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Karnataka steps up effort to promote pilgrim tourism

The Nepalese Tourism Ministry has unveiled a three-year plan to increase visitor numbers and boost the economy.

Britain has set a record with around 12 million arrivals of international visi-tors over the past 12 months.

Tamil Nadu tourism along with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cul-tural Heritage (Intach) is launching a cleanliness drive at 10 heritage tourist destinations.

In a bid to promote pilgrim tourism the Karnataka Department of Religious Endowment has envisaged various new projects. As an initial step in this regard, the department has identified...

During WTM 2012, India was con-ferred three awards by the World Travel Awards organisation: Asia’s leading des-tination; Asia’s leading tourist attraction – Taj Mahal and...

Soon after taking charge as Minister of State for Tourism (IC), Dr K

Chiranjeevi announced a strategic shift in promoting India tourism.

The Indian Tourism Ministry has launched two new campaigns to promote Indian destinations abroad and inside the country.

The international campaign is called ‘Find What You Seek’ and the

domestic campaign is titled ‘Go Beyond.’

Chiranjeevi said the launch of these campaigns reflects a “very important paradigm shift” in strategy to promote India within the country and abroad. The ‘Go Beyond’ campaign focuses on promoting lesser-known destinations to domestic, as well as international tourists. “Until now, we had been promoting India

internationally from the point of view of the destinations. The ‘Incredible India’ campaigns we launched in 2002 have been extremely successful. In our ‘Take II’ of the Incredible India campaign, we are going to focus on the consumer under the theme of ‘Find What You Seek.’ Tourists from the world over can find the destination or product of their desires in India,

be it heritage sites, forts, beaches, backwaters, lakes, mountains, adventure, wildlife, culture, festivals, medical, wellness, MICE, religion or shopping.”

Referring to the threefold increase in the 12th Plan outlay for tourism, Chiranjeevi said this would go too far in providing jobs for 2.5 crore people in the country.

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` 50 / us $5 16-31 December 2012Volume II l Issue 3 Pages 32 www.travelnewsdigest.in

Special Feature 04 n India 08 n Asia 13 n Europe 18 n Africa 22 n Americas 24 n Caribbean 26 n Oceania 27 n Events 29

The new face of Indian tourism All eyes are on Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi as he takes on his latest, crucial role off screen as India’s central tourism minister, and promises a paradigm shift in strategy

Continued on page 2...

Nepal aims to double tourism and create 300,000 jobs

Britain hits record number of tourists in 2012

SPECIAL FEATUREA whiff of fresh campaigns

Tamil Nadu launches clean-up drive at 10 heritage sites

Langkawi – 99 islands, 100% fun

Langkawi, an archipelago of 99 islands in Malaysia, has the poten-tial of becoming a hotspot for Indians.

Tourism Minister Dr K Chiranjeevi, right, receiving World Travel Awards presented to India at WTM for Asia’s Leading Destination 2012 and Asia’s Leading Tourism Board, 2012.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 2 ⋅ COVER

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He pointed out that India’s present share of international tourism is very low and that the country should strive to increase it to at least 1%.

The minister also attended the UNWTO Ministers Summit entitled ‘Open Borders and Open Skies: Breaking Barriers to

Travel’ and held discussions with UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rafai; UK Minis-ter of Sports and Tourism Hugh Robertson and South Africa Tourism Minister Mar-thinus Van Schalkwyk.

Chiranjeevi assured them that India will continue to play an important and pro-active role in promoting global tourism. He also said India would be hosting the next meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commis-sion for South Asia and Far East & Pacific in April/May next year in Hyderabad.

India is currently the chair country of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia.

Chiranjeevi announced another great initiative of India and South Africa to work together for protecting the tourism inter-ests of developing nations.

“We have also agreed to hold the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on Tourism Cooperation with South Africa with the objective of enhancing tourist traf-fic between the two countries,” he said.

The other new incumbent in the min-istry, Parvez Dewan, secretary for tour-ism, government of India, is keen to give the right push to India tourism. While addressing the inaugural ceremony of the second India Heritage Tourism Con-clave in New Delhi, organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said tourism should be engaged in with a

“sense of place.”According to Dewan, tourism, if prac-

tised in the right manner, could work as a major tool for heritage conservation, and cited examples, such as Ladakh, where tourism has helped in the conservation of local heritage in terms of art, traditional costumes, architecture, cuisines, etc.

“We actually talk a lot about our cul-ture and heritage. But who cares for it,” he stated. There are a number of old havelis around Srinagar and Anantnag that are

real architectural marvels, he added. These could capture the interest of tourists if they were opened, which ultimately would help increase tourist footfall and overnight stays at these places.”

Dewan also cited examples of places like Budapest, where the government gives nominal incentives to people who keep their old facades intact as part of the pres-ervation of architectural heritage. He also proposed that states in India should follow the system prevalent in other countries,

whereby blue plaques are placed at loca-tions of heritage value.

In other good news, Chiranjeevi told a press conference that India is aiming to ease visa procedures to increase tourist arrivals.

“We are trying to liberalize visa proce-dures by adding nine more countries to the existing 11 nations, visitors from which are given tourist visas on arrival,” he said. “The proposal is under active consideration,” he added.

The minister is also very keen to pro-mote new rural tourism destinations. “India has such rich ethnic diversity and we want to make tourism in rural areas expe-riential,” he said.

In this context, the Tourism Ministry is implementing its Rural Tourism Scheme, with the main objective of showcasing rural life, art, culture and heritage in villages that have core competence in art and craft, handloom, textiles and natural environ-ment. Under this scheme, Central Finan-cial Assistance (CFA) will provide up to

�50 lakh for infrastructure development and up to �20 lakh for capacity building of the local villagers at each identified site.

In a bid to promote film tourism as a niche product, the Tourism Ministry has requested state governments and union territory administrations to recognise the potential of film tourism and constitute special bodies to facilitate filming in the locales.

“I also would try to promote India as a film tourism destination by attract-ing more foreign production houses to shoot in India,” Chiranjeevi said. “This will draw international tourists. The

infrastructure charges are so high that no one wants to shoot in India. I am talking to various ministers concerned to lower the cost of outdoor infrastruc-ture. A park in Visakhapatnam charges �50,000 for a movie shoot. That is expensive, even for international com-panies. The idea is to make a connect with tourists,” he said.

With the many proposals and stra-tegic shift in methodology, hopes are high for the new minister and his team. The change of guard has ushered in a renewed zest in the industry, the results of which remain to be seen.

Continued from page 1...

“We welcome the new minister. We hope he will continue the work being done by

the previous minister and with him being from the film background, he can give a new

thrust to tourism. He represented India at WTM and some of his initial interviews and policy announcements look positive,

yet we remain to watch, wait and see. Best wishes to him.” - Subhash Verma, President, ADTOI

(Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India)

“I would like to see the new minister help focus his team on creating

market-driven and market-focused policies. Unless we make some

dramatic changes to the way we look at tourism marketing, we will not achieve our goals of doubling tourism arrivals. The new minister understands the

power of public perception and what commercial distribution channels mean, so hopefully that will help.”

- Rajeev Kohli, Vice President, IATO (Indian Association of Tour Operators)

“It will be good if the new minister pays attention to certain crucial issues

related to the tourism industry, like revamping the infrastructure, easing

out visa on arrival, rationalisation of taxes, making safety and security of tourists top priority, focusing on cleanliness and

hygiene in tourist areas, reviving national carriers for better connectivity and lastly, giving a boost to film tourism.”

- Iqbal Mullai, President, TAAI(Travel Agents Association of India)

“We need the Union Minister to act as a catalyst and to coordinate with the

various ministries like Civil Aviation, Railways, Home, Transport, Foreign

Affairs and the State Machinery to provide impetus to the tourism industry in our country, so that everyone moves

forward towards the common goal.”- S M Shervani, Honorary Treasurer, FHRAI

(Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India)

Tourism Authority of Thailand New Delhi Office: (Areas of Responsibility: Northern and Eastern India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal),Tel: 91-11-41663567-69, 46741111, Fax: 91-11-41663570 | E-mail: tatdel@tat.or.th | Website: www.amazingthailand.co.in

Tourism Authority of Thailand Mumbai Office: (Areas of Responsibility: Western and Southern India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives),Tel: 91-22-22042727-28, Fax: 91-22-22042729 | E-mail: tatmumbai@tat.or.th | Website: www.tourismthailand.org Visit: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tourism-Authority-of-Thailand-India/480977881917088

Let’s Celebrate the Festive Season in Amazing Thailand

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 4

During WTM 2012, India was conferred three awards by the World Travel Awards organisation: Asia’s leading destination; Asia’s leading tourist attraction – Taj Mahal and Asia’s leading tourist board.

Some 110 Indian participants from the trade, state gov-ernments and Union Territory Administrations attended the event in a space 15% larger than last year.

India’s foreign tourist arrival surpassed 6 million in 2011 and is expected to touch 7 million this year. All this goes to prove that India is a much sought-after destina-tion. India has the potential market for tourism and has set a target to achieve 12% growth by 2016.

In order to achieve the target, the Tourism Ministry has already announced fresh campaigns and concrete steps to increase tourist traffic in the coming years. The international campaign is called ‘Find What You Seek’ and the domestic campaign is called ‘Go Beyond.’

Chiranjeevi, who recently took over as Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Government of India, said, “We want to promote lesser-known destina-tions and our ‘Go Beyond’ campaign focuses on promot-ing lesser-known destinations to the domestic tourists and also the world.”

The ‘Find What You Seek’ campaign will push foreign tourists to identify their “destination of delight” in India, he said.

Concerted efforts would be made to make tourism India’s main economic and political agenda taking all state governments, union territory administrations and

stakeholders on board and establishing India as a round-the-year destination, the minister said.

He said his priorities would be to facilitate develop-ment of synergy between various departments, minis-tries, state governments, union territories and industry for the development of tourism; to make India an afford-able destination by facilitating development of budget accommodation; to ease visa regulations and expand the Tourist Visa on Arrival scheme to additional important source market countries and to expand human resource

base and create new employment opportunities.With the launch of new initiative, ‘Campaign Clean

India,’ Chiranjeevi aims to address hygiene and sanita-tion concerns, and promises to achieve positive results.

He also stated that his aim was to increase foreign tourist arrivals in the country. “At present we are attract-ing only 0.65% of total world tourists and we want to increase it to 1%,” he said.

India attracts some 6.3 million foreigners a year at present and the ministry’s target is to double the arrival in the next five years. “The increase in foreign tourists will help in generating 2.5 crore jobs in the country,” Chi-ranjeevi said.

In context of the travel advisory lifted recently by vari-ous countries, Chiranjeevi said he was happy the UK had withdrawn the advisory travel to Jammu and Kashmir, and that he planned to initiate a fresh dialogue for enter-ing into an MoU with the UK on tourism cooperation.

India will be hosting the next meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia and Far East and Pacific April/May 2013 in Hyderabad. India is currently the chair country of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia.

Bihar Tourism signs MoU with tour operators of MauritiusBihar Tourism has signed a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) with the Association of Tour Oper-ators (ATO), Mauritius, to launch tour packages for Mauritian nationals to visit Bihar under the ‘Discover Your Roots’ programme.

The MoU was signed by the ATO president and the director (tourism) of the government of Bihar, D K Srivastava, during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Con-vention in Mauritius.

Both agreed to formulate tour packages for trav-ellers of both countries, in addition to the exchange plan for tour operators, scholars and opinion makers.

“The number of foreign tourists in Bihar is expected to cross 10 lakh this year. The footfall of international tourists was 8.78 lakh in 2011. There is more than a tenfold increase in the number of foreign tourists in the state in the last decade.”

- Sunil Kumar Pintu, Tourism Minister, Government of Bihar

Mahabodhi temple, Bodhgaya.

Goa plans its own DisneylandGoa is likely to add another feather to its cap if plans of the Manohar Parrikar-led government materialise.

The state government is exploring the possibility of setting up a Disneyland theme park in the south Goa district with the Malaysian-based company, Genting.

“We have already initiated talks with [Genting] to set up a Disneyland theme park, and now we are hoping to reach out for an agreement to finalise the project,” Goa’s Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said.

Goa sea beach.

“Building a Disney park would likely boost tourism for Goa and would pose stiff competition to other international destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Tokyo, Paris, etc.”

- Dilip Parulekar, Tourism Minister, Government of Goa

Film to highlight Jammu & Kashmir’s tourism potentialNational Geographic channel has produced a pro-motional film showcasing the tourism potential of Jammu and Kashmir. “The State Tourism department in association with the Union Ministry of Tourism is

in the process of making a promotional film,” an offi-cial spokesperson stated. “The film will be telecast on different channels for showcasing the varied tourism potential of the state.

“The maintenance and preservation of the state’s natural beauty and bio-diversity holds the key for sustainable tourism.”

- Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister,Government of Jammu & Kashmir

Road to Ladakh.

Documentaries to promote tourism in MaharashtraThe Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) is planning to make documentaries on impor-tant tourist spots in the state to attract foreign tourists.

Heritage sites, historic spots and places of religious importance will be shown in the six-episode documen-tary to be telecast in February next year.

The tourism corporation has identified areas that have tourism potential like Mumbai, Konkan, Vidarbha, Marathwada and forts surrounding Pune.

A whiff of fresh campaigns and initiatives

SPECIAL FEATURE

Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

India calling:

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 SPECIAL FEATURE ⋅ 5

The documentary also features the Lonar crater in Buldhana district near Aurangabad, which captures the interest of foreigners as it was created by a meteor.

“Maharashtra has become highly urbanised in recent years. It is an advantage for attracting foreign tourists as they can find accommodation in a city and go for sight-seeing in the surrounding areas. For instance, tourists can stay in Nagpur and visit Tadoba, Pench and other sites. Similarly those staying in Pune can visit hills stations such as Panchgani, Mahabaleshwar and several forts around Pune.”

- Jagdish Patil, Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation

Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra.

