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CONTENTS MANAGEMENT Vol 10 No 5 JUNE 2015 Pages 44
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Chairman of the Board
Viveck Goenka Editor
Reema Lokesh* Chief of Product
Prabhas Jha Assistant Editor
EVEN PARADISE NEEDS A PUSH EVEN AS TOURISTS TRICKLE INTO KASHMIR, TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS ARE DEPENDING ON THE SAYEED GOVERNMENT TO BRING BACK ITS LOST GLORY
Steena Joy Sr. Associate Editor
Sudipta Dev CONTENT TEAM Mumbai
Kahini Chakraborty Rituparna Chatterjee New Delhi
Archana Sharma Kolkata
Joy Roy Choudhury
EDGE
DESIGN National Art Director
Bivash Barua Deputy Art Director
Surajit Patro Chief Designer
Pravin Temble Senior Graphic Designerr
Rushikesh Konka Senior Artist
Ratilal Ladani, Kiran Parker SCHEDULING & COORDINATION
Mitesh Manjrekar Photo Editor
Sandeep Patil MARKETING Regional Heads
Harit Mohanty - West Prabhas Jha - North Sanghamitra Kumar - East Dr. Raghu Pillai - South Marketing Team
Sunil Dcosta Baljinder Singh Ajanta Sengupta Mathen Mathew CIRCULATION
Mohan Varadakar
AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
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DIGITAL DUBAI THE ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET, HELD AT THE DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTRE RECENTLY BROUGHT TO THE FORE HOW THE EXPERIENCE OF DUBAI IS BEING REVOLUTIONSED THROUGH PROACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA INITIATIVES AND THE MANY NEW TOURISM PRODUCTS
The online travel sector comprises more than 50 per cent of the e-commerce industry in India, which is currently estimated to be in the ra nge of US$ 11-16 billion. Given its size and high levels of user acceptance, this segment has seen the largest number of start-ups, estimated at more than 200 businesses (24-27)
LIFE
MARKETS
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CRITICAL NEED OF POLICY AND REGULATORY REFORMS FOR BUSINESS AIRCRAFT SECTOR
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INDIA'S FIRST AEROTROPOLIS BOOSTS REGIONAL AIR CONNECTIVITY IN WB
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CHENNAI, MUMBAI, DELHI EMERGING DENTAL TOURISM DESTINATIONS
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GET INDIA SHOULD BE A SEPARATE EVENT: SARAB JIT SINGH
PRODUCTION General Manager
35
B R Tipnis Manager
Bhadresh Valia 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. EL-208, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400710 and Published from Express Towers, 2nd Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021. (Editorial & Administra-tive Offices: Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai – 400021)
P06 : EDITOR’S NOTE P36 : APPOINTMENTS
THE ORIGINAL ‘MICE’ MAN OM PRAKASH SAHGAL, DIRECTOR, IN ORBIT TOURS, HAS LIMITLESS ENERGY AND HIS KEY DRIVER TO CONTINUE WITH THE SAME YOUTHFUL ZEST IS NOTHING BUT PASSION. HE HAS SURVIVED MANY SETBACKS BUT EVERYTIME HAS BOUNCED BACK STRONGER
P39 : 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
EDITOR’S NOTE
A June diary
I
f one has to go by the sentiments of travel and hospitality industry professionals, June 1 proved to be an absolute spoiler. The service tax hike has come in as an additional burden for the industry as they feel this move will further impact business and retard their growth prospects. The news piece on the same in this issue clearly reflects the opinions of the thought leaders. However, on the other hand, the perennial optimists within the trade are awaiting the GST implementation. Interestingly, though the industry is surely going through its trials and tensions, there are a few companies who are sanguine about the business and are in an expansion mode. Within our newly introduced section titled 'Corporate File’ we have highlighted one such company that coincidentally changed its brand identity on the same day, to match its growing business and to penetrate newer markets. This June issue of ETW has also evolved adding three new sections in the editorial space, one that speaks about path breaking companies, the other that highlights promising young tourism investors in the section ‘Future Next’, followed by 'The Torchbearers' column that honours industry stalwarts who have been pathfinders in their respective domains. Our cover story this issue takes a close look at the business feasibility of
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“ The good thing is that there is a desire to give tourism the respect it deserves and if there is some political will to initiate change,the future does seem to hold promise”
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online travel start-ups, their survival rate and what makes them attractive for investors despite the challenges. For a greater insight into what’s going on in the African continent, do not miss out on the Indaba 2015 story on 'Growing Africanness'. The Arabian Travel Market 2015 also proved to be a robust platform for networking. The social media impact was clearly noticeable at the event. Back home, J&K Tourism organised its first travel mart since 1988 and although it is highly commendable in terms of the effort and arrangements, the article in our issue clearly states that the ‘Paradise still needs a push.’ Finally, the man who has made it to our cover this month is none other than the MoS for tourism, Mahesh Sharma. In the pages within, he candidly speaks about tourism, culture, aviation and other topics which are controversial however progressive. The good thing is that there is a desire to give tourism the respect it deserves and if there is some political will to initiate change, the future does seem to hold promise.
REEMA LOKESH Editor editorial.etw@expressindia.com
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IDEA EXCHANGE
'OUR CULTURE IS OUR SOUL' Union MoS for culture, tourism and civil aviation Mahesh Sharma explains the delay in formulating civil aviation policy, says the PM is right in claiming India has a lot to be proud of now, and argues achhe din can’t be measured by one yardstick. This session was moderated by Maneesh Chhibber
Photos credit: Renuka Puri
THE FIRST-TIME MP, Mahesh Sharma, Union MoS for culture, tourism and civil aviation was not only given independent charge of two crucial portfolios in the NDA government, but prime minister Narendra Modi has also entrusted him with looking after his own constituency of Varanasi. Excerpts from an Idea Exchange session at the Indian Express. Maneesh Chhibber: Can you tell us something about the one year of the Narendra Modi government ? The one thing this government has given to the nation is respect for India and Indians in the world. The faith of the common man and Indian diaspora in the governance system, in politicians - something that was lost, especially in the last 10 years - has also increased. People thought they had reached a point of no return. Now one can witness a sea change, with transparency in the working system, a largely corruption-free environment, etc. In the last one year, there has been no event or issue that can put a black spot or label on any politician. Some people are asking, where are the 'achhe din’ and ‘Why have they not started yet?’. But can there be a yardstick, a measuring scale for 'achhe din'? The issues being raised (by the government) concern 90 per cent of the population - farmers, labourers, the common man who sells tea. And yet, the
Opposition says we are a government for corporates and questions our social reforms. Further, on GST, there was a consensus among all (state) governments, but still just to fall in line with the Opposition’s thought process, we sent it to parliamentary committees, etc. We honoured their sentiments and invited them to give suggestions. Avishek G Dastidar: How important is the culture ministry in this government ? What is the strength of this country in the world? In a film, it was said, ‘Mere paas maa hai’. I say, ‘Mere paas rich cultural heritage hai’. The world is looking at India’s culture yoga, three generations of families cooking in the same kitchen, the relationship between father and son. The European world wants us to guide them in yoga and family relations. Our culture is our soul. We have 65 per cent youth, and before they go and explore Dubai, Thailand, etc, they should explore the rich cultural heritage of my great nation. This culture should not be changed. A cultural change may not affect the US, but it will break the structure of this country, it is our binding force. So, this ministry is very close to the heart of the prime minister. Sunny Sen: Can you name the specific achievements of the culture ministry? You are also MoS for civil aviation. The new aviation policy
Worldwide, we rank ninth in the civil aviation industry. Our vision by 2020 is to bring this to No. 3
all these activities transparent and make the workings of artistes available online. Regarding the civil aviation policy, yes, there has been a delay. This industry is in crisis. Worldwide, we rank ninth in the civil aviation industry. Our vision by 2020 is to bring this to No. 3. Our connectivity to Tier II or III towns, which are tourism places, has not yet started. Out of 125 airports, only 18 are functional, 45 are lying as they are. The 5:20 rule (which requires a domestic airline to have 20 aircraft and at least five years of operations to start flying on international routes) is still in the process of being addressed. On our national carrier everybody says the civil aviation ministry means Air India ministry - there are so many burning issues. So we have left it to public opinion, and we have intentionally delayed it for some time. Once this policy comes in, it will address all these issues.
has been delayed. Where are we on that? It was supposed to be out in the first year of the civil aviation ministry’s tenure. We have 39 organisations under the ministry of culture the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), National School of Drama (NSD), Sahitya Akademi, etc. Cultural achievements cannot be measured. Culture is intangible. The only thing that counts is our sincere process to make
Shobhana Subramanian: When do you see Air India making profits? Every year, it makes `4,500 crore of losses on an average and the government puts in around `4,500 crore of equity under the 10year restructuring plan. It’s my pain as well. The losses are more than `4,500 crore annually. We got a legacy, `50,000 crore of debts, `39,000 crore of accumulated losses and around `6,000 crore of annual losses. Maybe it will be for the first time in 10
years that it will make an operational profit, though maybe not much. My seed capital when I started my own venture was `600. So, using my enterprising experience, I have put a challenge to my people to bring around our national carrier. Maybe it will start in a year or so. Still, so much debt can’t be cleared in one year or three years. We can take a call, offload Air India or disinvest or privatise, but then I see the wonderful work that the airline has done - in Nepal, Jammu and Kashmir, Yemen, etc. Irena Akbar: You said that respect for India in the world has gone up in the one year of this government. The PM also recently said that Indians were earlier ashamed of their country. His comment has drawn a lot of flak for implying that Indians had nothing to be proud of till his government came into being. I’m proud of being an Indian today, I’ll be proud tomorrow, and I was proud yesterday also. But compare the pride you feel in being Indian today to a year ago when everything Indian was under question. You were labelled a corrupt, unclean country, with no governance. Did you feel proud of that? Or are you feeling proud today? What the PM has said, that was the essence behind it - that I’m a proud Indian today and that there were things that shamed us a year ago worldwide.
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IN THE NEWS
Critical need of policy and regulatory reforms for business aircraft sector Sudipta Dev Mumbai THE LAST TWO YEARS have been particularly challenging for the business aircraft sector in the country, which has witnessed a slowdown. “This negative growth needs to be rectified immediately through a clear policy framework, and with commitment from government and industry stakeholders, for the sector to emerge as a major driver of economic development and connectivity. Our sector at the moment is in dire need for some key policy and regulatory reforms,” said Jayant Nadkarni, president, Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA). Though the sector cumulatively holds three times the fleet of commercial airliners in India,
however it has never been given much importance by the government and regulators. “They see us as a luxury segment, not realising the ways it actually contributes to the economy, enables connectivity, industrial works, medical evacuations, tourism, etc,” rues Nadkarni. The market size of the industry is estimated to be approximately `2,500 crore. BAOA has in fact commissioned a study to map and determine the sector’s growth, it’s size, turnover and contributions to the Indian economy. The sector, according to Nadkarni, suffers a major perception problem that has resulted in nonexistence of a separate policy framework. “We also have to face punitive taxations and lack of infrastructural support,” he stated, adding that, the tax
Jayant Nadkarni
regime on import of general / business aviation aircraft needs a complete relook. “The current policy includes a Countervailing Duty, which is illogical as there is no domestic civil aircraft manufacturing in India. We need the government to view that an indi-
vidual or company importing an aircraft is not doing this just for luxury, but also to use it as a business productivity tool, which can only be good for the economy,” asserted Nadkarni. A uniform and lower duty on both non-scheduled air operators (NSOPs) and private category would give a fillip to import of business aircraft. This will lead to many advantages – from additional revenue from service tax to the government to enhancing remote and regional connectivity. “Increased local aircraft numbers will allow local MROs to justify in-house investments into heavier maintenance capabilities. Currently, all Indian business aircraft fly to other countries for their heavy maintenance checks. Finally,
there will be increased direct as well as indirect employment and development of other sectors such as hospitality and tourism,” added Nadkarni. Insufficient infrastructure is one of the biggest deterrents for the sector. “The indiscriminate and unregulated airport charges being levied in terms of ground handling, hangarage and parking needs to be rationalised immediately,” mentioned Nadkarni. BAOA is looking at increasing interactions with all concerned stakeholders and also work on the adaptability of safety standards for business / general aviation in the country. It is also strengthening various internal committees, which will work towards achievement of specific objectives.
FHW2015 to rollout in Bengaluru this June ETW Staff Mumbai THE 25TH EDITION of Food Hospitality World (FHW) exhibition, will be held from June 1113, 2015 at White Orchid Convention Centre, Bengaluru. The exhibition, will mark the debut of ‘Hospitality IT’ sphere through the CeBIT Insight Series that will welcome CIOs (Chief Information Officers) and IT heads, professionals etc from leading hotel brands such as Accor, The Leela, Hyatt and Rooms Tonight. The exhibition spread over a floor space of 6,000 sq mtrs, will witness a total number of 150 exhibitors. Some of the key clients include: Amrit Group, Bunge India, Amira Basmati Rice, ID Fresh Foods, Forstar
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The first day of the exhibition will have a special honours evening felicitating 15 Hospitality Trailblazers Foods, VKL Spices and many more. The inauguration panel for the exhibition include: Chef Surjan Singh Jolly, executive chef, JW Marriott, Bengaluru; Chandrashekar Hebba, president, Bruhat Bengaluru Hotel Association; M Rajendra, president, Karnataka Pradesh Hotel Restaurant Association. This year's trade show will witness exhibitors coming from different segments of the food and hospitality industry like F&B, interiors, kitchen equipment,
housekeeping, bakery and others, and will aim at providing solutions to various industry-related problems. This year, there will an interesting line-up of several events. The first day of the exhibition will have a special honours evening felicitating 15 Hospitality Trailblazers who have made a unique distinction in the South Indian dining space. The second day will have sessions such as CeBIT Insight Series, a conference on leveraging the digital
platform to enhance customer experiences in the hospitality industry; the Power of Purchase will focus on the new trends in purchasing, its role and the challenges for hospitality purchasing professionals. The third day will witness sessions like Hospitality Think Tank - GM's Conclave and Hospitality Knowledge Exchange on Green Housekeeping. For the knowledge exchange session, for the first time, Professional Housekeepers Association will be participating. While the Baking Contest will be a first time inclusion which will also have live demos by Institute of Baking & Cake Art (IBCA) that will be organised and overseen by one of India’s top Chef Manish Gaur who is also the director of IBCA. Association that have
signed up for the exhibition include South India Hotels & Restaurant Association (SIHRA); Bangalore Hotels Association (BHA); HOTREMAI; Hospitality, Healthcare, Aviation, Travel and Tourism (HATT); Hospitality Purchasing Managers’ Forum (HPMF); Kerala Hotels & Restaurants Association (KHRA); Karnataka Pradesh Hotels & Restaurants Association (KPHRA); Telangana Hotels Association (TGHA); Kerala Bakery Association (BAKE); Hotel Association of Pondicherry (HAP); and Munnar Hotels & Resorts Association (MHRA). The FHW trade show is organised by Global Fairs & Media – a joint venture between Hannover Milano Fairs India and The Indian Express.
