Category Archives: Agents

Speaking on the occasion of Paryatan Parv recently, Rajiv Jalota, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust, said, “Earlier we used to be fascinated by international vessels making calls on Indian coasts, especially Mumbai. But of late, river and domestic cruising on the coastal waters and the inland waterways is growing by leaps and bounds. Three years prior to the pandemic, the growth of cruise tourism in India was at 39% annually. Today, there is a high-level taskforce in place under various ministries that has been taking some pathbreaking decisions towards developing cruise tourism in India.”

Asia Pacific is at the centre of growth in the travel industry and Sabre is seeing very rapid acceleration in the recovery, says Brett Thorstad, VP (Travel Solutions), Agency Sales, Asia Pacific, Sabre. He says, “India is the third-largest travel market in the world just behind the USA and China. We are seeing rapid growth in the India market with high single-digit GDP growth every year. This is also translating into the travel market as the demography of the Indian population is changing. India is a very important market for Sabre and that is why we are planning to make some significant investments in India in the next several years and take advantage of the travel recovery here.”

Abdullah AlAbdouli, CEO, Marjan, was recently in India to explore opportunities with investors, developers and institutional funds who would be interested in participating in the real estate development in RAK. He says, “We would like them to explore the success story of Al Marjan island in RAK with us. Al Marjan island is an iconic real estate development where we are looking for investors and developers to develop own real estate model whether it is a hotel, resort, service apartments, or F&B products.” Marjan, RAK Hospitality Holding and Wynn Resorts are working together to develop the first Wynn Resort in the Middle East

VFS Global is organising a webinar on ‘How to make the most of the Visa At Your Doorstep (VAYD) service on 11 Oct at 11am. It will elaborate how the travel trade and customers can benefit from it. Register at https://event.webinarjam.com/register/452/n7kngam6.  

The Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) has embarked on a preliminary promotional trip to India with the aim to reconnect and revive the tourism and business events industry in Penang and India through press conferences and networking night.  The trip is essential for demonstrating the market readiness in India. Some of the Indian local airlines have expressed interest in expanding into Penang after attending PCEB’s annual roadshow last year. Following the interest, the PCEB team together with YB Yeoh Soon Hin, the State Executive Councillor for Tourism & Creative Economy had a meeting with a few airlines to discuss direct flights opportunities to Penang from key cities in India. It is essential to maintain marketing momentum in order to keep airlines enthusiastic about the Penang-India link. “The efforts to ensure tourism is sustainable was taken well into consideration by incorporating the idea of Responsible Tourism into the travel and tourism sector post pandemic. Penang is the first state in Malaysia to launch a well-designed SOS safety APP, making Penang once again the trendsetter in Malaysia’s tourism environment. With your support, we can restore travellers’ confidence to visit Penang and ensure that it remains a top destination for people from all over the world,” said Yeoh Soon Hin, the State Executive Councillor for Tourism & Creative Economy “PCEB’s dedication has not wavered, and our team is dedicated to fostering mutually beneficial relationships and working closely with the Indian community. The establishment of a direct flight between India and Penang is one of the primary topics of conversation at the moment. We are already in discussion with airlines both in India and in Malaysia about the possibility of establishing additional direct flight …

As per the India Tourism Statistics 2022 released today, UAE was the top source nation for Indian Nationals’ Departures (INDs) in 2021, followed by the USA, Qatar, Oman, the United Kingdom, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bahrain, and Kuwait. In 2021, the Top 10 nations accounted for around 85.93% of all INDs. In comparison to 2020, there was an increase in INDs from India. In 2021, 8.55 million Indian nationals departed from the country, up from 7.29 million in 2020, a 17.30% increase. The number of Indian citizens leaving after 2019 has dramatically dropped as a result of the pandemic. INDs frequently travel by air, which is also the most common method.

To support Unique Tourism Projects under Maharashtra Tourism Policy 2016, DoT signed an MoU with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) with a desire to light up (sound and light show) the Gateway of India, thus making it a destination to further attract tourists. The IOCL will finance the project through the CSR funds and facilitate the operation of sound & light show through its technical expertise. Similarly, another MoU was signed with Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) to begin the concept of Mining Tourism in Maharashtra to explore the state’s mineral treasure. Tourists will get to experience mine tourism at Saoner (UG) and Adasa (OC) in Nagpur Area, Niljai (OC) Wani Area and Bhatadi (OC) in Chandrapur Area.

Ministry of Tourism facilitated the efforts of industry stakeholders and conferred the National Tourism Awards 2018-19 to winners in different categories on the occasion of World Tourism Day at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The Chief Guest of the prestigious event was Jagdeep Dhankhar, Vice President of India, who honoured the excellence of members in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry, including State Governments. G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DONER, along with Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State for Tourism, also graced the ceremony. Ministers, representatives of states, travel trade and tourism organisations were in attendance to receive the awards. MOT also commenced its Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) iconic week to celebrate 75 years of independence with the National Tourism Awards.   List of Award Winners 2018-19 States Best State / Union Territory : Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) First Prize (Hall of Fame) Uttarakhand Best State / Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) 2nd Prize Maharashtra Best State / Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) Third Prize Telangana Best State/ Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) Hall of Fame Andhra Pradesh Best State / Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) Hall of Fame Kerala Best State / Union Territory: Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) Hall of Fame Goa Best District Tourism Promotional Council Kozhikode Best Maintained and Differently Abled Friendly Monument Shiv Temple, Bhojpur, Madhya Pradesh Best Tourist Friendly Airport in Class X Cities Kolkata Best Tourist-friendly Railway Station Secunderabad Best Tourist-friendly Airport in other cities Indore Best Heritage City Ahmedabad Civic Management of a Tourist Destination in India (Category …

The 61st Annual General Meeting of the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Eastern India, the strongest forum of the hospitality industry of the region, with 12 member states and one union territory, was held on September 21, 2022 in The Park Hotel, Kolkata. Sudesh Poddar was re-elected as the President of HRAEI for the year 2022-2023. The team led by Poddar has stalwarts like T.S. Walia, Past President FHRAI, Md. Azhar as Senior-Vice president, Aneel Goenka as Vice-President, Pranav Singh as Honorary Secretary, Amit Ruia as Honorary Treasurer, Sandeep Sehgal as Joint Honorary Secretary and H.S. Bagga as Joint Honorary Treasurer.

Discover all that this Peninsular Gulf country has to offer during the exclusive webinar titled ‘Curated in Qatar’ on Wednesday, Sept 28 at 3pm IST. For more information, please write to Jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or +91-9650196532.