November 1st fortnight - TravTalk India

` 50/-Vol. XXVII Issue 21; November 1st fortnight i ssue 2015 A DDP PUBLICATION Pages : 96+24 Pages Supplement

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NOVEMBER 1ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2015 TRAVTALK 3

West India Travel Awards in Goa

(L-R): SanJeet with Arjun Sharma, Mrs. India 2015 Tanushree Pandey, Dilip Parulekar, Nikhil Desai, Kamal Hingorani, Rohan Sable, and Harmandeep Singh Anandinaugurating the second edition of West India Travel Awards, held recently at The Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort.

‘Land of yoga & wellness’ at WTMIndia attends the World Travel Market London 2015 with a promising agenda.Suman Billa informs that yoga and wellness tourism will be the event’s highlight.

Being hosted from November2-5, 2015, in London, the

World Travel Market (WTM) wit-nesses a congregation of inter-national travel professionalswho gather every year in

November to network, negotiateand conduct business.

According to SumanBilla, Joint Secretary, Ministryof Tourism, the Indian travel andtourism brigade plans to createa big splash at the WTM this

year. “A huge Indian delegationwill be attending WTM, led bythe Tourism Minister himself,” hesays. “We also have a space ofaround 800 square metres forthe Indian pavilion and havereceived a lot of support fromthe private sector. Alongside, we

are sponsoring the Buyers’ Clublounge this year where thespace will be branded byIncredible India decor andIndian food will be served. Thewhole idea is to target everybuyer and give them a preview

AHANA GURUNG

Suman BillaJoint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism

Contd. on page 48


BULLETIN

The mart, organised by theMinistry of Tourism (MOT)

in association with theNortheastern states and thestate of West Bengal, wasinaugurated by Dr. MaheshSharma, Minister of State forTourism and Culture(Independent Charge) andCivil Aviation, along withPawan Chamling, SikkimChief Minister, in Gangtok,Sikkim. At the inauguration, Dr. Sharma said that the marthelps to showcase to theworld the rich and untappedpotential of the Northeasternstates. He said that promotingtourism in these states will beone of the prime focus areasof MOT. He said that improvingconnectivity is key to promot-ing tourism in the Northeast.The minister informed thatSikkim will have its own airportin Pakyong, 35 km away fromGangtok by December 2016.

The centre will work to createbetter road connectivity for thepublic through NationalHighways for the North East.He assured that he will dis-cuss the matter of road con-nectivity with the concernedministry. Dr. Sharma appreci-ated the fact that Sikkim issoon going to become the firstcent per cent organic state in the country.

Vinod Zutshi, TourismSecretary, MOT said that theGovernment is developing the

Northeast region in terms ofall aspects–tourism, educa-tion, health, transport net-works, telecommunications,information technology, elec-tricity grids, flow of investmentand trade and everything elsethat is needed to harness itseconomic and commercialpotential and raise the stan-dards of living of our peoplein this region.

The delegates at themart came from Australia,Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei,

Cambodia, France, Germany,Indonesia, Italy, Japan,Malaysia, Nepal, NewZealand, Norway, Russia,Singapore, South Korea,Spain, Switzerland, Thailand,UK, USA and Vietnam. Post-Mart Fam trips to the stateshave been arranged for thedelegates from overseas tocreate awareness about therich and varied tourism products of the Northeasternregion and to give them a first-hand experience of the destination.

The 4th edition of International Tourism Mart 2015 saw participation from52 international delegates, comprising of tour operators from 23 countries.

Sikkim's 1st airport by Dec 2016

TT BUREAU


VIEWPOINT

The Government of India launched touristVisa on Arrival enabled by Electronic

Travel Authorization (ETA), presently knownas the e-Tourist Visa scheme (eTV) onNovember 27, 2014. The eTV facility ismaking sure that visa issues don’t pose ahindrance for foreign tourists. As it extendsto more countries, it is evident that tourismoccupies pride of place in the country’spriority list. At present e-Tourist Visa facilityis available for citizens of 113 countriesarriving at 16 airports in India.

There were 5,608,000 Foreign TouristArrivals (FTAs) from Jan-Sept 2015, in factduring September 2015 India received540,000 FTAs compared to 509,000 duringSeptember 2014 and 454,000 in September2013. Out of these 5,608,000 FTAs a totalof 2,01,705 tourists arrived on e-TouristVisas as compared to 19,290 during thesame period last year, registering a growthof 945.6 per cent. The percentage share ofForeign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) duringSeptember 2015 among the top 15 sourcecountries was highest from Bangladesh(18.81%), followed by USA (10.99%) andthe UK (7.96%) among others.

Foreign Exchange Earning (FEE) duringthe month of September 2015 was $1.436billion. FEE from tourism in January-September 2015 was $14.453 billionshowing a growth of 3.2 per cent over thesame period during 2014.

The rising FTA rate is clearly due to thesteady performance of the Indian economy,which has brought about industrial growthand economic development, leading to theemergence of India as one of the mostpromising markets in tourism in the very nearfuture. Contrary to the belief that tourism inIndia is still restricted to traditions, this industryis booming with new domestic andinternational airlines offering affordable faresand all kinds of innovative packages to wooinbound visitors into India. With betterconnectivity and hotel accommodationavailable in every segment, not only in metrosbut tier II/III cities also, we can only moveforward, providing jobs and livelihood to manyand creating a new class of skilled youth…

eTV ensuresinbound booms

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STATISTICS

FTAs continue strong growthAccording to the Ministry of Tourism, the Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs)from Jan-Sept 2015 registered a growth of 4.6 per cent over the same periodlast year. The highest number of tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa (eTV)from the US during Jan-Sept.

Source: Ministry of Tourism

Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India duringSeptember 2015

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during September 2015 among the top 15 ports

The percentage shareof FTAs in India during

Sept 2015 among the top15 ports was highest at

Delhi Airport followed byMumbai Airport,Haridaspur land

check post, ChennaiAirport, Bengaluru

Airport, Kolkata Airport,among others. These top

15 ports account for93.54% of total FTAs

during Sept 2015.

18.81Bangladesh

USA

10.99UK7.96Malaysia

4.72

Sri Lanka4.69

Australia3.39

China3.37

Japan3.2

Germany2.89

Canada2.51

Nepal 2.44

France2.39

Singapore2.13

Pakistan1.61 Afghanistan

1.27 FTAs during Sept 2015 were540,000 as compared to FTAsof 509,000 during Sept 2014and 454,000 in Sept 2013.There has been a growth of 6.1per cent in Sept 2015 over thesame period last year. FTAsduring the period Jan-Sept2015 were 5,608,000 showing agrowth of 4.6 per cent over Jan-Sept 2014. Bangladeshtopped the list of sourcecountries for FTAs, followed byChina, UK, Malaysia, Sri Lanka,among others.

Delhi Airport30.08

Mumbai Airport17.21

HaridaspurLand check

post10.57

Chennai Airport8.91

Bengaluru Airport6.57

Kolkata Airport4.02

Cochin Airport 3.23

Hyderabad Airport3.03

Gede Rail2.02

Tiruchirapalli1.94

Trivandrum Airport1.55

AhmedabadAirport 1.35

GhojadangaLand check post

1.26 AttariWaghaLand check post

1.05 Amritsar Airport 0.75

Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during September 2015Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) during the

month of Sept 2015 were US$ 1.436 billion. FEEsfrom tourism in Jan-Sept 2015 were US$ 14.453 billion showing a growth of 3.2 per cent over the sameperiod during 2014. FEEs during Sept 2015 were ` 9,512 crore as compared to ` 9,057 crore inSeptember 2014. The growth rate in FEEs in rupeeterms during September 2015 over September 2014was growth of 5 per cent. FEEs from tourism in rupee terms in Jan-Sept 2015 were ` 91,737 crore showing a growth of 3.2 per cent over the same period during 2014.


QTelangana is the youngestIndian state. What are you

doing to promote it?Telangana is the youngest state

of India but it is a confluence of all reli-gions, nationalities, languages andregions. It is a place where everyoneis comfortable. It has the most hos-pitable climate. We are working onmassive urban forestation inorder to maintain that. If every-thing goes well, we will declare2017 as ‘Visit Telangana Year.’

QWhat is the USP ofTelangana as a

tourism destination?I think Telangana is the

most suitable state of India fora better livelihood. It is a melt-ing point of India. Secondly, itis the best MICE destination inIndia. The HICC is capable ofhandling almost 10,000 dele-gates which no other conven-tion centre in any part of Indiahas. Telangana has epic cultur-al, architectural and sculpturalcapacities. We have a greathistorical past in Warangal and adjoining areas. We offer Medical Tourism also.Hyderabad has low cost medical facilities as comparedto other states of India. The realestate is the cheapest.

QHow closely are youworking with the

travel agents?We are inviting all the

travel agents to host theirannual conferences and regu-lar meetings in Hyderabad.Telangana can accommodateall kinds of tourists, whether

economical or exorbitant and luxurious. We as a new state, urge the agents to guide us and become our coaches.

QWhat are you doing to attractmore foreign tourists?We are trying to bring out

our past glories and cultural ethos like the Bathukamma festival which is a unique festival

celebrated only by women and menare only spectators.

QAre you planning to participate in the foreign

travel marts?We are participating in all the for-

eign marts as well as the domesticones. We participated in ITB Berlinand now we are participating in WTMLondon also. Being the youngest kid

in the family we are the most enthusi-astic and most active.

QTell us about theBathukamma festival It is a festival of Telangana

celebrated by women, with flowersthat grow exclusively in each region of the state. It is a symbol of Telangana’s cultural identity and thus exalts the inherent

relationship between earth, waterand human beings.

This is an ideal occasion to visitTelangana which offers its visitors aplethora of places of pristine naturalbeauty, abundant wildlife, magnificentpalaces and forts reflecting architec-tural blends along with immenseopportunities to explore its artistic andcultural enrichment.

B. Venkatesham, Secretary Tourism and Culture, Government of Telangana, was in Delhi recently to promote theBathukamma festival. He urges travel agents to coach the new state and says that if everything goes well, 2017will be ‘Visit Telangana Year.’

Telangana seeks guidance from agents

SA M A P T I DAS

We are inviting all the travel agentsto host their annualconferences andregular meetings inHyderabad, Weurge agents toguide us andbecome ourcoaches

B. VenkateshamSecretary Tourism and Culture,Government of Telangana

N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 7STATES


8 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 STATES

Goa is taking tourism to theworld in a new avatar. Year

after year, Goa Tourism partic-ipates in leading global eventsfor the travel industry. “Yes,Goa Tourism is participating at

WTM 2015,” says Abhyankar,“and this year too we areproudly showcasing all newportfolios with facets which willimpress global visitors.”

Goa is abuzz with activi-ties for several reasons whichmainly include: AdventureTourism (Hot Air Balloons,Amphibious Vessels), ropeways,bungee jumping, scuba diving,horse riding, and initiatives suchas Segway Tours, Seaplanes

among others are on the anvil.A hotspot for weddings and cel-ebrations, the state has baggedseveral awards as a leadingwedding and honeymoon des-

tination all through 2015. The e-Tourist Visa (eTV) facility hasproven to be a big boon for Goa.“Within a short span of eightmonths as many as 17,100eTVs have been issued at the Goa Airport in Dabolim,”says Abhyankar.

For the safety and securi-ty of tourists, the governmenthas made arrangements forbeach patrol with 676 lifeguards and an additional 117personnel on beach patrol tillmidnight, tourist police and

women taxi service. GoaTourism showcases its cleanbeaches as a result of the Comprehensive BeachCleaning Management Planand other Clean BeachInitiatives. Goa Tourism will becelebrating art and culture withDelphic Games in February2016. The 5th Youth DelphicGames is the world's only com-mon floor for art and culturewhich is coming to India for thefirst time. It will attract 125 coun-tries with over 7,000 partici-pants, six art categories and

over 70 sub-categories, withmany parallel artistic and funevents and activities.

Goa Tourism gives anopportunity to the tour andtravel operators to promotetheir products and services.“B2B interactions and partici-pation in travel trade shows,networking events gives a per-fect platform to showcaseproducts to the masses. Theinteraction consists of a pres-entation on Goa, screening ofa film on Goa, entertainment

performance and authenticdinner, followed by informalinteraction with tourism officials, offering the country a true flavour of Goa,” says Abhyankar.

As per the latest inboundnumbers, a total of 4,058,226arrived in Goa in 2014, domes-tic check-ins were 3,544,634and foreign arrivals were513,592. Prime internationalsource markets for Goainclude Russia, the UK,Germany, France, MiddleEast and South East Asia.“Due to several geo-politicalfactors there has been a dip inforeign tourist arrivals. But thisis a temporary phase and thecoming season should be bet-ter. We could hope for a 10 percent growth or even more ininternational tourist arrivals.The e-Tourist Visa regimeintroduced by the central gov-ernment which has nowextended eTV benefits to 113countries will boost numbersin the coming season,”explains Abhyankar.

This year Goa Tourism is participating in World Travel Market (WTM) London 2015 and plans to showcasean all-new portfolio of facets to impress global visitors from far and wide. Ameya Abhyankar, Director ofTourism, Goa, tells us about the initiatives to make Goa the top tourist destination.

Goa betting big on MICE, adventure

VA I S H A L I DA R

The interaction consists of a presentation on Goa, screening of a

film on Goa, entertainment performance and authenticdinner, followed by informalinteraction with tourism officials, offering the country a

true flavour of Goa.

Ameya AbhyankarDirector of Tourism, Goa


Comparing figures of skilldevelopment across the

globe, the Minister says,“Even in China which has apopulation of about four billionnow, 46 per cent of the workforce is skilled. By skilled, Imean employed. UnitedStates has a 58 per centskilled workforce, Germanyhas about 70 per cent, UK hasabout 68 per cent, Japan 80

per cent and Korea has 96 percent. However, in India thepercentage of skilled workersstands at only a dismal fourand half per cent of the world’sskilled force.”

Reemphasising on skillenhancement, Rudy says, “Inthe last 68 to 69 years, thecountry has been stressing oneducation as being most

important. The prime ministerfeels that though 12 years ofsecondary education may bevery important, it is 12 weeksof our training that will makeyou employable. That is the dif-ference we are talking about.Have we gone wrong some-where in making educationaspirational, but not skills thatmake you employable?”

Enumerating the indus-tries that need employment,he said, “We are talking about500 million people to betrained in India which is ahuge number. If you look atthe skill gap studies done bythe National SkillDevelopment Council, theconstruction sector requiresabout three crore people over

the next five years, assumingthat the rate of growth goes up by eight per cent.And 1.7 crore people arerequired in the retail sector,one million in furniture fur-nishings, one crore in textiles,five million skilled people intourism and hospitality, fivemillion people in automotivecare and so on.

“We have 310 millionpeople who need to be trainedimmediately. So out of every100 people that you need totrain, 30 can pay for them-selves. The other 70 have to bepaid for. This means that 230million people have to be paidfor. On an average after schooleducation, you require ̀ 20,000per head to train one person in

one, two or three months. So inthe next five years you need`5,00,000 crore just to addressthe basic training of these peo-ple. Somehow we have failed tointegrate vocational educationas aspirational at the schooleducational level. People kept harping on finishingdegrees even as unemploy-ment rises.”

Looking at the National Skill Development Council’s studies on skill gap, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State forSkill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs, Govt. of India, suggeststhat 12 weeks of skill training is as important as 12 years of secondary education to make people employable.

Tourism manpower short by 5 million

KA N C H A N N AT H

The primeminister feels thatthough 12 yearsof secondaryeducation may bevery important, itis 12 weeks of ourtraining that willmake youemployable

Rajiv Pratap RudyMinister of State for Skill Development andEntrepreneurship (Independent Charge), and Parliamentary Affairs, Govt. of India

500 million people needto be trained in India

1.7 crore people arerequired in the retailsector, one million infurniture furnishings,one crore in textiles, five million skilled people are required intourism and hospitality,five million people inautomotive care

Need for Skill

N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 9EDUCATION


1 0 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 QUICKBYTES

As WTM London is set to welcome travel and tourism industry professionals from across the globe, speaks tothe Indian travel trade to find out about their expectations from the event.

Incredible foot forward @WTM London

TT BU R E AU

This year I expect WTM to be far betterthan previous years particularly forIndia. All sources of advertising areattracting tourists to India but I person-ally feel that India shall witness a signif-icant growth with the e-Tourist Visa onarrival now in operation for many promi-nent countries. I would also like to wit-ness travel technology developmentsand get an exposure on the innovations

in technology in the global scenario

Ankush NijhawanManaging Director, Nijhawan Group

WTM is a perfect platform to connectwith existing and prospective clients,industry associates and trade part-ners. During this period, we also getan opportunity to get an insight of thechanging trends of the industry. Thistime we are showcasing our two sig-nature products which are Travel CloudSuite (TCS) and Travel Assist.Inbound tourism performance in Indiahas shown some remarkable growth in the past. India has somegreat potential in this sector in future.

Meenu SachdevaManaging Director, TI Infotech

roomsXML.com has been exhibitingat WTM for the past several years. Asalways we expect to meet some of ourglobal clients and also showcase ourrecent innovations to potential clients.roomsXML.com anticipates that India'sinbound tourism will grow in 2016 dueto certain measures taken by our gov-ernment like the e-Tourist Visa facility.

In anticipation of the inbound demand, roomsXML.com hasscaled up its inventory of luxury Indian hotels (4,273 hotels ason October 15, 2015).

Prakash BangManaging Director, roomsXML Solutions

Contd. on page 12

We are participating inWTM with a lot of enthusi-asm and optimism with ournew itineraries supportedby our value added fea-tures which make our pro-grammes more fascinat-ing. One of the key pointsof strength of SenKay

Tours and Travels is to be distinctive in enriching theitineraries with something special of greater intensity.We do believe that the choice of itineraries is impor-tant, but not more than their contents. Hence in ourrole as DMC, we keep our partner tour operatorsconsistently updated about our value added featuresand the latest infrastructure in the country throughthe efforts of our research and development team.

Anil KumarDirector - Marketing, Operations,

Product Development and Finance ContractingSenKay Tours and Travels

Since TraveLibro is a unique brandand one of the first to cater to trav-el social networking out and out,the strategy is to spread the wordout. We want to reach out to world-wide agents, tourism boards, andbloggers to spread awareness. Wewould like to educate the agentsand tour operators across the

globe on how they can improve their business sitting in theiroffice through our website.

Monish B. ShahChairman and MD, TraveLibro


1 2 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 QUICKBYTES

Identifying global trends @WTM

We have been participating in majorinternational travel marts to promoteMaharashtra in the international mar-ket. It gives us a great platform to sellour products to the international traveltrade. We have been working on a lotof tourism products to promote ourstate and I am happy to inform that weare also looking at the possibility ofdeveloping mining tourism inMaharashtra in some of the coal minesof Vidharba region in Chadrapur orYavatmal area. WTM is also an oppor-tunity to enhance knowledge and iden-tify new trends in the global market oftravel and hospitality industries. I per-sonally feel that the organisers mustrecognise regular participants, be moreco-operative and to not evaluate every-thing in terms of money.

Paraag Jaiin NainutiaMD, Maharashtra Tourism Development

Corporation

We will showcase all three properties at WTM.They are Hotel Pushkar Palace, Jagat Palaceand Royal Desert Camp. We always show-case these properties at international fairs likeWTM. We also have online presence. We wantpeople who visit WTM like travel agents fromaround the globe, to know about us and visitour properties. We are hopeful that this timethe mart will be much better than last year.

Jagat Singh RathoreCEO, Hotel Pushkar Palace

Contd. from page 10

As hotel exhibitors, we have been participat-ing in World Travel Mart (WTM) in London fordecades in order to boost our visibility andsaleability amongst the buyers. Our expec-tations have remained the same over theyears, i.e., the event will help us further boostour visibility in the international market andalso grow overall inbound numbers.

Last year, we witnessed a growth of 10.20per cent in inbound arrivals despite it being an election year and signif-icantly improving upon the previous two years when arrivals grew by 4.3 per cent and 5.9 per cent in 2012 and 2013 respectively. We expect a better growth this year. In India we have of plenty and therefore, her diversity of tourism products is what I see as greatest pull for international tourists.

S N SrivastavaPresident & Co-founder,

Clarks Inn Group of Hotels

Our hotel has a host of indoor and outdoorfacilities including an authentic Ayurvedacentre, large swimming pool, mountain bik-ing, jogging court, bird watching and naturewalk trail. We also offer detoxifying mas-sages, rejuvenation treatments, organicmeals, yoga experience, meditation, andwellness guidelines.

A. Shelly ThenuwaraManaging Director

Tree of Life Nature Resort

Contd. on page 15

We have been regularly participating in WTMsince we have a diversified portfolio of hotelscatering to the inbound leisure traveller. Theobjective of participation is to enhance ourbrand visibility in the overseas markets andto meet up with foreign tour operators pro-moting India and update them on new hotelopenings. With increased focus of theGovernment in promoting India and the factthat global economy is showing signs ofrecovery, we expect 2016 to be much better in terms of foreign arrivals and spends.

Pradeep KalraSenior Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Sarovar Hotels


N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 1 5QUICKBYTES

Foreign arrivals aplenty in 2016

The prospects for inbound tourism inthe year 2016 look very bright drivenby steady flow of foreign tourists. Goingby the recent booking trends, it indi-cates one of the best years in terms ofinbound tourism with major interna-tional meets being planned which willbring a lot of international tourists toIndia. All these factors indicate healthygrowth over the past few years. The e-Tourist Visa scheme has eased theattaining of visas for those looking tovisit India. Promotion campaigns mar-keting India as an exotic destinationhave also played their role. Domesticstability and relative inexpensive valueof rupee in terms of major foreign cur-rencies is also an important factor inmaking India an attractive destination.

