TravelScapes MiceInsiders May 2018

MAY 2018, PAGES 40

VOL. 1, ISSUE. 4

The curvy road

to conventions in India

Escape to the blues It’s time to cruise!

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Publisher’s Note PUBLISHER & CEO Varun Malhotra varun@versatilemedia.in DIRECTOR Pranav Khullar pranav@versatilemedia.in VICE PRESIDENT Shelly Chadha DIRECTOR- PR (MIDDLE EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA) Sanjiv Chopra ASSOCIATE EDITOR Gagneet Kaur ASST. EDITOR Sayanti Halder SENIOR REPORTER Ankita Jain BUSINESS HEAD - MICE Seema Joshi AGM SALES & MARKETING (MUMBAI) Aarti Rajkhewa SR. MARKETING MANAGER Nidhi Hinduja CONSULTANT Anindya Malhotra, Jitin Mann ART DIRECTOR Rakesh Kumar ACCOUNTS Chandan Kumar Jha, Swati Jauhari ADMIN HEAD R Prem Lata ASST. MANAGER ADMIN. Dilip Kaur EXECUTIVE-CIRCULATION Hari Puri, Sameer Singh

Dear Readers, In the advent of monetising India as a hub for more industrialiation, the country is attracting more business to its soil. As the globe lines up to eyeball India as a potential MICE market, we have witnessed a dynamic traffic of business travellers, moving to and fro India, thus raising the numbers and standard of the convention centres, to rightfully accommodate such multitude of arrival. On the contrary, only a few centers in terms of organised space are available in the country. The lack of world-class convention spaces coupled with other infrastructural challenges has been a major hurdle for the growth of this segment.

In our May’s “Cover Story”, we showcase the recent developments, strategic implementations of business planning and challenges that the current convention centres’ business scenario is undergoing. On that note, we spoke with some of the leading names of the convention centre and business hotel space discussing how the current convention centres in

India are raising the benchmark of expectations and developments to tap more MICE travellers to India.

For our “Spotlight” section, we spoke with some of the top-notch online tour operators (OTAs) and travel aggregators on how their touch of personalisation in creating packages and delivering promptness are diverting a traveller’s preference in choosing his tour operators. To comprehend the existing incentive market in the country, we spoke to one of India’s leading influential people, Rajeev Kohli in our “Expert Speak”.

I thank you all again for your kind support. We value your feedback and suggestions so please do write us on varun@versatilemedia.in.

Happy Reading!

Varun Malhotra Publisher & CEO

Editorial & Marketing Office: Versatile Media: 207, Satya Mansion, Commercial Complex, Ranjeet Nagar, New Delhi-110008 Contact: 011 - 45530380/83 • varun@versatilemedia.in All information in MiceInsiders is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisement Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear.

Owned and published by: Varun Malhotra, Editor & Publisher, EB-63, Maya Enclave, Hari Nagar, New Delhi - 110064 and printed on his behalf at Acme Tradex India Pvt. Ltd. ( Unit : Printing press) B - 70, Sector - 80, Noida - 201305

CONTENT Cover Story Page No. 8

THE CURVY ROAD TO CONVENTIONS IN INDIA What is pegging back conventions in India?

Indian exhibition and convention industry is undergoing an incredible change. With the growing potential of MICE for the national economy, convention centres’ are set to experience significant growth in coming years. The country has to further ensure that there is an upsurge with many convention centres being lined up with different capacities to handle meetings and exhibitions.

Industry experts discourse to the analysis EXPERT SPEAK 16 Daring to be Different With his immense contribution towards making Creative Travel, the globally awarded DMC in South Asia, Rajeev Kohli, Joint Managing Director, Creative Travel / Plan it! Meetings & Conferences & SITE President 2016 & 2017 shares all and more about incentives and meetings industry

IN CONVERSATION 20 “Kerala will be the biggest MICE market in two years” . Thomas John Muthoot, Chairman & Managing Director Muthoot Pappachan Group shares his insights on how private investors may contribute in developing the hospitality industry’s picture in the ‘God’s own Country’

HOMEWARD 26 Beyond the conventions in KARNATAKA Saturated with big hotel brands and modern convention facilities, this historical and classic state occupies a focal place in India’s MICE map of India. It may emerge an attractive destination for MICE tourism but little do we know about this land of opportunities and unlimited imagination. So, wind up your laptop plug and unwind in the varied unconventional experiences of Karnataka

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HOTEL FEATURE 32 CROWNE PLAZA NEW DELHI MAYUR VIHAR, NOIDA Where Smart Business Travellers Meet

SPOTLIGHT 34 A PERSONALISED TRAVEL FUTURE Today’s travellers will want to travel the world in just one way – their own way. They will want to put together their own unique travel experiences, tap into inspiration from other travellers and then share their own personal plans with friends. We speak to some of the leading OTAs and travel aggregators on how they see the future of travelling

REGULAR NEWS 6......................................................................................................................... Inbound 14...........................................................................................................................Trade 18....................................................................................................................Outbound 24...................................................................................................................... Aviation 30................................................................................................................ Hospitality 38..........................................................................................................Appointments

Tourism Authority of Thailand New Delhi: (91 11) 4674 1111, tatdel@tat.or.th www.facebook.com/TAT.newdelhi

Websites: www.tourismthailand.org | www.tourismthailand.in

News

INBOUND ‘Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart -2018’ to be held in July The Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR) for organising the ‘Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart’ 2018. The event will be held from July 20 to 22 at the B.M. Birla Auditorium, Jaipur.

The Department of Tourism will be the host state partner for the event. The MoU was signed between the Additional Director Tourism, Sanjay Pande and the President, FHTR, Bhim Singh at Hotel ITC Rajputana, Sheraton, Jaipur.

The chief guest on the occasion, Chief Secretary, Rajasthan, Nihal Chand Goel said that the primary objective of ‘Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart’ is to exclusively focus on the domestic tourists within

Rajasthan from various parts of India and establish Rajasthan as one of the leading domestic tourist destinations in the country. “The vision 2020 initiated by the CM had an objective of five crore tourist footfall in the state by the year 2020. But we have attained close to five crore tourists in the year 2017 itself and with new initiatives such as this travel mart, we’d be able to achieve the set goal and probably outperform our own predicted numbers,” he added.

The Guest of Honour, Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism, Subodh Agarwal said that this mart is first of its kind in Rajasthan and second in India. The 15 per cent of the total state GDP is through tourism. Tourism has won 45 awards over the past four years and 65 per cent occupancy in hotels was recorded in the year 2017.

Dalmia Bharat Limited adopts Red Fort Dalmia Bharat Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Tourism for adoption of Red Fort monument under the “Adopt a Heritage” project. With an estimate over INR five cr per year, Dalmia Bharat Limited joins ‘Monument Mitras’ from other various private sector companies to look after the operations and the maintenance of this heritage site for the next five years. The first of its kind adoption enables Dalmia Bharat to construct, landscape, illuminate and maintain activities related to provision and development of tourist amenities.

“We are very honoured to have adopted one of the India’s top heritage sites. At Dalmia Bharat, we take pride in Indian culture and practise it at the workplace.

For us, it is an extension of what we believe in. Adopting a Heritage Project is a unique

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endeavour by Ministry of Tourism which envisions in developing monuments, heritage and tourist sites across India to enhance their tourism potential and cultural importance. We look forward to adding value to India’s heritage sites in every possible manner,” said Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director, Dalmia Bharat Group.

Deccan Odyssey announces ‘Free Tour For Companion’ The Deccan Odyssey has announced its ‘Companion Free’ scheme for bookings made before April 30 for the upcoming season of 2018-19. For the early birds, this would mean booking a Deluxe Double Occupancy cabin at an impressive discount of 50 per cent. The luxurious deluxe cabin can be booked for eight days and seven nights at the cost of INR 3, 06,250 instead of the original price of INR 6, 12,500.

The companion offer is open to all nationalities and bookings made for the period of October 2018 to May 2019. Travellers are ought to pay 20 per cent of the amount before April 30 to confirm their booking while the 80 per cent of the amount has to be paid 45 days prior to the departure date.

FTAs to double in three years, Alphons At the inauguration of the 10th Edition of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB-2018), organised jointly by the Rajasthan Government and FICCI in Jaipur, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Tourism, Government of India, K J Alphons commented that the government is taking all measures to double the tourists’ inflow in India in next three years.

“Foreign tourist inflow in India last year grew by 15.6 per cent and receipts grew by 20.2 per cent. Our targets are very high and we want to double the tourist inflow and receipts in three years. It is possible to achieve the target as India has a lot of potential and a 5,000 year old history, which no other country in the world has,’ Alphons highlighted. He also said that Rajasthan has immense potential for tourism growth and GITB is a great start towards that success.

A token of appreciation to all our

TRAVEL PARTNERS

for making Akquasun Roadshow 2018 a great success

Cover Story

THE CURVY ROAD TO CONVENTIONS IN INDIA What is pegging back conventions in India?

Indian exhibition and convention industry is undergoing an incredible change. With the growing potential of MICE for the national economy, convention centres’ are set to experience significant growth in coming years. The country has to further ensure that there is an upsurge with many convention centres being lined up with different capacities to handle meetings and exhibitions.

