TravTalk October 1st 2013 by Ashish Chakraborty

A DDP PUBLICATION

Pages: 48 (Excluding cover)

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OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

Building The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently launched Group Landing Permit facility which can now also be extended to the crew members of charter planes, or cruise ships. reports… VIVEK SETHI

Usha Sharma Additional Director General Ministry of Tourism

s per Usha Sharma, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, work is underway to build a truly ‘incredible’ website. The USP of the website will be its ability to cater to travellers’ needs starting from planning to last mile connec-

We have already started giving links to stakeholders including travel agents, tour operators, airlines, and hotels to name a few

tivity. It will be completed in the next 8-10 months. “We have already started giving links to stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry including travel agents, tour operators, airlines, and hotels to name a few. In fact, the feedback received so far suggests that some of the tour operators have already started doing good business,” said

Sharma on the sidelines of the IATO Convention in Kochi. “The website will be able to assist all needs of travellers starting from the planning stage till the time they return to their native places,” she added. Going forward, she said that the inbound Contd. on page 35

Bye-bye ‘low fares’ by LCCs? With increased ATF cost, rise in cancellation charges and uniform taxation for all airlines (be it LCC or legacy), the concept of ‘Low Cost Carriers’ is slowly ﬂying away from Indian skies! A N I TA J A I N

ost-recession, it was clear that there is just a thin line between India’s legacy and low-cost carriers. The only difference was the marginal price point and value-adds. However, with increasing competition in the aviation sector, rising fuel cost, airport taxes, and the government taxes which are levied equally on all

airlines; the ‘bare minimum’ difference between fullservice and no-frill carrier is getting blurred. Surprisingly, the ‘no-frill’ carriers are often charging more than full-service carriers. For instance, during the lean season like August – LCCs charged about 10-15 per cent more than legacy carriers on certain routes (thanks to ‘heavy Contd. on page 4

Investigates For a clearer picture, the Team went to various online and offline channels to book a one-way Mumbai– Delhi flight on September 9, with September 15 as the travel date. There is just a technical difference of `189 between a legacy and no-frill carrier, an amount which is lower than a meal cost in

the latter airline model. SpiceJet.............. ` 9,545 ` 9,545 GoAir IndiGo............... ` 9,545 ` 9,703 Jet Konnect Air India............ ` 9,734 ` 10,070 Jet Airways Interestingly, when called up an LCC airline’s customer care for booking the same flight, same route on the

same date; the executive offered us a system-fare of ` 17,300 which was 70 per cent higher than the fare offered online. There is also no fare-transparency on either the offline or online system of the same airline. Thus, the price of the ticket varies with every channel and every seller.

K Chiranjeevi Minister of Tourism, India

The hospitality industry is providing over 17 million direct jobs besides significant contribution to foreign exchange See full story on page 3

BULLETIN

‘Focus on off-beat destinations’ Inaugurating the FHRAI Convention based on the theme of ‘Sustainable and Responsible Tourism’, K Chiranjeevi, Minister of State for Tourism, spoke of the potential of opening hotels in off-beat destinations. TT B U R E AU

n his inaugural address, the Tourism Minister added, “To explore the untapped geographical resources in the country, the Ministry of Tourism has initi-

country. The Government has tried to accelerate growth with liberalisation in the regulatory frame work, investment-friendly schemes, and extensive support for creating a world-class infrastructure and initiating better air

Appreciating the efforts of FHRAI, Chiranjeevi thanked its team of 3,800 members for their valued service to the industry while typically reflecting India’s unique identity of ‘atithi dev bhava’.

K Chiranjeevi (fourth from right) lighting the lamp at FHRAI Convention inaugural ceremony in Kochi

ated 29 mega tourism projects for implementation across 22 states.” The emphasis is on shifting more to off-beat destinations and unique experience based itineraries. The Indian travellers are seeking to explore the most exquisite travel destinations. This trend has further opened up the scope of the hotel industry to remote areas of the

and land connectivity. He added, “Currently, our government is exploring the PPP model for growth. We are focussing beyond the traditional tourism avenues and are looking at new tourism initiatives like medical tourism, sports and adventure, religious circuits, wildlife safaris, rural tourism, eco-tourism, cruise tourism and wellness tourism.”

He added, “It is the hospitality and service industry which is comforting the visiting tourists with its excellent service promoting India’s rich cultural heritage, traditions, food, architectural monuments, etc. The hospitality industry is providing over 17 million direct jobs besides significant contribution to foreign exchange.”

FHRAI states that India currently has over 200,000 hotel rooms spread across hotel categories and guest houses. They are still facing a shortfall of 100,000 rooms. The demand-supply gap of the hotel rooms is very real and there is a need of more hotels in more cities of India. The shortage is especially true in the budget and mid-market segment of the industry. Therefore, there is a need for budget and mid-market hotels in the country as travellers look for a choice in safe and affordable accommodation. Many domestic and international brands have made significant inroads into this space and more are expected to follow as the potential in this segment becomes more obvious.

Hospitality in India O India currently has over 200,000 hotel rooms spread across hotel categories and guest houses O They are still facing a shortfall of 100,000 rooms

COVER STORY VIEWPOINT

Making conventions work better

ver the years, travel trade association conventions have emerged as important platforms that combine networking and learning. Moreover, these association conventions symbolise unity among its members, and firm resolve to collectively address issues regarding their specific markets and the industry at large. Most conventions garner expert speakers with considerable experience in the industry, who have handled business differently and changed the game. There should be an equally efficient moderator between the audience and the panel on the stage. Instead, what happens is that most sessions go on longer than planned and the question-and-answer session is slashed because of lack of time. These conventions will emerge as centres for learning new strategies and technology usage, and in-depth interactive sessions should allow relevant questions of the participants to be answered. We have had a string of conventions in the last month (or two) in the travel & tourism and hospitality industries. Since many of them had participation from almost the same delegates, it leads to weariness and ennui. This, in turn, leads to inappropriate steps taken to rectify the wrongs. They simply become networking events. Huge opportunities lost! Here, the industry recommends that all associations must share a calendar at the end of each year, for the following year, selecting convention dates – with a limit of two conventions per month being the optimum limit. And, now that we have a Federation of Associations in our industry, this is definitely feasible. This Federation can also make a large panel of international and national speakers and share the names of speakers and costs (if applicable), whose time can be booked well in advance.

Of skyrocketing LCC airfares Contd. from page 1

discounts’ offered by airlines and OTAs!). Starting September 2013, most metro airroutes reported almost 100 per cent hike in fares for

SanJeet Editor & Publisher Deepa Sethi Editor-in-Chief

Advertising Gunjan Sabikhi Asst. Vice President Karishma Khanna Sr. Manager Marketing Udit Pandey Sr. Manager Marketing Geetika Pathak Manager Advertising Amit Sarkar Asst. Manager Marketing Photographers Simran Kaur-Delhi Bharat Dangiya-Mumbai

who plan to travel within seven days from the date of booking or who travel frequently for official purposes will face the brunt of sky-rocketing air fares, and this might lead to a drop in spot bookings.”

On Sept 2, IRCTC booked a record-breaking 5.72 lakh e-tickets in a day, while in Aug 2013; it booked a total of 135 lakh e-tickets with an average of 4.34 lakh daily. Earlier, with the launch of Air Deccan (in August 2003) – the first LCC in India, Indian travellers slowly moved from rails to planes for long-distance journeys and started adopting to the air-travel concept resulting in the boom of Indian aviation. It took almost a decade for Indian middle-class travellers to consider air travel for longer routes with time-saving and value-for-money propositions. But with a steep rise in airfares, travellers are moving back to rail. Aloke Bajpai, CEO, Ixigo.com said, “The rise in airfares will shift certain passenger traffic to trains for long-distance, while short-distance routes are already dominated by railways.” Moreover, the reduction in free baggage allowance and an increase in air-ticket cancellation charges have swayed passengers to travel by rail.

Tangled web of charges Internationally, LCCs charge only for services a passenger opts for; for instance, extra hand-luggage/checkin baggage, F&B, preferred seats, priority check-ins, etc. However, in India, airlines are charging the same except for F&B in legacy which is STILL FREE for passengers. All the airlines (both LCCs and legacy) have limited their check-in baggage to 15 kgs, have a cancellation fee of ` 1,500 (however, DGCA have asked the airlines to consider graded cancellation charges as followed by IRCTC), imposed charges on preferred seats, etc. So, it is not just LCC following the legacy carrier model, but legacy carriers are also following the LCC model!

Betting big on hotels & packages Along with offline travel companies, online players are also moving away from depending on air-bookings. For eg., Yatra.com recorded a triple digit growth in hotels and holiday bookings and is now focussing more on this segment by working closely with hotel partners. Dhall said, “India is a price-sensitive market. With an increase of about 25% in airfares, the overall demand for air travel has fallen. Therefore, even with surging fares and constant agency commission to travel agents and OTAs, the overall turnover will get impacted. At Yatra, we are trying our best to offer cost-effective flight+hotel holiday package options along with lucrative discounts.” It is not just OTAs and travel companies that are evolving, the airlines are in the loop as well. Be it LCC or legacy, all Indian carriers are now offering holiday packages, hotel deals and travel insurance options. So, buckle up travel agents…it’s not just the online travel companies giving you competition, but the airlines have also jumped on the bandwagon offering ‘one-stop shop’ services.

Madhavan Menon

Sharat Dhall

Managing Director Thomas Cook India

President Yatra.com

Healthy competition in the Indian skies would serve to benefit the Indian consumer and industry

The continuous rise in air fares will definitely have an impact on spot bookings in the coming days

Light at the end of the tunnel The industry is contemplating that the introduction of soon-to-be-launched AirAsia India by early next year (which promises to operate on pure ‘low cost’ model) would offer real ‘low’ airfares. Apart from AirAsia India, a regional carrier - Air Costa is also expected to take off in Indian skies by end of this year. Even the recently-announced TATASingapore Airlines deal for starting a full-service carrier in India is expected to improve the ‘pricing-war’ issues and stimulate the market. Commenting on the TATA-SIA joint venture, Dhall said, “This is a very welcome development, considering that the air market in India is under-penetrated and has tremendous potential for growth. Additional capacity will help linking more cities, as well as adding more seats on existing routes, thus growing the market by making air travel more affordable for the common man.” Echoing similar thoughts, Madhavan Menon, MD, Thomas Cook India said, “We wholeheartedly welcome the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines partnership. This offers the Indian traveller an opportunity for superior access, product and quality as both brands today being the epitome of service excellence. Healthy competition in the Indian skies would only serve to benefit the Indian consumer and industry as a whole. At Thomas Cook India, we certainly look forward to a fast-track clearance from the government. Clearly”, Menon concludes, “We live in exciting times.”

Aviation Conference Capacity Building in Indian Aviation Industry

GM-India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & Nepal, AirAsia Group

Editorial Ratan Kr Paul Vivek Sethi Megha Paul Devika Jeet Anita Jain Lyandra D’Souza News-Editor Peden Doma Bhutia Desk-Editor Archana Sharma Sr. Sub-Editor Hritvick Sen

Dhall, President, Yatra.com; the increase in fares will impact the ‘on the spot’ bookings. He said, “The continuous rise in air fares will definitely have an impact on spot bookings in the coming days. Travellers

From Rail to planes & back to rails?

Suresh Nair

Vikramajit Chairman

tickets booked for the festive season ahead till early January next year. Domestic carriers have indiscriminately hiked fares by over 50- 60 per cent compared with the last year. According to Sharat

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

Pricing is determined by market forces and regulators should get away from it. I foresee great future for low cost/low fare airlines in India.” See full story on page 40

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ANALYSIS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

TRAVTALK

World Tourism Day

Hotels undertake water conservation examines the challenges facing water management in tourism, the measures being undertaken to protect water resources and creating beneﬁts for local populations around water tourism destinations. M E G H A PAU L

entred on the theme ‘Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future’, World Tourism Day 2013 is underlining tourism’s

Taleb Rifai Secretary-General UNWTO

If managed sustainably, tourism can bring benefits to the national and local communities and support water conservation responsibility and commitment to preserve the globe’s water resources. Focussing on tourism’s significant role and contribution to world-

Atul Lall General Manager Fairmont Jaipur

We take steps in water harvesting. The flush water used in our bathrooms is recycled water as well wide water conservation efforts, the theme is in line with the UN General Assembly’s declaration of 2013 as the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation.

