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` 50/-A DDP PUBLICATIONVol. XXV No. 8; April 2nd fortnight issue 2013 Pages: 60 (Excluding cover)

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APRIL 2ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013 TRAVTALK 1

The sixth edition ofGreat Indian TravelBazaar (GITB), being

organised by the Ministry ofTourism, Government ofIndia, Department ofTourism, Government ofRajasthan and Federation ofIndian Chambers ofCommerce and Industry(FICCI) is likely to set newrecords in terms of its popu-larity among the stakeholdersin the tourism sector acrossthe globe.

According to JyotsnaSuri, Vice President, FICCI,GITB is the most successfulniche platform for promotinginbound tourism in India.

“The prominence of theshow is reflected in the factthat 286 foreign buyers from57 countries had registeredalready. On the sellers’front, 240 Indian sellers

had already registered; while there will be 252 stalls across 6 halls. On top of it, there will be 9500 structured B2B meetings

The event will witness participation of over 286 foreign buyers from 57 countries, 240 Indian registered sellersand 252 stalls across 6 halls from April 14-16, 2013.

VIVEK SETHI

How is this year’sevent different fromthe other years?

Great Indian TravelBazaar is one of the top traveland tourism sector tradeevents in India. Over theyears, GITB has emerged asa vast forum for inboundtourists (domestic and inter-national) bringing a widediversity of stakeholdersunder one roof. This year,GITB will be congregatingaround 274 foreign tour oper-ators from across 54 coun-

tries and will exhibit the varied tourism products ofIndia over 252 booths.

What are your expectations?

With a focus on reinforc-ing India as a world-classtourism destination, we lookforward to provide an oppor-tunity to exchange thoughtsand innovative ideas with for-eign buyers, registeredIndian sellers, policy makers,investors and the media for aconstructive policy to support

Rakesh Srivastava, Principal Secretary, Department ofTourism, Rajasthan says that the event will have almost500 key tourism product sellers. Excerpts...

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, Chennaiand Jaipur need urgent convention-cum-exhibition centres. recently conducted a

poll asking about the five Indian cities that urgentlyrequire convention-cum-exhibition centres across

the country. This was further to our tourism minister’s requestto the finance minister for additional allocation to set up theseconvention centres across the country. While the above mentionedcities were the most popular choices, Hyderabad, Kochi,Ahmedabad, Pune and Chandigarh were not far behind.

Rakesh SrivastavaPrincipal SecretaryDepartment of Tourism, Rajasthan Contd. on page 36 Contd. on page 36

We want convention centres!

Jyotsna SuriVP – FICCI and Chairperson - FICCITourism Committee

Variety is the spice of GITB-2013

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BULLETIN

In quest for doubling itsinbound and domestic

arrivals as envisaged by theMinistry of Tourism (MOT),India requires to more thandouble the room inventory.As a facilitative measure tospeed up the hotel projects,MOT has now launched web-based project monitor-ing information system powered by the NationalInformatics Centre.

“To bring in transparen-cy in granting approvals for hotel projects, we havelaunched a web-based PublicService Delivery System forhotel approvals, classificationand other allied services. Allapplicants seeking hotel proj-ect approvals, hotel classifi-cation and approvals forother-related services will beable to track the progress oftheir cases online on a real

time basis,” said KChiranjeevi, Union Ministerof Tourism.

“By putting this systemin place, there will be dead-lines on the officers of theMinistry to deliver on timeand increased accountabilityon their part. Now onwards,all applications will have tobe examined within 15 work-ing days from receipt forcompleteness. Thereafter, allhotel inspections will be

scheduled within next 15working days. The recom-mendations of Hotel andRestaurants Approval &Classification Committee willbe communicated on the spotto the applicant and theserecommendations will also beput on web with final deci-sion within 10 days of theinspection,” he added.

Further, replying to aquery, the Minister said,

“We will align our PSDS with

the Hospitality DevelopmentPromotion Board (HDPB). The Tourism Ministry willmove towards an e-regimeand build such systems inother spheres of functioningalso. Present at the occasion, Nakul Anand,President, Hotel Associationof India and Vivek Nair,President, Federation ofHotels & RestaurantsAssociation of India amongothers lauded the efforts of the Ministry.

The web-based Public Service Delivery System (PSDS) will make real-time information on hotel approvals and classification available.

Now, real-time hotel information

VI V E K SE T H I

Ministry of Tourism officials and other dignitaries at the launch of the new web service at a press conference in New Delhi


STATISTICS

VIEWPOINT

According to the United Nations WorldTourism Organisation (UNWTO), the

business volume that tourism is generatingtoday equals or even surpasses that of oilexports, food products or automobiles. In thisfast growing industry their primary goal ofwork is sustainable development, to ensurethat tourism protects and sustains the world’snatural and cultural resources and meets itspotential as a tool for poverty alleviation.

In India however, in the name ofsustainable tourism we are blindly going intorapid growth mode - building hotels all alongriver banks, forests, sea shores, deserts…bringing about a widespread commercialadoption of ‘sustainable development’. Whatabout the conservation of our open spaces andcenturies old culture that attracts travellers?Very soon the beauty of these areas will begone and the foreign influence on localpractices and values by a multitude of touristswill ensure the loss of fascination in thatregion, and along with it the tourists. So,what’s so sustainable about that? There’s ahuge gap between rhetoric, theory and theground reality of tourism development.

The paradigm shift of the rapidlyevolving green spaces should create anopportunity for the travel and tourism sectorto leverage its socio-economic reach for thegood of humanity and the planet, especiallythe most vulnerable section of society. Wemust have the foresight to boost our tourismpotential but in a genuinely sustainablemanner, protecting our natural and culturalassets for the generations to come.

The government, in its attempt to generatefuture employment, must use cautiousnesswhile growing tourism in the inner regions ofour country and draw attention to thedestructive environmental and socioculturaleffects of unbridled expansion, to ensure aslow an impact on the environment and localculture as possible. Sending across a clearmessage that Incredible India reveres itsenvironment as much as it worships its guests,the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration withthe State of Andhra Pradesh, is hosting theUNWTO Conference on Sustainable TourismDevelopment and the 25th Joint Meeting of theUNWTO Commission for East Asia, Pacific andSouth Asia in Hyderabad from April 12-14.

In the name of sustainable tourism...

TRAVTALK is a publication of DDP Publications Private Limited. Allinformation in TRAVTALK is derived from sources, which we consider reliable and a sincere effort is made to report accurate information. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. The publisher regret that he cannot accept liability for errors and omissions contained in this pub-lication, however caused. Similarly, opinions/views expressedby third parties in abstract and/or in interviews are not neces-sarily shared by TRAVTALK. However, we wish to advice our readersthat one or more recognised authorities may hold different viewsthan those reported. Material used in this publication is intendedfor information purpose only. Readers are advised to seek specific

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All advertisements must comply with the Indian andInternational Advertisements Code. The publisher will not beliable for any damage or loss caused by delayed publication, erroror failure of an advertisement to appear.

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Editorial

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Despite India’s growinginflation and sluggish

economy, about 77 per centIndians are planning tospend more on vacation inthis summer holiday seasonwith most of them preferringeither a holiday with family

or adventure travel, claimsTripAdvisor’s biannual studyconducted by research firmStrategyOne.

Nikhil Ganju, CountryManager, TripAdvisor India,said, “This year, travel seemsto have become an integralpart of the consumption bas-ket for Indians, a change evena slow economic scenarioseems unable to derail,according to our survey. Wealso seem to be turning into

intrepid travellers as Indiafeatures among countriesthat ranked ‘adventure’ asthe preferred type of trip.”

According to theTripBarometer survey, 22 percent of Indian participantsfavoured a holiday with familyor kids the most. An adventuretrip was the second most pre-ferred type of trip chosen by16 per cent of the Indians,much higher than the worldaverage of 11 per cent. India

was placed with Germany,France and Egypt as countriesthat ranked highest for ‘adven-ture’ trip. While beach holi-days were preferred by globaltravellers, it was the thirdchoice for Indians followed bycultural trips. Winter sportsholidays were the least pre-ferred holidays across theglobe, including India. About61 per cent Indians travelledon leisure for their last trip,followed next by ‘visiting family and friends’ trips (21per cent), much higher thanthe global or Asian average of 18 per cent.

The study highlighted anew trend of travelling solowhich is quite common amongtravellers abroad, but is nowemerging in India. While theglobal percentage of solo trav-ellers is 14 per cent, Indianswere not far behind at 12 percent. Also 22 per cent Indianstravelled with children and

‘other family members’ (26 percent), which was much higherthan the global trend of 18 percent and 17 per cent respec-tively. Also, 58 per cent ofIndians accessed Internet viamobile, 50 per cent uploadedtheir photos to social networking sites and 44 percent updated their status on social network.

Finally, the word ofmouth emerged as a powerfulsource of information, as theyseemed to be relying heavilyon the opinion of other travellers, the study said.

Indians bitten by the adventure bugAfter family trips, adventure holiday is the second most preferred type of travelthis summer season. In TripAdvisor’s biannual study, 16 per cent of the Indiansvoted for it, much higher than the world average of 11 per cent.

TE E N A BA R UA H

Indians favour a holiday with family or kids the most, with 22%respondents choosing it as their preferred type of trip

An adventure trip was the second most preferred type of trip chosenby 16% of Indians

Although beach holidays were preferred by majority across variouscountries, it was the third choice for Indians, followed by cultural trips

Indians are organised travellers as 92% of them wanted to have all thebasics taken care of like booking flights, arranging transit andaccommodation, when planning and booking online

Holiday Highs


NEWS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 5

The travel agents hadbeen confronted with

many odds as commissionsfrom airlines continue todwindle, which many expertsclaim, is the gradual shift tothe era of zero commissions.Recently there has been a

ban on charging transactionfee by travel agents.

The business environ-ment has gone difficult, butclaiming commissions fromairlines for selling air tickets,Iqbal Mulla, President, TAAIbelieves that the airlines can’twork without travel agents.

“We, presently, are wit-nessing a trend, where airlines are not willing tooffer agents their rightfulcommissions. In fact, the air-lines find it more convenientto deal with the handful ofconsolidators, who are also

offered handsome perform-ance linked benefits inreturn. The airlines will haveto once again fall back on thesmall and medium-sizedtravel agents shortly, as thehandful of big consolidatorswill soon start dictating theirown terms and conditions tothe airlines,” said Mulla.

“In such scenario, air-lines will have no choiceother than falling back onagent’s base comprisingsmalland medium-sized fortheir survival,” he added.

TAAI in between isplanning for several initia-tives for its members. As per

Mulla, “We are working on allpossible initiatives to ensurethat our members regaintheir rightful commissions. In fact, we also had a meetingwith dignitaries from the Egyptian TourismFederation, who had request-ed TAAI to conduct its 2013Convention in Egypt.”

“We have told the Egyptian TourismFederation to initiate the dis-cussion by sharing details ofthe accommodation options,air connectivity and other pro-motional activities they would like to offer to the TAAI members,” he added. “We arealso considering other options

like USA and India, as well. Afinal decision has not beentaken yet,” he concluded

The airlines will have to once again fall back on the small and medium-sized travel agents shortly, as consolidatorsare likely to start dictating their own terms and conditions to the airlines, says Iqbal Mulla, President, TAAI.

Airlines will fall back on agents: MullaVI V E K SE T H I

We are workingon all possibleinitiatives toensure that ourmembers regaintheir rightfulcommissions

Iqbal MullaPresidentTAAI

Egyptian Tourism Federationrequested TAAI to conduct2013 convention in Egypt

New Horizon

Thailand and Assamare planning to launchexchange programmes forincreasing productivity inthe tourism agricultureand sectors. In terms oftourism, both Thailandand Assam offer tremen-dous eco-tourismprospects. Thailand is alsoaiming to increase thequantum of its bilateraltrade with India to US$ 16billion within 2014.

Assam andThailand tieup to boosttourism


MOT6 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Incredible India is taking abig leap forward to

spearhead growth intourism, while ensuringimportance to the sustain-ability aspect. A benchmarkevent in this direction is the

25th Joint CommissionMeeting of the UNWTOCommission for East Asiaand Pacific and the UNWTOCommission for South Asia, which the Ministry of Tourism (MOT),Government of India, in col-laboration with theGovernment of AndhraPradesh is hosting inHyderabad from the April12-14, 2013.

“The need of the hour isto promote sustainabletourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and devel-opment and advocates itsinclusion as a priority innational and internationalpolicies. India became thechairperson of the UNWTO

Regional Commission forSouth Asia in October 2011and it accords importance tothe issue of sustainabletourism. It is our privilege tohost the 25th JointCommission Meeting of EastAsia and Pacific and theUNWTO Commission forSouth Asia, which will bringtogether more than 250 del-egates. The delegates willinclude UNWTO delegates as

well as representatives fromstate governments, unionterritories and private stake-holders from the travel andhospitality industries,” said K Chiranjeevi, Ministerof Tourism.

“The joint commissionmeeting will have approxi-mately 100-125 delegatesfrom the UNWTO membercountries. Confirmed partic-ipants in the conference, asof now, include delegatesfrom Bangladesh, Bhutan,

Brunei, Cambodia, China, Fiji,Indonesia, Iran, Japan, LaoPDR, Macau, Malaysia,Maldives, Myanmar,Philippines, Republic ofKorea, Singapore, Sri Lanka,Thailand, Timor Leste andVietnam. The Minister ofTourism from Cambodia, theSecretary General ofUNWTO, and the CEO of thePacific Asia TravelAssociation (PATA) areamongst the dignitaries par-ticipating in the Conference,”

he added. The Conference on Sustainable TourismDevelopment will include aglobal review on sustainabletourism development as wellan industry and media per-spective on tourism. TheUNWTO Conference onSustainable TourismDevelopment will be held atthe Hotel Park Hyatt,Hyderabad on April 12; andthe UNWTO JointCommission Meeting will beheld at the Taj Falaknuma

Palace, Hyderabad onFebruary 13, 2013.

In addition to the meet-ings, various events havebeen organised to give visit-ing delegates a glimpse of therich culture and cuisine of thecountry. These include din-ners and cultural pro-grammes at the TaramatiBaradari, Golconda Fort,Shilparamam and RamojiFilm City as well as a tour to the Buddhist heritage sites at Nagarjuna Sagar andNagarjuna Konda.

MOT hosts 25th Joint Commission Meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Commissionfor East Asia and Pacific and the UNWTO Commission for South Asia to promote growth and sustainability in tourism.

Pro-sustainability growth in tourismTT BU R E AU

The need of the hour is to promotesustainable tourism as a driver ofsocio-economic growth

K Chiranjeevi, Minister of Tourism

Bangladesh, Bhutan,Brunei, Cambodia, China,Fiji, Indonesia, Iran, Japan,Lao PDR, Macau, Malaysia,Maldives, Myanmar,Philippines, Republic ofKorea, Singapore, SriLanka, Thailand, TimorLeste and Vietnam

Confirmedparticipation

(L-R): Lalit K Panwar, Parvez Dewan, K Chiranjeevi, Anand Kumar and Girish Shankar at the UNWTO curtain raiser event in New Delhi.


MOT A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 7

The Ministry of Tourism(MOT), Government of

India has now set the stageto enhance India’s attractive-ness as a niche MICE desti-nation. This move comes onthe back of launch of thePhase-II of Incredible Indiacampaign that now focusseson consumer, while there is another campaign that has been launched to tap the domestic travellers called ‘Go Beyond.’

“I have met FinanceMinister P Chidambaram foradditional allocation of fundsfor the Tourism Ministry to set up 10 convention-cum-exhibition centres across thecountry for the promotion ofMICE Tourism. The FinanceMinister has sought moredetails about these conventioncentres and will look into therequest,” said K Chiranjeevi,Minister of Tourism.

He met Chidambram inNew Delhi on March 22,2013 and urged him for ahigher allocation for theTourism Ministry. Thetourism sector directly andindirectly contributes to morethan six per cent of the GDPof the country. It also con-tributes more than 10 percent of organised employ-ment in the country. A oneper cent increase in tourismearnings results in a 0.1 per-centage increase in the GDPof the country.

In fact, as per therecent statistics released by

the Ministry of Tourism, theforeign exchange earnings(FEEs) during February 2013were US$ 1.89 billion as compared to FEEs of US$ 1.73 billion during themonth of February 2012 andUS$ 1.68 billion in February

2011. The growth rate inFEEs in February 2013 overFebruary 2012 was 9.2 percent as compared to thegrowth of 3 per cent inFebruary 2012 overFebruary 2011. FEE fromtourism during January-

February 2013 were US$3.80 billion with a growth of11.4 per cent, as comparedto US$ 3.41 billion with agrowth of 15.5 per cent dur-ing January-February 2012over the corresponding period of 2011.

As part of the strategic thrust to Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events(MICE), there will be 10 convention-cum-exhibition centres across the countryfor the promotion of this segment of tourism. reports.

TT BU R E AU

Celebrating AviationDay, the Minister for CivilAviation Ajit Singh saidthat India will be the thirdlargest aviation market by2020. He added that thecountry’s airports would behandling 336 milliondomestic and 85 millioninternational passengerswith projected investmentto the tune of US$ 120 bil-lion by 2020. The Ministeralso highlighted on thedecision to liberalise theprocess for airlines toacquire aircraft by doingaway with the AircraftAcquisition Committee. He added that theGovernment has also takensteps to liberalise and granttraffic rights to Indian carriers to fly to new desti-nations around the globe.

India to be 3rd

largest aviationmarket by 2020

Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Minister of Tourism K Chiranjeevi at NorthBlock in New Delhi

MOT to boost India for MICE tourism


AVIATION

In what seems like a two-pronged move to boost its

air traffic this holiday season,Jet Airways, on one hand, isoffering a 60-day advancediscount on tickets which arepriced at least 30 per centlower than the usual fare. Onthe other hand, the airline ishiking its cancellation

charges from a flat ̀ 1,050 onall domestic flights to penal-ties ranging from ` 200 to` 2,000.

So, as per Jet Airways’new structure, the higher thefare, the lower will be thecancellation charge. The low-est economy fare tickets willbe non-refundable. The tick-ets priced a little more thanthe cheapest would attract acancellation charge of ` 2,000; the upper economy` 1,000; and premium classtickets the lowest penalty of` 250 to ` 500.

Gurdeep Singh Gujral,CEO & Director, Gujral Toursand Travels, says, “This isbeneficial for travel agents aswe will now get only genuinetravellers. Right now, a lot of

Indians book tickets throughus whenever airlines offercheap tickets without anyconfirmed travel plans as the cancellation charges were low. Later, they requestfor a change in travel sched-ule, thereby adding to ourwork burden.”

However, Jay Bhatia,Western Chapter Chairman,TAAI, disagrees with Gujral.

The airline is just takingadvantage of the peak sea-son, he feels. “This is theright time to con the trav-ellers and increase the trou-ble of travel agents as thepassengers are already upsetwith us for charging transac-tion fee. The increase in can-cellation and rebookingcharges will further lower airbookings,” says Bhatia.

In this intensely com-petitive sector, such a movewill certainly have a rippleeffect with other airlinesreviewing their cancellationcharges. Last year, the can-cellation fee on the domesticsector was hiked from ` 750to ` 1,050. One airline tookthe step and others followed.If that happens, cancelling

cheap tickets would lead to loss of more than half the money.

Most of the travel com-panies and internationaltourism boards offer attrac-tive travel packages withearly bird discounts, luringIndian travellers to bookearly. With this move, Indiamight get back to the ‘latebooking market’ age with

budget travellers booking atthe last minute to avoid exor-bitant cancellation/ re-book-ing charges.

EM Najeeb, ExecutiveCommittee Member, IATOsaid, “Reasonable cancella-tion/re-booking charges bythe airline are valid as theyhelp the airline calculate andestimate their flight load.However, exorbitant chargeswill not be accepted by the market as passengers will than opt for other airlines offering lower cancellation/re-bookingcharges. There is a need forbringing in customer friendlypolicies in a market like Indiawhere the aviation industryhas tremendous potential for growth.”

Jet Airways revises its cancellation charges from a flatrate of ` 1,050 on all domestic flights to penalties ranging from ` 200 to ` 2,000.

