TravTalk

A DDP PUBLICATION

Pages: 48 (Excluding cover)

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Vol. XXIV No. 19; October 1 st fortnight issue 2012

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TRAVTALK

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OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

India opens up skies for foreign carriers Taking cognizance of the turbulent times, the Civil Aviation Ministry is undertaking steps to improve the situation such as making changes in aviation policies and approving over 400 flights by domestic carriers on international routes.

A N I TA J A I N

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part from the economic slowdown, the aviation sector is suffering due to the cost of operation going high, especially with sales tax on ATF imposed by the State Governments, rising service tax going high and increasing airport charges. Ajit Singh, Civil Aviation Minister, Government of India talks about few challenges, issues and opportunities along with the changes in aviation policy in the Indian aviation sector.

According to Singh, Mumbai has a sales tax of 25 per cent while Delhi has 20 per cent on ATF. He says, “Airlines fueling up their aircraft at Delhi airport are double as compared to Mumbai.

And pretty soon, Delhi will overtake Mumbai as far as civil aviation goes. So, if Mumbai airport reduces the tax, the revenue will increase and the difference in sales tax will be recovered with the demand from airlines.” Thus, the State

For seamless travel...

Usha Sharma Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism

Government should reduce sales tax on ATF which will not only help in inviting new airlines to start connections but also act as a revenue earner for the State Government.

Delhi will overtake Mumbai in aviation sector

In an exclusive interaction, Usha Sharma, ADG of MOT speaks on the needs of tourists who want to experience the Incredible India.

Formulating new policies

Ajit Singh Civil Aviation Minister Government of India

During the beginning of this year, we have formulated a new bilateral policy where we are opening the world for other airlines in India besides Air India,” informed Singh.

Contd. on page 26

Kerala: Globally famous

A P Anilkumar

See Full story 6

“The aviation regulations and policies were formulated about 35 years ago when they were formed. Today, the scenario has completely changed and we are making changes in DGCA, AAI and even Air India. Many years ago, through ‘Open Skies’ policy, we invited inter-

national carriers to operate in Indian skies.

Minister for Tourism Government of Kerala

Positioning itself as being a destination worth visiting anytime of the year and developing newer products like Farm Tourism and Culinary Tourism for tourists to explore, the state of Kerala hopes to generate a larger interest among Indians to visit ‘God’s Own Country’ in the coming years.

See Full story 12

More in the offing for Indian Airlines The foreign airline investment will bring much needed long-term financial and strategic capital and expertise.

See Full story on Page 3

BULLETIN

More in the offing with FDI The foreign airline investment will bring much needed long-term ďŹ nancial and strategic capital and expertise. carries an extract from the CAPA report on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Airlines...

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ndia already permits 49% foreign direct investment in the airline sector, but since 1996, the regulations have specifically excluded the one class of investor that has the greatest strategic interest and can add value to the sector, namely, foreign airlines.

How will FDI change the scenario?

So what has changed?

Firstly, the crisis in Indian aviation, which has resulted in almost every carrier, except IndiGo, facing some level of financial stress, created an environment in which all measures to support the recovery of the sector had to be considered,

Kapil Kaul CEO - South Asia CAPA

even those which had been off the table for so long.

And secondly, the new Minister of Civil Aviation has understood the challenges faced by the industry and is prepared to push for solutions that are beneficial to the sec-

tor as a whole. Singh deserves credit for persisting with this issue which was mired in considerable political complexity. He must now turn his attention to addressing the significant structural challenges in the sector. It is encouraging to see that he has taken up the challenge of having aviation turbine fuel categorised as a declared good which would reduce the sales tax from an average of 24% to 4% and have a substantial positive impact on airline financials. There will be a strong resistance to this from state governments, but if successful, Singh will have taken great strides towards addressing arguably the most significant challenge in the Indian aviation sector.

Expectations from the reforms What can we expect as a result of this reform? CAPA believes that allowing foreign airline investment is an important step in establishing a more professional and corporatised sector. The move will result not only in strategic capital and expertise coming into the market, but as a result of its presence, other institutional funding may also feel more confident about investing alongside.

Welcoming FDI in Indian carriers It needs to be noted here that the results are unlikely to be immediate.

Contd. on page 8

STATISTICS VIEWPOINT

Get the right attitude

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ndia, to become genuinely incredible, requires a change in the attitude of the travel fraternity. As RH Khwaja, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India rightly pointed out, recently, to invoke just such change in the attitude of travel trade stakeholders, when participants arrived well behind schedule for a business session at a trade convention. This session was meant to brainstorm with eminent trade leaders to work out viable business strategies and adopt best practices in dayto-day operations.

Similar change, if implemented prior to attending trade marts and exhibitions, can register substantial increase in business. Go prepared, do your homework on the background of business partners and most importantly follow up diligently to convert meetings into business.

Now, consider a change in the collective outlook, trade associations should decide on a 3-point agenda after brainstorming with all their members over the course of their annual conventions. They should make this part of their agenda for the year and strive towards introducing these measures with the help of private and public sector stakeholders to ensure that prior to the next convention, that agenda is completely met.

Many of the smaller competing Asian destinations have consolidated their position and attract much higher arrivals, because they have a far more practical and efficient approach. Having said that, our country has far greater potential than the other destinations in South Asia, in terms of diversity, attractive travel products, choice of accommodation, vast history and rich culture – we just need to market it right!

A change in attitude will certainly help us reach our goals and targets and witness an increase in inbound arrivals and domestic tourist visitation. It’s high time for the public and the private sectors to come forward; introduce such positive changes to establish a sense of purpose and initiate the fire to achieve the target of doubling inbound and domestic tourist arrivals.

The desire to succeed has to rise above our laziness and chalta hai attitude!

Vikramajit Chairman SanJeet Publisher Rupali Narasimhan Editorial Director Deepa Sethi Editor

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

Advertising Gunjan Sabikhi General Manager Karishma Khanna Sr. Manager Marketing Geetika Pathak Manager Advertising Amit Sarkar Asst. Manager Marketing Advertising (Mumbai) Suchita Saran Branch Manager Harshal Ashar Deputy General Manager

Why rural tourism projects are hit...

Ministry of Tourism carried out an evaluation-cum-impact study report of 107 rural tourism projects through AC Nielson ORG-MARG to understand the success of rural tourism projects. gives the details of the report highlighting the reasons of the success and failure of different rural tourism projects.

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he evaluation of the rural tourism projects has brought to fore the exact picture of the scheme and also the projects which are successful in interwining the interest of the rural craftsmen and beneficiaries with that of tourism and has helped in improvement of conditions in the lives of the rural populace.

Out of the total 107 projects, 41 projects have been successful, 33 projects have performed on average and the rest 33 projects have been unsuccessful in attaining the objectives. AC Nielsen ORG-MARG had conducted the evaluation exercise on a scale of 1 to 5 where the projects were rated as failure, not successful, average, moderately successful, or highly successful.

These scores were awarded on the basis of performance of the rural tourism project on the parameters that included status of completion of hardware (infrastructure, construction work, etc.) components; status of completion of software (trainings, workshops, skill development exercise, promotional support, marketing support, etc.) components; quality of hardware component that has been implemented and quality of software component that has been implemented, maintenance of hardware components that have already been implemented, tourist arrivals to the rural tourism destination after the project had been implemented and the improvement in the socio-economic condition of villagers and beneficiaries of the rural tourism project.

As per the key findings of the research, the basic trend observed among the unsuccessful projects is that the implementation of hardware and software components has been incom(Mumbai) Rishika Karra Sales Coordinator Advertisement Designers Vikas Mandotia Nitin Kumar Design: Nityanand Misra Sudhir Mudgal Photographer Simran Kaur-Delhi Bharat Dangiya-Mumbai Production: Anil Kharbanda Circulation: Ashok Rana

Share of Projects – Successful / Unsuccessful / Failure

plete or not started at all.

The most intrinsic reason for most projects being categorised as unsuccessful or average is that the tourist flow to the project areas has been nil or very low. This is the primary factor that should be looked into by the Ministry of Tourism, the evaluation report points out.

31%

An example to prove the case would be the rural tourism project at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh. The said project is quite successful due to a constant tourist flow to the project area – this is due to the fact that Puttaparthi is famous for religious purposes and religious tourists vis-

State

Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Delhi Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal TOTAL

38% No. of Unsuccessful Projects

31%

Source: AC Nielson ORG-MARG

No. of Projects covered

No. of Successful Projects

No. of Average Projects

No. of Unsuccessful Projects

5 3 4 1 5 2 4 1 3 8 5 5 4 2 3 2 5 7 5 3 1 8 2 3 11 5 107

2 3 – – – 1 – – 1 7 3 5 1 2 1 – 3 1 1 – 1 4 2 – 3 – 41

3 – 3 1 – 1 2 1 2 1 2 – – – – 1 2 1 3 1 – 2 – – 5 2 33

– – 1 – 5 – 2 – – – – – 3 – 2 1 – 5 1 2 – 2 – 3 3 3 33

iting Puttaparthi visit the rural tourism project too.

The tourist flow has in turn helped the locals to improve their socio-economic condition and has also led to the maintenance and sustainability of the rural tourism project there.

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

No. of Successful Projects

No. of Average Projects

advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use, and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. Contents of this publication are copyright. No part of TRAVTALK or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publication in writing. The same rule applies when there is a copyright or the article is taken from another publication. An exemption is hereby granted for the extracts used for the purpose of fair review, provided two copies of the same publication are sent to us for our records. Publications reproducing material either in part or in whole, without permission could face legal action.

tourism projects in Arunachal Pradesh is moderately successful but the factor that prevents all the projects from being successful is that tourist arrivals is low and the reason behind tourist arrivals being low is that all rural tourist destinations are difficult to reach and also takes at least a day to reach from the major airport in the state.

Hence, the Ministry of Tourism must consider the following three essential factors, on which the success or failure of majority of rural tourism projects depends, that include the vicinity to famous tourist AC Nielson ORG-MARG spots, diligent Another important implementation trend that has been noticed and maintenance in unsuccessful projects is that many of those projects of hardware and are located at areas which are software difficult to reach and medium components, of commuting is also not highlights the developed. An example for the case is that all the rural report.

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EXHIBITIONS

KTM 2012: Bigger and better In its 7 th edition, Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) to be organised from September 27-30 at Le Meridien, Kochi has attracted a lot of buyers nationally and internationally.

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TM, one of the biggest travel exhibitions in India, is gearing up for its best show of strength ever.

Having attracted 1,600 tour operators from India, it has also registered 505 interna-

Riaz Ahmed President Kerala Travel Mart Society

tional buyers. KTM showcases the entire tourism sector of Kerala - hotels, resorts, home stays, houseboats, ayurveda centres, tour operators etc. This year, the mart has a larger canvas with 350 exhibitors, 108 table space and 12 houseboat parking bays.

“Kerala is one destination where you can experience varied activities within a few kilometres like visiting heritage sites in Kochi to the tea gardens in Munnar, from the wildlife sanctuary in Thekkady to the houseboats in Kumarakom. However, today with stiff competition from South East Asian countries and increasing airfares, tourism in Kerala has been affected. A platform like KTM will help promote and improve Kerala tourism,” says Riaz Ahmed, President, Kerala Travel Mart Society.

Various seminars will also be held at KTM that will involve interaction between buyers and sellers nationally and internationally. These interactions will also highlight the problems that tour operators face in Kerala. Their opinion on how they view the destination and methods for improving tourism in Kerala will also be discussed.

What’s New In KTM Seminars will be held on the Sept 28th and 29th on the topics like ‘Buyers perspective of the destination’, ‘Role of information technology in tourism’ and on ‘Responsible Tourism’.

Post mart tours are arranged for buyers to Munnar, Thekkady, Kumarakom, Alleppey, Kovalam, Wayanad and Bekal.

India gets 0.7 per cent of international tourists and Kerala receives 11 per cent tourists in the same section. “The government of Kerala has realised that IT and Tourism hold major potential in Kerala.

This year through KTM, new products like farm tourism, culinary tourism and lesser promoted places like North Kerala and rivers of Wayanad will also be highlighted,” says Ahmed.

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

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VoA nears 100% growth In August, a total number of 1,750 (Visa-on-Arrival) VoAs were issued as compared to 920 VoAs during the month of August 2011 registering a positive growth of 90.2 per cent. During the period January-August 2012, a total number of 9,412 VoAs were issued as compared to 7,514 VoAs during corresponding period of 2011 registering a positive growth of 25.3 per cent. The number of VoAs issued during August 2012 for 11 countries were

Japan (693), Philippines (349), Indonesia (255), New Zealand (201), Singapore (162), Finland (42), Vietnam (20), Luxembourg (10), Cambodia (10), Myanmar (8) and Laos (0).

The numbers of VoAs issued under this scheme for top 5 nations, during January-August 2012 were Japan (2,564), New Zealand (1,789), Indonesia (1,514), Philippines (1,442), Singapore (1,178) and Finland (618).

TIME MACHINE

The lead story at that time was...

Rough Weather Ahead S. Dharmarajan The unpromising picture presented by the financial results of the domestic air carriers coupled with a failure of the air taxis to show even a reasonable presence does not in any way minimise the urgency for planning further development of civil aviation.

This only ads to the uncertainty attendant on the future of this sector. It is true that the foreign tourists traffic in the Indian Airlines has dropped close to 25%.

One could not fail to notice that the casualty list of the air crash near

Imphal did not include a single foreigner. While it is morbid to reflect that no

absence, if not, the fall in foreign tourist traffic has not seriously

Indian and Australian businessmen have jointly urged their respective national carriers, Air India and Qantas, to resume direct flights between the two countries. Both had earlier stopped operations on the sectors as they did not find it economically viable. In the industrial climate fostered by liberalisation hopes for increased business travel. The joint business council, composed of representatives of both countries, had made such a request.

foreigner died in the crash, the fact remains that no foreigner had opted to travel in this tourism fertile region on that morning. In fact the 126 seater carried with just over 50 per cent of the seats filled. The

affected the load factor as the domestic passenger growth rate has not dropped. The airlines hopes to overcome the turbulent phase with a growth rate that will match the increase in available capacity.

Contd. from page 1

India a dream destination VIVEK SETHI

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sha Sharma, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism has been assigned many key responsibilities and will now be the leading force to lead the Hunar Se Rozgar Tak Scheme. She is also devising strategies to make the Clean India Campaign a gigantic success. Here are the selected excerpts...

More responsibilities: With the shift from state government to the Government of India, the scale of responsibilities has moved upwards.

I have been interacting with the travel trade and key trade associations, who have expressed their desire to join hands with the initiatives of Ministry of Tourism to double the inbound and domestic tourist arrivals. It’s also our responsibility to ensure that the growth in revenue keeps pace in line with the growth of the tourism sector.

Role of a facilitator: The travel trade has apprised about various issues ranging from the need of a more flexible visa regime to benefits that the tourism industry should get after being granted the status of infrastructure sector. Many of these issues are beyond the realms of our ministry; hence we work with other ministries to act on

such demands. The government’s part is to play the role of a facilitator and ensure that the end user’s Incredible India experience is seamless.

Hospitality and MICE: The hospitality sector has huge potential across all segments.

in India. I, as the ex-officio chairperson of the Indian Convention Promotion Board (ICPB), had asked its board members to work backwards.

