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` 50/-A DDP PUBLICATIONVol. XXVI No. 8; April 2nd fortnight issue 2014 Pages: 28 (Excluding covers) + 16 Pages Supplement

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APRIL 2ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2014 TRAVTALK 1

With 247 foreign buyers from 54countries, 246 Indian sellers, 9,256 pre-scheduled B2B meetings and on-the-spot meetings expected to cross 800,the first edition of the Incredible IndiaTravel Bazaar (IITB-2014) provides theperfect platform for furthering the causeof Indian inbound tourism.

(L-R) SanJeet, Parvez Dewan, Girish Shankar, Usha Sharma and Jyotsna Suri at the inauguration of the IITB-2014 at The Ashok in New Delhi.

IITB-2014: Fillip for inbound

The foreign buyers should go back with a conviction about the summer destinations in our country.India is not just Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. I want you to go back from India with an idea of the diverse

tourism products that India has to offer.Parvez Dewan, Secretary, MOT

FICCI conceptualised the onlyexclusive inbound show in India,

which gave birth to thefirst Great IndiaTravel Bazaar heldin Jaipur in 2008.

Jyotsna SuriSr Vice President, FICCI

We realise tour operators are thekey people for promoting

destinations andorganising such atravel bazaarprovides an ideal

platform for them.

MOT will also provide moreinformation on services and will

set up an infoline in 12languages, which we

hope to launch in 6 months.

Usha SharmaAddl DG, MOT

Girish Shankar Addl Secretary, MOT

NewsBulletinFinally, somerecognition fortourism

See full story on page 4

IATO - Heading fora new beginning

See full story on page 20

Leader Talk:Gavin Smith

See full story on page 16

Specialist travelleading to M&A

See full story on page 6

Contd. on page 12

NEWS

In March 2013, when theassociation elected its new

team for the next two years, weall sat down to see where wecould make a difference. A fewkey points stood out: We need-ed to engage the adventuretravel community more, to cre-ate business and networkingopportunities, to drive mem-bership and last but not theleast, we needed to think out-of-the-box.

Our annual convention isa showcase of our capability asan association and as a com-munity. We brainstormed anddecided to do things differentlyand in a way that showcasednot only the destination, butalso our product. We decidedto go to Uttarakhand as itneeded the exposure post thedisaster in June last year. Wecreated an outdoor and adven-

ture concept that took us awayfrom city hotels and conferencehalls to the heart of the desti-nation. We created a world-class conference venue in thewilderness, provided accom-modation in the most sceniclocation in camps along theGanga andalso

arranged a luxury campsite for250 delegates in a gorge onthe second night.

Our theme ‘Connect,Create, Catalyse and

Conserve’ conveyed the idealmessage for the convention.We worked hard to create ses-sions that allowed for network-ing and encouraged peer-to-peer discussions in an infor-mal atmosphere. The pre-connect format helped dele-gates to write to each otherand fix appointments before

the convention started. TheMedia Connect session atByas Ghat allowedsmall adventure oper-ators to share theirstories with the

mainstream national and travelmedia through one-on-onesessions. Our speakers werechosen from different walks oflife and they gave amazingpresentations on capacity-building and business modelsthat work in the Nepal adven-ture industry. The 11th

Convention of ATOAI at

Shivpuri, Rishikesh,Uttarakhand was a successfulattempt in conveying to theworld that Uttarakhand is safeand is ready for business. Thiswas also an opportunity for theadventure travel industry toshowcase their skills and prod-ucts. In a first-of-its-kindendeavour, this was an ‘adven-turous’ convention in its truesense. The high point of theconvention was the entire del-egation rafting down fromDevprayag to the Byas Ghatfor an overnight camp onMarch 26. The convention thisyear saw the best of theadventure travel industry,along with domestic and overseas buyers, policy makers, government officials,decision makers, travel andnational media.

Akshay Kumar, President, ATOAI, shares his experiences at the association’srecent convention in Shivpuri, Rishikesh and says that the event was successfulin conveying to the world that Uttarakhand is safe and is ready for business.

An ‘adventurous’ convention indeed!

The convention provided a greatopportunity for the adventure travelindustry to showcase their skills andproducts

Akshay KumarPresident

ATOAI

Such events help bring theAdventure fraternity togetherand there is so much to learnfrom each other’s experiences.Without doubt, business alsogrows through networking.

Anirudh ChaojiPugmark Eco Tours

The event was the 1st of its kindwherein the format was typicalto adventure. The effort put inand the coordination doneinvolving so many agencieswas indeed praiseworthy.

Brig. SP SinghJumpin Heights

Business sessions and paneldiscussions were of greatimportance. I understand thatto hold the convention at suchplace and to include activitiesin that was not an easy task.

Himanshu DwivediCholan Tours

On the banks of Ganga

The speakers were chosen from

different walks of life and they

gave credible presentations on

capacity-building and business

models that work in the Nepal

adventure industry.

The high point of the convention

was the entire delegation rafting

down from Devprayag to the Byas

Ghat for an overnight camp on

March 26.

The convention is our attemptto move to an adventure hub,closer to the area of ouroperations, networking withthe small and mediumoperators in their homeground. Our attempt is to bring

to the local adventure travel community thebenefits ofthe market.

Rajesh Ojha Convention Chairman

See more on page 24

VIEWPOINT One of the major political parties released its much-awaited election manifesto,in which it talked about focussing on ‘reviving’ Brand India with the help of 5 Ts: Tradition, Talent, Tourism, Trade and Technology. It acknowledged therole played by tourism in helping secure Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE)and as a major source of employment. Some association heads of the tourismindustry talked to about this.

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

Finally Some recognition

We have had a long-pending demand that all political parties should includetourism in their manifesto. They talk about poverty eradication and GaribiHatao, but how? The only way to do it is by providing jobs to the unemployedand tourism is the largest employment generator in the world as it is labour-intensive. One out of 9 jobs that will be created in the world in the next 20years will be in the tourism industry. Wherever you promote tourism, hotelscome up, and with hotels, you need a lot of manpower. Therefore, tourismis an industry that can generate jobs and eradicate poverty.

Subhash GoyalPresident, IATO

Tourism is a vital part ofeconomic development. Idon’t know whether it isignorance or non-impor-tance as a vote bank buttourism has not been thefocus for political parties.Dubai is one place thatbanks on tourism and isflourishing because of it. Whichever govern-ment comes to power, we need to makesure that we have a well-drafted white paperon tourism. I hope that the government thatcomes to power provides the necessaryimpetus to tourism.

Iqbal MullaPresident, TAAI

When a prominent nation-al level political partyincludes tourism in theiragenda, it is breakingnews for the industrybecause most senior pol-icy- and decision-makershave chosen to ignoretourism so far. The indus-try for several years unfortunately failed tofind a mention in the Union Budget. Andobviously being denied industry status,tourism is languishing. Is it not an irony thatdespite having such a diverse canvas, Indiaattracts a mere 6 million plus internationalvisitors, while Malaysia at 24 million andThailand at 28 million, are reaping the ben-efits of tourism.

Zakkir AhmedPresident, TAFI

Having seen tourism as apart of a political party’smanifesto, I’m delightedand encouraged. I’mlooking forward to seewhat happens, whichgovernment comes topower and where doestourism stand in their pri-

ority list. Now that one party has included itin their manifesto, I'm sure all other partiesat some stage or the other will talk about it.

Dipak DevaCo-Chairman Tourism Committee of FICCI

Tourism can be a turningpoint for the Indian econ-omy and as long as oneof the political parties has recognised the fact,which is the first time thathas happened, there’s alot for us to look forwardto. Once we realise that

tourism is one of the keypoints for India, Ithink it’s fantastic and will go a long way.

Akshay KumarPresident, ATOAI

April 2014 - the beginning of the financialyear – seems to be the harbinger of all

things good for the tourism industry. The firstbreakthrough came when tourism found itsmention in a major party’s electionmanifesto among the 5 ‘T’s for ‘reviving’Brand India. For all the times that theindustry has rued the neglect of tourism bypolitical parties, this was a welcome changeand we hope that other parties will do thesame. Tourism is after all, a major sourceof revenue for the country and also holds ahuge potential to alleviate theunemployment problem in our country.

The second feather in the cap was thefirst Incredible India Travel Bazaar (IITB) thatstarted off on a high note at The Ashok, NewDelhi, on April 8 - 9. With 247 foreign buyersfrom 54 countries, 246 Indian sellers, 9,256pre-scheduled B2B meetings and over 800on-the-spot meetings, the event provided theperfect platform to further the cause ofinbound tourism in India.

And while the assembly election is thebuzzword in the country, the travel industryis waiting for its own D-Day. With IATO setto conduct its Managing Committeeelections on April 26, some of thecontenders put forward their cause andtalked to us about their vision for theassociation. It’s heartening to note that everyelection aspirant has the interests of smalland medium tour-operators in mind.

ATOAI put a new spin to conventions asthey decided to do things differently and in away that showcased not only the destinationbut also the product that they sell. Theirconvention that concluded recently inShivpuri, near Rishikesh, took the guestsaway from the city hotels and conferencehalls and brought them right to the heart ofthe destination, on the banks of the Ganges.

We welcome every change that theindustry adopts to develop tourism and hopethat such initiatives help us grow fromstrength to strength.

Tourism Shining in2014-15

OPINIONS

TRAVTALK is a publication of DDP Publications Private Limited. Allinformation in TRAVTALK is derived from sources, which we consider reliable and a sincere effort is made to report accurate information. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. The publisher regret that he cannot accept liability for errors and omissions contained in this pub-lication, however caused. Similarly, opinions/views expressedby third parties in abstract and/or in interviews are not neces-sarily shared by TRAVTALK. However, we wish to advice our readersthat one or more recognised authorities may hold different viewsthan those reported. Material used in this publication is intendedfor information purpose only. Readers are advised to seek specific

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Mauritius received 55,197visitors in 2012 and

57,255 visitors in 2013 fromIndia. Targetting a growth ofabout five per cent from Indiathis year, Mauritius TourismPromotion Authority (MTPA) is

betting big on the newlylaunched ‘Mauritius GrandMaster’, a six-month-longonline training programme forthe Indian travel trade. AsMauritius conducted the onlinetraining and certificate pro-gramme for the first time inIndia last year, it is engaging

the travel trade through sevenonline learning modules.

The programme is help-ing build, grow and maintain astrong and comprehensive net-work of Mauritius ‘TravelSpecialists’ who can promote

Mauritius to attract more visi-tors. The objective is to makethe course fun, informative andeasy to understand, VijayeHaulder, Deputy Director,MTPA, says. “The programmehas received a brilliantresponse from the B2B frater-

nity as we are focussing onleisure and incentive segment.Mauritius is a unique destina-tion showcasing an array ofbeautiful landscapes, stunningbeaches, world-class hospital-ity and thrilling adventuresactivities,” he adds.

MTPA has drawn outplans to focus on promotingGolf, MICE and Wedding seg-ments in the Indian market for2014. It is also looking at tap-ping Tier-II cities in India withthese offerings. According toHaulder, almost ten Indian

weddings were witnessed inMauritius in the past two years.“We are working in tandemwith the Indian travel trade andalso talking to various weddingplanners to create awarenessabout Mauritius as a weddingdestination,” he points out.

Launched last year, the Mauritius Grand Master is helping build, grow and maintain a strong and comprehensivenetwork of Mauritius ‘Travel Specialists’ who can promote the country to attract more visitors.

