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` 50/-A DDP PUBLICATION Pages: 44+ Supplement of 6 pagesVol. XXIV No. 2; January 2nd fortnight issue 2012

MOT gears upfor Clean India

See full story on page 3

See full story on page 32

11 new airports& 26 new helipads inGujarat

In a recent meeting with tour operators,Subodh Kant Sahai, Union

Minister for Tourism said,

“Government hasembarked upon thepolicy of developingintegrated invest-ment plans for keycircuits and destina-tions in states.”

These investmentplans will identify compo-nents requiring investmentsthrough Government ofIndia, state governments,Public Private Partnership(PPP) and private sector. Anoperator who attended themeeting disclosed to that while assuring full support to the minister forhis credible plans for thesector, they, in turn, asked for the urgent curative measures to sustain

the industry. One of thepoints raised was that boththe state as well as uniongovernment were discrimi-nately taxing the industryand if not taken care of willlead to the classic case ofkilling the goose that laidgolden egg.

Another issue wasregarding Market Develop-ment Assistance, with theoperators asking for the gov-ernment to be proactive by

encouraging and supportingthose who were availing thisscheme. Problems prevailingAir India was a concern forthe operators. Their argu-ment was even if they sup-plied their clients with tick-ets on the national carrier,the lack of tie-ups withother carriers, since AirIndia has limited connectiv-ity, hampered streamliningof journeys across multipledestinations.

The Minister was patient while hearing the issues being faced by the industryand assured of mechanism to rectify the issues in order to yield more visitors.

JU S T I N TH O M AS

Sahai deals with ‘burning issues’

Subodh Kant Sahai Union Minister for Tourism

Recognising India’sgrowing prominenceas tourism source

market and a need to createa representative trade bodythat can effectively addressvarious issues concerning the

outbound trade and furthercontribute to the sector’sgrowth, the outbound travelfraternity in India haslaunched Outbound TourOperators Association ofIndia (OTOAI). TheAssociation will take it uponitself to provide support for

its members from knowledgebuilding, training and inno-vation to setting the highest

standards of ethics and pro-fessionalism in the industryand its management. It will

also promote entrepreneur-ship and collaboration with

Outbound Tour Operators Associationof India (OTOAI), the new association’score objective lies in ensuring ethics andprofessionalism in the outbound trade.

SH AYA N MA L L I C K

Finally, a much needed association

Contd. on page 6

Contd. on page 14

(L-R): Gopal, Munshi, Sahni, Bhalla, Sabharwal

FINAL FILE January_2nd-2012:TT Layout 1/16/2012 4:41 PM Page 1


BULLETIN

In an offensive to improvehygiene and cleanliness

standards across country,Ministry of Tourism organ-ised a workshop called‘Campaign Clean India’,which brought together indi-viduals and institutions rep-resenting varied interests.The workshop hoped to seethe emergence of actiongroups, each with a clearfunctional mandate. An inde-pendent study, conducted atfive tourist destinations, hascategorised hygiene and san-itation conditions, solidwaste management and pro-vision of hygienically main-

tained public amenities highin importance but low in sat-isfaction. The Campaign willbe expected to correct theseweaknesses.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Subodh Kant Sahai,Union Minister for Tourismsaid, “The success ofCampaign may well decide ifthe targetted growth specificto tourism would beachieved.” The TourismMinister informed the gath-ering that his Ministry willfinalise and plan the cam-paign strategy, incorporatingthe workshop recommenda-tions, by March 31, 2012.

Connecting cleanliness with increas-ing tourist arrivals, Tourism ministryhas opened a new revolutionary frontwhich could cause a ripple effect onthe travel industry in India.

TT BU R E AU

MOT gears up for Clean India

APJ Abdul Kalam Former PresidentIndia


RH KhwajaSecretary Ministry of Tourism, GOI

Anand KumarJoint SecretaryMinistry of Tourism

Contd. on page 6


STATISTICS

VIEWPOINT

Egencia, an Expedia Inc. company, recently

unveiled its 2012 CorporateTravel Forecast and HotelNegotiability Index, findingthat airline average ticketprices (ATPs) and hotel aver-age daily rates (ADRs) for top

corporate travel destinationswill be slightly up overall inNorth America and Europe,with the most significantincreases to occur in the AsiaPacific region.

Egencia’s HotelNegotiability Index also sug-gests that corporations willcontinue to face a weak tomoderate negotiating envi-ronment in 2012 across theAsia Pacific region.

The hotel environmentcontinues to show signs ofyear-on-year growth relativeto increased corporatedemand, resulting inimproved hotel occupancyworldwide. In key destina-tions for 2012, Egencia fore-casts average daily rateincreases in:

Asia Pacific (up 7%) North America (up 5%) Europe (up 2%)

Talking about the fore-cast, Gaurav Sundaram,Country Director EgenciaIndia, said, “We are predict-ing India will offer a diversecorporate travel landscapenext year. In India we willcontinue to see overallgrowth of the corporate trav-el market as a response to theAsia Pacific growth rates,ATPs are increasing in con-trast to decreasing ADRs.”

He added, “In this com-plex travel landscape, wework with our clients toensure that they are wellinformed and are leveragingthe right tools and technolo-gies to optimise their travelprogrammes and attain max-imum cost control.”

APAC outlook ATPs for Asia Pacific are

likely to increase in almostevery destination weanalysed, signifying growthfor the region. Rising demandand prices in business travelcorrespond with Asia PacificGDP growth expected toaverage four per cent, exceptfor China and India which areexpected to grow nine percent and 7.5 per cent respec-tively according to the IMFWorld Economic OutlookDatabase. India’s top busi-ness hubs of Delhi andMumbai have increased sig-nificantly in comparison tothe rest of the region at eightper cent and 11 per centrespectively.

Travel ManagementTrends

Egencia surveyed morethan 250 travel buyers in theAsia Pacific, North Americaand Europe regarding costcontrol measures, travelspend, technology trends and

expectations for 2012.According to survey respon-dents, 40 per cent of buyershave slightly or significantlyincreased travel over the last6 months, compared with

just one third of buyers lastyear signalling a continuedrise in the overall traveldemand.

Mobile Mobile devices are

becoming increasingly impor-tant to today’s travel man-

agers, with 70 per cent ofrespondents saying thatmobile devices/ functionali-ties are moderately importantto very important to theirtravel programmes.

"With over 5 millionnew subscribers a month inIndia for smart-phones, weunderstand the needs of thebusiness traveller haveevolved. The release ofEgencia Mobile for the iPhonewill deliver global best inclass experience and technol-ogy solutions to Egenciaclients in India. This will soonbe extended to all othersmart phone platforms like Android, Blackberry & others," said GauravSundaram, Country Director,Egencia India.

Social Media While mobile device

use continues to gain popularity among travelmanagers and their trav-ellers, social media appears to be a lesser priority with 71 per cent oftravel managers saying theydo not use social media toolsto communicate with theirtravellers. This number isanticipated to decrease asmobile and social mediacontinue to become increas-ingly symbiotic.

The Egencia report predicts growth of six per cent in the Asia Pacific corporate travel market in 2012. Also, the Indian average ticket prices are expected to increase while average daily hotel rates will come down tocertain extent. gives details on the growth trends of corporate world.

TT BUREAU

APAC corporate travel to pick up

The Global Hygiene Council-anindependent body comprising experts

in the field of hygiene and medicine-in astudy has ranked India at the bottom ofthe hygiene chart. Compared to the world average of 70 per cent dirt level,India notched up a shameful 95 per centin dirt and filth.

Today’s modern industrialised society,which is getting obsessive about bothpersonal and public hygiene, will view such reports very seriously. In the present context, such negative reports result in bad publicity for India asa travel destination.

Ministry of Tourism has, since 2004-05,made a laudable effort in its campaign tosensitise both stakeholders as well as thegeneral public towards their civicresponsibility. In 2010-11, MOT along withthe actor Aamir Khan, produced televisionand radio commercials on cleanliness andcivic responsibilities. The Ministry ofTourism’s Clean India Campaign is abrilliant initiative that should getwholehearted support from the travel andhospitality industry, and the travel media.

The campaign that kicked off on April1 this year should become more than justa social awareness campaign. Thecampaign ought to persuade theGovernment/Parliament to bring inlegislation that this country will not acceptanything unclean. India has a dubiousdistinction of being a ‘mature’ democracyand therefore this large populace willresent anything that is asked of them. Yetthis mature democracy learnt to wear seatbelts and helmets. Not by cajoling but bybeing fined. This probably seems to be theonly workable solution. Singapore is aclassic example where public hygiene wasbrought in as law and that law wassincerely enforced.

According to a WHO report, 1.1 millionlitres of raw sewage is dumped into theGanges every minute. Who can stop this- social awareness, media persuasion oradministrative machinery? A combinationof all three!

A close look at filthy facts

Average Ticket PricesCharts below illustrate projected year-over-year 2012 versus 2011 ATP andadvanced purchase projections in thelocal currency in selected businesstravel destinations around the world forAsia Pacific points of sale.

Market ATP Advance2012 Purchase

Saving 22 days

Bangkok 11% 7% Beijing 9% 20% Delhi 8% 13% Hong Kong 6% 14% Jakarta 15% 3% Manila 4% 4% Melbourne 2% 18% Mumbai 13% 18% Seoul -4% 14% Shanghai 2% 19% Singapore 9% 8% Sydney 0% 11% Taipei 3% 11% Tokyo 3% 13% London 10% 2% Los Angeles 8% 11% New York 10% 9% Paris 7% 5% San Francisco 4% 10%

We arepredicting India will offer a diversecorporate travellandscape nextyear. In India wewill continue to see overallgrowth of thecorporate travel market

Gaurav SundaramCountry Director Egencia India

(ATPs) and hotel averagedaily rates (ADRs) for topcorporate traveldestinations will be slightlyup overall in Nor thAmerica and Europe, withthe most significantincreases to occur in theAsia Pacific region

The hotel environmentcontinues to show signsof year-on-year growthrelative to increasedcorporate demand,resulting in improved hoteloccupancy worldwide

India’s top business hubsof Delhi and Mumbai haveincreased significantly incomparison to the rest ofthe region at eight per centand 11 per centrespectively

Trends

Slightly to moderatelyup (6%) in Asia Pacificdestinations

Slightly up (4%) inNorth American destinations

Slightly up (4%) inEuropean travel destinations

Based on Egencia’s 2012 GlobalCorporate Travel Forecast, ATPsoverall for corporate travellers to topbusiness travel destinations areexpected to be:

Growth in ATPs

Check flight status(77%)

Online check-in(77%)

Urgent destination/flight alerts (60%)

Review latest itinerary (59%)

Respondents identified the followingas the most important uses for mobiletechnology during business travel.

