May 2015 - Voyager's World by Editor

Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Premier Travel & Tourism Exhibition TRADE BUYERS REGISTER NOW.. Bangalore - 10 - 12 July 2015 Chennai - 17 - 19 July 2015 Mumbai - 28 - 30 August 2015 Gurgaon - 03 - 05 September 2015 Vol XII

Issue VII

Pages 48

May 2015

Rs 60

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4>>

Speedy risk management is the need of the hour...

s the ministry of tourism steps up measures and expands funds to develop the various pilgrimage circuits in the country, neighbouring Nepal, for whom tourism forms a big chunk of the economy, has been reduced to rubble by the recent quakers, wrecking its most important heritage monuments. Incidentally, in this issue, we have also looked into better risk management and insurances in the MICE industry. This is the third consecutive year of calamities affecting us starting from the floods in Uttarakhand, J&K and now the Nepal quakes. All of us look for quick resilience and recovery, but how prepared is our tourism industry to fix the havoc caused by natural disasters, especially in regions where tourism is the main livelihood of the people? It is important that the new tourism policy proposal incorporates a plan that deals with all aspects of emergencies and preparedness to respond better in times of disasters. n this issue, we have looked at the hotel scene in bustling Mumbai, rural tourism abroad as well as a separate section called ‘MICE Point’ that features different international MICE venues and Dubai’s designs for becoming a business destination. Warm Regards

PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM priyamvadha@voyagersworld.in

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Rural tourism abroad and destinations in France and Jordan

Cover story Examining the hotel industry business in Mumbai

MICE Point

Buying forex online in Indian market

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Industry Buzz

6>> Philippines eases visa regime for Indians

MoT solicits suggestions on new policy draft

ndians with a valid AJACSSUK (Australian, Japanese, American, Canadian, Schengen, Singaporean or UK) visa can travel to the Philippines for 14 days. Indians can enter the destination from any entry port including major international airport, secondary international hubs and sea ports by passengers onboard cruises/vessels. Earlier this policy was only applicable to Indian nationals arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport or the Clark International Airport.

he Ministry of Tourism (MoT) is in the process of formulating a National Tourism Policy 2015 for development and promotion of tourism in the country. A draft policy, based on inputs/suggestions received from stakeholders, eminent personalities and experts in the field of tourism, state governments and Union Territory administrations, has been uploaded on the official websites of the MoT, www.incredibleindia.org and www.tourism. gov.in for inviting comments/suggestions from the general public. Highlights of the policy include re-visiting the National Tourism Policy 2002; rounds of consultations held to obtain inputs for the policy; overseas tour operators; stakeholders; state governments and UT administrations; experts and veterans in the field of tourism; focus of the policy on employment generation and community participation in tourism development.

Chennai welcomes first Crowne Plaza

nterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) signed the 286-room Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park with Adyar Gate Hotels Limited recently. The hotel, which IHG is now managing, will be rebranded as Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park. The property has a 24-hour business centre and a meeting space including a ballroom which can seat 500 people. Dining options are Dakshin, for South Indian fare; Cappuccino all day dining; Residency for global cuisine; Westminster bar, etc.

MTPA, Air Mauritius organise seminars in Hyderabad, Kolkata

Lufthansa unveils Premium Economy on Delhi-Frankfurt route

ufthansa introduced Premium Economy Class on its Delhi-Frankfurt route effective 23 April, 2015. The first flight with Premium Economy offering took off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 0235 hours on 23 April. Delhi is the second destination in India to welcome the Premium Economy offering after it was launched last year on the Frankfurt-Bangalore route. The free baggage allowance is double of what is allowed for Economy Class to Europe.

TPA-India and Air Mauritius conducted Travel Agents Seminar in Hyderabad and Kolkata in April. The product presentation was conducted by Vivek Anand -Country Manager, MTPA India and Vinit Gupte - Manager India & South Asian Sub-continent, Air Mauritius. Around 200 travel agents were present at the seminars, an ideal platform for the agents to learn more about the destination. The objective of the seminar was to update the travel trade partners about the latest developments and product offers in Mauritius.

Maharashtra's rich heritage showcased at Maha Weekend

he Maharashtra Day celebration that took place from 1 - 3 May showcased the state’s heritage with visitors from Pune, Mumbai and other parts of the state inLavasa. MAHA Weekend celebrations took place at the lakeside Promenade in Dasve town with Maharashtrian music, dance, street plays, cuisine, art, display of historic Maratha weapons, etc. There were Dhol Tasha performance, art workshops, Lejhim performances, Kaati and Daan Patta performances, folk dances, Nashik dhol performance, among others. Shopaholics and visitors were able to explore the flea market that sold traditional products of Maharashtra, while food lovers indulged in all the rich delicacies of the state.

'My Time for Hong Kong' to build emotional connect with visitors

he Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) unveiled ‘My Time for Hong Kong’, its new marketing campaign in Mumbai last month, highlighting the various authentic experiences Hong Kong has to offer. The campaign intends to build an emotional connection with the visitors allowing them to explore Hong Kong like a local; even before their visit to the city. It emphasizes on creating a strong emotional and experiential connect with the audience. There are entertaining videos by Indian and local celebrities where they share their travel experiences of Hong Kong to showcase the variety it has to offer. HKTB unveiled a new experiential package tours for visitors, from the scenic beauty of Hong Kong with an eco-tour to the cultural heritage of the city with the Six Senses Heritage Experience tour, a ride on board the Star Ferry, ride on the ‘Ding Ding’ tram, etc.

Voyager’s World > May 2015

Industry Buzz

7>>

World Bank funded project completed

SIA offers special fares for Singapore's 50th anniversary

n order to commemorate Singapore’s 50th year of diplomatic relations with India on 9 August 2015, the former’s national carrier, Singapore Airlines, along with Singapore Tourism Board, has announced special fares along with complimentary experiences for Indian travellers. Customers can avail of all-inclusive, return fares to Singapore starting from INR 22,000 per person. The fare is available on sale from 05 May – 05 June 2015 for travel between 01 June and 10 August 2015.

he ‘Buddhist Circuit’ project for which the Tourism Ministry, state tourism departments of governments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) entered into an agreement, has been completed.

SpiceJet to add flights from Kochi to Gulf

piceJet plans to add more flights from Kochi to the Gulf region as well as increase connectivity to Male through Kochi from other points in India, stated the airline’s officials at a discussion meeting held in Kochi last month. As per the discussion among the representatives of SpiceJet and officials of Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), the airline is exploring further increasing its presence in the Gulf region with additional frequencies to Dubai, as well as potential new flights connecting Kochi with some popular destinations like Muscat.

Himalayan Dash 2015 to begin on 5 July

he sixth edition of the Himalayan Dash, organised by Cougar Motorsport Pvt. Ltd, will take place from 05 - 14 July, 2015 through the valleys of Leh - Ladakh. Aimed at corporate executives and businessmen owning SUVs and premium cars, this luxury, convoy, self-drive expedition takes place through one of the highest motorable roads in the world, starting from Shimla on 5 July, on a 2000 km trip through valleys and winding roadways traversing Manali, Jispa, Sarchu, Pangong Tso Lake, Leh, Hundar and Mulbeg before culminating in Srinagar on 14 July.

UAS International Trip Support opens India office

The agreement was signed in October 2013 to cooperate in upgrading the quality of services and goods provided for tourists along the ‘Buddhist Circuit’ in India. The contributions for the project (Phase-I) had the total cost at Rs. 450.00 lakh out of which IFC contributed 40% of the project cost in Phase-I - Rs. 180.00 lakh; Ministry of Tourism – 50% of the project cost in Phase – I - Rs. 225.00 lakh and the state governments of UP and Bihar – 5% each of the project cost in Phase – I - Rs. 45.00 lakh (Rs. 22.50 lakh each).

Skyscanner's Now Card to give instant flight price alerts

India, Japan to help restore Nepal's heritage sites

delegation led by the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan,

Kentaro Sonoura, met the Union Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge), and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma in New Delhi recently and discussed various issues as World Heritage Sites, rich culture and heritage of India and Japan and the restoration of the Historical/ Cultural sites of quake-hit Nepal. He also suggested that India and Japan join hands for the conservation of Nepal’s heritage

AS International Trip Support launched a new regional office in New Delhi to enhance services and provide better international connectivity in the Indian subcontinent. The regional office will enhance UAS’ proximity to its regional client base and increase market penetration in the region as part of a sustained expansion strategy. The office at Indira Gandhi International Airport will provide international trip support, executive travel and air charter services to clients worldwide and will serve domestic and international flights and is complemented by UAS’ global network.

sites that have been damaged by the recent earthquake. The restoration work of Pashu-

kyscanner’s newly launched Now card for Google will allow Android users to get instant flight price alerts on their mobile device. Available globally in over 30 languages, Now card will enable travellers to monitor flight prices as they rise and fall on a selected route, to help them make better decisions when booking their flight.

patinath Temple is already being carried out by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and reconstruction and restoration work could be jointly taken by the India and Japan for other temples in Nepal.

Users have to download the Skyscanner flight app on an Android mobile or tablet device and select their preferred flight route or routes and set up a price alert. Alerts can also be set up through email via the Skyscanner website.

www.voyagersworld.in

Cover

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mumbai hotel industry: shifting biz zones determine occupancy, arrs...

Hotels, starred or otherwise, have always been a support to the lifeblood of India’s financial capital and the booming industry will only shifting occupancy and ARR trends across the various business zones. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

Sanjeev Shekhar, Hotel Marine Plaza Presently all the hotels in South Mumbai are doing occupancy of 80% plus in off season, which is marginally better than last year. So I don’t feel that there is oversupply at present unless the demand dips dramatically in the coming months.

umbai, the financial capital of India, bursts with a hotel scenario that is a key contributor to the lifeblood of the city’s economy. While one cannot say that the hospitality scene in Mumbai has seen sudden shifts, it may be said that the hotel graph has been steadily changing as the landscape expanded over the years. With Navi Mumbai becoming the new hub for residences and businesses, rapid urban development across the entire island, along with growth in the IT sector, investment banking, new airport planning, commerce and medicine have given way for many more players in hospitality. The city has remained a popular choice for conferences and meetings and is often the immediate recall for international clients wishing to do business in India. A few hotel players in the industry from across different locations in the city share their views on the demand and supply situation of room inventory, food and beverages and the gross operating profits as well as the average room rates. Professionals from the city’s leading hotels talk about their observations. Evolution in the last five years There has been a mixed set of responses about how Mumbai hotels have come about in the recent past, against the backdrop of new infrastructure, tech-

Voyager’s World > May 2015

parks and changing cityscape. The city accounts for slightly more than 6.16% of India’s economy and is predicted to be South Asia’s richest city by 2020, with an anticipated GDP Per capita of US$23,000. “In the near future, Asia’s economy would be larger than that of the USA and the Europe. The rapidly growing rank of middle class consumer is also growing. Domestic tourism has come of age with better connectivity and is likely to counter any downfall in the international tourist arrivals,” says Rajesh Mohan, Strategy Head Hotel Sahara Star & Aamby Valley City. As for Hotel Sahara Star, growth and development are an overarching focus of our business, he adds. He says that the occupancy level in Mumbai would grow up from 65% in 2014 to 70% in 2015; however, stability of the global market along with the strength of the Indian Rupee would be critical in assuring a healthier performance here. “We need the government to actively promote our city as a destination to achieve growth here.” Sanjeev Shekhar, GM, Hotel Marine Plaza, observes most of its growth coming in from domestic market due to the strong demand for corporate as well as leisure travel. The present strength of 60% Indian travellers would go up to 70% on strong demand from the leisure sector.