Mauritius sees growth in B2B moduleA P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 5NTO

The programmehas received abrilliantresponse fromthe B2Bfraternity as weare focussing onleisure andincentivesegment

Vijaye HaulderDeputy Director MTPA

Dubai startsTourism Dirham

Dubai government hasintroduced 'TourismDirham' concept fromMarch 31, 2014. The'Tourism Dirham' is a min-imal charge to be applied toguests staying in all genresand rating of holidayaccommodation includinghotels, hotel apartments,guesthouses and holidayhomes. This minimalcharge will vary betweenDh7 to Dh20 per room, pernight, depending on thehotel category and rating.Such tourism fees arecharged in several leadingtourist destinations aroundthe world.

TT BU R E AU

ANALYSIS

Moving over plain vanil-la ticketing for survival

As global travel hasbecome more common, themarket is seeing increasingdemand for unusual destina-tions, personalised travel andspecialist holidays. Accordingto Viren Sinha, Chairman &Managing Director, BalmerLawrie, the travel industry has

seen more changes in the lastone year than what it had to gothrough in a whole decade.“While most airlines are bleed-ing, air travel - both businessand holidays – has shown dou-ble-digit growth year-on-year.In the face of this, diminishingcommissions from the airlinesand the weekly payment have

made many travel agents, whooffer plain vanilla ticketing,question their own survivalsince their corporate clients payanywhere between 30-90days,” he points out. Most tick-eting agents will now requirehuge cash reserves to managetheir cash flows. Obviously, thiswill lead to a high level of attri-tion in the travel trade andwould spur consolidation in theindustry, he adds.

Expanding value proposition

Talking about how thenew takeover of VacationsExotica going to benefit thecompany, he reveals, “BalmerLawrie has a huge customerbase in the corporate travelsector. It has a presence inmore than 88 locations. We

took over the premier holidaybrand Vacations Exotica alongwith its people and businesswith the objective of strength-ening our foothold in the holidaysector. This takeover will helpBalmer Lawrie expand its valueproposition and offer end-to-end services in the tours andMICE segment as VacationsExotica brings with it a multi-tal-ented work force and a widerange of holiday packages. Thesynergy between the two willmake it a very potent force.”

Pushing growth inleisure market

Going forward, the com-pany is planning to merge Tours& Travel business unit withVacations Exotica. “We will beactively pushing growth in theleisure market and also theinbound tourism business. Wehave our own travel portal,www.balmerlawrietravel.com,and you will find that the pricestherein are among the bestavailable. The objective of set-ting up the Balmer Lawrie onlinetravel portal is not to competewith other OTAs but to comple-ment our own tours and traveltouch points, which, along withthose of Vacations Exotica,number around 250 acrossIndia,” he informs.

Betting big on corporatetravel

In the corporate travelbusiness, there is a lot ofdemand for ‘flexible’ tickets, forbookings that can be changedat the drop of a hat becauseexecutive travel scheduleschange unexpectedly. And asticket cancellation and resched-uling charges are typically high,corporate houses do not wantto incur such additional expens-es. Balmer Lawrie not onlyaddresses the demand forthese kinds of flexible bookingsbut also provide total travelmanagement solutions to busybusiness travellers. Additionally,the company has made avail-able tailor-made ‘self-bookingtool’, which will allow large cor-porate houses to integrateBalmer Lawrie’s web-basedtravel services with their ERPsoftware, and process travelrequirements of their employ-ees through their intranet.Employees can directly accessthe Balmer Lawrie travel portalthrough their company’sintranet, coordinate internallyfor outstation meeting sched-ules and do their travel bookingafter going through all thechoices in airlines, departuretimes, prices, etc., on theirtablets and laptops.

Rising demand for differentiated holidays, increasing consumer spend ontravel and emerging markets are all helping to support a recovery in Mergers&Acquisitions (M&A). Balmer Lawrie, a Mini-Ratna PSU with diversifiedbusiness portfolios, has bought over Vacations Exotica.

Specialist travel leading to M&A

ME G H A PAU L

This takeover will help usexpand its valueproposition and offerend-to-end services in

the tours and MICEsegmentsViren SinhaChairman & MD, Balmer Lawrie

What is the USP of theeighth edition of KTM?

Till now, ‘God’s OwnCountry’ has been perceivedonly as a leisure destination.KTM 2014 will project the stateas an ideal destination for wed-dings, honeymoons and MICEthrough collective efforts bystakeholders in the travel andtourism industry. At the mart,we will have destination wed-ding themes. The state govern-ment has recently reduced lux-ury tax on convention centresand auditoriums from 20 to 10per cent to make participationat such venues more popular.There are plans to form con-sortiums at the city level to pro-

mote MICE. KTM intends toincrease Kerala’s market shareby `5,000 crore by targettingthese segments.

How many buyers andsellers are you expecting this time?

This year, we would see a ‘Hosted BuyerProgramme’, which would seebuyers interacting withexhibitors of their choice and more appointment-based, one-to-one sessions.So far, 361 foreign and 1,136

domestic buyers have registered for participation.The registrations will close byJuly 15, 2014.

Which are the sourcemarkets that you will tar-get this year?

The focus will be onreaching out to niche buyers from markets such asthe US, Australia, Brazil,Chile, South Africa, Sweden, Finland andDenmark. KTM has set itself a target of 15 per centwith arrivals from new andemerging markets. The Mart will also highlight inno-vative tourism products likevillage life experience and culture tours.

KTM 2014 (September 18-20) will be held at the Samudrika ConventionCentre of the Cochin Port Trust in Willingdon Island. A big turnout of MICEtourism operators, wedding planners, and adventure tour operators isexpected, says Abraham George, President, Kerala Travel Mart 2014.

So far, 361 foreign and1,136 domestic buyershave registered forparticipation. Theregistrations will close byJuly 15, 2014.

Abraham GeorgePresident, Kerala TravelMart 2014

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361 foreign buyers register for KTM

Travelport, a leading distri-bution services and e-com-

merce provider for the globaltravel industry, has announcedthe launch of TravelportSmartpoint in India. This is anenhanced version of its indus-try-leading travel agency point-of-sale application to be distrib-uted in India by InterGlobeTechnology Quotient, theregional Travelport partner.

Travelport Smartpointhas been embraced by morethan 110,000 travel agentsworldwide. Owning to its user-

friendly features, this desktopapplication will be saving timeby reducing the overall keystrokes by 15 per cent and sig-nificantly reducing costs.

The success of the appli-cation is its ability to offer usersa blend of graphical and crypticuser interaction alongside arange of time-saving features:improving the agent-user expe-rience, reducing training costs,and speeding up the reserva-tion process. This technologyis expected to save trainingtime since it can be used byagents who are familiar withany GDS. Most significantly, itenhances profitability and cus-tomer service for travel agentsin India by providing a platformto leverage merchandisingopportunities through theTravelport MerchandisingPlatform (TMP). TravelportMerchandising Platformincludes a range of sophisticat-ed travel sales and marketing

retailing capabilities that allowairlines to promote productsand services to the right buyers, at the right time, in theright place.

Anil Parashar, Presidentand CEO, InterGlobe

Technology Quotient, said,“Travelport Smartpoint indi-cates the evolution of the nextgeneration of GDS, which pro-vides flexibility of choice andease of usage. The only way tostay relevant for agents is tocreate revenue sources

beyond the conventional book-ing fee. Upselling focusses ondriving conversions from cur-rent customers and can be thelargest and most profitablesource of income for any business.” Parashar adds,“Travelport Smartpoint will

enable a user to offer addition-al services while booking aticket. For instance, a customercan avail of offers relating tolounges, WiFi access, seats, meals, hotels, tours,cabs, etc. Training costs willalso decline by up to 50 per

cent as agents can operate thisapplication on any GDS.”Travelport has further addedenhanced hotel shopping,intelligent fare rules andadvanced seat maps that arecapable of showcasing all features of a seat.

Travelport Smartpoint, distributed in India by InterGlobe Technology Quotient, improves the agent’s user experience,reduces training costs, and speeds up the overall reservation process.

Creating revenue sources for agentsTECHNOLOGY A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 7

The only way tostay relevant isto createrevenue sourcesbeyond theconventionalbooking fee

Anil ParasharPresident and CEOInterGlobe Technology Quotient

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EXHIBITIONS

The 21st MoscowInternational Travel &

Tourism Exhibition (MITT) saw

over 1,800 exhibitors, with inter-national companies represent-ing two thirds of this number.This key meeting place enablesparticipants to increase aware-ness of their destination, gain areal feel for the Russian travelmarket and gauge demand fortheir services.

“The Russian outboundtourism grows at a much higherrate than the traditionalEuropean markets, with somecountries exceeding 1 millionRussian tourists a year,” saysMaria Badakh, Sales andEvent Director, ITE Group. Sheadds, “According to UNWTO,Russians are the 5

thhighest

spenders in the world, and themiddle class is growing rapidly.”

India has been getting ashare of this growing market;and according to the latest sta-tistics released by the Ministryof Tourism (Government ofIndia), 1,77,526 Russiantourists visited India in 2012.This is a 23 per cent growthover 2011. “India has remainedin the region of 300 sqm atMITT, and a few state tourismboards, such as Goa, Kerala,and Karnataka, have joined theshow recently,” adds Badakh.

Amresh Kumar,Manager- Tourism &Marketing, IRCTC, says, “This

is a very good platform to inter-act with the foreign tour oper-ators who visit us at the exhibi-

tion along with our preferredagents. In Russia, we have sixpreferred agents who workclosely with IRCTC.”

Confident about a growthfrom the Russian market withthe introduction of visa-on-arrival, HS Duggal, ManagingDirector, Minar Travel, adds,“The Russian market is stillupbeat. Their preferences arechanging. They are getting

more into culture and historyand they want to explore more.Rajasthan is picking up andKerala is a very popular choice.With VoA, we will see a 15-20per cent growth from theRussian market.”

Badakh has a similaropinion and feels that a simplervisa regime can make all thedifference. She feels, “Thereare lots of charter flightsbetween Russia and India, andsince the visa process wassimplified for tourists arrivingat Goa airport, the numbers ofRussians have doubled in oneyear. India has everything theRussian tourists want for theirholidays – warm climate, beau-tiful beaches, amazing sceneryand historical heritage.”

While the market looksupbeat, the political situationthis year might be a dampenerfor the tourists. TejinderGrewal, Director, Caper TravelCompany, says, “There hasbeen an issue this yearbecause of the Crimean crisis,

and this lead to a fall in theRouble compared to the USDollar. This might have an out-come on the winter and will dis-turb the sales. On the brighterside, the Russian tourists arenow taking a 14-day holidayand week-long excursions toexplore India beyond Goa.”MITT’s focus this year wasMICE that might be a lead forthe next big tourism opportuni-ty from the country.

MITT, Russia’s most popular travel exhibition sawincreased participation, especially from Indianexhibitors. This reinforces Russia’s growing interest inIndia. gets you the details.

Russia’s interest in India

AA RT I NAG RAT H F R O M MO S C O W

With VoA, we will see a15-20 percent growthfrom theRussianmarket

Somecountrieshave morethan onemillionRussiantourists a year

Maria BadakhSales and Event DirectorITE Group

HS DuggalManaging DirectorMinar Travel

The Russiantourists areopting forweek-longexcursions toexplore Indiabeyond Goa

In Russia, wehave sixpreferredagents whowork closelywith IRCTC

Amresh KumarManager- Tourism & MarketingIRCTC

Tejinder GrewalDirectorCaper Travel Company

As 92 constituencies across14 states and Union

Territories went in for pollingrecently, travel companies andtour operators have witnessedalmost a 30 per cent rise in thebookings for the long weekend,

which started with election andended with Ambedkar Jayantiand Baisakhi. Interestingly, thedemand is equally balanced on the domestic front andtowards short-haul internation-al destinations.

