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responsible tourism 31
Travel marketing season to start with bigger TTF Kolkata and Hyderabad, with several new features
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Tax reduction and infrastructure to place India as top MICE destination
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Tourism INDABA 2016: Bringing Africa under one sky
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Argentina presents its new National Tourism Plan
The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale campaign for 2016 returns
Ibiza government imposes Sustainable Tourism Tax on tourists
Volume V l Issue 14 Pages 32 www.travelnewsdigest.in `50 / us $5 01-15 June 2016
Posted at NDPSO, New Delhi - 110001 on 5/6 & 20/21 of every month | Date of Publication 01/02 &15/16 every month | Postal Registration No. DL(S) - 01/3404/2015-17 | RNI No. DELENG/2011/40217
inDiA 04 AsiA 12 oceAniA 22europe 18miDDle eAst 16 AmericAs 20 cAribbeAn 23 globAl 26 technology 28AfricA 24 eVents 30
Block your datesTTF 2016 CALENDAR
Kolkata8, 9, 10 July
Hyderabad15, 16, 17 July
Ahmedabad2, 3, 4 September
Surat9, 10, 11 September
Mumbai16, 17, 18 September
Pune23, 24, 25 September
Scheduled for July 8-10 in Kolkata and July 15-17 in Hyderabad, TTF series kickstarts the season for the travel trade to meet, mix and market, under one roof. These two shows will be followed by TTF West Series covering Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai and Pune, together comprising the biggest tourism market in India. Apart from showcasing the various facets of the travel & tourism sector from across the world, this year these TTF shows will also include StartupKnockDown+, a platform to connect, engage and deliberate on the latest in travel technologies.
The Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF) season will kick-start with Kolkata and Hyderabad editions in July. Exhibitors will promote their best and latest tourism products to the
Indian and International travel trade industry. TTF is India's oldest and largest travel trade show, which is now organised in nine cities annually.
Keeping with the positive sentiments in the tourism indus-try, both the shows are going to be bigger, compared to last year. Entries to the shows are free if registered online. Participating states and countries will present cultural events and marketing presentations to trade visitors and the media.
With a wide array of tourism offerings country represen-tations from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, Dubai, China, Bhutan, Macau and more have set the bar high at var-ious TTFs this year.
The domestic sector continues to repose rock-solid confidence in TTF as the most effective, countrywide platform for marketing and promotion. Among the state tourism departments who have in-principally committed big participation in these two TTF edi-tions are: Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mad-hya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Odisha, Ker-ala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka and more.
The big private exhibitors (in-principally) confirming in mul-tiple locations include Adlabs, Travstarz, Oyo Rooms, IRCTC, Merakey Technology solutions, Nicco Parks.
With consistent support from Ministry of Tourism, State Tourism Boards, National Tourist Offices, thousands of private exhibitors and trade associations, TTF continues to be the ideal platform providing immense opportunities for the buyers and sellers from across the world to come and experience the Indian culture, showcase their latest offerings and build long term busi-ness ties.
Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media Lim-ited (organiser of TTF shows and Publisher of Travel News Digest), commented, “In a continent sized country like India, the regional markets for domestic and outbound tourism are so strong that they needed their own travel trade shows. Fairfest Media Ltd pioneered the concept with the TTF shows way back in 1989, when there was no such show in the country. TTF is now organised in nine cities every year!”
Highlighting the importance of the TTF Kolkata and Hyderabad, he said, “Needless to mention the huge importance of Kolkata as a source market and gateway to the Eastern India, those in travel business know it too well. As usual, the space in TTF Kolkata is fully sold out. Immediately after Kolkata, TTF Hyderabad provides an equally important opportunity to be present in a hugely strategic market in the centre of South India. Hyderabad has a remarkable prospect due to its unique posi-tion of serving as the capital city of two states, in the transition period. We have recently experienced a rapid expansion of TTF in Hyderabad.”
With more than 2,500 Exhibitors from 80 countries and 36 Indian States/Union Territories, and 186,000 visitors com-bined, TTF is the largest network of travel trade show in India. TTF presents an unparalleled marketing opportunity for exhib-itors and is the best place for networking, face-to-face meetings, striking the deals of the future and building successful, steady business partnerships.
Fairfest Media Limited, organiser of the TTF-OTM shows have strengthened their unparalleled lead as India’s No. 1 travel trade show organiser, with about half the market share. It orga-nises every year TTF branded shows in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru and New Delhi, in addition to the grand finale OTM Mumbai.
In keeping with its promise of providing the industry with the best of travel and tourism, some of the highlights of the much awaited travel and tourism show include:
TechForumTechForum@TTF is the only specialised showcase of its kind in India, focusing on Technology, E-commerce Sys-tems & Software for the travel industry. It is also a network-ing platform to discuss challenges, evaluate technology needs, source latest technologies and launch new tech-nology products. It is conceived as ‘show in show’ concept which means a distinct area in the TTF will be earmarked for the segment, with a well equipped tech theatre and a tech cafe, on the lines of other international travel shows.
Startup Knockdown+StartupKnockDown+ is an initiative by TravHQ in associ-ation with TTF to highlight the emerging travel technolo-gies across various cities in India. It will be organised during TechForum@TTF, a niche platform to connect, engage and deliberate on travel technologies. This new level of battle pro-vides an opportunity to companies at various stages of devel-opment, be it an early stage venture or an emerging travel startup or an innovative product by a recognised enterprise.
Outbound VillageOutbound Village@TTF is designed to highlight the inter-national destinations, who are interested in promoting directly in strong regional markets in India. Outbound Vil-lage enables you to market your products, services and des-tinations, sign long-term deals, meet top international buy-ers from the region and generate sales leads, meet existing customers and channel partners, launch new products and packages, assess the market and spot important trends.
NeW HIGHlIGHts
Contd. on page 2
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 2 • COVER STORY
editor & Publisher Sanjiv Agarwal
executive editorSulagna Ghosh
Media DirectorJune Mukherjee
ContentGopanjali RoyDisha Roy ChoudhuryChirajit Nath
DesignDilip MannaRitam Maity
Managing Directors Gazanfar IbrahimRajiv Agarwal
Directors Harsh AgarwalAmit NagVijay Adhikari
Associate DirectorsRajarshi DeRaj Kapoor SinghR MaheshTarique EbrahimHema Manghnani
WebMrityunjay Kumar
Advisors Abraham JohnSheila Leong
ManagersFatima D’CostaUma SurekaPratiksha RajapureShreyas JainYC AnilPhilomena D’SouzaDeepti V MurthyTania DasRamesh ChauhanSugandhi VarmaSanjeev Gupta
Travel News Digest (TND) is printed and published by Sanjiv Kumar Agarwal on behalf of Fairfest Media Ltd.
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After a successful tie up with OTM Mumbai 2016, TravHQ has partnered with Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) to bring the third initiative in the series of Travel Startup Knockdown with a new flare of +. This new level of battle invites companies at various stages of development, be it an early stage venture or an emerging travel start-up or an innovative product by a recognised enterprise.
This association of TravHQ and TTF for StartupKnockdown+ will provide opportunities to the innovators in the travel industry to showcase their big ideas at India’s leading travel trade show and network with potential investors and buyers/sellers.
Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman at Fairfest Media Ltd (organisers of TTF and publisher of this journal) who is also a Chartered Member of the TiE, quoted, “Building on the successful debut of Travel Startup Knockdown along-side the TechForum at the OTM in Mumbai, we decided to launch the shows within the TTFs in several cities across the country. Apart from serving the travel industry in gen-eral by showcasing and deliberating on latest technologies in travel, it also acts as a very important platform for the Startup ecosystem to come together.”
Commenting on the development, Sunny Jindal, Managing Partner, TravHQ, quoted, “We are very excited to partner with TTF and create a community platform for travel startups. The StartupKnockDown+ in second half of 2016 presents an exciting spectrum of opportunities for innovators in the travel-tech segment
to showcase their offerings.” Beyond networking, all the travel startups registering
for the battle have exciting offers from the leading part-ners of the event like 10,000 Start-ups, an initiative by NASSCOM, Calcutta Angels, Amadeus Next and Agn-itio etc. In addition,
The Startup Grooming Session and Investors Arcade are all crafted in the event to facilitate quality mentoring experience for participants and foster potential inves-tor exchange sessions. The participants can register for StartupKnockDown+ event on the website startupknockdown.travhq.com.
StartupKnockDown+ series a unique opportunity for Travel Innovators & Startups
TTF Hyderabad held from July 24-26, 2015 at HITEX Exhibition Centre witnessed 157 Exhibitors, 2983 General Visitors and 969 Trade Visitors. 18 States (Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal) and 9 Coun-tries (India, Germany, Jordan, Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, UAE) represented at the show.
TTF Kolkata held from July 31 - August 1-2, 2015 at Netaji Indoor Stadium & Khudiram Anushilan Ken-dra, witnessed 363 Exhibitors, 5178 General Visitors and 2745 Trade Visitors. 25 States (Andaman & Nico-bar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ker-ala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal) and 11 Countries (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Malaysia, Nepal, China, Thailand, Jordan, New Zealand, Mal-dives, Turkey) represented at the show.
last edItIoNs’ syNoPsIs
Contd. from page 1
TTF is one of the biggest travel show networks of India and participating in TTF strengthens our trade relations besides developing fresh business connections. We expect that in future, we will have an even stronger relationship and bond between TTF and J&K Tourism.
Farooq Ahmed shah Secretary Tourism
Government of Jammu & Kashmir
TTF has been organised in the best possible way. And the numbers of participating tour operators are quite a lot. TTF has done a marvellous job in helping our tour operators develop tie-up with tour operators from other regions. This is how the travel trade develops.
nityanand srivastava Commissioner of Tourism and Managing Director
Gujarat Tourism
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 4INDIA
An air strip will soon be connecting the Bekal Fort in Kerala. A Detailed Project Report (DPR) has almost been finalised by the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) for the construction of the airstrip.
A meeting between the stakehold-ers and the Bekal Resorts Develop-ment Corporation (BRDC) is awaited. The government has already granted administrative sanction and allocated `35 crore for the first phase of the proj-ect proposed in Uduma panchayat. The airstrip will occupy as much as 120 acres, which will come up close to the notified area, of which 40 acres are
already in the possession of the govern-ment and BRDC.
The airstrip will benefit the six resorts that have come up at Bekal to attract upmarket holiday makers. Air-lines can directly operate to Bekal or can offer air connectivity from interna-tional airports in the state.
This strategic move comes at a time when K M Muhammed Anil, Managing Director, BRDC, is gearing up to market the destination with the backing of the Kerala Tourism Department. The gov-ernment is also aiding BRDC in creating the necessary infrastructure to cater to the rising tourist inflow in Bekal.
India to have 14 new Greenfield airports14 new Greenfield airports have been granted ‘in-prin-ciple’ approval by the Indian government. The airports will come up in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry and Guja-rat. The Sikkim hub will become the state’s first airport.
Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) of air transport services have been outlined, with respect to needs spe-cific to different regions in the country. However, the air-lines will be able to choose whether to operate in these regions, depending upon their commercial viability.
The Greenfield airports will be financed and devel-oped by the airport developer, as per the Greenfield Airport Policy, 2008. Of the new airports to be devel-oped, four will be in Karnataka, located in Shimoga, Gulbarga, Hassan and Bijapur, and a further three will rise in Maharashtra, located in Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg.
The other states and territories will each see one new airport, including Mopa in Goa, Kannur in Kerala, Pak-yong in Sikkim, Datia/Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, Karaikal in Puducherry and Dholera in Gujarat.
Air connectivity to be offered to Bekal, Kerala
Among the events to be organised for the promotion of Kerala’s Muziris Heritage Project, launched by Pres-ident Pranab Mukherjee, will be a culinary fest presenting delicacies from 31 Spice Route countries.
The Muziris port, said to have been located in the Paravur-Kodun-galloor region, is the bedrock of Spice Route – an initiative of Kerala Tourism involving 31 countries with whom the port had trade relations.
The fest will be held in Septem-ber at KTDC-owned Bolghatty Pal-ace, just ahead of the ninth edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM). Given the involvement of so many nations, the Centre too is expected to play an important diplomatic role.
“Tourism stakeholders will thus get a chance to spread word among foreign guests about Muziris – a pre-mium heritage product of the State,” said Abraham George, President of KTM Society.
Highlighting that the promotional activities were just the beginning of organised heritage tourism promo-tion in Kerala, U V Jose, Director
of Kerala Tourism, remarked, “It is a promising high-end tourism product that is set to occupy centre stage after the State’s Ayurveda and houseboats received global acclaim. We are according the prime of place to Muziris in trade fairs.”
One, camping at Muziris can explore the dozens of historic rel-ics in the region and their associa-tion with ancient civilisations. The Cheraman Archaeological Museum and Activity Centre, the latest of the historic structures in Muziris region to be renovated, is slated for launch shortly. It is located near the ancient Cheraman Juma Masjid in Kodungalloor.
India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) along with Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) recently gathered in Delhi to discuss the current scenario of MICE tourism in the country and the available opportunities. The event aimed at a time bound strategy and a roadmap to achieve the desired objective.
Dipak Haksar, Chairman, National Council for Tour-ism and Hospitality and Chief Executive, ITC and Wel-comHotels, elaborated, “According to the ITB World Travel Trends Report, MICE holds 54% of the travel market share. In 2015, North America had the largest share in the mar-ket, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific which is bound to grow. When it comes to India, it only shares one per cent of the global market share and globally ranked 35th MICE destination compared to 25th in 2012. MICE is a segment which is not sensitive to the seasonality factor. In that case, India can make as a lucrative destination with its world heritage sites and facilities.”
“We had a meeting with the Ministry of Home Affairs a few days ago, we insisted on MICE e-visa as well, we have been trying hard for e-visa for MICE and medical and we are hopeful to have this e-visa to see the light of the day, particularly for business tourists to begin with, but we are
insisting that ultimately the conference visa should also be done; we have been assured that it will be done, step-by-step,” highlighted Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.
Suman Billa, Chairman, ICPB and Joint Secretary, Min-istry of Tourism, suggested, “Taxes have been a huge issue when it comes to MICE travel. In order to promote tourism
in the sector, tax rates should be brought down to global standards.”
This journal has advocated for lowering taxes across the board for incoming tourism to boom as the next big thing after the success story of India in IT. (Refer cover story of Travel News Digest May 2014: http://www.travelnewsdi-gest.in/wp-content/uploads/pdf/TND-May-2014.pdf)
KTDC to organise culinary fest as part of Muziris promotion
Tax reduction and infrastructure to place India as top MICE destination
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 5 INDIA •
Goa Tourism Development Corpo-ration’s (GTDC) mega project to con-vert the old Central Jail, Aguada into a Museum is taking solid ground and the spadework has already begun. The Corporation has involved both the Goa Heritage Action Group (GHAG) and Goa’s freedom fight-ers in this project as the Aguada Jail Museum project intends reviving and restoring history, heritage and will encompass it all as an attractive loca-tion for tourists visiting Goa.
Nilesh Cabral, Chairman, GTDC, said, “GTDC has started working on a project that will preserve the her-itage structure and showcase Goa’s freedom struggle and be a true trib-ute to the heroic deeds and glorious sacrifices of all those who took part in Goa’s liberation.”