Development of hospitality Sanjeev says that the hospitality graph changes area wise. “There is certainly a slowdown in the south zone due to shift in business to the north. However the Nariman Point area is seeing revival to some extent and it’s expected that there will be some spin off into the hotel business due to this.” Rajesh, on the other hand, says that now business is moving in areas like Andheri, Vile Parle or Bandra as these are now the new hubs with a significant number of hotels having come up in these business districts. Also the drop in demand in South Mumbai has positively affected North and Central Mumbai hotels, which witnessed a10% growth in demand in fiscal 2014 over fiscal 2013. Demand-supply ratio of hotels According to Rajesh, the city hotels have moved on from Average Daily Rates (ADRs) to RevPAR despite an increase in demand. RevPAR has actually been performing better and has shown a significant upsurge. He observes that there has been a clear emergence of upscale brands which offer all comforts at a lower price segment than luxury. “With the economy still on the road to recovery, everyone is looking at reducing the costs and travel, hotel and entertain-

ment costs are normally the first ones to be reduced. The emergence of upscale brands will impact the ADRs. The occupancies would be maintained, but the ADRs would be impacted.” Sanjeev is of the opinion that there is no oversupply because there is no chance of new supply. “Presently all the hotels in South Mumbai are doing occupancy of 80% plus in off season, which is marginally better than last year. So I don’t feel that there is oversupply at present unless the demand dips dramatically in the coming months.” Average occupancy levels One of the biggest concerns of hotels is low weekend business. Weekends usually see a dip in the month’s performance save for major events and conferences. This apart, there is a general feeling of insecurity among hotels created by the unorganized sector, viz. serviced apartments and guest houses. Many serviced apartments run on residential basis and do not pay commercial taxes, thereby eating into the profits of hotels. How do Mumbai’s hotels fare? Hotel Sahara Star secures 70% occupancy with an ADR of 8,000. On weekends, it has 65% occupancy and an ADR of 8,500. Its peak season occupancies

Cover

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Nischint Pathania, Ramada Powai Hotel & Convention Centre

India is poised for a huge growth in F&B of around 20- 25% growth as with influx of the Younger/ GenX in to the workforce & increased spending power is contributing to a changing culture of eating out.

are 75% and ADR 9,000. For Hotel Marine Plaza, the average occupancy level recorded during peak season was 100% in the weekdays and 85% during weekends. 80% occupancy was registered during weekdays in the offseason period while weekends reported 65% use. As customers are exposed to more choices of hotels to suit their budget, the next logical question is about the pressure wielded on the Average Room Rate (ARR) which is expected to fall in order to sustain and boost guest traffic to the hotels. Sanjeev does not see more pressure on prevailing Average Room Rates (ARR) in the next year or so. On the contrary, it is looking at increasing its room rates by 7-10% in this financial year. F&B and Gross Operating Profits After room rent, Food & Beverages (F&B) is the next factor affecting the Gross Operating Profits (GOP) of a hotel. Effective F&B management will go a long way in sustaining steady revenue. Nischint Pathania, GM at Ramada Powai Hotel and Convention Centre, says that hotels F&B revenues have increased tremendously since the hotel started its

Signature Rooftop restaurant – ‘Skky’ and attracted a lot of crowd. “We have also done a lot of promotions & created unique events from time to time and also giving our clients a better value for money proposition.” Ramada Powai’s F&B contribution to total revenue has increased steadily from 32% in 2012-13 to 44% in 2014-15 as ARR growth has been minimal but due to the opening of its signature restaurant and banquet business especially in social market has contributed significantly as well.

Rajesh Mohan, Hotel Sahara Star & Aamby Valley City

Occupancy level in Mumbai would grow up from 65% in 2014 to 70% in 2015; but, stability of the global market and the strength of the Indian Rupee would be critical in assuring a healthier performance here.

promotions as well,” says Nischint, adding that besides keeping costs in control, the tablets also help them in engaging with their customers. The hotel is also curating special themed events or meal experiences to match with changing customer expectations.

When asked about how Ramada Powai competes with the existing players in a city like Mumbai which is also evolving as a brand-conscious destination, Nischint says that despite being a five-star hotel, it offers value for money concepts mainly in banquets and its restaurants, thus attracting clientele who are cost conscious but at the same time expect brand standards.

The hotel has added another dimension by offering interesting live stations, unique regional cuisines, innovative presentations and all this at a great value for money proposition. “We are also doing interesting promotions from time to time to keep a freshness factor for our regulars like recently we have added a Sushi Station in our Sunday Brunch which attracts a lot of people near our vicinity, A live Healthy Juice station offering ABC combo (Apple, Beetroot & Carrot) in our morning breakfast is appealing to a lot of health conscious overnight guests.” Improving low weekend business can be improved for hotels

Reiterating on its Signature rooftop restaurant being a game changer in this, he says that this had contributed significantly changing the perception of the hotel and giving its clientele another dimension. “We have introduced very trendy tablets for menus all across our hotels where we can keep changing our menus couple of times a year and run

Nischint says that improving low weekend business has been a constant challenge for hotels located in major metro cities. “Dropping rates has never been the right solution for the same. We look at it in two ways, instead of dropping rates offer value add ons to the client, like offering half day sightseeing; as are close to Film City, we offer a half day tour

of the studio. The second option we look at is encouraging clients to do their MICE movements towards weekend offering value additions of doing pool party on weekends/dinner at lawns, etc.” Contrary to Sanjeev’s opinion, Nischint feels that Mumbai, especially, will face more pressure on prevailing ARRs again this year, with an increase in inventory in the city and no growth in demand. “We will continue keeping our focus on REV PAR over ARR. F&B will continuously drive to contribute or maybe overtake Rooms Revenues in certain markets in the future as more hotels keep opening. India is poised for definitely for a huge growth in F&B of around 20- 25% growth as with influx of the Younger/ GenX in to the workforce & increased spending power is contributing to a changing culture of eating out. With the advent of food shows, cookery shows and people becoming more willing to experiment with newer cuisines and change in lifestyles or trends is egging this growth.” The hospitality graph in Mumbai understandably indicates a growth in demand and the occupancy levels likely to fluctuate across different zones based on the growth of business in the respective areas. The next edition will come up with interesting statistics on these trends.

www.voyagersworld.in

Hospitality

10>>

glion institute sees rising interest among indian students PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

Judy Hou, CEO, Glion Institute of Higher Education, in a recent interview with Voyager’s World, says that India is a great market for the institution, which is why Glion as a brand was re-launched in India recently. Judy feels that there is a demand-supply gap in India for well-trained educated talent in the hospitality industry. “Talent is a huge critical element in the luxury brand which could be in hotels, service or in retail sectors, which is why we want to educate people.”

What brings you to the Indian market? For the past decade, we have not spent too much time here. Being a hospitality business, we are re-launching Glion as a brand in India; we are introducing a brand management specialisation as the country is a great market. The new specialization is part of the undergraduate programme that we have and we will reach out to the high-end service market.

The institute seeks to offer education to professionals in the industry or aspiring youngsters. Boasting of over 53 years of experiences, Glion places a lot of emphasis on major hotel brands. It has longterm partnerships with hotel brands like the Taj Group of Hotels & Resorts. It also has tie-ups with other brands like Accor, Hyatt and Four Seasons. The institute has also formulated an online MBA programme, wherein it trains people at the managerial level. “At least 25 General Managers in the Taj Group are doing this MBA programme.” Candidates for its UG programmes are aged between 17 – 18 years while the postgraduate courses see those who are around 24-25 years of

age, often with a couple of years of work experience. Its campus-based Masters programme has slightly older bunch of candidates aged between 27-28 years, while those from the senior management levels doing MBA are about 34 years of age. The MBA programme ranges from 1.5 to 3 years duration.

mediately apply the lessons in real-life situations. There are residency sessions, where online MBA students (who complete 10 eight-week modules) and participants of the executive certificate courses (who take three eight-week modules) come together for a week of intensive face-to-face study.

Glion has 42 Indian students on campus and that number is expected to rise. With the country’s rapidly growing travel and tourism market, there is a need for qualified, operational management talent. India also has a long tradition of sending students abroad.

Top courses opted by Indian students The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Hospitality Management attracts the highest number of students from India, who often choose to specialize in marketing or finance. Postgraduate diploma courses are also popular among Indians. The share of Indian students in our online MBA programme is growing rapidly.

Online MBA enrolment Glion’s Online MBA in International Hospitality and Service Industries Management programme, launched in 2012, has 507 students currently enrolled out of which 43 are Indian. Each eight-week course is designed to immerse students in one subject, so that they can im-

“We would love to have more students from India as Glion would like to give back to the community and help talent take managerial or leadership positions across the world,” concludes Judy.

oyo rooms: leverages on price & experience to tap budget segment PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

Ritesh Agarwal, CEO, OYO Rooms, talks about the brand, its digital endeavours and sustaining in the competitive hotel booking industry in a telephonic interview. The brand is technology-oriented, it also being the first technologically enabled hotel in the country. “We use technology to enable extremely efficient service and we also have a technology before the launch of a property. We launch a hotel with a mobile app and everything is automated. Tomorrow, if Google launches a hotel chain, it will be hassle free to discover, book, check in and out.” The USP is based on a Smart Basics concept, assuring spotless linen, in-room amenities, free Wi-Fi and breakfast all at economical rates.

OYO Rooms, which began its operations in Bangalore in November 2014, has now added more than 350 hotels in 13 cities in the past year and a half. “Bangalore proved to be a fast-paced market as we saw a growth from two to 30 hotels in just one year,” says Ritesh Agarwal, attributing it to the young demographics in the city.

Voyager’s World > May 2015

He observes that Marathalli, Koramangla, Jayanagar and Whitefield areas have been fairly diverse. OYO takes photos of the hotels and audits the hotels once in every two days. Their staff wears uniforms and each room has the OYO branding. “All the staff members carry the OYO app and I can check how many people have audited my hotel today,” he says. All its hotels have tablets installed in the

rooms and in the future, guests can also expect auto check-in and check-out technology. “We are already experimenting in the serviced apartment sector. Be it a serviced apartment or any other form of accommodation, all our rooms have the amenities of a three-star hotel. Customers will have the same room experience everywhere.” Competition Ritesh says that their understanding of the internet being very sound, the brand observes that 50-55% users are in the budget segment and want a good experience. He is emphatic when he says that none of the hotel brands that OYO competes with deliver the type of experience that it does in the price segment of 20-25 dollars per room night and hence, driving the market has not been a problem for the brand. Challenges We found the first three months of our

operations challenging as we had to stay in every bed and breakfast accommodation to learn and understand what the industry needed. We figured that there were few suppliers of branded rooms in the budget segment and lack of a great room within 25 dollars. We had to engage in a 15-20 day partnership with the hotels and monitor their standards. Also, the time taken to launch a hotel differs from city to city. In Mumbai, for instance, launching a property takes a lot of time due to infrastructure problems, location, distances, etc. Occupancy Bangalore being the first city of OYO’s operations, Ritesh claims that the city had opened eyes for them. Here, the brand records an average of 88.5% occupancy (both weekend and weekdays combined), which is huge for them. “We see a lot of capability and there is a long pipeline of supply of rooms. We have also been able to tap into the corporate market.”

