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Main Story
Kuoni
goes local, Thomas Cook goes global, in acquisition trilogy
Thomas Cook India Ltd (TCIL) and Kuoni, two of India's leading
tour operator behemoths have taken a precisely contrasting
approach towards acquisitions, the former buying out three
global firms while the latter taking three local ones.
Newstrack
Premium
air travel tax riddled with anomalies, say agents
The service tax of 12.24 (including education cess) per cent
on business and first class air travel, which became applicable
from May 1, 2006 has the travel trade in both disarray and
confusion about its implication, jurisdiction, and above all,
rationale.
Rendezvous
Canada 2006
The 2006 edition of Rendezvous Canada held at Toronto between
April 22-26, witnessed a participation of over 400 buyers
and 500 sellers.
Aviation
‘India
is United Airlines' largest offline market worldwide’:
Marcel Fuchs
United Airlines has deemed India as its biggest offline market
and plans to ramp up its sales and marketing activity in the
country even though the airline is not likely to fly into
India in the near future.
Malaysian
Airlines considers domestic interline partner
Malaysian Airlines is rationalising its routes internationally,
including India and is toying with the idea of a tie-up with
a Indian domestic carrier to ferry passengers from the B cities
to metros from where they operate direct flights to Kuala
Lumpur.
WTTC India Initiative
‘Senior
citizens are the future of world tourism’
In an exclusive with Bhisham Mansukhani, WTTC India Initiative
chairman Ashwini Kakkar speaks about the recent WTTC annual
summit in Washington and the issues he broached at the international
forum.
30 minute interview
‘Our
biggest strength is our distribution network’
Rajeev Nambiar, appointed recently as general manager - India,
Gulf Air, speaks to Reema Sisodia about the airline's plans
in the Indian market and his focus area.
Macroview
India
to host 40th UFTAA World Congress after 22 years
After a gap of 22 years India will host the United Federation
of Travel Agents' Association (UFTAA) General Assembly and
World Travel Agents Congress, which will be held at the Ashoka
Hotel, New Delhi from 15-19 September, 2006.
TAAI
pushes through landmark railway ticketing initiative
TAAI has pushed through a landmark initiative with the Indian
Railways which will allow Indian IATA-approved travel agents
access to potential 6.5 billion railway passengers annually.
IATO
raises voice against double taxation, discrimination
The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has expressed
serious concerns over the service tax to be incurred by tour
operators with respect to foreign tour operators and travel
agents.
Spotlight
Worldspan
rolls out travel management solutions in India
Worldspan has partnered with L.P., the Atlanta-based global
travel technology provider, and Calleo Distribution, the New
Delhi-based technology distributor and service provider, to
provide advanced travel technologies, service and ongoing
support for travel agencies throughout the Indian subcontinent.
Channel Chat
Sub-agents
undecided over domestic BSP option
The domestic Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), which was
formalised in December last year, slated to include all IATA
and non-IATA agents who can get accreditation by October 2006,
has elicited a mixed response from the sub-agent fraternity,
especially from the cities of Chennai and Bangalore.
Uplink
Another
player enters Indian online travel space
The Indian online travel segment will see some more action.
Global travel portal Travelocity will establish an online
travel team in India for its India-specific site slated to
be in operation by 2006 end. The team will be based in Mumbai.
Jet
Airways considers hotels as potential offsites for check-in
kiosks
Jet Airways will consider hotels as potential offsite locations
apart from its own sales offices and other city locations
for its recently launched check-in kiosks.
Amadeus
launches Ticketless Access for LCCs
Amadeus has rolled out a new technology solution which it
claims will revolutionise the low cost airline market by providing
access to sales through travel agents and corporate customers.
Trade Bytes
R
J Trade Wings enters into JV with Chinese travel corporation
R J Trade Wings Pvt. Limited recently signed a joint venture
agreement for five years with the largest travel corporation
in China - China International Tourism Services (CITS) - with
prime focus on increasing tourism exchange between India and
China.
Akbar
Travels to increase focus on other travel businesses
After consolidating its position as arguably the leading ticketing
consolidator of the country, Akbar Travels of India Pvt Ltd
is now venturing into other areas of the travel and tourism
business.
Inbound
French
govt adopts Sikkim for tourism investment
In a move similar to the one that Japan made by extending
soft loans to India to develop the Buddhist circuit, the French
government has agreed on principle to adopt Sikkim for developing
its tourism sector.
Andaman
& Nicobar to open up 15 islands for hospitality industry
The tourism ministry has given the Andaman and Nicobar administration
the green signal to open up 15 islands for the hospitality
industry with a clear-cut emphasis on eco-friendly and hi-end
hotels and beach resorts.
Bharat
Darshan back on track in South
The Bharat Darshan Tourist Train, earlier known as the Village
on Wheels, resumed operations from Madurai after almost a
year.
Karnataka
to tap tourism potential
Karnataka may be uniquely blessed in natural splendour. It
already has the country's highest waterfall, the tallest free-standing
statue in the world, a site on the Unesco World Heritage List.
INDABA 2006
South
African trade show breaks new grounds
South Africa Tourism's showcase event Indaba 2006 that took
place fromMay 6 to 9, 2006 in Durban proved to be bigger than
before with about 11,133 attendees, a jump from 9,629 in 2004
and 10,701 in 2005.
Indian
trade buyers give event a thumbs up
If one has to go by the feedback received from the Indian
delegation that attended Indaba 2006, the event surely met
its purpose of being a resourceful platform for buyers and
sellers to strike the right deal.
Outbound
Croatia
tests Indian waters before setting sail
Make way for yet another destination that is making moves
to tap the Indian outbound potential. The Croatian National
Tourist Board (CNTB), with support from its embassy based
in New Delhi, conducted its first two-city roadshow (in Mumbai
and New Delhi).
Egypt
allows visa on arrival for Indians
The Egyptian government has shown interest in promoting its
country to Indian travellers. The Egyptian Tourist Authority
has approved visa on arrival for Indians wishing to travel
to the country.
Korea
aims for larger Indian outbound pie
Apart from all the promotions that Bollywood film Gangster
has done for Korea, the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) is
now trying to seize a bigger chunk of Indian outbound tourists
by strengthening its relationship with the Indian travel fraternity.
Poland
eyes Bollywood for promotion
Bollywood seems to be the golden goose for any new national
tourist board entering the Indian market and the latest one
to do so is Poland.
CAPA 2006
Infrastructure
overhauls dominate CAPA's investor summit
Concerns over India's strained aviation infrastructure was
the commonality that melded nearly all of the speakers and
participants at Centre For Asia Pacific Aviation's (CAPA)
second annual 'Aviation and Tourism Investor Summit for India
and Middle East' held on April 27 & 28, 2006.
Hotel Talk
Real
estate IPOs to trigger landmark hotel investments
Real estate companies that are poised to raise mammoth funds
through Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in coming weeks have
set aside Rs 10,000 crore in the least for hotel development.
CCIL
forays into service apartments
Country Club India Ltd (CCIL), going from a debt-ridden company
to a debt-free company, is now planning to venture into the
service apartments sector with Country Condos. It is planning
its first condo in Bangalore, the construction of which is
already underway.
Another
from the Tata fold dons hospitality garb
Tata Coffee, from the stable of the Tata Group of companies
is all set to enter the hospitality arena alongwith it’s
sister concern Indian Hotels, by adding a new portfolio to
its operations - plantation resorts.
Events
FHA2006
closes on a high note
Food&HotelAsia2006 (FHA2006), the biennial event for the
food and hospitality industries, returned for its 15th edition
to Singapore.
Misc
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