Express TravelWorld January, 2014

V0L 8 NO.12 PAGES 52

January 2014, `50

Market Konkan beaches to be developed as per international standards Edge Experiential sojourn

*T&C Apply

CONTENTS Vol 8 No 12 JANUARY 2014 Pages 52

Points of Distinction

Chairman of the Board

Viveck Goenka Editor

G Finest Cuisine at sea Midsize elegant ships with very high luxury standards G Extraordinary high staff-to-guest ratio G Youngest fleet in premium/luxury class cruising

Reema Lokesh*

G

Assistant Editor

Steena Joy Associate Editor

Sudipta Dev CONTENT TEAM Mumbai

Kahini Chakraborty Rituparna Chatterjee New Delhi

Niharika Shukla Kolkata

Joy Roy Choudhury MARKETING Deputy General Manager

Harit Mohanty Chief Manager

--- Cruises in 2014 ---

BRAND

Round the World in 180 Days

EQUITY MARKETS

(20)

EDGE

Europe – 7 to 12 Days

Emmanuel Fernandes Manager

Sunil D'costa

07

KONKAN BEACHES TO BE DEVELOPED AS PER INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

08

JAGSONS TRAVELS TO ORGANISE GLOBAL PANORAMA SHOWCASE 2014

CIRCULATION

Mohan Varadakar PRODUCTION General Manager

B R Tipnis Manager

Bhadresh Valia Asst. Art Director

Surajit Patro

10

Senior Graphic Designerr

Alaska – 7 to 10 Days EXPERIENTIAL SOJOURN A NEW APPROACH TO PROVIDING FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE OF THE DESTINATION WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF ETAA'S FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION IN DUBAI

IITT 2014 TO BE HELD IN MUMBAI IN JANUARY

MANAGEMENT

Spain – Italy, Monte Carlo, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Scandinavia, British Isles

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Chief Designer

Pravin Temble

LIFE

Ratilal Ladani, Kiran Parker

41

30

San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle North America – 10 to 24 Days Miami – East West Caribbean – San Francisco etc.

South America – 12 to 22 Days Valpariso, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador etc.

Rushikesh Konka Layout

Starts & ends from Miami and goes around the world.

Smaller Voyages of approx. 30 days can be booked on this Round-theWorld cruise.

Far East – 16 to 24 Days

Scheduling & Cordination Sr.Executive

Rohan Thakkar Photo Editor

Sandeep Patil Cover Image courtesy: VisitEngland/Andy Tryner Express TravelWorld Reg. No.-MH/MR/SOUTH156\2013-15 RNI Reg. No.MAHENG/2005/15993 Printed by The Indian Express Limited and published by Ms Vaidehi Thakar on behalf of The Indian Express Press, Plot No. EL208, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400710 and Published from Express Towers, 2nd Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021. (Editorial & Administrative Offices: Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai – 400021)

COMMITTED PARTNERSHIPS OTOAI HELD ITS FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION IN MANILA

MAKING A DIFFERENCE SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVANCY INDIA TRUST (SLCI) INITIATED THE HIMALAYAN HOMESTAYS

P06: EDITOR’S NOTE P42: APPOINTMENTS P47: WEEKEND

Copyright @ 2011 The Indian Express Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. *Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act

Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, China etc.

Oceania Cruises Sales Agent in India Griffon – 4, Cusrow Baug, Colaba, Mumbai 400001.

Tel.: (022) 22045014 / 22045019

EDITOR’S NOTE

The power of a brand

W

elcome aboard, as India seems to be riding on a brand new wave of change which is moving away cautiously from cynicism to hope. This whiff of freshness in the political arena does have its definite impact on the private sector. From leading corporate head honchos, to the opinion leaders to the ‘aam aadmi’, everyone takes pride in mentioning the interesting tagline made popular by Shah Rukh Khan ‘never underestimate the power of a common man'.

Talking about taglines, our cover story this issue speaks about the very spirit of the same.

From brand recall to that of imparting the most desired message, from brand identity to finally meeting its aim of attracting the traveller to its destination, destination slogans and taglines are a force to be reckoned with. For most of us in the tourism space, when you think of Malaysia, the next line that naturally follows is Truly Asia.

Our own Incredible India plays like a rhythmic note in our minds. A brand identity is a powerful tool to convey a very serious message on what the product truly stands for. Some brands have got it right in the first go, while there are others

HEAD OFFICE Express TravelWorld Sunil D’costa Business Publications Division, The Indian Express Ltd, 1st Floor, Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai-400021. India Tel: 67440496 Fax: 22885831 E-mail: sunil.dcosta@expressindia.com Branch Offices : NEW DELHI: Prabhas Jha The Indian Express Ltd, Business Publications Division, Express Building (Basement) 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002 Tel : +91 - 11- 23465670, CHENNAI: Yuvaraj, The Indian Express Ltd, Business Publications Division,

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New No.37/C (Old No.16/C) 2nd Floor Whites Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 600 014 Mobile : 09710022999 Board: 044 - 28543031 Fax: 044 - 28543035 BENGALURU: Gujan Chauhan, Business Publications Division, The Indian Express Ltd. 502 Devatha Plaza, 5th Floor 131 Residency Road Bangalore - 560025 Mobile : 09620601306 Ph 080-22231923/24 Fax: 22231925.

HYDERABAD: Mujahid, The Indian Express Ltd, Business Publications Division, 6-3-885/7/B, Ground floor V.V. Mansion, Somaji Guda

“In today’s supersonic techie era, a tagline that is crisp and correct is on the wishlist of most organisations to be able to connect with its audience ”

Hyderabad - 500 082 Mobile : 09849039936 Tel: 040-23418673 KOLKATA: Ajanta Sengupta, The Indian Express Ltd, Business Publications Division, No. 5, Pannalal Banerjee Lane (Formerly Fancy Lane), 2nd Floor, Kolkata-700 001 Mobile: 09831182580 Board No. +91-33-2213 8587, 2231 8879 / 80 Fax: 22138582 E-mail: ajanta.sengupta@expressindia.com KOCHI: The Indian Express Ltd, Business Publications Division, Sankoorikal Building, 36/2248, Kaloor, Kadavanthara Road, Opp. Kaloor Private Bus Stand, Kaloor - 682 017 Tel: (0484) 2343152, 2343328 Fax: 2343153

who are yet to find their calling and brand equity. They are going through a cycle of discovery and rediscovery hoping to get it right and strike a note with the audience. However in today’s supersonic techie era, a tagline that is crisp and correct is on the wish list of most organisations to be able to connect with its audience.

Connecting, in the true sense is the most important purpose of any conference and convention, as it was interesting to note that two recently held conventions in the travel space, namely the ETAA convention in Dubai and the OTOAI convention in Manila received some positive reviews from its participants. The success of an event truly rests on partnerships and trust and at both the conventions; the committee, the host destination and the participants were on the same page, hoping to gain from each other’s strengths and commitment. Way to go industry and once again welcome aboard as 2014 is poised to witness interesting action in the aviation space.

REEMA LOKESH Editor editorial.etw@expressindia.com

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MARKETS

Konkan beaches to be developed as per international standards Akshay Kumar Mumbai THE KONKAN region of Maharashtra is looking at beautifying its beaches to increase tourism. The Maharashtra government is working with Kokan Bhumi Prastishthan (KBP), an umbrella organsiation of hoteliers, tour operators and tourism with an aim to develop the region's tourism and promote it globally. The government has given a nod for 13 beaches which will be developed as per international standards and infrastructure.

Nandgaon beach, Arnala beach, Kashid beach, Diveagar beach, Murud beach, Ladghar beach, Karde beach, Hadi island, Kunkeshwar

beach and Ubhadanda beach are some of the beaches where the beautification project will commence shortly.

Speaking exclusively to

Express TravelWorld, Sanjay Yadavrao, chief executive, Global Kokan, said, “Konkan has more than 100 beaches and every beach has its own

speciality. We have now began work on the beautification projects for 13 beaches with the government's help. These beaches will be developed

with international infrastructure and standards that even foreign tourists will appreciate.”

Along with the developments, their main aim is to promote responsible tourism.

Yadavrao, said, “Ten years back tourism to Konkan was almost zero but now approximately one crore tourists visit Konkan annually. Along with promoting tourism, we will not only build five-star hotels and resorts but also definitely retain our culture and tradition. Sustainable development is what we are pledging for.”

The tourism in Konkan is set to receive a big boost as the fifth edition of the Global Konkan Festival in 2015 will be hosted in London.

FHW2014 to host around 300 exhibitors International exhibitors from eight countries to participate in the expo ETW STAFF Mumbai THE 21ST EDITION of Food Hospitality World (FHW) exhibition will be held at MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai from January 23-25, 2014. The FHW exhibition, organised by Global Fairs & Media – the result of an association between Hannover Milano Fairs India and The Indian Express, will witness exhibitors from different segments of the food and hospitality industry like F&B, interiors, kitchen equipment, housekeeping, bakery to name a few. Spread across 10,000 sq mtrs of the MMRDA grounds, the exhibition is expected to host approximately 300 national and international par-

ticipants this time. The international exhibitors will consist of companies from eight countries. The exhibition aims at providing solutions to various industry-related problems faced by hoteliers, restaurateurs, facility managers, prospective students and distributors.

During the three-day exhibition, FHW 2014 will host various special events including the eight edition of The Great Indian Culinary Challenge (GICC). GICC 2014 will be held from 10 am to 7pm spanning across all the three days of the exhibition. The competition is set to witness participation from more than 100 chefs working with various leading hotels and hotel management institutes. GICC

is supported by the Western India Culinary Association (WICA). GICC 2014 will be judged by Chef Vernon Coelho, president, WICA; Chef Salil Fadnis, executive chef, Sahara Star, Mumbai and general secretary, WICA; and Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, executive chef, Ai, New Delhi.

GICC is a food preparation competition involving senior and apprentice chefs from India. The competition provides a professional platform for culinary professionals from India to showcase their individual and collective skills, learn, share experiences, partner and net work in a competitive environment.

Apart from GICC 2014, other featured events will in-

clude various panel discussions - Hospitality Think Tank: The GM's Conclave, where general managers from leading hotel groups will share their insights on the topic - 'F&B: The Game Changer'. This panel discussion will be held on January 23, from 3 pm to 4 pm. Further, 'Hospitality Knowledge Exchange: Rooms of the Future' will focus on state-ofthe-art technologies and emerging trends in room design and interiors across all segments of the hospitality sector. This will be held on January 24 from 12 pm to 1 pm. The Power of Purchase will witness purchase managers and decision makers of leading companies expressing their opinions on the topic -

'The Timeless Procurement Challenge of Supplier Price versus Cost - Can we nail it?'.

The panel discussion has been organised in association with Hospitality Purchasing Managers' Forum (HPMF) and will be held on January, 24 from 3 pm to 5 pm. Besides these, other events such as Bar World, where wine and alcohol will be showcased, and Live Tea and Coffee Tasting and Sampling event will be held throughout all the three days of the exhibition.

The associations supporting the exhibition are Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), All India Wine Producers Association (AIWPA)and HPMF.

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January 2014

MARKETS

Bollywood Tourism package tours to commence from 20th January Akshay Kumar Mumbai MAHARASHTRA TOURISM Development Corporation (MTDC) in association with Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, Filmcity – Goregaon, has launched the long awaited Bollywood Tourism project. The package tours which will commence from January 20, 2014, will be available to domestic and international tourists. This initiative has been undertaken to increase tourism footfall and room nights in Mumbai. The Bollywood Tourism project includes three different packages - from economy to high-end.

The economy package called 'Hit' comprises of a three-hour guided tour in Filmcity, where tourists can explore some interesting and unknown facts of Bollywood. The medium and high end package called 'Super Hit' and 'Blockbuster' respectively, will include visits to Bollywood gully, Bollywood mu-

seum, Bollywood costume gallery, Bollywood cafe to name a few. MTDC has assigned two agencies to operate the Bollywood tourism project i.e. MOS Utility for the low-end package and Travelmartindia.com for the medium and high-end packages.

“Bollywood is one of the biggest film industries in the world. We had a plan to launch Bollywood Tourism since a long time, but finally we have collaborated with Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, Filmcity - Goregaon and launched these packaged tours. With our new offering, we will take tourists to filmcity and TV show sets, where they can see live shooting and if lucky can spot film stars as well,” stated Dr Jagdish Patil, managing director, MTDC. Speaking about popular Bollywood tours, Manoj Gursahani, chairman, Travelmartindia.com and Bollywood Tourism said, “There was always a big demand for Bollywood tours.

We have been operating private tours since three years but we were waiting for this official tieup between MTDC and Filmcity, as this would create a standardisation of Bollywood tours.

We have also promoted this product at the World Tourism Mart in London which was well received by tour operators abroad.”

Meanwhile, in another important development, the governments of Maharashtra and New South Wales (NSW) have announced their further plans, after the successful completion of a year of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them. The two states will focus more on tourism management this year.

Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister, Maharashtra said, “Tourism is an important segment for our economy. This MoU will surely help in exchange of tourists between both the states. But more than increasing tourism footfall, we will be focusing on tourism management and will learn from each other.”

Jagsons Travels to organise Global Panorama Showcase 2014 this month Kahini Chakraborty Mumbai NAGPUR-BASED Jagsons Travels will be organising Global Panorama Showcase 2014 from January 24-26, 2014 at Hotel Centre Point in Nagpur. The three-day expo will have the first two days dedicated to the travel trade and the last day will be open for end

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consumers. The company is expecting about 250 buyers from central India which will include 50-60 hosted buyers from panIndia basis. The expo will have close to 80-100 suppliers from India and abroad comprising of hoteliers, airlines, tourism boards, visa facilitation companies, travel insurance players, foreign exchange currency providers, tour operators, in-

ternational roaming SIM card brands, cruise companies, event management companies, online booking engines, white label solutions.

Speaking to Express TravelWorld on the agenda and focus of the expo, Harmandeep Singh Anand, managing director, Jagsons Travels said, “This year our event has been planned on a more comprehensive scale

with special focus on central India. Last year, 'Showcase Jagsons' was targeted at our partners, whereas this event is planned on the lines of a fullfledged expo which will be of a table-top format. We have already received participation confirmation from close to 40 suppliers. The expo will also have educational seminars and sessions to educate travel com-

pany owners and front line staff on the latest product offerings. The travel fraternity from tier two and tier three are our main focus. We have a complete hosted-buyer package programme. The main aim of the expo is to educate the travel trade fraternity and keep them abreast on the latest happenings and new products and destinations in the market.”

MARKETS

‘Tourism in Punjab is growing on the basis of inter-state domestic tourist visits’ Punjab has always been known for its food, rich culture and heritage. Raji P Shrivastava, secretary, tourism and culture, Government of Punjab, and CEO, Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB), talks about the tourist inflow into Punjab, projects underway and future plans to develop the state as a tourist hub. By Abhishek Chakraborty What has been the growth in tourist arrivals over the years ?

During the last four years our domestic tourist visits increased from 54 lakh in 2009 to 105 lakh in 2010, to 191 lakh in 2012. The increase in tourist visits in 2012 over 2011 was 15 per cent. Though the foreign tourist visits showed a decline during 2012, from 1.50 lakh in 2011 to 1.43 lakh in 2012, it was on an upswing again in 2013. The quick estimates for the first half of 2013 reveal a noticeable increase in both domestic tourist visits (111 lakh) and foreign tourist visits (1.08 lakh). Tourism is growing on the basis of inter-state domestic tourist visits in a big way.