Industry experts discourse to the analysis

By Sayanti Halder

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Cover Story

Rakesh Kumar

Satish Sharma

S Balasubramanian

Nicholas Dumbell

India has seen exponential growth, both in the international as well as domestic markets, in MICE. As per ICCA Statistics report, India is mentioned as the host for 143 international exhibitions and trade fairs. Indians are becoming members of international trade bodies and associations which help them establish their network globally and also open newer avenues for MICE in India. Data on tourism reveal that conventions or meetings tourism accounts for roughly 20 per cent of all international arrivals and is projected to grow at around 10 per cent per year over the next decade.

The exhibition industry is growing at an annual rate of 12 to 15 per cent in India. This has opened up opportunities for existing exhibition venues and convention centres to scale up their infrastructure as well as opened opportunities for investors to create new facilities in the country. “The terms like ‘World’s largest democracy’, ‘one of the fastest growing economies’ have helped escalate the valuation of MICE in India. Since 2008, this industry is on a high in the country.

Since meetings, conferences and exhibitions are the most vibrant form of connecting businesses and with growth in virtually every sector of our economy, there is a greater than ever buzz around the M&C space,” opines Rakesh Kumar, Chairman India Exposition Mart Limited (IEML).

“Adding strength to the growing industry is the development of tourism sector in India like medical tourism. This has led to an increased inflow of patients into the country not only for therapeutic

medication but also for traditional and contemporary medical practices such as AYUSH. With the infrastructure development that has happened in the last few decades, the overall inflow of tourists has increased considerably. Bangalore International Exhibition Center (BIEC) has added a great amount of value by constructing a world-class exhibition infrastructure to organise exhibitions and conventions in the city.

To leverage the market further, BIEC also provides a single window service to convention organisers where logistics and all other allied services that are needed to organise an event is provided as per organisers’ requirements,” elaborates S Balasubramanian, Executive Director – Trade Fairs and Chief Operating Officer, Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC).

“Over the decade of its operations, Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) has witnessed tremendous growth in revenues and number of visiting MICE delegates, helping position Hyderabad on world MICE map. Last few years have been very successful, where it hosted several prominent conferences bringing more than three lakh delegates to the city, every year positioning Hyderabad amongst the top four MICE cities in India. Both central and state governments are actively working toward capitalising this segment by investing in MICE related infrastructure, focusing on increased global connectivity expanding to tier II and III cities, improved civic amenities, implementation of faster and

newer modes of transport and the continued addition of room inventory across categories,” adds Bandish Mehta, General Manager- Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Hyderabad International Convention Centre.

is a certain stone left unturned which are to be looked into for more lucrative business. Firstly, the transportation is not up-to-mark, depending on the demand of the MICE segment and footfall. There is a huge gap between the metro cities and tier II cities in India that creates the gap of knowledge and commercialisation of tourism, which needs to shrink at a speedy rate.”

Simultaneously, Nicholas Dumbell, General Manager – Renaissance Mumbai & Lakeside Chalet – Mumbai, Marriott Executive Apartments highlights, “While India has huge potential for MICE business, only a few centres in terms of organised spaces are available in the country. Some key reasons behind the failure to attract MICE amongst Indians are the lack of world-class infrastructure in the nation to cater to the volume of events that the key cities can hold while another challenge is the higher taxation policies set by the government due to which we lose MICE business to the neighbouring countries convention centres.” He continues saying, “India tourism has to adopt a vigorous MICE focused marketing approach to promote India as a MICE destination. In fact, the conference industry has eagerly been waiting for a one-stop licensing and visa permit process for the conference organisers that encompass all the local governmental bodies’ requirements.

Also, all the stake holders along with tourism department should work hand-in-hand in promoting and taking measures in effecting bidding of conventions for India.”

CALCULATING CHALLENGES In last few years, India has shown substantial growth in all areas making the economy much stronger.

Infrastructural advancements are key areas which are flourishing, still, when it comes to MICE specific requirements, the country has a long way to go. “India’s current share in global MICE market is merely 0.5 per cent to 0.65 per cent and to grow this and make it a substantial part of our economy, we need focused efforts to create a more conducive environment for MICE organisers,” highlights Mehta. He also suggeststhat joint efforts between convention centres, bureaus, government, tourism board and hospitality chains coupled with long-term investments to developed professional facilities will bring the desired change. Better representation of India in international trade shows, roadshows and to other world associations, as a potential MICE host will help strengthen India’s position in global MICE map.

Adding to the note, Satish Sharma, Assistant Vice President-Operations, Brilliant Convention Center exclaims that it is not easy to attract much business in the convention centre as people in our are yet to be aware of the deliverance that a convention centre can provide. “I would not call it a hindrance, rather there

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Cover Story

Jose Sebastian

Bandish Mehta

Jose Sebastian, General Manager, Lulu International Convention Center and Garden Hotels, Thrissur adds, “Hotels and convention centres in India are taxed three times more under Goods and Services Tax (GST) than some of the other overseas markets. The conference is a bulk business and these taxes make more impact. Even Indians are choosing destinations outside India which are less expensive. Definitely, the GST rates need to go down and IGST needs to be made available to the hotels.

Most corporates are registered in metros but they travel to lesserknown destinations. They don’t get IGST benefits. This is impacting corporate travel and the MICE business.”

Balasubramanian highlights, “Globally many countries have made a mark in convention centre business due to a conscious effort to develop infrastructure.

Convention centres in Europe and North America have been funded by public investments. The ones in Singapore, Bangkok and Jakarta have been built on private-public partnership. The support provided by the government in these regions are exemplary. India needs to emulate this and bridge the gaps.

Convention industry also needs a nodal body to lobby with state and central governments for enhancing convention and allied infrastructure.

The overall development of MICE industry cannot happen just with investments from the private sector. The government should

look at connecting the relevant stakeholders of MICE industry together and give it due importance both in terms of industry status as well as providing a supporting hand for its development.” He continues adding, “Infrastructure and supporting systems are crucial for organising more technical conventions. Exhibition and convention centres must employ technically sound skilled workforce who could integrate technology into live-streaming videos and social media enhanced presentations.

Convention centres also need an uninterrupted power distribution.

This is important since in India frequent power outages are a norm.

There would be a tremendous demand for bandwidth for connecting various wireless devices, which needs to be taken care of.”

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in the bottom to up direction. The government should come forward by giving administrative support and also for funding bids. It should promote the MICE industry and must strive to develop the necessary infrastructure to keep national technological offerings on par with global standards.”

He adds further saying, “Mutual competition and trust deficit restricts entities to come together to bid for a big show and end up losing valuable business. Also, there is no DMO in any state or a convention bureau, which could handhold the organisers and facilitate them at each and every step to get the conference and help it to make it a success. Organising a big-ticket event is a daunting task and needs a lot of cooperative work. Only recently organisers have started using event management software for many tasks. To gauge India’s strength as an emerging MICE destination, besides harnessing inbound business, it is also important to understand Indian outbound MICE tourism, given the growth pace and scope of India’s economy.”

Purpose-built convention centres, star accommodations, strong airport connectivity, advance local commute options, city-specific bureaus, security measures, ease of access to local tourism and skilled

The exhibition industry is growing at an annual rate of 12 to 15 per cent in India.

India has always been an enchanting and a potentially top destination for MICE from all around the world. Yet, as on date, India attracts only one per cent of the total international market in MICE. As pointed out by Kumar, “Unlike many countries abroad, where the state pushes things forward and hugely incentivises MICE industry, the machinery in India is propelled

manpower to cater to the dynamic requirements of international and national travellers are the basics which international associations, conference boards and MICE organisers look for while choosing destination for their events.

NAVIGATING SUCCESS Earlier it was a fact that the hotel industries were dependant on

the room occupancy but now, it has altered as more business is attracted because of banquet facilities, present in hotels and convention centres. Social functions have become a mustto-do thing and clients want to celebrate them at best of ways. A self-sufficient convention centre is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to selecting a hotel as a good MICE venue. Today, organisers and business guests seek a lot more than just the capacity of the venue or technology provisions. With a rapid and 24x7 lifestyle, business delegates tend to combine work with pleasure and travel along with their family. Recently, tier II and III cities have also been performing well and aggressively in the MICE segment. “The Indian hospitality industry rode impressive growth rates over the last couple of years on the back of increasing number of MICE events across several Indian cities. Industry experts and analysts attribute increasing MICE events, including investor summits, to an improved economic sentiment amidst growing competition among states to score better ratings in ease of doing business and attract investments,” says Sharma.

With the Ministry of Home Affairs shortly launching an online module for submission of applications by the organisers of international conferences, it is hopeful to boost MICE tourism by driving awareness to the international MICE community that India is on the world map as a great MICE destination with increased presence of global hotel chains and more hotel room inventory.

Furthermore, it will improve the city infrastructure with upcoming metros and better air connectivity, along with the ease of improvised visa norms. Currently, India is at the 31st position on the global MICE map but with the developing infrastructure and profitable business policies, it is highly possible that the Indian MICE will surpass other countries to reserve a higher position, globally.

Expert Speak

Daring to be

Different

With his immense contribution towards making Creative Travel, the globally awarded DMC in South Asia, Rajeev Kohli, Joint Managing Director, Creative Travel / Plan it! Meetings & Conferences & SITE President 2016 & 2017 shares all and more about how his company is carving a niche for itself in the incentives and meetings industry. Listed amongst the top 25 most influential people in the incentive industry, Kohli, the thought leader, believes in staying ahead of change and asserts on becoming a leader of individuality rather than one face in the crowd

By Gagneet Kaur

According to you, where does India stand on the global MICE podium?

