Crouching Tiger, Roaring Dragon: - Travel News Digest

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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.
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Crouching Tiger, Roaring Dragon: - Travel News Digest

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