Express Travelworld (Vol.13, No.1) February, 2018

Sports

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Budget’s infra boost is welcome

T

he much awaited Union Budget 2018 has been announced. Development across transport services is the common thread that binds them all, be it rail, air or road infrastructure plans. The story was all about upgradation and upscaling the current systems and services. This indeed is a welcome move only if delivered and implemented within a respectable time-frame for the citizens to benefit.

Another interesting announcement was that of heritage development and upgradation, which was long overdue. This move should give an impetus to inbound tourism, which as per inbound operators, has taken a hit. Domestic tourism, which is truly India tourism, will certainly benefit from such development initiatives. The industry is happy that the Budget has laid great emphasis on infrastructure development to boost tourism.

In our February 2018 cover story, we list out

“This move should give an impetus to inbound tourism, which as per inbound operators,has taken a hit.

Domestic tourism, which is truly India tourism,will certainly benefit from such development initiatives”

10 of the unique and popular travel apps (some of them available only in India) that have helped travellers simplify their trips. Travel agencies can use these as role models to develop their own apps and incorporate them into their customer interaction platforms to get to a new level of visibility with the new generation of travellers.

Travel mobile apps are a direct tool to reach your customer base as millennials spend most of their time online and connected to their smartphones.

An emerging technology that will have a revolutionary impact on the travel industry is Artificial Intelligence. You will discover how in a few interesting technology focused articles we have featured in this issue.

REEMA LOKESH Editor editorial.etw@expressindia.com

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EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD

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February 2018

CONTENTS MANAGEMENT Vol 13 No 1 February 2018 Pages 40

28

Chairman of the Board

Viveck Goenka Sr Vice President - BPD

Neil Viegas Editor

Reema Lokesh* Assistant Editor

Steena Joy

NOVA SCOTIA'S MARITIME LEGACY One of Canada's three maritime provinces that form Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia has a long history of shipping.

Nowhere is this more prominent than in Lunenburg and Mahone Bay, two scenic port towns close to Halifax, the provincial capital. From the much photographed lighthouse in Peggy's Cove to Bluenose, Nova Scotia's sailing ambassador, the province has many treasures to discover

Sr. Associate Editor

Sudipta Dev CONTENT TEAM New Delhi

Saloni Bhatia DESIGN National Design Editor

Bivash Barua Assistant Art Director

Pravin Temble Chief Designer

Prasad Tate Senior Designer

Rekha Bisht Graphics Designer

EDGE

Gauri Deorukhkar Senior Artists

Ratilal Ladani, Rajesh Jadhav

GOING THE APPWAY

DIGITAL TEAM Head of Internet

Viraj Mehta Web Developer

Dhaval Das SCHEDULING & COORDINATION

Santosh Lokare Photo Editor

Sandeep Patil MARKETING Regional Heads

Harit Mohanty - East & West Prabhas Jha - North

Travel apps are high potential business tools for monetisation and revenue generation. Travel agents would do well to tap their potential to reach the next level of customer engagement and market penetration.

Express TravelWorld explores the travel app landscape

(24-27)

Marketing Team

Debnarayan Dutta Ajanta Sengupta CIRCULATION

Mohan Varadakar PRODUCTION

B R Tipnis Manager

DO YOU HAVE AN APPETITE FOR A BUFFET? PATA launches food waste campaign

LIFE

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MARKETS

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General Manager

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INDUSTRY GIVES THUMBS UP TO INFRA BOOST IN BUDGET

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HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY HAILS SAFETY AS TOP PRIORITY

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Bhadresh Valia Express TravelWorld® POSTAL REGD. NO. MCS/163/2016 – 18

INTERBVIEW WITH PRASAD RAI, VICE PRESIDENT, APPLICATIONS, ORACLE INDIA

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE ECO SYSTEM India ranks 6th in Sustainable Tourism Index

RNI Reg. No.MAHENG/2005/15993 Printed by The Indian Express (P) Ltd. and published by Ms Vaidehi Thakar on behalf of

P03 : EDITOR’S NOTE

The Indian Express Press, Plot No. EL-208, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai -

P36 : MOVEMENTS

400710 and Published from Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021.

(Editorial & Administrative Offices: Express

P37 : WEEKEND

Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai – 400021)

Copyright © 2017 The Indian Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. *Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act

IN THE NEWS

Industry gives thumbs up to infra boost in Budget ETW Staff Mumbai In a bid to put the flagging revenues of the national transporter back on track, finance minister Arun Jaitley recently announced a capital expenditure allocation of `1.48 cr for the railways, the highest ever. However, no major new trains were announced and the focus was more on modernisation and passenger safety. The 92-yearold practice of a separate Railway budget was discontinued last year and was merged with the Union Budget.

Jaitley said redevelopment of 600 major railway stations had been taken up. All railway stations with more than 25,000 footfall would have escalators, CCTVs and Wi-Fi facilities set up. Moreover, a specialised railway university will come up at Vadodara, which will serve as the training centre for manpower required for high-speed railway projects. The Railway capex has been pegged at `1.48 lakh cr , up from `1.31 lakh cr last year.

The government has allocated `11,000 crore to the Mumbai rail network and `17,000 cr for the Bengaluru metro. Also, 150 km of additional suburban railway networks will be set up in Bengaluru at the cost of `17,000 cr.

The government will even eliminate 4267 unmanned rail crossing in broad gauge in two years.

In aviation, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has 124 airports and it is proposed to increase the number by at least five times one billion trips a year. Moreover, `60 cr has been allocated to kickstart the initiative. The UDAN Scheme will connect 64 unconnected airports across the country.

Apart from aviation, 99 cities have been selected for smart cities project with an out-

lay of `2.04 trillion and 10 prominent tourist sites to be developed as iconic tourist spots.

National Highways exceeding 9,000-km will be completed in 2018-19 and regional air connectivity scheme shall connect 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads.

Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com, said, “We are happy that the budget has laid great emphasis on infrastructure development to boost tourism. The continued focus on UDAN, railway infrastructure, building tourist corridors, enhancing connectivity by starting operations in 56 unserved airports reflects the government’s commitment to the tourism sector. Airport capacity enhancement will boost tourist flows and strengthen connectivity to a large extent. The creation of 10 prominent tourist sites will lead to an escalation in tourism and is very welcome. We were hopeful that the government would bring ATF under GST so as to reduce airline costs and keep fares low to ensure continued growth in Indian air travel market.”

Ajay K Bakaya, managing director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said, “The positives in the budget are rail infrastructure, Bharatmala project, impetus to farmers, Heritage City Development, and healthcare. The

move towards solar energy and operation green are welcome.

However, `60 cr to push airport capacity is too little and nothing concrete has been done to combat pollution. The lack of relief in taxes to companies with a turnover of below `250 cr and taxing long term capital gains are also in the negatives.”

Simon Fiquet, general manager, Southeast Asia and India, Expedia, said, “The government has presented a budget that charts an all-inclusive development plan for sectors pegged to be future growth drivers for the country. The budget continued its strong focus on strengthening, expanding and upgrading the tourism infrastructure in India. In aviation - rounded development has been targeted from increased regional connectivity and access through regional airports and expansion of UDAN scheme to Airports Authority of India bolstering a five times capacity expansion, to accommodate one billion trips a year. Railways and Roadways have seen a major outlay for expansion and upgradation, be it wi-fi for entertainment or setting up cctv cameras for better surveillance , ease of travel through modernisation of toll, use of disaster resilient infrastructure and safety first policy for security.

Additionally, the emphasis on the developing 10 tourism sites into iconic sites and enhancing tourist amenities at 110 Adarsh monument sites will not only contribute to more international footfalls but also hugely augment the domestic tourism revenue of the country, in the years to come. The expansion of Swachh Bharat Mission and launch of Operation Green will also build a clean and green India for attracting more tourists and delivering an international experience. The budget with a holistic development outlay, showcases the government’s strong commitment to build India as a robust tourism economy.”

Harsh Jagnani, vice president and sector head corporate ratings, ICRA, commented on the budget, “The Budget has laid emphasis on developing the airport infrastructure in the country which is lagging the robust growth in air traffic (passenger traffic is expected to cross 300 mn passengers in FY2018 after having crossed 265 mn passengers in FY2017).

Government’s plan to increase the capacity by five times is a positive development and is targeted to meet the future air traffic growth in the country.”

He added, "The budget has increased the planned capital

outlay for the ministry of civil aviation to `4,086 crore in FY2018-19 from `2,543 crore in FY2017-18, which is in line with the government’s focus on development of infrastructure.

AAI, the nodal authority for owing and managing airports, has been undertaking airport infrastructure up-gradation for last few years. Given the ambitious target of increasing capacity by five times, AAI is expected to play a greater role and increase the pace of infrastructure development. The budget proposal of leveraging AAI’s healthy balance sheet is expected to generate sizeable resources for AAI to undertake required capacity enhancement initiatives.”

Rakshit Desai, managing director, FCM Travel Solutions, Indian subsidiary of FCTG, Australia, said, “Introduction of several initiatives to improve infrastructure facilities in Union Budget 2018 bodes well for travel and tourism sector and will help reinforce India’s image as a tourist destination internationally. Significant investments to address concerns around connectivity with impetus on development of highways and arterial roads, railways and airport infrastructure is bound to push inbound arrivals. A dedicated focus to promote seaplane activities in the country, along with development of heritage sites and iconic tourist destinations will further enhance the appeal of India as a destination of choice. ‘Namami Gange’ will provide further fillip to religious tourism from both domestic and international travellers. Overall, it is a budget with a developmental agenda and could have benefited the tourism sector little more with announcements around simplified GST along with detailed FAQs for the travel industry.”

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IN THE NEWS

Hospitality industry hails safety as top priority Mohit Rathod Mumbai The hospitality industry has collectively opined that safety of its consumers and staff should not be compromised under any circumstance, following the recent Kamala Mills fire incident in Mumbai. In a group discussion titled ‘The Perspective’ organised by Express TravelWorld, industry stakeholders including Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, senior vice president, Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (HRAWI); Shail Barot, international business development director, Vie Hospitality; Vinayak Laud, partner, Vinayak Holidays and Chef Naved, restaurant consultant, expressed their perspectives on safety and compliance among various other associated topics.

Speaking on behalf of HRAWI, Kohli said, “We have many members and we make sure to check their credentials.

We also conduct physical inspection of their restaurants and hotels to ensure complete safety compliance. This is not an industry to make quick money. Every member of HRAWI is required to renew the membership with detailed re-check. We also update our members on the latest information and industry developments.”

Adding to that, Chef Naved commented, “We have seen many young entrepreneurs coming from other industries, wanting to foray into the hospitality space, but they have little knowledge of the industry.

This is one of the main challenges. In terms of norms, the UAE for instance, has evolved a lot over the years and we should learn from that. We as a community should ensure complete compliance.”

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L to R: Shail Barot, Chef Naved, Reema Lokesh (Editor, Express TravelWorld and Food & Hospitality World), Gurbaxish Singh Kohli and Vinayak Laud

F&B has evolved as a tourism offering over the past few years, thereby placing itself on the itineraries on inbound and outbound tourists.

Shedding light on the tourism aspect, Laud stated, “Many restaurant owners travel countries to learn from

It all starts with the organisation.

We should encourage regular fire drills, which serve as a practical tool to spread awareness and be prepared.

We should act on it now

international restaurants, but they should go beyond the decor and take into account the safety measures too.”

Adding his view, Barot said that fire safety is most important. He said, “It all starts with the organisation. We should encourage regular fire drills, which serve a practical tool to spread awareness and be prepared. We should act on it now.”

Speaking about safety in the unorganised segment, the panel agreed that they should be made accountable too.

Among other areas, the panel also highlighted the role of transparent and clear safety guidelines and co-ordinated efforts.

IN THE NEWS

'Oracle’s AI powered chatbots make travel more relaxing' Prasad Rai, vice president, Applications, Oracle India highlights how an increasing number of travel companies in India are leveraging the power of emerging technologies to achieve groundbreaking success

By Sudipta Dev What are the key solutions of Oracle for the travel and tourism industry, particularly for the India market ?

The digital India wave has affected almost every industry, and the travel and tourism industry is no exception. Indian travellers today are demanding speed and convenience when booking online. Due to this, there is an immense pressure on companies to look out for new ways to deliver the quickest, most convenient experience to consumers - from online booking to on-ground services.

Oracle is playing a significant role in this journey by enabling the travel industry to innovate through cloud solutions that minimise disruptions and keep websites up and running; that enable the most cuttingedge ticketing and reservation systems; and that deliver individualised service to local and international customers. AI and machine learning also play a role in giving travellers a better experience – from chatbots that make it easier and quicker to book online, to automated technology that rapidly identifies and resolves glitches, so that online travel shoppers do not get frustrated and book elsewhere – Oracle has a solution for all.

