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Main Story
Reliance
Industries plans foray into travel services
The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has
confirmed its foray into travel-related services in the coming
months.
Newstrack
MP
launches innovative heritage tourism policy
The Madhya Pradesh government has passed an innovative heritage
tourism policy, which will facilitate the setting up of heritage
hotels outside the identified tourism 'circuits' providing
a full tax holiday for 10 years.
MoT
bigwig moves to private sector giant
More changes at the helm in the Ministry of Tourism (MoT)
will be witnessed in the near future, this time not by shuffling
of portfolios but due to poaching by the private sector.
Distant
Frontiers officially enters Kuoni fold
As first reported exclusively in the last issue (June 2006)
of Express TravelWorld, Distant Frontiers has now officially
entered the Kuoni fold with a formal announcement to this
effect at a recent press conference in New Delhi.
New
Film City planned for Mumbai
State initiates talks with US based law firm Irell & Manella
LLP to explore feasibility for the Rs 500 cr project
Citizen
World Travel enters hospitality
Treasure Tours is planning to enter the hotel segment with
a chain of properties specifically tailor-made for airline
crews.
IATA
to include J&K non-IATA agents
In order to improve working conditions of travel agents in
Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) as well as Andaman & Nicobar,
IATA has announced plans to activate a training programme
for all non-IATA members of these regions, following which
they would qualify to be accredited as IATA agents.
Cleartrip
to engage suppliers in dynamic inventory management
The latest addition to the growing clique of online travel
service providers, Cleartrip, intends to engage suppliers
in dynamic inventory management as a value-add to secure a
wide inventory base.
Galileo
launches global LCC solution in India
Galileo recently launched its international LCC solution in
India titled Galileo Flight Integrator (GFI). GFI will bring
LCC content to the Galileo Desktop.
TAAI
convention to be held at Hyderabad
Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) will hold its annual
convention this year on September 1, 2 and 3 at the Hyderabad
International Convention Centre (HICC), which is also one
of the principal sponsors along with the department of tourism,
government of Andhra Pradesh for the event.
30 minute interview
‘GDS
fees are absolutely astronomical’
A single year of operations has been sufficient for bmi to
sound its competition of its intention to bag a major chunk
of traffic on the Mumbai-London route. Having gone daily now
with every intention of increasing the frequency, Nigel Turner,
CEO, bmi tells Bhisham Mansukhani how bmi has scaled up its
stake in the Indian market.
Aviation
Paramount
Airways goes online with domestic BSP and Amadeus
Paramount Airways, in an effort to increase its sales network
and ink interline agreements with foreign carriers, will join
the domestic Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) and finally
make its online debut with a GDS in July.
First
regional carrier Air Dravida plans to connect South India
If all goes well India might have its first regional full
service carrier connecting the southern states by October
this year.
Indo
Pacific Aviation, Himalayan Heli Services win bid for Amarnath
Yatra
Indo Pacific Aviation and Himalayan Heli Services has won
the bid to operate helicopter services in the valley for the
Amarnath Yatra.
bmi
seeks to rationalise global distribution costs in deal with
Kale
bmi is seeking to rationalise distribution costs as well as
look for route networks in a revenue accounting and processing
services contract with Kale Consultancy.
Jet
poised for massive retrofitting exercise
Jet Airways is poised for its biggest retrofitting exercise
yet wherein new seats will be introduced in Club Premiere
(business class) and economy class.
Bengal
joins race for Boeing's MRO
After Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, West Bengal
too has approached US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing to
set up its US $100 million Maintenance-Repair-Overhaul (MRO)
hub in the state.
Inbound
Maharashtra’s
new tourism policy in 3 months
Maharashtra, which had functioned all these years on an incentive
policy for tourism and hospitality, is finally all set to
get a new tourism policy outlining the plan of action for
the next 20 years.
CTB
to focus on infrastructure development and PPP model
Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) has taken a decision to invest
more in infrastructure development rather than focus only
on marketing. The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model is
what the state is aiming to encourage for the development
of tourism in the state.
MADC
marks Nagpur as ‘health city’
Taking the current boom in medical tourism forward, the state
government of Maharashtra has etched out plans to set up a
world-class healthcare and medical research centre in Nagpur.
Gujarat
announces incentives for hospitality investors
After keeping a low profile for over two years, Gujarat Tourism
has sharpened its focus as far as marketing and investments
are concerned and has announced plans to invite private players
for boosting the state's hospitality industry.
J&K's
new tourism policy to focus on eco-tourism, infrastructure
If all goes well, the state of Jammu & Kashmir will have
a new tourism policy in about three months with a renewed
thrust on eco tourism, adventure sports, infrastructure and
pilgrim tourism.
West
Bengal to hire global consultants to promote tourism
Manabendra Mukherjee, the man who has been instrumental in
putting West Bengal onto the IT map of the country has now
taken charge of the state's department of tourism.
Outbound
UNWTO's
first ministerial roundtable discusses growth strategies
As Asia's tourism boom continues, top tourism officials gathered
in Macau in June for the World Tourism Organisation's (UNWTO)
first ministerial roundtable.
