Express Travelworld (Vol.11, No.9) October, 2016

V0L 11 NO.9 PAGES 40

October 2016, `50

EDITOR’S NOTE

Power parleys

A

trip to the capital of India seldom lets you down especially when it comes to understanding the meaning of being connected and to be in the power circle. For a journalist New Delhi is definitely the place to be as news, views and opinions are shared, discussed and debated upon by the minute. It's a perfect place for some quotable quotes. I was a silent observer to all this and more at the recently held tourism investor's meet, which surely promised a plethora of opportunities for investment and business networking. Mega projects along with mega promises were the highlight of the summit. Now let’s wait and see how many of these mega projects will finally see the light of day.

State tourism boards were also present in full force to lure investors to their regions. However, being an eternal optimist, I would like to add here as per investors, states like MP and Telangana, are drafting realistic policies to offer them a genuinely attractive deal especially when it comes to land parcels. There seemed to be a lineup of hospitality investors, in particular, SMEs who were seeking the right advice and guidance to gain ground in their business space. Another area of

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“States like MP and Telangana, are drafting realistic policies to offer investors a genuinely attractive deal especially when it comes to land parcels”

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discussion, which was brought up by the CM of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, was cruise tourism and the development of certain regions in the state for this niche tourism opportunity. Our cover story this issue, focuses on this very topic, developing the cruise tourism business from India and also within India.

Cruise business has tremendous potential, and much has been discussed, debated and deliberated upon since over two decades. A story related to this sector needs to focus on two aspects - India's outbound cruise tourism potential and the country as a cruise tourism hub. Industry experts have given their verdict on both the issues. Costa Cruises is soon to commence its maiden journey from Mumbai to Maldives and it would interesting to observe this development, especially in terms of passenger movement. This month will also witness two big industry events the TAAI Convention and the MP Travel Mart. It is interesting to see what unfolds at both these events, one being held in India and the other on international soil.

AHMEDABAD Nirav Mistry The Indian Express (P) Ltd. 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Near Judges Bunglows, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad - 380 015 Mobile: +91 9586424033 BHOPAL Ashwin Kamble The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 2nd Floor, Express Tower, Nariman Point Mumbai- 400 021 Board line: 022- 67440000 Ext. 527 Mobile: +91 9833666558 Email id: ashwin.kamble@expressindia.com JAIPUR Prabhas Jha The Indian Express (P) Ltd. S2,J-40, Shyam GHP Enclave, Krishna Marg, C-Scheme, Jaipur - 302 001 Mobile: +91 9899707440

REEMA LOKESH Editor editorial.etw@expressindia.com

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CONTENTS MANAGEMENT Vol 11 No 9 OCTOBER 2016 Pages 40

31

Chairman of the Board

Viveck Goenka Sr Vice President - BPD

Neil Viegas Editor

Reema Lokesh* Assistant Editor

Steena Joy Sr. Associate Editor

LIVE LIKE A HERMIT IN A SLEEPY TOWN CALLED NILESHWAR IN KASARGOD DISTRICT OF KERALA, ALTAF CHAPRI SET OUT TO BUILD AN OASIS OF TRANQUILLITY AND GREENERY THAT IS TODAY A WORLD RENOWNED BOUTIQUE DESTINATION IN ITSELF

Sudipta Dev CONTENT TEAM Kolkata

Joy Roy Choudhury New Delhi

Saloni Bhatia DESIGN National Design Editor

Bivash Barua Assistant Art Director

Pravin Temble Senior Artist

Ratilal Ladani, Kiran Parker SCHEDULING & COORDINATION

Ashish Anchan Photo Editor

AN OCEAN OF

EDGE

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OPPORTUNITIES

Sandeep Patil MARKETING Regional Heads

Harit Mohanty - East & West Prabhas Jha - North Manager

Ashwin Kamble Marketing Team

Debnarayan Dutta Ajanta Sengupta Mathen Mathew CIRCULATION

The potential of cruise tourism both in terms of passenger movement on varied itineraries and India as a cruise tourism port has been discussed since over a decade. In this cover story, industry experts identify the challenges and the possible way forward in this niche line of business

AN INCREDIBLE INVESTOR’S SUMMIT THE SUMMIT WHICH RECENTLY CONCLUDED IN DELHI, WITNESSED THE SIGNING OF 86 MOUS WORTH `15,000 CR

(20-24)

Mohan Varadakar PRODUCTION General Manager

B R Tipnis Manager

Bhadresh Valia Express TravelWorld® POSTAL REGD. NO. MCS/163/2016 – 18 RNI Reg. No.MAHENG/2005/15993 Printed by The Indian Express (P) Ltd. and published by Ms Vaidehi Thakar on

MARKETS

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INNOVATIVE PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY TO BE A GAME CHANGER IN TRAVEL

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TAAI’S 63rd CONVENTION IN ABU DHABI TO FOCUS ON NEED TO RISE ABOVE ROUTINE

behalf of The Indian Express Press, Plot No. EL-208, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400710 and

P06: EDITOR’S NOTE

Published from Express Towers, 2nd Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021.

(Editorial & Administrative Offices: Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai – 400021)

A NEW HIGH FOR DOWN UNDER THERE WAS A RECORD PARTICIPATION FROM AUSTRALIAN SUPPLIERS AT THE RECENTLY HELD INDIA TRAVEL MISSION (ITM) 2016 IN CHENNAI

P34 : APPOINTMENTS P35 : WEEKEND

Copyright © 2016 The Indian Express (P) 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

IN THE NEWS

Innovative payment technology to be a game changer in travel Sudipta Dev Mumbai PAYMENT PROCESSING in the travel and hospitality industry is at the threshold of dynamic changes – from the exponential usage of mobile wallets to introduction of Jio Money to the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). With the payment industry understanding that it is not just a transaction, but part of customer experience, there are focused efforts on making the whole process seamless. Innovation is the name of the game. MobiKwik that has 32 million users, recently launched bubble pin that al-

lows users to make payments at any offline location even without data connectivity.

"These are just one-step payments where users need to share a pin only, not even their mobile number, to make the payment," said Upasana Taku, co-founder, MobiKwik, acknowledging that the company has to constantly innovate its offerings to address issues raised by users.

Ease of use is the primary case for adoption of mobile wallets in the travel vertical.

"Users can easily decide their travel plans on travel portals or mobile wallet portals and make the payment,” said Taku, adding that MobiKwik

wallet also has a unique option of cash loading for the wallet, thus converting users who prefer cash payments to e-cash payment and offering the convenience to book travel or hotels and pay from their phone. Mobile wallets are also effective payment processes for offline tour operators and travel agents.

“They can receive and send payments through P2P, money can be sent to a user’s wallet or bank account," added Taku.

The company's bus booking service, launched in June 2016, is seeing over 4,000 daily bookings. "We have a strong portfolio in railways and bus

Upasana Taku

ticket bookings,” informed Taku. Users can even pay for

autos on Jugnoo with the app.

UPI will be a game changer in time to come, and ICICI Bank is betting big on it.

At the recently held FHRAI annual convention in Indore, Saurabh Jain, chief manager, mobile payments, ICICI Bank, mentioned, “ICICI Bank tries to come out with innovative payment technology. The process should bring the merchant closer to the customer.”

Mohit Kanodia of Jio Money, Reliance Jio Infocomm affirmed, “End-to-end payment should be simplified. The payment process should not be any different from billing.” It should also provide the 'wow' moment to the customer.

ICPB urges states to become lifetime members; will launch state chapters soon Saloni Bhatia New Delhi INDIA CONVENTION Promotion Bureau (ICPB) is undergoing major changes in order to promote India as a convention country. The bureau is set to host the ninth Convention India Conclave from October 13 to 15, 2016, at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel in New Delhi. The flagship event, themed 'Harnessing the Potential', will be a platform to network with MICE specialists from across the world. There will be around 150 international and domestic buyers who are

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Chander Mansharamani

decision makers and planners. The three-day convention will see sessions and

buyer meets along with the exhibition.

In an interaction with Express TravelWorld, Chander Mansharamani, vice chairman, ICPB, informed, “We have approached the states to become lifetime members of ICPB. Five of the states namely Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana and New Delhi have agreed. Even the ministry now sees the potential in this segment and it is high time; things are taken forward in the right manner. In line, we will soon be starting the state chapters to work cohesively with the government. We plan to start bidding

within the states and then pitch for international conferences.

There is also some money that the government is willing to contribute to the process.”

“After a successful meeting with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, we have decided to host a convention in Mumbai in March 2017. It will be a B2B trade show where only convention centres, hotels with a capacity of more than 500 and service providers will participate.

We will also invite international buyers,” added Mansharamani.

When asked about whether the infrastructure

supporting conventions is in place, he opined, “I feel that the infrastructure is in place, but we need aggressive marketing to promote the destinations. With cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad emerging as MICE destinations, it is best now to market them in a correct manner. But everything now will come into place through ICPB and support of the ministry.”

Another game changer, Mansharamani indicated, would be the introduction of a MICE policy by the ministry of tourism, which will be planned with assistance from ICPB.

IN THE NEWS

TAAI’s 63rd convention in Abu Dhabi to focus on need to rise above routine ETW Staff Mumbai THE 63rd ANNUAL Convention and Exhibition of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), to be held in Abu Dhabi from October 1416, 2016, is expected to be content rich and will focus on the importance of the changing travel scenario and the need for members to rise beyond the routine. Sunil Kumar, president, TAAI informed that when a survey was done on 100 outbound passengers from India who visit Dubai, it was revealed that only about five per cent visit Abu Dhabi.