According to Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO; as one of the largest economic sectors in the world, it is the responsibility of the tourism sector to take a leadership role and ensure

companies and destinations invest in adequate water management throughout the value chain. “If managed sustainably, tourism can bring benefits to the national and local communities and

support water preservation. All those involved in the tourism sector should join our global World Tourism Day campaign and continue to devise innovative solutions to ensure sustainable

access to water resources worldwide,” he said. Atul Lall, General Manager, Fairmont Jaipur said, “We were always ahead of the curve with regards to the environment. As this is a

new hotel, the building construction itself was made in an eco-friendly manner. We do have old buildings that do not comply with the environment standards. Contd. on page 18

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

ITC to manage five RP Group Hotels ITC Hotels has tied up with Bahrain-based billionaire Ravi Pillai to manage five of its hotels under the WelcomHotel and Fortune brands in India and Dubai. For the Pillai-led RP Group, this is the second big tie-up with an Indian hospitality chain.

Two years ago, it had bought Leela Hotel’s Kovalam property for ` 500 crore. The duration of the management contract has not been disclosed. The properties, under the new Memorandum of Understanding, would open in Kerala under the brands WelcomHotel Raviz and three Fortune Raviz hotels in Dubai and Kozhikode. Raviz is the hotel brand of the RP Group. In India, Pillai has invested ` 1,000-1,500 crore in the past year, mostly in the hospitality sector.

STATES

Kerala eyes return to double-digit growth Seaplane service in Kerala will cut travel time, as a traveller could use the service and reach Munnar from Kochi in 20 minutes instead of a four-hour road journey… VIVEK SETHI

he state of Kerala expects a big leap in remittances led by rupee devaluation and this comes as an opportunity to return to double-digit growth. As per Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism, “Kerala has not looked back ever since it started promoting tourism in 1996.

In fact, Kerala gets over 1 crore tourists that consist of 9 lakh foreign tourists and over 94 lakh domestic tourists.”

“We have been growing at an average of about 13-14 per cent in the past decade. The last few years have seen a growth of 8-9 per cent, which is still robust from global standards, due to slowdown in the global economy. Kerala gets about ` 65,000 crore remittances every year. Due to the temporary depreciation in value of Indian Rupee, the value of these remittances has already increased by 20 per cent. Moreover, it will positively affect the turnover of ` 20,000 crore generated by tourism. Even foreign tourists find Kerala at least 20 per cent more

attractive than other destinations,” added Billa.

being worked out in the state,” said Billa.

Kerala has just ended hosting two of the big travel trade associations’ annual convention including IATO and FHRAI. Billa looks at such trade events as a good platform for the destination to update the key stakeholders in the travel and hospitality sector. “Travel trade events with over 1,000 delegates from travel and hospitality industry help us to apprise the industry with various developments, changes and new initiatives

“Many of the delegates go for post event excursions and experience the various travel products. These events are truly business enablers. One of our key initiatives that will cut the travel time to many strategic attractions is the Seaplane service. For instance, a traveller could use the seaplane service and reach Munnar from Kochi in 20 minutes instead of a four-hour road journey. We have got four operators,

Suman Billa Secretary, Kerala Tourism

who will be connecting Thiruvananthapuram , Kochi, Calicut and Mangalore airports to the four sea drones developed in Kollam, Alleppey, Munnar and Bekal,” he added.

EXHIBITIONS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

TRAVTALK

WTM to talk about tech & climate change From LGBT stands and panel discussions on carbon emissions to blogging programmes and interaction with Facebook and Google executives, the four-day World Travel Market 2013 boasts of a wide platform for the travel and tourism industry. T T B U R E AU

orld Travel Market 2013, the leading global event for the travel industry, will be opened by Stuart Rose, the former Marks & Spencer CEO and Chairman and one of the business world’s most respected leaders. Rose will open World Travel Market 2013 at the new-look WTM Captains of Industry Opening Lunch, with 200 of the industry’s most senior leaders in attendance.

Simon Press Reed Travel Exhibitions Director, World Travel Market

WTM-2013 is poised to be the biggest and best yet with a number of new initiatives taking place, including The Travel Tech Show at WTM and A Taste of ILTM at WTM Simon Press, Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, World Travel Market, said, “I’m delighted that Stuart Rose has agreed to open World Travel Market-2013. WTM-2013 is poised to be the biggest and best yet with a number of new initiatives taking place including The Travel Tech Show at WTM and A Taste of ILTM at WTM. Rose is the perfect high profile business speaker to open WTM, inspire the travel industry leader audience and kick off four days of business deal negotiation between exhibitors and WTM Buyers’ Club members.”

Green signal The World Travel Market has also assembled a high-level headline panel to discuss the issue of carbon emissions in the travel industry, including TUI Travel

Deputy Chief Executive Johan Lundgren. The Round Table on Travel & Tourism and Carbon, which opens World Responsible Tourism Day on November 6 also includes South African Minister of

Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Jumeirah President and Group Chief

Executive Officer Gerald Lawless. The session will explore how such a fast growing industry can claim to be responsible when it already contributes about 5% of global CO2 emissions, with air transport alone account-

ing for 40% of the sector's emissions. Summing this up, van Schalkwyk said earlier this year, “Tourism is both a vector and victim of climate change. In other words, tourism both contributes to

and is affected by climate change. Therefore, doing nothing to tackle the challenges of climate change is not an option. The consequences of doing nothing will be devastating indeed, Contd. on page 15

STATES

More options for tourists Gujarat Tourism is looking at involving private players in running its properties. It also wants to add more theme parks and resorts in the state. T T B U R E AU

rom ` 30 crore in 2005 to ` 500 crore now, the tourism budget allocation has been increasing like anything. Now, Gujarat Tourism

Vipul Mittra Principal Secretary Gujarat Tourism

is now aggressively looking at improving infrastructure. According to Vipul Mittra, Principal Secretary-Tourism, Gujarat, the state is looking at unveiling a new Tourism Policy by the end of this year.

Gujarat will focus on infrastructure development and bringing in more participation from the private sector. “We are looking at privatising properties under Gujarat Tourism as we want to involve private players in running these properties. We are working on bolstering the hotel room capacity. From the current figure of 20,000 rooms, the aim is to raise it to 80,000 rooms in the next few years. We want to add more theme parks and resorts in the state. We will also privatise the operations of the Rann Utsav tents. Currently, these tents are being operated by the government. Home stays will also be facilitated through this new policy,” he informed. In the last two years, there has been an increase

in the total number of tourists by 54 lakh. This amounts to 16 per cent, which is double “There has been an increase in foreign tourists by 300 per cent in the last three years, which is comparatively less. Around 85 per cent travellers in our state are domestic tourists. There are a lot of intra-state travellers in Gujarat as well. Thus, our primary focus will be the domestic segment,” Mittra said. To promote coastal tourism, Gujarat is also contemplating to introduce a cruise liner service between Mumbai and Porbandar by the end of this year, he added. On the back of success of the ‘Khusboo Gujarat Ki’ television campaigns that sees Amitabh Bachchan endorsing the vibrant state, Gujarat Tourism has enlisted him again to promote Parsi, Sikh and Jain sites.

A ` 50bn revival plan Uttarakhand is pushing for PPP investments rebuilding, construction and upgradation of infrastructure, including airstrips, ropeways, helipads, heliports and helidromes. M E G H A PAU L

s per the estimates by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the state lost business worth ` 12,000 crore in this season alone. Following a spate of losses from the recent floods in Uttarakhand, it is now on the road to recovery. According to Umakant

symbolic kar seva to clean up the place, Panwar informed. “We have already started cleaning up the place in Kedarnath that was damaged recently. The state government is involved in rebuilding the roads. We officially restarted puja at Kedarnath Shrine on September 11. It will open to the public in October,” he revealed.

The proposed Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor would further boost the tourism advantage Umakant Panwar Secretary-Tourism, Uttarakhand Panwar, Secretary-Tourism, Uttarakhand, major changes in the state’s tourism policy are on cards and will be announced in a month’s time. The changes will include providing tax exemptions to private players who are looking to invest in Uttarahkand. The government’s revival plan to rebuild and reinvest in the state was kickstarted recently when Vijay Bahuguna, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand visited the Kedarnath Shrine to do the

Giving a broad overview of how the state was planning to recover from the devastation, the Tourism Secretary outlined, “Huge money is being invested by Government of India, Uttarakhand state government and Asian Development Bank. Around ` 5,000-6,000 crore will be invested in rebuilding the infrastructure, including roads, water supply and electricity in the next four years. Out of this, ` 1,000 crore will be spent exclusively to revive tourism

in state. Emphasisng on Uttarakhand as a safe and secure investment destination despite the recent calamity, Panwar added, “Huge investment opportunities exist in rebuilding, construction and upgradation of infrastructure, including airstrips, ropeways, helipads, heliports and helidomes to enhance and ease connectivity within Uttarakhand. The state has a unique advantage in terms of readily available land banks for industrial development. With the proposed Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor, this advantage would be further boosted.” The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board is also inviting tenders for a mega tourism project around Tehri Lake, which is expected to be completed in five years. “Modelled on the lines of Italy’s Lake Como, the development will comprise adventure sports facilities, leisure activities and a township,” he affirmed.

Reconstruction O Around `5,000-6,000 crore will be invested in rebuilding the infrastructure in the next four years

STATES

Cashing in on Buddhism Odisha Tourism is inviting private players to develop 12-13 more airstrips across the state for enhanced air-connectivity in the state, and aims at attracting more foreign tourists. The state received over eight lakh domestic tourists in 2012. A N I TA J A I N

he Odisha Tourism Development Corporation is tapping the growing segment of Buddhist tourism in India. With a strong Buddhist circuit in the state covering Bhubaneswar, Dhuli, Konark, Puri, Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri, Udaigiri and Langudi; the state is attracting travellers from India and overseas. It is spending ` 30

Singapore, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc. The state is also in talks with multiple private players to bid for 12-13 airstrips across the state to enhance air connectivity in the state and further boost tourism. It is also participating at international trade shows like WTM and ITB Berlin for establishing the destination brand in European markets.

We will position Odisha as a preferred destination for golf tourism, medical tourism, wildlife tourism, beach tourism, eco tourism and of course, religious tourism

324 Buddhist sites existing in different parts of Odisha. Out of this, 108 sites have remains of Buddhist establishments in forms of Stupas, Chaityas or monastery complexes. He said, “We have an excellent collection of Buddhist sites across the state and we intend to put our best efforts to promote it in domestic and overseas market.

PK Behera Joint Director & Deputy Secretary, Tourism Department, Government of Odisha

crore in this fiscal only on publicity and on organising fam trips for travel agents from top source-markets like Thailand, Hong Kong,

According to PK Behera, Joint Director & Deputy Secretary, Tourism Department, Government of Odisha; there are more than

Officially speaking As per official figures, close to 65,000 foreign tourists visited Odisha where tourists from Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and Korea topped the list last year. The state received over eight lakh domestic tourists in 2012. The state's overall tourist earnings, inclusive of foreign and domestic tourists, stood at ` 4,752.70 crore in 2012. But of this, the overseas tourists contributed just ` 207.24 crore. The department is expecting a growth of 10-15 per cent from both the segments. Between January–July 2013, 5.31 million domestic tourists had flocked to different tourist destinations in Odisha while the number of their overseas counterparts was comparatively smaller at 35,797. During the same period, it has recorded inflow of ` 2,782.47 crore in 2013 through tourist spending. The figure includes ` 2,667.85 crore through domestic tourists and ` 114.62 crore from inbound foreign tourists.

And with Mahaparinirvan Express trains now connecting Odisha in its Buddhist circuit, we are sure to receive a good response from the Buddhist tourism segment in the state. We will continue our efforts to promote Buddhist tourism by working closely with Indian travel agents who are selling Buddhist tours and also position Odisha as a preferable destination for golf tourism, medical tourism, wildlife tourism, beach tourism, eco tourism and of course, religious tourism.” During early 2013, the state government also organised an international conference on Buddhist heritage at Udayagiri to highlight the potential of Buddhist tourism in the state.

