NOMINEE PROFILES

SITA Holidays

SITA 1001 Holidays of India is a division of Kuoni Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd, India's Largest Outbound Tour Operator. A market leader in its field, this division markets and operates foreign holiday packages under the SOTC World Famous Tours brand in India and in the big NRI markets of the Middle East, USA and UK. It currently operates from 95 sales points across India and boasts of more than 200,000 loyal customers. SITA 1001 Holidays of India offers packages that cover every conceivable tour requirement; whether it is an extended vacation with the family, a paragliding spree with friends or simply a rejuvenating weekend break. SITA 1001 Holidays of India offers one an opportunity to visit and explore all the splendors of India through various categories of holiday packages. SITA 1001 Holidays of India has categorized all holiday packages into Standard, First and Deluxe Class categories. The company also offers a wide range of customised holidays thereby giving individual travellers the complete freedom and flexibility to define their preference for the destination, length of stay and pace of travel.

PRAKRITI HOLIDAYS

Having established itself in the domestic market, Prakriti Holidays is a well known in the name in the out bound market segment too. Apart from promoting state like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttranchal and Goa,

Prakriti also specialises in wildlife and explores offbeat destinations and localities. Despite many crisis that affected tourism in the recent past, the company has remained unaffected, on an average it registers a growth rate of 10 to 15 per cent each year. Enjoying the patronisation of its customers, the company also records a highest percentage of repeat customers. As far as its marketing strategies are concerned, the company has been launching various schemes from time to time to attract customers of various income groups.

Besides regular advertisements in various national newspapers and other journals and magazines, Prakriti participates in various road shows and trade fairs. But what actually remains its major business generator are the special tour packages for off beat locations.

Nurturing ambitious expansion plans, the company is also looking at launching economy packages for all destinations in the country in the very near future. The company is planning to start fixed departure 'Coach Luxury Tours' for weekends and also for long distance destinations for long holidays. Besides that the company is looking at a possible tie up with government guesthouse and motels for 'spread over' destinations.

Athira holidays

Athira holidays are one of the leading tour operators in South India since 1994. Managed by a well experienced group of professionals, the company caters to all types of tourists - FITs and Groups.

The services on offer include Tranportation, Accomodation, Guide/Escort and any other needs of the guests. Even the government of India has granted recognition to Athira holidays as an "Approved Tour Operator". The comapny is also an Allied Member of IATO - Indian Association of Tour Operators. The tour packages cover all the tourist spots in south india.

Also on offer are special packages that include Ayurveda, Yoga, Meditation,Pilgrim, Wildlife tours, Beach holidays, Backwater Tours, Elephant Safari, Tree Top houses. Headquartered at Kochi (Cochin), the commercial centre of Kerala with branches at Kozhikode (Calicut) and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) in Kerala, Chennai (Madras) in Tamil Nadu and a representative Office at Bangalore in Karnataka.

The company has trained and experienced personnel to take care of their guests day-to-day activities in all over south india.

Viva Holidays

Viva Holidays Tours and Travels Pvt Ltd was established in the year 1990. Having recorded 100 per cent growth over last five years, the company is planning to set up 10 more offices in the country in the future.

The company's marketing strategy focuses a great deal on actively engaging its experienced sales and marketing department in promoting the big as well as the smaller destinations with equal importance. The ability to provide tailor made packages for the groups and the individuals while keeping in mind the needs and budgets of its customers is what makes Viva special. The company specialises in selling domestic as well as international air tickets. Viva is also the GSA for Minotel hotels worldwide for India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The company is also the authorised agents of the Best Western hotel chain worldwide and Eurail and Brit Rail." Viva is recognisd by all the national and international travel associations like ADTOI, TAAI, IATO and the department of tourism, government of India. The company specialises in selling domestic as well as international air tickets.

Viva Holidays identified a gap in the market for a specialist division designed to provide business travel services to the senior personnel of multinational companies. After establishing its corporate division, the reputation for quality and the value for money quickly grew and ended up rapidly expanding the portfolio of its clients. The company boasts of its clients, which are not, only MNC's but also the blue chip companies.

Impression Holidays

Impression Holidays is a domestic package tour companie that started its operations in the year 2001. Committed to achieve excellence in the area of its operations, the company has a team of skilled professionals and is backed by the latest technology that enables it to serve its clients promptly. The company offers a range of tour services from adventure tours to cultural and leisure to heritage tours. The services offered by the company include various tour packages like heritage tours, cultural tours, and wildlife and adventure tours besides others. The company also practices the mantra 'you plan and we operate', that offers a choice to the customers to plan their own itineraries. The company ensures to cater to each segment including budget and luxury. While taking care of ground handling, the company provides arrangements like cars and coach rentals all over India besides air and train bookings. Impression also handles conferences and incentive tours. The services offered by the company include accommodation from budget to most luxurious hotels to make the holidays really memorable. The company also have arrangements with leading hotel chains in India that enables them to provide customers the best accommodation at attractive price. They also develop and design packages to suit all the budgets. During last few years, the company has grown to become a domestic package tour company. With a professional team of sales and marketing, the company is set to meet the challenges of the business The company creates awareness through advertisements through newspapers and magazines on a regular basis. The company has witnessed 44.46 per cent growth over last year. The company also practices the mantra 'you plan and we operate', that offers a choice to the customers to plan their own itineraries.

Frequent Travels

Born in the year 1995, Frequent Travels has come a long way with the attitude and respect towards human values. At Frequent one can just scratch and get any named service from the ocean of travel trade. May it be sailing on a luxury cruise liner, flying in the air or enjoying a thunder journey from London-Paris or an encounter with the wildlife. Name it and the comapny can instantly book the same for its guests.

At Frequent a team of experts have been especially given charge of councelling and assisting for passports, visas and foreign exchange. Through online reservation systems, Frequent Travels helps solve clients exhausted itinerary and instantly issue tickets for any domestic or international airlines.Holidaying! is the latest trendy fashion and to cater this requirement there is a special cell having trained staff to tailor the tour as per the clients requirements and budgets. Also being the general sales agents for Thomas Cook Holidays, the comapny offers an exclusive range of domestic and international holidays package tours.

PARK PLAZA PARK INN

Park Plaza and Park Inn, both brands are experiencing strong growth fuelled by the integrating platform of Carlson Hospitality Worldwide. Park Plaza and Park Inn are growing both in the domestic and international market. Park Plaza and Park Inn are continuously working towards developing world class systems and a training culture to deliver customer delight by continously raising the levels of customer satisfaction. The brands aim to extend the Park Plaza and Park Inn hospitality experience in every city across India. The same is to be extended globally, with special focus on Africa and the Middle East.

Park Plaza and Park Inn hotels are constantly endeavouring to evolve progressively, extending equal opportunities of growth and progress for all the employees and partners by providing them continuous training and counselling at every stage.

Fortune Park

Fortune Park Hotels, a subsidiary of ITC Welcomgroup of Hotels, has shown growth in the last financial year. The chain maintained a steady growth right through 2003-04 with a turnover of Rs 236.50 lakh compared to previous year's turnover of Rs 149.96 lakh. At the end of December 2003, the chain had nine operating hotels and since then has signed up eight more properties. At present, the group has 14 properties that are already operational and three are at the project stage including Gurgaon and Vijaywada. While the Gurgaon property is gearing up fora December opening, Vijaywada will open early next year.

ITC Welcomgroup made a foray into the mid-priced hotel segment with the 'Fortune Park' brand in 1995. However, it's only now that the group has become aggressive about its expansions across several cities. The group is planning seven new hotels in the near future in destinations like Goa, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ludhiana and Chennai. Also on the cards are a number of new additions to the chain in the south, including a hotel in Kochi and two other locations in Kerala. Riding high on its growth, the group plans to have 50 hotels in place by 2008. Dovetailing with this aggressive plan, the group intends to add at least eight hotels every year to achieve its target. All hotels will run on the franchise and management model, wherein ITC does not plan to invest in these properties. Fortune Park will have hotels in small cities where there is no scope for a luxury hotel. The group is also concentrating on strengthening and building its food and beverage brands. All new agreements that we have will either feature a multi-cuisine restaurant called 'Orchid' or a specialty restaurant called 'Khyber', or both restaurants depending on the demand of the location. According to the group, this will help us reach a larger audience, including the local residents.

Ramee

Ramee Group of Hotels consists of 24 hotels - all of which are to be found in the UAE, Bahrain and India. The company is headquartered in Dubai. From 1999 to 2004, the group from expanded from 10 to 24 hotels. Their latest property in Abu Dhabi would be soon operational by the end of November 2004.

Regular advertisements and special promotional offers has been part of their marketing strategy since long. They have tapped the hospitality segment, by providing free memberships to members of the trade for their Irish pub.

With regards to India, by the end of February 2005, they aim to operate two properties one in Jaipur and the other in Bangalore. With a foothold in the night club business, the company also aims to soon start a pub called Zing at their property in central Mumbai. Expansion plans in Pune, is also part of the agenda. Future expansion plans are also planned in Baharain.