Rishi PuriVice President

Lords Hotel and Resorts

Contd. from page 12

We are looking forward to the tourists from theUK and Europe to newer destinations likeMadhya Pradesh and hope for good growthof this market which is low at the moment. Weare expecting a growth in India inboundtourism as this year. IATO showcased MP asa destination to inbound agents beyondBhopal. Indore, Ujjain, Omkareswar, Manduand many more are in focus now. There arepopular destination in India for inbound tourismlike Rajasthan, Kerala and MP, one can travel to MP year round for itsNight Food Market (Sarafa) and other activities like pilgrimage.

Vishal Kumar Group Head, Sales & Marketing, Sayaji Group of Hotels

Particularly for singular hotels, platforms likeWTM provide relevant business opportunityto maintain contact and meet a qualified dias-pora of travel professionals globally. Backedby stable socio-economic environment whereIndia is seen as a destination for internationalinvestment and positive travel sentiment, weare hopeful to witness a positive growth, bothin business and leisure in-bound travel.International travel to India is maturing with tourists going beyond theobvious itineraries. Some of the emerging circuits include extendeditineraries into Rajasthan spanning across Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikanerand Shekhawati belt; culture and heritage travel to Hampi, Varanasi;Buddhist Circuit in and around Bihar and wildlife across Gujarat andMadhya Pradesh.

Saurabh RaiArea Managing Director, Preferred Hotels & Resorts

WTM is a great platform to bring togethertravel professionals from across the globeunder one roof. For the past six years weare participating in WTM as an exhibitor.This year also, we expect to get betterresponse and generate more business. Inthe inbound space, operators are movingtowards automation in their backendprocesses and providing online servicesto their clients irrespective of their physical

presence. This change in approach has made India as one of the mostsearched and desired destination to visit, thus increasing the inboundtourism to India.

Abhishek JangidVP – Sales & Marketing, QuadLabs Technologies

Just giving eTV is not a solution to boostinbound tourism. Yes, it is beneficial and isthe first and a very important step. But unlessthere is a co-ordinated National Policy whichis applicable to all state tourism boards, it isof no use. It is very important to ensure thatthe focus is on development of the appropri-ate infrastructure to make a tourist feel athome, apart from marketing and promotional

activities to attract them.

Mahendra VakhariaMD, Ahmedabad-based Pathfinders Holidays and Chairman

Western Chapter, OTOAI


1 6 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 GUEST COLUMN

Heritage River Cruises andHeritage River Journeys

have sought to imaginediverse historical and lifeexperiences for travellers ontheir cruise ships, the RVBengal Ganga and the MVGanges Voyager. The manag-ing director of these compa-nies, Raj Singh, started toexplore river cruising in Indiain the 1990s but earnestexploration of the watersbegan in the mid-2000s. Withthe help of the InlandWaterways Authority of India,Inland Water Transport of theGovernment of West Bengaland numerous individuals, hedelved into the possibilities ofcruise tourism.

Sailing on an IWAI sur-vey vessel, he planned an itin-erary and imagined anew thepossibilities of starting pas-senger cruising from Kolkatato Varanasi after nearly abreak of more than a 100years. Pontoon bridges, vary-ing levels of water, differentregimes of state and centralgovernment taxation and the

lack of infrastructure were justsome of the difficulties thatthe companies and their shipshave encountered and dealtwith to deliver a tourism expe-rience that is of a very highstandard. Each ship has 28cabins, a dining room, a bar,a spa, and viewing decks.There is a crew of 35 on eachvessel which maintains andservices the ship and its pas-sengers. The Bengal Gangais an expedition river craft,made entirely out of Burmateak and iron. It sails fromKolkata to Patna and down-stream to Kolkata between

October and late March whenthe river’s waters are plentifulyet calm. The GangesVoyager, chartered for thenext four years by the interna-tional tourism organisationHaimark, is a hotel on water,with suites and interior deco-ration reminiscent of the Raj.It sails between Kolkata andMurshidabad once a week.

A new vessel, theGanges Voyager II, is about tobe launched in 2016. With allthree traversing the river,approximately 3,500 passen-gers a year will travel to this lit-

tle explored part of east-ern India. During all thisgrowth, the companieshave tried to keep theenvironmental and socialimpact of tourism on thecommunities along theriver to a minimum. Local transport and localforms of culture are partof the tourist’s ‘India’experience.

The ships are staffedwith crew from different

parts of the country, of diversesocial backgrounds and attractintrepid travellers who wish tosee the Ganga for its famedmysticism. All commercial ven-tures need to make money. Buthow we make that money isequally important. Our collectivevision is to build companies thatdo their business honourably, inan ecologically thoughtful way, as well as bring pleasureand the security of a good liveli-hood and great travel experi-ences to many.

Annapurna GarimellaVice President

Heritage River Journeys

Since 2009, Heritage River Cruises, and now its sister company, HeritageRiver Journeys, have sought to bring diverse historical and life experiencesfor contemporary travellers on river cruise ships.

Kolkata to Varanasi on a river cruise

Photograph by: Debanjan Das © Heritage River Journeys

JAL, Vistara connectTokyo to 11 Indian cities

Vistara has entered a formalpartnership agreement withJapan Airlines (JAL) allowingpassengers on JAL’s daily directservices between Tokyo (Narita)and Delhi to connect withVistara to 11 Indian cities. To fur-ther enhance its presence inJapan, Vistara has appointed AirSystem Inc. (ASI) as its newGeneral Sales Agent (GSA) inthe country. ASI will now provideVistara with reservations, ticket-ing and sales services. “Japanis among the fastest growingtravel markets in the world andthe origin of significant businessand leisure travel in India,” says

Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara.“Cities like Tokyo and Osakaaccount for the majority of trafficcoming to India and this trend isexpected to grow progressivelywith the strengthened coopera-tion between both countries. We

are thrilled to have establisheda presence in Japan through thepartnerships with Japan Airlinesand ASI. With Vistara’s growingdomestic network, we look for-ward to providing seamless con-

nectivity for Japanese cus-tomers to and from variousparts of India.” In the comingmonths, Vistara plans to open anew lounge at Delhi Airport, addnew aircraft and launch newdomestic routes.

Phee Teik YeohCEOVistara


1 8 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 STATES

QWhat are the new initiativesthat Andhra Pradesh Tourism

is taking?The Chief Minister recently

launched the Tourism Mission docu-ment in Vijaywada prescribing the 5,10 and 15 years’ goals. In the fiveyears’ goal, we aim to double ourtourist arrivals. We are targeting 173million tourists by 2020. The tourismpolicy was also launched which has alot of incentives and operating benefits.For example, now VAT will be at uni-form five per cent for all the tourisminfrastructures. This will be for the exist-ing as well as the new units. We are tar-geting nearly ` 10,000 crore invest-ments in the next few years in thetourism sector itself.

QWhat are the special offers youplan to introduce for travel

agents?We have introduced a new

scheme in the tourism policy called the‘Epic Scheme’. Any travel agent whowants to partner with Andhra Pradeshor the AP Tourism DevelopmentCorporation or any other entity provid-

ing tourism service in the state, will befully supported by us through aware-ness, Fam trips and participation in var-ious exhibitions, so that they canbecome effective stakeholders. I wouldappeal through you to travel agentswho want to contribute in any mannerto tourism development in AndhraPradesh to become a member of the‘Epic Scheme.’

QAre you introducing any newproduct for the international

market?We are introducing two major

products for the international market.One is the Buddhist Circuit. Everyoneknows the traditional circuits ofBodhgaya, Sarnath in India andKushinagar, Lumbini in Nepal. But inChina, Korea or Japan, they follow the

Mahayana sect of Buddhism whichbegan in Amaravati— our new statecapital. We have fabulous Buddhistmonuments and museums there. Thereis a tremendous demand for this newproduct including the Nagarjuna Kondawhich is the remains of the erstwhileNagarjuna University, Amaravati and thesurrounding areas. The second productis targeted to the Hindu diaspora all overthe world. People know the importanceof Tirupati but find it difficult to visit. So,we are offering an integrated productwhich will include airport transfers, tem-ple darshans and pujas, all taken careby AP Tourism.

QWhat are the products youoffer to attract domestic

tourists?There are two new products for

the India market also. One is ‘AnotherBackwaters’. Everyone knows aboutKerala, so we are offering Konaseemasurrounded by East and WestGodavari. There are a number of hotelsand house boats around the Godavaridelta. We are also positioningVisakhapatnam as a new beach desti-nation of India and developing a num-ber of beaches there.

Andhra Pradesh Tourism is all set to come up with a new Buddhist Circuit and backwaterdestination. Neerabh K Prasad, Principal Secretary-Tourism, Government of Andhra Pradesh,discusses its new products and ‘Epic Scheme’ that urges travel agents to partner with the stateto develop tourism.

AP’s ‘Epic Scheme’ for agents

KANCHAN NATH AND SAMAPTI DAS

Any travel agent who wants to partnerwith Andhra Pradesh or any other

entity providing tourism service inthe state, will be fully supported byus through awareness, Fam tripsand participation in various exhibi-tions, so that they can become

effective stakeholders.

Neerabh K PrasadPrincipal Secretary-Tourism,

Government of Andhra Pradesh

London getsthird AI flightfrom Delhi

Air India will start a third fre-quency between Delhi andLondon from November 1,2015. The flight will operatedaily with a B-777- 200Lr air-craft. There is already a dailyflight from Mumbai making thisthe fourth daily flight betweenIndia and London.

The national carrier will commence operationsbetween Mumbai and Diufrom October 26,2015. The statecarrier had

approached various StateGovernments to operateflights to Tier II and Tier III cities under Viable GapFunding (VGF).

Subsequently, the gov-ernment of Diu has shown akeen interest and a 72 seater,ATR 72-600 aircraft will startoperations on the Mumbai-Diuroute. Other state govern-ments have also shown theirinterest and are in the processof finalizing the terms of operations under the VGF route.


N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 1 9HOTELS

QWhat are your expectationsfrom WTM London?WTM continues to be one of the

most relevant travel and tourism plat-forms worldwide. Hoteliers eye thisforum for critical business introduc-tions, building new relationships,negotiating and transacting business.Our global portfolio of independentmember hotels and resorts hasalways exhibited a strong inter-est in participating at WTM.Particularly for singular hotels,such a platform provides a rel-evant business opportunity to

maintain contact and meet alarge qualified diasporas oftravel professionals globally.

QAre you expecting agrowth in India

inbound tourism in 2016?We are bullish on

inbound travel prospects forIndia. Backed by a stablesocio-economic environment,as India is seen as one of theforemost destinations for inter-national investment and posi-tive travel sentiment, we arehopeful that India will witnessa positive growth, both in busi-ness and leisure inbound trav-el. With tangible support fromthe Central Government onstrategic initiatives like e-Tourist Visa facility, it is quiterealistic to expect larger num-ber of arrivals into the country.

QWhat are the factorsthat help the most in

attracting tourists to India?All platforms like travel

marts, Incredible India adver-tising, roadshows, online travelsites, word of mouth, good

deals and packages in right propor-tions, have been instrumental inattracting inbound tourism. India gotfew of the vital travel componentstogether early in time and the first sub-segment to do so was the upscale toluxury hotel segment. It is hearteningto witness a tremendous boost inother related segments such asdomestic air connect and airport infra-structure, road transportation andenhanced convention capability.

QWhich are the most populardestinations in India today

for inbound tourism?There are a certain set of pri-

mary inbound destinations within thecountry that range from the GoldenTriangle up North, Goa on the Westcoast and Kerala down south. StateTourism Boards have been playing animportant role in accentuating theirown tourism attractions, showcasingcultures, gourmet, history, landscape

and wildlife. International travel toIndia has been evolving and there isa segment of repeat visitors to Indiawho are now going beyond the obvi-ous itineraries.

QDo you offer any specialdeals or packages to the

travel agents?Preferred Hotels & Resorts act

as the perfect conduit connectingtravel agents globally. We immensely

value the support from our traveltrade partners and are committed toprovide them with offers from worldover. We are dedicated to timelycommission payments, up-to-dateinformation, and outstanding service. We offer an exclusivemonthly e-communication for travelagents. The itinerary features specialprograms and promotions as well asnews and updates on our hotels and resorts.

With a boost in domestic air connect and airport infrastructure, road transportation and enhanced convention ability, SaurabhRai, Area Managing Director, Preferred Hotels and Resorts, says an increase in inbound tourists to India is certain.

Govt support must for inbound growth

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We arededicated to timelycommissionpayments, up-to-dateinformation, andoutstanding service

Saurabh Rai Area Managing DirectorPreferred Hotels and Resorts


RAILWAYS

Following the Prime Minister’sDigital India vision, Indian

Railways recently launched anumber of IT-enabled passen-ger services through video con-ferencing. Present on the occa-

sion, Minister of Railways,Suresh Prabhakar Prabhuunveiled following the new IT ini-tiatives and said, “Moving aheadin the direction of making DigitalIndia, today, I am happy to inau-gurate the System for PaperlessUnreserved Tickets, PaperlessSeason Tickets and PaperlessPlatform Tickets through mobilephones, in the MumbaiSuburban system of WR andCR and Delhi – Palwal section

of Northern Railway from today.About 50 Currency-cum-coin-cum-card Ticket VendingMachines (CoTVMs) are nowfunctional over various stations.I am also happy to inauguratethe Currency and CoinOperated Ticket Vending

Machines (CoTVMs), beinginstalled at various stations ofCentral and Western Railway,”he elaborated.

Through the UTS, pas-sengers can now avail paper-less unreserved ticketing serv-ices through mobile phones onsuburban stations over CentralRailway. Furthermore, paper-less platforms tickets can alsobe booked for stations like

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus,Dadar Central, Panvel, Thaneand Lokmanya Tilak Terminus,Andheri, Mumbai Central,Borivali, Dadar Western,Dadar Central, Vasai Road,Bandra, New Delhi andNizamuddin stations onNorthern Railway, WesternRailway and Central Railway.Paperless Season tickets onsuburban sections of WesternRailway, Central Railway andNew Delhi-Palwal Section ofNorthern Railway can also bebooked through the app.

The Railway Ministeralso launched the TrainEnquiry mobile app on iOSwhich was created by Centrefor Railway InformationSystems (CRIS). The mobileapp is based on the NationalTrain Enquiry System (NTES)which provides information onreal time train status throughvarious interfaces like nation-wide unique rail enquiry num-ber 139, website, mobile inter-faces, touchscreens, face-to-face enquiry and displayboards at stations.

The Minister of Railways launched a number of IT initiatives thatreduce the waiting time and also benefit the railways by helpingthem cope with higher ticket sales using lower investments.

Railways’ App services

AH A N A GU R U N G


N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 2 3STATES

An Odisha investors’ confer-ence, organised by

Federation of Hotel &Restaurant Associations ofIndia (FHRAI) in Delhi, high-lighted the “ease of doing busi-ness” in the state. The OdishaTourism Policy of 2013declares tourism to be ameans of economic and inclu-sive growth. Aiming at the sus-tainable tourism developmentof the state, the policy invitesall stakeholders to participatein the development of tourism.

L N Gupta, (IAS),Principal Secretary toGovernment, SkillDevelopment & TechnicalEducation Department &Tourism Department, said, “Weare in the process of amendingthe Tourism Policy 2013 afterIPR 2015 has come out but forthe time being you can look ateither policy. IPR 2015announces tourism as the pri-ority sector, and it is just about15 days old. Tourism shall also

be the focus sector for the statefor the next five years alongwith auto, agro, food process-ing, IT, pharma and handi-crafts. It aims at transformingOdisha into a more vibrant andindustrialised state.”

Talking about infrastruc-ture and connectivity he said,“The state capital isBhubaneswar and the olderparts of the city are 2,600years old. There are more than300 temples. The new

Bhubaneswar is one of the firstplanned cities of India likeChandigarh. Earlier there usedto be one flight, today there aresix flights from Delhi, five flightsto Kolkata. More than 40 flightscome to Bhubaneswar. In factAir Asia is also thinking of con-necting Bhubaneswar directlyto Malaysia. Air India hasalready started an internationalflight to Abu Dhabi fromBhubaneswar. The headquar-ters of the South Eastern rail-ways is in Odisha and numer-

ous fast trains are connectedto Bhubaneswar. It also haswell maintained national high-ways–NH5 and NH6.”

About development plans,he said, “There is a SpecialTourism Area near Puri, whichis called the Samukha project.The initial plan was to develop3,000 acres of land. Againstthat, 972 acres has alreadybeen acquired and is in the gov-ernment’s possession. IFC isworking as a consultant. Around

448 MBA power is available,water is assured and connectiv-ity in terms of road infrastructureis in place. The construction ofthe boundary wall is going on. Itwill be ready for allocation assoon as the PPP model is set.”

TS Walia, formerPresident, FHRAI, said,“Odisha has historically seenmajor transformations in theancient past and now is the timefor another major transforma-tion in development in terms of

the tourism set-up and by meet-ing international standards spe-cially with regard to safety,security and hygiene. This ispossible with Public Private and Peoples Partnerships (PPP model). I have been visit-ing Odisha for many years.Whatever endeavours I haveundertaken have been a greatsuccess with the blessings ofLord Jagannath. The moreinvestors experience Odisha,the more they will understandthat the government likes toshowcase the tourism and hos-pitality potential.”

A recent World Bank report states that Odisha is the seventh friendliest state in India to do business in.The state government’s newly launched Industrial Policy Resolution 2015 adds to the tourism policy andprovides many fiscal benefits for investors.

Odisha Tourism on the anvil

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Well-connectedThe headquarters of theSouth Eastern railwaysis in Odisha and numer-ous fast trains are con-nected to Bhubaneswar

It also has well main-tained national high-ways–NH5 and NH6


2 4 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 FAMILY ALBUM

To build on the success of the recent roadshow and take advantage of the promotionalfare offered by Air Mauritius, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) organiseda familiarisation trip for tour operators from Delhi and Mumbai in September this year.The agents from Delhi were led by Anuj Singhal of MTPA India, and the Mumbai Groupwas led by Nelson Samuels of Air Mauritius.

Agents let their hair down in Mauritius


2 6 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 HOTELS

InterContinental Hotels Group(IHG) recently announced

the opening of InterContinentalChennai MahabalipuramResort in India. The resort willjoin InterContinental MumbaiMarine Drive to be the second

hotel under the company's lux-ury portfolio in India. The resortis located in a picturesquelocation overlooking the Bay ofBengal on East Coast Road,making it one of the mostexclusive properties in the cityand joins the award winningInterContinental Hotels &Resorts around the world.

Shantha de Silva, Headof South West Asia, IHG, com-

mented, “The opening ofInterContinental ChennaiMahabalipuram Resort marksan important milestone inIHG’s journey in India. Chennaiis a city that boasts the perfectmix of diversity and culturewith a glossy layer of cosmo-politan glamour. Whether a

business trip, corporate retreator a leisure break, our newestproperty in Chennai will offerunrivalled facilities and accessto many cultural and businessopportunities in one of thecountry’s biggest cities.”

The 105-room resortoffers a full range of facilities andamenities to guests, includingan outdoor swimming pool, afully-equipped health club and

a spa that offers relaxing thera-pies including indigenous sea-inspired beauty treatments andyoga. The resorts expansiveand versatile indoor and outdoorvenues are ideal for confer-ences, meetings, and specialoccasions such as wedding celebrations. InterContinentalChennai Mahabalipuram offersthree gourmet dining optionswhich includes The Melting Potwith three live kitchens thatserves the best in European,South Asian and PeninsularIndian cuisine, a ChineseSpecialty Restaurant, and TaoOf Peng & Lounge Bar.

Vijai Singh, GM,InterContinental ChennaiMahabalipuram Resort, said,“The InterContinental brand is trusted around the world forits superior service whichguests have come to knowand appreciate. The resort will be one of the first five star beach resorts on the east coast of India and is sure to offer unforgettablememories to the guests visiting the city.”

Located 30 kms from the Chennai International Airport, theInterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram offers world-classaccommodation to discerning guests.

Gourmet dining in Chennai

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QKindly elaborate onthe CSR initiatives of

AccorHotels India.AccorHotels has been

recognised for its corporatesocial responsibility initiativesby ‘Team France’ under theeducation category for the‘Accor Centre of HOPE’ byH.E. François Richier, FrenchAmbassador to India. The‘CSR Impact Prize’ recognisesthe contributions of FrenchMNCs in India and bestowsawards to recognise the con-tributions made by themthrough radical and transfor-mative changes in the devel-opment arena of innovationand excellence.

The Accor Centre ofHope provides vocational train-ing to improve the employabil-ity of young women and menfrom unprivileged backgroundsin the Delhi-National CapitalRegion and has attracted andfostered talents by developing,training and motivating peopleto work in the service sector.

Sustainable development andsolidarity are also key prioritiesat AccorHotels. The group hastaken a strong stand on theplanet and the communitieshosting its hotels with its Planet21 programme.

QIn your opinion, howhas Indian tourism

industry changed over thepast decade?

As the domestic andglobal travel continues to growwith the rise of the middleclass, we particularly seegrowth emerging in Tier II andIII markets. Given the currentdemand-supply dynamics,

favourable economic and polit-ical situation, the sector is onthe crossover of a muchexpected growth trajectory.

Early signs from thegovernment to drive tourismthrough several strong policyinitiatives such as the intro-duction of e-Tourist Visa andspecific funds for developingtourist destinations couldbring in stronger demand,supporting the industry overthe next 12 to 18 months.India is on a strong economicrebound and remains themarket of choice.

