Gujaratis continue to be the most avid Indian travellers, TTF to host its largest travel fair in Ahmedabad againIndia is one of the fastest-growing outbound

travel markets in the world. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) predicts that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020 and according to the ‘Kuoni Travel Report India 2007’, the total outbound spending will cross the $28 billion mark in 2020.

According to the report ‘The Indian Outbound Travel Market with Special Insight into the Image of Europe as a Destination’, with over 28 million passport holders in the country who are potential travellers, the source market for outbound travel is wide and complex because of its size and variety. According to the primary research among the travel trade, the main source regions are west and north (including central India) together accounting for about 65% of all outbound travel, followed by south (25%) and east (10%).

According to Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), 40% of all outbound trips by Indians are for business purposes, while leisure, visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and other reasons each account for 20% of outbound trips from India.

Indians continue to be among the world’s highest-spending tourists, but what is interesting to note is that these tourists are not distributed uniformly across the country.

Where do most Indians travellers come from?Speaking of India as a source market for outbound as well as intra-state travel reveals that the contribution of each state varies widely. But, whether it is travelling within the country or visiting global destinations-one factor remains a constant, Gujarati travellers.

Gujaratis top the chart as the community that travels the most, whether within their country or abroad. Reports under the Ministry of Tourism reveal that out of the total number of Indians travelling every year, Gujaratis comprise 30-40% of the total pie. This is true of both Gujaratis travelling to other parts of India as well as abroad. With the total outbound spend of Indian tourists predicted to reach $28 billion by 2020 as per UNWTO, Gujarati tourists indeed seem to make the most lucrative target segment.

One might argue that in spite of Gujarat being the top contributor of Indian tourists, the state does not have the top spot as far as being a travel source market is concerned. Even though Mumbai continues to be the top source market for Indian outbound tourists, a closer scrutiny reveals that a major chunk of tourists going

overseas from Maharashtra originally belong to Gujarat, so much so that the huge demand of tour packages from Gujarati tourists has prompted tour operators to come up with newer, fresher and more exciting packages than ever before.

How do Gujaratis travel?The new-age Gujarati traveller being tech-savvy is very particular about his/her travel needs. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all packages. Trends show that organised group tours have fallen out of preference as more and more Gujarati travellers are either researching their own itineraries or demanding packages customised to suit their every single need. Needless to say, the percentage of tailor-made travel bookings have gone up from 20% to 50% in recent years. The trend of custom-made holidays among Gujaratis is not limited to air travel, a similar trend can be spotted even in cruise tourism.

There has been a remarkable shift from price-conscious travelling to value-conscious travelling. Gujarat, being the top five states that contribute to India’s GDP has registered steady growth in the purchasing power of individuals. This can be seen reflected in travel choices being made by the discerning Gujarati travellers who are opting for experiential travel, visiting off-beat destinations and spending a significant amount of their earnings on travel.

Explore the travel market of Western India at TTF AhmedabadA host of factors including rising expendable incomes, enhanced connectivity from Ahmedabad to overseas destinations, increased internet penetration and the explosion of millennial travellers have contributed to the increasing number of Gujarati travellers. Recent research shows that there has been a 15% increase in the number of travellers from the state. Gujaratis have also registered an average travel spend of ₨1.5 lakh per person per trip. Gujarat makes for a very exciting travel source market to explore, both for domestic as well as international destinations. However, Gujarat being a travel market with diverse yet discrete travel opportunities is not easy to capture. This is why a trusted travel trade show series like TTF provides the perfect platform to explore travel opportunities in the region.

TTF Ahmedabad is the largest travel trade show in the multi-city TTF series that is conducted every year. 650 exhibitors from 23 countries and 21 Indian states and union territories were represented at the 2018 edition of the show which registered a growth of 20% from its previous editions. 6,100+ trade visitors and 4,500+ general visitors attended the show. TTF Ahmedabad is being held from August 30 to September 1 at the Gujarat University Exhibition Hall. This year, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and many more will be exhibiting at TTF Ahmedabad.

TTF Ahmedabad will be shortly followed by TTF Surat, to be held from September 6 to 8 at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Stadium. 115 exhibitors, 730+ trade visitors and 5,000+ general visitors attended TTF Surat in 2018. TTF Surat will be joined by Indian Tourism, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and many others. As the numbers testify, both the shows are hugely popular in Gujarat, making them a must-visit combination for travel sellers and buyers.

After TTF Ahmedabad and TTF Surat, the TTF West series will host two more shows in Mumbai (September 13, 14, 15) and Pune (September 20, 21, 22). The TTF-branded shows culminate in the grand finale, OTM Mumbai held every year at the Bombay Exhibition Centre. With a laser focus on B2B travel, OTM is the most international gathering of key travel players across the globe in India. OTM Mumbai is preceded by BLTM Delhi, a show dedicated to Business, MICE and Leisure travel that captures the pan-India business and corporate business travel market.

TTF, OTM and BLTM are organised by Fairfest Media, India’s leading travel trade show organisers since 1989.

Gujaratis love to travel and explore new places. TTF is one fair that not only organisers but also tourists in Gujarat eagerly await every year. We are proud to state that out of the 8-city TTF series in India, TTF Ahmedabad receives the maximum participation. It has developed into a vital platform for travel organisers to connect and network with new and old partners.

Mahendra VakhariaPresident

OTOAI

Surtis and Gujaratis travel the most and this exhibition is a wonderful attempt to bring in major tour operators to Surat so that the people of Surat can plan their national and international travels.

Dr Jagdish PatelMayor

Surat Municipal Corporation

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INDIA 04 AsIA 07 mIDDle eAst 12 techNology 24 respoNsIble tourIsm 26 FIlm tourIsm 27 eveNts 29cruIse tourIsm 28europe 15 AFrIcA 18 oceANIA 21 cArIbbeAN 22AmerIcAs 20

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2019 2 • COVER STORY

Editor & Publisher Sanjiv Kumar Agarwal(editor@fairfest.in)

Editorial BoardV SureshGazanfar IbrahimHarsh AgarwalSandrine ClaracAbhinav Bhat

Executive Editor Annapurna Agarwal(annapurna@fairfest.in)

Assistant EditorLaboni Chatterjee

sub EditorGopanjali Roy

Head of DesignLeo Abrahams

DesignPriyam VoraDilip MannaRitam MaityMaruti More

Managing Director Rajiv Agarwal

Director Raj Kapoor Singh

Associate DirectorsGunjan DuttRajarshi DeR MaheshTarique EbrahimRaminder Singh

ManagersFatima D’CostaUma SurekaYC AnilPhilomena D’SouzaTania DasRamesh ChauhanSanjeev GuptaAnkit Chetan Gandhi

Assistant ManagersShiv Shankar DuttaGagandeep SinghAakash VermaDimple TakIshika MukherjeeAbhinav DahiwadeKiran M

ExecutivesPriya DasAishwarya LunaniNazhat Abdul Aziz ShaikhDebasreeta Paul

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Travel News Digest (TND) is printed and published by Sanjiv Kumar Agarwal on behalf of Fairfest Media Ltd.

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Published at 216A/1, Gautam Nagar, Gulmohar Park, New Delhi-110 049

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No responsibility will be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts and photos received. Despite careful selection of sources, no responsibility can be taken for accuracy.

The Publisher and the Editor do not necessarily individually or collectively identify themselves with the views expressed by respective writers and contributors in this journal. The views expressed are those of the authors only. The magazine assumes no liability or responsibility of any kind in connection with the information thereof.

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TTF South (Hyderabad) 05, 06 July

TTF Kolkata 12, 13, 14 July

TTF Ahmedabad 30, 31 August, 01 September

TTF Surat 06, 07, 08 September

TTF Mumbai 13, 14, 15 September

TTF Pune 20, 21, 22 September

TTF Bengaluru 17, 18, 19 JanuaryTTF Chennai 24, 25, 26 January TTF Delhi 30, 31 January, 01 FebruaryBLTM Delhi 31 January, 01 February TTF & OTM Mumbai 03, 04, 05 FebruaryTTF SUMMER* Ahmedabad 08, 09 FebruaryTTF SUMMER* Kolkata 14, 15, 16 February

2020

2019

Be a part of India’s Biggest Travel Show Network

*TTF Summer is our new line of shows focussed on the huge summer holidays travel market in India.

To book your vantage stand write to us at contact@fairfest.in

www.ttfotm.com www.otm.co.in www.bltm.co.in

Tamil Nadu21.29%

Andhra Pradesh10%

Maharashtra7.2%

Telangana5.2%

West Bengal4.8%

Madhya Pradesh4.7%

14.2%

Karnataka10.9%

Gujarat2.9%

Rajasthan2.8%

Others16.4%

Share of domestic tourist visits in 2017Source: Ministry of Tourism

The number of domestic trips taken have grown at a CAGR of 8% to reach

1.7 billion mark in 2018.

Out of a combined travel spend of US$ 94 billions, US$ 72 billion has been

on domestic travel.

Domestic air carriers have registered a growth of 2.62% from 2018 to 2019,

carrying a total of 1.15 crore domestic passengers across the country in

March 2019.

1.7 Bn

US$ 72 Bn

1.15 cr

TTF South (Hyderabad) 05, 06 July

TTF Kolkata 12, 13, 14 July

TTF Ahmedabad 30, 31 August, 01 September

TTF Surat 06, 07, 08 September

TTF Mumbai 13, 14, 15 September

TTF Pune 20, 21, 22 September

TTF Bengaluru 17, 18, 19 JanuaryTTF Chennai 24, 25, 26 January TTF Delhi 30, 31 January, 01 FebruaryBLTM Delhi 31 January, 01 February TTF & OTM Mumbai 03, 04, 05 FebruaryTTF SUMMER* Ahmedabad 08, 09 FebruaryTTF SUMMER* Kolkata 14, 15, 16 February

2020

2019

Be a part of India’s Biggest Travel Show Network

*TTF Summer is our new line of shows focussed on the huge summer holidays travel market in India.

To book your vantage stand write to us at contact@fairfest.in

www.ttfotm.com www.otm.co.in www.bltm.co.in

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 4INDIA

tAAI organises Knowledge Conclaves for members across India

goa bans single-use plastic items to be plastic-free by 2022Odisha Tourism’s revamped website, www.odisha-

tourism.gov.in, was recently launched by Chief Min-ister Naveen Patnaik. This website gives the platform for Odisha to showcase to the world what they have to offer and also has the potential to empower people operating in the tourism and hospitality sector.

While launching the revamped digital platform of Odisha Tourism, the Chief Minister stated, “It has been our constant endeavour to showcase Odisha to the world. Tourism is amongst the most sustainable routes to maximising employment opportunities for our youth and ensuing shared prosperity through community participation.”

The interface includes an array of arranged mod-ules which helps in curating the visitor’s imagination to holiday in Odisha. The website also has an immer-sive homepage with iconic imagery contains planning and booking tools, travel agent search, travel adviso-ries and embedded booking engines of Ecotour. The platform also showcases accounts of various travel-ler experiences in the form of blogs, vlogs and photos along with insights into local cuisine.

“Leveraging digital technologies are consistently helping us unlock the true potential of Odisha Tour-ism. Our digital platform will also empower lakhs of people operating in the tourism and hospitality sector,

individually and collectively, by virtue of it being an all-inclusive participatory platform,” he added.

“They can now leverage networks and reach out to tourists and potential business partners from far cor-ners of the world, opening a huge window of opportu-nity,” he said.

The website also involves a pilot implementation of an e-commerce platform for Odisha handlooms and handicrafts by promoting state brands Boyan-ika and Utkalika to enable users to purchase authen-tic souvenirs. Another highlight of the website is its foray into the concept of virtual reality (VR) tour-ism. An interactive map with indigenous art forms of Odisha like Pattachitra allows the user to view mul-tiple tourist attractions in 360-degree views and vir-tual tours.

In a bid to achieve the target to make Goa plastic-free by 2022, the state government has decided to ban the use of single-use plastic such as straws, disposable glasses, bags and cutlery from Sep-tember. Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) has announced this ban from its hotels and headquarters on an immediate basis.

The state pledged to be free of single-use plas-tic for its New Year’s resolution last year. Now the state government is taking proactive steps to achieve its target of limiting plastic usage in the state.

Dayanand Sopte, Chairman of GTDC said, “This decision of eliminating plastic items across the state will go a long way in contribut-ing towards a cleaner and greener Goa. Growing plastic waste is a major cause of concern for all the states in India and it becomes our duty to come up with solutions. Plastic bottles are amongst the major plastic items used in the tourism industry and they alone contribute to over 20% of plastic pollution in the oceans. To put a stop on plastic pollution we have taken this decision.”

Instead of plastics, water, tea, coffee, etc. will now be served in paper cups and glasses. Water dispensers, water filters will be installed at the tourism head office and the corporation acquired hotels so that the use of plastic bottles can be eliminated.

“We at GTDC have taken on this campaign from the head office first and all our residencies will execute this within the next three months so that we can play a significant role in the endeav-our to conserve the environment. This decision of banning the use of single-use plastic items will help towards creating an environmentally sus-tainable tourism sector,” added Sopte.

He also added that the department will rope in the tourism stakeholders and other partners in the hospitality sector to be part of the large cam-paign against the use of plastic bottles and plas-tic items.

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) conducted its Knowledge Conclaves in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Indore recently. The Managing Commit-tee and Chairpersons on TAAI have come up with this most unique event which was based on geographical locations and members of respective TAAI Regions and Chapters were invited to attend the conclaves to prepare themselves for a fast-changing tomorrow. Through the Knowledge Conclaves, the members shared informa-tion and learned from the recent trends and updates.

Around 100+ agency representatives in each location participated in this extremely purposeful and compre-hensive learning initiative from TAAI.

The conclaves key focus was ‘Unlearn – Update – Upgrade’. Towards this, eminent industry leaders drove the interactive sessions. They presented the fast-unfold-ing bigger picture of the industry and complexities and the opportunities it offers. They were emphatic if one

has to optimise this growing scenario, there is a need to tweak business models to address the changes. The importance of remaining relevant in the marketplace to gain sustainability and growth as business models get fine-tuned was emphasised again and again.

Speaking exclusively with Travel News Digest, Sunil Kumar, President, Travel Agents Association of India said, “I am very happy to say that the response received in the conclaves has been overwhelming. We held the conclaves in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata

and Indore and have been a big success. In Kolkata, we received around 60+ agents to attend which we were anticipating. Eastern region as a market is very large and it will continue to grow.”

It certainly has been an outstanding initiative. For those mid-size and smaller agencies, this provoked new thoughts and gave them deep insights into the lat-est developments in the industry.

The Ministry of Tourism, under the Swadesh Dar-shan Scheme provides Central Financial Assistance to State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Adminis-trations for development of thematic tourist circuits in the country, with the objective of improving connectiv-ity and infrastructure of tourism destinations to enrich overall tourist experience, enhance livelihood, gener-ate employment opportunities and to attract domestic as well as foreign tourists to the destinations.

The projects for development are identified in con-sultation with the State Governments/UT Administra-tions and are sanctioned subject to the submission of project proposals, their adherence to relevant scheme guidelines, submission of suitably detailed project reports, availability of funds and utilisation of funds released earlier.

The components sanctioned under the projects include Buddhist cultural centre, waterfront prom-enade, SEL/Laser shows, water fountain, approach roads, tourist facilitation/reception/interpretation/amenities centres, seating plazas and lounges, solar lighting, jetties, information signages, illumination, CCTV surveillance equipment and Wi-Fi facilities, etc. among other basic tourist amenities like drinking water kiosks, public conveniences, etc.

All the above projects are at various stages of imple-mentation/completion. The project ‘Development of Kakinada Hope Island Konaseema as World Class Coastal and Eco-Tourism Circuit’ sanctioned in the year 2014-15 has attained physical completion and the last instalment of funds will be released after monitor-ing operation and maintenance of the site for one year.

Kakinada Hope Island in Andhra Pradesh being developed as a coastal and eco-tourism circuit

odisha’s chief minister Naveen patnaik launches revamped tourism website

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2019 6 • india

Pride Group of Hotels targets 30 hotels nationally by 2022, plans to launch a new brand for millennialsThe Pride Group of Hotels is presently scaling up its oper-ations to focus more on ‘Pride Hotels’ and ‘Pride Resorts’ brands that are moderately priced, upscale, full service, business and leisure hotels. The group is also coming up with the new brand exclusively focussed on millennial customers. The hotel chain is presently planning to open a 300-room property in Goa, besides expanding its pres-ence in Guwahati, Panipat and Nashik later this year. It also plans to add 75 rooms and 50 rooms respectively at its five-star properties in Nagpur and Pune respectively. Pride Hotels is also in advanced talks with a hotel prop-erty in Mumbai to run under a management contract.

Announcing the developments, S P Jain, Manag-ing Director, Pride Hotels Ltd said, “We are pleased to announce major expansion plans nationally primarily targeted towards Tier II and Tier III cities that trans-late into vast business potential. Pride Hotels presently owns and operates 16 hotels nationally. By 2022 we plan

to double the number of properties to 30 with over 3,000 luxury rooms to emerge as a leading national hotel chain in the country. Most of the new properties will be under management contracts. We will soon be launching a new brand to cater exclusively to the growing demands of mil-lennial customers, one of the biggest segments in the hos-pitality industry.”

The Pride Group of Hotels is a major player in the hos-pitality industry in India operating under brands Pride Plaza, Pride Hotels and Pride Resorts. The group pres-ently has an inventory of over 2,000 rooms, 40 restau-rants, and 60 banquet halls. All hotels are conveniently located and offer modern amenities and facilities for making the stay memorable. Each hotel is equipped with extensive banqueting, convention facilities, top of the line food & beverage services, health clubs and business cen-tres, making the hotels the preferred venues for business and leisure travellers.