On Finger Tips

TRAVTALK is a publication of Durga Das Publications Private Limited. All information in TRAVTALK is derived from sources, which we consider reliable and a sincere effort is made to report accurate information. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. The publisher regret that he cannot accept liability for errors and omissions contained in this publica-tion, however caused. Similarly, opinions/views expressed by thirdparties in abstract and/or in interviews are not necessarily shared by TRAVTALK. However, we wish to advice our readers that one or more recognised authorities may hold different views than those reported. Material used in this publication is intended for information purpose only. Readers are advised to seek specific

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India will have a large con-tingent exhibiting at FITUR

this year. India Tourism hastaken large space to promotevarious niche Indian productsand destinations. Besides,State Tourism Boards likeKerala and Karnataka willalso be exhibiting separately.Industry body FIEO(Federation of Indian ExportOrganisations), set up byMinistry of Commerce,Government of India, is alsotaking part in show. The totalIndian presence will bespread over close to 700square metres.

Several first timeexhibitors including India Insight Tours, AtithiVoyages, MRS Hospitality areparticipating to showcasetheir products to potentialbuyers. Prominent names likeTravelite, Caper Travel, Indo Asian Tours, LPTI, Minar, Somatheeram, TravelCorporation India among others will also showcase atthe exhibition.

FITUR, theInternational Tourism TradeFair, which will take placefrom January 18-22, 2012,aims to serve, now more thanever, as an effective tool forthe tourist industry. With thisobjective in mind, the fair'sorganisers have strengthenedtheir initiatives aimed at promoting meetings betweenprofessionals, effectively creating synergies that are likely to open up newbusiness opportunities.

Among these initiatives,the fair will stage the secondedition of the FITURWorkshop, where profession-als from all over the worldwho have been invited to thefair through the ForeignBuyers Programme can holdB2B meetings with theexhibitors at the fair itself.This year, in order to adapt tothe interests of the partici-pants even more closely, itwill be the exhibitors them-selves that choose the buyerswho are invited to the fair.This guarantees a highdegree of interest in the cor-responding interviews and,in turn, the potential for busi-ness at these meetings.

Also with a view to pro-viding a boost for the touristindustry, FITUR 2012 willhost the staging of aBrokerage Event, which aims,among other objectives, tocreate new opportunities tofind trade and technologypartners throughout Europe,to facilitate the exchange ofexperiences with other com-panies from the international

market, and to open up new opportunities for marketing products, servicesand technologies linked tothe field of tourism.

Focussing on areas ofgreatest potential

In addition, at its year2012 edition, FITUR will seekto highlight one of the busi-ness segments of greatestpotential within the market:LGBT. Following the excellentresults achieved at the first

edition, the fair aims to raisethe profile of this segment,boosting the participation ofcompanies and destinationsthat specialise in the LGBTsegment. The fair will alsostrengthen the conferencesaimed at professionals whoare interested in reachingthis sector of society.

Another aspect is thatthe fair will continue tostrengthen and promote thesustainability of the touristestablishments. In this case,,FITUR GREEN, which is organ-ised by the fair in conjunctionwith the Hotel IndustryTechnological Institute (ITH),will stage its third edition in

2012, introducing profession-als to the latest-generationsolutions and to the companiesthat are able to help them setup tourism models that are more eco-friendly. For thesecond consecutive year,FITUR will also provide thestaging of the NationalCongress on the Managementof Travel Companies, an eventorganised by the IberianAssociation of Travel CompanyManagers (IBTA).

The fair will strengthen its initiatives aimed at opening up new trade opportunities for participants. The event is scheduled from January 18-22, 2012 in Madrid, Spain.

TT BU R E AU

India to have a large contingent exhibiting at FITUR

EXHIBITIONS J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 5


MOT

The implementation will startfrom April 1, 2012.

“Clean environmentempowers societies.Involvement of students inlarge numbers in prevention

of indiscriminate dumpingand better location of garbagecollection points is impera-tive”, remarked formerPresident APJ Abdul Kalamwhile inaugurating the work-

shop. Former Union Ministerand former Member ofParliament Shatrughan Sinhaand noted cine actor fromSouth, Chiranjivi in theiraddress offered their whole-hearted support to the cam-paign. The ‘Campaign Clean

India’ is aimed to undertakeboth sensitisation and action at field level on bring-ing our tourism destinationsand their surroundings to an acceptable level of clean-

liness and hygiene. Theobjective is also to ensurethat these levels are sustained through ownershipand involvement of private and public sectorstakeholders. The campaignwill be part of Government’s

strategy of the 12th five-yearplan for improving the quality of services and environs in and aroundtourist destinations across India.

Joining hands for clean jobContd. from page 3

stakeholders like NationalTourist Offices (NTO) andDestination ManagementCompanies (DMC).

A registered body,OTOAI has been established

as a not-for-profit organisa-tion that will safeguard theinterest of India’s outboundtrade, the overseas suppliersas well as the end-con-sumers. The organisationalso aims to improve trans-parency, conduct educationprogramme on new tourismproducts and destinationsand will work in close asso-

ciation with various NTOspresent in the country. TheAssociation will take mem-bers under various cate-gories including Active,Allied, Honorary, NTO andOverseas Suppliers.

Introducing the newtrade association at a functionheld in Le Meridien NewDelhi, Guldeep Singh Sahni,President, OTOAI said,“Bringing ethics and stan-dards will be at the core ofOTOAI existence while theassociation marches forwardto bring together India’s out-bound trade on a single uni-fied platform, under the aegisof OTOAI. The Associationwill work towards the welfareof India’s outbound trade andrestore confidence of ouroverseas suppliers as well astravellers in the Indian travelprofessionals. Arbitration for both, OTOAI membersand the customers, will be one of our key functions.We will also closely engagewith the industry stakehold-ers like NTOs towards achiev-ing our objective.”

OTOAI has also laiddown special focus on arbitra-tion for both customers and itsmembers. The ArbitrationCommittee will deal with allcases in a fair and just mannerand the ruling passed thereafter will be final forboth parties involved, whether it is an issue for aninternational supplier, a cus-tomer or its member.

The trade body is built onthe belief that the travel indus-try should be equitable, freeand efficient giving everystakeholder the chance to earna fair return, while ensuringcustomers take precedenceover other industry partici-pants. It will also work towardscreating jobs for the weaker

section and promote ‘Greenand Sustainable Tourism’.

OTOAI for outbound’s growthContd. from page 1

Guldeep Singh SahniPresident

Riaz MunshiVice President

Shravan BhallaGeneral Secretary

Vineet GopalJoint Secretary

Rajeev SabharwalTreasurer

Executive Committee

Sumanth KapoorTravel EngineersChandigarh

Ranjana SharmaTrav & ToursInternationalGurgaon

Himanshu Patil Kesari ToursMumbai

Narinder Pal SinghMarwahMarwah Tours &Travels Nagpur

Mahendra VakhariaPathfinders HolidaysAhmedabad

Sajjan Kumar GuptaVayusevaKolkata

Manish KirplaniBaywatch TravelsChennai

Other Pan-IndiaFounder Members

Lamp lighting ceremony at Clean India Campaign

Gurdeep Gujral, Director, Gujral Tours &Travels has been appointedas Head Chapters.

Sidharth Khanna, CEO, Khanna Enterprises willhold the office of Head IT.



HOTELS8 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 2

The newest addition inthe ibis portfolio of the

hospitality chain Accor isthe ibis Bengaluru Techpark.Not only it is the fourth ibis

in India, but it also forms apart of the first combo prop-erty of Accor in the country.Talking about this comboproperty, Philip Logan,General Manager Delegate,

Bangalore Hotels, Accor-India, elucidates, “The hotelwill share the property with Novotel BengaluruTechpark.

The combinationproduct provides a complete business solution with both, the best valueinternational hotel(ibis BengaluruTechpark) in themid-scale hotelspace, and, an up-market business hotel(Novotel BengaluruTechpark), designed for the discerning business travellers.”

The hotel is cashing inon the prime location in theIT hub. Regarding the clien-tele target in the hotel,Logan says, “In India, ibis ispopular with global multina-tional companies and localsalike. Considering the loca-tion of the 332-room ibisBengaluru, our clientelewould obviously compriselargely of the corporates.”

According to Logan,leisure travel does exist in theBeng aluru market but it isoften merged with business-related events. He feels, “Morethan 90 per cent of the city’sinbound travel is from the cor-

porate market. Ibis operates in900 locations worldwide andis extremely popular with bothdomestic and internationaltravellers alike. In ibisBengaluru Techpark, morethan 65 per cent of travel isfrom the domestic audience.”

Capitalising on the grow-ing demand in the Bengaluruhospitality market, the brandwill open two more ibis prop-erties in the city in the nearfuture. Logan reveals, “ibisBengaluru Hosur Road is oursecond property that will opennext year. It is an owned andmanaged property featuring185 guest rooms. This proper-ty has three floors for commer-cial space and all rooms havea superior city view. Also, weexpect our third property, ibisBengaluru City Centre to openby mid-2013. It will feature165 guest rooms and willshowcase a mix of commercialoffice and retail space.”

The fourth ibis property in India is the first combo property of Accor in thecountry. The hotel will share the property with Novotel Bengaluru Techpark.

ME G H A PAU L

Budget or Luxury, take your pickwith ibis or Novotel in Bengaluru

Philip LoganGeneral Manager DelegateBangalore Hotels, Accor-India

Sinclairs Hotel & Resortsprovides the perfect mix of business and pleasure. Aconference and businesscentre of unbeatable standards, it also offers awhole range of value added services.

