Tourismfirst september issue by Cross Section Media Pvt. Ltd.

Volume 2. Issue 5. September 2016. `50 Total pages 32 No.U(NDGPO)-01/2016-2017 Date of Publication: 21/09/2016 RNI No. DELENG/2015/62794 Posting Dt. 12-17/09/2016 Postal Reg. No. DL(ND)-11/6180/2015-16-17

Vijay Mankotia moots ‘Himalayan States Council’ to expedite infra development

Instead of ad-hoc solutions to address imminent issues, there is a pressing need for a body involving Himalayan states to plan and execute infrastructural development projects, says Major Mankotia, Vice Chairman, HPTDB. … page 10

Delhi Tourism to launch big ticket programs at BITB this year Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra briefed the media delegation that a number of initiatives mooted by Delhi Tourism will be rolled out at BITB 2016. The minister was briefing a large media gathering at the Delhi Secretariat.

From L-R: Rahul Bhasin; KB Kachru; Kapil Mishra; Navin Berry and Rakesh Mathur

By TF Bureau

tourism currents

nnouncing the launch of BITB 2016, Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra informed a packed house of media delegation, with representatives from print and electronic media, that the Delhi government was going to roll-out a number of new initiatives at the inaugural edition of the event. He shared that the government was going to unveil the modalities of Delhi Festival and advertisement campaign for the first time at the event. “There would be representation from several countries; a number of states, too, would have representation. All the major hospitality brands would be in attendance. Most importantly, Incredible India and Make in India have also endorsed the event. Therefore, Delhi state government, as a host city partner, would take part in BITB 2016,” the minister said. He noted that the event was an opportunity to showcase efforts taken by the state government to a wider audience and important stakeholders of the tourism industry. Navin Berry, Executive Director, Cross Section Media shared that it was for the first time that the global leader in travel trade show was venturing into the Indian market. Sharing more details, he highlighted that, beside a B2B exhibition, a number of engaging sessions were also planned to delve on the intricacies and issues facing the tourism industry.

Air India to introduce new connections to Spain and Bangkok in 2017: Lohani (Page 6)

states

Serious Business. Senior leadership. Meaningful Networking A unique opportunity to engage with the tourism fraternity. In partnership with industry associations across all verticals

Impeccable connectivity, world-class infra key to MICE surge in Lavasa: Rajiv Duggal (Page 12)

online + technology

Booking.com to continue strengthening its domestic markets: Vikas Bhola (Page 15)

Hoels + resorts

BUY NOW P AY

A N D

R E G I S T E R

A T

www.bitb.org Access only. Valid for 5th & 6th October only

Room rates in the mid-segment will continue to remain under pressure: Vimal Singh (Page 19)

*Per Person, Inclusive of Taxes

4-6 October, 2016. Hall 18, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

outbound

BRAND USA’s PPP model ideal for mutually leveraging resources, says CEO Thompson (Page 28)

To boost investments in states and UTs, MoT launches investors’ summit

ith an eye on attracting investment from various quarters, in a first, the Ministry of Tourism has organised the Incredible India Tourism Investors’ Summit, with an aim to bring together various state governments and global and domestic investors, together, for funding projects in states and Union Territories. The summit is being organised by CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) and TFCI (Tourism Federation Corporation of India). The Ministry of Tourism is acting as the facilitator of the summit – which is going to be annual feature. The event is likely to see participation from

29 Indian states with ready investable projects, domestic and global investors, hoteliers, infrastructure developers, restaurateurs, banks and financial institutions, entertainment companies, civic amenity providers, business developers, and venture capitalists. Over 250 investors who are expected to participate, include global investors from Abu Dhabi, Canada, US, UK, Singapore and Dubai. Some of the other key participants include Carlson Rezidor, Bird Group, Samhi Hotels, OYO, Stay Zilla, and Airbnb. If realised, the Ministry of Tourism expects the total investment to be in tune of `50,000 crores.

this issue : Se pte mbe r, 2016

Technology creating challenging enviornment for tour operators

hese are interesting and challenging times for the industry. After five years of lull, green shoots are finally visible in the hospitality industry. The HVS report, released recently, has indicated that occupancy rates have witnessed an uptick. Also, some of the traditional markets are performing significantly better than they were in previous years. Despite these noticeable developments, a large chunk of tour operators and travel agents are finding it difficult to sync themselves to the dynamism that has come about in the marketspace. In past few years, the online space, especially OTAs, have grown at a pulsating pace. From global giants like Booking.com and Expedia making their foray into the Indian market, to an array of homegrown players, the online space is fast transforming into a new frontier for travel, tourism and hospitality. Much of this growth has been solidly backed by global investors with deep-pockets, with an eye on grabbing a share in India’s lucrative marketspace, allowing OTAs to scale up their inventory at an unprecedented pace.

Arun Jaitley

Union Finance Minister, on expectations of the industry on GST

More the exemptions, the higher will be the rate... Because when you exempt some people, you charge others a higher rate. For everybody to accept exemptions, actually would end up in a higher rate.

Beside the amplified reach, thanks to a never before penetration of internet into the nation’s hinterland – which has been backed by the government with an aim to take digitalization to the farthest corners of the country – they have also been able to dole out hefty discounts to consumers, allowing them to offer hotel rooms at rates that are becoming increasingly difficult for a regular brick-and-mortar tour operators, and also for the larger organised tourism industry to match.

Taleb Rifai

Secretary-General, UNWTO on growing prowess of the travel and tourism industry

The year 1950 after the second World War, there were only 22 million international travels. From 22 million we moved to 1.18 billion. There is no industry in the world, there is not human activity in the world that has grown so exponentially as travel.

As a result, one big component of the inbound tourism package – the room cost – which was traditionally meant to be around 60% – has now been made very beatable. Also, there has been a major change in the way travel is happening. A lot of tourists are bypassing traditional mediums and taking to OTAs for their travel needs. It could be driven by convenience, cheaper pricing or, simply, the comfort of scanning a gamut of options from their mobile phones. While major tour operators may still be finding range, volume and market penetration, it remains an undeniable fact that a majority of medium and small-sized operators are under considerable stress. Some of these issues surfaced at the recently held IATO annual conference held in Chennai, signalling that all is not well and there is lurking fear within a section of the industry of losing out to the OTAs. It is a struggle between two unequal entities. While online players enjoy unhindered and unparalleled reach via the internet and plethora of search engines that have become ubiquitous, a traditional travel agent is nowhere in competition – with much smaller budgets, restricted visibility and, of course, smaller inventory at higher prices to offer. In simple words, the livelihood of a traditional tour operators is at stake.

Nitish Kumar

Bihar CM on developing religious circuits in the state

The state government is mulling to begin Sikh tourism circuit like Buddhist circuit, In fact in order to tap tremendous potential of religious tourism in Bihar, we are also working on Sufi circuit, Ramayan circuit and Gandhi circuit (connected with places in the state linked with Mahatama Gandhi's visit to state).

John Abraham

In desperate times such as these, one way forward for traditional players could be looking at creating consortiums and expanding their bouquet of offerings to counter the onslaught of the online space. It is difficult to pin-point the exact way forward, but given the gravity of the situation, traditional players will have to look at unique and out of the box ways to stay relevant. It is a battle for existence!

on being appointed as the brand ambassador of Arunachal Pradesh Tourism

I have always been fascinated with northeast India: each state has its unique beauty, history and culture. It is a state rich with culture, mysticism, great people and stunning views. When I'm there, all I need is some music, my boots to walk around and a mind free from all worries to be able to embrace its mesmerising beauty.

Contents Tourism Currents 4. Imparting basic skills at the grassroots critical for industry to succeed: Mahesh Sharma 5. Rural development and tourism are two sides of the same coin, says S K Misra

Aviation 6. Air India to introduce new connections to Spain and Bangkok in 2017: Lohani 7. Joint Venture between Lufthansa and SIA to help the latter improve position in key offline markets: CAPA Report

tourism currents: IATO conference 8. Disconnect between government figures and ground reality: Rajiv Kohli 9. GOI gives in-principle approval to multiple-entry and extension of e-visa, shares Zutshi

States

13. Kashmir intensifies outreach with an eye on adventure tourism

online + technology 14. Stayzilla’s bottom-up approach ensuring product accommodation in Homestay space 15. Booking.com to continue strengthening its domestic markets: Vikas Bhola 18. AI and Big Data analysis to remain crucial for personalisation push in the app space

hotels + resorts 19. Room rates in the mid-segment will continue to remain under pressure: Vimal Singh 20. Industry must refrain from marketing luxury hotels as commodity: Karan Singh 21. Millennial travellers driving ‘experience economy’ and personalisation in service

10. Vijay Mankotia moots ‘Himalayan States Council’ to expedite infra development

22. Hotels push for unique offerings as new-age travellers look for newer experiences

12. Impeccable connectivity, world-class infra key to MICE surge in Lavasa: Rajiv Duggal

23. Three-star category hotels lead industry’s RevPAR; room supply swells, reads HVS report

niche: luxury 24. Choice and competitiveness shaping up the future of luxury outbound: Yeishan Goel

niche: cruise 25. It’s a fallacious notion that cruising is an elite acitivity, says Ratna Chadha

outbound: dubai 26. In the making, Dubai Parks and Resorts set to muscle up port city’s tourism offerings

Navin Berry navin@tourismfirst.org senior writer: Shashank Shekhar shashank@tourismfirst.org features editor: Priyaanka Berry priyaanka@tourismfirst.org editor:

outbound: global 27. With T20 and Bollywood, Florida gains steady traction in the outbound 27. Thanks to stronger destination promotion, outbound to Seychelles up by 62 percent

outbound: USA 28. BRAND USA’s PPP model ideal for mutually leveraging resources, says CEO Thompson

the last page: interview 30. Nurturing the ‘Spirit of the Land’

Tourismfirst is owned, published and printed by Navin Berry and printed at Anupam Art Printers. B-52, Naraina Phase II, New Delhi. It is published from 36-37, 3rd Floor, Indra Palace, H-Block, Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110 001. Tel: 011-43784444. Total pages 32

tourism curre nts

Imparting basic skills at the grassroots critical for industry to succeed: Mahesh Sharma Speaking at the Amity International Tourism & Hospitality Conference, to an audience that included hundreds of young students and a number of industry veterans, Tourism Minster Mahesh Sharma touched upon some of the key initiatives undertaken by the MoT to improve tourism and ease of travel in the country. He stressed on the need for skill development at the grassroots to better harness India’s tourism potential. medical background,” he recalled. Noting that when industry stakeholders spoke at international forums, they did not talk about billions of dollars of foreign reserves that India had, but, instead, talked of the rich Indian heritage and culture, “and India’s rich heritage and culture needs to be passed on to the corners of the world by giving it the wings of tourism and aviation,” he said. “That was the vision behind giving me these three ministries,” he added. Commenting that the conference was an opportunity to ponder Our PM has always thought that tourism on means of making has the potential tourism a pillar of nation’s to become an economy, besides exploreconomic engine, ing ways of developing an employment tourism and hospitalgenerator and a ity industry as modes to carrier of our rich culture and heritage. promote human empowWhether he talks from erment, he said “how the Madison Square can we take this industry or from the ramparts forward for youth empowof the Red Fort, he erment and employment has always mentioned is the issue that needs to these issues. It is high time to figure out be looked into.” how can we take the Mahesh Sharma modalities of tourism illustrated his argument and hospitality and by sharing that when he promote them in a big visited Maldives, he saw way. that agricultural production was almost nil there. “Almost 90 percent of the nation’s economy is dependent on tourism, but they have developed tourism in a big way,” he said. Reiterating government’s commitment to augment tourism related services, he said that the issue of tourism augmentation was “the need of the time” and “touchy to the heart of our PM Narendra Modi.” The tourism minister outlined three core pillars essential for development of tourism – cleanliness, security and hospitality. “We are known for our hospitality. We treat our guests with the ethos of ‘Atithi Devo Bhawah’ and that is our strength. We are addressing the issue related to cleanliness by linking it to Prime Minister’s vision of making India clean, making our tourist destinations clean. And he has really created a momentum out of common man’s thought of keeping India and our surroundings clean – Swaccha Bharat Abhiyaan’, clean tourism and monuments, that is our mission,” he said. He mentioned government’s efforts to improve security and safety of travellers, especially international travellers, noting that the MoT had come out with a toll free centralised number, 1363

By Shashank Shekhar

ourism Minster Mahesh Sharma noting, in quite a poetic nuance, equated a traveller to a honey-bee, who absorbed the best of cultures, traditions and culinary exploits and passed it on to the next destination. “Tourism does not mean moving from one place to another, one city to another and even one nation to another. When a traveller moves, like a honey-bee, he carries the culture and customs of one place to another,” he said. Striking a comparison between developed and developing economies, he argued that “when looking at tourism in developed and developing countries, maybe it is the economic need that makes a developing country more dependent on tourism.” Sharing an interesting anecdote, he described his first reaction when he was asked to lead the trio of Civil Aviation, Culture and Tourism ministries. “I asked PM one day about the vision for handing me three ministries of tourism, hospitality and civil aviation, together, when I come from a

– a helpline number available in 12 international languages. “It is the first initiative of the government of India. A Japanese tourist can place queries in Japanese language. It has helped tourists cross the language barrier, giving them a choice. This is the first such initiative anywhere in the world,” he stressed. Making a mention of the e-visa scheme – a scheme rolled out by the government in early November of 2014 to facilitate easy visa application – he said that the government had extended the facility to 150 out of 193 countries in the world. “Another 35 countries will be added shortly. There is a growth of over 300 percent in international tourist arrival. Let us be proud of saying that!” he said. “The World Economic Forum has ranked India at 52nd spot – a jump of 13 places, in just one year. Our earnings from foreign tourists was `1,23,000 crores and this year it is `1,35,000 crores, giving us a jump of almost 9.86 percent, at a time when the world’s growth has only been about 4.6 percent,” he added. Batting for India as a nation with immense potential to become the destination by choice for global outbound, he advocated a stronger and more concerted push in this regard. “Our PM has always thought that tourism has the potential to become an economic engine, an employment generator and a carrier of our rich culture and heritage. Whether he talks from the Madison Square or from the ramparts of the Red Fort, he has always mentioned these issues. It is high time to figure out how can we take the modalities of tourism and hospitality and promote them in a big way,” he said. Suggesting a road forward, he noted that India was on its way to becoming the human resource capital for the world in coming years. “We are the largest democracy of the world. We have the youngest population in the world; almost 65 percent of our population is below the age of 35. It is at a time when the world is facing a crisis in this area. Let us make the use of this strength,” he said to a packed gathering. Mahesh Sharma was of the opinion that youth needed to be empowered with skill development with focussed training in their areas of interest. “To meet the challenges of hospitality and tourism industry, we must look at new ways. Our government is training Dhabawalas on how to even serve a glass of water to the guest. We are looking at imparting basic skills to people like boatmen and priests on how to address international clients,” he said. In his concluding remarks, he termed Noida a ‘complete destination’, mentioning amidst thunderous applause that path was being laid to construct an international airport near Noida. “Noida is already on the international tourism map. Starting from Akshardham Temple, Bahujan Prerna Park, most beautiful Botanical Garden near the Sector 18 metro station, and going to ISCKON temple and then Shadeed Stambh, there is no dearth of offerings in Noida,” he said. He also mentioned that nation’s maiden night safari was going to be operationalised in Greater Noida.

Niche segment to get a boost as India looks at cruise offerings

ith an aim to give a major fillip to cruise tourism in the country, the government is looking at addressing issues that have yet kept this lucrative niche segment out of bounds for the Indian tourism industry. Given India’s 7,500 kilometres long coastline, the move makes all the right noises. "Tourism ministry along with Surface and Waterways ministry are taking cruise tourism in a big way," Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma, said to an English daily while in Australia to officially launch the 10-week festival "Confluence: Festival of India" for Australian cities. "At present, we are sharing a very less share of cruise tourism of one per cent. We have 7,500 kms of coastal belt with us and both the min-

istries have a joint group headed by secretary tourism. Very soon we are going to define he path of how to take cruise tourism in a big way,” he added. The government has decided to take steps for improving key facets pertaining to travel and tourism – which includes cleanliness, connectivity, safety and security of visitors. The Tourism Minster also met with his Australian counterpart Richard Colbeck to discuss on ways and means to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in areas related to travel and tourism. He noted that "There is already a cultural exchange programme between the two sides but we are looking at what else can be done.”

tourism curre nts

Rural development and tourism are two sides of the same coin, says S K Misra

Padma Bhushan S K Misra has been a towering figure of the tourism sector for many decades, spearheading some of the finest projects in his heyday, during his stint in the tourism ministry and later in INTACH. Speaking at the Amity International Tourism & Hospitality Conference, he yet again underscored the need for strengthening rural tourism offerings, as it had massive implications on capacity-building at the grassroots. He also advocated for a more concerted approach in selecting villages for promoting rural tourism. We bring you excerpts of his insightful speech. By shashank shekhar

atting for rural tourism as a vehicle for national growth, especially at the grassroots, S K Misra asserted that the sector needed close attention and it was “overdue” to focus on newer destinations to attract more tourists into India. However, he urged stakeholders to not look at rural tourism only to augment numbers and businesses, but as a “strong vehicle for development in many parts of the country.” He conceded that the Ministry of Tourism had initiated some measures in this segment, but they could not be sustained for reasons galore. Recalling his first rendezvous with the rural tourism sector, while he headed INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), he shared that the village of Raghurajpur in Odisha gave him an opportunity of experimenting with the concept. “The location was close to the famous temple town of Jagannath Puri, which attracts thousands of tourists, both domestic and foreign. The village has a long-standing tradition of Pattachitra painting, sculpture and toy-making. The artisans work from their small houses where they demonstrate their skills to visitors and offer their products for sale,” he said. Elaborating on his engagement, he divulged that the village also had a unique tradition where young boys and girls, aged 10-12, performed the Gotipua dance. “The village had good potential as a unique rural tourist destination with easy accessibility to the National Highway, and offered a unique performance experience as well as an appealing shopping experience. With these basic assets already in place, a masterplan for infrastructure development was put in place, focusing on better accessibility, cafeteria serving local delicacies and basic accommodation for visitors were set up,” he detailed. Further sharing that local residents were trained to manage these facilities and ones with basic knowledge of English were trained as guides, besides creating facilities for the Gotipua dance performances, he said “the result was that there was not only a phenomenal increase in visitors, but also a positive impact on the lives of the local people with a substantial increase in earnings and better employment opportunities. It was no surprise, therefore, that this village secured the first prize in the rural tourism category from the Ministry of Tourism.” Sharing another such engagement, he told the gathering

that one of his projects was to create a cluster of three villages in the District of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. These villages in close proximity to Varanasi attract thousands of tourists, a large number of them being foreigners in search of the real India. “Each village possess a unique heritage asset. Nizamabad boasts of Black Clay Pottery tradition with Silver work. The only village in the country which is engaging in this activity since the time of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. While Mubarakpur is famed for its fine weaving tradition since the 14th century, and is mentioned in the travels of Ibn Batuta. Another village has strong classical music tradition. In spite of these rich heritage in villages, they suffered in poverty and lack of basic infrastructure and facilities,” he said.

Tourism sector must become the new patron of arts and crafts

he Surajkund International Crafts fair is perhaps one of the best and longest sustained annual crafts fair in the country. A brainchild of S K Misra, the idea of a fair, when mooted, was met with scepticism and doubts. He shared his experience as the Secretary Tourism of the government of India in the mid-eighties, noting that he felt “tourism should to pave socio-economic growth. The time has also come for tourism to act the patron of the crafts, a role in the earlier times performed by the erstwhile Maharajahs.” Sharing that a plan was formulated to bring in master craftsmen from all over the country to tourism resorts in Haryana – where they were to be provided with food and lodging as well as travelling expenses, he said

As a part of his intervention strategy, he has been developing these villages as new destinations for foreign tourists, aimed at proving them a unique rural experience, he said. Interestingly, hoteliers, nearby, have indicated that they would be happy to organise a day-trip to these villages, as tourists will stay with them for an extra night, he shared. “Plans for infrastructural development have been out into place to provide tourists with better accessibility, cleaner surroundings, with focus on improved drainage, safe drinking water, assured power supply, home-stay facilities and a tourist lodge. Better facilities for music performances, training local residents for various activities, and motivating the youth with a youth-club for community development. Some of the required funding has already Unfortunately, full been secured from, both, govrecognition of the ernment and private sources. catalytic effect of This is a very exciting pilot tourism is yet to project and we hope to replicate emerge. It has great implications for arts it in many states. India is a vast and culture, women country and considering its size empowerment, and varied attractions, we have removing social yet to reach our full potential as barriers and existing far as foreign and domestic tourfrustration that our ists are concerned,” he asserted. youth is subjected to, and in the final Noting that there were glaranalysis, producing ing gaps to be filled, he asked responsible and for a large-scale involvement of healthy citizens. rural communities in tourism activities, calling it a win-win situation for both the tourism industry and millions living in villages. “A concerted effort shall be required from the central government and state governments and the private sector. The role of government should, primarily, be that of a facilitator, ensuring a steady flow of funds when required, developing policy initiatives, organising training programs, developing infrastructure – particularly in regard to connectivity, safe drinking water drainage, assured power supply and adequate publicity,” he explained. S K Misra was of the opinion that India’s overall development was closely linked to the extent of the rural sector when it was brought into the mainstream, and was able to contribute substantially to the national economy. “Unfortunately, full recognition of the catalytic effect of tourism is yet to emerge. It has great implications for arts and culture, women empowerment, removing social barriers and existing frustration that our youth is subjected to, and in the final analysis, producing responsible and healthy citizens capable of shouldering responsibilities and providing leadership,” he lamented. “Tourism and rural development can be seen as two sides of the same coin. There is an urgent need for all stakeholders to join hands to evolve strategies that remove bottlenecks and roadblocks, and create new avenues for long-term and sustainable tourism,” he added. Taking stock of the foreign outbound coming into India, he asserted that an increasing number of foreign tourists were in search of the ‘real India’, and Indians, too, were exploring their rural roots, providing potential waiting to be exploited. “The activities that affect leisure travel into rural areas include working and training traditional crafts persons, participating in classical dance performances, gaining an insight into painting traditions, exploring monument traditions, witnessing conservation efforts, participating in their daily rituals of rural lives,” he said. In his concluding remark, he said “for rural tourism to flourish, always keep three things in mind. Have something for visitors to see, do and buy.” Adding that after making right selection of other measures necessary for motivation, involving communities, training programs, identification of assets and support programs to enhance the team, he said “the impact of these measures, apart from adding to tourist arrivals, would have tremendous significance on rural residents in capacity building.”

