Voyager's World_June 2015_edition by Editor

Vol XII

Issue VIII

Pages 48

June 2015

Rs 60

e-marketing!

ensure wider reach....

Also Featuring ....

28, 29, 30 August 2015

03, 04, 05 September 2015

04, 05, 06 March 2016

Enjoy Mauritius on a family fun adventure!

Come and enjoy Mauritius and its unique experience of year round sunshine and a wide variety of activities for the whole family! Mauritius is the ideal destination for your stress-free holidays! We welcome you and your family to explore the diverse activities we offer, be it land or sea based. Come and discover our rich history through our sites and museums, our rich fauna and flora thriving in our nature parks and marine sites and indulge in our cultural heritage. All activities will be available at reduced rates of up to 30 % between the 07th May to the 15th August 2015.

To know more visit:

www.familyfunadventure.mu

MTPA India | Phone: +91 11 26236525 | Email: mauritius@omtourism.com Website: www.tourism-mauritius.mu

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Bracing up for a ‘busy’ season... As mid-year business season is fast approaching, associations, ministries and government bodies, as well as private players and exhibition organisers are leaving no stone unturned to furnish the latest travel services and products as well as related supplies on the best platforms. FHRAI has partnered with Odisha Tourism to host its Golden Jubilee Convention this year in Bhubaneswar, while on the other hand, Karnataka Tourism, along with the Ministry of Tourism, is stepping up its efforts to make this year’s PATA Travel Mart a big success in Bangalore, while aiming to promote the state’s tourism appeal to a wider audience from across the world. All these and much more, even as the government is making its presence felt in other nations, trying to effect mutually-benefiting tourism agreements including the e-Visa schemes. In this issue, we have featured the present status of boutique hotels, MICE venues across the world, corporate insurance and a destination story on Ireland’s attractions, in addition to observing the scope of heritage and luxury travel trends and corporate social responsibility in travel and tourism. Happy reading.... Warm Regards

PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM priyamvadha@voyagersworld.in

EDIT

ORIA

Managing Editor

Associate Editor

Assistant Editor

Rohit Hangal rohit@voyagersworld.in

Priyamvadha Balaram priyamvadha@voyagersworld.in

Irene Susan Eapen irene@voyagersworld.in

Chief Designer

Web Developer

Shyam Vishnot shyam@voyagersworld.in

Rohith Pinto info@voyagersworld.in

Advertising & Marketing

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ADVERTISING & CIRCU LATIO N

06 12

Industry Buzz

Cover story Online marketing trends in destination promotions

Operations Executive Selvarajramaswamy operations@voyagersworld.in

Incredible India

22 45

Promoting Patnitop in Jammu and PATA Travel Mart in Karnataka

Destination

Hospitality Boutique hospitailty trends in India

Top Appointments

Discovering Irish culture and natural beauties

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www.raileurope.hk

GRAND TRAIN TOUR OF SWITZERLAND – The choice is yours

ÉQUIVALENCE PANTONE

TYPOGRAPHIE TRIANGLE BASELINE

DÉGRADÉ CYAN + MAGENTA + JAUNE PANTONE Process Cyan C

www.raileurope.jp

FÉVRIER 2007

– The choice is yours

A new collection of suggested itineraries for the independent traveller to experience the most panoramic rail routes around the country. The entire tour can be travelled with a single all-in-one ticket – the Swiss Travel Pass. For short stays, we recommend the 4-day Swiss Travel Pass; for long stays the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass. 8 day suggested itinerary – Grand Train Tour in 8 days 1st day: Zurich–Schaffhausen–St. Gallen 2nd day: St. Gallen–Rapperswil–Lucerne 3rd day: Lucerne–Interlaken–Montreux 4th day: Montreux–Martigny–Zermatt 5th day: Zermatt–Chur–St-Moritz 6th day: St. Moritz–Lugano 7th day: Lugano–Lucerne 8th day: Lucerne–Zurich Log on to https://agents.raileurope.co.in for more information and booking the Eurail Passes or Contact your Rail Europe GSA : Ottila International, TUI, Amigo Travels, Travel Tours, Swisstours, Thomas Cook, Kuoni / SOTC, Cox & Kings (I) Ltd, Make My Trip, Kesari Tours

Industry Buzz

6>> Quantum of the Seas arrives in Kochi

My Webspot offers unlimited internet in France, Europe

uantum of Seas made its maiden visit to the Indian Peninsula at the Port of Kochi on 5 June, as part of its 53-night Global Odyssey which began from New York and is en route to Shanghai where she will homeport year round.

ebspot solution offers unlimited internet access for those travelling to Europe through an affordable solution compared to expensive data roaming fees.

The 18-deck, 167,800 gross registered ton ship is the largest ever to call at any Indian port and with around 4,000 guests on board from around the world.

Starting from a minimal cost of 5€ per day, Webspot has four types of products. Those travelling to France can opt for an economical solution with the 3G + hotspot which includes 500 MB per day for 5€; 4G hotspot for intensive use (7.5€ per day with 1 GB per day) and an unlimited offer in 4G for 9€ per day. For travelling anywhere in Europe, Webspot has an unlimited offer in 4G available for 10€ per day. Hotspots can be booked through www.my-webspot.com. The product will be delivered to the address specified before one’s arrival and can be shared by 10 users at the same time. It can be returned through a pre-paid envelope from anywhere in Europe.

ITDC ends FY 2014-15 with Rs. 504.19 crores

ndia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) recorded a robust performance for the financial year 2014-15 with a total turnover standing at Rs.504.19 cr as compared to Rs.469.58 cr last year clocking a growth of 7.4%. While there was a surge of 226.48% in profit before tax (PBT) at Rs.38.95 cr from Rs.11.93 cr in the previous year, the profit after tax (PAT) surged by 264.86% at Rs.34.37 cr in the FY 2014-15 compared to Rs.9.42 cr same time previous year.

Global Destinations to represent two Seychelles hotels in India IndiGo introduces 6E Pass

ndiGo introduced a prepaid virtual flight coupon service - ‘6E Pass’, targeting the regular flyers especially self employed businessmen. People availing the service can purchase six travel coupons for INR 42,000 for National Permit or INR 21,000 for Regional Permit. These guaranteed coupons can be used anytime till 28 September 2015, irrespective of the price fluctuations, with a maximum of two passengers per 6E pass. The facility also comes with multiple payment options like Net Banking and Debit and Credit cards and EMIs. With 96 brand new Airbus A320s launched, 6E operates 633 daily flights, connecting 38 destinations.

oral Strand Smart Choice Hotel and Savoy Resort & Spa appointed Global Destinations as their sales and marketing Representative in India, effective from 15 May 2015. Pranav Kapadia, Founder, Global Destinations comments: “We are elated to add the Coral Strand Smart Choice Hotel and Savoy Resort & Spa to our portfolio and look forward to promoting the hotels among FITs, honeymooners, wedding and MICE groups from India.”

World's largest Holiday Inn to open in Makkah this year

he world’s largest Holiday Inn hotel will soon be established in the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia as Inter Continental Hotels Group (IHG) signed an agreement with Al Majd Al Arabiah Al Tayseer on 1 June.

Spread across five towers, it comprises 5,154 rooms which will open in phases. The first two towers, consisting of 1,650 rooms, are expected to open to guests by this year end. Located at a distance of 900 m, Holiday Inn Makkah Abraaj Al Tayseer will offer guests privileged view of the Al-Masjid al-Harām (The Grand Mosque). Each tower will house feature meeting spaces, fitness centres and a medical clinic and one large all day dining restaurant, where menus will be tailored for guests travelling in groups.

Hyderabad shown promising in ICCA rankings

elhi emerged as the leading metro in India for MICE venues, immediately followed by Hyderabad which hosted 18 big meetings last year, according to International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) statistics. India holds the 35th position in the rankings worldwide and achieved the ninth position in the Asia Pacific region, seeing 116 global business events in 2014. The major cities which hosted the events were Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Kerala. Hyderabad is on the fast track to becoming India’s Convention Capital. 13 out of the 18 meetings here were held at the Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC).

Voyager’s World > June 2015

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www.voyagersworld.in

Industry Buzz

8>>

IRCTC partners with radio taxis

Tourism Toronto offers incentives for corporate group travel

ourism Toronto announced the India Agency Incentive Programme for its Indian agency partners, offering financial rewards to handling agencies in India for corporate group travel to Toronto. Meetings, Incentive and Training agent groups in India will qualify for this programme and can earn lucrative incentives from 2,500 CAD to more than 10,000 CAD by meeting the required room nights over this calendar year. Travel dates need not necessarily be within 2015; however, they have to be confirmed before 10 December 2015.

T IITTM to offer MBA Tourism through IGNTU

Anyone can now book a cab on the website of IRCTC. They can book a radio cab along with their train or flight ticket in advance. Not only are all theses cabs centrally tracked through GPS but also the drivers all are trained and police-verified and the billing is transparent. The radio cab service is available to commuters at the governmentapproved rate of Rs 23 per km (Rs 28.50 per km between 11 pm and 6 am).

he Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India) will now offer a full fledged MBA in Tourism in partnership with Indira Gandhi National Tribal University(IGNTU), Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. An MoU to this effect has been signed between IITTM and IGNTU. The IITTM will now start the MBA (Tourism) program in place of the earlier PGDM course in collaboration with the National Tribal University which has a pan-India presence.

Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre opens recruitment drive

ith its phase 1 slated open in the first quarter of 2016, the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OECC) launched a worldwide recruitment drive to fill 50 full-time key positions in events, operations, hospitality and technology. Eng. Wael Al Lawati, Omran Group CEO, said that OCEC would not only serve to boost Oman’s image and accessibility as a tourist destination but also generate a key economic stimulus and ongoing revenue and contribute to the further diversification of the national economy.

Bhutan attempts Guinness Record for maximum tree plantation

he Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) partnered with Easy Cabs, Meru Cabs and Mega Cabs to enable passengers in booking a GPS-tracked radio taxi in Delhi/NCR.

Pep up your French holiday at Park Asterix

hose planning a trip to Paris, especially families with children and adventure lovers, must surely include a trip to Park Asterix this summer. The theme park is undoubtedly the best place to meet the Gauls, Greeks, Vikings, Romans and Egyptians straight out of France’s popular comic book Asterix, the one in which the hero saves France with his magic potion from Roman invasion. With 36 attractions and three new shows this season, Park Asterix boasts of some of the best daredevil roller-coaster rides of Europe. One can spend a fun-filled adventure at Park Asterix, which is very close to Charles de Gaulle Airport. The theme park has six thematic restaurants out of which four offer vegetarian meals. Park Asterix operates two coach services from Paris Louvre Museum and CDG Airport and is open from 11 April to 1 November 2015.

AI to fly Delhi - Colombo direct daily from 15 June

UIA places Brussels at No.2 for meetings

hutan planted 50,000 trees in one hour on 2 June as part of an endeavour to create a Guinness World Record for maximum tree plantation that coincided with the coronation of His Majesty the 4th Druk Gyalpo. On the occasion of the Social Forestry Day, the mass tree plantation drive at Kuenselphodrang by 100 Bhutanese was an attempt to beat the current world record of 40,885 trees planted by 100 heads in one hour. Participants underwent a vigorous 10-day training on tree plantation technique prior to the event for proper coordination, speed and technique to beat the current record. The attempt was one of the many beautiful mementos to commemorate the 60th birth anniversary of His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

Voyager’s World > June 2015

ir India will start daily direct flights between New Delhi and Colombo from 15 June.

The New Delhi - Colombo flight will depart at 12:00 hrs and arrive at 15:35 hrs daily except Wednesdays. The New Delhi - Colombo will depart at 13:30 hrs and arrive at 17:15 hrs on Wednesdays. The Colombo - New Delhi flight will depart at 0820 hrs and arrive at 12:05 hrs daily. Air India will be offering attractive all-inclusive return fares starting from Rs 19,999/-

report released by Union of International Associations ranks Brussels second in the world and first in Europe as a venue for international meetings with a growth of 80% in 2014 in the number of international meetings held. With around 787 meetings held in 2014, according to UIA’s independent research institute, Brussels now represents 7.3% of the global market. Though Singapore leads the race with 850 international meetings, Brussels surpasses Singapore in the number of international meetings with more than 50 participants. The visit.brussels Convention Bureau tends to encourage this trend by offering a wide array of services to ensure that conferences, meetings, and events go off without a hitch.

Heritage Tourism

9>>

HERITAGE TOURISM IN INDIA: MORE TO IT THAN MEETS THE EYE

With a rich history and a treasure trove of architecture passed down the ages, heritage tourism has not been completely harnessed to realise its full potential. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

he National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) that seeks to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country, launched by the Ministry of Urban Development early this year, seeks to promote an integrated, inclusive and sustainable development of heritage sites, focusing not just on maintenance of monuments but on advancement of the entire ecosystem including its citizens, tourists and local businesses. There are 32 World Heritage Sites in India that are recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of 2014, thus placing India at the second position in Asia and the fifth in the world. A budget of Rs. 500 crores was announced under the HRIDAY scheme to 12 cities in the first phase to meet the entire expenditure. The Ministry has also called for the involvement of NGOs, spiritual organisations and the private sectors to assist in the execution of the scheme. Some of the places accorded allotments in the scheme include Amritsar, Varanasi, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Vellankani, Ajmer, Warangal, Dwaraka, Amaravati, Puri and Badami. With a rich history and a treasure trove of architecture passed down the ages, heritage tourism has not been completely harnessed to realise its full potential.

The term ‘Heritage tourism’ is not necessarily limited to the places of worship or monuments but it encompasses a lot more that spans across local communities, cultures and even nature. Some of them falling under this umbrella are architecture, culture which is intangible, art and craft, artisan communities, dwindling arts, literary heritage, museums, conservation and restoration projects as well as biodiversity, lakes and eco tourism. Oral traditions, languages, rituals and beliefs, social practices, knowledge, human activities, multicultural interactions, and stories and histories that shape the essence and character of a host community. Apart from group tours, educational trips, foreign visitors and photography enthusiasts, an interesting way to explore the heritage of a city or even a part of a city (one has so much to learn about the city where one lives, let alone going to another place to explore) through walks. There are a number of such walks being held across the country in New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, etc. The Bangalore Walks runs four different tours: a Green Heritage walk through Lalbagh Gardens, a Victorian Bangalore walk, and Traditional and Medieval walks, before ending in a breakfast. In Delhi, a number of people conduct different tours like food walks, nature walks

or history. One can just walk around Old Delhi (Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazaar) to learn about traditional Delhi food and sweets that are much more than the Punjabi foray of Chola Batura, Butter Chicken, etc. Most people visiting Delhi or even staying in the capital do not really know what is there to see aside from the run-of-the-mill Qutub Minar, Red Fort or the Parliament. The capital has so much to explore, what with its blend of various architectural styles due to the reigns of so many dynasties that Delhi witnessed from the 12th century onwards. The Delhi Heritage Walks take people through many sites with the help of sketches, maps, stories, anecdotes and photographs that help create vivid images of the days of yore. There are different types of tours on weekdays and weekends and they can be customised as per the needs of the individuals or the groups be it schools, travel companies or corporates. Chennai walks paint a colourful picture of its heritage and culture that is still vibrant today, as people go back in time through its music, temples, nature, history, culture to name a few. During the annual Madras Week celebrations held in August annually, it is not surprising to see the city’s lot taking to heritage walks. Some of the routes include the Portuguese-influenced Santhome Road, China Bazaar, Madras Literary So-

ciety, musical walks in Mylapore, Edward Elliots Road, etc. Apart from these organised walks, you can casually stroll along the city’s iconic buildings to get a feel of the bygone British era. The Theosophical Society of India in Adayar has a lovely garden space for an amazing nature walk with stunning winged visitors among other animals for a short photography break. It is important to recognise and treasure our heritage assets and ensure long-term preservation for the sake of a balanced, sustainable development of tourism. With the government undertaking a slew of projects across the country to enhance our heritage places, travel agents should definitely consider craft these activities in interesting itineraries to encourage their customers to take it up during their travel. The more important step, however, lies in marketing these tours through various channels to involve the locals as well as the travellers in heritage tourism and there are many cost-effective ways to promote it through trade shows, exhibitions, e-marketing, social media, etc. Developing this segment will go a long way in the industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP while meeting the sacred objective of preserving heritage for the future generations.

www.voyagersworld.in

India Outbound

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Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience to grow by 10% visitors in 2015 Katherine Webster, Director, Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience says the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience witnessed a growth of over 20% so far from the Indian market in 2015. IRENE SUSAN EAPEN Cliffs of Moher and we expect to grow by over 10% in 2015.

Growth in terms of tourists We have witnessed growth in visitor numbers to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience for the past four years and we expect 2015 will be a growth year. In 2014 we welcomed over 1million visitors to the

Activities Our focus at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience is on sustainable tourism and ensuring that one million visitors have a world class experience when they visit. The Cliffs can be busy during peak times and we encourage visitors to visit outside of the busy summer months as we are open 362 days a year.

Cliffs of Moher, Co.Clare, Ireland

Indian Market We have seen substantial growth in our visitor numbers from India in the past five years. In 2014 we saw over 2,000 Indian visitors and in 2015 so far we have seen growth of over 20% in this market.

Marketing Plans The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience works closely with Tourism Ireland, the agency that markets the island of Ireland overseas. The Cliffs of Moher is the second most visited attraction in Ireland which most of the people visit in Ireland. The Tourism Ireland also works in India on promotional activity. We work closely with other groups especially the Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark, which is recognized by UNESCO, and of which the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience are a member.

OMAN SETS AMBITIOUS TARGETS ON INDIA’S WEDDING MARKET

Leading DMCs and hotels from Oman met the travel trade fraternity across key Indian cities last month to showcase the beauty of the Sultanate, ranging from wedding, nature, adventure to MICE and films. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

he Ministry of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman, organised a four-city roadshow last week in Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai, with a view to increase the footfalls from India. Officials from the Ministry of Tourism, Oman along with representative partners from the tourism industry, including Al Bustan Palace – A Ritz Carlton Hotel, Al Nahda Resort & Spa, Atana Hotels, Millennium Resort, Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Six Senses Zighy Bay, Bahwan Tours, Tour Oman, Zahara Tours and Oman Air were present at the roadshow. For the B2B session, Oman Tourism invited travel agents for prefixed meetings with the delegates from Oman. Following the B2B sessions, an evening of networking with cocktails and dinner was also organized. Salim Al Mamari, Director General of

Voyager’s World > June 2015

Tourism Promotion, Ministry of Tourism - Sultanate of Oman, said: “Oman and India share a lot of cultural, historical and traditional affinity. The two nations also share very cordial political and socio-economic relations. India represents an important and vast market for Oman because of the high percentage of its residents willing to travel and experience new destinations across the world. We have over the years increased our operations and entered different cities in India promoting Oman. Tourism is a developing sector in Oman and the tourism infrastructure is expanding tremendously but at a responsible pace without compromising on our culture, heritage and nature. ” Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism - Sultanate of Oman, said: “Being a short haul destination, it has a diverse landscape and a lot of

activities to offer to the ‘evolved’ Indian traveller. From luxurious resorts and campsites to exotic scuba diving spots to dramatic mountain drives, Oman has something to offer to anyone who has a quest for adventure and thirst for a distinctive cultural experience. It is the best kept secret of Arabia and relatively unexplored and we want more Indians to discover this alluring destination.”