Gujarat Tourism ties up with Delhi MetroAs a part of its ‘Khushboo Gujarat Ki’ (The Scent of Guja-rat) campaign, Gujarat Tourism has taken over an entire Metro train running on the Airport Express route in Delhi. The interior of the train showcases posters and displays that highlight the best tourist places in Gujarat, and also feature Gujarat Tourism’s brand ambassador, actor Amitabh Bachchan.

Some �1.4 crore was spent on branding the entire train, and if successful may be extended to include more Metro trains. The corporation has also put up billboards across the capital, including at Metro stations.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of tourists after the Amitabh Bachchan campaign. The number of visitors jumped from 170.11 lakh in 2009-10 to 198.11 lakh in 2010-11 and to 223.57 lakh in 2011-12. With this increase, Gujarat has achieved average tourist growth of 15.7% in the last two years. Gujarat now attracts 27 lakh more tourists every year. In the six destinations featured in the campaign, there has been a rise of almost 8 lakh tourists in the last two years, which may be directly attributed to the influence of the campaign.”

- Vipul Mittra, Principal Secretary- Tourism, Government of Gujarat

‘Khusbhoo Gujarat Ki’, the advertisement campaign featuring superstar Amitabh Bachchan on the Delhi metro.

Delhi Tourism to organise centenary celebration

Dilli Haat.

In a bid to showcase the national capital’s historical sig-nificance, Delhi Tourism Department is to organise var-ious programmes that will display Delhi’s various cui-sines, Punjabi gatherings and adventure tourism.

GG Saxena, managing director of Delhi Tourism said, “On this occasion, kite flying will be organised at India Gate in addition to magic shows at Delhi Haat and Qaw-wali programmes.

There is a proposal to set up budget hotels at several large DTC bus depots in the capital. Dilli Haat at Janka-puri, to be completed by 2013, will also feature a tourist hotel for budget travellers.

“We are organising many programmes to make Delhiites familiar with our own art and culture.”

- Manish Chatrath, Chairman, Delhi Tourism

MP Tourism signs nine MoUs at Global Investors Summit 2012The third edition of the Global Investors Summit, organ-ised by Madhya Pradesh government in Indore to attract domestic and foreign investments for state develop-ment, saw measures being adopted to boost the tour-ism potential of the state.

At the summit, the State Tourism Department signed nine Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth �1,192.96 crore in total.

As per the MoUs, a total of six four- and five-star hotels, resorts and amusement parks, besides resort cottages and sites for Wellness Tourism, will be devel-oped, which in turn are expected to generate 10,850 direct and indirect jobs.

An Expression of Interest (EoI) has been floated and process is underway to finalise proposals worth �7,215 crore to enhance tourism infrastructure in MP.

Khajuraho monument in Khajuraho.

“Efforts are being made to link districts with aerial routes to promote tourism and facilitate tourists in the state. We are also ensuring capital subsidy to promote MICE tourism.”

- Raghvendra Kumar Singh, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation

Kerala campaign to focus on AyurvedaA Kerala Tourism campaign is to focus on Ayurveda owing to the reserve of rich medicinal plants in the Western Ghats, which is among the hottest biodiver-sity hotspots in the world.

A majority of foreign tourists are arriving from Ger-many, the Middle East and Australia to join the state’s Ayurveda wellness programmes.

Kerala also plans to bring about a convergence of dif-ferent systems of medicine.

The tourism department will also add new desti-nations and diversify its tourism portfolio by includ-ing adventure activities, such as rock climbing and paragliding.

“Ayurveda treatment in the state is aimed at providing vigour and health to visitors. The ayurveda−focussed tourism campaign aims at lengthening the average stay of foreign tourists to 18 days per person from the present average of 16.2 days.”

- Suman Billa, Tourism Secretary , Government of Kerala

A houseboat in Kerala.

‘Har Gaon Ki Kahani’ (‘A Story of Each Village’) in Himachal Himachal Pradesh initiatives, including an exten-sive Bed and Breakfast scheme, promotion of village tourism through the ‘Har Gaon Ki Kahani’ initiative, creation of trekking huts, identifying and promoting trekking routes, opening up government accommo-dation in remote areas to tourists and skill-building for local entrepreneurs, have been massive in their scope and impact. The result is that the state today has some 400 B&B establishments, a rich tradition of local entrepreneurship being built around this com-munity-based tourism, and healthy and steadily ris-ing tourist inflows.

The State Tourism Department has asked stake-holders to improve services to tourists visiting the hill state and is also keen to tap tourists visiting the universities, stadiums and other places of interest.

“To ensure growth, we must stress on bettering the services being provided to tourists. We have planned to issue quality certificates to services providers offering better services so that tourists do not face inconvenience while holidaying in the state.”

- Dr Arun Sharma, Director, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Himachal Pradesh

Home stay facility near Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 6 ⋅ SPECIAL FEATURE

Success for Shillong CALM Festival 2012The four-day long Shillong Creative Arts, Literature and Music Festival 2012 was a great success for the state of Meghalaya.

Both Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and Meghalaya Governor RS Mooshahary have described Meghalaya and other north eastern states as being rich in arts, cul-ture, literatures and music, which needs to be properly harnessed and showcased before the world.

Speaking about the festival, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said, “Such initiatives are testimony to the success of ideas reaching out to people to develop ‘partnership.’”

The government hopes to ensure a proper platform for all young talent, making it productive for the well-being of the state.

Cherrapunji, a sub divisional town in the East Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya.

“We are looking forward that such a festival is held annually, and we will see that it makes its mark at the national as well as international level by utilising ideas in a productive way.”

- Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister, Government of Meghalaya

Chhattisgarh, the draw of the unknownChhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) has taken many ini-tiatives to attract tourists to the state. As part of its digi-tal strategy, CTB is marking its presence on digital and social media platforms to engage with tourists and high-light the unexplored beauty and marvels of architecture in the state.

It has also initiated work on a five-year tourism mas-ter plan that emphasises on a capacity-building mecha-nism to support the local population and ensure a sus-tainable model for the tourism sector that would bring in inclusive growth.

CTB also rolled out its marketing campaign ‘I discovered…’

The underlying theme of the integrated advertis-ing and marketing campaign draws from the delight of experiencing the new and unknown. The objective of the campaign is to attract domestic and international travellers and to undertake a focused programme to build awareness.

Chitrakoot Falls near Jagdalpur, in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh on the Indravati river.

“With our initiatives we have been successful in creating curiosity for Chhattisgarh as an unexplored destination and it is translating

in more tourists, including foreign guests. We are a committed team in promoting the state and working towards offering memorable experience to our guests.”

-Tapesh Jha, Managing Director, Chhattisgarh Tourism Board

`400 crore earmarked for tourism in Punjab More than �400 crore has been earmarked for devel-oping Punjab tourism under a 15-year UNWTO programme.

The Asian Development Bank will provide �400 crore worth of loans for a slew of major projects in the state, including circuit development and a rural tourism cluster project near Ropar, V B Kumar, executive direc-tor, Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board announced.

A tourism park is also being planned on 50 acres of land, with facilities and activities for all age groups and family packages for two to three nights.

A heritage village is being developed at a cost of �12 crore in Amritsar, to open in Januray 2013. The village will represent Punjabi heritage, its culture and tradi-tions and will help the new generation learn about the cultural richness of the state.

A plan has already been finalised for developing a tourist spot at Machiwara on 1,200 acres of land, along with plans for a monument in the memory of freedom fighters on 25 acres of land along the national highway near Jalandha.

“Tourism in Punjab is being promoted so that it becomes a vehicle for improving the economy in the state. The tourism industry that contributes 3% to 4% of state GDP today will contribute more than 5% of GDP in next 10 years. Punjab today stands at number 12 in the list of growth in tourism, whereas earlier the state stood at number 28.”

- Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Tourism Minister, Government of Punjab

Golden Temple, a prominent Sikh Gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab.

Publicity blitzkrieg for APThe state government of Andhra Pradesh has pro-posed developing a tourism hub in the agency areas of Paderu, Chintapalli and Sileru mandals in Visakhapat-nam district.

In a letter to Minister of State for Tourism (IC) K Chiranjeevi, Minister for Tribal Welfare P Bala Raju said tourists to the Araku Valley were keen to visit the areas and the sites could be developed into a separate tourist hub along the lines of Araku, if the necessary infrastructure facilities such as cottages, resorts and connecting roads were provided.

Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi has stressed the need to promote Andhra Pradesh aggressively and has asked officials in the tourism sector in the state government to work towards completing projects on fast-track, and has assured them of all help from the Centre.

At his first review meeting in the state after taking charge, Chiranjeevi said Andhra Pradesh should be

branded along the lines of Kerala and Madhya Pradesh and told senior officials to get cracking on a publicity blitzkrieg. For a start, destination development was needed, together with adequate signage to attract tour-ists, he said.

The Centre had earmarked �201 crore for 40 proj-ects in the state and in the first year of the 12 Five-Year Plan released �58 crore for 11 projects. Speedy process-ing of the Visakhapatnam mega circuit with Central assistance of �55 crore would also be taken up, partic-ularly to develop beach tourism between Visakhapat-nam and Bheemili.

Aerial view of Visakhapatnam.

“The government is considering to develop Chintapalli and Paderu as new tourist circuits and thus Tejangi Lambasingi and G.K.Veedhi reflecting tribal culture could become added attractions in these circuits to draw tourists from within and outside the country.”

- P Balaraju, Tribal Welfare Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh

Karnataka to hold Hampi Festival

Hampi, a village in Karnataka.

Karnataka Tourism’s dream project, ‘Hampi by night’ is almost complete, Minister for Tourism B.S. Anand Singh said. A final trial is to be conducted soon, before it is open to the public.

A three-day festival of dance, drama and music in Hampi is to be held from January 18.

Singh said he had requested Chief Minister Jag-adish Shettar to allocate an additional �2 crore, apart from the �1 crore already provided in the budget, for organising the festival, and the response had been favourable.

Among other initiatives, he said the government had sanctioned �40 lakh to jungle lodges and resorts to implement Caravan Tourism.

“The number of tourists visiting Karnataka has increased by 14% and the government is seriously pursuing several policy ideas to make the state a more sustainable tourism destination. Nearly 6.12 crore tourists visited the state from January to September this year compared with 8.86 crore in 2011.”

-B S Anand Singh, Tourism Minister, Government of Karantaka

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 SPECIAL FEATURE ⋅ 7

“We need to put up infrastructural facilities to meet the

challenging demand of the Indian tourism.”

- Arun Anand, Honoray Treasurer, IATO

“Some 85% of my invoicing is domestic market and there is a need to understand what to sell and to whom. It’s all about reselling to the clients. Learning sessions are important and there is a need to collaborate among different associations.”

- Tejbir Singh Anand, President, ATOAI

“Tourists are well read and have explored

quite a few places in India and abroad. Spa tourism, wedding tourism, cruise tourism and developing the biggest coastline is in demand. We need to develop innovative packages.”

- Rajat Sawhney, General Secretary, ADTOI

“There is a shortage of inventory in the popular places, 80% of India still lies unexplored and limited technology becomes an issue.”

- Mohit Gupta, Chief Business Officer - Holidays, MakeMyTrip

The InDuSTRy SPeAK

Our effort should be to give and promote experiential tourism and showcase true India. Visitors to India should be compelled to come again and again and revisit the experience because of its rich diversity. Be it heritage sites, forts, beaches, backwaters, lakes, mountains, adventures, wildlife, culture, festivals, medical, wellness, MICE, religion or shopping, India offers something for everyone.

- Dr K Chiranjeevi, Minister of State for Tourism (IC), Government of India

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 8

With the aim of promoting tour-ism in Andhra Pradesh, Minis-ter of State for Tourism (IC) K Chiranjeevi said he will take initiatives to develop Kuchipudi village as a destination. Located in the Krishna district, Kuchi-pudi village is famous for being the place where the dance form with the same name originated.

“The Kuchipudi classical dance has not received sufficient importance due to lack of mar-keting and publicity,” Chiran-jeevi said. “The village requires better infrastructure to become a tourist destination.”

He also added that the Cen-tre will be preparing blueprints to provide and develop basic

infrastructure, which includes cottages, transport links, hotels and safety of the tourists visit-ing the state.

Chiranjeevi also stated his ministry will be re-developing tourist locations in the state, including Amaravathi, Araku, Kondapalli, Ramappa temple and Kolleru.

Chiranjeevi to focus on Kuchipudi in AP tourism

Kerala Tourism bags Condé Nast travel awardKerala Tourism has taken the Condé Nast travel award for putting India on the global travel map. The international travel magazine introduced an award called ‘The Excellence in Taking Brand India Global Award.’

The award is decided by the global readers of the magazine. It was given to Kerala Tourism for its contribution to the travel industry and subsequent efforts that brought global recognition to Indian tourism.

Kerala Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar said, “With

abundant natural beauty, pleas-ant weather and warm hospi-tality and services, Kerala has emerged as a world-class tourist

destination, representing the country well abroad,” while adding that the award was a “big recognition” for their campaign.

Tamil Nadu launches clean-up drive at 10 heritage sites

Karnataka steps up effort to promote pilgrim tourism

Tamil Nadu tourism along with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) is launching a cleanli-ness drive at 10 heritage tourist destinations. The drive will also include maintainance of these tourist attractions throughout the year.

The destinations where the drive will be carried out include Mamallapuram, Thanjavur Big Temple, Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Tranquebar, Meenakshi Temple, Srirangam Temple, Tiruvannama-lai Tem-ple, Velankanni, Ooty and Kodaikanal. Each location is expected to have a committee of five members to ensure the implementation of the action

plan. Local groups’ help will also be taken to ensure the cleanliness in and around the buildings.

A tourism department offi-cial said, “Intach will prepare and submit the action plan... To help implement the plan, a period of one year has been fixed and more sites will be taken up in the future.”

In a bid to promote pilgrim tourism the Karnataka Depart-ment of Religious Endowment has envisaged various new projects. As an initial step in this regard, the department has identified 25 temples in the state as pilgrim tourism temples. In order to develop various ser-vices and amenities at these selected temples, the depart-ment has taken up a vast array activities.