“the venture known as the Surajkund Crafts Mela was a wide success and it was deicide to hold it on an annual basis from February 1 to 15. It was developed as a joint responsibility of the Tourism department of the government of India, the Ministry of Tourism, government of India and the Development Commissioner of Handlooms and Handcrafts in the Ministry of Textiles. As it involved close coordination on a long-term basis between a number of agencies, not to mention arrangements by policemen across all the country, there was no dearth of doubting promises,” he elucidated. “Today, 30 years down the line, this is an event that has acquired and international dimension, with the active cooperation of more than a dozen countries, and over one million visitors,

of which over two lakhs are foreigners. A Spectacular success by any standards and one can only imagine staggering results can be achieved, if the same approach is used on a larger canvas,” he added. He argued that much had moved since then. “The scene today is not what it was ten years ago. We have many positive factors in our favour, especially new technologies and digital revolution that allows us to communicate freely across the globe,” he noted. Looking at domestic tourism, from 270 million annual visits in 2002 to 1.4 billion tourists, today means that we have many tourists who take several trips each year, he said, indicating that the growing economic power of an average Indian traveller presented itself with plethora of opportunities to tap into.

aviation

Air India to introduce new connections to Spain and Bangkok in 2017: Lohani Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India is walking a tightrope, striving to strike a fine balance between resolving pending legacy issues that have stifled the national carrier’s growth in the past decade and ushering an unprecedented era of operational profits for the carrier. While the ‘Maharajah’ is keen on ramping up its domestic operations, with the introduction of new flights on tier-2 and tier-3 routes, it is also planning a steady expansion on lucrative international connections. Ashwani Lohani at the 32nd IATO conference in Chennai. reflecting in a much improved performance, and an unprecedented profit in the last year, in the history of the national carrier, he said “some of the legacy issues do seem impossible to sort right now, but as we move forward, we hope to address them in a proper manner.” Reflecting on the symbiotic relationship between civil aviation and tourism, he stressed that both grew hand-in-hand, and neither could flourish in exclusion. “Development of civil aviation infrastructure is key to development of travel and tourism. It is complementary to each other,” said the CMD. When asked about the expansion plans of the

Steady expansion on important international routes is also something we are seriously looking at. We have recently kick-started Ahmedabad-LondonNewark connection – which was a longpending demand. The service has been started on the 15th of August and I am happy to share that we are flying at full capacity.

By TF Bureau

ir India CMD Ashwani Lohani made a candid admission when he readily concurred to the fact that a number of legacy issues had left a huge gap between operating performance and the net performance for the national carrier. Noting that all of it started to go haywire after the merger between Air India and Indian Airlines in 2006, he said, “We inherited a number of bad debts that needs to be sorted out.” Noting that some of the legacy issues had been sorted out,

“Steady expansion on important international routes is also something we are seriously looking at. We have recently kick-started Ahmedabad-London-Newark connection – which was a long-pending demand. The service has been started on the 15th of August and I am happy to share with you that we are flying at full capacity,” shared the CMD. Another important route connecting New Delhi and the Spanish capital – that has gained significant traction in the past few years, thanks to popular Bollywood movies being shot there – is likely to commence in late December or early January. The move is likely to add more traffic to Spain and boost bilateral movement between the two countries.

☛ Air India will increase its frequency and introduce new routes in the coming year. Most importantly, it will connect New Delhi to Madrid and Chandigarh to Bangkok ☛ While the national carrier is keen on expansion, it is also looking at consolidation of its existing fleet ☛ On the US front, frequency to San Francisco will be increased to 6 flights a week. Also on cards is direct air-connectivity between Delhi and Washington

airlines, he shared “I, personally, believe that growth is key to survival. Any organisation that ceases to grow, decays and finally succumbs. We are aware of that and looking at it in a serious manner.” However, he did agree that he would first look at consolidating existing operations before looking at attempting for route and fleet expansion. “Expansion would come after we have consolidated our current position,” he said. Ramping up international operations is likely to be on the radar for Air India, as the New Delhi- San Francisco direct flight is going to be extended to six flights a week, from currently four flights a week, starting November, he informed.

“Beside these routes, we are also going to start operation on the Chandigarh-Bangkok route,” Air India CMD added. While Air India is already operating a number of connections to key US gateways, it is also examining the feasibility of connecting the two capitals. “We are seriously looking at introducing direct flights to Washington,” he said. Route expansion aside, the national carrier is also going to add muscle to its fleet by adding over two aircrafts each month from the coming year. This augmentation was aimed at improving connections to tier-2 and tier-3, he said.

Alliance Air to ramp up its fleet by 40 aircrafts by the end of 2018

In what could help India drastically reduce the woes it faces in the realm of regional connectivity, especially into tier-2 and tier-3 cities, along with better air-service into the Northeast, Air India will significantly muscle up its existing Alliance Air fleet in the coming two years.

B 3–6 October, 2016 New Delhi

oosting regional connectivity, especially into the Northeast, has been one of the key focus areas of the present NDA government. In the same breath, Air India is planning a major addition to its fleet strength by adding over 40 aircrafts in its operations by the end of the next year. Speaking to tour operators at the IATO conference, he asserted that a stronger foray into untapped tier-2 and tier-3 cities was a top priority for Air India. He informed that a steady infusion of aircrafts into the inventory was aimed at bolstering connectivity

☛ The new Civil Aviation policy will improve regional connectivity into the North East and increasing frequencies in those regions. “With over 2.5 aircrafts planned to join the fleet each month, starting January in the next year, and increased frequencies of the existing fleet, we will improve regional connectivity,” he said. “We will connect tier-1 to tier-2 and tier-2 to tier-3 cities”, he added. The government of India has put in place an extremely

progressive Civil Aviation policy which would help improve the existing situation, he noted. “I am not a part of the Civil Aviation ministry, but I am quite pragmatic,” said the CMD. He also highlighted that he had taken note of a longstanding demand of the travel community and increased the quota allowed for baggage on domestic flights to 35 kgs.

“This is something that no other domestic carrier has done and the agent community has, in lieu, promised to give first preference to Air India. Only when an Air India connection is not available, they would look at some alternate arrangements,” he informed the gathering. He added that the national carrier was proving food on flights – the quality of which had substantially improved in the past months – with wider seats and more leg rooms, beside “giving our flyers a sense of national pride of flying with the Air India.”

aviation

Joint Venture between Lufthansa and SIA to help the latter improve position in key offline markets: CAPA Report Lufthansa Group’s new joint venture with Singapore Airlines (SIA) will significantly improve Lufthansa’s position in the key offline markets of Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. Lufthansa anticipates it will be able to implement the new JV in early 2017, to cover four markets in Asia Pacific along with four markets in Western Europe. The JV should improve Lufthansa’s ability to compete against Gulf carriers. It should also help support additional nonstop capacity from Singapore to Germany and Switzerland, reads the latest CAPA report. Excerpts:

ufthansa expects JV with SIA to begin in early 2017

Lufthansa Group and SIA Group initially announced a joint venture partnership in Nov-2015. At the time the two airline groups outlined plans to operate Singapore- Europe routes jointly and expand codeshare ties. Lufthansa and SIA subsequently applied for anti-trust immunity (ATI) from competition authorities in Australia, Europe, Malaysia and Singapore. Lufthansa Group Vice President Sales Asia Pacific Dieter Vranckx said at a 5-Sep-2016 media event in Singapore that European approval had been secured and the two airline groups were now waiting for the approval from Singapore and Australia authorities.

Lufthansa-SIA JV will not include Thailand or other SE Asian markets

There is no interest in expanding the JV to cover Thailand as Lufthansa Group already has a significant presence in Thailand with six of its own routes, including four to Bangkok and two in Phuket. The group will continue serving secondary cities in Thailand via Bangkok, working with Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways for domestic connections. Offering connections to Thailand via Singapore, which are more circuitous, is unnecessary. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are also more easily served via Bangkok and will therefore not be added to the JV. The Philippines would be a more logical addition to the JV, geographically. However, Lufthansa has no plans to add Philippines and plans instead to continue to focus on interline connections via Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airlines. Lufthansa suspended its own services to Manila in 2008.

JV will only include four European countries

In Europe the JV is limited to Lufthansa Group’s four home markets of Austria,

Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. SIA and Lufthansa/Swiss currently operate from Singapore to Germany and Switzerland. The much smaller Austria and Belgium markets will be covered with a joint one-stop product. There are no plans – at least for now – to extend the JV to include other European markets, or markets beyond Europe such as Africa or the Americas. Therefore, in terms of network scope the Lufthansa-Singapore JV is relatively limited. It is also limited to revenue sharing and does not include a sharing of costs or profits. However the JV should be able to improve the position of SIA and Lufthansa in the 16 country pairs covered by the arrangement, resulting in market share gains. In all 16 of these markets Gulf airlines have become aggressive

competitors and have gained market share.

Australia to Germany market share by airline (% of bookings): year ending 30- Jun-2016

Competing against the Gulf airlines is not easy as they generally offer extremely competitive prices. However, as Lufthansa and SIA start to coordinate prices and schedules they should be able to compete more effectively.

JV provides a two-stop product only from Australia to Belgium

The Gulf airlines have an even stronger share of the Australia to Australia, Belgium and Switzerland markets. However these markets are much smaller and, even combined, are slightly smaller than Australia-Germany. For Belgium the Gulf airlines have a competitive advantage over SIA and Lufthansa as they are able to offer a one-stop product. The SIA/Lufthansa JV will cover Belgium with a one-stop product from Singapore, therefore requiring two stops from Australia. SIA and Lufthansa Group both captured less than 1% share of Australia-Belgium bookings in the year ending Jun-2016. The Gulf

Joint Venture a strategic move

ingapore-Brussels and SingaporeVienna routes seem unlikely

The Singapore-Austria and Singapore-Belgium markets are much smaller, each with approximately 16,000 annual one-way bookings. Given the small size of the local markets it seems unlikely Vienna or Brussels will attract nonstop services from Singapore even under the JV. Vienna and Brussels are currently only linked with one Southeast Asian destination, Bangkok. Thai Airways is the only Southeast Asian airline serving Brussels while Vienna does not have any service from a Southeast Asian airline. SIA has shied away from Brussels as it believes a Singapore-Brussels service would cannibalise its operation in Amsterdam. A large share of passengers heading from Singapore to Belgium fly to Amsterdam. SIA does not believe the Benelux market is big enough to support more than one flight.

Finnair is the largest airline in the Singapore-Belgium market, accounting for a 26% share of bookings in the year ending Jun-2016 followed by Lufthansa with a SIA has shied away from Brussels as it believes a Singapore- Brussels service would cannibalise its operation in Amsterdam 13% share. Lufthansa is also the second largest airline in the Singapore-Austria market with a 17% share, just behind Emirates’ 18% share.

The Lufthansa-SIA JV is an important strategic move

The JV with SIA will likely only have a significant impact on Lufthansa’s position in the Southeast Asia and Australasia to Germany and Switzerland markets. In the smaller Austria and Belgium markets a two stop product from Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia is not competitive to the one stop product provided by other airlines. For SIA there may be a bigger opportunity to improve its position in

secondary offline European markets. SIA’s codeshare with Lufthansa beyond Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich has already been expanded. More codeshare points beyond both the European hubs and Singapore are expected to be added after the JV is implemented in early 2017. The JV gives both partners improved connectivity beyond each other’s hubs. The improved connectivity along with the ability to coordinate schedules and fares should generate more traffic between the hubs. This in turn should support capacity increases and new flights such as Lufthansa’s anticipated SingaporeMunich service. At least for now the JV is relatively limited in scope as it only covers eight markets. However it is a critical and important strategic step as Lufthansa and SIA try to carve out a stronger position in the extremely competitive Southeast Asia-Europe and AustraliaEurope markets.

airlines combined captured a 72% share. These figures are slightly misleading as passengers heading to Belgium often take the train to Amsterdam Schiphol or Paris Charles de Gaulle, where they can access a one-stop product from SIA (or other Asian airlines). Thai Airways is the only Asian airline serving Brussels, which explains Thai’s relatively strong 10% share of the Australia-Belgium market.

to cover Malaysia, as it dropped services to Kuala Lumpur in early 2016. This is Part 2 in a series of analysis reports on the Lufthansa Group-SIA JV. The first part focused on Australia, Lufthansa’s largest offline market in Asia Pacific. The first part also provided the background behind forging the JV in late 2015, and the expected timeline for implementation.

Lufthansa targets Indonesia with JV, Garuda interline

Indonesia and Malaysia are Lufthansa’s largest offline markets in Southeast Asia

Lufthansa Group is aiming to increase sales in Indonesia through a new codeshare with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and SilkAir, along with a new interline with Garuda Indonesia. Lufthansa suspended one-stop services from Frankfurt to Jakarta in late 2015, but should be able to serve the fast-growing Indonesian market better through partnerships. Indonesia is one of eight markets covered under the new joint venture between Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. However, Lufthansa does not want to rely entirely on the JV to cover Indonesia and has just implemented a new special prorate agreement with Garuda. Indonesia is Lufthansa’s second largest offline market in Southeast Asia after Malaysia. Lufthansa is also using the new JV with SIA

Malaysia, followed by Indonesia, are Lufthansa Group’s two largest offline markets in Southeast Asia. However, the Lufthansa Group believes that Indonesia has the bigger potential of the two, and will likely grow faster in the coming years. As CAPA highlighted in the first instalment, Indonesia and Malaysia are expected to be activated a few months after Singapore, Australia and the Lufthansa Group’s four home markets of Austria, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. Lufthansa and SIA have applied for anti-trust immunity approval from Malaysia’s competition authority and plan to start the process of securing regulatory approval from Indonesia once the JV is activated in Australia, Europe and Singapore in early 2017.

tourism curre nts: IATO confe re nce

Taj Mahal, once the biggest magnet for foreign tourists, has registered a considerable decline in foreign footfalls.

Disconnect between government figures and ground reality, alleges Rajiv Kohli Rajiv Kohli, Vice President, IATO minced no words and raised a gamut of issues plaguing the tourism industry. Speaking at the inauguration of 32 IATO conference in Chennai, he noted that there was a serious dis-engagement between official figures on tourism and the ground reality in the market. He advocated for out of the box ideas to make a dent in the competitive and crowded global tourism market. By Shashank Shekhar

ighlighting a complete disconnect between what the government figures on tourism projected and what was being faced by the stakeholders, he said “what the government figures tells us and what all of us (tour operators) as stakeholders are witnessing in our business on a daily basis is very different. We are struggling at various fronts.” Stating that with the NDA government taking centre-stage, with the PM and the government repeatedly speaking on tourism, expectations were set. “However, not much has moved in the past two years,” he alleged. He substantiated his argument by sharing with the audience that there was a steep decline in inbound footfalls from the SAARC neighbourhood. “Inbound from Pakistan is down by 29%, Nepal by 22%, Bhutan is down by 19%,” he asserted. He also added that the Ministry of Culture had itself released an official figure of 7% decline in ticket-sales to foreign tourists coming to Taj Mahal. Delving further into trends, he shared that 2016 was turning out to be a tough year for high-revenue generation markets. Coming down hard on the government, he insinuated that the Ministry of Home viewed foreign visitors with deep mistrust. “Long touted as a ‘game-changer’, the e-visa system continues to remain plagued with inefficien-

Government at the centre and in states need to be more favourable in their approach towards the industry. I have personally seen what some of the Asian countries have done for tourism, and the kind of political support they have. Indian is way behind – which is telling in our numbers. Time has come to tear out old policies and throw off old strategies. Let us start from the scratch. Time has come to think for out of the box solutions. As IATO members, we have two choices. First, we can sit and watch, blame the government and go nothing. Or we can work together and bring back the glory of the industry – where it once stood.

cies in application process and policies that are hampering our growth. It simply does not meet the needs of the traveller and the industry,” he said. Taking a dig at the Ministry of Finance, Rajiv Kohli alleged that they continued to hold ancient view of tourism being a

luxury. “The taxation system is irrational and counter-productive for running a profitable industry. We are priced uncompetitive in the global markets,” he said. Arguing that heavy taxation was burdening the consumer and not the supplier, he advocated for a rational tax regime. Making a

mention of recently undertaken GST reform, he called it a “great opportunity to address historical anomaly”. Adding that the government needed to facilitate easier spending of money to boost businesses, rather that restrict it, he stressed on the need for favourable policies. “Government at the centre and in states need to be more favourable in their approach towards the industry. I have personally seen what some of the Asian countries have done for tourism, and the kind of political support they have. Indian is way behind – which is telling in our numbers,” he added. Mooting a way forward, Rajiv Kohli was of the opinion that Indian tourism industry needed to start afresh. “Time has come to tear out old policies and throw off old strategies. Let us start from the scratch. Time has come to think for out of the box solutions,” he asserted. Calling global tourism and travel marketspace an extremely competitive space, he said that India needed a fresh start to make a dent in a crowded space. “As IATO members, we have two choices. First, we can sit and watch, blame the government and go nothing. Or we can work together and bring back the glory of the industry – where it once stood,” he passionately shared. Sharing his vision of how he envisaged the future of Indian tourism, he shared that it needed to be sustainable in nature. “Incredible India can herald a sustainable India,” he said.

Urgent upgradation of airport infra must to cope with growing traffic Kamal Hingorani, Senior Vice President, SpieJet believed that while the tide had turned in favour of the aviation industry, owning to globally lower ATF and a progressive Civil Aviation Policy in the offing, there was a dire need to increase the number of airports to ensure that the industry could make the most of the changed circumstances.

amal Hingorani has reason to cheer. After all battling against all odds, once beleaguered airline, SpiceJet, has recently clocked an impressive year-long load factor in excess of 90%. More so, it has managed to post six consecutive profitable quarters. “It is unprecedented for us. Also, having clocked 92 percent load factor for over a year is quite impressive,” he said. He also thanked the tour operator fraternity for their continuous support to SpiceJet. Sharing his understanding of the recently unveiled draft of the Civil Aviation Policy, he called it “progressive”. “The recently unveiled draft of the Civil Aviation Policy is

extremely progressive. In my 30+ plus of service in the industry, it is probably of the first time that we can say that a Civil Aviation policy will see the light of the day, in letter and spirit,” he said. Noting that the policy had two pillars, first one being the regional connectivity, he shared “all of us agree that tourists coming from outside India needs to get to as small cities as possible. Secondly, it is the development of 100 airports, which is on priority, will help all the stakeholders in the industry.” Mentioning that the draft could not have been unveiled at a more opportune moment, he said, “201516 has been a year when global airlines have the highest profit-

ability in 50 years, of course driven by low ATF, but having said that it is the highest growth in 50 years. And 2016-17 is expected to beat that trend.” Suggesting that it was going to make aircraft acquisition cheaper, he said “it is going to make investment come in much easier.”