Over the last year, Oman Tourism is actively promoting the destination not only for leisure purposes, but also for film shoots and as a wedding destination for Indians. Oman witnessed three big fat Indian weddings in the last six months. The Sultanate witnessed 36% growth in Indian arrivals over the last five years and received 256,210 Indians in 2014 according to the Ministry of Tourism.

India Outbound

11>>

Doolin Tourism sees an optimistic growth for 2015

Anthony Moloney, Vice Chairman, Doolin Tourism says Doolin is a unique destination for all tourists especially with its traditional Irish music and local people. The growth in tourists to Doolin Tourism is expected to be a positive trend for 2015.

Music in O’Connors Pub / Doolin Tourism

Doolin Burren Landscape / Doolin Tourism

IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

We have seen an increase of Indian tourists in small numbers to Doolin, 5 or 10 years ago an Indian tourist was very rare whereas nowadays you would come across an Indian tourist every week and during the summer months.

Indian tourists to Doolin Doolin is a unique village nestled in between the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and the Aran Islands and the home of traditional Irish music where the tunes played by locals is passed from parent to child and it is common to see generations of a family playing the same tune together any night of the week. Doolin is a special place with the local people and the fact that it is a small coastal village on the west coast of Ireland full of small family operated tourism businesses are surrounded by world class scenery, attractions and activities.

Expected Growth The growth in tourists is expected to show a positive trend for 2015 since the growth has been consistent with the last number of years and we are expecting an approximate growth of 10% on 2014, this would be in keeping with a strong growth last year and the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way, a strong US dollar and cheap fuel prices which have helped with travel costs.

endar of events showcasing what is on, where and when. The live Irish Music which is played 365 days of the year in the local Doolin Pubs. We have increased our presence on social media especially Facebook and Twitter, by improving our communication with potential and existing customers. We are strengthening the quality of the Doolin Brand working closely with each family business in the area to develop a cohesive approach to improve customer experiences and establish multiple day itineraries which are focused on various interests to assist future guests to plan their stay and to maximize the enjoyment of their time spent in Doolin.

Marketing Activities Doolin tourism has been around for about 40 years and in the last 12months has been re-energized with a new committee and direction. Over the next 12 months our marketing activities will include re-developing www.doolin-tourism. com into a comprehensive website highlighting all the great attractions in and around Doolin, the fantastic festival, outdoor activities with an interactive cal-

For example a 3 day visit to Doolin is focused around the wonderful heritage sites of castles, megalithic tombs, fort and walking trails in the area along with a day trip to the Aran Islands, walking the Cliffs of Moher Coastal Walk and exploring Doolin cave. The tour is also focused on getting active with Sea kayaking along the coast, followed by a mountain bike along the green roads in the Burren, go caving and surfing, followed by a fun

evening listening to live music in one of our great pubs. We are working closely with larger tourism bodies to help promote Doolin on the world stage such as Failte Ireland and Shannon Airport. Segments Doolin’s biggest markets are USA, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. The main market segments focused in Doolin would be “great escapers and culturally curious” which are primarily for international families, small groups of friends, couples who are taking time out to explore or who are interested in outdoor activities and cultural pursuits.

www.voyagersworld.in

Cover Story

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e-marketing! ensure wider reach... Does your destination marketing plan give enough weight to e-marketing? It is time to expand your strategy and budget for effective online marketing campaigns for your destination. VW BUREAU

In an age where speed and convenience rule in the dissemination of information, shrinking attention spans and busier schedules make it sensible to have simpler forms of promotional and marketing approaches. The situation is same even in the travel and tourism industry when it comes to promoting and marketing destinations to the people. Hence, in today’s times, mobile and e-marketing would prove more relevant. In fact, this has been the biggest revolution in the travel and tourism industry thanks to the growing use of mobile phones and the internet. According to the UNWTO, about 90% of all travel decisions are made online. The web is as influential as word-of-mouth in the travel decision process. Hence, it becomes vital for any tourism board to plan and execute an effective digital marketing strategy. NTOs and DMCs are increasingly incorporating e-marketing in their promotional plans and partnerships, so also travel exhibitions and events, more so because online marketing is a much more costeffective method to gain better visibility of products and services. Another requisite area is engaging in online surveys, contests and Instagram

Voyager’s World > June 2015

activities. Dubai Tourism launched the #MyDubai initiative last year by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoumto create the world’s first autobiography of a city. Every day, a selection of images hashtagged #MyDubai on Instagram were chosen to represent life in Dubai as residents and visitors experience it, which can be viewed on @MyDubai. The intention is to celebrate the everyday lives of the people and communities of the Emirate and show the city that is beneath the landmarks, headlines and superlatives. It also ran an exclusive hotel competition last year, inviting employees of each participating hotel to post images or videos that best defined their #MyDubai experience with one winner selected from each hotel. Last year, Visit Florida had launched the ‘Sunshine Contest’ in India wherein the tourism board invited entries from agents and operators to like the Visit Florida India Facebook page, complete their specialist programme within the contest period and design a 10-day itinerary in Florida on a PPT. The winners were given a trip to Florida. Oman Tourism was also not far behind in starting the Instagram handle last year and plunging into the online advertising and marketing space. It ran a few campaigns targeting internet users and one

of them was a tie-up with the blogging community on Indiblogger. Oman Tourism ran a month-long contest to attract bloggers to write about what they would like to experience in the Sultanate, offering lucky winners a trip to the country. Kerala Tourism launched a promotional initiative by conducting a month-long video sequencing contest in February this year that put people’s technical skills and creative abilities to test by getting them to order video clips of a movie. A total of 30 videos, each of two minutes duration was created for the contest, highlighting diverse aspects of Kerala. Each video was then divided into six portions of 20 seconds each and uploaded to the site. These divided portions were in jumbled order. The contestant will have to login to the contest page, www. keralatourism.org where he/she will have to rearrange the jumbled portions of the video into a single continuous sequence which accurately matches with that of the original video. Last year, British Airways invited people to share their special moments, stories, photos and videos on Twitter using #BACelebrates by November 15, 2015. Lucky winners got a chance to be featured on ba.com and in a special edition of the online version of British

Airways’ High Life magazine. South African Tourism ran a ‘Take Me to South Africa 2.0’ contest last year, inviting travel junkies from all over India to participate in an online theme based gaming contest where they were offered a chance to win a two week trip to South Africa with cricketer, Jonty Rhodes who took on the role of a travel guide on the trip. South African Tourism adopted a distinct strategy to inform the chosen winners about their victory. Billboards were set up outside the office of the four winners with a personalized message from Jonty announcing that they had won a trip to South Africa with him. With a chunk of urban travellers booking their tickets and accommodation online, it is imperative that tourism boards, DMCs and tour operators capitalize completely on the electronic, online and mobile media to the fullest to get better conversions. Email marketing like sending mailer blast campaigns to thousands of target customers at one shot and in a personalised manner just makes the reach of the campaign wider. There are cruise companies that regularly send e-newsletters talking about the deals and super-saver offers as well as new cruise itineraries.

Online Travel

13>> Chad Harwood-Jones, managing director of search and content marketing business Ad-Rank Media, says that travel brands can use on-site events to trigger dynamic content, reminding customers of their intent to purchase and offering to help them take the next step. The more tailored the content, the better. He cites the example of travel company Haven having generated 2815% ROI by running an abandoned basket campaign consisting of three emails - offering customer service and assistance, suggesting offers related to the abandoned purchase and prompting customers to browse different types of holiday package that might better fit their requirements. The open rate on these emails was 54% — over double the industry average for travel campaigns. It was only in February that MailChimp started supporting the use of emojis in subject lines, and already the sun and plane emoji are both in the top 10 most used ones — meaning travel brands are already taking advantage of this (and will probably continue to do so until the novelty wears off). Customisation can be as simple as an emoji or as complicated as a bespoke template. Travelbound used a branded template consisting of pre-made content blocks that could be rearranged to reflect the content of each message, and the result reflects their brand identity and ties in visually to their website design. Another approach is to be aware of your user’s lo-

cation. If you have this data in your email list, you can segment it by region, city and even town. After your campaign is sent, you can check the Google Analytics reports to see click rates, average page visits, page views, etc.

words in the subject lines for better open rates. The subject line as well as the layout and the content must be drafted in a way so as to cater to an e-audience and must differ from other types of advertising and marketing communication.

With this information, you can tailor deals and send them where they’re most relevant, all for no cost at all. While consumers need to trust a travel brand in order to use them, faith itself isn’t enough to secure loyalty. It’s unlikely that a customer is subscribed to only one travel brand’s mailing list, and it’s also unlikely that a customer will subscribe to a list if they don’t trust a company. So, assuming a customer receives marketing emails from two travels brands that they trust equally, the deciding factors are likely to be loyalty and price.

To avoid the risk of trash mails or unsubscription, the best option in mass e-marketing is to utilize permission-based marketing as it is direct and personalised. So when you click the option acknowledging that the recipient has given you permission to send him mails, the chances of the recipient deleting your mail before opening it or of being re-directed to the spam folder will be lesser. When one opens the mail, the salutation addressing his name makes a lot of difference and helps in lesser odds of them dismissing the mail before reading it.

Rewarding engagement with discount codes works on two levels. Firstly, consumers who engage regularly with a brand are more likely to become loyal. Secondly, a well-timed money-off voucher can be the deciding factor between Brand A and Brand B.

After paying attention to the subject line, the content and the personalisation of messages, the next thing to do is optimizing emails for mobile devices in a responsive model. A responsive model of campaign is one that is compatible and readable on multiple designs be it your PC or your smartphone. As per statistics released by Litmus – ‘Email Analytics’ in January 2015, more emails are being read on mobile phones as against a personal computer. 48% emails are opened now on a mobile device.

• When a customer is flooded with so many mass mailers and newsletters in a month, it is necessary to come up with a creative way of mailing so that the mail gets opened when it lands in the inbox and doesn’t immediately go to the trash or gets unsubscribed. First impression is what counts and hence choose the right

The mobile breakdown is as follows: 49.5 percent of email opens were on a smart-

phone, 16.8 on a tablet. Of the 66 percent of mobile opens, 58 percent happened on an Apple device; 7 percent were on Android devices. (Q4 2014). A good designer will consider the break points between mobiles, tablets and desktops and make a responsive model based on different display specifications. A break point is the width at which the email layout transitions from one layout to another. Another factor that may seem not so important, but is, is the time and day of sending the campaign. Depending on your target clients and the urgency of the campaign, you can work out a suitable day to schedule the campaign. Voyager’s World, for instance, has found that its weekly newsletters find maximum opens and reads on Thursdays in the mornings or on Fridays in the evenings. A mass mail campaign is not what many want to see the first thing in their inbox on a Monday morning or the last thing when they are winding up for the weekend, Hence, the time and day of sending the mailers are crucial. As online destination media marketing is gaining more relevance, NTOs and DMCs must integrating e-marketing in their budgets and plan as it is a source of income and business conversion that, in the coming days, will only go on to becoming indispensable when electronic distribution of information to travellers becomes top-of-the list in marketing plans.

Travlo.com plans to facilitate 1000 trips through locals IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

Sandeep Walvekar, Co-founder, Travlo.com says the Travlo.com is all about connecting travellers and locals through a common platform where one can experience new cities with tailor-made itineraries in any destination. small fee. The Travlo.com can be used by two types of users like the travellers who would like to receive specific information about cities they plan to visit based on their interests and the locals who are passionate of their city to share their knowledge with the travellers. A traveller can sign up to join the Travlo community by creating a profile to connect with the locals, while the locals can sign up with a profile and listing of their city.

Travlo.com The Travlo.com is a unique social community that connects travellers and locals through a common platform where you can experience new cities with tailormade itineraries in any destination for a

Services The Travlo.com is a global platform that anyone can join .Basically our vision is to provide every traveller a friend in the city they want to travel, this friend will be there to help when they are planning a trip which may be a simple info or getting them introduced to the city when they are there. A local can do this full-time or part

time, also can set their own fee for the services he/she chooses to offer through Email Messaging, Voice/Video Chat and Meet In-Person. However, for the initial phase we are looking at Europe / US travellers coming to southeast Asia/India. Expected growth for 2015 As a start-up company for 2015, we are focused to get travlo.com established and with initial users, the growth will follow. We have already managed to get 600 plus users with 200+ local listing which is now growing on a daily basis without any marketing activity. Post our launch of traveller-local connect this June, we will be looking to facilitate 1000 trips initially. Promotional Plans This concept is though new in India as it

is a very known and accepted concept in UK, Europe and US, which is very similar to airbnb. We are not facing any major problems as the process is managed well by our community managers. Our focus is to create a win-win situation for both travellers and locals. At the base level we have a good referral program wherein one can earn up to $40,thus getting us locals and users from word of mouth .We are also working on a campaign “lucky traveller gets free stay” for travellers where they will try our service initially and at the same time give us visibility.

www.voyagersworld.in

Incredible India

14>>

jammu dot steps up initiatives to promote patnitop circuit

With a 100 lakh footfalls recorded at Vaishno Devi annually, a strategy is being developed to bring the focus on the nearby Patnitop to draw more tourists to Jammu, says R.K. Varma, the Director of Tourism – Jammu, Government of Jammu & Kashmir. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

R.K. Varma, Director -Tourism, Jammu, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir As infrastructure in and around Patnitop is not fully utilized, there is no congestion as of date. While there are places that were not earlier not open to public, the department is also opening new places. The requirement is dynamic; while it is adequate today, it may not be enough tomorrow. Over a period of time, facilities will be added.

ammu is primarily a pilgrimage destination and home to the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi which receives an average of 100 lakh footfalls per year. So, the Department of Tourism, Jammu is targeting tourists visiting the shrine to bring them to Patnitop as well. Since

Jammu has traditionally pilgrim products, other places like Patnitop could not be utilized to the full extent, but now things are changing with the department planning some projects to develop the infrastructure there. “The Patnitop Circuit has so many places to be seen. Patnitop is a

unique leisure destination in Jammu and Kashmir, but there are also places like Sanasar, Mantalai, Sudhmahadev, Bhaderwah, Seoj, Jai and Kishtwar. Although there are a lot of cottages in the private sector, we want to add infrastructure in the coming days to make the destination globally competent,” says R.K. Varma. There are some big projects underway that are expected to take three to four years to be completed. One of them is in Mantalai where the department is planning to develop an international yoga centre.

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Attractions near Patnitop Sanasar is a must-visit leisure tourism destination near Patnitop which also boasts of adventure activities like paragliding and snow skiing. Another place to see here is the Bhaderwa Valley which boasts of lush meadows. “Normally Patnitop is known as a summer place but now, the tourism board hopes to promote it as a year-round destination by creating various tourist facilities, amusement parks, convention centres and more accommodation facilities,” the Director said while adding that the board would publicize these destinations in the coming days. Jammu also has many places of interest in heritage and border tourism that will be showcased in a big way. The tourism board has launched a radio campaign through Prasar Bharati, 92.7 FM and other local radio stations to create awareness among listeners about Patnitop, besides participating in travel marts organised in the key metros of the country. Those visiting Mata Vaishno Devi can plan a trip to Patnitop after ‘darshan’ at the temple. The road trip from Jammu is about 112km. Alternately, one can take a train to Udhampur and then a 65km road trip to Patnitop. They can then spend a few days to visit Sanasar and Mantalai. “Jammu has so many places to discov-

er in itself like the Bagh e Bahu, Bawe Wali Maata, Dogra Art Gallery, Mubarak Mandi Palace, the old Secretariat, golf course, etc. One week can be comfortably spent in Jammu. Jammu and Kashmir is known for its hospitality and the places in Patnitop have no match in the world.” Target markets Even though Patnitop is popular in North India, Jammu Tourism plans to enhance its popularity by rolling out a series of activities, the first being roadshows in Punjab. Leading tour operators and hoteliers of Jammu will meet their counterparts in Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar as part of the roadshows. Presently, the department is aiming at the domestic tourists considering India’s population and the available infrastructure. The main source markets are Punjab, Gujarat, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai. Destination Image Stating the importance of public perception of a place, R.K. Varma admitted that last year’s floods had damaged some infrastructure but it did not completely affect the whole network. There was a 20% dip in footfalls due to floods and a couple of odd incidents at the border. “In Jammu, fortunately, there was no damage and we tried to dispel the negative perception about the situation through media interactions and roadshows.” The road ahead Revealing plans to create infrastructure for the MICE segment over the next few years, the Director says that Jammu has A, B and C categories of hotels and the entire Jammu province has 28,000 beds. In Patnitop alone, there are 2700 beds in both government and private sectors. And as the local economy and survival of people cannot be thought of in isolation of tourism, efforts to promote tourism, ground handlers, hotels and restaurants will be directly linked to benefit the local population as well as the travel trade fraternity, he concluded.