According to ShibaniPhadkar, Senior VicePresident-Leisure Travel(Outbound), Thomas CookIndia, there is always a spurt inbookings when there is anextended weekend. “Mostlypeople are going for nearbydomestic destinations. Manytravellers are also opting forshort-haul outbound destina-

tions such as Dubai, Bangkokand Thailand,” she adds.

The demand for pack-aged tours offered by compa-nies like Cox & Kings is grow-ing among Indians travellingoverseas. But more and moreglobe-trotting Indians are turn-

ing experimental, looking tocustomise trips, opting for off-beat destinations and newerexperiences. In the words ofKaran Anand, Head-relation-ships, Cox & Kings, “Weekendholidays are now a trend.

Combining weekends with fes-tival holidays and holiday dueto elections is an added treat.Choosing ideal destination for an extended holiday ofthree-four days depends uponproximity or travel time fromone’s residence.”

Short-haul direct interna-tional flights are seeing the

biggest growth, says RiazMunshi, Vice President,OTOAI. Maldives, Thailand,Hong Kong, the UAE andDubai are some of the impor-tant destinations. The fact thatit is cheaper to travel and holi-day in Thailand than in Kerala,and stay in better hotels, is a

big incentive. Also noticeableis the fact now that Indians aretaking more frequent holidays,he opines.

Bala Venkateswara RaoS, CMD, Travel Choice, feelsthere has been no directimpact of elections on theSouth India market. “More peo-ple are choosing to go to SouthEast Asia, irrespective of elec-tion dates. This is primarily dueto the fact that many domesticdestinations are costlier thanflying overseas,” he points out.

According to VineetRaina, Vice President-Outbound, TBi -Trail BlazerTours India, initially with themystery around the electiondates, travellers were a little bithesitant to book their holidays.“Now with the election datesannounced, travellers havestarted planning and bookingtheir holidays. We, at TBi, areseeing a surge in outboundtraffic for both short and long-haul holidays. Not to forget, theimpact of bullish stock marketon tourism, in general, is verypositive,” he states.

ANALYSIS

The demand for travel is equally balanced on thedomestic front and towards short-haul internationaldestinations, feel travel industry stalwarts. Read more…

Election boost to outbound

ME G H A PAU L

Shibani PhadkarSenior Vice President-Leisure Travel(Outbound), Thomas Cook India

Karan AnandHead-relationshipsCox & Kings

Riaz MunshiVice PresidentOTOAI

Bala Venkateswara Rao SCMD, Travel Choice

Vineet RainaVice President-OutboundTBi -Trail Blazer Tours India

Plaza Lounge in BengaluruThe Plaza Premium

Lounge announced the launchof its services at BengaluruInternational Airport. Thecompany has opened two pay-in-lounges at the airport, oneeach at the international anddomestic departure terminals.The lounges have been builtto provide a relaxed ambiencefor guests, including softlighting, innovative services

and facilities along with aninteractive food concept. Thehighlight of the dining area isthe interactive food counters,where guests can enjoy made-to-order dishes by the chefs;the guests will be treated toinnovative Indian delicacieslike fresh dosas and uttapam,along with a wide variety ofpastas, assortments of eggpreparations, and a hot buffet

with selection of Indian,Continental and Oriental dish-es. In addition, there is a soup,salad and refreshment count-er. In the bar area, guests canindulge in tapas served along-side a selection of spirits. Forthose looking for light refresh-ment, the lounges also offer arange of delectable pastriesand freshly brewed tea and coffee.

In its continuing efforts tomake e-ticketing simpler and

easier, IRCTC recently intro-duced another user-friendlyscheme named eWallet. It is aRolling Deposit Schemewherein people have anaccount with IRCTC anddeposit money to be used infuture for booking e-ticketsfrom the website. The schemehas received a great responsefrom the IRCTC customers.During January and February2014, there were total book-ings of `1.23 crore and `1.16Crore, respectively, throughthe eWallet scheme whereastill March 26, 2014 a totalbooking of more than `1.32crore was already madethrough this scheme.

The average daily book-ing through eWallet has goneup to nearly 750 tickets, withan average daily fare of `5.07 lakh, from about 250tickets and a daily total fare of`1.75 lakh, when the schemewas launched in mid-November 2013. Till March26, 2014, nearly 19,000 tickets have been bookedthrough this scheme, whichsurpasses the figures of January and February 2014 – 18,466 and 17,476tickets, respectively.

Being very user-friendlyand far more advantageous

than the other paymentmodes in the e-ticketing sys-tem, more than 32,000 usershave so far opted for theeWallet scheme. Earlier, onehad to make the payment forthe fare of the ticket, whilebooking an e-ticket, through

credit card, debit card, net-banking, etc. In this process,the user is transferred to thebank’s server, from IRCTC’sserver, for making the pay-ment; and thereafter, he isonce again taken back into theIRCTC site. This takes consid-

erable time out of the totaltime for booking a ticket. Therehave been instances whenuser’s login, in the IRCTC site,expires during this process.Thus, money is deducted from his bank account but hefails to get the ticket.

With this eWallet scheme, thiseventuality is nullified. Sincethe customer’s money isalready deposited with theIRCTC, he is not transferredto the Bank’s server for payment and precious time is saved.

During January and February 2014, IRCTC got total bookings of `1.23 crore and `1.16 Crore, respectively, throughthe E-Wallet scheme, whereas till March 26, 2014 a total booking of more than `1.32 crore had been made.

IRCTC cashes in on eWallet schemeRAILWAYS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 1 1

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

Poland woos India

Poland TouristOrganisation (PTO) in asso-ciation with PolandConvention Bureau, con-ducted three-city roadshowsin Mumbai, Bangalore andNew Delhi. The roadshowswere a part of the PTO’sproduct marketing andbranding campaign, ‘Polska- Come and Find Your Story’.They were targetted towardspromoting Business &Leisure Tourism. Speakingabout the campaign, EmiliaKubik, Project Leader, PolishTourist Organisation, said“India is one of the promi-nent markets for Poland andwe are extremely over-whelmed to receive such aphenomenal response to ourcampaign. Going forward,we would like to focus onIndian Film Industry apartfrom MICE & leisure tourismas we foresee India as a keycontributor to our in-boundtourism.”

COVER STORY

Providing a platform for tourismContd. from page 1

IITB (formerly GITB) over thelast few years has developedinto the number one B2B showin India. At the end of the day atravel show is only as good asits buyers.

Dipak DevaCo-Chairman Tourism Committee of FICCI

One good event should suffice. These kinds of exhibitions serve tourismstakeholders and id a platformto showcase tourism offeringsavailable in India.

Subhash VermaImmediate Past President, ADTOI

The role of tourism as a majoreconomic driver and employ-ment generator is widely known.We should work with all stake-holders to put tourism at thecentre of our public policy.

Abraham GeorgePresident, Kerala Travel Mart Society

This is a great platform to getnew buyers to India. The beautyof this show is that the buyersvisiting the show have beenpicked by the industry itself.

Hemant MendirattaVice President – Sales (Travel Trade)

Oberoi Hotels

It is good that the show hasmoved to Delhi. The MOT, alongwith FICCI and IGTA, is prepar-ing to host the first everIncredible India Golf TourismSummit in October at Delhi.

Rajan SehgalPresident, India Golf Tourism Association

We found the appointments to be quite productive. We are expecting to meet new travel and tourismcompanies, besides the tradi-tional ones.

Kiran JotiExecutive Director, Indian Routes

India is still attracting good num-ber of inbound tourists. Thisevent offers Indian sellers a great opportunity to showcase their products tointernational buyers.

Amit PrasadCOO, Go India Journeys

VoA is expected to boost her-itage tourism as well.Foreigners look for indigenouslocal experiences. The Electionswill also be a game-changer.

Sunil Sikka Head - Marketing

& Business Development, ITC - WelcomHeritage Hotels

The VoA facility will appeal toglobal participants who havecome to attend IITB. It is a much-needed event and will help pro-moting inflow of FTOs.

Arbind PrasadDirector General

FICCI

“IITB has been good this year. VoA will also have a huge impact on tourism, butawareness on this advantage isa must.”

Harish Mathur President,

Concord Travels and Tours

We hope to have at least 20 meetings scheduled at IITB. I hope that IITB is further strengthened and |only takes on a larger mantle ahead.

Jatinder TanejaMD, Travel Spirit International

We want more support from theCentral Government, which, wethink is focussing only on NorthIndia. The boom in tourism inKerala has been only becauseof the state government.

Suresh KumarGeneral Manager, Ramada Resort Cochin

As IITB is happening in Delhi,it is easier for hotel chains toparticipate in the show. Weneed to work to promote IITBas the show is very organised.

Randhir GuptaDirector of Sales - Leisure

Accor International Sales Office

IITB was a very apt and seri-ous show. We met a lot of buy-ers from South America,Vietnam and Russia. The ideato have a focussed audiencewill help us. We would love tomeet other FTOs, and thus,

more shows like this is a need of the hour.

Priyanka VohraDirector of Sales, Kingdom of Dreams

AVIATION A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 1 3

The company currentlyoffers luxury travel pack-

ages through its Baron LuxuryHolidays division wherein itoffers Signature services to allits clientele who are looking forunique high-end holidayoptions. The holiday division iskeen to work closely with travelagents and tour operatorsacross India and worldwide,who caters to the top-classbusiness corporate compa-nies, Bollywood stars, politicalparties or even HNI (High Net-worth Individuals) who are looking for businessjets for their business andleisure requirements.

Talking about the servic-es offered by Baron Aviation,Rajeev Wadhwa,Chairperson, Baron Luxuryand Lifestyle, said, “BaronAviation is all about personal-isation and convenience.Along with offering businessjets and helicopters, we alsooffer Signature services to our

guests looking for leisure traveloptions. We offer air charters,concierge services, VIP secu-rity, navigator for tailored travelschedules, butler services,culinary concierge service,multi-lingual assistance, per-sonal shopper specialist andmany such options. Overall,we are a one-stop shop forhigh-end travellers looking forexperiential holiday experi-ences in style.” Adding furtheron the relationship with travelagents, Wadhwa said, “We arelooking for partners whoseclients opt for charters, busi-ness jets and helicopters ontheir vacations or businesstravel, who are looking forisland excursions, who wantsto explore multiple locations ina country through hassle-freemode of transport. We are notworking as a competition totravel agents but we want towork with them as partners.We need to work towardsgrowing the outbound tourismmarket, develop new high endproducts and ensure thatIndia’s high-end travellers have

something to look forward fortheir every international trip.”

Apart from incentivisingtravel trade for bringing busi-ness, the company is also edu-cating the industry about howtravelling in a business jet orhelicopter is not so expensiveand makes business sense forcorporate travellers.

Mumbai-based Baron Aviation, a division of Baron Luxury and Lifestyle,is focussing on the growing high-end outbound travel market.

For luxury holiday experiences

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AirAsia India welcomesfirst aircraft

AirAsia India receivedits first Airbus-A320recently at Kamaraj airport,Chennai. Powered by CFMengines, the aircraft is con-figured in an all economylayout with 180 seats.Mittu Chandilya, ChiefExecutive Officer of AirAsiaIndia said, “AirAsia Indiatakes immense pride inwelcoming home its firstaircraft which has justrolled of the manufacturingline from Toulouse.

The arrival of our first A320 signifies that

we are a step closer to ourdream to create a newbenchmark in the low-costair travel category. TheIndian aviation industry willsoon witness a prodigiousoverhaul with the entry ofAirAsia India.”