However, to his understanding, this growth had brought itself with some serious concerns regarding India’s capability to absorb a swelling number of aircrafts, given limited airport infrastructure in the country. “Goa Airport was constructed to cater to 3 million passengers annually. It is already

catering to five million. Where are the airports to accommodate growing numbers,” he asked. In his concluding remarks, he batted for serious augmentation in airport infrastructure to help the industry take advantage of the improved business environment.

tourism curre nts: IATO confe re nce

GOI gives in-principle approval to multipleentry and extension of e-visa, shares Zutshi Secretary Vinod Zutshi, speaking at the 32 annual IATO conference held in Chennai, listed out some of the key initiatives undertaken by the MoT and the government. In a welcome move, the government has given an “in-principle approval” to extending the e-visa facility to 60 days, besides allowing multiple-entry on a single visa. Also, thanks to numerous steps undertaken in the last few months, India is set to breach the 9 million inbound mark by the end of the year. By Shashank Shekhar

Indian Culinary Institute for the first time in India at Tirupati with 30 students in the first batch. “The multi-lingual helpline for tourists is proving to be very useful. We have made some special efforts in the niche area of cruise tourism – where sea and river cruising are in the take-off stage,” he said, indicating a pro-active approach to tackling India’s tourism sector’s woes. “The ministry of tourism and culture have identified 100 Adarsh (model) monuments all over the country and we are looking at integrated development of these monuments – which also includes World Heritage Sites. We are going to The ministry of provide all facilities, that are tourism and culture missing after a gap assessment, have identified 100 including Wi-Fi at these places,” Adarsh (model) he further detailed. monuments all He said that a number of over the country and we are looking MoUs and bilateral agreements at integrated with various countries had been development of these inked – which included MoUs monuments – which with countries like Egypt, UAE, also includes World Cambodia, Maldives and Qatar. Heritage Sites. We “We have had joint-working are going to provide all facilities, that are groups which Sri Lanka, SAARC missing after a gap nations and Cambodia in the assessment, including last two months,” he said. “All Wi-Fi at these places. the MoUs and bilateral agreements signed between India and the other country have a distinct clause that ensures that not only the government of-

peaking at the 32nd annual IATO conference held at Chennai, Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi highlighted the gamut of undertakings initiated by the MoT to strengthen travel and tourism in the country. Reminiscing his stint as the Secretary (Tourism) in the government of Rajasthan in 2006, he noted that it had taken serious efforts to persuade travel agents for hosting IATO in Jaipur. “It speaks volumes of the importance and the credibility of IATO. The convention offers an opportunity to meet and review the developments in the tourism industry; to look up to new opportunities and to explore how to implement them,” he said. Re-iterating the government’s commitment of making India a preferred tourism destination, he said that “a number of steps are being undertaken to strengthen and diversify the tourism economy, aimed at positioning India as a global brand and to take advantage of the burgeoning global travel and trade to tap the nation’s vast potential.” Listing out some key initiatives undertaken in the recent months by the MoT and the government, he noted that the e-visa facility was going to touch a million mark in the current calendar year. “It is phenomenally high; more than double of what we had achieved in the previous year,” he said. He reassured the agent fraternity of MoT’s commitment of extending the e-visa facility from 30 to 60 days, besides making single-entry visa to a multiple-entry, noting that the matter was under the active considera-

☛ The MoT has sanctioned a sum of `3,200 crores under Swadesh Darshan, and `500 crores under PRASAD only in the last 18 months. ☛ International inbound set to cross 9 million mark in 2016.

3–6 October, 2016 New Delhi

tion of the central government and the Union home minster had given his “in-principle” approval to these demands. “It is, now, just a matter of process and time before these are implemented,” the Secretary shared. Lack of a concerted media outreach has been one of the Achilles Heel for India in courting international visitors to its shores. The Secretary informed the gathering that the MoT was going to launch a sustained media campaign to plug in this long-standing loophole. He highlighted that “it is perhaps for the first time that the media plan of the government of India and MoT has been shared with the tourism sector. It is aimed at synergizing efforts for launching an aggressive media campaign all over the world.”He further added that diverse media channels, including global channels, country-specific channels, print, electronic and social media were on the radar of the MoT. The Secretary emphasised that the growth in the tourism sector was needed to be complemented with the growth in related infrastructure. In a bid to expedite injection of infrastructure, the MoT had sanctioned a sum of `3,200 crores under Swadesh Darshan, and `500 crores under PRASAD only in the last 18 months, he said. “Just about 3 days ago, we approved projects worth `500 crores for Jammu and Kashmir, and about `1,000 crores worth projects under Swadesh Darshan has been approved for the North-eastern region. We have, also, recently approved projects worth 100 crores for the coastal region of Tamil Nadu.” The Secretary further informed that the MoT begun an

ficials, but organisations and travel-trade fraternity of the two nations, too, would meet with each other,” he added. Stressing that the government was keen on implementing new ideas, he expressed hope that the IATO convention would usher in some innovative steps for the government to look into. “I look forward to getting the final report of the Chennai declaration of IATO,” he said. Taking stock of the larger picture of travel and travel, he said that the sector was doing well and the statistics available for the current year bolstered the argument. Conceding that 2015 was bit of a slump, when looking at overall numbers, he pointed out that the growth in 2016 was looking up. “The growth this year, in the first six months, has been 10.2%. Domestic tourism is rising at a rate of 15%. Foreign exchange earnings, too, is growing at 15%, compared to 12% in the previous year,” he said. Delving further into statistical data, the Secretary shared that the total international inbound was slated to hit the 9 million mark by the end of the year. “Our forex earnings are pegged at `1.55 lakh crores, as compared to `1.25 lakh crores in 2015. India stands 40th in tourist arrivals, but we are 14th in total foreign exchange earnings. Air traffic is increasing at a rate of more than 20% and medical tourism is growing at more than 24%,” the Secretary informed. He also highlighted that steps were being taken to augment religious tourism. “In the realm of religious tourism, we are promoting Buddha trail and circuit. We are going to have a conclave in two weeks’ time which is expected to be inaugurated by the Hon’ble PM himself,” he shared.

state s: Himachal Prade sh

Vijay Mankotia moots ‘Himalayan States Council’ to expedite infra development Instead of ad-hoc solutions to address imminent issues, there is a pressing need for a body involving Himalayan states to plan and execute infrastructural development projects, says Major Mankotia, Vice Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board. In a detailed interview, he talks about the way forward for Himachal Pradesh and puts forth some out-of-the box solutions to augment footfalls – which includes a ‘Himalayan Golden Triangle’ covering Lahual-Spiti, Kinnaur and Leh-Ladakh. By Shashank Shekhar

atting for a dedicated organisation, on the lines of MDONER (Ministry of Development of Northeast Region) to oversee and expedite developmental work in hilly states, Major Vijay Singh Mankotia advocates for a Northern Hill Region Council comprising of Himalayan states of Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Leh-Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. Arguing that given the complexities and high costs involved in developing infrastructure in difficult terrain, he suggested that the central government needed to allocate considerably more resources. He shared that he had been suggesting the MoT for a long time, as a representative of the state in tourism ministers’ and civil aviation conferences, that it needed to club the three Himalayan states together. “Himachal, Uttrakhand and, particularly, Jammu and Leh-Ladakh could be brought together. We have lots of problems which would not fit into a general budget. If a plain area needs 1 rupee for any development work, we need 10 rupee,” he explained the challenges facing India’s hilly states. “Now, MoT has told us that a committee has been setup and, lately, they have said that a ‘Special Himalayan Circuit’ is being setup,” he added. Seeking a policy level intervention and redressal, he also suggested that “NITI Aayog could have a special cell and, may be, we could include Sikkim as well.” His arguments point towards successive opportunities lost by the state, in the past decades, to enhance its profile by leveraging on its enviable tourism assets. Major Mankotia notes that stricter environment and forest laws have virtually dried Himachal’s key sources of revenue, making it, almost, entirely dependent on central assistance. “Being a relatively small

☛ Two of the tribal areas, Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur have not yet been explored. They remain virgin. We have not been able to properly open them up for tourists; we do not have roads, helipads and other related infrastructure.

3–6 October, 2016 New Delhi

ing 3-4 flights daily – each with its own unique set of problems, it does not help the cause much. “Shimla airport has been closed for the past three years, because it had developed a huge dip on the runway itself. I wonder why the Airport Authority of India (AAI) did not act soon. It was only when I started pressing for it; I met the Civil Aviation Minister and the Chairman of the AAI. As Air India was operating flights there, I met the CMD. It has been repaired now, but now they say they do not have small aircrafts – the 42 seater ATRs,” explains the industry veteran. Bhuntar airport in Kullu, too, services merely one flight daily which is often held hostage to inclement Himachal, Uttrakhand weather. Major Mankotia and, particularly, told TF that most of the Jammu and Lehtour operators and travel Ladakh could be agents, who mattered, brought together. We shared with him that have lots of problems which would not foreign groups, willing fit into a general to come to Himachal, budget. If a plain area refrained because of needs 1 rupee for any limited itinerary and air development work, connectivity. “Most travelwe need 10 rupee. lers refrain from taking Now, MoT has told us that a committee has road-trips that are more been setup and, lately, time consuming. So, it is they have said that a a big handicap for us,” he ‘Special Himalayan said. Circuit’ is being setup. He also had a few words of advice for the bureaucracy. Admitting of being critical of the bureaucracy, he said “I keep telling bureaucrats that do not think that you are here in tourism department for only 2-3 years; unless you think yourselves as stakeholders in the development of tourism in Himachal, you won’t get anywhere. So, it is the attitude and mind-set that is missing.” He detailed that often projects were delayed because of weather which led to the central government not releasing the fund. “It was only this time, 4 years ago, that an agreement was signed with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). They came up, liberally, with a package of `570-odd crores for Himachal Pradesh to promote tourism,” he added. Taking stock of state’s tourism profile, Himachal’s innate strength have traditionally been Kullu-Manali and Shimla. Snow-capped mountains and a meandering Beas have long attracted tourists, domestic and international alike. Also, being an important centre of faith for Hindus and Sikhs, it hosts 3 of 12 Shakti-peeths in India, creating substantial pull for religious and spiritual tourism. Not to mention, strong presence of Buddhist pilgrims in and around Dharamshala – the seat of the Tibetian government in exile. Thanks to an increasing number of adventure-seekers and improved infrastructure, activities like para-sailing and water-water rafting have also found traction. However, it is replete with new products and offerings that are yet to be made fully accessible to tourists. Tribal tourism could be the next frontier for the state’s tourism board, feels Major Mankotia. “Two of the tribal areas, Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur have not yet been explored. They remain virgin. We have not been able to properly open them up for tourists; we do not have roads, helipads and other related infrastructure,” he said. Divulging that, with Leh-Ladakh in the vicinity, he had suggested the MoT to develop a ‘Himalayan Golden Triangle’ on the lines of the ‘Golden Triangle’ connecting Jaipur-Delhi and Agra, he said “They have wonderful festivals; the Buddhist circuit lies here. We have got Chenab flowing through Lahaul and Spiti and Sutlej running through Kinnaur. Tabo Monastry in Spiti is the oldest monastery in the world. It is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We could promote it in, not only, India but abroad.” His assertions indicate that much was needed to be done to truly tap the potential of India’s ‘Devbhoomi’.

and a hilly state, there are a few limitations. The first and foremost is the mobilization of resources and the biggest resource we have are our forests and rivers. There is a moratorium on cutting of forests which has dried up a major source of revenue for the state since many years ago,” he detailed. “Secondly, one could ask for cess and royalty on hydroelectric projects based on Rivers – that the state is richly endowed with – but that was turned down by the government as they called them national assets,” he added. Despite his repeated attempts to bring tourism in the centre of state’s development discourse, the realisation that tourism was the fastest growing industry in the world had not yet seeped in, lamented Major Mankotia. “It is also the highest employment generating sector in the world. Taking these factors into account, Himachal Pradesh is blessed with everything that nature could possibly give for tourism. It has got the Himalayas, Rivers, forests, beautiful countryside, lakes and every other option that a tourist would like to have,” he said. Blaming the absence of a concept for developing infrastructure, he said ‘ho jayega’ attitude needs to change. On the infra front, in a welcome development, the NDA government has recently kick-started 4-laning of Shimla-Parwaano NH, and highways connecting Pathankot, Kangra, Mandi, Kullu, Lahual-Spiti. In another development, the government has also decided to convert the narrow gauge at Kangra Valley railway into a broad gauge. “Railway linking Pathankot, Jogindernagar, Mandi, Kullu-Manali and Leh-Ladakh was our proposal earlier on. About half-a-dozen projects have been initiated. It should make a difference to travel and tourism because connectivity is limited,” he said. An important element deciding the fate of tourism in the state is the presence of robust air-connectivity. Given that Himachal Pradesh has only three airports – Bhuntar(Kullu), Shimla and Dharamshala, with only Dharamshala operat-

state s: Maharashtra

Impeccable connectivity, world-class infra key to MICE surge in Lavasa: Rajiv Duggal Lavasa being a planned hill city with its bouquet of new and unique offerings has transformed from just being a family tourist spot to an exclusive MICE destination. To support this, currently, Lavasa has 253 rooms existing and operational, along with 600 more in the pipeline. Rajiv Duggal, CEO, Lavasa Corporation Limited talks about its evolvement as an important centre for MICE as well as leisure segment travel and how Novotel Lavasa, currently under development, is being touted as the most awaited hotel project in the city. By Jyoti Balani

ow is the MICE market coming up?

Lavasa has been seen as a destination growing from a weekend getaway tourist destination for families to now a full-fledged MICE city which can host multiple business events, conferences, product launches, film/ad shoots and a destination perfectly built for weddings and social events now. Being the first planned hill city of the country post-independence, Lavasa has had a great response from all kinds of segments making it a place to be and visit all varied purpose be it business or leisure.

What position do you wish for Lavasa to acquire in the tourism landscape of the country? As a city known for social events and MICE proceedings or holidaying? As far as Lavasa is concerned, the city has already emerged as popular leisure hotspot and blended very well as a MICE destination. Lavasa is one of nature’s best gifts to Maharashtra and plays host to many big events, weddings, fashion shows, musical events, cultural shows, adventurous activities, movie shoots and product launches. It plays the perfect host and compliments the Lavasa International Convention Centre (LICC) managed by Accor Hotels. Both Lavasa city and LICC have been recognized with many prestigious awards for the Best MICE City and the Best Convention & Exhibition Centre in Western India that include 3 times from Today’s Traveller, additionally from India Hospitality Awards and WB Honour awards in the recent past. While 60% of business to the hotels comes from MICE but the city is equally popular with leisure travellers where every weekend is sold out and Lavasa is flocked by both hotel guests as well as day trippers. The best part is that it is visited

by tourists round the year and monsoons are really beautiful and scenic.

Lavasa is just an hour and half drive from Pune airport/station and very well connected by road from Mumbai and surrounding areas which makes it an easy and convenient location for MICE travelers. Lavasa city being a planned hill city with its bouquet of new and unique offerings has transformed from just being a family tourist spot to an exclusive MICE destination. The city facilitates its visitors with amenities suitable for both Business and Leisure travellers. It is a popular getaway destination based out of Pune that proposes an array of sightseeing along with striking scenic beauty, especially during the monsoons.

Tell us in detail about your MICE facilities.

Lavasa International Convention Centre (LICC) is a purpose-built convention facility at the planned upcoming cosmopolitan destination Lavasa. It is spread over 1.5 acres of land offering 3,300 square meters of convention space. LICC is one of a kind property which embodies a huge pillar-less area for events and exhibitions and has vibrant interiors to break the monotony of long conference sittings. It is a beautiful and unique venue with universal standards of meeting facilities. In today’s growing MICE market, technology has become one of the major and primary parameters for a venue. Realizing the need for a technologically advanced system, we designed Lavasa International Convention Centre as a high-end, technologically equipped venue. It is an ideal venue to host conferences and events from 20 to 2000 guests. Lavasa International Convention Centre has a lot more to offer than one can imagine. The notion of a wedding ceremony in the lap of nature, between the hills, on the waters is a dream, which can come true in Lavasa. LICC offers provisions for elaborate decor, exotic themes, and meticulous planners with hospitality specialists supervising the execution of inimitable themes and concepts for weddings. The lake side view from its foyer adds to the leisure value of the Convention Centre.

How significant is MICE to Lavasa's overall tourism landscape? How has it evolved over the years? As we are talking about MICE, the

first thing that comes to anyone’s mind while selecting a venue is the connectivity. Lavasa is just an hour and half drive from Pune airport/ station and very well connected by road from Mumbai and surrounding areas which makes it an easy and convenient location for MICE travellers. Lavasa city being a planned hill city with its bouquet of new and unique offerings has transformed from just being a family tourist spot to an exclusive MICE destination. The city facilitates its visitors with amenities suitable for both Business and Leisure travellers. It is a popular getaway destination based out of Pune that proposes an array of sightseeing along with striking scenic beauty, especially during the monsoons. This is a rain catchment area with monsoons that fill up a number of dams around. During the rainy season, Lavasa offers a splendid view of the clouds settling over the valley and creates unforgetful experiences. The small valley city attracts both leisure travellers

and day trippers to experience serene misty mornings and strolls over clouds. Lavasa facilitates its visitors with amenities suitable for both Business and Leisure travellers. The city is a popular getaway destination based out of Pune that proposes an array of sightseeing along with striking scenic beauty during the summer season. Lavasa has multiple exciting and interesting entertainment as well as business possibilities. One can explore the unique flora and fauna at the Nature Trail spotting migratory birds and unique shrubs peculiar to Lavasa. Activities that add thrill and an everlasting adrenaline rush of experience during your visit are much entertained with the Lakeshore Water Sports and X-Thrill Adventure Sports activities. Kid’s pool area, kids play areas, splash pads are some of the defined activities dedicated for recreation of children at Lavasa.

What percentage of your own overall guests comprise of the

MICE segment? What are your important MICE markets?

MICE contributes 60% to the city due to the convention centre at Lavasa. The overall mix from MICE segment are MICE travellers, wedding planners, incentive travellers, leisure groups, corporate trainings and trainer events, media launches and advertisement /movie shoots.

Tell us a little about facilities offered at the convention centre and how they are unique as compared to the competition.

LICC holds an exceptional AV system, a full service wireless console, ceiling mounted dropdown screens, ceiling support projectors of 15000 lumens. A network of ceiling mounted speaker systems which are specifically engineered to ensure accurate speech reinforcements. A network of rigging points in the ceiling along with a full cat walk above the false ceiling provides different possibilities of being innovative and exploring new horizons on guest demand. LICC also has a steadfast Cisco tele-presence facility, eight language simulcast interpretation console, ceiling mounted high definition cameras for live web-casting, video conferencing facility and all other aids to successfully execute an exceptionally world class conference or exhibition. The venue also has a wide network of floor points containing video projection points (VGA) along with telephone, internet and sound outputs points. The venue is totally WiFi with a provision of expanding the dedicated band-width. In addition, our digital infrastructure and event setups are managed by experienced and qualified professionals who ensure guest satisfaction to the maximum.

state s: J&K

Kashmir intensifies outreach with an eye on adventure tourism Despite the strife in the valley, Mahmood Shah, Director Tourism, Kashmir is hopeful of garnering footfalls, thanks to growing interest in adventure tourism in the state. He shares that the state tourism department was working closely with GOI and other key stakeholders to bring tourism back to its glory in the valley.

By TF Bureau

here is no doubt that the Tourism Board is doing its very best to keep J&K into the limelight for the right reasons, but much of it is being curtailed by the current situation in the valley. How do you intend to go forward?

As far as adventure is concerned, we recently had the Climbathon. Climbathon is an event where you trek mountains; mountaineers across the country participate in that. They have leadership courses. The department of tourism tied up with IMF (Indian Mountaineering Foundation) and brought the Climbathon to the state this year. Since the inception of the event, it is being held in Himachal Pradesh. I am happy to share that it started on 4th of August and ended on 28th of August, and it went very, with 35 climbers, across the country, and locals participating.

Well, we are no strangers to turmoil and strife. This is what has happened in the last two and a half decades. Unfortunately, this year again, the script is the same. So this year, we had our high and now we are having our low. But that does not mean that we will rest. We will have to buckle up and move forward and come up to face the challenge. We have always come back strong as a destination. We have a lot of hard work to do and coming over to IATO is a part of that exercise. We have to re-do the homework again and go back to the country; convince the people. We have to fight it out.

Would you look at a tweak in your strategy and, may be, focus on say Ladakh and Jammu for now to counterbalance the loss?

J&K is a complete destination. And, if you talk about logistical and statistical terms, the total area of the state is 2.02 lakh square kilometres. Out of which, the area with us is around 1.20 lakh square kilometres and rest lies in POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) and COK (China occupied Kashmir). The valley of Kashmir is just 5400 square kilometres – which is very small, as far as the overall area is concerned. Thankfully, the region of Jammu, Kargil, Leh, Zanskar and some other regions have remained unaffected. So, that has helped us in diverting people to new destinations; opening up new destinations. It is happening at a time when there is turmoil in the valley. It

is happening because we have destinations that we can divert our tourists to. Of course, Ladakh is very dear to us. The Ladakh festival is slated to be held soon, with an aim to promote the longevity of tourist season in Ladakh. We will festivals in March in Jammu, as well. We will start in Kashmir also, as the situation allows us to. And, it is a cohesive product. We will have to promote it as a supplement to Kashmir. So, that is helping us and we have strategized in that manner.

Ladakh recently hosted the Highaltitude marathon. So, you may push for more of these activities. Is not it?

