TravTalk

Vol. XXIV No. 23; December 1 st fortnight issue 2012

` 50/-

Pages: 64

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A DDP PUBLICATION

Incredible India - A paradigm shift

Product focus shifts to traveller K Chiranjeevi, Minister of State for Tourism, Government of India announced traveller specific campaign for international and domestic market, while literally gunning down the expensive destination tag in his first stride at WTM 2012 in London.

D E E PA S E T H I & D E V I K A J E E T

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ncredible India chose the largest travel event, WTM 2012 to announce a pathbreaking shift in its marketing focus as it announced new campaigns for the domestic and international market.

Leading the India delegates, K Chiranjeevi, Minister of State for Tourism, Govt. of

IN

LONDON

India, announced in front of key stakeholders that the second phase of the Incredible India campaign focusses on the international and domestic travellers.

“The Incredible India campaign, which was launched in 2002, in its

The shift is in line with our objective to promote our country as a 365-day destination in overseas market and deliver the international visitors an experience they are looking for phase 2 will go through a paradigm shift to move away from a product or destination

focus to get consumer specific. The shift is in line with our objective to promote our

T

he two-day aviation conference, CAPA India Aviation Summit 2012 by CAPA (Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation), witnessed the decision makers of the

foreign airlines and airports’, ‘The LCC story in India’, ‘What Next for Full Service Airlines in India? Issues, Challenges, Opportunities and an Action Plan’, ‘LCC stories from the frontline: Success, mistakes, learnings and next steps, etc.

However, the most talked

about topic was about an airline model, appropriate for the Indian aviation market.

According to Bill Franke, Managing Partner, IndiGo Partners, the Indian airline operators need to first understand the model they want to operate on instead of

Kolkata, a new transit hub AP:India’s next big MICE destination See full story on page 24

K Chiranjeevi Minister of State for Tourism Government of India

country as a 365-day destination in overseas market Contd. on page 43

During the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2012 in Mumbai, the Indian Aviation experts evaluated the market opportunities in India, expanding the customer base and about breaking the cartel.

Indian aviation sector, industry experts and international investors speaking about the various challenges, issues, opportunities and the way forward for the Indian aviation sector. The powerpacked business sessions touched upon themes like ‘India Market Strategies for

See full story on page 04

See full story on page 08

It’s not about tweaking airfares!

A N I TA J A I N

Gold rush drives LCCs in India

operating on a hybrid model.

“In India, airline operators are baffled with the operating model. Operate an airline that fits your model and execute it. The cost and fleet will later support your model. I suppose the LCC model is the Contd. on page 18

Namaste London

with wellwishers @NetworkTalk See full story on page 44

BULLETIN

The Science of Saving the Tigers With the global interest in the long-term viability of tiger populations in the wilds of Asia, especially in India, it was a treat for tiger lovers as they gathered in big numbers to witness the Annual Kailash Sankhla Memorial Lecture – 2012.

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iger Trust and WWF India jointly organised the Kailash Sankhala Memorial lecture every year since 1996. Themed as ‘The Science of Saving the Tigers’, the lecture was delivered by Padamshri Dr. K. Ullas Karanth, a well-known biologist and scientist who has contributed immensely to the world of conservation.

Karanth believes a collaboration of global and local interests can secure a future for tigers in the wild.

Concerned about the state of Tiger Tourism in the country, Karanth laments, “High-end tourism unfortunately has become the trend

Amit Sankhala Trustee, Tiger Trust

The present generation of students are the watchdog for the future of tiger survival

Anjana Gosain Honorary Secretary, Tiger Trust

Tiger Trust is a national organisation working towards conservation of wildlife

nowadays. This targets spectacular animals such as tigers, lions, rhinos and elephants that attract top dollars. Consequently, in most of the good wildlife reserves, the prices charged for entry, vehicle rides and accommodation have all skyrocketed beyond the reach of average citizens. However, as the size of these reserves or their carrying capacity has not expanded, richer tourists are steadily squeezing out budget tourists.”

Exclusion of the budget tourists is far more likely to undermine long-term public support for wildlife conservation in India than the court’s suspension of tourism in a few high-profile tiger Contd. on page 51

STATISTICS WTM Global Trends Report 2012

VIEWPOINT

Niche is life

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ncredible India is in top gear to pursue niche opportunities in addition to harnessing its rich heritage, culture and nature. K Chiranjeevi, the Honourable Minister for Tourism, while announcing a path-breaking shift in its marketing focus in new promotional campaigns, also made it clear that Incredible India will go full throttle on promoting niche products like adventure, sports, eco, golf, pilgrimage and wellness to name a few.

India offers wide range of experiences like no other destination. It has now also envisaged garnering at least one per cent of international arrivals, which is soon going to touch the one billion mark. Niche products are capable of creating incremental demand for destination India in addition to its conventional cultural, heritage, historic and nature-based travel attractions.

A representative of the Buddhist Heritage Tourism Promotion Council projects that out of over 600 million Buddhists in the world, 150 million people are practicing and are willing to travel to witnesss Buddhist heritage. As per their rough estimates, India can very well attract 1 per cent or 1.5 million visitors annually by launching a dedicated global promotional campaign on its Buddhist heritage. Similarly, other niche segments can greatly stimulate the collective incremental demand.

There is a growing interest in visiting destination India, which is evident from the response to its Visa-on-Arrival scheme. As per the recent statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism, during the period January-October 2012, a total number of 12,273 Visa-on-Arrivals (VoAs) were issued as compared to 9,739 VoAs during the corresponding period of 2011, registering a growth of 26 per cent. Last month, a total number of 1,457 VoAs were issued under VoA Scheme as compared to 1,234 VoAs during October 2011 registering a positive growth of 18.1 per cent.

To top that, there is a subtle wave of optimism and courage in the travel trade.

They seem more confident of growing even with the prevalent challenges. It’s the right time that both the private and public sectors explore synergies to reach the 10 million international visitor’s mark.

Vikramajit Chairman SanJeet Publisher Rupali Narasimhan Editorial Director Deepa Sethi Editor

Editorial Ratan Kr Paul Vivek Sethi Megha Paul Devika Jeet Anita Jain Dency Mathew News-Editor Peden Doma Bhutia Desk-Editor Archana Sharma Sub-Editor Raina Mandal

Advertising Gunjan Sabikhi General Manager Karishma Khanna Sr. Manager Marketing Shailendra Shukla Sr. Manager Marketing Udit Pandey Sr. Manager Marketing Geetika Pathak Manager Advertising Amit Sarkar Asst. Manager Marketing

Gold rush drives LCCs in India The WTM Global Trends Report (GTR) 2012, in association with Euromonitor International, highlights the emerging trends in the global travel and tourism industry. The Global Trends Report 2012 has introduced India to the fold in the report as well. Excerpts: T T B U R E AU

India Overview India: Key Performance Indicators 2011-2013 India shows significant growth across the board as tourism benefits from a robust economy.

Air transportation sales are forecast to grow dramatically thanks to low air travel penetration.

Low-cost carriers such as IndiGo and SpiceJet are helping to shake up the market.

Domestic travel is predicted to reach 1.6 billion trips by 2016 driven by the desire of the rising middle class to explore their own country.

% Growth Real GDP Growth Arrivals, Trips

2011

2012

2013

7.0

6.1

6.5

10.4

10.1

5.9

9.1

10.2

10.7

Air Transport Value US$

10.4

18.5

18.6

Hotels Value US$

-3.3

4.3

4.8

Travel Retail Value US$

-0.9

6.8

7.7

Incoming Tourist Receipts Value US$

Source: Euromonitor International

India - Gold rush on low cost While travel between India and the Middle East has long been popular, the recent surge of lowcost flight options has opened up new travel opportunities for gold fans.

Indian travellers make the most of the bargains available at gold souks across the Gulf, offering better quality gold with more appealing intricate designs.

Indians buy gold for wedding gifts and at annual traditional gold buying festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya and Dhanteras, but also as an investment.

Low-cost carriers operating between the Gulf and India have helped cement this travel trend by providing cheap fares for tourists and NonResident Indians (NRI) alike.

Asia - Driving fast and furious Asia Hotels Value Sales by Key Country % CAGR (2012-2016)

Hotels are expected to record strong growth in Asia of 7% CAGR over 2012-2016, led by Vietnam at 15% CAGR, due to rising international and domestic visitors.

There is a significant growth potential present in the region for luxury branded hotels, especially in China, expected to post hotel sales growth of 7% CAGR from 2012 to 2016.

The move by luxury brands into hotels has already started in Europe and the Middle East, with Armani Hotels in Milan and Dubai, and Missoni Hotels in Edinburgh and Kuwait.

Advertising (Mumbai) Suchita Saran Branch Manager Harshar Ashar Deputy Genral Manager Rishika Karra Sales Coordinator Advertisement Designers Vikas Mandotia/Nitin Kumar Design: Nityanand Misra Sudhir Mudgal Photographers Simran Kaur-Delhi Bharat Dangiya-Mumbai Production: Anil Kharbanda Circulation: Ashok Rana

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NEWS

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

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‘India can attract 1.5 million Buddhists’ To tap the opportunity of attracting said Buddhists which is in line with our overall target under the 12th five Year Plan Period, there is a need of a dedicated marketing campaign on Buddhism. Also we should ensure that the events like the International Buddhism Conclave which was organised recently in Varanasi are held annually.

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ndia has a rich heritage of Buddhist legacy. There are several Buddhist destinations across India, which are important from pilgrimage perspective. There are four holy places associated with Gautam Buddha in India, which are a must visit destination for Buddhists. This includes Bodhgaya, where he attained enlightenment; Sarnath, near Varanasi, where he preached his first sermon and Kushinagar, near Gorakhpur, where he achieved Mahanirvana.

“There are about 600 million Buddhists in the

Arun Anand Hony. Treasurer IATO and Vice President Buddhist Heritage Tourism Promotion Council

We should have a dedicated marketing campaign on Buddhism, which can be further promoted by our India Tourism offices world. Even if half of them are practising Buddhism and are able and willing to travel, India can set a feasible target of attracting one per cent of this Buddhist population to attract over 1.5 million Buddhist visitors every year,” said Arun Anand, Hony. Treasurer, IATO and Vice President, Buddhist Heritage Tourism Promotion Council.

“To tap this opportunity which is in line with our overall target of attracting one per cent of international arrivals in the 12th plan period, we should have a dedicated marketing campaign on Buddhism, which can be further promoted by our India Tourism offices as a niche segment.

Moreover, the events like the recently held international Buddhism

Conclave in Varanasi should be held annually. We should get more Buddhist foreign tour operators to India to further boost the growing Buddhist pilgrimage market in India,” he added.

Anand also laid emphasis on the development of tourist related infrastructure such as enhanced connectivity and creating other convenient tourist transportation options. “The

Railways here can play a key role. The IRCTC should realise that many Indian tour operators shy away from purchasing their Buddhism related Mahaparinirvan and other services from its GSA.

There should be another competitive window alongside the GSA route, to conduct mutual beneficial business and attract more Buddhist visitors to India,” he added.

Buddhist Trail India has a rich heritage of Buddhist legacy, which is over 2,500 years old. There are several Buddhist destinations across India

STATES The Golden Chariot

From 22%

to

40%

The Golden Chariot has been witnessing a steady rise in occupancy and also celebrated its 100th trip on November 12-19, 2012 journey covering Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. tion) for a period of three years. This, along with expected increase in occupancy levels, is expected to see the luxury train break-even and possibly start making profits by the end of 2013-14 or early 2014-15.”

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he Golden Chariot has been recording a steady increase in its occupancy levels in the last four years. From 22 per cent in its first year of operation, the last season saw the luxury train Lately, The manage nearly 40 CELEBRATING Golden Chariot celper cent occupancy ebrated its 100th despite several trips TRIPS trip during the getting cancelled.

November 12-19, Considering that a 2012 journey covluxury product is catered to a ering Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, very niche audience unlike a Puducherry and Kerala. This mass product and that it will trip is a major milestone for take a while for it to get its the Golden Chariot & due attention and the trust it Karnataka Tourism, as this deserves, this is a step-byprestigious project has been step movement towards a able to successfully establish wider acceptance of the prod-

Indian Railways have taken a huge step favouring The Golden Chariot by agreeing to slash Haulage Fee (one of the biggest costs of operation) CD Dyavaiah Managing Director, KSTDC uct. Also, The Golden Chariot has been the only luxury train among 5 others in India to record a growth in occupancy.

For the year ahead and the years to come, certain positive developments are promising to take the luxury train forward in terms of popularity, acceptance and ultimately the required number of passengers to help it break even sooner than expected.

As per CD Dyavaiah, Managing Director, KSTDC, “Add all these positive vibes, the Indian Railways have also taken a huge step favouring The Golden Chariot by agreeing to slash Haulage Fee (one of the biggest costs of opera-

a world-class tourism infrastructure project from Karnataka and has also boosted the real potential of the State and South India.

The 100 trip had 86 of 88 possible passengers travelling on-board, making it a 100 per cent sell-out trip with all the cabins fully booked by International as well as Domestic tourists (Lions Club members). th

Further, the Great Rail Journeys, a UK-based luxury tour operator has confirmed group bookings from January 2013 for 6 trips with 35-40 passengers. Also, right through the end of the current season, bookings of

Travel trade and luxury trains “Karnataka is a worldclass destination and we are working on that vision to attract more number of international and domestic visitors. Literally speaking, Karnataka offers ‘one state many worlds’, as it offer a variety of travel products including heritage, pristine coastline, wildlife and the Golden Chariot luxury train, to name a few. The train offers an opportunity to see every destination in the comforts of five-star facili-

ties. Without the travel trade, we can’t attain our objectives. They need to be applauded on the great job they are doing of making both ends meet.