IHCL announces a new Taj Hotel in UttarakhandThe Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) recently announced the signing of a Taj Hotel in Dehradun. This will be the fifth IHCL branded hotel in the state of Uttarakhand.

Commenting on the signing of this agreement, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL said, “This signing is in line with Aspiration 2022 and its strategy of being pres-ent in all state capitals. Dehradun has huge poten-tial with its tourism and commercial growth. With the addition of this hotel, we will be opening a new Himalayan circuit that includes Rishikesh, Theog and Corbett. We are happy to partner with Himala-yan Retreat India LLP for this hotel.”

Spread over 5.4 acres, the hotel boasts of a unique setting with the river Tons that flows through the site and overlooks hills with lush green foliage. The 88-room hotel will have an all-day-diner, a speciality restaurant, a bar, a spa, banqueting and conferenc-ing spaces. The hotel is slated to open on April 2021.

Rakesh Inder Singh Chugh, Managing Partner, Himalayan Retreat India LLP said, “We are delighted to partner with IHCL and bring the company’s iconic brand Taj to Dehradun, Uttarakhand’s gateway city.”

Indigo announces entry in myanmar and vietnamStrengthening its presence in South-east Asia, IndiGo adds Yangon as the 18th international des-tination and Hanoi as its 19th international and 75th overall destination.

Effective September 20, IndiGo will operate daily non-stop flights on the Kolkata-Yangon route. Yan-gon will be IndiGo’s 74th overall destination.

William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “In line with our international expan-sion strategy, we are excited to announce Yangon as our new international destination. We see sig-nificant traffic coming from Yangon to the Buddhist circuit thereby enhancing economic growth and tourism in India. This new route will strengthen the cultural relationship between the two countries and will boost trade, tourism and mobility.”

Effective October 3, IndiGo will operate its non-stop daily flights between Kolkata and Hanoi. Viet-nam is the 5th Southeast Asian country in the 6E network after successful operations to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

Commenting on the entry in Vietnam, Boulter said, “It is truly a very special moment for all of us at IndiGo as it is the first route connecting Kolkata to Hanoi. This milestone reflects our relentless focus and commitment, while enabling the gov-ernment’s Act East vision, in further strengthen-ing the network between eastern corridors of India and the Southeast Asian region. We foresee a rising demand for Hanoi, which is famous for its historic architecture and a rich cultural blend of Southeast Asian and French influence. Additionally, we are also expecting a high demand for the Buddhist cir-cuit as Vietnam has a large Buddhist community.”

Boulter further added, “IndiGo will continue to expand its network to meet the requirements of both business and leisure travellers wherever they demand. It is our constant endeavour to pro-vide more flexibility of choice to our customers as IndiGo continues to offer them on-time, courte-ous and hassle-free service and an affordable fly-ing experience.”

Vistara goes international with flights to Singapore and DubaiVistara now arrives on the global map with flights to Singapore from Delhi and Mumbai which started from August 6 and 7 respectively. Vistara now operates two daily flights to Singapore, one each from Delhi and Mumbai, providing its globally applauded service to travellers on these routes. Customers can also take con-venient one-stop connections to and from several other Indian cities beyond Delhi and Mumbai, including but not limited to Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jammu, Lucknow, Ranchi, Raipur, Srinagar and Varanasi.

Vistara also added Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the second international destination to its net-work and opened bookings for daily flights between Mumbai and Dubai starting August 21. The airline will use its Airbus A320neo aircraft with three-class cabin configuration to fly to and from Dubai, making Vistara the first airline to offer the choice of Premium Economy class for travel between India and the UAE in addition to Economy and Business Class. Customers can also take convenient one-stop connections to/from other cit-ies beyond Mumbai, namely Delhi, Bengaluru, Chen-nai, Goa, Hyderabad and Kolkata, as well as Singapore.

Vistara will fly its Boeing 737-800NG aircraft with two-class cabin configuration (Business and Economy) to Singapore.

Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara said, “We present to the world today a shining new sym-bol of warm Indian hospitality with a contemporary approach and world-class service. We’re excited to start with Singapore as our first international destina-tion, which we see as a very important market, given the opportunities it presents for corporate, business as well as leisure travel. As we soon take the ‘new feeling of flying’ to more international destinations, we hope to provide our customers from overseas the finest way to experience India and inspire travellers from across

India to explore more of the world.”Thng added, “We thank our customers, partners

and all other stakeholders for their support that makes Vistara what it is today. We are grateful to the concerned authorities in India and Singapore for their support.”

The airline views Singapore as a key addition to its network, as demand for travel to and from the country continues to increase, complementing the rising trade, business and tourism.

He also stated, “We’re delighted to add Dubai to our growing network, a city that has been constantly thriv-ing for decades and always has something new to offer. With the continuous influx of international trade, busi-ness and tourists all year round, especially given the strong economic and cultural ties between India and the UAE, Dubai makes a key addition to our growing network. We’re very excited to offer India’s finest fly-ing experience to travellers from both the countries.”

Bookings for flights to and from Dubai are being progressively opened on all channels.

Vistara aims to take its India success story to global markets, building on its unique attributes and by con-tinuing to innovate and embed thoughtfulness in ser-vice delivery.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 7ASIA

Malaysia Tourism launched the much-anticipated ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ campaign in Asia with a three-city roadshow in one of its top 10 source markets, India. Driven by the zeal to build awareness and bring the lat-est developments in Malaysian tourism to the forefront, ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ roadshow promoted Malaysia as a destination of excellence with special focus on MICE, Weddings and Film tourism segments from India.

The India roadshow series began in Amritsar on July 21, followed by Mumbai on July 24 and Hyderabad on July 27. 37 co-participants from Malaysia compris-ing 16 travel agents, four product owners, nine hotels, three airlines and five others visited the three cities in India to network with the travel trade and interact with travel media.

Malaysia has experienced a huge influx in the num-ber of Indian tourists, registering a growth of 15.5% from January to May 2019. As of 2019, the country has received nearly 3 lakh tourists from India. The purpose of the roadshow was to highlight India’s position as one of the most prominent markets for Malaysia.

The Mumbai edition of the roadshow began with an inaugural address, followed by informative destination as well as product presentations by Sepang International Circuit, Legoland Malaysia, Desaru Coast, Lexis Hotel Group, Mega Water Sports and Tropical Charters and Genting Highland. In addition, a detailed presentation cum briefing on the visa process was also conducted at the roadshow. It was revealed that Malaysia has extended its e-visa exclusively for Indian tourists and plans to keep updating the procedure of visa application and processing to make travel hassle-free for Indians.

The campaign logo of ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ was launched at the Mumbai Roadshow held at St. Regis. Comprising widely recognised wildlife icons of Malay-sia: a hornbill, a hibiscus (locally known as bunga raya) and the wild fern drawn in the vibrant colours of the national flag, the logo is an artistic blend of Malaysian hospitality as well as its culture and heritage. It has been designed by Alfred Phua Hong Fook, a graphic designer from Melaka. Visit Malaysia 2020 will focus on ecotour-ism, arts and culture and welcomes tourists from all over the world to experience the best of Malaysian hospital-ity. This year, the campaign tagline ‘Truly Asia’ is aimed

at portraying Malaysia as a complete reflection of Asian warmth, culture and heritage.

Speaking at the event, Razaidi Rahim, Deputy Direc-tor of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board said, “The Indian market is one of the top 10 markets for Malay-sia. Last year, Malaysia got more than 600,000 Indian visitors. This year we are looking at 70,000 arrivals and next year, we hope to have 80,000 tourist arrivals from India.” He revealed that the top travellers are from Vis-iting Friends and Relatives (VFR) segment, followed by leisure, travel, MICE, weddings and students.

Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Director, Tourism Malaysia - Mumbai said, “We are happy to host Visit Malaysia 2020 Roadshow in Mumbai because this will enable us to do a quality networking with the travel trade fraternity and

to boost Indian tourist footfalls to Malaysia.” At the roadshow, newest additions to Malaysia’s

diverse tourist attractions were revealed which included the Desaru Coast – an integrated beach destination span-ning 3,900 acres, Sea Life - an interactive aquarium in Legoland Malaysia boasting 13,000 fish and 120 other water species on display as well as Superpark in Ave-nue K, My Best Box in Berjaya Times Square, Futureland Fun Zone in Sunway Pyramid, the Rift in Mid Valley Mega Mall and Skytropolis in Genting. Malaysia cur-rently enjoys better connectivity with India. 238 flights between the two countries are flown by airlines includ-ing Malindo Air, Malaysian Airlines and Indigo. Malay-sia Tourism aims to bring a large number of Indian tour-ists to its shores in the coming days.

Malaysia Tourism hosts Visit Malaysia 2020 roadshow in India, unveils logo

ministry of tourism of republic of Indonesia organises roadshows in India

cambodia signs mou with Andhra pradesh to promote tourismTo actively promote Indonesia in the Indian tour-

ism market, the Ministry of Tourism of Repub-lic of Indonesia (MoTRI) organised a Sales Mis-sion in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Pune in July. The event was aimed at increasing more transaction of tour packages between the Indo-nesian and Indian tourism Industry through B2B (table top) meetings. There were around 36 stakeholders who met around 100 travel agents in each city.

In order to overcome the challenge of not hav-ing any direct flights from the key markets of India, Indonesia Tourism had introduced ‘Tourism Hub’ programme to attract tourists through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok as an effort to achieve

the targeted tourist arrivals in 2019.According to Dr R Sigit Witjaksono, Director of

Tourism Marketing for South & Central Asia, Mid-dle East and Africa of Indonesia Tourism, “Indone-sia has identified Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia as tourism hubs this year as it seeks to benefit from around thousand flights a week from and through the island state. There are millions of potential tourists, who can be encouraged to visit Indone-sia from and through these hubs.” He added, “The Indian tourists for Indonesia have been escalating in the last couple of years. In terms of visitors, the number of Indian visits is increasing year-on-year. There were close to 600,000 Indian visitors to Indo-nesia which is 12% more as compared to 2017.”

To promote tourism and facilitate mutual cooperation, Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tours and Travels Association of Andhra Pradesh (TTAA).

President of TTAA, K Vijay Mohan and CATA’s Phav Proeun signed the MoU in Siem Reap at the Ang-kor Wat temple.

The partnership aims to promote cross tourism between Cambodia and Andhra Pradesh. TTAA will promote Cambodia and CATA will focus on Andhra Pradesh as well as Visakhapatnam and the Buddhist Circuit in the state.

Phav Proeun of CATA said, “This MoU is a big step forward as we have never entered into any sort of simi-lar MoU with any association so far. We shall see how we can promote Buddhist packages in the state of Andhra Pradesh and we look forward to working closely with TTAA.”

“About 95% of Cambodians are Buddhists. The eth-nic Khmers who constitute about 90% of the Cambodian population, practise Theravada Buddhism. It is also the official state religion since the 15th century,” stated Vijay Mohan. He also added that as Cambodia and Vizag are well connected via Bangkok by Thai Air Asia, Malaysia by AirAsia and Singapore by SilkAir, it would be very easy to promote tourism between the two countries.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 8ASIA - Sri Lanka

SriLankan Airlines achieved the remarkable feat of being named the World’s Most Punctual Airline yet again, with 90.75% of its flights in May 2019 being ‘on-time’ throughout its route network. This is the second time in less than 12 months that SriLankan has achieved this milestone, having also achieved the world’s number one ranking in September 2018 with a punctuality rating of 91.37%.

VipulaGunatilleka, Group Chief Executive Offi-cer of SriLankan said, “Heartiest congratulations to our company-wide team, guided by our Punctuality Improvement Committee, that toils day in and day out to delight our customers by having our flights arrive and depart on time, every time.”

This achievement is all the more impressive due to the challenges caused by heightened security at SriLankan’s hub at Colombo’s Bandaranaike Inter-national Airport and clearly demonstrates the extraordinary commitment of the National Carrier in providing the finest service to its customers even during a period of adversity.

SriLankan headed the categories of ‘Global Air-lines’ and ‘Major Airlines’, among all airlines that are monitored by the flight data analysis company

Flightstats.com. Flightstats analyses data of airlines across every continent – Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and South America – includ-ing most of the world’s largest and most prestigious airlines. Airlines are placed among four categories – ‘Global Airlines’, ‘Major Airlines’, ‘Regional Air-lines’ and ‘Low Cost Carriers’ – with some airlines appearing in more than one category.

Set to take place from November 1 to 10 at Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, the ‘Cinnamon Wellness Retreat’ is an all-inclusive wellness programme that will offer a full spectrum of daily wellness activities and therapies conducted by world-renowned experts and specialists. Aimed at relaxing and rejuvenating tired souls, the retreat promises to be one-of-its kind, melding the scenic beauty of Sri Lanka with the best of hospitality.

Commenting on the retreat, Dileep Mudadeniya, Head of Brand Marketing, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts said, “This year we looked at opportunities that provide a rejuvenating and unique experience that can be offered to the global and local audiences alike. Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, as a hospitality trendsetter was able to partner with top health and wellness professionals to offer an authentic experi-ence in Sri Lanka comprising a holistic, immersive and carefully curated programme of international caliber.”

Conceptualised by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts in collaboration with the Azmaara Wellness and Nature Trails, participants of the retreat will be able to enjoy daily yoga sessions with Sulochana Peiris, an internationally recognised yoga instructor who is an ardent believer in the wholesomeness of yoga and specialises in asana, pranayama and medita-tion. Having a highly acclaimed Yoga Alliance - cer-tificate, Sulochana has over 14 years of practice hours and over 200 hours of teacher training. She has also been trained by two of the best yoga instructors in the world, Kalpana Radhika and Jonah Kest.

VipulaWanigasekera, a former Sri Lankan

Diplomat and Director General of the Sri Lankan Tourism Authority will be present at the retreat to teach guests the art of meditation. Holding a wealth of knowledge on spiritual studies spanning three decades, Vipula will help participants to tap into the power and importance of positive thinking to achieve success and inner peace.

Renowned Global Health Coach, KiruKishoku-mar will introduce participants to the art of clean and healthy eating through a whole foods diet to improve one’s overall sense of wellbeing. Her tips and guid-ance will provide a great opportunity to not only indulge in healthy meals but also to experience the difference in your body and mind during your stay, by simply changing your diet.

Art Therapy is another offering at the Cinnamon Wellness Retreat; express your emotions through art with ShimaliPerera, a highly qualified Art Psy-chotherapist who has helped many children and adults suffering from depression, anxiety, stress, abuse and trauma, to regain peace and confidence in themselves. Holding a Master’s degree in Art Ther-apy from Goldsmith’s College, University of London, Shimali is also a registered Art Psychotherapist in the Australian and New Zealand Art Therapy Asso-ciation (ANZATA), and holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the Missouri University of Sci-ence and Technology, USA.

The wellness retreat is set to take participants on an array of exciting adventures with Nature Trails, whilst also offering ample rest and relaxation through a wide range of spa treatments that will be provided by Azmaara Wellness. Overlooking a sce-nic reservoir with soothing music and calming décor, the spa creates the ultimate atmosphere for relax-ation as you enjoy a vast array of special Balinese therapies throughout your stay.

The retreat also includes a visit to the Sri Lanka martial arts village of Angampora, Pidurangala Raja MahaViharaya temple, a Sri Lankan village dining experience at Hiriwadunna Village with Nature Trails, a trip to explore the sandy beaches of Trin-comalee, a cookery class on Sri Lankan cuisine and a cycling outing by Nature Trails. One can also attend a mindful Session on ‘Detoxing your mind to live your dream life, with financial break through’ and a Tech-nology Detox Session.

This 10-day all-inclusive wellness package with full-board accommodation costing $1,750 per person will enable guests to cleanse, detox and view one-self and the world from a refreshing new perspective.

SriLankan Airlines once again becomes World’s Most Punctual Airline

Cinnamon Wellness Retreat all set to take place in Sri Lanka

more than 100 chinese travel agents arrive in sri lanka to revive tourism in the countryIn a remarkable approach by the Walkers Tours from China, over 100 travel agents have travelled to Sri Lanka on a week-long tourism enquiry visit. The initiative comes after the Sri Lanka Tour-ism Promotion Bureau’s promotional activity in Beijing earlier in June. The group comprising 107 travel agents and 12 media personnel from Beijing as well as from other parts of China will explore all key tourist destinations, in an effort to bring in Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka. The visit is a collab-orative effort to celebrate the promised free visa on arrival to Chinese tourists starting August 1 as well as an attempt to help revive the tourism industry in the island country.

Speaking of the visit, H.E. John A E Amara-tunga, Minister of Tourism, Sri Lanka said, “This visit by a large group emphasises the fact that the tourist arrivals are gradually increasing in Sri Lanka and is indeed a good sign for the travel and tourism industry. We hope to achieve our set tour-ist arrival target of 2 to 2.5 million by the end of the year.” The Minister also assured that the Ministry is putting new security measures in place to ensure that the unfortunate Easter incident does not repeat itself. He added, “We are in the process of develop-ing a separate platform in order to ensure that no unwanted people make use of this opportunity and create problems in Sri Lanka.” The Minister has also urged the Chinese media to support Sri Lanka by providing widespread publicity.

Former Miss World Manushi Chhillar promotes Sri LankaIn an effort to revive tourism in Sri Lanka, a top lux-ury hotel brand has roped in former Miss World Manushi Chhillar to promote tourism in the island country. The diva took to her Instagram account to post pictures of her recent visit to Sri Lanka, delight-ing followers with breathtaking pictures of scenic locales. Sources reveal that she has visited 12 desti-nations in the country, including the Lion Rock in Sigiriya and Minneriya National Park. Her visit is an attempt to highlight the island’s breathtaking natural beauty to a greater audience, following the slump in tourism after the Easter mishap. Sources also revealed that Chhillar has been closely associ-ated with Sri Lanka for a long time, frequenting the country on numerous occasions.