Great India Tour Company

Great India Tour Company Pvt Ltd (GITC) was established in the year 1991, as a sister concern of the reputed travel company Airtravel Enterprises India Ltd. It was the first full-fledged Destination Management Company based in Kerala. Strategically, the company started promoting Kerala state as a great tourist destination in the international market. The company started participating in all national and international marts projecting Kerala as a destination. Later, realising that South India is a larger canvas, it projected itself as a specialist in South India tourism projects. After establishing its brand as South India specialist, it started offering various experience rich packages and programmes for various parts of India. GITC is visible in the international market as a credible and professional management company for the last 13 years.

GITC has spread out to 14 strategic locations in India, including the metros and six locations abroad. During the last five years the company has established prominent brands for inbound and outbound tourists. The Inbound Holiday brand is 'Great India Holidays' and the Outbound,' Dream Holidays'. The company has received several awards including the Best Tour Operator Award instituted by the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala for the last two years. GITC is the American Express representative organisation in Trivandrum and Kochi. Also it is the leisure product provider to the AMEX corporate clients. GITC has started appointing franchisee, marketing consolidators and general sales agents in various source markets. GITC has established offices in Italy, China, Russia and is operating productively. GITC could attain maximum market share in these markets for Kerala. GITC's figures of incoming tourists to North India and Goa is on the rise. GITC has been producing excellent marketing tools like brochures, leaflets and CD's of international standards and some of those brochures have received awards including the prestigious TAAI and FICCI awards, for the best tourist brochure.

The company plans to offer India in a wider range to the discerning tourists, for which we are increasing our networking and wider presence. GITC has opened its own office in Russia already and would be opening offices in UK and Spain too. It would be concentrating in making available a wider range of quality products and introduce specialised holidays. For example GITC has entered into medical tourism in collaboration with Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), a world-class hospital based in Trivandrum. These packages are sold in the Middle East, Maldives and has also started marketing it in UK. Similarly GITC is planning to enter the niche areas of Ayurveda tourism. The company has also started marketing packages for film making in Kerala. There are many more special interest packages and products that are to be launched shortly.

Lawrence Travels

Lawrence Travels was set-up in 1987 and its forte is handling leisure travel destinations in India and Nepal. Since 2001, the NCT of Delhi is the company's main area of operation and target market. However, till five-six years ago it was also handling direct clients and business from agents of Gujarat and Maharashtra. But growing direct marketing by Uttaranchal and HP hotels has now forced the company to reduce that work and concentrate only on the Delhi market. The company's turnover grew by eight per cent in the domestic market in the last five years. It has strengthened its foothold by offering new destinations, such as Goa, Heritage Hotels of Rajasthan, Wild Life Reserves and tours to Kerala and Kashmir.

The company has established itself in the domestic market as a travel agent specialising in custom made itineraries, charters and helping individual travellers with their own programme. Offering tailor-made tour itineraries is their unique selling proposition. Unlike many domestic tour operators, they work as travel counsellors. As per the company spokesperson, they spend on an average half and hour to one hour with clients, discuss minute details to help them understand the destination and plan an itinerary. They have a well trained staff strength for the last 10 years and have excellent product knowledge, which normally is not the case with many domestic tour operators who just sell a package without much variation. It is this come-to-us-for-a-good-holiday-experience-not-discounts attitude which has paid off for the company. The domestic tourists whom Lawrence has been handling over the past few years have started referring their relatives settled abroad to them, which has indirectly forced them to create a new inbound division in the company. As part of their expansion plan, they started the inbound division in 2000, which has seen a growth of 500 per cent in the first two years and a 100 per cent growth then on. Further, the low cost south-east Asia packages, which have generated lot of interest in the market, forcing them to offer outbound packages to our repeat domestic clients. Some of the major achievements of the company over the last couple of years had been: - Charter & Special arrangements for Harvard University Management Faculty (USA) on The Royal Orient Heritage Train for Millenium Eve. -Transport handling for support service of Himalayan Car Rally. - Extensive promotion of Himachal Pradesh and its resort hotels with the domestic travel trade. -Special arrangements and handling for Board of Directors, Pfizer, Italy on Palace on Wheels luxury train tour.

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is fast gearing up to improve and market its tourism product. The turnover of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has increased manifold in the last five years from a mere Rs 617 lakh in the year 1999 - 2000 to Rs.4,676 lakh for the financial year ending 2003 - 2004.

This year it is projected to reach around Rs 6,600 lakh. The major contributions to this have been from the transport and accommodation units of APTDC.

APTDC has also listed down their effective marketing strategies. However, the state has plans to undertake new projects and develop newer regions of tourism interest.

The New Projects that are being taken up in the year 2004 - 2005 are development of Kurnool - Cuddapah Circuit, the Coconut Resort in Chinchinada village in East Godavari district.

Araku - Vizag tourism circuit has been taken up for intensive development by providing infrastructure facilities required by tourist.

Jammu & Kashmir

After hitting rock-bottom Jammu & Kashmir is back with a bang. There is a great change and the recently concluded Express Power Golf 2004 that proved to be a great boost for tourism is witness to this change. State is focussing on the development of new areas. These places will be primarily nature spots. It is for the first time since last 15 years, the government has taken an initiative to clean up the Dal Lake besides spending money on publicity and promotion. The government will spend over Rs 100 crore on the 'cleaning' of Dal Lake.

The state is also laying lot of emphasis on the infrastructure development. Kashmir will carry on a strong promotional campaign in India and abroad to lure tourists. The major focus area of the state will be pilgrim tourism and Amarnath and Vaishno Devi would be two important thrust areas. Its recently announced budget for 2003-2004, the state announced a special sales tax holiday for hospitality industry. To encourage the new and smaller ventures, the government will provide soft loans at one per cent interest to set up the private business.the tourists about Kashmir.

BTI Sita

BTI Sita the corporate travel division of Kuoni Travel India group plans to grow multifold by crossing a turnover of Rs 1000 crore by the year 2007 and be the largest corporate travel management company in India.

With the travel industry booming and the country registering high economic growth, BTI Sita is looking at exploring new markets and innovating new products to make it a one-stop- shop for travel and related services. It is also looking at expanding the network of locations through appointment of franchisees in the cities where it does not have its own offices. Keeping in view the magnanimous size of the retail market, BTI Sita plans to set up a separate business unit focusing on the B2C market.

In 2002, Kuoni India's business travel activity under the brand name of BTI Sita affiliated itself with Business Travel International (BTI), the world's leading travel management company operating in over 90 key countries providing them with complete travel solutions. BTI Sita operates in partnership with BTI through 12 owned and 44 service locations across India.

Kuoni Travel Group, India, is the country's largest travel company and 100 per cent subsidiary of Kuoni Travel Holding, Switzerland. Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. is one of Europe's leading Travel Corporations with a 2001 turnover of CHF 4065 billion. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Kuoni today operates subsidiaries in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia, America and Africa.

BTI Sita started its journey in India in the year 2001 when it took over SITA world travel and turned around the fortunes of the company. From a
turnover of Rs.159 crore and a loss of over Rs 59 lakh in 2001, BTI Sita projects to close the year 2004 with the gross turnover of Rs 400 crore and a profit of around Rs 4.0 crore. BTI Sita's strategy has been to grow aggressively backed up by account management and excellent customer service. At the core of BTI Sita strategy has been quality systems and well defined processes.

Successful Strategies

Within BTI Sita, there is intrinsic understanding of the management challenges that Multinational companies and corporate face in delivering consistent global standards. BTI Sita is perceptive of the needs of each individual client and offers unrivalled experience in servicing top companies. BTI Sita offers tailored solutions to corporate customers. Targeting small, medium-sized, and national and multinational groups, the company's travel specialists not only efficiently organize the clients' business travel activities, but also facilitate substantial reductions in their travel costs.

Currently, the company has a gross turnover of Rs 384 crore as compared to Rs 286 crore in the year 2003 showing the highest growth rate of over 40 per cent in the business travel industry.

By virtue of BTI's leading edge technologies, user-oriented software applications and strong focus is on service and customer needs, BTI Sita has firmly established itself as the leading travel management company in Indian business and travel sector.

Goa

Goa tourism has made efforts to invest, promote and market the tourism highlights of the region, recognising its potential towards enhancing the state exchequer. Due to enhancement in financial allocation for tourism sector, there has been a 20 per cent increase each in revenue generation and foreign exchange earning. Tourist arrivals to the state have increased by 60 per cent. Goa tourism has listed down the strategies and efforts that have helped them enhance their position in the tourism market. Industry status has been given to tourism to attract high spending tourists and to set up more star category hotels.

In order to strengthen marketing strategy the tourism department has envisaged various publicity measures in India and abroad on a massive scale through participation in various travel marts in India and abroad by organising roadshows, advertisement through print and electronic media .Topmost attention has been given to beach cleaning. staties. Introducing of Goa Heritage House Tourism Scheme is part of its future plans.

Uttaranchal

Uttaranchal from the moment of its birth (November 2000), has taken some concrete steps to emerge as a tourism force to reckon with. A forward-looking Tourism Policy, which clearly recognises the strengths, weakness and potential of tourism in the state, was announced in April 2001 and put forth a definite Action Plan. The state government is also adopting the master plan approach for development of 14 areas, such as wayside amenities, new tourist destinations, development of Tehri Dam area as a tourist spot etc. A sum of Rs 1.20 crore has been earmarked for it. While special emphasis is being accorded to promote cultural tourism and wildlife tourism, efforts are also on to develop the souvenir industry. The Board has empanelled 100 consultants in 18 different categories ranging from landscape architects to agencies and has entrusted them with the job of preparing the master plan and identifying potential tourism areas that can be developed. A four-lane superhighway connecting New Delhi, and an exclusive train to Corbett National Park, is being attempted.