One prime reason, he indicated, is the inadequate awareness on the growing strength of Abu Dhabi,

particularly in the areas of tourism and MICE. For the convention, themed "Tomorrow Begins Now - Rise above Routine", TAAI has associated with Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), which has assured of support

to TAAI to hold this event in Abu Dhabi. TCA Abu Dhabi and TAAI are offering free UAE visa to registered delegates, attending the event.

TCA Abu Dhabi is also offering two nights pre and two nights post tours to delegates in Abu Dhabi / Al Ain /

Saadiyat Island and Yas Island.

Speaking about the convention, Kumar reflected that the convention would be rich in its content as well as in offering experiential take-home to the delegates. He said, “Alongside this, evenings will

be classy, pre and post tours will be plenty and above all, the attendees will be offered abundant luxury of a very high order.”

TAAI’s flagship event, also known as Indian Travel Congress, will be held at seven star hotel Emirates Palace.

The TAAI team also had meetings with several airlines in its pursuit to offer the delegates special fares. The convention will also focus on an exhibition that will offer exhibitors and vendors from the region the opportunity to connect with the Indian outbound industry and to promote India. TAAI will promote “Inbound into India” as an important subject at the convention to encourage the region to connect well with India.

MPTravel Mart to have special focus on domestic and inbound markets ETW Staff Mumbai THE THIRD EDITION of Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart, to be held from October 14-16, 2016 in capital city Bhopal, will have a special focus on promoting domestic and inbound tourism into the state to reaffirm its position as a preferred global tourist destination. Alongside, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC) also aims to market Madhya Pradesh as a year-round destination.

Hari Ranjan Rao, managing director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC), commented,

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"MP Tourism will also be launching some of its own activities along with the private companies. The policy will also include development of way side amenities in association with private companies. The state has incredible potential in terms of heritage properties with Madhavgarh Fort, Govindgarh Fort and Fort Orchha at its disposal."

MP Travel Mart promises to provide an opportunity to tap into this market by bringing a forum of effective one-to-one business meetings. MP Travel Mart aims to create a platform that will offer the perfect environment for like-minded people from the travel trade to interact and do business together. The

goal is to ensure each participant, whether its the exhibitor, buyer or visitor, gets value for their investment and time spent.

The state has also launched a new tourism policy on September 20, 2016, that include some changes in the rules and aid involvement of private players. A special tourism cabinet has been formed which will entirely focus on promoting tourism in the state. The new forest recreational rules will allow development in good quality forest, which was not accessible earlier.

This forest area does not fall under wildlife sanctuaries or wildlife parks. The forest department has pointed out 15-16 areas that can be transformed around

Indira Sagar Dam, Indore etc. A permit will allow private companies to buy land and start adventure activities. MP tourism will also be launching some of its own activities along with the private companies. The policy also includes development of way side amenities in association with private companies.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the best state for comprehensive development of tourism, followed by Gujarat and Karnataka respectively, at the National Tourism Awards for the year 2014-2015. Additionally, Monuments of Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh were declared the best maintained and disablefriendly monument.

Hari Ranjan Rao

IN THE NEWS

Tourism Tasmania identifies Indian middle class as growth driver

MTPAdirector focuses on ROI from India market To offer Mauritius beyond the sun,sea and sand Reema Lokesh Mumbai

Mohit Rathod Mumbai AUSTRALIA'S SOUTH coast island state of Tasmania plans to leverage upon the rising leisure and luxury travel trend among the Indian middle class.

Tourism Tasmania, the tourism arm of Tasmanian Government, recently conducted destination promotion events in Delhi and Mumbai.

The tourism authority plans to tap the leisure travel segment in the India market, due to the growing outbound numbers from the country.

The event in Mumbai saw the Premier of Tasmania, Will Hodgman; John Fitzgerald, CEO, Tourism Tasmania highlighting the island state's growth plans in India.

Whereas, former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting

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shared about the destination's tourism offerings.

Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Fitzgerald said, "Leisure is our focus segment in the India market. At this stage, the Indian middle class travelling for luxury is seeing growth; and Tasmania fits the bill for that. This year we are targeting major Indian cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, but I'm sure we will expand to other cities as we visit the market again. Awareness about Tasmania is less in India, so we have to concentrate our efforts on that."

Though this event is a standalone activity of Tourism Tasmania, it will work with the national tourism authority, Tourism Australia, for trade engagements. In 2015, Tasmania witnessed around 4,100 Indian arrivals, which is said to

have grown in 2016.

Hodgman added, "Tasmania's tourism industry has been growing considerably in the recent years. Growth from India hasn't been strong as compared to other international markets, but we look forward to tap this market through co-ordination with the government and the travel industry in India. We consider India as an important market in terms of growth opportunities."

The tourism body has chalked out a 10-year growth strategy for the India market, and anticipates double-digit year-on-year growth in Indian arrivals. Fitzgerald indicated that Tourism Tasmania's next step will be co-ordinated efforts with the Indian travel trade on points such as Tasmanian packages.

MAURITIUS TOURISM Promotion Authority (MTPA) recently held its India roadshow, with a mission to offer the country using a refreshed approach for its India clientele. The country has been primarily recognised as a premium beach destination and has witnessed success, both amidst family holiday goers, honeymooners and also MICE players. The tourism board feels the time is right to educate the India market on the new tourism experiences that Mauritius has to offer. Under the leadership of its new director, Kevin Ramkaloan, the board is connecting with the trade across regions. In an exclusive interaction with Express TravelWorld, Ramkaloan, stated, "My focus is on ROI from the India market. We are here with a clear mission to educate the clientele with what are the new offerings in Mauritius, which is a

multifaceted destination.

Our performance till now has been very positive and we only aim to improve that in the coming years.

We carefully listened to the trade and acted upon it and are open to feedback to improve our product offerings."

The director wants to give out a message that Mauritius has a series of experiences to offer that goes beyond the beaches.

For having the world's second largest zipline, to skydiving, from exclusive shopping to art galleries and UNESCO sites, and cultural experiences, there is a lot more to the country that the tourism board is keen to offer. The country also provides some encouraging offers to the film fraternity and is glad to invite members of the cine world to encourage film shootings in the region. The no-visa policy to improved air connectivity, Mauritius as a destination is completely ready to build more business connections in the field of tourism in India.

IN THE NEWS

Air Canada expands footprint in India Saloni Bhatia New Delhi AIR CANADA will be introducing a non-stop daily flight in between Vancouver and New Delhi, starting October 20, 2016. The flight will operate thrice a week along with the Toronto flight from New Delhi. Air Canada started its non-stop flight New Delhi – Toronto – New Delhi in November last year and now will shift it to a daily service, starting November 6, 2016. The airline also announced the addition of a new service between Toronto and Mumbai to be launched in July, 2017. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Arun Pandeya, country head, Air Canada and GM – India sub-continent, informed, “India was always on the plan of expansion for Air Canada, but we have finally come with the right kind of aircraft. There are very few aircraft which

can offer a seamless experience. We have seen tremendous growth in the past year with load factor reaching more than 85 per cent and that too at decent rates.”

Duncan Bureau, vice president – global sales, Air Canada, stated, “Our new flights show our commitment to the India market; Air Canada will be the only carrier to offer a non-stop service between Canada and Mumbai. These routes will operate year-round with Air Canada’s state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.”

The Vancouver – New Delhi flight will be the fastest connection to the Westcoast from India.

The timings have also been planned in accordance with flyers’ convenience. Pandeya said, “One leaves Delhi and reaches in the morning where you have an entire day at leisure. We further have great domestic connections and also serve 56 destinations in the US. Another major factor is

that the Canadian government does not charge fee for a transit visa. The load factors on the Toronto flights have outreached our forecasts. It has increased both ways which has given us the confidence to add more destinations. Therefore we will

launch our services to another hub – Mumbai, starting July 2017.”

These routes will operate year-round with Air Canada’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The aircraft features 29 International Business Class lie-flat seat suites,

21 Premium Economy and 247 economy class seats, with upgraded in-flight entertainment at every seat throughout the aircraft. All flights will provide for priority check-ins, Maple Leaf Lounge access, priority boarding and other benefits.

India emerges as third largest source market for Kenya Sudipta Dev Mumbai INDIA HAS transitioned from being an emerging market for Kenya, marking a 30 per cent growth in visitor arrivals from January to July 2016. India is now the third largest source market for Kenya, after the UK and the US. Kenya Tourism Board is looking at attracting 70,000 Indian visitors in 2016, and increasing the number to one lakh arrivals by 2018.

Kenya Tourism Board, along with Kenya Airways, recently launched the Kenya Kalling travel trade incentive and consumer campaign to ensure visibility of the destination throughout the year. Launching the campaign in Mumbai, Samuel Karicha, minister

counselor, Kenya Embassy, said, "This is an opportunity for us to create awareness as to what Kenya offers as a tourism destination – the well known as well as the lesser known aspects." The major attraction in Kenya is abundant wildlife liv-

ing in its natural habitat and natural beauty.

Kenya is also trying to promote itself as a MICE destination for India outbound. Pointing out that the country is catering to the changing profile of the new age traveller,

Karicha added,"The conferencing business has seen a marked growth with key global conferences being organised in Kenya." The major reasons for this can be attributed to excellent conferencing infrastructure and airline connectivity.

Reminding that in 2017 Kenya Airways would complete 40 years of operation in India, Lucie Malu, country manager – India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh, Kenya Airways, mentioned, “Currently we are operating two times a day into Mumbai, apart from Tuesday and Thursday when there is one flight.” The airline is also introducing an attractive all inclusive fare for the India market.

