly 1,500, boutique hotels, international spa and wellness centres, an enter-tainment zone and sports facilities.

In an effort to tap the outbound tourism season in Middle East, Kerala Tourism is targeting the Arab travellers by rolling out a high-octane pro-motional campaign in Dubai, showcasing the state’s spectacular features via colourful visuals draped on a bevy of taxis moving through the bus-tling metropolis.

Around 200 Kerala branding taxis will ferry the message of ‘A Faraway Land Four Hours Away’– with eye-catching visuals featuring hill stations, backwaters, waterfalls as also Ayurvedic therapies – through the streets of Dubai.

“Apart from the favourable climate, the relative proximity and excellent air connectivity between Kerala and the cities of the Middle East make it easier to attract holiday makers to the state,” said Dr Venu V, Principal Secretary of Tourism.

With Arab tourists being one of the biggest spenders, Kerala has received more than one lakh visitors in from the region in 2015. The majority came from Saudi Arabia with 51,149 Saudi nation-als visiting last year, while Oman accounted for 18,763 footfalls.

“As the holiday season in the Middle East coin-cides with the Monsoon season here, Kerala is well-positioned to benefit from the influx of trav-ellers looking to trade in the sizzle and dust for cooler climes and greener pastures,” said U V Jose, Director, Kerala Tourism.

The Department of Tourism of the Government of Kar-nataka has unveiled the newly formed Bengaluru Tour-ism Advisory Committee (BTAC) under the chairman-ship of Priyank Kharge, Minister for Tourism and IT & BT. The committee will consist of the top officials in the Tourism Department and also experts from verticals such as heritage, urban, landscape, hospitality, architec-ture and conservationists who can contribute towards branding Bengaluru and making it a global city in the true sense.

Understanding the tourism potential of Bengaluru and to brand it as a global city and the most favourable urban tourism destination, BTAC was formed after a month of brainstorming sessions and deliberations. The scope of the committee is to provide quick action plans for developing Bengaluru region as a tourist des-tination by creating brand Bengaluru, identifying dif-ferent circuits and trails, offering tourism technologies, drawing a calendar of events, promoting art and culture, attracting PPP projects and engaging in

inter-city-cooperation concepts.Further, the committee will help in positioning the

state capital as a well connected holiday destination by involving local talent pool and the effective development of local employment and subsequent revenue genera-tion. The committee will also be responsible in enhanc-ing positive perceptions about the city through engage-ments with travellers across the world which, in turn, will help drive tourism, thus making Bengaluru a smart global city.

Karnataka constitutes bengaluru tourism Advisory Committee to brand bengaluru

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 8 • india

Rajasthan, a much desired destination for elite wed-dings, is renting out its iconic trains for the purpose. With this new initiative, the tourism department is eyeing international tourists.

Aiming to make the state one of the best wedding destinations in the world, Rajasthan Tourism has

also come up with new wedding packages in two of its luxury locomotives, ‘Palace on Wheels’ (POW) and ‘Royal Rajasthan on Wheels’ (RROW). One can now charter the entire POW for $370,000 for seven nights and eight days. The charges for RROW are yet to be decided.

“Rajasthan’s luxury trains, POW and RROW are both popular and well known tourism products of Rajasthan. We are hard selling them from the coming season through special packages including that for weddings. The new incentive package has also been well received by tour operators and travel agents,” said Ashutosh A T Pedenekar, Director of Tourism.

Bookings for POW, that departs from New Delhi and terminates at Jaisalmer, have already started.

“We are getting a good response from the market and numerous enquiries regarding the same. This will be a unique experience for the guests attend-ing the wedding,” added Khalid Khan, President, Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators.

Goa tourism launches new products to promote Adventure tourism

Andhra Pradesh announces the Annual Tourism Excellence Awards

Goa, a 365 day holiday destination nationally and inter-nationally, is planning to launch new activities to pro-mote Adventure Tourism in the country, said Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC).

“After the successful launch of white water rafting, hot air balloons and helicopter rides, GTDC is plan-ning to introduce new adventure activities like segway tours, hop on hop off tours, bungee jumping, motorised paragliding, horse riding trails, scuba diving etc,” he informed.

New tourism infrastructure projects are also in the offing and those nearing completion will be inaugurated shortly. A new cruise boat jetty, multi level car parking project, construction of an Institute of Hotel Manage-ment, beautification of several tourism locations will be commissioned shortly.

Five star resorts are proposed to be set up on GTDC properties at Miramar, Anjuna and Britona and a

Theme Park at Mayem.The state is also promoting other tourism segments

like eco tourism, heritage tourism, culture and cuisine, sports tourism, film tourism, wedding tourism, medi-cal tourism, monsoon tourism which are getting popu-lar all across the globe.

Rajasthan launches packages to host weddings on its luxurious trains

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism will soon be hosting the Annual Tourism Excellence Awards 2015-16. The winners will be awarded on World Tourism Day on September 27, 2016.

The theme for 2016 is ‘Tourism for All – Promot-ing Universal Accessibility’. Accessible tourism is about the creation of environments that can cater to the needs of all of us, whether we are travelling or staying at home.

Among the contenders will be classified hotels, approved travel agents, tour operators, writers, edu-cational institutions and others, who will be awarded to acknowledge their performance in their respective fields and also to encourage healthy competition to promote tourism.

“Andhra Pradesh has in the last two years seen tourists in large numbers and to keep the ever increasing travellers engaged and also the various service providers the awards have been announced. This will motivate the entire tourism fraternity and will also bring new operators in various categories,” said R P Khajuria, Commissioner, Department of Tourism.

The awards will be given to all the segments of the industry recognised either by the Central Govern-ment or State Government, travel agents, tour oper-ators, classified hotels including heritage hotels, res-taurants and independent hotels.

The Administration of Andaman and Nicobar is under-taking aggressive measures to encourage tourism to the destination. This was informed by the Lt Governor, Lt Gen A K Singh (Retd), during the 70th Independence Day celebration in the isles.

Besides focusing on the infrastructure development in various sectors, with respect to tourism, the Administra-tion is making efforts to develop and promote new tourist destinations. The views of the Administration have been submitted to the Government of India for proposed holis-tic tourism development of five islands namely Ross & Smith, Long Island, Havelock, Neil and Little Andaman.

To speed up the process of development of more eco-tourism sites, with focus on North and Middle Andaman,

the Administration has also moved a proposal under Swadesh Darshan/Coastal Circuit Scheme of Govern-ment of India. It has been accorded approval in-principle.

The Administration is also encouraging ‘Homestays’ to create a product which will give tourists a unique expe-rience of life of people and their history, art, culture and food. “We also remain committed to enhancing safety aspects for all tourism related activities,” the Lt Gover-nor added.

In order to give further boost to ecotourism, the Department is creating infrastructure at Long Island and also opening up new islands for promoting ecotourism for providing gainful employment to the youth living in and around the areas.

Andaman and Nicobar to open up new islands to attract tourists

Punjab launches scheme to provide pilgrimage on busesUnder the pilgrimage scheme ‘Mukh Mantri Tirath Darshan Yatra Yojana’, launched by the government of Punjab, pilgrims will now be able to go on pilgrim-age through buses as well.

First jatha comprising more than 350 people, mostly women, left for the yatra of Sri Hariman-dir Sahib, Amritsar in seven buses. The buses were flagged off from near Ladhowal Toll Barrier by Gill MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik and ADC (General) Rishi Pal Singh.

The pilgrims are being provided all facilities free of cost. The pilgrimage by buses will aid people in going on pilgrimage to far off places. With the help of buses plying under this scheme, these people can also pay obeisance at places of religious importance. The buses will continue to ply from all constituencies on a regular basis, informed Shivalik.

This scheme is another step forward in Punjab’s efforts for promoting heritage tourism in the state.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 9 INDIA •

Madhya Pradesh is undertaking the best measures to promote water tourism by developing the existing water bodies in the state.

The water bodies will be aligned with additional facil-ities like cottages and boating. Besides tourist attractions like Choral, the state is promoting Tawa Madhai that is being sold as a combo for the tourists to cruise in the river Denwa that flows through the forest. One can also take a gypsy ride in the Satpura National Park that offers the wonderful combined experience of water cruise and forest ride.

A month long Jal Mahotsav (water festival) will also be held at Hanuwantiya from December 15 – January 15, 2017, for which the state is specifically focusing on attracting international tourists.

Madhya Pradesh has further introduced new set of caravans with greater capacity that is fully equipped with studio style AC bedrooms with eight convertible sofa cum beds, washroom, home theatre, Wi-Fi a kitch-enette and other features just to enhance the entire expe-rience of caravanning.

Commenting on the tourism promotion plans this year, Hari Ranjan Rao, Commissioner Tourism & MD, MP State Tourism Development Corporation, said, “While TV, radio and print remain our main avenues for promotion by default, this year, we will try and occupy a large space in the digital arena for its sheer reach and the target market we are aiming at. In this we have some interesting activities lined up like the augmented real-ity which should be the first of its kind taken up by any

Tourism board. Then we have the Facebook canvas and the web series which will certainly attract eye balls.”

In a highly involved and a patient interaction with the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), Union Minis-ter of Tourism, Dr Mahesh Sharma, fully understood the implications of a favourable GST regime for tourism and hospitality in India and the perils of an unfavourable one.

He appreciated the criticality of amending Section 2(44) (c) in draft GST law for exports status and the significance of keeping a GST rate less than 10% for domestic tourism industry. Dr Sharma has proposed the very relevant approach to sensitise

and engage with key political leader-ship at the union government level of this criticality and how a favourable GST regime for tourism can spur jobs induced by tourism upto 9 crores across our hinterlands, of how it will boost our forex inflow to $30-35 bil-lion annually and reduce the current account deficit of India and how it will add to our GDP through additional infrastructure and demand creation in tourism.

The Minister has personally prom-ised to handhold this exercise to cre-ate a very growth oriented tourism & hospitality industry.

Cox & Kings has curated a travel guide-book called ‘Dubai: An Experience’ to showcase the extravagance of Dubai. The guidebook was launched by Bol-lywood actor Emraan Hashmi and Karan Anand, Head, Relationships, Cox & Kings at Crossword bookstore in Mumbai.

The unique travel guidebook com-posed for the Indian traveller covers both the explored and unexplored facets of Dubai. It is a comprehensive compilation of the cities’ myriad land-scapes- culture, cuisine, shopping,

key attractions, accommodation, des-ert adventure, entertainment and nightlife.

Speaking at the launch event, Anand said, “With the launch of this travel book, we want to help travellers plan their trip better and experience Dubai in a whole new light. The book is well attuned to the needs of both first-time and experienced travellers and offers in-depth information on hotels, attractions, restaurants and activities along with tailor-made itineraries for different periods of stay and interests.”

Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has launched another vertical Banyan Tree Lifestyle Services (BTLS) to cater to the growing demand of lux-ury products and services in the Indian market. BTLS encompasses the entire portfolio of hotels, resorts, residences and related services under the Banyan Tree Group.

Currently, the Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts portfolio is grouped under four brands– Angsana, Ban-yan Tree, Cassia, Dhawa; and covers the different segment of evolved dis-cerning travellers and thereby cov-ers the A,B,C,D of segmented hotel portfolio.

