ddpp

l.com

travt

alki

ndia

.com

` 50/-A DDP PUBLICATIONVol. XXV No. 17; September 1st fortnight issue 2013 Pages: 60 (Excluding cover)

travt

alki

ndia

.com

ddpp

l.com

SEPTEMBER 1ST FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013 TRAVTALK 1

It was a big day in the history of travel industrywhen the industry

stalwarts of the travel tradegathered at The LaLit Hotelfor an event which scripted ahistory of its kind. TRAVTALK TVwas born.

SanJeet, Editor andPublisher, DDP Publicationsdelivered the welcomespeech and invited the dig-

nitaries on stage for theribbon cutting ceremony.These dignitaries includ-ed VK Duggal, Member,National DisasterManagement Authority;RH Khwaja, Secretary tothe Government of India,Ministry of Mines; ParvezDewan, Secretary, Ministryof Tourism, Government ofIndia; Lalit Panwar,Secretary to the govern-ment of India - Ministry ofMinority; Sanjay Kothari,

Secretary to theGovernment of India -Administrative Reforms &

Public Grievances andJyotsna Suri, Chairpersonand Managing Director, TheLaLiT Suri HospitalityGroup. Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, Association Presidents fromthe industry Subhash Goyal,President, IATO; SubhashVerma, President, ADTOI;Guldeep Singh Sahni,President, OTOAI and RajanSehgal, President, IGTAwere called on the stage and the TRAVTALK TV logo was

launched. The TRAVTALK TV launchsaw a gathering of 450 dis-tinguished guests from acrossdifferent value chains of thetravel and hospitality indus-try. The senior representa-tives of the travel and hospi-tality industry included topleaders from hotels, airlines,GDS, car rentals, travel tradeassociations, NTOs, cruisesand state tourism bodies toname a few.

As takes the industry a step ahead, industry stalwarts gathered at The Lalit Hotelon 23 August to show their support for the launch of TRAVTALK TV.

TT BU R E AU

See more on page 4

Lalit Panwar, Jyotsna Suri, VK Duggal, RH Khwaja, Parvez Dewan, Sanjay Kothari and SanJeet at the launch event of TRAVTALK TV

TRAVTALK TV heralds a new era

BULLETIN

The Indian Association ofTour Operators (IATO) is

back with a special messagefor its members and stake-

holders in the inbound travelbusiness through its annualconvention in Kochi. As perSubhash Goyal, President,

IATO, the need of the hour isto strike global and local partnerships.

“The theme for thisyear’s Convention is very apt,taking into consideration thepresent scene of tourism.

Globally, countriesare forming partnerships fortourism marketing,sharing databases,developingstrategies, common booths at global travelfairs, poolingresources andexchanging ideas.

This partnership is alsovisible in research partner-ship, investigating tourism as

a social-ecological system,civic governance and tourismin the face of uncertaintiescreated by global warmingand peak oil pricings, etc,”said Goyal.

“Public PrivatePartnerships (PPP) arebecoming increasingly impor-tant in tourism infrastructuredevelopment opportunities.These will be explored in course of the business sessions and inputs from the experts who have beeninvited from India andabroad,” he added.

Further, IATO is keen tolift the growth momentumforward by taking partner-ships ahead into creation ofinnovations. Here, Goyal said,“Innovation can be defined ina multiplicity of ways as newproducts, processes, newmaterials, new forms of

organisations, use of technol-ogy; creating centres of excel-lence that disseminate newoperational research-basedknowledge, focussing onincremental raise of qualityand staff, including nicheinnovations and revolution-ary innovations can reallyimpact positively for tourismand its sustainability.”

“This quantifies how much importance thetheme holds for stakeholders.The above note amplifies the major aspects. The sessions will touch otherrelated matters of socialmedia, taxation, visa issues,global marketing, skill development and overseasmarketing efforts. IATO’sbusiness sessions are aimedat educating members on allthese aspects of tourism andnew trends,” he added.

The IATO Convention-2013 has a dual objective of bringing all local andglobal stakeholders, exploring innovative ideas to take India’s inboundsegment to new highs…

For local and global partnerships

VIVEK SETHI

Subhash GoyalPresidentIndian Association of Tour Operators

VIEWPOINT

23 August 2013, 2030 hours was a proudmoment for all of us at DDP Publications

and the culmination of a lot of hard work,late nights and head banging! We had finallylaunched TRAVTALK TV, in the midst of 450industry and government leaders – all ourfriends and supporters.

It was a moment of great pride when theceremonial ribbon was cut on stage and thecurtains opened to reveal the TRAVTALK TV logoto the sound of bugles and drums. And thefinal applause for the first news episodeshown on large screens to a silent room ofwatching audience, brought a tear of joy tomany of our eyes…

These news episodes will come to the entire tourism and

hospitality industry everyweek. The 2-minute‘Headlines’ episode will come as weeklyattachment with an

email. At the same time, itwill be loaded on our website,

www.travtalktv.com along with thecomplete 10-minute ‘News’ episode. Therewill also be a ‘Specials’ page on this websitecontaining interviews, news aboutconventions & exhibitions and extensivecoverage of industry events andcelebrations.

All this exclusively for the travel & hospitality industry, so all our friends stay abreast of what ishappening, even during their constanttravels in India and abroad. It can beseen on your laptops, tablets and smartphones, even on WhatsApp so don’tforget to add TRAVTALK TV to your WhatsAppfriends list, and watch it week afterweek, month after month.

We have taken the advantages of TV & Internet to create this... A new product that has a global distributionthrough the Net and can be viewed at ourconvenience and forwarded to people wewant to share it with.

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

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

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

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

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

VikramajitChairman

SanJeetEditor & Publisher

Deepa SethiEditor-in-Chief

Editorial

Ratan Kr PaulVivek SethiMegha PaulDevika JeetAnita Jain

Lyandra D’Souza

News-EditorPeden Doma Bhutia

Desk-EditorArchana Sharma

Sr. Sub-EditorHritvick Sen

MUMBAI:504, Marine Chambers, 43, New Marine Lines, Opp. SNDT College,

Mumbai - 400 020, India, Ph.: +91-22-22070129; 22070130

MIDDLE EAST:Durga Das Publications Middle East (FZE)

Z1-02, PO Box: 9348, Saif Zone, Sharjah, UAE Ph.:+971-6-5528954, Fax: +971-6-5528956

TRAVTALK is printed and published by SanJeet on behalf ofDDP Publications Private Limited

72, Todarmal Road, New Delhi-110 001Ph.: +91-11-41669575,41669576, E-mail: sanjeet@ddppl.com

Printed at Cirrus Graphics Pvt. Ltd. B-62/14, Phase-II, Naraina Industrial Area, New Delhi - 110 028

Advertising (Mumbai)Suchita Saran

Branch ManagerHarshal Ashar

Deputy Genral ManagerPriyanshu Wankhade

Asst. Manager AdvertisingRishika Karra

Sales CoordinatorAdvertisement Designers

Vikas Mandotia / Nitin KumarAarushi Agrawal

Design: Nityanand Misra Sudhir Mudgal

Production: Anil KharbandaCirculation: Ashok Rana

AdvertisingGunjan Sabikhi

Asst. Vice PresidentKarishma Khanna

Sr. Manager MarketingUdit Pandey

Sr. Manager MarketingGeetika Pathak

Manager AdvertisingAmit Sarkar

Asst. Manager Marketing

PhotographersSimran Kaur-Delhi

Bharat Dangiya-Mumbai

COVER STORY

Celebrating the birth of TRAVTALK TVContd. from page 1

Launch ofTRAVTALK TV

Over 10,000 peopleviewed the first news capsuleon the same night w hen TRAVTALKTVwas launched. Going forward,the 2-minute and 10-minutenews capsule will be circulatedto around 500,000 viewers

domestically and internation-ally. This module can furtherbe forwarded to friends andbusiness. The news capsulealso got international audi-ences, in as many as 25 coun-tries, including UK, USA, UAE,

Australia, Thailand, Canada,Singapore, Germany, HongKong, Italy and Malaysia etc.The dignitaries spoke abouthow the merging of technolo-gy and news-distribution hadprogressed, and how this will

address the needs of the traveltrade industry. With news onthe go,TRAVTALK TV will address along-standing wish of theindustry to be able to get latest news anywhere and anytime.

Sound-bites from the veterans for TRAVTALK TV

Over 500,000 travel industryprofessionals globally will be able to see it every week.– SanJeet, Editor and Publisher, DDP Publications

TRAVTALKTV is a pathbreaking initiative.It will help the stakeholdersaccess news in a flexible manner.– Lalit K. Panwar, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Minority Affairs

This has taken TRAVTALKinto the middle of the 21st century. – Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Ministry ofTourism, Government of India

The initiative is mostimaginative, and moreimportantly, it is most needed. – VK Duggal, Member-National Disaster Management Authority

It will help boost tourismand I hope we will all benefit from it.– Jyotsna Suri, Chairman & ManagingDirector, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group

This is a constructive andpositive initiative. I hopethat in some time, itbecomes interactive.– RH Khwaja, Secretary to theGovernment of India, Ministry of Mines

It was a great event. This is the perfect vision and theperfect answer. – Sanjay Kothari, Secretary to theGovernment of India, AdministrativeReforms & Public Grievances

I hope TRAVTALK TV will takeadvantage of the greatdestinations in India andabroad to promote them. – Stewart BeckHigh Commissioner of Canada to India

We have always known SanJeetto think beyond his times. So asa dear friend and a well wisher, I wish him all the luck.– Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI

I think it is a great initiative for the travel industry and Icongratulate everyone behindit. My best wishes to all. – Subhash Goyal, President, IATO

has responded to theneed of the hour with this newventure. This is what the industryneeds in competitive times.– Subhash Verma, President, ADTOI

I am sure it will help us put forth industry issues to the government more effectively. – Rajan Sehgal, President, IGTA

Hinting at a revival ingrowth ahead of the

peak inbound season, theForeign Tourists Arrivals(FTAs) clocked an impressivegrowth of 7.9 per cent in July2013 over July 2012 as perrecent statistics released bythe Ministry of Tourism(MOT). The campaignslaunched by MOT here haveworked as ‘silent crusaders’and kept alive interest inIncredible India, which nowmerits due praise.

Beginning with a majornew campaign being workedout, the MOT will be launch-ing a special campaign ‘777days of Indian Himalayas’ on World Tourism Day. As per K Chiranjeevi, Minister for Tourism; the new cam-paign will publicise thetourism potential of theIndian Himalayas and promote this tourist productinternationally.

The aim of this campaign is to promote not onlythe HimalayanStates, but also thegateway citieswhich will servethem with theirinternational anddomestic airportsand railway stations.

The Ministry plans tolaunch the campaign on

September 27 this year onthe occasion of the WorldTourism Day.

The earlier two majorongoing campaigns, ‘FindWhat You Seek’ and ‘GoBeyond’ herald a change inmarketing focus of the MOT.The Incredible India cam-paign, which was launched in

2002, in its second phase hasmoved away from a productor destination focus to goconsumer-specific.

The shift is in line withMOT’s objective to promoteIndia as a 365-day destina-tion in the overseas marketand deliver to the interna-

tional visitors exactly theexperience they desire.

MOT’s Internationalcampaign is called ‘Find WhatYou Seek’ highlighting the factthat India offers wide range ofexperience like no other des-tination that include conven-tional cultural, heritage, his-tory, nature based experience

to niche products like adven-ture, sports, eco, golf, andwellness to name a few.Further, MOT is also focussingon encouraging domestic travellers with another cam-paign called ‘Go Beyond’,which will help them under-take exploring newer destina-tions in India.

Find What You Seek, Go Beyond and 777 Days of Indian Himalayas are three major campaignswhich will take care of bringing incremental international tourists and augment domestic growth.

MOT campaigns to put India on topS E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 5MOT

TT BUREAU

K ChiranjeeviMinister for TourismIndia

The Maharashtra TourismDevelopment Corporation(MTDC) has chalked out a ` 317.50-crore plan to boost tourism in the Nashik revenue division. The state government hasapproved the plan, which will promote tourism in NorthMaharashtra. Out of the total fund of ` 317.50 crore, ` 126 crore has beensanctioned for varioustourism projects in theNashik district, ` 46 crore forDhule, ` 36 crore forJalgaon, ` 57 crore forAhmednagar and ` 52 crorefor Nandurbar districts.

`317 crore ininfrastructureinvestment forNashik region

ASSOCIATIONS

PATA Travel Mart2013

This year, the PATATravel Mart is being organ-ised at Century City NewInternational Convention &Exhibition Center (CCNICEC)

in Chengdu, China from 15-17 September 2013. All ourPATA-India members partic-ipating in the Mart will get asuperb opportunity to tapseveral business opportuni-ties in the Asia-Pacific region.

This year, there will alsobe a lot of Chinese buyers.

China is a big market that allcountries are trying to tap.Our members will do theirbest to represent IncredibleIndia to the entire AsiaPacific. I would also like to seegrowth in numbers of foreigntravellers to India from Chinapost the PTM 2013.

PATA India roundtableAt PATA India Chapter,

our focus is to promoteIncredible India through thePATA network. We are deter-mined to sensitise differentbodies about importance oftourism and the importantrole it can play in an econo-

my. Also at the same time, we will like to highlight theareas and the impedimentsthat impede growth oftourism in India.

We had a very livelyinteractive session with thePATA CEO in April. We hadinvited various segments inthe travel and hospitalityindustry including airlines,tour operators and otherstakeholders. We intend tohope another such round-table towards the end of2013, where we bring allleading stakeholders acrossall value chains in travel andhospitality segment and chartfuture growth roadmap.

Bouncing BackIn last 2-3 years, due to

the global economic slow-down, we all had beenimpacted across the board,including the luxury inboundbusiness. India is extremelywell-poised for luxury trav-ellers and inbound in generalon account of simplified visaprocess, enhanced connectiv-ity to India, world class

hotels, state-of-the art inter-national airports, good road connectivity andimproved visitor experienceat our monuments.

Most of the brightsparks are expected towardsthe end of 2013. To give anillustration, at A&K, ourlarge chunk of businesscomes from upscale luxurymarket. The luxury travelleris far more inelastic to the vagaries of the slow-down. They most certainlyrecalibrate the destinationsthey will like to travel to, but they don’t stop travel-ling. In simple words, noth-ing can take away the rightto enjoy a vacation from lux-ury travellers.

We had seen a dip ofabout 10 per cent in the firstquarter of the 2013.However, we are hopeful thaton back of the jump indemand as indicated by initialbooking trend in the thirdquarter onwards, the yearwill close with about 20 percent growth.

Members of PATA India Chapter will exhibit PTM 2013 to showcase the bestof Incredible India. Moreover, Vikram Madhok, Vice Chairperson, PATA-IndiaChapter shared his insights on the resurgence of inbound in India likely byend of 2013. Here are the selected excerpts-

PTM-2013 to push China inbound

TT BU R E AU

Our members will do their best to representIncredible India to theentire

Asia Pacific Vikram Madhok

Vice Chairperson,PATA-India Chapter

The rupee depreciation canfurther create a mirage

effect and distract theinbound industry that is fight-ing global and domestic oddsto increase foreign touristsarrivals to India. Because, thefall in the value of rupee willin one way enhance revenueearnings, when computed inrupee terms.