What are the plans for developing tourism in the state?

Punjab Tourism aims to

achieve qualitative growth with an inspiring brand image that draws inspiration from the state’s diverse natural and cultural heritage.

Tourism infrastructure development, product development, capacity development of stakeholders and targeted marketing are some of the means we are adopting to achieve the goal. New tourism products like farm tourism, bed and breakfast scheme, tented accommodation and eco tourism have been introduced recently.

Any special initiatives being undertaken to encourage tourism in Punjab?

To promote Punjab as a film shooting destination, to provide an impetus to the local film industry and to institute an awards scheme, PHTPB has signed an MoU with NFDC and a draft policy

is currently ready for finalisation. The government of Punjab recently signed an MoU with UNESCO to advise us on conservation of our monuments and tangible and intangible assets. The Punjab government has set up a special fund to be used for this conservation work. Amritsar is being developed as a tourist hub by the state government with an aim to showcase its monuments (historical and religious), markets and eateries. A heritage village is being set up in Amritsar through an investment of `12 crore. Punjab is also focusing on new tourism projects like the recently opened state-of-the-art museum Virasat-e-Khalsa at Sri Anandpur Sahib and Patiala Heritage Walk. Punjab is creating many destinations/ tourism products like the Sikh Circuit for Amritsar with an investment of `250

crore aiming at improving basic urban infrastructure and tourist facilities/services at existing and emerging tourist destinations. The Darbar Circuit comprising of towns associated with the erstwhile princely state is being set up with an investment of `50 crore. Other circuits being planned are Rural Tourism Cluster Circuit and Border Circuit.

How are wetlands like Ropar, Keshopar, Nangal being developed?

To develop the wetlands of Punjab for conservation and promotion of ecotourism activities in the area, PHTPB has included development infrastructure and related activities under the ADB assisted Infrastructure Development Investment Programme for Tourism. Under Tranche-1, currently underway, Keshopur Commu-

nity Reserve has been included and development of the area in terms of habitat improvement, creation of tourist facilities and involvement of local community through formation of selfhelp groups, etc is going on.

During Tranche-2, the remaining major wetlands like Harike, Ropar, Nangal, etc will be taken up for development. Preparation of a special project for the wetlands is in the advanced stage. A total of `40 crore will be utilised for the development of the eco-tourism project under the ADB assisted tourism programme.

What was the revenue generation for financial year 2013-14?

The net revenue earned from all sources during 201314 is estimated at over `five crore as against `six crore during 2012-13.

IITT 2014 to be held in Mumbai in January 2014 ETW Staff Mumbai ASIAN BUSINESS Exhibition & Conference and ITE Group PLC, organisers of MITT and EMITT, have announced the launch of India International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (IITT) 2014, a new travel expo in India. IITT 2014 is going be held

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at MMRDA exhibition center at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai from January 1618, 2014. The event will host exhibitors from national tourist organisations, state tourism boards, car rental companies, convention centres, cruise liners, golf courses, resorts, hotels, and will also consist of travel agents, tour operators to name a few. Turkey who has a

long relationship with ITE Group is the partner country for the event.

Apart from the exhibition, this mega event will also conduct knowledge seminars i.e. a two day conference that will be an interactive platform to address key industry issues, share expert perspectives and highlight the challenges of the tourism industry. IITT will also create avenues to inter-

act and build relationships for future businesses for the rapidly evolving Indian travel and tourism market in terms of inbound, outbound and domestic travel. The exhibition will be spread across 10,000 sq mts and will witness participation from both domestic and international industry players.

IITT is an initiative taken to propel the travel and

tourism industry by bridging the gap between the geographies and its components.

Conceptualised and executed

by Asian Business Exhibition & Conferences, IITT is a networking platform for both domestic and international buyers and giant corporates of the industry, to showcase their services and products to their counterparts from pan India and overseas.

MARKETS

MakeMyTrip to launch B2B affiliate programme Kahini Chakraborty Mumbai MAKEMYTRIP WILL soon launch its B2B affiliate programme operating under two categories - B2B tie-up and Priority Partner Programme. This latest development is in line with its objective to strengthen its market position. Rajesh Magow, co-founder and CEO India, MakeMyTrip told Express TravelWorld, “The B2B tie-up offers MakeMyTrip’s portfolio of holiday offerings with greatest reach and suite of holiday products. The Priority Partner Programme is the next level of association with MakeMyTrip. This fee-based model

offers a host of exclusive services to B2B partners, enabling them to collaborate with a leading industry player and enhance their business and holiday sales. The Priority Partner Programme is a closer association with MakeMyTrip’s product portfolio with an enhanced earning opportunity. We intend to leverage our brand-value and network along with the scale of services and offerings to become a leading B2B partner programme in the country. ” Elaborating on the working model, Magow added, “As a part of the Priority Partner Programme we will charge a one-time fee of `35,000, while

Rajesh Magow

providing the partner agent with branding, collateral and certification and marketing support. There is also a stipulated business expectation from the Priority Partner. The

incentives for a Priority Partner are also higher compared to a B2B Partner. Additionally, Priority Partners get direct access to real time live inventory of MakeMyTrip holidays as well as a dedicated call-centre support team. The airline module on our B2C website with attractive commission base will only be open to the Priority Partners.”

On the USP of the programme, he replied stating that agents will be able to leverage MakeMyTrip's strong online presence and will be able to make holiday bookings online for their customers. The entire pricing and availability portfolio will be available to them online for

making reservations. “Currently, on the holiday front, there is some lag between an enquiry and booking request to the actual revert to the customer. Our online module promises live and real-time inventory, pricing and booking options. The aim is to let the partner agents become a part of the fast-growing e-commerce industry without having to make huge investments and also benefit from the advantages we offer as a market-leading holiday company. We intend to take this opportunity forward in the next few months and extend our offering from only holidays to domestic and international hotels and domestic and international flights.”

Busindia.com eyes for bigger market share Kahini Chakraborty Mumbai RADIANT INFO Systems that launched Busindia.com has major expansion plans.

The company is in talks to add more transport corporations into its inventory. Currently it has integrated 17 major transport corporations from the government sector into the portal, more than 8000 hotels across all budgets from major locations in India and integrated major private operators.

Venu Myneni, co-founder, chairman and CEO, Radiant Info Systems informed, “Busindia.com is a pan-India integrated bus ticketing book-

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ing system with additional service options for hotels. We are the first company in India to launch online ticket reservation system in India in 2006

We can offer an end-to-end system to partnering transport operators who do not have any system

for our client Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). We have sold close to 12 crore bus seats with revenues in excess of `3600 crore through our online reservation system. We have partnered with Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT), a central government agency to launch Busindia.com which will help to consolidate the inventory from all individual websites into a national integrated platform.”

When asked about the working model and how can cloud based solutions revamp the public transport in India, he added, “We can offer an end-to-end system to partnering transport operators who

Venu Myneni

do not have any system. We have also integrated with operators who already have a system by positioning our portal as another powerful ticket delivery OTA platform.

The cloud architecture adds significant value to the public transport networks in India.”

The company also offers simple and user friendly booking platform on PC, mobile devices (phone and tablet) on Android, Windows, iOS platforms.

On the challenges and trends in the bus booking industry, he opined, “With improvement in road network, advanced and comfortable buses availability, better interconnectivity, easy availability and cheaper tickets compared to other travel modes in India, buses are becoming the preferred mode of transport.

There was a need for an IRCTC equivalent for the bus segment and that is the gap that Busindia.com is addressing.”

MARKETS

Meru launches Genie cab service for the middle class Sudipta Dev Mumbai MERU CAB Company recently launched in Hyderabad a new cab service under the brand name of Genie Cabs. According to Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, Genie and Meru Cabs, the Genie Cabs service has been introduced keeping in mind the comfort, convenience and pockets of the middle class segment. “The idea of democratising safe and affordable journey across mid-segment class, gave rise to the launch of Genie Cabs. We want the midsegment to experience a supe-

rior transport facility, offering comfort, safety and reliability, however at an affordable price,” stated Pahwa. After Hyderabad, there are plans to launch Genie Cabs in Bengaluru and Delhi.

Explaining how this new cab service is different from Meru, Pahwa sad that Genie has a fleet of compact cars like Tata Vista, Toyota Liva, and Ford Figo. This service is especially available for intra-city travel and can be booked online or by phone. “With professionally trained drivers, Genie is point to point service, available at a pocket friendly price

Siddhartha Pahwa

of `16 per km, making comfortable travel available to everyone,” he added.

Giving the reason why Hyderabad was chosen as the launch city for this service,

Pahwa said, “Before deciding to launch Genie in Hyderabad, we did an extensive third party research that revealed that despite the upgrade in the lives of the consumers, the quality of their road travel experience has not changed. The travel is still uncomfortable, dusty, and sweaty, with poor customer service. The fast developing city of Hyderabad deserves to travel better. And it is this aspect of an average Hyderabadi’s life that we want to change with our offering, Genie.”

The aim is to revolutionise regular city travel. Pahwa be-

West Bengal Tourism plans to shun 'dry days' in popular tourist spots Joy Roy Choudhury Kolkata IN SYNC WITH Mamata Banerjee's vision to turn Bengal into a world-class tourist destination, the Tourism Department of West Bengal is mulling a plan to do away with the 'dry days' in popular tourist spots of the state.

Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury, state tourism minister, West Bengal said, “While hardselling the tourist spots of West Bengal, we realised that it makes no sense to clamp the prohibitory orders on alcohol in tourist spots of the state like Darjeeling, Dooars, Digha and Sunderbans.

The inbound tourists, be it domestic or foreigners are disappointed when they have to go through a 'dry day' at these destinations, where they have come to enjoy and relax.”

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All these important tourist places depend on revenue from the tourists besides, liquor sales bring in revenue to the state government's coffers. Chowdhury has already mooted the proposal to the state finance minister, Dr Amit Mitra who also heads the state's Excise Department. "The finance minister has welcomed the idea and we would be soon submitting a detailed proposal to the department," said Chowdhury.

A state tourism department said the idea of relaxing liquor norms, was in keeping with Mamata Banerjee's dream to turn West Bengal into a world-class holidaying experience. He said, “The foreign tourists have complained about this and find the concept of prohibition as an absurd proposition and such re-

strictions are unheard of in the West.”

The industry has welcomed any such move as the 'dry day' ban has a chain impact on the hospitality industry, tour operators, travel agents and other related with the industry. Once the proposal is cleared, liquor will be available in West Bengal's popular tourist spots all the year round. "We felt that these dry day restriction shouldn't apply to these National Holidays because the tourists try to plan out their holiday itineraries in and around these days well in advance,” he added.

The official said that 'dry days' encourage sales and consumption of illicit liquor, which deprives the state of the precious liquor-generated revenue.

lieves that Genie will be very well received across India.

“Since the public transportation system in India is not fully developed, Genie Cabs is a good option for the consumers.

With this thought, we intend to scale up our fleet size in Hyderabad to 500 cabs in the next nine to 12 months, as well as foray into many newer fast developing markets in India and successfully contribute to the transport infrastructure of cities by providing a superior quality transport option that offers comfort, reliability and safety at an affordable price,” he mentioned.

VUSACOM India to start two chapters in February 2014 Reema Lokesh Mumbai VISIT USA Committee (VUSACOM) India is set to launch two chapters in Kolkata and Gujarat in the third week of February. Manoj Saraf of Gainwell Travels, Kolkata is proposed to be the chapter chairman of the Kolkata arm while Mahendra Vakharia of Pathfinders Holidays is proposed to be the chairman of the Gujarat chapter. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Manoj Gursahani, president, VUSACOM and vice chairman of US India Investors Forum informed, “The core focus of starting these two chapters is to promote MICE and education tourism in a bigger way. We will be working closely with the USA Commercial Section as well as the Consulate General office to promote these two main plans. With respect to the Kolkata chapter, we are also keen to address the issues that the North-East region is facing.”

MARKETS

Egypt Tourism to launch million dollar promotional campaign for India market Egypt ministry of tourism setting up new convention centre in Alexandria Steena Joy Cairo EGYPT TOURISM is planning a promotional campaign specifically for the India market. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Dr Adel Masry, director, Egyptian Tourism Office, revealed, "Earlier we had one campaign for all the markets. But now we will have one only for India where we will use well known Indian film celebrities. This promotional campaign will be executed in two phases. We will invest half a million US$ in the first phase and one million US$ in the second phase. The first phase is expected to roll out by March 2014."

Egypt ministry of tourism is also setting up a new convention centre in Alexandria, the first in the city. The convention centre which is expected to be ready in two years, will be able to seat around 1000 people. Dr Masry said, “The project will be

on the BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) basis. Egypt already has convention centres in Cairo and Luxor. The MICE segment is very important for us and we want to attract more MICE events to Egypt. Luxor has 1500 rooms, Cairo has 3000 and Sharm el Sheikh has 2500 rooms. We are also looking at inviting Indian hotel companies like the Taj Group of Hotels to invest in Egypt."

Egypt Tourism will also focus on new products like honeymoon packages, adventure sports like trekking, scuba diving and desert safari's. "We are also looking to promote oases as destinations and as movie locale. Like Sewa one of the four most important oases in Egypt," Dr Masry added.

Recently in Luxor, 13 travel agents and tour operators from India and the Egypt ministry of tourism signed an MoU to initiate The Million Indian Tourists campaign which will run for two years from September

2014 to September 2017. The initiative will be a threefold joint promotion by the Egypt ministry of tourism, Egyptian tour operators and Indian tour operators. Egypt Tourism will support them by funding 25 per cent of their promotional spending for Egypt. Some of the Indian tour operators who signed the MoU included Cox and Kings, Thomas Cook, Mercury Travels, Kuoni India, Kesari Tours, Veena World, etc.

As part of the initiative the Egypt ministry of tourism has announced the launch of visa on arrival facility with effect from January 1, 2014 for Indian tourists who will come through the travel agents who have signed the MoU. The ministry also announced plans to start direct flights between Delhi and Cairo in January 2014 and depending on the load factors will look at flights from other Indian metros and also code sharing with Indian airline companies.

V4 targets Indian MICE and leisure travellers Rituparna Chatterjee Mumbai THE NATIONAL tourism offices of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (the four states also referred to as Visegrad Four or V4) are looking at increasing the inflow of Indian MICE and leisure tourists to their destinations in 2014. For the same, a series of roadshows were held across various major Indian cities in the last quarter of 2013. Speaking on this, Jan Herget, director, foreign offices department, Czech Tourism Board stated, “We are looking at targeting the second time travellers to Europe like the high end and upper middle class segments who have been to popular destinations in Europe before and want to experience something new. All the four states together form an interesting combination where east meets west and south meets north which will be interesting for the people in India.”

The four destinations combined witnessed less than 15,000 Indian tourist arrivals in 2012 with an average night stay of 2.5 days resulting in 25,000 to 30,000 guests nights. “However, the exact numbers are dif-

ficult to ascertain because of the Schengen Visa. You can take the Schengen Visa to enter Germany but you don't need to show it when you are travelling to other states,” he opined.