Air Sahara

Sahara Airlines rechristened as Air Sahara is on the threshold of a new dawn of success and consolidation. Air Sahara is the first domestic airline to operate overseas. The airline recently started its flights to Sri Lanka. In the fast changing Indian aviation scenario, few have been able to survive the pressures of rising costs, cut-throat competition and increasing customer demand. With the public sector majors like Indian Airlines and Air India still unclear of the divestment, few have been able to withstand the onslaught of competition and ensure effective service delivery. As one of the leading private players, Air Sahara has proven its worth as one of the successful players in domestic Indian aviation. It has constantly brought in new initiatives and has developed into a wholesome airline, offering benefits and services at par with any other domestic operator.

The Airline is part of the multi-crore Sahara India Pariwar, which has interests in Public Deposit Mobilisation, Media and Entertainment, Housing and Infrastructure, Tourism, Consumer Products and Information Technology. Starting on a modest scale and a capital of only Rs 2000 in 1978, Sahara India Pariwar has traversed a long way to become an icon in Indian entrepreneurship.

In wake of the Indian government's decision to open the skies to the private sector, Air Sahara began its operation on December 3, 1993. To begin with, the airline operated a fleet of only two Boeing 737-200s.

Today, its fleet includes advanced aviation technology New Generation Boeings 737-700s and 737-800s and Classics 737-400s and a fleet of 3 Bombardier Canadian Regional Jets (CRJ). The Air Sahara's fleet also includes four highly advanced Helicopters (Dauphin and Ecureuil), which provide efficient charter services. Offering 77 flights with 8900 seats on a daily basis.

Air Sahara flies to various destinations in India, which include important cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and others. The airline has recently added Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Bhubaneshwar and Ranchi to its route network. With New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai being its major hubs, the carrier has a regional connectivity plan as it believes that there is a huge feeder market waiting to be explored. In the past nine years Air Sahara has grown from strength to strength. Today, the airline boasts of a passenger load factor, which is at par with the other leading domestic airlines. In such a short span of time, the airline has been recognised for its world class service a number of times.

Successful Strategies

As a focused strategy to tap the market, a multicrore company Air Sahara invested Rs 25 crore in its cricket campaign offering incentives to Sahara Passengers. Air Sahara is now focusing on positioning itself as a professional and passenger friendly airline for the future. Air Sahara is planning to further expand its flight operations. Currently operating 53 flights daily to various destinations in the country, the airline plans to increase the flights to 155 daily in the current year. To connect more destinations, the airline is planning to enhance its fleet to 24 by adding new aircraft.

Last year the airline targeted about 19 to 20 per cent market share and a turnover of Rs 750 crore. Sahara is currently working on a strategy to tap the business traveller segment aggressively.

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh created an independent tourism development board free from government shackles with decision making power. It has joint public and private representation with nominations from hoteliers, transporters, travel agents and operators. The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) since its inception, has preferred to play the role of a catalyst. HP has plans to constitute tourism development councils for specific areas or destinations of tourist's importance with the objective of supporting the tourism boards activities at a ground level. HPTDC with a new mission statement is to create prosperity for the people of Himachal Pradesh through travel and tourism. The marketing initiatives of the state tourism include development two tourism circuits, namely, Chandigrah-Manali-Leh circuit. The state tourism plans to set up tourist

With respect to its product development, the state is planning to set up a sole authority to grant various permission for outdoor film shooting vide necessary assistance for it.

Karnataka

Karnataka was among the first states in the country to bring out a progressive Tourism Policy as early as June 1992. The government had announced an updated tourism policy on June 1997 for a period of five years with certain modifications. The state government is now giving new thrust to promote tourism in the state. All bonafide tourism related enterprises are duly recognised and given special incentives and concessions. Areas that need rapid development have been identified. One of Karnataka Tourism's main strategies is to convert business travellers into high spending tourists. Karnataka has been positioned as India's "Theatre of Inspiration", which has played a vital role in branding the state. The department has now roped in another agency to give further boost the branding. A first-of-its-kind tourism handbook in India - "Karnataka Traveller" was launched along with a few other promotional materials.

The department is currently promoting Health Tourism across the country as well as outside. Bangalore is the focal point for medical treatments.

Rajasthan

Having recorded a growth of 67 per cent in the foreign tourist arrival and 32 per in domestic tourist arrivals in the first quarter of the year 2004 as compared to the previous year, Rajasthan tourism holds promise. The state has formulated a new tourism policy, taking into account the changing socio-economic and investment scenario in the state and the emerging trends in the tourism sector. In order to develop infrastructure, the state plan to prepare an area-based master plan outlining the infrastructure necessary in each such area. The state plans to encourage private sector participation in developing tourism infrastructure. Efforts will also be made to dovetail external assistance, central assistance and state plan resource along with private investment to achieve goals set in the master plan. The state tourism department plans to set up a special cell to facilitate and assist entrepreneurs willing to set up tourism related projects in the state. Besides there will be a special cell in the bureau of industrial Promotion (BIP) to process and expedite the projects.

Italian State Tourism Board (ENIT)

Enit (Italian State Tourist Board) has been one of the international tourism boards that have been quite active in India. With their position of featuring Italy 'One region at a time', the state has made every effort to make its regions known both amongst the travel trade and the media. When ENIT opened its office in India in the year 2000, there were 60,000 Indian tourists travelling to Italy. In 2002, the total number of Indian tourists travelling to Italy is around 1,37,000.

ENIT has also implemented successful marketing strategies since its establishment to date, to make its presence felt and promote its product. ENIT has undertaken a number of activities in the past three years. ENIT lists them down as, sponsoring Indian tour operators for attending fairs in Italy, participation in Indian fairs like OTM in order to identify with the Indian tour operators as well as to come in direct contact with the Indian clientele, conducting FAM trips for Indian journalists to various tourist attractions of Italy with the intention of marketing new destination, organising seminars, advertising etc.

DUBAI

Having set shop in the Indian market in 1998, DTCM explored the metros especially Mumbai and Delhi. The strategy included media coverage in the form of familiarisation trips and advertisement campaigns, both in print and television. A sample audit was also conducted in the same period to further analyse the market on what was the trade's perception of Dubai and their expectations. In 1999, they moved on to the new shores of Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad. The first ever road show was conducted in 1999 held across four cities. There was a deliberate shift in strategy to move to smaller cities ie. Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore,Pune etc. This was inclusive of the promotions in the metros that continued. The year 2001 saw consumer promotions and 2002, travel trade joint promotions. However, DTCM is assuming, 2003 will witness further penetration into smaller markets. It will see Dubai going to consumers via consumer products available at retail outlets and restaurants. They are looking at achieving an average growth rate of 20-22 per cent.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has undertaken a thorough and comprehensive analysis of existing visitor data with the aim to determine those markets that have the strongest growth potentials. India features as a vital market as there has been substantial increase every year in tourist arrivals from India. Between January and September 2004, Hong Kong welcomed 181,578 visitors from India, a growth of 54 per cent over the same period in 2003. This surpasses the 178,130 arrivals recorded for the entire 12 months of 2003. HKTB charted out a two-pronged strategy in 2002 to boost tourism from India, one placing emphasis on trade marketing and the other on direct consumer marketing. HKTB's latest initiative was to showcase the wide spectrum of shooting locales and facilities of HK to Bollywood. HKTB is also focusing on family travel and cruise market segments. HKTB's marketing campaigns, would be built around the four main 'product pillars' namely shopping, dining, culture and festivals, city and harbour attractions.

AUSTRIA

Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) in India, based in New Delhi, is the official tourism contact in India. In 2003, 39,000 tourists from India visited Austria, which is a considerable jump from 36,000 in 2002. Austria is witnessing an increased growth in the FIT segment as regards India. The visitor growth graph touched the 30 per cent mark in 2004, which included 15 per cent from FIT and 10 per cent from group travel.

ANTO plans to achieve a clear and unmistakable position of the brand Holiday Land Austria by focusing on Austria's USP. Participating in important travel and tourism trade fairs in India and focusing more on promoting the FIT segment through media promotion exercises has been on the cards. Further, it aggressively focusing on partnering with the Indian trade. ANTO also plans to promote the destination through India movies. With Indian travellers maturing, ANTO is now promoting the lower Austria region along with golf. Focusing on FITs, it is also encouraging agents to promote the Vienna Card and Innsbruck Card.

Sri Lanka

With a focussed aim and objective to strengthen its hold in India, Sri Lanka Tourism Board has strategically been running promotions. Its prime marketing campaign 'Buy One Get One Free Offer' proved to be a winner.

Indian visitor numbers to Sri Lanka are up in the first two months of 2004 to over 14,000 as against 12,300 last year - an increase of 14 per cent. The average spend in Sri Lanka has also been growing at a steady pace. Educating the trade and end user has in fact been a constant endeavour on the part of Sri Lanka Tourism Board. The board is wooing the fancy-free young generation in the age group of 20 to 40 years. Apart from family and honeymooners, the MICE market is also on a priority list. FIT and leisure forms the major share of travellers from India followed by MICE which contributes around 25-30 per cent of the total arrival of tourists.