Abacus spreads its wings in New Delhi and Jalandhar

Delhi

Jalandhar

Abacus India Distribution System recently opened their offices in Delhi and Jalandhar to further underline the company’s commitment to the Indian travel industry. The new offices will enable the company to better serve its travel agency partners, travel suppliers and customers. Now, Abacus India has presence in Bengaluru, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Jalandhar and New Delhi and is headquartered in Mumbai for India operations.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

STATES

States pitch for IATO Convention 2014 The IATO Convention-2013 saw many stakeholders keen This year, Jammu & Kashmir expects a record number of to bag the IATO Convention-2014. find out how tourists. Around two lakh tourists have visited the Valley so far in 2013, which is 50,000 more than last year. the convention made a mark. T T B U R E AU

ATO President Subhash Goyal said, “I have been privileged to have led our IATO team in this convention. It’s their hard work and devotion to the event that resulted in all our members

Subhash Goyal President IATO

ceedings went on smoothly. Moreover, it is heartening to have witnessed strong interests from states like J&K and others to become the venue for the next IATO convention,” he added. Going forward, Goyal said that at least two IATO meetings will be held in J&K and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. “A convention requires three important constituents, which revolves around air connectivity, hotel accommodation and the state’s willingness to support the initiative. It would have been unfair for me to have committed IATO 2014 Convention to any

state, as IATO is to go for elections soon. However, if I continue as the IATO President after the election, we would like to have the convention to go to one of the states that have expressed their interest,” said Goyal.

“However, we are keen to conduct one of our IATO meetings in J&K and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These meetings will get our members much exposure to the latest in this region, and also brainstorm over various regional issues,” he added.

number of tourists given the available trends.”

M E G H A PAU L

he state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has proposed to host the next annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).

Ghulam Ahmed Mir, Tourism Minister of the state has invited the association to host the next convention in Kashmir which will help boost tourism in the state. The Paradise is on a ‘high’ as tourists arrivals beat last year’s record, Mir said, “Tourism has increased from

Ghulam Ahmed Mir Tourism Minister Jammu & Kashmir

30,000 arrivals in 2004 to about two crore visitors last year. Around two lakh tourists have visited the Valley so far in 2013, which is 50,000 more than the corresponding figure of 2012. This year, the J&K government is expecting a record

liking the business sessions and other activities,” said Goyal. “In the Kochi Convention, all our officebearers played a very important role. As a result, our ‘Silent Auction’ and ‘IATO Run for Responsible Tourism’ also emerged as new sub-brands. The Kerala IATO Chapter had ensured that logistics and entire pro-

KB Kachru Scholarship by Carlson

K B Kachru Chairman- South Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group

In recognition of KB Kachru’s contributions, Trudy Rautio, President & CEO, Carlson Companies instituted the ‘KB Kachru Scholarship by Carlson’ during the leadership meeting at Stockholm, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary celebrations of Carlson Companies. As ChairmanSouth Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, KB Kachru has been responsible for its overall development within South

Asia. This scholarship aims at providing opportunities for education for the girl child in Hospitality. The objective would be to provide vocational assistance to meritorious girl students by offering opportunities of education in Hospitality at IHM, Pusa New Delhi & at IIMT, Gurgaon. The scholarship entitles the awardees complete course fee for the entire duration of the course.

Urging the travel agents to promote new areas, the Tourism Minister stressed on lesser known areas such as Manasbal, Yusmarg and Daksum. “Kashmir is not only about Gulmarg and Pahalgam. The state government has developed many other equally beautiful spots such as Mansabal, Doodhpatri, Yousmarg, etc.,” he added. According to him, the steep airfares have affected the tourist flow to Kashmir as travel packages tend to become costlier. The state government is ensuring that airline companies keep an upper cap. “We have witnessed that during peak tourism season, DelhiSrinagar or Srinagar-Delhi airfare goes as high as ` 20,000 from each side. In such situations, tourists prefer European and Middle East countries over Kashmir. So we have decided to meet the civil aviation ministry as well as the airliners to persuade them to keep airfares within a reasonable range,” he revealed. The Department of Tourism is also hosting Ladakh Festival and Saffron Festival during September and October.

Oberoi launches Trident Hyderabad The Oberoi Group recent-

ly launched Trident, Hyderabad in the HITECH City. The property features 323 rooms and suites along with extensive conference and banquet facilities. The dining options at Trident, Hyderabad include Amara, an all-day dining restaurant offering world cuisine, Kanak, the Indian restaurant which serves the Indian cuisine with a strong regional

influence from Hyderabad, Tuscany is the Italian restaurant and offers a display kitchen with a wood fired pizza oven and a wine tasting room and Ninety Six, the bar. Leisure facilities include Spa, Yoga room, Fitness centre and a swimming pool. PRS Oberoi, Executive Chairman of The Oberoi Group said, “Over the years we have added hotels

at various locations in India and overseas which have become industry benchmarks. Hyderabad has emerged as a significant business destination and Trident, Hyderabad has been created with the discerning business traveller in mind. This hotel is a testimony of our vision for the “Trident” brand and its standards of excellence.”

STATES

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

TRAVTALK

Andaman & Nicobar for premium travellers The state is promoting high-end leisure and adventure activities to attract premium travellers to the islands. The department is also considering signing an MoU with few Indian states to encourage mutual tourism growth. T T B U R E AU

ith an aim to position itself as a premium destination among high-end Indian travellers and inbound tourists, the Department of Tourism, Andaman & Nicobar Administration is taking number of initiatives. For instance, the tourism department is participating at multiple domestic travel trade fairs to meet the travel

CG Vijay Manager (Tourism), Directorate of Information Publicity and Tourism Andaman & Nicobar Administration

We receive about 80% Indians and rest international tourists. With improving brand awareness, we are positive to record growth agents in different cities of India. It is also participating frequently at international travel fairs and exhibitions to spread awareness about the destination among international buyers and sellers. The department is also organising fairs & festivals in the state more frequently to connect tourists with the island state and help them indulge in the local culture, informed CG Vijay, Manager (Tourism), Directorate of Information Publicity and Tourism, Andaman & Nicobar Administration. He said, “Apart from participating in trade fairs and organising frequent fairs & festivals in the state, we also intend to work closely with inbound travel agents across India. Currently, the top tourist generating markets for us are West Bengal and Tamil Nadu due to direct flight connections. Through trade fairs, we get an opportunity to meet agents in cities like Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Nagpur, etc

where there is a great potential.” The department is also trying to get in more direct flights from Indian cities and international countries to enhance tourism and investment in the state. “And with depreciating rupee, the domestic and inbound tourism market is

Charting the growth The number of domestic as well as foreign tourist visits to the islands almost doubled during the last five years. During 2012, the tourist arrivals crossed 2. 5 lakh, which was 1.36 lakh in 2008. To be precise, a total of 2,38, 699 domestic tourists and 17,538 foreign tourists visited the islands during the year 2012, as compared to the visits of 2,02, 221 and 15,814 respectively during the year 2011.

expected to get a boost and we are all set to tap the high-end and premium travellers from India and overseas. Currently we receive about 80 per cent of Indians and rest inbound tourists. With improving brand awareness in international markets, we are positive to record growth in international

arrivals in coming years,” adds Vijay. The department is also encouraging private players to build more accommodation facilities, offer adventure activities, develop tourist attractions, etc to boost the tourism sector. For the same, it already has a ‘single window’ clearance facility in

GUEST COLUMN

Keen to expand in India Henry Moses, Country Manager – India, Qatar Airways talks about the growing potential of India as an aviation market, importance of travel agents as distribution channel and the airlines’ plan for India in coming years. A N I TA J A I N Qatar Airways is joining the global oneworld alliance officially on October 30, 2013. The airline completed its oneworld implementation programme within a year (other carriers take 18 months on an average) after receiving its invitation to join the airline alliance, making its induction into oneworld one of the fastest in oneworld's history. With the recent integration of Malaysia Airlines into oneworld in February 2013 and the future membership of Sri Lankan by early next year, oneworld is rapidly leaving its print in the entire Asia/Pacific region. In terms of India market, Qatar Airways currently holds 4.4 per cent of the Indian market with bilateral traffic rights of 24,000 seats per week; it awaits word from MoCA on a request to increase that number to 72,000. Excerpts:

Qatar Airways is joining oneworld alliance. With Malaysian Airlines recently joining the team and Sri Lankan Airways expecting to join by early next year, Qatar Airways would have a strong presence in Asia Pacific region. How is the airline going to take advantage of this alliance? In Qatar Airways’ relatively short history, we have quickly established a reputation for innovation, quality and excellence in everything we do. We are pleased to build on that by becoming the only major airline from the Gulf to date to be joining any of the global airline alliances. We do believe that entry into the world’s leading quality airline alliance will be a game changer for meeting the growing air travel demand. It will enable passengers to enjoy a truly global network as some of the best names in the industry are a part of the alliance. In addition to this, it gives a competitive edge that comes from being a part of a global alliance, with higher frequency and better connections which offer travel convenience through alliance hubs around the world.

How important is India as a market? India is one of the very important regions in Qatar Airways’ global network. The airline is expanding strategically and India is a vital part of our growth and expansion plans. Since 2004, when Qatar Airways only operated to four cities in India, the airline has gradually increased capacity and destinations across the country, the number of destinations have increased to 12 cities with 95 flights per week which seamlessly connect various destinations in Europe, Middle East, North and South America via Doha. The Indian network covers daily flights to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Hyderabad, Kozhikode, Trivandrum, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru, with 11-flights-aweek to Cochin and a double daily to the capital, New Delhi.

above challenges to deliver what we promise as an award winning airline.

Henry Moses Country Manager – India Qatar Airways

Are you looking at increasing flight frequency from India or expanding services? We have recently increased the capacity of flights from Kochi. The Airbus-330 will be operational on all 11 frequencies to and from Kochi connecting to more than 125 destinations around the world via its hub in Doha. Moving forward, we plan to seek more capacity in India, increase frequency on existing routes and recruit more people from India. We have exhausted all the traffic routes allotted by the Government of India. We hope Indian Civil Aviation authorities will give additional access to Gulf carriers in India and if that happens, we would like to operate more flights to cater to the demands of global traffic. India is a country with 1.3 billion people and has the highest number of affluent and educated middle class. It

How do you see Indian aviation shaping up in next few years? The Indian aviation sector has evolved significantly in the last decade with the air traffic growing over three times in the past decade. For travellers from India, which is one of our most important markets, there is significant traffic in various categories, especially in the VFR traffic, followed by business and leisure.

How is the airline dealing with high tax and ATF prices? At the moment, every dollar increase in oil price hit affects the operational performance of Qatar Airways. However, to counter this, we keep investing in new-generation aircraft like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Newer aircraft will also help in reducing carbon emission and that’s why Qatar Airways has one of the industry’s youngest fleets with an average aircraft age under four years old.

How important are travel agents for your distribution channel in India? Qatar Airways is well connected with all its business partners, they are an important segment for the aviation industry. We understand their importance and

16 years & high growth The airline has seen rapid growth in just 16 years of operation, currently operating a modern fleet of 127 aircraft to 128 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, North America and South America. The airline has an extensive reach in India with 95 flights every week from 12 cities which further connect various destinations in Europe, Middle East, North and South America via Doha. has economic prosperity and large numbers of people travel overseas. We would love to serve more Indians in their travel needs and we are willing to take any number of seats offered to Qatar Airways. We believe in embracing change and rising

the value they contribute to the traveller’s journey. Qatar Airways frequently organizes premium familiarization trips which enable them to educate their clientele further about Qatar Airways and its highest levels of service standards.