For instance, Oracle with its service cloud has enabled Make My Trip (One of India’ top travel-service provider) to handle 47 per cent of India’s online travel booking. With Oracle’s solutions, Make My Trip has halved the average callhandling time and has also

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been able to shorten the time for new product launches -from months to weeks.

Which segments of travel and tourism industry are you focused on in India ?

The landscape of the travel and tourism industry is expected to drastically alter with the digital intervention of emerging technologies. Anticipating this trend, Oracle is set to offer new age solutions based on AI and machine learning that enable enhanced travel experience for the Indian masses.

For instance, Oracle Marketing Cloud comprises tools that enable the hotel industry to not only provide customers

a much efficient process taking only six days.

Oracle solutions and services help customers provide a differentiated experience to the Indian traveller. In fact, Thomas Cook India, after evaluating almost six CRM vendors in the market, chose Oracle Cloud on the basis of solution functionality, look and feel of the application and the company’s experience in the industry.

etc.

Behind the scenes, AI technology is helping marketing teams analyse customer data to create tailored offers; and AI-based algorithms are the reason that many customers see fine-tuned online search results, based on their previous preferences. In fact, machine learning is even helping to reduce delays by optimising flight landing paths.

Please give more information about your AI travel products, and where do you see more adoptions in the industry ?

Many travel businesses in India are already witnessing ground breaking success by in-

How can these AI products help the travel and tourism sector in the country ?

Oracle’s solutions are especially designed to facilitate and enhance a traveller’s experience at every touch point in their journey. Oracle’s AI pow-

Prasad Rai

The future of travel technology will witness consumers’ sky-high travel ambitions, and hence demands. In the not-so-distant future we might even see blockchain solutions helping passengers authenticate their identity with less hassle! with a customised experience, but also helps in ensuring that travellers get seamless experience across various touch points of their journey. Indian Hotels, collectively known as the Taj Group, are using Oracle EPM Cloud, which has enabled them to ensure effective time management - like reports to senior management which were earlier dependent on people delivering them and took 15 days, now has become

vesting in emerging technology, including cloud. Many hotels have already started looking for AI powered conversational chatbots that can help guest check-in and check-out using a mobile device. This makes the check-in process hassle-free. Additionally, chatbots can also play a role in providing a convenient travel experience by enabling automated updates to customers regarding changes in flight schedule,

ered chatbots make travel more relaxing from start to finish by offering customised services. For example, chatbots can suggest to customers, the top things to try while they are in a particular town. They also offer instant assistance in local language while booking. In addition to these, they update the customer about flight changes and reminds them about check-in and security procedures.

Not just this, technologies like AI, machine learning and big data are also contributing behind the scenes. They are helping analyse customer data to create tailored offers for different people, and are fine tuning search suggestions in accordance to their individual preferences.

In the future do you foresee any revolutionary trans formation in travel and tourism driven by technology ?

The future of travel technology will witness consumers’ sky-high travel ambitions, and hence demands. In the not-sodistant future we might even see blockchain solutions helping passengers authenticate their identity with less hassle!

We can anticipate the introduction of augmented reality maps, so visitors can find their way around a new city; and voice-based AI tools for easier travel planning via a mobile device. By making the most of cloud technologies now, travel companies and their customers can power the future of adventure.

IN THE NEWS

River cruises to be major part of Kerala Tourism’s Rs 325 cr Malabar project Steena Joy Thiruvanathapuram River cruising will be a major part of Kerala Tourism’s ambitious `325 crore project to develop the Malabar region.

Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld in the office of the directorate of tourism in Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala, P Bala Kiran, IAS, director, Kerala Tourism stated, “Nearly 92 per cent of tourists come mainly to south Kerala circuits – Kochi, Munnar, Thekkady Kumarakom, Varkala and Kovalam and go back from Thiruvanathapuram. Most of them don’t even go to North Kerala. So what we thought is if we want to double our tourist arrivals, the only way to do it is increase the geographical spread, apart from increasing the brand equity of Kerala Tourism and expanding the season to a 365 day destination. When we were searching for products in North Kerala, we realised that river cruise tourism has not been exploited in a big way. We already have a presence in the sense that we have the houseboats but only they don’t go on cruises. They go for a short picnic tour and return.”

He added that seven of the rivers are already connected in Kannur, Kasaragod and Calicut districts. “So we thought of starting this product. We chalked up a `325 cr project proposal to develop this and approached the Government of India. We expect to get around `100 crore from the Centre.

The remaining funds will raised by the state government.

In fact, this year’s budget itself has allocated `37 crore for creating the boat jetties along the river courses and to procure the boats as there are hardly any houseboats plying on these rivers except in the Valiyaparambu backwaters. By

We expect to get around `100 crore from the Centre. The remaining funds will raised by the state government. In fact, this year’s budget itself has allocated `37 crore for creating the boat jetties along the river courses and to procure the boats P Bala Kiran

Onam this year (September) we hope to have the river cruises up and running in North Kerala.”

This will coincide with the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) being held in Kochi around that time. Ironically, the theme of KTM 2018 is Malabar tourism.

Commenting on whether the river cruises may face the environmental hurdles or

objections from locals like the seaplane project did, Bala Kiran informed that the demand for river cruises has come from the locals themselves. “When Government of India officials came to do a site inspection recently, they received a warm welcome from the locals. People in North Kerala are generally very welcoming and hospitable,” he said.

Many of these rivers have small islands which are populated. So each of these islands have been given a tourism task to entertain the river cruise guests. Thus the eight rivers will have eight separate circuits to give guests different experiences like say a Theyyam circuit, a food circuit, etc.

Bala Kiran also stated that as it is difficult to attract bids in

virgin territories, initially the tourism department will buy and operate the cruise boats.

“Later when there is good response from private players, we will gradually withdraw, ” he said. He added that the Tourism District Councils in North Kerala will drive the river cruise initiative as the Malabar region is very far from the capital city.

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IN THE NEWS

'Our strategy is to sustainably grow visitation to the destination' Kiran Nambiar, business development director, Destination Queenstown speaks about the multifaceted offerings of Queenstown and his strategy of engaging with the travel trade in India

By Reema Lokesh How would you define your new role as business development head of Queenstown vis a vis the global inbound travel market?

As the tourism marketing organisation for an internationally recognised destination, my role as business development director will focus on developing the strategy and strengthening relationships in the travel trade, conferencing and incentive and education industries in key markets, both international and domestic, to bring visitors to Queenstown.

Under your leadership, what's your primary strategy to push the destination forward, both within and outside NZ ?

Destination Queenstown’s vision is to position Queenstown as the Southern Hemisphere’s premier four season lake and alpine resort. Our strategy is to sustainably grow visitation to the destination by promoting travel during the shoulder seasons, and encouraging visitors to stay longer.

Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the world. Would you be introducing some other unique highlights as well about the region that goes beyond adventure?

Queenstown is renowned as the adventure capital of the world, and we value this informal title greatly - however there is so much more to Queenstown!

Queenstown’s luxury offering incorporates exclusive experiences such as private helicopter charters, exclusive activities,

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Kiran Nambiar

rowtown Autumn Festival (1925 April) and later in June, the Real Journeys Queenstown Winter Festival (21-24 June)

India is an emerging market for Queenstown and New Zealand as a whole. As such the strategy for this market alongside others is to encourage the Indian travel trade to increase their knowledge of Queenstown. It’s important to note that the peak outbound travel time over Indian summer aligns perfectly with Queenstown’s autumn and some of New Zealand’s finest dining experiences with luxury hotels, lodges and private residences. It’s a popular honeymoon destination amongst international travellers and New Zealanders for this reason. Our destination is also known as a world class wine region, producing award-winning and renowned Pinot Noir to complement the high quality food offering available here, including Indian cuisine, vegetarian options, contemporary New Zealand dining and a range of international options owing to Queenstown’s

cosmopolitan and diverse resident population. Furthermore, The Queenstown Trail is 120 km of undulating trails which form the basis of Queenstown’s cycling and walking offering, another drawcard for visitors from all over the world.

Keeping your long standing and strong connect with the India market, would India be treated with a special business strategy?

India is an emerging market for Queenstown and New Zealand as a whole. As such the

strategy for this market alongside others is to encourage the Indian travel trade to increase their knowledge of Queenstown. It’s important to note that the peak outbound travel time over Indian summer aligns perfectly with Queenstown’s autumn, a time of year DQ works to promote as an ideal time to visit. Alongside the gorgeous autumn colours which give visitors a show, there are a number of events on in Queenstown and the surrounding region during this time, including the Akarua Ar-

What are the promotional strategies you intend to incorporate for India and other prime countries and regions?

I believe in improving the capability of our partners in the trade, C&I and education by equipping them with the tools to best sell Queenstown. I look forward to working closely with our partners in all markets to further develop our relationship.

What is Queenstown's present turnover and what's the expected target for 2018-19 ?

In the year to June 2017 3.2 million visitors came to Queenstown, and 70 per cent of those visitors came from overseas.

Destination Queenstown’s focus is to sustainably grow tourism to the region by encouraging visitation during the shoulder seasons of autumn (April through June) and spring (September through November), and encourage visitors to stay for longer.

IN THE NEWS

Air India starting Delhi - Tel Aviv flights from March ETW Online Mumbai The long pending plan of the national carrier, Air India to fly into Tel Aviv has finally been approved. National carrier Air India will be starting its much anticipated Delhi-Tel Aviv flights from March 20 this year.

The thrice-weekly flight will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. AI-139 will depart from Delhi at 18.00 hours and

arrive in Tel Aviv at 21.45 hours (local time). Whereas, AI-140 will depart from Tel Aviv at 23.15 hours and arrive in Delhi at 10.00 hours.

The airline had already completed plans to commence Delhi - Tel Aviv flights but was denied by countries from which the plan was going to fly over, thus disrupting their plans.

However this move is said to come after the recent visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu to India giving impetus to this decision. This is a welcome initiative to further boost trade and tourism ties between both the countries.

Also, when it comes to tourism, for the second consecutive year, Israel has broken its tourism record of Indian arrivals reaching an all-time high of 31 per cent growth from January to December, 2017 with around 60,000 Indian tourists visiting the country in 2017.

This marks a whopping growth of 48 per cent in the last two years, per the statistics released by Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT).

Speaking about the positive growth, Hassan Madah, director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India & Philippines said, “2017 has been outstanding and by far the best year for Israel tourism in India and worldwide. By October, 2017 we already saw 49,000 Indians arrive in Israel, break-

ing previous records, and we were positive to close the year with 60,000 travellers to Israel from India. With over 20 million outbound tourists a year, India has been an important market for us and I am pleased to say that we have witnessed constant growth in the arrivals from the Indian market over the last four years.”

Hopefully, with the Air India flights to Tel Aviv, this number will grow at an increasing rate.

Club Med takes B2B route to promote resorts in India Sudipta Dev Mumbai A pioneer in the all-inclusive concept, Club Med has just completed 67 years of operation. In India Club Med has been marketing aggressively since 2014, and the numbers have been growing. "We have seen a tremendous growth in terms of Indian customers. In India, educating the customer comes first. Being a traditional travel agency driven market we have to educate the travel agent about the product and its USP, so that they can push this product to the customers.

There is a great scope,” said Manoj K Upadhyay, business development manager – India, Club Med. For Indian market the popularity of Club Med ranges from ski resorts to beach resorts. “We have resorts in South East Asia region where more than 60 percent of the Indian travellers go. We also have resorts in Japan, China and Europe.

Product wise we have everything to offer to the Indian consumer. Our route is B2B, doing roadshows, talking to travel agents, telling about the

product,” added Upadhyay.

Bintan Island in Indonesia is a short ferry ride from Singapore. Youssef Tobrouki, GM (Chef de Village), Club Med Bintan Island, who was in India recently stated, “When you come to Club Med it is not everything about bed and breakfast, it is all inclusive, in-

cluding food, drinks, alcohol and activities. The activities range from those for kids, sport / water activities.” Since last two years with more Indians coming now there is an Indian chef at the 304 keys resort.

Bintan is a golfer's paradise and offers many activities as a destination. “Numbers from

India to Bintan is increasing and that is why we feel there is a great scope for us to put Bintan as an add on destination to Singapore. Club Med is targeting the Indian market for two resorts, for the MICE segment - Bintan and Cherating,” mentioned Upadhyay, adding that as the resorts are spacious

they are perfect for team building exercises. There is an in-house team to create an event for them. Bintan Resort International, which is the promotional board for Bintan is also focusing on promoting the destination in the Indian market as a MICE destination.

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IN THE NEWS

Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau forays into India market Tanuvi Joe Mumbai Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) hosted its first travel trade road show in four primary cities – Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru respectively. Seeing India’s importance as a source market, the Penang delegation included 17 partners, consisting the state bureau for leisure travel – Penang Global Tourism, hotels, destination management companies, event experts and PCEB’s official airline partner, Malaysia Airlines.

