ddppl.com TravTalkIndiatravtalkindia.com/pdf/2015/11-nov-2015-2.pdf · UK, USA, Middle East, and India with an average year-on-year growth of over 55 per cent. Ruchir was instrumental

` 50/-Vol. XXVII Issue 22; November 2nd fortnight i ssue 2015 A DDP PUBLICATION Pages : 44

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NOVEMBER 2ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2015 TRAVTALK 3

RoomsXML emerges as global leader

(L-R) Kate Macbeth, WTM Portfolio Head of Marketing & Communications, Reed Travel Exhibitions, and James H Chun, Korea BusinessTravel & Trade presenting the award to Executive Director of roomsXML, Ruchir Bang, and Anuj Bang, Director Product Development,roomsXML and SanJeet, Publisher, TravTalk India, at the WTM Global Travel Leaders Awards ceremony

Air Canada’s Dreamliner in DelhiDuncan Bureau, VP, Global Sales, Air Canada tells about the inauguralnon-stop flight from Toronto to New Delhi which touched down at IGIA on Nov 2.

Duncan BureauVice President, Global Sales, Air Canada

This year’s prestigious TravTalk-World Travel Market Global TravelLeaders Award was given to RoomsXML.com, in recognition of itsinnovations in online accommodation distribution. The award gives

WTM’s official media partner, , an excellent platform to recognise thosecompanies and individuals who have made the greatest contributions to thetravel and tourism industry in their region for that year. As of November 3,2015, roomsXML offers a single feed to 89,254 global properties (3-star andabove) across thousands of destinations around the world at the best available net rates. Sensing the potential of online travel and tourism domain,Prakash Bang, Founder, roomsXML, hand-picked a team of software professionals and focused on developing a system for online booking ofhotels and apartments, especially for the B2B segment. The roomsXML teamworked relentlessly to create the world’s first ‘multi-supplier-single-feed’ system. The product has been introduced with great success in Australia,UK, USA, Middle East, and India with an average year-on-year growth ofover 55 per cent. Ruchir was instrumental in developing 11 unique features,many of which are yet to be emulated by other systems in the marketplace.Under their leadership, what started with zero-capital, is today a zero-debt$50 million company.

Indian MarketElaborating on the

growth prospects of the Indianmarket, Bureau says, “India isa tremendous opportunity forus. As there is a diaspora of1.3 million people in Canada

from Indians and we areadding 30,000 Indians toCanada every single year.There is huge investment that Canada makes in India; there are 600 corporations inCanada that either have an

acuity position or some busi-ness relationship here in India.”

Talking about their rela-tionship with the travel trade,he says, “We have a ‘pay forperformance’ type of relation-ship with all our travel tradepartners. The travel distribution

network here in India is partic-ularly important as a large per-centage of traffic gets bookedthrough travel agencies. Wehave strong relationships withinternational TMCs, AmericanExpress, HRG, BCD, but wealso have strong and close

KANCHAN NATH AND ANKITA SAXENA

Contd. on page 15

TravTalk-WTM Global Award 2015



BULLETIN

The first convention ofHRANI was conceived in

the year 2011 from the city ofGolden Temple - Amritsar andcontinued forward to 2013 inMillennium City of Gurgaon.Talking about the theme of theconvention, Luv Malhotra,President, HRANI, said, “Thevision of 3rd HRANI convention:Hospitality -Made in India aimsto provide full features on thepotential of the Indian hospital-ity sector and will showcasenew stories of successful inno-vations in the hospitality indus-try of India.” Malhotra added,“This year we are expecting anestimate of 350-400 delegatesattending the event. We hope that like our past conventions the 3rd HRANIConvention will also achieve aspectacular success.”

Talking about challengesin this industry he said, “The

biggest challenge for hotelindustry is to create skills inthis competitive scenario.Another vital challenge that theIndian hotel industry is facing

is the presence of multiple tax-ation regime. Every state hasa different taxation slab andcharges different rates.Industry status, ease of doingbusiness, single window clear-ances are some of the keysubjects which states have to

handle. Luxury tax on actual inDelhi has been a long pendingdemand of the industry.Implementation of Goods &Service Tax (GST) with a

quantum of eight per cent isthe need of hour. Moreover,further increase of 0.5 per centservice tax as Swachh Bharatcess has not only increasedthe effective service tax rate to14.5 per cent but has furthercompounded the tariffs.”

Talking about the sessions planned, RajinderaKumar, Former President,HRANI & Senior MC Member,and Chairman of theConvention OrganisingCommittee, said, “The first ses-sion has been planned as‘Blending New Strategies withproven Brands and their adap-tation: Hospitality-Made in India.’Another interesting session hasbeen planned as ‘Trends setting Restaurants-Chasingthe Millennial.’ Other sessionsinclude: ‘HR & SkillsDevelopment for future Growth’;‘Innovative & creative food fortomorrow,’ ‘The art of onlineDominance or Disruption.’

A session on propertyowners gradually movingtowards management con-tracts and franchising has alsobeen planned. Lastly it will beon ‘Issues and concerns ofhospitality industry and way forward.’

The Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) is organisingits 3rd HRANI Convention from Dec 18-19, 2015 at Le Meridien, New Delhi.

400 expected at HRANI Convention

Rajindera KumarFormer President, HRANI & SeniorMC Member, and Chairman,Convention Organising Committee

Luv MalhotraPresidentHRANI

KANCHAN NATH


VIEWPOINT

As always aviation remains vitally important,for any market looking for economic growth.

Regional connectivity has been something theCivil Aviation Ministry has been committed toover the years and it is good to see a foundationto drive this further. The revised draft NationalCivil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2015) proposeslevying of two per cent on all domestic andinternational tickets on all routes, other thanCAT IIA and Regional Connectivity Fund (RCS).The amount collected annually from the cesswill be used to provide viability gap funding tooperate flights in remote areas.

For this year’s World Travel Market, India’s largest-ever delegation includingrepresentatives from almost all states headedto London with a record attendance of six tourismministers and over 50 private India-based travelorganisations and State Governments.

The Tourism Ministry already has proposalsin process to extend eTV’s validity from 30 daysto 180 days in 2016. Proposals are also in placeto make it available to 150 countries worldwide(currently 113) ensuring multiple or double entry.

To facilitate travel throughout the SchengenArea and help issue long-term visas moreeasily, France, in line with all the countries ofthe Schengen states, is issuing biometric visasto Indian citizens with effect from Nov 2, 2015.In this context, the French Embassy in India willoffer a large number of three or five-yearcirculation visas to frequent visitors to France.

Travel is facilitated with connectivity and inthis fast paced world, quick connectivity isessential. While that may mean real-time onlineconnectivity or on the other hand quick air-travel to the remotest of destinations of thiscountry, the Internet tends to be the first placepeople look to when planning a trip. So it hasbecome more essential to better develop webpresence through captivating websites, uniquecontent, and robust SEO strategies. What doesthis entail for travel agents? The key is to adopttechnology wholeheartedly and fully play therole of consultants and experts, become fullyaware of the destination they are selling, itsactivities, visa policies and more. They need tobe one step ahead of travellers today, who aresavvier than ever before, especially those of themillennial generation.

Seasons Greetings!

November Diary

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

advice before acting on information contained in this publicationwhich is provided for general use, and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. Contents of this publication are copyright. No part of TRAVTALK or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systemor transmitted in any form without the permission of the pub-lication in writing. The same rule applies when there is a copy-right or the article is taken from another publication. An exemp-tion is hereby granted for the extracts used for the purpose offair review, provided two copies of the same publication are sentto us for our records. Publications reproducing material eitherin part or in whole, without permission could face legal action.

The publisher assumes no responsibility for returning any material solicited or unsolicited nor is he responsible for material lost or damaged.

This publication is not meant to be an endorsement of any specific product or services offered. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw, amend or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation.

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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CIN: U22210DL2012PTC230432

Trends that keep us goingThe travel and tourism industry in India, which comprises both domestic(85% of the market) and international inbound travel (15%), is estimated togrow at a CAGR of 12% to $27.5 bn in 2016 from $19.7 bn in 2013.

India’s Travel Industry (Size in $bn) Online Travel Industry break-up, 2014E

1%

Internet penetration still one of the lowest worldwide;indicates strong growth opportunities for online business

India’s middle-class population ofnearly 50 mn, or 5% of the overallpopulation (2015 estimated), isexpected to grow steadily over the nextdecade to 200 mn by 2020 and 475 mnby 2030. With better means comes agrowing awareness and demand forbetter work-life balance in the privatesector. The increasing disposableincome of a growing middle class hasled to more families and individualsplanning both domestic andinternational vacations, atleast once ayear. The middle-class populationgrows, the volume of domestic touristswill also increase.

Rapid growth expected in India’s middle class (in mn)

This strong surge in domestic tourism is driven by the following factors:� Rapidly increasing purchasing power of the

middle class� Prolific use of the Internet and smartphones,

coupled with increasing e-Commercepenetration

� Better air and rail connectivity between Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities

� Evolving and improving lifestyles

Source: Phocuswright, India Online Travel Overview Seventh Edition, August 2014

Source: Internet World Stats, BCG analysisSo

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: EY

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STATISTICS

Source:Statistics from Indian Online Travel Industry ‘Going Places’ report by global research & analytics company, Aranca.

Online penetration in travel and tourism bookings is estimated to increase from 41% in 2014 to 46% in 2017,according to Phocuswright, a leading travel data aggregator.