QWhat are some of yournew initiatives?The group plans to dou-

ble the network of hotels incoming years, across allbrand categories. We haveinvested in various brands at strategic locations with the luxury and upscale segment such as SofitelMumbai BKC and PullmanDelhi Aerocity that is scheduled to open inNovember this year.

Jean Michel Cassé, Senior Vice President, Operations –AccorHotels, India, elaborates on some of the Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) initiatives started by the company.

India a market of choice

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Jean Michel CasséSenior Vice PresidentOperations – AccorHotels, India


INTERVIEW

Powell has been workingwith Travelport now for over

20 years. He wears the producthat as well as the technologyhat and also manages Indiafrom a commercial perspec-tive. Bullish on the Indian mar-ket, he says, “We have seenthe Indian market grow roughly

by 10 to 12 per cent Year-on-Year with regard to air travels.Going forward with the GDPgrowth that the Government istrying to achieve, we do notsee this number reducing.”Elaborating on the potential ofthe market he says, “Everytraveller on a train in India is apotential air traveller for themarket if the correct price pointis given to them. With theLCCs this is being achievedand will lead to an increase inthe number of domestic flyers.”

Giving his perspective onthe European market vis-à-visIndia, Powell says, “Justrecently, Ryanair has gone

back to Travelport, realising thevalue we offer in the way wemarket their product. We offera rich and wide range of con-tent and we have a globalpresence. I feel that is similarto what is going to happen inIndia, India has a lot of LCCs,IndiGo for example have

recently ordered more than200 new aircrafts. Even as thedomestic travellers rise, thehigh yield is going to comefrom the US, Europe, Asia andmore and that is where the GDS model really makes sense, in providing theglobal reach.”

Talking about the nextgeneration travel agent, heexclaims, “We believe that thenext generation travel agent isalready here. They do need tohave more information. Theyneed to be one step ahead oftravellers. The travellers todayare savvier than they have everbeen. They need an access to

content that they have not nec-essarily had before, for egniche exclusive boutique prop-erties, smaller properties.Airlines have changed somuch that the product that theairline offers on each plane ineach airline is different. Travelagents need to have access tothis kind of information whiledoing the bookings for poten-tial clients. They should be ableto pinpoint the value-add ofeach ticket in terms of space,type of bed, bar, shower, etc.they should be able to see pic-tures and videos and actuallysay to that traveler, that it’s anovernight flight but it’s not a flat bed.”

He concludes by saying,“We are seeing such a trend tomove towards the mobile plat-form. Trend is to research fortrips on the mobile and goback to PC and book for cor-porate travel. The key remainsfor the GDS backend to pro-vide the extensive range ofinformation. Travel agentsneed now to become experts,fully aware of activities andmore. It is truly now the consul-tancy side that the agent nowbrings to the table.”

On the sidelines of the Travelport e-volve Middle East Summit2015 at the Shangri-La Bosphorus Hotel, in Istanbul, Turkey,

spoke to Matthew Powell, Senior Director, India,Travelport, about the Indian market and the new age travel agent.

Next-gen agent has arrived

KA N C H A N NAT H F R O M IS TA N B U L , TU R K E Y

We believe that the next genera-tion travel agent is already

here. They do need to havemore information. They needto be one step ahead of trav-ellers. The travelers today

are savvier than theyhave ever been.

Matthew PowellSenior Director, India,

Travelport

Next-gen AgentsNeed to be one stepahead of travellersNeed an access to content that theyhave not necessarilyhad beforeShould be able to pinpoint the value-addof each ticket

Korea’s Jeju Island forays into India market

To promote Jeju Island in Koreaas an ideal destination for Indiantourists, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju TourismOrganisation, Jeju TourismAssociation and Jeju Convention& Visitors Bureau organised a press conference on October14, 2015.

Jeju Island is promoting thedestination for honeymoon,leisure, MICE, adventure sports,medical and wellness tourism andcultural heritage site. Discussingthe role of agents, Lee JungHwan, General Director, Culture,Tourism & Sports Bureau, Jeju

Special Self-Governing ProvincialGovernment, said, “As India is arelatively new market, travelagents are an important aspect ofbusiness. We are providing incen-tives and special offers to travelagents in India to help promotethe destination better. As of nowwe have around 1,000 agentsworking with us.”

Korea saw a total of14,201,516 visitors in 2014 out ofwhich only 1.04 percent wereIndians, amounting to an increaseof 19.9 percent over 2013. JejuTourism Organisation is now pro-moting Jeju as an independent

destination. The number of Indiantourists visiting Jeju Island wasrecorded at 1,165 in 2014, whichspent $1,250.50 in Jeju Island.

Jeju Island is also targetingbusiness travellers, offering vari-ous incentives to boost MICE.“Corporates can have meetingsand events in caves, in traditionalhouses, near the beach or in gar-dens at Jeju. We have the ICCConvention Centre and are look-ing at more properties to haveteam building exercises at thescenic location,” said Jin-hunCHO, Marketing Director, JejuConvention & Visitors Bureau.



Kerala MICE for Japanese CEOs Belmond International recently held its

first roadshow in Delhi and Mumbai. Andrea Filippi, Executive Director, WorldwideSales, Belmond, says the travel agents extend-

ed a warm welcome tothe delegation andshowed a remark-able level ofknowledge of thebrand and its 46

products.

Belmond showcases its 46 productsKerala Tourism has sought the support of the

Japanese government in turning Kerala into aMICE destination for chief executive officers(CEOs) of prominent companies in Japan andthose based in India. "The honourableAmbassador of Japan Takeshi Yagi has assuredhis full support towards Kerala government'sefforts to transform the state as a MICE destinationfor the business heads from his country," said G Kamala Vardhana Rao, Tourism Secretary,Kerala. The Kerala Government had slashed theluxury tax on auditoriums and convention centreshaving rents above ` 20,000 from 20 per cent to10 per cent in the budget last year to attract MICE

tourism. Yagi sug-gested a meeting ofthe representativesof the Indo-Japanese Chamberof Commerce, anindependent busi-ness body, in Keralato explore the possi-bility of invitinginvestment in hospi-tality and tourismsector in the state.Praising Kerala's

natural beauty, Yagi also offered his embassy'ssupport in promoting Ayurveda in Japan. "Hepointed to the tremendous opportunity for promot-ing Ayurveda, which is a time tested traditionalmedicinal system, among the people of Japan”said Rao. The meeting with the JapaneseAmbassador along with Toshihiro Yamakoshi,Counsellor, Embassy of Japan in New Delhi onOctober 6, came before the Kerala Tourism road-show in Tokyo on October 19.

Kamala Vardhana RaoTourism Secretary, Kerala


3 2 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 ASSOCIATIONS

The last election was a real disas-ter, so first we need to unite all themembers. We need to generatethe same confidence that TAAI asan association used to instillamong its members. So regroupeveryone and put some three tofour agenda in place for the newteam so that they can re-instill faithback in TAAI.

Rajan Dua MD, Udaan India

Now that the dust has settled and the new team is in place, it is time to look at what the members of the Travel AgentsAssociation of India (TAAI) want from them. This poll was conducted before the election results were declared.

Members demand commissions

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The new TAAI team needs to be alittle more concerned about the smalland medium agent members. Theyare looking mainly for two to threethings: one is that the commissionsshould be restored. Secondly, thepayment schedule should bechanged from seven days to a fort-night again. These small agents arelooking to the leaders to create more

avenues from where they can generate more income.”

Devesh Kumar AgarwalChairman (Eastern Region), TAAI, and MD, Victoria Travels

There are so many issues that thenew team must look at. The week-ly payment is one of the mosturgent issues. The other worryingissue is that of the commissions.Even the LCCs aren’t paying uscommissions. Then there is webdisparity which means that trav-ellers are booking their ticketsdirectly from the airline website

and bypassing us. Let’s see what the new team will do aboutthese issues.

Narinder SinghCEO, Narinder Tours & Travels

All the members are now lookingfor a change. There is a yawninggap between what TAAI was andwhat it has become. The newteam has its work cut out; it willneed to raise TAAI back to its daysof glory. It will also have to bringthe members together and drawgood participation from everyone.TAAI needs to be united and riseup high once again in the travel fraternity.

Tina KanugaDirector, Bathija Travels

The main issue is that of the com-mission which was eliminated byairlines a few years ago. It is onething that all of us unanimouslywant the new president to take up.Then there are other matters likethe passport issue. The agent nolonger has any authority to submittheir clients’ passports. These arethe main issues that have affected

the earnings of the travel agents.

Ashish K. MittalCo-Founder and CEO, TSC Travel Services

Today, the agents are going throughlots of challenges. One of the majorchallenges is the commission itself.A couple of years ago the commis-sion itself got eliminated. Now thebiggest challenge for the new pres-ident is to revive the commission onone side and on the other side hewill also have to guide the travelagents on how they can find variousavenues to supplement their income.

Niranjan GuptaMD, Navras Travels


With presence in over 11key destinations in India

offering finest hotels, palacesand resorts, the Lalit SuriHospitality Group is focusingon tapping the internationalmarket with its alliance withWorldhotels. Worldhotels offers450 hotels in 250 destinationsand 65 countries worldwide.

Discussing the genesis ofthe partnership, Keshav Suri,Executive Director, The LalitSuri Hospitality Group, says,“The story of The Lalit andWorldhotels matched along thelines of ownership, history andpersonality. With the countrybeing marketed globally, it washigh time we took our brand tothe global level.” RolandJegge, Executive VicePresident, Asia Pacific,Worldhotels, says, “Lalit was aperfect match for us in terms ofsize and location of their prop-erties which offer us an inven-

tory of many hotel rooms andbusiness hotels with MICEfacilities. With this partnership,we will help bring out The Lalitout to the world and share ourstory and DNA of the brands.”

Explainig the collabora-tion with travel agents, Surisays, “We work well with travelagents and offer a loyalty pro-gramme for event manage-ment companies, embassiesand travel agencies. We alsooffer commissions to our travelagents and work well withOTAs too.” However, looking atthe global scenario, Suriexpressed the need to have aworld recognised loyalty pro-gramme to improve business.

Jegge says, “We are look-ing at an overall addition ofvalue in all segments be it busi-ness, leisure or MICE travel.We shall expand the propertiesin places where The Lalit maynot be present currently andnotch up the sales and market-ing.” Suri adds that throughGDS, some non-negotiated

accounts and RFPs from coun-tries which can afford suitesand leisure travel, the hotels willbe able to increase the ARRs.Jegge discussed their plans topartner with travel agents tohave preferred listing and listLalit higher and leverage ontheir partnership. “We are look-ing at redirecting client traffic toThe Lalit website to retain the

customer base,” he added.Talking about the MICE facili-ties at The Lalit HospitalityGroup, Suri adds, “We are a preferred destination for conferences, exhibitions, seminars etc, and 20 per cent of our business can be attributed to MICE. We will nowtake these MICE facilities to theglobal level.”

The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group partners with Worldhotels tostrengthen their sales and marketing reach globally for theirproperties in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

Worldhotels to push Lalit overseasN O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 3 5HOTELS

AN K I TA SAX E N A

We are looking at redirecting client traffic to The Lalit website to retain thecustomer base

Roland JeggeExecutive Vice President Asia

Pacific, Worldhotels


3 6 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 EXHIBITIONS

FITUR, organised byIFEMA, will again prove to

be the international tourismindustry’s largest businessplatform, for it attracts themost comprehensive exhibi-tion of proposals and servicesfrom businesses, organisa-tions and institutions from 165countries and regions world-wide. This is why, with morethan three months to gobefore it is staged, FITUR2016 is intensifying the prepa-rations for its upcoming stag-ing in the confidence that it willrepeat last year’s magnificentresults, which broke therecord of participation with 12 per cent more internationalprofessional visitors. Thismeans that over those fivedays 125,084 professionalsfrom 139 countries visited theTrade Show, which boasted atotal of 222,551 attendeesincluding the weekend public.

One of FITUR’s charac-teristics is its ability to adapt tomarket realities and to bring toparticipants the possibilities

offered by the new trends intourism. In this regard, theInternational Tourism TradeShow is structuring its offeringaround the different spaces ithas gradually developed and,in particular, the latest novel-ties, FITUR Shopping andFITUR Health, which were suc-

cessfully launched at the last staging in response to twosectors with significant growth potential.

The remainder of sec-tions is proving to be equallyeffective in helping tourismprofessionals to find the key

to successfully confront thechallenge of innovation intourism management. Thusthe fourth edition of FITURKnow How & Export, promot-ed by the Ministry of Industry,Energy and Tourism, throughSEGITTUR and in collabora-tion with ICEX España

Exportación e Inversiones(ICEX Spain Exports andInvestments), highlights themost innovative solutionsassociated with tourism man-agement in Spanish compa-nies and developments andtheir potential in gainingaccess to markets abroad.

FITURTECH, hand inhand with ITH, the HotelTechnology Institute, is stagingits 10th edition, bringing us thetourism of the future.

Also in collaboration withthe ITH, and together with theWorld Tourism OrganisationUNWTO, FITUR is organisingthe seventh staging of FITURGreen, which advances inno-vation and sustainability in thetourism industry as the way todrive competitiveness forwardin both businesses and desti-nations, uniting current trendswith consumer expectationsand demands.

FITUR will boost its pro-gramme of B2B meetings, tai-lored appointments and sched-uled agenda of contacts to facil-

itate encounters and the possi-bilities of commercial exchangeand agreements –at the paststaging, more than 5,000scheduled meetings materi-alised at the Fair’s B2B Spaceat the service of exhibitors andvisitors, where multiple tradecollaborations were closed. TheFITUR B2B Hosted BuyerWorkshop will again be staged,unfolding an intense scheduleof personal, previouslyarranged appointmentsbetween participating compa-nies and a broad selection ofinternational hosted buyers.

A major representation of the worldwide tourist offering will be put together for another year at FITUR, the InternationalTourism Trade Show, which brings forward the dates of its 36th edition to January 20-24, 2016.

FITUR to showcase shopping & healthTT BU R E AU

Highlights FITURTECH, hand inhand with the HotelTechnology Institute, isstaging its 10th edition,bringing us the tourismof the future

FITUR is organising theseventh staging ofFITUR Green, whichadvances innovationand sustainability in thetourism industry



While it hasn’t really beenable to package this prod-

uct well yet, the state’s AYUSHdivision – short for Ayurveda,Yoga, Unani, Siddha &Homoeopathy – is keen on tap-ping the inbound trafficMaharashtra already receives.Prof. K. R. Kohli, Director ofAYUSH, Government ofMaharashtra, who is in chargeof promoting this wellness prod-uct, says that AYUSH should beincorporated into the tourismindustry just as Kerala has done.

“Kerala has a lot of treat-ment centres, panchkarmaand wellness centres andmany Europeans andAmericans come and staythere to get their necessarytreatment – whether it is shortterm or long stay. Maharashtratoo has a similar product butwe haven’t promoted it well.We are now trying to promoteMaharashtra’s AYUSH andwellness centres, its panchkar-ma centres so that the inboundtourism coming into

Maharashtra contributes somerevenue to the Government ofMaharashtra,” he says.

Prof. Kohli’s aim is to notonly popularise traditionalremedies of Maharashtrathrough AYUSH but also con-tribute to a small share to thestate’s revenue. AYUSH is agovernment body in India andmeans “long life” in English.

“We are trying to becomea nodal agency for Maharashtrawhere if any tour operator wantsto tie up with any of the wellnesscentres they can come to us.We are in the process of estab-

lishing a certification system –diamond, gold, silver certifica-tion – for the center dependingon the quality of their facilities.Once we do that, we know whatfacilities are available in whichcentres and then we can tie-upwith the tour operators andinform them about these cen-tres and the kind of facilities thatthey have. We want to informinternational tourists coming intoIndia about the health and well-ness centres available inMaharashtra,” he says.

Prof. Kohli adds that whileit is not planning to conduct anyroadshows, it will participate inall exhibitions related to traveland tourism, including interna-tional and domestic shows.

Taking a cue from its southern counterpart, Maharashtra isexploring ways to promote its newly-packed wellness productsto the incoming tourist traffic.

Wellness is Maha mantra

HA Z E L JA I N

Prof. K. R. KohliDirector, AYUSHGovernment of Maharashtra

The Maharashtra govern-ment has been trying to

use its assets, package it welland promote it to the rest ofIndia and the world to attractmore tourists. One such project involves developingMumbai’s famous Film City inGoregaon where most ofBollywood shoots its movies.

Vinod Tawde, Ministerfor Education & Culture,Government of Maharashtra,recently announced that hewishes to make Mumbai the‘entertainment capital of Asia’.“I don’t think any city in anyother country in Asia has sucha large film and televisionindustry like Mumbai. We willdevelop about 112 acres ofland within the Film City whichwill not only have better facili-ties for film shoots and produc-tion but also allow tourists andpromote tourism. We want tomake Film City the place forshooting as well as a place fortourism that will not disturb theshoots,” he said.

These include amenitiesfor tourists, entertainmentavenues and hotels and F&Boutlets apart from film shoots,pre and post production facilities, and skill develop-ment institutes. The ministeradded that they are just aboutto issue a global tender forthis project.

This news comes amidstthe announcement of a single-window clearance system forpermissions to shoot films, tel-evision serials and advertise-ments in the entire state ofMaharashtra. From a minimumof 27 applications, the stategovernment has now brought

it down to a single online appli-cation. “If you apply for theshoot and that area includesthe Mumbai Port Trust, then automatically the applica-tion will move to them - theyneed not apply separately,”Tawde said.

The master plan of FilmCity and Bollywood museumunder the PPP model hasbeen submitted before the Infrastructure Committeeof the Government ofMaharashtra. The Governmentof Maharashtra has decided toappoint Film City Corporationas the nodal agency to co-ordi-nate this activity.

Amidst announcements of a one-window system to get permitsfor film shooting in Maharashtra, the news is that Mumbai’sfamous Film City will be developed for tourism as well.

Now, Film City tours

TT BU R E AUWe will develop about 112 acres

of land within the Film City whichwill not only have better facilitiesfor film shoots and production but also promote tourism.

Vinod TawdeMinister for Education & Culture

Government of Maharashtra

Think FitAYUSH is in the process of establishinga certification systemfor wellness centersdepending on their quality of facilities


HOTELS

QWhat are the recentdevelopments at

ITDC? Looking at the future

requirements of skilled man-power and employability in thetourism and hospitality indus-try, we have recently launchedThe Ashok Institute ofHospitality and TourismManagement (AIH&TM)-Centre for Excellence at HotelSamrat in New Delhi in affilia-tion with The National Councilfor Hotel Management andCatering Technology (NCHM-

CT) to offer B.Sc course inHospitality and HotelAdministration (HHA). To pro-mote our country’s rich cultureand heritage, ITDC has alsoimplemented new Sound andLight shows at popular her-itage sites across country.Recently we have installed aSound and Light show atDelhi’s Old Fort. It also usesthe latest video-mapping tech-nology which makes the nar-ration realistic. Additionally, wehave also opened Duty FreeShops at Mumbai and Paradipseaports. ITDC through itsAshok Tours and Travels division also intends to foray into cargo handling business to improve itsturnover and bottom line.

QHow has the year 2015been for you/ITDC?The financial year

2014-15 has been an interest-ing year for ITDC. During the year FY 2014-15, ITDC posted a robust profitwith an all round increase inthe performance as comparedto the previous financial years.The total turnover for FY2014-15 stood at ` 504.19crore as compared to ̀ 469.58crore in the previous year2013-14, clocking a growth of7.37 per cent while the netprofit before tax has increasedby 226.48 per cent. In fact, the profit earned by ITDCduring 2014-15 has been at an all time high in the last 7 years.

Even in Q1, 2015-16 wecontinued the momentum gen-erated in the last financial byposting profit yet again. Thetotal turnover in quarter ending June 2015 stood at` 105.96 cr as compared to` 103.63 cr in the correspon-ding quarter last year.

QWhat will be strategiesfor 2016?To increase the customer

base we not only participate infairs, shows and travel martslike WTM, ITB, ATM and IMEXetc but also engage withclients from corporate sector,

travel and tourism industry andthrough online media. To con-solidate our presence in ourtarget segment specific strate-gies are being chalked out fordifferent verticals.

We are also designingspecial packages for specificsegments by way of pro active engagement with cus-tomers in order to improveOccupancy Rates in ourHotels. To deal with the competitive environment weare marketing more aggres-sively than ever. Dynamicpricing, long term tie ups withtargeted segments are someof the marketing initiatives thathave been taken. In addition,we will very soon be launchinga new brand campaignthrough different media in the country.

QHow closely are youworking with travel

agents/ agencies/ associa-tions? Do you give themany special offers or incen-tives?

Travels agents, agenciesand associations play a vitalrole in tourism and hospitalitysector. It is rightly said that, ‘Inthe tourism industry if travel isconsidered as the leg for theindustry, then the travelagents are the very importantbackbone of the whole sys-tem.’ ITDC has been workingvery closely with many travel agents/ agencies/ asso-ciations since decades. Travel

agents and tour operators areone of the most importantsources to get foreign clien-tele i.e. the leisure travellers.To ensure that we meet all thedemands of today’s aggres-sive competitive market, theAshok group of hotels offersspecial packages to travelagents. The market volatilitydiffers from one region toanother. Some markets arehighly price sensitive as com-pared to others. Keeping inmind different market seg-ments like Europe, the UK, USA, Far East etc, wework with various travelagents as per specific require-ments of the markets theyoperate in.