“The inbound space isstill a long way off the highs ithad scaled in 2007-08 beforethe crisis. The core sourcemarkets that used to give usbusiness are still suffering.Leading economies in Europeexcept the likes of Germany,France and U.K are still recov-ering. Here, many countriesincluding Spain and Italy areyet to show strong signs ofrecovery. The conventionalsource markets are takingtime to recover. However, thegrowth opportunities emerg-ing in the CIS countries andLatin America are commend-able. The same bullish senti-

ment is the case with Asia,”said Dipak Deva, ViceChairman, WTTCII and CEO,Destination Management,India & South Asia, KuoniDestination Management

“In my opinion, it willbe a commendable task if theindustry could end up withdouble digit growth. Here,one also needs to clearlydefine growth in terms of vis-itor arrivals and revenues. If,the dollar stays beyond 60levels, there will be automat-ically incremental growth interms of revenues, whilesame pace is not likely to beseen in terms of visitorarrivals. We can talk aboutany number of world heritagesites, the UNESCO heritagesites, world class hotels,state-of-the-art airports. Butmere infrastructure is notenough to bring tourists to acountry,” added Deva.

Visa Liquidity in additionto air-liquidity is one of themost important aspects thatensures increase in visitorsarrivals to a country. India

had grown air inventory inthe recent past, which is nowgrowing at desirable pace. Toleverage, India now needs toenhance Visa liquidity.

Giving an example, hesays, “If next week I need togo Turkey. My office will getme an online visa in, literallyspeaking, no time. These arethe initiatives that differen-tiate the countries that wantto generate tourist arrivalsfrom the rest. In the Indiancontext, we have, to someextent, addressed issuesrelated to visa. However, if

we are not going to takefacilitative steps in visa pro-curement, we will neverreach our true potential interms of inbound tourism,”said Deva.

“As of today, our visaprocesses needs to furthergear up to meet the tourist’sexpectations of a hassle-free visa experience, withoutany undue delays. Therecently announced exten-sion of Visa on Arrival facilityto five new ports includingGoa and Kerala are steps inthe right direction,” headded.

If the dollar stays beyond 60 levels, there will automatically be incremental growthin terms of revenues. While the same pace is not likely to be seen in terms of visitorarrivals in India. reports.

` downslide to boost inbound

VI V E K SE T H I

Our visa processes needto gear up to meet thetourist’s expectations of ahassle-free experience

Dipak DevaCEO, Destination

Management, India & SouthAsia, Kuoni Destination

Management

With the dwindling rupeegoing for an all-time

low, the inbound seasonstarting from September thisyear is looking better. TheMinistry of Tourism, India hasset a target to attract 12 mil-lion international tourists by2016. To achieve this target,it has undertaken an array ofactivities in top-performingand potential source mar-kets. However, one of thebest initiatives undertakenby the Ministry is facilitatingVisa on Arrival (VoA) for 11countries (another 10 coun-tries are under considerationfor the same) at Indian inter-national airports. Currently,this facility is available atMumbai, New Delhi,Chennai, Kolkata andBengaluru; while Goa,Thiruvananthapuram,Hyderabad and Kochi willsoon offer this facility.

According to ParvezDewan, Tourism Secretary,Ministry of Tourism; the VoAscheme has been a huge suc-cess and contributed toincrease the number ofinbound tourists in the coun-try. He said,

“Visa liberalisationwould be soon coming to Goa,Hyderabad, Kochi andThiruvananthapuramto facilitate faster and convenient entry of inbound touristsinto India.

Our country enteredinto the liberalised visaregime last year, and theministry intends to expandthis service to all the inter-national airports in the coun-try. This will boost tourism,not only in select states, butacross India. Soon Imphal inNorth East will become aninternational airport and byactivating VoA, inboundtourists can easily access the beautiful North Eastregion of India.”

The Bengaluru Airportstarted VoA facility in earlyAugust with separate desks,special seating arrangementsand appropriate signage atthe airport. The facility willsoon have enclosures forForex counters and photo-graphing foreign nationals.Additional immigration offi-

cials will also be available in the coming months to ease the entire process. Asthe third busiest airport inthe country after Mumbaiand New Delhi, Bengalurudaily handles about 400 passenger and cargo flightsof both domestic and international airlines.

The Goa Airport will start this facility byOctober - starting of thepeak season for the state for inbound tourism.Infrastructure facilities atthe Goa InternationalAirport Vasco da GamaAirport at Dabolim are beingupgraded and more ameni-

ties are being set up. Thisincludes exclusive visadesks, holding areas, spe-cial enclosure for photo-graphing foreign nation-als, foreign exchangecounter, proper sig-nage and display, andtelephone connec-tions.

The Visa on Arrival facility was started at Bengaluru Airport in early August, while theGoa Airport is to start this service by October...

S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 7MOT

ANITA JAIN

Parvez DewanSecretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

VoA to help reach 12 mn inbound

� The VoA scheme registereda 22.6 per cent growth inJuly 2013 (with 1154 visasbeing issued) over July2012. Similar growth wasregistered during June (22.9per cent), May (37 per cent),April (23.5 per cent), March(63 per cent), February(54.6 per cent) over thesame months in 2012.

Rise in VoA

The Lalit Suri HospitalitySchool has commenced

classes for the first academicbatch from its new campus atFaridabad in Delhi-NCR.

The batch for the three-year Bachelor of HotelManagement Programmewas welcomed by JyotsnaSuri, Chairperson andManaging Director, The LalitSuri Hospitality Group.According to her, the currentbatch has 20 students.Ultimately, the school will see200-student batches fromnext year, Suri informed dur-ing an exclusive interactionwith .

The course will beoffered in affiliation withMaharshi Dayanand University(MDU) Rohtak, Haryana. The school is the first industry-integrated hospitalityinstitute to be approved andaffiliated by MDU. The institute has appointed HS Dewan, former Principal,IHM Faridabad, as the NodalOfficer. MDU is a NationalAssessment and AccreditationCouncil (NAAC)-accredited ‘A’Grade State University offeringvarious programmes, includ-ing Hotel & TourismManagement. The Lalit SuriHospitality Group is offeringtwo new hotels in the luxury

segment by the end of thecurrent year.

“We are looking at adding two luxury hotels to our portfolio by the end of 2013. The first hotel of the two was recently opened inChandigarh,” she said.

The second hotel–TheGreat Eastern Hotel, an iconiclandmark of Kolkata, willreopen in November. “A prop-erty of Lalit Suri group, the171-year-old hotel is in anadvanced stage of restoration.We will unveil the hotel onNovember 19 this year. This isvery karmic for us. The firstowner had opened the hotel onNovember 19, and this year,we will inaugurate it on thesame day. It also coincideswith the birth anniversary ofLalit Suri,” she elaborated.

The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group has commenced withits first batch of the hospitality school. reports.

HOTELS

Lalit’s debut in Kolkata

TT BUREAU

Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson and Managing Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group

Marriott International Inc,plans to increase its

room rates in 2014. The com-pany which will have 22 hotelsin the country by the end of2013, also plans on drivingbookings through its onlinechannels. Ramesh Daryanani,Area Director Sales &Marketing – South Asia,Marriott International, said,

“The average room rates have been under pressure and this will continue in the second half of the year.

I think there will be amarginal decrease. Our focusis to make sure we get theright price for our hotels andwe will be looking at rateincrease for next year. Ourtypical pricing season is

where all the RFPs kick in byAugust. We lock our RFPsdown by December, generallyfor corporate travellers. But in most cases, our ARRs start increasing fromJanuary onwards.”

Daryanani also informedthat Marriott Internationalwas very keen on drivingonline bookings in India, espe-cially through its own website.He added, “Marriott.com con-tributes close to US$ 8 billionin revenue to Marriott

International. Additionally, wealso have partnerships withOTAs like MakeMyTrip andYatra to distribute our inven-tory.” The company is alsopromoting its two trainingprogrammes in the Indianmarket – the Hotel Excellenceprogramme which is targettedat educating the travel tradeabout Marriott as a brand and Meeting Excellence,which aims training partnerswho are focussed on the MICE segment.

According to Daryanani,“2013 has been positive ayear for Marriott across allsegments, and even thenewly-launched hotels suchas The Courtyard by MarriottBhopal, Bengaluru MarriottHotel Whitefield and TheCourtyard by Marriott Kochiare all ramping up well.”Occupancies across India for Marriott Internationalhave dropped 0.6 per cent inthe period of January-June2013 compared to January-June 2012.”

Hotel chain Marriott International Inc is concentratingon making sure that it gets right price for its rooms.

Increase in room rates

TT BUREAU

Ramesh Daryanani Area Director Sales & Marketing, South Asia, Marriott International

ASSOCIATIONS

As per Arun Anand,Convention Chairman,

IATO Convention 2013; it hasbeen seen and acknowledgedthat wherever IATO hosts aconvention, the movement oftourists in the host state alsotakes a leap.

“In Kerala, the govern-ment is pro-active and thetrade is very professional.The state has high literacyrate, rich culture, beaches,wildlife, easy air-connectivitywith three international air-ports, luxury as well as budg-et hotels. We will boostKerala with our efforts, andthat will in turn bring touristsin numbers. We are confidentthat IATO will succeed inenhancing tourist arrivals toKerala after the Convention,due to efforts that memberswill be putting in with theirnew experience,” said Anand.

Talking about hisresponsibilities, he clarified,“The smooth operation of thisyear’s Convention is myresponsibility. In addition, Ialso need to ensure greaternumber of participants,increased sponsorship, adver-tisements, bookings of spacein Travel Mart which coin-cides with the Convention,and overall coordination withall sub-committees’ setup for

efficient running of theConvention.”

Further, the inauguralceremony of the IATO conven-tion had been a mega event,which had seen participationof important players from

public and private domain.Similarly, Anand highlightsthat as per the tentative pro-gramme, IATO has invitedChief Minister of Kerala toinaugurate the Conventionand the Minister of State forTourism will be the ChiefGuest of Honour.

“We are very optimisticand expectations are high. AsIATO, we are putting in sin-cere efforts and have formedstrong partnerships with gov-ernment bodies and all stake-holders. We have already gotconfirmation from Kerala (thehost state), Madhya Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Odisha and Delhi; and haveassured participation ofGujarat, Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan and West Bengal.All these states are regularsat IATO Conventions and we value their support,” said Anand.

“Air India as the nation-al carrier, is our airline part-ner. IndiGo, SpiceJet, and JetAirways are helping us in thebest possible way. The hospi-tality partners are LeMeridien (Convention Venue)and other partner hotelsinclude Crown Plaza, HolidayInn, Vivanta Malabar Taj,Casino, Trident, DreamHotel, Ramada Resort, AbadAtrium and Whyteforte,”Anand added.

IATO has extended invitation to Chief Minister of Kerala to inaugurate the Convention, and the Minister of State for Tourismwill be the Chief Guest of Honour.

Kerala to grow with IATO

TT BU R E AU

We are confidentthat IATO willsucceed inenhancing touristarrivals to Keralaafter theConvention, dueto the efforts thatmembers will be putting in

Arun AnandConvention ChairmanIATO Convention 2013

After working for over ayear, the Association of

Domestic Tour Operators ofIndia (ADTOI) successfullylaunched its fifth chapter –

Maharashtra Chapter inMumbai recently. ParvezDewan, Tourism Secretary,Ministry of Tourism inaugu-rated the chapter in presenceof Subhash Verma, President,ADTOI; PP Khanna, VicePresident, ADTOI; RaviLuthra, General Secretary,

ADTOI; Iqbal Mulla,President, TAAI along withother ADTOI members andpeople from trade, hospitalityand state tourism boards.

Abhijeet Patil, CEO,Raja Rani Tours & Travels is

the new Chairman ofMaharashtra Chapter. Hewould be responsible for appointing the Secretary and Treasurer for this chapter and expand the membershipbase. Talking about the newposition and responsibility,Patil said, “I won’t set tar-

gets or say what all thingswe would achieve in thischapter, but I will achievethem and prove it. I assurethe Managing Committee(MC) of ADTOI that theMaharashtra chapter will bethe most vibrant and dynam-

ic in the association.However, there is onething that I wouldstrive to work towards,and that is unity amongtravel trade associa-tions. If we are unitedagainst industry chal-lenges and changes, wecan survive better.Also, we are startingwith just 15 members,but I assure the teamthat we will have high

quality in membership crite-ria. Moreover, I urge the MCto consider Maharashtra astheir forthcoming conven-tion venue and we assurethat we will come up withbest possible options.”

Unity among travel trade associations will be the key focus ofthis chapter, assured the ADTOI Maharashtra chapter president.

Chapter tally is 5 for ADTOI

AN I TA JA I N

See more photos on page 44

Parvez Dewan, Secretary, MOT (centre) with the ADTOI team

Discover Germany India Pool Road Show The German National Tourist Office organised a Discover Germany India Pool Road Show in New Delhi on 22 August at The Imperial, Janpath.The event saw a huge gathering of the travel trade fraternity who interacted with the India Pool members from Germany.

FAMILY ALBUM1 2 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

STATES

Kerala has made a sub-stantial mark with its

beaches, backwaters andAyurveda in the internationaland domestic tourism seg-ment. Going forward, SHarikishore, Director, KeralaTourism explains in a candidinterview with that thestate is developing moreattractions and new productofferings. Here are the select-ed excerpts:-

Travel attractions inKerala-

Beaches, backwaters andAyurveda are the most popularKerala Tourism productsamong international travellers.With domestic tourists, thebackwaters, especially house-boats, are very popular. Hillstations such as Munnar and

Wayanad are also a big hitamong travellers from otherparts of India.

As far as internationalmarketing is concerned, weare trying to tap new marketslike USA, Japan, Finland etc.Visa on Arrival facility will sig-nificantly help boost touristarrivals from these areas.

In the domestic market,we are planning to intensifyour campaign targetting Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

New travel attractions? We are working closely

with the private sector indeveloping new destinationsacross the state. Bekal inNorth Kerala, which now has

excellent accommodationinfrastructure, is one amongthem. The other one isKollam in South Kerala. Wehave already started promot-ing these destinationsthrough fam trips, brochures,roadshows etc.

We are now looking atnew products like adventure

tourism, and monsoon holi-days which will add to ourstate's attractions. Kerala hasthe potential to become amajor player in the country'sadventure-tourism circuit.Ecotourism too holds greatpromise for the future.

We are also keen to pro-mote Kerala as a MICEtourism destination with itsunique settings for confer-ences by the beaches, back-

waters and hill-stations, andinnovative incentive holidays.The Government is very keento provide substantialincrease in the budget outlayevery year for tourism. Thisyear, there is a budget provi-sion of ̀ 28 crore for market-ing alone, against ` 25 crorelast year.

Role of travel agents in pro-moting Kerala

Travel agents, hotelsand hospitality businesses allplay a very important role intourism promotion. Their rolein the growth of Kerala’stourism sector has been sig-nificant. The state govern-ment is very supportive of

industry conventions andmeets because we believethese will bring out newideas, schemes and projectsto attract more visitors,improve services and servethe tourists better.

Kochi: The new MICE hubFor a city like Kochi

which has a fairly advancedMICE infrastructure, hosting1,200 delegates poses no dif-ficulty at all. It has success-

fully hosted national andglobal events on a far biggerscale, such as the KeralaTravel Mart, the EmergingKerala Global Connect andthe Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

MICE tourism hasgreat potential in Kerala,and we are looking to devel-op world-class infrastruc-ture in other destinationsacross the state. TheGovernment has supportedtravel-related events in thepast, and we activelyencourage businesses andorganisations to take advantage of the MICE-friendly environment that Kerala offers.