So while formulating marketing strategy, the tourism board targeted the consumer directly and created his interest in visiting Sri Lanka.

New Zealand

New Zealand Tourism Board’s constant focus has always been trade marketing in India. Educating the travel agents who will eventually sell the destination, is vital. The '100% Pure New Zealand' global marketing campaign that won top honours from international tourism and travel organisation and was aimed at promoting New Zealand as one of the top destinations. Kiwi Link India - This major trade event is held each year in various metros in the first week of March.

TRENZ is New Zealand's largest annual international tradeshow and presents a unique business opportunity for tourism operators. Tourism New Zealand focuses on quality growth as against quantity growth in travellers to New Zealand. The tourism expenditure for Indian market is among the top expenditures in Asia and will grow with years to come. There has been a 300 percent jump in six years and 51 per cent increase in travellers to New Zealand in May 2004 as compared to May 2003. The number of travellers in the year ending May 2004 were 15, 613.

Britain

VisitBritian's effort to change the perception of Britain as an expensive destination has successfully led to growth in arrivals. That Britain is continuously registering an eight per cent growth in arrivals from India. However, the NTO is far from complacent and has geared up to promote the core essence of their brand value - heart, depth and vitality. The VisitBritain (VB) office in India is focusing on partnering with the trade. In India, their thrust is on Kolkata and metros in the South. Its concerted effort currently is to educate agents and apprise consumers about self-kitchen apartments available for as less as 25-40 pounds, half price warehouses offering good labels, fabulous yet not-too-expensive shopping complexes outside London and quick getaways fairs related to booming industries. VB is talking to trade associations like FICCI, ASSOCHAM, CII and trade fair specialists like Orbit to gather market inputs, identifying which industries are looking for international participation and creating a database.

Australia

Tourism Australia's (TA) objective is to showcase the brand - Australia as a destination with a variety of experiences for the up market psycho graphic profile of Indian traveler. TA's intent to increase the impact and effectiveness of marketing spend is primarily through the proficient use of Public Relations. It is imperative to host relevant print and electronic media to the seaboard cities and regions of Australia to showcase the cosmopolitan flavour, attractions and experiences. TA also coordinates consumer promotions and events that target key market segments. We promote Australia through a diverse range of innovative consumer and trade activities, including joint industry promotions, media and publicity programs, mailers and special trade events like the India Travel Mission. We strategize to penetrate the relevant target audience and gain mind recall in a market that sees much activity from other tourism boards both domestic and international in the country. Communication strategies play a pivotal role to carve a niche in people's minds to make Australia the preferred tourist destination.

Singapore

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) as an organisation has also grown in India. In February 2004, they opened the Chennai office. STB has also appointed a Marketing Advisory Council in India to provide additional consumer insights. Working closely with the travel trade both in India and Singapore, and providing platforms for both to meet regularly has enabled their vision of the consumer experience to come to fruition.

Visitor arrivals to Singapore have increased significantly, from 2.9 lakh in 1999 to 3.75 lakh in 2002. The purposes for which visitors return to Singapore has also diversified. Where once Singapore was merely a destination for shopping, it has now succeeded into positioning itself as an all-round leisure destination. India is a priority market for Singapore Tourism and they plan to continue to invest the requisite resources to ensure that they maintain our leadership. sage that is relevant and attractive. STB also aims to leverage on the Uniquely Singapore branding to highlight to consumers' the special qualities of Singapore.

South Africa

The South African Tourism Board (SATOUR) considers India to be a key emerging market. India features among the top 20 drivers of growth in tourism numbers to South Africa. As part of its global strategy, SATOUR launched the Tourism Growth Strategy (TGS), at the Indaba 2002. TGS was developed as date-driven strategy on how to fuel international tourism, which would in turn lead to boosting the South African tourism.

The Indian market is one of the fastest growing markets for inbound tourism in South Africa. SATOUR essentially tapping the upper income group in the Indian metros of Mumbai and Delhi. While luxury travellers are being offered top of the line products , the middle class segment is currently being researched and future campaigns would address this segment as well. Further the group would be segmented into honeymooners, FITs, Film Crews, Conventions and Conferences and Incentives and Families.

Thailand

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in India headquartered in New Delhi has been the official tourism promotion body of Thailand touirsm in India. TAT has exceeded its 2003 figures in the first six months of 2004. Indian visitors to Thailand grew by 50 per cent from 96,944 in 2003 to 144, 916 this year so far. As a result of increased interest in the destination, Thai Airways International has started thrice-weekly flights to Bangalore in August. India is also among 10 destinations where TAT will open overseas offices as part of its global expansion plans to woo tourists to reach its 20 million visitors target by 2008. TAT plans to station a chief and deputy chief at its head office in Delhi. Thailand is also looking at promoting a link between Phuket Island and Port Blair, the gateway to the yet-to-explore adventure sport destination, the Andaman and Lakhswadeep Islands.

In the past few years, the Tourist Authority of Thailand has successfully positioned Thailand as a value-for-money destination among the Indian middle class.

Malaysia

Having set shop in the Indian market in 1999, tourist arrivals from India to Malaysia were just 40,000, with the major share chunk being the business traveller. Awareness on the country was minimal and leisure tours were almost unheard of. Outbound tourism till that year was restricted to the Western countries and the East was not looked at as a hot spot for tourism.

Studies conducted by Tourism Malaysia indicated that with the opening of the Indian economy, the spending pattern changed and awareness on multiple options emerged. As a part of the changing scenario Indian tourism also got revamped. Outbound was taken more seriously and more avenues and destinations emerged.

With a growing Indian perception change in travel, Malaysia introduced its global campaign 'Malaysia Truly Asia'. This campaign achieved the much needed awareness and hype about the country. Thus, packages emerged focused on the mass at affordable price.

Jet Airways

The first take-off on May 5, 1993 till date, Jet Airways has the youngest fleet of aircraft in India, consisting of the modern 737-400/700/800/900 and the ATR 72-500. The airline strives to provide service of the highest standard to our customers, both on ground and in-flight. It is also one of the few airlines in the world to receive the ISO 9001 certification for our in-flight services. With over 260 flights daily to 44 destinations in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, the airline connect a place every five minutes. Till end June 2004 Jet Airways has flown over 44.8 million passengers.

Jet Airways has revamped its Frequent Flyer Programme Jet Privilege (JP) so as to make it more appealing, innovative, accessible and truly world-class for over 400,000 members.

The new Jet Privilege programme has been created to recognise the longstanding relationship Jet Airways shares with all its members. This new programme is a radical departure from existing frequent flyer programme models followed by airlines around the world.

Air Sahara

Sahara Airlines rechristened as Air Sahara is on the threshold of a new dawn of success and consolidation. Air Sahara is the first domestic airline to operate overseas. The airline recently started its flights to Sri Lanka. In the fast changing Indian aviation scenario, few have been able to survive the pressures of rising costs, cut-throat competition and increasing customer demand.

Today, its fleet includes advanced aviation technology New Generation Boeings 737-700s and 737-800s and Classics 737-400s and a fleet of 3 Bombardier Canadian Regional Jets (CRJ). The Air Sahara's fleet also includes four highly advanced Helicopters (Dauphin and Ecureuil), which provide efficient charter services. Offering 77 flights with 8900 seats on a daily basis.

Air Sahara flies to various destinations in India, which include important cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and others.

Malaysia Airlines

Malaysian Airlines in a recent development, announced a profit after tax of RM132.7 million and RM159.3 million for the second quarter and half year respectively, which was an increase of 31 per cent and 351 per cent from same period last year.

The network strategy remains focused on developing regional dominance and growing the China and India markets. Frequencies into existing destinations such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, will be increased in December 2004, and the daily Chennai flights will be upgraded to a B744 from an A330 effective 1 December 2004. For China and India, the increase is 26 per cent and 42 per cent respectively for the same period. More destinations will be launched soon. They are Ahmedabad in December 2004, Kunming and Kolkata in January 2005 and Xian in March 2005. Their fleet planning takes into consideration the need to deploy the appropriate aircraft type into these markets while improving passenger comfort and operational efficiencies."

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines has witnessed steady growth over the years. The available seat-km has grown by 38 per cent and revenue passenger-km increased by 42 per cent in the last ten years. Growth has also occurred in terms of adding new destinations, acquiring new aircraft and building frequency to points where demand has been high. SIA's route network, including SIA Cargo, covers 67 destinations in 35 countries. Our operating passenger fleet has grown from 63 aircraft ten years ago to 89 aircraft as on 30 September 2004. We have added four new destinations within this year including Ahmedabad and Amritsar in India.

SIA's success can be attributed to customer service and its focus on innovation. SIA has also invested in staff training. SIA has invested in acquiring the latest aircraft technology and the youngest fleet with an average age of five years and two months. SIA will be the first carrier to operate the A380 Super Jumbo Aircraft in 2006. In addition, SIA looking to build frequencies to points performing well on the network.

