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` 50/-A DDP PUBLICATIONVol. XXV No. 10; May 2nd fortnight issue 2013 Pages: 32 (Excluding cover)

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MAY 2ND FORTNIGHT ISSUE 2013 TRAVTALK 1

Unbundlingservices simplifiedRam Tamara,Managing Directorof Nathan EconomicConsulting India,on whose recom-mendation Ministerfor Civil AviationAjit Singh permit-ted carriers tocharge extra fees,decodes Indian aviation’s â la carteticket pricing. See full story on page 14

The Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) hasamended the special

categories in its Visa manual and has entrustedthe travel agents approvedby the Ministry of Tourismto play an important

role in getting the facility of collective landing for groups.

“Foreign tourists ingroups of four, or more, arriv-ing by air or sea, sponsoredby Indian travel agenciesapproved by the Ministry ofTourism, Government ofIndia and with a pre-drawn

itinerary may be granted acollective landing permit fora period not exceeding 60days, with multiple-entryfacility to enable them to visita neighbouring country,” said the circular issued byMHA in April.

“To avail this facility, atourist, or travel agency con-

cerned shall mandatorily fillin the applications online onwww.indiavisaonline.gov.in.A complete list of groupmembers along with printedvisa applications and theiritinerary should be submit-ted by tourists, or travelagency to the FRRO, or

For collective landing for groups, there are three essential conditions. It should be a group of 4 or more; applying through a travel agent authorisedby MOT and 72 hours in advance, says Parvez Dewan, Secretary, MOT.

TT BU R E AU

MOT encourages group travel

Contd. on page 6 Parvez DewanSecretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India

Iqbal MullaPresidentTAAI

Jay BhatiaWestern Region Chapter HeadTAAI

History is indeedrepeating itself withtravel agents across

India agitating against airlinesfor their remuneration fee,against the ‘malpractices’ ofairlines. This token strike isalso against the recentannouncement made by theMinistry of Civil Aviation(MoCA) about levying extra

charges on passengers for var-ious services. On May 7, 2013, TAAI’s 36 ManagingCommittee members acted ona voluntary ‘Shutter Down’against airlines which was sup-ported well by other tradeassociation members. Close to5,000 agents across India vol-unteered for this move andsuccessfully created an impactif not on the airlines then sure-ly on the industry as a whole.

According to TAAI,travel agents bookclose to ̀ 100 croreworth tickets on BSPin Mumbai region in a day itself.

Thus, close to ` 350-400crore are said to be lost by allairlines operating in Indian skies(and present on BSP) during this

AN I TA JA I N

In a recent move, the travel agents have now adopted a silent, Gandhi-style movement toagitate against airlines and the government. reports more on the issue…

Travel agents pull shutters down

Contd. on page 11

BULLETIN

At the curtain-raiser on‘Caravan Tourism - India

by Road’ meet conducted byPHD Chamber of Commercein New Delhi, the Secretary,Ministry of Tourism high-lighted best practices thatcould very well change theprospects of caravan tourismin India.

“Caravans are a uniquetourism product, which canpromote various niche seg-ments including family trav-el, pilgrimage, spiritual,MICE or even honeymoontours. It has potential topromote new circuits anddestinations, attractinginbound and domestic trav-ellers of all ages,” saidParvez Dewan, Secretary,Ministry of Tourism,Government of India.

“In countries like UK, USand Singapore, where facilitiesof caravan tourism exist inplenty, caravans had beenused in many innovative ways.In many parts of our country,rooms are still a constraint,especially in peak season. Wecan use caravans as ‘mobilehotels’, which can be a greathelp during peak tourism peri-ods,” he added.

Here, Suman JyotiKhaitan, President, PHDChamber highlighted thatIndia’s tourism sector is wit-nessing robust growth onthe back of increasinginbound and domestictourism and caravantourism can be increased inIndia by developing public-private partnerships.Further, Rajiv Kumar Vij,

Co-chairman, TourismCommittee, PHD Chamberemphasised on the advan-tages of road tourism and its growth journey in the country.

Sharing their experi-ence with the CaravanCircuits, Om VijayChoudhary, Chief GeneralManager, Madhya PradeshTourism said, “MP Tourismhas three coaches operating,where travellers can stayand travel the length andbreadth of three major cir-cuits.” Promoted as ‘Holidayon Wheels’, there are sever-al packages that the State ispromoting in three circuitswith bases in Jabalpur,Indore and Bhopal. All the basic facilities are avail-able onboard, includingInternet connection, in the caravans.”

In many parts of our country, rooms are still a constraint, especially inpeak season. In this case, caravans can be used as mobile hotels and thenbe moved to another place, where there is a shortage of rooms.

Caravans as mobile hotels

VIVEK SETHI

Dignitaries at the curtain-raiser on ‘Caravan Tourism - India by Road’ meet organised by thePHD chamber in New Delhi

VIEWPOINT

There has been widespread resentmentamong the travel agents’ fraternity

against dwindling/no commissions on the aircomponent, which declined from as high asnine per cent to zero. It seems that thevoluntary protests conducted by the travelagents on May 7, 2013, which has been hailedas a ‘no ticketing day’, came about as theanger among agents in general across thecountry peaked.

However, it’s a long way before the agentscan expect relief, or witness revival of theirrightful remuneration for acting as theextended distribution arm of airlines, alsooffering an array of services to the customer.The mass protests, adequately highlighted in the media, have sent across a clear message that travel agents will not workwithout commissions.

Going forward, to compel the airlines andgovernment authorities in India to factor intravel agents as important stakeholders, thetravel agent fraternity should take recourseto all possible legal and other platforms tosettle on a fair reward.

Fortunately, there exist a few prominenttravel agents associations, but they need toget their act together. It’s been seen that theseassociations have different reactions and avery varied approach. One of the south-basedassociations had single handedly beenpursuing legal remedies, while the other twoprominent associations are also taking legalrecourse, but separately.

One needs to understand that there has tobe a follow-up to the ‘no ticketing day’observed on May 7. A core team needs to becreated, that would represent the collectivestrength of travel agents, and initiateaggressive dialogue at all possible levels withthe airlines and government agencies.Otherwise, the protest is going to be just another wasted day.

Travel agents will also require tomobilise support, or at least sympathy ofthe general public, especially their clients,whether they travel for business or leisure.The travel agency has to foster its image asan important element in their travel plans.They also should highlight how, in theirfight for survival, they are also fighting forthe rights of consumers, who may face exorbitant charges being levied byairlines, once they unbundle services and charge for them.

Protest done Start dialogue

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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STATISTICS

As of last year, there aremore tourists travelling

abroad than ever before at1.04 billion according tothe United NationsWorld TourismOrganisation (UNWTO).Many of these newtourists are visiting-aswell as coming from-emerging markets inAsia, Africa, and Centraland Eastern Europe.

While Europe isstill the most visitedregion in the world, Asiasaw the biggest increasein international visits ofany region last year,according to theUNWTO. Much of thatgrowth is from travellerswithin the region whoare becoming wealthyenough to vacationbeyond their borders.

And two key demo-graphics, according to areport by a market researchfirm Frost & Sullivan, arewomen travelling for busi-ness and travellers above theage of 65. Women travellersin seven East Asian coun-tries–who number around 4.5 million in 2011–should

increase some 400% by 2030as more women take on exec-utive-level positions thatrequire travel. This mapshows the expected increase,

in millions, of older travellersfrom Asian countries, espe-cially India. (Graph)

Naturally, countries arevying for the cash theseAsian tourists are willing tospend on hotels, shoppingand excursions. Aside from

China, which spent morethan any other country ontourism in 2012, Malaysia,Indonesia, and thePhilippines also saw their

citizens’ overseas spendingon tourism jump by doubledigits. Latvia’s foreign min-ister has tried to wooMalaysian tourists byextolling the ‘joys of winter’that can’t be experienced inhot Southeast Asia, while

Japan has sent tourism rep-resentatives to the country.Emerging markets arebecoming a key part of theglobal tourism industry. The

International Air TravelAssociation (IATA) estimatesthat Asia will see the highestprofit margin growth of anyregion, a sign the global air-line industry’s ‘centre ofgravity’ is moving to emerg-ing markets.

Asian travellers power tourismBeyond their spending, large numbers, and idiosyncratic habits, Asian womenand older-generation tourists also represent a new class of globetrotters.

TT BU R E AU

Other growing marketsinclude Venezuela,Poland, and Saudi Arabiawhich also saw double-digit growth in tourismspending last year; Russia and Brazil areamong the top 10contributors to globaltourism spending.

And in the list...

I have a long-standing reputation of being a negative person, but for people who appreciate blackhumour, I fully acknowledge the same. Over the past 6-8 weeks, most of travel trade journals are fullof articles on ‘FAITH’ and the wonderful concept of NASSCOM of the travel industry. Over past 20 yearsand in each and every IATO & other travel trade convention, we have discussed the necessity for sucha concept, where all travel trade bodies can sit together to discuss problems and approach various min-istries with a single voice. The past tourism secretaries have been advising the various travel tradebodies to get their act together and at least have an intra-association meeting before approachingMinistry of Tourism with a charter of demands. So if the majority of senior leaders in the industry feel‘FAITH’ is a necessity of the future, you must question my hidden motives when I say that the ‘foundationsof FAITH are being built on quicksand and a stillborn baby is all that we will get to see’. My basic premisestarts from the concept that the word ‘Tourism Industry’ defines every revenue source that a touristcreates for the GDP of the country, be it shopping, hotel stay, transport, travel and meal arrangements,etc. In India, we have a few very strong travel associations representing interest of Air Ticketing Agents(TAAI), Inbound Tour Operators (IATO) and Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI).

The customer base of TAAI and ADTOI is more or less the same, while the customer base of IATOis an exclusive domain. The taxation incentives sought by IATO is in contradiction of those demandedby TAAI and ADTOI. At this moment, a mention of other travel trade bodies like TAFI, Adventure TourOperators and Tourist Taxi Operators, etc and its consumer base may create more confusion to explainthan what I have to state. The Memorandum of Association (MOA) of each travel trade body definesthe purpose for which particular association has been formed and its objectives. Any change in theMOA needs an extraordinary meeting of that association & proper filing of papers in the registrar ofsocieties. I hope the authorised signatories of FAITH are aware of this and followed procedure.

Otherwise, any of member of any association can approach the courts of law & FAITH will collapselike a pack of cards.

With reference tothe letter from RajivVerma that has been for-warded to me by you, Iwould only say that thismember of an associationdoes not have any infor-mation about FAITH andmay not have receivedany from his associationor has not been briefed.

I am certain that ifhe had gone through thedocuments, he wouldnever have shown anydissatisfaction.

I think, this muchobservation you musthave also made yourself.

Rajiv Verma, Director, Lawrence Travels

Sarab Jit SinghInterim Vice Chairman

FAITH

Letter to the Editor

Action and Reaction

HOTELS M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 5

Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) in the nation’s hos-

pitality industry has surgedin the last financial year amid

an improvement in invest-ment climate and risingopportunities in the country’shotel and tourism sector, lift-ing the outlook for Asia’sthird biggest economy.

According to the data ofthe Department of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion (DIPP),the sector has attracted FDI worth USD 3.21

billion during the April-February 2012-13.

The FDI flow in the sec-tor in the last fiscal is signif-icantly higher as compared tothe flow of USD 3.37 billion,which the country receivedduring the last 12 years end-ing March, 2012. The foreign

inflows in the hotel andtourism sector did not figurein the DIPP's list of the top-10 recipients of FDI prior toSeptember 2012.

Talking about the recentdevelopment, Nakul Anand,President, Hotel Associationof India says, “It is definitely

good news for the hospitalityand tourism industry.However, a lot needs to bedone even now. Besides tax-ation and human resourcerelated issues, the govern-ment needs to take moresteps to boost investment inthe sector. There is a need tolook at land-related problems

for the hospitality sector. Therecent DIAL hotels’ issue alsoneeds to be solved as quicklyas possible.”

Further, in India, serv-ices sector attracted highestFDI. During April-February2013, the sector receivedforeign inflows in the

order of USD 4.74 billion.During the period, overallFDI has declined 38 per cent to USD 20.89 billion. Decline in foreigninvestments could put pressure on the country’sbalance of payments andmay also impact the value ofthe rupee.

Industry experts attributed the sudden spurt in FDI to factors like an improving investment climate in the sector besidesincreasing opportunities. reports...

Hospitality attracts $3.2bn FDI in FY13ME G H A PAU L

The governmentneeds to takemore steps to boostinvestment in the sector

Nakul AnandPresidentHotel Association of India

The luxury hotelchain’s cycle of develop-ment will focus exclusivelyon management contractsLuxury hotels chain, TheLeela Palaces, Hotels andResorts will open a prop-erty in Agra in a joint ven-ture. Rajiv Kaul,President, The LeelaPalaces, Hotels andResorts said, “The finaldetails of the joint ventureare still being worked outand shall be revealedshortly. The chain is mov-ing into the next cycle ofdevelopment. We havealso signed deals for prop-erties in Bengaluru, Noidaand Jaipur.” He addedthat the luxury hotel chainwould also be expandinginternationally with a 400-room property in Dubai.

Kaul also said thatThe Leela would look todouble its properties in India over the next five years.

Leela to setfoot in Agra

NEWS6 TRAVTALK M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

How has the response ofthe tourists been to theNorth East this summer?

The response has beenquite encouraging this year.Tourists who come to visitour national parks or sanctu-aries are now quite keen tovisit other parts of the statesuch as tea gardens of UpperAssam and Majuli, theBuddhist sites etc. We areexpecting an increase in thenumber of tourists during theAmbubasi festival in Junethis year.

Are you making anyattempts to woo foreigntourists?

Northeast, particularlyAssam, attracts a consider-able number of foreigntourists each year, apart froma large number of domestictourists. Last year, wereceived more than 20,000foreign tourists in Assam.More than 45 lakh domestic

tourists visited Assam lastyear. We are also creatingnew circuits in the state withthe inclusion of adventureand trekking sites for tourists.We have also started a rivercruise from Guwahati toMajuli in the Brahmaputrariver with a new luxury rivercruise ‘Mahabahu’. There isa very promising responsefrom different countries for advance booking of thecruise ship. The journeythrough this river is a treatfor every tourist.