It has already started promoting Bekal in the North and Kollam in SouthKerala, while paying attention to develop new markets like USA, Japan,and Finland among others.

Kerala to tap new markets

TT BU R E AU

S HarikishoreDirector Kerala Tourism

Nijhawan for Dubai Dolphinarium Dubai Dolphinarium, the

region’s only dolphin and sealshow, has appointed NijhawanGroup as its sales and market-ing representative in India.The group will focus on design-ing sales and marketing strate-gies to keep positioning DubaiDolphinarium as the leadingfamily entertainment destina-tion in the Middle East.Nijhawan Group will havedirect access to issue dolphi-narium tickets which will pro-vide the Indian travel tradewith immediate benefits andadditional revenue streams.Steven Preston, GeneralManager, Dubai Dolphinariumsays, “India is one of thestrongest feeder markets forDubai’s travel and tourism sec-tor and the highest market to

Dubai Dolphinarium. As theregion’s only dolphin and sealfamily entertainment centre,we are showcasing the differ-ent experiences we offer andthe advantages the travel tradeenjoy by including the dolphi-narium in their itineraries. Wechose Nijhawan Group due totheir ability to take products tothe Indian market and generate robust sales and distribution relationships’.According to AnkushNijhawan, MD - NijhawanGroup, India, with an estimat-ed potential of 50 million out-bound Indian travellers by2020, makes it a key market tobe captured by DubaiDolphinarium. It will offerIndians with a unique highvalue family entertainment.

The permanent Nature Bazaar at Kisan Haat, Andheria Modh was inaugurated on 25 August 2013 in a ceremony by Sheila Dikshit, ChiefMinister, Govt. of Delhi. Manish Chatrath, Chairman, Delhi Tourism and GGSaxena, MD & CEO, Delhi Tourism were also present during the inaugurationceremony. The Nature Bazaar is an initiative of Govt. of Delhi and DelhiTourism in association with Dastkar

Delhi Tourism for Nature Bazaar

ANALYSIS1 6 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

The Indian rupee has fall-en to a new all-time low

against the US dollar, amidconcerns that the FederalReserve will soon scale backits stimulus measures.Several domestic segmentsare reeling under this rupeefall, but the tourism and hotelindustry has not lost much.

The depreciating rupeehas made inbound travelcheaper. It is also makinghotel rooms cheaper for for-eign tourists, who now haveto shell out fewer dollars forthe same tariff against a fewmonths back.

Also, the depreciatingrupee has made the dollarmore charming for hotelchains in India.

In 2007, when the dol-lar was on a weak wicket,international as well asdomestic hotel chains in Indiahad decided to charge theirdomestic and internationalcustomers in rupees. Thatpolicy could now be changed,with the rupee in reversegear. Many chains are nowplanning to switch to charg-ing their customers in dollars.

According to MichelKoopman, General Manager,The Leela Gurgaon, giventhe concerns about the

rupee slide, hotel chains areconsidering switching backto dollar tariff. “However, at

our hotel, we are not follow-ing a dollar tariff. So there isno windfall gain with therupee fall. But the rupeeslide surely makes it afford-able luxury for the inboundtravellers and this will helpin buoying travel senti-

ments.” However, with therupee depreciating againstmajor foreign currencies,

prices of imported productshave shot up by as much as20 per cent. “Thus, we aresurely looking at a revisionof our F&B menu card rates,as prices of imported foodingredients and spirits arerising,” he adds.

KB Kachru, Chairman,Carlson Rezidor HotelGroup-- South Asia feels thegroup will have to see howthe currency behaves fromhere on. “At present, wehave a mixed structure,which contains both US dol-lar and rupee denominatedpayments,” he says.

Reacting to the rupeedepreciation, Arjun Sharma,MD, LPTI and Co-Chairman,Tourism Committee—CIIsays the tour operatorsquote in various currenciesdepending on the market-specific needs. Urging thehoteliers to follow the rupeerate during these times, hefeels, “In India, hotels fol-low rupee pricing. It hasbeen felt that a few hote-liers, perhaps stressed dueto dollar dominated loans,are toying with the idea ofquoting dollar rates. It is anabhorrent move and theyshould understand the dif-ference between profits andprofiteering. Hotels shouldfollow rupee rates and com-mand market share on itsbasis.” In many key sourcemarkets, including Europe,these developments havebeen very well received. “Infact, we are getting morequeries from our partnersfor ad-hoc visit of clients, towhom we can pass on addi-tional benefits that are pos-

sible, only due to devalua-tion of our currency. But oneneeds to understand that it

also leads to increase incosts, such as fuel and otherinputs coupled with infla-tion, which is another majorhazard,” he affirms.

The domino effect of thefalling rupee is also being felt

by hotel builders. Accordingto Dilip Puri, ManagingDirector-India and Regional

Vice President-South Asia,Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels& Resorts, equipment andinterior items for hotelsunder construction havebecome 15 per cent moreexpensive.

In 2007, when the dollar was on a weak wicket, international as well as domestic hotel chains in India had decided to charge their domestic and international customers in rupees. That policy could now be changed, with the rupee in reverse gear.

Hotels see double whammy in ` fall

MEGHA PAUL

We will see howthe currencybehaves. Now,we have a mixedstructure, withUS$ and ̀denominatedpayments

We are surelylooking at arevision of ourF&B menucard rates, asprices ofimported foodare rising

Michel KoopmanGeneral ManagerThe Leela Gurgaon

KB KachruChairman, Carlson Rezidor HotelGroup - South Asia

Equipmentand interioritems forhotels underconstructionhave become15% moreexpensive

Hoteliers aretoying with theidea of quotingUS$ rates. Theyshould follow ̀rates & commandmarket share onits basis

Arjun SharmaMD, LPTI and Co-Chairman,Tourism Committee—CII

Dilip PuriMD-India and Regional VP-SA,Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts

Della Resorts & Villas hasrecently unveiled its 92-room luxury resort inLonavala in Maharashtra.Jimmy Mistry, the ChiefArchitect and ManagingDirector of Della Tecnica, theparent company of DellaResorts & Villas and DellaAdventure, stated, “The con-

cept of organised adventuresport resorts is relatively newin India. There are hardly anyestablishments which pro-vide a safe and secure way ofattempting such sports.Mostly such activities areconducted in an uncontrolledenvironment with locally-trained personnel and sub-

standard equipment.

I believe India still has a long way to go where secureadventure sportresorts are concerned.

Della Adventure along with Della Resorts & Villasseamlessly addresses thesame to resultantly provide the first-of-its-kindsetup in the country foradventure enthusiasts with-in India and beyond.”

Having built its first

property with an investmentof ̀ 250 crore, Della Tecnicaplans to expand the Della Resorts & Villas and DellaAdventure on a pan-Indiabasis with similar propertiesplanned in cities likeBangalore, Hyderabad,Gurgaon, Goa, Jodhpur,Alibaug and Panshet.

Lonavala gets its first luxury adventure property

Jimmy MistryChief Architect and ManagingDirector, Della Tecnica

OTA

With a presence inalmost 350 Indian

cities, Travel Boutique Onlineis now the leading online B2Btravel portal, which workswith almost 14,000 travelagents everyday, who transact with them on air,hotels and any other travel-related services.

“We currently have 39offices in India and cover theentire length and breadth ofthe country. We are doingwell in a slow market.Although 2012 and the cur-rent year has been slow forthe market, TBO is growingat the rate of 40 per centmonth-on-month and we arevery proud of this,” says Nijhawan.

Talking about TBO’s lat-est offering for agents,Nijhawan says they’ll soon becoming up with a mobile appfor their Indian B2B travelpartners. “Technology issomething we believe inbuilding, we continue toinnovate and we are nowcoming up with a mobile appfor our B2B travel partners inIndia, which will be availablein Android, iOS andBlackberry. This will be freeto use and agents will be ableto access TBO from every-where,” he says.

However, he says thatthey will continue to focus onthe hotel segment. “We willkeep adding suppliers andinventories on the hotel side,because we believe, in thenear future, hotels are the wayto make money. This is whereit is going to be a big contrib-utor to the bottom line,whether it is us as a B2B play-er or a retail travel agent.”

With hotels entering theonline domain, Nijhawan saysit is hardly a threat to the B2Bplayers, “Hotels are pushingtheir online channel, butIndians will still talk to a trav-el agent and book. There is abig phobia regarding usingone’s credit card online in our

country. Travellers might usethe hotel website as an ency-clopedia, they check out thehotel online and then theycall the travel agent and booktelling the agent what exactlythey want. The trend willshift, but then it still has along way to go.”

Talking about TBO’spresence in the internationalmarket, he says, “TBO hasdone a lot in the internationalmarket in the last one-and-a-half-years. Currently weoperate in the Middle Eastand North Africa; we aredoing very good numbersthere and we sell only hotelsthere right now. The biggestwin for us was last year whenAmadeus Middle East andNorth Africa contracted withus exclusively to power theirhotel content store with theonline Amadeus agents in 22countries of the Middle Eastand North Africa, whichincludes Dubai, Kuwait,

Qatar, Saudi Arabia (Riyadhand Jeddah) Morroco andEgypt. Almost 800 agentsbuy all their hotel needs fromus in the Middle East andNorth Africa. We are thelargest hotel content providerof Amadeus in India and also in the Middle East with 21 online suppliers integrated with TravelBoutique Online.”

After Middle East andNorth Africa, TBO has movedinto the other markets aswell, especially the emergingmarkets, so now as a way tomove forward, after NorthAfrica they have moved intoKenya and have also starteda South African set up.

With offices in theMiddle East and Africa, TBOnow has its sights set on AsiaPacific. With an office inThailand and Sri Lanka,Nijhawan says, “In the future,we are definitely eyeingIndonesia, Hong Kong,Singapore, Philippines andVietnam. We plan to launchoperations very soon in 2 ofthese 5 markets. With this,we intend to replicate therelationship that we have inMiddle East and North Africain the Asia Pacific as well.

With an office inLondon, he says, “We arefocussing on the emergingmarkets right now. We willslowly penetrate theEuropean market, but for theshort term, we have nothingplanned for Europe.”

“Rupee depreciationaffects my India business out-bound but that does not affectmy international market,” headds talking on the burningissue of rupee slide.

Ankush Nijhawan, Co-founder and CEO, Travel BoutiqueOnline, talks about his plans to expand into the interna-tional markets. He also talks about his plans to come upwith a mobile app for their B2B travel partners in India.

TBO to expand to Asia Pacific

PE D E N DO M A BH U T I A

Although 2012and the currentyear has beenslow for themarket, TBO isgrowing at therate of 40 per centmonth-on-monthand we are veryproud of this

Ankush NijhawanCo-founder and CEOTravel Boutique Online

AI to connect Mumbai to Gwalior, Agra and Allahabad Air India is scheduled to introduce new services linking Mumbai to Gwalior and Agra from September9, 2013. The Mumbai-Gwalior flight will operate on Monday and Thursday while Mumbai-Agra flightservice will be on Tuesday and Friday. It is also introducing four times a week service on Delhi-Allahabad-Mumbai route. In addition, the airline will also operate a flight connecting Mumbai to Allahabad andthen onwards to Delhi on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

� Travellers might use thehotel website as anencyclopedia, they checkout the hotel online and thenthey call the travel agent andbook telling the agent whatexactly they want

Trends

Currently flying from 10 destinations with 14

flights and 2100 seats a weekfrom India, Oman’s flag car-rier – Oman Airline is keen tofurther intensify its presencein the country. The airline

operates double-daily servic-es from Mumbai, New Delhi,Chennai and Hyderabad asthe major chunk of passengerloads comes from these citiesthroughout the year. On theother hand, the airline oper-ates daily flights to Lucknow,Jaipur, Calicut (Kozhikode),Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi

and Bengaluru which areshowing growth potential inthe coming years.

Both India and Omanrevised their air traffic bilat-eral agreement last year andcurrently Oman Air is flying

on its full capacity rights toIndia. “If the bilateral airservice agreement isrevised, then we intend tofirst enhance our frequencyto the current destinationswe are operating to as theyare the top markets whereair travel demand is growingevery year. Later, we wouldlook at expanding to othercities in India,” informedHamad M Al Harthy,Country Manager – India,Oman Air. At present, the

airline is recording a healthy80-85 per cent loads of which80 per cent of the bookingcomes from travel agents.Harthy said, “Travel agentscontribute a major portion of sales in our distribution network.

To encourage andmaintain healthyrelations with thetravel trade, weprovide attractiveincentives depending on their performanceand volume of business they generate for us.”

The airline is alsoworking closely with theOman Tourism Board to promote the country as ahigh-end leisure destinationamong Indian travellers.According to Harthy, till 2003, the airline hasmajority of labour trafficfrom India to Oman.However, with the repositioning of the countryas a leisure and businessdestination, today, the airline carries mix of leisure, business, VFR andlabour traffic from across India.

The airline has over17,000 members in Indiaunder ‘Sindbad’ – itsFrequent Flyer Programme.When asked if the airlineintends to introduce extracharges for seat selection,luggage limitation, etc,Harthy said, “We are a full service carrier and such services are part of our package. The trend isincreasing in India with LCCand legacy carriers chargingextra for those services butwe still intend not to chargefor such services.”

The airline intends to further enhance its connectivity to India if thebilateral air service agreement is revised between both the countries…

Looking for more connections

Before revising the bilateral air service agreement betweenOman and India, the traffic entitlements were 11,500 seatsper week between India and Sultanate of Oman. While OmanAir had rights to land in ten different cities in India, Indian car-riers had rights to land only at Muscat and Salalah airports. Ifthe bilateral revision happens, Oman Air also intends to connectKolkata, Ahmedabad, Trichy and Mangalore from Muscat.

More routes on the cards

Last year, we carried morethan 350,000 PAX for

these two destinations (Delhiand Mumbai). We are fullyusing our bilateral capacityon India routes. At the end ofthe new bilateral, we wouldlike to include Amritsar,Ahmedabad, Kolkata,Bengaluru, Chennai andHyderabad. We would alsolike to fly Delhi and Mumbaidouble daily.

Everybody seems to bemoving towards South Indianow; after Air Asia, Air Indiais talking about starting asecond hub in South India.Airlines want to come to theSouth because of the oppor-tunity to get more mileageand benefits. India, of course,has a huge population base,is the second biggest countryin terms of geographical sizeand population, so big oppor-tunities are there.

Bureaucracy, regulationand processes are an Indianreality. I can say easily if youcan survive in this market,you can survive anywhere.There is a heavy competition,and we look at the big pic-ture; today, Emirates is thebest airline in the world and

we are the best airline inEurope for 2013. In India,Emirates has 10 destinationsand seat capacity is morethan 60,000. Qatar has 12destinations with more than30,000 seat capacity. Etihadhas nine destinations with acapacity of 28,000. Lufthansahas five destinations withmore than 20,000 seat capac-ity. India is the biggest playerin the aviation sector. BritishAirways, Air France, KLM, allthe carriers want to be here.

Competition is not badfor a company if it is fair, andbeneficial for airlines; thecountry and the customers.Today, flying to 103 coun-tries, Turkish Airlines is thebiggest in terms of net-works. Destination-wise, weare the second biggest air-line, after Lufthansa. Wewant to use these destina-tions to improve our networkand to offer more alterna-tives for passengers. Delhiand Mumbai remain the twobiggest gateways for India.Last year’s data shows 70 percent of international trav-ellers use these two gateways(BSP figures). Growth rate ininternational traffic in Delhi

and Mumbai could be slower,but the figure is bigger. Thesecities have the most expen-sive airport fees in the world.But because of the volume ofbusiness in these two cities,you cannot shift your opera-tions. If we have the alterna-tive of a second airport inDelhi, we may think about it.In London, if you can’t fly toHeathrow for slot availability,you can fly to Gatwick.