Minister for Religious Endowment, Government of Karnataka Kota Srinivas

Poojary said the department has sanctioned �1 crore each to select 25 temples for develop-ment of infrastructure.

“Infrastructure, includ-ing rooms and gardens, will be provided for the convenience of tourists. Tourism information officers will be appointed for all the selected temples. Those officers who have the knowl-edge about particular temples will guide tourists and provide sufficient information about the temple and its history,” Poojary told the media.

India becoming an international film destinationThe 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) opened and closed with films that have a strong Indian connection, Life of Pi and Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, respec-tively. IFFI also showcased other films shot in iconic locations of India, like Save Your Legs that was released in Australia; Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and The Namesake, which is consid-ered to be one of the best tourism commercials for India.

The number of international films being shot in India has seen a steady increase recently. In August, Ashton Kutcher was in India to shoot for jOBS, the Steve Jobs biopic. In 1974, Steve

Jobs visited India in search of spiritual enlight-enment. To portray that time in the Apple founder’s life, Ashton Kutcher shot scenes in Safdarjung Tomb, Hauz Khas and the Taj Mahal. Even before that, Julia Roberts and Kate Winslet were in India to shoot for Eat, Pray, Love (2012) and Holy Smoke (1999), respectively. They shot in various locations in Delhi, Kolkata, Haridwar, Varanasi, Pondicherry and Mumbai.

These are examples to show that India’s importance as a destination for international filmmakers is steadily increasing. The fact that these movies are winning international film awards just adds to India being tagged a film-making giant.

INDIA

The Kuchipudi dance form.

Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, location for the The Dark Knight Rises. Inset: Location being set up for shoot.

Mamallapuram, one of the sites in the

cleanliness drive.

Kuchipudi village in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh.

Kerala, God’s Own Country.

Julia Roberts in India for Eat, Pray, Love. Ashton Kutcher in India for jOBS. Kate Winslet in Holy Smoke.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 INDIA ⋅ 9

The tourism department of Jammu and Kashmir is restor-ing Buddhist sites to attract more pilgrims to the state. It has already proposed a plan to the Archaeological Survey of India to install basic facilities at these sites.

Places such as Parihaspora, Harwan and Kanispura-Ush-kura, still have ruins of Buddhist

monasteries and are included in the list of pilgrimage locations in the department’s initiative.

“There are many such ancient places and monuments where we want to promote tourism,” direc-tor of Jammu and Kashmir Tour-ism, Talat Parvez said. “We have done a documentation, which we will bring forward in the shape of a coffee table book in the next

season. This coffee table book will become a source of promo-tion and such places will become prominent. We are also promot-ing circuit tourism,” he added.

These sites are of great signif-icance to Buddhists the world over and, once developed, it is hoped they will provide a boost to local infrastructure and gener-ate employment.

The Himachal Pradesh (HP) government is tak-ing various steps to opti-mise its tourism potential, including improving tour-ism products, creating additional infrastructure by adding 75 new park-ing slots in major tour-ist towns, and construct-ing toilets at all tourist destinations.

The state tourism body is also taking forward its

home-stay initiative, eco-tourism and rural tour-ism in a bid to draw both domestic and foreign tourists.

“Besides focusing on dispersal of tourism activ-ities to new areas, includ-ing rural areas, the govern-ment will invest �86 crore on creation of infrastruc-ture,” Chief Secretary, Gov-ernment of HP Sudripta Roy said.

Dehradun in Uttarakhand, which is already known for its natural beauty, is being developed and pro-moted as a destination for movie locations, said State Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

The city’s location in the foothills of the Himalayas makes it an ideal candidate for film tourism, Bahu-guna said.

“Far ahead of many countries in the world in terms of scenic beauty, Uttarakhand has great potential for film shoots because of its idyllic Himalayan environs,” Bahuguna said after attending the Australian Film Festival in the state.

Medical tourism will get a boost due to the visa restriction changes carried out by the Centre. The Centre recently decided to ease restrictions on tourist visas that required a two-month gap between consecutive visits.

With this, Chennai is expected to receive an influx of visitors who are interested in medical tourism provided

by the state. These tourists are mostly from the Gulf countries.

“Though most patients come on medical visas, the easing of restrictions on tourist visas will help patients’ rel-atives,” Mallika Mohandas, chairper-son of MIOT hospitals, which receive a number of patients from Oman and Iraq, said.

Punjab has initiated a number of devel-opment plans to boost tourism in the state.

Firstly, the government has approved plans for a land pool to set up a tourist destination in Ludhiana.

Along with that, the Cabinet approved to amend the Punjab VAT Act 2005, with the aim of boosting the civil aviation industry and ensuring afford-able travel to passengers.

Slashing VAT to 5.5% (plus 10% sur-charge) on the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) supplied to the scheduled and non-scheduled airlines will make the airports an attractive destination. The airlines operate at Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda and Pathankot airports in the state.

Area of villages Haider Nagar, Garcha, Selkiana, Sekhuwal, Garhi, Machian Kalan, Mattewara and other surrounding areas in Ludhiana will be developed as a tourist destination. The Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) will appoint Public Works Department (B&R) as the nodal agency to develop this project on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

J&K developing Buddhist sites to promote pilgrimage tourism

HP to optimise state’s tourism potential

Dehradun to be billed a film city

Ludhiana development part of Punjab tourism boost

Medical tourism to get boost from new visa rules

Spituk Monastery.

Prashar Lake, Himachal Pradesh.

Dehradun train station.

Thiksey Monastery.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 10 ⋅ INDIA

West Bengal’s new Tourism Minister Krishnendu Nara-yan Chowdhury has said pri-ority will be given to developing

tourism infrastructure in the state to attract domestic and international travellers.

Advancement in the field of

information technology will be used to provide the latest infor-mation and booking facilities for the tourists. The projects will be implemented by the PPP model, he added. The ministry is also planning to incorporate policies to turn around the loss-making areas of the sector into profit-able ones.

“If private resorts can make profit, why won’t it be possible in government guest houses? We need to be more profes-sional for effective manage-ment,” Chowdhury said.

He went on to elaborate that West Bengal has a tremendous potential for tourism that needs to be tapped into. Training will also be provided to local tour-ist guides to effectively handle tourists.

West Bengal to prioritise tourism infrastructure

The Odisha coastline is known as the most favoured nesting place for Olive Ridley Sea Tur-tles. This is an annual phenome-non that according to the tourism

officials of the state should be uti-lised to promote tourism.

“We should try to raise watch towers at a safe distance and use binoculars to watch the turtles,”

development commissioner R N Senapati said. He also added that they will adopt necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the marine creatures. “They [the turtles] should not be dis-turbed at any cost and [we must ensure] no harm is done to nest-ing by tourism.”

The Forest and Environ-ment department along with the Department of Tourism will be chalking out a plan to promote and regulate the tourism of this phenomenon.

The largest rookery of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles in the world is the beach stretch between Ekakulanasi and Gahiramatha coast of Bhitarkanika.

Officials claim 50% of the total world population of turtles and 90% of the Indian population of sea turtles is in Odisha.

West Bengal Tourism Minister Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury has said the state will be exploring ways to introduce helicopter services in two of their prime tourist attractions: Sunderbans and the hills.

The minister added that in order to keep up with the increasing footfall in the hills around Darjeeling, the state is open to investments from the hospitality industry. They are looking to set up hotels, resorts and other accommoda-tion facilities to accommodate the tourist influx.

“West Bengal has immense potential as a tourism des-tination … and we need to take it to a new height,” Chow-dhury said.

The state tourism department is also looking to increase the number of safaris in Dooars.

Chowdhury is also keen on establishing West Bengal in the Buddhist circuit as the excavation of a Buddhist mon-astery in Malda is currently underway. For this the state government might work closely with Bangladesh.

Promoting home-stay and river cruise tourism in AssamPromoting the ‘home stay’ con-cept and developing infrastruc-ture in ghats and jetties along the Brahmaputra are some of the things the Assam Tour-ism Development Corporation (ATDC) is looking into to draw visitors to the region.

“This year we have an invest-ment plan of �2 crore for pro-moting the concept of home stay,” ATDC managing director Anurag Singh said. “A number of locations have been identified for implementing the scheme.” He added that the idea is to give foreigners the opportunity to experience first-hand the local tradition, culture and cuisines by staying with the local families.

Speaking about the infra-structural development of the

ghats and jetties along the Brah-maputra River, Singh said, “The Brahmaputra is the lifeline of Assam. We are giving special attention to develop the river cruise circuit.”

Tickets for the country’s big-gest cruise ship, M V Maha-baahu, which is the Brahmapu-tra river cruise, is fully booked for the next two-and-a-half years, he added.

Making North East India accessible to both inbound and domestic tourists is of the highest priority, North East-ern Council’s (NEC) member P P Shrivastav has said. The NEC works with North east-ern states to help them in “mat-ters of interstate importance”.

“Tourism is one such

interstate matter,” Shrivastay said. “If it is left to individual states, tourism circuits cannot be created.”

According to Shrivastav, TATA consultancy services had prepared a study in the above subject and that NEC had discussed and approved the study.

The state government of Jharkhand has identified tour-ist centres for development, including the Ranchi Mega Cir-cuit, Parasnath, Mc-ckluski-ganj, Basukinath, Chandil, way side amenities along national and state highways, rural tour-ism projects and SEL show at Shilp Gram Deoghar and Kankedam, Ranchi.

Implementation and timely completion of the project is the responsibility of the state government. The Jharkhand government has informed that in the majority of cases

non-availability of land was the main reason for delay in execu-tion of projects.

The identification and development of tourism proj-ects is primarily undertaken by the state governments/Union Territory administra-tions. However, the Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance for proj-ects that are prioritised in con-sultation with the state gov-ernment/UT administration, subject to availability of funds and adherence to guidelines under various schemes.

Odisha to promote turtle tourism

Kolkata, West Bengal.

The Brahmaputra river cruise, M V Mahabaahu.

One-horned Rhino in Kaziranga Reserve Forest, Assam.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtles along the Odisha coastline.

Mangrove forest in Sunderbans.

New initiatives in West Bengal tourist locations

North East to become more accessible for tourists

Jharkhand identifies tourist centres for development

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 12 ⋅ INDIA

CNBC Awaaz Travel Awards held a ceremony in Srinagar, where it awarded Gujarat

Tourism with the Best State Tourism Award. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare

Ghulam Nabi Azad gave the award to Vipul Mittra, principal secretary (Tourism) of Gujarat.

One of the most prestigious prizes in the tourism sector, the CNBC award is based on a view-ers’ poll and is finally selected by an expert panel. With this award, Gujarat Tourism has achieved the reputation of being the best in state tourism in the industry.

Chiranjeevi Konidala, Min-ister of State for Tourism (IC); Omar Abdullah, chief minis-ter of Jammu and Kashmir and Nawang Rigzin Jora, minister for tourism and culture, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), along with Ghulam Nabi Azad were a part of the panel in the ceremony.

The ban on tiger tourism, which led to the shutting down of 40 tiger reserves in India, has been revoked. In July, the Supreme Court of India announced it

would shut down tiger reserves for tourists, as a result of a peti-tion filed by environmental campaigner Ajay Dubey, who claimed that the presence of

tourists was having a negative effect on the tigers leading to them being traumatised.

The tiger reserves ideally should have opened in autumn but because of the ban, they had to remain closed. When the ban was lifted in October, the reserves were provided a new set of guidelines.

Since the ban has been lifted, it can be said it has had an all-in-all positive result in the conservation of tigers. “It has forced the authorities to take a good look at what they’re actu-ally doing about conservation,” one of the guides in Rajasthan’s Ranthambore Park remarked.

In an initiative to attract more tourists, Maharashtra Tour-ism Development Corpora-tion (MTDC) will be launching a luxury bus service to Konkan from Mumbai and Pune. To this end, MTDC bought five luxury Volvo buses. These buses have facilities that include chemical toilets, fridge, oven and Wi-Fi. They cost �5.48 crore.

MTDC will be signing a MoU with private operators for conducting these trips/tours.

While competitive bids are cur-rently under processing, the services are expected to start by the first week of January.

The sightseeing packages will include all tourism loca-tions on the routes between Mumbai-Sindhudurg and Pune-Sindhudurg. These will cover temples, beaches and sea forts in the Konkan region, which includes three regions – Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.

Gujarat receives CNBC’s Best State Tourism Board award

Goa looking to issue visa-on-arrival

Tiger tourism back and better

New luxury bus service between Konkan and Mumbai/Pune

Goa tourism is hoping the Union government will heed the state’s request to be allowed to issue visas on arrival. This fol-lows the Union government’s decision to ease restrictions on foreign national tourist visas, which previously required them to have a two-month gap between consecutive visits.

The decision to get rid of the two-month waiting period comes right before the peak tourist season and is likely to give a boost to the tourism industry. Goa, on the under hand, is keeping its fingers crossed about getting the per-mission to be able to give visa on arrival to visiting tourists.

Nilesh Cabral, the chairman

of the Goa Tourism Develop-ment Corporation (GTDC) said the decision over lifting the two-month gap is a “good thing, a good step.” He added that it is only the first step, however. “Now, I hope they consider our request to enable Goa to issue visa on arrival as that would be immensely beneficial to Goa tourism,” Cabral said.

Welcoming the decision, Ralph de Souza, spokesper-son of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) said, “This is very good. It will start the revival of the depressed markets. We were losing lots of British tourists who were long stayers in Goa. This segment of tourists will come back now.”

Wanchoo Point in Madhya Pradesh is the world’s only and unique gravity-based water supply scheme. Mad-hya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC) is working on tap-ping into this uniqueness to develop Wanchoo Point, 20 km from Indore, as one of the major tourist attractions in the state.

MPSTDC, along with the

Union government, has come up with a comprehensive devel-opment plan, according to M N Jamali, the regional manager of MPSTDC. They are hoping this will bring Wanchoo Point in focus on the tourist map of the state and the country. Jamali said �79 lakh would be spent on developing the location.

Wanchoo Point is a famous picnic spot for the people of the state.