AirAsia India’s fleet will bedrawn from the 475 A320family aircraft ordered by theAirAsia Group. To date,

almost a third of the aircrafton order have already beendelivered and are flying onAirAsia Group’s operationsout of Kuala Lumpur,Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila andnow Chennai.

We are a one-stop shop forhigh-endtravellerslooking forexperientialholidayexperiences in style

Rajeev WadhwaChairpersonBaron Luxury and Lifestyle

� Along with offeringbusiness jets andhelicopters, they also offerSignature services to ourguests looking for leisuretravel options.

� They offer air charters,concierge services, VIPsecurity, navigator fortailored travel schedules,butler services, culinaryconcierge service, multi-lingual assistance, personalshopper specialist andmany such options.

Service Offerings

Mittu ChandilyaChief Executive OfficerAirAsia India

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Exponential growth on the anvil

The outbound numbers inthe cruise segment from theSouth Asia market, especiallyfrom India, is expected to growexponentially as cruise shipsbecome more accessible andpackages become affordable tocustomers. And as the companylooks at putting more ships inSingapore and Hong Kong inthe near future, India outbound

becomes vital to the cruise line’sgrowth. The Indian market isgrowing by 8-10 per cent annu-ally. This will triple by 2020.Currently, there are around onelakh guests per annum for cruis-ing experiences from India.There is opportunity for threelakh guests in the next fiveyears. This will be facilitated by the world’s best ships coming toAsia soon. Thus, we need to offer fly-cruise programmescloser to India to drive business.

Indians buy cruise fromB2B

We are betting big on trav-el agents in India for expandingour market share in the country.The commission on cruisesgoes as high as 10 per cent on

total ticketpric-

ing. Regarding consumerbehaviour, the trend in cruisesis that they go online and checkall facilities but book only afterface-to-face dialogue with travelagents. The incidence of peoplebooking cruise lines directlyfrom India is only about five percent, primarily because nocruise currently departs from Indian shores. Thus, thetraveller needs flights, transfersand accommodation beforecoming on board.

This is where the travelagent plays a big role asIndians buy cruises only fromtravel agents. Thus, we need toinvest in our travel

distribution market.

Cruisingtrends

TheIndian cruisemarket is

currently of two kinds—theyoung travellers taking the two-night itinerary and the high-endluxury traveller that goes all theway to Alaska and Europe. Weare looking at filling this void.The company is looking to tapthe families, leisure and MICEsegment by offering near-flycruising opportunities. If weimprove the accessibility ofcruise ships to the market thenthey need not travel to NorthAmerica and Europe to accessthem. Also, if we deliver anappealing port density to getmultiple countries and multipleports, we will have a formula forsuccess in any given market.

New initiativesThe group is looking at

making products more relevantwith introduction of nearby des-tinations in South East Asia inour itineraries. We are workingclosely with our local distribu-

tion partner TIRUN TravelMarketing on group pricing,new products, market segmen-tation and culinary designs. Weare also working with touroperators, hotels and airlinesto create dynamic packageswith the component of cruisingso that the packages, on thewhole, sound affordable andattractive to customers.

Challenges Unfortunately, there is not

much money being spent bythe cruise lines on educatingthe travel agents about cruiseholidays. This needs to bedone collectively by travelstakeholders. However, thiscan only happen once there issome growth in the cruise mar-ket. Also, there is no globalGDS for cruising products.Thus, there is no aggregatorfor cruise products and this hasto be tackled.

Gavin Smith, Regional Vice President-Asia Pacific, Royal Caribbean Cruises, talks to about how the Indian cruisemarket is expected to grow from the current one lakh cruisers per annum to about three lakh in the next five years.

Aiming for near-fly cruise programmesLEADER TALK

ME G H A PAU L

This is where the travel agent plays abig role as Indians buy cruises onlyfrom travel agents. Thus, we need toinvest in our travel distribution market.

Gavin SmithRegional Vice President-Asia Pacific,

Royal Caribbean Cruises

MOT

Indian agents enjoy Aussie hospitality

Cathay Pacific Airwaysand Tourism Queenslandorganised a joint FAM tripto Australia for travelagents from India. The tripwas conducted in Marchand the itinerary covered

the Sky Point SurfersParadise, CurumbinWildlife Sanctuary, WarnerBrothers Movie World andthe hot air balloon ride inGold Coast. It also covereda city tour, the Lone Pine

Koala Sanctuary, a rivercruise, a ride on the wheelof Brisbane, a visit to theSteve Irvin Australia Zooand Desert Safari, sandtobogganing and quad bik-ing in Brisbane.

What prompted thismove?

As one of the importantelements of industry academicinterface for the tourism sector,so that the communitybecomes a part of the valuechain, it is important that thesubjects are understood fromthe industry’s viewpoint and

are researched from the com-munity’s perspective. Thishelps to bring out adaptivesolutions. As we have seen,tourism has evolved largely onthe backing of industrial-acad-emic collaborations.Something like this needs to bedone in India as well. So, wethought of having a collabora-tion with one of the biggestacademic bodies under theMinistry of Tourism,Government of India – IITTM.YES Bank and IITM have

signed this MoU to undertakea large amount of activities.

How will this collaboration work out?

Our ‘Edge of India’ proj-ect which started inUttarakhand and West Bengalis now at the inflection point ofattracting business. Thisbecomes important so thatpeople are trained, marketing

aspects are cascaded intoother places and these ele-ments, when studied from anacademic viewpoint, willbecome one element of thecollaboration. So, with IITM,we will work out on theresearch strategy in terms ofhow the training modules cancome out which can laterbecome a part of the IITM cur-riculum itself. YES Bank has a responsible banking programme called YESCommunity, it is a generic pro-

gramme where we interactwith the community on a vari-ety of subjects. On a macrolevel, we need to debate stategovernment and central gov-ernment laws and inter-minis-terial collaborations.

YES Bank has been verykeen on Buddhisttourism. Are you work-ing on anything for thissegment?

We intend to start workingin Bihar on the collaborativecommunity model, we plan toengage with Nava NalandaMahavihara. YES Bank, alongwith the various bodies in Bihar,will champion this collaborativecommunity model on Buddhisttourism. Then, it can cascadeinto a full-fledged circuit devel-opment with many other states.This has got an appeal to attachwith many other economies, ithas got the capacity to engagecountries like China, Vietnam,Laos and Sri Lanka.

What else is YES Bankworking on to facilitatetourism?

Besides an internationalcurrency travel card, which has a very good conversionrate, we are also coming up with an inbound India travel card. Conceptually, it has been endorsed by the ministry. Anyone coming toIndia can carry that card as atransaction enabler.

YES Bank signed an MoU with IITTM for promotingtourism as a tool for socio-economic growth. TusharPandey, Sr President & Country Head, PSPM, sharesmore details with .

YES for community tourism

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We are planning to take upClean India as a subject toget some momentum onthe ground

Tushar PandeySenior President & CountryHead, Public & SocialPolicies Management(PSPM)

NEWS1 8 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

According to Dev Karvat,Managing Director,

TrawellTag Cover More India,there is a need to educate trav-el agents and travellers aboutthe difference between adven-ture activities insurance andgeneral travel insurance. Hesaid, “We are educating travel

agents across India about theimportance and need of a trav-el insurance policy for over-seas travel. However, theyshould also understand thatthere are many things whichare not covered in general trav-el insurance policy like basicadventure activities and self-drive. These are the top two

activities which are increasing-ly opted by Indian travellers ontheir overseas travel, thus wethought of introducing cover forthese activities.”

Under the adventure travelcover, activities like water sports,bungee jumping, rock climbing,etc., will be covered while in self-drive cover, travellers will beinsured for things which are notcovered by car-rental compa-

nies like car theft, accidentaldamage, misfuelling, lost keys,etc. The company also launcheda cover for cruise passengers.Karvat said, “We believe in intro-ducing insurance productswhich are apt for the market andend-travellers. Today, Indians arebecoming more experimentaland are opting for adventure hol-idays. We are confident that ournew range of product-line will bewell accepted in the market.”

The company completedtheir Silver-level training programme in four cities(Ahmedabad, Chennai,Kolkata, Nagpur) last year andis in the process of introducingGold-level training programmein those cities this year. It willalso introduce its Silver-leveltraining programme in 15 new cities this year (startingJuly) which includes Mumbai,Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi,Pune, etc. Karvat informedthat the sales figures went upby 30-40 per cent in those fourcities after the training programme. “The training ismainly focussed at educatingagents about insurance and how they can earn thatextra revenue from this seg-ment. Just 20 per cent of thetime during training is dedicat-ed to our product-line information.”

Known for providing insurance cover for anything and everything in travel, Mumbai basedTrawellTag Cover More recently launched insurance options for adventure activities and self-drive tours for outbound travel segment.

Covering adventure and self-drive tours

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Today, Indians arebecoming moreexperimental and are opting for

adventure holidays

Dev KarvatManaging Director,

TrawellTag CoverMore India

Schengen Visa reformsUnder the new ‘Schengen Plan’, the company is offering insur-ance cover for travellers of up to 80 years of age. The plan hasbeen launched to ensure smooth and hassle-free travel toSchengen countries for this summer with complete global assis-tance and insurance as an add-on benefit. Since the plan is inEuros, it is easy for overseas medical service providers to acceptthese policies and provide instant cashless facility to customers.The Schengen Plan is of three types—Silver, Gold and Platinum.The Silver Plan covers up to EUR 30,000, Gold Plan up to EUR60,000 and the Platinum Plan up to EUR 200,000.

EtihadAirways’ inauguralflight to Jaipur

Etihad Airways starteddaily operations betweenJaipur and Abu Dhabi onApril 2, 2014.

A traditional lamplighting ceremony greetedthe disembarking passen-gers at Jaipur to celebratethe new service and theairline’s tenth destinationin India. Craig Thomas,Etihad Airways’ RegionalGeneral Manager-AsiaPacific North and IndianSubcontinent, said, “Weare confident that the newflights will continue thestrong passenger growthbetween India and theUAE. The new service willprovide travellers fromJaipur with seamless con-nections to the Gulf regionand Middle East, as well asAfrica, Europe and NorthAmerica, via our AbuDhabi hub.” With theaddition of Jaipur, Etihadnow serves a total of 10Indian cities.

In 2011, holiday homes andapartments provider,

Interhome appointed Maison deVoyage, a marketing and salesdepartment of Zaka Group, astheir GSA in India. Since then,Maison de Voyage is educatingIndian travel trade about thebenefits of opting for holidayhomes during vacations for fam-ilies and FITs. However, today,the product is popular only forSwitzerland while Interhome ispresent in 31 countries withmore than 33,000 properties tooffer. It is keen to promote all 31

countries but four destinationsare on top priority – France, Italy,Spain and Austria. Moreover, tobring in price transparency inthe offering throughout everysales channel, the company hasalso eliminated the ‘booking fee’effective January 1, 2014.

Providing more informa-tion about the destination portfolio, Jeniffer Daruwalla,General Manager, Maison deVoyage Pvt Ltd - A Division ofZaka Group, said, “Switzerlandas a market is performing quitewell. But we have more thanjust the Alps country. Our aim

for this year is to educate ourtravel partners aboutInterhome properties locatedin other countries and destina-tions. For instance, we haveexcellent cottages and chaletsin Austria which is globallyknown for ski-holidays. We arenot only trying to develop ski-tourism market in India but alsoassisting our travel trade part-ners to include Interhomeproperties in their itineraries fortravellers. We are primarilypushing for properties locatedin France, Italy, Spain andAustria which are receivinggood number of Indian families

and FIT travellers. We are alsoin talks with France and Austriatourism boards in India to seeif they can promote holiday

home stay options among their travel agent network inIndia.” With India being a priceand value sensitive market,

Interhome India webpagerequired transparent pricing policy for agents and travellers.Thus, Maison de Voyage eliminated the booking fee fromits online booking channel,effective January 1, 2014. “Wediscarded the booking feemodel and still maintained thecommission rate for travel agentpartners to ensure flat pricingpolicy across all our channels.No doubt that it is impacting our bottom lines, but we areconfident that the volume will increase and thus, the busi-ness growth will be healthy this year.”