China Eastern Airlines

China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd, its subsidiaries and branches are located in East and Northern China with more than 40 sales offices all over the country. China Eastern also constructed the holding company of China Cargo Airlines with COSCO. It merged China General Aviation Company successfully and made the scale of the company larger. The scope of business includes 17 trades, such as commercial air transportation, general aviation, air catering, advertisement, import and export, air travelling, equipment manufacturing, real estate, hotel business, finance, and training, etc. The fleet includes more than 60 large and medium size airplanes, Airbus and Boeing mostly. It has formed a network centering in Shanghai radiating to the whole country and linking to Asia, Europe, America and Australia. China Eastern has all time made his efforts to provide super services to his passengers, which have been praised highly by domestic stands at the first place in the activities of upgrading the Chinese civil aviation transportation service quality.

Lufthansa

Deutsche Lufthansa AG ranks upfront among the world's leading airlines. As an Aviation Group, Lufthansa adheres firmly to economic and strategic criteria, focusing on the core competencies of its six business areas: passenger traffic, logistics, MRO, catering, leisure travel, and IT services. The Group attaches overriding importance to quality and innovation, safety and reliability. Large, modern and environmentally compatible - the Lufthansa fleet comprises aircraft of almost every size. Throughout, state-of-the-art technology is used. Lufthansa stayed on course in 2003, and proved its stability in turbulent times. Thanks to our flexibility, we were able to turn around a record loss of Euro 415m in the first quarter and generate a small operating profit of Euro 36m by the end of the year. Extraordinary write-downs totaling Euro 783m, accounted for mainly by LSG Sky Chefs, resulted finally in a net loss of Euro 984m.

With the streamlining of the balance sheet, the successful launch of an action programme and the strategy of product differentiation and continuous quality enhancement, Lufthansa have charted the course for the future.

South African Airways

On April 1, 1999 South African Airways - formerly a division of Transnet, was privatised and renamed South African Airways (Pty) Ltd (SAA). SAA today is a major player in the global village. One of the major thrusts of the airline's vision for the future is continued global expansion in conjunction with strategic airline partners. SAA understands that today's customers want high levels of customer service, not just on board but also with respect to check-in and frequency of flights available to most major destinations.

SAA has activated its e-commerce venture - flysaa.com. SAA passengers internationally can now do their ticketing online through the website. Bookings for a flight can be made up to a year in advance, through this global reservations system within a completely secure payment environment. To complete an online ticket purchase, all a passenger has to do is register and login. Passengers can also book an entire trip including hotel bookings and shortly car hire reservations (still in process), through this website up to a year in advance of today's date in SAA's destination cities.

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic took to the air in 1984. Virgin Atlantic is the second largest long-haul airline in the UK and the third largest European carrier over the North Atlantic. Our route network has grown rapidly to include destinations in the US, Caribbean, Far East, India and Africa. On 20 December 1999 Richard Branson signed an agreement to sell a 49% stake of Virgin Atlantic to Singapore Airlines to form a unique global partnership.

The cost of the transaction to Singapore Airlines was £600.25 million, which included a capital injection of £49 million and valued Virgin Atlantic at a minimum of £1.225 billion. The deal was finalised in 2000. Richard retains the controlling 51% stake in the airline.

One can treat oneself to a little something from the inflight tax free shopping service from the comfort of ones seat. As well as a huge range of top perfumes and aftershaves to choose from, one can browse through the range of stylish jewellery, gadgets, cosmetics and confectionary.

SWISS International Air Lines

Swiss came into existence in April 2002 and hence it is still a very young airline, but has managed to establish itself very well in the past two and half years. The operational fleet include 81 modern aircraft serving 70 destinations in 42 countries, including off course, daily flights between Mumbai and Zurich. Seat load factor on major network routes continue to improve and the airline has seen a very positive growth on both our passenger numbers and revenue share on the India route. Flights between Mumbai and Zurich also continue to post a very healthy average yearly Seat Load Factor of 78 per cent.

The airline competes in a fast changing global environment. In Europe we the airline is exposed to fierce competition from low cost (no frill) carriers, while on the long-haul intercontinental segments they compete with high quality network carriers. Therefore SWISS has adopted a dual strategy. Smoment you make your booking until you step off the aircraft, we'll focus on your needs. SWISS in India has been posting double digit growth in passenger sales figures since January '04 and are optimistic about the future. Our goal is clearly to focus on growth, especially in India.

Emirates

Emirates growth plans are well-documented and include, - a substantial growth in number of aircraft and a rapidly growing global network that now totals 77 destinations in 54 countries. Investments are also directed at supporting the development of Dubai as a major trade and commerce hub, by anticipating market demand and enabling travellers to travel on popular routes to, from or through the Middle East on Emirates.

In terms of the fleet, on order are four A340-500s, 20 A340-600s, 43 of the super-jumbo A380-800s and 30 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft which will give Emirates one of the largest Airbus fleets in the world. Emirates aircraft orders were announced at the Dubai Airshow 2001, the Paris Air Show last year and Farnborough Air Show this year. The aircraft on firm order will bring Emirates' fleet to 169 by 2012, which will be more than double its fleet size, from those presently owned. Frequencies to existing points throughout the network may also be increased in response to market demand and capacity growth.

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand began its first foray into the Indian market in October 1995, appointing lnterglobe Air Transport, one of India's foremost travel companies as its General Sales Agent in India. Established in 1940, Air New Zealand now flies to 45 destinations in 15 countries spanning Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, the South Pacific Islands and the United States.

Air New Zealand operates a modern fleet of 77 aircraft with an average age of 8.2 years. The aircraft in the fleet range from Boeing 747-400 to Beech 1900D. The fleet is expected to expand with the introduction of 15 new Airbus A320 aircraft starting September 2003.

From India, Air New Zealand currently partners with a number of airlines including Singapore Airlines, Air-India and Indian Airlines to carry passengers from Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi to their hubs in Singapore and Hong Kong. From these destinations, passengers connect to regular Air New Zealand flights to Auckland, New Zealand.

British Airways

In 1924, UK's four main fledgling airlines, Instone, Handley Page, Daimler Airways and British Air Marine Navigation Company Ltd, merged to form Imperial Airways Ltd. In 1935, a number of smaller air transport companies merged to form the original privately-owned British Airways Limited, which became Imperial Airways' principal UK competitor on European routes, operating out of another new airport, Gatwick. Following a government review, Imperial Airways and British Airways were nationalised in 1939 to form British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). At present, British Airways (BA) has firmly established itself as one of the world's leading airline, winning the prestigious Business Traveller World's Best Airline Award eight years running, and countless other awards. It has been reflected in a profitability record second to none in the industry - and rising stock values. However, the airline ran into troubled water after September 11 as its profitable North American routes got disrupted.

Currently, BA operates 18 flights out of India with seven each from Mumbai and Delhi.

Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways is the national carrier of the Arabian Gulf State of Qatar. The airline has become one of the world's fastest growing airlines since the airline was re-launched in 1997 under the leadership of our Chief Executive Officer Mr Akbar Al Baker. Personal attention and service quality is a main focus and as part of the service commitment, the airline is expanding route network to provide customers greater choice of destinations.

At the end of 2003, the target was to fly to 49 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Far East. By the end of 2005, flying to at least 60 destinations.

They recently signed a $5.1 billion deal with Airbus for an additional 34 aircraft, which will allow us to increase our fleet to 52 by the end of 2008. They have also signed a $1.2 billion deal for two A380 'super jumbos' that will be delivered in 2009, with the option to buy another two. They fly with one of the youngest fleets in the skies.

Sri Lankan Airlines

Over the past five years Sri Lankan Airlines growth strategy which was focussed on the Middle East market, Europe and the Far East has been adapted to suit its environment and the primary focus now is the growth potential of the Indian market.

SriLankan Airlines has focussed its efforts on developing Colombo as a hub for the Indian market by offering the best frequencies and connections from India via Colombo to the Middle East, Europe, North America, Canada and several cities in the Far East. The airline is the biggest carrier into India with 71 flights a week and plans to expand its network to more cities. In delivering its product SriLankan has focussed on route profitability, revenue optimisation, increasing frequencies to existing destinations, and a focussed approach to new routes. Branding world wide and focussing on quality and service delivery have also provided the impetus to its success.

Kuoni-SOTC

Kuoni's outbound division markets holiday products under the brand name SOTC. SOTC's innovations, customer-focused strategies and extensive reach have ensured its number one position in the outbound travel arena.

Value-added services such as 'Travel Now, Pay Later' and SOTC's 'Let's Go Holiday Club', a customer loyalty programme are part of their innovative promotional and marketing endeavours. SOTC also started community based promotional packages and brands such 'Vishwa Darpan' packages that catered to the Hindi speaking communities and also packages that catered to the Maharashtrain community in 2003, called `Brahman Mandal.' Subsequently in 2004, they also introduced 'Gurjar' that caters to the Gujarati speaking community. In future, SOTC plans to launch a brochure that caters to the South Indian market. Looking at the school segment in a big way, is also part of their plans.

Cox & Kings

Cox and Kings operate a wide range of group and individual tours throughout the subcontinent for clients from all over the world. Overseas Cox and Kings offices are renowned as Indian tour specialist in their respective markets and sell the Indian sub-continent (amongst other destinations) in their product portfolio The destination management division of Cox and Kings looks after ground arrangements in the capacity of Ground Handling Manager in India and neighbouring countries. Cox and Kings currently caters to over 50,000 foreign tourists (inbound) a year.