They should work closely with state secretaries and private sector to prepare well before

I have been interacting with the travel trade and trade associations, who have expressed their desire to join hands with the initiatives of MOT to double the inbound and domestic tourist arrivals Usha Sharma Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism There has been a continuous growth in smaller cities, where private sector is coming forward to make most of the available opportunities. The more friendly states, which had announced various investment linked incentives, are doing much better than other states, those who are likely to undertake such initiatives. UP has partnered the Hunar Se Rozgar Tak, a flagship capacity building programme under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism, to offer a better experience at hands of trained manpower.

Further, the NCT of Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had been at the forefront of the MICE evolution

bidding and win new convention and meetings for India.

On KTM:Kerala Travel Mart has become an important platform. It offers buyers and sellers opportunities to delve deeper into best possible ways to promote tourism in India.

Views & Opinions There has been a continuous growth in smaller cities, where private sector is coming forward to make most of the available opportunities The more friendly states are doing much better than other states, those who are likely to undertake such initiatives

EXHIBITIONS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

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Evaluating mega sports events@WTM The World Travel Market has a comprehensive Sports Tourism programme reviewing the success of the London 2012 Olympics and assessing the benefits and constraints for the host nations of major sporting events.

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he impact of major sporting events on travel and tourism has been much debated. There is a lot of discussion regarding the UK, about the impact that the 2012 Games will have on London with stories of tourists staying away as hotels increase their prices leaving restaurants and the theatres empty. The WTM Sports Programme will look into this further and review the impact on Tourism of the 2012 Olympics,” said Simon Press, Director, World Travel Market, Reed Travel Exhibitions.

The Sports Tourism programme, sponsored by Eurosport, will start on the first day of WTM, November 5 with ‘Tourism and the

Simon Press Director, World Travel Market Reed Travel Exhibitions

The WTM Sports Programme will look into this further and review the impact on Tourism of the 2012 Olympics

Olympic Games 2012 – A Review’ which will look at the impact that the London 2012 Games has had on London’s and the UK’s tourism industry.

Speakers include Tom Jenkins, European Tour Operators Association who has been an outspoken critic of the impact that the Olympic Games has had on tourism for host cities arguing that tourists stay away in the build up, during and aftermath of the event.

Mary Rance, Chief Executive, UK inbound will share her thoughts on the impact of the London games in the session which will take

place in Platinum Suite 4 at ExCeL – London.

The major sporting event theme will continue on November 7, 2012 with ‘Optimising the Tourism Benefits of Major Events for Host Nations’ which will ask

what the major right holders (such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA) should be doing to help deliver the potential tourism benefits.

Sandie Dawe, Chief Executive, Visit Britain, will

be talking about the challenges and opportunities faced by the NTOs in the year of hosting the Games.

Professor Geoffrey Lipman from the Chair of DeHaan Institute’s Advisory Board will chair the event,

which will take place on November 7, 2012 in Platinum Suite 3. The final session in the Sports Tourism programme will be looking at Adventure Tourism. ‘The Future for Activity, Adventure and Sports Tourism’ panel of speakers includes; Caroline Heyniger,

CEO, Xola Consulting; Chris Chesak, Vice President, The Adventure Travel Trade Association and Paul Easto, Director, Wilderness Scotland. This session will be taking place on November 6, 2012 in South Gallery Rooms 25/25.

AVIATION

Turning the fortune of Indian aviation Contd. from page 3

Carriers from the Gulf, as well as the likes of IAG, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines have all been watching the sector with interest, and informal discussions have taken place in several cases. But the balance sheets of most of the incumbent carriers are relatively weak, and the sector faces numerous structural challenges, so foreign airlines will make their own assessments about whether they consider a carrier to be a suitable investment at this time. Just because they are now allowed to invest does not necessarily mean that they will. Pending a change in the regulations, the official position of most prospective suitors have been that they are not interested; however we expect this to change now.

And of course not all Indian carriers are actually seeking a strategic partner.

Future prospects GoAir and SpiceJet are perhaps the carriers with the greatest prospects of attracting foreign airline investment but this will take time as due diligence will need to be conducted. The parties will need to reach agreement on issues such as management structure, corporate governance mechanisms, the role of the current promoters and the level of capital that is required for growth.

About Kingfisher Kingfisher has an outside chance, but a very difficult one as any deal will be complex, requiring significant capital to be committed by the current promoters, and the concurrence of the banks to take a haircut on outstanding loans to the carrier. In addition it will take time to develop and agree upon a

Chennai gets ITC property Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Selvi J Jayalalithaa inaugurated ITC’s luxury hotel in Chennai; the ITC Grand Chola. The 600room super premium integrated luxury hotel complex is the latest addition to ITC’s por tfolio of luxury hotels, accredited as the World’s largest LEED Platinum rated hotel, in the new construction category.

realistic business plan. CAPA estimates that the successful turnaround of Kingfisher will require an immediate capital infusion of USD600 million (of which half would need to come from the current promoters before meaningful discussions with a foreign airline partner could progress), supplemented by a further USD300-400 million over the next 18 months.

A win-win deal The real benefits are likely to be seen in the longer term. If the government is serious about granting new licences to well-funded, professional start-ups, we could, in due course, see the launch of greenfield joint ventures by carriers such as AirAsia, Jetstar and Tiger Airways.

And a serious restructuring and turnaround of Air India will surely require the support of a strategic partner.

Today’s developments open the door to that possibility. The floodgates of investment are unlikely to open in the short term but from the perspective of improving sentiment and demonstrating that the government is committed to supporting the development of a viable airline industry, this is a positive milestone. One of the primary features that investors seek is regulatory and policy certainty. In the past, the goalposts have changed too often and too arbitrarily. If a predictable framework can be established and combined with improvements to the structural dynamics of the sector, then Indian aviation has a very positive long term outlook.

History In the 1990s, when deregulation allowed the entry of private carriers on domestic routes, initially as

air taxis and subsequently as scheduled airlines, India permitted up to 40% foreign direct investment, including by foreign airlines. Jet Airways, at the time, in fact, maximised this provision, with both Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways each holding a 20% stake in the fledgling airline. This strategic investment, undoubtedly, provided Jet Airways with a number of benefits including access toexpertise and international feed.

However, in 1996, the Government of India announced that foreign airline shareholdings were not in the interest of India’s aviation sector and would no longer be permitted.

Ostensibly, this was because private carriers were still relatively small and the concern was that foreign airlines would control their development in such a way as to feed their offshore hubs, relegating the Indian carrier to the status of a regional carrier.

But, in reality, it was a move designed to thwart the ambitions of the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines to jointly launch a domestic carrier in India.

Jet Airways had to buyback the shares from its Gulf investors. The government position was that as and when Indian carriers were of a sufficient size to be able to negotiate as equals with foreign airline investors, then, the restriction would be removed.

But with the changing global environment in the 2000s, the spectre of security concerns, and the potential impact on Air India, were raised whenever the issue came up for discussion. And for many of the incumbents, it suited their cause to limit the potential for a professional, well-funded competitor to arise in the market.

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OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

AVIATION

New revenue model for agents

First regional airline

Gujarat provides reduction in ATF In yet another endeavour, Deccan Charters has launched Deccan Shuttle, tax from 27% to 5% on the Deccan a daily charter flight service connecting economic centres of Gujarat.

Shuttle charter flights. speaks to Captain GR Gopinath, Chairman, Deccan Charters...

T T B U R E AU D E V I KA J E E T

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eccan Shuttle, a specialised wing under Deccan Charters, has started daily charter flights in Gujarat connecting key economic centres, Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Kandla.

Discussing the marketing strategy and promotional plans keeping in mind the significance of the travel agents, Gopinath adds, “The strategies for each segment will be different as we need to cater to the business community, tourists or the common man. We will focus on regional online and digital marketing platforms. We are offering the travel agent a platform where he can now have better options of connectivity to these towns. We have evolved a business and revenue model that benefits and incentivises the travel

Captain GR Gopinath Chairman Deccan Charters

agent to partner with us to make this a success. We expect small and medium businesses to also use these services along with the conglomerates that have wide spread business in the state.

We have customised strategies for each segment.”

“Over the years, Deccan has been in the forefront of aviation innovation, introducing various possibilities in

Indian aviation. We have always rendered innovative services in the past and here we are again introducing a service, which connects the cities to towns. This service aims at linking the key industrial hubs in Gujarat with each other, thereby fostering business growth in the region. It will be of special significance to the business community as it will provide a much-needed boost to their business requirements through efficient and time-saving services,” says Gopinath.

Deccan Shuttles will provide services using a 9-seater Cessna Grand Caravan Aircraft. The company chose to launch services in Gujarat, “India’s most progressive state, to provide further impetus to the growth of business in the state. Until today all these towns are connected by air to either Delhi

or Mumbai. With this service Deccan connects these industrial, business and corporate centers of Gujarat to the state’s capital and to each other. Last year, we made a commitment to start connectivity with ATR aircraft in Gujarat, which we could not commence due to some last minute restrictions placed.

We had a commitment to fulfill with Gujarat, therefore, we chose to start Deccan Shuttles from here,” he explains.

The flight service aims at providing improved connectivity to these important industrial hubs in Gujarat. It endeavours to fuel business by cutting travel time, thereby enabling increased efficiency. Promising to be secure, committed and prompt, this is a one of its kind service that Deccan Charters brings to the state of Gujarat.

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ith the inaugural flight on AhmedabadSurat-Bhavnagar-SuratAhmedabad route, Deccan Shuttle now connects Ahmedabad with Jamnagar, Surat, Bhavanagar and Kandla through direct and indirect flights from Monday to Saturday. With Gujarat offering a tax reduction on ATF from 27 per cent to five per cent, the airfares are priced between ` 4,000 - ` 5,500 per ticket on these routes.

The airline will also add a section on its booking page for customers looking to book via travel agents. The section will list down number of travel agents selling the Deccan Shuttles tickets. Talking about the benefits of regional airconnectivity on tourism, Vipul Mittra, Principal Secretary – Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Gujarat said, “We have identified tourism as a major tool for the economic

Vipul Mittra Principal Secretary – Tourism & Civil Aviation, Govt of Gujarat

development of the state and are investing heavily on the promotion to attract tourists.

Through these intra-state flights, we will not only make travel easier and faster but also enhance the infrastructure and employment generation in the region.

We are encouraging the carrier to deploy more flights by offering tax reduction on ATF and are hopeful to rope in more operators like Venture AirConnect in future.”

12 TRAVTALK

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

COVER STORY

Contd. from page 1

Kerala charts its way on domestic route D E N C Y M AT H E W

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he Minister for Tourism of Kerala is optimistic about the state’s tourist arrivals. “We are not worried about the figures as unlike other southern states that receive a lot of corporate travellers, Kerala receives domestic arrivals primarily for tourism purposes.

Hence, the figures can be low.

But we have seen a growth over the years in the number of domestic arrivals and hope to reach the 1 crore mark in 2012. We are conducting roadshows in several metropolitan cities of India like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and thus,

As a strategy, we have kept Kerala a niche destination meant for the affluent travellers. We do not want to compromise on the quality of experience a tourist receives in Kerala by becoming a cheap destination to visit. Over the years, we have seen 10-12 per cent growth annually in domestic arrivals at our various hotels. In fact, the growth in domestic arrivals has made up for the lack of growth in international arrivals,” says Jose Dominic, Managing Director & CEO, CHG Earth.

AP Anilkumar Minister for Tourism, Government of Kerala

“Kerala is neither cheap nor a short-haul destination.

Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. The number of arrivals from North India is negligible. Factors hampering arrivals from the northern region of the country to the state, ranges from expensive airfares to lack of good connectivity by trains between Kerala and northern and

With the help of heavy promotion and a powerful

We have seen a growth over the years in the number of domestic arrivals and hope to reach the 1 crore mark in 2012

hope to have a huge impact in the figures of arrivals to the state. We have also spent ` 300 crore for further development of the infrastructure. This year our focus will be on developing our water bodies which is something we have not tapped efficiently before,” says AP Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Government of Kerala.

tourists and offer them as a package at very competitive prices. They too wish to improve the arrivals through what they earnestly do. But the fact is tour operators alone may not be successful in building up the arrival figures to the State. The Government also, on its part,

branding, Kerala witnessed 93.815 lakh domestic visitor arrivals in 2011 as against 85.951 lakh in 2010. Though the statistics show an improvement in the number of domestic arrivals, Kerala still has a long way to go before it breaks into the top 5 destinations for domestic tourist visits in India.

“Tour operators need to identify suitable services and facilities for the domestic

Riaz Ahmed

EM Najeeb

President Kerala Travel Mart Society

Chairman IATO Kerala Chapter

We also compete with countries who offer cheap air connections from India has a few times successfully joined hands with domestic airlines offering special package to the domestic tourists,” says EM Najeeb, Chairman, IATO Kerala Chapter.

Majority of domestic arrivals to Kerala come from Mumbai, Ahmedabad,

The Govt. also joined hands with domestic airlines to offer special packages to domestic tourists eastern states of India. Also, the advance booking of four months for trains diverts away a large chunk of travellers to other closer destinations. Kerala also faces internal challenges like expensive hotel rates and high internal transportation costs.

Mathew Joseph

Jose Dominic

Managing Director Pepper Tours

Managing Director & CEO CHG Earth

We give more importance on the quality of tourists rather than quantity “We also have huge competition from countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia which have cheap air connections from India. These countries offer similar touristic experiences at inexpensive rates.

With Indian states like Kashmir, Rajasthan and Goa being easily accessible to north Indians, many choose not to travel all the way to Kerala,” says Riaz Ahmed, President, Kerala Travel Mart Society.

However, the people of Kerala do not see these factors as a hindrance.

There is a large section of

The growth in domestic arrivals has made up for the lack of growth in international arrivals tour operators and hoteliers in Kerala who are satisfied with the number of domestic arrivals.

“We practice Responsible Tourism in Kerala and there is more importance given on quality of tourists rather than quantity. We have seen examples of other states where backpackers have disturbed the peace and order of the place. However, we do need to accelerate the numbers of Indians visiting Kerala without spoiling the landscape,” says Mathew Joseph, Managing Director, Pepper Tours.

B747-8 flies on Bengaluru-Frankfurt route Lufthansa deployed its latest B747-8 Intercontinental - on its direct Bengaluru – Frankfurt route. Bengaluru is the third destination worldwide to receive the B747-8 and the second Indian destination after New Delhi.

“Introducing our latest product to this important destination

highlights our endeavour to offer the best service between Bengaluru and Frankfurt routes,” says Axel Hilgers, Director - South Asia, Lufthansa.

"Bengaluru International Airport is delighted to be the first airport in the South of India to welcome the

Lufthansa B747-8. This partnership with Lufthansa indicates that major airlines and travellers from around the world turn to Bengaluru International Airport as their Gateway to South India and we continue to work towards being the preferred destina-

tion in the region,” adds Hari Marar, President Operations, BIAL. Passengers on the inaugural flight to and from Bengaluru witnessed how state of the art aircraft technologies maximize in-flight comfort, by reducing cabin

noise by 30 % for example.

They also experienced Lufthansa’s latest in-flight products, such as a sophisticated new Business Class seat featuring a 6.5 feet long fullflat bed with vastly improved sleeping comfort and much greater privacy.