India is truly an amazing destination for anything MICE. We are a vibrant, colourful and economically relevant destination. It is also important to understand that the word MICE, is a bit to overreaching and generic. The four components that broadly make this segment – Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events or Exhibitions, all are distinct products with different customer bases and different delivery parameters. We cannot evaluate them with the same benchmarks.

Meetings are perhaps the simplest of the four segments. I do feel that our potential and current revenue from meetings have a strong pipeline.

Our opportunity lies in creating opportunities and avenues to generate more revenue from these meetings. We are growing the most in this segment.

Incentives is where we have the lowest hanging fruit before us. We have centuries of culture at our disposal. We have a lot of the ingredients that make for a good incentive destination. But we are not complete and have some work to do. We need to put some serious thoughts behind this segment.

Conventions and Congresses is another area we have very good potential. India has more than

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enough credible hotels and standalone venues that can easily tap into this market. We have a strong PCO and supplier base. Our local scientific and academic community offers any visiting convention a strong base of local delegates and the opportunity to interact across cultures in their fields. We, in fact, are a very attractive convention destination.

The last is Events & Exhibitions. I do feel we have tremendous opportunity to create brands and intellectual property that belong to the nation.

We also have to refocus the energies of the private sector on understanding the changing profile of the international MICE planner. We can indeed capture a larger share of the global MICE market.

How do you think, is ‘Plan it! Meetings & Conferences’ leveraging the MICE Business in India? What is the average number of hosted meeting/ incentive gatherings that the company aims to deliver, this year?

Creative Travel as a company has been involved in the MICE segment for many years and is today the most globally awarded MICE company in South Asia. Apart from our own National Tourism Awards for MICE, we are also the recipient of seven SITE

Crystal Awards, the highest recognition in the global incentive industry. We have two distinct teams looking after this segment – Creative Travel and Plan it! Meetings & Conferences. Creative Travel looks after inbound incentives and has made quite a name for itself for delivery of world-class engagement programs. The team not only operates in India but has delivered across Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives as well. In 2018, we expect to double our revenue in this segment.

Plan it! Meetings & Conferences was established to address the needs of the associations meeting market. Having established itself as a Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) and a member of the global ICCA fraternity, Plan it! has core competencies ranging from registration and venue management or scientific programming and sponsorship generation. This year the team has branched out into other key business verticals including Loyalty Programs, which has already hit its targets for the year. We are on a path of growth with this team.

In our previous guest column, you had mentioned that “incentive is where we struggle the most”. Can you please

Expert Speak

“Our destinations need to think like marketers. Take a consumerled approach.

I am confident this will make a difference.” highlight the challenges that India market face with regards to hosting incentive tours?

The Ministry sells MICE the same way it sells normal tourism. It doesn’t work that way. We do not have a strong image in the global market. We battle against perceptions of hygiene factors, of safety. We have no nightlife. We have a weak experiential infrastructure. All of this hurts us when we as professional companies, pitch India against the likes of Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and others. All we can boast about are our ancient sites. Nothing else. To compete in this segment in this decade, we need to be sexy, we need to be vibrant, we need to be contemporary and we need to be relevant. Our competitors have redefined themselves many times over the past few years.

Sadly, we have not. We continue to rest on our past and that just doesn’t sell anymore.

hotels, it’s making more and more economic sense to leave our shores. This is a hard truth which is being overlooked. It is also impacting our ability to bring business into the country.

What would be your key advice to such emerging incentive-centric destinations?

Understand and learn the difference between the needs of a holiday traveller and a MICE buyer. They are very different. Evaluate our competition, not in terms of domestic destinations, but how we compare against global players. Our destinations need to think like marketers. Take a consumerled approach. I am confident this will make a difference.

What are the emerging incentive destinations in India and abroad?

How are your brand names delivering to accommodate the shifting needs of the MICE industry? What are the projects in the pipeline for your distinctive brands to meet the growing demand?

In India, nothing really is new. We keep on reshaping the same old destinations. Overseas, the world is our oyster. With the 28 per cent GST on

Our brands have made a name for themselves in their niche markets. Creative Travel is known as a quality DMC, Plan it! has established a name as

a super specialist meeting team. I won’t say what business we have and how much, but I can say that we are well on track to meet our targets.

How aggressively are you channelising your vision through social media?

All brands have their own social media presence and own lifecycles for that. It is still a relatively new area for us to be pushing ourselves, but we have had some good success with some of the work we have done online. Still some ways to go through.

Being one of the most successful inbound agents and an industry veteran with decades of experience, what is your success mantra?

Never stop learning. Invest in yourselves to become a better professional and human being.

Pay attention to what your global peers are doing and see how you can bring best practices to your business. Try to be different, stop copying others and most importantly, be a clean and ethical business person. Good always wins over evil.

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News

TRADE Hotel Price Index 2017 reveals new destinations for Indians After three years of flat prices, travellers’ pay for overnight accommodation rose two percent globally in 2017, according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) from Hotels.com. In a year where cryptocurrencies flooded the market hashtags took over the red carpet and political debate turned well, political, the needle also moved for travellers, with a two-point rise in the global Index to 116, the closest it has been to the 2007 peak of 118.

The index format allows Hotels.com to highlight yearover-year variations in actual prices paid per night by travellers without foreign exchange fluctuations distorting the picture.

“The slight increase in average accommodation prices

globally combined with numerous markets having record visitor growth signals a strong travel economy and a growing desire from consumers to experience the world. Cultural events have inspired travel more than ever before as we aspire not to just stand by and

MakeMyTrip acknowledgs ‘Hotels of the Year Awards 2018’ MakeMyTrip partnered with Hotel Investment Conference-South Asia (HICSA) presented HICSA Hotels of the Year Awards 2018. Hosted by Hotelivate, HICSA brought together an impressive conglomeration of business leaders, think tanks and industry top brass and honours the leading players with the coveted annual awards. Amongst various notable personalities present at the occasion, Deep Kalra, Chairman and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip congratulated Manav Thandani, Founder Chairman, Hotelivate for the prominent success of the brand. MakeMyTrip sponsored and presented HICSA Hotels of the Year Award 2018 to new hotels that opened in the South Asian region.

“We are delighted to have partnered with HICSA which is one of the most

sought-after knowledge-sharing platforms for the hospitality industry.

As India’s leading online travel company, we want to serve our hotel partners by accelerating the online adoption and elevating the experience of hoteliers and travellers alike. We believe that HICSA will help players in hospitality industry to grow the deeply fragmented and under-penetrated hotels segment in India,” commented Ritwik Khare, Chief Business Officer - Hotel and Accommodation Supply, MakeMyTrip.

“This year was undeniably special as it marked the 10th edition of the HICSA Hotels of the Year Awards. We were pleased to present these awards with MakeMyTrip for the second time now,” added Manav Thadani, Founder Chairman, Hotelivate.

observe the action, but to instead actually be part of it,” said Johan Svanstrom, President, Hotels.com.

Due to the implementation of new economic policies and GST in 2017, which introduced multiple tax slabs to cover different hotel categories, Indian hotel prices have witnessed an increase for the year. Owing to the swelling Indian travel and tourism industry, it’s not all doom and gloom when it comes to accommodation prices domestically and globally. The HPI 2017 also revealed that despite the overall price increase for accommodation globally, outbound Indian travellers paid less per room per night in six of the top 10 (USA, UK, Malaysia, Germany, Indonesia and Italy) outbound destinations.

Tripshelf raises INR 1.6 crore in pre-series bidding New-Delhi headquartered online travel marketplace Tripshelf has raised fresh funding of INR 1.6 crore from a group of professional investors, including GEMS Advisory (a micro VC); Alok Mittal of Indifi; Sachin Bhatia, Co-Founder of MakeMyTrip & Truly Madly; Anita Gupta, Global Equity Strategist; Singapore Angel Network and Alka Puri, IIM-C Alumnus & Founder of Roads Ahead Consult; amongst others. This is a continuation of Tripshelf’s pre-series A Funding Round in mid-2016; the total amount raised by the startup now stands at INR 3.2 crore. Within two years of its inception, Tripshelf has achieved an annual Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of INR 36 crore, and an annual revenue run rate of INR 1.5 crore. With the current funding, the startup aims to touch a revenue run rate of INR three crore annually and a GTV of around INR 50 crore.

“This is the second time we have raised funds in Pre-Series A round; it is a testimony to the immense faith several investors have shown in our start-up. The earlier funds we raised in 2016 were being used to establish unit economics’ profitability, and setup the talent pool,” shared Dhruv Raj Gupta, Co-Founder, Tripshelf.

Cox & Kings collaborates with VisitBritain to promote GB Celebrating 260 years, Cox & Kings Ltd. has collaborated with VisitBritain to promote Great Britain in India. The joint marketing collaboration will publicise Great Britain (GB) through innovative advertisements and contests in the Indian market. The campaign focuses on the varied offerings of Great Britain including its signature rail journeys, delectable cuisine and experiential tours. To popularise the campaign further and garner participation across digital platforms, a

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unique contest with hashtags #LoveToTravel and #ExploreFourCorners were launched.

Commenting on the collaboration, Karan Anand, Head, Relationships, Cox & Kings Ltd said, “Indians love Great Britain for its picturesque countryside and most alluring experiences. We bring to our clientele a wide range of travel experiences that largely remain undiscovered. The campaign has successfully attracted the attention of the discerning travellers in India. We are glad to

promote Great Britain not only as a summer destination but a year-round one.”