Radius the world's leading Travel Management Solutions player has also selected Cox and Kings as their Indian partner. Through the Radius partnership, Cox and Kings is part of a worldwide network.

Orbit

Set up in the year 1977 Orbit completes 25 years in the tours and trade fair business in India. Today is ranks as one of the largest MICE market organisers and promoters in the tourism industry.

ORBIT was formed in 1978. By the end of 2000, ORBIT's total tour operation was in excess of 3000 participants per year - the highest ever in the history of this activity. ORBIT has attained leadership status in the International Trade Fair - Tours operations. It has expanded the scope of its activities along with an extensive network spanning major cities in India backed by a team of dedicated professionals.

The company witnessed approximately 20 to 25 per cent growth since 1998 and have expanded into other regions of India.

Beacon Holidays

After being in the travel business for a decade now, Beacon Holidays has evolved as a boutique tour operator who is now equally well-recognised for Australia and New Zealand as there are for Africa. And the most successful tool so far in building the Beacon Brand as a trustworthy leading tour operator is through word of mouth. With a consistent growth of about 40-70 per cent on an average barring the year of 9/11, the company is optimistic for the coming year.

Agents from all over India use the company’s expertise to add value to their clients experience, and earn goodwill of their clients through our delivery of the experience. This saves them the research and marketing costs, a saving which adds to their commission revenues. Beacon Holidays has designed brochures with unique boutique properties, and activities integrated in the itineraries that allow a visitor to be part of the destination rather than just a visitor. The strategy is to distribute products for the individual travellers offering unique experiences of destinations, assist agents to use the skills and product knowledge with their clients to increase their earning.

Kesari Tours

Established in 1984, Kesari Tours has built its tourism enterprise slowly and steadily. From a small office initiated by its founder Kesari Patil to a full-fledged professionally managed set up with offices in Maharashtra and across India, the company has come a long way. The reign of the enterprise has been firmly placed in the hands of the founder's immediate family, along with a team of professionals and staff that is growing with time. The company started off as pioneers in designing packages especially for the Marathi speaking belt but have, steadily reached the cosmopolitan market. The company has moved ahead with time to make their operations completely computerised and have developed a sophisticated in-house reservation package. The company offers a full-fledged foreign exchange service with efficient and reliable money changing facilities to all tourists with support from American express, Travellex and other reputed companies.

Raj Travels

Raj travels started with conducting and managing tours to Srinagar and South India. The aggressive marketing combined with several add-on features helped the come built its forte in the travel segment and primarily Gujarati population. From 1979, Raj Travels introduced International tours. The company's expansion plans took place in the year 1985, with branches offices opening in at Ahmedabad, Chennai and Srinagar. In the year 1987, the company set up its office in Vadodra. 1988 witnessed the commencement of offices in Hyderabad and Pune. 1989, Raj also became the first Public Ltd Co in the travel industry which is fully Indian owned. (Over subscribed nearly 7.8 times.) 1990 the company set up offices in Delhi and Bangalore. In the year 2000, a branch office opened in Pune and also another one in Mumbai.

BTI SITA

BTI Sita the corporate travel division of Kuoni Travel India group plans to grow multifold by crossing a turnover of Rs 1000 crore by the year 2007 and be the largest corporate travel management company in India.

In 2002, Kuoni India's business travel activity under the brand name of BTI Sita affiliated itself with Business Travel International (BTI), the world's leading travel management company operating in over 90 key countries providing them with complete travel solutions. BTI Sita operates in partnership with BTI through 12 owned and 44 service locations across India.

With the travel industry booming and the country registering high economic growth, BTI Sita is looking at exploring new markets and innovating new products to make it a one-stop- shop for travel and related services. It is also looking at expanding the network of locations through appointment of franchisees in the cities where it does not have its own offices. Keeping in view the magnanimous size of the retail market,

Corporate Flyers

Corporate Flyers that commenced operations in 1996 has grown nearly 11 fold in the last five years. "We are one of the top ten travel professional services company possessing extensive knowledge, expertise and resources, specialising in creating the design and implementation of events, activities, tours, transportation and programme logistics both in India and across the world," said Kapil Kumria, MD, of the company.

The company deals with some large corporate houses and has a separate MICE unit, which organises group and individual tours for their corporate clients, creates some innovative programmes for the incentive and common interest groups for dealers and distributors.

The impressive client list includes some elite organisations of the country and a few ministries such as Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Home Affairs, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd, Amway India, JCB India Ltd., Data Access India Ltd, Dalmia Industries Ltd., Hughes Software. The USP of the company, pointed out Kumria, lies in the experience and expertise to fine-tune the services to fit the bill of the corporate sector. The company plans to open up operations in Pune followed by Hyderabad in current year.

Carlson Wagonlit

Carlson Wagonlit Travel is a premier provider of global corporate management services. Backed by more than a century of history, the company as it is known today, was formed in 1994 when Minneapolis - based Carlson Companies, Inc. and Paris - based Accor companies combined the business travel interests of their two companies under the name Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The merged company, with annual sales of USD 12 billion, is a world leader in business travel and expense management - a truly global company. Globally, Carlson Wagonlit Travel employs more than 20,000 people, and services more then 50,000 corporate clients. The Carlson Wagonlit Travel network spans 3000 offices in 141 locations.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel in India is a 50:50 joint venture between Carlson Wagonlit Travel and AFL Pvt. Limited since 2000. CWT is a leader in the corporate travel segment and its client list spans top notch MNC's and Indian corporates.

Corporate Travel

Established in 1989, Corporate Travel Private Limited, is one of the most reputed travel companies with associate offices all over India and the world. Approved by IATA, Corporate Travel is a member of TAAI and TAFI and is recognised by department of tourism. As the name suggests, the main focus of the company is on corporate segment of travel. Since it offers complete travel solutions, the companies zest for providing better services every time and complete travel solutions includes customised itineraries. The experienced and skilled personnel back the company. With the high standards of services, the company's objective is to build long-term relationships with its clients.

Corporate Travel specialises in organising incentive dealer meets; group travels arrangements while focussing on high-end travel requirements for VIP passengers. The company enjoys a great rapport with all major domestic and international carriers and has won several awards of appreciation based on its services and volumes. The company is committed to provide its clients the value for money, updated information, personalised services and attractive corporate deals. The company intends to increase its rate of growth to 20 per cent per annum through efficient servicing, technological innovation and retaining the 'customer first' strategy.

Lawrence Travels

Lawrence Travels was set-up in 1987 and its forte is handling leisure travel destinations in India and Nepal. Since 2001, the NCT of Delhi is the company's main area of operation and target market. However, till five-six years ago it was also handling direct clients and business from agents of Gujarat and Maharashtra. But growing direct marketing by Uttaranchal and HP hotels has now forced the company to reduce that work and concentrate only on the Delhi market. The company's turnover grew by eight per cent in the domestic market in the last five years. It has strengthened its foothold by offering new destinations, such as Goa, Heritage Hotels of Rajasthan, Wild Life Reserves and tours to Kerala and Kashmir.

The company has established itself in the domestic market as a specialist in custom made itineraries, charters and helping individual travellers with their own programme. Offering tailor-made tour itineraries is the unique selling proposition.

International Travel House

For the financial year 2003-04, International Travel House (ITH) recorded a turnover of Rs 333.35 crore, registering a growth of 16 per cent over the previous year. As per the company's estimates, it holds a 40 per cent market share of the car rentals business in the organised sector and is perceived to be the market leader.

These results reflect the implementation of well-thought out business strategies in all segments of the company's travel business which include: business travel, car rentals, leisure travel, forex, conferences, exhibitions and event management. The Company is currently involved in making substantial investments, in an Interactive Travel Portal on a B2B and B2C platform to promote and distribute value-for-money travel products.

ITH is also developing relationships with travel agents and travel representatives worldwide for promoting its 'Luxury Vacations'

Le Passage To India

Within two years of its existence, Le Passage to India Tours and Travels has become one of the top five travel companies in the country. In the first seven months of operations, the company recorder a turnover of Rs 90 million and during the first full year of operations (2003 to 2004) the company recorded a turnover of Rs 450 million.

The company's chairman, Gulam Naqshband attributes this success to the intensified work done by experienced and skilled staff, product innovation and strong marketing. The success is the result of professionalism and seriousness about the work and that is why we have been declared as one of the best tour operators in the country. We feel proud that in such a short span of time we have not only achieved our targets but we have set up the network through our offices in various places in India and abroad" mentioned Naqshband. Nationally, the company has offices in Chennai, Cochin, Goa, Jaipur, Mumbai, Trivandrum Agra, Bangalore, and Varanasi besides an office at Kathmandu in Nepal.

SITA Inbound

Kuoni Travel Group, India, is the country's largest travel company and a 100 per cent subsidiary of Kuoni Travel Holding, Switzerland. Their annual turnover is approximately Rs. 800 crore, with a staff strength of over 1,400 employees.

