Voyager's World - August 2013

Vol X Issue X Pages 64 August 2013 Rs 60

MICE Matters

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A mighty fAll we lovedIt was a fall that triggered mixed reac-

tions. Well, we are talking about the depreciation of rupee. The melancholic fall of Indian rupee and its concomitant effect on the Indian economy have got all those votaries of market economy jittery. The various sectors of our economy have seen the ripple effect of rupee deprecia-tion on the Indian front in myriad ways.

The rupee depreciation has made India an attractive destination for inbound travellers, making the country affordable for foreign tourists. While the outbound travel has been hit badly, the inbound tourism turned out to be a beneficiary what with an influx of tourists from India’s major source markets, especially

from the `dollar’ countries. The rise in dollar has also resulted in renewed efforts to woo international tourists in India, with more value for their buck.

On the domestic front, Indian travellers are keen on weekend holidays within India. Turn to page number 11 to read about how various stakeholders are ben-efiting from this phenomenon. Our cover story this time explores how various NTOs have been using MICE. All the NTOs are leaving no stone unturned to reach out to a market like India, a potential one for corporate and business travel. And this feature is in line with the Business Travel MICE Expo (BTME) to be

held in association with India Association Congress in Chennai. The event – to be held 22-23 August 2013 at the Grand Chola, Chennai – aims to provide a one-stop platform for industry stakeholders.

BTME provides an ideal marketing as well as networking platform for the meet-ing industry in India and abroad, with key decision makers of India’s most success-ful associations. One need not harp on the necessity for such an event in today’s competitive world as it provides the much-needed platform for NTOs to show-case their wide range of conference ven-ues to stakeholders like airlines, cruises, DMCs, event planners, hotels, etc.

Warm regards,

[email protected]

# 245, Amar Jyothi Layout, Domlur, Bangalore - 560 071, IndiaPh: +91 - 80 - 4083 4103, Fax: + 91 - 80 - 4083 [email protected], www.spheretravelmedia.com

All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2012. No part of this magazine may be reproducted without the prior written permission from Voyagers’s World

Editor Firoz [email protected]

Managing EditorRohit [email protected]

Associate EditorPriyamvadha [email protected]

Assistant EditorIrene Susan [email protected]

Creative DesignerShyam [email protected]

Web DeveloperRohith [email protected]

General ManagerKaustuv DasMobile [email protected]

Circulation ExecutiveShyam [email protected]

Operations [email protected]

Published BySurinder [email protected] &Rohit [email protected]

Contents

EditorialTeam

Marketing &Circulation

10 Rupee Fall

58 Incredible India

60 Happenings

61 Top Appointments

50 Destination Branding

20 Cruise

28 MICE Point

46 Hospitality

52 Festival Watch

www.voyagersworld.in

Editorial 4>>

Email: [email protected] | Phone: +91 20 6500 4942Register on roomsXML.com. It's FREE!

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It’s only natural to depend more on the expertise of a specialist. The chances of the expert knowing more about the heart is pretty high.

The fact holds true with wholesalers in the travel industry too. By offering every travel product under the sun, a wholesaler has to divide the resources across the board, leading to compromises.

Thankfully, there are specialists in the travel trade too. roomsXML for instance. It does nothing else but accommodation. By focusing in just one area, it has no other option but to do things more efficiently – robust technology, de-duplicated inventory, dependable 24x7 global support and of course competitive rates.

We are sorry we don’t offer flights, cruises, car- hires, packages, city tours, etc. If you need any of these you can try your luck with scores of them who are already around. But if you do want accommodation, you know where to look.

roomsXML – the accommodation specialist.

In case of a heart attack, whom will you trust more? The general physician or the cardiologist?

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Industry Buzz

Abhibus.com tied up with ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd for providing travel insur-

ance policy for bus commuters purchasing tickets from Abhibus.com.

Customers would be reimbursed for hospitalization ex-penses due to injury suffered during bus travel, personal accident cover and daily hospitalization allowance. To avail this, consumers would need to tick the ‘Buy Bus travel insurance’ option while booking on abhibus.com.

Abhibus.com offer insurance coverage to travellers

Ramada Chennai Egmore won the prestigious India Interna-tional Travel Mart Award 2013 for ‘Best New Hospitality Prod-

uct of the year’ at the recently concluded high profile travel, tour-ism and hospitality industry event in Chennai. Prakash Chandran - General Manager, Ramada Chennai Egmore received the award on behalf of the property.Ramada Chen-nai Egmore was amongst 400 odd participants from 20 Indian states and 15 coun-tries. Participants

included Travel Agents & Tour Operators, DMC, Hotels & Resorts, National Tourist Organizations, Cruises, Airlines and OTAs at the event held recently at Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam.

Students travelling to the UK, US, Canada and select

European destinations can avail of British Airways annual student promotional offer for univer-sity students from India. It allows students flying with BA between 1 June and 31 October 2013 to carry an extra piece of luggage weighing up to 23 kilos besides the permitted checked in allow-ance, which is 20 kilos.

Four lucky people can win an iPad Mini on booking tickets on ba.com; valid until 30 September only.

India is Abu Dhabi's largest source market

BA launches special offers for Indian students

India snatched the top slot as Abu Dhabi’s largest overseas source market toppling the UK into second place.

The emirate has reported a 12% rise in the number of guests staying in its 145 hotels and hotel apartments for the first half of this year compared to the first six months of last year.

Some 80,179 Indian nationals stayed in Abu Dhabi’s hotels from Janu-ary until the end of June 2013, a 22% rise on last year. They account-ed for 334,238 guest nights –which is up 43% on 2012 and stayed an average of 4.17 nights – an increase of 17%.

Ramada Chennai Egmore wins 'Best New Hospitality Product' Award at IITM

TAT Unveils Marketing Action Plan 2014

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) released

its action plan for 2014 at a conference in Bangkok. Setting a record of targeting 28.01 million tourist arrivals globally, TAT is looking at generating an estimated foreign exchange revenue of 1.326 trillion Baht, up 13% over 2013.

For the domestic market, TAT set a target of 136.8 million trips, estimating 700 billion Baht for tourism income, up by 9% over 2013. This is the first time that TAT targets total earn-ings of two trillion Baht from both domestic and foreign visitors.

Star chef line-up at Sofitel So Bangkok

Sofitel So Bangkok revealed the chef line-up for the sec-

ond annual So Amazing Chefs 2013. The event, to be staged from September 25 - 28, will bring together nine high profile chefs from around the world un-der one roof to take gourmands on an enlightening gastronomic journey.

The four-day event includes cooking classes by famed chefs, themed seven-course degusta-tion dinners and a wine night.

Voyager’s World > August 2013

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The Ministry of Tourism - Sultanate of Oman

unveiled a co-branding campaign at a star-studded event in Mumbai with the upcoming Bollywood feature, Once Upon A Time in Mum-bai Dobaara.

The aim of this campaign on various media is to create awareness about the won-

ders of Oman to the discerning Indian audiences, who are looking for short haul experiential holidays.

Industry Buzz

Oman joins the Bollywood bandwagon

Emirates has launched its luxury private jet service which can now be booked on www.emirates-executive.com. Customers seeking

unsurpassed luxury in travel can book a tailor-made experience on Emirates Executive, the ultra-spacious Airbus 319 aircraft, and enjoy new technology and design.

Available in English and Arabic, the Emirates Executive website offers visitors a glimpse of the bespoke experience through a video that takes the customer on a journey showcasing the aircraft and offers an insight into its premium features.

Emirates launches luxury private jet service

Berggruen Hotels unveils new brand

Bangaloreans can reach the Australian mega cities of Sydney and Mel-bourne via Delhi as Air India is all set to launch its services to Australia

from August 29, 12013. These non-stop flights will be timed to leave Delhi in the afternoon. Air India has made arrangements for through check in of bag-gage from Bangalore to Sydney /Melbourne and issuance of boarding cards for both the sectors at Bangalore airport itself.

Air India flies to Australian cities

South African Tourism Brand Ambassador in India, cricketer Jonty Rhodes, launched ‘My Travel Escapades in South Africa’, a travel guide he has

written in association with Lonely Planet Magazine India, to showcase the fascinating experiences in his home country. After the successful launch of Rhodes’ “My South African Diary” last year, South African Tourism looked at a completely new facet of attracting travellers to South Africa through the ‘Take Me to South Africa’ contest. The four lucky winners of the contest embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to South Africa with Rhodes.

Jonty Rhodes launches South African travel guide

RezNext has partnered with

Yatra.com and Travelguru.com, to give custom-ers both the OTAs access to real-time information on hotel room availability, abil-

ity to book and instantaneous confirmation of their bookings directly from the hotels ERP Software. Yatra.com and Travelguru.com are the first OTAs to adopt RezNext technology for giving two-way connectivity to a hotel’s Property Management System and showcase real-time hotel inventory.

RezNext partners with Yatra and Travelguru

Berggruen Hotels, fa-mously known as the

parent brand to Keys Ho-tels, a chain of business hotels, has launched its new upscale hotel brand ‘Keys Klub’ in the 4 and 5 star categories to ser-vice the affluent class of business travelers. With this addition, Berggruen

Hotels consolidates its position in India and now offers a larger spectrum of products catering to a wider level of affordability.

The new ‘Keys Klub’ brand will establish hotels across India; all owned, managed or franchised by Berggruen Hotels. Properties under ‘Keys Klub’ brand will include 100 and above rooms with room size of 275 sq ft upwards. Keys Klub hotel rooms will be stylishly designed and equipped with 24/7 in room dining. The hotel property will include an all day global cuisine restaurant, a specialty restau-rant, a lounge bar, banquets and conference halls.


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The tumbling Indian Ru-pee has led to a steep de-

cline in overseas holidaying, but the industry is optimistic as Indian travellers are very keen on domestic travel. The other good thing about this is that it has triggered the Indian inbound market, with tourists from both short haul as well as long haul destina-tions finding India desirable.

A survey conducted by AS-SOCHAM reveals a decline in the foreign tourist outflow by 15 to 20 percent due to the weakening rupee.

Gaurav Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Savaari Car Rent-als, observes that in the last three months, travel costs and accommodation had gone up by around 20 to 25

percent outside India. With the State Tourism Boards unfolding captivating tour-ism campaigns around vari-ous themes, Incredible India has begun to experience tourist inflow atanall-time high even when the rupee is hitting at anall-time low. Vishal Suri, Chief Executive Officer, Tour Operating Kuoni India states that the Indian

travellers will continue to travel and plan alternate holiday options within their budget. “Travellers are opt-ing for breaks where price is controllable. We have fo-cused on the value within our propositions and will continue to provide afford-able, high quality experi-ences.

There has been a consider-able demand for domestic and short-haul holidays. Weekend packages for des-tinations at drivable distanc-es have gained popularity with travelers looking for a quick getaway from hectic daily life. Budget travellers are opting for domestic and short haul destinations like Kashmir, Goa, Kerala, Rajas-than and South East Asia & Middle East.”

“Due to the rupee deprecia-tion, India has become an attractive destination for inbound travellers making

it an affordable and acces-sible destination for a large number of foreign visitors. Indians too are more likely to explore weekend breaks and short-format holidays within India,” said Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and Chief Fi-nancial & Operating Officer, MakeMyTrip.

Shwetank, Regional Vice President Operations, Pre-mier Inn South Asia, explained that the fall in the Indian rupee automatically makes all the exports attrac-tive, as the hospitality indus-try exports ‘room nights’ to markets elsewhere in the world through inbound tour-ists, thus rendering India a much more affordable des-tination. “All other things remaining equal it should mean more in-bound tour-ism. That there are other factors such as security con-cerns and low GDP growth around the world is prevent-ing this from happening is

What are the ways in which the depreciation of Indian rupee has affected the travel industry? Here’s an analysis.

ThE fall ThaT launChEd a Thousand TrIps!

IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

Lovesh Sharma Director of Sales and Marketing, Jaipur Marriott.

Travel planners are looking at options within the coun-try for vacationing and the Indian hospitality industry is sure to see gain from this opportunity in the coming season.

rupee fall


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another matter all-together.”

Vishal said that for the travel industry perspective, the cost for the packages post the rupee depreciation had gone up by at least 5-7%. “It has not had any impact and we have not seen any can-cellation due to this factor as we have received substantial number of holiday bookings. As travellers are planning for vacations to short haul des-tinations and more afford-able packages in long haul, to make travel more attrac-tive, the company is offering various deals and discounts to the travellers.”

Subhash Goyal, Chairman, STIC Travel Group & Presi-dent, IATO,remarked that the fall in Indian rupee is not very positive as it is a very temporary phase and no one takes India holidays from overseas on impulse as they think, plan and then decide. “Only those who are already here have taken the advantage of this foreign exchange benefit and had a longer stay. No doubt, there is a mood of optimism and some hotel chains have in-dicated that they have in-creased reservations and

getting good inquiries from overseas. But in general, there is now greater interest towards India and whether dollar appreciates or depre-ciates, tourists, once decid-ed will come.”

“Many Indian travellers who wanted to go on a vacation to foreign countries are can-celling their trips and are go-ing on a vacation to various places in India instead. Also, many foreigners have been planning their trip to India and other Asian countries to take maximum advantage of falling rupee as facilities like travel, hotels, shopping, food, etc. turns out to be more cost effective com-pared to other places,” said Gaurav.

The fall in the Indian rupee has seen the hotel industry lose and gain from it. The In-dian traveller planning trips abroad has either cut short his travelling days, looking at cheaper accommodation options, or is opting for va-cationing within the country. So while outbound travel-ling has definitely taken a hit due to the dip, domestic travelling is certainly the

new charm. “India has also become an attractive choice for inbound travellers due to the depreciating Indian cur-rency. It is now considered as an economical option for travelling,” says Lovesh Sharma, Director of Sales and Marketing, Jaipur Mar-riott.

He further stated that the industry was certainly ex-periencing a down turn of outbound travellers to the dollar countries. If the trend of falling rupee and instabil-ity between rupee and dollar persists then the industry is sure to face serious chal-

lenges. One could only be hopeful and optimistic about the situation if the dollar val-ue sees the light of the day.

Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager India, Tourism Aus-tralia, remarked that leisure travel in itself had become an essential part of the ur-ban Indian lifestyle and the demand for travel was likely to continue growing. While the fall of the rupee could have short term sentimen-tal effect on the outlook of Indian travellers, Indians are known to be willing to spend on experiences that are unique and distinguished, and there is an increasing trend of Indian travellers de-manding the best experienc-es in the destinations they visit. “The Australian dollar has been relatively stable vis-a-vis the Indian rupee

for the past few months and we continue to see a strong demand for holidays to Aus-tralia from India. For the first five months of 2013, there has been a 14% increase in leisure arrivals from India to Australia.”

Gaurav anticipates many for-eigners would troop in to the country to experience the diverse culture and heritage here, pinning hopes on the fact that the warm hospital-ity and rich culture would help develop a lifelong rela-tionship with the land and make them want to come back again. “This turns out to be profitable for us be-cause most travellers opt for cabs to travel around the city and keep the car with them for more than a day to travel outstation. Anything volatile

is subject to change but we can optimise the utility of the falling rupee by building a healthy relationship with the new set of tourists, both foreign and domestic so that they intend to visit India more,” he suggested.

On the other hand, Nishant notes that India being recog-nised globally as one of the fastest growing outbound market, the appetite for trav-elling abroad is increasing among the upwardly mobile audience given the changing lifestyles and relative sta-bility of the economy. “The country offers enormous potential for future growth in terms of visitor arrivals and spends. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has predicted 50 million out-bound travellers from India by 2020.”

Sharing a similar opinion as the others, K.B.Kachru, Chairman, South Asia, Carl-son Rezidor Hotel Group stated that, the tumbling rupee makes India an at-tractive destination for inter-national travellers as it has further positioned India as an affordable destination over other popular destina-tions in the Far East and European markets.“Short haul travel to India may in-crease as the cost of pack-ages would be lower and travellers may re-plan their holidays to India compared to other destinations. We are also hoping that this would encourage travel-lers from weaker European economies to consider India as available destination. The effect may be visible in the next few months, provided

Vishal Suri Chief Executive Officer,Tour Operating Kuoni India.