VisitBritain’s Interim Director APMEA Tricia Warwick said, “Britain is packed full of amazing experiences all year round and with our visitor attractions, hotels and shops offering good value for Indian travellers, 2018 is a great time to travel. VisitBritain is excited to continue our global partnership with Cox & Kings and further raise Britain’s profile as a great place to visit for Indian tourists.”

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In Conversation

Kerala to stand out in the ‘MICE‘ crowd Amidst ravishing backwater settings, series of breathtaking tropical beaches, mist-laden, plantation hills and cities that host leading names in star hotel business; all provide some of the best venues for fabulous MICE experience in Kerala. Thomas John Muthoot, Chairman & Managing Director Muthoot Pappachan Group shares his insights on how private investors may contribute in developing the hospitality industry’s picture in the ‘God’s own Country’

By Sayanti Halder

Being one of the most frequently visited states in India, how can Kerala position itself as an advanced MICE destination?

Kerala is fast emerging as a MICE destination. With a fine melange of culture and natural settings, Kerala also offers state-of-the-art technology for business meetings, conferences and exhibitions to match global standards. Kerala has always been a popular destination for its vast range of tourism and hospitality offerings. The state is an important market for MICE with big brand names in the hospitality sector coming up on this part of the southern soil. In my opinion, Kerala will be one of the biggest MICE markets in India in another two years.

What are the scopes of Kerala as a tourism destination in the coming days?

Kerala is a saturated market in terms of visitation of travellers, yet the scope of growth is always growing. The yardstick of targets for Kerala Tourism is swiftly increasing with the increase of tourist influx and introduction of new destinations and experiences. Tourism business is growing, bigger and better hotels are setting their foot in the state, tourist footfall is increasing and MICE is reaching its zenith of success over time.

I foresee that Kerala requires a 2.0 version of redefining itself in a newer and more versatile

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MAY 2018

version of a tourist destination, compared to what it has been for the last 20 years. The state requires a redefinition of how to project itself to the travellers, especially the MICE segment. The scope and opportunity for the same are immeasurable.

What challenges, that you have observed, act as a hindrance in developing Kerala as a lucrative market for hotels?

In our country, the clearance of projects is a vast, time-consuming affair. If we are able to bring down the duration of registration and clearance period, more projects and private investments in the hospitality segment would be expected, in no time, making business and tourism more feasible to the suppliers. The government should be projecting more attention to private investments in the hospitality industry and boost tourism in the country. As much importance Kerala receives for its Information Technology (IT) industry, the equal amount should be given to its tourism and hospitality industries by both the state and central government, looking at them as a major revenue-generating industry.

As a private investor, how can you partake in working with the government for boosting tourism?

Our responsibility is to recognise potential in

projects and develop the tourism infrastructure’s scenario of India. We stand where the government needs our support the most, which is funding. The government should see it as a support and work hand-in-hand to bring in more business in the state.

We have already added a 45-room resort at Kovalam, with an investment outlay of INR 35 to 40 cr. The property along with a convention centre is managed by Taj Hotels. At Kakkanad in Kochi, we have built a business hotel and signed an agreement with Taj for the gateway brand. It is a hotel in IT corridor, tapping both the corporate and leisure segment of travellers.

What projects are in pipeline for the Muthoot Pappachan Group to leverage tourism in Kerala?

Leisure travel has always been a key factor of tourism in Kerala. We have two properties in Marari and Bekkal, respectively, where we plan to develop resorts, which may cater to small-scale incentive groups as well. We have around 30 acres of land acquisition in both the places with a prime focus on offering a unique experience and expand the travelling boundaries of visitors. We are still in the process of clearance after which, we would be in talks with some of the biggest hotel chain groups for management dealings.

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growth

News

OUTBOUND Prague Convention Bureau makes economic contributions Economic contributions and significant participation in GDP have been delivered by the robust marketing initiatives of the Prague Convention Bureau (PCB) over the last 10 years boosting more influx from the India market.

The not-for-profit organisation has acquired over 630 congresses, conferences and corporate events (in the past 10 years) with a delegate attendance of almost 293,000. As far as its

contribution to GDP, Prague’s meetings industry has been one of the major economic contributors for the city; with 1.1 per cent GDP (gross domestic product) of the capital and 15 per cent in the overall tourism sector – positive and impressive both. Generated in excess of 620,000, room nights are worth more than 1.2 billion Czech crowns (€ 47.5 million).

With such a boost in the economy, PCB has

extensively targeted to welcome more convention segment of travellers from India, offering ample of spaces for meetings and numerous hotels, adjacent to the centre, for accommodation. The average room rate (ARR) in Prague, has been CZK 1,990 (€ 76.5) between 2011 and 2018, and this is great as compared to industry norms. The room nights generated an income exceeding CZK 1.2 billion (€ 47.5 million).

Holland records 30 percent growth from India The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC) has recorded 30 per cent growth from India in 2017 over 2016.

Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador, Kingdom of the Netherlands, spoke about this growth in New Delhi recently and said that the numbers of Indians visiting Holland is on a rise and vice versa. He revealed that they are expecting 2018 to record double-digit growth as well. Attributing this growth to the increased air connectivity, he said, “With Jet Airways offering direct connections from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam; as well as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines starting to fly from Mumbai to Amsterdam, the number of travellers between the two countries is increasing.

Amsterdam is acting as a hub for Indians to not only land in Holland and explores the

Alphonsus Stoelinga destination, but also go to other European countries from there, especially with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines offering connections to all of Europe and America. This added to Jet Airways offering connections all across India, is only going to boost the traffic between both the countries.” He also added that this year’s theme for marketing for NBTC would be luxury, and the country has many offerings and experiences for travellers in this segment.

Oman Tourism hosts events for MICE Oman Tourism along with Cox & Kings hosted a networking evening in Delhi and Mumbai recently. Around 40 to 45 attendees representing the top management and decision makers of various corporate entities were present for this session to discuss Oman emerging as the next big hub for corporate events and MICE groups.

“Conducting networking session for

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MAY 2018

corporate organisations gave us an opportunity to showcase various MICE offerings. Being a short-haul destination from India, with excellent air connectivity from major Indian cities, world-class hotels and easy availability of Indian food, Oman makes an ideal MICE destination,” said Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman.

“With new international hotel chains that have recently opened in Oman and many more to launch soon, we are seeing a considerable increase in the number of rooms and venues in the country. The recent revision in visa regulations will bring momentum to MICE tourism,” added Khalid Al Zadjali, Director, Oman Convention Bureau.

UK Government extends SPV service to Pune and Bengaluru United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has announced an extension of the Super Priority Visa service (SPV) to Pune and Bengaluru, meaning that more Indians can get a visa decision in 24 hours or less. Pune and Bengaluru add to the three locations this service is already offered – Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai and will be available for customers of these cities from May 1, 2018. The SPV service in India costs INR 91,733. This fee reflects the high level of management, logistics handling and staff resource required to receive, assess and return the decision on the visa application in 24 hours.

“I am pleased that the SPV service is being extended to even more Indian cities, giving many more UK visa customers the opportunity to receive a visa decision in 24 hours or less if needed. India was the first country in the world to receive this service in 2013 and is once again leading the way as two more cities, Pune and Bengaluru, receive this first class visa service. This is further proof of the strength of the UK-India relationship,” said Caroline Nokes, Immigration Minister, UK.

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Homeward

Beyond the conventions in

KARNATAKA

Saturated with big hotel brands and modern convention facilities, this historical and classic state occupies a focal place in the MICE map of India. It may emerge as an attractive destination for MICE tourism but little do we know about this land of opportunities and unlimited imagination.

So, wind up your laptop plug and unwind in the varied unconventional experiences of Karnataka

By Team MI

CHIKMAGALUR Situated at a distance of 148 km from Mangalore and 240 km from Bangalore, in the laps of the Deccan Plateau, Chikmagalur (also known as Chikkamagaluru) is a serene hill town located in the Chikmagalur district, belonging to the Malnad region, of Karnataka.

Located at an altitude of 3,400 feet at the foothills of Mulliyangiri range, Chikmagalur, literally meaning ‘The Land of the Younger Daughter’, is one of the best hill stations near Bangalore and also among the most famous tourist places in the state. The hill stop is famous for its serene environment, lush green forests and tall mountains. Chikkamagaluru is also famous for coffee and is popularly known as the ‘Coffee Land of Karnataka’. It is the place where coffee was cultivated for the first time in India. Accommodation options in Chikmagalur are plenty that range from star hotels and luxurious resorts to budget hotels.

HAMPI At a distance of 340 km from Bangalore, Hampi is an ancient village situated on the banks of Tungabhadra River in northern Karnataka. A renowned UNESCO World Heritage site, Hampi stands within the ruins of the city of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is one of the best heritage sites in India and among the ‘must visit’ places in your Karnataka tour packages. One of the most popular tourist destinations in South India, Hampi, also known as Pampa-kshetra, Kishkindha-kshetra or Bhaskarakshetra, is derived from Pampa, which is the old name of the Tungabhadra River. The magnificent ruins of Hampi dot an unearthly landscape that has captivated travellers for centuries. Heaps of giant boulders perch precariously over stretches of undulating terrain, their rusty hues offset by jade-green palm groves.