Incredible India

15>>

jammu brings Patnitop to Punjab

The Department of Tourism, Jammu embarked upon a series of roadshows across Punjab in June beginning in Chandigarh, followed by Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar to promote Patnitop. VW BUREAU

he Department of Tourism, Jammu, held an impressive roadshow in Chandigarh on 6 June, 2015 to promote the Patnitiop Circuit of Jammu and Kashmir as an independent tourist destination while interacting with the media fraternity. The Director of Tourism, Jammu, R. K. Varma disclosed that as an initiative of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir a series of roadshows are being organised in the major cities of Punjab including Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar because of its close proximity and cultural similarity with Jammu and Kashmir to showcase the true potential of Jammu region in leisure, adventure and eco tourism by making the general public of the neighbouring state and the travel trade fraternity aware about the endowment of the region with particularly bounty of nature in Patnitop Circuit which includes picturesque places of Sanasar, Mantalai, Sudhmahadev, Bhaderwah, Seoj, Jai and Kishtwar. In this series the next roadshows will be held at Ludhiana on 19 June, in Jalandhar on 20 June and Amritsar on 27 June. The roadshows are further aimed at promoting Jammu as an leisure, adventure and

eco-tourism destination apart from pilgrimage tourism besides providing avenues to the pilgrims visiting Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine for recreation and sightseeing in Jammu region. An interactive session was held between the travel trade fraternity of Jammu and Chandigarh to find out the ways to make more and more stakeholders and prospective visitors aware of abundant tourism opportunities in Patnitop Circuit and make it an independent and round-the-year destination. The representatives of the travel trade fraternity of Jammu region announced attractive travel packages to woo the tourists during the roadshow for Patnitop Circuit. A promotional film specially prepared for the occasion was screened for the participants to enlighten them about the culture, heritage, topography and scenic beauty of Patnitop Circuit. The welcome address was presented by Dr. Narupa Rai, Joint Director Tourism, Jammu; Director Tourism Jammu Sh. R.K. Varma was the Chief Guest and the Vote of Thanks was presented by Er. Sushil Attri, Dy. Director Tourism, Publicity, Jammu.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism beckons Bangalore travellers

The state’s Department of Tourism offers 40% off on its accommodation facilities for travellers from Bangalore until September 2015, while revealing possibilities of direct air connectivity in the near future. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

he Department of Tourism, Government of Madhya Pradesh, organised a get-together for the travel trade and media in Bangalore on 3 June to showcase the essence of the state wherein Ashwani Lohani, Managing Director & Commissioner Tourism, Government of Madhya Pradesh, spoke on the various initiatives undertaken by the department to create more awareness about the state’s tourism, investment plans and new places that have been discovered. He stressed upon a proactive government, ease of access, moderate climate and diversity in offerings as the plus points of the state. “People need not go too far in search of a tourist destination. They can come to MP to see the richness in our state. MP Tourism has established 70 hotels, 7 restaurants, 12 marketing offices and six regional offices and there are more in the pipeline.” Laying claim to the world’s first broad gauge rail coach restaurant, the Bhopal Express, Ashwani informed that

similar restaurants will be opened soon in Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur. MP also became the first state in the country to have introduced Caravan Tourism recently, besides having started ‘designer’ sightseeing buses in Bhopal and Gwalior. As a value-addition for the people of Bangalore, MP Tourism has announced 40% off on all its properties, except the one in Panchmarhi, for Bangaloreans visiting the state, valid until 30 September, 2015. MP Tourism has been holding talks with airlines for direct services. “We are holding talks with Jet Airways and AirAsia India to boost connectivity from Lucknow and Hyderabad. We are expecting a direct flight from Bangalore to Bhopal in a few months time,” he said. “Arrangements are also underway to celebrate ‘Simhasth’ or the ‘Kumbh Mela’ of Ujjain which takes place every 12 years. Other special initiatives include wielding the spotlight on hidden tourist destina-

tions and involving the public to identify hitherto unknown destinations; air taxi services; etiquette training for coolies and taxi drivers; deputing tourist police in tourist areas and organising history lecture series,” he added. Sankar Jagir, Mitawali, Padawali, Bateshwar, Dubhela, Burhanpur, Bhedaghat and Vidisha are some of the new places that are being explored as prospective destinations. 2015 – 2016 has been declared the Year of MP Tourism and the second edition of Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart will be held this year from 16 -18 October, 2015 at the Lakeview Ashok Hotel in Bhopal. The

31st IATO Convention which is to be held in Indore from 20 – 23 August this year has set high expectations for the impact on local tourism. MP Tourism has announced special investment projects in Kotra, Indore, Indirasagar, Taj Mahal Palace, Minto Hall and Madhogarh. Tenders will be floated shortly for investment projects. It will soon organise roadshows in Mumbai and Kolkata focussing on the state’s culture, cuisine, investment opportunities, art and craft, etc.

www.voyagersworld.in

Incredible India

16>>

Investment MoUs to be signed during PATA Travel Mart 2015

An Advisory Committee at the national level has been constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary (Tourism), Govt. of India to coordinate logistic arrangements for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart that is scheduled to be held in September this year in Bangalore. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA PATA has one of the most competitive registration fees as compared to other global events and we also offer 20% discount for local seller. Through our events, sellers can enjoy global exposure and see business opportunities with like-minded professionals.

ncreased investment opportunities, corporate projects, infrastructure development and CSR activities were some of the key points announced at the press conference held on 26 May in Bangalore, ahead of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart that is scheduled to be held from 6 - 8 September in Karnataka’s capital this year. The Minister for Higher Education & Tourism, Government of Karnataka, RV Deshpande, along with the Mario Hardy, the CEO & APAC Chief, PATA, jointly addressed the press meet at Hotel Lalit Ashok, which was also attended by Pradeep Singh Kharola, IAS, Addl. Chief Secy.Tourism, G. Sathyavati, Director of Tourism, Govt. of Karnataka, Meenakshi Mehta, Union Tourism Officer, Jungle Lodges & Resorts Chairman Asagodu Jayasimha and KSTDC Chairman Hussain SA. Hosting the ‘PATA Travel Mart’ in Bengaluru is one of Govt. of Karnataka’s efforts to bring the attractions of ‘Karnataka’ into a global limelight. Karnataka will showcase its glorious range of tourism attractions such as the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Architectural marvels and monuments, cultural pursuits of the state and other tourism

Voyager’s World > June 2015

products to a global audience. Addressing the media, RV Deshpande, said: “It is a great opportunity for Karnataka to host PATA 2015 event in Bengaluru, Silicon Valley of India. I am sure every delegate would enjoy their stay in Bengaluru and will have an opportunity to visit wonderful tourist spots in Karnataka. The State has so much to offer be it heritage, wild life, beaches, hill stations and temples. I am sure this event will bring Bangalore on the global map of travel and tour industry. I take this opportunity to welcome all the delegates to this beautiful garden city.” “There will be a PATA Board meeting from 4 - 6 September, followed by the travel mart from 6 - 8. As far as tourism is concerned, this is the first international event happening in Karnataka, in Bangalore. There will also be an Investment Forum that will be held alongside the travel mart. Following the press conference held in New Delhi on 19 May, the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, has assured us full support and cooperation,” the Minister added, while commenting that the Evisa scheme that has been opened up to 76 nations and also announced for Chi-

nese nationals, was expected to boost tourist flow into the country. He also mentioned that the Department of Tourism was making efforts to get clearance for improving 42 beaches in Karnataka and preserving the ecology while developing tourism in the 319 destinations that the state boasts of. Excited to showcase the city through the travel mart, Mario Hardy said: “I am personally looking forward to the promotion of new experiences and destinations in the state to a global audience. PATA Travel Mart 2015 expects more than 1000 delegates from over 60 countries. PATA has one of the most competitive registration fees as compared to other global events and we also offer 20% discount for local seller. Through our events, sellers can enjoy global exposure and see business opportunities with like-minded professionals.” In view of the Investment Forum that will be held alongside the travel mart, Deshpande stated that few MoUs would be signed during the PATA Travel Mart for allowing investments. “Discounted Profitability Indices (DPIs) will be made through consultants and will be made ipen for bids at the earliest,” he said. The present tourism policy allows incen-

tives and concessions across 17 tourism projects. There was also a meeting held with the Home Ministry recently to bring in ‘Tourist Mitra’, or personnel who have all the powers of a constable while welcoming tourists with warmth and security. 46 destinations in the state have been identified for corporate social responsibility activities. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, is extending the following support to the state government of Karnataka for the PATA Travel Mart 2015a. Hosting of the inaugural dinner on 6 September b. Provide international air passages for important buyer delegates from overseas c. Undertake branding at the Mart venue d. Provide space to the North Eastern states and the state of Jammu & Kashmir for participation in the event An Advisory Committee at the national level has been constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary (Tourism), Govt. of India to coordinate logistic arrangements for the mart. Members in the Committee include representatives from the Ministries of Civil Aviation, Culture, Shipping, Commerce as well as representatives from trade associations as FAITH, IATO, FHRAI, HAI and WTTC.

Incredible India

17>>

govt, private alliance can boost India’s share in world tourism

The Union Ministry of Tourism has said the government is making all possible efforts to take the share of India in global tourism to one per cent from the current 0.64 per cent. PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

r Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Culture and Tourism and Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Government of India, has said the government is making all possible efforts to take the share of India in global tourism to one per cent from the current 0.64 per cent. It is to this end that the scheme of e-Tourist Visa was launched by the new government, which has been yielding good results. Sharma was addressing a joint press conference with Karnataka Tourism Minister, R V Deshpande in New Delhi yesterday, in connection with the PATA Travel Mart 2015 to be held at Bengaluru from September 6-8, 2015, stated a PIB release.

formed that the small and medium enterprises will get an opportunity to showcase their business during the event. The Travel

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Further, Sharma congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his focus on tourism and stressing upon it as an important engine of economy for generating income and employment. The announcement to extend e-Tourist visa to Chinese nationals will help attract more tourists from that country to India and fill the gap of inbound and outbound tourists between India and China, Sharma said. Jatinder Singh Taneja, representative from PATA in-

Dr. Lalit Panwar, Secretary Tourism, Government of India and senior officials of the MoT, and Karnataka were also present

When travel agents see profits, they start talking.

Sharma said that the efforts of the government to give tourism a place of pride are beginning to show results, and India has jumped up 13 ranks in the WEF Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, 2015. Referring to the importance of events like PATA Travel Mart, the Minister said that partnership with all stakeholders, including private organisations and state governments is required to achieve the goal of one per cent share in world tourism. The new National Tourism Policy, 2015 is on the anvil, which will be interactive and deliver in a mission mode, the Minister explained. Addressing the media, Deshpande said that PATA Travel Mart is an event of the entire country and he invited all stakeholders to participate in it. He informed that for the first time, an Investors’ Meet is being organised during the event. The Karnataka Tourism Minister explained that the state government has adopted a professional approach towards tourism including several measures like rating of ‘home stays’ and restaurants. Deshpande also said that Karnataka government was bringing out Tourism and Trade Facilitation Act, and will soon set up Tourist Friendly Police or ‘Tourist Mitra’. The state has also come out with an initiative of Adoption of Tourist destinations by corporate entities for their maintenance and providing facilities, he added.

technology pavilion is also being set up to promote the use of technology in Tourism sector.

www.voyagersworld.in

Flight Talk

18>>

dimaz group engages in promoting sri lanka tourism

Dimaz Aviation Private Ltd, has entered into an agreement with a Sri Lanka-based DMC to promote the country’s attractions while launching combo tour packages to few other nations. VW BUREAU

imaz Aviation private Limited, a company dealing in international travel and cargo has completed its 10 years of service this year. The group offers services in numerous the fields, a few being aviation, air charter flights & international cargo, international tours and travels, healthcare, film production and event management. Headquartered in Mumbai, it is led by Manish Synghal, the Chairman & Managing Director, who has studied and resided in Russia and CIS countries for more than 10 years. Accompanying him is a management experienced in the field in Aviation, Air Charters, tourism, travel, cargo & hospitality business. They have offices or associations in Mumbai, Delhi, UAE, Russia and CIS countries. In order to celebrate its 10th anniversary, Dimaz plans to organise events and get-togethers in metro cities in India. The group recently entered into an agreement with a Sri Lanka-based DMC and has begun promoting Sri Lanka tour-

ism since January this year. Dimaz has launched combo tour packages like Sri Lanka & Seychelles; Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore; religious Ramayana Tour, Vietnam, etc. The services offered by them include airport handling of flights (passenger & cargo), chartered flights, booking of international passenger & cargo transportation, visas facilitation services & hotel bookings and international airport transfers & guides. They also help render visas to Russia and CIS countries with much ease. The foreign destinations covered by DIMAZ are Moscow & St. Petersburg (Russia), East Europe, Scandinavian & Baltic Countries, Almaty (Kazakhstan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Yerevan (Armenia) and other CIS Countries. DIMAZ also provides combo tour packages like Dubai (UAE) with Russia, Istanbul (Turkey) with Russia. Manish Singhal, Chairman & MD of Dimaz Group said: “I have an old friend from Sri Lanka in travel and tours business (inbound); we completed studies together in the early 90s abroad. He of-

fered us an opportunity to be a partner in his venture and we agreed.” A number of attractive factors appealed to Manish as they prompted him to join the venture, like the nice and clean beaches, Ramayana sites which are of great interest for Hindus, combination of stunning landscapes, cultural heritage and unique experiences within such a compact location and many more. Within an area of 65,610 km lie eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 1,330 km of coast-

GUWAHATI VADODARA NAGPUR VISHAKAPATANAM COIMBATORE

Voyager’s World > June 2015

: : : : :

line, 15 national parks, nearly 500,000 acres of lush tea estates, 250 acres of botanical gardens, 350 waterfalls, 25,000 water bodies, etc. The group participated in IITT 2015 & OTM 2015 and has engaged in print and electronic media ads, besides planning fam trips for travel agents and media. Above photo: Claude Thomasz, Chairman Srilankan Tourism Board & Manish Synghal Chairman & MD, Dimaz Group at ATM 2015, Dubai.

12, 13, 14 June 2015 07, 08, 09 August 2015 09, 10, 11 October 2015 06, 07, 08, November 2015 22, 23, 24 January 2016

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Destination

20>>

Irish Music on rugged cliffs

Cliffs of Moher

The breathtaking cliffs and the traditional Irish Music entice you in the Wild Atlantic Way.

IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

ourism Ireland recently organized a familiarization trip for mixed market press trip from 21-26th April 2015 to Wild Atlantic Way-South Limerick & Clare under the British Irish Visa Scheme a joint initiative between Ireland and the United Kingdom that allows you to travel around Ireland and the UK on a single visa. Little did I know about these places in Ireland as a traveler who loves to discover places without much information, the Wild Atlantic Way -South Limerick & Clare has so much to offer you that one really needs to take at least a week for a short trip or a month for a long vacation. Our expedition in Doolin Cave on North West Clare offers with the real underworld experiences, as we enter the cave we get to see the sticky beige coloured paste around the walls, as you walk further the structures of the cave start looking different. You need to watch over your head when you walk further into the cave as most of the parts of the cave have a low ceiling. We had to wear a yellow coloured hard hat before entering the formation of the stalactite. We get to see a free hanging white structure with water dripping at its end while the other side is a small structure that is not growing anymore and a stream below reflecting the hanging structures. The Doolin Cave has an informative exhibition area highlighting the history of Doolin Cave. You will have a different experience venturing into the cave for an astonishing view of stalactite formation and a perfect place for photography. Doolin is an attractive village on the North West Coast of County Clare known for its traditional Irish music especially with the famous Micho Russell whistle player, the Russell Memorial Festival celebrated in February every year and other festivals like the Doolin Folk Festival and Doolin

Voyager’s World > June 2015

Writers Weekend. We stayed over at The Hotel Doolin in County Clare, offers luxurious rooms and the Fitz’s Pub & Eatery is where you can enjoy your drink and food with the nightly traditional music sessions. After a stroll around the hotel we got into the Cullinans Restaurant & Guest House a beautiful yellow restaurant that served delicious dishes like Doolin crab served two ways a hot crumble and a chilled tian, Cullinans Atlantic seafood chowder. Some of the accommodations in Doolin include the Sea View House has luxurious rooms and traditional live music and the Doolin Hostel ranging from the rooms to traditional dormitory rooms for a lovely stay in Doolin. Some of the activities in Doolin include caving, rock climbing, sea kayaking, horse riding and mountain biking. This quaint village has live traditional music 365 days in different styles and mixes of instruments. Doolin is a place that keeps you happy always with the nightly music sessions especially at the Fitz’s Pub where you will enjoy tapping your feet and singing along with the musical sessions it is one thing you will never want to miss in Doolin and you will not feel like leaving the place for its traditional Irish music. The next day with our drive to Doolin Ferries, we traveled on the Happy Hooker Ferry to explore the Aran Islands. The Doolin Pier with the blue waters and the black pebbles is a wonderful sight for all and a picturesque area. The ferry first halted over the smallest island the Inish Oirr or Inisheer and inishmaan or Inish Meain the middle island with the last stop at Inishmore or Inish Mor. We met Oliver Faherty the local guide, in Inishmore or Inish Mor.Inish Mor the largest island known for its Irish culture and people speak in Irish language. The Inishmore island has 2 secondary schools, 1 hotel ,3 hostels, 4 pubs, 1 policeman, 1 priest, church and

cemetery. We got to see a lot of colourful pony carts on our way to Ti Joe Watty’s Bar in Kilronan village, a white building with a black guitar sketched across its name at the entrance and a famous pub where you could relax with a pint of Guinness or a cup of Irish coffee. Some of the highly recommended seafood dishes at Ti Joe Watty‘s Bar are the steamed mussels with garlic sauce and the Aran cracked crab claws with garlic sauce. You can also get a good view of the trees and the cyclists across the road from the outdoor area. On our walk to the island we first halted over at the Aran sweater shop or An Pucan as each family has a different stitch on their sweaters and saw people sitting around the An Sunda Coach Café. During our long walk to Inish Mor we met Vincent the traditional basket maker who had baskets for various usages like the potato baskets. After reaching the black rocky area the pathway becomes uneven where you will see the rugged cliffs against the Atlantic Ocean an excellent spot for photography, as we walked further you get to see the Dun Aengus Fort with a stoned entrance and then you enter a green pavement offering you an overview of the Inish Mor Island. The Dun Aengus Fort has four walls, the first wall has 7 dwellings with only three churches, 12 thatch houses and a light house on the right side with the highest point. We stopped over at the beehive hut for a photograph with stones piled up like a beehive. We met another local guide who spoke about the remains found in the Island like the bronze artifacts, empty shells from shell fish and the amber the jewel. Some of the water activities you can do in Aran Islands are wind surfing and wind sailing. The Happy Hooker ferry takes an hour and 20 minutes to the Inish Mor and you will be mesmerized with

the high sea cliffs and the incredible rugged landscapes. The next day we visited the Matchmaking Bar in Lisdoonvarna in County Clare a building with red colour painted on the top part and orange colour painted below with quotes above it “Marriages are made in heaven most people meet in the matchmaking bar” with small rectangular windows. This beautiful area is famous for the match making festival organized in September every year and the Spa Wells, smoked salmon and perfumery. The great song writer Christy Moore wrote lyrics on Lisdoonvarna. We then visited the Burren Smoke House where we got to taste the varieties of hot smoked salmon and the cold smoked salmon personally the hot smoked salmon tasted good. Our trip turns out to be exciting as we enter the Cliffs of Mohor in County Clare, the entrance has an impressive wooden structure with carvings of puffins, fulmar and the name carved on it .The oval shaped exhibition center is self-explanatory and looks very interesting with images. The center also has the puffins nest café and a gift shop. The Cliffs of Moher walking trail links two villages Liscannor and Doolin, from the Liscannor and Hag’s Head in the south, to Doolin in the North, with steep ascents and descents of step flat stones. We met Pat Sweeney the local farmer and guide who knew the best spots on the trail to Doolin. We get to see the O’ Brien Tower on the North platform that gives the finest view of the Cliffs of Moher, the An Branan Mor or sea stack home to Guillemots and Razorbills. We were lucky enough to see the number of Puffins and Razorbills sitting on the sea stack. We passed by Doolin Castle the oldest and beautiful castle which is now privately owned. Our guide Pat Sweeney said “It is

Destination

Stalactite Formation in Doolin Cave

St Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick

Loop Head Lighthouse

Famine Memorial, Dublin City

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like getting into a dream entering the Cliffs of Moher and then getting back to reality.” The walk generally takes 3hrs from the Cliffs of Moher to Doolin. The spectacular view of the Cliffs of Moher gets stunning as we walked further. The Cliffs of Moher had recently organized the first Seabird’s festival in May 2015.The Cliffs of Moher is known for 40 shades of green and traditional music with buskers. Some of the activities at the cliffs are surfing and swimming. The Cliffs of Moher is a great place for wedding photographs and very popular site for filming and photography. You will definitely enjoy the ecstasy of the Cliffs of Moher with the breathtaking cliffs and the shades of green.You could pick souvenirs like sweaters from the village crafts that had hand knits to loomed sweaters, tweed shawls and chocolates from the Doolin Chocolate Shop for family or friends. We then enter the Gus O’ Connors Pub a traditional pub a beautiful white building with a huge black door served signature dishes like O’ Connors sea food chowder, O’ Connors ‘s steamed mussels.