The Master Plan for develop-ing Aguada Jail at Sinquerim into a tourist destination includes creat-ing activity zones, viewing galleries, amenity zones, tourist information centers, improvement of temple and chapel areas, improving the prison cells, prison corridors, walls, path-ways, seating, water fountains, illu-mination of the jail campus, café, improvement of the aquifer duct area and a lot more.
Prajal Sakhardande of GHAG, said, “We have fervently requested the tourism officials to ensure that the historicity and heritage of Aguada Jail be well maintained and landmarks within the Jail projected prominently. We are confident that this project once completed will enhance the his-tory and heritage of Aguada Jail.”
Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) India Chapter recently concluded its 4th Update & Outlook Meeting with the Min-istry of Tourism for its members. Held at The Claridges, New Delhi, the meeting was addressed by Vinod Zutshi, Secretary and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Minis-try of Tourism.
Zutshi provided an exhaustive update on the progressive strides made by the Ministry to build on FTAs to India. FTAs in Q1 2016 were 10% higher than the pre-vious year with forex earnings growing by 15.9% for the same period.
As a game changer for Indian tourism, 300,000 Electronic Tourist Visas (eTVs) were issued in Q1 2016, much higher than the number last year. An average of 100,000 eTV arrivals is further expected every month. The eTV policy and
procedure has undergone several reforms on an inter-ministerial platform. These include new dimensions which would cover eMedical Visa, increase in permissi-ble stay from 30 to 60 days, eTV for MICE and eTV for Business Travellers.
The events calendar for the current financial year that was shared with the membership was dotted with signifi-cant events related to tourism arrivals and infrastructure- the proposed Inves-tor Summit in September, 2016 will be fol-lowed by the Buddhist Conclave in Octo-ber. WTM will herald India as a Partner Country in 2016. 2017 will commence with The Global Travel Mart followed by the 1st DRV Convention in India and India will forge a partnership with ITB Berlin for 2018. A Visit India year might also be considered in the near future.
GTDC to develop Central Jail, Aguada as a tourist attraction
PATA India Chapter conducts 4th Update & Outlook Meeting in Delhi
Air India subsidiary extends connectivity to two new routes Air India’s wholly owned subsidiary, Alliance Air has launched flights on the Bhopal-Jabalpur-Hyderabad and Bhopal-Raipur-Pune sectors, as part of the airline’s ‘Connect India’ pro-gramme. Alliance Air is operating a 72 seater ATR aircraft on the above routes thus giving connectivity to smaller destinations under the Gov-ernment’s scheme of connecting all cities in India.
Flight AI 9863 on Bhopal-Jabal-pur-Hyderabad operates four days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The flight takes off from Bhopal at 0845 and reaches Jabalpur at 0950. It again takes off from Jabalpur at 1020 for its onward journey and reaches Hyderabad at 1220. The return flight AI 9864 departs Hyderabad at 1250
and arrives at Jabalpur at 1450. The flight leaves Jabalpur at 1450 to reach Bhopal at 1625.
Alliance Air has also started fly-ing a direct AI 9867/9868 between Bhopal and Jabalpur. The flight operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays thereby making the operation on this route a daily one.
The flight AI 9865 on the second route, Bhopal-Raipur-Pune takes off from Bhopal at 0845 and reaches Raipur at 1015. The flight leaves Raipur at 1045 and reaches Pune at 1300. The return flight AI 9866 departs Pune at 1330 and reaches Raipur at 1545 departs Raipur at 1615 and arrives at Bhopal at 1745. The flight on this route operates thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 6 • india
With Mumbai as an important global gateway to India, Maharashtra is focusing on MICE Tourism for which it plans to set up a Promotion Board in the state.
At a roundtable organised by the Indian Mer-chants’ Chamber (IMC) in Mumbai, Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Govern-ment of Maharashtra, while speaking on ‘Reposition-ing Mumbai as a tourism destination of the future’, informed, “We will soon set up a Promotion Board for promoting MICE Tourism in the state. The Board will be a one-stop-shop for MICE, facilitating permissions for big conferences and events. We are also looking at a system of pre-approved venues for the same and a Single Window System for hospitality.”
Film City was already undergoing redevelopment, added Singh, of which 40 new studios featuring world class facilities will be set up, along with an archive for Marathi and Hindi films. Besides, the new Tour-ism Policy to be framed will have three main aspects: Project development, Human Resources or Skill development and Investment & Promotion. These will offer big incentives for the industry including
complete tax exemptions for 20 years for investment in some tourism districts.
Paraag Jaiin Nainuttia, Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), added, “MTDC’s chopper darshan has evoked a very good response. We also plan to start the Mumbai Darshan buses. We will have 11 hop on hop off buses. We are also looking at promoting Yacht Tourism. There are about 93 private yachts in the state and by October 2016 we hope to make some of them available for commercial use to offer tourists lei-sure trips in the Mumbai Harbour. We are also plan-ning to work on setting up a few casinos in the state with the required permissions.”
Maharashtra to set up Promotion Board for MICE Tourism
Chhattisgarh looks at promoting Adventure Tourism in the stateThe Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) is planning for the provision of integrated Adventure Tourism facilities at various locations of the state. The facil-ities would be developed in Mainpat (Surguja), Sir-pur (Mahasamund), Kabirchabutara (Amarkantak), and Sarodhadadar.
New architecture firms will now be empanelled for setting up fresh tourism infrastructure projects. The Board is also seeking professional consultancy for executing its ongoing and new infrastructural works.
Integrated recreation facilities are also being developed at the Gangrel dam in Dhamtari district and Hasdeo Bango dam in Korba district. Besides,
a new state-of-art building for CTB has been pro-posed to be constructed at the premises of state-owned Hotel Johar, Chattisgarh, near GE Road in the Telibandha locality of Raipur. Apart from this, a new state-of-art Convention Centre will also be con-structed in the premises.
The Central Government has recently approved `99.94 crore based on a Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by CTB for development of the Tribal Tourism Circuit in the State under ‘Swadesh Darshan’ package. The tourism circuit aims to high-light the rich tribal culture and environment of the tribal dominated regions in the state. To be devel-oped under the tribal tourism circuit are Jashpur, Kunkuri, Mainpat, Ambikapur, Maheshpur, Ratan-pur, Kurdur, Sarodhadadar, Gangrel, Nathiyanawag-aon (Kanker), Kondagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot, Teerathgarh. In this circuit, Jashpur, Ambikapur and Sarodhadadar would be developed as an ethnic tour-ist village and Mainpat, Kurdur, Gangrel, Kondag-aon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot and Teerathgarh are to be developed for eco-ethnic tourism while work for sight amenities will be carried out in Kunkuri, Maheshpur and Nathiyanawagaon.
Taking the state’s tourism a step forward, the gov-ernment now also plans to undertake measures for developing ‘Highway Tourism’ in the state. As many as 7,777 foreign tourists visited Chhattisgarh during financial year 2014-15, as per latest data released by the Central Government.
Vistara adds flights to Delhi from Kolkata and KochiVistara has now offered its renowned service to travellers bound to and from Kolkata. With effect from early June, the cultural capital, Kolkata will be directly connected to Delhi via double daily flights offering convenient same-day return options in both directions and onward via Delhi to other destina-tions such as Chandigarh, Goa, Kochi and Srinagar.
The airline has also announced the introduction of daily non-stop flights between Delhi and Kochi, to commence in the same month.
Flights are now open for sale through the air-line’s website www.airvistara.com, mobile apps of iOS and Android, airport ticket offices, OTA, and travel agents.
Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara, said, “The City of Joy, Kolkata, encapsulates the essence of modern India as a key commercial and educational centre that attracts a large number of business visitors and
tourists from India and around the world. With the addition of Kolkata in Vistara’s network and intro-duction of direct flights between Delhi and Kochi, shortly after the launch of Jammu, Srinagar, Kochi
and Chandigarh, Vistara’s footprint in India contin-ues to grow at a rapid pace further enhancing the base of airline’s loyal customers.”
With these additions, the airline will be operat-ing a schedule of 455 flights per week, a 44% increase from 317 flights a week that it operated at the begin-ning of the year.
Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy and Commer-cial Officer, Vistara, added, “We are confident that travellers on our new flights will welcome the opportunity to enjoy the quintessential Vis-tara experience that includes exceptional ser-vice from cabin crew trained by Singapore Air-lines, three cabin classes of service to choose from, exceptional on-time performance, and complimentary meals and beverages in an ambi-ence that evokes an international airline more than a domestic one.”
The Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) 2016 was jointly organised by the Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, the Minis-try of Tourism, Government of India and Fed-eration of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at Sitapura in Jaipur.
Held from April 17-19, 2016, the travel mart was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, who articu-lated the importance of tourism with special emphasis on extensive promotion of that of Rajasthan.
The CM also released the FICCI-MRSS knowledge paper on ‘India as a Hotspot for Inbound Tourism – reigniting destination appeal’.
In the key note address, Tourism Secretary, Government of India, Vinod Zutshi recounted a growth of 13% in domestic tourism in 2015 which the government aims to increase up to 15% by 2018.
Delegates gracing the event were SK Agarwal, Principal Secretary- Tourism, Government of Rajasthan; Dr Jyotsna Suri, Immediate Past President, FICCI, Chairper-son, FICCI Tourism Committee & CMD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group; Dipak Deva, Co-Chairman, FICCI Tourism Committee & Man-aging Director, Travel Corporation (I) Ltd and Randhir Vikram Singh, Co-Chairman, FICCI Rajasthan State Council, General Secretary– IHHA and Joint Managing Director, Mandawa Hotels, Jaipur.
Hosted by the state of Rajasthan, this 8th edition of GITB was also supported by lead-ing national and regional associations like Hotel & Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR), Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) and Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators (RATO).
8th edition of GITB concludes on a promising note
Discover the world
5,000**
exhibitorsfrom across the world
49,273**
attendees from 182 countries
£2.5Billion*
of new business
Register nowwtmlondon.com
Please visitwtmlondon.com/discounts* Source: Independent research by Fusion Communications, January 2016 **ABC audited figures, February 2016World Travel Market, WTM, RELX Group and the RE symbol are trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties SA, used under license.
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Travel News Digest.qxp_Layout 1 26/05/2016 11:09 Page 1
Discover the world
5,000**
exhibitorsfrom across the world
49,273**
attendees from 182 countries
£2.5Billion*
of new business
Register nowwtmlondon.com
Please visitwtmlondon.com/discounts* Source: Independent research by Fusion Communications, January 2016 **ABC audited figures, February 2016World Travel Market, WTM, RELX Group and the RE symbol are trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties SA, used under license.
Discounted Flights & Hotels
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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 8 • india
Added incentives to promote growth in the hotel industry
Jet Airways increases capacity on the Mumbai-Singapore routeJet Airways has started deploying its twin-aisle Air-bus A330-200 aircraft on the Mumbai- Singapore route with a 51% capacity increase over the single-aisle Boeing 737 aircraft. The new aircraft on the route can accom-modate 254 passengers in two classes– 18 in business class and 236 in economy. This marks an increase of 86 seats per flight compared to the 168-seat B737.
The airline’s daily flight to Singapore departs from Mumbai at 0955 and arrives at Changi Airport at 1810. The return flight then leaves Singapore at 2005 and arrives back in Mumbai at 2305.
“We are happy to deploy Jet Airways’ spacious and modern wide-body aircraft catering to additional capacity on the highly popular Mumbai-Singapore-Mumbai route. This sector has seen a growth in traf-fic by over 34% in last two years, particularly among business travellers,” said Jet’s whole-time Director, Gaurang Shetty.
ICCR signs MoU to promote Andaman and Nicobar TourismThe Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Union Territory administration have signed a MoU
to market Andaman and Nicobar Islands internation-ally to attract tourists and investment.
“We have signed this MoU with the Andaman-Nicobar administration to ensure that the sides come together to coordinate, collaborate, optimise efforts in enhancing the international profile of the islands as it seeks to attract tourists, investment, technology and tap markets,” said C Rajasekhar, Director General, ICCR.
As part of the MoU, ICCR will also facilitate an exchange of international cultural artists between the islands and other destinations. Literature work-shops will also be organised in the Union Territory for exposure.
“What we are looking at is that international writ-ers of eminence come and stay at picturesque places like Andaman. They can spend some time there, orga-nise some workshops, interact with people and also write, which will further enhance the tourist pull of that place,” Rajasekhar said.
The tie-up will provide a wider platform for the islanders to showcase their talent to the world thereby boosting foreign arrivals, opined Ankita Mishra Bun-dela, ICCR.
Credit terms for hotels have been de-linked by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), from those applied to commercial real estate projects for developers to avail credit at reduced interest rates.
New hotels rated at two stars and above will be granted tax incentives by the government in an effort to drive the growth of accommodation supply in the country. Two, three and four-star hotels, operating in UNESCO World Heritage site areas, except those
in Mumbai and Delhi, will get a five-year tax break.The Ministry of Finance has also extended incen-
tives to hotel developments located in smaller cit-ies that are three-star rated or more and those with a project cost of more than two billion rupees ($29.9 million).
The government will also allow a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of up to 100% for overseas compa-nies doing business in India.
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd is witnessing significant growth of over 25% in its prepaid cards business, with one out of every two customers opting for a card. Thomas Cook India in its strategic endeavour to move
towards a cashless ecosystem, had launched innova-tive first movers in the payment solutions space - the ‘One Currency Card’ and the multi-currency ‘Border-less Prepaid Card’ offering a three-pronged benefit of value, convenience and security.
While the Thomas Cook ‘One Currency Card’ offers a strong USP of a single load currency (USD) and zero cross currency conversion charges, across the world, the Thomas Cook Borderless Prepaid Card empowers travellers with the option of loading eight currencies on a single card (U.S. Dollars, British Pounds, Euro, Australian Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Swiss Francs, Singapore Dollars & Japanese Yen), enabling the card-holder to use the appropriate currency, based on the country being visited – effectively saving money and time.
Thomas Cook India has also introduced its strate-gic ‘Travel Smart, Drive Easy’ campaign– offering cus-tomers the opportunity to win a brand new Mahindra KUV 100 on the purchase of either the Thomas Cook One Currency or Borderless Prepaid Card or a Send Money Abroad transaction. The offer is applicable on
retail transactions (Thomas Cook travel prepaid cards or Send Money Abroad) of a minimum value of $500 or equivalent, from May 2 – July 2, 2016. Additionally, lucky customers stand a chance to win an iPad Mini daily and an iPhone 6S weekly.
The two month long campaign incorporates a healthy mix of print, outdoor, radio and digital focus across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad. The campaign is also being pro-moted aggressively via Twitter and Facebook contests and will see live updates on winners on its social media properties.
Mahesh Iyer, Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, said, “Our internal data reveals that Indi-ans are increasingly travelling smart, with high adop-tion of prepaid travel cards. The clear preference of plastic over cash, with both leisure and business trav-ellers, is emphatic. Our ‘Travel Smart Drive Easy’ cam-paign thus intends to leverage the strong potential of our existing and potential customer base and inspire demand, being timed perfectly for the current peak travel season.”