It is not only the marathon. We had Raid De Himalayas; Bikers and cyclists coming to Ladakh. We have the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, Holy Amarnath Caves, and to add to everything is our adventure segment. When the situation turned hostile, even then a lot of foreign and domestic tourists came to the valley and trekked. Trekking in Kashmir can happen between June to September. People went out to the mountains and had 7-8 days of nice time in the mountains. It is one of the aspects that we are concentrating on, again – and which has remained available to us.

Recently, the state Secretary tourism

Goa celebrates Vintage Car and Bike festival Adding lustre to its already booming tourism scene, the Goa tourism is celebrating a one-day vintage car and bike festival to attract automobile aficionados. Vintage two-wheelers and four-wheelers dated from 1921 to 1970 will be on display at the INOX Courtyard. Car fanatics would be able to get a glimpse some vintage cars, including Citroen, Austin, Morris, Cadillac, Ford, Chevrolet, Mercedes, Volkswagen and bikes like Norton, BSA and BMW.

had talked about the possibility of throwing open some of the high-altitude passes to trekkers and mountaineers. Has anything moved in that direction? As far as adventure is concerned, we recently had the Climbathon. Climbathon is an event where you trek mountains; mountaineers across the country participate in that. They have leadership courses. The department of tourism tied up with IMF (Indian Mountaineering Foundation) and brought the Climbathon to the state this year. Since the inception of the event, it is being held in Himachal Pradesh. I am happy to share that it started on 4th of August and ended on 28th of August, and it went very, with 35 climbers, across the country, and locals participating. So the mountaineering activity will continue, and adventure is an area where we are working very closely with the GOI and IMF, along with tour operators to highlight the potential of adventure tourism in the state.

Presenting Unique Segments at BITB 2016

cities & states B2B and Conclave

Conclave Anchor to be announced

Never before has an Indian expo focussed on cities. We bring you a fresh focus, where we invite Indian states and foreign NTOs to showcase cities for their quintessential appeal for tourism. Who will Exhibit: Cities from across India and around the world as destinations for their heritage and culture, year-round events and for all that which drives tourism to them.

Lotus temple, New delhi

ITB Comes to India. The best of ‘Glocal’ is here!

Whom will you Meet: A wide base of buyers, unprecedented for any Indian event. Largest assembly of India Buyers, with a right mix of business streams, those that are presently driving Indian business.

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online + technology

Stayzilla’s bottom-up approach ensuring product accommodation in Homestay space Homestay as a concept has been innate to the Indian way of life and the bigger challenge for Stayzilla has been ensuring product accommodation for participation on its platform, says Ankit Rastogi, VP Marketplaces, Stayzilla.com. In an extensive interview with TF, he detailed how the online giant was ramping up its app offerings to stay ahead in a crowded race.

By TF Bureau

The greatest thing about India is that a lot of homeowners are landlords and are already aware of the concept of monthly rents and Paying Guest (PG) accommodations. This made it easier for us to talk about the benefits of Hosting and its impact on thriving tourism. Therefore, if we look at it closely, introducing the concept of homestays wasn’t challenging at all, the product adoption for participating on Stayzilla platform was. Product adoption is also a function of network connectivity, smartphone penetration and an awareness of Internet as a medium to monetize. All these have been over-scored through Stayzilla's workshop model which focuses on a bottom-up growth and not top-down.

ake us through your efforts to bolster the home-stay segment. How has that worked for you, till now? Many observers have claimed that there is a shortage on the supply side. How are you coping up with the shortfall?

The Government has a very supportive policy for Homestays and alternate stays. There are certain rules and regulations that need to be followed while opening a homestay in the country. Stayzilla has been working closely with various State Tourism Boards and the Central tourism board to help make a policy that is both guest and host friendly. One of the fundamental ways by which we define a Homestay is an accommodation where the Host stays in the same property. Host presence is the first critical aspect, this automatically raises the service standards for the guests because the host is available to interact with the guest. Next, Stayzilla team physically verifies each and every Homestay property on ground on quality parameters, accessibility and Guest readiness. Third, is continuous engagement with the Hosts regarding the latest updates of their homestay. This provides guests with an actual picture of the property on Stayzilla. Other strategic initiatives include Trust & Safety matching on Stayzilla for solo woman travellers; family with kids, etc. Also, Stayzilla’s partnership with government boards such as MP Tourism and Uttrakhand Tourism is playing a vital role in creating confidence in the minds of travelers. We’ve put in a lot of hard work to conduct 250 ground workshops across 250 towns. The workshops on unlock-

ing more Homestays have witnessed an array of local administrative officials; tourism board members of the centre and state; local trade leaders and travel dignitaries which led to a word of mouth on both the Host generation side as well as the Demand side. Stayzilla has been consistently working towards unlocking more homestays in the country. Currently, Indian market is in an evolving phase, there are around 60,000 homestays in the country and India has the potential of opening-up 5lakh more rooms.

Due to consistent demand for homestays, Stayzilla has unlocked over 8000 Homestays across over 1000 destinations.

Home-stay as a concept is, still, nascent in India. How are you bringing more suppliers into the fold? What have been your most successful markets in it terms of supply, and why? Homestays have been existing in India for a very long time. Although it is known by different names to different people. The

National initiatives on digitalization pushing tourism bodies towards stronger online presence

hat is your take on the impact of national programs like Digital India on tourism and hospitality industry? Has there been a noticeable improvement in the overall business climate? How was 2015 for you, in terms of business and revenue?

We are yet to see a noticeable direct impact of Digital India on Tourism and Hospitality. Indirectly it is translating to various Tourism bodies, government and non-government corporations related to tourism, becoming aware and first time launching their digital identities like website / mobile apps or revamping the existing ones. For e.g., a lot of state tourism boards have revamped their website - MPSTDC being one of them. Recently on a visit to Archaeological Survey of India site - Rani Ki Vav in Patan Gujarat, I observed tickets being generated with QR code and scanned on mobile app at ASI counter. This brings in massive transparency

Particularly talking about Stayzilla business in 2015, we have made strides in Homestay segment which in itself is very new for Indian audience. We have lot of unique, verified, first time supply in more than 250+ destinations in our country where early signs of demand are encouraging.

to the visitors and the organization, improves the experience, fastens the queues as well as simplifies the process. Swachh Paryatan App as part of Swach Bharat is a similar initiative for the first time by the government in tourism which brings peoples participation in keeping our heritage and tourism rich and hygienic. Overall the outlook is positive for domestic travel comprising more and more of leisure travel around weekend and holidays. Similarly, the inbound tourist trends are upwards owing to the new E-visa regime, clubbed with better promotions and marketing.

How sustainable is the trend of dolling out hefty discounts – backed by millions of dollars of outside funding. How is it impacting the online industry and do you see a change in the trend? How long will this continue?

As per our company policy, we believe in strengthening our level of customer experience rather than extending discounts and offers. Discounts do not address the problem of occupancy in hotels and there is no real data available on how much returns come out of them. Eventually the trend of heavy discounting will phase out when there is standardization.

nomenclature of homestays varies from cottages, serviced apartments, Paying Guest Homes to Bed&Breakfast, Holiday Homes, Villas and Bungalows. All these terminologies entail to the same concept of going local and doing experiential travel rather than conventional tourist outing. One thing which ultimately unites the segment of homestays is the presence of the Host in the Homestay and the level of localization and personalization a guest receives during their vacation. With more guests experiencing this we find a majority of these guests becoming Host and vice versa. The virality factor in these kind of stays is organic and spreads via word of mouth. The greatest thing about India is that a lot of homeowners are landlords and are already aware of the concept of monthly rents and Paying Guest (PG)accommodations. This made it easier for us to talk about the benefits of Hosting and its impact on thriving tourism; local economy and the ability for quicker monetization on daily occupancy rather than monthly with a larger price control. Therefore, if we look at it closely, introducing the concept of homestays wasn’t challenging at all, the product adoption for participating on Stayzilla platform was. Product adoption is also a function of network connectivity, smartphone penetration and an awareness of Internet as a medium to monetize. All these have been overscored through Stayzilla's workshop model which focuses on a bottom-up growth and not top-down.

Tell us a little about your funding channels. How is the funding side shaping up for you?

The last funding we received was $13.5 million and the key investors were Nexus and Matrix partners. We’ve received an overall funding of $30 Million till date. Our focus, as of now, is to grow the business organically while focusing on unit economics. We're also focusing on becoming the go to portal in the homestays category. We will raise funds as and when the business requires.

You have recently revamped your app, allowing for offline services to boost your numbers? Take us through some key features of the service and how is it intended to add to ease of travel? It seems a solid step towards ensuring last-mile connectivity.

The app was launched last year in January and the main purpose of the app was to make it easy for Hotel owners, Homestays, Lodges, Guesthouses, Serviced Apartments, Boutique Hotels, Resorts, Boat Houses, Jungle Camps, BnBs etc. to promote their property on realtime on Stayzilla. Through our app we wanted to help hosts to increase their business reach and earning potential. Earlier, updating an inventory on the website took around 3-4 hours but property owners are now able to monetize their room inventory more efficiently and improve their yield management through instant inventory updates. With the recent update in the app, Stayzilla ensures seamless connectivity in remote areas to keep hosts and guests connected at all times. Many homestays are located in regions where there is no internet connectivity. Stayzilla’s offline application will now connect the home owner with the guest by sending notifications on the app via SMS when the host is in data offline mode. The home owner simply needs to have a phone with cellular connectivity (even without 2G/ 3G) to receive the booking confirmation on his/ her mobile phone. The cognitive feature of the app predicts whether the host’s phone has internet connectivity or not and determines intuitively to reach out either via SMS or app notifications accordingly. As a result, the offline app will help speed up booking confirmations for travellers to remote areas and ensure seamless communication between homestay owners and guests across the country.

online + technology

Booking.com to continue strengthening its domestic markets: Vikas Bhola At a time when scaling the inventory is in vogue, Booking.com would rather focus on creating robust relationships with partners than indulging in a race for numbers, says Vikas Bhola – Regional Manager, India Subcontinent. Sharing his thoughts on a wide range of issues, he discusses company’s future plans, impact of home-grown aggregators and much more. rapidly and we are one of the market leaders in India in the online travel booking space and we are proud of that. How have we done it? We provide a fantastic customer experience and we build strong relationships with property partners. Customers love using our site because it provides them with a global selection of over 1 million accommodation options, it’s easy to use, and we have over 100 million genuine guest reviews to help travellers make informed choices.

By Shashank Shekhar

A part of our strategy has always been to provide the widest range of accommodation services and partners to customers. So, today we have hotels, apartments, villas, resorts, boats and treehouses. We have the whole variety of lodging that customers can enjoy. What has happened with some of the home grown budget aggregators is that they have brought together an unstructured market. I would say that they have improved the market. So, it is kind of complementary. We have worked with some of them to create better reach for our clientele, but also to get them demand, as well, because of the outreach with have internationally and domestically.

ooking.com along with another online giant accounts for over 60% of the global online luxury hotel inventory. Has the trend been similar in your foray in India? How has India happened for you since you began operations here?

Look, the growth has been fantastic and the first goal of an international OTA like us was to attract international inbound. It was to cater to the demand of foreign travellers. They were, usually, people who were booking 5-star and 4-star accommodation. So our foray was intended in that direction.

Has that worked well for you? Yes, it did. Till 2014.

What happened after that?

We massively upgraded ourselves more into the domestic segment as well. Our strategy was simple – either leisure or domestic traveller – to provide the largest and widest accommodation options, so that they can, discover, book and enjoy those accommodations.

A prudent strategy, indeed, given that several industry reports and experts suggest that the domestic travel segment is likely to remain the backbone of travel and tourism industry in India. This seems like a strategic alignment to your future expansion, is not it? The domestic travel segment is hugely important to us. The number of Indian accommodations choosing to list their

properties on Booking.com has increased as they see the value we are able to bring them in terms of incremental business and as such we are seeing an increase in the number of Indian domestic travellers using Booking.com.

What is that market share? Do you mind sharing numbers?

Unfortunately we are not able to disclose Booking.com’s revenue figures. Booking.com

is part of the Priceline Group, a publically listed company. The Group releases quarterly financial results, like all publically traded companies, but do not break the results down into business specific figures. What I will say is that the online travel industry in India is a thriving, booming industry and one that we love being a part of. We opened our first office in India in 2012 with around 500 Indian properties and today we have over 16,500. We have grown

Low bandwidth and rickety infra bottlenecks in Northeast foray Vikas Bhola remains upbeat about the potential of Northeast as an experience provider for tourists, international and domestic. However, lack of reliable internet availability and plethora of law related issues have hindered the e-commerce giant from a full-scale move into the region, but the company remains positive in its outlook. What are some key trends, as far as destinations are concerned?

Well, the demand has mostly been for metros. That is typically because much of travel happens there and leisure and business, kind of, combine together. Goa has been doing extremely well; it is a highdemand destination. Kerala is doing very well, too. Some of the destinations in the Northeast, Jaipur, Agra have been performing well. I would say tier-2 and tier-3 leisure-centric destinations are performing well. We see a great demand in those destinations.

Are you primarily operating in tier-1 and tier-2 cities? What is happening in the Northeast? We have accommodation op-

tions in over 200 destinations in India. We also regularly and widely visit the Northeast from a promotional point of view, to build relationship with properties and educate them on the benefits of sites such as ours. The challenge, traditionally, has been the low-internet penetration and bandwidth. Roads

and infrastructure needs to be upgraded. Law in some of the destinations in the Northeast require a plethora of permits for foreign companies. Having said that, the demand has actually gone up in places like Gangtok and Darjeeling. What we plan to do to overcome these challenges is to keep work-

ing closely with our partners across the Northeast with more in-person visits and to continue providing education to our partners. We will continue to bring on not only luxury accommodation, but also accommodation for the experience-seeking traveller. The Northeast is such a promising destination. We still do quite a significant amount of booking in the region. It has gone up a fair bit in the last year or so. But the growth has been limited to a small number of properties. Wider number of properties are still working with offline agencies. We would want to grow faster in contracting properties and get those properties on-board, but at the same time provide them avenues to understand and grow their businesses.

How do you work towards fitting yourself in the mid-segment and low budget hotel inventory space, especially at a time when some of the home grown budget aggregators are scaling up at a pulsating rate? Is it a challenge adopting to the Indian market when much of Booking.com’s engagement has primarily been in the high end segment market?

To start with, I would like to say that today we have over 16,500 active bookable properties with us. A part of our strategy has always been to provide the widest range of accommodation services and partners to customers. So, today we have hotels, apartments, villas, resorts, boats and treehouses. We have the whole variety of lodging that customers can enjoy. What has happened with some of the home grown budget aggregators is that they have brought together an unstructured market. I would say that they have improved the market. So, it is kind of complementary. We have worked with some of them to create better reach for our clientele, but also to get them demand, as well, because of the outreach with have internationally and domestically.

While dealing with 5-star properties, you are sure of the quality of the service. It might not be the case when you work with some of the low-budget segment hotels. How do you ensure that the quality of experience remains standard and of the level that Booking.com has managed to maintain in the past?

We are a platform that provides really good discoverability to our customers. When we are talking about discoverability, we are talking not only about the variety but also the quality of the property. Those quality points are actually in the control of a hotel operator or the partner, as we call them. The partner controls how we can optimize it. And also, customers who have booked in the past are invited to contribute user-generated content in the form of guest reviews. Our guest-reviews are also a big puller for conversion. Today, we have over 100 million guest reviews on Booking.com. It has been going up. What I am trying to say is that a customer has total control over what he wants to book. The guest can choose a room based on his requirement and prioritize whether a particular property fits his need or not.

Does Booking.com have its own quality monitoring team? Do you do inspections of the property? How does the whole mechanism work?

Our quality checks begin at the moment we are on-board the property. . We are continuously working to bring transparency, choice and value to global travellers. We check the presence of our properties online and on social media to ensure that they are truly represented to customers and encourage our customers to use the over 100 million verified reviews from customers to ensure that the property’s representation of itself on Booking.com matches the customer experience. Before we open the property to consumers, we on-board the property by giving them training, wherein we explain to them how to create more demand. What is conversion and how they convert on the website. So, we feel that on a wider level, we are not only proving more revenues to properties, but also education of how to operate in the online world.

Welcome to BITB.

India's time has come. Presenting for the first time the big mega show on the region's travel and tourism vertical! Bringing together uniquely India, connectivity, big ticket infra developments, hospitality, global exchange and world connect on culture, holidays and business. At the heart of it, is the resilience, the robust growth, and power of the Indian Traveller! Bringing a sharp focus on traditional heritage and culture tourism, but equally on new emerging streams like MICE, weddings, Luxury, Golf and other sports and events, Technology in Travel, the show will be the first of its kind, powered by the world’s biggest player in the business, ITB Berlin! Strong B2B, alongside s t ro n g e r p a r t n e r ship s t ha t b u i l d conferences and side bar activities, supported by mainstream media in print and television. Each segment will be supported by leading players in their niche from around the world, bringing strong content, buying and selling, and B2B business of ever y kind.

3–6 october, 2016

pragati maidan new delhi

www.bitb.org For more information connect@bitb.org

The Best of ‘Glocal’ is Here! Global player ITB Berlin, the world’s biggest tourism fair, comes together with the most experienced local in India!

supported by*

Lead partners

networking partners

New Delhi

Lead exhibitors

Yaadhum oorey, Yaavarum kaelir.

coFor

*Updated till 15 September

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c t in @ for bi m t b at i .o o n rg

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conclave partners

online + technology

AI and Big Data analysis to remain crucial for personalisation push in the app space Given the enormity of data generated in the realm of the online space, the need for assimilation of artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data analysis in creating a personalized experience for consumers will only strengthen, as app based services continue to gain a toehold, argues Paresh Parihar, MD & CEO, QTech Software. In an exclusive interview with TF, he discusses about the marketspace. By TF Bureau

hat kind of services does your company provide to the hospitality and tourism industry? How does it benefit their businesses?

OYO appoints Smriti Subramaniam as General Counsel

Qtech Software provides a complete Online Travel ERP solution for large and mid-size B2B and B2C Travel agents. With over a decade as a specialised Travel Technology vendor, we are well versed with the challenges that the industry faces, and constantly innovate to create IT based solutions. Our travel platform automates a major part of the selling, operational and payment process. Travel agencies with an online solution are able to accept bookings, display the best rates from multiple suppliers automatically, and be available 24x7. Because online solutions are global in nature, our customers can setup their businesses anywhere in the world with access to the internet. Our customers benefit from our wide range of distribution tools, including an online booking engine, mobile apps, white label solutions and API redistribution for their inventory.

The primary role of making bookings, apps enable important updates to be delivered by the system proactively. Receiving the right updates at the right time is crucial for agents to be able to close a sale. Mobile apps also open up a world of personalisation with their ability to push key actionable notifications to customers at the right time. Automation of collections, which was previously a manual process, is another challenge that technology has been able to overcome. The trends to look out for today are artificial intelligence combined with big data. Given the volumes of data generated every second, a combination of these two facets will create avenues that were previously not thought of.

Who are you key clienteles? What are your core markets that generate business for you?

Our key clients are large B2B and B2C travel agencies, tour operators and online travel agents. Our focus markets are global.

With all the talk of ‘Digital India’ and focus on penetration of online services in to the hinterland, do you reckon that travel and hospitality related companies, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities have taken to assimilating technology into their day-to-day operations?

The proliferation of online services in Tier 2 and 3 cities will definitely enable larger travel agents to capture a part of the market that has the potential to spend, though the B2B model.

What is happening in the app space? How important has it become as a platform for outreach? Share with us some trends.

The app space is an integral part of business. Beyond, the primary role of making bookings, apps enable important updates to be delivered by the system proactively. Receiving the right updates at the right time is crucial for agents to be able to close a sale. Mobile apps also open up a world of personalisation with their

ability to push key actionable notifications to customers at the right time. Automation of collections, which was previously a manual process, is another challenge that technology has been able to overcome. The trends to look out for today are artificial intelligence combined with big data. Given the volumes of data generated every second, a combination of these two facets will create avenues that were previously not thought of. Imagine having an instantly bookable itinerary automatically generated based on a customer’s history and places the customer, his peer group, and similar people have travelled to, without the customer having to

key in a single search criterion.

How is the start-up culture impacting use of technology in the industry?

Start-ups, in various industries, have done a good job at promoting the use of technology for the new generation. Convenience is the key area that has been successfully tackled, and with convenience, there is now good acceptability for services booked though an app or the web. As using apps becomes a habit, it will only spell good news for the travel industry, where personalisation is as important as convenience.

YO has appointed Smriti Subramaniam as its General Counsel. Smriti joins the Leadership team at OYO and will also lead the Diversity and Culture mandates at the start-up. Commenting on the appointment Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, OYO said, “We are thrilled to have Smriti on board with us. Her varied experience with teams in highly-structured environment as well as fast-paced, agile businesses will prove extremely valuable as we undergo transformation and process enhancement. Her Corporate law expertise will help us navigate and contribute to the nascent regulatory structure in the start-up ecosystem in India. I also look forward to her invaluable leadership in making OYO a more diverse and inclusive workplace.” Talking about her new role, Smriti shared, “OYO has created history in Indian

hospitality industry through its innovative and disruptive business model. It is among the first original start-ups to launch out of India. I am very excited to join them at this inflection point in their journey. It provides me a brilliant opportunity to get involved with various aspects of corporate governance and also participate in shaping policy for the sector.” OYO is the pioneer of affordable, predictable accommodation in the Indian hospitality sector. It currently operates in more than 200 cities offering 70,000 rooms. The company’s vision is to become a global brand building efficiency in all forms of real estate. Having established its market leadership in India, OYO Rooms has also launched operations in Malaysia.