What are the roadblocksin promoting tourism inthe North East?

Assam is a land of var-ied landscapes endowed withthe unique wealth of floraand fauna as well as culturaland ethnic diversity.Development of better infra-structure is our main thrust.It requires sustained and tar-getted approach for develop-ing new tourists circuits, bet-ter infrastructure in terms ofconnectivity i.e. roads,resorts and hotels. Bettermarketing and publicityefforts are also required. Theinvestment in infrastructureneeds to be in a sustainedmanner and based on a sep-arate master plan for eachdestination.

Do you think a dedicatedairline in the region willhelp promote tourism inthe North East?

Assam is well connect-ed to the rest of the countrythrough air, road and rail.But I think the most impor-

tant thing would be upgrada-tion of all airports in Assamand increasing the number offlights from Dibrugarh andJorhat for Upper Assam con-nectivity. I believe that adedicated direct airline con-necting Guwahati toThailand would help promoteinbound and outboundtourism from north easternstates to other South Asiandestinations.

How has the ITM inGuwahati helped attracttourists to the region?

ITM 2013, held inGuwahati, has been a veryimportant milestone in high-lighting the tourism potentialof the north eastern states.So far, the response from for-eign tour operators has beenvery encouraging. It hashelped in creating a reliablelink between our tour opera-tors and tour operators from foreign countries. I am sure the results of thiseffort would be visible intimes to come.

Anurag Singh, Managing Director, Assam Tourism Development CorporationLtd, talks about the roadblocks in promoting tourism in the region and howITM highlighted the tourism potential of Northeastern states.

Need Guwahati-Thailand flights

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

Anurag SinghManaging Director, Assam TourismDevelopment Corporation Ltd

Changing the rulesFRO concerned, 72 hours inadvance. The tourist or trav-el agency shall also give anundertaking to conduct thegroup as per the itineraryand extend a further assur-ance that no individualwould be allowed to drop out from the group at anyplace” added the circularseen by .

As per Parvez Dewan,Secretary, Ministry ofTourism, Government ofIndia, it’s a very importantdevelopment. “India has nowopened its shores by land andsea to people travelling ingroups from most of thecountries across the world, other than a few dueto special consideration.Fortunately, this development

also acknowledges the roletravel agencies accredited bythe Ministry of Tourism, whowill play an important role infacilitating the grant of col-lective landing permits.”

“There are three essen-tial conditions, as it should bea group of 4 or more, apply-ing through a travel agentauthorised by MOT and atleast 72 hours in advance. Incase the applicant doesn’tmeet the required criterion,the permit will not be granted,” he added.

Contd. from page 1

The Korean TourismOrganisation will feature thesinger PSY in a new videoseries next month to pro-mote tourism to SouthKorea. The series titled‘PSY’s Wiki Korea’, has theSouth Korean rap artist highlighting some of the

country’s major attractions,from samgyeopsal, a Korean pork belly barbecue,and the Jeju Olle trail, awalking path on Jeju Islandoff the country’s southwestcoast, to Myeongdong, South Korea’s famed ‘shopping Mecca’.

Tourism goes ‘Gangnam’

The applicant shall give anundertaking to conduct thegroup as per the itinerary andthat no one would be allowed todrop out from the group

Taking Responsibility

TECHNOLOGY M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 7

NDC is currently the mosttalked about subject in

global travel and tourismindustry. There is a lot of con-fusion and commotion con-cerning NDC and its legalstructure Resolution 787. Ithas become the global indus-try’s bogeyman with propo-nents insisting there’s noth-ing under the bed but an ini-tiative to bring in efficiency

in the airline booking systemwhile the opponents are con-vinced that it will end GDSand agent distribution chan-nel. However, in India, it isstill an alien subject withvery few agents aware ofNDC. Well, as per IATA, NDCis an IATA-led collaborativeindustry initiative to define a

messaging standard that willenable retailing opportunitiesthrough the indirect channel(travel agent/GDS) similar tothose available on airlinewebsites. But if it is beneficial

for all stakeholders of theindustry, then why do theopponents smell this to be anairline’s plot to ‘free’ theindustry from GDS andagents?

Global industry opposesLars Thykier, Chairman,

WTAAA defines NDC as a newway for the travel industry tosee (airline) products thattoday are not easily compara-

ble across the board. Heexplains saying, “As exampleof the current shortfalls is thelack of comparability betweenairline service classes(Business Class on Airline A

Vs Business Class on AirlineB) in GDS systems or on trav-el agency website where GDStypically only shows business

IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) is receiving global opposition as it is assumed that it will bring an end to GDS and travel agents. However, IATA assures that it will benefit all stakeholders of the industry including agents and airlines. But, surprisingly, only handful of agents in India are aware of ‘NDC’.

IATA helps decode NDC mystery

AN I TA JA I N

IATA is in process ofcentralising its business inIndia. Its partial operationswill be done in New Delhi,while the rest will be donein Singapore. Since 1998,Mumbai has been theheadquarters of IATA inIndia, which will be closedby end of this year. ItsDelhi branch office willthen become the only-touch point office in India.Thus, latest by December2013, IATA would be oper-ating out of New Delhi andits central operationswould take place fromSingapore, informed SunilChopra, Assistant Director– India & Nepal, IATA. Hesaid, “Since we deal withtop government officialsfrom the Union Aviationministry and the airlines,it makes sense for us to move our operations to Delhi.”

Pradip LullaNational General SecretaryTAFI

The key issues onNDC, seen from anagency view, arewhether the travelagents in future willhave an access to allproducts and prices onan NDC airline or not

Lars Thykier, Chairman,WTAAA

Contd. on page 26

IATA moves to Delhi

PASSPORT

The statistics released bythe Ministry of External

Affairs reveal that Hyderabadtook a big leap in terms ofregistering most of the pass-port applications received in2012 and also ended up issu-ing 5,03,243 passports.However, in terms of gettingthe passport through Tatkalscheme, Delhi topped with74,142 passports.

On the whole, over the last decade, there hasbeen a considerable expansion in the number of services rendered byPassport Offices. DuringJanuary-December 2012, the 37 Passport Offices,

Headquarters and the Officeof the Chief Secretary ofAndaman and NicobarIslands issued 59.40 lakh passports (inclusive of2,301 Diplomatic passportsand 22010 Official passports)and rendered 3.14 lakh passport-related miscella-neous services includingPolice Clearance Certificates.

The 180 Indian Missionsand Posts abroad issued 11.35lakh passports and other pass-

port-related miscellaneousservices. Thus, theGovernment of India, in total,rendered 73.89 lakh passportservices. The total revenuegenerated from all passportservices in 2012-13 (April -December 2012), which was

estimated to be ` 1200 croreduring the whole financialyear, was ` 884.69 crore. Anamount of ̀ 559.72 crore wasallocated to Central PassportOrganisation in the financialyear 2012-13.

In comparison as per thestatistics released in 2011,Government had issued 58.69lakh passports (inclusive of2,840 Diplomatic passports,and 28,067 Official passports),

and rendered 4.68 lakh pass-port-related miscellaneousservices. The 178 Indian mis-sions and posts issued 10.27lakh passports. Thus, theGovernment of India, in total,had rendered 73.65 lakh pass-port services.

Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Chandigarh and Lucknoware now ahead of Delhi and Mumbai in terms of passportsissued in 2012, which reflect that these cities will grow fastto become major hubs for tapping outbound tourists…

Hyderabad leads the race

TT BUREAU

Statements showing the total number of passport applications received and passports issued, total miscellaneous applications received and services rendered;No. of passports issued as well as revenue under tatkaal scheme; and total revenueand expenditure of passport offices during January to December 2012

Statement showing the number of passport services rendered by PassportOffice during January 1 to December 31, 2012

No of Passportapplications

received

No ofPassports

issued

No of Passportsissued under

Tatkall

No of miscella-neous applica-tions received

No. of miscella-neous services

rendered

Revenue

Ahmedabad 3,30,121 3,13,656 4,210 9,876 9,758 38,16,73,340Amritsar 77,404 73,671 6,026 6,370 6,945 9,10,00,700Bengaluru 4,07,646 4,00,263 45,877 11,823 11,541 55,86,79,649Bareilly 72,695 70,610 1,973 3,506 3,272 8,08,58,235Bhopal 1,05,927 1,09,243 11,857 1,151 1,131 7,49,51,290Bhubaneswar 30,484 73,164 3,870 1,234 1,199 4,49,62,100Chandigarh 2,83,102 2,82,672 8,667 13,919 13,748 33,38,78,200Chennai 3,29,408 3,19,321 64,076 11,186 11,003 47,77,27,000Cochin 2,96,255 2,64,968 68,072 71,729 14,740 3,35,18,1401Coimbatore 82,156 78591 10,875 1,274 1,215 11,07,47,200Dehradun 54,577 51,148 3,702 2,011 1,783 4,73,08,193Delhi 3,18,129 2,64,785 74,142 6,789 6,467 50,93,23,162Ghaziabad 1,15,131 1,19,828 5,603 3,507 3,372 9,06,67,105Hyderabad 5,23,720 5,03,243 53,666 49,136 46,516 64,76,02,868Jaipur 1,84,720 1,96,703 16123 12,801 7,792 21,66,49,200Jalandhar 1,27,731 1,40,923 1,645 13,221 12,734 15,14,56,600Jammu 25,149 24,627 47 1,203 1,039 43,04,36,863Kolkata 2,81,197 2,33,380 17,385 9,645 8,968 30,92,82,275Kozhikode 2,32,604 2,27,923 38,509 10,820 10,638 32,29,07,296Lucknow 3,54,259 3,02,359 12,595 26,506 25,562 44,25,11,962Madurai 1,76,821 1,61,299 135 8,005 7,754 22,21,14,970Malappuram 1,93,462 1,94,650 35,434 9,292 9,285 5,98,23,390Mumbai 3,24,529 2,77,187 32,833 8,198 7,840 40,84,40,304Nagpur 87,560 92,551 5,433 1,014 977 10,13,82,645Panaji 30,215 22,498 283 2,892 2,628 2,81,20,400Patna 1,46,582 1,33,648 2,119 11,838 13,358 16,53,15,715Pune 1,44,928 1,46,756 22,422 4,099 4,153 19,11,66,230Rajpur 37,473 32,517 3,983 378 367 1,06,58,800Ranchi 56,979 55,520 4,428 3,486 3,211 2,96,52,230Shimla 24,461 21,991 2,826 1,951 1,905 3,92,80,500Srinagar 56,728 61,463 231 1,159 973 6,16,44,500Surat 1,15,671 111,993 2,884 7,040 6,411 13,13,08,000Thane 1,92,332 1,29,791 13,156 5,123 5,071 17,70,67,700Tiruchirapalli 1,41,374 1,28,339 7,341 8,917 8,917 17,46,30,811Thiruvanan-thapuram 1,58,203 1,31,790 41,986 11,962 11,760 22,99,48,600Vizag 1,03,183 1,10,526 9,544 28,730 28,087 15,46,74,284Total 62,83,180 59,15,708 64,25,39 3,83,731 3,14,435 7,91,70,74,418

HQ CPV Division (Diplomatic/Official Passport) 2301/22010Passports/ECs Issued by 180 Missions/Posts Abroad 1135104*Grant Total (Passport and ECs issued + Total Miscellaneous service rendered) 7389558

Passport Office

HOTELS M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 9

Highlighting the India’sTourism potential,

Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson &Managing Director, The LalitSuri Hospitality Group, said,“India has immense tourismpotential and offers almostthe entire gamut of travelattractions that any touristmay want to explore.”

On developments onthe corporate side, Suri said,“On the business front, ourmotto is not to just sell ourhotels. Instead, we are com-mitted to promote and builddestinations. We take pride inbeing a leading hotel compa-ny from India, presentlyoffering 17 luxurious hotels,with 10 operational proper-ties and seven under devel-opment in the five-stardeluxe segment. Our hotelspresently have operatingproperties in New Delhi,Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru,Srinagar, Udaipur, Khajuraho,Jaipur, Bekal andChandigarh; with under-con-struction hotels, scheduled toopen between 2013 to 2014in Kolkata, Ahmedabad,Amritsar, Dehradun, London,Dubai and Koh Samui(Thailand). Our count willgrow to 11 operations hotels in 2013, with launchof Kolkata being scheduled in 2013.”

On prospects of growthin the inbound and domesticsegments, Suri said, “Theindustry, in line with theMinistry of Tourism’s overallprojections for the 12th PlanPeriod, is working in the direc-tion of doubling the inboundand domestic tourism size.The inbound will get a major

boost with further extensionof Visa-on-Arrival facility toimportant source market alongwith extending the facility tomore ports. The domestic seg-ment also holds great potentialand accordingly, many newhotels and attractions hadbeen coming up in the countryto cater to the aware tourist.”

Suri also insisted that the niche inbound platform created by FICCI,the Great Indian TravelBazaar, which just held itssixth edition in Jaipur with over 9,000 structuredB2B meetings has taken theagenda of stimulatinginbound segment further.

Further, the third edition of the Great DomesticTourism Bazaar scheduled to be held from September27-29, 2013 in New Delhi, created for promotingdomestic tourism will replicate the same success in the domestic segment.

“In India, tourism contributes approximately 7 per cent to the national GDPand almost 10 per cent to thetotal employment. We are confident that with supportfrom the government, theinbound and domestic tourismsector will increase by leapsand bounds,” she added.

Post the soft launch of its Chandigarh property on April 13, 2013; Lalit has scheduled the launchof its Kolkata property later in 2013, which will take its tally of operational hotels to 11.

Committed to promote tourism: SuriTT BUREAU

Inboundtourism will geta major boostwith theextension of Visa-on-Arrivalfacility

Jyotsna SuriChairperson & Managing Director, The Lalit SuriHospitality Group and Vice President, FICCI

The niche inbound platformcreated by FICCI, the GreatIndian Travel Bazaar has takenthe agenda of stimulatinginbound segment further

The third edition of the GDTBscheduled from September27-29, in New Delhi, createdwill replicate the samesuccess in the domesticsegment

Big Vision

What do you perceive ofthe adventure tourismindustry in India?