QHow important offlinetravel agents are to

you in the era of onlinetravel agents?

Even though the Internethas created revolutionarychanges in the tourism indus-try, the travel agencies cannotbe replaced. At the same timewe cannot ignore the upcom-ing new businesses whichOTAs have opened and there-fore we have entered intoagreements with most of theonline travel agents. The volume of business that we are able to source from these OTAs has seen atremendous growth.

At the same time, westrongly believe that offlinetravel agents play a vital role incontributing to the growingbusiness of the Ashok group ofhotels. The group business still comes through offline travel agents and hence these agents/associations are here to stay.

Lately, some of the travel agencies have forayedinto the MICE market segment which brings a greatbenefit to our flagship hotel The Ashok in New Delhias it is a popular MICE venuein the capital given itsunmatched convention facilities and a huge inventoryof 550 rooms.

Umang Narula, Chairman and Managing Director, India TourismDevelopment Corporation (ITDC), tells how importantoffline travel agents are for their business.

Agents are here to stay

TT BU R E AU

In the tourism industry iftravel is considered as theleg for the industry, then thetravel agents are the very important backbone of

the whole system.

Umang NarulaChairman and Managing

Director, India TourismDevelopment Corporation

(ITDC)

New VenturesITDC has opened DutyFree Shops at Mumbaiand Paradip seaports

ITDC through its Ashok Tours andTravels division also intends to forayinto cargo handlingbusiness to improve its turnover and bottom line


4 0 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 EXHIBITIONS

We have been working on a lot oftourism products to promote ourstate and I am happy to inform thatwe are also looking at the possibilityof developing Mining Tourism inMaharashtra in some of the coalmines of Vidharba region inChadrapur or Yavatmal area. We arecurrently in discussions with theWestern Coalfields Ltd and we hope

to enter into an agreement with them for Mining Tourism soon.

Paraag Jaiin NainutiaMD, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation

The three-day Maharashtra International Travel Mart (MITM) 2015 held in Mumbai was a perfect platform for the stategovernment as well as Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) to showcase their products.

Maharashtra on the right path forward

HA Z E L JA I N

Lavasa is an important part ofMaharashtra’s tourism roadmapand we had to be present at thisfirst edition of MITM. We wantedour presence to be felt here spe-cially since all the other importanttourism players of Maharashtrawere going to be here. We work very closely with MTDC specially when it comes to participating in exhibitions.

Bhupesh KumarAssistant VP (Tourism), Lavasa

We want MITM to be an annualevent. We have 75 international buy-ers here for B2B meetings with theintention of showcasing our prod-ucts and our culture. This has beentaken from the idea of WTM Londonand ITB Berlin shows and we wantto make this event as big as that. Wewant to promote Maharashtra on aninternational level through this plat-

form with its 720 km coastline, Bollywood, tiger sanctuaries,Deccan Odyssey, Ajanta Ellora, the Lonar crater.

Satish SoniJoint Managing Director, MTDC

The first edition of MITM was verywell organised – it was compactwith good number of participantsand visitors. ITB will be celebrating50 years in 2016 so we are gearingup for a bigger and better ITB nextyear. India as always will have a bigpresence with an entire hall. We arehappy to have India coming backto ITB again and again.

Rika Jean-FrançoisCommissioner (Corporate Social Responsibility), ITB Berlin

We have revamped our beautifulDeccan Odyssey luxury train spe-cially for MITM. Its exterior hasbeen altogether changed withWarli paintings and other imagesthat depict Maharashtrian culture.The rates for tourists howeverremain unchanged.

Swati KaleGeneral Manager, MTDC

MITM has been a really goodattempt at showcasing regionaltourism by MTDC where theyhave tried to bring out theessence of Maharashtra. Today,you can’t limit yourself to inboundor outbound tourism. We alsohave a big segment which isgrowing in terms of domestictourism. We now even need toconcentrate on cities beyond the obvious tourist circuits. Itis not only Delhi-Agra-Jaipur; it’s not just a few cities inKerala. MTDC has also invited a few agents to go on Famtrips to showcase its products.

Gurjit Singh AhujaCEO & Co-Founder, Cruise Mantra


AVIATION

As Oman Air’s first Boeing787 Dreamliner was finally

delivered recently, the airlinehas announced that its firstDreamliner will be deployed toSaudi Arabia and Europe. Thesix 787-8s were ordered inNovember 2011as part of theairlines’ expansion plans.

Paul Gregorowitsch,CEO, Oman Air, says, “We aredelighted to receive our firstDreamliner which, combinedwith Oman Air’s award-win-ning service, will provide anexcellent travel experience forour customers. Our decisionto invest in this game-chang-ing airplane underlines our

confidence in the 787 and thevalue it will add in terms of reli-ability, operational efficiencyand comfort.”

“We’re proud to haveOman Air join our growing baseof 787 customers in the MiddleEast and around the world,”says Boeing CommercialAirplanes President and CEORay Conner. “Our partnership

with Oman Air dates backalmost 15 years during whichtime the airline has been oper-ating the 737 family. We’redelighted to help introduceBoeing twin-aisle airplanes intoits growing fleet,” he said.

The 787 family has beendesigned by Boeing with supe-rior effectiveness that allowsthe airlines to profitably opennew routes to fly people directlywhere they’d like to go inexceptional comfort, keeping inmind Oman Air’s overwhelmingpreference. The 787 family has opened more than 50 newnon-stop routes around the world ever since it entered services in 2011 and is one of the most super-efficient families of commercial planes.

Boeing and Oman Air celebrate the delivery of the airline’s first787 Dreamliner, along with a suite of services to ensure ongoingefficiency and cost savings for its fleet.

Dreamliner for Oman Air

TT BU R E AU

We are delighted to receive our firstDreamliner which, combined with Oman Air’s award-winning service, willprovide an excellent travel experience for our customers

Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO, Oman Air

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was invited to Scotland’s capital by the prestigious University ofEdinburgh to be conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa. VisitScotland has researchedand created a special online map, Bollywood Scotland, which highlights dozens of Scottish locations whichprovide the stunning backdrops for some of Bollywood's best-loved stars and most iconic musical sequences.In total, the map showcases 23 Indian films that have been shot in Scotland.

VisitScotland woos Bollywood, honours SRK



Banking on SiliconValley

Shangri-La Hotel andResorts is a well-known brandinternationally and with over 90properties, it is well receivedabroad. Shangri-La Hotel,Bengaluru is their second ven-ture in India, the first being inDelhi. With two hotels andupcoming projects in India, weaim to position the brand as theideal choice for both businessand leisure travellers. Locatedin the heart of the city at the cen-tral business district, the hotel isperfectly positioned and catersto all needs of business trav-ellers. The room rate starts from`8,000 for a deluxe type roomexclusive of taxes.

New offeringsBesides an F&B destina-

tion, Shangri-La HotelBengaluru will also feature asa destination to bask ingrandeur with its unique pack-ages offering distinctive luxuryexperiences. Furthermore, ourdesign elements with a grand

upscale finish and contempo-rary styling features are anattraction in their own right.Shangri-La Hotel, Bengalururedefines luxury, hospitalityblending stylish design andinnovation incorporating gue-strooms, function and meetingvenues, signature restaurants,bars and spa with the uniqueblend of contemporary Indian hospitality. Located atthe prestigious blue ribbonaddress of Palace RoadShangri-La Hotel, Bengalurubrings together the renownedhospitality of Shangri-La withthe legendary Indian culturalchic. Showcasing the city’s

largest guestrooms and anenviable inventory of 30 suitesall with spectacular viewsacross the city.

MICE mattersShangri-La Hotel,

Bengaluru offers comprehen-sive meeting and event facili-ties, with seven flexible functionrooms with a pre-function areacovering a total space of 1,996square metres. It also has adedicated events team toassist in planning events frombeginning to end with style andattention to detail. For confer-ences of up to 900 guests intheatre-style seating, thehotel’s Grand Ballroom is thenewest and largest meetingdestination among premiumhotels in the city. In addition tothe state-of-the-art conferenc-ing technology and tailor-madecatering services, Shangri-LaHotel, Bengaluru offers a widerange of business and secre-tarial support services. A ded-icated glass elevator connect-ing the lobby and banquetingspaces serves as an addedconvenience for guests.

Shangri-La, which ventured into India with its first hotel inDelhi more than a decade ago, has recently opened itssecond hotel with 397 rooms in Bengaluru.

Ballroom for 900 guests

Jens CorderGeneral ManagerShangri-La Hotel Bengaluru

ME G H A PAU L

QHow do the agentswork with Cygnett

Hotels & Resorts? Are youoffering any special pack-ages or deals to the travelagent?

Travel agents are a keypart of our distribution strate-gy. We have tie-ups with various travel agents all overIndia and we offer special andintroductory rates for ourproperties. In addition, weoffer support to our hotelsfrom our regional sales andmarketing teams in targetedfeeder markets.

QWhat are your targetsfor the coming year?We will have 10 opera-

tional properties in India, Nepaland Bangladesh by the end of2016. We are coming up withhotels at Nepalgunj in Nepaland one more hotel in Assam.We will be launching our resortproperties in Mussoorie andDigha, West Bengal. Somemore projects are under dis-cussion at various cities. We

are targeting all major busi-ness, industrial, tourists, pil-grimage locations. We are alsoactively targeting the MiddleEast from our office in Dubai.

QWhat are the targetsegments for the

hotels?We target both business

and leisure travellers. Ourhotels in Kolkata andGuwahati cater to businesstravellers while the property inGoa is ideally located forleisure guests. The MICE mar-ket is an attractive and fast-growing market. We intend to

offer extensive conferencefacilities at some of ourupcoming properties to targetthis segment specifically. OurSummit Conference hall atKolkata and Columbia atGuwahati have the capacity tohold around 200 people,where we offer banquet andconference facilities, meet-ings, conferences, trainingprogrammes, product launch,social gatherings etc.

QWhat kind of technol-ogy additions are you

looking at for your hotels?Our tie up’s with the

major global distribution sys-tems allow our hotels accessto over 6, 50,000 travel agentsworldwide and our reservationengine allows for seamlesswebsite booking for our cus-tomers. In addition, we activelyuse social media to propagatebusiness at our hotels. We arein the process of implementinga central reservation system tooffer active support to ourproperties as well as an App tofacilitate ease of bookings inour hotels.

Cygnett Hotels and Resorts is targeting to have 10 propertiesoperational in India, Nepal and Bangladesh by 2016, saysVikram Malhotra, CEO & Co-founder, Cygnett Hotels & Resorts.

10 new properties

TT BU R E AU

Vikram MalhotraCEO & Co-founderCygnett Hotels & Resorts


QTell us about RoyalCaribbean Cruises’

business plans for India.There’s a lot going on in

Royal Caribbean Cruises glob-ally. With 22 ships in our fleet,we will be adding one of thelargest cruise ships in the sum-mer of 2016 called ‘Harmony ofthe Seas’ based in Barcelona.This is an ideal ship for theIndian cruise market. Anotherimportant billion dollar ship willbe ‘Explorer of the Seas’ whichwill cruise from Europe to Asia,stop in Kochi, go for a three-

night cruise to Singapore andthen head to Beijing with 4,000passengers. Next year, we aregoing to have the longest sea-son ever out of Singapore. Wehave over 40 cruises with threeto five cruise nights, which isideal for the Indian cruise mar-ket as it will help drive a lot ofgrowth in this market.

There are a few thingswe need to work on to buildlocal India cruise departures.We need to have more ports for cruise departuresand better infrastructure. Weshould be able to take largeships as the average cruiselength is three to five nights inIndia, which can be donethrough an intra-India cruise.Since you can’t have thesame kind of cruise experi-ence due to tax regulationand there’s no duty-free shop-ping, tax on beverages as ina normal cruise, so we have to make all these intoviable options.

We have entered into anagreement with the SingaporeTourism Board to cooperate withus to spend more in terms ofmarketing dollars to promotecruise in South East Asia and inIndia. Royal CaribbeanInternational has signed a first-ever multi-million dollar market-ing collaboration with theSingapore Tourism Board (STB)

and Changi Airport Group(CAG) to promote cruising outof Singapore. And in turn, attractthe cruise line’s largest numberof overseas fly-cruise guests.

QWhat is the growth rate ofcruise tourism in India?The overall total cruise

market is about 100,000 cruis-ers annually. We can triple the

figure over the next three tofour years with the growth ofcruising in South East Asia,which is huge opportunity forthe Indian market. There is agrowing awareness of thecruise market, which is beingdriven by TIRUN TravelMarketing Team and we needto build the market in supportof travel and trade partners.

QHas there been growthin the demand of

cruise vacations fromIndia?

Yes, future business cantriple. This year has been arecord year as we have dou-bled the growth.

Sean Treacy, Managing Director, Singapore and Southeast Asia, Royal CaribbeanCruises, speaks about the fleet of ships to be launched and the first-ever marketingcollaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board and Changi Airport Group.

India needs more ports for cruises

VA I S H A L I DA R

We have over 40cruises with threeto five cruisenights, which isideal for the Indiancruise market as itwill help drive a lot of growth in this market

Sean TreacyManaging Director, Singapore and SoutheastAsia, Royal Caribbean Cruises

N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 4 3CRUISES



Aiana Munnar – A MoonriverResort is an all–suite villa

resort spread across 20 acresof lush greenery. The resort is

set amongst natural springs,scenic views and will featureauthentic dining experiencesand an extensive Ayurveda-inspired spa.

Amruda Nair, JointManaging Director and ChiefExecutive Officer, AianaHotels & Resorts, said, “Thesigning of Aiana Munnar - A

Moonriver Resort heralds anexciting journey for AianaHotels & Resorts in India. Asour first property in India,Aiana Munnar – A MoonriverResort solidifies our commit-ment to offer locally relevantdesign and authentic experi-ences. We are happy to part-ner with Alex and TsarinaVacha as their expertise indesign and commitment topreserving the natural environ-ment is in line with Aiana’sbrand philosophy. As anupcoming leisure destinationwith great connectivity andnatural beauty, Munnar lendsitself to the creation of uniqueexperiences that will be thehallmark of Aiana Hotels.”

Alex Vacha, ManagingDirector, Moonriver Resorts,said, “Aiana Munnar – AMoonriver Resort has beenenvisioned as a grand retreatand luxury resort, created for thediscerning traveller looking for aunique experience within a nat-ural environment. A lot of detail-ing has gone into the fineraspects of the project and tracesof local elements have beenincorporated to stay true to thedestination’s rich heritage. ”

The development alsooffers a unique real estateopportunity for buyers to own a part of the luxury resort under the fractionalownership model.

Aiana Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreementwith Moonriver Resorts to operate Aiana Munnar – A MoonriverResort. The property is scheduled to open in 2016.

All-suite villa resort in Munnar

TT BU R E AU

Amruda NairJoint Managing Director and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Aiana Hotels & Resorts L.L.C

Talking about the initiative,Sharma says, “We have

come up with the Russia CISseries as a flagship product forFIT, MICE and family tours. Weare also promoting Bishkek, thecapital of Kyrgyzstan, alsoknown as the ‘Switzerland ofCentral Asia’. We are the firsttour operators in India to organ-ise a group tour of 60 people ondirect flight to this destination.Bishkek is being promoted as adestination to look forward to forMICE and FIT.”

On the company’s associationwith travel agents, Sharmaexplains, “We offer the best dis-counts from our end to the travelagents and clients. TravelsMantra has been catering to theB2B segment since its earlydays and are now among thetop B2B travel networks with areach of over 20,000 travelagents. Travels Mantra now actsas both B2B and B2C platform.”

Talking about the company,Sharma adds, “Travels Mantra

was formed to revolutioniseand redefine the quantitativebusiness in Uzbekistan andIndia. We believe in providingfull satisfaction to our clientand travel agents who workwith us.” Having completed 10years in the industry, TravelsMantra operates its own travelagency licensed by theMinistry of Tourism ofUzbekistan and Certified byEuro Asia Standard andQuality. Travels Mantra is afast growing online portal anda brand of Amro Voyage. “Wesupport and work on alldomestic and international

flight bookings and hotelbookings to make the perfectholiday. The transparent pric-ing and seamless operationsare complimented with bestpersonalised services for ourpartners,” says Sharma.

Travels Mantra operates fromCentral Asia at Tashkent,Uzbekistan apart from otherlocations. “We are a leadinginbound tour operator dealingwith the Middle East, AsiaPacific and European countries.The local office in Tashkent pro-vides our B2B partner andclients more reliability and com-fort,” adds Sharma.

Explaining the packages thatthe company is charting out,Sharma says, “Our Uzbekistanteam is working on various itin-eraries for Silk Road. The Indianteam is working to popularisethe unique historical destinationin the Indian market. We haveoptions of package combinationwith ‘Five Stan’ countries whichinclude Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan,Kazakhstan, Tajikistan andTurkmenistan.”

Amit Sharma, General Sales Manager, Travels Mantra, talksabout promoting Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, future plans of thecompany and its relations with travel agents.

Exploring Central Asia

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Amit SharmaGeneral Sales ManagerTravels Mantra



QWhat are your expecta-tions from WTM this

year?We have a carefully select-

ed niche market segment ofboutique properties in experien-tial places. We will be showcas-ing them under one roof-WindowTo Luxury (WTL), and capturethe attention of the luxury touroperators who matter.

QWhat are the productsthat these properties

are showcasing?We have categorised our

hotels into Wildlife, Wellness,Heritage and Beach Retreats.WTL has an exciting collectionof properties, all different andunique in their own way. Theymay be small, large, estab-lished, luxurious, adventurouswith wildlife experiences, etcbut all have a unique story totell or relate to, making them different and interestingfor the guests.

QWhat kind of interna-tional business have

these properties receivedin the past?

There has been a hugeinterest and surge in theenquiry levels. We have tocommend our new Visa policytoo which has eased a lotfrom the previous years. WTLhas been in business onlyfrom the past two years andwe have already seen a hugesurge of over 30 per cent ofthe UK guests to The Seraialone over the last year whichin many ways is a positive andwelcome beginning.

QHow are these proper-ties being promoted? We work very closely

with the travel trade, mainlywith tour operators whodecide the destiny of our prod-ucts. We promote the proper-ties by creating awareness of their story lines by meansof one to one meetings with key decision makers of

the industry, attending semi-nars, road shows, and exhibi-tions like WTM, Destinations,The Luxury Travel Fair,Adventure Travel Fairs, BirdFair etc. We conduct trainingsessions with travel consult-ants across UK and are dedicated to a digital interac-tion with travel trade.

QAre you targeting onlythe UK and European

market or are other mar-kets also in the list?

WTL primarily looks atthe UK and Irish Markets, butwe are making inroads into theEuropean sector too. As ofnow, we are covering entire UK

and Ireland by way of our mar-keting and meeting one to onestrategy with tour operatorsand key decision makers.

QHow does a travellerdifferentiate between

these properties and abrand?

Brands have done theirjobs. There is a market forthem, no doubt. I can confi-dently say that the productswe represent are second tonone with regards to the actu-al destination of the hotel orresort, positioning, servicelevels, food standards andabove all there is a personaltouch in terms of experience.That is where the storylineplays a main role and thatindeed is an increasing trendamongst visitors.

QWhat advantage dothese properties have

when working with you?WTL’s strength lies in

client representation, PR and

Social networking. We workclosely with our clients to cre-ate clear and realistic planscustomised to meet theirrequirements to ensureincreased sales and growth inbusiness. The UK market sawa huge vacuum thereby result-ing in a genuine demand for arepresentation of such unique,boutique hotels and resortsfrom India. All these are someof the positive advantagesWTL hotels enjoy.

UK-based representation and PR Consultancy Window to Luxury (WTL) brings together some of the smaller, unique and luxury properties from exotic destinations in India. Sanjay Mechery, Director, Window toLuxury-London, tells what is expected from WTM, the scope and attractions of these properties andtheir past international business.

A window to promote luxury hotels

We work very closelywith the travel trade,mainly with tour opera-tors who decide thedestiny of our products.

We promote the properties by creating

awareness of theirstory lines.

Sanjay MecheryDirector, Window to

Luxury-London Strong StartWTL has categorisedour hotels into Wildlife,Wellness, Heritage andBeach Retreats

It has witnessed hugesurge of over 30 percent of the UK guests toThe Serai alone over thelast year

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4 8 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 COVER STORTY

Wellness & yogatop selling pointsof what India is like and what wehave to offer.” He adds that out-door campaigns have beenplanned and the Incredible Indiabranding will be sited all over thecity. Video screens will also dis-

play the Incredible India commercial.

On speaking about theprojection of India, Billa elabo-rates that the main focus is topromote the country as a well-ness destination and the landof yoga. “After the PrimeMinister’s International YogaDay initiative received such ahuge response, we are high-lighting the country as a well-ness and yoga hub. We need

to make conscious efforts tore-establish the fact that Indiais indeed the land of yoga andwellness,” he comments.

Billa seems positiveabout the reception and theoutcome of WTM, more so

since London is hosting theprestigious travel trade event.He explains, “The UK is a fair-ly established market andEurope is familiar with Indiaand its culture. We areexpecting to see good resultsespecially since we are high-lighting yoga and wellnesstourism. This works as astrong advantage and I amsure we will receive an incremental inbound growth,”he wraps up.

Contd. from page 3

We are expecting to see good resultsespecially since we are highlightingyoga and wellness tourism. Thisworks as a strong advantage and I am sure we will receive anincremental inbound growth

Suman BillaJoint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism

Travel planning is a lot morethan just booking hotels

before traveling. That's whereTraveLibro’s key feature of con-necting with travel agents ofspecific specialisations comesin. This recently launched web-site allows a travel agent to reg-ister for free and gain access toa world of travellers. It’s a highlycustomised App and the portalwill connect agents who haveexpertise in the area of requestto travellers.

