|
Lead Story
Abercrombie
& Kent Group aims to launch hospitality venture in India
Geoffrey JW Kent, chairman and chief executive officer of
Abercrombie & Kent group of companies (A&K), was recently
in India along with the company's chief financial officer
to study and then finally invest in the hospitality sector
of India.
Newstrack
TAAI
creates history, develops GDS for LCCs
Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) will become the
first Indian travel association to develop a GDS for its members.
As a result of this significant move, TAAI has already bagged
some international enquiries for consultancy.
Expedia
scheduled to enter India in six months
Online travel business in India is expected to get even more
exciting with one of the leading names in the space - Expedia
- scheduled to enter the Indian space soon.
Aviation
El
Al to introduce fourth frequency from Mumbai to Tel Aviv
El Al Israel Airlines will introduce a fourth weekly non-stop
flight from Mumbai to Tel Aviv with effect from October 2007.
Trade Bytes
Treasure
Tours to start new MIS Global initiative
Treasure Tours & Travels has announced that it plans to
start a new arm called Management Information Services (MIS)
Global that will primarily deal with foreign luxury liners
that touch Indian shores.
Nijhawan
Group rolls out car rental services
The Nijhawan group of companies has announced its entry into
the Rs 1,000 crore car rental market, by tying up with US-based
Thrifty Car Rental, a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive
Group. I
Fiji,
India agreement on tourism co-operation
The Fiji government is creating all possible channels to divert
Indian travellers to the island country to capture a slice
of the Indian outbound market. In his recent visit to India,
Mahendra Pal Chaudhry, finance minister and a former prime
minister of Fiji, formalised an agreement for tourism co-operation
signed in 2005.
Meru
taxis to recruit 200 additional drivers this year
Fleet management company V-Link has launched Meru, a metered
call taxi service in Mumbai in association with India Value
Fund, a private equity fund. The company has launched 150
taxis in Mumbai and will increase the number to 1,000 by December
2007.
Pegasus
launches commission-processing service
While falling commissions are giving agents sleepless nights,
they are also faced with increasing operational costs caused
by tracking and reporting of commissions.
ITH
profits up 43% in 2006-07
The board of directors of International Travel House (ITH)
has approved the company's financial results for the year
2006-07, in its meeting held on 11 May 2007.
Travelocity
signs agreement with Jet
Travelocity and Jet Airways have announced an exclusive travel
agreement, which will lead to the former's hotel offerings
being available through the Jet website from where travellers
can book hotels in India.
30 Minute Interview
‘We
want to tap the leisure segment’
The number of non-resident Indians in the United Kingdom has
swelled over the years. Taj Tours, immensely popular with
Indian residents in the UK for their travel services to Europe
and other parts of the world is looking at expanding its horizons.
Andrea Lopez in conversation with Krishna Samji, general manager,
Taj Tours on the company's unique features and its impending
plans for the future.
‘The
forex market is extremely favourable for us’
About eight months after he acquired a majority stake in Mercury
Travels, executive vice chairman Ashwini Kakkar tells Chetan
Kapoor about the process of reincarnation that his company
is going through
‘Developing
MICE is high on the agenda’
The Victorian government recently announced its marketing
plans in India to tap the international tourism market not
just as a sector for travel but also for education, business
and leisure. Tim Holding, Minister for Tourism, Victoria in
an interview with Anupama Sushil tells us about their plans.
Channel Chat
From
woe to wow
According to the Internet World Statistics, India has 40,000,000
internet users - quite a staggering figure. This spells a
challenge to the sub-agents in the airline industry.
Uplink
Galileo
India looks at more LCCs for its GFI
Expecting further growth in the low-cost carrier (LCC) market
in India, Galileo India, the Indian arm of Galileo International,
has developed a web-based point-and-click tool for travel
agencies called Galileo Flight Integrator (GFI) that will
specifically help them access LCC content.
Amadeus
signs 19 airlines for its e-ticketing facility
Amadeus, provider of technology and distribution solutions
for the travel and tourism industry, has announced that it
has signed 19 new airlines, including India's national carrier
Air India, in the last seven months.
Search.travel
expands rich media capabilities
New features on the world's first travel-specific search engine
give travel and tourism marketers a new opportunity to stand
out on the Internet.
CWT
announces new programme management centre
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has announced the launch of
the CWT Program Management Centre, a global web-based tool
that provides travel managers and travel buyers with a central
gateway for easy access to all information needed to simplify
and optimise the management of their travel programme.