Cancellation to be a pinch

TEENA BARUAH & ANITA JAIN

Reasonablecancellation/re-bookingcharges by the airline are valid

The increase incancellation andrebookingcharges willfurther lower airbookings

This is beneficial for travel agents as we will now get only genuinetravellers

Gurdeep Singh GujralCEO & DirectorGujral Tours and Travels

Jay BhatiaWestern Chapter ChairmanTAAI

EM NajeebExecutive Committee MemberIATO

Tourism Corporation ofGujarat Ltd (TCGL) andIndian Oil Corporation Ltd(IOC) recently signed an MoUto help promote tourism inthe state by offering facilitiesto tourists at IOC petrolpumps. Under this agree-ment, TCGL will acquire landin the areas of IOC and create

basic tourist amenities liketoilets, food courts, informa-tion kiosks, etc. These facili-ties will be created in selectareas and on national high-ways where IOC has its pres-ence and will be managed bya third party. Such facilitieswill be made available at IOCoutlets, including restaurants,

every 100 km on nationalhighways and every 75 km onstate highways. Work isexpected to begin in the nextsix months towards this end.Once the basic infrastructureis ready at these locations,TCGL will start scouting for aprivate player to managethese facilities.

TCGL & IOC to bring tourist halts


ASSOCIATIONS

With his mantra of nopassport, no visa, no

forex; Subhash Verma has

been re-elected as Presidentof ADTOI for the secondtime. The top office bearersfor the two-year term includePP Khanna as Vice Presidentand Ravi Luthra as GeneralSecretary. Rajat Sawhney hasbeen elected as Treasurer.The new Executive CouncilMembers include RajeshArya, Harjinder Singh,Anurag Agarwal, SanjayAggarwal, Debashis Dey,Ashwani Gupta, KamalGandhi and Gaurav Chawla.The new ManagingCommittee has taken chargefrom April 1, while theAssociation will elect a jointsecretary soon. The electionwas organised on March 30

at The Ashok, New Delhi and was attended by 240 members.

The new team is allgeared up to give a renewedboost to domestic tourism.“With the states waking up tothe potential of domestictourism, there has been aspurt in home-stay accom-

modations and budget hotels,and this is indispensable fortourism. The seasonal natureof foreign arrivals also meansthat domestic tourism is

needed to ensure that thereis work for everyone all-yeararound,” he says. But at thesame time, the states need toconcentrate on creation of

quality tourism infrastructurein order to attract moretourists as bottlenecks haveoften hampered the growthof tourist arrivals, he pointsout. “The soaring domesticairfare is also acting as aroadblock,” he adds.

ADTOI is looking for-ward to unveil two more

chapters – Maharashtra andRajasthan by the next year.He reveals, “Our ultimate tar-get is to have a chapter ineach state. Since we openedthe fourth chapter in WestBengal and North East thisMarch, there has been morefocussed activities in terms ofpromotion, development andsupport in West Bengal andNorth East along with betterco-ordination with the statetourism agencies.” Startedwith just five members, thenewest chapter of the associ-ation now has 25 members.Out of over 600 members in ADTOI, the Delhi Chapter continues to be the biggest with almost 350 members.

The association willurge all active ADTOI mem-bers to get the Ministry ofTourism (MOT) support fortheir benefit as well as of

customers. According toLuthra, the primary concernwould be to work closely withMOT for the benefit of thedomestic tourism industry.“Apart from a pan-India pres-ence, we are aiming to bring a special MarketDevelopment AssistanceScheme for domestic touroperators,” Sawhney adds.

ADTOI’s new team has beefed up its measures to realisethe vision of a pan-India presence. It has set up newchapters, boost membership growth and tackled servicetax issues to promote domestic tourism.

Verma heads ADTOI, again

TT BUREAU

Subhash VermaPresidentADTOI

P P KhannaVice PresidentADTOI

Ravi LuthraGeneral SecretaryADTOI

Rajat SawhneyTreasurerADTOI

High Court intervention puts ADTOIjoint secretary election on hold

ADTOI, in compliancewith the directives given bythe Delhi High Court, has puton hold elections for the postof ADTOI Joint Secretary. Asper the interim orders of theCourt, the main grievance ofthe plaintiffs is that the orig-

inal Articles, Memorandumof Association and the Rules and Regulations; theGoverning Body comprises offour office bearers, (thePresident, Vice President,General Secretary andTreasurer) and there is no

post of Joint Secretary envis-aged under the said rules.The association now is pro-posing to hold the electionsfor appointment to the postof five office bearers, includ-ing the post of JointSecretary.

SpiceJet, the Indian dis-count carrier operating an all-Boeing fleet, said it may con-sider a full switch to AirbusSAS aircraft as it weighs

options for a new generationof planes.

The planemaker said lastmonth it’s in talks withSpiceJet and Jet Airways

(India) to sell its 737 Max sin-gle-aisle aircraft as the planemaker forecast Indian carrierswould need 1,450 new planesthrough 2031.

From Boeing to Airbus


HOTELS

Singapore-based BanyanTree Hotels & Resorts has

added India in its core marketlisting after recording salesgrowth of 100 per cent in2012 over 2011. By organisingroadshows, fams, knowledgesharing sessions and sales callsin major Indian cities, thebrand has spread awarenessamong the travel trade andcorporate travellers. To incen-tivise travel trade for their loy-alty and encourage them tobook Banyan Tree propertiesacross the world, it has alsointroduced the XTC (XtremeTravel Consultants) recogni-tion programme for agents. Itis now in the process of rollingout the much-awaited BanyanTree Kerala property in Q32013 and has started promot-ing the same among theIndian travel trade. With anaim to achieve another mile-stone of 100 per cent salesgrowth from India in 2013 aswell, the brand has listed Indiain its core focus markets forthis year and is investing high-ly on travel trade partnerships,incentives and strategic mar-keting and business alliances.

Underlining the grow-ing importance of Indianmarket, Audrey Chung,Senior Assistant VicePresident – GlobalMarketing Network, Banyan

Tree Hotels & Resorts said,“Slowly, we are gaining con-fidence among the traveltrade by accommodatingtheir requests and customis-ing to their requirements.We have realised that India is a last minute booking market and we haveto be flexible enough. Weare also learning about the various booking patternsof the Indian travel trade and are furtherenhancing our knowledge by organising trade missionsand roadshows once a year by bringing down oursuppliers from markets for which India is a potentialsource market. Moving forward, we intend to start connecting with mini metro cities likeAhmedabad, Pune, etcwhich hold strong potentialfor our product.”

The brand is now posi-tive to open the flagshipproperty in Kerala by thethird quarter of this year. Theall-villa property will have 59pool villas, three restaurants,spa facilities and activitiesacross the island.

With the opening of its flagship property in Kerala by Q3 2013, the brand intends to further boost sales figures from India.

Banyan Tree grows 100%

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We haverealised thatIndia is a lastminute bookingmarket and we have to beflexible enough

Audrey ChungSenior Assistant Vice President – Global MarketingNetwork, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts

As of now, luxuryhotels are in high

demand in India. One ofthe latest hotels in thesub-continent is therecently openedKempinski AmbienceHotel in Delhi. The 480room-hotel is split intotwo towers, which arelinked by a glassy bridge.The Dalai Lama joined itsopening. In the next fiveyears, more than 90,000hotel beds should arise inIndia’s metropolis.

All large hotel chainsbustle in the Indian hotelmarket. Accor is currently

building eight hotels,Carlson Rezidor is currentlydeveloping 30 new proper-ties, Hilton is planning ninenew hotels and theInterContinental HotelsGroup (IHG) is preparing 16new hotel openings.

Also Hyatt is expand-ing its presence in India;currently they operate 13 hotels, and in the next years, 15 new hotelsshould be added.

This data has beenrevealed by TOPHOTEL-PROJECTS, the worldwideleading provider of global B2B hotel data. Anda lot many hotel projects are expected.

Approximately 500 million Indians belong to the well-offmiddle class; and they travel frequently. In the next threeyears, 292 new hotels will open their doors in India.

Hotel construction boom

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Accor 8 hotel

contruction projects

Carlson Rezidor 30Dusit Hotels 8Fairmont Raffles Hotels 4Hilton 9Hyatt 15IHG 15Marriott 25Oberoi 2Shangri-La 3Starwood Hotels 23Taj Hotels 5Wyndham Hotels 12

Concrete hotel constructionprojects of all large hotelchains in India

(Source: tophotelprojects.com/date: March 2013)

Chinese tourists are the world’s biggest spendersChinese tourists have over taken Germans as the world’s biggest-spending travelers after a decade of robust growth in the number of Chinese holidayingabroad, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said.


HOTELS

WelcomHeritage, a jointventure between ITC

and Jodhana Heritage,upholding a collection of theheritage hotels in India, garners 60 per cent of itsbusiness through the B2Bsegment.

Elaborating on the rela-tionship with travel agentsand tour operators, SanjayKirpal, CEO, WelcomHeritagesays, “They are an importantlink as they are in directtouch with the target seg-ment and influence theirdecision pertaining to theirholiday destinations. Weremain in constant touchwith our associates from thetravel trade. We keep themupdated with the regularinformation encompassingour properties. Simultane-ously, we also update themabout an array of excitingHeritage Holiday packagesand offerings at our properties.”

According to Kirpal, thecontinuous evolution in thetechnological sphere is lead-ing to a constant expansionin the B2B segment. Thetravel trade fraternity isincessantly making efforts tomark an improvement in itsapproach. “The productivityof this segment largelydepends on the visibility pro-vided by the portals. Themarket is highly competitiveand is offering higher dis-counts and special rateswhich are playing a crucialrole in this segment. Till now,the response has beenincreasingly positive over theyears and we are sure that itwill continue to grow fur-ther,” he adds.

In addition to thenumerous challengesinvolved in setting up andrunning of any regular hotel,the heritage hotels involvesome additional hurdles.

Points out Kirpal, “During thesetting up phase, there areproblems such as high com-mencing and renovationcosts. Also, in the initialphase, these hotels require

special attention as they areusually family-owned, oldbuildings, built for personaluse. They were originallynever constructed as hotelsand the owners are usuallynot ready for any kind ofchanges as they share anemotional attachment withthese properties.”

Another major chal-lenge in running these hotelsis their location, which makesits accessibility difficult forthe travellers and causes lim-itations in providing skilledhuman resource. Due to thegeographical difference ofeach destination, the busi-ness of these hotels is highlydependant upon the season.There are some operationalfactors like electricity prob-lem which contribute furtherto the costs as running gen-

erator sets are costly.Additionally, there are othercost constraints like trans-porting guest amenities, tax structures, plus expensiveBar license fee, which is

at times higher than Bar sale of the hotel, Sunil Sikka, Head-Marketing & Business Development,WelcomHeritage adds.

With respect to price points, the heritagebusiness is fairly competitivein India and henceforth, it is expected to increasewith people looking forunique experiences throughheritage tourism in India. “The competition inthis segment is largely from the budget hotels asthey are giving a close com-petition in the context ofrates. Also, competitionwithin the segment is evolv-ing as the heritage hotels aremushrooming and most ofthe locations already haveabout five to six hotels,”Sikka explains.

Forging an alliance with the travel trade fraternity,WelcomHeritage sees a constant expansion in the B2Bsegment owing to the continuous evolution in the technological sphere.

The business of heritage

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The competitionis largely from thebudget hotels asthey are giving aclose competitionin terms of rates

Travel agents are an importantlink as they arein direct touch with the targetsegment

Sanjay KirpalCEOWelcomHeritage

Sunil SikkaHead-Marketing & BusinessDevelopment, WelcomHeritage

Former South African crick-eter Jonty Rhodes will now wooIndian travellers to visit hisspectacular home country as hehas just been appointed as thebrand ambassador to SouthAfrican Tourism in India.

Hanneli Slabber, CountryManager, South AfricanTourism, India said, “We areexcited to have Jonty on boardto further promote South Africain India. Jonty has a huge fan-following, his credibility, stellar

cricketing career and love fortravel, adventure and SouthAfrica, makes him the ambas-sador of choice to promoteSouth Africa’s tourism experi-ences.”

Commenting on theannouncement, Jonty Rhodessaid, “My home country is everytraveller’s dream come true. Iam looking forward to encour-aging more Indians to visitSouth Africa to discover theabundance of unique and awe-

some experiences offered by thedestination to suit varied needsand desires.”

Hanneli SlabberCountry Manager, South African Tourism

Jonty Rhodes bats for SA


HOTELS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 1 5

The Park Hotels hasannounced the launch of

their design driven upscalebrand ‘Zone by The Park’ aspart of the brand’s expansionplans. Drawing from ThePark’s design spirit, the con-cept envisions an interactiveseries of buzzing spaces usingthe best of contemporarydesign, with creative and play-ful interiors, multi-functionalspaces, great restaurants, barsand vibrant nightlife. Thesehotels will be a starting pointto enjoy the city, where peopleengage and socialise in a

friendly and informal atmos-phere. Talking about the newdevelopment, Priya Paul,Chairperson,ApeejaySurrendra Park Hotels remarked, “Wesaw an opportunity to create amid-segment brand thatreflected this upbeat mood.Though different from ThePark, we wanted to create a

brand that would channel itsinimitable spirit.”

The brand Zone willcater to the gap in the Indianhotel market for the burgeon-ing Indian middle class andinternational traveller lookingfor budget travel. The hotelswill be priced around the 80-

100 USD mark, Vijay Dewan,Managing Director, ApeejaySurrendra Park Hotelsinformed. ‘Zone by The Park’will primarily be managedproperties and four hotelshave already been signedunder the brand. The firsthotel will be operational bythe year end.

Launched by Apeejay Surrendra Group, the brand will primarily be managed properties. Four hotels have already been signed.

‘Zone by The Park’ for budget segmentTT BUREAU

Priya PaulChairpersonApeejay Surrendra Park Hotels

Vijay DewanManaging DirectorApeejay Surrendra Park Hotels

Jaxtr Inc recentlylaunched Jaxtr SIM - aglobal SIM card offeringup to 90 per cent cheapercall rates to India forIndians travelling abroad.Being the second countryafter US for the launch ofthis SIM, the company is very confident to sell over one million SIMcards in next couple ofyears. Priced at ` 600, the card is 70 per centcheaper than other existing solutions.

According to SabeerBhatia, Co-Founder andChief Executive, Jaxtr Inc;India was the next bestchoice for launching JaxtrSIM as the company isfamiliar with the Indiantravel market due toArzoo.com. He said,“Since outbound travelbookings are mostly man-aged by travel agents inthis market, we will makethem (both online andoffline agents) our primedistribution channels.There are around 12 mil-lion international passen-gers annually who comeand go out of the countrywith 86 per cent of themhaving a mobile phone.They, being price-sensi-tive, look for cost-effectivesolution during roaming.Our global SIM card isdesigned for such needs.”Believing strongly on thepositive future of offlineagents in India, Bhatiasaid, “This new travelproduct in their kitty willbring in lot more revenuefor agents, if used in the right way.” The com-pany will also sell the SIM online.

Jaxtr WorldSim callsagents


HOTELS

Both the hotels will bedeveloped under Sarovar

Portico brand and will beoperational over the nextthree years.

The hotels will cash inon the well-informed trav-eller who demands value-for-money pricing. Says AnilMadhok, Managing Director,Sarovar Hotels, “SarovarPortico as a brand was con-ceptualised with a view toprovide today’s well-informed traveller with allmodern facilities and com-forts, at value-for-moneypricing. The hotels under thisbrand bring fresh design,concept and ideas that arevibrant and colourful, provid-ing guests a refreshing stayexperience. These hotels tar-get the budget conscious

traveller who refuses to com-promise on quality.”

Sarovar Portico,Gandhidham will offer 58rooms and is expected to beoperational by 2014 whileSarovar Portico, Bhavnagarwill be 80-room hotel, slatedto open in 2016. These hotelsare promoted by Akhil PalaceHotels and Leela Hospitality& Services respectively.

Regarding the competi-tive hospitality landscapeemerging in Gujarat, Madhokcomments, “A brand likeSarovar Portico has the max-imum potential to grow inthis market as it is an idealcombination of quality andhospitality at an attractiveprice. With the signing of twomore hotels, we hope tostrengthen our presence inthe state and cater to the

growing number of visitors toGujarat. Both leisure touristsand business travellers whovisit Gujarat due to its richcultural heritage and thepresence of a large number ofindustries will be our targetcustomers.”

Currently SarovarHotels has presence inGujarat with Park PlazaAhmedabad, Sarovar PorticoAhmedabad and SarovarPortico Rajkot.

The hospitality landscape in Gujarat got more vibrant with Sarovar Hotelsrecently announcing the signing of two more hotels in Gujarat – atGandhidham and Bhavnagar.

Sarovar spreads wings in Gujarat

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Sarovar Portico, Gandhidhamwill offer 58 rooms and is expected to be operational by 2014 while Sarovar Portico,Bhavnagar will be 80-room hotel, slated to open in 2016

Welcoming GujaratBoth leisuretourists andbusinesstravellers whovisit Gujarat willbe our targetcustomers

Anil MadhokManaging DirectorSarovar Hotels

Simon C Barlow,President, Asia-Pacific,

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Groupsaid, “We believe that the mid-market segment is the future of India. The population in India isyoung and our mid-scalebrand Park Inn by Radissonwill definitely appeal toyoung travellers.”

The hotel managementcompany signed an agree-ment with the BestechGroup to develop 49 ParkInn by Radissons acrossNorth and Central India in2012. Barlow informed thatCarlson Rezidor-Bestechpartnership would work as amodel for other partnershipsin India. He added, “We will

look to develop similarstrategic partnerships withother groups for the East,West and southern regionand to create a platform aswe have done with Bestech.We are currently undergoingtalks for the same and arehoping to make anannouncement of at leastone partnership agreementby mid-2013.”

The Hotel Group currently has 63 propertiesin India and aims at having over 200 propertiesin the country by 2020.Barlow stated, “CarlsonRezidor has been present inIndia for over 15 years now and we believe that the Indian market can sustain this growth. India isthe strongest of all our countries in Asia.

Our emphasis in India will be on secondary andtertiary cities withfocus on the ParkInn by Radissonbrand.”

The Carlson RezidorHotel Group has six brands inits portfolio - Radisson Blu,Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Innby Radisson, Country Inns &Suites By Carlson and HotelMissoni, Barlow said, “Ofthese six brands, only HotelMissoni is not present inIndia. As of now, there are noplans to bring the brand toIndia. However, if we dodecide to do so, it will beeither in Delhi or Mumbai.”

The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is highly upbeat about the hospitality sector in the Indian market and believes that the future in India belongs to the mid-market segment. The group aims at establishing strategic partnerships region-wise…

Carlson Rezidor for mid-market

LYANDRA D’SOUZA

The Hotel Group currently has63 properties in India and aimsat having over 200 propertiesin the country by 2020It has been in India for over 15years and believes that theIndian market can sustain this growth

Carlson & India...

Simon C BarlowPresident, Asia-PacificCarlson Rezidor Hotel Group

New York’s MetropolitanMuseum of Art and Indiahave signed an agreement tocooperate in areas of conser-vation, exhibitions andresearch. Under the agree-ment, the Met says the muse-

um and India’s Ministry ofCulture also will cooperate onshort- and long-term loans,publications and public edu-cation.

The collaboration alsocalls for the immediate cre-

ation of the IndianConservation Fellowship Pilot Program. Met Director and CEO ThomasCampbell says under the pro-gram emerging Indian con-servators will work alongside

the museum’s staff of nearly100 conservators and scien-tists.

A major exhibition focus-ing on India’s Deccan regionalso is planned for some timein spring 2015.

NY’s Met Museum teams up with India


STATES

With consistent requestsfrom airlines, state air-

ports and now Ministry of CivilAviation; the Civil AviationDepartment of Maharashtrahas drafted a new aviation

policy where the focus is onregional air connectivity andregional airport’s develop-ment. The state has attempt-ed to lure airlines into increas-

ing regional connectivity byassuring purchase of a fixednumber of seats on each flightand is now contemplating toreduce airport fee and tax avi-ation fuel to some extent. This

news is welcomed by theindustry stakeholders, espe-cially airports and airlines.Intending to further enhancethe aviation scenario in thestate, J K Banthia, ChiefSecretary, MaharashtraGovernment has urged theMinistry of Civil Aviation toallow more international car-riers to connect regions likeAurangabad, Sindhudurg,Shirdi, Nashik, etc.

Talking about thegrowing potential of regionalairports and opportunitiesfor domestic and interna-tional airlines, Banthia said,“Maharashtra needs moreregional air connectivitywith the improving popular-ity of regional tourism andbusiness activities. Forinstance, Shirdi (one of themost popular religious sitesin India) is soon opening itsnew international airportand we are ready to welcome

both international anddomestic carriers to startflights to connect with thisplace of worship. The MahaKumb Mela is scheduled totake place in Nashik in 2015

for which the state govern-ment is developing a passen-ger terminal to ease air pas-senger movement during theMela. Our Nagpur airport isalready developed and listedin SEZ (Special EconomicZone). We urge MoCA to per-mit domestic and global car-riers to connect Nagpur withimportant international hubslike Bangkok, Singapore andDubai. Also, with the devel-opment of Buddhist circuit inthe state, there is a need to

connect Aurangabad withcountries like China, Japan,Korea, etc.” There are oppor-tunities with airlines to fur-ther look at Sindhudurg,Kolhapur, Solapur andAmravati.