Monish B. Shah,Chairman and ManagingDirector, TraveLibro, says,“TraveLibro not only providesfree leads to an agent but is alsoa space to showcase their workand agency. We also provideeach agent with detailed analyt-ics on their followers, peoplewho have viewed their profile,itineraries viewed and down-loaded and a cutting edge leadmonitor. Global travellers willnow be able to reach the travelagents on TraveLibro.com!”

Shah says, “A traveller’sexperience will be completed

with a trip which is well-planned.That's where the experience ofthe travel trade comes in. Goneare the days of taking trips inherds to show a location whichhas been replaced with onlinebookings and a traveller ventur-ing out on their own. This hashappened because agentsaround the world have notaccepted the change globally tostart doing more businessonline. TraveLibro brings the tra-ditional way of booking holidaysthrough an expert in a new-agetechnology-driven travel world.”

TraveLibro's plannerallows travellers to plan a holi-day and share it with friends. Toreach the last step of bookings

Travelibro has included them inits strategy as opposed to book-ing portals. Users can nowjudge which agent they shouldplan their next holiday withbased on their work, specialisa-tions and followers.

Shah adds, “SinceTraveLibro is a unique brandand one of the first to cater totravel social networking outand out, the strategy is tospread the word out. Agents,tourism boards and travellerswill all be targeted at one eventto spread awareness. Wewould like to educate theagents and tour operatorsacross the globe on how theycan improve their business sit-

ting in their office spendingtime on one link. At the sametime tourism boards are highon our list to connect with inorder to own their pages.”

He emphasizes thatTraveLibro's heart remains withthe travellers and connectingthem with experts. “Hence, theactivities will be concentratedon getting quality genuine wan-derers, globe trotters, honey-mooners and every travel loveronto the platform to experiencetravel as never before. Theeffect of this will be seen direct-ly by specific trade partnerswho would invest their time andeffort for their content andpresence on their portal moreconsistently. We also cover thebest travel agents on ournewsletters and social mediaregularly. We will also be par-ticipating in travel trade fairsregularly,” Shah reveals.

TraveLibro’s Travel Diarieshelps agents track all their travelexperiences on one single pro-file with the help of an interactivemap, travel tracker, itineraries,journeys, travel memories, buck-et list, bookmarks, etc .

Social networking is becoming an important tool for the travel trade in attractingclients and TraveLibro is leveraging this demand through its innovative product.

Social network for the trade

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TraveLibro not only provides freeleads to an agent but is also a spaceto showcase their work. We also provide each agent with detailedanalytics on their followers, people

who have viewed their profile.

Monish B. ShahChairman and Managing Director, TraveLibro


5 0 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 ASSOCIATIONS

Travstarz’s hosts agents in Thailand

A Fam trip was organised by Travstarz with Rayong Marriott Resort & Spa, a leading hotel for Indian destinationweddings, MICE and leisure travel. The participants included leading travel agents from Delhi and Mumbai andexplored two Islands of Rayong and Koh Samet in Thailand.

These are some of the top-level findings contained

within the Annual TourismMonitor 2015 Final Editionreleased by the Pacific AsiaTravel Association (PATA).Highlights of the AnnualTourism Monitor 2015 FinalEdition include:

� International Visitorsarrivals to the Asia Pacificregion – as defined by the 45 destinations covered in thisreport – have collectivelyshown significant growth over the last five years risingfrom almost 455 million in 2010 to over 552 million in 2014.

� Asia continued its dom-inance in 2014, capturing morethan 410 million foreign arrivals– a relative share of more than74% - led by Northeast Asiawith a share of 47% of total international arrivals intoAsia Pacific.

� China, Hong KongSAR and the USA were the

top three generating marketsfor all international arrivalswithin the Asia Pacific regionin 2014, although there weresignificant deviations in thatgrouping from sub-region tosub-region.

� For early 2015, the 39destinations in the Asia Pacificregion with arrivals data forearly 2015 show a collectivegain of 5.4% year on year,compared to growth of five per-cent for the same destinationsand periods of 2014.

� Early 2015 indictors forthe key source market showthat Thailand, Hong Kong SAR

and Japan captured more than4.1 million additional arrivalsfrom China, period over periodin 2015.

� The impact of the con-traction in the Russian outbound market is also con-sidered in light of destinationsacross the Asia Pacific region in early 2015, withThailand, Turkey and China being particularly negatively affected.

“Understanding theimmediate impacts of changesin the foreign inbound marketsallows us to contain the nega-tive consequences and boostthe positive. This Final Editionof the 2015 PATA AnnualTourism Monitor therefore pro-vides an important first step inquantifying these changes andallowing us to make resourcedeployment decisions basedon those quantification met-rics,” said PATA CEO MarioHardy. “Our publications alongwith PATAmPOWER are valu-able tools for those planningand making important deci-sions in allocating theirresources for the future.”

International arrivals into the Asia Pacific region continuedstrong growth momentum of previous years with a gain of5.4% during the first half-year of 2015.

410 mn arrival into Asia

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Mario HardyCEO PATA


Ajay Jasra, GeneralManager (Corporate

Affairs), SpiceJet, says, "Red-eye is a popular concept in thewest as they generally tend tobe more economical than theday-time flights. More so, nightflights are a smart option tobusiness and other frequenttravellers as they can conve-niently attend their businessmeetings and take a late-nightflight back thus avoiding roadtraffic during peak hours. We

are the process of adding closeto half a dozen red-eye flightsin the coming winter scheduleas they serve our objective ofboosting connectivity 24x7.”

On Delhi – Nanded sec-tor, the flight SG 671 will oper-ate this flight service twice aweek on Monday andThursday on this route.SpiceJet is the only airline tooperate to and fro flights fromNanded and the airline is look-ing forward to carry innumer-

able Sikh pilgrims to visit theHazur Sahib by offering thema convenient yet affordablemode of travel. SpiceJetlaunched direct flights to Dubaifrom Amritsar and Kozhikodeand flight services will startfrom November 15, 2015.

On the Delhi – Bangaloresector, the airline will be oper-

ating 4 flights in a week i.e.Monday, Thursday, Saturdayand Sunday. SpiceJet operatesthree flights currently on thisroute. The new red-eye flight onDelhi – Bangalore sector would be available at faresstarting ` 3,899.

Dubai is one of the air-line’s six international destina-

tions after Bangkok, Colombo,Kabul, Male (Maldives) andMuscat. Services toKathmandu, which had beentemporarily suspended, willresume in the future, andadditional international desti-nations will be announced inthe coming weeks. With thelaunch of these flights, the air-line will be serving Dubai

direct from eight Indian cities,Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad,Pune, Kochi, Madurai,Amritsar, and Kozhikode, withconnections from dozens ofmore cities including Kolkata,Chennai, Hyderabad, andBengaluru. To celebrate thelaunch, the airline is offeringtickets at an introductory fareof ` 4,999 all-in one way

between Kozhikode - Dubaiand Amritsar – Dubai. WhileSpiceJet will operate dailyflights on the Kozhikode –Dubai route, flights on theAmritsar – Dubai route will operate on all days except Saturdays. It will bedeploying its Boeing 737NG aircraft on the newlylaunched routes.

SpiceJet recently announced several new initiatives such as its very first red-eye flights within the domestic network on the Delhi-Bengaluru route, a new flight on the Delhi-Nanded route, along with serving Dubai direct from eight Indian cities.

Red-eye flights, new routes on SG

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We are in theprocess of addingclose to half adozen red-eyeflights in thecoming winterschedule as theyserve ourobjective ofboostingconnectivity 24x7

Ajay JasraGeneral Manager (Corporate Affairs)SpiceJet

N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 5 1AVIATION

Spice in the airOn Delhi – Nandedsector, the flight SG671 will service twicea week on Monday and Thursday

On the Delhi –Bengaluru sector, theairline will be operating4 flights in a week i.e.Monday, Thursday,Saturday and Sunday


5 2 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 NEWS

Hahn Air hosted an awardsceremony to celebrate its

top-performing travel agenciesand valued business partnersfor the year 2015. With Indiabeing one of Hahn Air’s top 10markets worldwide, the airlinehas established itself as one ofthe leading ticketing specialistsacross the sub-continent.

Over 50 travel agentsfrom Bengaluru attended theprestigious awards ceremony.Hahn Air awarded a certificateof appreciation recognising itstop 10 agencies for their con-tinued support and for beingamong its top business part-ners. The top three agencies,based on the criteria of highestrevenue per travel agency, tookhome trophies featuring HahnAir’s mascot ‘Martin, the smarttravel agent’.

The top agency for theevening was Riya Travel &Tours (India) while FCM TravelSolutions (India) was awardedsecond place. GBT IndiaPrivate Limited took home thethird trophy.

Kimberley Long-Urbanetz, Vice President(Sales & Agency Distribution),was there to present theawards along with Hahn Air’sDirector Global AccountManagement for SouthernIndia, Bharat Kapoor. Shesaid, “We are very optimisticabout the Indian market as itholds great potential andIndian travel agencies haveincreased their business withHahn Air to date by over 20per cent in 2015 compared to2014. Our outlook for 2016 is

extremely promising and welook forward to greater coop-eration with our valued busi-ness partners.”

To acknowledge theimportance of the market,Hahn Air has established adedicated service desk forIndia which can be reached 24hours. There are also threeregional Global AccountDirectors in charge of theirrespective regions for market-ing and sales support andrelated activities.

Bengaluru witnessed its share of glitz as Hahn Air acknowledgedits top-performing travel agencies and partners for 2015.

Hahn Air salutes top agents

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Under the chairmanship ofthe newly-elected TAAI

President Sunil Kumar, someimportant decisions weretaken during the first Managing Committee meetingheld from October 7-8, 2015 in Hyderabad.

One of them includedforming committees with special portfolios. All portfoliosassigned are for one year, after which it will bereviewed towards the end ofthe first year of the currentterm. Important committeeswill have more than one co-chairperson.

Region-Chapter chair-persons and members withexperience who can support TAAI in its pursuit toresolve challenges will beadded to committees. Thesecommittees will be furtherdeveloped in the future MC meetings.

Other key conclusionsfrom the meeting include form-ing an arbitration forum toresolve disputes between mem-bers and TAAI to avoid the pos-sibility of a litigation and manda-tory Region/Chapter meetingswith members held at least once in 60 days.

It was also decided thatthe TAAI ManagingCommittee meetings willbecome a two-day programand will be held in variousparts of India to offer anopportunity for interaction withthe local membership ofRegions/Chapters.

The second TAAI meet-ing has been proposed forNovember/December 2015and will be held along with theOffice Bearers of allRegions/Chapters and theChairpersons of various com-mittees will make presenta-tions on what their commit-tees aim for.

The new team of Travel Agents Association of India tookimportant decisions at its first Managing Committee meeting,including forming special committees that focus on specific areas.

TAAI forms 8 committees AssociationTalk

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Airlines Council Chairman: Jyoti MayalCo-Chairman: Shreeram Patel

Tourism Council Chairman: Jay Bhatia Co-Chairman: Imtiaz Qureshi

Allied Services including InsuranceMattersChairman: Bhagwan RamnaniCo-Chairman: R. Krishna Rao

Membership DevelopmentChairman: Anil Kumar Co-Chairman: Bhagwan Ramnani

Technology; Website and CRS Chairman: Shreeram PatelCo-Chairman: Anil Kumar

Legal MattersChairman: Imtiaz QureshiCo-Chairman: Devaki Thiyagarajan

TaxationChairman: Devaki ThiyagarajanCo-Chairman: Bhagwan Ramnani

Cultural/Sports CouncilChairman: R. Venkatachalam

List of portfolios assigned:


N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 5 5HOTELS

“Last year we had about 6 million people coming into India but inter-nationally India’s image has been portrayed in a very wrong manner. Butstill people don’t feel very safe when they are travelling to India becauseof the stories that they have heard. But now I think the government under-stands that there is a potential of calling 20 million people to India nextyear. I think today hotels are doing occupancies that is not generatingprofits for them. So once we have the additional number of tourists cominginto India and all the hotels start doing 70 per cent occupancy instead of50 per cent occupancy with may be a ̀ 500 rise in the ARR, I think every-body will do well. That has already started happening. Also few days backGujarat Tourism recognised tourism sector as a separate industry and ithas not clubbed it with real estate. At least now we know there is somepaper lying with the government which says that tourism has to be there separately. The debts that thebanks give to the hotels have to be calculated separately, it should not be in line with real estate whichgives massive hope to hoteliers. In Bangalore travel agents contribute around 40 per cent to our business.The future we see with them is excellent.”

Rahul RaiExecutive Director (Marketing,Sales & Distribution)Unique Group

QTell us about Wyndham and its USP?Wyndham Hotel Group is the world’s

largest hotel company basedon number of hotels. As both aleading hotel brand franchisorand hotel management servic-es provider, the company’s

global portfolio consists ofapproximately 7,700 propertiesand over 668,500 rooms in 71countries.

QHow important is India market for you?

What makes your productsuitable for the India market?

It’s actually a thrilling des-tination for international guestsas well as domestic travellers.With the development of India,and with the development ininfrastructure, the country isbringing excitement around theglobe. The service culture inIndia has always been thereand now you are also buildinginfrastructure alongside. I amsure India is destined for greater things.

Also the government isproactive and doing a lot toboost tourism. I think that’s opening up doors for

investments and wherever doors for investments open, the infrastructure improves. So that’s all connected with how we are promoting ourselves and why we are targeting India as one of the most impor-tant markets.

Daniel Ruff, President and Managing Director, Europe,Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Indian Oceanregions, Wyndham Hotel Group, and Rahul Rai –Executive Director (Marketing, Sales & Distribution),Unique Group, tell about the hotel’s plans for India market.

668,500 rooms in 71 countries

AN U P R I YA BI S H N O I

Daniel RuffPresident & MD, Europe, Middle East andAfrica (EMEA), Wyndham

The government isproactive and doinga lot to boosttourism. I thinkthat’s opening up doors forinvestments andwherever doors forinvestments open,the infrastructureimproves


5 6 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 AGENTS

Specialised in providingunique experiences, Wish

Bone India helps travellersplan inspiring vacations thatbring them closer to theessence of the locations. Thebusiness and luxury travelagency offers MICE, inboundand domestic packages thatcover locations such as theKerala backwaters, wildreserves, Himalayan heights,among numerous others.

Speaking of their USP,Rishi Khandelwal, ManagingPartner, says, “We arefocussed on extendingauthentic and immersiveexperience of each destina-tion. Providing personalisedand seamless service is whatdistinguishes us from the oth-ers,” he adds. Wish Bonedevelops every itinerary afterfirst researching about thecustomer’s needs and under-standing their exact require-ments. From the destinationto the mode of travel and styleof accommodation to the

experiences, every aspect isdiscussed with the customerto ensure the combinationworks perfectly.

“Our key markets areFrance, Belgium and the UK,” says Khandelwal. “Weplan to continue emphasisingthese three markets. Despitethe global slowdown andincreasing competition fromthe Asia-Pacific region, we are very bullish on India’stourism growth outlook,” he comments.

When it comes to foreigntourist arrivals, Khandelwal

mentions that it is India’s richheritage and geographicaldiversity which attracts themto the country. “India’s rich her-itage, cultural and historicalresources and geographicaldiversity play a crucial role inattracting FTAs,” he says.“Moreover, new concepts suchas adventure, rural, golf, wellness tourism, each with itsdistinct characteristics andofferings, are increasinglyplaying a pivotal role inincreasing FTAs. Thanks to theease in visa regulations, wecan expect even more arrivalsin the months to come,” hesigns off.

Rishi Khandelwal, Managing Partner, Wish Bone India, talksabout different factors that play a crucial role in attractingFTAs to India.

Adventure lures FTAs

TT BU R E AU New concepts such as adven-ture, rural, golf, wellnesstourism, each with its distinct characteristics andofferings, are increasingly

playing a pivotal role inincreasing FTAs.

Rishi KhandelwalManaging Partner, Wish Bone India

With a vision to promotethe rich heritage and cul-

ture of India, Bestway Tours &Safaris provides a host of toursto their customers, ranging

from cultural, adventure,beach, Ayurveda, culinary,yoga and spa tours, and muchmore. Headquartered inVancouver, Canada, Bestwaynow serves major tour opera-tors in North America, Europeand the Middle East, apartfrom covering India, Bhutan,Sri Lanka, Nepal and Tibet.

Malhotra says, “Our USPlies in our special interest tours,which are niche tourism prod-ucts and an alternative to masstours. It is the provision of cus-tomised leisure and recreationalexperiences driven by the spe-

cific expressed interests of indi-viduals and groups.” Regardingsome new and interesting toursthat have been added to theiritinerary he elaborates, “Someof the unique tours we haveincluded are textile tours,women-only tours, bicycle tours,photographic tours, culinarytours and battlefield tours. We

are a fast growing company andwith the expansion of the team,we are looking to add morespecial interest tours to ourexhaustive list of itineraries.”

For the forthcoming year,Malhotra predicts a positivefuture for the tourism industry inIndia. “In the Tourism 2020Vision document, WTO fore-casts that India has the potentialto reach nearly 8.9 million inter-national arrivals by 2020,” hementions. “With the introductionof e-Tourist Visa to 113 nation-alities worldwide, inbound trafficto India has been on the riseconsistently. So, in all, we can say 2016 will be prosperous year for inboundtravel,” he adds.

Amit Malhotra, Director, India Operations, Bestway Tours &Safaris, gives an account of their USP and predicts theIndian tourism industry’s course for 2016.

Offering niche tour options

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Some of the unique tourswe have included are textiletours, women only tours,bicycle tours, photographictours, culinary tours and

battlefield tours.

Amit MalhotraDirector, India Operations,

Bestway Tours & Safaris

Unique ProductsSome of the tours offeredby Bestway are textile tours, women-only tours, bicycle tours, photo-graphic tours, culinarytours and battlefield tours


The Caribbean TourismOrganisation (CTO) and

Mexico are among manyexhibitors that will be hostingWTM London festivals until8pm on the Wednesdayevening of WTM London. Thefestivals give everyone theopportunity to socialise afterthe traditional working hours ina fun and vibrant atmosphere.Those attending will experi-ence the culture, hospitalityand cuisine with each hosting exhibitor offeringsomething unique.

With 2015 beingdeclared the Year of Mexico inthe UK, there is likely to be alively party atmosphere on itspavilion. Mexico will be showcasing its gastronomywith tastings from its 80 exhibiting destinations aswell as a live band to entertainthe visitors.

The CTO will be hostinga street party in the CaribbeanVillage Area at WTM London2015. Visitors will be treated tolive Calypso and steel drummusic with savouring local cui-sine and tropical rum punch.

Meanwhile, India will beshowcasing ‘Taste of India’themed festival where one canenjoy the diverse cuisine fromevery corner of the country.Whilst experiencing live Indiandance and music, taste aromaticlocal Indian wines from the bou-tique wineries or Indian beer asthey portray the rich cultural her-itage of their country.

The Polish TouristOrganisation and Polish travelindustry partners are hosting aNetworking Party which will givethe opportunity to liaise with thecountry’s travel industry repre-sentatives. There will also be aparty atmosphere with Polishhospitality offering local special-ities with live music.

Famous Vietnamesestreet food is likely to attractplenty of attention as the des-

tination showcases its colourfultraditions.

Nepal’s festival will befocusing on nature, culture andadventure during its festival

while Indonesia, a country witha rich festival tradition, willdemonstrate its diverse coun-try of origins and religions.

World Travel MarketLondon, Senior Director, SimonPress, says, “The WTM London festivals were only introduced last year to celebratethe 35th year of WTM but they were so successful that

we decided to do them again this year.

“This year the festivalslook to be even bigger and bet-ter with plenty of opportunityfor informal networking and funfor all attendees. If you havethe opportunity, come andexperience the culture, hospitality and cuisine of these exhibitors.”

An array of exhibitors will be partying in style during the WTM London’s Festival programme on November 4.Countries including India will showcase their cuisine, culture and traditions at this international platform.

Buyers get a ‘taste of India’ @WTM

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Festivities Galore

N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 5 9EXHIBITIONS

India will showcase itsdiverse cuisine and culture

Vietnamese street foodwill attract attention

Polish travel partners willhost networking and parties

Nepal will focus on natureand culture


6 0 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 AGENTS

SenKay Tours and Travels,one of India’s leading

DMCs, believes in an Indiawhich is a true blend of ancienttraditions, values and globallyrecognised professional serv-ices of the modern era. “Our pri-mary goal is to make the trav-eller experience a unique jour-ney with something special,which imparts an unforgettablememory for our clients. Thechoice of routes is important,but not more than its contents,”Kumar says.

“Continuous and consis-tent involvement of TeamSenKay in searching for fasci-nating non-classical placesand its understanding of thetraveller’s requirements makesit the most trusted DMC inIndia for developing new itiner-aries with value-added fea-tures, which give a differentand unique experience of trav-elling,” Kumar adds.

On its new offerings,Kumar says, “Our new offer-

ings are itineraries with the spirit of developing newprogrammes in order to be different outside the usual patterns but inside the intensity of the destinationwithout any additional cost.“We also want to reactivateNepal as one of the most fascinating destinations,”he adds.

Kumar says the new agetraveler is always looking for

new destinations within Indiaas well as outside.