Wanchoo Point to become a tourist spot in MP

Matheran to get a facelift as an entertainment and leisure hub

Amitabh Bachchan, the brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism, wearing the local attire.

Wanchoo Point.

Tourists on a beach in Goa.

Rajasthan’s Ranthambore Park.

Quaint hill station of Matheran.

After the success of Lavasa, Maharashtra’s planned hill sta-tion, the state is looking to turn one of its other hill stations into an entertainment-cum-leisure hub. If Maharashtra carries out this plan, then the hill station of Matheran, located in the West-ern Ghats, will probably have a

night life scene rivalling that of Mumbai.

Matheran will have casinos, discotheques, music halls and swanky parking arenas. How-ever, being a designated eco-sensitive zone, development in that area might be restricted.

Maharashtra Tourism

Development Corpora-tion (MTDC) is working on a detailed project plan that will ultimately increase the tourist inflow to the hill station. The plan will also aim to ensure the infrastructure is capable enough to ensure year-long access to the area.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 13ASIA

Shopping is a top pastime for tourists in the Philippines, accounting for 22% of tourism direct gross value added to total gross domestic product.

The recently released National Statistical Coordina-tion Board’s (NSCB) report on the Philippine Tourism Sat-ellite Account revealed some PHP 35.49 billion ($0.9bn) was spent on shopping alone in 2011, a rise from PHP 30.89 bil-lion ($0.75bn) in 2010.

Apart from shopping, for-eigners spent some PHP 31.84bn ($0.77bn) on food and beverage, and PHP 30.44bn ($0.74bn) on accommodation in 2011.

Inbound tourism expen-diture posted a double-digit growth of 13.9% in 2011,

amounting to PHP 124.5bn ($3.03bn) from PHP 109.2bn ($2.66bn) in 2010.

The share of tourism

employment to total employ-ment in the country rose slightly to 10.3% from 2011’s 10.2%.

Tourists to Philippines prefer shopping

Thailand wins Condé Nast Favourite Country award

Thailand bagged The Most Favourite Country award from Condé Nast Traveller India, 2012, at a ceremony at The Oberoi, Gurgaon last month.

Thai Ambassador to India Pisan Manawapat received the prestigious award in the pres-ence of renowned personali-ties of the travel industry.

As well as the award from readers of Condé Nast India, Thailand’s accolades include The Best Wedding Desti-nation, from Travel & Lei-sure 2011; The Best Country award, by Travel & Leisure 2011; The Most Popular Wed-ding Destination, awarded at the 8th Annual International Awards 2012 by Hospitality India and Explore the World, and The Best International Destination for Filmmaking by Cinemascape.

Manawapat thanked everyone for their support for Amazing Thailand and keep-ing their sprits high.

With tourism booming, HK looks to MICE

Tourism satisfaction improves in Macau

Tourism contributed some HKD 287.6 billion to Hong Kong’s economy last year, with visitor arrivals topping 44 million.

While Hong Kong continues to draw tourists from all over the world with attractions such as Star Ferry, Peng Chau and more, the government has now set its sights on the MICE (meet-ings, incentive travels, conven-tions and exhibitions) industry, committing $150 million in pro-moting the sector over the next five years.

According to the Hong Kong Tourist Board (HKTB), the region saw some 1.56 million overnight MICE visitors in 2011, a rise of 9.3% compared to 2010.

HKTB is hoping to see a further boost in travel with many more MICE events in the pipeline.

AirAsia has teamed up with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Airports of Thailand, King Power and the Mall Group in a bid to lure Chi-nese travellers.

Members of the Chinese media from Wuhan, Chongq-ing, Guangzhou, Shenzen and Macau were flown in to Thai-land to witness the readiness of the Don Mueang Airport and to hear of Thailand’s bid to boost tourism from China with the addition of extra routes.

Don Mueang Airport’s Ter-minal 1 can currently handle up to 18.5 million passengers. The second phase of its devel-opment plan will be carried out between 2013 and 2016.

In 2012, AirAsia Thai

opened four new routes to improve connectivity to Chi-na’s financial centres, CEO of Thai AirAsia Tassapon Bij-leveld said.

Some 1.94 million Chinese

visited Thailand in the first nine months of 2012, a 39% increase year-on-year, with more than 2.2 million expected by the end of the year, accord-ing to TAT.

AirAsia teams up with Thailand tourism to lure Chinese travellers

Cambodia-China trade expected to double by 2017

Two-way trade between Cam-bodia and China is expected to double to $5 billion by 2017 from $2.5 billion last year.

The warm relationship between the two countries is helping the trade, invest-ment and tourism sector

grow on both sides.Speaking at a forum to pro-

mote Cambodia’s investment potential to Chinese business, Cambodian Minister of Com-merce Cham Prasidh said, “China is one of our key trad-ing partners. While Europe and the U.S. are facing eco-nomic slowdown, China’s economy remains high – more than 7% – so China remains the world’s growth engine.”

In the first seven months of 2012, Cambodia received some $183 million in invest-ment from China. Chinese tourists are the third largest arrival groups to Cambodia, with some 265,330 visitors in the first 10 months of this year, a 34% rise on the same period in 2011.

Macau’s tourism index stood at 70.7 out of a possible score of 100 in the third quarter, reflecting a steady confidence and increas-ing satisfaction in the industry.

Events remained the most sig-nificant sector that boosted over-all visitor satisfaction.

The report, compiled by the Institute for Tourism Studies’ Tourism Research Centre and released by the Macao Tourism

Satisfaction Index, shows tour-ism satisfaction in Macau improved over the second quar-ter, which recorded a score 69.5 points.

“The most recent result con-tinues a slight but improving short-term trend for 2012,” the researchers said.

According to the report, casi-nos and hotels also showed slight improvements over other sectors.

Thai Ambassador Pisan Manawapat with

the award.

A mall in Manila. Some $0.9 billion was spent on shopping in 2011.

Hong Kong attracted 44 million visitors last year.

Macau. A tourism study showed satisfaction is up.

Cambodian Minister of Commerce

Cham Prasidh.

AirAsia has added more routes between Thailand and China.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 14 ⋅ ASIA

Dubai is set to outdo itself with plans for a huge tourism and retail development project.

The projects include a park 30% bigger than Hyde Park in London to be built on the out-skirts of Dubai’s current down-town area and a retail complex called the Mall of the World that will be able to host 80 mil-lion visitors a year. A family entertainment centre linked to the mall, developed with Hol-lywood’s Universal Studios, a unit of Comcast Corp, would be able handle 6 million visi-tors each year.

Also part of the plans is The Mohammed bin Rashid City development to be built by Holding and Dubai’s leading real estate firm Emaar Prop-erties. It would include a dis-trict of art galleries and an area where entrepreneurs could develop businesses.

“Dubai is aimed to become a business and cultural cap-ital for 2 billion people in

surrounding regions,” Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, also prime minister of the United Arab Emirates said.

“Passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport will exceed 50 million people this year, and is to top 90 million in six years.”

Dubai plans huge park and massive mall complex

The number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea this year is expected to top 10 million for the first time. A rush in Chi-nese and Japanese tourist arriv-als has contributed to the rise, insiders say.

Some 8.44 million foreign tourists visited S Korea in the first nine months of 2012, an increase of 19% compared to 2011.

“The number will likely reach 10 million … as some 1 million was added to the tally in October,” the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) stated.

KTO expects the coun-try to see a total of 11.3 mil-lion foreign visitors for all of 2012, compared to 9.79 million last year.

South Korea tourism to top 10m in 2012

Taiwan promotes Life of Pi tourism

Taiwan is hoping Life of Pi will bring yet more life to its tour-ism industry, drawing visitors to the country where most of the film was shot.

The movie, by Oscar-win-ning Taiwanese director Ang Lee, was shot over four years in Taiwan and India and grossed $30 million, hitting the international box office Top 5. The film also topped China’s box office, which opens up the mainland as a

potential market for Taiwan-ese tour operators.

Animals from Taipei Zoo, including a rhinoceros, lemurs and a Formosan black bear native to Taiwan, were also used for filming on loca-tion in Taiwan.

Kenting Banyan Park and Baisha Bay and surrounding attractions, such as the Mao-kong Gondola in Taipei are some of the film sites the tour-ist agencies aim to promote.

Indonesia to develop major sites

Japan tourism sees strong recovery

Indonesia’s Tourism and Cre-ative Economy Ministry is to run detailed studies on several tourist destinations to check for development viability.

Sanur in Denpasar, Batur in Bangli regency and Menjan-gan in Buleleng regency will be researched to assist in the devel-opment of their facilities.

“The three national strate-gic areas of tourism in Bali are among 16 tourism destinations nationwide, that are priori-tised for further development through 2014,” said the min-istry’s director of destination planning and tourism invest-ment Lokot Ahmad Enda.

The 15- to 20-year project will focus on the Lake Batur and Mount Batur areas, recently awarded global geopark sta-tus by UNESCO; Menjangan, a

small tourism island in north-ern Bali that offers scenic under-sea vistas and Sanur, a famous fishing village that has grown into an international tour-ism destination over the past

few years.Indonesia currently has

some 88 tourism destinations, some of which have shown sig-nificant development, while some others are budding slowly.

After a dip in numbers follow-ing last year’s tsunami, Japan’s tourism industry is making a strong recovery.

Arrivals reached 7 million in the first eight months of this year, compared to 6.2 million in the whole of 2011, according to the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA). Hong Kong and Taiwan tourist arrivals are also increas-ing with strong repeat visits.

The JTA has initiated a number of strategies to ensure speedy recovery of the tour-ism sector, focusing efforts on drawing visitors from South-east Asia and on maintaining its steady source markets China and South Korea.

“We have entered into an agreement with the [South] Korean government to fos-ter people-to-people exchange

by promoting non-metropol-itan destinations [in Japan],” JTA commissioner, Norifumi Idee, said.

Dubai is aimed to become a cultural capital for 2 billion people.

A scene from Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Most of the film was shot in Taiwan.

Sanur, one of the sites prioritised for development.

A rush of Chinese and Japanese visitors has

boosted S Korean tourism.

Japan has already recorded 7 million visits so far this year.

Israel back to normal with thriving tourism

Tourists roamed happily around Tel Aviv and Jerusa-lem even as the rockets fell during the recent eight-day conflict with Gaza. While the Gaza operations scared some tourists away, Israel is now back to a thriving trade as nor-mality takes hold once again in the country.

Israel has an active tourism industry, which it can balance

even if there is unrest in the country.

New attractions and arche-ological sites never stopped letting in visitors, Israel’s Tourism Commissioner for North and South America, Haim Gutin said.

Israel, a country of different languages, cultures and foods, has always attracted tourists and has 48% repeated visitors.

Jerusalem. Israel has thriving tourism even during unrest.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ASIA ⋅ 15

Sri Lanka ranked in the top five emerging nations in the World Travel Market’s

industry report, listed for its post-war recovery, beauty and investment in infrastructure.

“The three key factors that favoured Sri Lanka are the re-emergence of the country after the civil war, infrastruc-ture investments and beautiful locations,” stated the Sri Lan-ka’s Tourism Development Authority.

Sri Lanka’s tourism sec-tor has been seeing massive growth since 2009. The gov-ernment expects 1 million tourist arrivals in 2012, and foreign direct investment rev-enue of $1 billion. It hopes to reach 2.5 million tourist arriv-als by 2016.

Other countries listed in the top five new emerging travel destinations category were Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia and Argentina.

India initiates liberal visa regime for Bangladesh India has moved to adopt a lib-eral visa policy for various cat-egories of Bangladeshi nation-als in a bid to promote economic engagement, people-to-people contact, cultural ties and tour-ism between the two nations. The announcement follows Indian PM Manmohan Singh earlier promise to remove trade and non-tariff barriers between the two countries.

For the first time, India will be introducing group tourist and pilgrim visas, multi-city and multi-entry visas for business-men, visas on arrival for senior citizens and other categories.

“We are now granting six month multi-entry visa and even longer term visas to

various categories, including artists from Bangladesh, that is going to make things smooth and easy,” India’s Ambas-sador to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran said.

India is also seeking to capi-talise on medical tourism to tap a huge market Bangladeshis visiting the country for medical treatment.

At present India gives nearly 500,000 visas every year to Bangladeshi nationals. With the new visa regime in place, this figure is likely to see an immense hike.

The Nepalese Tourism Minis-try has unveiled a three-year plan to increase visitor num-bers and boost the economy.

The plan, to be carried out form 2013 to 2016, hopes to create some 300,000 jobs in tourism annually.

The ministry aims to dou-ble annual tourist arrivals

to 1.5 million from 736,215 in 2011, with strategies includ-ing private sector investment for infrastructure develop-ment on a PPP basis, and international promotional campaigns, focused on India, China, Brazil and Russia.

The ministry hopes to increase the average length of

stay of visitors has to 14 days from 13.12 days in 2011.

The average length of stay of tourists in Nepal increased to a seven-year high of 13.12 days in 2011, mostly due to a decline in strikes and increased tour-ist arrivals for trekking and mountaineering.

The Maldives has invested $12 million to promote its products and locations, buffing up the budget at a time of great expan-sion in the country. Next year, more resorts and airports will be opening in addition to new airlines flying into the country.

The marketing drive

includes promotional initia-tives, with a focus on underwa-ter restaurants and big game fishing. “There is need for fresh documentaries as well,” one tourism official said. “A lot of effort has to be put in to pro-mote the Maldives especially in Europe,” he added.

A village head from Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district has sent a request to King of Bhu-tan Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck to complete the 10km Lumla-Tashigang road on that country’s side.

The road will make travel easier to the gateway of Northeast India, Guwahati, the gaon bura (village head) wrote, reducing the distance between Tawang and Guwa-hati by some 200km and cut-ting travel time by almost

six hours. According to the gaon

bura association, Indian Army guarding the bor-der would also find the road useful for accessing the pro-posed small airport at Lumla, which would help support security.

The road connectivity will not only help reopen tradi-tional border trade between the people of Bhutan and Tawang district, but will pro-vide easy movement of peo-ple from both countries.