Former Miss World Chhillar is also actively urg-ing her followers and fans all over the world to visit Sri Lanka and discover its wonderful landscape as well as natural beauty.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2019 9 asia •

During its meeting in Baku, the World Heritage Committee inscribed seven cultural sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. UNESCO inscribed Myanmar’s ancient capi-tal of Bagan as a World Heritage Site,

nearly a quarter of a century after the complex of Buddhist temples was first nominated for listing.

Lying on a bend of the Ayeyar-wady River in the central plain of Myanmar, Bagan is a sacred land-scape, featuring an exceptional range of Buddhist art and architec-ture. The property bears spectacular testimony to the peak of Bagan civili-sation (11th–13th centuries CE) when the site was the capital of a regional empire. This ensemble of monumen-tal architecture reflects the strength of the religious devotion of an early Buddhist empire.

Yogesh Bhattarai was appointed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Bhattarai was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Presi-dent Budhya Devi Bhandari at Sheetal Niwas, the President’s house. The appointment comes ahead of the ambi-tious plan of commemorating 2020 as the ‘Visit Nepal Year’ to promote tourism.

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has launched ‘Visit Nepal Year 2020’ cam-paign to achieve two million arriv-als from across the world, especially India, by 2020.

“The tourist flow from India by air mounted to 2,00,438 in 2018, register-ing a 25% growth over the number of visitors recorded in 2017,” said Rohini

Prasad Khanal, Manager, Corporate Services Department of NTB.

Khanal, who was recently present in India with the NTB delegation for presentation and interaction with vari-ous stakeholders, said that the Indians remain one of the top contributors of international tourists to Nepal.

“Nepal received 1,173,072 interna-tional tourists excluding overland trav-ellers in 2018, of which the top arrivals were from India, China, Sri Lanka, the U.S. and the UK,” he added.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a new shopping campaign, ‘Give Me 5’, to entice an additional 200,000 visitors from India and six ASEAN countries during the off-peak season of July-September.

The campaign will target families, women and incentive groups from 19 cities in India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia, which are served by TAT’s campaign partner airlines, Thai Airways International and Thai Smile Airways.

Visitors travelling on the partner airlines on any of their flights between now and September 30, 2019, will be eligible to receive discounts of 5-50% on a broad range of products and services along with many other privileges at the campaign’s part-ner retail shopping outlets, The Mall Group, Cen-tral Group and the Ratchaprasong Business District

Association in Bangkok.To overcome the baggage weight restrictions, the

partner airlines will give the shoppers an extra allow-ance of five kilograms per person on the return sector to their home cities.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said, “The ‘Give Me 5’ tactical campaign is being launched in countries which have their school holidays and a number of long weekends during these off-peak months. It is expected to generate an estimated 200,000 visitors and 6.2 bil-lion Baht in additional revenue.

“We are delighted to have received strong coopera-tive support from our national carriers and members of the Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association (RSTA) for this campaign.”

The countries chosen for the campaign generated a total of more than 10 million arrivals and 337 billion

Baht in tourism earnings in 2018. All are growing strongly this year, compensating for what is expected to be a temporary slowdown in arrivals from China.

The retail outlets included in the campaign are all the 13 Bangkok malls and shopping centres of the Cen-tral Group including Central World, Central Embassy and Zen, all the outlets of The Mall Group including The Emporium, The Emquatier, Siam Paragon and the exclusive upmarket outlets of the Ratchaprasong Busi-ness District Association such as the Gaysorn Village, Erawan Bangkok and Tabtim Dreams.

Tourism Authority of Thailand launches ‘Give Me 5’ off-peak season shopping campaign

mmprc appoints think strawberries as India representative

myanmar’s temple city bagan added to uNesco’s World heritage list

Yogesh Bhattarai appointed as the tourism Minister of Nepal

Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has appointed Think Strawber-ries as its Representative Office in India effective August 1. The com-pany will implement the desti-nation’s marketing and PR strat-egy in the India market. Think

Strawberries was the India Repre-sentative of MMPRC from 2013 to 2016 as well.

Shikha Mishra, PR & Media Manager of MMPRC office in India said, “As Maldives has seen a 96.4% growth in Indian tourist arrivals in 2019, it is a matter of pride for us to be appointed as the Marketing and PR Representative for MMPRC in India. We will continue to promote the Maldives in the India market with media, trade and consumer activities to increase the visitor arrivals from India to Maldives.”

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To give tourists quick access to information about Cambodia, the Ministry of Tourism launched a mobile application, called ‘King-dom of Wonder’.

The application was launched at the Sokha Siem Reap Resort and Conven-tion Centre. The event, which also fea-tured the seminar ‘Cambodia Tour-ism Destination Promotion through Digital System’, was presided over by Tourism Minister Thong Khon and attended by ministry officials and private sector representatives.

Through the app, users will get all the information about Cambodia including his-tory, language, climate, religion and popula-tion. The app also has a news and informa-tion section on the top tourism destinations, domestic events and festivals, accommoda-tion, restaurants, transportation, money exchange, embassies and flights.

With the launch of this app, the Minis-try aims to take away the hassle of brows-ing through different websites to get all the information about Cambodia. It is available for Android and iOS.

cambodia’s ministry of tourism launches new tourism app

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2019 10 • asIa

scoot to add 16 Airbus A321neos to the fleet to support growth plans

Tourism Authority of Thailand conducts roadshows in Delhi and Amritsar

The 8th Annual Taiwan International Balloon Festival is taking place in Taitung on Taiwan’s east coast from June 29 to August 12. Directed by Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) and organised by Taitung County Government, the festival usually runs for 38 days, but this year it has been granted a week-long extension of 45 days.

Hot air balloons from around the world are show-cased every year, with over 40 eye-catching designs. Some new faces also made an appearance at the 2019 festival including Sponge from Brazil, Peg Leg Pete from the USA, the world-famous McDonald balloon and the penguins Splash and Puddles from the UK, Smurf from Belgium, two pig-shaped balloons and so many more.

Founded in 2011, this event has gone from strength-to-strength, with more hot air balloons participating each year. Last year saw 39 balloons from Taiwan and around the world launching into the heavens and cruis-ing above some of the most striking landscapes in the

world. The Travel Channel listed the Taiwan Interna-tional Balloon Festival in Taitung among ‘The Top 12 Amazing Hot Air Balloon Festivals in the World’.

Adding to the attractions, this year also features a carousel, grass skiing, VR experience and other facili-ties. The central theme this year is ‘Endless Happiness, Playground of Dreams’ and will continue with all the grandeur as the previous years - transforming Luye Highlands into a magical dreamland.

Accompanying the marvellous aerial spectacle, nine-night glow concerts will add to the festivities and light up the skies of Taitung. These concerts present an incred-ible visual and audio experience, bringing the night sky to life. Some hotspots have been selected through-out Taitung as venues for these incredible shows, such as Luye Highlands, Sanxiantai, Dapo Lake, Taimali Dawn Park, Zhiben Hot Springs and for the first time, Green Island.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) organised its annual ‘Amazing Thailand Roadshow to India’ in New Delhi and Amritsar this year. The roadshow was held in New Delhi on July 26 fol-lowed by Amritsar on July 29.

35 sellers including representatives of hotels, resorts, attractions, DMCs and airlines from Thai-land participated in the roadshow to showcase and promote their products to the travel trade in both cities. Apart from travel agents and tour operators, the roadshow was attended by top wed-ding planners, travel media publications and local newspapers.

The evening started with a B2B session between the sellers from Thailand and buyers from India that included the travel agents, tour operators and wedding planners from Delhi and Amritsar respectively. This was followed by a des-tination presentation by Isra Stapanaseth, Direc-tor, Tourism Authority of Thailand, New Delhi. The presentation focussed on promoting new des-tinations, products and experiences in Thailand for the Indian travellers.

The delegation from Thailand was led by Charun Ohnmee, Deputy Governor for Pol-icy and Planning, Tourism Authority of Thai-land. Talking about the roadshow, Ohnmee said, “We are delighted to bring the Amazing Thai-land Roadshow India 2019, in the capital city of New Delhi and take it forward to the Holy City of Amritsar. Thailand is already a very popular holiday and wedding celebration destination for people from North India. Thailand has welcomed around 978,751 Indians to Thailand from Janu-ary to June 2019, which is a remarkable increase of 24% as compared to the same period last year. With the support of the Indian travel trade and media, we are confident of reaching our target of 2 million Indian tourists to Thailand by the end of 2019.”

Scoot announced the introduction of 16 brand-new A321neo aircraft into its fleet. The first aircraft, named ‘Wings of Change’, will be delivered in the last quar-ter of 2020 and will be used on routes within six hours (medium-haul markets). The new fleet will enable Scoot to meet its double-digit growth plan by the end of the financial year 2020-21. Of the 16 aircraft, six are an

upsize from Scoot’s current A320neo order from Air-bus, while 10 will be leased.

The A321neos, powered by Pratt & Whitney engines, will be delivered from Airbus’ final assembly line. The single-aisle aircraft will be fitted with 236 seats, 50 more than that of the A320neo.

Lee Lik Hsin, CEO, Scoot said, “The A321neos will inject growth possibilities to our network plans for 2020 and beyond and it is indeed apt that we have named the first aircraft ‘Wings of Change’. Customers will be greeted by our brand-new cabin interiors, with seat products they are already familiar with. We hope the process of introducing this new fleet into our Scoot fam-ily will be as exciting for our customers as it is for us.”

With the A321neo’s enhanced sharklets, fuel-efficient engines and latest cabin innovations in the widest sin-gle-aisle cabin in the sky, there is an expected fuel cost savings of 12% as compared to the A320neos and 20% as compared to the A320ceos.

On the environmental front, there is an expected 50% reduction in noise footprint and nitrogen oxide emis-sions as well as a reduction of 5,000 tonnes less carbon dioxide per year per aircraft.

Kolkata is an important outbound market and the gateway to Eastern India. To tap this market, Tour-ism Authority of Thailand (TAT), New Delhi partic-ipated at TTF Kolkata (July 12-14) under the ‘Amazing Thailand’ booth.

India is one of the top six markets for both leisure and MICE. The Indian market is growing significantly due to increasing airline links with India’s Tier II cities. Dur-ing January – May 2019, visitors from India to Thailand were 787,195 (+23.38%) and the revenue generated was 31,990.72 million Baht, showing an increase of +25.59%.

Isra Stapanaseth, Director of the TAT New Delhi office said that the sheer geographical, ethnic and cul-tural diversity of India itself is a huge opportunity because of the numerous holidays celebrated by each of the different states and religious groups.

Indian passport holders have one more reason to head to Thailand this holiday season, as the country is offer-ing free visa on arrival till October 31, 2019.

Under the campaign ‘Discover Amazing Stories’, the marketing strategy ‘Amazing Thailand – Open to the New Shades’ will be the key driver for the Indian mar-ket to target families, first-time travellers, senior citi-zens as well as millennials who are seeking experience and luxury.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has decided to adopt a simplified ‘A-B-C Strategy’ to promote emerg-ing tourist destinations by creating inter-linked theme-related travel routes that better distribute visitor flows nationwide.

A – Additional: Linking major and emerging cit-ies. Connect major destinations to nearby emerging cit-ies. For example, in the North, tourists can travel by car within an hour to Lamphun and Lampang from Chiang Mai. Likewise, on the Eastern Seaboard, Pattaya can be

linked to Chanthaburi and Trat in the East and from central Bangkok with Samut Songkram on the way to Hua Hin.

B – Brand New: Promoting new potential emerging cities. Some popular destinations can be individually promoted thanks to their strong identity and position-ing. For example, Buri Ram in the Northeast has a rich Khmer heritage and is also becoming a regional hub for domestic and global sports events since the opening of the Chang Arena and Chang International Circuit.

C – Combined: Combining emerging cities together. Some emerging cities can be promoted in combina-tion due to their proximity, shared history and civili-sations. For example, Sukhothai with Phitsanulok and Kamphaeng Phet would make an outstanding histori-cal route while Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung are grouped for enriched Southern civilisation.

Thailand has an array of attractions appealing to Indi-ans – tourist spots, world-famous food, culture, value-for-money shopping, recreational activities and ideal places for hosting weddings, celebrations at world-class facilities that are reasonable.

Tourism Authority of Thailand takes over TTF Kolkata

taiwan International balloon Festival kicks off at luye highlands

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 12middle east

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Devel-opment Authority conducted multi-city educational and training sessions recently in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Nagpur and Lucknow.

Key agents from the cities were invited to the event. The aim of the seminar was to increase the visibility of the emirate of Sharjah and promote its three themes – Culture & Heritage, Gastronomy and Adventure amongst Indian travel-lers. Indian travel agents were educated about Sharjah and the products it has to offer for both the leisure and family seg-ment, updating their knowledge about the USPs of the destination, the INR-Dir-ham exchange rate, upcoming events and how it caters to the different segments of Indian travellers.

H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chair-man, SCTDA said, “India is a very lucra-tive market and we are aware of the poten-tial it holds in terms of inbound visitor traffic into Sharjah. We are tapping into the worldwide travel trend where travel-lers are looking for experiential, deeply

immersive cultural travel. This trend of experience-driven travel is set to con-tinue, and we are confident that Sharjah will lead the pack with its unique immer-sive itineraries. Our Indian visitors value this aspect of Sharjah as well as the emir-ate’s reputation as a family destination and its cultural and destination-driven perspective.” During the seminar, SCTDA also spoke about some of the Emirate’s new and upcoming exciting projects and along with an SCTDA presentation, Air Arabia, the emirate’s official airline part-ner also made a presentation updating the travel agents about the direct flights cur-rently operating from India.

The agents displayed great interest in Sharjah as a cost-effective weekend desti-nation and in order to further strengthen its key messages, a Q&A session was held wherein SCTDA asked three general questions about the Emirate to the agents and two winners giving all the three cor-rect answers from each city won an all-expenses-paid FAM trip to Sharjah. The events were wrapped up with a network-ing dinner.

sharjah commerce and tourism Development Authority conducts multi-city educational seminars in India

Indian gastronomy takes centre stage in IsraelIsrael is a nation that has culinary influ-ences from all around the world and over the years, Indian cuisine has taken centre stage with many celebrity chefs and culinary experts visiting the coun-try for menu engineering, special col-laborations and food festivals.

With the rising number of Indian tourists visiting Israel, Israeli hotels are now keen to cater to the Indian taste buds with many Indian chefs vis-iting the country over the last few years. The Indian Embassy in Israel along with Dan Hotels hosted Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and his family for Indian Culi-nary Week in an initiative to promote the Indian culinary art overseas. The King David Hotel in Jerusalem played host to the three-day programme wherein Chef David Bitton and Chef Kapoor collaborated to prepare various Indian delights. While in Israel, Chef Kapoor dined with Uri Jermais, owner of the seafood restaurant Uri Buri in Akko and Chef Moshe Basson of The Eucalyptus restaurant in Jerusalem. He also hosted a demo-lecture at the Dan Gourmet Cooking School with close to 300 attendees.

Known for bringing about an Indian food revolution with creations using indigenous Indian produce, Thomas Zacharias, Executive Chef and Part-ner at Mumbai eatery ‘The Bom-bay Canteen’ at Kamala Mills was in Israel exploring the culinary culture. As part of a culinary experience tour curated by the Israel Ministry of For-eign Affairs, a global delegation of chefs selected from 10 countries, including Mexico, Vietnam, Nairobi, USA and India toured around Israel exploring

the ingredients, flavours and culinary culture.

“I’ve come to realise over the last six years of food travel, that it is an incred-ible way of exploring and understand-ing the cultures and traditions of a region, both within India or abroad. Israeli cuisine and culture has always intrigued me and I’m really looking forward to the fabulous itinerary of culinary experiences, from chef inter-actions and market tours to cheese farms, that have been put together,” said Zacharias.

Winner of Master Chef India, Chef Shipra Khanna travelled to Israel for the Indian Culinary Festival at the Shera-ton Tel Aviv from July 9 to 11. Hosted by the Embassy of India, Chef Khanna rec-reated flavours of India with the hotel’s Executive Chef for a special menu dur-ing the festival showcasing the best of India’s authentic dishes. “I am very excited to visit Israel. I have heard so much about the fresh produce, fruits, wine, and cheese that I can’t wait to go around Israel and absorb its vibrant culture,” said Khanna before her visit to Israel.

As India continues to be the top travel source mar-ket for Dubai, the Department of Tourism and Com-merce Marketing, Dubai (DTCM) organised a three-city roadshow to strengthen travel ties with the Indian travel trade fraternity. The roadshow band-wagon began its journey in Kolkata on July 29, reach-ing the commercial hub of Mumbai on August 2. 21 key stakeholders of the Emirates’ tourism sector joined the India roadshow, including Dubai Expo 2020, EMAAR Hospitality Group, Dubai Parks & Resorts, Costa Cruises, Atlantis, Jumeirah and many others.

Abdulla Yousuf, Acting Director, Proximity Mar-ket, International Operations joined the Mumbai roadshow. In an exclusive interview with Travel News Digest, he revealed, “The roadshows held in India are very important to maintain a valued relationship with the travel trade directly and to keep them updated on what is new in Dubai and the latest launches the emir-ate has to offer. We are pushing Dubai through dif-ferent campaigns to the market while also including DMCs, attractions and key hotels as participants.” He further added that Dubai has received over two mil-lion overnight visitors from India, with hotel stays registering a growth of 13.7%, indicative of the fact that Dubai caters to all kinds of Indian travellers, across demographics and income groups. Dubai Tourism has also extended the free visa to Indian tourists below the age of 18 to further smoothen the travel process and sink in with the needs of Indian family travellers. The offer will be extended annually from July 15 to September 15.