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MAY 2018

Homeward

TRADE

BANDIPUR NATIONAL PARK Around 80 kms from Mysore and 215 km from Bangalore, the Bandipur National Park is one of the well preserved national parks in India. It is located in Chamarajanagar district on the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu between Mysore and Ooty. Nagarhole and Bandipur National Park are separated by the Kabini reservoir, which offers an enthralling view to preserve in mind, everlastingly. Spread across 874 sq.kms, the altitude of the park varies between 780 to 1455 meters.

It is part of the famous Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve along with Nagarhole National Park, Mudumalai National Park (12 kms towards Ooty) and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.

Bandipur forests used to be the private game reserve of the Maharajas of Mysore. This captivating sanctuary is one of the well-conserved homes to around 70 tigers and over 3000 Asian elephants.

MYSURU (MYSORE) The historic settlement of Mysuru (which changed its name from Mysore in 2014) is one of South India’s most enchanting cities, famed for its glittering royal heritage and magnificent monuments and buildings. It is the second biggest city in Karnataka and mostly popular for its rich historical and architectural facets. It is the erstwhile capital of the Mysore Maharajas, who ruled the Mysore state between 1399 and 1947. Mysuru still retains its old world charm with its palaces, heritage buildings, traditions and temples. At an altitude of 763 meters surrounded by hill ranges, north to south, it is known as the ‘City of Palaces’. Mysore is one of the top destinations to visit if Karnataka is on the list of ‘next-visit’. The city has several tourist attractions including the Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hill Temple, Mysore Zoo as well as Srirangapatna and Brindavan Gardens. Bangalore Airport is the nearest airport which is about 184 km from Mysore.

MAY 2018

21

Report

TRAVEL AND TOURISM CREATED 25.9 MILLION JOBS

IN INDIA IN 2017

India’s Travel sector has expanded in the recent years, driven by the increase in domestic spend, internet penetration and availability of smartphones. Technology today plays an omnipresent role in shaping the travel industry. Key advancements in the travel space revolve around five themes, namely Mobile Applications, Social Media, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data and Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR). These advancements could enrich travel experiences through direct and flexible interactions with customers. To differentiate themselves, existing players are honing the ways to personalise customer experience, build loyalty, automate operations and gain deeper insights into the customers

Assessing the trends and challenges in this twin sectors, the Indian industry body, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in association with the services firm KPMG India released a report titled ‘Expedition 3.0: Travel and hospitality gone digital’, which said that the travel and tourism sectors, together, generated around 25.9 million jobs in 2017, contributing USD 75.8 billion (INR 5 lakh crore, approximately) to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the same year. This paper attempts to portray an immersive view of the trends, challenges and consequences of digital travel, painting a holistic picture of the unfolding digital travel revolution. “Travel and tourism sectors are among the largest employment generators in the country. Travel, tourism and hospitality are among the key sectors of the Indian economy and have registered a steady growth rate of 15.6 per cent (yearon-year) in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in 2017,” highlighted the report.

Mobile applications, big data, AI, VR and AR will shape the future of the travel industry. As per the

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MAY 2018

report, India was projected to have accounted for 3.7 per cent of the global digital travel sales — making it the third-largest market by value in the AsiaPacific (APAC) region. Jaideep Ghosh, Partner and Head - Transport, Leisure and Sports, KPMG- India, added at the launch of the paper, “Digital revolution in the travel space is on. Brands are embracing technology to transform themselves into experience platforms while automating operations. Corporate and consumer travel boundaries are already blurred.

Incumbents are adapting swiftly to the emerging bouquet of travel start-ups. Creative digital business models will continue to reshape the future of travel.”

The online travel booking sales are likely to go up at a compound annual growth rate of 14.8 per cent from 2017 to 2021, it estimated.

The report also suggested that rising smartphone and internet penetration, rising participation of millennial travellers in terms of numbers and expenditure, with 34 per cent of millennials spending INR 6,000 per night or more in the past year, as compared to 22 per cent of

those aged over 55, leisure travel contributing nearly 95 per cent to the direct travel and tourism spending in India and rising business travel are contributing to the growth of the travel and hospitality sector in India. The report enlists and expounds upon six key focus areas to win the tech-friendly traveller: marketing to the modernday traveller- through Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), following a mobile-first approach, leveraging social media, providing personalised offers and utilising User Generated Content (UGC). Personalising services, deemed as the future of travel, enabled by insights from analysis of big data analytics, AI and machine learning, pushing towards direct bookings, automating operations for end to end applications across booking, customer service and even operational aspects of travel and hospitality businesses are cited as the other focus areas, leveraging UGC such as customer reviews and partnering with the sharing-economy players are cited as the other focus areas.

Report

GLOBAL

MICE

INDUSTRY EXPECTED TO REACH USD1, 245 BILLION BY 2023

A new report published by Allied Market Research finds that the global meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry registers a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5 per cent from 2017 to 2023. Valued at USD752 billion in 2016, the MICE industry is projected to reach USD1,245 billion in 2023.

The MICE industry is complex, consisting of participants, sponsors, planners, convention and visitor bureaus, meeting venues, accommodations, and suppliers generally involved in the planning and execution of an event. The report, MICE Industry

by Event Type: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023, shows that the group market of the tourism industry has witnessed exponential growth owing to rapid globalisation and expansion of service industries, and the continuous evolution of scientific and technological innovations.

The meetings segment dominated the global MICE industry in 2016, due to the growth of the travel and

tourism industry, increase in international business travels, and rise in government initiatives for the development of MICE segment and the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector. Recent trends of organising hybrid meetings and the use of social media and meeting apps are also expected to the boost market growth in the near future.

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the highest growth rate of 8.6 per cent during the forecast period from 2017 to 2023. This region is significantly driven by emerging industries in countries such as Singapore, China, and India.

Moreover, ease of visa restrictions, investments

in better infrastructure, and high demand in commercial aviation further fuel the growth of the Asia-Pacific MICE industry.

On the basis of country, the United States generated the highest revenue in global MICE industry in 2016. When comparing regions, Europe dominated the global market with more than 42 per cent market share in 2016, in terms of value.

Based on event type, meetings segment generated the highest revenue in 2016, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5 per cent. The incentives segment is projected to witness highest growth in the global market from 2017 to 2023.

MAY 2018

23

News

AVIATION

Oman gets new Muscat International Airport The first phase of Oman’s brand new Muscat International Airport is currently operational and has increased passenger capacity to 20 million up from the previous 12 million passengers recorded in 2017.

The state-of-the-art airport has been designed to be the shining symbol of the Sultanate of Oman. It is designed as ICAO category 4F airports, which will be able to accommodate the world`s largest aircraft, Airbus A380 and the runway will enable independent parallel operations. The passenger terminals built with the latest technology are aligned with IATA Service Level A standards. The total gross area for the new Muscat International terminal building is 580,000 m2 with an overall airport land area of 21 km2.

Goa to get two worldclass airports Goa is set to receive a major expansion with two world-class airports coming up to cater to the growing air traffic. Enhancing the tourism and economic potential of the state, airport infrastructure in Goa is gearing up to receive a major boost in the aviation industry and airports, one at Dabolim and another in Mopa. Both airports in Goa have the potential to grow as they are at two different and key locations, one in the north and another on the southern side of the state. The Government of India had approved the proposal of the Government of Goa for the continuation of civilian operations at Dabolim Civil Aviation Enclave.

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MAY 2018

SriLankan Airlines scores a hat-trick at Golden City Gate Awards 2018 SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance, reaffirming the global appeal and innovativeness of its marketing communication endeavours yet again, recently won three awards at Golden City Gate Awards 2018 at ITB Berlin.

SriLankan Airlines was awarded the ‘First Star’ in the campaign category for its Melbourne launch campaign ‘Two Cities, One Spirit.’ It also bagged the ‘Second Star’ in the same category for its brand campaign in China-themed ‘The Spirit of China, the Story of Sri Lanka.’ The third, another ‘Second Star’, was bestowed upon SriLankan for its video

‘The Largest Carrier to India’ in the TV Cinema Spot category.

“We at SriLankan Airlines are honoured to receive three prestigious awards at this year’s Golden City Gate Awards. This is the second consecutive time that we have been commended at this podium and this proves the universal appeal of our marketing communications endeavours. These awards will certainly inspire us further to explore new avenues in creative conceptualization and creation of unique content to take Sri Lanka to the world,” said Saminda Perera, General Manager- Marketing, SriLankan Airlines, upon receiving the awards.

Turkish Airlines celebrates its Star Alliance Membership Turkish Airlines celebrates the 10th Anniversary of joining to the Star Alliance network that was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international travellers. The flag carrier of Turkey celebrated its membership anniversary at Turkish Airlines Headquarters with the participation of Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, M. İlker Aycı, and Star Alliance CEO, Jeffrey Goh. “Like yesterday and today, Turkish Airlines will continue to be a valuable partner for Star Alliance and its members; as an important element for our common strategy that will enable the Alliance to move forward with solid footprints. We’re sure that

we will have more constructive partnerships with this big family, by working towards the desired goal of making further successes in the forthcoming period,” commented Aycı.