%


After the grand success of itsfirst edition in the South and

West in 2015, India HospitalityAwards North & East edition isnow travelling to Chandigarh.Holiday Inn Chandigarh,Panchkula is hosting the eventon November 19, 2015.

The award statuette,Maya celebrates the grandeurof tourism. It imbibes the bestrepresenting the power to

change the industry. Based onan online voting system, thewinners will be awarded aftera thorough jury analysis of thevoting, making the awards fairand unbiased. Nominations areawaited for various categories,which include sectors likehotels and resorts, technologyproviders, F&B, MICE, etc fromthe northern and easternregion of the country.

Sharing more detailsabout the event, SanJeet,Mentor, India Travel Awardssays, “The Indian hospitalityindustry triumphs over some ofthe most prestigious hotels inthe world. This award ceremonyserves as a platform for theleaders of the hospitality indus-try to come together and recog-nise the industry’s best ideasand success stories. By high-lighting the best, India

Hospitality Awards will providea benchmark for the industry.The winners, who will be felici-tated at a black-tie event, will bethe people who have achievedbrilliance and endeavour tomake a difference.”

According to Amit Rana,General Manager, Holiday Inn

Chandigarh Panchkula, this is agreat initiative. “I am really happythat we are the choice for theIndia Hospitality Awards North& East. This gives many anopportunity to travel to see thehotel and experience our serv-ices. Recognition of good workalways results in motivation andbetter performance. With the

expansion and network of DDPPublications increasing everyday, I feel this award ceremonyis seen in prestigious light for allin the industry and a great wayto give back to the hospitality fraternity,” he opines.

Setting a new benchmarkfor the hospitality industry, the

hotel has made preparationsgalore for the event. Rana pointsout, “The hotel is ideally locatedon the Chandigarh ShimlaHighway at the foot of the MorniHills and next to Panchkula GolfCourse. Our rooms facing GolfCourse & Hills make us standapart from our competition. Oureight banquet spaces make us

the first preference for clients forlarge MICE events."

As India Hospitality Awards North and East travels to Chandigarh for its second editionto honour the achievers of the hospitality, travel and tourism industry from the region,Holiday Inn Chandigarh, Panchkula is all set to host the mega event.

Maya returns to honour hospitality heroesN O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 7NEWS

SanJeetMentor, India Travel Awards

Amit RanaGeneral ManagerHoliday Inn Chandigarh Panchkula

TT BU R E AU

Honouring TalentThis 2nd IndiaHospitality Awards will honour the achievers of hospitality, travel andtourism industry fromthe region

The event will takeplace on November 19 at Holiday Inn,Chandigarh, Panchkula

Based on an onlinevoting system, thewinners will be awarded after a thorough jury analysisof the voting


8 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TECHNOLOGY

Travelport Rich Contentand Branding, the indus-

try’s solution provider thatallows airlines to effectivelymarket and retail their offeringto travel agencies around theworld, recently completedone whole year. A part of thetravel commerce platformTravelport, Rich Content andBranding boasts over 120network airlines and low costcarriers such as Lufthansa,SWISS, easyJet, Ryanair,Delta, United, SingaporeAirlines, Air Canada, AirChina and Kenya Airways, toname a few, in its debut yearin the market.

Derek Sharp,Travelport’s Senior VicePresident and ManagingDirector, Air Commerce, com-ments, “With Rich Content andBranding, our airline cus-tomers are able to sell theirproducts their way, in the inter-mediary channel, adding realvalue to their businesses. We

have now achieved criticalmass with the number of air-lines who share our vision tooffer travel agents and trav-

ellers visually-rich and interac-tive content and more andmore airlines are signing upeach week.”

Furthermore, AnilParashar, President and CEO,InterGlobe TechnologyQuotient says, “Designed toempower selling and build anengaging brand experience forairlines, this solution has been

truly appreciated by the air-lines world over, due to itsinteractive and visually-richcontent which is proving to bea very effective sales tool fortravel agents.”

Travelport Rich Contentand Branding’s servicesincludes the display all of theairlines’ fares, ancillaries andbrand proposition, givingthem the greatest controlpossible over how their prod-ucts appear on travel agents’screens. It includes rich product descriptions andgraphics, optional or ancillaryproducts for sale, includingfares families.

Since its launch lastyear, Travelport has contin-ued to enhance Rich Contentand Branding by adding pow-erful, new search functionality and increased opportunitiesfor upselling by offering the‘next product/price point up’,with a full comparison ofassociated attributes andancillaries.

After bagging clients from over 120 network airlines andlow cost carriers since its inception, Travelport RichContent and Branding, celebrates the success andcompletion of its first year.

Enhancing agents’ screens Product training session for travel agents

Ahmedabad recently played host to a one day product training session for travel trade partners which wasorganised by RezLive.com (a product of Travel Designer Group) and Banyan Tree resorts. The session witnessedthe participation of several leading agents from the region who were briefed about the various products andservices on offer. Speaking on the occasion, Jaal Shah, Group Managing Director, RezLive.com, says,“Platforms like this help us to impart the correct information to travel agents and listen to their queries andgive them the best solution. We will be conducting more of such fruitful sessions in other parts of the country,in order to have a better connection with the travel agents.”

Anil ParasharPresident and CEOInterGlobe Technology Quotient

TT BU R E AU


The Ministry of Tourism(MOT), Government of

India, Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce andIndustry (FICCI) and India GolfTourism Association (IGTA)jointly organised the secondedition of the FICCI GolfTourism Summit (FGTS) 2015from October 26 - 27, 2015 atThe Lalit, New Delhi and ITCGrand Bharat, Manesar.

The inauguration of theSummit was held at The Lalit,New Delhi and ITC GrandBharat, Manesar and wasgraced by the presence of Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Ministerof State (Independent Charge)Tourism, Govt of India; VinodZutshi, Secretary Tourism,Govt of India; Dr. JyotsnaSuri, President, FICCI andRajan Sehgal, President,IGTA among other dignitaries.

Sehgal says, “We don’twant to lose the continuity so,we have announced that thethird edition of FICCI GolfTourism Summit will be held inSeptember next year. Thedates and the venue for thesame are yet to be decided.”

The Summit witnessedseven hours of structured, pre-scheduled B2B meetings intwo days between 20 hostedhandpicked new set of leadingforeign tour operators fromacross fifteen countries whospecialise in Golf Tourism withthe stakeholders from India,besides the interactive con-clave pondering over criticalissues on the first half of thefirst day.

IGTA organised a gameof golf on October 27 to cheerup the foreign dignitaries andrefresh them up after the hectic

business deliberations of thetwo preceding days. It alsoorganised Fam trips to golfcourses for the hosted foreigntour operators.

Rahul Chakravarty,Director Tourism, FICCI, says,“Golf Tourism in India is still

evolving. In India we have golfas a game but not yet thatprominent as a tourism sector.So, with this initiative of ourswe hope golf to evolve as atourism sector. Getting even afive or ten per cent of the globalmarket will be a huge inboundflow for us.”

To keep the golf game on, MOT, IGTA and FICCI togetherorganised the second edition of the Golf Summit from October26 - 27, 2015 in New Delhi. The 3rd edition will be held inSeptember 2016, though the dates are yet to be finalised.

Golf Tourism eyes 10% global marketN O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 9ASSOCIATIONS

SA M A P T I DAS

Participant’sProfile

Union Ministry ofTourism

Other StateGovernments of India

International golf touroperators

Indian tour operatorswho specialise in golf

Hotels, resort and spa owners from India

Signature golf coursesfrom across India


1 0 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 EXHIBITIONS

The ACE of MICE Exhibition(AME) will take place for the

third time from March 16-18,2016 in Istanbul CongressCentre and Istanbul Lutfi Kirdar– ICEC. The mega event will host

MICE professionals from all overthe world who gather to network,collect information and strength-en business relationships.

The upcoming editionbrings forth a host of sympo-siums, conferences and net-

work activities among whichseveral are new additions.Some of the latest additions tothe agenda are the Women ofMICE panel, and the NetworkParty which are lined up for thefirst day of the exhibition. TheWomen of MICE panel will host

women from corporate compa-nies, professionals from theMICE and business sector, andwill mainly focus on women’sperspective to the sector,address the problems they faceand provide solutions. Guestscan unwind and let their hairdown and |be entertained bynumerous entertaining perform-ances at the Network Party.

The second day (March17) will host the PharmaGathering for which associa-tions and pharmaceutical com-panies will gather and discussvarious topics in detail.Additionally, a question-answersession will be included to allowthe panel address queries of the attendees.

The final day (March 18)will witness the Future ofExhibition Industry, Exhibitionand Stand Designers’Association Workshop andSummit, wherein three differentsessions will be organised. Thethree sessions will concentrateon three different topics – ‘TheFuture of the Trade FairIndustry’, ‘Description ofTemporary Buildings at Events,Exhibitions and Congresses’,and ‘Identifying the Criteria ofStand Constructor Companies’– for which important speakerswill impart knowledge and infor-mation on each area. TheUniversity Students Meet MICESector program also lined up forthe same day will involveTourism and MarketingCommunication students andacademicians from 15 of thebest universities in Turkey.

Guests attending the third edition of the ACE of MICEExhibition scheduled from March 16-18 in Istanbul arein for a treat as the mega event has an interesting line-up, such as Women of MICE and the Pharma Gathering,among many others.