Axel Hilgers Director- South-Asia Lufthansa

AVIATION

Double daily to Delhi Air Arabia has increased its services on the Sharjah-Delhi sector by adding double daily flights. The airline now operates 14 flights per week on this route.

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ir Arabia has expanded its services in India by adding double daily flights on the Sharjah-Delhi

Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia.

“We are confident that the expansion of service between Sharjah and India’s capital will further enhance the air travel options for both the states and contribute to the economic development of both countries,” he adds.

Adel Ali Group Chief Executive Officer Air Arabia

sector. The airline now operates 14 flights per week on this sector.

“The rapidly expanding aviation sector in India is one of the country’s major economic drivers,” says

Discussing growth opportunities, Ali says, “New Delhi has always been an important destination for us when we began operations to India. On the back of strong customer demand for our value-for-money offerings, increasing the New Delhi service to double daily makes air travel to UAE even more convenient for our passengers from the capital city. This step

further underscores Air Arabia’s commitment to the burgeoning Indian market and New Delhi in particular.”

India has always been a market of focus for Air Arabia and the airline currently serves 13 cities across India from Sharjah, and this number reflects the ever-growing appeal for Air Arabia flights between the two countries.

Considering network expansion from other cities, Ali says, “We follow the reciprocal flight rights set between both the countries and we will be looking forward to add more destinations and frequencies into India as and when we have the right approvals to do so. As economic and social ties between the UAE and India grow ever closer, Air Arabia will continue to offer enormous choice for customers seeking to travel between two nations.”Air Arabia started operations to New Delhi in 2008.

Increase market for charters To understand why the charter companies, inspite of offering special deals, are not able to woo the travel agents, gets details from Invision Air. T T B U R E AU

these cars, they can afford to fly in a private jet.

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undamentally the charter industry globally is connected to the economy. As the economy grows so does this industry. “At present there is a hiccup on this front but India is still growing slower. This slow growth does not impact the current clientele but makes it harder getting new people onboard,” says Vinit Phatak, Chairman, Invision Group.

Invision Group has partnered with travel agents to offer the best possible services.

“We have pricing programme for travel agents, which gives them a chance to buy bulk hours at a special discount.

Along with a good price, we are extremely reliable and committed to our partners,” says Phatak.

He further highlights that travel agents and charter

Vinit Phatak Chairman Invision Group

operators can work together and offer better-end products, “Especially for Wildlife and Religious Tourism. In these two areas, packages can be created and day trips introduced, which could not be possible under normal circumstances. Travel agents now provide a complete experience and charters will give them a perfect opportunity to attract the high-end clients.”

This charter company has structured its programmes at a price point similar to a 3-series BMW/C-Class Mercedes, 5-series BMW/EClass Mercedes and a 7-series BMW/S-Class Mercedes; so if one can afford to buy one of

Creating awareness about the product is significant for this industry. “A current problem is that there are not enough charter operators marketing to educate the market. I believe this is one of the reasons that growth has not been as much as it could have been. Creating knowledge in the market and increasing market size are imperative for this segment to grow. The commercial industry has had a positive impact on us. With low cost carriers, the options for the business class traveller have reduced and they are getting driven towards charter flights. The price difference between a Business Class seat and a private jet is not that much, any longer,” says Pathak.

Invision Air currently operates on two Phenom 100s by Embraer in its fleet while four more are to be delivered. There are also six of the larger Phenom 300s to be delivered, the first of which is planned for entry into operation in late 2012.

SUCCESS STORY LEADERS TALK

Book early for best deals: Cathay GM tells Indians speaks to Tom Wright, General Manager – South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Cathay Pacific to know about the success formula of the airline.

A N I TA J A I N

Indian aviation sector is robust but due to heavy taxation, the sector is facing turbulence. How, as a foreign carrier, do you look at this situation?

The Indian government considers the aviation sector as a ‘Golden Cow’ and is milking it more than required. Airlines don’t require subsidiaries; all we need is low taxation, good airports and flying rights. The Aviation industry has the potential to dramatically fuel the growth of an economy.

For instance, aviation and tourism are contributing more than the technology industry in China. The current situation in Indian aviation doesn’t serve the interest of aviation industry service providers. Increase in airport charges which are totally unrealistic added with sales tax on fuel by state governments is not helping the airlines and is indirectly hampering the growth of Indian economy.

How is Cathay Pacific sustaining in the market like India where the passenger is price sensitive and at the same time, the operating cost is high while the airline is competing with other carriers including low cost airlines?

At Cathay, we believe in innovation and quality service. The yields on revenue are low in India. However, considering the market demand (we are recording close to 83 per cent load factor on an average on Indian routes) and growth projections, we are confident about the present and future. India is not just a price-sensitive market but also expect better service and value-for-money travel options. For the price sensitive market, we have high standards of service quality with excellent route network.

We work closely with tourism boards like Hong Kong, Macau and China to bring in the best package deals for travellers. Talking about the competition, we believe that healthy competition increases the quality standards in the market as each airline puts their best foot forward.

Operating on fuel-efficient aircraft and less turn-

around time to increase the productivity of the aircraft also, contribute in reducing costs and help in increasing the revenue.

What are the latest developments at Cathay for the Indian market?

We are happy to announce that from October 2012, we will be introducing our ‘Premium Economy’ class services on Indian route starting with New Delhi. Aimed at ‘value seekers’ – leisure and Tom Wright business travellers, it will General Manager – South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Cathay Pacific have more leg room, high seat pitch, wider seats and with excellent prices. They preferred check-in. It’s diffiwant on-time flights, great cult to do a straight comparon-board services, excellent ison given the wide range of F&B options and better economy fares that are prevadeals. However, there is a lent on different routes. I’m need to educate the travellers sure we will receive good that booking early might response from the Indian help them get the best market for our ‘Premium deals and prices.

Economy’ class and will slowly introduce it on our other How closely is the airline Indian routes. working with the travel In September, we converted our four times a week service from Chennai to a daily service. Starting November 3, we are launch-

trade?

Travel agents are the most crucial component of our distribution channel.

Over 85 per cent of the book-

From October 2012, we will be introducing our ‘Premium Economy’ class services on Indian route starting with New Delhi that will be aimed at leisure and business travellers ing Kolkata services through Dragonair with four times a week frequency on A320 aircraft. By December, another destination – Hyderabad (deploying A330 aircraft) will be added on our route network through Cathay Pacific with four flights a week service.

What kind of trends are you witnessing in the Indian market? Is India still a ‘last-minute’ market? Are leisure travellers price-sensitive?

Are business travellers really demanding?

Unfortunately, India is still a ‘last-minute’ market wherein travellers plan it maximum a month before their actual date of travel.

Indian traveller’s expectations are very high and they want great services coupled

ing comes from travel agents and we work in close association with them. We try our best to keep transparency in the fares so the travel agents don’t lose out on business due to our website and the passenger gets the best deal from all our distribution channels.

Future Plans The new Premium Economy class will have more leg room, high seat pitch, wider seats and preferred check-in From November 3, the airline is launching Kolkata services through Dragonair with 4 times a week

By December, Hyderabad will be added on the airline’s route network with four flights a week service

HOTELS

The LaLit to appoint 50 GSAs The LaLit Group will offer its GSAs - communication, marketing and training support in addition to many lucrative business opportunities - as it believes that B2B will continue to be a vital part of its robust distribution model.

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he visionary leaders don’t fret over the cyclical downside in the economy. In fact, they work their strategies on the long term basis.

Similarly, Samil Malhotra, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, The LaLit Group, a seasoned player is staying put on the Indian growth story and is working on enhancing the Group’s B2B strength.

“We are linked to the economy in such a manner that with a positive economic sentiment, the hospitality industry grows, while the negative economic sentiment drags the hospitality sector down. Presently, the economic sentiment is down, but in the long run everyone is upbeat on the Indian growth story that looks upside, which augurs well for the hospitality sector,” emphasised Malhotra.

“Going forward, there will be an increase in demand

for vacations within the city, just like it is being witnessed in the form of short-haul destination or closer to home vacations.

Since, B2B will continue to be a vital part of our robust distribution model; we are looking at adding over 50 suitable GSAs in the present fiscal spread over the length and breadth of the country.

We will offer them communication, marketing and training support in addition to many lucrative business opportunities,” he added.

On the ancillary revenue stream, he believes that there is a lot of potential to make use of the growing MICE business and other new opportunities F&B segment. “We are

witnessing growth in MICE business. In fact, we expect a lot of corporate movement in our recently opened hotel in Jaipur, which otherwise is

Samil Malhotra Vice President – Sales and Marketing The LaLit Group

considered to be a pre-dominantly leisure destination.

There are opportunities that are being witnessed in form of special interest groups, educational events, social events and Medical Tourism out of which, many of these segments are recession-proof.

It’s all about management Premier Inn, the UK-based company which, till now, has been investing and owning hotels in India is now looking at moving in the asset-right strategy to manage hotels. more foreigners will come and the Indian administration will match up to the demands of the hospitality market.”

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remier Inn, the part of UK’s largest hotel and restaurant group Whitbread PLC, has its eyes set on the mid-market hotel segment in India. The group which also owns the Costa Coffee chain brand, will enter into management contracts to operate properties in India after investing around ` 300 crore in the country in five hotels.

According to Aly Shariff, Managing Director - South Asia, Premier Inn, the group’s strategy in India has been asset-heavy so far.

“We have invested ` 300 crore in five owned properties.

Going forward, we are moving into an asset-right strategy, where we will be managing properties.

Around 85-90 per cent of our developmental growth focus is on this business model now. Scouting for partner-

Aly Shariff Managing Director - South Asia Premier Inn

ship, the company is looking at preferred but not exclusive partners. It will close in between 8-10 deals a year. Meanwhile, the group will continue to invest in hotel properties as well,” he informs.

Talking about foreign hoteliers struggling to get regulatory approvals for their projects leading to slowdown, Shariff pointed out, “The growth of properties in India is much slower than other parts of the world. This is bad news but the good news is that the more we grow, the better it will be. Because

The company, which opened its first property in India in 2009, ventured into the country in 2007 with a joint venture with real estate developer Emaar MGF. In 2010, Whitbread bought the 50.1 per cent stake held by Emaar. Whitbread is now developing hotels under the Premier Inn brand in India on its own. Currently, it has two owned hotels that are operational in Bengaluru and Delhi. The company will open three owned hotels next year – Pune and Chennai in the first half of next year and 131-room Goa property in the second half of 2013.

Venturing Prospects Around 85-90 per cent of the company’s developmental growth focusses on this business model The company is looking at preferred but not exclusive partners and will close between 8-10 deals a year

18 TRAVTALK

TECHNOLOGY

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

Online space heats up

Abacus gets ‘smart’ on B2B

The Travel Boutique Online has taken a leap in the direction of promoting Agents in India need ‘Mobile Strategy’ to increase their productivity from hot selling domestic and outbound online bookings and adapting to mobile technology. packages through its B2B partners.

Mobile’, another Abacus A N I TA J A I N VIVEK SETHI

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he online travel space is heating up! No single online player, today, commands such a sizeable scale of business that can help them term as the undisputed king.

However, most of them are working on innovative means to garner such a sizeable chunk of growing online business. Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Travel Boutique Online (TBO), has set a similar task before him and is confident that his B2B network will achieve it for him.

“We are dedicated B2B players and will continue to nurture and grow our stature in this domain. In fact, we have set an ambitious target of capering a lion’s share in the online B2B space of selling holiday packages, which otherwise is dominated by air content aggregation business. To win a sizeable scale in this space, we will aggre-

gate hotel content from relevant sources and create hot selling domestic and outbound packages, which will be sold by our B2B partners

Ankush Nijhawan Managing Director Travel Boutique Online

across the length and the breadth of the country,” said Nijhawan.

“In our first phase of growing the B2B holiday space, we are looking at creating hot selling products for our partners in Dubai, Hong Contd. on page 19

Mobility Suit product has also been well-received in India.

This product helps the agents in creating new bookings and processing PNRs on their smart phones.

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ravel agents in India are increasingly adopting the mobile technology by booking air tickets, hotels and car rentals or even holiday packages from their smart phones, claims Abacus. The company is recording a growth of 30 per cent year-on-year in India since 2010 and aims to sustain the growth rate in the coming years through innovative technology, customer service, increasing productivity, etc.

With the cutting-edge solutions; travel agents are empowered to differentiate themselves from the competition by adopting integrated ‘Abacus Mobility Suite’. With the latest in mobile web technology, HTML5, Abacus VirtuallyThere, a part of Abacus Mobility Suit is increasingly getting popular among the Indian travel trade.

Together with Sabre, Abacus VirtuallyThere is industry’s first travel management service which has the ability to support more than 600 mobile

Robert Bailey

Jeet Sawhney

President & CEO Abacus International

Managing Director Abacus India

We are in the middle of major investment in India as it is one of our core focus markets devices globally, helping travellers stay connected by delivering information such as the

The new tools are highly efficient with low cost and leapfrog technology most updated air, car, cruise, rain and travel insurance bookings. Additionally, ‘Abacus

Giving out the perspective on the Indian market, Robert Bailey, President & CEO, Abacus International said, “Asia is the leading travel market globally with China and India leading the race.

Tourism is one of the robust sectors in these economies and by providing seamless technology platform, Abacus intends to further boost this growth. We are in the middle of major investment in India as it is one of our core focus markets and we are investing in manpower, infrastructure, products and customer service to expand in this market.

However, with increasing needs and requirements of Indian travellers, travel agents need a ‘Mobile Strategy’ and thus, Abacus Contd. on page 44

FAMILY ALBUM

Showcasing aesthetic hotels IHG organised a showcase of its international hotels, providing the opportunity for Indian agents to meet different hotels across the world under one roof. IHG Showcase helps build a one-on-one relation with the Global Head of IHG from various parts of the world.

AmaWaterways reaches Indian banks The Indian outbound segment is now moving beyond the Ocean Cruises and being wooed by River Cruises. In such a scenario, Luxury River Cruise specialist - AmaWaterways - is now making a splash in the Indian market.

The company operates high-end luxury River Cruises in Europe, Vietnam, Cambodia, Russia and Africa has now unveiled its cruises for the Indian market through the Indian Travel Promotion Company (ITPL).

While River Cruises carry just a fraction of the number of passengers that go on mainstream cruises, the industry has been exploding with opportunities. The number of people taking river cruises has increased manifold since 2008, says Rudolf Schreiner, President and Coowner, AmaWaterways.

According to Schreiner, the USP of a River Cruise lies in a more personalised experience. “It combines the feature of a land-based tour and an ocean-based cruise. River ships are typically smaller and carry no more than a couple of hundred passengers. It is a

more intimate experience and this is what creates an appeal in contrast to the ocean-going mega ships that carry thousands of passengers.”

Earlier the Indian market went primarily for shopping but now cruising has taken off in India. Indian travellers are spending and experimenting more. Thus, the company plans to tap this

An introductory price of ` 86,364 per person for a seven-night cruise, inclusive of all meals and excursions has been rolled out in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The newest sevenday itinerary to explore the legendary Danube will start on November 15.