The four states are currently facing a few challenges that are hindering the growth in the number of Indian tourists. “What we are missing as a group is direct flight connection. However, we have a regional connection with Emirates and Cutter Aviation which are preferred choices among corporate travellers since they offer quality service at affordable rates. Another difficulty is that there is lack of awareness among Indians because of inadequate advertising campaigns, ” explained Emilia Kubik, project leader, 'I like Poland' campaign, Polish Tourist Organisation.

Currently, Czech Tourism Board is looking at promoting film tourism by targeting the Bollywood industry. Polish Tourist Organisation has started promoting the destination through print and online campaign from December 2013 to June 2014 to increase the inflow of Indian tourists.

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MARKETS

'Consulate General in Mumbai issues 20% Belgium visas worldwide' The Consulate General in Mumbai issues the maximum number of Belgium visas in the world. Karl Van den Bossche, consul general, Belgium Consulate, Mumbai talks about the growing numbers of Indians visiting his country. By Sudipta Dev What kind of tourism growth expectations do you foresee from the India market ?

Belgium is already quite well known to the Indian traveller.

In 2012, we registered close to 100,000 overnight stays from Indian travellers in Belgium.

It is interesting to note that more Belgian visas are delivered by the Consulate General in Mumbai than in any other place in the world (35,000 in 2012, roughly 20 per cent of all Belgian visa issued worldwide). Leisure and business are the main reasons for travel, but we notice that visiting friends and relatives plays a major role as well.

This comes as no surprise given the sizeable Indian community living in Belgium. The Indian traveller mainly goes to Antwerp and Brussels, but we see a growing interest in other Belgian art cities and

also the countryside. These numbers have been growing over the years, but I see a large potential for further increase given India’s economic and demographic development both for MICE as for leisure travelling.

How would the recent visit of the power delegation from Belgium attribute in reaching the objective ?

The Belgian Economic Mission presided over by HRH Princess Astrid brought the largest Belgian delegation ever to India – 344 delegates.

The main focus was on business sectors such as cleantech, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, etc, but also academic opportunities and tourism played an important role. The tourism agencies of our Flanders and Brussels regions participated, hosting different events in New Delhi,

Mumbai and Chennai. The focus was not only on the tourism opportunities in general, but also on luxury travel, gastronomy, fashion and the commemoration of the First World War. Moreover during the mission a unique exhibition titled ‘Flemish Masters from Antwerp’ was inaugurated in Mumbai at the CSMVS (formerly Prince of Wales) museum.

Any new off-beat attraction that would be of interest to draw Indian visitors ?

2014-2018 will mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. A range of events in Belgium, as in other concerned countries, will commemorate the tragic events of a century ago. It is not always known that thousands of Indian soldiers participated in the war and fought and perished in Flanders Fields. Therefore In-

dia will play an active role in the commemoration events.

Apart from Brussels and Bruges, which are the other cities / destinations of tourist interest ?

Mainly Brussels and Antwerp are well known to the Indian public. Bruges was traditionally less known to Indian travellers. However this is changing, and the upcoming new movie of Rajkumar Hirani, partly shot in Bruges, will undoubtedly contribute to this. Then there are a range of other destinations well worth a visit. The lively art cities of Ghent and Leuven for instance, or for nature and outdoor sports lovers the coast and Ardennes hills. I can also mention the Tintin museum in Louvain-la-Neuve, close to Brussels. And there is much more.

WTTCII announces new office bearers for 2014 ETW STAFF Mumbai THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of World Travel and Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII) was held on December 5, 2013 in New

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Delhi. The following have been appointed as office bearers of WTTCII for the year 2014: Dipak Deva, chief executive manager, destination management, India and South Asia, Kuoni Destina-

tion Management has been appointed as chairman, WTTCII for the year 2014.

Deva, who was the vice chairperson of WTTCII for the year 2013, takes over from Priya Paul, chairperson, The Apeejay Surrendra

Park Hotels who completed her term.

Manav Thadani, chairman, HVS, South Asia has been appointed as vice chairman of WTTCII for the year 2014.

Karl Van den Bossche

Any major event / festival (cultural, literary, gastronomic, etc) ?

Apart from the upcoming First World War commemoration, currently a major cultural festival puts India in the spotlight. Europalia.india was opened on October 4, 2013 by president Mukherjee and King Philip of Belgium. Until January 26, 2014 it will bring India to the hearth of Europe, with a range of exhibitions, concerts, dance and theatre performances, conferences, cinema and literature events all over Belgium. Of course there are also numerous music, culinary and other events, such as the famous dance festival Tomorrowland.

Corrigendum In the article titled 'The maiden voyage' published in the November, 2013 issue of Express TravelWorld, it was stated that since OTOAI's (Outbound Tour Operators Association of India) inception in December 2011, it has achieved a membership base of over 2000 members across India. The correct report is that OTOAI is targeting to have a membership base of over 2000 members across India. The error is regretted.

MARKETS

Indian visitor arrivals grow by 10% in Alaska Sudipta Dev Mumbai

VISIT ANCHORAGE had recently conducted a roadshow in India. This is the second consecutive year that Visit Anchorage representatives came to India to promote Alaska and its many unique tourism products in this market. Marsha Barton, tourism sales manager, Visit Anchorage stated, “We are seeing many more Indian visitors each year and we are hearing from our members in the tourism industry businesses that they are noticing a great increase in visitors from India.”

According to Susan McKenzie, manager - charter, group and international sales, Alaska Airlines, the year 2013 has seen a growth of 10 per cent in terms of arrivals from India, over the previous year.

Most of the Indian visitors head for Alaska from Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles or San Francisco. They fly down to Anchorage and take tours from there. Alaska has two international airports - at Anchorage and Fairbanks. Many

Indians take the cruise from Vancouver or Seattle.

Majority of the cruises go through south east Alaska. In 2012, 1.85 million tourists visited Alaska, of whom 51 per cent entered on cruise ships.

There are many excursions in south east Alaska for cruise ship passengers. "This is a big emerging market for us. We are really hoping to grow this market," said Moire Duggan, travel trade marketing manager, Alaska Travel Industry Association. This association represents all the travel agents and tour operators in the state.

While the first time Indian visitors prefer the summer months, winter time in Alaska has its own attrac-

tions. For instance, the Aurora Borealis that is visible from late August to mid April.

“Every Indian is now looking for new destinations. The awareness has increased as Indians are looking for new places to visit and there is a growing awareness regarding Alaska," said SK Mittal, executive director, ETA Travel Agency, GSA for Alaska Airlines in India. The itineraries range from three days to seven days. He informed that there has been marked growth from Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The interest is not just the destination but for events like Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Anchorage now has some Indian restaurants also.

Tourism Malaysia to host 50 events targeting Indian travellers Rituparna Chatterjee Mumbai TOURISM MALAYSIA is aggressively planning to promote the destination through a series of events lined up for 2014 as part of its Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign. The events are aimed to target first time travellers from tier two and tier three Indian cities. The events will consist of magical shows, Formula One event, cultural programmes, mega sales to name a few. Tourism Malaysia has collaborated with national and local hoteliers, suppliers, tour operators, airlines to promote these events.

Our collaboration with tour operators and airlines will be key factors in promoting Malaysia. By end of 2014 we expect 15-20% growth from 2013

Speaking about the events, Manoharan Periasamy, director, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board stated, “We are packaging the 50 major events with local tour operators so that while selling the packages they can highlight the events that are taking place in that particular month. This will help us in getting more number of tourists from India. Our collaboration with tour operators and airlines are going to be key factors in promoting Malaysia.” Malindo Air, a Malaysian-based hybrid airline, which will launch its commercial flight operations from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur in February 2014 is expected to boost the number of Indian tourists into Malaysia, added Periasamy.

As part of its Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign, Tourism Malaysia hosted an event in December 2013 wherein it partnered with Marinating Films to promote two of its destinations Kuala Lampur and Malacca through a telly calender which depicted 12 popular faces from the Indian television industry in exotic locations of Malaysia.

“By the end of 2013, the tourism board hopes to welcome close to 7.5 lakh Indian visitors to Malaysia as against 6.9 lakh Indian visitors in 2012. By the end of 2014, they expect 15-20 per cent growth from 2013,” stated Periasamy.

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Dubai Airports implements cutting-edge technology Sudipta Dev Mumbai TECHNOLOGY PLAYS a very important role in an airport for optimising capacity, improving speed and the volume with which passengers can go through the airport, and enhancing their service experience. Innovative technology implementations at Dubai International as well as Dubai World Central - Al Maktoum International is enabling the same. Dubai International Airport that has a growing network of 140 international airlines connecting 260 destinations, will be the number one airport in the world by 2015 in terms of international passenger traffic. Recently Dubai Airports has launched a service measurement system which records and reports every queuing times at various key points at the airport so that those at the control centre can have a visibility on where the

heavy queues are and can dispatch resources to reduce those queues. It helps with the decision making process at the control centre.

“At Dubai Airports, obviously technology plays a very important role now today, and will increasingly do so in the future. Based on the fact that the growth capacity is a big issue for us, we've implemented a number of things to help speed people through,” said Lorne Riley, head of corporate communications, marketing and corporate communications, Dubai Airports. For instance, an automatic tray return security machine, which increases throughput at each security checkpoint by 70 per cent, almost doubling the speed. Dubai immigration has implemented Smart Gates, which is a system that uses a machine readable passport, coupled with a biometric that will allow reduction in transaction time considerably. An individual has to regis-

ter with the system - an iris scan, with machine readable

passport and the next time he/she presents the passport at

the reader and the camera matches with the biometric of the iris, if there are no issues, the gates will automatically open. Currently this is for residents, citizens of GCC countries but eventually it will be for the 32 nationalities that have visa on arrival.

Interesting technology implementations at Al Maktoum International include interactive virtual assistants and information zones. “The next big thing is at Al Maktoum International, what we hope to do there is completely change the paradigm of how airports are organised and how they work so that the legacy problems of today can be got rid of by a customer-centric approach in the new airport. Our master plan is currently being reviewed and should be announced in the first quarter and that would embrace some new ideas and new thinking on airports,” mentioned Riley.

Malaysia Airlines to introduce double daily flights on its India sector Kahini Chakraborty Mumbai MALAYSIA AIRLINES is exploring new sectors in the India market as part of its expansion plans. With an aim to strengthen its position in the market, the airline has been expanding capacity over the past few months. Azahar Hamid, regional senior vice president - South Asia and

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Middle East, Malaysia Airlines told Express TravelWorld, “With the introduction of services to Kochi in September 2013, we are connected to six cities in India.

We have also increased operations from Delhi and Bengaluru by adding two additional weekly flights to Kuala Lumpur in the month of October 2013.” However, he refrained from commenting on

Azahar Hamid

the news of the airline considering equity investment in the India market.

Presently, the airline operates to six cities in India Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi with 66 flights. “Our intent is to further strengthen the India network by getting double daily flights to our six online points and will continue to

explore more new points in future. The year 2013 has been an encouraging for us from the India market. We have registered over 16 per cent growth in revenue over previous year. Our seat load factor has been over 86 per cent ex India, a year-on-year growth of 12 per cent. We look forward to increase our reach and base in the India market,” he added.

MARKETS

Three Grand Mercure properties to open in India in 2014 Targets to open 50 properties under various brands

Samode Safari Lodge joins Relais & Chateaux global network Sudipta Dev Mumbai SAMODE SAFARI LODGE at Bandhavgarh, a part of heritage hotel group Samode Hotels, is the latest inclusion in the exclusive club of Relais & Chateaux luxury network.

The property that comprises of 12 villas, is located near the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve that has one of the largest concentration of tigers in the world. “We fell in love with Africa when we visited there several times and thought of creating something close to the experience here in India.

This led to building the Samode Safari Lodge. We have stuck to the basics of Samode style but did some innovation for this property,” said Yadavendra Singh, owner, Samode Hotels. Pointing out that this property is now a part of Relais & Chateaux family, Singh hoped that the association would continue for a long time.

Established in 1954, Relais & Chateaux will be complet-

ing 60 years in 2014. Currently there are 520 members in 62 countries. Joerg Drechsel, founder of Malabar House in Kochi, the first Relais & Chateaux property in India, and currently the chairman of the Asian chapter of Relais & Chateaux said, “Relais & Chateaux is an association. It is not a marketing company. It is not a chain of hotels or hotel companies, but a family of like-minded hoteliers. It is an exclusive club of hotels and restaurants. Food is an inte-

Relais & Chateaux is not a marketing company but a family of like-minded hoteliers

gral part of Relais & Chateaux culture. Relais & Chateaux properties are operated by passionate owners and we are happy that Samode Safari Lodge is joining us. The property has blended sophisticated Rajasthani essence with wildlife lodges of Africa and created something unique.”

Samode Safari Lodge conducts two scheduled safaris every day. Guests are accompanied by guides and naturalists. The architecture of the property has been inspired by local culture. The property comprises of two main lodges with lounges on the top floor.

Samode Hotels is one of Rajasthan's leading heritage hotel groups that is owned and managed by the descendents of the royal family of Samode. The properties in Rajasthan include Samode Palace, Samode Haveli and Samode Bagh. Samode Safari Lodge Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh is the group's first property outside the state.

Rituparna Chatterjee Pune ACCOR IS PLANNING to open three Grand Mercure properties in 2014. The three properties will be located in Vadodara, Goa and Bengaluru. Vadodara will have its first Grand Mercure which will be a 146 room inventory.

Presently Bengaluru has a Grand Mercure property in the form of serviced apartments which will be re-branded to suit the consumer and owner/developer preference in India. Speaking about the reason for choosing Vadodara for the brand, Lokesh Sabharwal, vice president, development - India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Accor stated, “ Vadodara is just one of the markets, we have Grand Mercure properties under development in Goa, Bengaluru and some other markets. But Vadodara is the first city where the brand will be first launched because this city is an important centre in Gujarat. Vadodara is a cosmopolitan and dynamic market. As a company we are not just focused on being in the metros but also going out in key cities/markets.”

Adding to this, Jean Michel Casse, senior vice president, operations - India, Accor stated, “Grand Mercure is existing but it is more recognised as serviced apartments and we are rebranding and re-launching this brand to make it specific to India. Novotel and ibis are standardised brands but we need to have more flexible brands like Grand Mercure that will be cus-

Lokesh Sabharwal

Jean Michel Casse

tomised to be more friendly to the Indian market and international travellers visiting India.”

Accor currently has eight Novotel properties in India including Novotel Pune which was launched in December 2013. The company has 12 Novotel properties under construction in India, of which seven are likely to open by 2015, two of which will open in Kolkata and Maharashtra in the the first quarter of 2014. All the Novotel properties will spread across Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Agra, Lavasa, Goa, Pune and Ahmedabad. The first quarter of 2014 will also see the opening of ibis in Delhi Aerocity.

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The brand message of every tourism board embodies the spirit of the land, its culture and ethos.

Express TravelWorld highlights the powerful impact created by some of the most abiding brand messages of all times

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cover ) Be There! Do That!

Brand message 'Be There! Do That!' is a proactive invitation to discovering France, the experiential way.