AVIATION

Gulf Air & the India market Gulf Air is committed to tapping the country’s potential by strengthening its presence here. TT B U R E AU

s per Hussain A Rahman, Country Manager – India, Gulf Air, India is one of the key markets for the airline due to a large number of labour and VFR traffic. Starting its India operations back in 1971, Gulf Air currently offers twice daily flights from Bahrain to New Delhi and Mumbai, ten flights a week to Chennai and a daily flight to Kochi. The airline serves over 400,000 customers and offers nearly 7,500 seats a week between these cities and Bahrain and it intends to strengthen its position in the India. Rahman said, “Conservative economic reports forecast India’s growth at approximately six to seven per cent annually in the next few years. Gulf Air is committed to tapping this potential by strengthening its presence in the country. Currently, the airline is exploring the commercial viability of a number of destinations in India to reinforce its existing network and strengthen future links with this important market.” He further informed that India is one of the key markets for Gulf Air and the airline provides convenient connectivity for passengers travelling from India to the Middle East,

asked if the airline is planning to expand its operations in India, Rahman said, “Gulf Air is also exploring the commercial viability of operating to a

Hussain A Rahman Country Manager – India Gulf Air

Gulf Air is exploring the commercial viability of many destinations in India to reinforce its existing network number of destinations in the country. Following the completion of these studies, a decision will be taken on the routes and the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation will be approached.”

Baggage issues With Indian carriers reducing baggage allowance, labour class and VFR passangers are facing certain problems. For instance, Air India has recently announced reduction in free baggage allowance (from 30kg to 20kg) on flights operating from Gulf to India. However, Gulf Air is not considering to reduce the free baggage allowance it offers to its customers. The airline currently offers its Falcon Gold passengers a generous 40kg baggage allowance and its economy class customers a 30kg allowance. Europe and Africa and to hundreds of cities in the USA via its codeshare partner, American Airlines. When

Acording to Rahman, the airline views travel agents as an integral part of its sales and marketing oper-

ations. Gulf Air has recently organised a joint trade promotion with Abacus Distribution Systems India specifically to incentivise travel agents as part of celebrating the airline’s 42 years of service to India. According to a study by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Indian aviation sector attracts about 150 million travellers through its airports with an expected increase in 2020 to 450 million, ranking India as the third-largest aviation market in the world. As such, Gulf Air is focussing on strengthening its existing routes within India and intends to continue to provide the Indian market with viable additional frequencies, destinations and services. “However, global airlines, including Gulf Air, are facing a number of challenges while operating in Indian skies; among them are the expensive rise of fuel prices and airports charges. Additionally, the congested international airports in India, such as Mumbai and Delhi, cause some difficulty in allowing increased frequencies and schedule changes,” informed Rahman. With the Jet-Etihad deal, the later is going to pose a strong competition to other Middle Eastern carriers operating in Indian skies. It will take advantage of the strong domestic network of Jet Airways and provide passengers with convenient and hassle-free transits and world-wide connectivity. When asked if Gulf Air is looking at any partner or buying stake in Indian carriers, Rahman comments, “The strategic plan of a number of Middle Eastern carriers is to grow through implementing an equity partnership strategy. Gulf Air’s strategy is not one of acquisitions.”

Tourism for everyone Contd. from page 7

particularly because tourism is closely linked to the climate and environment itself.”

LGBT stand The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) tourism market received a boost when two market-leading destinations were announced as premier exhibitors with the Out Now Business Class LGBT Village at World Travel Market. Europe's largest LGBT media company has also been announced as an exhibitor.

The dedicated LGBT exhibition space is hosted by the world’s leading tourism networking association, Out Now Business Class, which helps companies expand their reach and expertise to better cater for the lucrative LGBT tourism sector, which is currently valued at USD$181billion annual spend for 2013 (source LGBT2020 research study).

Tech talk WTM has added a number of high profile

speakers to complete its largest-ever blogging programme. The programme, organised on behalf of WTM by Travel Bloggers Unite, includes some of the world’s leading bloggers discussing key topics for both the blogging and travel industries. The event also has an impressive line up of social media speakers including senior executives from Facebook and Google.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

AVIATION

AirAsia India launch in 2014 The airline is tangled in various approvals and clearances in DGCA and regulations authority… A N I TA J A I N

irAsia India which was initially hoping to take-off

Tony Fernandes Group CEO AirAsia

in October and later by December this year will now miss its expected deadline due to delays in approvals, permissions and clearances by the government.

The delay is due to the new Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) rule which instruct airlines to apply for flying permit at least 90 days before the intended launch date for operations.

India is important for AirAsia As per the latest data released by Centre for Aviation (CAPA), AirAsia’s share of traffic from India to its base in Kuala Lumpur has increase to 54 per cent in 2013 as compared to 44 per cent in 2012. The growth is attributed to contraction of the total market along with smart network strategy and unbelievable low fares and promotional fares. Apart from Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia’s onward traffic originating from India to Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand has grown by more than ten times over last year with 18,435 passengers this year.

Moreover, the regulator has to evaluate and inspect documents and hold five review meetings with the applicant within the 90-day period. An operating license could be delayed further due to a delay in its security clearance. In an email query from asking about the delay in launch and expected launch dates, Tony Fernandes, Group CEO, AirAsia said, “No comment till we get our AOC(Air Operators Certificate).” The airline was earlier looking for a launch around Diwali to gain from the peak-season travel demand in November, but now the earliest that could be possible will be around December-January. The airline had readied human resource and infrastructure to start operations before November. The airline had recruited its top management staff, flight attendants and had also set up a small office at the Chennai airport.

Air India to connect Rome and Moscow To encourage more travelers to opt for Air India, it has recently partnered SBI to launch a unique card that offers immense benefits to travel with Air India “Today, Air India in many ways is a new entity, if one looks at the sense of devotion of staff and the aggressiveness to revive its past glory. We have, after a long break of over 16 years, restored our direct non-stop flight to Australia. We have also tied with a leading online player to augment our holiday business,” said Rohit Nandan, CMD, AI. “Most recently, we

performance today is at par with the best in the domestic, and even in the international sphere,” added Nandan. There is more good news in the offing for stakeholders in the travel and tourism sector. Rohit Nandan CMD, Air India

had tied up with SBI to encourage more travellers to opt for Air India. The new Air India SBI card allows a customer spending ` 5 lakh in a year to earn up to three DelhiMumbai return tickets on Air India. Moreover, its on-time

“We are keen to start a new connection to Italy, and connect Rome and Milan by end of 2013. 2014 will soon witness a flight to Moscow,” said Nandan.

V Resorts Fort Auwa to open in November V Resorts Fort Auwa is set to open in November 2013. The heritage property is located in Pali district which is 35 km from Jodhpur. The fort is being renovated keeping in mind its historical presence so that it appears as a relic of the longgone period and is there today for the adventurous traveller to discover. V Resorts Fort Auwa features 19 rooms and a dining area where guests can have authentic Rajasthani cuisine. V

Resorts is a chain of offbeat hotels in India which operate on the concept of limited service. All of their properties are located away from the hustlebustle of the city in offbeat places. According to Vaibhav Dayal, Co-Founder, V Resorts;

such restored forts are few in India where you get a glimpse of the by-gone era. The guest can live in an ambience which brings to life an epoch thousands of years old. The fort has seen several wars and the battle scars are visible on its bullet ridden walls. The fort heralds a history which is1,000 years old. The architecture of the fort is an unusual mix of Mughal, Neo-Colonial, and IndoSaracenic style.

HOTELS

Taj Vivanta’s cool quotient Rajeev Khanna, General Manager, Vivanta by Taj – Surajkund, talks about the changing times and how they will continue to expand the way they have been planning to. PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

Why did you want a Taj Vivanta at Surajkund? There is a tremendous potential in the NCR region. As Mumbai developed into South Mumbai, North, midtown and Navi Mumbai, likewise Delhi too has developed and there are these little markets and sub-markets that have been created all over the NCR region and across the country. The business environment has changed a lot in the region. There is so much of demand here and now industry and businesses are being set up all over the NCR region. This was an existing hotel; it was set up as there was a big potential seen five years ago and it has been faring well. They needed a larger and stronger brand like the Taj to take this on to the next level, and we also saw opportunity in promoting it as a leisure destination, and also for weddings and large events. Looking at the offerings that the hotel had, the Taj decided to join hands and take it ahead.

How difficult is it to take up an existing hotel vis-à-vis setting up a new hotel? It is a challenge, but it is difficult in the sense as you have people coming from a very different background in terms of culture; and hospitality is more driven by what you feel and how you feel about the business, and the hospitality that you extend to your guests. So, it has taken us a while and we have this moral of building bridges which brings about changes very slowly and gradually among people. We have a great amount of brand stan-

dards which govern the way you conduct yourself, the way you look, the way you serve and the way your demeanour. So, all of that takes time and it is the biggest challenge

India, but we are quite bullish about it. We don’t see any reason why we should not be expanding the way we are because BRIC nations are where the focus and future is.

Rajeev Khanna General Manager Vivanta by Taj –Surjakund

The business environment has changed in the NCR. There is so much demand and industry and businesses are all being set up here that one has, but it is not difficult to deal with it over a period of time, considering we have a large amount of experience behind us.

What is your take on the hospitality sector in the NCR market? Because of what’s happening currently around the country, there’s a bit of slowing down. But, if you look at reports internationally or in India, there is a great potential. It may not come tomorrow and it may take a while because of what’s happening around the world and in

So, how are you promoting the hotel? When we saw what this hotel had to offer, in terms of products, it excited us to a large extent because it can cater to the MICE segment because of the large inventory of almost 300 rooms that it has-plus the convention space of almost about 25,000 sq ft. The hotel also has the added advantage of the proximity to Delhi, the way the property is laid out. The fact that it has a large spa will also attract leisure travellers because today travelling out of Delhi for a holiday is becoming more and more expensive. I have just moved from our hotel in Goa where we were feeling the pressure, particularly during the peak months of December and January when airlines had hiked up their fees frightfully and people felt that flying out to Bangkok and Sri Lanka is much cheaper. So, we feel somewhere as a Taj property we’ll surely gain with Vivanta by Taj - Surajkund.

What will make the guests keep coming back to Vivanta by Taj Surajkund? The customary Taj service and the unique experiences that we have to offer will surely make us different and it has made us different. We offer what is called the cool luxury that appeals to the young generation, which is very different from the stiff upper lip luxury that may appeal to the older generation.

Tourist visitor centres at Ajanta and Ellora The state government of Maharashtra has recently commissioned two world-class visitor centres near World Heritage Sites of Ajanta and Ellora caves in Aurangabad. The tourist visitor centres – Ajanta Visitor Centre (AVC) and Ellora Visitor Centre (EVC) were the key milestones of the Ajanta-Ellora Conservation and Tourism Development Plan (AEDP) Phase I & II under Incredible India and Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Ajanta Visitor Centre (Part-1) is spread over 17,936 square

metres. The replicas of four main caves (No. 1,2,16 and 17) have been created here using simulated stone technology to give shape of the stone, colouring, carving etc. The centre also houses audiovisual presentations, library, cafeteria, amphitheatre and ample parking space. Similarly, Ellora Visitor Centre has been erected in 12,090 square metres with facilities for audio-visual information about the caves, library, cafeteria, parking and shopping area. A real-life replica of Kailasha Temple of 1/10 scale

has been erected here. With the various development phases, the total investment under AEDP is pegged at ` 380 crore.