Nestled close to the legendary Mahananda Riverand surrounded by lushgreenery, Hotel SinclairsSiliguri is an ideal destina-tion for both business andpleasure. A grand address tothe town of Siliguri, HotelSinclairs is renowned forprofessional and attentiveservice. Palm fronds againstits giant ochre columns,adds to the beauty of the luxurious hotel. Thewell-appointed rooms andsuites are equipped withmodern facilities.

Sinclairs Siliguri is anexcellent corporate venue forproduct launches, dealermeets, media conferences,board meetings, doctors’meetings and medical repre-sentive meetings. The excel-lent, well furnished and airconditioned banquet halls aresure to make your meetingsa complete success.

‘The Emperor’ is a taste-fully decorated luxuriousboard room with exquisitefurniture, perfect for hostingsmall meetings up to 16 peo-ple. The ‘Summit’ is a stylish,yet striking banquet hall,designed to hold up to 30people and is ideal for train-ing sessions and small get-togethers. Rich in ambience,‘The Regency’ is a medium-size conference hall that canaccommodate up to 60 peo-ple. ‘The Heritage’ is a largepillar-less conference venueoverlooking a well-tendedgarden covering an area of30,000 square feet. It canhold up to 200 people and isperfect for major conferences,conventions, seminars, prod-uct launches, roadshows, din-ner functions and weddingparties. The elegantlydesigned ‘Durbar’ is a newconference hall with an open-air terrace, an ideal venue forlarge get-togethers, weddingfunctions and parties.

Only 90-minutes by road from Sinclairs Siliguriwill take you to SinclairsRetreat Dooars, a destina-tion with unmatched natural beauty.

Business Meets andConferences in style

The brand will open two more ibis propertiesin the city. The thirdproper ty, ibis BengaluruCity Centre to open bymid-2013

Expansion



HOTELS1 0 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 2

Zuri Hotels and Resortshave sold one of its Goa

properties ‘The Retreat, ByZuri, Goa’. The final details ofthe deal are in process andMahindra Holiday andResorts India (MHRIL) is taking over the propertystarting January 2012.

The 106-room propertywith Portuguese structure andset-up has been sold at awhopping ̀ 112 crore estimat-ed. Talking about the plannedand strategic decision madeby the Zuri Group Global,Bobby Kamani, ManagingDirector, Zuri Group Globalinformed, “The primary rea-son is the over-exposure of two Zuri properties in Goa. It was quite an interest-ing deal that Mahindra madeus for ‘The Retreat’ and itworks in our benefit.”

The decision taken willhelp reduce debt and com-pletely refurbish Zuri’s other

37-acre property in Goa.More investments will bepumped in to further expandthe hospitality basket under

the Zuri Group Global. PritiChand, Vice President-CorpComm and PR, Zuri Group,revealed, “We will utilise themoney for the renovation ofThe Zuri Whitesands, GoaResort and Casino and alsoour Kumarakom property.”

After Gurgaon, the cam-paign was showcased in

Ludhiana from December 23-25 and from December 31to January 1, 2012, the event will take place in Dehradun.

The campaign plans to go to other major cities across thecountry including Kochi,Thiruvananthapuram,Madurai, Mysore, Coimbatore, Baroda,Bhopal, Indore, Ahmedabad,Surat, Kolkata, Gandhinagar,Bharoach, Nagpur, Jalgaon,Rajkot and Chandigarh. Also, the event will take place in Mumbai twice.

The 106-room property with Portuguese structureand set-up has been sold at a whopping ` 112 crore to Mahindra Holiday and Resorts India.

TT BU R E AU

Zuri’s farewell to Goa hotel

Bobby KamaniManaging DirectorZuri Group Global

Priti ChandVice President-Corp Comm and PR, Zuri Group

Following the initial suc-cess of Hotel Excellence

programme by The MarriottHotels along with KuoniAcademy, the hotel group isnow planning to roll out‘Meetings Excellence byMarriott’ in India. RameshDaryanani, Regional Director,Global Sales, MarriottInternational informed, “TheMeetings Excellence pro-gramme has been operationalglobally for 2-3 years now andso far 6 lakh candidates havegraduated in this course. Wewish to start it here in Indiatoo, which addresses MICEindustry concerns. Also, this kind of course wouldallow students to be betterequipped for the travel tradeindustry to utilise their freshapproach for sales.”

Earlier, along with KuoniAcademy, the hotel grouplaunched Hotel Excellenceprogramme in August 2011for undergraduates and even

working professionals whowish to pursue career in sales.Daryanani said, “There is aninterest for these courses andwe wish to take it a step fur-ther. Next year, we expect3,000 students successfullycompleting the programme sothat our travel trade could hirequality work force. We awardsuccessful candidates with‘Hotel Sales Specialist Certifiedby Marriott’.” KapilSrivastava, Regional Head(North & East), Kuoni

Academy said, “A majority oftravel course content focus onticketing and other travelrelated packages, etc. With thisprogramme, a candidate getsa holistic viewpoint on travelincluding hotels and is wellversed with terminologies thatare needed for successful salesagents.” Initially launched asa pilot project in one centre inDelhi, Hotel Excellence pro-gramme will now be extendedto all other Kuoni Academycentres across the country.

The Marriott Hotels plans to roll out the MeetingsExcellence programme in India, which will addresstravel agents’ and operators’ search for fresh talent.

SA N J E E V BH A R

‘Meetings Excellence’ by Marriott

Ramesh DaryananiRegional Director, Global SalesMarriott International

Kapil SrivastavaRegional Head (North & East)Kuoni Academy



HOTELS1 2 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 2

India’s is a land of attrac-tions, sports and festivals.

And probably Lalit Hotels,touted to be largest privatelyowned hotel chain in India,realises it better than themost as the hotel chain givesequal priority to developingdestinations and its proper-ties. The hotel chain todayoperates 8 properties includ-ing 5 in leisure destinationswhere it is engaged in desti-nation development andbranding activities through ahost of initiatives.

Today Lalit Hotels is notjust promoting its propertiesbut is also helping revivesome gradually dying sports,creating new products as wellas helping promote the des-tination like in Drass,Srinagar, Goa, Bekal andKhajuraho. “These initiativeshelp in changing the percep-tion of the destination and

gives more visibility andeventually helps the destina-tions,” says Malhotra.

The Company recentlyorganised its first LalitShikarathon on Dal Lake inKashmir to celebrate 100 yearsof celebrations of The LalitGrand Palace Srinagar. “TheLalit Suri Polo at Drass inKashmir is another annual pro-gramme that is not only reviv-ing the game in the region but

is also helping in popularisingthe destination,” he said.

Khajuraho, home tocompany’s another property,‘The Lalit Temple ViewKhajuraho’, also witnesses acouple of annual event organ-ised by the Lalit Hotels.“Khajuraho is a great place forcultural experiences combinedwith wildlife safari. We do sev-eral activities there including‘Shiv Vivah’ which is a fullnight opera that brings togeth-er a multitude of artists from all over the country per-forming throughout the night.Lalit Art Festival is anotheractivity that we do inKhajuraho,” he informed.

Lalit will organise ‘TheLalit Utsav 2012 – a culturalfest to promote art and cul-ture in Bekal, Kerala. Besidesthat it also organises itsannual ‘The Lalit KabbaddiTournament’ in Bekal. In Goa,the company organises, ‘TheLalit Suri Cycle Polo.’

The hotel chain has adopted the philosophy of developing destination through innovative initiatives andsports. Samil Malhotra, VP, Sales & Marketing, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, shares details with .


Lalit ‘develops’ destinations

Samil MalhotraVice President, Sales & MarketingThe Lalit Suri Hospitality Group

Lalit’s centenary celebrationsTo celebrate the centenary anniversary year of The Lalit Grand PalaceSrinagar, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group organised the screening of‘Valley of Legends’ at The Lalit New Delhi on December 7, 2011. Themovie showcased beautiful memories of noted celebrities (from MumbaiFilm Industry & Politics) associated with Srinagar. Conceptualised by Dr.Jyotsna Suri, CMD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, the movie is an ini-tiative to bring back the charm of the valley, to revive old memories andstrengthen its association with the Hindi Film Industry.



Visa woes continue toevolve even after the onlineforms were available. Theseinclude the availability of formsin English language only. Thisbecomes a barrier for thosefrom certain European, East

Asian and Arab countries.Putting irrelevant questions onthe visa form is another issue.Strangely the form asks a spe-cial size of photo which is notavailable in a normal kiosk.Applicants have to specially goto Indian consulate or embassy

to get their picture clicked and they are charged US$ 15.More importantly for agents,group visa bookings can’t bedone online, hence it waspointed out to the minister that the country was losing out on visitors.

The group requested theminister to facilitate visits offoreign tour operators to Indiaso that local partnerships couldbe easily forged. They addedthat this process should bereciprocated by arrangingmore roadshows abroad.

Travel Agents & Sahai meetingContd. from page 1

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As the 7th biggest touristrecipient destination,

Turkey is being increasinglyrecognised as the tourismsource market.

The recently concluded‘Travel Turkey Izmir 2011’was a testimony to the obvi-ous stated above. Thetourism mart has grown fromits first edition that wasspread just over 500 sqm tomore than 10,500 sqm ofspace in the recently conclud-ed edition last month in

Izmir, Turkey’s third largestcity. The fair recoded a 10%growth in exhibitors’ partic-ipation over the previousyear. In 2010, 585 companiesfrom 17 countries had partic-ipated in the fair and the fairwas visited by close to 16000people from 30 countries.

Travel Turkey Izmir –the 5th Tourism Fair and

Conference is organised incooperation with Izmir FairServices Culture and Art Affairs Trade Inc. (IZFAS), Hannover MesseInternational Istanbul andATTA (TÜRSAB). The first 2 days were strictly B2B while in remaining two days the show welcomedthe consumers.

A total of 638 exhibitorsincluding 19 countries, DMC,Tour Operators and TravelAgents, Hotels, Transporters

and other tourism serviceproviders came to showcasetheir range of products to thepotential buyers from Turkeyand 12 other countries. Theevent had also speciallyinvited 70 international host-ed buyers. The fair attracted78 international exhibitors.The exhibition hostedHolland as the partner coun-

try, Greece as the honourguest country and Kutahya asthe partner city.

