TravTalk March 2nd 14

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A DDP PUBLICATION

Pages:34 (Excluding covers)+ 16 Pages Supplement

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Vol. XXVI No. 6; March 2 nd fortnight issue 2014

` 50/-

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TRAVTALK

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MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

‘VoA is not just for 180 countries’

News Bulletin Season for airline flash sales

Girish Shankar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, says that India’s Visa-on-Arrival scheme See full story on page 4 for the rest of the world (except 8 countries) will give a positive impetus to tourism, adding Canada aiming that the growth rate will not be less than 25% per annum. reports...

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA hanker clarifies, “The Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) to be introduced by India is not just for 180 countries. It’s for all the countries in the world, except the 8 countries that have been mentioned before. We have a total of 180 missions and that must have been the reason for the confusion with the number. In these 180 missions, many missions cover more than one country,” he says. Calling the VoA move

We have a total of 180 missions and that must have been the reason for the confusion with the number. Most of these missions cover more than one country

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Girish Shankar Additional Secretary Ministry of Tourism

important, Shankar says, “The VoA will have a great impetus as IATO says the growth rate of tourist inflow will not be less than 25 per cent per year. The

implementation of the VoA is in its process, so we can't commit on the date of implementation. Once it is decided, we will make a formal

announcement, but we'll try to start this year itself.”

Shankar was speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Feel India – A Cultural Extravaganza’ initiative.

Contd. on page 6

The upcoming 11th Annual Convention of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) in Shivpuri, Uttarakhand, from March 25-27 this year is expected to witness over 40 international buyers along with a good number of domestic buyers from Pune, Mumbai and Gujarat.

Akshay Kumar President, ATOAI

rom a small, niche market, adventure tourism has now become a size-

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able market with the potential for significant economic growth opportunities. With the theme ‘Connect, Create, Catalyse and Conserve’, the focus of the

event is to draw attention to the rapidly changing environment and chalk out a plan for its preservation, incorporation of sustainable tourism practices

See full story on page 6

Face of the future: Zaheer Ellias Najeeb See full story on page 18

An initiative of Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism and the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), Feel India is an event to showcase the myriad shades of

ATOAI reviving Uttarakhand tourism M E G H A PAU L

for 15% growth in 2014

and dissemination of the same among industry stakeholders and sensitise travellers.

Contd. on page 5

VoA a ‘Game Changer’ for Hospitality See full story on page 19

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NEWS

Making heritage tourism inclusive In a bid to boost heritage tourism in all the Himalayan states in India, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised its 3rd Heritage Tourism Conclave in New Delhi on February 21.

R ATA N K R

PAU L

naugurated by Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, GoI, as the Chief Guest, the conclave witnessed a large number of Union and State Government officials from the Himalayan region, industry practitioners and experts.

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domestic tourists especially for adventure tourism. Accordingly, the ministry launched a new campaign, ‘777 days of The Indian Himalayas’ to promote

Chamber; SM Khan, DG, Ministry of I&B; Inder Sharma, CMD, Select Holidays Resorts; Subhash Goyal, President, IATO; Mandip Singh Soin,

Addressing the gathering, Dewan emphasised on mutual responsibilities of the government, industry and common people to preserve and develop heritage. Highlighting some industry initiatives to showcase India’s heritage, he maintained that ‘manufacturing heritage’ is welcome, however, there should also be serious efforts to involve local community to display their culture to create a niche in this segment. He also emphasised on the fact that Himalayas provide an opportunity for round-the-year tourism because of their attractions.

this tourist product internationally. Dewan, however, maintained that, to reap benefits from the rich heritage sites in the country, a good management should be the prerequisite.

Founder & MD, Ibex Expeditions; Ashwani Lohani, Chief Mechanical Engineer, Northern Railway, M Sajnani, Director, Amity Institute of Travel & Tourism and other dignitaries.

The Ministry of Tourism has recognised the potential of Himalayas as a very important region in the country to attract international as well as young

The conclave was also addressed by Sharad Jaipuria, President, PHD Chamber; Vijay Mehta, Chairman, Tourism Committee, PHD

At this Conclave, PHD Chamber, in association with Roots Research, released a Knowledge Paper on ‘Himalayan Tourism’.

The Conclave started with homage to Francis Wacziarg, co-chairman and founder, Neemrana Hotels, who passed away on February 19 for his

Parvez Dewan lighting the lamp at the conclave

contribution to the tourism industry in India.

Key Facts N Every year, more than 30 million tourists come for pilgrimage, trekking and sight-seeing N The Himalayas cover 16% of total India’s area

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ANALYSIS rd

3 airline flash sale in 2 months VIEWPOINT

Cruise Ahoy! here was a time cruises were meant for the rich and the famous. It portrayed pure opulence and was too expensive to afford for mere mortals! Today, it is the fastest growing segment in the global tourism sector. The cruise market in India has to its credit more than 1,15,000 passengers sailing annually. So, it has clearly gone beyond aspirational factors.

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A cruise has gone from being the perfect form of passage to a complete tour in itself.

It takes you places in luxury, days filled with activity or with total relaxation, or both – it’s your choice. It’s hassle free, all-inclusive transporting you from one place to another, with the best chefs onboard and no need to pack and unpack at every new place, regardless of how many countries you visit.

Family travel is catching on… families travelling with children and grandchildren, aging parents, or groups of friends travelling together to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries is fast catching on. Cruise travel is becoming a growing source of experiential travel – see the world with a different perspective!

There was a question about cruise companies taking away the sustainability factor from tourism. The industry has realised its responsibility and is taking steps to ensure they sell land travel with thought and control the volume of visitors, ensuring environment protection by taking into account the well-being of people who live there. Docking of ships at destinations provides large employment, enhanced infrastructure and income for people of the region.

The good news for our industry is that tour operators and cruise agents make a good commission (as much as 20-30 per cent) on their sales, which has become a rare commodity these days. However, there is a lack of trained staff. Travel & tourism institutes need to incorporate cruises as a chapter in their syllabus, to ensure best benefits to both operators and cruise companies.

Vikramajit Chairman SanJeet Editor & Publisher Deepa Sethi Editor-in-Chief

Editorial

Advertising

Ratan Kr Paul Megha Paul Devika Jeet Anita Jain Ramya JS D’Rozario

Gunjan Sabikhi Asst. Vice President Aarti Nagrath General Manager Karishma Khanna Sr. Manager Marketing Udit Pandey Sr. Manager Marketing Baljinder Singh Manager Marketing Geetika Pathak Manager Advertising Amit Sarkar Asst. Manager Marketing

News-Editor Peden Doma Bhutia Desk-Editor Archana Sharma Neelam Singh Sr. Sub-Editor Hritvick Sen Photographers Simran Kaur-Delhi Bharat Dangiya-Mumbai

With the immense popularity and buzz garnered by the flash sales, airlines continue the trend to better their bottom line.

R AMYA JS D’R OZARIO n February 24, SpiceJet announced a ‘Super Summer Sale’ for customers who book within the next three days till February 26, for travel between April 1 and June 30, 2014. Post the success of the offers launched by the airline earlier this year, the third flash sale, offering 75 per cent off base fare plus fuel surcharge relative to lastminute fares, was part of the airline’s strategy to make seats that would otherwise fly empty available to passengers at highly-discounted advance purchase rates.

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“We received overwhelming positive feedback from customers who booked the earlier ‘Super Sales’. By taking the lead in making air travel more affordable, travellers can now book more spontaneously and more often by air, and we also attracted many first-time air travellers who would otherwise endure long train journeys or not travel at all,” said Sanjiv Kapoor, COO,

Rajan Sehgal

Sanjiv Kapoor

Manu Monga

Chairman TAAI - Northern Chapter

COO SpiceJet

Vice President and Head Marketing, Musafir.com

By announcing such offers, airlines want to boost their targets before the end of this financial year This is just basic customer segmentation and inventory and revenue management.”

Sharat Dhall

Jackson Fernandez

President Yatra.com

MD Wego.com

Airline operators are looking to fill their seats that are currently running below optimum capacity

The DelhiMumbai route witnessed a 320 per cent growth in bookings during the sale SpiceJet. According to Kapoor, “These are not fare wars as commonly reported, for here there are no losers.

Advertising (Mumbai) Suchita Saran Branch Manager Harshal Ashar Deputy Genral Manager Priyanshu Wankhade Asst. Manager Advertising Rishika Karra Sales Coordinator Advertisement Designers Vikas Mandotia / Nitin Kumar Design: Nityanand Misra Sudhir Mudgal Production: Anil Kharbanda Circulation: Ashok Rana

In a bid to compete with SpiceJet, other carriers such as IndiGo, GoAir, Jet Airways and even Air India again

TRAVTALK is a publication of DDP Publications Private Limited. All information in TRAVTALK is derived from sources, which we consider reliable and a sincere effort is made to report accurate information. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. The publisher regret that he cannot accept liability for errors and omissions contained in this publication, however caused. Similarly, opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract and/or in interviews are not necessarily shared by TRAVTALK. However, we wish to advice our readers that one or more recognised authorities may hold different views than those reported. Material used in this publication is intended for information purpose only. Readers are advised to seek specific

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By taking the lead in making air travel more affordable, travellers can now book more spontaneously jumped onto the flash sale bandwagon.

Rajan Sehgal, Chairman, TAAI Northern Chapter, believes the reason behind such short intervals in the flash sales is because airlines need instant cash flow. “By announcing such offers, airlines want to boost their targets before the end of this financial year, since most of them are facing huge losses. A part of this is also a sales gimmick, as on the popular routes, almost 80 per cent will be sold out. So when you check the site to book your tickets, you end up buying tickets to less popular destinations like Ahmedabad or Pune, just because the rates are less.”

With drastic drop in prices offered, airlines are expected to witness a surge of 15 – 20 per cent in passenger traffic, Sehgal added.

"Airline operators are looking to fill their seats that are currently running below optimum capacity. But additionally, with Air Asia soon entering the scene, current operators are preparing for the tight competition in prices that will bring. By coupling with distribution channels, airlines can reach out to

We have seen a surge of 20 per cent in bookings within hours of the sale being announced intended audiences who are looking to avail these discounts," said Jackson Fernandez, MD, Wego.com. By allowing travellers to book within the travel period from April to June, the carriers ensure that their peak summer season will be booked.

Online travel agents reaped the maximum rewards from the flash sale. Sharat Dhall, President, Yatra.com, said, “We have witnessed an overwhelming response on the first day of the sale having recorded an overall growth of 253 per cent within 24 hours.

The phenomenal growth in certain sectors has surpassed all expectations, and we are certain that this will bring much needed respite to travellers from the prevailing high fares, as they plan their summer breaks.” He added that the Delhi-Mumbai route witnessed a 320 per cent growth in bookings, while the Delhi-Bengaluru witnessed the highest jump of 476 per cent.

Manu Monga, Vice President and Head, Marketing, Musafir.com, echoed a similar response. “We have seen a surge of 20 per cent in bookings within hours of the sale being announced.”

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ASSOCIATIONS

MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

TRAVTALK

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ATOAI takes convention to Uttarakhand Contd. from page 1

According to Akshay Kumar, President, ATOAI, the convention aims to revive the tourism industry that was hit by the flash floods last June.

“By hosting the convention in Uttarakhand, ATOAI wants to send out the message that Uttarakhand is a safe tourist destination and the impact of the flash floods that struck the state last June is temporary.

Over 85 per cent of the state is unaffected by the deluge and it is safe to travel,” he informs. Most of the adventure tour operators have some stake in Uttarakhand, and over the years they have been

To restore the state, we are doing a ‘free garbage area’ drive between RishikeshKaudiyala for the next three years Rajesh Ojha Executive Committee Member ATOAI

utilising tourism resources of the state. In the light of the recent natural disaster, this is the time to give back to the state, he adds.

Rajesh Ojha, Executive Committee Member, ATOAI, is the Convention Chairman while Vinayak Koul, Executive Committee Member, ATOAI and David K Singh, Treasurer, ATOAI, are the Co-Chairmen for the convention.

Besides including various adventure activities, the convention programme is being designed to give ample networking opportunities,

In Store N Besides including various adventure activities, the convention programme is being designed to give ample networking opportunities, unique learning experiences and an advanced platform to understand the emerging challenges of the adventure tourism business.

unique learning experiences and an advanced platform to understand the emerging challenges of the adventure tourism business. “To restore the state, we are doing a ‘free garbage area’ drive between the Rishikesh-Kaudiyala for the next three years,” Ojha reveals. The convention is expected to witness over 440 delegates, 40 international buyers along with good num-

The convention aims to revive the tourism industry that was hit by flash floods last June Akshay Kumar, President, ATOAI

ber of domestic buyers from Pune, Mumbai and Gujarat.

The response from Eastern India is also remarkable, he

adds. Apart from an open session with all the stakeholders and informative post-convention tours, the convention

team is all set to surprise delegates by creating a luxury tent colony for one night on the bank of the Ganga to network and interact.

Taking the partnership with Uttarakhand Tourism beyond the convention period, ATOAI, in collaboration with some nodal agencies, has also conducted seminars for stakeholders and work-

shop on adventure safety for the promotion of safe, honourable and sustainable tourism. The first day-long conference titled ‘Tourism in Uttarakhand: Starting Afresh’ was conducted on December 13, 2013, in Dehradun followed by Adventure First Responder and Safety Workshop in Uttarkashi from January 13-14, 2014.

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TRAVTALK MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

Pushing forward to get more Inbound in the country Contd. from page 1

culture to tourists visiting India.

The cultural programmes were organised at the Amphitheatre, The Ashok, every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm.

Talking about Feel India, Shankar says, “There was a need felt for tourists who had nothing to do in Delhi in the evenings. We thought we'll fill this gap by hosting these cultural evenings, and we'll also be able to showcase various cultures to the tourists, different types of Indian cultural forms, contemporary folk fusion and classical forms of dances and music.”

Talking about building the brand of Feel India, he says, “All stalwarts from tourism industry have been present at the inauguration of the event. We too have been working with tour operators and stakeholders to raise awareness about the event and we want tours operators to build the Feel India programme in their itinerary.”