The cost for the packages post the depreciation of rupee has gone up by at least 5-7%

Nishant Kashikar Country Manager India, Tourism Australia

India is globally known as one of the fastest growing outbound mar-ket, with the appetite for travelling abroad increas-ing among the upwardly mobile audience

rupee fall

Gaurav AggarwalFounder and CEO of Savaari Car Rentals

Tourism is one of the best avenues to generate Forex earnings and stimulates the local economy by generat-ing employment oppurtuni-ties and handicrafts.


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DATE25-Oct26- Oct27- Oct28- Oct29- Oct30- Oct30- Oct31- Oct01-Nov02- Nov03- Nov04- Nov

ARRIVE6:008:008:00

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DEPART18:0018:0018:00

18:0018:0020:0020:0020:0018:0017:0018:00

PORTAthens (piraeus)SantoriniEphesus (kusadasi)Cruising The Mediterranean SeaTaormina (sicily)Sorrento/capriSorrento/capriRome (civitavecchia)Florence/pisa/tuscany (livorno)PortofinoProvence (marseille)Barcelona

AFRICA ALASKA ASIA AUSTRALIA CARIBBEAN EUROPE SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH PACIFIC

T h i s v a c a t i o n

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ATHENS (PIRAEUS), GREECE to BARCELONA, SPAIN

rupee fall

costs like airfare, logistic costs and operational costs of hotels do not increase sig-nificantly to impact our pack-ages.”

“Outbound has been nega-tively affected owing to higher package cost of in-ternational holidays. This has fuelled domestic travel and has led hotels in some domestic holiday/leisure destinations seeing some increase in occupancies. Looking at the current sce-nario where inbound busi-ness is concerned, interna-tional travelers from Europe and US are showing inter-est in coming to India,” he added.

Boost to domestic travel Shwetank explains that Indians love to travel and holiday, with the devalua-tion of Indian rupee mean-ing foreign destinations that

were quite competitive in terms of pricing against the Indian options are suddenly more expensive. Therefore, Indians are likely to travel domestically far more.

Kuoni India is offering the Eu-ropean package with attrac-tive discounts which attract travellers to visit European countries despite the fall in rupee. We are also offering attractive discounts and val-ue for other countries as well. “Currently depreciation has not had an impact on travel-lers. Travellers have opted for summer packages and have now opted for the company’s discounted monsoon packag-es. We are very optimistic that our customers will continue to opt for holiday packages. We will continue to drive the theme of affordability around travel and people should not cancel their holiday plans,” said Vishal.

Rajesh suggests that we could do a lot more to pro-mote India as a holiday destination among foreign travellers and showcase the diverse cultural and geographical experiences, while remaining optimistic that the traveller interest in India would continue to grow regardless of currency pres-sures.

“As the US dollar has appre-ciated by 30% nearly against rupee, domestic travellers who have been travelling overseas, have now been forced to cut back their plans to visit overseas desti-nations as it is now cost pro-hibitive; instead they take holidays within India to plac-es like Goa, Kerala, Karna-taka, Tamil Nadu and many more South India destina-

tions. Even J&K, Sikkim and North Eastern states offer good holiday options. India luxury train journeys like the Deccan Odyssey, Palace on Wheels- the heritage train of Rajasthan and the Golden Chariot train in Karnataka, all are now patronized by do-mestic tourists which were hitherto being promoted by tourists from overseas only,” says Subhash.

Shwetank SinghRegional Vice President Operations, Premier Inn South Asia.

Indians love to travel and holiday and the fall in the Indian rupee makes India a more affordable destination.


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Lovesh pointed out that out-bound travelling had seen a downturn in H1 of 2013 as compared to last year, as the Indian middle class is con-scious about his expenses despite earning well. This has got in great prospects for domestic travelling. Trav-el planners are now looking at options within the coun-try for vacationing and the Indian hospitality industry is sure to see gain from this opportunity in the coming season.

“Owing to the weak rupee, the cost of an international vacation, which includes airfare, accommodation and tours, will be significantly higher when compared to the earlier years. Indian vacationers are conserva-tive and value-conscious. It is anticipated that to boost domestic travel, the aviation industry may introduce

special packages. Accord-ing to industryreports there has been an increase of ap-proximately 20% in domestic travel this season particu-larly to leisure destinations. Due to rupee depreciation, corporate budgets for inter-national travel have been slashed and corporate travel and incentive trips planned for abroad may look at op-tions within the country this year,” added Kachru.

Promotional campaigns While acknowledging the ef-forts of the government, Tour-ism Ministry and the State Tourism Boards, Rajesh ad-vocates that more could be done in terms of experiential

and innovative marketing coupled with attractive deals and promotions for custom-ers. For example, MakeMyTrip works with a variety of Tour-ism Boards, in many cases exclusively, to provide our customers unmatched ad-vantage and exclusive offers. “Most recently we promoted Tuscany, New Zealand and Singapore in association with their respective Tourism boards. These promotions range from an exciting Face-book photo-based contest, to flexible and exclusive itinerar-ies for North & South Islands in New Zealand and main-steam media advertisements. Indian Tourism Boards should tie-up with OTAs and airlines to co-promote their respective destinations.”

“Tourism promotion is a con-tinuous process and just a few dollars gain does not make much difference in de-cision making process in the

minds of tourists. A rising US dollar is a worry for airlines as a large chunk of their expendi-ture is in US$ with salaries to pilots, leasing charges, engine and aircraft maintenance charges all paid in the foreign currency. These costs can be in the range of 50% of airlines total expenditure. High tickets cost is the main problem for tourists. It is further aggra-vated with the recent rise of the US dollar against rupees and triggered a rather sharp rise in the prices of the Avia-tion Turbine Fuel (ATF) and then state added sales tax. Domestic movements which are generally made in inter-nal movements became also costly. Tax components also

are high so we need to look at all these aspects first to make India competitive. So we have to promote value additions in our packages and publicize those aspects in global cam-paign regularly,” said Sub-hash.

Gaurav said that tourism

was one of the best avenues to generate Forex earnings and it also stimulated the local economy by generating employment opportunities and handicrafts. “This also is an incentive to maintain green biospheres like what Kenya has done.”

Tourist arrivals Rajesh said that Goa is an all-time favourite for both domestic as well as foreign travellers, it being a 365-day destination. “Kashmir, Kerala and the Golden Trian-gle (Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) also continue to feature in their top areas of interest. Indian travellers have also been exploring hill stations

like Shimla, Manali, Musso-rie and Darjeeling and look-ing at weekend destinations that offer more than scenic beauty with experiences in adventure or culture such as Ooty, Corbett National Park, Udaipur and Pondicherry.”

“In the last few years, North-East has emerged as an up-coming travel destination. There has been over 100% increase in the number of people wanting to visit North-East India every year since the last three years. The talk-value of having visited a unique destination contrib-utes to the increasing tour-ist interest in places such as Gangtok, Kalimpong, Shillong, Kaziranga, Cherra-punjee, Pelling and Lachung. The local infrastructure has also geared up to serve the greater number of domestic as well as international tour-ists visiting these destina-tions,” he added.

Subhash stated that tour-ists mainly come from South East Asia covering Singa-pore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ja-pan and South Korea, also the Gulf and CIS countries which are not affected by the slowdown in the global economy and where air con-nectivity is much better and cost, affordable. Among the long haul destinations, the USA, Canada, Australia and Germany remain the target markets. Most of the inter-national tourists for India are generated at present from these markets.

“North-East, Kerala, Karna-taka, Goa, Rajasthan and the

temple circuit of Tamil Nadu are the main destinations,” saidGaurav.“Bookings are on the rise for weekend geta-ways destinations for states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Hyderabad. With a bunch of tourist who had plans of international visits are opting for domestic destination as this is turning out to be economical.”

Nishant further explained that Tourism Australia would continue to build on its cur-rent global brand campaign, ‘There is nothing like Aus-tralia’, with a focus on show-casing the best of Australia destinations and experienc-es through its consumer fo-cused activities. It will also evaluate opportunities to undertake suitable branded content initiatives across traditional and new media platforms that help show-case the destination and ex-periences in greater depth. There were 15,600 visitors from India during May 2013, bringing the total for the five months to May to 70,700 an increase of 3.7 per cent relative to the same period previous year. India is cur-rently Australia’s 10th larg-est inbound tourism market for visitor arrivals.

On a concluding note, Kachru informed that the CRISIL Research expected profitability of five-star hotels to dip to 16 per cent in 2013-14 due to rising costs and a decline in occupancy. Until then, we have to wait and watch if the rupee rolls fur-ther or sways back, its clink quietly resonating across all spheres.

Rajesh MagowCo-founder and Chief Financial & Operating Officer, MakeMyTrip.

A unique destination contributes to the increas-ing tourist interest in places like Gangtok, Kalimpong, Shillong, Kaziranga, Cherrapunjee, Pelling and Lachung.

rupee fall

Subhash Goyal Chairman - STIC Travel Group & President Indian Association of Tour Operators

Tourism promotion is a continuous process and a few dollar’s gain does not make much difference in decision making process in the minds of tourists.


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The pure pleasure of travelling is to meet new people, visit foreign lands, eat new foods,

dive into the vast pulchritude, to capture pictur-esque landscapes and to laugh, sing and smile. It is about newer discoveries, about invigorat-ing adventures; it is about filling your spirit with sheer bliss. Kaleidoscope this year let’s you escape the very monotonous college life into something unprecedented, something larger than life.

Kaleidoscope in its 28th year has raised head and shoulder above the most. Sophia College, Mumbai’s most awaited annual festival is slat-ed for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and the 8th of September 2013.

To make the best of your experience at Kaleido-scope this year, the workforce would like to give you some on-the-go travel tips:

1. Carry raincoats and flaunt gumboots– Septembers in most parts of the world and especially in Mumbai are considered rainy, muddy, floody and dirty. Make the most of Ka-leidoscope with a handy raincoat so that noth-ing can stop you from experiencing the amaz-ing basketball event, Slamdunk or even Street Football.

2. Be comfortable – Wear the most com-fortable clothes or you might freeze to death in-side the Bhabha auditorium – most of the per-formance events commence here. Light jackets and denims would do wonders.

3. Write a Travelogue – All your grand-mas and grandpas must have advised you to make tiny notes of your travel to take back a sto-ry for home. With the Travelogue writing event, participate and make things easier for you but

mostly, for them.

4. Buy something that you like – When you see something drop-dead desirable and up on sale, buy it. Chances are, if you don’t, some-one else will. Chances are also high that you might not find it anywhere else! Souvenirs have stalls all around the campus!

5. Try new foods – Try something new every time you want to eat. Kaleidoscope has a variety! Also, don’t wait for ‘lunch’ time or ‘snack’ time. Your choice of food might just be over even if you return back in an hour.

6. Join a Workshop – When off to a differ-ent, minty place, try to learn the culture. Learn tap dancing or skate boarding. If you adore New York, might as well learn the art of graffiti and show it off to the world!

7. Beware of security – Women in black are all over the campus. The security at Kaleido-scope is stronger than ever. Never forget your ID cards – they are your passports for entry.

8. Click Pictures – This is the best place to test your photography skills. People, food, architecture, nature, events and more. Kaleido-scope couldn’t possibly offer anything less. Out of Bounds is the photography contest to be par-ticipated in!

9. Stand out in the crowd – Wear a hat or wear mismatched socks, be a man and wear a bright pink poncho or be a girl and wear dark blue, rustic dungarees. Get noticed. It’s only you who will remember the fun of it!

10. Smile – With a zillion photographers flooding the campus, you will never know when

the flashes blaze and glimmer in your direction. Always, always and always, smile. Khachaak!

Every year zips by before one has a chance to stop and have a glance. Kaleidoscope is one chance to stop and stare, to enjoy, to feel hap-py, to break free of the prison-like classrooms and the shackles of education. See something new, feel something newer. As eager as the girls of this college are to put this fest together, so are the participants and visitors. Be ready with your bags stuffed and your flight tickets booked. Kaleidoscope this year is sugar, spice and eve-rything nice!

This is what our mascot, Kay’s plan is:• Woke up to the sound of honking cars in a To-kyo apartment And decided to have Breakfast at Tiffany’s. • Stepped out to visit a dear friend at 221 Baker Street • And later stood in line for a glimpse of a bal-cony in Rome. • Skipped lunch at the Eiffel Tower in favor of a vada pav on the streets of the Indian Big Apple, • Only to follow up with dessert at a Masterchef Kitchen Down Under. • High Tea with her Majesty,• And a trek into a Savannah desert where a King waited on pride rock.• As dusk settled and the calls of prayer rang out in a secret land, looked at my watch and realized, there’s one more place I have to be. Kaleidoscope 2013.

This is where the crowds are at. From the hippy trekkers to the jet setting tourists, it’s where the meridians will converge. So, whip out your pass-ports, it’s time you got them stamped.

By Khushali Fadia


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TIRUN Travel Marketing, the India Representative

for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., announced August as a month to celebrate its travel partners, with the launch of an exciting campaign to ex-tend gratification to all their

existing and prospective travel partners across India.

As part of this campaign, starting August 1st, TIRUN Travel Marketing will provide various surprise gifts to all travel partners who contact

their offices pan-India, ex-tending the offer till August 31st. The company also indi-cated that there were more surprises planned for them during forthcoming months!

Speaking on the initiative,

Ratna Chadha, Chief Execu-tive, TIRUN Travel Marketing, India Representative - Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., said,

“This new campaign is one of our many trade engage-ment programmes and its

purpose is to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our na-tionwide travel partners. We intend to distribute various exciting gifts to them over the entire month, as a to-ken of our appreciation and a reflection of the innova-tion, fun and vibrancy of our brands.”

The campaign is equal and open to all, whereby each travel partner is rewarded with a surprise gift during the month when they first call any TIRUN office. To-wards the end of the cam-paign TIRUN plans to extend the celebrations with some delightful surprises being brought to their partners’ doorsteps.

The first time anyone dials in, they are guaranteed to win.

All that one has to do is call any of the offices at the num-bers listed below:

Delhi: 011-4906 1000

Mumbai: 022- 4311 2000

Chennai: 044- 2829 7022

Bangalore: 080- 3340 4828

Ahmedabad: 079- 2640 2001

Hyderabad: 040-6729 2929

Kolkata: 033-2474 0369

MUMBAI-AHMEDABAD-DELHIFEBRUARY 2014

MUMBAI-KOLKATA-CHENNAIHYDERABAD-DELHI

JANUARY 2014

# 245, Amar Jyothi Layout, Domlur, Bangalore - 560 071, IndiaPh: +91 - 80 - 4083 4100, Fax: + 91 - 80 - 4083 4101, [email protected], www.otrindia.comAhmedabad - Delhi - Hyderabad - Mumbai - Pune

TIrun TravEl MarkETIng Thanks TravEl parTnErs

VW BUREAU

Cruise


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VW BUREAU

Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions organised

the Chennai and Bangalore editions of the India Inter-national Travel Mart (IITM) this July between 19-21 and 26–28 respectively.

IITM Chennai was held at the Chennai Trade Centre in Nandambakkam while the Bangalore edition was held at the Karnataka Trade Pro-motion Organization (KTPO).

With this year’s edition of IITM in Bangalore, Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions completes 14 years of pro-viding the travel industry and discerning buyers from the travel–trade and corpo-rate sector an opportunity to do business. With organi-sations and tourism boards from over 20 countries and more than 15 Indian states, IITM showcased a variety of destinations from different spheres such as pilgrim-ages, adventures, culture and heritage, beaches, hills, luxury travel and many more.

The event had over 400 participants from over 15 countries and over 20 In-dian states. The participants included Travel agents and Tour Operators, DMC, Hotels and Resorts, National Tour-ist Organizations, Cruises, Airlines, Online Travel Por-tals etc.