This dynamic branding allows us to approach those visitors who are interested in going beyond the tried and tested and want to create a holiday replete with unique experiences. We wanted our visitors to spend time discovering France's regions, connecting with local culture, acquainting themselves with the French way of life or art de vivre. A host of diverse activities appealing to different genres of travellers are possible and through 'Be There! Do That!' we wanted to promote these different facets of France.

We have consciously promoted every communication campaign for 2013 under the 'Be There! Do That!' banner with an

CATHERINE ODEN, Director,Atout France India

and business magazines in collaboration with Air France, regional partners such as Rhone Alpes and Champagne Ardenne and Galeries Lafayette. In order to target the dynamic youth segment, we have also promoted 'Be There! Do That!' through a contest on our website, www.rendezvousenfrance.com as well as through the youth magazine - Youth Inc and their social media sites.

Th e impact effort of achieving maximum visibility. The campaign enjoyed a privileged launch at the French Ambassador's Residence in New Delhi in March 2013. Its launch was complemented by a pan India communication campaign in various reputed lifestyle, travel

The campaign has been well received by the travel industry and the end consumer. The campaign has sufficiently motivated travel agents/tour operators to create packages around the idea of experiential travel. Travel agents have been including newer French destinations in their itineraries which is essen-

tially in keeping with the spirit of 'Be There! Do That!'. The branding has helped us in creating an awareness about lesser known regions and activities. Discerning travellers have also expressed an interest in visiting or engaging in activities that have so far been promoted as part of the campaign.

Future vision We will continue to tempt our potential travellers by presenting different facets of France

through 'Be There! Do That!'.

We will look at possible associations with travel agents/tour operators and our partners - local and French. We will aim to establish a connect with the end traveller through communication activities across diverse media platforms. We will also be tapping into the rapidly emerging segment of youth travellers by participating in a youth-centric workshop and engaging in media related activities with Switzerland Tourism.

There's Nothing like Australia Brand message The key objective of our global marketing campaign ‘There's Nothing like Australia’ is to position Australia as a must-visit destination with some of the world’s best tourism experiences. Australia has a wealth of assets, natural and man-made, that differentiates it from other destinations around the world.

‘There's Nothing like Australia’ campaign showcases these assets in a contemporary, sophisticated, energetic and an inspiring way. At the core of all our brand initiatives is the ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ campaign messages which emphasises on showcasing ‘Best of Australia’ experiences. Advocacy is a key element of our strategy and we have been using that through effective use of social media plat-

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forms, public relations and international media hosting programmes. To build awareness and interest for the destination, we have also executed innovative campaigns on television, print, out-of-home and digital mediums.

The impact Brand initiatives have contributed towards building awareness and increasing the intention to visit Australia amongst our target audience.

We have witnessed a healthy growth in tourist arrivals from India, led by leisure visitors. India now features amongst Australia’s top 10 inbound tourism market for visitor arrivals and the 11th largest source market in terms of expenditure, accounting for three per cent of all international expenditure.

NISHANT KASHIKAR, Country Manager India & Gulf, Tourism Australia

Future vision In alignment with the India 2020 Strategic Plan, Tourism Australia will continue to use the ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ brand campaign to build an emotional connect with its

audience and showcase Australia as a nation with diverse and exciting experiences.

There will be a focus on promoting key Australian experiences that find strong resonance with Indian travellers.

Apart from our brand campaign, we will also be joining hands with key airline and distribution partners for cooperative campaigns presenting potential travellers with exciting offers to visit Australia.

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Amazing Thailand: It Begins with the People Brand message Our new tagline 'Amazing Thailand: It Begins with the People' showcases the increasingly human-centric aspects of the Amazing Thailand brand. It intensifies the destination’s emotional appeal and encompasses Thai hospitality and the spirit and attitude of the Thais.

We expect to achieve two goals from Thailand’s new tagline.

People will have more local experiences/immerse themselves further into the destination’s culture and local living and will come back and share these experiences with their friends, family and neighbours. In tourism, marketing 1.0 is aimed at people recognising your brand/being aware what the destination is about and therefore recognising it as a brand.

The second step is about positive, active engagement, where people purchase packages. We achieved this with 'Amazing Thailand: Always Amazes You' campaign. Thailand welcomed

plex, multi-dimensional human beings that they are. To achieve key product differentiation given this market scenario, we identified the true charm of Thailand which are its people.

The impact

SETHAPHAN BUDDHANI, Director,Tourism Authority of Thailand – Mumbai Office

one million Indian travellers in 2012 and 2013 was positive with 958,921 Indian tourists coming in by end of October which represented nearly a four per cent increase over 2012. When your brand has matured beyond that, you want to capitalise on word-of-mouth publicity. The new tagline is a core component of our adherence to the marketing 3.0 concept whereby customers are treated as com-

The tagline has been launched only about a month ago. However, judging from the success of our previous 'Amazing Thailand: Always Amazes You' campaign, we expect the market to respond well. Our new marketing strategy targets the luxury traveller and HNIs out of India.

Our new marketing strategy promotes luxury stays that allow people the best experiences of Thai hospitality and exclusive attractions that allow the best possible view of the destination. We are drawing attention towards festivals like Songkran and Loi Krathong.

Moreover, we want people to experience more that they can get from the Thai people. We want people to come, experience and learn Muay Thai (Thai boxing). We are honing interest in Thai cuisine because Indians who once insisted on Indian food are now indulging in food trails across the destination and are even taking culinary classes during their stay.

Masterchef Travel has Thailand itineraries among its destination choices in response to the huge demand for it.

Future vision We have food festivals planned along with a Muay Thai camp and various experiences that will create aspiration for local experiences in Thailand. To showcase new areas of Thailand and an adventurous way of going about them, our Big Bike Tour will soon be aired.

It’s more fun in the Philippines Brand message The Department of Tourism, Philippines (DOT) launched its global campaign for promotion of tourism in the country under the tagline - It’s more fun in the Philippines, early last year. The campaign intends to create buzz by encouraging people to use internet tools, images and words to sell Philippines as a top tourist destination. It highlights the hottest destinations in Philippines and singles out what no other destination can offer. We have enjoyed the success of this campaign throughout the year and recently celebrated its first anniversary.

SANJEET, India Representative, Department of Tourism, Philippines

present a unified brand image of the country.

Future vision The impact The campaign was a success and there were memes circulating in many social networking websites highlighting the fun element in everything that is Filipino. This helped increase the popularity of the destination.

Moreover, it helped the campaign receive an enormous response from all over the world.

Thousands of followers in social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter have also been regularly writing and promoting the destination. We have branded Philippines as a fun destination and we have capitalised on our content to

Philippines has been witnessing continued growth in the number of visitor arrivals from India. India is an emerging market with a vast source of potential travellers. The tourism board is expecting to bolster Indian travel to Philippines through integrated marketing efforts in 2014.

It is predicted that there will be an increase in the number of travellers from India in the coming years as Philippines is fast becoming a destination of choice among Indians coupled by increasing level of disposable income for leisure and travel related pursuits amongst the affluent class.

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cover ) Taiwan – The Heart of Asia Brand message Asia’s heart and Taiwan’s warmth is what the Taiwan Tourism Bureau wants to offer to tourists. Taiwan is a fusion of tradition with new trends. Its special characteristics and diversity presents what is precisely a microcosm of Asia. It has an immensely rich cultural and spiritual heritage, food, world-class hot-springs and scenery. 'Taiwan – The Heart of Asia' reflects an obvious preference for the emphatic. Recently we forayed into the East India market with a travel mart and B2B workshop and are currently working on a number of MICE incentive plans with increased benefits which will facilitate MICE movement to Taiwan.

Our regular promotional activities are done through various

the natural beauty at Sun Moon Lake, scenic attractions of the country such as the Taroko Gorge and famous cultural festivals of Taiwan. We are ensuring that the essence of the country is rightly being communicated to the right audience.

The impact

NOEL SAXENA, Country Head, Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Representative Office, India

print advertisements, outdoor branding that showcases various reasons for a traveller to visit Taiwan. Few of the reasons include: 24 hours shopping in Taipei, the experiential weddings and honeymoon amidst

With our branding initiatives, we’ve brought in clarity and have built an admirable salience of the brand. Taiwan has reported an increase in leisure, business and MICE travellers.

Future vision We are planning to roll out a few joint co-op advertisements in the near future along with our regular marketing and promotional activities. We are looking forward to potentially

gaining advantage by utilising our presence amongst travel trade consumers, media and

also using modern strategies and technologies to reach out to the masses.

The More You Do,The Closer You Get Brand message Our brand campaign is a beautiful amalgamation of words and visuals which aims to stimulate the curiosity and interest levels of Indian travellers by showcasing not only South Africa’s popular destinations, but also attempting to capture the overwhelming experiences and infinite opportunities that the country has to offer. Our message this year on 'The More You Do, The Closer You Get' attempted to create a strong and lasting imagery of South Africa and its fun-filled offerings in the minds of people. The campaign aimed to showcase the varied experiences that not only bring travellers closer to each other but also helps in strengthening the bond further. In fact our brand tagline, ‘Inspiring new ways' is a description of the best

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of our national character, our values and the fabric of our people. It is on the business, government and civil society to build on our reputation for inspiration and innovation.

The impact Marketing a country to the rest of the world in taglines, limited text and visuals is not an easy task, especially a multi-faceted country like South Africa that has so much to offer. We have always tried to depict what we believe by capturing the essence of the country through our branding initiatives. For South Africa we have definitely seen growth spurt from the whole of Asia and Australasia region. We have seen a tremendous increase in our length of stay, an uptake in tourism activities and a remarkable growth in repeat travellers

HANNELI SLABBER, Country Manager, South African Tourism

in Indian tourist arrivals to South Africa year-on-year. coming in to the country. Talking about India, we have an established marketing presence across the country through various interesting initiatives undertaken to popularise the destination among Indian travellers. We have seen an incredible growth

Future vision Seeing the tremendous response from last year, we plan to announce a similar consumer outreach initiative with Jonty Rhodes in 2014 as well, the details of which will be revealed

closer to the launch of the initiative. In 2014, we will be launching our cinema campaign across multiple cities in India during which select joint marketing agreement (JMA) partners will place their travel desks at prominent multiplexes and sell South African holiday packages to consumers.

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Canada. Keep Exploring Brand message Being the second largest country in the world, Canada offers myriad of experiences to a traveller. The collection of these travel experiences is so wide that a traveller never repeats an itinerary; hence we insist to explore endless opportunities with our brand - ‘Canada. Keep Exploring’. Our once in a lifetime Canadian Signature Experiences (CSE) portrays what Canada has to offer and much more. Our brand motivates and inspires travellers to see Canada as a destination where they can experience something extraordinary and unique, each time they travel. In other words, there is so much to explore, so keep exploring.

The impact In 2010 and 2011, FutureBrand’s Country Brand Index (CBI) ranked Canada as the number one country brand out of 113 countries. In 2012, Canada ranked number second. As a result of our effective branding initiatives, we have been able to create and establish the image

ketplace. We communicate this consistent and compelling image of Canada in all markets including India through social media, videos, blogs and much more.

Future vision

TINA SINGH, Account Director, Canadian Tourism Commission, India

of Canada as a premier-four season destination. Our strategically placed year round marketing activities ensure excellent visibility making Canada top of the mind recall for its end consumer. All communication done by Canadian Tourism Commission is brand aligned.

The more we do to align Canada's tourism brand and marketing initiatives in our 11 geographic markets, the stronger our voice gets in the competitive international mar-

To engage more consumers with our brand, we recently launched our CSE collection in the India market. The collection features a whole list of once in a lifetime travel experiences found only in Canada to create optimum awareness about our tourism products including the iconic world famous Niagara Falls and CN Tower. We have adopted a trade centric approach since our inception in India and believe that 80 per cent of Indians go through travel agents while deciding/booking an international trip. Hence, we plan to continue investing with the trade in order to increase the number of travellers. This has worked well in the past and emulating it for the coming years is the crux of our strategy for moving forward.

Where it all begins Brand message Egypt is a brand that has a long relationship with India.

We have a lot of similarities in culture, food and religion.

Celina Jaitley, the Indian actress has been the brand ambassador for Egypt since a long time and she will continue to support us. Egypt is now going through a transition into democracy phase but tourists are always welcome.

There have been incidents but we should see the bigger picture.

The impact Egypt Tourism is planning a promotional campaign specifically for the India market.

Earlier we had one campaign for all the markets. But now we will have one only for India where we will use well known Indian film celebrities. This promotional campaign will be executed in two phases. We will invest half a million US$ in the first phase and one million US$ in the second phase.

The first phase is expected to be rolled out by March 2014.

We want to promote the 'New Egypt', so we will focus on new products like honeymoon packages, adventure sports, etc. We want to target the Indian youth for adventure activities, the middle class for culture and history and senior citizens for religion and cul-

DR ADEL MASRY, Director, Egyptian Tourism Office

ture. Recently in Luxor, we invited 13 travel agents from India who signed an MoU with the Egypt ministry of tourism to initiate 'The Million Indian Tourists' campaign which will run for two years from September 2014 to September 2017. Egypt Tourism will support the Indian tour operators by funding 25 per cent of their promotional spending for Egypt.

Future vision We will have FAM trips, training and joint marketing for them. We also plan to increase our brand visibility through the media, both trade and B2C as well as through outdoor hoardings, online, cinema and on board domestic flights in India. A special campaign for the MICE segment will roll out in the next three months.

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Photo Courtesy: GNTO

cover ) Germany - Simply Inspiring Brand message

The impact

One of the most important objectives of German National Tourist Office (GNTO) is to promote Germany as a leisure destination. Germany has already made it big in terms of business destination. All our marketing and PR activities are executed in order to reinforce and create more demand among Indians to make Germany as one of the prospective destinations to visit. Further, we have come a long way from the perception of Germany merely being a trade fair destination. There is increasing awareness of Germany’s leisure attractions and more visitors are travelling to Germany for vacations from India. This is evident from Germany being a

From January to September 2013, Germany registered 459,241 overnights from India.

The growth has been positive so far. Although there has been economic uncertainty prevailing in the country and devaluation of the rupee, which has affected the Indian outbound, Germany has still been receiving a fair amount of Indian travellers as confirmed by tour operators. Our joint activities with Cox & Kings, Kuoni, Kesari, Via, etc have borne positive results and we have been able to sell Germany as a destination on a broader spectrum.

ROMITTHEOPHILUS, Director, Sales & Marketing, German National Tourist Office, India

part of many European itineraries of Indian tour operators.

However, the destination will always be a leader in Indian MICE arrivals to Europe.

Future vision In 2014, we are looking forward to having more and more queries on MICE and incentive

trips from corporate companies.

We expect an increase in series departure, FIT travels, leisure trips from Indian families especially from northern and western regions of India. Apart from this, we have witnessed growth in niche segments wherein visitors have shown interest in self drives, wine regions, culinary events and festivals, industrial visits. We see lot a of potential in these segments and expect them to grow further in 2014. For Germany, India is a critical market not only in business but also in leisure travel. GNTO with its India pool will be investing over Euro 500,000 within this year in marketing and communication activities with the trade and end consumers to maximise the visibility of the country. Also looking

ahead at the theme of 2013, Germany will concentrate its marketing efforts on 'Germany for young people.' Further GNTO will continue to focus on regular destination training and study trips for the media and travel trade.