Our expedition to the Scattery Island started with our drive to Kilrush Marina that has enticing boats along the Shannon Estuary. On our cruise we got into the ferry St. Sean II to Limerick we met Padraig O’Ruairc the local guide who told us the history of Scattery Island. The Scattery Island or Inish Cathaigh in Shannon Estuary had inhabitants only in the early 70’s after that people never lived here .We first entered the church of the dead or Teampall Na Marbh that houses the graveyards of the people of Scattery Island. There exist 6 churches in this island the next church houses the coffin of St. Sean. Some of the other attractions are the round tower, lighthouse and the holy well where people used be healed due to sore eyes in those days. The Scattery Island is a real picture in the mind of a writer or poet. We then entered the Crotty’s Traditional Irish Music Bar in Kilrush has a snug a private bar of those days and served dishes like cocktail prawns, tuna & mayo crabmeat & smoked salmon and sweet potato & courgette soup.

The trip gets fascinating as we enter the Music Makers of West Clare highlighting the history of traditional music, the origin of instruments and of the people who played them. We got to experience the live music session by Diamond Donellan, Tera Comber, and Roisin Considine playing the instruments like Banjo, Fiddle and Concertina. We then enter the Armada Hotel offering great rooms for our overnight stay and the stroll across the beautiful white sandy shore in Milton Malbay was lovely. I feel in love with the traditional Irish music right from Doolin to Malbay. We head over to the Barrtra Seafood Restaurant with seafood specialties for dinner, some of the signature dishes are the Bushmills whiskey ice cream, gin and tonic sorbet, Barrtra smoked salmon and seafood pate.

During our drive to Kilkee, we met Cillian Murphy from Loop Head Tourism giving us insights of Loop Head. On our drive to Loop Head we passed by the Bishops’ Island a separated sea stack island. Loop Head is land between the ocean on one side and the Shannon Estuary on the other that consists of small villages Kilkee and Kilbaha. We stopped over to see the Bridges of Ross that has a trio of natural sea arches and the Loop Head Light House built of limestone has 74 steps, 4 floors 23 meters tall with 4 lenses, 4 lights in 20 seconds and 2 emergency lights one for North and South side. We met Mary and Martin the local guides of the lighthouse who wore florescent green jackets. Some of the activities of Loop Head are selfdriving, surfing, kayaking, cycling trail and

walking trail. The Loop Head Lighthouse has also an exhibition center highlighting on the history of Irish Lighthouses and a guest house offering three bedrooms for a stay at the lighthouse owned by an Irish Trust. Kilbaha is famous for the Henry Blake Heritage Center and the Kilbaha Gallery &Crafts Center. We halted over at the coffee shop close to the pier of Shannon ferry to board the Killimer Tarbet Ferry the car ferry of 20 minutes. After our tour to the country side we get ready to explore the city side of Ireland, Limerick a city at the mouth of river Shannon. We got into the Limerick Strand Hotel offering 184 hotel rooms for our overnight stay, Sean Lally the General Manager of Limerick Strand Hotel says, “The Indian guests are mainly corporate who visit international companies based in Shannon Business Park.” We started our city tour with the Treaty Stone monument with seals of history, the King John’s castle that has an interesting exhibition center and the grey castle offers you an overview of Limerick and a café that serves yummy desserts. The O’ Connell’s street across the River Shannon has a statue of Daniel O’ Connell statue and is the famous street in Limerick. The St. Mary’s Cathedral is the oldest and most historic building with a stunning Cathedral, the Hunt Museum exhibits art and antiquities that includes the famous works of Pierre Auguste Renoir and Pablo Picasso, the Limerick Milk Market is a famous market for fresh products and the Limerick Crafts Hub for ceramics art, feltmaking and Silversmithing. We were thrilled to visit Dublin the city of words known for its writers like William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett. Dublin is the oldest city that has trendy bars and literary pubs. We entered the Morrison Hotel offers 145 rooms and suites all set up in musical

theme for an overnight stay. We entered the Woollen Mills Restaurant that served signature dishes like O’Doherty’s black pudding and the Irish whiskey raspberry sour. The Temple Bar area is something one should not miss to venture in Dublin with pubs like the Temple Bar Pub and the Quay Bar and Restaurant where we got to listen to one of the musicians playing the traditional Irish music. The city of Dublin is divided into North and South, Dublin has so many bridges in the city center to mention some of the most famous ones are the Ha ‘penny Bridge the oldest bridge for pedestrian crossing over the River Liffey, the O’Connell Bridge is wide as the O’ Connell Street and the Samuel Beckett Bridge the harp shaped bridge are new parts of Dublin. The River Liffey is the main attraction that runs through the city center and the Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) offers 22 meeting rooms that include a 2,000 seat auditorium and 4,500 square meters of exhibition space for all exhibitions and conferences. The city center is close to the Irish Film Institute, the Custom House and the Abbey Theatre and the General Post Office. The Famine Memorial commemorated famine statues a place of sorrow for all and the O’ Connell street the famous street in Dublin. Dublin is a beautiful city to walk through the number of trees, flowers and the beautiful lamp posts. You can relax with the traditional Irish music sessions in the pubs with a pint of Guinness or craft beers in Dublin and Dublin is also a city that never sleeps especially with the beauty of Dublin. The joy and fun at the country side of Wild Atlantic Way impresses you every minute with the seafood platter and the traditional Irish Music so get ready and pack your bags to listen and dance to the traditional Irish tunes.

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Hospitality

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Boutique hotels foresee tremendous growth in 2015 IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

Boutique hotels are now growing and outperforming in the industry expecting a promising

Flluid Mosaic / Tux Hospitality

growth for 2015.

Harsh Faujdar, Director, AURUM, a boutique hotel Boutique Hotels is one of the fastest growing categories as far as the hotel industry is concerned and the future looks immensely promising.

he Boutique hotels are considered to be small hotels with upscale accommodation especially with the Indian travellers looking out for personalized experiences in a hotel these days, with the number of boutique hotels growing in a rapid pace so the hospitality industry is witnessing an exponential growth in the coming years. Growth of boutique hotels in India Harsh Faujdar, Director, Aurum a boutique Hotel, Jaipur says that Boutique hotel is a term used internationally to describe small hotels in unique settings with upscale accommodation. In India in the past, the notion has been that small hotels lack quality in terms of accommodation, food, safety and security. “The new boutique hotels, designed to perfection have come into existence that

Voyager’s World > June 2015

has changed this perception of masses as comfort is supreme while personalised service remains the key focus. A good boutique hotel has its own charm and character to mesmerize the guests and the demand for such properties is on the rise. “Boutique Hotels” is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing categories as far as the hotel industry is concerned and the future too looks immensely promising.”He added. Nupur Sikka, Director,Ganga Kinare - A Riverside Boutique Hotel says, “In the past years there has been a major shift in the hospitality industry in India in favor of boutique hotels. The Boutique hotel industry in India is outperforming the broader hotel industry and is in the growth phase of its industrial life cycle. When the industry took a hit during the recession similar to the entire accommodation

sector and it rebounded strongly over the past few years.” “The technological advances in India like online booking, travel sites and their reviews have generated a greater trust between guests and the lesser known hotels. The change in consumer behavior is one of the significant reasons for the growth of boutique hotels. As travelers now no more run for the brand name but for an experience based travel which boutique hotels are successfully offering,” She added. In the opinion of Harjeet Wasan, Vice President, Tux Hospitality, the Boutique hotels have grown in India at a very rapid pace in the recent years, with the better standards of living and better economic condition in the country, people are more likely to spend lavishly on their family and themselves and that also in hotels which

have a USP of being Boutique and have smaller number of rooms, where the guests enjoy very personal services. India is known to the world as the land of hospitality in the defining stages of the business of hospitality with unlimited tourism and untapped business prospects. “In the coming years, the Indian hospitality will only see green pastures of growth. The Indian tourism and hospitality industry has emerged as one of the key drivers of growth. The tourism and hospitality sector in India is flourishing due to an increase in foreign tourist arrivals and a greater number of Indians travelling to domestic destinations. The hotels are an important component of the tourism industry,” He added. Saket Gupta, Head Sales & Marketing, Mars Enterprises, the Mars Group’s cur-

Hospitality

Vista / AURUM a boutique Hotel

Lobby Lounge/Waterstones Hotel - Mars Enterprises

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Nupur Sikka- Director, Ganga Kinare - A Riverside Boutique Hotel The Boutique hotel industry in India is outperforming the broader hotel industry and is in the growth phase of its industrial life cycle. The Indian hospitality industry is expecting a great impetus in 2015.

rent portfolio includes the ‘Waterstones Hotel & Waterstones Club’, a boutique hotel property and private club in North Mumbai; ‘Gordon House Hotel’ a boutique hotel in South Mumbai, ‘Rokeby Manor’ and ‘Clocktower Café’, a boutique hotel and popular restaurant, both in the stunning Himalayan hill station of Landour; ‘Pizza by the Bay’, a casual dining restaurant. said that there were not many good boutique hotels in India till recent. For a long period of time, any hotel that had fewer number of rooms claimed to be a boutique hotel. However, today’s customer is knowledgeable and well-informed. He knows that a boutique hotel has to be unique in terms of its offerings. “With the concept of boutique hotels flourishing in India, the category is now further divided into budget boutique hotels and luxury/upscale boutique hotels. For ex-

ample our Waterstones Hotel in AndheriMumbai and Rokeby Manor in Mussoorie would fall under upscale boutique category,” He added. Zia Shiekh, CEO & CMD, Svenska Design Hotels says that the Boutique hotels in India are still primarily confined to momand-pop shops run by individual owners but in the business context, the concept of boutique hotels is still quite nascent. We are very bullish on the Indian market and looking to aggressively expand our presence in the country. Our target is to be the best and biggest chain of boutique hotels in India and we are well on our way to achieving that, especially after getting a fantastic response from the market on our first two hotels in the country, which are doing excellent business and surpassing the market in both occupancy as well as room rates. We have shown that India

is as much into boutique lifestyle hotels as the rest of the world.

quality being offered at absolute VFM rates,” He added.

Expected growth for 2015 Harsh says that there is enough potential for growth of boutique hotels. Most of them provide good value for money as compared to large luxury hotels since the overheads are relatively limited. Boutique hotels, for example might not boast of five or six specialty restaurants to offer, unlike most five star luxury hotels but, the price benefit for guests combined with the personalised service is definitely there due to size of the business.

In the opinion of Nupur the Indian hospitality industry is expecting a great impetus, foreseeing tremendous opportunity over the coming months in 2015. This positivity comes from the initiatives shown by the new government acknowledging the importance of tourism industry.

“We expect a healthy growth for ourselves in 2015 as we continue to add new customers while retaining the loyal customer base we have been able to build for ourselves over the previous year’s owing to the superior service levels and supreme

According to the statistics, it is believed that the hospitality sector will boom by 7% and hopefully we will be able to take a major share of profits with our expansion and growth policies for the fiscal year, 20152016. With three new properties added in Tux Hospitality, the growth seems to be fair and positive,” Harjeet added. Saket states that the hotel has been doing really well so far in 2015. We have

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Hospitality

Ganga Kinare - A River Side Boutique

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Harjeet Wasan, Vice President, Tux Hospitality The Boutique hotels are an important component of the tourism industry. India is known to the world as the land of hospitality in the defining stages of the business of hospitality with unlimited tourism and untapped business prospects. managed to maintain an average occupancy of 86% in the first half. It is always good when your F&B contributes a good 40-45% of your total revenue. Monsoons generally are difficult in Mumbai because of the heavy down pour and unfavorable traffic conditions. However, as we head towards the year end we expect a rise in occupancy again with a lot of international business coming in to the city. “The Indian travelers are looking for similar personalized experiences in India as well. We expect to witness exponential growth in 2015, which is expected to continue in the coming years,”Zia added. Expansion plans Harsh says that we are keen on exploring possibilities of adding more properties on management contracts and delivering remarkable hospitality experience to guests that has quintessentially been our strength. In the opinion of Harjeet, expansion and growth are the key ingredients to success and therefore, every organization aims to expand their roots across the country and looking forward for creating some interesting milestones ahead like Mosaic Mussoorie & HIVE Haridwar with a provision of world class facilities available at the upcoming hotels, we are hoping for a positive response in a long run. Zia states that the Svenska Design Hotels have been pioneers of business boutique hotels. Svenska currently has 2 hotels operational and 8 in various stages of de-

Voyager’s World > June 2015

velopment across metros as well as tier 1-2-3 cities. Segments Harsh says that we have quite a mix of guests in terms of nationality as well as clientele. We have corporate guests on business regularly apart from the leisure segment that includes both domestic and international clientele. Each segment has its own requirements and catering to their needs through our team is definitely satisfying, even more so when we get appreciated for our efforts in the form of positive reviews and personalized gratitude. Jaipur being a wedding destination, presents us with another segment of business wherein we many a times play host to ensure the entire event is successful and we are happy to play a small part in the happier times of the families involved. In the opinion of Nupur, Rishikesh being touted as the World Capital of Yoga, we are targeting the international travelers who come to India to practice yoga. International Yoga Week, a week-long festival held from March 1st to 8th at Ganga Kinare brings 70 hours of yoga and meditation practice in the riverbanks of the Ganges, with some of the best teachers in the town of Rishikesh along with spiritual discourses from learned men who are flying in from all over the world just to interact with the participants of this festival. During the festival we have travelers from across the globe to practice yoga and participate in the programmes. Beyond the yearly event, we have several short as well as long duration Yoga packages focusing

primarily on yoga and wellness. FITs and domestic travelers are also our primary audience. The various adventure activities in and around Rishikesh like White Water River Rafting, Jungle Safari in Rajaji National Park etc. are the attractions for our domestic travelers. Senior citizens are also a very important segment of our guests and we have special provisions dedicated for the elderly. Harjeet said that, the Mosaic Hotel is a uniquely crafted entity which broadly focuses on promoting the in-house facilities. The corporate and leisure travelers are our main focus as the hotel is located in and around the city where corporate guests can mix business with a little pleasure. Saket observes that the target audience has always been corporate. We offer 8 meeting/conference venues with state-ofthe-art facilities, with the majority of the corporate are in Andheri, Bandra & Powai region makes Waterstones a top choice for these companies. Zia says that Svenska focuses primarily on the business segment, ranging from the 5-star deluxe hotels (Svenska Design Hotels) to 3-4 star hotels (Svenska Select Hotels) to extended stay serviced apartments (Svenska Suites). We are very bullish on the Indian market and looking to aggressively expand our presence in the country. Challenges In the opinion of Harsh, Boutique hotels

in general face a stiff challenge in competing against the larger luxury hotels, more so since the rates are extremely competitive, especially during the off peak months. If the difference in rates is not much, guests usually prefer larger luxury hotels against the boutique hotels but then, the experience of staying in a boutique hotel is very different. Our repeat clientele and long standing relationships with most of the customers is testimony to our hitherto accomplishments in spite of the ruthless price cuts due to the gaps between the supply and demand in a market like Jaipur. The presence of a plethora of luxury hotels and large number of mid and small category hotels definitely has its set of challenges but it is the fierce competition which brings out the best in us and ensures that we are on top of our game at all times. Nupur says the various challenges faced by the boutique hotels in India are Competition especially with the rise of the number of boutique hotels in India, it is very challenging to keep up with the competition and also maintain uniqueness. Consumers are changing- in both attitude and behavior as customers are coming up with new trends in architecture, designs, technology, environment friendly hotels concepts. The new age traveler is no more brand loyal and travel has now become an experience. Guests now prefer a wholesome experience in the properties that they choose to stay. “The online presence of the customer with the most noteworthy trend in 2015 is the increased use of internet, particularly