HKTB’s
new interactive itinerary planner
Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has introduced The Interactive
Itinerary Planner, a user-friendly online tool which enables
visitors to create personalised itineraries before arriving
in Hong Kong.
Macroview
IATO,
TAAI finalise conventions
The two important travel conventions - that of Indian Association
of Tour Operators (IATO) and Travel Agents Association of
India (TAAI) - have been finalised. While the XXIII IATO annual
convention will be held in Delhi, TAAI has chosen Chennai
as its venue.
Dominican
Republic partner country for ITB Berlin ‘08
The Dominican Republic will be prominently featured as the
next partner country of the ITB Berlin, which is due to take
place from March 5 to 9, 2008.
New
Uttarakhand minister puts tourism on forefront
The new tourism minister for Uttarakhand, Prakash Pant, has
identified a two-pronged strategy to promote the state.
'We
need to re-engineer the tourism sector'
Barely two months into the ministry, the newly-appointed secretary
of tourism, Dr Christy Fernandez has already identified focus
areas in the sector.
Outbound
Barbados
Tourism, SOTC enter 5-year partnership
It was history in the making as the first-ever direct charter
flight, Air India Boeing 747 Jumbo jet, from India to Barbados
landed in Bridgetown during the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Speaking at the press conference organised at the island's
Grantley Adams International Airport was CEO of Barbados Tourism
Authority (BTA), Stuart Layne, who said the event indicated
the "dawn of a new era".
MSC
Cruises adds Orchestra to fleet
MSC Cruises has added another ship to its fleet, MSC Orchestra,
and has appointed Italian actress Sophia Loren as its official
godmother. The new liner was christened in Rome this May.
Loren was joined by another Italian icon, composer Ennio Morricone,
who conducted a concert prior to the christening.
Scandinavian
Tourist Board sees India in top 5 source markets in Asia Pacific
Scandinavian Tourist Board (STB), having entered soon after
the Finnish Tourist Board paved way, has identified India
as one of its top five source markets in Asia Pacific. It
had recently appointed Marco Marketing Concepts as its representative
in India.
ATM
breaks all records
The Arabian Travel Market (ATM), a travel and tourism exhibition
in the Middle East which marked its 14th showing at the Dubai
International Convention & Exhibition Centre (DICEC),
could well double in size within the next five years, according
to His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president
of Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Dubai and chairman
of the Emirates Group.
Tourism
Ireland to invest in promotional campaigning
In an exclusive conversation with Express TravelWorld, Jim
Paul, regional director of Tourism Ireland, revealed that
the tourism board will be investing heavily in the Indian
market in order to promote Ireland as a tourist destination.
Egypt
Tourism Authority calling India
With an aim to double the number of Indian tourists that Egypt
receives - from 65,000 in 2006 - Egypt Tourism Authority (ETA)
will invest in tourism promotion in the Indian market to involve
the travel agents.
Yorkshire
promotes destination through IIFA
Yorkshire Tourist Board (YTB) is taking the tide at the flood
and has been promoting the destination through the International
Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards to be held in Yorkshire,
England from June 7-10 this year.
Carnival
Cruise Lines increases fleet with Carnival Splendor
Carnival Cruise Lines' new 1,13,300-ton Carnival Splendor
will debut in July 2008 operating the line's first-ever Northern
European cruise programme.
Sarawak
calling nature lovers
Inspite of the Incredible India campaign selling tremendously
well, a number of Indian states have actively emerged as individual
promoters increasing their potential as tourist destinations.
Karnataka
to operate its first luxury train
With India's tourism industry growing phenomenally in the
past couple of years, it is not surprising that various state
tourism bodies are looking at new options to sell India as
a destination and boost their own regional tourism market.
Hotel Talk
Bogmallo
Beach Resort to offer monsoon packages
The Bogmallo Beach Resort is all set to tap the monsoon potential
of Goa. M R Prabhu, general manager, says, "For the monsoon
we would be offering a 3 nights-4 days package all inclusive.
Serena
Spa to set up destination spas
Serena Spa, the international spa company, has announced plans
to open its self branded destination spa in India and is eyeing
both north and south India as potential locations.
Kamat
Hotels to manage first 5-star Ecotel of J&K
With religious tourism booming in India, White Orchid, the
third five-star Ecotel in the country, was launched in Katra,
and is set to tap the pilgrim traffic going onwards to the
Vaishnodevi shrine. The property is owned by Simmsamm Hotels
and managed by Kamat Hotels.
|
