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A DDP PUBLICATION

Conventions call for serious business

The results highlighted that a majority ofthe attendees gain from the information and

knowledge dispersed at the convention. While networkingand meeting new people were not far behind but embracingnew industry trends and being updated with the latesthappenings remain the key intention. Surprisingly, ourindustry does not like to party much at a conference and thisremained the least popular choice.

recently conducted a poll asking the industry, “Why doyou attend trade conventions?”40%

33%

23%

4%

Information& Knowledge

Networking

Meeting New People

Fun & Party

The three travel agents’associations, namely,TAAI, TAFI and IAAI,

are expected to play animportant role in gettingcommissions back.

Naturally, three differ-ent associations would thinkdifferently. However, thecommissions could only beassured if these associationseither collectively, or in their

own ways, are able to deter-mine a respectable quantumof commission with the air-lines. Fortunately, all associ-ations are open to work joint-ly with any body that sup-ports the cause of commis-sions to travel agents. But,the road is not simple andonly time will tell, if they canjointly rewrite the history ofagents’ commissions.

presents a statuson strategic updates on TAAI,

TAFI and IAAI, and howwould they like to bring aboutthe quantum:-

IAAIAs per Biji Eapen,

President, IAAI; a major battle has been won, whichestablishes commissions as alegal right. “Now, the battlethat is left is to determinecommissions. These are aptconditions for the travelagents’ community to come

The recent orders by the MoCA mandating commissionshad provided some respite to the travel agents. However,the biggest challenge for the travel agent fraternity isto settle the quantum of commission as directed in theorders with the respective airlines.

VIVEK SETHI

Contd. on page 6

Commission unites associations

If we are all together, no power on earth can delay or refuse our right tocommissions

We are open towork with anytravel association, possessing the dedication to safeguardtravel agents’interests

We are open towork with anyassociationsupporting travelagents’ crusadeto restoresuitablecommissions

Iqbal MullaPresident, TAAI

Praveen ChughVice President, TAFI

Biji EapenPresident, IAAI

While most conventionsare conducted as

stand-alone events, TAAI isgoing that extra mile by club-bing the Congress with ITTE.

The theme of this year’s con-vention Congress 2013 is‘Connect. Co-operate.Collaborate’ which is too apt.Giving the travel agents thatextra push for making newconnections is the need of the

hour, NM Sharafudeen, VicePresident, TAAI pointed out.

ITTE, this year, spansapproximately 1,000 squaremetres, comprising approxi-mately 35 to 40 stalls. “TheExpo will witness participa-tion of major tour operators,travel agents, state tourismboards and NTOs, along with

travel technology providers.The move to merge theIndian Travel Congress withITTE will provide a great net-working opportunity for TAAItravel agents who may nototherwise be able to networkwith such a broad spectrumof people from the travelindustry,” he stated.

According to the VicePresident, the challengetoday is to create new talent.“We need to increase man-power in the industry and then make this manpow-er more trained and skilled,”he suggested. In a bid to fill the gap in this employment ratio, TAAI has

also tied up with TRS SkillsAcademy. The Academy iscommitted to provide skills,knowledge and behaviortraining services in the trav-el, tourism, aviation and hos-pitality industry throughdevelopment of professionalcertification programsencompassing all career

stages from front line to exec-utive level with leadershipresponsibilities. In the lasttwo years, TAAI has alsoappointed trainers for skilldevelopment and knowledgeenhancement of its members.This has received an overwhelming response, he added.

ME G H A PAU L

According to NM Sharafudeen, Vice President, TAAI, the challenge today is to create new manpower in the industryand then make it more trained and skilled.

Knowledge growth need of the hour

The move tomerge the IndianTravel Congresswith ITTE willprovide a greatnetworkingopportunity forTAAI travel agents

N M SharafudeenVice President, TAAI

ASSOCIATIONS TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2 TRAVTALK 3

The UNESCO’s back-ing for the Spice RouteProject by the Kerala gov-ernment came after twodays of meetings and pre-sentations at the UNagency’s headquarters inParis in November 2013.The Kerala Tourism’sambitious plan to bringthe ancient Spice Routeback to life for helpingmodern day travelerstread the path used bytraders and explorers twothousand years ago.

UNESCO for SpiceRoute Project

4 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

TAAI Northern Region isreinventing itself post

the selection of the new teamon basis of the elections heldon 8 August 2013. The newteam comprises Rajan Sehgalas Chairman, NeerajMalhotra as Hony Secretaryand Gaurav Dogra as HonyTreasurer. The new teamoffice will resume office postTAAI national election.

“Travel agents todayhave so many difficult issues.Diminishing commissions;onset of weekly paymentsand the difficult global eco-nomic scenario are amongthe major evils. Today, thetravel agents can only stayrelevant, if their issues areaddressed in due course oftime,” said Sehgal.

“I have been involvedwith TAAI NR for over 15years and have also servedthree terms as its hony sec-

retary. I feel there is a furtherneed to create a strong lobby

for discussing issues pertain-ing to travel agents. In my tenure, our team willsurely focus on invitingParliamentarians and politicalleaders so that, if the need be,

our voice is also heard insidethe Parliament,” he added.

Moreover, Sehgal feelsthat TAAI NR should getmore engaging with mediathat will help them createfavorable representations for travel fraternity. “We

have been focussed on our principals and have keptdiscussing our issues withthem. We shall continuedoing so. But, time has nowcome that we should also

work closely with media both the mainstream and the trade media. It will help us create a favourableimage of travel agents andget all our just demandsaddressed faster,” saidSehgal.

Rajen Sehgal, Chairman, TAAI NR feels the need to create a strong lobbyfor discussing issues pertaining to travel agents and ensure that if theneed arises, their voice is also heard inside the Parliament.

TAAI NR new team to engage more

TT BUREAU

Diminishingcommissions;onset of weeklypayments and thedifficult globaleconomic scenarioare among themajor evils

Rajen SehgalChairman, TAAI NR

Neeraj MalhotraHonorary Secretary, TAAI

Gaurav DograHonorary Treasurer, TAAI

Prince Charles in Kerala

Prince Charles, and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, chose to spendhis 65th birthday at Kumarakom Lake Resort. After a day spent

traversingthrough the tra-ditional andrenownedspots of Kochi, the royalcouple set offto unwind onthe serenebackwaters ofKumarakom

ASSOCIATIONS

How are you promotingSikkim among tourists?

So far this year, we havereceived 3.5 lakh tourists inSikkim. We need not promoteSikkim as such, but the factis that we are now trying to

show peoplewhat we haveto offer them.Sikkim haseverything tooffer to tourists- mountains,lakes, religiousspots, youname it and we

have it. The state is also atrekkers’ paradise and wehave got great places foradventure tourism. We havestarted with rock climbingand mountain climbing. Weare streamlining the adven-ture tourism sector; trekroutes have been opened upand we have made everybasic amenity available totourists. Besides these, wealso have trained personnelfor guiding tourists in variousadventure-related activities.

What then, are the road-blocks in promoting astate like Sikkim?