NTO

Canada aiming for 15% growth in 2014 Canada witnessed 147,000 visitors from India in 2013, with a 9.2% increase in international arrivals from India in December 2013. And in 2014, the spirit of optimism runs high as CTC-India aims for a much higher target of 15% growth.

R A M YA JS D’R O Z A R I O ocus Canada – India 2014 was held from February 26 to March 1, 2014, where Canadian sellers and Indian buyers got an opportunity to interact and plan for the year

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ahead. “We’ve had a wonderful ‘Focus’ this year. We had 29 companies from Canada and 39 representatives and approximately 60 buyers. And everyone was really excited and looking forward to selling Canada this year,” says Siobhan Chretien, Regional Managing Director – Emerging Market, CTC – India.

In 2013, India was bogged down by a slow GDP growth, which affected the outbound numbers to Canada. “In the last quarter,

we experienced increases which were significant, however we were flat for the total year,” she added. “And, I think it was predominantly because of the decline in the economy in India, and the devaluation of the Indian rupee. But all in all, Canada stayed very strong.” She added that they were up only half a per cent at the end of the year, but compared to other international and long haul destinations, it was a favourable number, i.e., 147,000 visitors.

We’ve had a wonderful ‘Focus’ this year. We had 29 companies from Canada and 39 representatives and approximately 60 buyers Siobhan Chretien Regional Managing Director - Emerging Market CTC – India

The Indian market generated 10,942 tourists to Canada in December 2013, an increase of 9.2 per cent over the same month in 2012. This year, the tourism body is projecting an increase. With Canada now offering multiple-entry visa, the change may help the numbers.

“Obviously, any change that helps in loosen any restrictions will be met with great excitement. So we probably expect around 150,000 visitors. Also, in the months ahead, the consul will be introducing some changes, and we shall support and communicate that to the travel trade.”

Regarding growth of MICE movement to Canada, Chretien said that this sector has not yet established fully.

“Once air connectivity improves, the numbers are bound to rise.”

With CTC having its presence in 10 countries, India is

8th on the list measuring volume of tourists, with South Korea and Mexico following.

With VFR being a large percentage of the visitor share, the current spend is CAD 1,100 and the average night stay is 25 days. With the middle class growing, aggressive social marketing and increasing access to different technologies, the competition is growing. Even though maximum Indian travellers are from Delhi and Mumbai, CTC India is expanding to the cities of Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.

Flash Fact N The Indian market generated 10,942 tourists to Canada in December 2013, an increase of 9.2% over the same month in 2012

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EXHIBITIONS

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Kerala Travel Mart in Kochi from Sept 18 The Kerala Government’s Tourism Department is partnering with the Kerala Travel Mart Society to host the 8th edition of KTM which brings together the business entrepreneurs and services of Kerala.

M E G H A PAU L iming to project Kerala as an ideal destination for weddings, honeymoons and conferences, the three- day Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will get underway in Kochi from September 18. According to AP Anil Kumar, Tourism Minister, Kerala, the mart aims to highlight innovative tourism products such as village life experience and culture tours.

“This time, the mart will reach out to buyers from new markets like Australia, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Japan, South Africa, Sweden and USA. These emerging segments are being viewed seriously by tourist destinations and KTM intends to increase Kerala’s market share to an additional ` 5,000 crore.

Only 10 per cent of the national inbound tourist traffic reaches the state and the KTM has set a target of 15 per cent arrivals from new and emerging markets,” he pointed out.

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Tour operators, hotels, resorts, home stays, houseboats, Ayurveda resorts, cultural art centres and many others will be showcasing their products at the Mart. Over the past 13 years, since the first Mart, KTM has attracted over 1,000 international buyers who have established business partners among the various sections in the tourism industry of Kerala.

The Minister said that the global slowdown had not impacted international arrivals to the state. Lamenting the sluggish growth last year, he informed, “Both domestic and foreign tourist arrivals have increased in 2013. However, the state did not get the expected growth. Kerala Tourism is planning to conduct a survey of hotels, home stays and tour operators in the state and it is expected to be ready in a month’s time.”

Raising The Bar N KTM intends to increase Kerala’s market share to an additional ` 5,000 crore.

N Only 10 per cent of the national inbound tourist traffic reaches the state and the KTM has set a target of 15 per cent arrivals from new and emerging markets

Going forward, the Responsible Tourism (RT) model in Kumarakom, which won accolades for Kerala government from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in February, will also be extended to 112 Panchayats in the first phase. “RT has

been devised for the benefit of the common man. The benefits of the tourism sector should not be limited to a select few industrialists and hoteliers. The local people should get the benefit of the growth of the tourism sector in the state. We will take forward the successful

implementation of RT model across the state through public participation,” he said.

The minister also said the government had organised a technical workshop for all Panchayat presidents in the state to highlight the benefits of the RT model and implement it.

Only 10% of the national inbound tourist traffic reaches the state and the KTM has set a target of 15% arrivals from new and emerging markets AP Anil Kumar Tourism Minister , Kerala

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AVIATION

Airlines’ gift to the ladies With International Women’s Day on March 8, airlines came together to offer women passengers several discounts and promotional schemes.

T T B U R E AU et Airways offered women travellers a special 10 per cent discount on base fares for international travel on the airline’s network. They even received an additional 10 per cent discount on base fare and fuel surcharge (excluding applicable taxes) on domestic services operated by Jet Airways and JetKonnect. These bookings were made available on their website and both domestic and international tickets can be booked for the period between March 8 and May 8, 2014, with travel validity of 11 months.

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The airline also supported three Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working on various women’s issues by conducting an in-flight fundraising drive from March 8 to 22, on all its domestic flights.

Gaurang Shetty, Senior VP – Commercial, Jet Airways, said, “Through our in-flight fund collection drive, we believe in making a contribution to soci-

Gaurang Shetty

Anaita Elaiva

Senior Vice President – Commercial, Jet Airways

Associate Vice President - Product Development, Vacations Exotica

We believe in contribution to society, especially towards marginalised women ed Air France and KLM’s female passengers: Indian handicraft gift items.

Anaita Elaiva, Associate VP - Product

The number of women travellers are increasing dayby-day, whether on their own or in groups GoAir announced a special scheme for women travellers, wherein they upgraded women travellers to priority service, GoBusiness, for just ` 999. The upgrade, which is at a 60 per cent discount on the usual price, was applicable across 21 destinations that the airline operates in.

“We are very excited that GoAir can bring women travellers to choose a service that is sensitive to their needs of comfort, privacy and convenience at a highly affordable value,” said Girish Nair, Chief Commercial Officer, GoAir.

Girish Nair

Chitra Bhatia

Chief Commercial Officer GoAir

MD Aashman Travel

We are very excited that GoAir can give women travellers a service that is sensitive to their needs ety, especially towards the welfare and betterment of marginalised women.”

AirFrance KLM too indulged their women passengers, with a surprise for them during the check-in of Air France and KLM flights on March 8 at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru airports. The surprise that await-

Such schemes are good gestures on the part of airlines, but there can be more to it Development, Vacations Exotica, said, “The number of women travellers are increasing day-by-day, whether on their own or in groups.

I think these schemes and promotions will be a big boost, since women largely influence family decisions, including holiday plans.”

Chitra Bhatia, MD, Aashman Travel said that such schemes are good gestures on the part of the airlines, however, there can be more to it. “On special occasions, airlines do offer discounts and various promotions, and International Women’s Day has become just another day to offer such discounts. The effort needs to go much deeper than this.”

For A Fair Change N Jet Airways supported three Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working on various women’s issues by conducting an in-flight fundraising drive from March 8 to 22, on all its domestic flights

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NTO

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India’s favourite country? Philippines!

Philippines surpasses other South Asian countries in visitors as travel figures from India reaches the highest annual growth of 12.53% with 52,206 tourist arrivals. reports...

T T B U R E AU he Department of Tourism, Philippines (DOT), has announced that it has registered 52,206 tourist arrivals from India in 2013, as against 46,395 in 2012.

Amongst Philippines’ key

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Ramon R. Jimenez Jr., Tourism Secretary Department of Tourism, Philippines

We foresee better growth this year as we continue to roll out programmes under the NTDP

tourist markets in South Asia, India registered the highest annual growth of 12.53 per cent in visitor arrivals. The

SanJeet Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office, India

The double-digit growth affirms our consistent effort in promoting the destination

DOT has welcomed a total of 4,681,307 foreign visitors in 2013, surpassing the 4,272,811 arrivals recorded in 2012 by 9.56 per cent.

“Our key source markets performed well during December, proof that international confidence has been regained. The Philippines is profoundly grateful for the outpouring of support, aid, and goodwill from all over the world. They were all instrumen-

tal in our road to recovery," Ramon R. Jimenez Jr., Tourism Secretary, said.

"We foresee better opportunities for growth this year as we continue to roll out programmes under the National Tourism Development Plan

(NTDP),” the tourism chief said.

Philippines will play host to a number of international conferences and events this year. The country is currently preparing for ‘Visit the Philippines Year (VPY) 2015’, which will feature a calendar of events and an eclectic mix of activities.

SanJeet, Tourism Attaché, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office, India, said, “The double-digit growth affirms our consistent effort in promoting the destination. We owe this achievement to our team who have worked relentlessly

towards increasing awareness about the Philippines in the country.

It is also quite encouraging to note that we have performed well despite the unfortunate natural calamity that occurred last year.”

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TECHNOLOGY

Visit the Taj Mahal online Recently, the Ministry of Culture, the Archaeological Survey of India and Google unveiled a new 360° online imagery of the Taj Mahal and 29 other iconic Indian heritage sites.

T T B U R E AU upported by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Google released the first 360° online imagery of 30 iconic Indian heritage sites, including the Taj Mahal, Humayun's Tomb, Red Fort and Agra Fort on Google Maps and the Google Cultural Institute. ASI

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ple to virtually explore them online, Google aims to help share more of Indian culture and heritage with people at home and abroad.

“Today, this partnership with Google makes it possible for billions of people across the world to see and explore our

monuments, and it has been our privilege to work with the ASI in collecting new 360° photos of 30 Indian heritage sites. We hope the imagery will help make India’s heritage and culture more accessible to people at home and abroad,” said Rajan Anandan, Vice President

Google and Government officials at the launch

and Google are unveiling panoramic imagery of these 30 sites as part of their joint initiative to help make 100 of India’s most important heritage sites more accessible for the world to experience. The Indian monuments, now live on Google Maps and Cultural Institute, are all over 100 years old, and by allowing peo-

Online Presence N The Indian monuments, live on Google Maps and Cultural Institute, are all over 100 years old, and Google aims to share more of Indian heritage with people at home and abroad.

magnificent heritage, to take a walk at the Rock Cut Jain Temple, to marvel at the Nagarjuna Konda Buddhist Stupas and to relive the history in Fatehpur Sikri. With the release of these new panoramic images, we aim to create a dynamic, immersive online experience by which people within India and around the world can understand and engage more of India’s diverse cultural heritage,” said Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Union Minister of Culture.

“Google is deeply committed to helping preserve and showcase cultural heritage across the world. India is unique in terms of the sheer wealth of heritage and iconic historical

and Managing Google India.

Director,

“The images coming online through Google Maps and the Google Cultural Institute provide a new way for people around the world to view, interact with, and learn about some of the most important heritage monuments in India. We hope this new way of exploring national treasures such as the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Qutub Minar will help share more of India’s diverse culture with new audiences, and help preserve this part of India’s identity for generations to come,” said Pravin Srivastava, Director General, ASI.

Portugal attracts Indian travel trade

The tourism authority of the Government of Portugal (Turismo de Portugal) led a 20 member delegation on a threecity workshop session in Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai. Through this marketing initiative, the Government of Portugal along with several destination management companies, Portuguese hoteliers and resort owners interacted with 500 Indian private sector organisations comprising travel companies, tour operators, wedding planners/organisers and even film producers and location managers across the three cities.

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STATES

MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

TRAVTALK

11

Now, Maharashtra tourism gets wings The first seaplane service of Maharashtra will eventually connect Mumbai with state tourist destinations adjacent to suitable water bodies even though there are no runways at these destinations.

T T B U R E AU he Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Maritime Energy Heli Air Services (MEHAIR) launched the first seaplane service of Maharashtra in Mumbai recently. The company’s amphibian planes will eventually connect Mumbai with state tourist destinations adjacent to suitable water bodies even though there are no runways at these destinations.

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The service was launched by Chhagan Bhujbal, Minister of Tourism and Public Works, Maharashtra Govt. The function was presided over by Ranjit Kamble, Minister of State Tourism & Public Works, Maharashtra Govt, in the pres-

Seaplanes will turn vacation destinations into weekend destinations Jagdish Patil Managing Director, MTDC

ence of Sumit Mullick, Additional Chief Secy & Chief Protocol Officer, Government of Maharashtra; Jagdish Patil, MD, MTDC; Satish Soni, Director (Tourism), Siddharth Verma, Director & CoFounder, MEHAIR and Vivek Kumar, Executive Director Worker, Sahara India Pariwar and CEO, Aamby Valley City and Hotel Sahara Star.

Talking about the facility, Bhujbal stated, “The Government of Maharashtra is pleased to announce the launch of seaplane services for commuters in Maharashtra.

The service will provide ease to the tourist and locals who travel to various tourist destinations of Maharashtra.

MEHAIR has come-up with this novel concept and we are happy that Maharashtra is the first state to have such a service in the mainland of India.”

The seaplane service is being launched in Maharashtra with a Cessna 206 Amphibian and another

Cessna 208 Amphibian aircraft will be inducted by April 14. Both these two models can accommodate 4 to 9 passengers, respectively. "This new and exciting mode of transport will provide the last mile connectivity to those popular

tourist destinations where there is no airport. A seaplane is a quick, convenient and exciting mode of travel which will lend impetus to the tourism initiative of the Govt of Maharashtra. This venture was only possible with the tremen-

dous support from the MTDC,” Verma said.

Calling the services a boost to tourism, Patil said, "Seaplanes will turn vacation destinations into weekend destinations.”

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NTO

For special interest groups Tourism Victoria has recorded 9% growth from India in 2013, and is aiming at further educating the audience about its attractions. It has also announced plans to develop travel packages to Melbourne as part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. exciting market for us and we intend to further intensify our destination awareness.

