Crouching Tiger, Roaring Dragon: - Travel News Digest

volume I l Issue I www.travelnewsdigest.in 

Crouching Tiger, 

Roaring Dragon: 

India and China Outbound 

by TND team 

The tiger and the dragon are in 

the cross-hairs of the global tourism 

industry. Nielsen India has 

prepared a report “Understanding 

Growth Markets – China and 

India”, key findings of which 

were presented on the sidelines 

of the PATA Travel Mart held 

recently in New Delhi. 

Drivers of the outbound 

market 

- Strong GDP growth between 

8 and 9.3% in both the countries 

over the next two years 

- High Consumer Confidence 

Index: India (126), China (105), 

beating global average of 95 

- Rising consumerism across 

categories, especially travel: 

Chinese plan to spend 55% of 

their disposable income on holidays/vacations, 

while Indians 

plan to spend 34%, both above 

the global average of 34% 

- Trend of Premiumisation in 

India, and Super-Premiumisation 

in China 

- Rising influence of Social 

Media: India has the third largest 

Facebook community in 

the world, 100 million people 

online, and 45,000 new users 

joining social media every day 

All these drivers have resulted 

in 50 million Chinese outbound 

travellers and 12.5 million 

Indian in 2010. While current 

figures are heavily weighted in 

favour of China, going forward, 

Indian outbound travellers are 

expected to quadruple by 2020 

to 50 million, while the number 

of Chinese travelling overseas is 

expected to just about double in 

the same period. 

Highlights 

The presentation went on to highlight 

other interesting and useful 

insights about the outbound 

Indian and Chinese travellers: 

Indians are travelling overseas 

at a younger age now than 

in 2008: While in 2008 single or 

young married individuals without 

any z children accounted for 

43% of the market, by 2011 this 

has grown to 54%. In contrast 

the middle-aged with dependent 

children segment has shrunk 

from 50% to 38%. Leisure travellers 

from Tier II cities are older 

than in Tier I cities. 

The socio-economic spread 

of the Indian outbound traveller 

has broadened, with the Sec 

A2/B1/B2 segment swelling from 

28% to 38%. 

Visiting Friends and Relatives 

(VFR) remains the most important 

motivation for travelling abroad 

for Indians, higher in Tier II as 

compared to Tier I cities. In China 

VFR is not a major segment. 

The outbound Indian traveller 

is now exploring a wider 

range of destinations. While Singapore, 

Malaysia, Dubai, Thailand, 

Nepal and USA remain 

the top destinations for Indians, 

China, Macau, Egypt, Turkey, 

South Africa, Maldives, Sri 

Lanka, Kenya, Canada etc are 

catching up in popularity. 

Though Hong Kong and 

Macau still remain the top destinations 

for Chinese outbound 

travellers, the share of these destinations 

has gone down from 

79% in 2008 to 56% in 2010, as the 

Chinese seek out newer destinations 

like France, Taiwan, Australia, 

Japan, USA etc. 

Self-organised trips still form 

the largest chunk at 51%, though 

this has come down from 58% 

in 2008. Customised tours have 

grown substantially to 15% of the 

total outbound market, up from 

10% in 2008, while group packaged 

tours have gone from 31% 

to 33%. In China group packaged 

tours form the largest chunk at 

41%, while self-organised and 

customised segments constitute 

35% and 23% respectively. 

The presentation highlighted 

the increasing importance of 

online bookings in India, which 

Travel Agents 02 

Tour Operators 05 

International 07 

India 11 

Monuments 16 

Corporate 18 

have grown from 12% in 2008, to 

28% in 2010, though brick-andmortar 

travel businesses still dominate. 

In China, online business 

has reached critical mass, and is 

becoming very competitive. 

The report clearly highlights 

the exploding potential of the 

Indian outbound market, which 

is now being wooed aggressively 

by a large and fast increasing 

number of international destinations, 

as many as 60 of whom 

have set up shop in India. Many 

more make sporadic forays and 

conduct roadshows across the 

country, in preparation for opening 

up offices. 

An important take-away for 

the Indian inbound sector 

and the Ministry of Tourism 

from the Neilson report, is the 

huge potential for inbound 

traffic from China. Currently, 

India receives 0.5 million Chinese 

tourists which is just 1% 

or even less of the total China 

outbound market. The question 

arises that are we doing 

enough to tap this low-lying 

fruit or missing opportunities 

by restrictive visa policies and 

procedures and inadequate 

flight bilaterals? 

Tourism Authority of Thailand 

(TAT) was one of the early 

birds to have a presence in India. 

According to Sethaphan Buddhani, 

Director, TAT, Mumbai 

office, Indian tourist arrivals grew 

32% in 2010, and are expected to 

reach 8.85 lakh (0.88 million) this 

year. In a bid to attract more tourists, 

TAT is targeting niche segments 

like weddings, golf, film 

production and wellness. 

“India is one of the top 

source markets for a majority 

of international tourism boards 

present in the country,” said 

Buddhani. 

Continued on page 7... 

Technology 19 

Hospitality 20 

Food&Beverage 23 

Transport 25 

Aviation 27 

Events 28 

` 100 / us $5 November 2011 

German advisory: 

Kashmir safe +05 

Britain works towards 

recovery before the 

Olympics +09 

Vietnam turns attention 

to Indian market +13

Editor and Publisher 

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Publishing Director 

Santosh Goenka 

Editorial Consultant 

Neelam Mathews 

Executive Director - Finance 

Rajiv Agarwal 

Executive Director - Marketing 

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Media Director 

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Manager - New Media Projects 

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Senior Content Editor 

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Content Editors 

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Content Writers 

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General Managers 

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Project Managers 

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Assistant Project Managers 

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Volume I l Issue I 

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editorial@travelnewsdigest.in 

TrAveLAGeNTs 

Travel agents in demand 

for destination weddings 

With destination weddings 

becom -ing popular, travel agents 

are increasingly getting involved 

in execution. Currently, only 37% 

of potential consumers avail of 

the services of a travel agent to 

plan weddings because of lack of 

awareness and professionalism. 

Agents need to be armed with 

the best offers to gain a foothold 

in this market. They need to have 

adequate knowledge of the properties 

as well as possess a good 

relationship with suppliers. 

Efforts must be made to showcase 

expertise at all events, utilise 

social networks, be part of 

like-minded groups, and update 

the public as to why a qualified 

travel agent is crucial in travel 

planning. 

The Indian government has 

issued an advisory to prospective 

workers going to Iraq to 

check credentials of recruiting 

travel agents before accepting 

such job offers. According 

to reports, 28 Indian nationals 

were duped by agents in recent 

months. In view of these incidents, 

migrant workers have 

been advised to exercise due diligence. 

The Ministry of External 

Affairs (MEA) has also issued a 

statement saying that the Indian 

embassy in Baghdad is doing 

It is important to point out the 

differences between travel agents 

and wedding planners. A travel 

agent streamlines the entire process, 

starting from booking the 

destination, working with suppliers, 

hotels and wedding planners, 

and makes sure everything 

is according to the budget and 

needs of the client. In a destination 

wedding, friends and families 

matter too. Agents must 

devise a special package or format 

to make it a seamless operation 

for the group. 

Wedding Report says spending 

is getting higher, and there is 

less “price shopping”. Brides and 

grooms now select more expensive 

destinations. The number 

of guests has also increased and 

Kuoni does away with online discounts 

Starting November, Kuoni, 

which currently offers a 5% 

discount for bookings on its 

consumer website, is now 

doing away with the practices. 

This, it says, will allow agents 

to sell on a level playing 

field between in-house sales 

channels and third-party 

retailers. There will now, no 

longer be a difference in the 

prices offered through its own 

website and shops and those 

offered by its independent 

agent partners. According to 

M.D. Derek Jones, the move 

will enable agents to get a 

chance to convert more sales. 

While Kuoni will continue 

to offer tactical discounts on 

selected products and selected 

departure dates, all offers will 

be ‘on system’ and available 

through all channels. 

MEA advisory on travel agents 

everything possible to assist 

those cheated to return home. 

Allegedly, a few Punjabbased 

travel agents misled the 

Indians into accepting employment 

offers involving long 

working hours and poor salaries. 

The families of about 

40 youths from Punjab and 

Himachal Pradesh alleged that 

their wards had virtually been 

made “captive” in Iraq. Three 

Chandigarh-based travel agents 

are under the scanner for luring 

the youths. 

they request expanded vacation 

options to other areas. Honeymoons 

have become more exotic 

Financial protection is the second 

most important factor people 

consider when booking a 

holiday, according to a ‘Which?’ 

travel report. However, only 34% 

agencies gave “clear and accurate” 

advice. The UK-based consumer 

watchdog made 70 mystery 

calls to The Co-operative 

Travel, Easyjet Holidays, Expedia, 

Lastminute.com, Lowcostholidays, 

Thomas Cook, Thomson, 

and Travel Republic and 

found the information it received 

was often unclear, misleading 

and inaccurate. In 18% of the 

cases, the information was inaccurate 

while it was potentially 

misleading in 10% of the cases. 

Spice sojourn 

Travellers keen to savour the 

delectable delights that India 

has to offer can now avail of a 

culinary tour of South India 

that will include cookery lessons, 

river cruises and a stay 

at an organic farm. Dublin- 

and longer. In short, this is the best 

time for travel agents to look to 

new markets. 

Agents confused about 

financial protection 

The ‘Which?’ report points 

out that the current systems of 

financial protection are confusing 

for both the travelling public 

and the travel industry itself. 

The report will be used to make 

a submission to the Air Travel 

Organiser Licensing (ATOL) 

consultation process. 

based travel agency GoHop has 

organised a 13-day trip that will 

include a visit to Asia’s largest 

vegetable and flower market — 

Koyambedu market in Chennai. 

Special attractions include 

excursions to spice shops 

and an opportunity to sample 

authentic Indian cooking. 

The tour, covering Chennai, 

Pondicherry, Thekkady and 

Cochin, includes accommoda- 

tion, meals, taxes, internal 

flights and car transfers at a cost 

of €2,290 per person.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 TrAveL AGeNTs 3 

Online travel boom 

E-commerce is poised to become 

the next big thing in India with 

Visa info 

at your 

fingertips 

Travel agents registered with 

the Amadeus Selling Platform 

can now avail visa information, 

thanks to a tie-up among 

Thomas Cook (India), Amadeus 

and BirdRes, a B2B distribution 

channel from Bird Group. 

The solution enables users 

not just to access relevant and 

updated visa information, 

The Travel Agents Association 

of India (TAAI) has roped 

in Dubai-based training provider 

TRS Consulting to train 

its 2,400 members comprising 

IATA-accredited travel 

agencies, airlines, general 

sales agencies, hotels and tour 

the market expected to touch 

US $10.27 billion by the end of 

but also download visa application 

forms. 

In addition, the portal provides 

detailed information about 

visa procedures of the country of 

travel, documentation and check 

lists, visa fees, VFS/IVS charges, 

holiday list, consular addresses 

and also the processing time 

of the visa. 

New national managing 

committee for TAAI 

Iqbal Mulla has been 

elected President of the 

Travel Agents Association 

of India (TAAI). 

Mulla is the chairman 

of the MIM Group, 

which owns Treasure 

Tours and 

Travels and 

Citizen World 

T r a v e l s . 

NM Shara- 

fudeen has been elected vicepresident, 

Sunil Kumar 

R has been re-elected as 

honorary secretary general 

and NG Shankar 

as treasurer. 

The new national 

managing committee 

of the TAAI 

will hold office 

for two years 

(2011-2013). 

TAAI waives off 

training fee 

operators. As per the two-year 

contract, TAAI will provide 10 

days’ training free of charge to 

members. 

Courses include modules in 

sales, service, travel planning, 

communication and management 

development. 

this year. Travel contributes 

to 80% of the e-commerce segment. 

In April this year, online 

travel sites in India reached a 

peak of 18.5 million visitors. 

Online Travel Agents (OTAs) 

are looking to leverage the surge 

with MakeMyTrip focusing on 

the hotels and holiday booking 

business, Yatra raising `200 

crore to supplement its hotels 

business, Hotels.com offering 

bookings for 2,300 hotels, and 

Cleartrip receiving an investment 

of US $40 million from 

travel management solutions 

provider Concur. 

Social media 

for travel 

agents 

Social media has now become 

a powerful tool for travel 

agents to brand themselves as 

experts and sell travel experiences. 

In order to leverage 

this resource, they must be 

aware of practices such as 

target marketing via the keyword 

phrase, SEO for blogs, 

how to post for web traffic, 

travel agent SWOT analysis, 

incorporating a blog into 

a Facebook page or Twitter 

stream. ASTA recently 

organised a webinar, ‘Travel 

Agents Attack Social Media 

– 100 Days of Online Marketing’, 

to help travel agents step 

up their social media presence 

and make their blogs 

more engaging. 

The webinar was presented 

by George Oberie, 

creator of The Travel Blog 

Project. 

Expedia Access 

Expedia.com has come up 

with a new platform, Expedia 

Access, for travel agents. The 

new portal boasts a number of 

facilities, such as simplified log 

in procedures and reporting, 

personalisation and rebranding 

capabilities, activity reports 

that allow travel agents to regularly 

monitor bookings and 

commission, news, promotions 

and incentive status. 

Airports offer 

loyalty points 

In a bid to attract traffic, airports 

are now offering incentives to 

travel agents and also rewarding 

passengers for using the airport 

as transit point. Airports in 

Hyderabad, Kochi, Bangalore, 

Mumbai and Delhi are 

aggressively wooing passengers 

using this marketing strategy. 

Delhi airport is offering special 

incentives to use it as a hub for 

onward connectivity to various 

The current economic 

downturn in the US and 

Europe will probably have an 

adverse impact on tourism 

in Thailand, as revealed by 

Thai tourism entrepreneurs. 

The recent violent riots in the 

UK could also affect locals’ 

decision to travel abroad and 

indirectly cause a slowdown 

in Thai tourism. The effects of 

international destinations 

while Kochi airport has plans 

to offer incentives to airlines 

for starting direct flights from 

the city to various international 

destinations. Hyderabad 

airport is offering loyalty 

points through a specialised 

company called RewardPort 

India. About 150 agents have 

registered for the loyalty point 

programme. 

Thai inbound tourism 

the sluggish US and European 

economies will be discernible in 

the next two months. Tourism 

to Thailand increased by 35% 

during the first six months of 

this year as compared to last 

year. This is attributable to 

Asian economies, as majority 

of visitors were from China, 

Japan, South Korea, India 

and Russia.

4 TrAveL AGeNTs November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

Rail Europe’s new B2B 

portal for South-East 

Asian travel agents 

Rail Europe has launched a 

new B2B online portal for travel 

agents in SouthEast Asia, 

through which they will be able 

Passport 

Seva Kendra 

In order to speed up the process 

of screening large number 

of applications pending in various 

passport offices, the government 

has introduced a Passport 

Seva Kendra System for the 

benefit of citizens. 

The Approved Travel Agents’ 

Welfare Association had filed a 

writ plea in the Madurai bench 

of Madras High Court saying 

that travel agents were losing 

their livelihood because of the 

new system. In response to the 

plea, the Tiruchi Passport Officer 

said that the government 

had launched the service to stop 

the practice of passport forgery 

by some travel agents. 

He also pointed out that 

according to fresh guidelines, 

travel agents recognised by 

IATA and members of Travel 

Agents Association of India can 

submit passport applications on 

behalf of applicants. 

to book rail passes offered by 

Eurail, BritRail, Swiss Passes 

and France Railpass among 

others, as well as domestic and 

Korea Tourism Organisation, 

that has an office in Delhi, has 

opened a new representative 

office in Mumbai. The organisation 

plans to collaborate with 

international point-to-point 

tickets offered by Eurostar, TGV, 

Thalys, AVE, FrecciaRossa and 

other train operators. Dynasty 

Travel, Rail Europe’s Singapore 

General Sales Agent (GSA) and 

appointed handler for its B2B 

and B2C operations in Singapore, 

Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia 

and the Philippines, will provide 

support for agents using the 

new online B2B services. 

Besides leisure travellers, 

corporates will also be an important 

clientele for this B2B platform. 

Corporate clients are also 

more inclined to use rail instead 

of air connections in Europe as it 

is faster, more comfortable and 

saves on check-in time. 

Korea Tourism 

enters Western India 

travel agents based in western 

India and is open for tie-ups 

with Indian tour operators. 

There are also plans to woo 

Indian filmmakers to shoot 

movies in locations in Korea. 

The country will be promoted 

as a premium tourism destination 

to the travel trade, consumers, 

media and airlines through 

advertisements, joint promotions, 

trade shows, familiarisation 

trips and food festival on a 

pan-India basis. 

Sentosa’s Preferred 

Partners Scheme 

The Sentosa Leisure Group 

has selected 12 travel agents 

to partner with the company 

and promote the destination 

for creating customised itineraries 

for the Indian market. 

The Preferred Partners 

from India are D’Paul’s Travels 

and Tours, Kesari Tours, 

SOTC, Makemytrip.com, 

Cox & Kings India Pvt Ltd, 

Thomas Cook (India) Limited, 

Jagadish Air Travels, 

Yatra Online Private Limited, 

TUI- Select Vacation Pvt 

Ltd, Saltours International, 

JTB Travels Private Limited 

and Mercury Travels. 

Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai 

are the key source markets 

for Sentosa Island from 

India. 