BTLS comes with several added advantages that is designed to aug-ment the guest experience and

strengthen the relationship with Ban-yan Tree hotel group. The three key offerings are Bespoke concierge ser-vice, Banyan Tree Private Collection, Banyan Tree Group Residences sales and owners club.

Manas Sinha, Director- India Sales Associates (GSA-Banyan Tree & Angsana Hotels), said, “BTLS han-dling is a specialised function. We shall be conducting seminars and consumer connect events to edu-cate the membership benefits and uniqueness to the potential consum-ers. It also entails visit and experience of various Banyan Tree locations so that the consumers can choose the right services and become a part of the growing Banyan Tree brands’ family.”

Madhya Pradesh gears up for aggressive tourism promotion

Union Tourism Minister and FAITH develop a joint strategy to tackle GST

Cox & Kings unveils a unique Dubai travel guidebook

Banyan Tree Lifestyle Service gets underway in India

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 10 • india

Forest Ministry in Tamil Nadu proposes helicopter tourism in Kodaikanal

Sikkim aims to attract 12 lakh tourists by 2025

IATO organises FAM trip to Orchha, Madhya Pradesh

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) recently conducted a familiarisation trip to Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, for all its members and media per-sonnel. The trip to the destination began from New Delhi on August 13, via Jhansi, and lasted till August 15.

An evolving tourist attraction, the small town of Orchha was founded in the 16th century by the Bun-dela Rajput chieftain, Rudra Pratap, who chose this stretch of land along the Betwa River as an ideal site for his capital.

Members at the trip were checked in at the Orchha Palace and Convention Centre, a property that is located at a little distance from the main township and has recently begun operations. It has been designed on a plot of nine acres with a total covered area of over 1,60,000 sq ft. Besides a main public area building, the resort has several guest room clusters and suites (that are under construction) along with a large lawn area. The large convention hall also deserves special mention.

The guests at the resort were not only treated with

sumptuous meals, but were also provided other indul-gences like foot massage and mehendi by the localites, marking an inclusive form of business thus guarantee-ing employment opportunities for them too.

On the very first day, guests were initiated into the history of Orchha, the capital of Bundelkhand, through a sound and light show at the Orchha Fort. Laden with reminisces of medieval history, this old capital has pre-served every essence of its rich past illustrated through Raj Mahal, Jahangir Mahal with exotic paintings, Datiya Palace, huge cenotaphs called Chhatris, besides ancient religious temples like the Ram Raja temple and the Laxmi temple, all of which the guests paid a visit to.

For those looking beyond history, Orchha can boast of large areas of forest canopy popular for teak wood, the holy river of Betwa and also the sight of rare Indian Vultures specially conserved in the town. The presence of historical architecture and scenic beauty is also grad-ually making Orchha a much sought-after film shoot-ing spot. The destination is now drawing tourists in sig-nificant numbers.

According to C Seenivasan, Minister of Forests, a proposal has been sent to the state government of Tamil Nadu for the introduction of helicopter tourism on Kodaikanal hills.

A suitable site has been indentified near Vil-patti in this regard, and a feasibility study was on. A technical committee had to inspect the spot and submit a report, based on which the government would take steps to implement the project. Special forest teams had been monitoring animal migra-tory areas to alert local people and chase the ani-mals into reserve forests.

While inspecting migratory zone near Perumal Malai along with the Minister, District Forest Offi-cers D Venkatesan and P Murugan informed that wild animals had been migrating through PV Valley. Acute drought in Palani block forced ele-phants to migrate to the hill station. Jackfruits too attracted the wild animals towards Kodaikanal, they added.

The Sikkim government has set a target of attracting 12 lakh tourists to the state by 2025.

“Sikkim with highest forest cover of 47% in the country is most favourite tourist destination in entire north eastern region and its tourist arrival has dou-bled in last ten years,” said, Pawan Kumar Chamling, Chief Minister, Sikkim.

Sikkim registered 3,47,650 domestic tourist arrival in the year 2005 which increased to 7,05,023 in the year 2015 while 16,518 foreign tourist arrivals were registered in the year 2005 which increased to 38,479 in the year 2015.

Moreover, Sikkim’s Kanchenjunga National Park (KNP) has now been inscribed as India’s first ‘Mixed World Heritage Site’ by UNESCO. KNP located in eastern Himalayan region was set up in 850 sq km area in August, 1977, and was subsequently extended to 1784 sq km in May, 1997, by including surround-ing areas for the purpose of protecting and develop-ing wildlife. It had been on the tentative list of World Heritage Sites since 2006.

Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) recently conducted its elections to appoint new team members for the term 2016-2018. P P Khanna from ‘Dream Team ADTOI’ was elected as the President for the next two-year term defeating Subhash Verma of ‘Team Positive’.

Rajat Sawhney defeated Sanjay Aggarwal for the post of Vice President, while Chetan Gupta got elected as the General Secretary defeating Anurag Aggar-wal. Debashis Dey got elected as the Joint Secretary against Dalip Gupta. Kamal Gandhi defeated Rajesh Arya and got elected as the Treasurer.

The newly elected Executive Committee (EC) members include Anil Rajput, Ankit Miglani, Arvind

Khanna, Ashish Chander Sehgal, Jatinder Singh Bhatia, Manoj Varshney, Reena Chopra and Sanjay Saxena.

The requirements for Protected Area Permit will now be eased for foreigners visiting various parts of Ladakh, announced the government of Jammu and Kashmir.

Following an intervention by the state’s Chief Min-ister, Mehbooba Mufti, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs undertook the decision as a consequence of

which foreign tourists will now be able to visit parts of Nubra Valley.

Expressing much satisfaction over the new develop-ment, Mufti emphasised on her government’s resolve to boost tourism opportunities in the state and open up new tourist spots in Kashmir as well as Jammu province.

The state’s tourism department will also expe-dite necessary approvals and initiate work on vari-ous tourism infrastructure projects for which DPRs have already been submitted for approval of the cen-tral government.

Besides improving the infrastructure in popu-lar tourist destinations like Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg, efforts will also be made to develop upcom-ing places like Yusmarg, Doodpathri, Khilanmarg, Kokernag and Tosamaidan to attract more tourists. Adequate measures will also be taken for promoting adventure tourism in the state.

ADTOI appoints new team members for 2016-18

Norms relaxed for foreigners visiting Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 11ASIA

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To travel to Indonesia, Indians have to depend on carriers like Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air Asia, Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines and others for connecting flights via Singapore, Bang-kok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong etc. There is still no direct flight connectivity.

“Indonesia is competing with other Asian coun-tries to attract more Indian tourists and we are not much behind. We know our accessibility is not as perfect as countries like Thailand etc. Certainly direct flight connectivity is a big obstacle towards getting more tourists to Indonesia. But we expect Garuda Indonesia to start operating between New Delhi and Denpasar Bali before the end of this year. This direct connectivity will not only reduce flying time but will also come cheaper. It could be five times a week in the beginning and later may be converted to a daily flight,” said Assistant Dep-uty Director of Indonesia Tourism, Dody Prianto.

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism, as part of its marketing plan organised ‘Sales Mission India 2016’ in Kolkata and Ahmedabad to promote Won-derful Indonesia to lure more tourists from India.

In Kolkata, the roadshow took place at Park Hotel while in Ahmedabad the venue was Hyatt Regency Hotel. The main aim was to get together the Indonesian and Indian travel partners under one roof for better business association.

Deputy Tourism Minister for Overseas Pro-motion I Gde Pitana had said that this sales mis-sion is the continuation of the previous sales mis-sion held in Hyderabad, New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai during the first half of the year. He hoped this event will also add positive impact and further increase the Indian footfall in Indonesia.

Tourism Minister of Indonesia, Arief Yahya has recently said that India is one of the potential mar-kets Indonesia has been targeting for, to lure more foreign tourists. “The number of Indian tourists holidaying in Indonesia has kept increasing over the past six years,” he was quoted.

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism noted that the number of Indian tourists’ arrival to Indone-sia from January to June 2016 was recorded at 185,911 with a growth rate of 28.25% amid the neg-ative growth of foreign tourists from other coun-tries due to global economic slowdown. Com-pared to the same period in 2015, the number of Indian tourist arrivals in Indonesia was recorded at 145,734.

The event facilitated around 18 Indonesian sellers and Indian buyers from both the cities to meet and transact on various Indonesian tourism products.

Thailand has announced a hike in its Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) fee. Thailand is doubling the fee from THB 1000 to THB 2000 ($29 to $58) with effect from September 27, 2016.

The visa fee hike will apply to citizens from all the 18 countries to which Thailand offers VoA, including China, India, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia. Tourists are entitled to apply for VoA at 42 designated immigra-tion checkpoints that will allow a stay of 15 days in the country.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the decision to implement a 100% increase was based on the idea of the current charge being lower than the visa fees paid by Thai tourists visiting other countries.

The other countries offered VoA to Thailand are Bul-garia, Bhutan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Romania, San Marino, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said that the year’s target of 2.4 trillion baht (69 billion) in tourism revenue, a nine percent increase from 2015, remains unchanged.

Garuda Indonesia’s Delhi-Bali direct flight expected to take off this year

Thailand to double its visa-on-arrival fee

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 12 • asIa

Tourism Malaysia appoints Sulaiman Suip as Director, North & East India

Philippines’ multi-city roadshow focuses on Indian travellers

Maldives greets its 750,000th tourist to the country

Maldives has welcomed its 750,000th tourist, Wang Shuai, a Chinese tourist, this year in August. Shuai and his family were warmly welcomed at the airport VIP lounge by Moosa Zameer Hassan, Minister of Tourism; H.E. Wang Fukang, the Ambassador of China to Mal-dives, along with senior officials from the tourism indus-try, Ministry of Tourism, Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC), Maldivian, Maldives Airports Company as well as the Maldives Immigration. Shuai was gifted a commemorative plaque and a holiday in the Maldives sponsored by Meeru Island Resort & Spa.

This is the third event held this year to celebrate the achievement of arrival milestones of Visit Maldives Year 2016. Visit Maldives Year 2016 aims at achieving the tar-get of 1.5 million tourist arrivals this year.

Upcoming events include Maldives Photography competition and Surfing Competition to be held in the Maldives. Tourism being the most important industry for Maldives, the VMY2016 campaign is expected to strengthen the industry, giving more opportunities to locals to promote their products and services in a greater platform.

Tourism Malaysia has appointed Sulaiman Suip as the new Director, North & East India oper-ations. Suip will be based out of New Delhi and focus on bringing inno-vative products and pro-moting unique experi-ences to the Indian travel

community. Previously, Suip held similar positions in Thailand and as Deputy Director at TM Japan office.

“India is an important market for us as it contrib-utes to the 6th largest arrivals to Malaysia. This year we have a target of welcoming one million Indian tourists. The face of Indian travel is changing a lot and now it’s not just about status symbols or check-ing places off a list. Experiential holidays like spa hol-idays, art and culture trips, and culinary vacations are catching the fancy of the Indian traveller. Focus will also continue on promoting theme parks and the shopping segment, as Malaysia is seen as a perfect family destination with something for everyone in the family,” said Suip.

The Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines suc-cessfully conducted a series of roadshows from August 8 to 11, 2016, covering the four cities of Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai.