Highlighting what Kenya Kalling is all about, Hildah

Ogada, assistant regional marketing manager, Kenya Tourism Board, said, “We are inviting Indian travellers to come to Kenya.” The Indian travel trade is being encouraged to sell more of Kenya, and is being encouraged to register at Kenya Kalling website to get exciting prizes.

“Kenya is a country of heritage, traditions and scenic landscapes, ranging from snowcapped mountains to beaches. The magical highlights of Kenya include not just the safari but exclusive experiences like hand-feeding giraffes and hot air ballooning,” said Rajeev Nangia, COO, Trac Representations (India).

Kenya government is providing waiver of visa fee to visitors below 16 years of age.

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IN THE NEWS

Shangri-La sees increasing growth from Tier II outbound market Sudipta Dev Mumbai SHANGRI-LA HOTELS & Resorts, which operates 98 properties and more than 500 restaurants and bars globally, including two hotels in India, has a strong focus on the India outbound market. The last few years have seen a positive growth from India with increasing interest from the social and weddings market, particularly from Tier II and smaller cities. “With higher spending power, and the perceived value of an overseas trip – many Indians are choosing to travel internationally for family events,” said Greg Ward, VP sales, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts. One of the world's premier hotel companies, the group provides increased choice across a variety of brands including Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Kerry Hotels

and Hotel Jen. Another key segment is the outbound MICE market.

Shangri-La properties frequented by Indian travellers include Indian Ocean hotels in Mauritius and the Maldives which are in high demand. Middle East, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore properties are also popular in this market. “We see Sri Lanka as an emerging destination with the opening of Shangri-La Hambantota Resort and Spa as Sri Lanka’s premium resort soon to be complemented

by Shangri-La Colombo opening in 2017, ensuring we are well placed for the Indian traveller meeting their needs and exceeding expectation,” mentioned Ward.

All hotels within the group's expanding portfolio are catering to MICE and destination weddings, including Pudong’s Shangri-La Hotel (Shanghai), Singapore’s Shangri-La Hotel,

China World Hotel (Beijing), and Muscat’s Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah (Oman). “Additionally with the increased growth in visitor numbers from India to the Philippines where we have six hotels including city centre and resorts we continue to provide increased choice from India,” stated Ward.

The Hong Kong headquartered leading hotel group has representation in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Its Regional Liaison Office - India serves as the facilitator of Shangri-La’s business interests in the sub-continent. The office is led by Vivek Braganza, director of business development - India.

Talking about India properties Ward stated, “Shangri-La New Delhi has recently undergone an extensive renovation programme across all food and beverage outlets with excellent results. Additionally, we recently opened Shangri-La Bengaluru which is already an award winning hotel.”

MoTlaunches new social media accounts Saloni Bhatia New Delhi MINISTRY OF TOURISM recently organised a social media workshop in New Delhi to tap marketing opportunities. The event saw the launch of five social media accounts of the ministry – Pinterest, Periscope, LinkedIn, Vimeo and Instagram – by Vinod Zutshi, secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Suman Billa, additional secretary, Ministry of Tourism. Addressing the gathering which consisted of India's tourism partners and state tourism boards, Zutshi opined, “It is very important

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to evolve with the changing times and recognise the true potential of these platforms.

The new generation has the tools of instant communication and we are willing to learn from them. The Ministry of Tourism is already undergoing a digital transformation in order to promote India in a big way.”Billa informed, “The Incredible India twitter handle has already gained 94,000 followers in the period of May to August and we are looking to reach out to a wider audience through these other platforms. With the human retention span reduced to merely 10 seconds, one needs

to make sure the content is fresh, differentiated, engaging and shareable on regular basis. There is already varied content on social media in terms of blogs, images and videos shared by people that can be used. I would also request all the state tourism boards and associations to collectively work in promoting India as a destination.”

There were also presentations by Saransh Kharbanda, analytical head, Google and Taranjeet Singh, business head, Twitter on the use of social marketing tools in promoting travel businesses.

India has the largest base of

The Incredible India twitter handle has already gained 94,000 followers in the period of May to August and we are looking to reach out to a wider audience through these other platforms internet with 350 million users and Google has the potential of reaching out to 96 per cent of users connected through mails, photos and YouTube across devices. “85 percent of business travellers

use social media to do booking and 61 per cent of users follow travel brands. As a user friendly platform, Twitter entails huge potential to promote travel in India,” commented Singh.

IN THE NEWS

'TRAVELAGENTS WILLBENEFITFROM NDC' IT solution provider, Airlines Technology, works closely on IATA’s affiliated New Distribution Capability (NDC) initiative. Smriti Kumar, co-founder, Airlines Technology, shares how the technology will transform the way air travel products are sold to leisure and business travellers. By Sudipta Dev What are the key advantages of NDC - for a traveller, a travel agent, an airline, and other stakeholders ?

For travellers the key advantages are - option to prebook the services on travel portals; understanding differentiation amongst all flight facilities in minutest details; transparency in fares, facilities, services, etc. The travel agents benefit by access to complete onboard and ground services of airlines; selection, booking, check-in, and modification can be done on the OTA portal itself; additional incentives on selling ancillary services; giving complete breakup of the fare to travellers by providing final cost. For airlines, the benefits include higher customer retention with personalised offers; accelerating sale by multiple channel presence; dynamically showcasing the offerings on travel agent portal (with videos/pictures /detailed description); selling onboard services like Wi-Fi, food, legroom, entertainment,

free or discounted class upgrades, etc, via OTAs; and better control on payments management (giving multiple financing options to travellers).

In which segment of the travel industry do you foresee quick implementation of this technology?

Aviation is the first adopter of NDC. Many airlines have already transformed their reservation systems to a NDC compliant one and many more are joining in. However, full implementation of this technology will take some time.

Do you have plans to engage with thousands of small travel agents across the country ?

Yes, we have plans to engage with small travel agents. Our aggregator API will be open and free to use. Any OTA can use it by hooking it into its portal. We have plans to educate all travel agents about benefits of NDC and our aggregator.

Smriti Kumar

What are the major implementations you are looking at in the airline industry (international and Indian) ?

Today 70-75 per cent of airline reservations are managed through travel agents. Airlines are not able to sell ancillary services (Wi-Fi, food, lounge, preferred seats, boarding, etc) on OTAs. This results in huge revenue and opportunity loss

for airlines. Consumers also don't know what they deserve.

They see only fares and schedule (time of flight ) on OTA portal and have to make choice from that. They don't understand if two flights are offering same or similar price, which one will suit their needs best.

The key challenges in current scenario is that there is no direct link between airlines and OTAs and the data available is not real. Also, OTAs do not have rich content, personalisation and access which airline portals offer. Our aggregation service will be a direct link between airlines and OTAs or end users.

One of the main aspects of our aggregator is personalisation, where dynamic offers will be given to users based on their past bookings or current details entered. On portals, travellers can see only the fare and schedule. This leaves a huge gap where airlines cannot sell their other onboard services like meal, preferred sitting, lounge access, entertainment of cho

ice. Some are basic necessities like wheelchair, porter, etc. If you want those, you have to contact your airlines directly.

With NDC, the end consumer will be able to shop and choose what he wants directly on the travel portal. This will lead to great travel experience/planning and revenue for airlines.

We will aggregate this rich content between airlines, third party vendors and travel portals.

How do you foresee the future evolution of this technology ?

NDC will enable the travel industry to transform the way air products are sold to corporations, leisure and business travellers, by addressing the industry’s current distribution limitations: product differentiation and time-to-market, access to full and rich air content and finally, transparent shopping experience. NDC can be applied in any industry and seeing its revolutionary contribution in aviation I am sure other industries will also think about it.

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IN THE NEWS

Brand USA’s 5th annual India Mission draws largest US delegation ever

Saloni Bhatia New Delhi BRAND USA’s fifth annual India Mission was recently held across Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. The US delegation included representatives from 37 companies including destinations, attractions, hotels and receptive operators – the largest group till date. The mission kicked off with the launch and showcase of Brand USA’s film, America Wild: National Parks Adventure, produced with MacGillivray Freeman Films in association with Brand USA and narrated by Robert Redford, at the PVR Cinemas in Mumbai. The film celebrated the completion of 100 years of the national park service in the US. The mission provided an

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opportunity for US suppliers to engage with key decision makers through one-on-one appointments. The invitees included major stakeholders from the Indian travel trade, airline representatives, hospitality representatives and tour operators. Additionally, a dedicated media day was organised in New Delhi with leading travel trade and consumer media to interact with the US partners.

Christopher L Thompson, president and CEO, Brand USA said, “As the number of Indian visitors to the US continues to grow, the opportunities within India as a source market are numerous. In 2015, more than 1.1 million Indians visited the US, a 17 per cent increase over 2014. India will surely be a key contributor toward our goal of welcoming 100

million international visitors by 2021. Year after year, the India Mission provides a great platform for our partners to generate more business from this increasingly productive market.”

Sheema Vohra, managing director, Brand USA – India, added, “Brand USA’s robust travel trade outreach, coupled with effective consumer marketing, co-operative engagements and PR in India ensures new developments and partnerships in this market, offering a bouquet of travel offerings to the discerning Indian visitor. We are thrilled by the great response from the Indian travel trade in all three cities and are confident that this trend will continue over the next decade, providing an excellent opportunity for our Indian travel partners to cultivate lucrative business opportunities with the USA.”

Beijing to focus on MICE market in India Saloni Bhatia New Delhi BEIJING TOURISM recently hosted a travel trade meet in New Delhi, where travel trade partners from India gathered to learn about Beijing’s offerings.

Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Cao Pengcheng, vice chairman, Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, stated, “According to a recent report, Beijing has been listed as one of the top five MICE destinations.