Thomas Cook India makes a strategic move towards a cashless ecosystem
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 9 INDIA •
India’s Only Global Travel Trade Newspaper
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi launched environment-friendly e-boats at Assi Ghat, Varanasi. Not only did he interact with the boatmen, but also took a brief ride on an e-boat in River Ganga before arriving at the dais to address the gathering at the Ghat.
Modi elaborated on the immediate need for e-boats to reduce pollution and to save a substantial amount for beneficiaries through lower fuel costs while providing a better tourist expe-rience. He further emphasised that the
government was focused on empow-ering and strengthening the poor through dedicated schemes.
The Prime Minister also visited Gyan Pravah: Centre for Cultural Studies and Research, and appre-ciated the efforts made to showcase India’s cultural heritage. Interacting with prominent citizens of Varanasi, the Prime Minister exhorted them to work towards ensuring cleanliness, and making Varanasi one of the clean-est cities.
Ministry of Tourism has constituted a Task Force with the objective of pro-moting Cruise Tourism in India. The Task Force includes members from the Central Ministries, State Govern-ments, various Port Trusts and Pri-vate sector.
The Ministry of Shipping in Mumbai recently organised the maiden Maritime India Summit, 2016 (MIS-2016) to create awareness about
the untapped potential of the Indian maritime sector and showcase the investment opportunities in the same.
As per the decisions taken by the Task Force on Cruise Tourism, Port Level Facilitation Committees have been set up by Port authorities under the Chairmanship of respective Port Trust Chairman for coordinating logis-tic issues with all concerned agencies prior to the landing of cruise vessels.
Prime Minister Modi inaugurates eco-friendly e-boats at Assi Ghat
Ministry of Tourism constitutes Task Force for promoting Cruise Tourism
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 10 • india
The government of Andhra Pradesh has geared up to carry forward the promotion of Brand Amara-vati by utilising the ensuing 12-day Krishna Push-karams, beginning on August 12. The mega event will comprise a series of events including those for tour-ism promotion, cultural programmes, besides laser shows and food festivals.
“This is the first Krishna Pushkarams which will be organised in the capital region in the reorganised state and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu wants to make the river festival a memorable event. We are, therefore, making all-out efforts to make the event successful,” said JSV Prasad, Principal Secretary (Endowments).
Four projects are coming up in the Amaravati region under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spir-ituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD), he added. Under this, the centre has sanctioned `40 crore for
the Amaravati heritage development project, devel-opment of Sri Amaralingeswra Swami temple, light-ing of the 125-foot-tall Buddha statue in the capital region and the river front development project.
About three crore people are expected to take a holy dip in the river during the event. Lakhs of dev-otees will also be attracted to places like Vedadri, Mopidevi and Hamsaladeevi in Krishna district; Amaravati and Sitanagaram in Guntur district; and Srisailam and Sangameswaram in Kurnool dis-trict. To accommodate all, the government plans to construct about 125 new bathing ghats and reno-vate around 150 temples which are situated on the banks of the Krishna in Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts.
A preliminary estimate of `3,846 crore has been estimated for all development works to be executed parallelly with the Pushkarams.
Andhra’s Pushkarams to market Brand Amaravati
IRCTC launches Bharat Darshan Tourist packages this summer
Sarovar Hotels & Resorts signs hotels in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corpo-ration Ltd (IRCTC) have launched Bharat Darshan Tourist Trains, a budget-friendly package with all-inclusive services on a dedicated tourist train, for popular religious destinations.
Families can now opt for trips to selected desti-nations at `830 per person per day. The train has 10 coaches serviced by trained tour managers, on-board hospitality staff and security staff. The
package includes train transportation, road trans-portation, accommodation, sightseeing at tourist locations and onboard and off-board meals.
Four fixed itineraries are available over the coming months for boarding from Delhi and Agra. These include ‘East Darshan’, the ‘7 Jyotir-linga’ package from Chandigarh, another ‘7 Jyotir-linga’ tour from Delhi Safdarjung and the ‘Dakshin Darshan’.
Punjab conducts the Hola Mohalla celebrations with PoloThe International Polo Tournament ‘Sodhi Kishan Singh Memorial Polo Cup’ concluded the third edi-tion of their event recently at the 120 year old SGS (Sodhi Gurbachan Singh) Khalsa Senior Secondary School ground at Sri Anandpur Sahib, during the Hola Mohalla festival.
The match was inaugurated by Chief Guest Karunesh Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, and Punjab. The first day’s matches were keenly fought with Royal Punjab Polo (India), Gillcrest Homes (UK) and Hawaii Polo Team (USA), the latter two being declared joint winners in the round robin league.
The last and final match of the three day tourna-ment witnessed the Royal Punjab Polo team play against Gillcrest Homes team (UK) for the trophy. The players of the Gillcrest Homes Polo team were Sachin Sarbalia, Raymond Noh and Michael Dailey, while the Royal Punjab Polo Team constituted of players Rohan Saharan, Amit Sangwan and Sodhi Vikram Singh. The final score board read 10-9 in favour of the Royal Pun-jab Polo Team.
The polo tournament was held under the patronage
of Madan Mohan Mittal, Cabinet Minister of the Pun-jab Government and Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, Member of Parliament, Government of India from the Anandpur constituency. The tournament also had the support of the Chief Khalsa Diwan, one of the premier Sikh institutions based in Amritsar.
Sarovar Hotels & Resorts have signed two new hotels in north India. The group has signed an 81-room Sarovar Portico at Kapashera, New Delhi and a 43-room Sarovar Portico at Palam-pur in Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh.
Owned by Palm Land Hotels & Resorts LLP, the hotel in Kapashera will be named The Muse Sarovar Portico, New Delhi Kapashera. The hotel, providing all modern facilities, is strate-gically located near the Delhi airport and is in proximity to the Delhi-Haryana border.
The resort in Palampur, owned by R S Bel-vedere, offers a virtual bonanza for nature lov-ers, unearthing the most exciting views of the divine Dhauladhar mountain range, which forms the backdrop of this beautiful town. Located in an important town in the Kangra Valley, also known as the tea capital of north India, RS Sarovar Portico, Palampur will be an ideal destination for nature lovers and adven-ture enthusiasts.
“We are focusing on our expansion plans and the signing of these two properties boost the company’s strategic efforts to expand our brands even further across the region. With business as well as leisure travel continuing to rise in this region, we aim to grow our pres-ence to meet the demand over the coming years in different markets including Dehradun, Rai-pur, and Amritsar. Through our distinctively recognised brands, we aim to offer value for money accommodation and superior hospital-ity to today’s travellers,” said Ajay K Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts.
The hotels are expected to be operational by July 2016. The hotel group also plans to expand to newer markets this year like Dehradun, Amritsar, Raipur, Jaisalmer, Ajmer, Bhavnagar, Jalandhar, Greater Noida and Bekal.
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 12ASIA
Hong Kong Gold Coast Boat Show concludes with record-breaking success
Group visas to Taiwan made easierGroups will now find it easier to visit Taiwan as sev-eral top-tier travel agents are now authorised to initi-ate Group Visas to Taiwan completely free of cost. The objective behind such an initiative is to promote the collective spirit of travelling and to take part in Leisure, Cruises, Fly Cruises, Incentives and MICE business activities.
To apply for group visas, the dates are from Novem-ber 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016. The group size must be five or more people and the duration of the stay is valid for 30 days per visa. These visas are valid for sin-gle entry to Taiwan; multiple entry visas to Taiwan are only for Fly Cruise.
Group visas are always recommended to fami-lies or friends travelling together; and for large MICE movements.
Hong Kong Gold Coast Boat Show 2016 concluded success-fully after four intense days of activities set in the unique backdrop of the Hong Kong Gold Coast. The event fea-tured a mega showcase of the latest cruisers, yachts and water sports equipment available on the market, along with choices of family entertainment and the-one-and-only Gold Coast Cardboard Boat Charity Regatta, which benefits the Children’s Cancer Foundation.
The 2016 edition of the Hong Kong Gold Coast Boat Show showcased 90 of the most prestigious yachts and sail-ing boats and was attended by 10540 visitors, from yachting novices to true connoisseurs. Continuing to inspire dreams for boat-lovers, enthusiasts had an unprecedented oppor-tunity to explore unique marine pieces such as the Ben-etti Classic Supreme 132’ – M/Y Mingfa, Sanlorenzo SL106,
Sunseeker Yacht 86, Lagoon 560 and Aracadia 85.Robert Blythe, General Manager, Gold Coast Yacht and
Country Club, said, “There is a significant rise of 26.7% in the number of boats showcased comparing to last year. The market for yachts in the Asia-Pacific is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world and this edition of the Hong Kong Gold Coast Boat Show is a perfect demonstration of the trend.”
Under the theme ‘Affordable Luxury’, the event brought together 80 major exhibitors who presented an impres-sive collection of 94 vessels, including luxury yachts, sail-ing boats and related equipment valued at over HK$ 1 bil-lion. They include stand up paddle boards retailing from HK$10,000, to small boats and super yachts priced more than HK$90 million.
Asiana Airlines increases frequency on its Incheon-Delhi routeAsiana Airlines has announced the expansion of its non-stop Incheon (Seoul) to New Delhi service from current three to five flights per week. The additional flights will begin on July 3, 2016. The South Korean air-line will fly Airbus 300-330 with 30 business class seats and 260 economy seats.
This additional flight demonstrates both the grow-ing market for leisure and business travellers as well as Asiana Airlines ongoing commitment to expanding connectivity between Korea and India.
Incheon to Delhi flights will operate five days a week, except Mondays and Fridays. The departure time from Incheon International Airport is 8:40 pm which will arrive at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 1 am. The return flights, too, will be available throughout the week excluding Tuesdays and Saturdays. Return flights will depart New Delhi at 2:20 am and arrive Incheon at 1:00 pm.
The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale campaign for 2016 returnsThe Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is back with its much awaited, 18th version of the annual Amazing Thailand Grand Sale (ATGS) campaign, to be held from June 15-August 15, 2016, all across the cities.
This year will specially focus on female custom-ers to celebrate the TAT’s Women’s Journey Month in August, in a way of marking Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s Birthday. The ‘month for women travellers’ will encourage the growth of the global and domestic female travel segment in conjunct with the strategy to promote Thailand as a quality leisure destination.
Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of TAT, said, “The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale is now a hugely pop-ular event across the region and boosts tourist and visitor expenditure as well as enhances the image of Thailand as a major shopping destination. It also
encourages more local spending and creates jobs. We always look forward to welcoming the world to our sale and hope they take home happy memories as well as some great bargains.”
The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2016 will house 15,000 tourism business operators in more than 110 department stores and shopping centres in seven major tourist destinations of Bangkok, Pattaya, Chi-ang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai. The campaign will not only offer discounts on a variety of goods, but will also facilitate great savings on products such as accommo-dation, spa treatments, travel, car rental and health. International shoppers can enjoy trendy items from Thai world-class brands and chic street items from Thai young designers. There will also be fun events and a lucky draw to win a ‘Travel 365 Days in Thai-land’, including flight tickets and accommodation.
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 13 asia •
MMPRC to reward its 500,000th visitor as Maldives brand ambassador
Malaysia features Tangkak as the new tourist destinationMalaysia has declared Tangkak as the new tourism des-tination in the country. The principal town and capital of Tangkak district in Johor, Tangkak is nicknamed ‘Fab-ric Town’ or ‘Syurga Kain’ in honour of its many tex-tile shops. The town has been declared a tourism des-tination in line with the Johor State Planning Master Plan 2016-20 which aims to place the tourism sector as a major contributor to the district’s economic growth.
This new destination boasts of mesmerising won-ders of nature, especially the Mount Ledang, said Dep-uty Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Datuk Hamim Samuri. A total of 22 old and new tour-ism products have been identified in the draft of Tang-kak District Local Plan 2016-2020, which include the Sawah Ring, mushroom farm, lobster fishing activity in Sungai Muar, as well as textile centre in
Tangkak town.Authorities anticipate an increase in employment
opportunities in the tourism sector such as in the field
of hospitality, transportation, light industry and other tourism-related activities, for local residents to grab and use these opportunities wisely to earn extra income.
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual Tourism Monitor 2016 revealed that destinations across Asia Pacific have recorded an aggregate of 570 million foreign arrivals in 2015. The aggregate annual growth rate was recorded as 4.1%. Out of 11 sub-regions, the annual growth rate of eight of them has surpassed the Asia Pacific average, ranging as high as 8.7% for Oceania and eight percent for Southeast Asia.
Additional analysis has revealed an incremental increase of about 22.5 million additional foreign arriv-als over that of 2014 with three-quarters of the gain in Asia. 21% of the additional volume was captured by the Americas followed by a four percent share by the Pacific.
29 out of 40 destinations have reported positive gains in 2015 over that of 2014 with nine register-ing double-digit growth rates. Myanmar topped the list with a 52% rise followed by Japan with just over
47% year on year.Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, attributed the remark-
able result to a number of changes brought about throughout the year, including the relaxation of visa requirements besides additional capacity into certain destinations. “The modification of visa regulations to allow for online visa processing and in a few destina-tions, the more complete liberalisation of the process itself, has validated those actions with stronger arrival rates. This has occurred without any compromise of the safety and security of those destinations. There is a lesson there for all of us that security and ease of access can work well together if given a chance,” he said.
“Figures such as these show clearly that the dynam-ics of travel to and within the Asia Pacific region are changing. We need to be extremely flexible in dealing with these changes if we are to capitalise fully on these opportunities,” he added.
The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corpo-ration (MMPRC) has declared that in celebration of the Visit Maldives Year 2016 (VMY2016) campaign, it will mark its 500,000th visitor by rewarding the VIP guest with the grand honour of becoming a Maldives brand ambassador.
On January 1, 2016, the VMY2016 campaign com-menced with an event which celebrated the arrival of the very first tourist into the Maldives in 2016. The Acting Managing Director of MMPRC, Haris Mohamed, awarded a free holiday from Outrigger Konotta to Kate Holmes from UK. A special stamp was also unveiled, which is being used throughout 2016 to stamp all foreign passports as a token of the special campaign.
Visit Maldives Year 2016 is a year-long campaign which aims to boost tourism to the country, targeting a total of 1.5 million tourist arrivals during the year. A number of international and national events, com-petitions and awareness programmes are being car-ried out throughout 2016 by MMPRC, together with the Ministry of Tourism, to display the richness of the Maldives as a destination and portray it as the exotic place it is to the world.
Asia Pacific registers a new record in international tourist arrivals
HNA Tourism Group Co Ltd and Carlson Hospitality Group have entered an agreement for the acquisition of Carlson Hotels, Inc, which owns the Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM brands and the Club CarlsonSM global hotel rewards program.
The combination of HNA Tourism Group and Carl-son Hotels will have increased ability to accelerate growth through investments in areas such as digital, owned assets in major gateway cities, building of Radisson RED and other new brands.
David P. Berg, CEO, Carlson Hospitality Group, said, “As part of HNA Tourism Group, Carlson Hotels will have an opportunity to advance our commitment to providing guests with hospitality world-wide.”
Diana Nelson, Carlson Board Chair, said, “We strongly believe that selling our hotel business to HNA Tourism Group, a company that fully recognises its value and
heritage, is the best way for us to position it for success and to be true to my grandfather’s legacy in the long term.”