Turkey-AMillion Reasons…What’s Yours?

Brand message The key objective of our brand message - Turkey - A Million Reasons…What’s Yours? is to promote Turkey as a destination where every type of traveller has multiple opportunities. Our communication and marketing strategy is aimed at encouraging potential tourists to have the motivation and willingness to visit Turkey.

Our brand message and campaigns together helped spread awareness amongst potential tourists to visit and experience Turkey by creating a unique identity that appeal to Indians. Turkey has so much to offer to its visitors - breathtaking natural beauty, unique historical and archaeological sites, great hotels coupled with a tradition of warm hospitality and competitive prices. From different facets of tourism to geographical di-

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OZGUR AYTURK, Culture and Tourism Counselor, Turkish Embassy in India

versity consisting of majestic mountains and valleys, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and grottoes perfect for winter or summer tourism and sports of all kinds, Turkey provides the perfect comprehensive travel itinerary.

The impact The branding initiatives helped

us construct the idea and desire amongst our target audience inspite of the current economic uncertainty and the concern over the global economy.

Turkey’s demand as an international tourism destination continues to show resilience which is not only promising but also engaging for potential tourists and boasts of their motivation to visit.

Future vision We are planning to continue our roadshows in association with Turkish Hoteliers Federation and Travel Agents Association of Turkey. We have been using this annual roadshow to actively promote Turkey as a destination of choice among Indian travel agents. We will continue our pan India advertising campaign with a new slogan in 2014. We recently launched a new India-centric website.

(

THE MAIN FOCUS

Jordan – It Takes You Beyond Brand message There are only a few places in the world like Jordan that offer you diversity of options.

There is culture, ancient civilisations, great food and natural vistas; each segment compliments each other to make Jordan historically rich, yet retains its modern edge. Jordan is the perfect place to travel for incentive; for history and culture; and is a great destination for leisure, honeymooners, wellness, religion, nature, fun and adventure all together.

So the key objective behind Jordan’s brand message: 'It Takes You Beyond' is to communicate to our audience that Jordan has more than you expect to offer. We are strengthening the branding of Jordan as a distinctive, secure, exotic world class destination to travel to. Our marketing activities and communication strategy have been promoting the diversity of Jordan on multiple platforms. For example, we have had advertisements showcasing the Dead Sea for leisure and wellness, Petra for heritage and culture, Streets of Amman for shopping and many others in newspapers with joint partnerships with key travel agents, television, radio, at outdoor locations and we also have online promotions.

We are reaching out to a variety of consumers and are showcasing the richness and vast offerings and experiences one can enjoy at Jordan.

The impact Our branding initiatives have made Jordan attractive to a diverse tourist base, and

Jordan such as art, culture, adventure, etc to maximise their potential to deliver on defined outcomes.

Future vision

MUNNMUNN MARWAH, Representative,Jordan Tourism Board in India

have also created unique opportunities for travel retailers to specialise in key areas, targeting niche markets of

We always seek fresh marketing initiatives powered by a collaborative spirit with a purpose. We are looking forward to potentially gaining an advantage by utilising our presence amongst travel trade consumers, media and also using modern strategies and technologies to reach out to the masses. Digital marketing, information and communication will become the cornerstone of the sector in the coming period.

'Our key objective is to increase Indian overnights to Flanders' Brand message Flanders as a destination represents cutting-edge craftsmanship and this is reflected in our strengths. From artisan chocolates to exquisite handcrafted diamonds, from traditional home-grown boutique breweries to the intricate art of lace-making, they all display the exemplary cutting-edge craftsmanship that is intrinsic to the region. It is our objective to promote these facets of the destination. So this brand message is constantly reinforced and reflected in all of our communications to the media and trade.

Visit Flanders organises educational seminars for the travel trade on regular basis.

Additionally, one of the important promotions in Flanders from 2014-18 is The Great War Centenary.

The impact Our branding initiatives have encouraged curiosity about the destination among potential travellers. People who have already explored other destinations in Europe now find something new and exciting in the heart of Europe in Flanders.

SUNIL PURI, Managing Director,Visit Flanders, Tourism Office of Flanders & Brussels (Belgium) in India

Future vision Communication with potential travellers is an ongoing process. We regularly conduct media and trade familiarisation trips and engage in several tactical joint advertising campaigns with our trade partners to ensure top of the mind recall for the destination. Our key objectives are to increase Indian overnights to Flanders and to increase their length of stay by encouraging tour operators to use Brussels as a gateway for their European itineraries by leveraging on the cities’ connectivity to other popular destinations in Northern Europe and the UK.

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cover ) Mauritius: It’s a pleasure Brand message Through its brand message ‘It’s a pleasure’, Mauritius targets and caters to all types of traveller segments in India with world class hotels and friendly services. Mauritius as a brand projects blend of culture, taste and history. It is well projected in all our marketing and communication strategies. Offering a perfect vacation including adventure, relaxation and wellness, Mauritius only leads to strengthening its brand message. Mauritius has also successfully built itself as a MICE destination. Recently, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) in association with Lakme Fashion Week showcased the resort collection with designer Ranna Gill wherein she displayed the art forms of Mauritius through a fashion event.

SOMA BHATTACHARYA, Destination Manager,TRAC Representations,Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority,India

The impact Since Mauritius attracts every segment of Indian travellers, there has been an increase in number of visitors every year.

Mauritius branding is denoted in four colours signifying Mauritius as a colourful destination

with a blend of culture, taste and history. This catchy nature of Mauritius has helped in creating a huge impact on Indians.

Furthermore, Mauritius is also regarded as a preferred destination for weddings among Indians. Mauritius is also famous for its golfing experience in Indian markets. With a grand total of seven 18-hole golf courses, Mauritius also specialises in

golfing activities and holidays.

In 2008, the island was awarded the title of Golf Destination of the Year, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf States by International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO).

This growing popularity has resulted in increase in number of people who are opting for a holiday to play golf. Not only leisure, the island is also emerg-

ing as a MICE destination in India having high-end luxury and professional arrangements.

Mauritius witnesses an inflow of both small and large MICE groups every year.

Future vision It is too early to comment on what all new initiatives we will be doing for 2014. We are optimistic about 2014.

The Seychelles islands: Another world Brand message The objective of our brand message is to convey the uniqueness and diversity of the Seychelles islands, a place where tranquility and simplicity can still be found.

Seychelles can offer the best of whatever you want – a perfect tropical retreat or a holiday filled with adrenaline pumping activities or a combination of both.

Seychelles is a place that is truly different and magical. Our tagline – Another world stands for the diverse wonders and attributes of our islands, the vibrant culture and exceptional natural beauty that qualify the Seychelles islands as a world apart and another world entirely.

The impact We have set up an office in India

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ROSE-MARIE HOAREAU, Director for Marketing, Seychelles Tourism Board

only in the last quarter of 2013.

Our branding/marketing initiatives will commence from January 2014. However we have begun interacting with the travel trade and educating them on the product. All our activities are

and will be in line with our overall brand message. Every aspect of our marketing plan - artwork, tag line, branding content, the choice of media for promotion, events we will participate in and so on will all be focused towards

conveying the same overall brand message.

Future vision In 2014, we will focus on increasing awareness and break-

ing myths about Seychelles among the target traveller segments. We want to present Seychelles as an exotic and aspirational destination. Along with having the world’s best beaches, there is much more that the destination has to offer. Seychelles also has close cultural ties with India as some of the earliest inhabitants of the islands were from India.

Our target segments are the honeymoon, luxury, adventure and experiential travellers. We will be targeting a mix of above the line (ATL) and below the line (BTL) media platforms like print, web, out of home and electronic to reach out to them. We will be working closely with the travel trade in India.

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It's GREAT Brand message To keep up with its competitors, Britain requires a stronger brand in India. The ongoing cross-government GREAT image campaign will be the main way of building awareness of Britain and maintaining its profile as a destination. We will work closely with the FCO, UKTI and the British Council on a sizeable co-ordinated campaign to promote Britain in India for tourism, education, business, trade and investment. A cohesive and joined-up approach among these UK government agencies involves more joint work on events and activities, and integrating messages to ensure they reach wider audiences such as business travellers and students. Elements of the GREAT image campaign relating to tourism will include media supplements, Bollywood engagement, association with fashion and luxury as well as broadcast programming to engage consumers. The messages will centre on the new and experiential and give a richer perspective of the UK as a destination.

The impact India’s consumer market was previously broadly defined as a pyramid; it is being replaced by a diamond – a relatively large affluent class at the top, a huge middle class in the centre and a small economically disadvantaged class at the lower end.

Our aim is to identify the highyield travel segments and tap their potential through B2B engagement and tactical partnerships, reach out to tier two cities and create aspiration through Bollywood connections.

Future vision Our ambition is to attract 425,000 visits from India by 2016, worth GBP 380 million in annual visitor spend. If successful, this target would deliver

SHIVALI SURI, Country Manager,VisitBritain

70,000 more visits a year by 2016, GBP 65 million more visitor spend annually. Business and MICE are important – and higher spending – segments, reflecting the strong trade and commercial links between Britain and India. In 2011 it accounted for 28 per cent of all outbound visits and 45 per cent of total spend. Britain is India’s second-largest business partner, receiving 50 per cent of Indian direct investment into Europe. The average holiday visitor in Britain from India spends GBP 504, while the average business visitor spends GBP 1,419.2 The work of the GREAT image campaign, positioning Britain as a place to invest in and do business with (as well as visit) means that there is a natural fit across the pub-

THE MAIN FOCUS

Malaysia TrulyAsia lic diplomacy partners to address this market at a Britain level. The national tourist boards and destination management organisations (DMOs) are also interested in this segment. PR will be central in supporting the message and branding. It will convey the value message with the aim of dispelling the notion that Britain is an expensive holiday destination. The clear message 'holidays for all budgets' will be conveyed. Outreach into tier two cities will involve building relationships with media in new markets and exploring synergies. We will use existing and new media contacts to produce high-value broadcast and print coverage focusing on the specific target segments and geographical areas outlined previously. We will work with non-tourism partners to reach the high net worth segment.

Working closely with public diplomacy partners such as the FCO, UKTI and the British Council will help us identify opportunities to target and influence this high-yield segment.

Internet access is increasing at a fast pace in India, reaching small towns and villages whose residents are outside this strategy’s target segments. Developing a clear strategy for digital channels by 2014 will be the next step.

Brand message In Malaysia, cultures have been meeting and mixing since the very beginning of its history. Malaysia's cultural mosaic is marked by many different cultures that have a lasting influence on the country. This image has led Malaysia to select cultural diversity as its brand image and positioning.

In this uniqueness lies the strongest selling point for Malaysia. The philosophy and values that form the brand 'Malaysia Truly Asia' is not only to verbally and visually portray what the brand represents, but also to be able to showcase the values and identity of a destination and capture the perceptions of its visitors.

The impact The proof that 'Malaysia Truly Asia' sells is in the increasing number of tourist arrivals every year. Malaysia has seen increase in tourist arrivals from India from 2001 till date with a growth, growing from a mere 49,000 Indian visitors to 700,000 in 2012. The achievements have been unprecedented, making Malaysia the envy of some of the competing destinations. Malaysia has moved from being a destination combined with Singapore and Thailand to stand alone holiday destination; with its plethora of offers it is a destination that is suitable for every travel segment. From being a destination for a once in a lifetime, it has become a popular destination for repeat short holidays. We are a destination that proudly promotes a year round calendar or events and festivals some of which have become very popular, like the Shopping Mega sale, The Petronas Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Colours of Malaysia and many more. Aggressive promotional campaigns and relaxing visa

MANOHARAN PERIASAMY, Director,Tourism Malaysia

norms for Indians have attributed to the growth of visitor arrivals from India. The national carrier Malaysia Airline's support in introducing and increasing frequency over the years has added to the numbers.

Future vision 2014 is the fourth Visit Malaysia Year, in which we will be 'Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia' theme. Besides this, Tourism Malaysia aims to promote high-end tourism like spa and wellness, eco-tourism, golf, sports and exotic destinations and products among other experiences. We are also looking at reaching a wider audience by going beyond tier one markets to tier two and tier three markets.

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EVENT ROUNDUP

Committed partnerships The first annual convention of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India held in Manila, Philippines touched upon many interesting and debatable topics. It also provided an effective networking platform for agents from India's tier two and tier three cities

By Reema Lokesh

T

he first annual convention of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) titled the Changing Face of Indian Outbound, which was held in Manila, Philippines from December 1- 4, 2013 at the Solaire Resort & Casino, did deliver its promise of offering its members and delegates a thought provoking convention with topics and speakers who brought in value to their field of work. From hospitality partners to destination management companies and National Tourism Offices there was a definite tone of knowl-

30 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD January 2014

edge sharing that was visible all through the convention. From controversial questions to near close convincing replies, the convention served as food for thought for the delegates.

Kishor Markad of Chaitanya Travels, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra felt that the experience was fruitful as they were exposed to a new destination.

“The OTOAI team worked with a positive attitude especially the president, Guldeep Singh Sahani. We got to learn a lot and it was also a good networking opportunity. I know it is tough but would be great if speakers could

also address the crowd in Hindi,” added Markad. Ajay Gojamgunde of Chaitanya Tours Latur, was also impressed with the convention. He opined, “The arrangements and hosts were excellent. Philippines tourism did very well. There is a lot to learn from the Philippines government, as they have excellent infrastructure even in remote places. I have already spoken to my local MLAs about this observation. We learnt a lot, met interesting people in the trade and built new relations.”

The convention hosted

around 350 delegates from the travel trade industry and primarily focused on highlighting and taking forward the interest of all the stakeholders involved in outbound tourism of India.

The organising team was headed by Guldeep Singh Sahani, president, OTOAI, and supported by Riaz Munshi, vice president and convention chairman, OTOAI and Vineet Gopal, joint secretary and co-convention chairman, OTOAI along with team members namely Shravan Bhalla, Rajiv Sabharwal, Sidhharth Khanna, Gurdeep Gujral, Mahendra Vakharia, Himanshu Patil, Sajjan Kumar Gupta, B A Rahim to name a few. Speaking at the occasion, Sahani, gave credit of setting up the convention to his team and the team at Philippine Tourism Promotions Board in Manila and India. He spoke about interesting industry issues, from taxation to working as partners in the real sense and promised to deliver value to its members through OTOAI. He added that, “Philippines is a beautiful destination and has

lots to offer to a traveller. We want Philippines to fight back the aftermath of Haiyan and I hope the OTOAI convention helps the destination benefit with increased tourist arrivals.

We also expect a new level of partnership between India and Philippines and hope to bring pan-India tour operators onto one platform.�

Philippines story Philippine Tourism Promotions Board (PTPB) offered the delegates a package that would showcase the destination as a potential leisure and MICE tourism product. The pre and post convention tours were well appreciated by most delegates as they felt it was an educative experience in terms of exploring an untapped region. Though most agreed that direct air connectivity between the two nations will provide a considerable fillip to the tourism business, they felt there is potential amongst high end FIT travellers and that Manila can work towards receiving MICE traffic from India though in

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industry in India and we will look forward to hosting more of these kinds of events in future”.