The Indian marketis a mixed market.You can find everykind of passenger; business, leisure,student etc and percentages arereally similar.

The profile changes withthe seasons; summer isleisure, school holiday season- student travellers, however,the business traveller bringsbusiness through the wholeyear. For the last two years,our business traveller profilehas been stable. Since weoffer full-flat seats, entertain-ment, catering, businessbookings have increased by 25per cent. We offer special

packages to companies likeyearly-contracts, discountsand packages.

Our main secret for thebusiest routes from India isthat we are flying to differentdestinations in same country.This is a huge advantage forboth business and leisure trav-ellers. We have 5 destinationsin the US, 6 in Spain, 5 inFrance, 4 in UK, 7 in Italy, 12in Germany, 8 in Russia, and 7in Ukraine. We get a lot of pas-sengers because of our multi-destination strategy.

Hamad M Al HarthyCountry Manager – IndiaOman Air

TT BU R E AU

Excerpts from conversationwith Adnan Aykac, General Manager,

Northern and Eastern India of Turkish Airlines

Adnan Aykac, General Manager, Northern and Eastern India of Turkish Airlinestalks to about his ‘wishlist’, the MoCA nod to fly to 8 Indian cities .

Growing business in IndiaGuest Column

AVIATION

2 0 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 FAMILY ALBUM

Lo and Behold! A star is born•••With the guest count spiralling upwards of 450, the launch of TRAVTALK TV was most definitely a first in the history of travel trade journalism. Alongwith travel agents, there were dignitaries, path-breakers, chairmen and CEOs from travel, aviation, hospitality, tour operators, and governmentheavyweights to share the excitement of an event of this magnitude. A veritable list of who’s who, everybody who was anybody in the traveltrade industry was seen at the launch of TRAVTALK TV.

Contd. on page 36

TAAI Northern Regionannounced its new team

on basis of elections held on8 August, 2013. The new

team comprises Sehgal,Neeraj Malhotra as HonorarySecretary and Gaurav Dograas the Honorary Treasurer.The new team office willresume office, post the TAAInational election due inSeptember 2013.

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

“I have been involvedwith TAAI NR for over 15years and have also servedthree terms as its honorarysecretary. I feel there is a fur-ther need to create a stronglobby for discussing issuespertaining to travel agents.In my tenure, our team will

surely focus on inviting par-liamentarians and politicalleaders so that, if the needbe, our voice is also heardinside the Parliament,” headded. Moreover, Sehgalfeels that TAAI NR should get more engaging with

media that will help themcreate favourable represen-tations for travel fraternity.“We have been mostlyfocussed on our principalsand kept discussing ourissues with them. We shallcontinue doing so. But, the

time has come that we alsowork closely with the media,both mainstream and trademedia. It will help us createa favourable image of travelagents and get all our justdemands addressed faster,”said Sehgal.

Rajen Sehgal, Chairman, TAAI NR feels the need to create a strong lobby fordiscussing issues regarding travel agents and ensuring that if the need arises,their voice is also heard in the Parliament.

TAAI NR’s new team to get more engagingASSOCIATIONS S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 1

TT BU R E AU

I have beeninvolved withTAAI NR forover 15 years. I feel there is afurther need tocreate a stronglobby fordiscussingissues

Rajen SehgalChairmanTAAI NR

Neeraj MalhotraHonorary Secretary TAAI

Gaurav DograHonorary TreasurerTAAI

� Travel agents today have somany issues. Diminishingcommissions; onset ofweekly payments and thedifficult global economicscenario are among themajor travails

Redressing Issues

Hoping for yet anothersuccessful holiday

season, Ghulam Ahmed Mir,Tourism Minister, Jammu andKashmir, talks to aboutthe newly sanctioned megainfrastructure and heritageprojects by the Centre and

safety measures undertakenfor tourists ahead of the hol-iday season.

QPlease share details of the mega tourism

projects sanctioned by theCentre recently

The construction ofKashmir Haat at Chinar Bagh,development of picnic spot atPahalgam, light and soundshow at Shalimar Bagh, construction of budgetaccommodation at Aharbaland Lolab-Bangus-Drangyariwould be completed at a cost of ` 22.28 crore. Theconstruction of TRC atYousmarg, eco-friendlydevelopment of Sutkudi base camp to Vishansar,Sonamarg, development ofSarbal lake, development ofJamia Masjid HeritageCorridor as a tourist destina-tion, development ofDoodpathari as tourist resort,setting up of laser show/mul-timedia show at Dal Lake and development of wayside facilities and upgradation ofAmarnath Yatra track would be carried out at thecost of ` 22.52 crore inKashmir valley.

In Jammu division,sanctioned projects includedevelopment of tourist infra-structure at Natha Top anddevelopment of Sanasar Lake,conservation and restorationof Mubarak Mandi HeritageComplex as mega tourist,development of tourist infra-structure at Mansar Lake,development of Mughal road,Lake Circuit, Poonch, devel-opment of tourist spots inBallwan Basoli and Bani areaand development and promo-tion of pilgrim circuit atGurudwara Nangali Sahib inPoonch besides integrated

development of tourist circuitin Darhal as base camp andShaker Marg as gateway tothe tourist destination ofPirpanchal range would becompleted at the total cost of`38.68 crore. Projects worth`4.45 crore for developmentof tourist infrastructure

in Kargil tourist spot have also been sanctioned by the Centre.

QTell us about theprogress of tourism

projects being executedunder the Central FinancialAssistance

Many of the centrallysponsored schemes havebeen completed like TRCSrinagar, TRC Ladwdora atQazigund, ChanirbaghKulgam, trekkers’ huts atAhrabal Kulgam, Club centreand dormitory at Sanamarg,

In 2012, Jammu and Kashmir recorded the highest ever tourist influx with13.11 lakh tourists, including 37,000 foreigners visiting Kashmir valleyand over 38,000 foreigners visiting Ladakh during the last season.

J&K gets 21 new projects in its kitty

TT BU R E AU

STATES S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 3

Ghulam Ahmed MirTourism MinisterJammu and Kashmir

Contd. on page 28

2 4 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 STATES

Considering the potentialof Indian outbound travel

market, major global serviceproviders – be it airlines,hotels, tourism boards, cruiselines, etc; are turning theirfocus on India to tap the max-imum market share.

Despite the increasingnumber of competitors in themarket, the service providersare confident of profits. Theyfeel that the competition isexpanding the size of themarket, resulting in a healthydistribution of market sharefor each of them. The top fivemetro cities are the majorfocus for everyone, whilemini metros are coming intotheir view as well. However,the most interesting markettrend is ‘South India’ comingup as a major tourism hub forthese service providers.

According to ParthaChatterjee, Advisor, KeysHotels; South India is becom-ing an attractive breeding

ground for tourism serviceproviders. “Look at thegrowth in domestic, inboundand outbound tourism trafficfrom South Indian cities – itis an excellent rate. TheBangalore airport is provingto be an excellent connectiv-ity point for international air-lines, and now the new ter-minal at Chennai airport willfurther act as a gateway toSouth India. With improvinginfrastructure at tourist loca-tions, more and more hote-liers are entering this region.And with better accommoda-tion facilities, even MICE isbecoming an emerging seg-ment in South India.”

Action Down SouthFor global and domes-

tic tourists, South India ispopular for two things -action by SuperstarRajnikanth and for its cui-sine. The tourism boards arealso working hard to popu-larise their culture, heritage,festivals, wildlife, hill sta-tions, etc by participating in

domestic and global traveltrade shows, and workingwith tour operators.

Spreading wings According to the Civil

Aviation Ministry; Mumbai

and New Delhi airports handleabout 200 international flightsa day, Chennai receives 100flights a day (expected toincrease with the new inter-national terminal) whileHyderabad and Bengalurureceive about 50 flights a day.However, with increasing air-port charges at Mumbai andNew Delhi airports, airlinesare also considering to shiftfocus to South Indian airports.

According to a recentstudy, India is the biggestmarket for Emirates outsideUAE. Bengaluru andHyderabad contribute toabout 20-25 per cent of itstotal market share, whileChennai contributes about13 per cent, which is muchhigher than its market sharefrom Mumbai and New Delhi.

AirAsia India will soonstart its India operations withits head-office in Chennai andoperational bases inBangalore, Chennai andKochi. Tony Fernandes, CEO,AirAsia said, “A lot of

Malaysians fly to South India.AirAsia India will initiallyoperate in the South Indianmarket as we have a goodunderstanding of thisregion.” According to him,the operational cost and air-port taxes are also muchlower in South India, as com-pared to Mumbai and NewDelhi. Multiple European,Middle Eastern and Asiancarriers are now either con-nected or have applied toconnect South Indian cities.

India’s flag carrier – AirIndia is also planning to havea third hub in South India(probably Chennai orBangalore) to tap the growingair traffic (both internationaland domestic). Domestic car-riers like Jet Airways, GoAir,SpiceJet and IndiGo are con-stantly improving their con-nections in South India.

States’ connectionThe ‘God’s own coun-

try’ is still considered as the

With Mumbai and New Delhi still acting as top source markets for service providers in the tourism sector, the South Indian metros – Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad are in the limelight! Considering this, inassociation with the Ministry of Tourism is organising South India Travel Awards this year.

South India – A hidden tourism gem

AN I TA JA I N

AirAsia Indiawill initiallyoperate in theSouth Indianmarket as weunderstandthis region

With improvinginfrastructure attourist locations,more and more hoteliersare entering this region

Partha Chatterjee AdvisorKeys Hotels

Tony Fernandes CEOAirAsia

Contd. on page 56

STATES2 6 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

The state is currently inthe process of formulat-

ing a plan to develop touristfacilities, infrastructure andseaplane services along the

Karnataka coast. This information was revealed byCD Dyavaiah, ManagingDirector, KSTDC.

Dyavaiah said, “KSTDCplans to develop these facili-ties on a Public PrivatePartnership (PPP) basis. Once

the policy is finalised over thenext couple of months, wewill be in a position to revealmore details.”

Dyavaiah also said thatKSTDC was keen to launchintra-state air services. Hesaid that KSTDC had invitedexpressions of interest fromprivate players to launchthese services but that it wasyet in the planning phase.

“This will boosttourism in the stateand we are workingon a strategy toensure the long-term sustainabilityof the service.”

Positioning Karnataka asa culture and heritage desti-nation for the domestic seg-ment, the state plans to pro-mote Hampi, Mysore andGokarna to attract touristsfrom all over the country.Further, state tourism devel-opment corporation alsoplans to conduct roadshows

later this year in Delhi,Mumbai and Kolkata, accord-ing to Dyavaiah.

Karnataka has alsosigned an MoU with AndhraPradesh for cross promotionof tourism in both states ear-lier this month. The possibil-ity of extending Karnataka’sGolden Chariot train toAndhra Pradesh was alsomooted. "We are extremelyhappy to associate withAndhra Pradesh governmentfor this MoU. We are opti-mistic that this will be a stepforward in terms of increas-

ing tourism initiatives in bothstates," Dyavaiah said.

Additionally, Karnatakawill also announce new eco-tourism guidelines by the endof the year in order to regu-late eco-tourism within thestate to avoid an overdepen-dence on tiger reserves. TheKarnataka Govt also plans tointroduce a grading system torate private resorts to allowaccess to tiger reserves.Karnataka’s eco-tourismboard is also planning todevelop its reserve forests forsustainable eco-tourism.

To leverage on over 300 kilometres of virgin coastline, the KarnatakaState Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) plans to focus ondeveloping coastal tourism.

Pitching for coastal tourism

LYA N D RA D’SO U Z A

CD DyavaiahManaging Director KSTDC

The rail link betweenHeathrow and CentralLondon has appointed GlobalDestinations as its whole-

saler in India. In order to tapthe Indian market, high-speed rail link servicebetween London’s Heathrowairport and Central London,Heathrow Express hasappointed Mumbai-basedGlobal Destination as itswholesaler in India. PranavKapadia, Director, GlobalDestinations said,“Heathrow Express is thefastest route betweenCentral London andHeathrow. It carries over16,000 passengers everyday and it has departuresfrom Heathrow Airport andLondon Paddington station

every 15 minutes. The raillink is the speediest andmost comfortable way totravel between London andthe airport”

Kapadia also informedthat the main target seg-ment for Heathrow Expresswould be corporate trav-ellers to London as well asleisure and VFR traffic. Hestated,

“We will workwith Indian agents on a commission basisand will also offer them incentives to promote HeathrowExpress to their clients.

Additionally, they willalso have an XML-basedsolution to book ticketsonline.” Mumbai-basedGlobal Destinations is alsoplanning to participate inactivities organised byVisitBritain and London &Partners as well as approachairlines offering flights toLondon from India to jointlypromote Heathrow Express.

Heathrow Express enters Indianmarket, to work with agents

Pranav KapadiaDirectorGlobal Destinations

STATES

Understanding the growingimportance of travel

agents and tour operators indomestic market scenario,Haryana Tourism haslaunched a new schemewherein agents can registeronline and start earning com-mission on hotel-room book-ings. As per the new scheme,travel agents and tour opera-tors registered with any of thetrade associations (TAAI, TAFI,IATO, ATOAI and ADTOI) orwith Government of India canregister with a non-refundablefee of `1,000 with HaryanaTourism Corporation, andaccess the online hotel bookingplatform managed by thetourism board. Along with aminimum of 10 per cent com-mission of per night per roombooking, the commission willvary for group bookings andnumber of room nights bookedin certain period of time.

Divulging further details,Sunil Bhatia, Marketing Head,Haryana Tourism Corporation said, “Haryana TourismCorporation operates over 40

properties with close to 800rooms across the state. Toincrease awareness andimprove sales, we are collab-orating with members ofreputed travel associations.Along with offering attractivecommissions and incentives,

we are also providing assis-tance to the registered mem-bers for local suppliers, pack-ages, attractions, sightseeing,etc. It was important for us tocollaborate with reputedagents, and thus, we selectedtop five travel trade associa-tions.” The corporation is alsoexpanding its focus area byexploring other tourism seg-

ments like highway tourismwherein it is targetting thetransiting tourist travelling toRajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh and Punjabvia Haryana.

As per the report filed byAC Nielsen, titled as ‘TourismSurvey for the State ofHaryana (April 2011- March2012)’ and submitted toMinistry of Tourism (MarketResearch Division), Govt ofIndia; during April 2011-March 2012, the corporationrecorded 50 per cent occupan-cy which was the highest.Bhatia concluded, “We aresure that the members willbring us substantial businessthis year.”

The state introduces new scheme for agents to book roomsonline and earn handsome commissions. reports.

Haryana perks for agents

Sunil BhatiaMarketing HeadHaryana Tourism Corporation

� The corporation is alsoexpanding its focus area byexploring other tourismsegments like highwaytourism wherein it istargetting the transitingtourist travelling toRajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh andPunjab via Haryana.

Highlights

budget accommodations atLolab, Kupwara, NorthCircuit Caridoor, develop-ment of Gurez as tourist des-tination, TRCs at variouslocations and tourist villageslike Watlab, Akhangam,Sharshali, Nowgam Abadand Tiger Smoor.