“Carlson Hotels’ global success and strong, sustain-able growth potential is a testament to their world-class brands, continuous innovation, excellent management,
and unique employee-focused culture, all of which we will build upon as part of this combination to establish our presence in the U.S. market and expand our footprint in hospitality internationally,” said Haibo Bai, Board Mem-ber, HNA Tourism Group and Chairman and CEO, HNA Hospitality Group.
Under the agreement, HNA Tourism Group will acquire all of Carlson Hotels, including its approximately 51.3% majority stake in Rezidor Hotel Group AB, Carlson Hotel’s master licensee based in Brussels, with hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Since the closing of the transaction will result in an indirect change of control in Rezidor, HNA Tourism Group would, under Swedish takeover rules, be obliged to launch a mandatory public ten-der offer for the remaining approximately 48.7% of Rezidor, within four weeks after the closing of the transaction if the ownership in Rezidor is not sold down below 30%.
HNA Tourism Group acquires Carlson Hotels
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 14 • asIa
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair increases baggage allowance for students
Sichuan Tourism Administration promotes tourism from India to ChinaSubsequent to the announcement of beginning of China-India Tourism Year in India in January 2016, a move based on the decision jointly taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping to enhance tourism between the countries, a delegation from China and the Tourism Admin-istration of Sichuan, one of the largest provinces of China held conference in New Delhi to boost tour-ism from India to Sichuan.
Speaking on the occasion, Wang Ning, remarked, “Both India and Sichuan are a fascinating tour-ism destination. I am hopeful that the Conference will help Indian people better understand Sichuan and create a positive atmosphere for the tourism in
Sichuan from India. We are expecting a 20% growth in the number of Indian visitors to Sichuan in 2016.”
At the conference, Sichuan Tourism Administra-tion also unveiled the trial measures and the incen-tive programmes planned to be soon launched by Sichuan Tourism Administration for India includ-ing an incentive programme for Chartered Flight, an incentive programme for selling Sichuan Tour-ism related products and incentive programme for organising tourism amongst others.
Ming Song, Deputy Director General, Sichuan Tourism Administration, said, “This Conference is an important launching pad for us to boost tour-ism from India to Sichuan and is a precursor of an
action plan that includes a number of incentives and trial measures for travellers as well as tour opera-tors from India.”
China introduces 24 tourism provinces at Macau carnivalChina National Tourism Administration (CNTA) recently organised a mainland delegation to partic-ipate in the ‘Beautiful China— 2016 Mainland Tour (Hong Kong, Macau) Carnival’ in Macau. The delega-tion comprised those from tourism commissions from 24 provinces (autonomous regions) including Jiangsu, Guangdong, Guangxi and Guizhou and 121 tour oper-ators from the mainland.
At the event, the Macau Tower staged the first Mar-itime Silk Road & Travel on High-Speed Train road show event. Tourism departments from six mainland provinces including Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan introduced their latest boutique travel route, ‘Travel to the Maritime Silk Road on High-Speed Train’ with detailed illustrations on how the train could serve the Maritime Silk Road tourism.
On the second day was held a public promotional activity at the Iao Hon Market Complex, where tourism departments from 24 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) from the mainland recommended their tourism resources to and answered questions from local residents, demonstrated colourful main-land tourism resources and products via presenta-tions on boutique travel routes, travel information
service, quiz game on tourism related knowledge, rec-ommendation of specific tourism products, business consultation, and wonderful ethnic shows.
Zhou Ping, Deputy Director, Hainan Provincial Tourism Commission, said, “The carnival has become a very good brand and serves as a good platform for
Macau people to learn more about the latest tourism products and business forms in the mainland. This time we successfully promote our tourism products along Hainan Western Ring High-Speed Railway, which means a lot for promoting tourism in the whole region.”
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair have announced an additional baggage allowance for students travelling from India to Hong Kong, USA or Canada.
The offer is valid for travel from May 1 to September 30, 2016 and from December 1, 2016 to January 31, next year. The benefit can be availed by students on book-ing a one-way or return ticket on the website or mobile app before June 30, 2016, in the eligible economy and
premium economy class. An additional 10 kgs and 23 kgs of baggage allowance will also be granted while trav-elling to Hong Kong and USA or Canada respectively.
To have access to the offer, students will need to share a copy of their university admission letter or identity card from the university, student visa copy, passport copy and the ticket copy. More details can be found on the airlines’ website or at the reservation office.
In order to expand its business in India, Nepal Air-lines recently conducted a road show in Mumbai. CA Janak Raj Kalakheti, Director, Commercial Depart-ment, Nepal Airlines, said, “The purpose of the road show is to recognise the contribution of the travel
agents who have been supporting us since we started our operations in India. Apart from this, we are also seeking their feedback so that we can grow and offer better services.” He also revealed that the airline will soon add A330 Airbus to its fleet.
Praful Khosla, Executive Vice President, Bird Group, which is the GSA for Nepal Airlines, said that the airline is the only carrier connecting Kathmandu to three cities of India. “We are focusing on corpo-rate, leisure and MICE segments. That is the reason we have introduced a flight to Bengaluru because the city offers huge scope for leisure segment.”
In their endeavour to connect more Indian cit-ies, the airline is carrying out feasibility studies for cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad. “Once our feasibility study is done we will connect Ahmedabad. Nepal Airlines is focusing on India in a big way and India is one of their core markets,” informed Khosla.
He also said that they are getting very good sup-port from tour operators, MICE agents, online travel agents etc. “Nepal has emerged as a very econom-ical destination and offers activities like adventure sports. Recently, casinos have also opened in Nepal and tourists can enjoy that as well,” concluded Khosla.
Nepal Airlines focuses on Indian market
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 16middle east
Lemon Tree Hotels to consolidate its presence in UAE
Ras Al Khaimah sings agreement with Cox & Kings to increase arrivals from IndiaRas Al Khaimah has signed an agreement with Cox & Kings Ltd to strengthen its relationship and expand its presence in the Indian market, which is one of the fastest outbound markets in the region. This agree-ment will focus on promoting the various aspects of Ras Al Khaimah and popularising it in the Indian market.
The agreement is aimed at increasing tourism arrivals to Ras Al Khaimah from India. The partner-ship will also introduce Ras Al Khaimah to the Indian market through specially created itineraries, creation of standalone tourism products for the emirate and market the destination via a series of campaigns and training programmes for Cox & Kings staff.
Haitham Mattar, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, said, “Following our revised
strategies and vision to reach one million visitors by the end of 2018, we will be announcing a number of partnerships such as this. Air India Express has already launched new routes to the emirate and our agreement with Cox & Kings will ensure we’re mak-ing the destination as accessible as ever. India offers an important contribution towards our overall visi-tor figures and we are keen to progress this opportu-nity to target Indian travellers even further.”
Ashutosh Mehere, Senior Vice President, Alli-ances & Special Projects, Cox & Kings Ltd, said, “Ras Al Khaimah offers the Indian traveller an opportu-nity to explore a new destination. We will focus on promoting the destination aggressively in the Indian market and create packages that are affordable and capture the essence of the destination.”
Air Arabia offers connectivity from India to SarajevoSarajevo has become the latest destination to be served from India by Air Arabia, via Sharjah. This makes it the 54th accessible destination from India to which the airline flies thrice a week. The service can be availed from 13 cities in the coun-try including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cali-cut, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Goa, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram.
Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia, remarked, “Bosnia and Herzegovina are rapidly emerging as a must-visit destination for tourists seeking great culture and history along-side incredible backdrop and outdoor activities. Sarajevo adds further strength to our broad net-work of destinations in Eastern Europe and we will continue to expand in the same manner.”
Lemon Tree Hotels has divulged its plans of estab-lishing eight properties in the UAE within the next three years. The midscale hotel operator is eye-ing hotels and serviced apartments in Abu Dhabi, Fujairah and Dubai, expecting to open its first property.
Rattan Keswani, Deputy Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotels, explained, “You go where your customer goes, or where the demand will be cre-ated, and it is the spending power of Indians that we are trying to harness. Moreover, most of the devel-opment here is in upscale categories and although a larger number of travellers are in the midscale
sector, nobody is filling the gap.”Lemon Tree has already stepped into the Middle
East, with a partnership sealed with Sydney-based real estate company Raine and Horne to open prop-erties in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, banking on the same for its growth in UAE.
Sanjay Chimnani, Managing Director, Raine and Horne, further talked about opportunities in sev-eral Dubai neighbourhoods, including Jaddaf, Busi-ness Bay, City Walk, Al Barsha, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Jebel Ali and Jumeirah Village Circle.
The hotel group also plans to expand in Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Flight EY204 from Abu Dhabi landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, making the city the airline’s fourth A380 destination following London Heathrow, Sydney, New York, followed by Melbourne.
With the aircraft upgrade, Etihad Airways is able to offer an all-A380 daily service in both directions between Mumbai and New York JFK International with a seamless connection over Abu Dhabi, along with the unique USA customs border protection which enables guests to pre-clear U.S. customs in Abu Dhabi. The ser-vice is operated as a codeshare flight with Etihad Air-ways’ strategic Indian partner, Jet Airways.
James Hogan, President and CEO, Etihad Airways, said, “Bringing our flagship product to India with addi-tional seat capacity demonstrates our overwhelming undertaking to one of the world’s fastest growing econ-omies, helping fulfil growing demand and meeting trav-ellers’ expectations for superior products and services. Key feeder markets to and from Europe, North Amer-ica and the Middle East will also benefit greatly from the upgraded service.”
Neerja Bhatia, Vice President- Indian Subcontinent,
Etihad Airways, added, “We are delighted to showcase our innovative The Residence featuring a living room, shower and bedroom, and our revolutionary First Apartments and Business Studios on the new daily A380 Mumbai flights that give our guests the very best onboard experiences with unmatched luxury and comfort.”
The A380 operates on one of the five-daily scheduled flights between Mumbai and Abu Dhabi. Etihad Air-ways operates three flights and Jet Airways operates two. The Mumbai A380 also offers guests with connec-tions to and from popular destinations such as London, Paris, Manchester, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Bahrain, Doha and Jeddah.
Etihad Airways launches the first airbus A380 service to Mumbai
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 17 middle east •
Emirates Group announces record profits in 2015
Bahrain expects 15 million tourist arrivals by 2018
UNWTO declares Egypt’s Luxor as World Tourism Capital for 2016Luxor, Egypt has been unanimously chosen as the ‘World Tourism Capital’ this year by the Exec-utive Council of the United Nations World Tour-ism Organisation (UNWTO). It will also be the host destination for the UNWTO meetings in October, 2016.
Egypt chaired the 103rd session held in Malaga, Spain in May under the title ‘Tourism and Security: Towards a Framework for Safe, Secure and Seam-less Travel’. About 20 Tourism Ministers with del-egations from more than 50 countries, representa-tives from 500 tourist organisations, and agencies from 130 countries congregated at the session.
50 countries unanimously chose Luxor as the host for the 104th session, scheduled for October 30 - November 1, 2016. Besides, Luxor will also be hosting the 5th Global Summit on City Tour-ism from November 1-3, 2016.
Miral and Warner Bros. officially announced that a Warner Bros. themed destination is set to open in Abu Dhabi. Situated on Yas Island, the development will include the only Warner Bros. branded hotel along-side the immersive theme park.
The first phase of the project, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, is set to open in 2018. Guests of all ages will be able to step inside Gotham City and Metropolis, and experience the cartoon worlds of Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and more, all under one roof.
Located alongside the world’s first Ferrari branded theme park, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, and the iconic Emirati themed mega water park, Yas Waterworld, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi will help Yas Island take its annual visitor tally from 25 million in 2015 to 30 million in 2018.
H.E. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman, Miral, said, “It is incredibly exciting to announce that we are bringing the iconic Warner Bros. brand to Yas Island. Miral’s investment in the Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi theme park is estimated at one billion dol-lars and is a milestone in the emirate’s journey to put Abu Dhabi on the global map and become one of the world’s leading tourist destinations.”
Kevin Tsujihara, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. Entertainment, commented, “Working with our part-ners at Miral, we’ll bring this expertise to Yas Island, one of the world’s leading entertainment destinations, to create a fully-interactive, innovative and unique experience that will allow fans of all ages to experience the most exciting aspects of Warner Bros. in a com-pletely immersive environment.”
With a year ending with record profits, the Emirates Group has marked its 28th consecutive year of profit and steady business expansion. During the last financial year, both Emirates and dnata achieved new capacity and profit milestones, as the Group continued to expand its global footprint, and strengthen its business through strategic investments.
The Annual Report reveals a profit of AED 8.2 bil-lion the financial year ending March 31, 2016, up 50% from last year. The Group’s revenue reached AED 93 bil-lion ($25.3 billion), a decrease of three percent over last year’s results, while the Group’s cash balance increased strongly to AED 23.5 billion ($6.4 billion).
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said, “Emirates and dnata delivered record profits, solid busi-ness results, and continued to grow throughout 2015-16. Against an unfavourable currency situation which eroded our revenues and profits, an uncertain global economic environment dogged by weak consumer and investor sentiment, as well as ongoing socio-polit-ical instability in many regions around the world, the
Group’s performance is testament to the success of our business model and strategies.”
The Group’s employee base across its more than 80 subsidiaries and companies increased by 13% to over
95,000, representing over 160 different nationalities. In line with the overall profit, the Group declared a divi-dend of AED 2.5 billion ($681 million) to the Investment Corporation of Dubai.
In an effort to attract investment to the tourism sector, Bahrain’s Economic Development Board (EDB) recently participated in a roundtable session titled ‘Uncovering Bahrain’, on the sidelines of the Arabian Hotel Invest-ment Conference (AHIC) in Dubai.
A compound annual growth rate of 4.8% has been projected for Bahrain’s tourism market, reaching one billion dollar by 2020. Bahrain attracted a total of 11.6 million tourists in 2015, up 11 % from the previous year.
The hotels and restaurants sector was the fastest-growing sector in the Kingdom for the past two years, expanding by 10% in 2014 and by 7.3% in 2015. Bahrain is home to 120 hotels including the Four Seasons, the Ritz Carlton, Sofitel, ART Rotana, Marriott, Le Méridien and the Westin. Many are under development.
Jerad Bachar, Executive Director of Tourism and Lei-sure, EDB, commented, “There is strong investment currently underway in Bahrain’s tourism sector, stem-ming from both private and public sector sources. The recently launched tourism brand identity ‘Ours. Yours. Bahrain’ has been launched to build the overall aware-ness of Bahrain as a tourism destination. Through col-laboration with the greater tourism community, we aim to increase the country’s competitiveness and increase the economic contribution from tourism to the GDP.”
Bahrain is investing heavily in large infrastructure projects including the one billion dollar Bahrain Inter-national Airport Modernisation Programme; the Ave-nues Mall and the One and Only Resort and Spa, both currently under construction.
Yas Island to open Warner Bros. themed destination in Abu Dhabi
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 18europe
The wineries and museums, forming part of the Wine Routes of Spain, are emerging as a major revenue gen-erating source, with an increase of 15.20%.
According to the Wine Tourism report released by the Spanish Association of Wine Cities (ACEVIN), vis-its have shown a rise by 5.59% over the previous year, with over 2.2 million visitors.
The 2015 Wine Tourism report also includes the cost parameters of the standard tour and the average spend-ing per visitor to wineries, museums and wine interpre-tation centres. Figures in this case are positive record-ing 49 million euros of business, 15.20% more than in the previous year.