AME 2016 back with new programs

TT BU R E AU

Gearing UpWomen of MICEMarch 16Network PartyMarch 16Pharma GatheringMarch 17Future of ExhibitionIndustry, Exhibition andStandDesigners’AssociationWorkshop and SummitMarch 18University StudentsMeet MICE SectorMarch 18


N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 1 1AVIATION

With the release of the revised draft National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2015) recently, finds out from aviationexperts about how the recommendations will change the face of the new policy and what we should expect from it.

Opening up the Indian skies

TT BU R E AU

Any government which is looking ateconomic development, aviation is animportant component. We are excitedabout what is happening regarding theaviation policy both in Canada andIndia. We are looking for a much easiertransition for Indian nationals intoCanada from a visa perspective andvice- versa. Even for nationals travellingbeyond Canada, we are looking at aneasier in transit without visa which is important for us to make thisroute successful.


The draft policy has completelyignored the interests of Business &General Aviation in India. For remoteconnectivity, the policy has laid out aframework for new scheduled com-muter airlines, but we still see a fewgaps which need to be addressed.Points given in the draft for CharterOperations only cater to inbound for-eign charters, and do not address the

concerns of the domestic charter industry. The policy has alsooverlooked the irrational taxation on import of small aircraft.

Jayant NadkarniPresident, Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA)

The suggestions madein the policy look positivefor passengers and avi-ation sector as a whole.Having said that, it wassurprising to see the lackof clarity or progress onthe 5/20 rule. This is onesignificant, archaic and

regressive policy. Removal of this rule would havesent a clear message on a progressive Aviationpolicy. Apart from this it is extremely encouragingto see the commitment and foresight in outlayinga comprehensive view on MRO, LCC Airportsinfrastructure, ground handling initiatives, taxmeasures, affordable tariff balancing to boost airtravel and encourage sustainable growth of ourindustry. The MRO framework will further helpreduce cost of operations and benefit customers.We as an airline have always been a supporter ofremote locations and also believe it should beincentivised if at all as opposed to being mandated.We see a massive opportunity for Tier 2 city airportexpansions and enabling larger aircraft operatingfrom these cities.

Mittu ChandilyaMD & CEO, Air Asia

We applaud the Ministry of Civil Aviationfor being proactive and prompt in puttingtogether a slew of recommendations totackle the known issues that have beenplaguing the aviation industry. The DraftCivil Aviation Policy is a fairly compre-hensive approach that will help unleashthe potential of the aviation sector inIndia. We are optimistic that public dis-

course will help shape a pro-growth, pro-business, and pro-peoplepolicy that will catalyse the PM’s ‘Make-in-India’ vision.

Phee Teik YeohCEO, Vistara – Tata SIA Airlines Limited

The draft policy looks very promising forthe aviation industry as well as all key play-ers. We are pleased to see the strategicinitiatives planned by the government withregards to positioning India as a MRO(Mechanical repairs and overhaul) hub inAsia, strengthening the domestic infra-structure and increasing connectivity. Webelieve there was a need for such changeand we look forward to more such plannedpolicies in the future.

Wolfgang WillDirector, South Asia, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines


1 2 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 QUICKBYTES

urges the travel trade fraternity to remain alert about possible fraudulent credit card activities by individuals.Some agencies have been duped, often where details of genuine corporate clients were misused to trick them.

Combat credit card fraud

HA Z E L JA I N

So far we have been able to be secure.We do taking measures towards this.For large transactions on credit card (forfirst time clients) we check their refer-ence if possible. We also monitor sud-den transactions by new or existing cus-tomers – if their bookings are out of pat-tern. However, there are incidenceswhere people use similar domainnames to get tickets booked on credit. All services required bysuch conmen are of instant use. I know of two agents who havebeen conned this way – one of more than ̀ 15 lakh and the otherfor ` 1 crore! These are scams originating from Nigeria/SouthAfrica and all the visits to cyber cells are of no help.

Rajat BagariaNational Managing Committee Member & Co-Chairman

Convention Committee, TAFI, and MD, Shrishti Tours & Travels

We at TAAI advise our members who areoperating a website to ensure that theyhave a proper payment gateway vendor.Now with RBI clamping down on severalprocesses, the chances of a fraud takingplace has drastically reduced. TAAI can-not intervene in any commercial dealsbetween our members and their ven-dors. But we could as a special case

speak to the person concerned to reconcile and close the issue.

Marzban AntiaVice President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and

Managing Director, Avesta Travel & Tours

We have not experienced this but it’s aserious issue. We confirm with our clientin such situations and till we don’t getany confirmation from his side, we don’tmake any bookings. ETAA conducted atraining session on cyber crime on 10July 2015 for our members where well-known lawyer Vicky Shah gave tips onhow to prevent this.

Abhijit KhadilkarNational Joint Secretary, Enterprising Travel Agents Association

(ETAA) and Director, Swaraj Travels

Currently we have very limited creditcard transactions which happen onEDC at our office. Hence this is notmuch relevant to us as majority of busi-ness is through bank transfers.

Harmandeep Singh AnandManaging Director, Jagsons Travels

Fortunately, we have not experienced this yet. We are very particularin ensuring that we don’t get stuck in this scam. Firstly, we don’t ran-domly issue tickets for non-reference clients using credit card. Secondly,if at all we are issuing the ticket with credit card, we ensure that wetake another photo ID of the person along with a letter to confirm thathe is using the card to purchase the tickets with his signature and alsoensure that there is a gap of at least four to five days before departure.We do not issue tickets with credit card for very last minute bookings.Agencies who realise they have been duped must immediately callthe airline to cancel the ticket if it has not been used already. Onceused, the only thing they can do is report to the credit card company about the fraud and hopethat they will trace the person. If the amount is very large, then finally knock the doors of thecybercrime cell.

Mahendra Vakharia Chairman (Western Chapter), OTOAI (Outbound Tour Operators Association of India) and

Managing Director, Pathfinders

We haven’t experienced any such incident within our organisation. Wehave a well laid process and controls, probably that’s helping us to avoidsuch incidents.

Haresh KoyandeFounder and Managing Director, World Travel Studio

Presently many cases have come to light for misuse of credit cardsin different ways. It is not only for online purchase of air tickets, butalso hacking the accounts and transferring of remittances to otheraccounts in other countries. In wake of fraud and misuse of creditcards details, it is very important for the card holder to be vigilant andprompt in inspection of the credit card transaction. We had faced onemajor fraud of misuse of credit card details and of transfer of fundsillegally in the past. Hence, now we have advised our staff to be morevigilant while using the credit cards.

Om Prakash SehgalDirector, In ORBIT Tours

Take preventive measures� Conduct due diligence for any new corporation

soliciting your services in booking airline tickets� For a corporate sale, verify that you are contacted by

your usual contact person at this corporation� Answer only to the email address you have stored in

the customer’s profile, and not to the one the emailwas sent from

� If you are told not to use the lodged corporate cardyou have on file, but to use a personal card instead,be extra diligent in applying the security measures youdeploy for any sale made to unknown parties

� Remember that Resolution 890 recommends that theagent demands the card security code (CVV2) andverifies that the authorisation approval indicates it isit a CVV2 match.

� In case of mismatch notice, the agent must considerthe transaction as rejected and request another formof payment

� Remember also that even CVV2 match confirmationis never a guarantee that the transaction is genuine

� Ticket sales of a non face-to-face transaction shall beundertaken under the sole responsibility and liabilityof the agent. In the event of a disputed transaction andits subsequent rejection by the card company, the rel-evant member/airline shall charge back the loss to theagent which issued the traffic document by means ofan agent debit memo.




COVER STORY

787: The game changerrelationship with a number oftravel agencies here in Indiawith whom we have worked formany years now.”

Air Canada’s newest fleettype, the Boeing 787-9, is astate-of-the-art aircraft, hesays. “We have waited a longtime for this aircraft to startoperating in India. There isright economics, right guestexperience and definitely the right capability of the aircraft so we are certainly veryexcited for the service,” Bureau adds.

On the airline’s marketingand business strategy he says,“We are doing incredibly well.We leverage our distributionpartners throughout Canada,India and US as well. We havetremendous distribution net-work. Our load factor figures inNovember are well above 85per cent. The reception hasbeen so strong that we havealready decided to increase

our frequency from four times a week to daily fromSeptember 2016.”

“Fuel is a big issue. Wecertainly don’t control thataspect and the rates maychange with any global geo-political situation. But we arefocused on the fact that ourcost structure is in line. Wehave recently invested USD9.4 billion worth of aircraft.Those aircraft will start com-ing into the system veryshortly. In fact we alreadyhave nine 787s. We ordered37 of them. It is a tough busi-ness to make money in. Butwe are expanding very quick-ly at Air Canada. We operatein 195 markets globally andby 2020 we hope to operatein 250 markets. At present wecarry about 38 million pas-sengers and by 2020 we wantto carry 50 million passen-gers. For us the 787 is agame changer. We have alsoordered 100 of 737 MAX air-craft and we will take deliveryof them in 2017. By 2020, AirCanada will have one of theyoungest fleet globally com-bined with our 787 fleet, theBoeing 737 MAX fleet, and a

number of other acquisitionswe have made in narrow-body aircraft,” he adds.

Late booking marketTalking about the differ-

ential value-ad as far as seatsare concerned, Gary Cross,Senior Director, InternationalSupport Services, Air Canadasays, “We offer three serviceson this aircraft: The BusinessClass, a brand new PremiumEconomy Class and theEconomy Class. We havebeen operating on the Delhiroute for nearly a year nowand we did offer some intro-ductory fares and shall con-tinue to have special offers.Now our flights are generallyfull so one should check withAir Canada to find out thebest fares.”