ETAA convention 

Enterprising Travel Agents 

Association (ETAA) — the sole 

body representing non-IATA 

agents in India — is planning to 

host its first domestic convention 

between September and November, 

2011. 

The domestic convention will 

be followed with an international 

Agents 

of change 

Technology has completely 

transformed the way consumers 

are buying travel. Travel agents 

have to keep up with the new 

world order in which people 

are increasingly using search 

engines, social networking 

and smart phones to research, 

book and comment on travel. 

Foreign currency 

management platform 

SCL has come up with a new 

desktop based ‘click and view’ 

currency checker as an extension 

to its UltraPoS foreign currency 

management platform. The service 

will cater to travel agents, 

bureaux de change and financial 

institutions offering retail 

foreign exchange services. SCL 

has developed this new automated 

FX management system 

in collaboration with anti-fraud 

Singapore Cruise Centre is the 

Platinum Sponsor of the inaugural 

Cruise Shipping Asia 

event, a tradeshow and conference 

focusing on the Asia 

Pacific cruise market, being 

held from November 16-18, this 

one in Dubai in February, 2012. 

ETAA president Karl Dantas 

said participants at the convention 

will be briefed on new trends 

in the online segment in the travel 

industry, adding that it will also 

feature a presentation by representatives 

of Maharashtra Tourism 

Department. 

According to Forrester 

Research, Inc, 54% of leisure 

travellers use a general search 

engine when planning travel 

while 38% of leisure travellers 

have used their smart phones 

to check in, book, or research 

travel. Amadeus North America 

president and CEO Scott Gutz 

said at Vacation.com’s 2011 

International Conference and 

Trade Show that travel agents 

themselves need to become 

agents of change. He advised 

travel agents to dive in to new 

technologies to capitalise on this 

new search, social and mobile 

savvy generation. 

specialists, International Reference 

Systems (IRS). It will 

reduce the risk of fraud during 

currency exchange. 

Cruise Shipping Asia 2011 

year. Sessions on key industry 

topics include the state of the 

Asian cruise industry, sourcing, 

shipbuilding, marketing 

and successfully tailoring 

the cruise experience for the 

Asian market.

TouroperATors 

Germany revises 

travel advisory, 

says Kashmir safe 

In a move that will be a welcome 

shot in the arm for Jammu and 

Kashmir’s tourism sector, Germany 

has amended the travel 

advisory for its citizens visiting 

the Kashmir valley, Jammu and 

Ladakh. It says categorically that 

foreigners are not a “target”. 

“I would like to inform you 

that further to the visit of Ambassador 

Thomas Matussek to Kashmir 

and his interaction with journalists, 

the travel advisory issued 

by the Federal Foreign Office for 

German nationals travelling to the 

region has been revised”, said Jens 

Urban, spokesman at the German 

MakeMy 

Trip-more 

acquisitions? 

Online travel company 

MakeMyTrip.com says it is 

exploring opportunities to 

acquire travel firms. “Along 

with picking up a 79% stake in 

Singapore based Luxury tours, 

we also acquired 19% in online 

travel search iXiGO.com last 

month,” a spokesperson was 

quoted saying. 

Embassy in New Delhi. 

The significant revision in 

the advisory regarding Kashmir 

gave an overview of the security 

situation in the valley and clarified 

that the situation had now 

calmed down considerably and 

said, “Foreigners are generally 

not direct targets of clashes.” 

With this, Germany has 

become the first foreign country 

to change its travel advisory 

on Kashmir after almost 16 years 

while most of the western countries 

still continue with their 

adverse advisories to their citizens, 

asking them not to visit 

Kuoni Travel (India) Pvt 

Ltd and Abacus International, 

Asia’s leading provider 

of travel solutions and 

services, announced a strategic 

partnership further 

accelerating Abacus rise as 

India’s premium GDS (Global 

Kashmir valley. 

And now, the Jammu and 

Kashmir Government has made 

a fervent appeal to the Britain 

to lift travel advisory against 

Jammu and Kashmir claiming 

that the situation there has 

improved considerably. They 

further reminded them of 

Germany’s step towards J&K, 

which has resulted in a considerable 

boost in the Tourism 

industry there. 

Tour operators have hailed 

Germany’s move saying it would 

go a long way in restoring confidence 

among foreign tourists. 

Charminar 

distances tourists 

In a bid to woo travellers, 

Charminar Pedestrianisation 

Project (CPP) was started to 

give its precincts a facelift. Ever 

since traffic diversions were 

introduced, the number of 

tourist buses dropped drastically, 

leading to loss for traders in 

Charminar- Gulzar Houz. Even 

tour operators who had started 

avoiding the monument, settled 

for a detour from Salar Jung 

Museum to Falaknuma, avoiding 

the stopover at Charminar. 

“Previously, we used to take 

them on a round trip of Charminar 

via Gulzar Houz. Now, it is not 

possible as the narrow pathways 

take a lot of time to navigate,” said 

a tour operator. 

The 60-foot-wide road 

between Madina circle and 

Charminar was reduced to 40 feet 

following the implementation 

of the project. About 20 feet of 

the road was earmarked for 

Kuoni India and 

Abacus Internationals’ 

strategic partnership 

Distribution Network). 

Kuoni will leverage the 

full suite of Abacus solutions 

including Abacus Work- 

Space and Abacus Power- 

Suite as well as benefit from 

access to it’s business process 

and strategy consulting 

practice. 

Speaking on the partnership 

Rajiv Duggal, managing 

director, Kuoni India said, 

“Abacus is in the fore front 

in bringing next generation 

products, technologies and 

services to the Indian agency 

community. 

As a market leader Kuoni 

India focuses on new technologies 

and products that 

can further propel our 

growth and leadership. We 

have been impressed by Abacus’ 

next generation point of 

sale system, it’s portfolio of 

mobile solutions, and it’s mid 

and back office suite. 

Abacus solutions will 

enable Kuoni India to deliver 

a differentiated customer 

experience for our travellers 

as well as drive material 

increases in business 

productivity.” 

pedestrians by erecting five feet 

high bollards. Earlier, this space 

was used as parking lot. 

“Instead of creating a zone for 

pedestrians, the civic authorities 

have converted the huge stretch 

into a hawker’s zone,” said a 

trader, pointing out the large 

number of hawkers that have 

emerged on the road ever since. 

“The road is all set to close for 

vehicular traffic in a few days and 

it has turned into a hawker zone. 

The hawkers have taken 

over the area and have blocked 

our shops,” says Sunil Kumar 

Gupta, member of Char Kaman 

Sarafa Association, adding that 

this is not the development the 

government had promised. 

Considering that there is 

heavy traffic congestion around 

Charminar where no vehicle 

will be allowed is a great idea. But 

implemented without proper care, 

it can be counterproductive. 

Travel Impact’s 

tour packages 

Travel Impact 

is an Indian tour 

operator that offers both 

group tours and tailor- 

m a d e holidays to India 

and its neighbouring countries— 

Nepal,Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 

Travel Impact pays attention to 

personalised holidays and offers 

India tour packages to capture 

the essence of major tourist 

attractions during the trip. It 

also renders adequate leisure 

time to visit places of interest 

in one’s own way. The aim is to 

offer travellers an unforgettable 

experience of Incredible India 

travel and services at par with the 

best Indian tour operators across 

the globe.

6 Tour operATors November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

In order to grow its outbound 

Free Individual Traveller (FIT) 

and MICE business, Bangalorebased 

Travel Tours Group has 

acquired Goa-based charter and 

inbound tour operator Splendour 

Holidays along with its MICE 

brand, Go Avenues. 

“We are keen to have a serious 

presence in the inbound 

and domestic tourism business 

in India. The acquisition is to 

Security for Sri 

Lankan pilgrims 

The High Commission of India 

has assured the Sri Lankan government 

that necessary action 

would be taken to ensure the 

safety and security of the Sri 

Lankan pilgrims visiting India. 

The assurances came following 

a request made by the Sri 

Lankan government to provide 

security for all pilgrims visiting 

Chennai in the wake of an attack 

on the Mahabodhi Society Temple 

there. However, Sri Lankan 

Tour operators to India said 

that there was no need to panic 

since relevant officials from Sri 

Lanka and India had taken adequate 

measures to strengthen 

the safety and welfare of 

all pilgrims. 

One in five Brits still travelling 

uninsured, says ABTA 

A fifth of UK travellers are still 

running the risk of racking up 

medical bills when holidaying 

abroad by not taking travel 

insurance, a new study claims. 

The ABTA consumer trends 

survey shows that one in five 

Brits mistakenly believe the UK 

Government will cover their 

bills if something goes wrong – 

a figure that rises to one in four 

under 25s. 

One in six also thinks 

Indian travel firm 

eyes expansion 

insurance is unnecessary 

for travelling in Europe if 

they have a European Health 

Insurance Card which provides 

access to basic state medical 

care, the poll indicates. And a 

further one in four is under the 

misapprehension that an EHIC 

card will cover their repatriation 

costs if they fall ill or have an 

accident and have to be flown 

back to the UK, the ABTA 

research shows. 

develop a strong domestic product 

portfolio and to continue to 

invest and develop the MICE 

and FIT business into India”, said 

Travel Tours managing director, 

Shravan Gupta. “Splendour has 

added 6% volume to our `350 

crore (US $79.8 million) business, 

and our aim is to double (Splendour’s) 

turnover in two years. 

Our target is to grow between 

25-28% per annum over the next 

For tourists from Russia looking 

to get away for the May holidays 

now have a reason to celebrate. 

The forthcoming tourist 

season will see chartered flights 

from Moscow to Thiruvananthapuram 

launched by Tour 

operators— Oriental Routes in 

collaboration with DR Tours of 

three years,” he added. 

The Bangalore-based company 

is open to more acquisitions. 

The company now has ten 

brands and 14 branches across 

seven cities with 285 personel. 

Travel Air Representations, the 

B2B division of the group, deals 

with more than 6,000 travel 

Moscow. In order to ease up the 

process for flight registration, as 

a joint collaboration of the two 

operators, an online inventory 

management system has been 

created. 

During the forthcoming tourist 

season, there will be eight to 

ten chartered flights from Russia 

agents across India. 

According to Gupta, “In 

a largely fragmented market, 

inorganic growth strategy 

will help companies to expand 

faster.” Overseas opportunities 

will be looked upon once 

they consolidate their presence 

in India. 

Russia-India charters take off 

The Philippine Tour Operators 

Association (PHILTOA) is promoting 

the country as a highend 

destination by incorporating 

luxury tourism. PHILTOA has 

selected 10 luxury resorts which 

will be promoted at the 22nd 

Philippine travel expo and will 

be included in the packages. 

The campaign is targeted 

at increasing visibility of the 

resorts, especially the ones which 

are not located in traditional 

markets. 

The 10 resorts include Shangri-La 

Mactan Resort and Spa; 

Shangri-La Boracay Resort and 

Spa; newcomer Crimson Beach 

Resort & Spa in Cebu; family-oriented 

Imperial Palace Waterpark 

to Kerala. A Boeing 757 will fly 

from Moscow to Thiruvananthapuram 

carrying 180 passengers 

on its first trip and there will 

be ‘once-in-a- fortnight’ trips for 

a period of five months starting 

from November. 

Philippine tour operators to promote luxury tourism 

Resort & Spa in Cebu; HSAI 

Raintree’s Discovery Shores 

Boracay and Discovery Suites 

Tagaytay; El Nido Resorts in 

Palawan; Eskaya boutique 

resort in Bohol; Genesis Properties’ 

Bellarocca in Marinduque; 

and Misibis Bay in Cagraray 

Island, Albay.

INTerNATIoNAL 

Germans take to 

medical tourism 

Germans are becoming more 

aware of the importance of staying 

healthy and energetic. They 

are taking health vacations to 

reduce stress and stay fit. 

Over the past five years, holidays 

at wellness and spa resorts 

have risen by 30%. At 3.3 million 

vacations, equivalent to 4.6% of 

all trips abroad, Germans are 

more interested in health and 

medical tourism abroad than 

their European neighbours. 

Among German citizens, the 

most popular foreign destination 

for health trips is Spain, 

Chinese tourism to US 

Chinese tourism to the United 

States is witnessing a boom, 

growing by over 50% last year. 

According to the US Department 

of Commerce’s office of 

travel and tourism industries, 

802,000 mainland Chinese residents 

visited the country in 

2010, a 53% increase over levels 

in 2009. The visitors collectively 

Useful travel microsite 

Lonely Planet and Visa have 

joined forces to create a travel 

microsite packed with expert 

information on destinations and 

for access of money abroad on 

www.visa.com/lonelyplanet. 

Tourism boost to Oman’s GDP 

The World Travel and 

Tourism Council forecasts 

that travel and tourism 

will contribute US $1.93 

billion to Oman’s total GDP 

this year, driven by strong 

spent over US $5 billion (an average 

of US $6,241 per person), a 

39% increase over the previous 

year. Chinese tourism to the US 

in 2012 and 2013 is forecast to rise 

by 21% and 19% respectively. 

New York City, Washington 

DC and Las Vegas are emerging 

as the top three US destinations 

for Chinese tourists. California 

is also hugely popular with the 

number of Chinese visitors to the 

city rising by 49% to 399,000 in 

2010. US hotel chains, including 

Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hilton, 

and Marriott, are now introducing 

special features for Chinese 

tourists to woo them. 

Information includes ways to 

access cash in 12 destinations: 

Australia, China, Croatia, 

Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, 

Russia, Singapore, South Africa, 

Thailand, the UAE and Ukraine. 

tourist arrivals. 

The nation’s flagship carrier, 

Oman Air, reports a surge in 

tourism arrivals via its 2011 firstquarter 

flights. 

Oman’s Ministry of Tourism 

followed by Italy and Austria. 

The countries in Europe 

chosen for health trips 

include Spain, Italy and Austria, 

while Hungary, Germany 

and the Czech Republic are 

the leading destinations for 

medical tourism. 

Trends 

• According to 2009 and 2010 

market profile studies by the 

Office of Travel and Tourism 

Industries, shopping is the leisure 

activity that tops the list 

for tourists from China. 

• Most individual Chinese tourists 

and families book their 

hotel rooms by themselves. The 

Internet therefore becomes the 

primary source of information 

when selecting a hotel. 

• Personal recommendations 

and word of mouth are central 

to Chinese culture. 

recently joined the International 

Council of Tourism Partners as 

an alliance member. 

It is thus in a better position 

to globally promote upcoming 

tourism developments, 

such as the US $2.5 billion 

“Omagine” project. 

Crouching Tiger, 

Roaring Dragon 

Continued from cover page. 

Egypt, one of the tourism boards 

to start marketing activities in 

India recently, received 1.14 lakh 

(0.11 million) Indian tourists in 

2010, an increase of about 36.5% 

from the previous year, according 

to Adel El Masry, director, 

Egyptian Tourism Office, 

who added India had now 

become one of the top markets 

for Egypt. 

Andrew McEvoy, managing 

director, Tourism Australia, 

said he was keen on getting a 

share of the exploding outbound 

market from India. He said 

around 150,000 Indians visited 

Australia last year, 11% more 

than the previous year. However, 

with escalating growth of Indian 

outbound market, Australia 

expects to receive over 320,00 

Indian visitors by 2020. India 

has risen from 15th to 8th 

place as Australia’s top 

source markets. It is 

expected to rise 

to six or seven 

within the next few years. 

Jamaica, a new kid on the 

block, witnessed a significant 

15.7% growth in Stop-over 

Arrivals by permanent residence 

from India in January – April 

2011 as compared to the same 

period last year. Jamaica Tourist 

Board is looking at emerging 

markets like India, Russia, China 

and Brazil which comprise over 

half the world’s population. It 

is eyeing the high-end Indian 

traveller from India, home to 55 

billionaires, the 4th highest in the 

world, and more than 190,000 

millionaire households. 

Meanwhile, as Indian travellers 

to the US increased by 17% 

in 2010 over 2009 to 650,000, 

with San Francisco among the 

top three destinations, San 

Francisco International Airport 

is aggressively wooing Jet 

Airways with incentives to 

start a direct service 

from India. 

Mexico aims to lead 

medical tourism market 

Mexico has all the conditions to 

be the market leader in medical 

tourism, said Gloria Guevara, 

head of the Tourism Ministry, 

and José Ángel Córdova, chief of 

the Health Ministry. 

Manzo says worldwide 

more than 40 million people 

leave their country for medical 

services and in 2012 it 

is expected that 1.6 million 

Americans will go to another 

nation for treatment. 

The governor of Nuevo León, 

Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz, 

noted Nuevo Leon has an advantage 

of having first class medical 

staff and nearly 9,000 internationally 

recognised experts 

among other facilities.

8 INTerNATIoNAL November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

Henan & Chengdu-Hidden 

feathers in China’s tourism cap 

If the Great Wall is perhaps the 

first image that comes to your 

mind when you think of China, 

you will be surprised by the sheer 

number and variety of attractions 

that the country has to 

offer. If you venture beyond the 

Great Wall, Beijing and Shanghai, 

there are lesser known destinations 

rich in heritage, steeped 

in history, and unparalleled in 

scenic beauty. Two such potential 

hotspots waiting to be discovered 

are Henan and Chengdu. 

A brief insight into what these 

cities offer: 

Henan 

Recognised as the ‘Cradle of 

Australia launches ‘30 

days in Oz’ campaign 

Tourism Australia has launched 

a major campaign called ‘30 days 

in Oz’ aimed at attracting young 

people in the UK and other backpacking 

markets around the 

world to holiday Down 

Under. 