The average price of the standard winery tour (guided tour + tasting) is 7.01 euros and the average spending per visitor to the winery (in store, excluding the entrance fee) is 18.03 euros. In the case of wine muse-ums, the average cost of the standard tour is 3.38 euros and the average spending per visitor to museums is 5.02 euros.
The report once again puts the Wine and Cava Route of Enoturisme Penedès and the Wine and Brandy Routes in the Marco de Jerez region at the top of the rankings of the most visited, with 464,825 and 449,326 visits respectively.
Other routes that have received good numbers and are again leading in the rankings are Ribera del Duero, Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa, Rias Baixas and Empordà. Empordà is also showing one of the most outstanding
increases compared to the previous data. Other destina-tions with significant increases are Bierzo, Bullas, Mon-tilla-Moriles and Ronda, with above 30% growth com-pared to the previous year’s data.
Scotland hosts the first ever Global Event SummitFollowing their successful visit to this year’s IMEX in Frankfurt, the 30 senior live event professionals who were attending the inaugural Global Event Summit gathered at the world-famous Gleneagles Hotel & Resort in Perthshire.
The first ever Global Event Summit was the result of a partnership between VisitScotland, the International Spe-cial Events Society, and the IMEX Group.
The delegates took part in three days of high-level debate on topics including: The Uber Economy, The Sci-ence of Events, The Cultural Revolution, and The Risk Factor.
Following their stay at Gleneagles, delegates then vis-ited Scotland’s historic capital Edinburgh, where high-lights included a private event at Edinburgh Castle as well as dinner on¬board the Royal Yacht Britannia, formerly the private yacht of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
Neil Brownlee, Head of Business Events at VisitScot-land, said, “The Global Event Summit is a unique oppor-tunity to engage with some of the most important and influential live event professionals in the world. A com-bination of knowledge exchange and showcasing the very best that Scottish hospitality has to offer have shown these members of the global events community the true Spirit of Scotland.”
Wine Tourism generates 15.20% more revenue in Spain
307 cruise line vessels entered the Grand Harbour of Valletta, making 2015 a record year for the industry in Malta. The ves-sels carried more than 670,000 passen-gers, an increase of 30% from 2014.
The cruise market has taken on a crit-ical importance within Malta’s tourism industry. A substantial number of first-time visitors returned for a longer stay, generating further business in tourism.
Dr Edward Zammit Lewis, Malta’s Minister of Tourism, stated, “The trend is continuing. Malta has just registered an exceptional number of cruise tour-ists this winter: 17 cruise ships called in
Malta’s port between January and March 2016, 8 more than last year. Nearly 40,000 passengers arrived in Malta in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 90% over the same period of 2015.”
The government is committed to increasing efforts and investments for further growth in Cruise Tourism. “The results attained reflect the drive by all stakeholders to develop Malta’s product and promote the increasing attractive-ness and popularity as a leading cruise destination in the Mediterranean, in what is a highly competitive market,” added Lewis.
Turkish Airlines has extended its global reach to two other nations, namely, Bogotá in Colombia and Panama City in Panama. These new points join Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Toronto, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Boston, Montreal, San Francisco and Miami, thereby leading to greater vis-ibility for the airline in the Western Hemisphere.
The inaugural flight to Bogotá and Panama City was highlighted by M Ilker Ayci, Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Turk-ish Airlines, along with the partici-pation of protocol and media repre-sentatives and also Turkish Airlines’ employees at the El Dorado Airport in Bogotá. Andres Ortega, CEO, El Dorado Airport and Gustauo Him from the Republic of Panama’s Min-istry of Tourism also welcomed the first flight to these cities.
“With the launch of the Pan-ama City and Bogotá flight, Turkish
Airlines has increased its number of destinations in the Americas to 14, strengthening its flight network across Central and South America. We’re extremely proud to support our country’s closer cooperation with Colombia as negotiated by our Pres-ident during his visit to Latin Amer-ica, by launching this new flight. We’ll also add Atlanta to our exten-sive network later this month and will continue to expand our reach in the Americas,” said Ayci.
Istanbul – Bogotá (BOG) – Pan-ama (PTY) flights will be operated thrice per week on Wednesdays, Fri-days and Sundays in both directions. Round trip fares are available for the route of IST – BOG –PTY, starting at $699, inclusive of taxes and fees.
The airline will also have a special offer for ‘Miles & Smiles’ members during the first six months of opera-tion with a 25% reduction in the miles needed to redeem either award tick-ets or upgrades.
Cruise Tourism in Malta continues to prosper
Turkish Airlines launches service to Bogotá and Panama City
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 19 EUROPE •
Tourism Ireland launches online film Tracing My Irish Ancestry
Carlson Wagonlit Travel announces new CEO
Lufthansa hosts Startup Expo to encourage potential entrepreneurs
Tourism Ireland has launched a new online film, ‘Tracing my Irish Ancestry – my journey home to Ireland’, specially created to encourage people from around the world to visit Ireland in 2016 and find out more about their Irish ancestry.
Tourism Ireland’s short film was produced to connect with those with Irish heritage around the world. It shows Irish-American Gerry Britt’s search to uncover his ancestry and how he traced his Irish roots.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said, “With an estimated 70 million people across the world claiming links or affiliations with the island of Ireland, Tourism Ireland is actively reaching out to the Diaspora. We are inviting them to visit Ireland, to learn more about their heritage and explore the places their ancestors came from.”
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has announced that Kurt Ekert is replacing Douglas Anderson as President and CEO, with immediate effect. In this role, Kurt will report directly to the Carlson Board of Directors.
Under Douglas Anderson’s leadership, CWT became the industry leader in business travel and made significant advancement in technology, includ-ing the acquisition of WorldMate. The company also developed an effective organisation with strong tal-ent. Douglas is leaving to pursue other opportunities.
Kurt Ekert most recently served as Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer of Travelport. During his five-plus years in that role, the business transformed its product offerings and value propo-sitions in all key channels and delivered consistent growth, highlighted by a successful IPO. Kurt also previously spent nine years at Travelport in a num-ber of other executive roles, including Chief Oper-ating Officer of European-based GTA. His experi-ence prior to that includes six years at Continental Airlines.
MICE industry in Austria witnessed a significant growth in 2015. The country hosted 18,172 events with approximately 1.46 million participants, as per the lat-est Meeting Industry Reports Austria, presented by the Austrian Convention Bureau and the Austrian National Tourism Centre.
Last year, the conference industry generated around 3.1 million overnight stays (+10.9%) in the country, lead-ing to an increase from 2.1% in 2010 to 2.3% of overnight stays by all tourists.
“While the congresses in 2015 represent only a quar-ter of all the events, they generated more than half of all participants and three quarters of all overnight stays,” commented Petra Stolba, Managing Director, Austrian Tourism Centre.
The MICE industry recorded an increase of 12.6% with a total of 4328 conventions while corporate
meetings represented 46.9% of the events. Vienna remained the meetings industry leader with 39.2% of all events organised in the capital. Salzburg solidified its position as the second largest conference destination in Austria. Regarding the number of events, lower Aus-tria took the third place.
Small and medium-sized markets on the other hand dominated the year with a market share of 94.5%. Con-gresses with participants less than 100 represented 61.3% (+30%) of the entire congress business and around 16% of participants. Contributing the biggest share among these were the business and political events.
Besides, the Austrian eco-label for Green Meet-ings and Events was launched in 2010 and has estab-lished itself as a recognised label for sustainable events. In 2015, there were 329 green meetings organised in Austria.
Lufthansa recently organised the Startup Expo, 2016, in partnership with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). The largest initiative of its kind, the Expo brought startups, mentors, investors, industry partners and government to the same platform, supported by a corporate in part-nership with TiE, a leading entrepreneurial organisation.
The expo provided an opportunity to 200 aspir-ing entrepreneurs to showcase their ventures, attend insightful workshops, expert talks, mentoring sessions.
The event witnessed participation from entrepre-neurs ranging from women entrepreneurs, social entre-preneurs, student entrepreneurs, service providers, technology and food entrepreneurs. The participating startups interacted with 30 investment decision makers in investor zones where 700 meetings between the inves-tors and startups took place. They also got the oppor-tunity to network with top business experts like San-jeev Bikhchandani, Vice Chairman, Naukri.com, Deep Kalra, Founder and Group CEO, Make My Trip India Pvt Ltd, Alok Mittal , Founder, Indifi Technologies, O P Manchanda, CEO, Dr Lal Path Labs Pvt Ltd and more,
besides investors, VCs, accelerators, industry associ-ations, service organisations and corporates to be suc-cessful entrepreneurs.
The Startup Expo received a widespread support and participation from organisations such as Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Com-merce & Industry, GOI, Department of Science & Tech-nology, Nasscom, CII, PHD Chambers, NEN, Indian Angel Network, SheTheStory, Yourstory, LetsVenture, SIDBI, PadUp Ventures, IvyCamp, AWS, CIIE, Micro-soft Ventures etc.
Wolfgang Will, Director, South Asia, Lufthansa Pas-senger Airlines, highlighted, “The Startup Expo pays tribute to the entrepreneurial energy in India driving one of the largest startup systems in the world. It is another link in Lufthansa Runway to Success, which has grown over the past four years into one of the biggest SME plat-forms in the country. We are delighted with the over-whelming response to the initiative, an affirmation of the fact that India is very close to our heart and that as a brand we are more Indian than you think.”
Austria registers steady growth in the MICE industry
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 20americas
Bogotá becomes full alliance partner of leading strategic Global Alliance
Visit Houston and MCI Group announce new global strategic partnership
Air Canada to launch seasonal non-stop flights between Vancouver and DelhiPassengers will be able to avail non-stop flights between Vancouver and Delhi from October 20, 2016, in time for Diwali festivities. Launched by Air Canada, the sea-sonal, three-time weekly flights complement the air-line’s Toronto-Delhi non-stop service.
Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines, Air Canada, said, “Customer response to our Toronto-Delhi service has been positive, and with this new sea-sonal Vancouver route, we are strategically increas-ing our presence in the important Asia-Pacific market in time for Diwali festival celebrations. Our non-stop Dreamliner flights from our Vancouver hub will also offer the shortest elapsed flying time from Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles to Delhi.”
Flights, starting in October, will continue to oper-ate till April 8, 2017 with Air Canada’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft featuring 30 international busi-ness class lie-flat pod suites, 21 premium economy and 247 economy class seats with upgraded in-flight enter-tainment at every seat throughout the aircraft.
“The Canada-India Business Council is thrilled to hear that Air Canada will be offering yet another direct service to India from Vancouver. These direct routes facilitate speedy travel for those considering and cur-rently doing business in India,” expressed Gary Com-erford, President and CEO, Canada-India Business Council.
Argentina has framed their new National Tourism Plan for the next four years. Unveiled by the Presi-dent of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, and the Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Santos, the plan foresees a 50% increase in international tourist arrivals to Argentina until 2020, with nine million foreign tourists per year.
The income per year has been estimated to be $1, enabling the country to strengthen tourism as the main service of exportation of the country.
The national government would lay special emphasis on doubling the market of U.S. and Can-ada. It further aims to increase European arriv-als and develop long distance markets of China,
Russia and India.At the regional level, measures will be taken to
recover the Brazilian market, deepen the border and make the Andean and Mexican grow. 70 million domestic tourists are expected at the national level, accounting for an increase of 47%.
The Argentina Tourism National Plan will allow Argentina to generate 300,000 new job positions dur-ing the four years across the whole value chain of the touristic industry, innovating, applying new technol-ogies, endorsing entrepreneurs and promoting the training and quality in every Argentinian destination, explained Santos.
Greater Bogotá Convention Bureau (GBCB) was announced as the newest full alliance partner of Best-Cities Global Alliance during IMEX Frankfurt 2016. GBCB is the first bureau from Latin America to join the fold, a key step in the alliance’s expansion into new and emerging markets.
BestCities new Board Chair, Jonas Wilstrup of Won-derful Copenhagen, made the announcement at IMEX Frankfurt which also saw him take the baton in his new role from former Board Chair Karen Bolinger of Mel-bourne Convention Bureau.
Wilstrup commented, “This is an exciting time for BestCities and the announcement of Bogotá’s successful application is significant. In recent years the meetings industry has recognised the growth potential of Latin
America and Bogotá in particular; it’s great to see Best-Cities at the forefront of that trend.
Ranked sixth in the ICCA Latin American Rankings, Bogotá scooped the ICCA Gold PR Award last year for
its campaign ‘People the Power of Hope’. With legacy at its heart, the campaign brought major city players together in a bid to make Bogotá the venue for the global gathering of youth leaders: One Young World in 2017. The opening of a new International Conference Centre, the ‘Agora Bogotá’ in 2017, will further increase the city’s venue delegate capacity by almost 4,000 and El Dorado International Airport now has over 700 weekly interna-tional direct flights to 43 countries globally.
Sandra Garcia, Executive Director at GBCB, said, “It’s a fantastic development in our journey to be accepted as a full BestCities partner and we look for-ward to working with the Alliance’s expert network of associations and clients to continue developing and growing the industry here in Latin America.”
Visit Houston, the Destination Marketing Organisation-DMO for the City of Houston, and MCI Group, a key driver of innovation in global meetings, events, associa-tion and congress industries, announced a two-year stra-tegic partnership designed to attract more international medical meetings to Houston.
“We are excited to work on this new initiative with MCI Group, and confident that it is a step in the right direction to position Houston as the leader in a vertical market with so much potential for our city,” said Mike Waterman, President of Visit Houston.
Home to the world’s largest medical complex, the Texas Medical Centre, Houston intends through this alliance to ‘build bridges’ between its medical commu-nity and international medical associations, becoming a global premier meetings destination.
The collaboration will open opportunities for shared knowledge and education for both organisations through hosting conventions, meetings, and educa-tional activities.
“MCI has been active in the U.S. medical market for many years and this alliance will give us an opportunity to strengthen our foothold in that sector,” declared Rich-ard Torriani, Chief Operating Officer Americas for the MCI Group. “We are excited to see the affirmative impact of this union on our medical clients and professionals, current and future.”
“Houston is a cosmopolitan city with many inter-national ties, and this strategic alliance with a leading global PCO and AMC in the meetings industry will solid-ify our presence in key international markets,” said Dan-iel Palomo, Director of Global Sales for Visit Houston.
Argentina presents its new National Tourism Plan
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 21 americas •
Peru looks at fresh representation for destination promotion in India
Mexican Tourism encourages more domestic travelTourism in Mexico has shown a significant increase last year and is expected to gain momentum in the next five years. The country recorded 83.2 million domestic travellers in 2015, resulting in an annual average growth rate of four percent, said Tourism Minister Enrique de la Madrid Cordero, while antici-pating a rise in the numbers up to 100 million by 2020.
In the bid to boost tourism, the government plans to support social tourism projects while making a coordinated effort in promoting the domestic travel sector. Mexicans currently account for 82% of tour-ist spending in Mexico.
“We want to take advantage of the weak exchange rate, so that instead of going abroad tourists will explore local destinations. This has to be linked to the growth of the economy, which is doing well, because the consumption is up,” said the Minister.
More than developing new destinations, the Minis-try of Tourism is currently focusing on consolidating
the existing ones to efficiently exploit their potential in terms of resources.