Over the past decade,there has been a visible shiftfrom long, activity-specificand hard adventure to short,multi-activity and soft adven-ture trips. The Indian domes-tic market has also taken toadventure travel in a big way.Youth travel and corporateoff-sites form a major part ofthe domestic adventure mar-ket. Earlier, adventure travelwas perceived to be limitedmainly to the Himalayas, butis now covering rivers,forests, deserts, islands, too.It is a genuinely pan-Indiaactivity. Even though theindustry is booming, lack ofregulation and certification iscausing concerns which needto be addressed throughworkshops and capacity-building programmes. ATOAIwill be very aggressive onthis forum for the next year.

What are the roadblocksin the development ofadventure tourism inIndia? How do youintend to counter them?

a) Accessibility to the remoteareas: To make airports inthe mountains capable oflanding small fixed-wing air-craft. Heliport tourism is notthe answer due to con-straints of carrying capacityin aspects like number ofpassengers and baggage.Also, the costs are prohibi-tive for operations of helicop-ters, making this a not-so-attractive option for tourism.

Alternate access routes arelong and waste precious timetravelling by road which canbe better spent trekking, hik-ing or rafting or, even justenjoying the view and theculture of the Himalayandestinations. There is an

urgent need to activateunused airstrips in theHimalayas and also to createnew green field landingstrips in remote Himalayanlocations like Kaza inHimachal Pradesh, Yambungin Sikkim, Mechuka inArunachal Pradesh withHarsil, Pitthoragarh andGauchar in Uttarakhand.This issue is being aggres-sively taken up at theGovernment of India level.

b) Forest land jurisdiction:Over 95% of all land-basedadventure activities takeplace in areas controlled bythe Forest Department. Lackof eco-tourism and wildlifepolicies, and the drive withinthe forest ministries, is lead-ing to operational problems.Adventure and wildlifetourism is being consideredon a par with pilgrim andallied activities. As a princi-ple, all adventure and wildlifetour operators act as self-appointed wardens of ournatural habitat and go toextreme lengths in educatingstaff and clients to practiceminimum impact tourism.ATOAI will actively engagewith the forest departmentand like-minded associationslike ESOI to find solutions.

c) Sat Phone Communication:The ban on use of satellitephones by private operatorsin India is limiting our capa-bility to provide effectiveevacuation and rescue serv-ice in the wilderness. Manyforeign agents do not featureIndia for wilderness travel astheir insurance requires theuse of sat-phones. The rules are such that they do not even allow fixed satellite communication systems if they are fixed onmoving platforms like cruise ships, etc.

d) Insurance: Domesticadventure tourists in Indiacannot purchase insurancefor rescue and evacuation. Itis quite strange that in caseof a bad accident, a foreignclient will be evacuated with-

ASSOCIATIONS

After assuming the role of ATOAI President, AkshayKumar, CEO, Mercury Himalayan Explorations, talksabout the job at hand and how aggressive marketing ofthe Himalayas can make India a 365-day destination.

Branding the Himalayas

PEDEN DOMA BHUTIA

STIC’s Singapore market-ing office, started in January2013, will act as a catalyst to grow its inbound business, while more suchoffices come up in Londonand Sri Lanka. Another officeis also planned in Africa inFY13-14.

The group is gearing forits 40th anniversary later thisyear, while it also gears up tostrengthen its overseas net-work of offices, which it hasstarted with the Singaporeoffice that commenced oper-ations in January 2013.

“Today, we are the topairline representation com-pany in India and represent11 airlines spread across theglobe in addition to 7 non-aircomponent and 2 technology

companies. We will complete40 years of operations andhave special plans to build aniche in inbound businessthrough our overseas officenetwork,” said SubhashGoyal, Chairman, STICGroup.

“Our Singapore officewas made operational underthe leadership of my daugh-ter Richa in January 2013.

Now, we are also working on opening two more offices in London, Sri Lanka and Africa in FY13-14.The idea is to offer cus-tomised and flexible traveloptions and bring travellersinto India by offering theproduct they want, not thatwe had prepared to sell,” headded.

Lately, STIC had signedan exclusive distributor con-tract with Europcar, the glob-al leader in car rental. Thedeal was inked at the ITBBerlin 2013. As an exclusivedistributor, STIC TravelGroup will bring Europcar’sglobal products to India,which are now being offeredin over 130 countries.

STIC strives for inbound niche

There is anurgent need toactivate unusedairstrips in theHimalayas andalso to createnew ones

Akshay KumarCEOMercury Himalayan Explorations

Subhash GoyalChairman, STIC Group

Contd. on page 14

COVER STORY

one-day ‘Shutters Down’,informed Iqbal Mulla,President, TAAI.

Post the Supreme Courtorder, the agents were notable to charge additionaltransaction/service fee overand above the ticket cost.Moreover, the travel agentsare moving on the weeklypayment cycle from June 1,2013 meaning they have topay airlines every week nomatter they receive the ticket

amount from their client ornot, explains Mulla. He said,“With our insurance premiumincreasing to 1.30 per cent,service tax levied on everyproduct we sell (double tax-ation) managing skilled man-power for bringing in expert-ise to sell our products, it is

not possible for us to survivein this business.”

According to Jay Bhatia,Western Region Chapter Head,TAAI, the association is nowurging airlines for five per centagency commission on thetotal fare instead of one percent on base fare. He says,“Without travel agents, trav-ellers will be paying over 20-30 per cent on fares. The asso-ciation is also upset about therecent decision taken by MoCAfor approving the airlinesrequest of collecting extra

charges. The ministry hadcited 'international practices'adopted by airlines in the USA and the UK. This decision, if implemented, willmake air travel costlier. TAAIhas sought an explanationfrom the Minister of CivilAviation on the reasons behindallowing airlines to unbundletheir tariff structures.' Throughthe one-day stir, the agentsintend to bring in transparentairfares. “Consolidated airfaresshould be charged,” points out Bhatia.

‘Non-cooperation move’ Contd. from page 1

• Complete transparency to be maintained in the airfares bythe airlines

• Regulate the airfares which should not be exploited at anypoint of given time

• Consolidated airfares to be charged with all basic essentialnecessities of the consumer

• To avoid double taxation by the airlines to the consumer,need to unify the airfare and invoicing practices

• No industry functions without a commission and therefore,we demand for our legitimate right for commission as perIndian Aircraft Act 135

• In the interest of the consumer, it is advisable that NO IATAregulations should be implemented in India without the consent of Indian Government, Travel TradeAssociations and the Consumer forums.

• Agents must be remunerated by our Principals, for saleswe complete. We have invested heavily, and cannot be let down.

• Airlines must respect the channel of marketing and cannotcreate web disparity.

• We cannot be quiet, when unjust practices are adoptedagainst the Indian travel agency fraternity.

• Existing credit cycle should be maintained by the airlines.

Charter of demands

Jyoti Mayal Chairperson, TAAI NRIf travel agents remain united, we will succeed. The day-long protests were pretty suc-

cessful, and all consolidators and some OTAs also volunatarily joined in. This shows thatairlines will now have to retrospect on their attitude. Further from travel agents’ perspective,this was our first united step and there is more to come.

George Kutty, Hon. Secretary, TAAI NRToday airlines including LCCs are overcharging consumers, while offering no services.

It’s here the travel agents play an important role in getting the consumers best value propo-sitions that offer the highest satisfaction. Unfortunately, travel agents are not being paidtheir rightful commissions. The one-day voluntary shutter-down shows the agents’ dis-satisfaction and strong commitment.

Neeraj Malhotra, Hon. Treasurer, TAAI NRTourism in India is one among the top five foreign exchange earners with impressive growth

prospects in times to come. The aviation sector also has a bright future. However, if the travelagents are to go down, crores of people will be affected. The consumer today needs travel agentsmore than ever, as they can’t stand in lines at the airport to get tickets issued.

Vijay Kumar Gupta, Chairman, TAFI NITourism is one of the biggest employment generators. The travel agents deserve to

get industry status and fair remuneration. In fact, in the previous court judgment, ithas been decided that agents are legally entitled to commissions. Hence, there are noreasons to deny travel agents their rightful commission. This day-long protest highlightsagents’ plight without fair remuneration.

Kuku Kumar, Director, IAAIToday all travel agents are standing together all across India. The protest is beyond any association

boundary lines and extends the legitimate demand for fair remuneration from the airlines.

Rajji Rai, Immediate Past President, TAAI The agents today are suffering at multiple levels. The commission had come down from

respectable 9 per cent to, literally speaking, zero. Moreover, airlines soon will unbundle their servicesto charge the consumer much higher prices, and the weekly settlement norm will also commence,while transaction fees has been held unlawful. Agents cannot function without commissions.

This one-dayshutter-down willcost the Indianairlines operatingin the skiesnearly ̀ 350-400crores in revenue

Iqbal Mulla,President, TAAI

Delhi travel agents talk to Vivek Sethi

Luxury hotel chain LebuaHotels & Resorts is looking

at spreading its wings in India.Having exited its debut hotelin Delhi’s Dwarka area afterthe property could not matchup to its brand standards, thecompany has now moved on.“We did not want to compro-mise on the brand standardsthat Lebua is known for. Theowner was not willing to makethe investments required inthe Dwarka property. So it wasbest to move on,” DeepakOhri, Chief Executive Officer,Lebua Hotels and Resorts said.

The group is looking atthree additional hotels in itsIndia portfolio by this year.By managing three newproperties in India in 2013,it is expected to add 640rooms to the existing 900-room Lebua network.According to Ohri, the com-

pany is negotiating withthree Indian property own-ers to manage properties inNew Delhi, Mumbai,Bengaluru and Goa. Thedeals are expected to besealed by this year-end. Thehospitality company has alsosigned up a joint venture

with European hotel chain,the name of which is notknown, to bring its secondtier-brand to India in citiessuch as Rishikesh, Ohrirevealed. The hotel chainwill also engage in a market-ing alliance with theEuropean company for itsluxury brand. Currently, thecompany is managing threeboutique properties inUdaipur and Jaipur.

Meanwhile, Lebua is notupbeat about investing itsfunds in the India market.The company has madeinvestments of around $150million in Myanmar, Vietnamand Cambodia put together,$350 million in Thailand andanother $100 million in NewZealand. “For the time being,we would only look at asset-light model for the country,”Ohri informed, saying, “Thegrowth here is very sluggish.But things should look up ina year with elections roundthe corner.” Also, faced withchallenging market scenariodue to falling occupanciesand sluggish average roomrates, the chain is planning toacquire private jets which can ferry high-end travellersfrom Bangkok to India to increase occupancy levels here.

It is expected to add 640 rooms to the existing 900-room Lebua network. reports...

Things should look up in a year’stime withelections round thecorner

Deepak Ohri Chief Executive OfficerLebua Hotels and Resorts

Hospitality major CarlsonRezidor Hotel Group

recently announced its plansto hire around 9,000 peoplein India as part of expansion,under which it plans to have100 hotels under it in thecountry by the end of 2015.

Thus, the group is gear-ing to tackle the challenge oftalent acquisition and reten-tion, which poses a majorthreat to the hospitalityindustry. Nilesh Mitra, SeniorDirector-Human Resources,South Asia, Carlson RezidorGroup says, “In 2012, weopened Radisson Blu hotelsin Ahmedabad, Ludhiana,Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Nagpur,Hyderabad and Kandla. Manyof our hotels that are underconstruction are establishedin resort areas and satellitetowns. This means that weneed to have a closer partner-ship with local universitiesand hotel schools to scout tal-ents as well as fine tune thetraining programmess so that new graduates are up-skilled adequately to deliver

service that is on par with ourglobal standards.”

In 2011, a surveyinvolving 212 hotels in 61

cities (including our hotels)reveals the average numberof employees-per-room inIndia was 2.01. This ratio washigher for hotels in non majormetropolitan cities in India.“This means that in India, weneed to focus on buildingemployee capabilities so theybecome more productive intheir work,” he adds.

He informs, “A studywas conducted by Aon HewittIndia Hotel Survey in 2012which stated that the attritionrate in India’s hotel industrywas close to 35 per cent. Thisis considered high comparedto other industries in India.However, to bring this matterinto perspective, talents indeveloped markets generallyenjoy a more organised careerstructure and benefits, so it iseasier for people to see theirlong-term career projectionwith a particular company.Better career developmentstructure as well as learningand development opportuni-ties are areas where CarlsonRezidor is currently focusingon and is part of our talentretention strategy.”

The group is gearing to tackle the challenge of talentacquisition and retention. It will hire 9,000 people.

Carlson on hiring spree

TT BUREAU

We need tohave a closerpartnership withlocal universitiesand hotelinstitutes to scout talent

Nilesh MitraSenior Director-Human ResourcesSouth Asia, Carlson Rezidor

The group is looking at threeadditional hotels in its Indiaportfolio by this year.

By managing three newproperties in India in 2013, it isexpected to add 640 rooms tothe existing 900-room Lebua network

More Properties

3 new hotels for Lebua

HOTELS

AVIATION M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 1 3

At a summer productlaunch party in New

Delhi, China SouthernAirlines introduced newroutes and value-added prod-ucts during the summer andautumn season of 2013. Therepresentatives of the airlinestalked about introducing 54new domestic & five newinternational routes this sum-mer and autumn season. Thegathering comprised a goodmix of travel agents and rep-resentations, including thosefrom the regional and nation-al wholesalers/consolidators,MICE & leisure tour opera-tors, travel managementcompanies and online travel portals.

Once the new routesare implemented, the air-lines’ route network willachieve a new milestone ofoperating 431 domestic and112 international routes,besides routes to HongKong, Macau and Taiwan.The highlights of the sum-mer products included intro-duction of five-times a weeknon-stop morning departureflights between Delhi andGuangzhou with A330-200aircraft with 4-class config-uration – First, Business,Premium Economy andEconomy.

The morning depar-tures provide ideal connec-tivity to all major long-hauldestinations such asAustralia, New Zealand andLos Angeles. The airline willcontinue to operate eveningdeparture flights operated byB757 and offer connectivityto over 80 large and medium-sized cities across China andbeyond to Japan, Korea,Philippines, Vietnam, HongKong and Taiwan.