Here, we need to admitthat marketing and publicityare what we need to focus onto promote Sikkim. We havenot been able to market thestate very well. In most of theareas, people are not evenaware of where Sikkim is.Some of the tour operatorsthat I met recently told methat people often come back

asking if Sikkim is inDarjeeling. Hence, ignoranceis a major roadblock and weare trying to educate peopleby promoting the place in amuch larger way. And that’snot all, we want to marketSikkim globally and makeeveryone aware what thestate has to offer to tourists.Also, we are now trying towork with the Ministry ofTourism to promote the

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

C Zangpo, Secretary, Tourism & Civil Aviation Department, Government of Sikkim, talks on how theGreenfield airport coming up in Pakyong will help make Sikkim more accessible to all.

‘We need to market Sikkim well’

together and collectivelypitch for commissions above five per cent. We can gradu-ally get even more than fiveper cent.”

In a recent press com-muniqué, IAAI again said,“The quantum of commissionhas to be decided with con-sultation between airlinesand intermediaries takinginto account various commer-cial factors such as the mar-ket conditions, cost of theinfrastructure, establish-ments and the statutory def-inition of "tariff'. Legally, wehave made claims to all air-lines who have adopted zerocommission/transaction feesystem, or a very low com-mission coupled with trans-action fee, and have request-ed them to change overimmediately to the earliersystem of agency commissionat 5 per cent (on gross fare),as was prevalent in Indiabefore November 2008.”

“Our delegation hadmet the Director General(DGCA) and Secretary, MoCAtwice in October respectivelyand briefed the situation and

shall be apprising the CivilAviation Minister within acouple of days’ time, Further,we are re-processing theimminent case in the HighCourt of Kerala for a perma-nent solution and looking for-ward for a directive to theRegulator to execute andenforce the law, wherein onbasis of MoCA orders, theSolicitor General of India(representing the CivilAviation) had been asked tosubmit the Affidavit regard-ing compliance within threeweeks. We will certainlyappreciate if our esteemedassociations, including TAAIand TAFI, could also joinhands to support our nationalmove on this common cause.If we are all together, nopower on earth can delay orrefuse our right to commis-sions,” it added.

TAAI“We have always stood

and worked for travel agents.Commissions are a right,which has also been reflectedin the recent orders of theMoCA. We will not leave anystone unturned to ensurethat agents get adequate

remuneration from airlines.The voluntary shutdown inMay had sent across a clearmessage that the time hascome and agents will not beappeased without adequateremuneration. After all, it’snot only the big agents, butscores of small and medium-sized agents, whose exis-tence has been threatened by

the zero-commissionregime,” said Iqbal Mulla,President, TAAI.

“We are open to workwith any association that sup-ports the agents’ crusade forrestoration of suitable com-missions. However, we don’tstop, or write letters to claimcredit, while our crusade is

still on to get commissionsback,” he added.

TAFIAs per Praveen Chugh,

Vice President, TAFI, “We are glad that MoCA haddirected that ‘Commission’,‘Transaction Fees’,‘Convenience Fees’, or anyother terms used for the pay-

ment of remuneration totravel agents their servicesrendered by them are to betreated as ‘Commission’. Thecommissions should reflect inthe tariff, and airlines shouldcompensate the agents forcosts the latter had incurredfor selling the airlines tickets.I would like to submit herethat the commissions sobased must depend on thepercentage, instead of beingbased on a flat-fee mode. Thecost of air tickets varies andhence the agents should becompensated on basis of thepercentage of the value ofair-ticket.”

“Our association hasbeen in overdrive, meetingvarious government agenciesand airlines. The details ofthe meetings can’t berevealed at this point.However, we are shortlygoing to make some impor-tant developments known atan appropriate time. We arealso open to work with anytravel agents’ association, or travel agents who possessthe same dedication to safeguards agents’ interests,”he added.

6 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

Commissions: Associations’ common concern Contd. from page 1

Excerpts from MoCA ordersIt is clearly stated here

that that the term‘Commission’, ‘TransactionFees’, ‘Convenience Fees’, orany other terms used for thepurpose means the same, i.e.payment of remuneration tothe intermediaries for theservices rendered by themand therefore, all theseterms are treated as‘Commission’, mentioned inthe existing Rule 135 ofAircraft Rules, 1937 as a partof tariff to be determined byairlines. All these forms oflevy of fees as remunerationto be the intermediaries forthe services rendered bythem for issuing tickets to

passengers on behalf of theairlines are services permis-sible under the existing rulesprovided these are shown aspart of Tariff within the def-inition of Tariff and noamount will be collectedfrom the consumers over andabove this. Further, Rule 135(1) requires airlines to deter-mine the tariff which by def-inition includes commis-sions. Rule 135 (2) requiresairlines to display a singleconsolidated fare and give itsbreak up also for the con-sumer’s benefit. It is clearthat the statutory positionunder Rule 135 (n) clearlyrequires airlines to deter-

mine tariff in accordancewith law, including commis-sions payable to agents. Theexisting law requires airlinesto display total fare and itscomponents. However, it ismade very clear that as perthe rules, DGCA cannot laydown quantum of commis-sions payable by airlines toagents. It is entirely up tothe airlines to take a deci-sion in this regard in consul-tation with intermediariestaking in to account variouscommercial factors such asthe market conditions, thecost of the intermediary’sestablishment, etc & statu-tory definition of tariff.

Ignorance is amajor roadblockand we are trying toeducate people bypromoting theplace in a muchlarger way

C ZangpoSecretary, Tourism & Civil AviationDepartment, Government of Sikkim

Contd. on page 24

COVER STORY

The luxury industry isworth approx £77 billion

and is now truly global.Despite this boom, the cur-rent trends have cast a shad-ow on it and there are warn-ing signals of a comingimpasse. Questions are being increasingly raisedabout ethics and adverseimpact of tourism on ecology and environment.Overconsumption is becom-ing a mark of exhibitionismand is being replaced fromconspicuous to conscientiousconsumption.

Commercial establish-ments and hotels will need tore-look at products. HenceBed and Breakfast (B&B)accommodation is a viablealternative to the consciousconsumer who appreciatesthe concerns of depletingresources. B&B units havebeen exposed to competitionfrom star hotels and have tocompete in the open marketfor sourcing as well as tap-ping markets.

What B&B ownershave to do

The B&B owners may choose tourists from particular country as pertheir choice and may changetheir unit and decoration, etcaccording to the preferencesof such guests from thatcountry. At present, econom-ics of B&B scheme of Delhi isunviable. Now, the questionarises whether incomingtourists prefer B&B stay overthe conventional accommo-dation available in regularhotels. A survey was con-ducted between June toDecember 2012 by DTTDCon this aspect. Response from210 foreign & domestictourists was received. Theimportant findings were that27 per cent of the surveyedtourists were not satisfiedwith service offered at theplace of stay in Delhi but

none of the 13 tourists stay-ing in B&B units feltaggrieved on any issue relat-ed to stay. As many as 23 percent tourists desired homely

care. The survey alsorevealed that, on an average,the tourists coming to Delhiprefer to spend up to ̀ 4,045per night for an average stayof three-four days. All thesedesirable elements will cer-tainly be available in a B&Baccommodation. An added advantage of B&B stay, nev-ertheless, is that tourists get

similar facilities as are avail-able in regular hotels in tariff range which is approx-imately 25-30 per centcheaper as there is exemptionfrom levy of Luxury tax andapplicability of commercialrates on electricity & waterbills in B&B accommodations.