The 4-day fair was vis-ited by more than 20,000buyers including trade andconsumers from 33 countries.

Talking to ,Alexander Kuhnel, GeneralManager, Hannover MesseInternational Istanbul, said,“Travel Turkey Izmir providesa great platform to destina-tions and other tourism serv-ice providers and suppliers topromote themselves. Theshow this year has a veryhealthy mix of national andinternational buyers. Wehave 70 hosted internationalbuyers apart from non-hostedbuyers.”

Ufuk Altintop, DeputyGeneral Manager, HannoverMesse InternationalIstanbul, said, “We wouldlike to increase the number

of international exhibitors tothe show in the comingyears. The mart has come toa level where it can attractincreasing number ofexhibitors in the comingyears.”

Speaking at the fair,Ertuğrul GÜNAY, TurkishTourism Minister of Culture& Tourism, said that with theeconomic crisis looming largeover Europe, Turkey foreseesa difficult 2012.

“The tourism sector willhelp the country sail throughthe difficult phase with rela-tive ease. The sector is drivenby the private players and fairlike Travel Turkey Izmir willhave a major role to play,” Healso said that there is need toincrease flights and connec-tivity within and outside thecountry and products likecruise tours and air fair needsto be cheaper.

The event attracted record visitors which included over 20,000 from the travel trade and general visitors from 33 countries shopping for tourism products from 19 countries, besides Turkey.

SH AYA N MA L L I C K I N IZ M I R , TU R K E Y

‘Travel Turkey Izmir 2011’ 1 event, many destinations

Alexander KuhnelGeneral ManagerDeutsche Messe Worldwide

Ufuk AltintopDeputy General ManagerDeutsche Messe Worldwide

Turkish sponsor hosted buyersTurkish Airlines, the airline

sponsor for ‘Travel Turkey Izmir’hosted 70 specially invited guestsfrom 12 countries that includedtrade and media. The exhibitorshad face-to-face meetings withthe trade buyers in the B2BPavilion. Also the internationalbuyer delegates had the chanceof visiting Istanbul and Izmir andthe historical areas like theEphesus and Virgin Mary.

Adnan AykacGeneral Manager – Northern &Eastern India, Turkish Airlines

Talking to on thesidelines of the recently con-cluded ‘Travel Turkey Izmir,’the Turkish Minister ofTourism & Culture, ErtuğrulGÜNAY said, “We are alsoaggressively looking at devel-oping newer markets likeIndia, China and otheremerging economies byengaging in various activitieslike cultural shows, cinemafestivals and other initia-tives.” The Minister said that

India will play a key role indriving future growth ofTurkish tourism. He informedthat his Ministry is planningstudy visits, various culturalshows and other marketdevelopment initiatives inIndia in 2012. “Turkey has arich culture and culinary. Wehave ancient sites of touristinterests which are connectedto Roman, Greek, Persian,Ottoman and Seljuk dynas-ties,” he said.

‘India key to drive futuretourism growth’




ANALYSIS

India is slowly catching upwith the lesbian, gay,

bisexual and transgender(LGBT) travel radar as a pre-ferred destination. This wasreflected in the recently con-cluded first Asian symposiumon gay and lesbian tourism inNew Delhi organised byCommunity Marketing, a US-based LGBT market researchcompany. As travel agentsare now exploring moreopportunities to provide cus-tom-made holidays for theLGBT segment to garnermore revenues, the B2Bevent brought together about75 tour and hotel operatorsin India.

Talking about this lucra-tive and expanding marketfor the travel agents,Abhinav Goel, Founder, OutJourneys, a gay and lesbiantour operator in India and one

of the sponsors of the sympo-sium said, “Now more privatesector travel providers wantto capture this market. It is not rocket science to begay-friendly but it is not thateasy as well. Hence, the idea was to create a platformfor tour operators to send out a message to the world-

wide community that we aregay-friendly.”

According to Goel, thegrowth potential for gaytourists is so high that it hasattracted even establishedplayers like Sita, ThomasCook and Cox & Kings to theemerging travel segment. Tocash in on this segment, thetour operator will introducepackages for GITs and fixedscheduled departures thisyear. “Last year, we only didFITs. Looking at the increas-ing demand, we will unveilGIT and fixed departures thisyear,” he said.

Regarding the challengefaced by tour operators toexplore this segment, he con-fessed, “Tour operators facehurdles in terms of providingsensitivity training to theirvendors, including drivers,tour guides and hotel staff.”One of the biggest areas thatthe symposium addressed

was training the hotel andtour personnel to be moreaccepting and less discrimi-natory. For instance, the wordqueer is acceptable in Indiabut shunned in many othercountries. “And you don’t calla same-sex couple ‘friends’.You call them ‘partners’.Besides, the general attitude

needs to change over time,”he added.

International Gay &Lesbian Travel Association(IGLTA), a UN-accredited bodyto look after the travel tradeindustry of this niche segment,feels that with an improvingenvironment in India regard-ing the gay issue, the countrywill surely attract more LGBTcustomers. Talking about theinterest generated among thetravel agents in the country,John Tanzella, President andCEO, IGLTA revealed, “IGLTAhas definitely seen anincreased interest from ourtour operator members inother countries who are sellingmore LGBT group trips toIndia to the growth of ourmembership base there.”“The body now has 11 mem-ber businesses in India, whichmight seem like a small num-ber but this has leaped expo-nentially since we appointedour first India ambassador inMay 2011,” he added.

Addressing the traveloperators to cater to this nichesegment, Tanzella urged,“LGBT travellers want to feelsafe and welcome and some-times that means an agent hasto go that extra mile to makethat happen. Gay travellersoften face thoughtlessnesssuch as the hotel front deskasking a same-sex couple ifthey would prefer two bedsrather than a single bed thatwas booked. A good tour oper-ator can prevent these uncom-fortable moments with atten-tion to detail during booking.”

“Also, do your home-work. Find out what gayevents are happening in the area and identify placesthat are popular with localLGBT people. Creatingthoughtful itineraries goes along way,” he added.

The first Asian symposium on gay and lesbian tourismin New Delhi was a B2B event that showcased Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) tourism in India to promote the country as a gay-friendly destination.

ME G H A PAU L

LGBT tourism flourishing in India

Abhinav GoelFounderOut Journeys

John TanzellaPresident and CEOIGLTA

Arzoo.com recently intro-duced an online travel guideshowcasing the finest andmost exotic destinations inIndia. This new feature onthe Arzoo.com websiteenables the travellers withthe information on the his-torical importance of placesthat they may want to visit,suggest attractive touristspots, list out area wise spe-cialties etc. This travel guidefurnishes all possible infor-mation to the travellers and helps them to

know more about theirfavourite destination.

Speaking on the launchof this new feature, Amal Purandare, HeadOperations, Arzoo.com said,“This travel guide simplifiesthe planing process for trav-ellers in chalking out their holiday plans. We havemade sure that we coverthe most visited destina-tions in India through ourwebsite. Our customers can now access to exhaus-tive information on

various destinations at aclick of a button.”

Arzoo.com launches online travel guide

Amal PurandareHead OperationsArzoo.com



The previous year provedto be a promising year for

Spain with a growth of 68 percent in tourist arrivals fromIndia between January–August as compared to thesame period in 2010.However, this year, thetourism board will emphasiseon the MICE sector.

According to the board,the destination is popular forlarge Congress and exhibi-tions and recorded almost300 per cent increase inincentive travel from India to

Spain. With global congressesscheduled for this year, it isexpecting to receive furthergrowth from Indian MICEsector. Congresses like TheMobile World Congress (Feb27- March 1); World Congresson Controversies inArthoplasty, Spine,Orthopedic Trauma,Arthroscopic surgery andSports Medicine (April 19-22), the CPHI Worldwide(October 9-11) are just fewleading events in Spain whichwill attract over 30,000attendees from 140 countriesand over 1900 exhibitors.Apart from this, there are

Fashion week in Madrid andBarcelona along with MotorShows featuring latest vehi-cles from around the worldwhich will be of interest forIndian corporate and leisuretravellers’ segment.

Talking about the focusand strategies, Arturo Orliz,Director – India, SpainTourism said, “For 2012, wewill continue to establish andbuild on the brand Spain inIndia by focussing on a highvisibility campaign and mar-keting activities. We willwork closely with tour oper-ators and airlines to make

Spain a top of the mind recallholiday destination in Europe.MICE is one of the growing

segments of travellers fromIndia and we will concentrateon it by promoting the inter-national congresses, fairs,festivals and events throughMICE operators in India.”

Adding further on thechallenges and opportunitiesfor Spain Tourism in India,Orliz said, “The challenge liesin the knowledge about thedestination with the traveltrade and their expertise inpackaging it smartly. We feelthat there is a lack of under-standing among the traveltrade in identifying and under-standing the profile of the

traveller to Spain. The trav-eller to Spain is already expe-rienced, and when he or she isplanning a holiday to Spain, helooks for experiences. Thisknowledge and an ability torecommend a suitable itiner-ary to satisfy the traveller islacking which is one of ourbiggest challenges.”

The tourism board willcontinue to train and educatethe trade about destination andits product offering as it is thekey to success of a destination.It will also assist the traveltrade in designing and devel-oping products and right itin-eraries for the right segment oftravellers. Furthermore, it willjoin hands with tour operatorsin their marketing effortsacross India.

Aiming to achieve maximum eyeballs and translating into interest and conversions for holidays, Spain is inviting the Indian MICE travellers this year…

AN I TA JA I N

Indian arrivals grow by 68% in Spain

Arturo OrlizDirector – India, Spain Tourism

South African TourismBoard in India is gearing

up to welcome increasednumber of Indian travellersthis year. Despite the forecastabout a global financialcrunch in 2012, the tourismboard is positive to record agrowth in terms of Indianarrivals, average length ofstay and expenditure pertraveller. It is bidding high onits destination image, brandawareness, distinct portfolioof products, connectivity andconsistent support from theIndian travel trade partners.