On the latest trends inthe tourism industry, Kumarsays, “A series of decisionswith reference to the increasein the entrance fees and taxes, taken in the recentmonths have put all of us in atough situation. As tourismfraternity we must take theright decisions at the righttime,” he adds.

Anil Kumar, Director - Marketing, Operations, ProductDevelopment and Finance Contracting, SenKay Tours andTravels, talks about the journey of the company.

‘Reactivating’ Nepal

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Our new offerings are itineraries with the spirit of developing new programmes. We want toreactivate Nepal as oneof the most fascinatingdestinations.

Anil KumarDirector- Marketing,

Operations, ProductDevelopment and FinanceContracting, SenKay Tours

and Travels

Thinking beyond 1bn tourists agenda

A two-day seminar on “Tourism and Hospitality: Beyond the Agenda for One Billion Tourists and One BillionOpportunities” was organised at University Institute of Hotel Management & Tourism (UIHMT), Panjab University(PU), Chandigarh. The seminar was organised under the aegis of HOSTOCON-2015 and witnessed a number ofspeakers from across the country and abroad.


6 2 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 NTO

The Managing Director ofFiji-based Tour Managers,

Damend Gounder, trulybelieves in introducing the bestof Fiji to the India market. Withthis vision, he has introducedthe Tour Managers’ luxurybrochure at an exclusivelaunch in New Delhi followedby an additional event inMumbai this September.Gounder says, “Tour Managersis committed to the internation-al markets including India,China, the US, New Zealandand Australia. This is evident bythe increased staff strength inIndia. Our aim is to showcasethe best of Fiji and of coursekeep in mind the market senti-ments and preferences.”

The island-themed eventwas attended by high profileniche travel agents who exclu-sively promote high-endresorts for destination Fiji. Oneof these resorts is NamaleResort & Spa that has beeninstrumental in proactivelyassisting the growth of theIndia market by creating India

market-friendly specials whichare highly enticing for the Indiatraveller. Namale Resort & SpaIndia representative,Kanishka Kapoor Khimani,announced free stays at

Namale along with airfare andground support from TourManagers for agents sellingmaximum Namale rooms forthe sale period valid untilOctober 2015.

Tourism Fiji India was alsopresent and the support fromFiji’s NTO has also been crucialin promoting and educating theIndian travel trade. Through thetireless efforts of Alefiya Singh,Director of Mumbai-based IrisReps that represents TourManagers in India, and SarojGounder, Contract Manager(India Division) for TourManagers, the India marketshare continues to be consoli-dated with exciting growth in keyoff-peak periods for the Indiatraveller. "As far as unexploredand exotic destinations go, Fijiis right up there. Mature Indiantravellers are always looking fornew places to explore and this island country is perfect forthem - specially honeymoonersand HNIs. Much of the countryis uncrowded with fantastic hotelproperties, making it a perfectluxury destination,” Singh says.

Tour Managers Fiji alsomade an exciting announce-ment for the soon to belaunched online portal for India and other key marketswhich will prove to be a valu-able tool in making Fiji more sellable.

Specialist Destination Management Company Tour Managers, based in Fiji, hasunveiled a luxury brochure for Fiji in India with Namale Resort & Spa and Tourism Fiji.

Fiji promotes luxury in India

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Our aim is toshowcase thebest of Fiji andkeep in mind the marketsentiments andpreferences

MatureIndiantravellers arealwayslooking fornew placesto explore

Alefiya SinghDirectorIris Reps

Damend GounderManaging DirectorTour Managers

VIA Rail Canada salesup by 67% in Aug

VIA Rail Canada recorded agrowth of 67 per cent from Indiaonboard VIA Rail Canada forAugust 2015 compared to thesame month sales last year. Endof August in 2015, VIA RailCanada showed a Year-on-Yeargrowth of 34 per cent in agencysales from this market.

Ashish Saran, AccountHead, VIA Rail, says, “67 percent increase during the month

of August is a positive jump insales for train journey travel forIndians travelling to Canada.Considering Indians are moreinclined towards convenienceand cost, this positive numberreconfirms that VIA Rail is a pre-mium train with convenience andaffordability as a prime focus. Weare trying to reach out to moreconsumers though the traveltrade. Education and information

are key market drivers and weare focusing on both to grow thismarket organically. This is a pos-itive sign and we hope to contin-ue the same trend in 2016.”

VIA Rail now offers an allnew Prestige Class on theCanadian, one of the most luxu-ry experiences on any train jour-ney with several improvementsand modifications done to vastlyimprove the travel experiences

of guests onboard VIA. There areseveral improvements on variousclasses of service, which includespecially prepared menus withlocally sourced food and wine, fresh, increased on-boardentertainment. Even the foodand wine service is accompa-nied with performances byhome-grown artists and musicians onboard to give thefeel of real Canada


Singapore Airlines intro-duced its new Premium

Economy cabin class on theDelhi and Mumbai routes fromOctober 25, 2015, and January2, 2016, respectively. It is avail-able on the Airbus A380 serv-ices from both cities toSingapore and onwards toAuckland, Frankfurt, HongKong, London and Sydney. ThePremium Economy Class willbe introduced across theSingapore Airlines global net-work on 19 Airbus A380s, 19Boeing 777-300ERs and thefirst 20 Airbus A350s. The air-line showcased the PremiumEconomy seats at DLFPromenade, Delhi fromOctober 10-11, 2015.

Following a two-yeardevelopment programme andan investment of about $80 mil-lion, the Premium EconomyClass will welcome customersto a contemporary and stylishdesign. Each seat has a widthof 19.5 inches (on the A380)with an eight inch recline anda seat pitch of 38 inches in a 2-4-2 layout. Together with activenoise-cancelling headphonesand a sleek 13.3-inch full HDmonitor, the largest in its class,featuring an intelligent andunique touch-screen graphicaluser interface (GUI), cus-tomers can look forward to anenhanced KrisWorld In-Flightentertainment experience.

David Lau, GeneralManager – India, SingaporeAirlines, says, “Our decision tointroduce Premium Economyis in response to the feedbackreceived from our customerswhich highlighted the increas-ing global acceptance for thisnew cabin class. The productoffering has been specificallytailored to provide EconomyClass passengers an alterna-tive for medium – long haultravel with extra comforts.” In

collaboration with SingaporeTourism Board, passengers on Singapore Airlines can purchase the SingaporeExplorer Pass - a one-timeaccess pass to 23 differentattractions and benefits overthe duration of the pass at spe-cial rates.

Talking about Indian trav-el agents, Lau says that thetravel agents are equallyimportant and SingaporeAirlines would love to provide them special offers if they are ready to partner with them.

Singapore Airlines launches its new Premium EconomyClass on the Delhi and Mumbai routes. David Lau, GeneralManager – India, Singapore Airlines, explains the featuresof the new offering and its importance for the India market.

SQ’s Premium Economy Class N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 6 5AVIATION

SA M A P T I DAS

Travel agents areequally importantand we wouldlove to providethem specialoffers if they areready to partnerwith us

David LauGeneral Manager –

India, Singapore Airlines

David Lau unveils the Premium Economy Class


SPECIAL FEATURE6 6 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5

The 10th Annual UNIGLOBETravel Regional Con-

ference and ExcellenceAwards were conductedrecently at The Radisson Blu,Udaipur. Themed ‘Go for theMagic’ this year’s conference

was hosted in the magnificentcity of Udaipur, known for itslakes. With over 300UNIGLOBE Travel profession-als attending, insightful educa-

tion sessions and entertain-ment packed evenings, thetwo-day conference turned outto be a great event.

“UNIGLOBE Travel(South Asia), organises theconference every year to sup-port inter-agency networking,professional development andto build relationships with eachother and with key suppliers from the South Asian region, as well as other parts of the globe,” saysSanjay Arya, President,UNIGLOBE Franchise OwnersAssociation (UFOA).

The conference saw theunveiling of the first ever tele-vision commercial byUNIGLOBE Travel. Taglined,‘Travel. Simplified.’, the com-mercial targets corporate and leisure travellers, position-ing UNIGLOBE as travel procurement specialists, delivering high quality

service and cost containmentsolutions to clients.

“We are very excited aswe cover another milestone bymoving our brand story to theworld of television, with abrand new hot-off-the-pressTV commercial. The commer-

cial effectively underlines howUNIGLOBE Travel, meets theneeds of travellers and travelbuyers, the UNIGLOBE Way - Travel. Simplified.,” says

Ritika Modi, RegionalPresident, UNIGLOBE Travel(South Asia).

Michelle Desreux, COOand Executive Director,

UNIGLOBE Travel (SouthAsia), says, “Our theme for thisyear, ‘Go for the Magic’, waschosen to inspire UNIGLOBETravel professionals to unleashthe hidden potential of theirmind to deliver magical servic-es to our clients by using

knowledge, skills, talents and the power of theUNIGLOBE system.”

The conference wasmarked by an array of educa-tional, team building and experiential sessions. Theseincluded a session on the ‘Art of

Persuasion’ by world renownedmentalist, Roy Zaltsman,where he shared techniques ofpersuasion that could be instru-mental in effective client com-

munication. His second ses-sion focused on ways of chan-nelising the power of the mindwith the right effort for successin personal and professionallives. Another highlight of the

conference was a session bycelebrated actor, theatre artist and ad man, BharatDabholkar, that stressed on thesignificance of practice in aservice driven industry like trav-el. His session where he alsospoke about his journey to suc-

cess, further inspired audi-ences to tread their own path of success.

Other insightful sessionsat the conference included oneby Desreux, that focused onimparting the importance ofunderstanding habits and

using them effectively, andanother by Amadeus, leadingtravel technology solutionscompany, that elaborated onthe different segment of trav-ellers and how technology wasplaying a role in simplifying travel for them.

Sunil Narain, Chairman& Managing Director,UNIGLOBE Air Travel Bureau,says, “The UNIGLOBERegional Conference has

emerged as one of the mostsought out events for membersof the UNIGLOBE family andwe are proud to be a part of it.Like every year, this year’sconference has lived up to itspromise of offering new per-spectives and great insights

that will undoubtedly make usbetter travel professionals.”

Over 20 suppliers fromdifferent categories includingleisure, technology, insur-ance, banks, hotels, airlinesand destination managementcompanies came together for

The Supplier Showcase, thatserved as a platform for participants to establish, renew and build successfulpartnerships with their preferred suppliers and gaina better understanding oftheir offerings.

Top performing agencieswere rewarded for achievingthe organisation’s higheststandards of growth throughprofessionalism and customersatisfaction at the conference.Awards for top-level sales andrevenue growth achievementswere given to the owners of UNIGLOBE member agen-cies from across the SouthAsia region. Also awardedwere the top performingagency personnel for continu-ally pushing the benchmark ofexcellence higher.

The awards includedrecognition for Counselors,Managers, Sales, Accounts,Leisure and Facilitation personnel at various levels ofperformance assessment. The awards, organised by TataAIG, saw the introduc-tion of three new categories

this year to include Manager Admin/HR, ManagerAccounts, Manager Leisuremaking a total of 11 categoriesand 96 awards.

“The two days at theconference have been bothinsightful and inspirational.After attending the conference,we are better positioned tomake improvements that can make all difference and lead us towards greatersuccess,” concludes ParasLakhia, Executive Member,UFOA Board.

The conference conclud-ed with a gala dinner themed,‘The Big Fat Indian Wedding’,preceded by a comical play,‘Bottoms Up’, starring AnantMahadevan, Jayati Bhatia andBharat Dabholkar.

Art of Persuasion by world renowned mentalist, Roy Zaltsman

UNIGLOBE Travel (South Asia), organisesthe conference every year to support inter-agency networking, professionaldevelopment and to build relationshipswith each other and with key suppliersfrom the South Asian region, as well as

other parts of the globe. Sanjay Arya

President, UNIGLOBE Franchise Owners Association (UFOA)

300 UNIGLOBE Travel Professionals from across South Asia gathered in Udaipur to celebrate individual andcollective achievements, interact, sharpen skills, network and gain insights.

10th Annual UNIGLOBE Travel Regional

The UNIGLOBE Regional Conference hasemerged as one of the most sought out eventsfor members of the UNIGLOBE family and we areproud to be a part of it. Like every year, this year’sconference has lived up to its promise of offeringnew perspectives and great insights that willundoubtedly make us better travel professionals.

Sunil NarainChairman & Managing Director, UNIGLOBE Air Travel Bureau

The two days at the conference have beenboth insightful and inspirational. After attendingthe conference, we are better positioned to makeimprovements that can make all difference andlead us towards greater success.

Paras LakhiaExecutive Member, UFOA Board

We are very excited as we cover another milestoneby moving our brand story to the world oftelevision, with a brand new hot-off-the-press TVcommercial. The commercial effectively underlineshow UNIGLOBE Travel, meets the needs of travellers and travel buyers, the UNIGLOBE Way - Travel. Simplified.

Ritika ModiRegional President, UNIGLOBE Travel (South Asia)

Our theme for this year, ‘Go for theMagic’, was chosen to inspireUNIGLOBE Travel professionals tounleash the hidden potential of theirmind to deliver magical services to ourclients by using knowledge, skills,talents and the power of theUNIGLOBE system.

Michelle DesreuxCOO and Executive Director

UNIGLOBE Travel (South Asia)

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SPECIAL FEATURE N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 6 7

Conference creates magic

Gold award for Excellence in Domestic TravelCounselor category

Gold award for Excellence in InternationalTravel Counselor category

Gold award for Excellence in Leisure category

Gold award for Excellence in ManagerAccounts category

Gold award for Excellence in ManagerAdmin, HR category

Gold award for Excellence in ManagerLeisure category

Silver award for Excellence in DomesticTravel Counselor category

Gold award for Excellence in Travel Sales category

Gold award for Excellence in Travel Manager category

Gold award for Excellence in TravelFacilitation category

Gold award for Excellence in TravelCounselor category

Gold award for Excellence in Travel Accountscategory

Silver award for Excellence in InternationalTravel Counselor category

Silver award for Excellence in Leisure category

Silver award for Excellence in ManagerAccounts category

Silver award for Excellence in ManagerAdmin, HR category

Silver award for Excellence in ManagerLeisure category

Silver award for Excellence in TravelAccounts category

Bronze award for Excellence in InternationalTravel Counselor category

Bronze award for Excellence in DomesticTravel Counselor category

Silver award for Excellence in Travel Sales category

Silver award for Excellence in Travel Manager category

Silver award for Excellence in TravelFacilitation category

Silver award for Excellence in TravelCounselor category

Bronze award for Excellence in Travel Accounts categoryBronze award for Excellence in Manager Admin, HR categoryBronze award for Excellence in Manager Accounts categoryBronze award for Excellence in Leisure category

Bronze award for Excellence in Travel Sales categoryBronze award for Excellence in Travel Manager categoryBronze award for Excellence in Travel Facilitation categoryBronze award for Excellence in Travel Counselor category

UNIGLOBE Bharath International Travel,awarded for Top Sales Volume

UNIGLOBE Air Travel Bureau, awarded forTop Sales & Revenue Volume & Top Sales Growth

UNIGLOBE Air Travel Bureau, awarded forsuper performance by TATA AIG

UNIGLOBE Adyar Travel Bureau, awardedfor super performance by TATA AIG

UNIGLOBE CP Travel, awarded for TopRevenue Growth

UNIGLOBE Sai Pooja Travel, awarded for Top Revenue Volume

UNIGLOBE Mod Travel, awarded for Top Revenue Growth

UNIGLOBE Mod Travel, awarded for super performance by TATA AIG

UNIGLOBE Le Travelworld, awarded for super performance by TATA AIG

UNIGLOBE Shergill Travel, awarded for Top Sales &Revenue Volume and Highest Sales & Revenue Growth

UNIGLOBE Sri Sai Travel, awarded for Top Sales Growth

UNIGLOBE Utopia Travel, awarded for super performance by Tata AIG

UNIGLOBE Koniva Tours & Travel, awarded for superperformance by Tata AIG

A comical play ‘Bottoms Up’, starring AnantMahadevan, Jayati Bhatia and Bharat Dabholkar

Over 20 suppliers from various industries interacting with 300 participants

Interactive Session with Bharat Dabhoklar, Ad man, who talks about his successstory to the participants


The international tourismmeeting will be hosted by

the Kenya Ministry of EastAfrican Affairs, Commerce andTourism under the auspices ofCabinet Secretary Hon.Phyllis Kandie.

Known as MagicalKenya, the country offers anabundance of wildlife opportu-nities, as well as an astonish-

ing diversity of landscapes andcultures. As the East Africanhub for business and technol-ogy, the country is known for itsexcellent domestic travel infra-structure and the wide rangeof tourism activities and serv-ices it provides for its visitors.From tropical forests andbeaches to vast deserts andmajestic mountains, tourists inKenya can experience a differ-ent safari every day.

ATA Congresses providea unique networking, learning,and agenda-shaping platformfor Africa tourism stakeholders.The 2015 programme willinclude a line-up of educationaland professional developmentsessions; a Tourism Ministers’Roundtable; sessions to Meetthe Ministers, Meet the Media,and Africa Meets the World,where buyers and suppliers willmeet; visits to Nairobi’s topsites; and a range of network-ing events, including a KenyaCulture Night and ATA AwardsCeremony, receptions, workinglunches, and a gala dinner.

ATA Executive DirectorEdward Bergman said, “Onthe occasion of ATA’s 40thanniversary, we are eager toreturn to Kenya for this mile-stone in ATA’s history. We aredelighted to bring together thepublic and private sectors, trav-el industry, and media to par-ticipate in the Congress. Thisalso comes at an importanttime to showcase Kenyan

tourism to show that Kenya isan incredible destination, isopen for business, anddeserves our attention. Weencourage the travel industryto stand with Kenya and sup-port tourism.”

During the Kenya HostCountry Day, delegates willvisit the magnificent LakeNakuru National Park. As part

of the Host Country Day andan ATA tradition, delegates willtake part in a tree-planting cer-

emony at Lake Nakuru as a symbol of long-lastingrelationships and as an initia-tive to achieve a better global environment.

ATA Congress delegatesinclude African tourism minis-ters, industry professionalsrepresenting tourism boards,destination representatives,travel agents, tour operators,

ground operators, airlines,hotels and accommodations,service providers, and travelmedia. Participants from thecorporate, nonprofit and aca-demic sectors are also expect-ed to attend along with traveland hospitality students. Pre- and post-Congress tours will also be available toexplore Magical Kenya beyondthe Congress.

The Africa Travel Association (ATA) will hold its 40th Annual World Congress in Nairobi, Kenya from November 9-14, 2015.

Africa Travel Association: 40th Congress

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We aredelighted tobring togetherthe public andprivate sectors,travel industry,and media toparticipate inthe Congress

Edward Bergman Executive Director ATA

N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 6 9EXHIBITIONS



QWhat is the USP ofyour resort? Kanha Village Eco Resort

is an eco boutique wildlife lodgebased at world famous KanhaNational Park. We offer all mod-ern amenities for guests withina tribal village setting and mudhouses. Guests staying with usget a chance to enjoy the rusticluxury with feel of staying insidethe forest which makes themexperience wilderness in a bet-ter way.

QWill you be expandingportfolio in the future?

What locations would youchoose and why?

Yes, we would love toexpand but not in the immedi-ate future. Eco sensitive prop-erties do not get enough pref-erence. However, slowly theawareness is increasing andwe hope that as demand riseswe would be able to offer thesame kind of rustic luxury toour guests at other wildernessdestinations. We are also plan-ning to enter rural tourism as it

complements our present busi-ness which will be up and run-ning hopefully by mid-2016.

QBeing an Eco Resort,what kind of chal-

lenges do you face? At present we do not get

lot of eco sensitive tourists butwe are sure by creating aware-ness we will be able to get bet-ter response. Biggest chal-lenge is to make our travellersdifferentiate between a real andfake eco sensitive propertysince almost all accommoda-tion providers in any nationalpark write themselves as one.

It’s a difficult task but we lovethe challenge. We do facesome problems in our workingand maintenance but that ispart of the game. Like, almost90 per cent people workingwith us are local tribal and train-ing them to handle guests isnot very easy but that is part ofour initiative to help them growalong with us and we will do it.

QDo you deal with travelagents? What pack-

ages do you offer them? Travel agents are the

mouth, hands and leg of travelbusiness. They help us inreaching wider market, tell thetravellers about us and workhard to help us in getting busi-ness. We deal with travelagents and tour operators andhave on offer both premadeand tailor made packages. At present our revenue from travel agents is around 40per cent of total business we generate and we areexpecting this will go up sincemore and more travel agentsare looking for eco sensitiveproperties now.

Navneet Maheshwari, Owner, Kanha Village Eco Resort, saysagents play a very important role for the resort and it offers pre-made and tailor-made packages for agents and tour operators.

Kanha: Agents get 40% biz

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Navneet MaheshwariOwnerKanha Village Eco Resort

IITTM’s HR Conclave focuses on skill development in trade

Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management organised an HR Conclave on the occasion of World TourismDay at its campus in Noida, with the theme of “One Billion Tourist One Billion Opportunities”. The central theme ofHR Conclave was to nurture talent and skilling of youth to leverage the ‘One Billion’ opportunities so mooted bythe UNWTO for the tourism industry. Chief Guest for the occasion was His Excellency Ahmed Mohamed, HighCommissioner – Designate of Maldives to India.



Destination Canada organised a Fam trip from September19-27, 2015, for travel trade partners from across India to theprovince of British Columbia. The trip gave the trade partnersan opportunity to experience varied locale of British Columbia.The group visited Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler.

Trade partners explore B.C.