The various MICE facilities is also one of the tourism offerings that Beijing Tourism will promote in India. We are here hosting this event because we see a growth potential in the India market.”

Inbound market from

India has seen year-on-year growth of about 17 per cent, taking the country to the second place among all the countries. Beijing Tousim also expects that there will be more MICE incentives from India visiting Beijing this year, which is also one of Beijing Tourism’s strategies to promote the destination in the India market.

“More than the leisure clients it is the MICE clients who have a higher purchasing power. So we have also established a lot of policies to promote Beijing as a MICE destination; be it the financials or special permits. India has been a big market for China and we wish to tap it further with leisure and MICE travellers,” added Pengcheng.

IN THE NEWS

PHD Chamber organises Global Film Tourism Conference in New Delhi Saloni Bhatia New Delhi PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) organised a Global Film Tourism Conference in New Delhi. The event witnessed ministers and film makers in attendance, who discussed about the contribution of the film industry to a country’s tourism. In his welcome address, Mahesh Gupta, president, PHDCCI, informed, “As one of the oldest chambers in the country, we realise the importance of film industry in promoting tourism of a state.

The tourism industry has a multiplier effect on the economy and film tourism needs to be promoted as a niche tourism product.”

Commenting on the challenges faced by film makers, noted director Prakash Jha, said, “It becomes difficult to

attain permissions from various government departments.

In order to ease the process, there should be a one-room window for all approvals and permissions. I have shot several films in Bhopal and Maharashtra and appreciate the immense support provided by the government. Especially in Bhopal, the authorities make sure there is freedom of creativity and the right ambience.”

Another film maker on the panel, Madhur Bhandarkar, opined, “The lack of proper infrastructure and difficulty to get permission is the reason film makers hesitate to shoot in India. We have everything in our country, from heritage sites to urban cities. Since foreign countries have easy process in permissions more film makers head towards the west.”

According to a report re-

Prakash Jha

leased by the PHDCCI, 35 per cent of Bollywood films were shot in India during 2014-2016, while 45 per cent were shot abroad and the remaining 20 per cent both in India and

Madhur Bhandarkar

abroad. Jawhar Sircar, CEO, Prasar Bharati, ministry of information and broadcasting, added, “I would request the film makers to project India in the right light and our author-

ities to cut down on restrictions. We can probably have signs at locations where the films are shot in order to raise awareness and promote them as film destinations.”

Udaan India launches DMC services for untapped destinations Saloni Bhatia New Delhi UDAAN INDIA has ventured into a new segment through Udaan DMC, a destination marketing destination. The company, primarily known for its visa facilitation, has been promoting Croatia as a destination for the past two years. Rajan Dua, managing director, Udaan DMC, informed, “The success of handling Croatia led us to tie up with other destination management companies. We will be

promoting 27 destinations in Europe, 13 in Africa and nine in Asia, along with the SAARC countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.”

Sumit Banerji, chief commercial officer, Udaan DMC, said, “We are going to focus on exclusive countries with selective experiences. We will be aggressively promoting Bulgaria, Bosnia, Slovenia, Poland, Sweden along with our destinations in Central Asia like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. To our agents, we will be able to offer

special services like a MICE facility in the forest, helicopter rides along a glacier, a music festival on ice, etc.”

Dua further informed, “There are a lot of destinations that are still uncovered and can be offered to our existing clients.

We look forward to promote these destinations in the India market.” The company has offices across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata and will be opening one in Noida soon. All the offices will have separate divisions for the DMC services.

We will be aggressively promoting Bulgaria, Bosnia, Slovenia , Poland, Sweden along with our destinations in Central Asia like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. We are going to focus on exclusive countries with selective experiences EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD

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cover story)

Costa Cruises

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(

THE MAIN FOCUS

AN OCEAN OFOPPORTUNITIES The potential of cruise tourism both in terms of passenger movement on varied itineraries and India as a cruise tourism port has been discussed since over a decade.

In this cover story, industry experts identify the challenges and the possible way forward in this niche line of business

BY REEMA LOKESH

T

hat the cruise business has potential is no rocket science. The fact remains that this concern has been discussed, debated, deliberated upon since over two decades. A story related to this sector needs to be treated with clarity and spelt out in two parts. First, India's cruise tourism potential in terms of passenger movement, and second, India as a cruise tourism hub. Though there have been a series of discussions on the issue of developing India's ports, we would primarily try and decode what's trending on the former.

Industry experts have given their verdict on what is the latest trend in terms of passenger movement and demand in this niche tourism segment.

As one of the leading players in this sector, Ratna Chadha, chief executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing, has viewed and studied this market closely. She states that India's cruise story is yet to unfold, the current market share is nowhere near its potential and there is lot of work that needs to be done before we can even begin talking of a market share. Nishith Saxena, founder and director, Cruise Professionals, shares a similar sentiment, “The Indian market share in the global scenario is very limited and marginalised.

Except for South Asian cruises, Indians form a very small percentage on any other cruising region, may it be Alaska, Australia, Caribbean, Japan, Mediterranean or Mexico. The concept of cruising has more to do with 'vacation' and Indians feature among the top five 'vacation deprived' people in the world. While the concept of

cruise vacation is catching up in metros and mini-metros, we still have a long way to go.”

Meanwhile, Kunal Sampat, GM-India, MSC Cruises, though cautious, states that the outbound cruise tourism business in terms of Indian passengers opting for a cruise holiday through the fly and cruise format has been experiencing a growth of around 13 – 15 per cent year on year, which is a good trend considering challenges outbound tourism has experienced from India in the past few years. He says, “2016 has been the best year so far and growth has been consistent. With the increasing trend of Indian travellers willing to experience unique destinations, cruising is becoming more and more popular. Being one of the fastest growing economies of the world, India is an emerging market for outbound cruise tourism for international cruise liners. Trade partners have been extremely supportive in promoting cruise holidays aggressively in India.

With few trade partners using their expertise and out-of-the box ideas to create special interest groups, there are still lot of partners who need to put in an effort to understand the product before selling it to their clients.”

Sharing a few key statistics, Kishan Biyani, MD, Ark Travels, mentions that as per the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2015, of the World Economic Forum, India ranks 35th in Air Transport Infrastructure and 50th in Ground & Port Infrastructure from 141 countries of the world.

He says, "Looking at the rankings which India has received over so many years of promoting tourism in domestic and overseas market, it’s obvious that we as a country are

moving in the right direction to achieve the desired results of one per cent tourist arrivals and cruise tourism per se plays an important role. India has a vast coastline and huge potential as a destination – most cruise companies have shown great interest in wanting to move ships to India." Star Cruises has a well established positioning in the India market and the company has been one of the forerunners in operating sailings few years ago ex-Mumbai, but pulled out due to bureacratic bottlenecks. However, the outbound movement for this cruise company has been encouraging over the years. Naresh Rawal, VP-sales, South Asia, ME, South Africa and Russia, Star Cruises and Dream Cruises, gives credit to his trade partners for helping the company grow in India.

Product understanding Though there has been minor progress over the years in this business, it is just the tip of the iceberg. Most experts feel that there is a lot which the travel fraternity first needs to understand about this niche sector. Speaking about product knowledge and the willingness to understand this sector better, Sampat candidly states, “India is a B2B market for cruise liners with more than 95 per cent of business coming from trade partners. In such a scenario, it is extremely important for them to put an effort to understand the product. Selling a cruise holiday has better margins and I would be glad to see partners earning, rather than diluting the same. It is an opportunity which needs to be carefully studied and capitalised upon. I suggest partners to study the product before selling and not only sell as a onetime opportunity. We

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“India's cruise story is yet to unfold” Ratna Chadha Chief executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing

all need to come out of our comfort zones and explore new areas to make more revenue.”

Chadha puts across a message rather strongly. She says, “The cruise category is way below in the holiday consideration due to lack of awareness and misconceptions and lack of category visibility on our own turf.”

She further adds, “We need to work together with the Government of India to bring India on the cruise tourism map for the benefit of our own economy, a process which has started in the right direction I believe. We need to come together under one association and work together with our distribution partners to grow the category.”

What's trending

“The Indian market share in the global scenario is very limited and marginalised” Nishith Saxena Founder & director, Cruise Professionals

“We are the first cruise liner to introduce sailings from Mumbai to Maldives and back” Nalini Gupta MD, Lotus Destinations (GSA of Costa Cruises-India)

22 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD October 2016

According to Rawal, the cruising sector is moving at a steady pace and attracting more and more Indians to cruise from the shorter two nights itinerary to the longer seven nights itinerary as well.

He says, "Being a huge market for Star Cruises we have noticed a recorded encouraging growth in recent years. There has been a consistent increase in the share of Indian passengers. Guests from middle and upper middle class segments are frequent travellers experiencing cruising as a new alternative to their travel options.

Star Cruises offers a series of Fly Cruise holidays from India, allowing travellers to experience the unique opportunity of visiting exotic destinations by both air and sea, all within a single trip and at your own pace. Travellers get the best of both worlds, flying into their favourite homeport cities, as well as travelling further via a relaxing cruise on the high seas or to new destinations on board our cruise ships. While Genting Hong Kong has Star Cruises in its existing cruise portfolio, with extending the core business we have recently launched new brand Dream Cruises that will cater to the growing luxury Asian cruise market and the recently acquired Crystal Cruises is the world’s leading luxury cruise

Star Cruises

provider." Speaking about India's potential as a cruise hub, Rawal adds, “India has huge potential to be an emerging cruise hub in the region with its beautiful coastline and exotic islands. However at present, the existing infrastructure and policies do not encourage us to have a ship home-ported in India. We are working very closely with the concerned government offices to make India an attractive cruise home port for operators like us.”