In Asia, AmaWaterways runs 14-day programme that

Rudolf Schreiner

Kristin Karst

President and Co-owner AmaWaterways

Executive Vice President and Co-owner, AmaWaterways

upmarket segment, reveals Kristin Karst, Executive Vice President and Co-owner, AmaWaterways. “We are the only river cruise line that offers free Wi-Fi on-board. We also have bicycles on-board.

The docks that the river cruise company utilises are in the hub of the city, which is a great bonus,” she adds.

combines Vietnam and Cambodia, with cruises in Halong Bay and Mekong River and excursions to Angkor Wat. Popular programmes in Europe include a cruise along the waterways of Belgium and Holland during the tulip season as well as multi-country cruise itineraries along Danube and Rhine.

‘Indian growth story intact’ Contd. from page 18

Kong, Thailand and Malaysia.

In the domestic side, Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Punjab, Lucknow, Gujarat, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kerala and Goa will be among our favourites,” he added.

According to him, TBO presently has 15,000 B2B affil-

iates and presence in over 783 cities in India. The group also claims to have extensive presence in the MENA region and is among the top five online players in India. Nijhawan concluded by stating, “The Indian growth story is intact. We for instance have witnessed handsome growth irrespective of the general slowdown.

Going forward, to realise our dreams, we are looking at inducting senior level managerial berth to fasten the hotel content aggregation business.”

20 TRAVTALK

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

HOTELS

Hotel industry on recovery route in India Fuelled by the rise in demand for hotel rooms from domestic travellers, the hotel tariff went up by 12 per cent in the ďŹ rst six months of this year in India. This has been revealed by the recent Hotel Price Index (HPI) report.

David Roche, President, Hotels.com said. The first six months of 2012 have proved a promising start for most hotels. However, the second half of the year, with increasingly mixed economic signals, will be interesting to watch, he added.

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n India, the overall rate rose 12 per cent following a surge in demand from domestic travellers as overseas destinations became more expensive, the report said. For the first time in five years, travellers paid more for their hotel rooms during the first six months of 2012, in all parts of the world and globally average hotel prices rose by four per cent over the last year indicating the hotel industry is stag-

Travelling overseas David Roche President, Hotels.com

ing recovery. Launched in 2004, the HPI looks at prices that people actually paid for their The biggest percentage hotel rooms price rise in H1 2012 Vs H1 2011 around the world.

Destinations H1 2012 H1 2011 %Change Malaysia Turkey UAE China Austria Germany France Australia USA India Thailand

6,464 7,920 7,446 5,028 7,687 8,427 8,898 8,429 7,619 4,696 4,801

4,438 6,296 5,953 4,051 6,484 7,137 7,801 7,476 6,758 4,202 4,305

46% 26% 25% 24% 19% 18% 14% 13% 13% 12% 12%

“The hotel industry bounced back in the first half of this year from a number of natural and political crises in 2011 and it is encouraging to see growth in the sector,�

With an average figure of 7,353 INR, Indian travellers were the 19th in the table of the biggest spenders abroad for the first half of 2012. The Top 10 biggest spending nations remained the same but there was much movement in the table. The Japanese spent the most away from home once again on 9,599 INR, followed by the Australians on 9,153 INR, moving up from third place to second, bumping the Swiss down to third place on 9,016 INR. The Chinese moved up one place to sixth, parting with an average 8,418 INR and the Brazilians climbed

three places from tenth to seventh, paying 8,351 INR.

Travelling at home Indian travellers once again had the best eye for a bargain, being the nation, spending the least for a hotel room at home on an average 4,709 INR a night, followed by the Spanish on 4,884 INR and the Chinese on 4,974 INR. At the other end of the table, the top three held their places in the first half of 2012 with those from Switzerland paying the most

Top Destinations for overseas travellers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

New Delhi Mumbai Bengaluru Chennai Goa Jaipur Agra Hyderabad Calcutta Cochin

Average hotel room prices by star rating during H1 2012 in INR Destination Bangkok Dubai Hong Kong Las Vegas London MUMBAI NEW DELHI New York Singapore

** N/A 4,957 3,479 N/A 5,074 2,806 1,749 9,295 4,652

*** 3,176 4,512 7,700 4,265 7,486 5,347 3,730 12,333 7,660

when travelling domestically on 10,410 INR, followed by Norway on 9,572 INR and Singapore just behind on 9,551 INR. The Australians again moved up the table from seventh to fourth on 9,114 INR. The South Koreans moved into the Top 10 at No 6 on 7,962 INR. Foreign travel became more expensive for Indian travellers as the Rupee fell in value against many major currencies, particularly in the latter half of the

**** 5,206 7,494 10,026 7,161 12,441 7,876 7,984 16,242 10,702

***** 9,526 14,304 N/A 12,238 N/A 11,112 11,198 N/A 19,582

period. Other factors also had an impact. For instance, areas that were facing serious political or natural upheavals in the first six months of 2011 recovered their equilibrium, leading to prices in areas such as the Middle East and Japan, returning to more normal levels. These factors also had a marked influence on the cost of a hotel room as prices increased in all but one of the destinations included in the HPI.

STATISTICS

Airfares High, higher, highest With the international and domestic airfares rising northwards, the travel trade needs to get more innovative while providing services to their corporate clients.

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s per the findings of the recent American Express Business Travel Monitor, airfares in India across domestic and international travel saw an overall price rise of 9 per cent QoQ, with domestic fares within

inflation, reduction in capacity and flight network disruptions leading to reduced supply in the market, are some of the contributing factors for the increase in airfares. We believe the environment will continue to remain dynamic and to stabilise expenses on business travel, companies

nations. There was a significant increase in business class airfare for Intra-Asia Pacific travel by 13 per cent in full fare and 9 per cent in discounted fare QoQ. Airfares from India to the Americas region have seen a marginal increase of 2 per cent QoQ and travel to

Source: American Express Business Travel Monitor

Source: American Express Business Travel Monitor

India witnessing a considerable increase of 29 per cent.

Moreover, fares from India to the EMEA region as well as the Intra-Asia Pacific fares saw a 5 per cent increase. Similarly, fares to the Americas saw an overall marginal increase of 2 per cent.

As per Sandeep Shastri, Vice President and General Manager, Global Business Travel, American Express India, “The increase in travel demands, steady increase in

should look at cost effective travel programmes and execute multi-year contracts with key domestic and international carriers.”

“As the sharp rise in airfares continues to add extra pressure on company expense, there is a need for greater compliance as well as transparency in managing travel expenses,” he added.

In the last quarter, India observed a strong 5 per cent rise in airfares for both IntraAsia Pacific and EMEA desti-

this region remained flat in full business airfare as well as in full economy segments with no increase QoQ in fares.

Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific region witnessed an overall increase of 3 per cent in the airfares across all categories.

Domestic airfares saw a 5 per cent price increase in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the other tracked fares in the Asia Pacific region, according to the report.

QUICK READ Maldivian, the national airline of the Maldives will offer new direct routes to Mumbai and Chennai in November this year. The Maldivian aircraft A320, with 14 seats in the Business Class and 138 in the Economy Class will be flying direct to both the cities. The airline will operate three flights per week to Mumbai and Chennai. The first flight to Mumbai is tentatively slated for November 15, 2012.

22 TRAVTALK

ASSOCIATIONS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

No talks, just action: TAFI

TAFI builds faith with airlines

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) took it upon themselves to The new Managing Committee of resolve the issues of mutual interest, revive and strengthen relations TAFI is working on issues like web between the travel fraternity and the airlines. TAFI office bearers met parity, insurance guarantee and airline representatives and discussed issues relevant to the travel agents. boosting tourism sector in India.

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t’s just over a month that the new Managing Committee of TAFI was elected and the members are receiving back-to-back emails on the latest developments on various issues. Latest

Zakkir Ahmed President TAFI

being, the meeting with airlines like Jet Airways, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, KLM-Air France and IndiGo on the various issues and also, the APJC and airlines decision of weekly payments which will be fully activated from January 1,

antee scheme by TAFI for its members, which was withdrawn in 2005. It is also in talks with airlines to re-introduce corporate purchase card.

Talking about the plans for TAFI; Zakkir Ahmed, President, TAFI said, “Commission is not our focus; our focus is to increase the profitability on bottom-lines of our members.

Along with underlining the key issues and challenges faced by the travel agents, we intend to work closely with airlines as there is a need to work together to create a win-win situation for all the players in the tourism sector.

Apart from working on weekly payments, web parity, bank guarantee and insurance scheme issues; we are also focussing on

Weekly payments issues Both TAFI & TAAI had a lengthy and protracted negotiation session with the airline representatives, involving two adjournments, where both the airlines & agents community sat and worked on various proposals. After a hard bargain on both sides the following proposal was unanimous.

Nov 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013

- Status Quo

July 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013

-

January 1, 2014 onwards

-

Weekly Billing & 15 days credit Weekly Billing & Weekly credit

This now will go to PAConf where it will be put to vote at the meeting in mid-October in Abu Dhabi. Half a day has been allotted to India where TAAI & TAFI jointly will make a presentation. With the arrival of a unanimous decision, the chances of the Resolution going through, has brightened considerably.

2014. Apart from this, the Association is striving to bring in other banks for the insurance guarantee scheme to reduce the ever-increasing premium rates. Additionally, it is also in the process of relaunching its insurance guar-

increasing our membership base from 1,400 to 2,000 soon. We have recently put our training committee in place and will soon start organising training programmes on various topics across India.”

QUICK READ The government of Madhya Pradesh (MP) is moving towards single window clearance for the tourism projects in the State.

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he TAFI delegates who met individual airline representatives included Zakkir Ahmed, President; Praveen Chugh, Vice President; Pradip Lulla, National General Secretary; Rajat Bagaria, Western Region Chapter Chairperson; Gladwyn Pinto, Executive Secretary General; Urvashi Mohan, Committee Member; Teddy Thomas, Committee Member and Vijay Gupta, Chairperson, North India Chapter, TAFI

(L-R): Jayesh Tharani, Committee Member; Capt.Promod Kohli, Committee Member; Pradip Lulla, National General Secretary; Aditi Bhende, Committee Member & Convention Chairperson; Sanjay Arya, Joint Secretary; Basheer Ahmed, Joint Treasurer; Zakkir Ahmed, President; Praveen Chugh,Vice President; Urvashi.D.Mohan,Committee Member; Darshan Shah,Treasurer; Teddy Thomas,Committee Member, TAFI

Jet Airways 1. The Airline agreed to support the agents on deferment of weekly payments.

2. Web promotions, parity of fares already closed. Jet is working on platform which will be soon introduced Sudheer Raghavan where agents can also have Chief Commercial Officer the option of issuing tickets Jet Airways on the same lowest promotional fares through their website and the payments will be settled through the BSP. 3. Jet agreed to clear all PLB settlements in this month.

4. Jetlite tickets can be issued on Jet Airways documents on codeshare to enable travel agents the 1 per cent commission.

5. Jet also assured that there will be no discrimination in PLB distribution in the market.

6. Group deposits retained by Jet and not refunding on time will be looked into and solution will be conveyed to agents before September 30, 2012.

7. Credit Card Acceptance: Meetings are being organised with various Banks to bring a win-win formula.

Turkish Airlines The meeting was very cordial and both the sides agreed to work in harmony to resolve all matters related to the industry.

Aykac promised to extend all help. He said that they were Adnan Aykac already working on credit card General Manager - Northern & solutions for the acceptance Eastern India, Turkish Airlines of issue of tickets under ‘Pass Through’. He also expressed his keenness to attend Conventions/deliberations of TAFI as and when required.

Air France/ KLM Industry related issues were discussed and promises were made to work together for any kind of issue not only concerning travel agents but also to airlines.

Yashwant Pawar General Manager, South Asia Air France/KLM

Lufthansa Lufthansa requested that since weekly payment deferment schedule has been agreed in APJC, they hoped that agents were fine with this proposal and it was accepted by the associaAxel Hilgers tion. The airline further requestDirector, South Asia ed not to proceed with court Lufthansa case for the claim of commission.

On this TAFI representatives did not agree and replied that they will revert back on this subject later. Hilgers promised to work closely with TAFI especially on Conventions, Seminars, etc. to have a better understanding of the industry issues.

IndiGo Discussions were held on the areas of common interest with a view to find some solution as to how we can rope in Credit Card Companies so that travel agents don’t start operating as financiers. Airline Sanjay Kumar Chief Commercial Officer representatives said that IndiGo they will sort out this issue along with TAFI. They also expressed a desire to enroll as TAFI members soon.

Virgin Atlantic The meeting started on a cordial note with the promise to support the travel and aviation industry. Kapoor said that they will be happy to work with the travel fraternity and help each other to strengthen relationships and amicably resolve industry issues. He also informed the association that they will be starting flights from Mumbai from the month of October and are looking for support.

Sanjay Kapoor Head of Commercial – India Virgin Atlantic

24 TRAVTALK

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

ASSOCIATIONS

Tourism potential & pitfalls in South India brings to you the various opportunities and challenges prevalent in the southern market in the inbound, domestic and outbound segments by talking to the leading travel trade associations, who hail KTM as a professional organised show.

VIVEK SETHI

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he southern travel market in India has matured and offers great potential for inbound, domestic and outbound business. Most of the

stakeholders in the travel trade are keen on establishing and making their presence in the southern market click. Here are some of the excerpts given by association presidents on the latent potential of South

Inbound As per Subhash Goyal, President, IATO, there is a vast inbound potential in the Southern market. In fact, our experience shows that post IATO’s recent convention

Subhash Goyal President IATO

in Karnataka, there was almost a 100 per cent jump in traffic, even during the off season period. And, similar potential is very much evident in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and other travel attraction destination in southern India.

India as a travel destination.

To list the important suggestions in a nutshell, the inbound segment at present is witnessing remarkable growth as these states compete more aggressively in the highly

competitive global tourism industry. It is expected to grow even further, post-augmentation of supply in the aviation sector, especially after the onset of the liberal FDI regime in aviation.

Domestic In fact, there is a healthy competition among various travel attraction in the Southern India. In my opinion, the future of tourism will be driven by States, who consistently innovate to attract more number of tourists. Also a good number of incremental room inventories have come into play in this region. In fact, the clearance of FDI in Aviation will augment in air capacity and address the challenges in form of high air fares that impede growth in this region.

The Southern States in India should also promote a few products jointly. Also, there is a considerable potential in promoting tourism with the help of the neighbouring countries, for instance packages like GoaKerala-Colombo will be instant hit. The policymakers here should remove the restrictions on re-entering India within 30 days.

Subhash Verma, President, ADTOI, says there is no denying the fact that there is an ample scope for promoting domestic flow of tourists from the Northern India to Southern India and vice-versa. But, in my opinion there is still a long way to go, as presently most of the traffic is Religious Tourism. The primary reason behind less number of domestic tourists from North India visiting Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and other travel destinations in southern India is the fact that the domestic tour operators in North India require more training and extensive knowledge of the various attractions that could be sold.

The Southern States should conduct widespread roadshows in the Northern region in addition to mere workshops, which will eventually translate into far more impressive flow of domestic tourists among the

The domestic tour operators particularly, to encourage bilateral NorthSouth flow of tourists, urge for extensive training.

However, the outbound segment will require more

number of Visa Consulates to be established in the Southern region to facilitate a smooth flow of genuine tourists from this region to explore different parts of the world.

Outbound Northern and Southern States in India. Further, these states should simultaneously aim to bring down

Subhash Verma President ADTOI

the various forms of taxation and work on incentives to bring down airfares.