IN THE NEWS
India's first aerotropolis boosts regional air connectivity in WB Sudipta Dev Mumbai COMMERCIAL operations were recently started at Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport in Durgapur, the country’s first private greenfield operational airport. The landmark airport development project has been commissioned by Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited (BAPL) along with its international partner Changi Airports International (CAI) Singapore. Air India is operating six days a week flights from Kolkata to Durgapur and back. “Pinnacle Air has an agreement with the state government to enrich the regional air connectivity between Kolkata - Durgapur Bagdogra - Cooch Behar and to necessitate the convenience of passengers on this route. On the other hand BAPL has an agreement with the government of West Bengal to provide support through airport infrastructure and technical support,” said the management of BAPL, in an email interaction. The airport is a part of the aerotropolis (or Skycity) at Durgapur being developed by BAPL. “The aerotropolis, Sujalaam – The Skycity, is the sixth such infra development in the world and the first of its kind in India. The 650-acre airport, is the centrepiece of this aerotropolis. For the first time in India, there will be a marked shift from the traditional city airport to airport city,” said the company. Planned investment for the Aerotropolis in Durgapur will
Our next step will be to complete the rest of the Skycity, which besides the airport will comprise of an industrial skyzone, a logistics skyhub, an information technology skypark and a residential township be over `10,000 crore, which will include investment for the airport and development of the Airport City. “Our next step would be to complete the rest of the Skycity, which besides the airport will comprise of an industrial skyzone, a logistics skyhub, an information technology skypark and a residential township,” said BAPL management. The company is also working closely with the state government of Punjab for another proposed aerotropolis in Ludhiana. Asansol is the 42nd fastest growing city in the world and India’s 10th fastest. Being among India’s richest in mineral deposits, the Asansol Raniganj belt is one of India’s largest commodity trade centres. “The people from the region had to travel all the way to Kolkata or Ranchi airports, some 200 km away to catch their preferred flights to Delhi and Mumbai. Having realised the necessity of introducing the new facility for people of the region it was the vision of BAPL which helped build India’s first private greenfield airport at Durgapur,” said the company management adding that with
night landing facility at the Durgapur Airport, BAPL is also looking at permissions to receive flights from Kolkata airport due to inclement weather and any other exigencies. With just 35 minutes away from the Kolkata Airport, Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport will be a right choice for flights as an alternative solution. BAPL has attempted to participate in the socio-economic development of the Andal region. “Our aim has been to ensure improvement in the living standards of the population adjacent to the project. Our initiatives are mainly focused on healthcare, developing employable skill among youths, developing educational and social infrastructure and also meeting the sanitation needs of the surrounding villages. As a part of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement package one family member from each land giver is given an opportunity to enhance his/her skill through vocational training in 33 different trade disciplines. We have also assisted in the facelift of ITI Durgapur to augment the institute’s skill development initiatives,” stated BAPL management.
Trujet to takeoff in June 2015 Akshay Kumar Mumbai TURBO AVIATION is all set to enter the commercial aviation segment with its brand 'Trujet', a regional airline based in Hyderabad. The company will launch its commercial operations in June 2015. The airline, which is backed by Telegu superstar Ram Charan, will receive its first set of three ATR 72-500 aircraft in the first week of May. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Vankayalapati Umesh, managing director, Turbo Aviation said, “We will launch our commercial operations from Hyderabad in the third or fourth week of June. The bookings will be opened soon after we receive the DGCA permissions. In the first phase we will fly to eight destinations which is a mix of Tier I and Tier II cities.” In its initial phase, the airline plans to fly from Hyderabad to Tirupati and Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh; Au-
rangabad and Pune in Maharashtra; Bengaluru, Hubli and Mangalore in Karnataka and Goa. Umesh added, “As of now we are awaiting permissions from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Once we acquire the required permissions, we will add destinations like Mumbai and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh which currently has no air connectivity.” When asked about the investments, the managing director refrained from divulging figures. Turbo Aviation was established in November 2003 and commenced aviation activities with the manufacture of ground support equipment for airlines and started its initial business with Air Deccan, Bengaluru. In April 2007 the company started providing ground handling services to various domestic airlines such as Air Deccan, Air Sahara, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, GoAir, First Flight, Blue Dart, Paramount Airways, SpiceJet and HAL/Air India.
Once we acquire the required permissions, we will add destinations like Mumbai, and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh which currently has no air connectivity
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IN THE NEWS
Jharkand to attract more tourists through sound and light show
Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi emerging dental tourism destinations Sudipta Dev Mumbai APOLLO WHITE Dental recently launched a Holi-Dent package for attracting inbound dental tourism segment. The company that has the largest chain of dental clinics in India has launched this package to enable travellers to continue treatment from any of its centres as they travel across the country. “The entire concept of Holi-Dent comes from the fact that we know for sure there are two categories of people who travel to India for dental treatment - firstly the NRI population who normally come to India during their vacation; the second category comprises of people coming from Middle East, Africa and South East Asian countries who have high regard for medical processes in India,” said VS Venkatesh, CEO, Apollo White Dental. For the second category the company has tied up with a number of medical value travel agents and medical facilitators. “By virtue of social media also we are also reaching out to larger population not just
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VS Venkatesh
limited to these countries,” he added. Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi are emerging as serious dental tourism destinations in the country, informed Venkatesh, adding further. “Goa has emerged as a dental tourism market, by default than by design as planeloads of tourists land there and stay there for extended period of two to four months.” The company was the first to launch the dental spa concept in India. It has seven dental spas in
the country including in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. “These provide patients with top of the line international facilities, the best equipments, internationally trained doctors, etc,” said Venkatesh. Pointing out that the cost of treatment in international markets for dental treatment is very high, and a large number of procedures are not covered by the insurance, Venkatesh stated, “Dental tourism market in India is witnessing a marked growth. Now with the introduction of visa on arrival, the market is bound to grow substantially. Today, the leading dental tourism destinations in this part of the world are Singapore and Thailand. While those countries offer good services, India is a much bigger country so a large number of people will come here.” He believes the government should promote India as a destination in target markets, and then have a bilateral union of medical facilitators and service providers so that they can showcase India's facilities in those markets.
Joy Roy Choudhury Ranchi TOURISTS visiting Jharkhand, can now look forward to witnessing a spectacular sound and light show on the lines of the 'son-et-lumiere' at Delhi's Red Fort in Deoghar's Shilpgram. Raghubar Das, the state chief minister recently inaugurated the project at Deoghar’s Shilpgram, just three km from the famous Baidyanath temple. Conceptualised and funded by the state tourism department, the 26-minute project has been implemented by ITDC, through an executing agency. Investments on the project is approximately `4.75 crore. 'son-et-lumière' is a popular form of nighttime entertainment and is accompanied with narration and dramatic music. Aqua screen, lasers, dancing fountains and audio-video system, powerful lasers, technological backup are all part of this visual extravaganza. Work is also on to introduce another sound and light show at Kanke Dam, near the state capital, Ranchi. “The light and sound show on a 60 ft high and 45 ft wide water screen at Shilpgram in Deoghar is on Baba Vishwanath and Lord Shiva, the one at Kanke will present tribal uprisings led by wellknown tribal freedom fighters like Birsa Munda, Sidho and Kanhu with special effects. It will depict the his-
tory of Jharkhand, its people, natural beauty, tradition, art and folk dances,” said Sunil Kumar, managing director, Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC), the staterun tourism promotion body. Entertainment will be clubbed with luxury and visitors can enjoy comfortable accommodation with fine dining as part of the package. “We have worked out attractive packages including stay and sight-seeing for the tourists,” he added. Deoghar or Baidyanathdham in Jharkhand is the seat of the ancient temple of Ravaneshwar Mahadev. Every year more than 40 lakh pilgrims visit this shrine from different parts of the country. The Government of Jharkhand also proposed a substantial hike in the budgetary allocation for the tourism department in the current fiscal year. While presenting the state budget for 2015-16 in the State Assembly, the CM who also holds the finance portfolio proposed a four-fold increase in the budgetary allocation for the tourism department – from `25 crore to `100 crore. In a related development, Avinash Kumar, secretary, department of tourism, Government of Jharkhand said, “The department would soon appoint a consulting firm or an agency to draw a future road-map for the tourism department.”
IN THE NEWS
GET India should be a separate event: Sarab Jit Singh Archana Sharma New Delhi THE INAUGURAL edition of Global Exhibition on Tourism – India (GET-India) held on the sidelines of the first Global Exhibition on Services (GES) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from April 23-25, 2015, received a positive response but left many opportunities unexplored which could have been hugely beneficial for the Indian tourism industry. The exhibition was organised by the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH). Elaborating on the same, Sarab Jit Singh, chair-
man, GET-India and vicechairman, FAITH, felt that a lot of opportunities were missed out and the event lacked focus and status that is present at any national event, losing the opportunity to become an international event. “However, our team was able to deliver an almost perfect exhibition plan and the entire event was kept on schedule, though a few problems arose at the last minute concerning security,” he added. The event witnessed participation from around 90 organisations and about 175 buyers were present during the three day event from around 50 countries. Be-
ing a part of GES, prime minister Narendra Modi visited the GET - India hall on the day of the inauguration. During his inaugural address at GES, Modi spoke about the need for growing tourism for the socio-economic development of the country by offering experiential travel experiences. According to P F Tariang, tourist officer, Department of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya, one of the exhibitors at GET – India, “The response could have been better as we were expecting a bigger crowd. We have taken a different approach and are promoting eco-tourism, based
on holistic health since Meghalaya has the traditional knowledge of healing procedures and many people already visit Meghalaya for herbal therapies and ayurvedic remedies apart from tourism.” While for Lisapila Anar, public relations officer (PRO), department of tourism, Government of Nagaland, the exhibition has brought forth many inquiries about Nagaland especially since they converged four departments under the same stall, promoting not just Nagaland tourism but also the culture, traditions and natural offerings.
Talking about the next edition of GET-India, Singh hopes for GET-India to become a separate event from GES, even though the dates have been announced for the second edition which will be held from February 24-26, 2016 at Pragati Maidan. Foreign buyers present at the event included countries like Columbia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, USA and Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa among others.
Rajasthan to reviewTourism Unit Policy Archana Sharma New Delhi IN AN EFFORT to increase inbound tourist traffic, Vasundhara Raje, chief minister, Rajasthan informed that they will soon be reviewing the Tourism Unit Policy. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the eight edition of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) held from April 19-21, 2015 at the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre, Raje informed that they have increased the tourism budget exponentially, almost 100 per cent with the expectation that it will reap benefits in future. Raje also released a FICCI- EY Knowledge Paper on Unexplored Tourism Destinations of India at the launch. GITB, organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
and Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, brought forward participation from 277 foreign buyers from 45 countries and 199 exhibitors. “With over 10,000 structured B2B meetings and support from 10 state government organisations like Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA), Hotel and Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR), Rajasthan Tour Operators (RATO) and other tourism organisations, this is the largest GITB since its inception,” stated Dr A Didar Singh, secretary general, FICCI. Raje informed about the discovery of heritage remains during the excavation for a metro construction site in the old city of Jaipur and felt that the discovery might help in increasing the number of tourists visiting the city with the new appeal of archeology. “By 2018, we expect foreign tourist arrivals to reach
2.5 million from the current 1.5 million and domestic traffic to be around 50 million from the present 30 million,” she stated. Also looking at facilitating investments in tourism sector, Raje said that the government will be organising a ‘Research in Rajasthan’ programme in midNovember, 2015. It will be focused on attracting investments in hospitality, improving
the tourism circuits, etc. “The three day ‘Research in Rajasthan’ event will be inaugurated by the prime minister and will bring in many countries like Singapore, Japan and England to discuss various investment opportunities,” she added. Talking about the issue of air connectivity within the state, Raje mentioned that they might soon be looking at an internal
airline to allow tourists to move faster within the state. She also announced that in 2016 GITB will be held from April 17-19. Usha Sharma, additional DG tourism, ministry of tourism, Government of India stated, “To identify new destinations, the government has started a new scheme ‘Swadesh Darshan’ to promote unexplored destinations.
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IN THE NEWS FUTURE NEXT DEV KARVAT MANAGING DIRECTOR, TRAWELLTAG COVER-MORE, INDIA
Service tax hike an additional burden, says Indian travel and hospitality industry Rituparna Chatterjee Mumbai
MY SUCCESS MANTRA Passion, commitment and not fretting to take unconventional paths.Also, ensuring my team is driven by a similar attitude.
MY FIRST MILESTONE Growing from a single office set-up in 2001 to 70 offices pan India today. Another most significant milestone was be when Cover-More decided to invest in our company and it was rebranded as TrawellTag Cover-More.
USP OF MY TRAWELLTAG TEAM Trust and credibility topped with a ‘go-getter’attitude.
MY DREAM DESTINATION I would love to have explored the entire world someday.The next on my bucket list is Amalfi Coast.
MY INSPIRATION IN LIFE When I think of the millions of travellers’ lives that we touch each day, what could be more inspiring than that to keep one going.
BIGGEST CAREER LEARNING There is no substitute for hard work and sincerity, irrespective of whatever talent one has.