A delegation led by DOT Philippines’ Director Verna C Buensuceso, Officer in Charge, Market development Group, and Raymund Glen A Agustin, Chief, Tourism Operations Officer, Market Development Group-Russia, India, & the Middle East, gave an overview of the boom-ing tourism industry in the archipelago. The event brought together hoteliers, resorts, spas, representatives of travel attractions and tour operators from the Philippines to interact with over 100 local travel trade partners and buy-ers in B2B sessions.

Speaking on the occasion, Director Verna C Buensuceso affirmed that India is an important source market for the Philippines with 74,824 Indians visiting the destination last year, registering a 22.36% year-on-year growth. “Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai are the important feeder markets and hence we are looking forward to strengthen-ing our relations with local travel partners from these cit-ies. Overall, the Philippines is looking forward to welcome 100,000 Indian tourists by 2017. VPA 2016 campaign aims to drive excitement among travellers so that they revisit the country in 2016 for more fun and adventure and to garner fabulous memories to cherish,” Verna added.

Verna said, “We had more than 100 agents and oper-ators in each city. Our growth shows that there is a lot of interest from the Indian market for the Philippines. In 2015-16, the numbers grew by 22% with arrivals from India touching 75,000. This makes India the 13th biggest market for us globally.”

SanJeet, Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism said,

“The year 2016 is witnessing a strong start for Philippines Tourism, especially from the India market. We believe in putting our best efforts to make every roadshow more promising than the last one. The Indian travellers’ pal-ate has become experimental and therefore, through our numerous trade initiatives, we envisage the influencers of the Indian travel market to sell the destination more effec-tively to the end consumers.”

The programme for the roadshow included presen-tations by officials of DoT Philippines, DMCs and hotels from the Philippines in addition to Q&A, detailed network-ing sessions and a special lucky draw for the participants.

Raymund Glen A Agustin said, “I am very positive that Kolkata may give a bigger share, precisely because it is very near and we would also like to have the support of the air-lines for the direct connectivity. We would like to introduce all our destinations slowly so that we can offer more variety. Palawan and Davao are new destinations and have huge potential as a destination for the Indian travellers. We are also putting in our efforts to bring in more group travellers

and that is why we are also focussing on Indian weddings.”Sanjay Maniar, Director, Travelaid & President, West

Bengal, IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) said, “It is a very interesting destination and a new product for the Kolkata market. It has a lot of potential particularly for the leisure market, a lot of wonderful beaches. Hopefully, there is going to be direct flight connectivity between Kolkata and Manila which would definitely help us to increase our numbers.”

Over the last couple of years, DOT Philippines has been actively promoting the destination not only as a hol-iday destination but also for weddings, luxury, MICE and small group travel. Destinations like Manila, Bora-cay, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan and Davao have been aggres-sively promoted in the recent years. DOT Philippines con-ducted roadshows in the cities of Pune and Ahmedabad in February 2016, and received an overwhelming response. With the AJACSS UK visa relaxation at all international airports, the Philippines is sure to attract more Indians by the end of 2016.

Every year the Macao Government Tourist Office (MGTO) tries to engage its consumers and trade part-ners in a variety of activities. Macao is now focusing more on honeymooners, solo women travellers, families and all who want to celebrate and have a good exciting holi-day experience. MGTO is also in talks with various other partners to collaborate and reach out to the audience via radio, billboards, Bollywood associations and more tar-geted mediums.

Macao has come up with quite a few creatively designed promotional activities that will help endorse Macao’s theme of ‘Experience Macao Your Own Style’. “We have a Bollywood themed Radio activity and have also partnered with the very famous tele series like ‘Band Baja Bride’ on NDTV where we will be giving lucky cou-ples honeymoon packages to Macao. Apart from that we have our joint trade co-ops with several travel agents,

FAM trips and social media activities scheduled through-out the year,” said Arzan Khambatta, Head of India Rep-resentative Office, MGTO.

Recently, Macao Tourism in collaboration with Star

Cruises concluded a Mega Pan India FAM, hosting quite a few well-known travel trade agents. “We are also in talks to launch a new product of Macao and Chime-long packages for the discerning travellers,” added Khambatta.

The current year began with the Lanterns Festival, The Chinese New Year, and the Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Monkey. The latter half of the year is also packed with lots of excitement like the Firework Festival, Macau Grand Prix, The Lights Festival, The Food Festival and much more starting from September 2016. Macao has also witnessed new and grand properties like The Stu-dio City Resort which opened last year with the theme of Batman. This year Macao is also looking forward to the newer and grander Wynn Palace Macao and the much awaited Parisian Macao of Sands group in the last quarter of 2016.

Macao Tourism wants travellers to Experience Macao Your Own Style

Everybody loves this show.

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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 14 • asIa

With 36% of global tourists showing major interest in adventurism, the Civil Aviation and Tourism Minis-ter, Rashed Khan Menon, has underlined the need for boosting Adventure Tourism in Bangladesh.

The Tourism Minister was addressing a a Memoran-dum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony held at Hotel Obokash in Dhaka. The MoU was signed between Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) and The Base Camp, the first outdoor activity camp of the country.

According to tourism experts, Bangladesh has a lot of potential in the sector and the government must take active initiative in developing mountaineering, rafting,

rippling, paragliding, parachuting, hiking and trekking.“As 60% population of Bangladesh are youths, it is an

urgent need for us to bolster adventure based tourism to attract more tourists. Adventure Tourism is experi-encing an unprecedented growth globally, our neigh-bouring countries like Nepal and Maldives are earning a huge amount of revenue by offering this tourism,” said Menon.

Bangladesh currently offers tourists trekking in Chittagong Hill Tracks (CHT) and enjoyment of rivers and rill crossing throughout the world’s largest man-grove forest, the Sunderbans.

Changi Airport showcases Singapore through new interactive art

Bangladesh to boost Adventure Tourism, suggests Minister

Changi Airport has introduced new interactive and visual treats across three of its terminals. Jointly launched by Changi Airport Group (CAG) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the showcases are designed to engage, excite and encourage visitors to explore Singapore in and beyond the airport.

The new space features contemporary digital wall designed to boost interaction with the use of motion-sensing technology. Travellers now have the perfect photo opportunity to bring home a memento at the new flip-dot wall in Terminal 2’s Departure Transit Lounge, where the interactive technology is being introduced at Changi Airport for the first time. The LED ‘Dots Portrait Wall’ allows passengers to bring home monochromatic portraits of themselves at dif-ferent spots of Singapore, without having to step out of Changi Airport.

“Changi Airport is an integral part of the Singa-pore experience and a perfect place for visitors to learn more about the breadth and depth of offerings they can enjoy in Singapore. We hope that these new installations will both inspire and entertain, and help to start and end a visit to Singapore in a more memo-rable way,” said Jacqueline Ng, Director, Marketing Partnerships & Planning, STB.

Tourism Ministry of Nepal has launched the new National Tourism Strategy 2016-2025 which envisages a fivefold increase in arrivals to 2.52 million annually by the year 2025.

The new scheme has recommended a budget of `6.44 billion to implement the action plan. One-fourth of the funding is expected to be spent in the first and second years and one-fourth during each of the remain-ing three years. “The strategy was implemented offi-cially after being endorsed by the Cabinet’s Economic and Infrastructure Committee recently,” said Ghan-shyam Upadhyay, spokesperson for the Ministry.

The strategy has set 11 special strategies for the over-all development of the tourism sector—branding tar-get, marketing target, focused programmes and devel-opment target, tourism economy, improvement of business investment target, human resource develop-ment, infrastructure development target, improvement

of tourism quality, reforms in institutional and man-agement, conservation of cultural heritage and zero carbon target. The strategy, which was developed with the technical assistance of Samarth-NMDP, has set a target to boost the average tourist length of stay to 15 days from the current 13 days and spending to $90 per tourist from $68.57 in 2015.

Likewise, the strategy has envisaged increasing foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector to `340 billion annually from `49.78 billion in 2015. The tourism sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP has been projected to jump 9.29% from the existing 2.44% in 2015.

Similarly, the strategy has projected an increase in jobs in the tourism industry to 898,000 from 633,000 in 2015. Employment in the tourism industry and future projections are based on the report published by the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Nepal Tourism launches new National Tourism Strategy

Srilankan Airlines signs Jacqueline Fernandez as Brand AmbassadorBollywood sensation Jacqueline Fernandez has been signed as the new Brand Ambassa-dor for Srilankan Airlines. The letter of agree-ment was signed between Ajit Dias, Chair-man of Srilankan Airlines and the actress, at St Regis Hotel, Mumbai.

“It’s an honour to be part of Srilankan Air-lines, the brand’s heritage and ideology are depicted in its service and strong reputation carried since many years. Ever since I was a kid I had great memories travelling with this airline. I am quite excited about this oppor-tunity to represent the brand from my coun-try origin, which I truly believe in,” said Fernandez.

Dias added, “We are delighted to have Jac-queline Fernandez as the Brand Ambassador for Srilankan Airlines. Jacqueline’s strong connect, passion towards Sri Lanka and being an iconic profile in Sri Lanka aligns her nat-urally with the brand, just like our other two Brand Ambassadors, Mahila Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.”

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 18middle east

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Showcasing ‘one land’ with ‘endless possibilities’, Israel Ministry of Tourism recently concluded their roadshow in New Delhi, as part of their five-city roadshow in India comprising Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai besides the capital city.

The roadshow witnessed the presence of Hassan Madah, Director-India, Israel Ministry of Tourism; Judah Samuel, Director of Marketing-India, Israel Ministry of Tourism along with six Israeli tour operators and El Al Airlines, further emphasising the importance of Indian outbound travel market.

In order to provide more information to the traveller, the Israel Ministry of Tourism has launched a new web-site (www.goisrael.com/in) with information about Israel as a destination, the different cities and locations as well as connecting visitors with travel agents and tour operators that offer different types of tours to Israel.

Commenting on the new campaign that is soon to be launched, Madah said, “We conducted few focus tours and found out that Indians are not really aware of Isra-el’s potential. Therefore, we decided to make an adver-torial campaign to educate the Indians about the tourist

attractions in Israel. We are coming up with an advertise-ment along with the advertorial. This is our first campaign in India and it will be there all of August.”

Judah updated the audience on the visa facility. “Vis-itors must hold a passport that is valid for at least six months from the date of departure. They will be entitled to stay there up to three months. The passport will have no stamp, instead, visitors will be issued entry/exit slips

at the immigration,” he said.Ronen Krumholtz, Sales and Marketing Director, Die-

senhaus Unitours Incoming Tourism Ltd, one of the lead-ing tour operators of Israel in the B2B sector, remarked, “India is a growing market and we look forward to find-ing a significant partner here. There response at the show has been amazing.”

Omar Atallah, General Manager, Jerusalem Travel and Trade Ltd, a DMC based out of Jerusalem, said, “The num-bers at the show were really huge. We are hoping that all of this will materialise into actual business and cooperation.”

“We are promoting Israel all over the world and espe-cially India, considering its huge population of travellers. A lot of agents are talking to us about the products, which we are sure, will be developed further with their learn-ing,” added George Devassy, Managing Director, Magi Holidays.