QWhat is being done toensure timely completion? The centrally sponsored

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

QWhat are the demandsof tourism trade delega-

tions and travel associations,and what steps is the gov-ernment taking?

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

QHighlight challenges toconvince nations to

lift travel advisories

During last year, nearly120 lakh pilgrims visitedJammu, 13 lakh tourists visited the Valley whichincluded 37,000 foreignersfrom the UK, Malaysia,Taiwan, Singapore,Germany, USA, Holland,Russia, etc. Whosoever vis-ited J&K, returned homesafe. Had there been any dis-turbance, so many foreignerswould have never visited thestate. All the countries whoimposed Travel Advisoriesneed to lift them, so thattheir people can visit J&Kwithout fear.

Project completion on timeContd. from page 23

TT BU R E AU

Now, AI becomes carrier of Indian artWith more constructive

developments being made byAir India such as starting thedirect Delhi-Birminghamflight followed by the sched-uled launch of triangularDelhi-Sydney-Melbourne inAugust, the carrier also aimsat promoting the Indian art.

“Our connections to thesecentres will certainly opennew vistas to promote tourismto India,” said Rohit Nandan,Chairman, AI on the sidelinesof the AI’s first ever art exhi-bition in Delhi.

The art exhibition called‘Air India Salutes IndianMasters’, was recently inau-

gurated by Ajit Singh, UnionCivil Aviation Minister inpresence of KN Srivastava,Secretary, MoCA; RajeevLochan, Director, NationalGallery of Modern Art,Ministry of Culture and manyother eminent dignitaries. “In fact, we wish to take the exhibition to other

centres in India includingMumbai and Bengaluru.Going forward, we will like to take our art exhibition overseas as well.We will like to work closelywith all government agenciesto spread Indian culturethrough India’s finest art exhi-bition,” he added.

Europe-based KempinskiHotels re-entered the

Indian hospitality market lastyear. After parting ways withThe Leela Group, the compa-ny formed a partnership withthe Delhi-based AmbienceGroup. The strategy is forAmbience to own the hotelasset, with Kempinski man-aging its day-to-day opera-tions. The first propertyunder the partnership, theKempinski Ambience HotelDelhi, will complete a year ofoperations this December.

Talking about the pastone year, Vella Ramasawmy,General Manager, KempinskiAmbience Hotel Delhi said,“When our owner decided tobuild this hotel here, peoplewere skeptical about thisventure in East Delhi andthat too, with over 400rooms. However, the last oneyear here has proven that theowner was correct.”According to the GM, thehotel has cashed in on unsat-urated market of Shahdara inEast Delhi. This flagship lux-ury property is strategicallylocated in the capital’s mostdeveloped district by moststandards, as released by therecent Census data on hous-

es, household amenities andassets. The hotel is strategi-cally located and is well-con-nected to the airport, Metrostations and prominententertainment destinations inDelhi and Noida, he revealed.

The first KempinskiHotel in India has 480 rooms

and suites encased withintwo towers, a 25,000 sq. ft.Pillar-less ballroom -- thelargest in a five-star deluxehotel in India accommodatingup to 6,000 guests, twoswimming pools with jacuzziand water curtains, spa withhammam treatment room,two fitness centres, a yoga

deck and other facilities, theGM claimed. “We are thebiggest MICE capacity hotelin the country. At themoment, we have createdEast Delhi as the preferredMICE destination. Any con-ference for over 800 peoplecomes to us now.” Regardingthe performance of the hotel

in the last one year, hereplied, “We will close thisyear at 38 per cent occupan-cy-wise. Banqueting has doneextremely well. BesidesMICE, wedding is a big mar-ket segment for us. Currently,55 per cent of our businesscomes from banqueting and45 per cent from the ARRs.

As it is about volume, we didnot want to be arrogant andraise our ARRs. We chargedwhat the market expected.For brand positioning, we put ourselves at an ARR of6,500. We wanted to beaffordable luxury. We willlook at increasing ARRs onlynext year.”

Kempinski has cashed in on the unsaturated market of Shahdara in East Delhi. This flagship luxury property isstrategically located in one of the capital’s most developed districts, as released by the recent Census data.

The new MICE hub in East Delhi

ME G H A PAU L

We are thebiggest MICEcapacity hotelin the country.Any conferencefor over 800people comesto us now

Vella RamasawmyGeneral ManagerKempinski Ambience Hotel Delhi

THE BIG IDEA: Banqueting hasdone extremely well. BesidesMICE, wedding is a big marketsegment for us

BUSINESS: Currently, 55 percent of our business comes frombanqueting and 45 per cent fromthe ARRs

USP

HOTELS S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 9

International visitor arrivalsinto Asia-Pacific destina-

tions have expanded at betterthan eight per cent over thefirst part of the year, accord-ing to preliminary estimatesreleased by the Pacific AsiaTravel Association (PATA)recently. Across 31 destina-tions for which data is cur-rently available, this trans-lates into more than eightmillion additional arrivalsover and above those

received for the correspon-ding periods of last year.

These results are con-sistent with the growth pre-dictions made by the PATAforecasts of visitor demandand place the region well ontarget to achieve an expectedinternational inbound volumeof around 495 million for thefull 2013 calendar year.

First half results for2013 are available for 16 ofthe Asia Pacific destinations– which incidentally alsoaccount for 84 per cent of theinbound arrivals volume sofar this year – and at close to145 million foreign arrivals,are within three per cent ofthe predictions as made inthe PATA forecast report.

“Forecasts with thisdegree of accuracy, detail anda timely quarterly update areessential if we are to effec-tively respond to opportuni-ties as they emerge,” saidMartin J. Craigs, ChiefExecutive Officer of PATA.

“Additionally, numbers suchas these alert investors to therisks and of course, the manyrewards offered by AsiaPacific's world-leading visitoreconomy.”

A number of these des-tinations are performing wellabove expectations. Japan, inparticular, is rebounding at a

much faster rate than pre-dicted with an inbound vol-ume of around five million asof June this year. Thailand, arapidly growing source mar-ket for Japan, has generatedgrowth in arrivals of almost53 per cent so far this year,and that is expected to groweven more strongly since the

visa exemption took effect onJuly 1, 2013.

The Maldives is anoth-er destination that is performing well above predicted expectations withcontinued growth comingout of the China market, butalso with substantial gains from a number of

other areas includingCentral and Eastern Europeand West Asia.

A total of 41 destina-tions are covered in PATA'sAsia Pacific Visitor Forecasts2013-17 report, with predict-ed volume flows by origingiven quarterly over a five-year horizon until 2017.

Japan, Thailand and Maldives have been at the leading edge of the rise in tourism in the Asia-Pacific. There have beeneight million additional visitors, over and above a figure consistent within three per cent of PATA forecasts.

Asia-Pacific chases another recordTT BUREAU

INTERNATIONAL S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 3 3

Numbers suchas these alertinvestors to therisks and ofcourse, themany rewardsoffered by AsiaPacific's world-leadingvisitor economy

Martin J. CraigsChief Executive OfficerPATA

� Japan, in particular, isrebounding at a much fasterrate than predicted with aninbound volume of aroundfive million as of June this year. Thailand, hasgenerated growth in arrivalsof almost 53 per cent so far

Rising Numbers

The screening of Khajurpura at the LalitThe Lalit Suri Hospitality Group hosted the screening of Khajurpura- The Legacy of Khajuraho at The Lalit New Delhi on the eve of Independence Day.The occasion was graced by the who's who of the travel industry.

FAMILY ALBUM3 4 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

FAMILY ALBUM3 6 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Creating a new horizon for the industryContd. from page 20

FAMILY ALBUM S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 3 7

Celebrating a first of its kind

Contd. on page 40

STATES S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 3 9

It is not possible for thegovernment to develop the

tourism and hospitality sectorin any state without the sup-port of private stakeholders,Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister,Bihar, feels. Urging privatecompanies to invest in thetourism and hospitality sector

in the state, he said, “We haddiscussions with the traveland tour operators duringthe last Udyami Panchayat. Iguarantee security to theinvestors, but first theyshould invest.”

Kumar was speaking atthe ‘Bihar Calling: Conferenceon Tourism, Heritage andHospitality’ organised by theState Tourism department inassociation with the IndianChamber of Commerce. “Rightnow, tourists are coming ontheir own, but once develop-ment starts, there would be alot of competition in the mar-ket, and you should make fulluse of the opportunity now,”he said to the investors.According to the UnionGovernment report, over 11lakh foreign tourists visited theState in 2012, compared toonly 94,000 in 2006. The CMinformed that over 50 lakh vis-itors are expected in the Stateto celebrate 350 years of TakhtSri Harmandir at Patna Sahebin 2016. The state had soughtfunds from the Centre to facilitate the event.

Bihar needs to have arefined roadmap for tourismthat concentrates on every element, Shaun Mann,Tourism Programme Manager,International FinanceCorporation (IFC) opines. “Wehave signed an agreement

with the Government of Indiaand the Government of Biharrecently in May for developingthe Buddhist circuit in Bihar,utilising funds to the tune of ` 5 crore. The project is basically aimed at filling up the infrastructure and theresources gaps in the Buddhist

tourism sector in India. Wewould start identifying theinfrastructure gaps in theBuddhist circuit in the state bythe end of June,” he added.According to Karan Anand,Director, Cox and Kings, there is much to be done inthe field of infrastructure

development, hotels and high-ways among others. KamalSahi, Resident Director, BiharState Office, Indian Chamberof Commerce feels,“We areplanning another event inOctober or November that willfocus on inbound tourists to the state.”

At the ‘Bihar Calling: Conference on Tourism, Heritage and Hospitality’,tourism experts brainstorm on the need to promote the spiritual heritage of the state through a new branding strategy.

Nitish woos tourism investors for Bihar

TT BU R E AU

I guaranteesecurity to the investors,but first they shouldinvest

Nitish KumarChief Minister Bihar

Shaun MannTourism Programme Manager,International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Karan AnandDirectorCox and Kings

FAMILY ALBUM4 0 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

When everyone wishes well!Contd. from page 37

FAMILY ALBUM S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 4 1

A toast for a new tomorrow

Contd. on page 42

FAMILY ALBUM4 2 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Well begun is well done•••

STATES

Months after launchingthe promotional video

featuring Bollywood superstarand state brand ambassador,Shahrukh Khan, West Bengalis now banking on tourism tobe its sunshine sector. Thestate had launched a onemonth-long intensive cam-paign in Delhi with thetagline-- Chalo Chalen Bengal(Let’s visit Bengal).

The new governmenthas resolved to bring in bothqualitative and quantitativechange in the tourism sector.The increasing annual outlayfor tourism in the last twostate budgets is a testimony toit. This was revealed by Krishnendu NarayanChoudhury, Minister-in-Charge Tourism, Governmentof West Bengal who was inNew Delhi to flag off the event.

“Allocation made by thestate government for Tourismsector was ` 38 crore in2011-2012. It increased to` 90 crore in 2012-2013 and` 120 crore in the currentfinancial year 2013-2014.This clearly reflects the budg-

etary support has increased33 per cent,” he added.

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

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

The state had recently launched a campaign ChaloChalen Bengal to project its tourism potential andattract more domestic and foreign tourists.

West Bengal woos tourists

Krishnendu Narayan ChoudhuryMinister-in-Charge TourismGovernment of West Bengal

Vikram SenPrincipal Secretary-TourismWest Bengal

TT BU R E AU

ADTOI launches Maharashtra Chapter

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) recently launched its fifth chapter inMaharashtra at a grand evening in Mumbai recently. Parvez Dewan, Secretary –Tourism, Govt ofIndia was the Chief Guest at the event and inaugurated the chapter. Abhijeet Patil, Chairman, RajaRani Travels was inducted as the Chairman of the ADTOI Maharashtra Chapter. Members of the traveltrade from across the state, TAAI, TAFI, ETAA and other chapter heads were also present at the launch.

Madhya Pradesh and its gloryThe most recent TV com-mercial depicts the various

tourist attractions of MPthrough shadowgraphy or

ombromanie -- the art ofperforming a story using

images made by handshadows. Various ad mak-ers have presented roman-tic, mystical and fantastical

depictions of MP, but thestate is surely more beauti-

ful than any of its eye-catching commercials.

OmkareshwarSeen from high above, and through

the eyes of faith, the two hillocks on thisriverine island, separated by a gentlelowland, assume the form of the sacredsyllable OM.

What to SeeMamleshwar Temple: Built in the

10th century, this ancient temple isunder the protection of theArchaeological Survey of India(ASI).In its heyday, it must have had two largeshrines and a number of smaller ones.Nowadays, only one large shrine seemsto be open to worshippers.

Omkar Mandhata Temple: To the right of the hall is the sanctum hold-ing the greatly revered Jyotirlinga. The idol is a small shivling rising out of a shallow pit, protected by a broad silver flame.

Parikrama Path: It accesses many

places of reverence like the Omkar Math, Ananda Mai Templeand the Ramakrishna Mission among others.

Sangam: This river is the confluenceof the Narmada and the Kaveri .

Gauri Somnath Temple: This is atthe top of a flight of 270 steps, that risesup from the ghats, for those who wantto do a half-parikrama.

Patali Hanuman: In a pavilion, outof which a tree grows, is a three metrelong idol of Hanuman, the powerful andgreatly loved monkey god who is a greatdevotee of Lord Ram. Here, Hanumanis shown sleeping, his enormous maceby his side.

Chand- Suraj Gate: This Moon-Sun Gate, which is what Chand-Surajmeans, is set in massive walls of dressedstone with carved corbel projections tosupport the topping stones.

Siddinath Temple: Many visitorsfind this ruined temple the most impressive one on the island. Itsunroofed pillars rise from a plinth richlysculpted with a frieze of elephants andequestrian warriors.

Arjun Bhim Gateway: This is a mas-sive gateway set in thick walls, largelyruined now, with sculptures of two war-riors of the epic Mahabharat War: thePandava brothers Arjun and Bhim.

Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh

UjjainThe ancient city of Ujjain lies on the banks of the river Shipra.

Legend has it that Ujjain is one of the saptapuris, or the seven holycities of India that grant moksha or liberation from the cycle of birthand death. Ujjain hosts the Simhasth, as the Kumbh Mela is knownhere, every 12 years, the latest of which was in 2004.

What to SeeTravellers to Ujjain generally start their tour of this historic city

by visiting the Mahakaleshwar Temple.

The Mahakaleshwar Temple: It enshrines one of the 12 jyotir-lingas and is thus one of the most sacred Shiva shrines in India. Theoriginal structure of Mahakaleshwar Temple was rebuilt by theMarathas in the 1850s. Legend has it that no one can rule over Ujjainwithout first surrendering their faith to Mahakaleshwar.

Bade Ganesh Ka Mandir: This temple situated above the tanknear the Mahakaleshwar temple, enshrines a huge artistic sculptureof Ganesh.

Harsiddhi Temple: The site where Sati’s elbow fell is consecratedas Harsiddhi Temple. The Sri Yantra, or symbol of shakti, is alsoenshrined here. The central deity here is goddess Annapurna.

Vedha Shala or the Observatory: Ved Shala, locally known asJantar Mantar, is an observatory built in the 17th century by Raja JaiSingh(1688-1743). It is located on the Ujjain – Fatehabad Road, 2kms from Mahakaleshwar Temple. Jai Singh also constructed similarobservatories in Jaipur, Delhi and Varanasi.