Through the social media campaign, we aim at enhancing our brand awareness while on the other hand we will consistently educate our trade partners about the latest product developments and

A N I TA J A I N fter receiving honeymooners, students, leisure and VFR traffic from India, the Victoria region of Australia is now observing growth from ‘Special Interest Groups’ like Bollywood, sports, etc. Tourism Victoria is aiming to boost this segment and bring in more Indians to the region. For the same, the government recently rolled out its campaign – ‘Come Alive in Melbourne’ which has been developed to leverage social media platforms in India and create further awareness of Melbourne and Victoria as a travel destination. Additionally, it has also announced plans to develop travel packages to Melbourne as part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to be held across Australia and New Zealand in February next year. The region received close to 73,000 Indians in 2013 which is a nine per cent increase from 2012.

A

Leigh Harry CEO Tourism Victoria

We are developing tour packages with a few national tour operators in India

Giving out more details, Leigh Harry, CEO, Tourism Victoria, said, “India is an

between India and Melbourne. Meanwhile, our other airline partners like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, etc., are offering excellent rates to fly to our region from India.”

Talking about the ICC World Cup, Harry said, “We

Packages for ICC World Cup 2015 Tourism Victoria has designed special packages for ICC World Cup 2015 in association with few travel agents - Fanatic Sports, Cutting Edge, Sports Konnect and TUI Meetings & Incentives (Le Passage to India Tours & Travels). Packages will feature a range of options from three to ten night stays in Victoria and will include all the major sights and attractions of Melbourne. offerings.” He informed that with the launch of air connectivity by Air India last year, the numbers from Indian market have improved. He adds, “We are sure that Air India is recording excellent loads on India – Australia route and wish the airline will soon start daily direct operations

know Indians love cricket and thus, we are developing tour packages with a few national tour operators in India. These packages will cover best travel sites of Victoria and at the same time ensure that the travellers have an amazing experience of watching the cricket match.”

Special packages for students The Austrian National Tourist Office is looking at tie-ups with tour operators for its special one-week packages for school groups covering Salzburg and Innsbruck.

M E G H A PAU L ndia may not be the primary market for Austria in terms of numbers, but it is one of the primary markets in terms of marketing initiatives. This was revealed by Christine Mukharji, Market ManagerIndia, Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO). “In 2013, Austria recorded 88,000 Indian visitor arrivals, which was virtually no growth over the previous year. But it was a tough year for all European destinations. In 2014, we look forward to receive more outbound travellers from India. This year will be good for Europe as exchange rate is becoming stable. I am looking at about 10 per cent growth from the Indian market,” Mukharji said.

are looking at tie-ups with tour operators for promoting these packages, which ANTO will introduce in Mumbai in April this year. The package comprises four days of skiing and two days of cultural programmes,” Mukharji informed.

I

Beyond showcasing and promoting Austria as a leisure and MICE destination in India, ANTO is looking at tapping the Indian student segment. It has designed special oneweek packages for school

Christine Mukharji Market Manager-India Austrian National Tourist Office

We are looking at tie-ups with tour operators for promoting these packages, which ANTO will introduce in Mumbai in April this year groups covering areas in Salzburg and Innsbruck. “We

ANTO recently conducted workshops in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. The workshops witnessed participation of 13 stakeholders from Austria comprising delegates from local tourist boards, inbound tour operators and DMCs, attractions, hotels and resorts and railways and were attended by nearly 400 Indian travel trade members. Going forward, ANTO will conduct workshops in November this year in Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad and the focus will be on promoting the Tyrol region. Five suppliers will participate in these workshops, she stated.

Talking about the new trends in outbound travel, she

commented, “The metro cities in India, especially Mumbai and Delhi, are still the main source markets for ANTO but there is a new interest from Tier-II cities. Thus, the focus this year will be on Tier-II cities in Gujarat and South India. Also, we are witnessing interest for Austria as a wedding destination from this market. Salzburg, which is already popular as a honeymoon destination; hosted an Indian wedding of 400 guests last year. We will target this segment along with MICE, especially conferences and incentives.”

Efforts Made N ANTO recently conducted workshops in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi.

N It witnessed participation of 13 stakeholders from Austria

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TECHNOLOGY

ITQ to unveil new solutions Speaking to , Anil Parashar, President & CEO, InterGlobe Technology Quotient, elaborated on the present trends and the company’s strategies to cope with the market dynamics.

R ATA N K R P A U L arashar underlined the fact that Internet penetration and omnipresence of social media tools has created a major impact on travel and tourism industry. With people spending maximum time on the Internet nowadays, technology has made a difference to the way consumers view travel and book tickets. “As compared to earlier, when travelling was considered a luxury, it has now become a lifestyle

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resources in our services and support teams to ensure that we are well-equipped to respond to customer needs,” Parashar emphasised.

ITQ’s latest product offering ‘Travelport Rooms and More’, launched in the middle of last year, is in the same direction. “Rooms and More will revolutionise the way hotel bookings are made by the travel agents. It also enables seamless commission remittance for the travel agents,” he asserted.

These products not only bring efficiency for the travel agents, but also create alternate revenue streams for them Anil Parashar President & CEO, InterGlobe Technology Quotient

choice. It is no longer limited to a single annual holiday with the family; instead consumers started travelling for adventure sports, photography, wildlife, heritage, buildings and more,” he pointed out. Parashar also highlighted that there are more backpackers who avail a wide range of tourist packages. The spending capacity of youngsters has increased with earnings at a young age. In addition, women travelling on their own have changed the way the travel sector operates. The quest for unexplored destinations and tourism associated with adventure, music and festivals are also on the rise.

“At InterGlobe Technology Quotient, we are gearing up to make the most of the upcoming opportunities.

Over the past couple of years, we have invested large

In the days to come, ITQ is looking at some new products like Smartpoint in the Indian market. Smartpoint will reduce key strokes by 15 per cent to complete bookings. It will also eliminate the training requirement for agencies completely, as staff with any GDS knowledge will be able to work on the same. “Travelport’s Airline Merchandising solution is also a unique proposition for airlines, as it allows them to unbundle their product offerings,” Parashar added.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Travelport has already launched some innovative products such as Smartpoint, Travelport mobile app, Universal API and Travelport Merchandising Solutions.

“These products not only bring in efficiency for the travel agents, but also create alter-

nate revenue streams for them,” Parashar maintained.

Questioned on the offerings of need-based and costeffective solutions to the travel & tourism industry in India, Parashar said that ITQ, along with Travelport, is focussed on providing cutting-edge travel technology solutions with unmatched inventory options to its customers, helping them increase their productivity and business efficiency.

Travelport has been very upbeat about the acceptance of its new product offerings in the global market. Parashar was of the view that the travel partners must actively focus on embracing new technology and servicing their customers as these two would be the main areas of success in future. “New technology will ensure ease of transactional convenience, and service and support will ensure a happy customer,” he said.

Commenting on present market scenario, he maintained that the rupee devaluation will result in more consumers travelling domestically or to cheaper destination countries. Parashar, however, believes that the number of Indians travelling overseas is set to rise from around 15 million today to 50 million by 2020.

Of Simplifying N Smartpoint will reduce key strokes by 15 per cent to complete bookings.

N Additionally, it will also eliminate training requirement for agencies

Global passenger traffic up by 8% The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for January showing a strong increase in demand. Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 8.0% compared to January 2013, an improvement over the December 2013 growth of 6.8% and the full year 2013 growth of 5.2%.

Asia-Pacific carriers’ traffic rose 8.0% compared to the year-ago period.

Comparisons with December traffic suggest a continuation of the slower growth seen toward the end of 2013, likely in line with signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy.

Capacity climbed 7.5% year-over-year and load factor rose 0.4 percentage points to 78.2%.

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NEWS

ACTC to host convention in August The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) has announced that it will hold its 13th Asia Corporate Travel Conference on August 6-7 in Hong Kong with a focus on travel management techniques and emergence of new products and brands.

T T B U R E AU his event will have presence of a diverse cross-section of the region, including attendees from Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Vietnam.

Approximately, 500 of the industry's travel leaders are expected to experience the future of corporate travel in Asia.

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Commenting on Hong Kong as convention venue, Greeley Koch, Executive Director, ACTE, said, “Our decision to move this year's Asia conference to Hong

Fact Fact N The conference content will emphasise four key educational pillars which are data access & analytics, industry innovations, talent development for travel professionals and traveller centricity

Kong reflects the scope of the conference—a powerful agenda, global networking, and the emergence of new products and new brands, which are the perfect complement to Hong Kong’s backdrop of international business.”

He also informed that the conference content will emphasise four key educational pillars identified by the ACTE community as the industry issues, which are data access & analytics, industry innovations, talent development for travel professionals and traveller centricity.

“The association’s legacy of excellence, value, and breakthrough presentations will continue in Hong Kong,” added Benson Tang, Asia Regional Director, ACTE. He also maintained that ACTE’s 13th Annual Asia Corporate Travel Conference honours the fastest growing segment of the global business travel community with the most advanced travel management techniques to be introduced

Greeley Koch

Benson Tang

Executive Director ACTE

Asia Regional Director ACTE

Our decision to move this year's Asia conference to Hong Kong reflects the scope of the conference

The association’s legacy of excellence, and breakthrough presentations will continue in Hong Kong

in this decade. “The association’s proprietary approach to travel trend analysis, known as the ‘Four Pillars’ has been

specially designed to suit the diverse interests of this conference’s participants,” he underlined.

Swiss Tourism focus on youth Switzerland Tourism has seen an encouraging growth in the number of visiting Indian tourists and now, they are looking forward to a further growth of 10% for 2014.

NEHA OBEROI witzerland is planning varied marketing activities for 2014 ranging from consumer outreach programmes, e-marketing, advertising campaigns including TVCs on leading channels and print ads to training programmes for travel agents.

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Stephan Heuberger, Director, Switzerland Tourism,

talked about a joint alliance with France to reach out further to tourists. This would be a first step in attracting the youth who now have increased spending power to travel on their own and are looking for new experiences which include active holidays, trying new cuisines, new destinations and new adventures. Also, Switzerland Tourism is moving aggressively to the Tier-II and Tier-III cities

as they see more group movement from this section.

They will continue to focus on MICE, and its specialised MICE division SCIB (Switzerland Convention and Incentive Bureau) has now started a 100% position in India to look after this growing segment. There will be a set up of travel training schools in the Tier-II and Tier-III cities with half-day

Stephan Heuberger Director Switzerland Tourism

intensive coaching for travel agents. They intend to target 20 cities with coaching related to Indian restaurants, food and how to move within Switzerland.

Australia launches India specific campaign With a predicted 50 million outbound travellers by 2020, India is one of the world’s fastest growing travel markets and the target of an innovative new digital marketing cam-

paign by Destination New South Wales (NSW) that showcases the best of Sydney and NSW to Indian visitors. The campaign, called ‘Jhappi Time’ or ‘hug time’, is the first campaign

developed and executed by any Australian tourism body, to specifically target the visiting friends and relatives market, in India.

Destination NSW CEO, Sandra Chipchase,

described the campaign as a creative and industry first that will ensure Indian travellers will have NSW front of mind when they plan their Australian holiday.

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NTO

Canada’s Focus on India The Focus Canada- India 2014 was held at Crowne Plaza Kochi from February 26–March 1. The travel industry is positive that even though growth may be slow, it will be steady.

TT B U R E AU ffering the perfect B2B platform for the travel industry, the event saw a delegation of 30 Canadian sellers led by Siobhan Chretien, Regional Managing Director – Emerging Markets, Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), and over 60 Indian buyers.

The event kicked off with an introduction by SanJeet, Representative, CTC – India.

The day witnessed a presen-

O

tation by Nagsri Sashidhar, Head – Outbound Holidays, Mercury Travels on ‘Doing Business with the Indian Travel Industry’ and another presentation on ‘Ram Badrinath: Potential of India’. This was followed by a visa briefing by Sarah Hayward, Manager, Temporary Resident Unit, High Commission of Canada, in which she apprised the travel agents on the recently announced multiple-entry visa policy. Tina Singh, Account

Director, Canadian Tourism Commission, gave an update on CTC India. The second day kicked off with the marketplace appointments for sellers with South and West India buyers. The lunch on this day was sponsored by Banff Lake Louise Tourism, while dinner was sponsored by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Air Canada. The third day, the sellers had appointments with the East and North India buyers.

Snippets from the show: 2013 has been a good year, particularly for British Columbia.

Despite some challenges, we managed to increase our business from India to Canada by 7 per cent. Overall, 2014 is looking positive and we look forward to future growth. With the new multiple-entry visa policy being announced, most of the travel agents at the show are positive regarding selling

Monica Leeck Market Development Manager, Asia Destination British Columbia I can see significant changes from the first year. Earlier, a lot of operators did not know much about Canada, but now four years later, everyone is selling Canada as a separate destination. For the first time, since I’ve been coming here, CTC arranged workshops with agents in Tier-II cities and Ahmedabad and Chennai. We have a very strong VFR market and leisure to Vancouver is growing as well. MICE is also picking up.

Dayna Miller Director of Sales, Travel Trade Tourism Vancouver

With the segregation of the Western and Southern buyers and Eastern and North buyers, the event was more focussed now. This is the best way to talk sellers on a one–to–one basis. Tour operators who are not selling Canada should also be brought in, so that they can gain value and start selling Canada. The air fare is the only obstacle I face while selling the destination.

Guldeep Singh Sahni President OTOAI

In 2013, we had double-digit growth in terms of business going to Canada. This year, we have met with some new agents. India, as a market, is price sensitive, and the agents are putting in one or two Fairmont hotels in an itinerary of 8 or 10 days. Regarding 2014, we would like to grow 10 to 12 per cent, but the indications are that it will be a slow year.

Tekla Maira Director, Global Sales – India FRHI

Canada as a country is drawing a lot of attention. Focus Canada has been an interesting event because we always go back with some new products. It’s always an enlightening and enriching experience. When it comes to growth, it is not just the numbers, but the kind of packages we put together and sell.

Nagsri Sashidhar Head - Outbound Holidays Mercury Travels

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18

YOUTH TALK

TRAVTALK MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

Face of the future: Zaheer Ellias Najeeb The never-say-die attitude is what defines India’s young guns of the travel industry. Putting the spotlight on bright ideas and entrepreneurs, takes a peek at India’s young turks who are changing the rules of the very game itself.

