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Main Story
Kingfisher
Airlines turns trendsetter for non-legacy carriers
Kingfisher Airlines, in a bid to widen its sales distribution
network and pave the way for international operations, has
indicated that it will join the recently-instituted domestic
Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), and will also make its
online debut with a GDS in April this year.
Aviation
Air
Mauritius to market South Africa sector
Air Mauritius plans to promote the South African sector to
Indian tourists, with a view to both increase tourism to Mauritius
as well as tap the increasing number of Indian traffic to
South Africa.
‘We
are planning to launch our LCC with a build in concept’
Delhi-based feeder airline Jagson Airline, is upbeat about
making its mark in the Indian skies. Uttam Bose, its president
and CEO, discusses his company plans with Bhavika Jhaveri
Ethiad
Airways to increase footprint in South India
Etihad Airways announced its ambitious plans for the Indian
aviation market and will expand its footprint in South India.
Turkish
Airlines adds Mumbai to network
Turkish Airlines is set to increase its route network in India
with direct flights from Mumbai.
Outbound
Irish
Prime Minister visits India with a high profile delegation
With a view to enhance bilateral political, economic and cultural
relations with India, An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD, prime
minister of Ireland, visited Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore,
leading a large business delegation, representing over eighty
organisations from various sectors including tourism, culture
and the arts.
Tourism
Australia to offer new elements for 2006-'07
Tourism Australia is getting increasingly serious about the
Indian market. According to a survey conducted during the
period 2004-05, Australia received 68,000 tourists from India
for the first time putting India on the number one slot in
terms of percentage growth among all nationalities travelling
to Australia.
Maldives
promotes destination in Italy
The Maldives tourism board is keen to promote the island destination
in Italy. It recently took part in the BIT fair held in Milan,
Italy from February 18 to 21, 2006. The first two days of
the fair was open for the general public and the last two
days for the trade.
Finnish
board opens rep office in India
India has proved itself to be the golden goose for international
tourism boards as yet another one makes an entry into the
Indian market, initially with a representative office. Finnish
Tourist Board has appointed Mumbai-based Global Aviation Services
Pvt Ltd as its representative office in the Indian market.
'We
want to make France a standalone destination'
With plans to woo the emerging Indian middle class, Frederic
Meyer, director (Southeast Asia and India) of Maison de la
France, speaks to Neeti Mehra about his plans of making of
making France a standalone destination
Inbound
Temple
consortium to promote religious tourism in India
The first International Tourism Summit held in Mumbai, organised
by the Siddhivinayak Temple, brought together different temple
trusts from across India and Nepal in the same forum to discuss
issues and problems faced by institutions of worship.
State
gears up for ‘Rajasthan Day Celebrations’
The state of Rajasthan, together with the Department of Tourism,
Government of Rajasthan, has lined up a series of events,
festivals and competitions to commemorate the forthcoming
`Rajasthan Day Celebrations' scheduled to be held from March
21 to March 30, 2006.
Kerala
Tourism bags IITC 2006
Kerala Tourism has bagged the IITC 2006 Award founded by India
International Tourism Council, Mumbai for the best performance
of state managed tourism office.
‘We
still have a long way to go’
Jharkhand has re-emerged on the tourist map as a powerful
player with increased tourism budget and several projects
in its kitty. Radhika Mathur Bhasin speaks to S K Choudhary,
principal secretary, Department of Tourism on its future plans
and strategies to present this 'Emerging State' that has an
unlimited untapped potential
Trade Bytes
Cox
& Kings’ French Connection
With tour agencies preparing for the outbound travel season,
new destinations are being added to the repertoire without
additional charge to lure in customers. Cox & Kings recently
added the Chamonix Valley-Mont Blanc in France, in the Indian
market for their customers, in association with Maison de
la France, the French tourist office.
Uplink
‘Agents
are not getting the quality of support they should’
David Taylor, director, UK and Ireland and EMEAA distributors,
Worldspan, told Bhisham Mansukhani that his company, the latest
entrant in the Indian GDS segment, intends to be a low cost
service provider that will not only fill the gap he sees in
agent servicing but also will have a zero tolerance to malpractice
Amadeus
launches online learning tool
Amadeus has recently launched the Amadeus Learning City -
an easy and interactive e-learning tool for travel agents.
Events
Calendar
of Travel Trade Shows in 2006
TAFI 2006
TAFI
sounds industry for reform at landmark convention
TAFI's first annual convention in five years was a clear message
to the Indian travel trade that the association has serious
conviction to transform the travel agent in his best interest,
finds Bhisham Mansukhani
Snap
Shots
Hotel Talk
J&K
offers initiatives to boost investments in hospitality
Achieving a promising growth rate in tourism inflow especially
since the last two years, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) tourism
is riding high on the hospitality and tourism front. The state
government has expressed interest to boost the hospitality
sector in the region through investments to further augment
tourism.
MP
govt proposes tax benefits for hotels
The Madhya Pradesh government has announced several tax benefits
to hotels operating in the state. In his state budget speech,
the finance minister of MP, Raghavji has announced that luxury
tax on hotels charging a room rate of up to Rs 500 will be
nil, while for those charging Rs 501 to Rs 1,000 will be five
per cent.
RCI
offers rental holiday options to members
Resort Condominium International (RCI) worldwide has tied
up with 20,000 hotels in city centres and popular urban destinations
across the world this January. This tie up will allow its
members to avail of exclusive members-only rates that are
lower than the regular rack rate.
Leelaventure
to manage Ambience's Gurgaon hotel
Departing from its existing norm of managing its own hotels,
Hotel Leelaventure has signed its first management contract
with Ambience Hotels and Resorts Ltd for the latter's 5-star
deluxe hotel property at Gurgaon.
Delhi
hotel rates touch 10-year high
Hotel room rates in the capital have peaked to a 10-year high
of US $250 (Rs 11,000) a night.
Railways’
budget hotel concept on track
The much-talked about budget hotel concept of the Railways
may finally take off with the ministry reworking terms of
build, operate, transfer (BOT) arrangement that could result
in easier revenue share regime for hoteliers.
Mars
Restaurants goes international
Mars Restaurants Private Ltd. went international with the
launch of its first Indian cuisine restaurant 'Dabbawala'
which opened this month in Springfield Avenue - a business
district - in New York.
Channel Chat
ETAA
gains strength both with airlines and IATA agents at TAFI
Our previous issue carried a story with the headline, Enterprising
Travel Agents Association (ETAA) requests airlines to take
it seriously.
30 Minute Interview
'Direct
flights from India to Dublin is our ultimate objective'
Tourism Ireland is initiating a promotional campaign for the
first time in India. Radhika Mathur Bhasin spoke to John O'
Donoghue during his recent visit to India about his views
on the tourism dynamics between the two countries and future
plans
Newstrack
Britain
launches online application facility for select agents
The British High Commission has launched an online visa application
facility for select travel agents in all cities where it has
application centres.
Ramee
group diversifies into travel
Setting sights on capturing a fair share of the growing outbound
and inbound corporate travel market in India, the Ramee Group
predominantly known for its hotels in India and Middle East,
has set up a corporate travel company, Ramee Tours and Travels
to cater to growing corporate business between India and the
Middle East.
Misc
Snippets
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