Tag Archives: India

Hurtigruten has appointed Cruise Professionals as its exclusive GSA for India and Sri Lanka. The Norwegian cruise company aims to grow revenue opportunities and establish wider distribution in these two markets. By enhancing their commitment in India and Sri Lanka, the management of both companies aims to make Hurtigruten a major exploration cruise brand in India with significant growth in the years ahead. Recognising the need for a concentrated brand and product development strategy to service India and Sri Lanka, William Harber, Hurtigruten’s President for China & Asia-Pacific, says, “Our partnership with Cruise Professionals will enable the rapid expansion of our exploration cruising and coastal Norway products. This association leverages Cruise Professionals’ expertise in managing distribution.  Their operating model and strengths in sales and marketing will deepen current relationships and create future trade arrangements across India and Sri Lanka.” Nishith Saxena, Founder & Director of Cruise Professionals says, “Hurtigruten and Cruise Professionals association has come at a time when a large section of Indian travellers are seeking a different experience that goes beyond the normal cruising options. We shall make Hurtigruten easy for the travel agent to sell and deliver a complete solution for adventurous travellers by educating the trade about these unique voyages offered to some of the world’s most breathtaking destinations.”

In a move to boost Indian arrivals, Malaysia has launched a 15-day e-visa for travellers on a short visit. This was announced at a press conference in New Delhi by Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz. “India and Malaysia share great relations that go a long way back and we want to foster these ties. We decided to launch this e-visa for the benefit of travellers who visit the country for a short while and since it takes only 48 hours for approval, it is also useful for those who require it urgently,” he said. The e-visa includes a single-entry and costs $20. Tourism Malaysia and leaders from TAAI, TAFI and OTOAI also signed a commitment plaque fortifying each other’s commitment to promoting travel from India.With a focus on sustainable tourism, Malaysia is also pushing its special interest packages for premium shopping, luxury travels, sports tourism such as golf, and Malaysia as a wedding and honeymoon destination. India is the sixth top tourist generating market for Malaysia with a total 722,141 Indian visitors recorded in 2015. Last year, from January to October, Malaysia received a total of 540,530 Indian tourists. Malaysia hopes to achieve 1 million arrivals from the India market this year.

India ranked third among the top growth markets for international visitor arrivals in Singapore in terms of absolute growth in 2016, registering a growth of 8 per cent. While China (+36%) topped the growth markets, Indonesia (+6%) finished a close second. The growth was due to more visitor arrivals from Tier-I and Tier-II cities in China, India and Indonesia, where STB had intensified its marketing efforts. India also overtook Australia to become Singapore’s 4th largest source market for visitor arrivals. The largest declines in visitor arrivals were posted by Hong Kong (-12%), Malaysia (-2%), Australia (-2%), South Korea (-2%) and Japan (-1%). From January to September 2016, there was good growth in tourism receipts across Singapore’s top ten source markets. For the second consecutive year, China (+41%) ranked top in tourism receipts, followed by Indonesia (+14%) and India (+37%). Both visitor arrivals and tourism receipts exceeded forecasts to hit historical highs in 2016. While visitor arrivals grew by 7.7 per cent to 16.4 million, tourism receipts rose even higher by 13.9 per cent to $24.8 billion. The strong tourism receipt results came on the back of visitors spending more on Food and Beverage, Shopping and Accommodation. On the business tourism front, STB supported more than 410 business events held in 2016, a 15 per cent year-on-year growth. These events garnered around 343,000 visitor arrivals, and generated approximately $611 million in tourism receipts, a 20 per cent and 28 per cent increase year-on-year respectively.

The domestic India market topped the growth chart for the second year in a row according to IATA’s full-year global passenger traffic results for 2016. Passenger volumes surged by 23.3 per cent in 2016 – twice as fast as the next fastest growing market, China. Although the trend slowed down due to demonetisation, airlines are scheduling strong flight frequency growth in 2017, which will translate into time savings for passengers and will have the same stimulatory impact on demand as a cut in fares. India recorded revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) expansion of 23.3 per cent and has been underpinned by additional routes and increasing flight frequencies. “Air travel was a good news story in 2016. Connectivity increased with the establishment of more than 700 new routes. And a $44 fall in average return fares helped to make air travel even more accessible. As a result, a record 3.7 billion passengers flew safely to their destination. Demand for air travel is still expanding. The challenge for governments is to work with the industry to meet that demand with infrastructure that can accommodate the growth, regulation that facilitates growth and taxes that don’t choke growth. If we can achieve that, there is plenty of potential for a safe, secure and sustainable aviation industry to create more jobs and increase prosperity,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. Asia Pacific carriers recorded a demand increase of 8.3 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015, which was the second-fastest increase among the regions. This pace is considerably ahead of the five-year growth average of 6.9 per cent. Capacity rose 7.7 per cent, pushing up the load factor 0.4 percentage points to 78.6 …

Ayana Hospitality, promoted by the ICS Group (India) has launched its flagship property ‘Ayana Fort Kochi,’ a luxury boutique hotel in Kochi, Kerala. The hotel is a 200-year-old courthouse that has been restored. Akhil Behl, Chief Executive Officer, Ayana Hospitality, said, “It has been designed and renovated in perfect harmony with the legacy of the property, the environs and culture of the region. Our efforts towards guest’s experiences are not limited to the hotel premises only, but are far more rounded and encompassing. Going forward we will add more unique properties to our portfolio and will strive to raise the bar in personalized tailored luxury.”

Marriott International has appointed Anuraag Bhatnagar as Multi-Property Vice President, Luxury, India. He will be part of the Luxury APEC Market leadership team led by Victor Clavell. Bhatnagar has been with Legacy Starwood for 16 years now. He previously served as the Area General Manager of India and concurrently the General Manager of The St. Regis Mumbai. In the role, he successfully handled 12 hotels in six different cities of all Legacy Starwood brands including the core responsibility of leading the first St. Regis property launched in South Asia in 2015, as General Manager. A doyen of the hospitality industry with an innate understanding of the luxury landscape, Bhatnagar will now be at the helm of Marriott International’s luxury portfolio for the Indian market. He was also the Legacy Starwood Security Champion for South Asia and a member of OSAC (Overseas Security Advisory Council), United States Department of States Bureau of Diplomatic Security. He is an avid spiritualist and seeker. His fitness regime is a must and he enjoys his leisure time watching movies and listening to music.

With a view to attract Omanis for tourism and business purposes, the Government of India has decided to grant multiple entry tourist and business visas valid for a period of five years. Each visit under Tourist Visa, however, shall not exceed 90 days. Tourist Visa holder will also not be required to register himself/herself. Similarly, multi-entry business visas will also be valid for five years with continuous stay during each visit not to exceed 180 days. The requirement of registration of Business Visa holders has also been done away with. In 2016, the Embassy of India in Muscat issued over 72,000 tourist visas and over 900 business visas. In order to further facilitate Omani patients visiting India for medical treatment, Government has decided to open separate counters at Immigration points for speedy and smooth clearance of Medical Visa holders, initially at six International Airports viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Facilitation desks will also be available at these airports, which would have Arabic as well as Russian translators to help patients overcome the language barrier. This facility will be particularly useful for people of Oman visiting India for medical treatment. It may be noted that BLS Oman, which is responsible for accepting visa applications, has already opened a separate counter at their Muscat Centre to facilitate Medical Visa applicants. In 2016, a total of11612 Medical Visas and 8491 Medical Attendant visas were issued by the Embassy. Medical Attendants accompanying patients going to India for medical treatment are granted Medical Attendant Visa under the existing procedure. Source: Indian Emb of Oman

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.