Some of the international participants who participat-ed were Tourism Authority of Thailand and delegation, Sri Lanka Tourism, Dubai Tour-ism & delegation, Tourism Malaysia, Oman Tourism, Switzerland Tourism, Egypt Tourism among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Hakhu, Director, Sphere TravelMedia said: “India, despite the present business environment, is fast emerging as one of the most interesting and pro-ductive countries for the travel trade industry both for leisure and business travel. A combination of factors is responsible for the growth

and demand of travel trends from India.”

Rohit Hangal, Director, Sphere Travelmedia added: “With the present ongoing recession International Arriv-als in India has dropped and India International Travel Mart provided the right im-petus to the Indian domestic tourism industry. The partici-pants from the states of Kar-nataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, Guja-rat, Himachal Pradesh and many more destinations were seen aggressively mar-keting their range of tourism products.”

Tourism studies and trends indicate that the year 2013 - 14 will see more than 16 million dollar spending tour-ists embanking on overseas travel and with the advent of low cost international air-fares, holiday packages that are available on monthly instalments payable over a period of time, International

Travel is no longer a luxury.

Highlights: • This year Sri Lanka & Thai-land were the Partner Coun-tries for the event and Ma-laysia, Dubai, Oman, Egypt and Switzerland were the Feature Countries for IITM.• Tourism Malaysia had an exclusive special offer for those travelling to Malaysia at an exclusive rate of start-ing from Rs. 28,888 per per-son for a 4-nights package to Malaysia including airfare.• From India, Gujarat, Odi-sha and Rajasthan were the partner states while Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Maha-rashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala were the ‘Focus Destinations’ and the states of Delhi, Lakshad-weep, Puducherry the Fea-ture States.• ‘Aloft Bengaluru White-filed’ was awarded the ‘Busi-ness Hotel of the Year’ at the ‘India International Travel Mart’.• Other states represented included Kerala, Tamil Nadu,

Delhi, Assam, West Bengal, and many more. More than 150 hotels and resorts par-ticipated from all over India, making it one of the most diverse ranges of hospitality products in the country on display.• Diverse Tourism segments on display such as Pilgrim-age Travel, Adventure, Cul-tural pursuits, shopping tours, etc.• Presence of leading Tour Operators such as Cox and Kings, Kesari. Makemytrip and Thomas Cook provided competitive tour packages to holidays in India and abroad.• Aloft Whitefield, Bengaluru was the ‘Hospitality Partner’ for the ‘India International Travel Mart’.

The ‘India International Trav-el Mart’ provides an ideal ‘marketing opportunity’ and ‘excellent backdrop’ to enhance the participant’s ‘brand-equity’ in the eyes of the discerning end consum-er and the travel-trade.

IITM BangalorE & ChEnnaI: TradE’s ulTIMaTE MEETIng plaCE

Sethaphan Buddhani, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai. We have been associated with IITM for the last few years and a clear reason for the same is the quality of trade and consumers we see year on year. This year too, our experi-ence has been great; the response was phe-nomenal. Bangalore was a delight as we saw a rich mix of trade and consumers visiting the fair. We saw some serious travelers coming in too who were interested in traveling and more importantly open to experiencing something new. On a whole I think it’s a good decision to be present at IITM.

Carl Vaz, Director, DTCM

IITM has always enjoyed the respect of the trade fraternity and consumers in Chennai and Bangalore.

The 2013 editions of IITM Chennai and Bangalore have been fruitful for DTCM and our co-participants who used

the platform to interact with trade members for busi-ness. On a consumer level, as DTCM we were able to

further enhance Dubai’s image as a multi faceted desti-nation and promote our Summer is Dubai campaign.

Mohd Izal Bin Mahd Nor, Director, Tourism Malaysia Chennai

Tourism Malaysia’s association with IITM (Chennai & Bangalore) has been more than a decade. It’s a great platform to show-case our destinations and its USP of our products. It also helps us reach our target audience more efficiently. We look forward to participate in such events in the coming year too. We are confident of a long-stand-ing relationship with IITM and look forward to participating in such industry platforms in the forthcoming year.

Events IITM


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1. BEST DECORATED STAND – NATIONAL KARNATAKA TOURISM2. BEST DECORATED STAND – INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND3. BEST DECORATED STAND HOSPITALITY MERIYANDA NATURE LODGE4. BEST INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL PRODUCT YETI AIRLINES DOMESTIC PVT.LTD.5. BEST NEW HOSPITALITY PRODUCT RAMADA, CHENNAI6. BEST OVERALL PRESENTATION – NATIONAL ANDHRA PRADESH TOURISM7. BEST OVERALL PRESENTATION – INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND8. BEST OVERALL PRESENTATION SWITZERLAND TOURISM9. ECO TOURISM DESTINATION OF THE YEAR TOURISM CORP. OF GUJARAT10. ADVENTURE TOURISM DESTINATION OF THE YEAR HIMACHAL PRADESH TOURISM11. HERITAGE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR MAHARASHTRA TOURISM12. BEST INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION PROMOTION OMAN TOURIST OFFICE, INDIA13. BEST DESTINATION PROMOTION KARNATAKA TOURISM14. INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION OF THE YEAR TOURISM MALAYSIA15. AWARD OF BEST DOMESTIC TOURISM PROMOTION IRCTC16. DESTINATION MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR TOURISM CORP. OF GUJARAT17. CULTURAL DESTINATION OF THE YEAR RAJASTHAN TOURISM18. RURAL TOURISM PROMOTION OF THE YEAR KERALA TOURISM19. WILDLIFE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR MADHYA PRADESH TOURISM20. CONFERENCE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR DUBAI TOURISM21. EXOTIC DESTINATION OF THE YEAR PUDUCHERRY TOURISM22. HOST STATE TAMIL NADU TOURISM23. HOSPITALITY PARTNER RAMADA, CHENNAI

IITM BANGALORE INTERNATIONAL:1. BEST DECORATED STAND: INTERNATIONAL THAILAND2. BEST INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION PROMOTION SRI LANKA TOURISM3. BEST INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL PRODUCT TURKEY CHALO.COM4. BEST OVERALL PRESENTATION: INTERNATIONAL SWITZERLAND TOURISM5. BUSINESS DESTINATION OF THE YEAR DUBAI TOURISM6. CULTURE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR INTERNATIONAL EGYPT7. DESTINATION MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR – INTERNATIONAL TOURISM MALAYSIA8. EMERGING DESTINATION O F THE YEAR – INTERNATIONAL OMAN9. LONG STANDING SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL ORIENT TOURS10. MICE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR DUBAI TOURISM11. PREFERRED HONEYMOON DESTINATION OF THE YEAR SRI LANKA TOURISM12. WEDDING DESTINATION OF THE YEAR THAILAND

NATIONAL:1. ADVENTURE TOURISM DESTINATION OF THE YEAR HIMACHAL PRADESH TOURISM2. BEST DECORATED STAND: NATIONAL RAJASTHAN TOURISM3. BEST DESTINATION PROMOTION TOURISM CORP. OF GUJARAT4. BEST OVERALL PRESENTATION: NATIONAL KARNATAKA TOURISM5. CULTURAL DESTINATION OF THE YEAR ODISHA TOURISM 6. DESTINATION MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR–NATIONAL KERALA TOURISM7. ECO TOURISM DESTINATION OF THE YEAR LAKSHADWEEP TOURISM8. EMERGING DESTINATION OF THE YEAR – NATIONAL PUNJAB9. HERITAGE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR KHIRASARA10. HOST STATE KARNATAKA TOURISM11. MICE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR ANDHRA PRADESH12. MOST TECHNOLOGY FRIENDLY STATE MAHARASHTRA13. WEDDING DESTINATION OF THE YEAR FORT RAJWADA14. WELLNESS DESTINATION OF THE YEAR PUDUCHERRY TOURISM15. WILDLIFE DESTINATION OF THE YEAR MADHYA PRADESH TOURISM

Events IITM

IITM aWard lIsTIITM - CHENNAI


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glIMpsEs of IITM ChEnnaI - 2013 Events IITM


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glIMpsEs of IITM BangalorE - 2013 Events IITM


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The Indian outbound mar-ket is fast growing when

it comes to MICE, what with a plethora of National Tour-ism Organisations (NTOs) joining the me-too band-wagon to lure MICE busi-ness from the Indian mar-ket. These NTOs have been witnessing a steady growth in the recent past from In-dia despite the fall in rupee. Indian businesses are very keen on experiencing MICE facilities and exploring vari-ous destinations.

Destination India for MICESoma Bhattacharya, Desti-nation Manager, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority says: “India has always been an important source mar-ket for Mauritius as a tour-

ist destination. The island is fast emerging as the new wedding and MICE destina-tion for the Indian travellers. Mauritius has all the key in-gredients that are required for successful meetings, in-centives, conferences and events, which support a perfect set up to host large groups, provide high-end luxury and accommodation, meetings and conference ar-rangements and host team building activities.”

Korea, too, is poised to be one of the preferred desti-nations for MICE events, in the opinion of Jae-Sang Lee, Director of Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). “Korea is on the fast-track to be-come one of the top destina-

tions for MICE events. Korea has achieved an enormous growth in meetings and con-vention industry by ranking 8th in the number of meet-ings and conventions by Union of International Asso-ciations in 2011. Korea and India have shared an insepa-rable link which is reflected in their economic, trade

tourism and MICE events.”

The international meetings held at Seoul in 2010 in-creased 33 percent com-pared to the previous years, recording 201 meetings. Seoul was ranked ahead of famous cities like Tokyo, Geneva and Barcelona and recorded no. 5 in the world

as a global convention city. With milestone events like the 2010 G20 Summit, Ko-rea’s presence as a meeting destination has been height-ened. The Korean govern-ment had declared last year as the 2012 Korea Conven-tion Year to boost the coun-try as one of the top five con-vention destinations in the

the meeting & business travel publication

MICE ThIngs In lIfEMICE ThIngs In lIfE

Esther GrobZurich Tourism.

MICE from India to Switzerland/Zürich are growing with more requests for the last two years from India.

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

NTOs are showcasing the best of facilities

in order to have a larger pie of the MICE cake

IRENE SUSAN EAPEN


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world apart from the Visit Korea Year 2010-2012 cam-paign to boost the number of inbound tourists to Korea.

In addition, the 2012 Ko-rea Convention Year joined forces with the Korea MICE Alliance, which a union of re-gional convention bureaus, destination management companies and professional congress organisers, so that each city’s unique incentive plans are maximised for par-ticipants in any of the nine convention destinations across Korea. On a national level, Korea Tourism Organi-zation will increase financial subsidies to the organisers of MICE events.Rajeev Nangia, Chief Oper-ating Officer, TRAC Repre-sentation, Monaco Tourism explains that India is an emerging market for Mona-

co and has been recording a steady increase in the tour-ist arrivals in day-visitors, room-nights and MICE move-ments in the past few years. “Monaco is more targeted towards high-end travellers, focusing on five experiential aspects that include culture and event, spa, gastronomy, night life and casino. So be it the F1 race or the Jazz festi-val or the billion dollar yacht cruise, Monaco offers exclu-sive experiences for a well-informed high end Indian traveller. Monaco has been positioned as an ultimate leisure, Upscale and Luxury destination. Hence the fall in Indian rupee will not much affect the MICE movement from India.”

Karen Bolinger, Chief Ex-ecutive Officer, Melbourne Convention Bureau said:

“The Indian MICE market is extremely important to Melbourne and in recent years has been growing from strength to strength. The Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) established an incentive and corporate travel unit over seven years ago and India has always been part of this. Last year was the most significant year for Melbourne in terms of the Indian market as the city played host to the larg-est Indian incentive group in Australia’s history in Decem-ber – the Amway India Lead-ership Seminar for approxi-mately 4000 delegates.”

Bejan Dinshaw, Country Manager, India, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority says: “India as an outbound market holds a huge poten-tial for the MICE industry

Rajeev NangiaTRAC Representation, Monaco Tourism

Monaco offers strong infrastructure well equipped to host board-room meetings to big congresses for the Indian market.

Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa, MalaysiaPalacio de Congresos, Madrid

Abhudhabi Tourism Authority


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with a projected GDP pegged at about 5-6% for the next 5 years. The Indian outbound MICE market is estimated to be around USD 600 million and is expected to increase by 12-13 per cent over the next couple of years.” “The market has not been affect-ed by the global slowdown, the Indian corporates are spending on corporate trav-el, increasing the outbound market for MICE. These fac-tors project ample opportu-nity for us to tap the Indian MICE market and look for some good growth from a market which is only be-tween two-three hours flying time away and from which regional hubs will now open up to us with the recently eq-uity part-purchase in Jet Air-ways by our national carrier Etihad Airways,” he added.

Down West in South America, the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) worldwide rankings project Buenos Aires at the top spot in America and Ar-gentina is the most visited

country in the continent. Other Argentinean cities like Bariloche, Rosario, Men-doza and La Plata have also been included by the ICCA.

“Travellers have been fasci-nated with the breathtaking scenery, the vibrant cities, wine tourism bundled with adventure, sport and enter-tainment. Although Argenti-na is a long haul destination we have seen some MICE movement from India,” said Medha Sampat, Managing Director for Knack Market-ing – Representative Argen-tina Tourism.

Stating that the MICE seg-ment had definitely grown with Turkey welcoming a number of Indian MICE groups, Ozgur Ayturk, Cul-ture and Tourism Counse-lor for the Turkish Embassy in India said the country had hosted some big MICE groups from travel indus-try as well like TAAI -Travel Agents Association of India and ACAAI-Air Cargo Agents Association of India.

“Initially not many compa-nies were open to consid-ering Turkey due to high airfares but with revised rates by Turkish Airlines, the perception has changed and we now have a lot more re-quests and interest. As far as India is concerned, the outbound MICE market is growing fast with a prosper-ous future. Approximately 50% of all Indian corporate meetings are still held out-side India as there are lim-ited facilities available with-in the country and a lot of Indian companies are now looking for Turkey as a MICE destination,” he added.

Another popular short haul MICE destination for India is undoubtedly Malaysia. Ma-laysia and India have always maintained a strong trade and bilateral ties in host-ing successful events from India. Incentives have been performing the best for Ma-laysia as far as the Indian business events market is concerned. Malaysia is re-garded as one of the must


Sanjay Sondhivisit indonesia tourist office

Indonesia is one of the destinations with value-for-money where MICE organizers can organize events in terms of service level and facilities.

Clouds, Zurich

Lucerne, Switzerland

Melbourne Convnetion Bureau


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visit incentive destination due to accessibility from any part of India with increased direct flights offered by both the full service airlines and low cost carriers. “Most ven-ues in the country are flex-ible and able to offer a tailor-made menu, created based on meeting planners/del-egates’ requirement. MyCEB is always trying to improve the performance of each segment for every market, including India is regarded as one of the Top 10 market source for Malaysia,” says Zulkefli Haji Sharif, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bu-reau (MyCEB).

Honeymoon and Leisure destination, Switzerland, Zurich in particular, is now giving more importance to MICE, as pointed out by Es-ther Grob, Area Manager Russia, India, Asia Zurich Tourism on the growing re-quests from India for the last two years.

Aishvarya Guhagarkar, Manager-MICE, Switzerland Tourism says: “Since 2011 we had been promoting Swiss Convention Incentive Bureau .We have witnessed the Indian MICE segment doing extremely good and is growing now. We also work in close collaboration with the Swiss consulate and the Swiss embassy.”

Similarly, Indonesia is also directing efforts towards at-tracting MICE clientele from

India, apart from leveraging on its popularity as a wed-ding destination. Sanjay Sondhi, Country Director-VITO India said: “One of the biggest events among the Indians is destination wed-dings for which Indonesia is becoming popular. Bali with its Hindu cultural heritage, extensive tourism infrastruc-ture is suitable for all budg-ets, and an experienced wedding planner service. The MICE segment from the Indian market contributes significantly to the overall tourism to Indonesia.”

