Tag Archives: India

Mauritius recorded a growth of about 16 per cent in Indian arrivals this year and expects this to increase to 20 per cent in 2017. Vivek Anand, Country Head, Mauritius Tourism, India, says, “We have seen a growth of nearly 16 per cent and a lot of high end tourists are visiting Mauritius and there are a lot of MICE movements and a lot of big Indian weddings happening there.” In 2017, Mauritius targets 100,000 Indian tourists which is a growth of 20 per cent. According to Anand, the growth will primarily come from the high end FITs, MICE and weddings.

Effective December 17, VFS Global in India and Nepal will no longer accept Schengen visa applications on behalf of the Embassy of Spain or Consulate General of Mumbai in India. Applicants who have confirmed appointments with VFS Global up till December 16, 2016 shall continue to have their applications processed at the VFS Global office in and Nepal. The VFS Global website stated, “For all other queries from 17 December 2016 onwards, please get in touch directly with the Spain Consulate General OR Embassy of Spain in your city. For queries regarding visa applications submitted on/before 16 December 2016, please note, our website, online appointment system, call center line and helpdesk email support will be operational until December 26, 2016. VFS Global will continue to process Schengen visa applications on behalf of the other European member states served by VFS Global.”

Air India and VietJetAir have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) over their proposed cooperation on flights between India and Vietnam. Under the terms of the partnership, VietJet and Air India will both commence direct flights between the two countries with the first route to be Ho Chi Minh City-Delhi Int’l. Moreover, both airlines will also cooperate in the expansion of their sales distribution capabilities, the implementation of tourism and trade promotions between Vietnam and India; and the exchange of expertise through collaborative personnel training. “We are very delighted at the agreement with Air India,” VietJetAir Vice President Dinh Viet Phuong said “We hope that Air India’s aviation experience and capabilities will help Vietjet to better our access to India – a potential market with a young and dynamic population of more than 1.2 billion people. The cooperation is also expected to contribute positively to a higher development of partnership in economy, trade and tourism between Vietnam and India.” The move comes amid warming ties between India and Vietnam. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Hanoi in September he and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, signed twelve MOUs covering the sectors of defence, space, IT, health, mutual recognition of standards, and cybersecurity.

India has recorded a 16 per cent increase in international tourism expenditure during the first three to nine months of 2016. Destinations around the world welcomed 956 million international tourists between January and September 2016, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This is 34 million more than in the same period of 2015, a 4 per cent increase. Among the top five source markets, China, the world’s top source market, continues to drive demand, reporting double-digit growth in spending (+19%). Likewise, robust results come from the United States (+9%), which benefited many destinations in the Americas and beyond. Germany reported a 5% increase in expenditure, the United Kingdom, a 10% increase, and France, 3% growth. Demand for international tourism remained robust in the first nine months of 2016, though growing at a somewhat more moderate pace. After a strong start of the year, growth was slower in the second quarter of 2016 to pick up again in the third quarter of the year. While most destinations report encouraging results, others continue to struggle with the impact of negative events, either in their country or in their region. Tourism spending grew notably in Australia and the Republic of Korea (both +9%), and moderately in Italy (+3%). By contrast, expenditure from the Russian Federation declined 37% and from Canada a slight 2%. Beyond the top 10, eight other markets reported double-digit growth: Egypt (+38%), Argentina (+27%), Spain (+19%), India (+16%), Thailand (+15%), Ukraine (+15%), Ireland (+12%) and Norway (+11%). “Tourism is one of the most resilient and fastest-growing economic sectors but it is also very sensitive to risks, both actual and perceived. As such, the sector must continue to work …

India and China continued to register double-digit growth in domestic passenger demand in September 2016, according to International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) global passenger traffic report. The results showed that global demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) grew 7 per cent compared to the same month in 2015. This was the strongest year-over-year increase in seven months. Capacity climbed 6.6 per cent and load factor edged up 0.3 percentage points to 81.1 per cent. Growth in domestic traffic slightly outpaced growth in international traffic. Domestic passenger demand climbed 7.2 per cent in September as compared to September2015, which was up from the 4.1 per cent year-on-year growth recorded in August. International RPKs climbed 6.9 per cent with airlines in all regions recording growth compared to 2015. Total capacity climbed 7.2 per cent, causing load factor to slide 0.2percentage points to 80.4 per cent. “September’s growth in passenger demand was healthy. Importantly, this rebound from August weakness suggests that travel demand is showing its resilience in the aftermath of terror attacks. We must, of course, be ever-alert to the ongoing terror threat. And overall the industry is still vulnerable to being buffeted by rising geopolitical tensions, protectionist political agendas, and weak economic fundamentals. This will still be a good year for the airline industry’s performance, but our profitability will continue to be hard-won,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and Chief Executive Officer, IATA.