Ashwin Gubasekeran, chief executive officer, PCEB, said, “Penang is an ideal destination

when it comes to beaches, hills, heritage, shopping and food.

It’s also an island city UNESCO heritage site that provides as a great location to host conven-

tions in our Setia Spice Convention centre as opposed to those that aren’t around heritage sites.”

He stated that along with

promoting it as a MICE centre, they are also looking forward to promoting Penang as a leisure centre. Talking about India as a crucial tourism market, he stated, “Malaysia has always been a favourite with the Indian travel trade. India infact is the sixth highest generator of tourists to India. For 2017 itself, the tourists arrival for Penang was 25,000. We believe we have a lot to offer to the India market from honeymoons to destination weddings to even providing the location for shooting Bollywood films.”

In 2016, Penang recorded 1,251 events with an estimated economic impact of US$ 200 million. From January to Sep-

tember 2017, the destination hosted 1,731 events with an estimated economic impact of US$ 230 million. This translates to a 27 per cent increase in the number of events and seven per cent increase for the estimated economic impact.

Along with its 360-degree canopy with a theme park and water park having a one-kmlong waterslide, the longest in the world, PCEB is expanding its doors to even families in the India market. By 2019, nine more hotels will be built and by 2021, another convention centre will be built further increasing investor opportunities and customising tourist’s experiences.

LCVAexpects India to be among top 10 tourist arrivals Tanuvi Joe Mumbai The mission of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LCVA) is to attract visitors by promoting Las Vegas as the world's most desirable destination for leisure and business travel. Kala Peterson, communications manager, LCVA, spoke to Express Travel World how she manages account teams in five different regions and executes public relations efforts globally to elevate awareness of the destination and grow international visitation. She has been with the LCVA for more than two years, focusing on international public relations initiatives for South Korea, India, China, Australia and New Zealand. Peterson said, “Las Vegas has majorly shifted from being just a casino and gaming destination to a complete entertainment destination. We have introduced indoor as well as outdoor sports,

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collaborated with chefs and opened up world class restaurants and pushed the notch even higher by commencing live events that our visitors can enjoy. For 23 years, we have been the No.1 trade show destination and hope to maintain this long into the future.”

Commenting on how the

LCVA plans to attract Indian consumers, Kala stated, “India is already 12 on the list of the tourist arrivals coming to Las Vegas. We hope we see India in the top 10 list of our tourist arrivals very soon. We know how much they are passionate about sports and we now have one of the largest golf courses along

with a huge food festival that happens every year showcasing world-class chefs like Gordon Ramsey. The visitors can even interact with their favourite chefs and taste different cuisines. To bring out the adventurous side of the Indian consumer, we even have car-driving and zip lining. We also know

how much weddings are important to Indian consumers and we have made facilities of having your wedding over the Grand Canyon. You take a helicopter and when you reach there, you can pop a glass of champagne and toast to your wedding.”

Recent surveys state that out of 150, 000 rooms in Las Vegas, 84 per cent occupancy is present at all times. The destination has seen many new developments in recent times. The Park, a dining area along with a Park theatre has been opened.

The Las Vegas residence has been home to Elton, Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Lopez, and much more. The Downtown recently witnessed the opening of the Neon Museum which is a walkthrough of the history of Las Vegas and many of the exhibits are larger than life. The Smith centre conducts broadways and symphonies from over the world.

IN THE NEWS

TAAI to hold 64th annual convention in Srinagar ETW Staff Mumbai To give a major boost to the tourism sector of Jammu and Kashmir, the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has decided to hold its 64th annual convention in Srinagar in March. This was announced by the president of TAAI, Sunil Kumar, at a press meet in New Delhi.

An official of the tourism department said,“To give a major boost to the tourism sector of Jammu and Kashmir, the TAAI is going to organise its 64th an-

nual convention from March 27th to 30th this year in Srinagar. Around 500 travel agents from across India are expected to participate in the annual convention which is seen as a major boost to tourism of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Sunil Kumar said, “Jammu and Kashmir is one of the prime destinations in India where travellers can enjoy any tourism products. The TAAI convention will help leading travel agents get familiar with the beauty and hospitality of the state.

Secretary Tourism

Sarmad Hafeez, who was also present, said, “The state government wants to show the states tourism beauty to the country by organising the annual convention. The state tourism department is also organising many festivals and cultural activities in the state to entertain the tourists visiting the state.”

Director tourism Kashmir, Mahmood A Shah said, “The TAAI convention is like a homecoming for travel agents.

It is after 30 years that the TAAI convention is happening in Kashmir. It will be homecom-

Sunil Kumar

Mahmood Shah

ing for you to visit Kashmir and see by yourself the beautiful landscape, culture, art and

craft, sumptuous food, and above all the hospitable people of JK state.”

AdventureNEXTheads to India in 2018 ETW Staff Mumbai Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) is set to host its first ever event in Asia – ‘AdventureNEXT’ – in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh from 10-12 December, 2018. The event was announced during a press conference in New Delhi by ATTA, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board (MPTB), and Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI). An MoU to mark the launch of this event was jointly signed by Shannon Stowell (CEO, ATTA), Hari Ranjan Rao (commissioner tourism and managing director of MPTB), and Capt Swadesh Kumar (president, ATOAI). A special logo for AdventureNEXT in India was also unveiled during the ceremony.

At the event, Stowell spoke about the contributions of adventure tourism towards economic development and equitability, “Adventure tourism, it is clear, has a significant impact on not just the economy of a re-

gion, but also on equitability.

Through data analysis we have come to understand that adventure tourism, as opposed to mass tourism, contributes more to the local economy – in terms of the proportion of money that actually stays within the destination. Furthermore, one of the key contributions of adventure tourism is that it contributes significantly to rural communities, giving

employment opportunities to women in particular. What is clear is that adventure tourism, while a smaller sector, is very powerful and leaves a lot for the locals to benefit from.”

Speaking about Madhya Pradesh as the host destination for the first AdventureNEXT in Asia, Hari Ranjan Rao said: “Madhya Pradesh is a state that has an abundance of natural resources and cultural her-

itage. The wildlife and geographic features of the state make it an ideal adventure destination with unique offerings.

As professionals working in the travel and tourism industry, we must also recognise that tourism is one of the best ways of creating jobs and eradicating poverty. We therefore believe that we must do justice to the innate beauty of the land by connecting visitors and

tourists with the local cultures.

Adventure tourism is the way forward for Madhya Pradesh to take advantage of the travel and tourism industry, and AdventureNEXT is the best way to accomplish this.”

Swadesh Kumar also highlighted the commitment of ATOAI towards expanding its reach across India, “The adventure tourism industry has witnessed a paradigm shift in India.

Earlier, there was an emphasis on traditional adventure destinations, such as the Himalayan regions, and on conventional adventure activities such as trekking, mountain climbing etcetera. The focus, while still very much on these traditional destinations, has now expanded towards regions such as Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala et al. There is a huge surge in demand for newer adventure destinations, and therefore, the association is committed to expanding across India. It is an honour and a privilege to be associated with ATTA and MPTB in this venture.”

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February 2018

IN THE NEWS

Dubai Tourism announces new strategic alliances for Indian market ETW Staff Mumbai Dubai Tourism has announced the appointment of Nijhawan Group as its in-market destination representation and trade marketing management firm in India. The decision was driven by the Indian subcontinent’s growing outbound demand, witnessed in the steady rise in visitation from India, along with rises in the length of stay and spending power of Indian travellers.

With over 45 years of experience in India, Nijhawan Group will now be responsible for all trade communications, brand partnership conversations and building crucial trade relationships in the Indian subcontinent to strengthen Dubai’s position in the market and ultimately bring the emirate closer to its Tourism Vision 2020 goals.

Meanwhile, Cruise Club has been appointed as the representative in India for Dubai

Business Events, a division of Dubai Tourism and the city’s official convention bureau. Based out of Mumbai, Cruise Club’s role is to increase Dubai’s market share from incentive groups and corporate meetings. The team has already begun delegate boosting activity, promoting upcoming events such as the Lions Clubs International ISAAME Forum, which will take place in December at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Both firms replace Charson Advisory, a long-standing and trusted partner that has provided DCTCM with in-depth marketing research, brand consultancy services and effective marketing strategies over the past 20 years. The successful partnership between DTCM and Charson Advisory has seen a significant increase in visitors, with India emerging as the number one source market for Dubai’s inbound tourism – recently seeing over 1.4 million tourists having visited Dubai between January and September 2017.

Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) said, “India remains a top priority for us, now consistently being the largest source market for tourists to Dubai. This is a feat achieved through years of establishing and building strong trade ties in the market, in addition to the execution of a segment-specific approach across India. Charson Advisory has played a great role in realising this feat, and I would like to take this op-

portunity to thank them for their consistently professional approach, enduring commitment and dependable work.”

“We are pleased to continue our journey with the Nijhawan Group and Cruise Club as our destination proposition continues to grow and diversify, attracting first-time visitors as well as driving repeat visitation from India. We look forward to working with both companies to further strengthen Dubai’s position in the global market, and bring us closer to achiev-

ing our goal of welcoming 20 million visitors per year by 2020,” Kazim continued.

Commenting on the appointment, Priyanka Nijhawan, director, Nijhawan Group said, “We are elated to have entered the partnership with Dubai Tourism. With India being the biggest source market into Dubai, we aim to still derive greater growth into the region through strategic sales initiatives, marketing partnerships and working closely with the Travel Trade in India. We look forward to further strengthen Dubai as the first choice of destination for tourism from India.”

Ankush Nijhawan, managing director, Nijhawan Group added, “Nijhawan Group is a travel conglomerate with over 45 years of experience in India that has extensive relationships with the travel trade across the country. With our appointment, we hope to capitalise on our extensive network of agents and generate greater growth into Dubai with their support.”

Thailand launches new campaigns to boost tourism ETW Staff Mumbai Thailand welcomed over 35.3 million international visitors in 2017 and earned 1.82 trillion Baht in tourism revenue. The precise number of overseas tourists visiting Thailand in 2017 was 35,381,210; showing an increase of 8.77 percent over 2016. India ranks in top five list of highest number of visitors to Thailand after China, Malaysia, Korea and Laos. In 2017, over 1.4 million Indians travelled to Thailand which is over 18% increase from last year.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Mumbai show-

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cased its new campaigns ‘Open to the New Shades of Thailand’ and ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’ at OTM 2018. Around 22 agents from Thailand participated in OTM this year, this included Hotels like Aonang Princeville Resort & Spa, Golden Tulip Sovereign Hotel, Bangkok, Royal Cliff Hotels Group, Ramada Phuket Deevana and many more along with other DMCS and entertainment companies like Phuket Aqua Project, Phuket FantaSea Public Co. Ltd., Thai Adventure Club, Siam Ocean World Bangkok Co. Ltd, Safari World Public Co. Ltd., Siam Park Bangkok Co. Ltd, Asiatique the Riverfront. TAT also

had the support of Thai Airways, Thai Smile & Bangkok Airways at the event. Travellers can count on these airlines to make a trip to Thailand memorable right from the start.

Soraya Homchuen, director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai said, “TAT is initiating many unique activities and projects this year that will focus on promoting women, family and first time traveller segments for the Indian market.

OTM is India’s largest and most international gathering of travel trade buyers and professionals, and most importantly it is conducted in Mumbai each year which is headquarters to

almost all major outbound tour operators. Each year there have been entire entourages of Thai suppliers who benefit from participating in OTM, as they get a platform to showcase their products to the travel trade and consumers alike. Participating in OTM works best for Thailand as agents get to meet face-to-face and build long-term business relations with their partners in India.”

Santi Chudintra, deputy governor for International Marketing (Asia and the South Pacific) said, “The new campaign ‘Open to the New Shades of Thailand’ aims to give more attention to unique local expe-

riences and inclusive tourism, reflecting Thainess and the Thai people’s warmth in welcoming visitors. Within this, there is a focus on specific customer segments; such as, gastronomy tourism, luxury, weddings and honeymoons, families, female travellers and Gen Y. Also the new campaign ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’ has been launched to support the government’s national tourism development plan, ensuring that Thailand remains a preferred destination and delivers a quality product; thus boosting the average length of stay, expenditure and repeat visit.”

IN THE NEWS

South Australia gears up for SeaLink Kangaroo Island Racing Carnival ETW Staff Mumbai South Australia, the driest state on the planet beats the heat by indulging in life's finer things like the picturesque landscapes, colourful festivals and the extravagant wine and dine.

South Australia will greet you with cellar doors everywhere you go. One must make a trip to SA's popular wine regions like the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills. For the adventurous side of you, there are the wild-west landscapes on the Yorke and Eyre peninsulas along with the Flinders Ranges and the fertile terrain that is around the Murray that will lead you to a long stretch of caves.