M E G H A PAU L If I become the Tourism Minister For tourism to leapfrog in our country from less than one per cent of the global share, we need things beyond infrastructure and marketing. I want to create a better and structured tourism information system and nurture activity-oriented Tourism centres for creating interest in historical sites. Also, I would push for more interactive museums, theme parks, use of technology in existing attractions to make them interactive and interesting. Creating awareness about how the tourism industry contributes more than five times that of the automobile industry to GDP and employment (from WTTC figures) will also be in my priority list.

In A Nutshell Age: 31 Birthday: December 07 Education background: Schooling till 10th was in Trivandrum; 11th & 12th in St. John’s International Residential School, Chennai; B. Tech in Information Technology from Crescent Engineering College, Chennai; MBA in Marketing & Operations from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, and Executive Education in Leadership from Harvard Business School.

Favourite Sports: Tennis and golf, but all-time favourite activity is swimming Favourite Bollywood Movie: Three Idiots Favourite Book: Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Favourite TV Shows: Big Bang Theory, Castles, Arrow Favourite Music: Pink, Bruno Mars, Maroon 5

Three things I look forward to in a vacation

Hobbies: Photography, songwriting

Of late, the favourite thing about a holiday is watching my little girl have the time of her life. I have picked up photography in the last few years. I believe I am getting good at it. But the one thing I have always treasured while on a holiday is meeting local people and getting their insights on the place. More than just doing what the guides and books

tive. I have no particular favourite as a destination. I

thing unique about each one. One thing I always look forward to is a little snow.

Film tourism is a potential segment to increase inbound Our country is unique in almost every aspect. A story is compelling when it is relatable and believable. Making India more relevant in the world would be the best way to create a potential for film tourism.

My contribution to our company and the travel industry

say, I prefer to see, taste and feel the destination through a local perspec-

have enjoyed almost every place I have been to, as I have found some-

Our company has, through great vision, effort and innovation been in the forefront for more than 30 years. I am a techie, not just by profession, but by passion. Through the infusion of technology, I have brought in a newer vision and hope to sustain the same leadership for the next 30 years. In today’s travel industry, the only way to survive and remain profitable is to embrace technology. Our company has taken many new initiatives in this segment. We hope to reap the benefits in the next few years. Great India

Tourism Planners & Consultants (GITPAC) International, one of our companies, has been the implementing agency for Responsible Tourism initiatives at four destinations in Kerala. This initiative has received international recognition and a UNWTO award. Responsible Tourism has great potential in this country and we continue to be innovative in this field.

The importance of tourism consultants in bringing great products to market is yet to be realised and is on my wish-list.

New trends in the travel industry MICE Tourism has been sprouting across the country with world-class facilities. Also, in last few years, domestic tourism has overshadowed inbound. With better connectivity and cost-effectiveness, we are likely to see this trend continue and improve. State governments, realising the importance of tourism to the growth of their states, are giving more attention to tourism.

This is evident from the fact that the

budgeted fund allocation has increased on average from 30 per cent to 40 per cent. An attention to online marketing has come about and tourism players are increasing their presence and reach online.

Practices that should be done away with The travel customer has changed tremendously in the past few years. Today, the customer comes mostly at the last stage of his purchase decision. In such a scenario, it is necessary to be present in all stages of the process of influence. It is essential to move away from just traditional and expensive advertising and to keep a rounded approach for influencing potential customers and keeping the experience consistent.

Changes I want to see in the industry Though the quality of manpower has substantially increased, there is still potential for world-class training institutions to bring about a service standard and quality that would be internationally envied. Though we see more tourism products coming up regularly, it requires an understanding and an orientation towards the customer to create a better product.

The importance of tourism consultants in bringing great products to market is yet to be realised and is on my wish-list.

No Romanian visa required for Indians with valid Schengen visa Indian passport holders having valid uniform short stay visas (with two or multiple entries), long stay visas or permits of residence issued by Schengen countries do not need Romania Visa to enter the country. In a note released by the Embassy of

Romania in India, it stated that for the mentioned category of citizens, the new provisions will come in force from February, 2014.

It will be applied under the following conditions: The number of entries and the authorised staying duration stipulated on their

Schengen visas or permits of residence issued by a Schengen state should not be exceeded. The mentioned category of non – EU citizens targeted by the new EGO may enter on the territory of Romania for an uninterrupted stay or for more stays whose duration

do not exceed 90 days of stay within the 180 day period calculated from the date of the first entry. For those to whom the number of entries and/or the duration of stay stipulated on their

valid Schengen visas were exhausted are allowed to enter the Romanian territory only for transit purposes (5 days only).

The number of entries and days spent in Romania on the account of the Schengen visas will not be counted in the total number of entries and duration of stay permitted in the Schengen countries, under respective valid uniform Schengen visas.

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HOTELS

MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

VoA a ‘game changer’ for hospitality With India’s hospitality sector struggling with an excess of rooms and declining tariffs, Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) to 180 countries might be a game-changer for the industry by bringing in more tourists and facilitating recovery in the country’s hospitality sector.

T T B U R E AU The Government has indicated that it will take five-six months for the respective departments to put in place the requisite infrastructure, in terms of technology and trained personnel. Therefore, we are very hopeful that the scheme will be operationalised, well in time before the onset of peak tourist season in October this year. This modern visa regime acts not as an artificial barrier to entry, but rather serves as a convenient and welcoming gateway for foreign tourists.

Leveraging technology to simplify and streamline the tourist visa issuance process offers multiple advantages of speed, efficiency and flexibility, while minimising security related risks.

Through forward-looking, decisive and timely regulatory reform, Indian tourism must aim to capitalise on this unprecedented opportunity and leapfrog to a higher growth trajectory.

This would, in turn, drive an expansion of economic output, large-scale job creation and increased foreign exchange earnings for our country.

Vivek Nair Honorary Secretary FHRAI

With Visa-on-Arrival scheme for all, now the country can be compared to more mature markets such as Singapore or Malaysia. A lot more people will travel in a much easier way. The number of people travelling to India may go up by 5-10 per cent in the first year itself, but how that will be translated into profit we will come to know only after October.

Though the demand for rooms has been largely driven by Indians travelling within the country, we still expect around five per cent rise in occupancies.

Ajay Bakaya Executive Director Sarovar Hotels

The hotel sector expects the move to improve occupancy levels. We have a lot of supply of hotel rooms coming into the market in the next couple of years. This will help fill up the demand-supply gap. Also, easing the relaxed visa regime will boost investment in developing infrastructure. People will invest in hospitality more once the tourist inflow gains momentum.

Akshay Kulkarni Regional Director, Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality-South and South East Asia

TRAVTALK

19

Garuda Indonesia joins Sky Team Garuda Indonesia has joined SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, as its 20th member. It is the second airline from Southeast Asia and it adds Jakarta as an alternative gateway to and from South East Asia, as well as 40 new destinations to SkyTeam's global network served uniquely by the alliance. This alliance will provide Garuda an access to SkyTeam's 1,064 destinations, covering over 90% of the most relevant traffic flows in the world.

Garuda flies to 64 destinations in 12 countries, including 40 domestic destinations. SkyTeam customers from every continent will benefit from easier access to Indonesia's key business and tourism destinations, facilitated by Garuda's partnerships with alliance members.

The airline boosts SkyTeam's presence in Australia with service to Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney; and in Tokyo with flights to both Narita and Haneda airports.

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TRAVTALK MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

FAMILY ALBUM

Preserve the Himalayan Heritage The Heritage Tourism Conclave, which was hosted by PHD Chamber of Commerce on February 21 in New Delhi with special focus on Himalayan States in India, emphasised on both government and stakeholder’s responsibilities regarding preservation and marketing of the unique heritage products.

The event was very interactive in the presence of Parvez Dewan, Secretary Tourism, Government of India and key industry players.

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AVIATION

MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

TRAVTALK

21

When airlines go beyond ticketing...

Offering complimentary hotel stays and visa processing services, airlines spread their wings into ancillary services. speaks to veterans of the travel industry to get an insight on this development.

R A M YA JS D’R O Z A R I O mirates recently offered a Dubai stopover package, whereby the First Class and Business Class passengers could avail a complimentary night’s stay at a five star hotel and receive a 36-hour UAE visa. The airline now offers ease in visa-processing services for Indian passport holders from 10 gateway cities, along with Visas of the World.

E

“I do not think we are affected at all by this development,” said Rajesh Sethi, MD, Carnation Travel Services. “As is it, we are experiencing cutthroat competition and are working on meagre profit margins not knowing as to who would be our competitor in the specific query. In order to capture maximum market share, we never take chances of making extra profits by quoting high and rather lose the booking.”

Regarding the complimentary hotel-stays, he commented, “Only the cost of the stay is accounted for in the airfare. Otherwise, it would be much less if taken without accommodation.”

Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI, added, “While it is a step forward, it will be in the interest of airlines to have agents involved in visa facilitation, as they come in direct contact with customers.

It will keep a check on unscrupulous elements.”

Regarding hotel and other services, Sahni believes that it would be appropriate if airlines manage their own part of business. “They better leave the tour part to be handled by a touroperator. But in case, the connections are not good, providing a hotel to facilitate a passenger may add value. We have examples where airlines have stepped into tour operators’

Guldeep Singh Sahni

Jyoti Mayal

Rajesh Sethi

Jatinder Taneja

President OTOAI

Chairperson, Airline Council and CoChairperson, Allied Services Council, TAAI

Managing Director Carnation Travel Services

Managing Director Travel Spirit International

It will be in the interest of airlines to have agents involved in visa facilitation

shoes, resulting in operators losing interest in the destination. On the other hand, some airlines do

In point-to-point travel the airline will benefit, but in a multiple destination travel, the agents will benefit have their holiday product which is in luxury segment, but in that case agents still remain compet-

I do not think airlines are adequately equipped to match the kind of service we provide itive as airlines also offer the same rate which agents offer to the customer. In such cases, air-

Travel agents and tour operators aid in the packaging of destinations

lines generally own the hotels,” Sahni said.

Contd. on page 22

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TRAVTALK MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

AVIATION

Working together

AERA restricts Hyderabad Airport on UDF

Contd. from page 21

In its recent notification, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority has imposed a bar on levying User Development Fee (UDF) by Hyderabad International Airport effective April 1, 2014. The regulatory body is also scrutinising the amount of UDF being collected by other airports in India.

Jyoti Mayal, Chairperson, Airline Council and CoChairperson, Allied Services Council, TAAI, said, “This is a tactic to sell their destination, and with this, airlines have got their leverage. After a stage, ticketing is not everything. The real tussle is between agents and airlines. In point-to-point travel, the airline will benefit, but in a multiple destination travel, the agents will benefit.”

Jatinder Taneja, MD, Travel Spirit International said, “Airlines want to reach customers directly. However, travel agents must be present in between customers and airlines. Agents and operators aid in packaging the destinations, and often provide one stop solution to all.”

Sahni added that the only way to handle this would be to remain competitive and offer other products where we are competitive. “Provide personalised services to clients, and be informed enough to give maximum information to the client,” he added.

R ATA N K R P AU L ccording to the Concession Agreement, about the Regulated Charges including User Development Fee, it is mentioned that Hyderabad International Airport Limited (HIAL) would be allowed to levy UDF w.e.f the airport opening date, duly increased in the subsequent years with inflation index from embarking domestic and international passengers. The UDF is for the provision of passenger amenities, services and facilities and it would be used for the development, management, maintenance, operation and expansion of the facilities at the Airport.

A

The Authority decided that the first control period for determination of tariffs for airport operators will be the five year period from 1.4.2011 to 31.3.2016, i.e. the period 201112 to 2015-16. However, in

holders through a consultation process.

` 1,120 per embarking international passenger.

AERA made the calculations on the ‘single till’ model. In this model, both aeronautical and nonaeronautical charges

The AERA sources also maintained that the UDF as well as calculations for other aeronautical charges for the next Control Period commencing 1.4.2016 would depend upon the various building blocks considered by the Authority while determining aeronautical tariff for the next Control Period including the required true-ups.

Highlights

view of the fact that HIAL is estimated to make an overrecovery of ` 31.79 crore on NPV basis as on April 1, 2014 and at the end of the current control period (1.4.2011 to 31.3.2016) of ` 38.47 crore, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has instructed the airport to abolish UDF for the remaining two years (FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16) of

the control period. It is found that if the existing rates of landing, parking and housing charges are continued for the remaining years of the current Control Period namely FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16, there will be no requirement of UDF from April 1, 2014. The decision was taken after getting inputs and observations from HIAL and industry stake-

ort to AERA has instructed the airp g two years abolish UDF for the remainin 2014-16 for Delhi The consultation process soon in beg will orts airp and Mumbai fee this rge cha orts All major airp ion for users which is a bone of content

are included to arrive at charges to be calculated at airports. Presently, the UDF for the entire Control Period (1.4.2011 to 31.3.2016) works out to approximately ` 283 per embarking domestic passenger and

It is pertinent to mention that all major airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore, among others, charge this fee, which remains to be a bone of contention for the users (both airlines and passengers) of the airports. The AERA sources said the consultation process for Delhi and Mumbai airports where first control period for them ends on March 31, 2014, will begin soon.

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FAMILY ALBUM

Kochi sets stage for Focus Canada 2014 Held from February 26 – March 1, Focus Canada- India 2014 witnessed 30 Canadian sellers and over 60 Indian buyers. The event offered the perfect platform for the travel trade to exchange ideas and feedback on promoting Canada in the Indian market.

Contd. on page 26

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AGENTS

Exploring new destinations speaks to Pankaj Nagpal (Managing Director) and Sucheta Nagpal (Director & CEO) of Travstarz Holiday & Destinations, regarding their current focus, challenges faced by travel agents and the various issues worrying the travel trade today...

T T B U R E AU What are the special packages Travstarz is offering this year?