Even the statistics released recently has confirmed that there is a big number of domestic travellers visiting southern states. This proves the fact that southern states have more potential that can be explored.

As per Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI, gone are the days where cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata reined the list of elite metros. More cities in the Southern India like Bengaluru, Chennai and others will emerge along with Tier-I and Tier-II cities that will follow suit, to emerge as places that will generate outstanding number of outbound travellers.

The main challenge today that impedes the number of outbound tourist’s potential is the fact that most of the high commissions and visa consulates are concentrated in Delhi and Mumbai. Gradually, as more number of visa consulates gets established to cater to the Southern States, the number of outbound tourists will increase. There are some concerns over the unauthorised immigration in guise of tourism that needs to be addressed.

The various National Tourism Boards should conduct more number of roadshows and include tour operators from Southern India in various FAMs,

Guldeep Singh Sahni President OTOAI

which has already started.

Our Association is also gearing up to establish our presence through dedicated team in the Southern India, which will ensure fair and ethical practices among the stakeholders in tourism business to promote outbound sectors

Giving heritage hotels a boost Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) recently hosted its first convention at Nahargarh in Ranthambore, Rajasthan. “Heritage tourism has become a movement and has promoted rural tourism in a big way,” says Vijai Lal, Executive Committee Member and Ex-Vice President, Indian Heritage Hotels

Association (IHHA). The potential of heritage tourism is so vast that if it is fully tapped, it will change the economy of India. According to Lal, heritage hotels provide gainful employment to the locals.

“In Rajasthan, 90 per cent of the people employed in this industry are locals. Heritage tourism does

not only provide direct employment through hotels but also provides indirect employment to various people linked with the industry. In my property, The Judge’s Court in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, every single person employed, including the chauffeur, is a local,” he reveals.

To give a boost to heritage

hotels in the country, the association recently hosted its first convention at Nahargarh in Ranthambore, Rajasthan. “Although we have had general body meetings in the past, this is the first time we hosted a national convention,” Lal informs. The theme of the day-long convention was Role of

Rural and Natural Heritage in Tourism Development. “Since most of our hotels are situated in rural settings, issues of sustainability are important for us.

Thus, we also deliberated on Clean India Campaign as preservation of heritage,” he adds.

Vijai Lal Executive Committee Member and Ex-Vice President, IHHA

26 TRAVTALK

STATES

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

MICE Bureau for Kerala Connecting interiors of India To underline the potential of Kerala as a MICE destination, the State Government along with tourism department and private players are in process of introducing Kerala Convention and Promotion Bureau (KCPB) in next few months.

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o start with, the Bureau will first look into the MICE facilities and requirements of the State. It will come up with ideas and will advise the Tourism Ministry and Tourism Development Corporation to enhance and develop additional amenities to cater the MICE segment from both India and abroad.

The new Kerala Convention and Promotion Bureau will focus on attracting domestic and international business events to Kerala.

Big Idea Kerala Convention and Promotion Bureau will work closely with the MICE operators in local and global market.

This will help it to further enhance its network and exchanging ideas

EM Najeeb, Chairman & Managing Director, Airtravel Enterprise Group of Companies said, “The state government of Kerala has done excellent branding of the State in domestic and global market. Today, the State is well-known as a leisure destination.

However, despite having tremendous potential for MICE, Kerala is lagging behind in attracting this segment of travellers.

Through the new Kerala Convention and Promotion Bureau, which is on the final stage of its launch, Kerala will be highlighted as an excellent MICE destination.”

The bureau will work closely with the MICE operators in local and global market. It will also work closely with other conven-

Contd. from page 1

Performance standards set for AI Singh says, “Our market share is only 18 per cent now and we keep losing money.

Last year, we lost about ` 8,000 crore, in 2010 we lost about ` 6,000 crore. However, the cabinet has approved ` 30,000 crore to keep Air India in business. The amount will be paid over the period of eight years and every six months, we have set performance standards for Air India. If the airline fails to meet the performance standards, we don’t pay them.” This proves that the Government is not going to spend any more money on Air India.

AI is not the only player in the game now EM Najeeb Chairman & Managing Director Airtravel Enterprise Group of Companies

tion bureaus in India and overseas to further enhance its network and exchanging ideas for bringing in international service standards in the state.

Singh informed that through the recent changes in bilateral policies, all other Indian airlines can fly abroad and in last few months, we gave them about 400-500 flights to neighbouring countries along with Europe and USA. The airline will take some time to start these connections but we have made the

policy that they can fly abroad. Off course, Air India will get the priority when it comes to one or two flights but we are not going to wait for Air India forever.

“If Air India can’t make it, others can do it as they are also Indian carriers.

We are making a lot of policy changes so that not only Air India but other Indian carriers can also benefit and start making profits,” updates Singh.

Stronger air-connectivity India has excellent airports like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, New Delhi and few more coming up. But then, there are Tier-II, Tier-III and Tier-IV cities where very few airlines operate. “Unless, we connect these destinations with metro cities of India, I don’t think tourism can meet

its potential fully. Except few states like Kerala and Maharashtra, other states in India don’t have regional connectivity as the airports in smaller cities are not developed. Even if AAI has a small air-strip in smaller cities, there are hardly any airlines operating through those cities.

Connectivity is a major issue and to tackle it, we are changing the policy that not only metro cities but also smaller airports will be open for PPP model. In next five years plan, we will spend ` 70,000 crore for making new airports across India,” concludes Singh.

Exclusive Through the recent changes in bilateral policies, all other Indian airlines can fly abroad and in last few months, we gave them about 400-500 flights to neighbouring countries along with Europe and USA The airline will take some time to start these connections but we have made the policy that they can fly abroad

28 TRAVTALK

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

ANALYSIS

States see big bucks in going ‘PPP’ way To give a boost to tourism, the state governments are chalking out their path ahead for building tourism-related infrastructure and facilities using the PPP model.

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ublic-private partnerships (PPP) in tourism are on the upswing globally. Now, even the Indian states have realised that public-private partnership mode is the answer to developing infrastructure and ensuring connectivity across the state and country. In order to give a fillip to tourism, the state governments are chalking out their path ahead for building tourism-related infrastructure and facilities using the PPP model.

Riding on its new tourism policy that ensures hassle-free clearance to investors in the sector, Kerala Tourism is looking for bigticket foreign investments now. Identified as one of the key sectors to propel Kerala’s future economic growth, tourism was high on the agenda when investors across continents came down for the recent Emerging Kerala Summit.

A P Anilkumar, Tourism Minister, Kerala said the government has come out with a tourism policy that seeks to beef up the state’s infrastructure and involve people’s participation in a bigger scale.

“We are creating an atmosphere that would enable potential investors to be our long-term partners of growth,” he confirmed.

Some of the interesting projects that look for steam from the private sector are a state-of-the-art hotel at the upcoming world-class Edu Health City at Panakkad, a Destination Development Boat Club at Thirurangadi, Adventure Sports Arena at the Vagamon, a Mist Valley Resort and Spa and a Spice Valley Resort (Idukki).

The Department of Tourism is also drafting an integrated Tourism Master Plan to help give shape to new plans and create an investor-friendly environ-

ment. “We will introduce a fast-track clearance system for tourism projects with investments of over Rs 10 crore,” Suman Billa, Tourism Secretary, Kerala Tourism said. “Incentives, subsidies and other assistance have been lined up for Responsible Tourism, marketing activities and home-stay promotion.”

According to P Rajavelu, Welfare and Tourism Minister, Puducherry, the government is concentrating on promoting large-scale projects through PPP mode to boost tourism.

“Projects such as oceanarium, trade and convention centres, multiplex complexes, science city, five-star resort hotels and theme parks are being contemplated on the PPP mode,” Rajavelu said during the recently concluded 47th Annual Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) Convention at Goa. Procedures are being streamlined to help investors, he said, assuring that the gov-

A P Anilkumar

Suman Billa

Tourism Minister Kerala

Tourism Secretary Kerala Tourism

We will introduce a fast-track clearance system for tourism projects with investments of over ` 10 crore ernment would extend all assistance to entrepreneurs.

Highlighting the role of Goa in setting benchmarks in the tourism industry, he said that Goa is a role model for the development of beach destinations and Puducherry could also emulate the framework.

The minister has also invited industrialists from Goa to think of tourism ventures in Puducherry.

The UT Government offers capital subsidy of ` 1 crore to the star category hotels and tourismrelated projects in addition to the incentive of exemption of luxury tax. Puducherry has maintained a steady annual growth of six per cent in tourist arrivals.

After infrastructure and housing, the Maharashtra government is also eyeing PPP in the tourism sector. Tourism as an industry has immense potential for growth in Maharashtra. “There are acres of land around various tourist destinations, which belongs to Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC). It is very difficult for us to develop these areas by ourselves. Hence, we want the private sector to join hands with MTDC to develop them,” Jagdish Patil, Managing Director, MTDC said.

The organisation is also looking at PPP in managing its resorts, he said. The tourism department has come up with a five-year action plan to boost the tourism industry in Maharashtra, giving prime importance to infrastructure at most destinations.

Urging the private stakeholders to come forward, Patil

The government is concentrating on promoting large-scale projects through PPP mode to boost tourism emphasised that MTDC will support the private sector in getting permissions, raising funds from different institutes, supporting acquisition of land, single window clearance system and getting approvals

developed under the PPP model. “We had called for expressions of interest in April and received 105 responses for 15 tourism projects in the state. The positive market response has encouraged us to call for bids for 18 projects,” Latha Krishna Rau, Principal Secretary-Tourism, Government of Karnataka said during the Global Investor Meet (GIM).

Besides Karnataka, the department has also received responses from hospitality and real estate players in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi, she added. According to Rau, the state government is looking beyond Bengaluru to promote tourism in the state.

“We are looking at promoting tourism in Tier-II and Tier-III locations and are setting up infrastructure facilities for tourists,” she said.

While discussing the role of PPP in boosting tourism, she revealed, “The state government is advising prospective investors to build infrastructure facilities in central,

P Rajavelu

Jagdish Patil

Welfare and Tourism Minister Puducherry

Managing Director MTDC

The government is concentrating on promoting large-scale projects through PPP mode to boost tourism from government agencies.

“We will facilitate the private sector in receiving finances, support them in land acquisition and facilitate government approvals and clearances.

Besides, we will also provide tax exemptions in property, water and electricity, which will be fruitful for the investors,” he added.

The Karnataka Department of Tourism has called for request for proposals (RFPs) of 18 projects to be

We want the private sector to join hands with MTDC to develop them northern and coastal areas of the state. We are anticipating $170 million in foreign exchange earnings from overseas tourists in 2020, up from $104 million in 2010, projecting an increase of 63 per cent.” The state government is also offering a range of incentives for developing infrastructure facilities at 100 tourist locations across the state such as 50-75 per cent exemption on stamp duty on investments above $10 million.

ANALYSIS

Moving on to domestic MICE While betting big on the domestic MICE, corporate agents in the industry feel infrastructure issues hinder growth of the segment in India.

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oday’s corporate traveller has unrestricted access to inventories and products. As he drives industry practices in a big way, there are new trends in business travel that have emerged. Experts in the industry who were till now betting big on the outbound meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) feel that domestic MICE is the way forward.

Feels Akshay Kulkarni, Regional Director – Hospitality, South & Southeast Asia, Cushman & Wakefield, MICE has always been an integral part of the hospitality and tourism business in India.

“With the growing infrastructure and actual facilities, we are seeing a growth in this segment. However, one of the deterrents still remains the prohibitive travel costs.

Increasingly more and more MICE business is being done in off-peak season and/or shoulder months so that at least hotel rates can be reasonable. However, we have a long way to go before we can compete with some of the larger MICE-driven markets in the world. One must also decide what one really wants to develop because the convention/conference and exhibition business is very different than the incentive business,” he remarks.

Opines Vikram Patwardhan, Managing Director, Vama Events, “The MICE segment has been on the rise. However, we have

have a separate team to handle MICE activities.”

The company that specialises in organising medical conferences sees various bottlenecks in developing India as an ideal MICE destination.

“If promoted and supported

Calling for active government support, he points out, “Also, the government

Akshay Kulkarni

Karan Anand

Regional Director – Hospitality, South & Southeast Asia Cushman & Wakefield

Head-Relationships Cox & Kings

We have a long way to go before we can compete with some of the larger MICE-driven markets in the world

well by the government, India can emerge as the largest market for medical conferences in the world. We have some world-class hospitals

Hotels hike up rates the moment they realise it is a city-based convention.

This makes our task difficult in getting repeat conventions to the city again Vikram Patwardhan, Managing Director, Vama Events still not been able to explore the true potential in the India market. With the slowdown in economy and the European and the American recession looming large, MICE is the way forward for the travel industry in India. India has a rich history of culture and heritage which has to be used to the advantage of promoting MICE in India. Hotel chains and sales managers ought to be aggressive in their approach to the MICE segment. I can see a strong shift in strategy of all major hotel groups where all major hotels

the average room rate in a decent hotel varies from $50 to $200 whereas in a city like Mumbai or Delhi, the room rates are soaring.”

and world-renowned doctors in India. However, due to the lack of proper infrastructure facilities, we are unable to get major international conferences to India. Unfortunately, India does not have proper convention centres which can host over 10,000 delegates.

The makeshift facilities like Pragati Maidan and NSCE in Mumbai are way too expensive. Also the hotel rooms are dearer as compared to the Asia Pacific Region. It’s much easier and cheaper to bid for events in regions like Bangkok, Malaysia etc where

The domestic MICE has evolved and the number of incentive movements, which form the bulk of MICE movements in India, is growing should allow certain tax exemptions which can help us in getting more international congresses to India. We usually end up spending 20 per cent of our budgets on Luxury Tax, Service Tax and VAT. For a segment as noble as medicine, certain exemptions have to be made. There are various permissions and licences which are difficult to get. The government should adopt a one-window approach.”

Getting government clearances for International Congress is a long and lengthy process. Also in a city like Mumbai, Goa, Delhi and Bengaluru, there has to be a proper system and policy in place to bid for International Congresses. “We did a huge International Congress in Goa last year where around 1,000 neurosurgeons from all over the world attended. It was very difficult for us to get rooms at a decent cost in Goa. Hotels hike up rates the moment they realise it is a city-based convention. This makes our task difficult in getting repeat conventions to the city again,” he cites. Also, Contd. on page 31

30 TRAVTALK

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

NEWS

Film City will get 5,000 tourists a day Bollywood, an internationally acclaimed film industry of India, is cashing in on its popularity.

Maharashtra Government hopes to attract more tourists to Mumbai by developing Bollywood Tourism.

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ollywood is part of Mumbai’s identity and a lot of tourists visiting the city want to meet stars and visit film sets. To cater to this growing need among tourists,

Bollywood Tourism is being developed. Film City in Mumbai where most of the shooting and production work for Bollywood happens will soon see a lot of additions.

“We want to develop and promote Film City in

Mumbai as a unique attraction at par with Universal Studios. It will take about 34 years for the project to complete, but once it is ready, we hope to attract 5000 tourists per day to film city,” says

Laxmikant Deshmukh, MD, Film City. Projects that will be undertaken include a Bollywood theme museum, Bollywood square and construction of huge sets at film city that will replicate villages of India includ-

ing Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and southern states. A nature walk will also be developed in association with Bombay Natural History Society and also a biodiversity park. Tourists will also

Laxmikant Deshmukh Managing Director Film City

be able to avail guided tours that cover the whole aspect of film making; from scripting to screening.