Presenting Unique Segments at BITB 2016

online travel B2B and Conclave

Conclave Anchor Technology is fast catching up, online is going to occupy even more rights in the distribution business. These come together and share their products and services. We also provide a learning curve for destination marketing, and the value of research. Our conference platform is created by a leading global player – come and share their findings, learn the trends in the game. Who will Exhibit: Online players from India and abroad, GDS, market aggregators, specialised sites for niche tourism.

Photo courtesy: www.reconanceco.com

ITB Comes to India. The best of ‘Glocal’ is here!

Whom will you Meet: Fraternity members, your clients across sectors such as airlines, hotels, brick and mortar agents, governments in India and overseas.

Just exhibit, or also explore partnerships, exclusive to Online + Technology Showcase for that extra bit more!

hote ls + re sorts Golden Tulip Goa

Royal Tulip Bangladesh

Room rates in the mid-segment will continue to remain under pressure: Vimal Singh

The health of the hospitality industry is dependent on a plethora of factors and not only a reflection of the state of the economy, asserts Vimal Singh, MD, Golden Tulip Hotels South Asia. He notes that with growing competition from the aggregation of the unorganized sector and a slow real-estate market in the near future, it was still some time before rates in the mid-segment could witness an upswing.

Occupancy might be up, but rates are not. Our corresponding cost, what we call the input cost, has gone up quite significantly. Labour cost, material cost and utility cost are all going up. It squeezes margins, impacting investments and debt coverage ratio. It has caused stressed in the industry. In India, what has happened is that we see a lot of growth in the unorganized sector. We may find it not relevant to our businesses, it is in fact relevant. It has added a huge amount of inventory to the market, and is competitive to our hotels. It could be in a city like Lucknow or Bangalore. They can sell those rooms at INR 1500, but we cannot. Our cost structure is high. That is the problem.

By Shashank Shekhar

ell us a little bit how Golden Tulip has grown over the years?

We have been in operation in India since 2007, currently operating 25 hotels. We have a property opened in Bangladesh now; we will open another property in the next 2 months. One is in Coxs Bazar which is a resort property. One in Dhaka will open shortly, most likely in late October. We are in negotiations in Nepal and Sri Lanka for some more products, but there is nothing concrete as yet. In India, we will open, at least, 5 more hotels in the next 6 months. Destinations include Kufri, Gurgaon and Jaipur – it will be our 2nd hotel in Jaipur – and Bangalore. The growth is happening for us. We started with one hotel in 2007, and would have around 30 hotels in the next few months.

Your assertion, in an interview to us a few months ago, that under the new management (JinJiang International) that the growth emphasis under the new administration would be stronger is turning out to be true.

I think the focus of the new administration, because it is an Asian-owned company, is growth in this region. So, there is a lot of emphasis on that. We are working on several opportunities that may require us to grow our brands and introduce new brands which have not been introduced into the market, as well. We have brands in Europe that we have not brought here. We will introduce Campanile here, as a stylized version of a three-star product. It has more fashion and design orientation. We are looking at acquisition of some product or something will happen.

Is there a particular segment you are eyeing?

We already have an upscale brand which is the Royal Tulip. We would try to introduce more budget segment hotels. We may look

at some of the products that the Chinese company has in the portfolio as well. That could be something we may look at, but not at the moment. We are focussed right now to grow our Golden Tulip brand – which are the three brands that we have introduced in India. Golden Tulip. Royal Tulip and Tulip Inn. We have also introduced the Golden Tulip Essential; it is a little below from a fullservice Golden Tulip hotel. It is a three and half to a four-star category product. It will be introduced in Jaipur.

There has been a certain upswing in the hospitality industry. What has been its impact on the mid-segment hotels?

It is what I call a ‘double-edged’ sword. If the business goes up, cost goes up too. Occupancy might be up, but rates are not. Our corresponding cost, what we call the input cost, has gone up quite significantly. Labour cost, material cost and utility cost are all going up. It squeezes margins, impacting investments and debt coverage ratio. It has caused stressed in the industry. In India, what has happened is that we see a lot of growth in the unorganized sector. We may find it not relevant to our businesses, it is in fact relevant. It has added a huge amount of inventory to the market, and is competitive to our hotels. It could be in a city like Lucknow or Bangalore. They can sell those rooms at INR 1500, but we cannot. Our cost structure is high. That is the problem. There is a huge unorganised sector which is competing with our organised sector. This competition puts pressure on rates. It is not only about occupancy.

How does a hotel then manages not to lose money?

A hotel has to learn to manage the cost. Sometimes, we do not create the rates. It is the market that does. OTAs are proving lower rates and funding the difference out of their own pockets. Fine, they are expanding their data base and acquiring new consumers. But one will have to show some profit sometime.

Hotels must work with OTAs to boost their product awareness Vimal Singh believes that instead of fighting the onslaught of growing numbers of OTAs, it must be viewed as an opportunity to enhance hotel’s visibility and outreach. Do you see a change in the pattern? Do you see rates improving as the market settles down? It will, I think in a couple of years. The supply is not great and there are not many hotels being build. The pressure is because of the real-estate sector. Till real-estate market picks up, supply side will remain under strain. Once that happens, we will be able to increase our room-rates by 10-15 percent – which we should, given the rate of inflation. Taking a look at Golden Tulip’s footprints across destinations, its presence in North, West and South India is fairly robust. When will the Northeast happen for you? We have looked into it, but nothing substantial has come out as yet. We have opened one hotel in Kolkata, a few months ago. We are hoping that it will translate into giving us growth in the Northeast sector, in Guwahati and Kohima etc. Now, with more hotels opening in the region that will provide more opportunities. You are a big company and must be backed by a robust sales and marketing team. But in a dynamic marketplace, how dependent are you on OTAs for your outreach? How big of a challenge is it? I think it is difficult for all the brands to steer people to their own channels, rather than using external channels like that of an OTA. I think the industry will have to learn to live and work with them. We are not fighting them, but rather trying to work Investors will come around. It is not a very sustainable model of operation. We simply cannot do that. Then there are circumstances like the one in Bangalore. Hotels have had no business for several days on account of disturbances that rocked the IT City. Chennai market was impacted last year because of floods. All these are impacting long-term business prospects of these destinations.

But economic upswing must be a positive sign?

We are not a business that is isolated. We are dependent on a number of factors: the political situation, law and order and infrastructure. We saw how after 9/11, global travel and tourism ceased. Therefore, hospitality industry’s uptick is not solely dependent on economic upswing. Economic growth in India is restricted to certain sectors, and as a result, which is relevant to us. We do not see it. Hotel Industry is a by-product of the real-estate industry in a country like India. If real-estate takes off, the hotel industry will take off. We have had many owners, particularly in our case, who had one or two hotels. They may be fine with that one hotel, but there are others who would want to

their to enhance our business. Being a chain, there is an advantage of working with those channels. We can do certain promotional activities and engagements that a certain stand-alone hotel may not be able to do. To me, all channels help create awareness about our brand. It is up to the hotel to use the opportunity to convert a guest into a loyal customer. And that is where, in a company like ours, with a huge loyalty program, we can put that across. That is a part of the competition which is healthy; there is nothing negative about that. In the end, all these channels are boosting our product awareness in the market – which is great. So you look at commissions as a one-time payment for creating a loyal customer? It is a business and we factor all of this in our marketing budgets. We pay commissions to travel agents, as well. Would you mind sharing what sort of commission do you pay? We pay anywhere between 10-18 %. A normal travel agent’s commission is between 10-15%. OTAs are super travel agents. What percentage of your booking comes from online channels? When we aggregate the online space, Golden Tulip channels and other online channels, it is probably about in the high 20 percentile range across the chain. Online channels are major providers of business now. OTAs are not just domestic OTAs, it is also from Europe and other international OTAs. expand after making profits out of their first hotel. So that process of education is going on right now.

So, you are saying that the process of education is underway and it might benefit the industry in the longer run?

The process is underway as we speak. Hotel owners are looking at this again. That is the maturing of the market. India is a very nascent market for the hotel industry. It was basically controlled by 2-3 hotel groups, who were dependent on foreigners coming in. It only woke up in the mid 90’s to the fact that there was a domestic market. That, too, has come up only in the last decade or so, after 2005. The number of domestic traveller who would stay in a star-rated hotel is expected to be around 80-100 million, and the average night stay to be around 2-3. If you multiply that, starcategory hotels do not have enough rooms. All of that business is going to the unorganised sector. Also, there is a huge amount of transparency that has come about in the rates, because of the internet. The knowledge quotient has increased, but it has put pressure on rates.

hote ls + re sorts

Industry must refrain from marketing luxury hotels as commodity: Karan Singh

Karan Singh, Joint MD and Co-Founder of Premier Hotels of Asia has been an industry insider for around three decades. In a detailed interview to TF, he talked about the changing face of hotel representation, asking the industry to focus on selling the experience rather than battling for market share on room rates. Excerpts of his interview on the business of travel representation and trends therein. By Shashank Shekhar

When we work with independent hotels, we have to keep sight of what our commitment is. We clearly cannot take a cookie-cutter approach. And that is not our modus operandi anyways. I think one of our commitment is that we value and celebrate the individuality and the uniqueness of each independent hotel, and at the same time provide a consistent platform to promote them. With that task in mind, we visit the property and do a detailed visit. A number of factors go into shortlisting a property. In terms of its built, amenities, experiences, it has to have that experience quotient. In terms of accommodation, it must be in the upscale or luxury segment.

ell us a little bit about your company and how it came into being? ‘Premier Hotels of Asia’ sort of indicates that you are clear about your niche. What led to the decision?

We are a boutique sales and marketing firm and offer the full range of service that includes sales, marketing and PR representation to hotel companies and exceptional hotels, both in India and in the Asia-Pacific. We have two offices, one in Delhi and other in Singapore. We are a young company, only five years old. And, the team that came together to put this company was from the similar background. I, myself, have been in this business for over 30 years, between two brands, The Oberoi Group and the American Express. I was the Manager at The Oberoi, Delhi. Later, I moved over to American Express – where I worked for almost 16 years. I was the country head for business travel. In 2006, I re-joined The Oberoi Group as the Vice-President sales at the corporate office and I was responsible for driving corporate business. My colleagues have been in the same business. So, our entire team comes from The Imperial Hotels, The Oberoi Group and the American Express – that is us. Our specialization has, essentially, been working in the affluent and the upscale segment. We wanted to work in the segment that we were familiar with. Around 2009-2010, we thought that India was taking off, the affluence and money in India was growing very rapidly. The HNI reported that India has 124 billionaires in India in 2015, against 109 in 2014 and less that a 100 in the previous year. Wealth is growing quite exponentially in India, at a rate of over 20 percent.

You started off in 2010. It was not the best of times for the hotel industry. The cyclic dip had set in which continued till almost 2015. A number of projects were stuck. The economy might have been doing well, but the hotel industry, per se, was not in the best of health. So, I must say, it was a courageous decision on your part to have ventured in to this at that point in time.

You see, the business that we have started is a very well-established model. The professional sales and marketing model is a very tried and tested model in the western markets, in Europe and the USA. Hotel companies do not and cannot have presence

would consider representing their hotel. But it is not professional.

You have quite an impressive list of clients in your portfolio.

That is where we are different. We are focused on providing sales and market representation to hotels in the segment we specialise in. We work with select clients and offer them bespoke representation service. We follow key account management report. We tailor-make our services to represent the brand as it would like to be represented. We have also just launched what we call the ‘Premier Hotels and Resorts Collection’. We have been engaged in it for the past year,

individuality and the uniqueness of each independent hotel, and at the same time provide a consistent platform to promote them. With that task in mind, we visit the property and do a detailed visit. A number of factors go into shortlisting a property. In terms of its built, amenities, experiences, it has to have that experience quotient. In terms of accommodation, it must be in the upscale or luxury segment. As we work more with luxury, our end users who travel to hotels, understand that we represent a luxury hotel. When we recommend a hotel, they expect a certain benchmark, that has become critical for us. People try to sell luxury as a commodity and on room-rates! The moment you get into rates and commoditizing, you have lost the game. You cannot represent a brand, that actually diminishes a customer’s brand. When you represent luxury, you do that on the basis of experience.

Is there a difference in expectations or understanding of what needs to be done when you deal with large brands, vis-à-vis independent standalone properties? What has been your learning on this?

When you talk of global brands, whether they are international or Indian brands, luxury brands work in all three segments of the market. Also, this depends on where the larger concentration of particular companies or hotels are. For instance, if a hotel company is largely rated in terms of its resort properties, clearly their objectives would be different. If a hotel company has more hotels based in cities, then business segments that they would be targeting would naturally address those markets. Usually, with a large global brand, there is a good mix of both, international or Indian. Our job is to take to the desired markets, in

☛ People try to sell luxury as a commodity and on room-rates! The moment you get into rates and commoditizing, you have lost the game. You cannot represent a brand, that actually diminishes a customer’s brand.

3–6 October, 2016 New Delhi

in every important market. So, say a large international company will have one or two international offices. To extend their reach in an efficient manner they take to dedicated marketing and sales companies to represent them in other markets. Initially, we started by representing The Leela in Singapore. We were right in feeling that there was a need. Our country did not have that. At that time, companies such as the Mandarin Oriental were looking for professional representation company to represent their brand. Till now, the practice in India has really been that travel agencies have opened another division, or someone who is involved in the industry has opened another division, because they happen to know someone in the hotel who asks them whether he

where we are building our own propriety sales and marketing platform. It will be a consistent platform to promote carefully selected collection of independent hotels.

What is your criteria for choosing these hotels?

Again, we are looking at hotels, exceptional in terms of experience or luxury. An upscale hotel really, because that is where our client base is. To represent them to discerning travellers and agents, we have just started this collection. We are building that segment.

The process of short-listing a property must need a careful examination. How do you zero-in on a property and ensure that it meets the standard that you have set for yourself? When we work with independent hotels, we have to keep sight of what our commitment is. We clearly cannot take a cookie-cutter approach. And that is not our modus operandi anyways. I think one of our commitment is that we value and celebrate the

line with their corporate objectives in an effective manner. It is not a ‘one size fits all’. The Mandarin Oriental would have its own objectives. The interesting thing about independent hotels is that as India has been growing, especially in the last decade, the South-Asian market has witnessed a profound change. There are a number of fine independent hotels that have come up. Even areas in northern Sri Lanka have opened up to tourists and a number of properties are coming up. A lot of these hotels are built with great passion and offer their own unique attributes. But one thing that is common with all these properties is that they have a very limited sales and marketing reach and resources. Unfortunately, many of them end up becoming a best kept secret or a hidden gem. They do not reach the target market and that is where we come in. At this point in time, most platforms that are available are, either, very limited or cost a fair bit. We can help properties like these.

hote ls + re sorts

Millennial travellers driving ‘experience economy’ and personalisation in service

The growing clout of millennial travellers has led to a systematic escalation of ‘experience economy’, says Prof. Dipra Jha, Lincoln University, Nebraska. Speaking at the Amity International Tourism & Hospitality Conference, he illustrated with examples how hotels and destinations across the world were moving in that direction and shared how India could incorporate the same into its offerings. By Shashank Shekhar

“E

verything to do with the service economy is now moving into the realm of experience. The business of tourism and hospitality is heading in a direction to deliver memories and sensation,” asserted Dipra Jha. His assertion, in parenthesis, is a reflection of the dynamism that has come to define the travel and hospitality industry in the past decade. Driven by technological innovations that are being churned out at a pulsating rate by a newbreed of entrepreneurs, and backed by millennial travellers who have defied traditional wisdom and the taste for usual products, the era of experience economy is coming to fore. “It is not a bundle of intangible products anymore. When we look at images like that of Disney – who is a mass choice of experience creation – are consistently delivering

Dipra Jha Prof. Lincoln University, Nebraska

First of all, the government needs to strategize. You cannot develop tourism with a Band-Aid approach. The government must able to have a vision for the next 25 years. The vision has to be translated down to the private sector and the industry.

they are now trying to move away from same old plain hotel development. Now it is a much more creative and artistic development and that is how the creative economy basically works.” Sharing his understanding of the challenges ahead for service providers of the travel and tourism industry, he said that companies needed to decipher how they were going to create such experiences for their patrons. “How can they actually create a level of guest engagement and meet their moment of truth and achieve value, innovate and stay ahead of the curve are some of the larger challenges facing destinations and hotels,” he reflected. Re-iterating the importance of crafting experiences, he mentioned that Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas had full-sized canals and gondolas to take their guests around. “To boost their creative economy, the hotel has the largest indoor ceiling in the world and the intensity of the light changes depending on the time of the day. So, just by using technology, they are able to actually make their clienteles feel that they are in Venice, enjoying a gondola ride. It is a fantastic use of taking the creative power forward and delivering an absolutely superlative experience,” he shared. Along with technology, art too was being deployed to “deliver a moment”, he said. “It is astounding how technology is aiding this quest. Starwood Hotels in Cupertino has employed robotic butlers that can deliver food, newspaper and other items of need to a guest’s room,” Dipra Jha said. He mentioned that the creative economy eco-system was based on the threefold factors of how the hotel or destination designed the experience for their visitors, what was the engagement strategy and, finally, personalization. “Personalization drives the ability of a brand or a product to speak directly to the consumer,” he said.

☛ India already has some of the best brands in the world. But it must seek to develop a quality-chain that delivers exceptional value all through out. output out of some of the creative economic model. Disney calls their employees ‘cast members’, because they are on the stage all the time,” explained Dipra Jha. Noting that several international brands had aimed at incorporating ‘experience economy’ in their offerings, he pointed out that the Harry Potter exhibit at the Universal Studious in Orlando was a step in that direction. “It moved from being a novel into a movie on the big screen, and has been adapted into an experience for the visitors. Eventually, when India gets its own theme park, my dream is see people being able to dance with the 3D Hologram of Shahrukh Khan,” he said, amidst claps and laughter. Citing the Global Hotels Trends

Report 2016, he noted that he had observed some key trends which indicated that millennials were at the cusp of emerging as the dominant consumer group starting 2017. “We have also seen social media engagement at a whole new level. Technologies like UBER are revolutionizing the world of travel and tourism in many ways. It means that millennial guests are essentially looking at value more than things. They like to be engaged. The industry is moving towards BTS – Boutique, Trendy and Stylish,” he said. Adding that brands like Hilton was moving towards creating value economy chains, he said “the new Hilton brand, TRU, it has been launched in India yet, but basically it follows the BTS model and

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India cannot develop tourism with a Band-Aid approach

ndia’s tryst with experiential tourism is on the right track, especially when it is already home to some of the finest hospitality brands in the world. However, a pressing need confronting India is to create a quality framework, ensuring that these offerings are not limited to certain pockets of excellence, feels Dipra Jha. “India already has some of the best brands in the world. The Oberoi Hotels is consistently ranked as one of the valuable brands in the world. But it must seek to develop a quality-chain that delivers exceptional value all through out,” he said. Illustrating that many countries have been able to develop interactive websites that acted as the first step towards ensuring a top-notch experience, he said “many of the countries have been able to do that quite effectively, starting from when you are looking at their website, collecting information about the destination, it starts giving you that feeling of engagement. And when you arrive in that country, the way systems and processes are set up is that it does not have to be all the way five-star service.” Refusing to equate quality with uber-luxury, he said that it did not need to be very high-end, but India needed to create an infrastructure “which is robust, consistent and delivers a superior product.” He minced no words when he said that millennial tourists – who play an important role in driving economy and footfalls – seek authenticity and real deal. “Tourism, essentially, is an experiential product and millennials are looking for an engagement which reflects in their different purchasing behaviours. Countries like New Zealand and Costa Rica which have actually crafted their tourism products based on these engagements, keeping an eye on sustainability and natural engagements are doing very well,” he explained. Adding that their focus was on the millennial travel-

ler, he reiterated that India had tremendous potential and assets, but merely possessing assets was not good enough. “The industry must understand what exactly the consumer seeks, not only today and tomorrow, but they must also be able to envisage what they may seek ten years from now. Unless that happens, India will not be able to build infrastructure,” Dipra Jha said. Talking about experiential tourism and how much of it had been assimilated in the tourism offerings of nations that were just beginning to realise the potential of travel industry, he said “there are a lot of examples of that. When we talk about tourism, we only talk about economic development, especially in a country like India. I am a big proponent of rural tourism; I am working with two cities in the US and both of them are actually build around rural tourism,” he said. Looking ahead, he stressed that concerted effort to improve the overall visitor experience and providing them with authentic experience needed to come from three elements. “First of all, the government needs to strategize. You cannot develop tourism with a Band-Aid approach. Few efforts in training and cleanliness here and there will not make a dent. The government must able to have a vision for the next 25 years. The vision has to be translated down to the private sector and the industry,” said Dipra Jha. He further highlighted the need for all stakeholders to collaborate and work in tandem for tangible results to surface. “Tourism has never succeeded anywhere in the world where local populace does not have buying power. The government must keep in mind farmers of villages and ensure that they understand the benefit of tourism and how they will gain from hosting visitors in their villages. Tourism must always be consultative and collaborative,” he concluded.