The roadshow began with B2B interactions, fol-lowed by a series of product presentations. An infor-mative and insightful presentation on Dubai Expo 2020 revealed that Dubai will be hosting 192 countries, including India, over 173 days to showcase newer des-tinations and their offerings to attract tourists across

genres. The World Expo is expected to be held in Dubai between October 20, 2020 and April 10, 2021.

The roadshow in Mumbai was attended by the travel trade and media in huge numbers. Speaking at the show, Neil Shah, Senior Sales Manager, Inter-national Leisure Sales, Atlantis-The Palm said, “This roadshow is very crucial for us to target the Diwali holiday markets in Maharashtra and Gujarat, even Kolkata. The response we have received has been really good and we’re hoping for incremental busi-ness to come in as a result of these interactions.”

Prashant Bhar, Account Manager (Commercial), Emirates added, “We came to the roadshow to spread awareness about Emirates and its new offerings. We

have had some good interactions and look forward to many more.”

Throughout the year, DTCM will be conducting a series of PR activities in the Indian market. Joint mar-keting campaigns with 30 travel and trade partners all over the country, including Tier II and Tier III cit-ies will be executed. Nine FAM trips and major cam-paigns including ‘School Break’ from April to June, the Monsoon and Diwali campaigns and the Adventure campaign will be carried out during the remainder of the year. The Emirate has also recently welcomed India’s first premium cruise ship, Karnika by Jalesh Cruises further strengthening tourism ties between Dubai and India.

Dubai Tourism conducts a three-city roadshow in India

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2019 14 • middle east

44th hajj symposium commences in saudi Arabia

To boost tourism and the economy, Saudi Arabia has taken the decision to allow the Umrah pilgrims to tour anywhere in the country.

The Saudi Cabinet decided that the Muslims mak-ing the holy pilgrimage are to be granted the freedom to visit anywhere in the Kingdom during their stay. Previ-ously, Umrah pilgrims were restricted to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and the port city of Jeddah.

“The Cabinet has decided to exclude people coming to perform Umrah and to visit the Prophet’s Mosque (in Madinah), of the prohibition of movement outside

Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah. A royal decree has been prepared to this effect,” the acting Media Minis-ter, Issam bin Saeed, said in a recent statement.

It is expected that this year nearly eight million Muslims will perform Umrah in the Kingdom and the Cabinet’s move will enable them to enjoy a broader experience of Saudi Arabia by visiting key landmarks, historic sites, tourist attractions and shopping centres.

“We are looking to enrich the experience of pilgrims and facilitate their arrival,” Dr Amr Al-Maddah, Chief Planning and Strategy Officer at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, told media. “Travelling around the King-dom is an opportunity for pilgrims to visit cultural and tourist sites. At the same time, they will be allowed to arrive at any port in the country which will facil-itate their arrival and expand the capacity to receive more pilgrims.”

Saudi Arabia hoping that this new decision will help them towards reaching the goal of receiving 30 million Umrah pilgrims by 2030.

He added that the travellers would now be free to plan visits to other Saudi cities, tourist destina-tions, festivals and events, within the period of their visa validity.

Al-Maddah added, “We want to make it available to everyone to enrich the experience of the pilgrims, which is one of the goals of Vision 2030.”

Dr Mohammed Salih Bentin, Minister of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia inaugurated the 44th edi-tion of the Hajj Symposium on August 5 at the Hilton Makkah Convention Hotel. The two-day symposium titled ‘Islam: Coexistence and Toler-ance’ had thinkers and scholars from the King-dom and other areas of the Islamic world.

Dr Abdul Fattah bin Suleiman Mashat, Dep-uty Minister – Hajj and Umrah said, “The Hajj Grand Symposium is one of the main events the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has sponsored since its inception in 1970. Every year, the symposium discusses different topics related to the Hajj sea-son and Islamic values, thereby promoting Islam and raising awareness.” He further added, “This scientific and cultural meeting appoints the top Islamic scholars to discuss the topics with the audience and share knowledge.”

Dr Abdulaziz Wazzan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for Umrah Affairs and supervisor of the symposium’s execu-tive committee said, “The Ministry aspires to achieve many goals through this Hajj sympo-sium, including highlighting the cultural and civilisational role of the Kingdom, promoting scientific and cultural communication between Islamic scholars from around the world, focus-sing on the most important achievements and projects serving Muslims in the two holy mosques and the holy sites and contributing to strengthening the bonds and cooperation of the Islamic nation.”

Seawings, the only luxury seaplane tour operator in the Middle East offering scenic aerial tours, charters and journeys within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced the launch of the experiential journey for quick getaways in the UAE – day excursions and holi-days by private seaplane with your friends and family.

Each carefully selected tailor-made experien-tial journey is an ultimate offering for a quick family vacation in the region. A perfect holiday option for the evolved travellers who are constantly on the look-out for one-of-a-kind experiences. Seawings has selected a unique collection of tours and excursions combining comfort and luxury. Guests can create memorable itin-eraries with the best private luxury journeys across the UAE on a seaplane.

Exploring an extended long weekend holiday to curate bespoke vacations with friends and family are increasingly in demand. The recent research conducted by Booking.com revealed that almost three-quarters of Indian travellers plan to take more weekend trips in 2019 (73%). The research also showed that about 84% of

Indians travel to be together as a family while 83% seek to get a change from their busy jobs.

At the launch of this experiential journey for fam-ily vacations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Stuart Wheeler, CEO, Seawings LLC commented, “We are delighted to introduce an ultimate family adventure holiday option for well-heeled and matured luxury Indian travellers who seek to indulge in short getaways in style. We aim to showcase the best in the UAE helping our guests to create exhilarating itineraries with the best private lux-ury journeys across the UAE in our seaplane.”

While planning a holiday to the Middle East, one can get on-board with Seawings to avail an adventur-ous vacation offer – ‘Ultimate Family Adventure Holi-day’ which includes exciting rides such as free entry to Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi or Ferrari World Abu Dhabi or Yas Waterworld, a tour of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a tour of The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi, private city tour of Abu Dhabi and wildlife safari at Sir Bani Yas Island.

The offer also includes a luxurious stay - two nights at Anantara Eastern Mangroves Abu Dhabi Hotel and two nights at Sir Bani Yas Island Anantara on bed & breakfast and dining experience with options of either two lunches or two dinners at Desert Island. The trans-fers include one-way seaplane transfer + return road transfer. The package is priced at AED 19, 500 (INR 3,63,891 approx.) for two adults and two children with validity till November 30.

seawings introduces experiential journeys for quick getaways in uAe

saudi Arabia removes restriction on umrah pilgrims

Oman awarded ‘Emerging International Destination’ at 13th Annual Today’s Traveller AwardsOman recently won the prestigious title of ‘Emerg-ing International Destination’ at the 13th Annual Today’s Traveller Awards that took place on July 29 at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. On the occasion of its 22nd anniversary, Today’s Traveller hosted an awards night where dignitaries and celebrities came together in a common spirit of fellowship and camaraderie. The publication put together a grand show celebrat-ing the spirit of achievement in various realms.

On receiving the award, Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman said, “We are absolutely delighted to be recognised as an emerging international destination as Indian trav-ellers are constantly looking at newer and unique locations to visit. Oman being an exotic, adventur-ous, historic and geologically stunning country we are seeing a lot of travellers visiting it for the most authentic Arabian experience. Introduction of e-visa and short term visa, direct flight connectivity from various cities in India, newly launched luxury prop-erties and swanky Muscat International Airport has been some of the reasons instrumental in achieving

this growth.”In 2018, Oman recorded 12.37% growth in Indian

tourist arrivals with 357,147 travellers visiting the country vis-à-vis 317,844 in 2017, ranking India as the second highest source market for Oman. Keeping up with this growth trajectory, Oman has already wit-nessed a 17% increase in the period of January to April 2019 with 130,011 Indian visitors to Oman in compari-son to 111,123 during the same period in 2018.

Qatar Airways is thrilled to have won four pres-tigious prizes at this year’s 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards, including the highest accolade of World’s Best Airline – becoming the only airline in the competition’s history to win it five times (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019).

The airline has been named Best Airline in the Middle East for a third successive year, while the Best Business Class accolade is the fourth one it has won in succession. In retaining its Best Business Class Seat award for its patented Qsuite product, the airline saw off stiff competition from all over the world.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, H.E. Akbar Al Baker was at the awards ceremony to receive the accolades, accompanied by the Minis-ter of Transport and Communications, H.E. Jas-sim bin Saif Al Sulaiti.

In celebrating the awards, H.E. Akbar Al Baker said, “The Skytrax awards are widely recognised as the most prestigious in the airline industry, so to have won so many prizes at the 2019 ceremony is a truly humbling experience for Qatar Airways.”

“We are thrilled to be globally recognised by our customers by winning these four prestigious awards. Becoming the first airline to be named as ‘Airline of the Year’ for the fifth time is a land-mark achievement and combined with three other major Skytrax awards, it is a testament to the tireless efforts of the entire Qatar Airways team. It is a proud moment for the airline as our constant innovation and service standards set the benchmark in our industry.”

Commenting on the awards, Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said, “To be named as the World’s Best Airline is a great recogni-tion of Qatar Airways high standards and rec-ognises the hard work and dedication from every member of staff to satisfy customers. To achieve this accolade for the fifth time is a remarkable achievement, and we congratulate them for this unique success.”

Qatar Airways wins ‘Best Airline of the Year’ for a record fifth time

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 15europe

turkey to host 2019 ueFA super cup in Istanbul

Visit Brussels organises ‘The Brussels Experience Leisure’

In 2018, Italy’s wedding tourism industry witnessed good growth. Italy hosted over 8,700 events, result-ing in an estimated turnover of €500.1 million showed a recent study.

The study was conducted by Centro Studi Turistici di Firenze on behalf of Convention Bureau Italia, which was presented recently in Rome in the presence of Car-lotta Ferrari, President of Convention Bureau Italia; Gior-gio Palmucci, President of ENIT, the National Agency of Tourism and Alessandro Tortelli, Scientific Director of Centro Studi Turistici di Firenze.

The study data were obtained from the analysis of more than 1,600 questionnaires and telephone inter-views directed at operators in the sector.

The study revealed the need for specialised training for the wedding sector: more than 60% of the wedding planners interviewed were interested in participating in training courses.

According to data, in 2018, 8,791 foreign weddings were celebrated in Italy that generated over 436,000 arrivals and over 1.5 million room nights, which was respectively + 6.8% and + 7.4% over the 2017 figures, with particularly positive results for the South and the Islands.

In 2018, foreign couples came mainly from the United Kingdom (28.1%), the USA (21.9%), Australia (9.4%), Ger-many (5.5%) and Canada (4.5%). The regions preferred were Tuscany (30.9%), followed by Lombardy, Campa-nia, Veneto and Lazio.

According to the operators interviewed, the destina-tion wedding expectations for 2019 are for further growth in demand, estimated between +5 and + 10%. The great-est increase is expected in certain areas of Southern Italy, such as Puglia, Sicily and Basilicata. It is also expected that the emerging markets will grow strongly in terms of turnover, especially from the United Arab Emirates and the Far East.

“It is undeniable that destination weddings are increasingly asserting itself as a sector in its own right, bursting on the national scene with a similar impact of other lucrative business sectors such as MICE and Lux-ury, generating tourist flows of very high quality and eco-nomic value. With this consideration, CBItalia took the initiative for a systematic inquiry to analyse the needs and potentials of this industry. From this assessment, two objectives outlined themselves. Firstly, there is a clear need for targeted training, dedicated not only to sector operators but to the entire supply chain, to recog-nise and take advantage of new opportunities in a high-value business. In light of this, the second objective aims to create the necessary national coordination of sup-ply and promotion, especially in the medium and long-range. I believe that the collaboration between CBItalia and ENIT which we have been constantly improving on with regards to MICE is a winning combination,” Car-lotta Ferrari, President of Convention Bureau Italia said to media.

Giorgio Palmucci, President of ENIT - National Tour-ism Agency stated, “The relaunch of ENIT activities inev-itably requires a careful analysis of both the markets of tourist provenance as well as of the many segments that make up tourism. Assuredly, the wedding industry is one of those segments that in the last few years have had a notable growth. We, therefore, acknowledge the value of the Convention Bureau Italia analysis and consider it fitting for joint coordination of commitment at a national level.”

‘The Brussels Experience Leisure’ a touristic expe-riential programme of Visit Brussels held from June 16 - 21 witnessed the participation of 80 profession-als from across 11 priority markets. The objective of the trip was to bring to the forefront the touristic offerings of not just Brussels but Belgium as a des-tination. The Indian contingent was represented by five luxury agents across India and together with the travel agents of different nationalities, the dele-gation had the opportunity of experiencing the new unique offerings of Belgium. The programme con-sisted of animated city visits, B2B workshops with 30 local suppliers, visiting unique attractions, beer cart experiences, vintage car drives and memorable dining experiences at fine Michelin star restaurants.

In the year 2018, 28,756 Indians visited Brussels and there was a growth of 22% in arrivals from India as compared to the year 2017. Also in the same period, a significant rise of 30% in the number of nights spent in Brussels by Indians has been observed.

With the UEFA Champions League and Europa League finals concluded, Istanbul has now set its sights on the first all-English Super Cup match sched-uled for August 14 at Vodafone Park in Istanbul. The country’s tourism board is expecting a large num-ber of spectators and English fans to visit the city for the occasion.

In the finals, Champions League winners Liver-pool will be facing Europa League holders Chelsea in the renowned Vodafone Park which serves as the home ground of Istanbul giants BeŞiktaŞ. The state-of-the-art stadium by the Bosporus was inaugurated in April 2016 with a capacity of nearly 42,000.

The match is expected to contribute a substantial amount to the city’s economy, with airliners expect-ing more sales in flights from Britain while hoteliers expect a 100% occupancy rate in the already-crowded season. Fans have already started booking tickets for scheduled flights offered by flag-carrier Turkish Air-lines from Manchester and London to Istanbul Air-port and Sabiha Gökçen, in addition to flights offered by foreign airlines. Additional charter flights will also be introduced near the date of the match.

“Considering the number of football fans in India and the craze for Liverpool and Chelsea here, we are optimistic that a number of people from India will be travelling to Istanbul to watch the final match. We are expecting major arrivals to Turkey next month. The authorities are planning to allocate large squares as fan zones and create open-air match screening areas,” said H Deniz ERSÖZ, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India.

Visit Brussels has taken its promotional strategies to another level by collaborating with Filmfare magazine for a photo-shoot starring famous Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma. In the August issue of the magazine, the actress could be seen exploring the beautiful city wearing her girl-next-door charm and posing at vari-ous locations in Brussels which are synonymous to the culture of the Belgium capital.

Anushka Sharma expressed her joy of visiting and shooting in Brussels. “I absolutely loved shooting here. The city (Brussels) is wonderful,” said the actress to the Filmfare crew.

Top tourist hotspots were chosen as shooting loca-tions for the project including The Grand Place, The House of European History, Fine Arts Museum, Mont des Arts and many more. The actress also explored the picturesque streets, corners and parks of Brussels. The photo-shoot was conducted keeping in mind the small, yet integral elements of Brussels including Bicycle, waf-fles, L’Envol, the bronze statue of Belgian singer Jacques Brel, etc.

Anuradha Choudhary, Executive Editor at Film-fare highlighted her experience while shooting in Brus-sels. She said, “It would be safe to say this is our most

ambitious shoot till date. In Mumbai, we are constrained to shooting at one studio or one hotel. In our previous foreign shoots, we haven’t moved around much. How-ever, we wanted to push the envelope this time. We decided to shoot all over the beautiful city and get the best of it. And Brussels has so much to offer. It’s so rich in history and yet has a modern feeling to it. Loved every bit of it. Also, a word of praise for the team of Visit Brussels. They were extremely helpful, efficient and cheerful.”

Visit Brussels is focussed on growing awareness and visibility of the city through, a wide range of promotional initiatives, including workshops, sales visits, travel agent destination training and much more. We are entering into partnerships with key tour operators in India, organising various media and trade familiarisation trips and spearheading media campaigns and a vari-ety of innovative activities to raise Brussels’ profile as a luxury, MICE, leisure and business tourism destination among Indian tourists.

In the year 2018, 28,756 Indians visited Brussels and there was a growth of 22% in arrivals from India as com-pared to the year 2017. Also in the same period, a signif-icant rise of 30% in the number of nights spent in Brus-sels by Indians has been observed.

Visit Brussels successfully concludes photo-shoot with Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma

Italy sees growth in wedding tourism

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2019 16 • EUROPE

Disneyland Paris pays tribute to a part of the Indian cul-ture, in a vibrant, yet authentic and colourful new musi-cal show. This live show is an original Disneyland Paris creation performed in the heart of Disneyland Park. It revolves around four sequences, with the major high-light taking place on Central Plaza with a 360 degree show in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

There are nearly 70 characters and performers in the cast, including drummers coming especially from the state of Rajasthan, India.

10 Disney characters are part of the show: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Chip and Dale, Clarice, Baloo and King Louie.

Gigantic and colourful animals up to five metres high are used by artists as musical instruments.

A team from Disneyland Paris spent several weeks in India, including the state of Rajasthan, to get inspira-tion and create the most immersive experience possible.

Iconic songs from The Jungle Book were specially orchestrated by American composer Roger Butterley, including ‘The Bare Necessities’, ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ and ‘Trust in Me’. He also composed an exclusive song just for this show.

It took two years to fully develop this new show, including a full month of rehearsals in-studio and in the park at night.

Lufthansa was chosen as ‘Best Airline in Europe’ and ‘Best Western European Airline’ for the third year in a row. The award was presented this year at a Skytrax cer-emony held within the context of the Le Bourget avia-tion and aerospace exhibition in Paris. SWISS and Aus-trian Airlines also notched up successes and were each given one award.