Tourism Australia manag- 

Chinese civilization’, Henan 

boasts of housing four of the 

eight great ancient capitals 

of China-Luoyang, Anyang, 

Kaifeng, and Zhengzhou. It is 

also the birth place of Kung Fu 

and Taiji boxing. 

Dengfeng: Known as the 

home to the “Centre of heaven 

and earth”, it is a world cultural 

heritage site and popular for the 

spiritual centers -Buddhist monasteries, 

the renowned Shaolin 

temple, Pagoda forest, various 

Gates and historic sites. 

Longmen Grottoes: Recorded 

as “an outstanding manifestation 

of human artistic creativity” 

in UNESCO World Heritage 

ing director Andrew McEvoy 

explained the new advocacy 

campaign plans to 

promotethe Working Holiday 

Visa and encourage 

young people to consider 

Australia as a place to work 

or travel. 

List. These are 1,400 caves with 

100,000 statues and carvings 

that range from 2cm to 57 feet 

in height. 

Anyang city: This ancient city 

has a history of over 3,000 years 

and caves more than 25,000 years 

old. Memorial mausoleums, relics 

of over 4000 years; the first 

library of inscriptions on bones 

and tortoise shells, the Soul 

Spring Temple, known as the 

“First Ancient Buddhist Temple 

in Henan”, and 10,000-Buddha 

Ravine, as well as the unique 

Wenfeng Pagoda, Xiuding Temple 

Pagoda and Mingfu Temple 

Pagoda are located in here. 

Ancient White horse temple, 

Iron Pagoda are other tourist 

attractions. 

Chengdu 

Hometown of giant pandas. It is 

known as “Country of Heaven”, 

also translated as “The Land of 

Abundance”. Chengdu was also 

the birthplace of the first widely 

used paper money in the world. 

The Dujiangyan Irrigation 

System: Inscribed as cultural 

and natural site on the UNESCO 

World Heritage List in 2000, this 

2nd century BC site, graphically 

illustrates the immense advances 

in water management and technology 

achieved in ancient 

China. Even today, it controls the 

waters of the Min Jiang River and 

distributes it to the fertile farmland 

of the Chengdu plains. 

Mount Emei and the Leshan 

Giant Buddha: This is a World 

Heritage Site inscribed for both 

natural and cultural reasons. 

Mount Emei possesses rare species 

of plants, trees as old as 1000 

years and exceptionally diverse 

vegetation. The first Buddhist 

temple in China was built here 

too.71m high, Giant Buddha of 

Leshan is the tallest Buddha 

statue in the world. 

Wenshu Yuan: It’s the best 

preserved temple in Chengdu. 

Four hundred and fifty Buddha 

statues made with copper, metal, 

wood, stone and painted ones are 

displayed here. The most precious 

relics include the crown 

bone of the Yuanzhuang Priest 

from the Tang Dynasty, BeiYi 

Jing from India, LiujinJingtung 

from Japan, paintings and penmanship 

from Song, Yuan, Ming 

and Qing Dynasties. 

Jinsha Relic Site: A significant 

archaeological site discovered in 

Feb.2001. It makes Chengdu the 

New Zealand targets Indian 

honeymoon market 

Tourism New Zealand is 

planning to launch a campaign 

in September to target the Indian 

honeymoon market. At present, 

India is the tenth-largest inbound 

market for New Zealand, 

says Kiran Nambiar, regional 

manager, India and South East 

Asia, Tourism New Zealand. 

Kiwi Link India, the bi-annual 

travel trade workshop recently 

centre of Bronze Age, that it was 

in the ancient Shu Kingdom. 

Giant Panda Base: The 

Chengdu Giant Panda Research 

and Breeding Center is a sanctuary 

for pandas of all ages where 

they are also bred. It also houses 

red pandas, black-necked cranes, 

golden monkeys, and flocks of 

wild birds. 

The Thatched Cottage of 

Dufu-the poet, Magical Face 

Change in Sichuan Opera, 

Wuhou Memorial Temple, 

Wolong Nature Reserve are 

other destinations here. 

organised by Tourism New 

Zealand, showcased a diverse 

range of products, services and 

destinations. This year there were 

30 suppliers from New Zealand 

comprising regional tourism 

organisations, accommodation 

providers, and inbound tour 

operators who participated in 

the two-day workshop that was 

held in Mumbai.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 INTerNATIoNAL 9 

New 

Zealand: 

Flipside of medical tourism 

Outbound medical tourism 

from New Zealand, mostly to 

Asia, for cosmetic surgery and 

dentistry, is rising. Local medical 

tourism agencies claim that their 

business is doubling year after 

year. Auckland-based Stunning 

Makeovers sends 10 people a 

week to Bangkok and Phuket for 

cosmetic surgery and dentistry, 

and is considering expansion 

into Malaysia. 

However, a new report by 

Professor Michael Hall, a New 

Zealander, says the industry 

is growing rapidly without 

careful consideration for its 

potential economic and public 

health impacts. 

Medical tourism was 

last year blamed in part for 

the spread of the superbug 

NDM-1, which was resistant 

to nearly every antibiotic. 

It was found in a bacteria in 

India, Pakistan and Britain, 

and was alleged to be carried 

by patients who had travelled 

abroad for elective surgery. 

Professor Hall’s report was 

published in Tourism Review 

and argues that profits from 

medical tourism go offshore, 

but it is local public health 

operators who foot the bill if 

anything goes wrong. 

Phuket expects record arrivals 

With an increase in the number 

of tourists in Thailand, Phuket 

Airport is expecting a record 

four million passenger arrivals 

this year. According to data 

released today in C9 Hotelworks’ 

Phuket Hotel Market Update, 

arrivals to Asia’s leading resort 

destination in the first half of 

the year increased 20% over the 

same period in 2010. 

A US $164 million expansion 

plan that will increase handling 

to 12.5 million by 2014 will only 

start construction next year 

and tourism operators are 

increasingly concerned over the 

mounting delays for travellers. 

The report shows investment 

Asian demand for Australian 

tourist visas on the rise 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics 

(ABS) has released the 

latest Overseas Arrivals and 

Departures figures. The figuresshow 

numbers of overall 

short-term visitors to the country 

are up 3.4% in August 2011 

from August 2010. The Australian 

Government even in the 

face of global economic crisis, 

the rise in demand for a short- 

term Australian visa is largely 

accounted for by the Asian 

market. 

Tourism Minister Martin 

Ferguson said: “These figures 

are a further reminder about 

the potential from Asia, and not 

just from China, but also our 

near neighbours in SouthEast 

Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia 

and Singapore. They give us 

reason to be optimistic about the 

industry’s future.” 

The figures show Malaysian 

applications for short-term 

Australian immigration are up 

by 34%, arrivals from Indonesia 

doubled and the already substantial 

demand from China rose 

by 21 %. 

into Phuket’s hospitality sector 

has strong positive business 

sentiment with a supply 

pipeline for the island. This will 

see an increase of 16% by the end 

of 2014. 

Looking towards the 

future, Bill Barnett, managing 

director, C9 Hotelworks said: 

“The number of existing 

hotels will increasingly face 

the necessity to upgrade, 

rebrand or downgrade market 

position while transaction 

activity is expected to remain 

active.” 

Greek spa 

industry grows 

The Greek spa industry is 

expected to generate approximately 

US $22 million in revenue 

in the year 2011, according 

to the Spa Industry Report 

published by Intelligent Spas. 

The report presents an extensive 

range of business intelligence 

and financial statistics 

to assist businesses operating 

in, or interested in, the Greek 

spa industry. Some of the key 

research findings were — spa 

numbers increased by 38% 

between 2008 and 2010, revenue 

per visit increased by 6% 

between 2008 and 2010, massages 

made up over half of spa 

revenue and hotels and resorts 

offering spa-facilities averaged 

almost 70% occupancy. 

‘Great’ recovery plan for 

Britain post-riots 

With less than a year to go for 

the Olympics, the London riots 

had given rise to fears of the 

city’s tourism potential being 

adversely impacted. To dispel 

recent images of rioting and fire 

in London and other cities in 

England, Prime Minister David 

Cameron has kicked off a major 

global campaign that seeks to 

Jamaica tells tourism 

investors the country is stable 

Tourism Minister of Jamaica 

Edmund Bartlett is making 

moves to curtail fears among 

European investors, that the 

decision by PM Bruce Golding, 

to quit office will affect the 

country’s tourism. “Jamaica 

remains open for business,” he 

assured Spanish investors and 

potential tourism partners in 

Palma de Mallorca, Spain. 

The tourism minister, 

Schwarzenegger museum 

A new museum has opened in 

Austria that is dedicated to the 

life of Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

The museum is located 

in the first-floor flat where 

Schwarzenegger spent his 

A partnership between Golf 

Tourism Scotland (GTS) and 

the International Association 

of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) 

Starting Jan. 2012, Sri Lanka’s 

online visa application for visitors 

will go into operation. 

According to Immigration and 

Emigration Department controller 

general, Chulananda Perera, 

revealed plans for an additional 

2000 hotel rooms at four sites 

on the north-west coast. “These 

new rooms will help to boost the 

amount of quality rooms locally. 

Jamaica is short of some 2,000 

rooms for the upcoming Winter 

Tourist Season, and investment 

of this nature is precisely what 

is needed to bring our room 

complement to the required 

level,”Bartlett added. 

BRIEFS 

childhood. The museum is 

home to mementoes including 

Schwarzenegger’s first bodybuilding 

weights and the desk 

from his Governor’s office in 

Sacramento. 

Scotland strengthens golf presence 

Sri Lanka:Online visa 

put the ‘Great’ back into Britain 

and boost business and tourism 

in the country. 

Launching the initiative 

called the ‘GREAT’ campaign 

in New York, Cameron said: 

“In 2012 there will be only one 

place to be. With the Olympic 

and Paralympic Games coming 

to London next summer, the 

greatest show on earth is about 

to arrive in one of the world’s 

greatest cities.” 

The GREAT campaign will 

centre on 10 key areas of British 

excellence: technology and 

innovation; entrepreneurship; 

creativity; knowledge; green; 

heritage; sport; shopping; music; 

and countryside. 

will assist the Scotland, in adopting 

a more pro-active approach 

to bolster international awareness 

of golf in Scotland. 

the new Electronic Travel 

Authorization (ETA) system will 

enable travellers to obtain online 

visa approval within 24 hours of 

submitting an application for 

short-term stays.

10 INTerNATIoNAL November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

PATA says Macau should 

focus on Indian market 

The Macau Government Tourist 

Office (MGTO) has commissioned 

a study by a team of 

experts, from the Pacific Asia 

Travel Association (PATA), to 

provide insights to help formulate 

its tourism growth strategies. 

Initial findings by the experts suggest 

that Macau could play a bigger 

role in the Indian market. Last 

year, Macau registered a boom in 

Indian visitors. Around 169,000 

Indians visited Macau in 2010, 

showing an increase of 60%. 

Andrew Drysdale, the head 

of the PATA team has urged 

Macau to play big on the Indian 

market. He said: “If you can open 

Indian tourist 

arrivals increase 

in Jordan 

Jordan Tourism Board 

expects tourist inflow from 

India to grow by 45% this 

year compared to 2010. “In 

the first five months of 2011, 29,000 

people have already visited Jordan 

(from India), which is a 43% rise 

over the first five months of 2010,” 

says Jordan Tourism Board 

managing director Nayef H 

Al-Fayez. 

Asked about the impact of 

political unrest in the country on 

the tourism industry, he said: “The 

up direct flight services between 

Macau and India it will be very 

advantageous for you.” Meanwhile, 

Macau’s International Airport 

Company has been trying 

to lure airlines to operate flights 

inflow from the US and some of 

the European countries has gone 

down. However in case of India 

there is no major impact.” 

The Jordanian tourism board 

has set up an office in India a 

couple of years back. It organises 

road shows annually here to 

strengthen its ties with travel 

and tour operators. 

The board is also encouraging 

film production companies in 

Bollywood to shoot Indian films 

in Jordan. 

between the two countries. The 

experts also suggested that, 

Macau should look at investing 

in family-oriented facilities to 

become a global tourism and leisure 

destination. 

Indonesia set to woo 

Indian travellers 

Indonesia is projecting itself as 

premium tourist spot to Indian 

travellers. At the PATA Travel 

Mart in Delhi, Sapta Nirwandar, 

director general of Indonesia’s 

Ministry of Culture & 

Tourism, said the country had 

many beautiful places spread 

over the many islands and 

regions, apart from Bali. Nirwandar 

added that if the proposed 

direct flights from India 

to Indonesia commence operations, 

the connectivity will 

boost traffic to the country. 

Single visa policy to boost 

EAC tourism earnings 

Kenya’s Minister for Tourism 

Najib Balala has proposed a single 

tourist visa that will enable 

the East African region to attract 

more tourists and boost the earnings 

from the sector and contribute 

to economic growth. He said 

this tourism would be boosted 

because the East Africa Community 

(EAC) competitors performing 

and the region’s tourism 

product was unique. 

Tourists’ arrivals in South 

Africa are estimated at eight 

million a year while all the five 

East African countries together 

receive about three million tourists 

a year. This is because domestic 

tourism is too expensive and 

the general failure to market EAC 

as a single tourism destination. 

Emirates to fly to 

Zimbabwe and Zambia 

Emirates’ extensive African network 

is to be boosted, with the 

launch of two new destinations 

– Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, 

and Harare, the capital city 

of Zimbabwe. Zambia and Zimbabwe 

will now be linked with 

a five-times weekly flight from 

Dubai, starting from 1st February, 

2012. 

The chairman and chief 

executive officer, Emirates Airline 

& Group, His Highness 

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al- 

Maktoum, said: “Emirates has 

Air Asia to spur 

tourism growth 

Air Asia Philippines will use its 

network and affiliate Air Asia 

companies in the ASEAN to 

make Clark Philippines its hub in 

Asia and spur growth in tourist 

arrivals. Marianne Hontiveros, 

chief executive officer of 

Air Asia Philippines, said the 

strategy would hope to achieve 

what neighbouring countries 

have accomplished: Thailand’s 

15.4 million international tourist 

arrivals and Malaysia’s 24.6 

million arrivals, nearly equal the 

size of their population. 

Hontiveros said Air Asia Berhad 

has daily flights from Clark 

Phillipines to Kuala Lumpur 

and Kota Kinabalu, Air Asia 

Thailand and Air Indonesia 

will be starting flights to Clark 

Philippines. Air Asia will also 

set up a call centre and outsource 

ground handling and 

maintenance which will indirectly 

benefit industries such 

as retail, hotels and restaurants. 

Restriction on flights 

over Grand Canyon 

More than 4.5 million people 

visit the Grand Canyon National 

Park each year, but up to 

400,000 fly over it in helicopters 

and small planes operated by 

varied tour companies. 

The flights are interfering 

with what park officials and 

others consider to be the natural 

sound- scape of the park. 

To reduce the level of 

long understood the enormous 

potential of Africa. It is today 

one of the fastest-expanding economic 

regions of the world, benefitting 

from a combined market 

of over one billion people, rising 

consumer demand and an abundance 

of natural resources.” 

Passengers flying Emirates 

from Lusaka and Harare will 

be able to connect seamlessly 

to points across the Far and the 

Middle East, Indian sub-continent, 

Europe and Australasia via 

the airline’s hub in Dubai. 

aircraft noise heard in the park 

by both visitors and wildlife, 

the National Park Service is 

proposing a plan that would, 

among other things, cap the 

number of daily tours over the 

canyon at 364 and the number of 

annual overflights at 65,000. 

This proposal would also 

extend the curfew hours around 

sunrise and sunset.

INDIA 

Foreign tourist arrivals 

up in September 

During the month of September, 

over 4 lakh tourists visited India, 

a jump of 8.7% during the same 

period last year. In its latest figures 

released recently, the Tourism 

Ministry said foreign tourist 

arrivals during September were 

4.01 lakh as compared to 3.69 

lakh in 2010. 

There has been a growth 

in FTAs of 8.7% in September 

2011 over September 2010, 

as compared to a growth of 

11.6% registered in September 

2010 over September 2009. 

Foreign Exchange Earnings 

(FEE) during the month of September 

2011 were `5,748 crore as 

compared to `4,678 crore in September 

2010 and `3,798 crore in 

September 2009. 

IMTA urges M-Visa 

modification 

The Indian Medical Travel 

Association (IMTA) has asked 

the government to modify medical 

visa (M-Visa) norms to further 

boost growth of medical 

tourism. 

The majority of foreigners 

coming to India for medical 

treatment apply for a tourist 

visa and do not opt for an 

M-Visa, because Medical Visa 

norms make it mandatory for 

them to register with Foreigner 

Regional Registration 

Office (FRRO) within 

14 days of arrival 

in India. 

This is 

an avoidableinconvenience 

imposed 

by M-Visa, 

particularly in 

view of the fact 

that the patients 

may not be able 

to leave the hospital 

once their 

treatment starts. 

“IMTA has 

apprised the relevant 

ministries 

of the Indian Government 

of the issues 

with medical visa and has 

requested them to modify the 

process to make it an enabler 

for the growth of medical value 

travel to India. 

An early action to address 

the issues with the medical visa 

would surely enhance the volume 

of international patients 

coming to India. It will also help 

to track the numbers of medical 

tourists arriving to India 

more accurately,” said Pradeep 

Thukral of the IMTA. 