ANALYSIS

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

In the name of water conservation Contd. from page 5

Subsequently, we have taken steps to conserve energy here as well. We take steps in water harvesting. The flush water used in our bathrooms is recycled water as well.” Talking about the initiatives to conserve water at the resort, Amish Sud, Director, The Chalets Naldehra says, “The effluent treatment plant has a capacity to recycle about 14,000 litres of water from sewage, kitchen waste, washrooms, health club, and laundry. The recycled water is used for gardening and helps us keep the premises of the property lush-green throughout the year, unlike any other place in all of Himachal.” Concerns about sustainability will be the most important factor in the industry. Brands servicing the budget segment will continue to strive. Hotels will be viewed as an asset. Environment and sustainability will truly be at the forefront of hotel operations, opines Param Kannampilly, CMD, Concept Hospitality. The company has the fastest growing environmentally

Jose Dominic

Param Kannampilly

Amish Sud

Harihar Patra

Managing Director CGH Earth

CMD Concept Hospitality

Director The Chalets Naldehra

Director - Marketing Toshali Resorts International

The emergence of alternate green accommodation options will become an important trend in the future sensitive hotel chain in India, under its brand The Fern Hotels & Resorts. “We will continue our focus on the three ‘R’s - Reduce, Reuse

We will continue our focus on the three ‘R’s Reduce, Reuse and Recycle of operations and Recycle of operations,” Kannampilly added. The question that will arise is whether sustainability and luxury can work togeth-

The recycled water is used for gardening and helps us keep the premises of the property lush-green

er. “Luxury cannot be at the cost of sustainability. It is no longer negotiable. Hospitality and tourism, in particular, is a fragile industry because

Our focus on green strategy is to use all possible resources to conserve water and energy in all our activities

when people travel they have to change travel patterns to reduce carbon footprint. More and more airlines are now doing research on this,” Jose

Dominic, managing director, CGH Earth pointed out. “It is disappointing that globally and in Indian hospitality, hotels have not gone into sustainability at the chain level. Going forward, the hotelier’s investment will be critically scrutinised. Local factors will also become important. The emergence of alternate green accommodation options such as plantation stays, eco resorts, rural homestays, etc, will become an important trend in the future,” Dominic articulated. According to Harihar Patra, Director - Marketing, Toshali Resorts International, trends like eco-tourism, pilgrimage tourism and family holidays will drive the hospitality industry. “Our focus in the green strategy is to use possible resources to conserve water and energy in all our activities. The vision of the organisation is to ensure customer delight but at the same time making the organisation slim and reduce the cost of operation during energy consumption like the overheads of heat, light and power cost.”

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

ANALYSIS

MICE and leisure drive new inventory Kerala’s commercial capital is developing as the focal point for hospitality in the state. Used as a transit point, enough demand from MICE and leisure segments has helped in the evolution of the destination. reports... MEGHA PAUL

his September, Kochi witnessed two important events in the travel and hospitality sector. The Indian

undersold in Kerala. A slew of events in the past and enough demand from the MICE and leisure segment have helped in the evolution of the destination.

Saji Joseph

Shilendran M

General Manager Le Meridien Hotel, Kochi

Vice President-Sales CGH Earth

MICE is not just about meetings, but also about value proposition Association of Tour Operators (IATO) organised its 29th annual convention at Le Meridien Kochi and the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) concluded its 48th annual convention at the same venue recently. The region that was earlier used more as a transit point was

Hotels in Kochi are based in two locations, 1st in Kakkanad, the 2nd on the other side of Fort Kochi According to Saji Joseph, General Manager, Le Meridien Hotel, Kochi, MICE is not just about a meeting but also about value proposition that offers more to clients. Kerala has a lot to offer in terms of cultural learning, culinary journey, Ayurveda and wellness that clients can take back. This

makes it easier for the hotels to market the destination. South India, Kerala and Kochi have conventionally been the hub for medical events. This has been a flourishing segment for long. With new inventory coming in the city, the hotels need to market and showcase the destination globally for other industrial and service segments. Feels Shilendran M, Vice President-Sales, CGH Earth, hotels in Kochi are based in two geographical locations. One is the hotels in the region of Kakkanad, which is the fastest developing commercial and IT destination. Being in the city and in the IT hub, hotels in this area are mainly focussing on corporate segment. They do get some leisure but that is minimal. In the last two years, room inventory has increased in this side. But there has been a relative growth in the corporate sector as well. “Thus, prices are extremely competitive. On the other side of Fort Kochi, the hotels cater to strictly leisure clientele. These are travellers who want to experience just Kochi as this is the pristine unspoilt area of Kochi. Here, business is brilliant for the hotel industry from OctoberApril. Most hotels have full occupancy. However, here,

hotels are small boutique hotels. Thus, it leads to dearth of room inventory during this peak season. Also, as the region caters strictly to the leisure seg-

Talking about the Kochi hospitality landscape becoming more competitive, Sanjay Kaushik, General Manager, Crowne Plaza Kochi points out, “Kochi has

Sanjay Kaushik

Joerg Drechsel

General Manager Crowne Plaza Kochi

Director, The Malabar House and joint secretary, IHHA

Kochi has emerged as a gateway to Kerala in the last five years ment, the lean season has no business. They may have around 30 per cent occupancy but the business cannot be sustained like this. So the lack of inventory needs to be tackled. This side of Kochi needs to garner more investments and gear up to emerge as a MICE destination,” he informs.

The target clientele in Fort Kochi are the inbound and domestic travellers emerged as a gateway to Kerala in the last five years. The hospitality industry has seen a major transformation from the city being dominated by local and regional players to the launch of almost all major global hospitality players. Kochi was treated as a typical transit destination but now it has evolved as an

emerging destination for MICE. The growth in corporate and IT segment has increased tremendously since most of the corporate giants have anchored in the city with their corporate offices. This has boosted the hotel industry by reducing the dependability on seasonal international leisure travellers. Consequently, it has helped the industry to have an equal mix of domestic and international or business and leisure travellers.” The region is witnessing occupancy of about 50 per cent in the luxury five-star category, he adds. According to Joerg Drechsel, Director, The Malabar House and Joint Secretary, Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA), operating heritage properties is not an easy task in India, leave alone in Kochi. The state needs to come forward and help these hoteliers. “The target clientele in Fort Kochi are generally the inbound and domestic travellers for whom experiential tourism and hospitality is the way forward. The guests are mainly FITs as well as small selected groups for culinary, yoga or cultural travel. Thus, the state needs to come forward as these experiences need a helping hand from the government.”

Malaysia Airlines adds Kochi as a new destination With the addition of Kochi as its newest destination to an expanding network in India effective September 2, 2013, Malaysia Airlines is now flying to 6 cities in India demonstrating a strengthening of the airline’s regional presence. The Malaysian

national carrier flies from Kuala Lumpur to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and now Kochi in Kerala. The inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kochi, MH118, arrived in Kochi at 12.01 am on 2 September. The Kochi - Kuala Lumpur return

route, via MH119, departed Kochi at 12.50 am and arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 7.40 am. The recentlyadded route is being operated using the new and improved 160-seater B737-800. On this occasion, Malaysia Airlines Regional Senior Vice

President, South Asia & Middle East, Azahar Bin Hamid said, “We are excited to finally add Kochi to Malaysia Airlines’ network in India. It indeed was a proud moment for our whole team when the first flight landed near the shores of this striking city.

India is a very important market for Malaysia Airlines. We look forward to growing our market and making many more memorable journeys of our guests.” In addi-

tion to the introduction of service to Kochi in Kerala region of India, Malaysia Airlines is offering incomparable promotional fares starting from only ` 12,186 for an all-inclusive Economy class return travel. Business class starts from ` 66,547 for an all-inclusive return journey.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

FAMILY ALBUM

The ‘wow’ factor of a Canada fam trip A 12 day trip had the itinerary spread over Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon.The most amazing experience of the itinerary was the viewing of the Northern Lights in Yukon and the train trip through the Rockies.The trip was organised between August 22- 02 Sep , 2013 for six Travel Partners by Canadian Tourism Commission, India.

TECHNOLOGY

Offering 24x7 worldwide support

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

TRAVTALK

Mittra launches The Dream Chasers

An accommodation distribution system designed for travel companies, RoomsXML offers a single feed to over 83,000 properties across the world and real-time access to room rates. T T B U R E AU

otels booking solution platform RoomsXML is focussing on providing quality services to its partners in the B2B segment. Prakash Bang, Managing Director, RoomsXML Solutions, said, “Because we strongly believe in offering quality service and support, we have invested huge resources in setting up a 24x7 global support structure. We make it a point that a call is answered within 45

Prakash Bang Managing Director RoomsXML Solutions

We are obsessed with service. We can afford to lose dollars, but not customers seconds irrespective of the time of day or night. And it’s not about answering the call in a timely manner; our staff has been trained to offer a solution. The query is under a red alert until resolved.” An accommodation distribution system designed for travel companies, RoomsXML offers a single feed to over 83,000 properties across the world as well real-time access to room rates. However, the company is still concentrating on providing quality support to its clients. Bang added, “More often than not, ‘good service’ is typically associated with products or services that reach directly to the end-customer. That the element of service can be ignored in a B2B environment is really a myth. RoomsXML offers accommodation booking services and works only with travel agents. The latter are the ones who face the endcustomers. In a cut-throat competitive environment, RoomsXML should really have invested more in ‘Sales’ rather than ‘Service & Support’ – that add to the administrative costs with no tangible benefits. In fact,

more the support we offer, more the stress we invite! However, to put it simply, we are obsessed with service. We can afford to lose dollars, but not customers.” Speaking of the USP of RoomsXML, Bang informed, “The point of difference with RoomsXML is in its proprietary software capa-

bility to flawlessly map and de-duplicate the inventory that comes from many destination-specific suppliers, direct contracting from large hotel chains. We are also focussing on educating the travel trade about RoomsXML, and we will constantly update them about

new features and services introduced by us.”

USP O RoomsXML’s software can flawlessly map and deduplicate inventory from many suppliers

Vipul Mittra, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Govt of Gujarat (Tourism, Civil Aviation & Pilgrimage), recently launched his new book The Dream Chasers. Mittra has worked on various assignments as member of the IAS for both state & central government. His first book, Pyramid of Virgin Dreams, was a best-seller.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

EXHIBITIONS

IBTM India for the growth of business travel The first edition of IBTM India 2013 (Incentives, Business Travel & Meeting) was recently held in Mumbai. Organised by Reed Travel Exhibitions, the three-day event proved to be an excellent new forum for business and knowledge-sharing among the participants.

T T B U R E AU

he table-top event placed over 80 hosted buyers with 72 exhibitors and successfully concluded 2,496 appointments (an average of 34 meetings per exhibitor). Hosted buyers represented 16 countries and eight Indian cities while suppliers represented 22 countries and 29 cities in India.

Kick-start The event opened with a half-day conference attended by over 200 delegates and

a keynote session addressed by Devdutt Pattanaik talking about teachings of mythology and how it can be implemented into modern day business practices. Post the keynote, a special panel debate was staged discussing the current state of the MICE industry from inbound, domestic and outbound perspective.

India Outlook According to Craig Moyes, Group Exhibition Director – Meetings and Events Portfolio, Reed Travel Exhibitions; the forecast for

MICE growth in India is positive and exciting. He said, “India has pretty positive indicators to prove the growth of business and meetings segment in coming years. The Indian economy is performing better than the Western world, while the outbound and domestic travel segments are performing well. In Asia, China and India are the biggest focus markets for Western world, and with language being the biggest barrier for Chinese travellers, Indians get an extra foot out there. This was the right time

for us to introduce the India edition of IBTM and it will compliment our other international exhibitions.” One of the buyers at IBTM India Vineet Gopal, MD, Engee Holidays said, “It’s a great initiative by the Reed Travel Group to start something like IBTM specifically for the Indian market. It was great interacting and exchanging ideas with the delegates at IBTM on the association front as well (representing OTOAI).” On similar notes, one of the exhibitors at the event-

Medha Sampat, Founder, Knack Marketing said, “It’s a well-organised and structured event with quality buyers and suppliers. The opening session highlighting the trends, opportunities and challenges of Indian business travel industry was very interesting and thought-provoking. I’ve known Reed Travel Exhibitions team for their professional way of organising events in international markets and I’m happy that they have kept up with our expectations in India edition.”

Moyes informed that the next edition of IBTM India will be held in September 2014 but the city is not yet confirmed. The show will get bigger and also better after taking the feedback from buyers and suppliers to further improve the quality and benefits of the show. It will also bring in a new set of buyers so the exhibitors can look forward to meet a new set of business partners in the second edition of IBTM India.

AGENTS

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

Giving impetus to path-breaking ideas Thomas Cook India is organising the second edition of Disha which acts as a platform for faculties of colleges to share their research papers on macro issues impacting the Indian travel industry. such high standards of learning to empower the entire travel ecosystem.”