But the kangaroo wildlife can't be missed. The Kangaroo Island is a place that shelters substantial populations of na-

tive Australian animals from sea-lions to koalas to pelicans.

The diversity of the place can also be seen in the dense bush-

lands and massive arcs of bone white beach. It's the third largest island off the coast of mainland Australia at 155 kilo-

metres long and up to 55 kilometres wide, covering an area of 4,416 square kilometres.

To get a closer look at the

wildlife here, the SeaLink Kangaroo Island Racing Carnival is a much awaited event on the South Australian calendar. The Cygnet River Racecourse comes alive with great country racing on February 15 to 17, 2018. Race-goers dress up in true racing style and enjoy the trackside entertainment, colourful marquees along with the abundance of local Kangaroo Island food and wine.

Another event to look for is the Kangaroo Island Cup Long Lunch trackside marquee which will happen on February 17, 2018. The guests will be welcomed with a four-course menu prepared by Sue Pearson from ‘Two Birds and a Squid’ which will be accompanied by a selection of Dudley Wines and beers. Race-day packages will include coach and ferry transfers that are available for the Saturday race event only.

Celebrity Cruises mulls domestic cruises in India Mohit Rathod Mumbai In midst of the government's efforts on developing cruise tourism in India, Celebrity Cruises is planning to introduce domestic sailings in the India. Ratna Chadha, chief executive, Tirun Travel Marketing (the exclusive India representative of Celebrity Cruises) informed that the cruise company will start the procedure once the policies and SOPs are in place. Chadha is also part of the task force set up under the aegis of tourism and shipping ministries by the Government of India. "We will soon have a ship sailing on Indian waters only, in order to tap the domestic market. Once the policies and SOPs are in place, we will start the procedure," said

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Chadha.

Celebrity Cruises also recently marked Celebrity Constellation as the first ship of the Celebrity Cruises' fleet to sail from an Indian port. With five and seven night sailings, the cruise provides Indian travellers the opportunity to travel from/to Mumbai and sail to ports across India and UAE. "This is the first time that our ship has come to India for a dedicated India sailing. We have segmented this cruise for a five-night sailing from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai and sevennight sailing from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi. We had tested the market and we received huge success and we expect continued response from the India market," she added.

Commenting on the potential of cruise tourism in India,

Chadha informed that the company will induct newer ships into its fleet. "Asia is growing as a cruise market. We are working to bring India on the cruise tourism map; and this is a very good opportunity for us as a service provider to have the ship docked in Mumbai and

receive passengers from the city. The port facilities here are being upgraded to handle ships of this stature. There has to be a seamless experience for passengers at ports too; so we have to upgrade our ports and the taskforce is working on it," she said.

The high demand from Indian cruise travellers has encouraged Celebrity Cruises to include various Indian ports in its itineraries. When asked about the current trends among Indian cruise travellers, she added, "From our 25 years of experience, we have found that Indians are now looking for more adventurous vacations. And a cruise fits in; it is a place where the destination comes to you. Cruises are good for family travel. We have also observed that more and more families and friends are now grouping together for a vacation. We find that multi-generational travel is growing, and this brand has something for everybody. It is a premium cruiseliner which means that the middle-age guests are more, but there's enough offerings for every age group."

IN THE NEWS

CKGS sets up Morocco Visa Application Centres in India ETW Staff Mumbai Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS), today announced the opening of Morocco Visa Application and Information Centres (MVAIC) in India. The Centre in New Delhi was inaugurated today by His Excellency Mr Mohamed Maliki, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, in the presence of Ms Venku Murthi, CEO of CKGS. Speaking on the occasion, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Maliki said, “Both Morocco and India have shared values and a history that goes back over several centuries. Foreseeing growth and significance of the Indian tourism market to Morocco, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco has decided to outsource the visa application services and has entrusted CKGS to open visa application centres in India. The opening of the visa application centres in

major cities in India is an important milestone which reflects the strength of the two countries’ relations as well as Morocco’s outreach to Indian travellers. We want to encourage more and more Indians to consider travelling to Morocco and at the same

time provide a seamless experience in applying for visas.”

In the first phase, centres have opened in the four key metros—Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. In the second phase, the centres will be opened in Ahmedabad, Pune,

Goa, Indore, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Jaipur.

Commenting on the new mandate, Ms Venku Murthi, CEO, CKGS said, “We are happy to be entrusted with the role of providing Visa Application Services by the Embassy

of Morocco as this is an opportune time to tap the growing Indian outbound travel market, which is growing in double digits. Our offices across 11 centres in India will seamlessly facilitate visa processing, thereby increasing the number of Indians travelling to Morocco.’’

The visa application centres in different cities of India will provide relevant information on Moroccan visas and regulations and simplify the procedure in order to make it simple for the Indian traveller. A dedicated website, has been launched as well to provide all the relevant information. The website will provide all relevant information regarding visa processing procedures, requirements for Moroccan visas, as well as details on the visa application centres and web-links to relevant Moroccan agencies. At the outset, the centres will cater to tourist and business visa applications.

Private sector commits to the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism at FITUR ETW Staff Mumbai Seven companies and one association formalized their commitment to the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism during an event held in the context of FITUR, the International Tourism Fair of Madrid.

Cielos Abiertos (Colombia), Destinos R.I. (Costa Rica), Tradewings Tours & Travel Corp.

(Philippines), Turisferr Association (Spain), Civitatis (Spain), Intercruises (Spain), Vincci Hoteles (Spain) and Concorde De Luxe Resort (Turkey) are the most recent signatories of the Code.

“We must build a more sustainable tourism sector between all actors, in order to ensure that tourism has lasting positive effects. The entities that commit to the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism are leading by example in promoting ethical, responsible and sustainable tourism development”, said UNWTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili.

The Code of Ethics was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2001 and represents a roadmap to guide actions towards responsible tourism regarding the environment, local culture and commu-

nities. To date, 547 companies and associations from 73 countries have committed to the Code.

The Code includes principles

such as respect for human rights and cultural heritage, the protection of the environment and the most vulnerable com-

munities, as well as concepts such as inclusiveness, gender equality and accessibility. It covers the responsibilities of all stakeholders, recommending an ethical and sustainable modus operandi including the right to tourism, the freedom of movement for tourists and the rights of employees and professionals.

At the 22nd UNWTO General Assembly, UNWTO Member States approved the transformation of the Code of Ethics for Tourism into the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics, the Organization’s first ever international convention.

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IN THE NEWS

Maharashtra govt and IMC to join hands for releasing health tourism policy ETW Staff Mumbai With the objective to provide a major boost to health tourism in India, IMC organised the second Health Tourism Conclave in Mumbai. The chief guest Jaykumar Rawal, Maharashtra Tourism Minister, said, “Two recuperating centres of wellness spread across hundred acres of land to come up in Igatpuri for post surgeries”, while urging institutions to join hands in this initiative by opening their centres at Igatpuri. He also invited IMC to be a partner organisation for the Mumbai Shopping festival.

Guest of honour, Dr Deepak Sawant, Minister of Public

Health and Family Welfare, Government of Maharashtra, invited stakeholders to come together and facilitate the healthcare tourists coming into Maharashtra. He mentioned that there should be uniformity in the pricing of surgeries and the government is forming a committee with experts from the healthcare fraternity to provide the best services to the patients and their families.

Earlier welcoming the guests and dignitaries Dr Lalit Kanodia, IMC president, said, “IMC taskforce is sincerely working since last one year towards making Maharashtra the hub of medical tourism in India and is happy to see the progress on health

tourism for Maharashtra.”

The conference was at-

tended by over 150 leading doctors, hospital administrators,

travel, trade and hospitality professionals.

FCM Travel Solutions,KPMG release insights on 'The digi-smart Indian business traveller’ ETW Staff Mumbai FCM Travel Solutions, the Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), Australia and KPMG, have released insights on disrupting technologies in the travel industry via an analytical whitepaper titled ‘The Digi-Smart Indian Business Traveller’. According to Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), India is the world’s fastest growing business travel market. With business travel rapidly evolving and technology forefronting the business spend for corporates, the whitepaper focuses on how technology is rapidly revolutionising travel by maximising efficiencies, improving experience and increasing choice and options for the average traveller worldwide and increasingly in the India market.

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The report also detailed how growing smartphone, internet and digital networking penetration, combined with plethora of online travel choices accessible, have made technology a part of a business traveller’s DNA. Business travellers are increasingly veering towards technology for virtually all answers for their travel needs.

Thus, leading to the emergence of a new age digi-smart business trav-

eller, that implies a technology-empowered traveller, who leverages technological touch points and tools to minimise encumbrances in his travel journey, improves travel experience while also ensuring a safe, compliant and cost -effective business travel.

Rakshit Desai, managing director, FCM Travel Solutions, said, “Digital technology today is rapidly growing. Rapid penetra-

tion of smartphones, Near Field Communication (NFC), inflight Wi-Fi, faster networks and many such advances are only accelerating the penetration of technology into every aspect of travel. Selfbooking tools, travel analytics, artificial intelligence and sharing economy services are not only here to stay but hold myriad and exciting possibilities for the future.

The whitepaper launched in collaboration with KPMG intelligence aims to assist organisations that wish to serve today’s digismart travellers, understand their needs and make strategic decisions, based on these insights.”

Jaideep Ghosh, partner and head – transport, leisure and sports, KPMG in India, commented, “Globally, technology has penetrated deep into business travel practices – it finds a host of applications in travel, including online booking tools, sharing

economy services, travel analytics, virtual assistance, payments and compliance. India is also witnessing a gradual rise in the adoption of these technological advancements, which have led to the birth of what we call the ‘digismart Indian business traveller’.

With this whitepaper, we have set out to explore the concept of such travellers, technology trends in business travel, their enabling ecosystem, as well as some potentially disrupting developments that could transform business travel landscape.”

The Indian business travel market is on the cusp of technological innovation led by its fast growing millennial workforce, smartphone usage, internet connectivity and Indian organisations’ growing investments in IT infrastructure and compliance levels given the heightened physical and cyber security risks.

IN THE NEWS

Think Strawberries to represent Visit Orlando ETW Staff Mumbai Think Strawberries, India's market leading travel representation company, has been appointed as the sales, media, marketing and PR Representative in India and UAE for Visit Orlando, the official tourism association for Orlando, Florida.

Home to seven of the world's top theme parks, Orlando - Theme Park Capital of the World is a mix of experiences that create cherished memories for visitors, including theme parks from Disney, Universal and SeaWorld, an array of world-class water parks, entertainment venues, an award-winning food scene, shopping, sports and nightlife.

And, with 450 hotels, Orlando offers lodging options from expansive resorts to uniquely themed hotels.

Elaine Blazys, vice president of Travel Industry Sales

for Visit Orlando says,“Orlando has seen a rise in popularity

with Indian travellers and also from the Middle East. Think

Strawberries will be an extension of the Orlando-based team

to specifically provide the India and Middle East travel industry with more personalised service and education on the Theme Park Capital of the World.”

MunnMunn Marwah, COO, Think Strawberries (TS) explained, “Since its inception, Think Strawberries has grown by leaps and bounds.

We have been able to design and execute multi-level marketing and PR activities on behalf of our clients. Their global marketing, sales and PR initiatives have been concurrently implemented in our markets and their vision shines through, but with all the local twists intact. With outbound tourism on the upswing, the Indian and UAE market will be a lucrative source market for Visit Orlando. Our plans are to grow the businesses for Visit Orlando, while sustaining and enhancing their numbers from both India and UAE.”

Goomo strengthens Omni channel tech offering by acquiring WagonBee ETW Staff Mumbai In a move that is expected to significantly expand its product portfolio, Goomo, India’s leading Omni-channel travel tech company has acquired WagonBee, one of India’s largest B2B vehicle rental marketplaces. WagonBee was established by ex-NIT Trichy graduates Vikash Singh and Navneet Misra in 2016. It is a B2B car rental marketplace for travel agents and suppliers, enabling them to rent a vehicle of their choice from over 5,000 registered

vehicles ranging from hatchbacks and sedans to luxury coaches and buses, provided by 350+ verified vendors.

WagonBee is present in over 40 cities across India with nearly 8,000 itineraries and connections. The company allows travel agents and businesses to easily sign up on the rental marketplace through the web, app or email, just by providing some basic personal and company information.

In addition, customers get access to a 24x7 support helpline to address their queries or seek clarifications on booking details.

Commenting on the announcement,Varun Gupta, chief executive officer, Goomo, said, “Multi-day hiring of cars or larger vehicles is often done through the phone by travel agents and corporates, who have to spend a lot of time getting price quotes from multiple suppliers, confirming cab availability, and ensuring timely pickup. The acquisition of WagonBee will help Goomo add road transportation services to its list of offerings, and further drive the brand’s promise of delivering end-to-end travel solutions to customers. Over and

above this, the acquisition further reiterates our constant endeavour to build our overall tech competencies and develop the best technology-driven travel platform in the country.”