MY STRESS BUSTER My family, especially my two adorable kids.
MY FAVOURITE MANAGEMENT BOOK I’m not much of an avid reader but I have learnt some of the most important management lessons from my customers.
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VISION FOR THE COMPANY To be a world leader in innovation and keep evolving to suit the dynamic global digital world.
MYADVICE TO THE GEN-NEXT Never give up. Have self-confidence, believe in your dreams, and most importantly, never let success get to your head and failure get to your heart. (As told to Akshay Kumar)
NOW CONSUMERS would have to pay more for various services starting June 1, 2015. In the Union Budget, finance minister Arun Jaitley had proposed to increase the service tax from 12.36 per cent to 14 per cent. This service tax hike, applicable from June 1 onwards, hasn’t been well received by the Indian hospitality and travel industry. According to them, the hike will adversely impact the end consumers’ frequency of dining out, the number of outbound tourists to India, among others. Speaking on this, Subhash Verma, immediate past president, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) stated, “This isn’t a welcome step. The travel industry is already burdened with multiple taxes and steps should have been taken to smoothen the process. The government shouldn’t have hiked the service tax before the proposed implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill from April 1 next year.” Reiterating the same, Sampat Damani, chairman, Western Region – Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) opined, “Travel and related activities will become expensive. Though corporate travel will not be impacted, the hike will impact leisure and FIT travellers. However, we hope the government has good intention since the GST is expected to be implemented next year.” Regarding the hike's impact on the hospitality industry, Bharat Malkani, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association
The government shouldn’t have hiked the service tax before the proposed implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill from April 1 next year (Western India) mentioned, “Over the years dining out has reduced drastically and an additional tax burden will make it worse. The whole policy will force the industry to gravitate into the unorganised sector. Hotels will increase their room rates and the volume of tourism will also get impacted. We had previously requested the government to exempt the hospitality sector from paying service tax as it amounts to multiple taxation and we will continue to do so.” Giving another viewpoint, Kamlesh Barot, past president, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and Hotel & Restaurant Association (Western India) opined, “We had been protesting against the service tax issue from the beginning. It is unconstitutional to charge twice on one commodity by the state and centre, that is the point of contention and not the 1.64 per cent hike in the service tax.”
IN THE NEWS / FROM OUR DELHI BUREAU LATVIA EXPLORES INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Cultural performance at MP Tourism event
MP TOURISM LAUNCHES ONLINE INVESTOR PORTAL IN ORDER TO explore more investment opportunities, Madhya Pradesh (MP) Tourism recently launched an online investor's portal dedicated towards spreading knowledge and awareness about the various investment opportunities available in the tourism sector in the state. Highlighting the need for more investment, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, chief minister of MP appealed to private investors to tap the potential of the state with its unmatched offerings and diverse attractions which require attention and need to be developed to attract more tourists. MP has identified land banks at key destinations including the famous Indira Sagar Lake for developing tourism products like hotels and resorts, with private participation. Elaborating on the incentives being offered to investors, Anthony DeSa, chief secretary, MP informed that the investment policy guarantees certain general incentives for investors across industries, as well as few sector specific incentives as well. “Land will be given on lease for 30 years to investors who approach the government with viable propositions. The lease period can be extended to 50 years in special circumstances,” he added.
RAJASTHAN AIMING AT CONNECTIVITYWITH SMALLER REGIONS IN AN EFFORT to increase the domestic tourist traffic, Rajasthan is exploring opportunities of air connectivity with various smaller regions of the country. Elaborating on the same, Shailendra Agarwal, principal secretary - tourism, art and culture, Government of Rajasthan, stated, “We are looking at connecting Jaipur to various smaller regions of the country through smaller aircraft like 10 seater planes.” Rajasthan Tourism is looking at creating newer versions of the already existing destinations like Amer Fort which has been renovated for nighttime viewing. He also informed that they will be bringing forth lesser known destinations located in the region and encouraging weekend getaways for inbound tourists. “We are looking at promoting destinations like Boondi, Deogarh, etc, and are developing more regions to be promoted in the upcoming months,” he stated.
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LOOKING AT attracting investment from the India market, the Latvian Asian Chamber of Commerce (LACC), supported by the Investment & Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), recently organised a seminar with the Indian industry stakeholders to make them aware of the various investment opportunities in Latvia in sectors like transport and logistics, healthcare, life sciences, IT, food processing, green technologies, and tourism and cultural promotions. Highlighting Latvia as a tourist destination, Dana Maksimova, director, Travel Right, and board member, LACC, informed, “Latvia being a smaller country in comparison, witnesses around one million tourists
Government of Karnataka, will be held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC). Looking to boost the tourism potential of the state, R V Deshpande, minister for higher education and tourism, Government of Karnataka, mentioned that the event will lead to an increase in domestic and international tourist traffic. The pre- and post-event familiarisation trips will expose the delegates to other prominent tourist destinations in Karnataka. Deshpande added, “We have appointed consultants to review accommodation options in the state and to coordinate the logistic arrangements for the mart. We have also recently set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to develop infrastructure at tourist destinations across the state under Public-Private Partnership (PPP).” PTM 2015 will also include 'Tourism Investment Forum', 'Travel Technology Conference' in partnership with Phocuswright, and PTM Talks. This year’s mart will feature a Technology Pavilion providing a business platform for travel technology professionals to feature their products and services to both PATA members and travel industry stakeholders.
GERMANYTO SHOWCASE TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
Dana Maksimova
every year but being one of the greenest countries, it offers a wide variety of natural habitat including sea, forests, lakes, waterfalls, etc.” Elaborating on the investment opportunities in the tourism sector, Virender Bhalla, director, Integrated Business Resource Promotion (IBRP) and board member, LACC, stated, “There are a lot of investment opportunities in the hospitality sector, for instance, a lot of two to five star hotels are available for sale or lease as well as there are land opportunities available for investment in Latvia.” He also informed that Latvia offers temporary residency of five years with family for those who purchase real estate in the country. There are many incentives available for film shooting and the entertainment industry in the region.
38TH PTM EXPECTS OVER 1000 DELEGATES BEING HELD for the third time in India from September 6-8, 2015 in Bengaluru, the 38th PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Travel Mart (PTM) 2015, hopes to host over 1000 delegates from across the globe. Jatinder S Taneja, honorary treasurer, PATA India Chapter, informed that PATA is expecting participation from more than 60 countries and is hoping to have over 350-400 buyers. “In order to benefit one and all, we have fixed a competitive registration fee and are offering discounted rates of about 20 per cent for the local sellers to exhibit,” he added. The event, being hosted by the department of tourism,
GERMAN NATIONAL Tourist Office (GNTO) India will be showcasing the traditional and cultural aspects of Germany with the help of its new campaign theme for 2015, 'Germany - Traditions and Customs'. The campaign will also highlight the culinary delights, living traditions, arts and crafts of Germany. Highlighting the tourism scenario of Germany, Michael Steiner, ambassador of Germany, stated that the international tourist numbers have grown by 4.7 per cent in 2014 in comparison to the previous year. Romit Theophilus, director, marketing and sales, GNTO India, said, “The Indian overnights in Germany stand at 650,103 in 2014 and have registered a growth of 72 per cent in visitor overnights from 200714. Also Indians spend an average of EUR 2,500 per trip, which is the highest from any overseas market.” GNTO is looking at tapping Tier II and III cities like Chandigarh, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Nashik, and Nagpur in the coming months. They will also be organising a multi-city roadshow in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad by November 2015, with prominent trade partners from Germany.
Michael Steiner (left) with Romit Theophilus By Archana Sharma
IN THE NEWS
Curated tour of Ayodhya to attract inbound Hindu market Sudipta Dev Mumbai SARYU MAHOTSAVA has been celebrated in Ayodhya for the last 109 years. Completely, a community initiative, it has been attracting about 30,000 to 40,000 tourists every year. Tornos Destinations, a UP based inbound tour operator, that has been engaged with this event, is launching a curated tour of Ayodhya for international markets that have a sizable Hindu populace. “We have worked upon improvising the event and integrating it as a part of an attractive tourism product. The Mokshdayni Ayodhya Walk is an experiential product designed for international visitors,” said Prateek Hira, president and CEO, Tornos Destinations. The UP chapter of FICCI is also actively supporting the tourism
product that can go a long way in bringing Ayodhya on the international tourism map. Pointing out that there is a large Hindu market abroad, from Trinidad & Tobago to South Africa, Fiji, Surinam, Mauritius, Canada, US and the UK, Hira stated, “This is an untapped market and the significance of Ayodhya does not need to be explained to them.” Mokshdayni Ayodhya Walk along the river Saryu will start from Kanchan Bhawan and pass through Rinmochan Ghat, Laxman Quila, Seshawtar Temple, and other important landmarks before culminating at Nageshwarnath Temple. Guests will take part in rituals like Rudrabhishek, Kanya Bhoj, and meal at a temple, etc. The name of Ayodhya has always been associated with controversies that have not been beneficial for the local
populace. “There is a lot of community engagement in this tourism initiative. Local support has been sought to make this product a success,” said
Hira adding that some local industrialists have also come forward to lend support. In terms of hospitality the palace of the Raja of Ayodhya is
being converted into a heritage hotel. There are also a few good dharamshalas (religious resthouses) where international guests can stay.
Punjab to set up Heritage Village, Jallianwala Baug War Memorial Steena Joy Srinagar PUNJAB TOURISM wants to get out of its agricultural image and promote tourism especially heritage tourism. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Sohan Singh Thandal, minister of tourism, jails, cultural affairs and printing and stationary, Government of Punjab, said, “The Golden Temple in Amritsar gets more than one lakh visitors daily. We want to increase these numbers. More tourists
Sohan Singh Thandal
The Golden Temple in Amritsar gets more than one lakh visitors daily. We want to increase these numbers
mean a better economy and more employment. At the same time we also want to preserve our cultural heritage. We are planning to build a War Memorial at Jallianwala Baug. We are also setting up a Heritage Village.” The Punjab government will also be allotting funds for the maintenance and repair of heritage sites and historical monuments in the state. Amritsar is one of the 11 heritage cities chosen for HRIDAY - Heritage City De-
velopment and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India. A city of historic walls and impressive gateways, Amritsar gained importance under the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, one of the most resplendent figures in Sikh history. The city lies on the Grand Trunk road, Asia’s one of the oldest and longest major roads connecting eastern and western parts of Indian sub-continent, built by King Sher Shah Suri in 1539.
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IN THE NEWS
Hangzhou looks at attracting leisure traffic from India Rituparna Chatterjee Mumbai
India a priority market for Cruise Arabia Sudipta Dev Dubai CRUISE ARABIA is a two year old alliance between Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Oman's ministry of tourism, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, Qatar Tourism Authority and Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority. A significant milestone for Cruise Arabia has been the recent ruling regarding multiple entry tourist visa. “We had a challenge in the past for visas, specially for Indians, now we have succeeded after many years to have specific cruise traveller visas which opens the door to Indian passengers to take cruises. This is a month long valid multiple entry visa for US$ 50. This new ruling will open up markets like India, China, South Africa, Russia and CIS, and Brazil. With the new ruling, out of the five markets with the new visa, our priority is India and China,” said Hamad M Bin Mejren, senior VP, Dubai Events & Convention Bureau, Dubai Corpora-
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Hamad M Bin Mejren
tion for Tourism & Commerce Marketing. While the traditional source markets are western Europe and North America, Cruise Arabia also focuses on regional markets like GCC and the UAE. DTCM is expecting one million cruise passengers by 2020, but after the new ruling the numbers could be more. “Immediately after the announcement we went on a roadshow to India and China. We are planning for another roadshow in India in August, ahead of the season. We are expecting Indian and Chinese cruise travellers to grow substantially,” he
stated. Cruise Arabia has been created as an alliance to have one voice and to lobby and share best practices to enhance cruise tourism in the region. “Our Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman are one of the leading winter cruise destinations in the world. Dubai is a hub because of our infrastructure. Accessibility is the main factor for cruise lines to choose Dubai as the hub of the region,” mentioned Mejren. Dubai Tourism has been promoting cruise tourism since the late 90s. The first cruise terminal was built in 2001, that year there was less than 7000 cruise passengers. The second cruise terminal was built in 2010 and the third in December 2014. “Last year there were 358,000 cruise passengers. This year we expect 425,000 cruise passengers. Next year will see five cruise lines with seven ships, starting their weekly itineraries from Dubai and ending in Dubai,” informed Mejren, adding that cruising is an economic way of seeing five to six destinations in the region. Prices start per person at about US$ 450.
ZHEJIANG Provincial Tourism Bureau is looking at attracting leisure traffic from India to its capital Hangzhou as the latter has presently been receiving only business traffic. “Hangzhou is used as a trading and business area. However, it boasts of an old civilisation, which we are leveraging to promote it as a leisure destination. We are trying to spread this awareness in India and at the same time increase traffic between India and China, by hosting seminars and presentations across the country, promoting the destination on social media platforms and participating in tradeshows,” opined Asif Naqvi, sales manager, Air China Mumbai. When asked about the flow of Indian tourists into the province, Henghui Zheng, director, Zhejiang Provincial Tourism Bureau stated, “Last year, we received approximately 2000 Indians and we are expecting around 10.6 per cent growth this year over last year.” Visit India Year 2015, which kicked-off in Beijing recently and is part of a two-year tourism promotion programme between China and India, has caused an increased traffic between both the countries. “In February 2015, 67000 passengers trav-
Visit India Year 2015 is part of a two-year tourism promotion programme between China and India, has caused an increased traffic between both the countries elled between India and China across all airlines, recording a 25 per cent growth over the same period last year,” mentioned Naqvi, adding that, the airline has plans to change its present MumbaiChengdu-Shanghai route. “We are planning to expand our flight capacity in October 2015. We presently have a MumbaiChengdu-Shanghai route. We are waiting for approvals to change this route and double our capacity with bigger aircraft since the demand is very high. We are looking at a Beijing direct flight. We have four flights per week from Mumbai and Delhi each and our Delhi flights are going to Beijing directly,” added Naqvi.