Austrian received the award for its catering in the Premium Economy Class – ‘Best Premium Economy Class Onboard Catering’ and Swiss in the category ‘The World’s Best First Class Lounge’ for the outstanding SWISS Lounge in Zurich. Skytrax, the market research institute specialising in aviation had previously sur-veyed some 20 million passengers from over 160 coun-tries worldwide.

“To be given four awards by our customers is both an honour and an incentive. In particular, our colleagues in the cabin, cockpit and on the ground can be very proud

of this. They are the ones who keep our premium prom-ise day after day,” said Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Commercial Officer Net-work Airlines of Lufthansa Group AG.

Disneyland Paris features the Jungle Book Jive - a 360 degree celebration of India

Palladium Hotel Group signs Global Destinations as their India partnerPalladium Hotel Group, an internationally renowned Spanish hotel chain engaged Global Des-tinations as their Sales, Marketing and Communi-cation representation office in India effective July 1.

With 50 properties spanning six countries, Pal-ladium Hotel Group portfolio consists of music-themed, city and beachfront hotels in prime des-tinations worldwide: Ushuaïa Unexpected Hotels, BLESS Collection Hotels, TRS Hotels, Grand Pal-ladium Hotels & Resorts, Palladium Hotels, Fiesta Hotels & Resorts, Only You Hotels, Palladium Bou-tique Hotels, Ayre Hoteles as well as licensed brand Hard Rock Hotels in Ibiza and Tenerife.

Throughout its history, the company has been truly committed to international expansion, origi-nality and development, integrating design, state-of-the-art technology and lifestyle innovations.

In India’s booming travel and tourism industry, Palladium Hotel Group has key Spanish hotel prop-erties as Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza, Hard Rock Hotel Tenerife or Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel. Recent addi-tions to the company include the new brand BLESS Collection Hotels with two properties: BLESS Hotel Madrid and BLESS Hotel Ibiza. The brand is a pio-neer in luxury and specialised in exclusive services, high-tech in all areas and outstanding features like signature restaurants and sky lounges. In addition, the four-star hotel Palladium Hotel Costa del Sol, situated in the idyllic beach town of Benalmadena, is Palladium Hotel Group’s third opening this year and its first hotel in southern Spain.

Pranav Kapadia, Founder, Global Destinations commented, “We are delighted to add Palladium Hotel Group to our portfolio and diversify strongly to include hotel sales and marketing to our current product offerings. Palladium Hotel Group is look-ing at steadily increasing their footprint in India and we aim to achieve this for them by building a strong brand presence as well as taking their sales to greater heights. We look forward to promoting their chain of hotels across segments of FITs, Hon-eymooners, Wedding & MICE groups from India.”

Sandra Polo Canudas, Asia & MEA Commer-cial Director, Palladium Hotel Group said, “Having renowned presence around the globe, we are keen to establish our mark and nurture our growth fur-ther in India and we are really glad to start work-ing with Global Destinations to achieve this goal. We are looking at leveraging this association to ben-efit from the fast-growing India Outbound travel market.”

lufthansa to launch new flight between bengaluru and munichLufthansa announced the introduction of a new flight on the Bengaluru-Munich route. The new flight will fly out from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru five times a week, starting from Munich on March 31, 2020. Lufthansa will operate their latest, state of the aircraft A350-900 with a configuration of 48 seats in Business Class, 21 seats in Premium Economy Class and 224 in Economy Class.

The new route would form a strong link between two important regional hubs, providing South India a direct connection with another important gateway to the European Mainland. The development under-lines Lufthansa’s strong India focus. With the opera-tional expansion in Bengaluru, the airline aims to cater to the growing international traffic to Europe with its most premium travel experience to aspiring travel-lers from Bengaluru, the rest of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Lufthansa already operates a daily flight from Bengaluru to Frankfurt.

Speaking on the announcement, George Ettiyil, Senior Director Sales South Asia of the Lufthansa Group Airlines said, “Bengaluru Airport connects

India’s IT and tech hub, Bengaluru, but also many next tier cities from the rest of the South Indian Region. South India has a growing number of discerning trav-ellers who travel frequently abroad and increasingly demand a more premium travel experience whether for business or leisure purposes. We are confident that, with this expansion, Lufthansa is catering to the grow-ing needs of this region to explore Europe for business but also leisure.”

Lufthansa’s decision to launch an additional flight on the Bengaluru-Munich route was taken considering the growing passenger traffic but also the capabilities of Bengaluru Airport, in terms of connectivity beyond Bengaluru and commercial viability of the operation. It is in line with its long-term vision of strengthening the company’s South Asia operation. The airline has already upgraded the aircraft on the Mumbai-Munich sector from an A330 to a state of the art A350. It has also announced its plans to increase the capacity in the Business Class with a different seat configuration on its flights from Chennai and Bengaluru to Frankfurt from summer 2020.

lufthansa group wins four airline oscars

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2019 17 EUROPE •

Qatar Airways and emirates introduce two new flights between India and portugal

Frankfurt to host Europe’s largest cultural festival in August

From June 20, members of the Flying Blue and Le Club AccorHotels loyalty programmes will be able to enjoy Miles+Points, an innovative opportunity to earn simul-taneously points and miles while travelling with both companies:

• EarnMiles for your hotel stay and Points for each flight

• ConvertMilesandRewardPointsforevenmoreways to redeem

Accor Group and the Air France-KLM Group are strengthening their existing partnership by offering, for the first time in the European travel industry, a dual reward scheme to their entire global loyalty cus-tomer base.

Every time customers travel on a flight marketed and operated by Air France and/or KLM, or stay a night at an Accor hotel, they will now simultaneously earn both Flying Blue Miles and Le Club AccorHotels Reward points.

To take advantage of the Miles+Points service, mem-bers must link their accounts on www.flyingblue.com or on Le ClubAccorHotels website. After registering, customers will earn Flying Blue Miles and Le Club AccorHotelsReward Points automatically when flying with Air France and/or KLM or staying in a Le Club AccorHotels participating hotel.

This new, strengthened partnership offers custom-ers more opportunities to earn and redeem. It allows both the Air France-KLM Group and Accor Group to reward their members across more stages of their journey.

“Meeting and exceeding customer expectations is our goal,” said Benjamin Smith, CEO Air France-KLM. “Adding more options to earn and redeem Fly-ing BlueMiles was a key driver for the development of Miles+Points and we are glad we could develop this together with our partner Accor, for the benefit of our joint customers. We aim to position Flying Blue as a leading airline loyalty programme by continuing to enrich the customer journey at every step.”

Sebastien Bazin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Accor stated, “The partnership between Air France-KLM and Accor has been enhanced for the ben-efit of our most loyal members. It brings together two formidable players in global tourism and rewrites the rules of loyalty building. The radical transformation of Accor’s lifestyle loyalty programme, embodied by the future brand ALL – Accor Live Limitless – will bring to life our ‘augmented hospitality’ strategy and extend beyond mere hospitality and into the day-to-day lives of its members. This major partnership will contribute to realising this promise, leveraging the international foot-print of both Groups.”

Qatar Airways and Emirates recently announced their recent launch of new year-round services between Portugal and India.

Qatar Airways started its new route from its global network from Doha to the capital of Por-tugal – Lisbon. It is seven times weekly services in summer 2019 and five times weekly service in winter 2019-20 between Doha and Lisbon from June 24.

Porto becomes Emirates’ second destination in Portugal after its capital, Lisbon, which the airline currently serves with two flights a day. There are four times weekly services by Emirates between Dubai and Porto which operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from July 2.

Travellers now have direct access to Qatar Air-ways and Emirates’ global network via Doha and Dubai respectively.

The Museum Embankment Festival held in Frank-furt is Europe’s largest cultural festival featuring countless arts and crafts stalls, live music and culi-nary highlights. Frankfurt celebrates its museums with a lively three-day festival in August every year. From architecture to modern sculpture and film, the museums showcase an ancient collection of art and cultural history. This year, the festival will place from August 23 to 25.

Visited by over 2.5 million people, the festival promises a diverse range of performances and dis-plays. From sales and stalls on the promenade to live musical performances along the banks of the main river, there is a lot that one can explore.

One can also witness the rich culture and tradi-tion of Frankfurt in the various museum displays that will be open until 12:00 am. The museums also provide tourists with guided tours.

One can experience the central theme of the Museum embankment festival in all the presenta-tions and cultural displays of the museum with a spe-cial ‘museumfest button pass’. Priced at ₨530, this pass allows you hassle-free entry into the museums. The three-day festival will culminate with a gigantic display of fireworks.

Giving a boost to its global image of being the most frequented tourist destination, UNWTO recently announced that Turkey was the 6th most visited des-tination in the world in the year 2018 with 46 million visitors.

The UNWTO’s travel arm has released its latest fig-ures detailing the movement of tourists around the world in 2018. Last year, 1.4 billion holidaymakers left home for an overseas break, 5.6% more than in 2017, according to the World Tourism Organization, which says that global travel is performing strongly fuelled by a positive economy, increased air capacity and visa facilitation.

Tourism is a national industry for Turkey. As a tour-ism country, Turkey is focussing on both inbound and

outbound travel with world-class facilities and great pricing that are very suitable. In the last few years, Tur-key has given a huge boost to its tourism sector by adopt-ing unique propositions of popularising the destination and going all out in key markets across the world.

“This is a great achievement for Turkey and com-ing from UNWTO, this speaks about the credibility of data and numbers. By the end of 2019, we are expect-ing 55 million tourist arrivals. From India, the num-ber of tourist arrivals to Turkey is expected to reach 2.5 lakhs. Apart from FITs, we have also seen a surge in weddings and MICE travel from India to Turkey, which is our big focus,” said H Deniz ERSÖZ, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India.

Turkey named 6th most visited country in the world in 2018 by UNWTO

Air France-Klm and Accor announce new enhanced loyalty program partnership for joint customers

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 18AfricA

Ethiopian Airlines commenced services to Amman, Jordan from July 16. Located between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley, Jordan’s capital Amman is a city of contrasts and a fascinating destination for holidaymakers.

Commenting on the new services, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked, “We are very glad to announce that we have finalised preparations to start flights to Amman from July. As one of the ancient civilisations offering an enchanting mix of modernity and tradition, Jor-dan is an awe-inspiring destination for tourists. The inclusion of Amman in our route map will increase the cities we serve in the Middle East to over 10. With the upcoming services, business and leisure trav-ellers will enjoy convenient connectivity between Amman and the vast network of African cities Ethi-opian Airlines serves through its Addis Ababa hub, which has emerged as the major gateway into Africa.”

Over the years, Ethiopian Airlines has been open-ing new routes steadily as laid out in its strategic road-map, Vision 2025. In addition to Amman, Ethiopian will also launch services to Houston, Marseille and New York (John F. Kennedy Airport) going forward.

Seychelles Tourism Board and Air Seychelles renew marketing agreementsThe Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) and its national airline counterpart Air Seychelles have officially renewed their joint marketing agreement. This agree-ment will reinforce their collective support in pro-moting the destination, once more.

Sherin Francis, Chief Executive, STB and Remco Althuis, Chief Executive Officer, Air Seychelles signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the STB headquarters on July 22.

The agreement, which was signed in the pres-ence of Jenifer Sinon, Deputy Chief Executive, STB and Charles Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer, Air Seychelles, covers various areas involving the two parties, concerning numerous collective marketing activities.

The document covers long-term partnerships between the two organisations, including atten-dance and visibility of both parties at key tourism events. These events include trade shows and fairs, trade familiarisation trips, product presentations and workshops.

Remco Althuis, Chief Executive Officer of Air Sey-chelles said, “As part of our mandate in supporting

the Seychelles economy, it is important for the national airline to jointly work with key stakehold-ers in ensuring both destination Seychelles and the national airline remains visible globally.”

He continued, “We are pleased to once again extend an MoU with STB as part of our commit-ment and effort in increasing the number of visi-tors to the island and also to further promote desti-nation Seychelles across our network and beyond. Air Seychelles maintains an excellent partnership between STB as both organisations share similar goals. Following the signing of this MoU, we will continue to work closely with STB through sev-eral joint marketing and PR initiatives in order to continue building our market presence in the region. We will also be building our presence across our newest destination Tel Aviv starting as from November 27, 2019.”

Speaking at the signing, STB Chief Executive Francis mentioned that the collaboration between the tourism board and the national carrier of the coun-try remains essential, for the destination to thrive.

“STB recognises the immense contribution of Air

Seychelles in making the destination more acces-sible. As the STB continues on its mission to make Seychelles visible as a destination, we are grateful to receive the support of our national carrier. Through today’s MoU signing we are not only agreeing to work together, but our two organisations are show-ing their commitment to increasing Seychelles’ reach and appealing to a wider traveller,” said Francis.

Air Seychelles provides services on a regional per-spective through its regular flights to Mauritius and Madagascar. They also provide international flights to Johannesburg, Mauritius and Mumbai.

The airline recently announced the opening of a new route, with the commencement of a new service linking Seychelles and Israel’s largest metropolitan area (Tel Aviv) in November this year.

seychelles tourism board conducts the seychelles Islands WebinarSeychelles Tourism Board along with TravelGyaan conducted a destination training webinar for tour operators across India recently to enhance under-standing of the destination in the India market. This one hour of live training session provided operators with detailed information on the Seychelles islands, unique activities, must-visit locations along with the various categories of hotels and transport options available between islands.

Lubaina Sheerazi, COO, Blue Square Consultants, Seychelles Tourist Office commented, “Webinar has been an effective marketing tool to reach out to the wider audience in one go; particularly for B2B activ-ities with the approach and format reinventing and changing in many ways over the years. We conducted

our first webinar in 2017 and received an incred-ible response post the training session from the

travel industry. This year the webinar is much more focussed and covered Seychelles in depth. This webi-nar is a must-attend for prospective operators to take a deep dive into understanding the nuances of Sey-chelles in order to promote the destination better.”

This activity allowed the Seychelles Tourism Board to distribute information to smaller cities of India that have the clientele and give them the right reasons to choose Seychelles over competing desti-nations. The webinar was attended upon registra-tion by an online audience for one hour which was recorded as well to make it available on the training website for the next three months. It also included a segment that answered questions sent by the live audience during the presentation.

Air tanzania strengthens ties with India, launches direct flight from mumbai to Dar es salaamAir Tanzania, the national carrier of the United Repub-lic of Tanzania has launched a direct flight from Mumbai to Dar Es Salaam on July 18. The flight will fly thrice every week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and is targeted to provide the convenience of travel to two major tourist groups from India, leisure and business travellers.

Departing from Mumbai at 5:50 hours, the flight will arrive in Tanzania at 9:40 hours in the morning. On its return journey, the flight will depart from Tanzania at 19:30 hours, arriving in Mumbai at 4:20 hours.

The launch of the direct flight is Air Tanzania’s a bold step to strengthen tourism ties between the two nations. India is one of the key tourism markets for Tanzania, ranking fifth in terms of tourist arrivals to the country. Tanzania, being home to one of the largest Indian com-munities in Africa also receives many Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFRs), alongside business travellers. With direct connectivity from India’s major business hub, Tanzania is expecting visitor arrivals to reach 1.8 lakh or more.

Speaking at the launch, Eng. Ladislaus Matindi, Managing Director & CEO of Air Tanzania expressed that the airlines is very delighted to launch the flight in the presence of Indian travel agents and media. He added, “It gives us a great pleasure to launch our flight to Mumbai, India. This new service would signifi-cantly strengthen the tourism flow and the trade rela-tions between the two countries. To serve the signifi-cant volume of traffic with high-quality service, we have deployed a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on this route for the betterment of our esteemed passengers. Our focus areas would be the safety of our customers, customer

satisfaction, best-in-class hospitality, on-time service, hassle-free booking and affordable fares. We are opti-mistic to see a huge number of people travelling to both countries by Air Tanzania since we rank to be the air-line of choice soon and not later.”

He also revealed that very soon Air Tanzania will be flying a famous Indian film star as a part of its pro-motion in India. Eight Bollywood celebrities are also expected to travel by Air Tanzania soon.

Air Tanzania hopes to connect its passengers to Bukoba, Dodoma, Kilimanjaro, Iringa, Mbeya, Mwanza, Tabora, Zanzibar, Bujumbura, Mtwara, Hahaya, Entebbe, Lusaka, Harare, Kigoma and Johan-nesburg through its hub in Dar Es Salaam.

With the launch of the direct flight, Air Tanzania endeavours to bring more and more Indian tourists to the beautiful country in the coming days.

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Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it will start passenger flights to Bengaluru as of October 27. The airlines will operate four weekly flights on Tuesday, Thurs-day, Saturday and Sunday.

Commenting on the upcoming ser-vices, Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines remarked, “Ethiopian Airlines is a significant player in connecting India and Africa and beyond. The new four weekly flights will connect the important ICT hub city of Bengaluru to the ever-expanding Ethi-opian network in addition to our twice daily flights each to the commercial city of Mumbai and the Capital New Delhi. The flights will also complement our existing dedicated freighter flights to/from Bengaluru.”

“The addition of Bengaluru to our

Indian network will give a wider menu of choices to the fast-growing air travellers between India and Africa and beyond. The increasing flight frequencies and the number of gateways in India will facilitate trade, investment and tourism to/from the Indian sub-continent. The schedule is carefully designed to con-nect passengers efficiently through our global hub in Addis Ababa with short connections and will provide the fastest and the shortest connections between Bengaluru in southern India and more than 60 destinations in Africa and South America,” he further added.