On one side, they coordinate with the Government to help facilitate infrastructure and on the other hand, they help get tourists into the country. They are the catalyst and link.” G Sathyavathi, Director, Department of Tourism, Karnataka

G Sathyavathi Director Department of Tourism Karnataka

Karnataka is a world-class destination and we are working on that vision to attract more number of international and domestic visitors nearly 50 per cent of the luxury train capacity has already been received, with the odd trip showing a dip.

A group of The Stanford University Professors has already travelled on-board The Golden Chariot this season and have promised more such trips in the coming months. Several other American academicians have already travelled onboard and are repeatedly sending small groups. At the recent World Travel Market in London, a British Tour Operator even remarked to participating officials that without doubt, The Golden Chariot is among the best in the world in terms of service standards and itinerary variety. This marks the growing interest and wider acceptance for the luxury train.

Several International Schools, Universities, Corporate Companies, both Domestic and International are also looking for group bookings on The Golden Chariot.

Achievements The Golden Chariot celebrated its 100th trip during the November 12-19, 2012 The luxury train managed to gain 40% from 22% in its first year of operation

ASSOCIATIONS

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‘NTOs should act as a watchdog’ National Tourism Offices (NTOs) should play the role of a facilitator for all set of agents and should also act as a regulator, if the large players tend to create monopoly of sorts.

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n a competitive business environment, large players enjoy distinct advantage due to the massive volumes they drive. But regulatory mechanism and watchdogs should ensure that the market should not get dominated by only a few large players. As per, Guldeep Singh Sahni,

Guldeep Singh Sahni President OTOAI

One among the top Far East destinations for Indians has recently seen a major fall in terms of its popularity among travel trade, which now has resulted in loss of visitor arrivals President, OTOAI, such a peculiar situation had led to the fall of one of the top five, immensely popular travel destinations, in Far East travel in India.

“One among the top Far East destinations for Indians has recently seen a major fall in terms of its popularity among travel trade, which has now resulted in loss of visitor arrivals. Its fall started when it first went out of bounds from the small and medium-sized travel agents in the past few years. The small and medium players had stopped selling it as the large players had entered into

List to do for NTOs NTOs should play the role of a facilitator for all sets of agents and also act as a regulator, if the large players tend to create monopoly of sorts Regulatory mechanism and watchdogs should ensure that the market should not get dominated by only a few large players

exclusive pre-purchase arrangements with the leading airlines and hotels in this region such that their price and margin became unsustainable,” said Sahni.

“Here the role of National Tourism Boards

(NTO) becomes very important. Unfortunately, the NTO of the said destination didn’t intervene to ensure holistic growth participation of all kinds of agents and were apparently happy with the growth being generated by the handful of large opera-

tors. As these large operators shifted their focus on alternative destination, the destination that once was a household, has now lost its ground.

Hence, NTOs should play the role of a facilitator for all sets of agents and also act as a regulator, if the large players

tend to create monopoly of sorts,” he added.

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) has always been on the forefront to protect the interests of outbound tour operators. It had recently

conducted its 2nd members meet in New Delhi, which was attended in large numbers by its members. The association is also striving to build a strong legal and political cause to address the apparent anomalies in the new service tax regime.

AVIATION

Here is a new transit hub The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata to open on Jan 23, 2013 will act as a transit hub for flights to North East India, Bangladesh and South East Asia.

A N I TA J A I N

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fter missing multiple deadlines for the opening up for operations, the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata (originally known as Dum Dum Airport) is all set to open on January 23, 2013. However, the transition of airlines to this

VP Agrawal Chairman Airports Authority of India

new terminal is expected, to be completed by March 2013.

Started in 2008, the modernisation of this airport (construction of a new terminal building) was aimed at smooth management of the increasing passenger traffic by integrating both domestic and international passenger operations. Spread over 2,510,000 sq ft area, the terminal is expected to handle 25 million passengers a year by 2015-16. With this capacity, the airport aims at acting as a transit hub as it is a major centre for flights to North East India, Bangladesh and South East Asia. Kolkata Airport also gets a fair amount of flights from destinations such as Thailand and Singapore.

Divulging further details, on the opening of the new terminal building at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

International Airport, VP Agrawal, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI) said,

“With an investment of ` 2,325 crore, for the modernisation of the Kolkata Airport, we have increased the passenger capacity, deployed modern technology for smooth and easy transfers and movement of passengers and aircraft at the airport.

Kolkata is the economic capital of the Eastern part of India and we expect a

domestic traffic over the past 5 years. Current projections suggest Kolkata Airport will handle 25 mppa (million passengers per annum) in 201516.” According to Agrawal, the prospects of having a hub at Kolkata Airport became brighter after the city got a state-of-the-art integrated terminal building.

“Kolkata’s current international and domestic terminals will close once the integrated terminal opens.

However, the international terminal might still be utilised for future Hajj services and the domestic terminal could be used by regional airlines,” he further informed. A proposal of continuing low-cost carrier

What the modern NSCBIA has The airport contains six levels and two underground parking levels 128 Check-in counters based on CUTE (Common User Terminal Equipment) technology 78 Immigration counters and twelve customs counters 30 Conveyor belts 18 Aerobridges 57 Remote parking bays will be available tremendous growth in aircraft movement in the coming years. This is reflected with the increased number of passengers that the Kolkata Airport is processing each year, up half a million on 2008 to 7.6 million passengers in 2009. The airport has witnessed a 6.4 per cent growth in international traffic and 21.4 per cent growth in

operations from the existing domestic terminal has been shelved due to the need of a fully-utilised new integrated terminal. The new terminal has attracted the interest of airlines that are considering to extend their operations to Kolkata including Malaysia Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Turkish Airlines and flydubai.

OTOAI steals the show

A large number of OTOAI members participated in the Scandinavian Seminar, which took place at Sheraton, New Delhi, Saket on October 30, 2012. Flemming Bruhn, Director, VisitDenmark, along with some of the key Scandinavian partners, were present at the event, which offered an excellent networking and exchange opportunity.

AVIATION

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

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More Indian cities on Turkish radar Turkey’s flag carrier and Europe’s third largest passenger carrier, Turkish Airlines is in talks with the Indian government over its plans to expand operations from more cities in India.

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he Istanbul-based Turkish Airlines has sought permission from the Civil Aviation Ministry in India to expand the bilateral limits to facilitate it for enhancing its

Mehmet Akay Turkish Airlines General Manager, Western & Southern India

We are keen on expanding our operations from other Indian cities flight frequency between Turkey and India. This will allow the airline to increase frequency of inbound and outbound flights to India.

Currently, Turkish Airlines has daily ex-Delhi and exMumbai services from India.

Ozgur Ayturk Culture and Tourism Counsellor Turkish Embassy

By having more flights from India, we hope to have a 20% growth in future “India is a very important market for us. Having started our operations a few years ago in India, we have got a phenomenal response as most of our flights are fully booked. We are now keen on expanding our operations from other Indian cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bengaluru,” says Mehmet Akay, Turkish Airlines, General Manager, Western & Southern India. A

major chunk of the Indian passengers on-board the airlines are transit passengers to Europe. “Istanbul, Turkey's capital, has become the preferred transit point between Asia and Europe and most Indians use our flights to con-

nect to Europe as we are close to it and have very good connections to most European cities,” admits Akay.

The airline also hopes that by increasing more flights from India, Turkey too will soon be a preferred des-

tination among Indians.

“Indians love to travel and we want to showcase our country to them. In 2011, we received 74,000 visitors from India. In 2012, from January to September, the arrivals from India reached 66,700.

By having more flights from India, we hope to have a 20% growth in the future,” says Ozgur Ayturk, Culture and Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Embassy.Turkish Airline is presently the world’s fifth largest airline and has

recently added 200th aircraft to its fleet. The Airlines which won the Skytrax award for 'Best Airline Europe' covers 205 cities in 90 countries. It aims at being the world’s largest airline network by 2023.

10 TRAVTALK

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

SUCCESS STORY

LEADERS TALK

Jet Airways: Selling beyond India Jet Airways is acting as a serious player in the Indian aviation market. It is in the process of becoming a strong network player, a true global carrier and will soon be among the top five global airlines, says Sonu Kripalani, Vice President, Passenger Sales – India, Jet Airways.

A N I TA J A I N

Define Indian aviation?

Indian Aviation industry is messed up at this time.

Please elaborate...

The aviation sector is badly injured because of the heavy taxes and fuel cost which are making air travel prohibitive.

The train traveller has gone back to train and our market has shrunk. There is no concept of low cost but just low fare. So, if you want to run a profitable airline than I’m afraid today’s cost structure does not warrant a train traveller to move to air travel.

What can an airline do to become profitable?

The most important thing for an airline is the way of operating their business. Each airline has to decide, if it wants to carry less number

of passengers and become a profitable airline or have full seats and be a losing airline.

This is one of the toughest period in Indian aviation and each airline is losing out on passengers, revenues and profits. There is a need to be more disciplined in terms of pricing, bring in route rationalisation, cut on routes with no profits and manage the cost in a better way.

Talking about route rationalisation, the metro routes in India are saturated as the industry seat factor is about 68-70 per cent on metro routes. Thus, we are flying 30 per cent empty aircrafts so where is the need to add more capacity. Instead, we should look at secondary markets which are growing and makes economic sense for our business. As Jet Airways, we have curtailed our domestic expansion and

are focussing more on international operations, especially on Gulf routes. Thus, airlines should fly on routes which are profitable and makes economic sense to their operating model, revenues and profits.

To become a long-term player in the market...

Our focus is on becoming a network carrier especially in the ASEAN region. We always worked with our interline partners and offered destinations beyond our direct points.

However, with more Indians exploring the unusual destinations in the regional market, there is a need to market our interline partners connecting destinations. For example, there is a tremendous increase from India to destinations like Koh Samui, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, etc. Though we fly to only Bangkok, we have put

in some competitive fares directly to these destinations in association with our interline and network partners. We want to promote Jet Airways which goes beyond the usual destinations and with increasing competition from Indian LCCs on international front, it’s time for us to find out new markets like Thailand, Singapore, China, Japan, Australia, Korea, Vietnam, etc.

On Jet Airways and JetKonnect models...

In India, LCCs mainly fillin by offering low fares till 1015 days prior to departure and shoots up the fares after that till departure date. This way, there is no consistency in pricing and no assurance about earning profits on bottom-line.

On the other land, for JetKonnect, we have 10-12 classes and we gradually fill in those seats with calculative

pricing strucSonu Kripalani ture. We look at Vice President, Passenger Sales – India, Jet Airways earning revenue per flight instead of just looking at seat loads. Also, we have added minimum eight premiThis is a tough um seats on all JetKonnect period in the Indian flights which add up to our bottom-line.

There is also a market and gap for growth for Jet Airways’ full service carrier model as not all travellers book in advance, especially from the corporate segment.

Also, the service standards matter for a legacy carrier to maintain its brand loyalty among domestic and international passengers.

We are a carrier that is going to be a long-term serious player of the country, who wants to be a network player, who wants to further expand its global network on profitable

aviation. Each airline is losing out on passengers, revenues and profits.

There is a need to be more disciplined in pricing and manage costs in a better way

routes and become one of the top five carriers in the world and is working towards that goal.

AVIATION

BA increases flight frequency British Airways has announced that it will be expanding its route network from Hyderabad and Chennai from summer 2013 to six flights per week from five flights per week as per the current schedule.

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hristopher Fordyce, Regional Commercial Manager, British Airways, South Asia, said, “We are

Christopher Fordyce Regional Commercial Manager British Airways, South Asia

delighted to announce further growth in Hyderabad and Chennai.

Come summer, our customers will be able to enjoy enhanced flight frequency as well as our unmatched on board services.”

‘’We always keep customers at the heart of all decision making and try to provide what they want from us. We have witnessed tremendous customer response and increase in demand from Hyderabad and Chennai in the last couple of years. To cater to this growing demand, we are pleased to offer enhanced flight frequency to all our customers from these two cities.

India continues to be one of the fastest growing markets for British Airways and we are proud to be participating as well as contributing to India’s tremendous growth story,’’ he further added.

British Airways has also announced an attractive discount offer, exclusively for its Hyderabad and Chennai customers flying to London. Customers will be able to enjoy a fantastic 25% discount on all Club World tickets booked before Friday, November 23, 2012 to London. The travel will be valid until December 15, 2012. British Airways has announced a GBP5 billion investment over the next five years in aircraft, product, service and catering enhancements to improve the overall customer experience.

Internet Moguls & TrustYou join hands Internet Moguls, a complete digital marketing solutions provider and TrustYou, an online reputation management market leader for the hospitality industry announced a strategic partnership to tap hotels and other hospitality-related companies.

This alliance will translate into a more complete digital marketing solution as the services of both organisations will work in tandem in a way that is seamless to its clients. Those working with TrustYou and Internet Moguls will enjoy the added benefit of preferred pricing when collaborating with the two companies simultaneously.

“It’s like a natural progression for us to enhance our set of digital solution star rated and non-star rated hospitality partners.

This global partnership will allow hotels to get a complete solution in terms of a leading Reputation Management tool as well as a premier implementation agency in Internet Moguls.

We are happy to work with such a detailed analysis tool, like they say ‘Data is the new oil’. This tool will help us increase revenues for

Avijit Arya

Rajat Malhotra

Chief Mogul (CEO) Internet Moguls

Director Sales, Asia

This global partnership will allow hotels to get a complete solution many of our clients across the world,” said Avijit Arya, Chief Mogul (CEO), Internet Moguls.

Expressing similar views, Rajat Malhotra, Director – Sales, Asia, TrustYou, said, “We are thrilled to come together with a company such as Internet Moguls that shares our passion for digital excellence in the hospitality industry. It is a natural synergy for us to bring our services together in an integrated way that will benefit the hotels in India.”

Providing our services in an integrated way, will benefit the hotels in India Going forward, TrustYou and Internet Moguls will attend industry events together and exhibit together at key conferences.