IN THE NEWS
Guldeep Singh Sahni re-elected as OTOAI president for 2015-17 Archana Sharma New Delhi THE RECENTLY held elections of the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) for the term of 2015-17, declared the executive committee (EC) with Guldeep Singh Sahni of Weldon Travels being re-elected as president. According to Sahni, “Twelve applications were received for the 11 EC posts but Rajeev Sabharwal withdrew his nomination, and hence, the same were de-
clared EC Members unopposed without the necessity of a physical election process.” Riaz Munshi, N Chirag Travels, New Delhi was elected as vice president, Shravan Bhalla, Hi Flyers, New Delhi as general secretary, Gurdeep Gujral, Gujral Travels, New Delhi as joint secretary and Kapil Berera, Astral Travels, New Delhi as the treasurer. The rest of the EC members include, Rohit Shorey, Destination Travels, New Delhi; Ankush Nijhawan, TBO, NCR of Delhi; Amod
Thatte, Kuoni, Mumbai; Himanshu Patil, Kesari Tours, Mumbai; Sujit Nair, Aquasun, Mumbai; and Chitra Bhatia, Aashman Travels, New Delhi. Vineet Gopal, Engee Holidays, New Delhi, will be heading the Northern India; Mahendra Vakharia, Pathfinders Holidays, Ahmedabad, for Western India; Sajan Gupta, Vayuseva Travels, Kolkata, for Eastern India; and Manish Kriplani, Baywatch Travels, Chennai, for Southern India. Rajeev Sabharwal, Gaurav
Travels, New Delhi, will be heading the finance with events committee; Sid Khanna, Travel Engineers, New Delhi, for the IT Committee; Ranjana Sharma, Travel & Tours, Gurgaon, for the education committee; Ankush Nijhawan, TBO, NCR of Delhi, for the chapters committee; Chitra Bhatia, Aashman Travels, New Delhi, for the Ladies Wing; Riaz Munshi, N Chirag Travels, New Delhi, for Government & NTO's; Ashwani Gupta, Dove Travels, Amritsar, will be
again handling the environment committee. Sanjeet, Durga Das Publications, New Delhi, was once again re-inducted as the permanent advisor and Karan Anand, Cox and Kings, is part of the committee as a special invitee. Talking about their future plans, Sahni informed that the association will be working closely with National Tourism Boards (NTO’s) and will also be increasing the chapters and quality members while focusing on issues like streamlining taxation policy.
India to offer mining tourism from October Akshay Kumar Mumbai MAHARASHTRA TOURISM Development Corporation (MTDC) is all set to introduce mining tourism for the first time in the country. In a new development, MTDC has signed up with Western Coalfields to introduce a mining tourism package from October 2015. Initially, the tours will be launched in the coal mines of Yavatmal and Chandrapur near Nagpur. Many countries including the US, Chile, Brazil, have mining tourism, which is quite popular amongst tourists. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Paraag Jaiin Nainutiia, managing director, MTDC said, “In October we will be launching mining tourism for the very first time in the country. In the beginning, we will introduce a package only for males who are above 18 years. Later, after a period of testing, we will introduce it for women
MTDC TO LAUNCH EXCLUSIVE KUMBH MELA MOBILE APP
Paraag Jaiin
travellers. This tour is strictly restricted to adults, as it may not be suitable for children.” MTDC is also in talks with Manganese Ore India to launch Manganese Oar tours in Nagpur. When asked about the pricing of the package Nainutiia said that it is yet to be finalised, but it will be nominal. The mining tourism package can also be clubbed with other nearby destinations, and travellers can stay at the MTDC resort in Tadoba.
MTDC is all set to launch an exclusive mobile
like boating, cycling and also trekking.The boat
application for the upcoming Kumbh Mela in
club can be used by tourists after attending the
Nashik commencing July 14, 2015 and will
Kumbh Mela.”
continue for a year, ending August 11, 2016.The
MTDC is in talks with local tour operators and
new application will be launched in the month of
Tour Operators Association of Nashik to further
June. MTDC has invested around `five lakh to
increase the tour options and create packages.
develop this new application. Nainutiia said,“We
They have also launched an exclusive brochure
have lakhs of people visiting the Kumbh Mela.The
for destinations which are three to four hours
objective of launching an exclusive application is
away from Nashik. Speaking about the new
to facilitate the people with all the information
facilitates, he said,“We are branding this Kumbh
regarding the event.We are also trying to workout
Mela as ‘Harith Kumbh Mela’. This year MTDC will
an offline map facility, so that tourists can easily
have mascots of legends at the Kumbh Mela
access the map even without the internet.”
venue, where people can click pictures with them.
Also, to create further movement of tourists in
We will also host a few cultural events to entertain
and around Nashik, MTDC will be launching a
the people.We have identified more than 100
Boat Club at Gangapur Dam near Nashik by June
trekking route options near Nashik, we will be
15, 2015. Nainutiia said,“We are in the final stage
tying up with the Trekking Association of Nashik
of completion of the Boat Club at Gangapur near
for guides.”
Nashik.This boat club will have some facilities
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IN THE NEWS
India ranks 3rd globally in passport issuance
Sri Lanka to launch Ramayana Trail for India
Akshay Kumar Mumbai
Rituparna Chatterjee Mumbai
IN 2014, around 1.02 crore passports were issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, which is the third highest just behind China and the US. The online application system for passports have played a major role in making the system hasslefree and transparent. Dr Swati V. Kulkarni, regional passport officer (Mumbai), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India said, “Rise in India's global economy and globalisation are some of the key factors which have increased international travel. With the introduction of the online system, the entire process has become much improved. There is a transparency in every step and the applicant can track the entire process.” Currently, there are 81 Passport
Seva Kendras (PSKs) in the country and the numbers are growing. In Mumbai, there are three PSKs located in Andheri, Malad and Lower Parel. Kulkarni said, “We are pushing a proposal to open PSKs in Aurangabad and Solapur and the government is also considering it seriously. On a priority basis, the government's aim is to introduce more PSKs in the North East, following which our proposals will be considered.” Recently a policy was passed regarding the exemption of birth certificates for orphans. Kulkarni explained, “Orphans and those people who are adopted sometimes do not have a birth certificate. We give them an option of either submitting a court order stating the date of birth and place of birth or they have to submit an application along with a proof from the particular organisation they belong to, along with
a sworn affidavit from a first class magistrate which we will accept. Even before this order came we were following this procedure, but now it has become a policy.” Since January 2015, the RPO has organised four Passport Melas and two Passport Camps. Kulkarni said, “Through the Passport Melas we go to the doorstep of the people. But the constraint is that we cannot do more than 200 appointments per day because of technical issues. Despite this, my thumb rule is to organise one Passport Mela in every two months. I want to cover all the districts under my jurisdiction. Now, the system has become so thorough that the agents are not able to do anything with the appointment cycle, so we can bring down the waiting period to one day that will be the biggest achievement.”
SRI LANKA is all set to launch the Ramayana Trail for the India market in June, 2015 with a view to attract more Indian tourists into the country. This decision was taken after prime minister of India, Narendra Modi's recent visit. Speaking about this, Saroja Sirisena, consul general, Consulate General of Sri Lanka, Mumbai – India, opined, “The Ramayana Trail had been in existence for a while but we never promoted it aggressively and now we are launching it formally in India in June. We will group together all the sights related to Ramayana and will develop packages around it. We will organise workshops in Ahmedabad and Mumbai in June to promote it. The Ramayana Trail will cover half the country – the central part going down to the south-
ern coast. We will also customise the packages depending upon the requirements of the travellers.” The Ramayana Trail will focus on important sites with links to Ramayana, including Ramboda, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Galle, Chilaw, Mannar, etc. Last year, Sri Lanka welcomed approximately a quarter of a million Indians and the Ramayana Trail is expected to boost the numbers further. Europe, UK, Germany are some of the major source markets for Sri Lanka with India ranking second in the list. “India has displaced other countries as its numbers have increased. We issue around 400-500 visas a month from Mumbai itself,” added Sirisena. Apart from the Ramayana Trail, dolphin and whale watching in the southern and north-western coast of Sri Lanka is also being actively promoted in the India market.
Now go on a Modi Tour in Gujarat Akshay Kumar Mumbai TOURISTS VISITING Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat can now go on a Narendra Modi tour to Vadnagar village which is the hometown of India's prime minister. Commencing from Ahmedabad or Gandhinagar, this one day tour consists of a visit to Modi's birthplace, primary school and high school where he had performed in a play. The tour also includes a small meeting with the prime minister's classmates to get a
20 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD June 2015
glimpse of his academic life. The tour also includes a visit to Sharmishtha Lake, where Modi had spent his childhood. The highlight of the tour is the Vadnagar Railway Station, where the whole saga of Narendra Modi began as a tea vendor. Manish Sharma, owner, Akshar Travels (exclusive operator of the Modi Village tour) said, “Prime minister Narendra Modi has grown from a tea vendor to the most powerful leader in the country. We have introduced an itinerary called the Modi's Vil-
lage tour, which enables travellers to get an insight into the early life of the PM. Modi's hometown Vadnagar has already been visited by around 10,000 tourists including our tourism minister Mahesh Sharma and a delegation from Bhutan. We are already getting a lot of inquiries about this package from across the country.” The tour also includes a traditional Gujarati meal at Vadnagar along with visits to a few historical attractions and temples. The tour cost is `600.
IN THE NEWS
Sabre to acquire Abacus International by Q3 of 2015 Kahini Chakraborty Mumbai ABACUS INTERNATIONAL will be acquired by Sabre in the third quarter of 2015. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Jeet Sawhney, managing director, Abacus India told Express TravelWorld, “Sabre has been our long standing technology partner and shareholder. The outlook is therefore great, but until the transaction closes we are unable to comment further.” Elaborating on the company's product expansion, Sawhney informed, “By end of June, we will have cut over every Indian customer to Abacus WorkSpace, an opensource desktop designed for travel agencies to perform at the optimal level from frontend to back office, as well as ag-
Jeet Sawhney
gregating all the agents’ content on one platform. The motive is the integration of up to 60 public and private Abacus Red Apps. Later this year, for the B2B2C retailing side of the business, Abacus ContentPlus will be launched.” On the business growth in terms of travel agents adopting
Abacus products, he said, “We are on plan in terms of revenue as we continue to expand. We now operate from 14 offices across India, with the network established to access and support more of the Tier II and Tier III markets. Currently, we are incentivising more hotel bookings. There is a promotion running now called 'Book & Be Rewarded' which applies to Abacus RoomDeal transactions between June 1 and August 31. For the first 15 bookings, Abacus travel agents in India will earn US$30. The rewards then scale with more business to US$1,000 for 500 bookings or more and there is a bonus draw for five mini iPads. The company also has a tie up with UniConnect wherein, Abacus is offering trade delegates SIM cards that can further be shared with their customers.”
Tripadvisor launches Android Wear app ETW Staff Mumbai TRIPADVISOR has announced the launch of the TripAdvisor app for Android Wear smartwatches. The free app, which is currently available on Google Play, helps travellers find nearby things to do with access to TripAdvisor traveller reviews and ratings of hotels, restaurants and attractions. The launch of the new TripAdvisor Android Wear app follows the company’s
TripAdvisor Android Wear app features: ■ Recommendations for nearby restaurants, attractions and hotels ■ Point of interest details ■‘Saves’for easy access: Feature allows travellers to save their favourite restaurants, etc ■ Direct links to the phone
launch of its Apple Watch app in April 2015 and Pebble smartwatch app recently. “We’re excited to make TripAdvisor available to more smartwatch users through the our Android Wear app,” said Adam Medros, senior vice president of global product, TripAdvisor. “Our app gives smartwatch users convenient access to the wisdom of millions of travellers and helps them find hidden gems nearby – whether it’s a great place to eat, stay or visit.”
iTraveller.com to raise US$ 10 million in four-five months Kahini Chakraborty Mumbai iTRAVELLER.COM, a Bengaluru based online travel platform founded in early 2012, plans to raise US$ 10 million in the next four-five months, as part of its expansion plans. The company allows users to customise holidays in over 450 destinations worldwide. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Shiju Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO, iTraveller.com stated, “In the initial years we bootstrapped for a while and then raised around US$ three lakh as angel funding during 2013-14. We raised US$ one million of Series A funding in February 2015. We plan to raise another US$ 10 million in the next four-five months time.” By the end of this calendar year the company aims to have a monthly gross sales value of `two crore by offering 200 regions and more than 1500 destinations. “By the end of 2020 we want to achieve an average monthly gross sales value of `500 crore. Though the figures look ambitious it is only 0.8 per cent of the total current holidays booking market size,” he informed adding that, “There are no direct head-on competitors as of
By end of 2020 we want to achieve an average monthly gross sales value of `500 crore. Though the figures look ambitious it is 0.8 per cent of the total current holidays booking market now for iTraveller.com, but as far as discovery of the destinations are concerned we have TripHobo and Tripoto. For transactions we have TravelTriangle. For hotel bookings we have OyoRooms and Stayzilla. For package booking without the scope of much customisation we have SOTC, Thomas Cook, etc. For package booking with moderate customisation we have MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, etc. But there are none for customised package discovery, creation and booking, that too online.”