Munnmunn Marwah, GM, Think Strawberries, Repre-sentative of Jordan Tourism Board(JTB) states Jordan has an unbeatable combi-nation of history, culture, shopping and wellness. With an economy that is on the upswing and most compa-nies wanting to explore ex-otic and unusual locations for their MICE groups. From the stunning Petra as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and is recognized by UNESCO as a world herit-age site, to the Dead Sea, flanked by mountains to the east and the rolling hills of Jerusalem to the west, giv-ing it an almost other-worldly beauty.

“Jordan is geared up to-wards the Indian sensibil-ity thanks to its hospitality, food and superb hotels with unparalleled convention facilities. MICE groups and FIT groups from India don’t


Ozgur AyturkCulture and Tourism,Turkish Em-bassy India

MICE industry is one of the fastest growing segments within the tourism industry generating millions in revenues for cities and countries.

VENUE No of Meeting Plenary Banquet Exhibition Reception Rooms (pax) (pax) (sqm) (pax)Mahsuri InternationalExhibition Centre (Langkawi) 6 1,600 1,200 20,000 1,800Genting International Convention Centre (Pahang) 18 4,200 2,000 14,000 3,100Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre(Kuala Lumpur) 36 3,000 3,000 12,310 6,000Matrade Exhibition & Convention Centre (Kuala Lumpur) 8 1,500 1,200 33,000 2,000Putra World Trade Centre(Kuala Lumpur) 17 10,000 7,500 35,000 10,000Putrajaya International Convention Centre (Putrajaya) 37 3,000 2,800 8,000 5,000Shah Alam Convention Centre (Selangor) 6 2,500 1,700 2,240 3,000Sunway Convention & Exhibition Centre (Selangor) 55 4,000 2,500 4,880 3,500Melaka International Trade Centre (Malacca) 8 1,100 600 13,000 1,000Persada Johor InternationalConvention Centre (Johor) 10 3,100 2,100 6,000 2,500Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (Sarawak) 18 5,000 2,000 2,790 3,500

6th World Chambers Congress, Malaysia

Other Convention Centres, Malaysia


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need to fill out any visa pa-perwork as they can avail of ‘Visa on Arrival’ when they land in Jordan at Queen Alia International Airport. The In-dian MICE market presents enormous and positive op-portunities for us,” she says.

Arturo Ortiz Arduán, Tour-ism Counselor, Tourism Of-fice of Spain says: In 2012, approximately 15 – 20% of our market consisted of MICE groups and around 25 % business travellers. MICE Segment has been an important segment of our market. It comprises al-most 10% of the entire India Outbound share to Spain. In 2013, Spain Tourism is fore-seeing an increase in the fig-ures from last year for MICE participation in Spain and hopes to maintain the dou-ble-digit figure from last year.

Germany has still been re-ceiving a fair amount of MICE travel as confirmed

by the MICE operators. “The economic uncertainty which has been prevailing and the devaluation of the rupee has affected Indian outbound. We are confident of retain-ing our leadership position as a top destination for In-dian MICE to Europe,” added Romit Theophilus, Director, Sales & Marketing, German National Tourist Office, India.

According to the ICCA sta-tistics, India’s share is es-timated at US$ 4.8 billion worldwide and ranks 27th in the global MICE market. The sector is set to witness an exceptional growth in the coming years with an increase in FDIs and the In-dian business growing trans-national.

“The International Air Trans-port Association (IATA) data shows India is a fast growing source market for tourists to Oman. We have seen a rapid increase in the number of

tourist arrivals from India to Oman over the years for MICE as well as FIT’s and group travels,” said Lubaina She-erazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman.Infrastructure and facilities In Mauritius, the Swami Vive-kananda International Con-vention Centre can accom-modate about 5,000 people, offering a chic ambience for conventions, conferences and exhibitions. The con-vention centre is equipped with modern technology like Wi-fi, video- conferenc-ing, satellite transmission and other amenities. It has hosted many international conferences, including the UN Small Island Developing States Conference and Zee Cine Awards. Mer Rouge is a smaller centre that can accommodate about 1,000 guests at a time. The Inter-

national Conference Centre in Grand Bay can host 600 delegates for smaller confer-ences and meetings. Apart from these, there are vari-ous resorts that have differ-ent options and banquet fa-cilities to host regular MICE.Korea has nine newly built and modern convention centres with state-of-the-art video-conferencing systems and high-speed wireless In-ternet access. Korea offers a wide range from state-of-the-art convention centres, world-class hotels and shop-ping malls to stunning UN-ESCO World Heritage Sites and delectable local cuisine. The International Conven-tion Center (ICC) on Korea’s southern island has attract-ed major corporate, associa-tions and political leaders to its doorstep. Jeju Interna-tional Convention Center has

seven floors, equipped with an international convention hall that can accommodate up to 4,300 persons, meet-ing rooms of various sizes, an exhibition hall and other related auxiliary facilities.

Seoul’s major convention facilities are located within an hour’s distance from the Incheon International Air-port. As of December 2011, Korea has around 60,000 rooms in 500 star-graded hotels, ranging from super-deluxe (five stars) to 3rd grade (one star).

The Grimaldi Forum Monaco is a huge convention centre with three auditoriums, 22 meeting rooms and three ca-tering venues, to host semi-nars, conventions, shows, exhibitions, product launch-es or gala dinners and big

Zulkefli Haji Sharif Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).

Malaysia is one of the must visit incentive destinations due to accessibility from any part of India with increased direct flights offered by both the full service airlines and low cost carriers.

Sheraton, Indonesia

CHIME is a two-year-old MICE company, headed by Vineet Batra. CHIME is partnering with several global incentive players to promote

India. Besides promoting the metros it has executed conferences in Tier 2 and 3 cities in offbeat venues as Shogi, Simla; and other cities as Nainital, Goa, Jaipur and Chennai. We use a number of 3/4 star proper-ties in major hill stations in India. It will expand its sales and marketing network globally, besides opening up avenues in Singapore, Far East Asia, Australia and expand in the USA.

India is receiving much positive publicity within itself as a MICE des-tination. MICE in India has matured with airports coming of age, with world class facilities, large convention centres and hotels opening in Hyderabad, Chennai and, of late, in East Delhi. So it is poised for a quantum leap in the country. It has grown with inquiries, interest pour-ing in and improvement in infrastructure.For incentive destinations in India, the Golden Triangle of Delhi-Jaipur-Agra is still popular with extensions of Udaipur and Jodhpur. MICE in In-dia is still focused on five metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore

and Hyderabad.

Greater NOIDA is coming up and so is East Delhi with a Kempinski Hotel opening there, with 45,000 sq ft banquet space and luxurious inven-tory of rooms. This combined with the Greater Noida area, makes it an area to watch out for. With the Phase I of Aerocity in Delhi coming up, JW Marriott, for example, will have potential for MICE. The hotel of-fers large conference facilities, 500 room base and other neighbour-ing hotels complementing each other. There will be many hotel rooms available in various price bands for MICE in Delhi and NCR region in the times to come.

With the recent capacity building in Chennai and rationalisation of pric-es, with air connectivity, Chennai is set to become a major MICE desti-nation. For MICE in India, we need larger venue spaces -- for example we don’t have convention centres or facilities that can accommodate 15,000 or 20,000 delegates at one go. Also cities such as Agra and Jaipur need to spruce up their images as world-class MICE destinations.

CHIME: proMotIng IndIan MICE globally


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shows. Monaco has a strong infrastructure, well equipped to host boardroom meetings to big congresses.

Melbourne has the highest concentration of confer-ence facilities, with almost 198,000 square metres of conference space and more than 15,000 hotel rooms, providing accommodation options to cater to all budg-ets. The pinnacle of business events infrastructure is the state-of-the-art Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) offering the most flexible, integrated and comprehensive meetings fa-cilities in the Southern Hemi-sphere.Abu Dhabi has added a

new force to drive its busi-ness events ambitions for-ward with the launch of Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau (Abu Dhabi CB) a new, one-stop entity within Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority

(TCA Abu Dhabi) to support the growth of exhibitions and conferences. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) is one of the big-gest and largest convention centres offering 12 halls that are interconnected and gives endless options for organisers with a flat-roofed floor space of 73,000 sq m. ADNEC can accommodate more than 6,000 guests. Abu Dhabi offers distinctive advantages of competitive rates, intelligent pricing, added value and innovative product.Argentina has a capacity of over 480 hotels and 56,400 beds and features more than 500 conference halls and three modern exhibition

centres that can accommo-date 50 to 20,000 people. Some of the centres are the Centro Costa Salguero, the Centro Municipal de Exposi-ciones and La Rural-Exhibi-tion Centre. Several com-

plexes, soccer stadiums and other outdoor arenas also allow hosting large events. Significant events that take place in these centres are the Tango Dance Festival, Tango World Championship, the Rally Dakar, the ATP Tour (International tennis circuit), the Independent Film Fes-tival, the Livestock Fair, the Automechanika Fair, Open Polo Championship, Inter-national Tourism Trade Fair of Latin America (FIT), Con-temporary Art Fair (ArteBA), and the lyrical season at the Teatro Colón that is consid-ered to be one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world.In Argentina’s six tourist re-gions, over 20 Conventions

and Visitors Bureaus exist in more than 30 destinations that are prepared to host in-ternational events equipped with state-of-the-art tech-nology, convention / exhibi-tion centres and conference

Arturo Ortiz ArduánTourism Office of Spain

Spain is the third most pop-ular destination worldwide for conference tourism with state-of-the-art technology for all kinds of conventions and congresses.

German National Tourist Office

Visit Indonesia Tourism Office

Jordan Tourism Board


32>> 33>>


halls have multiplied in the main cities including tourist centres. The hotel capac-ity in Argentina along with general infrastructure has improved to meet with the high demand allowing con-ferences, events, incentives and festivals to be a major success with large audi-ences. More than five mil-lion tourists arrive in Buenos Aires every year.

Turkey’s well equipped inter-national standard meeting and convention facilities, beautiful hotels are com-plemented by breathtaking scenery to suit various pur-poses and budgets. Being the 6th most popular desti-nation in the world with over 32 million visitors annually, Turkey is focusing majorly on aspect of MICE tourism including airlines, travel agents and hotels through-out the country and is striv-ing to create favourable conditions in a bid to attract more MICE tourists. The MICE promotional and mar-keting efforts in Turkey in-clude one-to-one meetings, focused events, direct mail communications and offline and online campaigns with customers. MICE exhibitions also give greater brand vis-ibility along with the opening up of networking opportuni-ties to interact with potential customers.

Malaysia has a number of convention centres like

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, two Auditoria, a Ple-nary Hall (seats 3,000), a Plenary Theatre (seats 500), a Grand Ballroom, three con-ference halls, a banquet hall, 9710 sq m exhibition space, 20 meeting rooms, plus 3G telecommunications and audio visual facilities. The Borneo Convention Centre Kuching is designed with all meeting facilities on a single level and can accommodate events between five – 5,000 people. The Great Hall with 2793 sq m is complimented by 14 additional meeting rooms, extensive registra-tion and foyer space.

International brand hotels and world class resort in Ma-laysia include Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur, Gent-ing Highlands International Convention Centre, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa and Ho-tel Istana.

Switzerland can handle small groups and large groups since every region here is equipped with MICE business and the infrastruc-ture is very good for banquet facilities. The Amway group event was organized in Zu-rich. The mountain peaks and castles are also well equipped for MICE, gala din-ner and award nights. There are also technical visits to the chocolate factory and watch factory for the MICE group.

In Zurich, Congress House is the largest meeting venue with space for 1240 people. Some of the hotels are The Flag – 104 business apart-ments (July 2013); K-Star Hotel – 102 rooms & event space, Oldtimer Centre Hor-gen (Spring 2014); Kameha Grand – Int. Lifestyle Hotel,

245 rooms, 2015, Dorint Airport Hotel – 240 rooms, 2014, Ibis Airport – Budget Hotel, 240 rooms, 2014, Sheraton Hotel – 197 rooms in Zürich West, Spring 2014.Indonesia offers good con-ference facilities, sightsee-ing and team engagement activities. All the meeting

destinations, venues, as well as accommodation facilities and services rank among the best in the world espe-cially in the major MICE des-tinations of Jakarta and Bali.In Jordan, some of the con-vention centres are King Hussein Bin Talal Conven-tion Centre on the shores of

Aishvarya GuhagarkarSwitzerland Tourism

Every region in Switzerland is equipped with MICE business and the infrastructure is very good for banquet facilities.

Puthrajaya International Convention Centre,Malaysia

Jakarta Convention Centre


34>>


the Dead Sea, equipped with 25 meeting halls and large wrap-around terraces suit-able for breakouts, can ac-commodate over 3000 peo-ple; the Zara Expo, a world class conference and exhibi-tion venue, equipped with three purpose-built exhibi-tion halls, each with its own entrance, a 297-seat confer-ence auditorium with three layer foyer and six breakout rooms, offering a mix of first-class service, style and innovation; the Al-Hussein Cultural Center with 535 seats, latest light and sound theater acoustics. The cen-tre can also be used for film screening, meetings and ex-hibitions and the Royal Cul-tural Center that can host up to 700 seated individuals, with four remote-controlled projection screens, telecon-ference tools and multi-me-dia projection system.

As per ICCA Rankings 2011, Spain has become the third most popular destination worldwide for conference tourism with 463 meetings conducted per year, Barce-lona and Madrid have a long tradition in this sector. Other cities like Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao and Malaga have conference centres and fa-cilities equipped with state-of-the-art technology for all kinds of conventions and congresses. The World Her-itage Cities by UNESCO in Spain like Avila, Toledo, Se-govia, Tarragona are picking

up as MICE cities in Spain. The Spain´s Parador Hotels are ideal to offer a full range of alternatives with a host of leisure possibilities.

The Oman International Ex-hibition Centre (OIEC) has been the principle venue in the Sultanate for events such as consumer exhibi-tions, trade fairs and other large gatherings, offering up to 12,000 sq m of indoor space that can be configured in a variety of set-ups, plus 3,000 sq m on the exterior. The centre is also the major provider of facilities for off-site exhibitions throughout the country.

Some of the MICE Hotels includes ShangriLa Barr Al Jissah, Resort and Spa Muscat, offers 640 rooms in total with 19 Food and Bev-erage Outlets, three Private Beaches, 1000 Seat Amphi-theatre.The pillar-less Barr Al Jissah Ballroom seats 700 guests banquet style including the pre-function area, that can be increased to 850 guests; also seven additional meeting rooms. Grand Hyatt Muscat offers 280 rooms and suites with five meeting rooms of 12 pax and maximum of 400 pax.Germany boasts of more than 6000 conference ho-tels and event locations and global cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Ham-burg. Some of the popular conventions and events ven-ues are the Internationales

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

Cendrawasih Ballroom, Indonesia

SVICC, Mauritius


34>> 35>>


Congress Centrum Berlin (ICC Berlin) consisting of 80 halls and rooms seating be-tween 20 and 9,100 with su-perb technical installations and comprehensive range of services. The Düsseldorf Congress has 10 different event centres, tailored room concepts and services for all types of function.

The Munich Exhibition Cen-tre (Messe München), ICM – International Congress Center München and the MOC events centre offer a combined event space of 470,000 sq m. The Frankfurt Messe exhibition centre can accommodate from flexible congress centre to light-filled forum and historical festival hall (Festhalle). The Congress Center is a modern, highly flexible building with space for a total of 3,500 guests in five halls, at the heart of the congress centre is the multi-functional Harmonie hall which can accommodate

up to 2,200 people. Cologne Exhibition Center can organ-ise around 2,000 events and more than one million visitors come here every year. Some of the business hotels are Maritim Hotel, Berlin, Mercure Hotel, Duesseldorf City Center, Marriott Hotel, Munich, the Westin Grand, Frankfurt, Mercure Hotel, Cologne Fiesenstasse.