The tourism board willenhance the product knowl-edge through roadshows,training programmes, work-shops and familiarisationtrips for the trade. It has alsolaunched cinema campaigns

and outdoor promotionalactivities to enhance the des-tination image among theIndian travellers.

To start with, it willhave its five-city annual road-show kick-starting fromJanuary 30 in Mumbai and winding up on February 6 in Pune.

Talking about the pos-itive outlook for this year,Hanneli Slabber, CountryManager, South AfricanTourism said, “At thismoment, India is one of thebiggest tourist source mar-kets for us in Asia. With anenhanced air connectivity,improved itineraries, arrayof products to suit everysegment of travellers andaffordability of the destina-tion, we are positive torecord growth from Indiaand are sure that the globalslowdown will not affect theIndian outbound segment.Our focus this year will bemainly on MICE and we willwork closely with the corpo-rate travel managementcompanies to make South Africa a leading outbound destination forIndian MICE segment.”

With an array of activities and promotions planned thisyear, South African Tourism Board is positive to beat theinevitable financial crisis in 2012 predicted by the UN.

AN I TA JA I N

SATB: 5-city roadshow startsin Mumbai from January 30

Hanneli SlabberCountry ManagerSouth African Tourism

Tourism Australiawill organise a

Destination TrainingProgramme for front-line staff of travelagencies based ineight potential citiesof India from midJanuary to earlyFebruary 2012. Theobjective of the pro-gramme is to providean opportunity to the frontlinestaff to enhance their knowl-edge about Australia as a des-tination and to aid travelagency personnel in planningitineraries and handling cus-tomer queries.

The programme will behosted in conjunction withthe State TourismOrganisations (STOs) –Tourism Victoria, Tourism

Queensland, South AustraliaTourism Commission andDNSW (Dressage New SouthWales). It also runs an onlinetraining programme calledthe ‘Aussie SpecialistProgram’ for the travel tradeto develop their destinationknowledge.

The programme has atotal of 19 modules and hasbeen devised to impart

detailed knowl-edge on the desti-nation to the travelagents. Speakingabout the trainingprogramme,Nishant Kashikar,Country Manager –India, TourismAustralia said,“The objective ofthese training pro-grammes is toimpart knowledge

about Australia as a destina-tion among the Indian travelfraternity. Through thisinteractive session, we willnot only aim at assistingtravel agents in planning &managing itineraries, but will use this opportunity to increase awareness of the diverse experiences &products that Australia hasto offer.”

After certifying 2200 Aussie Specialists in India,Tourism Australia is now organising DestinationTraining Programmes for the front line staff in 8 cities.

TT BU R E AU

Australia: Destination TrainingProgramme in 8 Indian cities

Destination training programmeDay City VenueJanuary 9 New Delhi Taj PalaceJanuary 11 Kolkata The ParkJanuary 18 Bengaluru The Taj West EndJanuary 20 Hyderabad The ParkJanuary 23 Mumbai Four Seasons HotelJanuary 24 Ahmedabad Courtyard by MarriottFebruary 01 Pune The WestinFebruary 03 Chennai Taj Coromandel


The PHD Chamber ofCommerce & Industry

(PHDCCI) organised the ‘1st

India Heritage TourismConclave 2011’ at the India Habitat Centre, NewDelhi recently.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Subodh Kant Sahai,Union Minister for Tourism,dedicated the first IndianHeritage tourism platform forall stakeholders to converge,collaborate and connecttowards building the nextgeneration of profitableopportunities and tapping theimmense heritage tourismpotential of India.

The India HeritageTourism Conclave 2011 wasthe first of its kind in Indiaand touched upon allaspects of heritage that thecountry is proud of, be itheritage sites, art & craft,music or cuisine. The conclave set the tone toexplore & cherish and con-nect historically to India’sunique legacy but also tocome forward actively in helping to conserve and celebrate India’s prizedpossessions handed over bypast generations.

Culture, Heritage andArts have long contributedto the appeal of tourist des-

tinations. However, inrecent years, ‘Heritage’ hasbeen rediscovered as animportant marketing tool toattract travellers with a pen-chant for vintage Indian cul-ture with the single mostimportant objective of tap-

ping the potential of her-itage tourism in India. The1st India Heritage TourismConclave 2011 was the firstin series and shall be repli-cated in various other statesof Northern & Central Indiaevery year in an ascending

format. The conclave wasaimed at providing a plat-form for investors and devel-opers who share a passion fortourism, to explore the ever-changing dynamics of thetravellers’ demands & expec-tations and to evolve and

bring Indian TourismIndustry to the top. The par-ticipants include union min-ister of tourism, policy mak-ers and senior officials fromMinistry of Tourism,Government of India, statetourism ministers and

tourism secretaries, repre-sentatives of foreign andstate tourism boards, tourismexperts, captains of tourismand hotel industries, corpo-rate groups with investmentsin infrastructure and hotelsprojects, Indian and foreigntour operators, vacationplanners, institutes impart-ing tourism-related educa-tion, tourism boards of otherstates, airlines and all otherstakeholders

PHDCCI’s (PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry) 1st Heritage Tourism Conclave discussesopportunities to tap the immense heritage tourism potential of India. The conclave was first inthe series and will be replicated in various other states of Northern and Central India every year.

TT BU R E AU

Exploring the potential of Heritage Tourism

NEWS J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 1 9


As per the statisticsreleased by theDepartment of StrategicPlanning, ThailandConvention andExhibition Bureau(TCEB), India emergedas top MICE source mar-ket that supplied 47,448MICE visitors. China,Singapore, Japan andMalaysia occupied thesecond, third, fourth andfifth places respectively.

QUICK READ



India has emerged as one ofthe Jordan’s top growing

source markets. The destina-tion witnessed a robust 70per cent increase in theIndian tourist arrivals in2010. JTB is further expect-ing a healthy 30 per centgrowth in Indian arrivals in2011. Jordan recorded51,000 overnights in 2010.

Talking to on thesidelines of ‘Travel TurkeyIzmir’ in Turkey, Maher Al Qaryouti, Manager for

Domestic, Arab & Asian mar-ket, JTB informed that theIndian MICE market will beone of the focus areas to drivegrowth in 2012. “Jordan is avery good MICE destination.We have some very attractiveMeeting and Conferencefacilities,” he said.

Besides, he added,“Jordan also has a lot to offerto the leisure travellers.

Akaba is a haven for sea andbeach lovers. Dead Sea andPetra are other major attrac-tions of tourist interest.These places boast of some ofthe finest resorts and five-star luxury hotels in theworld,” he stressed. The NTOis planning to undertake anumber of activities, espe-cially reaching the Indianconsumers directly, in 2012.Besides, the tourism boardplans to undertake its annualmarket development initia-tive, a B2B multi-city road-show, in the second quarterof this year.

Jordan provides Visa-on-Arrival to individualIndian travellers on produc-ing their ticket and hotelbookings at a nominal cost ofUS$ 30 per person. Besides,there is no Visa fee for groupsof five pax or above with astay of at least 2 nights ormore in Jordan.

JTB will be in India for its annual B2B workshops inthe second quarter this year. The NTO is also eyeingat undertaking consumer-related initiatives in 2012.


Jordan’s multi-city B2Bworkshops in India in Q2

Maher Al QaryoutiManager – Domestic, Arab & Asian markets, Jordan Tourism Board

For the year 2011, India,amongst all the South

Asian countries, has beenthe biggest tourist sourcemarket for Thailand with astrong growth rate of 31.82per cent (7,69,372 tourists)over 2010. To further shootup the Indian tourist arrivalfigures, TAT Mumbai haslaunched an online trainingand certification programmefor travel trade named‘Amazing ThailandChampion Agents’. The pro-gramme has been dividedinto 4 modules for the Indianmarket. Apart from this, theAuthority will also conduct amulti-city roadshow givingTAT an opportunity to inter-act with the travel tradedirectly and thus understandthe ongoing trend in thatparticular city. It is also aim-ing to enter the electronicmedium through social

media marketing, participateat trade shows, hold jointpromotions with the traveltrade exhibitors and promotenew destinations.

Sethaphan Buddhani,Director, TAT Mumbai said,

“Earlier on ground trainingprogrammes initiated by ouroffices in New Delhi andMumbai had met with a

high level of intrigue andsubscription from front liners and senior manage-ment of travel agents and tour operators. In order to further expand the opportunity to all regionsof India and widen the baseof knowledge of agents pro-moting Amazing Thailand, itwas decided to take the pro-gramme online with specificmodules designed especiallyfor the Indian market.”

Talking about the plans,challenges and opportunitiesfor this year, Buddhani said,“For the year 2012, we willactively target niche seg-ments such as soft adventure,school groups, MedicalTourism and BollywoodTourism along with aggres-sive promotions of golfing,luxury holidays, singlewomen travel and destinationweddings segments inThailand.”

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Mumbai is set to have 1,500 trained and certified champions in India by the end of 2012 through the programme.

AN I TA JA I N

‘Amazing Thailand ChampionAgents’ launched in India

Sethaphan BuddhaniDirectorTAT Mumbai

Total Indian Overnights visitors to Jordan during the period 2007-2011

Year Arrivals % growth over

2007 30239 17.12008 36663 21.22009 29760 -18.82010 50995 71.42011 60269 18.2

(Jan-Nov)



The Travel AgentsAssociation of India

(TAAI) will hold its highlyprestigious Diamond JubileeConvention, the Indian TravelCongress & Exhibition atIstanbul, Turkey on March11-14, 2012. The event isbeing supported by theTurkish Ministry of Tourism& Culture and the TurkishIndian Tourism Council(TITC) to ensure that the TAAI Annual Conventionis a success.

Apart from making allarrangements for the dele-gates’ accommodation, select-ing venue for the opening ceremony, conference facilitiesand local sightseeing, TITC is also engaged in working out post-convention familiari-sation tours of Antalya,Cappadocia and Izmir for thevisiting delegates.

The Convention Venuewill be Green Park PendikHotel & Convention Centrein Istanbul. Istanbul is

divided by the BosphrousStrait into an Asian andEuropean side. The GreenPark Hotel, with a greatview of the Sea of Marmara,housing Istanbul’s largest

Convention Centre is located on the Asian side,not far from Sabiha Gokcen Airport.