Surveys for Tanakpur-Bageshwar 

and Rishikesh-Karnaprayag 

new lines have been 

completed. The Tanakpur- 

Bageshwar new line project 

has not yet been sanctioned. 

Its survey report is currently 

under the examination of the 

Ministry. For the Rishikesh- 

Karnaprayag new line, 

Growth in India’s medical 

tourism industry 

Growing at a compounded annual 

growth rate (CAGR) of 40%, the 

inflow of medical tourists in 

India is likely to cross 32 lakhs 

by 2015 from the current level of 

8.5 lakhs. This will not just earn 

foreign exchange but will also 

provide a push to the health sector 

across the country, says the 

Associated Chambers of Commerce 

and Industry of India 

(ASSOCHAM). 

India enjoys strategic advantages 

of essential resources like 

world-class medical technology, 

infrastructure and skilled medical 

workforce according to its study 

on ‘Emerging Trends In Domestic 

Medical Tourism Sector.’ 

According to ASSOCHAM, 

Indian medical tourism industry 

is at present poised to get revenues 

of around `4,500 crore and 

India witnesses increase 

in gay travellers 

Thanks to niche travel agencies 

and a change in mindsets, gay 

travellers are increasingly touring 

India, according to an IANS 

report. Over five travel agencies 

in India have an offer, customised 

packages including surrogacy 

tours, spiritual camps, 

weddings and honeymoon packages 

and a promise of an experience 

without incidents. 

The staff at hotels and resorts 

where gay visitors stay, the drivers 

ferrying them around and 

the tourist guides undergo specific 

training to ensure they 

extend courtesy to the visitors. 

There is no specific data on the 

actual numbers of gay overseas 

tourists. However, even if 1% of 

all tourists were from the gay 

community, the numbers would 

be huge. In 2010, India received 

is likely to be worth `10,800 crore 

by 2015. 

Top notch healthcare facilities 

in sectors like cardiology, 

joint replacement, orthopaedic 

5.58 million foreign tourists, up 

by 9.3% over 2009. 

John Tanzella, president, 

International Gay and Lesbian 

Travel Association (IGLTA), 

a UN-accredited body, which 

looks after the travel trade industry 

of this niche segment, said, 

“As the world becomes smaller, 

more accessible to global travellers, 

every business is looking 

at ways to create new itineraries 

and generate that buzz.” 

New rail line projects for Uttarakhand 

however, construction work 

will commence after completion 

of the preliminary activities 

and when the detailed estimate 

gets sanctioned. 

The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag 

new line project has been 

included in Railway Budget 

2010-11 at an anticipated cost of 

`4295.30 crore. 

surgery, ophthalmology, transplants 

and urology at a low price 

are key factors making India a 

favoured destination for medical 

tourism, says the study.

12 INDIA November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

Uttarakhand plans 

to improve inbound 

Uttarakhand is working on 

improving its ranking in inbound 

tourism. The hilly state is considering 

new stretches for river 

The Haryana government proposal 

to revive an over 75 kilometre 

long course of the Saraswati 

river has been held up 

because Oil and Natural Gas 

Commission Limited (ONGC) 

has not cleared its request to 

dig two deep bore wells for 

supplying fresh water to the 

river channel. 

“The project is almost defunct 

for all practical reasons,” says 

Darshan Lal Jain who has been 

pursuing the project for several 

years through an NGO 

(Non-government Organisation) 

called Saraswati River 

Research Organisation. Jain, 

who looked at the project as a 

panacea for providing drinking 

water and tourism, today 

sounds a dispirited man. 

The ONGC entered into an 

agreement with Haryana government 

about half a decade ago 

to explore the course of the river 

rafting to promote adventure 

tourism and is looking at development 

and management of 

infrastructure projects through 

Forgotten and forsaken 

which finds a mention in Vedas, 

Mahabharata and several other 

Hindu scriptures. 

Subsequently, the state government 

convinced farmers 

on a 52 kilometre-long stretch 

to vacate their lands for flow 

of fresh water and launched 

the project near Pipli, a town 

on National highway-I near 

Kurukshetra. 

Archaeologist Rajesh Purohit, 

who did extensive work on 

Saraswati, asked the detractors 

to have a look at the plethora 

of evidence available with 

the Archaeological Survey of 

India, Geological Survey of 

India, ONGC, Indian Space 

Research Organisation and 

other research groups, claiming 

that besides providing water 

for drinking and irrigation, the 

revival of the river could save 

Kurukshetra from floods during 

the rains. 

public private partnerships to 

make unexplored destinations 

tourist-friendly. 

Uttarakhand is India’s seventh 

most preferred tourist 

state, attracting 4.1% of domestic 

tourists, according to Business 

Standard report. The Uttarakhand 

Tourism Development 

Board (UTDB) is keen to see the 

state among the country’s top 

five places by turning it into a 

preferred destination for both 

domestic and foreign tourists. 

“We are promoting adventure 

sports, traditional yatra routes, 

eco-tourism, and leisure tourism 

to achieve the goal,” said 

Rakesh Sharma, chief executive 

officer, UTDB and principal secretary 

tourism, Government of 

Uttarakhand. 

The state tourism board is 

looking at participating in trade 

fairs across the globe to attract 

both foreign and domestic tourists. 

Estimates show that Uttarakhand 

received around 31 million 

domestic tourists in 2010, a rise of 

34% from 23.1 million in the previous 

year. Foreign tourists to the 

state increased marginally to 0.13 

million from 0.11 million. 

Goa to become 

first state 

with tourist 

security force 

Goa will be the first Indian 

state to have a full-fledged 

tourist security force (TSF) 

of 476 men under 25 years of 

age in two categories reporting 

directly to the tourism 

department by early next 

year. 

The TSF’s task will 

include: patrolling Goan 

tourist hotspots, preventing 

crime and generally aiding 

tourists. 

According to a report in 

the Times Of India, the tourism 

department, already, has 

an informal tourist security 

force of about 35 ex-servicemen 

working on contract 

basis. Now, it has advertised 

for 246 posts of tourist wardens 

and 230 posts of assistant 

tourist wardens. 

Shillong to host 

India-Swiss tourism 

meet next year 

The Meghalaya government 

wants to have interaction with 

neighbouring countries 

like Bhutan, Bangladesh 

and Thailand, 

besides participating 

in the tourism festivals 

organised in 

European countries. 

Shillong will likely 

be the next venue 

of the India-Switzerland 

tourism 

meet next year. 

Chief Minister 

Mukul 

Sangma, who visited Switzerland 

along with two tourism 

department officials to attend 

the festival held on August 5 

and 6, said a proposal was 

submitted to select Shillong 

as the next venue. 

During a workshop held 

in Switzerland as part of the 

Cruise tourism 

back in Kochi 

AMET Cruises is picking up the 

cruise options from where Louis 

Cruise had left due to high berth 

charges. The AMET group has 

already started arrangements 

to operate the cruise by the first 

week of October. 

The MV AMET Majesty will 

initially set sail from Kochi to 

Maldives, Lakshwadeep and also 

undertake a cruise on the high 

sea. Every week, the MV AMET 

Majesty would sail from Kochi 

to Maldives (four nights), Kochi- 

Lakshadweep (two nights) and 

also operate one high-sea trip 

during the night for those who 

want to try out something new 

for holidaying, said AMET Shipping 

India Private Ltd managing 

tourism meet, Sangma presented 

the tourism potential 

of Meghalaya to the audience. 

After the presentation Swiss 

officials told the Meghalaya 

delegation that the landscape 

and waterfalls which were 

similar to Switzerland, fascinated 

them. 

director and chief executive officer 

P Bharathi. 

AMET cruise had introduced 

a new format of holiday, recreation 

and entertainment in the 

country. The lowest price would 

be around `5,000 per person 

for a night and port charges. In 

case of advance bookings, special 

packages would be offered. 

The cruise will have dance floor, 

disco casinos, show lounges 

bars, swimming pool, barbeque, 

conference room and 

kids’ zone. It also has an event 

floor for business meets, seminars, 

trade shows, anniversaries 

and social gatherings along 

with luxurious state rooms, 

suites and stag cabins.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 INDIA 13 

Vietnam turns 

attention to 

Indian market 

India is included in Vietnam’s 

potential visitor generators 

for the first time as 

its local tourism authorities 

carry out promotional activities 

to woo visitors. Vietnam 

National Administration 

of Tourism (VNAT) will 

conduct its market-survey in 

India by the end of next year 

for market proliferation. 

Although the number of 

Indian tourists to Vietnam 

is scanty, primarily from 

the MICE segment, there 

is definitely a large potential 

market which should 

be approached, feels Hoang 

Thi Diep, deputy director 

general, Vietnam National 

Administration of Tourism 

(VNAT). 

Safe tourism 

The Government says it plans to 

ensure international standards 

of safe tourism practices. For, 

starters’ five “most vulnerable” 

places for tourist exploitation 

are to be selected for spreading 

awareness among service providers 

including guides, tour 

operators, hoteliers, auto and 

taxi drivers. 

Paharganj in Delhi and 

certain areas in Goa, Kerala 

and North-East are likely 

to be identified in the first 

phase for a focussed awareness 

campaign involving service 

providers. The Tourism 

Ministry has also finalised a 

mandatory code of conduct 

for safe tourism to check 

prostitution, sex tourism and 

involuntary drug use alongwith 

other malpractices. This 

code of conduct will be applicable 

to all employees of the 

travel and tour sector. 

India to expand cooperation 

with Azerbaijan in 

tourism, agriculture 

“India intends to expand cooperation 

with Azerbaijan in the 

areas of tourism and agriculture, 

and to strengthen the legal 

base”, said Debnath Shaw, the 

Indian Ambassador to Azerbaijan 

in an interview on the 

eve of the national Independence 

Day. 

According to Shaw, there 

are certain changes in bilateral 

Tour packages incorporating 

wildlife reserves are common, 

but very few operators are 

offering complete wildlife 

experiences. Creative 

Travel’s JungleSutra team is 

approaching wildlife tourism 

differently, developing 

experiences and journeys that 

go beyond basic park visits. 

JungleSutra will showcase 

the flora and fauna that is yet 

to be explored by the Indian 

travel industry. A JungleSutra 

tour is aimed at the discerning 

traveller who is looking to 

explore the exotic world of 

animals in luxury and style. 

Every JungleSutra itinerary 

is a complete, customised 

package that takes care of 

each travellers’ needs. Trips 

are designed to capture the 

relations — particularly in the 

political, economic, and humanitarian 

spheres. “Political cooperation 

between the two countries 

is at a very good level. There is 

mutual understanding between 

the governments and citizens 

of both countries. These relations 

will be further strengthened 

in the near future,” the 

diplomat said. 

uniqueness of each region, its 

wildlife, flora and fauna. Each 

safari experience has its own 

identity, feel and character. 

Shaw added that ministerial 

consultations are planned to be 

held at the level of deputy foreign 

ministers to discuss the prospects 

for political cooperation in 

Baku in the nearest future. The 

representatives of Indian tourism 

have been participating in 

tourism exhibitions in Azerbaijan 

for two years. 

Creative Travel launches Junglesutra 

Goa tourism 

joins hands 

with Spain 

Goa tourism is keen on establishing 

links with Spain in a 

bid to promote cross-regional 

tourism. One doesn’t need to 

look far to spot a windmill in 

the gusty regions of Navarra in 

Spain. The same could be the 

case with Goa. 

The department of tourism 

plans to collaborate with Spanish 

town Navarra, situated at 

the northernmost tip of Spain 

to promote eco-friendly tourism 

initiatives. Navarra which 

is the birth place of St Francis 

Xavier, has shown keen 

interest in Goa due to its emotional 

ties with the tourist 

Accommodation, activities, 

cuisines and services are detailed 

to meet the preferences and 

budgets of travellers. 

destination. “We are keen on 

developing a Goa-Navarra circuit. 

A large number of people 

travel to Goa and Navarra 

every year on pilgrimages. We 

are keen on building a stronger 

relationship with the region,” 

said Swapnil Naik,tourism 

director of Goa.

14 INDIA November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

Vivanta by Taj Dal-view Srinagar 

now begins operations of its 

first hotel in the valley. Perched 

on a hilltop, the five-star hotel 

is spread over six acres and has 

48 rooms each giving a breathtaking 

view of the Dal Lake. 

The hotel also has meeting 

facilities at Tango, 510-square 

metre hall, along with fitness 

IRCTC offers budget 

hotels for North-East 

Indian Railway Catering and 

Tourism Corporation Ltd, 

IRCTC, a PSU of Indian Railways, 

initiated major steps in 

collaboration with state government 

to boost up the tourism 

sector of the North-East region. 

Kaushik Banerjee, regional 

manager, IRCTC revealed that 

budget hotels on ‘Build Operate 

and Transfer model’ (BOT), 

special train services and tourism 

facilitation centre would 

come up shortly. 

In a bid to attract more people 

to the region, IRCTC has 

decided to expand its facilities. 

The organisation would set up 

50 tourism facilitation-cuminformation 

centres (TFC) in 

the major cities of North-East 

where tourists would avail 

ticket booking and other services. 

Discussions were held on 

using government-run resorts 

and lodges for promoting rail 

tour and holiday packages. 

IRCTC had a meeting with 

the state tourism department 

officials on providing land 

for the budget hotels and has 

sought land from the state government 

at Betkuchi, Kamakhya, 

Kaziranga and Sivsagar. 

The corporation would 

also sign a Memorandum of 

Understanding with Assam 

government to provide better 

accommodations to domestic 

and foreign tourists. 

Delhi in run for UNESCO 

World Heritage status 

Delhi will now be in the run to 

become one of the first Indian 

cities to get the status of World 

Heritage. At present, UNESCO 

has 226 cities on its list of World 

Heritage Cities list but 

none from India. The 

Archaeological Survey 

of India (ASI) 

has prepared the 

final draft of the 

nomination dossier. 

Though the 

nomination is for 

Delhi as a World 

Heritage City, four 

areas have been 

A new Taj in 

Jammu and 

Kashmir 

shortlisted for the heritage tag 

— Shahjahanabad, Nizamuddin, 

Mehrauli and Lutyens’ 

Bungalow Zone. 

centre and well equipped 

business centre and retail 

spaces. Eighty two more 

guest rooms will be added in 

the near future. 

Tourism Minister launches 

Hunar Se Rozgaar 

subodh Kant sahay, Union Minister for Tourism 

‘Hunar Se Rozgaar’, a pilot project 

aiming to provide training to 

unemployed youth in tourism 

and hospitality industry has 

been launched by the Minister 

of Tourism, Subodh Kant Sahai. 

The project has been designed 

jointly by the Indian Tourism 

Development Corporation and 

Grand 

Prix: A 

boost to 

tourism 

industry 

Following the first Formula One 

race being held in India, the 

Tourism Ministry has decided 

to showcase the lesser known 

destinations. Starting October 

28, the three-day gala motor 

event expected to draw about 

1.5 lakh crowd, including 50,000 

international visitors. 

The Ministry has designed a 

blueprint to utilise the Formula 

One route to promote more 

than 50 destinations under its 

‘Incredible India’ campaign. 

‘Know your City’, a new media 

campaign for F1enthusiasts, will 

the IL&FS Education and Technology 

Services. 

Vikash Kumar, regional 

head of IL&FS Education 

and Technology Services 

Limited said the project was 

launched on a pilot basis from 

Jharkhand. Prospective participants 

will have two courses 

also be launched. 

“We are utilising the Formula 

One event to promote our lesser 

known destinations including 

beaches, monuments, mountains, 

sand dunes, festivals and 

cuisine in a big way,” a senior 

Tourism Ministry official, said. 

“Though some of our well 

known destinations like Taj 

Mahal, Qutab Minar and other 

tourist spots in Kerala and Goa 

will feature in the campaign, our 

focus will be on to highlight the 

lesser-known attractions during 

the event,” he added. 

to select from including a sixweek 

food and beverage course 

mainly related to services and 

the second, an eight –week 

long for food production 

course related to the kitchen. 

“On completion of the course, 

we will provide them employment 

in hotels,” Kumar said.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 INDIA 15 

India-China tourism exchange 

China remains a crucial market 

for India, as it is for the rest 

of the world, by being one of the 

largest outbound tourist market. 

According to the United Nations 

World Tourism Organisation, by 

2020 China is projected to produce 

100 million outbound trips 

going to every corner of the globe, 

probably making it the fourth 

largest producer of tourists in 

the world. 

As for China, India was 

Make My Trip’s innovative 

holiday offering 

India’s largest online travel company, 

MakeMyTrip, is offering 

‘Charter flights-based holidays 

to Andaman’, following its success 

of charter-inclusive packages 

to Ladakh. The all-inclusive 

package will be operational 

from October 2011, starting at 

`25,999. 

The focus of Make My Trip 

has always been on innovation 

and designing holiday packages 

that offer maximum value to 

the customers. While announcing 

June quarter results, the 

Karnataka tourism is offering 

initiatives to promote adventure 

sports and other activities 

in the state. As part of the drive, 

the tourism 

board has 

decided 

to host a 

Hot-air 

Ballooning 

Festival 

from December 

29, 2011 to 

January 1, 2012. 

highlighted as the most important 

source market in the China 

National Tourism Marketing 

Conference held last month. 