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n an effort to encourage quality research in the field of travel and tourism in the country, Thomas Cook India's Centre of Learning has announced the launch of Disha 2013. It is an innovative initiative from Thomas Cook India to bring together the brightest minds in travel & tourism space to challenge their intellect with the political, economic and social challenges that confront the industry today. In its second year, Disha invites research papers in the field of tourism from faculties of colleges across India. The winning papers will be published in a book and awarded holidays from Thomas Cook (India). Talking about the initiative, Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) said, “The travel & tourism industry of India has been recognised as a strong driving force for boosting the Indian economy, but faces its share of challenges.

Elaborating on the need for education in the travel industry, Manjula Chowdhary, Director, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITM), said, “In an increasingly competitive environment, students with a Madhavan Menon

Manjula Chowdhary

Managing Director Thomas Cook (India)

Director, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITM)

Our attempt through Disha is to encourage and support high standards of learning

There is a dire need of super specialists across levels to perform critical functions

Flashback of Disha 2013 Disha was first organised in 2011 with former Union Minister of Tourism Subodh Kant Sahai and Maharashtra Minister of Tourism Chhagan Bhujbal gracing the occasion with their presence. This year, the event looks more promising with research topics on macro-economic issues. To name a few: • •

• •

We firmly believe in the power of the youth and are providing them with a platform to demonstrate their intellect by

identifying viable solutions through thorough research. Our attempt through Disha is to encourage and support

a solid academic base and understand the importance of customer-centric actions & processes. There is a dire need of super specialists across levels to perform critical functions and support this growing industry.” Talking about the contribution of Thomas Cook India’s Centre of Learning, Stephan Heuberger, Director

Global recession and impact on tourism Creation of talent for the industry through tourism education Impact of tourism on local culture Positioning of Indian tourism industry with

formal degree in travel management are an asset to any travel organisation. They have

•

• •

respect to the world Impact of civil aviation policies on tourism industry in India Policy and planningheritage conservation Changing facets of technology in the travel and tourism industry

of Swiss Tourism in India, said, “With initiatives like Disha, Thomas Cook India’s

Centre of Learning has constantly worked towards bridging the talent gap in the travel & tourism industry. Our profession requires specific skill-sets that can only be acquired with such a mix of academic and industry exposure.” This year’s papers will be evaluated by an esteemed jury of panelist with diverse experience across the different segments of the travel & tourism industry. The jury includes Chowdhary; Gour Kanjilal, Executive Director, IATO; Zakir Ahmed, President, TAFI; Kishori Gadre, General Manager, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation and Adrian Williams, Head Human Resources, Thomas Cook (India). Apart from publishing the best research papers in a book, Disha will provide a platform for sharing insightful information on current travel trends by conducting a panel discussion with multiple industry experts.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

FAMILY ALBUM

4 cities get a taste of fun in The Philippines The Department of Tourism, Philippines (DOT), in coordination with the Philippines Tourism Marketing Office in India, recently held a series of roadshows in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. Led by Verna C. Buensuceso, Director, Market Development Group, Russia, India and the Middle East, DOT and Raymund Glen Agustin, Head, Team India, DOT; the delegation including Luisa A. Llave, DOT who gave an overview of the booming tourism industry in the Philippines.

AHMEDABAD

HYDERABAD

BENGALURU

CHENNAI

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

FAMILY ALBUM

When IATO graced Kochi... A successful convention boosts the member delegatesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; morale. At the IATO Convention from 8-11 September 2013 in Kochi, it was one such platform that boosted the confidence of inbound tour operators and encouraged them to think of innovations and partnerships. Post the gala inauguration on Sept 8, many delegates chose to start their day full of business sessions after the 2nd IATO Run for Responsible Tourism. The business sessions, during the course of next two days, delved into existing relationships and the scope for innovations and new partnerships among hotels, airlines, tour operators, travel agents and other value chains.

Contd. on page 34

NEWS

HRANI’s regional conference Around 500 hoteliers from the Northern region are expected to participate in the conference. HRANI is taking keen interest in the rehabilitation of Uttarakhand. T T B U R E AU

he Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) will organise its regional conference at Pullman Gurgaon Central Park on October 27 and 28. This information was shared by Garish Oberoi, President, HRANI. According to him, the conference will be inaugurated by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister, Haryana; while Parvez Dewan, Secretary-Tourism, MOT, will be the chief guest at the valedictory session. The theme of the conference and the business sessions is yet to be announced. Around 500 hoteliers from the Northern region are expected to participate in the conference.

Relief Efforts O The HRANI delegation recently visited various affected areas of the state. The Association has also collected `11 lakh, and the combined contribution of the FHRAI–`51 lakh–has been handed over to Vijay Bahuguna, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand

Garish Oberoi President HRANI

A lot of work has been done in the last couple of years to revitalise the regional chapter in all the nine member states Talking about the drastic impact of the recent Uttarakhand calamity on the region’s hospitality sector,

Oberoi said the Association is taking a keen interest in the activities of the state government for rehabilitation of the flood-affected Uttarakhand. “The HRANI delegation recently visited various affected areas of the state. The Association has also collected ` 11 lakh, and the combined contribution of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI)–` 51 lakh–has been handed over to Vijay Bahuguna, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand,” he added. Regarding the growth of the FHRAI chapter, Oberoi said, “A lot of work has been done in the last couple of years to revitalise the regional chapter in all the nine member states and HRANI would continue to work to strengthen the association in future. HRANI is the largest regional chapter of FHRAI in terms of membership base. We have over 1,500 members.” The Association has added at least 300 new members in the last two years. “We are hopeful of increasing the membership by another 20 per cent in two years,” he added.

‘Agents as ambassadors’ Hosting the 1st workshop of LAN & TAM South America Specialist program; Thierry Curey, General Manager South Asia, LATAM Airlines Group, talks about the importance of the travel trade community. T T B U R E AU How was the response to your first workshop in Delhi? We saw good acceptance from the Indian market. It’s very encouraging because we see the potential that it has shown, and we feel the necessity to work better in this market. South America is a new option for those who have already explored many destinations. We feel there is a strong demand, but there is a lack of information about

these destinations, and also regarding our airlines. Through this new programme, we would like to raise awareness and educate travel agents. With time, we would certify them as specialists; this is our goal in order to create more awareness to South American destinations What are the other promotional activities that you are targeting at for the Indian market?

We are at a stage in which we are focussing all our efforts on the trade and travel agents. We want them to be

our ambassadors. In this way, all our marketing efforts are targetted towards the trade.

What is your aim for this year? We are also developing this programme in Mumbai. For the next workshop, which will be held by the first half of next year, we will promote Argentina and Columbia. There will be other workshops promoting different destinations, too. We also have an advanced programme that will be held in 2015 and 2016.

Indian hotel industry Q2 margins may hit 5-yr low of 8%: ICRA In a release, rating agency ICRA said that they expect industry-wide margins for the current quarter (Q2FY14) to ebb down to a 5-year low of 7-8% on the back of decline in RevPAR, seasonally weak July-September quarter and inflation in consumable costs.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

FAMILY ALBUM

Trendsetters at IATO Convention-2013 Contd. from page 32

Contd. on page 38

HOTELS

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

TRAVTALK

41 Fortune Park Hotel opens in Tirupati st

Fortune now has 69 alliances, 5,335 rooms across 54 cities, out of which 41 hotels are operational… TT B U R E AU

ortune Park Hotels Group has further expanded its portfolio of hotels and opened its 41st hotel, ‘Fortune Select Grand Ridge’ in Tirupati. Speaking on the occasion, Suresh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Fortune

New one-stop website for travellers Contd. from page 1

operators need to look at all possible opportunities, especially when the economy is believed to be slowing down. “In the present scenario, the fall in value of rupee needs to be converted into an opportunity to attract incremental number of foreign tourists to our shores,” she said. “Foreign tourists will now even find the luxurious packages to India at least 20 per cent more affordable. The trade should capitalise on this opportunity to earn as much foreign exchange for the country as possible, which will do larger good to our economy,” she added. The Ministry of Tourism is also putting its best efforts to make the visa procedures hassle-free and more inviting. “Our minister had held elaborate discussions with the Union Minister of Home Affairs and even briefed the Prime Minister on the need to extend Visa-on-Arrival facility to at least 40 countries identified by MOT. We have already extended this facility to four new airports,” said Sharma. “The Group Landing permit will also play an important role in attracting more foreign tourists, especially once it’s simplified further. An important development in this regard is the grant of this facility to even the crew members of the charter planes, or the cruise ships, which had been approved by MHA recently,” she added.

In order to sustain the aviation industry in India, the establishment of low-cost airports with no parking charges across smaller cities would be needed, according to Arun Mishra, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Park Hotels, said, “We are extremely happy to announce our 2nd hotel in the holy city of Tirupati which draws millions of tourists and devotees from all over the country and across the world. As part of our expansion plans, Fortune would be opening at least 56 new properties under its

various brands in the current Financial Year. On the anvil are two new hotels opening in Manesar and Ghaziabad taking the total number of properties in Delhi NCR to seven.” The hotel is conveniently located at the intersection of the new Airport Bypass Road and Tiruchanoor

Offerings O 138 furnished rooms O 98 standard rooms O 35 Fortune club rooms O 5 suites

Suresh Kumar Chief Executive Officer Fortune Park Hotels

Road on the way to Tirumala, on a major highway network that provides congestion free travel to the Lord

Venkateshwara Temple. Being just 1.5 km from the city centre the hotel provides easy access to all key areas.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

The most recent attraction in the Mysore region is the Son-etLumiere, a one-of-a-kind Sound and Light Show held in the vicinity of the Mysore Palace, showcasing 50 minutes of Mysore history and culture. TT B U R E AU

he central piece of Mysore’s attractions, the Mysore Palace is located in the heart of Mysore city. One of the largest and most spectacular monuments in the country, it is also known as Amba Vilas. The palace was initially built by the Wodeyar kings in the 14th century. Unfortunately, as it was made out of wood, it got burnt down in 1897 during a royal wedding. The current palace construction was commissioned in 1897 and was com-

pleted by 1912. Designed by the famous British architect Henry Irwin, it was built for the twenty-fourth Wodeyar

STATES

Raja. It was the residence of the Wodeyar Maharaja’s of the Mysore State. The current palace is built in Indo-Saracenic style and blends together Hindu, Muslim, Rajput and Gothic styles of architecture. The palace itself is a three-storey stone structure which has a series of square towers with arches covered with domes. The palace is surrounded by a large garden and houses a collection of exquisite carvings and works of art from all over the world. It also has several unique rooms. These include the public durbar,

where the king would host major ceremonial gatherings. The Kalyana Mantapa, a octagonal shaped hall where all royal weddings, birthdays and ceremonial functions were celebrated, the Private Durbar, the Gombe Thotti and the portrait gallery are also worth a visit. The most recent attraction in the Mysore region is the Son-et-Lumiere, a one-of-a-kind Sound and Light Show held in the vicinity of the Mysore Palace,

showcasing 50 minutes of Mysore history and culture. This is featured in three languages – Kannada, English and Hindi. Mysore Dasara is a royal festival celebrating victory of truth over evil. Legend has it that the Goddess Chamundeeswari or Durga slew the demon Mahishasuran on Vijayadashami day. The 10day festival in the region culminates on Vijayadashami or

tenth day. The preceding nine days of Navarathri have celebrations starting only after six days. The sixth day is in honour of goddess Saraswathi. The eighth day is dedicated to Durga and Ninth day is for Lakshmi, goddess of wealth. On tenth day a grand spectacular Procession is held which starts from Mysore Palace and ends in Bannimantap. This year Mysore Dasara starts from October 5 to October 14, 2013.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

FAMILY ALBUM

And it concludes with a glittering evening Contd. from page 34

NEWS Third property in India Alila Hotels & Resorts will open its third property in India - Alila Fort Bishangarh in Jaipur in Q2 of 2014. T T B U R E AU

he Alila Fort Bishangarh is a Rajasthan heritage property that has been restored to 59 suites. The hotel will be an all-suite resort. Julian Ayers, Regional Vice President for India and the Middle East, Alila Hotels and Resorts said,

“The Alila Fort Bishangarh is easily accessible from both Delhi and Jaipur, making it an ideal location for the FIT as well as the wedding segment. Additionally, Bishangarh is also a good base to explore Jaipur. The Alila Fort Bishangarh will be our third property in India, following the Alila Diwa Goa and the Alila Bengaluru. The hotel company which is headquartered in Singapore operates on a management model basis. Further, the hotel has

Julian Ayers Regional Vice President for India and the Middle East, Alila Hotels and Resorts

also set plans to enter the Middle East market in early 2014 when it opens the Alila Jabal Akdhar in Oman. Set 2000 metres above sea level, the hotel will feature 78 suites, 6 loft suites and 2 Royal Omani villas. Ayers added, “The first half of 2013 has been a good year for us and we expect to see further growth in the last quarter of the year. With the launch of the Alila Fort Bishangarh in mid-2014, we will look further to consolidate our presence in the Indian market.”