Pankaj - Travstarz’s primary focus has been Far East Countries, the UAE and beach destinations like Maldives & Mauritius, but in the last two years, we have expanded our operations to newer destinations like Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. We handled close to 500 passengers for Europe in

Sucheta - We wish to extensively promote USA and Canada and are working closely with the local hotels/DMCs and shall soon be launching set Itineraries and fixed departures for these destinations for the coming season soon. We will announce our series departures for Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia for the coming season. Meanwhile, we have announced special packages to Leh & Ladakh regions, Himachal, Goa, Kerala and Gujarat.

ture to make India a tourism-friendly destination.

Do you think travel industry is suffering with increasing number of travel agents fraud cases?

Pankaj - It is indeed very unfortunate that certain cases of frauds have surfaced recently in India. This has tarnished the reputation of the entire travel fraternity and the country in the outside world especially in today’s well connected scenario where everything is shared and highlighted on social networking platforms.

Sucheta- The trade associations and the government should take a very strong view of these situations and it is imperative that the guilty are brought to book to set an example.

What measures can be taken to avoid them?

Pankaj - We need to have strong entry barriers, well-laid benchmarks and an efficient complaint redressal system to bring such incidents down.

The trade associations too have a strong role to play in this by following strong KYC norms before approving members and must contribute their bit to take the trade to a higher level.

2013. Our focus for the coming years will be on destinations like Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria and Eastern European destinations like Poland, Czech Republic, etc., and the Scandinavian Region.

On The Way N New offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru planned N Travel representation venture under the name of SASA Representations

What are the major issues that travel agents are facing currently?

Sucheta - The depreciating Indian `, high service tax and extremely high levels of competition coming from new entrants are some major issues. The negative publicity of India in the world, owing to certain untoward incidents, has also dented the inbound segment. There is an urgent need to have well-laid tourism policies and strong infrastruc-

Could you share your future plans with us.

Pankaj - We are working on our own B2B travel portal which shall be a one-stop shop for all travel services and shall cater exclusively to the travel trade and corporate companies.

Sucheta - We are soon opening offices at Mumbai and Bangalore too. Further, we have started our new venture under the name of SASA Representations and the core business is travel representations in India.

Germany opens visa application centre in Goa Germany has launched a visa application centre in Goa and announced that such a facility would also be opened soon in Chennai and Kolkata. The Kolkata and Chennai centres would be opened by this financial year end, taking the number of visa application centres to 16 covering pan-India, Consul of

German Republic in Mumbai Alexander Thielitz said. Around 1, 20,000 Indians had procured German visa during the last year, of which the western region accounts for almost 42,000 visas, the diplomat said.

The maximum number of people travelling to Germany is from Maharashtra, he informed,

adding that 70 per cent of the people want visa to travel for business purposes. The rough estimates show that around 30,000-40,000 Indian tourists visit Germany annually on a direct visa, while several more thousands unaccounted people go there through multiple entry facility.

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FAMILY ALBUM

Focussing on business with pleasure Contd. from page 24

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MOT

ITDC launches web portal The portal has been developed by Hermes (I) Tickets, an IT solutions provider for travel, aviation and hospitality sectors.

T T B U R E AU ndia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC)’s travel arm, Ashok Travels and Tours (ATT) has launched an integrated travel website to offer real-time, travel-related services, including tour packages to B2B, Business to Enterprise (B2E), and B2C segments. The new portal has been developed by Hermes (I) Tickets, an IT solutions provider for travel, aviation and hospitality sectors.

The portal – www.itdctravels.com-includes air ticketing compliance with government policies and procedures, special group ticketing services to book and handle large passenger groups, specialised Leave Travel Concession (LTC) booking service for government employees, secured payment options, and online credit facility for government/business enterprises. The portal will provide airline options, aiming to be at par with the best online portals in India, hotel options

option to initiate last-minute cancellations or rescheduling.

I

Girish Shankar Additional Secretary Tourism, GoI and Managing Director, ITDC

The portal has been developed by ‘leveraging the best available technology’ in the country

across the world, sightseeing packages, car rental services, and self-booking tool with an

According to Girish Shankar, Additional Secretary, Tourism, GoI and Managing Director, ITDC, the portal has been developed by ‘leveraging the best available technology’ in the country. The portal, will offer best rates 24x7, with no hidden charges. He added that with the new platform, ATT will be able to serve not only government customers, but also general customers.

Ramu Annamalai, Managing Director, Hermes (I) Tickets, said that they will soon set up a call centre (1800 108 1700), which will assist people to book tickets and packages.

Highlight N The portal will offer best rates 24x7, with no hidden charges

PATA and MOT workshop The PATA India Chapter and Ministry of Tourism recently hosted Crisis Prevention & Risk Management Workshop for the travel agents and other related stakeholders.

The workshop was conducted by Bert van Walbeek, Chairman, PATA Rapid Recovery Task Force (PRRT), Bangkok at Le Meridien, New Delhi.

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STATES

NATIONAL 14-15

Raipur

14-16 18 20 21-23 25 26 27 27-29 31

Chennai Mumbai Delhi Guwahati Mumbai Delhi Hyderabad Ahmedabad Ahmedabad

MARCH Indian International Travel Exhibition (IITE) India International Tours & Travels Fair Tourism Malaysia’s Sales Mission Tourism Malaysia’s Sales Mission Holiday Expo Tourism Ireland’s Travel Trade Workshop Tourism Ireland’s Travel Trade Workshop South India Travel Awards Gujarat Tourism Mart Destination New South Wales & Tourism Queensland’s Best of Australia Workshop

INTERNATIONAL 17-19 19-22

Tokyo Moscow

24-26

Abu Dhabi

26-28 Kiev 27-April 2 France

NATIONAL 1 2

Mumbai Bengaluru

International Luxury Travel Market Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT) GIBTM UITT Atout France’s Rendez-Vous en France

APRIL Tourism Poland’s Roadshow Tourism Poland’s Roadshow

3

Delhi

Tourism Poland’s Roadshow

3

Kochi

Destination New South Wales & Tourism Queensland’s Best of Australia Workshop

4

Mumbai

MICE Travel Mart + Luxury & Leisure Travel Mart,

8

Ludhiana

Destination New South Wales & Tourism Queensland’s Best of Australia Workshop

8-9

Delhi

Incredible India Travel Bazar

10

Guwahati

Destination New South Wales & Tourism Queensland’s Best of Australia Workshop

Azerbaijan

5-6 6-8 8-11 9-11

Ottawa Marseille Singapore Beijing

10-12 15-20 23-25

Siberia The Hague Sao Paulo

23-25

Kazakhstan

28-30

Cape Town

Azerbaijan International Tourism Fair (AITF) The Travel and Vacation Show Routes Europe Hotel Asia China Outbound Travel Tourism Mart (COTTM) SITT (TOURSIB) International Travel & Tourism Market World Travel Market Latin America Kazakhstan International Tourism Fair (KITF) IBTM Africa

MAY INTERNATIONAL 2-3

Cape Town

World Travel Market Africa

5-8

Dubai

Arabian Travel Market (ATM)

9-11 10-12 11-13

Shanghai Durban Bremen

World Travel Fair Indaba Expo German Travel Mart

18-21 20-22 27-30

New Zealand Frankfurt Vancouver

Trenz IMEX 2014 Canadian Tourism Commission’s Rendezvous Canada Korea World Travel Fair

29-Jun 1 Seoul

Himachal Pradesh provides unforgettable memories of the land revered as ‘Dev Bhumi’ or ‘Abode of the Gods’. Essence of experiential travel can be seen in its tribal and rural tourism treasures. provides more info.

T T B U R E AU airs and festivals of a state are an embodiment of its culture. Himachal Pradesh offers many such fairs. Different districts of Himachal have different fairs across the year celebrating harvests, religious festivals and old traditions.

F

Minjar: It is the most popular fair of Chamba, attended by a large number of people from every nook and corner of the district. This mela is held on the second Sunday of the Shravana month (between last week of July to first week of August). The week long International fair begins when the Minjar flag is hoisted in historical Chowgan.

Lossar: This festival is celebrated in the entire tribal belt of Himachal Pradesh and in the Tibetan colonies at Manali, Shimla, Dharamshala, Solan and Baijnath. This festival means a beginning of a new year and is held in the last week of February. One can witness a Chham dance, various mask dances and dramas reminiscent of the post Buddhist culture with traditional orchestra.

Sair: Celebrated in the month of September, this fes-

INTERNATIONAL 3-5

Festivals from ‘Dev Bhumi’ Himachal

For more information, contact us at: talk@ddppl.com

tival is considered as a BaraDin (Big day) of the hillmen.

Lavi Fair: Every year the Lavi fair is organised between November 11 to 14, at Rampur, 130 km from Shimla.

This is an International festival of trade of dry fruits, handicrafts and handlooms.

Renuka Fair: It’s a religious fair and cultural programmes are organised during the evenings. This annual fair is scheduled to be organised in October/November, 2014 at Renuka Ji (Sirmaur).

Hamir Utsav: The Hamir Utsav is celebrated in the memory of existence of Hamirpur

Distt with cultural programmes showcasing the folk music and dances of Himachal Pradesh and other states.

Kullu Dussehra: It is a week -long international fair held every year during October. The major attraction of the fair is the assembly of hundreds of local deities with the main deity Raghunath ji.

Other activities include cultural programmes, exhibitions, etc.

Ashwin Navratra Mela: During the Chaitra Navratra in March/April and Ashwin Navratra's in September/October, large number of pilgrims visit the temples of Shaktipeeths – Sri Naina

Devi, Chintpurni Devi, Jwala Devi, Bajreshwari Devi and Chamunda Devi to seek the blessings of the Goddess Durga.

Phulaich Fair: The fair is celebrated in Kinnaur district in the month of September every year. A famous flower was brought by the local people from the top of the peak for the Devta Pooja and they perform the dance in a series of sequences.

Tribal Fair: It is organised in the last week of October to first week of November at Reckong Peo (Kinnaur) with variety of cultural programmes organised during the fair.

Almaty as a MICE & Leisure destination Hotel Ritz Carlton in association with Air Arabia conducted a fam to promote Almaty as a MICE and Leisure destination for the Indian travel trade. The four nights’ fam covered most of the major attractions of the city besides the vibrant night life.

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OPPORTUNITY

NEWS

Cashing in on exotic destinations The Globus Family of Brands has a special focus on Canada, Norway and South America. The company also plans to offer liberal promotions throughout the year.

T T B U R E AU earing up for the holiday season in India, the Globus Family of Brands (GFOB) is offering a wide selection of vacations to Europe, South America and North America. The brand portfolio of COSMOS, Globus, Avalon Waterways and Monograms, offers over 400 vacations ranging from citybreaks, to escorted coach vacations, river cruises and even self-drive options. In 2013, to provide a firsthand experience of the products, the company organised a fam tour for 12 Indian travel agents on the Cosmos ‘Western Canada & Rocky Mountaineer’ itinerary. The fam trip was offered as an appreciation to all loyal travel partners who were instrumental in driving up sales during 2013.

G

According to Varesh Chopra, Regional Director, GFOB- South Asia & Middle East, the objective of the fam

was to reward the partners and to introduce them to the superlative experience of a Cosmos tour while showcasing the wonders of the destination.

He said, “Other than the fam to

The objective of the fam was to introduce the agents to the superlative experience of a Cosmos tour Varesh Chopra Regional Director, GFOB- South Asia & Middle East

Canada, in 2013, GFOB sent more than 20 agents from across India & Middle East on various other best-selling vacations of Globus & Cosmos. The year 2014 promises to be even more exciting for the best sellers with the incentive being an all-inclusive vacation to South America for nine days! Not just that, GFOB has also announced a nine days fullypaid fam to Norway for the second batch of agents.”

The company also plans to offer liberal promotions throughout the year. Cosmos & Globus offers escorted vaca-

tions; with Cosmos offering vacations from just US$ 75 a day and Globus providing a richer vacation experience with 4-star hotels including sightseeing.

Monograms offers independent vacations allowing travellers to personalise their vacation experience without the hassles faced while travelling without a group.

Avalon Waterways offers niche river cruising in Europe, Asia & the Galapagos Islands for travellers looking for a more intimate destination experience.

Expansion plans in the India market Bonton Tours is a 360° travel management company that offers end-toend travel services. The group set up four branches in India across the country in a span of three years, taking their count to 11.

“In the last three years, Bonton has made significant impact on both B2B and B2C travel communities,” said

Expansion Process N The new offices opened in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Kochi and Rajkot N MICE and more leisure FIT packages have been added

MICE and leisure business both in outbound and domestic require better network Avanish Sharma Managing Director Bonton Delhi Avanish Sharma, Managing Director, Bonton Delhi. With growing demand, the needof-the-hour pushed the group to expand their network from seven offices in India to 11. The new offices opened in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Kochi and Rajkot.

This year, they added MICE and more leisure FIT packages, moving forward

from the limited offering of Dubai and Far East destinations, Sharma added.

“MICE and leisure business both in outbound and domestic require better network. And we are also hopeful of adding inbound tours into our portfolio, given our network offices within India and the UAE.” According to Sharma,

“The destinations that are most likely to be popular this year are Greece, Bulgaria, Abu Dhabi, Canada and the USA. Hong Kong is also a strong contender with Star Cruise repositioning the much popular Star Virgo here, thus the rush from Singapore will move towards Hong Kong as no visa is required and that acts as an additional booster.”

The company offers a variety of services ranging from air ticketing, visa services, MICE operations, travel insurance, cruises, and much more. The company’s performance in 2013 was growth oriented and it was a great year in terms of new verticals of travel business, concluded Sharma.

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OPPORTUNITY

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CLIPBOARD

MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

TRAVTALK

33

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TRAVTALK MARCH 2 ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014

MOVEMENTS

Preferred Hotel Group

Starwood

Shangri-La's – Eros Hotel

Singapore

New Delhi

New Delhi

Anthony Ross has been appointed as the Executive Vice President for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) for the Preferred Hotel Group. In his new capacity, Ross will drive the company’s existing development efforts in key cities throughout the region, working closely with a team of Regional Directors. Ross brings more than 25 years of international hospitality experience to his new responsibilities with Preferred Hotel Group. Most recently, Ross served as vice president of operations for Marco Polo Hotels, where he was helping to develop a new luxury hotel brand.

Sudeep Jain has been recently appointed as Vice President, Acquisitions & Development of the South Asia region for Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Jain brings with him over 13 years of rich and varied experience in the hospitality industry across diverse roles in several countries. Prior to his new role with Starwood, Jain was the Managing Director at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels and Hospitality Group for India since its inception in 2008.