The airlines has intro-duced A330-200 aircraftbetween Delhi andGuangzhou comprising 4-class cabin structure with atotal of 217 seats whichinclude 4-First class, 24-Business class, 47-PremiumEconomy class and 142Economy class seats.

China SouthernAirlines also launched‘Canton Route’ as a servicebrand. The ‘Canton Route’brand aims at developingGuangzhou as a comprehen-sive and integrated airlinehub for further expandingthe route network via theairline hub - Guangzhou to

enable travellers enjoyseamless transition betweenAsia, Europe, Australia andthe Americas.

China Southern Airlinesis laying emphasis onimproved transit guidelinesand services, lounges, check-in services, transit

accommodation and duty-free experience atGuangzhou airport. The airlines’ ‘One Stop Service’for all international passen-gers ensures smooth and swift transfer to theirconnecting flight withoutgoing through double security checks.

Along with a list of value-added products, the airline has introduced five weeklynon-stop morning departure flights between Delhi and Guangzhou.

China Southern spreads its wingsTT BU R E AU

The morning departuresprovide ideal connectivity to allmajor long-haul destinationssuch as Australia, New Zealandand Los Angeles. The airlinewill continue to operate eveningdeparture flights operated byB757 and offer connectivity toover 80 large and medium-sized cities across China andbeyond to Japan, Korea,Philippines, Vietnam, HongKong and Taiwan

New Destinations

The representatives of China Southern Airlines at a summer product launch in New Delhi

AVIATION1 4 TRAVTALK M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

out any questions asked, buta domestic client will need towalk for hours or days or willhave to be carried on horse-back before he or she can get medical treatment. Thisissue is being followed upwith insurance companiesaggressively.

What are you workingon to market adventuretourism in India?

ATOAI feels that thetime is right to brand theIncredible Indian Himalayas.The Himalayas are the oneIndian feature, other than TajMahal, that is taught to everychild in the world. There is aneed to aggressively marketthe Indian Himalayas, whichwill not only encourageadventure travellers to lookat India but will also projectIndia as a 365-day destina-tion. The Ministry of Tourismrecognises this potential andis in the process of printingcollateral and formalising amarketing plan around theIndian Himalayas. What the Indian Tourism andHospitality industry needs tounderstand is that the IndianHimalayas offer the greatestsolution for India’s summeroff-season woes becausewhen international travellerscome in the summer to seethe Indian Himalayas, theywill also visit other destina-

tions like Delhi, Agra, Jaipur,Khajuraho, Varanasi, Udaipur,or Jodhpur. Summers are thebest time to visit theHimalayan region. In Nepal,warm cities like Kathmanduare full of tourists in sum-mers due to the fact that theyuse it as a base to reachPokhara, Lukla, Jomsom, etc.In the past, when Kashmirwas a highly-visited destina-tion, foreign tourists also cov-ered the Golden Triangle.

The new team in placeat ATOAI has pledged toadd value for member-ship. How do you pro-pose to do that?

Keeping our member-ship active and involved is amajor flag-pole for ATOAI.We will be conductingWilderness First Aid and CPRCourses coupled with activi-ty-specific skills and safetyworkshops, providing net-working opportunitiesthrough fellowship get-togethers, showcasing goodpractices to spread opera-tional knowledge amongst

members, create a large data-base of trips offered by mem-bers so that they can cross-sell each other and increasetheir own portfolio of adven-tures offered. We will also usesocial media to pass on thecrucial information of newmarket trends to all ourmembers. By tying up withassociations like ATTA, weare also trying to bring theexpertise and products of ourmembers to members of sim-ilar associations in othercountries.

What was the outcome of the ATOAI AnnualConvention in Guwahati?

The Guwahati event wasthe largest-ever conventionfor ATOAI till date. It openedup the North Eastern adven-ture travel market andbrought the Indian North-Eastto mainstream tourism. Wehave had a great response inmembership requests fromacross the North-East and wewill be visiting this regionagain in December to organiseseminars and workshops.

Using social media’s powerContd. from page 10

Chandigarh Tourism and North India ManagementAssociation are conducting a conference on ‘IntegratedTourism Development in Northern India’ on May 21.The conference will deliberate on various issues over thethree technical sessions in the daylong conference.

QUICK READ

With your airline ticket,would you like to add

checked-baggage charges?Perhaps you prefer priorityboarding or extra-legroomseats? Air passengers willsoon face such choices whilebooking their flight tickets.Borrowing a marketing prac-tice from auto makers, phonecompanies and others, air-lines will bundle options inpackages designed to get cus-tomers to spend more.

So what prompted youto table this recommen-dation at a time whenAirAsia, an airline thatmade a success story outof unbundled services, isentering the Indianskies?

This report was submit-ted to the government in2012, long before AirAsia orFDI happened; when every-one was complaining aboutexcessive pricing of airlinetickets, just after Kingfisherexited the market. A lotdepended on pricing of thetickets at that time, as the sit-uation was so precarious thateveryone was predicting thatIndian airlines would soon

start dying. Our concern washow to revive these airlines,so that this industry becomesviable. One of our proposalswas the unbundling of services.

How will this conceptmanifest itself?

Unbundling is not a newconcept. In the US, this modelwas so successful that it

shaped the behaviour of full-service carriers like the United.In the third quarter of last year,US Airlines collected $924 mil-lion in baggage fees, up 3%from a year earlier, and $652million in reservation-changefees, up 8%. You allow airlinesto charge passengers accord-ing to the services they use.

It’s a fair deal, as all theseservices add to the cost of the airlines.

The concept is there invarious industries. You pay abasic fare for a no-frills phoneand little extra for SMSes orcricket updates. Your dish TVand pizza company also fol-low a similar business model.

So it’s like paying extrafor additional pizza toppings?

Yes, it’s everywhere.But it raises eyebrows whenit comes to airlines as airtravel is still considered a lux-ury in India. We have thisnotion that if it is a luxury,then why am I not getting allthe facilities? But if airlinetravel is taken as any othermode of travel which takesyou from point A to B fasterthanks to cheap fares, wewon’t be expecting hot mealsserved onboard.

As an economist, whatare your do’s and don’tsof flexi-pricing for theairlines?

The pricing structureshould not be discriminatory,based on your gender, colourof your shirt or physical traits.Samoa Air’s new pay-by-

your-weight pricing is unac-ceptable for the same reason.It should also be transparent,so the customer knows up-front what services he’ll haveto pay extra for.

What would be the differ-ence between a basic fareand a full-service ticket?

If you look at Ryanair,the difference could be fairlysignificant, between £20-250. As an economist, weadvised the ministry not toget too involved with how anairline prices its tickets. Howthe airlines will respond to itdepends on how they interactwith the market.

There seems to be a lotof confusion on whetherthis move will make fly-ing more expensive orcheaper.

Competition is good inany sector, it delivers efficiencyand benefits the consumers. Ifan airline is pricing its a lacarte menu in an exploitativemanner, the competition in theindustry will ensure that itloses its customers to anotherairline. So if one airlinecharges `300 for a meal, and`500 for extra leg room,another airline will try toundercut that.

Flexi ticket pricing willensure that the base pricewill go down, but onlyduring off-season. For therest of the year, the priceswill remain the same.Also, it will still add to theairport rush due to thetime-consumingprocedure.

This will segregate themarket of customers intovarious ‘buckets’. Thosesimply travelling from pointA to B will pay lower fares.Full service passengers willhave to pay more. Soeveryone pays according to

usage, rather than one group subsiding for theother. My only concern is that the differencebetween a basic fare and a full service ticketshould be substantial.

Shravan BhallaGeneral Secretary, OTOAI

Gurdeep Singh GujralCEO, Gujral Tours and Travels

Ram Tamara Managing DirectorNathan Economic Consulting India

TEENA BARUAH

Pay more for extra legroom and baggage

RoomsXML SolutionsLimited has recently

introduced its hotel bookingplatform RoomsXML in theIndian market. An accommo-dation distribution systemdesigned for travel compa-nies, RoomsXML offers a sin-

gle solution to over 83,000properties across the worldas well real-time access toroom rates. Prakash Bang,Managing Director,

RoomsXML Solutions said,“The key point of differencewith RoomsXML is in its pro-prietary software capabilityto flawlessly map and de-duplicate the inventory thatcomes from many destinationspecific suppliers, direct con-tracting and dynamicallyfrom large hotel chains. Our

goal is to simplify the processof hotel booking for the travelagent.” Another key featureon RoomsXML is Retina, aretail interface, which dis-plays the travel agent’s logoon the booking slip and alsodisplays the rates with a pre-set mark-up. Bang added,“Another important feature

on RoomsXML is Q-Push.This helps the travel agent tosubmit quotations with prop-erty images and informationvia email directly from theRoomsXML booking panel.There's no need for the travelagent to spend time inpreparing accommodationproposals manually.”

Elaborating on themarketing strategy forRoomsXML, Bang said, “Ourfocus is on educating thetravel trade aboutRoomsXML. We will alsoattempt to reach agentsthrough trade fairs such asSATTE and WTM. Initialresponse to the platform has

been phenomenal. We willrely on word-of-mouth asour marketing strategy toreach travel agents and touroperators. Our goal is tohave the trade recogniseRoomsXML as the most effi-cient and most preferredhotel booking platform inthe industry.”

A software intended to make travel agents’ workload lighter, it has many features that have business appeal.gives details of the hotel booking platform.

RoomsXML enters the Indian marketTECHNOLOGY M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 1 5

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Our goal is to simplify the process ofhotel bookingfor the travel agent

Prakash BangManaging DirectorRoomsXML Solutions

TravelClick, a globalprovider of revenue-gen-erating solutions forhotels, will promote itsbusiness intelligenceapplication Demand 360to the Indian hospitalityindustry this year. JoyGhosh, Regional DirectorIndia & Subcontinent at TravelClick said,“Demand360 is a marketintelligence solution avail-able to the hospitalityindustry. It providesfuture visibility in themarket and shares per-formance across all distri-bution channels and seg-ments. It will allow hotelsto develop an understand-ing of the hospitalityindustry, in-market trendsand identify strategies tocapitalise on revenueopportunities.” Ghoshadded, “Our aim is tobridge the knowledge gapin the industry.”

Demand 360picks up

ASSOCIATIONS

Adventure tourism can be a great source

of increasing tourist arrivals, provided specialattention is paid to productdevelopment. This was

the main issue discussed at the CII Roundtable onAdventure Tourism at New Delhi.

The CII Roundtable on Adventure Tourism talked aboutthe need to position India as an adventure destinationand making the country a 365-day destination.

Scaling new heights

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Experiences through adventureArjun Sharma, Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Tourism;& MD, Le Passage to India, expressed concern about how the imageof India has been tarnished by heinous crimes that have unfoldedin the recent past. However, he was hopeful that the country willspring back and that with the help of adventure tourism, we wouldshowcase varied aspects of Indian culture. He talked about how themodels of creativity are unfolding and how adventure tourism nowbrings to fore a vital aspect of tourism – experiences. He said,“Adventure tourists normally stay for longer periods in a destination,however, we have lost adventure tourism to Nepal. It’s time to present the real face of adventuretourism in India and for this, we also have the support of the Ministry of Tourism. We need totake advantage of the opportunity that we have lost so far.”

Amita Sarkar, Senior Director, CII, said that adventure tourism plays a crucial role in notonly driving inclusive growth but also for generating employment opportunities and henceits potential cannot be ignored.

Using military air stripsAjeet Bajaj, Managing Director, Snow Leopard Adventures, said thatnearly 90% of adventure tourism is concentrated in soft adventuretourism and recommended adopting a multi-pronged approach tohelp, promote and harness the potential in a safe and sustainablemanner. With a view to make optimal utilisation of airstrips, he sug-gested that the defense airstrips be allowed to be used for commercialoperations. He said, “Adventure tourism is resilient and has beentrending upwards even in times that are economically difficult. AtATOAI, we have adopted four pillars for promoting adventure tourism

– safety, sustainability, standard operating procedures and ethics. Emphasis should be placed onthe insurance aspect as there is no insurance available for adventure guides and focus should beon opening new institutions to promote multiple adventure sports besides mountaineering likerafting, canoeing, skiing, etc.”

Experts also discussed about the potential to position India as an adventure destination andhow effective marketing strategies by both the government and private players can help highlightthis niche tourism product.

The need for infrastructureAkshay Kumar, the newly-elected President of the Adventure TourOperators Association of India (ATOAI), highlighted the enormouspotential of adventure tourism, and said that over a period of time,focus has shifted from hardcore to softcore/multi-activity basedadventure tourism. He talked about how the market has changeddrastically and how people now opt for shorter holidays. Besidesdiscussing issues such as infrastructure development, adoptingeffective marketing strategies and sustainable tourism develop-ment, the members at the roundtable also informed that the rev-enue from domestic tourists in adventure tourism is much more in comparison to inboundtourists. Kumar also emphasised upon the safety and quality issues, and suggested to encour-age usage of satellite phones. He said, “Since 70% of the Himalayan range is in India, andthe Incredible India Himalayan campaign is in place, the industry should strategise to encour-age adventure tourism activities during the off-season and cater to tourists all around theyear.” Some of the points raised at the conference included sustainable tourism developmentand providing a positive investment atmosphere for the private sector. The experts also dis-cussed that government policies that support responsible adventure tourism activities shouldbe followed by adventure tour operators and all involved in the industry. The roundtableconference also highlighted the lack of facilities and infrastructure for undertaking adventuretourism activities, such as arrangements for trekking, rock climbing, mountaineering, aero-sports, winter/water-related sports, trekker huts and wildlife viewing facilities. It talkedabout the need for well-equipped infrastructure catering to the needs of adventure tourismin terms of accessibility, skills for trainers and good quality adventure tourism materials.

Taking advantage of fundsSubhash Goyal, IATO President and Chairman, Stic Travels, lauded the government’s efforts in promoting adventure tourism,and said that all tour operators should gear up to take advantage ofthe ̀ 3 crore which has been allocated by the MOT for the IncredibleIndia Himalayan campaign. He also suggested installing a helplinein multiple languages exclusively for this industry.

HOTELS

French hospitality major-Accor rolled out its first

Formule 1 property last yearin India. With the flagshipproperty in Greater Noida and later one in Pune, the group recently opened its third property inAhmedabad, Gujarat.