Sri Lanka in top 5 emerging global destinations

Maldives invests $12m in tourism promotion

Bhutan king asked to permit Lumla-Tashigang road

Nepal aims to double tourism arrivals and create 300,000 jobs

King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck.

Tourism in Nepal has shot up thanks to increased arrivals for trekking in the country.

The Maldives. More resorts are opening next year.

Sri Lanka hopes to see 2.5 million tourists in 2016.

New visa rules should see numbers of Bangladeshi tourists increase.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012

Malaysia is one of the most popular destinations for Indians, having seen growth from 132,000 annual visitors from India in 2000, to around 700,000 in 2011. Out of this, fewer than 10% visited Langkawi,

an archipelago of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea. This shows the tremendous potential of Langkawi as the next hotspot for Indians in Malaysia.

Manoharan Periasamy, director of Tourism Malaysia, India office for more than 10 years, spoke to Travel News Digest

about Langkawi, its attractions and potential.

On the potential for Langkawi as a destination for Indian tourists

Malaysia is strongly perceived to be a real value for money destination in India, and will continue to be a favourite with the Indian traveller.

Langkawi, a cluster of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea, is the perfect destination for honeymooners look-ing for an idyllic retreat. With its lush natural beauty, the archipelago is sure to mesmerise with its delight-ful beaches, superb resorts and refreshing nature-based activities.

Nature lovers can stroll through the tropical rain-forests that rise on the Gunung Raya, the highest mountain in Langkawi or take the thrilling cable-car ride which offers a spectacular view of the island. Couples can create their own little heaven of together-ness with a refreshing walk through the Kilim Nature Park with its green mangrove forests, isolated white beaches and blue lagoons. On the main attractions for Indian tourists in Langkawi

Cable car: Taking you on a vertiginous 20-min-ute ride to the apex of the imposing Gunung Machin-chang, this experience offers some pretty spectacular

views of the lush surrounding mountainside green-ery as you ascend in gondolas.

Al-Hana Mosque: Located in Kuah, this golden onion domed mosque features intricate Moorish architecture. Although located within the bustling streets of Kuah, this house of worship manages to maintain its imposing mystique. Featuring motifs and carvings from Uzbekistan along with time-honoured Malay elements, it is the best-known mosque on the island as well as the largest.

Dataran Lang: Also known as ‘Eagle Square’, this massive 12-metre tall monument of a sea eagle prepar-ing for flight stands beside the Kuah Jetty and greets arriving visitors to Langkawi.

Sunset dinner cruise: The sunset dinner cruise is quite possibly the ultimate way to savour Lang-kawi Island’s raw lush beauty. Hop onto this cruise ship and spend some time ‘riding the waves’ Jacuzzi-style via a trawling net before you sample some sim-ply sumptuous barbecue fare. Later, sip on a cocktail from the open bar, and kick-back, relax and take in the sights of some of Langkawi’s most beautiful islets. It’s the perfect way to enjoy a romantic evening with your partner and also an all-round fun time.

Underwater World at Pantai Cenang: Under-water World Langkawi is a complex that houses more than 100 specially designed tanks and over 500 spe-cies of animals and sea creatures. The family-friendly

complex is divided into three sections – Tropical Rain-forest, Temperate and Sub-Antarctic. One of its high-lights is the 15-metre, six million litre walk-through underwater tunnel tank, home to sharks, giant sting-rays and green turtles.

Other activities, including snorkelling, yacht-ing, diving, golf and trekking, are bound to add more excitement. Langkawi also is a shopper’s paradise. Indian tourists can shop to their hearts’ content at this duty-free island.On activities to promote Langkawi in the Indian market

Tourism Malaysia is looking at luxury, custom-ised weddings and honeymoons in a big way. We have many premium destinations in Malaysia to cater to the need for big fat weddings where the families and near and dear ones are together for eight to 10 days, which strengthens their personal bonding. We also custom-ise weddings as per Indian Vaastu Shastra.

We do promote Langkawi as a wedding destina-tion in Indian fairs, our sales missions and presen-tations. Besides this, we have conducted many FAM tours for Indian wedding planners to experience first-hand the services and facilities available, as well as possible venues for different budgets. This will be a continuous process in the years to come, because this segment from India is growing.

An aerial view of Langkawi Island, Malaysia.

Langkawi’s national bird.

Langkawi – 99 islands, 100% fun

Upbeat outlook at Malaysia Airlines

While the global airline indus-try continues to experience turbulence, Malaysia Airlines is bullish on bucking the trend, with an upbeat outlook for 2013 and beyond.

Malaysia Airlines, MAS, is the national carrier of Malay-sia and one of Asia’s largest, flying around 37,000 passen-gers daily to some 80 destina-tions worldwide across four continents. The distinctive Malaysia Airlines brand is an extension of the special culture

of warmth and friendliness unique to Malaysians, branded as ‘Malaysian Hospitality’ and symbolised by the acronym MH, which is also the airline’s flight code.

Both MAS and its Kuala Lumpur hub are among the industry’s most frequent win-ners of awards for quality ser-vice. MAS itself has won the World’s Best Cabin Crew title from the Skytrax airline qual-ity rating agency in six of the past 10 years. This year, Skytrax

accredited ‘5-star airline’ sta-tus to MAS. It also awarded the ‘World’s Best Inflight Sig-nature Dish’ to the carrier for its satay (skewered boneless grilled meat).

At the recently organised South Asia and Middle East Awards Night in the duty-free island of Langkawi, the top-brass of the airline, headed by Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, group CEO and managing director, Duncan Bureau, senior VP of sales and distribution, Dean

Dacko, senior VP of market-ing commercial, and Aza-har Hamid regional senior VP-South Asia and Mid-dle East, outlined the aggres-sive plans, product enhance-ments, and fleet and network augmentation.

Thanking the MAS agent fraternity from India, Bangla-desh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mal-dives and Saudi Arabia, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said, “We extend our appreciation and grati-tude to all of you as top per-formers who have successfully positioned Malaysia Airlines among the most preferred air-lines in the South Asia region. Through your support, our South Asia and Middle East markets saw approximately 22% growth in revenue in 2011, and 10% growth year-to-date in 2012, despite currency appreci-ation in the regions.”

He also revealed the excit-ing things ahead for MAS, such as the brand new fleet of A380, A330, B738 introduced into the network, new prod-ucts and greater comfort for travellers, membership and entry into oneworld, which would increase seamless travel and connectivity, and increas-ing frequencies between South Asian cities and Malaysia.

Duncan Bureau highlighted the importance of India as a market. “We are very satis-fied with the revenues out of India, which is now one of the top three growth markets for Malaysia Airlines,” he said.

Elaborating on MAS’ pro-motional strategy, Bureau said it would continue to focus on agent engagement and trade relations, rather than extrava-gant mass advertising.

MAS is currently well con-nected between the five Indian metro cities of New Delhi, Ben-galuru, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad with its home base Kuala Lumpur. It currently operates 51 weekly flights from India to Malaysia : New-Delhi (12 flights), Mumbai (11 Flights), Chennai (11 flights), Hyderabad (07 Flights) and Bengaluru (10 Flights).

There are plans to go double daily, in the near future, from five cities in India viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chen-nai and Hyderabad to Kuala Lumpur.

MAS will start offering one-world’s full range of services and benefits from February 1, 2013 – becoming the alliance’s second airline operating the Airbus A380, after its oneworld sponsor Qantas.

Duncan Bureau, senior VP of sales and distribution, Malaysia Airlines

16 ⋅ ASIA

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 18

The Sistine Chapel, which sees some 5 million tourists

a year and up to 20,000 in one day in summer, may put

a ceiling on visitor numbers in the future.

The move comes after an open letter by literary critic Pietro Citati became the lat-est severe criticism over the behaviour of crowds at the site, one of the wonders of Western civilisation.

“Tourists resemble drunken herds,” wrote Citati. “They unwittingly risk dam-aging the frescoes with their breath, their perspiration, the dust on their shoes and their body heat.”

The atmosphere, Citati continued, was anything but contemplative as the

tourists ignored the Vati-can’s requests for silence, composure and a ban on tak-ing photographs.

While the plan to place limits on tourists is not being considered for the short term, the Vati-can may have no choice in the long term, Vatican Museums director Antonio Paolucci said.

“We might limit access, putting a cap on the number of visitors if tourism grows beyond the limits of reason-able tolerance,” he said.

Glistening snow, glittering lights, the smell of pine trees and the sound of carol singers, the Czech Republic is a Christmas-card-perfect way to spend the festive season.

Shop at the gorgeous Christ-mas markets, many of which are open from November to Janu-ary, or indulge in festive fare – the mulled wine and carp are the season’s musts, as well as a dizzying array of sweets and des-erts, including Christmas buns with almonds, butter cookies with jam or beautifully deco-rated gingerbread.

Prague is a delight to behold with its squares brimming with markets, again many staying open until January 5, and con-certs of carol singing by choirs and children’s groups – not for-getting the classical concerts for which the city is famous. The ornate halls of the Rudolfinum Concert Hall or the Municipal House create the perfect Christ-mas atmosphere. Churches are

also perfect to visit at Christmas with classical music and choral evenings. Visit St Simon’s and Jude’s Church or St Nicholas’ Church in Prague’s Old Town Square and get a unique experi-ence of the season.

And why not celebrate the New Year in style with spec-tacular fireworks displays over Prague’s Vltava River, best viewed from the top of the Petrin

Hill, historic Prague Castle, the romantic Charles Bridge or from the river cruise boats that stop near the Charles Bridge.

Attractions and events out-side Prague outdo themselves over Christmas, with Brno’s market , Cesky Krumlov and The Krivoklat Castle must-have on the itinerary. For a fairytale festive season, you can’t beat the Czech Republic.

Portugal tourism saw a total of €8.1 billion in revenues in 2011, and is expecting an increase this year despite the ongoing eco-nomic crisis.

With two-thirds of tour-ism activity in the country coming from foreign mar-kets, tourism officials are tar-geting new customers with a

range of new products.Director of marketing at

Portugal’s Tourism Institute, António Padeira will be trav-elling to India to promote Por-tugal as a destination to tap the 20 million-strong market of Indian travellers.

Speaking at a workshop on religious tourism in Fátima, the

site of Portugal’s most impor-tant Catholic shrine which sees around 5 million people each year, Padeira said tourism offi-cials also visited China three times this year.

The institute is not forget-ting the traditional markets as it explores the new ones, he said.

Sistine Chapel mulls putting a ceiling on visitor numbers

A perfect Czech Christmas

Iceland injects $2m into tourism projects

Czech tourism is booming, with foreign guests staying in local hotels rising 13% and domestic tourists up 4.1% on year.

As in years past, Germans are still the demographic group with the highest number of foreign visitors to the Czech Republic. With a 5% increase in visits from the country in the July to September period, Germany remained the stron-gest source market.

The Czech economy is propped up by the tourism industry, the country’s sec-ond-largest generator of for-eign revenue after exports of automobiles and car parts.

Since September, the Czech central bank has been try-ing to weaken the koruna in an effort to lower the cost of Czech-made goods, which it hopes will encourage exports while also making visits to the region cheaper for foreigners.

Iceland is to add ISK 34 billion ($265 million, €208 million) to its investment strategy for 2013 to 2015, with tourism and film-making major beneficiaries.

ISK 2.5 billion is to be spent on tourism projects, with sig-nificant investments injected into the Development Fund for Travel Destinations to develop schemes around the country.

Preservation measures are also to be taken at locations

considered to be over crowded by tourists, including national parks and sensitive areas.

As part of a new policy called ‘The Green Economy,’ ISK 3.53 billion is to be invested in making the economy more sustainable. Other projects to be benefitted from the invest-ment plan include a ferry transport between the Icelan-dic mainland and the West-man Islands.

Czech tourist numbers up

Portugal Tourism up despite crisis

More than 5 million tourists a year visit the Sistine Chapel.

Reykjavik. Iceland aims to boost tourism.

Tourism is the second-largest industry in the Czech Republic.

Christmas time in the Czech Republic.

Tourism in Portugal is shining.

EUROPE

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 EUROPE ⋅ 19

The UK is considering easing visa regulations in a bid to boost tourism figures.

Speaking at the VisitBritain annual review, British Minister for Sports and Tourism Hugh Robertson said he hoped to have news about visa reform “in the very near future.”

VisitBritain aims to increase visitor numbers by 9 million to 40 million a year by the end of the decade, a boost that will cre-ate an estimated 200,000 jobs.

“The latest statistics show tourism accounted for a third of all new jobs created in the past two years,” VisitBritain chair-man Christopher Rodrigues said. “If [the increase] hap-pens, it will create an additional 200,000 jobs.”

VisitBritain’s international campaign in support of the Lon-don 2012 Olympic and Para-lympic Games and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee brought £503 million in bookings this year.

Tourism Ireland is aiming to increase the number of Amer-ican visitors by 20% by 2016 with a three-year marketing plan in the U.S. called ‘Make Ireland Jump Out.’

A plan to target British holidaymakers – ‘GB Path to Growth’ – has also been launched to increase British tourism by 20%, meaning an additional 200,000 visitors per year by 2016.

Tourism Ireland predicts

a 5% increase in the arrival of visitors to 7.6 million, con-tributing €3.7bn to the econ-omies of both northern and southern parts of the coun-try. According to Tour-ism Ireland, North America and Mainland Europe hold the key growth to tourism in 2013. Tourism Ireland’s major focus for next year will be The Gathering Ireland 2013, which is expecting some 325,000 extra visitors.

UK may ease visa process to boost tourism, jobs

Tourism Ireland unveils 2013 plans

Britain hits record number of tourists in 2012

UNWTO: France top tourist destination

European countries dominated the list of most popular destinations, accord-ing to the United Nation’s World Trade Organisation’s (UNWTO) latest tour-ism report, with France topping the lot and five other European countries in the list.

According to the report, 983 mil-lion international overnight tourist arrivals were recorded in 2011, with tourism receipts surpassing $1 tril-lion. Europe received some 705 mil-lion international tourist arrivals

worldwide in the first eight months of 2012.