Talking business

small numbers. However, Philippines is strongly gearing up toward strengthening its tourism portfolio and is on its way to built a casino city in Manila on the lines of Macau. It is also preparing itself to play host to two major international events namely World Economic Forum 2014 and APEC Summit 2015. They are ready to showcase their MICE capability and are clear on their plans to tap the wedding and honeymoon market. Domingo Ramon C Enerio III, chief operating officer, PTPB proudly stated, “Divorce is not recognised in our country. So come over to Philippines and let your marriage be for keeps.” He also confidently shared a few hospitality investment details in the region, wherein major local investment groups like San Miguel Corporation and AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts group are investing in hospitality and tourism sector which will take the nation to the next level in the area of tourism. The tourism depart-

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ment also appreciated the work carried out by its India representative team. Speaking at the occasion, SanJeet, India representative, department of tourism, Philippines said, “We are proud to have hosted the first annual OTOAI convention in Philippines. The success of the association's maiden event was a great accomplishment not only for the association but also for us. It gave the participating members from OTOAI a great opportunity to come faceto-face with people from the travel industry in Philippines.

The event served as a platform for Philippines to extend its tourism ties with their counterparts from India and helped educate them about the country's tourism products through educational sessions. It will go a great way in helping Philippines tourism achieve its targeted visitor arrival figures from India next year as we look onto getting introduced to new businesses from India through the association. OTOAI plays an important role in the travel

The business session titled 'Difficult or Simple: Dealing with International Hotels', brought in few interesting observations both controversial and convincing. Tekla Maira, director, global sales, India, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, spoke about the business relationship between operators and hoteliers and how it is important to have structured conversations between two business partners and that pricing is not the main decision making factor. Dhananjay S Saliankar, regional director, Starwood Sales Organisation, South Asia; Mark Flower, director – commercial, southeast Asia, IHG and the general manager of Solaire Resort & Casino were also part of the panel. The sensitive topic on online pricing was also touched upon. The next business session on 'Is the Current Structure of NTOs Optimal?' highlighted few interesting findings about the functioning of NTOs with operators and who decides what is the best aspect to sell in the destination, the NTO or tour operator who is in touch with the local demands and sentiments. Another interesting discussion highlighted the working style of NTOs and how Singapore Tourism Board works with a different strategy. Vassilis Theocharides, director, Cyprus Tourism Organisation was vocal about his thoughts on the film industry sector and stated that he will not bend backwards to accommodate their demands. Another session named 'How and Why To Make your DMCs your Partner' spoke about relationships and working as a team. The convention ended on a note that highlighted the importance of realtime partnerships in the business, upgradation of skills and knowledge, understanding the customer and finding new paths for progress.

EVENT ROUNDUP

Catalytic role With an aim to position India as a favourite destination, the CII Tourism Fest 2013 focused on the need to give India's tourism industry its due importance. The topics of discussions also centered around the need create a link between the ministry of tourism and private sector players to develop new concepts of tourism

By Abhishek Chakraborty

W

ith participation from 13 Indian states and 80 exhibitors showcasing tour and travel packages, tourist destinations, unexplored locations, a food fest and an international dance festival, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Tourism Fest 2013 held in Chandigarh recently concluded on a successful note. The event was inaugurated by Shivraj V Patil, governor, Punjab & Administrator, UT, Chandigarh and a CII-KPMG report on 'Travel & Tourism Sector: Potential, Opportunities and Enabling Framework for Sustainable Growth' and Weekend Lifestyle Tourism was also released at the event. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Patil stressed on the need to give the tourism industry its due importance. “Linkage between the ministry of tourism (MoT) and private sector players, mutual co-operation between industry stakeholders, innovation and creative development of new concepts of tourism like ecotourism, lifestyle tourism, weekend tourism, farm tourism and medical tourism will take the tourism industry to new heights,” he said.

Apart from Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana, 12 states including Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh also took part in the event. This was the first-of-its-kind initiative with Chandigarh as the host state. It was organised jointly by CII, Tourism Department, UT Ad-

ministration and CITCO with Punjab as the principal partner state. International exhibitors from China, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey and Ethiopia also took part in the event.

There were two business sessions namely: 'Exploring New Possibilities & Ease of Doing Business with States, Union Territories of India and International Tourism Boards', and 'Conference on Seamless Tourism', organised with the objective to accelerate growth in the domestic as well as international tourism sectors and to create a roadmap for inclusive and seamless tourism across the country. The event witnessed huge number of speakers- S Sarwan Singh Phillaur, minister for tourism, government of Punjab; Usha Sharma, additional director general, MoT, Government of India; Arjun Sharma, chairman, CII Tourism Fest 2013 and managing director, Le Passage to In-

dia Tours & Travels; Umakant Panwar, secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand; Chandrashekar S Jaiswal, deputy general manager, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation; Jayant Davar, chairman, CII Northern Region and co-chairman and managing director, Sandhar Technologies; Manmohan S Kohli, chairman, CII Chandigarh Council; and Mohan Chauhan, managing director, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.

Private initiatives The travel industry has contributed about `94,487 crore in terms of foreign exchange in 2012 and has been responsible for generating about eight per cent employment in India. Even then India is far behind international peers when it comes to one of the most favourite destinations in the world. So where are we lacking behind? Calling

tourism a private sector industry, Patil, said, “The private sector needs to improvise and work with the government if the reach of tourism needs to be enhanced.

Tourism industry is totally under the control of the private sector. Therefore, the private sector should improvise and innovate and work with governments and set up more budget hotels, upgrade infrastructure in religious and scenic destinations to leverage domestic tourists.

Government can play a role of catalyst or facilitator for the private sector.” He urged the industry to focus on domestic tourism, which can be profitable in the long run for the private sector and recommended leveraging the Himalayas, scenic coastline, eastern and western ghats and unexplored destinations.

Supporting this initiative, Phillaur said they would support the industry with supportive policies. “The government of Punjab is preparing a compre-

hensive Punjab Tourism Promotion Policy wherein all the elements related to tourism in the state will be given due focus.

North comprising of eight states and union territory of Chandigarh has a lot to offer,” added Patil.

Giving importance to seamless travel, the minister further stated that seamless travel should be facilitated across integrated circuits through introduction of integrated taxation regime, linkages between various public transportation modes and improvements in highway infrastructure such as petrol pumps, clean drinking water kiosks and sanitation facilities, road signages etc. “We are planning to come up with a single permit system, applicable to all northern states, viz Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, to make seamless travel possible for tourists, especially tourist buses,” said KK Sharma, adviser to the administrator, Chandigarh. “We need to develop a system under which a tourist doesn’t have to pay taxes at entry points of all states, rather they would pay a single permit tax applicable to all states. We would meet and discuss the same with all concerned along with CII representatives to make this possible soon,” he added.

Urging that the tourism industry can reach new heights if all stakeholders come on board with their problems and issues, Usha Sharma said they are planning to come up with a policy of collective landing and giving ‘Visa on Arrival’ (VoA) to four or more foreign tourists coming together. “Our new initiatives like

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e-visa, collective landing permit can help the industry grow at a robust rate. It is due to this purpose, VoA has been extended to eight airports and shortly this will be extended to Goa airport as well. Tourists from 40 more countries will also be provided VoA facilities in the near future,” she added.

The other initiatives of the ministry include sensitising the state governments on safety and security of tourists; 24x7 helpline in 12 languages; formation of Empowered Committee to suggest on easing, rationalisation and simplification of taxes; ‘Clean India’ Campaign; setting up of Indian Culinary Institute at Tirupathi; 777 days on Indian Himalayas to leverage the tourism potential of the Himalayas; Clean India Campaign under which historic monuments can be adopted by big industrial houses, ITC has adopted Qutub Minar and ONGC has adopted six monuments across the country. She added that the ministry of tourism is working with the ministry of commerce to rationalise tax simplification in the country.

Seamless travel According to MoT, a growth of 26.5 per cent has been recorded in the number of tourists availing VoA scheme during the period January to November 2013. A total number of 17,594 VoAs has been issued in this period as compared to 13,903 VoAs during the corresponding period of 2012. Anand felt that this number could be significantly increased if the Indian government starts issuing e-visas. “India’s share is a meager 0.64 per cent of world tourism contribution which can rise tremendously if there is a supportive policy and regulatory framework in place. For this, India also needs to upgrade its visa issuance systems and use IT to issue ‘Smart Visas’ and also collect passports online,” he said.

He also stressed on the need to have at least one theme-cumamusement park like Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Europa Park in all northern states as they can be the key

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game changers for tourism sector’s growth in the north.

National fervour Apart from showcasing regular destinations in their respective states, they were also keen to highlight unexplored locations. States like Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab showcased their cultural heritage by dance and song performances. Armando Duarte, senior manager, Goa Tourism Development Corporation said, “When it comes to Goa, people only think of beaches, but very few know that one-third of Goa is covered with dense forest land. By the medium of this fest we are creating awareness about the forest beauty, heritage, hinterland and cultural traits of Goa.” To develop Punjab as a tourist destination, the state has been divided it into four clusters.

Amritsar-Gurdaspur cluster, Chandigarh-Ropar cluster, Bhatinda-Ferozpur cluster and Patiala-Kapurthala cluster. “We are promoting two destinations of Punjab—Virasate Khalsa and Patiala Heritage Walk. We have especially introduced the concept of farm tourism that is spread across 20 heritage farm houses in the state,” said Gursharan Singh, tourist officer, Department of Punjab.

Corporate clients showed a lot of interest in Madhya Pradesh's Caravan Tourism and Ujjain-Pachmari trips. “We are also promoting new tourist destinations in Madhya Pradesh like Bhedaghat in Jabalpur, ancient temples of Chanderi, Fort of Burhanpur,” said Vivek Mathur, general manager, Madhya Pradesh Tourism. Chandrashekhar Jaiswal, deputy general manager, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corpo-

'THE FOCUS NOW IS MORE ON DOMESTIC TOURISM' India's tourism industry has seen a lot of ups and down in 2013. However, Arjun Sharma, chairman, CII Tourism Fest 2013, and managing director, Le Passage to India Tours & Travels hopes that 2014 will leave everything behind How eventful was 2013 for the tourism industry?

The summer season was flat, however winter 2013-14 is looking up. I think the benefits of the rupee devaluation against the dollar has been priced into the product. India is competitive, but we are still suffering from negative publicity created earlier in the year. Hopefully, 2014 should put that behind us. The focus now is more on domestic tourism destinations.

What is the feedback received for CII Tourism Fest? Will the fest be more B2B in the future?

It's the first event in Chandigarh and has been a good start. We hope to continue this next year with double partnerships. We think it's a combination of B2B and B2C and I don't see any reason why the two can't coexist.

By hosting the fest in Chandigarh, are you trying to attract more tourists to this

ration, said they are coming up with a project worth `5,000 crore which will be functional by 2020 for which they have acquired land in Sindhuri to establish Sea World. Maharashtra is promoting its various USPs like UNESCO monuments (Ajanta Ellora), 78 beaches and hill stations.

part of the country?

Normally tourism events are always organised in metro cities. So we were keen that tourism infrastructure, socioeconomic impact and other benefits also filter down to smaller places. We felt that Chandigarh is right in the offering as it continues to promote regional shows like this.

As January, February witness a lot of tourist footfall, do you think the government needs to do something to encourage tourism in these months?

The problem we are fighting at the moment is that the national campaign on 'Incredible India' is off air. We have to revive the campaign if we want to counter the negative publicity. And I believe the government is looking at bringing it back in the month of January.

International colour The stall of China was one of the most colourful stalls in the fest. Li Qianguo, deputy director, China National Tourist Office, said, “Visitors showed interest in exploring the unknown destinations of China like The Silk Route, Shanxi, Xi’an, Cuando. We got more than 500 queries in three days and we generated more than 50 leads.”

Iyung Masruroh, deputy director of International Tourism Promotion for Asia of Republic of Indonesia said, “We have recieved large number of queries for Lombok, Yogyakarta and Jakarta.” Deepak Arora, information officer, Amazing Thailand said, “Besides Bangkok and Phuket, we got numerous queries regarding Hua Hin,

Koh Chang, Samui.”

Rayong,

Ko-

Chef's met The International Chef Meet saw 35 chefs from 15 categories across the world. The three-day culinary event saw over 90 participants competing in various individual and team events with 14 categories judged by an internal WACS approved jury.

Praising Indian cuisine, chef Gissur Gudmundsson, president, World Association of Chefs Society said, “India is truly ‘incredible’ and the logo of MoT is appropriate. We are surprised to know that India offers more than one lakh recipes to the world. Events like these would indeed showcase India’s best to the world.”

EVENT ROUNDUP

TAAI Convention : New look at old issues The 61st Annual Convention and Exhibition of the Travel Agents Association of India witnessed some interesting discussions and debates on the long-standing issues that have been afflicting the travel agents' community in the country

By Sudipta Dev

O

rganised in India after six years, the annual convention of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) held in Bengaluru recently turned out to be a momentous event of sorts with the signing of an MoC (Memorandum of Collaboration) between the association and Karnataka government for setting up an institution to train young people in tourism. “The aim is to enhance the quality of human resources in travel and tourism in the country, to get better talent. TAAI members have joined hands with the government of Karnataka to induct professionalism in the indus-

try. The programme will be launched in February next year,” said Arvind Jadhav, additional chief secretary, tourism department, Government of Karnataka.

Re-elected as the president of TAAI (post the convention), Iqbal Mulla spoke about the many challenges being faced by the industry. “We will keep fighting for our legitimate rights but it is only possible through unity of members. Karnataka Tourism has excelled in tourism development. The slogan is very well designed – one state, many worlds.” RV Deshpande, minister of tourism, Government of Karnataka averred that

while the state has been attracting many investors from India and overseas in different sectors, there is a need to take advantage of the potential the state has in terms of tourism, which has not been exploited so far. “We are concentrating on building the infrastructure and also developing the human resources for the industry,” he stated. Deshpande asked the travel industry to look at Karnataka as a destination of tourism. “We have identified 42 beaches and 11 islands on the west coast, so there is a lot of potential for beach tourism,” he added. In terms of domestic tourist arrivals Karnataka is placed in

the fourth position, while for international arrivals it stands at the ninth place. The state has 10,000 hotel rooms with many more hotels across all

categories coming up across the state.

To evolve with the times it is necessary for travel agents to sharpen their competitive

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edge and workout a new strategy. While the internet can provide a lot of information to the customer, the travel agent can offer something of greater value – insight, emergency support and personalised service. “We must add this to our internet and social media capability. Travel agents need to embrace technology and move with the times. If we leverage this we can leverage ourselves as advisors or counsellors. We have to make ourselves valuable like the doctor or the advertising agency,” asserted Ashwini Kakkar, past president, TAAI.

A turbulent relationship The relationship between airlines and the travel trade fraternity in India has been a turbulent one. Kapil Kaul, CEO-South Asia, CAPA believes that it is important for travel agents to understand how 'deeply bruised' the airline sector is. There are constant challenges for the airline management – they have no control on external factors like fuel cost, regulation, etc. Further, because of aircraft types changes, technology changes, they have no time to work out strategic changes. “We run aviation in a very ad hoc manner, there is no clarity in terms of regulation,” rued Kaul. Focusing on the need for data mining, Kaul stated, “Airline passengers represent the top 10 per cent of global passengers but airlines do not know their customers, maybe Goggle or Cleartrip knows the passengers better than Indigo or

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SpiceJet. This apart, airlines are a 'tribal' community, they are unwilling to cooperate with airports.” He also focused on creating new markets through collaboration. There are 12 companies planning to start airlines in India, if they do a few who are making money will also cease to do so.