In 2012 Mauritius received 55197 arrivals. Despite In-dia’s economic slowdown, it registered an increase of 15.6% in the India tourist ar-rivals till April 2013.

Korea aimed to attract 10 million tourists from over-seas by 2012 and wel-comed 11 million visitors topping the tourism record for the country. There were 92,000 visitors from India to Korea up till the end of 2012, leisure visitors were 26% and business travel-lers were 70%. Out of busi-

ness travellers around 25% were the participants for MICE in Korea. Till the end of June 2013, Korea received around 5.5 million foreign-ers from overseas and Korea received 56,000 Indians, 26% more than the numbers of previous year till the end of June 2013.

Monaco receives over four million visitors every year from across the world. Year on year there has been an evident increase in the room nights from India.There were 905,890 inter-national visitors to Australia stating business as their main purpose of visit till 31 March 2013. Of all business visitors, 32% visited Victoria out of which 8% was from India. With the launch of the direct flight on Air India to Melbourne, growth from India is anticipated in 2014.

Turkey had almost 91,000 Indians visiting the country

Karen BolingerMelbourne Convention Bureau

Melbourne is Australia’s business events capital and a major drawcard for planners to organize business events.

Hyatt, Oman

IFEMA, Spain

Shangri La, Oman


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in 2012 and the growth rate was 24% over 2011. The growth rate from India is ex-pected to hover around 25% to 30% this year. Salvotore Ianniello, General Manager, Business Devel-opment& Operations- Italy says: “There are about 60 conference centres with capacities of over 1000 places, from the north to the south of Italy. In addition to the traditional convention centres and big hotels with congress facilities, one can choose from a wide range of old palaces, castles, his-toric residences, resorts and magnificent villas. MICE is

an important segment as far as Italy is concerned which has witnessed a constant growth in the last four years. We have conducted sev-eral initiatives in the past to achieve this growth.”

“With the collaboration of the Italian Consulate and the Italian Embassy, we have seen a growth of 70% -80% on yearly basis. From the Alps to the southern most beautiful seaside re-sorts, Italy will enchant you with its art, history, natural beauties and exceptional Mediterranean climate. Each region has something

unique to offer, but when it comes to congress facili-ties, all of them have a wide range to choose from- from the most modern ones, to the ones housed in charm-ing villas, antique palaces and quaint castles. We are still at the initial stages, but we are very confident that Italy will become a preferred destination for MICE as well,” he added.As regards Malaysia, in 2013, MyCEB had organ-ised more events from In-dia as compared to 2012. The most recent event be-ing the 10th Biennial World Telugu Federation Con-

ference 2013 held at the Sunway Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur last April. The event recorded attendance of 2,000 delegates. The number of delegates from India supported by MyCEB in 2013 is 91% above the arrivals same time last year especially from the incentive segment.

Jordan experienced positive growth in the last two years and it expects this to show an upward swing and con-tinue to sustain in 2014. In the last two years, MICE Tourism to Spain had main-tained a double-digit figure.

From the entire market scope of Indian tourists to Spain, 20-25% can be attrib-uted to business travellers to Spain, the rest amount to leisure travel. In 2011, a total of 33,591 and 60,675 Indian tourists in 2012 vis-ited Spain, This recorded an all-time high of 80% growth. The first six months of 2013 has recorded an arrival of 21,244. Germany had a growth of 13.6 % in the last two years. India being Oman’s largest inbound market, tourist ar-rivals to Oman in 2012 were 221,623. There has been a 35.6 % change in tourist ar-rivals in 2012 as compared to 2011 which was 163,45. For Switzerland, 2012 was exceptionally good since lot of groups where travelling during winter November/December. There has been a trend in MICE movement from India not only in peak season but also in off sea-son.

Expected growth rate for 2014

Jae Sang LeeKorea Tourism Organization

Korea is an ideal meeting environment that caters to the international business community from traditional banquet halls to trendy yacht clubs.


36>> 37>>


“Despite the rupee hitting an all-time low, we expect 2014 to be a year of growth for Mauritius. The rupee value has affected the busi-ness globally and corporate houses are restricting MICE movements. But Indians still prefer destination Mauritius. India and Mauritius share a good relation where tour-ism is concerned and Mau-ritius Government took lot of steps in the past to further strengthen the relationship like free Visa on Arrival. Re-cently Mauritius government had raised the cap from the minimum passport valid-ity of six months for Indians when travelling to the des-tination. Now when travel-ling to Mauritius visitors can have passport validity even for the number of days they are travelling,” said Soma.

“In 2014, we are expecting an increase of 20% in the MICE Tourism figure,” added Arturo.

Commonly anticipating a positive growth in 2014, Ro-mit expects the growth of 7% in 2014, while Lubaina foresees a two-fold increase in tourist arrivals from India and Aishvarya remains gen-erally positive.

Overnight figures in the sub region Zürich from India

2010: 76‘8342011: 113‘134, +47.2%2012: 115‘629, +2.2%2013: 117‘941, +2%2014: 123‘838, +5%New destinations Jae explains Korea is a southernmost volcanic is-land that has long been a favoured holiday and hon-eymoon retreat and is now a MICE destination. “The Jeju Island was officially pro-claimed as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature in December 2011 relatively unknown to Indians. People visiting mainland of South Korea from India need a Korean Visa before begin-ning their journey from India. They need to submit all the required documents to VFS of Korean Embassy in Delhi and Consulate General of the Republic of Korea office in Mumbai. But if you begin your journey from India via Hong Kong and then directly visit Jeju Island with Cathay Pacific Airline, you do not re-quire a Korean Visa for three months to enter Jeju Island for travelling.”

“While Buenos Aires is the main hub for MICE, we also have Bariloche, Rosario, Mendoza and La Plata that have been included by the ICCA worldwide rankings. In the six tourist regions there

are more than 20 Conven-tions & Visitors Bureaus in over 30 destinations pre-pared to host international events,” says Medha.

In Turkey, Cappadocia and Antalya are popular MICE destinations for a lot of the Indian organizations.

Salvatore said that Rome, Florence and Venice are some of the destinations that can cater to MICE seg-ment.

“The new destinations we are promoting for the MICE business are Johor Bahru with attractions like the Jo-hor Premium Outlet (JPO) and Legoland,” said Zulkefli. Legoland Malaysia is a 76 acre theme park with more than 40 rides and attrac

tions from roller coasters to race cars and other interac-tive shows. Langkawi, an archipelago made up of 99 islands on Malaysia’s west coast, is another destina-

tion for MICE events. It also has some of the best resort hotels for MICE such as the Westin, Datai Resort, the Andaman and Four Points by Sheraton – all providing up to date meetings facilities.Zurich is promoting new re-gions like Appenzell for an

attached leisure/side excur-sion idea reachable from Zürich as pre/post conven-tion tour.

In Indonesia, apart from

Dead Sea Hotel, Jordan

Monaco Tourism


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Bali and Jakarta, other po-tential MICE destinations are Balikpapan, Bandung, Batam, Makassar, Manado, Mataram, Medan, Padang, Palembang, Solo, Sura-baya and Yogyakarta; all are equipped to host inter-national conferences, ex-hibitions, catering, special events and entertainment performances.

Jordan’s new products for the Indian MICE market in-clude the Wadi Rum, the largest and most magnifi-cent of Jordan’s desert land-scapes where a maze of monolithic rocks capes rise up from the desert floor to heights of 1,750 m. Aqaba is Jordan’s only seaport and one of its fastest developing cities, where tourists can choose from adventurous activities like snorkeling and scuba diving and shop with-out paying any taxes since Aqaba is an economic free zone. Besides these, the Wadi Mujib is a gorge which enters the Dead Sea at 410 m below sea level, offering adventure sports activities. MICE organisers can also consider having events at an off-beat historic place like Jerash. Jerash is an ancient city exemplifying the grand, formal provincial Roman urbanism found throughout the Middle East, compris-ing paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop tem-ples, handsome theatres, spacious public squares and plazas, baths, fountains and city walls pierced by towers and gates. Madaba, also known as the city of mosa-ics, is also another option. In Spain, Sevilla, Valencia and Bilbao are becoming popular in the Indian MICE segment; on the other hand, World Heritage Cities by UNESCO like Avila, Toledo, Segovia and Tarragona are not far behind as preferred choices. In Germany, the Messe Düs-seldorf GmbH ranks first in terms of internationality in capital goods trade fairs. In 2010, over 60 percent of exhibitors and more than 40 percent of visitors to Düs-seldorf Exhibition Centre came from outside Germa-ny. Trade fairs in Düsseldorf attract customers from 151

countries. With 50 trade fairs in Düsseldorf, of which 23 are flagship international shows, as well as around 100 independently or jointly organized events abroad, Messe Düsseldorf is one of the leading export platforms in the world.

In addition to Zurich, MICE groups are also travelling to Geneva and Lake Geneva region. Switzerland Tourism did a study trip for Geneva and Lake Geneva region for agents to create awareness of new regions. Other places being promoted are Lucerne and Interlaken.

Fall in Indian rupee “Trends in the outbound travel indicate that the trav-ellers from India prefer short haul destinations because of the fall in the value of ru-pee. Mauritius is still being one of the popular and pre-ferred destinations among the Indians. We are very hopeful that rupee may sta-bilize soon and will not have much effect, “said Soma.Jae is of the opinion that in the current scenario, Indian travellers have become in-creasingly value conscious. With the movement in the rupee the customers have begun weighing all options, while luxury travellers and the MICE segment are not tweaking their plans be-cause of the recent currency fluctuation and the budget segment customer is re-thinking the holiday plans. Karen is optimistic about the Indian market and says they will continue to remain active in their pursuit to at-tract more MICE groups from India.

Abu Dhabi is at present experiencing an upward graph in the number of ho-tel guests both leisure and business. We are very hope-ful that this trend of upward growth will continue. Pres-ently the popular attractions are the Yas Island facilities of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and the Yas Waterworld, ad-ditionally the culture and art district is being developed at Saadiyat Island.

Ozgur says the fall in rupee has impacted the tourism

Munnmunn MarwahThink StrawberriesJordan Tourism Board

Jordan is culturally rich and full of vivid land-scapes with a combina-tion of history, culture, shopping, wellness.

Oman Tourism

Abudhabi Tourism & Cultural Authority


38>> 39>>

industry in general but not a substantial and definitely not an immediate one. Fu-ture plans for travel have been affected as people have adopted a wait and watch policy but summer travel plans are on as be-fore. Esther expects the depre-ciation of the rupee to affect travels to Switzerland, with trips likely to get postponed and that people might rather book a trip within Asia now. Indonesia, Sanjay assures, is one of the great value-for-money destinations where MICE organizers can get fan-tastic value for their budgets in terms of service level and facilities.

Munnmunn feels confident that despite the devaluation of the Indian currency, the intervention of the Indian government and Reserve Bank of India would soon help correct the situation and the MICE movement from India would get back on its normal growth curve.Arturo assured that the In-dian rupee’s fall does not influence the Indian tourists travelling to Spain as Spain offers competitive prices for hotel accommodations.“The fall in Indian rupee as well as the increase in air fare has impacted the out-bound travel market and the agents are reporting de-

crease in business. However it is hoped that with the cor-rective economic measures being taken by the Indian govt. the markets will be-come steady in the near fu-ture. The outbound market should be able to fully re-cover as the Indian economy continues to grow regardless of these temporary hurdles,” says Romit.

MICE trends for 2013Jae foresees the meeting size as growing, meeting space changing and more corporate, incentive groups due to the increase of Kore-an companies in India. The MICE segment contributes as much as 40-45 per cent to overall travel volumes. “For incentive groups, we saw an increase in enquiries from key Asian markets as well as from the US. With the recent Melbourne Now that campaign Tourism Victoria has launched in India, con-sumers have rediscovered new products,” says Karen. Medha bets big on the facts that corporates are con-stantly looking for a new ex-otic and niche destination. “We have had some MICE movement to Argentina and the growth has been very en-couraging,” she added.

“We have witnessed a rise in business events and grow-ing demand for the corpo-


1. Singapore 1,600,000 5.00 1,750,000 9.38 1,900,000 8.57

2. Malaysia 1,300,000 1.00 1,400,000 7.69 1,550,000 10.71

3. Australia 1,100,000 18.00 1,220,000 10.91 1,380,000 13.11

4. China 600,000 7.00 1,000,000 66.67 1,100,000 10.00

5. Japan 450,000 5.00 505,000 12.22 560,000 10.89

6. South Korea 320,000 9.00 360,000 12.50 400,000 11.11

7. Filipina 280,000 23.00 315,000 12.50 350,000 11.11

8. Taiwan 230,000 1.00 255,000 10.87 270,000 5.88

9. USA 210,000 3.00 225,000 7.14 235,000 4.44

10. UK 200,000 0.29 220,000 10.00 230,000 4.55

11. French 195,000 11.00 210,000 7.69 215,000 2.38

12. India 180,000 13.00 200,000 11.11 205,000 2.50

13. Netherland 160,000 2.00 185,000 15.63 190,000 2.70

14. Middle East 160,000 14.00 175,000 9.38 185,000 5.71

15. Germany 150,000 1.00 165,000 10.00 175,000 6.06

16. Russia 100,000 10.00 110,000 10.00 125,000 13.64

Others 765,000 705,000 -7.84 930,000 31.91

TOTAL 8,000,000 4.58 9,000,000 12.50 10,000,000 11.11

Source: Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Indonesia

Tourist Arrivals and Growth Target 2012 - 2014

NO MARKET TARGET

2012 % 2013 % 2014 %

Bejan DinshawAbu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority

Abu Dhabi is a new destina-tion for the Indian traveler and the Indian outbound MICE market is expected to increase by 12-13 per cent over the next couple of years.

Abudhabi Tourism & Cultural Authority


40>>

rate incentive market, says Zulkefli.

“The trend observed is that leisure programmes at-tached to meetings and Incentives are enquired of more,” added Esther.“We recently attended MICE India Luxury Travel Con-gress. We have seen the search of new enquiries, a new trend from wedding planners to organise wed-ding in Switzerland,” said Aishvarya. Marketing initiatives

The KTO is focusing on de-veloping high quality tour-ism products, global mar-keting, special incentive programmes while concen-trating on online marketing initiatives and social media. It is also working towards building a strong associa-tion with travel agents han-dling outbound from India, as they are an effective me-dium for reaching out to all kinds of travellers. For devel-oping Korean product, KTO is trying to provide detailed information and knowledge to the travel trade industry. It also plans to promote the destination through training sessions, road shows, work-shops, advertisements, joint promotions, trade shows and familiarization trips on a pan-India basis.

“We have also teamed up with our valued members to present the Melbourne Values You programme - a series of special offers for in-centive and corporate travel reward planners designed to make booking and planning an event in Melbourne,” said Karen.

The ‘Advantage Abu Dhabi’ a specific incentive pro-gramme to attract MICE offers a corporate various value additions. There are 12 strategic economic cate-gories under which business event organisers can devel-op proposals for Advantage Abu Dhabi support. The level of support can range from financial grants, governmen-tal endorsement, leadership patronage, cost rebates and marketing support.

Argentina has been working closely with travel agents to educate the corporates on the destination.Turkey recently launched a pan India advertising cam-paign called ‘Million Rea-sons’, to reach out to Indian tourists by showcasing the enchanting and rich expe-riential offerings of Turkey. The campaign includes a 30 second TV advertise-ment supported by online, print and outdoor elements. The campaign has been de-signed to reach out to the


Medha SampatKnack Marketing – Representative Argentina Tourism

Argentina is internationally known as a destination with the breathtaking scenery and unforgettable confer-ences, conventions, exhibitions.