They also plan to conduct workshops for hoteliers on a variety of topics, ranging from how to increase the volume of hotel reviews, to how to respond to online reviews along with a 360 degree view on digital marketing, in an effort to help this market stay on the cutting edge of its competition around the world.

ASSOCIATIONS

300 new members in 2 years In a tete-a-tete with , Garish Oberoi, the new President of Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) chalks out strategies of the association for next two years.

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he regional chapter of Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) is currently the largest regional chapter of FHRAI. Elaborating on the initiatives of the association, Oberoi reveals,

“The association, over the past few years, has been working on revitalising the regional chapter in all the nine member states. As a result, HRANI is the largest regional chapter of FHRAI, in terms of membership base.”

The association has almost 1,500 members as of now. It has added at least 300 new members in the last two years. “Going forward, in the next two years, the association is targetting to increase the membership by another 20 per cent. It will also update the membership data

by removing the defaulters and non-serious members in the last couple of years,” the newly elected President states.

Addressing concerns of the full infrastructure status for the hotel industry, he opines, “The hospitality industry has been demanding infrastructure status for a while

Garish Oberoi President HRANI and Vice President, FHRAI

now. With large sunk costs and long gestation periods, the industry is highly capital intensive. The steady increase in borrowing costs over the past few years is not only undermining the financial viability of individual projects across the country but is also cloud-

ing the investment horizon for the entire sector.”

According to Oberoi, the announcement in the last budget was a half-hearted one.

“The list of infrastructure status has only included ‘three-star or higher category classified hotels located outside cities with population of more than one million’. This unreasonable restriction also limits the intended beneficial impact of this policy initiative by excluding a majority of our industry from within its purview. The association will continue to pursue the infrastructure issue with the government in the coming budget as well,” he laments. Another roadblock in the industry is the presence of multiple taxes. Thus, the need of the hour is a rational tax structure regime, he adds.

A long-term plan for the association to work on is also on the anvil. “The plan which has been compiled by the Working Group of HRANI will be published after taking suggestions from the members of the association. We have circulated the bullet points of the paper to our members and are awaiting their recommendations,” he points out.

Scotland adds 20 Indian specialists

VisitScotland bestowed Specialist Councillors on Tourism in Scotland- certificates to 20 new Indian Scots agents in New Delhi, which was followed up by a networking event hosted by the Scottish Government, and Scottish Development International at the British High Commissioner’s Residence. Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Scotland graced both the events among other dignitaries.

TECHNOLOGY

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

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Win corporate clients with Zilious With plans afloat to venture into Middle East market followed by Singapore and Hong Kong, B Rajan, Director - Sales, Zillious Solutions is determined to tap the huge potential in India.

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ravel agents are aware that the corporate clients are always short of time, while they want to have plenty of travel options that suit their requirements and fit in the corporate travel policy of their respective companies.

Here, Zillious Solution offers technological solutions that enable to meet all unique requirements of such corporate clients.

B Rajan Director - Sales Zillious Solutions

“We in a short period of less than three years of having started our operations in Delhi had been successful in delivering online solutions for all e-commerce verticals (B2B, B2B2B, B2C and B2E (corporate/self booking tool) to the travel trade community.

We specialise in the B2E vertical and provide Corporate/Self Booking Tool solutions to travel agents, who in turn provide the Self Booking Engine to their corporate clients,” said the Director of Sales.

“The corporate self booking tool reduces the entire process time, beginning from the approval process to the time taken, for issuance of a ticket. The system is also capable of reducing time and effort made by travel

Quick Solutions Zillious Solution offers technological solutions that enable to meet all unique requirements of such corporate clients After acquiring large TMCs in India, the company is keen to enter the Middle East market followed by Singapore and Hong Kong, while growing the Indian business

agencies to submit certain specific accounting reports, which are commonly required by corporate houses,” Balakrishnan added.

“2012 has been good for us as an organisation. We have had mid-sized and

large-sized TMCs talking to us for providing the Corporate/Self booking tool. In terms of segments rolled, we have been having a steady growth of over 20 per cent (YoY) and expect it grow in the years to come,” he says.

Further, after acquiring large TMCs in India, the company is keen to enter the Middle East market followed

by Singapore and Hong Kong, while growing the Indian business. According to Balakrishnan, travel

agencies should look at technology as an investment and not as an expense.

“The corporate traveller does not have the time and patience to wait for options to be provided by TMC to complete his booking. The

corporate clients always want the TMC to display all their accounts on the web.

For this to happen, the agency has to move into the e-commerce vertical, where our solution serves really effectively,” he stated.

16 TRAVTALK

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

ANALYSIS

Post tiger ban lift, industry remains cautious It came as a breather when the Supreme Court gave the green signal for the resumption of tourism activities in the core tiger areas. While inbound tourism has been hit, the industry is expecting the domestic travel to pick up.

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ith the Centre formally notifying fresh guidelines on tiger conservation, the Supreme Court has now cleared the decks for resumption of tourism activities in the areas reserved for the tiger. A Bench of justices AK Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar gave the green signal for resumption of tourism activities, modifying its July 24 order by which it had earlier halted all tourism-related activities in tiger reserve areas.

For the tourism industry that had earlier suffered a major setback, this directive from the SC comes as a big relief. Affected by revenue loss due to the uncertainty surrounding the ban on Wildlife Tourism since July this year, the industry is now looking forward to a busier season.

“It is now time to get back to work, to ensure that revenues that flow through park fees back into conservation and communities start flowing again, that livelihoods are restored and legitimate busi-

Vishal Singh

Akanksha Garg Dewan

Director TOFT India

Director Waxpol Hotels & Resorts

The SC has surely lifted the ban but due to the strict forest guidelines, the number of jeeps getting into the core areas has been reduced nesses are allowed to continue to show India’s very best natural heritage to its citizens,” Vishal Singh, Director, TOFT India points out. According to Singh, the breather is just a mixed blessing.

“The SC has surely lifted the ban. But due to the stricter forest guidelines now, the number of jeeps getting into the core areas has been reduced. This in turn implies that lesser tourist can go inside the core areas. This only hurts the morale of the tour operators in the longer run,” he revealed.

We have seen a drop in our business. As the SC verdict came in late, we witnessed group cancellations that affected our bottomline “Due to ambiguous rules, each state is interpreting the ban-lift in its own way and thus, business is affected in some states while it is business as usual in the others. The state that has received a major setback is Madhya Pradesh.

Ranthambore has not been hit hard despite of stricter forest guidelines by the Rajasthan government,” he claims. “Tour operators can still diversify business and garner revenues from alternate sources. However, the lodge owners are still at stake and will have to work out a new strategy to cope up with the new rules,” he adds.

Reiterating the concern of lodge and hotel owners in the forest reserves,

Akanksha Garg Dewan, Director, Waxpol Hotels & Resorts laments, “The overall picture of the Wildlife Tourism industry seems bad.

We have certainly seen a drop in business. As the SC verdict came in late, we have witnessed group cancellations.

This has affected our bottomline.” For example – in Pench, earlier while 102 jeeps (60 in the morning and 42 in the evening) were allowed per day inside the core areas, now it has been halved to

back on track to promote their packages for the upcoming winter season. Taj Safaris, the unit within the Taj Group of hotels that looks after adventures in the wildlife circuit, is offering promotional packages in four of its properties - Kanha, Panna, Pench and Bandhavgarh National Parks in Madhya Pradesh.

As a bulk of inbound tourist comes to India for its wildlife, the segment has witnessed a setback. Sunil

Sunil C. Gupta

Subhash Verma

Chairman - Uttar Pradesh Chapter IATO

President ADTOI

We are suggesting inbound tourists to choose other naturerelated activities as opposed to wildlife

We welcome the lifting of the ban. This will surely facilitate larger number of domestic tourists in the forest areas

almost 50 jeeps. With no guaranteed safaris, the tourists have become apprehensive about coming to wildlife parks, she adds.

C. Gupta, Chairman - Uttar Pradesh Chapter, IATO and Director, Travel Bureau feels, “We have seen a 20 per cent drop in business for the month of October and November at our company. Inbound needs

Some hospitality companies affected by the ban are

a larger materialisation period. They make booking five-six months in advance.

So that part of the business has certainly taken a hit.

Thus, diversifying our business and looking at alternative tourism segments becomes detrimental for the success of the company. We are suggesting inbound tourists to choose other nature-related activities as opposed to wildlife.”

However, the good news is domestic tourists in India are ever-increasing and this chunk of tourists do only last minute bookings. This will help offset the challenges the industry is facing today, he says looking at the positive side.

Highlights Subhash Verma, President, ADTOI, “We welcome the lifting of the ban. This will surely facilitate larger number of domestic tourists in the forest areas. Also, earlier the notion was that it was only the inbound tourists who were interested in wildlife.

However, mid-end and high-end domestic travellers are also extremely enthusiastic. With the inbound being hit, we need to rely more on these domestic travellers. It is too early to give out numbers but this segment will surely pick up soon.”

Finally a big relief For the tourism industry that had earlier suffered a major setback, this directive from the SC comes as a big relief Affected by revenue loss due to the uncertainty surrounding the ban on Wildlife Tourism since July this year, the industry is now looking forward to a busier season

HOTELS

IHG eyes new talent pool Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla in association with Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute will identify home-grown talent to join the team and support local industry.

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rowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla is riding high with good quarter results this year. According to Barun Jolly, General Manager, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla, the growth in revenues till

has now recently partnered with Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology to provide hospitality training and job opportunities to the aspiring hospitality professionals. “The IHG Academy will identify

Kunal Soon, Quality & Training Manager, Barun Jolly, GM, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla and Dr. Bhuwan Mohan – Secretary Banarsidas Chandiwala Trust

October has increased by 18 per cent compared to the same period last year.

In a new move to identify and retain HR, the hotel

home-grown talent to join our teams, support local industry and give our colleagues around the world the opportunity to get involved and inspired,” says the GM.

The motto is two-fold, feels Jolly. Firstly, it will help increase the brand visbility of the IHG brand and the hotel property. Secondly, as a CSR initiative by the hotel, it will make employment sustainable for the local community through this new programme.

“The IHG Academy is a real win-win for the community and the organisation as it allows us to leverage the hotel’s resources and our people to provide real opportunities to local people.

In turn, we will create a skilled talent pipeline for our hotels which will translate in to a better guest experience,” he adds.

‘Chardham is disorganised’ Leisure hotel management feels that the pilgrimage segment will pick up in the near future. However, presently, the hotel only sees 5% of its business from this segment.

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n what comes as a much required push to some of the crucial sectors, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has conferred infrastructure status to three-star hotels. This move is expected to give an impetus to the business of Uttarakhandbased Leisure Hotels. Says Vibhas Prasad, Director, Leisure Hotels, “This recent development will certainly give a fillip to our portfolio as most of our properties fall in the same category.”

The group is extremely bullish on the coming year.

The hotel-owning, operating and management company is targetting four major segments in a big way. The hotel plans to cash in on pilgrimage tourism. Speaking about the company’s focus on the North Indian pilgrimage market, Prasad feels,

“We are constantly focussing on the northern market. The group is catering to the needs of the tourists by way of luxury accommodations. Over the last ten years, the pilgrimage segment this year has done the maximum business.”

Though the segment still contributes to just five-six per cent business of the group, Prasad sees more growth in the sector in the near future. “We are consolidating our inventory in the segment. Leisure Hotels will open a 100-key property in Rishikesh by end-2013,” he adds.

According to him, the Chardham segment is unorganised. The chain plans to

Vibhas Prasad Director Leisure Hotels

tie up with a big number of travel agents to promote this segment.

The Corbett market has slowed down a bit, he reveals.

“Out of our existing 22 hotels, three are in the Corbett area. With immense pressure on price and occupancy, this business has been affected,” he laments.

SpiceJet starts Cochin-Male service SpiceJet will expand its international operations to Maldives with daily direct Cochin-Male service. The flight on this route will commence from 29th

November. The aircraft that will be used for this route will be Dash 8-Q400.

Earlier direct flights to Male were only from Trivandrum.

The proposed flight Cochin

– Male will depart from Cochin at 12.50 and reach Male at 14.10. In the return leg, the flight will depart from Male at 14:45 and reach Cochin at 17:05

COVER STORY

Airlines should unite to fight Contd. from page 1

right model for an emerging market like India. The cost structure shouldn’t be the lowest in the world but it should be the lowest in the operating market.”

economically viable for airlines to offer lower fares in the market. Legacy carriers are struggling to get a higher market share in India as LCCs are now holding the biggest pie. For legacy carriers, financial and economic viability is

Deccan Charters; there is a need to stimulate the market with attractive fares and fill the aircraft. “But fill the plane and make profits, not losses,” warns Gopinath. He adds, “Airline operators should do a proper revenue manage-

‘Swing’ capacity The only reason Jet Airways launched its low cost model – JetKonnect, was for the ‘survival’ of the airline, informed Sudheer Raghavan, CCO, Jet Airways. He said, “Aviation industry’s regulatory

BIGWIGSTalk Aditya Ghosh President, IndiGo

The focus should be more on reducing the internal cost, which will reduce the overall operating cost, resulting in more profitability in revenue earned

Bill Franke

Managing Partner, IndiGo Partners

In India, airline operators are baffled with the operating model.

Operate an airline that fits your model and execute it

Adel Ali

Group CEO, Air Arabia

If you are in a LCC model business, 70% is not good enough. To be profitable, you need have above 80-85 per cent load on every aircraft and route

Accepted. But how can LCCs lower their cost in a market where they are not differentiated for paying taxes by airport operators and state governments? Not when both LCC and full service carriers are paying the same navigational fee at the airports. Also, is it really important to tweak the airfares, squeeze your profit margins to gain the market share?

Need for price discipline Deepak Barara, Commercial Director and Board Member, Air India said, “As young carriers grow in size and business, they face legacy carrier issues in India.

The cost structure of the aviation sector is not making it

dependent on long-haul routes i.e. international routes. This is because in international aviation space, every airline has price discipline which lowers the competition and improves service standards, resulting in better loads and profitability.”