VISIT FLORIDA to enable virtual travel through Florida Attractions FinderVISIT FLORIDA has launched an interactive vaca-tion planning tool to provide a virtual experience of the Florida thrills from the front-row seat. Rightly called the ‘Florida Attractions Finder’, it features vid-eos that send users careening and diving on the new-est roller coasters, zip-lining over alligators and skim-ming the Everglades aboard an airboat.
The user will henceforth be bestowed with the power of discovery. “The ability to try out different attractions and imagine yourself in the middle of the excitement is part of the fun we all have when antic-ipating a Florida vacation,” said Paul Phipps, Chief Marketing Officer, VISIT FLORIDA.
Built on the TripTuner platform used to construct VISIT FLORIDA’s successful Beach Finder in 2014, the Florida Attractions Finder aggregates images of
different attractions based on changes made to the dial settings. Four separate settings can be adjusted depending on the user’s vacation preferences: from thrill to chill, popular to hidden gem, high-tech to nat-ural, and days to hours. The interface then matches the user with an attraction, which could be an inter-nationally recognised theme park or an off-the-beaten path experience.
The Florida Attractions Association has part-nered with VISIT FLORIDA for the project by pro-viding the initial vetting criteria for the beta version and acted as a consulting resource for the 130 attrac-tions featured.
“Florida has an enormous amount of diverse expe-riences to consider. We wanted to see the Florida Attractions Finder become a reality because it has the
power to make planning and finding vacation experi-ences easier and fun,” said Bill Lupfer, President and CEO of the Florida Attractions Association.
The Finder will also add 50 other attractions this summer with future plans to enable users to upload videos and compete for viewers’ choice awards.
Peru Export and Tourism Promotion Board have signed OM Tourism as its PR representative in India, with effect from May 2016.
“We are pleased to officially begin new and focused promotional efforts in India with OM Tourism,” said Magali Silva, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) and President of The Board of PROMPERU.
Sanjay Sondhi, CEO, OM Tourism, remarked, “We are extremely happy to be assigned the task of han-dling marketing, sales and public relations activities for PROMPERÚ in India. The discerning Indian travel-lers looking for luxury experience can also explore and indulge in its rich gastronomy, rejuvenating spas and river
cruises. As a result of its rich history, Peru today is packed with archaeological remains and colonial architecture.”
Recently Machu Picchu, built in the clouds of the Andes Mountains of Peru, has bagged the title of travel-lers’ favourite landmark in a new Trip Advisor ranking. The Incan citadel has won the best-rated landmark in the world by Trip Advisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards 2016.
Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva, commented that Peru is really proud of its award since it means a worldwide exposition. “Hopefully the recognition of Trip Advisor, probably the most con-sulted website in the world when it comes to plan a trip, will help to encourage tourism to our country,” she said.
Around 66.1 million people visited Orlando in 2015, setting an all-new record for the destination. The arrivals account for a 5.5% increase from that of 2014, making Orlando the most visited destination in the nation.
“Reaching more than 66 million visitors to Orlando is an amazing accomplishment for our tourism com-munity. This new milestone and rapid growth over the past two decades is a result of having a tourism industry and community partners that are focused on growth and investment, dedication to the needs of our visitors and the global marketing and sales efforts of our Visit Orlando team and member companies,” said George Aguel, President and CEO, Visit Orlando.
Orlando sold a record 33 million room nights in 2015, with tourist development tax collections top-ping $230 million in Orange County, Fla., home to the Central Florida tourism district. “We’re so proud to break another national record and again be named the top visitor destination for the U.S.,” expressed Teresa Jacobs, Mayor, Orange County.
Roger Dow, President, U.S. Travel Association, said, “Orlando has reached yet another historic milestone with more than 66 million visitors in 2015 – a significant achievement for Orlando and the U.S. travel industry. The region’s remarkable commitment
to travel and tourism-with especial kudos to Visit Orlando, its tourism community members, and the
leadership of local public officials-enabled it to hit yet another visitation record.”
Orlando records 66 million tourist arrivals in 2015
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 22OCEANIA
The Truffle Festival to give a boost to Canberra Tourism
Tourism New Zealand to tap U.S. and India markets aggressively with increased budgetThe Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key, in a pre-budget announcement confirmed an additional $8 mil-lion over four years for Tourism New Zealand to tar-get visitor growth opportunities in the USA and Indian markets.
Welcoming the Government’s increased investment, Kevin Bowler, Chief Executive, Tourism New Zealand, said, “The increased funding supports our work to secure growth opportunities these markets present to generate value for the industry now and into the future.”
The extra funding will further support Tourism New Zealand’s capacity to grow the Indian visitor market. Indian arrivals to New Zealand have grown steadily since Tourism New Zealand increased its investment in the market three years ago, with total arrivals grow-ing 13.8% for the year ending March 2016.
“We know that having a well-informed travel trade is critical to converting interest into bookings, and the additional funding will help us up-weight the training of travel agents to support their ability to sell travel to New Zealand during the shoulder seasons. Alongside this we
will extend our investment in aviation partnerships to maximise sales in the key May-June travel period for Indian visitors,” says Kevin.
Additional marketing activity will be seen imme-diately in the U.S. with Tourism New Zealand’s investments to capitalise on newly announced air
services– which are expected to result in a 30% increase in seats between the United States and New Zealand. American Airlines and United Airlines (in an alliance with Air New Zealand) will start direct services to New Zealand, alongside Air New Zealand’s existing services from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston.
Auckland to host TRENZ in 2017Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) has announced that New Zealand’s biggest annual international tourism showcase, TRENZ will return to Auckland
in 2017. TRENZ 2017 will take place on the Auckland waterfront from May 9-12, 2017.
The announcement was made on the final day of
TRENZ 2016, which brought more than 350 influ-ential international travel buyers and media to meet about 300 leading New Zealand tourism operators at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre.
Chris Roberts, TIA Chief Executive, said, “After two highly successful years in Rotorua, we look for-ward to taking TRENZ back to New Zealand’s big-gest city and international gateway. TRENZ is a fab-ulous opportunity for Auckland to showcase what it has to offer international visitors.”
TRENZ 2017 will be hosted by Auckland Tour-ism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED).
Brett O’Riley, ATEED Chief Executive, said, “The benefits of hosting TRENZ can be felt for several years, with buyers having the chance to discover how much Auckland has to offer. This first-hand experience of the region helps secure Auckland’s place on their clients’ future itineraries.”
TIA is currently working to secure venues and dates for TRENZ in 2018 and beyond and is in dis-cussions with several regions.
The Truffle Festival held every year in the Canberra Region from the beginning of June until the end of August marks the harvest of the Black Winter Truf-fle. This year’s festival features more than 250 individ-ual events across the region, offering a rich variety of opportunities to taste and experience the magic of these prized gems.
There are many species of Australian native truffles, but the one most prized in culinary circles is the Black Winter Truffle also known as Perigord Truffle.
One can indulge in the special flavours and aromas of
truffle dishes at local restaurants and cafes. Join a hunt and see for yourself how the talented dogs unearth truf-fles. Learn from chefs and other truffle experts at a cook-ing class or demonstration, or pop along to a farmers market and rustle up your own truffle dish.
A range of truffle breakfasts, lunches and degusta-tion dinners will be held at a variety of cafes, restaurants and bars throughout the region including Pod Food, Italian and Sons, Mezzalira, Hyatt Hotel Canberra, Con-servatory Restaurant, Hotel Kurrajong, Vibe Hotel, Joes Bar and Muse– Food, Wine and Books.
Australia will now be offering a three-year mul-tiple entry visa to the Indian travellers. The announcement was made as part of the Austra-lian Government’s 2016-17 Budget to boost Aus-tralia’s future tourism growth.
To be launched on trial basis by July 2016, the new visa will permit Indians to make multiple vis-its to Australia on the same visa, with each stay valid for up to three months. The trial will be applicable to those visiting the country for tour-ism or business purposes. The new visas will also be valid for those visiting from Thailand, Vietnam and Chile.
Hopeful about the new development, Harinder
Sidhu, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, said, “We welcome the tremendous interest Indi-ans have in visiting Australia for tourism and business. With India among Australia’s nine key tourism markets, the trial will naturally drive our tourism growth from this part of the world.”
“The three year multi-entry Australia visa is a forward-looking strategy and will effectively serve to catalyse demand for Australia, a desti-nation that is already seeing strong uptake from Indians for leisure, in addition to b-leisure and VFR,” added Rajeev D Kale, President & Coun-try Head for Leisure Travel & MICE, Thomas Cook India.
Australia to provide three year multiple-entry visa to Indian travellers
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 23CAribbeAn
The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority New York Office has launched a new marketing campaign, ‘Get to Happy’ targeting consumers and travel agents to highlight all the ‘happy’ attributes the destination has to offer.
This integrated marketing campaign will target several consumers and trade touch points that include email marketing, public relations, social media, offline activations and print advertising. ‘Get to Happy’ will drive engagement with continued conversation about Antigua and Barbuda that will increase awareness and bookings.
The campaign will feature an online sweepstakes, offering an all-inclusive trip to be ‘happy’ on Antigua and Barbuda. The campaign and supporting informa-tion will be housed on the destination’s marketing web-site www.antiguabarbudabuzz.com. To make book-ing even easier, visitors to the site can book their travel directly with dedicated partners, Expedia and JetBlue Getaways.
The campaign will also feature a special promotion
in June in celebration of 10 years of June as the ‘Month of Romance’ in Antigua and Barbuda.
Colin James, CEO, Antigua and Barbuda Tour-ism Authority, said, “We are passionate about sharing
the magic of Antigua and Barbuda as we legitimately believe that we are improving lives for visitors by offer-ing them truly amazing experiences, and ‘Get to Happy’ highlights just how beneficial visiting is.”
New digital campaign to boost tourist numbers to Antigua & Barbuda
Curaçao registers 13% growth in visitor arrivals
Aruba and Cuba sign agreement for joint promotion of tourism
The Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) has registered a double digit growth of 13% in visitor arrivals in March 2016 compared to last year. A total of 44,736 visitors were registered against 39,526 in the same month last year.
Stay over arrivals from North America increased by six percent in March with a total of 9,184 visi-tors compared to the 8,695 visitor arrivals in March 2015. The United States, with 6,462 stay over arrivals, recorded an eight percent increase. Canada recorded a slight one percent increase with 2,722 stay over arrivals this March 2016.
The South American market increased by 15% in March 2016, with a total of 12,349 stay over arrivals compared to 10,721 in 2015. Demand out of Venezuela bounced back, growing strong in March 2016. From Venezuela, a 16% increase was registered with a total of 8,536 visitors being counted 2016, compared to the 7,354 visitor arrivals of last year.
Colombia and Suriname also registered increases in stay over arrivals of respectively 15% and 49%. In absolute figures, Colombia and Suriname registered 1,216 and 1,051 stay over arrivals. Brazil showed a decrease of 24%.
The European market recorded an increase of 13% in March 2016. The region provided a total of 19,103 stay over arrivals compared to the 16,912 recorded in March 2015. The main producing coun-try, the Netherlands, recorded a five percent increase with 12,453 visitors in March 2016 compared to 11,883 in 2015.
Germany increased, recording 15% more vis-itors in March 2016. A total of 3,261 visitors were registered. Last year, in this same month 2,830 Ger-man visitors were counted. From Belgium a 154% increase was registered, with a total of 1,224 stay-over visitors in March 2016.
The Caribbean region grew by recording 30% more visitors in March 2016. Aruban visitors increased by 60%, representing 1,487 stay-over vis-itors in absolute numbers. Trinidad and Tobago also recorded good performance with 18% more visitors.
Tourism in Belize starts booming in the first quarter of 2016Tourism in Belize is booming in 2016 as indicated by the latest numbers from the Belize Tourism Board.
A mix of eco-tourism, classic sun and sea tourism, with a diverse mix of hotels like the Cayo Espanto pri-vate island resort has drawn a large number of tour-ists to the island, making it the fastest-growing des-tination in the Caribbean in 2016.
The country recorded a 24% year-over-year
increase in stay over visitors in January. Overall, Belize welcomed a total of 38,274 arrivals in Janu-ary, 37,624 arrivals in February and 43,063 arrivals in March.
For the first quarter, the country reported 16.9% increase in overnight tourist arrivals. The country has shown positive growth in tourist arrivals for ten months in a row, starting from June last year.
Aruban and Cuban Governments have signed a coop-erative agreement focusing on tourism for the two destinations, including the possibility of a cruise ship route that links the two countries and others in the southern Caribbean. The agreement was signed by Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment and Otmar Uduber, Aruba’s
Minister of Tourism, Transportation and Culture at Havana.
“Aruba sees Cuba as a new destination, despite its existence for some time now, and it will soon see organisational changes that will contribute to making the country a more attractive destination to explore from the U.S. market,” Uduber said.
According to Uduber, the agreement will open up new tourism possibilities for Aruba. The focus includes a dual destination program and the exchange of information on managing cruise facilities, market-ing strategies to attract visitors and the timeshare sec-tor. These initiatives will be driven through job plat-forms between the two countries.
Cuba is also interested in Aruba’s experiences in the field of timeshare as well as new law proposals in respect to the management of accommodation. Aside from the topics of tourism and transportation, agri-culture and culture were high on the agenda during the Minister Oduber’s visit to Havana.
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 24AfricA
Dar es Salaam Airport to come up with a new Cargo Terminal
Rwanda eyes good share of the MICE businessIn 2015, Rwanda emerged a surprise 7th in the continen-tal rankings for Africa by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). This was accomplished with one major conference facility available, the Kigali Serena Hotel and Conference Center.
A new national convention centre will open in June this year for the upcoming African Union Summit. Also coming on line in September will be the Kigali Marriott Hotel which will also offer a number of conference and meeting rooms, boosting the country’s capacity further.
Frank Murangwa, Head of the Rwanda Convention Bureau, said, “Having just hosted the World Economic Forum on Africa for the first time, Rwanda has clearly demonstrated its ability to deliver on a global stage. As we are ramping up our MICE strategy, we look forward to attracting many more large-scale events and climbing further up the ICCA rankings.”
Rwanda last year hosted 27 major conferences in
addition to 13 global association meetings including the high profile Interpol General Assembly which brought over 1000 delegates to Kigali.
In 2016, the country expect will host the African Union
Summit, the Global Africa Investment Summit, the Africa Hotel Investment Forum and the associated AVIADEV aviation conference which will directly link hospitality and tourism stakeholders to the aviation industry.
Uganda allocates $1.5 million to boost tourismUganda President Yoweri Museveni has endorsed three PR and Marketing firms- PHG Consulting, Kamageo and KPRN that will represent, promote and seek tour-ism investment on behalf of Uganda in North Amer-ica, UK and Ireland, and German speaking markets at a total cost of $1.5 million a year.
Stephen Asiimwe, CEO, Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), believes that the firms work will directly impact on development and employment in Uganda.
According to the UTB, the marketing firms were cho-sen after an international competitive bidding process managed and funded by the World Bank through the
Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (CEDP), coordinated by the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU). The five-year project comprises of four major components and is being implemented by seven agencies.
The project will support the Government of Uganda in promoting tourism products and services to key source markets of North America (USA and Canada), UK and Ireland; and Germany speaking Europe (Ger-many, Austria and Switzerland).