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

TRAVTALK

Convocation ceremony in Mumbai Kuoni Academy recently felicitated its students at a convocation ceremony held in Mumbai. Degrees and certificates were awarded to 175 successful students of the MBA, post-graduate and diploma programmes. The chief guest for the programme was Veena Raman, Deputy General Manager, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

AVIATION

Emphasis on increase of skilled manpower At this day-long conference, several government officials, trade practitioners and industry experts were present to discuss the current aviation industry, future opportunities, challenges and requirement of skilled manpower.

Dean, University of Applied Science Frankfurt

power. Yvonne Ziegler, Dean, University of Applied Science Frankfurt; Prabhat Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India; A Sengupta, Dean College Management & Economics Studies, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies; Kapil Kaul, CEO South Asia, CAPA; Deepak Brara, Director Commercial, Air India; Saroj Dutta, former ED, Jet Airways; Suresh Nair, GM-India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & Nepal, AirAsia Group and several other eminent industry players addressed the conference. Underlining the increasing importance of capacity-building to cater to future demand, Kumar pointed out that

At this day-long conference, several government officials, trade practitioners and industry experts were present to discuss the current aviation industry scenario, future opportunities, challenges and requirement of skilled man-

India would be the 3rd largest aviation market by 2020, and about 170,000 skilled manpower would be required by 2017.

R ATA N K R P A U L

he University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt hosted an Aviation Conference on Capacity Building in Indian Aviation Industry on September 20 in New Delhi.

Yvonne Ziegler

Participating in the panel discussion, Brara expressed disapproval over the “policy vacuum” concept. “We should think judiciously about the changing scenario and gradual development in the field of aviation sector in India. The industry should take responsibility to strengthen the aviation sector.

Aviation industry leaders at the conference in New Delhi

“Currently, there is a huge shortage of skilled manpower for aviation industry,” he admitted. He also stressed on a conducive policy and a changed mindset among the stakeholders of the industry. While making a presentation on gradual growth of aviation market in India and CAPA’s latest traffic forecast for this country,

Kaul maintained that during next 10 years international passenger traffic will grow 10 per cent year-on-year. “Already, there is a tremendous pressure on infrastructure and demand for skilled manpower, which would be further aggravated in the years to come, unless pragmatic solutions come from the policy-makers and facilitators,” said Kaul.

He also maintained that the industry is facing serious challenges because of a continued policy and regulatory vacuum. He, however, argued that despite the policy and regulatory challenges, significant costs of the aviation industry can be reduced by enhancing skill and management sides by the industry practitioners on their own.

Suresh Nair stressed that pricing is determined by market forces and regulators should get away from it. He foresees great future for low cost/low fare airlines in India. In his remarks in the panel discussion, Dutta urged for early adoption and implementation of the longawaited Civil Aviation Policy, for the greater interest of the aviation industry as well as the economy of the country. “Without a clear and transparent policy, India will fail to attract foreign investors towards this industry, despite the new FDI policy initiatives,” Dutta cautioned.

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

NTO

Focussing on the Indian incentive segment Tourism New Zealand is showcasing array of activities and experiences that can be customised to ﬁt every travel checklist. It is also highlighting few top incentive attractions for incentive groups and ideas for MICE operators. TT B U R E AU

ith companies increasingly looking at overseas incentive and teambuilding destinations, Tourism New Zealand is showcasing array of activities and experiences that can be customised to fit every travel checklist. From fun and pop-

ular activities such as jet-boat safaris and heli-skiing to more laidback wine and dine affairs, New Zealand has it all, claims Mischa MannixOpie, Regional Manager South & South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand. “Unlike other destinations where the options are limited, New Zealand is the

perfect place for teams to relax and recharge, given its abundance of natural beauty and landscapes,” explained Mannix-Opie. The tourism board assures that travellers to the country can expect to be spoilt for choice with so many experiences available across the length and breadth of the country. Teams can

bond over adventurous outdoor experiences such as sky diving, jet-boating or surfing and skiing, or exchange notes over a casual dinner at Auckland’s waterfront, an exotic native Máori hangi feast in Rotorua or an awardwinning Pinot Noir at a Central Otago vineyard.

“And what’s more, unlike other geographically larger countries where you spend substantial time travelling between cities to reach your destination, most destinations here are just a quick hop away, making it a great proposition for travellers who are already hard pressed for time,” said Mischa. New Mischa Mannix-Opie Regional Manager South & South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand

With its diverse culture, hotels and conference centres, New Zealand is equipped to meet demands for specific dietary requirements, and offer a range of Indian-style vegetarian cuisines Zealand is also the choice of destination for hosting big and small conferences and events, given its diverse range of conference venues that enable MICE operators to organise and host the event. “Given its modern infrastructure and impressive venues, hosting a successful event in New Zealand is a breeze. What you get here is the entire package with the availability of diverse accommodation and transport options to suit every type of traveller,” adds Mischa. Furthermore, event organisers can also host conference in grand heritage buildings. With its diverse culture, hotels and conference centres, New Zealand is also well-equipped to meet demands for specific dietary requirements, and offer a range of Indian-style vegetarian cuisines.

Kiwi-Link O New Zealand is wellconnected with major airports around the world, including India. Connecting flights from India to New Zealand are available on Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways.

NEWS OCTOBER

NATIONAL 1 4-6 4-6 10

Bengaluru Indore Nagpur Ahmedabad

11 18-20 22

Mumbai Tawang Delhi

Mumbai

Chennai

Mumbai

Delhi

Mumbai

INTERNATIONAL 1-3 2 3 7 8 10 14-18

Bangkok Los Angeles San Francisco Seattle Vancouver Toronto China

23-25

Singapore

Tourism Australia's Workshop Indian International Travel Exhibition Holiday Expo Canadian Tourism Commission’s B2B Workshop Tourism Australia's Workshop International Tourism Mart Scandinavian Tourism Board’s Seminar Scandinavian Tourism Board’s Seminar Scandinavian Tourism Board’s Seminar Visit Britain’s B2B UK Destination & Access Seminar Austrian National Tourist Board’s Roadshow Austrian National Tourist Board’s Roadshow IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific ATOAI Roadshow ATOAI Roadshow ATOAI Roadshow ATOAI Roadshow ATOAI Roadshow Canadian Tourism Commission’s Showcase Asia ITB Asia

NOVEMBER NATIONAL 8-10 11 13 22-24 26

Vishakapatnam Mumbai Bengaluru Pune Delhi

Bengaluru

Mumbai

29-Dec2 Hyderabad

Holiday Expo Monaco Tourism’s B2B Roadshow Monaco Tourism’s B2B Roadshow IITM Pune German National Tourist Board’s B2B Event German National Tourist Board’s B2B Event German National Tourist Board’s B2B Event IITM Hyderabad

INTERNATIONAL 4-7 11-14 19-21

London Spain Spain

NATIONAL

World Travel Market Golf Travel Market EIBTM

DECEMBER

5-7

Chandigarh

7-9 9

Lucknow Delhi

Mumbai

Ahmedabad

Bengaluru

Chennai

28-30

Goa

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s Tourism Fest India Travel Mart Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority’s B2B Roadshow Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority’s B2B Roadshow Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority’s B2B Roadshow Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority’s B2B Roadshow Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority’s B2B Roadshow India Travel Mart

INTERNATIONAL 1-4 2-5 4

Manila France Australia

5-8 6-8

Turkey China

OTOAI Convention International Luxury Travel Market Tourism Australia’s Dreamtime 2013 Travel and Tourism Fair Chengdu International Travel Fair

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

More than just hostels in Switzerland The Swiss Youth Hostels have a network of over 52 establishments throughout Switzerland. market.” The company will also promoting its new and upcoming properties in Gstaad, Grindelwald and Saas-fee in India.

TT B U R E AU

wiss Youth Hostels is aiming at raising awareness about its products in the Indian market as well as changing perceptions about hostel stays among Indian travellers. Swiss Youth Hostels has appointed Maison de Voyage, the sales and marketing arm of the Zaka Group as their representative in India. Beatrice Dolder, Business Development Director, Maison de Voyage said, “The Swiss Youth Hostels have a network of over 52 establishments

Beatrice Dolder Business Development Director Maison de Voyage

throughout Switzerland. It is a comparatively new product in the Indian market and it is already revolutionising the perception of hostels in the

Dolder added, “Our main aim is to make the Indian market aware that Swiss Youth Hostels are more than just hostels.” Dolder also informed that Swiss Youth Hostels have no minimum stay requirements and no age limits. The company is targetting the family as well as the educational and MICE segments from India. Dolder said, “The company which is targetting the metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata

and Chennai in India will also participate in OTR roadshows across the country. Additionally, the company has also appointed Preferred Agents across India to promote Swiss Youth Hostels. “In order to avail of Swiss Youth Hostels, a membership is necessary,” Dolder stated. “This membership can be purchased in India as well.” The amenities offered by Swiss Youth Hostels include breakfast, discounts on excursions and activities, meetings and seminar rooms in selected hostels and playrooms for children in selected hostels.

Heritage weekends for travellers The Vivaana Hospitality Group is keen to develop Vivaana as a unique combination of Heritage and Rural Tourism TT B U R E AU

ndians are turning out to be an important supply market for heritage properties. Endorsing such trend is the Vivaana Hospitality Group that has seen tremendous increase in domestic tourists to its heritage property. “Our main source markets have been the European market, especially the French market. We have had many tourists from the region previously. We are also looking at new markets

including the Italian and Spanish markets. But, since our property is only five and half hours from Delhi, we had witnessed that the Indian weekend travellers, especially professionals living in National Capital Region come with their children to see and enjoy the village life and heritage around,” said Atul Khanna, Director, Vivaana Hospitality. Vivaana is a 125-yearold property restored skilfully into a hotel. The rooms with brilliant frescoes offer

to be enjoyed by the erstwhile rich Marwari traders of India.

Atul Khanna Director Vivaana Hospitality

the guests a chance to relive history and enjoy the ambience which used

“Vivaana is located in the beautiful open art-gallery of India, the Shekhawati region. The USP of the hotel is living inside the fresco painted havelis, where each room is unique and tells the story of the lifestyle of the rich Marwaris of the region. The royal ambience, excellent regional and cross-country cuisines, modern facilities, swimming pool and spa make your stay a memorable one,” said Khanna.

ADTOI Members@Oberoi event ADTOI Active Members attended the exclusive event organised by Oberoi Group on 20 Sept. 2013 at The Maidens, Delhi. The event served as a training session and also marked the launch of winter offers by The Oberoi Group.

BEYOND BIZ

A different take from the trade asks IATO’s Chapter Chairmen some off-beat questions on what they want to change in India, and who would they like most to represent the country in different aspects of tourism. From SRK to Sunny Leone, here is what they had to say. Sunil C. Gupta, Chairman, IATO Uttar Pradesh Chapter Q Who should be the brand ambassador for the country’s night tourism?

Katrina Kaif and Sunny Leone

Who should be the brand ambassador for food tourism?

Rajan Sehgal,

Member, Civil Aviation and Airlines Committee Q

India’s night tourism?

•

India’s food tourism?

•

Bollywood tourism?

Former U S President Bill Clinton Q What changes will you bring in tourism if you were the PM of India?

Increase the budget of the department of tourism manifold, and a worldwide campaign of Incredible India Part 2,3,4,5,6 should be undertaken.