With a clear intention ofproviding ‘great sleep andshower’ experience, thebrand will soon roll out fourmore properties each inGurgaon, Bengaluru,Hyderabad and Pimpri (Pune)by September 2013. Overall,the brand intends to openseven properties in 2013 andbring the total to 15 by 2014,informed Madhu Joshi,Director-Marketing andCommunications, Accor.

Formule 1 is low-budgethotel brand offering the 7Cs– a Clean, Cool, Convenient,Cheerful, Corporate, Check-in (24X7), Coffee Bar andWiFi enabled environment.The brand is strongly relyingon both online and offline dis-tribution channels to improvesales and awareness.Explaining the growingimportance of travel agentsfor the brand, Joshi said,“Travel agents are increas-ingly becoming an importantchannel which hotels cannot

avoid or ignore. With strongonline presence, Accor is alsoreceiving excellent responsefor travelagencies.accorho-tels.com site. However, weunderstand that workingwith offline agents in differ-ent markets is also important,so we have presence acrossIndia in different regions.”Formule1 is specially workingclosely with corporate agentsas the brand is focussed moreon corporate travellers.

Joshi adds, “India isone of the core markets forgrowth in Asia Pacific withstrong demand across allsegments of hotels. Accor isevolving and expanding itsbusiness and with the intro-duction of our first low-costhotel in India, we are furtherstrengthening our portfolioto forge distinctive, powerfuland complementary posi-tions across the various seg-ments. We definitely aim atearning market-leader posi-tioning for Formule 1 in thebudget segment."

Formule1 plans at opening five more properties. It alsoaims at having offline and online distribution channels.

‘Formule’ for success

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India is one ofthe core marketsfor growth inAsia Pacific with a strongdemand acrossall segments of hotels

Madhu JoshiDirector – Marketing and Communication, Accor

Accor’s hotel pipeline till 2015 includes 4 Pullman, 14 Novotel, 5 Mercure and 12 Formule 1 hotels. The planis to have 90 hotels across our brands in India by 2015.While the group is emphasising on the mid and economysegments, efforts are being made to expand in the upscalesegment as well.

Expanding Portfolio

As a major initiative to pro-mote tourism in the KashmirValley, Union Minister TourismK Chiranjeevi announced thatKashmir Festival-2013 will beheld for a fortnight from May13 to May 29 at different placesin the state of J&K. TheMinistry would be providingfinancial support for this. Thefestival will be held in Sringar, Pahalgam, Yousmarg,Manasbal, Doodhpathri,Gulmarg, Lolab Valley andSonmarg and will include activ-

ities such as shikara races,cycle races, canoeing, riverrafting, para gliding, painting,swimming competition, horseraces, etc. The festival will alsoshowcase culture of Jammu &Kashmir through performancesby the cultural troupes of the State.

For successful organisa-tion of the Festival, the MOT isalso coordinating with otherministries, including Ministryof Home Affairs, Ministry ofCivil Aviation, for outlining the

concessional fares/tour pack-ages, Ministry of Culture fororganising cultural eventsthrough different culturaltroupes and Ministry of YouthAffairs and Sports for under-taking sports activities.

The local service providerssuch as hoteliers, guesthouseowners including house boatsof Kashmir Division havealready offered discount of 20-30% as a special case for thetour packages/tourists duringthe forthcoming tourist season.

Kashmir Festival from May 13

JW Marriott, Mumbai istargeting the MICE segmentto attract visitors. PavithranNambiar, General Manager,JW Marriott Hotel Mumbaisaid, “The intention behindrenovating the hotel was tobring a strong element of lux-ury in the rooms. Besides this,we also have an extensiveF&B focus to the hotel. TheJW Marriott Hotel Mumbai isone of the most iconic hotelsin Mumbai and will appeal tothe MICE segment, which ison the lookout for new and

unique destinations.Additionally, Mumbai is alsodeveloping its MICE infra-structure steadily and makingit a more attractive location forMICE activities. We hope tosee MICE taking a 25% shareof our business by 2013.”

Nambiar added, “Ourgoal for 2013 is to inform theIndian market that we havereturned with 355 rooms andthat we are ready to do busi-ness. Alongside MICE, corpo-rate and leisure traffic, anoth-er important segment for us

is the wedding segment, andthis year, the hotel will haveplayed host to two weddingfairs. Additionally, we alreadyhave a strong relationshipwith the travel trade and wewill put our efforts into mak-ing our partners aware of ourrenovated rooms. We will alsowork with travel agents andtour operators to movebeyond the traditional mar-kets and tap emerging mar-kets in Africa and Europe aswell as the Far East andAustralia.”

Marriott Mumbai to target MICE

ANALYSIS1 8 TRAVTALK M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Along with many travelagencies, Thomas Cook

India has recently announcedits senior citizen holidays cre-ated especially for those intheir 60s and above. Top-sell-ing destinations include

short-hauls like Mauritius, SriLanka, Far East and Dubai.“At Thomas Cook India, sen-ior citizens form a key andgrowing segment,” saysMadhav Pai, Director -Leisure Travel (Outbound),Thomas Cook India, “Thepackages have been designed

to suit the requirements ofthe senior traveller.”

Speaking on the initia-tive, Pai says, “We have

observed that today’s seniorcitizens have a youthful out-look towards travel and arehappy to experiment withgroup tours, with their family

members as well as justthemselves. Our luxurybrand ‘Indulgence’ has seenstrong growth via anniver-sary trips for this segment, to

exotic destinations such asHong Kong, Philippines, Baliand Japan.”

With most travel agencies offering customised packages for elderly travellers, ‘silver citizens' in India have a reasonto cheer this holiday season. finds out...

Tour packages get a silver sheen

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Most travel agents agree that catering to silver travellers isa challenge. Pai’s team has to carefully screen hotels and offeraccommodation choices that have wheel chair and doctor-on-callfacilities. Also, rooms need to be allocated close to elevators orat the ground level.

For Kak, the most important challenge is related to his clients’medical needs. “Even though we do not take any customers with-out a valid insurance, at times, customers need medical attentionwhen the policy is less than two years old. Diet, too, is crucial.We have an option of Indian vegetarian meals and even Jain mealson all our trips abroad. Also, it is a standard practice to providea tour manager who speaks a regional language in addition toEnglish,” says Kak.

For Rajesh Sethi, Managing Director, Carnation TravelServices, offering a discounted package to this age-group is achallenge. “The cost goes up since all transfers have to be escort-ed. But this client is also price-sensitive, who often ends up withan inferior package on the basis of false premises.”

Tough Calls

We offer themflights that takeoff late in theevening, withminimum stop-overs

At ThomasCook India,senior citizensform a key and agrowingsegment

Madhav PaiDirector - Leisure Travel(Outbound), Thomas Cook India

Karan AnandHead, RelationshipsCox and Kings

Offering adiscountedpackage to this age-group is achallenge

They loverelaxingholidays with a bit ofsightseeingthrown in

Madan KakCOO-ToursMinar Travels

Rajesh SethiManaging DirectorCarnation Travel Services

Contd. on page 23

Since its launch in 2010,Resorts World Sentosa

has always kept India in itspotential and emerging mar-kets list. With increasingnumber of Indians visitingSingapore and including thetheme park in the itinerary,Resorts World Sentosa hasnow expanded its focus frommetros to mini metro-citiesin India. Moreover, it hasalso turned its focus to MICEsegment from just families,FITs and groups. For thesame, Resorts World Sentosais now also working withindividual tour operatorsfrom metros and mini-met-ros who are not a part oftheir GSA (General SalesAgent) network. This year, itintends to attract moreIndians and has introducedtwo new attractions – SEAAquarium and a water park.

With Singapore TourismBoard intending to attractone million Indians in 2013,Resorts World Sentosa ishopeful of recording a goodgrowth from this market thisyear. Talking about theIndian market, Edward Goh,Senior Vice President-ResortSales & Marketing, ResortsWorld Sentosa, Singaporesaid, “We are very excitedabout the Indian market asmore and more Indians areopting for Resorts WorldSentosa while visitingSingapore. Considering theirspending power and passionfor adventure, we are seri-ously looking at India as oneof our core source markets.We have started workingclosely with tour operators,event management compa-nies and MICE operators tofurther enhance our networkand spread awareness aboutour product. We intend toposition Resorts WorldSentosa more than just atheme park, it’s a destinationin itself.”

For MICE events, it hasunique venues like CompassBallroom (capacity to accom-modate 6,500 people in the-atre style), The Coliseum,Function Rooms (21 functionrooms with a combined area of2,800 sq meters), UniversalStudios Singapore, WaterfrontPromenade and Hard Rock

Hotel Singapore FunctionRooms. Goh adds, “We offersome unique MICE venues atexcellent cost. Operators canoffer these venues with cus-tomised settings to theirclients, earn a handsome com-mission and long-lasting busi-ness relationship with ResortsWorld Sentosa.”

The resort will work closely with MICE operators, trade associations andevent management companies this year to attract more such groups

Resorts World Sentosa turns to MICEHOTELS M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 1 9

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Considering theirspending powerand passion foradventure, we areseriously lookingat India as one ofour core sourcemarkets

Edward Goh, Senior VP-Resort Sales& Marketing, ResortsWorld Sentosa

For MICE events, the resort hasunique venues like CompassBallroom (capacity toaccommodate 6,500 people)The Coliseum and FunctionRooms (21 function rooms witha combined area of 2,800 sq mt.

What it has?

FAMILY ALBUM2 0 TRAVTALK M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

The 4th Members Meet of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) was held at Park Baluchi, Deer Park, Hauz Khas on April 22, 2013.Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI, welcomed over 130 members to the meeting. He said the aim of this evening meet was to update membersand special invitees on the progress made by OTOAI since their last gathering held in Mumbai in December 2012.

OTOAI 4th Members Meet in New Delhi

NTO

In order to create greaterawareness about Ireland in

the Indian market, TourismIreland is planning to revampits online training pro-gramme, Shamrock Agents.Jim Paul-Director Australiaand Developing Markets,Tourism Ireland said, “TheShamrock Agents onlinetraining will engage our trav-el trade partners, increasetheir knowledge and assistthem in their promotion ofIreland. We currently haveapproximately 750 travelagents and tour operatorsfrom India currently regis-tered with the ShamrockAgents programme and ourtarget is to double that figurethis year. In addition, we willcontinue to work with theIndian travel trade throughroad shows, workshops andFAM trips.”

Paul estimates anincrease in the number ofIndian visitors to Ireland withthe visa waiver programmeas well as the connectionsoffered by several carriers

such as Emirates and Etihad.Under the visa waiver pro-gramme, tourists or businesspeople who have lawfullyentered the UK, including

Northern Ireland, on a validUK visa are able to travel onto Ireland without therequirement to obtain anIrish visa.

The tourism board,which is focusing primarily onDelhi and Mumbai in theIndian market is planning totap film tourism in order toincrease the number of Indianarrivals in Ireland. Pauladded, “Television and filminfluence travellers stronglyand it is a great way to pro-mote our tourism products inthe country. Additionally, wewill also conduct FAM trips forBollywood producers anddirectors in order to highlightthe destination. MICE isanother important segment tous and we estimate thatapproximately 7-8 MICEgroups from India will visitIreland this year.

Tourism Ireland believes that the visa waiver programmewill continue to have a significant impact on the numberof visitors from the Indian subcontinent.

Film fillip to up figures

LYANDRA D’SOUZA

Television andfilm influencetravellersstrongly, and it isa great way topromote ourtourismproducts in thecountry.

Jim PaulDirector Australia and DevelopingMarkets, Tourism Ireland

Ireland recorded 20,000Indian visitors in 2012People on a valid UK Visa arepermitted to travel in Irelandwithout needing an Irish Visa

Shamrock Calls

Golfers tee off in Thailand

IGTA-India Golf Tourism Association, along with Thai Airways and TAT, organised a golf tournament inPhuket. All the golfers were flown back on the inaugural Phuket-Delhi flight on April 1. A total of 16 leadingtour operators who are into golf tourism and also members of IGTA went and played three rounds of golfwhich include the famous Blue Canyon, Laguna -Banyan Tree and the final tournament at Red Mountain.

Lufthansa Star Chef Contest

Vandana Sethi was declared the winner of the Lufthansa Star Chef Contest in a grand finale at The Leela,Mumbai, where 12 aspiring chefs, selected from among thousands of contestants from across India, viedfor top honours in a live cook-out contest. Sethi won the battle of taste with her recipe for Khoye ki Subzi,which will feature now in the celebrated Star Chef menu onboard Lufthansa flights from India and at selectrestaurants at the hotel chain. The contest began as a unique talent hunt on the airline’s India Facebookpage to find the best original Indian recipe.

ANALYSIS2 2 TRAVTALK M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

India’s destination image isan amalgamation of inde-

pendent tourism factors andthe perception about India is

reflected by the tourist mem-ory. The image of India can’tbe imposed on tourists byadvertisement campaignsalone. It comprises variousbits of information they hearfrom people around. Thismakes it imperative that theindustry as a whole functionssmoothly and becomes ‘visi-tor-friendly’, which it isn’t atthe moment. It has to shapeup and rid itself of its glaring‘negatives’.

Lajpat Rai, ManagingDirector, Lotus Trans Travel,feels Indian tourism coulddo much better but for cer-tain negatives that plaguethe industry and hamper itsgrowth and development.The main negative plaguingIndian tourism is the gener-al perception of non-safety,which discourages visitors.

“There is a need for moreco-ordination in theMinistry of Tourism, and the state governmentsshould highlight theseissues,” he says.

Sunil Sikka, MarketingManager, WelcomHeritage,feels there are differenttypes of travellers, and they

have different types of prob-lems, which if not solvedquickly, become negativefactors. Unfortunately, thelist of such negative factorsin Indian tourism is ratherlong, but some issues areparticularly harmful. Forinstance, sub-standard railand inter-state bus stations;

the menace of touts; over-charging by taxis, autos,and shopkeepers; overallsafety and security; cleanli-ness and hygiene; andheavy taxation on tourist

products. All these are play-ing a negative role andharming the industry’sinterests and image.