Under this arrangement, the Uganda Tourism Board is using part of this support to engage public relations and marketing firms to provide strategic marketing, sales representation, and public relations services in the above mentioned key source markets. The purpose is to popularise Uganda’s existing and new tourism prod-ucts and services in order to increase their visibility and attract more tourists.
Uganda also recently launched e-Visa applications. The applications are for regular single entry Visa, the common East African Tourist Visa (covering besides Uganda also Kenya and Rwanda), multiple entry Visa and Business Visa. The application form can be accessed from visas.immigration.go.ug.
Swissport, Tanzania’s leading airline ground han-dling service company has reportedly attained IATA certification for safe ground operations (ISAGO) for their two main international airport stations- Julius Nyerere International Airport and Kilimanjaro International Airport.
Swissport’s new cargo terminal at JNIA in Dar es Salaam is due to open soon and will be equipped with state of the art cargo handling, storing and tracking equipment, substantially speeding up clearances.
The terminal, with the capacity of handling 80,000 tonnes, is the first of its kind in Africa that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for
easing cargo identification.Gaudence Temu, Swissport Tanzania CEO, said,
“This is the first facility in Africa that uses state-of-art gadgets. We have invested for the future and almost double the capacity. The terminal has spe-cial cargo areas for animal, dangerous goods such as radioactive material- morgue, pharmaceutical and two cold storage facilities of between 20 and 8 degree Celsius and a strong room.”
The building is multipurpose and will have a bank, business facilities, TRA offices, Swissport head office, training centre, a gym and housing other stakeholders - clearing and forwarding agent offices, airline cargo offices.
Derek Hanekom, South African Minister of Tourism said that the country’s tourism sector expects strong growth in 2016 after some strict new visa rules that reduced the number of arrivals in the previous year were lifted.
South Africa last year relaxed some of the visa rules it introduced in October 2014, dropping a requirement for visitors to apply for visas in person at South Afri-can embassies, following a backlash from tour opera-tors and tourists.
“In January, over one million tourists arrived in South Africa, 15% more than in January last year. Febru-ary brought an incredible 18% increase,” said Hanekom,
adding that while the Chinese market was showing signs of recovery, obtaining visas in India still took too long.
South Africa’s tourism sector is considered as one of the main drivers of employment and economic growth in Africa’s most industrialised economy. According to the National Treasury, tourism’s direct contribution to GDP was 103.6 billion rand ($7.15 billion) in 2013, about 2.9% of GDP, while directly employing 655,609 people or 4.4% of total employment.
“Tourism is recovering rapidly from last year’s decline. 2016 promises to be a year of strong growth for tourism in South Africa,” Hanekom said.
2016 promises to be a strong growth year for tourism in South Africa, says Minister
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 25 africa •
In order to tap the Indian market aggressively, Zam-bia Tourism Agency conducted its first ever road show in the cities of Mumbai and New Delhi. A 10-member delegation led by Felix Chaila, CEO, Zambia Tourism Agency travelled to India to conduct the road shows.
Zambia has welcomed 25,000 Indian visitors in 2014, registering an increase of 30% compared to the previ-ous year. Chaila said, “India is among our fastest grow-ing markets in Asia. We have been participating in the Indian trade shows since past three years. Our aim is to organise at least two to three road shows annually starting next year reaching out to more cities. The pri-mary focus will be on the leisure and incentive tourists from India.”
Besides imparting destination information to the agents, Zambia Tourism Agency will also conduct media and trade familiarisation trips during the Zam-bia Travel Expo, happening in the first week of June 2016 at Lusaka.
Chaila also informed about Zambia’s online visa system that offers visa to the Indian citizens through the website evisa.zambiaimmigration.gov.zm, which takes a processing time of three working days. “A big-ger relief for travellers is that they no longer need a yel-low fever vaccination certificate to travel to Zambia,” added Chaila.
Zambia conducts its maiden road show in India
Air Seychelles records profitability in 2015 MTPA conducts Travel Agents Seminar in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Coimbatore
Air Seychelles has reported its fourth year of prof-itability in a row, with net profits of $2.1 million in 2015, on revenues of $105.4 million. Audited by KPMG, these financial statements also reflect growth in passenger traffic and strong cargo vol-umes. A total of 522,873 passengers travelled with the airline in 2015, 22% more than in 2014.
Air Seychelles passenger carrying capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs), increased by seven percent to 1.7 billion by the end of 2015. Despite this increase the airline’s seat load factor rose by six percentage points from 60% in 2014 to 66% in 2015. Cargo services continue to be a major area of growth for Air Seychelles, with the airline carrying 4,415 tonnes of freight, primarily driven by wide body operations on Johannesburg and Paris routes.
Roy Kinnear, Chief Executive Officer, Air Sey-chelles, said, “We are proud to have been able to deliver on our mandate, which was to achieve strong growth, to become the region’s leading carrier and, most importantly, to do so as a commercially viable and profitable enterprise, while remaining one of the key drivers of economic growth in Seychelles.”
Joel Morgan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Transport and Chairman, Air Seychelles, said, “The profit is another wonderful result for our national airline and for the future of aviation in Seychelles and the Indian Ocean region. We will continue to consolidate Air Seychelles position by making investments that will allow the airline to continue on its current trajectory of further growth.”
Of the total passengers carried, 30% were con-tributed by partner airlines, generating 41% of Air Seychelles’ passenger revenue, demonstrating the importance of growth through partnerships.
Routes Africa Forum 2016 to develop African air connectivityRoutes Africa Forum 2016, an event dedicated to the development of the African aviation industry will take place from June 26-28, 2016 in Tenerife to encourage the launch of new air services to, from and within the African continent.
Routes Africa will bring together airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss future air ser-vices. Around 250 route development professionals are expected to attend the forum which was founded
ten years ago to stimulate growth in the industry. Some of the leading airlines that have signed up for the event include South African Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, ASKY Airlines, Binter Canarias, Iberia and Norwegian.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts that the African market will grow by 4.7% to 294 million passengers a year by 2034, and that seven of the ten fastest growing markets will be in Africa (Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia).
Katie Bland, Director of Routes, said, “Routes Africa will help aviation professionals to capitalise on the predicted expansion of African markets. They can take the initiative by making the case for new services to their destinations.”
Carlos Alonso, President of the Tenerife Govern-ment, said, “Tenerife’s long-term aim is to become a logistical stepping stone to Africa, building on our strong historical ties with the continent. Routes Africa is an important part of our activities to strengthen our economic and transport links through new aviation services.”
Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) India in collaboration with Air Mau-ritius recently conducted a Travel Agents Sem-inar in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. Vivek Anand, Country Manager, MTPA India and Vinit Gupte, Manager India & South Asian Sub-continent, Air Mauritius gave the product presentation.
“Indians visiting Mauritius are increasingly looking for ‘different experiences’ through a varied range of activities. It is seen that Indian travellers find ‘Walking with the Lions’, sub-marine rides, helicopter tours very interesting and even consider these as a once in a lifetime experience. Rum and tea tasting tours are also gaining popularity among the tourists,” said Anand.
While talking about the future marketing plans, Anand said, “We will continue promot-ing Mauritius as a MICE, Wedding, Honey-moon, Adventure, Golf, Family and Luxury destination in 2016.” In order to increase the visibility of Mauritius to the trade and MICE partners, MTPA India will conduct trade pre-sentations and seminars in all major cities, informed Anand.
Familiarisation trips will be organised for travel agents, wedding planners and media. To promote Mauritius among the consum-ers, MTPA will run an advertising campaign besides having promotional activities on radio, electronic channels and in malls.
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 26global
WTTC’s new research quantifies the link between tourism and peace
Luxury Travel set to boom in the coming years
IATA announces global passenger traffic results for March
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) launched a new research report quantifying for the first time the links between tourism and peace. While Travel & Tourism has often been recognised for its ability to drive peace, security, and understanding, to date, there has been little empirical evidence to sup-port this link.
The report, ‘Tourism as a Driver for Peace’, con-ducted with the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP), shows how important an open and sustain-able tourism sector can be for the levels of peace in a country. Countries with more open and sustainable tourism sectors have higher levels of peace and lower levels of conflict and violence. Increases in tourism sustainability can lead to improvements in the func-tioning of governments.
David Scowsill, President and CEO, WTTC, said, “I am delighted that this research now shows that Travel & Tourism does have a strong link to creating peaceful societies. In a world of increasing risk and security concerns, this research is compelling evi-dence of why governments should continue to focus on tourism development for the good of their people, and make policy decisions that balance the safety of their citizens with the continued facilitation of travel for business and leisure purposes.”
Steve Killelea, Founder & Executive Chairman, IEP, said, “The data shows how tourism and peace can support each other and increase societal resil-ience, prosperity, and peace in the long term. This also shows how the tourism sector is one of the key areas in which the private sector can play a positive and tangible role in contributing to global peace.”
Amadeus has recently launched a report titled ‘Shap-ing the Future of Luxury Travel’ revealing that global consumers are increasingly spending their dispos-able income on experiences rather than material goods.
Between 2011 and 2015, luxury travel, in terms of outbound flights on business or first class, saw a 4.5% compound annual growth rate, versus 4.2% for over-all travel. This trend will continue to accelerate over the next 10 years, with luxury travel trips projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% between 2015 and 2025, almost a third faster than overall travel at 4.8%.
The report also reveals fresh challenges and opportunities that the luxury travel market will face over the next decade. Some key findings from the report include the observation that tourism has entered a new age of luxury travel, where luxury is curated, real-time and experience-led.
Rob Sinclair-Barnes, Strategic Marketing Direc-tor, Amadeus IT Group, said, “Luxury means differ-ent things to different people and this is especially true today. As emergent middle classes seek the material aspect of luxury travel, more mature mar-kets are craving a new, evolved kind of luxury. This is why offering luxury customers a relevant personal and exclusive experience will become even more cru-cial than it is today – it will be a differentiating factor between old and new luxury.”
The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China hosted the First World Conference on Tourism for Develop-ment in Beijing. Under the theme ‘Tourism for Peace and Development’, the event focused on the role of tour-ism in fighting poverty and building peace and gathered 1000 participants from over 100 countries.
Opening the conference, Premier Li Keqiang of China underlined the role of tourism in lifting people out of poverty and the importance of stepping up inter-national cooperation in tourism.
The links between development and peace were stressed by UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, who said, “There can be no development without peace and no peace without development.”
The conference included three main panel sessions dedicated to the contribution of tourism to the Sustain-able Development Goals (SDGs), to poverty alleviation and to peace.
During the summit session, moderated by CNN’s Richard Quest, participants called for an integrated approach to tourism development that can contribute effectively to the SDGs. Participants in the session on tourism and poverty underlined that there is a lack of understanding and research on the impact of the sector on poverty levels. The third session of the conference, dedicated to tourism and peace, stressed how people-to-people diplomacy is inherent to tourism while call-ing for investment in education and youth to build more stable societies.
First World Conference on Tourism for Development held in Beijing
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the global passenger traffic results for March showing that demand rose by 5.3%, compared to the same month last year. Capacity grew at 5.9% which pushed the average load factor down by half a percent-age point to 79.6%.
March performance shows a moderate slowdown on the year-on-year growth rates recorded in January (7.2%) and February (8.6%) even after adjusting for the leap-year impact in February. Demand for inter-national traffic grew significantly more quickly (6.2%) than that for domestic travel (3.7%).
Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO, IATA, said, “While in line with long-term trends, demand growth in March represented a slow-down compared to Jan-uary and February. It is premature to say whether this marks the end of the recent very strong results. We do
expect further stimulus in the form of network expan-sion and declines in travel costs. However, the wider economic backdrop remains subdued.”
March international passenger demand rose 6.2% compared to March 2015, which was a decline com-pared to the 9.1% increase in February. Airlines in all regions recorded growth. Total capacity climbed 6.9%, causing load factor to slip 0.5% percentage points to 78.5%.
Domestic demand rose 3.7% in March compared to March 2015, a dramatic slowdown from the leap year-aided 7.8% growth recorded in February. This was driven primarily by performance in the two larg-est markets, the U.S., which accounts for two of every five domestic passengers and China. Domestic capac-ity climbed 4.3%, and load factor retreated 0.4 percent-age points to 81.6%.
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 28technology
MakeMyTrip unveiled its latest offering via a new TVC featuring its brand ambassadors Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. This is in line with its Hotels campaign that was launched in March this year, focusing on providing compelling reasons to customers to book Hotels online. The new commercial addresses consumers’ concerns with regards to last minute hotel booking cancellations and corresponding charges.
In the online hotel booking category, Price, Assort-ment, and Flexibility are key category drivers. While the first two TVCs highlighted the unmatched price competitiveness and convenience of booking Hotels on MakeMyTrip, the latest TVC showcases the flexibil-ity aspect of booking on MakeMyTrip platform. One of the key barriers for customers in the context of Online Hotels is the cancellation charges. By levying zero can-cellation fees on hotel bookings, MakeMyTrip is further catalysing offline to online booking behaviour amongst category fence sitters and non-users.
Commenting on the new TVC and offering, Saujanya Shrivastava, CMO, MakeMyTrip, said, “With this new offering, we want to pass on the benefit of zero cancel-lation fee & 100% refund to our customers. We believe that this will aid in new user acquisition for our online hotels segment and thereby help meet our larger busi-ness strategy of driving penetration of online hotel bookings in India.”
Expedia to tap the Indian mobile marketExpedia has divulged plans of exploiting the opportu-nities arising from the mobile travel market in India.
The online travel giant currently ranks India, China and Japan as its top three markets in Asia in terms of size and growth. Sinclair Neal, CEO, AirAsia-Expedia, said there is a strong potential for further growth in the country.
“With the online travel market expected to reach $13 billion by 2017 we can expect more growth in this seg-ment. Mobile travel in India is surging with gross book-ings up 153% year-over-year to $707 million in 2014 help-ing fuel the mobile market,” Neal remarked.
Expedia also expressed interest in investing in digital media promotions that target the younger generation.
MakeMyTrip offers free cancellation & 100% refund
Yatra.com conducted their annual summer survey which brings into the spotlight the changes in the way Indian travellers are planning to holiday this summer. The latest survey shows that Indian travellers decide on the go and are well in tune with the latest tech-nology. This conclusion has been vali-dated by numbers showing a huge 10% year-on-year jump in mobile bookings to the current 32%. While desktops and laptops continue to be the preferred medium of booking, there is a steep decline in demand for travel agents with the number being a mere 8% in 2016 versus 11.2% in 2015.
The survey also found out that a swooping 67.4% are planning a sum-mer trip in 2016 as against only 35% in 2015. Despite the rupee slipping to 66/67 levels, nearly 31% travellers are looking at international trips for sum-mer 2016. The survey also found that North Eastern states are showing prominence as a top choice in domestic destinations which is in line with the government’s focus to promoting the region. Amongst international desti-nations, Bali and Mauritius have come
forward as the new popular choices this summer.
Travellers, spending on summer trip per person sees an increase in the mid segment range, with over 25% peo-ple looking to spend `25,000–50,000 in 2016 as against 17% in 2015. There continue to be a large number of trav-ellers that continue to choose budget accommodation to manage expendi-ture while travelling in 2016. The sur-vey also finds that 44% Indians believe that relaxation during holidays is the key reason to travel in 2016, underlin-ing the urban Indian’s need to escape the grind of everyday life.