Inspite of such advan-tages, B&B scheme of Delhi is not picking up. Thereis hardly any individual orconcerted efforts for its pub-licity, promotion and market-ing. In fact, the Ministry ofTourism, Govt. of India andDelhi Government shouldgive extra incentives on pro-motion of the B&B scheme.This will help in solving theproblem of shortage of

budget accommodation without any further acquisition of land and devel-opment of infrastructure anddraining out non-renewableresources of energy, therebyearning ‘carbon credit’ byDelhi Government.

G G SaxenaMD & CEODelhi Tourism (DTTDC)

Why B&Bs are successful� B&B units have been exposed

to competition from star hotelsand have to compete in theopen market for sourcing aswell as tapping markets Now,the question arises whetherincoming tourists prefer B&Bstay over the conventionalaccommodation available inregular hotels.

� A survey was conducted between June to December 2012 byDTTDC on this aspect.

� Response from 210 foreign & domestic tourists was received� The important findings were that 27 per cent of the surveyed

tourists were not satisfied with service offered at the placeof stay in Delhi, but none of the 13 tourists staying in B&Bunits felt aggrieved on any issue related to stay.

� As many as 23 per cent tourists desired homely care.

GUEST COLUMN

‘B&B in the open market’With the depreciating value of the rupee combined withhigh air fares, the tourism industry is unsure of what thecoming year has in store. Bed and Breakfast (B&B) accom-modation is a viable alternative to the conscious consumer.

The International AirTransport Association (IATA)announced global passenger

traffic results for October2013. While internationalpassenger demand was up

6.9% inOctober thisyear comparedto the year-ago,the domestictravel demandrose 6.0% inOctober com-pared to a year-ago, largely

driven by strong trafficgrowth in developing mar-kets. IATA stated that India’sairlines experienced double-digit growth as traffic leapt11.5% in October comparedto a year ago. Airlines haveexperienced substantialvolatility in traffic and it islikely that the increase is aresult of unusually low vol-umes a year ago rather thangrowth in October.

Indian air traffic grows at 11.5% y-o-y

The writer is GG Saxena,MD & CEO, Delhi Tourism

(DTTDC). Excerpts

The India office of theCanadian Tourism

Commission (CTC) officiallylaunched the CanadianSignature Experiences (CSE)collection in the giant SouthAsian market. SiobhanChretien, Regional ManagingDirector, Emerging Markets,Americas/Asia, CanadianTourism Commission (CTC)says, “More and more of ourkey accounts are hearingfrom clients who want to visit Canada.

The CSE collectionwill help us promote Canada byshowcasing Indiantravellers what theycan enjoy in ourbeautiful country”.

The CSE programme isan ideal way for the traveltrade to sell Canada, especial-ly in India, where the rapidlyexpanding affluent middle-class population is expectedto pass the 500-million markby 2025. That segment willthen hold 60 per cent of thecountry’s purchasing power.

The statistics are rein-forced by data from CTC’sTourism Snapshot 2012 Year-In-Review where Indian con-sumers spent $173 million ontheir Canada travels last year,a 6.4 per cent increase.Keeping this in mind, CTC India is now targettingcities such as Hyderabad,Kolkata, Chennai andBengaluru, in addition toMumbai and New Delhi.

“The CSE Collection ismade of over 100 products andexperiences throughoutCanada, of which we haveselected approximately over20 products that are availablefor sale and ready for travellersfrom India to Canada. Thereare products across Canada,hotel chains, experiences liketaking the railway, to veryunique experiences in thewilderness like polar-bearwatching. It offers a greatmedley of adventure; unique,

exotic and compelling experi-ences that will surprise Indianvisitors,” says Chretien.

Chretien explains thatthere is a procedure whereinowners and operators of thecompanies must apply tobecome a CSE member.“There are very rigorous cri-teria involved and the ones

that are being promot-ed for India are experi-ences the Indian traveltrade are already sell-ing to the travellers.We have a group ofindividuals who reviewthat process. There aremany criteria - Howlong have you been in

the field? What makesyou compelling andunique? There arelots of attributes to fitinto the criteria andthese are thenreviewed and scoredaccordingly,” sheexplained. CTC does alot of agent-training

programmes. As Chretiensays, “The travel trade pro-gramme is the biggest ele-ment of the work that we dowithin India. This will be animportant component of theCanada specialist pro-gramme. We have a salesteam who travel throughoutIndia training agents.”

TT BU R E AU

NTO TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2 TRAVTALK 9

(L-R:) Stewart G. Beck, Canadian High Commissioner to India; Siobhan Chretien, Regional Managing Director, Emerging Markets, Americas/Asia for CanadianTourism Commission (CTC) and Guldeep Singh Sahni,President, OTOAI.

The Canadian Signature Experiences (CSE) Collection comprises over 100 products throughout Canada, ofwhich approximately 20 products are available for sale and ready for travellers from India.

Canadian Signature Experiences for India

Fiji, which is one of themost exotic destinations

for Indian honeymooners andFITs, is recording immensegrowth from India. Accordingto Pranav Kapadia, IndiaRepresentative, Tourism Fiji,Global Destinations; the year2013 was excellent for Fiji interms of both numbers andawareness. He said, “On thewhole, the value of packagesthat Indian travellers opt fordid fall around the periodwhen the INR depreciatedvis-a-vis the USD. However,Fiji is a long-haul, exotic des-tination and the segment oftravellers who opt for Fiji arenot affected much by the cur-rent economic factors. We

have seen an approximately30 per cent growth in our vis-itor arrivals from India.”

According to him, theIndian outbound market isgrowing at a rapid pace.“Additionally, the mindset ofIndian tourists is changing

and they arenow seekingnewer, moreexotic destina-tions.Currently, dueto limited air-line capacity toSE Asia, Africa& Australasia,

the full potential of our out-bound tourism cannot beexploited,” adds Kapadia. It

is now intending to achieve agrowth rate of 15 per cent invisitor arrivals from India andalso increase the number ofnights as well as spend in Fijiby Indians. The biggest chal-lenge is to convince theIndian travellers and set Fijiapart, says Kapadia.

Talking about the mar-keting and business strategyfor 2014, Kapadia said, “In2014, we plan to invest moretactical campaign with touroperators & travel agentsacross various media – print,online, radio & TV. We willcontinue hosting agents &media fams.”

ANITA JAIN

Fiji grows 30% from IndiaAfter recording 30 per cent growth from India in 2012, the tourism boardaims touching a bigger figure by launching a series of marketing initiatives.

Currently, due tolimited airlinecapacity to SEAsia, Africa &Australasia, the fullpotential of ouroutbound tourismcannot beexploited

Pranav KapadiaIndia Representative, Tourism FijiGlobal Destinations

1 0 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2 NEWS

Highlights of 2013Positive factor which

boosted the tourism sector–Our marketing efforts overthe last 3 years have beenvery successful & Fiji isbecome popular among theleisure & honeymoon seg-ment of the Indian out-bound. Also since this year

there is increased connec-tivity into Hong Kong fromMumbai, Kolkata &Hyderabad.

Negative factor whichdeterred the growth –Increase in airline taxes &surcharges have affectednumbers to Australasia

Air France-KLM, along with Delta AirLines, hosted an evening of cocktails and dinner toappreciate and thank the small and mediumagents in New Delhi. Present at the event wereRajat Kumar, Regional Sales Manager, Air France– KLM – Delta and Jason Philip, CommercialManager – Indian subcontinent.