Empty Planes? It’s a crime!

Ok. So now, if airlines in India follow price discipline, what is the next step? How can airlines focus on increasing average yields and earn better profits, especially when airlines (both LCC and legacy) are losing loads due to their increasing operating cost, rising airport taxes resulting in high air travel prices. According to Captain GR Gopinath, Chairman,

Sudheer Raghavan

Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways

Aviation industry’s regulatory framework, tax regime and cost structure needs to change in-perspective to become economy enabler

Captain Gopinath Chairman, Deccan Charters

Airline operators should do a proper revenue management and fill the plane as it’s a crime to fly empty aircraft

Deepak Brara

Director Commercial, Air India

The cost structure of the aviation sector is not making it economically viable for airlines to offer lower fares in the Indian market ment and fill the plane as it’s a crime to fly empty aircraft in Indian skies.” Adding further, Adel Ali, CEO, Air Arabia said, “If you are in a LCC model business, 70 per cent is not good enough. To be profitable, you need to be above 80-85 per cent in loads on every aircraft and route.

Airlines in India fly by reducing pricing and pinching their profits instead of fighting with the system to reduce their operational cost.” He suggested that Indian carriers should focus on ancillary revenues and add-ons to earn that ‘extra’ revenue. For instance, F&B is the biggest contributor for ancillary revenue for AirAsia while insurance and extra baggage are the emerging revenue source for the airline.

framework, tax regime and cost structure needs to change in-perspective to become economy enabler. India is one of the most expensive aviation markets to operate in. To manage our load factors, we ‘swing’ our capacity by shifting the loads to JetKonnect in off season (during low demand) and to Jet Airways in peak season as there is more demand.

We have brought down our operating cost by 25 per cent in last three years and are taking significant measures to do better.”

The ‘Trust’ factor According to Raghavan, airlines need to learn to trust each other and unite to fight for a common Contd. on page 22

NTO

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

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Turkey targets golf and wedding market In association with the Turkish Tourism Board, The Turkish Hoteliers Federation concluded its first time ever, five Indian city roadshows on November 19-23, 2012.

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ith growing affluence and a steadily recovering rupee, more Indian travellers are seeking new destinations. This also reflects in the outbound segment from India that travels to Turkey.

Ozgur Ayturk Culture and Tourism Counsellor Turkey

The outbound travellers from India to Turkey are only increasing with the numbers touching 74,000 last year.

This was revealed by Dr Burak Akcapar, Turkish Ambassador to India during the maiden roadshow of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation in Delhi. “This year Turkey received 31.4 million travellers. The objective is to reach 50 million travellers in the next ten years,” he adds.

Betting big on India, the country is aiming to increase the outbound numbers from India

Osman Ayik President Turkish Hoteliers Federation

further. Bollywood movies like Mission Istanbul, Ek Tha Tiger and now the upcoming Race 2 have also boosted the outbound travel from India.

Currently, what hinders the tourist numbers is the connectivity issue, he feels.

5-City Roadshows This was the time that the Turkish Hoteliers Federations hosted roadshows in India with a delegation of 12 hoteliers Mumbai - November 19 Bengaluru - November 20 Chennai - November 21 Hyderabad - November 22 Delhi - November 23

Turkey is now promoting itself as a stand-alone destination, says Ozgur Ayturk, Culture and Tourism Counsellor, Turkey. Though 80 per cent of tourist arrivals fall in the leisure segment and 20 per cent fall in the

MICE segment, he sees huge potential for the growth of Turkey as a wedding, honeymoon and golf destination.

According to Osman Ayik, President, Turkish Hoteliers Federation, more

‘wedding tourists’ have started visiting the country.

“The country was the sixth biggest destination in the world, in terms of foreign tourist arrivals in 2011.

India is one of the key markets for us and the positive

growth rate of Indians visiting Turkey has strengthened my confidence in the market. Of late, Turkey has seen a change in the profile of its visitors in terms of their expectations and aspirations.”

Dr Burak Akcapar Turkish Ambassador to India

20 TRAVTALK

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

ANALYSIS

Inbound remains ‘offline’ for OTAs? The outbound and domestic has been a big hit with online travel agents (OTAs), while most of them seem wary of aggressively pursuing the inbound space. finds out from the brave-hearts of the OTA space, who are inclined to create a niche in inbound, while taking a close look at the various potent challenges that need to be addressed.

VIVEK SETHI

A

ll the leading online players in India believe that the future of travel will rest on online channels, as

“The Indian online travel industry has witnessed huge growth and evolution in the past few years. The numbers of Indian travellers have increased enormously with a constant upgradation owing

India, which even otherwise is a popular destination. In fact, Expedia in India stands as the largest inbound travel operator. According to the Department of Tourism, close to 6 million tourists visited

bound has been a big focus of OTAs. The majority of holidays and hotel bookings on MakeMyTrip are driven

by Indian tourists planning their domestic or outbound holidays or from NRIs for their annual visits to India,” he added.

But before a rosy inbound picture can be posted for the OTAs, there are various formidable challenges.

Ankush Nijhawan

Vikram Malhi

Parikshit Sawhney

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Travel Boutique Online

Country Head Expedia India

Managing Director Fore Representations & Travels

OTAs face stiff competition from the existing specialised and focussed players in the inbound space the propensity to purchase travel online is maturing with the ever-increasing number of travellers in India. While an increasing number of travellers are becoming accustomed to shop for domestic and outbound products in India; a major challenge is being felt on the inbound front. But, all said and done, travellers in the mature markets are far more internet savvy and accustomed to online travel purchase, that makes all the leading OTAs look gleefully at attracting inbound travellers to India.

The no. of Indian travellers have increased due to the rising disposable incomes & affordable holiday options to the rising disposable incomes, affordable holiday options and the aspirational value perceived with travel.

Indian travellers are increasingly seeking a richer experience and holiday is taken as an opportunity to explore and experience,” said Vikram Malhi, Country Head, Expedia India.

“For foreign tourists, India has also risen as a relatively cheaper destination, as their cost in terms of rupee fell by nearly 22 per cent on back of recent rupee depreciation. Naturally, the lower costs lure travellers towards

The total Inbound to India is a very small number when compared to the size of the country and the various different sights India last year. An increase in the rate of arrival as compared to last year, has already been spotted and inbound tourism is expected to be on a constant rise through 2012,” Malhi added.

Here Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder, COO & CFO, MakeMyTrip adds that MakeMyTrip has been catering to the US-India NRI market since 2000. “Our outbound business makes for 10 per cent of our total business. With increasing number of Indians showing interest in travel and experiencing other cultures, out-

“It has got to do with many factors including hotel and transportation, which makes India an expensive destination as compared to competing Asian destinations like Malaysia, Thailand or even China. Further, OTAs are inherently online and inbound is purely offline. It requires customised handson service and super interaction with the clients, to ensure service delivery of the

Travel Boutique Online highlights risks posed by volatile environment of our country like strikes, bandhs etc, which make inbound travel a very risky affair. “Lack of infrastructure is also detriment for tourists visiting India. OTAs also face stiff competition from the large and existing specialised and focussed players in the inbound space, who have been active in the business for the last so many years,” he adds.

Yatra.com here has an innovative practice, wherein it avoids taking pains of acquiring clientele in overseas market, as it finds it easier to service its overseas destination management partners.

Pratik Mazumder

Rajesh Magow

Head - Marketing & Strategic Alliance, Yatra.com

Co-Founder, COO & CFO MakeMyTrip

We through Yatra Exotic Routes take care of all travel requirements for a host of international agents and operate as a DMC

With more Indians showing interest in travel and experiencing other cultures, outbound has been a big focus of OTAs

“The cost of acquiring local customers directly and building a brand in local markets overseas would be expensive thereby, leading to lower revenue and not a profitable business case. We however, through Yatra Exotic Routes do take care of all travel requirements for a host of international agents and operate as a DMC here.

And we have experienced that this part of business has more than doubled in the last 3 years,” said Pratik Mazumder, Head - Marketing & Strategic Alliance, Yatra.com.

Clicking Travel Options As per Parikshit Sawhney, Managing Director, Fore Representations & Travels, “The total inbound to India is a very small number when compared to the size of the country and the various different sights that the destination has to offer.”

highest standards on the ground. Hence, it is more about the nature of OTAs versus the nature and volume of the inbound business in India,” said Sawhney.

Further, Ankush Nijhawan, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer,

Travellers in the mature markets are far more internet savvy and accustomed to online travel purchase, that makes all the leading OTAs look gleefully at attracting inbound travellers to India

OTA

Expedia takes ‘bus’ forward The partnership with RedBus is part of its pursuit to offer a localised and complete travel booking solutions to the growing Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III markets in India.

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ith focus on consolidating its share in the emerging Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III markets, Expedia.co.in, a leading online travel company and RedBus, announced its partnership with India’s leading bus ticketing company in the first week of November 2012.

Commenting on the occasion, Vikram Malhi, Country Head, Expedia India said, “Buses are one of the preferred modes of transport in India, connecting some of the key Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

With an increasing number of travellers choosing short weekend getaways, the demand for bus services has significantly risen over the last few years.”

“We have constantly set new benchmarks with our innovative and unique offerings, including allowing travellers to tailor-make their own trip as per their needs.

In our endeavour to create a

holistic offering by road, we have introduced this new service in our portfolio.

With this tie-up, we are aiming to strengthen our domestic and inbound travel

Vikram Malhi Country Head Expedia India

solutions for an enhanced experience,” he added.

The said partnership will provide Expedia the access to bus seat inventory for more than 1,80,000 bus services, operated by 900 operators across the country.

The addition of such an inventory is likely to enhance the overall travel experience in India to the next level for both domestic and foreign tourists exploring the country.

“Expedia is growing rapidly in India and we are

very happy to partner with them for bus tickets. With this partnership, we provide our deep understanding of bus consumer behaviour to them and in return our bus operators get distribution access on a rapidly growing platform like Expedia,” said Phanindra Sama, CEO, RedBus. “Bus travel has been growing at the rate of 25 per cent every year and has become a preferred mode of transport. This is because, for several routes like Bengaluru-Chennai and Ahmedabad-Mumbai; bus travel takes same time as much as by rail. On top of that, luxury buses also provide unmatched executive class comfort to bus travellers,” he added.

Win Win Deal The said partnership will provide Expedia the access to bus seat inventory for more than 1,80,000 bus services, operated by 900 operators across the country The addition of such an inventory is likely to enhance the overall travel experience in India to the next level for both domestic and foreign tourists exploring the country

Sri Lanka showcased to 64 agents

Sri Lanka recently conducted one of the biggest fams ever with a group of 64 individuals consisting of tour agents from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. The purpose of the fam was to showcase MICE venues in Sri Lanka and also highlight incentive travel in the country.

STATES Madhya Pradesh

Calling private players As the domestic sector continues to be the major thrust for MP Tourism, the state encourages private entrepreneurs to undertake tourism initiatives to boost the sector.

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uckily as the tiger tourism ban was lifted, the parks in Madhya Pradesh opened in time for festivities across the country. This combined with a few holidays increased the number of domestic tourists visiting the parks. “Now with limited people being allowed into the parks and with the reduction of carrying capacity, there has been no major damage or loss to the revenue generated and as a whole to the wildlife sector.

Domestic tourists have filled the void created by inbound tourism,” says Om Vijay Choudhary, Chief General Manager, Madhya Pradesh Tourism.

The domestic sector continues to be the main driving force for Madhya Pradesh. “Domestic tourism has great importance and people have the paying capacity and interest in products available. Though inbound continues to be important for foreign exchange,” he adds.

initiatives. We are the pioneers of Caravan Tourism and we have made private caravan bays in all our hotels across the state.

We have also started intra-air taxi services, which has further helped in boosting tourism.

This has provided an ease and helped in connecting far away destinations across the state,” explains Choudhary.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism has been hosting agent familiarisation trips regularly but Choudhary feels that, when there is a good product, the demand is going to be generated. When infrastructure and product is available in any destination, it is bound to sell.

For 2013, the State plans to concentrate on their relations with the private sector and put them in the driving seat for tourism development. “Our main concentration is on the private invest-

Along with promotional activities the State is working towards developing its infrastructure and product offerings. “In Madhya Pradesh, the connectivity and infrastructure needs to be developed and we are working towards this. We regularly undertake innovations and new Sanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh

Om Vijay Choudhary Chief General Manager Madhya Pradesh Tourism

ments. There are no large scale private players in the tourism sector of the state and private products need to be created as a tourist attraction,” adds Choudhary.

Recently, Madhya Pradesh conducted a Global investor meet and saw huge investment potential and is hopeful for some developments in the near future.

“Madhya Pradesh Government has a land bank to be given to the private partners through a transparent system to develop hotels and tourism products and help boost the sector. With efforts and investments of the private sector the state’s tourism potential can come a long way.

At present, we have a growth of 12 per cent and are hopeful that with private partnerships more demand and supply will be created to a greater extend,” concludes Choudhary.

A strong aviation policy...

Contd. from page 18

cause. He says, “Airlines can combine the ground handling services which will reduce cost of our community. Also, by collaborating in distribution area and setting up our own distribution channel, we might further lower our operational cost as airlines pay close to US$ 200-250 million a year to foreign entity for this service.

Catering is another area where unity in airline will trim down the cost.”

Cost v/s Profit Adding on managing the operational cost and yet earn profits, Aditya Ghosh,

President, IndiGo said, “If today, IndiGo starts offering cheaper rates and earn revenues which are lower than our operating cost, there will be one airline less in the Indian skies. So how can airlines charge low fares to have full loads and get into losses? Why is there more emphasis on market share and filling the seats? The focus should be more on reducing the internal cost, which will reduce the overall operating cost, resulting in more profitability in revenue earned.” According to CAPA, IndiGo remains the leading performer in the Indian aviation market and will post the highest profit

(US$ 47-57 million) among other airlines during Q3FY012 ending December 31, 2012.