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IN THE NEWS
San Francisco Travel Association to make India its top source market
India among top 5 source markets for Oman Rituparna Chatterjee Mumbai OMAN RECENTLY organised the Oman – India Roadshow 2015 across four Indian cities Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai with an objective to promote Oman as a Bollywood and wedding destination apart from a leisure destination, introduce it to new stakeholders in the market and enhance the existing relations between Omani and Indian companies. Presently, India is among the top five source markets for Oman and its ministry of tourism is hopeful of India becoming the number one source market for the destination in the near future. Speaking on this, Salim Al Mamari, director general of tourism promotion, Ministry of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman stated, "The number of film shootings and weddings in Oman have been increasing year-on-year and hence we are focusing on attracting these segments from India. We want to provide several facilities to encourage Bollywood film shootings into our destination. For instance, presently you need to bring shooting equipments from India or source
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them from Dubai, but we are trying to encourage Omani private companies to specialise and supply these equipments.” In 2014, Oman welcomed more than 2,50,000 tourists from India, recording a four per cent increase from the previous year. The ministry of tourism is hopeful of maintaining the same growth percentage this year with a major focus on attracting high-end tourists and promote responsible tourism. The government is also enhancing and encouraging the development of its tourism and hospitality infrastructure. For instance, Oman which presently has a room inventory of 15,700 will witness an addition of more than 5000 rooms by 2020. Moreover, some of Oman’s forts and castles would also be converted into museums and hotels. "Oman is rich in history and it has more than 500 forts and castles. The government would be converting some of them into museums and hotels to give new experiences to travellers. To initiate this process we would be forming a Government Buddy, a governmentowned company, to select the forts and castles to be con-
verted into museums and hotels. This company would come into existence by the end of 2015," opined Mamari. Developments are also underway to enhance tourism infrastructure in Oman. "We are developing an international airport in Muscat which is expected to be operational by the end of 2016. While another international airport has come up in Salalah, which had a soft launch in May this year and will officially open by the end of June. Furthermore, two domestic airports are coming up in Ras al Hadd and AlWasta, which will be functional within the next two years. The domestic airport at Sohar is already functional," revealed Mamari. Meanwhile, the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre is also being developed which will open by the beginning of 2016. Its largest hall boasts of a capacity to accommodate more than 3600 pax. "Our connectivity is also strong with 102 Oman Air flights per week connecting between Oman and India. Adding to this are flights of other airline companies, which creates a very good flow between both the countries," concluded Mamari.
Archana Sharma New Delhi SAN FRANCISCO Travel Association (SFTA) believes that India can be the next top source market for the region. “Currently, India is the second fastest growing, emerging market with China being at the top and Brazil being third. It ranks in the top 10 international markets in terms of arrival as well as spending power,” stated Joe D’ Alessandro, president and CEO, SFTA. The arrivals from the India market have registered a 27.4 per cent growth between 2010 and 2014, with 1,49,000 Indian travellers visiting the city of San Francisco in 2014. Alessandro is also hopeful about an increased traffic from India, majorly due to the improved air connectivity between the two countries. “Etihad Airways launched service from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco in December, and Turkish Airlines started a flight to the city from their hub in Istanbul a couple of weeks ago. Similarly, carriers like Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and Emirates are also focusing on the India market and offering connectivity from their respective hubs,” stated Alessandro. “40 per cent of Indians coming to the US visit San Francisco,” he added. As per statistics, more than 48 per cent of Indian visitors to the city are first-timers, and 95
per cent of them express desire to visit the city again. In terms of average number of days spent in San Francisco and per visitor spend, Indians score much higher than other nationalities, said Alessandro. While any other international visitor stays for four days on an average in the city, the Indian visitor stays for 5.4 days, with a per-person-per-visit spend of US$ 2,580, he elaborated. SFTA expects upto 16 per cent growth in Indian arrivals over the next three years. Talking about the MICE sector, Alessandro said that the segment is among the focus segments for San Francisco, and India stands on the number six position in terms of number of convention delegates visiting the city. Within the MICE segment, San Francisco wants to concentrate on the international incentive market. “We have seen good growth in incentive travel to the city in the last few years, and we want to grow in this market,” he added. San Francisco will be adding more attractions. The Museum of Modern Art, with a large private collection of art, will open in February 2016, informed Alessandro. There will be a large events space in the museum. The city added a cruise ship terminal in September 2014. He also stated that the Golden Jubilee of Super Bowl will be a major event in early 2016 and is expected to attract one million visitors.
IN THE NEWS
Serbia focuses on India market Archana Sharma New Delhi IN AN EFFORT to attract more outbound Indian tourists, the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia, is concentrating its efforts to highlight Serbia as an interesting tourist destination for Indians. According to Vladimir Maric, ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Serbia, the Serbian Tourist Board will soon be launching a campaign focusing the Indian outbound traveller. “Since tourist arrivals from India presently are almost negligible, the Serbian Embassy will be focusing on creating awareness about Serbian tourist destinations for the India market. The Serbian Tourist Board will also come up with concrete plans and campaigns specifically for
the India market in 2016, while also identifying the main fairs and trade travel marts for particapitaion, ensuring the presence of Serbia as a tourist destination across India,” he added. According to the records of the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia, more than one million foreign tourists visited Serbia in 2014 and the number of foreign visits increased by 12 per cent in comparison with 2013 and taking into account several previous years, the evident trend is that the number has been increasing to about 10-14 per cent on annual basis. Maric also talked about focusing on the younger generation, especially due to the tourist offerings present in Serbia. “Serbia is a special destination for the younger
Serbia is a special destination for the younger generation due to its vibrant nightlife, with the number of pubs, bars and cafes which are open throughout the night generation due to its vibrant nightlife, with the number of pubs, bars and cafes which are open throughout the night. Besides, there are numerous cultural entertainment activities and a lot of sporting events happening throughout the year in Serbia. Thus, our target audience for promoting tourism would be high-end younger generation travellers in the age group
starting from early 20s, looking forward to explore newer destinations,” he said. Maric also believes that Serbia is a more affordable destination in comparison to other European destinations. Maric informed that since November 2014 Serbia has started giving visa-free entry for up to 90 days to Indian nationals holding valid Schengen/UK and USA
visas, and Air Serbia, partly owned by Etihad Airways, operates connecting flights via Abu Dhabi that reach Serbia in about 10 hours. Maric also stated that they are hoping for tourists to stay for an average of four-five days or for a weekend rather than making Serbia a long staying destination. Talking about creating further awareness about Serbia as a tourist destination, Maric stated that they are hoping to create itineraries covering Serbia with the tour operators and travel agents. He also informed that being a smaller region in comparison, Serbia will also encourage joint promotional campaigns with any of the neighbouring destinations for regional packages as a long-haul travel option for Indian visitors.
Trinidad & Tobago targets India market Akshay Kumar Mumbai TRINIDAD & TOBAGO Tourism Development company is looking to increase tourist footfalls from India. To further strengthen this,Trinidad & Tobago based West Indian cricketers, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo have been declared as brand ambassadors of Trinidad & Tobago tourism for the India market. Due to Indian Premier League, Pollard and Bravo enjoy an extremely popular fan following in India. Haseeb Mohammed, charge d' affaires, High Commission for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago said, “We would like to see much
closer relations with India. Due to cricket and IPL, players like Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo are extremely popular amongst Indians. To raise awareness about our nation amongst Indians, Pollard and Bravo will play a key role. India is an emerging economy and has as a set of population with high disposable income, we want Indians to take interest in our nation for a different experience.” Kieron Pollard said, “There are a lot of similarities between both our nations. In our nation we also celebrate Indian festivals like Holi and Diwali. Trinidad & Tobago has something for everyone.” “We are trying to create a space for Trinidad & Tobago in India. We would like to in-
crease our presence through tourism and business. We have an enormous healthcare
industry in the destination, which is the reason why we are also focusing a lot on
medical tourism in San Fernando and Port of Spain,” added Mohammed.
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ATYOUR
FINGERTIPS The online travel sector comprises more than 50 per cent of the e-commerce industry in India, which is currently estimated to be in the ra nge of US$ 11-16 billion. Given its size and high levels of user acceptance, this segment has seen the largest number of start-ups – estimated at more than 200 businesses BY KAHINI CHAKRABORTY
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ndia is in the throes of an entrepreneurship revolution with online start-ups getting the support of both consumers and venture capitalists. Over the years a large number of online travel start-ups have entered the fray to cash in on the e-commerce boom that has to a large extent been driven by the travel segment in the country. One of the biggest challenges in the online travel space is competition, both from other online service providers and from traditional travel agencies. The travel industry, especially luxury travel, is the first to suffer in times of recession or downward economic trend. Both these situations are more challenging for startups than they are for established companies. Start-ups do not have any additional capital or reserves to fall back on, and during an economic downturn, if people spend on travel they prefer to go to a service provider where service satisfaction is guaranteed and not experiment with a new entrant in the market. For instance, in the year 2000 when online travel bookings were still relatively unknown to India, MakeMyTrip entered into the travel domain and today it is one of India's leading travel companies. “Our comprehensive offerings coupled with the convenience of online transactions supported with great-value prices have revolutionised the way Indians purchased travel services. We continue to lead the market with innovative products and services. Today, MakeMyTrip is much more than just a travel portal- it is a one-stop-travel-shop that offers the broadest selection of travel products and services in India,” says Rajesh Magow, cofounder and India CEO, MakeMyTrip. Presently, there are around 80 online travel startups in India, generating a revenue of approximately US$ 9.7
EVEN THOUGH E-COMMERCE IS A BOOMING SECTOR, IT HAS ONLY REACHED THREE PER CENT OF THE OVERALL TRANSACTIONS THAT HAPPEN OFFLINE. CONSUMERS ARE NOW CURATING THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES USING ONLINE, MOBILE, AND SOCIAL MEDIA billion and a growth of 31 per cent year on year. “The January-April 2015 quarter has seen the segment receive a funding of approximately US$ 40 million (source Venture Intelligence data). This is a significant increase when compared to US$14.8 million invested in the online space during January-April 2014. Further, till December 2014, the segment has received a total of US$ 115.69 million spread across 13 deals. If we go by this trend, it is quite possible that the travel industry will continue to receive investor support in the current fiscal as well,” opines Rajat Tandon, senior director, NASSCOM 10,000 startups Program. While Sharat Dhall, president, Yatra.com adds, “The rising internet (over 300 million users; 170 million via the mobile) and smartphone (126 million users) penetration in India has phenomenally changed the way we communicate and do business. Rising disposable incomes are further fuelling a surge in consumerism in India. E-commerce operates in a very large retail market so there is tremendous scope for future growth as online buying penetration increases. Therefore, valuations of these companies have sky-rocketed in a short span of time, and a great idea that is well executed will always find a long list of investors vying to support it. All of this has culminated in a huge opportunity in e-commerce in
India.”
Changing ecosystems Even though e-commerce is a booming sector, it has only reached three per cent of the overall transactions that happen offline. Consumers are now curating their own experiences using online, mobile, and social media, interchangeably, along their non-linear paths to purchase. The financial package and personalised deals offered by online travel companies is helping the industry grow both in terms of value and volume. Some of the aspects that are driving growth in the segment are- tie-ups with hotels and lodges to provide a complete travel package and out-of-the-box solutions offered by new entrants. Apart from this, use of innovative technology –like mobile apps to help customers connect with the portal, has become a major differentiating factor when selecting long-term association with a travel company. “There are no direct headon competitors as of now of iTraveller.com, but as far as discovery of the destinations is concerned we have Triphobo and Tripoto. For transactions we have Travel Triangle. For hotel bookings we have Oyorooms and Stayzilla. For package booking without the scope of much customisation we have SOTC and Thomas Cook, etc. For package booking with moderate customisation we have MakeMyTrip and cleartrip, etc. But there are
THE MAIN FOCUS
none for customised package discovery, creation and booking that too online,” highlights Shiju Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO iTraveller.com. Over the last couple of years, online shopping has become very popular due to cost and convenience for a consumer, this in itself is a major reason for start-ups to go the ecommerce way, as their customer is online. “The e-commerce boom has also helped widen the reach of the seller to a national or even a global level, a boundary-less market is every business’s dream. Another benefit of e-commerce purely for the business is that set-up cost has decreased drastically, with no investment required for renting/leasing high-end retail space for display/showrooms funds can be diverted to activities that will help generate business,” points out Tandon. “E-commerce is becoming one of the most exciting spaces for today’s online community, and India’s young start-up economy is along for the ride. The huge potential that the market has to offer has given the space to start-ups. They are pertaining to the growing demand from the consumer. The trusted relationship with an e-commerce brand, the convenience and reliability of ecommerce businesses have to outweigh the benefits of traditional retail outlets for consumers. One other reason is the increasing penetration of the internet which allows them to reach out to the wider consumer. The flow of venture capital investments turning into a storm is also one of the reasons that can be attributed for this boom,” opines Vikram Malhi, managing director-Asia, Expedia.
