Category Archives: Agents

CA Manish Gadia, Partner, GMJ & Co, says, “The Service Tax has indeed gone up from 1.5 per cent to nine per cent on the total tour package now, which is a huge jump. While the tour operators will now have to pay a higher tax, they will also stand to benefit from this as they can now take set-offs in the form of CENVAT credit. According to this, service providers are allowed a set-off of the taxes paid on the services that are incurred while providing the same.”

According to a recent ruling, starting January 22 2017, tour operators will have to pay a service tax on 60 per cent of the amount they bill the customer. The move might make the cost of the tours to go up by 10-15 per cent. Before this, tour operators had to pay service tax on 25 per cent of the bill amount if they offered a packaged tour, and in case of offering their service for booking a hotel as part of a tour, they paid service tax on only 10 per cent of the bill amount. For any other tour-related service, the service tax was on 40 per cent of the bill amount.

As a part of the systematic efforts to provide education to the underprivileged kids, Cox & Kings Foundation- the philanthropic arm of Cox & Kings Ltd along with The Mamta Trust, has set up a new pre-primary school for underprivileged kids in Pune. The school will provide quality education, nutrition and care to the youngest and most vulnerable children in the area.  The admissions for the new academic year are open and once started, the school will run in two batches a day with almost 100 enthusiastic children. With quality education, the children will also get smart uniforms, daily nutritious snacks and stationery and learning supplies.  All these are free of cost except a small token fee of Rs. 200 which is charged to acknowledge the parents’ dignity. This also helps them to value the education that their children are receiving.

Representation company Global Destinations has added three new partners to its portfolio in 2017: AlliedTPro, Infinity Escapades and Leisure Pass Group. The companies will be represented from the Mumbai office of Global Destinations, along with its 18 other partners, starting January 1, 2017. With the new additions, Global Destinations will be representing travel companies from continents across the globe. Speaking about getting their new partners on board, Pranav Kapadia, Founder, Global Destinations, says, “We are very excited about our new partnership with three esteemed companies – AlliedTPro, Infinity Escapades and Leisure Pass Group. Each company is a leader in its segment and the alliances will enable us to provide our stakeholders a whole new variety of offerings. 2016 has been a good year for us with the addition of new products to our portfolio and being announced as the GSA for Air New Zealand in India.” While AlliedTPro, head-quartered in New York, is a major in the USA and Canada inbound market, Infinity Escapades is a full-service Travel Management Company from Morocco and Leisure Pass Group is a sightseeing and tourism technology specialist that develops and manages city passes.

To connect better with its members and the partners, Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA) will soon be launching its android-based mobile application “Let’s Connect” Version 1.0 later this month. “NIMA always strives to add value for its members, and this mobile application is one such innovative step,” said Gajesh Girdhar, National Coordinator, NIMA. Maj. Vikrant Gulani (Retd.), Coordinator PR said that NIMA’s mobile App will take the MICE operators to a digital networking platform. The official website www.thenima.in will also be re-launched with new look and additional features, he added.

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) has announced a strategic partnership with TUI India Pvt. Ltd. to promote and enhance its presence in the Indian market. With this alliance, Ras Al Khaimah TDA aims to further strengthen the key aspects of the destination amongst the Indian audience. The partnership will come into effect from January 1, 2017. The agreement includes promotion of the emirate by TUI India Pvt. Ltd through specially created itineraries, special promotions on its consumer website as well as a series of co-op activities and campaigns. Haitham Mattar, CEO, RAKTDA, said, “India is one of the top source markets for us, we are aiming to enhance strategic efforts to drive awareness across India through our dynamic marketing campaigns and relationships with key partners in the public and private sectors. We are glad to begin the New Year with an association with such a renowned travel company and are looking forward to welcome more Indian tourists in future.” Vishal Sinha, CEO, TUI India Pvt. Ltd, added, “Ras Al Khaimah is quickly becoming a leading choice for Indian travellers of all ages. We will focus on creating attractive packages and aggressive promotion of the destination through right mix of media channels.” With India ranked as the emirate’s fourth largest international source market, RAKTDA has seen extensive trade and promotional activities to ensure continued growth from the Subcontinent. As per the latest official data, the northern UAE emirate recorded a 19 per cent rise in Indian hotel guests between January and November in 2016 when compared to the same period in 2015.