Last year, the country achieved a growth of 13.2% by welcoming 39,529 Indian tourists as compared to 34,920 in 2014. The growth in tourist footfalls to the destination has been around 5% from January to June this year.

Israel woos Indians to the Land of Creation

Dubai Parks and Resorts (set to open on October 31, 2016) have successfully concluded its first three-city trade roadshow in India covering New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. The last leg of the event in Mumbai was also personally attended by the Minister of Tourism of the State of Maharashtra, Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal. Dubai Parks and Resorts organised this roadshow with the objective of officially introducing the destination and highlighting its distinctive offerings.

Vinit Shah, Chief Destination Management Offi-cer, Dubai Parks and Resorts, said, “We’re extremely pleased to have introduced the region’s largest inte-grated entertainment destination to India. With the

expertise of hundreds of professionals all over the world, Dubai Parks Resorts will be one of the region’s biggest entertainment destinations.”

Nevil D’Souza, Head of Sales, Dubai Parks and Resorts, said, “It has been an absolute pleasure to have opened up the world of Dubai Parks and Resorts to our potential partners in India. We look forward to welcom-ing our guests to the largest multi-themed leisure and entertainment destination in the region.”

Dubai Parks and Resorts will feature MOTION-GATE Dubai– a movie based theme park showcasing Hollywood’s most beloved characters, as well as the region’s first LEGOLAND Park, LEGOLAND Water

Park and Bollywood Parks Dubai. The entire destina-tion will be connected by Riverland Dubai– a uniquely themed retail and dining destination.

Dubai Parks and Resorts visits India to promote new theme park destination

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 20europe

Turkish Airlines inaugurates its direct Erbil flights

GNTO and AccorHotels jointly conduct workshop in Kochi and Bengaluru

SWISS launches new Made of Switzerland brand identitySwiss International Air Lines (SWISS) launched a new brand identity with a new ‘Made of Switzerland’ claim and a new ‘The little big differences’ creative concept. The new brand identity will put a stronger focus on cus-tomer wishes and needs, on SWISSness and on a more emotional visual language.

The new identity launched with an extensive Swit-zerland-wide advertising campaign, features a new design concept which, among other things, focuses on SWISS guests on their travels, and an appealing TV ad that highlights typically Swiss characteristics in a warm and charming way.

The new creative concept of ‘The little big differ-ences’, meanwhile, embraces the many small things that help Switzerland and thus SWISS stand out, such as ensuring that customers feel at home throughout their air travel experience, from the welcome aboard to the varied regional cuisine and the popular SWISS chocolates.

Bernhard Christen, Head of Marketing, SWISS, said, “With our new brand identity we’re putting the spotlight not only on our typical SWISSness, but also– and above all – on our customers and their wishes and needs. We aim to appeal to our customers even more directly and emotionally than we have in the past.”

Iceland Ambassador celebrates the launch of three Icelandic lifestyle brands in IndiaAmbassador of Iceland, H.E. Thorir Ibsen and his wife Dominique Ambroise Ibsen hosted a dinner reception at their residence recently in the capital to celebrate the launch of three Icelandic Companies Mýr, Geosilica Ice-land and Ankra (Feel Iceland) in India by the Embassy of Iceland in association with Indo Icelandic Business Association (IIBA) & Midori.

The crème de la crème of the capital present at the do engaged in thoughtful conversations with the members of all women’s lifestyle delegation from Iceland having roots in ‘Startup Iceland’.

On the occasion, Ambassador of Iceland said, “I firmly believe that there are ample business opportu-nities between Iceland and India especially in the areas of geothermal energy, life style and cutting edge high tech industries. The opportunities are out there wait-ing to be seized. Early completion of the India-EFTA Free Trade Agreement would certainly boost the busi-ness confidence between Iceland and India.”

Already having the world’s fourth largest flight net-work and flying to 290 destinations in 116 countries, Turkish Airlines continues to expand its extensive network.

The flag carrier, ranked as the ‘Best Airline in Europe’ for the sixth consecutive times, now adds flights to Erbil (Iraq) directly operated from/to Gaziantep Airport.

Beginning from August 5, round-trip flights between Gaziantep and Erbil will be operated two times per week in both directions. Introductory round trip fares are available from Gaziantep to Erbil (Iraq) starting at $178 (including taxes and fees).

Additionally, for the operations to the destina-tions, there is a special offer for Miles&Smiles mem-bers, with a 25% reduction in the miles needed to redeem either award tickets or upgrades.

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO), India and AccorHotels recently conducted Sales Workshops in the cities of Kochi and Bengaluru. The Workshops which saw enthusiastic partic-ipation from the operators in both cities aimed at promoting Destination Germany and creating awareness on the diverse portfolio of AccorHo-tels across the country.

With a presence of over 340 hotels across Germany ranging from the budget to the pre-mium category, AccorHotels is one of the lead-ing accommodation choices for travellers from India.

Vienna is becoming a holiday destination of choice for a larger number of Indians, with 32% more Indi-ans visiting this tourist-friendly city in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year. Of the 3.1 million global visitors, over this period, tourists from India grew at the highest rate, followed by the Great Britain.

Indian families, honeymooners and confer-ence attendees travelled to Vienna for its stately castles, culture, cuisine, music and vast green spaces and helped record 56,000 overnight stays in January-June 2016, a 39% growth over the same period last year.

The top five contributors were travellers from Germany, the USA, Italy, Great Britain and Swit-zerland, after excluding domestic tourists from the home market, Austria.

Norbert Kettner, Director, Vienna Tourist Board, said, “This not only reflects Vienna’s continued attractiveness, but also shows that our systematic internationalisation strategy of diversifying into many different markets is paying off.”

“A popular destination for families and honeymoon-ers, Vienna bewitched younger audiences to savour its romantic ambience. Young Indian couples are now begin-ning to forge wedding vows in the city, known for its love affair with imperial heritage and architecture,” says Isa-bella Rauter, Manager, Media Management, Vienna Tour-ist Board.

The Austrian capital, with its legacy of palaces, art, music and romance, also caught the eye of Indian film maker Karan Johar who chose Vienna as the setting for his upcoming romantic film ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ that stars Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai and Ranbir Kapoor.

Vienna continues to charm Indian tourists

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 21americas

Florida welcomed 57.4 million tourists in the first six months of 2016, disclosed Florida’s Governor Rick Scott.

“It’s exciting that we are starting the first half of 2016 off with back to back record quarters which puts us on pace to reach our goal of 115 million tour-ists this year and $100 billion in visitor spending by 2020. In Florida, the health and safety of our visitors is a top pri-ority and we look forward to welcom-ing even more visitors to the Sunshine State this year,” Scott said.

The record accounts for a 4.3% year-over-year increase. In the first quarter of the year, Florida had 30.1 million vis-itors. Another 27.3 million came in the second quarter, a 3.1% increase over the second quarter of 2015, said Scott. The average number of direct travel-related jobs in quarter two of 2016 was also a record high, with 1,255,200 Floridians

employed in the tourism industry– up 4.3% year over year.

William D Talbert, III, CDME, Chair of the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Direc-tors, said, “The success of Florida tour-ism is directly attributable to the strong alignment between VISIT FLORIDA and our tourism industry Partners, and their continued investment in strength-ening the state’s incredible tourism product.”

Tourism and recreation taxable sales for Florida increased 6.1% year over year for January through April 2016. The demand in rooms sold grew 1.1% and the hotel occupancy rate was down 0.3% compared to quarter two of 2015.

Last year, Florida recorded 105 mil-lion tourists, becoming the first state to cross the 100-million mark for out-of-state and international visitors.

The Tourism Ministry of Argentina has announced a new plan called ‘Cocin.Air’ to map the various delicacies found in each region of the country to promote gastronomic or culinary tourism. The official presentation for this was held at La Rural.

According to the Ministry, the project has been launched to revalue the cultural-gastronomic history of Argentina, develop cultural tourism and position the country’s cuisine at national and international levels. The project will begin by creating a forum for the same. The culinary experts had their first meeting in Catamarca prov-ince on August 27, 2016. This will be followed by regional reports, covering

strategies and allied programmes. The project will finally end with the for-mulation of the National Development Plan 2017-2027 for Gastronomic Tour-ism for Argentina.

The map will guide tourists in pick-ing up affordable packages including transportation, accommodation and tours. Ministries of Science, Technol-ogy and Education will also be involved in developing the initiative.

“Argentina has great culinary diver-sity, which is reaching new heights worldwide with chefs like Mauro Cola-greo and German Martitegui. We want to continue that trend, so we will help young chefs starting out get jobs,” said Gustavo Santos, Minister of Tourism.

Florida hits all-time record high for tourism Argentina to promote gastronomic tourism with Cocin.Air

Peru aims at doubling exports and tourismPeru’s new trade minister Eduardo Ferreyros has announced his goal to attract seven million tourists to Peru and export $70 billion of goods per year by 2021.

Ferreyros’s aim essentially means doubling both the annual number of visitors to Peru as well as the value of Peru’s exports by the end of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s five-year term in 2021.

Ferreyros has proposed creating an ‘exporters’ ombudsman’ who will advo-cate for Peru’s producers who experi-ence problems with unnecessary red tape, delays and other costs. “We want to centralise all the problems that users report and find solutions to make life easier for the people,” Ferreyros said.

Ferreyros also wants to launch a ‘One Window’ program where export-ers can complete all paperwork and other legal procedures in one place. Peru has seen success with similar pro-grammes which simplified business registration. The platform, which will be called VUCE 2.0, will connect with the other member states of the Pacific Alliance to facilitate procedures in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

The Minister also wants to estab-lish a working agreement to draft a free trade agreement with India within the first 30 days of his term. He will look to enact an agreement with Honduras, expand the current agreement with Brazil and push Congress to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 22AfricA

Representation World LLP to represent Reunion Island in India

Zambia Tourism Board conducts FAM trip for Indian travel agentsZambia Tourism Board recently conducted a FAM trip in association with Ethiopian Airlines for prominent tour operators in India.

The agents took an 11-day tour to Zambia to explore the culture, wildlife and lodges in the country. This was cou-pled with some excellent service and connectivity by the airline.

The agents also participated at the Zambia Travel Expo (ZATEX), 2016, held at Mulungushi International Confer-ence Centre (MICC) in Lusaka. Agents at the show not only exploited networking opportunities but also met some of the key global tourism players.

The trip consisted of agents from Global Connections, Travel n Living, Earthwalk and Footprint Holidays along with Dency Mathew - Marketing and PR Manager, Blue Square Consultants. The group visited Lusaka, South Luangwa, Lower Zambezi and Livingstone. The group also enjoyed canoeing in the Zambezi river amongst hippos and

crocodiles; day and night game drives in South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi National Park; microlight flight over Victoria Falls and a cruise on the African Queen in Livingstone.

The trip was supported by Taj Pamodzi, Interconti-nental, Sanctuary Retreats, Chinzombo Camp, Chongwe Safari, Sausage Tree Camp, Avani Victoria Falls Resort, Protea Hotel and the airline Proflight Zambia.

Felix Chaila, Managing Director, Zambia Tourism Board, said, “India is an emerging source market for us and we want to see a positive growth from this market. Zambia is the new face of Africa and is a safe and secure destination. We feel Indians are looking at exploring new and exciting destinations and Zambia is a product they will love. Mov-ing forward, we plan to conduct more familiarisation trips, focused network events for trade, branding activities and one-on-one sales meetings in India with the help of our India representative Blue Square Consultants.”