Investment opportunities SAIF Partners has been active in the space for a long time starting with investment in MakeMyTrip. “We also invested in iXigo.com, and more
“Convenience of online transactions supported with great-value prices have revolutionised the way Indians purchase travel services” Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and India CEO, MakeMyTrip
“Presently, there are around 80 online travel startups in India, generating a growth of 31% year on year” Rajat Tandon, Senior director, NASSCOM 10,000 startups Program
“There is tremendous scope for future growth as online buying penetration increases” Sharat Dhall, President, Yatra.com
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“Convenience of e-commerce businesses have to outweigh the benefits of traditional retail” Vikram Malhi, Managing director-Asia, Expedia
“For us our investment parameters revolve around aspects such as the startup's ability to being able to build great mobile products” Rohit Jain, Principal, SAIF Partners
“Our principal goal is to provide early-stage capital to talented entrepreneurs” Maninder Gulati, Principal, Lightspeed Advisory Services India
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recently we invested in TravelTriangle that is a platform for connecting travellers to service providers in all parts of the world to book their trips,” says Rohit Jain, principal, SAIF Partners, adding that, for his company the investment parameters revolve around aspects such as the start-up's ability to being able to build great mobile products and going beyond just providing information towards helping in the fulfillment. Travel being extremely competitive, a startup's ability to crack the product distribution is also critical. Interestingly, there are many areas that are interesting for start-ups to tackle from solving information gap, to build-out of supply using asset light approach like AirBnB in sectors like travel, stay and dining. Service providers need a lot of technology solutions to participate in these platforms. Maninder Gulati, principal, Lightspeed Advisory Services India states that venture capitalist firms generally look at large markets, disruptive business models and exceptional
teams while funding start-ups. “Our principal goal is to provide early-stage capital to talented entrepreneurs solving a core consumer problem through technology. The investment size for such startups in a seed or Series A stage could range from US$ 0.5 million to US$ five million,” points out Gulati, adding that, the market pie for travel start-ups is increasing with consumers booking a large part of their travel online. “While unlikely to displace aggregators such as MakeMyTrip, there is a lot of room for start-ups to create large and valuable businesses by solving problems that traditional aggregators cannot. For example, OyoRooms which has created India's largest network of technology enabled budget hotels,” he adds. According to Amit Somani, partner, AngelPrime, some of the recent sectors that have been popular with investors include alternative accommodations, last minute hotels, travel research and planning and travel services marketplaces. “Travel as a sec-
tor has a lot of opportunities and hence continues to be a highly competitive area. In addition to domestic players, lot of foreign players have started to make inroads into India. It is imperative that the cost of customer acquisition is in line with the 'lifetime' value of customer over a modest time period year or two years,” mentions Somani. A UBS Securities India report states that India’s ecommerce market is estimated to grow 10 times by 2020 to US$ 50 billion from current levels. At a micro level, ease and variety of access to products (more so in smaller cities), and the widespread prevalence of the cash on delivery (COD) payment model have been vital ecommerce adoption triggers. “E-commerce valuations are currently being driven by the significant growth expected in the size of the ecommerce market in India. Growing revenues and a mounting user base combined with significant headroom for growth (as consumer behaviour changes in favour of online consumption), are driv-
ing individual business valuations. However, there are concerns with the continuing rise in valuations especially given high customer acquisition costs, continuing cash burn and unclear roadmap to profitability,” mentions Girish Menon, director, deal advisory, KPMG in India. Greyhound Research believes that it’s important to first understand why investors are willing to invest enormous amounts in e-commerce companies. “Investors who have invested an enormous amount in e-commerce companies expect a huge profit in return. The truth is that e-commerce players make a huge loss and raising funds is the only viable option to stay in the business and ahead of competition. While the cost of creating mobile and web commerce has declined considerably in the last few years, the key to survival of ecommerce model is customer acceptability and quick adaptability to changing market dynamics,” elaborates Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and group CEO, Greyhound Re-
( search. “Rising valuations can be considered as a herd mentality as there are more than enough investors willing to invest in e-commerce players. Ecommerce has been a flavour for a lot of investors and thus the push to create a demand for such investments,” adds Gogia.
Learning curve The market is now flooded with start-ups like Tripoto.com, TravelTriangle, StayZilla.com, WeAreHolidays.com, iTraveller.com, TripHobo.com, Railyatri.com and Seeksherpa.com, who have got a solid funding from various investors to expand and strengthen their operations. “The real value in online travel is much more in the hotels and holidays category compared to transportation. The former has good margins; however, leisure travel in India is discretionary in nature and hence infrequent. Transportation affords higher frequency of use but has lower margins. Given the overall market that is highly competitive, the cost of customer acquisition from traditional online channels is quite high. Also, non-transactional business models such as advertising, affiliates, SaaS, etc, are beginning to gain some traction,” says Somani. Asked about the growing competition in the market, Magow states, “We welcome strong competition since it is good for the marketplace and the customer. We are wellfunded, have a clear focus on technology-led innovation and creating customer delight. Hence what a competitor or a new entrant does is not a threat. Beyond price-advantage and Tech-robustness, what creates a differentiator is user-experience and service. Those are the key attributes we are focused on.” Highlighting on certain importance business aspects, he asserts, “Generating financial revenue is the most critical step because that is what differentiates how sturdy your business plan is from your
competitors. The second critical element is to get the right funding. Now, you would ask as to what right funding would mean since start-ups can hardly choose where they get their money from, but we think otherwise. One must be selective and smart when seeking money for one’s start-up or it could turn your dream business into a nightmare.” Holding another strong base in the online travel segment, Dhall shares, “Start-ups in the online travel segment need to think about how they can come up with a differentiated offering or target specific niches, to have a reasonable chance of success. We have always envisioned Yatra as a onestop-shop for travel. We are focussed on growing and expanding our non-air segment (hotels and holiday packages) to add to our strength in the air section (flight bookings). This is progressing with our non-air business more than doubling over the last one year. Our mobile offering is also a key focus area for us. Currently, close to 30 per cent of Yatra’s business is sold via mobile and we see this increasing quickly to 50 per cent going forward.”
Cautious approach Even though the segment is a lucrative business, the success percentage for start-ups is very low and the reasons for that are many. Dhall cautions by saying, “These are related to either the market opportunity or the problem they are address-
ing, the competitive landscape, or the ability of the team to execute. A failure in any one or more of these areas is typically the root cause of most start-up failures.” While Magow adds, “Most of the start-ups tend to burn before they take their flights and one of the reasons for this is the inability to differentiate in the market. It might not be an extremely different product but you need to make a mark on the customer’s memory when they come to experience your product for the first time. You need to embed your brand with the customers with your range of product offering and the convenience that you bring with your product or service.” Some of the other main reasons that lead to failure of start-ups in the online space are not knowing how to allocate funds, over promising and under delivering, not providing adequate customer service support, with heavy blanket spends on online advertising and an unclear marketing strategy or a complete lack of/ very less marketing of the company. Recruiting talent, especially experienced mobile product managers remains a challenge for such early stage travel start-ups. Commenting on the issue, Menon highlights, “Indian consumers are price sensitive. This, coupled with high competition levels, has resulted in high customer acquisition costs and pricing pressures. Further, this also places significant challenges in developing
“Start-ups have to struggle with getting the pricing right in order to be attractive as Indian consumers are wary of companies which do not have a huge brand value” Shiju Radhakrishnan, Founder and CEO, iTraveller.com
subscription based business models and also rolling out premium products and services. Other challenges include uncertain and evolving regulatory environment, infrastructure challenges, limited payment ecosystem etc. From an online travel perspective, some of the specific challenges are declining airline commissions, comparatively lower growth rate given the relatively mature online travel market, and the entry of international players with their global supplier networks.” From a new entrant perspective, Radhakrishnan points out that the biggest challenge is to get customers to transact online without any manual intervention, “Startups have to struggle with getting the pricing right in order to be attractive as Indian consumers are wary of companies which do not have a huge brand value and might not go for a relatively unknown name for marginal monetary benefit.”
Survival tactics To ensure survival in a competitive industry like travel, it is critical to focus on building sustainable competitive advantages. “For instance user community participation, supplier engagement by providing them with the right tools to manage and grow their business, etc,” states Jain. On a concluding note, Tandon emphasises on the need for start-ups to ensure top class customer service at all times, irrespective of the size/value of the customer. “They need to constantly innovate and gauge what the new-age customer is looking for with respect to value-added services at competitive rates. The start-ups should aim to become one-stop points for their customer’s travel needs and they need to cultivate tie-ups with forex providers, hotels, trusted tourist guides, car rental services, insurance, etc. The product should be best fitted and designed to the needs of a consumer,” mentions Tandon.
THE MAIN FOCUS
“Some of the popular sectors include alternative accommodations, last minute hotels, travel research and planning” Amit Somani, Partner, AngelPrime
“Growing revenues and a mounting user base are driving individual business valuations” Girish Menon, Director, deal advisory, KPMG in India
“Raising funds is the only viable option to stay in the business and ahead of competition” Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief analyst and Group CEO, Greyhound Research
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EXPRESS WATCH
Even Paradise needs a push Many paens have described it as Heaven on earth, but this paradise is yet recovering from the ravages of the 2014 floods coupled with the ever present underlying fear of militant trouble. Even as tourists trickle into Kashmir, tourism stakeholders are depending on the Sayeed government to bring back its lost glory By Steena Joy
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n a bid to boost the fortunes of an industry plagued by militancy and recovering from last year’s devastating floods, Jammu & Kashmir’s directorate of tourism opened it’s first Travel Mart since 1988 at the Sher I Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar recently. The three-day Travel Mart saw participation from international buyers from 11 countries including Thailand, Korea, Italy, Malaysia, UK, among others. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, chief minister, Jammu & Kashmir, said, “It is my vision to
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make Kashmir an all season destination. The floods had devastated the Valley and building back the infrastructure is a time consuming process. I am happy that the travel trade in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad are trying very hard and supporting us in changing the perception of Kashmir as an unsafe destination. There should be no ‘off season’ for this beautiful state. We can do this by offering adventure tourism, mountaineering, golf tourism as weekend packages for domestic tourists. We want to introduce skiing not just at Gulmarg, but also at Pahalgam and Sonmarg. We need to make
cycling tracks and offer more such activities than just offering gardens and snow.” Shailendra Kumar, commissioner secretary, tourism, Jammu & Kashmir government, said that the aim was to increase tourist arrivals into Kashmir from the current 20 lakh to 80 lakh visitors and in Jammu from 1.10 lakh to 1.5 crore. “It is imperative to focus on repeat tourists. For this, we should roll out a Kashmir Calling campaign soon. Our talks with the film industry is finally bearing fruit with the Salman Khan movie, Bajrang Bhaijaan, being shot here in the Valley. Rakesh Om Mehra has
also shown his intent to film his next, Anil Kapoor’ s son’s launch movie here. Citing the example of Japan, we need to make the destination affordable. We need to get out of the ‘expensive’ image tag,” he affirmed. Affordable connectivity is another issue. The one hour flight from Delhi to Srinagar commands one of the world's most expensive airfares.
Mountainous task That is just the tip of the Herculean task ahead. While moving around Srinagar, one can still see roads being re-built and clean-up operations in full swing. All this amid army pres-
ence in the streets and alleys. Many hotels which were under water for many days are slowly picking up occupancies. The Valley is limping back to normalcy but many hoteliers we spoke to in Gulmarg were running less than the expected occupancies in the peak season and were hopeful the crowds will return. And they are looking to the Sayeed government to give the industry the direction and push it needs. The iconic Dal Lake is still a crowd puller but it has lost some of its pristine beauty due to the profileration of houseboats and the resultant increase in pollu-
EXPRESS WATCH tants. The well known floating vegetable markets which were a major tourist attraction no longer happen because the higher water levels have seeped into the vegetable patches and made them unsuitable for cultivation. The administration is of course working hard towards a comprehensive plan to boost tourism fortunes. At the Jammu & Kashmir Travel Mart, Sayeed suggested forming houseboat clusters so as to reduce pollutants in the Dal Lake. He added that an international yoga centre is being built at Patnitop and water sports will also be given a boost. Sayeed was also keen on organising a Davos type tourism conclave in the state where the corporate sector from all across the country and industry stakeholders can convene together with the prime minister too attending it. He also hinted at starting a helicopter service to Pahalgam for high spending golf tourists and also an integrated theme park on the lines of Sentosa in Singapore. But this again must be seen for its impact on the eco sensitivity of the region. During the business session on 'Sustainable Tourism - A way Forward', Farooq A Shah, director tourism Kashmir, and managing director, Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) said, “We must avoid creating concrete jungles. We are formulating a tourism policy banning polythene bags in the state, recycling
Tourism is all about having respect for the carrying capacity of that destination waste in hotels and promoting the use of non polluting fuels like CNG. The government will form enforcement squads to implement these rules and also focus on disaster management. We will promote activities like trekking which do not affect the environment. We will also work on a complete circuit for heritage tourism.” Faiz Bakshi, joint secretary general, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) opined, “Growth can be sustained only if we sustain the ecology of the area. Tourism is all about having respect for the carrying capacity of that destination. The Jammu & Kashmir government should use scientific methods to determine the carrying capacity of each tourist region. Also, tourism should benefit the remotest communities. We have 25,000 registered pony riders and 4,600 registered shikara owners (supporting two families per shikara). They should get the benefits. This is what sus-
tainable tourism is all about.” The state also has a dearth of five-star properties, The Lalit and Vivanta by Taj being among the few. In Gulmarg, the Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa is quite popular. While JKTDC is planning new resorts at Doodhpatri and Bungus Valley, it is still not enough to offer toruists a wide platter of accommodation options. At the Travel Mart, this reporter learnt that Radisson Blu will foray into Jammu & Kashmir with two properties set to open in 2016. The properties are coming up in Srinagar and Tangmarg which is en route to Gulmarg. The properties are being developed by the local MTC group which owns the renowned Grand Mumtaz and Mumtaz Towers in Srinagar. The group has signed a management agreement with Radisson Blu to manage both properties. Apart from Srinagar, MTC group has hotels in Tehri, Katra, Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg. Mustaq Chaya, chairman, MTC group informed, “The total cost of both projects is `300 crore (`150 crore each). While the Tangmarg property will have 150 rooms, the Srinagar Radisson Blu will have 153 rooms. This property which was originally a royal palace will also have 10 Heritage Suites which will open first in 2015.” This could well be the beginning of more hotel brands making a beeline to the Valley and a sign that it is being considered as a safe investment destination.
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SPOTLIGHT
GROWING AFRICANESS With a focus on empowering small and medium-sized enterprises in South Africa while providing a kaleidoscope of the African culture, Indaba 2015 witnessed successful meetings encouraging a continuous pipeline of exhibitor participation By Kahini Chakraborty
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nclusive growth and the need to further inculcate the culture of tourism among the people of the African continent were one of the highlights of Indaba 2015. The trade show held from May 9-11 at Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban hosted 299 buyers from key markets - Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. Of those buyers, 285 were from outside South Africa and other 14 were from South Africa. Even though with a participation of over 1,000 exhibitors and approximately more than 2,000 buyers, Indaba 2015 experienced an issue of decline in the number of buyer participation. When questioned, Thulani Nzima, CEO, South African Tourism said, "We are focusing on providing more quality rather than quantity. The issue of reduction in number of buyers changing over the years can be put into context as - buyers are seen reshaping their own environment due to economic viability and consolidation of larger organisations are some of the ways in which buyers are defining themselves.” He added, “Even though there is an issue to deal with the number of buyers declining by 10 per cent compared to last year, the number of meetings at Indaba 2015 has increased compared to last year. The meetings recorded for the first two days of the event was 3700 compared to 2500 meetings last year.” The event had 10,000 confirmed meetings. With an audience of 200 international hosted buyers, the speed marketing sessions provided business owners a four-five minute platform to sell their business to the
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buyers in an informative manner. This initiative was due to a strategic partnership between South African Tourism, Fair Trade Enterprise Partnership (FTT), and Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) to empower small businesses with skills needed to engage buyers at Indaba 2015. Furthermore, The Online Diary and Match Making System were also key drivers in improving the quality of the event experience for exhibitors and buyers.