Hospitality

Svenska Design Hotels

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Saket Gupta, Head Sales & Marketing, Mars Enterprises Our boutique hotel managed to maintain an average occupancy of 86% in the first half as we head towards the year end we expect a rise in occupancy again with a lot of international business coming in to the city. social media, and technology by consumers while making choices related to their travel itinerary. Therefore, hotels now need to maintain a terrific online presence. Beyond that, the rise of the Meta Search is another significant challenge. Meta search engines like Google Hotel Finder, TripAdvisor, Kayak & Trivago offer users the ability to take informed decisions on booking hotel rooms without having to jump around from one hotel’s website to another,” She added. Harjeet states that the key challenges are infrastructure regulatory, availability of product bouquet, rising inflation, intercultural differences and shortage of skilled manpower. “In tier I cities like Mumbai, the supply of rooms is too high as compared to the demand. In each category, there are multiple options within the vicinity. Because of this hotels generally face a challenge in the lean season when the demand is even lower. The other problem is the amount of taxes and charges that the guests have to pay. The guests sometime end up paying 30% more than the actual rates, which leads to guest dissatisfaction,” Saket added. Zia said “The hospitality industry in India faces a unique situation in that there are certain markets/ areas in which there is surplus supply while various other areas/ regions are badly under-supplied with hotel rooms. We have also seen situations where an under-supplied market suddenly has a spurt of new rooms open,

and given the small base of existing hotel rooms, this result in occupancy and rate pressures in the short term till the demand grows to catch up with the supply. Marketing and promotional plans Harsh says we work very closely with a few corporate houses and select travel agents apart from attending some travel trade shows. We also have an online presence and we work with a few agencies promoting sales and marketing. We value our regular guests and have built a loyal customers database over the past. The promotional tool for a hotel like ours is by word of mouth. Nupur says to follow the classic 4Ps of marketing and compliment them with the 4Ps of internet marketing – participation, personalization, predictive modeling and peer-to-peer communities. Harjeet states that we use social media as a tool like Facebook, Twitter, Google + and You Tube to promote our events and to position a boutique hotel in a trade market. Saket said that we have always been selective and subtle in our marketing strategy for the hotel and club. Since the access to the club is restricted to the club members only, the marketing approach for the hotel and for the club is slightly different. Hence, the focus is more on reaching out to these global markets via print media campaigns in international publications. We rely on word of mouth publicity as we believe that it is the best way you can market yourself. We also do a lot of events with consulates and embassies of various nations located in Mumbai. This

helps us reach out to our precise target audience. While on the other hand, for the hotel we do a lot of online & offline media campaigns. Waterstones hotel is well-known amongst the corporate. All the media campaigns help us create a brand recall thus making it easier for the sales force to generate business. For any hotel, travel trade is as important a segment as corporate because you can expect great volumes of business from travel trade. We have planned for Road Shows in Metro Cities and Tier II Cities to increase visibility. We are also targeting yearlong inbound series for continuous business. Zia said that Svenska Hotels use various platforms and channels for marketing. Apart from digital becoming more and more important, including social media and mobile optimization, we also rely on traditional print, electronic and outdoor media campaigns to build and promote our brand. Svenska has also partnered with various online channels for marketing both rooms and food & beverage services. Coping up with the emerging new properties In the opinion of Harsh, The number of upcoming new hotels and the ever increasing overall inventory of rooms for the Pink city remains a major challenge. It has definitely been a deterrent in achieving the desired room rates. We do hope that with the tourism friendly policies of this Government like introduction of visa on arrival facility for many countries will result in increased number of tourist arriv-

als in India and eventually benefit all the organisations involved in tourism industry. The demand-supply will balance out in due course and only those hotels which have a long term vision of serving the customers will succeed. “The newer hotels also bring in newer technologies and latest trends. The new entrants give us an opportunity to learn from them so that we are able to reinvent ourselves from time to time to keep up with the likes and dislikes of the customers,” He added. Harjeet says that as the hotel industry is expanding, Tux Hospitality is playing safe and smart with a new range of boutique hotels coming up at tourist destinations. Saket states that the hospitality sector in India has grown massively over the past decade especially in an over-competitive market like Mumbai, you will see a lot of new segments cropping up. Customization will be our key strategy for 2015-16. The fact is you need to sense the market and come up with something unique to offer which takes the entire market by storm. Zia concludes that overall as a country, India is still highly under-supplied in terms of hotel rooms. With barely 150,000 rooms across the whole country, this is less than the hotel rooms in Shanghai or New York City alone. So there is huge potential for hospitality industry to grow in India and though sometimes there are short periods of over-supply in some markets, but the new inventory is getting very rapidly absorbed and India has a long, long way to go before anyone can say that it has excess hotel rooms.

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Hospitality

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global hotels get eco-friendly

Hotels across the world are increasingly resorting to eco-friendly measures in their designs, practices and services that eventuate into reduced carbon impressions while saving costs. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

he hospitality industry has become increasingly aware of the importance of ecological concerns since the World Travel and Tourism Council first began certifying green travel and tourism businesses in the 1990s. New hotels often incorporate eco-friendly concepts at the design stage, but older structures can also become more eco-friendly by researching ways to reduce waste and reuse or recycle items. For instance, some hotels ask guests to use towels more than once to cut down on waste-water and energy expenditure. Believing that only practising green habits inside the hotels is not enough and pragmatic real time practices alone can be beneficial to not only the traveller but also the hotel economics and the entire hospitality industry involved with the hotel, not forgetting the actual community in which it stands, Meluha the Fern ecotel at Powai ,Hiranandani Gardens Mumbai has been constructed in an eco friendly style incorporating all sustainability infrastructures. While the concept of global greening is nearly a decade old in the country, only recently has it picked up speed through our government initiatives and increasing awareness. Sustainable practices are not only here to stay but are also anticipated to further become a focus of the hospitality industry .

Voyager’s World > June 2015

Hilton Worldwide recently announced that it will reduce the environmental impact of meetings and events held at its more than 90 hotels and resorts in Asia Pacific through an expanded carbon emissions solution, the Clean Air Programme. Starting on May 1, meeting planners and delegates can play their part in reducing carbon emissions and deliver more sustainable experiences to their customers. When customers choose any of Hilton’s participating hotels as meeting or social event venues, the Clean Air Programme will provide a calculation of the carbon emissions of the event at no cost to the customer. Hilton will then purchase the equivalent carbon credits to finance environmentally-friendly projects across Asia Pacific in partnership with carbon offset solutions provider Climate Friendly. The programme is designed to make it easier for meeting professionals to incorporate environmental solutions into meetings and events. Martin Rinck, president, Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide said, “Managing our environmental impact and developing new products to enhance the customer experience are part and parcel of how we operate as a business. Apart from consistently seeking opportunities to reduce waste and conserve energy in our daily operations, the Clean Air Programme allows us

to take our commitment to sustainability one step further. By offsetting carbon emissions from meetings and events, it means that we can provide essential financing to renewable energy, forest protection and restoration projects which is critical in mitigating climate change.” Increasingly, investors and consumers worldwide have a greater appreciation of the need for sustainable development, and many leading companies around the world are incorporating sustainable practices into their business models[1]. Underscored by Hilton’s corporate responsibility strategy, Travel with Purpose, the Clean Air Programme was designed as a valued opportunity for both Hilton and its customers to share a commitment to host more eco-friendly meetings. The Clean Air Programme is an evolution of the Carbon Offset Programme which was previously offered in more than 30 properties in Australasia, Southeast Asia and Japan. Dominic Sherry, head of sales, Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide said, “Today’s customers seek greater meaning in their event experiences and would like event planners to consider the broader implications of the meeting itself. Offering the Clean Air Programme at our participating hotels and resorts incorporates a tangible, yet hassle-free solution that delivers on the corporate respon-

sibility commitments of our customers and Hilton.” The Clean Air Programme covers all events such as meetings, conferences, weddings and other social occasions held in participating hotels and resorts. Hilton will use LightStay, its proprietary system developed to calculate and analyze environmental performance, to track and measure carbon emissions from every meeting and event. Its “meeting calculator” feature takes into account the function room’s water and electricity usage, and the food consumed at the event. Hilton has identified nine projects across Asia Pacific to be funded under the Clean Air Programme. These projects, located in countries where Hilton operates, prevent greenhouse gases by producing renewable energy or preserving forests. RARE – destinations & experiences, which partners with hotels that are unique in their own way, providing an experiential stay with a personal touch. ensures that all its hotel partners are owners who believe strongly in sustainable and eco-friendly tourism, one of the key elements in the RARE ethos. At Rare, location is the destination, experience the product, personal style the USP and responsibility to community and nature a mission statement.

Hospitality

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Impact of the web In a way, the Internet has enabled trade organizations and individual consumers to research a hotel’s environmental sustainability policies before deciding whether to stay there, providing a clear competitive advantage to hotels that can appeal to this type of customer. For instance, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives favors environmentally friendly hotels when booking events. Although any hotel can advertise its eco-friendly policies on its own website, this type of statement won’t necessarily reach consumers searching for a list of recognized green hotels from which to choose. Certification as an eco-friendly hotel can help ensure that customers are aware of a hotel’s commitment to environmental principles. LEED Certification Hotels built according to green principles can receive Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Existing hotels can earn LEED certification by fulfilling the standards of the USGBC. This can include taking steps to cut down on the use of fossil fuels, adding a renewable energy source such as solar or wind power or instituting a program to power down non-essential electrical devices in unoccupied rooms. The Energy Star Award Program is another certification available to hotels with eco-friendly energy policies.

ECOTEL Certification Certification by ECOTEL as an environmentally sensitive hotel requires a comprehensive program including energy and water conservation practices, solid waste management practices, education of employees and a public commitment to environmentally friendly hospitality. To earn a high score under the ECOTEL standards a hotel would have to have a system in place to train all employees in all aspects of the hotel’s environmental policies. ECOTEL certification is very difficult to achieve, but the ECOTEL guidelines can help any hotel improve its environmental policies. Travelers are recognizing the importance of environmental conservation and are increasingly seeking accommodation that supports environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism. Acknowledging this, hotels around the world are developing award-winning environmental, economic and socio-cultural programs that preserve both the culture and support the local economy. There is a growing interest in environmental conservation and understanding the impact of tourism on a destination. With the help of hoteliers, it is possible for tourists to experience and appreciate natural spaces and cultures, while conserving and minimizing their effect on the environment.

Keeping this in mind, ECOTEL recently examined its database of 800,000 properties to bring 10 exceptional “green” hotels from across the world offering guests an eco-friendly and world-class holiday experience: As more hoteliers get on board the sustainable operations movement, their efforts are improving the environment and cutting costs. But do customers really care? Do green programs actually affect hotel selection or the price a guest is willing to pay?New questions added to the Market Metrix Hospitality Index survey asked the importance of green initiatives to hotel guests and which brands, according to guests, have the best green programs. “Eco-friendly” or “green” initiatives are most compelling to luxury hotel guests, with 20 percent of these travelers claiming these programs are “very important” when selecting a hotel. Least affected by these programs are guests in the midscale-without-food-and-beverage segment. Therefore, it appears that customers who can afford to care about green are more willing to change their behavior. Across all hotel segments, 12 percent of guests rate these programs “very important.” This level of general market acceptance signals an opportunity for brand differentiation, especially among lower-priced hotels. In addition to measuring the importance

of green initiatives to their choice of hotel, guests also were asked to rate the hotel’s green initiatives. Green programs were rated highest for luxury hotel brands (74.7) and lowest for economy brands (69.6). Among hotel brands, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants was the clear winner (89.7). Its EarthCare program includes eco-friendly cleaning products. recycling coat hangers and paperless check-ins/outs. Overall, guests who rank a hotel’s green program highly are willing to pay at least seven percent more for their room compared to other guests. These same guests also stay longer, are happier with their stay and are more likely to consider the loyalty program as “very important” in selecting a hotel. Hotels with highly ranked green programs also experience half as many guest-reported problems. There were some surprises. Some lowerpriced hotels were evaluated favorably for their green initiatives, demonstrating cost does not have to be a barrier to guest-friendly green programs. Conversely, despite the importance luxury guests place on eco-friendly programs, several higher-priced hotels received low ratings. Among the large hotel chains, green programs were rated near the industry average (73), meeting guest expectations. Establishing eco-friendly programs can be a cost-effective marketing tool, and raising awareness of eco-friendly programs will help many properties.

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taai keen to work with luxembourg and south african tourism

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) met with representatives from Luxembourg as well as South African Tourism to help promote the destinations in India. VW BUREAU

he Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South African Tourism to promote tourism to South Africa by conducting the Learn South Africa Programme more successfully. The MoU was signed by Alpa Jani, Manager, Trade Relations, South African Tourism and Jay Bhatia, Chairman, TAAI Tourism Council in Mumbai yesterday. Schedule 6 of the programme shall be conducted in association with TAAI in over 15 cities of India with workshops from 13 July up to 4 August 2015. The participants shall be awarded certificates for the Learn South Africa Programme and they shall also qualify for a FAM trip to the ‘rainbow’ nation, organised by the Tourism Board. Professionals from the travel trade shall participate in the programme. “This endeavour of India’s premier and largest tourism association (TAAI) to educate their members on products and

facilities the destination offers, shall enhance the agents abilities to grow their business effectively,” stated Harmandeep Singh Anand - Hon. Secretary General of TAAI. “This programme shall give the trade colleagues a platform to learn, interact and network with the suppliers, hotels, local trade from SA under one platform so as to boost their skills and business opportunities,” said Jay Bhatia. “This collaboration with SAT is one of the first in the series of tie-ups that TAAI has embarked upon for educating the trade on destination promotion. Similar tieups with other tourism bodies, national as well as international are in the anvil,” stated Lokesh Bettaiah, Co-Chairman of the Tourism Council. The members of TAAI also met H.E Sam Schreiner, Ambassador, Embassy in India for Grand Duchy of Luxembourg during his visit to Mumbai along with Laure Huberty, Deputy Head of Mission,

hraei appeals to government for lower GST rate

last month. The visiting delegates made a presentation exclusively for the TAAI team seeking co-operation from them to promote Luxembourg as a tourism destination from India. The presentation showed places to visit and things to do in Luxembourg. A destination for holiday makers and honeymooners, Luxembourg is a destination full of art and culture, nature, sports, leisure, shopping, castles,

lakes and much much more. Workshops and roadshows for trade are in the anvil in major cities of the country for the coming year ahead. In photo above: Alpa Jani - Manager Trade Relations - SAT and Mr. Jay Bhatia - Chairman - TAAI Tourism Council, at the signing of the MOU

bhubaneswar to host fhrai’s 50th annual convention

VW BUREAU

he introduction of GST Bill and its passing by Lok Sabha is a welcome step and the hospitality industry is happy. Howeve, the hospitality industry feels that the GST rates for their sector should be capped at 10 per cent.

Since government is targeting a manifold increase in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs), the hospitality industry feels that the government should introduce a facility whereby the foreign guests who have paid GST on their hotel and restaurant bills can claim refund of GST at the airport at the time of departing. Hotel & Restaurant Association of Eastern India (HRAEI) president Sudesh Poddar said: “We are confident that the e-visa initiative of the government of India coupled with GST refund for foreign guests will spur the tourism industry into a high growth trajectory.” What must be kept in mind is that the hospitality industry will not be able to derive much advantage by taking input credit, as a major expense of any hotel or restaurant is the manpower cost and the cost of fuel. Since initially taxes on

Voyager’s World > June 2015

fuel will not fall under the purview of GST, input tax credit will be much lower than the tax collected. In this backdrop, HRAEI feels the empowered committee of GST to take into account these factors before specifying the rate of GST for this sector. Though HRAEI members welcomed the introduction of GST bill as it means a single point uniform taxation for all hotels and restaurants throughout the country as well as reduction of paper work and multiple filing of various tax returns, they are not sure about the GST rate that will be fix ed by the government. “The indicative rate of 16 to 20 per cent which is being speculated is very high for the hospitality industry and will mean a body blow to the industry, as a result of which the hotels and restaurants will badly suffer,” the HRAEI release stated. In this scenario, it is important that the Empowered Committee of GST takes into account these factors before specifying the rate of GST for this sector.

VW BUREAU

he Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) announced its plans for its Golden Jubilee Convention to be held from 25 - 27 September 2015 at Mayfair Convention in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The Convention mnemonic was launched on 7 June in Kolkata by Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister of Tourism & Culture, Government of Odisha. With Odisha Tourism having joined FHRAI as partner for the event, the convention’s theme will be ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ meaning ‘Guest is God’. There will be more than 1000 delegates from the hospitality

industry and the inauguration ceremony will be followed by a number of technical sessions where industry stalwarts would interact, discuss and debate issues relating to the hospitality industry in India. The technical sessions will be held on 25 and 26 September. 26 September, day 2 of the event, will be the Odisha Day with folk dances and cultural programmes. On 27 September, coinciding with World Tourism Day, a heritage walk will be organised jointly with the Government of Odisha. The walk will essentially be a cultural extravaganza with tableaus, folk dances and performances.

IACC Reveals top 10 Meeting Technology Trends for 2015

The International Association of Conference Centres released its Top 10 Meeting Tech Trends for 2015, which are influencing meeting planners and venue operators across the globe. VW BUREAU

ollowing extensive research among the 355 members of the International Association of Conference Centres (IACC), the association released its top 10 Meeting Tech Trends for 2015, which are influencing meeting planners and venue operators across the globe. Mark Cooper, IACC’s CEO, commented: “Meeting Planners are seeing their role influenced more and more by technology, not just for the meeting itself, but in researching and booking venues, how planners interact onsite and how they communicate following the meeting. The balance between technology and in-person relationships is an interesting one, with a need to attain a balance of the two in order to plan and deliver successful meeting outcomes.” - Look out, here comes Gen Y, The Millennials! - More fluent in technology, this new generation is addicted to social media, is even more environmentally conscious than their predecessors--the Gen Xers, and has high expectations of connectivity, interactivity, and the ability to influence and engage in dialogue. They know how to seek out free Wi-Fi, and as they enter the workplace and start attending meetings, they expect Wi-Fi to always be free and fast! - Think Socialising rather than Networking - Socialising at work used to be frowned upon, taking on somewhat negative connotations. But increasingly, socialising is seen as relationship-building and for meetings, conference venues en-

courage relaxed socialising by providing multi-use spaces for conferees to gather together - Switch up the Mood! - Meeting rooms have seen radical makeovers in terms of design, colour and creative seating options of late. New developments in technology have allowed venues and organisers to instantly change the look and feel of a meeting room with user controllable LED mood lighting, high-tech furniture groupings and more. - Geofence Your Conference - Important advances in GPS-based app technology enable planners and venues to now personalise a conferee’s welcome and offer other location-based alert notifications upon arrival. For example, a badge is printed when the delegate enters the geofence (think venue), with notification sent via the app to the badge printing location. Providing useful location information and navigation assistance, the geofence can notify attendees where they are on a map and give guidance on where they wish to go. - Conference Networking and Information Exchange - Developments in appbased two-way communication means that with user permission, one’s smart phone can easily transmit contact information, social media profiles, specific meeting room access information, meal tracking, food preferences, and much more. Communication between attendees can be enhanced with notifications, pictures and other information about

who is nearby. Instant and targeted contact is king today; new technologies and applications that help foster participant engagement and social interaction will grow in popularity and usage. - The Sky’s the Limit...For Now! - Now conference organisers are using affordable technology with the use of drones to capture creative event photos and map out the venue for GPS integrated conferences. What will ‘tomorrow’s’ technology bring to outpace the functionality of drones! - The Days of the Cable are Numbered Just when venues think their under-counter box of chargers is current and complete, technology moves on and we get closer to a single standard for wireless charging technology, after years of competing standards. Currently pushing for a single standard, QI Consortium boasts wireless charging points in 3,000 hotels. With large scale furniture makers such as IKEA installing standardised wireless charging into tables and desks they sell, the writing is on the wall for meeting venues to incorporate wireless charging points into bar tops, meeting room tables and guestrooms. - Meet your Virtual Colleague - There are times when it is just not possible to get everybody in the same place at the same time. Conference venues understand this and are making the virtual attendee experience much better. How? Venues are developing meeting rooms with multiple ceiling-mounted microphones, high-

bandwidth connectivity and advanced software solutions to provide seamless integration into the meeting for virtual attendees, faculty and guest speakers. Additionally, there is an increase in clients wanting to capture video to send to another physical location, where a second group of participants are gathered. - Conference Venues Welcome Streetview Technology - The trend toward part-time meeting planners who are not full-time professional planners but may be an executive assistant, marketing coordinator, human resource professional or department head, is on the increase. Today’s meeting planner expects and requires more from their venue partners, in terms of evaluating venues’ capabilities to support their meeting or event. When a planner cannot conduct an in-person venue inspection, technology is fast evolving using the Google Street View concept to provide valuable virtual venue tours, room images showing meeting layouts and property video footage. - Buying Your Meeting Online - More and more clients are using the web as primary tools for purchasing decisions. One IACC venue recently reported 70% of all new business comes via online search and they expect that number to grow. The venues that will be the most successful in capturing this business will have websites that serve not only as marketing brochures but as the primary tool for their clients to plan, book, purchase and engage with them for their next meeting.