Farhat Jamal is the Area Manager for India and the General Manager for Shangri-La's – Eros Hotel, New Delhi. Jamal started his career at Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces where he spent about 30 years. In his last position with the hotel group, he was the Vice President and General Manager of the iconic Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai as well as overseeing the operations of the other Taj hotels in Mumbai, Maldives, Mauritius and Dubai. Jamal served briefly as the President and Chief Operating Officer for Bharat Hotels Ltd.

India City Walks

The Grand New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi

Nidhi Bansal is the Co-Founder of India City Walks. Holding a diploma from the Taj School of Hotel Management & Degree from Huddersfield UK, she started her career as a pre-opening team member of Marriott Hotels in India. Bansal then went on to opening the Trident in Gurgaon.

She worked with the Oberoi Group for 5 years, post which she entered the corporate world to stay on with Genpact for 7 years as an Asst. Vice President. She gave it up for a more challenging career of taking the task of becoming the cofounder at India City Walks.

Sanjeev Pathania has been appointed as the Director of Convention Sales for The Grand New Delhi hotel. Pathania has been associated with The Grand New Delhi since 2013. He has been in the leadership role for over 7 years and has been responsible for effective implementation of marketing strategies and revenue growth during all periods. His career has spanned over 15 years in hospitality industry where he has work with Kempinski Ambience Hotel, InterContinental Hotels, The Grand, New Delhi, on his previous assignments.

Sanket Chugh has taken over the sales portfolio in the capacity of Director of Sales at Shangri-La’s - Eros Hotel, New Delhi. With over 14 years of experience in the hospitality industry, predominantly in the revenue segment, account management and Operations; Chugh brings with him knowledge and skills in diverse areas of both corporate and leisure business. Prior to this assignment, he has worked with the Oberoi Hotels and Resorts and the Taj Group, holding leadership positions in their properties across the country.

Sofitel Mumbai BKC

Guideline Travels

Mumbai

Nagpur Ninad Sahasrabudde has been appointed as the Sales Manager of Guideline Travels for Central India. He shall be based in Nagpur and shall cater to the upcoming markets of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Maharashtra. He shall be in charge of handling all cruise and any package related enquiries from the cities in these areas. He joins Guideline Travels from his previous assignment at JTB Travels in their Nagpur office as the Asst Manager for B2B operations. With a diploma from IATA, Ninad come with a rich experience of 11 years in the travel industry.

Pooja Vaswaney has been appointed as the Public Relations Manager of Sofitel Mumbai BKC. Vaswaney joins Sofitel Mumbai BKC after a successful tenure spanning over 8 years of experience in the hospitality business and significant international exposure. Starting her career at the Four Seasons Hotel London, Pooja moved to the Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai to lend her international knowledge to the brand. She then served as a part of The Westin Mumbai Garden City marketing team as the E-Commerce Manager before moving to her new role at Sofitel.

Indrajit Saha has been appointed as the Executive Chef of Sofitel Luxury Hotels’ flagship property in India, Sofitel Mumbai BKC. Responsible in overseeing the gastronomic vertical of the hotel, Chef Saha joins Sofitel Mumbai BKC with over 16 years of experience in the hospitality sector.

Saha has worked with international hospitality brands in Maldives, Thailand, Djibouti, and Seychelles.

Form - IV Statement about ownership and other particulars about newspaper TravTalk to be published in the first issue every year after the last day of February 1. Place of publication

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 Kanchan Nath

Jim Burba, President, Burba Hotel Network, says, “People in India are fantastic and welcoming. One can train the hotel staff to do certain things; however you cannot train natural kindness. Out of all the places we work, in and around the world, India spoils us.

Here everything which gets done, gets done well, and with a smile.

This itself is a very cool thing to have in one’s DNA as a destination.” He feels India offers unlimited permanent potential, but what it has to offer as ‘people’ is fantastic.

Suresh Kumar, CEO, Fortune Park Hotels, says, “I generally take road trips to destinations and areas where I see opportunity in my business.” He feels that in the last 10 years, Indian roads have become much friendlier.

It is no longer essential to pack everything and travel. Many places have developed enroute for breaks and stopovers. He loves Goa, which he feels is almost an international destination; Rajasthan, Jaipur and Udaipur. As far as hill stations are concerned, he loves visiting Mussoorie.

: 72 Todarmal Road, New Delhi - 110001

2. Periodicity of its publication

: Fortnightly

3. Printer's Name Nationality Address

: SanJeet : Indian : 72, Todarmal Road, New Delhi - 110001

4. Publisher's Name Nationality Address

: SanJeet : Indian : 72, Todarmal Road, New Delhi - 110001

5. Editor's Name Nationality Address

: SanJeet : Indian : 72, Todarmal Road, New Delhi - 110001

6. Name and address of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than one percent of the total capital : Durga Das Publications Pvt. Ltd. Shareholders: 1. Vikramajit, 2 B, Friends Colony, West, ND-65. 2. SanJeet, 72, Todarmal Road, New Delhi-1. 3. Sumati Jeet, 72, Todarmal Road, ND-1. 4. Urmila Vikramajit, 2 B, Friend Colony, West, ND-65 I, SanJeet, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date : 01/03/2014 Sd/SanJeet Signature of the Publisher

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Postal Reg. No.:DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.:•U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 16th-17th of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91 Date of Publication:15-03-2014

HIGHLIGHT

India is a serious meetings market Simon Press, Reed Travel Exhibitions Director, WTM, and Shane Hannam, Key Account Manager, Reed Travel Exhibitions, who were recently in India, talk about their plans and how they are committed to the India market.

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA After Latin America and Africa, are you looking at India for expansion?

Simon: We are looking at opportunities throughout the globe at the moment for expansion. We started with the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, we then launched the Arabian Travel Mart (ATM) for Middle East and UAE. A couple of years ago, we also launched WTM Latin America and this year we are pleased to announce WTM Africa. We are also looking at opportunities specifically in Asia and SE Asia. The India market is very important for us from the WTM point of view, both from visitors/buyers perspective as well as participation from Indianbased products looking for international buyers.

What are the major objectives that you look forward to every year at WTM? Simon: Across leisure brands, we look for innovation, so we are constantly looking to innovate on the core offering.

We are looking at brokering a relationship between the visitor and the buyer, culminating in a live event, through a digital platform. So, in WTM in particular, we have launched three TV channels. Through live events, participants at WTM or ATM get an opportunity for PR and marketing facilities throughout the year.

How important is social media for the travel sector?

Simon: In WTM, we have embraced social media and digital opportunities in a big way. We have a dedicated social media team within the core WTM team. We actively

support across all channels, including Google, Facebook, YouTube, so we look to specialise on every single platform. We also won an award two years ago for our interaction with social media from the association of exhibitions based in the UK.

as well. It is all about one-toone brokering of relationships between travel buyers and travel sellers.

The travel sector is embracing digital and mobile

Shane: The response from India as always is terrif-

Over the years, your events have seen an increase in the number of Indian buyers. How has the response from India been last year?

slightly different from the other events we run. The strategic positioning of that event was basically along the lines of creating a footstep into the market, giving people an opportunity to see what the Indian market can offer, giving a low-cost opportunity to enter a new market.

The success was overwhelming and going forward it has given us a great foundation to build on. This year, we move to Chennai to show that India’s potential is not solely restricted to Mumbai. We want to open up the entire opportunity within the meetings industry in the whole of the Indian region.

Are there any areas that need to be worked on?

Simon Press

Shane Hannam

Reed Travel Exhibitions Director World Travel Market

Key Account Manager Reed Travel Exhibitions

technology. From an exhibition perspective and also from a travel perspective, we can learn the way in which other sectors like retail, utilise digital and mobile technology.

ic. If you look at the global meetings industry, India is a huge part of what’s going on.

We see a massive rise in the numbers of incoming and outgoing business in the meetings market, the fact that we now have our own portfolio of events and a particular event in India is testament to the fact that this is a serious meetings market. India is an upcoming market, the global MICE market is definitely coming to India, and we have seen a rise in suppliers supporting our global events.

What buyer programmes do you have for your exhibitors, especially for the leisure portfolio?

Simon: In WTM, we have a specific buyers’ club whereby we look to see how much people spend. They have to meet a set criterion to be a part of that club that works through speed-networking at the live events as well. So, we have a speednetworking event before the show starts on the first day.

Then on the final day, we have a second such element

How was the response to IBTM India?

Shane: IBTM India was a great launch market with a huge potential. It operated in table-top format, which is

Shane: The important thing is to remain focussed on the 3 pillars of the global meetings industry - educational perspective, networking potential and general worth of the global meetings industry.

From the perspective of the suppliers, we need to focus on educating the market. The ability to network is something that needs to be developed as there’s always scope for improvement.

How would you predict the growth of the tourism industry?

Shane: Now, people are becoming much more mobile.

They look for convenience and new experiences. They have a standard in place in terms of accommodation quality, airlift services and, on top of that, the desire to find something different. That can be a cultural experience, or a gastronomic experience, connection to sports, etc.

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Cruise and agents’ alliance a must As tour operators and travel agents see margins being eroded with high taxation and increasing competition between online travel portals, the industry is looking forward to a new alliance between cruise professionals, travel agents and tour operators.

M E G H A PAU L ith cruise holiday as an alternative to a landbased vacation, it was expected to take off in a big way particularly because of its all-inclusive appeal. However, the potential of cruise tourism in India still remains untapped.

In competitive times where airline commissions are dwindling, a new alliance between cruise professionals, travel agents and tour operators is the way forward.

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The cruise market in India had to its credit more than 1,15,000 passengers setting sail annually, Shibani Phadkar, Senior Vice President, Leisure Travel (Outbound), Thomas Cook (India) reveals. Given that the company predicted viable potential for cruises, Thomas Cook India was the first travel company to set up an exclusive cruise division, as early as 2007. “Despite the gloom predicted by the pundits, at Thomas Cook India, we’ve seen an impressive growth of 23 per cent and upward, including FIT, GIT and MICE segments for 2013.

Our cruise team has seen very interesting uptake from two strongly emerging segments - the youth and the woman-traveller. Cruises are a top draw for our ad-hoc groups too - we’ve had ‘kitty party’ groups, ‘bachelor- and bachelorette-party’ groups, anniversary celebrations and also groups of friends,” she affirms. Leisure travel tops the company’s cruise portfolio, contributing 90 per cent of the

Nishith Saxena Director Cruise Professionals

There is a dearth of trained staff in the cruise sector. The staff is trained only in the airline aspect of issuing tickets

Sidhartha Roy Senior Vice President ITPL & TRN Marketing

Commission from cruises is significantly higher. For our company, travel agents can rake in commissions as high as 30 per cent

revenue, followed by VFR (about seven per cent) and finally business travellers (three per cent).

factors ensure that cruise holidays’ share of the pie keeps increasing by leaps and bounds,” she states.

As Phadkar explains, the cruise industry sells ‘itineraries’ and not destinations as the ship itself is the ‘destination’. “A strong advantage is that one visits a myriad of destinations in a short span of time sans the tension of having to pack/unpack, flights or other travel. Plus, the pricing is all inclusive; which means everything from travel, accommodation and meals to entertainment is taken care of. All these

Throwing light on new trends in the industry, Naresh Rawal, Vice-President, Sales, South Asia, Russia, Middle East and South Africa, Star Cruises, confirms, “While business travel, holiday and VFR trips still dominate outbound volumes, people are opting for niche products such as sports tourism, luxury travels, honeymoon packages and cruises. It reveals clear opportunities for market seg-

Ratna Chadha

Chief Executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing and India Representative, Royal Caribbean Cruises

To bring an international cruise experience, the government has to modulate cruise policies

mentation and niches. More Indians are now going for international cruises but most of them prefer short cruises, rather than the long voyages that Americans and Europeans seek. First-timers opt for short cruises to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, as a package to these countries is cheaper.

April-June is the peak season for outbound cruise tourism in India.” Cruising is cheaper than a land-based holiday as the cruise package takes care of the stay and a maximum of three meals and entertainment on board, he adds.

Towards Newer Shores

N First-timers opt for short cruises to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, as a package to these countries is cheaper

N Cruising is cheaper than a land-based holiday as the cruise package takes care of the stay and a maximum of three meals and entertainment on board

Cruise stakeholders should provide world-class products to their clients such as cuisines, entertainment, and international experiences to attract Indian tourists, opines Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing and India Representative, Royal Caribbean Cruises. “The industry stakeholders, along with the government, should make way for international

Shibani Phadkar Senior Vice President, Leisure Travel (Outbound), Thomas Cook (India)

Thomas Cook India has registered an impressive growth of 23 per cent and upward in cruise for 2013

cruise operators to invest in India. A complex tax regime, along with tedious immigration processes, is costing the Indian government precious foreign exchange. To bring an international cruise experience to the Indian backwaters, government has to modulate cruise policies,” she says. Talking about the benefits of cruise vacations for outbound travel agents, she informs, “Agents, who earlier handled 60 per cent of travel bookings in India, have been forced by falling airline commission revenues to focus on value-added services and the leisure market. Cruise segment, though niche is rapidly getting popular, especially international cruises and has not yet been totally tapped by the travel trade.”

According to Nishith Saxena, Director, Cruise

Professionals, conventional holiday packages are becoming monotonous and predictable and travel agents need to look at products that will give their customers new experiences. “I feel agents in India will start engaging more with cruise liners, as it will not only help them stay innovative, but also assist in increasing their income,” he adds.

There is a huge dearth of trained staff in the cruise sec-

Naresh Rawal

Vice-President, Sales, South Asia, Russia, Middle East and South Africa, Star Cruises

Cruising is cheaper than a land-based holiday as it takes care of the stay and a maximum of three meals and entertainment tor. The staff, in majority of agencies, is trained only in the airline aspect of the business of issuing tickets. Such staff needs exposure to learn and understand about international destinations to be able to suggest, promote and sell with confidence to the discerning outbound traveller, Saxena laments.