Making it big At the inaugural ceremony, Derek Hanekom, national minister of tourism, South Africa informed, "Even though over the years Indaba has evolved as the biggest trade show in Africa, we will be announcing measures to make Indaba more competitive. We will be issuing co-proposal bids for prospective partners with a global reach to work with us.” The decision is construed as a step to ward off competition from other tourism industry shows like WTM Africa and We Are Africa, which have started eating into the space of Indaba. He also added that over the last two decades the tourism sector has outstripped growth
compared to other sectors. Even though 2014 was a difficult year for tourism worldwide and South Africa, yet tourist arrivals grew by 6.6 per cent and further continues to grow. "We have 1.4 million people employed in the tourism sector and are looking at 10 per cent contribution to GDP," mentioned Hanekom. Indaba 2015 had a participation of 20 African countries apart from South Africa. “Among the 10 million visitors that we get annually, seven million are from African countries. We need to continue growing inclusively and develop responsible and sustainable tourism for growth. For tourism promotion in this financial year the government has allocated 1.6 billion Rand,” he informed. While Nzima said, “We have been successful as a safari destination. But now we are also looking at focusing on the culture and heritage, lifestyle and music aspects. To succeed further, we have to acknowledge that we are a part of the African continent. Our challenge is to upskill the rest of Africa and wherever possible share resources, focus on capacity building. Buyers are now looking for
continental products before they look for provincial products. We are working on providing seamless travel and ease visa regulations." On questions being raised about the 'unfriendly tourism' visa regime of South Africa, Hanekom mentioned that there are ongoing discussions to find solutions to the issue. While Nzima added
that the country's president himself has asked for a review of the current provisions to the Home Department. Referring India's decision to extend E-visa for visitors, Nzima said that the tourism minister of South Africa is pushing for visa free or visa-on-arrivals system for Indian travellers to improve travel between the two countries.
HANNELI SLABBER, COUNTRY MANAGER - INDIA, SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM South Africa is now looking beyond safaris and focusing on culture and heritage. Could you elaborate on the other unique products that are on offer for travellers? Safari, scenic beauty and adventure have always been the cornerstone of the South African tourism product offering.The experiential nature of South Africa's tourism product - you 'do' South Africa, you are not a passive spectator - has always appealed to the India market. Over the years our product offering has evolved and we have moved from a solely 'do South Africa' to a 'meet South Africa'. Our Indian travellers now want to know us - they want to know about our cultural heritage (and they are always surprised at how you can see the influence and expressions of South African Indians manifesting themselves across all cultures in South Africa - we merge and blend and in the end you have this rich tapestry of South Africaness), our food, our music, the cricketers we rate.
SAJID KHAN, COUNTRY MANAGER- INDIA, SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS Will we see the re-introduction of direct flight connectivity of South African Airways from India in the future? The current codeshare with Etihad Airways is a part of our long term turnaround strategy and is aimed at helping us optimise our routes.With the help of the codeshare we were able to enhance connectivity between Johannesburg and six cities in India through 12 daily flights from India. Furthermore, we have seen a positive response from our travel partners and passengers on the new arrangement and we plan to continue with this in the near future.
When asked about the importance of the India market, representatives from the folllowing countries: Republic of Rwanda, Republic of Senegal, Uganda Tourism Board, Tanzania Tourism Board, Kenya Tourism Board informed that even though European and the North American countries remain their source markets, they realise the importance of the India market and are looking forward to welcoming travellers from India as well.
Examining tourism The second and third day of Indaba 2015 had four distinct media briefings to examine tourism contribution to the South African economy- importance of small businesses, the growimg importance of inter-continental partnerships and collaboration for growth of the African tourism sector. The panelists for the session 'Bringing Small Businesses into the Mainstream Tourism Economy' included Salifou Siddo, CEO, Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP); Shaheed Ebrahim, owner, Escape to the
Cape; Peterson Mahlangu, owner, Fundani Tours; Thiofli Ravele, business development support manager, Free Trade Tourism (FTT); and Marcelle Bosch of Madi A Thavha Mountain Lodge. The deliberations on this panel discussion focussed on the need to be proactive and not reactive when entering into the tourism industry. For small businesses it is imperative to work with the communities in a responsible and sustainable manner. Collaborative support and mentoring is also essential for introduction of unique products to survive in the competitive market. The second topic of discussion 'Growing up for Africa' had panelists - Marcel Von Aulock, Group CEO, Tsogo Sun; Dr Petrus De Kock, general manager - research, Brand South Africa; and Cherae Robinson, CEO, Taste Makers Africa. This session highlighted that the government has been supportive of every tourism product as this sector is a huge contributor to the economy and helps in job creation. There has to be ethical
ecological conservation and many African countries are following responsible tourism practices. While the last session 'Indaba Bid Parties Wrap Up' panelists included: Ndabo Khoza, CEO, Tourism KwaZuluNatal; Nzima; Lindiwe Rakharebe, CEO, Durban ICC Board; and Philip Sithole, CEO, Durban Tourism. Nzima pointed out that there has to be a continuous pipeline that has to be based on value for money that buyers should have. “The decline in the number of buyers can be attributed to the changing business environment and consolidation processes taking place in large organisations. We want to focus on quality rather than quantity as we have built Indaba as an equity and don't want to sell it. We had over 10,000 meetings confirmed for the event,” emphasised Nzima. While Sithole added that all events that take place in the city lead to job creation. “Direct spending is estimated at 50 million Rand. The event has given us the number of travellers that we were expecting,” mentined Sithole.
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CORPORATE FILE
The Tamarind goes global Tamarind Global is the new avatar of the erstwhile Tamarind Tours which was established in 2006. Its new identity as Tamarind Global was born recently on June 1, 2015 By Reema Lokesh
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stablished in 2006, Tamarind Tours (a subsidiary of Crest Ventures, a company listed on the BSE) has been, in the traditional sense, a Destination Management Company, providing an umbrella of travel and hospitality related services primarily to the B2B segment. Operating in source markets like the Middle East, Far East, Africa, UK, Europe, Australia and the large domestic market, Tamarind offered bespoke travel solutions within the Indian subcontinent. The new form that the company has taken, involves a change of corporate identity as well. In the last few years, Tamarind has launched independent verticals, which give high synergistic value to its existing business model. The company has witnessed encouraging growth and with an additional focus on its new verticals, Tamarind is projecting a growth of at least 30 per cent in 2015-16 and 50 per cent in 2016-17. “Tamarind has always been recognised as a brand which delivers superior service, and our customers have motivated us to evolve and provide services in other business segments,” says Mahesh Shirodkar, managing director, Tamarind Global, adding that, “Our clients’ requirements are varied – they include tailor-made vacations, corporate off-sites, incentive
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programmes and destination weddings. In the last few years, Tamarind has created strategic verticals with specialised teams to provide the entire spectrum of all those services seamlessly under one roof with focused expertise.” According to the team at Tamarind, the traveller’s demands and expectations have evolved are always asking for something extra to experience the unusual. The company also takes pride in delivering its promise and goes beyond the expected. Aarti Manocha, executive director, Tamarind Global says, “Tamarind has always believed in ‘customer first’ and we go to great lengths to ensure that our customers are extremely satisfied with our services. An eye for detail and assured high quality service is the mainstay of our business. This has resulted in customer confidence which transcends the price barrier, and more importantly our cus-
tomers strongly recommend us in their business and social circles.” With the object of defining its evolved avatar in a visual sense, a re-branding exercise was undertaken, resulting in a brand new corporate identity and logo. The newly conceived Tamarind Global now encompasses a range of services besides tour operations. The verticals now include full-fledged services for MICE, events, destination weddings and an online booking engine. “Our
brand identity is now represented by a simple sphere enclosed in parentheses. The look is clean, simple and corporate," explains Shirodkar. He added, "The actual sphere depicts completeness in its simplest form, while being a symbol of the globe that we operate in. The circle represents the infinite nature of energy, and the inclusivity of the universe. The presence of the parentheses indicates the encompassing, inclusive range of our activities across the globe, complement-
ing the concept of wholeness that the circle brings.” Why the colour red? "For us, the colour red, represents action, adventure, drive, energy, excitement, passion, strength and vigour, all the qualities we value at Tamarind. As for the slightly squared font, it is the stable, rooted element that complements the creativity of the sphere, indicating that from rooted stability comes the fluidity of the creative and it depicts a clean, contemporary approach to a business that is backed by modern solutions," says Shirodkar. With 12 offices across India and three overseas offices, Tamarind has grown to a team of over 250 employees. Looking ahead, Tamarind has plans to launch other verticals under the Tamarind Global umbrella, with an ultimate goal of becoming a complete, holistic provider of lifestyle hospitality solutions in the global context. Louis D’Souza, executive director, Tamarind Global, concludes, “Tamarind prides itself on creating win-win relationships with its hotel partners and suppliers. We work with like minded partners who understand our expectations and synergise with us to put forth a well defined and holistic product in front of our clients. Our relationships are based on transparency and trust, and are built for the long term."
IN FOCUS
Digital Dubai The Arabian Travel Market, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre recently brought to the fore how the experience of Dubai is being revolutionsed through proactive social media initiatives and the many new tourism products all aimed at meeting the target of doubling tourism inflow to 20 million by 2020 By Sudipta Dev
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rabian Travel Market (ATM) 2015 saw Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) showcasing the emirate through various perspectives - culture, experiences, content and the new brand campaign. The Dubai pavilion this year had as many as 100 tourism industry stakeholders who highlighted the best and the newest offerings that the vibrant city has to offer to its visitors. One of the interesting aspects that was all too evident was how technology is making a difference in the whole experience of discovering Dubai. A case in point is #MyDubai initiative that gets people to share their experiences of Dubai - from the well
known landmarks to the hidden gems. In September last year, 12 of the world's most influential Instagrammers were invited from around the world. They were teamed with local social media influencers to create ideal itineraries for what they could do in one or two days in Dubai, which included places to eat, activities, adventure and culture. They were filmed in social travel episodes sharing their experiences of Dubai that shows the city from a different angle. #MyDubai has been helping visitors to plan their own itinerary through photos, videos and stories. ATM delegates also got a chance to go on an online interactive tour of the city through Dubai 360 that uses special ocular technology with panoramic photos and videos. Acknowledging that in
India a lot of people are tech savvy, researching and connecting through social media, Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said, “We are focusing on new mediums to understand how people consume travel nowadays. Historically for us as we started to look at the content available to people online a couple of years ago, it was very poorly represented. Information was dated, inaccurate, and I felt it was lacking as well in terms of what Dubai really had to offer.” According to Kazim it was important for DCTCM to bring the travel trade locally to showcase what they had to offer and communicating the best of Dubai before the world. Both the travel trade in Dubai and those selling it abroad had to benefit.
Issam Kazim
Manifold attractions The tourism attractions of Dubai are manifold and keep adding every year, so for repeat visitors there are always new things to experience. For adventure buffs, activities range from dune bashing to skydiving to snorkelling. For shoppers, the attractions are not only limited to glitzy malls but also the
traditional spice markets, textile souks and gold souks. “People need to see that side of Dubai. We need to highlight and bring forward our heritage offerings,” mentioned Kazim. Dubai has become a gourmet capital in the region, and not without reason. “We have almost 200 cultures living in Dubai in total harmony,” said
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IN FOCUS Kazim, reminding that at the end of the day Dubai's total population is made of 20 per cent native Emiratis and 80 per cent of others who chose the emirate as home. Three of the five theme parks are opening in Dubai in 2016 – Bollywood Parks Dubai, Hollywood themed Motionagate Dubai and Legoland Dubai. “It is exciting to see that many Bollywood movies that are hugely successful in India have influenced people to look at Dubai as a destination,” averred Kazim. Dubai is a leading destination in creating family festivals - Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Summer Surprises, Eid in Dubai, Ramadan in Dubai, Dubai Motor Festival and Dubai Food Festival. Every other month there is a festival to attract people. The festivals attract in any given year 15 to 16 million people, who spend billions of dirhams. There are a lot of special promotions for visitors. For the 20th edition of Dubai Shopping Festival, a 100 kilos of gold were given away to the shoppers. India is one of the main target markets for festivals like Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Food Festival. Each festival has its own target market.
Destination for all budgets In recent years, there has been a strong focus on developing budget category hotels in the city. “Dubai is not only for the ultra rich, it offers a lifestyle for all budgets. While we have a larger pool of five star hotel rooms, there are three -four stars, as well as serviced apartments. We realised that there is a big population that comes to Dubai that wants a bigger
offering of three-four stars. So a decree was announced that anybody investing in three or four stars, the first five years the municipality fees of 10 per cent is waived off,” said Kazim, adding further that within a few months of this announcement made last year they had over 50 applications for branded three-four star hotels from international and local chains. The emirate takes great pride in being a family destination. The key source markets for DTCM are – Saudi Arabia, India, UK, Germany, other GCC countries. While some travellers want luxurious offerings, there are many repeat visitors, who come in big groups as a family. “We are a family destination. When they come as a couple they might stay in a five star while if they come with a family they would want to stay in a threefour star hotel as they will be spending more money on other things in Dubai. However, we do not want the experience of Dubai to be any different, people coming to Dubai expect certain luxury so even those in three-four star sector should experience certain things. So it is budget for the pocket but not the experience,” mentioned Kazim. He reminded however that they do not overly rely on any one source market and are agile and flexible enough to activate any one market, and launch campaigns in another. The Annual Visitor Report which was launched at ATM 2015 gave an insight into the markets and segments, visitor demographics, etc. DTCM have 20 offices in its key source markets. India as a market has always been strong, but according to Kazim, it can still be stronger.