According to AjitSingh, Union Minister forAviation, Government ofIndia; the Ministry of Civil Aviation is consistentlyurging the state govern-ment to reduce taxes in avi-ation sector, ease airportdevelopment in regionalareas of the state andenhance air connectivity. Tothis, the state governmenthas now considered andshown signs of reducing thetaxes soon.

MoCA is consistently urging the Maharashtra governmentto reduce aviation taxes and provide incentives to airlinesconnecting mini-metros and Tier-II cities in the state.

Regional air connectivity

ANITA JAIN

J K BanthiaChief SecretaryMaharashtra

Ajit SinghUnion Minister for Aviation

Punjab 2013 makes waves

Punjab 2013, a travel trade show, was organised at Hotel Hyatt in Amritsar on March 23, 2013. Thosewho participated in the event included Visit England, Visit Finland, London & its Partners, Abu Dhabi Tourism& Culture Authority, German National Tourist Office, OTOAI, TAT and many others. Several travel agents,tour operators, MICE organisors, wedding planner from Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsarattended the event. Ashwani Gupta and Jatinder Gupta of Dove Travels, Amritsar had organised the show.


STATES

The synergy developedbetween tour operators,

property owners, travel agen-cies and the government hasresulted in a massive upsurgeof tourists in Kerala. Newproduct offerings have beenvery promising for the state.

Kerala Tourism’s totalrevenue, both direct and indi-rect, touched ` 21,125 crorein 2012. The state witnessed7.94 lakh foreign touristsarrival and 1.01 crore domes-tic tourists last year. This riseof Kerala as a global tourismdestination shows its fantas-tic strides in all aspects oftourism.

Adding to its differentdimensions, it has introducedfresh initiatives to seeknewer travel experience andincreased tourist sites. Thegovernment of Kerala isrolling out two new initia-tives; Seaplane Project andProject Muziris. While the for-mer project is aimed towardsimproving last-mile connec-tivity by air to its destinations

across state, the latter isdirected to reinstate the his-torical and cultural signifi-cance of the legendary port ofMuziris.

“Kerala TourismInfrastructure Limited (KTIL)a public sector undertakingunder Department ofTourism, Government ofKerala, has been appointed asthe nodal agency for theimplementation of the sea-plane project. The plan is toprovide service initially in thepriority circuit, consisting of three airports ofTrivandrum, Cochin andCalicut and prime destina-tions including Astamudi,

Punnamada, Kumarakom,Bolgatty and Bekal. We aretrying for the early launch ofseaplanes by this year,” saysNandkumar K P, TouristInformation Officer,Department of Tourism,Government of Kerala.

The Muziris HeritageSite stretches acrossErnakulam district andThrissur district. “The pro-ject’s objective is to promoteawareness and understand-ing of the cultural distinctive-ness and diversity of Muziris.More than 25 museums willbe there to appreciate theMuziris’ heritage. This projectwill help develop the old

ports in Kerala and add his-toric value to the state,” addsNandkumar.

Kerala has also receivedCentral finance assistance tothe tune of ` 47.62 crore fordevelopment of backwatercircuit in Alappuzha as amega circuit in Kerala.

The state is alsofocussing on wellness-orient-ed Ayurvedic treatments inthe international markets.“The Ayurveda we offer isessentially a wellness-orient-ed treatment to bring in morevigour to one’s system. Thatis what the tourists look for;and under this campaign, theaverage holiday for foreigntourists is expected to go upto 18 days per person fromthe present average stay of16.2 days,” says Suman Billa,Secretary, Department ofTourism, Government ofKerala. For the domestic mar-ket this year, Kerala Tourismproposes to conduct partner-ship meets with the travel fra-ternity in the metropolitancities as well as Kolkata,Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbaiand Delhi.

From seaplanes to excavating Muziris heritage site anddeveloping Alappuzha in the backwater region as a megatourism circuit, Kerala has a lot planned this year. finds out how it is exploiting its tourism potential.

God’s own country calling

DEVIKA JEET

Over 25museums willbe there to appreciate the Muziris’heritage. Thisproject will helpdevelop the oldports in Kerala

The Ayurvedawe offer isessentially awellness-orientedtreatment tobring in more vigour toone’s system

Suman BillaSecretaryDepartment of TourismGovernment of Kerala

Nandkumar K P Tourist Information OfficerDepartment of Tourism Government of Kerala

Foreigners visiting Britainfrom certain countries willhave to put up ‘securitybonds’ costing thousands ofpounds to deter them fromoverstaying their visas, under new proposals. Nick

Clegg, the Deputy PrimeMinister announced plans tobring in the Australian-styledeposits for visitors from‘high risk’ countries, to berepaid when they leave theUK. Although a list of such

nations has not yet beendrawn up by the UK BorderAgency (UKBA), it is expectedto include Pakistan, othercountries in the Indian sub-continent and some inthe Middle East.

Bonds for visiting UK


NTO

Melanie de Souza,General Manager,

International Marketing,Tourism Victoria, does notlike generalising Indian trav-elers; she says, “Like China,India is this very diverse typeof market. We have a firsttimer coming out of Punjaband at the same time we havethis sophisticated stylish per-son from Mumbai, who is outon his 40th international trip.But India, traditionally, interms of overseas holidayslooked to UK and USA, only inthe last decade has Australiastarted to penetrate people’sperceptions to the point thatit’s now seen as an aspira-tional destination. This, forus, is very rewarding, but thetourists are maturing and weas a destination have to caterto a diverse Indian market.How do we deliver to theJains, how do we cater to thefact that our restaurantsshould be open for late dinnerservice? Our industry is get-ting their heads around it.”

The State of Victoria’slatest International VisitorSurvey results for 2012 depictsIndian as one of Victoria’sfastest growing inboundtourism markets attracting71,600 Indian visitors in 2012an increase of 16.4 % over theprevious year.

And of course with anincrease in arrivals, Melaniesays that that they do realizethe importance of Indianarrivals. “India is our numberseven market and is veryimportant for us. We are thehighest visited state inAustralia from India, close to50 per cent of the market toAustralia is to Melbourne. Thisis very heartening. There is ageneral realization with thetravel industry that Melbourneis now a must include in the itinerary,” she says.

Melanie says that of themany marketing strategiesthere is a great focus on thesocial media as well. TourismVictoria’s innovativeMelbourne NOW! Social mediacampaign reached over 5 mil-

lion Indians and generatednew itineraries for Indian vis-itors to Victoria. Melanieexplains the concept, “WithMelbourne NOW! we wantedto use consumers to influencethe travel industry’s itinerariesfor Melbourne and Victoria. Wedid a social media campaignwhere we painted the breadthof experiences on offer and weasked consumers to vote for

the experience that they liked,we got a very good responseand there were pretty clearresults. And at the end of it wewent to the travel industry andtold them that here’s what theconsumers want now give usitineraries that match this kindof experience and we thenmade the same people vote forthe itineraries that they thinkare most appealing. Out of 70travel agents we picked 15winners and the inducementfor them was you had to put anextra night in Melbourne sowe were looking to increasethe length of stay and lookingfor innovation and not justrun-of-the-mill itineraries.”

While looking for innovations the tourismboard is also looking to focuson the various markets inIndia and while the primarymarkets are of course con-centrated in Delhi andMumbai, they are not losingtrack of the smaller marketsas well. The MelbourneNOW! Campaign was thefirst Australian state tourismcampaign to focus on Indiancities beyond Mumbai andDelhi and support for it hasbeen extremely strongacross India.

Melanie explains,“While our primary marketsare Delhi and Mumbai, wedo look into the secondarymarkets too. While the other cities are just comingup and have our target audience there, the criticalmass of households with acertain disposable incomethe concentration is unques-tionably in pure marketingterms in Mumbai and Delhi, we can’t lose sight ofthat as much as we want to nurture travellers in other markets.”

And while Melanieacknowledges thatMelbourne has got the abil-ity to cater to all income lev-els, she says that the busi-ness events market, thoughonly a small percentage, is avery lucrative market interms of average spend as itis 5 times more than theaverage holidayer. And thesuccessful hosting of theAmway Conference has alsobeen a great booster forMICE tourism in the city.“We are told by our travelpartners that the AmwayConference which hadalmost 4,500 people inattendance is being used asa case study in India. Itproved that a medium-haulmarket like Australia couldstill have that kind of amovement, working withouta direct airline, but collabo-rating across 4 airlines todeliver against the commonobjective. It was good busi-ness for us, the feedbackwas very positive.”

Melanie de Souza, General Manager, International Marketing,Tourism Victoria, talks about their increased focus in the Indianmarket. She also discusses how Australia has made it an aspirational destination and why MICE is important for them.

‘India is a diverse market’

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

We are thehighest visitedstate inAustralia fromIndia, close to50 per cent ofthe market toAustralia is toMelbourne

Melanie de SouzaGeneral ManagerInternational Marketing, Tourism Victoria

Europe’s best spots become playground for the new rich of the EastIndian tourists are now a common site on the streets of Rome, displacing the traditionalmobs of baseball capped, camera toting Japanese. Along with Japanese, Chinese andother Asians; they are the new tourist boom of Europe. The number of Indian touristsis rising year on year thereby proving the fact that Europe has become the best sportfor the new rich of the East.


STATES2 0 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Hoping for yet anothersuccessful holiday

season, Ghulam Ahmed Mir,Tourism Minister, Jammuand Kashmir, talks to about the newly sanctionedmega infrastructure and her-itage projects by the Centreand safety measures under-taken for tourists ahead ofthe holiday season.

QCould you share details of the mega tourism

projects that were sanctionedby the Centre recently?

The construction ofKashmir Haat at Chinar Bagh,development of picnic spot atPahalgam, light and soundshow at Shalimar Bagh, construction of budgetaccommodation at Aharbaland Lolab-Bangus-Drangyariwould be completed at a cost of ` 22.28 crore. Theconstruction of TRC atYousmarg, eco-friendlydevelopment of Sutkudi

base camp to Vishansar,Sonamarg, development ofSarbal lake, development ofJamia Masjid HeritageCorridor as a tourist destina-tion, development ofDoodpathari as tourist resort,setting up of laser show/mul-timedia show at Dal Lake and development of wayside facilities and upgradation ofAmarnath Yatra track would be carried out at thecost of ` 22.52 crore inKashmir valley.

In Jammu division,sanctioned projects includedevelopment of tourist infra-structure at Natha Top anddevelopment of SanasarLake, conservation andrestoration of Mubarak MandiHeritage Complex as megatourist, development oftourist infrastructure atMansar Lake, development ofMughal road, Lake Circuit,Poonch, development oftourist spots in BallwanBasoli and Bani area anddevelopment and promotionof pilgrim circuit atGurudwara Nangali Sahib inPoonch besides integrateddevelopment of tourist circuitin Darhal as base camp andShaker Marg as gateway tothe tourist destination ofPirpanchal range would becompleted at the total cost of`38.68 crore. Projects worth`4.45 crore for developmentof tourist infrastructure in Kargil tourist spot have also been sanctioned by the Centre.

QCould you tell us aboutthe progress of tourism

projects being executedunder the Central FinancialAssistance?

Many of the centrallysponsored schemes have beencompleted like TRC Srinagar,TRC Ladwdora at Qazigund,Chanirbagh Kulgam, trekkers’huts at Ahrabal Kulgam, Clubcentre and dormitory atSanamarg, budget accommo-dations at Lolab, Kupwara,North Circuit Caridoor, devel-opment of Gurez as touristdestination, TRCs at various

locations and tourist villageslike Watlab, Akhangam,Sharshali, Nowgam Abad andTiger Smoor.

QWhat is being done toensure timely completion? The centrally sponsored

project must complete withina period of two to three yearsand our state has been ableto meet most deadlines.

QWhat are the demandsof tourism trade delega-

tions and travel associations,and what steps is the government taking?

Travel and tour associ-ations here have beendemanding for growth ofgood accommodation facili-ties, easy access by rail andair on a fix price and quota.They also demand more des-tinations to be opened withadequate facilities.

QHighlight challenges toconvince nations to

lift travel advisories?During last year, nearly

120 lakh pilgrims visitedJammu, 13 lakh tourists visited the Valley whichincluded 37,000 foreignersfrom the UK, Malaysia,Taiwan, Singapore,Germany, USA, Holland,Russia, etc. Whosoever vis-ited J&K, returned homesafe. Had there been any dis-turbance, so many foreignerswould have never visited thestate. All the countries whoimposed Travel Advisoriesneed to lift them, so thattheir people can visit J&Kwithout fear.

In 2012, Jammu and Kashmir recorded the highest ever tourist influx with 13.11 lakh tourists, including 37,000foreigners visiting Kashmir valley and over 38,000 foreigners visiting Ladakh during the last season. Over 1 crore pilgrims visited Vaishno Devi and 6.21 lakh Amarnath yatris visited Kashmir last year.

21 new mega tourism projects for J&K

TE E N A BA R UA H

Ghulam Ahmed MirTourism MinisterJammu and Kashmir


STATES

The state of MadhyaPradesh has jumped on

the tourism map of India in avery short period, and has

emerged as one of the top tenstates in terms of domestictourist visits. Taking it fur-ther, the state has recentlybagged three mega projects.

“Madhya Pradesh hasseen the number of tourists

grow from 11 million in 2006to 53 million in 2012, whichspeaks volumes about theimpressive growth we hadwitnessed in the recent past.In fact, irrespective of theadverse global economic sce-nario and tiger tourism get-ting affected for a period oftime in 2012; our foreigntourist arrivals remainedstrong,” said RaghavendraKumar Singh, ManagingDirector, Madhya PradeshState Tourism DevelopmentCorporation in New Delhi.

“Due to our progress inthe tourism, we now havebagged three mega-projectsfrom Ministry of Tourism,which will entail invest-ments of about ` 50 croreeach. These mega projectswill come up around Ujjain,Jabalpur and one more site,”he added. MP has won manyaccolades for its TV andradio commercials in therecent past. To further itspromotional campaign, ithas now launched a new TV commercial.

These projects will entail investments of about ` 50 crore each and will be built around Ujjain,Jabalpur and one more site

MP bags 3 mega-projects

TT BU R E AU

Raghavendra Kumar SinghManaging DirectorMPSTDC

Months after launchingthe promotional video

featuring Bollywood superstarand state brand ambassador,Shahrukh Khan, West Bengalis now banking on tourism tobe its sunshine sector. Thestate recently launched a onemonth-long intensive cam-

paign in Delhi with thetagline-- Chalo Chalen Bengal(Let’s visit Bengal).

The new governmenthas resolved to bring in bothqualitative and quantitativechange in the tourism sector.The increasing annual outlayfor tourism in the last twostate budgets is a testimony to

it. This was revealed by Krishnendu NarayanChoudhury, Minister-in-Charge Tourism, Governmentof West Bengal who was inNew Delhi to flag off the event.

“Allocation made by thestate government for Tourismsector was ` 38 crore in2011-2012. It increased to

` 90 crore in 2012-2013 and` 120 crore in the currentfinancial year 2013-2014.This clearly reflects the budg-etary support has increased33 per cent,” he added.

Currently, the state ranksninth in domestic touristarrivals. It is both a concernand an opportunity. Thus, WB

wants to work closely with thetravel trade to promote pack-ages in other regions of India,especially North and SouthIndia, he pointed out. TheState Tourism Department willconduct roadshows in majorcities of India such as Mumbai,Chennai, Bengaluru, Jaipur,Ahmedabad, etc, in the coming months. He said, “Weare looking at starting nightflights from Bagdogra airport.The state government is intalks with the AirportAuthority of India for this.”

The state is betting bigon promoting Durga Pujatourism packages in a bigway. “This year, we plan tooffer 10 tourist packages thatinclude Kolkata and other dis-tricts of state where touristscan soak in the festive spiritculture and heritage of thestate at various zamindaripuja homes,” Vikram Sen,Principal Secretary Tourism,West Bengal added. The gov-ernment through the PPP mode is developing infrastructure, includingGajoldoba Tourism Hub, theKolkata Giant Wheel, SyleeTea Tourism Hub, KunjanagarNature and Adventure Parkand Eco-Tourism in Jhadhali,Sundarbans.

The state has launched a new campaign Chalo ChalenBengal to project its tourism potential, attract moredomestic and foreign tourists.

Tourism: WB’s sunshine

ME G H A PAU L

Krishnendu Narayan ChoudhuryMinister-in-Charge TourismGovernment of West Bengal

Vikram SenPrincipal Secretary-TourismWest Bengal


AVIATION

The 'Maharaja' way...Air India Western Region Office recently felicitated the travel agents inthe Maharaja way and organised a lunch get-together for its travel tradepartners in Mumbai.

The ailing Maharaja ofIndian skies is going

to post an operatingprofit/EBIDA (Earnings beforeinterest, tax, depreciationand amortization) for the firsttime in 2012-13 after six flatyears into losses. The airline

is expected to wrap up thelast fiscal (2012-13) withEBIDA of close to ` 20 croredespite the grounding of itssix Boeing 787 Dreamlineraircraft. Moreover, Ajit Singh,Civil Aviation Minister,

Government of India expectsthat the airline will post anEBIDA of close to ` 1,000crore for current (2013-14).The total revenue for thisyear is budgeted at `19,393crore – an increase of 20 percent over the previous year.

Talking about thenational carrier’s growth in

northward direction, Singhsaid, “After 2007, Air India hasmarked EBIDA in the positiveside of the graph. The growthis not too much but as little as` 20 crore, however, one hasto consider that the airline

posted negative EBIDA ofmore than ̀ 2,000 crore in the2011-12. And with everythinggoing positive, we hope theairline will register operatingprofit of close to ` 1,000crore.” Elaborating on the per-formance of Air India, Singhsaid, “The market share of AirIndia in the last few monthshas gone up from 15 per centto more than 20 per cent.”

The airline accepts that travel agents are crucial elements for growth and promises to continue a healthyrelationship with the travel trade.

Air India breaking through

ANITA JAIN

Singh informed that theload factor of the airline hasimproved to 71.8 per cent in2012-13 as compared to 67.9per cent in the last fiscal. Theon-time performance of theairline perked up to 85 percent in last fiscal as comparedto 75 per cent in 2011-12. Interms of yields per rupee perkilometre, it was `4.31 perkilometre as compared to

` 3.5 per kilometre requiredby the finance ministry. Thegovernment in April 2012approved a `30,000 crorepackage to bail out the airlinewhich included an upfrontequity infusion of ` 6,750crore and assured equity sup-port of `23,481 crore till2020-21.

Highlighting the per-formance of Air India last

year, Rita Motilal, GeneralManager – Commercial,Western India, Air India said,“We started the last yearwith the unfortunate agita-tion by our pilots whichimpacted our flights toLondon, Riyadh and fewmore from Mumbai withother international connec-tions unchanged. But theaffected flights were rein-stated by August last year.”

According to her, betweenNovember – March, the airlinerecorded growth in seat factor(domestic average: 80 percent and international aver-age: 75 per cent and overall73 per cent on an average),new routes, revenue, betteryields and on time perform-ance. “For the increase in seatloads, we appreciate the sup-

port of our trade partnerswhich constantly support AirIndia and sell it on domesticand international routes. Weare glad that the travel tradehas kept the confidence on AirIndia and supported us duringour troubled times. Overall,the travel trade has immense-ly contributed in making theturnaround strategy of AirIndia successful,” addsMotilal. The revenue andoverall operating profits of theairline would have been muchbetter if the B787 Dreamlineraircraft were in operationsinstead of on the grounds. Theairline will soon announcenew routes on domestic andinternational routes withexciting range of holiday pack-ages, stop over packages andincentive schemes for agents.

Going up the ladder

The airline is expected torecord around 72.5 per centon the network for 2013-14,which is better than thattargetted in the turnaroundplan. It is expected to carry16.12 million passengers in2013-14, a growth of 14.7 percent from 2012-13

Target: 2013-14


AVIATION2 4 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

The national carrier ofSlovenia, Adria Airways,

with an experience spanningover 50 years in charter andscheduled air traffic, will soonmake its presence felt in theIndian market. It has recentlyappointed Dex Aviation as itsGeneral Sales Agent in India.