To trigger the industry’s 

dynamics further, China is highlighting 

all its cultural, historical 

and modern facets. This year has 

been designated as China-India 

Exchange Year. 

In 2010, over 5.73 lakh Indians 

visited mainland China in 

2010. Tourism foreign exchange 

company said they are optimistic 

about long-term growth prospects 

as the travel industry continues 

to increase the capacity 

to accommodate the demands 

for travel by fast-growing middle-class 

and internet population 

in India. 

Karnataka set to welcome tourists 

with hot-air ballooning festival 

The tourism board also 

launched a Heli-tourism from 

September. It will connect 

Hampi, Badami, Aihol, Pattatakkal, 

and Bijapur in the circuit. 

The board will also introduce 

night safaris at Bannerghatta 

National Park. Formalities 

related to the bidding 

process have been finalised 

and the government 

plans 

to embark on the 

project soon. 

earnings reached US $45.8 billion, 

with increase of 15.5%. The number 

of outbound tourists reached 

57.39 million, with an increase of 

20.4%. 

In the first half of this year 

(January to July 2011), 3.52 lakh 

Indians have already visited 

mainland China. The figure has 

increased by 11.8% over the same 

period last year. 

The number of mainland Chinese 

visits to India increased by 

17.8% over the same period last 

year, and reached 0.64 lakh. 

At present, every week, over 

40 direct flights shuttle between 

Chinese and Indian cities. However, 

there’s a demand for more 

flight connectivity. 

What Indian Tourism Business Needs 

To Know About Chinese Tourists: 

1. Choosing Destination: 

Reviews on social networking 

sites are largely 

influencing online travellers. 

According to PhoCus- 

Wright’s ‘The Emerging 

Online Travel Marketplace 

in China’ report, 9% of travellers 

in China looked for 

online reviews while planning 

travel. 

2. Pre-Trip Mode Of Communication: 

More than 61% do 

online research before their 

trips, and about 48% make 

adjustments to their trips 

based on information they 

receive from online travel 

bulletins, according to a 

report by New York-based 

market research company 

AC Nielson. About 12% to 

15% of tickets and rooms 

IFFI and Tourism 

Ministry partner 

Ambika soni, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting 

The 42nd International Film 

Festival of India to be held 

between November 23-December 

3, will partner with the 

ministry of tourism’s initiative 

Incredible India. The event, 

jointly organised by the Ministry 

of Information and Broadcasting 

and the Goa government, 

will work with a diversified 

are booked online in China. 

Approximately 70% to 80% 

of transactions are done 

through third-party intermediaries 

versus supplier 

direct. (HOTELMARKET- 

ING, May 2011) 

3. Accommodation Requirements: 

Online figures by 

Chinese hotel and destination 

review website 

Daodao.com show that 

around 34% of Chinese 

travellers choose budget 

hotels, 26% prefer fourstar 

hotels and 16% of them 

choose five-star hotels. 

(Excerpt from peopledaily. 

com.cn) 

4. Tour Groups: Prefer less 

than 30 people in one 

group. 

focus of merging films with destination 

marketing, for tourism 

promotion. The festival 

also aims for large-scale public 

participation.

moNumeNTs 

No UNESCO Heritage status 

Rumours about the three historic 

monuments of Hyderabad — 

Qutub Shahi tombs, Charminar 

and Golconda Fort — to be 

inscribed in the UNESCO World 

Heritage sites this year, have 

proven to be baseless. 

“The Qutub Shahi monuments 

of Hyderabad were never in the 

race for this year’s world heritage 

tag,” says Gautam Sengupta, 

director general, Archeological 

Survey of India (ASI). 

The three sites have, 

however, been nominated in 

the 2013 list. A delegation from 

UNESCO is to visit Hyderabad 

in September 2012. 

This was confirmed by Janwhij 

Sharma, director, Conservation 

and World Heritage. 

The financial year 2010-11 has 

been good for the business of 

government-owned monuments 

in India. The data from Archaeological 

Survey of India (ASI) 

revealed that revenues from tickets 

at monuments increased by 

12%, earning `87 crore. 

On top of the list is the Taj 

Mahal that grossed around 23% 

of the total earning at about `20 

crore, followed by Agra Fort, 

Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens, 

Pakistan’s two heritage sites, 

have come under the media glare, 

but for the wrong reasons. The 

heritage sites are being considered 

as ‘flawed’ restoration projects. 

There are 21 monuments 

within the Lahore Fort complex 

which have marble palaces 

and mosques ornamented 

with mosaic and gilt. Shalimar 

Gardens, located near the fort, 

has pavilions, ponds and waterfalls. 

Both sites were inscribed 

as UNESCO’s World Heritage 

sites in danger in 2000 and 

needed immediate repair. However, 

the cosmetology destroyed 

the authenticity of the Mughal 

monuments. 

At a recent seminar organised 

by Punjab University’s Department 

of Archaeology, entitled 

‘Heritage Preservation in Pakistan 

— International Principles 

and Practices’, the preservation 

methods were questioned. 

Tourism therapy Monument revenues 

Countries that have spent 

more than a decade in turbulence 

are now fighting back. 

Former guerilla camps are 

now vacation hotspots. 

Rwanda, for instance, has 

had a large number of civil wars, 

genocides, and massacres. The 

government is now transforming 

its economy through tourism. 

Although the wildlife safaris 

and national parks have 

remained tourist attractions, the 

most popular tourist destination 

is Kigali Memorial Centre where 

250,000 people remain buried. It 

is a memorial for victims of the 

genocide of 1994. Rwanda 

also applied for membership 

for the Commonwealth 

of 

Nations in 2007 and 2009 as safe 

areas for tourists. 

El Salvador and Bosnia, 

which were not considered to 

be the best tourist places after 

World War II, have become ideal 

natural retreats with forest trails, 

countryside walks, lakes and a 

lively nightlife. But their museums 

and war memorials are still 

tourist favourites. 

Macedonia, which has a rich 

heritage of almost 3,000 years 

of history and culture, offers 

churches, monasteries and fortresses 

including Marko’s, 

Skopje’s and Samuel’s 

that draw a number 

of visitors. 

show good growth 

Nip and tuck woes 

the earnings of which, however, 

have declined by 5.5% in April- 

March 2011. 

Delhi circuits’ Qutub Minar, 

Humayun’s Tomb and Red Fort 

succeeded Agra on third, fourth 

and fifth top revenue generating 

ASI monuments. 

Of the total revenue, 

70% came from 

Professor Rafique Mughal, 

an expert in preservation and 

management of monuments at 

the Archaeology and Heritage 

Management, Boston University, 

US, pointed out “ignorant” 

restoration practices would end 

only when thorough research is 

conducted before beginning restoration 

work. 

“Restoration requires that relevant 

institutions introduce laws 

and rules to govern the preservation 

of built heritage, its regular 

inspection and proper funding,” 

Mughal said. He stressed upon 

creating awareness about the 

importance of these sites among 

the people, whose support may 

help restoration efforts. 

Delhi and Agra. 

Other profit generating historic 

sites are Mammalapuram 

in Chennai with `2.76 crore, 

Khajuraho in Bhopal with `2.6 

crore, Sun temple, Konark, in 

Bhubaneshwar at `2.26 crore, 

Ajanta and Ellora caves in 

Aurangabad around `2 crore, 

Hampi in Bangalore with `1.34 

crore and Elephanta Caves in 

Mumbai around `0.9 crore. 

Although Rajasthan, receives 

numerous visitors, it is not 

included in the ASI 

list.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 moNumeNTs 17 

Heritage museum 

opens in Shimla 

The Himachal Pradesh government 

has opened a heritage 

museum for the public in Shimla. 

It will display rare and ancient pictures 

of various heritage buildings 

and structures of the city. It will 

also offer a glimpse into the historical 

facts of the building and 

monuments. The photographs in 

the museum have been taken from 

the Coffee Table Book, ‘Har Ghar 

Kuch Kehta Hai’, a project by the 

state tourism department. 

“This will help the economy,” 

Islamic architecture of India has 

just been immortalised in a film. 

Art historian and filmmaker 

Benoy K Behl has attempted 

this in his new documentary ‘A 

World of Beauty and Grace — 

Islamic Architecture of India’. 

The 31-minute film covers 

every structure — mosque, tomb, 

madarsa, palace and fortress 

in India that bears Islamic 

architecture and its imprints. 

The first mosque built in India 

at Kodungalur in Kerala in 629 

AD, Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur, 

Bidar Fort of the 14th and 15th 

centuries, Mughal masterpieces 

like Humayun’s Tomb, Fatehpur 

Arun Sharma, director of tourism, 

says. 

“Our objective is to make tourists 

stay here longer. After looking 

at the photographs of the heritage 

buildings in the museum, 

they will take a visit to the original 

buildings,” chief minister 

Prem Kumar Dhumal says. 

Restoring the impressive 

Municipal Corporation Building 

is also an agenda for which 

around `190 million is being 

allocated. 

A film on Indian Islamic 

architecture 

Sikri, to the 15th century world 

heritage site of Champaner 

in Gujarat, Nakhoda Masjid, 

dargahs in Hajo, Gedu Mia Ki 

Masjid and other places in the east 

have all been covered and spoken 

about in the film. The filmmaker 

has a place in the Limca Book of 

Records for having travelled to all 

corners of India. 

A year of 

discoveries 

and rectification 

of facts 

The first half of the year is looking 

bright for archaeologists and 

world heritage lovers with significant 

discoveries being made to 

open doors for an insight into 

world history. 

Two major monuments were 

recently unearthed at Karnak 

Temple in Luxor. The first, a wall 

that once enclosed the New Kingdom 

temple of the god Ptah. The 

second is a gate from the reign 

of 25th dynasty King Shabaka 

(712-698 BC). Ptolemaic mud 

brick walls and several engraved 

blocks were also uncovered from 

the Ptah temple. 

The discovery traces the 

blocks back to the reign of King 

Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BC). 

The construction of this temple 

was assumed to be of Ptolemaic 

dynasty, but archaeologists 

now believe that it started 

Hyderabad heritage restoration gets grant 

In the running for nomination for 

the next Heritage City- Hyderabad 

monuments will finally get 

a facelift. 

The Union ministry of tourism 

sanctioned an amount of Rs 

8 crore for restoration of Charminar 

and seven other historic 

monuments in the Old City. They 

include the Shahi Jilu Khana 

Darwaza, Diwan Devdi Kaman, 

Chatta Bazar Kaman, Dabeerpura 

Darwaza, Maqbara Kalyani 

Nawab, Purana Pul Darwaza and 

the Moghulpura Tombs. 

Renovation will start from the 

first week of December. 

Other historic structures like 

the State Central Library and 

High Court will be ‘illuminated’ 

and revamped to emerge as new 

tourist attractions. The two- century 

old Charminar police station, 

will be restored. 

“The state had sought 

Rs 12 crore from the central 

government for the renovation”, 

a conservation architect working 

on the project said, “As the funds 

approved are less than that, we 

had to exclude some privatelyowned 

properties from the list.” 

They include the Iqbal-ud-dowla 

Devdi, Syed Shah Raju Qattal 

Tomb, Osmania General Hospital 

and City College. 

“We have sent the revised 

proposal (to fit the budget) to the 

Centre. Once the funds are sanctioned 

we will start all the work,” 

the heritage consultant said. 

The state tourism department 

also launched two new heritage 

walks to mark the World Tourism 

Day. These are the Charminar 

and Purani Haveli (via Mir 

Alam Mandi) and Afzalgunj and 

River Front. 

in Egyptian reign. 

Another significant discovery 

has been the tomb of St 

Philip, one of the 12 apostles and 

first followers of Jesus Christ. It 

was unearthed in southwestern 

Turkey at the World Heritage 

Site of Pamukkale. 

It was believed that the tomb 

of St Philip, dating back to 80 

AD, was on Martyrs’ hill, but 

no traces could ever be found 

there. After intensive excavation, 

the tomb emerged 40 

meters away from the Martyrs’ 

hill on a fifth century church 

of the Byzantine era. Experts 

believe that the grave was 

moved by the people. 

Another riveting discovery 

has been that of the 14th century 

ancient caravansary and graves 

in Azerbaijan. 

The archeological excavations 

Monuments in solar light 

Weighed down by hefty 

electricity bills, the 

Archaeolo-gical Survey of 

India (ASI) has decided to go 

green. It has installed solar 

energy lamps to illuminate 

monuments at night. Its 

better late than never. 

The solar lights were to be 

implemented in time for the 

Commonwealth Games. 

“Serious efforts are being 

undertaken in this regard,” 

ASI Delhi superintending 

archaeologist, K K Muhammed 

said. 

He added green lighting 

saves energy and controls 

pollution. The first installation 

will be at Qutub Minar in 

Mehrauli, New Delhi. 

in Sheykh Babi Yagub sepulcher 

in Babi village cemetery of Fuzuli 

region have raised questions on 

previous theories. 

In the excavations carried 

out recently six stone box 

graves dating back to the 14th 

century were found. These 

graves were built with special 

bricks, stones and glazed tiles. 

They are mainly the graves of 

warriors. A headless skeleton 

was found in one and arrow 

heads and a skeleton were 

found in another. 

Soviet historians had studied 

these historical monuments 

earlier and declared it as bathhouse. 

The remains of the monument 

are being called Sheykh 

Babi Khanegahi. 

The research process is a new 

step in the direction of understanding 

world heritage.

corporATe 

Thailand to host FIP 

World Philatelic Exhibition The rise in demand of 

Thailand is all set to organise 

the World Philatelic Exhibition 

in Bangkok in 2013 for the 

fifth time. It has signed an agreement 

with Federation Internationale 

de Philatelie (FIP) and a 

cooperation agreement with the 

Thailand Convention & Exhibition 

Bureau (TCEB). The event 

is expected to generate revenue 

of more than two billion Baht in 

addition to boosting Thailand’s 

MICE industry and tourism. 

TCEB president Akapol Sorasuchart 

says the event will help 

the country prove its mettle as a 

potential MICE destination and 

in getting its ‘Believe in Thailand’ 

campaign going. He added 

that up to 100,000 visitors and 

around 10,000 overseas participants 

are expected at the event. 

It will also showcase Thailand as 

a destination ready to hold such 

events, he said. 

The World Philatelic Exhibition 

Thailand 2013 will take place 

from August 2 – 14 at the Siam 

New findings for 

corporate travel 

programme 

management 

Global Business Travel Association 

Foundation (GBTA) 

and Executive Travel Magazine 

have released their new findings 

based on a survey carried 

out between Executive Travellers 

(president, vice presidents, 

owners and partners) and Staff 

Travellers (managers and supervisors) 

to know the importance 

of cost savings and travel satisfaction 

to business travellers. 

Cost saving (93%) and travel 

satisfaction(94%) showed almost 

equal importance for the business 

travellers, while 55% of the 

companies still do not have strategic 

travel management. 

The survey came out with 

many opportunities to manage 

travel programmes from 

the point of view of executive 

travellers. About 48% feel that 

travel management is important 

while 54% are still unsure 

about the total money saved 

through travel management 

policies. 

At least 70% reported the 

travel management policies are 

Paragon, Bangkok, on the 130th 

anniversary of the launch of 

Thailand’s postal service and of 

the issuance of its very first postage 

stamp. Princess Maha Chakri 

Sirindhorn will be the patron 

of the event, presiding over the 

inaugural 

ceremony. 

The event 

will attract 

conveyed to them 

quite explicitly, about 

90% said they complied with the 

policies, 52% felt that the policies 

in their organisation had 

remained the same for the last 12 

years and 44% felt that they had 

become even more austere. 

“Companies will be better 

positioned for success, utilising 

all the knowledge and best practices 

available, such as implementing 

a travel management 

programme,” says Joe Bates, 

director of research, GBTA 

Foundation. 

Janet Libert, editor in chief of 

Executive Travel Magazine, says 

the findings have given ample 

opportunities to the companies 

to meet and exceed these goals. 

stamp collectors and lovers from 

all over the world. The personal 

collection of Her Royal Highness 

will also be put on display along 

with other rare collections from 

across the world. 

The exhibition is open for all 

stamp collectors and non-collectors 

who can participate in 

the contests and competitions at 

the fair. 

If your job demands frequent 

travel, don’t worry! You are actually 

doing your health a favour. 

Recent studies say those who 

undertake six nights of business 

travel a month show better 

health conditions compared to 

those who do not travel at all or 

US, Apac hotels in better 

negotiable position 

corporate meetings has 

given an impetus to group 

booking rates in the US 

hotels. Group requests 

surged up to 20% at Omni 

Hotels and Resorts, 15% 

in the quarter bookings 

of Hyatt Hotels Corp and 35% in 

the corporate group business of 

Starwood Hotels and Resorts. 

Greg Malark, chief operating 

officer of site-selection firm 

HelmsBriscoe, says there has 

been a return of demand in the 

bookings in the fourth quarter 

of 2010 and has been growing 

since. A BTN March-May survey 

of 127 corporate travel buyers 

shows that around 63% of the 

buyers predicted a higher spending 

on meetings than before. 

Analysts say hotels are now 

in a better position to increase 

their rate of negotiation. As a 

result, companies planning 

such meetings should also 

expect higher costs. 

Many hotels have short 

Staying fit during 

business travel 

The Philadelphia based company, 

Star Cite Inc. (the leading 

provider to web-based solutions 

for managing corporate meetings 

and events), is all set to launch 

a StarCite Mobile Attendee, a 

new attendee management and 

who travel too frequently. 