According to OzgurAyturk, Culture & TourismCounselor at the TurkishEmbassy in New Delhi, “I am confident that TAAI’s Diamond Jubilee

Convention, to be held inIstanbul in March 2012,shall be its most successfulconvention ever. The Indiantravel trade shall be veryimpressed not only byIstanbul’s fabled monu-ments and natural beautybut also by the exceedinglywarm hospitality of Turkishpeople. Those who visitother places likeCappadocia, Izmir orAntalya are bound to be fas-cinated by them.

I am confident that upon theirreturn, these delegates shallgreatly promoteTurkey as a holiday and a convention destination andthereby enhancepeople-to-peoplecontacts between our two great countries.”

ASSOCIATIONS2 2 TRAVTALK J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 2

Green Park Pendik Hotel & Convention Centre, Istanbul’s largest convention centre, will host the TAAI’s 3-day event, scheduled from March 11-14, 2012.

TT BU R E AU

Turkey to host TAAI Convention

Ozgur AyturkCulture & Tourism Counselor at theTurkish Embassy in New Delhi

Agroup of travel agentshave launched a nation-

wide forum for the travelagencies who are involved inoutbound tourism from India.Named ‘Society of Foreign

Travel Operators,’ the associ-ation aims to understand andresolve issues that trouble theoutbound tourism market.The association will also worktowards educating its mem-bers about new tourism prod-ucts from existing and emerg-ing markets.

“Need was felt to havean association that will be thevoice of the outbound trade.There was no trade bodyexclusively taking care of theoutbound agents. SFTO willendeavour to bring moretransparency in the outbound

trade. We will organise work-shops, seminars and otherknowledge platform for ourmembers in India as well as

overseas. We will also take up issues such as thoserelated to Visa with theembassies and VFS,”informed Ajay Jaipuria ofTravel Oytser India. Jaipuriais President of the SFTOwhile talking to . Hefurther added that the asso-ciation will also look at cus-tomers’ complaint.

SFTO invites all thebonafide Indian tour operators who qualify the criteria laid down in themembership criteria to jointhe association.

Society of Foreign Travel Operators (SFTO) launched on Dec 26 in New Delhi boasts of over 50 members across India.It will educate its members about new tourism products.


Outbound trade launches SFTO

PresidentAjay Jaipuria

General SecretaryKapil Berera

Vice PresidentSandeep Jain

Joint SecretarySanjiv Nangia

TreasurerDev Roop Soni

Advisor on BoardSanjay Gupta

SFTO Board

Celebrating Chapter DayTAAI Kerala Chapter celebrated its Chapter Day and Diamond Jubilee celebrations at the Chapter level on December 9, 2011. The functionwas attended by members of TAAI Kerala Chapter, Airlines, Hotels,GDS and Airport officials and other industry stakeholders.

TAAI NR’s year-end meetingTravel Agents Association of India – Northern Region (TAAI NR) organised its year end meeting last month. The meeting was followedby a presentation from VFS Global on Visa application processing.Several visa related issues also came up for the discussion.

(L to R) Soni, Jain, Jaipuria, Berera, Gupta and Nangia




Toshali Group won the bidfor four hotels out of six

which were floated by theOdisha Tourism to be man-aged by the private operators.The Department of Tourism,Government of Odisha hadfloated tenders for leasing out33 hotel properties spreadacross the state from privatehospitality investors recently.

Harihar Patra, DirectorMarketing, Toshali ResortsInternational revealed, “Wewon the bid in October forOdisha Tourism-ownedaccommodation units formanagement.” The hotelgroup will be managing hotelsin Pathrajpur, Ratnagiri,Udayagiri and Lalitgiri. ThePathrajpur property will bedeveloped as a waysideamenity with 24 rooms, which

is near to an excavated his-toric site and would addressthe local travellers. TheUdayagiri will have around 6rooms more rooms to beadded later. For Ratnagiri and

Lalitgiri properties, rooms willbe finalised soon.

“Our emphasis hasalways been to promote thetourism of the state. Now thatwe have won the bid

to manage 4 properties in October 2011, Toshalisimultaneously enters into the management of prop-erties too and will look at thelease/management contractsfor our brand expansion. We

are still discussing some issueon the brand part with thetourism department,” he said.

Apart from that, Toshalihas acquired Kolkata-basedtravel company Pan Asia. The

company, with a team of 5people, is a specialist in sellingBuddhist segment toSoutheast Asian countries andSri Lanka. “Pan Asia willempower us with knowledgeon capturing Buddhist Tourismopportunities and now that we have properties in critical Buddhist locations oftourism importance, thisknowledge force would beutilised to promote the hotelsas well as the destinations,”Patra summed.

Starting with four properties that are bagged from Odisha Tourism under Lease DevelopmentAgreement (LDA), the Toshali Group forays into management of hotel units. The hotelGroup now plans to expand inorganically, focussing on destinations that cater to the particularsegments like Buddhist circuits all the more after attaining properties in such locations.

SA N J E E V BH A R

Toshali to manage 4 Odisha Tourism’s properties

STATES J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 2 5

Harihar PatraDirector MarketingToshali Resorts International

Berlin in‘Places to See Before You Die’

Berlin ranks among the‘Places to See Before YouDie’ as one of world’s toptourist highlights. Now.the destination plays inthe league of the leadinginternational travel desti-nations. According to the US ‘SmithsonianMagazine’, the Germancapital is one of the ‘43Places to See Before YouDie’ and hence countsamong the destinationsthat one should have vis-ited at least once in a life-time, just as the pyramidsof Giza, the GrandCanyon, the Taj Mahal andthe Antarctic. Berlin – afocus of turbulent history,a centre of cultural diver-sity and a party hotspot –is described as constantlyreinventing itself andtherefore, worth a visit by all means.



In a bid to attract anincreasing number of

domestic tourists to the state,the Department of Tourism,Government of Rajasthan hasrolled out a two-month longcampaign that will tour 22 cities. The campaign titled ‘Rajasthan Calling’ was kickstarted fromGurgaon, Haryana.

The aggressive promo-tional campaign aims to popularise the lesser-knowndestinations in the state.Speaking on the occasion,Usha Sharma, PrincipalSecretary and Commissioner

(Tourism), RajasthanGovernment said, “Themajor reason for organisingthe ‘Rajasthan Calling’ cam-paign in the millennium cityof Gurgaon was to give a feelof Rajasthan and facilitate a better understanding aboutthe state, provide completeinformation and showcase

Rajasthan’s traditions andculture.” “The major high-light of the festival will be the live dances and a foodcourt,” she further added.

Regarding the numberof tourists the state receives,Sharma revealed, “Withabout 15 lakh foreign touristsand more than 3 crore

domestic tourist arrivals in2010, Rajasthan is one of themost sought-after touristdestinations in India.”

After Gurgaon, the campaign will go to 21 major cities across the country, including Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram,Madurai, Mysore,

Coimbatore, Baroda, Bhopal, Indore, Ahmedabad,Ludhiana, Surat, Dehradun,Kolkata, Gandhinagar,Bharuch, Nagpur, Jalgaon,Rajkot and Chandigarh. Also,the event will be held inMumbai twice.

The campaign wasshowcased in Ludhiana fromDecember 23-25, 2011 andfrom December 31 to January1, 2012, the event was organ-ised in Dehradun.

To popularise the lesser-known destinations in the state, the campaigntitled ‘Rajasthan Calling’ will tour 22 Indian cities.

ME G H A PAU L

‘Rajasthan Calling’ to tour 22 Indian cities

STATES J A N U A R Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 2 TRAVTALK 2 7

Usha SharmaPrincipal Secretary and CommissionerTourism, Rajasthan Government

A&K launches‘WorldwideLuxury TravelHandbook’ Abercrombie & Kent

has launched its first Indiaedition of Abercrombie &Kent’s worldwide luxurytravel handbook featuringglobal destinations, itsend-user products andsuggestive signature itin-eraries for the featureddestinations.

For nearly 50 years,A&K has been perfectingthe art of tailor made trav-el and now with the open-ing of its Private TravelIndia office last year, itcontinues to entice thediscerning luxury trav-ellers in India to savor theexperiential and inspiringjourneys.

“Reading our hand-book and reacting to cur-rent trends and tastes intravel,” says VikramMadhok, ManagingDirector, A&K India, “Ourdestination specialistshave been busy research-ing new and interestingdestinations where A&Kdelivers memorable expe-riences in reliable style.We present this excitingcollection of destinationswhich we have identifiedas the next big thing!Happy travel.”

Vikram Madhok Managing Director, A&K India


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Outbound trade announces the formation of OTOAIIndia’s outbound trade announced the launch of an industry representative body, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) at a function organised at Le Meridien New Delhi in the National Capital on December 28, 2011. OTOAI is a registered trade association and has been established as a not-for-profit organisation. It will safeguard the interest of India’s outbound trade, the overseassuppliers as well as the end consumers. The launch was supported by Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), India and Le Meridien New Delhi. Headed by Guldeep Singh Sahni as its President, OTOAI will aim to improve transparency, conduct education programmes on new tourism products and destinations and will work in close association with the various NTOs present in India.



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Macau Tourism recently organised a ‘Macau Magic Million’ Race atMahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai inviting over 200 travel trade membersand media. The event was dotted by well-known faces of the Mumbai travelindustry and was enjoyed by all the attendees.

‘Macau Magic Million’ Race in Mumbai



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With a revised deadline ofJune 2012 for com-

mencement of operations inintegrated passenger terminalat Kolkata airport, StateGovernment is actively pursu-ing foreign airlines to startservices from the City of Joy.Six international airlines,including British Airways andHong Kong’s Cathay Pacific,have evinced interest in flyingto and from Kolkata. Thisinformation was shared bySaugata Roy, Union Ministerof State for UrbanDevelopment & Chairman ofAirport Advisory Committee.

The other airlines wish-ing to operate out of the cityare Japan Airlines, Dubai

Airlines, Fenix Airways anda Mauritius-based airline.“German airlines Lufthansa,which has decided to stopoperating in Kolkata afterMarch, would be requestedto reconsider its position,”says Roy. British Airways hadalso withdrawn its Kolkata-London flight in 2008. Topropel the talks, the StateGovernment is expected to move the UnionGovernment.