Currently, Ethiopian operates pas-senger flights to Mumbai and Delhi as well as cargo service to Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Ethiopian to expand its operation in India, next stop Bengaluru

Ethiopian Airlines opens Ethiopian Skylight Hotel in Addis AbabaEthiopian Airlines Group announced the opening of Ethiopian Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Sky-light Hotel is located just five minutes away from Addis Ababa Bole Inter-

national Airport. With the opening of this five-star hotel Ethiopian Airlines Group, aims to increase the number of tourists flowing to the country and also envisions in providing seamless services to our partners and transit passengers. Ethiopian Skylight Hotel meets international standards with an outstanding quality of service for our corporate and leisure clients as well as to cater to the needs of the partners.

The hotel has 373-rooms, including three restaurants, lobby and executive

lounge as well as traditional Ethiopian restaurant.

The grand ballroom can accom-modate 2,000 guests sitting arrange-ment and 4,000 guests standing at a

time and can also be divided into five separate halls along with spacious foyer area, accommodating 500-800 guests in each compartment, which is ideal for business conferences, cor-porate and other social events. The hotel has also three separate day-light and two other VIP private meet-ing rooms for corporate meetings. The health club facilities at Ethiopian Sky-light include outdoor swimming pool, mini-golf courses, spa/massage and gymnasium.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 20americas

On August 26, the most attended annual sporting event in the world will return to New York City at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre as the U.S. Open Tennis Championships take over Queens.

Stars like Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Sloane Stephens and Rafael Nadal will compete for the last grand slam championship of 2019 in front of more than 700,000 fans during two weeks of tennis that concludes on September 8.

NYC & Company, New York City’s official destina-tion marketing organisation, is encouraging visitors to attend the U.S. Open Fan Week and U.S. Open Ten-nis Championships events, but also to stay longer and explore the diverse neighbourhood offerings in the vibrant and diverse borough of Queens. Additionally, several NYC & Company hotel members are offering special packages and incentives to encourage more over-night stays during this iconic big event.

“We are so pleased to welcome the U.S. Open Tennis

Championships back to New York City this summer. Visitors travelling to the city later this month will have a unique opportunity to see and experience Queens, the city’s most diverse borough. With an outstanding roster of cultural, dining and entertainment options plus sev-eral attractive hotel packages and offers, travellers will have no shortage of activities to enjoy during one of the nation’s most iconic big events,” said NYC & Company President and CEO Fred Dixon.

The week prior to the tournament, visitors and locals are encouraged to participate in U.S. Open Fan Week, taking place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Ten-nis Centre from August 19-25. The week-long tennis and entertainment festival includes the U.S. Open Qualify-ing Tournament, free evening concerts, open practices featuring top players, a new Kids’ Zone and various other family-friendly activities.

The entertainment options continue post-Fan Week, as the tournament is held in the vibrant Flushing

Meadows Corona Park, home to multidisciplinary attractions such as the New York Hall of Science, Queens Botanical Garden, Queens Museum and Queens Night Market as well as nearly 900 acres of park space that is home to the iconic Unisphere.

The Keegan Theatre closed its 22nd season with the award-winning musical Legally Blonde, which opened on August 3. Based on the hit movie, Legally Blonde is a fabulously fun and energetic musical, wrapped up with a snappy pink bow. It features music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and a book by Heather Hach. The DC premiere production at Keegan is directed by Ricky Drummond with music direction by Helen Hayes Award-winner Walter ‘Bobby’ McCoy and choreography by Ashleigh King.

During the run of the musical, ticket holders are invited to neighbouring restaurant Firefly for a 20% discount on lunch, dinner or happy hour. The Firefly bar team will also offer a special rotating flight of pink cocktails inspired by Elle Woods’ fearless love of pink. Playful tributes to the show’s fearless heroine include the ‘Bend and Snap’, ‘Gemini Vegetarians’ and ‘Val-ley-dictorian’. The collection of three 3oz cocktails will be available exclusively through September 1 for $22.

NYC & Company invites visitors to discover Queens while attending U.S. Open Tennis Championship event

‘tale of the lion King’ debuts at Disney california Adventure parkAn all-new, original outdoor musical the-atre production, ‘Tale of the Lion King’, has debuted at Disney California Adven-ture Park. This new stage show celebrates the characters and music of Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ in an imaginative and unique way. The lead narrator, Mwongozo – Swa-hili for ‘guide’ — leads a troupe of 18 per-formers called the Storytellers of the Pride Lands in this adaptation, which is presented in a contemporary story-theatre style that retells the tale through language, song and dance.

“The approach that we’ve taken with ‘Tale of the Lion King’ is that this is a story that was passed on from generation to gen-eration and now it’s come here to Disney

California Adventure Park,” said Susana Tubert, Creative Director, Disney Parks Live Entertainment. “The Storytellers of the Pride Lands have come to share this ances-tral story of how a cub became a king.”

Guests will dance and sing along to new musical arrangements of their favourite songs, including ‘Circle of Life’, ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ and ‘Hakuna Matata’ among others. The live drumming and sing-ing, along with the set and costumes all cele-brate the cultural roots of this beloved Dis-ney story.

For a limited time, ‘Tale of the Lion King’ will be performed several times daily at the Palisades Stage in Disney California Adventure.

Air canada to resume full India scheduleAir Canada announced it will resume its daily, non-stop Toronto-Delhi flights on October 1 (eastbound) and October 3 (westbound) this year.

“We are very pleased to resume our daily, non-stop Toronto-Delhi flights in time for Diwali celebrations and with additional capacity going forward to meet expected demand. With our Delhi flights returning to normal together with our seasonal return to Mumbai for fall firmly demonstrating our long term commit-ment to this vibrant market, we look forward to oper-ating our full schedule to India,” said Mark Galardo, Vice President, Network Planning at Air Canada.

“The resumption of Air Canada’s direct flights is a most welcome development,” said Kasi Rao, Presi-dent & CEO of the Canada-India Business Council. “At a time of increasing commercial activity between Canada and India, Air Canada’s direct flights repre-sent a very important element in connecting the busi-ness communities in both countries as well as the growing number of tourists, students, families and

cargo traffic,” said Rao.The Toronto-Delhi flights will be operated initially

with Boeing 787 Dreamliners and beginning October 27, additional capacity will be added to this route with 400-seat Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, featuring Air Can-ada’s award-winning Signature Class, Premium Econ-omy and Economy classes of service.

Air Canada’s seasonal Toronto-Mumbai flights will operate four times every week from October 27, 2019 until March 28, 2020 with Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.

Air Canada will have up to 18 weekly flights conve-niently connecting a multitude of cities in North Amer-ica to Delhi from both Toronto and Vancouver and to Mumbai from Toronto. All flights feature multilingual crews and offer personal in-flight entertainment includ-ing multilingual films at every seat. Customers can also collect and redeem Aeroplan Miles through Canada’s leading loyalty programme when travelling by Air Can-ada and eligible customers have access to priority ser-vices, Maple Leaf Lounges and other benefits.

legally blonde: A musical staged at the Keegan theatre in Washington, Dc

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 21OCEANIA

Tourism Australia has received a $5 million funding boost to promote the upcoming ICC T20 Cricket World Cup being held in Australia for the first time next year, to fans in India. More than one million spectators from around Australia and the world are expected to attend this significant sporting event, which will be played as two stand-alone tournaments for women and men, delivering significant benefits to the tour-ism industry and the economy at large.

The Morrison Government has thrown its support behind the ICC T20 World Cup being held in Australia next year, announc-ing a new campaign to promote the tourna-ments and Australia to cricket fans in India.

Federal Minister for Tourism Simon Birmingham said the $5 million campaign would be used for marketing activities to drive visitation to both the women’s and men’s tournaments, as well as increase Australia’s broader destination appeal in India.

“Australia stands ready to welcome the world to the ICC T20 World Cup tour-naments, which are set to deliver signif-icant benefits to our tourism industry and the broader economy,” said Minister Birmingham.

“The Indian tourism market is currently worth $1.7 billion and is our fastest growing inbound tourism market, with visitation forecast to grow four-fold to reach nearly 1.2 million by 2035. The recently released India Economic Strategy specifically iden-tified the need for increased tourism mar-keting activity in India to ensure the market

reaches its full potential.“These World Cups represent the per-

fect opportunity to encourage Indians to book a flight to Australia to cheer on their team from cities and stadiums all over the country, while also taking the time to explore our wonderful tourism offerings.”

Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck said the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 would shine a spotlight on the nation as a global leader in sport and major events.

“Securing major sporting events for Australia are crucial to nurturing our rich sporting culture. The ICC T20 World Cup 2020 is no exception. More than one million fans are expected to attend this significant event, which will be played as two stand-alone tournaments for women and men. Initial activity will kick off in August when the tournament trophies travel to Tourism Australia’s flagship trade event in India – Australia Marketplace in India – to gener-ate excitement and support for the events among key trade and accredited travel agents,” Minister Colbeck said.

New Zealand’s newest on-mountain tourism experience has opened to sightseers. The new Sky Waka gondola travels 1.8 km through one of the North Island’s most rugged and spectacular landscapes, on the slopes of volcanic Mt. Ruapehu. The ride which passes waterfalls and snow-capped peaks will be equally as spectacular in the summer months, providing a whole new gateway and accessibility to the UNESCO Dual World Heritage status of Tongariro National Park and Whakapapa Ski Area.

The gondola travels from the Top of the Bruce base area directly to the Knoll Ridge Chalet (2020 m above sea level) and at peak times, is capable of transporting 2,400 people per hour over the 1.8 km in approximately five minutes.

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) CEO Ross Copland said that it’s a proud and exciting moment for the RAL team and the whole of New Zealand. “Sky Waka is one of a kind in New Zealand and will transform the moun-tain visitor experience lifting it to a whole new level. Sky Waka also brings with it a huge economic boost for the local economy through accommoda-tion, restaurant and other sightseeing activities and also opens up a lot of job opportunities for locals all year round.”

Until the upper mountain ski fields open for the 2019 winter ski sea-son, Sky Waka will only be operating for sightseeing. Once riders reach Knoll Ridge Chalet, they can experience the magnificent views of the Pin-nacles and valleys below while dining in three newly redeveloped hospi-tality areas which is “a breathtaking dining and sightseeing experience,” Copland added.

Australia to launch a new campaign to boost tourism from India

New Zealand’s new Sky Waka opens for mountain high sightseeing

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 22CAribbeAn

Anguilla voted ‘the Best Caribbean Island’ third in a row by travel + Leisure World

The Grenada Tourism Authority’s inaugural awards ceremony witnessed an inspiring speech by the act-ing Secretary General (SG) of the Caribbean Tour-ism Organization (CTO), Neil Walters. Speaking at the event held at the Spice Island Beach Resort, Wal-ters advised the Caribbean tourism industry leaders to embrace and utilise the strengths of their people to keep the industry among the most competitive in the world. He said, “Yes, we can have the most beautiful properties, the best airports, the best seaports, but it is the people who make the Caribbean tourism product what it is. It is your welcoming and hospitable spirit which encourages visitors to return.”

Walters went on to say how the demand for expe-riences beyond the traditional ‘sun, sea and sand’ only served to enhance the need for the industry to equip the hospitality workforce to perform at the highest level.

“If we took a snapshot of tourism at this point in time, we will see that one of the strongest reasons for the continued growth in the number of persons visit-ing our shores is the spirit exuded by the amazing indi-viduals who get up and go out and work on the front line every day. The individuals who don’t just see it as a job but see the value of the service they are giving. That is the thing success stories in this industry are made of.”

The acting SG advised tourism leaders to leverage the natural beauty and infrastructural edge the region has to develop emerging areas such as community-based tourism.

“In all the examples of community-based tourism I have seen, the key selling point for the visitor has been the chance to come and be in that community, to experience that community, to experience the people of that community. These communities create the uni-fied voice necessary to market and sell the product. In turn, sustain the community’s project,” said Walters, who emphasised such an approach must build on the existing model of hotels which form the bedrock of the thriving Caribbean tourism industry.

“What we have to strive for is stronger links between this model with its sea and sand and the expe-riences which lie sometimes unlocked, away from the sea shore. As we change to match the demands of the times and embrace the treasures of experiences which exist inland, we must re-educate ourselves to see the value that we often overlook. Facets of traditional life that we may see as less than noteworthy, visitors may see as fascinating,” said Walters.

The Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB) is delighted to announce that for a truly unprecedented third year in a row, Anguilla has been ranked the number one island in the Caribbean, Bermuda and the Bahamas in the 2019 ‘Travel + Leisure - World’s Best Awards’. The award honours the top travel destinations and com-panies around the globe as rated by its readers. The Island has also claimed the sixth position on the ‘Top 15 Best Islands in the World’ list.

“We are extremely pleased and proud to once again receive this prestigious award, a wonderful endorse-ment of our exceptional tourism product,” said the

Cardigan Connor, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Tourism. “The credit for this award goes beyond our tourism stakeholders to all the people of Anguilla and our longstanding tradition of warm hospitality that brings our visitors back, year after year,” he continued.

“We are thrilled that Anguilla has been voted the #1 Island in the Caribbean for the third year in a row and the #6 Island in the world, by this discerning group of experienced global travellers,” said ATB Chairper-son Donna Banks. “Over the past two years we have restructured the Anguilla Tourist Board, bringing new talent into the organisation, strengthening our marketing department and expanding our outreach to stakeholders. We are greatly encouraged by this award, which validates our change in strategy and direction.”

Three Anguilla resorts are featured in the ‘Top 25 Caribbean Resort Hotels’ category. These include Frangipani Beach Resort (ranked #2), Malliouhana, Auberge Resort Collection (ranked #14) and Zemi Beach House Hotel & Spa (ranked #24). The Frangi-pani Beach Resort is once again the only property fea-tured in the Top Hotels Overall, ranked #46.

Starting in December 2018, Anguilla has achieved record-breaking tourist arrivals every month through May 2019, the latest month for which visitor arrivals are available. With brand new and newly renovated resorts, a host of new attractions, as well as a new campaign, ‘Beyond Extraordinary’ that focusses on the Anguilla experience, the island’s tourism indus-try is on track to realise its best year ever in terms of both arrivals and revenues.

Months after Grenada witnessed double-digit growth and a landmark total visitor arrival of 528,077 in 2018, the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) has reported a total of 318,559 arrivals between January and June 2019, compared to 314,916 for the same period in 2018.

The stayover market, which represents the desti-nation’s most lucrative visitors segment grew by 3.81% with 82,399 visitors staying in hotels, guesthouses and villa accommodations. The average length of stay of these visitors from Grenada’s sources markets is 8.5 days.

The U.S. accounts for 45% of the island’s market share, followed by the U.K. with 17% and the Canadian market with a 12% share. It is focussed on expanding its reach in traditional source markets, with four cur-rent international gateways in the U.S. for the upcom-ing winter season, including JFK-New York, Miami, Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.

As for the cruise segment, GTA says it was able to hold its own with a slight increase of 1.33% in cruise vis-itor arrivals of 223,051 for the period compared with the phenomenal growth numbers of 220,125 last year. “This is a testimony of the hard work by the team to increase engagement with the cruise lines and keep Grenada top of mind with cruise executives,” said the GTA.

With increased airlift from some of Grenada’s major airlines – Jetblue, LIAT, Caribbean Airlines and Amer-ican Airlines for the carnival and winter seasons – the GTA projects stayover visitor arrivals to grow by 5% in 2019.

Chief Executive Officer of the GTA, Patricia Maher is encouraging visitors to enjoy the many attractions and experiences throughout Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique. She added, “With our abundance of natural assets, warm and friendly people and safe envi-ronment, visitors can discover every parish and island of Pure Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean.”

Tourist arrivals to Grenada continue to grow in the first half of 2019

Caribbean Tourism Organization stresses on local tourism

Caribbean Airlines recently launched the latest of its digi-tal products, the Caribbean Airlines Mobile App. The app is designed for use by IOS and Android devices and fea-tures an array of tools to enhance the customers’ travel experience. It is available for download for Android and iOS users on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

The new Mobile Application enables customers to use their mobile devices to book flights to all destinations ser-viced by Caribbean Airlines and its interline partners; pay for Caribbean Plus seats or extra baggage; check-in and select seats via an interactive seat map and book a domes-tic flight between Trinidad and Tobago and pay in Trini-dad and Tobago dollars.

On the occasion of the launch of the mobile app, Carib-bean Airlines CEO Garvin Medera stated, “At Carib-bean Airlines we are focused on improving our custom-ers’ overall travel experience. Having all the information and options you need at your fingertips definitely helps – which is why we developed your all-in-one travel part-ner, the Caribbean Airlines Mobile app. The app makes a booking and managing the travel experience easy and dynamic. I am also pleased that one of the features of the app is the ability for our customers to pay for flights between Trinidad and Tobago, in Trinidad and Tobago dollars. With the Caribbean Airlines Mobile App added to our digital tools we will further revolutionise how we communicate and interact with our valued customers.”

Caribbean Airlines launches mobile app

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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 24technology

S7 Airlines, Russia’s biggest domestic airline company has reaped in $1 million in sales in July, after employing a private blockchain ticketing platform. The platform has been developed in collaboration with Russian commer-cial bank, Alfa Bank in July last year. Speaking on the recent development, Ekaterina Dmitruk, Sales Director, S7 said, “Thanks to this new technology, now it’s easier for our agents to work directly with the airline, which allowed us to expand our own S7 Airlines sales network.

Within this year, we are planning to deploy first online agents, whose work would comply with the NDC stan-dard, on the platform.”

The airlines confirmed that payments made over the blockchain ticketing platform have shown a ten-fold increase. Using blockchain enabled the airline to securely connect its ticket booking system to the bank-ing system, speeding up payments processing and slashing the amount of manual paperwork tradition-ally required.

Nikolai Mukhanov, Executive Director, S7 Techlab expressed that following the success of deploying a blockchain ticketing platform, S7 is looking at automat-ing several other processes using the Hyperledger Fab-ric platform.