Studies suggest some tips 

like brisk walking, going to the 

gym and sticking to a routine 

even while on a business 

trip is all it takes to maintain 

good health during 

short trips. 

communication tool for Smartphones 

in the autumn of 2011. 

The device is designed to 

speedily deliver updated information 

to mobile phones of 

meeting attendees that will 

include necessities like agendas, 

maps, logistics, news alerts 

and the likes. 

Connor Gray, senior vice 

president, technology, 

StarCite says 

this initiative will 

provide huge benefits 

to the 

attendees 

as it 

will save 

time and 

term availability as the 

booked meetings are not 

scheduled till late 2011. 

Still, HelmsBriscoe is of 

the view that short term 

availability will soon be 

getting over with the new 

bookings turning into 

actual occupancy. He observes 

the hotels have now become less 

flexible in view of the slow but 

steady rise in meetings. They are 

booking on an average of US $25 

less per room compared to the 

year 2008. 

This growth in demand 

and rates are not limited to the 

US. Ian Quartermaine, CEO of 

online site-selection firm MeetingsIn, 

feels that the meetings 

demand in Asia Pacific is chaotic 

and that the demand in this 

region is mainly due to Mainland 

China and India. Rates will 

increase but not on a high scale. 

He observes North America 

shows greater steadiness and 

constancy than Europe, and specifically 

the UK. 

Take your meetings in your hand 

resources along with easing 

strenuous tasks. This will ultimately 

result in a better productivity 

for planners and companies, 

he adds. 

With the use of Starcite’s 

online market place, meeting 

buyers can connect to over 

83,000 hotels, venues, suppliers 

and the likes from all over the 

world. It is also compatible with 

all the minute deliberations of 

the meeting planning process 

like planning, budgeting, resultmeasuring, 

attendance, payments 

and so on. 

The brand new device is also 

compatible with iPhone, Blackberry 

and Android phones.

TechNoLoGy 

More tech 

involvement 

from buyers 

The Institute of Travel and Meetings 

(ITM) conducted research 

that claims most of the business 

travel buyers do not have 

any control over the technology 

their travellers use. The number 

of travel buyers having any 

real input in the mobile technology 

sphere is less than 10%. This 

is in contradiction to the fact 

APAI to update policies 

Air Passenger Association of 

India (APAI) has tied up with 

Essentia, a US-based service 

provider, to design the former’s 

new website and moderate 

it. The website will publish 

that more and 

more travellers 

use smartphones 

these 

days. However, 

77% of the buyers 

claimed that their 

company policy limited 

the use of technology. 

This disparity leads 

updated air travel policies after 

collating information from airlines, 

airports and aviation regulatory 

bodies from all over 

the world. Passengers will also 

be able to post feedback on 

Cab solutions for Delhi NCR 

Delhi NCR 

has launched a portal that connects 

cab seekers and operators, 

where people can compare 

multiple operators and 

book them accordingly. The 

portal called Cabyatra.com 

• SITA, an 

airport 

transportcommunications 

and 

IT solutionsprovider, 

is in talks with airlines 

and agencies to enable travellers 

to get boarding passes 

via mail. With this, passengers 

can download passes on 

mobiles by visiting a secure 

link e-mailed to them after 

booking a flight. Whether 

the airports security accepts 

it as a valid document is 

another question! 

• Annual IT and Tourism conference, 

ENTER 2012 will be 

held from 24th to 27th January, 

2012 in Helsingborg, 

IN BRIEF 

is the brainchild of first-time 

entrepreneur, Gaurav Kumar, 

chief executive officer and cofounder, 

whose personal struggle 

in finding the best cab fares 

in the city led to the development 

of this site. 

At present available in 

Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida, 

the service will soon expand 

to other metros. 

Sweden. Expected to be one 

of the biggest tourism events 

of the year, the conference 

will be organized by IFITT 

and will focus on the present 

and future services and applications 

of e-Tourism. 

• Signature Travel Network 

announced an innovative 

mobile travel app- 

“Pocket Travel Consultant” 

at its Owners’ Meeting held 

at Ritz-Carlton Grande 

Lakes Orlando. This application 

is to be simultaneously 

released in Apple and 

Android application formats 

in November. The application 

will be available to Signature 

member agencies’ 

clients for use during both 

the planning stages and 

while traveling. 

to the limited choice that the travellers 

have as regards to technology 

and applications. However, 

“With so much 

growth expected in 

mobile solutions, there 

is a real opportunity 

here for those managing 

travel to engage 

with IT departments 

and create stronger 

links with their travellers’ 

needs,” Paul 

Tilstone, chief executive 

officerITM 

says. 

the website. 

“Small things such as baggage 

rules of different airlines and 

passenger compensation policies 

in different countries are often a 

grey area for passengers. They 

can bank on us for such information,” 

Sudhakar Reddy, national 

president, APAI, said. 

Sabre Travel Network, has surged 

its game by announcing the 

launch of the graphical view with 

enhanced capabilities in Sabre 

Red Workspace. The graphical 

view works 20% faster with a 30% 

reduction in keystrokes. It makes 

the entire process of shopping 

and booking simpler resulting in 

increased productivity. 

“In the past year, we’ve 

Amadeus’ extended 

corporate responsibility 

Following 

agreements 

with government 

bodies and institutions, 

Amadeus announced the development 

of projects that promote 

growth through tourism 

and technology. This Technology 

Transfer Project is divided 

between ‘Small Hotels Distribution’ 

and ‘Global PC Bank’. 

While the former aims at 

helping small, emerging entrepreneurs 

in adopting business 

methods that increase their 

commercial reach, 

the latter concentrates 

on providing 

used computers for 

training programmes 

Sabre’s graphical 

view activated 

Mobile 

shopping 

on the rise 

Fifteen thousand mobile 

users over 14 countries 

provided a collection of technology 

that helps agents transform 

the way they work and serve 

their customers,” Chris Kroeger, 

senior vice president of marketing 

for Sabre Travel Network, 

said. “From the introduction of 

Sabre Red and the upgrading of 

145,000 agents to the Red Workspace 

to the launch of graphical 

view, we’re equipping agents 

were surveyed by InMobi, 

a global mobile advertising 

concentrating on travel and tourism. 

An estimated 4,000 hotels 

are said to 

benefit from 

this programme. 

In 

a year, around 1,500 students are 

expected to benefit from this. 

Amadeus also has an Education 

Programme that provides 

professional courses in travel 

management to mostly young 

people with a lack of financial 

resources. 

Amadeus has expanded this 

programme to seven countries, 

including Kenya, Saudi Arabia, 

South Africa, Croatia, Nicaragua, 

Venezuela and Colombia, 

within this year. 

with powerful new tools to help 

them stay ahead in a competitive 

industry,” he added. 

Popular features amongst 

the beta customers were calendar 

shopping, map-based shopping 

for hotels and email during 

shopping. Although graphical 

view is available in a number of 

languages, activation will continue 

well into 2012. 

network, on their shopping 

habits. The survey 

revealed a sharp increase in 

online shopping via mobile 

opposed to laptop or personal 

computers. Sales volume 

using mobile shopping 

is estimated to increase 

from US $2.4 billion in 2010 

to US $9 billion in 2011.

hospITALITy 

Global downturn and Indian hospitality 

The recent global market shock 

has not spared the Indian tourism 

industry as the inbound tourist 

trade braces itself for a slowdown. 

During 2009, foreign tourist 

arrivals in India plummeted as 

Hilton Worldwide is all set to 

re-establish the Hilton brand 

in India. The hotel chain will be 

adding up to 50 properties to its 

portfolio in the next five years. 

Luxury brands —Waldorf Astoria 

and Conrad, upscale brand 

Doubletree and the mid-market 

brand, Hampton, will be introduced 

for the first time in the 

Indian market. Hilton and Hilton 

Garden Inn have already 

been launched in the country 

while six more hotels will be 

opened in the next nine months 

under the Hilton and Doubletree 

brands in Gurgaon, Bangalore, 

Gujarat and in the Mumbai 

The ITC Group has acquired a 

26% stake in a 275-room, fivestar 

luxury hotel property being 

developed by Noida-based Logix 

Group in Noida’s Sector 105. The 

company plans to invest close 

to `100 crore in the project and 

will also manage it under the 

top-end ITC hotels brand. The 

total project cost of the hotel, 

which is part of a larger sevenacre 

commercial and retail 

Hilton Worldwide expands 

Hilton Worldwide announced 

expansion plans for South America 

at the South America Hotel 

& Tourism Investment Conference 

hosted by HVS Argentina 

in Santiago, Chile. “Hilton 

Americans and Europeans who 

patronise India’s luxury resorts, 

slashed luxury spending. The 

number of foreign tourists visiting 

India fell from 5.4 million 

to 5.2 million from 2008 to 2009, 

Hilton expansion in India 

region. Lenny Menezes, country 

manager - India, Hilton International 

Hotels, believes mid-scale 

brands Hampton Hotels and 

ITC acquires stake 

development called Riviera 105, 

is `440 crore. The construction 

of the hotel is expected 

to finish in 36 months. Logix 

Worldwide has a strategic commitment 

to expand globally, and 

Latin America is a high priority 

target for our expansion,” Bill 

Fortier, senior vice president, 

Hilton Worldwide was quoted 

before recovering last year to 5.5 

million, according to a report in 

the Financial Times. 

According to PRS Oberoi, 

chairman and chief executive 

officer, Oberoi Hotels and 

Resorts, global economies and 

the economic environment are 

volatile. On the foreign direct 

investment (FDI) front too, 

Oberoi was bearish, saying inflation, 

escalating interest rates and 

corruption scandals had tarnished 

India’s reputation as a 

chosen destination for FDIs. But 

tourism within India is flourishing. 

The number of domestic 

tourists has grown steadily 

to around 700 million annually. 

In some parts of India, domestic 

travellers are spending more 

than foreign visitors. Tourism 

minister Subodh Kant Sahai said 

Hilton Garden Inn will drive the 

company’s growth in the country 

as they are well-suited to expand 

in secondary and tertiary cities. 

is constructing an 800,000 sq 

ft of commercial office space, 

500,000 sq ft of retail space and 

a budget hotel as well in Sector 

105, which is just ahead of 

Unitech’s Grande project on the 

Noida-Greater Noida expressway. 

It has already inked pact 

with global food retail chain 

Spar International for a hypermarket 

and is also planning an 

11-screen multiplex. 

saying. The Group currently has 

45 hotels and resorts throughout 

Latin America. By the end of 

2013, the company’s presence in 

Latin America is expected to surpass 

60 hotels. 

recently domestic tourism had 

witnessed an annual growth of 

over 10% over the previous year. 

Sahai added that domestic tourism 

was likely to grow at the rate 

of 12% in the next five years. This 

Marriott International 

announced the opening of 

three-hotel Doha City Centre 

complex including the 

Renaissance Doha City Centre 

Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott 

Doha City Centre and 

Marriott Executive Apartments. 

The Renaissance 

Doha City Centre Hotel, 

has 257 rooms and suites, 

The Courtyard by Marriott 

Doha City Center has 204 

guest rooms and The Marriott 

Executive Apartments 

creates tremendous opportunities 

for budget and mid-market 

hotels. Little wonder, a number 

of international hotel chains have 

announced ambitious expansion 

plans in India. 

Marriott debuts 

properties in Doha 

Doha City Center, offers 123 

serviced apartments. The 

opening marks the debut of 

the three brands in Qatar. 

Ideally located in West Bay 

across Qatar Financial Centre 

in two modern 48-storey 

towers, on the doorstep of 

the new business district of 

Doha and 15 minutes from the 

Doha International Airport, 

the hotel complex reinforces 

Doha’s futuristic vision and 

growing potential of tourism 

in Qatar.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 hospITALITy 21 

London hotels set for 

Olympic price hike 

Hotel prices could rise between 

30% and 50% during the Olympic 

Games in London 2012, according 

to Hotels.com. The company 

said that in the build-up to 

the 2010 football World Cup in 

South Africa, its hotel price index 

showed an average increase of 

12% in hotel rooms in Johannesburg, 

while the rise in Cape Town 

The new Hotel Finder service 

from Google, launched during 

the end of July as an experiment, 

is a handy tool when it comes to 

researching and booking hotels, 

but the product reportedly has 

some major flaws. Hotel Finder 

allows users to enter a location, 

check-in (and check-out) date as 

well as specify the hotel by price 

and hotel class and rating. An 

integration with Google Maps 

also allows travellers to draw 

a ‘shape’ in which they want 

their hotel to be located over a 

city. Some of the shortcomings 

was 54% compared with the previous 

year. Hotels.com said when 

Delhi hosted the Commonwealth 

Games in October 2010, room 

prices in the Indian city rose by 

an average 12%. When the Euro 

2008 football championship was 

held in Switzerland and Austria, 

prices in Switzerland rose by an 

average of 22%. Alison Couper, 

Google Hotel Finder 

reported by users are that the 

hotel lists lack transparency 

as they show the base rate and 

not total price. Rates from hotel 

websites are often missing. The 

shape feature is also difficult to 

manipulate. Hotel photos are 

promotional and rarely show 

people. Moreover, the feature 

is only available at present for 

hotels in the US. Dennis Schaal 

of USA Today concludes that 

Kayak is a more comprehensive 

hotel metasearch tool and 

provides more booking options 

and features. 

Hospitality Industry-Vision 2020 

The first convention of the Hotel 

and Restaurant Association of 

Northern India (HRANI) will be 

held at the Leela Palace, Amritsar, 

from September 23-25, 2011. 

The theme for the convention 

this year is “Hospitality Industry- 

Vision 2020”. There will be sessions 

to discuss like tips on making 

your property eco-friendly, 

tapping franchising opportunities 

with global chains, training 

staff and new management mantras. 

Major impediments to the 

growth of small hotels and chains 

— sensitivity to business cycles, 

adverse political and social events 

(including terrorist attacks) — 

will be discussed and analysed 

during the convention. Human 

Resource issues, responsible 

tourism, marketing practices 

and security issues will also be 

covered at the convention. 

from Hotels.com, said that it is 

expected that more than 12,000 

additional hotel rooms will 

be available in London in the 

run-up to the 2012 Olympics, 

yet despite this, the increase in 

demand from across the globe 

looks set to increase the price 

of hotel rooms in the lead-up to 

the event. 

New York’s 

tallest hotel 

Marriott International and 

Granite Broadway Development 

have signed an 

agreement to create the tallest 

hotel in New York. The 

hotel, to come up at 1717 

Broadway at 54th Street, 

will be a joint-venture 

between Marriott’s Courtyard 

and Residence Inn 

brands. The over-752 feet 

high hotel is set to open in 

late 2013. The Courtyard 

by Marriott hotel will have 

378 rooms located on floors 

from 6th to 32nd while the 

261-room Residence Inn 

will offer suites on floors 

from 36th to 64th. 

Toshali Resorts 

looks at guest houses 

The Orissa-based Toshali 

Resorts has successfully bid 

for four Odisha Tourismowned 

guest houses for management 

under Lease Development 

Agreement (LDA). The 

state tourism department had 

floated tenders for leasing out 33 

hotel properties spread across 

the state from private hospitality 

investors recently. According 

to Harihar Patra, director, 

(marketing), Toshali Group, 

the company has successfully 

bid for properties located in 

Macau casinos 

reaping profits 

Wynn Resorts Limited’s casino 

resort in Macau has bought a 

rare set of four ormolu-mounted 

Chinese porcelain baluster 

vases from an auction for over 

Pathrajpur, Ratnagiri, Udaigiri 

and Lalitgiri, all falling 

in the Buddhist circuit. Since 

all these places are part of the 

Buddhist circuit, we will have a 

clear advantage to cater to this 

pilgrim segment in future, he 

said. Toshali Resorts, which 

currently owns three properties, 

two in Orrisa, and one in 

Shimla, will now focus on lease/ 

management contracts for their 

brand expansion. The company 

has already taken on lease a 

beach property in Goa. 

US $12.7 million. The only other 

known similar example of vases 

is held by the British Royal Family. 

The purchase of the historic 

artefacts is reportedly a part of 

Wynn’s efforts to bring Chinese 

art back to China. The pieces 

will go on display in 

the company’s 

Cotai 

resort that 

is scheduled 

to open 

in 2015. 

Of late, 

M a c a u 

hotels and 

casinos 

have been 

doing very 

well. Main 

drivers are 

strong visi 

t a t i o n 

numbers 

from China 

and Hong 

Kong with a total 

increase of 14.5% in the 

first half of 2011 and a gaming 

revenue increase of 21% 

over the same period.

22 hospITALITy November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

Non-traditional solutions 

push hotel revenues up 

Hoteliers are now increasingly 

employing non-traditional 

distribution channels such as 

maximising online bookings 

through websites to push up 

their revenues. 

Kenneth Gatchalian, 

Waterfront Philippines Inc 

president, says the hotel’s tollfree 

reservation line delivered 

Hotels investing in IT 

In a bid to improve guest experience, 

the hospitality industry 

is now spending more on Information 

Technology. Hoteliers 

are investing in mobile technology 

in a big way to equip their 

workforces, improve operational 

efficiencies and enhance 

the customer experience in a 

better way. 

Hospitality companies are 

also investing in new technology 

Hotel Leela 

to sell 

Kerala property 

The Leela Group is set to sell its 

property, Leela Resorts Kovalamin 

Kerala, to NRI industrialist 

Ravi Pillai for `500 crore to ease 

its debt burden, the Economic 

Times said citing the group’s 

chairman CP Krishnan Nair. 