Jet is also keen to con-nect Kolkata to Sydney andMelbourne. “British Airways,Japan Airlines, AustrianAirlines and Air Mauritiushave also shown interest. Weare in discussion with theseand several other airlines.

The project may be slightlybehind schedule but whenthe new terminal becomesoperational, it will be thepride of Kolkata and others’envy,” says BP Sharma,Airport Director.

Civil work on the newterminal is nearing its com-pletion. Work will begin onthe exterior facade as well as interior fitmentssoon. The authoritiesshould be able to hand over the terminal to airlines and other agenciesby March-end. Thereafter,airlines and other conces-sionaries will take two-three months to get readyand start operations fromthe terminal.

After repeated delays, a new completion date has been setfor the Kolkata airport terminal and international airlines are looking to set base once the work completes.

TT BU R E AU

Kolkata Airport renovatesto invite foreign airlines

With Gujarat beingfavored by industrial-

ists and the state wooing vis-itors, the State Governmentis in the process of setting upnew airports, helipads andbrings out a new civil avia-tion policy. 11 airports havebeen earmarked and 225talukas in 26 districts of thestate will have helipads.

“Since there is a largescale movement of industriesinto Gujarat, we are workingto provide connectivity,

which was lacking and weneed infrastructure in time tosupport the growth,” saysCaptain Ajay Chauhan,Director, Civil AviationDepartment, Gujarat. He alsoadds that, “Since we havelots of religious spots whichattract large numbers fromacross the country, we needto reduce the time taken totravel to these destinations.”

As per the plan for air-ports, it will be completed infour stages. In the firststage, work has started atfour locations. These are

Dwarka, Palitana, Ambajiand Ankleshwar. Dahej,

Morbi, Rajkot, Parsoli,Rajpipla, Dholera andDholavera will be looked intoin other phases.

Presently, the project isgovernment funded. Futuredevelopment work will seeprivate players contributing.A pproval required to startthe work has been achieved.It is completely a state-owned project. The move toset up helipads in 226talukas was cleared byConsultative Committee ofCivil Aviation department.

As far as state civil avi-ation policy is concerned,Chauhan informed that it isin the draft stage and thefinal copy will be available inat least six months. On com-pletion, it will be the firstinstance where a state hascome out with an aviationpolicy. “The main aim is toboost the aviation industryin the state. It deals withstarting an airline, develop-ing an airport, setting up anMRO, a training institute andothers. Benefit in startingthese ventures in the state

is the idea behind the poli-cy,” he explained. The StateGovernment is also lookingat feasibility to developunused airstrips from WorldWar II era.

Taking a lead among other states, Gujarat has started the process of increasing aviation footprints across the state and with a new aviation policy aiming to woo investors into the state.


11 new airports & 26 new helipads in Gujarat

Captain Ajay ChauhanDirectorCivil Aviation Department, Gujarat

11 airpor ts have beenearmarked and 225talukas in 26 districts of the state will havehelipads

Presently, the project isgovernment funded.Future development workwill see private playerscontributing

Flying High

Malaysia’s flag carrier –Malaysia Airlines (MAS)

is working on its sales distri-bution channels to streamline

its revenue managementstrategies in India.

Currently, the carrierreceives over 90 per centbookings through indirectsales channels like the traveltrade and OTAs while theremaining comes from directchannels like its call centre anddirect website. However, withthe launch of booking optionthrough the social networkingsite – Facebook.com, the car-rier was successful in pene-trating the markets by 30 percent more and promoting the

online direct booking amongtravellers. This year, theAirline will focus on enhancingits direct booking channelsalong with consolidating itscurrent markets with no plansto add more cities on its Indianroute network.

At present, MAS has acodeshare with Jet Airwaysand by entering the‘oneworld’ alliance by mid-2013, the airline hopes tofurther enhance its serviceand reach across Indiathrough its oneworld alliance

member airlines. MAS oper-ates 40 weekly flights fromIndia to Malaysia, throughNew Delhi (12 flights),Chennai (07 flights),Hyderabad (07 flights),Bengaluru (07 flights) andMumbai (07 flights).

Talking about the per-formance of India as a market,Nur Shaffik Haris, GeneralManager – Western India,Malaysia Airlines said, “Indiais consistently performing in apositive manner with an aver-age of 20-25 per cent growth

year-on-year since five yearswith load factors of 75-80 percent from all five cities. We areconstantly working on makingthe product offerings and fly-ing experience better for ourIndian passengers throughupdating our product offeringsfrom time-to-time. With trav-ellers becoming more tech-savvy, we are focussing onincreasing our sales throughdirect booking channels bypromoting our websitethrough media channels andsocial networking sites. We are

also encouraging our traveltrade partners through innovative marketing andbusiness strategies with mutual benefits.”

With a target to set a ratio of 80:20 between Indirect:Direct sales channels, Malaysia Airlines(MAS) is positive to enhance services in India after entering oneworld alliance by mid-2013.

AN I TA JA I N

MAS concentrates on direct sales in India

Nur Shaffik HarisGeneral Manager – Western IndiaMalaysia Airlines

This year, the Airline willfocus on enhancing itsdirect booking channelsalong with consolidating itscurrent markets with noplans to add more cities onits Indian route network

MAS Plans

Lufthansa has revamped iscorporate travel programmewhich can significantly reducethe cost of business travel, pri-marily targetted at Small andMedium Enterprises (SME).Effective from February 2012,Star Alliance Company Plus(SACP) members in India canenjoy easier upgrades, fasterfree flights and a five-foldincrease in the value of cash-back awards through a sub-stantial enhancement in the earning power of theirreward points. For instance,members can now get one freeEconomy Class ticket free onpurchase of one full-fare Firstclass ticket or two full-fareBusiness class tickets.

“Lufthansa has alwayspartnered small and medi-um enterprises in India andthese enhancements are yetanother step in this direc-tion. The new SACP pro-gramme delivers additional

value, making businesstravel more rewarding thanever before.” says AxelHilgers, South Asia Director,Lufthansa. These attractivefinancial advantages extendacross the network of the 6partner airlines - Lufthansa,SWISS, Austrian Airlines,bmi, Air Canada and United Airlines.

Membership is free and requires no minimumturnover. Since its launch lastyear, more than 2900 compa-nies have joined the pro-gramme. New SACP memberscan start collecting PlusPointsimmediately after registeringon the website, ‘www.staral-liancecompanyplus.com’.

Starting February, Lufthansa has revamped its corporatetravel programme launched in the last year. Around 2,900companies have joined the programme soon after its launch.

TT BU R E AU

Refurbished corporate travelprogramme by Lufthansa

Axel HilgersSouth Asia DirectorLufthansa



Take a Break&

Join the Dance FestivitiesIt rises on the banks of the boisterous Bay of Bengal and forms a mightysilhouette when seen in the light of the setting sun. The architect of theSun Temple of Konark intended to create an embodiment of the might ofthe powerful Sun God and he did just that… with perfection.

Generations of tourists,both domestic andinternational, have

fallen under the spell of thischariot of the Sun God, whichseems to be sailing across thesky. Every year, in the monthof December, the vicinity ofthis otherwise quiet heritagesite becomes the centre ofactivity, as Konark welcomesthe most talented names inperforming arts, for theKonark Dance festival. This isthe most perfect time to planyour break in this part of thecountry, as MICEtalk finds out.

The stunning beauty ofthe Sun Temple is the inspi-ration for the Konark DanceFestival, which takes place inthe first week of December

every year. The festival seesthe most reputed names inthe Indian classical dance andmusic take the stage at theopen air auditorium, with theSun Temple serving as themost perfect backdrop. It is afeast for the eyes and earswith floodlights illuminatingthe place and the sound ofghungroos (anklets worn dur-ing a dance performance),tablas (percussion instru-ments) and other musicalinstruments reverberatingagainst the fantastic façadeof the temple. The mutestones of the Sun Temple,seem to be speaking a lan-guage of their own andadding to the musical ambi-ence of the place.

Odissi,Bharatnatyam,Manipuri, Kathakand the Chau aresome of the danceforms that havetaken centre-stage,over the years. Theslight nip in the air,with the approach-ing winter, adds tothe surreal atmos-phere created here.The performancesare dramatic andthe perfect ode toIndia’s tradition ofperforming arts.The festival alsoincludes a CraftBazaar.

The Konark Festival hasbeen a major attraction fortourists since its inception inthe 1980’s. Being one of themost identifiable landmarksof the coastal state of Odisha,the Sun Temple of Konarksees a trickle of touriststhrough the year. But thetime of the Konark DanceFestival sees the town turn-ing into a centre of perform-ing arts and an overwhelm-

ing rush in the handful ofhotels available here. If youdo take our advice and decideto partake of the festivities atthis time of the year, it isadvisable to ensure accom-modation for your groupmonths in advance.

Yatrinivas (OTDC),Travellers Lodge andPanthanivas (OTDC) are the

best options for accommoda-tion in Konark. There aregroups who choose to drivedown from the nearby townof Bhubaneswar (65 km) andPuri (35 km) instead of stay-ing here. The highways havegood roads and make forcomfortable journeys.

There is a legend asso-ciated with the Sun Temple

that its dome housed twostrong magnets that were sostrong that they could pullships out in the sea to theshores of Konark. The SunTemple today attracts touristsin much the same way, whocannot help but be drawn tothis architectural wonder,when they traverse this partof the Indian coastline.

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Indiatourism Paris, 13 Boulevard Haussmann, Paris-75009, Tel: 0033 145233045, Fax: 0033 145233345, E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.incredibleindia.org




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Dilip Puri, Managing Director, India & Regional Vice President, South Asia,Starwood Hotels & Resorts, is a keen golfer and an avid reader.

According to Puri, his approach to life has always been 'work hard, play harder',and he applies this philosophy to both his personal and professional life. As for prob-lems that may crop up from time to time, as far as possible, he confronts and tries toovercome them by seeking alternate solutions. He feels one should always have aplan B in place, and if possible a plan C as well.