The firm has previously trialled blockchain projects, last year claiming itself to be the first airline in Russia to refuel an aircraft using smart contracts based on the blockchain technology in partnership with Gazprom-neft-Aero and Alfa-Bank.

Kerb-to-Gate Biometric Journey goes live at Bengaluru AirportThe Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru on June 22 has successfully launched the ‘Early Go Live’ of its ambitious Digi Yatra project — a fully bio-metric-based self-boarding solution for a seamless flow from registration to boarding. The Airport has partnered with Vistara to launch the Vision-Box developed and installed One-ID biometric platform technology that will enable passengers to breeze through Bengaluru Airport.

After the completion of the final phase by early next year, it is expected to be the largest deployment of an end-to-end paperless biometric programme in Asia with over 350 passenger touchpoints at Bengaluru Airport Terminal 1.

The first milestone of the programme will enable passengers travelling on Vistara flight UK864 from Bengaluru to Mumbai to utilise this process without presenting travel documents at every touchpoint. This was made possible by the integration of Vista-ra’s Departure Control System (DCS) with the tech-nology, allowing effortless processing at the entry to the terminal, passenger security screening and the boarding gate. All Vistara flights are expected to be integrated into the biometric boarding process at Bengaluru Airport by October 2019.

Over the next few months, this process is expected to be integrated with check-in/self-bag-drop to include other domestic and international airlines at Bengaluru Airport. In the final stage, this tech-nology will be integrated with the Digi Yatra Cen-tral Platform that is currently being architectured

by the Central Government’s Digi Yatra Foundation.Passengers can simply enrol their ID and biomet-

ric data, combined with their flight details before entering the Terminal. As they travel through the airport, passengers can put their travel documents away, as they will be authenticated and verified at every touchpoint by state-of-the-art biometric tech-nology. This process offers the highest degree of safety and security while ensuring stringent stan-dards of privacy. The biometric data is used only for authentication and verification of passengers to assist the boarding process and not for recognition. In addition, the passenger data is deleted within a few hours of flight completion.

“BIAL is extremely excited to roll out this Digi Yatra-based biometric technology that has the potential to make the passenger experience at the Bengaluru Airport seamless, secure and enjoyable. As the gateway to a new India, the Bengaluru Air-port would like to be a frontrunner amongst next-generation airport operations,” said Hari Marar, MD & CEO at Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL).

“There is an increasing need to offer seamless experiences and as a pioneer in the airport technol-ogy domain in India, BIAL is committed to offering innovative ways to simplify the passenger journey, while maintaining the highest standards of safety, security and privacy. A select few passengers now have the opportunity to experience this sophisti-cated technology as part of this rollout,” he added.

seychelles tourism board launches seychelles travel guide mobile app to promote smart travelSeychelles Tourism Board has launched the Sey-chelles Travel Guide, its official mobile application that will help travellers with all activities, attractions, accommodations and tourism services provided in the archipelago. The app comes with an array of hi-tech features like the ability to share information with friends and family on Facebook, an interactive map, navigational guide, currency converter among many others. An interesting feature of the app is 100% offline maps. Using this, travellers will have an interactive map which will showcase all relevant details even without a working internet connection. In addition, the app also comes with a ‘Point of inter-est directory’ that helps tourists find information on various attractions, activities, hotels, restaurants and many more including their prices, opening hours, contact information and pictures; ‘Reviews and rat-

ings’ that enables every traveller to share their expe-rience as well as checkout what others have to say; navigation and itineraries in multiple languages to make travelling a hassle-free experience in the Sey-chelles. It also boasts of additional features such as augmented reality, currency converter, Facebook integration and much more.

The Seychelles Travel Guide app has been designed with the aim of making travel in the island smart and is available for downloading on both iOS and Android platforms free of cost.

google Flights launches airfare prediction feature, guarantees competitive pricesGoogle Flights has introduced an interesting update for the benefit of its users: a predictive feature that allows for a comparative analysis of flight fares at any given point of time. With the introduction of this feature, passengers will be shown whether the price of their selected flights is high, low or typical for that route. In addition, for some flights Google will notify the user if the price has the possibility of skyrocketing. You may also check flight prices with the help of the ‘Track Prices’ feature.

The new predictive feature will track prices for a few weeks after a booking has been made till the time of boarding to ensure every user gets the best deal on bookings.

However, the most interesting benefit of the predictive feature assures moneyback for a lim-ited period. For flights booked between August 13 and September 2, Google Flights will assure you of lowest airfares on the given route failing which, the ticket amount will be refunded to the user.

s7 Airlines rakes in $1 million with its blockchain ticketing platform

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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 26REsPOnsIBLE TOuRIsM

bee+hive launches booking platform for sustainable tourism

Middle East gets its largest solar hub courtesy Dubai Airport

Bee+Hive has launched a booking platform featuring a search engine that curates sustainable travel expe-riences for its users. The not-for-profit organisation unites hotels and partners committed to the cause of sustainable tourism practices.

Speaking of the launch, Founder Bruno Correa said, “People are interested in travelling responsibly, but the

process of identifying and selecting genuine sustain-able options is complicated.” He added, “In addition, there is a growing interest in making travel choices based on experiences that are unique and transforma-tive. Our booking engine will help do both.”

The service is aimed at providing travellers the abil-ity to plan a vacation based on sustainable experiences and the chance to support global sustainable tourism. Booking revenues generated by users of the site will be reinvested in furthering the organisation’s mission.

Travellers who visit the website will be given the option to search for sustainable experiences to start planning their trip. For example, a traveller who wants

to swim with sharks will search for the experience and be offered location and hotel options accordingly. The site confirms availability on the selected dates before inviting the user to reserve.

Correa explained, “A responsible hotel cares about developing the local ecosystem and its community. And the best way to do this is by offering authen-

tic activities that reflect the destination. As a not-for-profit, all of Bee+Hive’s revenues will be reinvested on promotional efforts for legitimate and inspiring sus-tainable hotels and experiences, in a virtuous circle where more hotels join our movement.”

Bee+Hive only promotes hotels and experiences that give back to the local environment. The asso-ciation works closely with its members to develop unique travel experiences with sustainability at their core, including preserving and rehabilitating wild-life and ecology, ensuring viable socio-economic proj-ects for the local community and protecting cultural expression.

Dubai Airport has just become home to the largest solar hub in all of Middle East, alongside Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. With the third phase of Moham-med bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park near Al Qudra Lakes nearing completion, DXB has propelled itself to the position of the world’s largest single site solar park.

The DXB Terminal 2 has been fitted with the solar energy system which has 15,000 photovoltaic panels estimated to save AED 3 million in power consump-tion annually. The setup can generate 7.5 million kWh energy annually. The solar park has a capacity of 5 MW, which is the equivalent of being able to power some 1,500 residences, so it packs some serious power.

Shams Dubai is the city’s clean and renewable energy initiative. Many of the city’s residences are fitted with solar panels that help drastically lower DEWA bills and energy consumption, and can even push surplus energy back to the DEWA grid.

Palladium Hotel Group recently held a campaign in all its hotels aimed at raising awareness about the role that people and companies play in fighting climate change and preserving the environment.

The Spanish hotel company, which belongs to EmpresasMatutes Group has been promoting envi-ronmental initiatives and projects for years within the framework of its Corporate Social Responsibil-ity policy which, this year, has been reinforced with new commitments.

Among them, the priority objective of eliminating single-use plastics stands out. Since 2018, with a sig-nificant step forward this season, Hard Rock Hotels in Ibiza and Tenerife, Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel, Pal-ladium Hotels and Grand Palladium Hotels & Resorts in Europe are withdrawing all single-use plastic products and replacing them with biodegradable or reusable material.

In addition, the group has recently joined the movement ‘Ibiza and Formentera Without Plastic’ promoted by the Foundation for the Conservation of Ibiza and Formentera (IPF). The organisation has awarded the company the certification of ‘a star’ rec-ognising its work in the elimination of plastics. This initiative is also being successfully carried out at TRS Hotels and Grand Palladium Hotels & Resorts in the destinations of Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Brazil.

The group had also organised recycling work-shops for children at the Grand Palladium Hotels &

Resorts on the island, promoting sustainable actions at resorts in the Caribbean and Americas, creating a visual information campaign with a presence in all hotels through posters and screens. The campaign, which advocates sustainable tourism, is also broad-cast on the group’s corporate social networks and the different hotels, as well as on the ‘Palladium Feeling Green’ brand channel.

Palladium Hotel Group continuously promotes actions in all its hotels regarding waste management, rational use of water, control of the carbon footprint and energy saving. It also carries out awareness-rais-ing campaigns aimed at customers on the importance of preserving and caring for the environment. In terms of energy saving, in addition to the good prac-tices that are being implemented in all hotels, resorts in the Caribbean and Americas joined the celebration of WWF Earth Hour on March 30 with a symbolic blackout at their facilities.

Other relevant actions are those aimed at the con-servation of natural environments with great eco-logical value and the protection of species. In this way, Palladium Hotel Group will join the Interna-tional Coastal Cleaning Day in September in several of its hotels located on the American continent. For their part, the resorts of Jamaica, Vallarta and Riviera Maya have Tortuguero Camps and the Grand Palla-dium Kantenah Resort & Spa has managed to protect more than 6,500 nests and has released more than 600,000 hatchlings since its launch in 2012.

Palladium Hotel Group has received numerous awards for its commitment to the environment. These include the recent Rethink Hotel award, given to Hard Rock Hotel Tenerife and the Earth check certifica-tions awarded to TRS Yucatan Hotel, TRS Turquesa Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Tenerife, as well as the Grand Palladium Hotels & Resorts in Riviera Maya and Riv-iera Nayarit (Mexico); Montego Bay (Jamaica); Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) and Imbassaí (Brazil).

To these are added the Blue Flags in Kantenah Bay Beach (Riviera Maya) and Cortecito Beach (Punta Cana); the S Distinctive granted by the Mexican Min-istry of Tourism to Grand Palladium Hotels & Resorts in Riviera Maya and Riviera Nayarit; the Sustainable Clean Beach seal granted by the Ministry of the Envi-ronment and Natural Resources of the same country to Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa and the Travelife certificate to TRS Cap Cana Hotel.

Palladium Hotel Group continues to remove single-use plastics and reinforces its environmental policy

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 27film tourism

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Singh Modi has starred in Discovery Channel’s famous show, ‘Man vs Wild’ alongside its well-known anchor cum survival expert, Bear Grylls. The PM was seen in a brand-new avatar in the episode which was aired on August 12 on the Discovery Channel. The episode, which was shot in Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand has been described as a “frank and freewheeling journey” by the channel.

The big revelation came as Bear Grylls shared a clip of the PM riding a dinghy along with him on his Twitter channel. PM Modi thanked the British TV star for coming to India in a reply to Grylls’ tweet.

Speaking to the Discovery Channel, PM Modi said, “For years, I have lived among nature, in the mountains and the forests. These years have a lasting impact on my life. So when I was asked about a special programme focussing on life beyond politics and that too in the midst of nature I was both intrigued and inclined to take part in it.” He also added, “For me, this show presents a great opportunity to showcase to the world India’s rich environmental heritage and stress on the importance of environmental con-servation and living in harmony with nature. It was a great experience spending time in the jungle once again, this time with Bear, who is blessed with indefatigable energy

and quest to experience nature at its purest.” The show has been shot in an effort to promote the importance of the conservation

of nature as well as animal welfare.

PM Modi appears in Discovery Channel’s ‘Man vs Wild’ alongside Bear Grylls

tourism Ireland creates a film to showcase its iconic film and tV destinations

tourism Authority of thailand, mumbai conducts AseAN-Indian Film Festival to promote film tourism and cultural ties

Tourism Ireland, in a bid to promote its various sce-nic locales, has created a film that explores iconic destinations where famous movies and TV shows have been shot. Titled ‘Ireland As Seen on Screen’, the film is targeted to be a part of Tourism Ireland’s efforts in bringing its film and television tourism opportunities to the forefront and is being promoted on its social media channels.

The various locations showcased in the film

includes Northern Ireland where the HBO TV series Game of Thrones Territory was shot, the Wild Atlan-tic Way where two of the Star Wars films were shot, Co Wicklow where Vikings was filmed, Trim Cas-tle which was featured in Braveheart and Co Wex-ford where both Brooklyn and Saving Private Ryan were shot.

Through the film, Ireland is being touted as the ‘Superstar of the Screen’.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai in cooper-ation with the tourism boards of the ASEAN countries and India, inaugurated a three-day long film festival at the National Museum of Indian Cinema (Film Division), which was held from August 9-11. The ASEAN-Indian Film Festival is one of the events being held to com-memorate 2019 as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism Cooperation. In addition to the common history, cul-tural celebrations and religious connections; interest-ingly, the ASEAN countries also celebrate their national days during the month of August. Alongside showcas-ing the common ties among the countries, the objective of this festival is also to highlight the potential film tour-ism in these countries.

The festival kick-started with inaugural address by key dignitaries and representatives from each country, followed by cultural performances and screening of the Thai movie ‘Ramavtar’. Cholada Siddhivarn, Director, Tourism Authority of Mumbai, shared insights on the

growth prospects of film tourism and urged the guests to explore Thailand and ASEAN countries for filming opportunities.

The festival showcased selected films from ASEAN countries which are one of kind and which was a treat for both tourism and film lovers. The festival is entry free for all visitors.

Christopher de Venecia, Pangasinan 4th District Representative has filed a bill that seeks to develop and promote film and television tourism in the Phil-ippines. The bill, filed on July 11 is aimed at incentiv-ising films which may create a more positive image of the country or any part of it. The bill has been pro-visionally named as ‘Film and Television Tourism Act’ or ‘An Act Providing for the Development and Promotion of Film and Television Tourism, provid-ing funds therefore and for other purposes’.

Speaking on the development, he said, “It intends to promote the Philippines as a prime filming

location and to develop enabling policies that would ease procedural requirements. This measure does not, however, end at developing film tourism as an economic tool. This gives equal importance to the impact of tourism on immediate communities.”

He explained that the film tourism’s impact has been significantly evident in other countries. Cit-ing the example of China, he said that the release of Chinese film ‘Lost in Thailand’ has made China the largest source of overseas tourists in Thailand and in Cambodia, ‘Tomb Raider’ has attracted tourists greater than what Angkor Watt can actu-ally accommodate. De Venecia also said that in the 2012-2015 period, ‘Game of Thrones’, a hit TV series, boosted tourism in Dubrovnik, Croatia which received 245,000 more arrivals from tourists, more than 1.5 million overnight stays, and almost 126 million euros in revenue according to a report in Tkalec, Zilic, Recher in 2017. But he also men-tioned that the Philippines is yet to fully realise its film tourism potential, a target that the bill seeks to fulfil.

christopher de venecia files a bill to develop and promote film and television tourism in the philippines

Oregon Film trail celebrates iconic films with new signs The famous Oregon Film Trail, which was unveiled earlier in January 2019 is celebrating iconic films shot in the regions, like ‘Stand by Me’, ‘The Goonies’, ‘Wild’ and ‘Paint Your Wagon’ among others through its series of signages at their filming locations.

The most recent addition to the film trail is a sign placed at the Hammond Marina. The sign marks the breakwater that was the backdrop for a famous scene in the 1993 movie ‘Free Willy’. As more and more vis-itors come to the marina, camping, fishing and moor-ing facilities at the site also get a great boost.

Mac Burns, Executive Director, Oregon Film Museum added that since film tourism is a hugely popular industry, Oregon gets visitors from all over the world who come to experience where their favourite films were shot, that alone remaining a top draw among visitors to the coastal state.

Even though Oregon is yet to measure the foot-fall it gets courtesy its famous destinations, Linea Gagliano, Director of Global Communications, Travel Oregon has revealed, “We know the Bridge of the Gods and Pacific Crest Trail saw an increase after Wild. The 30th anniversary of The Goonies, the 1985 movie, also drew significant visitors to the Asto-ria area, where parts of the movie were shot.”

Born out of an association between Oregon Film and Oregon Made Creative Foundation in an effort to weave the region’s history with its film memory, the film trail is formed by a series of specially designed signs that are placed at locations remembered for popular films. In a working partnership with the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce, the signs have been additionally sponsored by the Oregon Coast Visitors Association.

According to Travel Oregon’s Gagliano, every-thing that Oregon has to offer brings benefits all the way around. Projects like the Historic Oregon Film Trail, “attract filmmakers because of the wonderful scenery and people see the films and then want to visit Oregon,” Gagliano said. She added, “Film and tourism work so well together.”

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 28CRuIsE TOuRIsM

TIRUN Travel marketing, the exclusive India rep-resentative of Royal Caribbean International, announced the upcoming Singapore cruise season. This year, the international cruise liner has dedicated two of its favourite ships, the Quantum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas, anchored at the Singapore bay to offer guests ultimate vacation experience. To attract the attention of Indian Trade, TIRUN will also be organising roadshows across Kochi, Indore, Rai-pur, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Pune, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Jaipur from August till Sep-tember this year.

Voyager of the Seas, the lead ship in the Voyager class of ships has been recently reimagined at a whop-ping cost of USD 97 million, adding an array of fea-tures and amenities for thrills and chills. The ships feature high-octane adventure rides such as The Per-fect Storm Waterslides duo, family-focussed enter-tainment options such as the newly launched Battle for Planet Z Laser tag game. It will be cruising through the South Pacific waters from October 21 - November

11 on a three-night and four-night cruise from Singa-pore to Malaysia and Thailand.

Coming to the South-Pacific waters simultaneously is Quantum of the Seas, the largest and most revolu-tionary ship in Singapore that promises the Quan-tum Leap Adventure. The 18-decked behemoth can accommodate 4,900 guests and will sail across Malay-sia and Thailand from November 21, 2019 till April 26, 2020. Itineraries include four-night cruises to Penang or Phuket, five-night cruises to Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Penang and Phuket, a seven-night cruise to Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Penang and Phuket and a seven-night cruise to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.