Korea Tourism Organization

Teatro Colon, Argentina


40>> 41>>


Indian travellers so they can see Turkey in all its glory. “We have recently started the e-visa system for the citi-zens of 94 countries includ-ing India. Indian citizens who hold a valid Schengen visa or a valid visa from any of the OECD member countries or a valid residence permit in these countries can get their e-visa by using www.evisa.gov.tr without going to the Embassy or the Consu-late. We are planning a 5-cit-ies road show in association with Turkish Hoteliers Fed-eration and Travel Agents Association of Turkey in the month of November,” said Ozgur.

Based on a survey amongst Indian Tour Operators and Travel agents, a very good number of tourist flows to Italy was recorded. MICE is

one of its major targets and will be part of their strategy along with other important segments like honeymoon, weddings, and wine and gas-tronomy.

Last year, MyCEB launched the ‘Asia like never before’ campaign, targeting global corporate and incentive markets. The campaign fo-cuses on four themes name-ly ‘Team Building’, ‘Theme Events & Experiences’, ‘Unique Venues’ and ‘Cor-porate Social Responsibility’ for corporate and incentive clients planning an incen-tive trip to Malaysia. In line with the campaign, it also launched the Malaysia Twin Deal (MTD) Programme for the India market to attract more international corpo-rate & incentive groups from the country. The MTD Pro-

gramme was launched in India in August, 2012 and it received encouraging re-sponse from the relevant market. This year, it will launch a global campaign in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (VMY 2014) – Malaysia Twin Deal ++ (MTD++) Programme. Esther says: “We organised a corporate and leisure trade roadshow with our new partner Qatar Airways in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Calcutta. We had participated at MICE India and Luxury Travel Con-gress 2013 and we will be participating at IBTM Mum-bai.”

Indonesia is expecting in-creased MICE inflow from In-dia in 2013. Visa is provided on arrival and there is a good connectivity provided by vari-

Soma Bhattacharya Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority

Mauritius is emerging as the MICE destination for the Indian travellers to handle small as well as large groups.

German National Tourist Office

BEXCO, Korea

Kongresshaus, Zurich


42>>


ous airlines like Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Thai Air-ways. Indonesia offers vari-ous incentives for the MICE groups such as souvenirs, cultural performance and express Visa-on-Arrival facil-ity scheme. If the group size is more than 400 pax then the ministry can also host one dinner.

JTB’s strategy is to focus on promoting and marketing the destination and creat-ing awareness about the destination and its offerings. The marketing plan includes sales activities aimed at trav-el trade, media and end con-

sumer to showcase Jordan as a diverse tourist destina-tion in Delhi, Mumbai, Chen-nai and Bangalore. Further along the year, JTB plans to have stronger presence across Tier II cities in India. It is easy for MICE groups vis-iting Jordan as they can avail of ‘Visa on Arrival’ if they have confirmed return flight tickets, confirmed hotel booking and USD 1000. Oth-er facilities include uniform visa fees for all nationalities, group visas- five passengers or more- free of charge when arranged through DMCs or TOs. In 2013, Spain has a roadshow planned from 24-26 September in Mumbai,

Bangalore and Delhi fol-lowed by a workshop in Ma-drid and a FAM trip of about 18 travel agents to World

Heritage Sites of Spain. It also plans to take part in IBTM Mumbai. It will closely work with the Spanish Em-bassy in Delhi and the Span-ish Consulate in Mumbai to enable smooth and quick processing of visas for MICE groups.

Currently, the Spanish Con-sulate in Mumbai is pro-cessing the visas within maximum five days from the date of application of visa for MICE groups, business and leisure travellers to Spain. It also provides support to travel agents, tour operators and corporates in organis-ing inspection visits in Spain if they chose Spain as their first MICE destination. In February 2014, Emirates will fly its A380 in the route BCN-DUBAI and return, which means 1100 more weekly seats per leg, equivalent to almost one more daily fre-quency with regular flights.Romit ensures the best in-ductions for the trade that include study tours to facili-tate first-hand experience of Germany’s MICE infrastruc-ture. We also conduct work-shops and presentations for product updates. “We conduct destination presen-tations to large corporates planning their MICE visits to Europe. Some new incentive ideas are driving a world war tank just outside of Berlin or going skydiving and jumping off a world war plane. Try the ‘Don 2’ base jump from the roof of the Park Inn, Berlin Alexanderplatz, 125 m off the ground or the Munich Beer Tour, an extensive tour providing interesting and en-tertaining insights. Create your own Eau de Cologne.”Switzerland Tourism had or-

ganised study trip for meet-ing buyers of IMEX Frank-furt and it will participate in EIBTM Spain and IBTM Mumbai. “We will be organ-ising Switzerland workshop in September and a study trip for corporate in October. We have a MICE brochure which is very informative and comprehensive for the trade, with the infrastructure details of each region. We have released a new flyer for MICE that focuses on dif-ferent possibilities of doing MICE in Switzerland,” said Aishvarya.

“In the last two years, MTPA had organised two road-shows in India. In 2013, MTPA hosted a 3-city road show in Ahmedabad, Banga-lore and Chandigarh with an initiative to tap the growing outbound market potential of India by projecting des-tination Mauritius as an all-encompassing island of choice for honeymooners, families, MICE, special oc-casion travellers like wed-ding segment in specific and new age segments,” Soma added.

“Earlier this year, we did a marketing initiative pro-gramme with select travel agents and press in the city of Pune in the month of May 2013 and Hyderabad in the month of June 2013. We are planning a special roadshow in northern India for con-necting India travel agents in September 2013. In the meanwhile, we will invite Ko-rean state governments for co-campaigning with Indian travel agents as well. There will be many more events in the next four months,” said Jae.

Romit TheophilusGerman National Tourist Office.

Germany is a world leader in innovation, sustainability to plan meetings and exhi-bitions for business travelers and MICE delegates.

Lubaina Sheerazi Ministry of Tourism, Oman.

Oman is a destination with rich cultural heritage offer-ing activities such as rock climbing, cave exploration and dolphin watching.

SICC, Indonesia


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Importance of association-centric conventionsThe common purpose be-hind all associations is to bring together people as members sharing similar interests on a subject and provide a forum for them all to concur on issues related to the subject.

John Peacock, General Manager, Association Fo-rum (Australia), said: “Asso-ciations can learn from each other. The great advantage here is that there is much less competition between associations than the com-petition that naturally exist s in commercial business.

Meetings as India Associa-tion Congress demonstrate this fact”.

Alfons Westgeest, Group Vice President, Kellen Com-pany (Belgium), said: “Such a convention like the IAC al-lows to really focus on stra-tegic and relevant issues for associations, and not just one element (meetings, venues, convention manage-ment).”

Gangadharan, President -International Federation of Ageing, Director-Heritage Hospital and Chairman - Heritage Foundation, Hy-derabad, says: “Associa-

tions abroad, in most of the developed countries, are dynamic and well organised with close associations with members. At this point of time, very few Indian organi-sations have such a mecha-nism of touching base with members. Activities stimu-late more membership and in an annual convention of this type, we listen to what many organisations do to make sure that the society and members gain benefits. Practices adopted by differ-ent organisations are not well known to many of those in the professional circles. There are very successful or-ganisations while there are

many upcoming ones. Such meetings help the new ones from reinventing the wheel and save time, energy and resources.”

Benefits for stakeholdersJohn said that delegates learn from overseas experi-ences and are exposed to best practice in other coun-tries. Suppliers to a particu-lar market, as represented by the relevant association, can showcase their products and services to an interna-tional audience.

Alfons thinks participation would make stakeholders more responsible and knowl-

edgeable about the role they need to fulfill as professional managers of associations.

Gangadharan says: “Individ-uals in the company/organi-sations represent in such associations, bringing tre-mendous level of knowledge and experiences. There are associations that hold elec-tions to elect the new of-fice bearers and commit-tee members, purely based on professional excellence while some others on ‘politi-cal’ basis. Both perhaps de-liver outcomes. Strategies of each organisation are differ-ent and can’t be copied but there is plenty of learning.

assoCIaTIons and EvEnTs: noT sTrangE BEdfElloWsIn view of the third edition of the India Association Congress (IAC) 2013, on 22 and 23, August at the ITC Grand

Chola, Chennai, Voyager’s World finds out the ultimate purpose served by associations in the interests of the

related stakeholders.

PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM


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Bottlenecks According to John, potential members need to be shown the advantages of member-ship. “This is a combination of marketing to position what the association has to offer, plus sales to convert interest in an association into actual joining. Associa-tions need to be reminded there are alternative sources of information and knowl-edge on the Internet, so they must continually strive to prove the value of joining.

Alfons says that the choice of becoming a member is traditionally decided on the basis as a ‘lifetime’ choice in India. But he expects the trend to gradually change as the value proposition for associations would become more competitive.

Gangadharan said: “It has to be ascertained whether institutional members run associations or individuals. Some excel in visioning an association to the logical end while some come and go with little impact. Organi-zations would want to see result orientation. There are companies that see mem-bership in an organisation as a trade union activity detrimental to its very exist-ence.

Role of local vendors In international association congresses, the significance of local vendors can’t be ruled out; it is here that out-sourcing helps reduce the burden of organisers.

John says: “The knowledge of someone who under-stands the area the confer-ence is held can be very val-uable in ensuring optimum outcome for delegates.”

“Associations have plenty of stakeholders; vendors being one such key partner. There has to be a proper represen-tation in an association’s management and it must includevendor representa-tives so their interests are protected.Leadership can be rotated by practice or by con-stitution to ensure that ven-dors assume such key roles. Exhibitions in congresses are common sight world over

and they add to the bottom line of the associations,” says Gangadharan.

Being a global memberNetworking is done through such global association to connect amongst the coun-tries and within the regions.Representations to govern-ments are made easier with the knowledge gained through global participation.

Relevance of new associa-tion laws and regulationsGangadharan states: “Asso-ciation legislations primarily focus on responsibilities and accountability besides trans-parency. They promote true representations and ensure regional representation to prevent one-sided or imbal-anced views and decision making. In India, perhaps it is not done. When done, we have noticed in several legis-

lations, a poor implementa-tion mechanism. In a global organisation, with so many stringent provisions for en-suring conformity to laws and guidelines issued with-punitive actions for devia-tions and with associations not wanting to deviate on moral grounds, it does make a lot of sense to have legisla-tions to promote and sustain healthy associations.”

Alfon said that while moni-toring of laws and regula-tions is a first step, influence is also important. “The association can serve as an excellent organizer of statistics, knowledge and promotion towards new changes. So it is not only a re-active but also the pro-active duty of associations to represent the overall in-dustry or profession,” he concluded.

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hospitality

What is distinct about In-dian hospitality with regard to supply-demand gap, etc?The most distinctive aspect is the profile of the domestic traveller. Domestic travel is expected to be the primary driver of the hospitality and travel industry’s growth. More Indians are now trave-ling within the country and abroad on business and leisure trips and this is an encouraging trend. Interest-ingly, a lot of domestic travel is for family holidays or re-ligious reasons and the In-dian traveller expects value for money hotels with good facilities and comfortable amenities. The domestic traveller is clearly a discern-ing customer who is spoilt for choice with a range of op-tions available to him. This is not a monopolistic mar-ket and so it is important for brands to cater to these changing trends/ needs to attract the customers. Our group’s diverse port-folio offers best lodging choices for every segment and needs, from upscale to economy to business and leisure. We also aim at ex-panding its reach in Tier 2 markets as Amritsar, Luc-know, Jamshedpur etc to ca-ter to the growing demand.

How do you see the current

market in India? The Indian market offers a great opportunity and is key to our expansion plans. The emergence of India as a pre-ferred leisure and business destination has increased pressure on the Indian hos-pitality industry to constantly improvise itself to cater to the growing demand of the travellers. India is witness-ing huge footfalls and fierce competition coupled with a desire to stay in the No. 1 position, promoting hos-pitality players to introduce innovative ideas and hospi-tality products and services to woo more customers and stay ahead of competition.

Currently, Wyndham Hotel Group has 17 operational properties in India with a to-tal room inventory of 1,800 under Ramada, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Dream and Days Hotel brands.

Our portfolio offers best lodging choices for every segment and need, from upscale to economy to busi-ness and leisure needs. The Group is poised to cater to every traveller’s needs through its diverse portfolio, offerings and services. It’s an exciting time for Wynd-ham Hotel Group in India.

Our group is the world’s

largest hotel company with over 7,380 hotels as part of Wyndham Worldwide Corpo-ration. We offer not only the most lodging choices around the world but also excep-tional customer service and great value.

Based on number of hotelswhat are your marketing and promotional cam-paigns for India?Online and offline, Wynd-ham Hotel Group’s team of marketing experts optimize brand exposure through a multifaceted approach. In-tegrated marketing initia-tives include print campaign mainly in travel and inflight publications; exposure on top search engines, travel websites and other online ad networks, public relations and social media initiatives.

In addition, the group’s point-based guest loyalty programme, Wyndham Rewards, with over seven million active members, provides a great platform to market our hotels in In-dia and increase guests frequency and by enabling travellers to earn and/or re-deem at over 6,600 hotels located around the globe. The group also participated in international key trade fairs and exhibitions to pro-mote our India hotels.

Expected growth rate As a policy we do not share figures. However, Wyndham Hotel Group in India has more than doubled the size of its portfolio in last three years. The Group plans to develop nearly 80 hotels and increase the inventory to 8000 rooms within the next five years.

What are Wyndham’s up-coming projects for the In-dian market?To further strengthen the expansion in India, the Group has signed a fran-chise agreement to bring the Wyndham Grand Banga-lore Yelahanka which is set to open in 2020. The crown jewel of Wyndham family, the Wyndham Grand Collec-tion of hotels is an exquisite ensemble of hotels and re-sorts offering guest one-of-a-kind experience in spec-tacular resorts and urban destinations. Each hotel of-fers refined guest accommo-dations, attentive service, relaxing surroundings and thoughtful touches designed to satisfy and delight busi-ness and leisure travelers alike.

By the end of this year, the Group will open its first Ramada Encore and How-ard Johnson Hotels targeted at the mid-market segment.

Wyndham Hotel Group has also signed a deal to bring its extended stay product, Hawthorn Suites by Wynd-ham brand into Amritsar. In addition to the new launch-es, the group is working ag-gressively to strengthen its existing Ramada Portfolio. Upcoming Ramada Hotels in 2013 are as follows:- Ramada Amritsar- Ramada Jamshedpur- Ramada Neemrana- Ramada Alleppey

Wyndham Hotel Group is the only group that franchises all its brands and this makes its growth strategy unique and distinctive in the Indian market.

Relationship with the In-dian travel trade. We enjoy an excellent and re-warding relationship with the Indian travel trade. Our ho-tels in leisure and business destinations (Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Varanasi, Khajura-ho, Kochi, Gurgaon, Mum-bai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jalandhar, etc.) work closely with Indian trade partners. Our go-to-market strate-gies incorporate the trade’s feedback and inputs on a consistent basis. With more hotels openings in Indian cities we seek more active participation from the Indian travel trade.

WyndhaM on an ExpansIon sprEE In ThE IndIan MarkETDeepika Arora, Regional Vice President - India, Wyndham Hotel Group - Asia Pacific, speaks about the hospitality

major’s upcoming plans and projects for the Indian market in a freewheeling interview with Voyager’s World.

Deepika Arora Regional Vice President - India, Wyndham Hotel Group - Asia Pacific

India is witnessing huge footfalls and fierce competition coupled with a desire to stay in the No. 1 position, promoting hospitality players to introduce innovative ideas and hospitality products and services to woo more customers and stay ahead of competition.

VW BUREAU


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VW BUREAU

The 29th IATO annual con-vention is set to be held

from 8-11 September, 2013 at the Le Meridien, Kochi. This year’s theme is ‘Indian Tourism – Innovations & Partnerships’.

In the wake of Public Pri-vate Partnerships gaining increasing importance in tourism infrastructure de-velopment opportunities, these will be explored in the course of business sessions and inputs from the experts who have been invited from India and abroad.

This is also visible in re-search partnership, inves-tigating tourism as a socio-ecological system, civic governance and tourism in the face of uncertainties cre-ated by global warming and peak oil pricing, etc.