Representation World LLP has been appointed as the representative office for Reunion island Tour-ism in India.

The organisation will implement ongoing public relations and travel trade programs, educate poten-tial travellers on the destination’s unique attributes, thereby attracting a larger number of visitors to the destination from India.

Reunion Island is an ideal destination choice, said William Techer, Head of Marketing & Promo-tion, India. “Reunion Island boasts a wealth of mod-ern tourism facilities, from luxurious resort and spas to professional travel and transportation services to high-quality, well-managed attractions. It is offering activities for all segments of travellers be it in air – Paragliding, Heli Tours , on land - Casino, Culture Tour, Lava Caves and in water - Deep Sea Diving, Coral Tours, Surfing, Canyoning etc,” he informed.

Vineet Gopal, Director, Representation World LLP, added, “We are thrilled & honoured to repre-sent the Reunion Tourism Board in India. The des-tination offering will definitely attract Indian honey-mooners, family, adventure tourist, etc. Also the 15 days Short Stay Visa simplification for Indians who wish to travel to the beautiful Reunion Island will also boost tourism from India to the island.”

Zimbabwe recorded a 16% rise in tourist arrivals during the first quarter of the year with 450,572 tourists visiting the destination, as per the Zimbabwe Tourism Author-ity (ZTA).

The African region witnessed a similar surge in tour-ist arrivals at the same time last year, recording an 11% rise from 343,644 to 380,790 arrivals.

According to ZTA, European arrivals into Zimba-bwe rose by 28% to 27,433 from 21,496 in 2015. The major

European countries included Benelux, France, Germany, Spain, and Austria. Tourist arrivals from the Americas increased by 120% in the first quarter of 2016 which had 22,620 compared to 10,294 arrivals in 2014. This impres-sive growth was buoyed by the United States, Zimbabwe’s biggest market in this region. Visitors from the United States rose by a massive 117% to 19,475 in 2016 compared to 8,972 in 2015. The report also indicated that arrivals from Asia increased by 157% to 14,004 in 2016 from 5441 in 2015.

In an effort to promote the destination in India, Mauri-tius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) organised ‘Wedding Planners and Travel Trade Show’ in Mumbai, as part of the 5-city roadshow also covering New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai.

Outbound traffic from India to Mauritius has been showing robust growth, with 20% increase in 2015 as compared to 2014. January-July 2016 has shown growth of 12.1% over last year, whereas in July 2016 itself the increase was a whopping 43% over July 2015.

The main factors contributing to this high growth and making Mauritius a natural playground for Indians are cultural affinity, historical linkages, food, accessibil-ity and a wide range of activities suiting families, mille-nials, honeymooners etc.

Connectivity is one of the most important factors for growth of visitors to a destination and Mauritius is well placed in the Indian market in this regard, with Air Mauritius operating nine flights a week from Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai and another being added from Chennai soon. In addition to this, Mauritius is also connected conveniently by Emirates and Air Astral from South India.

In a one-to-one interaction, Kevin Ramkaloan, Director, MTPA, spelt out the initiatives and the sec-tors and attractions they are going to focus on to pro-mote Mauritius in India in the coming months. Besides

its attractions as a beach destination, the promotions are also going to focus on adrenaline-pumping activities like skydiving, submarine rides, zip-lining, kite surfing, sea-karting, hydrofoil etc.

Kevin Ramkaloan emphasised on the cosmopoli-tan nature of Mauritius with high-end restaurants and Michelin-starred chefs, in world-class resorts, compris-ing, what he called, ‘Affordable Luxury’– a concept that should catch on well with the Indian market.

Mauritius is also focusing on ‘big-fat’ weddings not only by Indians from India, but by Indians settled in Dubai and South Africa too. Everything that is required for an Indian wedding is available at the drop-of-a-hat in Mauritius.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority announces 16% rise in tourist arrivals

mauritius roadshow creates buzz as figures from India zoom

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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 24OCEANIA

Rosie Holidays has marked another of its ‘Fiji First’ with its new Feejee Traveller App. This is Fiji’s first ever mobile digital app offering continually updated destina-tion information on Fiji, places of interest to explore and also bring to the fore the exciting range of experiences that visitors can enjoy while on holiday in Fiji.

The Feejee Traveller App is free to download from the AppStore for all Apple device users and also from Google PlayStore for all android device users. “I am delighted to be included in the launch of what will be a fantastic and important tool for international visitors to research and make a reservation for some of Fiji’s leading activi-ties, tours and excursions before arriving in Fiji and also whilst here in the islands,” expressed Matthew Stoeckel, CEO, Tourism Fiji.

The Feejee Traveller App can review and browse a wide range of half-day and full-day activities, car rental services and hotel transfers. Each activity also features a short video clip which viewers can watch, book and pay instantly with e-ticketing and receipt confirmation via a secure payment gateway. It is like having a ‘virtual Con-cierge’, where international visitors can browse and book Fiji’s leading activities, before they arrive or whilst in Fiji.

Tony Whitton, Managing Director of Rosie Holidays, said the app would be a powerful marketing tool for Fiji to the world. “What makes destinations unique are experi-ences and this is something that we hope to achieve with the Feejee Traveller App by showcasing to the world the amazing activities you must experience when you come to Fiji,” he added.

New Zealand to co-host rugby League World Cup 2017

Gold Coast Tour Alliance appoints India Representative

New Zealand will host some of the world’s top rugby league in 2017 when world cup matches are played across four regions of the North and South Island.

Rugby League World Cup 2017 (RLWC2017) comes to New Zealand in October 2017 and promises to be another sporting festival which showcases the coun-try’s unique form of welcome and hospitality. Auckland, Hamilton, and Wellington in the North Island as well as Christchurch in the South Island will host games as part of the RLWC2017 tournament played across New Zea-land, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

The best players from world’s top 14 teams will bat-tle it out over 28 games from October 27 to December 2, 2017 in the quest for the ultimate prize - The Paul Bar-riere Trophy.

New Zealand will host seven matches including two quarter finals and a semi-final. The Kiwis will be joined on home soil by visiting teams from Samoa, Tonga and Scotland.

With 11 teams already confirmed, the final three teams will come from the European Qualifying Tour-nament to be played in October and November this year. The teams who are still in the race include Wales, Ire-land, Russia, Serbia, Italy and Spain.

Rosie Holidays launches the first ever Feejee Traveller App

The Gold Coast Tour Alliance has announced the appointment of a full time in-market trade liaison representative, Aparna Anand with effect from August 1, 2016.

Aparna will be based out of Mumbai, but will also be travelling around the country with the part-ners. Aparna comes to the GCTA bringing over seven years of experience in Marketing and PR. Having serviced various international luxury and lifestyle brands spanning across India, UK, and the Middle East, with strong expertise in identifying new mar-kets, Marketing communications and PR, Aparna will be leading the Group’s core sales and market-ing initiative for India.

The Alliance in India will specifically comprise Paradise Jet Boating- Tony Johnson, Hot Air Balloon Gold Coast-Andrew Steel, Whales/Dolphins in Par-adise - Anthony Ardern and Greg Daven; Southern Cross Day Tours - Darran and Steph Wallace Fire Truck Tours - Richie Cunningham.

The Gold Coast Tour Alliance is a five year old partnership of Gold Coast Tour Operators unified in promoting the Gold Coast to various markets.

Situated at the edge of the Koro Sea where the lush rainforest meets the ocean waves is the luxuriously boutique Namale Resort & Spa, an intimate, tropi-cal haven that doesn’t fall short in delivering a truly unique, five-star experience to their most discerning clientele.

Offering only 19 luxury bures and villas spread across 525 acres of virtually untouched rainforest and oceanfront, Namale caters up to a maximum of 44 peo-ple at any one time, ensuring total intimacy and exclu-sivity away from the crowds of the main island.

What sets Namale apart is its ultra-all inclusive packages and highly customisable experiences - spe-cialists in crafting memorable holidays catered to each guest’s individual idea of a perfect experience, Namale is designed to ensure guests enjoy an authentically

Fijian getaway in a lavish setting.Namale’s packages are designed to redefine the

typical all-inclusive, offering world-class fine dining (leave the boring all inclusive buffet behind!), an award winning spa perched along the volcanic cliffs on the sea, and luxuriously furnished accommodations with five-star amenities like private infinity pools and spa-cious interconnecting decks with shoreline access. The extensive activities list (included in the rates) combines leisure, relaxation, and adventure - from snorkeling in the Koro Sea (known as the Soft Coral Capital of the World) to waterfall trekking to horseback riding - even indoor bowling. Namale’s Kava Bowl is the only indoor entertainment center of its kind in all of Fiji, offering guests two 10-pin bowling lanes, a virtual golf simula-tor, air hockey, billiards, and more.

Experience the ultimate Fijian getaway at Namale

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 25CAribbeAn

Barbados reveals rise in visitor spending in 2016

Jamaica displays positive growth in tourism in 2016The Tourism Minister of Jamaica, Edmund Bartlett has announced that the destination is firmly on its path to welcome four million tourists for 2016.

The Jamaica Tourist Board has released statistics that show that 2.084 million visitors came to the island during the first half of 2016 giving Jamaica earnings of $1.3 billion. There were a total of 2,084,963 arrivals dur-ing the first half of the current year, registering a growth of 7.5%. In fact, Jamaica recorded the highest number of visitors for any July in the island’s history this year.

“The preliminary numbers for July exclude Jamai-can Nationals and members of the Diaspora. This is a

four percent increase over last year and when the Dias-pora is added it will perhaps equal June’s six percent,” said Bartlett.

The U.S. and UK continue to remain Jamaica’s stron-gest markets with 147,053 and 15,782 arrivals respectively in June 2016.

“Tourism is the fastest growing economic activity in the world. Last year tourism earned $1.3 trillion and 1.2 billion people travelled across the globe. Here in the Caribbean 28 million people visited and we earned $30 billion. At home in Jamaica, 3.7 million people visited and we earned $2.5 billion,” said the Minister.

Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum to welcome noted global delegationThe Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) will be organising Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF) in Puerto Rico from September 30 to October 2, 2016.

Among prominent dignitaries, the forum will have Gerard ‘Jerry’ Inzerillo, CEO of Forbes Travel Guide as the keynote speaker. “I look forward to being a part of these important Caribbean conversa-tions,” said Inzerillo, who will share how the region can rise to the challenges presented by the evolving hospitality and tourism landscape, and capitalise on exciting new opportunities.

Inzerillo, who has a deep well of experience upon which to draw, will address the role the Caribbean plays in global tourism. As founding President of the Morgans Hotel Group, later rebranded Ian Schrager Hotels, he conceptualised, opened and positioned such avant-garde properties as Mor-gans, Royalton and Paramount in New York; the historic Delano in Miami Beach; and Mondrian in Los Angeles.

The Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF) will be held at the El Conquistador, a Waldrof Astoria Resort, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

Visitors have been found to be shelling out more money while on holiday, especially in a destination like Bar-bados which recorded a 20% hike in spending during the first half of the year.