Maison De Voyage intends to expand destination focus for Interhome. The company is pushing for destinations likeFrance, Austria, Italy and Spain, by eliminating booking fee from the reservation system for transparent pricing.

Offering more properties for holidays We are primarily pushing for

properties located in France, Italy,Spain and Austria which arereceiving good number ofIndian families and FIT

travellers

Jenaifer Daruwalla General Manager

Maison de Voyage Pvt Ltd -A Division of Zaka Group

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AGENTS A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 1 9

The company has formed analliance with Mumbai-based

Cox & Kings India andEzeego1.com to bring in Indiatravel expertise and offer adven-ture tours which are apt forIndian travellers.

Karan Anand, Head –Relationships, Cox & KingsIndia, said, “There is a growinginterest from Indian travellersabout adventure tourism. Wesaw an opportunity to bring ininternational expertise and offerbest adventure tours which notjust make the experience morememorable, but also helps thelocal community of that partic-

ular destination. Thus, we intro-duce the first-of-its-kind sus-tainable adventure tourismoptions for Indian travellers.”The collaboration will promotetravel style ranges from YOLOtours (You Only Live Once, solive fast, live free!), local livingtours, classic tours, active tours,marine tours, expedition

cruises, family tours, comforttours and private group tours.

Both Cox & Kings Indiaand Ezeego1.com will be pro-moting these packagesthrough direct and indirectsales channels. Indirectincludes sub-agent networkwhich is widely spread across

India. The packages will bepriced very economicallydepending on the destinationand activity preferred by thetraveller. Neelu Singh, COO, Ezeego1.com, said,“Innovation has become thebuzzword today. We are at thehelm of a digital euphoriawherein travellers are adven-

turous, responsible and techsavvy. We are excited to start a revolutionary travel experience for all our cus-tomers with all our combinedstrengths. G Adventures is anadventure travel pioneer offer-ing the widest selection ofaffordable small group tours,safaris and expeditions tomore than 100 countries on all continents.”

Bruce Poon, Founder,G Adventures, said, “India isan exciting and dynamic mar-ket with huge potential for GAdventures. We currentlyoperate good number ofinbound adventure tours toIndia, but with the alliance, wenow open the market for out-bound travel from India. Thismarket is experiencing rapidgrowth in terms of outboundtourism and with globaldemand for adventure travelalso continuing to grow, nowis the perfect time to introduceit as a new way to see the world.”

Canada-based G Adventures, actively promoting sustainable adventure tourism packagesaround the globe, has now entered the Indian market to tap the outbound travel sector.

Foraying into the Indian outbound market

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(L-R): Karan Anand, Bruce Poon and Neelu Singh announcing the entry of G Adventures into India

Six moreproperties inIndia by2015

Choice Hotels India, apart of Choice HotelsInternational, is planning toopen 6 more properties by2015 in India. Choice HotelsIndia is one of the fastestand finest growing hotelchains with 24 properties inover 20 destinations in Indiaand another 14 propertiesunder different stages ofdevelopment. “We plan tofocus on extensive develop-ment resources on growingour presence in India. As wehave last year expanded ourpresence with the openingof 5 properties: ClarionHotel Chennai, Clarion HotelCoimbatore, Quality InnKumabakonam, Quality InnBangalore and Comfort Innin Ahmedabad. In additionanother 03 properties havebeen inked Comfort Hotel inKhanvel Silvasa , ComfortHotel, Abu Road inRajasthan and Quality Hotelin Chennai. We are planningto add another 3 propertiesthis year. By 2015, we willhave about 32 Properties,”said Vilas Pawar, ChiefExecutive Officer for ChoiceHospitality India.

� Promoting YOLO (You OnlyLive Once, so live fast, livefree!) tours

� Promoting packagesthrough direct and indirectsales channels

Highlights

ASSOCIATIONS2 0 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

Business is slow, and today the scenario is such thatthe small and medium tour operators are facing thereal crunch. The international and domestic marketsare down and there is international recession overall.Europe and North America are in a bad situation. Weneed to get this business back. Earlier in roadshows,participants were spending their own money for trans-portation, airfare and hotel stay. MOT was hosting our

dinner and providing event management, now event management hasbeen taken up by IATO with the result that there is an additional burdenof Rs 35,000-40,000 per company. So, for a small operator, shelling outRs 40,000 for each roadshow is a lot, in addition we are paying a lot oftaxes. Why can’t we subsidise these roadshows so that even small oper-ators can benefit from it and participate?

Rajesh Mudgill, Contesting for Senior Vice President

I want our organisation to work for small and mediumtour operators. We should give them support and sub-sidise their travelling. At the moment, we are depend-ent on the MDA scheme of the MOT but IATO is acash-rich organisation and I want the members’money to go back to the members. We should sub-sidise the marketing efforts of the small and mediumtour operators. IATO should invest in technology, we

should start making audio guides for tourists coming to India and we canmake bilingual audio guides for foreign tourists. We can train our staff inlearning languages and approach IITTM to start language courses orapproach the MOT to have professional courses for the staff of travelagencies. IATO can provide the faculty and IITTM can certify them.

Arun Anand, Contesting for Vice-President

There are lots of issues that need to be addressed.During my 20 years at IATO, I have always worked forthe benefit of small and medium tour operators and I’llcontinue to do that. Once elected, I’d like the associationto sponsor all the IATO luncheon meetings.

Lally Matthews, Contesting for Honorary Secretary

We need to examine the reasons why despite havingthe best potential to attract tourists, the best effortsmade by all stakeholders and regular road shows cov-ering various traffic generating markets, we have notbeen able to move forward. I will work to ensuregreater transparency, modernisation and profession-alism in IATO affairs. There is a need to make IATOmore receptive. All mails to IATO office should beanswered in 24 hours. We will also look at maintaining an ethical codeof conduct with travel stakeholders. I will also work to make the IATOwebsite more interactive and useful for IATO members.

Pronab Sarkar, Contesting for SecretaryI want to look after the betterment of the finances ofthe association. I want the members to be treated likestakeholders and not as customers. I propose thatIATO sponsors the members for all major fairs andexpos. We pay more than Rs 50lakh as taxes to thegovernment. Why not utilise that money for the benefitof the organisation? I would also like to focus on prod-uct development, right now all we are selling is Delhi-

Agra-Jaipur, why can’t we sell places like the Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhandand Chattisgarh? We should explore study tours for operators.

Lajpat Rai, Contesting for Treasurer

Inbound has been affected adversely in the last one year.Going forward, there are many issues such as infrastruc-ture in totality and the marketing strategy to promote Indiaas a destination that IATO needs to tackle. We need todeliberate upon whether we are competitive enough vis-a-vis our neighbours and whether we have the requiredinfrastructure to support the upsurge in the number oftourists that we are expecting. Thus, IATO must worktowards developing cohesive leadership. We aim to culti-

vate active participation from our members. Collectively, we need to work asan association to bring greater synergies with similar ideologies.

Amaresh Tiwari, Contesting for TreasurerMy main emphasis is that the executive committeeforms a core advisory group. The members of the exec-utive committee must have the whole vision of theindustry and the necessary experience behind themso that they can talk on issues crucial for the industry.Small operators should be the focus. More than 2/3membership of the IATO comes from allied members– hotels and sub-agents. I feel, they should be given

active role so that IATO becomes more vibrant.

Harish Chopra, Contesting for Executive Committee Member

IATO, under the leadership of its President Subhash Goyal, saw some landmark accomplishments which included the induction of the group landing permit, the introduction of ETA and Visa-on-Arrival to all countries in the world (except eight).Moving forward, Subhash Goyal will continue unopposed as the IATO president for the next term as well.

Subhash Goyal President, IATO

IATO - Heading for a new beginning

We promise to utilise IATO funds in a better way. Instead ofpaying taxes, we would spend the funds for benefit of mem-bers by undertaking activities, including freezing member-ship fees for two years, organising more education tours tostates in India. There are benefits that MOT used to give,especially to small tour operators, in terms of marketingdevelopment assistance. During our tenure, we convincedthe ministry that the amount being subsidised is not ade-quate and the reimbursement value was increased. The second step wetook for small tour operators was for the expenses they incur while stayingin a hotel. We proposed to evolve a system wherein the members get subsidy

for an average of 3-4 night stay. Wonder, who has agreed to the regressiveclause of 15% growth to become entitled for MDA? If the whole countryis not growing more than 5%, our inbound tourism is not crossing 6% perannum, how can we expect a small operator to show a growth of 15%?It is highly impractical. We have decided to pursue what we have leftbehind, enhancing and enlarging the scope of MDA and protecting theinterests of small operators. The large operators have deeper pockets, it

is the small operators who need such assistance.

Atul Rai, Contesting for Joint Secretary

Foreign tourists visit India for 10-12 days and 15 kg ishardly acceptable for luggage allowance. Our associationshould have talked to the Ministry of Civil Aviation andrequested the domestic airlines to at least allow the inter-national policy of 20kg. To pay for every sector 5kg extra,adds to the expense borne by them. I would like toaddress this particular issue with the ministry and requestairlines to be sympathetic to the cause of the travellers.

Tony Marwah, Contesting for Executive Committee Member

IATO Elections on 26 April 2014

NEWS2 2 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

Could you give us an overview of the Indo-Japan TourismExpo?

The Expo was conceivedprimarily to bring the decision-makers of Japan's tourism sec-tor to India and share theirviews about how India is per-ceived amongst internationaltourists from Japan. This isexactly what happened. Theyhad many observations,expectations and constructivesuggestions for India's tourismsector from a Japanese per-spective. I am sure that thesewill be noted by our decision-makers and stakeholdersbecause of their immensevalue and the level ofJapanese tourism leadership

that aired them. Their leadersalso disclosed Japan’s new ini-tiatives and strategy to attractinternational tourists in the lightof 2020 Olympics being hostedin Tokyo. Discussions betweenthe Japanese and Indian par-ticipants highlighted the areasrequiring attention, such asfood, language, cultural com-munication, hygiene, punctual-ity and quality of transportservices, connectivity andinfrastructure, to name a few.

The event was one-of-its-kind. Do you think weneed more such eventsin the future to promotethe cause of tourism?

It will always be useful toinvite tourism-related decisionmakers of private and publicsectors from the countries we

wish to focus on. This will helpus to understand their expecta-tions and suggestions, to invitecountry-specific marketingideas from them. Attractingtourism traffic from different cul-tures/countries requires posi-tioning our destinations in anuanced way that appeals totheir sensibilities.

What do you see asthe possible outcome ofthe event?

We are certain that bybringing the who's who ofJapan's tourism sector to Indiafor the first time, we havedrawn their attention moreclosely towards India as a des-tination. It took us 6 months ofsustained efforts to convincethem to visit India. Since theywork at a global level, we

should seize more suchopportunities.

How do you think hasthe event helped shapetourism relationsbetween the two countries?

Shaping tourism relationsrequires a vision, time, imagina-tion, creativity, marketing and

passion. Our effort was to bringJapan's decision-makers toIndia and we did that perfectly. Itis now for the decision-makersand stakeholders of India'stourism sector to capitalise onsuch opportunities.

Based on yourexperience of hostingan event of this stature,

what would you suggest as guidelines to promote India as a major tourist destination?