Nikhil Thakurdas, director, CruiseBay, observes, “India has a miniscule share of the world cruise tourism market.

However cruiseliners are now focusing on Asia especially in the winter months from November to March (where ships cannot sail to Alaska and Scandinavia).” Adding further on what is trending, Nalini Gupta, MD, Lotus Destinations (GSA of Costa Cruises-India) feels that though the cruise industry in India is in its nascent stage, currently there is a lot of interest for sailings in multiple ports of Asia which includes ports in India. Various international sailings of leading cruise liners of the world are being sold in India through dedicated offices or representations. She adds, “Costa Cruises has been making strong moves to establish a cruise industry in the region, by not only having multiple sailing options in Asia but very shortly from Mumbai as well. In fact, we are the first cruise liner to introduce sailings from Mumbai to

Maldives and back. The Government of India has also been proactive. India has the potential of becoming a big market for cruising, not only because of our long coastline but also a large consumer base waiting to experience a cruise from their own country. We have seen big demand for our Mumbai sailing from both travel agents and direct consumers, which includes the corporates.” Saxena, adds, “In the last two years, we have seen many initiatives being undertaken by various stake holders - be it the government, port trusts, various cruise lines, etc, to make India one of the biggest source markets for domestic, coastal and outbound cruising. The consistent growth in the outbound cruising has made all the stakeholders sit up and take notice of this hugely popular vacation option, which in other countries is almost considered as an industry. Once we could get two-three cruise lines home porting their ships around the coast of India, we would not only see massive growth in passenger sales, but also the allied businesses which support and get support from cruise business.”

Concern areas Nikhil Thakurdas, lists down the following areas of concern: a) The first is port infrastructure. Passenger facilities need to be developed in the main leisure cruise ports of Mumbai, Goa and Kochi.

Cruise berthing facilities/ facilitation services need to be developed at sea and river ports. Main bottleneck is the infrastructure at the ports to be able to handle passenger traffic. This includes amenities as well as reducing the time for granting visas, getting customs & excise clearances, etc. b) e-Visa facility has to be set up at the main leisure ports for passenger convenience to enter the country. c) The custom and immigration process has to be streamlined at the main leisure cruise ports. d) Port charges and taxes have to be rationalised so that the pricing becomes affordable for travellers. e) Cruise liners should be incentivised to set up year round operations in India (for eg: concessional port charges, waive of taxes for first three years of operation, etc).

India gaining ground Biyani points out that India is estimated to emerge with a market size of 1.2 million cruise visitors by 2030–31. Cruise companies from across the world are aiming to cash on this segment and are setting up offices or appointing representatives to market their product and services. Genting Hong Kong will be bringing its Dream Cruises by end of October 2016 as relocation cruise before it sets sail from Nansha in China. The ministry of shipping had organised the maiden Maritime India

cover ) Summit, 2016 (MIS-2016) in Mumbai in April 2016 to create awareness of the untapped potential of Indian maritime sector and showcase investment opportunities. With the objective of promoting cruise tourism in India, a Task Force on Cruise Tourism has been constituted by the ministry of tourism, Government of India, which has recommended Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for cruise vessels.

Following are the recommendations: a) Foreign flag vessels carrying passengers have been allowed to call at Indian ports for a period of 10 years with effect from February 6, 2009, without obtaining licence from Director General of Shipping. b) Port Level Committees have been constituted to address manpower, coordination and logistic issues for handling cruise vessels at ports. c) All ports have been directed to offer rebates in port charges and other financial incentives for cruise vessels and also provide rebates in order to attract cruise liners to make major Indian ports as homeports. The cruise industry worldwide is expected to see annual pax growth rate of 6.5 per cent by 2019, which will largely be driven by capacity, new ships, more local ports and newer destinations.

A total of 15 new cruise ships are likely to be added between 2016-17 adding 39,637 to worldwide passenger capacity, or 8.1 per cent, which in turn is expected to fetch US$ 3.6 billion in annual revenue to the cruise industry worldwide. To achieve even one per cent of the revenue quoted above, India needs more concrete and dedicated steps and right atmosphere to cater small and larger cruise.

Thakurdas highlights the reasons as to why India’s cruise tourism story is finally at an inflection point of growth: a) The Indian government is committed to growing

24 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD October 2016

Royal Caribbean

“Most cruise companies have shown great interest in wanting to move ships to India” Kishan Biyani MD, Ark Travels

“India has huge potential to be an emerging cruise hub in the region”

MSC Cruises

Naresh Rawal VP-sales, South Asia, ME, South Africa and Russia, Star Cruises and Dream Cruises

“India is an emerging market for outbound cruise tourism” Kunal Sampat GM-India, MSC Cruises

cruise tourism in India. India has sought advice from Singapore government to promote cruise tourism by modernising infrastructure at all major and minor ports.

Shipping minister, Nitin Gadkari has recently said that `5,000 crore would be spent to develop infrastructure at

the Mumbai Port Trust which will become a port exclusively for passenger traffic (and cargo facilities will soon be terminated) b) Star Cruises is launching its premium cruise ship, Genting Dream in Mumbai from October 2016 – this is the first time that any ship

will be formally launched out of India. Costa Cruises has committed its ship, Costa NeoClassica to the Indian waters with weekly sailings between Mumbai and Male from December 2016 till March 2017. Both Genting Dream and Costa Cruises will help in creating awareness of cruising as a holiday and help in growing the market for cruises. Depending on the success of these two ships, more cruise liners will commence sailings from winter 2017 onwards. Once the port infrastructure is put in place, there is a likelihood of year round sailings in the Indian Ocean region.

“Cruise liners should be incentivised to set up year round operations in India” Nikhil Thakurdas Director, CruiseBay

IN FOCUS

LIVE LIKE AHERMIT In a sleepy town called Nileshwar in Kasargod district of Kerala, Altaf Chapri set out to build an oasis of tranquillity and greenery that is today a world renowned boutique destination in itself

By Steena Joy

A

round 20 kms from Kasargod in Kerala and a two-hour drive from Mangalore airport (incidentally a table top airport), lies a town the cultural capital of North Malabar Nileshwar or Nileshwaram. The town's claim to fame being that Kerala's first chief minister E.M.S. Namboodiripad was elected from here. The town’s other famous attraction is Neeleshwar Hermitage, a boutique beach retreat that is frequented by many international tourists. Though the resort is very popular with international guests, recently it has seen much interest from the domestic market as well.

According to Jayan K V, general manager, Neeleshwar Hermitage, “Earlier only about five per cent of our guests were domestic visitors. This has now increased to 30 per cent. May to

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September which is the offseason internationally is becoming popular with the domestic market. This year we have seen an increase in room nights even in the off season. Our main source markets in India are Bengaluru, Mangalore, Mumbai, Indore and Delhi.”

Neeleshwar Hermitage has 18 keys that includes six sea view cottages apart from an infinity pool overlooking a

lagoon and sandbar. Each of these villas are named after emotions like Prema (love), Ananda (bliss), Moksha (freedom), etc. “We are marketing Neeleshwar as a beach 'retreat' rather than a beach ‘hotel. We helped build the destination and create an awareness of it,” adds Jayan.

The resort has its own luxury houseboat called the Lotus which offers guests both

day and overnight cruises on the Valiyaparambu backwaters that start about five kms from the Hermitage. During the cruise, you can see different aquatic birds, fishermen out working, local life along the banks, including a coir cottage industry. You will also visit Monkey Island with its monkeys and sacred grove, and en route to the boarding point, an ancient Vishnu Temple.

The resort is a non-smoking hotel, throughout and guests are requested not to use their mobile phones at meal times in the dining areas and at the spa.

The Priya Ayurveda Spa offers all types of treatment after free individual consultation with a highly qualified and experi-

enced Ayurveda doctor. There is also Kubera the shop within the premises where a range of items like clothes, bags, jewellery, rugs, shawls, sarongs, organic and natural soaps, shampoos, body scrubs and incense sticks are available.

Interestingly, there is an inhouse tailor, Janardhanan, so guests can get their clothes stitched made-to-measure, including yoga clothes. Yoga classes are conducted under an expert the Patanjali Yoga Hall overlooking the beach. The resort also has a meditation programme under the tutelage of Alistair Shearer, Neeleshwar Hermitage's cultural director.

Jayan informs, “As part of our ‘no plastic policy', we do not use

IN FOCUS

bottled water, as even a hotel of this size can easily generate a hundred empty bottles a day, thereby adding to Kerala's already considerable pollution problems. We use copper vessels which is known to add subtle energising properties to water.�

The resort has two F&B outlets Annapoorna and Meenakshi. Complimentary fresh fruit is available throughout the day from the fruit basket in Annapoorna. Each afternoon there is a cookery class conducted by one of the resort's chefs. Another surprise

is the library located in the Annapoorna dining room which guests can use to borrow books. It contains a growing

collection of books on many Indian-related topics. As this collection is drawn from the personal library of Shearer, and

contains many out-of-print books, guests are asked to fill in the borrowing register. Guests are also encouraged to leave

any of their old books when they check out of the hotel, so that future guests can benefit from this generosity.

WE COULD FATHOM THE NEED FOR A BOUTIQUE BEACH RETREAT IN INDIA Altaf Chapri, MD, ABChapri Retreats,speaks about his journey from Kashmir to Kerala and what's so unique about Neeleshwar Hermitage From Kashmir to Kerala. What inspired you to set up Neeleshwar Hermitage so far from home?