Leela will subsequently enter 

into a management contract with 

Pillai to manage the property for 

30 years. Leela Venture, a listed 

company, had accumulated debts 

of `3,830 crore at the end of FY11 

significant results and has 

become a principal source of 

revenue generating its own 

steady stream of sales for the 

company. 

Bookings from the website 

have also registered an increase 

from 3,261 room nights in 2009 

to 3,701 in 2010 and a noted 20% 

revenue increase. Gatchalian 

and wireless networks to handle 

data volumes and increasing 

demands for high-speed 

access from the customer and 

mobile workforce, according to 

the Motorola Solutions 2011 Hospitality 

Market Barometer. The 

research also points out that 

smartphones, tablets and mobile 

applications are the new trends 

moving into 2012 in the hospitality 

industry. 

owing to capital expenditure of 

over `4,000 crore, which is currently 

underway. The company 

has been looking to sell properties 

across the country to cut its 

debt. The Nairs are also believed 

to be contemplating selling their 

soon-to-launch The Leela Palace 

Kempinski hotel in Chennai to 

the same buyer. In March again, 

the company announced plans 

to sell an IT park in Chennai for 

`950 crore. 

said efforts will be made to 

send representatives to 

trade shows, develop key 

linkages and increase 

promotion 

efforts. 

IHCL’s Gateway Hotels 

expands footprint in Gujarat 

Gateway Hotels and Resorts, a 

part of Taj Group of Hotel , has 

launched its new hotel at Gir, 

popularly known as a home 

to Asiatic lions and one of the 

major tourist destinations in 

Gujarat. The Gateway Hotel 

Gir Forest, with 28 rooms, is the 

fourth hotel by the company in 

the state. “With this opening, we 

endeavour to pioneer new and 

Spa trends and performance 

Spas operating in hotels and 

resorts don’t necessarily ride the 

same performance wave as their 

hosting properties. Varying factors, 

such as the economic climate 

and travel demand, impact 

both spa and hotel/resort performance 

independently. According 

to an independent research 

company Intelligent Spas covering 

spas operating in the Asia- 

Pacific region, in 2009 revenue 

unique destinations. While Gir 

Forest needs no introduction, 

we feel that there is great scope 

to develop tourism and hospitality 

here. We are happy to have 

received support and encouragement 

from the state government 

and hope to grow and expand in 

the state,” said P K Mohankumar, 

chief operating officer, the 

Gateway Hotels & Resorts. 

per visit was up by 8% whilst 

the hotels and resorts they were 

located in reported an 11% drop 

in average daily rate. The report 

also states that only half (49%) 

of hotel and resort spa visits are 

from people staying at the accommodation 

property. 

Other key findings of the report 

are: 

• Between 2008 and 2010, the 

Wyndham Hotel 

Group signs 

agreements with 

3 hotels in India 

Wyndham Hotel Group, LLC, 

the world’s largest hotel company 

based on number of 

hotels and part of Wyndham 

Worldwide Corporation today 

announced its expansion in 

India with the signing of agreements 

to franchise three hotels 

under its Wyndham Hotels 

and Resorts and Ramada 

brands: a luxurious, 154-room 

Wyndham Grand property in 

Agra, and two new-construction 

Ramada properties in 

Alleppey and Ghaziabad. Set 

to strengthen the company’s 

presence in India, these properties 

add to Wyndham Hotel 

Group’s 14 hotels already in 

operation and the 15 properties 

that are currently under development 

in the country. Joining 

the Wyndham Hotels and 

Resorts brand’s distinguished 

Wyndham Grand Collection is 

the 154-room Wyndham Grand 

Agra, scheduled to open by the 

end of 2011. The hotel is owned 

by Shekhar Resorts Limited, 

which is exploring additional 

hotel opportunities in India’s 

Northern area. 

average revenue per available 

treatment hour fell by 18%. 

• The majority of hotel and 

resort spas within the Asia- 

Pacific region have less than 

10 treatment rooms. 

• Spa revenue per employee 

dropped by 5% between 2008 

and 2010, and the number 

of employees per spa 

decreased by 9% during the 

same period.

FooD&beverAGe 

Water is 

a luxury 

in Greece 

The Greek government has 

decided to raise the value 

added tax (VAT) on bottled 

water and juice to 23%. Earlier, 

the VAT was 13%. This was the 

second tax raise this year. 

The VAT was previously 

fixed at 9% for bottled 

water and juices. When the 

first VAT raise was implemented, 

around 20% drop 

was observed in the sale of 

bottled water. 

The new tax raise is 

expected to affect the prices 

and sales of bottled water, 

fruit and vegetable juices, coffee, 

tea and soft drinks. 

The sales tax increase will 

be applied from September 

this year. 

Qatar prepares 

to be F&B hub 

Qatar as the host for 2022 World 

Cup has predictably opened new 

doors for F&B industry players. 

F&B in Qatar has grown 

immensely in the past few years 

as it is a growing international 

destination for business and leisure. 

Being the World Cup host 

in 2011 has just made the 

process faster and given 

more reasons for international 

F&B giants to come 

to its shores. 

According to figures 

from Qatar Central Bank, 

the contribution made by 

Qatar’s trade, hotel and restaurant 

industries last year has 

more than doubled in 

a four-year 

period. It 

American fast 

food in Russia 

After India and China, the greatest 

fans of American fast food 

are in Russia. There is a soaring 

demand for Subway’s barbecue 

pork sandwiches, Burger King’s 

Whoppers, Cinnabon’s Classic 

Rolls and Sbarro, Domino’s and 

Papa John’s Pizza. 

The first player to enter the 

Russian market was McDonald’s, 

which opened its first restaurant 

in 1990. It now has 280. 

Starbucks entered the Russian 

market in 2007 and now has 

47 outlets. The Subway sandwich 

chain has opened about 

200 franchises in Russia. Yum 

Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza 

Hut and Taco Bell, operates a 

co-branded chicken restaurant 

forecasts that the F&B sector will 

grow by 19.97% in 2011. 

Initially, it was the franchised 

fast food and casual dining 

brands that had taken over 

the market. But after the opening 

of the Pearl Qatar, an artificial 

island in Doha, needs 

of the market based on 

quality and high standard 

were seen. Taking 

the lead, F&B brands 

like Megu, Tse Yang, 

Pampano, Mango Tree 

and Burj Al Hamam 

jumped in. 

Qatar’s F&B industry 

remains a competitive 

but heavily 

profitable and 

growing market. 

chain in Russia, called Rostik’s-KFC, 

and Il Patio in the 

Italian food segment. Yum now 

has about 350 places in Russia. 

Wendy’s has opened two eateries 

including a flagship in Moscow. 

It aims to take the number 

to 180 throughout Russia by 

2020. Burger King has opened 22 

restaurants in two years. 

Christopher Wynes, who 

owns the franchise for Papa 

John’s Pizza chain in Russia, says: 

“There is so much opportunity 

here, I could have done good business 

even if I slept through it.” He 

recently opened his 25th Papa 

John’s outlet in Russia which is 

the third largest takeaway pizza 

company in the city. 

Taco Bell reinvents 

To counter the disappointing 

sales in Q3 of Taco Bell, Yum! 

Brands Inc. is gearing up with a 

simple yet powerful new strategy. 

It’s called “Reinvent the Taco”! 

The aim is to re-energize Taco 

Bell, that was the company’s 

largest and most profitable chain 

in the United States by the end of 

the first quarter next year. 

Taco Bell’s new product - 

Doritos Locos Taco - is an innovative 

shell made from nacho 

cheese-flavored Doritos. 

The product test has been 

rolled out to 33 units in Toledo, 

58 units in Bakersfield and 24 

locations in Fresno. It is being 

speculated if Doritos is part of 

the “reinvent-ion”.

24 FooD & beverAGe November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

Food safety rules 

The Ireland Food Safety Authority 

has ord\ered eight food premises 

to close down. 

Majority of these are Chinese 

and Indian takeaways and 

restaurants. Bombay Spice, 

South Circular Rd, Dublin; the 

Happy Chan, McCurtain St, 

Starbucks on 

CEO hunt 

After China, Starbucks, the USbased 

coffee retail chain, is planning 

to come to India. It is on the 

lookout for a CEO to handle the 

Indian operations. 

Starbucks management is at 

an advanced stage of discussion 

to select Tata Coffee for manufacturing 

of their retail sales. All 

coffee meant for retail sales will 

be produced and packaged by 

Tata. What’s not clear is that if 

the Indian brand will also produce 

for the international retail 

sales of Starbucks. 

Tata Coffee has already 

worked with some Russian and 

Japanese private label coffee 

brands for packaging and manufacturing. 

Currently the company’s 

production capacity is 

6,000 tonnes. They are expanding 

it to over 8,000 tonnes and 

will take it up to 12,000 tonnes 

within this. 

Starbucks is looking for an 

overseas executive with international 

experience with an exposure 

to Asian markets in Malaysia, 

Thailand, Middle East and 

other Asian regions, counting 

on candidates who could localise 

the brand and design regionoriented 

strategies. 

Rumour had it that Santosh 

Fermoy, Cork; Bella Bia, Dublin 

Road, Ballinagh, Co Cavan; and 

Ruby King Chinese restaurant 

and takeaway, Circular Road, 

Roscommon, were closed for 

being suspected to be, “a grave 

and immediate danger to public 

health”. 

Unni, CEO of Costa Coffee, will 

be selected for the designation. 

Tata Coffee is also looking to 

set up a few packaging units in 

the international market namely 

Europe and Russia. 

In an interview, MD Kumar, 

executive director - finance, 

Tata Coffee, explained: “It’s an 

Others were served closure 

orders for general non-compliance 

with food legislation. These 

included Alis, Enniscrone, Sligo; 

the Punjab Balti, Ranelagh, Dublin; 

China Buffet King, Dundrum, 

Dublin; and Treacy’s Indiana, 

Kilkelly, Mayo. 

approach to put in place a more 

successful and sustainable business 

model without getting into 

branding ourselves. 

The idea is to be the brand 

behind the brands…and ensure 

continuous supply of coffee 

to established and leading 

brands globally”. 

Japanese craft distillery 

launches First Whisky 

The name is “Ichiro’s Malt 

Chichibu The First”, and it’s 

the first whisky from Japanese 

craft distillery Chichibu.This 

whiskey has been 

launched in Paris, Stockholm 

and the UK. 

Chichibu The First is limited 

to 7,400 bottles.Half 

of the stock will remain in 

Japan. UK-based, Number 

One Drinks Company will 

Mother Dairy’s peach jam 

Under the banner of Safal, 

Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable, 

is launching a peach jam 

without preservatives. 

Currently, the company’s 

jam segment comprises 

apple, mixed fruit, pineapple 

and orange marmalade.. 

The product will be introduced 

at 100 Safal outlets of 

Delhi NCR in the first phase. 

It will be available in a 480 

gm jar that will contain fruit 

pieces too, and will be priced 

at `125 per bottle. 

be the second distributor. 

It will retail at £89.95/€115/ 

¥10,000. 

Chichibu The First is three 

years old and it is aged in Heaven 

Hill bourbon barrels. The whisky 

has 61.8% alcohol content and is 

not chill-filtered. 

The distiller behind Chichibu 

Ichiro Akuto said he 

is planning a heavily peated 

Chichibu for August 2012.

TrANsporT 

The growth of car sales in China 

has taken an unprecedented 

downturn after officials withdrew 

stimulus policies and instituted 

measures to curtail traffic 

congestion. But corporate analysts 

and industry insiders say the 

auto rental market could become 

China’s next big hope. At present, 

China has about 5,000 registered 

auto rental companies. 

“Emerging car rental 

businesses will become the 

best propellant for the entire 

auto industry.The prospects are 

enormous,” said Zhang Xiaolin, 

chairman of Haina International 

Auto Leasing, a Sino-Japanese 

joint venture in the eastern Zhejiang 

province. 

By 2015, China’s car rental 

market is expected to hit 400,000 

vehicles and produce US $2.8 

billion in annual revenue, 

Railway smart card price hiked 

Mumbai’s commuters will 

now have to pay `50 as onetime 

security deposit for the 

purchase of Automated Ticket 

Vending Machines (ATVM). 

Though the railway board has 

finalised the decision, the date 

of implementation is yet to 

be announced as changes are 

Virtual railway tickets 

The Indian Railway Catering and 

Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) 

has introduced the Virtual Reservation 

Message (VRM) system so 

that people are no longer required 

to take printouts of e-tickets. Passengers 

can now reproduce the 

Norwegian Cruise Line 

(“Norwegian”) will be 

the host of its first 

ever Tweetup at 

sea dubbed the 

SeaTweetup 

Cruise coordinated by 

members of the South Florida 

social media community. The 

social-savvy sailing, which starts 

booking in electronic mode such 

as a mobile, laptop or iPad to 

undertake the journey. One only 

needs to produce valid photo ID 

for it to be treated as an instrument 

on par with the Electronic 

Reservation Slip (ERS). 

Norwegian hosts first ever Tweetup cruise 

from US $271 per person, 

will allow social 

media enthusiasts 

to interact on 

an exciting voyage 

where they can participate 

in an exclusive 

networking events 

including social media marketing 

panels and discussions. 

Chinese 

car rentals, 

a lucrative 

alternative 

according to the China Taxicab 

and Livery Association. In 

this growing, fragile and loosely 

regulated sector of auto rentals, 

companies are fighting 

for market control. 

The biggest winner in this 

scenario appears to be Beijingbased 

China Auto Rental, Operating 

in 58 cities, it boasts of a 

fleet of 22,000 and aims to double 

the figure by year-end. 

still being made in the ticketing 

software. As the ATVM 

card has been a hit with Mumbai’s 

7 million commuters, its 

use has been extended further 

to mainline electric trains and 

diesel multiple unit shuttle 

trains that run along the city’s 

periphery. 

To restyle Costa 

Romantica 

Carnival Cruise 

Lines invests 

Carnival Cruise Lines is planning 

to invest over US $500 

million across its fleet to transform 

its on-board guest experience. 

As part of the overhaul, 

Carnival announced partnerships 

with entertainer George 

Lopez, Food Network star Guy 

Fieri, and leading video game 

manufacturer EA SPORTS. 

Fourteen ships are scheduled 

to receive many of the Fun Ship 

2.0 enhancements through 2015. 

Carnival will also create Hasbro, 

The Game Show, a new series 

of larger-than-life productions 

and entertainment activities, 

besides enhancing its nightclub 

experience. 

Future of space travel 

faces skepticism 

About 120 km southwest of the 

Trinity atomic bomb test site 

where the US ushered in the 

nuclear age 66 years ago, Spaceport 

America, the world’s first 

purpose-built commercial 

spaceport is being built. It is set 

to become the official home of 

Virgin Galactic, billionaire Richard 

Branson’s venture that proposes 

to take tourists into suborbital 

space. 

Virgin Galactic has a 20-year 

lease with Spaceport America 

that starts once the facility is 

completed. But the four-yearold 

project has already cost the 

poor state of New Mexico US 

Costa Cruises 

announced that it 

has placed a new 

order with San Giorgio del 

Porto shipyard in Genoa for 

major restyling operations 

on the ship Costa Romantica. 

The restyling is set to 

be carried out from 

the end of 

O c t o - 

ber 2011. 

After renovation, 

$249.7 million in public money. 

It’s at least nine months behind 

schedule and its director says it 

won’t generate as many jobs as 

backers once claimed. 

“You have to think in decades” 

to comprehend the benefits of 

spaceport development, says 

Derek Webber, director of 

Spaceport Associates, a consulting 

firm. Webber, a former satellite 

and launch vehicle engineer 

for aerospace companies, is a 

self-described advocate of space 

tourism. While the New Mexico 

project is “a first bold attempt”, he 

says, any return on its investment 

may be several years away. 

the Costa Romantica 

will become the “Costa 

neoRomantica”. 

Tillberg Design, a Swedish 

design company and Syntax, 

a London-based company, 

have been commissioned to 

develop the interior design. 

Once restyling has been completed, 

at the end of February 

2012, the Costa neoRomantica 

will sail 11-day cruises to the 

Canary Islands, with departure 

from Savona.

26 TrANsporT November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

Early bird offerings 

at P&O Cruises and 

Cunard 

The Carnival UK-owned 

Peninsular & Oriental Steam 

Navigation Cruises will offer 

free domestic flights, coach 

travel or valet car parking along 

with 20% discounts in a threemonth 

push on early bookings 

This year Indian Railways seems 

to have become particular about 

discipline. About 2,600 Railway 

officials have faced departmental 

action during the first five 

months of this year for alleged 

irregularities in discharging 

their work. 

The department has carried 

out 10,389 preventive checks 

between January and May this 

With the introduction of the 

Changi Experience Agents 

(CEA) initiative, service at 

Changi Airport Singapore is 

set to be further enhanced. Customer 

service officers are now 

deployed to help visitors and 

for 2012-13. 

Sister line Cunard is offering 

a similar incentive, with free 

flights to join its ship Queen 

Elizabeth in the Mediterranean 

and free parking at 13 UK 

airports for fly-cruises. 

Rail employees in India face the music 

year and found that 87 gazetted 

and 2,561 non-gazetted officers 

CEA ensures better service at Changi 

The Hertz Corporation has 

launched a new customer loyalty 

programme, Gold Plus Rewards. 