Agents felicitated in Delhi

FAMILY ALBUM1 2 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

Scaling the peaks of tourism for 777 Days

In a major step towards establishing India as a round-the-year desti-nation, the Ministry of Tourism has designed a campaign, ‘777 days ofIncredible Indian Himalayas’ to spread awareness around the globethat 73 per cent ofthe Himalayan rangelies in India. It wasofficially launchedon World TourismDay in New Delhiand again at WTM in London.

AGENTS

With the Ministry ofTourism (MOT) turning

every stone to popularise andbring ‘North East India’ inlimelight for tourism indomestic and global markets,the region’s seven states arerecording growth in touristarrivals. MOT has committedin promoting the region, andover the years, has success-fully convinced number oftravel companies and opera-tors to promote the region.One of the travel companiesin Mumbai – Parivaar IndiaTours specialises in North East India and has seen a rise in tourist inflow this year. Through awide range of product offer-ings for every segment oftraveller, the company hasexperienced good number of inquires and steady busi-ness conversions.

Talking about the per-formance for this year,Abhijit Chalke, Director,Parivaar India said,“Considering the (present)low profile status of the heav-enly 7 sisters of NortheastIndia, the response was quitesatisfactory this year. Theoverall tourist movement inthe NE has increased consid-erably and our efforts in ded-icated promotion of NE arebeing rewarded steadily.”

Adding further aboutthe trends and challenges, he

said, “This year, we experi-enced a lot of queries, espe-cially for Assam &Meghalaya. Mostly, touriststend to visit these states asthe accessibility & infrastruc-ture is better, while for otherstates like Arunachal,Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur,Mizoram; that’s still a prob-lem, as we face operationaldifficulties in these states.The most challenging job ishandling the client profes-sionally in these destinations;

which frankly speaking. wemanaged moderately andemphasise to do betterahead. On the other hand, theMOT is doing a great job in promoting this region and developing tourist infrastructure.”

He informed that cur-rently, the biggest challengeis the availability of qualityhotels in North East Indiaregion. “However, cities likeGuwahati, Shillong andKaziranga have now devel-oped themselves for touristsand have quality offerings for travellers. The roominventory is very low andposes a lot of problems,though. There are numerousopportunities which we foresee in these incredibledestinations & with MOT promoting the region, I think the next year would bereally good.”

TT BUREAU

Pushing for NE tourism Expecting a healthy 2014 for the North East, ParivaarIndia has experienced a good number of inquiries andsteady business conversions through a wide range ofproduct offerings for every segment of traveller.

This year, weexperienced a lot ofqueries, especiallyfor Assam &Meghalaya. Mostly,tourists tend to visitthese states as theaccessibility &infrastructure is better

Abhijit ChalkeDirector, Parivaar India

� MOT is committed inpromoting the region,and over the years, hassuccessfully convinceda number of travelcompanies andoperators to promotethe region

� The biggest challenge isthe availability of qualityhotels in the North Eastregion of India

Opening the Gates

Haryana has proposed todevelop heritage hotels byconverting forts and inte-grated tourism parks onPPP mode. An integratedresort is also being pro-posed at the MadhogarhFort in Haryana with pri-vate sector support. TheHaryana government is set-ting up convention and con-ferencing facilities aroundthe existing tourist complex-es of the state.

Bhupinder SinghHooda, Chief Minister,Haryana, said that the statehas also identified Eco-Tourism, MICE Tourism,Medical Tourism and GolfTourism as major segmentsof travel for promotion inthe state. Hooda, who wasinaugurating the secondconvention of Hotel &Restaurant Association ofNorthern India (HRANI) inGurgaon, said the state

governmenthas pro-posed todevelopheritagehotels byconvertingforts,amusementparks and

integrated tourism parks onpublic private partnership(PPP) mode. An integratedresort is being proposed atMadhogarh Fort in Haryanawith private sector supportas well, he revealed.Currently, Haryana Tourismoperates 42 tourism com-plexes with accommodationfacilities.

A new Institute ofHotel Management is beingset up in Bhamboli villagein Yamuna Nagar and islikely to be inaugurated in2015. The state govern-ment has also commis-sioned convention centresat Surajkund, Tilyar Lake,Rohtak and Bhiwani andthe work for the same atHodal and Dharuhera hasalso been completed.

Haryana for convention facilities

The Turkish Culture andTourism Office recently

launched its India-specificwebsite www.turkey-

tourism.in, specifically forthe Indian audience. Cultureand Tourism Counsellor,Turkey, Ozgur Ayturk, says,“We had been using ourglobal tourism portalgoturkey.com for our Indianmarket, but we wantedsomething specific for Indiantravellers and the traveltrade through which eventhey could benefit.

This India-specificwebsite will givedetailed informationaccording to theexpectations of theIndian travellersand the travel trade

communi-ty.

The infor-mation thatyou get herewill be differ-ent from whatyou’d get in theother websites.

The content of the website isbased upon our experiencesand the recommendations ofthe travel trade community.”He says that the India-specif-ic website was necessitatedby the fact that India is animportant market for Turkey.Ayturk informs that they willvery soon include an onlinetraining module for theIndian travel trade as well inthe website. He says that thewebsite will be accessible fordownloading e brochures,videos, hi-resolution pictures,special events and news per-taining specifically to theIndian market, which will include both B2B andB2C clients.

When asked how differ-ent the India-specific websitewill be from the previous web-site, Ayturk says, “Informationabout the destinations will bemore or less the same, butwhen it comes to special con-tests and special trainings,those will be different.”

Made for India websiteThe growing importance of the Indian market has necessitated Turkish Tourism to launch its India-specific website for travel trade and tourists.

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

Usually, national tourismboards adopt Bollywood

as a marketing tool to estab-lish their brand among Indiantravellers. Tahiti Tourismbecomes the first NTO in

India which is attracted byBollywood. First, celebritieslike Abhishek, Aishwarya RaiBacchhan and Hrithik Roshanvisited Bora-Bora– one of thepopular islands in Tahiti forshooting. Then, Indian trav-ellers began inquiring about

the island nation. Due to risein queries from the Indiantravel trade, Tahiti Tourismturned its focus to India andhave started recognising it asone of the best potentialtourism markets of thefuture. According to RobertThompson, Director, Tahiti Tourisme;

India is proving to bean excellent potential market for the islandnation as more andmore high-end Indiantravellers are opting for Tahiti for honey-moon, vacations, familyholidays and evenincentives.

During his recent visitto India, Thompson metselect travel agents who arecurrently selling Tahiti toIndian travellers. He said,“After few popular Bollywoodcouples opted for Bora Boraislands, we were pulled into

the Indian market as thenumber of queries wasincreasing. We are not look-ing at a mass market, but we are focussing on thecreamy layer of the marketwhich is looking at qualityholiday experience.”

The tourism board hasrecently activated its globalonline training programmefor the Indian travel trade.Over 100 travel agents fromIndia have already registeredfor the same. The tourismboard will, in return, publishthe name and contact detailsof the specialist agent ontheir website for India region.