India has sufficienttourism experts to give guide-lines. Considering the poten-tial of tourism to promotecross-cultural communicationand bringing people andnations closer (apart fromgenerating revenue), I wouldlike to generate a debate byasking - Is Tourism an under-estimated sector in India? Wehave been blessed with theHimalayas, the forests, thedeserts, great rivers, beach-es, wildlife, historical and reli-gious sites, an abundant vari-ety of cuisine, art, music, lit-erature and the list can go on.Yet we lag behind. Why?

Having provided a networking platform to travel and tourism companies from Japan and India, Aseem Tewari,CEO, Avenues, that organised the India Japan Tourism Expo in Delhi this year, informs that attracting touristsfrom different countries requires positioning our destinations in a manner that appeals to their sensibilities.

Promoting cross-cultural communication

We are certain that bybringing the who's who ofJapan's tourism sector toIndia, we have got theirattention towards India as adestination.Aseem TewariCEO, Avenues

The International AirTransport Association

(IATA) announced global pas-

senger traffic results forFebruary, showing a demandgrowth of 5.4 per cent com-pared to February 2013.Although, this represented a

slowdown compared to theJanuary traffic increase of 8.2per cent, cumulative trafficgrowth for the first two monthsof 2014 was 6.9 per cent,which compared favourablywith the 5.2 per cent overallgrowth achieved in 2013.Capacity in February rose 5.2per cent and load factorclimbed 0.2 percentage pointsto 78.1 per cent. All regionsexcept Africa experiencedpositive traffic growth.

“People are flying. Strongdemand is consistent with thepick-up in global economic

growth, particularly inadvanced economies.” saidTony Tyler, Director Generaland CEO, IATA.

However, a decrease indemand in India may beattributed to subdued con-sumer sentiment ahead of theupcoming election (April-May), as well as elevated farelevels compared to a yearago, are likely exerting down-ward pressure on demand.For Indian carriers, the rev-enue per kilometre (RPK)decreased by 1.8 per centand available seat per kilome-

tre declined to 6.6 per centfrom 7.6 per cent last year.

“The strong demand forair travel at a time of risingbusiness and consumer con-fidence is indicative of thesymbiotic relationshipbetween aviation and eco-nomic growth. The connectiv-ity provided by aviation, bothenables and sustains tradeand development, while eco-nomic activity createsdemand for aviation.Governments that treat avia-tion as if it were a luxury item- or a necessary evil - are

depriving their populations ofa key engine of growth andjob creation,” said Tyler.

India was the only domestic market to see a contraction in demand, stated an IATA report, with air passengertraffic falling 1.8 per cent in February 2014, compared to February 2013.

India witnesses decline in demand: IATA

The strong demand for airtravel is indicative of thesymbiotic relationshipbetween aviation andeconomic growth

Tony TylerDirector General and CEOIATA

TT BU R E AU

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� Cumulative traffic growthfor the first two months of2014 was 6.9 per cent,which compared favourablywith the 5.2 per cent overallgrowth achieved in 2013

� For Indian carriers, therevenue per kilometre(RPK) decreased by 1.8 per cent

Facts

STATES A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 2 3

Bandhavgarh This is a small national park,compact, yet teeming withwildlife. The density of the tigerpopulation in Bandhavgarh isthe highest known in India.Original home of the whitetigers, Bandhavgarh is denselypopulated with other specieslike sambar, barking deer, nilgai, etc. The terrain is of greatrocky hills rising sharply fromthe swampy and densely-forested valley bottoms. Thefinest of these hills isBandhavgarh, sided with greatcliffs anderoded rocks

and on its highest point standssome 2000 years oldBandhavgarh Fort.

Kanha Kanha National Park forms thecore of the Kanha TigerReserve created in 1974under ‘Project Tiger’. The parkis the only habitat of the rarehard ground Barasingha.

A series of stringent con-servation programmes for theprotection of the park’s floraand fauna have given Kanhaits deserved reputation for

being one of the finest and bestadministered National Parks inAsia, an irresistible attraction

for all wildlife lovers and ahaven for its animals and avianpopulation.

Panna Panna National Park was cre-ated in 1981. It was declaredas a ‘Project Tiger Reserve’ in1994. The Ken river, whichflows through the reserve fromsouth to north, is home forGharial and Mugger. Kenoffers some of the most spec-tacular scenery to the visitorwhile it meanders for some 55km through the reserve.

PenchNestled in the southern slopesof the Satpura ranges ofCentral India, the Pench TigerReserve (757.90 sq kms) liesin southern Madhya Pradesh,bordering Maharashtra. Thepark comprises IndiraPriyadarshini Pench National

Park and the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary. It wasbrought under Project Tiger in1992. Over 1,200 species ofplants have been recorded inthe area including several rare and endangered plants aswell as of ethno-botanical importance.

Madhya Pradesh has four national parks – Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna and Pench – which can compare to the best inthe world in terms of wildlife diversity. takes a look at its rich potential for attracting tourists from all over the world.

National parks boosting tourism in MPTT BU R E AU

DID YOU KNOW?Pench National Park is the original

setting of Rudyard Kipling’s famous

work, The Jungle Book. Many of

the places described in the Jungle

Book are actual locations in Seoni

district, like the Waingunga river

with its gorge where Sher Khan

was killed, Kanhiwara village

and the Seoni hills.

The Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) recentlyhosted its three-day 11th annual Convention on the banks of RiverGanga at Shivpuri in Uttarakhand. With delegates being ferriedacross Ganga to their camps by a raft, the convention witnesseda series of business sessions and networking events.

Convention with adrenaline rushFAMILY ALBUM2 4 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

AGENTS

APRILINTERNATIONAL

15-17 Shanghai IT&CM China15-20 The Hague International Travel & Tourism Market23-25 Sao Paulo World Travel Market

Latin America

23-25 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan International Tourism Fair (KITF)

28-30 Cape Town IBTM Africa

MAYINTERNATIONAL2-3 Cape Town World Travel Market

Africa

5-8 Dubai Arabian Travel Market (ATM)

9-11 Shanghai World Travel Fair10-12 Durban Indaba Expo11-13 Bremen Germany Travel Mart

18-21 New Zealand Trenz20-22 Frankfurt IMEX 201427-30 Vancouver Canadian Tourism

Commission’s Rendezvous Canada

29-Jun 1 Seoul Korea World Travel Fair

For more information, contact us at: talk@ddppl.com

JUNENATIONAL24-26 Gandhinagar Gujarat Travel Mart27-29 Guwahati TTF Guwahati

INTERNATIONAL2-5 Shanghai Asia International Luxury Travel

Market (ILTM Asia 2014)

4-6 Bangkok Thailand Travel Mart Plus

10-12 Orlando America Incentives Business Travel& Meetings Expo (AIBTM 2014)

15-17 Sydney Outdoor Retailer Australia

19-21 Dhaka Bangladesh International TourismFair

19-22 Singapore Zak Salaam India Tourism Expo

22-24 Zimbabwe Routes Africa 2014

27-29 Beijing Beijing International Tourism Expo2014

29-July 2 Barcelona 4th International Conference onTourism between China-Spain

JULYNATIONAL4-6 Kolkata Travel & Tourism Fair – Kolkata11-13 Hyderabad Travel & Tourism Fair – Hyderabad18-20 Bengaluru India International Travel Mart21 Bengaluru Thailand Convention & Exhibition

Bureau’s B2B workshop23 Mumbai Thailand Convention & Exhibition

Bureau’s B2B workshop25 New Delhi Thailand Convention & Exhibition

Bureau’s B2B workshop25-27 Chennai India International Travel Mart31 Chennai Tourism New Zealand’s Kiwi Link

India 2014INTERNATIONAL4-6 Beijing Luxury China

10-13 Germany European Outdoor Trade Fair

11-13 Abu Dhabi World Luxury Expo

23-26 China Asia Outdoor Trade Fair

24-26 Cebu Cebu International Travel Expo

How does Zap Bookinghelp agents?

Zap Booking consoli-dates holidays like agents usedto do. We bulk buy airline seatsin advance by paying airlinesat a reduced rate. We also con-tract with specific hotels wherewe enjoy the exclusive rate dueto the commitment, volumeand advance; similarly, wework for transport, visa andothers. We are eventually ableto package the whole holidayat a much lesser cost than anormal FIT holiday packagethat the agent creates by takingindividual rates from the sup-pliers. On an average, we offerour products at a cost that’sabout 10-20 per cent lesserthan a normal holiday package.This further helps agents tomake more profit and ensuresquick turnaround, whichmeans they no more have towork with different overseasvendors, visa, airlines sepa-rately. This can be done by

coordinating with just one enti-ty — us.

What is your USP? Whyshould agents pick youover other competitors?

We do not brand our-selves on ground, we let theagents choose the groupname. This helps the agentsretain their clients. Agents havethis worry that they will losetheir clients if the latter knowwhere agents book their holi-day from. Secondly, most fixeddepartures that operate in themarket are based on fixedhotels and inclusions. If weforce a specific category and

inclusions to our passengers,it is always going to backfire.So, we have created this greatsystem in which we are able tokeep the cost low, along withgiving option to passengers toupgrade their hotels and inclu-sions. This gives every passen-ger the ease of choosing whatthey want to do, where theywant to stay and at a low pricemodule. Also, there are manymore points such as easyaccess, instant availability,good relations with suppliers,hotels and airlines.

How dynamic is theonline business?

Indian consumers trustonline information. To connectto your consumers today, youneed to have all the informationregarding your product pub-lished in detail. That gives itmore credibility. If you don’thave the right information witha booking option on your site,you will lose business. But, Ifeel that the product that youhave, should be such that it isused within the organisation,designed simply, and givesaccurate information. Then,there is no reason why theproduct should fail.

What are your plans for2014?

We want to invest heavilyin technology this year to opti-mise the process and opera-tions, both for external andinternal use. Also, we will bediversifying, not in a differentdomain, but we’ll add moremarkets where we seeprospects and where agentsfind it difficult to book andunderstand.

Nishant Sadana, Director, Zapbooking, talks about his future plans, his brand’sUSP and how information about the products is essential to lend credibility.

Helping agents to profit more

TT BU R E AUTo connect to your consumerstoday, you need to have all theinformation regarding your productpublished in detail. That gives itmore credibility.

Nishant Sadana, Director, Zapbooking

One of the largest resortchains in the world, Club

Med is betting big on the Indiaoutbound market for itsgrowth. According to VijaySharma, Country Manager,Club Med India, the companyin India has registered agrowth rate of around 40 percent every year and with afocussed approach, the groupexpects to double the numberof guests per annum by endof 2014. “The country is agrowing market and with astable GDP growth and bal-looning outbound tourism,Club Med fits in very well fora niche Indian outbound trav-eller segment. Club Med islooking to cater to the biggesttraveller segment, families,which enjoys all-inclusive has-sle-free holiday concept andits Indian marketing office isensuring an easy access forIndians to this unique holidayconcept,” he reveals.

Going forward, thecompany’s core objective inIndia will be to increase con-cept awareness in defined

markets and business vol-ume by expanding through astrong distribution network oftravel agents. “Our marketinginitiative constitutes of vari-ous online campaigns, BTLprogrammes and offlinemedia activation that willkeep our customers educat-ed and updated on our vari-ous offerings and ongoinginitiatives. We are looking atan aggressive distributionstrategy by which it will beavailable through multi-out-lets and also workingtowards creating Club Medspecialists with our preferredtravel partners who will coun-

sel their customers on ourunique holiday offering,”Sharma points out. Afterestablishing PSA sales vol-umes in Mumbai, Delhi andBengaluru, the companywould be aggressively tap-ping non-metro cities.“Diversification of business

into newer resorts in China,Europe etc. would be ournext step as we are currentlyfocussing only on the South-East Asian and Maldivesisland resorts,” he adds.