The location of the quaint village of Nileshwar was what inspired us to set up Neeleshwar Hermitage so far from home. Being in the trade for over 20 years we could fathom the need for a boutique beach retreat in India. In order to fill the gap we travelled across India and fell in love at first sight when we first came to Nileshwar village.

mitage have a deep love for India and its culture. We have people from the investment sector as well as author/writer Alistair Shearer who have all brought their expertise and love together to create Neeleshwar Hermitage.

Do you have any joint partners in this venture? The people behind the boutique property?

Yes, we have investors from the UK in our venture. People behind the Her-

How was the design and style conceptualised?

An oasis of calm set in 12 naturally landscaped acres, Neeleshwar Hermitage is built according to the

What do you think is Neeleshwar's USP? Neeleshwar stands out for fabulous location, small and quaint property and personalised service.

traditional architectural principles of Kerala Vastu. The whole site is oriented to the east and the rising sun, while the buildings are all placed in correct relation to each other, the four directions and the site as a whole. The traditional wood-and-thatch architecture is balanced with stylish contemporary touches and familiar modern comforts.

The site overlooks a gloriously unspoiled beach of sand, stretching as far as the eye can see in both directions. The sea is clean and safe for swimming most of the year.

Which are your major source markets internationally? And in India?

Although the UK is our No.1 source market accounting for 57 per cent of the revenue and Germany, Belgium and France competing for the next place, India as a market is definitely growing.

In India, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Chennai are our major source markets although we do get guests from Tier II and Tier III cities as well.

What in your opinion is the future of tourism in the country?

In our opinion, inbound into India doesn’t look very promising as it lacks the infrastructure that tourism needs.

The pollution level in the country is also stunting growth. However domestic tourism as we see has grown and is promising as more and more Indians are looking to experience unique properties across India.

Your comments on the new age traveller?

Neeleshwar Hermitage has been designed and made for the new age traveller; digital de-toxing, peace, natural food and personalised service.

Do you have plans for setting up any new properties? If so, where?

Yes, indeed! We are looking to open Qayaam-Gah in 2018, a boutique hotel, the first of its kind in Srinagar, Kashmir.

We are also looking forward to open a luxury boutique hotel in the pink city of Jaipur.

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IN FOCUS

In a class of its own Awarded by Skytrax for Best Business Class Lounge Dining and Best Business Class catering in 2015, Turkish Airlines Business Class is an opulent world up in the skies, unique with its own Flying Chefs

By Steena Joy

D

espite the turbulence in the wake of the failed coup attempt in July, Turkey's national carrier Turkish Airlines has bounced back, not surprisingly, given its past laurels. According to the IATA Wats 2016 global rankings, Turkish Airlines is the sixth largest carrier in terms of international passenger numbers, ninth largest in terms of operating revenue and 11th largest in operating profit. As for network, Turkish flies to more countries than any other other airline in the world – a total of 116 countries and 243 international destinations, based on April 2016 OAG data, with plans to fly to seven more destinations in Africa, five in Europe, three in America, one in Middle East and four in the Far East.

Having its headquarters in Istanbul is a great geographical

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advantage as the city is the only city in the world connecting two continents, Asia and Europe. Istanbul is located in the heart of the Europe, Middle East and Asia regions which have a high volume of traffic and growth rate.

The new airport (in addition

to the Ataturk International Airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport), coming up in Istanbul will have six runways, four terminals and a 150 million passenger capacity (after Phase 4).

By 2023, the airline is poised to fly 120 million passengers on a fleet of more than 500

aircraft, earning revenues of US$ 30 billion.

Lounge in luxury Turkish Airlines has 17 lounges 12 located in domestic terminals and four in the international terminals in Turkey. In addition, there is a Turkish Airlines

Lounge in Moscow. The Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge in Istanbul covers a huge area of 6000 sq m with an interior design reflecting Turkey’s rich cultural heritage. A spiral staircase connects the two sections of the lounge and its design represents the connectivity that Turkish Airlines provides to its global customer base. The Lounge is state-of-the-art with its own cinema, library, food stations, kids’ corner, locker room, billiard table, showers and suites, a golf simulation area, Carrera racing /undulation massage beds and masseurs. Passengers can watch TV news channels with headsets in different languages.

The lounge has a capacity to service 1,240 passengers at the same time.

The Lounge also serves a wide variety of international and Turkish cuisines such as Turkish kebap, pide (Turkish

IN FOCUS

Pizza)/köfte (meatballs), pasta/ tortellini, freshly cooked pide, and fresh pasta, Chinese noodle confectionery pastry shop including fresh juices, soft drinks and alcohol. In the Lounge, passengers can enjoy live piano performances while sipping a drink at the olive garden area with 150 years old real olive trees. The Lounge is operated by gourmet entertainment company, Turkish DO & CO.

TURKISH AIRLINES WANTS TO FLYTO MORE CITIES IN INDIA BUTWANTS THE INDIAN GOVERNMENTTO GIVE THE PERMISSIONS

Turkish Airlines has its own Flight Training Center for training commercial pilots and other categories. The Centre is located in Istanbul with a total area of 15,600 sq m (8,420 sq m of it is a closed area) with 21 high-tech simulators. Providing training with more than 60 classrooms and one conference room, the Flight Training Center has the capacity to train approximately 1500 people at the same time.

The Centre also hires out the simulators for training crews of other international airlines like Lufthansa, KLM, Saudi Arabia, etc, since the cost of a simulator is very high, as much as an aircraft.

Taking inflight dining to new heights

Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, at Turkish Airlines headquarters in Istanbul, Ilker Ayci, chairman,Turkish Airlines said,“India is an important destination for us.We want to go to Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad but the government has to give us the permissions.”Turkish Airlines presently flies only from Mumbai and Delhi.

He also announced that very soon the airline would have cabin crew who speak different languages so that they can connect with their passengers in their own language.“We don’t call them passengers or customers.We call them Musafir or guests inTurkish,”said Ayci.

Turkish Airlines expects to fly 64 million passengers this year. It will also be flying to new sectors like Bali in Indonesia and Seychelles.

Flight Training Center

Ilker Ayci

“We fly to the most number of destinations in the world.We are now the fourth biggest airline network in the world.

Soon we expect to surpass Frankfurt, Paris and Heathrow airports, ”said Ayci.

He also said that the airline will have new airport lounges in the Far East soon. He stressed that Istanbul is one of the safest airports in the world and all measures are being taken to ensure that it remains so.

The Flying Chef - a DO & CO chef who is part of the airline crew - is responsible for the perfect meal presentation in Business Class on board. He attends to the preparation of the meals in the galley as well as to the passengers in the cabin. He provides advice to the guests on the selection of dishes, assists the flight attendants during and after the service and thus receives direct feedback of the dining experience. The Flying

Chef is in service in Business Class only on Turkish Airlines long-distance flights around the globe. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Flying Chef Yigit Ulas Kelav said, “We customise the menus according to the destination. Like we have lots of vegetarian food for the Indian route. We source most of the ingredients locally. We also service special meal requests for those with seafood or nuts allergies.”

Turkish Airlines has around 281 Flying Chefs as of December 2014.

Istanbul The city was originally known as Constantinople after Constantine the Great who dedicated the city as his capital, calling it New Rome, as it had seven hills.

Some of the original fortification walls built by the Emperor within the city to keep out invaders still remain standing. A river cruise on the Bosphorus, a strait that connects Istanbul to Europe is a great way to see the various mosques, luxury hotels and restaurants dotting the shoreline while passing under the three suspension bridges that span the strait.

A visit to the Spice Bazaar and the iconic Blue Mosque is a must for any visitor. Topkapi ('top' meaning cannon and 'kapi' meaning gate) Palace, which was home to the Sultans of the Ottoman empire, is now a museum and is well worth a visit especially for the incredible clock collection on display.

End the day by browsing through the alleys of the Grand Bazaar to see a wide array of ceramic wares, the famed confectionary - Turkish Delight and the hanging colour mosaic glass lamps.

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SPOTLIGHT

FUN UNLIMITED @ NOVOTELIMAGICA Srinivas Srirangam, general manager, Novotel Imagica Khopoli shares how his property is emerging as an important MICE and destination wedding hotel, contributing significantly in positioning Khopoli as the newest tourism hub in Maharashtra

By Sudipta Dev

N

ovotel Imagica Khopoli has just completed a year of operation and the property occupies an important place in positioning Khopoli as an emerging tourism destination in Maharashtra. Srinivas Srirangam, general manager, Novotel Imagica Khopoli, has much to be proud of with 85 per cent occupancy in the first year. “Since the beginning, every month 25 days out of 30, the hotel is sold out,” says Srirangam. While the weekends attract FITs, families and leisure guests, the weekdays see mostly corporate groups and MICE business.

Unique MICE hotel A significant segment of the MICE crowd are based out of Mumbai. Though the hotel has hosted all India MICE groups, according to Srirangam, the contact points have been the offices in Mumbai or Pune. “We also did some very prestigious events, most of the leading corporates have used us either for team outings or conferences or annual meetings. Many of them have been doing events in city hotels for a long time or other hotels in Lonavala. They enjoy our property as we are part of the Adlabs Imagica theme park. The corporates get an opportunity to have unique evening events in the park also,” he mentions.

Team building activities for corporates are organised both outdoor and indoor, with the help of the property's animation and activities team. “Rather then being a regular hotel for conferencing hotel there is focus on activities, within the hotel and the theme park. We also offer adventure activities like rafting and local siteseeing along with stay,”

30 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD October 2016

Srinivas Srirangam

adds Srirangam. Whenever a MICE group comes, the concerned officials in the company sit with the activities manager and a package is designed for them with the activities.