The malaise of the sector, like the travel trade is that there are too many players. Most airlines are surviving on the promoters' goodwill. He, however, believes that there are grounds for optimism, particularly for the period 2015-2016.

Voicing his views on the long-term opportunities in the Indian market, Sanjay Kumar, COO, Indigo said, “Despite the dynamics of market forces, with more competition coming in, we believe in the long-term growth story of the business.

There is a huge opportunity for creating a complete value chain for customers.” Air India expects the 787 to be a game changer for the airline – in terms of the bottom line and also better service for passengers. “We have invested millions of dollars in operations control centre to ensure ontime performance. We are proud of our Delhi hub, after Melbourne and Sydney, we are looking at new destinations in Europe,” mentioned Shyam Sunder, ED commercial, Air India. Thanking the travel agents for supporting Emirates year after year, Sunil Kallyat, regional manager – commercial, Emirates said, “There are immense opportunities we can make together.”

The session 'Principal agency relationship – the way forward' saw many TAAI members getting vociferous, seeking answers from the representatives of airlines on the transaction fee/commission issue.

Optimising tourism Indian tourism has emerged as an important sunrise sector and is an important driver of equitable growth.

However, in 2012, it was 6.6 per cent of the GDP, which was less than the global average.

“In last 10 years only, some growth has taken place. There are also a large number of domestic tourists who want to travel and explore the different cultures in the country.

Community based tourism model should be encouraged in rural areas. This also ensures education, cross cultural interaction, women empowerment, etc. It leads to economic growth,” pointed out Dipak Haksar, COO, ITC Hotels, adding that there is a need to understand the role of the sustainable aspect of tourism. He mentioned that the new pattern of travel and tourism will not only be green business but will also create green livelihoods. In this aspect the role of the hospitality industry is very important, particularly for reducing energy needs through intelligent design and planning.

One of the positive developments in the industry in recent times has been the formation of Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), comprising the top ten national tourism and hospitality industry associations.

“There is absence of single vision at government level and too many fragmented voices in travel and hospitality,” said Aashish Gupta, consulting CEO, FAITH. The federation has started initiatives like formulating a budget document to unlock tourism and hospitality, engaging with India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB), etc.

Land of mystique Dry, sandy, infertile, inhabitable, therefore deserted and useless is how a desert is understood. But here in Gujarat, the Rann of Kutch seems to have defied the generalities as tourists and travellers throng in unbelievable numbers to experience its white distinct charm and beauty

S

andy yet splendid, the Rann - meaning the desert, plays host to thousands of travel enthusiasts throughout the year.

The Rann was originally an extension of the Arabian Sea that was closed for centuries due to the silting process. This seasonally marshy land covers a region of more than 10,000 sq kms and is divided into Great Rann of Kutch and Little Rann of Kutch.

The Great Rann reputed to be the largest salt desert in the world, falls under the district of Kutch in Gujarat and spans an area of 7505.22 sq km. Home to a wide array of flora and fauna this place also offers a sojourn for migratory birds during diverse weather conditions. It is also the only place in India where flamingos lay eggs and bring up their chicks. About 13 species of larks have been reported from Great Rann. The Little Rann is another area that occupies 4,953 sq km of land and is spread out in the districts of Surendranagar, Banaskantha, Patan, Kutch and Rajkot. It has a convoluted topography that varies from large marshlands sporadically cut by brown - grey patches of soil with a few small thorny shrubs. This area is home to one of the largest wildlife reserves in the country - Wild Ass Sanctuary and is also a paradise for bird-watchers. Little Rann has been deemed as the world’s last refuge of the Indian Wild Ass known as Khur. Little Rann also gives refuge to several migratory birds like pelicans, flamingos, cranes, ducks and land birds like Indian bustards, sand grouse and francolins. The Indian wolf, desert fox and nilgai

are also some of the unique animals seen in this region.

Kutch has inherited a rich culture and tradition that is still adhered to by the local tribes.

This gives it a distinction of being a place where nature’s pristine beauty blends with the cultural richness to the delight of the visitor. Hand made embroidery appeals and attracts the outsider. Pottery, shell-work, metal crafts, hand block painting, pen-knives, nut crackers, sea shell toys, wood carving are a few among the myriad of artifacts found in Kutch. The region has a great history of foreign

trade in handicrafts with various countries. These artifacts are still in great demand in national and international markets.

Rann Utsav The Rann Utsav, an annual festival organised by Gujarat Tourism, is a festival to experience and reminisce for a lifetime. The Rann Utsav is a carnival of colours, music and dance.

The full moon pays its most spectacular visit in winter. The white salt-encrusted plains shimmering in the moonlight are the inspiration behind the Rann Utsav. The full moon night

of December marks the festival and the celebrations are carried over to January. More than 8000 people from many parts of the world come to Kutch to indulge in the elation of the festivities. Accommodation and meals are arranged in a tent village set up at Dhordo, where cultural performances are held and handicrafts are exhibited.

Travellers can witness the euphoria of Gujarati folk dance, camel safari, live-tents and musical feasts, all set in the romantic ambiance of moonlit landscape.

Various activities like Rann safari, Kutch carnival, visits to

Kutch’s villages and adventure sports add to the thrill and excitement. The multi-hued fairs are arranged by the banks of the lake or at the beach.

Gujarat Tourism plays a major role in organising and managing these activities. A vibrant state, as it is often identified as, Gujarat has some of the most exotic locations and destinations to its credit. Events and festivals like Rann Utsav add to the glory and multiplicity, that are now synonymous to land of Mahatma and Sardar, the land of Kutch, that is the mystical land of Gujarat.

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EVENT ROUNDUP

Experiential sojourn Adopting a new approach to providing first hand experience of the destination rather than following the usual way of organising a convention, proved to be the highlight of Enterprising Travel Agents Association's (ETAA's) first international convention in Dubai

By Kahini Chakraborty

S

tanding true to its commitment of providing a more holistic and in-depth knowledge of the destination, Enterprising Travel Agents Association's (ETAA's) first annual international convention held in Dubai is indeed a success story. The convention held from November 29December 2, 2013 witnessed an overwhelming participation of over 400 delegates. With the convention tagline 'Dubai in your Palm', the main agenda of the association was to provide all the delegates a more experiential tour of the destination and become certified Dubai experts, apart from networking sessions and presentations by the tourism board and DMC. Moving away from the traditional approach of organising a convention, ETAA's first international convention was indeed a refresher.

The event was kick started at the grand gala dinner held at the Crown Plaza, with Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, director, Overseas Promotions and Inwards Missions, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), inaugurating the convention and Mohamed Al Muhairi, head of Asia & Australia Region, Overseas Promotions, DTCM, the guest of honour, delivering the welcome speech. During the inauguration it was informed that Dubai aims to receive 20 million tourists by 2020 as part of their Vision 2020 plan. The destination aims to become a global events

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destination and DTCM will be increasing its working relationship with the travel agents in India in the coming months.

The highlight of the event was the launch of the convention brochure, and the presentation of best DMC and Hospitality Partner Award was given to Kulwant Singh, managing director, Lama Tours.

Commenting on the award presented to Singh, Karl Dantas, chairman emeritus, ETAA, opined, “Kulwant Singh has grown Lama Tours from a regional DMC to a global brand.

He has established a strong foothold in the industry and has provided great support in selling Dubai. He has also helped other travel associations and ETAA to host their convention in Dubai.”

When asked about his feedback on the convention and the way forward for Lama Tours, Singh replied, “I am very impressed with the turnout of delegates for the convention.

There has been strict measures that have been put in place to ensure quality of members. It is heartening to see the dedica-

tion among these delegates who are keen to know more about the destination and have taken the convention seriously.”

Adding further, he said, “We are achieving close to about 85,000 visitors every year out of India, out of which 30 per cent are from MICE, 20-25 per cent are transit passengers and the rest 20-25 per cent are FIT leisure travellers who travel from April-September. We are targeting the wedding segment from India seeing the potential in the segment. We recently opened our new franchisee and we are looking at opening state, regional and city-wise franchisees which would be offering high-end luxury holidays to support all the B2B partners in India. It will also be offering Lama Visa Express service to the partners.” The company recently entered into a tie-up and will now provide nearly 2,000 cars for Indian visitors if they would like to privatise their travel experience in Dubai. “Apart from our Delhi office, we recently opened our office in Mumbai and by 2014 we are looking at opening 30-40

franchisees in India. We are finalising to open offices in Bengaluru, Chennai. We are looking at attracting 1,80,000 passengers in 2014 and more in the subsequent years,” stated Singh.

Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global Group, was conferred with the Travel Entrepreneur of the Decade' award during the final gala dinner at the desert Bedouin camp of Lama Tours. When asked about the success of the convention, Karl Dantas said, “The convention has gone beyond our expectations. This speaks of the commitment towards any sponsor and national board members.

This feedback has been given from DTCM. As mentioned earlier, after we announced the convention on September 30, 2013, in 24 days our membership went up to 96 , which is 35 per cent increase in membership. These people joined us because they wanted to know more about the association and industry. We will soon have separate chapters in each state and our next step will be to reconstitute the committee.”

While Naveen Advani, president, ETAA also expressed his views stating, “Our first international convention is a dream come true and this success been possible due to the huge support from all our partners. It is for the first time that a foreign authority body has seen potential in non- IATA members. Dubai was the perfect destination for our first international convention. As our membership increased recently we have a lot of new members at this convention and our main agenda was to provide more of an experiential tour of Dubai. Seeing the turnout and seriousness among our members to know more about the destination, we have seen their level of commitment and hope to increase our membership base further in the coming months. After the convention, I am sure the footfalls to Dubai will increase. ”

Destination insight This was the first time that DTCM took its destination specialist programme offline. The event witnessed a houseful attendance from the delegates for the Dubai Expert Training Programme. At the event about 380 delegates were certified as Dubai specialists. During the session, Carl Vaz, director, Indian representative office, DTCM said, “This programme is aimed at enhancing the knowledge and expertise of the travel trade partners to promote Dubai and its tourism offerings. The programme has been continuously updated with private sector attractions.

Our target is to achieve 15 million tourists by 2015 and 20

million by 2020. Dubai is an ideal destination for family, MICE, wedding segment.

Recently Dubai also won the bid to host World Expo 2020.

Besides this, we are also promoting Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Summer Surprises.� He also advised the delegates to keep adding new activities and experimenting with the itineraries to give travellers a unique experience every time they visit Dubai.

Elaborating on Dubai's tourism offerings, Vaz informed, Dubai has all major international hospitality brands like Marriott, Accor, Radisson, InterContinental, Fairmont, Taj Palace, Sheraton, Starwood are offering different accommodation options for all kinds of travellers. Dubai is not only a great family destination but also has plenty of opportunity for adventure and luxury activities. The destination offers a range of leisure and adventure activities, including balloon adventures, golfing, Seawings, sky diving and water sporting activities like snorkelling and scuba diving. Known as a shopper's paradise, Dubai has great shopping malls offering couture to high tech electronics, gold, silver Bedouin jewellery to market bargains. To name a few: Dubai Mall, Ibn-Battuta mall, Wafi City Mall, the Dubai Festival City Mall etc. Spread over 3.77 million sq ft with more than 1,200 outlets and 120 food and beverage outlets, the Dubai Mall has an aquarium and Discovery Centre, Olympic sized rink and the world's largest indoor gold souk. Dubai is also fast evolving as a spa destination.

When asked about his feedback on the delegates attendance and their seriousness to learn more about the destination from the convention, Vaz said, “It is encouraging to see the delegates interest to know more about the destination. On an average the length of stay among Indians in Dubai is three nights and four days and we were looking at changing this trend to a week's stay. The convention served as an excellent platform to showcase Dubai's tourism offerings to them.�

Apart from the offline training programmes, informative presentations were done by Lama Tours, DVPC and Crowne Plaza.

The convention gave the delegates the opportunity to gain first hand experience of the destination. The convention focused on showcasing Dubai's finest tourism offerings- Dubai City Tour, Dhow Cruise, visit to Dubai Mall, Jumeirah Beach and the Desert Safari, complete with dune bashing and an exclusive dinner at the Lama Bedouin Desert Camp, which was well received among all members. The convention's three gala dinners at Crowne Plaza, Hyatt Golf Course and the Bedouin Desert Camp had a good mix of food and entertainment. All the delegates gave a positive feedback and were satisfied with the entire convention.

Delegate Speak Jagat Mehta, national general secretary, ETAA Our convention was different from other travel associations conventions. We laid more

emphasis on providing first hand experience of the destination and were happy to see full house attendance from our delegates. After attending the Dubai Expert Training programme, they were able to gain in-depth knowledge of the destination's tourism offerings. The convention was very well organised and we have recieved good feedback from our members. Even though our first international convention was a success we have learnt and are looking at adopting more new measures to better ourselves for our next convention. Our membership has been increasing and we are now focusing on expanding our membership base further.

Abhijit Khadilkar, national joint secretary, ETAA and director, Swaraj Travels Many of our members were travelling to a foreign destinations for the first time and their travel experience has been memorable. We have received an encouraging response from all our delegates. DTCM delivered a well organised destination specialist programme and also ensured that all the delegates were given their Dubai specialist certification programme certificates on time.

Lama Tours did excellent arrangements for our delegates. Overall the experience has been good and we were happy with the outcome of the convention.

Shiraz D Gotla, proprietor, Janus Travels & Tours It has been a tremendous experience. Never for a moment did I doubt the success of the convention as I had full faith in the office bearers and the task that was handled so professionally taking care of the minutest detail deserves accolades from all quarters.

Meeting so many agents from all over India was daunting but a very important aim to promote business in a different manner. They just put everything in our palms, the well planned itinerary, visa procurement, waiver to board for all delegates, greeting at the airport, the choice of hotels and timely transfers, excellent menu on all days.

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EDGE

(Tag)ging along A decade ago, it was almost impossible to locate your lost luggage. Trawell Tag has been successful in solving this problem. A simple piece of metallic tag has evolved into a multi million dollar business

By Akshay Kumar

I

ndia is a potential market which is still untapped in the travel assistance product segment. Many travel assistance products which have significant importance in the global market are still considered as addons in the Indian market. One of the main reasons for this is lack of innovative products and professional training and knowledge of the seller. Commenting on the demand for travel assistance products in India, Dev Karvat, managing director, Trawell Tag states, “On an average, 80 per cent of the people purchase travel insurance and travel assistance products abroad, but in India it is still less than 20 per cent which is way below the average. This situation has risen due to limited knowledge of the seller, as he is not confident of selling the products.”

The travel assistance products available in India are medical assistance, concierge assistance, travel insurance, global sim-card and luggage tracker. The luggage tracker, an innovative product offering by Trawell Tag, is a small metallic tag which has a unique code. In case of a luggage misplacement this tag acts as a life saviour.

This product was initially viewed as an add-on, but now travellers feel more secure because of this product.