Talking about how it’sUSP of all-inclusive tag ishelping it to get more out-

bound from India, he elabo-rates, “The concept has beenlargely accepted in India, aswe have seen more than 50 per cent of Club Med customers in India arerepeat clientele or through references and our clients are extremely satisfied

with our service levels in our resorts. The concepthas been accepted becauseof the hassle-free conceptwith no hidden costs and anopportunity to explore variousfood, sports and entertain-ment options without having to pay heavily for everyitem separately.”

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40% growth from India outboundIn a freewheeling discussion with , Vijay Sharma talks about the recent initiatives taken by Club Med India for expanding through a strong distribution network of tour operators.

Vijay SharmaCountry ManagerClub Med India

Our marketing initiative constitutesof various online campaigns, BTLprogrammes and offline mediaactivation that will keep ourcustomers educated and updatedon our various offerings andongoing initiatives

OPPORTUNITY/CLIPBOARD A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4 TRAVTALK 2 7

MOVEMENTS2 8 TRAVTALK A P R I L 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 4

Taj GroupNew DelhiPV Ramana Murthy has been appointed by the Taj Group as theSenior Vice President, Global Head - Human Resources. Murthyjoins Taj Hotels from a distinguished 15-yearcareer with The Coca-Cola Company,where most recently he served asExecutive Director – Human Resourcesfor Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages(HCCB), India and Bangladesh, thewholly owned subsidiary of the BottlingInvestments Group of The Coca-ColaCompany, Atlanta, USA. In this board levelposition at the corporateheadquarters in Gurgaon, hewas responsible for about15,000 employees.

Preferred Hotel GroupNew DelhiSaurabh Rai has been elevated to Area Managing Director of SouthAsia and Middle East for the Preferred Hotel Group. He began his

career with Preferred Hotel Group in 2008as Director of Global Sales &

Development for India and Middle East.Rai was promoted to RegionalDirector of India in 2009 and gainedadditional responsibilities upon hissubsequent promotion to Regional

Director of South Asia and Middle Eastin 2013.

Crowne Plaza Jaipur JaipurAshwani Goela has been taken on as the General Manager for soonto be opened Crowne Plaza Jaipur, Tonk Road. Ashwani brings with

him 15 years of diverse experience in hoteloperations, that range from pre-opening,accommodation management, guestmanagement, sales and marketing and

revenue management. Goela has beenassociated with brands like Radissonand The Imperial in the past. He

has been with IHG since August 2009and his last assignment was with

Crowne Plaza Okhla as EAMand a pre-openingteam member.

The Grand New Delhi New Delhi Kumar Sambhav has been appointed as the Director Food &Beverage at The Grand New Delhi. Prior to The Grand New Delhi,

Sambhav has been associated withCrown Plaza Kochi, The LeelaKempinski Goa, Le Meridien Jaipur,Disney Cruise line, USA. Sambhavholds a degree in Hotel Managementfrom IHM Srinagar and Masters inTourism Management from IGNOU.

Bengaluru Marriott WhitefieldBengaluruNicholas Dumbell has been appointed as the General Manager ofBengaluru Marriott Whitefield. Prior to his arrival in Bangalore,Dumbell was involved in theconceptualization of the RenaissanceKiev Hotel. He has also led BreadsallPriory; Marriott Hotel and CountryClub, a 13th century English Countryresort with two golf courses and ahigh level of leisure and groupbusiness. His previous experienceshave been predominantly focused oncity centre transient hotels.

Radisson Blu Hotel, DwarkaNew DelhiMunish Bhatia has joined Radisson Blu Hotel, Dwarka, New Delhias the Director-Sales & Marketing. His repertoire of skills has made

him successfully climb the echelons of hiscareer ladder. Before joining RadissonBlu Dwarka, Bhatia was with theIntercontinental Hotels Group. Prior to that, he has worked with the Carlson Rezidor family. In his new role, Bhatia will be responsible forgrowing revenues and business across

key market.

Hilton WorldwideDelhi NCRPariva Rustagi has been taken on as the Regional Director, Sales –India, for Hilton Worldwide. She will lead sales efforts for the Hilton

Worldwide portfolio of hotels in India.Rustagi’s experience in the hospitality

industry spans almost two decades.Most recently, she was Director,National Sales – India, MarriottInternational Inc. Prior to joiningMarriott International Inc. in January2008, Rustagi was the Director ofSales & Marketing for The GrandNew Delhi, and before that she held

the position of AssociateDirector of Sales for TheImperial New Delhi.

The Lalit MumbaiMumbaiVijay Sethi is now the General Manager of The Lalit Mumbai. His31 years of experience spans across industries like hotels, airlines,travel & tourism and healthcare. Prior tojoining The Lalit Mumbai, he wasassociated with the Keys Hotels -Berggruen Hotel as the ChiefOperating Officer. Sethi started hiscareer with Clarks Group of Hotels andhas worked with brands such asCentaur Hotel, Sofitel Surya and HolidayInn Crowne Plaza, Leela Kempinski inhospitality sector, Jet Airways in aviation,Thomas Cook India in travel & tourism, andAsian Heart Institute in healthcare.

Talking People is a special dedicated corner, created as a sounding board for who’s who of the Indian and International travel industry. With Talking People, it is our endeavour to bring you face-to-face with people.Contributed by: Megha Paul

P. K. Mohankumar, Chief Operating Officer-Gateway Brand, Taj HotelsResorts & Palaces takes the saying ‘Early to bed, early to rise makes a

man healthy and wise’ very seriously. Hewakes up daily at 6 in the morning. “I am

a health freak and I love indulging inactivities such as swimming, jogging andyoga,” he says. Interestingly, he is alsoa Kalaripayattu (an Indian martial artfrom Kerala) expert and enjoys outdoor

sports such as cricket, football and hockey.“Staying fit is the ethos of my life. For the

last ten years, I have been practicingveganism and have given up ricecompletely,” he adds. Accordingto Mohankumar, reading is animportant part of life and nevergoes out of fashion.

Sanjay Razdan, CEO, Razdan Holidays, has recently won the 1st Positionin T2 Category (Above 1350 CC) in Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm. Razdan

has formed a bond with his car thatstrengthens with every leg at every rally.

“As a child, I would watch the motoristsat the car rallies on the television set andwould dream that I would be doing thiswhen I grew up.” After so manymotorsport rallies to his credit, Razdanis still lured back on the track, year afteryear. “Each time it is a new challenge,

every route is a new route andevery rally offers something

new," he says.

Vasudha Sondhi, Managing Director, Outbound Marketing doesn'tget a lot of spare time as she needs to travel a lot. However, music

is one of her passions that keep her going."I learnt to play the sitar for 10 years,which is like 20 years ago. Now I havebeen learning light music on thekeyboard," she says. Sondhi is also anavid reader. "I read a lot…mostly

historical fictions. I have read all ofWilliam Dalrymple’s work. I like reading

Hindi literature as well."Sondhi loves gardening

and has created a three-level terrace garden

at her place, shereveals candidly.

DoubleTree by Hilton Gurgaon-New Delhi NCRNCRParmeet Singh Nayar has been appointed General Manager ofDoubleTree by Hilton Gurgaon-New DelhiNCR. Nayar has also assumed additionalcharge as India Regional Coordinator -Operations Effectiveness, HiltonWorldwide. Before joining HiltonWorldwide, Nayar led the hotel divisionof the MBD Group as ExecutiveDirector and General Manager ofRadisson Blu Hotel, Noida, Delhi NCR. Inthis role, he also oversaw the MBD Group’shotel projects in Ludhiana andBengaluru.

HIGHLIGHT

Postal Reg. No.:DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.:U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 16th-17th

of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91Date of Publication:15-04-2014

How many exhibitorsand agents participatedin ‘Rendez-vous enFrance 2014’?

The 9th edition of theworkshop, Rendez-vous enFrance, welcomed 850 buyersand 660 global sellers. Indiawas represented by a delega-tion of 19 travel agents and twojournalists from B2B trade pub-lications. Specialising in leisureholidays and corporate travel,our delegation this year comprised of agents from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata andAhmedabad. The fair will takeplace in Paris in April 2015.

How has the fallingrupee made an impacton outbound tourismfrom India to France?

The depreciation of theIndian rupee led to a slowdownin outbound travel in the sec-ond half of the year. Travellerswere not cancelling their plans,but postponing their journeysto a later date. For France, wenoticed that short-stay holidaysincreased as well as a prefer-ence for budget-friendlyoptions. The depreciatingrupee did not greatly affect thetravel plans of those in searchof luxury vacations.

How many visitors didyou receive from Indiain 2013?

In 2013, we estimateapproximately 3,00,000Indians to have visited France.Most of our visitors belong tometropolitan cities such asDelhi, Mumbai, Bangalore withan increasing number of trafficfrom Tier-II and Tier-III cities such as Ahmedabad,Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin,Pune and others.

The percentagesplit between leisure,business and VFR forFrance would beLeisure: 75, Business:20 and VFR: 5.

How has ‘Be thereDo that’ taken offin India? What isyour strategy topromote Francethis year?

We believe that‘Be There! Do That!’ hasbeen favourably accept-ed in India. This very fluidslogan encompasses abroad range of experien-tial activities in France. Inaddition to focussing onFITs, families, honey-mooners, DINKS andcorporates, we wouldalso like to focus on youthtravellers. We will alsowork in collaboration withSwitzerland Tourism. Over thelast 5 years, we have wit-nessed a gradual shift fromescorted holidays to independ-ent customised holidays. Sowe have presented optionssuch as self-drive holidays,wine trails, family holidays, andoptions for honeymooners.

What is your target toadd more agents fornext year, and any newincentives that you areoffering to the traveltrade?

Our annual workshops inNew Delhi and Mumbai allowus and our visiting French part-ners to connect with key play-ers in these cities. Many of ourtravel agency partnersapproach us for assistance initinerary planning. The onlinetraining platform has helped us

effectively broaden our reach.The training is still in progress,and so far we have had around850 participants who have reg-istered for the training.

What are the trends youare seeing for Indianoutbound tourism?

The outlook for 2014 islargely positive, but we believethat prevailing economic con-ditions and the ongoing gener-al elections will, to someextent, determine Indian out-bound travel trends. The tem-porary suspension of biomet-rics for all French visa applica-tions should positivelyenhance the positioning ofFrance as a leisure and corpo-rate destination. We believethat demand for experientialtravel will increase as ourIndian visitors would now like

to add a bit of the‘undiscovered’ to their agenda while travelling abroad. Shortholiday breaks are alsobecoming popular inthis market.

Could you tell usmore on 'MemoryTourism' beingpromoted in 2014,dedicated to thecentenary of theFirst World War?

2014 will be thecentenary year of WorldWar I. France offers itsvisitors a chance torelive the events of thiswar which shaped theworld's history allthrough 2014 and somepart of 2015. The IndianArmy was a significantcontributor to the effortsof Allied forces. Indianmemorial sites can be

found in the Nord Pas deCalais Region in France. AnIndian memorial site has beenerected at Neuve-Chapelle-Richebourg, paying homage tothe role of the Indian soldierswho fought in the Creted'Aubers Battle that took place in March 1915. There is also an Indian and Chinese cemetery in Ayette inthe same region.

KA N C H A N NAT H F R O M FRA N C E

Rendez-vous en France 2014In conversation with Catherine Oden, Director, Atout France, India, finds out more about how France is promoting itself in the Indian sub-continent,what it’s plans are, and the varied options it serves up for the burgeoningIndian outbound tourism market.