Gold Plus Rewards provides 

customers with a wide range of 

flexible reward options including 

points that never expire, 

‘AnyDay’ reward options that 

have no blackout periods, easy 

online redemption on hertz.com, 

international point accrual, and 

a wide variety of car rewards 

passengers. Locating missing 

luggage, facilitating passengers 

with check-in needs and assisting 

transit or transfer passengers 

with their onward connections 

also form part of the 

CEAs’ duties. 

‘Podcar takeover’ at Heathrow 

Ultra Personal rapid transits 

(PRT), also called podcars, 

are currently jetting passengers 

around Heathrow airport 

without any supervision at a 25 

mph clip. Breakdowns are also 

extremely rare and the system 

has a 95% reliability rate. After 

diesel buses were taken off at 

that time, and these popular 

Ultra PRTs have been transporting 

people with their four-seat 

configurations since then. 

Hertz launches new loyalty programme 

including cars from Hertz’s new 

Adrenaline Collection. 

Carnival and 

Fincantieri to 

build new ships 

Carnival Corporation said 

that it has reached an agreement 

with Italian shipbuilder 

Fincantieri for the construction 

of three new cruise ships 

– one 132,500-tonne vessel for 

its Costa Cruises brand and 

two 125,000-tonne ships for 

its AIDA Cruises brand. The 

ships will be the largest ever 

constructed for these two 

cruise lines. A contract has 

been signed for the construction 

of a 3,700-passenger ship 

for Costa that is scheduled for 

delivery in October 2014. 

were allegedly involved in various 

illegal practices. 

The Vigilance Wing of the 

Railways had also made recovery 

of over `13 crore from the preventive 

checks carried out in different 

railways zones.”We carried 

out these checks to ensure that 

the railways employees do not 

indulge in corrupt practices. 

The drive will be intensified 

in future,” a Railway Ministry 

official said. 

Over the Rhine 

to perform again 

on train 

Cincinnati-based Over the 

Rhine will do three private concerts 

and two public concerts on 

the Roots on the Rails September 

excursion in northern New 

Mexico and southern Colorado. 

This will be their third such trip. 

Last year they were aboard a 

train between Los Angeles and 

Albuquerque, via the Grand 

Canyon, that stopped for a 

series of off-train concerts. 

The Maharajas’ Express, India’s 

most luxurious train, is introducing 

a new 8-day and 7-night 

journey this October.The Royal 

Sojourn departing New Delhi will 

include destinations previously 

inaccessible by a luxury train. 

New highlights will include the 

US confirms rail 

spending in states 

In spite of the economic crisis, 

US transportation secretary 

Ray LaHood has announced that 

California, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan 

and Missouri will receive 

US $336.2 million to purchase 

next-generation trains. “This 

announcement is all about jobs,” 

explained LaHood. 

California and Illinois reached 

cooperative agreements with 

the Federal Railroad Administration 

to begin a multi-state 

procurement of equipment for 

passenger rail corridors in California, 

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 

Michigan, Missouri, Oregon and 

Eurostar ski 

services ticket 

sale opens 

The high speed passenger 

service, Eurostar linking the 

UK and mainland Europe, 

has opened ticket sales for its 

direct ski services. Ski services 

will be from St Pancras 

International and Ashford 

International to the 

heart of the French Alps. The 

direct seasonal ski train to 

the Alps will run from Saturday, 

December 17 (day services) 

and Friday, December 23 

(night services) until Saturday 

April 14, 2012. 

The Royal Sojourn launches 

historical city of Kota, with visits 

to the 13th century Garh Palace, a 

boat cruise on the Chambal river, 

breeding ground of the Gharial 

(crocodiles) and a Royal dinner 

at the Umed Bhawan Palace, with 

its stunning blend of Rajput and 

Victorian architecture. 

Washington State. 

Building a nationwide rail 

network is critical to America’s 

long-term economic success. 

“More people are choosing 

to take the train and this 

year Amtrak is projected to set 

an all-time record by topping 

30 million annual riders,” said 

federal railroad administrator 

Joseph Szabo. 

Trains will be designed to 

travel more than 110 mph along 

intercity passenger corridors, 

and meet standards developed 

by the state-led Next Generation 

Equipment Committee. 

24x7 car hire in UK 

From September 2011 onwards 

over 60 Europcar locations 

across the UK will remain open 

seven days a week, allowing users 

to pick-up and return hire vehicles 

on the day that suits them. 

The new opening times included 

22 airports and 38 city centre 

branches, as well as 24-hour 

opening at six major airports. The 

new policy will be rolled out in 

response to customer demand. 

Cruising on World 

War II ship 

The S.S. Lane Victory, 455-foot 

WWII cargo ship will go to sea 

on day cruises. The ship’s WWIIthemed 

‘Victory at Sea’ cruise 

includes a continental breakfast, 

a large catered buffet lunch, live 

1940s’ music and a mock attack 

by an aircraft painted to look like 

World War II era planes. Visitors 

will also be invited to help hunt 

down a “Nazi spy” hiding somewhere 

in the ship.

AvIATIoN 

SpiceJet’s Q400 - optimised 

short haul Solution 

by Neelam mathews/Toronto 

Productivity, Connectivity 

and Efficiency is what Spice- 

Jet with its latest acquisition 

of the Bombardier turboprops 

Q400, says it will get from the 

15 aircraft ordered. 

While the first service started 

on the regional sector in India 

from SpiceJet’s Hyderabad base to 

Tirupathi on Sept 21, all 15 Q400s 

will be delivered by May 2012. 

Significant opportunities for 

60-149 Seat Aircraft Segment 

exist in India to connect secondary 

and tertiary markets as 40% 

of domestic demand is anticipated 

from 2nd and 3rd tier cities. 

SpiceJet has opened bookings 

for the first phase of its operations 

from Hyderabad to seven 

Tier II and Tier III destinations 

— Aurangabad, Bhopal, Indore, 

Mangalore, Rajahmundry, Tirupati 

and Vijayawada. 

The all-inclusive inaugural 

fare on these routes begins from 

Rs 1999. The Q400 NextGen turboprop 

aircraft accommodates 

78 passengers. 

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi 

International Airport (RGIA) 

had been chosen as the first 

spicejet chairman Kalanithi Maran with 

Mrs Maran, CEO Neil Mills, and COO Natarajan 

(left to right) 

base for the regional operations. 

The south-central location of 

Hyderabad reduces flying time 

to any of the cities in the region 

making it the most suitable location 

to connect other cities especially 

in the South. 

SpiceJet will also be adding 

routes within its existing destinations 

using the Q400 aircraft 

and will operate direct flights 

from Hyderabad to Goa, Madurai, 

Nagpur and Pune and Bangalore 

to Vizag. SpiceJet will 

also be flying on three currently 

unconnected routes Hyderabad- 

Mangalore, Hyderabad-Aurangabad 

and Vizag-Tirupati. 

“We decided to strategically 

IndiGo gets 50th aircraft 

by Neelam mathews/muscat 

As IndiGo started its fourth international 

destination- four times 

a week- from Mumbai to Muscat 

on Oct 10, the carrier has added 

the 50th aircraft to its fleet, Aditya 

Ghosh, President and CEO of 

IndiGo told TND. 

The airline will have 230 

planes in the next 14 years. Ghosh 

acknowledged that airports 

offering sops to airline did play 

and would play a definite role in 

its decision to start newer international 

destinations. Pilot shortage 

is going to cause increasing heartburn 

in future as airlines increase 

their fleet sizes. IndiGo is presently 

running three programs to train 

and recruit pilots, Ghosh added. 

“There is a need for experienced 

focus on improving air connectivity 

in Tier-II and Tier-III 

towns as we believe there is a 

large market in India which is 

yet to be touched by the benefits 

of the aviation revolution. With 

the launch of our Q-400 turboprop 

operations, Mr Maran’s 

vision to offer extensive domestic 

coverage to SpiceJet passengers 

in Tier II and Tier III cities 

is now being realised. “We are 

very happy to be entering this 

new phase of growth, which we 

believe holds the future of the 

aviation industry in the country,” 

said Neil Mills, CEO. 

With 14% market share, Spice- 

Jet operates 202 flights daily to 

21 Indian cities. It flies to Kathmandu 

and Colombo on the 

international sector. It has a fleet 

of 29 Boeing 737-800 / 737-900. 

SpiceJet Q400 route to India 

The first of the 15 Q400s ordered 

by SpiceJet delivered followed a 

four-day journey to India. 

The Q400s journey started 

in Toronto, onward to Goose 

Bay, Rejkavik, Bournemouth - 

Malta - Luxor - Muscat - Delhi. 

The last part of the route was 

the longest. 

On an empty load, the Q400 

can fly around five hours, says 

an official . 

expat training captains and examiners. 

“We will be ready for the DGCA 

deadline to have all-Indian pilots 

by 2013,” Ghosh said. In the next 14 

months, IndiGo will hire 150 pilots. 

IndiGo will start flights from 

Mumbai-Jeddah and Kolkata-Dacca 

in the winter schedule. Services will 

also start to three South Indian cities 

in December, Ghosh said. 

RAHI to invest `490 crore in Karnataka airports 

Bengaluru-based Regional Airport-Holdings 

International 

(RAHI) is firming its business 

plan for an air taxi operation 

and a regional airline, to 

be announced by the end of the 

month, Umesh Kumar Baveja, 

founder-chairman, says. 

The company has also started 

construction of two regional 

airports at Shimoga and Gulbarga 

in Karnataka, scheduled 

for completion in mid 2012. 

“Regional airports is our first 

name. We are looking at serving 

hinterlands rather than the 

metros,” he adds. 

The plan, according to 

Baveja, is not ambitious given 

that the Ministry of Civil Aviation 

has plans to set up 500 

airports by 2020. “This would 

mean one airport in every district. 

Our plan is in line with 

that of the central government… 

Besides, the Karnataka government 

has been very supportive 

and a facilitator.” 

Gulbarga holds potential 

for regional operations with 

rich limestone deposits in the 

region and 11 cement plants 

planned. Shimoga has a `3000 

crore infrastructure investment 

in the offing. 

The size of the runways will 

be 1910m in Shimoga and 1900m 

in Gulbarga in keeping with the 

DGCA directive to accommodate 

an ATR-72 on full load capacity 

in the worst climatic conditions. 

RAHI is a joint venture between 

IL&FS Transportation Networks 

Limited (ITNL) and Comet Infra- 

Developments Private Ltd., 

an infrastructure development 

group. 

The JV is currently developing 

airports in Shimoga and Gulbarga 

in Karnataka, under the Public- 

Private Partnership model. 

The concession period for both 

projects is 30 years, extendable by 

an additional 30 years. 

Kingfisher doesn’t want Red anymore 

The announcement made by 

Vijay Mallya, Chairman Kingfisher 

Airlines to pull out of budget 

operations following the 

Annual General Meeting in Bangalore, 

hardly comes as a surprise. 

Suffice to say competitors 

must be smiling as they wait to fill 

the space vacated by the carrier. 

At a time when the blood bath 

in fares moves across borders of 

the full service carriers and budget 

alike with both battling to get 

a share of the same pie, Mallya 

might just end up facing the same 

warriors –this time with a blunt 

sword (of higher overheads)!. 

At a time when yields are at 

their lowest, being the market 

honcho does not make any sense. 

This is something that Capt Gopinath 

of Air Deccan had learnt and 

acknowledged publicly when 

he became market leader with 

pathetic low yields. 

Mallya has clearly indicated 

that he has no interest in 

As Indian travellers to the US 

increased by 17% in 2010 over 

2009 to 650,000, with San Francisco 

among the top three destinations, 

San Francisco International 

Airport is aggressively wooing Jet 

Airways with incentives to start a 

direct service from India. 

SFO has a huge United Airlines 

presence at the airport and 

Jet’s codeshare with UA will 

help Indian passengers connect 

to over 200 destinations 

on the west coast without going 

through customs. 

SFO presently has a programme 

for any new service. It 

waives off landing fees for the first 

year, that saves the carrier around 

US $400,000. It also develops 

along with the incoming carrier 

a marketing programme to help 

develop the destination for which 

a budget of US $150,000 is allotted. 

“This shows our commitment and 

support,” says Kandace Bender, 

deputy airport director, San 

Francisco International Airport 

at the US travel road show held in 

New Delhi. 

SFO gets 758 passengers flying 

to it each way a day from India. 

Direct flights to SFO make 

sense as there is justification 

in front of the plane…besides 

there is a big student and IT 

business to the Silicon Valley, 

“What is equally important is 

that premium travelers head to 

expanding internationally. Quite 

rightly so as five A-330s can’t take 

the carrier too far- given that one 

A-330 recently was on ground. 

There might be some method 

to the madness. Cutting domestic 

fleet will also mean a reduction 

in KFAs already diminutive 

international operations. DGCA 

stipulates the percentage of international 

flights needs to have 

a certain balance with domestic 

flights. However, with KFA 

joining the OneWorld Alliance, 

it may not be long before the carrier 

uses its international partners 

like AA, FinnAir and BA 

on international routes and connects 

their passengers to domestic 

and South Asian routes like 

Male and Dacca. 

“High value passengers do not 

want to fly on a budget carrier 

especially when their full fare on 

the sector is for the front end. By 

KFA turning full service, this will 

fill the void,” says an official. 

San Francisco International 

Airport woos Jet Airways 

by Neelam mathews 

SFO,” Bender said. 

Does the airport have slots? 

“They are available tomorrow,” 

says Bender. 

Jet’s starting the service 

would however depend on 

whether its B-777 could make 

the range and the availability of 

long range aircraft. 

Jet Airways had started daily 

services on its new 777-300ER 

aircraft from Mumbai to San 

Francisco via Shanghai in June 

2008, but withdrew six months 

later. The flight became the airline’s 

fourth daily departure 

from India to North America, 

following launch of its services 

to New York’s JFK and Newark 

airports, and Toronto Pearson 

International Airport. 

Kingfisher Airlines announcement 

of the first direct international 

flight from Bangalore 

to San Francisco from Aug 27, 

2008, never took off. “We had also 

planned to meet Kingfisher, but 

due to their unavailability, we will 

be meeting them at the Routes 

forum in Berlin,” said Bender. 

Interestingly, Kingfisher had 

already started building its first 

class lounge in SFO in 2008 and 

when it withdrew, it was taken 

over by Emirates. 

Presently carriers such as 

Emirates, Cathay and Lufthansa 

primarily carry Indians to the 

west coast.

eveNTs 

TTF fuels demand for 

Diwali and winter 

vacations in lucrative 

Western India markets 

The back-to-back series of TTF 

Ahmedabad, Surat and Mumbai 

in August-September showed 

impressive growth with housefull 

shows in all the three cities. 

The series provided a lucrative 

platform for over 500 national 

and international travel 

organisations from 30 states and 

10 countries to tap the Diwali 

and winter vacation season in 

the lucrative and high-potential 

Western India markets which 

is arguably the biggest in the 

country. TTF Ahmedabad 

w it n e s s e d a n i mp r e s s ive 

growth of 30% in the number 

of exhibitors, while Surat, 

limited by the space available 

in the venue, had 10% more 

participants. The first TTF 

Mumbai Diwali edition was 

sold out much before the 

event, establishing the 

importance of the second 

season, and reinforcing 

Mumbai as the country’s 

premier travel market. 

TTF Ahmedabad and Surat 

witnessed an average 20% 

increase in the number of 

visitors. TTF Mumbai, which 

was expected to be largely a 

consumer event, focused on 

retailing for the forthcoming 

v a c a t i o n s , r e c e ive d a n 

overwhelming response from 

the travel trade visitors, who 

constituted over 50% of 

the turnout.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 eveNTs 29 

Photo Album

30 eveNTs November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST 

Photo Album

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 eveNTs 31 

India was treated to a delectable 

fare of Czech cuisine with the 

first Czech food festival held at 

the Lalit New Delhi from October 

11-16. Award winning chefs from 

the national team of the Czech 

Chefs Association were flown to 

New Delhi to prepare traditional 

Czech dishes. The team included 

Chef Jan Horký, from the Golden 

Prague Restaurant in the Hotel 

InterContinental, and Chef Marek 

Svoboda from Gastro Studio. 

People savoured a taste of the 

famous Czech Beer as the festival 

presented brands like Budweiser, 

Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen, 

Czech wines and other typical 

products from pastries, cheeses 

and many others. Earlier, the 

Czech Design and Fashion Show 

organised in India in May 2011 was 

a great success. These initiatives 

are part of the Czech Republic’s 

Pata Travel Mart 2011 

First Czech food 

festival in India 

endeavours to showcase its cultural 

heritage, cuisine, fashion and 

lifestyle to the Indian people. The 

event was complemented by a special 

performance of the Czech folklore 

music. There were also attractive 

prizes on offer with SOTC, a 

partner organisation of the festival, 

awarding a trip to the Czech 

Republic’s capital, Prague. 

“I would like Indians to know 

how diverse Czech cuisine is, 

just like the country itself. Czech 

Republic is very well known for 

its cultural heritage and Prague 

of course is one of the most visited 

place in our country. But we 

would like to show as well new 

modern aspects such as cuisine, 

fashion and lifestyle to Indian 

public and to make them aware of 

the variety our country can offer.” 

said Radka Neumannova, Director 

of the CzechTourism in India.

Crouching Tiger, Roaring Dragon: - Travel News Digest

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