He says Indians are quitea late booking market. “Ourflights are booked for the com-ing couple of months but wehave a few seats left to be sold.We call upon the travel tradepartners to support us as

much as possible to help usmake this route successful.”

Business TravellersTalking about the advan-

tages for MICE, he says, “AirCanada offers a whole rangeof products for business trav-ellers. We have the Business

Class cabin with Lie FlatSeats, state-of-the-art tech-nology and a small and inti-mate cabin. For the cost con-scious travellers we have thePremium Economy Classwhich is actually more of aBusiness Class than anEconomy one. The intimatecabin has more leg room, withonly 21 seats with its dedicat-ed check in, meal service andis particularly aimed at SME

and travellers who are travel-ling to Canada or India forthe first time. The economyclass of course is availablewith a seat-back TV.”

He adds, “The inaugu-ral flight took 12 and halfhours and is nonstop. It willtake 14 hours from Delhi toToronto. The schedule isparticularly good for business travellers and connects with almost all of our domestic servicesand the US connections. You pre clear customs andimmigrations in Torontoitself and arrive in the US asa domestic traveller just

before breakfast.”

Competitive advantage Telling us about the

competitive advantage of thisflight, he says, “We are theonly carrier with a premiumeconomy product on thisroute. The Business Class

has state of the art, latesttechnology and seats. We arethe only carrier to have 4 starcatering service based inNorth America. We haveappointed The Oberoi to doour food out of India. We haveaward winning room service,in-flight entertainment, and food. The flight atten-dants are multilingual and are fluent in all major Indianlanguages.”

Contd. from page 3

We call uponthe travel tradepartners tosupport us asmuch aspossible tohelp us makethis routesuccessful

Gary CrossSenior Director, International SupportServices, Air Canada

There is a diaspora of 1.3 millionpeople in Canada who are Indiansand we are adding 30,000 Indiansto Canada every single year




EXHIBITIONS

VisitBritain now wants trav-ellers to look outside of

London. It has thereforebrought its culture and coun-tryside to the travel agents’attention through yet anotherBollywood campaign -‘Bollywood is Great’ in partner-ship with Turkish Airlines. Thisis the first time that the airlineis partnering with a nationaltourist board on a global level.

Sumathi Ramanathan,Regional General Manager(Asia Pacific & Middle East),VisitBritain, explains, “One ofour core strategic objectives isregionality as in travel beyondLondon and exploring the pic-turesque British countryside.Our core synergies with the filmShaandaar are well matched asit has been extensively shot inthe English countryside ofYorkshire, Durham and Leedsand in the North of England. Wewant the Indian traveller to seeBritain in a new light andencourage them to visit placeswithin the beautiful countryside.”

VisitBritain will conduct awebinar for the travel agentsand tour operators in Januarynext year introducing them tothe re-launch of BritAgent andthe new visa module from

UKVI. “We will continue withour trade seminars and pre-sentations throughout the year,Explore GreatBritain inFebruary-March 2016 and theGreat Tourism Weeks inAugust-September 2016,”Ramanathan adds.

This campaign has afocus across Turkish Airlines’

five regional gateways -Manchester, Birmingham andEdinburgh, as well asLondon’s Heathrow andGatwick. The 12-month mar-keting partnership will seeVisitBritain and TurkishAirlines develop an interna-tional marketing campaignand will initially focus onIndian, Saudi Arabian andother Gulf markets.

Produced by KaranJohar’s Dharma Productions,Shaandaar is a rom-com star-ring Bolywood actors ShahidKapoor and Alia Bhatt. Saif Ali Khan is VisitBritain’sspokesperson and is part ofthe existing ongoing BollywoodBritain campaign since March2015 which is a much largercampaign. When askedwhether VisitBritain would everconsider appointing aBollywood brand ambassador,she says, “VisitBritain can only consider appointing aGoodwill Ambassador or aspokesperson as we arealways working with challeng-ing budgets.”

VisitBritain goes regional as it brings its picturesqueBritish countryside to the attention of the travel agentsand tour operators.

Britain promotes countryside

HA Z E L JA I N

Sumathi RamanathanRegional General Manager (Asia Pacific &Middle East), VisitBritain

From January 20-24, 2016,IFEMA is organising the

36th International Tourism TradeShow, FITUR. With focus onbusiness, the event becomes anindispensable appointment inthe agendas of internationaltourism professionals, one inwhich they can exchange expe-riences and knowledge, learnabout new strategies for theirbusiness and keep abreast ofthe latest tools for gaining com-petitiveness and presence in themarketplace.

Once again, the drive andpromotion of tourism develop-ment will be the hallmark andadded value of FITUR as aforum for the internationaltourism industry; hence thestaging of events with a consol-idated trajectory such asINVESTOUR Africa, organisedjointly by FITUR, the UNWTOand Casa África. This invest-ment and cooperation pro-gramme, which is in its seventhedition, has the goal of bringingtogether on the same stage thebusinesspeople and invest-

ments from the 165 countriesrepresented at the trade showand both public and private bod-ies from the African continent,with each year resulting in newproposals for tourism projectsthat promote a sustainablemodel for the economic devel-opment of Africa, a region thatlast year welcomed 56 milliontourists and generated incomeamounting to 36.5 billion dollars.

This same format of pre-viously scheduled personalinterviews and work meetingswill be held in a new staging ofFITUR B2B Workshop HostedBuyer, which last year regis-tered 5,000 pre-scheduledbusiness meetings in B2Bencounters between exhibitorsand more than 200 internation-

al buyers. This is why the tradeshow is already working on anintense agenda of appoint-ments between the companiesand destinations that partici-pate in FITUR and an impor-tant group of internationalhosted buyers.

Equally, the FITURSHOPPING and FITURHEALTH sections will have theirown B2B programmes thatensure the attendance of inter-national prescribers, both forshopping tourism and for healthtourism. The last staging ofFITUR attracted 9,419 compa-nies from 165 countries. It wasattended by 222,551 partici-pants both professionals fromthe tourism industry and thewider public.

Networking will be the trade show’s focal point throughinitiatives and programmes aimed at favouring trademeetings.

FITUR: global business forum

TT BU R E AU


1 8 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 NTO

Starting this year with aseries of presentations, the

Tourism Office of Spain trav-elled to the cities of Bengaluru,Hyderabad, Chennai, Cochin,Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Punefinally concluding its roadshowin its two most important mar-kets – Mumbai and New Delhi.Spending two days in each citywith a dedicated day for leisureand MICE, the tourist officebrought with it a huge delega-tion from Spain – six DMCsand five destinations of –Andalusia, Costa Del Sol,Madrid, Barcelona and WorldHeritage Cities of Spain.

Ignacio DucasseGutierrez, Director, TourismOffice of Spain in Mumbai,said, “There is clear segmen-tation between leisure andMICE agents within the marketand the requirement for groupsand individuals are quite differ-ent. So we prefer to do sepa-rate events for each segmentto provide specific information.With this series of events thatwe did in Mumbai and New

Delhi over four days, we wantto send a strong message thatSpain is really interested in theIndian market. We see a clearpossibility of growth and poten-tial of doing business together.We are extremely happy that11 sellers travelled all the wayfrom Spain because they shareour vision for 2016.”

Revealing updated fig-ures from India, Gutierrez says,“In 2014, we had 80,000tourists from India. For thisyear, from January toSeptember we are close to70,000. That means anincrease of five per cent fromthe same period last year.August and September spe-cially were extremely good sowe hope that we may close theyear at 100,000.”

Apart from promotingSpain for both MICE andleisure travel, Spain has beenworking on niche markets suchas luxury, shopping, honey-mooners, active holidays,nightlife, fly and drive, etc.

Gutierrez talks about thechallenges that Spain experi-ences, singling out two spe-cific complaints. “There aretwo obstacles we need to

work on: visas and connectiv-ity as we don’t have any direct flights. Our ConsulateGeneral and VFS Global areconfident that the new biomet-

ric data requirement that has been introduced fromNovember 2 this year won’tbe an obstacle in getting thevisas in time. So at this timewe are hopeful that it won’t bea big problem,” he says.

His office is currentlyplanning 2016 and its strategyfor the new year. “It will be mysecond year in India. The firstyear went in learning. A Famtrip to Barcelona and theCatalonia region for key MICEtour operators is also planned.But we are doing a bit of every-thing. More than segmentationby age or demographic, we arepromoting different products forhoneymooners, families andcorporates such as fly anddrive, nightlife, luxury stays,shopping, and festivals,”Gutierrez adds.

Lisha Krishnan, TradeManager, Tourism Office ofSpain, said, “Barcelona,Madrid and Ibiza are alreadyvery popular destinations in theIndian market but we are look-ing at new destinations likeMalaga, Seville, Andalusia,

Cordoba, Granada, Ibiza to beshowcased in Spain. We areputting special efforts to marketthe 15 world heritage cities inSpain which are very close toBarcelona and Madrid so thatthey can become day excur-sions like Tarragona. It is sur-prising that travellers going toIbiza as a party destination arenot aware that the city is a her-itage site as well. We are alsointroducing new regions inSpain like the North Spain where a traveller maynot be aware of the beautyawaiting them.”

Talking about a specialcontribution to numbers fromIndia to Spain, Gutierrezadded, “With the movie,Zindagi Na Milegi Na Dobara,we saw the number of touristsdouble in 2011-12. We hopethat in the future we are able toget some projects to increaseinterest in Spain.” Krishnanadds, “Keeping the impact ofthe film industry in mind, weare in talks with Bollywoodproject coordinators to getsome big projects to Spainnext year.”