Sandeep Dayal, Exe-cutive Director, Go IndiaJourneys, feels the Indiantourist industry has to be clearin its thinking. The scripturesdeclare ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ or‘the guest is God’, but theground reality is totally differ-ent, and safety remains a pri-mary concern of travellers, as

do other factors like outbreakof communicable diseases;and lack of cleanliness andhygiene in certain areas.

For the industry toreach a higher platform,‘Brand India’ will need toform a clear, inspiring,truthful narrative of whatIndia and its people reallystand for. Building brandIndia is a long-term effort.For it to be successful, thevision has to be reflected inproducts and services.

Vijay Dadhich,Managing Director, Blue MoonTravels, feels India needs aproper, complete infrastruc-ture to handle its inboundtourism. The existing infra-structure is half done. It wasspruced up to showcase to the world during theCommonwealth Games, andthen dumped. It was not fullydeveloped in a manner thatwould serve all needs. Theneed is for India to first get acomplete, integrated infra-structure, and then get more

ambitious in terms of becom-ing a major tourist country.

Shivraj Singh,Managing Director, AtithiVoyages, feels India has along way to go before it canbecome a truly tourist-friend-ly country.

All the declared procla-mations one hears have tobe implemented at ground-level, something that isn’thappening today. The glar-ing negatives, like for

instance, safety and security;the menace of touts; andovercharging by taxis andshops, haven’t been effec-tively addressed and tackled,let alone eradicated. Unlessthe general perception of‘tourist India’ improves, theindustry will continue to behit and fall short of optimumperformance levels.

Brig SP Singh, Director,Jumpin Heights, is of theopinion that the Indiantourism industry needs to be

developed as a culture andnot just a business. If the cul-ture is developed, businesswill follow.

Tourists seek adequateinformation available atnational and state levelswhen they plan their visits.They want to verify informa-tion details related to costfactors and the quality ofservices, and be reassuredregarding safety and securi-ty. Very often, they don’tknow who to contact during

emergencies. The lack ofsuch a mechanism is a negative factor.

Cdr. CP Sharma,Managing Director, NeptuneTravco singles out the lack ofa comprehensive tourist infra-structure to be the biggestnegative in the Indian touristindustry. What’s needed is aninfrastructure that caters to allsegments, in all categories, allthe time. A comprehensiveinfrastructure must be put inplace immediately.

While on the face of it, India’s tourism industry is well and thriving, and its coffers are full, there’s an urgentneed to look inwards and reflect on what could have been. The fact is that the overall performance would havebeen substantially better but for some harsh ‘negatives’ that plague the industry and harm its progression.

An Incredibly Safe India, please!

INDER RAJ AHLUWALIA

Safety remains aprimary concernof travellers, asdo other factorslike outbreak ofdiseases

There are differenttravellers, and theyhave problems,which if notsolved, becomenegative factors

The main negative plaguingIndian tourism is the generalperception of non-safety

Lajpat RaiManaging DirectorLotus Trans Travel

Sunil SikkaMarketing ManagerWelcomHeritage

Sandeep DayalExecutive DirectorGo India Journeys

What’s needed isan infrastructurethat caters to allsegments, in allcategories, all the time

India has a long way to gobefore it canbecome a trulytourist-friendlycountry

India needs aproper, completeinfrastructure to handle its inbound tourism

Vijay DadhichManaging DirectorBlue Moon Travels

Shivraj SinghManaging DirectorAtithi Voyages

Cdr. CP SharmaManaging DirectorNeptune Travco

Indian tourism industry needs to be developed as a culture andnot just a business, if it develops asa culture, business will followBrig SP Singh, Director, Jumpin Heights

Thomas Cook India’s‘personalised holidays’ createspecial tailor-made itinerariesensuring focus on easy-pacedsight-seeing, adequate stopsfor rest and comfort breaks.Typically, half day sight-see-ing tours are included ratherthan full-day tours. Also, spe-cial meals are served as pertheir health and dietaryrequirements.

According to Pai, “Thecombination of early retire-ment, high disposable incomeand healthy lifestyle has cre-ated room for more leisuretime, which has createdstrong demand for travel. Ourtrend analysis has revealedthat approximately 15% of ourindividual traveller segmentwill comprise senior citizens.”

When Cox and Kingsdesigns tours for senior citi-zens, they look at manyaspects. “We offer them flightsthat take off late in theevening, with minimum stop-overs. Otherwise, they end upspending time in the airport atnight. Accommodation is pro-

vided on lower floors andhotels in the city centre arebooked. We have dedicatedstaff on call, in case of anyemergencies,” says KaranAnand, Head, Relationships,Cox and Kings, adding,“Dietary requirements aretaken care of. We ensure thatthey walk less and provide

them transport to the nearestentry point at monumentsetc.” In the domestic sector,Minar Travels specialises inselling destinations likeHimachal, Kashmir, Ooty andDarjeeling to silver travellers.“They love relaxing holidayswith a bit of sightseeingthrown in. A shikara ride onDal Lake for three hours anda flask of tea/coffee with lightsnacks, is the kind of option

we offer to senior citizens,”says Madan Kak, COO-Tours,Minar Travels.

“Then there are those who prefer to combineholidays with religious activities. We offer them aGolden Triangle tour with apit-stop at Varanasi to visit

temples and watch theevening aarti by the Ganges.For those who want an extended holiday, an hour-long flight takes them to the HimalayanKingdom of Nepal. A templetour of Char Dhams is forthose who can withstandstrenuous journeys. A five-night tour of Vaishno Deviand Durbar Sahib in Amritsar is also popular,” says Kak.

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For comfort of senior citizens Contd. from page 18

A large number of seniors prefer to travel in groups as they likethe company of fellow travellers who are young and can give themcompany, claims Anand. Sethi agrees, “They are nervous about travelling alone and need to travel in a group, properly escorted.Many of them avoid fixed departures and opt for customised pack-ages, which are not very hectic. We organise group departures forthem for Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, China, Egypt and Europe.”

Group Show

After South Africa, Kenyaand Tanzania, Zimbabwe

has climbed on the bandwag-on to attract Indian touristarrivals. At present, touroperators are sellingZimbabwe by clubbing it withSouth Africa for its popularVictoria Falls. However,Zimbabwe is now intendingto receive bigger chunk

of Indian arrivals with more overnights as a ‘solo’destination.

To raise the Indiantourism traffic, the Zimbabwegovernment has recentlyintroduced electronic visafacility for Indian citizens.According to BlessingMunyenyiwa, MD, Love forAfrica; who is working closelywith Zimbabwe TourismAuthority for the Indian mar-ket; the country is planningto move India from Category-C (pre-applied visa) toCategory-B (visa-on-arrival)for visa and immigration.

Talking about the plansfor the Indian market,Munyenyiwa said, “Traderelations between India andZimbabwe are improvingand there is a huge opportu-nity to tap in the tourismsector. During this visit, wemet with top tour-operatorsin Mumbai and New Delhiwho are selling Africa andare keen to promote andmarket Zimbabwe from this

year onwards. We have also signed an MoU withOTOAI and are in talks withTAAI and TAFI to bringawareness among theirmembers about Zimbabweand its tourism offerings.”Zimbabwe TourismAuthority has appointedMumbai-based Blue SquareConsultants as representa-tive for marketing and salesin India. As an initiative, asmall group of private oper-ators-Gavin Rennie, MD,The Hide & Changa, NommyVuma, Marketing Manager,Africa Albida Tourism andMunyenyiwa along with

Rachel Marufu, MarketingExecutive-India, ZimbabweTourism Authority recentlymet agents in Mumbai andNew Delhi.

To increase awareness,it is organising a FAM fortour operators in July and aroadshow in Mumbai, NewDelhi and Bengaluru inOctober this year. The focusis more on high-end groups,MICE and families.

Introduces electronic visa facility for Indians; to workclosely with trade associations like OTOAI, TAAI and TAFI.

E-visa for Zimbabwe

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Zimbabwe is hosting the 20th session of the general assemblyof the United Nations World Tourism Organisation from August24-29, 2013. The much awaited ‘Univisa’ programme will be thetop agenda at this event. Under this programme, governmentsof 14 member states of the Southern African DevelopmentCommunity will endorse a single visa programme that would easemovement of tourists in the region.

Coming Soon: UnivisaTrade relationsbetween Indiaand Zimbabweare improvingand there is ahugeopportunity totap in thetourism sector

Blessing MunyenyiwaMD, Love for Africa

FAMILY ALBUM

ADTOI heads to Panchkula It was a weekend treat as ADTOI took its members for a hotel inspectionround. The ADTOI delegation recently visited the beautiful town ofPanchkula in Haryana. The 50-odd members stayed at the Pride KC Hotel& Spa at Panchkula in Haryana. The property offers 127 rooms with swimming pool, gym, business-centre, conference and banquets facility.

Harbour Plaza Workshop Harbour Plaza Hotels &Resorts, Hong Kong recentlyorganised workshops inDelhi and Mumbai. The work-shops were attended bymany members of the Indiantravel trade fraternity whocame to discover the oppor-tunities in "The finest OrientalHospitality” . Harbour GrandHong Kong, Harbour GrandKowloon, Harbour PlazaMetropolis, Harbour Plaza 8Degrees and Harbour PlazaResor t City par ticipated inthe workshop.

NTO M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 5

Taking stock of the indus-try developments at the

members’ meet held recentlyin New Delhi, the TAAI-NR

also called upon SidneyFrank, Minister-ImmigrationIndia, Nepal & Bhutan andSarah Hayward, Head of

Temporary Resident Unit tomake presentation and delib-erate on the various visaaspects with members.

“It’s a misconceptionthat agents think getting

Canada visa is a cumber-some process. We have thefastest and simplest visa-clearance mechanism inplace, as compared to our peers. We, unlike ourother competitors, neitherask for biometrics nor inter-views in the Indian market,” said Frank.

“Under normal circum-stances, we process the visaapplications in centres likeDelhi in about 3 days, whichmay extend to 5 days in caseof peak season. Our visaacceptance rate is as high as95 per cent, when the appli-cation is moved by travelagents, as compared to 80

per cent otherwise,” headded. In fact, the Canadianauthorities are also willing towork with travel agents tomake the visa process evenmore convenient for theIndian travellers. In thisdirection, Hayward said, “Weface the challenge of scan-ning all visa applications in

such a manner that no unau-thorised person stays in ourcountry.”

“Hence, we encourageour travel agents to scanthrough the applications of theperson at their end. It’s in theirinterest also that they sendpeople to Canada again andagain, as they come back with

fond memories of a pleasantvacation,” she added.

Canada’s visa acceptance rate is as high as 95 per cent when the application is moved by travel agents, ascompared to 80 percent through other channels.

‘Canada visa service is the fastest’VIVEK SETHI

We process the visaapplications incentres likeDelhi in about 3 days, whichmay extend to5 days in caseof peak season

Sidney FrankMinister-Immigration India, Nepal & Bhutan

We encourageour travelagents to scan through theapplications ofthe person at their end

Sarah HaywardHead of Temporary Resident Unit

The Canadian authorities arealso willing to work with travelagents to make the visa processeven more convenient for theIndian travellers

Warm Welcome

TECHNOLOGY2 6 TRAVTALK M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

class as a class booking codeand not as a visual presenta-tion of the product on offer.”He cautioned saying that NDCis in no terms a finished prod-uct yet, but IATA is movingahead with a number of keyplayers. “In short, the keyissues on NDC right now, seenfrom an agency perspective,are whether the travel agentsin future will have an accessto all products and prices onan NDC airline or not? Also, abig issue is the ownership ofpassengers’ PNR as well as anumber of other legal issues,notably the airlines’ access tocustomer data. The list ofquestions that are up in theair is quite long.”

There are many myths,fears, controversies and dis-agreements on NDC. Forinstance, NDC’s authenticat-ing capabilities, revealing tothe airline exactly who thetraveller is, will mean thatairlines will offer passengerfares derived from their pastpurchasing behaviour or from

other demographic informa-tion rather than offering a fullrange of fares.

Not just global associa-tions, but our own TAFI hasasked for clarification onNDC. Pradip Lulla, NationalGeneral Secretary, TAFI said,“Our members and agentsacross India received the pol-icy information through emailcirculation by IATA. However,the proposal needs to bemore detailed. The aspect ofthe distribution policy has tobe defined.” When askedabout the support or opposi-tion for IATA’s NDC, Lullasaid, “We have asked IATA toclarify certain clarification onthis subject and are expectinga feedback from them soon.Once we receive the clarifi-cation, only than we canknow if it is beneficial for ourindustry or not and decide toeither support or object it.”

What’s the world doingon NDC?

The Business TravelCoalition and the Global

Business Travel Associationare urging the travel industryto sign a draft Signatory Letterto Department ofTransportation (DoT) of USAto urge them seeking addition-al information from IATAbefore ruling on the policy. TheAssociation of Canadian TravelAgencies has asked Canada’sCompetition Bureau to inves-tigate Resolution 787, and isencouraging members to filecomments with the DoT.

ACTA believes that NDCwould ‘negatively and signif-icantly impact travel industrycosts and airline competitionand would drive up airlineprices for passengers.’

The EU DirectorateGenerals of Competition,Transport and Enterprise willbe asked to assess NDC inorder to ensure ‘a level play-ing field.’ WTAAA is clarifyingthe triangular issues between

airlines, GDS and travelagents on NDC and establishan NDC Governance struc-ture.

On the other hand, theAirlines Reporting Corp haslent its support to NDC claim-ing that it will benefit bothagents and their customers.IATA is seeking to dispel‘myths and misinformation’about NDC with the launch ofa dedicated blog site. The sitewill provide updates, com-mentary and ‘thought lead-ership pieces’ regarding theNDC initiative.

IATA stands strong

Standing strong forIATA, Aleks Popovich, SeniorVice President – IndustryDistribution and FinancialServices, IATA said that NDCrepresents a unique opportu-nity to modernise air traveldistribution. Currently, air-lines use internet program-ming language (XML) ontheir websites and are able tooffer travel consumers anonline shopping experiencesimilar to what they can find

on retail websites such asAmazon.com. However, GDSuse a less flexible pre-inter-net message protocol. Thislegacy infrastructure cannotefficiently support modernretailing practices such aspersonalised and customisedoffers. For example, an airlinethat offers some extra legroom or a special meal optioncannot entice the customerwith this added value whenselling through travel agentsbecause the GDS cannot cur-rently present the informa-tion effectively and attrac-tively, informs Popovich.