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Indian conventions get global.. scout for new destinations IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

The outbound travellers of India are constantly growing and exploring best MICE venues especially with

Convention Centre Dublin

the growing numbers in incentive travel.

Hassan Madah, Director, India, Israel Ministry of Tourism The MICE market is doing well with agriculture tours and conferences. We are expecting a growth of 10% in the MICE segment with the increase in the number of Incentive tours.

he India outbound market is growing over the years with the best convention centers like Convention Center Dublin and Kenyatta International Conference Centre so the number of outbound travels from India is likely to increase in 2015. According to EuroMonitor International, MICE accounts for over 30% of India’s outbound traffic and this is set to increase by an estimated 62% by 2017. According to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) statistics, India’s share of MICE travel accounts for US$4.8 billion worldwide travel and currently ranks 27th in the

Voyager’s World > June 2015

global MICE market. MICE Industry Chiranjib Biswas, Destination Manager, Kenya Tourism Board says, Kenya Tourism Board is implementing strong steps in positioning Kenya as a preferred meetings, incentives travel, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) destination. India is the 4th largest tourist source market for Kenya in the world and largest in Asia. “Though leisure is the primary segment of travellers but over the year’s MICE travellers have increased substantially. Kenya has all the elements to attract

more and more MICE travellers with hassle free VISA, Indian food, large conference facilities and excellent flight connectivity,” He added. Beena Menon, Representative India , Tourism Ireland said, “ The Indian corporates and business are constantly seeking new and unexplored destinations for MICE travel, the MICE segment is constantly growing. We expect to see MICE accounting for a significant number of outbound travels from India, especially in the incentive segment,” According to EuroMonitor International, MICE accounts for over 30% of India’s

outbound traffic and this is set to increase by an estimated 62% by 2017. According to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) statistics, India’s share of MICE travel accounts for US$4.8 billion worldwide travel and currently ranks 27th in the global MICE market. Hassan Madah, Director-India, Israel Ministry of Tourism states that the market is good especially for agriculture tours and conferences. We have had the Agri-tech exhibition were the chief minister of Maharashtra participated along with other dignitaries. Thousands from India have travelled to see exhibitions in

Convention Centre Dublin

Kenyatta International Conference Centre / Kenya Tourism Board

Fluid Mosaic / Tux Hospitality

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Beena Menon, Representative India, Tourism Ireland The Indian corporates and business are always seeking unexplored destinations for MICE travel. We are looking forward for a significant number of outbound travels from India, especially in the Incentive segment.

Israel in the last few months and we are expecting more in the future. We want to focus in Incentive tours this year since we know that we have a great product to offer to this segment.” Expected growth Beena says that we hope to see a 1520% increase in tourist arrivals to the island of Ireland from India in 2015. The British Irish Visa Scheme, a joint initiative between Ireland and the United Kingdom was launched on February 10, 2015 in India and allows one to travel in and around Ireland and the UK on a single visa which means the tourists and business visitors can visit both Ireland

and the UK, including Northern Ireland on a single visa. We hope that this visa scheme will give a further impetus to travel to the island of Ireland from India. Chiranjib states that the objective of Kenya Tourism Board is to reach over 1, 00,000 Indian tourists by the year 2018 and India ranks as the 4th after UK, US and Italy in arrivals. “We are expecting a growth of 10% in this segment and are looking forward for the Incentive tours to be increasing in number,”Hassan added. Promotional Plans “With a focus on the MICE segment we

are trying to reach out to the corporate traveller through traditional and new age media platforms like smart phone application, social media, I-pad etc. We are also closely working with the travel trade who specializes in MICE segment,” Chiranjib added. Beena said that Tourism Ireland conducts road shows, workshops, training seminars and destination presentations for the MICE tour operators as well as for leading corporates to showcase Ireland as a MICE destination. Additionally, we also regularly conduct familiarisation trips for MICE travel agents to see all that Ireland has to offer first-hand.

Hassan says that firstly we want to educate the agents and the corporates about the product as we have organized few seminars for corporates and are planning to organize more. We are planning to organizing campaigns with tour operators like Thomas Cook and Cox&Kings and more. We are also planning to organize social media campaign along with TV programs and many more activities. Best convention centres Chiranjib states that The Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) has been an icon and landmark for Kenya and the rest of eastern and central

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Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center / Israel Ministry of Tourism

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Chiranjib Biswas, Destination Manager, Kenya Tourism Board Kenya Tourism Board is taking strong steps in positioning Kenya as a preferred meetings, incentives travel, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) destination, over the year the MICE travellers have increased substantially. Indian is the 4th largest tourist source market for Kenya in the world and largest in Asia. Africa from time in memorial which is distinguished as a premiere meeting venue all through the region. “KICC boasts of being the largest facility in conference tourism industry South of Sahara and the North of Limpopo and hence most of the regional and international conferences have been held including conventions of the UN organizations. KICC has the capacity to hold both large and small events, both indoors and outdoors. The facility boasts a conference room with a capacity of over 4000 delegates,” He added. Beena says that the multi-award winning Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD), lo-

Voyager’s World > June 2015

cated in the heart of Dublin offers 22 meeting rooms including a 2,000 seat auditorium and 4,500 square meters of exhibition space. The CCD offers a unique and inspirational backdrop for any international conference or event. The CCD boasts a unique glass-fronted atrium running the full height of the building that gives visitors panoramic views of the River Liffey, Dublin city centre and the Wicklow mountains. Hassan says “The Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center is the largest and most sophisticated complex in Israel for organizing conferences, exhibitions, trade fairs, examinations, performances and events at an international scale. Hundreds of

events and exhibitions are held in the complex each year and attracts more than 2.5 million visitors annually.” Trends “We are witnessing more educational tours as initially people went to exhibitions only, but now people go for training and studying. This segment will grow since the collaboration between both countries are also growing and will grow more after the planned visit of the PM of India later this year,” Hassan added. Beena concludes that the clients are constantly looking for unique destinations and venues for MICE travel. The

MICE travel trade is constantly seeking for the ‘Wow’ factor in MICE packages. Overall, the preference of Indian travellers in the MICE segment is veering towards experiential travel and exploring niche, unique destinations apart from the popular MICE destinations. “The Incentive travel has grown significantly with more and more corporates offering travel to exotic destinations to their employees. More Indian businesses are also now choosing to participate in international conventions in order to update their knowledge and increase their awareness about international practices,” she added.

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corporate insurance must for risks and unlikely non-risks

Every organisation that has employees travelling on business duly insured so as to avoid extravagant expenses that may result in the event of unforeseen circumstances. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

Dev Karvat, MD, TrawellTag Cover-More The onset of the digital era has inevitably made us take on to the digital medium in full swing. We intend to make the best use of this medium in the near future with deploying e-commerce and m-commerce facilities to reach out internationally with one click.

aking corporate travel insurance is indispensable regardless of the destination or the duration or the purpose of the trip. Although the thought of paying huge premiums for something that we do not see happening and mostly don’t utilize, to the best of our limited knowledge, it is important that every organisation that has its employees travelling either domestically or overseas on business duly insured so as to avoid extravagant expenses that may result in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Expenses for medical treatment, emergency medical evaluation, flight cancellation, lost baggage are some of the top costs that occur to companies during business trips. The reasons could also be political situations or natural calamities that may see business travellers off track. During the huge volcanic ash that clouded European skies, a number of passengers had to re-directed to some other destination or stranded at the airport.

finement, repatriation of mortal remains, baggage delays, damage of baggage or property, loss of travel documents and money, bail bond, etc. Many insurers offer benefits such as free telephone assistance worldwide, available 24/7 in case an emergency arises or you just need some help in a sticky situation. Whether it’s rebooking a flight you missed, helping you locate the nearest pharmacy or providing assistance in replacing a lost passport, many insurers will be only too happy to help. Its benefits go well beyond your retail or credit card travel policy. Dev Karvat, Managing Director, TrawellTag Cover-More India talks about the various covers offered by his company in the corporate insurance segment.

The travel insurance provides a better use of his travels, preventing a dream can turn into a nightmare. When hiring this service, carefully read the contract and know your rights.

TrawellTag Cover-More is a specialist in providing comprehensive global assistance services which include non-risk as well as risk benefits. “We offer our corporate customer segment with exclusive assistance services that go beyond traditional travel insurance and provide them relevant travel assistance well before a need arises to raise a claim.

Those companies that have frequent overseas businesses to take care of must ensure that their corporate travel insurance is adequate. Although one may think of the aforesaid as unlikely scenarios, airlines have been known to delay flights due to hijack threats, weather or any other threats and these can obviously lead to their employees’ additional hotel, living, or alternative travelling expenses.

Examples of non-risk services include medical assistance for the business traveller or his family who are at home, concierge services, luggage tracking, meeting room hiring for mobile offices, etc. These assistance services, together with customised risk benefits, i.e. insurance benefits, such as laptop cover, credit card fraud protection, trip cancellation benefits, will better meet the needs of corporate travellers.”

Companies can take corporate insurance for travel for 24-hour emergency assistance, blanket insurance for groups, war zone coverage, cover for events resulting from any terrorist attacks, accidents, accidental deaths or permanent disablement, medical expenses, hospital con-

Marketing strategies to compete with other corporate insurance suppliers While TrawellTag provides medical assistance and travel insurance in the country, it caters to corporate and retail clients in the travel business. Its vast distribution network of 450 employees and

57 branches pan-India are its strengths, so also its global footprint with more than 5000 representatives across seven countries and business with globally leading travel management companies and foreign exchange dealers globally & in India. “The onset of the digital era has inevitably made us take on to the digital medium in full swing. We intend to make the best use of this medium in the near future with deploying e-commerce and m-commerce facilities to reach out internationally with one click,” Dev says. Cost saving flexibility offered on the premium for a large corporate company When it comes to providing travel assistance services to corporates, we typically engage with our various distribution partners to build customised products for different clients as we believe one product does not fit all.Together, we ensure that the corporate get the best suited protection plan at highly competitive rates and provide compelling value for our customers, with a level of product optimisation not previously available in the travel insurance sector in India. Average group sizes and individual covers For a MICE group that travels together in large numbers for a short period of time, the average group sizewill range between 150 - 200 people. The individual covers are issued to an average of200 - 300employees at different levels in the organisation based on their travel needs. Claim processing system for corporate insurance Dev says that TrawellTag’s emergency assistance and claims department work in a streamlined process for both corporate and retail segments. In addition, for the corporate segment, there exists a travel desk which caters to claims requests with utmost care and swiftness. It provides extensive training to these executives on the claims process, the

documentation required etc., ensuring the system and processes are efficiently handled. Further, its integrated claims department works 24x7 tosupport the travel agents, distribution partners or customers directly. What does a typical corporate insurance not cover? TrawellTag’s corporate packages are designed to provide holistic coverage for the modern business traveller. However, as is the case with any insurance coverage, thecorporate coverage also has some exclusions, such fraudulent acts, dishonesty, false advertising or criminal acts. Covers for trip delay/trip cancellation/ loss of passport/delay in checked-in luggage Given the dynamic nature of work handled by most business travellers, frequent changes in travel plans are imminent. Further, the essentials carried by the covered persons are critical for their work. Hence, both TMCs and corporates find our trip cancellation/curtailments, trip delay, loss of passport and missed connections cover indispensable, indeed making these some of the most popular coverage. Redressal speed “We are extremely focused on our assistance servicesensuring minimum turnaround time and this is the very feature which makes our clients choose us.Our integrated claims assistance services enable us to promptly address the immediate needs of the customer, and re-imbursement of claims including consequential losses, such as purchasing essentials, alternate accommodation, or flight reschedules including pre-booked packages,” Dev concluded. Ensuring sufficient corporate insurances will, therefore, go a long way in making business trips less of a nightmare for companies.

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business travel: trending alongside price rise, lccs and other variables

The business travel segment is evolving in the midst of price rise, hotel room inventory, low cost carriers, new meetings technology and challenges that keep the segment apace with all aspects of travel. VW BUREAU

he United Nations World Travel Organization (UNWTO) has forecast the growth of the Indian market to reach 50 million outbound tourists by 2020 over the current 1.8 million. In 2010, many of the foreign national tourism boards had recorded a double digit growth in Indian national tourist arrivals under this segment with nations like Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong registering positive growth. India’s growing interest in organising meetings and incentives abroad have encouraged the tourism boards of various countries to devise interesting meeting concepts and offerings for the discerning Indian business traveller. The Melbourne Convention Bureau, for instance, and the Thailand Conventions and Exhibitions Bureau are going all out to woo Indian MICE organizers. Thailand is one of the top favoured destinations for Indian MICE movements. The constantly on-the-move business traveller hops on and off flights and checks in and out of hotels in a frequently evolving industry, struggling to keep pace with technology and other trends that strive to make business and travel easier for him. The sliding rupee, rising fuel costs, soaring ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) prices, user development fee at airports, excess baggage, hotel loyalty programmes, flying miles and other ancillary costs. Travel prices for 2014 showed that India is expected to hit a growth rate of 6.0% while China will be the leader in terms

Voyager’s World > June 2015

of growth at 8.0% projections. Citing projections during the ACTE India Executive Forum in Bangalore recently, Suresh Makhija, Director, Program Management and Sales, India, Carlson Wagonlit Travel said that as far as the APAC region was concerned, business growth would be driven by China and India and more code sharing and LCCs dominating aviation. “Some more Asian carriers are likely to join traditional alliances and long haul low cost carriers will also be emerging trends.” As for the hospitality industry, he said “Asia Pacific cities have the highest occupancy rates in the world for the upcoming year. The law of supply and demand will create interesting dynamics in India and China. In India, the excess construction of global chains has created too much supply, exceeding the demand, thereby creating opportunities for buyers for negotiations.” China will continue to experience a surplus of new supply from global chains and emerging brands for Chinese travellers but demand is expected to keep pace. Meetings and Events Projections The strongest overall growth will take place in Asia Pacific, with both group sizes and daily attendees sizes anticipated to increase. The demand will remain strong though supply vs. demand will vary according to the country. Ground transportation projections Last year, Carlson Wagonlit Travel studies found that car rental prices will increase modestly though options are limited by

local restrictions in some locations that prevent foreign visitors from driving without a local driver’s license. In those countries, such as China, car rental is typically chauffeured by local drivers. China’s continually developing high speed rail infrastructure will garner strong interest from travel buyers in 2014, who are increasingly interested in using this option instead of air travel where applicable. Challenges According to a survey by Abacus last year, it identified some key trends that are anticipated to have an effect on business travel in the next few years. 97% of respondents have received instructions to further tighten business travel policies. There is no relaxation of the rules in sight, despite the more favourable economic outlook acknowledged by all. 73% reported business clients implementing policies to decrease the number of business trips. Six in ten clients are extending economy class thresholds to reduce business class travel. 47% of travellers are also now encouraged to opt for lower-star accommodation. 43% of respondents felt that their role had recently shifted more in favour of business procurement. 73% of business clients have increased their preference to use low cost carriers. Other parameters in the policy include the flight time, booking channel, trip changes, etc.

73% of business travel companies have implemented a business booking tool (CBT). 64% of respondents agreed that a good number of travellers wants to deal with travel management companies and agencies, with 55% perceiving business travel itineraries to be too complex a task to undertake themselves. Over 83% of travel management companies and agencies felt that smartphones would have a moderate to significant impact on business. Only 33% had implemented any mobile web or native applications for smartphones, leading with a simple mobile itinerary tool. Though the adoption rates of smartphones and tablets are high in Asia Pacific region, only four in ten enable flight and hotel bookings on mobile. 33% of business travel companies have created a mobile web or native mobile app for smartphones for business bookings. Keeping aside the trends and expectations, let us take a look at the challenges that business travel is burdened with. Rising costs of travel and accommodation seem to be the biggest concern presently. In the last few years, airfares have gone sky-high, so also the room rates, thereby adversely affecting travel budgets. Going beyond complaining, the need to travel is still there. Employees demand access to first class travel and hotel arrangements; hence companies have to design their travel budgets in a way as to keep costs at a certain level. While people talk about technology pervading all levels of travel on the one

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hand, a lot of people still find it difficult to book a LCC flight. There are several issues pertaining to booking the seat, hand luggage, meals onboard, window seats and making reservations in the first 10 rows, for instance. With varying demands on part of the employees and rising airfare and different airline policies, it is quite a challenge for companies to draw up a cost-effective, value for money travel and accommodation plan. Hence, it is not surprising that businesss these days are resorting to a single-window booking system to take care of all the booking aspects. Some of them also engage a separate travel concierge desk in their organizations. This kind of a set up not only eases the process, but also brings about a lot of deals and discounts in hotels and flights for the employees. Besides this, companies can also formulate a meticulous travel policy in order to keep a lid on costs. These policies can be about fixing a ceiling on the accommodation category like star hotels, guest houses or serviced apartments and also go on to limiting budget on first class travel and opting for economy class. Through this, companies will be able to effect a substantial cut in their travel spending. As for those who face disagreement on such conditions, the best alternative would be to re-look at their supplier-vendor contracts. Business travel planners can reach a deal with long-standing suppliers and bring about contracts that reward loyalty while ensuring a win-win situation for both the parties. They can negotiate with the airlines and the hotels for a certain number of seats

and rooms during a certain period and reach an amicable policy while drafting their request for proposals. Other problems encompass increase in the number of new airlines entering the skies, growing passenger numbers, route expansion, need for trained manpower and infrastructure, all required to grow at the same pace. As for price sensitivity, airlines have become cost conscience more than just Passenger Revenue by changing the business models constantly. For instance, carriers generate revenue on sale and lease back (wet lease). Indigo 89 % planes are on lease. Jet Airways is 90%, SpiceJet is 69% and GoAir is 93%. It is expected that the near future capacity will increase in the domestic market. As of today, the entire industry in India is 62 million passengers annually; but the market will add 40 million passengers over the next four years. LCCs have paved for a new trend with the industry going for adding capacity in short haul segments that are usually more profitable. On an average, a Mumbai-Delhi flight is sold at INR 8 /Air Mile and in comparison Mumbai-Ahmedabad is sold at INR 12/Air Mile. Airlines in India are following models like Air Asia and Southwest Airlines by charging extra for specific seats like by the window or the aisle seat, reducing baggage allowance and increasing cancellation of ticket and no show charges. Indigo is expected to add nearly 10 aircrafts a year over the next decade or so mostly to op-

erate domestic segments.

rangements.