SITA Inbound, a Division of Kuoni Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd. is India's Number One Destination Management Company, operating Inbound Tours from all over the World. SITA organises attractive and carefully planned tours of the Indian subcontinent for groups and individuals. Its key markets are Europe, UK and North America where it enjoys distinct leadership. It has ambitious growth plans and is actively targeting new markets like South America, East Africa and Austral-Asia. The operations and marketing activities of SITA are centralized at the Head Office in New Delhi and its networking with its offices is technology driven, with over 300 committed professionals offering personalised services.

TIME

Talk of Italy and Austria market and the name that rings a bell in the mind is Tourism India Management Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, popularly known as TIME. Call it charisma or professional efficiency of Mike Chatterjee, the MD of the company, almost 70 per cent of the business from these source markets is bagged by TIME. One of the leading Destination Management companies in India, it emphasises excellence in everything it undertakes and its stronghold in the markets of Italy, Austria and France is fabled. The company was formed by Chatterjee after he left SITA World Travel (I) Ltd in 1998.

Upbeat by the good performance and the buoyancy in the travel sector, the company is already exploring other source markets in USA, Canada as well as in Europe like Belgium, Holland, Croatia, Slovenia. In the fiscal year 1999-2000, the company witnessed a whopping 56 per cent growth.

The motto is to create an atmosphere of faith and quality for the customers. The relationship with suppliers in India helps the company offer good value for money with unmatchable quality in their services.

Travel Spirit International

Having diversified into out bound market recently Travel Spirit International (TSI) is a well known in the inbound market segment. The company has been achieving constant growth ever since its inception. During the year 2003-2004, the company achieved 81 per cent increase in turn over in inbound tours and 25 per cent increase in outbound tours when compared to the previous year.

TSI believes that a very strict quality control and continuous improvement on products that ensure total satisfaction of customers is the best marketing strategy. Moreover, participation in various national and international exhibitions as well as travel marts and Road Shows.

The future expansion plans of the company include exploring new International markets for incoming business. Besides, opening office in South India. TSI is proud to be a recognised member of prestigious national and international tourism bodies including American Society of Travel Agents, Washington, Pacific Asia Travel Association, California, Korean Association of Travel Agents, Korea.

Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook is one of the world's leading international travel and financial services groups and serves over 20 million customers a year. They provide services to our customers at 4,500 locations in more than 100 countries and employ over 20,000 people.

Thomas Cook and Galileo India launched the STP Technology. The launch of the Satellite Ticket Printing (STP) Technology, in India has placed the country in the ranks of other global market leaders like the US, Europe and Far Eastern markets. Thomas Cook (India) Ltd is the first travel agency and Galileo India, the first CRS company to have received the approval from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Singapore, having satisfied all their stringent norms in relation to safety and security of the traffic documents. Thomas Cook Insurance Services (I) Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, launched a new product - EmigrationCare to its existing portfolio of Travel Insurance products. It has also enhanced its original product TravelCare with new relevant features.

Abercrombie & Kent

From Argentina to Zimbabwe, Iceland to Italy and Mongolia to Papua New Guinea, Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) is widely known and highly respected for its attention to detail, personal service and top-quality adventure tours. A&K is also known for setting standards - the standard by which superior touring and travel is defined. Since 1962, A&K has served some of the world's most discerning clients - travellers who expect and get the ultimate in luxury and comfort. The client list boast names who are virtual the who's who in the 'celeb' world - the British Royal Family, Hilary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Dr Henry Kissinger, Bill Gates, Robert de Niro, Kim Basinger, Warren Buffet, Denzel Washington and many more. On the Indian front, the office was set up in 1985 with the primary objective to maintain the company's "First Principles" ie catering to overseas offices in USA, UK & Australia.

Today, A&K has developed into a formidable entity providing extensive services. The New Delhi office operates with a work force of thirty-six executives specialising in travel options that enables them to ensure a trouble-free holiday

Indo-Asia

Indo Asia was founded in the year 1987 by professionals having more than 20 years of experience in the travel trade. With branch offices in Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai and a partner office in Kathmandu, the company provides value added integrated travel services and deals with agents in every part of the Indian sub-continent. The company specialises in providing well-trained tour escorts and provides services like tour programs, airlines ticketing, hotel reservation, sightseeing and excursions, camping and tent accommodations and organising conference and fairs.

The company is registered and recognised by the ministry of tourism, government of India and is a member of a number of international organizations. Ever since its inception, the company has regularly received The National Tourism Award for Excellence in Travel Industry from the Govt. of India. Indo Asia Tours has been the winner of the National Tourism Awards for the respective years - 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, and-1999 - 2000. For the year 2001 - 2002, it was awarded the number three position in the first category by the department

ITC Welcomgroup

ITC Ltd, entered the hospitality business in 1975. The genesis was the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai, which was re-christened as WelcomHotel Chola Sheraton. This was then followed by the Mughal Sheraton at Agra in 1976 and the Maurya Sheraton at Delhi in 1977. Today, the hotel chain has over 55 hotels in more than 50 destinations across India. In 1979, ITC-Welcomgroup entered into a marketing and franchise agreement with Sheraton Hotels and Resorts worldwide, a time-tested business relationship spanning over two decades. At present, there are nine ITC-Welcomgroup Sheraton Hotels in India.

The ITC prefixed hotels have registered a revenue growth of 93 per cent over the last five years, while net profit (after tax) growth of over the last five years has been 97 per cent. The Hotels between April 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004 had a cumulative profit of Rs 84.97 crore after taxes. It also reported a net profit of Rs 7.77 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2004. Many indigenous incentive and loyalty programmes have been used by the company as marketing tools. In 1985, that the company noticed the growing segment of the Indian leisure traveller.

The Leela

The Leela Group, has three premium properties in Mumbai, Bangalore and Goa. To stimulate and reestablish The Leela Hotel Group as the most premium deluxe hotel company with the largest market share and profitability", is the vision of the group.

The group also has their plan in place to further promote and enhance their brand in India. As part of their food & beverage strategy, the group aims to invite international super deluxe hotels to Mumbai to jointly conduct food and culture festivals. Austria will be one among these food promotions.

The company also aims to enhance their affiliation with Kempinski hotels in Europe/ Middle East & Asia. In addition, they have also appointed their communication agency and GSA in the German speaking markets already striving to further their brand awareness and greater exposure in our core markets. Plans are on to expand the group into New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Udaipur by 2007. The group aims to get more aggressive in the area of sales and marketing for all its properties.

The PARK

The Park hotels have their presence spread across Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi and Visakhapatnam. The first hotel opened on November 1, 1967 with 150 rooms at Park Street, Kolkata. The following year a beachside hotel The Park, Visakhapatnam became the group's second hotel. The Park, New Delhi was launched in November 1987. The Park, Bangalore, was launched in 2000 in the Silicon City of India. The Park, Chennai, was launched in May 2002.

As a strategy, all their hotels lay a strong emphasis on contemporary design in their private and public spaces. Style and luxury enhances everything - be it paintings, furniture, accessories or dining and entertainment concepts.

Market leadership has been attained through constant upgradation of products and services to bring a truly cutting edge international experience. The Group's vision and philosophy believes in customer focus; product and service innovation; advocacy of environment and social issues; and nurturing of art and culture. The company also stresses has F&B services and offers. The company considers F&B as their strong focal point of all their properties.

Le Meridien

Over the last 5 years the company has grown from two hotels in India to nine and once scheduled to open in Nepal in 2005. In 2003-04 alone, over 19 hotels globally were opened. In the year 2003, Le Meridien has re-launched their moments loyalty programme in 2003, launched several branded packages around the world covering everything from Golf and spa breaks to luxury and weekend breaks. Marketing activities have also been further enhanced with the creation of meetings plus, their dedicated MICE product. Their global sales teams have also been expanded. In India, the group already operate four regional sales offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai and are currently servicing over 2,500 clients for the brand.

With regards to Le Meridien's plans in India, they are first focused on running their existing hotels. The group opened three hotels in 2003 - Le Meridien Ahmedabad and Le Meridien Jaipur and one partial opening in 2004 - Le Meridien Kovalam Beach Resort. At present the group has a total of nine hotels in the country (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Cochin and Chennai, along with the the other properties.

The Grand

The Bharat Hotels Group operates its hotels under 'THE GRAND' banner and its present portfolio of hotels incorporates seven luxury hotels in the country's metro cities offering more than 1,600 rooms in the five-star deluxe segment. These include InterContinental 'The Grand' hotels in New Delhi, Mumbai, Goa and Srinagar and The Grand Ashok Bangalore, The Grand Laxmi Vilas Palace Udaipur and The Grand Temple View Khajuraho. On November 30, 2001, the company signed a deal to operate and manage the 183-room, Hotel Ashok in Bangalore on a management contract from ITDC, under approval of the CCD (Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment, Government of India). The hotel has since been re-branded as The Grand Ashok Bangalore. In early 2002, Bharat Hotels successfully bid for two more ITDC properties - The 54-room Laxmi Vilas Palace in Udaipur, which now The Grand Laxmi Vilas Palace Udaipur, Grand Temple View Khajuraho. The group is now eyeing the overseas market including Dubai. The group is planning to build a 200-room hotel in Dubai .