He said, “In most cases,the airline does not knowanything about the passengeruntil the reservation is made,making it difficult to person-alise the offer, as is commonin the most internet retailactivities. That’s where NDCcomes in. Using an XML-based standard, NDC willenable a dynamic and vibrantmarketplace that is not pos-sible with today’s closed pro-prietary systems.

NDC falls under scanner

Understanding NDC’s capabilities

• Risk of bypassing theagents or the GDS

• NDC is designed by theairlines for the airlines

• Cost of implementationof NDC solution

• Compatibility withback-office systems

• Overall NDC cost to theindustry and con-sumers

• Ability to find a low-fare or best value inNDC

• Risk of customer oragent discrimination inNDC

• Impact of NDC on theagent / GDS businessmodel

• Role of the aggregatorin the selection ofoffers

• Availability of NDC forself-booking tools

• Access to PNR and data ownership in NDC

• Risk of higher fares foren-route changes

Concerns about NDC Contd. from page 7

IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) represents a unique opportunity to modernise air travel distribution. NDC will define a messaging standard that will enable retailing opportunities through theindirect channel, similar to those available on airline websites.

However, the GlobalDistribution Systems

(GDSs) use a less flexible pre-Internet message protocol.This legacy infrastructurecannot efficiently supportmodern retailing practicessuch as personalised and cus-tomised offers. An airline thatoffers some extra leg room ora special meal option cannotentice the customer with thisadded value when sellingthrough travel agentsbecause the GDSs cannotcurrently present that infor-mation effectively and attrac-tively. Furthermore, in mostcases, the airline does notknow anything about the cus-tomer until the reservation ismade, making it difficult topersonalize the offer, as iscommon in most Internetretail activities.

That’s where NDCcomes in. NDC is an IATA-ledcollaborative industry initia-tive to define a messagingstandard that will enableretailing opportunitiesthrough the indirect channelsimilar to those available onairline websites. Using anXML-based standard, NDCwill enable a dynamic,vibrant marketplace that isnot possible with today’sclosed proprietary systems.

The NDC foundationstandard was approved inOctober 2012. The next stepis to conduct trials, whichcould begin as early as April.NDC will bring to travel agentsthe ability to offer travelers thesame products and servicesthey often can only find on anairline’s website.

But there are some misperceptions thatneed to be addressed:

Customers will nothave to surrender their pri-vacy to compare fares orservices and amenities. Butconsumers will benefit byproviding additional informa-tion. In this regard buying airtravel through NDC will beno different than other shop-ping experiences, such asgrocery and departmentstores providing discountedoffers to “club members”.Furthermore, airlines willhave to conform to privacylaws and regulations con-cerning the collection anduse of personal data—just asthey do today.

It will be possible tocompare fares using NDC

and that the intent is not tocut GDSs and travel agentsout of the system. There is a‘content aggregator’ role inNDC to enable comparisonshopping. Additionally NDCwill help travel agents addvalue to their clients byallowing for comparisons ofproduct and service optionsthat today is only available onindividual websites. It willfacilitate the easy sale ofancillary products.

NDC welcomes broadparticipation of travel agentcommunity in developmentof NDC standards and deter-mining the business require-ments. IATA has and contin-ues to engage with all partic-ipants in the travel chainincluding travel agents, agentassociations, airlines, GDSs

and other technologyproviders. Furthermore, noairline will be required toparticipate in NDC.

Change always bringschallenges. NDC will bringchange. And the market willdetermine which aspects ofthat change are valuable tocustomers and offer businessopportunities to the valuechain.

NDC will lead to a better informed shoppingenvironment for air travelthat will deliver value topassengers and create business opportunitiesacross all aspects of theindustry. And building it onprinciples of transparentstandards, openness toinnovation, fully informedconsumer choices and col-

laboration across the valuechain will make for a bettertomorrow.

Aleks PopovichSenior Vice President

Industry Distribution andFinancial Services, International

Air Transport Association

Welcoming India the Turkish way…Istanbul has a lot to

offer to tourists, be itbusiness travellers or theleisure crowd. This hascreated a market for lux-ury hotels in the city, andthere is still space formore competition. Five orsix more hotels are going

to open by the beginningof 2014. The MartiGroup’s first city address,Marti Istanbul Hotel, is a5-star property set in thecultural and commercialheart of Istanbul.

“Since its opening inJuly 2012, the hotel has

welcomed 54 Indianguests and would like toincrease this number andestablish a market inIndia,” says Yelda TalukÜlker, Asst. GeneralManager, Sales &Marketing, Martı IstanbulHotel.

E-visa to Turkey for IndiansAccording to a new sys-

tem put in place by theTurkish government,Indians with a valid UK, US,Schengen or a valid visafrom any of the OECDmember countries, can nowget an online tourist visa toTurkey. Turkey has

launched this new revolu-tionary online visa application system for citi-zens of India, Pakistan and African countries.People can apply for thevisa by going towww.evisa.gov.tr, pay bycredit card and they will get

your visa in their email.“Indians can travel all overthe world very easily butgetting a Turkish visa forthem was very hard. Nowthey will easily obtain aTurkish visa within min-utes,” said Deputy ForeignMinister Naci Koru.

STATISTICS M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 2 7

Arecent study conductedby Nathan Economic

Consulting India emphasisesthat the high operating costenvironment owing to highand rising cost of Air TurbineFuel (ATF), is making opera-tions unviable for carriers inIndia. It also addresses issuessuch as taxation of ATF andprivatisation of airports.

Taxation and Pricing of ATFAccording to the study,

India’s multi-layer fuel taxa-tion system which includesthe central excise duty, andsales tax levied by the stategovernments (varying from4% to 30%), limits the num-ber and range of air carrierservice providers and the abil-ity of Indian carriers to com-pete with foreign carriers pro-viding international carrierservices. Also, within India’scivil aviation sector, pricing ofATF is determined by a smallnumber of suppliers. Indian

ATF consumers’ choice isrestricted to four suppliers.Three suppliers are state-owned oil companies thatenjoy access to essential facil-ities within India’s airportsand maintain refinery capac-ity, resulting in market domi-nance. “The current structureof the Indian ATF market isconducive to cartelisation,”warns the survey.

In order to monitor ATFprices and track anti-compet-itive behaviour, the regulatormay wish to take concretesteps for monitoring, enforce-ment and appellate activities.The regulator may wish tofurther investigate India’sATF price structure by com-paring price componentssuch as fuel taxes and add-oncharges to neighbouring

countries, as well as over aperiod of time. Currently, fuelprices for the airlines in thecountry are higher by at least40 per cent than in compet-ing hubs in Singapore, HongKong, and Dubai.

It would be useful forthe regulator to have bench-marks that can be used todetect deviations in ATF pricesfrom what would be reason-

able given the global move-ment of crude prices, anddemand and supply factorsthat affect the price of ATF.

With regards to taxa-tion of ATF, the regulatormay consider analysing thetaxation regime in relationto how it impacts the finan-cial health of India‘s civilaviation industry as well asthe industry’s competitive-ness regionally and globally.Lastly, to ensure greater suc-cess in negotiations betweennational and state govern-ments with regards to taxa-tion of ATF, it is important toalso investigate and reporton how reductions in statelevel ATF taxes can lead tostate governments reapingeconomic benefits of localjob creation within the sector, growth of businessesassociated with the sector,as well as economic develop-ment resulting in more business and leisure traffic to the state.

Privatisation of AirportsPresently, there are just

five private airports in India.According to the report, amajor reason for low non-aero-nautical earnings is that mostIndian airports come under theAirports Authority of India(AAI) and the Authority cannotafford to invest much from its scarce fund in these services. Therefore, to makeIndian airports internationally

A research study on the civil aviation sector in India, commissioned by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, revealshow India’s multilayer fuel taxation system including central excise duty and sales tax levied by the state governments limits the number and range of air carrier service providers.

Rationalise tax for ATF, says survey

TT BUREAU

Removing regulations ensuringpreferential treatment of Air Indiawith regards to recapitalisationand flying rights

Consider reducing fleet and equityrequirements for passenger aircarriers by looking at how India‘sregulators reduced requirementsfor cargo carriers;

Consider introducing an incentive-based route programme ofservicing all India‘s airports;

Findings for Air India

Contd. on page 28

ASSOCIATIONS

As no major policy changeis expected in the run-up

to the elections next year,experts feel the industrywould continue to face chal-lenges due to the demand-supply imbalance. Accordingto a recent study, the growthin demand would slow thisyear, owing to additional sup-ply in the market.

Speaking on the side-lines of the Hotel Associationof India (HAI) conclave, hote-liers said they had a cautiousoutlook this year. JyotsnaSuri, Chairperson andManaging Director, The LalitSuri Hospitality Groupremarked, “Last year was achallenging one for theindustry with average roomrates and revenue per roombeing under pressure. In2013-14, the demand forhotel rooms is expected tosee modest growth. We aretrying to control our costsand overheads. So far, we

have not reduced our staff-to-room ratio or room rates.These are trying times, notjust for the hotel industry,but the overall economy. In

2014-15, the hotel industrycould see better growth after there is more clarity in the political situation in the country.”

According to KBKachru, Chairman, CarlsonRezidor Group, the hotelindustry is expected to con-tinue facing challenges due

to economic conditions inkey Western markets and thesupply-demand imbalances.“Due to the impending elec-tions, we do not expect manypolicy changes. The industryexpects pressures on room-rates to continue, though weexpect Tier-II and Tier-IIImarkets to show goodgrowth,” he pointed out.

Hotel chains are thus,giving discount offers andfreebies this summer to spurdemand in a poor market.“Companies are not expect-ing a turnaround in busi-ness, which has already wit-nessed a drop of seven percent in the revenue peravailable room (RevPAR)and a marginal increase inoccupancy. Going forward,our strategy will be to main-tain the market share andlook at sub-segments carefully,” Rajeev Kaul,President, Leela Hotels andResorts asserted. Certainmarkets have seen an addition in supply of newhotels, he added.

Throwing light on thesluggish growth in the sec-tor, Raymond Bickson,Managing Director, IndianHotels Company opined,“With rising operating costs,it has become imperative forcompanies to manage base-lines. The market is chang-ing, but we also have fixed perational costs. Thelegacy of the hotel is difficult to change in thesechanging times.”

Most hoteliers, howev-er, do believe that supplywould create demand. “Tokeep up with the challengingtimes, we ought to chooseour locations carefully. TheOberoi group’s RevPAR hasincreased 14 per cent insouth Mumbai. To boostdemand, we are also tryingto have a good marketingmix,” Kapil Chopra,President, Oberoi Group con-firmed. The luxury hotelchain has announced specialoffers such as a complimen-tary third-night stay with abooking for two nights, anadditional room for two chil-dren and a complimentarythird room with a bookingfor two rooms.

The hotel industry is expected to continue facing challenges due to economicconditions in key western markets and the supply-demand imbalances.

The hotel industry is cautious

MEGHA PAUL

The Oberoigroup’sRevPAR hasincreased 14 per cent in southMumbai

Our strategywill be tomaintain themarket shareand look at sub-segmentscarefully

With risingoperatingcosts, it hasbecomeimperative forcompanies to managebaselines

Raymond BicksonManaging DirectorIndian Hotels Company

Rajeev KaulPresident Leela Hotels and Resorts

Kapil ChopraPresidentOberoi Group

Due to theimpendingelections, we do notexpect many policychanges

In 2014-15, thehotel industrycould seebetter growthafter there ismore clarity inthe politicalsituation

Jyotsna SuriChairperson and Managing Director,The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group

KB KachruChairmanCarlson Rezidor Group

12-15 Ottawa Canadian Tourism Commission’s RendezvousCanada

13-15 Kuwait Travel World Expo

15-16 Bangkok 5th Asia Pacific HotelInvestment Conference

16-18 Switzerland Meeting Luxury 2013

19-22 Saudi Arabia Ministry of Tourism's Roadshow

20-22 Lucknow Macau Govt Tourist Office’s Sales Blitz

21 Moscow PATA Hub City Forum - Moscow

21-23 Germany IMEX 2013

22-23 London Boutique Hotel Summit 2013

24-26 Kolkata India Tourism Fair

24-27 Taiwan Taipei Tourism Expo

28-29 Singapore 9th Travel Distribution Summit Asia

29-30 Istanbul Turkey & Neighbours HotelInvestment Conference (CATHIC)

29-Jun 3 Cameroon Africa Travel Association’s 38thAnnual Congress 2013

29-31 Ahmedabad Macau Govt Tourist Office’s Sales Blitz

31-Jun 2 Bern Switzerland Travel Mart

MAY

For more information, contact us at: [email protected]

JUNE2-4 Cape Town IATA: Annual General Meeting

3-6 Shanghai International Luxury Travel Market Asia (ILTMA)

5-7 Thailand Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2013

5-7 Guwahati Macau Govt Tourist Office’s Sales Blitz

11-13 Chicago Americas Incentive Business Travel & Meetings Exhibitions (AIBTM)

13-16 Hong Kong International Travel Expo

19-23 Vancouver Cruise3sixty 2013

21-23 Beijing Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE)

26-27 New Zealand Tourism New Zealand’s MEETINGS 2013

JULY5-7 Kolkata Travel & Tourism Fair

5-7 Australia The Wagga Great Outdoor Expo

5-14 Brazil Expotche

10-11 Honolulu Hawaii Lodging Hospitality &Foodservice Expo

11-14 Germany European Outdoor Trade Fair

12-14 Hyderabad Travel & Tourism Fair - Hyderabad

13-14 Mumbai Times Travel Trade Fair

17 Zambia Mte Exhibition - Zambia: Solwezi

17-28 California California Mid State Fair

19-21 Bengaluru India International Travel Mart Bangalore

19 Zambia Mte Exhibition - Zambia: Kitwe

20-24 Reno STN Expo

24-27 China Asia Outdoor Trade Fair

26-28 Gold Coast Midyear Caravan, Camping, Boating & Fishing Expo

26-28 Chennai India International Travel Mart Chennai

31-Aug 1 Delhi Tourism New Zealand’s Kiwi Link B2B Roadshow

competitive, the governmentmust attract private invest-ment into India‘s civil aviationinfrastructure. Currently, outof `65,000 crore investmentenvisaged at airports duringthe XII Plan, a lion’s share of ̀

50,000 crore is expected from the private sector.Thereport recommends allowingmore private investment intoexisting airports (i.e., autho-rising Brownfield projects)which will inject much neededequity into India’s civil avia-tion infrastructure. Injecting

private capital into existing airports will assist those airports in improv-ing airport infrastructure aswell as expansion projectsneeded to meet growing pas-senger demand. Private capital injected into differentIndian airports will also

create more inter-airport competition within India andthe region, since different air-port investors would basebusiness decisions on attract-ing more air carriers and passengers to their airport,thus maximising their investment.