There will also be screenings of documentaries and films related to Bollywood.

NZ woos Indian honeymooners Tourism New Zealand recently launched a campaign in India targetting the honeymooners.

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ischa Mannix-Opie, Regional Manager, South & South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand says, “New Zealand has been very popular with honeymooners from India. And since honeymoon is a growing sector of travel

Mischa Mannix-Opie Regional Manager, South & South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand

outbound from India to New Zealand, we have launched this campaign along with Singapore Airlines for Indians.”

The aim of the campaign is to increase awareness and understanding in the Indian market of New Zealand as a niche destination to travel for romantic holidays and honeymoon. “Indian honeymooners typically travel to New Zealand in November-December,” added Mannix-Opie.

ANALYSIS

India scores in MICE Contd. from page 29

recently the Medical Council of India (MCI) has come up with an ethical code of conduct. “The current rules and regulations need to be clearly defined and made clear to both the pharmaceutical sector and the medical associations. As per the new MCI guidelines, getting sponsorship for medical conventions has become extremely difficult. All stakeholders need to work on the same platform for the betterment of the sector, he comments.

Says Karan Anand, Head-Relationships, Cox & Kings, “The domestic MICE has evolved and the number of incentive movements, which form the bulk of MICE movements in India, is growing. The good part of the story is that in order to address some of the challenges of space and accommodation, many new properties have opened up across destinations.

If you scan hotels across India, most of them are booked for meetings and conferences and this indicates a vibrant MICE market here in the country.”

In terms of exhibitions, movements are scattered between Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai due to lack of proper exhibition venues. Delhi has Pragati Maidan while Mumbai is starved of a good exhibition venue even today, he laments.

According to Prasant Saha, Managing Director, Conferences & Incentives Management, destination

infrastructure is always a challenge and never enough. “The important task is to find quality and skilled manpower.

Reiterates Shalu Richard, Owner, Corporate Culture, “The company organises corporate conferencing and

Prasant Saha

Shalu Richard

Managing Director, Conferences & Incentives Management

Owner Corporate Culture

Despite the fact that Delhi is our capital, we do not have an international level convention centre here Despite the fact that Delhi is the capital city, we do not have an international level convention centre here that can match our Asian or European counterparts. It’s time the government sees convention centres as not only venues but also as centres of excellence, where minds and business meet,” he opines.

Government PSUs are now contributing to the MICE segment in a big way.

Agriculture, fertilizers and pharmaceutical conferences are now gaining momentum events for the past 12 years.

It has witnessed a mix of highend payers and budget conferences. Due to some slowdown this year, there are few corporate clients that have delayed their plans for the current year. However, there are many Public Sector Units (PSUs) that are now investing in the market with more events. Agriculture, fertilizers and pharmaceutical conferences are now gaining momentum.”

‘Anywhere-to-anywhere’ Mystifly powers OTAs with its XML Web services – MyFareBoxOnePoint. Its XML version allows OTAs to search, extract and publish the anywhere-to-anywhere air inventory from MyFareBox onto their web portal. office function of our customers,” says Rajeev Kumar, Managing Director & CEO, Mystifly.

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yFareBoxOnePoint is the perfect solution for travel companies which seek to merge their unique travel applications with Anywhereto-Anywhere content. OTAs can search and publish best airfare deals from multiple suppliers, including more than 900 regular and low costs airlines from over 51 countries. Those with varying business models and greater need for connectivity can effectively utilize the internet to implement this low-cost, quick link between MyFareBoxOnePoint and third-party applications, Internet Booking Engines (IBEs), back-office systems and more. “Upgrading our

Rajeev Kumar Managing Director & CEO Mystifly

technology to an XML web services platform has been a key investment in the context of an increasingly competitive marketplace.

MyFareBoxOnePoint has enabled us to integrate our platform front with the back

MyFareBoxOnePoint is a blend of existing GDS technologies and is built on open standards using Web Services Extensible Markup Language (XML), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Web Services Description Language (WSDL) etc.

OnePoint XML/API allows customers who have a proprietary or third-party booking platform to integrate anywhere-to-anywhere content and thus build a highly customised booking interface. MyFareBoxOnePoint is the technology offering of Mystifly.

32 TRAVTALK

HOTELS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

Kerala sails smooth on MICE backwaters speaks to three different hotel entities in different regions of Kerala – Kumarakom, Kochi and Bekal – to understand their strategies to help the industry and the destination reach newer heights.

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n the back of tourism fuelling Kerala’s hospitality industry, the hotel industry in Kerala is witnessing unprecedented growth.

This is supplemented by the new developments and trends that are frequently taking place in Kerala’s hospitality sector.

Talking about the steps, individual hotels are taking, to innovate, the concept of hospitality in Kerala beyond just Ayurveda and houseboats, Rajendran Menon, General Manager, The Zuri Kumarakom, Kerala Resort & Spa feels, Kerala is a yearround destination for a large number of domestic and international travellers. “In fact, Kerala has developed into a major hub for MICE and FITs, both domestic and overseas, enjoying huge popularity as a wedding destination and lately for Medical Tourism as well.

This is the only state in India, which offers a large variety of experience – backwaters, beaches, hill stations, cultural, culinary other than the traditional Ayurveda experience. It is also our endeavour to provide authentic, original and effective treatments both Ayurvedic and Western, in a world of luxury at the Maya Spa – South India’s largest spa.”

MICE is a growing segment within Kerala. And even for this hotel, the segment has done wonders.

Under the current market scenario, business to the resort from the MICE segment has grown by almost 40 per cent compared to last year, confirms Menon. “With the MICE segment being extremely active, the market is dynamic. To our advantage, we have the largest meeting room for any five-star resort in Kumarakom and huge open lawns,” he says.

The density of travellers from South Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has been steadily growing every year.

These states currently contribute to 30 per cent of the hotel’s domestic market.

It is now targetting and strengthening presence in the western and northern part of India.

The second property of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Crowne Plaza Kochi is adding up to the city’s cause by gearing up to open its doors in order to bring about a change by addressing the needs of leisure as well as the MICE travellers. By adding another hotel in the city of Kochi after Holiday Inn, IHG is aiming at making a strong statement through Crowne Plaza Kochi.

14 meeting rooms in variable sizes and would make use of the in-house garden for social events.

Rajendran Menon

Terry Austen

Dilip Mishra

General Manager The Zuri Kumarakom, Kerala Resort & Spa

General Manager Crowne Plaza Kochi

Resident Manager The LaLit Resort & Spa Bekal

Kerala has developed into a major hub for MICE and FITs, both for domestic and overseas travellers Talking about the perspective of the new hotel for the city, Terry Austen, General Manager, Crowne Plaza Kochi informs, “We are expecting this property to open in the festive season i.e. between September and November.

For the last 14 months, that I have spent here, the city has gone through a rapid developmental change and our hotel will add another infra-

Our hotel will help add another infrastructure facet to position the city as a MICE destination structure facet to position the city ahead.” The hotel has realised Kochi’s potential to deliver far more in hospitality and travel space. “The State Government is investing heavily on the infrastructure projects to transform the city and our hotel is going to add to that charm that the leisure market has, by delivering all the authentic experience to travellers,” he points out.

Presently, we are working on getting exclusive preferred partners to fill rooms during low seasons The 269-room hotel will be capitalising on the demand of the leisure as well as MICE traffic that the city is attracting. “Our hotel will offer the largest twin inventory to the city with the scope for organising meeting and social events with a capacity to accommodate 1,000 pax and 1,500 pax, respectively,” Austen explains. The hotel will have

Opines Dilip Mishra, Resident Manager, The LaLit Resort & Spa Bekal, the property has amalgamated leisure along with wellness.

“Avoiding the strict regime and hospital-like environment, we have packaged a wellness getaway for our guests so that they have a guilt-free indulgence,” he comments.

The hotel is working closely with the Kerala Tourism department as well.

“We have chalked out a plan for diverting the focus to the hidden treasures of North Kerala (Bekal) were we were the first operators running a Spa Resort for the last two years,” he adds. The B2B segment also drives business to the hotel.

“B2B segment is utmost important for filling rooms in low seasons and hence, the company focusses and makes viable strategies to ensure that it gets the maximum benefit from this segment.

Presently, we are working aggressively in this segment in Tier-II and Tier-III cities by getting exclusive preferred partners from these cities,” he concludes.

Fly Mumbai-Dubai with IRCTC After the success of its maiden international tour package, Dazzling Dubai, a 5 night-6 day package tour, ex-Bhopal to Dubai, which ended on August 26, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has now come out with Karizmatic Dubai. Said to be one of the most

affordable all-inclusive tour packages, covering some of the most important attractions of Dubai, the 3 night-4 day package will set off from Mumbai on September 27. The all-inclusive cost of the package is ` 36,479/- per person on twin sharing basis.

“The package is planned in

such a way so that the tourists may get enough time at their leisure, as well as they get to explore the sights and sounds of Dubai on their own and can get maximum coverage in minimum time and cost,” says Pradip Kundu, Joint General Manager-PR, IRCTC.

Having forayed into booking of air tickets, railway e-ticketing, cab rental and hotel booking services and judging by the demand for outbound packages, it was only a matter of time before IRCTC started offering a comprehensive outbound travel package to its patrons. Starting

off with Dubai, they plan to move to destinations like Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

“IRCTC, with its brand name and popularity, hopes to conduct successfully many such tours to other popular international tourist destinations in future,” says Kundu.

Pradip Kundu Joint General Manager-PR, IRCTC

FAMILY ALBUM

Strike rich with Reed Shane Hannam, Key Account Manager, Reed Travel Exhibitions and Mark Cheney, Sales Manager, ILTM- Luxury Portfolio, Reed Travel Exhibitions met the stakeholders in the travel trade and media on September 19, 2012 in New Delhi to apprise the delegates of the recent developments and innovations along with the best ways to ensure that they gain most from over 18 Reed’s travel exhibitions.

36 TRAVTALK

ANALYSIS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

Short-haul trips are selling this winter With the summer drawing to an end, the tourism industry is gearing up for the winter holiday season.

As preferences for short haul destinations grow this year, finds out some of the popular places.

D E V I KA J E E T

T

he rupee fluctuation and increasing airline costs effected the tourism season

spectrum of being cost and value conscious and they are not willing to compromise on the quality of their vacation and are not exclusively price

spend time with children.

Indian travellers are planning for vacations to short haul destinations such as, Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai,

air connectivity, saying, “Airlines play a major role in selecting the destination. The connectivity and airfares influence a person’s holiday plans to a great extent.”

A neighbouring destination highlighted by Amit Kalsi, Vice President – Private Travel, Abercrombie & Kent India, is Myanmar. “Myanmar is experiencing high demand and influx of tourists due to the massive political changes in the country in the past year. These positive changes have resulted in huge PR for the nation as it

Himanshu Patil

Prem Syal

Ritika Modi

Director Kesari Travels

Managing Director Hi-Tours

Regional President Uniglobe Travel (South Asia)

Airlines have a big role in selecting the destination.

The connectivity and airfares are major influencers this summer but now the tourists are gearing up to travel again. Summer saw the growing popularity of short haul destinations especially in South East Asia and the trend seems to be repeating itself this winter.

“Though the summer season saw an initial impact of rupee depreciation on outbound leisure travel with holidays shifting from long haul destinations to short haul, even the winter season leisure travel to short haul destinations looks all geared up. We have surveyed that 78 per cent of our leisure customers belong within the

Tour operators in India have a push strategy i.e. offering destinations which they think are the best conscious. They are willing to travel to traditional destinations but are enthusiastic in associating themselves with an experience or an activity that they can engage in,” says Ritika Modi, Regional President, Uniglobe Travel (South Asia).

Clubbing the holiday season with school vacation time, Daniel D’Souza, Head Sales, B2C-Tour Operating, Kuoni India, says, “Holiday season is a family affair in India and serve as an opportunity to spend quality time with family members. School vacations also make this season an ideal duration to

78 % of our leisure customers belong within the spectrum of being cost and value conscious

for both business leisure purposes.”

and

Destination attractions, shopping options, Indian meal availability and air connectivity are some of the factors, a travel agent considers before recommending a destination. “A large number of tour operators in India have a push strategy i.e. offering destinations which they think are the best for the spending traveller instead of pull strategy i.e. offer packages to destinations which suit the most to the liking and interest of the traveller,” says

which will continue to rule the market showing a rapid 20 per cent growth in 2012-13. Island destinations will continue to charm Indian Holidaymakers and will show a steady growth.”

Ashwin Narayanan, Chief Operating Officer, Travel Tours, also highlights the factors considered before recommending a destination, “It is important to note key factors before suggesting a holiday destination that include, likes, dislikes, type of holiday preferred,

Ashwin Narayanan

Amit Kalsi

Daniel D’Souza

Chief Operating Officer Travel Tours

Vice President – Private Travel Abercrombie & Kent India

Head Sales, B2C-Tour Operating Kuoni India

Hong Kong and Thailand. A substantial number of travellers are reducing the duration of their holidays and are opting for shorter vacations to destinations such as USA and Europe. Indian travellers are identifying alternatives holiday options within their budget.”

It is important to note key factors before suggesting a holiday destination that include, likes, dislikes, etc.

Himanshu Patil, Director, Kesari Travels, agrees with the earlier view on the increasing popularity of short haul destinations “This is the best time to visit the neighbouring countries; Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and beyond.” He stresses on the importance of

moved to a nominally civilian government. Whilst this has been of huge benefit for the country, it has thrust the destination into the limelight and created huge demand for travel to Myanmar

Myanmar is experiencing high demand and influx of tourists due to the political changes

Prem Syal, Managing Director, Hi-Tours.

He feels “Popular destinations this winter will be Australia, New Zealand, Far East and the Middle East

Indian travellers are planning for short haul destinations such as, Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai. etc.

duration and budget to name a few. I feel Macau as a short haul destination will be popular this winter. South Africa will be the long haul destination on demand.”

‘Emerging markets offer great potential’ On the eve of the celebrations of its 10th anniversary in the Indian market, Atout France India feels that there is a lot of more work that needs to be done, as more French Sellers look forward to explore lucrative opportunities in the Indian market.

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A

tout France India has completed its ten years after having started in the year 2002. In its tenth year now, it looks forward to work with its travel partners with the same zeal as they reckon the potential of BRICS nations.

“We work closely with our trade partners including big, medium and small travel

agents. The big players today are getting well-organised and have distinct teams like luxury, MICE and others. The smaller players are now entering the market with innovative ideas like Wine Tours, while working closely with their clients. We, with the help of our major partners, promote new destinations and also help other agents, who deal in the various niche segments,” said Catherine Oden, Director,

Atout France - India. “We are reaping the fruits of our labour and believe that a lot of more work is required to be done.

France is well-aware of the potential of emerging markets and is closely exploring the opportunities to enhance our presence in the BRICS economies. In the recently conducted workshops in Delhi on Sept 4 and in Mumbai on Sept.