Speaking at the pressconference, AmbassadorJanez Premoze said, “Indiahas been a traditional desti-nation for Slovenians for along time. And the totalexchange of visitors in bothdirections is about 10,000.This number has remainedstable. We now want todevelop our tourism, usingthe national airlines, in a waythat makes practical and tac-tical business sense.”

Headquartered nearLjubljana - the capital ofSlovenia, Adria Airways con-nects 18 cities throughoutEurope and offers excellentconnections to South-EastEurope. According to Ramesh

Marwah, Director, Dex Group,“Everyone in Europe is lookingat India as a big potential mar-ket. The outbound figure for

Indians has risen to nearly 16million. For us to get even aminiscule share of this marketwould be great.”

“The talks are onbetween the two countries toestablish direct connectivity.As of now, you can go fromDelhi to Ljubljana, viaFrankfurt, Munich orIstanbul. We get you throughfares starting from ` 42,000for India to Ljubljana andback,” he added.

Situated in CentralEurope sharing borders withItaly, Austria, Hungary andCroatia, Slovenia is at thecrossroads of European cul-tural and trade routes and isa diverse country relative toits geography, history, econ-omy, culture and language.The country provides beach-es, lakes, mountains and isgaining as a wellness desti-nation. India and Sloveniatraditionally have excellentbilateral relations. The futureof cooperation betweenSlovenia and India lies indeepening cooperation in allareas of mutual interest, andparticularly economics.

“Appointing DexAviation as our General Sales

Agent is Adria Airways’ firststep in developing our salesnetwork in the Indian mar-ket,” said Mark Anzur, AdriaAirways President and CEO.“Adria Airways actively sup-

ports the efforts of SlovenianGovernment to improve air-connectivity betweenSlovenia and India. It is ourwish to establish closer coop-eration with Indian carriersin the near future.”

Adria Airways offersmore than 170 scheduledflights every week toAmsterdam, Belgrade,Brussels, Copenhagen,Frankfurt, Istanbul,Manchester, Moscow, Munich,Paris, Podgorica, Pristina,

Sarajevo, Skopje, Split, Tirana,Vienna and Zurich. A memberof Star Alliance, Adria Airwaysin connection with other air-line partners in Star Alliance,offers access to a global net-

work of 27 airlines with morethan 21,900 daily flights to1,329 airports in 194 coun-tries. The Frequent FlyerProgramme of Adria Airways- Miles & More is the leadingFrequent Flyer Programme forairlines like Lufthansa, SwissAir, Austrian Airlines etc ben-efitting travellers with accu-mulation and redemption ofmiles on the member airlines.Adria Airways is one of thefirst airlines to receive IOSA(IATA Operational SafetyAudit) Registration.

Dex Aviation will work with the travel trade in India to promote Adria Airways, the national carrier of Sloveniathat connects 18 cities throughout Europe. The airline also offers excellent connections to South East Europe…

From Slovenia, Adria lands in IndiaTT BU R E AU

Outbound figure for Indians hasrisen to 16million.To get a share of thismarket would be great

We want to develop tourism,using the national airline, in a way that makes practical business sense

Janez PremozeAmbassadorSlovenia

Ramesh MarwahDirectorDex Group

Adria Airways actively supports efforts of the Slovenian Government to improve air-connectivity between Slovenia and India

Mark AnzurPresident and CEO, Adria Airways


AVIATION A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 5

Subha Aviation has been inthe industry since 1998

and has seen endless growth.Pioneers in air charters andespecially for big aircraft, thecompany has seen a year-on-year growth of 35% since2005. “Till 2000, we sawexcellent growth in thisindustry in spite of the factthat charter flights were avery raw concept at that timein India. We saw a slowdownafter 9/11 and 2005 onwards,

the industry picked up again. We have recorded a 35 per cent growth each year. Now again, there hasbeen a slowdown in the business because of the high percentage of servicetax; it’s over 12.36 per cent. This high tax brackethas affected the whole industry,” says MadhukarKher, Head, Ops & BusinessDevelopment, SubhaAviation.

Upset with this elevatedservice tax, Kher added,“Aviation is the backbone ofthe tourism industry and ifthey want to promote thissegment they have to providesome cut-backs to the avia-tion sector. Some relief is required and theGovernment seriously needsto look into these factors.”

Subha Aviation workswith large number of DMCsin India and offers great deals especially for big bird

charters. They deal with a minimum 20 person charterand the largest so far hasbeen 340 people.

“We are in a sound posi-tion and are planning to fur-ther expand and launch aregional airline based in New Delhi,” reveals Kher.

“We have ambitions totake this forward, but atpresent, the market is toovolatile and liaisons havekept ridiculous conditionsfor the Indian market,” Khersays. “Leasing an aircraft isbecoming very difficult andwe’ll watch the market andthen decide,” he adds.

Kher further talks aboutthe company, saying, “Wehave a vision and with theknowledge and experience ofour Managing Director,Gautam Sahni, we are boundto achieve greater heights.” The head of operations andbusiness development prom-ises quality aviation, saying,

“We are also looking at thecorporate segment andincreasing our foothold in this area. We reliability, confidence and experience.Sahni has been involved inschedule planning for over 20years and know his work well.We also don’t compromise on service levels.”

After dominating the air charter industry, Subha Aviation is now working on a plan to develop its regional airline.The company spokesperson speaks to about his plans and the big aircraft the company offers.

‘Subha’ charts a regional path

We are in a soundposition and areplanning tofurther expandand launch aregional airlinebased in New Delhi

Madhukar KherHead, Ops & Business DevelopmentSubha Aviation

Subha Aviation works with largenumber of DMCs in India andoffers great deals especially forbig bird charters. They deal witha minimum 20 person charterand the largest so far has been340 people

Flying HighTT BU R E AU


NTO

Receiving over one millionvisitors in 2012 from

India, the Tourism Authorityof Thailand (TAT) is target-ting 10 per cent growth intraffic from India this year.The tourism board is also tar-

geting the golf tourism seg-ment from the country.Speaking on the sidelines of‘A Million Thanks’ eveningorganised at the Shangri LaHotel in Mumbai to celebrateover a million visitors toThailand, SuraphonSvetasreni, Governor,Tourism Authority ofThailand said, “The purposeof this evening has been tothank our travel partners inIndia. We were one of the

first to see the potential inthe Indian market when weentered it 15 years ago andwe have seen numbers climbevery year. Reaching one mil-lion visitors though, has beenquicker than we thought.From not being in our top 10

source markets four yearsago, India is now our sixthlargest source market. Thereis still further potential in themarket and we want to doour best to maintain ourgrowth here.”

Thailand received1,100,561 Indians in 2012,a 11 per cent increase from2011. Svetasreni stated, “Wehope to see year-on-yeargrowth of 10 per cent goingforward. Around 60 per centof traffic from India toThailand are repeat visitorsand therefore, we want toconstantly update our products and offerings in the market to appeal torepeat traffic. Additionally,the wedding segment isanother important segmentthat we are focussing on.There is still untappedpotential in the MICE seg-ment. Thailand’s accessibil-ity, affordability and hospi-tality make it an ideal desti-nation for MICE activities.”

He also stated that thelaunch of direct flights toPhuket from Mumbai, Delhiand Ahmedabad by ThaiSmile, the sister airline ofThai Airways will also drivetraffic from India.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is set to target golftourism and the MICE segment from India this year.

A million thanks to Indians

LYANDRA D’SOUZA

We were one ofthe first to see thepotential in theIndian marketwhen we enteredit 15 years agoand we haveseen numbersclimb every year

Suraphon SvetasreniGovernor, Tourism Authority of Thailand

The average length ofstay of an Indian travellerto Thailand is seven days.Indians visitors are alsoamong the top three inaverage spending inThailand. Indian travellersspend THB 5,200 per dayin Thailand and THB32,000 on average per trip.

Indians top 3 spendersin Bangkok

Close on the heels of TAT’s‘Thank You’ party in

India, to celebrate a recordone million Indian tourists toThailand in 2012, came their‘Thank You’ party inBangkok, to celebrate arecord 20 million internation-al tourists to the kingdom.The grand evening at theLandmark Hotel saw a hugearray of food and entertain-ment, games and luckydraws. Svetasrini said thatTAT had used both tradition-al marketing tools and onlinemarketing campaigns, towhip up interest in Thailand,‘A country that everyonewould love to visit!’

“Every sector is boom-ing!” he said. Svetasrinispoke of the wedding mar-ket, and also of families, thecorporate and incentive mar-

ket. “The IndianMICE market is avery importantone”, stated the Governor,adding that he expected thisto further improve, when theChiangmai International andConvention Centre openslater this year. “It’s struc-turally 100% ready, and hasits own management team,which will tap marketsaround the world, includingIndia” declared theGovernor

Since the Indiantourists, both leisure and cor-porate, seemed to enjoy thebeach-towns of Thailand,the Governor informed thatThai Airways was all set tostart direct flights from India,to the famed beach-town ofPhuket, in April.

The Governor admittedthat India was a favouritedestination for him and his wife. “It’s possible for us to fly to any part of the world, but we repeatedlykeep going back to India,especially Mumbai, wheremy wife has many friends!” he stated with asmile. “India has become abig source-market for us, andwe’ll definitely be pushing allour campaigns there,” he stated.

The TAT Governorinformed that they plannedto do more pro-active online and digital campaigns,in 2013.

‘Thank You Party’ for 1mn IndiansLEKHA SHANKAR IN BANGKOK

India ranks 71st on tourism marketing surveyIn a World Economic Forum survey asking how effective are the countries’ marketing and branding campaigns in attracting tourists, India was ranked 71st in the list of countries. That question-among many others - was put to about 15,000 executives in 140 countries globally, as part of its annual Executive Opinion Survey’.


The boom in tourism sector in India has

attracted many internationaland domestic players in thehotel business segment.Moreover, there is the needto develop further 2 lakhroom inventories to serve thegrowth ambition being

projected by the Ministry ofTourism to double theinbound and domestictourism business. It also will

ensure that rapid increase insupply of hotel rooms will bewitnessed in future.

“The growth dynamicshad attracted many newentrants in the hotel industry.The new entrants includemany of the international anddomestic hotel chains that

were not in this segment ear-lier. Moreover, a lot many realestate companies, High NetIndividuals and many otherentities are in hotel business,who want to participate in thehotel industry and also seekprofessional operators to man-age their hotels,” said VivekNair, President, FHRAI. “As a

result there has been nearlythree-fold increase in terms ofthe room inventory that wasearlier added on per annumbasis. Thus, the demand-sup-ply dynamics has led to pricecorrection. But, the prices varyacross various types of hotels.In fact, off late, due to distur-bance in beach tourism in

Egypt, we are witnessing veryhigh occupancies in all the Goahotels.” Further, on the aspectsof following best practices interms of pricing the roominventory in India, NakulAnand, President, HAI said,“It’s a misconception tobelieve that hotels in India areover priced, which we all need

to get rid of for once and all.The Indian hotel industry hadbeen in the forefront to acceptglobal best practices. We hadadopted the Best AvailableRoom Rate concept much ear-lier than our peers.” Hence theprice of hotel varies across var-ious categories during differentperiods of time. For instance,

the room rate in a pure busi-ness hotel can vary from $100to $700 depending on thedemand supply dynamics dur-ing the week days and towardsthe weekend. Here, the guestneeds to make its choiceaccordingly and relish theIncredible India experience,”he added.

As per estimates, there has been nearly a three-fold increase in terms of the room inventory that was earlieradded on per annum basis in India. talks to veterans to know more about the current situation...

Making a beeline to invest in hotelsA P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 7ASSOCIATIONS

TT BU R E AU

The demand-supply dynamicshave led to pricecorrection. But,the prices varyacross varioustypes of hotels

Vivek NairPresident, FHRAI

It’s amisconception tobelieve that hotelsin India are overpriced, which weall need to get ridof once and for all

Nakul AnandPresident, HAI


NTO

The youth sure seems tohave caught the fancy of

everyone around. NowGermany is promoting thedestination among the youthwith its tagline – “Germanyfor Young People”. Talkingabout its campaign,Theophilus, says, “We wantto show Germany to ayounger audience, tell themwhat fascinating things wehave. Berlin is the party cap-ital of Europe at this point intime and the third most vis-ited city in Europe, afterLondon and Paris. So,Germany is doing quite wellfor the young people. What we tell the youngstersis come on Friday, don’t even book an overnight in ahotel, party till Sunday morn-ing and then leave as thepubs don’t shut throughoutthe night.”

Of course with optionsfrom skiing and hiking, par-tying, shopping and dining,little wonder then thatGermany is a much sought-after destination for Indians.No wonder Theophilusremarks, “We are confidentof Germany maintaining itsposition as one of the mostfavoured European destina-tions by Indian visitors. Wesee a lot more incentive trav-el coming in to Germany, theleisure segment is also grow-ing considerably year-on-year. Previously we were a100% business destination,

now we are a 70% businessdestination and 30% leisuredestination. We want to grow by 10-15% by 2013 and by 2020 we want to have 1.5 million overnightsfrom India.”

And to ensure that thecountry retains its position asone of the most favoured des-tinations, Theophilus says,“We market towards the trav-el trade quite aggressively,60-70% of our marketingcampaigns are targetted

towards the travel trade and30% is geared towards theconsumers. We have tied upwith Kuoni, Kesari, Cox andKings and we are doing gen-eral marketing activities withthem. Besides, the print andelectronic media, we are alsoadvertising in cinema halls,radio and are doing some cab branding.”

Talking about the focuson the travel trade,Theophilus says, “Agentscan make or break you whenit comes to suggestions ofwhich destination to visitnext. Only if the agent iscomfortable with a destina-tion can he recommend it.”

However, he says thatnow they are also focussingon consumers. “We’ve beeneducating the travel tradeover the last few years andthe travel trade has all theinformation they want aboutGermany. But now it’s very important for us toeducate the consumers andcreate awareness amongconsumers on what allGermany has to offer.”

With a new tagline – ‘Germany for Young People’, RomitTheophilus, Director, Sales and Marketing, GNTO India, saysthey want to showcase Germany to a younger audience.

Agents make or break us

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

We are confidentof Germanymaintaining itsposition as one ofthe most favouredEuropeandestinations byIndian visitors

Romit TheophilusDirector, Sales and MarketingGNTO India

Germany aims to grow by10-15 per cent by 2013By 2020, it wants to have1.5 million overnightsfrom IndiaIt is also going on apromotion spree

Welcome All

All about Turkish culture & cuisine

The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, in association with Turkish Airlines and Hyatt Regency, Delhi,hosted an evening of Turkish Rendezvous by launching the Turkish Food festival at the Regency Ballroom,The Hyatt. The food festival was open for connoisseurs from March 21 - 26, 2013 at Café, The Hyatt. Theguest of honor for the evening was Burak Akcapar, the Ambassador of Turkey, who inaugurated the occasionand talked about Turkish culture and cuisine, and the importance of Indo-Turkish relations. Guests wereentertained by live Turkish music and dance, followed by a spread of Turkish cuisine and drinks.


NTO3 0 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Talking about the role ofthe travel trade fraternity

for the distribution of products in India, CatherineOden, Director, Atout FranceIndia says, “The Indian traveltrade is the one which even-tually coordinates with ourend consumers. Thus, travelagents are in a way brandambassadors for our destina-tion. We work closely withtravel agents and tour operators on communicationcampaigns to promote France through variousmedia platforms.

The tourism agencyprovides them with assis-tance for tailor-made itiner-aries.” In a bid to boost theagents to learn more aboutthe destination, Atout

France has an online certi-fied training system, dividedinto several modules. In col-laboration with partners, italso conducts trainings invarious cities pan India, sheadds. In her interaction withthe B2B fraternity, the pri-

mary concern is theissuance of visas. “I oftenhad agents requesting formy intervention for lastminute cases or to help withsubmission dates. I takeinterest in such requestsand thanks to the supportextended to Atout France byour Embassy and Consulatesacross India, we are able to

assist agents with theirrequests,” she points out.

From 80,000 Indian vis-itors in 2002, France received

3,00,000 arrivals in 2011.France has witnessed a growthof almost five per cent over thelast three years from this mar-ket. Over the last 10 years,Oden has seen a continuousevolution of the Indian market.“In our formative years, weobserved that group travel wasa preferred option for Indianvisitors. Clients would visit

mainly Paris as part of theirgroup tours and spend two-three nights there. However,over the last few years, therehas been a marked shift with

increasing FIT travel. Thoughgroup travel continues to dowell in this market, people areincluding newer experiences.France is increasingly findingfavour as a mono destinationwith clients wanting to gobeyond Paris and explore ourmulti faceted regions.Destinations such as theFrench Riviera, Rhone Alpes(particularly Chamonix) arebeing frequently visited,” shehighlights.

With the completion of 10 years of operations in the country, Atout France recently announced anew campaign for India for 2013, ‘Be There! Do That’. The existing campaign, ‘France CelebratesIndia’ will continue this year with renewed special travel offers for the Indian traveller.

Travel agents: New brand ambassadors

Catherine OdenDirectorAtout France India

From 80,000 Indianvisitors in 2002, Francereceived 3,00,000 arrivalsin 2011France has witnessed agrowth of almost five percent over the last threeyears from this market

Viva La France

Lufthansa is proud toannounce the winner ofits 'Lufthansa Car Jeeto’contest. In recognition ofher outstanding and customised service,Anamika Masurekar ofFMC Travels is now theowner of a brand newChevrolet Beat.

Lufthansa also con-gratulated four run-upwinners of Hero Splendormotorbikes-MurtuzaSuleman Ali, HemalRamesh Thakkar, PravinBarenkal of Riya Travels,Mumbai and MaheshDhiman of Akbar Travels,New Delhi.

Excited over her win,Anamika Masurekar said,“I am proud of that it will remind me of myachievements every timeI sit in it,” she added, “I thank Lufthansa formotivating us via such incentives.”

Car Jeetocontest byLufthansa

MEGHA PAUL

To boost the agents to learn more about the destination, Atout France has an online certified training system, divided into several modules

Runjuan Tongrut, Director,Tourism Authority of

Thailand, says, “The objectiveof the meet was to discusscooperation among ASEANNTOs in India to work togetherto increase and promotetourism in the ASEAN Region.We (Malaysia Tourism, TAT,Indonesia, and SingaporeTourism Board) have agreed tojoin hand for a variety of activ-ities such as consumer fairsand product presentation inTier-II cities as well.” TheASEAN NTOs meet alsohelped the representatives toplan events together and eachof them discussed what theywould be doing together andhow each one of them could

take the idea forward. Andwithin a month of the meet,there have been some strate-gic tie-ups as well. As Tongrutmentions, “After the meet, TAT& Malaysia Tourism joinedhands and participated in theconsumer fair in Kolkata inmid-March.”

The meet was attendedby Sanjay Sondhi, President,Om Tourism (Indonesia), VaniSingh, Country Manager, VisitIndonesia, Puneet Kumar,Manager, North & East India,Bangladesh, Nepal andPakistan, Singapore TourismBoard, Meenaxi Jain, AssistantManager, North & East India,Bangladesh, Nepal andPakistan, Singapore TourismBoard, Amran Abdul Rahman,Director- Tourism Malaysia andChandra Sehgaran, DeputyDirector, Tourism Malaysia,RunjuanTongrut, Director,Tourism Authority of Thailandand Pinki Arora, MarketingRepresentative, North and East India, Bangladesh and Nepal, Tourism Authorityof Thailand.

The ASEAN NTOs got together for a high tea meetingwith an objective to discuss cooperation among ASEANNTOs in India to work together for promoting tourism.

ASEAN NTOs come together

TT BUREAU

Runjuan TongrutDirector, Tourism Authority of Thailand

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) par ticipated asthe Tourism Partner in Seven Island RMRM Gold Vase andSeven Island Pataudi Polo Cup on March 9, 2013 at JaipurPolo Ground, New Delhi. The exhibition match for thePataudi cup was played between Seven Islands team andArmy Polo Riding Club (APRC). Seven Islands emerged asthe winning team. The chief guest for the match wasBollywood actress Sharmila Tagore, along with her daugh-ters Soha and Saba Ali Khan. The chief guest for this matchwas Pisan Manawapat, Ambassador of Thailand to India.Runjuan Tongrut, Director of TAT, New Delhi, said “TAT isvery delighted to be a par t of the event. TAT had a verysuccessful association with Seven Islands for the event.”Seven Islands was the title sponsor of the match, TAT was the tourism partner. Other sponsors included RollsRoyce and Thai Airways.