The first need for any traveller, where ever he goes, is to find the right accommodation. Hotels are an essential constituent in travel, at different price points. In city hotels, resorts, and tier 2 and tier 3 cities across India, hotel building is witnessing an unprecedented growth. Branded business is fast catching up – over 50 brands are competing already. Who will Exhibit: Branded chains, stand alone hotels in different categories and different areas of the business, MICE venues, wedding venues, city business hotels, resorts in far flung exotic locations. Chains that have arrived in India and those yet not, equally find relevance. Leading vendors for the industry find equal prominence, as they position themselves meaningfully as partners in the business.

Photo courtesy: Lotus Greens

ITB Comes to India. The best of ‘Glocal’ is here!

Whom will you Meet: A strong B2B means finding your partners in technology, online space and also traditional travel agents and tour operators. Meet with new age aggregators and drivers of the business. Meet also franchise developers, brand managers and find out what is trending in the business.

Just exhibit, or also explore partnerships, exclusive to Hospitality/ Hotels + Resorts Showcase for that extra bit more!

hote ls + re sorts

Hotels push for unique offerings as new-age travellers look for newer experiences Hotels in India have now gone beyond offering the expected facilities usually offered. With staycations in trend where guests can be residents of the same city, it is but obvious for the hospitality industry to wake up to the demand of going beyond the ordinary and curating experiences which add up to make for an exciting holiday with take home value. We spoke to a few hotels in various cities all over the country that understand this need of a hotel guest and go a step further to design unique experiences that cater to a wide variety of interests. By Jyoti Balani

ecently, The Courtyard by Marriott Pune Chakan has introduced two unique packages for guests called Agro-tourism package and the Heritage Package. The hotel has cultivated a farm experience which is within 12 kms of the hotel and takes about twenty minutes to get there. As part of the experience the guests are taken to the farm and given a complete farm experience which includes them seeing cows being milked, how the feed is made followed by an understanding of how farming is done, the ploughing experience followed by a bullock cart ride. Once done with this they are served a home cooked meal which is served to them on the fields. This has been an extremely unique experience as a guest gets the best of both worlds, a luxurious stay in the hotel and a rustic experience with mother Earth. Areas around Chakan are truly rich in heritage with multiple sightseeing options. One of the closest is the Chakreshwar temple, legend has it that it is the site where King Dasharatha was battling a Rakshasa (Demon King), when the wheel of his ratha (chariot) was stuck in mud near the pond of Chakreshwar. When his wife Kaikeyi helped get the wheel unstuck, Dasharatha granted her three wishes, that eventually led to the exile of Rama and the subsequent events of the epic Ramayana. There are multiple sights of historic importance in an around Chakan. Says Nasir Shaikh, General Manager, Courtyard by Marriott Pune Chakan, “The key to the success of our strategically located hotel which plays the role of an urban resort on weekends is to ensure that guests experience something very unique, something that is not on offer at any other hotel. With this in mind and to ensure that the experience touches all the five senses, we launched the agro-tourism package. The response has been phenomenal and what was most encouraging is the active role that parents take in educating their children along with

enjoying this experience. We have children who want to plant a seed and then know the progress of their plant which is heartwarming. In addition to this we have packages with activities that include a car plant visit to Volkswagen factory, a visit to Asia’s largest cheese plant (Gowardhan cheese factory), the option to learn some horse riding skills at Japalouppe, an equestrian farm or even learning to cook with the chef. All these activities ensure that we at Courtyard by Marriott Pune Chakan offer a stay which makes room for fun!” The Grand Hyatt Goa takes experiential tourism to a whole new dimension by offering guests over a 101 experiences to choose from. So whether it is cooking with the resort’s chefs, or learning to make Indian-inspired cocktails, or simply hit the adventure zone for an adrenaline rush, there is something for everyone. The

exciting adrenaline rush. Zoccer is an insane mix of football (soccer) and zorbing. Zoccer tackles send a person bouncing and reeling across the pitch but protected by an inflated zorb. One can crash into other players and create mayhem without causing any bodily injury. Water aerobics is a form of aerobic exercise that requires water-immersed participation. The classes focus on aerobic endurance and resistance and the creation of an enjoyable atmosphere with background music. Different forms of water aerobics include Aqua Zumba, yoga, and aqua aerobics. Every child is born divine, and as we grow up, they say that we lose our connections with our inner selves. This is why yoga and mindful meditation bring children closer to who they really are and lead the way to a better world. There are yoga sessions for adults as well. Yoga with live music comprises meditation, mindfulness and re-awakened energy that results in one feeling happy and relaxed from head to toe, body and soul. Live Indian music compliments this peaceful yoga session. Wall-climbing is designed to offer the thrill of being outdoors and makes use of an artificial wall created by outdoor adventure experts and this offers unmatched challenges. The resort also offers cycling which can also be an immensely challenging physical activity. Flying Fox offers the thrilling choice of either gliding like an eagle or flying like over the lawn. A flying fox is an overhead cable strung between two points and the participant flies along this on a pulley. It’s like being on an aerial runway! The fitness boot camp provides a physical training programme conducted by personal trainers and is designed to build strength and fitness through a variety of intense group activities for over an hour. The AquaSailing centre is the only sailing center in India based at a five star resort and is a great experience with top-of-the-line fleet and certified instructors allowing individuals and groups to achieve the best in sailing along the waters of Bambolim Bay.

☛ Hotels are increasingly adding unique and highly experiential activities into their repertoire to engage with a new breed of travellers, who constantly seek newer activities and experiences. Resort Centre team helps explore Goa in and around the resort and offers adventure and sightseeing options in the state, for example a photography tour into some of Goa’s most bustling and rural areas which covers bustling markets, fishing villages and ruins of coastal forts. Adventure enthusiasts can choose from wall-climbing, aqua-zorbing, zoccer, archery, zip-line, flying fox, wild-web rope course, cycling, functional training, sailing and boot camp. Wild-web rope course includes a combination of both vertical and horizontal challenges, and is constructed from wood, cables and ropes installed above ground and strung between trees and poles. This course is open to all age groups and is not as easy as it looks. Zip-line is a heart-pounding adventure and can eliminate one’s fear of heights. When suspended from a cable and moving freely along it, one feels an

In the backdrop of luxury, more hotels bring in earthly experiences in their fold

he Oberoi Bengaluru organizes two experiences beyond the ordinary for guests; one of them being the Starlit Supper, a private affair in an oasis of peace and tranquillity at the heart of the city. Prodyut Kumar Chatterjee, Food and Beverage Manager at The Oberoi, Bengaluru says, “We organize a romantic evening with the one you love under a canopy of stars and fragrant blossoming trees hung with lanterns, in the gardens of The Oberoi, Bengaluru or the tranquil poolside ensconced with palm trees and the aroma of frangipani flowers. Our Chefs create a wide range of specially curated dishes which are then complemented with carefully selected wines all served by a personal butler at a candlelit table for two.” The

second experience is the Garden Tea Party-an authentic, colonial style two hour experience at The Oberoi, Bengaluru. “This experience consists of a leisurely stroll around the hotel’s

beautifully landscaped gardens with the in-house horticulturist, to see the wide variety of flora and as well as the exquisite rain tree which has grown here for more than one hundred years; the guardian of the hotel. This is followed by a lavish English high tea on the al fresco terrace of the colonial style Polo Club as you watch the sun go down over the gardens. The high tea menu is reflective of an original English tea with delicacies from the boulangerie including scones served with clotted cream, lemon curd and homemade jam. It includes a gourmet selection teas and coffee brews. There is also the option of a Sparkling high tea where a glass of sparkling wine is served as well,” adds Prodyut Kumar Chatterjee.

Pride Hotel Nagpur welcomes the New General Manager, Rahul Kanungo

Pride Hotel Group has announced the appointment of Rahul Kanungo to the position of General Manager for the Pride Hotel, Nagpur. He will be responsible for running the historic hotel and overall day-to-day operations, will be responsible for sales & generating revenue for the hotel through room bookings, meetings and conventions and other social events. Rahul is a seasoned Hotelier having deep rooted experience in Hotel Operations, Financial Management, Customer Relationship Management, Resource Management, People Management and Project Management in the Hospitality Industry. In his past experience he has worked with the Taj Group of Hotels for more than 13 years in various capacities and at various properties. Rahul gained valuable experience as a General Manager with many renowned hotels named Dukes Retreat Khandala, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Keys Hotels, BJN Group and Ramada Group. With an core objective to adopt ethical and responsible business practices fostering “feel good “factor for the environment and the society, Rahul has excellent communication, inter-personal relationship management and problem solving skills. “We are thrilled to have Rahul Kanungo join the Pride Group of Hotel team. He bring such amazing experience to the Pride and is positively a brilliant addition to the hotel and the Pride family,” said Satyen Jain, CEO - Pride Hotel Group.

hote ls + re sorts

Three-star category hotels lead industry’s RevPAR; room supply swells, reads HVS report The latest issue of HVS Report comes as sweet music for the industry. The report indicates that mid-segment hotels are leading in terms of revenue while Delhi, purely in terms of hospitality business, continues to rule the roost. Excerpts of the report. Tourism Overview

The Indian Travel and Tourism Industry has been instrumental to the nation's economic growth. Over the years, it has also emerged as a significant source of foreign exchange and a large employment generator. The sustained growth of this industry can be attributed to the rising middleclass, infrastructural reforms, increase in international tourist arrivals and tourismfriendly visa policies such as the extension of e-Tourist Visa to 150 countries. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC's) Economic Impact 2016 - India report, the total contribution of Travel and Tourism to the GDP was `8,309.4 billion (6.3% of the GDP) in 2015. This is projected to grow by 7.3% to `8,913.6 billion in 2016 and eventually reach `18,362.2 billion (7.2% of the GDP) by 2026. International Tourist Arrivals (ITA) grew by 4.2% in 2015, registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% during the past five years. The top three source markets for India during the period 2013 to 2015 continued to be the US (15.1%), followed by Bangladesh (14.1%) and the UK (10.8%).

Domestic demand for hotels in the country has historically been higher than inbound demand. A rise in spending capacity along with proliferation of low cost carriers has not only resulted in growth of domestic travel, but has also had a significant impact on the domestic travel spends. In 2015, domestic travel spending generated 82.5% of the direct Travel and Tourism GDP, which is expected to rise by 6.6% in 2016 to `6,284.4 billion. Further, as an initiative to enhance regional connectivity and to make air travel more affordable for the growing middle class, the government capped the fare for one-hour flights at `2,500 in June 2016. Although, the majority of demand for hotels originates from commercial activity,

there is a large portion of Indians travelling for leisure, both within the country and overseas. In 2015, the WTTC estimates that leisure travel spending (inbound and domestic) generated 83.2% of the direct Travel and Tourism GDP (`5,945.5 billion) in comparison to 16.8% from business travel spending (`1,198.9 billion). We touch upon the potential of leisure demand in more detail later in this report. Thus, acknowledging the vast scope of Travel and Tourism in India, the government has proposed various initiatives such as ‘Project Mausam’ and 'National Mission on Pilgrimage.

Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD)'.

Further more, the Union Budget 2016-17

☛ Each star category registered a year-on-year increase in RevPAR in 2015/16, with the three-star category leading the pack like the year before, recording a 10.5% growth. ☛ The existing room supply grew by 5.5% in 2015/16 totaling to 1,13,622 rooms (as of 31 March 2016).

allocates `1,590 million to the tourism ministry to focus on infrastructure development, promotion and publicity initiatives – all of which bode well for the Indian tourism sector.

Survey Results

This report analyses the performance of the branded and organised hotel market in India. The historical information gathered is arranged and interpreted based on star classifications followed by an emphasis on 13 major hotel markets. Moreover, the future supply in each market is analysed based on its positioning, proposed room count and development timeline in order to estimate changes over the next five years.

Industry Performance According to Star Category

Nationwide RevPAR performance was recorded at `3,512 in 2015/16, a significant growth of 6.1% over the preceding fiscal. The nationwide weighted occupancy (63.4%) swelled 6%, corresponding with a marginal increase of 0.1% in average daily rate (`5,541). A concurrent increase in occupancy and ADR was last seen in 2010/11. Each star category registered a year-on-year increase in RevPAR in 2015/16, with the threestar category leading the pack like the year before, recording a 10.5% growth. The improvement in RevPAR across all star categories can be attributed to both occupancy and average rate, with the exception of five-star hotels. Five-star hotels recorded the second highest growth in occupancy (6.8%); however, this was the only star category that logged a miniscule drop of 0.3% in its average rate last year. In contrast, two-star hotels that had seen a marginal decline in their overall performance in 2014/15, revived to achieve a year-on-year increase of 4.3% in occupancy and 2.5% in average rate in 2015/16. This may be attributed to the gradual escalation of commercial activity in Tier II and Tier III cities as well as increased domestic travel.

Existing Supply – 2015/16

The existing room supply grew by 5.5% in 2015/16 totaling to 1,13,622 rooms (as of 31 March 2016). This takes into account 5,619 new rooms that entered various markets during the year, and the rest are an expansion of the sample set being tracked by HVS. Furthermore, the change in the total existing supply for 2014/15 is largely because of an intentional cleansing of the reported hotels so as to reflect quality branded/organised supply only. Looking at the 13 markets analysed in this report, Agra saw the highest increase in supply (16%) in 2015/16, adding to the relatively small base of hotels, followed by Ahmedabad (7.1%) and New Delhi (6.4%). In absolute terms, New Delhi maintained its top position with the largest number of branded hotel rooms in the country, closely followed by Mumbai (including Navi Mumbai) and Bengaluru. NOIDA (including Greater NOIDA), continued to be the smallest hotel market among the 13 tracked here in, with an existing base of only 1,322 branded rooms in 2015/16. The NOIDA (including Greater NOIDA) hotel market remains one of the poorest performing markets amongst the 13 major cities tracked in the survey, displaying a further decline of 2.7% in average rate last year. Hotels in NOIDA witnessed a moderate recovery in occupancy in 2015/16, after the setbacks faced in 2014/15 due to the moving out of large scale events such as the Defense Exposition and PetroTech from the India Expo Centre and Mart (IEM). The year 2015/16 has been a significant one for the Pune hotel market. The city continued to witness a surge in occupancy (7.1% over 2014/15) and crossed the 65 percent mark. While this provides considerable reason to cheer, a more noteworthy, albeit small change was a year-on-year increase in average rate (3.6% when compared to 2014/15) signaling that the tide has truly turned for the city. Since 2008/09, Pune played host to a staggering growth of around 400% in its room supply, the highest in the country amongst major hotel markets, resulting in a successive annual downward spiral in both occupancy and average rate performance. However, contrary to common belief, the city’s hotels have witnessed a sturdy double-digit growth in demand every year.

niche: luxury

Choice and competitiveness shaping up the future of luxury outbound: Yeishan Goel Despite growing numbers, it is still some time before the Indian luxury outbound emerges as a key source market for hotels or destinations, feels Yeishan Goel, CEO, THRS. In a detailed interview to TF, he spoke at length on his own engagement, trends in the luxury segment and how global businesses were lining up to stake claim of the lucrative Indian growth pie. By TF Bureau

ell us a little about your company and engagements.

The supply, except for singular brands or very few destinations, such as the UK which is a very strong source market or Dubai, larger Middle-east and Sri Lanka – that are our obvious pockets of travel, by and large, despite the statistical growth, India does not feature as a leading source market for most international brands or destinations. If you look at Maldives, India does not feature in the list of their top-five source markets. India is not a key source market for any destination or hotel brand in Europe. Is the Indian market relevant? Absolutely. Is it producing results? Yes. But is it one of the top three source markets? No.

We run a couple of hospitality interests, but I will talk about THRS. We are a little more than 5 years old. Our business has 3 practices. One is the Global Sales Offices (GSO) wherein luxury hotels brands can come to help manage their revenue pipeline, or their sales and marketing office for the Indian market. What is unique in the direction is that we are currently working, only, with luxury brands. In our current position we do not really take DMC or NTO contracts like some of our colleagues in the industry do. It is not such a conscience decision and as of right now, that is how we structure our business.

Is it because you do not want to spread yourself too thin and focus on your area of expertise?

Well, I have been bit of an outsider in this industry. I have been fortunate to be working in a great community. We have always believed that our function should have domain expertise. If you look at our Public Relations (PR) practices, which is our second vertical, we specialize in hospitality PR. That is the only kind of marketing and media communications we manage. We are reasonably good. Similarly, in our GSO business, taking a cue from what you said about spreading too thin, may be yes. We would like to stick to what we know well. And what we know well is what we have done constantly over these years. All our luxury brands are iconic and would feature in the top 50 hotels. They are strong and have individual brand personalities. Every partner is deserving of the right attention and support. You have to deep-dive in order to deliver that support. When we started, we fairly started

3–6 October, 2016 New Delhi

establishing a strong sense of the macro understanding of our market. If you look at any brand, the target audience it attracts, the distribution channels and uniqueness it requires in terms of planning and working with partners is very specific to each one of them. They may all be luxury brands but within them but there are individual brand requirements. So, we have delved deeper and deeper into it since our inception and that is what has led us to growth on an year-on-year basis, wining over new partners.

How many partners are you currently operating with?

I will not be able to pin-point the exact number to you right now. We do not really take too much work. Typically, our clients are more retained. They are spread over time. For instance, with the Six Senses Hotels and Resorts, it has been a relationship of over five years, more actually if you come to think of it. Likewise, Soneva and Palazzo Versace – an iconic hotel – we are handling their sales.

Given your portfolio, you are well placed to talk about the luxury market in India. How has the market been off late? How has the Indian outbound reacted to your own foray into the market?

It is not exacting. It has never been exacting. I will share with you two sides of the business for us. At one side, the Indian market is the fastest growing luxury market in the world. We are growing at 12.2% CAGR, wherein global travel is growing at, roughly, 4.8%. If you look at it statistically, it is great. If you look the average spend per user, and for the luxury market high average spend is absolutely vital, it is another area where the

Indian market has seen a constant upsurge. Our travellers are spending more than they ever did before. So, from a spend and a statistical point of view, we are doing very well. If you look at experiential travel and experimentation during this travel, it is another area that is seeing great growth. Travellers, for the past couple of years, have been looking for unique destinations. Today, you would see travellers going quite happily from Peru to the Chilean Patagonia to Fiji to Antarctic cruises. By and large, the HNI Indians are travelling everywhere. They are out there and outspoken and the trend has moved along in such a way that Indian travellers know exactly what they want. It is no longer a gullible traveller if there ever was. I doubt that about India. On the flipside, because of the increasing choices and width of travel, if you look at it from the point of view of a singular luxury hotel, brand or a destination, the numbers may not be growing as they ought to have, with respect to the statistical growth. The choice and competitiveness has gone up several notches. If you look at it from our scenario, if you look at a particular destination, while we work with most fabulous brands, but there are other brands that are equally great. Look at Maldives, it has over 150 great hotels. From top-end luxury to a little bit below that, to a five-star, across the board, there is enough competition and every year a dozen-odd hotels open.

What has fuelled this trend? Is it more to do with technology and its percolation into people’s lives? Awareness. Yes, of course. It has improved by leaps and bounds. What part of our lives has it not affected? But it is also about more conviction in choice.

When you talked about growing competition, do you mean that the supply-side is stronger than the demand side, as far as luxury segment is concerned? No, they are both strong. Do not get me

wrong. But the supply, except for singular brands or very few destinations, such as the UK which is a very strong source market or Dubai, larger Middle-east and Sri Lanka – that are our obvious pockets of travel, by and large, despite the statistical growth, India does not feature as a leading source market for most international brands or destinations. If you look at Maldives, India does not feature in the list of their top-five source markets. India is not a key source market for any destination or hotel brand in Europe. Is the Indian market relevant? Absolutely. Is it producing results? Yes. But is it one of the top-three source markets? No. That is where the trick is. A lot of new brands are entering India and all of them what a share of the Indian growth pie. But I believe that Indian outbound luxury travel is, at least, 2-3 years away, may be more, from really peaking. The real numbers for Indian luxury outbound is yet to happen. Having said that, it is headed in a great direction.

Give me as sense of whether you represent only a chain of luxury hotels or a stand-alone property, too?

We actually do both. We do not really work with a very large chain of hotels. When I say a large chain, I mean 50-70 hotels. For groups, yes. We work with Six Senses; the brand has almost 14-15 hotels. We work with Saneva, they have 3 hotels – iconic property in the Maldives. We work with Resplendent Ceylon.

How is the Sri Lankan market coming up, especially since the domestic situation has improved immensely?