Chintamani Ganesh: The temple is built across the Shipra onthe Fatehabad railway line. The Ganesh idol enshrined here is sup-posed to be swayambhu- born of itself. The temple itself is believedto be of considerable antiquity. Riddhi and Siddhi, the consorts ofGanesha, are seated on either side of Ganesha. The artistically carvedpillars in the assembly hall date back to the Paramara period.Worshippers throng to this temple because the deity here is tradi-tionally known as Chintaharan Ganesh meaning ‘ the assurer of free-dom from worldly anxieties’.

Gopal Mandir: Gopal Mandir, one of the largest temples in Ujjain,was built by the Marathas in the mid-19th century. The huge silverplated doors of the garbhagriha once belonged to the famed SomnathTemple in Gujarat.

Mazar – E- Najmi: Here are the white marble tombs, or mazars,with silver doors, of the 39th , 40th , and 47th Syednas, or spiritual heads,of the prosperous trading community of Bohra Muslims.

Chausath Yogini Temple: Dedicated to the 64 aspects of theMother Goddess, this temple depicts them in a largely non-represen-tational form:64 red faces, most of them virtually indistinguishablefrom each other.

Mangalnath Temple: It is mentioned in the Matsya Purana as thebirthplace of Mars(Mangal). The garbhagri-ha enshrines an image ofShiva in his Mahadev man-ifestation. Incidentally, thesite of the temple offersone of the clearest views ofMars and is hence consid-ered suitable for astronom-ical studies.

Mahakaleshwar, Ujjain

BY AIR: The nearest airport is Indore (77km), connected by regular flights with Delhi,Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kolkata,Jabalpur, Gwalior and Bhopal.BY RAIL: Nearest railhead is OmkareshwarRoad(12 km) on the Ratlam-Khandwasection of the Western Railway.BY ROAD: Omkareshwar is connected toIndore, Ujjain, Khandwa and Omkareshwarroad by regular bus services.

How to Reach:

How to Reach:BY AIR: Nearest airport is Devi Ahilya BaiInternational airport at Indore (55 kms).BY RAIL: Ujjain has its own railway stationwhich is well connected to the major citiesof India.BY ROAD: Regular bus services connectUjjain with Indore, Khargone, Jalgaon,Khandwa, Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, Dharand Bhopal.

Your Hosts: Shipra Residency and Avantika (both MPT).

Maheshwar Maheshwar was a glorious city at

the dawn of Indian civilization when itwas Mahishmati, capital of KingKartivarjun. This temple town on thebanks of the river Narmada finds men-tion in the epics of Ramayana andMahabharata. Revived to its ancientposition of importance by the Holkarqueen Rani Ahilyabai of Indore,Maheshwar’s temples and mighty fortcomplex stand in quiet beauty, mirroredin the river below.

What to SeeRajgaddi and Rajwada : A

life-

size statue of Rani Ahilyabai sits on athrone in the Rajgaddi within the Fortcomplex. This is the right place to begina tour of Maheshwar, for this pious andwise queen was the architect of itsrevived importance.

Ghats : Peshwar Ghat, Fanase Ghatand Ahilya Ghat line the river Narmada,flights of steps lead down from thesandy banks to the river, and throughthe day a kaleidoscope of rural India canbe seen here.

Maheshwari Sarees: Introducedinto Maheshwar 250 years ago by RaniAhilyabai, the sarees are renownedthroughout India for their uniqueweave. Woven mostly in cotton, the typ-ical Maheshwari saree has a plain body

and sometimes stripes or checks.

Maheshwar Fort: It stands on a hilloverlooking the Narmada on the Southand the modern town of Maheshwar toits North. Historians argue that it wasdone by the Parmaras while other his-torians stretch the antiquity of the fort to the 4th-5th century AD andattribute its construction to a local rulercalled Subandhu.

How to Reach:BY AIR : Nearest airport is Indore(91 km).BY RAIL : Nearest railheads are Barwaha(39 km), Khandwa (110 km), Indore (91 km)and Mhow on the Western Railway.BY ROAD : Regular buses are available fromBarwaha, Khandwa, Dhar and Dhamnod.BEST SEASON : July to March

Your Host : Narmada Retreat (MPT)

Your Host: Narmada Resort (MPT)

Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh

STATES4 6 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

The reviews and recom-mendations that people

write on social networkingsites and other third-partywebsites are now serving asa determining factor for trav-ellers to plan their trip ahead.These reviews and recom-mendations hold especiallyeffective while bookingrooms in unknown hotels or

venturing into a destinationfor the first time.

From a travel agent’sperspective, the recommen-dation would be all the moreimportant if the hotel reviews

come from fellow travelagents. The agents will make recommendations onlyif they are happy with the deliverables.

This is whereroomsXML has bridged thegap. It has developed a toolthat ranks hotels in chosendestinations – ranks that are

based on nominations of trav-el agents. Only those proper-ties would become ‘Preferred’if a minimum of 10 travelagents nominate that proper-ty. The ranking of the proper-ty goes up as more and moreunique agents nominate thatproperty. Since the agent canonly nominate a property

where his or her customerhas stayed recently, the feed-back is authentic.

When results are dis-played, the hotel that is pre-ferred the most shows upfirst followed by others. Onceall the preferred hotels aredisplayed, only then otherhotels show up. roomsXML

has so far 73,346 de-dupli-cated hotels that are ready tobe booked at net rates and inreal time.

Talking about the web-site, Prakash Bang, ManagingDirector, roomsXMLSolutions Limited, says, “Weare removing the guessworkwhilst booking hotels. We

want travel agents to bookwith confidence. It’s good forbusiness when we havehappy customers around.Like always, roomsXMLattempts to do things toenhance Travel Agent’s expe-rience and confidence.‘Preferred by Agents’ is onesuch facility.”

roomsXML introduces ‘Preferred by Agent’ tool that ranks hotels in chosen destinations, based on the nominationsof travel agents. This would provide agents with more trustworthy system of recommendations.

Online rating tool for travel agentsS E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 4 7TECHNOLOGY

TT BUREAU

We areremoving theguessworkwhilst bookinghotels. Wewant travelagents to book withconfidence

Prakash BangManaging DirectorroomsXML Solutions Limited

The Visa on Arrival (VOA)scheme of the Governmentregistered a growth of 22.6 per-cent during July 2013 as com-pared to July 2012. During themonth, a total number of 1,154VoAs were issued as com-pared to 941 during July 2012.The VoAs issued under thisscheme during July this yearfor nationals of the 11 countrieswere Japan (327), NewZealand (251), Indonesia(173), the Philippines (172),Singapore (149), Finland (44),Vietnam (14), Myanmar (8),Cambodia (8), andLuxembourg (8).

VoA increases23% YoY

The Government ofMadhya Pradesh has

become the first state in thecountry to fully utilise Planfunds released to them by the Ministry of Tourism,Government of India for thedevelopment of tourisminfrastructure at varioustourist sites in the State.

“It’s a matter of great pride that MPSTDC has utilised all thefunds of grant givenby Ministry ofTourism,Government ofIndia. In addition tothe utilisation offunds, all projectshave been completed as perthe guidelines ofMinistry of Tourism.

These projects werevisited from time to time bythe officials of Ministry ofTourism and they praisedthe quality of work and com-pletion of projects withinthe stipulated time,” says Om Vijay Choudhary, ChiefGeneral Manager, MadhyaPradesh Tourism.

The State TourismDepartment implementedthe projects on time andutilised its funds released tothem under the 11th Five YearPlan (up to 2010-11).According to a Planning

Commission report, thisincludes 51 projects andfunds worth ` 162.76 crore.In the last year of this 11th

Five Year Plan, the amountwas raised to ̀ 203.19 croreand 59 projects.

“The fund was used forprojects to provide basicinfrastructure at varioustourist destinations in MP. Itimproved the connectivityand tourists were providedbetter facilities which result-

ed into unforgettable expe-riences. The facilities provid-ed include public con-veyances and last mile con-nectivity,” adds Choudhary.

Madhya Pradesh isthus the first state to havesubmitted all utilisation andcompletion certificates and has achieved ‘zero pen-dency’ of Government ofIndia funds lying with them,thus fully complying with the directions issued

by the Ministry ofFinance on the utilisa-tion of funds.

“MP developedtourist destinationssuch as Mandu, Vidisha,Shivpuri, Burhanpur,Maheshwar, Datia,Indra Sagar, Mandsaur,Handia, Betul andChitrakoot. Tourismdevelopment at thesesites has increased foot-falls and the sites are becoming popular with domestic and foreign tourists.

The state governmenthas now come up with plans to develop more destinations with potential to attract tourists to sitessuch as Bhopal, Indore,Nagod-Maihar, Noorabad,Nemawar and Vindhya inPhase II. These destinationswill be taken up for the integrated development oftourism infrastructure from 2013-14 onwards,” he highlights.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department implemented its 51 projects on time and utilised fundsworth ̀ 162.76 crore released to them under the 11th Five Year Plan (up to 2010-11). The statehas completed all its projects as per the guidelines of MOT.

MP wraps up all projects on time!

Om Vijay ChoudharyChief General ManagerMadhya Pradesh Tourism

TT BU R E AU

4 8 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 STATES

Qatar Airwaysincreases freebaggageallowance

Effective 1 September2013, passengers flyingQatar Airways routes world-wide will have enhancedbaggage allowances withadditional baggage weightallowed per person.Economy weight allowanceshave increased from 23kg to30kg, while Business andFirst Class have eachincreased from 30kg and40kg to 40kg and 50kgrespectively. The number ofbags remains the same anddependent on the type ofticket purchased.

The increased weightallowance does not applywhen travelling to pointsthat are regulated by per-piece allowance. Those pas-sengers who have travelledprior to 1 September will beable to take advantage ofthe increased baggageallowance on their returntrip if travel is on 1September or later. The air-line will also publish newexcess baggage rates inSeptember, which will alsosee an increase.

The global economic slow-down, coupled with the

steep rise in value of the USDollar has posed several chal-lenges for the outbound seg-ment. Assessing the presentsituation, Guldeep SinghSahni, President, OTOAI,

highlights the inbuiltstrength of the robust num-bers of outbound travellers.

“A strong 16 millionbase of Indian outboundtravellers has shownremarkable resilience andprospects of growth, amidthe slowdown in globaleconomy and weakness. Thedollar component hadimpacted long-haul trav-ellers. But, fortunately,those travellers are now opting for medium- andshort-haul destination. Thistakes care of the numbers,”said Sahni.

In fact, OTOAI is keento bring about a whitepaperthat will highlight the contri-butions of the outbound sec-tor to stimulate the inboundsector in the country. “Thecontribution of outbound seg-ment is huge, and most of thetimes, is neglected in termsof acknowledgment. It needsto be accepted that inboundand outbound are two impor-tant constituents necessaryto realize the true tourismpotential of our country,which will be one of the focus areas in ourwhitepaper,” said Sahni.

“The outbound touroperator contributes to mas-sive employment across thecountry, including the Tier-Iand Tier-II cities. The stateearns taxes on the infrastruc-ture it creates in forms of air-ports and other travel-relatedinfrastructure used by theoutbound traveller. The out-

bound also brings substantialinvestments through variousnational tourism developmentorganisations. The govern-ment should acknowledge theeffort of the best outboundtour operators in form of spe-cial recognition in the out-bound sector that can be partof national tourism awards,”

he added. Going forward, peo-ple will start to accommodatesome part of the increase incosts in outbound tours, astravel is no longer a luxury,but a necessity. Sahni high-lights that even outbound touroperators are equipped to luretravellers with innovativeproducts. “There has been a

lot of interesting develop-ments. Long-haul destinationsare aware that, in such situa-tions, state-of-the-art trainingshould be imparted. The shorthaul destinations are alsorevamping their product pro-file. At the end of the day, a lotdepends on product engineer-ing,” said Sahni.

Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) will work on a whitepaper that will highlight contributions of the outbound sector to stimulate the inbound sector in the country.

Outbound can help inbound: SahniASSOCIATIONS S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 4 9

TT BU R E AU

Thecontribution ofoutboundsegment ishuge, and mostof the times, isneglected interms ofacknow-ledgment.

Guldeep Singh SahniPresidentOTOAI

� The state earns taxes on theinfrastructure it creates informs of airports and othertravel-related infrastructureused by the outboundtraveller

Quick Fact

STATES5 0 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Breaking the shackles ofhistory and heritage,

Rajasthan is now looking atrepositioning itself in thetourism world. The state willnow be promoted as a desti-nation for eco, adventure,wildlife and sports tourism.

Bina Kak, Minister forTourism, Government ofRajasthan said, “This is amajor shift from the tradition-al focus on culture and her-itage. We are changing thepositioning of Rajasthan to amultiple-interest destination,attractive to diverse touristgroups from India and abroad.The focus will be on bringingefficiency in service deliveryto visitors to increase thenumber of repeat travellers.”Kak, who was speaking at theinauguration of the sixth edi-tion of the Great Indian TravelBazaar in Jaipur, said the B2B travel market has evolvedinto a productive forum forbusinesses as well as policy-makers in the country eversince its inception.

The state will also bepromoting resort, archaeo-logical and tribal tourism.

In addition, new incen-tives are being offered to spur hotel development,

Rakesh Srivastava, PrincipalSecretary-Tourism, Govern-ment of Rajasthan and MD,RTDC revealed. These includea 50 per cent reduction in lux-ury taxes in the low season fornew hotels in selected loca-tions, land conversion chargesat almost 20 per cent lowerthan commercial market ratesand higher floor area ratios forthe construction of hotels and resorts.

RTDC will also hand over22 accommodation units,identified as non-performing,to the state government.According to Srivastava, the‘current market value’ of theseunits has been assessed andwill be handed over to the government. These propertieswill be managed by the PowerFinance Corporation. With the handing over of theseaccommodation units, RTDCwill be left with 20-odd units under its ownership,Srivastava added.

Two mega tourism proj-ects in the state-Jaipur andJaisalmer-are currently under

the scrutiny of the Ministryof Tourism, Government ofIndia for approval, heinformed. Creation of tourisminfrastructure and new cir-cuits is of utmost importanceto the state tourism depart-ment. The department is sup-porting the joint initiative ofITDC and Hindustan Salts fordeveloping Sambhar as amajor tourist destination.While long-term projects willbe undertaken by HindustanSalts, the department alsowill focus on basic infrastruc-ture works like repair andrenovation of temples, muse-ums, circuit houses, etc,around the area.

As part of its repositioning, Rajasthan Tourism announced a shift in focus towards innovative tourismproducts. RTDC has also decided to handover 22 accommodation units to the state government.

Rajasthan adds new product variety

Incentives areoffered for hoteldevelopment.These include a50% reductionin luxury taxes inthe low season

We are changingthe positioningof Rajasthan to amultiple-interestdestination. Thefocus will be on bringingefficiency

Bina KakMinister for TourismGovernment of Rajasthan

Rakesh SrivastavaPrincipal Secretary-Tourism Government of Rajasthan and MD, RTDC

TT BUREAU

How has the response of thetourists been to Arunachalthis summer season?

Having the longeststretch of Himalayas in thecountry, Arunachal Pradeshhas been a favoured destina-tion for tourists in the sum-mer to escape the heat. Whenthe rest of the country is reel-ing under extreme heat,Arunachal is blessed withpleasant weather. This year

too, we are witnessing steadyflow of domestic tourists andI am told that hotels aroundthe State have witnessedmore than satisfactory book-ings this summer.

How are you promotingArunachal among tourists?