The emirate takes great pride in being a family destination. The key source markets for DTCM are – Saudi Arabia, India, UK, Germany, other GCC countries
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DCTCM is a corporation within DTCM, that is more agile, more flexible, and quickly works with overseas offices. “For us it is important to focus on all segments. Interestingly enough the business segment is important for us to go in DTCM is not just about getting people to attend the events and business events happening in Dubai but also encourage more and more events to happen in Dubai and attract the right partners from India to come and establish themselves here. Our calendar of event should be easily communicated to the Indian market so that it becomes easy for them to access Dubai,” he added.
Air travel hub For the world's busiest airport, growth in passenger traffic has been primarily driven by the expansion of its home carriers – Emirates and flydubai. “We are in a massive global hub of the world and that is a fantastic place to be, both in the present and the future. Within the next 20 years, demand for air travel is set to double. In APAC the number of travellers will grow more than three times than that of Europe. There is a massive opportunity for Dubai to continue to be a continental hub that it is established today,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports. Dubai's open skies agreement was established in 1960 and has been the fundamental plank on which the entire aviation business is built. “In 1993 Dubai was 44th in the world in international passenger traffic and no one could ever believe that we could rise up in the ranks so quickly and by 2014 became the world's number one international airport with 70.4 million passengers. An average day sees 192,000 people come through our airport,” stated Griffiths. India is Dubai International airport's biggest market, with growth in passenger traffic increasing by 14.9 per cent in March 2015 from the previous year.
THE TORCHBEARERS
The original ‘MICE’ man Om Prakash Sahgal, director, In Orbit Tours, has limitless energy and his key driver to continue with the same youthful zest is nothing but passion. He has survived many setbacks but everytime has bounced back stronger By Reema Lokesh
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rom the packaging industry that dealt with lifeless objects to that of packaging tours for people who had the dream to enhance their industry skills, the journey of Om Prakash Sahgal into the travel and exhibition space was purely by default. He was born in Lahore in 1939 and as luck would have it he followed his parents to a city which they thought was a temporary shelter but eventually Mumbai remained home for good.
His journey Whether young or old the passion to travel is rather universal. Some travel for pleasure, some to explore while there are few like Sahgal who travel to help others to benefit from his journeys. He rightly puts it, “The much in discussion 'Make in India’ slogan was actually activated many years ago. In 1972, I led a group of businessmen from the packaging industry to attend world renowned trade exhibitions like DRUPA in Germany. They first went as buyers and then again as exhibitors to the same show. I was shocked to learn during my initial visits to Germany that from over a lakh people from 90 countries, there were only 12 Indians at the show! I knew there was something amiss. A large country like ours with only 12 representatives was just not acceptable.” With this mission in mind, he approached the German Consulate in Mumbai to support the small scale industry, which directed him to the Indo German Chambers of Commerce. He did
not believe in giving up and approached Dr G Krueger with a plan to take a group of businessmen to experience German trade fairs. Crossing the challenges of logistics, among others, he finally took up the task to organise groups to visit industry exhibitions on his own learning the tricks of the trade while on the job. Sahgal acknowledges the support of Nari and Adi Katagra to realise his dream. He managed to get together 43 businessmen to visit the trade show. Since it was a rather unique delegation, he felt it was time to sound it off to the then CM of Maharahstra, Vasant Dada Patil, and invite him to flag off this delegation. As a novice, he was nervous to speak in front of the CM and as luck would have it the oscillating fan messed up his papers which resulted in him delivering a speech rather im-
promptu on the trade mission's contribution to enhance bilateral trade links and the economy in general. Sahgal also further shared that during those times one needed eight visas to enter Europe and getting them was yet another challenging exercise. An interesting fact was that during those years, the amount provided for overseas travel was only US$ eight and hence the famous Raj Kapoor song, ‘around the world in eight dollars’. “If we flew Air India then we would receive US$ 100 if not US$ eight. It was only in 1979 that Atal Bihari Vajpayee sanctioned US$ 500 for overseas travel every year. Amidst all these challenges, my mission to take delegates grew slowly and steadily. I gained my ground and I felt this was a unique opportunity to further the concept of industry focused tours/ trade fair tours. After the Germans,
Om Prakash
the Americans, Japanese, Koreans, Singaporeans and the Chinese approached me to visit their shows with Indian delegates.” His business started getting stronger by the day and he finally decided to officially start a travel company to cater to this niche business of trade tours. It was in 1982, that P L Kapoor, the then regional man-
HIS AWARDS
ager of SITA Mumbai suggested the name Organisation for Business International Tours, which was coined as (Orbit). It was inaugurated by Nana Chudasama around 30 years ago. However, as businesses do face their challenges Orbit Tours also had its share of setbacks in 2006. But this senior citizen decided to start work again by setting up another company called In Orbit Tours. Today he proudly says that the company is once again promoting over 100 international and domestic exhibitions and is now venturing into conducting highly specialised senior citizen tours. He was at the helm of affairs as chairman of TAAI Western Region from 2006-08.
His advice Being true and loyal to one's work is what Sahgal believes in. He says money without passion is nothing and firmly states that awards, rewards and recognition will come naturally if your work is outstanding.
Om Prakash has received many awards and accolades throughout his career. To name a few:
His power packed day
■ Honorary Citizenship Award by the Government of Texas, USA
He starts his day at 5 am with a 40 minute yoga session followed by a morning walk at Worli Sea Face. He meets his friends at the Worli Walkers Association from 6.45 am to 7 am for some breathing exercises, and from 7 am to 7:30 am he is at the laughter club. He goes back to yoga and reaches office at 9.45 am. He believes in the power of positive thinking and hopes to continue working with the same passion for his profession.
■ Ambassador of Goodwill Award by Government of Arkansas, USA ■ Marshal of Oklahoma Territory Award, USA ■ Ambassador of Germany’s Düsseldorf fairs in India Award for his dedicated service in promoting Düsseldorf fairs for 30 years ■ INDO-GERMAN AWARD received in 1985, 1995 and 1999 for his outstanding contribution to the development of Indo-German Economic Relations ■ China Tourism Ministry’s Top Award 2010 ■ Recently, the German Consul General Michael Siebert, honoured him for his outstanding contribution for promotion of business and leisure travel to Germany for over four decades
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MOVEMENTS Yatra.com
Himanshu Verma
Yatra.com has appointed HIMANSHU VERMA as chief technology officer of the company. In his new role, he will lead technology development for all businesses and products of Yatra. The appointment is set to augment the organisation’s technology capabilities and formalise strategy to build the business across networks, locations and technologies. The role will also have him engaged in growing the mobile business, which is now touted as the future of the travel industry. Verma joined Yatra.com from Flipkart where he essayed the role of director of engineering for three years.
Bombardier Bombardier has appointed JIM VOUNASSIS as vice president, operations strategy. In this new position, Vounassis will conduct a detailed review of the company’s operations and implement strategies to increase value creation across the organisation. In addition, he will lead Bombardier’s global action plan, focusing on improving profitability and execution to transform the business into a high performance organisation. He will be based at Bombardier’s corporate office in Montreal. DAVID M COLEAL has been appointed as president, Bombardier Business Aircraft. He succeeds Éric Martel, who is leaving the com-
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pany after 13 years of service to pursue other career opportunities. Before Coleal first joined Bombardier in 2008, he was president and chief operating officer of Cirrus Design Corporation. He also held various management positions at McKinsey and Company, Caterpillar and New United Motor Manufacturing. Coleal holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from California State University (CSU), Sacramento, and an MBA in Management Science from CSU, East Bay. Bombardier has also appointed JEAN-PAUL PELLISSIER as a special advisor to conduct an extensive review of the company’s supply chain. Pellissier is an industry veteran with 25 years of experience at Dassault Aviation, most recently as senior vice president responsible for procurement. His focus will be to improve sourcing processes and supply chain efficiency.
Boeing BERNIE DUNN has been appointed president of Boeing Middle East. Dunn will be based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and report to Marc Allen, president of Boeing International. Dunn will be responsible for Boeing’s growth and productivity plans and government affairs and for implementing the company’s strategy across the region. He also will support Boeing business units and functions as they pursue their business objectives and closely coordinate with Boeing Saudi Arabia president Ahmed Jazzar. Dunn, who is fluent in Arabic, has lived and worked in the region for most of the last 30 years.
Etihad Airways Etihad Airways has appointed IWAN KIP as general manager for Indonesia, based in Jakarta. In the role, Kip will play a pivotal role in accelerating the growth of business in Indonesia. Kip will report to
Lindsay White, the airline’s Sydney-based vice president for Asia Pacific South and Australasia. Kip, who has more than 10 years of travel industry experience, takes up the role after two years as Etihad Airways’ manager direct sales and operations for the Netherlands.
PATA KEVIN B MURPHY, president and CEO, Asiawide Hospitality Solutions (AHS), Hong Kong SAR & Thailand, has been elected as chairman of the PATA Executive Board. Murphy replaces W Scott Supernaw who served as chairman of PATA since April 2013 and will remain on the executive board as PATA immediate past chairman. PATA has also elected four new members to its executive board including, Andrew Jones, guardian, Sanctuary Resorts, Hong Kong SAR; Dato Haji Azizan Noordin, deputy director general (planning), Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia; John Schubert, managing director - marketing Asia Pacific and India, The Boeing Company, USA; and Philip Schaetz, senior VP of sales and marketing, Dorsett Hospitality International, Hong Kong SAR. Long-time PATA member Jones has been elected as the new vice chairman; while BASANT MISHRA, executive chairman, Temple Tiger Group of Companies, Nepal remains secretary/treasurer. Other executive board members include Henry Oh, Jr., president, Global Tour, Korea (ROK); HE Ramon R Jimenez Jr., secretary of tourism, Philippines Department of Tourism; Sarah Mathews, destination marketing senior sales manager APAC, TripAdvisor, Hong Kong SAR; Setyono Djuandi Darmono, chairman, President University, Indonesia; and Stephen Pearce, vice president, Leisure Travel & Digital Marketing, Tourism Vancouver, Canada. Furthermore, Dr Helena Lo, di-
British Airways MORAN BIRGER has been appointed as regional commercial manager for South Asia. He will be based at the airline’s South Asia headquarters in Gurgaon. He will be responsible for all sales and commercial activity for the region, including India, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Prior to this, in 2013, he was appointed as the commercial manager in Ghana for British Airways. Birger has also held the position of commercial agreements executive – revenue management for British Airways looking after the carrier’s relationships with a broad portfolio of key European airlines.
rector of Pousada de MongHa (the Educational Hotel of Institute for Tourism Studies Macau – IFT) and the 2015 PATA Face of the Future, joins the PATA executive board as a non-voting member and observer for a one-year term at the invitation of the PATA chairman. PATA has also appointed PARITA NIEMWONGSE as director – human capital development, and Wallace Wong as regional director – Asia. Niemwongse’s primary focus is to initiate human capital development (HCD) programmes and activities for members of the association including PATAcademy, PATA Youth Symposium, and the PATA Intern and Associate Programme. She will also be responsible for PATA’s Capacity Building Programme, University and Tourism College relationships, and any future related HCD programmes, as well as the continued management of the PATA Gold Awards and PATA Face of the Future. WALLACE WONG will be responsible for PATA’s commercial and industry development, as well as bridging the relationship between the public and private travel sectors
in the Asia Pacific region. His territorial responsibilities will include all of Asia with the exception of mainland China (this includes North Asia, South Asia, South East Asia, Central Asia and the sub-Indian Continent), and will report directly to PATA CEO Mario Hardy.
Sabre Airline Solutions Sabre has appointed JEFF FULLMER as vice president and regional general manager of the Americas for the company’s airline solutions business. In this role, Fullmer will oversee the sales team for the Americas, including North America and Latin America and work closely with airline customers in this region. He has 19 years of sales and customer management experience at IBM, where he most recently served as managing partner, infrastructure services. He has also held general manager, area general manager and regional manager positions within IBM. Fullmer earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Utah.
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ARAB AFFAIR Rajiv Gokani (third from left), MD, E Travel Online and Vivek Jain (extreme right), COO, E Travel Online at Arabian Travel Market held in Dubai
RECORD PARTICIPATION The recently concluded 22nd Peru Travel Mart (PTM 2015), an annual tourism promotion event held in Peru, witnessed participation from 279 travel buyers, amid 163 international and 116 national travel buyers
LUXURIOUS LUXEMBOURG L-R: Col P Shashidharan VSM, AFV, western region secretary, TAAI; Sampat Damani, western region chairman, TAAI; Sameer Karnani, western region hon treasurer, TAAI; Marzban Antia, hon treasurer, TAAI; Laure Huberty, deputy head of mission - Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; H E Sam Schreiner, ambassador of Luxembourg; Jay Bhatia, tourism council chairman, TAAI; Ashok Kadakia, hon consul - MGG; and Jayshree Lakhotia, hon counsellor cultural and tourism at a presentation event held exclusively for the TAAI team to promote Luxembourg as a tourism destination for India market
BUILDING AWARENESS Macau Government Tourist Office recently organised a FAM trip to Macau for the Indian travel trade
EFFECTIVE TRAINING As part of the Brand USA ‘DiscoverAmerica’ educational seminars, Visit California participated in training 40 travel agents in Lucknow
DIVERSIFIED SHOWCASE Tourism Trinidad & Tobago recently organised a FAM trip to Trinidad and Tobago for five travel agents from India
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CITY PROMOTION RezLive.com - Dubai in partnership with The Gate Collection Luxury & Lifestyle Hotels and Etihad Airlines organised a FAM trip to Paris for its travel agents in UAE
EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING British Airways and BT is association with Magic Bus, a non-profit organisation, recently celebrated ‘Give and Gain Day’ by teaching cricket, football and rugby skills to over 100 Magic Bus children in the NCR region
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP L-R: Manoj Papa, CEO, Air Seychelles and Cramer Ball, CEO, Jet Airways at the Jet Airways and Air Seychelles codehare signing ceremony held in Abu Dhabi
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GRAND OPENING First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama (centre) along with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio officially opened the new Whitney Museum of American Art at a festive ceremony held in downtown Manhattan
WIDENING REACH Lama Tours India recently held roadshows across Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai
SERIOUS BUSINESS Carl Vaz, president, SKAL International Bombay, at the recently organised SKAL networking evening at ITC Maratha Mumbai
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.