In so far as fares are concerned, Zero Frill Carriers are found to offer a reasonable alternative to the premier carriers. A successful LCC in India is very clear about what it promises to deliver. If the airline charges a fare without any frills, whilst promising a certain standard of service, with â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Arriving on Timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; being their USP, then it stands to win hands down in terms of running full or almost full. Meals, water and other such add-ons have to be borne by the passenger.

Irrespective of the nature of the travel, work or the company policy, employees anticipate and desire a four or a five star hotel accommodation. Budget accommodation options remain at a secondary level.

This kind of a policy is better than running a LCC and supplying a newspaper, a sandwich and a water bottle. Tiny supplementary costs can go a long way in adding to its overall cost. Business travel managers have implemented compound strategies in order to make sure the lowest reasonable fare is offered to the employee at the time of booking. Here is where policies such as a 7-Advance Purchase, business fare vs. retail fare, day trips and round trip fares are executed. With so many promotions happening every few months, these strategies ensure that the business does not lose out to the retail purchaser when it comes to negotiating bulk deals. Another hindrance faced by businesss while dealing with travel plans for their executives would be demanding and insistent travelers. With increasing international travel and exposure to world class travel and accommodation standards, today travellers seek the best ar-

A business booking tool or an OTA usually facilitates the work. However, an inefficient and unproductive booking tool will not serve the process. One requires the complete booking options to find out the best and most ideal travel and hotel choices, that would not only fit in their budget but also be of a certain standard. India still has a very adoption rate for business travel technology in comparison to western markets. An exhaustive travel solution is the need of the hour to ensure the most effective delivery of travel services, be it a simple individual package or complex group itineraries, domestic or international. With online booking tools offering user friendly booking ideas, people still tend to check with their travel concierge or a travel agent over the phone, simply with a need to understand technology by personal communication. While it was mentioned earlier that a single window booking system could alleviate booking hassles, what organizations look for are a comprehensive technology solution that covers all aspects of bookings. A solution that would be a one-stop site listing all the types of travel and hotel choices quickly, including ground transportation, is likely to be adopted by a business.

www.voyagersworld.in

36>>

FESTIVALS OF 1 - 29 July, 2015

he Gion Matsuri, familiarly known as ‘Gion-san,’ is a festival held at Yasakajinja Shrine, and the highlight is the splendid pageant of some 30 floats called yamaboko proceeding along the main streets of Kyoto on the 17th. Each float, two-storied and about 6 meters tall, is topped with a long pole shaped like a spear. Adorned with exquisite craftwork such as woven fabric, dyed textiles and sculptures, these floats are so gorgeous that they are sometimes even described as ‘mobile art museums’. During the parade, children wearing make-up and musicians playing the flute, drums and bells are seated on the second level of the floats. Some floats have dolls propped up on the second level.

Gion Matsuri,, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City, Japan

17 - 26 July, 2015

outh Korea welcomes visitors from around the world for the 18th Boryeong Mud Festival this year. The festival will begin on 17 July for 10 days at the Daecheon Beach Mud Plaza. Every July the festival attracts youth from different countries. The Boryeong mud which is rich in mineral component is collected from the Yellow Sea. The mud has elements which prevent skin aging. The mud bath train games and vibrant music nights offer visitors to have fun times. Other attractions at the fest include the experience of the Songkran Festival and La Tomatina. The admission to experience zone can be bought with tickets ranging from INR 450 - 600 approximately.

Boryeong Mud Festival, South Korea

29 August - 6 September 2015

1 June – 31 August, 2015

he Siam Tulip or Dok Krachiao flower comes in to full bloom in the early part of the rainy season from June to August. During these months, the fields of Pa Hin Ngam National Park in Thep Sathit district and Sai Thong National Park in Nong Bua Ra Haew district will be blanketed with the exceptional beauty of these pinkish-purple flowers. Every year, the Chaiyaphum province, along with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), organises fun-filled activities as special sightseeing tours to see the fields of the Krachiao flowers and the rock garden, music concerts, trekking tours in the two National Parks.

Dok Krachiao (Siam Tulip) Blooming Festival 2015, Chaiyaphum, Thailand Voyager’s World > June 2015

he Muju Firefly Festival attracted over 72 million tourists from around the world in 2014. The festival is now the second most popular festival in the nation. The festival takes place at the habitat for fireflies and marsh snails the fireflies feed on, which will also become an open ecology lab to further discover the wonders of nature. As these delicate insects are said to only thrive in clean, healthy environments, the people of Muju have worked hard to maintain a healthy community. The city was recently named a National Treasure in order to help protect the firefly population. Visitors can enjoy dance troupes, martial arts and taekwondo performances, weaving tutorials, river rafting, music, etc.

Muju Firefly Festival, Muju-gun area , Korea

37>>

THE WORLD 20-23 August, 2015

veryone has the opportunity to race a LIVE duck either on land or water. The theme for the 2015, 36th Annual Great American Duck Race is “Jungle Duck”. Vendors with food, arts, crafts and more are in attendance. People from around the United States attend this event. The event starts with the Royal Pageant on Thursday, August 21 where the King or Queen is crowned who reigns over the entire four-day festival. The World Famous Tortilla Toss is held on Saturday and well as the infamous Outhouse Race. There is something for everyone.

Great American Duck Race, New Mexico

07 - 09 August, 2015

he 18th edition of the Rainforest World Music Festival is set to be held on 07-09 August 2015 in Kuching, capital city of Sarawak. It is a unique festival that brings together renowned world musicians from all continents and indigenous artists from the interiors of the mythical island of Borneo. The annual Rainforest World Music Festival is set perfectly between a great beach and a rain-forest mountain peak in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. In the grounds of the Sarawak’s Cultural Village, 35 km from Kuching, the two stages are created among trees at the foot of the legendary Mount Santubong, and throughout the village screens are up so everyone has great views no matter where they are.

Rainforest Music Festival, Kuching, Malaysia

24 - 25 July, 2015 30 August to 7 September, 2015

nce a year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. In this crucible of creativity, all are welcome. This year’s theme is about mirrors and masks, mazes and merger. It will be a kind of magic show that takes the form of an old-fashioned carnival. This Carnival of Mirrors asks three essential questions: within our media-saturated world, where products and people, consumption and communion morph into an endlessly diverting spectacle, who is the trickster, who is being tricked and how might we discover who we really are.

he Tenjin Matsuri, which is one of the three greatest festivals of Japan, is also the world’s greatest boat festival. It is a summer festival held at the Tenman Shrine dedicated to Sugawara-no-Michizane (845-903), who is deified as Tenman Tenjin, the patron god of learning and art. On the days of the festival, traditional Japanese performing arts such as kagura music, which is performed when paying homage to gods, and bunraku theatrical performances using puppets are performed in all parts of the city, and the entire city becomes filled with a festive mood.

Tenjin Matsuri, Osaka Tenman Shrine, Osaka, Japan

Burning Man, Nevada, USA www.voyagersworld.in

Luxury Travel

38>>

selfie-sticks and self-drives figure high in luxury travel must-dos

The current luxury travel market size is $15 bn and is estimated to touch$18 bn by 2017. India is expected to make quantum leaps in this segment; here is a look at what travellers can look at for a luxury holidays VW BUREAU

“

Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before,” said the Dalai Lama. The dictionary defines luxury as a state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense. However, the term and all the things associated with it are undergoing constant change. Today’s affluent consumers place a higher priority on family, altruism and enriching experiences, ahead of luxury products and short-term satisfaction. According to a report by the Collinson Group, which identified four different types of tribes based on their common traits, attitudes and demographics, one of the categories ‘Stylish Spenders’ travel in luxury, viewing services such as airport lounge access, concierge services, airport valet and pick-up by limousine as “essential”. Travel to the most luxurious locations with the opportunity for them to “show” their status is also important. Hence the report sees hotels and airlines such as The Mandarin Oriental and Delta Air Lines “Delta 360” invitation only club offering very exclusive rewards which are not widely publicised to attract this group. Stylish Spenders particularly value information which is personalised to them as well as the opportunity to tell others about access to exclusive destinations, hotels and restaurants via social media channels. Stylish Spenders seek the finer things in life. This tribe is most common in China and the United Arab Emirates and is four times more likely to buy leading brands than other affluent middle class consum-

Voyager’s World > June 2015

ers (76% compared to 22%) and drive a luxury car (70% compared to 25%.) This is the group which invests the most in travelling in style across all aspects of the travel journey. Stylish Spenders are a small but very influential tribe with over half under 34 years of age (55%) and 32% earning over $190,000 per annum. As per a report by AT Kearney, the current luxury travel market size is $15 bn and is estimated to touch$18 bn by 2017. India is expected to make quantum leaps in this segment, but here is a look at what travellers can look at for a luxury holidays now. Predicting the trends that will take off in 2015, a new study by the World Travel Market and Euromonitor International report revealed that more travellers than ever before will eat local, stay in posh hostels - dubbed poshtels - and use new technology like smartwatches to plan their trips. The popularity of cycling holidays is also set to endanger golf tourism, while Africa has been named the world’s new top surfing spot. According to the study, ‘stylish and costconscious’ British travellers are embracing ‘poshtels’ – affordably-priced hostels that have been giving a luxury facelift and are giving boutique hotels a run for their money. Mixing modern and luxurious design with high-tech facilities, poshtels go above and beyond basic hostels, offering restaurants, twin en-suite rooms, free WiFi and breakfast.

The ‘cheap but chic’ concept is a hit with families and young, business and single travellers. It is especially popular among Generation Y, those born between 1981 and 1990 and who embrace mobile technology and favour designer brands. World Travel Market Senior Director Simon Press said: ‘Poshtels are more than a buzzword. They represent a viable accommodation option for a number of traveller segments and are helping to raise standards across the entire UK hospitality sector.’ Another trend is the rise of wearable devices, such as Google Glass and smartwatches, that is making it easier to plan and manage holidays. A handful of hotels, airlines and travel companies have already released smartwatch apps that act as room keys or allow users to book flights, download boarding passes or find the best holiday deals. The report said: ‘Wearable electronics will become an important tool for travellers, who will be increasingly connected to the internet through different types of mobile devices.’ Wearable devices are expected to go mainstream and experience sharp growth within two years with sales forecast to skyrocket from nine million devices in 2013 to 180 million in 2016. Travel professionals are expecting the Apple Watch to take the sector by storm once it goes on sale in 2015. The report said 35 per cent of online travel bookings will be done with mobile devices by 2018.

One of the emerging trends that will delight foodies is the influence that the peer-to-peer concept is having on local cuisine. Visitors are invited into the cooks’ homes for meals or cooking lessons as the websites cater to holidaymakers who are looking for value and more authentic experiences in their quest to sample local cuisine and meet new people. After the meal visitors can review their hosts in terms of food quality, venue and cleanliness. The concept has seen rapid growth even though it hasn’t gone mainstream just yet. One of the websites, Bookalokal, was founded in Brussels in 2012 and has rapidly expanded to 20 other countries, while another start-up, EatWith, has expanded from Spain and Israel to 21 cities worldwide in less than a year. Simon said: ‘When travelling and on holiday we all like to think that our experience is authentic to the destination. How much more real can you get than by eating local food cooked by a local in their own home, or being taken to a restaurant which isn’t featured in the guide books?’ The report also said more hotel chains are offering reward schemes to encourage ‘braggies’, where guests take photos in the hotel and upload the images to social media to promote a hotel’s brand. Other trends include design tourism in the Middle East, the WeChat messaging app in China, and online and mobile bookings for India’s rail network.

39>> In a new report from Zicasso, nearly 90% of specialist travel agents who partner with the referral service said the number of luxury travelers they serve has grown over the past two years. Today’s luxury clients “are looking for more unique experiences and exclusive access” and “want to learn the local secrets of the destinations they explore,” Zicasso reported. For those reasons, luxury travelers are increasingly turning to travel agents who specialize. According to the report, 42% of Zicasso’s specialists “noticed a marked increase in requests for expert advice” over the past five years. “People don’t want cookie cutter experiences anymore,” agreed Ruth Turpin, owner of Cruises Etc., a Virtuoso agency in Fort Worth, Texas. “We spend time making their vacation time valuable.”

Luxury Travel Last year, Tourism Australia developed a food and wine strategy built around the concept of ‘Restaurant Australia’, a campaign in India last year to close the gap between perceptions of what Australia has to offer and the reality of their exciting world-class food and wine offering. Some of the top food and wine experiences in Australia showcased through the campaign include enjoying a water taxi ride through the Sydney harbour, predinner drinks before disembarking at Circular Quay for dinner at Quay restaurant (NSW); sailing the Whitsundays, before landing on Hamilton Island for a private seafood lunch at Whitehaven Beach (Queensland); dining under the stars at Longitude 131 to the accompaniment of a traditional Aboriginal dance, overlooking Uluru (Northern Territory); exploring

Melbourne’s laneways before enjoying cocktails and dinner at Cookie, ending upstairs for drinks at the city’s popular rooftop cinema bar (Victoria); taking a balloon ride over the Barossa Valley, followed by a personal wine amongst the vineyards at Hentley Farm Winery (South Australia) and oyster shucking in the waters off Great Oyster Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula (Tasmania). Some other luxury trends that are quickly catching up would be underwater adventures and self-drives and motorcycle expeditions. This year, there will be a motorcycle expedition going from India through Myanmar (Burma) into Thailand and Laos on Royal Enfield Bullets, organised by Jammin Global Adventures and Vintage Rides.

The Transcontinental: South to Southeast Asia’ 36-day, 5,000 km (3,107 miles) motorcycle expedition will begin in New Delhi on 27 November 27 and after going through Northeast India, the expedition will cross into Myanmar and then head across northern Thailand and a loop around Laos before ending in Vientiane on December 31. Thus, with discerning travellers catching up with new trends, the need to enrich one’s holiday is as important as checking an item off the bucket list and with the selfie-stick in hand, travel in the finest sense at creative angles couldn’t get better.

According to the Zicasso report, most luxury travel clients are between the ages of 51 and 64, although many are in two other age groups: 31 to 50 and 65-plus. Travel agents confirmed that younger clients are starting to go for higher-end travel. The two most common luxury trips are honeymoons/romantic getaways and family/multigenerational vacations, Zicasso found. Luxury travelers also continue to ask for unique, off-the-beaten-path experiences, such as African safaris, a trend cited by 76% of Zicasso partners. Closer home, the Ultimate Travelling Camp (TUTC) has returned this year with the widely popular Chamba Camp at Thiksey, Ladakh. The mobile luxury camp will be operational from June 15 to September 30, 2015, which is considered to be the most favourable time to enjoy Ladakh. The itinerary in TUTC includes a traditional Ladakhi welcome upon arrival, a tour to the city of Leh with a Hi Tea in a traditional Ladakhi Home, a visit to the fabled monasteries of Thiksey and Hemis, a walk in the Thiksey Village or a cycling tour in the vicinity of Thiksey Monastery, a culinary class with an in house chef using Garden fresh ingredients and Blessed prayer flags by the Rimpoche (Chief Abbot of the Thiksey Monastery). It offers a brief tour around its camp site including a walk through their Organic Garden, In house activities like archery, croquet, and star gazing while at the camp site, a special outdoor dinner during the stay as well as Choice of one BBQ dinner. Similarly, Footprint Holidays, a premium luxury travel company based in Chennai, offers personalised luxury holidays to both known and unknown destinations in over 100 countries, providing clients with the finest in flights, pre-travel services, accommodation, activities and experiences. experiences. Accommodation plush hotels or villas, chauffeured cars, highly knowledgeable local guides along with your very own personalised holiday brochure which details the itinerary, flight timings, hotels names, local eating and shopping tips, chauffeur name and even the car number - to give an optimum experience are just a few of their services.