In addition to focussing on FITs, families,

honeymooners, DINKSand corporates, we

would also like to focuson youth travellers

Catherine Oden, Director, Atout France, India

� We have tried to promoteart de vivre or the Frenchway of life. As part of thefraternity of Europeantourism boards, we arealways open to jointcollaborations topromote tourism toEurope.

Art de Vivre

Recognising the efforts of achievers from different segments of the industry, South India Travel Awards 2014 starts with a bang in Hyderabad making up for the long-felt necessity to focus on the travel industry in the South. Maya, in her various avatars of Gold, Black, Red and Pearl was the toast of the town.

Sunrise in the South

“The sun is rising in theSouth,” these werethe apt words with

which Chandana Khan,Special Chief Secretary,Andhra Pradesh Tourism,summed up the South IndiaTravel Awards.

Addressing the stake-holders and game changers ofthe South Indian travel industry,who had all gathered togetherat Radisson Blu Plaza HotelHyderabad Banjara Hills to cel-ebrate the South India TravelAwards, Khan, who was theChief Guest at the event, congratulated the organisersand said that there had been a long-felt necessity tofocus on the south.

The awards recognisedthe efforts of achievers fromdifferent segments of theindustry, including those fromthe aviation sector, domesticand international tourism

boards, hotels and resorts,GDS’s as well as travel agentsand tour operators.

Explaining the criteria forthe awards, SanJeet,Publisher, DDP Publications,said, “The winners of theawards were decided by a fairand unbiased selectionprocess done through votingand judgment by a panel ofjury consisting of the travelindustry’s major players. Thetotal score of the judges andthe number of votes received

by each nominee determinedthe final scores of the winners.”

What was most hearten-ing to know was that theorganisers received 250,000votes from 61 countries,including USA, Canada, UK,France, UAE, Germany, Chinaand many other places.

Receiving the ‘Wall ofLegends’ Award on behalf ofher father Vivek Nair, CMD,The Leela Palaces, Hotelsand Resorts, Amruda Nair,

who is the Leela Group’sHead of Asset Management,said, “With the travel andtourism industry poised to grow exponentially, the entire industry will benefit from it.”

Winner of the ‘DDPGame Changer’ Award, SunilKumar, Vice President, TAAIand CEO, Travel World, said,“This award will remind me ofmy commitment to the indus-try which will be there till mylast breath.”

On being awarded the‘Face of the Future’ Award,Zaheer Ellias Najeeb,Executive Director, ATEGroup of Companies, said,“It’s humbling to be here, it'snot just me, but the entirefuture of the travel industrysits before me, and every per-son here and everything that we do will change and define the future of thetravel industry.”

Amita Motwani, Mrs India-International 2013,who was the Guest of Honourat the event, talked about theneed for more such initiativesto motivate and improvetourism in India.

Later, Khan, Motwaniand Sanjeet also releasedthe book, SouthernHeritage, which is an ode to the immense

beauty, heritage, culture,and the delectable cuisine of South India, which offers extraordinary potentialfor travel and tourism.Having completed theSouthern leg with a bang, theawards will now travel to theEast, West and North India, finally culminating in the grand finale.

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

Chandana Khan, Amita Motwani and SanJeet releasing the book, SouthernHeritage, an ode to the immense beauty, heritage, culture, and the delectablecuisine of South India at the Awards ceremony

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(L-R): SanJeet, Publisher, DDP Publications; Rajneesh Malhotra, GM, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Hyderabad Banjara Hills; Peter Frawley, GM - Delegate, Accor, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Hotel Operations & HICC;Chandana Khan, Special Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh Tourism; Amita Motwani, Mrs. India-International 2013; Sunil Kumar, CEO, Travel World and Vice-President, TAAI; Kamal Hingorani, Sr Vice President &Head, Ground Services, SpiceJet and MS Naga Raju, MD, Epicurus Hospitality and Adviser, Andhra Pradesh Hotels Association, at the ribbon cutting ceremony of South India Travel Awards in Hyderabad

South India Travel Awards

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The Golden ‘Maya’ awarded to

Zaheer E. Najeeb, Executive Director, ATE Group ofCompanies, receiving the Face of the Future awardfrom Chandana Khan

Vivek Nair, Chairman & MD, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, wasconferred with The Wall of Legends Award. His daughter, Amruda Nair,Head of Asset Management, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resor ts,received the award on his behalf from Chandana Khan, Special ChiefSecretary, Andhra Pradesh Tourism

Sunil Kumar, CEO, Travel World and Vice-President, TAAI, receiving the DDP Game Changer Award from Chandana Khan. Accompanying

her are Amita Motwani, Mrs. India-International 2013 and SanJeet, Publisher, DDP Publications

Wall of Legends

Face of the Future

DDP Game Changer

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The award was given to Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Hyderabad Banjara Hillsand received by its General Manager, Rajneesh Malhotra

Rajeev Kumar G, Founder, MD & CEO, Mystifly, receiving theEntrepreneur of The Year Award

The award was given to Novotel and received by PeterFrawley, GM - Delegate, Accor, Hyderabad, AndhraPradesh Hotel Operations and Hyderabad InternatinoalConvention Centre

The award was given to SpiceJet and received by Kamal Hingorani, Sr Vice President & Head,

Ground Services, SpiceJet

The award was given to Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru and received by Lokesh Matta,

Head of Airlines Marketing (Passenger & Air Cargo Network), Bangalore International Airport Limited

and the Black ‘Princess’ goes toEntrepreneur of The Year

Best Business Hotel

Best Hotel Brand

Best Airline

Best Airport

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The award was given to Hyatt Place Hampi and received by its General Manager, Sumit Kumar

The award was given to Philippines Tourism and received by the Philippines Tourism Team

The award was given to Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Mysore, and received

by its General Manager, Pankaj Saxena

The award was given to Bangalore International Airport Limitedand received by Lokesh Matta, Head of Airlines Marketing(Passenger & Air Cargo Network), Bangalore International Airport Limited

Best Airport Marketing

Best Leisure Hotel

Best National Tourism Board

Best City Hotel

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The award was given to Rishikonda Beach - Haritha Beach Resort,Andhra Pradesh Tourism and received by Sumith Singh, Director of Hotels,AP Tourism

The award was given to Hermes - Get My Trip & The Smart Shop andreceived by Sukumar Cornelius, State Head - Tamil Nadu & Port Blair

The award was given to Vijayshree Heritage Village and receivedby its Managing Director, Raju Bhurat R

The award was given to Spiceland Holidays, Kerala and received by its Managing Director, Riyaz U C from

M S Naga Raju, MD, Epicurus Hospitality and Adviser, Andhra Pradesh Hotels Association

Best Beach Destination

Best Travel Portal

Best Heritage Resort

Best Destination Management Company

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The award was given to Mystifly Consulting (India)and received by its Founder, MD & CEO,

Rajeev Kumar G, from Sanjay Soni

The award was given to Travel Choice International and received by itsChairman & MD, Bala Venkateswara Rao Sankuratri from Sanjay Soni,

Hon. Treasurer, India Convention Promotion Bureau

The award was given to Hyderabad International ConventionCenter and received by Peter Frawley, GM - Delegate, Accor,Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Hotel Operations & HICC (extreme left); Shweta,Director of Sales, Meetings & Events (2nd from left) and Samit Kazi, Directorof Sales, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Hyderabad InternationalConvention Centre (extreme right) from M S Naga Raju

The award was given to Travelport Galileo and received by Sathiesh T.S., Business Manager-Andhra Pradesh, InterGlobeTechnology Quotient

Best Meetings & Conference Venue

Best Global Distribution System

Best Travel Management Company

Best Global Travel Consolidation Services

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The award was given to Clarks Exotica Resorts & Spa and received by its Executive Director, Nigel Colaco and CEO, M Balaji, from

Anil Kumar, Vice President, The Times Group

The award was given to TrawellTag Cover-More and received by itsManaging Director, Dev Karvat from Anil Kumar, Vice President, The Times Group

The award was given to Ramoji Film City and received by its CEO,Rajeev Jalnapurkar, from Rajneesh Malhotra, General Manager,Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Hyderabad Banjara Hills

Best Travel Insurance Provider

Best Family Travel Destination

Ultimate Service Award in Hospitality

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The award was given to Vasundhara Sarovar Premiere and received by its Managing Director,

Dr P. Vasudevan (2nd from left) from Dev Karvat

The award was given to Tamara Coorg and received by its Director & CEO,Senthil Kumar N from Rajneesh Malhotra, General Manager, RadissonBlu Plaza Hotel Hyderabad Banjara Hills

The award was given to Holiday Inn Kochi and received byits Director of Sales, Mayank Uniyal (extreme right),

from Dev Karvat

The award was given to Crowne Plaza Kochi and received by itsGeneral Manager, Sanjay Kaushik, from Dev Karvat, MD, TrawellTagCover-More (extreme left)

Best Luxury Resort

Best New Hotel

Best New Resort

Best New Mid-Market Hotel

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Chandana Khan, Special Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh Tourism, being acknowledged for gracing the occasion with Pearl Trophy ‘Maya’

Amita Motwani, Mrs. India International 2013 being acknowledged for gracing the occasion with Pearl Trophy ‘Maya’

The sun is rising in the south and then travellingonwards, there has been a long‐felt necessity to focuson the south. As the Golden Triangle in the north hasbecome famous among international and domestictourists, there is a need perhaps for a Platinum Trianglein the south so that we are able to weave together theimportant southern destinations. We still have lots to bedone. The South has been devoid of any untowardincident till now and is known for its peace, which is a bigasset to invite international and domestic tourists to theregion. Also, the urban and rural infrastructure in theSouth is much better than the rest of the country, andthis helps facilitate seamless travel. Here, we have amplescope for temple, beach and also medical tourism.

Tourism is a vehicle for poverty alleviation, incomegeneration and it also gives rise to peripheral industries,providing livelihood for artisans. Since it is a skill‐basedindustry, and is not based on educational qualifications,everyone can be assured of employment. We need tomake joint efforts with stakeholders; the efforts so farhave been very fragmented and isolated. The need of thehour is to join hands and see that each other's strength isbuilt into double strength and synergy.

The stakeholders in this industry are countlessbecause everyone can be a tourism ambassador ‐ from a taxi driver to a pedestrian, who gives directionsand is friendly to the tourist. We need to break theformal barrier and see to it that we benefit from thevast manpower that can make India a great tourismdestination, and India needs it.

Chandana KhanSpecial Chief Secretary

Andhra Pradesh Tourism

After understanding the process and the way inwhich Maya was created, I think we need suchinitiatives in all fields. I want to congratulate all theaward winners for their excellence and I'm sure thatthey will together take this industry to a new high.

Amita MotwaniMrs India‐International 2013

The ‘Pearl Lady’ goes to

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Andhra Pradesh Tourism being awarded with Red Trophy ‘Maya’ as thePartner State and received by Sumith Singh, Director of Hotels, AP Tourismand Nethra Devang - PRO of AP Tourism

Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Hyderabad Banjara Hills being awarded with Red Trophy ‘Maya’ as the Hospitality Partner andreceived by its Director Sales & Marketing, Pavan Kakar and Team Radisson

ASPRI SPIRITS being awarded with Red Trophy ‘Maya’ as the Beverage Partner and received by its Assistant

Manager - Marketing, Rohan Kuttappa (extreme right)

Partner State

Hospitality Partner Beverage Partner

Kerala Tourism being awarded with Red Trophy ‘Maya’ as the Partner State

Partner State

and the ‘Red Maya’ is for

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Glimpses of India Travel Awards

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2014

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