Navneet Misra, co-founder, WagonBee said,”The Indian car rental market is estimated to be around 15 to 18 billion US$ and is expected to grow at 17 to 20 per cent year-on-year. However, only about 10 per cent of this market is organized and the rest is managed by several smaller operators.WagonBee and Goomo are a perfect synergistic match given

the similarities in our understanding of this fragmented market. We share a common vision of how this space can be organized better via apt solutions for our partner vendors as well as customized offerings to meet the evolving customer needs.”

In a similar move, Goomo had earlier acquired Zopky,a holiday marketplace start-up to build its presence in the holiday packages space. Over the last 12 months, the company has set up its online platform, created new products, acquired customers and established a robust partner network.

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IN THE NEWS

Marriott International to open 20 hotels in India this year ETW Staff Mumbai American hospitality group Marriott International is opening 20 hotels in India this year and the first of these was inaugurated today in the city. Renaissance Ahmedabad Hotel, which has 155 rooms was inaugurated in Ahmedabad. The world’s largest hotel chain is planning to open seven more hotels in Gujarat in the next

three years. Marriott International’s vice-president (South Asia) Neeraj Govil said, “This year, we are opening 20 hotels in India and the Renaissance in Ahmedabad is the first one.

Probably by the end of this year, another hotel Courtyard

by Marriott will come up on the Sindhu Bhavan Road here. We are planning to open seven hotels in Gujarat in the next three years.”

At present, Marriott Inter-

national, having over 6,000 hotels across the world, operates 98 properties in the country under 15 different brands, including Renaissance.

While Govil is quiet about the growth potential in India and Gujarat, he feels the GST range of 18 per cent and 28 per cent (depending on room tariffs) should come down. “Tax rates in most of the markets we compete with such as Thailand or Singapore are in the range of

four to 10 per cent. The highest is in Australia, that is 18 per cent. We have put forward our demand before the government about reduction in GST rates through various industry bodies,” Govil said.

According to Vinay Gupta, vice president (asset management), SAMHI Hotels, which owns the Renaissance Ahmedabad Hotel and gave it to Marriott for operation, feels that the GST rate of 28 per cent

should come down if India wants to attract foreign customers. “GST of 28 per cent is levied on upscale hotels which normally attract international customers. This 28 per cent GST is the highest in the Asia Pacific region.Twenty-eight per cent tax here serves as a deterrent in attracting international customers. It should come down,” said Gupta.

(PTI)

Park Inn by Radisson IP Extension introduces smart rooms with voice-activation ETW Staff Mumbai Park Inn by Radisson IP Extension has launched its voice assistant-enabled smart hotel rooms.

The property features rooms having a complete automation of service requests and virtual control of TV and lighting fixtures.

Six of the property’s studio rooms have been fitted with Amazon’s AI-powered Echo Dot devices.

This allows guests to control light settings, music played in the room, and the television with simple voice commands. Additionally, guests can now request for services such as room cleaning, wake-up calls, laundry, in-room dining, and room check-out by speaking to the smart device.

Alternately, guests can manage basic room functions and service requests with a tap of their personal mobile phones, without downloading any app.

Park Inn by Radisson IP Extension, New Delhi is the first property in the world to provide this app-free solution, with Web RTC technology, according to an official release.

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Saurav Dutta, general manager, Park Inn by Radisson IP Extension, said, “Internet of Things (IoT) and voice-enabled technologies are without a doubt the future and we are excited to pioneer these comprehensive and intuitive smart hotel room fea-

tures in India. With the voice-activated in-room solutions, we expect a 50 per cent improvement in housekeeping efficiencies, ensuring speedier completion of service requests. Eventually, the intent is to diversify and grow the connected room features, as part

of our on-going efforts to offer bespoke experiences that evolve with the needs of our patrons.”

Once checked-in, guests can use their mobile devices to play videos and listen to music, such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and YouTube, beamed onto the

TV set. Guests’ smartphones can also be used as a remote control for the television and set-top box.

Their phones can double as a keyboard and mouse, turning the TV screen into a computer interface.

The studio rooms integrated with this technology have been configured by Kamakshi Clouds, a Bengaluru-based software firm.

M A Kannan, director, Kamakshi Clouds, said, “Almost every industry in the world is on the cusp of AI revolution, with a promise of improved efficiencies.

Therefore, it is time for hotel businesses to embrace this change with great dexterity, as the sector contributes extensively to India’s GDP. Web RTC, used to power the smart rooms at Park Inn by Radisson IP Extension, is a highly disruptive technology that allows guests to turn on/off lights and the TV with just one tap.”

The smart studio rooms had been under beta testing for the last seven months, prior to its preliminary rollout in January 2018. The hotel plans to expand the AI services, to other rooms, after review of guest preferences in the days to come.

FHW MUMBAI 2018 REVIEW

A platform to bank upon Food Hospitality World (FHW) Mumbai 2018 remarked itself as a leading platform for industry development, knowledge hub and a promising stage for young talents; the event has been recognised by Maharashtra government as strategically important for its tourism initiatives

By Mohit Rathod

The 33rd edition of Food Hospitality World (FHW), held at MMRDA Grounds, BKC, Mumbai witnessed renewed commitment from the hospitality industry for its growth. FHW Mumbai 2018, held from January 18 to 20, saw the presence of Jaykumar Rawal, minister for tourism and employment guarantee scheme, Government of Maharashtra as the chief guest. Rawal inaugurated the FHW Business Excellence Honours which awarded industry leaders for excellence in numerous areas. Rawal also gave away the honours to the awardees. Speaking at the occasion, Rawal said, "FHW has brought everything related to F&B on one platform. Cuisine attracts a lot of travellers from across the globe and FHW provides a 360-degree offering. For 2018, Maharashtra Tourism's punchline is 'Maharashtra Tourism 360-degree and food forms an integral part of it; FHW is a beautiful platform for the A-Z of the food and hospitality space. This is an important event for us and I also consider it a crucial tourism event."

FHW Mumbai 2018 also witnessed key industry dignitaries at the inaugural ceremony including Ralph Hays,

consul general and trade commissioner of New Zealand in India; Neerav Panchamia, president, Poona Hoteliers Association; Partha Chatterjee, president, Skal Mumbai; Arun Kumar Singh, principal, IHM Mumbai, Mohan Deshpande, chairman, Hospitality Purchasing Managers Forum (HPMF), Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, senior vice president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) and Chef Sudhir Pai, treasurer, Western India Culinary Association (WICA). Addressing the audience, Hays said, "New Zealand is all about experiences, and this show is all about the ingredients that go in creating those experiences. We have a wide portfolio of F&B products. Many New Zealand companies are interested in the India market and this is an ideal platform for them."

With an objective of creating bigger and better opportunities of partnership within the trade fraternity, the event saw participation of over 450 leading food, hospitality and beverage and equipment brands showcasing over 2,000 product categories. Whereas, Kohli commented, "I have been com-

Jaykumar Rawal, minister for tourism and employment guarantee scheme, Government of Maharashtra

ing to FHW for around 20 years, and I have only seen it grow year on year."

The trade show also featured industry specific live competitions – The Great Indian Culinary Challenge (GICC), Professional Housekeepers' Challenge – Western India (PHC), alongside two live workshops – Trends in Chocolate by Chef Santosh Kotla and Raspberry Vanilla Verrines by Chef Ruhee Bhimani.

Deshpande stated, "I have been associated with FHW for more than 10 years, and I have seen it evolve every year. FHW

acts as a catalyst for HPMF's growth."

A unique highlight this year was the WICA's fifth Annual Chef's Connect, which was held for the first time alongside the trade show. Chef’s Connect is a congregation of top notch three, four and five star hotel's head chefs, food bloggers/experts, industry influencers and hospitality entrepreneurs, bringing the key focus on global trends, market leading renovations and recent developments on cuttingedge issues. This year’s theme was 'Change: The Only Constant'. While the industry stakeholders came together to share their insights on the topic, they also got an exclusive opportunity to network with the exhibitors.

Chef Pai said, "It's fantastic to come here. There are new vendors every year. The Great Indian Culinary Challenge (GICC)

by WICA here is a great opportunity for young chefs."

The event is supported by numerous renowned industry associations such as HPMF, HRAWI, i-Professional Housekeepers Association (iPHA) and WICA. Alongside the event also witnessed five country pavilions showcasing their specific products and offerings.

Panchamia added, "There's a need for the industry to evolve and upgrade and this is the perfect platform. There are great seminars here that help us learn and explore the latest industry developments."

Like each year, key conferences at the trade show included The Power of Purchase, and Hospitality Think Tank – The GMs Conclave, which was participated by general managers of leading hotels. These discussions threw light on some recent issues as some prominent industry stakeholders shared their insights.

Leading companies at the event include Zafran Innovacion, Adwin India, Pillsbury, Morde Food, Unilever Food Solutions, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing, Amul, Prabhat Dairy among many others. While some prominent players of hospitality industry like Blue Star, Cello Industries, Cerra Globe Inc, Anandi Specialities & Services, AV&T Hospitality Solution, Gilly Professional Kitchens, FNS International, Kaapi Solutions India, Elan Professional Appliances, Dolphy India, Duroflex, Italian Food, Voltas, Coffee Day Global also showcased at the event.

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FHW MUMBAI 2018 REVIEW

Hiring and nurturing the right people At the GMs Conclave in FHW Mumbai 2018, a think tank on 'Talent Management Strategies', general managers of leading hotel brands discussed their people management strategies and the challenges of retaining talent in today's dynamic world

By Steena Joy

One of the greatest challenges plaguing the hospitality industry is the unavailability of quality workforce in different skill levels. Retention of skilled workforce through training and development is also a problem combined with high attrition levels. Talent Management was the topic of a Hospitality Think Tank – GMs Conclave at the recently concluded FHW Mumbai 2018. The panelists included Nicholas Dumbell, GM, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel; Suraj Kumar

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Jha, GM, Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport; Sharad Datta, GM, Westin Mumbai Garden City; Kapil Kapoor, GM, Waterstone Hotel and Manish Dayya, GM, Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach.

Starting the duiscussion, Datta said, “Key retention strategy is a very loaded question. India is at the forefront of growth. We need the software that is human catapult for that growth. It is getting more and more difficult to find good talent and retain it. This is sur-

prising since the number of hotels have grown and so have the opportunities. At the Westin, we have a strong focus on people. For us, it starts with hiring right. Our screening process has to be so strong as to get the right person.” Commenting on the Millennial segment, he added, “Today's millenial wants instant gratification. We need to ensure that facilities like cafeteria are good and that the training given to new recruits is at par with indsutry standards. We need to make

them feel proud of working with our company. As for screening, we put the positions available online. The interview process is structured and the general manager is involved throughout. We look for attitude, whether the candidate has the passion for the job and the knowledge to do it. We encourage hiring from within.”

Dumbell agreed that hotels need to hire the right people and invest in them. “Hiring from within is a good option . If we are opening so many hotels,

it makes sense to look out for people within the group. As for Millennnials, they have a different take on work and we need to embrace it. They want to join an organisation that will grow and nurture them,” he stated.

The work culture Dayya was also of the opinion that work culture is important.

He said, “In our industry, we look at three key words - Hospitality, drinks and food...With these, demand will always be there. Right identification of talent, right

FHW MUMBAI 2018 REVIEW

Sharad Datta

Nicholas Dumbell

Manish Dayya

Suraj Kumar Jha

Kapil Kapoor

work culture and environment and a great gender mix/diversity is the key. Tech tools are more for convenience, to be able to connect to our guests more better but we should not lose the personal touch. We should provide equal learning opportunities, keep evolving and keep up with trends.”

Jha believed that it is important to look at certain values and the candidate's willingness to get out of his or her comfort zone. “Skill can be trained but if you don't have the right values, it is difficult. When recruiting, we even look at colleges in small towns and also in the North East and places where there are less job opportuni-

ties,” he informed.

Kapoor said that it is important to follow six aspects: meaningful work, freedom and control, fast track career growth, attractive package and a perfect work life balance.

Need of the hour is to look at attitude rather than academics, he pointed out.

Commenting on remuneration, Dumbell said, “None of us joined the hotel business for the money. Hospitality is about people - if one is to be successful, we must be great with people. Show the candidates the BIG picture and they will stay with you.”

Datta felt that one cannot ignore that money is important. “But we must build in

other measures to incentivise employees. Incentives play a huge role in developing and retaining people,” he said.

Jha opined that money is not the only motivational factor. He suggested, “We must have transparency while hiring people and let them know about the growth they can achieve with us, the learning curve and also the international opportunities.”