According to you, who should be the brand ambassador to promote Bollywood tourism in India? Q

Amitabh Bachchan

Brand ambassador for:

•

Arjun Rampal Anupam Kher SRK and Salman Khan

Q If I were PM - I would become ‘travel-agent friendly’. I will call them and listen to all their woes as nobody has done it till date.

Harihar Patra, Member, IATO Tour Guide Relations Committee Q Brand ambassador for food tourism?

Famous chefs like Kunal Kapoor. Q If you were the PM of India?

Rakesh Chopra, Chairman, IATO Madhya Pradesh Chapter Q Brand ambassador for India’s night tourism?

I will try to bring the infrastructure to the front to ensure that travellers do not have any problems. I will also make the stakeholders understand their deliverables to the country in terms of employment and resource utilisation for various earnings so that we can manage the business better.

Sunny Leone Q Brand ambassador for food tourism in the country ?

Rajiv Mehra,

Akshay Kumar

Committee Member, IATO

Q Brand ambassador to promote Bollywood tourism?

Q Brand ambassador for India’s night tourism?

Amitabh Bachchan

Shahrukh Khan Q Brand ambassador for India’s sports tourism?

Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar

Bhim Singh, Chairman, IATO Rajasthan Chapter

Brand ambassador for India’s food tourism? Q

• • Q

Mr Hemant Oberoi, Corporate Chef & Grand Executive Chef at The Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai Mr Sanjeev Kapoor, Ex Executive Chef at Taj, Oberoi, ITDC.

Brand ambassador for India’s night tourism?

Undoubtedly, Amitabh Bachchan

Q Brand ambassador for India’s Bollywood tourism?

Amitabh Bachchan Q If I were PM of India? - I would abolish service tax, rationalise other taxes and give ‘industry status’ to the tourism industry.

Amaresh Tiwari, Committee member, IATO Q Brand ambassador for India’s night tourism?

If you were the PM of India?

•

Making road travel safer and connecting all major cities and tourist destinations in the country.

• •

Joining all cities by air.

Sonia Gandhi

Abolish Service Tax and other tourist related taxes on Tour Operators & Hoteliers and thus liberalise the tourism industry.

Q Brand ambassador for Bollywood tourism?

• •

Visa on Arrival for all countries. Improve immigration facilities to give a complete face lift to the department, as this is the first impression of India a tourist gets when he arrives from abroad.

Shashi Tharoor Q Brand ambassador for India’s food tourism?

Katrina Kaif Q

If you were the PM of India?

Bring strict regulations for tour operators and all other stakeholders. Development of destination infrastructure, export industry benefit to tourism, single-window clearance of all tourism-related projects regarding licenses.

CLIPBOARD

OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

TRAVTALK

MOVEMENTS

TRAVTALK OCTOBER 1 ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013

Canadian Tourism Commission

TripAdvisor for Business

Fairmont Raffles Hotels International

Vancouver

London

Dubai

Jon Mamela has been appointed as the Vice-President,

Marc Charron has been appointed as President of TripAdvisor

Sami Nasser has been appointed as the Senior Vice President,

International of Canadian Tourism Commission. His primary role will be to oversee CTC’s marketing and sales activities in its key international markets. Mamela has a deep marketing background, with launching and building global brands, driving revenue via multichannel marketing strategies and developing top-drawer CRM programs all in his locker. Before joining CTC, Mamela was Global Director of Customer Experience Marketing & Partnerships for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

for Business. Prior to joining TripAdvisor, Charron served as Vice President of product marketing at SquareTrade in San Francisco. Before SquareTrade, he served as Managing Director of QXL.com, Getz International Travel, and Danube Travel, all based in London. He received his Bachelor's degree from Trinity University. Charron, who will be based in London, will be responsible for the continued growth and innovation of TripAdvisor for Business as it expands its services for the hospitality sector and travel industry.

Operations, Middle East, Africa and India, FRHI. He will be responsible for providing leadership across the Middle East, Africa and India for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Raffles Hotels & Resorts and Swissôtels Hotels. He brings over 25 years of hospitality experience to his new role, having held several roles within numerous international brands across a diversity of countries both in Operations, Sales and Distribution. Previously, Nasser was Senior Vice President Operations, Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean for Sofitel.

Malaysia Airlines New Delhi Mohamed Sathik Ali Mohd Meera has been appointed by Malaysia Airlines as the General Manager – Western India where his role includes rolling out and ensuring the success of Malaysia Airlines’ expansion plans. Before taking up this new role, Sathik was attached in Bangalore as General Manager for Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, having returned there after a two-year stint as General Manager for North India based in New Delhi.

Ahmad Nasruldin Ahmad Mahayuddin has been appointed by Malaysia Airlines as the General Manager for the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh region. In this role, Ahmad will oversee development of sales and distribution strategies to increase participation and revenue. Before taking up the new role, Ahmad was previously Area Manager of South America based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Throughout the years, he has accumulated experiences in various divisions, taking on a range of responsibilities before joining the Commercial Division in 2004.

Mohd Zuraidi Mohd Saisi has been appointed by Malaysia Airlines as the General Manager for Tamil Nadu and Kerala region. His new role would require Zuraidi to manage the entire commercial operations, reservations and ticketing to drive sales in the region. His past tenure includes posting at Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City, Dubai, and Chennai being the most recent. He has past exposure within MAS covering Internal Audit Department, Service Quality Unit, Commercial/Sales Division and In-Flight Operations Department.

The Claridges Hotels & Resorts

New Delhi

The Gateway Hotel IT Expressway Chennai

Tarun Sharma has been appointed by Emirates Airline as the

Chennai

Kanchan Rizvi has been appointed as the Director of Sales and

Emirates Airline Regional Manager for North and East India. Sharma will oversee the Passenger, Cargo, Airport, Engineering, Finance and Administration activities for Emirates’ Commercial Operations in North and East India. He joins Emirates from his previous employer Thomas Cook (I) Ltd. where he was the Associate Vice President Sales, responsible for the markets of North and East India as well as Gujarat. Sharma is an alumnus from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade from where he graduated with a Masters Degree in Marketing & Finance.

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: Peden Doma Bhutia, Megha Paul

Ajay Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels is a fitness enthusiast and mountaineer. He can be seen often running marathons in the city. A normal day for him starts at five in the morning with his yoga, a long walk for an hour or session at the gym. "I am a complete fitness freak. Now we have long lives. So there is no point in living such a long span when you are not fit and healthy." Bakaya loves going back to nature whenever he is on holiday. "I like climbing the mountains and going to hill stations. I try and take at least one holiday every year," he says.

Ranjit Shankar has been appointed as the General Manager of The Gateway Hotel IT Expressway Chennai. Prior to joining The Gateway Hotel IT Expressway Chennai, Shankar has had an opportunity to lead teams as the General Manager of The Gateway Hotels in Surat, Mangalore, and Madurai. His current stint at The Gateway Hotel IT Expressway Chennai is his fourth as the General Manager. He has almost 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry.

New Delhi Marketing The Claridges Hotels & Resorts. In her new role she will be responsible for driving revenue and marketing strategies for The Claridges group which includes The Claridges New Delhi, Atrium Surajkund, The Claridges Nabha Residence Mussoorie and other upcoming projects. With an experience of 13 years in the hospitality industry, Rizvi was associated with Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar since pre opening of the hotel 2010, The Grand Hyatt Mumbai/Hyatt South West Asia Sales Office & The Oberoi Group.

Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group of Companies loves to swim and jog regularly. He says that he also enjoys watching movies and listening to music. “The last movie I liked watching was Satyagraha. When it comes to music I like listening to techno and Bollywood music.” Being from the travel industry, Nijhawan says he’s fond of travelling, and when not travelling on work, he likes visiting places with his family. Describing himself as a person with a good sense of humour he adds that he’s very disciplined and punctual and appreciates the same from others.

Gauri Jayaram, Regional Director-South Asia, Globus family of Brands, has recently made her debut as an author with her book -- Wise Enough to be Foolish. The book is a fictionalised memoir that traces the journey of an Indian girl’s life, with all its challenges and delightful surprises, as she blossoms from an insecure child into a confident young woman. Apart from her new venture, Jayaram has been involved in sports all her life. A long-distance runner, she loves cycling (even to work), trekking, rafting and so on.

Gungun Girish, Head Concierge, Fairmont Jaipur, is a gifted musician. She has taken years of training in classical music and loves to perform occasionally. “Earlier I used to perform regularly. However, now as work takes most of my time, I do not sing that much.” The first woman concierge in Rajasthan, Girish loves working in her hometown Jaipur. Well-versed with all regions of Rajasthan, her favourite destination in India is Jaisalmer.

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:30-09-2013

HIGHLIGHT

Andhra Pradesh round-the-year In a freewheeling interaction, learns about various strategic initiatives built around Andhra Pradesh and its keenness to support Southern Zonal Tourism Council (SZTC). T T B U R E AU

ndhra Pradesh is among one of the top states that has developed state-of-theart infrastructure and amenities. As per Chandana Khan, Special Chief Secretary, Tourism, AP, “Unlike most

er, cooperate and coordinate. The states play a very important role in this. It is for us to understand the potential that these assets can create for the state’s economy, employment and overall socio-cultural development,” said Khan. “The states would need

bearers had welcomed and approved the idea,” said Khan. “The setting up of the SZTC will facilitate development of tourism and tourism products of Southern India in a holistic and comprehensive manner. The development of

Maharashtra. We are also in advanced deliberations with Tamil Nadu. Going forward, we would like to conduct joint promotions with all our neighbours and expand our partnership with other states,” said Khan, at the sidelines of the State

Tourism Infrastructure Investments Beach properties at: O Srikakulam O Vizianagaram O East Godavari O West Godavari O Prakasam O Nellore

Coastal corridors: O VizagBheemunipatnam sea front O Vizag-VizianagaramSrikakulam Regional circuit

Hussain Sagar, Hyderabad

states that are still grappling with scarcity of state-of-the art infrastructure, AP has silently developed adequate infrastructure and other facilities in our state. For instance, Hyderabad has the largest MICE infrastructure, which cities like Delhi and Mumbai also lack,” said Khan. “The area that we perhaps lack is aggressive promotion. Now, with 10-fold increase in our promotion budget, we are looking at utilising all possible means to promote our state. One of the areas that will be our key focus is the MICE segment,” she added. AP also aims at realising travellers’ dream to see Southern India as one complete product. In this direction, it earnestly believes that all the southern states should be built on their synergies. “We had recently conducted the second Southern Retreat of the southern states at Hyderabad, initiated by WTTC India Initiative. Indian Tourism demands all the stakeholders to come togeth-

to nurture these assets and create avenues for the state government, private sector, entrepreneurs and most importantly, the local community to reap sustainable benefits,” she added.

Integrated Tourism Circuits among the southern states will be the way forward. The issues of competitive taxation of tourism products, interstate taxation, and seamless tourist movement at entry and exit points of the states

Ministers’ Conference in New Delhi. Moreover Andhra Pradesh has also taken steps to increase its tourism projects through PPP projects. The programme is supported by the Ministry of Tourism

The states would need to nurture these assets and create avenues for the state government, private sector, entrepreneurs and most importantly, the local community to reap sustainable benefits Chandana Khan, Special Chief Secretary, Tourism, AP The most dynamic initiative in the direction of bringing all the southern attractions together is the initiation of the Southern Zonal Tourism Council (SZTC). “The SZTC comprising states of AP, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry had been mooted at the previous Southern Retreat in 2012. K Chiranjeevi, Minister for Tourism, in his interaction with the WTTC-India office

will also be addressed by the council,” she added. Moreover, AP is also keen to partner its border states to step up tourism promotion jointly. Andhra Pradesh is bordered by Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the North, the Bay of Bengal in the East, Tamil Nadu to the South and Karnataka to the West. “We have recently signed an MoU with

which has already sanctioned `221 crore. The initiatives include building coastal corridors along the VizagBheemunipatnam sea front and Vizag-VizianagaramSrikakulam Regional circuit with `175 crore investment, and eight new beach properties in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, East Godavari, West Godavari, Prakasam and Nellore districts.