While innovation can be defined in many ways, new products, processes, new material, new forms of or-ganization, carrying capac-ity, use of technology, cre-ating centres of excellence that treat and disseminate new operational research based on knowledge, and focus on incremental raise of quality staff, niche and revolutionary innovations

that can really impact tour-ism and its sustainability positively.

Expectations We are expecting over 1200 to 1500 participants as we are receiving good response. We expect more participants from the southern region where the enthusiasm to be present in IATO Convention is more. This will mean the delegate numbers will cross our expectations.Some expectations inter-alia include-- Good business sessions wherein experts can give useful tips on doing business at a time when the economy is down.- Meeting challeng-es of global warming, terror-ism, global partnerships and to reach new markets, adopt technology in tourism etc.- There will be also sessions from state govern-ments to get ourselves edu-cated on the new products offered by them; request-ing them to earmark lands for infrastructure purpose; whereas tour operators can invest andget soft loansfrom state financeorganisations- Rationalize road taxes, sales tax on ATF so that domestic air opera-tions become cheaper, strict

safety norms, setup machin-ery for overall cleanliness in cities/monuments visited by tourists, promotional mate-rial in foreign languages, educational tours to know products of the state educa-tional seminars.

Benefits The Kerala government is proactive and the trade is very professional. We will boost Kerala with sincere ef-forts to bring tourists in num-bers. We are confident that IATO would make its mark in enhanced tourist arrivals to Kerala postconvention.

Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Gujarat and Delhi will have booths at the Tourism Mart to showcase their unique at-tractions.

Through A/V presentations and by educating members, the destinations update will help members to workout state-specific holiday pack-ages and also form partner-ships with the state govern-ments. The deliberations by experts on various strategic issues will help dovetailing marketing strategies and networking with stake hold-ers.

Thus, this convention be-comes a common platform to boost tourism in India with combined efforts and this we value.

IATO role IATO is the link between government ministries and stakeholders and this works out benefits for members to boost tourism even in sluggish economic times by holding:-

- Roadshows in new markets- Holding booths at a cheaper cost the booths and reaching new markets through global tourism exhi-bition participants- By supporting educational seminars overseas to edu-cate overseas sales team to present India to the clients- By extending financial sup-port to overseas tour opera-tors to launch exclusive In-dia holiday brochures, joint advertisements with over-seas tour operators holding specific tourism-oriented festivals like food festivals, for improved awareness, TV quiz or essay contests, inviting travel/ tour opera-tors from overseas to show the products in India so that they can sell India confi-dently, invite media to write about India.

Promotion Our promotional efforts are:-- Press conferences and me-dia releases- Collaboration with ministry officials, Minister of Tourism and other ministries- Civil Aviation, Culture, transport-related agencies, ASI, Cham-bers of Commerce, State Governments- Favourable support from Kerala as host state- Support Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Karna-taka governments - Special supplements on the Convention and daily media publication in course of the convention.- Radio, TV Interviews- Issue of IATO updates from time to time - Online bookings commis-sioned and Convention up-dates in the IATO website www.iato.in- IATO run for Responsible Tourism, Auction wall for charity - Inviting Uttaranchal Tour-ism for the Convention to workout strategies to rebuild tourism in Uttaranchal- Our efforts to save paper via online registration and being eco-sensitive

IaTo ConvEnTIon To foCus on InnovaTIons In TourIsM

Subhash Goyal, Chairman of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), talks about the 29th convention and

the theme surrounding it.

Events

Subhash GoyalChairman of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO)

New products, processes, new material, new forms of organiza-tion, carrying capacity, use of technology, creating centres of excellence that treat and disseminate new operational research based on knowledge, and focus on incremental raise of quality staff, niche and revolutionary innovations can really impact tour-ism and its sustainability positively.


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48>>

The lifetime of a ‘destination brand’ and its elements form

a distinct identity till the next CEO comes along or for that matter the next advertising agency is on a trig-ger point pitch-spree! In an era where destinations are more per-ceived than experienced, the hope to create the next tagline out of a century-long destination baggage is pure ‘nirvana’.

The destination brand evolves from a ‘promise’ it brings. Mere play of words or your agency’s most crea-tive line may still fall short of deliv-ery. What drives a destination to go for a change of direction? Is it merely to impose the new-found desire to

create an identity as a ‘supermarket destination’ (there is something-for-everybody kind of approach) or a destination’s new-found love to fo-cus on its geographical or cultural attribute!

Do destinations reach a level of brand maturity, where they no longer require a help of a tag-line or a slo-gan? Destination marketers always seem to be in love with the ‘one big tagline’...What does it take a desti-nation to be independent of any tag-lines or slogans? Let the consumer decide for himself on the attributes of the destination!

Tom Buncle, Managing Director, Yel-

low Railroad, interestingly says: “Tag lines are brilliant when they are in-spired, convey a country’s benefits succinctly in a way that evokes the essence of the country, and could be nowhere else. But mostly they fail spectacularly. I’ve only ever seen two that really tick these boxes: - Croatia - “the way the Mediterranean used to be”. - Ireland used a tag line many years ago for the incentive market in the USA, I believe, along the lines of “Ireland - ancient birthplace of great times” - absolutely brilliant! Other good ones that have achieved impact are: - New Zealand - “100% Pure” and Costa Rica - “No artificial ingredients.”

He further adds: “Otherwise, sadly most taglines are no more than dis-tracting noise and marketing blah. How many can you remember? And how many can you look at and say they really talk to you in a way that epitomizes their country, as well as inspiring you? And how much money has been wasted with expensive agencies generating mediocre calls to action in insipid taglines?”

If you can’t come up with the holy grail of a killer tagline, use a descrip-tive one (e.g. “Peru- Land of the In-cas”) or be brave and don’t have one - like Australia and Texas.

One of the key elements of a brand-ing success is the longevity of the branding elements such as the tagline if one, its logo and visible traits. Trying to change the destina-tions’ branding every time there is a change at the helm is purely not helping the cause.

Incredible IndiaIncredible India! is case study mate-rial! A couple of simple words backed with a multi-million advertising budg-et and smart advertising visuals has bombarded the world over and over again till it claimed marketing nir-vana. Incredible India would not be claimed to be successful, if it was not backed by the continuous bom-bardment over a period of the last 10 years or so. One smart attribute of the campaign is that it did not

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ThE dEsTInaTIon Brand ManTra and WhaT Works…Supermarket approach to marketing destinations will not work. It has to be tailored to each destination.

destination Branding


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talk beyond ‘Incredible India!; it left the rest to its visual impact and the consumer’s imagination. It saved the creative team from putting their foot in the mouths!

The downside is India being what it is; it is a big country with a plethora of ‘marketable destinations/prod-ucts’. The fact that India is often at the receiving end of natural and man-made disasters making can-cellations of inbound tourist is a tad higher. When something like this happens; most times, tourists tak-ing cue from our television channels on sublime ‘breaking news’ mode,

do not realize how big India actually is; what happens in one part of the country seldom affects other parts.

It is more important than ever be-fore, to create ‘regions / city / attrac-tions’ into strong destination brands with an independent brand identity. Kerala has been one of a few suc-cess branding stories as far as India is concerned. They have not aligned with the ‘Incredible India’ bandwag-on and have gone ahead and imple-mented an independent marketing plan and have delivered results.

Does having a ‘brand document’ help

create a focus, especially for destina-tions? Tom Buncle adds: “Yes, ab-solutely. A set of clear brand guide-lines - or toolkit - is the critical bridge that links the branding strategy to its implementation. It is the brand manager’s manual - and should also be distributed to all who are in any way projecting the destination brand internationally (e.g. NTO staff, tour-ism operators, airlines and, ideally inward investment promotion and development agencies, exporters and diplomatic posts - all of whom should ideally have been involved in developing the brand itself, as key stakeholders). It should explain what

the values/essence, personality, po-sitioning statement, emotional ben-efits and rational attributes are, what they mean, and how to apply them in marketing communications”.

“In other words, the brand toolkit is the vehicle that explains how to bring the brand to life in a no-nonsense, easy-to-understand way for every-one. Without it, the brand may be no more than theory and impenetrable gobbledygook for many people, no matter how brilliantly it has been conceived”.

How often have we seen the tagline change at every change at the helm? The destination brand gains momen-tum with its longevity in focus, and not on the ‘one smart tagline’ that change along with every season. At the same time a bad line that adds complexity of trying to sell a bit of everything and the kitchen sink, has to simplify itself into what the consumer will accept! Focus on one big attraction or an attribute, it does not matter if it is geographical or cultural. Super market approach to marketing destinations will not add value, either to the discerning tourist or to the scattered visitor statistic!

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destination Branding

One of the key elements of a branding success is the longev-ity of the branding elements such as the tagline if one, its logo and visible traits. Trying to change the destinations’ branding every time there is a change at the helm is purely not helping the cause. How often have we seen the promise line change at every change at the helm? The destination brand gains momentum with its longevity in focus, and not on the ‘one smart tagline’ that change along with every season.


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festival Watch

Bonderam FestivalGoa

August 24, 2013

The Bonderam festival, celebrated on the island of Divar, located 12 km from Pan-jim, takes place on the fourth Saturday of August. Derived from the Portuguese word ‘Bandeira’ for flag, the day begins with a flag parade from the Divar junction, accom-panied by a brass band. Later in the day there is a fancy dress competition followed by the traditional float parade and a live musical performance featuring the famous music bands of Goa.

Regata StoricaVenice

01 September, 2013

The Regata Storica or Historical Regatta is a spectacular sporting event that takes place along the Grand Canal in Venice to mark the welcoming of Caterina Cornaro, wife of the

King of Cyprus in the 15th century. Several Venetian rowing boats with rowers and the locals in period costumes parade on the waters to commemorate the historic welcome. There is also a competition involving several coloured boats and enthusiastic men, women and youngsters setting about in the lagoon of Venice.

Sun Moon Lake Festival, Taiwan

10 October to 11 November, 2013

The Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan’s Nantou County in Taiwan hosts the grand fireworks and music festival annually. The reflection of brilliant bursts of colours, sparkles and fiery trails of light on the lake’s crystalline surface is a sight to behold. It is full of music performances, orchestra, dance, cinema like the Sun Moon Lake Mu-sic Festival, Taiwan Mobile Concert, Taiwan Cycling Festival, National Day Celebration Concert, Movies in Concert, etc.

Cardiff Harbour FestivalWales

23-26 August, 2013

The second edition of the Cardiff Harbour Festival this year at the Cardiff Bay comes with an exciting addition - Extreme Sailing. The Extreme Sailing Series is an innovative format offering a grandstand experience in high-speed action. There are a host of free activities and family favourites including a continental market selling tasty treats. Visitors can also view some spectacular sailing action at close range from around Cardiff’s famous waterfront.

Voyager’s World > June 2013Voyager’s World > August 2013

52>>

Munich OktoberfestGermany

21 September - 06 October, 2013

The world renowned Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival held in Munich in Germany every year, starting last late September to first week of October. Enormous quantities of Oktoberfest beer are consumed then and tourists can also enjoy several traditional, tasty dishes. There is a wide range of entertainment besides beer like carousels, merry-go-rounds and shooting and throwing galleries. There are beer tents and several kiosks that sell sweets, ice cream, non-alcoholic beverages and souvenirs.

Nan Boat racing festivalThailand

1 September 2013 - 30 September 2013

The Nan traditional long boat festival has been held annually in September/October, in the Nan River in Nan province, when the water level is at its peak. Racing boats are usually made from dugout tree trunks and can accommodate up to 60 oarsman, commonly dressed in the same color, in a double row. The event attracts many spectators throughout the country. Trophies and prizes are given to the winning team at the end.

La TomatinaBuñol, Spain

28 August, 2013

This takes place on the fourth Wednesday in August every year in a small town called Bu-ñol near Valencia. People literally paint the town red and pink, throwing tomatoes at one

another. Early Wednesday morning, shopkeepers cover windows and doors to prepare for the messy onslaught. Official instigators ceremoniously begin to pelt the crowds with tomatoes trucked in from all over Spain. The squishy barrage is over in about an hour.

OnamKerala

September 16, 2013

Onam is Kerala’s harvest festival celebrated in the Malayalam month Chingam, from end of August to beginning of September. It marks the Vamana incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the homecoming of King Mahabali. People put flower mats in front of their houses, to welcome King Mahabali. Celebrated for 10 days, the festivities comprise beautiful flower carpets, ‘Sadya’ or elaborate traditional lunch, snake boat races, ‘Puli Kali’ and Onappottan, Thrik-kaakarayappan, Thumbi thullal, Onavillu, etc.

festival Watch


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WTM ManageMenT TeaM voW To deliver biggesT and besT evenT yeT in 2013

Collectively, Exhibition Director Simon Press, Head of Sales Deborah Dewe and Head of Marketing and Communications Micaela Juarez have almost 40 years’ experience in the travel and tourism industry and 23 years’ experience in the exhibition industry.

Press joined WTM as Head of Sales in 2009 from fellow Reed Travel Exhibitions event Arabian Travel Market, where he was Exhibition Director. Following WTM 2009, he was promoted to the role of Exhibition Director.

Dewe has been working in the travel industry her entire working life, starting as travel agent from 1996 to 2000, before joining travel trade publication TTG UK’s sales team. She left TTG in 2010 as Sales Director to join WTM as Head of Sales in 2010.

Juarez joined WTM in 2000 from Coca Cola and was promoted to Head of Marketing in 2005 before being promoted to Head of Marketing and Communications in 2008. She oversaw

the launch of WTM’s three TV channels – decisionmakers.tv, futuretravelleaders.tv and destinationleaders.tv.

WTM 2013 will see the technology region break out in to its own event – The Travel Tech Show at WTM, while a new luxury event – a Taste of ILTM at WTM – will be launched.

Press said: “One of WTM’s greatest assets is the great mix of experience, knowledge, skills and ability there is in both the senior management and wider team. This has allowed us to continue to deliver an industry-leading event, while also developing a number of highly successful other events throughout the year.”

MeeT The TeaMThe World Travel MarkeT TeaM coMprises of More Than 30 people across sales, MarkeTing and operaTions. oTher key MeMbers of sTaff include;

collectively 40 years’ experience in the travel and tourism industry and 23 years’ in the exhiBition sector

Press & PR Manager Paul Nelson has been working in the travel and tourism industry for a decade. He started as a journalist for Travel Weekly UK in 2003 before moving to

lastminute.com as PR & Internal Communications Manager in 2007. In 2009 he moved to WTM to run the largest recurring press centre in the UK with up to 3,000 media attending each year. In 2012 Nelson helped WTM win the Association of Event Organisers’ Award for Best Use of Social Media.

Europe & Mediterranean and UK & Ireland Regional Account Manager Lucie Winter has been working in the travel and tourism industry for 23 years. She joined

Travel Weekly/ Executive Travel Magazine in 1990, while at the publisher she worked as Sales Manager for Asia Pacific. In 1990, she joined World Travel Market with responsibility for the event’s largest region – Europe, before adding UK & Ireland to her remit in 2009.

Marketing & Buyers’ Club Manager Raj Thakkar has more than 15 years’ experience as a marketing manager in a variety of industries including the education and legal sectors

at leading organisations including LexisNexis, and Centaur Communications.

Thakkar joined WTM in 2011 and has overseen the successful rebranding of WTM Meridian Club to WTM Buyers’ Club.

Americas & Global Village Regional Account Manager Lisa Hopgood has been working in the travel and tourism industry since 1994. She spent five years at Travel Bug in sales

and marketing before joining tour operator Flexi Ski as Senior Tour Consultant. In 2000, she joined UK trade publication Travel Trade Gazette as Key Account Manager. Hopgood joined Reed Travel Exhibition’s Business, Meetings and Incentive portfolio in 2009 before joining WTM last year.

LEFT: WTM Exhibition Director Simon Press with Head of Sales Deborah Dewe (right) and Head of Marketing and Communications Micaela Juarez.