We started engaging with Resplendent Celyon. It has been around a year now. The numbers have been really good. The product is great; the brand is lovely. It is owned by the Dilmah Tea Company. They are also opening other resorts in coming days, but they have two properties now. Both of them are reputed. They are not for everybody. Our guests have come back with raving feedback and that is what has added to the conviction in the market that the product is good. And our numbers have been growing ever since. I will also take a step further, beyond Resplendent Ceylon, Sri Lanka itself as a market is constantly growing for India. There always has been a perception about Sri Lanka being too close to India and may not be exotic enough is changing rapidly.

How different is it dealing with a chain of hotels and, say, a stand-alone? What are their expectations of you? Does the size of a chain make your job easier?

Not necessarily. Anybody who is interested in the Indian market would have a dialogue with somebody like us, naturally has a sense of the market. The Indian market is one the most talked about market in the world. On the other side, the representation business, the GSO business, is also very competitive. And somewhere there needs to be a meeting of minds between the partner and his representative. For us that has only one single connotation – Return of Investments. We are one of the few companies in our line of business that guarantees return on investment.

niche: Cruise

It’s a fallacious notion that cruising is an elite acitivity, says Ratna Chadha Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive, Tirun has been a pioneer of cruise tourism in India. She is of the opinion that India needs to create favourable policies to encourage inbound cruise tourism. She discusses a whole range of issues, including why cruising has been gaining popularity among the Indian outbound and how we have missed the bus despite an envious coastline and plethora of offerings in the kitty. By Shashank Shekhar

ive us a sense of how the outbound is performing right now? What is your take on the months ahead? Basically, the outbound is growing faster than the inbound. There is greater value in travelling out than within the country, because we are still associated with a lot of taxes and such like, so the rates are pretty high. Also, people who make investments into the country in terms of hotels and other ground handling arrangements, are burdened with heavy-duty taxes and other such issues. I think by 2020, the estimated number of people who would have travelled abroad would be around 50 million – which is not a very big number for a country like India, considering how Singapore and Malaysia and other South Asian countries have been able to receive much more. It is because of the value that they add as a destination.

Tell us a little bit about the cruise tourism in India.

At the moment, cruising is only outbound. There are no inbound cruises. We are working on it with the government, as the only private sector entity. The PM is very keen, so are the stakeholders associated with the government – the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Shipping and Ministry of Commerce. Defence is involved to some extent as security is a major concern. They are trying to work towards making this happen. We would love to see that happen, because I think we have missed the boat where

countries and destinations like Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have taken over – Shanghai, too, which is far away. ‘The Shanghai story’ came true in the last 5 years only. India has a vast coastline stretching for over 7,500 kilometres. It is unimaginable and completely untapped. Given India’s strategic location, we could have become one of the major port tourism hubs. We have never thought about it. Till now, we only allow ships to pass through, we do not have ports of call. We are not a home port, at all. India is only a transit. Most of it through Kochi, Mumbai and Goa. Mangalore to some extent.

We have heard that Vizag too is being developed in a major way.

Vizag port is being developed like the rest of the country. In India, it does not work that way for a cruise liner or for an investor. When a cruise liner comes into the country, and hopefully it will sooner than later, we need the whole gamut. We need a complete itinerary. You cannot sell cruise tourism based on one port. More than that it is the government policy. If the policy is in place, infrastructure will follow.

What is the nature of the Indian outbound? Who are travelling? Is it more the millennial traveller or families taking a vacation? It is a mix of everything. The family

Celebrity Club Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises – these are the At the moment, cruising is three brands that we only outbound. There are represent. As time goes no inbound cruises. We by and more and more are working on it with the government, as the only ships are being manuprivate sector entity. The factured, we find that PM is very keen, so are the Europe and the USA stakeholders associated are saturating. We are with the government – the moving towards Asia. Ministry of Tourism, Ministry Now there is a huge of Shipping and Ministry of Commerce. Defence is deployment in Asia, so involved to some extent as the cost of travel comes security is a major concern. down automatically. It They are trying to work becomes more relevant. towards making this happen. The reason why there We would love to see that was no marketing and happen, because I think we have missed the boat where miscommunication is countries and destinations because of the deploylike Singapore, Abu Dhabi ment part of it. Now and Dubai have taken over – that we are in this part Shanghai, too, which of the world, anyone is far away. can reach us. Our marketing is more relevant, because we are reaching out to a greater mass of people. We are catering to more aspirations. One The general understanding could be sitting in Bhillai, Indore that remains widely prevalent or Guntur and still get to Singais that cruising is an expensive pore. It is cheaper to do Singapore activity to engage in, and is for to do Kolkata-Goa, airfare wise. the affluent traveller. So, may As service providers, may be, be the need is to change the we relied too heavily on the B2B perception? segment who are travel agents. There is a disconnect. There is Travel agents have, probably not a misconception. Every cruise penetrated their own markets experience does not have to be and been instrumental in comover the top. There are various municating this to the passengers. brands that can cater to a travelYou could say that it is a question ler’ s need. The major thing is of awareness and education. We deployment. Around 80% of try to educate our travel agents, the traveller’s cost is getting to because it is still a niche market the product; travelling to that particular embarkation port. I can and we can’t may be reach out to as many customers as the travel speak for ourselves, that is the agent can. Royal Caribbean International,

segment is definitely travelling and travelling like there is no tomorrow. They are taking a lot of short breaks. It is not just that one long summer vacation they previously looked forward to. That is there in any case, and as service providers we need to take care of those aspirations. The prerogative of travel is not just for the affluent. Those who want to pay high prices can obviously choose to do so. One can get an experience with in the one’s budget and needs. And that is what we do in the cruising industry. There are no other service providers – hotels, resorts, villas, you name it – that gives you as much choice as a cruise ship.

Cruise offers unparalleled options to a consumer

o you operate in all major international destinations?

We have a foot-print in all the seven continents. It is because we have the ability to move our equipment based on seasonality. We pretty much offer the consumer the world. Anyways, three-fourth of the world is covered in water, so if you have not had the experience of cruising, you have not seen the world. But we do have a lot of work to do.

You said we have reached a 100,000 mark in total footfalls. Would you like to share the year-on-year growth that you have witnessed? Let us say we have grown some-

where between 15-20 percent on the passenger count, but the revenue generation was much more.

So you mean a consumer is spending a lot more than he used to before?

Yes, because the repeat clientele understands the value and they go for more expensive accommodation. Also, as ships are getting larger, 80 percent of our accommodation is in the premium category. So there are more suites with soft-services attached, and huge number of balconies. The state rooms with balconies has given an impetus to the rise in pricing, because people have understood the value there. Also,

because the inventory is so large in this category, we are able to offer value in terms of pricing. We have, let us say, cruises to fit everybody’s need. If you want an exclusive luxury experience, and as luxury comes in smaller ships where the service is more intimate and personalized, there are ships that can accommodate 700 people. It really depends on what a client is looking for. People, sometimes, do not want to be around huge crowds and seek quieter surroundings.

Take us through some of the offerings available on the cruise ship.

Everyone has their own agenda on a holiday, as it is their holiday

as well. A passenger is travelling through and through in five star or above luxury in a very safe and secure environment -where there is no threat or hassle. You are not bouncing from airport to airport.

One can enjoy playing golf, party in a discotheque, fine-dine in top restaurants and enjoy the luxury of a spa, all while cruising on the high seas. It is an experience like no other.

outbound : dubai

In the making, Dubai Parks and Resorts set to muscle up port city’s tourism offerings To be thrown open for visitors from 31st October 2016, Dubai Parks and Resorts is a heady mix of leisure and entertainment, featuring the best of the East and the West, including three world-class theme parks, a water park, a hotel and a retail and dining district. Vasujit Kalia speaks with Vinit Dinesh Shah, Chief Destination Management Officer of Dubai Parks & Resorts.

o you want to share your opening plans which are slated for October this year? What will you do to make it a resounding success?

Dubai Parks and Resorts will open its doors to the public on 31st October, 2016. Our teams are working round the clock to ensure all aspects of the destination are ready to welcome our guests. Although, we cannot disclose any specific details about the activities at this stage, but we have many announcements to make in the upcoming weeks that will build anticipation and excitement for the opening day of our multi-theme park destination. We are creating a unique leisure and entertainment destination featuring the best of the East and the West, including three worldclass theme parks, a water park, a hotel and a retail and dining district. Once opened in October, we will be the largest multi-theme park destination in the Middle East, with over 100 rides and attractions over 25 million square feet. ‘Experience Amazing’ is what we promise to deliver to every single guest.

The park once open will become the Middle East’s largest multi-themed leisure and entertainment destination comprising three separate theme parks. Can you throw some light on the ticket prices details of which were announced by Dubai Parks and Resorts earlier this year?

We have recently announced the daily ticket prices for the much-awaited theme park destination. Pre-purchased standard adult tickets will range from AED 240 to AED 330 for one-day single park ticket, while the multiple parks multiple days’ ticket will range between AED 480 and AED 890.

As a part of the pre-launch campaign you recently announced the release of the official theme song which was created in creative collaboration with the legendary academy award winner Alan Menken. Which other campaigns do you have in store?

Come October 31st, Dubai Parks and Resorts will open its gates to the world. It is a moment everybody has been waiting for. After

all, it is the region’s largest integrated theme park destination, boasting three theme parks and one water park all placed together at one incredible location. So to help drum up excitement and enthusiasm, we will roll out an integrated campaign aptly titled ‘Where Amazing Meets Amazing’ in the months ahead. The campaign gets off the blocks with a star-studded epic commercial that showcases all the incredible attractions that will soon come to Dubai Parks and Resort and guests will experience fun, excitement and adventure of MOTIONGATE Dubai, Bollywood Parks Dubai, LEGOLAND Dubai, LEGOLAND Water Park, as well as Lapita Hotel and Riverland Dubai.

Being the world’s first Bollywood themed park, Bollywood Parks Dubai, part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, has partnered with the best of the industry to ensure that every element at the Park exudes Bollywood. As far as the actors are concerned, we have collaborated with some of the biggest names in Bollywood, whether that be the Khans of Bollywood or Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar. Not only have we teamed up with the biggest names in Bollywood, but also with an award winning team of producers, innovative designers, creative writers and directors to bring to guests the very best of what Bollywood has to offer.

Recently the park has partnered with Shahrukh Khan to shoot the high speed chase scenes for its immersive 3D ride – Don: The Chase which will premiere at the opening of Bollywood Parks Dubai? Which other Bollywood stars will be coming to shoot in your parks?

Being the world’s first Bollywood themed park, Bollywood Parks Dubai, part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, has partnered with the best of the industry to ensure that every element at the Park exudes Bollywood. As far as the actors are concerned, we have collaborated with some of the biggest names in Bollywood, whether that be the Khans of Bollywood or Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar. This iconic dream team has joined hands with Bollywood Parks Dubai to ensure an immersive experience for the eager ride seekers. Not only have we teamed up with the biggest names in Bollywood, but also with an award winning team of producers, innovative designers, creative writers and directors to bring to guests the very best of what Bollywood has to offer.

You have collaborated with the best of Bollywood to recreate the magic of some of its biggest movies via thrilling 3D and 4D cinematic rides, what exactly will you be doing to capture the imagination of normal Indian film lover?

All our rides and attractions have been recreated from some of the biggest hits from the Indian Film Industry -- be it flying with the Indian superhero Krrish or simply enjoy-

ing a lavish dinner at the Mughal-e-Azam inspired fine dining restaurant. Visitors to the world’s first Bollywood inspired theme park will get a variety of cinematic experiences. The 1.7 million-square-feet park will have 16 rides and attractions, inspired by contemporary Hindi-language blockbusters, including superstar Shahrukh Khan’s Don and RA.One, Salmaan Khan’s Dabangg, Aamir Khan’s Lagaan, Hrithik Roshan’s Krrish, Farhan Akhtar’s Rock On and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, in addition to cult classics like Sholay and Mughal-e-Azam. Segregated into five zones and dedicated to various rides and attractions, including street food carts straight from the streets of Mumbai, each zone at the park has a story to narrate; ◗ Bollywood Boulevard: The district is also the entrance to the world’s first Bollywood inspired theme park, so the elements displayed at the zone range from the Gate Way of India to the colourful sights and sounds of this vibrant country. ◗ Mumbai Chowk: Staying true to the feel

of a street market, this district includes design elements from the famous Bazaars in Mumbai. Also sites like the local train and street-style food carts will exhibit the true nature of Mumbai. ◗ Rustic Ravine: Inspired by Bollywood hits such as the Aamir Khan productions award winning hit Lagaan and Global Pictures Services legendary Sholay, this district will take you to the village set up of India where you can familiarize with the local touch and textures. The culinary options will also share the same ethos, replicating the famous Dhabbas that you see on Indian highways. ◗ Royal Plaza: As the name suggests, the inspiration taken, is from the rich Mughal dynasty that has translated into major monuments and palaces in India today. Mughal-e-azam, the fine dining restaurant has intricate detailing that reflects the known design elements from the era. you will be treated like Royalty at Mughal-e-Azam, with interiors set to impress and a cuisine that pays homage to the splendor of ancient kings, this venue is fit for Royalty.

Given robust air-connection, stronger movement in leisure segment on the cards Bollywood Parks Dubai also plans to introduce the first Broadwaystyle Bollywood Musical to the region at the flagship property – the Rajmahal Theatre, can you please elaborate? The heart and soul of Bollywood Parks Dubai, the stunning Rajmahal Theatre has taken its inspiration from the beautiful palaces and intricate architecture designs seen in India. Reflecting the artistic brilliance from the Mughal era, the Rajmahal Theatre embodies elements of design that will leave the visitors spellbound. This world-class venue seats 850 people, and will host the region’s first,

separately ticketed, Broadway-style Bollywood musical several times a week. The 60,000 square foot stage will also feature VIP boxes and exclusive lounges.

How do you see India as a market for multi-themed leisure and entertainment parks like yours and do you plan to expand to Indian subcontinent as well? There are currently no world-class theme parks within a seven-hour flight time of Dubai showing that there is a large untapped market for theme parks in the Middle East and Indian subcontinent. It is conveniently located within

easy reach of four international airports making it easily accessible for international visitors.

Digitalization is the key word today. How do you plan to use it to increase your footfalls?

We have collaborated with Etisalat, a multinational UAE based telecommunications services provider, to create the region’s first-of-its-kind integrated ‘smart’ theme park destination. We’ll also implement a set of smart applications and solutions to offer an innovative experience before, during and after the visit to the resort.

outbound : global

With T20 and Bollywood, Florida gains steady traction in the outbound With regular Bollywood events and the recent maiden introduction of T20 international tournament in Florida, its visibility has grown many-fold in the Indian outbound. Seldon Tenzing Account Director, VISIT FLORIDA India speaks to TF.

27 of destinations that attract a significant number of travellers. How do you promote Florida and what is its USPs?

We believe working closely with the travel trade is very important, to reach out effectively to the consumers. So most of our activities such as trade shows, roadshows, FAMs etc. are revolving around the travel trade at the moment. We are a destination that can cater to multiple aspects of travel. If it is leisure travel, tourists can explore the beaches, the theme parks or shop at the largest outlet shopping mall called Sawgrass Mills which is close to Miami. For MICE travel, we have variety of hotels with conferencing facilities. We also have the second largest convention centre in USA known as Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. For student group travel, Kennedy Space Center offers space camps for international students.

Talking specifically about India, how is it shaping up as a market for you. What kind of growth have you witnessed in the recent past. India market has been positive for us and we have been seeing a double digit growth year on year. Along with the growth in the leisure segment, we often get queries from the MICE companies as well.

By TF Bureau

lorida has been attracting tremendous number of travellers in the past years. What would you attribute to this stupendous surge in footfalls? Take us through your key product offerings.

We work very closely with trade partners across the country. We focus on educating the trade fraternity here in India about the destination. At the same time we jointly promote the destination with different airlines that fly into Florida such as Emirates, which started operations to Orlando last year. Orlando has been an all-time favourite destination for the Indian traveller as

the city has a lot to offer. The key attractions at Orlando have been Seldon Tenzing the Walt Disney World, Universal Account Director, VISIT FLORIDA India Orlando resort, Sea World Parks and Entertainment. Florida as a Definitely the T20 competition has product keeps developing itself helped us grow brand awareness in the to provide new experiences to Indian market. its visitors; new attractions such as the Orlando Eye at I drive and many other expansions are in progress and therefore, tourists est from the MICE market and we have have a lot to experience. Of late, cities been hosting multiple MICE groups in like Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, etc. different parts of Florida. have seen an increase in the demand for cruise offerings, beach vacation and shopping. Florida is also seeing an interWithin the US, there are a number

Thanks to stronger destination promotion, outbound to Seychelles up by 62 percent

Given that the US has already hosted an Indian cinema event, and now with Florida hosting first ever T20 competition, the timing to push for stronger Indian numbers could not be better. What is your take on this? Definitely the T20 competition has helped us grow brand awareness in the Indian market. Florida is also a preferred destination among the Bollywood, recently Sonakshi Sinha shot for the cover of a magazine in Miami, and movies like Bang Bang have also been shot in Miami. With increasing air connectivity between India and Florida on a daily basis, Florida is increasingly attracting more Indian visitors.

A marathon event – Namaste France – set to tap for a larger share of French outbound into India

he island nation – which gained limelight after PM’s visit in 2014 – has reason to cheer. According to the Seychelles Tourism Board, Indian outbound to the Island Nation has seen an impressive surge of 62 percent. Much of this uptick is being attributed to concerted efforts put in by India tourist office in focusing on educating and hand holding the trade to better promote the destination. Further, strengthened air-connectivity, with an increase in Air Seychelles daily flights from 4 to 5 times a week, and special efforts from the hotels and DMCs to tap the India market has paid rich dividend to the tourism board. Commenting on the development, Sherin Naiken, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board stated “we are thrilled with the way India market has responded to our efforts. We have seen a phenomenal increase in arrivals since we opened office three years ago. However, this is not the time to bask in the current successes and relax. As we enter the pre-honeymoon and festival season we will double our efforts to reach out to both travel trade and consumers. We are fortunate to have supportive partners like Air Seychelles, DMCs and hotels who walk with us hand in hand in going the extra mile to support the India travel trade.

As a result, owing to its diversity, we have been able to position Seychelles as a destination which is meant for all – families, couples, small groups, celebrations and MICE.” While the tourism board has invested in bolstering its communication channels and its relationship with travel and trade fraternity, Seychelles has seen a steady infusion of hospitality related infrastructure, too. New hotels have opened in the Seychelles in the past one year giving tourists more options. Carana Beach Hotel, the 40 chalet 4-star property in North Mahe, opened its doors to guests in April 2016. It is the only resort in its category to boast of in-villa plunge-in pools. Dubaibased H Hotel and Resort Management Company opened its 5-star resort, The H, on the legendary Beau Vallon Beach on Mahe island. Built around a natural lagoon, The H Resort features 100 rooms, complemented by 16 beach villas with private pools, cabanas and direct beach access and boasts of seven F&B outlets including its signature Tête-à-Tête beach dining experience. The Six Senses Zil Payson is set to open in September 2016. The private island resort located on the stunning Felicite Island embraces nature while

Sherin Naiken CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board

We have seen a phenomenal increase in arrivals since we opened office three years ago. As we enter the prehoneymoon and festival season we will double our efforts to reach out to both travel trade and consumers.

offering every creature comfort. Its 30 pool villas offer an oasis of serenity encircled by the Indian Ocean. This is in addition to the opening of quite a few small establishments including self-catering chalets and guesthouses. Seychelles’s increasing popularity among Indians is also being supplemented by the fact that Indians enjoy visa on arrival, beside direct flights from Mumbai and good connectivity from other cities with plethora of airlines including Etihad, Emirates, Ethiopian airlines, Sri Lankan airlines and Kenya airways operating on the route.

eeking into push for a larger share of the French outbound, the Embassy of India in Paris, in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), recently kick-started a 75-day festival of India, Namasté France, from 15th September to 30th November 2016. The opening ceremony of took place on 15th September in Espace Charlie Parker, Grande Halle de La Villette. The festival is intended to showcase the best of Indian traditional arts, music and dance, theater, graphic and decorative arts, literature, cinema, fashion, gastronomy, yoga and Ayurveda, among others. The event would spread across in several French cities like Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Rennes, SaintTropez, Strasbourg, and Toulouse, besides French oversea territories, like Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin and Reunion, are also participating in Namasté France in order to pay homage to the splendor and diversity of Indian culture. Many internationally renowned artists – including legendary dancerchoreographer Astad Deboo, renowned Kuchipudi dancing couple Raja and Radha Reddy, illustrious santoor player Pandit Bhajan Sopori, violin maestro Dr. L. Subramaniam, sarod virtuoso Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan, master dhrupad exponent Ustad Sayeduddin Dagar, bharatanatyam guru Saroja Vaidyanathan, Kuttiyatam master Sivan Namboodri, and theatre veteran Girish Karnad – will mesmerize the French audience with their immense talent. Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, fashion designer Rahul Mishra and Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia will also be part of the personalities who will participate in Namasté France.

outbound : USA

BRAND USA’s PPP model ideal for mutually leveraging resources, says CEO Thompson Christopher L Thompson, President and CEO, Brand USA was in the capital recently. In a closed door media interaction, he discussed a range of issues that would have an impact on travel and tourism between the two countries. He also talked about how a well-envisaged PPP model of BRAND USA was pushing the US as a preferred destination for travel. A detailed interview.