Technological advancements Trawell tag's breakthrough

40 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD January 2014

product, luggage tracker works on a unique code system, wherein a metallic piece consisting of a code is tagged to the luggage and in case of a baggage misplacement, this unique code comes into play. Trawell Tag has several tie-ups with airlines and airports, which helps in updating the found luggages' code online. The status of the luggage can be seen online and the bag can be easily recovered.

Elaborating on the same, Karvat states, “The luggage tag which we are providing today is a unique product which nobody else in the market is offering.

With our direct tie-up with airlines and airports we can easily track the luggage. Also, the pricing of the product goes easy on the pocket, anyone can easily afford this product. The price of the product is usually less than one per cent of the total

travelling cost of the customer.”

The luggage tracker has been 60 – 70 per cent efficient in returning the customers luggage. With the advancement of technology, the efficiency of this product can be increased by making it radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled. But the industry is facing many challenges, due to which this furtherance cannot be easily achieved. Karvat explains, “We already have a RFID or GPRS system in place, but the issue is that most of the airports in the world are not RFID enabled, so even if we have GPRS on the tag they cannot be tracked.

There are only two airports in the world which are RFID enabled, Hong Kong and Miami. So at the moment we will continue selling the same product.”

To capture any market, a

company has to use each and every resource available in an effective way. Technology has become a key game changer in every segment. The technology in the travel assistance product segment has evolved everywhere in the world expect in India. Trawell Tag is making an effort to bring advancement in the e-commerce section, which if used effectively can broaden the market penetration scope.

Speaking about the advancement of technology, Karvat said, “e-commerce is still underdeveloped in India.

As a market leader, we take it as a responsibility to develop this segment. This would help the market to grow in a very efficient manner. We also invest a lot into technology, research and development so as to improve our existing

Dev Karvat

products and bring more innovative products.”

Global expansion Trawell Tag's recent collaboration with Cover More, a medical insurance company from Australia, has now given the Indian market many new innovative products. Cover More is a minority stakeholder and has expertise in customer handling and has more than 5060 products which includes some advanced products like adventure sports insurance; car rental access coverage; trip cancellation coverage, which is a highly innovative product where non- refundable tickets becomes refundable.

“The strategy behind partnering with Cover More is their global presence factor. Cover More is a perfect fit for us which will help to add all that is missing in our business and help us to take our business to the next level,” highlights Karvat. Trawell Tag also has plans to launch its luggage tracker product in Australia in the coming quarter along with expansion plans in Middle-east and Sri Lanka which is still at the nascent stage.

SPOTLIGHT

Making a difference Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust (SLCI) initiated the Himalayan Homestays in 2005, which is helping local villagers generate income from tourism activities. Currently, these homestays and related activities benefit over 200 households in 30 villages across Ladakh

By Sudipta Dev

L

ADAKH WAS opened to tourists in 1974 and since then has been attracting an increasing number of visitors every year.

While hoteliers and tour operators in the capital city of Leh have been benefiting from the growth in tourism, people living in remote Ladakh villages never had the opportunity to benefit in anyway from tourists who passed through their villages.

Recognising this and the pressure unplanned and unregulated tourism puts on the environment, the Himalayan Homestays was started in 2005 by Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust (SLCI). Today, these homestays and related activities are benefitting more than 200 households in 30 villages across Ladakh. “The primary reason for initiating the Himalayan Homestays was to reduce conflict between snow leopard and farmers. Income from the homestays helps offsetting livestock losses to snow leopards. In some villages, 10 per cent of the proceeds are used to run a community-controlled livestock insurance programme. As a result of

this initiative, currently the retaliatory killing of snow leopards has gone down from two-three killings to none in some of the homestay villages,” says Dr Tsewang Namgail, director, Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust.

Pointing out that more and more visitors to Ladakh are coming forward asking for homestays, Dr Namgail foresees four-fold growth in the sector in the next decade. “Currently, we are expanding the homestays to Zanskar, a major tourist destination within Ladakh. We are also adding value to the existing homestays by creating profiles of all homestay villages,” he mentions.

Changing lives Income generated from the homestays is making a big difference in the lives of local villagers.

Dr Namgail informs that in some villages, people set aside part of the proceeds for conservation activities such as tree plantations, garbage management, and maintenance of cultural sites.

Apart from these the additional income enables people to go on

pilgrimages to different Buddhist sites outside Ladakh, and send their children to better schools in urban areas.

Women in villages feel that the homestay initiative has made a significant change in their lives. “The income has given them greater decision making powers at home that they did not have earlier,” he states. He informs that those households that cannot operate homestays due to shortage of rooms or personnel, SLCI gives other opportunities. For example, unemployed youths are trained to guide tourists around their villages. “We also assisted them in running eco-cafes and

solar showers for tourists.

Women groups are trained to make handicraft items. One homestays operator made `100,000 in one year by selling these products. People’s lives are also enriched by visitors sharing news and views from across the world,” he adds.

Development of ecologically sustainable, economically viable and socially responsible tourism in this high altitude region is fraught with many challenges.

“One of the major challenges that we are facing at the moment is lack of regulation of the homestays; multiple agencies have started homestays in remote villages without any vision for na-

ture conservation, which is the essence of the programme.

These homestay operators have no provision for environmental preservation. We also have an operational challenge in some of the villages; some homestay operators tend to attract all the visitors to their homes ignoring the rotation system that we have established. This sometimes results in conflict among the homestay operators,” states Dr Namgail. Another challenge is the lack of communication skills among the homestay operators.

This is a major obstacle since most of the visitors are foreigners.

Dr Namgail believes that SLCI's incentive-based conservation initiatives have become models and inspiration to others in the Himalayan region. Inspired by the Himalayan Homestays, organisations like WWF, the Department of Wildlife Protection, Ecosphere and Muse in Ladakh and Spiti have started homestays. “Thus, our model can easily be replicated in other tourist destinations of India. It is the best way for tourists to learn about local nature and culture with minimal carbon footprints,” he asserts. The first step towards starting a successful homestay programme, he reminds, is an assessment of all potential tourism assets, local resources and skills. Based on these, the villagers then need to develop long-term visions for tourism opportunities. Following this a market survey needs to be conducted to gauge the needs and interests of tourists.

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MOVEMENTS Etihad Airways

David Lau

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines has appointed David Lau as general manager India. He will be taking over from his predecessor G M Toh. Lau will be managing the India operations of both Singapore Airlines and its full-service regional carrier SilkAir. Lau began his career with Singapore Airlines in the human resources division. Prior to his current appointment, Lau was posted in Jakarta as general manager – Indonesia.

InterGlobe Enterprises InterGlobe Enterprises has announced new leadership appointments for two of its strategic businesses. Anil Parashar has been appointed as president and CEO of InterGlobe Technology Quotient (ITQ) and JB Singh will take over his new role as president and CEO of InterGlobe Hotels. Before joining ITQ, Parashar was group CFO for InterGlobe Enterprises and is a member of the executive committee.

Anil Parashar

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JB Singh

In his new role, he will be responsible for expanding and identifying key strategic opportunities for ITQ. He succeeds Singh, who held the position of president and CEO for ITQ. Singh has an experience of over 26 years in the aviation industry.

AACO Hala Azam, manager of emergency response planning and security, Gulf Air, has been elected, for a three year term, for the position of chairperson of Arab Air Carriers Organization’s (AACO) first Emergency Response Planning Taskforce (ERPTF). Established to enhance the level of emergency response management capabilities in the region, the newly-formed team will work closely with International Air Transport Association (IATA), to help establish a global framework of emergency best practices.

Emirates Sheikh Majid Al Mualla has been appointed as divisional senior vice president, commercial operations – centre, Emirates. His geographical responsibilities now cover the Gulf, Middle East, Iran and West Asia. Previously, Mualla held the position of senior vice president, commercial operations, Gulf, Middle East and Iran. His current projects include overseeing the newlylaunched Kabul route and the start of A380 services to Mauritius.

Etihad Airways has appointed Craig Thomas as its new vice president, Asia Pacific North and the Indian Subcontinent. Thomas relocates to Bangkok from his current role as manager of sales Victoria in Australia and will replace Adam Phillips who is returning to Abu Dhabi to take up the position of vice president, commercial strategy and planning. Thomas will be responsible for sales in the markets of Bangladesh, Belarus, China, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Skyscanner Skyscanner has appointed Margaret RiceJones as chairman. She joined the Skyscanner board in November and will oversee the company’s continued global expansion. She is chairman of QUMAS and nonexecutive director of Openet. Formerly she was chairman of NewBay Software and oversaw their sale to BlackBerry. She is also a former director of Psion PLC and CommProve. Her executive career also included senior

positions at Motorola, Psion Computers and Aircom International.

IATA IATA has announced the appointment of Kevin Hiatt as senior vice president, safety and flight operations. Hiatt will join IATA on February

India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Based in the airline’s office in Singapore, Mujiono assumes this leadership role after having held various positions with the national carrier since 1987.

InterVistas Consulting Group Kevin Hiatt

17, 2014 and will be based at the association’s headquarters in Montreal. Hiatt joins IATA from the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) where he has been president and CEO since January 1, 2013, having joined FSF in 2010 as executive vice president. He was subsequently promoted to the position of COO.

Garuda Indonesia Garuda Indonesia has appointed Sentot Mujiono as vice president, Southeast Asia. In his new role, Mujiono will be responsible for growing and managing the airline’s operations in Brunei,

InterVistas Consulting Group has appointed William Swelbar as executive vice president. Swelbar, who will be tasked with heading the Washington DC office, has represented airlines, airports, investment banks, investors, manufacturers, and labour groups in a variety of advocacy and non-advocacy assignments. Swelbar will continue in his research role at MIT’s International Center for Air Transportation as well as keep his seat on Hawaiian Holdings board of directors.

United Airlines Greg Hart has been appointed as executive vice president and chief operations officer of United Airlines. Hart will succeed Pete

McDonald, who is retiring after nearly 45 years with the airline. In his new position, Hart will be responsible for airport operations, cargo, technical operations, network operations, flight operations, inflight service, safety and food services. Hart previously served as United Airline's senior vice president of technical operations. He earlier held the role of senior vice president network.

Cathay Pacific Rupert Hogg is to take up the position of chief operating officer at Cathay Pacific with effect from March 2014.

Hogg will at the same time become director of Cathay Pacific. He takes over the role from Ivan Chu, who will become Cathay Pacific’s chief executive. Hogg is currently director sales and marketing – a position he took up in August 2010 with responsibility for Cathay Pacific Group’s sales and marketing activities worldwide.

From 2008 to 2010 he was director cargo, overseeing all aspects of the group’s cargo business including operations, marketing and sales.

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What We Do Outbound Konnections is a representative company, mainly operating on Business to Business (B2B) marketing. Our core strength is in putting together the right blend of skills for the project in question to achieve workable solutions. The companies seeking to attract the travel consumer in the region, one to one relationships are vital, and here Outbound Konnections can offer a unique entry in to the market, Through Outbound Konnections its disciplined, assertive and entrepreneurial approach, customized to individual customer requirements. Unique features of our travel tourism marketing services include high degree of personalization, for clients and potential customers, as well as access to Outbound Konnections unique network of trade contacts throughout India.

Our Mission A clearly defined brand will “shout above the crowd� and stand accountable for excellent results.

For packages and any further details please contact Ms Anjum Lokhandwala Outbound Konnections Pvt Ltd 305 - B Wing, Twin Arcade, Military Road, Andheri East, Mumbai - 400059.

Email: Anjum@outboundkonnections.in Mobile: +91 9820879052 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD

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A Grand Launch Spread across 10,000 Sq. Mts. Gross National & International Participation Pre-fixed Appointments 2-Day Conference - 16th & 17th January 2014 Hosted Buyers VIP Delegates Participating Countries

For Trade Visitor Registration Visit: 46 January 2014

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weekend

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GATHERING OF SORTS L-R: Sangeeta Mansukhani, sales manager – West India; Finnair, Papori Bharati, marketing representative, India, Visit Finland; Vivek Jain, managing director, Griffon; Mohit Batra, India representative, Visit Manchester and Jain's daughter at the Visit Finland workshop held at Vivanta By Taj President Mumbai

VINTAGE DISPLAY A vintage car show, organised by Indian Automotive Racing Club (IARC) was held in Lavasa to give car aficionados from Pune and Mumbai a platform to display their collection of vintage cars

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE L-R: Abraham George, chairman and managing director, Intersight Group of Companies and Joy Peter, director – operations, Intersight Tours and Travels received the State Tourism Award 2011-12 for Best Inbound Tour Operator from Oommen Chandy, chief minister, Kerala. A P Anil Kumar, minister for tourism and welfare of scheduled castes and backward castes, Government of Kerala; K Muralidharan, MLA and S Harikishore, director, department of tourism, Government of Kerala were also present at the ceremony in Thiruvananthapuram

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS Francois Hollande (left), president of France conferred Tony Fernandes (centre), group CEO of AirAsia with Commander of the Legion d’Honneur order for his outstanding contributions towards the economy of France through the aviation industry in a ceremony held at the Elysée Palace in Paris, France

SAILING EXPERIENCE Oman Tourism recently conducted a sailing event in Mumbai for the travel trade to give them an opportunity to sail and get a better understanding of Oman

WINE DELIGHT Sunil Talreja (centre), associate vice president, InterGlobe and Sajid Khan (right), country manager – India, South African Airways at an exclusive wine event hosted by South African Airways in association with famed wine connoisseur, Thami Msimango for its travel partners held at ITC Grand Central in Mumbai

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ENHANCING KNOWLEDGE Nicholas J Manring, consul, American consulate general, Chennai at the launch of 'Discover America', the first among a series of travel agency educational programmes launched by Brand USA across major Indian metropolitan and second tier cities, held in Chennai

EXHIBITION ON ICE L-R: Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player and Rafael Nadal Parera, Spanish tennis player at the 'Tennis on the Glacier' exhibition match organised by Argentine National Institute of Tourism Promotion on behalf of Argentine Ministry of Tourism, to promote one of Argentina’s emblematic tourist attractions, held at Perito Moreno glacier in Argentine Patagonia

MEMORABLE OCCASION The wax figurines of the four members of The Beatles, the legendary UK band of the 1960s, were strolled from London's Abbey Road to Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, to celebrate the 50th anniversary release of the band's first album 'Please Please Me'

48 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD January 2014

EXPANSION MODE L-R: John Leahy, COO, customers, Airbus; Fabrice Bregier, CEO, Airbus; Kiran Rao, EVP sales, strategy and marketing, Airbus; Tony Fernandes, co-founder and director; Jerome Causse, sales manager, Airbus; and Azran Osman Rani, CEO, AirAsia X at the deal signing event wherein AirAsia X placed the largest single order for 25 A330-300s fleet with Airbus

ESTABLISHING RELATIONS Seychelles Tourism Board organised its first familiarisation trip for Indian tour operators to provide first hand experience of the destination

REACHING OUT Visit Flanders organised 'Fabulous Flanders' educational seminars for the travel trade in Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru to update them on the latest developments and product offerings in Flanders and Brussels

REGD.WITH RNI UNDER MAHENG/15993/05, MH/MR/SOUTH-156/2013-15 PUBLISHED 11th OF EVERY MONTH AND POSTED ON 12, 13 & 14 OF EVERY MONTH POSTED AT MUMBAI PATRIKA CHANNEL SORTING OFFICE.