Register now at www.wtmlondon.com

WTM_ADVERTORIAL_TEAM_350X240_VOYAGERS_WORLD.indd 1 08/07/2013 20:03

hospitality


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The Banyan Tree Lăng Cô, Vietnam, stands in

the midst of the azure East Sea and the imperial Truong Son (Annamite) mountain range, exuding a tranquil ro-mance, making it the perfect destination for a getaway with that special someone. Couples can re-ignite their passion with the Romantic Getaway package featuring the signature elements of the Banyan Tree experience.

Designed to offer absolute privacy and exclusivity, Ban-yan Tree Lăng Cô is nestled in a unique crescent bay framed by a three kilometer beach on the Central Coast of Vietnam, an area re-

nowned for its pristine coast-line, tropical jungles, rugged mountain peaks. A culturally rich destination, couples can spend quality time discover-ing Vietnam’s most storied UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the cities of Hue and Hoi An, along with the relics of My Son. The resort is easily accessible within a 60 minute car ride from the Da Nang Interna-tional airport, which is fed by Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh).

By booking the Romantic Getaway package with a minimum stay of three con-secutive nights, one can enjoy the following benefits:-

• Three-night stay in a Lagoon Pool Villa • Daily breakfast at The Water Court• Welcome drink and fruit platter upon arrival• Return transfers from Da Nang International Airport• One-time in-villa BBQ• An Intimate Moment set up in villa• One time 60-minute “Classic Rejuvenation” spa treatment for two• Daily shuttle service to Hoi An • Daily scheduled resort activities• 10% off all treatments at Banyan Tree Spa Lăng Cô (except beauty

treatments)• Complimentary late check-out until 1600 hours

The Banyan Tree Spa Lăng Cô Spa focuses on a holis-tic approach of physical and spiritual well-being, draw-ing on time-honoured Asian spa traditions. Spa thera-pists are trained at one of the accredited Banyan Tree Spa Academies in Phuket, Thailand; Bintan, Indonesia; or Lijiang, China. Incorporat-ing fresh, indigenous ingre-dients unique to Vietnam, the signature treatments at Banyan Tree Lăng Cô Spa feature local ingredients as primary components to each

treatment recipe, offering guests an all-encompassing sensory experience. A fit-ness centre and yoga class-es are also available.

The offer is open for book-ings from now until 17 De-cember 2013 and valid for stays from now until 19 De-cember 2013.

For more information or to make a reservation, please contact Banyan Tree Lăng Cô at [email protected] ; [email protected] or +84 (0) 54 3 695 888, +91-11-4600 0560.

- Advertoroial

fall In lovE agaIn at Banyan tree Lăng Cô

KALEIDOSCOPE 2013

“Are WE there yet?”

September 3rd - 8th, 2013

KKKALEIDOSCOPE

Venue: Sophia College, Mumbai

Sophia College

[email protected]

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The land of many cultures and tra-ditions, Chhattisgarh, is as rich

in scenic beauty as it is in history, making it an excellent destination for those craving a break from city life to enjoy the rustic charms of the place. On 7th March 2013, His Holi-ness Dalai Lama visited the blissful Sirpur and paid his respects to Lord Buddha. The archaeological excava-tions at Sirpur are soulful master-pieces and resonate with the Lord’s gracious presence. Chhattisgarh is a land full of myriad wonders and vi-brant festivals. The Bastar Dusshera celebrated in October is an exuber-ant showcase of ancient culture and the state’s rich tribal traditions. It is marked by pomp and grandeur to revere goddess Sri Danteshwari Mai.

The famous Sirpur Dance and Mu-sic Festival in January is a rare con-fluence of culture and art to create international cultural amity and brotherhood. An upcoming attraction for adventurers is camping at the Mainpat Plateau in tents. Chhattis-garh is a land full of surprises but the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) feels that its rich cultural and natu-ral wonders have been unexplored and unseen by many due to fear of

Naxalite activity.With an aim to draw visitors from the neighbouring states, Chhattisgarh Tourism intends to promote it as a short getaway place.It is located in the heart of India and is a shade greener than the rest of the country. The state is a palpable melange of the old and the new. It is indeed a matter of historical irony that one of India’s newest states sits on the old-est rocks in the Indian subcontinent.The CTB considers safety of tourists a top priority. The Managing Director of the board Santosh K. Misra, IAS cleared the air about the issue say-ing: “Naxal activity is evident only in the bordering areas of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, very far away from the tourist sites being promoted by the state government.”

He added that tourists willing to visit the state need not be scared of these incidents as no tourist’s life has ever been endangered. The des-tinations are also highly protected by guards, and officials conduct regular visits to the areas. Last year there were 53,00,000 inbound tourists to Chhattisgarh and he expressed confidence that the number would increase by 15% this year.

ChhaTTIsgarh ClEars ThE aIr for TourIsT safETy

Incredible India

VW BUREAU


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Incredible India

Orchha’s grandeur has been captured in stone,

frozen in time; a rich legacy to the ages. The palaces and temples built by its Bundela rulers in the 16th and 17th centuries here retain much of their pristine perfection. Raja Bir Singh Ju Deo built the exquisite Jehangir Ma-hal, a tiered palace crowned by graceful ‘chhatries’. The view of soaring temple spires and cenotaphs from here is spectacular.

The interiors represent the finest flowering of the Bun-dela school of painting. In the Laxminarayan temple, vibrant murals encompass-ing an array of religious and secular themes, bring the walls and ceiling to rich life.

What to see: Jehangir Mahal: Its strong lines are counterbalanced by chhatris and trellis work.

Raja Mahal: The plain exte-

riors, crowned by chhatris, give way to interiors with ex-quisite murals, boldly colour-ful on a variety of religious themes.

Rai Praveen Mahal: It is a low, two-storey brick struc-ture, designed to match the height of trees in the sur-rounding gardens of Anand Mahal.

Phool Bagh: Laid out as a formal garden, it has a cen-

tral row of fountains culmi-nating in an eight-pillared palace-pavilion. An ingen-ious system of water venti-lation connected the under-ground palace with Chandan Katora, a bowl-like structure from whose fountains water droplets filtered through to the roof, simulating rainfall.

Sunder Mahal: This small palace, almost in ruins to-day, is still a place of pilgrim-age for Muslims.

How to reach:By Air: Nearest airport is Gwalior (119 km), and Kha-juraho (170 km).By Road: Orchha lies off the Jhansi – Khajuraho road. Regular bus services con-nect Orchha with Jhansi.By Rail: Nearest railhead is at Jhansi (16 km), on the Mumbai- Delhi and Delhi- Chennai main lines. Your Host: Betwa Retreat (MPT) & Sheesh Mahal (MPT).

The temples of Khajuraho stand testimony to the

extraordinary breadth of vision of the Chandela Ra-jputs under whose rule the temples were conceived and constructed. They were built in a short span of 100 years, from 950-1050 AD in a truly inspired burst of creativity. Of the 85 original temples, only 22 have survived the test of time. Each stands on a high masonry platform with a marked upward di-

rection in the structures, enhanced by vertical projec-tion to create an effect of grace and lightness. Each of the chief compartments is mounted by its own roof, grouped so that the highest is in the centre, the lowest over the portico.

What to See: The temples are divided geographically into west-ern, eastern and southern groups.

Western Group The temples here are Kandariya Mahadeo, Cha-unsath Yogini, Chitragupta temple, Vishwanath Temple, Lakshmana Temple and Ma-tangeswara Temple.

Eastern GroupThe temples here include Parsvanath Temple, the group’s largest Jain Temple; Ghantai Temple, Adinath Temple and three Hindu tem-ples here are dedicated to

Brahma, having a four-faced lingam; Vamana, which has carvings of ‘apsaras’ in sen-sous attitudes and Javari, with a richly carved gateway.

Southern GroupThe main temples in the Southern group are Duladeo temple and Chaturbhuj tem-ples. Besides these, there are also a sound and light show and a state museum of tribal folk and arts.

How to Reach:By Air: Regular services from Delhi and Varanasi.By Rail: Khajuraho railhead linked to Delhi, Jhansi, Har-palpur & Mahoba, Satna on the Mumbai- Allahabad line of the Central RailwayBy Road: Regular buses from Satna, Harpalpur, Jhan-si and Mahoba.Best Season: July to March Your Host: Hotel Jhankar (MPT), Hotel Payal (MPT) & Tourist Village (MPT).

Madhya pradEshTIMElEss EngravIngsORCHHA

KHAJURAHO – World Heritage Site


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1 Year, 12 Issues Rs. 800 (Inclusive of Rs. 200 for postage)2 Year, 24 Issues Rs. 1,600 (Inclusive of Rs. 400 for postage)3 Year, 36 Issues Rs. 2,400 (Inclusive of Rs. 600 for postage)

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happenings

Philippines to focus on Indian outbound

The archipelago of Philippines garnered a record increase of over 22% from January - May 2013 over the same period last year. It unleashed ‘It’s more

fun in Philippines’ campaign in Bangalore, with a travel agent and media Roadshow. The Indian roadshow series this year concentrated at the emerg-ing markets of Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.

Having lost out on its national airline withdrawing flights from New Delhi to Manila, the campaign rolled out attractive promotional fares from Cathay Pa-cific and Malaysia Airlines. Philippines offers Visa-on-arrival to Indian tourists already having a Shengan, UK or a US Visa stamped on their passports.

Accolade for Via.com

VIA.COM was conferred with the ‘Best Global Corporate Accommodation & Event Services in India’ award at the 44th Business Networking & Leader-

ship Award Summit by MMG Worldwide at Fariyas Resort, Lonavala on 2nd to 4th August, 2013.

The summit was attended by 145 delegates representing top Corporations of Western Region in India. MMG Worldwide presented Industry Leadership Awards to Heads of Corporate Services, Facilities Management & Administra-tion and Procurement Professionals. The summit’s discussion ranged from designing Healthy work environment, the 3C perspective – Cost, Customer & Communication, to Corporate Real estate Management, in the realm of Facil-ity Management and ways to carry forward in the changing environment. The primary focus revolved around the identification, analysis and transformation of marketplace patterns and methods to convert it into business objectives.

Cathay Pacific Airways hosts Iftar for trade

Cathay Pacific Airways hosted an Iftar dinner at The Park Hyatt for the travel fraternity in Hyderabad in July to observe the breaking of Rama-

dan fast. The fast was broken with dates, juices and variety of Hummus prepared by a chef flown in from Jordan. Dinner was served with a variety of Hyderabadi specialities, like the Haleem served only during Ramadan.

Rakesh Raicar, Regional Sales & Marketing Manager-South Asia, said, “It was a pleasure to host an event for the travel agents with whom we work very closely. We are extremely pleased that most agents could join us in this celebration. This is a small gesture to express our gratitude for the sup-port we have received since the time we have started flight operations from Hyderabad to Hong Kong.”


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Top appointments

TripAdvisorAnne Bologna, Vice President-Brand Strategy

JW Marriott, BangaloreParul Thakur, General Manager

TripAdvisor appointed Anne Bologna as the Vice President, Brand Strategy. With about 25 years in marketing, advertising and branding she was MD at MDC Partners in New York, and had worked with advertising companies like Toy and Fallon. In her new role, Anne will lead TripAdvisor’s brand vision efforts.

Parul Thakur has been appointed as the Gen-eral Manager of JW Marriott Bangalore. She has over 10 years of experience at Hilton, New Delhi and Marriott hotels like Courtyard by Marriott, Ahmedabad and Marriott Interna-tional. In her new role, Parul would be respon-sible for the operations of the property.

IDS Next Business SolutionsBinu Mathews, Chief Executive Officer

Ramada Encore, BangaloreRenu Varghese, General Manager

Binu Mathews has been promoted as the Chief Executive Officer of IDS NEXT Business Solu-tions. He joined IDS NEXT in 2010 and has an experience of over 20 years in many fields and worked in Softbrands and Systems Plus (P) Ltd. In his new role, Binu will oversee the complete running of the company.

Renu Varghese has joined Ramada Encore, Bangalore as the General Manager. With over 20 years of experience, he has worked with many hotels in Bangalore as Clarion White-field, Pride Hotel, Chancery, Le Meridien and Oberoi. In his new role, Renu will be in charge of running the complete operations of the firm.

Fairfield by Marriott, BangaloreGaurav Aggarwal, Director of Sales

Seychelles Tourism BoardSherin Naiken, Chief Executive Officer

Gaurav Aggarwal has been appointed as the Director of Sales at the yet-to-be-launched Fairfield by Marriott, Bangalore. With seven years in hospitality, he has worked with Court-yard by Marriott in Chennai and Gurgaon and Marriott International. In his new role, Gaurav will drive business for the property.

Sherin Naiken has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Seychelles Tourism Board. Prior to this, she was with Department of Tourism in Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Seychelles Investment Board. In her new role, Sherin will head the overall operations of the tourism board.

The Orchid, MumbaiRajesh Kr. Gupta, General Manager

JW Marriott, BangalorePrakash Viswanathan, Director of Sales & Marketing

Rajesh Kr. Gupta has been appointed as the general manager, The Orchid, Mumbai. He has 16 years of experience in hospitality and has worked with Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, IHG, Taj and Lalit Jaipur. In his new role, Rajesh would be responsible for overseeing the operations of the property.

Prakash Viswanathan has joined as the Di-rector of Sales & Marketing for JW Marriott Bangalore. With over nine years of experience, he has worked with Hyatt, Taj, JW Marriott Mumbai and Courtyard by Marriott Chennai. In his new role, Prakash will lead the team for brand promotion and drive quality sales.

Accor IndiaAshish Sud, Director of Finance-Hotel Operations

Accor IndiaPavan Kumar, Director of Sales, Corporate

Ashish Sud has been appointed as the Direc-tor of Finance, Hotel Operations at Accor India. He has been with the brand for the last four years and has over 17 years of experience in fi-nance in hospitality and manufacturing. In the new role, Ashish will lend his expertise in the financial initiatives for hotel operations.

Pavan Kumar has joined as the Director of Sales, Corporate at Accor India. He has been a part of Accor India for seven years, and worked with Novotel Hyderabad & HICC and the Lavasa International Convention Centre. In his new position, Pavan will be responsible for driving the sales of the property.


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nETWorkIng Is ThE kEynETWorkIng Is ThE kEy

22, 23Business Travel & MICE ExpoChennai

22, 23India Association CongressChennai

August2013

06, 07, 08India International Travel MartMumbai, India

13, 14, 15India International Travel MartGurguon (Delhi (NCR), India

24, 25, 26, 27International French Travel Market, Paris

September2013

03Luxury Travel MartMoscow, Russia

04, 05, 06Holiday ExpoNagpur, India

05, 06, 07, 08World RoutesLas Vegas, USA

15, 16, 17IMEX AMERICA 2013, Las Vegas, USA

October2013

02, 03, 04, 05International Luxury Travel MarketCannes, France

05, 06, 07Cii Tourism FestChandigarh,India

05, 06, 07, 08Travel Turkey Izmer Tourism Fair & Conference, Izmer, Turkey

06, 07, 08Chengdu International Travel FairChengdu, China

11, 12Brussels Travel ExpoBrussels,Belgium

December2013

04, 05, 06, 07World Travel Market,London, UK

06, 07Business Travel Market 2013London, UK

05, 06, 07eibtmBarcelona, Spain

22, 23, 24India International Travel MartPune

29, 30 Nov & 01 DecIndia International Travel MartHyderabad

November2013

Events Calendar

16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23ASEAN Tourism ForumMalaysia

22, 23, 24, 25, 26FiturSpain

22, 23ConventaSlovenia

29, 30, 31SATTENew Delhi

January2014

23 - 24 AUGUST 2013

&


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nETWorkIng Is ThE kEy

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Voyager's World - August 2013

Documents

indian economy

indian travellers

india association congress

various stakeholders

various ntos

depreciation of rupee

rupee depreciation

industry stakeholders