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Spotlight

A

PERSONALISED

TRAVEL

FUTURE Today’s travellers will want to travel the world in just one way – their own way. They will want to put together their own unique travel experiences, tap into inspiration from other travellers and then share their own personal plans with friends. We speak to some of the leading OTAs and travel aggregators on how they see the future of travelling

By Sayanti Halder

Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and CEO, MakeMyTrip

“With the increased smartphone penetration and data democratisation, more and more Indians are at ease with internet and online transactions. Technology has brought more choice and convenience to travellers who can now book their travel, hotel and even make very complex travel itineraries just by a few taps on the app. There is massive growth in the travel segment fuelled by better air connectivity, availability of destination details and discovery of hotels online. OTAs provide easy navigation along with user-friendly information for travellers to tally and select the best that matches their value proposition. Also, the booking process is much simpler that make OTAs like a one-stop-solution for all travel needs.

Online travel companies can offer wide-ranging choice in the most convenient and hassle-free manner by providing personalised offerings, meaningful information, more choice, credible reviews and support at every stage of travel.

With travel being driven by mobile, be it for booking or aspiration purposes, consumers have come to expect a personalised experience. Travel brands are beginning to use AI (Artificial Intelligence) technologies such as machine learning and language processing in the customer journey from beginning to end, particularly to enhance the customer experience. New digital mediums like chatbots have opened up an advanced dimension taking the customer experience to the next level. Further, customers are now being recommended flights, hotel and holiday package based on their search history, booking behaviour, location and user segments. Past behaviours can obviously feed computers to predict future purchase actions. But deep learning algorithms can help travel companies make the most out of their customer’s online activities. Computers are now able to understand images, videos and sounds, creating opportunities to better understand travellers and deliver what they are looking for.”

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MAY 2018

Spotlight

Albert Pozo, President, Amadeus-Asia Pacific “Travellers take their lead from other travellers. Inspiration is the doorway to opportunity for travel providers, but authenticity is the key to unlocking it. 64 per cent of Asia Pacific travellers are open to sharing personal data for more relevant offers and personalised experiences. Somewhat more cautious, 71 per cent of Indian travellers feel the same.

For travel providers, the mandate is clear – personalisation must be carefully balanced against rising privacy concerns.

They will need to respect and protect personal data and the need for privacy at all times. Above and beyond adhering to legislation, travel players must be able to articulate ‘what’s the value’, to get travellers to share their data.”

Dhruv Shringi, Co-founder and CEO, Yatra.com “With the advent of online travel agents, people have become DIY travellers who plan, manage and book their travel online. This rapid growth in online can be attributed to the smartphone penetration and availability of cheap data. With over 400 million largely mobile internet users, India offers tremendous growth opportunity for online travel agencies.

This growth is only going to accelerate as the quality of the mobile internet experience improves thanks to the roll out of 4G connectivity. OTAs adapt as consumers expectations rise. For example, to ease the customer experience we have launched features like - a Facebook chat bot to enable booking tickets, a self-serve platform to address customer queries, a marketplace chat platform to enable travellers to chat in real time with the sellers and also integrated with Truecaller for easy onboarding and verification process. Yatra was also the first online travel portal to introduce Unified Payment Interface (UPI), as an alternate payment option on its website.

Big data and personalisation are having a profound positive impact on the travel industry as it offers customer insights that were hitherto not available previously. With this new information, businesses are in a better position to provide customised service, enhance customer satisfaction and increase operational efficiency and at the same time help companies gain competitive advantage. With increasing smartphone penetration, affordable data plans and improving internet connectivity, the online travel has grown manifolds and customer have become more informed and open to frequent travelling. They seek unique and different travel experiences making personalisation a key tenant of Big Data.”

Aloke Bajpai, CEO & Co-Founder, ixigo “We’ve seen a huge growth in online travel content in recent times. From travel blogs and trip planning sites to online travel agencies and meta-search players, the internet is full of information targeted at not just inspiring people but compelling them to make travel plans. There is still a substantial scope for saving when consumers choose to book online versus offline travel agents. Online research is becoming critical, even while word of mouth still remains a big factor on where and what to book for travel. This is mainly owing to the ease of use and abundance of options. DIY holiday planning is on the rise with people opting to tailor-make their own trips after thorough online research. Though hotels are still largely an offline market, more and more people are turning to online bookings.

The industry is applying knowledge of the search and buying the history of travellers as well as their context (location, season, travelling with family or friends) to make the entire booking experience more personalised and relevant. By applying predictive analytics to the big data sets of customer data, apps have started showing more relevant content and customised user experiences for individual app users. We have also started seeing more localised content with Indic languages as well as nuances that solve for local tastes. ixigo has introduced India’s first augmented reality (AR) feature on its trains app for iPhone 6+ users. The AR Coach Position feature will enable train travellers to accurately locate their coach positions across 7,000 railway stations across India. We introduced ixigo money that allows users to use 100 per cent of their balance on their flight bookings. ixigo money is the world’s first loyalty program run by a meta-search.”

MAY 2018

27

Spotlight

Manheer Singh Sethi, Founder, Travkart.com “Transparency is the most important aspect while dealing with an OTA as the price is online and few amendments or customisations may change the price marginally. Traditional travel agents are dealing offline using their goodwill and reputation as the solo tool for capitalising upon the trust that they have gained in the market. Also, online market size is growing bigger day by day, which is obvious by its virtue. The game of trust is the most vital role for a customer to make a decision while selecting a package and through OTA, they have the priviledge of cross-checking the same online. Therefore, the OTAs play an important role in gaining the trust of a customer.

Personalisation has definitely been one major factor in increasing travel industry day by day as ‘one size does not fits all’ same goes with packages might be someone has a preference of staying at a five star property but someone else might prefer a three star or a two star, meals, sightseeing, transfers, flights, class in the flights each and everything may differ from person to person. Easy customisation options have, however, made it easy for a non-traveller to travel in accordance with his requirement. Now, people from all spheres of life have started travelling and this trend is growing by leaps and bounds. OTAs are preferred as they offer services, which are personalised as per the wish and requirement.”

Jason Nash, Chief Storyteller, Travelport “One thing that I am sure of is the 24x7 mobile-enabled internet has made us all impatient and reading some of the world’s tweets I would go as far as to say short-tempered. What we like or want is an instant gratification, we love being able to search and find things quickly and compare options. Travelport recently conducted some traveller research that showed having too much choice was confusing the buyers. However, we still like to compare and ensure that we are getting the right deal for them. Online makes that somewhat easier. Consumers feel that OTAs (and meta of course) offer them a broader view of what is in the market.

I would say that personalisation is allowing OTAs to use data through the search/purchase flow to provide targeted and relevant items to the end consumer. This helps motivate consumers to make a purchase decision as they see the entire trip coming together versus just a single component. For example, if a consumer is searching for a flight to one of many holiday destinations that they are considering and the OTA provides them with a package offer that is very relevant to the consumer then it can help drive a conversion. The alternative is that the consumer may be on a different site looking at hotels, cars and tours and not end up booking with the original OTA site they were on. This, of course, fits well with the ‘Every trip powered by Travelport’ concept – IE moving from flight to trip.”

Fatin Said, Regional Communications Manager, Sabre Travel Network- Middle East “We all need to recognise how data can be used intelligently across the sector to achieve personalisation and how to recruit emerging technologies to improve the traveller experience. They need to work towards a less fragmented travel ecosystem. Talking about customer expectations, it is no secret that today’s travellers want an optimal holistic experience. They are accustomed to personalised offerings and services from other industries and expect a similar level of personalisation, experience and flexibility. In a commissioned study that Sabre conducted in the UAE last year, it found that 46 per cent of the UAE travellers are willing to be loyal to a brand if they are provided with personalised offers. Mobile is also a factor in capturing people’s loyalty and winning the consumer game. Travel suppliers need to deploy advanced mobile and marketing strategies to serve the tech-savvy traveller, who expect to search and book on mobile. Travel players should be able to provide and offer travellers precisely what they want, when they want it, at every step of their trip on the device they choose!”

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News

TRADE HOSPITALITY Lulu Group International to open hotel-cum-convention centre As per a report, touted as its largest investment in the state, the UAE-based retail major Lulu Group International has launched the INR 1,800 cr convention centre and hotel project in Kochi. Yusuff Ali M A, Chairman and MD, Lulu Group International, said that it is the largest convention centre in India with a total capacity of 10,000. “The project is part of INR 13,000 cr expansion plan of the group in India in the retail, hospitality and food processing centres. It is my dream project and I am sure it will go a long way in making Kochi and Kerala the tourist and MICE hub of India,” he added.

The hotel and convention centre at Bolgatty Island will be managed by Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. According to Ali, the lower cost, good connectivity and scope for leisure activities will lure more travellers to the centre at Kochi.

“The project will change the face of India’s hospitality,’’ said Girish Bhagat, GM, Grand Hyatt at Bolghatty Islands. He said with road shows held in Mumbai, Delhi and the UK, the hotel is expecting an increased flow of domestic and international tourists especially for MICE and destination weddings. The hotel and convention centre project will be inaugurated by Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

Sarovar Premiere Jaipur opens with 1800 sqft. meeting space Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of Sarovar Premiere Jaipur.

The upscale full-service hotel features 80 guest rooms and suites with modern interiors, stylish furnishings and spacious event and banquet space. The hotel’s 1,800-sqft meeting space can accommodate up to 200 people. Located at Lal Kothi in Tonk Road, Jaipur, the hotel is ideal for discerning corporate as well as leisure travellers.