The findings are contained in the quarterly survey conducted by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO). According to the report, total visitor expen-diture on the island grew from $280 million to $337 million in the first three months. This was achieved through a 14.9% increase in visitor average length of stay and a total growth of 7.4% in visitor arrivals. Over-all, Barbados was able to achieve growth in the average length of stay for all markets during the period.

Among the highest spenders, The United States led the way with a significant 42.4% increase in spending by American guests. Visitors from the UK contributed to 43% of the overall total expenditure with $146 mil-lion, an increase of $23 million. Total expenditure by visitors from the U.S. and Canada followed with $83 million and $53 million, respectively. Spending by Latin America, Asia and Africa rose by three percent

to approximately $10 million.“We continue to be very encouraged by the pos-

itive direction in visitor arrivals and, even more

importantly, in visitor expenditure,” said the CEO of The Barbados Tourism Marking Inc (BTMI), William Griffith.

Tourist arrivals to Caribbean may cross the 30 million mark for the first time in 2016. There has been a large increase in visitor arrivals for Cuba and Dominican Republic.

Coupled with this is the dramatic increase in arrivals for alternative accommodation, informed Karolin Trou-betzkoy, President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). “I think that is the biggest challenge for the traditional hotel sector. The sharing economy is here to stay and we have to find a way. Destinations have to decide how to deal with these alternative accommoda-tions,” she said.

The Caribbean will also be getting its 2016 edition of the Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF) which takes place from September 30 to Octo-ber 2 at El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico. Noting the need for Caribbean tourism sector to employ proactive, innovative strategies to remain competitive and foster con-tinued, sustainable growth of the sector, Troubetzkoy, said CHIEF is all about improving competitiveness by increas-ing sales and revenue and sharing best practices.

Cuba records greater tourist arrivals to the Caribbean

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 26technology

Yatra.com will now provide greater value additions to travellers, through its new mobile application Yatra Mini, featuring bus, train and budget hotel bookings.

The new app Yatra Mini weighs approximately 4.5 MB and is fast loading even in poor network areas. What adds to its accessibility is that it is multi-lin-gual comprising several regional languages apart from English and Hindi.

This app has been built to majorly cater to the tier II and tier III cities which have lately shown a higher growth in online travel bookings. A large chunk of these travellers travel by bus and train and choose budget hotels for their stays on these trips.Yatra.com, through Yatra Mini, is targeting such custom-ers for whom it features only relevant product lines in a lightweight app that works well even in poor net-work– a strong mix of elements that appeal to these customers who typically have limitations on memory space on their phones and are extremely focused on keeping their data usage to a minimum. Yatra Mini offers help to travellers to view their upcoming, com-pleted and cancelled trips. All details of trips will be available like journey date, passenger details, bus

operator details, boarding point details, cancellation policy, fare & payment details etc.

Sharat Dhall, President, Yatra.com, said, “By offering this app in regional languages, we are also tapping into the non-English traveller who is look-ing to shift to the convenience of online booking. We also researched the needs of this traveller and based on the findings, limited the product offerings to bus, train and budget hotel bookings so that the app is sharply focused on the needs of this segment.”

RezNext has introduced its purpose-built mobile application for distribution. This mobile applica-tion addresses the gap for instant rate updates an inventory changes while on the move.

“Hoteliers are challenged with using a full blown mobile application. Typically, when on the move, a feature rich application takes time to load and many-a-times hoteliers are unable to use it as desired. Hence, we recognised the need for a purpose-built application that allows general/revenue managers to quickly take action on their rate and inventory controls. Designed to deliver a robust experience, our mobile application is pow-

ered by speed and provides instant updated noti-fications in sub-second response time,” said Avi-nash Lodha, CEO, RezNext Global Solutions.

The mobile application, ReX is available both on Android and iOS and claims the industry-best data transfer architecture. Hoteliers can also work offline on this app and all changes then sync-up once connected back with the network.

“At Vivaana, we have been able to use RezNext’s mobile application to get us more sales with the quick rate updates that we do for last minute deals. We find the mobile app super-fast and user-friendly to operate,” said David Issac, Assistant Manager Marketing, Vivaana.

ixigo records 60% rise in flight and hotel bookingsIn a season marked by national holidays and other festivities, India is witnessing a lot of tourist traffic in terms of mini-vacations and getaways to nearby loca-tions, and ixigo bears testimony to all of this rush.

India’s leading travel search marketplace recorded a 60% increase in flight and hotel bookings between July 27-August 6 and a recent 45% rise in travel searches for weekend trips. The search engine also witnessed a three times increase in its intercity cab bookings. ixi-go’s travel assistant, ixibaba has already answered over 5800 travel queries about long weekend getaways and offbeat destinations for August from users in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

ixigo’s much efficient online tools and mobile apps, that provide relevant information for hassle- free travel plans, is gradually making it every traveller’s friend and guide.

Yatra to tap the Tier II and III markets in India through Yatra Mini

The new technology centre inaugurated in Bengaluru has become one the latest efforts by MakeMyTrip to tap into the top technology talent of the country.

This new development is a true reflection of the com-pany’s vision of being reliable, efficient and at the fore-front of technology.

Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and CEO-India, MakeMyTrip, said, “Bengaluru is the Silicon Valley of India and it makes perfect sense for the pioneer in online travel to be actively present in the city. Our presence in the city is in line with the company’s aggressive growth plans and an increased focus on using technology as an enabler to make travel buying experience easier. Bringing

together e-commerce, data and analytics under one roof at the new center will help us in using technology as an enabler to serve the customer better. The rapid smart-phone adoption and the app eco-system has necessitated us to offer personalised solutions and we will be using the Bengaluru facility in app development and data analyt-ics. We now have over 23 million downloads of our app till date with last 8 million downloads coming in 2016 itself and being in Bengaluru will help us grow rapidly and be agile, especially in the fast changing technology world.”

This centre is spread across 40,000 sq ft and is located at state-of art Divyasree Technopolis on Yemlur Road at Kodbisanhalli, Bengaluru.

MakeMyTrip opens new technology centre in Bengaluru

RezNext introduces purpose-built mobile application, ReX

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 27global

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will now have a primary focus on ‘Young Tourism Professional’ (YTP) in 2017. This initiative is in line with the United Nations (UN) General Assem-bly’s adoption of2017 as the Interna-tional Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

Dr Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, made this commitment in meetings with ASEAN Tourism Ministers and heads of National Tourism Organisations. Hardy also stressed on the importance of mak-ing further substantial investments in developing and enhancing the knowl-edge and skills of students engaged in tourism, hospitality management and related degree courses. Effective train-ing platforms will also be made for YTPs as they seek to make career progression and skills enhancement.

“The UN estimates that there are over 3.5 billion young people around

the world. This is the largest generation of youth that the world has ever known and there are, importantly, many aspects in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that directly affect the youth of today including ending pov-erty, providing quality education for all, gender equality and the reduction of inequality,” said Dr Hardy.

PATA is already a global leader in youth tourism development, working with educational institutions and the PATA Human Capital Development committee to stage a PATA Youth Sym-posium twice-yearly as part of the pro-grammes for the signature travel trade event PATA Travel Mart and the PATA Annual Summit. PATA also hosts two academies each year at the Associa-tion’s Engagement Hub in Bangkok that focus upon specific issues, challenges and opportunities facing travel and tourism.

AccorHotels has signed an agreement with Australia India Travel & Tour-ism Council (AITTC) in its efforts to strengthen opportunities for promoting tourism between Australia and India.

AITTC is endorsing AccorHo-tels’ Optimum Service Standards Pro-gramme for Indian visitation as part of the new partnership. AITTC is facili-tating a service training program to aid the hotel staff in understanding cul-tural practices better. The training has commenced in Sydney and Brisbane in August, for which the Council will also issue hotels a certificate of accreditation once completed.

The Optimum Service Standards Programme has been launched to cater to the specific cultural needs and grow-ing numbers of Indian travellers to Aus-tralia and New Zealand. Accredited hotels have adopted services to meet the needs of this emerging travel market

including the translation of hotel wel-come kits, menus and business cards, Indian meals in the restaurant, Indian adaptor plugs, TV channels and news-papers to make guests travelling from India feel at home.

The two organisations will also be working closely to promote both inbound and outbound tourism for India. “Our goal is to see growth in bilat-eral tourism and this partnership with AccorHotels, which has strong presence in both India and Australia, so it will be win-win for both organisations,” said Sandip Hor, Chairman, AITTC.

“Since the launch of the Indian Ser-vice Standards, our hotels have experi-enced an increase in growth from this market, and in particular incentive groups have been on the rise over recent months, a trend we expect to continue,” concluded Simon McGrath, COO, AccorHotels Pacific.

PAtA to focus on Young tourism Professional in 2017

AccorHotels and AIttC seal pact to promote tourism

UNWTO records five percent rise in international tourism in January-April

IATA records a rise in demand for Air Cargo

The UNWTO World Tourism Barom-eter has revealed a five percent rise in international tourist arrivals between January and April 2016. The prospect for May-August is also positive with around 500 million tourists projected to have travelled abroad in the North-ern Hemisphere in the summer holiday peak season.

Destinations worldwide received 348 million international tourists (overnight visitors) between January and April 2016, that is, around 18 million more than the same period last year (+5.3%). This follows an increase of 4.6% in 2015, and could make 2016 the seventh consec-utive year of above-average growth, with international arrivals increasing by 4% or more every year following the crisis in 2009.

“Results show a strong desire to travel and this continues to drive tour-ism growth. Destinations keep benefit-ting from solid demand across all world regions despite ongoing challenges, showing that tourism is a dynamic and resilient economic sector,” said Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO.

By region, Asia and the Pacific (+9%) recorded the highest increase in interna-tional arrivals, with all Asian subregions enjoying a growth of seven percent or above. By subregion, Subsaharan Africa (+13%) led growth, strongly rebounding from previous years’ modest results.

UNWTO forecasts international tourist arrivals to increase by 3.5% to 4.5% over the full year 2016, in line with UNWTO’s long-term projection of 3.8% growth a year for the period 2010 to 2020.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight demand in June 2016 showing a rise in freight tonne km (FTK) of 4.3% year-on-year. This was the fastest pace of growth in 14 months. Freight capacity measured in available freight tonne km (AFTKs) increased by 4.9% year-on-year, keep-ing yields under downward pressure.

Freight demand increased year-on-year in June across all regions with the exception of Latin America which recorded a 9.8% decrease, compared to the same period last year. Middle East and Europe posted the fastest

demand growth in June with year-on-year increases of eight percent and 5.1% respectively.

“June saw an improvement in demand for air freight. That’s good news. However, we cannot read too much into one month’s performance. Air cargo markets have been in the doldrums for several years during which there were several false starts on indications for improvement. We will continue watching developments closely, keeping in mind that the air freight business environment is frag-ile,” said Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO, IATA.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 28EVENTS

ATF Dhaka gears up with an objective of Linking Tourism Diversity

Social media superstar to talk at WTM London 2016Jeremy Jauncey, the Founder of Beautiful Destina-tions, is said to be the most influential populariser of travel photography on Instagram, with more than 5.5 million followers and over 200 million likes. The entrepreneur will be the keynote speaker at the first of two Digital Tourism Think Tank (#DTTT) sessions at WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry.