Speaking about women in the workforce, Dayya commented, “It is important to have the right gender mix and right work culture. To retain our women employees, we must encourage flexi working hours and provide facilities like

child creches, working from home option and opportunities for inter departmental movements or to properties closer to home. We encourage more and more women to join our workforce. In fact when a position opens up, we first look at suitable women candidates who can fill the vacancy.”

When asked about the ideal talent management strategy, Dumbell replied, “Most effective people management mantra? Leadership is about people. It cannot be learned in a classroom. One has to identify one's weaknesses and work on it. You are never too important to wash the dishes.”

Datta felt that it is about

talking to his staff. “My job is to help them do their job better.

We must be able to build a comfort level where they can talk to each other and to me as their leader,” he said.

Kapoor opined that to be an effective leader, he needs to stand with his staff and behind them. Dumbell concluded that the future is exciting for hospitality careers especially in India. “It is growth, growth and growth because culturally we are a hospitable nation. Stay here and you can make more money,” was his advice to hospitality aspirants. Datta agreed by saying, “More is the word.

Tremendous opportunities, lots of doors and windows.”

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GOING THE APPWAY Travel apps are high potential business tools for monetisation and revenue generation. Travel agents would do well to tap their potential to reach the next level of customer engagement and market penetration. Express TravelWorld explores the travel app landscape

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n today's dynamic world, technology has touched every aspect of travel and tourism.

In this landscape, the modern traveller has everything on his smartphone, loaded with travel apps that make his journey a seamless experience.

Which is why it is imperative for today’s travel agencies to not only understand the value that travel apps can provide to their customers, but also to adopt them as part of their business model and operational platform.

Mobile apps are a direct tool to reach your customer base as millennials spend most of their time online and connected to their smartphones. Mobile apps help communicate information about a destination in real-time, so the speed and agility of responsiveness can help build lasting relationships with your customers.

Here is our pick of 10 of the unique and popular travel apps (some of them available only in

Mobile apps help communicate information about a destination in real-time, so the speed and agility of responsiveness can help build lasting relationships with your customers

founded by Jean-Marc DeBaud in 2012 and serves as a leading platform for travellers across the world to not just record but share and relive all their travel memories with their loved ones. Along with keeping a complete log of your travel details, it also tracks your route, records where you clicked images, where you recorded a video and where you stayed.

Going one step ahead the app gives you a chance to blog about your travels. This app is a must for anyone who would want to keep a visual journal of their trips. The simple to use interface lets you log and collect everything you want to take back from your vacation.

India) out there that have helped travellers simplify their trips. Travel agencies can use these as role models to develop their own apps and incorporate them into their customer interaction platforms to get to the next level of visibility with the new generation of travellers.

Live Trekker comes with 5 functions: ● Track your each step ● Record everything around you ● Share those memories live with your loved ones ● Fine-tune your journeys ● Protect your data privacy

Live Trekker

Fearless

The Live Trekker app was

Fearless is an app that en-

ables women travellers and other users to reach out to their friends and have them watch over the user while he/she travels. The app has been developed by CHE Proximity in response to the statistics they received which showed over 90 per cent of women change behaviour to ensure their safety when out of their homes. More than half of the women avoid working or exercising after dark and six out of 10 women detest walking alone home at night.

The app sends a distress signal to your contacts after selecting destination and the contacts are able to view a live map of your ongoing progress and they receive updates about your trip. Fearless not only checks your speed but also location and headphone's connection. The traveller’s friends can even react and respond to the updates of the trip ensuring one doesn't feel alone.

TourWrist Travellers are always in need of a handy device that easily captures memories of

their trips. Using the TourWrist app, one can easily achieve this. This free platform allows you to make high quality videos and highlight places where you stay. You can also create your own tours. For example, you can create tours through the backwaters of Kerala or through the streets of Paris. Once you've recorded your travels, with the help of powerful tools, you can share and turn your basic images into ones that websites, blogs or social networks will feature.

The app works on iPhone and iPod Touch and it has proved as a platform that empowers not just consumers but also businesses that can discover, shoot and share 360 degree images via computers and smartphones. The app currently has over 50,000 panoramic images making consumers educated by taking location oriented decisions by looking at previews of virtual tours of not just travel destinations but homes, businesses and schools.

NaviMaps MapmyIndia which has

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achieved popularity for its GPS navigation and location apps has created Navimap, a freemium navigation app.

Though Google maps is detailed, it sometimes can get difficult to access the information if there are network issues or if you're offline. But Navimaps does the exact opposite. The app allows the consumers to access the same information you can find online, offline as well. This has proved to be a

Travel agencies can use these as role models to develop their own apps and incorporate them into their customer interaction platforms to get to the next level of visibility with the new generation of travellers

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huge boon to all the offbeat travellers in India. Offering alternate routes and letting you share real-time journey updates are some of the features it offers,.

An exclusive feature that provides assistance to the users is the real time turn-byturn voice guidance in 10 regional languages that includes Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.

6Hourly At times when you have to check out from the hotel at 10 am, you may have a flight in the night. And if you have to attend a meeting as soon as you land, you need to be fresh. Also sometimes, you're just doing a stopover at a place, but don't want a room at the cost of the entire day when you just need it for a few hours. That's when 6Hourly comes into handy. This app allows you to book hotels

according to the hour. Compared to a one-night stay in the room which might cost from `4000-5000, you can avail of the same room for as little as six hours in `1000.

This app is available on Android and iOS app and though only operational in India, it is likely to start in other destinations too.

travellers are engaged in these immersive character scripts enhancing the experience of their trip. The interactive app allows for social sharing from within the app.

Once you download the app, users don't need any Internet connection to access the information.

WeTravelSolo Guiddoo Guiddoo is a specialised and personal tour guide mobile application for travellers all over the world. The app offers an in-depth and highly research audio-visual guide to many famous monuments and heritage sites like Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty, The Colosseum, Eiffel Tower, Angkor Wat, as well as modern monuments like the Burj Khalifa, among others.

The audio guide app revolves around characters that have conversations about the destinations. The

WeTravelSolo is the first online solo l community in India that arrange special interest customised tours to satisfy the needs of solo travellers. It understands the solo traveller’s needs and according to their sense of style recommends like-minded travellers to them. The app gives an opportunity to travel and explore with likeminded individuals with similar interests, without disturbing the charm of solo travelling. One cannot find a better platform to explore the world with other passionate individuals while

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yet. You can get plenty of backpacking ideas and weekend getaways. Along with these features, Tripoto gives you access to information of over 750,000 hotels, homestays and restaurants in over 300000 travel destinations. It also provides weather information for over 500,000 cities in the world.

Mobility Mojo

blogger and share personal experiences with fellow travellers. It also focuses on lesser-known destinations or secret alleys and roads that hasn't been commercialised

Mobility Mojo is an app dedicated to accessible travel.

Wining several awards in the past, the app helps travellers find and share information about wheelchair accessible transport and also allows them to explore several places to eat, drink, shop, visit and sleep.

Many people choose not to travel rather than risk something going wrong. The app reaches out to the ‘one in seven’ who have reported basic mobility issues.

The company's director Noelle Daly said, “The app is a one-stop shop for people with impaired mobility who currently struggle to find accurate advice online. People with mobility issues face huge problems trying to find trustworthy information about how accessible a venue is and sourcing transport that suits their needs. A wheelchair user myself, I know there is a lack of infor-

mation about accessible destinations over the world.

Dark Sky The Dark Sky app is an accurate source of hyperlocal weather updates. With minute by minute notifications, the traveler is informed when exactly will it rain and when it will stop, right at the spot you are. The app uses different ways to alert you about important weather conditions and changes.

There are severe alert notifications that informs the user for how long will the rain and snow last and to what extent can it increase. This prepares the traveller and he/she can accordingly take precautionary measures. The custom alerts let you create customised weather notifications. A daily summary forecast can be scheduled which will be delivered to your lock screen every morning.

Another feature of the map lets the customers watch weather patterns evolve globally or even in the neighbourhood you stay. The smooth map stimulation are built from scratch and the independent weather service constantly innovates and comes up with new ways of analysing the weather. More than thousands of individuals and businesses use these services every single day

the app takes care of you by providing a fun loaded experience.

Tripoto This app stands out as tourists are the ones responsible for planning the travel itineraries on this app. Apart from finding over a 1000 places to travel around the world, you can be a travel

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DESTINATION OUTBOUND

Nova Scotia's maritime legacy One of Canada's three maritime provinces that form Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia has a long history of shipping. Nowhere is this more prominent than in Lunenburg and Mahone Bay, two scenic port towns close to Halifax, the provincial capital. From the much photographed lighthouse in Peggy's Cove to Bluenose, Nova Scotia's sailing ambassador, the province has many treasures to discover

By Steena Joy

H

alifax, Nova Scotia's capital, is one of the only two natural harbours in the world, the other being Sydney. No wonder then that nearly two hundred thousand cruise-ship passengers from around the world flow through the Port of Halifax each year. They are welcomed by the skirl of bagpipes as the 78th Highlanders perform the traditional dockside greeting that has won many awards.

Halifax has another claim to fame - most people don’t know that one-third of James Cameron’s 1997 epic motion picture Titanic was filmed in Halifax. Also, that 200 victims of the ship tragedy remain buried in different cemeteries here.

While the sinking of the great ship took place in the North Atlantic international waters, Nova Scotia’s capital was the crucial base for most of the recovery efforts.

Almost five hours away is the famous Bay of Fundy, known for the highest tides in the world and the rarest whales.

Lasting heritage of Lunenburg Closer to Halifax, almost an hour away, is Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage port town which in the 19th century evolved as a major centre for offshore banks fishery, building and manning fishing schooners to exploit the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the fishing banks off Nova Scotia. Old Town Lunenburg is one of only two urban communities in North America designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site

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and is considered to be the best surviving planned British colonial town in North America.

The famous schooner Bluenose which brought in record catches and raced undefeated in international competition for 17 years, was built here in 1921 by Smith and Rhuland.

The Bluenose had become the pride of Nova Scotians and in 1937, the Canadian dime was changed to include an image of the mighty ship. In 1942, despite the efforts of Bluenose's Captain Angus J Walters and others to keep the ship in Nova Scotia, the vessel was sold to the West Indian Trading Company. Four years later the Bluenose struck a Haitian reef and sank. In 1963, Bluenose II, was built in the same shipyard by some of the

same men who had constructed her mother before her. Bluenose II was sold to the government of Nova Scotia for $1 in 1971 by the Oland family of Halifax and has served as Nova Scotia’s tall ship sailing ambassador ever since.

As you walk along the town's picturesque waterfront, dotted with boats anchored there, you see the Fishermens’ Memorial on Bluenose Drive unveiled on August 25, 1996. The monument shaped as a compass rose, comprises eight three-sided columns at each compass point. Inscribed on these black granite columns are the names of mariners, primarily fishermen from Lunenburg County who lost their lives at sea from 1890 until the present. Interstingly, the Royal Norwegian Navy used

DESTINATION OUTBOUND Lunenburg as a base in World War II, building a large base next to the town known as "Camp Norway". The town is also home to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, part of the Nova Scotia Museum.

Once the home of National Sea Products, a former fish processing plant, the bright red heritage buildings of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic have become an iconic feature of the Lunenburg waterfront. In the museum, you can explore the rich fishing heritage of Nova Scotia. Retired fishermen and experienced Heritage Interpreters accentuate the experience of visiting the museum.

Entertaining activities and demonstrations take place daily throughout the full season from mid-May to mid-October.

Another National Historic Site is the St. John's Anglican Church, the first church in Lunenburg and one of the oldest in Canada. A church bell that is displayed on the church grounds was made by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, the same company that made the Big Ben and the Liberty Bell.

The Lunenburg Academy, atop Gallows Hill, is the only intact 19th century academy building surviving in Nova Scotia. The building is entirely a wood frame structure and stands three stories high with a mansard roof. After the old Lunenburg Academy (near the Town Hall) was destroyed by a

fire in 1893, a new school was built in its place.

Mahone Bay's heritage churches A short drive away is Mahone Bay and its 365 islands, a unique setting for sailing and boating. One of the most photographed views in Nova Scotia, is the three churches of Mahone Bay, located along the water's edge - St James' Anglican, St John's Evangelical Lutheran and Trinity United. The Mahone Bay Summer Concerts are held in the three heritage churches. Until recent years the town's shipbuilding and boatbuilding heritage was celebrated by the Mahone Bay Wooden Boat Festival.

Each October, the town celebrates the Scarecrow Festival where more than 150 handmade life-size scarecrows, created by local artists, are displayed outside houses and along the streets. The festival kicks off on a Friday morning when all of the scarecrows are officially on display. On Saturday night there is the Pumpkin Walk, where hundreds of hand-carved pumpkins adorn the path all lit up. The festival draws thousands of visitors each year. Highlights include special children’s activities and crafts, musical entertainment, historic graveyard tours, book sales, BBQ’s, yard sales, the Quilt Jamboree and of course the largest antique show in the Maritimes.