Elaborating on thetraining programme,Thompson said, “Currently,only Bora Bora islands arepopular in India, but we wantto offer choices to travellersby adding islands like Mooreawhich have excellent beach-es, hotels and even Indian

Bollywood pulls in TahitiThe tourism board has recently launched an online destination specialist programme for the Indian traveltrade. reports more…

AN I TA JA I N

NTO1 6 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

Ozgur AyturkCounsellorOutbound Tourism Turkey Robert Thompson

DirectorTahiti Tourisme

Contd. on page 20

India is climbing back withsteady improvement in

Index of IndustrialProduction, capital marketand consumer confidence. Infact, many captains of theindustry believe that the littledent in the form of fear of theIndian growth story losingsteam has paid off very well.

“India will remain asthe most dynamic growthstory among the emergingeconomies. The recent appre-hension that Indian growthstory will fizzle out, has yield-ed many positive announce-ments and agility in the pol-icy making process,” saidArjun Sharma, Co–Chairman, CII NationalCommittee on Tourism &MD, Le Passage to India.

“Today, when you lookat India, everything is backand looks as promising asbefore; be it the IIP, capitalmarkets, or our tourism sector,” he added. Echoingsimilar views, SubhashGoyal, President, IndianAssociation of Inbound TourOperators and Chairman,STIC Travel Group said, “Wehave to spread the message

that India has become over20 per cent more attractiveon account of depreciation inIndian Rupee, if we have tostimulate growth in the

inbound sec-tion. It’s like asilver liningthat can beused to earnthe covetedforeignexchange tohelp furtherstimulate

growth sentiment in our country.”

The FICCI’s recent sur-vey also points out that thepresent times are challeng-ing, but growing number of

stakeholders in the tourismindustry now feel that thereis a surge in inbound touristarrivals in 2013. “It is indeed

heartening to note that 46per cent of close to 500respondents from our indus-try felt confident of the for-eign tourist arrivals to go upin the coming six months. Anequal number of respondentsalso feel there would be noimpact of the slowdown overthe next six months on

tourism, which is a markedimprovement and showsgrowing improvement,” saidJyotsna Suri, Vice PresidentFICCI and Chairperson & Managing Director, Bharat Hotels.

Vikram Madhok, ViceChairman, PATA-IndiaChapter and MD,Abercrombie & Kent India

has set up aggressive targetsin the luxury inbound spacethat they operate with con-siderable ease. “In the firstthree months of the presentyear, we are about 10 percent below target. But, thebooking trend for Septemberonwards is very positive. Infact, we strongly believe that

the year will be very fruitfuland we will end the year withover 20 per cent growth,”Madhok said.

Arup Sen, Director,Special Projects, Cox & Kingsalso believe that the forth-coming season will offer goodreturns. “The winter of 2013is expected to be much better

than 2012. We expect growthin our inbound segment,”said Sen. Thomas Cook Indiais also committed to its bull-ish plans on the season aheadin 2013. “We are strongly

committed to the plans andtargets we’ve set ourselvesfor India Inbound season2013-14. Our current initia-tives include aggressive pro-motion and engagementsacross stakeholders to notjust neutralise, but also gives a strong reassurance,”said Surinder Singh

Sodhi – Senior Vice President & Head, LeisureTravel (Inbound), ThomasCook India.

MOT1 8 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

46% of close to 500 respondents from the industry feel confident of foreign tourist arrivals going up in the coming six monthsJyotsna Suri

Vice President, FICCI and CMD, Bharat Hotels

Growthopportunitiesemerging in the CIScountries and LatinAmerica arecommendable

Today, whenyou look at India,everything is back andlooks aspromising as before

Arjun SharmaCo – Chairman, CII NationalCommittee on Tourism & MDLe Passage to India

Dipak DevaVice Chairman, WTTCII and CEO,Destination Management, India &South Asia, Kuoni DestinationManagement

Talking about the Ministryof Tourism’s joint initia-

tive with WoNoBo, whichpresents a unique way tonavigate through Indiancities based on a number ofinteresting themes, ParvezDewan, Secretary, Ministryof Tourism says, “This willhelp remove all languagebarriers; you’ll have no trou-ble finding your way and youcan travel anywhere in thecountry without a guide.”

The service is presentlyavailable for 12 major Indian

cities and will soon beexpanded to 54 cities. Talkingabout the expansion plans,

Dewan says, “We want toexpand this to one walkingtour in every state of thecountry even if the statedoesn't figure in the top 35destinations of the country.

Once we cover every statechronologically in the order

of their rank in terms oftourist footfall - domestic andinternational - then we'll start more than one walkingtour in those states, like UP and Rajasthan.”

Dewan was talking on the sidelines of the

launch of Walking Tours, a joint effort of the Ministry of Tourism andWoNoBo.com.When asked tocomment on the proposal ofVisa-on-Arrival being extend-ed to 40 countries, Dewandid not comment but saidthat it is a Ministry of Home Affairs issue, though not before adding, “I don't like the figure 40, why not the whole world?” He also shed light on the significance of domestic market growingin India.

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, talks to about the ministry’s initiative for attractinginbound tourists that will remove language barriers and make them feel more at home. A few excerpts…

MOT’s gift for foreign tourists

As Indian inbound gets more promising, experts say it’s an opportunity to earn foreign exchange to help furtherstimulate growth sentiment in our country. speaks to veterans to know more about the industry.

Inbound to work miracles for tourism

VI V E K SE T H I

Contd. on page 20

We want to expand this to one walkingtour in every state of the country evenif the state doesn't figure in the top 35destinations of the countryParvez Dewan

Secretary, MOT

A new integrated ter-minal building was inau-gurated at Goa airport byAjit Singh, Minister ofCivil Aviation. The newterminal building, capableof handling domestic andinternational operations,offers facilities like pas-senger boarding bridges,CUTE enabled check-incounters, in-line compat-ible baggage handlingsystem, software-basedbuilding managementsystem, elevators andescalators. With an invest-ment of US$ 55.2 million(Rs 345 crore), the termi-nal building can handle2,750 peak hour passen-gers at a time. In 2012-13; Goa airport handled1,208 charter flights, anincrease of 45 per centover the year 2011-12.

New terminal atGoa airport

AVIATION2 0 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

Further suggesting afresh ray of hope, Sen said,“Most hotels and serviceproviders are quoting in INR,and thus mitigating anyexchange fluctuation risk.Nevertheless, with the rupeedevaluating to the US Dollar,the American market will geta natural impetus owing toincreased purchasing powerof the dollar.”

Here, Sodhi is quick toadd that the FTOs shouldpass on reasonable benefit totheir Indian counterpartskeeping in mind that theinputs costs are going to rise.

“Unarguably, the fall inrupee has made tour pack-ages a lot more affordable.However, in some cases, for-eign agents may increasetheir profit margins andhence only pass on the limit-ed benefits to the customer.The depreciation in rupeehikes fuel prices which willresult in commodity pricesshooting up. The currencymovement creates uncertain-ty in the market with trademargins taking a hit, in caseof an appreciation,” saidSodhi.

But, the rupee deprecia-tion can also create a ‘mirageeffect’ and distract the inboundindustry, which is fightingglobal and domestic odds togrow its FTAs. Because, the fallin value of rupee will in oneway enhance revenue earn-

ings, whencomputed inrupee terms.