So, it’s time for the airline operators to come together, work on common platforms which will reduce the overall operating cost of the airline community. India needs a strong aviation policy instead of just milking it to the core. International airlines are constantly expanding their operations in India which shows that India is indeed a very strong travel market. So, Indian carriers should buckle up and tap it’s own market with viable pricing strategies.

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DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

STATES

Andhra Pradesh

India’s next big MICE destination Andhra Pradesh has a lot of new tourism products to offer; weekend getaways from Hyderabad, MICE promotions, river & sea packages and tribal tourism alliances to name a few. With this and trade development activities, the state expects at least an eight per cent growth in the number of tourist arrivals in 2013.

T T B U R E AU

the state but are focussing on places which have sufficient air connectivity and good infrastructure,” she adds.

A

ndhra Pradesh Tourism has created a lot of buzz since this summer. The State Tourism has conducted domestic roadshows, increased the number of familiarisation trips and is participating in international trade shows. “In the last three months we have organised roadshows in India and hosted familiarisation trips for a large number of agents from Pune, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Each tour has been customised adapting to the different tourism demands from each region, as we feel ‘seeing is believing’ and will make it easier for the private sector to promote the destination. We hope to see results of these initiatives soon,” says

Hyderabad, the State capital, adds tourism attractions nearly every year and its remarkable infrastructure is helping, the city, develop as a MICE destination.

HICC in Hyderabad

“Recently the city organised a MICE event with 8,000 foreign visitors from 193 nations. It’s our state-of-the-art facilities that boost our confidence in catering such large groups,”

adds Khan. Making most of their MICE movements, the state has developed weekend getaways from Hyderabad to show visitors more aspects of the State. “The MICE segment gives us mileage. We organise cultural programmes every evening and offer support services to all large MICE movements. We are promoting weekend getaways and are trying to show

Chandana Khan Special Chief Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh

Chandana Khan, Special Chief Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

“A lot of destinations in Andhra Pradesh are under promoted. In the international market, we are not displaying every nook and corner of

Wanting to increase tourism figures from other states, Khan is promoting the fairs and festivals of Andhra Pradesh, especially the Flamingo Festival, this January.

the landscapes, heritage and culture of the State,” highlights Khan.

AP shares its borders with five states and Khan is planning to make the most of this. “We have spoken to Chhattisgarh Tourism and we will develop tourism opportunities within our tribal population and offer a holistic experience,” says Khan.

Another attraction being promoted is the river and sea cruise package in the northern costal region of AP. In Visakhapatnam along the Godavari belt, the State offers, the coconut country, sea beaches, cruises and peace of the water.

An MoU was recently signed with ITDCto promote inter-state promotion.

“We are projecting a growth of about eight per cent in 2013 but the figures from last year have only increased by two to three per cent,” concludes Khan.

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STATES

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

Farms luring tourists in Punjab Punjab has developed many new tourism products and circuits. Among them there is Religious Tourism with efforts being made on Sufi & Buddhist Tourism and the latest being Farm Tourism. Punjab Tourism Board is also training tour operators. fortable now,” Kapoor elaborates.

the recent Sufi festival that was concluded in Amritsar.

Punjab Tourism officials attended the recent Buddhist conclave organised by the Ministry of Tourism and have now developed a Buddhist itinerary for the state and will focus on promoting Buddhist tourism also.

Developing tourism products based on Sufism is also on the cards because of the overwhelming popularity of

“Training the travel agents about the different tourism circuits available in Punjab is our focus now.

The religious circuit, freedom trail and historical sites attract the maximum visitors. In the Phase one of our training programme, we certified 25 tour operators from Chandigarh, 150 from Delhi and 25 from Manali. The next phase, being completed within this year, will include tour operator

D E V I KA J E E T

P

unjab Tourism is now focussing on marketing the state and increasing the number of visitors. In 2011, it ranked 14th amongst all the Indian states in the number of tourism arrivals and very soon they hope to be in the top ten

Alka Kapoor Manager Projects Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotional Board

visited states by tourists. “ We have made a master plan in coordination with the UNWTO. We now have a basic framework ready and are moving according to the

Punjab has registered 22 farmhouses to promote Farm Tourism

plans,” says Alka Kapoor, Manager Projects, Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotional Board while informing,

cialised in something different and foreigners and students enjoy participating in this tourism specialisation,” she explains.

“Farm Tourism is an important new development for Punjab and we have already registered 22 farmhouses under this scheme.”

Religious Tourism has always been an important circuit for Punjab Tourism and it hopes to receive a large number of tourists after the start of the Panch Takht train. “The Panch Takht luxury train for five takhts (thought two are not in Punjab) will begin from January 1, 2013 and we hope to receive a larger NRI population with this development.

Travelling the Sikh religious sights will be much more com-

“We are promoting farm tourism in a big way.

Every farmhouse is spe-

training programmes in Mumbai, Bengaluru and West Bengal. Fam trips will also be included in this,” says Kapoor.

Developing the state infrastructure is also underway and special focus has been laid on Amritsar. “We are receiving funds from the centre and looking at infrastructure development in the state especially Amritsar. We will be opening interpretation centre in the city to facilitate translations for foreigners,” concludes Kapoor.

New Tourism Policy Implementing their decade long tourism policy next year, Tamil Nadu recognises its tourism potential and focusses on strengthening the state infrastructure.

D E V I KA J E E T

I

n the recent statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism, Tamil Nadu received the second highest number of foreign tourists and the third largest number of domestic tourist among all the Indian states.

“We are a culture-based south Indian state and we have been constantly learning and improving to attract tourists. With the new government being in power, smooth stay for foreigners was looked into and included, the law and order, peaceful stays, travel and food. All facilities are looked into to help make any trip to Tamil Nadu peaceful and enjoyable,” says S Gokula Indira, Minister for Tourism, Tamil Nadu.

This year, the Ministry of Tourism has been working on the new tourism policy, “We are going to work, in a big way, on a new tourism policy which will be in line with the vision 2023, laid down by our Chief Minister. We are looking at a broader span of time in the next 10 years for this plan and will lay down the strategy and action plan for the same. 2013 will be incorporated in this,” says Hemant K Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation.

Following aggressive marketing plans, “Tamil Nadu has been strong in creating good infrastructure and we also have a very good connectivity. In the past, we have focussed on the core issues of infrastructure, improving connectivity, basic

S Gokula Indira

Hemant K Sinha

Minister for Tourism Tamil Nadu

Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation

We have called investors and are showing them potential investment options

The state is strong in creating good infrastructure and has very good connectivity

hoteling, internal routes, power, security and all kind of communication mediums,” elaborates Sinha.

The Minister especially discussed about the infrastructure development that is being worked on. “We have called investors and are showing them potential land. We have a very long beach from Chennai to Kanyakumari and we expect private investments in this regard,” says Indira.

Discussing some of the problems faced by the Tourism Board, Sinha highlights recessions and the need to change strategy for new markets. “We feel that we need to change our strategy and reach newer markets. We have a strong clientele from USA, UK and Europe. We see a very strong potential to reach the gulf areas for Medical Tourism.

We can also tie up with markets from South East Asia and can compete with them by attracting travellers to the state,” elaborates Sinha.

On regular interaction with the trade, “We are planning a full day promotion and interaction with the leading tour operators,” explains Sinha while further adding, “We are popular with repeat tourists, as the USP of the state is definitely its variety and diversity and sky is the limit for us, because of Tamil Nadu’s geography.”

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ANALYSIS

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

B2B not wary of online challenges The travel trade seems more confident of growing amid the various challenges being thrown by the online players and increasing instances of growing variance in prices for air, accommodation and at times, the entire packages. travel agents will continue to remain relevant, it’s important for our principals to act responsibly and not chop-off their own hands that are an important part of the overall distribution channel. Hence, at least web parity should be maintained,” he added.

VIVEK SETHI

I

n this internet driven world, World Wide Web has been opening many new opportunities and challenges for the travel trade in India. As if the competitive fares of online players were not a challenge enough, travel trade today are more often confronted by their clients, complaining about more competitive fares listed by even principles.

As per Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI, the dynamics of travel and tourism in India is such that clients trust interface with travel agents than staring at a mere interface with machine. “Airlines and hotels had been showing strong inclination and investing accordingly, in the direct selling platform like the web. We can’t stop them from approaching the customers directly, but it is not sustainable in the long run,” said Sahni.

“For instance, today, we have about 15 million outbound visitors from India,

Guldeep Singh Sahni

Subhash Goyal

Subhash Verma

President OTOAI

President IATO

President ADTOI

We initially lost our important loyal customers, while the walk-in clients simply went with the online options which as per UNWTO projection is likely to cross the 50 million mark by 2020. I don’t

The web in various instances throws certain challenges such as the attractive prices listed online most of the times act as baits think that the airlines or hoteliers can serve them through web platform and more specif-

Mostly after adding various taxes, charges, other terms and conditions; the online options end up being dearer ically without using their B2B partners, who anyway act as their extended arms. Since,

Here encouraging the travel trade to innovate further, Subhash Goyal, President, IATO, “Internet and e-commerce are a reality.

Going forward, there is only one surety that the web-based challenges will only increase.

Here, it’s the responsibility of the agents to innovate and go an extra mile in terms of opening all possible avenues to increase its top-line, even if it requires them to sell value added services like offering visa facilitation or selling travel insurances to name a few.”

“The web in various instances throws notional challenges, as the attractive prices listed online most of the times act as baits. For instance, I myself tried book-

ing an online air ticket, which initially looked more attractively priced compared to the available pricing offered through a B2B channel. But, during the booking process, I realised the final cost was higher than the B2B channel.

Hence, I returned to my offline partner to get the air ticket,” he added.

Sahni also recounts his experience of having lost a very loyal clientele, while with the new walk-in clients he witnessed a steep fall due to better fares available online. “We initially lost our important loyal customers, while the walk-in clients simply went with the online option, which caused temporary disturbances in business.

But, these clients returned with their bad experiences of having bought online and having lost all the convenience and support that a travel agent provides them on a 24*7 basis, ensuring Contd. on page 47

HOTELS

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

31

A one-stop shop for hotel safety Check Safety First forays into India promising to provide all safety solutions to hotels under one brand. They vouch for their certification and will even take care of any legal hassle after their safety checks are complete.

T T B U R E AU

T

ravel World Experiences (TWX) has launched a new venture with a UK-based company called Check Safety First. This is a 20-year-old company already operating in 33 countries. They cover 1,800 hotels worldwide and are now foraying into the India market. “We are risk management consultants and help hotels to manage risks involved in the various aspects of hotel functioning.

This includes fire, food, safety, water and other aspects,” says Vivek Angra, President-India, Check Safety First.

Vivek Angra President-India Check Safety First

“Basically we go to hotels and tell them that we are a one-stop-shop where you can get consultancy for all safety aspects of a hotel. Our robust software, E-crystal helps us grade each aspect,” adds Angra.

The company provides a consultancy and their consultant will visit the property once a month on a surprise visit and then go through around 250 safety check points at the hotel. Food safety is a core risk area and there are 250 checkpoints from the place of receiving the raw materials till the food reaches the plate finally.

“We check hygiene, temperature, environment etc, to name a few and while we do that, the software at the end of the audit provides marks to the hotel. If they get over 65, then the hotel qualifies to be on two of our websites; ‘check safety’ first website and ‘tour check’. The websites promote these hotels worldwide to the end consumers and also promotes the hotels amongst tour operators worldwide,” he explains.

Through their websites, check safety first provides a B2B and B2C marketing plan and platform for the hotels they audit and provide consultancy for.

Training programmes and sample audits have already taken place at major hotel chains in Delhi, Agra and

Jaipur. “Hotel Clarks Shiraz, Agra, is our first client,” says Angra. Discussing the revenue model he adds, “We charge the hotels a fee depending on the number of modules they choose. These can range from food checks to aqua checks,

pool checks, fire checks, eco checks, room checks, crises checks, general safety checks and tour checks.”

The food checks are applicable for independent restaurants and all aspects of hospitality where food is

involved. “Once a hotel comes on board and if we see a case of food poisoning or falling ill and legal action is being taken, we take over the case and prove due diligence at every stage. We fight every legal battle for the hotel,” says Angra.

Concluding on a strong note, Angra adds, “Our main purpose is not just the certification but training the staff also. We bring all our international knowledge from across the globe and help hotels grow safely.”

Food Safety Food safety is a core risk area. There are 250 checkpoints from the place of receiving the raw materials till the food reaches the plate finally

NTO

Touching 1mn Indian arrivals Being one the most popular destinations among Indians, Thailand is now targetting the niche travellers from India and introducing newer destinations in the Indian market.

D E N C Y M AT H E W

T

hailand received 9.1 lakh Indians in 2011 making it the most visited destination by Indians in 2011. With just one month left to go in 2012, Thailand hopes to receive 1 million Indians this year. In the last few months, all flights going to Thailand have been overbooked by at least 30 passengers. The country has been witnessing a 6 per cent increase every month from India in 2012 as compared to 2011. One of the main reasons for this positive growth is its close proximity to India, several flight connections and relatively cheaper hotel room rates as compared to Singapore, Malaysia or even at times to India.

Sethaphan Buddhani, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, says “India is a very important market for us.

A lot of Indians prefer to visit Thailand at least once in their lifetime. In fact, 60 per cent

of Indian arrivals are repeat travellers and we are very happy about that.”

To attract more repeat travellers, Buddhani said that newer destinations like Khao Yai are being introduced in

Sethaphan Buddhani Director Tourism Authority of Thailand

the Indian market and will be aggressively promoted in India for the next three years.

“A first time Indian will always do a Bangkok-Pattaya.

In their second visit, they explore the more niche destinations like Koh Samui, Krabi and Phuket. We are

introducing Khao Yai as an alternative to Pattaya in the Indian market for families to visit as it is only 250 km from Bangkok.”