RezNext has revamped its inter-net booking technology with indus-try leading functionality to support dynamic packages and promotions. Core to the new func-tionality is also the 3-step booking pro-cess designed to help hotels improve their conversions.
Avinash Lodha, Chief Executive Offi-cer and CFO, RezNext Global Solutions, said, “Direct booking for hotels in India is still a fraction of the hotel’s total online sales. We believe the key to suc-cess is in the book-ing experience that the solution offers, the UI and the time taken to complete a booking. We also realise that a book-ing engine must have important func-tionalities like advanced promotions and dynamic packages to present
lucrative offers to customers trying to book directly through a hotel’s web-site. Our current release addresses this need in the market.”
RezNext’s booking engine- RezE has been built to provide a great booking experience across devices. The solu-tion has custom built designs for all devices to ensure optimum usage of the booking engine across any platforms.
“We have built the booking engine to serve as a prime marketing space for the hotel with the ability to feature all room types, multi-ple meal plans, season based rates, customised packages and real-time update of rates based on
market demands,” added Kevin Dcosta, Senior Vice Presi-dent- Product Development, RezNext Global Solutions.
32% of Indian travellers book via mobile apps, says Yatra survey
RezNext enhances RezE to support dynamic packages and promotions
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 29 technology •
ixigo has launched ixigo inspire, a Chrome extension that inspires travellers and instantly compares travel deals across travel sites. Ear-lier in beta, the plug-in has now been fully rolled out to ixigo’s user-base and works on the desktop version of Chrome. The extension also acts as a one stop solution to manage all your bookings.
ixigo’s inspire plug-in opens each new Google Chrome tab with a stun-ning background photo of an inspir-ing destination from around the world along with an array of quotes that can stimulate your travel aspirations! Apart from this, the browser add-on helps you find the cheapest deals on hotels and flights. While you browse on any online travel website, ixigo
automatically brings you the best deals available real-time, no matter which travel website they are on. The exten-sion enhances the traveller’s browsing experience, by adding unique features like PNR lookups and PNR confirma-tion predictions for trains from ixigo’s website.
Talking about this innovation, Rajnish Kumar, CTO & Co-Founder, ixigo, said, “ixigo aims at enhancing the end to end travel experience for our users. Each new browser tab now refreshes and informs you about a wonderful new destination to visit. At launch, we already have over two lakh users getting inspired to travel every day, and we expect this to become the default tab for five million travellers by the end of the year.”
Customers will now be able to pur-chase forex at exact Interbank rates with zero exchange margin. The ‘Zero Mar-gin’ campaign, launched by BookMy-Forex, is the world’s first such campaign where retail consumers can buy foreign exchange at rates at which banks deal with each other when making transac-tions of $1 million or more.
Besides providing perfect Interbank or mid-market rates with zero-exchange margin added, customers will also be provided other benefits that are a hall-mark of BookMyForex. The website offers forex pricing in real time, marking a dramatic departure from the current practice of fixe buy and sell rates display.
Sudarshan Motwani, Founder and CEO of BookMyForex, said, “Banks and money changers load exchange margins ranging from two to five percent at their
city offices to as high as 10 - 12% at their airport counters. They also often charge various fees and commissions over and above heavily loaded forex rates. Through our unique arrangements with several banks and exchange com-panies that offer us volume (wholesale) rates and high service standards that we track all the time, we have been able to offer zero commission on sale of foreign currency notes, travel cards and travel-ler’s cheques.”
The propriety application compares forex rates and service track record of all their channel partners and shows up the most suited bank or exchange company branch that offers the best rates in real-time. “The campaign delivers further on our commitment to create widespread tech disruption in the forex industry for the benefit of consumers,” he added.
ixigo inspires travellers to travel and save money
BookMyForex to offer zero commission with its new campaign
Chototel chooses India to build its first $2 hotelA London-based technology startup, Chototel, has chosen India to set up its pilot ‘super-budget’ hotel. Hotel tariffs start at `100 per day and offer uninterrupted electricity, water, gas and social infrastructure including daycare, infirmaries & community kitchen and gardens.
Construction for the first project is underway in Nagothane, 70 kms south of Mumbai situated on the new Mum-bai-Goa expressway. The 240-room development spread across 1.5 acres will cater to 1,000 guests. The target customers will be industrial workers, working within a 15 km radius, and also those travelling on the Mumbai-Goa expressway.
Chris Phillips, Chototel’s Chair-man said, “India’s diversified economy and robust growth prospects make it
the most attractive location globally to set up our first project. With inflation under control and the economy ben-efiting from lower commodity prices, demand for low-cost service products can only go up.”
Rhea Silva, Managing Director, Chototel, adds, “The Chototel project is a technological super machine. We use innovative technologies to build, operate and manage in a way that helps us keep costs low and efficien-cies high. We are committed to mak-ing India the cornerstone of our mar-ket entry strategy.”
Chototel aims to build 100,000 rooms in the next five years in the Mumbai-Pune-Goa corridor and is currently in the process of acquiring land in Chakan, Goa and Gujarat for its next round of projects in India.
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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 30EVENTS
Tourism INDABA 2016: Bringing Africa under one sky
If tourism is a sector of progress for the people of Africa, then INDABA was its embodiment. With exhibitors
from 17 countries like Egypt, Madagascar, Botswana, Mauritius, Seychelles, Namibia, Tanzania, Benin, Leso-tho, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Swaziland, Malawi, Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique and of course South Africa - INDABA showcased more exhib-itors from the continent under one roof than ever. Over nine of the continent’s Tourism Ministers were present. INDABA, the premier African travel and tourism show in the world concluded with 14,000 business meetings, 1,050 exhibitors, 1,856 buyers and 724 media.
The theme for INDABA this year was ‘Putting you at the forefront of business success’ and it was South Afri-can Tourism’s promise to its exhibitors on show at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, Durban from May 7 to 9.
INDABA 2016 delivered better business results and more meaningful interactions with key buyers from across the globe - again demonstrating the growth and potential of African tourism sector. For established com-panies, INDABA offered the opportunity to connect with loyal existing clients and the potential to develop new business.
About 40 Tanzanian tourism stakeholders, includ-ing national conservation agencies, Ngorongoro cra-ter and Tanapa led by the Tanzania Tourist Board, participated at INDABA. “While we expect a sig-nificant growth of international arrivals this year, regional markets remain a potential segment that we are happy with the response of the INDABA trade show,” said Devota Mdachi, Managing Director, Tan-zania Tourist Board.
“INDABA is where we finalise contracts with our clients and consolidate our brand with operators we’ve developed relationships with over the year,” says Belinda Pedersen, General Manager, Interna-tional Sales, Tsogo Sun.
“Our primary objective is to showcase the signif-icance of Freedom Park (Pretoria) as liberation her-itage product at this prestigious event whilst keep-ing abreast with global trends and new developments within the tourism and travel industry,” says Jane Mufamadi, Chief Executive Officer, Freedom Park, the heritage destination of South Africa.
Last year, the Travel and Tourism Competitive
Report, presented by the World Economic Forum, con-firmed that tourism constitutes nine percent of Afri-ca’s overall economy and that some African nations were well positioned to benefit from the projected 4.9% growth in the continent’s travel and tourism business. Tourism arrivals to the continent are projected to reach 130 million travellers by 2030, over double the current 50 million arrivals.
Open skies, interdepartmental collaboration and trust between government and industry were some of the topics discussed at the Ministerial Media Talk facil-itated by CNN anchor Richard Quest.
No other initiative gives South African travel and tourism exhibitors the most lucrative platform, to sell their products and services to buyers from across the world than INDABA’s speed marketing sessions. In just five minutes, exhibitors demonstrated to between 170 and 200 global buyers, that as entrepreneurs they understand, how to operate, market and package, their offerings in line with local and global trends. Three days were dedicated to three themes – a) World Heritage Sites & Culture, b) Safari and c) Adventure.
For the first time, INDABA had a Hidden Gems Zone, built to showcase products and services from South African Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs). For three days of the exhibition, SMMEs enjoyed networking opportunities with buyers from around the world; attended workshops facilitated to provide knowledge and tools on how to access the mar-ket and shared their stories with global media.
South African Tourism India office took the initiative to take an Indian delegation with a good mix of travel agents, tour operators working in African sector, main-line as well as travel trade media and bloggers. The dele-gation was given a taste of African wildlife with pre and post familiarisation tours that included select property inspections, private safaris and game drives.
As South African Tour-ism, we are delighted to once again bring the latest edition of INDABA. This is where all our delegates expe-rience some of the best of what Africa has to
offer in the travel and tourism industry under the same roof. We showcase new products and services that attest to the variety of experiences that we have.
sthembiso Dlamini Acting Chief Executive Officer
South African Tourism
INDABA expresses what the soul of Africa is all about. We are bound together by our common past, and our future is intertwined. We feel a powerful sense of belonging when we come together to move tourism forward. It starts with the people who partner with SA Tourism to put on this great show. And after the stands have been packed away, it will be about how our governments throughout the continent partner with industry and communities, and how we join forces to receive the next wave of tourists. All indications are that 2016 will be a bumper year for
tourism in South Africa. Tourist arrivals in Africa are expected to reach 130 million by 2030. This is more than double the 50 million arrivals we are currently receiving. In South Africa, we are investing in our key sites, and training our people to enhance the visitor experience at these destinations. As we build our destination, we are also adjusting our marketing efforts to keep pace with global trends. A successful Indaba contributes to the success of tourism in all our countries.
Derek Hanekom Tourism Minister, South Africa
INDABA 2016 was one of the most successful trade engagements for us. This year saw a total of 7,292 delegates in attendance with 17 countries from across the African continent who exhibited. In total 14,000 quality meetings were held over the three days of the show. INDABA is the largest platform for our trade partners to learn about the great products and iconic experiences that South Africa has to offer. As more and more Indians put South Africa on their itinerary, it is essential that our travel partners have access to resources that will enable to deepen their destination
knowledge and hone their expertise. South Africa offers visitors numerous activities and experiences, and there’s something for everyone, right from wildlife to adventure, culture & lifestyle to indulgent luxury. INDABA is really the best place for our partners to witness the breadth and depth of our offerings. We’re certain that INDABA will equip our partners to better sell South Africa by providing tailor-made packages to Indian tourists.
Hanneli slabber Country Manager – India
South African Tourism
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | jUNE 2016 • 31ResPOnsIBLe TOuRIsM
The government of the Balearics, the main islands of which are Majorca, Ibiza, and Menorca has published its plans to impose a ‘Sustainable Tourism Tax’ to help protect the islands’ resources.
The tax at the Balearic Islands will go into effect on July 1 and will affect everyone over the age of 16. People on holiday will pay a tax per night that they stay on the island and it will be a progressive scale with the level of accommodation – taking the assumption that those who are paying for a nicer hotel can afford slightly more tax.
It will start at 50 cents per person per night for camp-ers or staying in a hostel, increasing up to €2 for a night in a luxury hotel. The tax will be halved after staying eight. The law is expected to raise about €80 million annually, which will go to sustainable tourism initiatives
and the conservation of natural spaces.Malta will add its own ‘eco-tax’ on visitors this
summer as well of 0.50 Euros a night at hotels starting at the beginning of June.
Ibiza government imposes Sustainable Tourism Tax on tourists
50 Taj hotels certified with EarthCheck Gold status Hotel industry unites for the cause of water conservation
Fifty hotels of the Taj Group have been awarded Earth-Check Gold certification following an audit of their environmental processes and performance. The group has achieved an average of 28.6% reduction in energy, water and waste, saving the operational cost up to $6 million, revealed the result.
The group’s energy use was cut by 11.9%, saving 558m mega joules of energy, while water consumption was reduced by 24.8%, resulting in a saving of 1.8 billion litres of water. And impressively, Taj has almost halved the amount of waste its hotels produce, with a 49.3% reduction equating to 11.4m litres of waste.
At present, 77 of the Taj Group hotels are enrolled in the EarthCheck programme. The green initiatives implemented include the installation of wind turbine generators and green plant walls at its hotels.
Taj is one of the first hotel groups in the world to have bagged the Gold status for 50 of its hotels after hav-ing completed a minimum of five years of continuous benchmarking through the EarthCheck programme.
“The Taj Earth sustainability programme, which is
accredited by the globally recognised certification for environmental excellence in the hospitality industry, EarthCheck, is an initiative which reiterates the com-pany’s conscious efforts towards sustainability and is aligned with the Tata ethos of keeping communities at the heart of doing business,” stated Rakhee Lalvani, Taj Hotels’ Assistant Vice President of Public Relations.
TIME Hotels wins CSR Award for its environment friendly initiativesUAE-headquartered TIME Hotels has received the Best CSR Initiative accolade at the Leaders in Hospitality Awards 2016. The win marks the latest addition to its col-lection of ‘green’ awards, as the group is recognised once again for its commitment to environmental sustainability and innovative operations.
TIME Hotels is the first hospitality chain in the Mid-dle East to launch a carbon-offsetting programme with 368 tonnes of carbon emissions offset over 12 months from April 2014 to March 2015. As part of its environ-mental campaign strategy, the chain has also been certi-fied across all its properties by internationally-recognised body, Green Globe, as a sustainability leader in the Mid-dle East, and was also named a 2015 recipient of the Dubai Chamber’s CSR Label Award; the only hospitality com-pany to receive such an acknowledgement.
Mohamed Awadalla, CEO, TIME Hotels, said, “Since
its inception, TIME Hotels has had a top down commit-ment to CSR and sustainability issues. Over the years we have created and launched a range of activities designed to give back to and support communities at a local and now global level. Winning this award is once again vindication of our passion for putting CSR initiatives into the heart of everything we do and demonstrating to our hospital-ity peers that this is a commitment that needs to be taken seriously across the entire industry, in order ensure that what we do today has a positive impact on the world, not just tomorrow but for future generations.”
Extending its outreach programme beyond the UAE, for the first time, TIME Hotels has also partnered with Etihad Airways on a charity initiative to support the development of three schools for underprivileged chil-dren in the remote areas of Kakamega County in west-ern Kenya.
Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), the apex body of hotels and res-taurants in the western region including the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa and the Union Territories of Daman, Diu & Silvassa has issued guidelines to its members on conservation and use of water.
In a letter addressed to its members, Bharat Mal-kani, the President of HRAWI has urged member hoteliers to conserve the precious resource by taking small steps like serving water and refilling only upon guests’ request to not using the water hose to sweep the paths or driveways but by using a just dry broom.
Some of the key water saving practices that the association has urged its members to follow include serving half a glass of water when requested for some, reusing untouched water, crockery and cut-lery, requesting the guest to use less water to avoid wastage and informing them about the drought, requesting the guest to turn off the taps when not in use or lowering the flow of the water, using a cover on the pool while not in use to reduce evaporation, among others.
“Water is a very precious resource and conserv-ing it has become the need of the hour. Every drop of water saved could make a difference and espe-cially so when all the hoteliers and restaurateurs join hands it could mean a significant one. Using less water helps us to become more flexible during times of water shortage, and conserving water is simple and inexpensive,” said Bharat Malkani, President, HRAWI.
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