Arunachal Pradesh is adestination which has some-thing to offer to everyone! Itis a delight for adventureseekers. The state is also atreasure trove of culture andheritage- here you can find

the 400-year-old, secondlargest Buddhist monasteryin the world. We are alsoplanning to sell the state as a destination ideal for creativepeople- writers, painters, lyricists, etc.

What are roadblocks in pro-moting tourism in the state?

I don’t see any road-blocks. Yes, we do have challenges before us, but all efforts are being made to overcome these very challenges.

Do you think a dedicated airline in the region will help promote tourism in theNortheast?

Air travel definitely iseasy and a faster mode oftransport as it cuts down a lotof travel time. Presently allmetros are well-connectedwith Guwahati airport. Yes, adedicated airline for travel-ling within the Northeastregion will help integrate allthe tourist destinations of thestates in the region. This will provide a very whole-

some package, especially for the foreign tourists.

ITM in Guwahati this yearwas the first-of-its-kind martin the region. How has theevent helped attract touriststo Arunachal?

ITM has been a revolu-tionary initiative of theMinistry Of Tourism. This hasput the entire region on globalplatform as a tourist destina-tion. Arunachal Tourism, inparticular, has reaped a lot ofbenefits from ITM.

Sonam Chombay, Secretary, Tourism, Arunachal Pradesh, talks about witnessing a steady flow of tourists this summerand how a dedicated airline can help its destinations.

Good news for AP, courtesy ITM 2013TT BUREAU

Indian carriersface $450 millionloss in secondquarter: CAPA

Indian airlines, excludingthe grounded KingfisherAirlines, are expected to losea combined US $400-450million (around ` 2,400crore-2,700 crore) in the sec-ond quarter of the currentfiscal, consulting firm Centrefor Asia Pacific Aviation(CAPA) has said. In a report,CAPA said that Air Indiawould account for the largestshare of the loss, but as theairline continues to be fund-ed by the government and itsoverall financial performancehas improved in the pastyear, it is not expected topress the panic button.

In the first quarterof the current fiscalyear, the airline ind ustry lost nearlyUS $200 millionalthough low-farecarriers had postedprofit in the range ofUS $40-$50 million.

The airlines lost an estimatedUS $1.95 billion in the lastfiscal on combined revenueof US $9.5 billion

� Eco-Tourism

� Adventure Tourism

� Wildlife Tourism

� Sports tourism

� Resort Tourism

� Archaeological Tourism

� Tribal Tourism

New Tourism Circuits

Sonam Chombay Secretary, TourismArunachal Pradesh

STATISTICS5 2 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Any monument or sitewhich is 100 years old

and is considered to be ofnational importance is calledan Archaeological Survey ofIndia (ASI) ProtectedMonument or Site. Such mon-uments/sites are also com-monly referred to as CentrallyProtected Monuments/Sites.

The statistics on number ofvisits to monuments are main-tained by the office of theDirector General, ASI based onthe records of number of tick-ets sold at the monuments toboth Indian and foreignNationals. For the purpose ofconservation of monuments,the country has been dividedinto 24 ASI Circles, each underthe jurisdiction of a

Superintending Archaeo-logist. Table 1 gives the num-ber of domestic and foreignvisitors to all centrally-protect-ed ticketed monuments for theyears from 1996 to 2011. TajMahal, Agra (4.65 million) wasthe most visited monument in2011 for domestic visitors fol-lowed by Qutub Minar, Delhi(2.98 million) and Agra Fort(0.31 million).

2001 126 N.A N.A 20364901 - - 4.2%2002 126 17333055 837012 18170067 - - -10.8%2003 126 19551820 1216615 20768435 12.8% 45.4% 14.3%2004 116 20356940 1788753 22145693 4.1% 47.0% 6.6%2005 116 21035864 2122436 23158300 3.3% 18.7% 4.6%2006 116 23815252 2250502 26065754 13.2% 6.0% 12.6%2007 116 23450419 2614254 26064673 -1.5% 16.2% 0.0%2008 117 28786608 2679763 31466371 22.8% 2.5% 20.7%2009 119 30804103 2195382 32999485 7.0% -18.1% 4.9%2010 117 35770242 2998175 38768417 16.1% 36.6% 17.5%2011 117 40534481 2948065 43482546 13.3% -1.7% 12.2%

Year No. of Centrally Number of Visitors Annual Growth RateProtectedTicketed Domestic Foreign Total Domestic Foreign Total

ASIMonument

Visitors to Centrally Protected Ticketed Monuments, 2001-2011

Source: Ministry of Tourism Source: Ministry of Tourism

Source: Ministry of Tourism

Despite a slight slowdown in 2007, the tourism figures for ASI monuments have risen steadily over the years.

Old monuments, but steady visitorsTT BU R E AU

Targetting adventureenthusiasts in India,

Karina Tourism &Adventures, who owns andoperates Infiniti, India’s firstscuba diving liveaboard ves-sel, is in process of appoint-ing Preferred Sales Agents

(PSA) across India. It hasalready appointed Pune-based Uniglobe OdysseyTravel and will be soonappointing five more PSAseach in Mumbai, New Delhi,Bengaluru, Kolkata andChennai. Through these sixPSAs, the company intendsto have a strong sub-agent

network across the country.Apart from PSAs, the com-pany is also in talks withAdventure Tour OperatorsAssociation of India(ATOAI); has tied up withtop ten dive centres in thecountry and working closelywith liveaboard operatorsworldwide.

Talking about the newproduct, Sunil Bakshi,Founder, Karina Tourism &Adventures said, “ExperiencedIndian travellers are lookingfor newer destinations andexperiences. We are offeringsomething very unique inIndian waters with affordablerates, double the comfort andluxury as compared to live-aboard experiences inThailand and Maldives. Apartfrom targeting experiencedtravellers, we also intend toattract young adventureenthusiasts, scuba divers, fam-ilies and even smaller incen-tive groups.” A liveaboard isthe only practical option forexploring many of the divesites in the Andaman Islands.Divulging the strategy, Bakshisaid, “We will start with invit-ing our PSAs on board to pro-vide them with firsthand expe-riences. We will then startinviting operators who showus enough business potentialfor our business growth.”

A liveaboard is the only practical option for exploring many of the dive sites in the AndamanIslands. The primary focus markets are Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata.

India’s first ‘liveaboard’ to appoint PSAs AGENTS5 4 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

TT BUREAU

The 130 feet long INFINITI houses 12 cabins (three forcrew members) with capacity to handle 18-22 passengers ata time. A typical five-day itinerary in Andaman Islands costsclose to Rs 50,000-55,000 depending on the season. The priceincludes pick-up and drop at the airport, food, four scuba/deepdives a day, certification for scuba-diving, kayaking, surfing,island excursions and memorable experiences.

India’s first liveaboard vessel

Apart fromtargetingexperiencedtravellers, we alsointend to attractyoung adventureenthusiasts, scuba divers,families and evenincentive groups

Sunil BakshiFounder Karina Tourism & Adventures

The Kerala Tourism haslaunched a new website(http://when-it-rains.com)with gesture-controlled fea-tures. Launched as a part ofthe monsoon campaign byKerala Tourism, the newwebsite is one of the fewtourism websites in theworld to use the gesture-controlled technology.

Now, gesturefor KeralaTourism’snew website

RAILWAYS

For more information, contact us at: talk@ddppl.com

SEPTEMBERNATIONAL4-6 Chandigarh Macau Government Tourism

Office's Sales Blitz4 Ahmedabad Oman Tourist Office’s Roadshow6 Hyderabad Oman Tourist Office’s Roadshow6-8 Mumbai IITM Mumbai6-8 Pune TTF8-11 Kochi IATO Annual Convention12-14 Mumbai IBTM India13 Mumbai European Quartet’s Roadshow13-15 Delhi-NCR IITM Gurgaon16 Bengaluru European Quartet’s Roadshow17 Chennai European Quartet’s Roadshow18 Kolkata European Quartet’s Roadshow18-21 Kochi FHRAI Annual Convention19 Delhi European Quartet’s Roadshow24 Mumbai Tourism Office of Spain’s B2B

Workshop25 Bengaluru Tourism Office of Spain’s B2B

Workshop25 Mumbai Love For Africa Roadshow 201326 Delhi Tourism Office of Spain’s B2B

Workshop27 Delhi Love For Africa Roadshow 201327-28 Mumbai Locations

27-29 Delhi Great Domestic Tourism Bazaar

INTERNATIONAL2-4 Beijing CIBTM8-11 Prince Canadian Tourism Commission’s

Edward Island Canada Go Media4-6 Philippines Philippine Travel Exchange

(PHITEX 2013)10-12 Seoul World Travel and Tourism Council

(WTTC) The Asia Summit12-15 Tokyo JATA TABIHAKU15-17 China PATA Travel Mart 201324 Ukraine Luxury Travel Market24-27 Paris International French Travel Market

Top Resa25-27 Kazakhstan Astana Leisure27 Almaty Luxury Travel Market30-3 Oct Mexico International Luxury Travel Market

Americas (ILTMA)

OCTOBERNATIONAL4-6 Indore Indian International Travel Exhibition22 Delhi Scandinavian Tourism Board’s

Seminar23 Mumbai Scandinavian Tourism Board’s

Seminar24 Chennai Scandinavian Tourism Board’s

Seminar29 Delhi Austrian National Tourist Board’s

Roadshow31 Mumbai Austrian National Tourist Board’s

RoadshowINTERNATIONAL1-3 Bangkok IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific14-18 China Canadian Tourism Commission’s

Showcase Asia23-25 Singapore ITB Asia

NOVEMBERNATIONAL11 Mumbai Monaco Tourism’s B2B Roadshow13 Bengaluru Monaco Tourism’s B2B Roadshow22-24 Pune IITM Pune26 Delhi German National Tourist Board’s

B2B Event27 Bengaluru German National Tourist Board’s

B2B Event29 Mumbai German National Tourist Board’s

B2B Event29-Dec2 Hyderabad IITM HyderabadINTERNATIONAL4-7 London World Travel Market11-14 Spain Golf Travel Market

Tying up with neighbour statesmost popular state fromSouth India in the global market. However,Karnataka, Tamil Nadu andAndhra Pradesh are nowcoming forward and partic-ipating at global trade fairsto improve visibility and awareness. Recently,Andhra Pradesh Tourismsigned an MoU withKarnataka Tourism to facil-itate easier and discountedbooking of trains and hotelsfor travellers from mutualstates. Also, Karnataka is in discussion for the possibility of taking its luxury train Golden Chariotto Andhra Pradesh.

Talking about outboundtourism; increasing numberof NTOs are now focusing on Bangalore, Chennai,Hyderabad and even Kochi fortheir roadshows, trade fairs,sales meeting, etc to tap thetourist traffic from thesecities. Hanneli Slabber,Country Manager – India,South African Tourism said,“India is an important sourcemarket for us, and interest-ingly, South India is coming

up as a potential market for us. We have includedChennai this time.”

New Zealandtourism’s ‘Kiwi Link’ road-

show only touches Mumbaiand New Delhi, but for thefirst time this year, it wasorganised in Bangalore andKolkata as well. MischaMannix-Opie, South &

South East Asia RegionalManager, Tourism NewZealand said, “With 26 suppliers from NewZealand, we extended KiwiLink for the first time inBangalore, because oursuppliers got many queriesfrom South India in last few years. With the grow-ing potential of South India,we finally decided to tap this region and meetthe travel trade. We are positive to receiveextensive response fromthis market, and are going to continue to focuson Bangalore, Chennai,Hyderabad and Kochithrough our sales team in India.”

The potential in SouthIndia is immense. All that isneeded to tap this region isthe right focus, right market-ing and business strategies,mutually beneficial tie-upswith tour operators, correctmarket understanding, balanced market segregationand last but not the least –product awareness and right knowledge amongsttravel trade.

We are goingto continue tofocus onBangalore,Chennai,Hyderabad andKochi throughour sales team

India is animportantsource marketfor us, andinterestingly,South India is a potentialmarket

Hanneli SlabberCountry Manager – India, South African Tourism

Mischa Mannix-OpieSouth & South East Asia RegionalManager, Tourism New Zealand

As there has been a sub-stantial increase in the

number of users accessing theIRCTC website over the lastfew years and with the book-ings growing, the IndianRailway Catering and TourismCorporation Ltd (IRCTC) isplanning to revamp its websiteand relaunch it by early nextyear. According to IRCTC, anonline Rail Reserved ticketingactivity involves complex sys-tem of Networking andIntegrations of various con-stituents. Constraint in any ofthe component in this complex chain of equipmentinvolving multiple entitiesseverely affects website per-formance and the user gets adegraded experience.

“Though we have inplace a mechanism of contin-uous identification of bottle-

necks and up-gradation of thesystem, identification of suchissues may, at times, be trickyand resolution may be a com-plicated exercise. So, thatgives an unhappy experienceto our users. Moreover, theexisting data centre was set upin 2002 for Internet ticketing.Since then, it has beenupgraded several times. Theexperienced IT team of IRCTC

has been working hard to getmaximum output from theexisting system with minimalupgrades whenever required.But it is now time to look foroptions for complete revampto cater to the future needs, togive our users a smootherexperience in booking a ticket.The main focus is to provide auser better service in terms ofresponse time,” says PradipKundu, Joint General ManagerPR, IRCTC. Talking about thefocus areas for this revamp,Kundu says, “Development ofnew Application Software is inprogress. We are trying toinclude changes based on theexperiences gained over thelast decade. New IT Hardwareis being procured and newData Centre, equipped withthe latest technologies inNetworking, Communication,IT Security, Cooling, Power backup etc., is alsobeing set up.”

IRCTC is also workingclosely with the CRIS to set up the new data centre. Since PassengerReservation System is alsomanaged by the CRIS, thecloser coordination betweenthe CRI S and the IRCTCwith expertise of both the organisations comingtogether should be helpfulin providing users a better service.

With an objective to provide a better user service in terms of responsetime, IRCTC is now revamping its train ticketing website.

IRCTC revamps website for better

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

� An online Rail Reservedticketing activity involvescomplex system ofNetworking and Integrationsof various constituents

� Constraint in any of thecomponent in this complexchain of equipmentinvolving multiple entitiesseverely affects the website

Process

Contd. from page 24

Pradip KunduJoint General Manager PRIRCTC

Targetting FITs from Mumbai & DelhiMario Cordero, Director of

Regional Development, GrayLine Latin America said, “Weunderstand the potential ofIndia and we are eager todevelop the market. We wantto tap the growing Indian out-bound segment to Latin

America, especially the FITsegment and the small familygroups segment.” Gray LineLatin America which is repre-sented in India by Mumbai-based Global Destinationsoffers sightseeing tours, pack-age tours, charters and airport

shuttles in Mexico, Central andSouth America

As part of its India SalesMission 2013, Gray Line LatinAmerica engaged with travelagents and tour operators inMumbai and Delhi. Corderosaid, “This has been our first

visit to India since appointingGlobal Destinations as ourIndia representative last year.In the future, we plan to con-duct seminars and workshopsfor the travel trade. We alsoplan to tap Bengaluru andHyderabad in the future.”

Mumbai-based WorldTravel Studio has

recently launched new pack-ages to exotic internationaldestinations across the globefor the Indian FIT traveller.Alongside popular destina-tions in the Indian marketsuch as Australia, NewZealand, South Africa,Europe, Far East & Islands;World Travel Studio is alsoaiming to tap the evolvedIndian traveller throughvacations to off-beat destina-tions like Alaska, SouthAmerica, Vietnam,Cambodia, Morocco, Jordan,Antarctica expeditions, etc.