Another popular feature is the high energy character parade which is the highpoint during breakfast. “We have lot of characters in the hotel. We had a SEBI conference, the average delegate age was over 40 years and I had never seen a bunch of people enjoying the character parade so much. It is like saying that there is a child in everybody and it comes out in these fun activities,” points out Srirangam, adding that with some corporates even if the average age is on the higher side, they really enjoy, even if the rides are a little scary for them in the park.

“There is a fun element. Our slogan is 'The fun never ends',” he remarks. The hotel also has tieup with outdoor adventure activity companies.

Private character parades can also be customised for groups. “We entice corporates with unique experiences and many are repeat clients. The

leisure groups comprising friends and families, occupy between 40 to 50 rooms. We do complete activities for them, from treasure hunts to dance to housie sessions.” As part of hotel activity feature there is a housie every evening, dance classes, painting class, yoga, fun games.

There is also a gaming zone with billiards, table tennis, darts and other games. For FITs the unique experiences range from character birthday celebrations, movie under the stars for kids by the poolside, et al.

The average length of stay, both for corporates and leisure crowd has been two nights. The hotel gets a lot of walk-ins but the biggest source of booking is through its website, through travel agents and packages. The packages enable guests to buy online hotel stay and park tickets together. These packages are a high selling product. “We are engaged with the travel agents, they have been selling our hotel from day one. We organise FAM trips for them. We work along with them not just for FITs but also social groups and MICE business,” informs Srirangam.

Emergence of Khopoli Lonavala has traditionally been a popular holiday destination, however Srirangam believes that the hotel and theme park being 25 km before Lonavala and nearer to Mumbai has made Khopoli a new destination.

A new adventure park is coming up with Imagica, adding to the existing attractions of Aquamagica, Imagica, and the snow park.

“As a hotel we add a lot of value to Khopoli. There are also a lot of families and FITs who just come and stay in the hotel and do not use the theme park,” he informs.

“Khopoli has got a lot of recognition. There are almost 280 mid-scale and large industries in Raigadh region, with a concentration around Khopoli,” says Srirangam, adding that going forward he sees more small hotels coming up. The hotel has also hosted many high profile weddings. The target is to get 2530 weddings this year and 40 weddings in 2017. “Our aim is to make this a big wedding destination. There are many scenic locations in the park for hosting dinners, cocktail gatherings and pheras. In the evening it is very

beautiful in the park,” he affirms.

Extensive facilities The hotel has extensive banqueting spaces inside and outdoors. “We also have open land to erect large canopies and do events inside. Poolside is perfect for cocktail dinners. Currently 116 rooms are operational in the hotel. The inventory will almost double with the next phase opening up additional rooms, taking it to 287 rooms. It will then be the largest hotel in terms of rooms inventory in Lonavala and Alibagh region. “This will give us an edge in hosting large MICE/ wedding/social groups together.

It is not a regular hotel, from the welcome to stay experience, we have unique features and the location adds up,” states Srirangam. In terms of F&B there is the Square, the all day dining, the Nitro Bar, and a speciality restaurant is coming up.

While the catchment area for the hotel is Mumbai, Pune, along with Nashik and Gujarat to some extent , in recent months there have been increased arrivals from Delhi market for FITs and small groups.

EVENT ROUNDUP

An Incredible Investor’s Summit The Summit which recently concluded in Delhi, witnessed the signing of 86 MoUs worth `15,000 cr

By Saloni Bhatia

T

he first Incredible India Investor’s Tourism Summit 2016 (IITIS) brought together tourism stakeholders from various cities and other countries to deliberate on the potential of 700 investable projects in India. The concluding session of the three-day summit witnessed the signing of 86 MoUs among the investors and five states.

Gujarat exchanged MoUs close to `9,000 crore, Karnataka with `2,600 crore, Rajasthan with `1,000 crore, Uttarakhand with `500 crore and Chhattisgarh with `12 crore. The B R Shetty Group has shown interest to invest `450 crore, Costa Cruises to invest `750 crore and Triveni Singapore to invest close to `800 crore in the country.

Vinod Zutshi, secretary, ministry of tourism, stated, “The Investor’s Summit will be an annual event and an investor desk will be set up at the ministry. It would help investors and state tourism boards on their projects. A taskforce headed by the secretary tourism with the membership of relevant ministries, state governments and industry associations will be set up to undertake strategic planning to promote tourism.

Lastly, the ministry would also support investor meets organised at the state tourism levels for strategic growth.”

Cecile Furman, global director, World Bank, informed, “World Bank supports India’s Buddhist Circuit development and will provide support for sustainable

tourism development including funds.”

Talking about the various initiatives taken by the ministry, Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for tourism and culture, informed, “We are willing to assist and support the investors in making India the preferred tourist destination in the world. Our

tourism helpine in 12 languages also helps us reach out to more tourists.”

The inaugural ceremony was held at the Vigyan Bhawan in the presence of finance minister Arun Jaitley; Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu among other industry stakeholders.

Jaitley mentioned, “There are

so many unexplored tourist destinations in the country that we can showcase to the world. We need to market our monuments and heritage sites across the world. Also a business model should be developed for promoting the hotel and hospitality industry to adjust the capacity of the market.”

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, stated, “Tourism is the subset of Indian economy and an integral part of global growth. Innovation must embed the world of travel and tourism as the world is radically shifting towards experiental travel. Only five per cent of the emerging world has travelled and India must prepare to cater to a new world of travellers.”

The first day also witnessed sessions including top ministers from 10 state governments along with Ashok Gajapati Raju, minister of civil aviation and Suresh Prabhu, minister of railways. At the session on core infrastructure of tourism, Raju, stated, “The National Civil Aviation Policy has taken an integrated approach to address the problem of air connectivity across regions and states. This shall give boost to regional travel and smooth transitions among states.” During his speech, Prabhu mentioned, “Tourism is one industry that will move ahead whatever the economy growth be. Through our initiatives to improve the quality of service of railways, we shall assist the tourism ministry in showcasing the mind boggling potential of India.”

State tourism boards presented various projects and their potential. The questions post planery discussions helped investors to get a better understanding of the projects and the various ways through which they can participate.

The event was a joint initiave by the ministry of tourism, Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

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EVENT ROUNDUP

A new high for Down Under The India outbound movement, especially to Down Under, has proven to be robust over the past few years. This resulted in a record number of participation from Australian suppliers at the recently held India Travel Mission (ITM) 2016 in Chennai. By Reema Lokesh

Australian suppliers, which included 20 new players, namely Scoot, Visit Canberra, Tourism Barossa, Australian Wine Tour Company, Featherdale Wildlife Park, Sand Dune Adventures, Fire Truck Tours, and Wildlife Coast Cruises, among others.

Over the years, ITM has proven to be an effective networking platform for Indian and Australian trade partners to interact and strengthen business opportunities, and provides Australian products with an opportunity to gain insights on the latest travel trends in India and better understand consumer interests and preferences. This year marks the 14th edition of ITM and has observed the highest-ever participation, with over 104 Indian buyers who participated in the event.

Positive trend

T

he Indian traveller is on the move and as per statistics, this number is only going to witness robust growth in the coming years. If one has to go by the reports from Tourism Australia (the destination welcomed over 241,700 Indians as of year ended June 2016), this prediction is not far from reality. The recently concluded Tourism Australia’s India Travel Mission (ITM) 2016, witnessed highest-ever participation from the Australian

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tourism industry. Due to India’s fast growth in recent years it has become one of the key source markets for Australia. The growing number of visitors from India has caught the attention of a number of Australian suppliers, specialists, airlines and more.

They are keen to understand this market further, which would enable them to cater to its promising customer base.

Due to this encouraging response, this year’s ITM, Tourism Australia’s flagship annual travel trade engagement initiative, registered a

record number of Australian sellers, who connected with the Indian buyers to both strengthen their network and

also to understand the latest trends and demands.

ITM 2016, held in Chennai, had a delegation of over 84

A number of reasons can be attributed to the upswing in tourism traffic from India to Australia - from the recently extended electronic visa facility to around 83 agents across India, to the stable Australian dollar, to Tourism Australia's marketing initiatives that has led to increasing inflow into the country. According to the Tourism Australia office in India, there has been a 19 per cent increase in tourism arrivals in the year 2015 vis-avis the previous year and a 38 per cent increase in terms of tourism spend.

Michael Newcombe, GM, south/southeast Asia & Gulf countries, Tourism Australia, is pleased with the performance graph displayed by the India

EVENT ROUNDUP

market. He feels the investment made in terms of creating awareness, through education programmes and campaigns has reaped rewards.

Newcombe says, "We have been in touch with the trade and facilitated their demands. We intend to focus on the leisure market as the way forward.

Aviation connections is our game changer, along with a host of developments that has worked in our favour."

The India office under the leadership of Nishant Kashikar, country manager India and Gulf, Tourism Australia, has worked closely with travel associates and partners like tour operators, travel agents, airlines and visa office to boost the tourism inflow into the region.

Kashikar says, "We are seeing some encouraging results in terms of the tourism inflow into Australia from India.

There are a number of factors that have led to the growth especially in recent times.

From the ICC World Cup Cricket initiative, to Air India's direct services to primary cities of Australia, to

digital marketing initiatives and education sessions with key partners in our business, has worked well in our favour.

Another factor is the student traffic from India to Australia.

As per statistics, there are around 53,000 Indian students in the region, which further gives impetus to the VFR traffic."

Kashikar mentioned, "Over the last few years, ITM has proven to be a great learning tool for us to grow and strengthen our travel trade outreach in the country.