Hospitality

11>>

Pros & Cons of common booking restrictions PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

Jean Francois Mourier, CEO of REVPAR GURU, talks about the most commonly used restrictions that hoteliers should be using in today’s highly competitive online marketing.

very hotelier has used a restriction in their pricing strategy at one time or another. Whether a minimum length of stay (MinLOS) requirement over a particularly busy period, or a restriction on a particular day preventing new arrivals (Closed to Arrival – CTA), these restrictions are a common business practice. But are they the best way to manage pricing and occupancy for a hotel on a day-to-day basis? Minimum Length of Stay (MinLOS)

ous basis. Other than price, overusing all of these restrictions is not beneficial because they all diminish the amount of

MinLOS restrictions were highly useful in the days prior to development and rise in popularity of the online booking channel, but today, where a large percentage of bookings are made online, they are not useful for day-to-day usage. However, MinLOS restrictions can be useful for special events or big-ticket days (like New Year¹s Eve). Here’s why this restriction is not useful day-to-day.

revenue that a property can earn. That’s where price is different. Hoteliers should be aiming to sell the most rooms at the

The innovation that makes other hotel booking systems old fashioned. In several global destinations, we show the room names exactly as the hotels call it. When you book a hotel with roomsXML, you don't have to do any guesswork. Your customers would know what to expect, exactly.

First and foremost, it restricts your potential guests’ ability to book their stay according to their needs, not corporate policy. It is an inconvenience that will most likely send the potential guest running to the competition.

The chart illustrates:

You are also decreasing your online visibility. By having a MinLOS restriction in place, any searches that customers make on the OTAs will filter out your property if the guests’ stay isn’t compatible. This decreases the billboard effect and can cost you valuable direct bookings in the long run.

Finally, the holy grail of restrictions: Price. ?? Out of all of the restrictions that I outlined today, price is the only one that I would suggest that hoteliers use on a continu-

Destination

Hotel name

Room names as per hotel and roomsXML

How other systems show it

Singapore

Marina Bay Sands

Orchid Garden View Suite

Suite

Kuala Lumpur

Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa

Premier Room

Standard Room

Bangkok

Baiyoke Sky

Deluxe Space Zone Room

Deluxe Room

Hong Kong

Harbour Grand Kowloon

Harbour Club Court View Room

Club Room

Dubai

Atlantis The Palm

Deluxe Room with Palm Beach View

Beach View Room

Rome

De La Ville Intercontinental

Executive Room with Balcony & Garden View

Executive Room with View

Paris

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile

Deluxe Room with Eiffel Tower View

Deluxe View Room

London

Cumberland

Jimi Hendrix Suite

Suite

New York

Waldorf Astoria

Superior Guest Room

Guest Room

Las Vegas

Caesars Palace

Forum Tower Deluxe King Room

Deluxe Room

Los Angeles

Loews Hollywood Hotel

Hollywood Sign View Room

Hollywood Room

Hawaii

Hilton Hawaiian Village

Rainbow Tower Ocean Front Corner Room

Corner Room

Room names for over 3,900 most popular hotels around the world have been correctly matched. Hundreds more are added to the count every week.

15 026/quiksel.com

Closed to Arrival/Departure If a hotelier decides to make a particular day “closed to arrival” or “closed to departure, it means that guests are restricted from either arriving or departing on that particular day. If a guest is already staying with the property on that date, they can continue their stay uninterrupted but no arrivals/departures will be allowed on that date. These restrictions are most commonly used to control the flow of arrivals and departures, during special events when a certain stay pattern is desired, such as stays on the four days leading up to Super Bowl. However, I have seen an overuse of these restrictions to address short staffing and to facilitate the check-in and check-out process.

best rate, and competing on price makes that possible.

roomsXML – a confusion free experience.

www.voyagersworld.in

Hospitality

12>>

Bali Food Safari:

Trailing along Bali’s epicurean routes The Bali Food Safari takes guests down to remarkable venues in one evening of culinary discovery to try different dishes on a progressive dining style, says Simon Ward, Founder of Bali Food Safari.

he foodscape of Bali has developed rapidly over the past decade, now boosting Michelin Star chefs, 5-star resorts and hotels engaging top rated restaurateurs and international celebrity chefs to their venues The Bali Food Safari (BFS) tours offers guided food tours and tastings at some of the most respected venues in one evening of culinary discovery. The tours, which begin at sundown, take groups throughout the evening on a progressive style of dining experience, letting them sample up to 12 dishes from fusion, traditional and contemporary Balinese, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and the finest and freshest produce, before concluding with dessert.

Voyager’s World > May 2015

“Our vision is to introduce travellers to the exceptional culinary landscape, with some of the most remarkable eateries in Bali,” says Simon Ward, Founder and Owner of BFS. “In one night on Bali Food Safari, you can discover a hidden gem, celebrate fine dining venue, a beachside hideaway, and an extravagant restaurant with the best food and sights on offer - all while being chauffeured in comfort.” Inspiration behind Bali Food Safari Simon says that BFS came about after he went on a family holiday to Bali. “I took my wife out on a date night and we were unsure of where to go. So we hired a chauffeur and visited six different restaurants. We sampled many entrée dishes with

wine and by the end of the evening the idea of BFS was born. After I returned to Perth I set out on developing the idea into a business concept and here we are, 16 months old now. BFS does night tours in Seminyak, Jimbaran and Ubud.” At first, the team expected the demographics to consist of young parents wanting to have a night out after leaving their children with a babysitter. However, now that it has grown, BFS observes food connoisseurs from diverse demographics expressing interesting in the tours. USP as compared to other food trails across the globe Simon says that the BFS involves a con-

cept tour visiting several restaurants in one evening to taste 12 tapas sized dishes. BFS does not have specific themes but selects its venues based solely on the cuisine. Terming itself as a culinary adventure, it offers foodies three regions to choose from for the tastings - Seminyak, Ubud and Jimbaran; each region boasts of its own cooking delights; the exclusivity stemming from the area itself, more than its native food culture. Seminyak is hip and vibrant with a whole host of eateries, restaurants and venues, while Jimbaran happens to be an old fishing village with restaurants scattered throughout the hillside. “Some of the food venues in Seminyak

Hospitality

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are the most amazing in Bali,” gushes Simon, adding that albeit Ubud is a mecca for spirituality and wellness, it is fast gaining reputation for its incredible delicacies. In fact, some of the top chefs in Ubud are taking up prime land to launch venues. The BFS tours last between four-six hours depending on whether the guest chooses a three-venue safari with up to nine tapas-sized dishes or a four-venue safari with up to 12 tapas sized dishes. The pricing is $128.50 per person for a three-venue safari and $149.50 per person for a four-venue safari. There has to be a minimum of two persons and the pricing includes private vehicle, host, driver and all taxes and govern-

ment charges and of course the epic dining treats! Did you have any challenges during the initial days of launching BFS? “Starting up an international business does have its challenges. Language barriers and cultural differences were the main challenges that I faced in the beginning, but thankfully, my business partner happens to be an Indonesian; so I was able to overcome most of the obstacles with the help of his expertise and local knowledge.” Attributing the success of BFS to his team, Simon also acknowledges that they were able to forge great relationships through networking functions which helped them develop the business with an aware-

ness of the culture, in addition to leveraging on social media and collaborating with selected publications and sponsored events. Indians are known for certain food preferences, more so when they travel overseas. Are you looking at the Indian market for this segment? Having attended the recent TAAI convention in Bali, Simon says that BFS is well aware of the tastes and requirements of Indian travellers when they travel. “We are looking for travellers who are more adventurous and willing to experiment different culinary tastes. Nonetheless, we are happy to take them to an Indian restaurant as one of the venue selections. We would be glad to work on

a bespoke tour to accommodate their needs.” The participating restaurants in the BFS are assessed for the quality of dishes, flavours and ambience so as to provide an experience that is both premium and unique. The quality of the venues runs as high as the Sheraton Kuta or the JuMaNa Jimbaran. During the tour, each guest will sample the menu with dishes hand-selected for the mystery dining adventure. Each tour can cater to most dietary requirements or requests. The tour bookings are accepted online with a 48-hour notice. The guides can accommodate for English, Indonesian, Cantonese and Japanese languages.

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India Outbound

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India to be growing market for JTB IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

Dr. Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat, Director General, Jordan Tourism Board says that the Indian market is one of the important markets for Jordan. taxes waved and the visa fee not being charged anymore. Promotional Activities We have a lot of activities in the Indian market as we have our representative in India who is promoting the destination in a larger way. The FAM trip is just one activity and we have a lot of promotional campaigns take place offline and online to promote the country, educational tours with the tour operators. Growth of Indian Market We consider India as one of the main resource markets for Jordan.We started investing in this market since 2006 we had received tourists of 5000 to 7000 from India and for the past 4 to 5 years we have succeeded to increase the numbers to 50,000 to 60,000 indicating that this market is very important. The Indian tourists have considered Jordan as a destination of choice. We have a lot of activities in this market and we strongly believe that the potential is there and we will continue our investment in this very important market. Indian Tourists We have witnessed majority of tourists coming for Biblical visits or religious sites with a stay pattern of 1 to 1 half nights.

We have noticed the MICE segment is very important and look forward to attract more MICE business to Jordan. Jordan is safe we are still receiving tourists from different countries and hope the tourists eliminate these concerns from their mind so that one could enjoy the hospitality of the country and the authenticity of the places. Some of the upcoming events in Jordan are the World Economic Forum that will have a lot of high level of officials coming over and the Soccerex event related to the FIFA event will also have a lot of sports related officials coming over.We are expecting big numbers to come over to Jordan during these events. Jordan is safe we have business as usual and the Jordanians love to see more tourists visiting our

country and Jordan will remain the oasis of peace of Middle East. We have three categories like backpackers, middle and upper class travelers as we have all kinds of facilities and services to attract any kind of tourists.We have had weddings organized in Dead Sea especially for a unique and unusual wedding experience at the lowest point on earth and some weddings in the Citadel of Amman. Connectivity We are in talks with the administration of Royal Jordanian and hope they will restart the routes again. The Indian airlines can also start their operations to this airport as the Aqaba Airport becomes one of the cheapest airport in terms of departure

GUWAHATI VADODARA NAGPUR VISHAKAPATANAM COIMBATORE

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

: : : : :

MICE Segment The King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center located in Dead Sea offers the Philadelphia Hall the pillar less hall that has a capacity of 5000 people for MICE events where the concentration of oxygen is 10% more. We also have luxurious hotels with great services in Dead Sea and easy to travel from Dead Sea to Amman. We have 26000 rooms in Jordan and 60 new projects coming up in Dead Sea.The new terminal in Amman can cater for more visitors Expected Growth We are expecting high numbers from the Indian market as it is a very important market for Jordan.

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

India Outbound

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Indians go experiential! Rural experiences growing trend.. IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

Rural tourism offers travelers an authentic rural experience of staying in various villages and

Chiang-Rai / Tourism Authority of Thailand

indulging in local activities.

Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand Rural tourism allows tourists to witness community life with its culture and traditions.Rural Tourism is a nascent segment in India and will remain a niche as travelers have easy access to rural tourism opportunities.

ural tourism offers travelers an authentic rural experience of staying in various villages and indulging in local activities.

Rural Tourism is a nascent segment being promoted by National Tourism Organizations in India and is in a developing stage as these days the Indian travelers are open for a rustic, authentic rural experience or a home stay experience for few days. This segment is likely to grow in numbers from India in the future. Growth of Rural Tourism Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand – Mumbai Office states that Rural Tourism is a nascent segment in India and will remain a niche as travelers have easy access to rural tourism opportunities.The cultural

component is interesting and culture is usually the pursuit of the upper end of the market, these experiences have witnessed good traction and encouraging growth in India. There could be opportunities for voluntourism particularly among diving fraternity as divers frequent a particular spot tend to return there to also clean to ocean floor, in order to sustain the beauty, flora & fauna of the diving location. Byungsun Lee, Director, Korea Tourism Organization, India said, “The segment is in development phase and we are positive that the shifting interests of the Indian travelers for unique experiences and new destinations will attract a lot of affluent and well traveled section of Indian Market to Korea.” Promotional plans and activities

Soraya says that we are showcasing these attractions to travel agents so as to educate and give a first hand experience that will include the community attractions on itineraries.The visuals of the umbrella painters and tribes are being used in our advertisements targeting the experiential traveler as well. Byungsun says that India is a vast market, the travel preferences vary from one region to another. Our Travel partners are already promoting various theme based tours on PAN India basis. The mode of promotions is mostly through national and regional print media. After looking at the market trend and demand from various regions, we shall settle on the marketing strategy for this segment. Destinations promoting rural tourism In the opinion of Soraya, we are mainly

promoting Phumriang Village in Surat Thani, Bo Sang Village in Chiang Mai and the tribal villages near Chiang Rai. Byungsun says that, currently 6 locations namely Sinan Jeungdo-myeon, Janheung Yuchi-myeon, Damyang Changpyeong-Myeon, Wando Cheongsando, Hadong Akyang-myeong and Jeonju Hanok Village have been selected as the slow cities for the first time in Asia. In fact, Jeonju Hanok Village, is world’s first Slow City in the urban area. These places host a lot of visitors every year now, coming from all over the world. Rural tourism promoted in the Indian market Soraya says, “In Thailand rural tourism always comes under the community development projects by the government which allows tourists to witness community life that has retained its culture,

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India Outbound

Chiang-Rai / Tourism Authority of Thailand

Jeonju Hanok Village / Korea Tourism Organisation

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Byungsun Lee, Director, Korea Tourism Organization, India Rural tourism is in development phase and we are positive that the shifting interests of the Indian travelers for unique experiences and new destinations will attract a lot of affluent and well traveled section of Indian Market to Korea traditions and lifestyle even in the modern times. Through the income that tourism generates, these communities are into professions like agriculture and handicrafts.” “Rural Tourism is in the nascent stage and new in India and are focusing on destinations that are already on the map of the Indian traveler to Thailand. Three community tourism circuits of Thailand are already being promoted in India. In Southern Thailand – Surat Thani, the Phumriang Village offers visitors an insight into Thailand’s ancient silk-weaving heritage and traditions, the villagers are also in fishing .One must try having a seafood meal in the village as

Voyager’s World > May 2015

the food is unique with indigenous flavours or for an authentic Thai Muslim lunch by the sea-side,”She says. “In the Northern Thailand – Chiang Rai, one can get to visit several tribes such as the Akha tribe in Chaing Rai. Most of the women are seen in the tea plantations and rice paddies or weaving leaves. Some tribes wear their customary tribal clothes while some of them wear for special occasions and most of the seniors tend to wear ethnic garb, complete with lots of the traditional piercings and jewellery. The travelers can opt for an overnight stay in a tribal village as homestays with tribe folk becoming more open to travelers. In North-

ern Thailand – Chiang Mai, the Bo Sang Umbrella Village the travellers can witness the delicate art of umbrella-making and umbrella-painting. The craftsmen fashion umbrellas from starting with preparing bamboo struts, covering with handmade paper/ paper mache and then painting with motifs like birds, butterflies and some Thai designs,” She added.

Slow City concept aspires at keeping the quality and life of local residents through leisurely life and protecting the natural ecology and traditional culture.

Byungsun said that Korea Tourism Organization has been making its efforts to promote all segments of tourism, based on the Indian traveler interests. The Green Tourism concept is being worked on and introducing the “Slow City” concept to Indian travelers. The

Byungsun concludes that the KTO intends to explore new horizons in the Indian Outbound Market with Eco-Tourism or Rural Tourism as one of the segments. This would enable interaction between the tourists and locals for a more enriching tourism experience.

Soraya says, “The travel agents need to sell these attractions to those looking for a rustic, authentic rural experience or as homestay for a few days with the traveler being open to an experience.

India Outbound

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Vietnam Tourism roadshow in Hyderabad and Chennai VW BUREAU

n a joint effort the Embassy of the S.R. of Vietnam, in association with Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), OM Tourism, Accor Hotels, Thai Airways organized the first ever Vietnam Tourism Roadshow in Hyderabad on April 27 at the Novotel Convention Centre (near Hitech city) and in Chennai on 28 April 2015 under the theme “Vietnam – Land of Heritages”. 15 leading Vietnamese DMCs and the travel and tourism companies from Vietnam, participated in the roadshows to meet the travel trade community in Hyderabad and Chennai. The delegation was led by the Vice-Chairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism H.E. Mr Ha Van Sieu. The roadshows in both the cities were well attended by approximately 300 travel agents and media personnel. In his welcome speech, H.E. Ton Sinh Thanh, Ambassador of Vietnam said that India and Vietnam had longstanding historical and cultural links and are now

expanding their bilateral strategic partnership. “Vietnam is home to 8 UNESCO world heritage sites, well–preserved historic relics and beautiful beaches. Indian travellers can find the affluence of Indian culture in Vietnam through the many Hindu temples all across the country. Also, a plethora of Indian restaurants in Vietnam bear testimony to a strong presence of Indian culinary culture there. Vietnam has all kinds of services to satisfy the need of foreign tourists, be it holidays, shopping, leisure, food, wedding, honeymoon or business and conference” – said Mr.Thanh. He also added that the number of Indian tourists to Vietnam is still limited to 55,000 in 2014 but is expected to increase in the coming years through the upcoming promotional activities to be jointly organized by the Embassy of Vietnam in India and VNAT”. Speaking at the event, H.E. Ha Van Sieu, Vice Chairman of VNAT affirmed that, with the population of 1.2 billion and a large proportion of high –income population, the demand to travel abroad increased

rapidly, India became an important potential source outbound market for Vietnam tourism. Bilateral tourism cooperation between Vietnam and India was also encouraged and tourism was one of the concerning agenda discussed during Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Vietnam in September 2014 and Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to India in October 2014. However, the number of India tourists to Vietnam is still limited. Therefore, in order to boost tourists exchange between Vietnam and India, VNAT is aware of the importance of tourism cooperation in all levels and facilitation of tourism businesses between

enterprises. Several promotional activies such as roadshows, participation to fairs and exhibitions, FAM trip have been carried out and further activities will be organized during this year. The event continued with a presentation on Vietnam Tourism by VNAT which gave the guests an insight into the beautiful land of Vietnam and the unique experiences that the country has to offer, followed by a presentation on air connectivity by Thai Airways, hotel facilities by Accor Hotels. With this initiative, the Embassy of Vietnam hopes to see major tourism efflux from India to Vietnam in the near future.

Kerala to form new tourism circuit with Sri Lanka VW BUREAU

erala Tourism has extended its frontiers to Sri Lanka and is forming a new tourism circuit with the island country, stated a release. “The Sri Lankan Minister of Tourism and Sports, Shri Navin Dissanayak, has applauded Kerala’s growth in tourism and expressed interest in joining hands with us for developing tourism circuits and joint promotions,” said A P Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Government of Kerala. The Minister, along with G Kamala Vardhana Rao, Secretary, Kerala Tourism; P I Sheikh Pareeth, Director, Kerala Tourism; and Ali Asghar Pasha, Managing Director, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), had been on two-day visit to Sri Lanka to hold discussions with the officials. This visit was further to the meet Rao had with Dissanayak during the four-day ITB Berlin in March. “We are looking forward to developing circuits that link tourism destinations in Kerala and Sri Lanka, with the support from the Central government,” the Kerala Tourism Minister said. He also informed that Sri Lanka had expressed interest in starting a cruise ship between Kochi and Colombo. The island’s sea plane operator based in

Colombo has expressed interest to partner with corporate entities in Kerala to start sea plane services in the state, while in a discussion with the Pathfinder Foundation. “The Sri Lankan team was appreciative of the high quality standards of Ayurveda treatment in Kerala,” Rao said, adding, “A high-level delegation from Sri Lankan Tourism will visit Kerala shortly for further deliberations in the identified tourism destination areas and finalise steps for cooperation.” Rao also noted that after exploring Sri Lanka, a regional circuit with the Maldives would also be formed. Joint promotional activities will be conducted by Kerala and Sri Lanka to target travellers from big source markets like China, Germany and Russia. This will help in bringing more tourists to both these destinations. “Tourist cruises linking Colombo and Kochi will be explored for this purpose,” said Pareeth. “We will also make maximum use of tourism clubs and cultural exchange programmes through student exchange programmes to promote people-to people contact,” he added. Leveraging the Visit Kerala initiative by Kerala Tourism, Dissanayak has agreed to take up the issue of special fares on Sri

Lankan airlines that flies between Kerala and Colombo. Another area identified for cooperation is Human Resource (HR) development and skill training in the tourism sector.

also be formed soon. Joint promotional activities will be conducted by Kerala and Sri Lanka to woo travellers from big source markets like China, Germany, and Russia.

During his visit, the Kerala Tourism Minister also met High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Y K Sinha, who offered support for Kerala Tourism’s promotional activities in the island country

“Tourist cruises linking Colombo and Kochi will be explored for this purpose,” Pareeth said.

Regional circuit A regional circuit with the Maldives will

Anil Kumar called on Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha, who offered support for Kerala Tourism’s promotional activities.

www.voyagersworld.in

Incredible India

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High-level delegation from Guangxi meets tourism minister PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

high level delegation headed by Chen Wu, Governor of Guangxi Autonomous Region of China met the Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma in New Delhi recently. The agenda of the meeting was to promote tourism between India and Guangxi, China. The other members of Chinese delegation included Mo Gongming, SecretaryGeneral of the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhang Autonomous Region and Yao Jing, Minister Counselor, Embassy of China and senior officials of Tourism of Guangxi among others. Dr Mahesh Sharma said that the meeting is a great occasion as the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi is slated to begin his China visit from tomorrow and a bilateral agreement on tourism is expected to be signed between India and China during this visit. The bilateral relations of India with various countries have reached a new height after the visit of Prime Minister to various countries and this is expected to give a big boost to tourism in the country, he added.

India’s ranking in WEF Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, 2015 has also moved up to 52nd this year from 65th position in 2013. India has made serious efforts in many areas including improving infrastructure, safety and security and cleanliness to promote tourism. Also, this year is being observed as a Visit India Year in China. All these developments should encourage the people from China to visit India for tourism purpose, the Minister added. India will be happy to host the tour and travel operators of China to India during the Visit India Year in 2016, who can visit here and explore the potential of India as a tourist destination as well as promote the tourist destinations of China. The Minister said that there is a huge gap between the inbound and outbound tourist flow between India and China. Last year 676,000 Indians have visited China, while only 174,000 Chinese had visited India in the same year, which shows a huge gap between inbound and outbound tourist flow between the two countries. Dr. Mahesh Sharma also mentioned that India is in the process of developing various circuits out of which

Buddhist Circuit and Himalayan Circuit can be of great interest to the Chinese tourists who can visit India. India is also organising an exhibition of contemporary art in Shanghai in November this year. By taking such initiatives, both countries can promote cultural ties to help boost the growth of tourism, the Minister explained. Chen Wu, Governor, Guangxi, China said that they will make efforts to promote the Chinese tourist flow to India. He said that Guangxi is a beautiful region with a unique natural beauty and an interesting coastline. He requested Tourism Minister

of India, Dr. Mahesh Sharma to work towards promoting tourism to Guangxi. He also mentioned that The Tourism Expo is also being organised on 29 May this year in Guilin, which can provide India a platform to promote tourism. Dr. Mahesh Sharma said that the Government will surely put Guangxi on the tourist map and help promote tourism to the region. The Minister said India values its relations with China since both countries share a long history of tradition in the world. China is also a good example of preservation of its natural resources and beauty and can act as a role model for India, he added.

MPs solicit better connectivity, amenities for Himalayan Circuit PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

he Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma held consultations with the Members of Parliament (MPs) from J&K, HP and Uttarakhand in New Delhi last week to discuss modalities for developing the Himalayan Circuit. The Himalayan Circuit has been identified under the new Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Union Ministry of Tourism for promoting tourism. The Members of Parliament welcomed this initiative of the Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, Dr. Mahesh Sharma to hold consultations with the MPs representing various states and they also put forward their valuable suggestions in the meeting for the development of the Himalayan circuit. Dr. Mahesh Sharma said that 73% of the Himalayas lie within Indian territory and India can utilise this unique advantage to boost the growth of tourism in the Himalayan Circuit. He said that tourism contributes foreign exchange in a big way to

Voyager’s World > May 2015

the exchequer of India and it contributes 6.8% of the GDP share in India. He said that Rs. 120 crores have been allocated for the development of the Himalayan circuit and the amount can be effectively utilized for drawing up a road map which will be decided after consultations with the MPs concerned. The Members of Parliament have an in depth knowledge of the requirements of their areas from the viewpoint of promoting tourism and they can help the Ministry of Tourism to identify and explore new areas where tourism can be given a boost, he added. The Minister said that our target is to enhance the India’s share in global tourism to 1 percent from the current level of about 0.64%. The MPs shared their views and identified the areas where the Ministry of Tourism should look into seriously and find ways to improve them in coordination with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. Mehbooba Mufti, MP, Anantnag, said the

state of Jammu & Kashmir wants to turn around its economy and tourism appears to be the best way of doing it. She highlighted the need for starting additional flights from Srinagar airport to facilitate more inflow of tourists as well as connecting Jammu with more direct trains. Business tourism will get a big boost if Convention Halls are set up in Gulmarg and Patnitop, she explained. MPs from other places like Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh also demanded more air connectivity and development of new airports in their regions. They said that access to these places is the main hindrance to the development of Tourism. The tourist infrastructure like hotels should also be developed along with it. The MPs from Himachal Pradesh emphasized upon the development of village tourism and model ’Home stays’ should be promoted. They also said that sports tourism, adventure and religious tourism could be developed in Himachal Pradesh. The MPs from Uttarakhand requested for a mono-rail to Haridwar/Rishikesh to meet the growing menace of traffic to

these areas. They also desired for developing more airports like Uttarkashi. The MPs from Himachal Pradesh emphasized upon the development of village tourism and model ’Home stays’ should be promoted. They also said that Sports Tourism, Adventure Tourism and Religious Tourism are the main areas which can be developed for the growth of tourism in Himachal Pradesh. The proper disposal of waste material especially plastics and providing wayside amenities should draw the attention of the Tourism Ministry, they added. The MPs from Uttarakhand requested for a mono-rail to Haridwar./Rishikesh to meet the growing menace of traffic to these areas. They also desired for developing more airports like Uttarkashi The Minister said that the government was determined to restore the lost glory of J&K as a prime tourist destination. He stated that the various value additions could be done to the existing places.

Incredible India

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Tourism Policy proposes inclusion in Concurrent List of Constitution VW BUREAU

he new Tourism Policy Draft, which was put on public domain by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Government of India for comments and suggestions, proposes including tourism in the Concurrent List of the Constitution to make it part of the national agenda. This, according to the Draft, will help elevate the sector to a priority one on the national agenda. “National prioritisation of the sector is critical to ensure focus, investment, alignment, and competitiveness as precursors to maximising the impact of the tourism sector for the benefit of India at large,” the Draft says. Including tourism in the Concurrent List will enable the Centre and states to effectively legislate and demark clear roles for the Centre and states/Union Territories (UTs). While the new policy will imbibe and incorporate the futuristic vision of the earlier Tourism Policy of 2002, it will ensure comprehensive action plan to achieve the goals, which was lacking in the earlier policy. For effective delivery of the New Tourism Policy 2015, tourism development has to take place for economic development, by aligning and activating

cooperative and synergised thinking at all levels, namely states, UTs, local administration, and the civil society at large. The policy proposes Public-PrivatePeoples Participation (PPPP) framework for Sustainable Tourism development going forward. In order to achieve the targets of increased tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings, efforts need to be supported by adequate budgetary allocations for tourism. Although the amount allocated for the development of tourism has risen, it remains negligible as part of the total outlay of the five-year plans and vis-à-vis the opportunity for accelerated growth of the tourism economy. From being 0.04 per cent, the highest allocation the tourism industry has witnessed is in the 12th five-year plan, which is about 0.35 per cent. The draft charts out the broad mission of the new policy as: 1. Enhance the share of international tourist arrivals and revenue through a sustained growth path; 2. Stimulate repeat, year-round visitation with high dispersion across the destina-

tion; 3. Promote Domestic Tourism; 4. Develop and promote tourism in a responsible, sustainable manner economically, socially, culturally, and environmentally; 5. Position India as a welcoming, safe and sustainable destination for both foreign and domestic tourists; 6. Enhance the image of brand ‘Incredible India’; 7. Deliver a world-class, yet authentic local experience; Handhold state governments, UTs, and stakeholders in development and promotion of tourism; and ensure meaningful, equitable community participation in tourism development. The new policy sets a new target for foreign tourist arrivals. It aims to grow India’s share in world tourist arrivals from the present 0.68 per cent to one per cent by 2020 and to two per cent by 2025. Other objectives include positioning of tourism as a priority on the national political and economic agenda; widen understanding of the benefits of the tourism sector within the wider governmental framework, especially with government departments critical to the success of tourism; evolve a framework for tourism

development, which is government-led, private sector-driven, and community welfare-oriented; foster and develop a coordination mechanism between the Centre and states/UTs and between various ministries/departments and create a framework for engaging with local bodies, to drive the national tourism agenda; create a safe, secure, clean, hygienic, and inviting environment for tourists; etc. Empowered Bodies The new policy also recommends constitution of a National Tourism Authority (NTA) with representation from the trade and industry, and interconnected departments/agencies to execute the policy laid out by the Ministry. Simple, flexible and elegant processes can be laid down to allow for nimbleness. The overseas offices of MoT should be restructured to act as the nucleus with most of the commercial and marketoriented functions outsourced to specialised agencies. Similarly, the policy also suggests appointing representative agencies in markets where India tourism does not have a presence.

End-to-end tourism to be developed in Buddhist Circuit PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

he Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma met MPs from UP, Bihar and Ladakh in New Delhi last week to discuss modalities for developing the Buddhist Circuit. The meeting was attended by those MPs whose constituencies have important Buddhist sites which can be developed under the Buddhist Circuit identified under the new Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Union Ministry of Tourism. Buddhist Circuit is one of the five circuits identified under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Rs. 120 crore have been allocated this year for the development of the Buddhist Circuit under the Scheme, the Minister said. The Buddhist circuit will include places like Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Sarnath, Sidharth Nagar, SantKabir Nagar, Shrawasti, Piprawa, Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Nalanda among others. At the meeting, the MPs raised issues re-

lated to their constituencies with respect to the development of Buddhist Circuit. They highlighted the issue of connectivity which is standing in the way of development of Tourism in these areas. The MPs suggested that a Buddhist National Highway should be created connecting the important places within the Circuit. The MPs also wanted improved air connectivity by developing airports at Kushi Nagar and Shrawasti, development of budget hotels, common amenities and infrastructure in these areas were discussed during the meeting. The MPs appreciated the efforts of Ministry of Tourism in taking initiatives in development of the Buddhist Circuit as Buddhism is the fourth largest religion of the world and the development of this circuit will attract more foreign followers of Buddhism to India. The MPs highlighted the economic benefits of developing the Buddhist circuit. They estimated that the number of tourist visitors can be easily increased to ten lakhs if the Circuit is developed properly, which will help the country to earn Rs 6000 cr of foreign exchange. The inflow

of foreign tourists will not only lead to increased inflow of foreign exchange earnings of India , but will also generate large amount of employment for the local people, especially in areas where there are no other avenues of employment for the local people. The participants discussed the importance of their areas where various events and activities related to Lord Buddha had taken place. They requested the Minister to develop a special Museum where the centuries old statue of Lord Buddha, all artifacts and various other objects related to Buddhism can be placed at a single location in the Buddhist Circuit for the

tourists to view. The MPs also suggested that an inter-ministerial group should be formed for the development of the circuit as it involves coordination and cooperation of various Ministries like civil aviation, roads and highways among others. Dr. Mahesh Sharma assured the MPs that the Ministry will work closely with them for the development of Buddhist Circuit and a holistic approach will be adopted to give a new shape to the Circuit. The Minister also said that end- to -end tourism is the aim of the Ministry of Tourism where any tourist coming to visit Buddhist Circuit will land at a point and will be taken to various places during his journey of the Buddhist Circuit.

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Destination

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Jordan: Region of mesmerizing Roman Architecture & dazzling Red Mountains! IRENE SUSAN EAPEN

A destination of greenery, beige houses, red mountains in the desert and the magnificent Petra Treasury

Jerash

enthralling everybody with history, culture, Arabic music and traditional cuisine.

he Jordan Tourism Board recently organized a familiarization trip for 7 journalists from India highlighting places like Dead Sea, Bethany beyond the Jordan, Jerash, Amman, Wadi Rum and the Petra from 21st to 28th March 2015. Jordan is a country known for its history and culture that you need to take a longer vacation or even spend more days to feel and enjoy the country. The first thing that impressed me as I stepped into Jordan was the hospitality of the Jordanians and the grey architecture of the Queen Alia International Airport. The airport has a new terminal with a large duty free area and the number of restaurants like the Blue fig café & Bar that has delicious pastries. The Queen Alia International Airport is one of the superb airports that I have ever visited so far. Our journey starts with our drive from Amman to Dead Sea was interesting all the way to the long stretch of the blue waters of the Dead Sea, with breathtaking scenery we enter the Kempinski Ishtar Hotel Dead Sea that looked like a huge palace offering three luxurious enclaves with private pools. The rooms are categorized as Suites, Ishtar Jacuzzi Suite, Junior Suite, Executive Suite and Ishtar Suite with the finest views of the Dead Sea.The Penthouses at Kempinski Ishtar Hotel Dead Sea are stylish and luxurious. The Penthouse area is considered to be very attractive with a staircase for each house and the pool sided area along with the palm trees close to the different suites is a wonderful sight for all. The Kempinski Ishtar Hotel Dead Sea offers 11 meeting rooms for organizing a wedding by the shore and business events. The Kempinski Ishtar Hotel Dead Sea has the oldest olive tree at the entrance and a beautiful lobby with flowers arranged on a marble set up in the middle of the room. Besides all this ,Dead Sea has a number of five star hotels like Mövenpick Resort & Spa

Voyager’s World > May 2015

Dead Sea, Hyatt Regency Dead Sea Resort and Spa, Kempinski Ishtar Hotel Dead Sea, Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa offering different kinds of meeting facilities to organize MICE events.The King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center is also located in Dead Sea offering the Philadelphia Hall a pillar less hall that has a capacity of 5000 people for MICE events. The Kempinski Ishtar Hotel Dead Sea is a property that gives you the privilege to enjoy a serene atmosphere by the Dead Sea amidst the ancient olive trees. On the first day we enter the Visitor’s Center that had a lot of interesting stuffs for shopping like the Arabic coffee grinder, ceramic paintings on the plates, micro mosaic art hangings, khanjars and ceramic pots. One can buy few of the Dead Sea products like Dead Sea Body Salt Scrub, Dead Sea Mud Face Pack and Dead Sea Mud Body Pack from different brands like Dead Sea Fortune. After that we get into the most famous biblical sites like Mount Nebo and Bethany beyond the Jordan. Mount Nebo is one the holy sites in Jordan.Bethany beyond the Jordan is another holy site as we all started walking through the narrow pathway leading to the Jordan River and the huge building that has the ruins of the five churches. The pathway in Bethany was interesting with wooden structures and poppy flowers in different colours, as we entered the huge building we could only see the ruins of the five uniquely designed churches. We also passed through the view of a golden domed church, the white marbled church and three other white churches. After that we reach the site of the Greek Orthodox Church that has two small golden bells, a golden dome, biblical paintings on the walls, lovely chandeliers and a micro mosaic art on the floor. The Greek Orthodox Church has a seating arrangement for very few people. People can get baptized in the Jordan River at the baptism site and you also get to see a stone basin generally

used to baptize kids carved with a cross and a dove. We also had visited Madaba famous for mosaics especially with the Mosaic Map that represents the holy land and the surroundings.We were all excited for another excitement of the day to float lightly or even read a book on the Dead Sea. Floating on the Dead Sea is an amazing feeling or an experience to realize that there is so much of excitement in life rather than a workaholic life. At the Kempinski Ishtar Hotel, Dead Sea close to the private beach there is a beige vase with Dead Sea Mud that can be applied by all after a float in the Dead Sea twice in a day for a better look.The mud is very soft and should be applied for at least 20 minutes and dried under the sun before you wash it.You must not forget to take a photograph of your new look with the Dead Sea mud over your face and body .The natural black mud improves blood circulation, relieve tensions of the mind ,muscle and cosmetic benefits. You cannot miss an opportunity of discovering a world of pure tranquility. We proceed to the Cabana set up across the Dead Sea for the belly dancing performance which was an outstanding performance of a torso-driven dance. Our drive from the Dead Sea to Jerash was a long drive as we enter another Visitor’s Center we get to see the sand art painting done inside the bottle and you buy a bottle with sand art painting with yours name written inside in Arabic or English, this can be taken back home like a souvenir for your family and friends. We then walked through the ancient city of Gerasa or Jerash, the Arch of Hadrian a triple-arched gateway is the entrance which is very impressive with the greenery around the beige structures. The first site we stepped into was the Hippodrome that used to have chariot races. Jerash has two gates as North and South, two Roman theatres, the first theatre has a capacity of 3500 people and the second

theatre has a capacity of 1600 people the auditorium theatre where we got to meet the Pied Piper Scottish band playing Scottish music with a huge crowd listening and dancing along the music in Jerash. The oval plaza is another interesting point in Jerash where the Jerash festival is organized every year and various music bands.During the Jerash Festival people from all over the world come to celebrate the ancient and modern culture of Jordan with dancers, musicians and theatrical tropes. Lastly we get into a building that has impressive structures which is another point where one should definitely take a photograph of the impressive columns. Jerash is a perfect place with its stunning greenery along with the Roman Architecture .The narrow lanes between the greenery of Jerash with the little white and yellow flowers is a magnificent sight for all. The weather was great for our trip to be enticed by walking through the greenery of Jerash. After a long walk in Jerash we halt over for a delicious lunch at the Sufra Restaurant in the Rainbow Street of Amman a well designed restaurant with purple sofas and chandeliers that serves Jordanian dishes. Some of the delicacies of the restaurant are Mezze hot and cold, aubergine salad and sweets like Mahalabiya and Baklava. The Roman site of Jerash leaves one spellbound especially with impressive colonnades. The tour gets exciting as we proceed to the Royal Automobile Museum, an automobile journey for one to walk through history of the vintage cars of Jordan like Aston Martin, Buick Skylark and Bentley S2 Continental. After that we proceed to the Ghazal Restaurant for a shawarma. We then head to the Le Royal Hotels and Resorts that offers 286 guest rooms and suites with 8 food and beverage outlets and the Royal Spa, the ballroom of the hotel have the capacity of 1800 people for our stay in Amman. For an incredible dinner we get into

Destination

the Kan Zaman Restaurant which has a Middle Eastern set up with bronze decorations and the traditional music played on Oud in the background. On the next day we enter the twin tower the gate to Amman, Amman is also known as the white city especially with a blend of old and new houses made of lime stone, Amman is a city of 7 hills and the streets are divided into 8 circles. The East part of Amman is the oldest area with middle class people while the West part of Amman is the wealthy area of the upper middle class area or the modern area. The Rainbow Street is considered to be the busiest and happening streets in terms of cafés and nightlife. The Prince Hashem Bin Al-Hussein Street and King Talal Street are fine-looking streets and good for shopping souvenirs, jewellery and the vintage stained glass hanging light lamp chandelier shades. The Amman Citadel is known as Jabal al-Qal’a the historic site in the center of Amman .The tall white marble temple columns are the ruins of the Temple of Hercules and a carved hand remains as the Roman statue of Hercules in Amman Citadel. During sunset the Temple of Hercules looks attractive i was overjoyed to recollect that moment gazing at this structure.Some of the main buildings in the Amman Citadel are the Temple of Hercules, Byzantine Church and the Umayyad palace. The Jordan Archaeological Museum has pottery shards, jewellery and statues. Amman has a number of five star hotels like Grand Hyatt Amman, Four Seasons Hotel Amman and Sheraton Amman Al Nabil Hotel offering MICE facilities for all events. On our drive to Wadi Rum we halted over at the Visitor’s Center where we met Tamer a micro mosaic artisan who told us about the process of making a micro mosaic art which is first done on a cloth then cemented and framed, a micro mo-

saic art can extent up to 1 million to 3 million pieces.Our voyage becomes more interesting to Wadi Rum as we enter the desert with red mountains around. The Wadi Rum is known as the valley of moon and a unique place for jeep tours, hot air balloon, horse riding, hiking, rock climbing and camel riding. The Bedouin tribes travel from one place to other with their own tradition and culture. The Bedouin tribes still live among the mountains of Wadi Rum. The Bedouin tents made of goat hair are main parts of Wadi Rum. For a lovely lunch we halted over at the Captain’s Desert Camp a unique place for Bedouin experience that can accommodate 250 people ,the tents are categorized into standard, deluxe, suite. The Captain’s Desert Camp is a huge camp has stylish couches, low tables and colourful carpets. During our walk around the camp we get to see the process of Zarb a tradition way of cooking rice, meat and chicken with herbs, vegetables like potatoes and egg plants and carrots with hot coals beneath the desert sands.A large metallic tray is used to cook the food underneath the desert sands . Firstly the rice is placed in a vessel on the bottom of the metallic tray , on the second level the meat is placed and the chicken with vegetables is placed on the third level. The meat and Chicken is either wrapped in palm leaves or silver foils. The whole process of Zarb under the desert sands takes almost an hour and more. Once the Zarb is cooked the meat is first layered on a large metallic tray with chicken, rice covering over the vegetables. We were excited to taste Zarb which was so delicious and highly recommended for one to try whenever you are in Wadi Rum. The ambiance in the Captain’s Desert Camp was good and the Arabic music being played, by a man playing Oud a traditional instrument on one side and another man playing the Tabla on another side , plus the folklore dance with people clapping

Temple of Hercules / Amman Citadel Wadi Rum

Zarb - Captain’s Desert Camp

Columns in Temple of Artemis / Jerash

Siq / Petra

Al Khazneh / Petra

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and dancing in the camp as a custom of entertaining people. During our jeep tour we could feel and enjoy the wilderness of the desert, you will see the ancient rock drawings and camels lazing around in the desert. We had a wonderful time listening to Arabic music till we reached the encampment .We noticed the faces carved on the rocks like Lawrence of Arabia and leader of Bedouin tribe close to the Bedouin tent. The Bedouins are very hospitable and often invite visitors to sit and enjoy a coffee or a meal. Wadi Rum is best experienced during nights at the camp by enjoying the silence of the desert just to get away from all your troubles .Wadi Rum is about enjoying the natural rock formations coloured in shades of red, yellow and orange with golden sand where you will literally be overwhelmed by the serenity of Wadi Rum. Our expedition started with a drive to discover the rock carvings and tombs in the city of Petra or the rose red city. During the Petra by night we had a lovely walk with the candles lit on the sides with brown paper covering it all the way to the Al Khazneh or Treasury. We all sat down in front of the Al Khazneh or Treasury to listen to the Arabic instruments being played like the Nay the local name for flute being played and Rababah the oldest Bedouin instrument made of wood and goat skin was also being played. After that we got to listen to the history of Petra and the significance of the music being played with the uniqueness of Arabic music and coffee with a cup of coffee. Our next day turns out to be exciting during our visit to Petra in the morning we walked through the Siq the entrance of Petra a narrow gorge with high cliffs. The Siq offers an incredible experience to see the colours and formations of rocks and the roads to Petra are uneven roads .At the end of the Siq you get a glimpse of Al Khazneh or Treasury and you also get to see cow boys who looked like Johnny

Depp around Petra. The Treasury in Petra is one of the outstanding sights and is archaeologically well done with the top part of the monument that has Eagles from Syria, the Egyptian goddess zeiss and the warriors on the side from Amazon, you will see below the roza or rose designed, you then have the Arabic design with flowers and cups and at the bottom you have the horses on both sides with the right side signifying for bad souls and horses on the left side signifying for good souls. Some of the main sites are the obelisk tomb, street of façade, the Roman amphitheater, the royal tombs and palace tomb. We had a great dinner at Alqantarah Restaurant like Kedrah rice with chickpeas and chicken made in small clay pots and Mahashi made of zucchini. For an overnight stay we proceed to the Petra Marriott Hotel offering meeting facilities with a capacity of 130 people. Our tour on the last day commences on our drive to Amman for an overnight stay at the Landmark Amman Hotel offering conference facilities for business events.After that we proceed for a wonderful lunch at Tawaheen Al Hawa Restaurant where we got to taste the Mansaf a traditional Jordanian dish cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt made of steamed rice with lamb or chicken, the national dish of Jordan which is served on special occasions like weddings, births and graduations, or to honor a guest.We also had gone to pick a sweet box from Anabtawi sweets shop and Al Alawi dates with different varieties of dates as gifts from Jordan. Jordan is a country for travelers motivation, rejuvenation and inspiration in terms of history, culture and never unsafe to be explored .The destination can really change you as the country offers you a different experience on every trip that gives you the happiness and the will power of exploring Jordan every time you visit.

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Destination

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Bay of Somme

Castle Hotel Mont Royal Tiara

Floating gardens of Amiens

Chateau de Chantilly

picardy: discovering many marvels The region of Picardy is a treasure trove of historical surprises, verdant woods, pleasing coastlines, promising

rive down Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and in about 20 minutes, Picardy ushers you into another world, with vast stretches of lands, serenity in the air and a way of life that oscillates between the past and the present. Situated in the north of France, Picardy region has three administrative divisions called as ‘departments’ in French, namely Aisne, Oise and Somme and has Amiens serving as the regional capital. The region involves a history that has been folded in the depths of the people’s lives there, taking in royal memoirs as well as World War remnants, a history that would long linger in one’s heart. It was the first week of April when winter was still at its prime and we were a group of four from India including one representative from Atout France, accompanied by a host from Picardy Tourism, as we set off to explore the region over the next four days.

exterior is beautified by Western landscape gardens designed by French gardener André Le Nôtre who is also known for creating the gardens of Versailles and Fontainebleau. Chantilly is also known for its equestrian love which is demonstrated by the Grand Stables in its premises; built in the 18th century, it has 30 show horses and offers dressage demonstrations and equestrian shows twice annually. The Chantilly Horse Museum has nearly 200 works of art covering the evolution of horse and horse breeds in the world. Few other things that one may associate with the place would be the Crème Chantilly and Chantilly lace. After touring the place and watching the horse show, we had a gourmet lunch in the castle restaurant Le Capitainerie, where the head chef showed how to make Crème Chantilly, which we quickly lapped up for dessert.

Once we entered Picardie, as the French write it, we drove down the Château de Chantilly which, to me, was clearly the crown on the region’s best kept tourist secrets. The Château, whose last resident was the Duke of Aumale, houses the Condé Museum exhibiting a splendid array of paintings, furnishings, medieval manuscripts, books and art, such as the Three Graces (Les Trois Grâces), by Raphaël, The Very Rich Hours (Les Très Riches Heures), by the Duke of Berry and The Serenade Giver (Le Donneur de Sérénades) by Watteau.

It was close to two in the afternoon but the weather was interspersed with slight drizzles as our car wound our way to the Chantilly Lace Museum. The worldfamous silk lace works, done mainly in black and white, were started in the mid17th century and as they gained fame, the early black and white ‘blonde’ silks were replaced by Chantilly lace under the reign of Napolean III. Empress Eugénie de Montijo is known to have patronized this art and to have made black lace fashionable. The museum is presently run by an old lady who is more than happy to explain to visitors about Chantilly lace.

Belonging to the Renaissance period when it was the residence for the Princes of Condé in the 16th & 17th century, the

We then headed to Auberge du Jeu de Paume, a five-star hotel in Chantilly for our evening tea. It has 92 rooms and suites,

Voyager’s World > May 2015

a high quality conference centre and five rooms equipped with the latest technologies. The evening saw us heading to Castle Hotel Mont Royal Tiara for a two-night stay. Mont Royal Tiara was built by French Jewish composer Fernand Halphen in 1908 for his wife. It was built on a wooded hillock surrounded by lush and undisturbed valley to offer spectacular views for himself and his wife, the property’s decors resound with references to music. The drawing rooms were dedicated to music, while the bas-reliefs on the façade evoked hunting. One can spot the top loops of a few rides of Parc Astérix from the balconies of the rooms facing the woods. The hotel has 108 rooms and suites categorized as Royal Rooms, Superior Rooms, Deluxe Rooms, Royal Suite, Penthouse Suite and Junior Suite. Guests can enjoy breathtaking views of the forest as well as absorb the regal ambience that radiates luxury across the property. For someone wishing to experience a good accommodation on the lines of a castle at a reasonable rate, not far away from bustling Paris, Castle Hotel Mont Royal Tiara is worth a buy. We were greeted by rain the next morning as we set forth to visit the nearby attractions in the region. We visited tree nests in the forests and had a look at cosy and compact tree houses that cater to adventure backpackers, small families as well as honeymooners. Summer would be the best time for nature lovers and those with kids to consider spending a night or two on these tree houses. Not very far from here is the Pierrefonds Castle, bordering the Compiegne forest. This medieval fortress was built in the 15th century before

getting dismantled 200 years later and rebuilt by Napolean III. We stopped at the local market to take quick photographs of the exteriors of the castle as the rains and paucity of time did not permit us to explore the interiors. Nevertheless, the rainbearing clouds hanging over the fortress made it look magical in our photographs. Pierrefonds is very close to the UK from Calais, which is just about two hours from there. We then headed to the Imperial Palace in Compiegne, the royal residence built for Louis XV for summer and autumn. Compiegne was one of three seats of royal government, the others being Versailles and Fontainebleau. Napolean I ordered splendid decorations to be added to the interiors and much later, Napolean III lent it further touches to make it statelier. The palace architecture and the rooms and galleries tell stories of the lives of the royals and the queens, from Napolean I and Marie-Louise, to Napolean III and Eugénie de Montijo. This palace played a key role in lives of the imperial couple, for it was here that the relationship between Eugénie de Montijo and Napoleon III blossomed into romance, and - one month later - marriage. As a result, the empress always had a soft spot for the place. The residence has grand apartments with most of the furnishings intact as they were in the time of both the emperors. The royal salon, library, private rooms and the banquet rooms took me back in time as I wondered how the sovereigns devoted time to appreciate and live the beauty of the residence while they were so engaged in conquests and expanding their empire. While at the Imperial Palace, one must

Destination

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Saint-Leu, Amiens

Napolean’s private room, Imperial Palace, Compiegne

Notre-Dame, Amiens

Stained glass windows in Notre-Dame

from a picture-perfect holiday

to be an ideal holiday so close to Paris, says Priyamvadha Balaram on a recent trip to the destination. visit the Museum of the Second Empire and the Museum of the Empress as well as the Museum of Vehicles and Tourism that exhibit collections of the royalty. We then went to the Jardin des Roses situated in the premises of the residence for some tea and lunch. This dainty eatery, run by a couple, serves an impressive menu of teas from across the globe along with snacks and food; the place has been built to conjure up a meal along the lines of the Empress with her friends. The lady at the eatery dished out hot and tasty delicacies with seasonal vegetables that were mildly spiced to go along with some fine tea and cakes. From Compiegne, we proceeded to a Champagne tasting trial in a medieval Champagne cellar in Pannier, about an hour and a half from Compiegne. Interestingly, the Champagne tourist route runs along the Picardy region at Château Thierry. Champagne Pannier was founded in 1899 and is the largest champagne house in the western Marne Valley. The valley is landscaped by sloping vineyards and wine-growing villages. We went down the cellar to see the champagne bottles arranged at different angles as they matured. The hosts delighted us with Indian delicacies like samosas, chicken tikka and paneer tikka with Champagne Rosé. The pairing was optimal as it left a pleasant aftertaste on our palates. The next day we checked out from Castle Hotel Mont Royal Tiara and headed towards Amiens, the regional capital of Picardy, the resilient witness to World War. As we reached the place in about an hour and a half, we couldn’t help noticing bricks largely defining the city’s ar-

chitecture. Most of the city was destroyed by bombing during the World War and the memories, embedded deep into the minds of the people there, have left some kind of a silence in their lives, said our host. Amiens’ treasure, fortunately left untouched by the wars, would be the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the largest in France and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The guide told us it took 70 years to build the Cathedral whose spire faces the Belfry of Amiens. The Cathedral boasts of Gothic architecture and stands in good stead despite the ravages of warfare and time. We climbed up around 300 steep and narrow steps and though we were puffing and panting as we reached the top, it was worth the effort to soak up the views of the city. The spire is the oldest existing one made of wood and covered with lead sheeting and it rises to a height of 112 m, surpassing the Cathedral roof ridge by 56 m. The beauty of Amiens is enhanced by the River Somme flowing across its streets; one can see cyclists cycling along the banks while boats too adorn the waterways flanked by abundant greenery. A short walk from the Cathedral took us to Saint-Leu, which is termed as the little Venice of the North. I took an instant liking to this scenic quarter that is dotted with pretty cafes, markets and shops along the canals. Saint-Leu has small houses, each coloured differently from the other and flanked by the canals. There are a number of restaurants, coffee shops, antique shops and pubs that one can stroll along in the evening. The markets here open on Saturdays while all the shops close business at 7pm daily and remain mostly closed on Sundays. We had a leisurely lunch in this riverside district before step-

ping down the alleys to the Hortillonnages of Amiens. Hortillonnages of Amiens refers to the floating gardens located in the riverbed of the Somme. In summer, these gardens turn into gorgeous postcardperfect venues of flowers and vegetables. As we got onto the gondola saying our hellos to the gondola boatman who surprised us with good English, we observed that cultivation had already started here and there, as the boat caved its way past cherry-blossom trees and winged spectators. One majestic, white swan, first reluctant to come near us, suddenly fanned its wings before scooting towards our boat to pose for our cameras. The sun briefly appeared for a few minutes as the rays cut through the waters; the azure skies, gleaming waters and green surrounds brought everything else to a standstill, leaving us quieter and cheerier. These floating gardens are spread across nearly 300 hectares right in the city centre covering four districts – Amiens, Camon, Longueau and Rivery. Alternately, one can take a walk along the river’s towpath. We stayed at the Hotel Marotte, a five-star boutique hotel run by a couple in the busy square of Amiens. The next day, and our last day, we went to the Baie de Somme (Bay of Somme), one of the most picturesque bays in the world. We reached there hoping to spot seals but couldn’t spot anything due to less water and no tides. There were different groups of families and hikers accompanied by guides who explained the ecology, flora and fauna of the region. The Bay of Somme is a long stretch of sand, mud and water; the sand lined with pebbles and grasses here and there. The whole tract is a photographer’s

delight; we were able to capture different colours of the skies, quickly altering by the minutes. One must wear good walking shoes for such a trail. During high tides, the guide said, one can spot colonies of harbor seals along the bay. Shortly after, the sun was out in full glory and so were the residents out on the streets. We went to Saint-Valery, a medieval seaside town on the other side of the bay. Along the promenade, one can climb the heights to enjoy bigger views of the bay or stroll down the promenade. After lunch at Saint-Valery, we took a one-hour ride from Belle Epoque station on a vintage train dating from the beginning of the 20th century. It may also be mentioned that noted French writer Jules Verne was a longtime resident of Amiens and booklovers can surely visit his house to see his memoirs. We ended the evening with dinner at an Indian restaurants; well there are quite a few of them here. Amiens is known for macarons, the region’s specialitys, slightly different from the traditional macarons and packed usually in golden foil. I would recommend anyone looking for a different holiday experience in France, especially Paris, to round off their holiday with at least two or three days in Chantilly and Amiens, before taking the flight back home from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is 1.15 hours from Amiens and 20 minutes from Picardy region. The region’s unique accommodation facilities that range from chateaus and hotels offer services that are distinct in terms of location, décor and experiences that surpass the value for money that one might spend in a touristy city.