Making a foray into the money transfer business in India, Cox & Kings Ltd has partnered with UAE Exchange India, to provide inward remittance and domestic money transfer services in the country. This strategic venture will enable Indians living abroad to conveniently remit funds to their families in India, and also benefit foreign tourists visiting India. This association will expand the current network of collection centres and reach out to a broad category of consumers across the country. Cox & Kings has identified select locations within India, from where the customers can avail this service. There are no charges applicable to the recipient in India. Besides foreign inward money, domestic money transfer services will also be available at the designated Cox & Kings’ outlets through this process. Ravi Menon, Head—Foreign Exchange, Cox & Kings Ltd. said, “The strategic partnership will help us enter the money transfer business in India which is the largest recipient of remittance in the world. People who are expecting money from their relatives or friends abroad can now use our wide network of branches across India.” The facility of inward remittance will provide a convenient and quick mechanism for Indians working abroad to send money to their families in India and also benefit foreign tourists visiting India. The money will be received in minutes and all that the recipient has to do is visit one of the designated locations to collect their money.

With a view to showcase and project the Buddhist heritage and pilgrim sites of India, the Ministry of Tourism is organising the ‘5th International Buddhist Conclave, from October 2 to 6, 2016, in Varanasi-Sarnath in collaboration with the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Conclave was inaugurated by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister for Tourism & Culture on October 2 in New Delhi. Ministry of Tourism has received over 250 nominations from 38 countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA and Vietnam for participation in the Conclave. This year’s International Buddhist Conclave is very special as ASEAN as a Guest of Honour partner and a large participation is expected from ASEAN Countries which are also major source markets for India in general and the Buddhist Heritage sites in particular. Participants in the Buddhist Conclave will include international Buddhist opinion makers, tour operators and media, as well as state governments and domestic tour operators promoting pilgrimages to the Buddhist sites in the country. The Conclave will include Presentations, Panel discussions, Business to Business Meetings between international and domestic tour operators and State Governments, an exhibition highlighting Buddhist attractions in India, as well as visits to important Buddhist sites in and around Varanasi, Sarnath and Bodhgaya. The event will give the participants an opportunity to interact, promote, package and sell pilgrimage itineraries to the Buddhist sites in the country, for overseas visitors. International Buddhist Conclaves have earlier been organized in New Delhi and Bodhgaya (February …

Singapore Tourism Board recently organised a 10-day, six-city road show across key markets in India and Colombo in Sri Lanka. Themed “Extending Hands in Partnership”, the delegation was led by GB Srithar, Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) newly appointed Regional Director for South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA). The initiative is envisioned as an annual platform for the region’s trade partners to get updated on the latest leisure and MICE offerings in Singapore. The Singapore delegation comprised representatives from top hotels, cruise liners, attractions, airlines and Destination Management Companies (DMCs), which travelled to the cities of Colombo in Sri Lanka and then to the Indian cities of Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Jalandhar. The sessions saw an enthusiastic turnout from travel trade professionals with an average participation of 135 agents per city. Srithar said, “As we move into the next exciting phase of promoting Singapore to wider audiences in tier II cities, we look to fostering closer strategic and tactical partnerships with the travel trade to entrench the positioning of Singapore as one of the must-see destinations for the Indian audiences.”

In a bid to establish a stronger footprint in the India market, Air Canada has announced expansions in its flights between India and Canada. At a B2B event jointly organised by Destination Canada and Air Canada in Mumbai today, Arun Pandeya, Country Head & GM – India Sub-continent, Air Canada, announced, “We will increase the frequency of our Toronto-Delhi flights from four times a week to daily beginning November 6, 2016.” To cater to the increasing demand from the India market, the airline is also introducing seasonal non-stop flights from Vancouver to New Delhi. “These flights will operate from October 20, 2016 to April 8, 2017. These will be on our Dreamliner 787-900 series and will be the fastest airline to connect these two cities – in 13 hours total,” he added.

The island of Ireland hosted the second annual Ireland Specialists Mega Fam trip from 21 August 21 to August 26, for 12 top-performing agents from six markets that included Australia, China, India, GCC, South Africa and New Zealand. From India Thomas Cook and Vacations Exotica participated in this fam. They travelled to Ireland and battle it out in daily challenges to be crowned the 2016 Emerald Ireland Specialist 2015. The challenges included photo challenges, food challenges and sporting challenges as well as a competitive, high-tech treasure hunt around Dublin City. As well as competing for the title, the agents experienced many of the key visitor attractions. Over 11,000 agents across the world have signed up for the programme since launching in 2013.