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SPOTLIGHT

The digitalisation of travel In order to leverage technology to transform and create great customer experiences, travel businesses must understand what customers currently expect of them and accurately predict and prepare for what they will expect in the not-too-distant future.

Excerpts from a PhocusWright report

T

he benefit of digital transformation to both travellers and the travel industry cannot be ignored. According to a World Economic Forum report, between now and 2025, “digitalisation in aviation, travel and tourism is expected to generate benefits valued at US$ 700 billion for customers and wider society, while at the same time creating up to US$ 305 billion in increased industry profitability.”

Meeting the demands of digital transformation and customer experience can be, however, a slippery slope. With each transformative change – from nuanced to leapfrogged – customers come to expect more from their experiences. The bar gets raised, delight gets heightened, while customers’ patience and tolerance for sub-par experiences diminishes.

Travel can be especially affected, since choice and competition abound along every phase of the customer journey. With travel’s first digital transformation, the human travel agent suffered. But something happened when the agent was removed from the equation – something the industry now realises it must address. To cite Expedia president and CEO Mark Okerstrom’s statement during the company’s October 2017 earnings call: “We will become much more customer-centric, putting the A back into OTA.” Today’s travellers want mobile-first enabled experiences.

They want easy, immediate answers and solutions to their problems. They’re curious about home-sharing, short-term rentals, and last-minute deals.

They expect personalised experiences. But they also need to trust that travel providers will

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Research needs to pull in “voices” from customers, employees and the organisation

protect their sensitive personal data.

Customer journey mapping The customer journey is generally thought of as a lifetime relationship with a customer, from the moment the customer becomes aware of the brand, until the time the customer is no longer a customer. The fragmentation of the traveller’s entire journey makes it even harder to understand and control, because the journey may involve so many disparate providers. In business travel, because corporate policy requirements about where to shop and book may lead to suboptimal preferences with respect to travellers’ choices, analyzing their customer journey and experience may be even more difficult.

The process of describing

and defining customer journeys is called 'mapping'. Mapping is a tool to diagnose and understand where your customer is across all experiences, to help you understand the gaps and opportunities to grow the customer relationship. It should be dynamic, constantly re-evaluated and continuously updated. Customer journey mapping involves several components: Understanding your customers. In travel, this doesn’t just mean leisure versus business versus group customers; it means breaking down customers into more meaningful segments. Whereas a common technique to journey mapping by segmentation has been to create demographics-driven personas, travel’s unique variability lends itself better to mapping by scenarios instead. For example, consider the same individual

who in one scenario plans a vacation for her family, and in another is a corporate executive administrator booking a trip for her boss. Her needs and expectations will be very different from one scenario to the next.

360-degree research. To build customer journey maps, seek insights from many sources. From within the company, involve representation from any department – online or off – that might touch the customer. In travel, that could mean call center representatives, desk clerks or agents, bellmen, housekeepers, flight attendants, reservation agents, restaurant servers, managers, marketers and tech support personnel. Externally, survey or interview past and present travellers, mine social media mentions and sentiment; do some mystery shopping. Some companies conduct

anthropologic, ethnographic, and/or deep data analysis; some even map their competitors’ customer journeys.

Building and interpreting journey maps. Once all the research data has been collected, the customer journey mapbuilding process begins. It can be as manual and seemingly simple (but likely arduous) as putting each customer's touch point on a sticky note. Alternatively, it can be flow charted with tools or even specific journey-mapping software. An organization’s complete journey map will likely be relatively complex.

At the end of the exercise – which can take 10-12 weeks or more initially – the result should reveal the current state of the customer journey. The process typically identifies 'moments of truth', during which travellers make key decisions such as their destination selection or where to stay. It should also reveal common pain points to create a vision of the ideal future state of the customer journey, and help build the road map – the strategy – to move from current state to future state. The strategy should be one that plans for this process to be an evolution, not an overnight success. The desired future state may take up two years to attain.

Digitally transforming customer experiences Examples of digital transformation of the customer experience abound, ranging from radically disruptive (Airbnb, Uber) to experimental (mixed reality, or Aruba’s Happy Flow, which uses biometrics to process passengers without any documents). In today’s mobile-first world, digital both informs and creates travel customer experi-

SPOTLIGHT ences. Smartphones empower travellers to capture and share literally every leg of their journey, from photo images to live posts, reviews and opinions. In addition to providing web-like browsing and booking experiences, smartphones now act as cashless wallets, entrance tickets and door keys.

At the same time, these connected devices also capture and transmit vast quantities of data in real time. This data, especially when married to legacy data, can enlighten, influence, authorise and personalise the traveller’s experience through machine learning, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). This big data and the tools to harness it can be used to improve the customer experience in many ways. The focus of digital transformation of the traveller’s customer experience revolves around several recurring objectives: • Facilitated, frictionless interactions.

• Communicating how, when and by preferred means, including mobile apps, chatbots, natural voice recognition assistants, and messaging.

• Personalisation - subtle and overt.

• Alleviating pain while improving wonder and delight.

• Creating and reinforcing loyalty and positive brand sentiment.

• Planning for millennial and digital native travellers, whose needs, loyalties and expectations are very different than previous generations.

Examples of digitally transformed traveller customer experiences To deliver the best customer experience possible, many of the travel industry’s new efforts attempt to tackle more than one of these objectives at once. For instance, the poster child of customer experience, the Disney company continues to innovate. An experience at its theme park is now built around its MagicBands, which the company describes as an 'all-in-one device that effortlessly connects you to all the vacation choices you made with My Disney Experience'.

The band grants access to the theme parks, unlocks Disney Resort hotel rooms, and buys food and merchandise. It also 'adds a touch of magic to your vacation by unlocking special surprises, personalised just for you'. Delivering a complex, integrated experience like this requires intricate planning, engineering, and data-driven solutions, and companies must be bold to undertake it.

In an effort to attract Airbnbloving millennials, the new luxury Public Hotel in Manhattan has stripped away traditional cost-increasing hotel services like a front desk, clerks and concierges, replacing them with self-serve tablet check-ins, floating staff, and free hi-speed Wi-Fi. The rooms may be sparse in amenities compared to traditional hotels, but come equipped with AppleTV, 12 power outlets, and bottled water. And what the hotel lacks, it makes up for in stylish hipster restaurant and bar offerings and a rooftop lounge.

In response to customer requests, Avis recently upgraded its mobile app to enable a more facilitated and pain-free car rental experience. The app allows renters to manage their entire experience from their smartphone. This includes: choosing the exact car they want; changing or upgrading vehicles with a simple swipe while at or near the lot; viewing their

rental agreement; finding, locking and unlocking the car; locating nearby gas stations; calling roadside assistance; and even tracking the location of the courtesy shuttle bus.

Several airlines continue to push innovations to reduce friction and improve the customer experience at multiple levels.

JetBlue, Southwest and Virgin Airlines are among those with self-serve check-in kiosks or mounted tablets. Ryanair hired over 200 IT specialists to overhaul its web and mobile solutions, one result of which was a new mobile app achieving 60 per cent faster booking times and airlines including JetBlue and Delta now provide flight attendants with hand-held devices to deliver passengers personalised information like loyalty points and connecting flight details.

To advance facilitated experiences through more communication channels, over the past year, online travel agency Expedia has rolled out several customer-centric tools and innovations. These include: bots for Facebook Messenger and Skype; a voice command “cheat sheet” for using Amazon Alexa, Amazon Dot or Microsoft Cortana to plan, book, or check on a trip; and a virtual reality experience atop the Seattle Space Needle for HTC devices.

The digital disruptors These are the pure-play solu-

tions, those new digital platforms designed specifically to improve or transform the customer experience along every stage of the traveller’s journey: Dream – By typing in just a few descriptive or aspirational keywords, view destinations that fit what you might be looking for (LuxTripper). Or put on a pair of virtual reality goggles and 'try before you buy' (YouVisit).

Search – Using artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics, solutions like Hello Hipmunk do the legwork for the traveller.

Shop and Buy – WhereFor, for example, upends the way to search and shop for leisure travel. Instead of starting with a destination, the user starts with a budget. If the traveller finds an appealing hotel and flight package, she can book directly on the site.

Share – Social sharing platforms have matured, and few contenders have really disrupted the original disruptors (Snap might even be considered 'mature' at this point).

However, live streaming video is starting to come of age, and video suits travel well. Look for users to share their experiences using platforms like YouTube, TripAdvisor and Facebook Live, and on early-stage companies like Tout.

New digital-born solutions also fit into the emerging disruption management category.

Some, like chatbots and automated communications platforms (Interactions, Dazzle) integrate into the travel company’s backend, generally to improve customer service.

Standalone 'personal assistant' solutions associate with an individual traveler, and provide even more services like booking and rearranging schedules.

Niche disruption management solutions have also begun to arise like Freebird, which can quickly rebook a plane ticket if a problem arises. Roomstorm is a startup focused on finding accommodations for airline passengers and crews left stranded due to weather and other unpredictable circumstances,while Service and Airhelp help passengers get compensation for flight disruptions, cancellations or lost luggage.

Winning at customer experience No doubt, digitally transforming the customer experience can be hard and expensive. Don’t, however, wait in watch mode for too long. Businesses did that in the early days of the Internet, and many of them are now gone.

Don’t think of this transformation process as an expense, as the World Economic Forum forecast predicts it will generate not only more revenue but greater profitability.

Help travellers along. Have empathy. Teach them new technologies where they’re uncomfortable. Travellers in flight or on trains have a lot of time to kill. Encourage them to provide ideas and feedback.

Make them part of the transformation process. Earn their ongoing trust so they will let you into their worlds and their data.

As the bar continues to be raised on the traveller’s customer experience, the more they will come to expect from providers. What will separate winners from losers will be those companies that are digitally aligned with their customers and can consistently deliver to those expectations.

The pressure to continue to delight them is on.

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TECH BYTES

Sabre's AI-powered chatbot Pilot explores how artificial intelligence can help travel agencies serve travellers better by fulfilling their most common service and support requests with smart technology

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abre Corporation, the leading technology provider to the global travel industry, has launched a pilot programme of an A.I.- powered chatbot that leverages Microsoft’s Bot Framework and Microsoft Cognitive Services, a set of tools that organisations can use to add intelligent and conversational features to their applications. Sabre is initially piloting the chatbot with the travel agency Travel Services International USA (TSI) and the travellers they serve.

“We are excited to start pilot testing for the bot. We believe the self-service convenience the bot offers will

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improve travellers’ ability to resolve routine support requests.

At the same time, we are happy to help our travel agency customers ensure agents can focus on supporting more complex traveller requests. We will be interested to track how travellers learn about and interact with the bot,” said Chad Callaghan, head of the Sabre Studios incubation team.

TSI will test a white-label version of the chatbot with their corporate travellers, who will access the chatbot via Facebook Messenger to address common service and support requests related to existing flight reservations. Using the bot, travellers will be able

to ask trip-related questions, make voluntary changes to existing flight reservations, request a special meal, select and pay for a seat, and request an emailed copy of an itinerary.

The chatbot will divert to a live travel agent if it is unable to fulfill a request.

“We’ve named the TSI bot, Ella. Ella represents TSI’s heritage of innovation and commitment to exploring new technologies and tools that can help our corporate customers and their busy employees. Travellers can access Ella via the TSI app or directly from TSI’s Facebook page.

Ella supports reservations originated by TSI. We are eager to understand how corporate trav-

ellers engage with Ella and the kinds of emerging conversational interfaces that she represents,” noted Claire LeBuhn, vice president, support services at TSI USA. Throughout the test, Sabre and TSI will evaluate travellers’ preferences for how often and when they engage the chatbot and when they are likely to divert to a live agent.

The companies expect to gain a better understanding of the best way to engage travellers with chatbots and solve for some of the most common friction points associated with chatbots, such as how travellers will initially find the bot.

In developing the chatbot,

Sabre is leveraging Microsoft Bot Framework and a selection of Microsoft Cognitive Services, including Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS). One of the key challenges in human-computer interactions is the ability of computers to understand what people want and find relevant information that connects to their intent. Travel applications must recognize a plethora of unique terms and phrases, which adds complexity for industry applications. LUIS provides simple tools to build language models that allow any application or bot to understand commands and act accordingly.

IN FOCUS

Do you have an appetite for a BUFFET? PATA launches food waste campaign

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UILDING on the success of the United Nation’s International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (IY2017) initiative and in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), PATA, along with our project partner Scholars of Sustenance Thailand (Thai-SOS) and knowledge partner Futouris, is launching the BUFFET (Building an Understanding For Food Excess in Tourism) Campaign to raise awareness of food waste in the tourism industry to drive positive change.