Clearly segregating leisure and MICE markets in India, the Tourism Office of Spain managed to rekindle interestfrom the trade with its nine-city roadshow.

Spain takes 11 sellers on 9-city show HA Z E L JA I N & AN K I TA SAX E N A

We areputtingspecial effortsto market the15 worldheritage cities in Spain

We see a clearpossibility ofgrowth andpotential ofdoingbusinesstogether

Ignacio Ducasse GutierrezDirectorTourism Office of Spain in Mumbai

Lisha KrishnanTrade ManagerTourism Office of Spain



2 0 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 FAMILY ALBUM

Air Canada’s Dreamliner inaugurationA dinner reception was held on November 3, 2015 at the Canada House in New Delhi to mark the arrival of the inaugural non-stop Toronto-Delhi Air Canada flight. Here are glimpses from the memorable evening.





2 4 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 STATES

Sirpur offers anextraordinarilybeautiful travelexperience that takes one back intime. Abound inhistorically rich andancient legacy; Sirpur is a vortex of spirituality,especially Buddhism,Jainism andHinduism. Theheritage town’sculturally richambience providesthe perfect canvas tothe SirpurInternationationalDance and Music Festival.

The fourth edition of Sirpur Festival,will be organised on an internation-al scale. The event will be called

The Sirpur International Dance and MusicFestival which will be held from January29-31, 2016. Conducted by theChhattisgarh Tourism Board, the festivaloffers a first-hand experience of a rareunion of art and culture in music anddance forms.

The centre stage itself is set into thebackdrop of the famous Laxman Temple– an architectural masterpiece whichtraces its history to the 7th century. Thehighlight of this holy town is its astonishingmonuments including temples andBuddhist viharas, which attract touristsfrom across the world.

The extravaganza attracts renownedIndian and foreign artists. A galaxy ofprominent stars have dazzled the earlier festivals. Padmabhushan Pt. Chhannulal Mishra, PadmashriMadhavi Mudgal, PadmashriPrahlad Singh Tipaniya,Padma Vibhushan Pt.

Hariprasad Chaurasia, PadmaVibhushan Pt. Birju Maharaj,Rahul Sharma, Ustad ShujaatKhan, Padmabhushan Teejanbai,Vidwan Vikku Vinayakram andPadmashri Wadali Brothers have visited Sirpur to experienceits heritage, dance, music and spitiualism.

International artists haveequally enthralled audiences. PeteLockett, George Brooks andLeonard Eto are just a handful fewamongst so many others that havefeatured in Sirpur. The festival hascome as a big boon to local artistswho are presented with a goldenopportunity to showcase their crafton an international stage.

The Sirpur InternationalDance and Music Festival hasbeen greatly appreciated by inter-

national ambassadors andhigher officials from the

Republic of Korea,Lao People’sDemocraticRepublic, Vietnam

and Sri Lanka, whogushingly acknowledged itas a centre of international

culture and celebration.

In just three years,the Sirpur Festival has gained globalacclaim. It is not diffi-cult to believe andsee the futuregrowth and glory ofthis festival in theyears to come. Sirpurboasts of a glorious pastand this heritage is beingcarried forward with this

festival, which is ensuring the culture tobe a celebrated present and gloriousfuture as well.

Putting Chhattisgarh on global map

Adve

rtoria

l



2 6 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 NTO

QTravel Agents and tour oper-ators are the backbone of

outbound tourism from India.What are you doing to keep thissegment interested and keen onselling Switzerland?

We have just introduced webinarsto reach even more agents and to edu-cate them so that they are betterequipped in selling Switzerland. Wepublish a sales manual, have an e-learning program, visit and train regu-larly agents around the country, worktogether with the largest tour operatorsin India trying to come up with newexperiences, new itineraries. Togetherwith these tour operators we enlargethe Switzerland portfolio with new out-door packages, new winter packages,add a twist to existing rail products(Grand Train Tour), introduce self drivingpackages, get new destinations into theprograms and relaunch romance andindulgence packages.

Additionally we also conductworkshops in Switzerland as well asin India, have a Switzerland TravelExperience, together with our Swisspartners visiting the most important

agents and operators on India andconduct several educational trips toour country. We also run a specialtraining and reward program - theSwiss Travel Pass Superstar pro-gram for agents who are top sellersof the Swiss Travel Passes. Last butnot least we also hold Visa-Workshops for tour operators to findways how we can facilitate the visaapplication process for the traveltrade and their clients.

QIn your priority promotionmarkets, where does India

figure? What per cent of yourmarketing budgets have you allocated for this market?

India is one of our 4 StrategicGrowth Markets, receiving a market-ing budget that is over average com-pared to the amount of visitors. Thegrowth of India is very promising andwe do believe that Switzerland hasa special place in the hearts of

Indian travellers (and travel agents).We increased our staff by one per-son and we also added some extrabudget for 2016. In terms ofovernights India ranks number 11, interms of marketing budget number7. India has a market share of rough-ly 1.5 per cent of all tourismovernights in Switzerland but gets 5per cent of the marketing funds.

QSwitzerland has witnessed a stagnant growth from

India in the last three years, but 2015 has started on a better note. What are you doing to strengthen your market share from India?

We have seen an upsurge indemand from June 2014 and it is continuing well into this year. We notonly increased our staff, we alsoentered in joint marketing activitieswith the large tour operators, intensi-fied the promotion and sale of Swissrail passes, are more active on theSocial Media channels, have somefine media cooperations, strengthenedour relationship with agents (educations, workshops, SwitzerlandTravel Experiences and new also with webinars).

Urs Eberhard, Executive Vice President, Head - Markets and MICE, Switzerland Tourism tells whyIndia is one of the four strategic growth markets for Switzerland and talks about their special training andrewards programme for agents.

Swiss webinars, rewards for loyal agents

GUNJAN SABIKHI FROM SWITZERLAND We run a special training and reward programme - the Swiss Travel Pass Superstar

program for agents who are topsellers of the Swiss TravelPasses. We also hold Visa-Workshops for tour operators tofind ways how we can facilitatethe visa application process for

the travel trade and their clients.

Urs EberhardVice President, Head - Marketsand MICE, Switzerland Tourism

Upcoming events and attractions

Opening of the longest railtunnel in the world, the 57kmlong Gotthard Base Tunnel,shortening the travel timebetween the Ticino (Italienspeaking Switzerland) and theNorth (Zurich, Luzern, Basel)of Switzerland by 1 hour.

Opening of the Charlie Chaplinmuseum and hotel in Vevey,where Chaplin family used tolive

Opening of the FIFA World ofFootball museum in Zurich

50 years of Montreux JazzFestival

100 years Dadaismus inZürich

Re-opening Museum of Fine Arts in Basel after anextensive renovation

Swatch Experience World in Biel



ETAA conducts knowledge session in Mumbai

The Enterprising Travel AgentsAssociation (ETAA) organized aknowledge session with corpo-rate trainer, Bhushan Lawandefrom E4 Development &Coaching on ‘CustomerSensitivity and EmployeesEngagement’ in Mumbai.


Analysing the potential of Spiritual Tourism in India at a Conference on “Spiritual Tourism for SustainableDevelopment – India : the Land of Gods” organised under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry(PHDCCI) a Skill Council was recommended to be set up under jurisdiction of National Skill Development Council(NSDC) so that the branding of spiritual pockets, locations and sites in India could be undertaken effectively toattract tourists for their spiritual upliftment from across the globe.

‘Land of Gods’ beckons

Thai Airways launches DreamlinerThai Airways is giving its customers a whole

new inflight experience with cabin enhance-ments, more seating comfort and almost limitlessentertainment options with B787-8 Dreamlineraircraft. The aircraft is flying on internationalroutes from Bangkok to Delhi, Chennai, Seoul,Nagoya, Hong Kong, Singapore, Perth, Brisbane,Denpasar & Kuala Lumpur. From November 25,fly from Delhi or Chennai to Bangkok on theDreamliner and experience Thai’s unique andlegendry service with a whole new inflight expe-rience with cabin enhancements, more seatingcomfort and almost limitless entertainmentoptions. Thai Airways International is the flag car-rier of Thailand and flies to 76 destinations in 35 countries using a fleet of 100 aircrafts. Currently Thai is operating55 flights from 8 cities in India including seasonal flights and carry approximately 1million passengers and45000 tons of cargo in a year.




Promoting Spain in India, The Tourism Office of Spain organised two day workshops in nine cities. MICE andLeisure products were displayed in a B2B engagement with the travel trade industry to spread awareness andinformation about the new destinations and incentives to attract Indians to Spain. The two day workshop segregated between MICE and Leisure targetting the travel agents of each segment to ease interaction.

MICE & Leisure get Spanish touchM

UMBA

INE

W D

ELHI




Luxury redefined @Vkonect The second edition of Vkonect Luxury was held at The Westin, Gurgaon, where 25 India travel, luxury and hospitality companies participatedin the premium B2B meetings platform. The two-day event witnessed networking sessions between luxury buyers and exhibitors, followed byexclusive business sessions in a tabletop and round-robin format. The participant also let their hair down during the cocktails and dinner afterthe gruelling business sessions.