Wanted more private airportsContd. from page 27

CLIPBOARDFAMILY ALBUM

It’s party time at Holiday Inn CochinContinuing with the tradition of thanking its travel trade and airline partners, Holiday Inn Cochinhosted a second edition of the Travel Trade Party on April 4, 2013 at their newly opened poolsidebar Oasis. The guests enjoyed a fun filled evening with exotic beverages and snacks, while beingentertained by some amazing magic tricks and live jazz music.

Virgin Atlantic: A red blitz of salesTo launch their new flights to Manchester, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, Virgin Atlantic recentlyorganised a sales blitz for its trade partners in Delhi and Mumbai. Virgin Atlantic’s crew, alongwith the sales team, visited various travel agencies and gave away Manchester-inspired foot-ball-shaped cake pops and pens to all agents. They also gave away scotch miniatures and a gameof Scotland Yard as on-the-spot prizes for issuing tickets to the Little Red destinations.

CLIPBOARD M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3 TRAVTALK 3 1

MOVEMENTS3 2 TRAVTALK M A Y 2 N D F O R T N I G H T I S S U E 2 0 1 3

Alila Bangalore Hotel and Residence BengaluruKrishna Unni has been appointed as the General Manager of theAlila Bangalore Hotel and Residence . Unni comes with over 15

years of expertise in the hospitality industry.His key responsibilities will include- over-seeing the group’s operations, expansionand growth in the country and building thebrand within this diverse and challengingmarket. Prior to joining Alila, Unni held

management positions with Sankara HotelNairobi, Kenya, JW Marriott Hangzhou

and Courtyard by MarriottHangzhou Wulin, Cour tyard

by Marriott Beijing, andChina Hotel, a Marriott HotelGuangzhou, China.

Janez Premoze, Ambassador,Embassy of the Republic ofSlovenia, says, “When I was 25, Icame to India as a backpacker tolearn about its culture, languagesand habits. It is very encouragingto see that now there’s a reverse flow of Indians travellingto Europe.”

“I love to visit places in an unof-ficial capacity. For me, travel is not

just about exploring temples, art and architecture. On ourjourneys, we mingle with people and know about their cultures. I take a lot of photographs which become my scrapbook of memories,” he says.

Janez PremozeAmbassador, Embassy ofthe Republic of Slovenia

Subhash GoyalChairman, STIC Group

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: Vivek Sethi, Teena Baruah & Megha Paul

Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador, Embassy of theKingdom of the Netherlands, says, “I have a fan-tastic job because in every four years, my employersends me to a new country. So not only do I get toknow many countries, but I also get to know themvery deeply. And now thanks to my knowledge ofHindi language, I am reading a big book on Indianhistory, and I have only read 350 pages. If I wasnot living in India, I would have no reason to readabout the History of India. It gives rare insightslike the Chola dynasty temple in Chennai that I dis-covered during one of my official visits. I have a

special connect with India, as my son studied in IIMLucknow in 2005. That year, me and my wife travelled for two weeks, cov-ered more than 3,500 km in ordinary trains, slept and woke up in incrediblybeautiful towns. Ironically, that year I saw more of India than during mycurrent diplomatic stint in the country.”

Subhash Goyal, Chairman, STIC Group, says, “Having made a modest starting in 1973, it’s heart-ening to be in a position where I can give back to the society. I have great interest in interactingwith students and hence make a point to deliver guest lectures, when invited by various nationaland international institutes. I am also gearing up to release my autobiography, wherein I discussmy learnings since childhood and also share my opinion on the state of affairs in politics andvarious other aspects of life,” he adds.

Alphonsus StoelingaAmbassador, Embassy ofthe Kingdom of theNetherlands

Vaibhav Dayal, Managing Director, VResorts says, "My first passion will always be travelling. I love to go to off-beat destinations.”His first preference will always be totravel within the country. "I personallyfeel India is the most beautiful countrywhen it comes to unspoilt beauty andspoils of nature." His all-time favouritedestination is Nainital. "I used to go toNainital every year during my child-hood days. Internationally, I loveLondon as I have lived there. I like going to different villagesand eateries that keep popping up." Dayal is an avid golferand reader. Dayal is currently reading The Immortals ofMeluha by Amish Tripathi.

Vaibhav DayalManaging DirectorV Resorts

Courtyard by Marriott, MumbaiInternational AirportMumbaiChandrashekhar Joshi has been appointedas the Director of Operations at theCourtyard by Marriott, MumbaiInternational Airport. Joshi comes with11 years of experience in the hotelindustry. He began his career with LeMeridien, Pune in Food and Beveragebefore joining the Renaissance MumbaiConvention Centre Hotel in the F&B bev-erage department. He has alsoworked with JW MarriottMumbai, and Courtyard byMarriott Mumbai in 2011.

Samabe Leisure GroupNew DelhiNisha Shrivastva has been appointed by the Samabe LeisureGroup as the Sales Representative for the India Market. Shrivastvais in charge for Grand Mirage Resor t &Thalasso Bali and Samabe Bali Resort &Villas – Bali resor ts managed underSamabe Leisure. For the last fouryears, Shrivastva has been associat-ed with Asia World Indonesia. Priorto this, she was a sales manager atOutbound Marketing, where sheworked for five years. Shrivastvaholds a diploma in HotelManagement, GNIIT, and MBAfrom Symbiosis, Pune.

Vivanta by TajBengaluruSunil Taneja has joined Vivanta by Taj, Whitefield as GeneralManager. Taneja is an alumnus of Delhi University, with aBachelor’s of Commerce and a HotelManagement from the Institute of HotelManagement, Delhi. Associated withIHCL for over the last two decades,Taneja’s portfolio included cateringManager Taj Mahal Hotel, F&BManager Taj Palace Hotel, Taj Bengal,Resident Manger Taj Mahal Hotel. He hasbeen at the helm of affairsacross Strategic Planning,Finance, HRD and relation-ship management.

Thomas Cook (India)New DelhiIndiver Rastogi has been taken on as the Senior Vice-Presidentand Head-Global Enterprise Business at Thomas Cook (India). Inthis position, Rastogi will lead the global enterprise business inIndia and US markets. He is also responsi-ble for the P&L of the business. With overa decade of experience in the sector,Rastogi has been associated with com-panies such as EGL-Eagle GlobalLogistics, Air France and AmericanExpress. He is also the Non-ExecutiveDirector at ITP Travel – InternationalTravel Partnership. At ITP, Rastogirepresents South West Asia,Africa and Middle East.

Berggruen Hotels MumbaiVijay Sethi has been appointed as the company’s new ChiefOperating Officer by Berggruen Hotels, the parent company ofKeys Hotels, Vijay Sethi will bring onboard an experience spanning 28years. Before joining BerggruenHotels in April 2013, Sethi wasassociated with Thomas Cook Indiaas SVP & Head, Tour Management &Customer Service. During his closeto three decades long career, he hasalso been associated with TheIntercontinental Hotel, The LeelaKempinski Hotel, Jet Airways and Asian Heart Institute on varied leadershipdesignations.

Fairmont JaipurJaipur Shagun Sethi has been appointed as the Director of Sales &Marketing, Fairmont Jaipur. She has experience of over 11 yearsin the hospitality industry. Prior to joiningFairmont, Sethi worked with The OberoiGroup as a Sales Manager - KeyAccounts National Sales. She hasalso held a progressive position in abrand like ITC. Sethi is a qualifiedradio jockey and has also workedwith teams on projects involving AIDS awareness in slums and education of children as a par t of‘Each one, Teach one’Programme.

Radisson Blu, Dwarka New DelhiManas Krishnamoorthy is the new addition and the general man-ager for Radisson Blu New Delhi Dwarka, replacing Sharad Datta.

Krishnamoorthy brings to Carlson RezidorHotel Group 14 years of hospitality expe-rience in India, having worked for var-ious companies such as Oberoi, ITCand Imperial. He was most recently theexecutive assistant manager for TheImperial in New Delhi where he led the

operational sides of the hotel.Krishnamoorthy has a Bachelor’s inHotel Management degree from the

Welcomgroup Graduate School ofHotel Administration inManipal, India.

Somerset Greenways ChennaiChennaiSupriya Malhotra has been appointed as the General Managerof the 187-unit Somerset Greenways Chennai, Ascott’s first

Somerset brand of serviced residence inIndia. She will be responsible for man-aging the operations of this property.Malhotra joins Somerset GreenwaysChennai with 25 years of experiencein the hospitality industry, both inIndia and abroad. Prior to her currentrole, she was General Manager of

Radisson Blu Resor t and Spa,Alibaug. She has also worked at

Oakwood Premier, Mumbai, and Mariott Executive

Apartments.

HIGHLIGHT

Postal Reg. No.: DL(ND)-11/6044/2012-13-14; WPP No.: U(C)-178/2012-14 for posting on 1st-2nd and 15th-16th

of the same month at New Delhi P.S.O., RNI No.: 53492/91Date of Publication:14-05-2013

The airline industry inIndia is witnessing a

revival, riding high on thesuccess of various policymeasures, said Ajit Singh.“Rapidly expanding air trans-port network and opening upof the airport infrastructureto private sector participationhave fuelled the growth of theair traffic in India. The Indianairport system is poised tohandle 336 million domesticand 85 million internationalpassengers by 2020, makingIndia the third largest aviation market,” he said.

Speaking at the pressconference, Singh shared thatIndian government hasenvisaged investment ofUS$12.1 billion in the air-ports sector during the 12th

Plan period, of which US$ 9.3billion is expected to comefrom the private sector forconstruction of new airports,expansion, modernisation ofexisting airports and devel-opment of low-cost airports.

“The Indian govern-ment has introduced severalpolicies and regulatoryreforms to encourage privateparticipation and investmentsin the sector. Recently, wehave allowed 49% FDI by theforeign carriers in domesticairlines, which will providemuch-needed relief to thedomestic aviation industry.

Some carriers like Tata-AirAsia and Jet Airways-Etihadhave already announced theircollaboration. Further, Indiancarriers have been allowed toimport ATF directly.”

Another important pol-icy decision was the abolitionof the Aircraft AcquisitionCommittee to liberalise theacquisition of aircraft by thescheduled, non-scheduledairlines, flying institutes andfor private use. “Now, no per-mission for acquisition of air-craft will be required fromthe Ministry of Civil Aviation.They will be free to acquireaircraft as per their business

plan and requirements,” theminister said.

Emphasising on the gov-ernment's thrust on develop-ment of infrastructure, theminister said, “The govern-ment has also allowed FlexiUse of Airspace by civil andmilitary users, which permitsthem to efficiently and effec-tively utilise the available air-space on sharing basis. Itwould result in optimumusage of airspace, enhance-ment of airspace capacity,minimising delays, conserva-tion of fuel, reduction in emis-sions and ultimate benefits totravelling public.” It is expect-ed that there will be a reduc-tion of carbon emissions byabout 7 million kg per annumby direct routing betweenseven major city pairs only

because of flexible usage ofairspace. Small is the Indianaviation ministry’s new bigidea to boost connectivity–small towns, small airportsand small planes. In anendeavour to make thegrowth of the sector equitableand inclusive, governmenthas taken significant meas-ures for providing affordableair connectivity to remote andinterior areas of the country -the Northeastern Region andTier-II & III cities of India. “Wewill incentivise Indian airlines

to operate on these routes, bycode-sharing and seat-creditmechanism. The bigger air-lines will be able to use such credits to meet theirrequirement of having to con-nect such remote areas without having to lose money on such operations.This is expected to generategreater financial viability forregional operators. AnEssential Air Services Fund isalso being proposed by theGovernment for providingsubsidy for development oflow-cost airports throughoutthe country.”

Another importantmove that has acceleratedthe modernisation and devel-opment process is the privati-sation of five major airportsunder PPP mode and the

policy of development ofGreenfield airports whichenvisages synergy betweenthe public and private sector.

“Moreover, to developcivil aviation in India, seriesof policy reform decisionsare under consideration.These include getting ATFdeclared as notified productand bringing transparency inits pricing; rationalisation ofbilateral air service agree-ments with different coun-tries, traffic entitlements oninternational routes toIndian carriers, creation of aseparate Air NavigationServices Corporation fromAAI to make it more effec-tive, efficient and profes-sional body, creation of aCivil Aviation Authority inplace of DGCA and creationof a separate Civil AviationSecurity Force which is professionally trained for the work of civil aviation,”Singh told on the sidelines of the IndiaAviation 2014 launch.

Singh sums up saying,“Airlines are expected to addaround 370 aircraft, worthUS$ 27.5 billion, to their fleet by the year 2017. It isestimated that commercialfleet size is expected to reach 1,000 from 400 today by 2020.”

At the launch of India Aviation 2014, Ajit Singh, Union Minister for CivilAviation, shares his plan to expand air transport network and open upinfrastructure to private sector participation.

US$ 12bn windfall for aviation

TE E N A BA R UA H

The Indian government hasenvisaged an investment of US$12.1billion in the airports sector duringthe 12th Plan period, of which US$ 9.3 billion is expected to come from the private sectorAjit Singh, Union Minister for Civil Aviation

To spur the growth ofinternational air travel, thegovernment has takensubstantial steps to liberaliseand grant traffic rights toIndian carriers to fly to severalnew destinations across the globe

The new traffic rights haveincreased the overall trafficentitlements of the airlines byapproximately 60% over theexisting rights

Official Largesse