6, 2012, Atout France’s delegation of French sellers includ-

ed 12 first time participants among the 27 odd stakeholders, who wanted to explore Indian market. She added,

Catherine Oden Director Atout France – India

We do a lot of ground work in France through presentations on Indian markets, its strengths and challenges in various cities.”

The number of Indian visitors has nearly grown three folds since the time Atout France India had started operations in 2002.

The tourism board has attained nearly 300 hundred thousand from a mere 100 thousand.

With more efforts being taken by the tourism board, the destination excepts numbers from India to rise in the future.

STATES

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

39

Sample this: ‘Solo-Tourism’ Bihar Tourism goes online West Bengal Tourism Department is replacing and To promote Bihar as a tourist destination, the State renovating tourism products and destinations to Government has launched, www.bihartourism.gov.in, a website dedicated to the tourism sector in the State. entice domestic tourists to the region.

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fter roping in Shahrukh Khan as the Brand Ambassador for the state, West Bengal Tourism department is taking initiatives to make it a ‘solo’ destination and help increase the tourist arrivals. It is not only renovat-

Rachhpal Singh Tourism Minister, West Bengal

ing the existing tourist destinations but also building and developing new tourist circuits and attractions. Currently,

there are only three major tourist spots in the state – Darjeeling, Digha and Sunderbans and thus, tourists merge other neighbouring states in th\eir travel itinerary.

Rachhpal Singh, Tourism Minister, West Bengal said, “We are trying to make West Bengal a ‘solo tourist destination’ by developing more attractions.

For this, we are also encouraging participation from the pr vate sector. Apart from this, we are also investing on Wildlife Tourism.

The Government of India has sanctioned ` 50 crore to develop Dooars wildlife sanctuary for

tourism. Due to multiple vegetation in the Sunderbans region, we are also developing Eco-Tourism there. To attract adventure travellers, we are also developing Sports Tourism in Tajpur region. On the other hand, to attract history lovers, we are renovating archeological sites in Sarangpur. Thus, we are renovating our tourist assets and checking out new destinations to build attractive tourism circuits for all types of travellers.”

The State is also in the process of developing Buddhist circuit to attract travellers from South East and Far East countries. Along with this, it is also in talks with private players to develop and promote Medical Tourism in the State. The Government has already instructed private tour operators in the State to look for fresh travel destinations and the tourism agencies have responded positively to the proposal.

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vailable in more than 65 languages, the website showcases the most popular tourist attractions, regions, districts, circuits and ways to explore Bihar. It will soon have a ‘Trip Planner’ tool with ‘before you go’, ‘plan your trip’ and ‘while you are here’ options giving out special offers, flight bookings, accommodation options, health tips, emergency numbers, etc.

Sunil Kumar Pintu, Minister, Tourism Department of Bihar said, “Bihar has lots to offer in terms of tourism products but we are unable to promote it in the right way. However, with the planned multi-prolonged strategy for tourism, we are confident to attract good number of domestic and international tourists. In total, we catered to over 1.86 tourists in 2011.

Currently at seventh position in terms of foreign tourist arrivals in India, we aim to attain a position in top three states for FTAs in next five years.

However, this is only possible with the support from our local travel agents and hoteliers. We will work closely with them and exchange ideas about the innovative ways to promote tourism, markets to tap, potential circuits to develop, etc.”

The state government is developing roads, rails, hotels and tourist circuits to boost tourism in Bihar. It is also encouraging private investors to develop accommodation facilities and tourist attractions in the State by offering different tax soups and incentives. At present,

Sunil Kumar Pintu Minister, Tourism Department of Bihar

the State is popular for Buddhist, Sufi, Hindu and Jain circuits and is now planning to build ‘Bapu circuit’ to promote the travel sites that Mahatma Gandhi visited during the freedom movement. In addition, the state government proposed to excavate historical sites like Balrajgarh in Madhubani district, an age-old mount (tila) near Telhara in Nalanda district among a number of such sites that have not been explored till date.

40 TRAVTALK

NTO

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

Czech plans independent roadshows

Fly direct on Mumbai-Male route

Republic Tourist Authority.

Discussing MICE Tourism Neumannova adds, “MICE segment is growing and a lot of people are visiting Czech Republic. The Country is reasonably priced and has facilities to cater to large groups from India. We see four to five MICE groups travelling to Czech Republic in a month.”

The Tourism Board will continue to strengthen their relationship with the travel trade through market support on joint collaborations, training programmes, B2B meetings, in-house training for staff and provide visa information.

The European quarter roadshow in slated to be held in February 2013, “Next year we are also planning an independent roadshow for Czech Republic especially targetting Tier-II cities. At present, we are considering Ahmedabad, Pune and Jaipur, to name a few, as we want to create more awareness about the destination in these cities. We will continue to focus on South India also,” says Neumannova.

Despite being a late entrant to tap the Indian outbound tourism sector, Maldives Tourism is positive to receive an increased number of Indian arrivals with a direct connection on the Mumbai-Male route starting from November 15, 2012.

With growing numbers from India, Czech Tourism is planning to conduct an independent roadshow across India in 2013. This summer has been extremely promising for Czech Tourism. The total number of arrivals grew by five per cent. The Indian market has recorded a growth of 15 to 20 per cent and shows sign of fur-

Radka Neumannova Director – India Czech Republic Tourist Authority

ther growth. “The summer worked out well for us. We have been working with the travel agents and are now seeing results. For the summer we rolled out three joint campaigns that showed us positive consequences,” says Radka Neumannova, Director – India, Czech

T T B U R E AU

India is an important market and we have marked that promoting the Maldives here will certainly be on a high priority

W

ith five flights a week on Thiruvananthapuram-Male route, Maldivan Airlines is starting direct connections on Mumbai-Male route starting November 15 with thrice a week service.

Depending on the demand, the frequency might go up to five times a week.

According to Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Gafoor, Minister for Tourism, Arts & Culture, Maldives Government; China is one of the largest tourism revenue generator for Maldives.

However, India is a growing economy with a huge middle income segment and highend travel market. He said, “India is an important market we have marked and promoting Maldives here will certainly be on a high priority.

Adeeb Abdul Gafoor, Minister for Tourism, Arts & Culture, Maldives Government We have to make Maldives attractive to the people of India so that they can come for short visits, holidays, MICE, honeymoon, etc.”

Revealing details about opening an office in India, Gafoor further informed, “Yes, we will be starting our Tourism Board Office in India but that will not happen overnight. We are in the process of charting out our plans and once the plan is in place, we will be able to com-

municate more on this.” The destination caters to 11,500 tourists in 2011 and with the soon-to-be launched direct services to Mumbai and New Delhi, it is positive to welcome 30,000 Indians in 2013.

The Maldivian Government is in process of finalising the fourth Tourism Master Plan that will give the tourism planners roadmap and guidelines on tapping outbound tourism from its target markets. At the moment, the

promotional and marketing strategy encompasses visibility through PR and through trade partners in India. Going forward, Maldives Tourism would extend it to TV channels, promotional seminars and industry events, informed Gafoor.

He said, “We are also looking at Bollywood as a marketing tool in India as it is immensely popular in Madives. As a nation which is tourism friendly, we are developing one island to be a studio for production work and all paraphernalia related to cinema which will appeal to all film makers.”

Plans & Projections The Maldivian Government is in process of finalising the fourth Tourism Master Plan that will give the tourism planners roadmap and guidelines on tapping outbound tourism from its target markets

New products on a platter Spain Tourism is promoting many products of the country to continue the growing Indian interest in the destination. The number of Indians travelling to Spain has gone up after the release of ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’.

T T B U R E AU

S

pain received a growth of 50 per cent in the number of Indian arrivals in 2011 and also became the most preferred destination of arrival among Indians travelling to Europe.

Indians arriving to Spain are opting for a longer period stay and are travelling throughout the country instead of visiting just one or two cities. Encouraged by this positive behaviour of Indians, Spain Tourism decided to promote some of its world-

Easy Visas In order to facilitate more Indian arrivals to Spain, the country is looking at making the visa process hassle free and faster The country is also want to grow by two digits every year and double the number of visitors from India and it know sIndians love Spain as the country has received a huge number of repeat travellers too

class products in India. The Country has some of the world’s best heritage cities including Ibiza. “Spain has 13 world heritage cities and no matter which part of Spain you arrive, you will be near some heritage city of Spain.

A city like Ibiza is more known as a party and honeymoon destination but not as a world heritage city and many people do not even know of its heritage value.

We want to showcase these aspects of Spain to India, as we have noticed that Indians like to travel a lot and are renting cars or taking internal flights and exploring more of Spain,” says Arturo Ortiz, Director, Tourism Office of Spain, India.

The Tourism Office of Spain will also be conducting FAM trips for tour operators in October and will be

Arturo Ortiz Director Tourism Office of Spain, India

partnering with Turkish Airlines to promote these heritage cities.

In order to facilitate more Indian arrivals to Spain, Ortiz also said that they were looking at making the visa process hassle free and faster. “We want to bring down the visa process from 14 days to just 3-4 days. We also want to grow by two digits every year and double the number of visitors from India and we know Indians love Spain as we have received a huge number of repeat travellers too,” says Ortiz.

HOTELS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

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Luxury redefined in Kerala Within five months of opening its doors, Vasundhara Sarovar Premiere is gaining popularity. It offers special deals for travel agents and the property also has something special for every segment.

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asundhara Sarovar Premiere resort located on the tranquil and unexplored backwaters of Vayalar, Kerala, redefines luxury with its sublime engagement with extravagant living. In each of its 60 rooms, heritage motifs meld with contemporary design in room architecture

Anand Nair General Manager Vasundhara Sarovar Premiere

The property has state of the art MICE facilities and welcomes corporate movements and furnishings, conjure a new perspective in hospitality on Kerala. The property breathes Kerala's architectural opulence and offers accommodation options in 6 heritage villas by the side of the lake, 6 floating cottages, 5 deluxe suites, 2 presidential suites, 39 deluxe and superior rooms and 2 bed rooms in luxury house boat.

“Our property is ideal for each segment of tourism. We

Buddhist Circuits MOT has identified Spiritual Tourism circuits, including Buddhist Circuits, for integrated development, during the 12th Plan period, in association with the States/Union Territories (UT). The list of Buddhist Circuits identified are Dharmayatra Circuit: Bodh Gaya (Bihar) – Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh) – Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh) – Piparvah (Uttar Pradesh); Extended Dharmayatra Circuit: Bodh Gaya (Bihar) – Nalanda (Bihar)– Rajgir (Bihar)– Patna (Bihar)– Vaishali (Bihar)– Vikramshila (Bihar) – Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh) – Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh) – Kapilvastu (Uttar Pradesh) – Sankisa (Uttar Pradesh) – Piparvah (Uttar Pradesh).

don’t have a niche specialisation and have designed the property with special facilities for different fragments of tourists. A few rooms are especially designed for families with special attractions for children while a whole different section id for honeymoon-

ing couples where we focus on peace and privacy. The property has state of the art MICE facilities and welcomes corporate movements. We organise theme parties and team building exercises,” says Anand Nair, General Manager, Vasundhara Sarovar Premiere.

Vasundhara Sarovar Premiere is a ideal location for corporate events, conferences, banquets weddings or parties, whether indoor or outdoor, state-of-the-art conference hall with in-built audio-video facilities, well-

planned amphitheatre and sprawling lawn.

Staying at hotel is an experience that takes one to the backyard of history, heritage and offers a rejuvenating experience. With all these facilities and features in and

around the property, Vasudhara Sarovar is set to leave a mark on the tourism map of Kerala. “We are organising fam trips to show the property to the travel fraternity and offer special rates to our travel partners,” says Nair.

44 TRAVTALK

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

ASSOCIATIONS

ITTA celebrates 4 Convention th

OCTOBER 1

Auckland

PATA India Roadshow

2-4

Thailand

IT&CMA and CTW

3

Melbourne

PATA India Roadshow

5

Sydney

PATA India Roadshow

5-7

Nagpur

Holiday Expo

9

Istanbul

MOT Roadshow

11

Ankara

MOT Roadshow

14

Muscat

MOT Roadshow

17-19 Singapore

ITB Asia

19

MOT Roadshow

Singapore

18-19 France

MAP Pro Le Monde A Paris

19-21 Canada

The International Tourism & Travel Show

20-29 Noida

India Travel Mart

22

Kuala Lumpur

MOT Roadshow

22

Rome

MOT Roadshow

22-23 Mumbai

TAAI’s India Travel Trade Expo (ITTE)

23

Torino

MOT Roadshow

23

Bangkok

MOT Roadshow

24

Milan

MOT Roadshow

27-30 China

China International Travel Mart

28-31 Guwahati

Annual Convention of ATOAI

29

Sao Paulo

MOT Roadshow

30

Alegre

MOT Roadshow

Indian Tourist Transporters Association (ITTA) hosted its fourth ITTA Convention with the theme ‘Enhancing Capabilities: Meeting National Tourism Target’ at The Grand, New Delhi. The event was attended by the Ministry of Tourism officials, transporters and various tour operators.

NOVEMBER 3-6

Argentina

FIT America

5-8

London

World Travel Market (WTM)

12-15

Portugal

International Golf Travel Market (IGTM)

12-15

Morocco

PURE Life Experiences

14

Switzerland

MOT Roadshow

Contd. from page 18

15-18

Shanghai

China International Travel Mart

23-25

Pune

India International Travel Mart

27-29

Spain

The Global Meeting and Events Exhibition (EIBTM)

has launched few mobile friendly products and is in the process of introducing few more, early next year. We intend to empower travel agents, invest significantly in developing technology to ensure growth of travel agents’ business.”

30 -2 Dec Hyderabad

India International Travel Mart

DECEMBER 3-6

Cannes

International Luxury Travel Mart

5-7

Panama

MITM Americas: Meetings and Incentive Travel Market

7-9

Lucknow

India Travel Mart

7-9

Guwahati

Holiday Expo

8-16

Paris

Salon Piscine & Spa

10-12

Guangzhou

Guangzhou International Hotel Equipments & Supplies Exhibition

12-13

Brussels

Brussels Travel Expo

13-15

Dubai

Dubai International Outdoor Show

15-17

Hong Kong

Diving & Resort Travel Expo

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

Innovation drives Abacus Udaan India on growth track celebrates 20 years

He informed that travel agents in India are not innovative and are still conservative in terms of booking channels. Abacus will play the role of educating them about increasing productivity through innovative business practices and adapting to cutting-edge technology.

Jeet Sawhney, Managing Director, Abacus India informed that the company is in process of introducing Abacus WebStart and Abacus TripPlan for mobile by early next year. Abacus WebStart will provide all the key essentials to set up and start the online business quickly and with little investment required. For travel

companies ready or planning to introduce an online portal, Abacus WebStart will enable them to provide fare search and reservation capability with minimum effort and cost. On the other hand, TripPlan is designed for the multinational companies in India loaded with corporate travel management tools. He said, “We are very serious about agency products and empowering travel agents.

These new tools are highly efficient with low cost with leapfrog technology helping agents to grow their online business as we will be using tools to link traditional and mobile channels.”

Future Plans Abacus will play the role of educating the travel agents about increasing productivity through innovative business practices and adapting to cutting-edge technology The company is in process of introducing Abacus WebStart and Abacus TripPlan for mobile by early next year

Udaan India recently hosted the travel trade to celebrate the successful completion of 20 years. All the bigwigs of the industry were present on the occasion.