In 2013, Buddhani added that they are planning on expanding their promotions to Tier-II cities like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune which they now want to tap. “Tier-I cities are well-educated about Thailand through movies, promotions etc.

We need to make our presence felt in the Tier-II cities now and also attract the niche travellers who will spend more number of days in our country.

We are also looking at promoting Thailand as a wedding destination among Indians as we have great resorts, beaches and can customise according to the Indian rituals and traditions.”

ENIT to reopen India office Italian State Tourism Board – ENIT is all geared up to reopen its office in Mumbai in mid-2013. It will also showcase the country through ‘Italia comes to you’.

A N I TA J A I N

E

NIT, which was operating its tourism office in India for 11 years, closed their office last year in December, due to some uncertain reasons.

While announcing the latest version of ‘Italia comes to you’ exhibition in India, Ivano Fucci, Project Coordinator,

from India to Italy. Meanwhile, ENIT has also organised an elaborated exhibition called ‘Italia comes to you’ in Mumbai featuring music, beauty, fashion, history, culture and gastronomy of the

latest information on Italy, we are organising a 3-hour certified training programme for them. We have also included an interactive seminar - ‘Experience Italy! The new path of

Why India is important?

Speaking to , Fucci informed that India is an important tourist source market for Italy and during their absence in the country; the tourism board had maintained their business relationships with the travel trade partners in India. He said, “India is an important market for us with significant increase in tourist arrivals of 1,97,000 in 2010 which equals to 4,61,000 overnights as per the Official Statistics of the Italian National Institute for Statistics (ISTAT) and we expect these numbers to grow further.

Ivano Fucci Project Coordinator Italia comes to you Event, ENIT

Italia comes to you Event, ENIT announced that the Tourism Board will be reopening its office in India by mid2013 in Mumbai, India. Once the office comes in place, it will come out with concrete marketing and business plans to increase tourism traffic

country. Similar exhibitions will take place in New Delhi (Dec 5-9) and Bengaluru (Dec 17-21). The exhibition will also include a training programme, an interactive seminar and a B2B workshop with Italian suppliers. Through this exhibition we have made a strong push to provide an experience of the rich culture and vibrancy of Italy which caters to the likes of the evolving Indian travellers.”

He said, “To update our travel agent partners with

Italian tourism in India’, in which we have invited delegates from travel associations like TAAI and TAFI to participate in the seminar. Moreover, with 25 Italian suppliers (60 per cent hoteliers, 30 per cent ground handlers and 10 per cent attractions), we have also organised one-onone B2B meetings for travel agents.” Overall, ENIT aims to attract over 200 travel agents in all the three cities during this exhibition.

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EXHIBITIONS

Strong networking during WTM 2012 Every year, the travel and tourism industry looks forward to World Travel Market (WTM) held in November at ExCel in London. The market provides the perfect platform to learn and discuss the latest business trends in the industry. While WTM helps some in generating new deals, the others make the best of this platform to showcase their products and network on an international level.There were over 110 Indian exhibitors from the trade, State Governments and Union Territories participating this year. Find out what our industry members have to say post WTM 2012...

T T B U R E AU

Amit Mitra

S Gokula Indira

Minister-In-charge, Finance & Excise Department, Government of West Bengal

Minister For Tourism, Tamil Nadu We are happy with the response. WTM is a good experience for understanding the expectations of the tourists and the travel agents. We can learn and get full knowledge of products that were exhibited there. This helps us in improving our offering, learn more and attract a larger number of tourists.

No state in India has the mountains as well as beaches and no state has the delta area like the Sundarbans. Very few cities in the world are like Kolkata which is a living culture and a center of films, art and culture, so we are selling mountains, foothills, Sundarbans, cruises, Kolkata as a city and its art & craft. WTM was a wonderful experience and everyone is saying that Bengal is on the rise and in a few years, Bengal will be a big tourist destination in India.

Chandana Khan

Ashwini Kakkar Executive Vice-Chairman, Mercury Travels On the first business day, we had a good number of trade visitors but the general footfalls were lower. I think in terms of trade meetings fixed in advance, they worked out very well. So far, it seems to be a positive world travel market for us.

Raja Natesan

Special Chief Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh I attended the WTM event after five years. I think it’s become more focussed and business oriented. We did not just showcase what we can offer but also leveraged it for more business development and better outcomes. I got the opportunity to talk to tour operators and a lot of them were keen in bringing groups to Andhra Pradesh

Apurv Kumar

Chief Operating Officer, TUI India

Managing Director, Clarks Group of Hotels

This time, WTM has been more about knowing what you want and knowing where to get it. If you have been sitting in one place and expecting things to happen then that hasn’t happened but if you have gone out and reached out to people then a lot has happened. I am very happy with the event.

Our meetings have been fruitful and the response has been positive about India where ever we go but we have not created a cohesive image about India. We are the oldest hotel company in India and our meetings and businesses have been very consistent but even then India can get more.

G Sathyavathi Director, Department of Tourism, Karnataka It’s my first visit to WTM and I think it’s been a fantastic experience. WTM provides a stage for every country, to showcase their tourism potential and also provide an exposure for everyone to see what the other countries are doing while networking with each other. WTM is a good platform for the tourism industry.

Om Vijay Choudhary Chief General Manager, Madhya Pradesh Tourism We look at WTM as a platform for interaction and publicity of the state and to showcase our products. We find it very genuine and realistic. This year has been good. Luckily, we have been able to interact with agents and operators who have had apprehensions about Tiger Tourism in the state and we have been able to satisfy them and also planned a roadshow for the future.

Jai Sreedhar

Vikas Abbott

General Manager- Leisure Sales and Marketing, The Leela Palace, Hotels and Resorts

Managing Director, Vasco Travel

The key decision makers and right agents were present at the WTM this year. Especially at this time, when the market is coming out of depression, it was good to reconnect with people. WTM is more a visibility event. The UK market is so important to us that we all need to be visible here.

WTM has been very interesting for us as we were able to identify a lot of potential for our company. UK is our next focus market and we see a lot of opportunity for our product. We have made good contacts at WTM this year and it’s been a good show for us. We participated for the first time and are very happy with it. We had a majority of prefixed interviews with a very few walk-ins.

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FAMILY ALBUM

7 Kazakhstan-India Travel & Tourism Fair th

The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to India, Kazakhstan’s national carrier Air Astana and its GSA CozyDeepika Group welcomed the Indian travel trade at the seventh Kazakhstan-India Travel and Tourism Fair. The event saw many high-profile delegates of the ministry and eminent travel trade from both the countries of India and Kazakhstan.

40 TRAVTALK

DECEMBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

ANALYSIS

Agents voice their opinions on challenges In the recently held on ‘What is the biggest challenge faced by a travel agency today to grow their business’, we received a huge response from the industry. We are glad that a few travel agents contributed with thought provoking opinions. Following are the comments: T T B U R E AU This is the time to change the focus to innovative ideas by promoting special tour packages, which needs better knowledge of the destination. Travel agencies will have to find ways to withstand this competition by devising cost effective packages and tour operators will have to focus on developing niche products and customised packages with multiple interests. We need to change with times, as we all understand that competition is survival of the fittest.

Mohan Tickoo MD, Kash' Venture Travels, New Delhi I feel the biggest challenge to grow business in the travel trade is its unorganised structure. There is a dearth of travel professionals and no set ethics or parameters to run the business that are uniform across all companies.

Amit Mandpe Deputy Manager – MICE Contracting, Cox & Kings, Mumbai

What’s ailing the Tourism Industry today?

No commission, lot of taxes, technology or something else?

Answer is a little different. a) No Commission offered by air lines, hotels and transporters.

Take for example a hotel whose published rate for room is ` 5,000 per day. The Hotel offers 25% commission to agent. This would mean ` 4,000 is the realisation for the hotel.

Let us assume that the hotel has a 15% mark-up so the actual cost of the room is ` 3,260. The customer who has paid ` 5,000 gets service equivalent to ` 3,260 only. Therefore, when the tourist purchases air tickets, hotel bookings or transport through the Internet, he saves lot of money which otherwise would have gone to the agent.

BUT – the tourist does not know which hotel would be most suitable for him or which airlines

connection would save him time or which transport would be ideal to travel to a given location. Here comes the function of a travel agent who would recommend to the tourist exact requirements. The travel agent has 2 options – a) Charge professional fees or b) Recommend a hotel and transport which offers the agent highest commission.

Unfortunately, the agent would revert to the latter option as it would be much easier than gathering knowledge of the place through books, the Internet or travelling to see the hotel before recommending it.

Let us consider another example of a lawyer or dentist. In both these professions, the fee is paid as professional charges for service. There is no guarantee that the lawyer would win your case

or the dentist would perfectly set the tooth. Still people pay them in advance to avail services. The travel agent has to build up his goodwill or brand similarly so that tourists approach the agency, whenever they have to travel. b) Lack of destination knowledge is a big problem. Why a tourist should visit India from let us say Russia? What are the places the tourist would be looking for?

How much money would he like to spend in India? What would he like to eat? (A group of tourists came back from India and complained about food.

They were offered Bread ‘pakora’ for breakfast, ‘Dal’ at lunch.) It clearly shows lack of knowledge on the part of tour operators in India about their clients. If the tour operator can inform the tourist in advance that the location they wish to

visit does not have amenities that they would expect, then there would be no problem. c) Opportunities Therefore, let us be optimistic and not worry about commission, taxes, but gear ourselves for meeting demands of tourists, providing proper services, improving infrastructure, choice of destination and finally a smiling face to say good bye. The tour operator would earn more money this way than he could have earned by way of commission.

Let the tour operator understand that his income is coming from tourists and not from airlines, hotels or transporters.

Arun Kumar Director, TOO RAGA Kazakhstan

RAILWAYS

Luxury on wheels builds momentum Luxury never comes cheap but, if a discerning traveller is willing to shell out those extra bucks, then the luxury trains in India are pulling all stops, to make their journey an unforgettable one.

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

“A

ir travel is so expensive, let’s take a train”, this is an oft-heard conversation at all homes. But then if a train ride costs ten times more than your airfare, then you know that the experience will not be forgotten in a hurry. And why not, after all the facilities on-board offer every indulgence imaginable, from spa facilities on-board right down to customised cutlery for the guests!

As Pradip Kundu, Joint General Manager-PR, IRCTC, rightly puts it, “Much of the new boom in luxury trains has come in Asia. When it comes to luxury rail tours, India leads the way with as many as 6 luxury trains offering unique cultural experiences across destinations in India. India’s rise in the industry was acknowledged during the World Travel Award Ceremony 2012 in Qatar where India was voted as ‘World’s Leading Travel Destination’. So, this indeed is an exciting time for the luxury travel segment in India. The luxury trains in India mainly target Europe… particularly UK, USA, Japan, West Asia and South-East Asia as potential market.”

Exciting is definitely the keyword for luxury trains in India, as Indians are climbing higher up the global economic ladder, they

Pradip Kundu Joint General Manager-PR IRCTC

When it comes to luxury rail tours, India leads the way with as many as 6 luxury trains offering unique cultural experiences across destinations in India have more disposable income and are now willing to spend more to make their holidays, a memorable experience. Even though the market for luxury trains is mostly from foreign tourists, but the number of Indians travelling on luxury trains within India has also increased.

As CD Dyavaiah, Managing Director, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation says, “The Golden Chariot started in the year 2008 with 23 per cent occupancy. In the year 2011-12 the same has reached to 40 per cent showcasing a steady growth of market for the train.

Most of our international travellers are from Europe, USA, Australia, Canada and South America. When we stared the train in 2008, the occupancy level of Indian travellers was just 5 per cent while the same has increased to around 20 per cent in the year 2011-12, this indicates that the train is becoming popular not only among international travellers but also among domestic tourists.”

However, as Kundu points out, “This growth is not as much as the growth in Indians travelling abroad for

to explore history as it directly relates to one's life. The number of such Indians travelling on luxury trains has marked a considerable growth over the past couple of years. Consider this, by some estimates, the global ranks of middle class doubled over the last 20 years. On Maharajas’ Express, we envelop our passengers in a fascinating and an unforgettable cocoon of luxury and bespoke opulence. The cause for concern could be, however, that the global economic slowdown has impacted the tourist market. There could be at least 8-10 per cent dip in total inbound tourists, especially those coming from the USA and UK.” Out there to ensure that the journey with them is an unforgettable experience, luxury trains are now offering a slice of royal life to discern-

When we stared the train in 2008, the occupancy level of Indian travellers was just 5 per cent while the same has increased to around 20 per cent in the year 2011-12 CD Dyavaiah, Managing Director, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation vacations. But Indians, residing abroad, prefer to travel back to India, with families, to connect to their roots and

Europe visited on a fam

The month of October saw a group of Indian travel agents discover Switzerland, France and Germany from October 8-14. This European sojourn was organised by Rail Europe in collaboration with its partners – Switzerland Tourism, Strasbourg Tourism Office, Stuttgart Marketing & The State Tourist Board, Hochschwarzwald Tourismus and Heidelberg Marketing. The participants in the fam visited Gstaad and Interlaken in Switzerland; Strasbourg in France; Stuttgart, Titisee, Black Forest Region and Heidelberg in Germany.

ing travellers giving them an excellent way to explore the country without having to compromise on comfort.

Greek Visa Application Centres The Embassy of Greece in New Delhi extended the facility for the collection of visa applications and delivery process to eight new Indian cities with the appointment of VFS Global. VFS Global already offers this facility in New Delhi and has now extended it to cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Jalandhar, Kochi, Kolkata and Puducherry. The service centre charges Rs 807 (exclusive of Embassy visa fee) in New Delhi and will charge Rs 1,403 (exclusive of Embassy visa fee) in the new cities as service fee from visa applicants of Indian origin. The cost will include two way courier charges for transfer of the visa applications to New Delhi (from the other 8 cities) and returning the passports at the Schengen Visa Application Centres in the respective cities.