TAT in Seven Island Pataudi Polo Cup


STATISTICS3 2 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

There are a number ofchanges in consumer

behaviour that are relevantto the future of the hospi-tality industry – many ofthese appear as apparent

‘paradoxes’ as they are theproduct of different trendsin tension or colliding witheach other. These paradox-es will affect the relation-ships travellers want to

develop and how they wantto discover them.

From new types of trav-ellers versus the ‘multi-dimensional’ traveller, toindependence versus person-alisation, the success of the

hospitality industry in thenext decade will increasinglydepend on understandingthese new relationships andbecoming better at facilitatingand innovating around them.

The first stop for thisretrospective is to look athow travellers have evolvedfrom the simpler, tightlydefined profiles in evidencejust ten years ago. There wasthe ‘business traveller’, jet-ting between meetings; the

‘holiday-maker’, away withthe family; the ‘young back-packer’ going it alone; andthe ‘retired traveller’ whohad the time and money fora cruise. Although these pro-files still exist, traveller iden-tities are becoming ‘multi-dimensional’. The same peo-ple will play different roles ondifferent trips, and some-times will juggle multipleroles even on the same trip,such as the mother on a fam-ily holiday answering busi-ness calls from the beach, orthe young independent trav-eller hoping to boost theiremployment prospects whilestill having fun.

Socio-economic devel-opment will also impactwho is travelling in terms ofcountry of origin. Already,1.4 billion adults worldwide– or 30 per cent of the glob-al adult population – havesufficient disposable income

to be able to travel abroad.This number is set to growas economic flows towardsemerging markets expandthe global middle-class.These social trends are cre-ating new types of traveller.This report will focus nowon four of these: new globalexplorers from emergingmarkets; new family groupsfrom both developed andemerging markets; younger‘laptop and latte’ travellersmixing business with play; and the expansivemidlifers who are redefin-ing older age.

Reports of the death ofthe traditional travel agent are

exaggerated. While it is truethat their share of bookingshas decreased in mature mar-kets, they are still responsiblefor one in three bookingsglobally. Even in mature mar-kets, where trips have becomemore complex, getting spe-

cialist support can be valu-able. The hold of travel agentsis strong in emerging mar-kets, where online purchasingand international travel arerelatively new to the majorityof consumers and human

interactions remain impor-tant. In Asian countries likeChina, research may be car-ried out online but the desirefor a strong service culturemeans choices are usuallymade face-to-face. Industryexperts estimate that about

only 12-15 per cent of ticketsand rooms are booked onlinein China, and of that onlinemarket, approximately 70-80per cent of transactions are done through third-partyintermediaries.

There is a whole new world where travellers are more aware, where digitisation and devices are penetratingevery corner of the travel sphere, and travel agents are morphing into specialists.

Enter the brave new world of travel

The etymology of hospitality in many languages around theworld is derived from the concept of welcoming guests: hospesin Latin or literally ‘being friendly to strangers’; haoke ( ) inChinese or ‘to treat guests well’; and ukarimu in Swahili, ‘gen-erosity’. Although the word hospitality in its sense of welcomingguests came into common use in the early Middle Ages, the hos-pitality industry goes back much further. For example, in AncientGreece the hotel equivalent was a ‘pandocheion’ – these werefacilities open to any person willing to pay the fees for lodgingand food. The word meant ‘accepting all comers’.

Cutting across languages

TT BUREAU

Sour

ce: I

HG


AVIATION3 4 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Foresee Aviation, a dedi-cated start-up, was creat-

ed in 2009-10 with objectiveto create a reliable brand inair charters segment.According to Santosh KumarSharma, Director, ForeseeAviation, “Today, we operatecharter flights for about 400hours per annum on an aver-age. Our motto has alwaysbeen simple from the first phase. Accordingly, wechoose to work with onlyhand-picked corporate clientsand travel partners.”

“Having built twooffices in Delhi, ForeseeAviation is now keen toexpand our network of officesto Mumbai, Calcutta,Hyderabad, Bengaluru, andChennai,” he added.

One of the chief factorsthat determine the satisfac-tion level in case of charterflights is the choice of theaircraft. Here, AjukaMahajan, Senior Manager,

Foresee Aviation, says, “Weoffer a variety of businessjets, turbo-prop aircraft, and

helicopter services. But, weare always mindful of theneeds of our corporate

clients and ensure that theyopt for the right airplane.Hence, we suggest ourclients the best-suited air-craft that services all theirrequirements and savescosts, if possible. Further,we are always ready to servetheir special preferences andneeds with help of our rich

database when they travelwith us. Our travel partnersrely on us, whom we deal ona net fare basis. In fact, we take care of the interests of our handpicked partners,

even if a client walks in directly”.

Here, Sharma adds thatForesee Aviation, to offerend-to-end solution to all its clients, has created four different verticals that include aircraft char-ters, bulk hour sales, aircraft

maintenance and manage-ment, and aircraft sales andpurchase. “On back of thesuccess of our air-charterbusiness, we now are keento serve needs of our corpo-

rate clients. Our bulk hoursales vertical takes care ofthe bulk requirements of ourcorporate clients. As a goodwill gesture, we haveliaised with third-parties toundertake aircraft mainte-nance under our aircraftmaintenance and manage-ment vertical. Our clients

can now also rely on us tobuy a private jet accordingto their needs through our most recent vertical that handles aircraft salesand purchase.”

Having built two offices in Delhi, Foresee Aviation is now keen to expand their network of offices and roll outa pan-India network to cater to a wider client base. gets an insight into their future strategies.

‘Foresee’ a bright future for chartersTT BUREAU

We offer avariety ofbusiness jets,turbo-propaircraft, andhelicopterservices for our clients

Foresee Aviationis keen toexpand toMumbai,Kolkata,Hyderabad,Bengaluru andChennai

Santosh Kumar SharmaDirectorForesee Aviation

Ajuka MahajanSenior ManagerForesee Aviation

Foresee Aviation with one of its charters


AGENTS

With increasing numberof Indians opting for

Russia as business and

leisure destination, RussiaHoliday Tours (India) is show-casing not only the ‘must-dos’ in the country, but alsothe ‘out of the ordinary’regions and attractions. Thecompany has shortlisted afew exotic and unexploreddestinations for Indian trav-

ellers in Russia. These areaimed to tap every segmentof traveller from differentbudgets. Apart from Moscowand St Petersburg, the com-pany is also promoting Sochias a destination for MICE andleisure travellers in India. Tomake it more economical forbudget travellers, the com-pany has recently launched apackage starting at Rs 35,000per person as a land cost forMoscow and St Petersburg.

According to SunilKeshary, Head Tour Manager,Outbound Division, RussiaHoliday Tours (India); Russiais the largest country in theworld by far; spanning ninetime zones. He said, “Today,Indian tourists want toexplore Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Lake Baikal,Trans-Siberian train journey,and the Golden Ring. RussiaHoliday Tours (India) offersdifferent tour packages forIndian tourists across everybudget. Russia, being one ofthe largest countries in theworld, has many more won-derful places to visit. Duringthe MITT exhibition recentlyheld in Moscow, the RussianFederal Agency for Tourismpromoted Sochi, the BlackSea resort and home of the2014 Winter Olympics.”

He informed that it isvery important that this is a

reciprocal process as thenumber of Russian touristscoming to India also risesevery year. With both NewDelhi and Moscow easingvisa procedures, the two-wayflow of tourists and business-men is set for a surge.

Official statistics of theRussian tourism ministryshow that in the first ninemonths of 2012, the num-ber of Indian tourists com-ing to Russia doubled fromthe same period the previ-ous year. From 2007 to2011, the number ofIndians visiting Moscowremained constant, about35, 000 each year. In 2012,it grew to 47,500. India isranked 16 in the list ofcountries whose citizens are visiting Russia, as perinformation from theInternational Department ofthe Russian Federal Agencyfor Tourism. Russia HolidayTours (India) is exclusivelyworking with differentcruise tour packages forMoscow-Saint-Petersburg-Moscow with RussianCruise Company –‘CHORNIVETER’. It is also workingwith Embassy of RussianFederation in India and con-sulate General of Mumbai,Chennai, Kolkata for visafacilitation services forIndian travellers.

The company has introduced a basic package startingat ` 35,000 per person as a land cost for Indian travellers covering Moscow and St Petersburg.

Budget travelling in Russia

TT BUREAU

Russia, beingone of the largestcountries in theworld, has manymore wonderfulplaces to visit

Sunil KesharyHead Tour Manager, Outbound DivisionRussia Holiday Tours (India)

New York City's tourismand marketing organisa-

tion, NYC & Company willactively target the FIT andMICE segment from theIndian market this year. Thetourism board has alsolaunched a promotion inassociation with VirginAtlantic and Gulliver’s TravelAssociates (GTA).

Makiko Matsuda Healy,Vice President, TourismDevelopment, NYC &Company said, “Our goal is toencourage travel from Indiato New York City. An impor-tant criterion to be eligible forthe FAM is that agents shouldhave completed the NYC &Company travel trainingacademy and become NYC

specialists. Our aim is toengage with the Indian mar-ket in both leisure and busi-ness segment. NYC haseverything to offer from high-end luxury for exclusive FITtravellers to the more cost-conscious visitor. With thediversity the destination

offers, it is important to educate the trade.”

Healy added, “We willreach out to the Tier-II cities inIndia through our marketingoffice here. We regularly sende-mailers promoting latestoffers and events in New Yorkto the travel trade.” NYC &Company is also promoting theNYC Travel Training academywhich is a must for any travelprofessional and to also expe-rience the destination andthrough various FAM tripsorganised by our India office.

NYC & Company is promoting the NYC Travel TrainingAcademy for travel professionals to educate them onthe city’s offerings.

Targetting FIT, budget traffic

TT BUREAU

Makiko Matsuda HealyVice PresidentTourism Development, NYC & Company

NYC & Company, which isrepresented by Indiva Marketingin India, plans to tap a mix ofmetros and Tier-II cities in thecountry

Future Plans

Russia Holiday Tours (India)


COVER STORY3 6 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Hotels UnlimitedIn the presence of the UN

Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, the World TourismOrganisation (UNWTO) and theUnited Nations Office on Drugsand Crime (UNODC) recentlyagreed to launch a new publicawareness campaign calling ontourists to help reduce demandfor illicit goods and serviceslinked to transnational organ-ised crime.

Preparations for the cam-paign were set in motion duringthe Spring Meeting of the ChiefExecutive Board of the UnitedNations in Madrid. ACooperation Agreement was

signed between UNWTOSecretary-General, Taleb Rifai,and UNODC Executive Director,Yury Fedotov in the presence ofUnited Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.

The joint campaign, to belaunched later this year, aimsto raise awareness amonginternational tourists aboutthe types of illicit goods andservices to which they areoften exposed during theirtravels and which directly orindirectly fund organisedcrime groups. Travellers can-play a key role in reducingdemand for these products

through ethical consumerchoices. The campaign willencourage tourists to makeinformed decisions and helpreduce demand for trafficking

in persons, cultural artefacts,wildlife, fauna and flora suchas ivory products, as well ascounterfeit goods, and illicitdrugs. Ban Ki-moon com-mended this innovative jointinitiative between the twopartner UN Agencies: “Theillegal trade in goods and serv-ices often funds unscrupulouspeople involved in human traf-ficking, the illicit ivory tradeand other areas that causeimmense suffering anddestruction. Well-informedtourists can make a real differ-ence in turning the tideagainst these criminal acts.”

UN Tourism to reduce illicit trafficking

MakeMyTrip announced its focus on the hotels business by extending its brandpromise to Hotels Unlimited. Deep Kalra, CEO & Founder, MakeMyTrip.comsaid, “MakeMyTrip is also launching a new campaign to coincide with theexcitement of the IPL. As a company, we endeavour to make all aspects oftravel easy and fun. Accommodation is one of the biggest concerns for anytraveller. Today, we are proud to extend our brand promise to Hotels Unlimitedby offering the widest range of hotels with the best deals in India.

Ban Ki-moonSecretary GeneralUNWTO

among the stakeholders,which definitely create many remunerativeavenues,” she adds.

“Over the past 5 years,GITB has grown as an inter-esting platform representingthe Indian tourism market. Itis a great initiative by FICCI,

one that is moving in the rightdirection and gets bigger andbetter every year,” said DipakDeva, Co-Chairperson, FICCITourism Committee.

“GITB is the strongestshow in the region, which hasbeen built through hard workand right direction provided byleaders in government and theprivate sector. Today, it’sbecome a must-attend qualityinbound travel show in theSouth Asian market, which

gets stakeholders to gain veryimportant insights into theIndian market,” said SanJeet,Co Chairperson, FICCI TourismCommittee, adding, “Last butnot the least, full credit mustgo to FICCI and its team.”

“The GITB-2013 alreadyhas over 6,500 prefixed con-firmed B2B meetings. It

reflects the growing eminenceof GITB as an internationaltourism mart,” RahulChakravarty, AdditionalDirector, FICCI said.

“Moreover, there will beparticipations from variousstates including Gujarat astheme state; Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Orissa,Uttarakhand and Karnataka aspartner states; HimachalPradesh, Punjab and others asexhibitors,” he added.

The inaugural sessionwill be moderated by ArbindPrasad, Director General,FICCI and addressed bySidharth Birla, Sr VicePresident, FICCI; JyotsnaSuri; Rakesh Srivastava,Principal Secretary Tourism,Government of Rajasthan,Usha Sharma, Addl. DirectorGeneral, Ministry of Tourism,

Government of India. Bina Kak, Tourism Ministerof Rajasthan will give a special address, while ADidar Singh, SecretaryGeneral, FICCI will extendthe vote of thanks.

Indian Heritage HotelAssociation (IHHA), Hoteland Restaurant Association ofRajasthan (HRAR) andRajasthan Association of TourOperators have also extendedsupport to GITB.

Step towards progressthe industry and make busi-ness sense out of this event.

What do you hope toachieve with thisevent?

Events like GITB help usmingle with both domesticand international travellers.The intellectual exchange ofthoughts and ideas is vital inunderstanding the trends andgauging the demand of vari-ous stakeholders.

How has this helpeddevelop Rajasthan'simage as a MICE des-tination?

From the very begin-ning of the MICE tourism rev-olution in India, Rajasthanhas been at the forefront. Thehike in the percentage ofinbound tourists and theinterests shown by the Indianand international travel tradefraternity is evidence to the success of Rajasthan’simage as a top-notch traveldestination.

Rajasthan not only hasa cultural appeal, but ourchain of heritage hotels andpalaces also cater to theneeds of the corporate world.

How many foreignbuyers and Indianexhibitors are attend-ing this event?

Structuredone-on-one pre-fixed B2B meet-ings are alsobeing organisedover two fulldays betweenforeign buyersand registeredIndian sellers.

The exhibi-tion space isalmost similar to that of last year, as it is more than sufficient space for the participants at GITB. Also, our emphasis has been on enhancing and facilitating qualitativebusiness transactions between Indian and foreignparticipants rather thanincreasing volume of participants.

What destinations areyou promoting thisyear? Have you developed any newcircuits?

We have upgraded infra-structure around many touristhotspots within the state,besides creating a series ofnew circuits. Such initiativeswould not only create newattention-points for thetourists, but would also helpgenerate more employmentin the state, enabling a sus-tainable means of livelihoodfor the people of Rajasthan.

What is the touristarrival that you arelooking at this year?

The tourist arrival thisyear is expected to increasephenomenally. It is indeedencouraging for the state thatone out of every threetourists coming to India visitRajasthan. New products likesports tourism, rural tourism,eco tourism, adventuretourism, wellness tourism,etc have been introduced toexpand the markets attract-ing additional tourists.

How differently will you promoteRajasthan this year?

We are out to create a‘Brand Rajasthan.’ Withthrust on a multi-prongedapproach, we are focussingon publicity campaigns,advertisements, e-flyers,brochures, websites, articles in newspapers and travel magazines,announcements, etc.

Contd. from page 1Contd. from page 1

Dipak DevaCo-Chairperson, FICCI TourismCommittee

SanJeetCo ChairpersonFICCI Tourism Committee

Rahul ChakravartyAdditional DirectorFICCI

Exchange of ideas@GITB


ANALYSIS3 8 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

In the current age of com-petitive times, with the

threat of zero-commissionairlines, the travel trade pro-fessionals are giving moreattention to FIT. For travelagents, these offerings createan opportunity to tap a grow-ing market and introducenew ideas to the existing setof clients.

The New-Age trav-eller

The travel trade whichhas been designing and pro-moting products aroundgroup travel is now evolvingto meet the needs of thenew-age Indian traveller.Says Guldeep Singh Sahni,Managing Director, WeldonTours and Travels, “ThoughGIT (group inclusive travel)is also increasing, FIT is thesegment that will growexponentially in India’s out-bound travel market. Indiantourists conventionally trav-elled in groups. However,with the increasing penetra-

tion of technology, there hasbeen a marked shift towardsFIT business. With theadvent of travel meta-searchengines, access to content

and information on destina-tions is just a click away.Gone are the days of guidedtours of popular hotspots ofa destination.”

New travellers usuallytravel in groups and repeattravellers choose to go in FITpackages, Sahni articulates.Thus with the growth of theexperiential traveller, thissegment will only grow leapsand bounds, he adds. Around75 per cent of the company’sbusiness comes from FIT seg-ment.

According to NicholasLim, Regional Director – Asia,Trafalgar, the focus in Indiais on the FITs. “We are pro-moting Europe and NorthAmerica in a big way withexperiential holidays as thatis where we deliver localexperiences. Our emphasis ison fixed itineraries becausewe feel that the market isready for them. We havelaunched our 2013 collectionof European itinerariesbrochure called ‘InspiredHolidays’ in India. Thebrochure introduces new cat-egories of holidays, whichprovide a lot of local insiderexperiences on specialisedareas of interests related todifferent destinations, andalso offer numerous early-bird discounts for Indian cus-tomers.” Eighty five per centof the company’s itinerariesare for regional or mono des-tinations and the rest is forpan-European trips, he adds.

GIT versus FITThe conventional trav-

eller opts for group tours asFIT is more expensive.However, FIT offers advan-tage in terms of flexibility andchoice in planning the travel.In FIT segment, the touroperator companies cus-tomise the travel options anddestinations to suit the cus-tomer’s need. In group tours,a set itinerary needs to be fol-

lowed. “Both GIT and FIThave their own set of advan-tages and disadvantages. Ingroups, we need to pay inadvance and hotels needname list in advance. Thus,last-minute travellers in GITsegment face hassles often.However, in FIT, we receivemany last-minute bookings.Thus, the risk of cancellationfor the tour operator is min-imised,” Sahni feels.

According to MadhavPai – Director, Leisure Travel(Outbound), Thomas Cook(India), the Indian travellandscape has been goingthrough a rapid transforma-tion, with yesterday’s grouptraveller evolving and hungryfor interest-based individualprograms. And with Tier-IImarkets giving further impe-tus to the FIT revolution, thisis clearly a high potential-

high growth segment.Regarding the advantages ofthis segment, Pai elaborates,“Unlike the highly price-con-scious entry level traveller,the FIT customer is willing toinvest in his holiday and thisis music to our ears. Solonger stays, a variety ofaccommodation, in-depthitineraries are on par for thecourse. Hence, higher valueand margins per transactionare witnessed.” At ThomasCook India, the FIT segmentcomprises almost 25 per centof its overall leisure business.

Effective destination-specific promotion

The FIT segment pie isgetting bigger even in thedomestic tourism scenario.However, active support ofthe state governments isneeded to promote the seg-ment further, suggestsRakesh Lamba, Director,

Prakriti Holidays. “The job ofthe tour operator is to divertbusiness to the destinations.However, before this, thestates need to step up theiradvertising planning, whichneeds to be immaculate. Thiscalls for effective tourismplanning by the state tourismbodies,” he reiterates.

Unfortunately, statesare nowadays only advertis-ing through showcasing inthe various travel marts.They need to go beyond thisand advertise and promotenewer destinations throughprint, electronic and onlinemedia, he suggests.

FIT is the best perform-ing segment during the sum-mer (May-July) season.Group travel is mainly duringthe winter months in thecountry. The company gar-

ners 90 per cent of its busi-ness from FITs during thesummers, Lamba reveals.

Advent of meta-search engines

With technology bridg-ing the gap between suppli-ers and consumers, travelagents should start lookingat options to provide morethan what a consumer canaccess from the supplierdirectly. Opines JacksonFernandez, ManagingDirector, Wego India, “FITspave the way for undiscov-ered or less-promoted desti-nations and play an impor-tant role in sharing thoseexperiences with others whomay not yet have consideredthem till now. Most are veryactive online and on socialmedia sites where theyshare their experiences,photos and impressions.