Vkonect opens world of luxuryThe second edition of Vkonect Luxury was held from October 10-11, 2015, at The Westin, Gurgaon, where 25 India travel, luxury and hospitalitycompanies participated in the premium B2B meetings platform. The two-day event witnessed networking sessions between luxury buyers andexhibitors, followed by exclusive business sessions in a tabletop and round-robin format. Guest speakers were also present at the event wherethey shared their thoughts on the growing luxury sector in India.

See more picture on page 80


7 8 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TECHNOLOGY

They say that gone are thedays when businessmen

used to run operations only inthe local market. Now theyunderstand the importance ofgoing beyond their homecountry and reaching out tolarger market share. A perfectexample is the Clay Business

Group which started its oper-ations in 2,000 as an interna-tional mobility solutionsprovider in India and has now expanded its reachin the US, UK, Europe andJapan. They have not onlygrown geographically, butalso forayed into different ver-ticals like hospitality and the IT sector successfully.

With a presence in interna-tional destinations and India, the Clay BusinessGroup is one of the fastestgrowing service providersserving the HNI segment.“With our focus on servicelevels, we are the first brand of choice for worldleaders and its customers,”says Dhawan.

The substantial invest-ment in infrastructure and com-prehensive CRM software hasenabled Clay to streamlinebusiness processes, make the system robust and offertransparency to both partnersand customers.

With immense opportuni-ties available, the travel compa-

nies are looking at bundlingtheir products with value-addservices. These help themmake a separate revenuestream from ancillary servicessuch as international SIM,insurance, forex etc., and offera bouquet of services underone roof to heighten their cus-tomers’ travelling experience.Joshi says, “We are also adopt-

ing the same approach and areassociating with global partnerslike American Express, Cox &Kings, Kuoni Travels, FlightShops and others. Clay is alsokeen on expanding its opera-tions in other international des-tinations and is actively looking at strategic partners in the US, the UK and Europeand other countries to become the first choice of aninternational traveller.”

Such strategic partner-ships are enabling companiesto set-up their business oper-ations in India and beyondwithout investing in infrastruc-ture, technology and humanresources. This is a lucrativedeal for both collaboratingpartners as it helps to cutdown investment costs andimproves their bottom line inthe business. Joshi furtherstates, “We are visiting inter-national fairs like ITB Asia,WTM etc. in search of globalpartners and have also start-ed discussions with large set-ups for mutual beneficialassociations.”

Clay Telecom makes it easy to identify global partners to leverage market share both locally and internationally withoutmaking huge investments. Gaurav Dhawan, Executive Director, Clay Business Group, and Aditya Joshi, Chief OperatingOfficer, Clay Telecom, explain why partnering with their company is beneficial in order to expand business.

Clay Telecom goes global

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Why partnering is beneficial?

To expand businesslocally and internation-allyTo bundle products withservices and vice versaFor exciting marginswith great profitsTo offer value adds andbuild trust among cus-tomers

With our focus onservice levels,we are the firstbrand of choicefor worldleaders and itscustomers

Gaurav DhawanExecutive DirectorClay Business Group



Luxury gains momentum with Vkonect Contd. from page 74

FINAL_TTNovember-1st_2015:TT Layout 10/23/2015 4:35 PM


Uttar Pradesh contributed 12.9 per cent to the total share of FTAs to India and 14.3 per cent to thetotal domestic tourists coming to the state. Om Prakash Singh, Tourism Minister, Uttar Pradesh,tells about the tourism products that the state has to offer.

tive response. “We had 404,133visitors in total who bookedthrough e-ticketing fromDecember 2014 to April 2015.Out of these 277,126 were for-eigners and 127,007 Indians,”he adds.

With the success of UttarPradesh Travel Mart 2015,Singh showed enthusiasmabout organising the nextTravel Mart from February 22-

24, 2016, in Lucknow. Thestate has allotted ` 441 croreto Mathura, Ayodhya andKashi Buddhist circuit out ofthe ̀ 1,600 crore received fromWorld Bank as funds earlierthis year.

Discussing the tourismfacilities provided by the state,Singh says, “Our renewedfocus on heritage-basedtourism has revived many

small areas/monuments/events which were regionallyrenowned but lacked nationalexposure. Some such eventsare the Mangla Aarti, DevDiwali and Bharat Milap inVaranasi, Ramnagar Fort, andShahi Taalab in Lucknow. Weorganise light and sound showin Jhansi and Sarnath,Varanasi, and a musical showfor the aficionados calledSubah-e-Banaras.”

We had 404,133visitors who dide-ticketing for theTaj from December2014 to April 2015.Out of these277,126 wereforeigners and127,007 Indians

Om Prakash SinghTourism MinisterUttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh offers abun-dant attractions and tourist

destinations for discerningtravellers. Singh says, “Wemay not have oceans andmountains but the state makesup for it in terms of religiousand heritage sites of the high-est repute. We have theworld’s oldest city ‘Kashi’, andLord Rama’s birthplace‘Ayodhya,’ which see massivedomestic tourism.”

Uttar Pradesh gets thethird highest number of foreigntourists visiting the country. It

received 29,097,359 foreigntourists in 2014 amounting toa total share of 12.9 per centout of the top 10 states con-tributing to FTAs. The numberof domestic tourists visiting UPwas 182,820,108 making it thesecond most popular statewith a share of 14.3 per centout of the top 10 states con-tributing to domestic tourism.

“The Taj Mahal alone sawup to 6,072,263 visitors fromJanuary to December 2014,out of which 694,467 were for-eigners and 5,377,796 Indians,”Singh says. The e-ticketing forTaj Mahal has received a posi-

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Taj Mahal

Ganga Aarti

Taj Mahal South Gate

Agra Fort

Chhota Imambara, Lucknow

UP: A favourite with foreigners


8 4 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 NEWS

Tahiti DMC Group hasappointed Outbound

Konnections as its sales andmarketing representative forIndia. The Tahiti DMC Group isa Destination ManagementCompany of Tahiti and herIslands and comprises ‘TahitiNui Travel’, ‘Tekura Tahiti Travel’and ‘Tahiti Tours’.

Outbound Konnectionswill be the local representativeof the Tahiti DMC Group andwill be responsible for aggres-sive sales and tourist promo-tion activities including traveltrade servicing and soft public relations.

Anjum Lokhandwala,Director, OutboundKonnections, says, “We areoverwhelmed by our selectionand the trust and confidencebeing bestowed by the TahitiDMC Group on our organisationas their sales, marketing andPR arm for the India markets.With the new age Indian trav-eller exploring beyond the set

and conventional itineraries,Tahiti with its realm of luxuriousand traditional delights, offersdistinct facets and attractionsthat suit new and evolved trav-elers, especially for honey-mooners. Our initiatives willfocus on around making Tahitithe preferred destination ofchoice for luxury holidays andhoneymooners’ delight. Ourexpanding portfolio highlightsOutbound Konnections’ knowl-edge and understanding of theIndian mindset.”

Raphaela Taufa,Director, Tahiti Nui Travel, says,

“The group witnessed expo-nential growth by capturingabout 43 per cent of the mar-ket share from the Indian out-bound tourism sector in theyear 2014. The growing dis-posable income along withchanging lifestyle makes Indiaa high potential market forTahiti and her islands.”

Tekura Mullez, Director,Tekura Tahiti Travel, adds,“Though the total number ofIndian arrivals to thePolynesian countries is nothuge, the growth we have wit-nessed Year-on-Year hasestablished a strong belief inour making inroads and takingthe first step into India market.”

Diana Chin Choi,Director, Tahiti Tours, states,“Outbound Konnections has theright network and approach,which can comprehend and achieve our objectives; destination positioning and thedistribution reach, thereby, augmenting the Indian trafficand higher revenue generationto the group.”

Mumbai-based Outbound Konnections will now representTahiti DMC Group in India for trade servicing, marketing andpublic relations activities.

Tahiti DMC enters India

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Anjum LokhandwalaDirectorOutbound Konnections

QTell us aboutRezLive’s new initia-

tives. Global expansion is on

the cards for us and we havefocused on increasing both ourregional and international pres-ence this year with our newoffices in Thailand, Sri Lankaand Romania. We also havesuccessfully launched ourThailand inbound product,‘RezLive Thailand.’ This is thefirst choice of our travel partnerswho want to offer the best expe-riences in Thailand to theirclients. The key USPs of thisproduct are best price guaran-tee, 24x7 support services,expertise operations team,round-the-year availability, cus-tomised beach activities andlocal market understanding.

QWhat is your growthstrategy?The Middle East and

Asian regions especially Indiahave delivered an outstandingperformance due to demand forthis market for inbound and out-

bound travel. Our aim is to con-tinue to consolidate our expan-sion into international markets,like Africa and Europe, whilemaintaining growth in theMiddle East and Asia. We willalso continue working to giveour valued partners extra ordi-nary support service and diver-sified inventory.

QWhat new projects areyou focusing on now?This year we will be

looking at revampingRezLive.com and making ourinventory bigger than ever bycontracting with other leadinghotel chains, so that we put

the whole world at the finger-tips of our travel partners. Weare looking at expansion intoAfrica, Europe and othermarkets within the AsiaPacific to get closer to thelocal travel trade.

QHow do you work withthe travel agents?We are purely a B2B

company and work hand-in-hand with travel partners. Theyplay a vital role in the overallgrowth and development of theorganisation. We also try to bein constant touch with themthrough our sales team and thedifferent marketing activitiesand networking sessions weconduct regularly. We haveeven started one of its kindProduct Training Session (cur-rently on a pilot stage inAhmedabad) in which we invitelocal travel agents in differentbatches/sessions and orientthem about different offeringsunder our Travel DesignerGroup Umbrella. We will con-tinue doing more such activitiesto further cement out strongrelationship with them.

RezLive.com is keen on working more closely with the travelagents around the globe. Jaal Shah, Founder, RezLive.com,talks about its expansion plans.

Growing proximity to trade

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Jaal ShahFounderRezLive.com

QTell us about yourorganisation?Maini Materials

Movement is a premium brandin material-movement and in-campus electric mobility solu-tions. The first mass producedelectric car – Reva, India’s firstcomprehensive range of bat-tery operated material han-dling equipment and only India– made electric buggies, aretestimony to this. We operatefrom a state-of-the-art designand manufacturing facilitybased in the Indian IT capital,Bengaluru, leveraging best-in-class processes andtechnology.

QWhat are the productsand services that

you offer?MMM is an original

equipment manufacturer inIndia to manufacture buggies– Battery operated vehicles(BOV). We offer passengerbuggies in two, four, six, eight,11 and 14 seating options. Wespecialise in custom madebuggies for cargo, F&B, house-

keeping, laundry, fire safety,mail transfers etc.

QWhat are the new ini-tiatives that the com-

pany is taking?We recently launched

Wheel Chair Buggy for the firsttime in India, for people withReduced Mobility (PRM). Witha capacity for two PRM withthree escorts and 150 kg bag-gage, this buggy is ergonomi-cally designed with specialemphasis on passengers’safety, helping airports, hospi-tals, large corporate and edu-cational premises to be‘Disabled friendly’.

This year, we plan tointroduce new Maini Buggywith futuristic and first-of-its-kind features, revolutionisingthe Battery Operated Vehicles(BOV) industry.

QAre you facing anykind of challenges? Going green has been on

the agenda and it’s now one ofthe fastest growing trends. Inthis effort, many are opting forBOV at their premises andhence confirms on the scope ofgrowth in the usage of BOV inunconventional spaces, apartfrom hospitality and lifestyleindustry. The challenge lies intapping into this latent demandwhich can only be achievedthrough increased awarenessamong the different users.

Maini Materials in enhancing ‘guest experience’ in the hospitality sector. SA Mohan, CEO, Maini Materials, IHA winnershares the future initiatives of the company.

Buggy rides for hotels

TT BU R E AU

SA MohanCEO Maini Materials, IHA Winner

Smooth Ride Maini Materials spe-cialises in custommade buggies forcargo, F&B, house-keeping, laundry, firesafety, mail transfersetc.



Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently held its third ‘Amazing Thailand LuxuriousPleasure Roadshow’ where 16 luxurious service providers and representatives from thebest boutique and luxury hotels, resorts and airlines, golf course and premium inbound travelagents from Thailand showcased and promoted their products to the Indian travel agents.

Thailand’s third luxury showcase



200 buyers from 20 countries connect @MPTM

The second edition ofMadhya Pradesh Travel

Mart took place over threedays in Bhopal where over 200buyers attended the B2B plat-form to share and explore busi-ness opportunities for discern-ing travel and tourism products.

During the inauguration,Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan said, “With 2015being the Visit MP Year, thegovernment has initiated sev-eral projects to increase visi-tors to the state to see some ofthe country’s best kept worldheritage sites, and it’s amazinglandscapes. The state alsooffers a safe and secure envi-ronment. With the Simhastha2016 taking place from April 22to May 21, we will see one of

the biggest gathering of pil-grims in the country and wewould like to invite travelagents to promote this event ina big way,” he added.

Surendra Patwa, Ministerfor Tourism, Government ofMadhya Pradesh, mentionedabout the various proposals andschemes by the MadhyaPradesh Government, to give afillip to the industry in the state.Veera Rana, IAS, SecretaryTourism, MP Government gavedetails of the second edition ofMPTM while Subhash Goyal,President, Indian Association ofTour Operators, spoke about thevarious facets of the tourismindustry and how MadhyaPradesh has been at the fore-front of tourism marketing.

The event showcasedover 100 different products

from Madhya Pradesh such aspilgrimage, heritage, adven-ture, corporate hotels, wildliferesorts, travel agents and touroperators, handicrafts, culturepursuits of Madhya Pradesh.Travel trade and hospitality del-egates from countries like

Australia, South Africa, UnitedKingdom, USA, Canada,Germany, France, Italy,Bulgaria, UAE, Sri Lanka,Latvia, Greece, Ireland,Philippines, Malaysia,Indonesia, Poland, Slovakia,Czech Republic, etc were pres-

ent at the travel mart. The inau-guration saw the presence ofthe who’s who from the traveltrade and hospitality industry,namely Jyoti Mayal, MemberManaging Committee,Chairperson Airline Council,Travel Agents Association of

India (TAAI), Sarab Jit Singh,Vice President, Federation ofAssociations in Tourism andHospitality (FAITH), JyotiKapur, President, Associationof Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Capt.Swadesh Kumar, ViceChairman, Indian ConventionPromotion Bureau (ICPB),Akshay Kumar, President,ATOAI, among many others.

The Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart 2015, held from October 16-18 at Lakeview Ashok, Bhopal, highlighted the state’s potentialin wildlife, heritage, culture and tourism, and welcomed the presence of 200 buyers and media from over 20 countries.

MP showcases over 100 productsTT BU R E AU

With 2015 being the Visit MP Year, thegovernment has initiated several projects to increase visitors to the state tosee some of the country’s best kept worldheritage sites, and it’s amazing landscapes.The state also offers a safe and secureenvironment.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan Chief Minister

Madhya Pradesh In the heart of IndiaMP unveiled tourismproducts such as pil-grimage, heritage,adventure, corporatehotels, wildlife resorts,travel agents and touroperators, handicrafts,culture pursuits


CLIPBOARD

For more information, contact us at: [email protected]

NOVEMBER 2015INTERNATIONAL

2-5 London World Travel Mart

8 - 9 Brussels, Belgium UFTAA AGA + Forum

17-19 Barcelona, Spain IBTM, World

NATIONAL

6-8 Visakhapatnam Holiday Expo

19 Chandigarh India Hospitality Awards North andEast

20-22 Guwahati Travel & Tourism Fair

22-24 Amritsar CII Tourism Fest

22-24 Chandigarh CII Tourism Fest

23 Delhi German National Tourist Office B2B Roadshow

24 Bengaluru German National Tourist Office B2B Roadshow

25 Ahmedabad German National Tourist Office B2B Roadshow

25 Mumbai Monaco Government Tourist & Convention Bureau B2B Roadshow

26 Mumbai German National Tourist Office Networking Event

27 Mumbai German National Tourist Office B2B Roadshow

27 Delhi Monaco Government Tourist & Convention Bureau B2B Roadshow

27-29 Pune India International Travel Mart

27-29 Ahmedabad India Travel Mart

27-29 Kolkata Travel East

DECEMBER 2015NATIONAL

1-3 Bhuj Rann Utsav

3 Delhi European Quartet B2B Workshop

4 Bengaluru European Quartet B2B Workshop

4-6 Hyderabad India International Travel Mart

5-7 Jaipur India Travel Mart

5-13 Kolkata East Himalayan Expo

5 Mumbai European Quartet B2B Workshop

11-13 Madurai India International Travel Exhibition

18-20 Siliguri Tourism Fair23-27 Haridwar CII Uttarakhand Fair

JANUARY 2016INTERNATIONAL

20-24 Madrid, Spain FITUR

11-13 Milan, Italy BIT

NATIONAL

8-10 Nagpur Global Panorama Showcase

8-10 Chennai Travel & Tourism Fair

14-16 Kochi India International Travel Mart

15-17 Bengaluru Travel & Tourism Fair

15-17 Mumbai India International Travel & Tourism Exhibition

22-24 Nagpur India International Travel Exhibition

22-24 Coimbatore Holiday Expo

29-31 Delhi Satte

OPPORTUNITY


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HOTELS

QWhat is the USP ofyour property? How is

your hotel different fromthe rest?

The biggest USP of ourhotel is the guests staying withus in either of our hotels,whether it is Pullman orNovotel, are free to visit therestaurants and other publicareas without any limitations ofthe other hotel. Pullman New

Delhi Aerocity is located in thetrendiest new destination in thecapital and is a perfect mix ofluxury and convenience. Ourguests at Pullman can choosefrom a selection of diningoptions –Café Pluck, Honk,Pling. Our 16,000 sq ft spa -Woo with eight treatmentrooms and a heated swimmingpool attracts leisure guests.

Also Pullman New DelhiAerocity has the largest pillar-less ballrooms with 13 meetingrooms, three boardrooms anda business centre, each aes-thetically designed with state-of-the-art technology. The ver-satile meeting rooms can beadapted to suit various sizeand format requirements withflexible seating layouts.

Novotel New DelhiAerocity, a unique premium

combo from AccorHotels,combines modernity, design,and simplicity. The virtual concierge at the lobby of Novotel calledMoncierge is an interactiveforum that helps guests tocheck flight timings, to givefeedback on the hotel andlearn about the happeningsaround the city.

QWhat are your expec-tations in terms of

ARR and Occupancy forthe coming year?

We remain upbeat withthe long term growth prospectsin the hospitality industry,especially as global travel con-tinues to increase with the riseof the middle class market. The optimistic outlook of the hospitality indus-try suggests solid growth with economy and businesshotels segments forming alarger percentage of the total room inventory and now accounting for nearly halfof all the hotel rooms in thecountry. AccorHotels is

expanding rapidly in this seg-ment through its Novotel andibis brands.

There is an equitable dis-tribution of room supply acrossthe different areas that indicatea maturing hotel market. Weare also witnessing theupscale hotel segments follow-ing closely behind. Withrenewed economic senti-ments, momentous growth inthe market and the recentchanges in visa policies, weare positive that the countrywill drive more inbound busi-ness travel.

Pullman Novotel New Delhi Aerocity is ready to open its doors from November. Tristan Beau De Lomenie, General Manager-Delegate, Pullman Novotel New Delhi Aerocity, tells us about the hotel’s large pillarless ballrooms and other distinct features.

Tristan Beau De LomenieGeneral Manager-DelegatePullman Novotel New Delhi Aerocity

ANUPRIYA BISHNOI

Largest pillarless ballroom

With renewed economic sentiments,momentous growth in the marketand the recent changes in visapolicies, we are positive that thecountry will drive more inboundbusiness travel

WUDSTAY, a five-monthold company has taken

to standardise the facilities pro-vided in budget hotels and is working towards offering better value propostions totheir travel agent partners andtheir clients.

“We feel the country hasbeen painted in a bad lightwhere the traveller may feelunsafe and dirty and thusthinks more before travelling.However, at WTM, one of thelargest gatherings of traveltrade professionals, we hopethat this image is dispelled andwe are able to communicate tothe foreign traveller that wehave taken care of all short-comings and are on our way tobetter facilities and value addi-tions,” says Prafulla Mathur,CEO and Founder, WUDSTAY.

Discussing the variousefforts made by travel agents

to sell India better, Mathursays, “We just need to deliveron our promises made to theclient. If you do this alone, weshall not need any marketing

to sell the potential markets ofIndia.” WUDSTAY has beenworking with travel agents in abig way. Mathur says, “Travelagents are an importantaspect of business. We arelooking at increasing their rev-enue, and deliver on servicesthat they promise their clientsto further business.” Talkingabout the product and its deliv-ery, Mathus adds, “We believethat travel agents need to beconfident about the products

that they showcase and this can only happen when we as travel companies backthem up with efficient andgood services.”

Discussing the expectedgrowth of inbound travelMathur expressed, “Theinbound sector shall definetlygrow better with the e-TouristVisa facility coming in. At ourend, we are maintaining thestandards, providing staff train-ing and embracing hospitalitynuances even at the level ofbudget hotels. The brands aredoing a brilliant job with theirservices and we are makingsure that the budget hotels also pull up to the standardised expectations.”

Mathur identifies and cat-egories the popular inboundtourism circuits based on loca-tions. “There are many populartourism circuits, like Russia-Goa is a huge corridor; Israel-Himachal Pradesh is another.Lot of backpackers come toRishikesh, Kerela is anotherpopular circuit. We can cate-gorise these circuits as adven-ture tourism, heritage, well-ness, leisure, religious etc.”