“Theinbound spaceis still a longway off thehighs it hadscaled in

2007-08 before the crisis.The core source marketsthat used to give us busi-ness are still suffering.Leading economies inEurope, except the likes ofGermany, France and UK arestill recovering. Here, manycountries including Spainand Italy are yet to showstrong signs of recovery.Although the conventionalsource markets are takingtime to recover. However,the growth opportunitiesemerging in the CIS coun-tries and Latin America arecommendable. The samebullish sentiment is the case

with Asia,” said DipakDeva, Vice Chairman,WTTC-India and CEO,Destination Management,India & South Asia, KuoniDestination Management.

“It will be a commend-able task if the industry couldend up with double-digitgrowth. Here, one also needsto clearly define growth interms of visitor arrivals and revenues. If, the dollarstays beyond 60 levels, there will be automaticallyincremental growth in terms of revenues, while samepace is not likely to be seen interms of visitor arrivals. Wecan talk about any number ofworld heritage sites, theUNESCO heritage sites,world-class hotels, state-of-the-art airports. But mereinfrastructure is not enoughto bring tourists to a country,”added Deva.

According to Deva,Visa Liquidity in addition toair-liquidity is one of themost important aspects thatensures increase in visitorsarrivals to a country. Indiahad grown air-inventory inthe recent past, which isnow growing at a desirablepace. To leverage, India nowneeds to enhance visa liq-uidity. “Presume, if nextweek I need to go to Turkey.My office will get me anonline visa in literally speak-ing no time. These are theinitiatives that differentiatebetween the countries thatwant to generate tourist

arrivals from the rest. In theIndian context, we have, tosome extent, address sever-al issues related to visa.However, if we are notgoing to take facilitativesteps like illustrated, we willnever reach our true poten-tial in terms of inboundtourism,” said Deva.

“Today, people do notwant any hassle on a holiday.As of today, our visa process-es need to further gear up tomeet the tourist’s expecta-tions for a hassle-free visa

experience, without anyundue delays,” he said.

“The recent extensionof VoA facility to five newports including Goa andKerala are the right steps.Earlier, we used to face apeculiar situation with our Finnish clients. Over 50per cent of them come oncharter flights to Goa. But,they so far couldn’t availVoA in Goa, althoughFinland was included in theVoA scheme in 2011,” he added.

Contd. from page 18

India hasbecome over20 per centmore attractiveon account ofdepreciation inthe IndianRupee

The bookingtrend forSeptemberonwards wasvery positive.We expect theyear to end with over 20%growth

Vikram MadhokVice Chairman, PATA-India Chapterand MD, Abercrombie & Kent India

Subhash GoyalPresident, IATO & ChairmanStic Travel Group

We are stronglycommitted tothe plans andtargets thatwe’ve setourselves forIndia Inboundseason 2013-14

The winter of 2013 isexpected to bemuch betterthan 2012.We expectgrowth in ourinboundsegment

Arup SenDirector, Special ProjectsCox & Kings

Surinder Singh SodhiSenior Vice President & HeadLeisure Travel Inbound Thomas Cook India

India becomes more attractive

Air Costa, the firstregional airline from

Andhra Pradesh, is aiming tohave a total fleet size of 25aircraft by 2018 with aninvestment of close to USD100 million. A flagship ven-ture of the LEPL Group,Vijaywada, the company has

decided to strategicallylease-in its fleet in the initialphase due to lower acquisi-tion cost and the flexibility inapproaching the market.

Launched in mid-October 2013, the airlinealready connects Vijayawada,Chennai, Hyderabad,Bengaluru, Jaipur and

Ahmedabad and will soonadd other destinations in thecountry. It intends to redefinethe experience of flying byoffering convenient scheduleswith comfortable seatingspace. Air Costa mission is tooccupy a prominent niche inthe growing air-travel marketlinking the metros to the TierII & III cities in India.

Air Costa pro-vides early morningconnection and dayreturn flights to TierII and III cities andis not competing onthe major trunkroutes served bymost other airlines.Comfortable andmodern, the air-line’s fleet has been

highly praised by the travelfraternity and passengersalike. Passengers can travelwithout the cumbersome"Middle seat" and enjoy theluxury of a wider aisle witha larger view of the sky at41,000 feet.

Growth StrategyAir Costa has a clear cut

operational strategy that wasdesigned after rigorousanalysis and understandingof various economic, regula-tory and business factors.Under-served and lesser-competitive routes such asthose between bigger andsmaller cities, have thebiggest demand in terms ofpotential RPKM (Reads PerKilo per Million) and Air

Costa’s foray into theseuntapped market will helpreap higher yields. Withfavourable government poli-cies and passenger projec-tions, air travel in India ispoised to grow steadily mak-ing it the third largest avia-tion market in the world. AirCosta’s timely entry into themarket will allow it to capi-talise on this surge indemand. Government’s ini-tiative to modernise many ofthe Tier II and III city airportsis indeed a huge boost to theairline’s strategic expansionplans. Pricing will be a keydifferentiator and Air Costawill follow a flexi- fare sys-tem which is dynamic andmarket driven.

TT BUREAU

The airline is expanding fleet size and will soon launch a mobile booking app. It already connects Vijayawada,Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Ahmedabad and will soon add other destinations in the country.

Air Costa spreading wings across India

Contd. on page 24

restaurants. Through thisspecialist programme, agentswould get a better under-standing of our destinationand would be able to sellTahiti in a better way.Moreover, there is a need forproduct awareness in themarket. Most travellers stillthink we are in Europe asTahiti is a French colony. It’simportant to make the trav-ellers understand that we arenot in Europe.” He alsoextended an open invite toagents who will be attendingTRENDZ 2014 in NewZealand to come and visitTahiti. “We don’t have thebudget for the Indian marketat the moment as its still at anascent stage. However, weunderstand the potential ofthe market and thus are readyto organise fams for agentsvisiting New Zealand.” Tahitiis around four hours awayfrom New Zealand, and iswell-connected through mul-tiple airlines.

Contd. from page 16

Tahiti lures Indians

RESEARCH TALK2 2 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

India: Still a long way to reach the peak

Tourism Receipt ComparisonEven with 0.06% of the total international visitor arrivals, India has earned a respectableUS$11.13 billion in tourism receipts in 2009, going up to $17.74 billion in 2012. Whencompared to its South Asian compatriots, India leads. But when it comes to its tourismpeers in Southeast Asia, India has a lot of catching up to do. Thailand has seen itstourism receipts spike from US$14.88 billion in 2009, to a staggering US$ 31.65billion in 2012. Even Malaysia stays ahead of the game, nudging ahead with US$ 18.36 billion in 2012. The good news is, India is catching up.

Occupancy RateSince 2009, India’s occupancy rate inhotels has risen steadily, albeit for aslight slump in 2011. From 59% in2009, the occupancy rate of hotelsrose steadily to 61% in 2010. Unable

Average Daily RateADR, or Average Daily Rate of ahotel, represents the average rentalincome per paid occupied room in agiven time period. From 2009 to2012, the ADR of Indian hotel roomshave remained fairly steady, fluctu-ating between $138-$139, excepttouching a high of $145 in 2010.