The property also adds ease to those travelling to the city as it is conveniently located close to the airport, railway station, Vidhan Sabha and famous tourist attractions. The hotel was launched in the presence of Ajay Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels and Sandeep Sharma, Executive

Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse opens with 1,555 sqm of event space Marriott Hotels, the iconic flagship brand of Marriott International, opens the Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse. Owned by TCC Land Asset World, the premium hotel is situated on Surawong Road. “Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse expands Marriott Hotel’s presence in Bangkok and offers experiences to inspire both international and domestic travellers to travel brilliantly,” said Mike Fulkerson, Vice President, Brands & Marketing-Asia-Pacific, Marriott International. “Its modern design, dynamic meeting spaces and creative dining venues will attract both international visitors and local residents.” Designed to meet the needs of Thailand’s dynamic MICE market, the property boasts 1,555 sqm of versatile event space. Event planners can choose from two ballrooms, nine meeting rooms, a colonialstyle courtyard and an outdoor garden to

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create inspired events of all sizes. The hotel’s expert event team is able to conceptualise productive business functions, engaging conferences to spark creativity or exclusive private receptions with flair and thoughtful hospitality.

“Leisure and business travellers will enjoy our timeless Thai hospitality right in the heart of Bangkok. Our unique location close to city’s main attractions and within an emerging,” said George Varughese, General Manager, Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse.

Director, R S Sharma & Co (Delhi), Jaipur.

“This new hotel is a fantastic addition to our growing portfolio in Rajasthan,” said Bakaya. “Jaipur is one of the most significant destinations in India for leisure as well as business travel and this is our fourth hotel in the city after Sarovar Portico Jaipur, Nirwana Hometel Jaipur and Park Inn Jaipur. Sarovar Premiere Jaipur’s superior features, state-of-the-art amenities, and incredible location will make it a top.”

The Leela wins contract to manage Mahatma Mandir Hotel Leelaventure stated that it has won the competitive bid and management contract to operate India’s largest convention and exhibition centre, the 34 acre Mahatma Mandir, and launch the 300 room Leela Gandhinagar, which will open

by January 2019. Leela claims the new hotel will be the state capital’s largest hotel. The agreements, effective April 1, 2018, are signed with Gandhinagar Railway and Urban Development Corporation (GARUD) a special purpose vehicle formed by the government of Gujarat with the Indian Railways Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC). Mahatma Mandir can accommodate up to 15,000 people and has a convention hall with a seating capacity of 6000 people.

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Hotel Feature

CROWNE PLAZA NEW DELHI MAYUR VIHAR, NOIDA

Where Smart Business Travellers Meet

By Sayanti Halder

Travelling to Delhi for business?

Experience a five-star service and chic design while in the midst of the eventful capital city of Crowne Plaza New Delhi Mayur Vihar, Noida, an upscale accommodation

Location

The Living Spaces for All

Advantageously located just off the DND Flyway, within the close proximity of two major metro stations, the Crowne Plaza New Delhi Mayur Vihar, Noida is just a short 20-minute drive to the commercial hub of Noida, India Expo Centre as well as Pragati Maidan. The location provides an ideal base for guests travelling to key business districts such as Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Jasola and Nehru Place. Popular tourist attractions such as the Akshardham Temple, Rajghat, Old Fort and Humayun’s Tomb are also less than 20 minutes while the epicentre of shopping in New Delhi, Connaught Place situated just 25-minutes’ drive away from this New Delhi property for recreation.

Unwind in one of 160 spacious and well-appointed rooms, namely the Superior, Club and Executive rooms respectively, at an average size of 400 spacious sq. ft. Equipped with the complete array of amenities, all-day services and up-to-date technology, each room is designed for comfort and convenience The special feature in each room is a large window that allows an abundance of natural light and frames expansive city views. Each and every room has received a detailed touch of personalisation with amenities such as digital locker with an integrated charging port, flashlight, umbrella and other basic necessities, which are often ignored in any other up-scale hotel.

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BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE

From planning to execution, the hotel understands that every interaction has the potential to leave one inspired.

Corporate travellers, visiting the property, will appreciate amenities including the 24-hour business centre with flexible meeting space and high-speed WiFi access.

Banquet facilities at this hotel are designed specifically to cater to the growing demands for modern meeting spaces in Delhi NCR. Spread across 10,000 sqft., boasting a ceiling height of 14 ft., the banquet venues have a capacity to accommodate up to 700 guests, offering state-of-theart technological advancement and well-appointed break-out rooms. The Mayur Ballroom that recently was extended to 10,000 sqft. of area is a unique meeting space in the property, which utilises flexible seating arrangements and new technology for an easy arrangement for both corporate and social events.

Hotel Feature

“Spreading awareness is our prime target” In conversation with Nivedita Avasthi, Hotel Manager, Crowne Plaza New Delhi Mayur Vihar Noida How are you positioning the hotel as an ideal stop for the MICE segment of travellers?

We are sitting in an area between the commercial hub in Noida and rich residential hub of Ghaziabad, Mayur Vihar and sectors of Noida, due to which we have an equally high potential for both corporate as well as the social segment of guests. Keeping that mind, we have kept a very flexible infrastructure in the hotel wherein we provide a mix of small board rooms, lounge spaces and huge ballrooms as well as private meeting rooms. We have two meeting rooms, namely the ‘Orchid’ and ‘Jasmine’ along with ‘Club Lounge’ boardroom that we sell to exclusive business conferences of small scale. The ‘Mayur’ ballroom can be further segmented into three parts providing a total of six meeting rooms that can occupy six separate meetings, at the same time. For socials, Mayur can accommodate up to 700 people in theatre style. For cluster style conferences, we can accommodate up to 250 people including a stage set up. Simultaneously, for Orchid and Jasmine, altogether, the total capacity is up to 30 people, dedicated to small meetings while Club Lounge boardroom can contain 12 people.

What is the major revenue focus for the hotel?

We give a major focus to residential weddings and conferences in the hotel although the spa and gym make a big slice of our revenue components. Socials are seasonal in nature and thus, we balance it out with meetings and conferences of varied size, throughout the year. Our major focus for social remains in the Q1 and Q4 while Q2 and Q3 is a broader target on the corporate gatherings, visiting the property. Talking about our business mix when banqueting is concerned, from the revenue point of view, we have observed that around 45 per cent of revenue sharing is from the socials and around 55 from the corporate segment. We expect more revenue from the social segment and aim to increase to 55 percent for social, very soon. We want to aggressively tap the wedding segments of guests in our surrounding catchment area.

What makes the property stand out in the market?

Revitalise Your Senses In a constant endeavour to enhance the productivity of business travellers, the hotel provides an array of recreational facilities in the property. One may unplug his mind, body and laptop and drift away at the outdoor infinity pool that boasts an immeasurable cityscape view like no other, delivering a feel of peacefulness. The spacious, state-of-the-art gymnasium allows its guests to stay energised while the hotel’s exceptional spa, managed by ELLE, is a one-stop solution for a topto-toe pampering after a frantic day’s work. Other than its therapeutic wellness treatments, one may relax in the rejuvenating steam or sauna rooms.

With a tagline “travelling for success”, we at Crowne Plaza operate in facilitating success in any kind of business travelling. One of the hallmarks of our brand as well as our hotel is “Crowne Meetings” dedicated to the MICE segments, creating a unique meeting experience for every guest. We have a dedicated team for the same, delivering detailed and customised services to every guest. We aggressively promote smart lighting allowing more natural daylight into the property, be that the gym, rooms, meeting spaces or restaurants. Also, location is our major contributing factor for success with around 15-minute commute from South Delhi and Noida. Recently extended, the total area of the meeting floor is, currently, 10,000 sqft. that includes the Mayur Ballroom of 5800 sqft.

3500 sqft is for the pre-function area and around 3700 sqft. for the Orchid and Jasmine rooms together. We have an aligned kitchen on the banquet floor unlike any other hotels in the vicinity.

How do you foresee 2018 for Crowne Plaza New Delhi Mayur Vihar, Noida?

Awareness in the market is our primary target, business will eventually come. Positioning ourselves and our niche facilities in the market is our primary target for this year. Going forward, we plan to engage with more of wedding and MICE planners and many more of such focused groups. Also, we aim to conduct more product launch plans in 2018. The knowledge amongst the corporate brands and suppliers needs to be heightened with further promotions. We require a holistic action plan as we are divided into various segments. I, personally, aim to revamp the area around the hotel.

MAY 2018

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Overseas

Escape to the blues Willing to see a languorous sail through the spectacle islands, with swimming in sheltered bays and a fish supper out on the deck, well head to the world of cruises. From “party boats” in the Caribbean and luxury yachts in the Mediterranean to river cruises in Asia and expedition ships in Antarctica, there are indeed so many choices. Amongst all, MICEInsiders brings you a bunch of handpicked cruise lines to dust off your snorkel. It’s time to cruise!

By Ankita Jain

Disney Cruise Line When it comes to cruising with children, Disney Cruise Line is hard to beat. Its ships have family cabins, play areas modelled on Disney films favourites and pool games with Goofy and pals. Providing the best of all, they only follow one principal, “if you dream it, you can do it”. The cruise line also has dedicated only adult nightclub.

• What’s special? It offers the best of shore excursions • Capacity: 2500 passengers • Recommended cruise: Five-night Bahamian Cruise

Viking Star Known for its river cruise fleet, Viking Cruises ventured into the ocean cruising market in 2015 and has already earned acclaim for its luxury ships and engaging destinationfocused itineraries. Viking Star is the best choice for those cruisers who are fond of experiencing the unique elements of different cultures.