An increasing number of tour operators are now offering attractive pricing and options for a market long overlookedand overcharged - the FIT (Frequent Individual Traveller) segment. finds out more...

Welcome the FIT way to travel

MEGHA PAUL

It is not so muchthe destination,but rather theexperience thatwill influencetravel

We are promotingEurope and NorthAmerica in a bigway withexperientialholidays

With the increasingpenetration oftechnology, therehas been a markedshift towards FITbusiness

Guldeep Singh SahniManaging DirectorWeldon Tours and Travels

Nicholas LimRegional Director-AsiaTrafalgar

Madhav PaiDirector, Leisure Travel (Outbound),Thomas Cook (India)

Rakesh LambaDirectorPrakriti Holidays

Jackson FernandezManaging DirectorWego India

The job of thetour operator isto divertbusiness to thedestinations

FITs pave theway forundiscoveredor less-promoteddestinations

Contd. on page 49


While presenting theIndian Railway Budget

2013, Pawan Kumar Bansal,Railways Minister announcedthat free WiFi facility will bemade available in selectedtrains for passengers. Now,its pilot project is alreadyoperational on HowrahRajdhani express train.

Speaking at the launch,Bansal says, “To introduceinternet access in movingtrain was a technologicalchallenge considering thatthe train passes through alltypes of terrain and continu-ous internet access in allweather is to be provided.After trying out three differ-ent technological options—satellite, WiMAX or broad-band and 2G/3G, IndianRailways decided to opt forsatellite communication linkto the train. To ensure unin-terrupted connectivity, wehave a backup of 2G, 3G andGPS technology.”

For accessing the inter-net facility, passengers will beable to register by providingthe PNR and other details likemobile number. On validationof the data entered by thepassengers, as per DOTguidelines, the Login ID andPassword will be sent throughSMS to the registered mobilenumber. The Login ID andPassword will remain valid forentire journey.

Presently this facility isbeing extended in collabora-tion with RailTel andTechnosatcomm. The facilityis being introduced for thefirst time on Indian Railwaysat a total cost of ` 6.30 crorecovering all three rakes ofHowrah Rajdhani Express.The satellite communicationlink is arranged throughsatellite hub facility. Initially,4 Mbps download bandwidthand 512 Kbps upload band-width is earmarked for inter-net facility in moving train.The satellite antenna isplaced in one of the twoPower Cars of the rake. Thisis linked through WiFi radiosprovided outside each coach.This is further distributedinside the coaches throughindoor access point.

Nirav Kumar Dave,Managing Director,Technosatcomm, says, “Thisis the first generation sys-tem. It would be scaled tosecond generation with multimedia entertainment,including movies ondemand, games on demandand train infotainment

system which will giveentire information regardingthe train, like its location andnext station. All these services will be made avail-able later this year as thebasic infrastructure isalready in place.” He added,“To get this technology inplace we have invested ` 13

crore on R&D. IndianRailways have sanctionedthe work of 50 trains at ̀ 1.1crore per train.” IndianRailways now plans toextend this service on otherRajdhani/ Shatabdi/DurontoExpress trains based on customer feedback and acceptance.

In a pilot project, Indian Railways is offering free WiFi facility on HowrahRajdhani express train launched by Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister of Railways.

Free WiFi on Howrah Rajdhani

TEENA BARUAH

RAILWAY A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 3 9

For accessing the internetfacility, passengers will be ableto register by providing the PNRand other details like mobilenumber. On validation of thedata entered by the passengers,as per DOT guidelines, theLogin ID and Password will besent through SMS to theregistered mobile number

Online, On Track

Nirav Kumar Dave, Managing Director, Technosatcomm with Pawan KumarBansal, Railways Minister at the launch


NEWS4 0 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

In a bid to increase thenumber of Indian visitor

arrivals to Sri Lanka, the SriLankan Government plans toattract MICE travellers fromIndia. To promote the islandnation as a MICE destinationin India, Sri Lanka will organ-ise road shows and work-shops for the Indian traveltrade. Speaking on the side-lines of the Indo-Sri LankaRelations Meet organised inMumbai recently, UpekkhaSamaratunga, ConsulateGeneral of Sri Lanka said,“Our aim is to create greaterawareness about Sri Lanka inthe Indian market. Werecently held a promotionalactivity for travellers and alsoorganised a roadshow for theB2B segment in Bengalurufor this purpose. We plan todo the same in the nearfuture in Mumbai. We alsowant to target the luxury andfilm tourism segments in thecountry,” she added that SriLanka’s proximity to India,

easy connectivity, affordabil-ity as well as multiple enter-tainment options have madeSri Lanka an ideal MICE des-tination for the Indian visitor.

The Government will targeta mix of Tier-I and Tier-IIcities in the country such asMumbai, Delhi, Bengaluruand Gujarat.

The Sri LankanGovernment will work withthe national carrier SriLankanAirlines to promote the des-tination. The airline currentlyoperates flights to destina-tions in India – Mumbai,Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai,Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram,Madurai, Varanasi andTiruchirappalli along with itssister airline, Mihin Lanka.

The Sri LankanGovernment is targetting 2.5 million internationaltourists by 2016.

SriLankan Tourism Board is taking new initiatives to tapMICE traffic from India. The emphasis will be on easy connectivity, affordability and entertainment options.

Tapping Indian MICE traffic

LYANDRA D’SOUZA

It has set a target to starttwo owned offices and at

least six franchisee offices instrategic location every year.As per Hemant Passi,Director, DuniyaOnline,“Today we have done consol-idation in terms of fixeddepartures for Thailand,Hong Kong, Singapore,Tashkent and Philippines,where we hold more than1100 tickets for April, Mayand June 2013”.

“Our key sourcemarket for the first phase has been Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, MadhyaPradesh and Eastern India. We also look forward to expand our presence in nearfuture,” he added.

In fact, in the roadmapprepared by DuniyaOnline,the company has decided totake the franchise route toexpand its distribution network. “B2B is extre-mely important forDuniyaonline.com, whichhas been the core business

for over a decade.Franchisee option is therecent development wherewe have chosen our firstpartner in Kanpur who isvery well experienced in the

trade. The Lucknow officewill cater to areas likeAllahabad, Kanpur, Varanasietc. We plan to explore next franchisee options in Bihar and MadhyaPradesh,” said Passi.

“Our partner needs tobe from the trade, who holdrelevant experience and their own set in a city. We offer our franchisesadvertisement support, mar-keting support, lowest Price,vast variety of fast Movingproducts and extensivetraining. Further, we intendto start two owned officesper year and at least sixfranchisee location everyyear,” he added.

DuniyaOnline, over the recent past, has developed astrong edge in terms of selling packages to many ofshort to medium haul destinations.

Franchise way to expansion

TT BUREAU

Our aim is tocreate greaterawarenessabout Sri Lankain the Indianmarket

Upekkha SamaratungaConsulate General, Sri Lanka

India is Sri Lanka’s topsource market. Sri Lankareceived 1,76,000 Indianvisitors in 2012, anincrease of six per centover the previous year

Upping Numbers

Franchisee option is therecent development wherethe company has chosentheir first par tner in Kanpur who is very wellexperienced in the trade

Future Plans

Hemant PassiDirector, DuniyaOnline


AGENTS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 4 1

AKrishna Mohan’s confi-dence in the prospects

of tourism can be gauged bythe fact that the mild-man-nered, articulate KrishnaMohan is adding to his exist-ing hotels in Delhi andVijaywada, with one inJaipur being operationallater this year. Based on hisstudy and market reports,soon, there will be SouthernHotels in Manali, Hyderabadand Coimbatore, where existgood tourist and commercialprospects.

Now, in its 42nd year,Southern Travels has pioneered in the field ofdomestic tourism with scoresof packages, enabling Northclients to travel to South and South tourists to come to North.

His fleet of 70 vehiclesand carefully designed tourstake care of the travel needs of the pilgrims orleisure tourists. Encouragedby the popularity of thedomestic tours, SouthernTravels is diversifying into outbound also. It is nowhaving tour packages not only to traditional mar-kets but also to lesser-known ones.

Krishna Mohan pointsout that investing in technol-ogy and innovation is neces-sary to handle satisfiedclients. He has set up a state-of-the-art call centre toanswer queries and has con-venient online paymentoptions. The website of thecompany is in seven Indianlanguages and 14 foreign lan-guages to ensure that travel-ers feel no inconvenience andcan travel easily.

But he is quick to addthat things like skill develop-ment and training are vitalfor growth and he is doing hisbit by taking students from various tourism insti-

tutes but clearly much moreneeds to be done.

Fresh from a shoppingtrip for his upcoming 50-room Jaipur hotel to China,Krishna Mohan says that we

need elevated corridors andfreeways to take care of thegrowing traffic. According tohim, Jammu and Kashmirand North East hold excel-lent prospects for increasedtraffic and Southern Travels

has done a lot to take care ofthis aspect. The tax struc-ture needs to be streamlinedand inter-state travel must be made easier if the full potential is to be realised.

There is tremendous scope and potential for growth in domestic tourismin India, but at the same time, there is an urgent need to address issueslike service tax, and infrastructure issues, says A Krishna Mohan, ManagingDirector, Southern Travels.

Southern Travels taps outbound

AN I L MAT H U R

The fleet of 70 vehiclesand carefully designedtours take care of the travelneeds of the pilgrims orleisure touristsEncouraged by thepopularity of the domestictours, Southern Travels is also diversifying intooutboundIt is now having tourpackages not only to traditional markets but also to lesser-known ones

Revving It Up

Southern Travels presented with National Tourism Award from President ofIndia Pranab Mukherjee


FAMILY ALBUM4 2 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

The third edition of Gujarat Travel Mart-2013 (GTM) showcased not only the vibrant side of the state, but also the 'Incredible' side of the country tointernational hosted buyers. Inaugurated by Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat; the exhibition recorded 250 international buyers from over30 countries, 800 local travel agents, 150 exhibitors and over 50 media delegates.

Showcasing 'Vibrant' Gujarat at GTM


STATISTICS4 4 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

As per UNWTO estimates,worldwide receipts

from international tourismwere US$ 1,030 billion

in 2011, up from US$ 927 billion in 2010. During 2011, all regions posted positive growth with the exception of Middle East (-11.2%).

Asia and the Pacific(13.4%) and Europe (13.2%)showed the highest growth.During 2011, Europeaccounted for about 45% ofthe world's total receipts from

international tourism fol-lowed by Asia and the Pacificregion (28.1%), Americas(19.3%), Middle East (4.5%)and Africa (3.2%).

The internationaltourism receipts worldwideand India's share in themduring the years 1997-2011are given in Table 1 (3.3.2).The share of India in theworld tourism receipts hasremained between 0.64%and 0.72% during 1997-2002. However, it has beenincreasing steadily since2002, and has reached

1.61% during 2011. It isclear from Table 1 that inter-national tourism receiptsworldwide, which were hard-ly US$ 442.8 billion in 1997,have reached US$ 1030 bil-lion in 2011, more than dou-ble in 14 years time.Whereas, in terms of inter-national tourist arrivalsworldwide, the number hasgrown from 593 million in1997 to 990 million touristarrivals in 2011.

In 2009, India receivedUS$11.13 billion worth of international tourism

receipts, and in 2011; it hadgrown to US$ 16.56 billion.Although its percentageshare in the world hadchanged from 1.31% to1.61%; in itself, it is largeimprovement in itself (48%).

India's rank has also wit-nessed improvement from 34in 1998 to 17 in 2011. Interms of international tourismreceipts, top four positionswere occupied by USA, Spain,France and China during theyear 2011. During 2011 and2010, the top 10 countriesremained the same.

India’s share of international tourism receipts have shown a steady growth, propelling it in country rankingsfrom 34th in 1998 to 17th in 2011. features how the country is paving its way to move forward.

India grows with time, slowly & steadilyTT BU R E AU

OVERALL INDEX

Business environment

and infrastructure

International Tourism Receipts And India's Share And Rank, 1997-2011

1997 442.8 0.8 2.89 2.0 0.65 - 1998 444.8 0.5 2.95 2.0 0.66 34th

1999 458.2 3.0 3.01 2.1 0.66 35th

2000 475.3 4.3 3.46 15.0 0.72 36th

2001 463.8 -2.4 3.20 -7.6 0.69 36th

2002 481.9 3.9 3.10 -3.0 0.64 37th

2003 529.3 9.8 4.46 43.8 0.84 37th

2004 633.2 19.6 6.17 38.2 0.97 26th

2005 679.6 7.3 7.49 21.4 1.10 22nd

2006 744.0 9.5 8.63 15.2 1.16 22nd

2007 857.0 15.2 10.73 24.3 1.25 22nd

2008 939.0 9.6 11.83 10.3 1.26 22th

2009 853.0 -9.4 11.13 -5.0 1.31 20th

2010 927.0 8.7 14.19** 27.5 1.53 17th*

2011 1030.0 11.1 16.56** 16.7 1.61 17th*

World Tourism Receipts Percentage India’sYear Receipts Growth FEE in Growth Share of Rank in

(US$billion) Rate India Rate India in World(US$billion) World

* As per RBI's estimates** Advance estimates of Ministry of Tourism

Source: UNWTO Tourism Highlight, 2012 Edition

OVERALL INDEX

Business environment

and infrastructure

Countries above India in Terms of Tourism Receipts, 2009-2011

1 USA 94.2 1 USA 103.5 1 USA 116.32 Spain 53.2 2 Spain 52.5 2 Spain 59.93 France 49.5 3 France 46.6 3 France 53.44 Italy 40.2 4 China(Main) 45.8 4 China (Main) 48.55 China (Main) 39.7 5 Italy 38.8 5 Italy 43.06 Germany 34.7 6 Germany 34.7 6 Germany 38.87 UK 30.1 7 UK 32.4 7 UK 35.98 Australia 25.4 8 Australia 29.8 8 Australia 31.59 Turkey 21.3 9 Macao 27.8 9 Macao -

(China) (China)10 Austria 19.4 10 Hong Kong 22.2 10 Hong Kong 27.7

(China) (China)11 Macao 18.1 11 Turkey 20.8 11 Thailand 26.3

(China) 12 Hong Kong 16.4 12 Thailand 20.1 12 Turkey 23.013 Thailand 16.1 13 Austria 18.6 13 Austria 19.914 Malaysia 15.8 14 Malaysia 18.3 14 Malaysia 18.315 Greece 14.5 15 Canada 15.7 15 Singapore 18.016 Switzerland 14.1 16 Switzerland 15.0 16 Switzerland 17.617 Canada 13.7 17 India 14.2** 17 India 17.5**18 Netherlands 12.419 Mexico 11.520 India 11.1

* Provisional** As per RBI's estimates

Source: UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2012 Edition

2009 2010 2011Rank Nationality Tourism Rank Nationality Tourism Rank Nationality Tourism

Receipts Receipts Receipts(US$ (US$ (US$

billion) billion) billion)

Qatar ‘bowls’ Chicago flights

To mark the launch of their newChicago services (from April 10,2013), Qatar Airways organised anInter-Agency Bowling Championship inVasant Kunj, Delhi. The competitionrecorded participation of 25 agenciesand the winner was awarded with aspecially designed trophy and top threeteams got a chance to compete withthe top three teams from Mumbai in aspecial play-off in Doha.

F1 ‘zooms’ on Mumbai track

The PETRONAS Formula One Malaysia Grand Prix entered the ‘hottest’ race in the world, at SepangInternational Circuit, Selangor. To create awareness and excitement for the event, Tourism Malaysia hosteda fast paced, thrilling party for its corporate clientele in Mumbai. Guests had a roaring time with the interestingline up of activities arranged for them. They took part in an F1 Race contest to win an expensive paid tripto Sepang, Malaysia to witness the Petronas F1 Race first-hand.


HOTELS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 4 5

Hi Aim 2013 was themed– ‘Challenges of

Implementation’ – in order toaddress the concerns of own-ers who invest in hospitalityprojects. At the inauguralsession, Romesh Koul, CEO,Naaz Hotel Consultants andCo-Founder, Hi-Aim said, “Adecade back, with less hospi-tality events, the focus wasprimarily on conferences thatdeliberated on operations butprojects and their implemen-tation issues. That is why, Hi-Aim was created as a forumto address an owner’s issuelike design development,ROI, architecture, projectimplementation and chal-lenges of implementations.”

The two-day seminarconcentrated on owners,their relations with archi-tects, interior designers andfacilitators of the projects andchallenges thereon. Koul,talking to , said, “The

theme sets up an apt debatebetween the two concerned

parties which were informa-tive and delved on the chal-

lenges they face as they go onto invest on projects. The primary objective was to findout costing and return oncapital invested.”

On the other hand, AnilSharma, Founder, A SharmaAssociates and Co-Founder,Hi-Aim remarked, “Wereceived a participation ofover 300 people at the event.We have tried to be specificand find issues that are prob-lem areas for the hospitalityowners. More than just a con-ference and exposition, wehave emerged as a workshop,where we found solutions tocore issues. Professionalssharing a common platformin Hi-Aim 2013 discussed tofind the future course of bet-ter performance and raisingthe benefits.” The list ofattendees included speakers,hospitality owners, archi-tects, designers, businessdelegates, sponsoring companies and exhibitors.“We have definitely grown

as a platform offering sound quality deliberation onhospitality.”

The next edition of theconference is scheduled onMarch 20-21, 2014 at JWMarriott, New Delhi Aerocity.“We will try to bring about atopic that would talk on theoperational efficiency oreffectively operations orcould be related to environ-mentally sensitive approachwe need to look at. Ownersare taking keen interest aftergetting a vivid perspective onthe subject of design, archi-tecture and interiors,” Kouladded. Sharma informed,“Following owners’ positivefeedback, we wish to take HiAim to other Indian cities andpossibly to neighbouringcountries like Sri Lanka.”

According to Koul, theyear 2014-15 will be promis-ing for the hospitality sector.He said, “This year will see asimilar growth like last year.

In fact, there will be growthwhich will be accommodatedby supply inventories thatwill be added up this year.Hence, we will be at the same level of marketexpectations like last year. Though, investorsshould not be demoralised bythe dull phase where occu-pancy and RevPAR havedipped. These have to beseen on a long-term basiswith key considerations onlocation, categories andbrand to be focussed upon.Owners need to do a thor-ough homework and shouldminimise costs to keep resultpositive,” he summed.

The second edition of Hi-Aim in 2013 was held in New Delhi on March 21-22. The ‘conference + exposition’ wasaimed at creating a knowledge base for the hospitality owners who wish to delve deeper into the subject with designingand architecture possibilities to make projects economically viable and operationally effective.

Project implementation issues@Hi-Aim

TT BU R E AU

More than just aconference andexposition, we haveemerged as aworkshop, wherewe found solutionsto core issues

There will begrowth which willbe accommodatedby supplyinventories that will be added upthis year

Romesh KoulCEO, Naaz Hotel Consultants andCo-Founder, Hi-Aim

Anil SharmaFounder, A Sharma Associates andCo-Founder, Hi-Aim

Hi-Aim was created as a forumto address an owner’s issue like design development, ROI, architecture, projectimplementation and challengesof implementations

Aims & Objectives


ANALYSIS4 6 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

It hosts not only variousbrands, but also encapsu-

lates myriad segments thatone can think of from her-itage, leisure, corporate MICEand so on, in all seasons andis still attracting more invest-ments. The Pink City hospi-tality growth has beenunique, affirms OmeshRaina, Head-Marketing,Chokhi Dhani Group.According to him, the resortgroup showcases culture andcommand interests of trav-ellers coming to the city. Heclaims, “We get travellersfrom all walks of life whowish to experience the leisureaspect of our resort as well aswho are drawn towards theRajasthani culture.”

Varun Sahani, GM, TheLaLiT, Jaipur feels thatJaipur has a wide array of

travellers. “In fact, Jaipurcity offers them accommoda-tion of different kinds what-ever be their requirement,”he says. Another fairly younghotel Fairmont Jaipur hasseen its growth proportionalto the city. Atul Lall, GM ofFairmont Jaipur says, “Thecity is well-connected and isan upcoming market withmany hotels setting newtrends. It offers charm alongwith striking architecture,temples, palaces, heritagebuildings and so on.”

The city has grown inarea too, stretching hospi-tality’s geographical limits. Raina says, “Once,we would be consideredbeing in the outskirts of thecity. But now we come with-in the frame of the city,which talks volumes aboutthe way city has expandedand developed.”