Spain generated the biggest income from tourism in 2011, while German tourists came out as the biggest spend-ers, shelling out some $84 billion.

The second and third most popular destinations were the United States and China.

The report predicted the interna-tional tourism market will grow by an average of 3.3% annually until at least 2030.

British Tourism Minister Hugh Robertson.

Ireland hopes to increase the number of U.S. tourists by 20%.

The Queen’s jubilee celebrations are credited with the boom in tourism.

Britain has set a record with around 12 million arrivals of international visitors over the past 12 months. The Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and the 2012 London Olympic Games are credited for the tourism boom, which has contributed some £19 billion to the British economy.

According to VisitBritain, inbound tourism has contributed £18.7 billion to the economy, a 5% increase, making it the third biggest earner of foreign exchange.

VisitBritain is expecting inbound tourism to grow 6% in 2012, and the volume of inter-national tourism to grow by 3% in 2013.

France. The most popular destination for 2011.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 20 ⋅ EUROPE

Bulgaria is increasing efforts to lure high-end luxury travellers from Indian with a campaign in India’s big cities, mainly Delhi and Mumbai.

Workshops to inform the travel trade about Bulgaria, its attractions and destinations are to be held in both cities, Stefan Lonkov, head of the commercial and economic office at the Bul-garian Embassy in New Delhi, said.

FAM tours will also be organ-ised for Indian industry profes-sionals to provide an experience of Bulgaria as a tourist destina-tion, he added.

Bulgaria sees around 7 mil-lion tourists yearly, of which 68% are from the European Union.

Croatian tourism is looking forward to a booming 2013.

A VAT drop coming into effect in January 2013 will make goods, includ-ing accommodation, food, wine and beer, 10% cheaper than current prices, and the country’s admission into the EU on July 1, 2013, will make travel easier for Europeans.

“On 1 July Croatia will enter the EU, which will eliminate some procedures so we are preparing for that,”

Croatian Tourism Minister Velkjo Ostojić said.

The country saw an increase each month in 2012, with the UK market up 22.5%. The minister is hoping for a 5% to 10% growth in 2013 and beyond.

“I hope to increase the number of flights in 2014 as that is what is key to raising numbers, but we will con-tinue to work to increase flights, hotel beds and tour operators,” Ostojić said.

China’s senior citizens are giving a boost to Russian tourism.

While retirees from other Asian countries, especially Japan, have long been a major source of outbound and domestic travel, Chinese tourists have previously lagged behind due to relatively weaker spending power. But that is now changing.

Among events credited with rekindling relations between the

two countries are a performance of two Russian ice dancers at the 2012 Sino-Russia Tourism Year in Shanghai, and more than 200 activities organised by both the countries.

“Russia had a greater influ-ence on middle-aged and older tourists because they grew up at a time when China and the former Soviet Union were in a friendly alliance,” Tian Xin, a tour guide

with the Shanghai-based Donghu International Travel Agency said.

China and Russia celebrated the Year of Russian Tourism in China in 2012 and will celebrate the Year of Chinese Tourism in Russia in 2013.

China and Russia are expect-ing the number of tourists trav-elling between the two countries to 5 million by 2015 from 3.3 mil-lion currently.

Bulgaria offers citizenship for foreign investors

VAT drop and EU entry promise big year for Croatia tourism

Russia tourism booming thanks to China’s golden agers

Russians flocking to Finland for health tourism

Anyone with a spare half a mil-lion euros ($650,000) can now become a citizen of Bulgaria.

The newly adopted amend-ment, taken to boost the ail-ing economy, states that can-didates with residence status in the country for at least one year would have to invest in a Bulgarian company involved in a high-priority investment project in industry, infrastruc-ture, transport or tourism to be

entitled to citizenship.Passports are already being

handed out to ethnic Bulgari-ans outside its borders, the main beneficiaries being cit-izens of Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine and Turkey.

Spain also plans to give res-idency to foreigners who buy a house or apartment worth €160,000 ($207,800) or more. However, government officials are cautious about the idea.

Finland is emerging as a health care destination, with Rus-sians flocking to the country like never before.

Despite its high qual-ity health services, Finland’s small market, the increase in demand from Finns and lan-guage problems had made expansion challenging.

In response, the Finland Care programme is mak-ing efforts to internation-alise the region’s private sec-tor health care and solving the language problem by offering more health care services with

Russian language skills.In the last three years, the

region has seen the number of Russian arrivals grow by 60% to 70% each year.

Austrian hotels to enjoy tax break

In a bid to boost domestic tourism, the Austrian Finance Ministry has introduced a tax reduction for hote-liers in the country.

Employers in the hospital-ity industry will receive a 35% tax deduction on staff accommodation, according to plans by Austria’s Finance Minister Maria Fekter.

The deduction, due to come into force from January 1, 2013, is for housing of between 30 and 40 square metres.

“The provision is to apply irre-spective of whether or not the prop-erty is owned or leased,” said Fek-ter, “provided the accommodation made available by the employer is for a maximum period of 12 months.”

Bulgaria targets India’s high-end market

Bulgaria. The country sees some 7 million tourists a year.

Bulgaria. Residency will be given to foreigners investing in companies.

Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter.

Croatia is looking forward to a booming 2013.

Finland is known for its quality health care.

Russian tourism is getting a boost from China’s senior citizens.

Spain invests in €9m tourism revamp plan

The Spanish government is to allocate €9 million to lift the country’s tourism industry.

A marketing plan, devel-oped by Turespaña and to be taken to all 33 tourist offices abroad, will focus on connect-ing travellers with the brand Spain, targeting priority mar-kets, promoting public-pri-vate partnerships and effec-tive management of mature markets.

“We believe we should spend in a better and more effi-cient way,” Secretary of State of Tourism Isabel Borrego

said, “That’s why we have left behind ecomarketing policies that haven’t benefited us at all, policies based on subsidies and that have not been very profit-able,” she said.

According to Borrego, “The agreement signed with the National Statistics Institute [INE] for the transfer of the performance of touristic sta-tistics has already saved €1 mil-lion, while in current spend-ing the department it heads has achieved savings of nearly €1 billion and €700,000 in staff costs.”

The campaign hopes to connect people to the brand Spain.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 EUROPE ⋅ 21

VisitBritain and a host of Indian travel professionals recently celebrated

More Than 500 BritAgents in India at a luscious party in Aman hotel in

Delhi, where a number of awards were given to mark the success of the

programme in India.

The BritAgent training programme has been growing in India since

its launch in December 2010, with more than 570 BritAgent graduates

today and some 2,000 registered to complete the course.

At the prestigious event in Delhi, attended by leading names from

India’s tourism trade, three top companies from Delhi – FlightShop,

Kuoni-SOTC and MakeMyTrip.com – received awards for having the great-

est numbers of BritAgents on staff. VisitBritain’s director of strategy and

communication Patricia Yates and Shivali Suri, country-manager-India

at VisitBritain handed out the awards.

The prize for FlightShop was accepted by area leader, Anuj Razdan

and Karen Morris, retail operations leader at FlightShop, India. Komal

Seth general manager of trade relations at Kuoni received the prize on

behalf of Kuoine and Devesh Khanna, head ot outbound, received the

prize for MakeMyTrip.com.

The highest number of BritAgents are in Delhi (around 120), closely

followed by Mumbai (around 100).

VisitBritain aims to continue spreading information and awareness

about the UK to Tier 2 cities also in 2013.

Do you want to become a BritAgent and maximise your commission?

It’s never been easier! Register for free now onwww.britagent.com

500 and counting!

Komal Seth, general manager of trade relations, accepting the prize for Kuoni-SOTC.

Devesh Khanna, head of outbound, receiving the award on behalf of Makemytrip.com.

Patricia Yates, director of strategy and communication at VisitBritain, left, and Shivali Suri, country manager- India, VisitBritain.

Guests enjoying the party to celebrate more than 500 BritAgents in India.

FlightShop’s area leader Anuj Razdan receiving the award.

Continuous learning– Quarterly market insights and product updates– Quarterly educational sessions– Specialist Britagent modules on Olympics, business visits and events

Business development– A list of products/attractions available for sale throughout UK for your client– An updated events calendar for 2013 which informs of the various events taking place across UK on a monthly basis, which visitors can watch– A directory of contact details of all UK-Inbound suppliers.

Hosted buyer programmes/Fam trips– Only BritAgents will be eligible to attend hosted buyer programmes including special events and familiarisation trips.

Certification– You will be able to download and print your BritAgent certificate from the website itself, right after you complete the 3 modules.– Apart from the issued certificate, BritAgent certified companies (companies with at least 2 certified agents) will have the right to use the BritAgent logo in

their marketing collateral (presentations, website, on visiting cards etc.) as a USP for their clientele.

Incentivised British tourism products – All BritAgents are able to sell tourism related products exclusively at a commission of 8% to clients on VB shop at www.visitbritainshop.com– More than 100 travel related products, such as Madam Tussaud’s tickets, London Eye tickets, Oyster Cards. This commission can even go up to 25% if products are offered in bulk.

THE BENEFITS OF BEING A BRITAGENT

1. Britain the Basics This module gives an insight on the basic information and tools needed to book and plan your client’s visit to Britain. How to plan and book different elements of a holiday to Britain for your client and maximise your commission: the must-see attractions of a trip to London and the rest of Britain; what to eat and drink when in Britain ... and much more.

2. Destination Britain This module identifies unique selling points of different countries that make up Britain. It takes an in-depth look into the key differences and product offerings each region offers and how these can appeal to repeat visitors. Understand the unique selling points of the different countries that make up Britain; know more about the must dos of London, Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Understand more about the different regions of each country in Britain and how these can appeal to second-time visitors.

3. Experience Britain This module covers unique selling experiences that can satisfy your clients’ special interests and diverse lifestyles. Once you have completed this module you will be able to create itineraries to meet your clients’ special interests and encourage them to stay longer and spend more; sell Britain to your clients using specific themes that may appeal depending upon your clients’ lifestyles; know the essential facts about the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games which took place in London.

TAKE JUST THREE mODULES TO BECOmE A BRITAGENT!

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 22

Zimbabwe tourism figures shoot up 17%

WTM reports: Nigeria is potential tourism powerhouse

Emirates doubles up flights to mauritius to twice daily

Mauritius keeps luxury reputation with safety upgradeCheck Safety First has launched operations across Mauritius to improve stan-dards and assist the country in offering the highest qual-ity to visitors. Inspections from the independent health and safety experts will help resorts meet safety expecta-tions from Europe and other key markets.

“Tourists expect the highest standards in every

capacity, and health and safety is a key part of this,” Check Safety First CEO Mark Har-rington said. “As part of our global growth strategy, we look forward to working with Mauritius hotels, helping the island market itself as a top luxury destination.”

The company also plans to extend its services to La Reunion, Seychelles and the Maldives.

Emirates has launched two daily flights to Mauritius, with two further frequen-cies to be added this month.

The route is to be ser-viced by a Boeing 777-300 in a three-class configuration.

In a January 2012 pact, Emirates and the

government of Mauritius agreed to work together to increase visibility and awareness of the island in the 126 destinations to which the airline flies.

Emirates senior vice president, West Asia Indian Ocean, Ahmed Khoory, said

the increase in frequencies would create more oppor-tunities for the Mauritian tourism sector and local economy.

Some 964,642 tour-ists visited Mauritius in 2011, a 3.2% increase on the previous year.

Two reports from the World Travel Market (WTM) have recognised Nigeria as a poten-tial powerhouse in the global

travel and tourism industry.The WTM 2012 Indus-

try Report and WTM Global Trends Report, carried out

with Euromonitor Interna-tional, highlighted Nigeria as a viable travel and tour-ism destination and stated Nigeria is expecting to record arrivals of 3% CAGR from 2012 to 2016, mainly due to intraregional tourism fuelled by expanding African econ-omies. Nollywood has also been credited with attracting film fans and business.

“The two reports show President Goodluck Jon-athan’s transformation agenda, especially in the travel and tourism indus-try, is making an impact on the country’s image glob-ally,” director general of the Nigerian Tourism Develop-ment Corporation, Segun Runsewe, said.

Zimbabwe has seen a 17% increase in tourist numbers in

the first six months of 2012, from 637,389 last year to 767,939.

Tourists from Africa consti-tuted the lion’s share, with some

675,721 visitors, reflecting a 19% increase from 2011.

The African Development Bank reported a slight rise in mid-year hotel room occupancy from 38% in 2011 to 39% in 2012.

The country is also expecting the introduction of airlines, such as Emirates, KLM Royal Dutch Airline, Air Botswana and Mozambique Airlines, to fur-ther boost growth ahead of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation general assembly.

The event in Zimbabwe will be the largest world gathering of countries in the country since the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting some two decades ago.

Mauritius is making safety improvements in hotels and resorts.

Zimbabwe visitor arrivals have increased ahead of the UNWTO assembly.

Jo’s Rock in Nigeria. The country’s tourism is growing.

Emirates flight increases will boost Maurtius tourism.

More than 30, 000 local and international tourists attended the four-day Lamu Cultural Festival, a showcase of Swahili culture.

The festival, organised by the Lamu Cultural Promotion Group, Kenya Tourism Board and National Museums of Kenya, displayed Swahili bridal makeup, henna paintings and photographic exhibitions, as well as hosting the trademark donkey race.

Lamu, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, has regained its place on the world tourism map, festival chairman Ghalib Alawy said in a speech closing the event, announcing the festival a great success.

A KES 500,000 ($5,800) cheque was awarded to the festival by the KTB.

The festival was funded by France, Germany, Poland, Spain, the European Union among others and attracted neighbouring communities, including the Pokomo and Orma. Envoys from the EU, including Spanish Ambassador Javier Herrera, and Polish and French deputy ambassadors Aleksander Kropiwnicki and Stephanie Seydoux also attended the festival.

30,000 flock to Kenya’s Lamu festival

The traditional donkey race at the Lamu Cultural Festival.