See more picture on page 34




Showcasing the world of luxuryContd. from page 32




To facilitate travel through-out the Schengen Area

and help issue long-termvisas more easily, France, inline with all the countries ofthe Schengen Area, will issuebiometric visas to Indian citi-zens with effect fromNovember 2, 2015. In thiscontext, the French Embassyin India will offer a large num-ber of three or five-year circu-lation visas to frequent visi-tors of France.

Eight new VFS centreshave been opened acrossIndia, bringing up their numberto a total of 14 (in Ahmedabad,Bengaluru, Chandigarh,Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa,Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jalandhar,Kolkata, Mumbai, Puducherry,and Pune), to ensure the best possible proximity to the applicants.

All visa applicants willnow be asked to come in per-son at any listed VFS centreof their choice to register theirbiometric data. Childrenunder the age of 12 years areexempted from this proce-dure. The recorded biometricdata will be stored for a periodof 59 months (almost fiveyears), obviating the need forapplicants to come in personagain for renewing their visa.The biometric data recordedby France will be valid duringthis period for all SchengenArea countries (similarly, thedata recorded by anySchengen Area country willbe valid for France during aperiod of 59 months).

India will thus enter a sys-tem already being used bySchengen States almost glob-ally, while other countries, suchas the UK and the US, havelong been implementing bio-metrics in India. The transitionto biometrics will not impact thevisa issuance period, which, forIndia, is a maximum of 48 hoursin keeping with the commitmentof the French authorities (incities where a consular officeexists: Delhi, Mumbai,Bengaluru, Kolkata andPuducherry; 72 hours in other cases). Similarly, transition to biometrics will notimpact visa fees, which willremain unchanged.

France, the top globaltourist destination, welcomes300,000 Indian visitors everyyear and wishes to receivethem in greater numbers. Thetransition to biometrics will helpease and secure their travel toFrance. The applicant isobliged to come in person only

once (to have their fin-gerprints and photo-graph taken). The visacan be collected eitherby the applicantsthemselves, or by aperson they haveauthorised if they wishto avoid making a sec-ond trip. Visas issuedprior to the introduc-tion of biometrics willremain valid.

France will now offer a large number of three or five-year visas to frequent visitorsas the Schengen Area implements biometrics in India from November 2, 2015.

France offers long-term visas

TT BU R E AU

N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 3 7VISA

What’s in the name?Atout France - France Tourism Development

Agency's travel information portal on destination France - www.rendezvousenfrance.com has now been rechristenedas www.France.fr.The website is available in 17 languages,with content showcasing various destinations and excellence clusters that are representative of France. By 2016, the tourism board's global brandingRendezvousenFrance.com will give way to France.fr.


INDIA TRAVEL AWARD

Best Airline: SpiceJetIt feels exhilarating, and wonderful to receive this award especiallywhen you get an award for an airline which almost shut down 8months back and has revived only in the last 6 months under thedynamic leadership of our passionate chairman Ajit Singh. I thinkit is a wonderful re-beginning for us. Thank you for this honor.

Kamal HingoraniSenior Vice President & Head of Inflight Services

and Customer Experience, Spicejet

Best Emerging Travel Show: Global Panorama Showcase, NagpurIn 2016 we will be hosting potential buyers from Tier II and Tier IIIcities from central India and regions which connect to Nagpur onIndigo. We are reaching out to cities like Coimbatore, Kolkata,Chandigarh and Ahemdabad to host regional agents from around these cities in a closed door B2B event. We are trying toeducate the agents to empower them to work better and will alsohost around 20 overseas buyers to showcase the newly openedwildlife reserves.

Harmandeep Singh AnandManaging Director, Jagsons Travels

Best Tour Operator- Outbound: World Travel StudioThe visa plays an important role in deciding the desti-nation. Within India, with the Schengen visa, the volumeof clients shall increase. We will get affected by the lastminute planning. The window will increase and travellerswill have to plan their tours earlier in advance. As Indianstend to plan only 15 to 20 days before travelling, that isa challenge we face.

Haresh KoyandeFounder & Managing Director

Best Global Distribution System (GDS):Travelport GalileoOur primary focus has been technology. With the kindof technological products that we are working towards,we are going to make the life of the travel fraternity mucheasier in the coming years.

Anesh KavleRegional Head, West

Best Destination Management Company-Americas:7M ToursThe Indian outbound market has done well in compari-son to last year. We saw a growth of about 30 per centspecially in MICE and Group travel. Travel shows aregreat events to connect with agents and media to furtherbusiness ties. At WTM we can capture most of the worldmarkets but for USA, India is a dominant market. The 10year visa has made it an attractive option. We hope atWTM we can educate buyers about the products andincrease the Luxury American experience.

Akarsh KolaprathDirector, 7M Tours

Best Sports Tourism Company: Sports KonnectSports Tourism has seen a high demand in the last fiveyears from corporates to bring innovative ideas in theproducts. Sports products appeal all age groups, MICE,FIT or Group departures. We offer a variety of productsin various price ranges starting from ` 11,000 whichincludes a night stay and a ticket to say a football match,Cricket World Cup, Wimbledon, French Open and othersports events. I believe Sports Tourism is big and is hereto stay.

Shashank Shekhar MishraCEO, Sports Konnect

Recognising hard work & talent

Gallery of LegendsToday’s event has inspired me to work more despite being over 80years old. The tourism industry is no longer limited to pilgrimagedestinations, but has evolved. We need to bring new and innovativeideas in the industry. We introduced My Fair Lady, NASA Tours,Senior Citizen Tours which have become very popular. The accom-plishment of Kesari Tours is attributed to the dedicated efforts ofthe management and the younger, second generation but thebiggest power of the company is our tourists.

Kesari Raoji PatilFounder & Chairman, Kesari Tours

India Travel Awards honors and rewards the most discerning travel trade professionals. It supports, promotes and develops the Indian travel and tourism industry by identifying excellence in the trade. The winners share with

what it takes to be a champion of the trade.

Best Travel Management Company: TravstarzHoliday & DestinationsI think the tourism industry is on the growth path again. With newinitiatives like e-visa we can expect a good growth in the near future.There are a few bottlenecks that need to be addressed and withthe government support we should be able to come through.

Pankaj NagpalManaging Director

Guest of Honour Last season we recorded a growth of around 5 per cent year onyear for FTAs, and around 30 per cent for domestic tourists. Withthe e-visa facility we expect a better response. This year we participated in many trade shows and road-shows. However we are concentrating on FAM trips. This year around 150 travelagents were taken to Goa with support of Air Arabia and 12 mediapersons on Air Asia. We will be focussing on the Southeast Asianmarket. UK is a strong market for Goa. The Indian travel trade ishigh on our list.

Nikhil DesaiManaging Director, GTDC

Tourism AmbassadorWinning is always a great feeling and thank you for the acknowl-edgment. I feel the tourism industry in India is at the crossroads.It is now or never. We as an industry need to really get together toimpress upon the government that the socio-economic benefits oftourism are too immense to ignore. I wish the Incredible India programme becomes as big as the Make in India programme.

Arjun SharmaChairman & Managing Director

The Select Group & Le Passage to India

3 8 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5


INDIA TRAVEL AWARD

The winner takes it all...

GALLERY OF LEGENDSKesari Raoji Patil, Founder and Chairman, Kesari Tours joins the ‘Gallery of Legends’. He is felicitatedby Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa TourismDevelopment Corporation, Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group

DDP GAME CHANGERUrrshila Kerkar, Executive Director, Cox & Kings joins the ‘DDP Game Changer’. She is felicitated byDilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa TourismDevelopment Corporation, Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group

The West India Travel Awards 2015 celebrated its second edition, this time in India’s smallest state of Goa.Held at Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort, the glittering awards ceremony identified and rewarded excellence,and inspired its practitioners to continuously raise the standards of their products.

TOURISM AMBASSADORArjun Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director, The Select Group and Le Passage toIndia joins the ‘Tourism Ambassador’. He is felicitated by Dilip Parulekar, Ministerof Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa TourismDevelopment Corporation, Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director,DDP Group

DDP TRAILBLAZERNitan Chhatwal, Chairman & Managing Director, Shrem Group was awarded the ‘DDPTrailblazer’ and was received by Krishani Chhatwal, Director, Shrem Group on hisbehalf. She accepts the award from Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Governmentof Goa, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation,Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group

FACE OF THE FUTURERuchir Bang, Executive Director, roomsXML Solutions, joins the ‘Face of the Future’.He is felicitated by Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, NikhilDesai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, TanushreePandey, Mrs India 2015 and SanJeet, Director,DDP Group

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEARThe award was given to Aparna Basu Mallik, CEO, Club7 Holidays and was felicitatedby Dilip Parulekar, Minister of Tourism, Government of Goa, Nikhil Desai, ManagingDirector, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, Tanushree Pandey, Mrs India 2015and SanJeet, Director, DDP Group

N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 3 9


NTO

Active in India since March2014, the Commercial

Office of Peru is making steadyprogress. Its plan is clear – toreach out to potential travelagents and tour operators andeducate them about the desti-nation. Luis M. Cabello,Economic & CommercialCounsellor, Embassy of Peru,says, “We don’t want to godirectly to the consumers. TheIndian travel trade is our primeaudience and we want toimpart destination knowledgeand increase destination visi-bility among them.”

Over the last few months,Cabello has visited citiesincluding Mumbai, New Delhiand Bengaluru to interact withthe agents. But he hasn’t dis-missed the Tier II cities. “Wehave conducted workshops inBhubaneshwar, Pune andIndore in the past and havediscovered that they offer goodopportunities. We will definitelyre-visit these and other secondary markets in future.We are also planning to dosome workshops in Gujarat,”he adds.