ANALYSIS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

45

Less crowded spots attract Indians After travelling to South East Asian destinations like Malaysia and Singapore, Indians have now shifted their travel plans to the less-crowded offbeat destinations like Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

D E N C Y M AT H E W

S

ingapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Pattaya and Phuket continue to be popular with Indian travellers. The reason for these destinations being extremely popular among Indians can be attributed to factors like being a short haul destinations and having good air connectivity from India. Also, they offer world class facilities for tourists, exciting and diversified sightseeing.

However today, a substantial number of Indian travellers have started showing interest in exploring ‘off beat’ destinations like Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

This trend stems from the innate desire of Indian travellers to experiment, have new experiences and explore newer destinations.

“Destinations like Vietnam and Cambodia are emerging as interesting

Daniel D'souza

Madhav Pai

Jackson Fernandez

Head Sales B2C Tour Operating, Kuoni India

COO, Leisure Travel (Outbound) Thomas Cook (India)

GM, Wego India

Destinations like Vietnam and Cambodia are emerging as interesting options for luxury, groups and FIT

Our clients look to us for offbeat destinations and also for innovative new experiences

Searches for Vietnam have quadrupled over last year and are 3.5 times the volume searching Cambodia

options for luxury, group and FIT travellers and are expanding the range of destinations on offer. These destinations are popular with travellers who seek off-beat journey and explore the unique culture and heritage of these destinations.

They want to understand and be a part of the unique culture and heritage of these destinations. The desire to do something different and to tread a lesser known path has lead to emergence of these destinations as preferred destinations for tourism.” says Daniel D'souza, Head Sales B2C, Tour Operating, Kuoni India With the global economic slowdown and rupee depreciation having hit the Indian overseas traveller really hard, Indians travellers had to look wisely for cheaper destinations that offer good touristic options.

Destinations like Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi have witnessed an increase in the number of Indian visitors.

“From a small base Cambodia's searches on Wego India have quadrupled, but still relatively early days for India's travellers. More searches to Siem Reap than Phnom Penh. We expect to grow at a healthy rate as travel to Cambodia is becoming fashionable in many markets. Searches for Vietnam have quadrupled over last year and is 3.5 times the volume searching Cambodia.

Searches to Ho Chi Minh City were higher than Hanoi.

Also, searches for Indonesia has been growing and has gone from 9% to 14% of SE Asian searches.” says Jackson Fernandez, GM, Wego, India “Given the spurt in demand for offbeat destinations, we expect an increase of about 25%. Interestingly the newer SE Asian destinations have seen a demand across our segments from Contd. on page 46

FAMILY ALBUM

Akquasun meets the travel trade Mumbai-based Akquasun Group recently conducted a four-city roadshow in India bringing down their associates from its 14 overseas branches. Held in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, the roadshow not only featured the products from the respective countries but also the destination as a whole. Over 1000 travel agents got the opportunity to meet the delegates from Akquasun Group's international offices along with seven different hotel partners from India and abroad. The full-day roadshows were followed by evening cocktail parties and lucky draw contests.

Akquasun launches new B2B portal Akquasun Group has introduced its B2B portal for travel agents. Currently working with over 3000 agents across India, the portal is expected to further strengthen its presence by 40 per cent in India and overseas.

Paxola destinations offer over 65,000 hotels worldwide with a promise to offer 100 rooms a day in the destinations like Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, South Africa, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Russia and USA. Apart from last minute

availability, instant booking facilities and minimum cancellation period, Paxola also offers credit limit for agents with a 24X7 service centre dedicated to them. To register, a travel agent needs be an outbound travel agent and hold an active membership in any leading travel association like TAAI, TAFI, IATO, etc. Once confirmed by the group, travel agent will receive a login id and password to access the inventory, informed Sujit Nair, Director, Akquasun Group.

“We are offering complete packages for destinations like Russia which are tough for a travel agent to penetrate and access the local travel suppliers. Through this new product, we are building a bridge between our travel partners and destinations. Considering India as the last minute booking market, we have also worked on offering last minute bookings and cancellations facilities. Through our offices in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi

Sujit Nair Director, Akquasun Group

and Mumbai, we will distribute Paxola Destinations among our travel partners,” informed Nair.

Vietnam, Cambodia calling Indians Contd. from page 45

adventurous young adults, young couples and honeymooners to families and senior citizens. Our student product, “Travel & Learn” too has found a new interest in such destinations. “Indulgence” our luxury brand has this year booked several itineraries to Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos for top end industrialists and HNI

clients.” says Madhav Pai, COO, Leisure Travel (Outbound), Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. The strong plus points of these ‘offbeat’ South East Asian destinations are proximity, convenience and value for money. Such destinations have a strong appeal to the repeat FIT and family segment too.

Further, relaxed visa norms also ensure a higher uptake of Indian visitors. “Travel is in the Indian traveller’s DNA! Given our pioneering legacy as inventors of the package holiday, our clients look to us for innovative new experiences and such offbeat destinations are a welcome opportunity for us at Thomas Cook India.

Tapping the hidden potential

of offbeat places and awakening the interest of travel-hungry Indian consumers, creates a win-win impact for the industry as a whole. Our intent at Thomas Cook India is clear, fuel growth via a diverse consumer-centric product service portfolio and new & value destinations are an opportunity waiting to be leveraged” adds Pai.

CLIPBOARD

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

TRAVTALK

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48 TRAVTALK

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2012

MOVEMENT

Legacy Hotels & Resorts Johannesburg

VFS India Services Mumbai

Mövenpick Hotel & Spa Bangalore Bengaluru

Liam Oddie joins Legacy Hotels & Resorts as Market Manager for Middle East & Asia. He comes from the Sun International where he was the International Sales & Market Manager - India in their International Sales Department. During his time there, Oddie was responsible for the India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives markets which he is an expert in. He has excellent sales skills which has helped him achieve targetted room night and revenue sales in the following segments; FIT, Leisure, MICE and Tour Series.

Tej Sahni has been appointed as the Director for VFS

Biswajit Chakraborty is the new General Manager for Mövenpick Hotel & Spa Bangalore. With a Masters degree in Commerce from the Bangalore University and many Leadership Programmes from such stalwarts as Cornell University, Lausanne Hospitality Consulting, McKinsey & Company and Mercuri Goldman under his belt, Biswajit has successfully carved a niche for himself in the Indian Hospitality sector in the past 25 years-contributing to the industry under various roles.

He started his career in 1984 as beverage controller with the Taj Group.

Formule 1 Hotel Ahmedabad

Abercrombie & Kent India Bengaluru

Hyatt Regency Chennai Chennai

Ketan Parmar joins Formule 1 Hotel in Ahmedabad as the new General Manager. Based in Ahmedabad, in this new profile, he will be responsible for overseeing the pre-opening hotel operations of the first Accor property in Gujarat. Parmar comes with over 15 years of experience in the Hospitality industry. Prior to this current role, he was the Rooms Division Manager, The Pride Hotel Ahmedabad where he took charge of the Front Office Operations and Revenue Generation for over two years.

Naina Malika Williams is the new General Manager - Sales, Marketing & Business Development activity for Abercrombie & Kent India in the Southern Region. Williams comes with over two decades of experience in the field of Travel & Tourism with core competency in Client Management, Operations, Sales & Marketing. Her last assignment was with American Express Banking Corporation responsible for Travel Agency Alliances.

At A&K India, she will actively participate in the Sales, Marketing & Business Development activities in the Southern Region.

Shubham Chandra joins Hyatt Regency Chennai as the new Director of Sales and Marketing. Chandra has over 16 years of experience in business development, marketing and sales with reputed names in the Hospitality industry. He brings a wide portfolio of experience to the role as he has worked in all the important Indian markets from Sales and Marketing perspective. In this new role, he will be managing the Sales & Marketing team of the property.

Hyatt Regency Chennai Chennai

The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon Gurgaon

Hotel Sahara Star Mumbai

Kumar Shobhan is appointed as the new Director Food and

Emmanuel Guemon is the new appointed Executive Chef of The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon. In this new role, he will be responsible for the culinary operations of the restaurants Spectra, Diya and Zanotta. With over a decade of enviable experience in this field, Guemon’s gastronomic experience has journeyed him across Europe, the Caribbean and Asia. His interest in the kitchen started when he was only 16 years old, working as a commis de cuisine in the Hostellerie des Clos in Chablis, France.

Kroongtana Nimnu is appointed as the new Chef De Cuisine

Beverage at Hyatt Regency Chennai. In this new role, he will oversee all the 5 restaurants, bar, huge event space and full operational room service at the property. 13 years back, Shobhan started his journey into hotel management as a waiter at La Piazza and today with his expertise in the food and beverage operations coupled with his excellent customer service skills, he will be heading a team of 100 employees at the hotel.

India Services, a part of the VFS Global Group. Sahni has been a highly successful entrepreneur and a respected leader of the Indian travel and tourism industry. He is also a former President of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and is a founder Director of a reputed advertising, PR and research company. He is also on the boards of a few reputed companies.

Talking People is a special dedicated corner, created as a sounding board for who’s who of the Indian and International travel industry. With Talking People, it is our endeavour to bring you face-to-face with people.

Contributed by: Vivek Sethi and Peden Doma Bhutia

Ankush Nijhawan

Nishan Silva, General Manager, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Hyderabad Banjara Hills, says, “I am a passionate individual who believes in creativity and finesse. Cricket is my first passion. I was a member of my school cricket team which represented Sri Lanka in the England and Bangladesh Tours. I also played first class cricket for Sinhalese Sports Club in Sri Lanka in the premiere league” He further adds that in his career of 20 years, he has worked in seven countries and it is his love for travelling that has got him in this industry and kept him going.

Nishan Silva General Manager, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Hyderabad Banjara Hills

“Experiencing different cultures has always excited me and India has a great mix of cultures, languages and traditions. It is full of contrasts and at the same time there is an inherent rhythm to it. It is definitely something that needs to be experienced! I always feel at home in India, but when it comes to cricket, I am truly a citizen of Sri Lanka,” he says.

at Ocean - The Pan Asian of Hotel Sahara Star. He holds an extensive experience in the hospitality industry with over 12 years of experience and has worked with some reputed international hotels chains like Royal Angkor Silk Hotel Cambodia, Le- Meridian, Westin to name a few. In this present profile, Nimnu will be playing a pivotal role in extending his culinary skills to the chefs and developing their culinary competencies, skills and capabilities. He aims to bring unique dining experiences for patrons at Ocean.

Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Travel Boutique Online, says, “I am a sports enthusiast and have made a point to go for swimming almost everyday. I love socialising and mix with people very easily, which otherwise is very important in our business. I am blessed with a seven-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son. My wife takes care of other important verticals of our business. I must confess that due to many promising developments in business, at times, I am forced to give some family time to business needs.

I work almost 12 hours a day. However, exercise helps me beat stress and fatigue, while I am always on the look for making up for the lost family time.”

Managing Director Travel Boutique Online

Samil Malhotra, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, The Lalit Group says, “I love writing on local exotica and street food. I make it a point to go for morning walk and never skip my pro-wellness exercise regime. I love travelling and am fond of mountains. Kasauli is my favorite destination. I am blessed with a daughter who is 12-year-old and my wife works in the media industry. I always try and spend quality time with my family. I am part of the Northern India off-loaders (4+4) club and love driving past the Aravali ranges.”

Samil Malhotra Vice President Sales and Marketing The Lalit Group

Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 15th-16th of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91 Date of Publication:30-09-2012

HIGHLIGHT

Strong partnership with cooperation FHRAI signed four MoUs with international hospitality associations of IH&RA, HPFT, AHLA and AAHOA, to achieve mutual cooperation at a global level during their 47th Annual Convention.

SA N J E E V B H A R

T

he fact that over 825 delegates had registered, including international participation, made the 47th Annual FHRAI Convention, with the theme – ‘Employment Generation: Engine of Inclusive Growth’, quite a historical and an unprecedented event. In his inaugural address, Subodh Kant Sahai, Union Minister of Tourism said, “I am extremely happy to know that the Convention has taken employment as the theme.

After a long time, I have succeeded in bringing tourism at a stage when the Planning Commission is finally recognising tourism as a platform that can address poverty alleviation, as it creates employment.” He also added that special packages are being announced for the growth of the industry, whereas earlier there was no such mention about it in the plan.

Tourism Outlook Sahai highlighted that more focus on tourist oriented attractions could be created in the form of cultural evenings and dinners for which there must be a structured plan. Further, he gave assurance to the industry to push for the much desired ‘infrastructure industry status’. According to him, he has taken the matter with the infrastructure committee with the Finance Ministry.

There are anomalies in the current status that is given to the hospitality industry which he promised to look into, to give a holistic benefit to this industry.

Apart from that the inaugural session also witnessed speeches from AP Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Government

of Kerala; P Rajavelu, Puducherry Tourism Minister and Samuel Matthew, Principal Secretary Tourism, Goa. Vipul Mittra, Principal Secretary Tourism, Gujarat, informed that Gujarat is expected to add 65,000 hotel rooms from the current number of 45,000 within the next three years and about 1,00,000 rooms by the next five years. He added, “Gujarat witnessed 1.75 crore tourists two years ago and now it has gone up to

Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Also, FHRAI signed four MoUs with IH&RA, AHLA, HFTP and AAHOA for international cooperation and synergy in hospitality by sharing resources and knowledge.

Speaking about the signing of the MoUs, Kamlesh Barot, President, FHRAI stated, “The greatest acknowledgment about our organisation came from the 833 registered delegates. This was the highest number we have had

then strive to become incredible.” Touching the Convention theme, he informed about the progress of Hunar Se Rozgar Tak scheme, which started three years back. “In the first year, we covered over 1,600 people under this scheme in training them. It further increased to over 13,600 last year. This year we hope to surpass 24,00025,000 numbers. Now, it is important that more hotels voluntarily come forward

(L-R): Vivek Nair, Chairman - FHRAI Convention Committee; Samuel Matthew, Principal Secretary - Tourism, Govt. of Goa, Dr. Ghassan AIDI, President - IH&RA, B.V. Wanchoo, Governor of Goa, Sahai and Barot during the lighting of the lamp ceremony in the Annual Convention

2.23 crore. It is probably the only state which spends a high amount on promotion of tourism, about ` 100 crore. The promotional campaign, with Amitabh Bachchan as the Brand Ambassador for the State, has made a difference.”

International Cooperation The Convention saw international participation from International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), World Travel & Tourism Council India Initiative (WTTCII) and United Nations World

since the past 55 years of FHRAI’s existence. The historic signing of the MoUs with HFTP, AHLA, AAHOA, IH&RA will enable us to take our knowledge globally while also provide us with an opportunity to learn as well as take our industry forward.”

Employment: a key concern On the last day of the Convention, giving his valedictory address, RH Khwaja, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India stressed on the carrying capacity and sustainability while talking about tourism.

He said, “Safety and honour are pivotal for the success of tourism. First, we have to strive to be credible and

to classify themselves in order to take benefits of the scheme,” he added.

According to him, the Ministry is allowing people to earn while they learn.

“We need more manpower with skills and 100 per cent subsidy is given for training manpower. ITDC has a target to train 10,000 people under HSRT,” he remarked, as the Convention was drawn to a close.

And the partners are: International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA)