INDIA 06 AsIA 10 mIDDle eAst 14 europe 19oceANIA 18 AmerIcAs 22 AfrIcA 25 eveNts 26 respoNsIble tourIsm 31cArIbbeAN 24

TTF and OTM consolidates and expandsTAT and AirAsia launch Discover Thainess aircraft and promotions

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Tourism grows in Oman due to better flight connections

Air New Zealand's Calling All Travellers campaign

Monaco to host 1st Formula E Grand Prix

Starwood Hotels & Resorts adds four new hotels in Mexico

Tourist arrival in St. Lucia goes up by 14%

Seychelles Tourism Board organises FAM trip for Indian agents

Seven Emirates, One Destination NCTA conducts roadshows in India

TTF and OTM, India’s oldest and largest travel trade show network celebrated 25 years consolidating its existing locations and adding new ones.

In 2014-2015, it reinforced and strengthened its lead as the No 1 travel trade show in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Surat, Hyderabad, and Pune.

TTF New Delhi got excellent response and rave reviews at the brand new venue, Thayagaraj Sports Complex. Exhibitors and visitors expressed high levels of satisfaction with the excellent facilities, overall ambience and ease of accessibility.

TTF Guwahati, the new location added during the year, saw excellent participation from Indian states, and private sector operators from across India, and local travel trade from NE region.

Taking further the objective of developing and growing new markets, TTF Goa has been launched in October 2015, with

strong support from the Host State, Goa.TTF and OTM 2014-2015 series also saw value additions like

pre-registration for trade visitors, more travel trade engagement, focus on B2B, etc.

The specially branded section, Outbound Village @ TTF, helped expand the outbound presence at various TTF locations, which saw official participation from countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE and private sector presence from many more countries.

With the addition of Goa, the TTF and OTM series now covers 11 top tourism markets in India, annually. With consistent support from Ministry of Tourism, state tourism boards, national tourist offices and hundreds of private exhibitors, TTF and OTM continues to be the undisputed leader in the tourism market of India.

OTM, India’s leading travel trade show, was present in full force at ITB Berlin, having for the first time its own individual booth in the India segment in Hall 5.2.

The participation was a result of an official reciprocal tie-up between OTM and ITB Berlin, as part of which ITB had a booth at OTM Mumbai in February.

With strong presence and existing awareness in the market, OTM 2016 received good early response from the exhibitors at ITB Berlin, especially from the Middle-East, Mediterranean, SE Asia, Far East and Asia Pacific. A number of partnerships with travel trade bodies and travel media organisations were also concluded.

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Goa, the latest addition in the TTF and OTM series is India’s richest state in India, with a per capita income that is two and a half times that of the national average.

Goa is a top travel market for inbound, and has an equally strong potential for outbound and domestic tourism, that the TTF Goa is committed to help you connect to.

TTF Goa will be organised at the plush Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Panjim. Goa Tourism is supporting the event in a big way as Host State. Besides this, Goa Tourism has already confirmed their participation at TTF 2015-2016 series at all locations.

Western India is undisputedly the most lucrative

tourism market in the country, both for domestic and outbound tourism. The addition of TTF Goa further strengthens the TTF and OTM portfolio in this region, which already covered Mumbai (two events), Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune.

Goa to be the 11th city in TTF network

OTM Mumbai showcased at ITB Berlin, gets good early response for 2016

Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium PanjimGoa

OTM booth at ITB Berlin

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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 2 • COVER STORY

OTM is one of the biggest travel exhibitions in the country, where delegations from

countries around the globe came to promote tourism. Tourism is also a major source of revenue and gives empowerment, and TTF and OTM provides the platform for the development of tourism.

Devendra FadnavisChief Minister

Government of Maharashtra

TTF and OTM are major events in the area of tourism development in our country. We

have a wonderful experience about the way the states participate here. I am happy that our presence is very effective here.

Harish rawatChief Minister

Government of Uttarakhand

TTF and OTM hailed as the Best in the Business

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis walks the show

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis taking a virtual tour

Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat at OTM

Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat interacting with the participants

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 4 • cover story

TTF is a sound platform to offer myriad destinations to intending tourists from Assam (or any state) for

visiting the other parts of the world.Dhruba Hazarika

SecretaryDepartment of Tourism, Government of Assam

I thank TTF for inviting us so that we can conduct our promotional activities. We are very happy

to be here.Basanta rajkumar

Executive DirectorPunjab Heritage & Tourism Promotion Board

Since long time we have been associated with TTF which is indeed a very good platform for showcasing

tourism potential of Odisha.M r Patnaik

Director-cum-Additional Secretary, Department of Tourism Government of Odisha, Managing Director, OTDC

I have seen TTF for the last 20 years and it is one of the must visit events for the travel trade in India. TTF has

been able to retain its position as number one exhibition company in travel and tourism industry. Quality is very important and TTF has been able to attract right kind of exhibitors, be it foreign or Indian. This exhibition is not only for one sector of tourism industry, it promotes outbound as

well as domestic and inbound. I think TTF will go to a different height from time to time.

arun srivastavaRegional Director (Northern India)

Ministry of Tourism, Government of IndiaTTF should be widely spread across the country, as the opportunities are endless. We want to support this

event in a greater way as this will enable a larger growth of the Indian travel industry. At the fair, I got to meet many people associated with the tourism sector and got a good chance to interact with them.

Har sahay Meena, IasCommissioner of Tourism & Managing Director, TTDC

Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation Ltd

TTF is a very good show for Thailand to participate. Normally, we participate in other TTFs and OTM, but

this is our first year in TTF New Delhi. We are very happy to be in TTF New Delhi promoting Discover Thainess 2015 Year. We are getting more exposure and very good networking facility with buyers and media attending TTF New Delhi.

runjuan TongrutDirector

Tourism Authority of Thailand (New Delhi)

This is the first time we are taking part as an association in TTF (New Delhi). We got very good response from

our own authorised agents as well as from other travel agents from all over India and abroad.

rinchen NamgyalPresident

All Ladakh Tour Operators Association

TTF is an effective platform as it allows us to meet both travel trade and potential customers. The event is very

well organised and we appreciate the effort.

lubaina sheeraziIndia Representative

Oman Tourism

It is my pleasure to be here in TTF (New Delhi). One of my priorities here is to promote Serbia as a travel

destination to outbound Indian tourists. I understand that OTM Mumbai is even a bigger show, so I am hoping next year we will be participating in OTM Mumbai and in TTF New Delhi as well.

Vladimir MaricAmbassador

Embassy of the Republic of Serbia

TTF is very important for airlines. I never miss it. I will attend TTF as much as possible. Through TTF more

and more people take our flights when visiting China. liu Zhen Hua

Deputy General ManagerChina Southern Airlines

TTF is a very good platform for tourism, airlines etc. I have been to TTF Kolkata several times and I will

attend next year as well.Owen Zhou ZengrongGeneral Manager – India

China Eastern Airlines

TTF (New Delhi) is impeccable; the venue in fact is very worthy competition to Pragati Maidan. The main

benefit that most of the agents received is being able to forge partnerships making this platform one of integrity and professionalism.

Punam singhIndia & Southeast Asia Representative

Golden Tours, UK

TTF is very important from IRCTC’s point of view. We are getting very good response and lot of visitors from

local markets. TTF is the right platform for both buyers and sellers.

Krishna Kumar singhDeputy General Manager (Tourism)

IRCTC

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 6INDIA

Ministry of Tourism to set up National Tourism University at Noida

india plans to drive Ganges tourism through SMArT goals

Government of India has developed an action plan for the promotion of tourism at Varanasi, on the river Gan-ges. Dr Mahesh Sharma, Min-ister of State with Indepen-dent Charge for Tourism and Culture and for Civil Avia-tion, said that the government will create a coordination com-mittee for the promotion of

tourism and culture in Vara-nasi. The pledge came after a seminar on pilgrimage and spiritual tourism, which was held in Varanasi recently, enti-tled ‘Opportunity abounds along the Ganges’.

Dr Sharma said that the committee would include the secretaries of the ministries of tourism, culture and civil

aviation, plus local represen-tatives and experts in the rel-evant fields. The committee will submit an action plan by April 15, 2015, which is then expected to be implemented within three months.

The Minister added that aspects of visitor safety and hygiene would be included in the action plan. He has pro-posed that the country should go in for SMART goals, rather than plan big projects which may not be implemented in a designated time frame. The Minister elaborated what he meant by SMART goals - Small, Manageable, Accessi-ble, Realistic and Tangible.

While addressing local hoteliers and tour operators at the seminar, Dr Sharma urged them to utilise the opportunity of spiritual and religious tour-ism along the Ganges. He also urged the hoteliers to take care of the city’s ghats – the stone steps that lead into the river.

Goa Tourism to host Shigmo Festival during PhalgunaShigmo parade is a street festi-val where vibrant colours and irresistible celebrations lift the spirits of the entire state. In true meaning, it depicts the life of a Goan in elaborate tra-ditional folk dances like Ghode Modni and Fugdi which are performed on streets in mas-sive troupes along the proces-sion, showcasing the tradition of Goa.

The state government has supported public Shigmo parades consisting of tradi-tional folk and street dancers and elaborately built floats depicting scenes from regional mythology and religion. It is linked to the Hindu lunar cal-endar; hence its date accord-ing to the Gregorian calendar varies. It is also celebrated by Konkani diaspora and Indian

festival of Holi is part of it. Dhakto Shigmo begins

some five days before the full-moon day of the Indian lunar month of Phalguna and ends on the full-moon day in the Old Conquests areas of Goa.

Traditionally, it was cele-brated as spring’s biggest festi-val which honoured the home-coming of the warriors who had left their homes and fam-ilies at the end of Dusshera to fight the invaders. Traditional folk dances and performing of mythological scenes are the major highlight of this parade.

Recently, the Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha held a meeting with the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Tourism and Cul-ture and for Civil Aviation, Dr Mahesh Sharma in New

Delhi. Both sides discussed issues related to promotion of culture and tourism in the country.

Mridula Sinha said that the slogan of Athithi Devo Bhava should be reflected in every walk of life and all steps should be taken to make the tourist comfortable. She also proposed that a global Uni-versity of Tourism should be set up which will function as a world class institution to give education about tourism industry as well as allied ser-vices industry sector.

Dr Mahesh Sharma appre-ciated the efforts of the Goa Government to promote tour-ism in the State. He assured all assistance to the Government of Goa to promote tourism in the state.

The Union Ministry of Tour-ism has sanctioned an amount of `50 crore for the Nabakalebar Rath Yatra Fes-tival in Odisha. This was announced at a high level meeting of officials in Bhu-baneswar. The Minister of State with Independent Charge for Tourism and Cul-ture and for Civil Aviation, Dr Mahesh Sharma said the funds have been sanctioned under the newly launched scheme PRASAD of the Ministry of Tourism. The Union Petro-leum Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan; Tourism and Cul-ture Minister of Government of Odisha Ashok Chandra Panda and Chief Secretary of Odisha were among those present at the meeting.

Dr Mahesh Sharma said that Odisha is the soul of India and government is mak-ing all efforts to promote the rich cultural heritage of the

state as well as the country. The Minister also disclosed that a museum is being set up by the Ministry of Cul-ture at Lalitgiri. The state will be benefitted by the two circuits i.e. Buddhist Circuit and Coastal Circuit under the new scheme of Swadesh Darshan, he added. Puri will also be developed under the HRIDAY scheme of Minis-try of Urban Development, the Minister explained. Dr Sharma said that Odisha will be projected on the inter-national map through its campaigns.

Ministry of Tourism sanctions `50 crore for Nabakalebar Rath Yatra Festival

The Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Government of India is processing the proposal for setting up a National Tourism University in Noida, NCR. Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minis-ter of State with Independent Charge for Tourism and Cul-ture and Minister of State for Civil Aviation informed that the proposal will be ready soon and a proposal to set up a Museum of Culture in Noida is also in the pipeline. The Minis-ter also announced that classes under the National Tourism University will start in Sector 62 within three months.

“We have already received clearances from the educa-tion department. The entire

process will take around three months,” said Dr Sharma while addressing the second convocation of Indian Insti-tute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM) in Noida.

The synergy between tour-ism, culture, and civil avi-ation can make India a hub of international tourism, Dr Sharma opined. He hopes that the graduates of IITTM help to actualise India’s hospitality mantra of Athithi Devo Bhava.

“The university will pro-vide training and educational programmes in tourism, pro-mote research and created repository of literature in

tourism studies,” he informed.Sharma said the country

has huge potential to be devel-oped as a global tourist desti-nation. “Tourism brings in a huge chunk of foreign cur-rency but we are able to attract only one percent of the inter-national tourists every year,” he stated. “Noida can be devel-oped into a tourist destination. It has several attractive tourist destinations like the Botanical Garden, Formula One Track and the Night Safari. The Akshardham Temple is also close to the city. The setting up of a tourism university will immensely help the growth of tourism in the area,” Sharma added.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 7 INDIA •

Hilton Worldwide has announced that its pioneering digital check-in and room selec-tion technology is now avail-able in more than 4,300 hotels spanning 12 brands worldwide, including 14 hotels operating in India. Through their Hilton HHonors accounts, guests will be able to check-in and choose their exact room from digital

floor plans or lists, on their desktop, tablet and mobile devices.

Geraldine Calpin, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Digital, Hilton World-wide said, “Digital check-in and room selection rewards our HHonors members for their loyalty and puts our guests in the driving seat by giving them

unprecedented choice and control across their entire stay. Never before have guests been able to check-in, select their rooms from a digital floor plan, and customise their rooms to be ready for arrival. We are truly revolutionising the industry, and this is just the tip of the iceberg for digital at Hilton Worldwide.”

Daniel Welk, Vice Presi-dent, Operations India, Hilton Worldwide said, “As a busi-ness, we have always prided ourselves on leading the indus-try. We were the first to put televisions in hotel rooms and now we are the first to let you choose your room, right down to the exact room number. With a 95-year history of delivering industry-transforming offer-ings, Hilton Worldwide will continue to enrich the guest experience on a major scale across our brands and regions.”

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Lim-ited (BSNL) has accelerated the process of installing Wi-Fi at tourist spots, as the sum-mer vacations are just round the corner.

Taj Mahal and Khajuraho are set to get the free internet service possibly with addi-tional services. The tourism ministry and BSNL are to collaborate on the project, the proposal for which is being discussed by the two parties, said a source in BSNL.

“We had demonstrated the

benefits and success of Wi-Fi even in the most crowded places around Varanasi. Installing Wi-Fi services at the two spots will bene-fit tourists visiting this sum-mer,” said Anupam Shrivas-tava, CMD, BSNL.

The tourism ministry plans to use this facility to provide information, and even interactive content, about the location. The gov-ernment is keen on tackling low internet penetration in the country by introducing

public Wi-Fi hotspots to enable users to surf the web, check email and bank online. About 25 such hotspots would be set up around tourist loca-tions, by June 2015.

To that effect, the govern-ment has prepared a Request For Proposal (RFP) to invite telecom service providers also to participate in the proj-ect, for which operators won’t have to pay any entry fee. The government will also provide infrastructure, and help with security clearances.

Hilton launches self digital check-in & room selection in India

Cox & Kings Ltd has launched a chain of exciting holiday options for discerning travellers belonging to different age groups. Flexihol Hol-idays include Romantic Getaways, customised holidays to Europe, Far East, Australia & New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East and America. Customised holidays to exotic islands, rail Europe holidays and instant hol-idays for short-durations are also available.

The customised holiday’s options are rail holidays which are basically scenic tours by train, and travel to beautiful locations in Europe, China, Japan, Canada, etc. Then is the self drive holiday which gives you a chance to relax and explore the coun-tryside and the nature, driving at your own pace in countries like New Zea-land, South Africa, Australia, Europe, U.S., etc. Next is the cruise vacation where exotic places like Mediter-ranean, Alaska, Bahamas, etc. in

the unparalleled comfort of a 5-star cruise liner can be discovered. Next is the guaranteed coach tour which give multi-lingual travellers on pre-planned escorted tours to Europe, U.S., Scandinavia, Canada, Turkey, etc. Next is the safari holiday where the thrills of nature & wild-life with a close encounter on an African Safari can be enjoyed.

Apartment stay is also available where people can enjoy the comfort of luxury apartments. Private journey is also available to explore, dine, shop at your own pace in Europe, U.S., South Africa, China, etc., driven by a profes-sional chauffeur. Adventure tour is like trekking, cycling, sailing, expedi-tion off the beaten track. City breaks which set off on a quick short city break in cities like Amsterdam, Brus-sels, Singapore, Bangkok, etc. Island hideaways unwind people without the restrictions of time and space in Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles.

Cox & Kings introduces new summer holiday packages

Taj Mahal and Khajuraho to be made free Wi-Fi zones

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 8 • india

Google includes 31 Indian heritage sites in Google MapsIndia’s tourism sector is likely to get a boost after the virtual tours provided by Google on Google Maps witnessed an increase with the search giant adding 31 Indian heritage sites on Google Maps and Google Cultural Insti-tute. In return, it will provide a lot of revenues and simultane-ously generate employment within the country.

The new 360-degree view will now be available at heritage sites like the Gateway of India, Mysore Palace, Nalanda Univer-sity, Sun Temple, the Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, and the Thanjavur Temple amongst others.

The inclusion of these 31 her-itage monuments will take the total count of Archaeological Survey of India sites to 127. The

ASI, Delhi Tourism and Trans-port Development Corporation, Maharashtra Tourism and Kar-nataka State Archaeological Department aided Google in the expansion.

Rajan Anandan, Vice Pres-ident and Managing Director, Google India and South East Asia stated, “Since last year, we have been working with the

Archaeological Survey of India and other partners to bring more of India’s heritage online for the world to see. We hope the latest panoramic imagery will help people learn about India’s rich history through exploring some of our country’s archae-ological and architectural trea-sures on Google Maps and the Google Cultural Institute.”

Indian railways signs Mou with lIC to connect all 8 NE state capitals by 2020Life Insurance Corporation is committed to invest `1.5 lakh crore in Indian Railways over the next five years. In this his-toric landmark achievement, a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Rail-ways and Life Insurance Cor-poration (LIC) in the pres-ence of the Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley and the Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu. The signatories of MoU were Rajalakshmi Ravikumar, Financial Commis-sioner, Ministry of Railways and S K Roy, Chairman, LIC.

Speaking on the occasion, the Railway Minister said that this is the first such step in its endeavour to make Indian Rail-ways prosperous in the future. He said that with such encour-aging initiatives, the Ministry of Railways will be able to aug-ment its resources for speedier execution of projects.

The Northeast Frontier

Railway (NFR), which is build-ing rail infrastructure in the region, has targeted to con-nect all its eight state capitals by 2020. “We would connect all the state capitals of the eight north-eastern states by railway link within 2020,” stated NFR General Manager (construc-tion) Rakesh Kumar Singh.

“Mizoram capital Aizawl and Manipur capital Imphal would be connected by rail-way network by 2018 and 2019 respectively. The capitals of the remaining states would be

linked by 2020 and the works are on to achieve the target,” he added.

Singh said a train will reach Tupul near Imphal in Mani-pur by March 31, 2017. He added that, in the next phase, the train will reach Imphal from Tupul by March 31, 2019. The second phase has been sanctioned by the railway authorities, he added. Singh added that there will be an 11 kms tunnel on the Tupul-Imphal route, which will be another wonder in the railway’s history.

The Signature Bridge at Wazirabad, conceived as a tourist destination, will soon add to the Delhi sky-line. Jitender Singh Tomar, Delhi Tourism Minister and Ramesh Tiwari, MD & CEO Delhi Tourism along with other senior officials vis-ited the Signature Bridge at Wazirabad to review the pace of undergoing construc-tion. Expressing satisfac-tion on the progress, Tomar said, “The Bridge has a con-ceivable potential to develop recreational facilities for encouraging tourists to visit the site.”

“The construction work of Signature Bridge will be com-pleted by March, 2016. We are developing new facilities at the bridge like installation

of LED lights and some res-taurants so that people can be attracted,” Tomar added.

The Delhi Tourism and Transportation Develop-ment Corporation (DTTDC) is constructing the bridge, which is 675 metres long. “We will develop water and sports facilities under the bridge. The bridge will prove one of the best Signature Bridges in the world,” the minister said.

Tomar said that 700 to 800 acres of wasteland along the bridge would be developed into a tourist destination.

“The Signature Bridge will be an example of aes-thetic elegance and would be made into a favourable tour-ist destination in Delhi,” said Ramesh Tiwari, MD & CEO, Delhi Tourism.

To boost infrastructure for the Char Dham Yatra and strengthen reconstruction efforts underway at Kedarnath, `286 crore under special recon-struction assistance has been released by the NITI Aayog.

Funds for the reconstruc-tion activities include `65 crore for multi-level park-ing and tourist reception centre, `29.95 crore for con-struction of three-tier pro-tection behind Kedarnath for safety of pilgrims, `8.22 crore for reconstruction of dam-aged NH-Sonprayag–Gauri-kund and parking lot, `70 crore for reconstruction of Kedarpuri godown, `4.6 crore for construction of three bailey bridges at Kedarnath between Kedarnath and Bhairon tem-ple, `5 crore for rain shelter

and tourist kiosks along the yatra route and `10 crore for construction of 180 bio-toilet units on the yatra route, `4.5 crore for base station, DSPT phones optical fibre cable, Wi-Fi night vision high resolu-tion camera, ̀ 10 crore for con-struction of ghat at confluence of Mandakini and Saraswati rivers, `65 crore for a multi-level parking at Sonprayag and `1.50 crore for setting up of medical relief posts along the yatra route.

The NITI Aayog has found the proposal for setting up of an android-based rescue application for tourists and GIS mapping of public infra-structure in Kedar valley non-viable and has rejected the proposal for sanction of `50 lakh.

Delhi’s Signature Bridgeto be finished by 2016: Jitender Singh Tomar

`286 crore donation to boost Char Dham infrastructure

31st iATO Annual Convention to be held from Aug 20-23, 2015Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) announced that the 31st Annual Conven-tion of IATO will be held from August 20 to 23 this year with the venue being finalised shortly.

Sarabjit Singh, Senior Vice President, IATO, announced that over 95 exhibitors and 140 foreign buyers have con-firmed their participation for the Global Exhibition on Services (GES) to be held at Pragati Maidan from April 23 to 25. He informed that a few more participants are expected to register soon.

Subhash Goyal, Pres-ident, IATO, said that for

quite some time now, there has been a very keen desire to induct fresh blood into the association, as some of the Chapter Chairmen have been holding the post of Regional

Chapter Chairmen for a very long time. “With the keenness expressed by some members to volunteer, the IATO Execu-tive Committee has made new appointments. People who have volunteered have been preferred. We hope that this will indeed make the IATO Regional Chapters more active,” he added.

IATO will also conduct training programmes focus-ing on skills related to the frontline and the operations staff. The topics for the same are being finalised and will be announced in 10 days, informed Rajeev Kohli, Vice President, IATO.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 9 INDIA •

Raising its profile as an all-weather tourism hotspot, Kerala rolled out a high-voltage ‘Visit Kerala 2015’ campaign with an array of innovative programmes, ranging from Ayurveda to adventure trips, from destina-tion weddings to heritage tour-ism, from food festivals to quiz competitions.

Unfolding the initiatives in the national capital, Kerala Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar said the major focus of the campaign is to strengthen the promotion of tourism products that are unique to the state, such as Ayurveda, Responsible Tourism and Spice Route – Muziris heritage.

“Plans are underway to host a tourism industrial meet to pro-mote Responsible Tourism and encourage the participation of local communities in the tour-ism sector,” he said, adding, “The meet will provide guidance to people on setting up home stays and villas with investments on a small scale.”

As part of the campaign to showcase the state’s allur-ing destinations and products that justify its moniker as God’s Own Country’, Kerala Tourism will foray into new markets in China and Sri Lanka through trade fairs, roadshows and

familiarisation tours. In addi-tion, it will launch aggressive campaigns in traditional mar-kets like UK, France and Ger-many to woo potential travel-lers by holding trade fairs and roadshows. Consumer fairs and familiarisation trips will be intro-duced in upcoming markets like the U.S.

“For Kerala, domestic tourism is equally important in our strat-egy. We are planning a major off-season promotional blitz in the country to counter seasonal-ity in arrivals and make Kerala an all-weather destination,” he pointed out.

‘Visit Kerala 2015’ will also promote Kerala Tourism prod-ucts like cultural festivals, wed-dings, Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE). It will also showcase the Spice Route and Muziris heritage through an international cam-paign to promote heritage tour-ism in the state.

Kerala Tourism Secretary G Kamala Vardhana Rao said a

comprehensive calendar of fes-tivals and events would be pre-pared and promoted through multiple channels, including India tourism offices and Indian embassies abroad. Kerala will be promoted as a major ‘Wedding and MICE destination’ through online campaigns. In addition, adventure and cycling holi-days will be promoted to attract youths and students.

To create a destination pull, food festivals will be held in cit-ies like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad to market Kerala’s authentic cui-sine, one of the tourist attractions in the state.

Highlighting the importance of Responsible Tourism, Ker-ala Tourism Director P I Sheik Pareeth said a ‘God’s Own Country, People’s Own Tourism’ campaign would be conducted across the state to sensitise local communities to tourism and its opportunities.

As part of the destination development initiative, Kerala will embark on industry-driven cleanliness campaign in major destinations in the state. A hop-on hop-off bus will also be intro-duced in Thiruvananthapuram to enable the tourists go around the city with a single ticket.

Adlabs Imagica and Aquamagica have reached a milestone record of 1.06 mil-lion visitor arrivals in the Fis-cal Year 2014-15. The Theme Park and Water Park wel-comed visitors from not only regions in close proximity, like Maharashtra and Gujarat, but also other parts of the country like Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Punjab, among others.

Kapil Bagla, CEO, Adlabs Entertainment Ltd said, “We are extremely happy on cross-ing the one-million visitor mark at our parks, Imagica and Aquamagica in the last financial year. We have already

kick-started the new financial year with the first few days of April hitting new peaks in terms of the number of visi-tors with the Imagica second birthday celebrations. We are targeting a 400% growth over last April and are confident of achieving the same after wit-nessing an over 300% year-on-year growth in March 2015.”

This summer, Adlabs Entertainment is all set to invite holiday-goers noting the growing popularity of the parks across the country. The 287-key Novotel Imagica Khopoli hotel will soon open at the destination, coupled with various other facilities.

Kerala Tourism launches aggressive campaign to woo domestic and foreign travellers

Adlabs imagica and Aquamagica welcome over one million visitors

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TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 10ASIA

Maldives expects more growth in tourist arrivals from India

Maldives Tourism is expect-ing significant increase in tourist arrivals from India. Also, the marketing budget for India has increased, which is in keeping with the trend over the past few years.

According to Hussain Lirar, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Republic of Mal-dives, in 2014, 45,000 Indian tourists were welcomed to the island, representing a double-digit growth since 2010. He mentioned it at the recent roadshows in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru

and Kolkata organised by the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).

According to Hussain Lirar, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Republic of Mal-dives, “India is an impor-tant source market for the Maldives. However, we are not receiving enough tour-ists from this market, though there is huge potential for growth. Last year, Maldives received 45,587 Indian tour-ists, which is a 19.9% growth over the previous year. The

objective of the roadshow was to interact with the Indian travel trade, and study the Indian market and under-stand its requirements.” He also added that India is the seventh top source market for Maldives, after China, Russia, the UK, Germany, Italy, and France.

Lirar preferred at adver-tising in multiplexes and other media in India to gener-ate tourist interest. Maldives received 1.2 million interna-tional tourists last year and aims at 1.4 million in 2015.

Thailand’s government lifts martial law

Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, was a visionary personality who managed to turn the old Brit-ish trading port into a major international centre for trade, finance, services as well as a major transportation hub for Southeast Asia, particularly towards Malaysia, Indonesia and, in the 80s, to Australia and China PRC.

Singapore today is a lead-ing international meeting and exhibition destination. Singapore is ASEAN third busiest destination with some 15.5 million travellers a year, while Changi Inter-national Airport is the third busiest airport in Southeast Asia, with 54.1 million pas-sengers last year - an abso-lute record in its history.

Even before the indepen-dence of the country, Lee saw tourism as a major industry and economic driving force for the city.

Singapore Tourist Pro-motion Board (STPB) was established on January 1, 1964. The board coordinated activities of tourist enter-prises, set up rules and stan-dards for the industry and

launched international mar-keting campaigns. In the 1990s, Singapore further refined its strategy position-ing the city as a cultural hub for Southeast Asia and look-ing at developing further attractions.

Singapore reached for the first time the milestone of five million international tourists (precisely 5.32 million). Since 2010, Singapore tagline is ‘YourSingapore’. More than ever, this slogan fits with Lee Kuan Yew strong vision for its city and its tourism.

Lee Kuan Yew transformed Singapore into one of the most attractive destinations in Southeast Asia

A new air route will be launched this year offering connections between India and China’s Shandong prov-ince. The launch would mark a significant move for Shandong Airlines, which has previously focused on domestic routes and short-haul international services to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. It also operates services to Cambodia.

Shandong Airlines will commence a new service from

Jinan, the capital of Shandong province and a city of approx-imately five million people, to New Delhi. Flights will oper-ate twice a week with a stop in Kunming, the capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province.

Shandong Airlines is expected to operate the route using its 167-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with a flight time of approximately eight hours, including the stop in Kunming.

TAT and AirAsia launch Discover Thainess aircraft and promotionsThe Tourism Authority of Thai-land (TAT) has entered into a co-branding partnership with one of the world’s largest low-cost carriers, Air Asia in which the airline brand will see one of its aircraft with the logo of 2015 Discover Thainess campaign, as well as introduce a series of promotional airfares through-out the year.

Thawatchai Arunyik, Gov-ernor of TAT said, “The 2015 Discover Thainess campaign has kicked off to a good start, further affirming the interests of local and international visi-tors who come to the kingdom to immerse themselves in the Thai way of life, Thai culture, and hands-on Thai experiences. The co-branding with Air Asia will give a significant boost to Thailand’s tourism while the promotional airfares will help

stimulate more travels among international travellers, espe-cially from China and the neigh-bouring countries.”

Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai Air Asia said, “We are proud to be a part in helping to promote the 2015 Discover Thainess campaign. We will continue to increase our flight

frequencies, especially on pop-ular domestic routes. In addi-tion, we will also keep adding new domestic routes to cater to the demand and allow every-one to be able to travel by air, to cut short the travelling time so that they will have more time to enjoy discovering Thainess in Thailand.”

New air link connects India with provincial China

Thailand’s Prime Minis-ter, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, announced the lifting of mar-tial law, 10 months after its dec-laration in May 2014, following Gen Prayuth’s audience with His Majesty the King, who gave consent to the move on the grounds that it was no lon-ger necessary.

Prime Minister Prayuth said it will be replaced by a new security order under Arti-cle 44 of the Provisional Char-ter. Article 44 allows the Prime Minister broader powers to issue executive orders to deal with threats to national secu-rity or the monarchy.

The government has prom-ised to restore democracy fol-lowing reforms, until then, for-mer army chief Prayuth has responded to critics of Arti-cle 44 by promising to exer-cise his new sweeping powers

responsibly, insisting that they will only be used to urgently solve national problems with-out violating human rights.

Thailand is at the forefront of the business events indus-try, with our ‘Thailand CON-NECT the World’ campaign, we offer a diversity of desti-nations enriched by efficient infrastructure and trans-port links, and five desig-nated MICE cities that offer a brilliant blend of world-class facilities, unrivalled busi-ness opportunities, and high quality MICE professionals & standards.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 12 • asIa

As the official partner coun-try of ITB Berlin 2015 Mongo-lia promoted itself as a country that is dynamic and cares about nature. In 2014, Mongolia regis-tered 400,000 visitors, includ-ing 9,500 from Germany. Visitors have been able to enter Mongolia without visas since 2013 and cur-rently efforts are under way to improve the infrastructure and tourism products. “Our goal for 2020 is one million tourists,” said Banzragch Margad of the Tour-ism Ministry, “and for tourism to contribute 14% to GDP. Cur-rently, the figure is 5.3%.”

Tsolmon Bolor, the Mongo-lian Ambassador, reiterated the words of Mongolia’s President, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, “The Mongols are back – but we come in peace,” and expressly invited tourists to visit the country that boasts the slogan “Nomadic by Nature.” Additional airline routes are being introduced in

order to make it easier to reach Mongolia. A new international airport close to the capital Ulaan-baatar, with an annual capacity of 3.5 million passengers, is due to open in 2017 and will be operat-ing 24 hours a day. Erdene Bat-Uulga, the Mayor of Ulanbaatar, said that in order to welcome visitors attractive festivals and events are being planned for 2015. “We are the gateway to Mongolia

and I cordially invite everyone to knock on my door. You are most welcome,” said Bat-Uul.

However, despite these ambi-tious plans Mongolians remain firmly focused on nature. Myag-marjav Navchaa, who works for the Mongolian tour oper-ator Tsolmon Travel, stressed that “almost half of the country’s inhabitants are nomads – and must live their lives in nature.”

Mongolia anticipates one million visitors in 2020

Japan is focusing on position-ing itself as a leisure and fam-ily destination in the India market by promoting its lesser known regions like Hokkaido in northern Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to name a few.

Hideki Manabe, Executive Director, Japan National Tour-ism Organisation said, “So far travellers to Japan have been on business cum leisure, but now the focus is to attract the leisure and family segment from India. Most people are usually first time visitors to Japan and they visit the Golden Route which is from Tokyo to Osaka cover-ing Kyoto (the old capital). How-ever, now we want to promote other regions like Hokkaido in northern Japan, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki, since many Indi-ans are interested in the history behind these regions.”

Hideki Manabe also

mentioned, “We have been working in a systematic manner to create awareness pan India. We are investing in B2C adver-tising like out-of-home hoard-ings, hosting FAM trips for the media and travel trade, partici-pating in travel trade shows in the country, etc. We have been working in small markets like Chandigarh by participating in CII, IT&CMA, etc. We are also publishing an Indian food guide book and we want to show a short commercial on Japan at multiplexes prior to the start of a movie. Our purpose has been to create more awareness and increase numbers.”

Philippines: Visa-Free entry for Indian Visitors with AJACSSUK VisaAs per Foreign Service Circular No. 36-12, Indian nationals may be granted a Visa-Free entry for an initial stay not exceeding 14 days, provided that they pos-sess the following:

• Either a valid U.S., Jap-anese, Australian, Canadian, Schengen, Singapore or UK visa or permanent resident permit

• Anationalpassportvalidat least six months, beyond the contemplated stay

• Return or onwardticket to the next country of destination

• No derogatory record

with the Bureau of Immigra-tion (BI), the National Intelli-gence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and the International Police (Interpol).

The 14 day Visa-Free entry may be extended by an addi-tional seven days or a maxi-mum of 21 day stay. This policy only applies for those entering the Philippines through the fol-lowing airports - Ninoy Aquino International Airport 1, 2, and 3 in Manila or Clark Interna-tional Airport, and admission will be non-convertible to other visa categories (arriving at any other airport will require a visa).

Bhutan is celebrating 2015 as a ‘Visit Bhutan Year’, to commemorate the 60th birth anniversary of Bhu-tan’s Fourth King, H M Jigtme Singye Wangchuck. Also, Bhutan Journeys has appointed Global Destina-tions as their Sales and Mar-keting Representative in India effective April 1, 2015.

Damcho Rinzin, Head, Marketing and Promotion Division, Tourism Council of Bhutan stated, “We have planned one big, highlight event for every month and for better facilitation of the same, an easy to use web-site has been launched with details of the events, experi-ences, special offers of that time, etc. We get about up to 50,000 Indian visitors, mak-ing it the top source mar-ket and therefore, we orga-nise about five-six events every year in India. We have observed a 10% increase in revenue from international

visitors, whereas the Indian tourists have increased their spending by 16%.”

Pranav Kapadia, Founder, Global Destinations com-mented, “It feels incredi-ble to be part of the whole changing travel experience where Indian travellers are waking up to new destina-tions and in turn these beau-tiful, mysterious, exotic des-tinations are investing in the Indian market. We are very happy to be given the oppor-tunity to promote Bhutan amongst the India trade fra-ternity and indirectly to the discerning Indian traveller.”

Bhutan celebrates 2015 as Visit Bhutan Year

Skytrax names Changi Airport as world’s best airport for 2015

Japan aims to lure the Indian leisure and family traveller

Changi Airport Singapore was named as the World’s Best Air-port by air travellers for the third consecutive year at the 2015 World Airport Awards, held at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Barcelona, Spain. Changi Airport enjoyed dou-ble success on receiving the award as Best Airport for Lei-sure Amenities.

Lee Seow Hiang, Chief Exec-utive Officer of Changi Airport Group said, “It is a great hon-our to be named World’s Best Airport by Skytrax for the third year running. This rec-ognition is particularly pleas-ing for us as it comes at a time of transformation at Changi Airport. We are undertaking a number of significant devel-opment projects including Ter-minal 4 and Jewel Changi Air-port, with some works taking place amid ongoing airport operations.”

Edward Plaisted, CEO, Skytrax stated, “To win this

prestigious award three years in succession is a remarkable achievement for Changi Air-port Singapore, and underlines its popularity amongst air trav-ellers as the World’s Best Air-port. Changi Airport lives up to its reputation as the World’s Best Airport and rather than

dwell on earlier success, the airport continues to inno-vate and concentrate on mak-ing the customer experience in the airport environment the most enjoyable. It is there-fore no surprise to see it named again by global travellers as the world’s favourite airport.”

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 13 asia •

info@travelnewsdigest.in

India’s Only Global Travel Trade Newspaper

With overall tourism arrivals spiking up by 16.7% to 165,541 arrivals and with India arriv-als growing by 14.1% and China by a staggering 165%, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau have decided to power ‘Colombo Fashion Week’ on the theme of ‘Celebrate Colombo’.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chair-man Rohantha Athukorala stated, “The logic of the spon-sorship endorsement is that the last airport traveller exit survey revealed that almost 65% of those who visited Sri Lanka spent time in the city of Colombo. We want to take this insight and highlight the top six fine dining exclusive restau-rants as well as six key visitor ‘must see’ sites to showcase the vibrancy of Colombo under the

theme of Celebrate Colombo.”Ajay Singh, Founder and

CEO of Colombo Fashion Week mentioned that the six selected restaurants will feature spe-cial menus and will take special orders for the guests of Colombo Fashion Week. Also, ‘standing scooters’, will provide affordable

and safe travel to visitors around the city and will be available at the host hotel – The Hilton Colombo.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Pro-motions Bureau is targeting 200,000 visitors from China, which will oust UK from the market portfolio in 2015 voiced Athukorala.

sri lanka: Colombo Fashion Week on the theme of Celebrate Colombo

Vietnam Airlines ready to carry 84.9 million passengers in 2015-2018Pham Ngoc Minh, General Direc-tor of Vietnam Airlines mentioned that the airline would aim to trans-port 16.7 million passengers in 2015, up 6.2% annually. Also, the airline aims to transport 84.9 million pas-sengers from 2015-2018 which will represent annual increases of 16.1%.

Minh said, the company plans

to invest nearly 23 trillion VND (Vietnamese Dong), of which 21.2 trillion VND are allocated to increasing its fleet. He also said that the company will maintain their seat occupancy rate of 78.5% and market share of 45.9%. The airline also aims to airlift 967,000 tonnes of cargo, up 13.9%.

Ramayana Trail is the new product to be launched by Sri Lanka In order to attract Indian tourists, the Sri Lanka Tour-ism Promotions Bureau has decided to launch Ramayana Trail. This decision was taken soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka.

The decision came from the bureau because of the signifi-cance that Ramayana holds in India. The Trail is among Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau’s new products to keep tourists from its biggest mar-ket interested. According to the bureau, Indian market is becoming more competitive therefore Sri Lanka needs to come up with innovative ways

to have an upper hand against the competition.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promo-tions Bureau will launch the Ramayana Trail with top 26 tour operators in India. The Ramayana Trail will focus on 19 important sites with links to Ramayana, including Ramboda, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Galle, Chilaw and Mannar, etc.

Since, Ramayana is a con-nection between India and Sri Lanka, the tourism bureau is hoping to attract tens of thou-sands of tourists with it. Sri Lanka is hoping to attract at least 20,000 tourists from the Ramayana Trail in the first year itself.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 14middle east

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah met with a group of global journalists and social media representatives visit-ing Jordan on a mega press trip hosted by the Ministry of Tour-ism in coordination with the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) at the Royal Automobile Museum in Amman.

The event was attended by the H E Nayef Al Fayez, Min-ister of Tourism and Antiq-uities, H E Dr Abdul Razzaq

Arabiyat, Director General of JTB, Raja Gargour, Director of the Royal Heritage Director-ate, and Mohammad Abu Seir, Director of the Royal Automo-bile Museum.

Her Majesty addressed the group at the event, noting that Jordan has much to offer visitors in terms of history, culture, nature, adventure, health and wellness, and reli-gious tourism, adding that in Jordan “There is something

for everyone!”Her Majesty spoke about

Jordanian hospitality and the warmth of its people. In Jordan, she said, “a tourist is a guest.”

Nayef Al Fayez, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities said, “Jordan has always been a peaceful and safe country. Even a lot of people had called Jordan the Switzerland of Middle East because of the good relation and stability. Jordan is visa friendly for Indians. We would like to see more of business meetings happening here because this is a growing sector in India, and Jordan has a lot of potential.”

Jordan Tourism Board conducts FaM trip for global media

DVPC offers 30 day and 90 day multiple entry visa categoriesDubai Visa Processing Cen-tre (DVPC) has introduced new visa categories starting from March 2015 for passen-gers travelling to Dubai with Emirates. The new visa cat-egories introduced are the Short Term Visit Multiple Entry Tourist Visa - 30 days and the Long Term Visit Mul-tiple Entry Tourist Visa - 90 days. These visas are valid for multiple entries into UAE during the validity of the visa and can be availed by visa applicants who wish to travel to UAE for the pur-pose of business, seminars and exhibitions, or a vacation and need to visit UAE (Dubai International Airport) multi-ple times.

DVPC operates 33 Dubai visa application centres in 16 countries across the globe. The Dubai visa application service extended includes accepting documents,

collecting the visa fee and issuing receipts to custom-ers and then forwarding their application to relevant authorities in UAE. In addi-tion, the service from DVPC is available online to residents of over 180 countries globally via www.emirates.com.

Vinay Malhotra, COO – South Asia and DVPC, VFS Global added, “DVPC is hon-oured to be associated with Emirates in facilitating the UAE visa application pro-cess for travellers to Dubai, globally. These new visa cat-egories can be availed of at all our visa application cen-tres across the globe. DVPC is privileged to be associ-ated with Emirates since 2002 as a trusted partner, and in addition to the visa application centres, we also provide online services in over 180 countries via www.emirates.com.”

YOTEL, an affiliate company of Kuwait-listed IFA Hotels & Resorts KSCC, has signed a long-term agreement with Dubai Investment Properties LLC (DIP) to operate a new hotel in Dubai, UAE.

It will be complete in early 2018; the 42 storey property designed by Arkiteknik Inter-national will boast 438 cabins, furnished with the brand’s signature Techno Walls and Smart Beds, as well YOTEL’s exclusive Club Lounge, a multi-function co-working and recreational space.

“We are delighted to announce our first project in

the UAE with DIP. Dubai has a thriving hospitality market but lacks good quality, afford-able luxury hotels. YOTEL Business Bay will put an end to this oddity and be a true flagship for our brand in the Middle East, a region with huge untapped potential.

This project is also our debut into the serviced apartment segment, a natural extension to our brand DNA – smart spaces delivering outstand-ing value,” said Hubert Viriot, CEO of YOTEL.

“We are proud to add YOTEL to our list of landmark projects in Dubai,” explains Abdallah Moneimneh, General Man-ager and Chief Architect at Arkiteknik International. “The building reflects sim-plicity and geometric ele-gance, offering a minimalist design with a twist and show-casing the YOTEL concept.”

Yotel to open its first hotel in Dubai

Air Arabia, the first and larg-est low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa – connecting Sharjah to 13 destinations in India – recently introduced a new destination to its growing network, Tbilisi, at the heart of the South Caucasus coun-try of Georgia, from the carri-er’s primary hub in Sharjah, UAE. With this introduc-tion Air Arabia now con-nects you from - Ahmed-abad, Bangalore, Calicut, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram – to Tbilisi, Georgia.

Air Arabia offers bi-weekly flights to Tbilisi, making it easier and more convenient for passengers to experience the historic city of Tbilisi for leisure and MICE travel. These flights will depart Sharjah Interna-tional Airport every Tuesday and Friday at 13:00 pm and will arrive at Tbilisi (Tbilisi

International Airport- TBS) at 16:30pm. Return flights will depart Tbilisi at 17:15pm arriving at Sharjah at 20:20pm (local time).

Air Arabia also launched ‘Airewards’, the first ever Low Cost Carrier rewards program in the MENA region, which makes earn-ing and redeeming points effortless.

Adel A Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Ara-bia said, “Air Arabia has always used innovative prod-ucts and cutting edge tech-nology to provide custom-ers with a hassle-free travel experience. The launch of Airewards falls in line with the airline’s commitment to put value for money propo-sition at the heart of its busi-ness model.”

air arabia launches twice weekly flights to Tbilisi

Adrenaline, fast cars and incredible stunt sequences come together in one of the most anticipated movie releases of the year - Fast & Furious 7 - which was filmed in several locations across Abu Dhabi, the vibrant capital of the United Arab Emirates. The emirate offered the film’s producers an exciting backdrop with striking archi-tecture, unique locations and stunning landscapes for the latest instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise.

“The filming of Furious 7 in Abu Dhabi allowed us to high-light the emirate’s fantastic mix-ture of stunning natural scenery and incredible modern archi-tecture, which will undoubt-edly raise our international profile,” said H E Jasem Al Dar-maki, Acting Director General of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Cul-ture Authority.

Filmed in April 2014, Furi-ous 7 shows several iconic attractions across Abu Dhabi including Sheikh Zayed Grand

Mosque, the luxurious Emir-ates Palace and Jumeirah at Etihad Towers hotels, and Yas Marina Circuit - home to the annual Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - in addition to the historic ‘Oasis City’ of Al Ain and the expan-sive and majestic Liwa Desert.

“We hope the success of this movie and our efforts to attract major film companies such as Universal to our shores will be repeated,” added Al Darmaki.

“We are delighted to see Uni-versal Pictures choosing the United Arab Emirates capital,

Abu Dhabi, as a location for their movie. It is nice to see how the longstanding relationship between the UAE and the U.S. has extended to world-class production, post-production facilities and use of Abu Dha-bi’s unique locations, which only enhances the special rela-tionship between the UAE and the U.S. We thank twofour54 for facilitating the filming of Fast and Furious 7,” said Consul General Abdulla A Alsaboosi, Consul General of the Consul-ate of the UAE in Los Angeles.

Fast & Furious 7 takes Abu Dhabi to a whole other level

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 15 middle east •

According to the new Tourism Minister Khaled Abbas Ramy, Egypt aims to receive 11-11.5 mil-lion tourists in 2015 and gener-ate revenue of USD 9 – USD 9.5 billion. He also added that Egypt is targeting 20 million tourists with revenue of USD 20 billion in 2020.

“We have a strategic goal of reaching 20 million tourists in 2020, with revenues of USD 20 billion,” said Ramy, who was appointed in the month of March after a cabinet reshuffle.

Egypt received 9.9 mil-lion tourists in 2014. Tourism accounts for 11.3% of the econ-omy and 19.3% of Egypt’s hard currency reserves.

The Egyptian Tourism Min-ister has also said that the minis-try has put up for foreign invest-ment a parcel of five supersize projects. Two of the projects have been already revealed dur-ing the Egypt’s Economic Devel-opment Conference, which was held in Sharm El Sheikh. The rest of the three projects are almost ready for official rollout, said Ramy.

The first project is an inte-grated tourist centre in Gam-sha region, north to Hurghada. The second is Wazar tourist cen-tre, another integrated tourist centre to the south of the Red Sea region near the resort of Marsa Alam.

The other three projects include two other projects on Red Sea and the last project will be located on the Mediterranean Sea sector on the northern part of Egypt.

Egypt Tourism Minister sets out 2020 growth plan, targets 20m visitors

Emirates Airlines hosted a two-day cricket match titled ‘Emirates Cricket Trade Tournament 2015’ for travel agents in Mumbai from March 21-22 at the Police Gym-khana Grounds. From the trade, there were 384 players participating in the event that saw 32 teams compete with each other.

Emirates Airlines unveiled the cricket trophy in a net-working event where the final teams and players were also announced. Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, VP – India and Nepal, Emirates Airline, and Dilip Vengsarkar, former Indian cricketer, who was the guest

of honour, unveiled the trophy.According to Ahmad, the

objective of organising the tournament is to engage and strengthen relationship with the trade, and cricket is a game that everyone loves and is great fun. He thanked all the sponsors for their hearty sup-port and said that his team had done a great job in put-ting together the tournament. Abacus India, Star Cruises, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Akquasun Group, VFS Global, Fans on Stands participated as sponsors, and a host of other companies, and the two asso-ciations - TAAI and TAFI sup-ported the tournament.Taj Group announced the open-

ing of its highly-anticipated luxury hotel Taj Dubai, located in the prestigious Burj Khal-ifa downtown area. The Taj Group, established in 1901, is a pioneer and market leader with 128 hotels, resorts and palaces spanning sixty-four locations in India and fifteen international locations in four continents.

“We are delighted to enhance the nobility of Indian heritage and hospitality in one of the world’s most vibrant cities,” said Rakhee Lalvani, Director-Public Relations, Taj Group. “With its distinctive design, responsibly appointed amenities and warm service culture, Taj Dubai aspires to become a preferred address for discerning guests.

Accommodation at Taj Dubai includes a total of 296 rooms: comprising Taj Club Rooms, 16 Junior Suites and 15 Luxury Suites with panoramic views of Burj Khalifa, dancing

fountains and Dubai Mall. The hotel offers state of the art rooms seamlessly blending contemporary elegance while paying homage to the local environment.

“The Taj has been a pioneer in bringing legendary Indian hospitality to the world. At Taj

Dubai, we will endeavour to continue this legacy in provid-ing our guests with the highest levels of personalised, intuitive service and careful attention to detail. We look forward to wel-coming you,” said Jason Hard-ing, Area Director & General Manager, Taj Dubai.

Taj Dubai opens in the prestigious Burj Khalifa downtown area

New global brand campaign inaugurated by Etihad Airways

Emirates Airlines hosts cricket match for travel trade

Nicole Kidman, screen icon, provided the face and narra-tive for this airline’s evoca-tive new “Flying Reimagined” brand campaign. The con-cept for the new campaign was created by M&C Saatchi Australia, part of Etihad Air-ways’ global creative agency, M&C Saatchi.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer said, “Etihad Air-ways is constantly pushing boundaries, taking inspira-tion from the world to provide a superlative in-flight experi-ence for our guests. We are rewriting the rule book and reimagining flying by break-ing away from convention and leading the way in innovation,

design, style and hospitality. This new campaign has suc-ceeded brilliantly in bringing our unique brand and ser-vice ethos to life on film, in print and on digital channels. Nicole Kidman, as a globally respected artist, was the per-fect voice and face for our story, and embodies worldly sophistication, intelligence, originality, and elegance - values which form the foun-dations of the Etihad brand.”

In January 2015, the number of international tourists com-ing to the Sultanate increased by 18% to 512,324 compared to a month earlier, due to better flight connections and lower oil prices.

According to the statistics available with the Oman Air-ports Management Company (OAMC), the company that manages Muscat and Salalah Airports, the two airports handled about 933,000 pas-sengers in January 2015 com-pared to 848,400 passengers in December last year.

“More than half of these passengers are tourists. It is a record for one month, in terms of tourism. We are proud that we have reached

this milestone due to better flight connectivity since we opened Phase One of the new Muscat Airport in Novem-ber,” an official from state-run OAMC informed.

Muscat Airport serves 28 scheduled airlines operating 545 flights a week travelling to 27 destinations from Mus-cat. The Sultanate is aiming to become a major transit route in the Gulf countries, competing with Dubai, when the new Terminal Building in Muscat Airport is completed.

New tourism anchors will enable the hotel indus-try to grow in Oman, says a regional hotel fore-cast report. “New tour-ism anchors will bring in

growth in the middle of the year,” stated a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) forecast from Colliers Inter-national. In its three-month rolling forecast from Febru-ary to April, the occupancy rate in Oman hotels will be 76% and the average daily rate (ADR) will be USD 255.

The revenue of hotels has gone up with the gov-ernment’s emphasis on pro-moting the Sultanate as the best tourist destination in the region. The latest data released by the government shows that the revenues of Oman’s star hotels grew 10.3% in 2014, to OMR 165.9 million from OMR 150.4 mil-lion in 2013.

Tourism grows in Oman due to better flight connections

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 18OCEANIA

Air New Zealand has launched its ‘Calling All Travellers’ cam-paign, honouring the unique experiences that travellers look forward to not only in New Zea-land, but also throughout the journey on Air New Zealand. An outstanding online video produced by the airline opens with sweeping views of the country’s picturesque fjords. Viewers are then treated to glimpses of signature New Zealand experiences including a trip to the real life Hobbiton,

parachuting from rolling hill-sides, golfing amongst rugged mountains and biking through vast plains.

“New Zealand is a magical place with a bounty of activi-ties that appeal to ‘true trav-ellers’,” said Air New Zealand Vice President of the Ameri-cas Chris Myers. “Our ‘Call-ing All Travellers’ campaign and corresponding video cap-tures the essence of the travel these individuals seek and illustrates what is possible

in New Zealand.”Moreover, Air New Zealand

flies nonstop from Los Ange-les, San Francisco and Vancou-ver to Auckland. Services are operated by a fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft (Los Ange-les & San Francisco), featur-ing the award-winning Econ-omy Skycouch and Premium Economy Spaceseat, as well as the Boeing 777-200ER (Vancou-ver), which includes a variety of superior in-flight products and services.

air New Zealand inaugurates Calling All Travellers destination NZ campaign

australia’s Prime Minister donates money for improving Great Barrier reef The 35-year reef program is focused on improving water quality, the government said. Australia announced it will ban the dumping of dredg-ing waste in the Barrier Reef marine park.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt said, “Improving the Great Barrier Reef’s health and resilience requires govern-ments and the community to work together. The move will ensure the reef remains one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth.”

Australian Prime Minis-ter Tony Abbott promised AD 100 million (USD 78 mil-lion) in funds as part of a plan to protect the Great Barrier

Reef and keep the World Her-itage site from being listed as endangered.

“If there was one bit of beau-tiful environment anywhere in the world that truly deserves World-Heritage listing, it is this,” Australian Prime Min-ister Tony Abbott, said. “We are making our position clear right around the world that this is a number-one priority of the Australian government.”

The reef is home to more than 1,600 species of fish and is the largest living structure on the planet, according to the marine park authority. About two million tourists visit the Great Barrier Reef each year, according to the authority.

Fiji Airways Group reported record-breaking revenue and passenger numbers for the fis-cal year 2014, announcing an increase in operating profits from 2013.

The group recorded an operating profit of USD 60.8 million in 2014. These results are more than two times better than the best operating profit achieved in the history of Air Pacific Ltd back in 2005. Fiji Airways Group earned USD 770 million revenue and grew

passenger numbers by 4.5%, flying 1,244,596 passengers in 2014.

Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum stated, “The fact that even the lowest paid worker in Fiji Airways is to receive a bonus of USD 3,000 is unparalleled in Fijian cor-porate history. It is a tremen-dous vindication of all the hard work that the staff and manage-ment have put in over the past few years to turn Fiji Airways around and secure its future.”

Cricket World Cup attracts more indian travellers to SydneyCricket World Cup 2015 has boosted independent trav-ellers from Asia, especially Indian travellers to Sydney with a 100% increase in the number of room nights booked for Indian travellers.

It follows a hugely suc-cessful year for the Austra-lian city as the number of room nights booked through GTA in 2014 rose 37% on the previous year. Sydney was

also a top destination choice over Chinese New Year with more than 80 events over two weeks. The spectacular Twi-light Parade of 3,000 people, Chinese acrobats, floats and spectacular lighting, as well as lion dances, dragon boat racing tournament and more were watched by 130,000 peo-ple and meant hotels enjoyed more than 90% occupancy. Nicole Watson, GTA’s Market

Manager for Hotel Sourcing, Sydney said, “Sydney is defi-nitely proving to be a hotspot for Asian travellers right now, judging by the success we are enjoying. Events like the Cricket World Cup and better visa processing have helped raise the profile of the desti-nation and made travel even easier, while increased air capacity has drawn even more Chinese visitors.”

Qantas first airline to offer virtual reality in-flight entertainmentAustralia’s Qantas is offer-ing first-class passengers a new way to trip while travel-ling by air. Through a partner-ship with Samsung, the airline has introduced fully immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to its Sydney and Melbourne International First Lounges and first class cabins on

select A380 services. During the three-month

trial, first class customers can enjoy a three-dimensional, 360-degree interactive view-ing experience. The Samsung Gear VR headsets will feature popular entertainment content and virtual reality tours which “showcase the delights” of the

airline’s network destinations.Qantas Group Executive,

Brand, and Marketing & Corpo-rate Affairs Olivia Wirth said, “From an in-flight entertainment perspective, it is an industry first. Qantas is committed to being at the forefront of innovation to give our passengers the very best and latest in-flight experiences, like accessing the virtual worlds of their favourite Hollywood blockbusters from the comfort of their seat 40,000 ft above the ground. It is also a fantastic tool to feature our network’s destina-tions, inspiring travel and pro-moting tourism.”

“This innovation literally adds a new dimension to how visitors experience Kakadu. Tourism NT (Northern Terri-tory) is delighted to pilot this new technology as part of its suite of marketing projects utilising new, industry leading technology,” said Adam Giles, the Northern Territory’s Chief Minister and Minister for Tourism.

Fiji Airways announces its highest-ever operating profits

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 19europe

Copenhagen, also known and acknowledged as a clean, safe and sustainable city, is con-sistently ranked in the top of city and climate indexes.

Copenhagen is highlighted due to its strong environmen-tal agenda and its plans to be the world’s first carbon neu-tral capital city by 2025 through

retrofitting, more wind turbines and changing transport habits.

The city and climate indexes ranked Copenhagen in the top again. The index is published annually and focuses on the cities’ ability to gain long-term momentum and adjust dur-ing fast-paced socio-economic changes.

Copenhagen and Scandina-vian capitals are among world’s most open and liquid markets. Copenhagen (fourth) is ranked before the two other Scandi-navian capitals – Stockholm (fifth) and Oslo (eighth) in the European Top 12. Together with strong high-tech sectors, all three Scandinavian capitals score highly on liveability mea-sures. Dynamic, sustainable and scalable, they are attract-ing high levels of migration and investment.

Copenhagen positioned as one of Europe’s most dynamic cities

The Monaco Grand Prix is widely considered to be one of the most important and pres-tigious automobile races in the world. It is one of the world’s most expensive and glamor-ous events.

On May 9, 2015, Monaco will host the first Formula E Grand Prix. The Formula E is a new FIA single-seater cham-pionship and the world’s first fully electric car racing series. It focuses around three core values of energy, environment and entertainment.

It is one race on the Formula One calendar that epitomises the excessive splendour of the sport. Over time the jet set lifestyle of Formula One has become synonymous with the ostentatious sea side principality.

Monaco always leaves its visitors enthusiastic to visit the country again. One can never get enough of the Prin-cipality in terms of glamour, elegance, fun, prestige and of

course hospitality. From the Monaco GP to the exquisite beach there is no limit to the fun you can wring out of this Principality.

The Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most prestigious automotive races in the world, raced on the Cir-cuit de Monaco around the glamorous streets of the Prin-cipality. Thousands of spec-tators from all over the world flock to the wealthy location

to see the race every year, and as the popularity of the Grand Prix grows, so do the crowds.

Monaco’s track layout and tight cornering has led to some surprising results over the year which has made it so entertaining. From the yachts on the harbour to the deaf-ening noise of the cars going through the famous tun-nel, the Formula 1 calendar would not be the same with-out Monaco on it.

Monaco to host first Formula E Grand Prix, an exceptional location of glamour and prestige

KlM launches Android smartwatch appKLM Royal Dutch Airlines is set to run a trial with Android Smartwatch technology that will provide passengers with specific trip information such as supplying passengers with their boarding pass, and all relevant airport-related activi-ties. Smartwatch owners have to install the KLM app on their Android Smartphone and then they will be able to check their flight overview in KLM’s Smartwatch app any time after making a booking.

They will start receiving trip-related notifications 24 hours ahead of their depar-ture. In line with this vision, KLM last year launched an air-port navigation service using iBeacon technology that helps transfer passengers find their

next gate at Amsterdam Air-port Schiphol.

Tjalling Smit, Senior Vice President of E-commerce at Air France-KLM said, “The KLM Smartwatch app allows passengers to find relevant and up-to-date flight information at a glance. In the future, we will further link technologies to offer innovative services ensur-ing that passengers are always a step ahead on their journey.”

Czech spas and medical well-ness programs not only satisfy demanding managers seeking tranquillity, but also couples or families with children. The West Bohemian city, which is famous worldwide for its spa treatments, has prepared a number of innovations for its visitors this year. In line with global trends, the Hotel Impe-rial is launching medical well-ness programs that include medical consultation and the processing of the personal his-tory of patients.

Just a short distance from the famous Karlovy Vary is the picturesque town of Františkovy Lázně, where the newly opened centre for health-ier backs is located, which is focused on the treatment of chronic spinal pain. The new

method by renowned German specialist Florian Maria Alf-ena is able to alleviate or com-pletely remove back pain, using strength training. It strength-ens the weakened deep mus-cles of the spine, returning their strength, agility and endurance. The new method had a long-term effect on more

than 82% of the patients.In the southeast of the

Czech Republic you can dis-cover another spa treasure, Luhačovice. After the tradi-tional beer or wine baths, you can indulge in an exotic Mad-agascar massage or a yogurt curative treatment from Indonesia.

Czech Republic promotes spa and wellness tourism in 2015

Italian Tourist Board holds event in India to celebrate EXPO with international starsOn the occasion of a preview of EXPO Milano 2015, the Consulate General of Italy in Mumbai, together with the Indo-Italian Chamber of Com-merce and Industry, the Ital-ian Institute of Culture and ENIT – Italian Tourist Board – hosted an exclusive evening entitled ‘Celebrating EXPO with International Stars’ on April 2 at the fine Italian res-taurant Maritime by San Lorenzo at Taj Lands End. The evening was aimed at dis-covering Italy through EXPO Milano 2015, as well as enjoy-ing authentic Italian food, from a refined menu touch-ing upon most of the country’s regional specialties.

During the event, an official felicitation was given to Sajid Nadiadwala, President of the Indian Film and TV Producers

Council (IFTPC), who has cel-ebrated Italy through the cin-ema by shooting two of his movies in the country, in the suggestive locations of regions Veneto and Puglia.

Present for the evening were Ugo Ciarlatani, Consul General of Italy in Mumbai; Narinder K Nayar, President, the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Salvatore Ianniello, ENIT, Mumbai.

Other guests present at the Presentation on EXPO 2015 and Felicitation were Warda Nadiadwala, Kabir Bedi, Jackie and Ayesha Shroff, Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fer-nandes, Parveen Dusaj, Deepti Bathnagar, Vidya Malvade, Arti and Kailash Surendra-nath, Ashwini Kakkar and Chef Vicky Ratnani.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 20 • EUROPE

MagicEvent.com offers a mobile application allowing clients to book a number of ser-vices during their stay in Paris. MagicEvent offers access to a wide variety of services essen-tial for business travellers. In partnership with Hotel Cloud, MagicEvent’s e-services pro-vider, the MagicEvent ser-vices app offers both free and paid services in Paris, which will soon be available in major European and U.S. cities.

Using the MagicEvent services app, travellers can request meals to be deliv-ered to their apartment, arrange for dry-cleaning, and request the services of a masseur for a relaxation ses-sion. Under the ‘Team Build-ing’ heading, Subway, bicycle or speedboat tours of Paris are available, as well as wine,

cheese or champagne tasting workshops.

“MagicEvent offers a gen-uine e-concierge service, such as room service for meal delivery, thus allowing access to almost the same level of service that a hotel offers,” enthuses Valéry Linÿer, CEO of MagicEvent.

And for professionals, who take the opportunity to prolong their stay, there is a multitude of activities available to make the most of what Paris and the surrounding area has to offer. Whether travelling alone or with family, professionals can book guided tours, babysitting or personal shopper services.

MagicEvent provides concierge services for business travellers to Paris

Spain aims to receive 8.1 million cruise passengersIn 2015, Spain has desired to break its’ cruise record by host-ing more than 8.1 million pas-sengers. The prediction is based on the estimates of var-ious Spanish port authori-ties who received 7.67 million cruise passengers in 2014. Spain is also profiting from the rise in strength of certain harbours, especially those of the Canary Islands, which recorded more than a million cruise passengers in transit in 2014 – an increase of almost 30%.

The cruise industry has become a strategic section for the Spanish tourism since, according to the statistics of the last economic survey published by CLIA (Cruise Line Interna-tional Association), the sector has provided Spain with 26,000 jobs, and has generated 1.25

billion Euros in sales revenue. This profit becomes even more interesting when you consider that the expenditure of the cli-ents who disembark the cruise ships (mostly from the U.S.) is

larger than the average expen-diture of all tourists, that being 114 Euros per day and per per-son, according to the statis-tics of the Spanish Ministry of Tourism.

Rail Europe: Consolidation of Rail Europe, Inc and Rail Europe 4A

Airberlin gets trade sales boost in India

Iceland observes tourism boom as it becomes a favourite filming spot

Airberlin will be able to increase its travel trade sales in India, having joined IATA’s Billing & Settlement Plan (BSP) in the country. Airberlin is the second larg-est airline in Germany and the seventh largest in Europe.

Participation in BSP India enables all IATA-accredited travel agents to issue e-tickets for GDS (Global Distribution Systems) bookings. Aviareps India, Airberlin’s GSA (Gen-eral Sales Agent) for India, will manage the e-ticketing.

Stella Warmuth, Area Manager, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa, Airber-lin said, “BSP is the key to a strong distribution

especially in a large coun-try like India. By being pres-ent on this system we are positive that we will gener-ate wider demand through greater service offerings to our trade partners. We have recently added Kolkata to our list of codeshare des-tinations. This means we are now offering daily con-nections in codeshare with our partner Etihad Air-ways to and from seven cit-ies in India - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Via Abu Dhabi, India is very well connected to Airberlin’s worldwide route network, especially within Europe.”

Iceland has become an increasingly popular film-ing location with its majes-tic views being noticeably featured in many TV series or Hollywood blockbusters.

The country’s many stun-ning waterfalls and breath-taking glaciers translate beautifully to the silver screen. There are certain filming locations that con-sistently rank a cut above and are drawing fans of productions such as Game of Thrones, Interstellar or Prometheus.

The black volcanic land-scapes of Svartalfheim pro-vided the filmmakers of Thor: The Dark World with the perfect otherworldly setting.

Ridley Scott explored Europe’s most powerful waterfall, the Dettifoss, for the opening scenes depict-ing the beginning of time in

Prometheus.Scenes from Christopher

Nolan’s Interstellar were filmed atop the blue ice gla-cier Svinafellsjokull in the Skaftafell National Park, which is also located near another favoured filming location: Iceland’s largest glacier, Vatnajokull.

“Interstellar was my sec-ond time filming in Ice-land and it was another worldly experience,” said Christopher Nolan, Direc-tor of ‘Interstellar’. “Iceland truly represents the beauti-ful extremes the nature has to offer.”

Game of Thrones enthu-siasts will undoubtedly recognise the north of Ice-land, namely Thingvellir National Park, from Arya’s storyline and as the setting of the battle of the Hound and Brienne, in the North of Westeros.

Rail Europe, Inc and Rail Europe 4A have been consoli-dated into single business unit, Rail Europe with immediate effect. CEO Fabrice Morel will lead the combined organisation.

As a single business unit, Rail Europe, Inc and Rail Europe 4A will continue to exist as two legal entities, with an ultimate goal to grow the business faster as one consol-idated organisation. This new approach will maximise respec-tive strengths and is fully sup-ported by the shareholders of both entities, the Swiss Fed-eral Railways (SBB) and VSC Group, the distribution subsid-iary of the French National Rail-ways (SNCF).

Rail Europe will operate

globally serving travellers and the travel trade, with a staff of more than 300 employees and offices in White Plains (New York), Rosemont (Illinois), Paris, Mumbai and a world-wide network of representa-tives. “We are excited about this

consolidation, as it will allow us to best serve our partners and customers. With a global staff, we will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, cover-ing the Americas, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, and Asia,” said Morel.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 21 EUROPE •

Vals, a small village in the Swiss Alps will be the home of the tallest hotel structure on the globe which will be a new tourism attraction for the tourist visiting Switzerland.

The idea is to create a massive 381 meter tall hotel that will tower over the Swiss landscape. It will be a very unique opportu-nity for guests to experience the best views anywhere

as they will be extremely high up.

The goal for the world’s tallest hotel is to be as mini-malistic as possible to allow nature to take centre stage around it. It is supposed to be a sort of safe haven for its inhabitants while pro-viding high-end luxury and commodities for its visi-tors. Ideally the hotel will actually camouflage in with

its surroundings so that its guests feel as though they are one with the beautiful Swiss landscape.

This project is a great way to help promote Switzerland’s tourist activity and to help build its reputation across the world as a welcoming vaca-tion spot.

Based on current building plans, the goal is set for it to be completed by 2019.

switzerland to house world’s tallest hotel

According to Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova, the outgo-ing 2015 winter season brought an increase by 9.2% in the num-ber of tourists in Bulgarian winter resorts. As per the sta-tistics given by the resorts and by a unit of the Tourism Minis-try, Angelkova explained that the number of tourists had increased by 80,000 from the same period of 2014.

“This summer Bulgaria will service more than seven million Bulgarian and foreign tourists and will open 320,000 jobs in the tourism sector. In winter 1,200 British and Irish tourists booked rooms in Bul-garia for the coming winter season, mainly on the basis of the appreciation of the British

pound against the Euro,” men-tioned Rumen Draganov, Director of the Bulgarian Insti-tute for Tourism Analyses and Assessments.

Angelkova informed that visitors from Turkey also showed great interest in bal-neology and spa resorts in Bulgaria. Angelkova vowed that Bulgaria’s national tour-ism campaign in 2016 would focus more on key markets for the country.

Entire village of Hungary rents itself out to touristsIn order to save Hungary, Mayor Kristof Pajer put the whole village up for rent. For 210,000 forints (USD 730) a day, visitors get access to seven guest houses that sleep 39 people, a bus stop, horses, chickens and four hectares (10 acres) of farm land.

The village enterprise now employs 15 people, including five locals, and has received nearly 70 million forints (USD 241,000, 228,000 Euros) from the European Union to restore homes to their original ‘peas-ant style’ and build a small community centre.

Guests are offered the tem-porary title of deputy mayor, giving them the right to over-see law and order and rename the four village streets for the length of their stay.

Pajer, an engineer who commutes between Budapest and Megyer and also manages a couple of rock bands, has been organising a week-long rock festival in Megyer since 2011.

“A thousand visitors pitch their tents all over the village during the festival,” said Pajer, who is also turning a vacant, two-room house into the vil-lage museum.

Since, an advertisement about the village on a Hun-garian website gained inter-national attention, hundreds of reservations have been made from as far away as Australia, South Africa, Swe-den and the U.S.

Salzburg welcomes 50 year anniversary of The Sound of Music

Bulgaria to welcome more than seven million tourists

‘The Sound of Music’ has been one of the important tourists’ attractions for Sal-zburg city. The better part of a billion people have seen the movie, with 300,000 ‘Sound of Music’ fans making the pilgrimage to Salzburg every year in order to visit its shoot-ing locations and important milestones in the life of the von Trapp family. In 2015, the most successful movie musi-cal in history celebrates its 50th anniversary.

“The Sound of Music is an important ambassador for Salzburg City, especially in the Anglo-American and Asi-atic world,” points out Bert Brugger, Managing Direc-tor of Salzburg City Tourist

Board. “Tourists have two major motivations for com-ing to Salzburg- the beauty of the city itself, and then its cul-ture. Mozart and the Salzburg Festival satisfy the interest in classical music, while events such as ‘Salzburg Advent Singing’ reflect the region’s deeply rooted folk culture. For its part, ‘The Sound of Music’ clearly addresses our guests’ love for popular music.”

‘The Sound of Music’ is Hollywood’s most success-ful musical adaptation of all time. Winner of five Oscars, it was actually the only Hol-lywood movie cleared to be shown in countries behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ during the Cold War.

A new museum focusing pri-marily on exhibits belonging to the Princes of Liechtenstein and other private collectors is now open for the public. With over 800 years of tradition, the Princely Family of Liechten-stein is not only one of the old-est ruling families in the world but also the owner of one of the world’s oldest and continually expanding collections dating back more than 400 years. Its paintings by the Old Masters and array of arms are world-famous. The exhibition will display a selection of valuable materials, paintings, weapons, hunting knives and gifts pre-sented by kings and emperors, such as Frederick the Great and Emperor Joseph II, to the Princes of Liechtenstein.

Also, on display in the museum is a selection of the ‘Rhine Journey’ paintings completed by Johann Lud-wig (Louis) Bleuler around

1820/1830. Taken from the collection of Adulf Peter Goop, who during his lifetime acquired 77 of the 80 origi-nal gouaches, they depict the entire Rhine from its source to its estuary and served as inspiration for the famous engravings that were highly popular among tourists

in the 19th century. The display also features

the original design of the first ever postage stamp issued by the Principality of Liechten-stein, created by the famous Austrian artist and co-founder of the Vienna Secession and the Vienna Workshops, Kolo-man Moser.

The Liechtenstein Treasure Chamber - a new museum opens in Alps

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 22americas

The Martinique Tourism Authority is projecting another strong cruise season in 2015-2016, with a record 22 ships slated to make their first-ever port calls in the Isle of Flow-ers between October 26, 2015 and August 31, 2016. The 22 ships represent some of the big-gest names in the cruise indus-try, including Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Glory, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Pride and Car-nival Sunshine, Costa Cruises’ Costa Favolosa and Costa Paci-fica, Celebrity Cruises’ Celeb-rity Equinox; Holland America Line’s Eurodam and Ooster-dam; Regent Seven Seas’ Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Navigator; and MSC Cruises’ MSC Orchestra.

By the end of the 2014-2015 seasons, which opened in

November 2014 and will close in April 2015, the Martinique Tour-ism Authority (MTA) will have handled around 220,000 cruise passengers and 176 scheduled port calls. In the 2015-2016, the MTA expects to welcome 181 port calls and nearly 360,000 passengers.

“Martinique continues to capture the imagination of the

cruise industry,” said Karine Roy Camille, Commissioner of the Martinique Tourism Authority. “With the wealth of new ships planning stops here in the coming year, passen-gers will enjoy a greater vari-ety of cruise vacation experi-ences than ever before. Truly, there’s never been a better time to cruise to Martinique.”

Martinique to handle record 22 maiden port calls in 2015-2016

Sixty Collective introduces new President for luxury lifestyle brand, Sixty HotelsSixty Collective, the com-pany formed in 2013 by Brothers Jason Pomeranc, Michael Pomeranc, Law-rence Pomeranc, and long-time collaborator Stephen Brandman committed to cre-ating 360-degree cultural experiences in hospitality environments, announced the appointment of Jim Biggar as President of their Sixty Hotels brand of properties, currently in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

The newly created position marks a positive step towards the company’s expansion plans of the luxury lifestyle hotel company which debuted in early 2014. Also, Biggar will oversee the day-to-day operations together with the revenue and financial growth of Sixty Hotels.

“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Jim Biggar to the newly created position of President of Sixty Hotels,” said Stephen Brandman, co-owner of Sixty Collective. “This new role fur-ther strengthens our exper-tise and allows my partners and I to focus on the future growth of the Sixty Hotel’s brand and other projects for Sixty Collective.”

Michael Pomeranc, co-owner of Sixty Collective remarked, “Jim’s wealth of experience in customer ser-vice and staff development is exactly what we need to enhance our service culture. He is a great addition to the company, and we believe he will help us take Sixty Hotels into the next phase of our development.”

Inflow of tourists to Uruguay increases by 11.6%Arrival numbers of tourists in Uruguay rose 11.6% this year as compared to 2014. Tourism Undersecretary Benjamin Liber-off said roughly 750,000 foreign tourists came to Uruguay during the peak Southern Hemisphere summer months.

Also, Uruguay is betting that the cruise industry will increase tourism and help create jobs, expand infrastructure and improve the country’s image. Tourism Minister Liliam Kechi-chian led the Uruguayan delega-tion to Cruise Shipping Miami, the world’s largest cruise indus-try conference, which drew more than 900 speakers and 11,000 participants from 125 countries.

“The most important factor is the economic activity gener-ated by services in the cities wel-coming cruise ships, which will generate about USD 40 million in revenues this year. There are many activities around the ship, vendors, sales of mineral water, fruit, fuel, and that makes us very happy,” Kechichian said.

Uruguayan ports have become a key destination for cruise ships, with some cit-ies listed as ‘must-visit’ sites on Latin American routes. The industry’s promising outlook has led the Uruguayan gov-ernment to count on the cruise industry in its efforts to attract more tourists.

At a recent meeting in Viña del Mar, Chile of the Provincial Gov-ernor of Easter Island, Marta Hotus, and Regional Direc-tor of Chile’s National Tourism Service (SERNATUR), Claudia Araos discussed about stimulat-ing tourism on the Easter Island, with work on the ground and the support of local organisations in both marketing and tourist ser-vices. They agreed to launch a project to enhance the presence of SERNATUR in the island territory.

The Director of SERNA-TUR, Valparaiso said, “Easter Island is our gateway to inter-national tourism and, regardless of whether the island is already established as a destination or not, we must work together with the public services in the island territory. Governance is one of the main ways to facilitate that.”

The governor also stressed the importance of tourism in the island territory, “We want to strengthen SERNATUR’s pro-vincial office in Easter Island;

we have taken a decision to ren-ovate existing agencies and to keep on boosting tourism on the island. The regional direc-tor has seen on the ground the activities undertaken with key partners such as the Chamber of Tourism, which has set out to market the island and the coun-try. This meeting focused on fur-ther strengthening these activi-ties in the coming months and years, because tourism is one of the most important activities in Rapa Nui.”

Travelport extends partnership with Accor hotels

Chile aims to boost Easter Island tourism

Travelport, leading Travel Commerce Platform provid-ing distribution technology, payment and other solutions for the USD 7 trillion global travel and tourism industry, declared signing a new con-tent agreement with Accor hotels, one of the world’s larg-est hotel groups, with more than 3,700 hotels and 470,000 rooms in 92 countries.

The new agreement gives Travelport’s 67,000 glob-ally connected travel agency customers continued access to Accor’s availability and room rates, as well as new and enhanced content. Accor also plans to take advantage of increased functionality from Travelport’s innovative point of sale solutions, by

providing rich static content directly from Travelport’s Hotel Content Plus database.

Keith Harrison, Head of Hotel Providers at Travel-port commented, “We are thrilled to extend our asso-ciation with Accor, one of the leading hotel groups in the world. Accor has dem-onstrated over the years its willingness to embrace new technology and innovation and our partnership over the years is testament to that. We are particularly pleased that Accor has recognised the increased opportunities our Travel Commerce Plat-form can help deliver and we look forward to working even closer together in future years.”

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 23 americas •

Mexico-based Grupo Vidanta, one of the largest and most-decorated developers of lux-ury resorts and tourism infra-structure in Latin America, announced their contribution to the filming of Spectre, the next instalment of the internationally popular James Bond franchise.

The film’s opening scene will be set in Mexico. In conjunction with Interjet Airlines and the Mexico Tourism Board, Grupo Vidanta, this was founded by Mexican resort Mogul Daniel Chavez Moran, who works to attract premier tourism projects such as the Bond film to the Mex-ican economy, and noted that the film’s production will create hundreds of new jobs locally.

Daniel Chavez, Vice Presi-dent for Grupo Vidanta said, “Tourism is one of the most important growing sectors for Mexico. We are proud to be part of the team – from both the private and public sectors – leading the recruitment and development of new enter-tainment and tourism projects that benefit all of Mexico. The fact that such a storied inter-national franchise as James Bond chose to film scenes of their latest blockbuster in Mexico is an honour and a tes-tament to the growing appeal of Mexico as a destination. We are grateful for the opportu-nity to help bring a new vision of Mexico to life.”

Grupo Vidanta Mexico funds millions in new Bond Film Spectre

The stone fortress of Kuelap, lying to the country’s north, is a lesser known spot in Peru that rivals the world famous ruins of Machu Picchu and it is about to be opened up to the world. The government has contracted a French-Peruvian consortium as plans for a cable car are finally going ahead and it is scheduled to open early next year.

According to a promotional video, the new route will involve a 3.5 km car journey from the village of Tingo Nuevo to the cable car, which will run for 4 km up to Kuelap and take less

than 20 minutes.Peru’s President, Ollanta

Humala, said that the new cable car could make Kuelap a ‘sec-ond Machu Picchu’, and some Peruvians are optimistic about the boost it will give to the Ama-zonas region. Last year, Kuelap received 41,000 visitors, but the Director of Trade and Tourism for the Amazonas, Segundo Mori, stated 100,000 people could come once the cable car is operating. “Kuelap really is fabulous,” he said. “It’s logi-cal this will improve tourism in the region.”

In 2016 Puerto Rico will wel-come the largest cruise ships in the world, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, both from the Royal Caribbean line, as declared by Puerto Rico Tourism Company’s Executive Director, Ingrid Rivera Roca-fort and Port Authority Exec-utive Director, Colberg Ingrid Rodriguez

Ingrid Rivera Rocafort said, “The arrival of the two ships represent an economic impact for Puerto Rico of approximately USD 6.4 mil-lion, only in this first season. With an average capacity of 6,000 passengers and 2,400 crew members, the ships will set sail from ports in Florida with seven-night itineraries, visiting several Caribbean destinations.”

“The port entrances of the cruises, Oasis of the Seas and

Allure of the Seas are evidence that we have recovered the strength and confidence of the cruise industry in the region,” said Colberg Rodriguez. “The arrival of both cruises is an achievement made possi-ble thanks to the expansion of Pier 3, that included an investment of USD 9.3 million

to place the Port of San Juan at a level that it deserves, and provide incentives to attract cruise ships. The demon-strated effort and interagency support between the port and Puerto Rico Tourism Com-pany have been key in the record number of cruise pas-senger arrivals to the country.”

Puerto Rico to receive world’s largest cruise ships in 2016

Tourists swarm to Cuba ahead of feared Americanisation

Cable car to link Kuelap - the new Machu Picchu

In order to flourish the unique character of Cuba as one of the world’s last remaining bas-tions of Communism, tourists swarm to Cuba to appreciate it. As many fear the country will soon be ‘Americanised’ due to warming relations with the United States, many are flock-ing to the island to take in the traditional flair.

The boom is just one sign that the rush is on to see Cuba now, as many predict, McDon-ald’s claims a spot in Old Havana and Starbucks moves in on Cubita, the island’s pre-mium coffee brand.

After Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro, Pres-ident of the Council of State of Cuba, announced a joint attempt to re-establish full

diplomatic ties between Wash-ington and Havana, a New York tour operator’s bookings to Cuba jumped 57%, in Febru-ary, they were up 187%, and so far, nearly 250%.

In the first trimester of 2015, a million tourists have made their way to Cuba, 14% more than the year before. Most vis-itors were from Canada, and the number of guests from countries including France, Germany, Italy and the UK increased markedly.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced an agreement with GH Pegasus to open Aloft Tijuana, Aloft Coatzacoalcos and Aloft Poza Rica by the end of 2017, and an agreement with Hoteles Real Chihuahua to unveil the Sher-aton Chihuahua Soberano Hotel, a strategic conversion, by November 2015.

“We are very excited to con-tinue to expand our reach in Latin America with our fast-growing Aloft brand and Sher-aton, our largest brand – both of which continue to be sought-after by investors and guests alike,” said Jorge Giannat-tasio, Senior Vice President and Chief of Operations for Starwood Latin America and the Caribbean. “2015 is off to a great start, and we are seeing strong growth momentum in

the region, particularly in Mex-ico, which continues to be the key driver.”

Aloft Asuncion in Paraguay, Aloft Montevideo in Uruguay and in Mexico Aloft Hermosillo are set to open in 2016, followed by Aloft Coatzacoalcos and Aloft Poza Rica in 2017.

“The addition of these new hotels is a testament to the

confidence owners have in Starwood and our brands,” said Victor Vazquez , Vice Pres-ident Acquisitions & Devel-opment, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Latin America. “Our pipeline is increasingly robust and we see many opportunities for all our distinctive brands in Mexico and throughout the region.”

Starwood Hotels & Resorts increase Latin America Portfolio with four new hotels in Mexico

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 24CAribbeAn

In 2015, St. Lucia’s tourism sec-tor took off very strong as per the government. Last year, St. Lucia set a record for the island with a total of 338,158 visitors’ arrivals, up six percent over 2013.

In January, St. Lucia saw a 14% development in arrivals with a total of 31,541 visitors. That was the largest number of stay over visitors in January in the island’s history, besting January 2005.

St. Lucia Tourism Director Louis Lewis said the growth was part of a strategy to ramp up arrivals from the North Ameri-can market.

“We are reaching out to the north American market via our

innovative summer campaign ‘Saint Lucia Rocks this summer,’ which offers exciting deals from

scores of industry partners,” said Louis Lewis, Director, St. Lucia Tourism.

Tourist arrival in St. Lucia goes up by 14% Jamaica Tourism to grow with new Hyatt hotelWith the opening of the newest all-inclusive resorts, the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara, at Rose Hall in Montego Bay, St. James, Jamaica’s tourism earnings are poised to increase.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said, “The sector for the quarter ending 2014, grew at a rate of approx-imately six percent, and this was achieved even while a number of rooms were out of service.”

Portia greeted Hyatt’s return to Jamaica as a mark of confidence in the brand and further proof that Jamaica’s

investment climate is positive. The hotel chain has employed some 1,000 persons in the pro-cess and pumped more than USD 85 million into the reno-vation of the iconic property, which was the original home of the Ritz Carlton Rose Hall.

Bahamas tourism figures up in January 2015According to the Bahamas Min-istry of Tourism preliminary tourism statistics show double digit increases in air arrivals and hotel occupancy. The tourism industry is expected to gain fur-ther momentum in 2015, as the Ministry of Tourism intensifies its promotional efforts, working in tandem with the travel trade to package and sell The Baha-mas in a number of key markets.

“We have definitely started the year on strong footing and I want to thank and encour-age our Tourism team, indus-try partners and stakeholders for their hard work. It is about working together to build stron-ger partnerships and we have an

inclusive, comprehensive tour-ism strategy in place to grow inbound travel. It builds on our collective strengths, the beauty and multiplicity of our islands, our heritage, our culture and the diversity of the product. Our goal is to grow tourism spend-ing to USD 2.8 billion this year as we work in partnership with global organisations and gov-ernments to secure an economic legacy for our country. The tim-ing could not be better for the Bahamas and together, we will continue to make major strides in tourism growth through-out 2015 and for many years to come,” said Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe.

The Guatemala Tourism Board is eager to show-case the country’s growing appeal, especially within the cruising sector. With numer-ous in-country investments made to improve the experi-ence, combined with its many nearby cultural attractions easily accessible to cruis-ers, Guatemala is placing an extra emphasis on this sec-tor, which plays an important role in the overall growth of the country’s tourism indus-try. Guatemala expects to welcome 79 cruises, and 16 more cruises are in the pro-cess of being negotiated.

“With over 120,000 pas-sengers arriving in Guate-mala via a cruise ship in the last six months of the 2014-2015 seasons, it is evident that business is steadily increas-ing,” said Diego Sierra, Direc-tor of Aviation and Cruises for the Guatemalan Tour-ism Board (INGUAT). “We expect an approximate 11% growth in the cruise industry during this year’s season which began in October and ends in April.”

“Guatemala most recently became the home port for British cruise line Noble Caledonia,” explains Pedro Duchez, Director of the Tourism Board. “This is a tremendous accomplish-ment for the destination. With these stops, 170 pas-sengers have layovers in the destination, which allows them to possibly extend their stay to experience more

in the country.” Visitors arriving on the

Caribbean coast can eas-ily visit attractions such as Rio Dulce and Quirigua, UNESCO declared heritage sites. For those arriving on the Pacific coast, Guatema-la’s famed city of Antigua, which boasts beautiful colo-nial architecture and charm-ing cobblestone streets, is nearby.

Guatemala concentrates in developing its cruise industry

Healthcare tourism increases in the CaribbeanAccording to an article outlin-ing ‘13 Opportunities for the New Caribbean’, healthcare tourism is listed as an opportu-nity for the Caribbean region. Healthcare tourism is a great opportunity and new hospi-tals could be built with two audiences in mind i.e. locals and health tourists - meaning a better quality of care at home and additional revenue.

Shomari Scott, Health City’s Marketing Director said, “These are two areas that we have fully embraced

at Health City. Given that there is only one incinerator on the island, this will not only pro-vide a second incineration option but it will also reduce transport of potentially harm-ful waste.”

The Health City execu-tive also reported that salt water air conditioning, “an extremely efficient, cutting edge, zero emission tech-nology will be introduced at Health City and will reduce our power demand by approx-imately 50%.”

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 25AfricA

Reunion Island Tourism (IRT) has launched 24 indi-vidual short videos to high-light the services and attrac-tions of the island, each covering a specific aspect of duration of just one min-ute - ‘Tourism Moments’ an immersive discovery of tour-ism business.

Each of the 24 different videos invites the viewer to discover variety. Vari-ous professionals explain the specific aspects of their business - the tourists who give their impressions on the destination’s attractions, the students who intend to work in the field of tourism, and high-level athletes who combine passion and pro-mote the destination as an adventure dream. The clips all have the same objective, informing the public about

the many professions and segments of the tourism sector.

This measure aims at facilitating the arrival of Indian tourists. Making most of this opportunity, Reunion Island is increasing the promotion of the desti-nation in the Indian Market. Representation World under the leadership of its partner, Vineet Gopal, will ensure the presence and visibility of Reunion Island in India.

India is among the top emerg-ing source markets for Zambia. Three years ago Zambia Tour-ism Board (ZTB) ventured into the Indian market and since then there has been a steady growth in tourist arrivals.

Starting with sales calls, ZTB plans to organ-ise roadshows (may be Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru) dur-ing the course of the year along with educational workshops and familiarisation (FAM) trips for tour operators and media. ZTB would also be ensuring presence over the social media to reach out to a wider num-ber of people, highlighted Felix Chaila, Managing Director, ZTB.

Chaila said, “Indian trav-ellers usually come down to Zambia for three to four days

and spend significantly. Thus, we are promoting Zambia as a stand-alone destination in India with connecting flights offered by Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airlines and Emirates.”

“The proximity to the Zam-bezi River and the spectacu-lar Victoria Falls has led Liv-ingstone to become a base for

travellers from all over the world wanting to explore this scenic attraction. We are keen on promoting adventure activ-ities in Livingstone such as white water rafting, canoeing, bungee jumping, walk with the lions along with the traditional cuisine and performances and MICE,” Chaila said.

Zambia Tourism Board expects 50% increase from Indian market this year

Zanzibar Tourism opens its first tourism promotion centre in India

Reunion Island Tourism launches 24 short videos to boost attractions and services

To promote Zanzibar as a tour-ism and investment destination in India, the Zanzibar Tourism Promotion Centre, India (ZTPC) was set up on February 17, 2015 under an agreement between the Ministry of Information, Cul-ture, Tourism & Sports, Zan-zibar (MICTS) and Jhil Enter-prises a part of the SRP Group.

ZTPC India was formally inaugurated on April 2, 2015 by Said Ali Mbarouk - Minister for Information, Culture, Tourism & Sports. It is entrusted with the task of strengthening Zanzibar’s relationship with India by asso-ciating and closely working with representative bodies in the var-ious spheres. It will also assist the MICTS and ZCT in critical investment issues and provid-ing consultation for capacity building, education, technology transfer, etc.

ZTPC is formed with an aim to stimulate and enhance the flow of tourists from India to Zanzibar and will rely on vari-ous modes of promotions to

• promoteZanzibar’sTour-ism offerings in India

• enhance awarenessamongst the business and travel fraternity as well as the popula-tion at large

• strengthen the exist-ing bond between India and Zanzibar.

Zanzibar offers tremen-dous tourism opportunities for family & FIT tours, destina-tion weddings & honeymoon-ers, sports enthusiasts (water sports, golfing & football), cor-porate incentives & MICE tours, events and a destination for film shootings.

On behalf of the government and the people of Zanzibar, the Tourism Minister, Said Ali

Mbarouk welcomes all Indians to visit Zanzibar. “Visit us and be part of our culture and her-itage. Give us the opportunity to display our hospitality and show you our beautiful island,” the Minister said.

Jilesh Babla, Director of ZTPC India said, “The centre will strengthen Zanzibar’s rela-tionship with India by associ-ating and closely working with representative bodies in the var-ious spheres. It will also assist MICTS and ZCT in critical investment issues and provid-ing consultation for capacity building, education, technol-ogy transfer, etc.”

Ethiopian Airlines to begin double daily flights to MumbaiEthiopian Airlines announ-ced that it has started dou-ble daily flights to Mumbai from March 2015. The airline currently has daily flights to Mumbai and New Delhi.

Both daily flights to Mumbai operates with the ultra-modern B787 Dreamliner aircraft, which offers passengers unparal-leled on-board comfort with the largest windows in the sky, higher level of cabin air humidity greatly reducing fatigue, high ceiling, the lat-est in-flight entertainment system and much reduced noise.

With the double daily flights to Mumbai, Ethio-pian aims to provide optimal connectivity options for pas-sengers travelling between India and its 49 destinations in Africa.

Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group said, “We are very

bullish on the prospects of Africa-India market. By increasing our frequency to double daily to Mumbai and expanding our code share agreement with Air India, fellow Star Alliance partner with the inclusion of domes-tic points in India and major destinations in Africa, we aim to become the airline of choice for travel between Africa and India by offer-ing seamless and convenient connections thru our main hub in Addis. Going forward, we plan to increase our cur-rent frequency to New Delhi and start operations to addi-tional destinations in south-ern India.”

Seychelles Tourism Board recently organised a familiarisation trip for Mumbai travel agents. The objective behind this trip was to create an understanding about the des-tination and establish relations for the Indian trade with the pri-vate sector in Seychelles. Rep-resentatives from travel com-panies including Cox&Kings, Indiana Travels, Erawan Trav-els and Vacations Exotica were part of the trip.

Commenting about this ini-tiative Sherin Naiken, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board said,

“We are seeing a steady increase in tourist arrivals from India. A major part of the credit can be attributed to our Indian travel trade partners for understand-ing the uniqueness of Seychelles islands and promoting the same to the traveller. We will continue to educate and support them through initiatives like FAM trips, trainings and roadshows.”

During the trip the agents explored four islands of Sey-chelles – Mahé, Praslin, La Digue and Curieuse. Island hopping is the ideal way to explore Sey-chelles. The islands are located

close to each other with regular boat and air services between the islands.

Lubaina Sheerazi, Head-Blue Square Consultants, Seychelles Tourist Office-India said, “The tour operators group who par-ticipated in the FAM trip loved the islands and are upbeat about its potential to become a sought after family, honeymoon, adven-ture, eco-tourism and well-ness holiday destination for the Indians. They are impressed with the diverse islands, their gorgeous secluded beaches, rare flora & fauna, adrenaline

pumping activities, delicious cuisine and friendly people. Seychelles is an unbelievably

hassle free destination with visa on arrival and gratis, and direct flight from Mumbai.”

Seychelles Tourism Board organises familiarisation trip for Indian travel agents

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 26EVENTS

The 62nd Annual Convention of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) successfully

concluded at The Westin Resort of Nusa Dua, Bali in Indonesia. The convention which took place at the Bali International Convention Centre (BICC) proved the popular destination of Bali still has many unique attractions for the Indian travellers.

In this year’s convention, eminent international speakers from over seven different nationalities interacted with the delegates during the business sessions. The speakers were from diverse backgrounds – niche travel companies,futurists, outbound and inbound champions, hospitality, technology, airlines as well as motivational speakers on creativity, innovation, brand management, media, and many more. Over 500 delegates registered for this year’s convention. There was an excellent participation of the Indonesia’s industry players too. The Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia together with all stakeholders of the Bali Tourism Board or GIPI (Gabungan Industru Pariwisata) supported this event. Some of the best hotels and resorts came up to host the TAAI delegates. The Ayodhya Resort in Nusa Dua hosted the media group.

The focus of the convention’s business sessions were on the following key areas that support successful strategising of travel & tourism business:• TheChallengetoremainRelevant• TheStrengthofbeingUnique–What’syourNiche?• EmbracingTechnology-Bridgingthegrowinggap• NewDistributionCapability-It’simpact!• BreakingTunnelledVisions• It’sallaboutValueThe convention’s theme ‘Reflections: Redefining

Relevance’ was decided with the aim of encouraging industry players to evolve in a changing environment that offers growing opportunities. Sustaining success in today’s vibrant marketplace is a huge challenge and one must be ready to reflect in order to initiate change and remain relevant.

In his opening keynote address Ashwini Kakkar, Executive Vice Chairman, Mercury Travels and Ex-President of TAAI spoke about VUCA World, an American term used for a world which is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. “Diseases like Ebola and SARS are impacting the travel business like never before. Terrorism, killings are all a reality today, which make one realise that VUCA World is here to stay. More than this, security and safety costs are being added to the operational costs of hotels, airlines and travel agents, which erode profitability. Under these conditions, travel agents have to take decisions, plan visits, and make sure tourists are safe and secure. And clearly it is our strength that we are surviving in this VUCA World,” Kakkar commented. He said new segments of travellers have also emerged—silver greys, single women travellers, techies, young travellers, wedding travellers, honeymooners, etc. Closer, Shorter, Cheaper and Later are the latest consumer travel behaviours.

Closer : travelling to nearby destinationsShorter : short-haul trips (long weekend) Cheaper : value for money (e.g. impulsive buying

when a flight ticket drops)later : last-minute booking

All the speakers on the panels touched upon various relevant issues, most important being the ongoing controversy on airline ticketing, airlines going into retailing, agents demanding their shares of commissions and the new distribution capabilities (NDC). The absence of direct flight between the two countries was brought into attention.

In his summary speech Joe Borg Oliver, President, UFTAA (United Federation of Travel Agents Associations) said, more interaction with IATA on the New Distribution Capability will help Indian agents to understand the subject better. UFTAA has been monitoring the introduction of the new system and will issue statements as and when necessary they are ready to bridge the gap whenever required.

The convention also gave an opportunity for TAAI members to interact with fellow members from 4 regions and 20 chapters. Usually the members do not get the opportunity to meet each other, and thus except for visiting travel fairs, the convention enabled the members to share their views, ideas, and opinions and get to know each other better. In addition, the

convention facilitated sharing of business details over networking lunches and dinners. With a view to further empower and educate the travel trade fraternity in India, TAAI launched a Preferred Partner Programme during the convention that aims to enable its members especially from Tier II and Tier III cities to interact with the international travel trade and suppliers. Further, the Indian Embassy hosted a Namaste India Dinner to connect TAAI delegates with the local Indonesian travel industry. Incredible India’s latest campaign in Indonesia,Sahabat India - Festival of India in Indonesia 2015 which is currently going on, was promoted in the evening too. There were arrangements for pre and post event familiarisation tours for the agents in and around Indonesia and Singapore as well.

TAAI Convention 2015 successfully concludes in Bali, Indonesia

Considering the great cultural connection

India and Indonesia share, we planned to use this TAAI convention to promote common cultural heritage through new destinations

and tourism products. While doing this convention in Bali, we did not actually have any bid, but we were amazed to get the kind of corporate industry support. We are able to do this successful convention with the participation of over 500 delegates and media due to the tremendous help we received from our supporting partners in Indonesia as well as in India.

sunil Kumar rPresident

TAAI (Travel Agents Association of India)

Over the years, the way our business is being

done has changed. We want to tell our members to do business in a way that is relevant to the current day and age. Travel agents are

not just ticketing agents; they have evolved as tour operators and offer many more services. The way the business is done needs to be changed as per industry demand.

Harmandeep singh anandSecretary General

TAAI (Travel Agents Association of India)

Nowadays, MICE is one of the premium

business that is being developed, promoted and supported by government in order to reach the target o f g e t t i n g m o r e

international visitors besides high revenue...We sincerely hope that this event further strengthens the bond between the two countries, create better understanding between the two governments and citizens of the two countries.

Esthy reko astutyDirector General of Tourism Marketing

Ministry of Tourism, Republic of Indonesia

The Devdan Show

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 27 events •

Joe Borg OliverPresidentUFTAA (United Federation of Travel Agents Associations)

Naresh RawalVice President - SalesStar Cruises (India)

Dhananjay SaliankarRegional Director (South Asia) Starwood Hotels

Bipan KapurManaging Director, The Westin Resort, Bali &Bali International Convention Centre

Niranjan L GuptaChief Executive OfficerTrip38 Technologies

Brad EdmanExecutive Area Director (Sales & Marketing)SE Asia, Marriott International

George SaundersChief Executive Officer (Asia)Cover•More

Marius DogeanuRegional Implementation Manager, NDCIATA (International Air Transport Association)

Karan AnandHeadCox & Kings (India)

Vishal DhuparManaging Director (South Asia)nVIDIA

Simon WardFounder & Managing DirectorBali Food Safari

Giam Ming TohChief Commercial OfficerVistara

Nischal BhasinGeneral Manager - SalesJet Airways

Ashwini KakkarExecutive Vice Chairman, Mercury TravelsFormer President, TAAI

The TAAI Congress went well. There was a lot of hard work put in, especially in the short time available to the organisers. There were a number of good speakers who made interesting presentations. UFTAA will help TAAI organise roadshows in various areas in India to assist its members in better understanding the NDC before it comes on stream in 2017.

Travel and tourism is the only industry in the last decade where service quality has gone up, but the concept of fair price has gone down. Today’s agents will have to adopt modern technology - Internet has made sure there is mass distribution of products and therefore agents need to understand the importance of mobile apps and cloud computing.

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 28 • events

The National Council of Tourism & Antiquities (NCTA), in association with various tourism

departments and authorities of the UAE, organised a three-city roadshow mission in India. Called ‘Seven Emirates One Destination’, the roadshow com-menced at The Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi on March 16, followed by the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai on March 18 and at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Bengaluru on March 20. The seven Emirates of UAE came under one roof to showcase their prime attractions, and exhibited exciting packages and the schemes they have for tour operators, travel agents, MICE and other trav-ellers. Participants saw representations from Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Ajman, Umm Al Qaiwain and Abu Dhabi.

The National Council for Tourism and Antiques launched this roadshow mission comprising tour-ism representatives from national aviation compa-nies, travel and tourism companies, and hotels to promote tourism in India and to provide them with special offers tailored to meet the Indian market with its needs. The aim was to promote the other cities apart from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which are already popular among Indians. Alongside, were the leading travel carriers to UAE, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia and Emirates that presented their schemes and pack-ages of different price ranges and offers.

The events saw participation of around 35 exhib-itors from UAE and had around 300 plus visitors attending the roadshows.

HE Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb Al Muhairi, Director General of the National Council for Tour-ism and Antiquities stated, “The Indian market is one of the major markets contributing to the tour-ism industry in the world and the UAE in particu-lar, due to the geographical proximity and the ancient cultural ties between India and the Gulf.” He said that the roadshows were organised under the #Vis-itUAE launched by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan

bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Chairman of the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities, on the Internet to promote UAE’s tourism through information and pictures.

Over the last few years, India has remained a key source market for UAE. Abdullah Saleh Al Ham-madi, Director, Marketing & Overseas Promotions, United Arab Emirates Council of Tourism & Antiqui-ties informed, “The arrivals have definitely increased in the past years. We are here as the federal body to highlight more on each Emirate to increase the tour-ist arrivals furthermore by showcasing best of each region.”

Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Director General, Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority stated, “For us, the Indian market is a big potential market. In 2013-14, we have seen an increase of 41% in hotel guests in Sharjah which is almost 123,000 guests. Latest figures show an increase of 13% in the first quarter of 2015 of Indian travellers in compar-ison to same period last year. We now want to dou-ble our efforts in India.” In an endeavour to increase the tourist arrivals, Sharjah has taken initiatives of which routing their national carrier is one among many. He further added, “Our national carrier, Air Arabia, is one of the most successful budget airlines

worldwide that flies to 13 cities in India to provide better connectivity to Indian market.”

Sunny Augustine, Executive Director, White Sands Tours & Travels, who played an instrumen-tal role in the organising this India mission, shared his observation, “When we first participated in the NCTA roadshow couple of years ago, India was prob-ably placed as third or fourth source market for UAE. But after we participated in the roadshows we gained India as the second largest market for us. After this year’s roadshows, we hope India will become the largest source market for UAE.”

Participating for the first time, Fujairah show-cased their serene, natural sea and luxurious hotels set by the coastline that offer ‘something for all’ price ranges. Kadeeja Almesmari, Tourism Guidance in-Charge Section, Fujairah Tourism & Antiquities Authority, Government of Fujairah added, “We’re hopeful of creating good response and great co-oper-ation with India and looking forward to increase in arrivals.”

Mohamed Khater, Business Development Man-ager, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority said, “Arrival trends to Ras Al Khaimah have been low until now and more awareness needs to be created on that. We have many special offers for each segment like the travellers, MICE industry, tour operators and we are positioning Ras Al Khaimah as a global luxury destination for leisure, adventure and business travel.”

The strategy to promote UAE as a tourist desti-nation also opens up more doors for the destination managers and tour operators. Sunny Augustine con-cluded, “We will now have more options for our tar-get audience as popular places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi are quite full. Plus, this particular roadshow is a federal level of initiative which will give more opportunity for DMCs in Dubai and new agents in India to interact and progress more.”

Seven Emirates, One Destination NCTa conducts roadshows in India

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 29 events •

The Arabian Travel Market 2015 will take place from May 4 to 7 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Last year ATM saw total attendance increase by 12% with 33,000 participants, from more than 131 countries and business deals signed worth more than USD 2.1 billion over the four days. There were more than 2,700 exhibitors and stand-sharers from 85 countries.

The ATM seminars will cover travel technology and other key industry issues such as luxury travel trends, business travel and aviation. Also featuring are issues such as visitor trails, helping visitors identify the spe-cific travel sectors on the show floor including: family travel, budget travel, business travel, health & wellbe-ing, shopping, transportation, sports travel, cultural and heritage and adventure travel.

Luxury family travel on the rise in the regionThe number of wealthy families making travel a

high-spend priority is on the rise, and this will be a major focus of the ATM 2015 seminar series as the region’s inbound and outbound travel professionals look to capitalise on this niche market opportunity. As per the YouGov survey, the words judged to best describe lux-ury travel are differentiation (33%), discovery (31%) and exclusivity (27%). A contingent of 25 luxury exhibitors will also be present on the show floor, taking part in the ILTM @ ATM hosted buyer meetings programme. They will also contribute their professional exper-tise and experience in the luxury family travel arena to the discussion. Atlantis, The Palm will be the Offi-cial Luxury and Leisure Host Hotel for the duration of the four-day event, hosting the ILTM buyer group and international buyers from outside the GCC.

USD45.3 bn Saudi tourism marketSaudi Arabia’s USD11.6 billion worth of tourism

projects currently underway in the country will under-score the strength of the industry as the country looks to build on domestic and religious tourism totaling an estimated USD 45.3 billion at this year’s ATM.

Egypt to display tourism projects worth USD 5.3 bn Egypt’s resurgent tourism sector, boosted by a 23.6%

increase in tourism revenues last year, new tourism projects worth USD 5.3 billion, allied with its unrivaled heritage, ancient tombs and Pyramids, will no doubt participate with renewed confidence at this year’s ATM 2015. According to Egypt’s Tourism Minister, Hisham Zaazou, the country registered a 4.5% increase in

inbound tourist numbers in 2014, with 10 million arriv-als compared to 9.55 million in 2013. Tourism revenues also rose year-on-year by 23.6%, an increase of USD7.5 billion, up from USD5.9 billion in 2013.

USD 2 bn investment to underpin Kuwait showcase Kuwait’s goal of welcoming one million tour-

ists will be their focus at ATM as the Kuwait Gov-ernment’s current five-year plan for travel and tour-ism sector development reaches a climax for all

sectors of the industry. World Travel and Tourism Council predictions put tourist arrivals at 440,000 by 2024 - up from 270,000 in 2014 - and the govern-ment has ploughed USD13 billion into infrastructure development, which is accelerating opportunities for Kuwait’s tourism sector as a whole.

Lebanon banking on regional tourism demandLebanon’s tourism industry is showing early signs

of improvement in 2015. Tourist arrivals increased for the ninth month in a row in February 2015, up year-on-year by 20.5% in the first two months of the year. In April 2014, Lebanon’s Ministry of Tourism launched its ‘Live, Love, Lebanon’ campaign and this was a clear indicator of the government’s commitment to reviving

the country’s tourism prospects as a major economic driver.

Oman to showcase USD 3.3 bn worth of projectsWith more than USD 3.3 billion worth of high profile

tourism projects currently under development in the Sultanate of Oman, the country is rapidly expanding its existing tourism offering with luxury brand lead-ers set to make their hospitality debut and a number of important tourism and cultural projects also near-ing completion. The much talked about projects include long awaited Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre and the Mall of Oman.

Qatar to showcase major tourist and venue attraction

Projects totaling Dollar 8.48 billion are currently underway that will set Qatar up as a major tourist and venue attraction. The total number of projects planned or underway include 5 museums and libraries; 57 hotels and resorts; 22 shopping venues; 21 sports facilities; 11 theme parks, 6 convention centers; and a state-of-the-art theatre (MEED).

India, Japan and Nepal shortlisted for ATM New Frontiers Recovery Award 2015

ATM has nominated India, Japan and Nepal for the New Frontiers Recovery Award 2015 for dealing with the dual trauma of significant human and economic losses in the last 12 months due to devastating natu-ral catastrophes, their effect on local tourism and their remarkable efforts to recover. A landslide on July 30, 2014, struck sleeping residents in the village of Malin, Maharashtra (India) burying 44 houses and result-ing in 151 deaths – almost half the population of the village. Despite rescue services sending up to 100 ambulances and 7 JCBs to dig for survivors, poor road conditions and continuing rain hampered efforts. Tour-ism to the area fell by almost 50% resulting in severe loss of business.

aTM Dubai 2015 to focus on luxury family travel

Argentina Tourism recently com-pleted its four city interactive training which was held in Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Chennai. The module labelled ‘Discover the Wonders of Argen-tina’ consisted of an in-depth under-standing of the various cities, diverse landscapes, mind-blowing attractions, natural wonders, unique cruises, among the many other temptations. These train-ing seminars were conducted in continu-ation to the promotional activities which commenced in January 2015 which included roadshows in Mumbai, Banga-lore and Kolkata, followed by trade show participation at the OTM in Mumbai.

Medha Sampat, Director, ‘Knack’

Marketing (India Representative for Argentina Tourism) said, “We received a terrific response from the trade in these cities. The main aim of these training pro-grammes was to educate the travel trade on the destination. Argentina is a new product in the Indian Market. We have noticed that there is a strong demand for new destinations from these cities. When a country offers so much, it is imperative that the trade needs to understand the destination in order to be able to pack-age it creatively, propose it correctly and offer extraordinary experiences to their clients. We will continue to work even more closely with our partners and sup-port them in every possible way!”

Argentina Tourism conducts training seminars in 4 Indian cities

This trend for luxury family travel offers opportunities for tour operators to create tailor-made packages that take into

account not only family needs, but also the cultural considerations unique to the MENA region, and this opens up tremendous marketing opportunities. Luxury, and family luxury travel in particular, is a trend to watch, and one that will be covered extensively at this year’s show.

Nadege NobletExhibition Manager

Arabian Travel Market

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | april 2015 30 • events

ITB Berlin 2015 proves the importance of personal exchanges and meetings in the age of Go Digital

Canada conducts B2B meetings and education program in three cities

The Canadian Tourism Com-mission (CTC) organised meetings and education pro-gram for travel agents in three cities. The business meet-ings with Canadian sellers as well as the education sessions took place in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru from 23 to 26 March, 2015. The B2B sessions was attended by Canadian travel partners who updated the travel agents on the unique travel products in Canada.

The sessions were held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai, The Lalit Great East-ern in Kolkata and the Taj Vivanta in Bengaluru. Some of the participating Canadian sellers were Air Canada, Banff LakeLouise Tourism, Cal Tours, Fairmont, Hornblower, Jasper Tourism, Ontario Tour-ism Marketing Partnership Corporation (OTMPC), Tour-ism Calgary, VIA Rail.

SanJeet, India Represen-tative, Canadian Tourism

Commission said, “In 2015, CTC will be focussing on the newly added Canadian Sig-nature Experiences (CSE). Besides Delhi and Mumbai, we would also be targeting the Tier II and Tier III cities through education programs. Empha-sis will also be on first-hand experience of the destination via trade FAM trips and atten-dance at Rendez-vous Canada (RVC).”

Canada has recorded an increase of 19.3% Indian tourist arrivals in the year 2014 with a positive growth in each month in comparison to 2013. San-Jeet added, “India is a lucrative market for Canada. Having shown a growth of about 20% proves that Indians are look-ing at exploring Canada for its uniqueness. It offers the most refreshing and thrilling itiner-aries. From scenic beauty, shop-ping, adventure to train jour-neys, Canada has everything to offer for Indian travellers”.

Despite international crises and the risk of political conflict around the world, as the 2015 holiday season begins the eco-nomic prospects for the global travel industry could not be bet-ter for the months to come. With the curtains coming down on ITB Berlin 2015, the main con-clusions were: boosted by fall-ing energy prices, reduced interest rates, low inflation and positive economic forecasts for the Eurozone and North Amer-ica, the travel industry has high expectations as the 2015 travel season beckons. Con-sumers are keen to travel. Wage increases and a consistently sta-ble employment market cou-pled with the falling cost of liv-ing have significantly increased spending. More than ever, this is why people are willing to spend their money on holidays. The luxury travel segment in par-ticular stands to benefit.

ITB Berlin 2015 saw 10,096 exhibitors from 186 countries who were represented in 26 display halls, which were fully booked. Overall, some 115,000 trade visitors (2014: 114,000) travelled to Berlin. The share of trade visitors from abroad increased to 43% (2014: 40%). These visitors also remained

longer at ITB Berlin because they did good business, with the average duration of a stay rising to 2.4 days (2014: 2.1 days). According to estimates by Messe Berlin the volume of sales increased from around 6.5 billion Euros in 2014 to 6.7 bil-lion Euros.

Trends at ITB Berlin 2015 included the massive rise in the use of mobile devices to book trips, a phenomenon that has now become the norm. Improved software means that travel websites are becom-ing more attractive and eas-ier to use. Hotels are also wit-nessing the impact of digital trends. Smartphone functions are increasingly taking over from room keys. Travel apps are developing rapidly and becom-ing ever more widespread with the use of latest-generation smartphones.

Despite the internet having brought about lasting change to the travel world with new travel apps and meta-search engines, tourists continue to entrust the task of booking the time of the year they enjoy most with their local travel agency. With their ability to offer per-sonal assistance travel agencies are quite capable of positioning

themselves as important sales channels in the face of online travel portals and social media and their relentless rise.

According to Messe Berlin all the main travel destinations will benefit from the prevailing pos-itive mood: big European cities, Mediterranean countries and faraway destinations.

Decision-makers and opin-ion-formers debated the key topics concerning the travel industry at a total of 200 events which took place in eight audi-toriums. This year the focus was on the sharing econ-omy which was the subject of numerous panel discussions and exclusive surveys.

Despite the warm spring

weather around 60,000 mem-bers of the general public flocked to the display halls on the weekend to find out about the wide range of information available from exhibitors.

Oyunkhorol Dulam-suren, Minister of the Envi-ronment, Green Development and Tourism of Mongolia said, “As the official partner coun-try of ITB this year, we suc-ceeded in showcasing Mongo-lia’s unique tourism products, destinations and nomadic life-style to the world. Also we showed you that Mongolia is an enigmatic, dynamic coun-try with many natural and cul-tural resources. I am very pos-itive that the results of ITB will

bring Mongolian tourism a new boost.”

In addition to 127 foreign del-egations three royal highnesses and 95 ambassadors travelled to the event. 47 ministers from for-eign countries, 11 deputy minis-ters from abroad and a number of foreign state secretaries were also present.

Maldives will be the Offi-cial Partner Country of ITB Berlin 2016.

The Maldives Roadshow held in Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi cre-ated a very positive response among the Indian travel trade and media community recently. The roadshow was held to further increase its market share from India. Mal-dives continues to remain the eighth-most popular destina-tion from India for outbound travel.

Organised by the Mal-dives Marketing and PR Cor-poration (MMPRC), 11 repre-sentative partners from the tourism industry of Maldives participated at the roadshow together with MMPRC. They were Trans Maldivian Air-ways Pvt Ltd, Bandos Island Resort and Spa, Atoll Discov-ery PVT LTD, Reollo Travel, Let’s Go Maldives, Sun Siyam Resorts, Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa, Adaaran Resorts, Canopus Akuasun Mal-dives Pvt Ltd, Bathala Island Resort. Air India collaborated with MMPRC as the Airline partner for this roadshow. Hussein Lirar, Deputy Tour-ism Minister, Maldives who was present for all four roadshows said, “India is a very important market for us and we are confident that we will see an increase in num-bers from here as Maldives is a

destination that offers a com-plete experience for everyone – whether it is honeymoon travel or as a family holiday.”

Reena Abdul Wahid, Mar-keting Officer, MMPRC was also part of the contingent for the roadshow gave a pre-sentation on Maldives to the assembled audience in each city and talked about the var-ious offerings that Maldives has for the tourist. “Hosting the roadshow will further increase arrivals from India.”

An overwhelming response was received from the Indian travel trade for the Maldives roadshow, indicat-ing their level of interest in the destination. The attend-ees in each city included tour

wholesalers, travel agents and media from India. Raffle draws was held in each city with holidays in Maldives, hotel stays and many other goodies being won by the attendees.

Indians made up 3.8% of the visitors to the Maldives up to December 2014. A total of 45,587 visitors from India visited Maldives last year which is a growth of 19.9% compared to year 2013. Mal-dives offers free visa on arrival for all nationalities which is a further boost for the Indian traveller.

2015 will see a focus to strengthen existing relation-ships and jointly working with the airlines.

Maldives conducts 4 city roadshow, receives overwhelming response

More than ever ITB Berlin ful-

fils the function of the world’s leading

think tank and a shop win-dow for the travel industry. This is where the opportunities and risks are debated and the potential impact of the shar-ing economy on the interna-tional travel industry is ana-lysed. Over the past few days ITB Berlin has provided fur-ther evidence of how impor-tant personal exchanges and meetings between people are for an industry that is increas-ingly dominated by the digital transition.

Dr Christian GökeChoef Executive Officer

Messe Berlin

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts stated that it has achieved World Wild-life Fund (WWF) Climate Sav-ers Program targets, reducing its operational CO2 emissions by 20% below 2006 levels. In doing so, the luxury hotel brand known for its industry leading sustainability programming becomes the first hotel brand and Canadian-based Company to meet this ambitious environ-mental goal.

WWF’s Climate Savers Pro-gram was designed to inspire companies to change their think-ing about climate solutions, while also encouraging them to trans-form themselves into low-car-bon leaders. This leaves member companies better placed to avoid carbon-related risks while real-ising opportunities within their long-term business strategies.

“According to the United Nations, emissions generated directly from the tourism sector account today for five percent of global CO2 emissions but may be higher. When Fairmont joined WWF’s Climate Savers Pro-gram in 2009, our mandate was to help address this issue as part

of our long standing commit-ment to sustainability,” said Jane Mackie, Vice President, Fair-mont Brand. “Achieving this goal is a testament to our colleagues’ commitment to their local com-munities. Thanks to their hard work, and through the purchase of Renewable Energy Certifi-cates, we have removed as much CO2 as is generated by 13,569 pas-senger vehicles.”

Since its founding over a cen-tury ago, Fairmont has worked to deepen its connection to the environment and communities where it conducts business. This mindset led to the launch of the highly acclaimed and industry-leading Green Partnership Pro-gram, now known as the Fair-mont Sustainability Partnership, a comprehensive approach to reducing the company’s impact on the environment, and to the brand embracing the Climate Savers Program.

“Leading companies like Fair-mont are proving that strong environmental action leads to business success,” said David Miller, President and CEO, WWF-Canada. “Successful

actions like these are critical to mitigating the devastating impacts of climate change on people and nature.”

In London, The Savoy, a Fair-mont Managed Hotel established itself as one of the greenest hotels in the city by adding new energy efficient boilers, smart meters, and a waste management sys-tem that recycles up to 90% of the property’s waste and converts it into an energy source. The iconic hotel also installed a centralised compressor plant for all kitchen walk-in fridges and freezers, which reclaims waste-heat and produces savings of GBP 38,500 annually.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts achieves global CO2 reduction target

GreenLeaders, TripAdvisor’s new sustainable hotel pro-gramme, aims to “give consum-ers around the world a sim-ple way to make greener travel choices, right at the point at which they are making that decision”. 8,000 hotels are already participating and earn-ing green badges on the popular travel review site.

The TripAdvisor Green-Leaders programme allows hotels to self-report their work on sustainability. The informa-tion they provide is then vali-dated by random or investigative audits, as well as by TripAd-visor’s network of reviewers who are asked to point out any discrepancies noticed during their stay.

To receive a green badge, a hotel must show demonstra-ble commitment, which at the very minimum includes linen and bath towel reuse. Hotels around the world are adopt-ing a wide variety of green pol-icies and practices today. These

may include direct guest experi-ences, such as an organic menu in the restaurant, or background efforts such as efficient lighting and grey water recycling.

TripAdvisor worked with the United Nations Environ-mental Program (UNEP) as well as with organisations such as the Carbon Trust and Energy-Star in designing this program. “Transparency is at the heart of sustainability,” stated Jenny Rushmore, Director of Market-ing for TripAdvisor.

According to Harold Good-win, founder of the Interna-tional Centre for Responsible Tourism, GreenLeaders pro-gram is a “game changer.” The day TripAdvisor launched GreenLeaders in Europe, the interest was so huge that the website crashed. TripAdvi-sor also commands substan-tial peer influence on con-sumer choice because the site links to Facebook, enabling users to share their reviews over social media.

Hotel Verde in Cape Town impresses global tourism leadersUNWTO Secretary-General, Dr Taleb Rifai, and President and CEO of WTTC, David Scow-sill, visited South Africa to deliberate with the government and public sector stakeholders around the topics of respon-sible and sustainable tourism growth.

“Fortunately, it is possible to build a tourism economy that is both responsible and inclusive,” said Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom. “Working with

institutions like the UNWTO, the UN specialised agency for tourism, and the WTTC, the global industry association for travel and tourism, we must ensure that tourism growth is compatible and supportive of the global Sustainable Devel-opment Goals that we hope to adopt in September, and the global post-2020 climate change pact that we hope will be agreed to in December this year.”

In lieu of this comment the

delegation from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the World Travel Tour-ism Council (WTTC) did a site inspection at the acclaimed Hotel Verde in Cape Town’s air-port precinct.

Hotel Verde is South Afri-ca’s greenest hotel and it is the first hotel in Africa to offer car-bon-neutral accommodation and conferencing. Hotel Verde is also the first hotel in Africa to

achieve the Platinum LEED cer-tification level, as assigned by the United States Green Build-ing Council.

Dr Rifai commented, “I am very impressed by Hotel Verde and even though their environ-mental impact may be consid-ered very small on a global scale, the fact that they are able to inspire their staff’s behaviours and spirit, in terms of being a leader in Responsible Tourism, make them stand out above the

rest. Coupled this with the fact that they have proven on the triple bottom line that going green can be economically, via-ble, profitable and sustainable; makes Hotel Verde an inspira-tion for the tourism sector and the Africa continent.”

Mövenpick Hotel in Nuremberg-Airport promotes sustainability The 4-star property Möven-pick Hotel Nuremberg -Airport in Germany, situated next to Nuremberg Airport, is the per-fect location for business trav-ellers and guests alike. It also offers the convenience of the local metro station at its front door. Green Globe congratu-lates Mövenpick Hotel Nurn-berg-Airport on its re-certifi-cation for the third year and its magnificent compliance score of 95%.

Alwin Burkhart, General Manager at Mövenpick Hotel Nurnberg-Airport said, “Doing commercial business in a sus-tainable way really makes sense and it is much easier to do than people think. A common sense approach has been upheld by the management team of the Mövenpick Hotel Nurnberg-Airport since the latest re-cer-tification by Green Globe this year. After the implementation

of the programme, all employ-ees have had several training sessions online and in practice. This helped change their behav-iour and now it is quite normal to think sustainably and with-out any effort.”

Energy, water and waste reduction targets are regularly reviewed and strategic manage-ment plans implemented. The hotel has installed water-sav-ing showerheads and faucets,

dual flush toilets and taps with motion sensors in guest bath-rooms to conserve water. And to reduce energy and water usage, guests staying longer than one night are invited to participate in environmental initiatives by reusing towels and only chang-ing bed linen every third day. Furthermore, biodegradable cleaning products are preferred and guests provided with eco-friendly shampoos and soap.

TripAdvisor’s GreenLeaders Program helps travellers select sustainable hotels

TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST | APril 2015 • 31rEsPONsIBlE TOurIsM

Mekong Tourism Forum to promote green tourismThe 2015 Mekong Tourism Forum is set to be hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam in Da Nang City on the beautiful central coast on 16 to 19 June, 2015. Under the theme, ‘Unlocking the Poten-tial of the Mekong Region via Innovative Partnerships’, the tourism event for the Mekong region will showcase emerg-ing tourist destinations and trends in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).

The Mekong Delta Green Tourism Week in 2015 is also organised from June 18 to 24 which includes six main events of meetings, confer-ences, fairs, investment pro-motion in green tourism, solu-tions for tourism connections and development between localities in the region. The program is expected to spur developments in the regional

tourism, contributing to the region’s socio-economic growth.

The event will draw the participation of provinces and cities with tourism strength nationwide and other large cities in the Greater Mekong Sub-region countries of Cambodia, Thailand, Myan-mar, Laos and a number of foreign organisations and businesses.

The General Statistic Office (GSO) has revealed the number of inbound arriv-als for January jumped 6.6% on-month to an estimated 700,692 tourists.

Tourism Authority of Thailand New Delhi Office:A - 12/4, (GF) Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057 Tel: 91-11-46741111, 41663567-9 | Fax: 91-11-41663570Email: tatdel@tat.or.th | www.facebook.com/tat.newdelhiTourism Authority of Thailand Mumbai Office:45 Free Press House, 4th Floor, 215 Free Press Journal Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021 | Tel: 91-22-22042727-8Fax: 91-22-22042729 | Email: tatmumbai@tat.or.th www.facebook.com/tat.mumbai

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