Prafulla Mathur, CEO and Founder, WUDSTAY, talks about expectations fromWTM and hopes for an increased inbound travel.

Prafulla MathurCEO and FounderWUDSTAY

TT BUREAU

Delivering agents’ promises

We believe that travel agents needto be confident about the productsthat they showcase and this canonly happen when we as travelcompanies back them up withefficient and good services

Salient FeaturesPullman New DelhiAerocity has the largestpillarless ballrooms with13 meeting rooms,three boardrooms and abusiness centre

The Moncierge at theNovotel is an interactiveforum that helps guests check flight tim-ings, to give feedbackand learn about theevents in the city


N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 9 3CLIPBOARD


9 4 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 MOVEMENTSCozmo Travel MumbaiPraveen Nair has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer ofCozmo Travel. He has nearly 22 years of experience in the travel

industry. He started his career with a GDScompany and then went on to the onlineplatform. His last assignment was witha Thailand DMC. Cozmo Travel India isAir Arabia-owned travel company withmore than 70 branches within UAE andGCC. The Mumbai branch will be its firstbranch in India.

Park Plaza Gurgaon Harpreet Vohra has been appointed as the General Manager atPark Plaza Gurgaon. Prior to this, Vohra was working at RadissonBlu Agra. An enriching experience of 17 yearsincludes his stints at Hyatt International, TajHotels, Golkonda Resorts and AngsanaSpa, The Lalit New Delhi and HyattRegency in Mumbai. He holds a bach-elor’s degree in commerce fromBhopal University along with Hotel Management.

Four Points by Sheraton Vishakhapatnam Four Points by Sheraton Vishakhapatnam has recently appointedMayank Uniyal as the Director of Sales & Marketing. Uniyal comes

with a vast experience of 14 years in the hos-pitality industry and has worked with reput-

ed hotels including IHG, The Leela Hotels,Sarovar Hotels and Starwood Hotels. Priorto this, he was the Director of Sales withHoliday Inn Cochin, where he led thesales, marketing and revenue functions.

In his new role, Uniyal will be spearheadStrategic Sales & Marketing initiatives.

Marriott HotelsKochiRejin Thomas has been appointed as the new multi propertyDirector of Sales & Marketing for Marriott hotels in Kochi: KochiMarriott hotel and Courtyard by Marriott KochiAirport hotel. Thomas comes with over 11years of experience in the hospitality industry.Prior to joining Kochi Marriott hotels, Thomaswas the Director Sales & Marketing of theHyderabad Marriott Hotel & ConventionCenter and Courtyard by Marriott,Hyderabad. Thomas has been with Marriottsince June 2012. Previously he had beenworking with The Leela Palaces, Hotels& Resorts.

Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa GoaSunishchal Parasnis has been appointed as Director of Sales forPark Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa, the first Park Hyatt Hotel in India.After a fruitful tenure at Grand Hyatt Mumbaiin various roles in the Sales and Marketingteam, Parasnis will be supervising andsupporting the sales and events team ofthe hotel both in Mumbai and Goa. Hehas been associated with the hospitalityindustry for almost a decade now, withnine years in Hyatt India.

Mosaic HotelsNoida Mosaic Hotels, Noida, has appointed Lalit Sharma as the newAssistant F&B Manager. A hotel management graduate, Sharma

began his career as an Assistant F&B Manager withThe Oberoi Maidens Hotel, New Delhi and

was promoted as F&B Supervisor with thesame hotel. He worked for a decade inThe Oberoi Maidens Hotel, New Delhi.Sharma will be responsible for enhanc-ing the image of the organisation throughdirecting business & planning and also

enhance on establishing Mosaic Hotels,Noida as the main choice among the dis-

cerning customers.

Pullman Novotel New Delhi Aerocity New DelhiRam Chatterjee has been appointed as ‘Director of Spa’ at PullmanNovotel New Delhi Aerocity. Chatterjee comes with more than 20

years of experience in hospitality industry. In hisnew role at Pullman Novotel New Delhi

Aerocity, Chatterjee will be responsiblefor developing the concept of flagshipSpa & Fitness division of Accor IndiaGroup of hotels based in New Delhi,India. Chatterjee has been associatedwith hotels and like Grand Hyatt Goa,

Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Hyatt RegencyKolkata, Taj hotels and ITC hotels.

The Westin Pune, Koregaon ParkPuneManmeet B. Singh has been appointed as the Director of Food andBeverage at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park. He will be responsiblefor enhancing and sustaining guest experiences at all restaurants,

bars and events at The Westin Pune.Singh’s career in the hospitality industryspans over almost two decades andincludes maximum experience in thefood and beverage department, beingassociated with hotel chains such Hyatt

and Intercontinental Hotels. Prior to TheWestin Pune Koregaon Park, he workedat the Hyatt Regency, Ludhiana as the

Director of Food & Beverage.

Hilton WorldwideGurgaonHilton Worldwide announced the appointment of KaushikVardharajan as Vice President, Development – India. His career

with the firm spans almost 15 years andincluded positions in North America and

Asia. Most recently, as Partner ManagingDirector, Asia Pacific, HVS HospitalityServices, Vardharajan spearheadedstrategy for the region driving overallperformance of the firm. He holds a

Masters in Hospitality Administration aswell as a Bachelor of Science in Hotel –

Restaurant / InstitutionalManagement from Johnson &

Wales University, Providence,RI.

Santoshh Kumar Sharmma, Director and Vice President,Foresee Aviation, is a cricket buff. "I am a big cricket fan andwhenever I get time, I play cricket with my eight years old sonand friends," he says. In his free time, Sharmma likes to listen

to Kishore Kumar's songs. He also hasan interest in photography. "In

India, I have travelled to manycities. However, my favouritewill always remain Jaipur forits historical places like Jal

Mahal, Nahargarh Fort, etc. Asfar as a foreign destination is

concerned, I thoroughly enjoyedmy trip to Maldives," he says.

Sharmma adds that he loves Indian cuisines, especially

South Indian food.

Vikas Suri, Associate Vice President, Lords Hotels & Resorts,is a go-getter and believes in acting quickly. “With whateverfree time I get, I spend that with family and close friends. I enjoyweekends with my daughter, indulging in swimming or a game

of tennis or badminton. I also like to read andlisten to music. In leisure time I also

love to cook and explore differentcuisine,” he adds. Suri says as hetravels a lot, he makes sure that he

samples the popular dish of thatarea. Alaska and Caribbean

islands are my favouritedestinations and would love to visit

them again with familysometime in

the nearfuture.”

Pankaj Saxena, General Manager, Country Inn & SuitesBy Carlson, Mysore, says he balances his time betweenhotel operations and spending quality time with family."Most of the personal time I have, I spend with family,

especially my daughter," he says.Saxena likes to travel and study

graphology. "Trekking andnature exploration expeditionis my keen interest too," he

adds. He prefers Kerala cuisineand loves to travel to Goa,

West Europe and SoutheastAsia with his family.

Talking People is a special dedicated corner, created as a sounding board for who’s who of the Indian and International travel industry. With Talking People, it is our endeavour to bring you face-to-face with people.Contributed by: Ruchi J. Singh & Shivani Kaul


Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2015-16-17; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2015-17 for posting on 1st-2nd and 16th-17th

of the same month at New Delhi PSO, New Delhi - 110001, RNI No.: 53492/1991Date of Publication:30-10-2015

QTata has recently upped itsstake. How does this develop-

ment change AirAsia India's plans? The very fact that the Tatas have

increased their stake in the airline indi-cates that they trust us and that theybelieve in our growth strategy. Both AirAsiaand the Tata Group have some great val-ues and together we have already beensuccessful in stirring the airline market inIndia. We are now focused on increasingfrequency and we will continue to worktowards enabling every Indian to fly thetrue low cost way. We have aggressiveplans for the near future and the nextphase for AirAsia India is growth.

QWhat is the kind of roadmap youhave planned for the next year?

Our strategy has always been tomake air travel affordable to every Indian. With that thought in mind, our pri-mary focus will be to increase frequencyin the current destinations we travel to.Beyond that, we will also be looking atconnecting more destinations especiallyTier II markets.

The new civil aviation policy willhave a great amount of impact on our air-line’s performance. We do look forwardto the quashing of 5/20 rule among otherdevelopmental and regulatory changesthat the civil aviation policy can bring. Ihave to admit that we see a great oppor-

tunity in thecountry and wewill be investing more. Although ourplans have changed, our vision has notbeen altered. Our focus has been to bea pioneer in offering low fares to ourguests without compromising on quality.

Q How has the Indian aviationmarket evolved since AirAsia

entered India? AirAsia India completely ratio-

nalised the fares when it entered theIndian market. Even during the low sea-son, we have managed to stimulate book-ings through our much awaited ‘Big

Sales’ and promotional fares. We are alsoslowly getting Indian travellers to get usedto the concept of early bookings.Planning their travel in advance worksout to be much more cost-effective for the guests as there is a general rise inprice trends while booking close to theperiod of travel.

Aviation in India is going through somany changes right now and the last six months have been quite a run for theindustry. Compared to the global sce-nario, the obvious roadblock has beennecessary approvals, increase in air turbine fuel, airport charges, changing

policies, etc. Though the Indian aviationis a challenging one, nothing hasdeterred us from taking the risk andspreading our wings.

QAre there any new developmentsat AirAsia India that we can look

forward to? At AirAsia we are constantly work-

ing towards the development of our prod-ucts and services. Our premium seatsand variety of great food options haveleft a mark in our corporate travellers.AirAsia India is the only Indian LCC tooffer a loyalty program to its flyers withBIG. Guests can earn and redeem flightson AirAsia India and other internationalflights operated by the AirAsia Group bysigning up for our Loyalty Program withBIG. We also have a corporate productcalled ‘Premium Flex’ which gives ourguests more flexibility in their bookingand travel with value added bundles. Wealso have something called the ‘RedCarpet’ service that gives guests addi-tional privileges on their travel. We arelooking to expand our fleet size, increaseour frequencies and add more newroutes which will offer enhanced connec-tivity to our customers.

With a clear focus on offering lower fares without compromising on quality,AirAsia India will be investing more in the India market and connectingmore destinations, especially Tier II cities, says Mittu Chandilya, CEO &Managing Director, AirAsia India.

Tier II cities on the horizon

We are now focused on increasing frequency and we will continue to work towardsenabling every Indian to fly the

true low cost way. We haveaggressive plans for the nearfuture and the next phase for

AirAsia India is growth.

Mittu ChandilyaCEO & Managing Director

AirAsia India

TT BU R E AU

AirAsia India commenced opera-tions in June 2014 The airline currently has Bengaluru,Kochi, Goa, Chandigarh, Jaipur,Pune, Vizag, New Delhi, Guwahatiand Imphal on its destination networkAirAsia expects the civil aviation policy to quash the 5/20 rule amongother developmental and regulatorychanges It sees necessary approvals,increase in air turbine fuel, airportcharges, and changing policies asobvious roadblock

AirAsia Facts


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After the grand success of its fifth edi-tion, the India Travel Awards travelledto the sunny state of Goa to celebrate

outstanding achievers from West Indiaregion. The second edition of the West India Travel Awards saw a gathering of thebest known faces and companies in theindustry. Held on the night of October 14,2015 at Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort, the event was graced by Dilip Parulekar, Minister for Woman & ChildDevelopment, Tourism, Ports, Protocol,Government of Goa, and Nikhil Desai,Managing Director, Goa TourismDevelopment Corporation (GTDC).

The black tie event brought togethermore than 120 guests for an exciting eveningcelebrating tourism excellence. The objectiveof these awards is to advance and promotethe success and prosperity of the sector. The awards were presented to achievers from different segments of the industry which included aviation, domestic and international tourism boards, hotels and

resorts, travel agents, tour operatorsand technology.

Congratulating DDP on anoutstanding awards ceremony,Parulekar said, “I am very happy to be amidst so many winners. The awards ceremony was very well organised and I hope that these awards given outto the tourism and hospitalityindustries continue. Goa has gen-erally been popular for its beachesbut there have been a lot of effortssince the last three years to comeup with innovative ideas to developnewer products. As a result, in thecoming days, Goa will start activities like hot-air ballooning,amphibious vehicles, seaplanes,ropeways, etc. I hope that we will take the current touristarrivals of six million tourists toGoa to more than seven milliontourists this year. I urge all ofyou here to extend your sup-port to us for this.”

Speaking about the awards, Desai said,“These awards will motivate a lot of industryleaders to achieve the levels of excellencewhich others have achieved today. While cheering on the winners I think these awards will act as a great motivatorto others who haven’t been able to make itto the podium tonight. I’m sure theseawards will definitely set a benchmark in thecoming years.”

SanJeet, Mentor, India Travel Awards,said, “We all know that the tourism industryhas many awards given away at the nationaland global levels but none on a regional platform. The India Travel Awards recognisethe true stars of India. Frankly, the real heroesof the industry come from different regions and far corners of India. These awards, in their second year, salute the industry achievers who have been the back-bone of this industry.”

The Gallery of Legends award wasgiven to Kesari Raoji Patil, Founder andChairman, Kesari Tours. UrrshilaKerkar, Executive Director, Cox & Kings

Limited, won the DDP Game Changer awardwhile Arjun Sharma, Chairman andManaging Director, Select Group and LePassage to India, was adjudged the winner ofTourism Ambassador award. Nitan Chhatwal,Managing Director, Shrem Resorts, receivedthe DDP Trailblazer award. Ruchir Bang,CEO, roomsXML, was adjudged the Face ofthe Future while Entrepreneur of the Yearaward was given to Aparna Basu Mallik,CEO, Club 7 Holidays.

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2nd West India Travel AwardsThe India Travel Awards – West 2015 celebrated its second edition, this time in India’s smallest state of Goa. Held at Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort, the glittering awards ceremony identified and rewarded excellence,and inspired its practitioners to continuously raise the standards of their products and services.

The winners of second edition of the West India Travel Awards celebrate with their trophies at the Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort

HAZEL JAIN

(L-R): Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015,Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa TourismDevelopment Corporation, Dilip Parulekar, Minister ofTourism, Government of Goa and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group unveiling the special edition on West India atthe Awards ceremony

WEST INDIA TRAVEL AWARDS 4 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5

DDP GAME CHANGERUrrshila Kerkar, Executive Director, Cox & Kings joins the ‘DDP Game Changer’. She is felicitated by Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group

GALLERY OF LEGENDSKesari Raoji Patil, Founder and Chairman, Kesari Tours joins the ‘Gallery of Legends’. He is felicitated by Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism,Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group

N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 5

DDP TRAILBLAZERNitan Chhatwal, Chairman & Managing Director, Shrem Group was awarded the ‘DDP Trailblazer’ and wasreceived by Krishani Chhatwal, Director, Shrem Group on his behalf. She accepts the award from Dilip Parulekar,Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation,Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group

FACE OF THE FUTURERuchir Bang, Executive Director, roomsXML Solutions. joins the ‘Face of the Future’. He is felicitated by Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa TourismDevelopment Corporation, Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director,DDP Group

TOURISM AMBASSADORArjun Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director, The Select Group and Le Passage to India joins the ‘TourismAmbassador’. He is felicitated by Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai,Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group


Guest of Honour Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation being honoured with Pearl Trophy ‘Maya’

Thanking Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 for her support to India Travel Awards

Chief Guest Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa being honoured with Pearl Trophy ‘Maya’


BEST AIRLINEThe award was given to SpiceJet and received by Kamal Hingorani, Sr. VP & Head of Inflight Services and Customer Experience, SpiceJet

BEST LUXURY MICE & WEDDING HOTELThe award was given to Sayaji Indore and received by its Corporate Head Sales & Marketing, Vishal Kumar

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEARThe award was given to Aparna Basu Mallik, CEO, Club7 Holidays and wasfelicitated by Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation,Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group

BEST TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANYThe award was given to Travstarz Holiday & Destinations and received byits Managing Director, Pankaj Nagpal


BEST CITY HOTELThe award was given to Novotel Pune and received by its Director of Sales &Marketing, Rohit Chopra and General Manager, Bandish Mehta

BEST NTOThe award was given to Department of Tourism Philippines and received by itsAccount Director, Navritu K Rai and Senior Sales Manager, Shubhangi Chitre

BEST TOUR OPERATOR - OUTBOUNDThe award was given to World Travel Studio and received by its Founder andManaging Director, Haresh Koyande

BEST VISA FACILITATION COMPANYThe award was given to TT Services and received by its Senior Manager -New Projects and Transitions, Gaurav Talwar and Global Marcoms Manager,Madhu Bharthi V


BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE COMPANYThe award was given to Centrum Direct and received by its Senior Vice Presidentand General Manager - West, New Initiatives & Tie ups, Anil Menon

BEST LUXURY CAMPThe award was given to The Ultimate Travelling Camp and received by its COO, Rajnish Sabharwal

FASTEST GROWING HOTEL BRAND - FRANCHISEThe award was given to Ramada and received by its Director Sales & Marketing- Indian Ocean, EMEAI, Amit Garg

BEST SPA & WELLNESS RESORTThe award was given to Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort and received byits General Manager, Rohan Sable

WEST INDIA TRAVEL AWARDS 1 0 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5

BEST LUXURY TOUR OPERATORThe award was given to Meandering Vacations and received by its Director,Amita Nair and Director, Deepali Wagle

BEST BEACH DESTINATIONThe award was given to Goa Tourism Development Corporation and received byits GTDC PRO, Deepak Narvekar

BEST DESTINATION MARKETING CAMPAIGNThe award was given to South Africa Tourism and received by Country Manager, Hanneli Slabber

BEST LUXURY HOTELThe award was given to JW Marriott Hotel Mumbai Sahar and received byits General Manager, Saeid Heidari

N O V E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 1 1

BEST MICE OPERATORThe award was given to Club 7 Holidays and received by its Vice President -Western India, Rajesh Bist

BEST TRAVEL PORTALThe award was given to atlastravelsonline.com and received by its Director,Hussain Patel

BEST BUSINESS HOTELThe award was given to Crowne Plaza Ahmedabad City Centre and receivedby its Director of Sales and Marketing, Mayuresh Deodhar

BEST SMART CITY TOURISMThe award was given to Lavasa Tourism and received by its Asst. VicePresident Tourism, Bhupesh Kumar


BEST MID MARKET HOTELThe award was given to Mercure Lavasa and received by its General Manager,Novotel Lavasa & Area General Manager Lavasa Hotels & Convention Centre,Manish Dayya and Hotel Manager, Mercure Lavasa and Lavasa InternationalConvention Centre, Sachin Malhotra

BEST BOUTIQUE HOTELThe award was given to Ramee Grand Hotel & Spa and received by its DirectorOperations and Business Development (India), Nihit Srivastava

BEST DESTINATION MANAGEMENT COMPANY - AMERICA’S

The award was given to 7M Tours and received by its Director, Akarsh Kolaprath

BEST CORPORATE TRAVEL PRACTICEThe award was given to Mahindra & Mahindra and received by its Deputy General Manager AO & TRS, John D’sa and VP AFS Admin ER and CSR, Vijay Nair


BEST SPORTS TOURISM COMPANYThe award was given to Sports Konnect and received by its CEO, Shashank Shekhar Mishra

BEST ALL INCLUSIVE HOTELThe award was given to Heritage Village Club Goa and received by its General Manager, Guitry Velho

BEST GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (GDS)The award was given to Travelport Galileo and received by its Regional Head West, Anesh Kavle and Business Development Manager - Goa, Melicio Fernandes

BEST EMERGING TRAVEL SHOWThe award was given to Global Panorama Showcase, Nagpur and receivedby Jagsons Travels’ Executive Director, Jagtar Singh Sethi and ManagingDirector, Harmandeep Singh Anand


BEST DESIGN & WELL MAINTAINED HOTELThe award was given to Novotel Goa Shrem Resort and received by its General Manager, Rohan Sable

BEST DEBUT MID-MARKET HOTELThe award was given to Effotel Hotel by Sayaji and received by its General Manager, Kunal Katoch

BEST CORPORATE INCENTIVE TOUR OPERATORThe award was given to Kesari Tours and received by its Vice Chairperson, Sunita Patil

BEST CUSTOMISED TOUR OPERATORThe award was given to Hither and Thither Tours and Travels and receivedby its Director, Nilesh Singh and Director, Meghana Gautam


BEST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OF THE YEARThe award was given to JJ’s Tours and received by its Managing Director, Jagrut Thakkar

BEST GAMING DESTINATIONThe award was given to Deltin Royale and received by its Manager Marketing,Floyd Tavares

BEST BOUTIQUE RESORTThe award was given to Upper Deck Resort, Lonavala and received by its General Manager, Saurabh J. Bamane

MOST INNOVATIVE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANYThe award was given to Bonton Holidays and received by its Founder and Managing Director, Avanish Sharma


BEST ECONOMY HOTELThe award was given to ibis Navi Mumbai and received by Associate Director of Sales, Ashuthosh Ruia

BEST TRAVEL SHOWThe award was given to IITT - Mumbai and received by its Exhibition Director, Mohit Mewani

FASTEST GROWING FOREIGN EXCHANGE COMPANYThe award was given to Weizmann Forex and received by its Managing Director, B.S. Shetty


HOSPITALITY PARTNERThe award was given to Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort and received by General Manager, Rohan Sable

BEVERAGE PARTNERThe award was given to Aspri Spirits and received by its Area Manager - Telangana & Goa, Geethanjali Rajput

PARTNER STATEThe award was given to Goa Tourism and received by Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation


Maya hangs out with travel


trade glitterati in Goa


Talent in the West recognised


through India Travel Awards


Maya only for the best in


West India travel trade

November 1st fortnight - TravTalk India

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