Jauncey will show how Beautiful Destinations works with some of the world’s biggest travel and lifestyle brands, to create content through smart-phone, drone and 360-degree video technology. The agency runs Instagram and Snapchat accounts for global brands including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Airbnb, Marriott International and Food & Wine. It has a community of more than 1,200 influential con-tent creators, ranging from National Geographic pho-tographers to ordinary travellers with smartphones.

After his presentation, Jauncey will be interviewed by Nick Hall, Founder and Chief Executive of Dig-ital Tourism Think Tank, a digital technology and destination marketing consultancy. Members of the audience will be able to pose questions to Jauncey,

who used to be a rugby player before moving into ecommerce.

Hall will also present other case studies, from Cape Town to Australia, looking at how the industry

works with ‘local influencers’ who help destination and brands online.

The second Digital Tourism Think Tank session will focus on the rapid growth of messaging apps and virtual reality – and how travel brands can make the most of these exciting technologies. Experts will join Hall to present insights and analyse the trends for WTM London delegates.

Simon Press, Senior Director, WTM London, said, “It’s great to team up with Nick Hall and Digital Tour-ism Think Tank for another year and to have such an influential social media star as Jeremy speaking at WTM London. The two of them appearing on stage at WTM London will be an unmissable opportunity for WTM delegates.”

WTM London is the event where the travel and tourism industry conducts its business deals. Buyers from the WTM Buyers’ Club have a combined pur-chasing responsibility of $22.6 billion (£15.8bn) and sign deals at the event worth $3.6 billion (£2.5bn).

WTM London 2016 will be revamped as a three-day event from Monday November 7-9, with opening hours extended from 10am – 7pm for all three days.

The 5th Asian Tourism Fair (ATF), organised by the popular tourism magazine in Bangladesh–Parjatan Bichitra in collaboration with Ban-gladesh Tourism Board (BTB) and Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Government of Ban-gladesh, is scheduled to take place on Septem-ber 29, 30 & October 1, 2016 at the International Convention City, Bashundhara (ICCB), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The theme of ATF Dhaka this year is Link-ing Tourism Diversity. It is a mix of B2B and B2C pattern for inbound and outbound tourism operators. The fair intends to help build strong linkage among industry partners, service pro-viders and travellers.

Bangladesh is one of the fastest grow-ing markets for outbound and domestic tour-ists. Many of the companies are offering the annual corporate trip at home as well as abroad. Flights are increasing significantly between

Bangladesh and other countries, especially in the Asian and Middle East regions.

ATF Dhaka is a platform providing huge opportunities for tourism sellers from Asian countries to come and showcase their latest products and services to Bangladeshi buyers. It is the largest and most popular tourism event in Bangladesh.

As a comprehensive tourism showcase for better business networking, the fair acts as the ground for meeting point of private sectors, gov-ernment organisations and development agen-cies with regional as well as far off countries.

On the occasion of Visit Bangladesh Year 2016, ATF has taken added glory and pres-tige with the sideline events like the show-case of Green Initiatives, Community Based Tourism Mart, Tourism Skills Con-vention, seminars, workshops, cultural exchange, photo exhibition, etc. along with tourism trade exhibition and B2B sessions.

A new Global Sport Tourism Summit will be launched at World Travel Market (WTM) London 2016 in asso-ciation with sport tourism company W2 Consult-ing, which was founded by Mark O’Connell & Keith Wood.

Taking place on the first day of WTM London (November 7), the inaugural Global Sport Tourism Summit at WTM London will showcase the bur-geoning worldwide sport tourism sector and pro-vide a platform for destinations, events, academics and respected professionals in the field to discuss best practice and future trends.

The Global Sport Tourism Summit at WTM will have three key strands:

a. Sport Tourism Summit – Presentations from key figures, events, destinations and experts, along with networking opportunities.

b. Sport Tourism Data – Launch of the Annual Sport Tourism Monitor 2016

c. Global Sport Tourism Awards at WTM Lon-don – Award presentations honouring excellence in a range of categories including destinations, market-ing, events and charities.

Simon Press, Senior Director, WTM London, said, “I am delighted WTM London will be hosting the inaugural Global Sport Tourism Summit and Awards. Sport tourism is an increasingly important segment within the travel industry with countries and cities bidding for major sporting events in part due to the exposure and the positive impact it can have on the destination’s tourism industry. Teaming up with W2

Consulting means we will have top-flight speakers, insightful debates and astute analysis to help attend-ees get the most out of the summit.”

Wood added, “We are extremely excited to announce the establishment of this major Global Sport Tourism Summit for 2016 and working with

WTM London on this significant summit. The Global Sport Tourism Summit at WTM London will hear from international experts how destinations can exploit the potential available in what is the fastest growing sector in global tourism and win bids for major global events.”

WTM London 2016 champions Sport Tourism with new Global Summit

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 29 events •

TRENZ returns to Auckland in 2017ITB Asia 2016 to have a dedicated MICE Day

TRENZ, New Zealand tourism indus-try’s premier international trade show will return to Auckland in 2017.

“After two highly successful years in Rotorua, we look forward to taking TRENZ back to New Zealand’s biggest city and international gateway,” Tour-ism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) Chief Executive Chris Roberts said. The announcement was made on the final day of TRENZ 2016, which brought more than 350 influential interna-tional travel buyers and media to meet about 300 leading New Zealand tour-ism operators at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre.

TRENZ 2017 will take place at on the Auckland waterfront, from May 9 – 12.

TRENZ 2017 will be hosted by Auckland Tourism, Events and Eco-nomic Development (ATEED). “The benefits of hosting TRENZ can be felt for several years, with buyers hav-ing the chance to discover how much Auckland has to offer. This first-hand

experience of the region helps secure Auckland’s place on their clients’ future itineraries,” commented Brett O’Riley, CEO of ATEED.

Commenting on the success of Trenz 2016, Steven Dixon, Regional Manager – South and South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand said, “We introduced a new range of products at TRENZ 2016. Almost 74 incredibly diverse new products, ranging from private jet charters to craft beer tours around Wellington and a wilderness lodge, located on a private peninsula in Golden Bay, were launched. We want to encourage visitors to travel to com-munities beyond the tourist hotspots. A ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ interactive experience, the longest rail bike adven-ture in the world and cooking demon-strations with celebrity chefs were among the new tourism products”.

TIA is currently working to secure venues and dates for TRENZ in 2018 and beyond, and is in discussions with several regions.

ITB Asia 2016 will showcase its stron-gest Meetings, Incentives, Confer-ences and Exhibitions (MICE) line up to-date with a full day conference pro-gramme dedicated to the growing sector. Organised by Messe Berlin (Singapore), ITB Asia will take place from October 19–21, 2016 at the Sands Expo and Con-vention Centre, Marina Bay Sands.

New partnerships with prominent industry heavyweights such as the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) and Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS), as well as a renewed agreement with the Incentive Conference & Event Society Asia Pacific (ICESAP) will ensure delegates learn more about the latest news and inno-vations from thought leaders in their respective fields.

Taking place on October 20, the sec-ond day of ITB Asia, the inaugural

MICE Day @ ITB Asia will be held at a specially designed conference room, and will include sessions from a wide range of industry partners, covering a full spectrum of topical issues facing the MICE sector today.

“These dedicated sessions will provide real-world advice for MICE

delegates, helping to keep them up-to-date on the latest developments in incen-tive travel and events and identify new business opportunities,” said Katrina Leung, Executive Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organisers of ITB Asia.

SITE will conduct two sessions under the theme of ‘Managing Incentive Travel Programmes’ covering the three pillars of incentive travel programme management- Delivery, Management and Service. The first session entitled ‘Incentive Travel Budget and Market-ing’ will explore the fiscal and marketing challenges that managers and planners face. This course will outline practical solutions delegates can apply to their incentive travel programme planning. The second session entitled ‘The Cus-tomer Experience and the Importance of Communication’ will showcase how a service culture and strong communi-

cation can impact the success of incen-tive travel management.

“SITE is delighted to be partner-ing with ITB Asia, not only to expand our footprint in Asia, but also to bring world class education to this all impor-tant forum,” said Rajeev Kohli, Presi-dent, SITE.

IMEX America, America’s worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings & events, will take place from October 18–20, 2016 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center at The Venetian, The Palazzo, Las Vegas preceded by Smart Monday, powered by MPI on October 17. Strong demand from a multitude of new exhibitors and hosted buyer groups means that IMEX America 2016 offers ever more compelling opportunities to do business and network.

Business power & connectionsIMEX America enables buyers to meet with a vast range of best-in-class meeting industry suppliers from across the United States, as well as from around the world. This year’s show features a diverse range of first time exhibi-tors including Albuquerque CVB, Air Partner, ALON Las Vegas, Destination Michigan, EventBank, Hanoi, Lux-ury Brands and Slovenia. They are joined by established exhibitors, 46 of whom have already increased their stand space such as Commune Hotels & Resorts, Etouches, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, NYC & Company, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau and Meet Puerto Rico.

New in 2016, IMEX America will offer buyers an oppor-tunity to make valuable peer connections through the use of the Zenvoy matching app which will facilitate introduc-tions between buyers who share common attributes. In addition, the IMEX hosted buyer lounge will feature a new Networking Hub with the IMEX hosted buyer team facil-itating networking sessions at key times throughout the show.

Education from industry innovatorsAs well as the business and networking opportunities, buyers and suppliers can also learn from industry inno-vators with IMEX’s comprehensive education programme covering insights and innovations from the best in the industry. Two key themes will be featured throughout the show– the Sharing Economy and Where Personal Meets Professional which focuses on how personal development and wellbeing can benefit the individual both in and out

of the office. Each day (Monday to Thursday) begins with a distinguished keynote speaker, and the week kicks off with a dedicated day of education on Smart Monday (Octo-ber 17), powered by MPI and supported by other associ-ation partners.

The first MPI keynote launches the Where Personal Meets Professional theme on Smart Monday. Jon Brad-shaw, CEO of Meetology will share recent research on how to connect, interact and communicate more effectively in Meetology—the fascinating science powering interper-sonal communication. On Tuesday, Jay Samit, widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on disrup-tion and innovation, will discuss the importance of adapt-ability and creativity to keep up with an ever changing business landscape in Disrupt You! - Strategies for Billion Dollar Success in this Era of Endless Innovation. Dele-gates can get a glimpse into the future with Pablos Hol-man on Wednesday. A futurist and inventor, whose proj-ects include the world’s smallest PC, a Wi-Fi seeking robot and mosquito zapping lasers, Pablos will deliver Innovate or Die Trying – From the Mind of World Renown Hacker. The final day of the show (Thursday) begins with a fun keynote courtesy of ‘perpetual optimist’ Tami Evans. She

is set to deliver a humorous take on enhancing communi-cation, engagement and confidence in Half full of it: acti-vating optimism and other hard-core soft skills.

Community connectionFor visitors who want to connect with the wider com-munity outside of the show, IMEX has participatory programmes in place to give back to the local Las Vegas community, with long-standing relationships with local charities Opportunity Village and The Shade Tree shelter, plus new initiative Garbage Grabbers – for which IMEX is inviting volunteers to join them on a clean-up of walk-ing trails and parks organised by the Outside Las Vegas Foundation.