As per Sidhartha Roy, Senior Vice President, ITPL & TRN Marketing, this is a good opportunity for travel agents and tour operators, as commission from cruises is significantly higher. “For our company, travel agents can rake in commissions as high as 30 per cent. Also, there are big incentives for the B2B fraternity beyond the commission. Thus, stakeholders should continue educating and updating the travel trade about cruise products,” he adds.

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Offering a six-star experience onboard India is an emerging market for travellers; and now that Indians travel extensively and many are done with the usual ‘must do’ destinations, they are ready to try out cruising with a difference.

T T B U R E AU lthough the rest of the travel industry, especially travel to Europe, has received a setback in 2013 due to market conditions, the cruise industry

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Beatrice Dolder Director, Business Development Maison De Voyages

We will also be launching our new cruise liners ‘SS Catherine’ this year and ‘SS Maria Theresa’ next year adding to our collection of boutique ships has seen a slow rise by 10 per cent to 15 per cent on an average. A number of cruises, including Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, have entered the Indian market in recent years. This is of utmost importance as once the market has experienced ocean cruising, it will mature to the river cruising segment.

6-Star Experience N Delivering the highest standards of excellence in the six most important aspects of luxury river cruising N Each star represents Expertise, Service, Unique, Culinary, Choice, Uncompromising Luxury and Remarkable Value N Two new itineraries in 2014 include ‘Bordeaux, Vineyard & Chateaux’ and ‘A Portrait of Majestic France’ N Six new itineraries will be introduced in 2015

Maison De Voyages has introduced ‘All-Inclusive’ Boutique River Cruises in Europe. The cost includes gratuities and unlimited beverages in addition to other inclusions.

At the end of 2013, Uniworld’s new ‘Six-Star Experience’ was announced. This represents

their core value: delivering the highest standards of excellence in the six most important aspects of luxury river cruising.

Each star represents Expertise, Service, Unique, Culinary, Choice, Uncompromising Luxury and Remarkable Value.

Moreover, they’ve brought in

two new itineraries in 2014, ‘Bordeaux, Vineyard & Chateaux’ and ‘A Portrait of Majestic France’. The first sailing for these itineraries will be on March 30, 2014.

Talking about the future plans, Beatrice Dolder,

Director, Business Development, says, “We will also be launching our new cruise liners ‘S.S. Catherine’ this year and ‘S.S. Maria Theresa’ next year adding to our collection of boutique ships. Also in 2015, we will be introducing six

new itineraries, ‘Holland & Belgium at Tulip Time’, ‘Delightful Danube & Prague’, ‘Grand European Explorer’, ‘Eastern Europe Explorer’, ‘Ultimate France’ and ‘Jewels of Spain, Portugal & the Douro River’.

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The right way to sell cruise holidays While cruising is one of the most upcoming and preferred holiday options amongst passengers, not many travel agencies promote cruising aggressively due to lack of knowledge. Nishith Saxena, Director, Cruise Professionals talks to travel agents about the important things that need to be kept in mind when selling a cruise.

How are ships different from each other?

Different ships have their own unique atmosphere and style of service, based on the product offering – casual, upmarket, premium or luxury. In addition to this, based on the size of the ships the size of cabins and facilities offered may differ. Therefore, it is important to look at the ship size and facilities being offered which matter to the client. For example: a rockclimbing wall on a ship may not be of importance to senior citizens going on a cruise, but may matter to young families. Similarly, choice of paid specialty restaurants onboard a ship may be of interest to an up-market passenger, but may not be of any use to a budget traveller.

How much luggage is could be carried on a cruise?

On most cruises, there is no restriction of baggage.

Passengers can bring in as many bags as they could fit into their cabin. But passengers must remember that all international and domestic flights have baggage allowance restrictions, which may vary from economy to business class. Therefore, passengers need to be familiar with baggage allowances/restrictions of airlines they are using before, and after the cruise, to ensure that they do not face inconvenience at the airports.

How to decide which cabin to book?

The choice of cabin purely depends on the kind of person you are. Club-crawlers may find the cabins close to theatres and bars most convenient. But if passengers would like to go to bed early, then they should choose the

Nishith Saxena Director Cruise Professionals

cabin away from noise. Latesleepers would be better away from the gym and children’s club, which are usually lively in the morning. If you have difficulty walking long distances, then cabins close to elevators would be sensible to choose.

What about tips on a cruise?

It is needless to say that genuine, attentive and excellent service is a hallmark of most premium cruise lines. Tipping is similar to Service Charges (which range from 10 to 12%) which is levied in most Indian and overseas fine dining restaurants and hotels. Good service cannot be taken for granted; therefore, good service must be rewarded handsomely.

Tipping should not be viewed as an additional expense. On most cruises, the gratuity/service charge is automatically added (as a predetermined amount) to passenger’s shipboard account, so as to avoid any confusion by trying to do this manually, but, this could always be altered based on passengers preference. Generally, this amount various from US$ 8-12 per person per day. Some cruise lines have a No Gratuity Policy also, therefore, one must evaluate options carefully.

What happens in case of a medical emergency?

In most premium cruise lines, each ship has a medical centre onboard, supported by fully-qualified doctors. This is accessible to all passengers for minor ailments and consultations. While we all hope that none of the passengers become ill, it is important to note that medical treatment and repatriation expenses in most countries could be substantial, therefore, it is highly recommended for passengers to obtain a medical insurance to cover such costs including their entire travel duration covering air and cruise durations as appropriate. If a passenger is taken ill while on the cruise and his condition is so serious that he needs to be brought ashore, then the standard operating procedure for most cruise lines is to place the passenger in care of the port agent till he is declared fit to

travel by the attending doctors. All expenses incurred in such cases are charged for, therefore, an overseas medical insurance is a must for all passengers.

What about dining choices onboard the ship?

Most cruise lines have a substantial variety of dining options available for the duration of the cruise, inclusive in the cost. The quality, taste and presentation would vary on the rating of the cruise and the market segment the cruise-line is catering to. An up-market, premium cruise line would surely have more dining options than a massmarket cruise line. Since dining forms an integral part of any cruise vacation, it would always recommended to spend more and sail on a premium cruise lines to get the most in terms of dining options.

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Families & leisure the next big ticket The company underlines the 'Royal' experience onboard among the Indian holidaymakers. The high level of guest satisfaction is a very encouraging element for travel agents to promote and sell Royal Caribbean cruise vacations.

T T B U R E AU ith an aim to tap the maximum market awareness during the forthcoming holiday season for this year, TIRUN Travel Marketing, representing Royal Caribbean International, has come up with unique offerings for the Indian travellers.

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Ratna Chadha Chief Executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing, & India representative, Royal Caribbean International

Innovative ships, impeccable service and exotic destinations unique to an ocean voyage all make up a package of unbeatable value

Known to offer an unparalleled vacation experience, there is something for the entire family, including the kids, to enjoy onboard, informed Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing, India representative for Royal Caribbean International. The Barbie Premium Experience, available only on Royal Caribbean's entire global fleet of 22 ships, brings aboard the fab-tastic style of the world's most famous fashion doll.

Adding to the glam show are the perky DreamWorks anima-

Premium Offerings N The company has partnered with Premium Brands like Dreamworld and Barbie N It features Broadwaystyle shows and programmes for families and adventure lovers N The Royal Caribbean's Barbie Premium Experience offers a world of fun for girls between 4-11 years

tion's popular feature-film characters Po of Kung Fu Panda; Shrek, Fiona and Puss In Boots of Shrek; and Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, and the Penguins from Madagascar, on select ships, adds Chadha.

the

Apart from showcasing scenic destinations

around the world, the cruise line features Broadway-style shows and programmes for families and adventure lovers.

Chadha informed, "Onboard, adults and kids alike will be enthralled by the exclusive events and parades, dining room interactions and photoops with the DreamWorks

characters. The younger lot can participate in complimentary award-winning Adventure Ocean children's programme in a new line-up of activities, games and adventures rooted in the popular DreamWorks Animation movies.” The Royal Caribbean's Barbie Premium Experience offers a world of

fun for girls between 4-11 years. In addition to this, girls can also splurge in the Barbie stateroom decorated in the iconic doll's signature style, craft lifelong memories with the Tiaras and Teacup parties, mermaid dance class, fashion designer workshop and a fashion show where your girls

can unveil their original Barbie fashion.

Chadha adds, “Innovative ships, impeccable service and exotic destinations unique to an ocean voyage all make up a package of unbeatable value.

To top it all, Royal Caribbean receives a very .”

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Sailing ahead of the market trends With unique itineraries and a new centre in Goa waiting in the wings, Aquasail is all set to aggressively capture the active leisure market in the country.

T T B U R E AU ounded in 2004, Aquasail offers a variety of world– class boating experiences in India. The company offers professional training lessons,

F

“The industry is in an early stage in the market, and hence it is necessary to get people into the sporting fold,” said Shakeel Kudrolli, Founder and Director, Aquasail. “Since sailing a boat

We want to provide outbound holiday options to our customers, by providing sailing holidays in Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Shakeel Kudrolli Founder and Director Aquasail

charter services, sales solutions to buy boats, organise regattas and networking agents for corporate and other MICE events.

needs to be introduced in India as an active lifestyle, our aim was to start at the grassroots and work our way up.”

As sailing holidays have become a worldwide trend,

Kudrolli is trying to introduce the same concept here, just as many travel agents offer sailing holidays in Greece, Thailand, Seychelles, among others.

Their initial market strategy was through word-ofmouth and sampling. They focussed on individuals in the first 1–2 years, when they tested their product, worked on customer feedback and spent quality time in training their team. Gradually, they trained their focus on corporate entities by organising regattas that double perfectly as networking sessions. “We offer corporate engagement programmes, team-building and communication sessions where employees can work on trust building activities, etc.

It’s a great way to reward employees with such incentive packages. And with this, we started to make our presence felt,” he added.

market. “As travel agents are better positioned to sell the product, we have provided them with brochures and videos.

We have even offered training sessions for agents such as Cox & Kings and Thomas Cook so they get to know the product better.

Considering how the market was last year, the demand is not an issue for the firm. “We are not focussed on only one aspect in the market. We cater to corporate groups, individuals and families.”

With an aim to focus on FITs and corporates, the centre awaits a few permissions, and is slated to open in the

near future. “Being early in this business, we are bound to face such delays.

Registration of boats, policy checks, engagement with inter–state ministers will need time. And, it is also necessary to sensitise the ministry, various federations and even the community.” As the market in Goa is much mature than in Mumbai, Kudrolli roped in travel agents to reach a wider

He further added, “In future, we want to provide outbound holiday options to our customers, by providing sailing holidays in Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where families and groups can not only learn the basics of sailing, but interact with others in the group as well.”

Aquasail also offers a special scheme to school and college students, wherein they can avail special rates and privileges.

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Holidaying on... and beyond the ocean Entering the Indian market as early as in 1999, Star Cruises has seen a huge jump in its revenues from the India outbound market. Indian travellers have evolved over the years and are booking much earlier.

T T B U R E AU tar Cruises was incorporated in September 1993, representing a bold initiative to tap into Asia-Pacific’s potential to develop a cruise industry. In the year 1999, Star Cruises entered the Indian market and currently it epitomises the fulfillment of regional aspirations to establish the cruise industry in the Asia-

S

Naresh Rawal Vice President, Sales, South Asia, Russia, Middle East and South Africa, Star Cruises

Compared to land holidays, cruise holidays are preferred for being more economical since everything is under one roof

Pacific region, bringing increased tourism traffic into various countries around Asia-Pacific.

Talking about the potential of the India outbound market, Naresh Rawal, Vice President, Sales, South Asia, Russia, Middle East and South Africa, Star Cruises, says, “India is recognised globally as one of the fastest growing outbound markets.

The appetite for travelling abroad is increasing among the upwardly mobile audience given the changing lifestyles and relatively stable economy.

Indian travellers are now spoilt by the abundance of choices on how to spend their holidays. Cruising is one of the popular avenues that many Indian travellers are now opting for. The popular choices amongst Indian travellers have evolved from a two-night itinerary and to three-night, five-night and seven-night itineraries. There has been a shift

in the preferred cabin category as well. Earlier they would prefer Inside Staterooms but now the company is witnessing a higher demand for Balcony cabins. The consumers now understand the advantage of a cruise holiday over a land holiday,” he adds.

Indian travellers have evolved over the years and are booking much earlier.

Talking about the new packages for its Indian clientele, Rawal elaborates, “We have the Star Saver 90 days, 60 days and 45 days schemes

available so that passengers can enjoy the benefit of discounted fares when they book early with us. Compared to land holidays, cruise holidays are preferred for being more economical since everything is under one roof.” In addition, he said, “Our warm Asian hos-

pitable staff caters to our guests’ needs and our freestyle cruising concept gives travellers the freedom to enjoy their holidays at their own terms without any restrictions, and hence, a cruise holiday works very well amongst travel agents as well.”

Popular Shift N Indian travellers have evolved from a twonight itinerary to threenight, five-night and seven-night itineraries.

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Yacht market sees gains from India In Rhythm plays an instrumental role in building the brand SeaDream and educating the Indian travel trade about ultra luxury yachting voyages through a strategic sales and marketing approach.

T T B U R E AU apping India’s growing market for luxury boats and yachts is In Rhythm, a 360degree strategic communications firm that specialises in marketing communications and business support services to travel, hospitality, luxury and entertainment brands. As India representative to SeaDream Yacht Club, the company’s role is to strategically build the luxury yachting brand with the Indian luxury segment.

T

According to Gitanjali Balani, Director-In Rhythm & SeaDream India Representative, yachting as a category is a growing segment with discerning travellers who are looking for unique luxury travel holiday options. “We discovered a gap in this segment that was unexplored, vacant and different from the regular mass cruising that was available in India. SeaDream Yacht Club was the perfect fit to

bridge that gap and introduce an option for the Indian elite that was different from big ship cruising,” she said while talking about the potential of yachting in the country.

Gitanjali Balani Director-In Rhythm & SeaDream India Representative

Regarding the growth in India outbound for the cruising segment, she revealed, “Though at a nascent stage currently, the cruising industry in India is growing by leaps and bounds. The annual year-onyear growth is at an average of

15-18 per cent per annum with almost 70,000 individuals taking a cruise vacation annually.”