AVIATION Find What You Seek...

Contd. from page 1

and deliver the international visitors the experience they seek. Our International campaign is called - ‘Find What You Seek’ - highlighting the fact that India offers a wide range of experience like no other destination offers including conventional, cultural, heritage, history, nature-based experience to niche products like adventure, sports, eco, golf, and wellness too.

“We will focus on encouraging our domestic travellers with another campaign called - Go Beyond which will help them explore newer destinations in India.

They will also be ensured of smooth connectivity and world-class infrastructure at all the tourist attractions. We shall also build on our campaign ‘Clean India’ to offer hygienic and clean environment,” he added.

Chiranjeevi in his address also made a point to dispel the overt image that destination India has being termed as an expensive destination. “We offer the ultimate experience to travellers, seeking the best of luxury and hospitality backed by our ethos of treating our guests like God and world acclaimed accommodation options. We are a destination for all and provide affordable facilities with world-class experiences even for the budgeted travellers,” he explained.

Calling Tourists MOT’s international campaign is called - Find What You Seek - highlighting the fact that India offers a wide range of experience MOT will focus on encouraging domestic travellers with the campaign - Go Beyond

He also shared his happiness on having a separate India Pavilion for the first time at WTM event. “This year, India participated in WTM in a big way. We had 1,015 sq m of space as compared to 896 sq m last year, while the private players has taken over 1,300 sq m,” informed the Minister.

“India welcomed 6.29 million international visitors in 2011, registering a growth of over 8.9 per cent YoY. This year during JanuarySeptember, we have built on the momentum to 9.9 per cent growth rate in tourist arrivals. We hope to deploy the three fold increase in our tourism budget over the 12th Plan Period to create an additional 25 million employment opportunities in the tourism industry,” he added.

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New payment gateway by Qatar Airways A new booking feature has been initiated where customers can pay for reservations made on its website at any of its local office.

T T B U R E AU

T

he new solution offers greater flexibility to passengers who can now create bookings online (without any additional charges) and pay for these bookings in cash at a local Qatar Airways reservations and ticketing office.

Payment must be completed within 24 hours of creating the booking on its web-portal. Passengers who prefer to pay with credit cards can still complete their travel arrangements online.

Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways said that the new

on-hold booking functionality was introduced to give passengers more payment choices. “This solution is both user-friendly and gives passengers greater flexibility. Qatar Airways is committed to continually innovating and improving our products and services to enhance the

travel experience for our customers” Over the next few months, Qatar Airways will launch services to a diverse portfolio of new routes, including Warsaw, Poland (December 5), Gassim, Saudi Arabia (Jan 7, 2013); and Chicago, USA (April 10, 2013).

Akbar Al Baker Chief Executive Officer Qatar Airways

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FAMILY ALBUM

Network Talk goes international and Shaftesbury Hotels together hosted cocktails and dinner in London at the Grand Royale London Hyde Park on November 5, 2012, which saw friends and well wishers in London for the World Travel Market stream in through the evening. Spirits were high, the food was outstanding, service gracious and the ambience was warm and cozy, considering the cold weather outside. It was a great social networking evening, enjoyed by one and all.

Ramesh Arora (Shaftesbury Hotels) and SanJeet (TravTalk) made the perfect hosts.

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A roaring success in London

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Internet Moguls host the trade royally Moguls called upon their travel partners to celebrate and thank them for their support in making them a leading digital marketing agency, while also announcing fresh slew of initiatives.

ANALYSIS

Delhi hotels go East The East Delhi hoteliers feel that with the presence of new hotels in the region, F&B, banqueting and MICE business are now bouncing back.

M E G H A PAU L

A

s the capital city of India now evolves from being a macro to a micro market in the recent times, emergence of business within the city and the NCR has been witnessed. One of the areas which has now emerged as a new playground for hoteliers is the Shahdara region in East Delhi. The region will soon be home to at least four branded luxury hotels, including international and domestic hotel players.

Hoteliers in the region unanimously feel that residents of this area are, to a large part, affluent business families. In the absence of options, they had no choice but to travel to Central and South Delhi for business and recreation. But this business is now expected to bounce back in the region.

One of the international brands that has opened doors in the region recently is the Europe-based Kempinski Hotels. Re-entering the Indian hospitality market with its partnership with the Delhibased Ambience Group, its first property Kempinski Ambience Hotel Delhi cashes in on the virgin location. According to Vella Ramasawmy, General Manager, Kempinski Ambience Hotel Delhi, the hotel is betting big on the unsaturated market of Shahdara. “This flagship luxury property is strategically located in the capital’s most developed district by most standards, as released by the recent Census data on houses, household amenities and assets. The hotel is strategically located and is well-connected to the airport, Metro stations and prominent entertainment

Vella Ramasawmy

Siddharth Chaudhry

General Manager Kempinski Ambience Hotel Delhi

General Manager Park Plaza Shahdara

Kempinski Ambience will be an icon that would be part of the rise of East Delhi destinations in Delhi and Noida,” he reveals. The 2010 Commonwealth Games changed the face of East Delhi and this hotel is going to be an icon that would be part of the rise of East Delhi, Ramasawmy adds.

As sheer luxury finds new grounds, the first Kempinski Hotel in India will have 480 rooms and suites encased within two towers, a 25,000 sq. ft. pillarless ballroom -- the largest in a fivestar deluxe hotel in India accommodating up to 6,000 guests, two swimming pools with Jacuzzi and water curtains, spa with hammam treatment room, two fitness centres, a yoga deck and other facilities, he claims.

Sarovar Hotels has also announced the opening of Park Plaza in Shahdara CBD (Central Business District).

This upscale full service busi-

There is a big market in East Delhi and Ghaziabad from where we expect business visitors ness hotel is the company’s 11th property in Delhi and NCR and will fill the much-needed gap for a luxury hotel in East Delhi.

Says Siddharth Chaudhry, General Manager, Park Plaza Shahdara, “South and Central Delhi have already got saturated and there is a minimal scope for growth.

Gurgaon and Noida have also become more mature markets. Thus, the competitiveness in terms of rooms drives up the average room rates (ARRs) in these areas.

East Delhi is thus the upcoming option.” The 91-key hotel with four F&B outlets is targetting primarily corporate travellers from the nearby industrial hubs. “There is a huge captive market in East Delhi and Ghaziabad. We expect business visitors from areas in Patparganj and Sahibabad,” he adds.

Geared up to combat competition Contd. from page 28

flexibility and easing out the stress especially in emergency situations.”

“Here, web parity will ensure mutually beneficial business environment for both the principles and its agents. A small chunk of people that the web infrastructure of principles can support will continue to purchase online, while the B2B channel will continue to supply the bulk business. Trade associations including OTOAI are now joining hands to come forward and ensure web parity. We have received some initial success in terms of

assurances from our principles and are hopeful that going forward web parity will be the mutually settled norm,” he added.

Surely, on the flip side, the online travel options faces stiff competition, in terms of the flexibility and service, that only the travel trade can offer to its clientele. Subhash Verma, President, ADTOI, is also quick to highlight the flexibility, support and service that the travel agents offer unlike the online travel options. “Only in a few cases, one may find online price to be more competitive. But, mostly after adding various taxes, charges, other terms

and conditions; the online options end up being dearer.

Also, there had been instances, where various airlines or hotels put some fraction of their inventory online that is 5-10 per cent attractive than the cost quoted by the travel agents,” said Verma.

“Such practices are against business ethics. One also needs to understand that in most cases, a traveller wishes to avail online prices along with offline support, which is not possible. Travel agents should educate their clients of the various advantages and support that travel agents offer by being a facilitator,” he added.

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WTM 2012 starts with a thundering applause The first three days of the World Travel Market 2012, the leading global event for the travel industry, experienced an impressive visitor increase of 4 per cent. The 3-day event witnessed 38,735 visitors walk through the doors of ExCeL – London to attend the event. This compares to 37,331 across the first three days of WTM 2011.

Contd. on page 52

NEWS

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Argentina calls all Indians

Seminar on Tiger Tourism

Understanding the potential of Indian outbound tourism sector, The National Institute of Tourism Promotion (INPROTUR) – Argentina appointed Mumbai-based Knack Marketing as their official representative in India.

reserves. To ignore this reality and to portray all Wildlife Tourism as one homogeneous, benevolent entity is highly misleading, he adds.

A N I TA J A I N

T

he main agenda of having a representation in India is to develop the Indian outbound market for Argentina, educate the travel trade about the destination, build destination awareness among the trade and travellers along with developing marketing and promotional activities. From South America, Argentina is the first country to have an official representation in India for tourism and aims to position itself as a mono-destination for the Indian travellers.

When asked if it’s a challenge or an opportunity, Medha Sampat, Founder, Knack Marketing said, “Promoting a new destination is India is always a great opportunity, as it’s exciting to position a new destination, among the trade and travellers. Argentina has an amazing variety of tourism

attractions to select from (Argentina is the main tourism receptor in South America, with 5.8 million overseas visitors annually, even surpassing Brail) and we would like Indians to spend maximum time in exploring the country as a mono destination. As a BRIC member, every day, India shows the world the soundness of its economy and this evidently translates into the tourism industry.

Around 15 million Indians travel abroad and Argentina intends to attract a percentage of this number.”

Knack Marketing will encourage the travel agents and tour operators to promote Argentina, assist them in customising and building various packages for differ-

shows before targetting the end consumer. We are looking at developing the market with a long-term perspective. The trade will be made to experience the destination and FAM trips will be organised.”

Medha Sampat Founder Knack Marketing

ent age groups, developing packages covering variety of products suitable for the Indian market.

Sampat said, “Argentina is exotic and will be positioned in such a way that it becomes a ‘must visit’ destination it on the map of Indian travellers. There’s something for everyone…! We will commence with the training of the trade and then continue with mono Argentina road-

Knack Marketing represented INPROTUR Argentina early this year in India for various travel trade fairs a nd exhibitions. Sampat informed that the destination has recorded a growth of almost five per cent between January – June 2012 as compared to the same period in 2011 which shows the impact of bringing Argentinean travel suppliers and communicating with Indian travel trade. She adds, “Indeed, the new air connections to Argentina (through South African Airways, Qatar Airways and Emirates) will make it a more attractive destination for Indian tourists who want to visit the country.”

Contd. from page 3

Going forward, the key to success would be the publicly-owned wildlife reserves that should be accessible to budget travellers at reasonable costs, even as commercial tourism expands outwards in ever widening circles. Suggesting on a new model for the future, the conservationist points out, “I have proposed a model that is closer to the South African model of Wildlife Tourism, which industry advocates now demand in India. This model includes well-run, properly zoned national parks like Kruger that benefit large numbers of less-affluent tourists. These are surrounded and buffered by an expanding network of private reserves catering to visitors with deeper pockets.”

Highlighting the importance of the Tiger Trust, Anjana Gosain, Honorary Secretary, Tiger Trust says, “Tiger Trust is a national organisation working

Dr. K Ullas Karanth Biologist

To portray Wildlife Tourism as one homogeneous entity is highly misleading towards conservation of wildlife and its habitat with special emphasis on saving wild tigers.”

Pinning hopes on the future of tiger and Tiger Tourism in the country, Amit Sankhala, Managing Director, Jungle Lodges feels, “The present generation of students are the watchdog for the future of tiger survival.”.

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A big time affair

Contd. on page 54

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WTM 2012: A building block for business

Contd. on page 56

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Visitors up by 4% for the first 3 days

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STATISTICS

BRICS: Future powerhouse of tourism DECEMBER 2012 5

Chennai

6-9

Turkey

7-9 7-9 8-16 10-12

Lucknow Guwahati Paris Guangzhou

12

Gurgaon

12-13 13-15

Brussels Dubai

19

Hyderabad

20

Kolkata

Canadian Tourism Commission Agents Training Programme Travel Turkey Izmir Tourism Fair & Conference India Travel Mart Holiday Expo Salon Piscine & Spa Guangzhou International Hotel Equipments & Supplies Exhibition World Travel Awards Grand Final 2012 Brussels Travel Expo Dubai International Outdoor Show Canadian Tourism Commission Agents Training Programme Canadian Tourism Commission Agents Training Programme

JANUARY 2013 4-6 8-13

Chennai Gujarat

9

Coimbatore

11

Mangalore

11-13 14

Bengaluru Pune

16-17

New Delhi

16-18 18-20

New Delhi Kochi

19 20-22 21 21 22 23 23 24 24-27

Kolkata Guwahati Mumbai Mumbai Ahmedabad Kolkata Chennai New Delhi Singapore

25-27 25-27 25-27

Switzerland Coimbatore Nagpur

25-27 30-3

Germany Spain

5

Mumbai

Travel & Tourism Fair International Travel Tourism & Hospitality Expo Tourism Authority of Thailand’s B2B Event Tourism Authority of Thailand’s B2B Event Travel & Tourism Fair Tourism Authority of Thailand’s B2B Event FICCI’s Conclave on Investment in Tourism Infrastructure 2013 Tourism Malaysia’s Roadshow India International Travel Mart Cochin Tourism Malaysia’s Roadshow ATOAI’s Annual Convention Tourism Malaysia’s Roadshow Tourism Fiji’s Roadshow Tourism Fiji’s Roadshow Tourism Fiji’s Roadshow Tourism Malaysia’s Roadshow Tourism Fiji’s Roadshow Zak Salaam India Tourism Expo - Singapore Travel Expo Holiday Expo India International Travel Exhibition Leisure Travel Market Fitur

FEBRUARY 2013 Austrian National Tourist Office’s B2B Event 6 Chennai Austrian National Tourist Office’s B2B Event 7 New Delhi Austrian National Tourist Office’s B2B Event 12 Ahmedabad Tourism Philippines’ Roadshow 13 Kolkata Tourism Philippines’ Roadshow 22 Ahmedabad MGTO’s Trade Workshop 22 Mumbai Canadian Tourism Commission Agents Training Programme Canadian Tourism Commission 25 Delhi Agents Training Programme 25-26 New Delhi ATOUT France’s Paris Promotion 27-1 Mumbai ATOUT France’s Paris Promotion 27- 2 Jaipur Canadian Tourism Commission’s Focus Canada India For more information, contact us at: talk@ddppl.com

WTM surveyed its key exhibitors and senior Meridian Club buyers to discover the central issues for the industry. The findings form the backbone for the World Travel Market 2012 Industry Report. Excerpts: T T B U R E AU Emerging Travel and Tourism Markets: The BRICS The emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have long been highlighted as the future powerhouses of the travel and tourism industry.