AFRICA

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 AFRICA ⋅ 23

Egypt is expecting tourist figures to increase nearly 20% on 2011 figures, with the first 10 months of the year already showing an 18.6% increase at 9.6 million visitor arrivals.

Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said he hoped to see an increase to 11.6 mil-lion tourists overall this year, which will

represent a 16% growth over 2011. Last year, Egypt recorded some 10 million tour-ist arrivals. Germans comprised the great-est increase in tourist numbers at 25.8%, said Zaazou.

Tourist spending in Egypt has rose to $75 per day in 2012 from $58 per day in 2011, he added.

Seychelles Tourism has relaunched its monthly newsletter, ‘Seychelles Tourism Industry Speaks Newslet-ter,’ in line with a reorganisation of the association.

The tourism industry authori-ties hope the newsletter will spread awareness about what the Seychelles does and will help grow its busi-nesses through added visibility.

Turkish Airlines’ announcement

that it will be starting nonstop flights from Europe has boosted Seychelles tourism hopes, as has news that Eti-had and Air France are entering into a code share. The share could bring more European passengers to bene-fit from direct Air Seychelles/ Etihad flight to Seychelles from Paris.

The Seychelles has recorded a 7% increase in visitor arrivals over the same period last year.

Egypt expects 2012 tourist figures to reach 12 million

Egypt to auction land for tourism development

Sites covering 28 million square metres of land in Egypt are to be auctioned for tourist developments in the next 14 months, Egyptian Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said.

The auctions are part of a bid to draw 30 million tourists to the coun-try by 2020 and to reach pre-uprising tourist levels.

Tourists are thronging back to Egypt after last year’s revolt that ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

Pre-uprising, in 2010, the country received a record 14.5 million tourists and brought in some $12.5 billion in revenue.

Red Sea resorts, such as Ain Sokhna and Marsa Allam, are some of the sites due to come up for auction.

With Turkish Airlines launching direct flights from Istanbul to Red Sea resorts, such as Sharm el-Sheikh, the tourism authority is likely to lure more Turkish and European visitors.

Ethiopia sees success in conference tourism

Seychelles Tourism relaunches monthly newsletter

Ethiopia is emerging as a strong player in conference tourism. According to a report from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ethiopia earned more than $39 million from conference tour-ism in the country’s last fiscal year, with some 50,000 people attending conferences held across the country.

Revenue came from local, conti-nental and international conferences the country hosted, said the minis-try’s international and public rela-tions directorate director, Ato Awoke Tenaw.

Tourism officials are hoping to increase earnings from the sector

by expanding conference tourism in different regional centres, includ-ing Adama, Bahr Dar, Hawassa and Bishoftu.

Egypt is expecting a 20% increase in tourism.

The Seychelles has recorded a 7% increase in tourist arrivals.

The African Union hall in Addis Ababa.

Red Sea resorts are some of the sites to come up for auction.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 24AmERICAS

For the 15th month in a row, international tourism to the U.S. went up in June to 5.3 million, a 7% increase from the same month last year.

According to the federal government’s Office of Travel and Tourism

Industries, Canada and Mexico continued to be the top markets, up 9% and 2% respectively. However, this year also saw visitor numbers from Brazil soar, with an increase of 13%.

New York is the top port

entry for international visitors, and Miami the second, the data revealed.

International tourists prefer to stay longer in south Florida and tend to spend more than domestic tourists, the figures showed.

U.S. tourism up for 15th month in a row

Canada rail has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of Indian travellers, according to national rail service VIA, recording a rise of 20% of Indians using the service since 2011.

VIA plans to capitalise on the growing market by cooperating with India’s travel trade, sharing product knowledge and destination information. In partnership

with the Canadian Tourism Commission, VIA is to develop a campaign to promote activities and engage the industry with familiarisation trips.

Six new departures from Montréal, Québec City, Ottawa and Toronto, as well as a new route, Québec City to Ottawa via Montréal, will be added to the VIA Rail schedule from December 2012.

A government campaign to target emerging niche markets is expected to draw about 1 million tourists to Peru’s most famous archeological site, the ancient city of Machu Picchu.

In recent years, some 630,000 foreign travellers have visited the site, with travellers from Brazil and Uruguay increasing at levels higher than

40%, according to president of the National Tourism Chamber (Canatur), Carlos Canales.

Growing tourism in Peru has prompted hotel chains to invest more than $1 billion in expansions over the next five years.

Hotel projects worth $500 million are currently under development.

Mexico investment tops $20bn

Private investment for the development and maintenance of tourism projects in Mexico topped the six-year target of $20 billion for the period of January 2007 to September 2012.

The figure came to $20,129,900,000, according to the Mexico Ministry of Tourism.

The investment was intended for the development of some 1,146 projects, to increase tourist

numbers and fulfill the commit-ments outlined in the National Agreement on Tourism.

Cumulative investment alone reached $1,820,340,000, from January to September.

Some 130.6 million inter-national tourists visited Mex-ico between January 2007 and September 2012, and for-eign exchange earnings from international visitors totalled $71,027,000,000, up 12% and 22% compared to the same period of the previous administration.

The number of domestic tourists totalled 133.2 million from January to September 2012, up 6% on the same period in 2011.

Canada rail sees 20% increase in Indian travellers

Peru aims for 1 million tourists to Machu Picchu site

New York is the top port entry for international visitors.

Mexico city. The investment will go into some 1,146 projects.

Canada’s rail service VIA. Hopes to cooperate further with Indian tour operators.

Machu Picchu in Peru has seen 630,000 visitors in recent years.

Brazil top spot for 2013, say bloggersBrazil is the top destination to watch in 2013, according to travel bloggers.

According to the bloggers, the eyes of the world will all be on this nation next year and for the next few years, with Bra-zil hosting two major sports events: the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

Brazil, Albania and Myan-mar bagged the first three top places for destinations to visit next year from a list of 13 com-piled by the bloggers.

The initiative came from travel website G Adventure, an online tour company focused on sustainable development and adventure tourism.

The five leading bloggers selected to participate in the G Adventures Wanderers

Residence programme were: Gary Arndt (Everything Everywhere); Jodi Ettenberg (Legal Nomads); Matt Kep-nes (Nomadic Matt); Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott (Uncor-nered Market) and Nellie Huang

(Wild Junket).The other 10 destinations

ranked in order were Mongo-lia, New Zealand, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Iceland, Sin-gapore, Namibia, Jordan, and Zanzibar.

Brazil. The destination to watch for 2013.

Latin America is gearing up to host global events and com-pete on an international scale, presenting its qualities as an ideal setting for the exchange of ideas and face-to-face interactions.

“Within the last 10 years there has been a completely different twist in Latin Amer-ica, in terms of social and political stability and sustain-able economic growth,” Hil-ton Worldwide vice president of sales and marketing for Latin America, Mexico and the Caribbean, Carlos Baruki, said.

“As for meetings, 12 years ago, we didn’t really have min-istries or secretaries of tour-ism but now, we have chap-ters of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Professional Convention

Management Association,” he added.

The region has many events listed in the years to come. Colombia is to host the 20th annual Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association Cruise Conference and Trade Show in 2013 and Argentina will hold the International Con-gress and Convention Asso-ciation’s (ICCA) International Congress in 2015.

Latin America gears up to become global meeting place

Cartagena in Colombia will host the 2013 Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association Cruise Conference and Trade Show.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 26CARIBBEAN

The Bahamas is benefiting from a boost in visitor spending with “exponential” growth in sports tourism.

Director of sports tourism development, Tyrone Sawyer said, “Sports tourism is growing almost exponentially. We just had Battle 4 Atlantis, which gen-erated a tremendous amount of air stopover visitors and room nights,” he said.

The Junkanoo Jam tour-nament in Grand Bahama brought some 500 participants, about 1,000 room nights and expenditure in the millions,

Sawyer said.The country hopes to attract

some 350 visitors to the Mar-athon Bahamas, which takes place on the Martin Luther King birthday weekend in January, with promotions in Florida.

The Bahamas Speed Week Revival is another important event on the sports tourism cal-endar, said Sawyer. Speed Week 2011 drew about 300 to 500 visi-tors to the Bahamas.

The Bahamas in sports tourism boom

With ambitions to make the Dominican Republic the

main Caribbean cruise termi-nal, President Danilo Medina

recently met with execu-tives from Royal Caribbean International.

At a meeting aboard the Explorer of the Seas ship in Samana, in northeastern Dominican Republic, Royal Caribbean vice president Michael Ronan presented the company’s strategies to San-chez and others for trans-forming Samana province and preparing it for more cruise passengers.

Also discussed were Bahia Cruise Services’ plans for a new dock in an area of 50,000 square metres next to Samana’s existing pier, to be operational in the 2013-14 season.

Medina said he would do “whatever is necessary” to sup-port cruise tourism. “I want to work together [to] bring more tourists and bring more peo-ple to benefit from tourism,” he said.

Rihanna, the new face of Barbados Rihanna has signed a three-year contract as brand ambassador for Barbados Tourism, launch-ing the deal in an ad campaign shot on the beaches of her home-land this summer.

With inspirational phrases such as, “The biggest risk is not taking one”, the shots show Rihanna flaunting her beach bod in a colourful swimsuit.

The BTA is hoping Rihan-na’s marketing weight will boost the country’s economy amid a global recession and has invested more than a quarter of a million dollars in the initiative.

Dominican Republic aims to expand cruise opportunities

The Bahamas. Beaches, sun and sports events are drawing the crowds.

The Atlantis basketball competition takes place in the Bahamas.

Dominican Republic is focusing on cruise tourism.

Rihanna’s ad campaign for Barbados.

Jamaican tourism is in recovery after Hurricane Sandy seriously impacted travel to the area, with thousands of flights cancelled from the U.S.

The north east of the U.S. accounts for some 75% of travellers to Jamaica.

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment Dr. Wykeham McNeill was optimistic the fallout from Sandy would not lower demand for travel for long.

Flights are expected to be rescheduled and constant dialogues are being exchanged with tourism partners, including tour operators, he said.

The minister also expressed his condolences

to the families in the U.S., Jamaica and the other affected countries who lost loved ones during the storm.

Jamaica optimistic tourism to pick up after Sandy

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Dr. Wykeham McNeill.

Puerto Rico’s partnership with Expedia and the hotels.com site has seen a boom in travel to the country.

According to Expedia, bookings through its more than 100 sites worldwide for Puerto Rico have gone up 28% in the first six months of 2012 from the same period last year.

The dynamic packages offered by Expedia are attracting visitors, making Puerto Rico one of the fastest growing markets, according to information released by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.

The recent launch of Expedia.mx, Mexico, is also proving to be a boon for Puerto Rico industry, with a 137%

increase in bookings to Puerto Rico in 2012’s first six months,

“The Thanksgiving weekend also proved to be

a good one for the tourism industry,” said Tourism Co. executive director Luis Rivera-Marín.

Expedia records 28% growth in travel to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico has seen a significant rise in visitor numbers.

Hyatt is to open a Hyatt House in San Juan, Puerto Rico with an affiliate of Island Hospitality Partners, LLC, a joint venture of PRISA Group and McConnell Valdes Consulting.

Puerto Rico Tourism Company executive director Luis Rivera Marín, PRISA Group president Federico Stubbe Jr. and other government officials attended a ceremony for the commencement of construction for the hotel, expected to open in autumn 2014.

The new hotel, part of a 113-acre master planned project, will offer views of Atlantic Ocean and San Juan Bay from 126 studio one- and two-bedroom kitchen suites.

“We believe the Hyatt House brand and the location of the hotel in San Juan’s convention centre district will have strong appeal to business and leisure travellers visiting the city,” said Pat McCudden, senior vice president for real estate and development at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.

Hyatt to open Hyatt House San Juan in 2014

The Hyatt comes to Puerto Rico.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 27OCEANIA

Australia is a top spot for Chi-nese travellers, with visitor numbers up 26.5% in September compared to last year. However, it’s the luxury shopping centres more than the normal tourist attractions that are drawing these high-spending tourists.

“Chinese are spending big on leisure activities,” CEO of Destination Melbourne, Chris Buckingham said. “Shopping at places such as the Collins Street fashion boutiques and seeking out food experiences.”

More than 43,000 Chinese visited Australia in Septem-ber, figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statis-tics show, with the key markets of Hong Kong and Singapore showing strong growth – up 14.5% each, as well as Malaysia,

with an 11.4% increase.Overall, Australia’s inbound

tourism went up by 3% over the past 12 months.

With 542,000 Chinese

visiting Australia last year, a growth of almost by 20% com-pared to 2010, Tourism Austra-lia expects the number of visi-tors to exceed 600,000 this year.

The eruption of Mount Ton-gariro could prove to be a blessing in disguise for New Zealand tourism, with opera-tors hoping for more activity after the volcano recently emit-ted a plume of ash and gas up to 4km into the air in an event lasting some five minutes.

While the eruption resulted in the cancellation of some Air New Zealand flights at regional airports in Taupo, Rotorua and Gisborne, tour operators believe such eruptions are pos-itive as long as it doesn’t go on for too long.

“These things have a funny

way of working out in a pos-itive way,” Visit Ruapehu general manager Mike Smith said.

Meanwhile, Air New Zea-land has resumed flights to and from Rotorua, Taupo and Gisborne as the skies are now clear of any ash.

Australia drawing more high-spending Chinese tourists

Singapore Airlines signs AUD 5 million deals in Australia

Singapore Airlines has signed agreements with an investment of more than AUD 5 million with Australia’s six tourism organisations, continuing its 45-year service to the country and efforts to promote tourism.

Two new agreements were signed with the South Aus-tralia Tourism Commission and Destination New South Wales between July and Octo-ber. Existing agreements with Tourism Australia, Tourism Queensland, Tourism Vic-toria and Tourism Western

Australia were expanded with an aim to grow their value and include new markets.

The agreements cover key markets of selected countries in Europe and Asia, including the UK, Germany, India, Indo-nesia and Singapore. Market-ing campaigns and activities will be jointly funded by Sin-gapore Airlines and the tour-ism organisations under the partnerships.

