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Lead Story
Govt
considers fiscal incentives for tourism industry
In a bid to give a boost to tourism, the government is considering
a host of sops for the tourism industry.
Newstrack
Hiked
entry fee to MP forests may hit arrival figures
The irrational increase in entrance fee for the national parks
of Madhya Pradesh has become a major concern for the tourism
and hospitality industries.
MoT
plans to put medical tourism on e-commerce platform
The ministry of tourism proposes to place medical tourism
on its recently launched e-commerce platform amongst other
niche tourism products on its website www.incredibleindia.org.
MakeMyTrip.com
sets up shop in Bangalore
"Bangalore is the most cosmopolitan city in India and
has been the number one market for the sale of flight tickets
and hotel rooms," said Deep Kalra, founder and CEO of
the online travel portal MakeMyTrip.com at the launch of its
regional office in Bangalore on June 12.
SBI
to partner Galileo-Express TravelWorld Awards
The travel and tourism industry's most prestigious event the
Galileo-Express TravelWorld Awards will have SBI as its Banking
Partner this year. In its fifth edition, the event is India's
foremost B2B travel trade awards and is audited by Deloitte
Touche Tohmatsu.
30 Minute Interview
'OTAs
should worry about the traditional agents coming online'
ezeego1.com is a new kid in the OTA space but, Neelu Singh,
its COO, is determined about not letting the portal be bullied
around. By Chetan Kapoor
'It
is not the numbers that matter but the aspirations of the
people'
National tourist office Trac Representation understands the
needs of its clients, says Rajeev Nangia, its associate director
(operations). By Anupama Sushil
IATO Convention 2007
IATO
to celebrate Indo-Japan, Indo-China Friendship Year
Since IATO will be celebrating its 25th year of existence,
this year will be of special significance.
MSC
Cruises sails on the Adriatic
MSC Cruises that had recently added MSC Orchestra to its fleet,
finished a seven-day cruise from the queen of the Adriatic,
Venice on June 30 and took the cruise covering the cities
of Bari (Italy), Kotakalon (Greece) Izimir (Turkey), Iatanbul
(Turkey) and Dubrovnik (Croatia) before returning to Venice.
Uplink
Cleartrip
to increase inventory
Cleartrip.com will now concentrate on adding more domestic
hotels across categories to its base in all major locations
in India.
Travelmartindia
launches B2B portal
In a move to keep pace with the rapidly growing online travel
business, Travelmartindia has launched a B2B portal called
‘Matrix Online’.
General
Atlantic invests in IBS Software Services
General Atlantic LLC (GA), a Greenwich based investment company
recently announced investment worth USD 60 million in Trivandrum-based
IBS Software Services (IBS).
TAAI Convention 2007
TAAI
looks at 'Growth through Evolution'
Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is holding its annual
convention, also known as Indian Travel Congress 2007, in
Chennai from October 5 - 8.
'Agents
have the power to make a difference'
"Unity is the watchword," said Praveen Chugh, president
of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) when asked about
the measures that would make the future of the travel agents
more secure.
Trade Bytes
Uttaranchal
proposes to auction riverside
According to reliable sources, Uttaranchal government, in
association with the state forest department, has moved up
a proposal to auction the riverside/beach for setting up of
more establishments.
Bombay
Travels merges with Jazz Travels
The merger of Mumbai-based Bombay Travels with Jazz Travels
seems to be an interesting marriage in which the former is
a non-IATO member while the latter isn't.
Taj
Tours to focus on ground handling operation
Taj tours, a UK-based tour operator specialising in package
tours in Europe and UK, expects a large part of its business
to come through ground handling operations from the Indian
travel trade.
Railways
reduce service charges for e-tickets
With a view to encourage e-ticket usage, Indian Railways has
reduced the e-ticket service charges from July 1, 2007.
French
hotel chain Club Med eyes Indian travellers
French hotel chain Club Med has announced its desire to market
itself to Indian outbound travellers.
Indonesia
Specialist programme promises to revive arrival figures
Clavin Marketing India, in collaboration with Malaysia Airlines,
Sachinam Travels and Blue Star Air Travel Services will launch
the first ever Indonesia Specialist programme for the Indian
market at Medan in Indonesia from August 17-20, 2007.
Essel
Group-MTDC to set up entertainment & tourism centre
In what it is deemed to be a first of its kind partnership
in the country, the Essel group is entering into a joint venture
with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) to
develop a special economic zone (SEZ) on entertainment and
tourism centre in north-west Mumbai.
Iskcon
Bangalore to set up India Heritage Theme Park
In a bid to enlighten people about the Vedic history of India,
Iskcon Bangalore will construct a Krishna Lila theme park
in Bangalore.
Hotel Talk
Kamat
Hotels enters heritage segment
Kamat Hotels (India) is entering into the heritage segment
with its upcoming Orchid Heritage hotel. The group is developing
the Jadhav Gadhi Fort in Pune into a hotel.
Tunga
group to launch 4-star boutique hotel in Mumbai
After launching Hotel Tunga Regency in Navi Mumbai, Tunga
Group plans another four-star boutique property - Hotel Tunga
Regale - in Andheri's MIDC area, Mumbai by October 2007.
Snippets
Channel Chat
ETAA
to hold its first convention
The Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA) is likely
to hold its first-ever convention in November this year in
Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
Outbound
Cox
& Kings leases own mountain in Swiss Alps
Cox & Kings will be completing 250 years next year and
as a countdown to its celebrations, the tour operator has
leased a mountain at Lungern in the exotic Swiss Alps and
exclusively named it as Mt Cox & Kings.
Tourism
Australia to focus on incentive travel
The latest international destination to set up a dedicated
tourism office in India is Australia.
Harvey
India launches outbound division
Harvey India, popular for its services on the inbound front
has started tapping the outbound market by offering tours
and packages to Europe, USA and the South East Asia.
Inbound
Silvassa
to be promoted at WTM-2007
The Dadra and Nagar Haveli Tourism (D&NHT) is looking
at promoting Silvassa at the World Travel Market (WTM), to
be held in London in November this year.
Macroview
Buddhist
circuit train completes 3rd run
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)
completed the third run of its Buddhist circuit special luxury
train, the Maha-Parinirvan, covering prominent Buddhist pilgrim
centers of Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar in India and Lumbini
in Nepal.
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