In fact, the BRICS have featured heavily in all three World Travel Market Industry Reports. In the 2010 report, almost half (47%) of the industry saw the BRIC nations (minus South Africa at that stage) as one of the biggest growth opportunities

until 2014, with almost one in three (28.6%) seeing them as the single biggest opportunity over the same period.

Last year, almost two-thirds (65%) of the industry viewed South Africa as important as the other BRIC markets, after it was admitted to the group.

Outbound tourism from the BRICS More than half (53%) of those polled ranked China as either the most important or second most important market for outbound tourists.

More than a quarter (26%) voted China the most important of the five countries for

outbound tourists, with a further 27% placing it as the second most important.

Russia isn’t too far behind with almost half (48%) voting it as the most important or second most important market, with an even 24% split for both positions. India polled 36% for the top two positions, however with only 15% voting it the number one position for outbound tourists.

Inbound tourism to the BRICs More than half (53%) voted China as the most or second most important des-

tination for inbound tourism to the country, with 28% putting it in first place and 26% in second position. China is some way in front of the other BRICS nations regarding inbound tourism with Brazil in second place on 42%, 24% for the first spot and 18% for second place.

Russia and India follow in third and fourth place with 37% and 36% respectively.

Almost a fifth (18%) voted Russia as the top destination for inbound tourism with 19% placing it second.

India had 15% voting in the top spot and 21% in second place.

Singapore opens new tourism spots The Singapore Tourism Board launched its second phase of marketing that is specially customised for the Indian market highlighting the new tourism offerings to entice the Indian travellers to visit or revisit Singapore.

‘Singapore – The Holiday You Take Home With You’ campaign showcases its recent openings like Gardens By The Bay, Marina Bay Cruise Centre, Marina Life Park at the Resorts World Sentosa and River Safari.

The campaign targets the leisure travellers from India and is partnered by Thomas Cook, Mercury Travels, MakeMyTrip and Kuoni India.

Singapore received 13.2 million tourist arrivals in 2011 and

targets to receive 14.5 million in 2012. It received 22.33 billion tourism receipts in 2011 out of which India accounted for 5 per cent. With 189 flights per week to Singapore from 11 cities across India, Singapore is literally rolling out the red carpet for India. The latest addition of Silk Air connectivity from Vizag to Singapore has also tremendously added inbound traffic to the country from India. India is the largest foreign source market for cruises in Singapore and with the opening of Marina Bay Cruise Centre, Singapore Tourism hopes to have more Indians cruising on its shores.

“India is a huge and important market for us.

We have received a 6 per cent growth from India in the first quarter of 2012.

India is fifth on our tourist arrivals list and Indians are the third highest spenders in Singapore.

We hope to attract many more Indians and repeat tourists through our new marketing campaign. The reason we partnered with the four travel agents is because they have a huge client base and also have

‘Champions of Indian Golf’ Jeev Milkha Singh announced that he is hosting the ‘Shubhkamna Champions’, a new tournament featuring the strongest star cast of the Indian champion golfers from December 21 – 23 at the 18 hole par 72, Noida Golf Club. Turkish Airlines which recently hosted the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final in Antalya featuring Tiger Woods and Rory Mcilroy is the airline partner while The Suryaa which is located close to Noida is the official hotel partner of the tournament.

The tournament has been promoted and marketed by RN Golf Management, headed by former Asian Games Gold Medallist in golf, Rishi Narain.

Chang Chee Pey Executive Director South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Singapore Tourism Board

a pan India presence. We are however looking at working with other Indian travel agents to drive customer interest and connect with the Indian travellers to make their trips to Singapore,” says Chang Chee Pey, Executive Director, South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Singapore Tourism Board.

QUICK READ The total domestic passengers carried by the scheduled domestic airlines in the month of October 2012 were 45.55 lakh. The total domestic passengers carried by the scheduled domestic airlines in the month of September 2012 were 40.18 lakh

FAMILY ALBUM

‘Star’ honours starry performance Star Cruises hosted a gala night with awards function where they honoured several agents and tourism boards who have helped them become a successful brand in India. The event also saw the top management of Star Cruises interacting with the Indian tour operators and members of the tourism boards.

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The Indian Hotels Company Limited Mumbai Cyrus P Mistry is the new appointed Chairman Designate of

MOVEMENTS International Congress and Convention Association Hyderabad

The Indian Hotels Company Limited and will take over as the Chairman of the company in December 2012. Mistry has been a Director of Tata Sons Limited since 2006 and he was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons Limited in November 2011. He joined the board of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co as director in 1991 and was appointed Managing Director of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group in 1994.

Jaipur Marriott Jaipur Rohit Dar is the new General Manager for Jaipur Marriott. A sea-

Jaideep Khanna is appointed as the new Chairperson of International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). He is also the General Manager - Sales Marketing & Distribution for the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. Khanna is confident that with the help of the association, he and his team will be able to deliver instant access to a range of research, sales and marketing opportunities.

soned hotelier, he started his career with the Oberoi Hotels in 1990. Spanning his career, he has worked with several hotels including The Oberoi, New Delhi; Trident, Cochin; The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur and Imperial Hotel, New Delhi. He has also held the position of General Manager at the Oakwood Premier Prestige, Bengaluru.

Dar holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Hotel Management from Oberoi School of Hotel Management and completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Studies from Delhi University.

Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield Bengaluru

DJ Group New Delhi

Savannah Sinclairs Bengaluru

Matthew Cooper is appointed as the new General Manager of Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield that is set to open in January 2013. In this new profile, he will be responsible for the operational set up and steering of the overall management of the hotel. Prior to this assignment, Cooper was the General Manager of Courtyard by Marriott, Gurgaon, where he was responsible for overseeing the entire operations and business of the hotel right from its preopening stages. He has been a part of Marriott for the last 14 years.

Akhil Mathur has recently been appointed as the Vice President – Hospitality of the DJ Group, New Delhi. His last assignment was as the Director of Business Development at Hilton New Delhi, Janakpuri. With an experience track record spanning more than 23 years in the hospitality industry, Mathur has held senior assignments with distinguished international brands such as Le Meridien, Leela, Hyatt Regency and Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza. In his present profile, his primary mandate is to develop, plan, grow and manage the overall Corporate Business domain of DJ Group’s Hospitality Division.

Swajib Chatterjee has been appointed as the new General Manager of Savannah Sinclairs – Bengaluru. In his over 16 year of association with the hospitality industry in different areas, his last assignment was with Radisson Blu, Ranchi as Executive Assistant Manager. Prior to that, he worked as a Food and Beverage Manager at Radisson Blu, Ranchi. He completed his Hotel Management from Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Bhubaneswar (Under National Council, PUSA, New Delhi).

Chapman Freeborn Delhi

The Raintree Hotel Anna Salai Chennai

Holiday Inn Cochin Kochi

Snigdha Roy has joined Chapman Freeborn as Business

Piyush Tyagi joins The Raintree Hotel Anna Salai Chennai as

Development Manager – Passenger in India.

In this present profile, she will be working with existing and potential clients as well as tap the opportunity to grow business in new and existing markets.

Roy comes with over four years of experience working in marketing and sales and for two years has specialised within the aviation and charter market. Her previous role was as Business Development Manager for Bafna Aviation India.

Joji K Joshua has been appointed as the new Executive Chef

the new Executive Assistant Manager. He has a strong hotel experience of 13 years and has played an important role at senior leadership positions in couple of hi-end pre-openings. Tyagi has done his graduation from IHM, Mumbai and got selected by Taj Hotels and worked in various capacities in Taj for close to 9 years in Mumbai, Delhi, Goa and Jaipur. After which he moved to Ista Hotels following Westing Hotels.

at Holiday Inn Cochin. He is an internationally reputed chef with more than 34 years of culinary art and hospitality industry experience in luxury hotels across India and Middle East. A native of Kerala and a multi-linguist, Joji has been with the Intercontinental Hotels Group since the past 26 years. Prior to this profile, he was the Executive Chef in Riyadh Conference Palace of InterContinental Hotels Group since 1992.

Sandie Dawe, Chief Executive Officer, Visit Britain says, “I am Scottish and was born and brought up in Sri Lanka. I like to swim and do yoga that helps me rejuvenate. I was very active in sports sometimes back.” He adds that he loves to travel, although it’s most often work-related. “In India, if I have a choice, I will love to explore Tamil Nadu and spend quality time at lesser known tourist attractions, in addition to going on the golden Triangle tour,” he says.

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: Vivek Sethi, Anita Jain & Megha Paul

Sandie Dawe

Catherine Oden, Director, ATOUT France India loves reading,

Catherine Oden Director ATOUT France India

travelling, spas and Indian thalis. She also loves experimenting with different cuisines. Oden is a person whose favourite author is the one that plays with emotions, takes her to unusual places and situations and feeds her with meaningful information. Her perfect evening can be defined with few hours of relaxing spa, fun time with friends and a glass of elegant wine (or a good beer depending on the mood and the company). Talking about her love for books, she says, “My different missions have taken me to different countries and each time, I try to read a lot about the country I live in or about the next one that I will discover. From history to art, from religion to gastronomy to novels pertaining to the countries I have been to... along with music and films. My home has become a fairly sophisticated world tourist board cum book/music/film library.”

Chief Executive Officer Visit Britain

Riaz Munshi, Vice President, OTOAI, is a fitness freak. “I hit the gym regularly to stay fit. I used to be a sports fanatic during my college days and played cricket every week. However, now I only get time to watch it on the television set,” he chuckles.

A true outbound specialist, Munshi loves travelling to the Far East and New Zealand. “New Zealand has a lot of scope for adventure activities. This makes it one of my favourite places. I have done sky diving there as well,” he adds.

Riaz Munshi Vice President OTOAI

Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 15th-16th of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91 Date of Publication:30-11-2012

HIGHLIGHT

ITQ’s advanced technology cuts costs As per JB Singh, President and CEO, InterGlobe Technology Quotient (ITQ), the hospitality industry is likely to witness a dynamic change in operations with hospitality players investing in new ideas and technologies to drive their revenue and services.

Hospitality in India VIVEK SETHI

I

TQ has invested heavily in research and development of the products that will make their travel partners conduct business on more remunerative terms in near future. In fact, they have a refreshed approach that will create new benchmarks, increase its foot print and conquer new business beyond air content. Here are the exclusive excerpts:

In the last couple of years, the growth in the number of travellers in India has been dominated by the domestic traveller, thereby increasing the customer’s propensity to spend on hotel reservations and other ancillary services. The hospitality industry is growing up to witness a shift in the room requirements by hotels. With a projected increase of 937 million travellers over the next ten years, a lot is needed to support the growing

demand of tourism in the country. One such requirement is the number of hotel rooms; India will need, in the next couple of years.

According to a research, India would need roundly 1,88,500 additional hotel rooms by 2021. Also, with the growing access to major Tier-II and Tier-III cities, a lot of hotel chains are exploring opportunities to build properties and deliver facilities and services to cater to local residential demand and generate major proportion of

their revenues. The hospitality industry is likely to witness a dynamic change in operations with more and more hospitality players investing in new ideas and technologies to drive their revenues and services.

Advancement in technology would not only help hotels in estimating the returns on each investment thereby reducing the cost of operations but will also help in attracting new business and ensuring continued business with existing clients.

Changing demand dynamics Consumer behaviour The hospitality sector operates on a highly dynamic business model and the major challenge faced by this sector is the fast changing consumer habits and attitude. With the evolution of the global market, consumer demands and expectations are increasing rapidly. The need of the hour is not only to attract new customers but to concentrate on retaining existing ones.

Another challenge that remains untapped by most hospitality players is the absence of a structured CRM system. The lack of a structured customer base not only hampers the ability of the hotel to provide quality services to their customers but also keep the management clueless about what competitors are doing.

In most cases, the choice of accommodation in hotels is dictated by the purpose of the travellers, which could vary from business to personal and leisure travel. There is another category of travellers that prefer to stay in cottages, inns and heritage homes where homeowners have converted their abodes to hotels that not only

offer bed and breakfast services to customers but also cater to their need for a noncommercial stay.

Such properties usually are not accessible to customers through the typical travel agents but their services are made known through word-ofmouth or customer’s prior experiences. However, in the

long run, it is expected that such properties will also align themselves according to the technological advancements in future and the need to reach out to a wider base of travellers.

Present investments in future Travelport has been instrumental in providing technologies that have enabled our trade partners, to promote richer content and reduce their cost of doing business. With a resilient and successful business model in place since the last five years, Travelport has invested over US$ 450 million in R&D to provide solutions that meet the business needs of our travel partners and reduce their overall cost of revenue.

Some of the agent-friendly

Travelport is in a completely different place, emphasising its next-generation marketing, retailing and distribution platform and its ability to provide new ways to sell more and different content than was previously possible in the travel distribution channel.

- Phocuswright 2011

products such as Travelport ViewTrip and Travelport Universal API have already been rolled out in other markets and have generated great response.

Travelport Universal API offers wide-open access to comprehensive GDS travel content worldwide, expansive content from low-cost carrier’s worldwide and direct connections to high-speed rail providers.

Travelport ViewTrip Mobile delivers time critical information and other valuable tools to enable travellers to be fully aware and in control JB Singh of their travel arrange- President and CEO, InterGlobe Technology Quotient ments at any time.