The agreements are for a period of between two and four years.

Tourism boards support move for NZ-Oz open border

NZ hopes Hobbit will work magic for tourism

Volcano eruption could be blessing in disguise for NZ tourism

Tourism boards are strongly behind a move by the Tour-ism and Transport Forum to open the borders of Australia and New Zealand.

More than half the respon-dents in a recent TTF-Mas-terCard Tourism Indus-try Sentiment Survey said a single-point customs clear-ance between both countries was important to improve passenger processing from NZ. More than 50% believe a trans-Tasman visa for for-eigners visiting both coun-tries was an essential reform,

the data revealed. “Removing the barriers

to travel between Australia and NZ would make it eas-ier for international visitors to visit both countries, espe-cially important with Austra-lia and NZ to co-host the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015,” TTF chief executive John Lee said.

The Cairns Chamber of Commerce has also pro-posed simplifying customs and immigration processes between Cairns and Papua New Guinea.

New Zealand’s tourist industry is hoping the recently released blockbuster The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will bring in plenty of tourism riches.

Most of the film was shot in New Zealand’s lush green, roll-ing farmland, and Tourism New Zealand is taking every opportunity to capitalise on the film’s popularity.

Passengers at Auckland air-port are greeted by a huge Gol-lum character and there are numerous Hobbit and Lord of the Rings tours.

The films have definitely been good for business. After the Lord of the Rings films came out, a Tourism New Zea-land survey showed 6% of visi-tors came as a result of having

seen the movies. However, Tourism New Zea-

land boss Kevin Bowler said the country is not all about movie scenes, “Film is just part of our overall marketing programme,” he said. “For us it is all about promoting the landscape, pro-moting the experiences and the people of New Zealand to the world.”

Chinese tourism to Australia has risen 26.5%.

Easing customs and visa processes is an essential reform, said those surveyed.

New Zealand’s Mount Tongariro.

Most of The Hobbit was shot in NZ’s lush, rolling farmland.

Singapore Airlines has deepened its commitment to Australia.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012

Fiji is transforming its tourism sector with major reforms in the industry, including the launching of Fiji Airways, a rebranding of Air Pacific, and a global mar-keting campaign.

The introduction of the brand new Airbus A330 is another significant develop-ment inspiring growth across the industry, with hopes that all measures will further

boost tourism in 2013.“The hotels are all ready

because we still have capac-ity,” chairman of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association Dixon Seeto said. “We’re very pleased with Air Pacific’s fleet plan because this is how we’re going to bring in more people, fill hotels and resorts and get the economy stronger on the basis of greater tourism earn-ings and foreign exchange.”

New-look airline and global campaign changing the face of Fiji tourism

A tourism body from the Sol-omon Islands recently visited Australia and New Zealand in a drive to win back tourists from its biggest traditional markets.

While the Solomons is recovering and security is fully restored, lack of aware-ness about the region in Aus-tralia still prevails, Solo-mon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) marketing manager Freda Unusi, said. There are

ongoing talks with the Aus-tralian government to estab-lish a local sales representa-tive. SIVB also plans to launch its ‘So Solomons, So Different’ tagline this month.

In 2011, the destination wel-comed 22,000 visitors, 49% of whom were from Austra-lia. With a strong events pro-gramme, including the Pacific Festival of Arts, the tourism body expects to see visitor numbers hit 25,000 this year.

A first-time appearance at Lon-don’s World Travel Market and a new tourist office in the city

are part of Papua New Guin-ea’s drive to attract UK adven-ture travellers to the region.

The island moved its main European office from Germany to London follow-ing a rise in the number of UK visitors last year to 5,753.

“I think the time is right for us to start working in the UK market,” director of mar-keting for the PNG Tour-ism Promotion Authority, Leith Isaac, said. “We want to showcase Papua New Guinea as more of an adven-ture destination – more than the sun, sea and sand of our neighbouring islands. We want to be different,” he said.

The island is also devel-oping infrastructure and plans to introduce new adventure options.

The island expects to increase the number of visi-tors by 5% over the next two years and by a further 5% within five years.

Fiji’s $23m revamp aims for the China and wider Asian market

American Samoa tightens fish and shark protection

Fiji has injected some $23.5 mil-lion into its tourism rebrand-ing effort, creating attractive packages and improving facil-ities in a bid to lure Chinese tourists and the wider Asian market.

China – currently Fiji’ fifth biggest source market – is among the primary targets for Fiji as it seeks to establish the islands as an alternative to other Asian resorts, such as Bali and Phuket.

The national carrier Air Pacific has reverted to its 1951 name of Fiji Airways, with

the addition of three new air-craft, fresh furnishings and a revamped fleet.

Offices were set up by the airline in Hong Kong earlier

this year and a Shanghai mar-keting and PR office were recently added.

More hotels and casinos are also in the pipeline for 2013.

American Samoa, a world leader in protecting coral reef fish species, has introduced tighter regulations to help fish populations recover and create a balanced ecosystem.

The catching or possession of Humphead Wrasse, Bump-head Parrotfish, Giant Grou-per or any species of shark anywhere in the territory or territorial waters is now banned by the Department

of Marine and Wildlife Resources.

Possession of shark fins is also illegal in the territory.

Scuba diving tourism is a major income earner for small tropical island countries and can generate more revenue than fishing, a practice that had led to a decrease in the number of sharks in the region.

The regulations took effect on November 11, 2012.

The Fiji National Univer-sity (FNU) has signed a deal with the Tahiti Tourism Insti-tute that will enable cooking teachers and academics from both countries to conduct exchanges.

The French Embassy in

Fiji, which is helping fund the initiative, said it believes the deal will strengthen reciproc-ity and build the capacity of teachers.

“It’s a special memoran-dum to support, in particular, the reciprocity, to strengthen

the capacity of the teachers from the FNU,” said Denis Decraene, a spokesman for the French Embassy in Suva.

In the first year of the exchange agreement, the French Embassy will provide $30,000, Decraene said.

Fiji University and Tahiti tourism sign exchange deal

Papua New Guinea targets UK adventurers

Solomon tourism drive in Australia

The rebranding of Fiji Airways is part of reforms in the industry.

Fiji. Attractive packages and improved facilities.

The Solomon Islands aims for 25,000 visitors this year.

Diving to see sharks generates more money than fishing in American Samoa.

Papua New Guinea wants to highlight it is more than just sun, sea and sand.

28 ⋅ OCEANIA

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 ⋅ 29EVENTS

Turkey’s 5-day roadshow monaco style charms the travel trade

First-ever for Portugal Queensland on tour

Monaco recently celebrated the spectacular success of its roadshow in India, where it

showcased the country’s attractions and promotional packages at events in Mumbai and Delhi.

Highlighting Monaco’s reputation for excellence, natural splendor and high living, the country’s advocates presented the vacation and conference possibilities of the world’s second smallest country.

“India is increasingly becoming a niche strategic market for us,” said Monaco’s Ambassador to India Patrick Medecin. Also present at the event were Monaco Government Tourist and Convention Authority (MGTCA) marketing director Eric Marsan; director of communications and PR Jean-Francois Gourdon; director of sales and marketing, Asia Pacific, Benoit Badufle; and MGTCA press and

PR manager Corinne Kiabski. Focusing on wedding tourism,

luxury and business travel, is part of a bid to boost visitor numbers.

“We know how lavish and sophisticated Indian weddings are,” Gourdon said. “Monaco is a fairytale destination. We can take care of all the requirements of such groups.” The country also launched its Passport to Monaco, with coupons for free entry to museums and attractions, said Rajeev Nangia, associate director of Monaco’s marketing representative in India.

The principality hopes to increase India inbound tourism by 25% over the coming year, Marsan said.

“Monaco recorded 5,000 Indian overnight stays in 2011,” he said. “Some 1,500 Indians stayed more than a day in Monaco in 2011. While the average length of stay for a Monaco visitor is 2.8 days, for Indians it is almost five days.”

Turkey’s five-city roadshow round India kicked off this month with a packed event at

Mumbai’s Four Season Hotel, before moving onto Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi.

The programme, a first-ever cooperation between the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Turkish Hotelier Federation (THF), aimed to build on the country’s growing popularity as a wedding and honeymoon venue, and increase awareness as to its sporting attractions, such as golf.

“Turkey has always been famous for its cultural and historical attractions, but today the country offers numerous leisure options for modern tourists,” Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Counsellor Özgür Aytürk said. “The roadshow will help hoteliers better understand the needs of Indian travellers,” he added.

Indian tourism to Turkey has witnessed a 20% growth year on year, reaching some 66,700 visitors so far in 2012.

“There are many more things we would like to achieve in India,” said Ceylan Ozen Eri�en, consul

general at the Turkish Embassy in Mumbai. “We would like to multiply the number of tourists in both directions.”

“India is one of the key markets for us,” THF chairman Osman Ayik said. “The positive growth rate of Indians visiting Turkey has strengthened my confidence in the market,” he said, adding the roadshows could increase to twice a year if demand continues to grow.

Turkish Ambassador Dr Burak Akcapar, centre, with members of the Turkish HotelierFederation in New Delhi.

Ceylan Ozen Erisen, consul general at the Turkish Consulate in Mumbai.

Portugal’s Secretary of State for Tourism Cecilia Meireles, second from left, with members of the delegation.

Monaco’s tourism board presenting to members of India’s travel industry.

From left: Badufle, Gourdon, Kiabski and Indian author Shobha De, who spoke of a recent trip to Monaco.

Portugal held its first-ever B2B workshops in India this month, as part of a bid to boost ties and

trade between the two countries. A delegation led by Portugal’s Secretary of State for Tourism Cecilia Meireles ran programmes aimed at increasing inbound tourism to Portugal by building relationships with Indian tour operators, travel agents, wedding planners, and even Bollywood industry insiders.

“We have always felt close to India, especially on account of our historic connection with the State of Goa,” Meireles said. “Our maiden marketing initiative will effectively position Portugal as a leisure, historic and cultural destination among Indian travellers.”

During the workshops, some

500 to 600 pre-selected Indian trade professionals interacted with the Portuguese delegation, opening networking possibilities and knowledge sharing.

“We are excited about conducting our first tourism-oriented marketing visit to India,” Frederico Costa, president of Turismo de Portugal, said. “The workshops represent a vital component in establishing linkages between Indian and Portuguese travel professionals.”

Portuguese Ambassador to India Jorge Roza de Oliveira added, “India is a very lucrative market and we are aware of the potential it holds in terms of outbound leisure and corporate travellers. Through this initiative we are confident the historic relationships exisiting between our two countries will be given an added impetus for growth.”

The recently concluded Queensland on Tour roadshow in India saw more than 20 lead-

ers from travel, tourism and hospitality interacting with their 400 Indian coun-terparts in what was a successful net-working and knowledge sharing events across four cities.

The roadshow, always a big hit in India’s metros, travelled to Delhi, Chen-nai, Kolkata and Mumbai, drawing new-bies and veterans of the travel industry.

Island resorts, wildlife and theme parks, hotel chains and rainforest retreats were all showcased at the events, including first-time appearances for Marriott International, Qantas Hol-idays and Experience Tours Australia, among others.

Speaking about the success of the roadshows, international director of Tourism Queensland for India, Middle East and Korea Paul Buggy said, “Indian visitors to Queensland have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5% since 2010, and the market has great future growth potential.

“This growth is strongly aided by our consumer and trade events, like Queensland on Tour, which offer a wide spectrum of experiences in addition to business networking and reinforcing ties with the travel trade. It’s great to see such a diverse group of operators tak-ing advantage of this opportunity to pro-mote Queensland’s tourism industry in an important international market for the state.”

International director of tourism for Korea, India and the Middle East Paul Buggy speaking during the Queensland on Tour roadshow at The Park Hotel in New Delhi.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | DECEMBER 2012 EVENTS ⋅ 31

Great Britain’s tourism body and India’s fastest growing online travel portal celebrated a working cooperation worth some £100,000 at a press and trade event in Delhi recently.

The aim of the co-op between VisitBritain and Yatra is to spread awareness about Britain as a destination for Indian families, single travellers and couples, and

to show tourists all that Britain has to offer.Britain has been capitalising on the surge in

tourism and its successful hosting of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in London earlier this year, with campaigns and collaborations around the world.

As part of its 2020 strategy to increase visitor

numbers to 40 million, VisitBritain aims to increase distribution through travel trade in key markets, improve range of product offer and make it easier to visit Britain by improving visa policy and increasing aviation capacity.

In teaming up with Yatra, which services some 5 million travellers per year, VisitBritain hopes to build on its image post-Olympics, promote Britain as a honeymoon venue and increase awareness of regional destinations.

It is hoped a series of TV adverts featuring Salman Khan and produced by Yatra will further boost the campaign.

“Reaching out to a potential audience of 150 million households, VisitBritain hopes to increase brand awareness of Britain’s great offerings through the TV commercial ... utilising the star power of Salman Khan,” a statement to the press said.

Patricia Yates, director of strategy and communication at VisitBritain, said, “India remains one of our most important inbound markets. This partnership with Yatra will help us to broaden our appeal as a destination and promote all that is great about Britain. Whether it’s going on a tour of Buckingham Palace, seeing the sunrise at Stonehenge or watching a Test match in cricket, Britain has so much for India visitors to explore.”

Neeraj Dev, head of outbound product at Yatra, said, “The UK has a tremendous recall as it remains one of the top aspiration destinations for Indian travellers. At Yatra.com we want to capture this imagination and dream of the Indian traveller and introduce him to tourist destinations beyond London in the UK. We will encourage travellers to visit the Lake District, Scotland, Liverpool and other tourist destinations of Great Britain.”

The VisitBritain-Yatra press event in New Delhi.

VisitBritain teams up with India’s Yatra in £100,000 promo agreement

Posted at NDPSO, New Delhi - 110002 on 5/6 & 20/21 of every month.Date of Publication 01/02 &15/16 every month

Postal Registration No. DL(S) - 01/3404/2012-14RNI No. DELENG/2011/40217