Attractive mix of hospitality

“We have emerged as areplica for Rajasthan culture,as almost everyone visitingJaipur ensures that theyexperience the resort eitheras our in-house guest, or to

explore culture and cuisine.In fact, our footfall hasincreased by over 30 per centannually,” adds Raina. Thiscity also commands differenthospitality segments and hasdiversified profoundly. Sahaniavers, “Of late, Jaipur has

seen two segments growingtremendously viz. weddingsand MICE. A lot of NRI wed-dings are taking place in thecity. Also, with the largenumber of inventories thatthis city can offer, MICE hasgrown as well.”

“The majority of peoplecoming to stay with us areFITs and corporates. The seg-ment of inbound travellershas also grown,” says Raina.The city not only offers a

Jaipur has it all. This heritage city hasemerged as a strong pillar of whathospitality has come to be.

Pink City: Perfect for everyone!

SA N J E E V BH A R

Voila, Jaipur!

Contd. on page 52

Jaipur offers charmalong with strikingarchitecture,temples, palaces,heritage buildingsand so on

The city has a widearray of travellerswho are looking for variedexperiences

Varun SahaniGMThe LaLiT, Jaipur

Atul LallGMFairmont Jaipur

The majority of people coming to stay with us areFITs andcorporates

Growth in businesshas not kept pacewith the growth inrooms and there is,hence, a hugeover-supply

Himmat AnandFounderTree of Life

Omesh RainaHead – MarketingChokhi Dhani Group


FAMILY ALBUM A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 4 7

One million Indians arrive in ThailandThe Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently hosted a grand ‘A Million Thanks Evening’ at the Shangri-La Hotel in Mumbai to thank its tradepartners in Mumbai for helping it to reach its goal of one million Indian arrivals to Thailand in 2012. Several dignitaries graced the event such as NatPinyowattanacheep, Thai Consul General; Suraphon Svetasreni, Governor of TAT, Bangkok; Sethaphan Buddhani, Director – TAT, Mumbai and Bollywoodactress Sophie Choudry. Thailand received 1,100,561 Indian arrivals in 2012, which is an 11 per cent increase from the same period in 2011.



The Slovenian national airline, Adria Airways, recently announced its foray into the Indian market at the Slovenian Embassy, New Delhi. Theairline with over 50 years of experience in charter and scheduled air traffic has appointed Dex Aviation as its General Sales Agent in India, spear-headed by Ramesh Marwah, Director, Dex Group. Following the launch, Slovenian Ambassador Janez Premoze introduced the travel fraternityand media persons to Slovenian wines, served with aperitifs.

Adria forays into the Indian market


CAR RENTALS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 4 9

Wego.com is the perfectaccompaniment to FIT seg-ment plans, giving them theability to customise travelplans to suit any budget, andin all locations.” Wego hasseen the FIT segment travelheavily during local festivalseasons to experience cele-brations first-hand, he adds.

Regarding the rela-tionship with travel agentsin promoting FIT packages,he informs, “Wego has amultitude of partners,including OTAs. Our inven-tory strength comes fromthe diversity of options wepresent on our site. Thecompany’s primary focus isto help travellers identifythe best deal to suit theirindividual travel needs.

Once the user selects thebest option, they are direct-ed to our partner site,whether it is airlines,accommodation or OTA, tocomplete their booking.”

New trends in FITTalking about the new

trends that the FIT segmentis witnessing, Pai outlines,“Travel is no longer a once-a-year multi-city whirlwindtour. Indian travellers areincreasingly looking atmono-destinations based ontheir specific interests. Ourcustomer feedback atThomas Cook India indicatesthat it is not so much thedestination, but rather theexperience that will influ-ence travel.” Luxury travelis reiterating its resilience in

2013 too, and given the pro-file of the emerging newluxury client, critical ‘brag factor’ has fuelledtravel demand- the clamourfor that elusive ‘wow’ factoris on the rise, he adds.“Youth comprises 45 percent of our FIT travellersand is emerging as a power-ful FIT group.

Honeymoon travel hasgrown exponentially over thelast few years and this trendshows no sign of stopping,with demands reaching therealm of the truly exotic: off-beat destinations like Israel,South America, spectacularlocales of Fiji, Tahiti, NewZealand, Bora-Bora,Mediterranean and Tuscanyhave emerged as topfavourites.”

New traveller wants it allContd. from page 38

Skiers and snowboarders make merry in Kashmir

It’s good to know there is a hear ty breed of outdoor enthusiasts willing to brave conflict between nuclear-armed neighbours to hit the slopes — admittedly ones that rival any major ski resort in the world, are much less crowded and cost a little over$100 for a whole week.

Savaari Car Rentals Privateplans to build technology

solutions as part of its expan-sion plans over the comingyears. Gaurav Aggarwal,Founder & CEO, Savaari CarRentals said, “These technol-ogy solutions will allow us toprovide our clients withgreater service options. Theprimary goal for the next twoyears is to scale our businessby creating right awarenessabout Savaari and the advan-tages that we bring to bothour corporate and retail cus-tomers. We want to also cap-ture the business potentialthat lies with tens of thou-sands of travel agents whoare catering to customerslocally. This special platformwill enable these agents tobook quality car rentalsacross India. We firmlybelieve this will add a goodrevenue stream to theseagents and will allow us toreach out to a wide customerbase very efficiently.” SavaariCar Rentals currently services60 cities across India and hasa network of 158 vendors.

Savaari is targeted atretail as well as corporatecustomers and online travelagents. Launched with seedmoney of ` 55,000 in 2006,Savaari plans to be India’slargest car rental companyin the next five years.Elaborating on Savaari’s

expansion plans, Aggarwalsaid, “In March 2012, wesecured a series A funding of` 5 crore from InventusCapital Partners. Our pri-mary goal for the next twoyears is to scale our businessby creating awareness aboutSavaari. We are also building

technology solutions whichwill help us scale and pro-vide our customers witheven better service and con-venience. We are eyeing agrowth of 3-5 per cent in theunorganised car rental mar-ket in India.”

He said, “The car rentalspace in India can be cate-gorised as consisting of localusage including transfers,outstation usage and point topoint transfers. The marketsegment that we are focusingon is the local and outstationusage which is 86% of theentire car rental market at apan-India level. There is asingle point of contact andonline bills for bookings, andincreased transparency asboth booking and book-keep-ing can be done entirelyonline. Therefore, our mar-keting activities are also pri-marily online. We use SEO toacquire retail customers aswell as Search EngineMarketing (SEM) during peak seasons. To reach out to corporate clients, we have very effectively usedinside sales.”

Savaari Car Rentals aims at focussing on online spacefor marketing activities. reports more…

Online promotions for Savaari

LYANDRA D’SOUZA

Gaurav AggarwalFounder & CEOSavaari Car Rentals


HOTELS5 0 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

How did Fariyas Groupperform in 2012?

GM: During the last year, weadded 40 rooms to our inven-tory at a stage when marketwas looking very grim. Therewas hardly any momentum inthe MICE segment in the firstquarter of 2012, However, thebusiness did pick up in thelast two quarters and we wereable to post a growth of about 22% over previous year in the same period.

Going forward, what isthe plan for FariyasGroup for 2013?GM: We intend to retain ourexisting clients by providingsuperior physical product andpersonalised services. Toachieve this, we will enhanceour range of services likeintroducing Fariyas Club,which will be a resort in aresort concept, where a guestcan discretely check in /checkout and enjoy all day hot

and cold beverages, Free highspeed internet, evening cock-tails and limited hour compli-mentary use of work place.These additional facilities andservices will add value to ourclub guests. We are also planning to introduce guestloyalty program for our high-end guests.

Are you aiming for MICEor FIT's?DOSM: During the week-days, we cater to corporateguests, while as on weekends,we change gear and cater toever energetic weekend holi-day makers. Fariyas Mumbaicaters on weekends to leisureclients, who may want tomove around and see SouthMumbai’s night life as well aspamper themselves at NailBar. We want to continueserving both these segments.In case of Lonavala, we havea newly developed social/ des-tination wedding segment.This is a seasonal businessand we are delighted to be a

preferred destination formany of our valued guests.

Please elaborate on thekey features of FariyasLonavla and Mumbai.DOSM: Fariyas ResortLonavla is unique productcustomised for business trav-ellers during the weekdaysand provides thrill in the hillto weekend holiday makers,who do not want to go to a fardestination and spend toomuch of time and money ontravelling. Additionally

Fariyas Resort Lonavla catersto destination social gather-ings, where it works as areunion for family and friendson their special occasions.Fariyas Mumbai is a smallboutique hotel for businesstravellers in the upmarketColaba. It caters to both busi-ness and leisure marketsbeing in the most preferredarea in South Mumbai.

What is your marketingstrategy for the domestic& international market?

DOSM: We do maintain busi-ness relationship with travelagents and take bookingsfrom them. We recently par-ticipated in TAAI award func-tions held in South Mumbaito built relationship and trustwith travel trade.

Which are the majorinternational source mar-kets for your hotel?DOSM: Middle East andSouth Africa are our majorfeeder markets for MumbaiHotel, however certain per-centage from other mix coun-tries. The markets which areshowing encouraging signsfor us, we plan to take part inArab Travel Mart this year tohave our presence.

Tell us in brief whatmakes Fariyas Lonavlawedding resort.GM: Our spacious roomsand suite, open air restaurantand tropical setting of lawns,overseeing the majestic val-ley and delicately chosenmenus from our wedding

specialist chefs dishing outeach item from separate veg-etarian kitchen, specificallydesigned for weddings iswhat makes us suitable forhigh end destination wed-dings. All our guests have todo is choose wedding attirefor each function of the eventand celebrate in style as ourprofessional team will takecare of the rest of theirrequirements. Our guest canchoose from small privateparties to large gatherings inballroom or open air lawnsand have a buzzing atmos-phere on engagement, wed-ding day as well as on recep-tion. They can choose frommultiple venues within theresort and have a differentlook and feel with differentcolour scheme in decor andmood lighting. Our SpecialityChefs are ever ready to prepare a fitting feast formomentous occasion and will serve delicious palate to delight the taste buds of each guest.

Fariyas Resort Lonavla, typically being a business resort caters to MICE segment on weekdays and FIT/ Leisure market onthe weekend, while Fariyas Mumbai is a business cum leisure hotel. speaks to Jugal Ray, Director Sales & Marketing,Fariyas Group Of Hotels and Jagar Thakur, General Manager, Fariyas Resorts, Lonavla, to know more about the group…

Fariyas for FIT, leisure and MICE

TT BU R E AU

Jugal RayDirector Sales & MarketingFariyas Group Of Hotels

Jagar ThakurGeneral ManagerFariyas Resorts, Lonavla


ATTRACTIONS

Sprawling across acres ofland, ideally located in

Gurgaon at the apex of theGolden Triangle of Jaipur,Agra and Delhi, is the mag-nificent Kingdom of Dreams,India’s first live entertain-ment and leisure destination.Replete with the flourish oftwo welcoming elephants,the distinctive Kingdom of

Dreams brings to life themagic and timeless mystiqueof India in a unique blend ofIndian art, culture, heritage,crafts, cuisine and perform-ing arts, with the technolog-ical wizardry of today.

Kingdom of Dreams, themammoth project is one-of-a-kind initiative of the GreatIndian Nautanki Company topromote Indian culture andtourism. The promoters ofthis phenomenon areWizcraft InternationalEntertainment, India’s lead-ing Entertainment andCommunication Company

and Apra Group ofCompanies. Spearheaded byViraf Sarkari, Sabbas Joseph,Andre Timmins, Directors,Wizcraft InternationalEntertainment and AnumodSharma, Chairman, ApraGroup of Companies, thecompany’s vision is to createtheme-based entertainmentexperiences of exceptionalstandards and promote

Indian culture and perform-ing arts across the globe.

According to Sarkari,KOD receives, on average,over 50,000 visitors amonth. “We are expecting itto cross one million visitorsby the year-end of 2013,” hesays. On whether the adventof such parks has helped topackage tourism productsbetter, especially for a citysuch as Delhi, Sarkari feels,“KOD offers world-classentertainment in a formatwhich entertains, educatesand promotes the culture of India. As KOD product

offerings are compared withthe best in the world in thefield of entertainment, thelocation is increasinglybeing included as a must-see and must-visitdestination in the travel itineraries.”

Talking about theimportance of travel trade,he says,

“Since KOD appeals to a varietyof segments, it is extremelyimportant that the travel tradecommunity shouldextend all possiblesupport to it. As an organisationand a destination,we are very committed to this segment.

We are also appointinginternational representa-tives in key internationalmarkets for a better marketpenetration to increaseinternational travel traffic towards KOD.” Toboost its portfolio, KOD hasbeen tying up with several trade associations as well.

The distinctive and live entertainment destina-tion, incredible in scale andscope and conceptualised tooffer a magical Indian experience like none other,houses three product offerings, Culture Gully,Nautanki Mahal andShowshaa Theatre alongwith the IIFA Buzz cafe.

India’s first live entertainment and leisure destinationis witnessing an average of over 50,000 visitors amonth currently. reports…

Entertainment zone @KOD

TT BUREAU

The town of Mijas inAndalusia, Spain is lookingto attract leisure traffic fromIndia, according to JuanCarlos Acevedo, Director,Mijas Tourism.

In order to promoteMijas in the Indian market,Mijas Tourism recently con-ducted a presentation fortravel agents and tour oper-ators in Mumbai in partner-ship with CenturyIncoming, a Madrid-basedDMC. Acevedo added, “Thevisitor from India to Spainare steadily rising andtherefore, we want toattract more travellers from emerging markets toMijas. The town is close toimportant cities such asGranada, Cordoba, Malaga

and Sevilla which are on theitineraries of most Indiantourists.”

“This presentation isimportant as it helps us tounderstand the needs of the Indian travellers, aswell as to educate travel agents and tour oper-ators about our offerings.Leisure traffic is an impor-tant segment for us, interms of both FIT and GITtravellers. Additionally, golftourism is another impor-tant segment we are look-ing to tap,” he says.

Mijas Tourism plans towork with Century Incomingwhich is represented byGlobal Destinations in India.Arturo Ortiz Arduan,Tourism Counselor, Embassy

of Spain – TourismDepartment, Tourism Officeof Spain – Mumbai said,

“Mijas, which is in the heart of the Costa el Sol region, is still relativelyunknown in theIndian market. This initiative byMijas Tourism will enable them to create awarenessabout their products and offerings in theIndian market.”

Mijas Tourism forays into India


HOTELS5 2 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

strong leisure market, butalso has state-of-the-art con-ference centres which allowthe city to capture the specialevents and the weddingsmarket, asserts Lall. “Forsophisticated travellers, weoffer guests ‘authenticallylocal’ experiences along with‘engaging services’ that makethe guests feel special, valuedand appreciated,” he adds.

The future looks brightwith international hotel chainsentering the market. Lall says,“The government is proposingmeasures to increase invest-ment in hospitality to acceler-ate growth. With the openingof FDI in hospitality, the mar-ket is attracting more foreigninvestment onto Indianshores.” With competition, thelevel of confidence is immenseamong the players. Sahanisays, “As a destination, Jaipuris a nice place for hospitality interms of revenue. The differ-ence in high or low season isnegligible as people are visit-ing the city even during sum-mers. Summer has becomeequally important for us.Customers seek quick, profes-sional services, a ‘wow’ factor,which we deliver.”

On the other hand, TheTree of Life Resort & Spa,

Jaipur has been built keepingin mind not to go totally ‘tra-ditional’ but to find a balancewith tradition and modernity.“We have been very successfulin finding that balance. We areprimarily a couple’s retreatand everything we do is direct-ed to the conveniences thatcouples expect,” says HimmatAnand, Founder of the resort.

Examining critically theJaipur hospitality market, hefeels that the city is rathergoing through a difficult timepresently. Growth in businesshas not kept pace with thegrowth in rooms and there is,hence, a huge over-supply inthe city. “This is leading toridiculous rate levels impactingservice and quality, whichwon’t change for another twoyears or so. With realistic pricesin Delhi & Gurgaon market,major conferences continue tobe held there and have notmoved to Jaipur, as wasexpected with many hotelsbuilt in Jaipur catering MICE,”says Anand adding that all isnot doom and the magicaldraw of the name ‘Jaipur’ withits shopping and wonderfulsights will continue to remaina major pull for tourists. “I justfeel disappointed that the fullpotential of this wonderful cityis not being taken to its highestlevel,” sums Anand.

Contd. from page 46

Jaipur for all...

Business travelers havebeen on the rise in the

country. Betting big on thissegment is the Ascot Hotels& Resorts Pvt. Ltd. The com-pany has successfullylaunched new concepts inhospitality since 1995. It hasvarious brands under itsumbrella, of which the mainbrand is Savoy Suites, whichare premium serviced apart-ments. Today, this brand ispresent in three locations inthe Delhi-NCR, namely, IMTManesar, Sector-16 Noidaand Pari Chowk GreaterNoida. Says Vikram Bakshi,owner and chairman, AscotHotels & Resorts, “Theseproperties are located in theup and coming bustling busi-ness centers, where demandis only rising for such a con-cept. With satellite cities inthe National Capital Regionof Delhi developing at a fastrate and many local andinternational companies look-ing to expand their reach inIndia, there has been a sharpsurge in business travel over

the last few years.”Executives from India andabroad spend from a few daysto months in these businesshubs and travel frequently.Hence, serviced apartmentsare a smart alternative to ahigh cost hotel stay or a nofrill, no services guest house.The presence of this concepthas been increasing in themetro cities such as Delhi,Mumbai, Bengaluru andHyderabad, he adds.

Talking more about theexisting properties, Bakshi

elaborates, “Savoy Suites atIMT Manesar is directlyaccessible from the NH-8and offers 108 suites spreadover five floors. Each suitehas a fully furnished livingroom, a well-equippedkitchen and a comfortablebedroom with an attachedtoilet. The property alsooffers a fully functional gym-nasium and pool, fully serv-iced state of the art banquet,meeting and conferencefacilities for various sizedevents. Additionally, there isa premium retail outlet cen-

ter within the premises,housing various internation-al brands and food chains.”

Savoy Suites at GreaterNoida offers 58 suitesspread out over six floors, alloverlooking the atrium onthe inside. The one and twobedroom suites have a com-fortable bedroom, a livingroom and a fully equippedkitchen. The property alsohas a fully functional fitnesscentre, outdoor pool andJacuzzi and four meetingrooms to cater to varyingneeds of business meetingsand conferences. The hotelis a part of the Ansal Plazamall at Pari Chowk andguests have a separate entryinto the mall.

These properties are located in the up and coming bustling business centres, where demand is only rising for such a concept.

Savoy Suites for biz travellers

TT BU R E AU

All the suites have a fullyfurnished living room,bedroom and an Italiankitchenette. This propertyalso offers a gymnasiumand a terrace swimmingpool, meeting rooms andalso a convenience store

What’s Inside

Savoy Suites Greater Noida



Ready for an Indian ‘Address’Seema Pande, Group Director of Sales and Marketing, The Address Hotels & Resorts headed a high-level delegation of GMs and others,which conducted road shows in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. The delegation found India market very promising andexpect it to be one among their top performing markets.


The Royal Caribbean cruis-es have witnessed much

growth in India in the lastfew years. There has been an8 to 10 per cent year-on-yeargrowth, but last year was alittle slow where the num-bers stabilised. “The cruiseindustry tends to grow by thenumber of available beds and the Indian market has consistently grown,” says Smith.

Cruising is a strong valueproposition where everythingis taken care of. It provides adiversity of destinations andthe price of cruising hasremained relatively consistentover the past 4-5 years. “We offer dynamic pricing soit provides greater value topassengers. The costs are usually US$ 180-200 a day perguest,” he adds.

Smith feels that demandfor cruising in Asia-Pacific isunlikely to diminish for threereasons; first, the PanamaCanal expansion is expected inlate 2015. Secondly, on thebasis of the strength of theChinese cruise tourism mar-ket; and lastly, the complimen-tary southern summer deploy-ment. “Emerging marketshave seen a growth of shortercruises and we’ll also see thatfrom India. Fly cruising fromSingapore is becoming a popular choice and it’s a low-risk purchase.”