Haresh Koyande,Founder & ManagingDirector, World Travel Studiosaid, “Some of the interest-ing experiences being offeredby World Travel Studio are

like journeying through Italyin a Ferrari, visiting IguazuFalls in Argentina/Brazil andHa Long Bay in Vietnam –both ranked amongst thenew Seven Natural Wondersof the World; experiencingthe Rocky Mountaineer’sRail Journey in Canada, vis-iting Pearl Harbour inHawaii, the Acropolis ofAthens in Greece and theMercedes-Benz Museum inGermany, among many others offer one-of-a-kindexperiences.” Additionally,World Travel Studio which istargetting a double-digitgrowth this year, also plansto introduce a range ofdomestic vacations as well

as cruise vacations in the near future. Koyandeconcluded by saying,

“These are all well-crafted, value-for-money FIT vacations, whereclients can bookthem as it is or they have an option ofcustomising.

Travellers can also visit their online portalwww.worldtravelstudio.comwhere they can access infor-mation and previews of thesepackages and make aninformed decision.

HOTELS

According to VishvapreetCheema, General

Manager, Radisson Blu PlazaDelhi, the property is ideal fortoday’s business and leisuretravellers. Talking about theUSP of Radisson Blu PlazaDelhi, the GM affirms, “Ourkey differentiators are the100 per cent ‘GuestSatisfaction Guarantee’, the‘Yes I Can!’ spirit of serviceand a location close to thecorporate hub of Gurgaonand the New Delhi Airport,and convenient connection tomany of the city landmarks.The hotel is ideal for businesstravellers and tourists eagerto experience India in the city and beyond.”

The hotel’s rates repre-sent excellent value. “Forinstance, we provide compli-mentary breakfast, airporttransfers as well as compli-mentary WiFi access for allrooms in the hotel. We alsohave an innovative breakfast

concept called Grab & Runfor people who have to checkout early. It includes coffee,tea, bottles of water, wholefruit and breakfast energybars. Also our check-out canbe as late as 6 pm (subject to availability) at no extracost. All these are unique tous,” he adds.

In meeting spaces,the ballroom andfunction rooms -Crystal and Ebony -offer state-of-the-art Conference venues for business meetingsand social functions.

Crystal is an ideal ban-quet hall for conventions andparties for up to 800 peopleand can be divided into fiveseparate meeting rooms ofvarious sizes, which have aclear ceiling height of 15feet. Supporting all thesevenues is a state-of-the-artBusiness Centre with meet-ing facilities for 8-12 people.Talking about the perform-ance of the hotel, Cheemareveals, “Our hotel has beenrunning between 70-80 percent occupancy for the pasttwo quarters. This is at thesame level as it was lastyear. We believe that ourguests are appreciating theinvestments we have madein renovating the hotel andin creating new values andamenities for them.”

Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi has been running between 70-80 per centoccupancy for the past two quarters.

Ideal for business travellers

TT BUREAU

Vishvapreet CheemaGeneral ManagerRadisson Blu Plaza Delhi

Targetted at providing unique holiday packages to the Indian FIT traveller,the World Travel Studio also plans to introduce domestic and cruise packages.

New packages for FIT traveller

TT BUREAU

Haresh KoyandeFounder & Managing DirectorWorld Travel Studio

Astart-up venture with avision of being the lead-

ing hotel management com-pany in North India,Xperience India Hotels &Resorts was established by ateam of young and energeticentrepreneurs.

Talking about the growthof the group, Ashok Kumar,Director, Xperience IndiaHotels & Resorts says, “With12 properties in Uttarakhandstarting from Jim Corbett toMunsiyari, we have two prop-

erties each in Rajasthan, MP,Chhattishgarh and one inDelhi. The property portfolioincludes a fine mix of leisure

resorts and hotels.” Regardingmeeting and conferencingfacilities, Kumar adds, “In ourportfolio, the brand new prop-

erty in Jim Corbett -CorbettTusker Trail has got the largestconference hall, which canaccommodate 550 people intheatre style. This is also thebiggest meeting facility in JimCorbett as well. ” SatyendraMarken, Director, XperienceIndia Hotels & Resorts elabo-rates, “We aim to do branding,marketing and promotionexercises in best possible man-ner for our client propertiesamong the right customercluster -- the tour operators,corporates, overseas clientsand the inbound market.”

Xperience India Hotels & Resorts operate in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and in the capital city of Delhi.

New experience with hospitality

TT BUREAU With 12 properties in Uttarakhandstarting from Jim Corbett toMunsiyari, we have two propertieseach in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Chhattishgarh and one in Delhi.

Ashok Kumar Director, Xperience India Hotels & Resorts

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

MOVEMENTS6 0 TRAVTALK S E P T E M B E R 1 S T F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Mischa Mannix-Opie, South & SouthEast Asia Regional Manager, TourismNew Zealand considers herself more ofa traveller and not a tourist. Whenever,she gets time from work (which shehardly does), she loves spending timewith her husband, trying out new adven-

tures and cuisine, shoppingand exploring new destina-tions across the world. She

also reads a lot and con-siders books as her

best friends.

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

Contributed by: Peden Doma Bhutan, Megha Paul, Anita Jain & Lyandra D’Souza

Vella Ramasawmy, General Manager, KempinskiAmbience Hotel Delhi likes going to the malls."I like going to malls as I like watching peopleand their behaviour. I want to understand thecountry through its culture.” Interestingly,Ramasawmy loves watching Bollywood movies.But language is a barrier for him. “I watch allmovies twice. I go to the hall, watch the movie

and enjoy without understanding a word. ThenI come back and buy the CD and watch it all

over again with subtitles. I recently sawChennai Express. I enjoyed the fightingscenes and the brilliant locales. Now I am eagerly waiting for its CD. I willwatch it again,” he says.

Pranav Kapadia, Director, Global Destinations says,“Weekends are my favourite time as I get to spend time

with my family and unwind after ahectic working week. I’m a moviebuff and I love to watch films aswell as to swim.” Kapadia is alsovery fond of the beach and hisfavourite holidays comprise thesun, the sand and the sea. Hesays, “Aside from Fiji, which is myfavourite beach destination, I also

enjoy New Zealand very much. I alsolove to experience adventure activities

on my vacations.”

Renaissance Mumbai ConventionCentre HotelMumbaiAkhil Arora is the recently appointed Director of Rooms ofRenaissance Mumbai ConventionCentre Hotel. In his current role, he oversees all areas of the Rooms Division which includeFront Office, Reservations, Airportservices, Housekeeping, Laundryand Spa. Arora brings with him over10 years of experience in the hospi-tality industry. He was thepre-opening Front OfficeManager at The LeelaPalace Chanakyapuri,New Delhi.

Husnavaz F Dastur has recently been appointed as the SpaManager of Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel.

An exper t in the Wellness Spa andBeauty industry, she is responsible

for skills development, operationaland holistic health managementin the hotel. Prior to joining Renaissance MumbaiConvention Centre Hotel, shehas been associated with popu-lar hospitality majors in Mumbailike the Oberoi, Taj, Hyatt and

Westin Starwood.

The Ritz-Carlton, BangaloreBangalore Nilesh Singh has been appointed as the Executive AssistantManager (EAM) of Food & Beverage of The Ritz-Carlton,

Bangalore. In this role, Singh will be responsible for the management and successful operations of all food andbeverage venues in the hotel. A hotelmanagement graduate from Institute ofHotel Management Catering Technologyand Applied Nutrition, Mumbai; Singhcomes with a experience of 13 years

with the Oberoi Hotels and has workedwith their finest restaurants across

their hotels in India.

Courtyard by Marriott, BhopalBhopal Amit Vashist has recently joined Courtyard by Marriott, Bhopalas the Executive Chef. Vashist comes with over a decade of expe-

rience in the food and beverage industryand his core expertise lies is in Europeanand Indian cuisine. Prior to joiningCourtyard by Marriott, Bhopal, he wasassociated with Oberoi Group of Hotels,where he headed kitchens at TridentJaipur, Trident Udaipur and prestigiousOberoi Clarkes Hotel Shimla. In hismost recent assignment, Vashist wasthe Executive Chef at Dream Hotel,

Cochin (Vikram Chatwal Hotels).

Hyatt Regency PunePuneVivek Braganza has been appointed in the capacity of Directorof Sales & Marketing at Hyatt Regency Pune. A post-graduate inBusiness Administration specialised inSales & Marketing from Indira Institute ofManagement, Pune; Braganza startedhis career in 2003 with the Taj Group ofHotels as an Assistant Manager inCommercial Sales. In 2008, he joinedMarriott Hotels, India as an AssociateDirector of Convention & Exhibition Sales– India, and in 2010, Braganza was pro-moted to the Director of Salesposition at the GoaMarriott Resort & Spa.

Korea Tourism OrganisationNew Delhi Myong Kil Yun has joined Korea Tourism Organisation, New Delhi branch as the Deputy Director. He has more than

13 years of experience in the field of marketing. Prior to joining the

New Delhi branch, he has worked inthe outbound tourism centre ofKorea Tourism Organization in SouthKorea and with LG. In his new posi-tion, Yun will focus on strengtheningthe position of Korea as a tourist des-

tination for Indian travellers.

AirAsia India ChennaiVijay Gopalan has been named as the Chief Financial Officer forAirAsia India. Gopalan is a Char tered Accountant with over a

decade’s experience from Chennai as wellas a holder of an Advanced Diploma inMarketing and Sales from the NationalInstitute of Sales. Prior to AirAsia,Gopalan was attached to the CompassGroup India, as well as Ernst & Young and has worked in the USA

and the UK with experiences in variousindustries including oil & gas, as

well as hospitality. He was anAll-India rank holder in

the CA entranceexamination.

Radisson BluGreater NoidaJitendra Kumar has been appointed as the new General Managerof Radisson Blu Hotel Greater Noida. A graduate of IHM Chennai,

he has spent close to five years withBJN Hotels as Director-FoodProduction & Operations, takingcare of both front and back of thehouse operations. Before that,Kumar has spent 19 years with TajHotels, Resor ts & Palaces as an

Executive Chef in all three SBU’s -Luxury, Business & Leisure.

Landmark Tours & TravelsNew DelhiShahnawaz Zafar has been appointed as the BusinessDevelopment Manager of Landmark Tours & Travels. A postgrad-uate in Tourism Management from AMU,Aligarh, Zafar star ted his career in2000 with Globotel. He has earnedover 12 years of experience fromtravel industry. He has worked withbrands like Globotel, Ascon Traveland HRG Dnata during his pastassignments. In his new role atLandmark Tours, Zafar will be responsible for sales and marketing ofthe Dubai DMC – Al Rais Tours &Holidays LLC under the ban-ner of Landmark.

Pradip Kundu, Joint General Manager PR, IRCTC, is an avid music lover. Though he confesses to notbeing a singer himself, he says he loves listening to Indian classical music and has many favourite singers.Kundu also says he loves travelling. "I love travelling and I love being amid nature, the mountains in particular."

But in spite of having travelled, he says there are still many places in India that he wants to discover. "Mywork doesn't permit me to travel as frequently as I want, but I do take time out for my travels. And

while travelling I like to travel on my own." Kundu has also backpacked a few times to Shimla,Manali and McLeod Ganj.

HIGHLIGHT

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

of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91Date of Publication:30-08-2013

“Sell with all theresources you can

muster. Reshaping publicopinion is a hard path, but one

which is worth taking”, saidMargaret Thatcher at thePATA Conference in Honolulu,in the April of 1993.

Discussing the rele-vance and importance of thissaying, Martin J. Craigs,CEO, PATA, stresses, “Thetravel industry today is notselling with all its resources.The travel and aviationindustries are world-classwhen talking amongst them-selves, but they are averageat external advocacy. And then, they wonder why theyare not respected and rea-sonably treated by govern-ments in terms of taxationand regulation!”

“Well, the answer is, ifyou don’t turn up, you don’tchange anything. If you stayin your comfort zone, talkingwithin your own circle, thenyou won’t change the exter-nal environment.”

Highlighting the impor-tance of the complete visitoreconomy, Craigs adds, “Thetravel industry is at a cross-road. It is potentially, and iron-

ically, the saviour of our mod-ern politicians. It is one indus-try that can create jobs quicklyand cost-effectively. The onething that modern politicianshave to do is to create jobs. Yet

politicians are blind to theimpact of not just tourism, butthe visitor economy. We needto set higher aspirations forwhat the travel and tourism

industry does for the economy,and more importantly, raiseour status. The entire travelchain needs to realise that weall are into this together. Mostimportantly, politicians gen-erally don’t see the light,until they feel the heat.”

PATA’s important short-term goals include putting aspotlight on self-harmingtaxes that weaken the traveltrade, and secondly createunreasonable and unrealisticcosts and therefore, disincen-tive travel. The associationfeels that governments usu-ally tax the weakest link andwill continue eating into thetravel and tourism industry.

The prime example of this is the £94 APD to be paid for anyone travellingoutside Britain. Craigsfocusses on the India market

by complementing MOT forits great work done inHyderabad. “I was so impressed with what I saw at UNWTO’sHyderabad event. We shouldget a major PATA event backthere (Hyderabad) in thenext three years. The city isdefinitely on our radar.”Craigs also mentioned that

PATA would have an officein India sooner than laterand is aspiring to have afull-time office here withinthe next three years.

From planning to opening PATA’s office in India to providing solutions to the very debated tax issues, MartinJ. Craigs, CEO, PATA, discusses the current difficultiesfaced by the industry and recommends possible solutions.

Higher aspirations for industry

Martin J. CraigsCEO, PATA

� India’s significant problem areas includetaxes imposed on tourism (inbound andoutbound), India’s inbound opportunitiesand challenges, and emerging challenges inSouth Asia.

� India is getting noticed on the global tourismmap. But if it is high on the tourisminconvenience curve, then it will not attracttoo many tourists. Word-of-mouth is stillvery powerful, and the most importantcustomer is the one being served now.

� Hold on to the long-haul, long-staypassengers. India is in a sweet spot andholding on to the long-stay visitors iseminent. The matrix of tourism has to bechanged. The world average expenditure ofa tourist is $600, but for India, this averageis $2,700.

� Aviation is not the impediment for thegrowth of inbound tourism. Outboundtourism, going on the same routes, isgrowing by leaps and bounds. India

also has the lowest airfare, compared to the rest of the world.

� Billion-dollar investments near the Delhiairport for the growth of 4,000 hotel roomsin Aerocity have come to a halt because ofsecurity concerns. Hotels on the eve ofopening their doors were told not to till theydon’t get security clearance. Now theMinistry of Tourism promises to take thismatter up with a forum, which is looked intoby the Prime Minister’s Secretary.

� Hotels and airlines can now promotethemselves through the Incredible Indiawebsite free of charge. The MOT is buildinga very strong website, which will also deliverservices electronically. The Ministryreassures that all individual hotel chains andairlines who want to have a link or buttonon the home page (front page) of the websitecan do so free of cost.

(Excerpts from PATA’s Hub City Roundtable Forum in New Delhi)

India tourism: A way forward

DE V I KA JE E T

Craigs was also full of praisefor India’s very dynamic tourismminister and said, “Imagine acombination of George Clooneyand John Travolta as tourismminister, how cool will that be!And in India, you have got thetwo in one package and he’s areally nice guy. I am definitely abig fan of the Indian tourismminister Chiranjeevi”.

K ChiranjeeviMinister for TourismIndia

Our tourism superstar