Carina Bauer, CEO, IMEX Group, explains, “With each show we aim to refine and improve the process of doing business, gaining valuable education and making impor-tant connections. We understand the significance and the balance that each of these three pillars holds for both our buyers and our suppliers and aim to make their week at IMEX America their most valuable week of the year. As always, we are very much looking forward to hosting the meetings world to Las Vegas this fall.”

Business, innovation, education – IMEX America 2016 is set to inspire

Asia

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 30 • events

The 32nd Annual Convention of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) will be held in Chennai from September 18 - 21, 2016 at ITC Grand Chola Chennai.

While announcing the host destination, Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, said, “We were planning to have our convention in Chennai for the last couple of years as IATO never had its annual convention in Tamil Nadu.” Sarkar mentioned that more than 1200 delegates are expected for the 3-day event.

Rajeev Kohli, Senior Vice President and the Chair-man of the Convention commented, “The industry is going through a very bad time and our main focus would be to have deliberations as to how we can change this scenario and bring back tourism on track for which interesting business sessions are being planned.”

Rajiv Mehra, Vice President and Co-Chairman of the Convention mentioned that Tamil Nadu offers A to Z of tourism, be it beaches, pilgrimage, hill station, wildlife, shopping, Ayurveda and medical tourism.

“Concurrently with our convention, there will be an Indian Travel Mart. It is an opportunity for exhibitors to showcase exciting and diverse range of destinations, conference and incentive venues. This will facilitate discerning buyers from the travel trade and corporate world to reinforce their choice for business travel, incen-tives etc,” said Lally Mathews, Hony. Secretary, IATO.

Amaresh Tiwari, Hony. Treasurer, IATO is looking to have good participation in ‘IATO Run for Responsi-ble Tourism’ to create awareness about IATO and tour-ism in general.

The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) has announced that it will host its 51st FHRAI Annual Convention from September 22-24, 2016 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The theme for this year’s convention ‘Brand India’ is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision based on the 5 T’s ‘Talent, Tradition, Tourism, Trade and Technology’.

Radisson Blu is the main convention hotel where all the business sessions shall be conducted. Tentatively, eight business sessions are planned for the Convention. The venue for the inaugural ceremony and the presti-gious FHRAI Awards is the Amber Convention Centre.

The Convention organising Committee under the Chairmanship of Vivek Nair and Co–Chairman D S Advani and Chetan Mehta has chalked out an interac-tive three day programme. An exhibition showcasing several vendors and service providers has also been organised at the convention venue itself.

India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) will orga-nise their 9th Convention India Conclave (CIC) themed ‘Harnessing the Potential’ from October 13-15, 2016 at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, New Delhi.

Concurrent with the Convention, Indian exhibitors will have an opportunity to showcase their products to around 300 International and Indian Buyers, Associ-ation Heads and Corporate House. The Conclave will be an opportunity for participants from many disci-plines, to share their experiences towards the pro-motion of India’s MICE Business. Also with the aim of strengthening the brand positioning of ‘Incredi-ble India’ as MICE destination, buyers from overseas will also has appointments with suppliers from India’s MICE Companies.

The meet will provide the perfect forum for opin-ions, views and standpoints on India’s meetings and conventions market. The speakers and panellists from various segments of MICE will share a wealth of infor-mation which will facilitate in attracting an increas-ing number of conferences to India and organising the same efficiently.

63rd Annual tAAI Convention to be held from October 14-16 at Abu Dhabi

KTM 2016 to grow bigger, broader, bolder

The 63rd Annual Convention & Exhibition of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), popularly known as the Indian Travel Congress will be held from Octo-ber 14-16, 2016 at Abu Dhabi. Emirates Palace, the seven star hotel with a strikingly magnificent and unmatched edifice is shortlisted to be an important venue for the Convention.

Talking about the host destination, Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI, said that when a survey was done on 100 outbound passengers from India who visits Dubai, it revealed that only about five percent visits Abu Dhabi, which is quite shocking. One prime reason is the inad-equate awareness on the growing strengths of Abu Dhabi, particularly in the areas of Tourism and MICE.

TAAI is associating with Abu Dhabi Tourism & Cul-ture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) who has assured of their support to TAAI to hold this event in Abu Dhabi.

Kumar reflected that the Convention would focus on

the importance of a fast changing ‘today’ and the urgent need for members to rise beyond the routine. TAAI will promote ‘Inbound into India’ as an important subject at the Convention to encourage the region to connect well with India.

32nd IATO Annual Convention to take place in Chennai from September 18-21, 2016

51st FHRAI Annual Convention from September 22-24, 2016 at Indore

ICPB announces its 9th CIC from October 13–15, 2016

The upcoming ninth edition of the biennial Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) is set to be the biggest and far-thest-reaching yet. As many as 57 countries besides 20 Indian states are now scheduled to participate in the three-day Mart, which is organised by the KTM Society in association with the Department of Tour-ism, Government of Kerala. KTM will be held from September 27-30 at the Samudrika and Sagara Con-vention Centre in Willingdon Island, Kochi.

10 countries will be represented at the Mart for the first time, with Mexico, Georgia, Japan, China, Chile, Greece, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Botswana. 560 total international delegates regis-tered for KTM 2016 features the biggest-ever con-tingents from 10 highly prized traditional markets, including the US, Canada and Australia.

“The KTM has always emphasised the consistent identification of quality buyers in ever newer terri-tories as much as retaining participation from con-ventional markets. With representation from 10 new nations this year, our efforts have borne fruit,” said Abraham George, President, KTM Society.

Domestic participation too has seen an uptick, buoyed by aggressive marketing campaigns. Some 1,304 Indian buyers will participate this year– fur-ther ensuring that the array of products, services and packages on offer at the stalls of the around 261 regis-tered sellers will find no dearth in takers.

Besides focusing on its core themes of ‘Respon-sible Tourism’ and ‘Muziris and Spice Route’, KTM 2016 will also project Kerala as the ideal breakaway destination for weddings and honeymoons– emerg-ing segments for tourism destinations– with the stated aim of increasing the state’s tourism market share by an additional ̀ 5,000 crore.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | SEPTEMBER 2016 • 31resPONsIbLe tOurIsm

National Tourism Awards acknowledge Yes Bank for the best Responsible Tourism initiative

13 finalists announced for 2016 World Responsible Tourism Awards13 finalists have been announced for the 2016 World Responsible Tourism Awards by Responsible Travel at WTM London sponsored by Belize, with a strong focus on innovation, reasserting the Awards’ posi-tion as the leading scheme in the world for respon-sible tourism.

The Awards ceremony will be held at WTM Lon-don which will see an incredibly strong list of con-tenders. Professor Harold Goodwin, Chair of judges, explained, “Over the past few months each of these organisations have been subject to intense scrutiny by a panel of judges combining some of the leading minds in responsible tourism, conservation and develop-ment in the country. They have come through one of the most rigorous and competitive judging processes for an Awards scheme of this kind and have emerged as international leaders in their respective fields.”

Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, WTM London and fellow judge said, “Once again the World Responsible Tourism Awards will be a key part of the opening of World Responsible Tourism Day at WTM London. The stories of the winners and their achieve-ments will be even more poignant this year as we cel-ebrate the tenth anniversary of World Responsible Tourism Day – the largest day of responsible tourism action in the world.”

The other judges in the panel include Dr Dilys Roe, Principal Researcher, International Institute for Environment and Development; Justin Francis, Founder, World Responsible Tourism Awards and CEO, Responsible Travel, among others.

The 13 finalists are: Xaus Lodge, South Africa; Burj Al Arab Aquarium, United Arab Emirates; Bush-man’s Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Resort, South Africa; East African Safari & Touring Com-pany, Tanzania; Elevate Destinations, USA; Friends International – Childsafe Movement, Cambodia; Lemon Tree Hotels, India; Misool Eco Lodge, Indo-nesia; Sam Veasna Centre, Cambodia; Sapa O’Chau, Vietnam; Tren Ecuador, Ecuador; Viaggi Solidali, Italy; and World Cetacean Alliance.

Kerala must practise Responsible Tourism all across the state, suggest experts

Kerala Tourism has won another National Tour-ism Award in Responsible Tourism for its Wayanad project. With this, the tourism experts now feel the need of taking such initiatives beyond the level of sample or pilot project to turn each and every desti-nation ‘socially, economically and environmentally responsible’.

“It’s not an easy task to implement these norms which can ensure local community benefits and lesser impact on environment and natural resources. Even in Kumarakom, where more than 1500 houseboats oper-ate, we can claim only a 50% adherence to environment

norms adopted while implementing the RT project,” said Anilkumar A R, CEO of Great India Tourism Planners and Consultants (GITPAC), an agency which had prepared RT projects for Kumarakom, Wayanad, Kovalam and Thekkady for a launch in 2007.

“Responsible tourism is an all-round solution for several issues that might crop up locally in a destina-tion, as there would be new stakeholders including local bodies, villagers and other local organisations. It’s high time we implement RT in all the destinations across the state,” added E M Najeeb, President of the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry.

Yes Bank has bagged a National Tourism Award for the ‘Most Responsible Tourism Project/Initiative’ at the recently held award ceremony, instituted by Min-istry of Tourism.

Yes Bank is the first bank to receive the prestigious National Tourism Award for its unique ‘Edge of India’ initiative, which focuses on developing cooperative tourism models to ensure livelihood security of local communities.

“Yes Bank is honoured to be the first bank to receive the prestigious National Tourism Award from the

Government of India for its unique ‘Edge of India’ ini-tiative which is focused on developing cooperative tour-ism models to ensure livelihood security of local com-munities,” said Rana Kapoor, Founder and Managing Director of Yes Bank.

The ‘Edge of India’ initiative is a community tourism initiative that aims to deliver sustainable socio-economic development through capacity building of rural com-munities. The project has so far been carried out in four villages- Bageshwar, Ranikhet and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand and Purulia in West Bengal.

AccorHotels has been awarded CSR Excellence Case in ‘Best Green Operation’ for Planet 21 at the Invest in Green Future CSR and Innovation 2016 Shanghai Summit.

Michel Molliet, COO, AccorHotels Greater China, said, “We are proud to be recognised for our efforts and commitments in sustainable development under Planet 21. Today, travellers are in favour of hotels that are committed to sustainable development. Since the programme’s inception five years ago, it has delivered two-thirds of its 21 objectives with over 90% of our hotels embarking on a continuous-improvement drive. Our vision is to drive the change towards positive, more socially responsible and innovative hospitality.”

Over 400,000 people cast their votes at the Summit through social media platforms with 100 case studies submitted by 83 companies. 49 cases were selected by a panel of judges based on popular votes cast by mem-bers of the public. The winners were selected based on the CSR initiatives implemented and how it helped the city achieve the target of innovation and growth in indus-trial restructuring and upgrading.

With more than 20 years’ commitment to sustainability, AccorHotels is a leader in CSR in the tour-ism and hospitality sector and the group is committed

to continuous improvement of its sustainability creden-tials. With encouraging results from the first phase of Planet 21, the group continues to scale up ambitions by banking on innovation and accountability.

Planet 21 [2016-2020] is structured into four areas

of action enlisting its employees, customers, partners and local communities with two key priorities in food and beverage with targets to reduce food waste by 30% and 100% of renovated or new hotels to be low carbon buildings.

AccorHotels wins accolade for sustainable development