The key to success is to do full justice to the job at hand. There are no shortcutsto success. And he doesn't see success as an end in itself. It must lead to happiness,joy and fulfilment.

Dilip Puri, Managing Director,India & Regional VicePresident, South Asia,Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Kamlesh Barot, when not going through his routine work of his own companyand of FHRAI for that matter, prefers to just unwind by doing up with his standy fishaquarium at times or refine his garden's pot culture. But on weekends, he confineshimself to take his budgerigars (parakeets) out of their home (cage) and make themfly all around perching back on his finger, every now and then.

What Barot likes the most, he says, is to spend quality time with his family, watch-ing culinary shows back-to-back or just chit-chatting with them or friends. That giveshim the inner peace. He also indulges himself in Yoga and Swimming to unwind. Kamlesh Barot

PresidentFHRAI

Stephen KingGeneral ManagerIndia, Virgin Atlantic

The Claridges Hotels & ResortsNew DelhiArun Yadav has been promoted as the new General Manager- Sales & Marketing of The Claridges Hotels & Resorts. In his new

role, he will be responsible for assistingand developing Corporate Sales &Marketing strategies to enhance marketpenetration and revenue generation.Yadav comes with over 12 years ofexperience in sales & marketing and

has been associated with TheClaridges Hotels & Resor ts

for the last 8 years. He hasdone his MBA from IMT

Ghaziabad, 1999 batch.

Fairmont JaipurJaipurAnurag Bali is appointed as the new Executive Chef for Fairmont

Jaipur. In his current role, he will be overseeingthe culinary operations at the hotel ensuring

culinary excellence, dining distinction andthe best of the food to the guests. AGraduate from the Institute of HotelManagement in New Delhi and an

Alumnus of Culinary Institute of AmericaNew York, Bali has a decade long profes-sional experience. In his previous assignment

as Director Food and Beverage for SvenskaHospitalities, he established and oversaw

food and beverage operations for twoof the groups’ hotels.

JW Marriott Mumbai MumbaiRavneet Arora has been elevated as Director of Sales at JWMarriott Mumbai. Her new responsibilities will entail organising and

directing all sales efforts towards achieve-ment of objectives and operational goals

for the property. She is a HotelManagement Graduate and has beenwith Marriott International Inc sinceJuly 2007. She was the AssistantDirector of Sales at the then newlyopened Courtyard by Marriott,Mumbai. Prior to working here, Aroratook on the role of Marriott ExecutiveApartments (MEA) Manager in April2009.

MTDCMumbai Dilip Shinde joins Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation

as the Joint Managing Director. He will simultaneouslyalso hold the post as Director Tourism,

Government of Maharashtra. Before joiningMTDC, he was Director, Cultural Affairs,Government of Maharashtra. He holds anMA degree in MCJ and a postgraduatedegree in law. He has written some booksand has made regular contributions to the

columns of some of the leading Marathidailies. He also produced programmes

like ‘Muktichi Mangalgatha’and ‘MarathwadyachiLokdhara’.

Swissôtel KolkataKolkataMarco Saxer has been appointed as the General Manager ofSwissôtel Kolkata. He brings with him over 20 years of experiencefrom International hotel chains acrossEurope, the Middle East and Asia. Saxerbegan his career with Carlton Hotel,Singapore during his internship withHotel Management School Lausanne(EHL), Switzerland. He moved on towork with the hotel group Radisson, fol-lowed by Holiday Inn, and was theGeneral Manager of Amari Atrium Hotel,Bangkok from 2001 to 2010. His lastposition was as the General Managerof Mövenpick Hotel in Kuwait.

Crowne Plaza Today Gurgaon GurgaonArindam Kunar is appointed as the new General Manager atCrowne Plaza Today Gurgaon. An alumni ofIHM Pusa, Kunar brings with him over 20years of experience in the hotel industryacross locations in India. His lastassignment was as the GeneralManager at The Taj West End,Bengaluru. He was associated with TajHotels and Resorts for almost 10 yearswhere he worked his way through anumber of senior manage-ment positions withinthe group’s portfolio.

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

Contributed by: Inder Raj Ahluwalia & Sanjeev Bhar

Stephen King, General Manager, India, VirginAtlantic, is passionate about travelling and exploringnew places and cities, and when he isn't travelling, he'sbusy planning his next trip. Living in India opens up afantastic range of exciting destinations to visit all acrossthe country.

Always seeking new opportunities and ways todo things better, King feels very excited to be workingin India, which he finds is an amazing country withabundant history and great prospects.

He feels problems are just opportunities in dis-guise. Working in travel, you never know what chal-lenge awaits you next, but with a good team, a focuson priorities and an adventurous, 'can-do' attitude, onecan resolve issues quickly and effectively.

Fairmont Hotels & ResortsCanadaJennifer Fox has been appointed as the Presidentof Fairmont Hotels & Resor ts. Fox will overseeFairmont’s world-class hotels and resor ts, bringextensive experience in hotel operations, branddevelopment, marketing and sales and hotel tran-sitions to her new role. With more than 25 yearsof hospitality related experience, she arrives atFairmont from InterContinental Hotels Group. Foxholds an MBA from Baylor University in Texas andis currently completing her doctorate inBusiness Studies (DBA) at theInternational School of Management inParis, France.

PATABangkok

Ivy Chee has been appointed as the Regional Director– Asia of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). Chee,a Malaysian national, will be responsible for promotingPATA’s progressive Next Gen range of membership ben-efits to the travel and tourism industry companies andorganisations. Before joining PATA, Chee was RegionalSenior Business Development Manager at online travelaggregator Wego Pte in Singapore. She holds aBachelor of Arts Graduate degree in professional com-

munications from RMIT University Melbourne and hasdiplomas in Mass Communications from the

Melbourne Institute of Business Technology andTaylor's College.



HIGHLIGHT

Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2009-11 for posting on 1-2 and 15-16

of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91Date of Publication: 14-01-2012

Foreign airlines remark-ably had a good run in the

country in the year whichsaw bloodshed in the aviationsector in India, particularlythe Indian air carriers.

“Throughout 2011,Lufthansa enjoyed excellentoverall booking demand onits India routes. Reacting toencouraging demand growth,we deployed a larger aircraft on the MAA-FRAroute,” an official reply by theairlines said.

“Fuelled by the boom inpassenger traffic in the coun-try, we’ve had a good 2011.The year opened with verystrong passenger demandfrom January to June. Ourstrategic offers like the DubaiStopover, Companion offerand tactical fares received avery positive response fromthe market,” says OrhanAbbas, Vice-President, India& Nepal, Emirates Airlines.

“SWISS is satisfied with2011, both operationally andfinancially. In India, weenjoyed a good bookingdemand throughout theyear,” informed the airline.

“We have seen a verypositive trend in the marketin the last few months forboth airlines. Additionally,our load factor last year wasto the level of 90 – 95%. Ourfocus will be on consolidatingour position in India beforewe expand. For the Indianmarket, we yet hope to bringup the yield and revenue. We have seen an increase in the business class loadswith a strong preference from the SME segment,”remarks Pieter De Man,

GM, Indian Sub Continent,Air France-KLM.

Challenges: “The mainchallenge for our operations in2011 was the economic tur-moil in the European regiontowards the second half of theyear which adversely impactedthe demand for air travelacross our network,” informsAbbas. “There are challengeswith the increasing ATF pricesand infrastructure develop-ments. The extremely highincreases in airport fees pro-posed by Delhi and Mumbaiairport are most disturbing forthe entire industry and the

consumer,” points De Man.Further in his opinion, “TheIndian aviation industry is fac-ing challenges in terms ofinfrastructure development,fare discipline, high taxes, and capacity vs. demand & fuel hike.”

Products: SwissAir intro-duced a new smartphone appthat allows passengers mobileaccess to services like check in and upgrades as well as real time flight information. “Our passengersfrom India are especiallypleased with the new dock and lounge opened at our hubin Zurich last month, includingcentral security measureswhich bring substantial time and comfort benefits forall transfer travellers,” the airline says. India was one ofthe first markets globally

where Lufthansa introducedtheir new First Class producton B747-400 aircraft servingthe DEL-FRA and BOM-FRAroutes. “These productupgrades underscoreLufthansa’s commitment tocontinuously invest for thebenefit of its customers in thecore market that is India,”said the statement.

“We also keep introduc-ing special offers for our trade partners. One suchoffer we recently introducedis exclusive discounted returnfares to select destinationsespecially for our travel

agents and their families,”informs Abbas.

Imbalance and blinkeredinterest: Success of theinternational airlines on theIndian sector is fuelled by thestatus of bilateral agreementssigned by countries withIndia. The ratio between for-eign and Indian carriers interms of destinations offeredabroad is rather skewed.India has Bilateral AirServices Agreement with 108countries and presently 72foreign airlines are operatingto /from various destinations.Three Indian carriers areoperating to 35 destinationsin 25 countries. Bilateralagreements for air servicesprovide various types of free-dom or flying rights to designated airlines of the two countries. The Sixth

Freedom, a clause, gives theright to fly from a foreigncountry to another foreigncountry while stopping inone's own country.

A critical report on CivilAviation sector, prepared byComptroller and AuditorGeneral last September, citedthis disbalance for deteriorat-ing the already beleagueredfinancial state of Indian carri-ers. Grimly, Air India blockingthe rights while not perform-ing at optimum level makesthe situation dire for others.

Criticism: The CAG, in itsreport on the performance of

the sector, and in particular AirIndia, had said, “While bilat-eral air traffic rights on theinternational routes betweenIndia and other countries weredecided on the basis of reci-procity, at present, the actualutilisation of available rightson international sectors washighly imbalanced. While util-isation by foreign airlines wasaround 65 per cent, that of ourairlines was only around 30per cent; as a result, foreignairlines derived disproportion-ate economic advantage out ofthe traffic rights.”

What is there to staythis year and the near futureis that foreign carriers will bethe choice of Indians for travel to foreign destinationsand this ratio can only be altered by reviewing bilateral agreements.

While none of the Indian carriers are above red, the foreign carriers,operating in India, have found the going a bit easy with their pricing, product, innovations and market conditions. reports...


Foreign airlines touch new highswhile Indian carriers struggle


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