His office is also plan-ning a Fam trip for about 10agents in May-June 2016. Last

year, it had taken sevenagents to Peru. It will also par-ticipate in trade shows in Indiaincluding OTM, SATTE andIITT. There are no plans tobring any of their suppliers toIndia but the CommercialOffice does facilitate commu-nication between them andthe Indian travel trade when-ever required.

Cabello says, “We havejust compiled a report on theprofile of Indian travellers thatvisit Peru – whether they areFITs or groups or business trav-ellers, their travel habits andwhether they also go to otherLatin American countries. Wewant to understand the Indianpassenger and share our find-ings with our suppliers.”

Peru is mainly targetingthe F IT and MICE segments fornow. “That’s enough for us fornow as India is a very large mar-ket. The number of Indians toPeru is growing by 20 per centyear-on-year. We get a total of6,000 plus visitors from India atthe moment and about 50 percent of them are business trav-ellers. We are not just looking atnumbers but also quality. Indiantravellers have time as well asresources; they can spendmoney when they travel outsideIndia and that’s our target mar-ket,” Cabello adds. However,Peru does not have any incen-tive programmes for big MICEgroups as of now.

Anne Maeda, Counsellor,Embassy of Peru, who looksafter visas, was also part of theworkshop to educate the tradeabout the visa process. Shesays, “Until September 2015, wereceived more than 1,000 appli-cations for tourist visas and 800for business visas. The tradeneeds to know that the visaprocess for Peru is very easyand prompt provided all the doc-uments are in place. We take amaximum of five working days.I am trying to clear any misun-derstanding they might have.”She however informed that theembassy does not have anyspecial group visas yet.

Apart from workshops and familiarisation trips for travel agents, the CommercialOffice of Peru is also compiling a report on the Indian traveller to their destinationto share it with the Peruvian suppliers.

Easy visa draw agents to Peru

HAZEL JAIN

The tradeneeds to knowthat the visaprocess forPeru is veryeasy andprompt

The travel tradeis our primeaudience and wewant to impartdestinationknowledge to them

Luis M. CabelloEconomic & CommercialCounsellor, Embassy, Peru

Anne MaedaCounsellor, EmbassyPeru

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

NOVEMBER 2015INTERNATIONAL17-19 Barcelona, Spain IBTM, World

NATIONAL19 Chandigarh India Hospitality Awards North and

East

20-22 Guwahati Travel & Tourism Fair

22-24 Amritsar CII Tourism Fest

22-24 Chandigarh CII Tourism Fest

23 Delhi German National Tourist Office B2B Roadshow

24 Bengaluru German National Tourist Office B2B Roadshow

25 Ahmedabad German National Tourist Office B2B Roadshow

25 Mumbai Monaco Government Tourist & Convention Bureau B2B Roadshow

26 Mumbai German National Tourist Office Networking Event

27 Mumbai German National Tourist Office B2B Roadshow

27 Delhi Monaco Government Tourist & Convention Bureau B2B Roadshow

27-29 Pune India International Travel Mart

27-29 Ahmedabad India Travel Mart

27-29 Kolkata Travel East

DECEMBER 2015INTERNATIONAL3-5 China CITE

9-12 Portugal Connections Meetings

NATIONAL1-3 Bhuj Rann Utsav

3 Delhi European Quartet B2B Workshop

4 Bengaluru European Quartet B2B Workshop

4-6 Hyderabad India International Travel Mart

5-7 Jaipur India Travel Mart

8 Jaipur North India Travel Awards

5-13 Kolkata East Himalayan Expo

5 Mumbai European Quartet B2B Workshop

11-13 Madurai India International Travel Exhibition

18-20 Siliguri Tourism Fair22 -24 Mumbai Travel Tourism Trade Fair – World

Travel Trade Mart23-27 Haridwar CII Uttarakhand Fair

JANUARY 2016INTERNATIONAL20-24 Madrid, Spain FITUR

11-13 Milan, Italy BIT

NATIONAL8-10 Nagpur Global Panorama Showcase

8-10 Chennai Travel & Tourism Fair

14-16 Kochi India International Travel Mart

15 Kolkata Tourism Fiji Roadshow

15-17 Bengaluru Travel & Tourism Fair

15-17 Mumbai India International Travel & TourismExhibition

18 Delhi Tourism Fiji Roadshow

18 Kolkata South African Tourism B2BRoadshow

19 Ahmedabad Tourism Fiji Roadshow

19 Delhi South African Tourism B2B Roadshow

20 Mumbai Tourism Fiji Roadshow

Nazir Ahmad BakshiFounder member of Travel Agents

Society of Kashmir (TASK) Prominent busi-

nessman and formerpresident of the KashmirChamber of Commerce& Industry (KCCI) andfounder member of TravelAgents Society ofKashmir (TASK) NazirAhmad Bakshi passedaway after a brief illnessin New Delhi onNovember 1, 2015.

He was 75 and is survived by his wife, son and twodaughters.

Bakshi was born on June 28, 1940. He set upShiraz Travels in late 1968. Besides promoting Kashmiras a tourism destination, Nazir acted as bridge betweenKashmir and Bollywood. He was instrumental in makingproduction arrangements for Shah Rukh Khan starrer‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ which was shot in Kashmir. Bakshiwas the president of KCCI from 1990-92 and the founderchairman of PILTOF, TAAI– JK Chapter & FounderMember of J&K Tourism Alliance. He was co-founder ofLadakh Safari Tours in 1975 and Partner with SITA WorldTravel in its Cargo division, Coordinator of Tourism &Hospitality Bodies of Kashmir.

OBITUARYWinter sets in MunichOctober 25, 2015 also

marks the start of the winterperiod and the launch of manyattractive new routes. Airlinesare offering 221 destinations,including 192 with scheduledservices. Alongside 15 airportsin Germany, travelers inMunich can choose fromamong 128 continental desti-nations. In the intercontinentalsegment, 49 routes will beserved. Over the wintertimetable period, which will endon March 26, 2016, airlineshave booked slots for morethan 145,000 flights.

The old and the new co-exist here with cherished tra-ditions like Oktoberfest, theworld's largest beer festival,rubbing shoulders withdesigner shopping, sleekcars and high-powered indus-try. To increase connectivityto Munich, this winter season,airlines offer new flight.

A few highlights of newroutes and flights to be madeavailable this winter in Munichare– Meridiana, an airlinemaking its debut in Munich, willdepart twice a day to LinateAirport in Milan with a Boeing

737. Luxair is expanding itsMunich to Luxembourg serviceto 25 flights a week. For thefirst time, SAS is addingStockholm to its Munichschedule, with three depar-tures a week for the Swedishcapital. Also a twice-weeklyservice to Iasi in Romania willbe operated by Tarom. Duringthe coming winter periodTransavia is offering flights toParis-Orly every day exceptSaturdays, and starting inFebruary will also be flying toEindhoven in the Netherlands.Aeroflot is stepping up its serv-ice from Munich to MoscowSheremetyevo Airport to fourflights a day.

Emirates, is substantiallyboosting the capacity on itsDubai route with a third dailyflight, starting on February 1,2016, to be operated with aBoeing 777. This will comple-ment its two existing dailydepartures with the giganticAirbus A380. With the additionof two new weekly flights toCapetown this winter,Lufthansa will now operate adaily service to the SouthAfrican metropolis.


N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 TRAVTALK 4 1OPPORTUNITY


4 2 TRAVTALK N O V E M B E R 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 5 MOVEMENTS

MiCar New DelhiAshok Vashist has been appointment of as the CEO of MiCar.Vashist’s long association with the car rentalindustry makes him the perfect fit to leadthe growth curve at MiCar. His chiefresponsibilities at the company willinvolve Operations Management andExcellence, Marketing, CustomerExperience and Overall Strategy. Duringthe course of his career, he has held various senior level positions inSales, Marketing andOperations with industrybigwigs such as Hertz,Europcar, Easycabs andWise Travel India (WTI).

Marriott International Inc.Mumbai Manish Tolani assumes office as the newly appointed Area Directorof Sales & Marketing – South Asia at MarriottInternational. With the Marriott since 2003,Tolani brings to the table a decade of expe-rience within the hospitality sector. In hisnew role, he will be leading and overseeingthe Sales and Marketing portfolio for theexisting 29 Marriott Hotels across India,along with developing core strategies forthe upcoming properties across AsiaPacific. He graduated from IIHMAurangabad in 2001, and began his careerwith the Oberoi Hotels & Resorts.

Kuoni Group DubaiZubin Karkaria has been appointed Chief Executive Office of KuoniGroup. He is the first Indian to be selected for this top post. Karkaria

was appointed as the COO of the Kuoni IndiaTour Operating Division in 1999, and moved

on to become the Deputy CEO and HeadBusiness Development in 2003. He con-ceptualised and launched VFS Global in2001, and was appointed as the CEO andMD of Kuoni India and South Asia in 2005.In March 2013, in line with the developmentof VFS Global as an important Division of

Kuoni Group, Karkaria was appointed on theExecutive Board of Kuoni Group. He grad-

uated from Mumbai University andcompleted his BusinessManagement studies fromMumbai.

Grand Hyatt MumbaiSanjeev Tandon has joined the Hyatt family in India as theDirector of Sales and Marketing, Grand Hyatt Mumbai and Area

Director – Sales and Marketing, West India,Hyatt Hotel Corporation. He comes

with an experience of over twodecades with renowned hospitalitybrands in India, Middle East andrecently Thailand, comprisingstints at Sheraton, Le Meridien,

Taj, Oberoi, DusitThani, JumeirahInternational and Moevenpick

hotels. Sanjeev is a hotel manage-ment graduate of IHM Mumbai and

alumni of S. P. Jain Institute ofManagement, Mumbai, with aMaster’s degree in Marketing.