Purpose of VisitThrough 2009 to 2011, there has beensignificant change in the motivationsof people coming to visit India. Froman all-time high of 58%, the leisure traf-fic has dropped to 24% in 2010, and26% of the total international visitorsin 2011. On the other hand, VFP hasrisen from 18% in 2009 to 28% in2010, and a respectable 25% in 2011.But the biggest gain has been in busi-ness travel. From a lowly 15% in 2009,it went up to 19% in 2010, and jumpedto 23% in 2011.

Revenue per available roomRevPAR, or revenue per available room, is a performance metric in the hotel industry, which is calculated by multiplying a hotel's average daily room rate (ADR) by its occupancy rate. It may also be calculated by dividing a hotel's total guestroom revenue by the room count and the number of days inthe period being measured.

RevPAR Comparison between India, Sri Lanka & Maldives

Visitor Forecast ComparisonIn its region, India is the king. When compared to its South Asian neighbours (Sri Lanka and Maldives),India stands head and shoulders above the rest. For 2013, India’s visitor arrivals, according to PATA forecasts, stand at 7.45 million, going up gradually to 10.09 million by 2017. To this figure, Sri Lanka andMaldives get a fraction of India’s tourist arrivals.

Source: IHG

to maintain the rise, the occupancy rateslid by a percent the next year. But in 2012,hotels rose to the challenge to have anoverall occupancy rate of 63%.

Under ‘Travel AgentEngagement

Programme’, the companyrecently organised a one-daytraining session for 50-60travel agents in Ahmedabadand Chennai and will organisesuch programmes in morethan 13-14 cities across Indiain the coming months. Takinga more holistic approach, theone-day certified training pro-gramme will build skills,improve quality, educateagents about travel insuranceand medical assistance along

with helping them under-stand the importance of cross-selling for bottom-lines andprofitability, informed DevKarvat, Managing Director,TrawellTag Cover More.

Designed especially forthe front-staff who dealdirectly with end-travellers,the training programme ismore interactive and knowl-edge-based. Karvat said,“Currently, we work withclose to 5500 agents throughour 60 offices across India.While interacting with ourdistribution partners, weobserved that many travelagents don’t have muchinformation about travelinsurance and also that theyface challenges while sellingit to end travellers. Thus, wethought of organising train-ing programmes instead ofjust doing product seminars.Through this certified train-ing programme, we willempower them with a prod-uct which is potential enoughto earn healthy revenues for

them. Travel insurance is asmall but ‘must have’ prod-uct in the travel package.”

The company plans tohave three different levels of‘Travel Agent EngagementProgramme’. Post level one,the company will track con-versions of the travel agentswho attended the pro-

gramme, and based on that,they will invite them for leveltwo and level three. Whenasked what happens when anagent completes Level three,Karvat chuckles, “Unliketourism boards who offerfams to agents for completingcertain levels of training pro-grammes, we don’t have any

incentive for completing levelthree!” TrawellTag CoverMore also plans to partnerwith other national associa-tions like TAAI, TAFI, IATO,OTOAI, etc and regional trav-el associations, besides part-nering with domestic airlines,to offer TrawellTag CoverMore services.

TT BU R E AU

Dev KarvatManaging Director, TrawellTag Cover More

AGENTS TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2 TRAVTALK 2 3

• Covered over two million travellers globally• Global annual revenue approached ̀ 2100 crore, almost

20 per cent up on the previous year• Entered into strategic partnership with Cover-More,

travel insurance and medical assistance company• As a group (Karvat Group), paid almost ` 4000 crore

in travel insurance claims over the past 10 years• Provided medical assistance to more than

42,000 people

Key achievements

TrawellTag, one of the leading providers of global assistance and travel insurance in India, has ventured into a rigoroustraining programme for travel agents across India to impart aggressive training to them.

‘Travel insurance a ‘must have’ product

Air Costa has a provenand user-friendly websitewherein tickets can bebooked online - www.aircos-ta.in. Facility is provided tobook tickets through the com-pany’s call centre by IVRS.Tickets can also be bookedthrough authorised travelagents and web portal.Ticketing offices are open atevery operating airport. Tocater to the growing smart

phone user base, Air Costawill shortly launch its mobilebooking application. The air-lines also plans to have a ded-icated Engineering complexat Gannavaram DomesticAirport for MRO purposes.

Along with the benefitsaccruing due to fleet ration-alization by operating onetype of aircraft, Air Costa hasadopted time tested indus-try’s best practices toincrease its profitability suchas Maximising AircraftUtilization, QuickTurnarounds, DisciplinedCash Flows, Stringent safetymeasures, High Standards ofTraining, Innovative CostControl Techniques, Strictenforcement of SOPs,Thorough Network Research,Passenger Friendly Approachand Excellent ServiceQuality.

Air Costa’s focus is onSafety, On-Time-Performance(OTP), and Prompt service asthe key levers to business

sustenancewhile redefin-ing air travel tonon-metrocities and pro-viding a “happyflying” experi-ence to all on-board AirCosta.

Costa to launchmobile booking app

AVIATION2 4 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

From $2.2 billion losses in2011 to $104 million

profits this year, MalaysiaAirlines has had the perfectturnaround plan.

With a new businessplan, changed attitude andmore strategic arrangement,the airline is moving forwardand investing in their servic-es. Malaysia Airlines alsojoined Oneworld this yearand has now increased itsreach to 880 destinations.

“From having a market-ing mix that was tactical tonow introducing one which ismore strategic, we are invest-ing equally on our brandpresence and marketingspend,” says Dean Dacko,Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing,Malaysia Airlines.

The new campaign wasintroduced in July in Malaysia

and has been introduced inIndia market as well. “Thenotion was that we were vir-tually absent as a brand inIndia, but now we are beingwell-recognised,” addsDacko. A major strength forthe airline has been itsengagement in the digitalspace. They created differentcountry pages on Facebook.The India page is a veryinteractive one. The goal

behind this is to react andnot take away the businessfrom the travel agents. “Thereality for us is that the travelagent community is signifi-cant and the most importantdistribution channel. Movingforward, we also continue toinvest, support and recognise

that the travel agent is anabsolutely key element to oursuccess. They provide us withour greatest yield,” he adds.

India is strategicallyvery important for the airlinein its global expansion planand they continue to supportthe travel fraternity with air-line commissions in order toexpand in this market. Dackoadds, “India stands as a hugeopportunity to grow andhave more revenue genera-tion. We are investing more in the Indian marketand are looking to expandour team, grow our resourceand invest more in our brandbuilding exercises.” MalaysiaAirlines is planning toincrease capacity to the sixIndian destinations it catersto. It will start its doubledaily flights to Delhi andMumbai soon. The airline isalso increasing its network toone or two new destinationsin India.

“75 per cent of our busi-ness comes from agents and we will continue to invest in our travel agentpartners. We believe that the commission is importantfor the agents and it’s about sharing as they addvalue to us,” says Dacko.

The airline’s key strate-gy especially for next year isto expand its network, try tofly to new places and alsoincrease its frequency in themarketplace. “Our new atti-tude is that we will aggres-sively compete. We will con-tinue to be competitive.”