Indians
are Singapore's top cruisers
Indians are the number one transit cruisers to Singapore,
according to statistics revealed by Singapore Tourism Board
(STB) western region manager (India), Rebecca Lim. As a result,
STB will have a similar tie-up for joint promotions with Costa
Cruises as it has had with Star Cruises in India.
German
tourism sets shop in India
German National Tourist Board, which recently had a soft launch
in the capital for travel agents, is already basking in the
glory of the response generated by FIFA World Cup.
Uplink
Aman
Worldwide launches online hotel booking
Delhi-based Aman Worldwide recently launched an online booking
portal www.globalresnetwork.com
travel2agent.com
goes international
travel2agent.com, an Indian travel distribution company, plans
to launch its indigenously developed airline distribution
system for the domestic airlines called Global Business Suite
(GBS).
Amadeus
announced BAR for hotels
Amadeus has announced the enhancement of its hotels' product
by promoting hotels offering a Best Available Rate (BAR) guarantee
through its multi-property hotel availability display.
Sify
acquires Globe Travels
Sify, an Internet, network and e-commerce services company,
has announced its acquisition of Globe Travels that issues
e-tickets in the India-US travel space. This marks its entry
into the online travel business, particularly e-ticketing.
Arinc
chooses Bird Group as regional partner
US communications major Arinc Inc has entered into an exclusive
business association with Bird Group to make it its regional
partner in India.
Trade Bytes
Griffon
partners with South African Tour Operator
Griffon Tours, a reputed outbound operator, has partnered
with South Africa-based Cape Rainbow Tours to promote the
destination in India.
Parry
Travels plans expansion in South
Parry Travels, part of the US $1.8 billion conglomerate Murugappa
Group in Chennai, is looking at expansions in metros and small
towns of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the next two years.
Travelport
gears up for Triangular Series in Sri Lanka
Following the pulse of the market that looks for innovative
and niche travel products, tour operation franchisee, Travelport
Holidays has announced plans to offer specialised cricket
tours both in India and abroad.
Tulip
launches parallel online venture
Tulip Travels has diversified into the burgeoning online travel
retail market with Xplorz. The website will run as a parallel
company that will target net savvy customers.
RL
Group plans foray into hospitality
Delhi-based general sales agents RL Group is looking at diversifying
its portfolio into the hotel business and is reportedly in
talks with international chains for its hotel projects.
Go
India Journeys seeks to double turnover
Le Passage To India's wholly owned subsidiary, Go India Journeys,
is seeking to double its turnover to Rs 40 crore this fiscal
with a strategy that includes an online thrust and high profile
events.
Raj
National Express to ply to Nepal, Bhutan
Raj National Express, a subsidiary of Shree Raj Travels and
Tours, has confirmed plans of it crossing the Indian border
to enter Nepal and Bhutan by end 2006.
DOTW
to intensify focus on secondary markets
Destinations of The World (DOTW) is set to intensify focus
on travel agents in India's interiors for its compendium of
outbound and inbound travel packages.
Macroview
Karnataka,
FICCI host 2-day tourism expo
The two-day Karnataka Tourism Expo held in Mysore recently,
organised jointly by the government of Karnataka and Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), focused
on tourism development besides identifying new opportunities
and measures to remove roadblocks.
MoT
goes back to the roots with manuscript tourism
In order to conserve our ancient manuscripts and showcasing
them to national and international travellers, the ministry
of culture and tourism is working on promoting manuscript
tourism in the country.
Bangalore
host to international seminar on tourism ethics
The fourth annual World Committee on Tourism Ethics (WCTE),
held for the first time in Asia in Bangalore recently, played
up the importance of ethics with growing tourism.
IATA
consolidates insurance cover in domestic BSP
To facilitate the process of the domestic Billing and Settlement
Plan (BSP) that will be rolled out from July 2006 in phases,
IATA has exclusively taken the initiative to procure the best
insurance deals for agents.
Events
New
Delhi to play host to Galileo-Express TravelWorld Awards 2006
Express TravelWorld is delighted to announce the Galileo-Express
TravelWorld Awards (erstwhile Galileo-Express Travel &
Tourism Awards) that makes its comeback to New Delhi after
being held in Mumbai last year.
Knowledge Series by Abacus
Grounding
airline distribution costs
GDS companies never afforded themselves the luxury of sticking
to their conventional role of inventory distribution. Bhisham
Mansukhani finds that their newfound respect as yeild enhancers
for their principals is a tribute to that challenge which
they have commendably met.
Channel Chat
Domestic
BSP in the limelight
While IATA agents interested to issue domestic airline tickets
would have to only incorporate domestic BSP systems into their
set up come this July, non-IATA ones will have to first become
IATA accredited. Reema Sisodia speaks with sub-agents to find
out how domestic BSP will change their business and functioning.
Snippets
Britain
expects 7 lakh visa applications by 2007
The Visa Section of the British Deputy High Commission is
looking to ramp up facilities and contract work in the Indian
hinterland to make UK visas more accessible.
DLF
to take off with non-scheduled airline
Delhi-based DLF Universal will soon start a non-scheduled
airline.
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