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40>>

csr in tourism key to overall well-being of local population

There is a seemingly sharp rise in the number of corporates, governing bodies and associations coming forward to contribute to tourism through local community living. VW BUREAU

t a press conference held in Bangalore in view of the forthcoming PATA Travel Mart 2015, R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Higher Education & Tourism, Govt. of Karnataka, mentioned that the department has been holding talks with corporate about adopting 42 tourist destinations in Karnataka as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Let us look at how corporate companies, governing bodies and associations are rising to the occasion to do their bit towards tourism especially because the industry is quite a significant option for economic growth in many countries. Is tourism being developed sensibly and with sensitivity to the local communities and the immediate environment? While most industries have certain criteria, budgets and certification schemes year-on-year, CSR activities may differ as far as tourism is concerned as implementing a CSR activity in a region would require holistic development. They have to ensure that activities help improve the livelihood and well-being of the local population, preserve the environment and bring in economic benefit. The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) undertook a ‘Wake the Lake’ campaign in Bangalore last year along with college students to clean up a lake and create awareness about best practices in the industry. Hilton Worldwide recently announced that it would reduce the environmental impact of meetings and events held at its properties in Asia Pacific through an expanded carbon emissions solution, the Clean Air Programme. Beginning from 1 May, the group encourages meeting planners and delegates to do their bit in reducing carbon emissions and deliv-

Voyager’s World > June 2015

ering more sustainable experiences to their customers. The Clean Air Programme will provide a calculation of the carbon emissions of the event at no cost to the customer. Hilton will purchase the equivalent carbon credits to finance environmentallyfriendly projects across Asia Pacific in partnership with carbon offset solutions provider Climate Friendly. By offsetting carbon emissions from meetings and events, they can provide essential financing to renewable energy, forest protection and restoration projects which is critical in mitigating climate change. As emphasized by Hilton’s CSR strategy, Travel with Purpose, the Clean Air Programme was designed as a valued opportunity for both Hilton and its customers to share a commitment to host more eco-friendly meetings. The Clean Air Programme is an evolution of the Carbon Offset Programme which was previously offered in more than 30 properties in Australasia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The group will use LightStay, its proprietary system developed to calculate and analyze environmental performance, to track and measure carbon emissions from every meeting, by considering the function room’s water, electricity usage and food consumed at the event. It has, thus, identified nine projects across Asia Pacific to be funded under the Clean Air Programme. These projects prevent greenhouse gases by producing renewable energy or preserving forests. Some of them include the Tamil Nadu 45-Turbine Wind Project to generate clean electricity that is fed into the Southern Electricity Grid of India; Yuxian Baiyantuo Wind Project in Beijing; Japanese Energy Efficiency Upgrade Project;

Hyundai Steel Waste Energy Cogeneration Project in South Korea; Tasmanian Native Forest Protection Project in Australia; Siam Cement Biomass Project in Thailand, to name a few. The Serai Bandipur works closely with the tribals in that region and presents folk dances for the guests. So, it may be looked at as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative combined with tourism. CSR in developing tourism is about observing the needs of a destination area. In an interview with Mario Hardy, CEO of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), he mentioned to me saying that PATA is very much aware of the importance of giving back to the society. He mentioned of a resort-developer who insisted on building a resort in an area only if the company agreed to build a school for the children of the locals living there. The Banyan Tree Resorts has also been engaging a number of rural communities in Asia to make cushions and tapestries for the guestrooms of its properties. These initiatives complement ongoing efforts by Banyan Tree Gallery to showcase cottage crafts and the work of indigenous artisans at its lifestyle galleries, as well as the Museum Shops, a collection of outlets in Singapore museums from which visitors can purchase a piece of ancient Asian art recreated as contemporary ornaments, accessories and stationery. This arrangement has the twofold benefit of keeping traditional arts and crafts alive while providing Asian communities with a means of earning a living. Public Sector enterprises are required to have a CSR and Sustainability policy approved by their respective Boards of Directors. Likewise, the India Tourism

Development Corporation (ITDC) adopted CSR and Sustainable Development as a policy initiative with the objectives of conducting business in transparent and ethical manner, the philosophy and spirit of CSR and Sustainability be embedded in the core values of ITDC and to be concerned for social and environmental issues with respect to its business activities. The thrust of sustainability projects undertaken by ITDC were those that were inclusive of socio-economic growth, extended environment protection and promoted green and energy efficient technologies. It undertook a project of SITC of 5KLD Sewage Treatment Plant at Hotel Bharatpur Ashok throughwhich discharged waste water of the hotel shall be treated through STP Plant and shall be reutilized for the purpose of horticultures in the premises of hotel. The other one included SITC of 3000LPD Solar water Heating System at Hotel Jaipur Ashok wherein the hot water shall be produced through solar based heating system instead of operating the boilers/ electric Geysers. Therefore the electrical energy & fuel shall be saved along with the pollution free environment. The third project was SITC of 10KW Photovoltaic Power System at Hotel Ashok in which the solar-based electrical power shall be produced up to 10KW by use of photovoltaic power system and saved the electrical energy & cost. CSR in tourism has to consider a number of activities that help balancing the development of the destination, yet, it is important for the government as well as private sectors to emphatically integrate destination management policies in their policies so as to enable places evolve as a tourist destination in the fullest sense.

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Happenings

42>>

OTOAI's new Executive Committee assumes office

India is second fastest growing market for SouthWest Germany

he newly elected Executive Committee of the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) assumed office and had their first meeting for the new term on 13 May to elect the working group members. The meeting announced chapter Chairpersons, special invitees, committee heads and other posts. Guldeep Singh Sahni of Weldon Travels New Delhi is the President. Riaz Munshi, N Chirag Travels, New Delhi is the Vice-President while Shravan Bhalla of Hi Flyers New Delhi is the General Secretary. The Joint Secretary post is held by Rohit Shorey of Destination Travels, New Delhi and that of the Treasurer is held by Kapil Berera, Astral Travels, New Delhi.Other committee members include Gurdeep Gujral, Gujral Travels, New Delhi; Ankush Nijhawan, TBO, NCR of Delhi; Amod Thatte, KUONI, Mumbai; Himanshu Patil, Kesari Tours, Mumbai; Sujit Nair, Aquasun, Mumbai and Chitra Bhatia, Aashman Travels, New Delhi.

VFS Global recognised for LIDPro* solution

t a press conference held by South Western Germany in Mumbai on 26 May, the Consul General of the German Consulate General in Mumbai Michael Siebert announced that Indian visitors to South West Germany (Baden Wurttemberg) have raised the bar to an average of 7.1 days per visit as compared to the average of 2.4 days from other nations. The total number of overnights from India reached 39,488 representing a 34.6 % increase for January- March 2015 as against Jan-Mar 2014. A range of new services and titles are awaiting tourists such as Cuckoo, an online training programme that has been successful in India with 475 trainees having completed it; Karlsruhe set to mark its 300th anniversary; 6-day Chocolate festival; several outstanding gardens combined to create 'The Lake Constance Gardens: a Journey through Time, etc.

Bangalore to host India Association Congress 2015

FS Global won the International Business Excellence Award 2015 (IBX Awards) in the Towards 2020 category at an awards ceremony held in Dubai in May. It won the Opportunity Award for its innovative solution LIDPro* (Location Independent Document Processing) that was developed in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fin-

land. This solution enables remote visa processing that efficiently manages volumes, reduces costs and increases productivity with more accurate decision making.

This year, IAC plans to increase its hosted buyer numbers and invite corporate meeting planners for a one-day workshop on meeting design. Additionally, a certification course from ASAE is being planned. The IAC 2015 design is inspired by Channapatna’s wooden toys and dolls, the region’s traditional craft which is being protected as a geographical indication (GI) under the World Trade Organization.

Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global Group, said: “We are honoured with this recognition at this prestigious event and attribute our success to being a trusted partner of choice to governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. Our partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland, is a reflection of trust and confidence in delivering efficiencies and continuous improvement. We are committed to enhancing our technological innovations to delight our customer.”

Voyager’s World > April 2015

he 5th edition of the India Association Congress (IAC) is scheduled on 21 and 22 August 2015 in Bangalore and the registrations for the same will start soon.

Some of the topics that will be discussed at the event will hover around legal issues for international associations, association technology, retaining members, etc.

43>>

Cultural fetes mark Telangana's first anniversary

elangana celebrated its first anniversary celebration a memorable one with week-long festivities from 1 - 7 June with dance, drama, music and other performing arts including folk arts, ghazals, qawwalis to experience rich culture of Telangana. There were performances by local artists, national flag hoisting on all government buildings, parade with the police, NCC, Scout and Guide teams, special programmes with local poets and artists, literary events, film shows, photograph exhibitions and various workshops entrenched in Telangana culture, tradition and heritage. The second day of Telangana celebration started with Namasthe Kairali showcasing the beautiful cultural programmes of Kerala, organized at the Ravindra Bharathi at 10.00am and was attended by Chief Guest - Mamidi Hari Krishna, Director of Language and Culture, Telangana. Oggu Katha, which is a traditional way of rendering a story, was the highlight of the second day, rendered by renowned artist Raja Rajeshwari Oggu Kala Brindham from in Karimnagar. Showcasing the cuisine of Telangana, the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM) had organized a variety of cultural programmes and special Telangana delicacies. Famous delicacies like Hyderabadi dum biryani, Boti curry, Bagara rice, Bachali kura pappu, Pachi pulusu Telangana recipe, Puntikura chutney, Ariselu, etc were specially prepared. The department also organised a Golconda Festival at Nagina Bagh, Golconda from 3 - 7 June. Other important events included ghazals and qawwali by eminent singers and performers, singing performance by Mala Bararia, 'Shepherd's Hill' book launch by a debut author Nikhil Gulati at Golconda Fort and painting exhibitions depicting the rich culture and heritage of Telangana.

Travstarz Global Group hosts networking event in Indore

Twin awards for Dubai International Airport by Routes MEA

Latvia seeks investment opportunities in tourism

The awards are directly judged by a panel comprising eminent members of the airline network planning community. The overall winner of every Regional Award gets nominated for the World Routes Awards which will be held in Durban this September.

Special tours are also organised throughout the region as part of the ‘Baltic Connecting’, so as to better acquaint foreign tourism professionals with tourism opportunities in Latvia”.

ravstarz Global Group hosted a networking evening with cocktails and dinner for the travel trade in Indore on 21 May, along with the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority and YAS Viceroy Hotel, Abu Dhabi for which Travstarz is the only wholesaler in India. The event saw over 30 travel agents from Indore who were impressed with destination knowledge provided by Bejan Dinshaw, Country Manager, TCA Abu Dhabi and the presentation on YAS Viceroy hotel by Vani Singh, Head – North India, Heavens Portfolio. Pankaj Nagpal, MD, Travstarz Global Group, made a brief presentation on the company’s latest products, line of business and future plans including the launch of their online B2B portal www.travelrezonline.com.

he Dubai International Airport swept the show at 2015 Routes Marketing awards of Middle East and Africa Region held in Manama, Bahrain, bagging the titles of ‘Overall Winner’ and ‘Winner of the over 20 million passengers’. Tthe ceremony witnessed a gathering of around 350 aviation professionals from across the world who wished to conduct business to, from or within the region.

he Latvian Asian Chamber of Commerce (LACC) organised a seminar last week in New Delhi to promote Latvia as an attractive investment destination – for investments that create long-term, sustainable and value added jobs and significant export share. The seminar talked on business investment and tourism opportunities in Latvia and How the Latvia government was supporting with their various policies.

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Future Travel

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Amadeus report: Digital data can transform travel VW BUREAU

report commissioned by Amadeus, enlightens the travel and tourism industry on how it can harness internet data and social media to transform a traveller’s experience and making customized and personalised. The methodology and technology adopted by different companies to gather and use data will offer a competitive advantage, is a key highlight of the report. The report also focuses on how internet will open new avenues for business. Gadgets like smart phones, tablets and virtual reality devices can become a nexus between the travel providers and travellers and mutate into new sales and discovery tools. Personalised bundles of products and services, perpetual touch points between the travel provider and traveller and frictionless purchasing will all sum up to provide an enriching experience. Devices like smart watch, augmented reality glasses and service robots will soon be seen as information channels, creating an immersive environment for the customer. Commenting on the findings Robert Sinclair-Barnes, Strategic Marketing Director, Airline IT, Amadeus: “This report provides airlines and their complementary service partners with practical advice about how they can prepare for and cater to emerging traveller segments at each of the nine stages of the traveller journey. Ultimately, understanding traveller motivations and the evolution of purchasing behaviours will equip airlines and other providers to build a more rewarding and connected traveller journey for tomorrow’s travellers.”

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Emphasising on the need to devise strategies to meet the needs of future travellers, Lawrence Lundy, Principal ICT Con-

sultant, Frost & Sullivan added: “Social Capital Seekers, as just one example, will seek inspiration for travel from their social media networks and will expect a very high degree of personalisation from providers. They’ll be open to new services at any stage of their journey, readily trading their data to receive priority treatment, and comfortable with new technologies such as service robots or augmented reality applications.” The report is built on the findings of the ‘Future Traveller Tribes 2030: Building a more rewarding journey’, a report published by Future Foundation launched between 1 – 3 June during a conference held to discuss and debate the latest industry developments, which include personalisation, customer experience management and user design. As travellers enjoy ever-increasing access to information, especially via social network sharing, their purchasing behaviours are changing rapidly, arguably faster than ever before. As a result, established segmentation techniques are no longer enough to ensure airlines and other travel providers are anticipating, responding to and meeting traveller needs. In fact, travellers’ needs – and the options available to them – are becoming ever more polarised. Whilst some travellers want extremely high levels of personalisation, others will consider personalisation a hindrance to their experience. Some travellers may want to be served with a tailored bundle of services at the booking stage of their journey, whereas others might want to take a ‘doit-yourself’ approach, booking services à la carte as and when they are inspired to throughout their journey. Some travellers will want constant contact and luxury services, while others will want to be left

alone with services allowing them to be closer to nature. In a world where information is available at everyone’s fingertips, new advice and guidance through both online and offline personalisation techniques can finally enable airlines to understand and better serve traveller needs. Ultimately, this will deliver a more rewarding global travel ecosystem for both travellers and suppliers. Big Data is a buzzword that has been around for a long time and is already well understood. With so much data being created, airlines and their complementary service providers must collect and use this data to offer a better service. In theory it sounds simple, and many airlines are already launching programmes to address their data needs. As the traveller journey, purchasing experiences and sales channels become ever more complex, data will be far and away the most important resource available to an airline: giving the competitive advantage. Those that can effectively collect and use data will win, and those that are unable to adapt their businesses to do so will fa il.In the next few years, the technology industry will move beyond collecting data to actually creating real value from the

data. A technique called ‘machine learning’ will allow airlines to have a deeper understanding of their customers and automate many manual-processes. Netflix already uses these techniques to recommend new movies to watch, and Amazon offers other products you might like. These systems will become more personalised as machine learning techniques such as deep learning and reinforcement learning become ever more accurate. We are on an exponential growth curve with the advancement of personalisation and machine learning. Greater, affordable computing power and data storage combined with the volume of user-generated data will allow airlines to start truly personalising their products. By 2030, expect to see artificial intelligence (AI) integrated into the travel agency channel, who would have been authorised to collect data by the traveller from a variety of sources including real-time location, emotional state, health status, live video-feed, social updates, and conversations. The AI will understand the traveller’s needs and desires, and provide solutions at exactly the right time. 100% conversion rates will not be uncommon.

1 Year, 12 Issues Rs. 800 (Inclusive of Rs. 200 for postage) 2 Year, 24 Issues Rs. 1,600 (Inclusive of Rs. 400 for postage) 3 Year, 36 Issues Rs. 2,400 (Inclusive of Rs. 600 for postage) Name Designation Company Name Address City Pin State Tel. Fax E mail

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Top Appointments

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Rohan Sable

Parveen Chander Kumar

General Manager, Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort, Goa

General Manager,Taj Lands Mumbai

arveen Chander Kumar has been appointed as General Manager at the Taj Lands End, Mumbai with effect from 1 May, 2015. He joins the Taj Lands End after a four year stint as Deputy General Manager at the The Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai. He brings with him over 20 years of experience with the Taj Group since 1992. As a General Manager, he will regulate the day-to-day operations of the hotel.

ohan Sable is the new General Manager of Grand Mercure Goa Shrem Resort. He has to his credit over 16 years of experience and joined Accor in 2013 at Ibis Mumbai. He had previously worked in properties like Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, Royal Orchid Hotels and the Ascott Limited. In his new role, Rohan will be responsible for the overall management and strategic direction.

Punit Sheth

Suma Menon

General Manager, Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel

Director of Sales, Eastin Hotel, Ahmedabad

unit Sheth has joined the Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel as General Manager. He has been with Starwood Hotels and Resorts since 2003 at Four Points by Sheraton Ahmedabad and Westin Pune. With 18 years of experience, he had earlier worked with Westin Waltham, Boston, Sheraton Braintree, Boston, Marriott Pleasanton, California, Marriott Copley, Taj Vivanta and Valley View.

astin Hotel Ahmedabad appointed Suma Menon as the new Director of Sales. In this role, she will develop and execute sales strategiesfor new revenue-generating opportunities. She comes with over 10 years of experience having worked with Le Meridien Hotel Ahmedabad, The Fern, Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort & Spa and most recently, Four Points Sheraton where she overlooked Sales & Marketing.

Vimal Bhat

Athena Salim

Associate Director of Sales, Bengaluru Marriott, Whitefield

imal Bhat has joined Bengaluru Marriott Whitefield as the Associate Director of Sales. Bringing in nine years of experience in hospitality, he had joined the Marriott family six years ago and was one of the pioneers that Marriott had in the Bangalore as a part of NSO team. After a stint in the NSO, he moved to the Marriott Whitefield in 2012 as the Sales Manager.

General Manager, Four Points by Sheraton, Whitefield, Bengaluru

thena Salim has been appointed as the General Manager of the Four Points Hotel, by Sheraton Bangalore. Athena has more than 13 years of experience in hospitality and has worked with Keys Hotels & Resorts, Olive Bar & Kitchen, the Claridges New Delhi and the Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. Prior to this new assignment, she was the General Manager of The Park, Bengaluru.

Taljinder Singh

Varun Ajmani

General Manager & Area Director, Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai

Resident Services Manager, Lakeside Chalet Marriott Executive Apartments

aljinder Singh is the new General manager for Taj Mahal Palace and Area Director, Mumbai. He has been with Taj Group from 1990 and was most recently with the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi. In his new role, Taljinder would overlook operations of all Taj properties in Mumbai including the Taj Mahal Palace, Taj Lands End, Vivanta by Taj- President, Taj Wellington Mews and Taj Santacruz.

arun Ajmani is the new Resident Services Manager of Lakeside Chalet Marriott Executive Apartments. With over 11 years of experience in Europe and India across groups like Radisson, Hilton and Hyde Park hotels, he joined the Marriott family in February 2015 at the Lakeside Chalet Mumbai - Marriott Executive Apartments, managing operations of the 170 apartments.

Norton Pereira

Himanshu Verma

General Manager, Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort and Spa

Chief Technology Officer, Yatra.com

atra.com appointed Himanshu Verma as its Chief Technology Officer. He brings with him 20 years of experience in technology industry and the last 10 years have seen him in key roles with Oracle, Yahoo, InterSolutions, etc. and most recently in Flipkart. In his new role, Himanshu will lead technology development for all businesses and products of Yatra.

e Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort and Spa appointed Norton Pereira as the General Manager. While he has over 16 years of experience and worked with the Taj Group and Park Hyatt Goa, he has been with the Starwood Group for seven years now. In his new role, Norton will play a key role in planning, preparing and executing the annual budget and business plans for the property.

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Voyagerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s World > March 2015