To push its two products – villas and homestays – in the Indian market, Tripvillas is looking to tap offline travel agents. Roshan D’Silva, CEO, Tripvillas, says, “We currently do not have a direct tie-up with offline agents and have chosen to work through aggregators. In India, a travel agent can have access to our product through Via.com and international travel agents can access our product through Tourico travels in Florida. However, we are actively looking for new reputed travel agents to appoint as our General Selling Agents.” It is looking for travel agents with a strong presence in the upper mid-market as well as specialised agents handling family travel, corporate groups, weddings, and celebrity travel. “We are open and supportive to any ideas and would be happy to engage with other companies for mutual benefit. In the pipeline are multiple training programs, materials and in-person seminars for the travel trade. We offer special payment terms to travel agents who are IATA-certified and pass our credit checks. Our policies are travel agent-friendly and gives them a good opportunity to generate additional revenue and provide a valuable service to their customers,” he adds. It has also tied up with OTAs such as MakemyTrip, Goibibo, Yatra, Travelguru, Via.com as well as international online companies like Ctrip, Ostrovok, Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia

Bali-based destination marketing company – Diorama Travel Management (DTM) – plans to enter the India market to leverage the huge potential it offers. Sutrisno Bin Saudji, Managing Director, DTM, says, “We plan to visit India soon. It will be more to develop friendship and network with the Indian travel agents and understand the Indian market, the lifestyle of the Indian tourists and follow it up with a suitable product to match their needs. With this knowledge we will be able to innovate our products that we can offer the Indian market. As per our study, the India market prefers readymade holiday packages for Indonesia. That’s the reason why we will visit India in the coming years. I want all my agent friends to become ‘Indonesia Specialist Agents’.” He added that DTM plans to organise a destination briefing with agents and introduce them to eight new destinations in Indonesia apart from Bali. The company is a wholesaler inbound tour operator that runs the SIC (Seat-In-Combined) holiday packages in eight destinations in Indonesia. All its Indonesia holiday package are based on GV2 which means a minimum of only two people can go on a group departure fare.

Shivantika Bon Voyage in association with Travelz Factory are opening their office in Northern Europe, intending on Baltic region which is yet to be explored enormously. We are established in all three Countries – Vilnius (Lithuania), Riga (Latvia) and Tallinn (Estonia) and Latvia (Riga). Their expertise lies in customised travel itineraries emphasising on Meeting and Incentive Guests. The itineraries can be altered as per the Groups requirement.  They will be offering series group departure for June’2017 with Breakfast and Dinner and also assist you for FIT movement for this region offering personalised and unique experiences for each client.

Etihad Holidays, the tour operating arm of the UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways, has launched in India, offering travellers a wide range of holiday packages to destinations worldwide. Etihad Holidays has teamed up with leading Indian travel company TUI to distribute its products to over 900 registered travel agents across India. Etihad Holidays has numerous travel options that include flights, accommodation and tour choices with stopovers in Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi hub. Agents have the opportunity to earn commissions by selling Etihad Holidays’ products. Commission levels range between five and 10 per cent on packages booked, dependent on class of travel. The packages are bookable through the VAX trade e-platform or through a local sales support team over the phone. Destinations across North America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Gulf and Asia are featured in the packages. Popular markets from India include Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, the GCC, United States, Canada, European cities, as well as South Africa and the Indian Ocean. Among the most attractive packages is the Abu Dhabi Stopover Programme allowing guests to break their journey in the UAE capital and take advantage of the two-for-the price-of-one night accommodation offers. Neerja Bhatia, Etihad Airways Vice President Indian Subcontinent, said, “The strong presence of Etihad Airways and Jet Airways in one of the most dynamic markets in the world makes it a natural and compelling proposition for Etihad Holidays to launch in India. We have many exciting plans in India during the months ahead offering our guests more choice, greater travel options and increased flexibility to help them plan their flights and holidays.”