Radisson Blu Hotel Kaushambi Delhi NCRRakhee Gupta has been appointed as Manager Marketing atRadisson Blu Hotel Kaushambi Delhi NCR. She comes with over

nine years of experience in Marketing,Branding, Product Positioning, ATL &

BTL and Business Development. Apost graduate from Symbiosis, Guptahails from Delhi. She started hercareer with Just Dial and beenassociated with some of renownedpublishing brands like PearsonEducation and Encyclopaedia

Britannica.

Travelport Langley, UK Travelport (TVPT) announced the appointment of Stephen Shurrockas Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. Shurrock

joins Travelport from Telefonica, where he iscurrently CEO of its Consumer Division,

responsible for both the consumerbusiness and digital divisions globally.Shurrock’s appointment will become

effective on January 4, 2016. As ChiefCommercial Officer, Shurrock will lead

Travelport’s customer-focused teams inAir, Agency, Hospitality and Digital Mediaaround the world, as well as having global

responsibility for customer engage-ment, product strategy, marketingand market research.

Roy Kinnear, CEO of Air Seychelles, feels that his profilerequired putting ones heart and soul into the company andemployees. “It is a 24/7 role. Whenever I do find downtime,I like to relax by reading, listening to music or watching an

intriguing film with a good plot. I alsoenjoy watching rugby! In my

younger (and much fitter) daysI managed to reach thenational schoolboy rugbyplaying levels and trials,” hereveals. The CEO tendsnot to take holidays as thetravel associated with his

role gives him theopportunity to see manydifference places.

The biggest stress-buster for Monish B. Shah, Chairman andMD of TraveLibro after a long day is to go home and give hisbaby girl his undivided attention. “She has changed my world.When I find a little time away from family I go for a run and focusmy thoughts on strategy or plan for the next day,” he says. A

romantic at heart, stunningpicturesque locations strike a chordwith him. His favouritedestinations are Santorini inGreece and Udaipur in Indiawhere they also honeymooned.An outsider to the travel industry,Shah was an investment bankerfor nearly a decade. “But my lovefor social networking, travel and aburning desire to be one of the

most successful start-upstories of India has ledme to my destinationcalled TraveLibro andI am literally living thedream!” he adds.

Sumathi Ramanathan, Regional General Manager (AsiaPacific & Middle East), VisitBritain, is a big fan of the ‘holisticspa’ concept. “We do it really well in Asia with the Indonesiajamu treatment, the ayurvedic massages and ancientChinese reflexology practice. It’s either that or a good book

and a great cup of coffee does itfor me,” she says. She owns

about a thousand booksand has read most ofthem. Her mostmemorable holidaymoment was whilewatching Swan Lake atthe Bolshoi in Moscow.“It was technically aflawless performance. I also fell in love

with Rajasthanespecially

Udaipur.”

TravelBullz GroupBangkokTravelBullz has announced the appointment of Steve Harropas Chief Executive Officer of the TravelBullz Group. Commentingon the appointment, TravelBullz Founder and President, K.D.Singh said, “After five years at the helm, I am delighted to haveSteve join the core team to drive the TravelBullz Group to its nextphase of growth, innovation and industry leadership. We couldnot be more excited about our future together.” Harrop is a wellaccomplished, performance driven leader with a wealth of expe-rience in the commercial, financial, operational and technologicalaspects of the B2B online travel industry. Harrop’s most recentassignments was as Operations Director for CTI, UnitedKingdom and prior to that he spent seven years with DOTWwhere initially he lead the company’s financial matters in thecapacity of Chief Financial Officer and latterly assumed the posi-tion of Chief Operating Officer.

Harrop is equally excited to join the group stating: “The visionof TravelBullz is to be the travel partner of choice offering leadingedge technology but with the emphasis on the human touch.TravelBullz has many exciting innovations in the pipeline that

will bring a more efficient booking process andbroader product range at competitive

prices to the travel trade throughout Asiaand beyond. I am enthralled to bejoining TravelBullz at this time ofchange and I look forward to beingpart of an excellent team whichdemonstrates an infinite amount of

passion, drive and energy to add valueto its customers experience.”

Vistara New DelhiVistara has appointed Sanjiv Kapoor as its Chief Strategy &Commercial Officer. He will be assuming the role in February, 2016.

Kapoor joins the airline from SpiceJet wherehe held the position of Chief Operating

Officer. Kapoor has over 19 years ofexperience in the airline industry, havingworked with airlines in Asia, Europe,and the US in leadership and advisorypositions. A graduate from Dartmouth

College, USA and with a MBA fromWharton School of the University of

Pennsylvania. His previous employ-ers include Northwest Airlines,

Bain and Company, TemasekHoldings (Singapore), and BCG(the Boston Consulting Group).

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: Hazel Jain



Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2015-16-17; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2015-17 for posting on 1st-2nd and 16th-17th

of the same month at New Delhi PSO, New Delhi - 110001, RNI No.: 53492/1991Date of Publication:15-11-2015

QWhat kind of growth did Goa seelast season?Things couldn’t have been better.

Last season we recorded a growth ofaround five per cent year on year for FTAand close to 30 per cent as far as thedomestic tourists are concerned. Last yearwas a bumper year for Goa because wehad the decennial exposition of St FrancisXavier so we had a lot of influx of domestictourists. But I am sure we will have a muchbetter year now thanks to the e-TouristVisa facility.

QWhat new products is Goa offering agents? This year we have launched several

tourism products so I think this seasonis going to be very exciting as far as Goa is concerned. Some new propertieshave also opened up. We are gettingvery competitive by offering value formoney. The Indian travel trade has beensupporting Goa for a long time; Goa is very high on their priority list.

QHow do you see Goa evolve as adestination?We have taken a lot of initiatives and

the last couple of years have been indeedpath-breaking. A lot of these initiatives willstart taking flight by 2016 and Goa in thecoming years will definitely be the torchbear-er for the Indian tourism industry. Today,there is a very conscious effort to put pro-fessionals at the helm to ensure that thereis a good master-plan.

QAre there any challenges youplan to overcome?

The challenge is during the peakseason (Nov-Feb) when the rates reallygo up. But over a period of time speciallynow what we saw in the monsoons we didregister very good growth in terms of theaverage occupancies specially in three-four-five star category hotels specially withweddings and MICE events.

QWhat are your plans for the inter-national market?

In order to maintain our internationalprofile, we do participate in several road-shows like WTM London, ITB Berlin, ITBAsia, FITUR, etc. – about seven or eighttrade shows and close to 15 roadshows indifferent destinations. This year we havestarted laying emphasis on organising Famtrips for agents and we have brought inabout 150 travel agents and tour operatorsfrom different countries to Goa in associa-tion with Air Arabia. Goa is now well con-nected to the west through airlines likeQatar, Air Arabia and Air India, as well asthe east now with Air Asia’s direct flightsfrom Kuala Lumpur. That’s the area that weare going to look forward to. We expectgreat results.

QHow was WTM London thisyear?This year was especially exciting for

us because not only has e-Tourist Visabeen introduced to the UK, which has tra-ditionally been a very strong market for us.With the decline in the Russian arrivalsespecially the charter segment, I think theUK is something the trade of Goa is looking forward to.

India’s popular state of Goa is ready to launch newer and exciting productsfor tourists that offer great value for money. Nikhil Desai, Managing Director,Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), says this makes Goaextremely competitive on the India tourism map.

Goa’s competitive streak

HA Z E L JA I N

QWhat kind of growth are youexpecting this year?Goa used to be seasonal but now it is

a 365-day destination. People come down toenjoy Goa even during the monsoons. Lastyear, we had around 1,223 chartered flightsto Goa and the official tourist figures touched5.5 million. This year, we are expecting morethan seven million tourists. I urge all the travelagents and tour operators to extend their sup-port to us for this.

QHow much will eTV contribute toGoa tourism?The Central government has now

issued the eTV for many countries and Goaairport is included in that list. Almost 20,000people have arrived in Goa on eTV sinceNovember 2014. So this year we are expecting almost 50,000 people to comeusing e-visas.

QWhat new products can agentssell this season? Goa has generally been popular for its

beaches but there have been a lot of effortssince the last three years to come up withinnovative ideas to develop newer products.We now have international standard infra-structure for tourists. We have provided touristfacilities like toilets, changing rooms, beachcleaning systems, etc along the coastline. We have also women taxi drivers for womentourists. By 2016, Goawill start activities likehot-air ballooning,amphibious vessels,seaplanes, rope-ways, scuba diving,heritage boat cruis-es, and several adven-ture sportsrides.

MinisterTalk

We are getting very competitive byoffering value for money. The Indiantravel trade has been supporting Goafor a very long time; Goa is very highon their priority list. And why not, Goa happens to be one of the hottest

destinations in India and it’s an easy sell.

Nikhil DesaiMD, Goa Tourism Development Corporation

Dilip ParulekarMinister for Woman & Child Development

Tourism, Ports, Protocol, Government of Goa


Documents

ddppl.com TravTalkIndiatravtalkindia.com/pdf/2015/11-nov-2015-2.pdf · UK, USA, Middle East, and India with an average year-on-year growth of over 55 per cent. Ruchir was instrumental