The Oberoi

The Oberoi Group, founded in 1934, owns and manages thirty hotels and five luxury cruisers across six countries under the 'Oberoi' and 'Trident' brands. The activities of the group include airline catering, management of restaurants and airport bars, travel and tour services, car rental, project management and corporate air charters. As per the audited results for the financial year 2003-04 of EIH limited, the company's revenue increased from Rs 435.28 crore to Rs 504.49 crore, an increase of 16 per cent. It entered into a strategic alliance agreement with Hilton International effective from April 1, 2004. All Trident Hotels in India have been re-branded as "Trident Hilton". Oberoi Towers has been re-branded as "Hilton Towers". Hilton now provides international marketing, promotion and reservation services through the Hilton network. EIH Limited will continue to manage and operate the "Trident Hilton" hotels and "Hilton Towers". On November 1 2003, the Company launched "Vrinda", a luxury cruiser in the backwaters of Kerala. The Trident Hilton, Gurgaon is the company’s recent management property.

Baljee Hotels

Baljee Group of hotels set base in Bangalore under the leadership of its managing director who is also the founder of the group. He set foot in Bangalore in 1972 and since then expanded his operations, which currently runs four hotels in the city namely, a five-star hotel- Royal Orchid, a four-star property - Central Park, a three-star hotel - Harsha and a recently acquired property - Metropole in Mysore. Baljee group had tied up with Park Inn and Park Plaza, but later launched its own management company. The Group is involved in providing low budget lunches and catering services. The group's hotel management college, Presidency College, offers a three-year degree in association with the Manipal group and a three-year diploma in American Hotel & Lodging Association. The group recently underwent a major re-branding and renovation exercise. It is planning to start chain of restaurants and pubs across India. The group has forayed into the fast food outlet with "Takatak". The latest property is a 30-room heritage property in Mysore named Metropole.

The Orchid- An Ecotel Hotel

Pioners in the area of ecotel hotels in India, Orchid group has its feet firmly in place to spread the ecotel culture both in India and globally. The occupancies have risen consistently over a period of time and it ranks among the top business hotels in the city.

Ecotel is the most succesfull brand association for The Orchid. Being the first ecotel in Asia, Orchid has started the ecotel revolution in the country. The concept has caught well as Mumbai itself has three ecotels with Rodas and Lotus Suites joining the ranks and even hotels. Today many hotels have incorporated the concept of waste management and recycling first initiated by The Orchid. This distinction has won it 36 national and international Environment awards. The Orchid has over the years taken up several successful campaigns in keeping with its image such as advanced locality management (ALM), anti plastic drive, green forum, awareness campaigns, waste management and recycling. The Orchid plans to entre into Doha, South Africa along with spreading its wings in India. .

Quality Inn Comfort Inn

Choice Hospitality (India) Private Limited has four major brands namely Clarion, Quality Inn, Comfort Inn and Sleep Inn. But so far it has only launched two brands Quality Inn and Comfort Inn in the country. Currently, the Choice Hotels India has 30 hotels of which 25 are operational and the rest are due to open shortly.

In line with its worldwide strengths, its marketing strategies are aggressive and sharply focused to deliver consistent value to the customer as well as to the franchisees. The company believes in cost-effective promotional efforts directly focused towards an identified audience. Primarily aimed at meeting the needs of business travellers, their marketing efforts in the past have included joint marketing alliances with airlines, card companies and other such common interest groups. Choice India operates an in-house, custom-made and dedicated computer reservation system providing online availability of hotel inventories to all sales offices. The company also operates the mid-market segment's only countrywide toll free reservation facility enabling customers in any part of the country to book with maximum ease and at no cost. Due to their extensive business hotel and leisure presence, they enjoy excellent linkages with the corporate sector, the travel trade and conference organisers.

The company has ambitious future plans to introduce its remaining two brands - Clarion and Sleep Inn, to the Indian market place. Choice Hotels are managed by a full-fledged corporate office comprising of experienced professionals in all aspects of hotel management. As a complete hotel management company, Choice Hotels India assists franchisees design and equip new constructions right from concept to commissioning. These hotels are promoted by the company's sales Offices in various important cities of the country. In addition, the company is strong in sales orientation with acknowledged successes like innovative marketing programmes, joint marketing alliances with airlines, the industry's only online instant reservation system and the only country-wide toll free reservations call centre. These strengths provide Choice Hotels India with maximum marketing reach in the industry.

Days Inn

Days Inn is part of Cendant, one of the world's largest franchising company with more than 6,400 hotels and 540,000 rooms in five continents. Operating through Auromatrix Hotels Pvt Ltd its master franchisee Days Inn India has established it self in the Indian market. Days Inn has seventeen properties located in India. The group has recorded a steady 10-12 per cent growth annually for the last five years. Internet and web-based reservations and marketing of its member hotels and effectively implementing the trip rewards loyalty programme are some of the successful marketing strategies. Major properties owned and managed by Days Inn India are Days Inn - Navi Mumbai, KK Royal Days - Jaipur, Abhay Days Hotel - Jodhpur, Sterling Days Inn Resorts - Goa, Sterling Days Inn Resorts - Ooty, Days Inn Vijay Park - Chennai. Plans for the future include the opening of Days Inn Deccan Plaza, in Chennai, launching of Days Inn Karnavati, Ahmedabad. Days Inn is also negotiating new developments at Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Trivandrum and other metros.

Best Western

Best Western is also one of the strongest and fastest growing mid-market brands in South Asia (including India) and Middle East today. In India, the chain wants to expand in all major destinations favouring both corporate and leisure markets because of the propensity of North America and Europe markets and the need for those travellers to travel to this region.

The chain in India has a state of art reservation system and toll free numbers worldwide. Best Western member hotels benefit from the centralised travel agent commission payment program me called Best Cheque. Properties no longer need to pay the travel agents directly. BestCheque consolidates payments and sends travel agents one cheque in their country's currency.

In India the chains aims to focus its expansion plans in major economic zones like Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, etc and other leisure, religious and adventure tourism destinations.

Radisson

Carlson Hospitality is a recognised and trusted brand. In India, it has had a decent record of leveraging the Carlson companies resources to maximize revenues and cash flow through the network. In India, it has also established hotels in strategic locations and is committed to a growth rate in excess of 20 per cent. The company has opened about 17 hotels under various brands in the last five years.

Having created a strong brand positioning, its focus in Asia continues to be China and Indian Subcontinent. The company aims to increase their presence in state capitals and key leisure locations. Currently, the hotels under development are at Gurgaon, Shimla, Khajuraho, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Agra, Pune, Jaipur,Puri, Pondicherry and Badrinath.

As part of its focus on total guest satisfaction, Radisson offers guest relations training programs called 'Yes, I Can!' This program translates the core of the company's service philosophy for hospitality excellence to the front-line service employees in Radisson operations worldwide.

Kerala

Kerala tourism reaffirmed its position as 'India's first tourism Super Brand', as it recently tasted success once again at the recently held Kerala Travel Mart-2004. The India International Boat Show (IIBS) 2004 held in the state is also positioned at paving the way for a new boating culture, centered on leisure and recreation. The state has also planned to develop water transport and coastal tourism in the state. The state also aims to formulate laws for the sustainable development of eco-tourism in the state. The state has also taken the initiative of developing three five-star resorts. The department of tourism, government of Kerala would also soon be implementing a 'Destination Cleaning Programme' with the view to ensure cleanliness of tourist destinations in the State. d with the cleaning work.

The state’s Tourism Vision 2025 is to serve as a guiding force which will provide a clear vision and direction for optimising the tourism potential of the state in a sustainable manner.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is being positioned as a must see tourist destination today. The systematic and comprehensive efforts taken in 2003-04 have enabled the state to make its presence strongly felt in the tourism sector internationally. The successful organisation of the 64th SKAL World Congress in Chennai in October 2003 was a major fillip. The tourism magazine selling Long Haul, in its ITB Berlin issue in March 2004, has described Tamil Nadu as 'India's emerging destination'. TTDC has achieved a turnover of Rs 3953.90 lakh during the year 2003 - 2004 compared to the turnover of Rs 3527.66 lakh during the year 2002 - 2003 representing an increase of 12 per cent over the previous year.

The state has witnessed a growth rate of 17 per cent in the year 2004. TTDC is planning to emphasise on spiritual, heritage and medical tourism at WTM 2004. A seven-point action plan unveiled by the chief minister of Tamil Nadu has set the agenda for the future. The state aims to provide excellent infrastructure facilities at all tourist spots in a phased manner.

West Bengal

West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Limited, an undertaking of the Government of West Bengal, was incorporated on April, 1974 under the Companies Act 1956 with an Authorised Share Capital of Rs 2.5 crore and Paid-up Share Capital of Rs two lakh with two primary objectives:

In November 1997 the Authorised Share Capital was raised to Rs.10 crore and the equity participation of the government of West Bengal stood at Rs.887.63 lakh as on 31st March 2004.

The properties of the Corporation consist of 25 tourist lodges, which are run by WBTDC and six others that are run by engaging management contractors. The main earnings of the Corporation come from operating tourist lodges. The board has taken up the Passenger Sales Agency of the Indian Airlines and Jet Air.

The Corporation has also started engaging the services of young persons as booking agents for the Corporation's products.

The Corporation participates in almost all tourism fairs and festivals both in India and abroad.