Continuing its legacy of gracing its kitchens with the world’s best chefs, Royal Caribbean International has roped in prominent celebrity chef Ranveer Brar, who has curated a most wonderful menu centred on the diversity and richness of Indian cuisine. The menu has been specially designed for the Indian pal-ettes which give a glimpse into the rich gastronomi-cal culture of India to guests from all over the world and bring a sense of nostalgia to the Indian guests on-board.

Varun Chadha, CEO, TIRUN Travel Marketing said, “Singapore is a popular destination for Indi-ans and for coming cruising months, Royal Carib-bean International has deployed the Quantum of the Seas and the soon to be revitalised Voyager of the Seas, to ensure an even better cruising experience for our guests. The ships themselves epitomise the highest standards of comfort, service quality and are packed with many first adventures on the high seas. We are excited to share these experiences with many more Indians in the coming months.”

Guests travelling on these cruises with TIRUN are further guaranteed of massive savings with TIRUN’s FLY+CRUISE package offered in collaboration with Singapore Airlines. The package offers guests com-bined deals on flight tickets to Singapore along with the cruise ticket fee at great prices.

Costa Cruises launches two new flagships Costa Smeralda and Costa Toscana powered by LNGCosta Cruises, the world’s largest leisure travel com-pany and cruise operator, unveiled two new flagships powered by LNG – liquefied natural gas, the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel – both in port and at sea, exemplifying Costa’s firm commitment to pursuing cutting-edge technology at the service of responsible innovation.

The Costa Smeralda is nearing completion with the finishing touches being put to the interior fit-out at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland prior to her entry into service in October this year.

The Costa Toscana is the second of the two new sister ships ordered by Costa Cruises and powered both in port and at sea by LNG. The Costa Toscana is expected to be delivered on October 2021.

The introduction of LNG fuelling is a ground-breaking innovation that will minimise environmental impact. It will mean improved air quality with virtually total elimination of sulphur dioxide emissions (zero emissions) and particulate matter (95-100% reduc-tion). The use of LNG will also greatly lessen emis-sions of nitrogen oxides (85% direct reduction) and CO2 (reduction of up to 20%). The gas will be stored in special tanks on board and will be used to generate the energy required for navigation and onboard services, thanks to dual-fuel hybrid engines.

The measures adopted by virtue of a dedicated investment plan enabled Carnival Corporation to meet its 25% carbon reduction goal for 2020 some three years ahead of schedule, with a 27.6% decrease in emissions from operations already achieved by 2018.

Costa Cruises President Neil Palomba said, “The steel-cutting ceremony for Costa Toscana is another step forward in our sustainable development plan. LNG propulsion for cruise ships is a major innova-tion, pioneering a new era in the use of low-carbon

fuels that will significantly reduce exhaust emissions to help protect the environment without compromis-ing on safety, in line with our top priorities. Once again, Costa Cruises is paving the way for the industry as a whole: in accordance with our global vision aimed at sustainable development, we were the first to invest in this technology, which is now really starting to take hold. However, a lot remains to be done in terms of the ready availability of gas bunkering infrastructure to ensure the seamless transition to LNG. Costa Tos-cana and her sister ship Costa Smeralda may be highly innovative products, but they will retain that inimita-ble Italian hospitality that has been Costa Cruises’ hall-mark since the brand’s inception, conveying the exhil-aration of ocean travel and providing enhanced guest experiences for repeat and first-time cruisers alike.”

“Modern shipyard for modern ships. With the first Costa Cruises’ ship, Costa Smeralda, being delivered in October, both of these ships will have lots of beau-tiful design and interesting features – and, of course, very high-quality work and best-in-industry engineer-ing. We are very proud to build these ships for Costa,” stated CEO of Meyer Turku Jan Meyer.

TIRUN introduces Celebrity Flora to experience the Galapagos IslandsTIRUN, the exclusive India representative of Celeb-rity Cruises, recently announced the launch of the latest addition to Celebrity Cruises’ fleet, Celebrity Flora. Celebrity Flora is a dedicated cruise ship for the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The 100-guest Celebrity Flora offers seamless sea-to-shore transportation and includes anchor-less technology that maintains the ship’s position while protecting the sensitive seafloor. The innova-tive outward-facing design gives guests 360-degree views of the islands, while personal suite attendants, new dining venues, an open-air stargazing platform and expert-lead ecological seminars are some of the numerous features that distinguish the modern lux-ury vacation experience.

“Celebrity Flora marks another example of our revolutionary ship design by allowing the destina-tion and its environment to influence every decision we’ve made,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. “From the luxurious all-suite accommodations to industry-first, eco-friendly innovations, we created a ship that brings a new level of luxury, sustainability and natural explora-tion to the region. Guests will feel as though they’re boarding a high-end yacht for a week of unparalleled adventures and they are!”

Aqua expeditions unveils new fleet additions: Aqua blu and Aqua NeraOne of the leading boutique luxury cruise lines Aqua Expeditions officially announced two new fleet addi-tions: Aqua Blu and Aqua Nera. Aqua Blu is Aqua Expeditions’ first coastal ship and the first-ever long-range expedition-class yacht to be permanently based in the East Indonesian Archipelago with year-round departures.

Partnering with internationally-renowned yacht designer Cor D. Rover, the completely refurbished Aqua Blu is endowed with a rich heritage as the former British Naval Explorer HMS Beagle. To begin service on November 16, Aqua Blu will primarily serve three destinations on seven-night coastal cruise itineraries:

• RajaAmpat(Round-trip;DecemberthroughtoFebruary; 10 departures/year)

• Bali-Komodo National Park (Bi-directional;April to September; 23 departures/year)

• Ambon&SpiceIslands(Round-trip;OctobertoNovember; seven departures/year)

Opening up the opportunity of exploring multiple destinations in East Indonesia on a single itinerary and discovering exotic locales such as The Forgotten Islands, Aqua Blu will also offer highly-limited 12-night journeys. Called Limited Cross-Destination Voyages, there will be a maximum of four departures a year, each sailing a different route.

Aqua Nera, a new-build river cruise boat, features a high-concept interior by renowned architect Noor Design. Designed and constructed in Vietnam, the ves-sel will sail to the Peruvian Amazon, where it will begin operations on August 1, 2020. Aqua Nera will offer three, four and seven-night river cruise itineraries.

As Aqua Expeditions vessels both Aqua Blu and Aqua Nera feature world-class dining experiences by renowned consulting chefs. Both Aqua Blu and Aqua Nera are now open for booking.

tIruN announces the upcoming royal caribbean International’s singapore cruises

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | AuGuSt 2019 • 29EVENTS

Qrius Connect recently concluded their exclusive travel show MICE Connect 2019 Sri Lanka edition on July 2-3 at Hil-ton Colombo.

The intention behind the show was to promote Sri Lanka more exclusively in the segment of MICE and corporate events.

The show made its biggest USP by inviting the Indian buyers all the way to Sri Lanka, hosting them and making them have the real experi-ence, familiarisation and feel of the destination.

The show witnessed the participation from the potential MICE, wedding and event agencies from India who were keen to gather more knowledge about the des-tination and to discover the potential of Sri Lanka in the context of MICE.

Whereas, the seller’s side was repre-sented by some of the premium hospital-ity brands from Sri Lanka such as Hilton

Colombo, DoubleTree by Hilton Weer-awila, Galle Face Hotel, BMICH, Mov-enpick, Shangri-la, Anantara Resorts, The Kingsbury and Serendib Leisure along with some of the top listed DMC’s such as Walkers Tours, Diethelm Travel, Antiquity SL.

Travel News Digest was the exclusive media partner of the event.

Nishant Gulliya, Managing Director & CEO, Qrius Connect shared, “I see this show as the best blend of familiarisation, business networking and overall desti-nation promotion.”

The show was intended to give a platform to build and strengthen the relationship between the participating Indian buyers and the Sri Lankan hos-pitality brands along with giving a real taste to the buyers by inviting them to travel all the way to Sri Lanka.

“The MICE sector in Asia continues to thrive, with an anticipation of a con-tinuous rise in demand and growth rate in the next half a decade. Considering Sri Lanka as an emerging MICE destination, we have been noticing the fast-growing demand for corporate travel, incentives and wedding segment from India. MICE Connect Sri Lanka 2019 has showcased itself at the right time with the right set of participants and have assured the exclusivity and value addition through this show and we are optimistic to host a bigger edition in 2020. Let’s Stay Q’rius,” concluded Nishant.

With the theme ‘Benefits Beyond Bound-aries’, Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators’ Association (EHTTOA) organised their first Annual Convention in Lataguri from August 6 to 8.

With an aim to bring in all the mem-bers under one roof, the three-days con-vention was designed to discuss the emerging and existing tourism potential in the region. Through this convention, EHTTOA stands to be amongst the first regional association to take a step for-ward towards the benefit of its members.

More than 320 members out of which 150 were registered delegates and 55 were invitees from three countries i.e. Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. The major emphasis of the convention was stimu-lating cross border tourism and enhance the friendly relationship through a com-mon agenda called ‘tourism’.

Sandipan Ghosh, Secretary, EHTTOA said, “Tourism is the integral component

of this region, if tourism flourishes, we all flourish. The main objective of this convention is not just to get all mem-bers together at the same platform but also to discuss and deliberate the ideas to encourage tourism inter-state and of course cross border. This is also an opportunity to bring in government bod-ies and other association bodies together and discuss the policies which need to be put forward and implemented. I would like to thank the Ministry of Tourism, Lataguri Resort Owners Welfare Asso-ciation (LROWA), Alipurduar District Tourism Association (ADTA), NATTA, TOAB, ABTO, HRAB, JTWA and our members for their outstanding support.”

Kalyan Deb, Convention Chairman mentioned that this convention is a benchmark for our association itself and continued saying that they have crossed the expected numbers of registration and are very happy with the outcome.

Qrius Connect concludes MICE Connect Sri Lanka 2019 with an overwhelming response

EHTTOA Annual Convention concludes successfully

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India’s Largest CirculatedTravel Trade Monthly

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | august 2019 30 • events

EVENTS CALENDAR 2019-20

16-18 OCT’ 19

ITB ASIASands Expo and Convention Centre,

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

19-21 NOV’ 19

IBTM WORLD Barcelona, Spain

04-06 NOV’ 19

WTM LONDON London

20-22 SEPT’ 19

TTF PUNEMesse Global Laxmi Lawns

18-20 SEPT’ 19

PATA TRAVEL MARTKorme Exhibition Center

Astana, Kazakhstan

27-29 NOV’ 19

PATA DESTINATIONMARKETING FORUM

Pa�aya, Thailand

05-06 JULY’ 19 13-15 SEPT’ 19

TTF MUMBAINehru Centre

17-19 JAN’ 20

TTF BENGALURUPalace Grounds

Tripuravasini

24-26 JAN’ 20

TTF CHENNAIChennai Trade Centre

30 JAN’-01 FEB’ 20

TTF DELHIIndira Gandhi

Stadium Complex

10-12 SEPT’ 19

IMEX AMERICASands ExpoLas Vegas

06-08 SEPT’ 19

TTF SURATPandit Dindayal Upadhyay

Indoor Stadium

30 AUG’-01 SEPT’ 19

TTF AHMEDABADGujarat University

Exhibition Hall

03-05 FEB’ 20

OTM MUMBAIBombay Exhibition Centre

31 JAN’-01 FEB’ 20

BLTM DELHIThe Leela Ambience

Convention Hotel, Delhi

India’s Largest Circulated Travel Trade Monthly

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Posted at NDPSO, New Delhi - 110001 on 5/6 & 20/21 of every month | Date of Publication 01/02 &15/16 every month | Postal Registration No. DL(S) - 01/3404/2018-20 | RNI No. DELENG/2011/40217

INDIA 12BUSINESS & MICE 22

ASIA 26

AFRICA 30

EUROPE 28

MIDDLE EAST 27

AMERICAS 32

FILM TOURISM 34

RESPONSIBLE TOURISM 36 EVENTS 38

CARIBBEAN 33

OTM 2018 receives overwhelming response;

98% of participants likely to return next year

Contd on page 2

OTM Mumbai, the largest travel show in the Asia

Pacific region concluded on an optimistic note. The

event recorded 1,000+ sellers from 50+ countries and

25+ Indian states who networked with more than 15,000

trade visitors from January 18-20, 2018.

In an exit survey, 98% of the participants confirmed

they are likely to return to OTM 2019. More than 90%

opined that participation in OTM was a must.

More than 800 quality buyers from renowned

companies scheduled meetings at this edition. OTM

2018 featured over 400 hosted buyers from across the

globe who met the pool of domestic and international

exhibitors showcasing their travel products and services

at OTM this year.

Several hosted buyers confirmed that they have been

ensuring their presence at OTM for many years now. A

number of them exclaimed that they had graduated from

visitors to hosted buyers.

The show was inaugurated by KJ Alphons, Minister

of State for Tourism (I/C), Government of India. In his

inaugural address he expressed his delight seeing the

turnout of the global participants. He also expressed

satisfaction about the mix of international and national

participants at the show floor - approximately 400 and

600 respectively.Host State Maharashtra had a powerful presence

presided over by the Guest of Honour Jaykumar Rawal,

Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra. He

remarked that Mumbai was proud to host the leading

travel show in the Asia Pacific region. He also marvelled

at the long history of OTM as an o�shoot of the oldest

travel trade show in the country.

OTM 2018 had a balanced mix of participants from

outbound and inbound, outlined Neela Lad, Regional

Director (West), India Tourism Mumbai O�ce. Driving

an enhanced response from the travel show, she

added that OTM has assisted in creating awareness

on destinations in the North East. Through OTM, the

North Eastern travel destinations in India have initiated a

dialogue with the Indian film producers, she highlighted.

The dignitaries present at the inaugural session

included KJ Alphons, Minister of State for Tourism

(I/C), Government of India, Jaykumar Rawal, Tourism

Minister, Government of Maharashtra, Nabin Pokharel, O�ciating Director Tourism Marketing and Promotion,

Nepal Tourism Board, Michael Michailidis, Head of

Market Research Department, Greek National Tourism

Organisation, Majed Ishaq, Marketing Department,

Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, State of Palestine,

Betty Ichan, Regional Marketing Manager, Kenya

Tourism Board, Maipelo Mogotsi, Counsellor III,

Botswana High Commission, Tian Xin, Director, China

National Tourist O�cer New Delhi amongst other

o�cials. Turkey was the Premium Partner Country at OTM

this year. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism

has been participating at OTM for the last eight years

with a large number of tour operators. Nuray Topuz,

Cultural and Tourism Expert - City Planner, Ministry of

Culture and Tourism, Republic of Turkey asserted that

they were very happy to be a part of OTM 2018 as it is the

largest travel show of the Asia Pacific region.

KJ Alphons, Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), Government of India & Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra

inaugurating OTM 2018 along with other dignitaries

Inauguration of the Incredible India pavilion at OTM 2018

OCEANIA 29

TECHNOLOGY 24

GLOBAL 35

We debuted the last year and

returned to OTM this year again! Greece

is very happy with the selection of buyers

at OTM this year. OTM has given us a great

oppo�unity to establish business with

the Indian stakeholders. Thank you to the

organising team for a great event and we

are definitely looking forward to the next

edition of OTM.

Michael Michailidis

Head of Market Research Depa�ment

Greek National Tourism Organisation

OTM is India’s largest and most

international gathering of travel trade

buyers and professionals. Most impo�antly

it is conducted in Mumbai each year

which is the headqua�ers of almost

all major outbound tour operators in

India. Pa�icipating in OTM works best

for Thailand as agents get to meet face-

to-face and build long-term business

relations with their pa�ners in India. Soraya HomchuenDirector

Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai

bltm is a trade show, visitors below 15 years are not allowed. (Rights of admission reserved)

Register Now: www.bltm.co.in

meet hundreds of sellers of business, mICE and leisure travel from around the world in a five-star setting.

India’s Leading Trade Show on Business, MICE & Leisure Travel

31 Jan, 01 Feb 2020

The Leela AmbienceConvention Hotel, Delhi

Organised by

Feature States

110+ 24 6,000+13 90+260+ 1,200+Exhibitors Countries Indian States Hosted buyers Scheduled

AppointmentsVIP buyers trade buyers

bltm is a trade show, visitors below 15 years are not allowed. (Rights of admission reserved)

Register Now: www.bltm.co.in

meet hundreds of sellers of business, mICE and leisure travel from around the world in a five-star setting.

India’s Leading Trade Show on Business, MICE & Leisure Travel

31 Jan, 01 Feb 2020

The Leela AmbienceConvention Hotel, Delhi

Organised by

Feature States

110+ 24 6,000+13 90+260+ 1,200+Exhibitors Countries Indian States Hosted buyers Scheduled

AppointmentsVIP buyers trade buyers

03, 04 & 05 Feb 2020Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon (E) - Mumbai

www.otm.co.inregister now!

The Leading Travel Show in Asia-Pacific

800+Top Buyers

15,000+Trade Visitors

1,000+Exhibitors

55Countries

29Indian States/UTs

OTM is the gateway to India’s travel markets. Find partners, discover new products and make the deals of tomorrow.

OTM is a trade show, visitors below 15 years are not allowed. (Rights of admission reserved)

Oneworld Travel Ma�

Host StatePremium Pa�ner Pa�ner Countries

Pa�ner City Digital StudioPa�ner

Destination Pa�ner Forum KnowledgePa�ner

Official AirlinePa�ner Airline Pa�ner Hotel DMC Pa�ner TV Pa�ner Online B2B Pa�ners

Suppo�ed by

KnowledgePa�ner

Feature Countries Feature States

Feature CountriesPa�ner States

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