Cruising has been achoice for the Indian marketfor a while now. Along withthe shorter Asian cruises,

European and the Alaskancruises are also popular.Choosing a cruise line is likechoosing a hotel, it’s aboutthe mindset of the passenger,which has to match with thecruise line. India’s growthpotential is huge and comes

with an array of opportunitiesfor the tourism industry.“This is the chance for Indiato grasp with both hands andIndian retail travel shouldrespond by becoming cruisetravel advisors. They requirea strong association, good

market research and industryPR strategy partnering withother associations such as theCruise Lines InternationalAssociation.” Lastly, Smithalso focusses on the impor-tance of home porting forIndia and feels this will make

cruising more accessible,affordable and relevant forIndians. “The Indian cruiseindustry also needs to respondwith some steps to ensuredevelopment of home portingin India. They need to lookinto forming a local cruise

association, ensuring a stabletaxation and regulation, guar-antee fuel availability, visitcruise lines to promote Indiaas a destination and take thefirst step to lobby for portinfrastructure and attract‘home’ porting ships.”

While cruising has become a popular choice among Indian tourists, the opportunities within the industry can be further explored. catches up with Gavin Smith, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, Royal CaribbeanCruises, to find out what the Indian travel partners can do to promote this sector rapidly.

CRUISES A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 5 5

Become a cruise travel advisor

Emergingmarkets have seen agrowth ofshorter cruisesand we’ll also see thatfrom India

Gavin SmithRegional Vice President, Asia Pacific, Royal Caribbean Cruises

DE V I KA JE E T


FAMILY ALBUM

An appreciation well-deservedIn a bid to appreciate the support of its travel and trade partners; The Leela Palaces, Hotels andResorts hosted its first edition of 'The Leela Travel Trade Awards-2013'. The ceremony, held atThe Leela Kempinski Gurgaon, presented awards in five categories -- Charters, MICE, Inbound,Preferred Domestic Leisure Travel Partners and Corporate Support. The event was attended bymany prominent luminaries of the travel trade industry.

The Mumbai InternationalAirport has assigned gatenumbers 4 and 5 in the secu-rity hold area for incominginternational passengers ofJet Airways wishing to con-nect to their domestic flights.They will be transferred tothe domestic terminal toboard their flights directly.The security hold area will beopen between 0300 hrs and0700, providing major reliefto the arriving internationalpassengers.

Guests arriving by JetAirways flights between0230 hrs and 0645 hrs andconnecting to domesticflights will now transfer

through the new securityhold area. Guests still havethe option to leave the inter-national terminal and go ontheir own to the domesticterminal if they wish to do so.

Incoming passengers con-necting to domestic flights arerequired to clear immigrationand customs formalities, col-lect their bags from the con-veyer belts and have themscreened. Once completed,guests may proceed to thedomestic transfer check-incounter to drop their bags,proceed to the security holdarea in Terminal 2C, completetheir security checks andboard their respective flights.

The security hold area hasrefreshments and light snackfacilities along with wash-rooms. Sudheer Raghavan,Chief Commercial Officer, JetAirways said,

“The introduction ofthis facility will reducethe hassle passengersface, waiting for the inter-terminalcoach to be taken tothe domestic terminal and having to go through securitychecks again.

It will also help JetAirways to improve its on-time performance,besidesdecongesting the securityhold area of the domesticterminal.” The passengerwill benefit from the launchof the new servi ce, he said.

Jet to transfer International Passengers directly to domestic flights

Sudheer RaghavanChief Commercial OfficerJet Airways


AGENTS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 5 7

Akbar Holidays is allgeared up for the new

fiscal with innovativeinbound packages for keysource markets. Along withadding wellness, adventure,Buddhist circuits and pilgrim-age tours, the company isfocussing more on easternpart of India with supportfrom CII and MOT.

In terms of circuits, it isfocussing more on Buddhistcircuit combined with thepopular Golden Triangle forthe Far East markets as wellas South Splendors combin-

ing Pondicherry, Tamil Naduand Kerala for the CISMarkets, Goa and Karnatakafor UK market.

According to VascoNoronha, Head – InboundOperations and Marketing(Pan India), Akbar Holidays;through the new productinnovations and adding newdestinations and circuits, thecompany is aiming at por-traying India in a new lime-light to global travellers.

Talking about theemerging trends in Indiainbound sector, Noronha said,“In the yesteryears, we have

had large numbers coming toIndia on budget packages andstaying in Kullu Manali, Goa,Pune and Kerala. Today, weare witnessing a change inthe Target Audience cominginto India. We have a hugepercentage of up marketclients coming in from SaudiArabia, Dubai, South Africa,Moscow & St Petersburg aswell as USA and Australia. Asa result of which we have ahuge demand for five starproperties and four stardeluxe properties as well asAdventure tourism packagesfloated by companies like the

Taj, safaris and other activi-ties like Yatching and Golfing.Demand for other itinerarieslike, Tea Plantation and CoffeePlantation tours, SpiritualTours and Buddhist Tours arealso in high demand as arebiking and cycling tours andwalking tours in differentparts of India.”

The company workslargely on the B2B modelcatering to both domestic andinternational inbound, FITand GIT markets. Noronhainformed that in every coun-try, the company has an arrayof FTO (Foreign TourOperators) who sends ininquiries on packages anditineraries for India. “Interms of online, we havelaunched our own CRM(Pulse Ver 1.0) which we areimplementing across theboard so that all our FTOs aswell as Travel Agents havedirect access to our databaseand can book directly usingour engines. This enablesspeedy, efficient and error-free bookings and is moreprofessional and on-the-spot,” informed Noronha.

The company aims at promoting inbound tours like wellness, adventure,pilgrimage and Buddhist circuits. reports more...

Changing track to Buddhist Nirvana

TT BUREAU

Vasco NoronhaHead – Inbound Operations andMarketing (Pan India), Akbar Holidays

Growth chartAkbar Holidays regis-

tered a 120 per centgrowth in terms of theirtarget markets for 2011-2012 and 2012-13 forMiddle East, North Africa and Europe. It is tar-getting the Far East mar-kets of Thailand, Malaysiaand Singapore for the

Buddhist Circuits andEast/North India itinerary.It is also planning to enter the CIS (CommonWealth of IndependentStates) markets in this year and plan on participating in Moscow for the forthcoming exhibition.

Cocktail at Cabana

Cabana Suites is in true sense a home away from home. And to reflect thesame, the property became host to a grand party to usher in the weekend.The cocktail-cum-dinner event was well-attended by corporate clients andthe travel trade segment.


APRIL14-16 Jaipur Great India Travel Bazaar15 Delhi PATA Hub City Forum - New Delhi16 Delhi Tourism Ireland Country Club

Mission’s B2BEvent17-19 Shanghai Incentive Travel & Conventions,

Meetings China (IT&CM)17-21 Kuala Lumpur UFTAA- Congress Kuala Lumpur

201326-30 Sydney Australian Tourism Exchange 201318 Mumbai Tourism Ireland Country Club

Mission’s B2B Event18-19 Bhopal Bhopal International Conference on

Sustainable Tourism18-21 Hanoi Vietnam International Travel Mart 19-21 Barcelona Salo International del Tourisme21-24 Auckland Tourism New Zealand

TRENZ 201323-25 Brazil World Travel Market

Latin America23-26 Riyadh Riyadh Travel Fair24-26 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan International Tourism

Fair (KITF)25-28 Italy Leisure Italy25-28 Bangkok 2013 PATA Annual Summit25-28 Bangkok The 22nd PATA Foundation

Silent Auction

5-7 Germany German Travel Mart6-9 Dubai Arabian Travel Market (ATM)9-11 Shanghai World Travel Fair11-14 Durban Indaba Expo12 Maldives World Travel Awards Indian

Ocean Gala Ceremony12-14 Budapest Routes Europe 201312-15 Ottawa Canadian Tourism

Commission’s RendezvousCanada

13-15 Kuwait Travel World Expo15-16 Bangkok 5th Asia Pacific Hotel

Investment Conference 16-18 Switzerland Meeting Luxury 201321 Moscow PATA Hub City Forum - Moscow21-23 Germany IMEX 201322-23 London Boutique Hotel Summit 201324-26 Kolkata India Tourism Fair24-27 Taiwan Taipei Tourism Expo28-29 Singapore 9th Travel Distribution

Summit Asia29-30 Istanbul Turkey & Neighbours Hotel

Investment Conference (CATHIC)29-Jun 3 Cameroon Africa Travel Association’s 38th

Annual Congress 201331-Jun 2 Bern Switzerland Travel Mart

MAY

For more information, contact us at: [email protected]

JUNE2-4 Cape Town IATA: Annual General Meeting 3-6 Shanghai International Luxury Travel

Market Asia (ILTMA)5-7 Thailand Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2013 11-13 Chicago Americas Incentive

Business Travel & Meetings Exhibitions (AIBTM)

13-16 Hong Kong International Travel Expo19-23 Vancouver Cruise3sixty 201321-23 Beijing Beijing International Tourism Expo

(BITE)26-27 New Zealand Tourism New Zealand’s MEETINGS

2013

FAMILY ALBUM

Summer at The OberoiThe Oberoi Group recently launched its ‘Special Offers’ for this summer at an event at The Oberoi,Gurgaon. Vikram Oberoi, Chief Operating Officer and Joint Managing Director, The Oberoi Groupand Kapil Chopra, President, The Oberoi Group, India, along with Sanjay Rai, Executive VicePresident, Sales, The Oberoi Group, unveiled the special offers brochure in the presence of membersfrom the travel, trade and tourism industry. Travel agents were honoured with certificates ofappreciation for their outstanding contribution in the last financial year.

MP thanks trade partners for supportMadhya Pradesh has jumped on the tourism map of India in a very short period and emerged asone of top ten states in terms of domestic tourist visits. It called its trade partners to thank themfor support and show the glimpse of the new TVC promoting Madhya Pradesh.


CLIPBOARDS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 5 9


MOVEMENTS6 0 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Kuoni GroupMumbai

Zubin Karkaria has been taken on as theExecutive Vice President of the Kuoni Group.

He is also the Chief Executive Officer ofVFS Global Group and a member of theExecutive Board of Kuoni Group. Initiallyas the Head of the company’s TourOperating Division (Kuoni and SOTC),

and of VFS Global, and since 2005 as theCEO & Managing Director, Karkaria has

been at the fore-front in driving itsgrowth. He has served on several

prominent industry boards &committees, including as

External Director on theboard of ITDC.

Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & ConventionCentre & Courtyard by MarriottHyderabadSharad Datta has been taken on as the General Manager of the

Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & ConventionCentre & Courtyard by Marriott,

Hyderabad. With almost two decadesof hospitality experience; Datta bringswith him experience from brands suchas the Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, HyattHotels and Carlson Rezidor Hotels.After graduating from IHM Mumbai,

Datta started his career with the RahejaGroup of Hotels in Mumbai.

Atul Duggal joins CHIME as Deputy General Manager. With atrack record of over two decades in the travel & hospitality

industry, Atul brings to the table his expe-rience with the airlines and corporate

sector. He was associated with com-panies such as Air Canada and otherNorth American organisations aswell. He has also worked with reputedtravel organisations in his long career.

Sheraton Bangalore Hotel at BrigadeGatewayBangaloreSheetal Iyer has recently been appointed as the Director Sales& Marketing, at the Sheraton BangaloreHotel at Brigade Gateway. She has over10 years’ experience in the hospitalityindustry. With work experience withZuri, Le Meridien and the Oberoi’s ear-lier, Iyer comes with market knowl-edge, account specific city and hotelpotential and possesses a focusedapproach at work.

The ClaridgesNew DelhiUrvashi Malik has been appointed as Manager-MarketingCommunications by The Claridges, New Delhi. She has over fiveyears of experience in the hotel industry. In her new role, Malik

will be responsible for driving public rela-tions and marketing campaigns, decidingmarketing strategies, media planningand will be responsible for all the othermarketing communications initiatives forthe hotel. She has been associated withthe leading hotels like ITC Hotels, Hilton

Worldwide India and The Park Hotels.

Arti Jaitly joins CHIME as a Deputy General Manager. She isan Economics post-graduate and has over 16 year of experi-

ence in the MICE sector where she haseffectively managed sales and

operations. Jaitly has experiencein handling accounts andsourcing key business devel-opment leads. She has experience in managing projects, budgets, facilitiesmanagement, vendor development and logistics.

JW Marriott MumbaiMumbaiPavithran Nambiar is the newly-appointed General Manager ofJW Marriott Mumbai. With over 16 years of experience, Nambiar

has worked with brands across the worldsuch as Accor and Marriott Group Hotels.He joins JW Marriott Mumbai from GoaMarriott Resor t where he was theGeneral Manager for the past two andhalf years. After studying medicinefrom Sydney University, Nambiar

switched across to hospitality and start-ed his career by working in high-end

standalone restaurants andbars before joining Accoras a Food and BeverageManager in 2001.

Novotel Hyderabad ConventionCentre and Hyderabad InternationalConvention Centre HyderabadRasika Singh has been appointed as theDirector- Sales & Marketing for Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre (NHCC) and Hyderabad InternationalConvention Centre (HICC). Singhcomes with an experience of over 17years in sales and marketing. Rasika Singh is a graduate in Geographyfrom the prestigious Miranda House,University of Delhi and holds aDiploma in Public Relationsand Advertising.

Savoy Suites, ManesarManesarRanjeet Singh has been appointed as the General Manager -Sales at the Ascot Hotels & Resorts in Savoy Suites, Manesar.Singh is a hotel management graduate with atrack record of 20 years in the hotel indus-try, entailing 18 years in sales and mar-keting, administration, internal coordina-tion and 2 years in projects. His previousstints include being the General Manager-Sales & Marketing at Heritage Retreat, Jaipur; The Bristol, Gurgaon;Travelguru.com, Select Group ofHotels at Gurgaon (TheHeritage Village Manesar,Gurgaon & The HeritageVillage Club, Goa).

CHIMEGurgaon

Romit Theophilus, Director,Sales and Marketing, GNTOIndia, says, “I normally relax byhaving a glass of beer andwhenever I get some free timeI spend it with my wife. Also, Ilike to travel extensively inIndia. Goa is one of my favouriteplaces and I go there quite often.In spite of promoting Germany Ihave never attended theOktoberfest, but this year I’ve

made it a point to visit Germany in September and attendthe Oktoberfest.”

Romit TheophilusDirector, Sales andMarketing, GNTO India

Philippe ZuberGeneral ManagerThe Address- Downtown Dubai

Talking People is a special dedicated corner, created as a sounding board for who’s who of the Indian and International travel industry. With Talking People, it is our endeavour to bring you face-to-face with people.

Contributed by: Peden Doma Bhutia, Vivek Sethi & Anita Jain

Sabeer Bhatia, Co-Founder, Jaxtr Sim Car is 43-year-old and is also the founder of world’s first free emailservice – Hotmail. Bhatia became a multi-millionaireat the age of 28 after selling Hotmail to Microsoft.Born in Chandigarh, Bhatia grew up in Bangalore andPune. His father is a retired captain in the IndianArmy and his mother worked with Central Bank. Didhe burn up all that cash he got from Microsoft? Bhatiagrins. That’s a lot of cash to blow up, he says. Afterquitting MS, he took a year off, travelling. “I thoughtI would retire. I played golf; travelled to the south ofFrance, London, South Africa, Australia, Brazil,

Canada. I travelled for a year. I was 30 then. I got very bored. You would thinkthat is bliss, but it is so far from the truth. I was depressed. I had nothing tolook forward to. All other friends of my age and colleagues, were moving aheadin life. I would have grown old had I remained in that state. There was nostimulation. I realised I will never retire again. Now, my work keeps me going.”

Philippe Zuber, General Manager, The Address- Downtown Dubai, says, “I have worked in various hotels around Paris, Berlin and UAE among others. My wife is of Indian origin, belonging to Mauritius. We had met at the New Year’s Eve in Prague. We have two boys aged 9 and 12. With my present base in Dubai, our family is genuinely interested in exploring India as a family holiday destination.”

Sabeer BhatiaCo-FounderJaxtr Sim Card

Melanie de Souza, GeneralManager, International Marketing,Tourism Victoria, says, “I takepride in my home. I take pride inmy friendships and also have acore group of very good friends. Ilove the theatre and the moviesand in free time, I try to catchplays and movies. I don't have myown dog, but I play aunty to twolabradors and one springerspaniel, so a lot of my free time on

weekends is usually spent on getaways with the dogs andtheir parents. The last movie I watched was Hitchcockand that was on the plane. I have also watched ZindagiNa Milegi Dobara.”

Melanie de SouzaGeneral Manager,International Marketing,Tourism Victoria


GUEST COLUMN

Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 15th-16th

of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91Date of Publication:14-04-2013

The travel and tourismindustry is an important

engine to growth and pros-perity and can play a keyrole in smoothening visualdisparities. I believe that weare living in a fool’s paradisefor believing that we havescratched the surface of the huge travel and tourismopportunity in our country. In my mind, wehave not even begun to learn to crawl.

The last World Travel and TourismCompetitiveness Index bythe world economic forumoutlines the dismal story.India is ranked 12th in theregion and 68th overall; downsix bases. According to thereport, our tourism infra-structure remains underde-veloped, ranked 89th withvery few hotel rooms percapita by international com-parison. Our policy environ-ment, has weakened muchsince the last assessmentand is now ranked a poor128th. Big issues need equal-ly large interventions toaffect the quantum change,for us to embrace the futureand the opportunity it offersin a meaningful manner. Wehave to have a tectonic shiftin our approach.

India today has theopportunity to lead a globaleconomic reordering, whereit can take its place of prideamongst the powerful soci-eties in the world.

France receives 80 mil-lion tourists a year of which7 million visit the Eiffel towerand 8 million go to theLouvre. India, on the otherhand, welcomed only 6.5 mil-lion tourists last year. For usto get to the world stage oftravel and tourism, some-thing fundament has to bedone, and the good news isthat it can be done.

Developing infrastruc-ture is imperative for thegrowth of any industry.Recently small oases of excel-lence have started to emergearound India, Lavasa is onesuch example. But the threadof infrastructuralconnectivity ismissing. Indiahas a rich her-itage andexceptional nat-ural beauty butwe have no

infrastructure to experiencethe unparalleled diversity ofour country. Every single con-stituent that takes up a world-class infrastructure needs tocome together. We need tomove from creating an islandof excellence to a nation

that symbolises excellence.We cannot hide behind our size. China hasshown us that.

We cannot build atomorrow based on whatwe have today; we need

to rebuild the foundations.We must have belief in

the enormous oppor-

tunity India has to offer andwork and invest collectivelyto secure this with convic-tion. In order to achieve allthis, we have to ask our-selves one fundamentalquestion and this cannot bewhat we want India to looklike in the next 5 to 10years, it has to be what wewould like in the next 100years and this needs leader-ship that can lead from thefront and by example.

(Excerpts from the key note address at TAFI 2013)

Paving a successful path in the travel and tourism industry, Rahul Bhatia,Group Managing Director, Interglobe Enterprises has mastered the art ofovercoming obstacles and emerging victorious.

‘Winning is about being great’

The 5 ‘P’ mantra

1Partnership - Thetourism and transport

industry are interdependentand at the same time theyare both equally dependanton global conditions. Theyare mutually enabling.Without transportation many hotels will be unoccu-pied and without tourism many airlines will be empty. Partnership,where there is a clear under-standing and respect, is one of the most powerful ingredient, yet the most basic formula for success.

2Policy - Because of theirinterdependence, the

travel and tourism industryneed greater convergenceand close collaboration in theformulation of key polices.We need a comprehensivetourism and transport policyin the country and not the

current adho-cism.

3People - I believe thatthe real key to success is

people, people and people.To find people who have thebasic competence to executedaily responsibility is rela-tively easy but to find people who have the finebalance between compe-tence and the commitmentto serve excellence is a muchmore daunting task. Winningis not about being good it’sabout being great. We mustempower our people andgive them the comfort thatthey have the space to makemistakes. Most companiesdon’t have the appetite formistakes and this in itself isa huge mistake.

4Planning - And execu-tion of excellence. An

example of planning iswhen InterGlobe placed itsfirst order for 100 planes,our competitors thought wewere insane because wewere much too late to enterthe race and the magnitude

of our order was suicidal.Two years on, the realisa-tion dawned on them thatour delivery stream wasworth its weight in gold, asthe order with both manu-facturers for single aisle air-crafts were bursting at theseams. So even though wewere the last to enter, ourrapid induction of planeshelped us jump the queueand achieve critical massfaster than our competitors.Any amount of planning isalmost worthless if it’s notmarked by flawless execu-tion. We took our time and flew our first flight 14 months after placing the order.

5Planet - Tomorrow’scompanies will be the

ones who have a sustainableenvironmental strategy.Travelism, that combinestravel and tourism, has atransformational role to playin this. Our industry as awhole needs to respondproactively to the needs ofresponsible tourism.

Rahul BhatiaGroup Managing Director Interglobe Enterprises


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