Although this work is geared towards the hospitality sector, it can also be relevant towards other tourism sectors that have food and beverage operations.The BUFFET Initiative is about bringing together a coalition of industry partners and PATA members to create and

implement a campaign that challenges our industry, particularly the hospitality sector, to reduce food waste to landfill.

PATA CEO Dr Mario Hardy said, “With significant growth expected in the industry and especially the Asia Pacific region in the near future, greater waste can be expected. Our aim is to curb that waste by bringing the tourism and hospitality sectors together to reduce our impact on the planet by reducing our industry’s food waste to landfill. Reducing food waste will reduce the cost for operators in the industry while benefiting the environment at the same time.”

The main activities in this initiative include raising awareness of food waste in the tourism industry and the creation of Asia-Pacific focused resources for hoteliers and other hospitality and tourism professionals to drive positive change and ultimately reduce their food waste to landfill. While this

initiative aims to impact the industry at large, PATA will be focusing additional efforts on hotels and food and beverage providers in Asia, and specific hotel properties in Bangkok in the Bangkok Hotels Project, with the expertise of Thai-SOS. PATA is seeking to engage further with hotels who would like to reduce their food waste to landfill, hotels already im-

plementing food waste solutions, potential partners and sponsors, as well as those who would like to help in raising awareness and building a better understanding for food excess in tourism.

Why PATA has chosen to tackle food waste in the industry The hospitality industry in many parts of the world,

and especially in the Asia Pacific, is expected to see significant growth in the next five years. With greater growth, greater waste can be implied, and more waste usually translates into a greater environmental footprint and therefore more harm to the ecosystem.

This problem is especially visible in the hospitality industry as billions of meals

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IN FOCUS

THE BUFFET INITIATIVE AIMS TO DIRECTLY ADDRESS 4 OFTHE 17 SDGs: Goal 2: Zero Hunger

Goal 13: Climate Action

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

This programme would address Goal 2 by redirecting quality excess food through the campaign initiatives.

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Ensure sustainable consumption & production patterns This programme would address Goal 12 by providing awareness and tools to properties that show how curbing food waste can also positively impact the (triple) bottom line. It would encourage tourism businesses to implement, evaluate, and mainstream SCP practices and strategies that contribute to sustainable growth and development.

are served per year to tourists in restaurants and hotels. For example, a hotel guest is estimated to generate up to one kg of waste per day on average.

With increasing concern of the world for climate change, food waste has come increasingly under attention in recent years and for good reason: ● Food waste is the third biggest contributor to climate change ● One-third of all foods produced in the world is wasted ● Additional pressures arise from GHG emissions caused by food production and transportation Right now 842 million people do not have enough to eat and with an estimated world population of 9.8 billion people in 2050 resources will be limited and more people will be hungry.

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This programme addresses Goal 13 by diverting food waste to landfill, resulting in a reduction of methane and carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development This initiative can only be accomplished through partnerships and solidarity in the hospitality sector.

SUSTAINABILITY

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE ECO SYSTEM India ranks 6th in Sustainable Tourism Index

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NA Group, a global Fortune 500 company focused on tourism, logistics and financial services, announced its sponsorship of a white paper entitled '2018 Sustainable Tourism Index', using research carried out by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Tourism accounts for approximately 10 per cent of world GDP and just under 10 per cent of all jobs. Driven by rising wages in emerging markets, tourism is primed to power further global growth, however the industry can only realise its full potential through sustainable practices.

Key findings include: ●

France and Germany exhibit the strongest commitments to sustainable tourism while China and India's high-growth tourism sectors could provide a foundation for action and leadership in sustainable tourism into the future. ● Fragmentism reigns in sustainable tourism-related policymaking. Local, regional, and national policymakers in every country surveyed can protect and grow their tourism industries through enhanced integration across jurisdictional bodies. ● Large businesses have made major strides in sustainability and sustainability reporting however small businesses have to keep pace.

"Sustainability is more than just a regulatory requirement, it also allows for long-term profitability for business. Since our founding HNA Group has placed great emphasis on sustainability, and we hope that the Sustainable Tourism Index provides

THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM INDEX: OVERALL RESULTS (SCORES OUT OF 100)

both the private sector and public sector with data to enable positive change,” said Adam Tan, CEO and vice chairman of HNA Group Sustainable tourism is defined as the creation and promotion of a tourism industry that preserves or enhances a country's social, cultural or environmental capital. Governments, the private sector and average citizens all play a role in driving tourism toward positive outcomes.

The Sustainable Tourism Index, produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by HNA Group, compares the policies and practices of ten countries around the world in building and managing a sustainable tourism ecosystem.

HNA Group started as a regional airline in the southern Chinese province of Hainan but over the last 25 years has developed into a diversified company spanning the globe. Its assets in the tourism sector include airline companies, aviation services, hotel management, travel

agencies, logistics firms focused on the mobility of people, goods and services. These wide-ranging interests mean that HNA Group takes the findings of the Sustainable Tourism Index very seriously and is committed to providing top quality services to its customers in as sustainable a manner as possible. HNA Group and its subsidiaries are spearheading efforts to push the agenda on sustainable tourism, exemplified by programmes such as HNA Group flagship carrier Hainan Airlines' Green Aviation Initiative, which in November of last year involved the company's first transpacific flight powered by biofuel. "The Sustainable Tourism Index is an important body of research because it shows that the effective pursuit of sustainable tourism requires a high degree of coordination between the business and public sector, as well as civil society and individual tourists themselves." said Michael Gold, the EIU editor in charge of the research programme.

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MOVEMENTS Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) today confirmed the appointment of MARK POWERS as its new group chief financial officer. In his new role, Powers will be responsible for the finance function across the Abu Dhabi-based group’s five divisions, which comprise UAE national airline Etihad Airways, Etihad Airways Engineering,

ness at a strategic and commercial level for all sales within India. An accomplished industry leader with over a decade of business development and external affairs experience, he has an established track record of leadership and business expansion at large, complex, multi-national organisations including varied roles at London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Brevia Consulting where he worked with multinational companies such as EDF Energy and T-Mobile.

chief operating officer in the spring. Until early last year, Garton was in the equivalent role at Dubai Airport, where he played a key role in growing the annual number of passengers served from 30 million to over 86 million, over a nine-year period and embedding a strong service culture across the airport. During his career, he has held a number of roles in engi-

Boeing Defense, Space & Security

Mark Powers

Boeing has recently appointed JEFF SHOCKEY as vice president of Global Sales and Marketing for its Defense, Space & Security unit. Shockey, who joined Boeing in 2016 as vice president of Federal Affairs and

Etihad Airport Services, Hala Group and Airline Equity Partners. Powers joins Etihad Aviation Group from Tulane University’s A B Freeman School of Business, where he was professor of finance. He brings with him significant industry experience, having held senior leadership roles at major airlines including JetBlue, where he most recently held the position of chief financial officer.

Jeff Shockey

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic has recently announced the appointment of DAVID HODGES as the new country manager for its India operations. In his new role, Hodges will drive Virgin’s busi-

International Policy, succeeds Tom Bell, who took a position at another company. Prior to joining Boeing, Shockey was the staff director for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, managing partner at government relations firm Shockey Scofield Solutions (S3 Group), and minority staff director for the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives He holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from California State University at San Bernardino.

London Heathrow David Hodges

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Heathrow Airport has confirmed that CHRIS GARTON will be joining the company as

Chris Garton

neering and change management at Gatwick Airport, Ineos and ICI. He is currently director of Asset Management with Associated British Ports and has a first-class degree in Engineering from London’s Imperial College. Garton’s imminent arrival at Heathrow follows the appointment of Derek Provan, who has been interim COO since September, as CEO of AGS Airports.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has made the following two general manager appointments. BRICE BORIN, has been appointed general manager of Mövenpick’s first property in Maldives. Scheduled to open in 2018 on a private island in the stunning Noonu Atoll, Mövenpick Resort & Spa Kuredhivaru Maldives will feature 105 luxury villas, all with their own private swimming pool, including over-water accommodation.

Borin has almost 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, more than 20 of which have been spent in the Asia Pacific region. Most recently, he was GM of the Soori

Cleartrip Cleartrip recently has announced the appointment of MANOJ SHARMA, a leading technology, and product engineer, as its chief technology officer. Sharma holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) degree from MITS Gwalior. With over 20 years of rich experience in Product Engineering, he has had an illustrious career working in the e-commerce sector with noteworthy companies such as MySpace, Zynga, Lenskart.com, and was most recently the CTO at Quikr, where he was responsible for the technological backbone that connected and drove the company.

Sharma’s appointment is

Bali, a member of the Leading Hotels of the World, and he will now return to the country where he previously spent two years as GM of The Regent Maldives and opened three properties for Anantara.

In Sri Lanka, GEORGE KOUMENDAKOS has been appointed general manager of the Mövenpick Hotel Colombo. A Dutch national fluent in three languages, Koumendakos is a highly-respected hotel professional with almost 30 years' experience in 11 countries, including more than a decade with InterContinental Hotels Group.

His impressive career has included spells as general manager of several prestigious ho-

George Koumendakos

aimed at developing new efficiency and synergy, with a focus on creating ultra-efficient, reliable, and relevant metrics-focused solutions to enhance Cleartrip’s customer experience.

tels in Asia, including Banyan Tree Bangkok and InterContinental Hanoi Landmark 72.

He moves to Mövenpick in Sri Lanka from the UAE, where he was area general manager of three IHG hotels in Dubai.

Marriott Executive Apartments Sukhumvit Park Bangkok VAZID SHAIKH has been appointed as director of operations by Marriott Executive Apartments Sukhumvit Park Bangkok. Shaikh has over 15 years of hospitality industry experience from leading international hotels in Thailand, Malaysia and India with a focus on F&B operations and training. He began his career with Marriott in 2005 at the JW Marriott Mumbai before moving on to the JW Marriott Pune and Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit. Prior to joining Marriott Executive Apartments Sukhumvit Park Bangkok, Shaikh held the position of Food and Beverage operations manager at Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

weekend

E V E N T S

held its first-ever Partner's Meet with its vendors from across India. Hoteliers, transporters and other suppliers, who have long partnered with Cox & Kings, participated in the meet

ELEPHANTA FESTIVAL 2018 Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) organised the Elephanta Festival 2018, at the world-famous Elephanta Caves, UNESCO World Heritage Site in the presence of Jaykumar Rawal, minister for employment guarantee scheme and tourism development, Maharashtra

INDUSTRY INITIATIVES Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India’s (HRAWI) certification initiative in Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) has been recently concluded in Vadodara and Ahmedabad

INFORMED CITIZENS Meluha The Fern, an ecotel hotel at Hiranandani Gardens, Powai organised a session on waste management and the specifics of a green building for the citizens of Powai

WORLD OF MUSIC Hard Rock Hotel Goa has announced a donation of

MINISTRY OF CRAB Gourmet Investments has inked a pact to bring the iconic

US$ 5,000 grant to The New Academy for Music Arts and Hindi (NAMAH)

Sri Lankan Eatery ‘Ministry Of Crab’ to India

BHARAT DEKO As a part of its 260 years celebration, Cox & Kings' Bharat Deko

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weekend

E V E N T S

JOY OF GIVING Jet Airways recently concluded its annual Joy of Giving programme that encourages employees to embrace the carrier’s culture of philanthropy by doing their bit for the less privileged in the society

BHARAT PARV Bharat Parv concluded at the Red Fort (Lal Quila), Delhi in the presence of K J Alphons, minister of state (I/C) for tourism and Dr Mahesh Sharma, minister of state (I/C) for culture. The Parv was organised by the ministry of tourism, Government of India at the Red Fort, Delhi recently

ANNUAL YEAR BASH

Tamarind Global, event and destination management company celebrated its annual bash this year with all top notch hoteliers of India. Seen in the pic are Nand Kumar (Choice Hotels), Louis D'Souza (executive director, Tamarind Global) and Moumita Mukherjee (Royal Orchid Group)

Anil Mahdok (MD, Sarovar Hotels) and Mahesh Shirodkar (MD,Tamarind Global)

SON ET LUMIERE (SHOW)

The extraordinary 18 children hailing from different parts of the country, who are soon to become National Bravery Awardees were invited to a Sound and Light show run by India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) at Purana Qila, New Delhi National Bravehearts with Piyush Tiwari, DCM, ITDC at Purana Qila

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ITDC Ishq e dilli SEL Show at Purana Qila

REGD.WITH RNI NO. MAHENG/2005/15993,POSTAL REGD. NO. MCS/163/2016 – 18,PUBLISHED ON 11TH EVERY MONTH, POSTED ON 12TH,13TH,14TH OF EVERY MONTH, POSTED AT MUMBAI PATRIKA CHANNEL SORTING OFFICE,MUMBAI – 400001.