• What’s special? Best cruise ship for the first timers • Capacity: 930 passengers • Recommended cruise: 15-day Viking Homelands

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Overseas

MAY 2018

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Overseas

Hurtigruten Explore the nuance charm of Norway through Hurtigruten. It is one of the UK’s leading expedition cruise companies. Its holidays range from scenic sailing along the coast of Norway to adventurous trips to Antarctica, where a pioneering new hybrid ship that operates partly on electric propulsion will be making waves in winter 2018/19. Through the cruise line, one will have the best time in Norway, creating beautiful memories.

• What’s special? Immerse yourself in a truly Norwegian adventure • Capacity: 1000 passengers • Recommended cruise: Hurtigruten Finnmarken

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises are the renowned marvel of all the cruises that defines luxury travel at its best.

In order to enable the cruisers to make the most out of their vacation time, it offers extravagant cruise ships which journeys to some of the most exotic destinations in the world. Of all the Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Reflection enables the cruisers to explore the best of the Mediterranean.

• What’s special? Best cabins • Capacity: 3046 passengers • Recommended cruise: 11-night Best of Western Mediterranean

Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas The largest ship ever built, Symphony of the Seas is about five times the size of the Titanic. To put it another way, Symphony of the Seas might be the most ludicrously entertaining luxury hotel in history. It just also happens to float. The cruise has 2759 cabins.

• What’s special? Largest passenger ship ever built • Capacity: 9000 passengers • Reccommended cruise: Seven-night western Mediterranean cruise

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Looking for humorous moments? Settle in! You are in the right place. We have gathered some hilarious incidents that the wellknown faces of the industry have encountered while dealing with their clients in their work front. These moments guarantee to bring on serious laughs

Suresh Chablani CEO, Rose Travels

Sanjeev Ticku Vice President – Inbound Tours, Yatra Exotic Routes

In the eighties, in the era of manual ticketing, a regular client had requested to write 40 kgs instead of 20 for one of his Bombay to Bangkok and back from Hong Kong to Bombay tickets. Upon explaining, his argument was with the fact that it was a matter of simply writing so why he shouldn’t be benefitted as a client.

After explaining the rule to him, he came with the idea of writing ‘0 kg’ on his ticket to Bangkok and ‘40kgs’ on his return ticket from Hong Kong.

Yet again after explaining to him, he reluctantly accepted the tickets, as per the rules, but never came back for another ticket. Client lost!

A Swiss Couple returned to Delhi post their trip to Rajasthan and on meeting them, they had all praise for the services rendered, but complained, “Though driver was the most caring person in the entire journey but he honked too much while driving.”

Not knowing how to react, the only comment that I could make was that our quality check for vehicles and drivers have a few mandatory quotients comprising of three valuable elements (besides pristine condition of the vehicle and a valid driving license) and they are, “Good breaks, Good horn and Good Meditative skills on road” because our drivers drive in the meditative state to reach their next destination and the horn is the only medium for them to move ahead into trance.” They had a good laugh and went back with all the sweet memories to cherish!

Sachin Maheshwary General Manager Novotel Kochi Infopark

Sanjay Sharma General Manager Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar

During the earlier years of my career, on an exceptionally busy day at the hotel, I was asked by a gentleman, an eminent and influential personality in the Indian business sphere to guide him discreetly out of the hotel, through the back area so that he could avoid certain conversations. I planned the best possible route for his smooth exit, cutting through one of the banquet halls. Not only did I not realise that the hall was occupied with an event, but the one person he was avoiding was also part of that banquet. Needless to say he lost good minutes in the conversation and the discreet exit was no longer in requirement.

On one occasion, when I was on my property round in one of my previous organisations, I saw a couple feeding their toddler next to the hotel’s swimming pool. I noticed that the toddler was very close to the pool and rushed towards them to request the couple to move a bit away, ensuring the toddler is safe. As I was approaching them, I got a phone call but couldn’t speak as the signal was too weak ending up disconnecting the call.

Standing right next to the guest, I said that the *** (company’s name) is disconnecting people.” Hearing the same, the guest exclaimed, “Oh! I am sorry to hear that. I am the Vice President of Human Resource department of the same company. And that’s when I said, “Oops!!”

MAY 2018

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News

APPOINTMENTS

BANDISH MEHTA

MARK SIMMONS

ALY SHARIFF

HAIRUL MAHARIS

Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre and HICC appointed Bandish Mehta as the General Manager. He brings with him over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has held multiple roles for over 19 years with the AccorHotels Group across Asia Pacific. Mehta has expertise and valuable insights on augmenting brand standards for the company. In his new leadership position, Mehta will be responsible for spearheading operations at this dual property.

Swiss-Belhotel International, the global hospitality management chain, has appointed Mark Simmons as its new Senior Regional Director of Sales for Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

An Australian national and highly experienced sales and marketing professional, Simmons has spent the last 30 years working with four- and five-star hotels and resorts across the Asia Pacific region. He now brings his extensive industry knowledge and business acumen to ramp up its sales activities.

Landmark Group’s Citymax Hotels has appointed Aly Shariff as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Shariff, who has nearly 25 years experience in the hospitality industry, will be responsible for operations and development of the Citymax Hotel brand. Prior to joining Citymax Hotels, Shariff spent 17 years at UK’s Whitbread plc, including more than a decade developing and operating the Premier Inn brand in India and South East Asia.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has appointed Hairul Maharis as General Manager of the Mövenpick Hotel & Convention Centre KLIA, which is on track to open mid-2018. A highly experienced hospitality professional, Maharis has worked with some of the industry’s most respected brands over the course of his 25-year career, including Le Méridien, Sheraton, and Best Western. He also has a strong background in the management of airport hotels.

MATTHIAS Y. SUTTER

DEEPIKA RAO

MANVINDER SINGH

DAMIAN HICKEY

JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa has appointed Matthias Y. Sutter as the new General Manager. Sutter has over 18 years of experience with some of the world’s leading luxury hotel brands including Peninsula and Hyatt.

He joined Starwood (now Marriott) in 2011 as Hotel Manager of the St. Regis Sanya followed by his first General Manager appointment at Sheraton D cube City, Seoul in 2014.

The Indian Hotels Company Ltd. (IHCL) announced the appointment of Deepika Rao as MD and CEO of Roots Corporation Ltd., a subsidiary of IHCL that owns and manages the Ginger brand of hotels. She will move to her current role from her previous position as Vice President, Asset Management at IHCL, where she was responsible for leading solutions for margin enhancement at the company.

Sahibji Group of Companies has elevated Manvinder Singh as the Assistant Vice President-Sales, Operations & Contracting. Singh was spearheading his team as General Manager-Sales, Operations & Contracting. With over 14 years of experience, this seasoned professional is a visionary leader acting as one of the key players in company’s business development and brand management.

Travelport appointed Damian Hickey as the new Managing Director for its Agency Commerce teams in the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In EMEA, Hickey will take on the role to relocate to Travelport’s Langley, UK base from Singapore, where he currently oversees Travelport’s Air Commerce business in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hickey has been at Travelport since 2012 in a number of leadership roles.

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WHO ARE WE?

IRIS Reps is a Tourism Marketing Representation, Destination Branding and Public Relations Company which acts as the Indian representative for several prestigious Hotel Groups and Destinations. We are duly committed to personalise the client’s requirements and develop creative PR and marketing campaigns ensuring that the returns on investment are higher than the expectations.

WHAT DO WE OFFER? TOURISM REPRESENTATION Devoted to delivering sales, increasing revenue and market share for our Tourism Partners, we showcase an outstanding network of travel agents and travel/tour operators which ensure the development of Tourism Representation. We offer a wide coverage to our partners through Trade Shows and Events, Tour Operator Familiarization tours, Travel Trade relationship management and more to enhance the visibility.

BRAND MANAGEMENT & ADVERTISING SUPPORT IRIS Reps adopts a long-term focus to attract and retain a loyal customer base for your brand. Our dedicated team of Marketing and PR professionals takes care of all your advertising needs including Press Releases, Press Packs, Newsletters, Press Events, Press/Blogger Trips, Film Shoots, organizing Press Receptions and events on behalf of our clients, Social Media & Online Marketing.

CONTACT DETAILS: Unit NBR 604, 6th Floor, Balaji Business Park, Andheri Kurla Road Marol, Andheri East Mumbai : 400059

PUBLIC RELATIONS & COMMUNICATION When it comes to your brand, we don’t just become an ‘outsourced agency’ but your ‘Communication Partner’ and a ‘Brand Custodian’. We take care of your brand’s overall perception and image in the market by floating broadcast campaigns – editorial and promotional, Crisis & Reputation management and Media events from conception to delivery.

Email: alefiya@irisreps.in Email. info@irisreps.in Website. www.irisreps.in Call. 022 62602300 - 399

GREAT ESCAPE TO A WINTER WONDERLAND Head to Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates to experience an awe inspiring backdrop of Ski Dubai slopes and the adventure of Magic Planet. Have a fantastic summer experience all in one place.

Stay between 1-5 nights and save up to 25% of your best available rate.

The longer you stay, the more you get. www.kempinski.com/dubai Call +971 4 341 0000, Email reservations.malloftheemirates@kempinski.com or contact your preferred travel agent for reservations