By Shashank Shekhar

US in the minds of an average Indian traveller

n celebrating India-US tourism year in 2017

That is what has been set for us on the table right now. President Obama and PM Modi have had a lot of discussions. It is intended to recognize the importance of two largest democracies in the world, and the importance of commerce and economic development - which could be mutually shared and otherwise expanded. It puts the bilateral relations on the high-level and provides commitment of resources. How it will look like is still being shaped out. It is the first time we have done it with India and our leadership is very excited about it.

Exciting times for the industry

When you have leaders of the two nations identify the importance of the industry that we work in everyday, it creates a focus and a stage to amplify what we are doing, in ways which we could not do before. When you talk about the travel and tourism industry in the United States, it is the largest service export. People do not realise that travel and tourism is an export of experience and memories that they take home with. It is 31 percent of everything that the United States exports. So we know the importance of the tourism industry. This government, in particular, has done more on this sector than any other administration has done before.

How the BRAND USA works

Our model, the way we are funding is through a lot of cash contribution. So, what we have done is that we have gone into markets and identify those that have communications and marketing channels that we are trying to reach. And we have formed partnerships, including some investment into the actual channel, and contributions that we are able to turn into our Federal government to get matching dollars for. It is a pretty tried and tested process that we have been refining for the last six years. It has worked very well for us. We have to bring in a hundred million dollars’ worth of contribution every year and we have been able to hit that mark, pretty much every year.

On budgetary allocations from the Federal government

Our government provides us a hundred million dollars, but for a dollar we have to bring in a dollar. So, that is the model we are talking about. We could bring in cash for cash and also in kind – it is valued in cash. And that is what provides us the overall budget that we are able to deploy around 30+ markets around the world.

Bullish on India!

The fact that we have the Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce here – which has provided a great platform to be part of an overall dialogue between the two governments. We are very bullish on India as a market. The last year we witnessed some 1.2 million Indians as actual visitors who accounted for almost eleven billion dollars in money spent. It makes India eighth largest market in terms of dollars spent in United States.

Profile of Indian travellers and transformation therein VFR (Visiting friends and relatives) still has a huge impact and is probably more compelling than any other market we

Interestingly, by law and otherwise, the responsibility that we take very seriously is to promote tourism to those gateways, but beyond those gateways into states. Obviously, we are not going to ignore them. But as much as our friends in India think they know about the United States, there are even more things they are not aware of. And that is a big part of our mission, a big part of what we do. Our ability to do that is obviously greatly enhanced by the internet and our ability to aggregate destinaThe fact that we have the Secretary of tion information from our fifty State and Secretary states, five territories, District of Commerce here – of Columbia and all the cities which has provided within the states. We layer in a great platform to rich content on top of that be part of an overall which adds to story that they dialogue between the two governments. are telling, and amplifies it. For We are very bullish instance, this is the hundredth on India as a market. anniversary of our National The last year we Park, and we produced a witnessed some 1.2 big-screen IMAX film that million Indians as premiered all over the world. actual visitors who accounted for almost It tells the story of the United eleven billion dollars Sates through a 43-minute in money spent. It film. BRAND USA was the makes India eighth one which could do that. It largest market in is a great example of how as terms of dollars spent the private sector, we were in United States. able to help our public sector partners at the Department of the Interior and National Park Service to amplify that centennial celebration. And a lot of people not only know the gateways, but our friends in India and around the world know us four our National Parks. You think of any of things that are iconic and a majority of them are National Parks. So, that is what we are charged with. We are fully deployed in our marketing channels, so that would include our USA branding effort – which can be taken by traditional mediums like broadcasting on television, radio, print – and also digital and other mediums. We are directly involved in a lot of travel trade relationship. Anyone who facilitates travel to the United States, be it a tour operator or a travel agent. And a majority of where we spend our money, over half of it is in partnership with our destinations and our brands. So we take in our dollars and their dollars, with an agreed upon strategy to an agreed upon audience and market, and deploy resources, and in both cases those resources are extended beyond what either of us can do on our own. That is how our partners leverage their budget. Our budget for this fiscal year, and maximum, is 165 million dollars. That is spread across 32-33 markets around the world where, again, we are fully deployed in our travel trade activities. In fact, we pioneered a few programs. We also have a training program – DISCOVER USA – which is great. So we are very active with the travel trade in India.

have in the world. Simply because there is a great population of Indians in the US and whole impact of families visiting their children studying in universities add to it. Also, we have a substantial Indian population in major US gateways. The way VFR has changed is that a lot of people stay with their relatives for a short while and then venture out. There is a rise in number of people travelling for conferences and meetings. But the dynamism happening around the world with the rise of millennial traveller is creating a major transformation.

Key source markets for the USA

Canada. One should not be surprised because we share a border. Mexico comes after that. Canada accounts for over twenty million visitors, whereas Mexico stands somewhere close. The United Kingdom is a large international source market, accounting for over five million tourists. Then we have several countries in the four and two million visitors bracket.

How the United Kingdom story is unfolding, especially after the ‘Brexit’ episode It is still not sure how it will end up looking like. However, so far, anecdotally and otherwise, it does not seem to have a big imprint on numbers. The UK has been up significantly actually in 2015. So it is very mature and strong market for us.

Thoughts on the Chinese market

China is our fifth largest market in terms of numbers, just under three million. It is the top market in spending terms, it surpassed Canada. So, it has tremendous potential for us.

Challenges in taking the Indian outbound beyond major gateways and inculcating a sum total image of

On planning to use Bollywood power to woo Indian outbound to the US shores

No direct plans there. But we are keen on bringing influencers to the table which would be people who are celebrity of some level. Who can help tell the BRAND USA story. In the fiscal year coming up, starting October first, it would be first time in those sixteen markets, including India, where

outbound : USA

☛ Our main challenge in mature and traditional markets is that we have a pretty significant market share and, we have a world of competition that is vying for a larger share. In mature markets, it is about protecting the established market share and in developing markets it is about the growth opportunity. market segment, compared to working in mature markets

we will be always on, through the digital platform. It means seven days a week, 365-days a year, we will have something going on at the digital platform. Then what else we do over and above that will depend on the market. What channels are available to us and how we are able to push in those resources in those markets.

On year-on-year growth in Indian numbers

It has been around 17 percent in 2015. So far in calendar ’16, in the first three months, I think it is up ten percent. So, we are still seeing healthy double-digit growth. The other goal that was set by the President that we will host a 100 million visitors and clock 250 billion dollars in spend by 2021. We had 77.5 million visitors in 2015 and little over 220 billion dollars in money spend, so looking at the spend side, we have got another 23 and a half million visitors to find in the next five years. When that goal was set, we had a compounded annual growth of just under five percent. So far, we have been able to maintain, at least that more. When you are operating in 30+ markets, around the world, there are a lot challenges that are out there. Currency exchange, not the least, which is certainly a challenge for us in Canada. So far we have navigated all those headwinds.

Challenges in India and in the larger developing

To be honest with you, and now that I am in the market, I have always heard, read and learnt that USA is an aspirational travel for most our Indian visitors that can travel. So, I think it is not desire or intent, I think it has everything to do with access, and a lot of that has to do with air-service. We are very encouraged with the announcement this week by Air India expanding operations 6 flights from 3 into San Francisco. We met the CMD of Air-India and talked to him about potential new service they would be bringing to the table. There is just great opportunity to expand services. I think, for me, the biggest challenge is to figure out how to accommodate the interest and intent, and channel it in an appropriate way. In an evolving market there is great potential to grow. We have so much opportunity to go beyond where we have traditionally gone, and speak to such vast audience who have never been to the United States – whether it is any demography. Our main challenge in mature and traditional markets is that we have a pretty significant market share and, we have a world of competition that is vying for a larger share. Any experience that you can have in the United States, you can have it, probably, somewhere else in the world, may be closer home. But you cannot have the USA experience anywhere else but in the USA. It is about pop culture and things that our friends here in India have learned about us through movies and music. That is the advantage we have, but that does not mean we do not have staying on the top in our mind. So in mature markets, it is about protecting the established market share and in developing markets it is about the growth opportunity. If you look at the size of the Indian outbound market, it is pegged to double or triple itself in the next few years. I guess the outbound is around 18-20 million and some of the most aggressive projections are suggesting that by 2020, it could reach 50 million. So we are hoping to get a lot of that growth.

India’s entry into the Global Visa Program and cumulative impact of measures on travel and tourism from India into the USA

It is an issue that is as much an Indian responsibility, as it is an American responsibility to figure out how to move things forward. It is also a great development that getting a US visa

Our model creates sync between actual need and delivery on the policy front Aaron Wodin-Schwartz, Director Public Policy, brand usa talks about how, on the policy front, a concerted effort to make best use of available resources was yielding rich dividends.

ell us a little about the policy aspect of the BRAND USA. What does in entail?

We are a public-private partnership and as the destination’s marketing organisation that differs from lot of the other organisations. PPP could mean a lot of things. It is the buzzword. We are an organisation created by a law by congress. President signed it in 2010. We work closely with department of commerce and the department of homeland security in communicating travel policies. The secretary of commerce is appointed in the board of directors. We have a finding mechanism that, basically, incentives the industry to contribute to the success of the national program. We do a lot of work with our federal partners, with embassies around the world, customs and border protection and National Parks – all the things that are the federal assets. That is what really separates us from any of the other destinations that promoting their state, or promoting their city. The channels and the content that the government can lend us, and some of our policies have taken full advantage of it.

Does the Private sector also invest in promotional activities?

Yes, it is primarily private sector. The way that it works is that the industry contributes to the success of the Brand USA through a variety of means

of money that we can access for dollar per dollar match, if the industry gets us the money. So, it creates an incentive for the industry to combine resources to promote the growth of the pie for everybody. One of the benefits of this model is that all of our programs are useful to our industry partners which is a problem that, at the national level, some other countries have faced the shortfall between delivering on the actual needs for the industry and what was being planned on the policy front. We do not want that, and our tried and tested model ensures that our partners keep coming back every year.

is not as tough as it used to be, say ten years ago. So there are a lot of positive developments. It is time of us to potentially meet those real aggressive numbers as far as growth in this market is concerned. It again all boils to convenience and connectivity. There are a lot of carriers in the market and, certainly, Air-India provides the non-stop service that people love to have. So, I think that is probably the biggest hurdle in our ability to capitalize to level of potential growth in the market.

USA as a destination and its tourism offerings

What we know from most of our visitors coming different parts of the world, into the United States, that they consider travel as their birth right. So they are not going to stop travelling. They are just going to change their travel patterns. And that will not necessarily mean that they are not going to come to the United States, but they will change their trips to what their wallets can afford. It is a great situation to be involved in. The diversity of our tourism product to me is a strength and we so not have to tell that story. Miami, for instance, has evolved as a great destination. All I have to do is to aggregate and be able to push it to clients who are interested in visiting the destination.

On making travel into the USA easier; facilitating faster document clearance We have nothing to do with the delivery of those services. We have a national travel and tourism strategy – which is decoding the path to achieve 250 billion dollars’ worth of travel spent and 100 million international visitors by 2021. It was written in 2012. It is the bible, the document that the entire federal government follows, across none federal agencies as their contribution to that. The issue of travel documentation resides with the department of visa processing and embassies around the world. It is much improved than what it was ten years ago. We are still working on the entry policy and we do have some challenges to address in our major gateways. But the good news in all of that is that the landscape of travel and tourism industry in Washington, as exemplified by the talks we have had here in India, is like nothing I have ever seen in 35 years of business. Where you have career service, DNA of these agencies do understand the importance of travel and tourism. They have a sense of purpose about hitting these goals. It has never been this way before. That kind of commitment was missing at the national level. And that is what is going to allow us hit the goal.

Thoughts on Brand USA as a model of Public-Private partnership and its utility for India. Could this be India’s way forward to a more concerted push to garner larger market share?

That is one of the reasons why I was invited to the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit held recently. They gave me an opportunity to come and share our story. If I look at the whole concept of a Public-Private partnership which is a Federal government, in this case, recognises the importance of travel and tourism industry and they should invest in it. We rally the private sector around the common effort. Some people say why does the United States need a national destination marketing organisation. The USA, what it represents, is almost intimidating. Our job is to umbrella all that there is in the United States and all the brands underneath it, and then take it out and package it. Not only in markets that a lot of our brand partners are active in, but in markets like China and India, that in many cases are new for a lot of our partners. It gives us a chance to do a pioneering role and assess the market and develop the opportunities. I would suggest that it is a model that every country must look at. It really does leverage resources and does so in a way either of them could not do on their own. But I would never pretend to know what that means for India.

Tell us about your partners

Aaron wodin-schwartz director public policy, brand usa

We are an organisation created by a law by congress. President signed it in 2010. We work closely with department of commerce and the department of homeland security in communicating travel policies.

– in cash and in kind – and we have a matching fund which is not a taxpayer fee, it is a fee on travellers from our visa waiver countries. So, they do not have to apply for visas, they sign up an online system and that creates a pool

We have almost 600 partners. Every year they contribute to our success. We have a cap, every year, in the matching funds. The cap is a 100 million dollars. So we raise that amount of money from the private sector and then we are able to maximize – which is, probably, we have been able to do every single year. We have managed to maintain a retention rate of 94 percent which is fantastic. The majority of them are destinations within in the United States. These are California, Texas Tourism and NYC, and they see value in working with us. Our role is to add value to their businesses. We also have a great media and travel distribution partnership as well.

NITI AAYOG CEO sets sight on 5 million US inbound in the next three years At a time when a power-packed delegation from Washington, led by none other than Secretary of State John Kerry, is batting for stronger bilateral exchanges at various levels, NITI AAYOG CEO Amitabh Kant has set his sight on ambitious target of five million inbound travellers from US shores into India. Speaking at an industry function, he said "We get about 1.2 million American tourists. They comprise 16 per cent of our total arrivals. My view is we should target getting about 5 million American tourists in the next three years. This is very doable.” He noted that tourism had a “humungous multiplier effect” in creating jobs for the Indian economy. He further argued that America was the most important country for promoting travel and tourism and marketing ‘Brand India’. “India must go all out to nurture this market as American tourists bring a huge amount of high unit value realisation and India should look at value rather than just numbers,” Amitabh Kant said.

the last pag e: inte rvie w

Nurturing the ‘Spirit of the Land’

Interview with GEORGE T. RAMAPURAM, Managing Director of the multi-award winning Orange County Luxury Resorts which have been successfully personifying the most endearing eco-sensitive, sustainable and responsible hospitality tourism philosophy and practice, widely acknowledged and admired in India and the world over. His innovative, environmentally sensitive designing, keen eco-foresight and management initiatives are a deeply inspiring role model and indispensable learning curve for future hospitality tourism projects in this country. By Kishore and Smita Iyengar

our award winning five star luxury resorts, -Orange County Coorg and Orange County Kabini are located in geographically different regions in Karnataka. What was your driving force and credo to create remarkably separate identities for each of them?

The philosophy behind Orange County Resorts is to provide exquisite holiday experiences, while preserving the purity of nature and culture of the land. We call this the ‘Spirit of the Land’ philosophy. The World is extremely diverse and this diversity is manifest in its people, culture and environment. Because of our philosophy, our resorts which are located in geographically different regions, are inspired by their particular locations, reflecting and celebrating this diversity in their identities.

In terms of architecture, interiors and landscape features both resorts speak a different language. Please do tell us about the very specific thematic and design inspiration behind both properties.

Our philosophy naturally compels us to provide ‘true-to-the-land-of-origin’ experiences in every product that we offer. Each individual resort is reflective of the region it is located in. Every aspect of each individual resort needs to be true to its land of origin. Orange County, Coorg is located in a 300 acre working coffee plantation in Coorg. There are 2 local architectural themes we have followed at orange County, Coorg. Located in the district of Coorg, the land of the Kodavas, our Heritage Pool Villas are inspired by the Ainemanes or their ancestral homes. The 2nd architectural theme is inspired by the thatched homes within the coffee plantations. Also, Coorg being a hilly district dotted with

small lakes and ponds, was the inspiration for the Lily Pool Villas. The architecture, design, décor and the general ambiance at the resort is designed to be a harmonious whole that reflects the Spirit of Coorg. Orange County, Kabini, on the other hand, is located in a wilderness area. For centuries this wilderness was home to a host of tribal people who lived in harmony with their wild neighbours. The Kadu Kuruba tribe was the prominent tribe in the area and therefore the resort is inspired by their ‘Hadis’ or villages. Being primarily a wildlife destination, the resort has an extremely wooded and wild look with minimal formal landscaping. Celebrating this harmony between man and nature, we have incorporated various natural elements into our décor and design. To put it in a nutshell – Kabini is about experiencing wildlife the tribal way.

The world over and also very visible in India, eco-friendly design and environment sensitivity are major considerations. How are you setting new trends in hospitality and responsible eco-tourism through your on-going initiatives and practices? Orange County Resorts and Hotels Ltd. is committed to the concept of ‘Responsible Tourism’ through which we seek to enhance the economic, social and environmental well-being of the host community, apart from incentivizing the retention and regeneration of their unique culture. The brand ‘Orange County’ is committed to employing the best in environmental and ecological practices in technology, equipment and operational processes. This commitment is evident in every product offering – from the experiences we provide to the smallest detail in the rooms. We have a Responsible Tourism Policy and a full time Director for RT. While it would be too much to enumerate all our initiatives and policies, we have received both global and national ac-

Today’s tourist is driven by a quest for new experiences. He is looking to enrich his life and broaden his horizons through meaningful travel. At the same time, he does not wish to adversely impact the destination with his presence. This is the future of tourism and any organization that fails to meet these expectations will not be successful. Most forward looking organizations have realized this and are reworking their offerings. Therefore, I am confident that given the Indian ingenuity and entrepreneurship, eventually responsible tourism in India will get better and better and it would not surprise me if we emerge as world leaders in this segment.

staying with us the guests leave with a better understanding of various issues. For example, in Kabini, being a wildlife destination, we aim to instill in our guest a respect for our wild heritage and turn them into ambassadors of conservation. To achieve this, we pay close attention to quality. We have the best trainers in the country regularly conducting training and re training programmes for our people. We also ensure that every piece of information that we pass on to our guests has been authenticated by leading experts in their respective fields. This attention to detail is what allows us to constantly heighten guest experiences and discoveries. We have a very subtle marketing style;

visitors to your luxury resorts? What would be the return visitor rate and from which parts of the world do they come back from? Our philosophy, which I have elaborated on earlier, and the factors and features that have gone into the making of our resorts and the experiences that we offer all come together to form a whole that is far greater than its parts. It is this ensemble of diverse features that attracts foreign visitors. The nature of inbound tourism is such that the return visitor rate is not very high. Instead of re visiting a destination, the inbound tourist prefers to move on to other destinations. Having said that, we do have people returning to visit our other properties.

☛ We offer a bouquet of experiences in our resorts that enable our guests to get a true understanding of the destination. The experiences we offer our guests, besides being enjoyable, are also very educative. colades for our efforts and have been widely acknowledged to be among the global industry leaders in Responsible Tourism practices and initiatives.

3–6 October, 2016 New Delhi

Please do outline the unique resort-based and eco-neighborhood experiences that heighten guest expectations and discoveries. What has been your marketing promotional thrust in India and overseas that ensure guest recall and loyalty?

We offer a bouquet of experiences in our resorts that enable our guests to get a true understanding of the destination. For example, in Coorg the guests can participate in the actual daily routine of a working coffee plantation. The experiences we offer our guests, besides being enjoyable, are also very educative. We strive to ensure that after

we do not promote ourselves directly but focus on our destinations instead. We have two award winning campaigns, that are web based, called Lifescapes and Evolve.Back. The philosophy behind Lifescapes is to share with our clients, the lore of our land, in the form of a fortnightly photo-essay. Every fortnight, we share with our clients a slice of life at our locations, told in a single, compelling picture with a short commentary. Evolve. Back, on the other hand, is an effort to bring to our guests enriching and endearing stories about what it means to be deeply and passionately human. We explore this deep union through insightful and moving video and photo essays that pay homage to the Spirit of the land – the bedrock of our ethos and vision. This emphasis on experiences and knowledge generation rather than on our physical properties as such, has proved to be extremely successful and has resulted in excellent guest recall and loyalty. We are about “Spirit of the land’ experiences that are life enriching and transformational.

What are the core, key factors and striking features that attract foreign

Having had an enriching experience at one of our resorts they do return to experience our other resorts. However, the returning visitors in terms of Indian nationals and foreign nationals resident in India is quite high.

Where do you perceive will sustainable and responsible Indian eco-tourism head towards, keeping in mind the often rampant mediocrity in hospitality design on one hand and uninspiringly mundane urbanization seen all around on the other?

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Innovating in Indian tourism, bringing together some of the best minds, with conclaves anchored by leading organizations in their verticals

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