Tourism Australia is honoured to provide an opportunity to the Australian supplier delegation to interact and establish commercial ties with Indian trade. The new Australian products participating at the ITM this year signifies the growing importance of India as a key market for Australia."

Buyer-supplier speak Buyers from across India were part of the mission and most felt the mission was worth their while. These missions help to reconnect with

The India office under the leadership of Nishant Kashikar, has worked closely with travel associates and partners like tour operators, travel agents and airlines and visa office to boost the tourism inflow into the region the suppliers.

Maitreyee Vakharia of Pathfinders Holidays in Ahmedabad, said that she was impressed with the event and though she knew a large number of sellers, she was happy to meet new players. Most buyers were glad to meet new suppliers and the 20 new products that were announced for the Indian market.

For Nayaz Noor of Safir Tours, Australia-based DMC and tourism specialist, this event proves to be a perfect ground to meet with his

Indian trade partners. He pointed out that Australia has so much more to offer and there is a lot that the Indian travellers can still discover.

Sudhir Warrier of Sydney Showboats, has worked with and watched the Indian market rather closely. He agreed that the market has matured with time but there is so much more that can be achieved.

"Indians enjoy their cruise after dusk. The market is evolving and costumers are open to trying out unique dining experiences," he said.

Members of the Gold Coast Tourism Alliance are looking at connecting actively with Indian trade partners. They want to showcase their products and offer Gold Coast with a series of new attractions to experiences beyond the beach activities. Abhishek from Turtle Down Under is keen to connect with the travel trade.

The team also has an office in Kolkata to cater to the India market.

Tourism Australia is focused on achieving its India 2020 strategic goals. Tourism Australia also used this platform to promote the destination through its virtual reality assets, thus showcasing its latest global campaign on Aquatic and Coastal to the Indian trade attending ITM 2016. Australia has witnessed a continued growth trajectory in tourist arrivals from India.

For the year ended June 2016, Indian visitation to Australia increased by 9.4 per cent over the previous year. For the year ended March 2016, Indian visitors contributed over A$ 1.14 billion (approximately `5,500 crores) to the Australian economy, an increase of 19 per cent over 2014/15 and spent a total of 14 million visitor nights in Australia, an increase of 18 per cent over similar period during the previous year.

New players at ITM 2016 ● Australian

Wine Tour Company ● Beautiful Tours Australia ● CaPTA Group ● Featherdale Wildlife Park ● Fire Truck Tours ● Grand Hyatt Melbourne ● Great Aussie Travel & Tour ● Jet Boat Extreme ● Livn Holidays GDS ● Phillip Island ● Phillip Island Apartments ● Sailway Port Douglas ● Sand Dune Adventures ● Scoot ● Southern Cross 4 WD Tours ● Tourism Barossa ● Tourism Kangaroo Island ● Turtle Down Under ● Visit Canberra ● Whales in Paradise ● Wildlife Coast Cruises ● Wildlife Tropical North Queensland.

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October 2016

MOVEMENTS Singapore Tourism Board

Australia and the US as key source markets.

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced the appointment of GB SRITHAR as regional director for South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA) to be based in Mumbai. Srithar is well

American Airlines

erating performance. He was selected to become chief operating officer of American Airlines in 2013 after the merger of American and US Airways.

American Airlines has appointed ALISON TAYLOR as senior vice president, global sales. Taylor will be joining

Asian Aviation Capital (AAC)

GB Srithar

Alison Taylor

acquainted with the India market, having worked in India between April 2010 and December 2013 as area director, South Asia, STB. Prior to his appointment as regional director, he headed the brand campaigns team at STB headquarter's marketing group.

Under this new role, one of his key responsibilities will be to oversee STB’s leisure, and BT and MICE travel promotions, marketing and developmental efforts in the SAMEA region.

His office will work closely with travel trade and non-trade partners to promote Singapore as the destination of choice among Indian travellers.

American later this month from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, where she most recently served in a similar role.

Under her new role, Taylor will lead American’s sales team and be responsible for developing all sales and distribution policies worldwide. Additionally, Taylor will manage the airline’s relationships with corporate customers and travel agencies. Whereas ROBERT ISOM has been appointed as the new president.

Isom began his airline career at Northwest Airlines in 1991. He joined US Airways as chief operating officer in 2007 and led the turnaround of US Airways’ op-

HG Travels HG Travel has appointed GERBEN BLOEMENDAAL as managing director of its office in Myanmar. Dutch national, Bloemendaal has over 15 years of travel industry experience, 10 of which have been in Southeast Asia. He has worked in senior management positions for DMCs in Thailand and Vietnam before joining the HG Travel leadership team. HG Travel currently handles 50,000 inbound arrivals from international markets with Europe, Russia, China,

34 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD October 2016

AirAsia’s aircraft leasing unit Asia Aviation Capital (AAC) has appointed STÉPHANE DAILLENCOURT as president and CEO. Daillencourt, a French national, has over 30 years of experience in buying, selling, financing and leasing aircraft, most recently at GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of GE. As GECAS' executive vice president of financing operations (Singapore), Daillencourt has been leading the team in charge of all purchase and leaseback transactions as well as aircraft sales to investors.

Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific JEROME THIL has been appointed as vice president of marketing for Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, Jerome will lead marketing for Sabre Travel Network’s GDS and travel distribution technology solutions, serving agencies and suppliers across Asia Pacific.Thil will report to Wade Jones, senior vice president of marketing and strategy for Sabre Travel Network. Thil has held a number of senior global positions in travel distribution, most recently with Amadeus, and led the launch and acquisition of technology startups across Europe and Asia.

TAG Aviation Asia

Robert Isom

TAG Aviation Asia has appointed JOLIE HOWARD as CEO. Howard was the first employee to be engaged by TAG Asia when the company commenced its business in the region in 2006. Serving as the director of business development until 2013, she has helped to build the managed aircraft fleet

AirBerlin Group DIMITRI COURTELIS has been appointed as chief financial officer of AirBerlin Group. The financial and aviation expert joined Germany's second largest airline as deputy chief financial officer in November 2015. Courtelis, an economics graduate and qualified chartered accountant, began his professional career as an external auditor in South Africa, moving on as an advisor with Ernst & Young Australia. From 2009 to 2011, he worked at Deloitte in Dubai within the advisory and forensic teams. He then moved to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In 2013, he was ap-

to over 30 aircraft. For the past three years, she has been working as regional vice president of CIT’s Business Aircraft Finance in Asia.

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines has appointed LEE KIM SHIN to its board as an independent non-executive director. Lee has 30 years of experience in the legal profession and is managing partner of Allen & Gledhill LLP. He first held that position between August 2012 and December 2013, returning to it in early 2015 after a one-year post as a judicial commissioner with the High Court of Singapore. His previous directorships had been with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Community Cancer Fund, SIA Engineering Company, Singex Holdings and Wildlife Reserves Singapore, among others.

pointed as the chief financial officer at Air Serbia, which is headquartered in Belgrade.

marketing. In his new role, Malhotra will head the hotel’s sales, events, revenue management, reservations, marketing and corporate communications divisions. His key responsibilities will include overseeing all aspects of hotel sales and marketing strategies, including revenue forecasting and developing business plans, in addition to the recruitment, training and managing of the hotel’s sales team in order to maximise revenue opportunities and property goals.

He brings with him 14 years of experience in the hospitality industry.

Shangri-La Hotel, Bangalore Shangri-La Hotel, Bangalore has appointed RAJAN MALHOTRA as director of sales and

Rajan Malhotra

weekend

E V E N T S

INDONESIAN NATIONAL DAY The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, Mumbai recently celebrated Indonesian National Day at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai

CULTURAL CELEBRATION L-R: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Vice President Hamid Ansari, President Pranab Mukherjee, Kerala Governor P Sadasivam and Kerala High Court Acting Chief Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar with the artistes during the first ever Onam celebration organised at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, New Delhi

A PROMOTIONAL PUSH Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) hosted corporate dinner meetings in Mumbai to drive MICE and business events from India to Abu Dhabi

WORLD TOURISM DAY On account of World Tourism Day, Odisha Tourism organised "Tourism Walk and Cultural Event" in Bhubaneswar

PARTNERS IN TRADE Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces recently organised Taj Travel Awards to honour its travel trade partners at Taj Palace, New Delhi

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE Rhätische Bahn (RHB), in partnership with Turkish Airlines, recently hosted a familiarisation trip to Davos Klosters and Engadin St Moritz in Switzerland for travel agents based in Delhi

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October 2016

weekend

E V E N T S

CLEANLINESS MEASURE Thomas Cook India has recently announced the pilot launch of pre-fabricated sanitary installations at tourist locations across India

A MILESTONE RECOGNITION Skål Club of Bombay recently received “Club of the year” 2016 award at the Asian Area Congress in Singapore

BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra recently signed an MoU with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Ministry of Culture for execution of tourism projects in and around centrally protected sites in Maharashtra

CONNECTING WITH THE WORLD Air India recently commenced the first ever flight between Ahmedabad to Newark via London, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport

ALL THINGS TOURISM South African Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom FAME MEETS TOURISM Actor Chris Hemsworth was announced as Tourism Australia’s global ambassador at a recent event held earlier on the Gold Coast

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(fourth from left), along with other dignitaries, at the inaugural ceremony of the BRICS Convention on Tourism in Khajuraho, India

REGD.WITH RNI NO. MAHENG/2005/15993,POSTAL REGD. NO. MCS/163/2016 – 18,PUBLISHED ON 11TH EVERY MONTH, POSTED ON 12TH,13TH,14TH OF EVERY MONTH, POSTED AT MUMBAI PATRIKA CHANNEL SORTING OFFICE,MUMBAI – 400001.