Tag Archives: New Delhi

Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, presented the summary remarks at Tourism PowerHouse 2018— a PATA India initiative, held recently in New Delhi. Addressing the attendees at The Park, New Delhi, Hardy said, “We live in an uncertain and a very complex world. Things are changing at a phenomenal speed. We need to prepare ourselves for the disruptions in future. At Tourism Powerhouse, we have talked about the importance of local experiences and authenticity. The wealthiest of travellers are also looking for experiences and so are the millennials. Creating these unique experiences is a challenge that the travel industry is facing to remain in the business and to remain in the interest of these future travellers. Today, it is required to create memorable experiences that people want to share on social media as well as with friends and relatives, as they are the most trusted source of information on travel.” Insisting that the focus on experiences would be key to the growth that India needs to see in tourism, he said that the Tourism Powerhouse is a great initiative by PATA India Chapter and he hopes that it becomes a regular event.

Highlighting areas where the Ministry of Tourism will spend more on promotional activities, Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Tourism and Chairman, PATA India Chapter, spoke of the Ministry’s three-pronged strategy at PATA India’s first-ever Tourism PowerHouse held at The Park, New Delhi. “We have a three-pronged strategy for increasing inflow to the country. First, we have G2G interactions; 16 MOUs have been signed in this regard. The second is promoting through B2B interactions, where we have employed a number of methods. We have been participating in all major world tourism marts that give us an excellent opportunity. Apart from that, we have roadshows in which we lead a delegation of the industry and give a platform to them for further networking. This year, we’re taking things a step forward and organising India Travel Mart in September, which is likely to get 250 buyers from around the world. The third part of the strategy is more B2C interactions. How we reach out to consumers is the third aspect of our strategy,” she elaborated.

The first direct air service between Vietnam’s most populous Ho Chi Minh City and New Delhi is likely to commence by the last quarter of this financial year. This was announced by Nguyen Le Thanh, Deputy Chief of Mission at Vietnam Embassy. Stating that out of 20 million Indians travelling overseas every year, only 90,000 visit Vietnam. “India has a very important place in our foreign policy and we have a comprehensive strategic partnership. The bonding will strengthen further with more people to people contact and this can been be boosted through tourism,” Thanh said. She said Vietnam has seen a rapid rise in tourist inflow from the other parts of the world with an average 25 to 30 per cent increase in numbers every year compared to the previous year. “From just 2.5 lakh overseas tourists in 1990, Vietnam has registered 13 million tourist arrivals in 2017,” she said. Thanh said that the country has a great heritage with a 4000-year-old history. With a very long coastline, the S-shaped country has 125 beaches including the popular Nha Trang, Da Nang and Phu Quoc island, she said. She said the country is peaceful and safe with friendly people and boasts of an exquisite cuisine. Source: PTI

Oman Air recently organised a networking evening in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai to introduce its new Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Starrs, to its top agent partners. Starrs re-joined the airline three months ago after a gap of five years. Speaking at the event in Mumbai, Starrs said, “We have been seeing strong growth from the India market and my focus is to double our efforts in promoting the products here.” Delegates from TAAI and TAFI were also present at the event and presented him with a memento. TAFI also extended to Starrs an honorary membership. He also spoke briefly about the new flight that Oman Air is starting to Moscow in October to be served by Oman Air’s Boeing 737-800. “While we don’t expect too many numbers from India for the Moscow flight in the winter, we hope it will make up for it in the summer season. The direct flight will be operated daily non-stop between Oman and Russia.” Flights to Istanbul and Casablanca were launched in June and in July 2018 respectively.

The Archaeological Survey of India, in an order issued recently, decided to allow photography within the premises of all centrally protected monuments/sites except three which include Ajanta Caves, Leh Palace and Mausoleum of Taj Mahal. This comes in the wake of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi observing that space technology in the modern era has developed to such an extent that one can photograph even minute objects from far off distances, and in this background, it is indeed ironical to restrict the tourists/visitors from taking photographs of their experiences at heritage monuments and sites. He recently inaugurated Dharohar Bhawan, the new headquarters building of ASI at Tilak Marg, New Delhi.

In its monthly luncheon meeting held at The Metropolitan Hotel and Spa, New Delhi, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) updated its members about its upcoming convention and participation in various roadshows with the Ministry as well as in the India Tourism Mart. Chairing the meeting was Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO; EM Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO and Rajesh Mudgill, Honorary Secretary, IATO. They attended to the queries of the members and solved their concerns regarding GST. The IATO Managing Committee also felicitated Ajeet Bajaj and his daughter Diya Bajaj for accomplishing the feat of climbing Mount Everest recently.  

The Ministry of Tourism is set to host the first edition of India Tourism Mart from September 16-18, 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, in association with Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), along with different states and union territories. Speaking at the event, KJ Alphons, Minister of Tourism (I/C) said, “ITM is created to have a dedicated tourism event for India on the lines of WTM London, ITB Berlin, ATM Dubai, etc, which provide a platform for stakeholders in the industry to network for business opportunities with international buyers. The event is going to see over 300 international buyers and around 250 stalls for exhibitors. The buyers will be selected from potential source markets by the international offices of MOT as well as by the participating associations on merit and quality.”

Pegged at $40 to $50 billion, the Indian wedding industry is the second largest market in the world after the USA, revealed Rajeev Jain, Founder and Director, Rashi Entertainment at the 5th Travel Wedding Show, held recently at Jaipur Marriott Hotel. The event witnessed over 2000 B2B meetings between exhibitors and buyers spread across two days. Speaking on trends in the wedding industry, Jain said, “The global wedding industry is pegged at $300 billion. As far as international destination weddings are concerned, the most wanted destination initially was Thailand but now people are venturing to Turkey, UAE, Cyprus, Mauritius, Macau, Malta, Sri Lanka, Bali, London, among other new destinations.” A panel discussion was held on ‘Destination Weddings: An overview, India v/s International.’ Moderated by Jain, the session’s panelists included H Deniz Ersoz, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Embassy, New Delhi; Hemant Mediratta, Senior Vice President – Sales, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts; Saurabh Bhargava, AVP Sales, Indian Hotels Company; Shampa Dhali, Area Director, National Sales – India, Marriott International and Abinash Manghani, Area Manager and Head Travel, ITC Hotels. A knowledge book titled ‘An Insight on Weddings in India & abroad’ was also released on the occasion.  

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) is set to conduct its elections on August 11, 2018 at the Metropolitan Hotel, New Delhi. The Returning Officer (RO) for the election would be Harbans Singh, Retd Secretary, Election Commission. This was announced at the General House meeting of the association recently. The current team will be completing its two-year term on August 16, 2018.  

In a bid to attract investors across the industry, a number of state tourism boards presented their ideas and prospect on tourism in their respective states during the 4th Tourism Investors Meet held at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi. The tourism boards of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur gave detailed presentations on how their state provides lucrative opportunities to investors. Each presentation counted on their USP and explained about the incentives and concessions provided by the respective state governments. The first presentation was given by the meet’s Theme State West Bengal Tourism which stressed on developing the state as an ‘ecotourism hub’. This was followed by a presentation by Partner State Rajasthan Tourism which focused on promoting heritage location and properties in the state. It also talked about opportunity of growth for adventure sports and MiCE in the state. Feature State Gujarat Tourism stressed on providing attractive incentives to investors with last mile connectivity for travellers in the state. The final presentation was given by Feature State Manipur Tourism. Highlighting the state’s rich culture and resources, the presentation talked about the prospect of developing Manipur as a ‘tourism hub’. The main focus was on Loktak lake, the largest fresh water lake in the Northeast.