India has shown remarkable acceptance to cruise vacations. The concept is being appreciated as the journey on board a cruise liner is not only pleasurable, studded with state-of-the-art facilities, lavish cuisine and recreational facilities but is also comparatively free from sea travel health hazards, she added.

Throwing light on the challenges the company sees in promoting cruising in India, Balani pointed out, “More than a challenge, we see this as an opportunity to create awareness and educate the correct target audience about SeaDream Yacht Club and how we are different from the other sea travel/ holiday options that are available to the Indian consumer. The expression ‘Yacht Club’ is not only about size, it is a statement about lifestyle aboard the small, ultra-deluxe

mega-yachts. The same has to be conveyed to the consumer in order to assist them to make an informed decision in choosing SeaDream as their ultimate luxury travel experience.”

Express & co-promotion with Hyderabad’s premium real estate developer Botanika has furthered business growth for SeaDream.

Currently, the company’s marketing effort is focussed on media support through strate-

The year 2014 is an exciting year as SeaDream travels to new geographies, exploring some of the most

gic media relations and cobranding opportunities with right partners. SeaDream’s alliance with The American

intimate and exclusive ports.

Prompted by the demand from its Indian travel fraternity and Club members, SeaDream

made its debut with a series of voyages in Asia and Northern Australia in late 2013.

SeaDream II will sail across Asia and shall return to Mumbai via Kochi and Goa in the end of April 2014.

SeaDream’s Northern Europe voyages offer a dramatic mix of mountains, seas, forests and fjords, quaint villages, graceful castles and celebrated Old Town centers.

These luxury voyages will be offered from late May through August 2014 and will sail from the historic British Isles through the scenic Scandinavia. Yachting in the Mediterranean and its neighbouring Black Sea is best in May 2014 through October 2014 and has always been a favourite amongst the travellers. The Black Sea voyages covering Greece and Turkey in particular have been very popular, Balani informed.

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Charting a steady growth Flexi cruising experience Clocking around 25-30 per cent rise in growth every Hurtigruten takes passengers into some of the most year, Griffon Cruises is optimistic about the year remote and untouched destinations on the planet, allowing ahead, and with good reason. them to witness rare sights and cultures.

T T B U R E AU riffon, a cruise specialist in India, has witnessed a substantially good growth over the last three years in this sector. With presence in the travel trade for over 15 years, Griffon has offices in Mumbai and Pune in India. A fully familyowned company, they handle sales & marketing activities in India for various international cruise companies.

and MICE segment, the leisure segment brings in more revenue.”

G

Jain further added, “The main cruising trends that are popular among Indians are West Mediterranean, Balkans and the Greek Islands.”

Vivek Jain

Managing Director Griffon

Since we focus on Indian families, we ensure that the cruiselines are child-friendly.

Children up to the age of 16 years can travel for free “Since we focus on Indian families, we ensure that the cruiselines are child-friendly. Children up to the age of 16 years can travel for free,” said

Vivek Jain, MD, Griffon. “For MICE, we have different packages, and organise team-building activities and conferences.

Though, we cater to both FIT

According to Jain, the cruise industry in India is still in its nascent stage. “India holds immense potential in this industry. However, despite this segment having been operational for more than a decade, the progress is slow.”

New products and itineraries are always introduced depending on the season, and on one particular cruiseline, the company is offering 60 per cent off for companions this upcoming holiday season.

Even for festivals such as Diwali, various schemes and promotional offers are launched.

T T B U R E AU orway's Hurtigruten Cruise, represented by Discover the World India in the Indian market, is one of the very few exotic cruise liners offering flexible cruising experiences round the year. Hurtigruten offers departures every day of the year with a choice of 6, 7, 11 or 12 day voyages. "Apart from longer cruising experiences, it also offers a range of short excursions option. Whether it's dog-sledding in Tromso, bird watching in Honningsvag, a visit to the famous snow hotel in Kirkenes or a historical tour in Bergen, each tour is operated by one of Hurtigruten's knowledgeable multilingual guides. And it doesn't matter what fitness level or age the passenger are. With such a broad range of activities, there truly is something for everyone",

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informed Vrushali Dalvi, Business Development Manager, Cruises - India, Discover the World.

Hurtigruten takes passengers into some of the most remote and untouched desti-

described as the ‘world's most beautiful voyage’, provides a cruise for people who want to see more than just the sea.

She said, "The ship travels up and down the magnificent coastline of Norway from Bergen in the south to

Apart from longer cruising experiences, we also offer a range of short excursions option Vrushali Dalvi Business Development Manager, Cruises – India, Discover the World nations on the planet, allowing them to witness sights and experience cultures that few have had the chance to encounter.

According to Dalvi, the most well-known journey is the famous Norwegian Coastal Voyage, which is often

Kirkenes in the north calling at 34 ports along the way, most of them never visited by the large cruise liners.

There is no dress for dinner and no fighting for the Captain's table - this journey is about immersing yourself in the heart of the destination and its culture".

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Polar expeditions with a difference From above the Arctic Circle to the southernmost ice shelf - Antarctica and 400 exciting destinations around the world, the luxury expeditions combine unsurpassed luxury with some of the world’s most fascinating destinations.

T T B U R E AU xplore the world of luxury cruise vacations with an elegant all-inclusive lifestyle.

Silversea Luxury Cruises brought to you by Cruise Norway India is the most allinclusive product afloat. Cruise Norway India is the first travel

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highest-quality ships at the best savings possible. From the far north above the Arctic Circle to the southernmost ice shelf Antarctica and 400 exciting destinations around the world, the luxury expeditions combine unsurpassed luxury with some of the world’s most fascinating destinations. Cruise Norway’s

Silversea’s All-Inclusive cruise itineraries fit the bill by providing that ultimate vacation experience.

Shanthini Manohar General Manager (Marketing) Cruise Norway India company in India to bring only the best Polar Expeditions and Ultra Luxury Cruises.

The mission of the company is to provide only the most unique itineraries aboard the

partnership with Silversea Cruises allows the company to bring the most all-inclusive product afloat. Fares include all onboard gratuities, butler service in all accommodations, complimentary in-suite bar and

dations with butler service to itineraries that include over 400 ports on seven continents. This combination of an all-inclusive lifestyle and worldwide destinations attracts an international mix of travellers, which is yet another Silversea distinction. The convivial, cosmopolitan ambience offers the perfect opportunity for making lifelong friends.

refrigerator stocked with each guest’s preferred beverage selections, complimentary beverages served throughout the ship – including fine wines, spirits and champagnes, and complimentary 24-hour room service includes dinner served course-by-course.

“The well travelled, discerning Indian traveller is always looking for that delightful extra,

whether it’s a package holiday or a luxury cruise vacation.

Silversea’s All-Inclusive cruise itineraries fit the bill by providing that ultimate vacation experience. We have found an increasing interest in Silversea’s Mediterranean and Northern Europe & Baltic cruises over the past years”, says Shanthini Manohar, General Manager (Marketing), Cruise Norway India.

Today Silversea is recognised worldwide as the defining experience in luxury cruising. The family-owned company operates a fleet of six ultra-luxury ships from 132 to 540 guests — small by today’s mega-ship standards.

And the Italian style and passion for embracing la dolce vita is evident everywhere, from Relais & Châteaux cuisine and all-suite accommo-

Choice is also a Silversea signature. The company offers more itineraries than any other luxury cruise line. There are small group tours that venture behind the scenes, private arrangements with a car and driver, and even bespoke adventures handcrafted by a concierge who can tailor virtually every detail of a journey.

Even those in search of adventure cruising will find their calling — a journey to some of the world’s least explored places.

River cruising picks up speed Ama Waterways is witnessing a major upsurge in enquiries for Sri Lanka and Maldives through the strategic representation partner in Colombo. The company is also seeing an increase in both group – including MICE – and individual vacation enquiries.

T T B U R E AU uxury river cruise line AmaWaterways made its foray into the Indian market by appointing TRN Marketing, a division of Indian Travel Promotion Company (ITPL), as their marketing and sales representative in India. Since then it has been a journey of ‘trade education’ and, hence trade adoption. The cruising aficionado or customer in India is still

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Pasikudah and Trincomalee besides emphasising on just the safaris, tea plantations and whale and dolphin watch-

President Cruises on the Yangtze River in China to our portfolio, I expect our river cruise offerings to

ference is that river cruising is about ‘holidaying with a bit of style and panache’. The company is aiming to tap high-end

– and individual vacation enquiries. This has got to do with the good connectivity and more acceptable price points that we are able to generate.

The good news is that we have been able to unfold the hitherto untouched East Coast of Sri Lanka such as

ing options. The company is targetting the early ‘explorers’ and the somewhat choosy and selective holiday buyers whom I would refer to as the ‘escapers’. In this effort, the trade seems to be waking up to the possible varied income streams. Having added

make its mark in India in a significant way.”

vacationers and avid travellers in the leisure segment. The group is also betting big on the Indian corporates for incentive tours in China and Sri Lanka.

President Cruises offers threenight itineraries and that can be a major draw for corporate incentive tours.

Sidhartha Roy Senior Vice President ITPL & TRN Marketing

The cruising aficionado or customer in India is still a small community, and within that, river cruising is still nascent. The enquiries are steadily on the increase, indicating the gradual ‘inquisitiveness’ of travellers a small community, and within that, river cruising is still nascent. The enquiries though are steadily on the increase, indicating the gradual ‘inquisitive-

Talking about the recent trends in the industry, he says, “We are seeing an increase in both group – including MICE

ness’. The momentum is expected to pick in 2014, says Sidhartha Roy, Senior VicePresident, ITPL & TRN Marketing.

The most important outbound vacationing and cruising source markets for the company are Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Amongst the portfolio of holiday offerings, the dif-

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CRUISE TALK

New itineraries for river tourism A river cruise is closer to a luxury cruise than a mainstream cruise, meals are open-seating, dress codes are relaxed, and service – due to the manageable numbers of guests onboard – tends to be more personable and genuine.

T T B U R E AU River Cruise offers a way to see a country up close and in depth. Talking about the USP of the segment, Debajit Borah, Director, Brahmaputra Cruise, explains, “Particularly Indian River Cruises are small in size and are quite intimate in terms of the travel experience.

River cruising is active, from walking tours that are offered at differing activity levels to intimate wine tastings, tea tasting or unique cultural explorations.

Therefore, river cruising attracts an active, informed, educated passenger who is curious about the world. That’s not to say that ocean cruising doesn’t, but due to the distances and costs involved with river cruising, everyone on board is a willing participant.”

cruises. But now the Indian domestic market is also opening up with the growing popularity of Indian river cruises.

There is a new interest in northeast India and every second enthusiast Indian traveller is incorporating cruising on the mighty Brahmaputra in his itin-

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A river cruise is closer to a luxury cruise than a mainstream cruise, meals are openseating, dress codes are relaxed, and service – due to the manageable numbers of guests onboard – tends to be

Debajit Borah Director Brahmaputra Cruise

more personable and genuine.

On a river cruise, you are a family, the co-passengers, the crew, all know each other while on an ocean cruise, you are anybody among the thousands cruising together, he adds.

Talking about the new trends in the Indian cruise market, he says, “Indian River Cruising is experiencing a change over the last few years.

Earlier, it was only the rich and knowledgeable foreign inbound tourists with special interests in wildlife, birding and culture that would opt for such

increased the prices of their products. It is trying to develop and design newer and better products targetted at a wider range of tourists. “Other than the regular long distance cruises, involving four to 10 nights, we are trying to explore river tourism more than river cruis-

Other than the regular long distance cruises, involving four to 10 nights, we are trying to explore river tourism more than river cruising erary.” Considering this and with an urge to keep prices at an affordable range, cruise cum land packages are becoming very popular among today’s knowledgeable Indian as well foreign inbound travellers.

Considering the present scenario of the economy and scope and status of river cruising on the Brahmaputra in Assam, the company has not

ing. We have a bouquet of offers such as Regular Evening Cruises, Theme Cruise Parties, Overnight Cruises, Island Cruise Parties, Day Long Cruises, Breakfast Cruises, Dinner Cruises, Conference Cruises, Destination Conferences, Houseboat Cruises, Adventure Cruises, etc., for all those who want to add an experience of the river to their itinerary,” he elaborates.

Cruising gains traction in India As India is a growing market in the cruise sector, the growth has been slow but steady. However, MSC Cruises is positive that the pace of growth will gain momentum in future.

T T B U R E AU SC Cruises started operating in India in 2008, and since then their growth has been steady. Amit Mathur, Country Head – India, MSC Cruises, said, “We ended 2013 on a positive note, and in spite of tough conditions, the business grew for us.”

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Today, MSC Cruises is one of the fastest growing cruise-liners in the world, added Mathur. “India is still a nascent cruise market, hence the number of travellers to Europe, Caribbean and South America are less. Price is another crucial factor for Indian travellers, though our pricing strategy is flexible enough.”

What has worked for the firm in India is that they responded quickly to the needs of the Indian consumer, such as serving Indian meals on

board. “Indians still prefer 2 – 3 night sailings, but that is changing, and more people want to experience 7-8 night cruise holidays.”

He added, “India has a vast coastal boundary, and on a wishful note we require sailings from India. I am sure in mid- to long-term, a lot of focus will shift to India for all major cruise liners.”

of on the ship, besides the state-of-the-art conferencing facility available with us.” At this point, leisure generates more revenue for the company, and MICE sector generates volumes, but groups are generally price sensitive.

Amit Mathur Country Head – India MSC Cruises

In 2014, they added Caribbean itineraries to their portfolio with MSC Divina, which will sail from Miami yearround. This is in addition to their existing popular sailings in Mediterranean and North Europe, and they also have seasonal sailings in the UAE, South Africa and South America.

It’s heartening that corporates have opened up to the idea of 7 night cruises

Talking about the MICE sector, Mathur said, “It’s heartening that corporates have

opened up to the idea of 7 night cruises. Entertainment, Indian meals are all taken care

He further added that the government needs to focus more on this sector, as infrastructure for cruise ships is lacking. “Once this issue is addressed, I am sure a lot of cruise liners would like to call on Indian ports.”

Working closely with travel agents forms a key aspect of their operations in India. Since they largely work on the B2B model, a significant portion of their revenue comes from them. At regular intervals, educational sessions are organised with agents, besides regular sales interactions.

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FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014