DEVIKA JEET FROM KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia Airlines and the India market

� India is strategically very important for the airline in its globalexpansion plan

� The airline continues to support the travel fraternity with airlinecommissions in order to expand in this market

� India stands as a huge opportunity to grow and have morerevenue generation

� The amount of audience looking to travel is huge in India

� The amount of capacity competition will continue to grow

� The airline wants to achieve more success aggressively

� It is very excited about India and is investing more in the market

� Malaysia Airlines is planning to increase capacity to the sixIndian destinations it caters to

� It will also start its double daily flights to Delhi and Mumbai soon

Moving forward, wecontinue to invest,support andrecognise thatthe travel agentis an absolutelykey element toour success

Dean DackoSenior Vice President and Head ofMarketing, Malaysia Airlines

Contd. from page 20

� Air Costa received itsinitial “Air OperatorPermit” (AOP) forcommercial operationson September 18 , 2013and was officiallylaunched on October14, 2013. The airlinestar ted commercialoperations on October 15, 2013.

Fast Fact

Sikkim caters to all touristsBuddhist Circuit in Sikkim.Once we are able to work thisout, we intend to have moretourists. Sikkim, as a place,caters to all types of tourists,be it those looking for luxuryor tourists who are on abudget holiday. We are alsotrying to promote the folk-tales of Sikkim, throughwhich we are trying to famil-iarise people with the historyof our state.

Do you think better airconnectivity in theregion will help promotetourism in the state?

Definitely, air connec-tivity can help promotetourism in the state. We arecoming up with a greenfieldairport. We expect the airportto be operative by March2015, and the deadline forcompletion is December2014. This airport will be atPakyong, which is around30km from the capital city ofGangtok and since Pakyong iscentrally located, it is easily

accessible from all partsof Sikkim. However,

this airport isonly meant

for

ATRs and not Boeings. We aretrying to get flights fromKolkata and Patna toGangtok. We are alsorequesting the governmentto operate internationalflights from Pakyong to near-by places like Bhutan, Nepaland Bangladesh.

How helpful has theInternational TourismMarket (ITM) inGuwahati proved to befor Sikkim?

The impact of our par-ticipation at the mart wasnot very apparent rightaway, but we know that sub-sequently it'll help promotetourism in Sikkim.

How focussed is thestate government ontourism?

Tourism is the topmostpriority of the state govern-ment, as it not only promotesthe state, but also creates jobopportunities for the youth.We have also come up with adifferent logistic approach byintroducing the concept ofhomestays. Here, we marketour own indigenous local cui-sine, so people can get a tasteof a different kind of food.

Has the unrest inDarjeeling districtaffected the flow oftourists in Sikkim?

Thanks to the coopera-tion of the State and theCentral Government, wehave been able to keep con-nectivity up. The Darjeelingdistrict is our lifeline as tourists have to passthrough there to be able toreach Sikkim.

Contd. from page 6

With an impressive turnaround strategy and a well-planned marketing campaign after 10 years, MalaysiaAirlines is back with a bang. India continues to stay important for the airlines to plan rapid expansion.

‘Agents provide greatest yields’

AGENTS2 6 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

“We expect our incometo rise further with

the Holiday travel season inQuarter 4,” said DarshanaVyas, who runs her own bou-tique travel outfit in Gujarat.

The highest increase inincome was seen by travelagents in the metro cities ofDelhi, Bengaluru and Mumbaisince a large majority of inter-national travellers hail fromurban cities but even stateslike Kerala that have a number

of outbound travellers to theGulf and states like Rajasthanand Gujarat which have anumber of export businesses,managed to do quite well.

“Earlier, we had part-nered with another well-known international roamingfirm which sold post-paidconnections. There werequite a few incidents wherethe phone bills came out tobe way higher than the entiretrip cost of the customer!Incidents such as these spoiltmy relationship with my

long-termclients. Thismade meswitch telecompartners,”lamented aruefulDarshana.“Customersgetting exorbi-

tant bills are a regular story.Sometimes their calls dropbecause the network of thecard is not very reliable. Allthis affect our business rela-tionships. Hence it is veryimportant that we select acompany that has transpar-ent roaming solutions to part-ner with,” mentioned SajjanSingh, an executive workingfor a Jaipur-based travelagency who handles cus-tomer grievances.

“We encourage our part-ners to rate our performancein terms of our products andservices with respect to ourcompetition and give us hon-est feedback. We have revisedour products and developedsome technologically-advanced features based on their feedback,” said Manpreet Singh, CEO and Managing Director,

Roam1 Telecom. “I would rec-ommend that before choosinga partner, the travel agentsensure that the roaming com-pany doesn’t own any conflict-ing businesses (like travelinsurance). They should auditthe offerings from variousfirms and suggest only thebest to the customer.”

“I see a huge earningpotential for our channel part-ners in the next 2 years notjust based on selling our simcards but also by retaining thecustomer loyalty owing toincreased customer satisfac-tion,” he emphasises.

TT BUREAU

In a survey conducted by the internal research wing of Roam1 Telecom, it wasfound that the travel agents who partnered with Roam1 to sell internationalroaming sim cards as a value added service to their existing travel customershave managed to augment their existing income by an average of 14 per cent (the range was between 10-17%) in 2013 until the end of Quarter 3.

Partners of Roam1 profit by 17% Kerala woos French marketKerala Tourism presented the natural beauty of ‘God’s Own Country’on the artist’s canvas at the International French Travel Mart (IFTM)Top Resa, the largest travel and tourism fair in France, to woo visitorsfrom the state’s second biggest market abroad.

10-point roadmap by FICCIA FICCI-Roots Research

study on ‘Domestic Tourism inIndia’ was released at the 3rd

edition of Great DomesticTourism Bazaar. It states thatthe target of 1,450 mn domestictourist movements by 2016could be achieved if the 10-point package of measures isadopted in earnest. The key

suggestions of the report were:* Community involve-

ment * Safety & security* Training and education,

up-selling* Leveraging technology,

increased marketinginitiatives

* Policy reforms andinfrastructure develop-ment.

� The highest increase inincome was seen by travelagents in the metro citiesof Delhi, Bengaluru andMumbai

Income Up

NOSTALGIA2 8 TRAVTALK TA A I D A I LY 2 0 1 3 – D A Y 2

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VikramajitChairman

SanJeetEditor & Publisher

Deepa SethiEditor-in-Chief

Editorial

Ratan Kr PaulVivek SethiMegha PaulDevika JeetAnita Jain

News-EditorPeden Doma Bhutia

Desk-EditorArchana Sharma

Sr. Sub-EditorHritvick Sen

MarketingGunjan SabikhiHarshal AsharAarti Nagrath

Karishma KhannaManish Singh

Shovan KanungoPriyanshu Wankhade

Amit SarkarGaganpreet Kaur

Rishika KarraElizabeth Rani

DesignNityanand MisraSudhir MudgalVikas Mandotia

Nitin Kumar Aarushi Agrawal

Production ManagerAnil Kharbanda

Circulation Ashok Rana

TAAI celebrated 60th anniversary in Istanbultakes its readers back to its last convention organised in Istanbul, Turkey. TAAI organised its diamond jubilee (60th) Indian Travel Congress,

Convention & Exhibition at Hotel Green Park, Pendik in Istanbul, Turkey. Over 1,500 delegates attended the Convention. The 60th Convention and Exhibition coincided with the 60th year of Turkish Indian Tourism Council, which created a platform for fostering bilateraltrade relations among the travel trade fraternity of India and Turkey.