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Travel Events

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IT&CM China 2015 registers over 13,000 appointments

VW BUREAU

he ninth IT&CM China 2015 concluded with over 13,000 business appointments from 14 – 16 April. The show delivered close to 500 quality buyers across MICE, association and corporate profiles. First-time corporate exhibitor Wyndham Hotel Group shared that they had achieved their sales and marketing objectives through the show. Charles Teng, Director of Global Sales said: “IT&CM China has helped us to promote our brand to the Chinese market and make connections with new buyers such as Applied Materials. The buyers we had appointments with are

also professional and timely.” Chinese exhibitor Hangzhou New China Travel Service Co. Ltd’s Deputy Managing Director, Jackson Wang said: “We have garnered more leads this year! We look forward to welcoming more international interest for our incentive travel, meetings and events in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou.” Remarked Jorge Rodriguez, Executive Board Member of Sotto Tour SA, Portugal, “I came to IT&CM China with the objective of looking for destinations

for incentive trips in 2016. Through the business appointments we had, I believe that we will procure about USD 300,000 of grounds services, hotels and airlines within Mainland China as well as the Special Autonomous Region (SAR) destinations.” First-time association buyer Kimberly LaBounty, President of Apex Management and Special Events Inc, USA explained: “In addition to gaining valuable tools at the forums that have taught me how to make our conference a success, I also met vendors I may use.”

Taiwan’s IDA Executive Committee (IDA Annual Meeting)’s Chief Executive Ethan Wang expressed that the structured appointment scheduling system at IT&CM China was effective in allowing him to quickly connect with potential suppliers to create business opportunities. He further revealed, “I had good discussions with destinations Melbourne, Fukuoka, Jeju and Toronto. These cities in addition to Las Vegas, Berlin, Thailand, Sapporo, Malaysia, Hangzhou, Taiwan and Bali are among those that have piqued my interest as a result of my participation at IT&CM China.”

Third edition of WTM Latin America celebrates success

VW BUREAU

orld Travel Market Latin America 2015, which hosted the 43rd Braztoa Business Event is firmly established as the leading global event for the Latin American travel industry after a phenomenal 21% increase in visitors and press attending the event over the three days and an impressive volume of business deals anticipated. The three day event has ended on an incredible high seeing exhibitors, visitors and buyers from around the world all toasting to the success of the third event, which this year was held at the larger and more central Expo Centre Norte, Sao

Voyager’s World > May 2015

Paulo from 22 – 24 April. Over the three days the exhibition welcomed almost 1300 exhibitors of which 60 were exhibiting at the event for the first time. Kleopatra Apostolou, the Greek Tourism Ministry`s Advertising, Marketing and Research Director commented: “The number of Brazilian visitors to our country went from 27,355 in 2013 to 52,217 in 2014, and the trade fair is an important time for promoting the destination.” Brazil’s 25 states [including a federal district] were present at the fair thanks to their partnership with the Ministry

of Tourism. “The tourism market has become more modern and WTM Latin America is supporting this and also bringing in a quality trade visitors and buyers”, said Vania Climinacio, Events Manager of the Department of Sport and Tourism of the government of Paraná. The Brazilian Resorts Association (Resorts Brasil) carried out research with its members who took part in the third WTM Latin America and reported that 90% were highly satisfied with the results they obtained. “This is really a special event, with great business opportunities”, guaranteed Alberto Cestrone, the entity’s Regional Director of the South.

Flávia Matos, the Forum’s executive director, stressed the importance of the workshop, which was attended by more than 100 travel managers: “WTM Latin America is a benchmark of professionalism in the travel sector, a value that the FOHB identifies with. We brought the concept of corporate travel in the hotel sector to the event”, she said. “Now there’s no longer any doubt that we’re the main B2B event in the travel sector in Latin America and one of the main ones in the world. We fulfilled our mission to transform the event into a catalyst for business and we’ll continue maintaining this line in order to grow.”

DUBAI FORGES AHEAD TO BECOME TOP MICE DESTINATION TOWARDS 2020 PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

Dubai Business Events organised a Discover Dubai Study Mission for travel trade and media from Asia

Networking dinner at Burj Al Arab

to show what the Emirate has in the pipeline towards making it the choicest MICE destination.

ubai Business Events (DBE), the official Convention Bureau for the Emirate, organised the Discover Dubai Study Mission for the travel trade and media fraternity from Asian countries, namely India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan and Singapore from 17 – 20 April, 2015.

Burj Khalifa

With a history dating back to 7000BC with a completely different geography, a thriving age of export of dates, fishing and pearl diving paved way for economic instability from the Great Depression, before striking gold with the ‘Oil’ era in the 1960s. Today, the city is evolving itself to be the first choice for the global Meetings, Industry, Conferences & Exhibitions (MICE) industry. Designed to orient the city’s business landscape for the market, the study began with a welcome presentation and dinner at Atlantis The Palm Hotel. Our agenda over the next few days involved visiting various hotels and venue spaces including the JW Marriott Marquis, Sheraton Grand Sheikh Zayed Road, Park Hyatt Dubai, Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, the Palace Downtown and Address Dubai Mall. We were put up at the Address Dubai Mall and the Palace Downtown, both belonging to the Emaar Hospitality Group. ‘

Aside from learning about the room inventory and meeting spaces in the city, we were part of an interesting mix of team building activities, that are sure to appeal to MICE groups, be it incentives or meetings. On one occasion, we had dinner at the ‘Al Sahra’ desert camp enjoying Arabic cuisine with traditional music and dance, on the third night, we had a networking dinner at the Burj Al Arab and our farewell dinner was organised at Armani Hotel overlooking the world’s largest fountains coming alive every half hour. We also experienced a half-day golf session at the Address Mongomerie Dubai, a premier golf resort, with easyto-learn amateur golfing lessons. On the last day, a visit to the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding to learn about the Arabic culture and traditions, after which we were divided into teams with a Tablet and some Dirhams, to set off exploring old Dubai, by activating different activities on the Tablet, such as exploring the spice and gold souks, Dubai Creek, carpet shops, the mosque, and so on. Dubai Business Events has a team of 20 persons looking after what events exist internationally, tracking their rotation patterns and ascertaining their

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Old Dubai

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Steen Jakobsen, Director of Dubai Business Events Today, business tourism accounts for approximately 20% of the overall tourism numbers to Dubai and DBE is looking to welcome anywhere between 3-4 million business visitors every year towards the Expo year. criteria for choosing a destination. “Dubai Business Events is a one-stop shop to plan and organise any event in Dubai. We have excellent connections with the government, airlines and all the related stakeholders,” says Steen Jakobsen, Director of Dubai Business Events. As part of their strategy, DBE also looks at new events that are of local or regional nature and take place in Dubai. Steen says that DBE considers the possibility of developing such homegrown events, conferences, meetings, year after year, into becoming strong international events. Small, local events and tradeshows that have now become international include Gulfood, which is now the largest food exhibition in the world and Arab Health, which is the second largest pharmaceutical exhibition in the world. “These are examples of events that started out and now have become substantial global events attracting close to 100,000 people every year from all over the world.” DBE is aiming at increasing the number of visitors that attends our business events every year, we want as many people that travel to the Emirate for attending meetings, conferences and incentives. For this, it is working in tandem with both Dubai-based as well as global event organisers in doing the promotions of the events to ensure as much attendance as possible. All the efforts are directed towards achieving the magical number of 20 million visitors to Dubai by 2020, as it gears up to host the Expo 2020. “We expect 25 million visitors during the Expo. Dubai is testimony of our capability as a business events destination. This city offers immense opportunities and we hope you will be able to meet the right clients who will satisfy the needs of your customers,” he says.

Voyager’s World > May 2015

Last year, the city’s hotels had 11.6 million visitors, which was, in total, an increase of 5.6% over 2013. With growth being quite strong, DBE is aware of the need for quite a strong strategy that involves a number of things, one of them being a very strong branding and marketing of Dubai. Right from the time, I stepped into the city, I found the Emirate to be literally and figuratively a melting pot of the East and the West, with people from nearly 200 nationalities currently working and living there. English is widely spoken and hence, anyone hailing from a cosmopolitan city would not feel out of place here as well. The DBE division, being more than 11 years old, also ensures that it has the necessary capacity in place besides the marketing efforts. Headquartered in Dubai, it has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, London, New York, Sao Paulo and now in India too. Gearing up with the local vendors To be a successful destination for meetings and conferences, one of the most important things is the presence of a strong team at the destination. “We are the official convention bureau for Dubai and have taken on the role to access that platform for collaboration and partnerships among all our tourism stakeholders in Dubai. So, we are encouraging partnerships here, be it the Emirates Airlines, the Dubai Airport, our hotels, conference centres, PCOs, DMCs and other suppliers. We ensure that once we bid for conferences, we put together a team of local partners that can work jointly together,” added Steen. In the last 12 months alone, there was a significant increase in the number of hotels in Dubai with more than 8000 new hotel rooms added in 2014. Around 15000-20000 additional rooms are already in the pipeline and will be ready between now and early 2017; a signifi-

cant chunk of those will be in three and four star categories. Anticipating the need for hotels to be able to accommodate the increasing number of visitors, last year the government announced a financial incentive to develop three and four star hotels and grow the middle segment of the hotel market even more. “Although the Emirate has a good number of internationally recognised five-star hotels, we also want more three and four star hotels as they are in high demand among MICE visitors and families. We have already received more than 50 applications from developers who want to build new hotel inventory in the next few years.” The decision to move into the mid-market is to ensure that Dubai has an appeal to a broader segment of international visitors, MICE visitors being one of them and also families, especially those visiting for medical routines. They may have restrictions on staying at five star hotels and hence, having more options in the mid-segment will allow Dubai to check in more families and MICE visitors. Future In the longer term, construction is slowly beginning at the site of Expo 2020, where there will be substantial facilities built. But those facilities are not only for the Expo but also aimed to cater for future events and accommodate other our trade shows. That will ensure the Emirate additional capacity to host international events, whilst freeing up space for more conferences in its existing venues. The anticipated additional room inventory will logically entail more service staff and hence, there will be more job opportunities for expatriates as well as the Emiratis. The government is extensively encouraging the local Emiratis to consider tourism and hospitality as career options and there is a tourism college

under construction right now. Besides training and educating the students, the institution is expected to partner with international tourism institutions to bring in more expertise. There are a number of theme parks under construction presently and three of them will be open in 2016, namely Legoland, the world’s first and one-of-its-kind Bollywood Park and Motiongate. While these parks will appeal to the family segment, Bollywood Park, in particular, is hoped for drawing in more visitors from India. Competition for Dubai as a MICE destination Dubai sees competition on a global level from other MICE destinations, primarily in Asia Pacific and Africa. It often sees itself bidding for international conferences against Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and also often with Johannesburg and Cape Town. Closer home Abu Dhabi and Istanbul are tough contenders. Its top inbound markets include Saudi Arabia at No. 1, followed by India and the UK, not ruling out Europe which has been a traditionally strong point for tourism. Dubai recorded a growth of 25% in 2014 from China and it is also keen to tap the emerging middle class segment in Africa and sees a future in Latin America as well. LOOK OUT FOR – - China Insurance Conference in 2015, expecting 5,000 delegates - Society of Petroleum Engineers will host 2016 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Dubai with 16,000 delegates. - 15,000-20,000 rooms to be added by 2017; more 3 and 4 star hotels - Three theme parks to open in 2016 – Legoland, Motiongate and Bollywood Park

“ Incorporating Luxury Travel

India has a fast growing population and is also a rapidly developing country.

There are a lot of buyers from the Indian market I want to meet.

Baek Sang Hyeon, Busan Metropolitan City

”

“ build relationships with Indian suppliers ” Attending IT&CM India allows me

, both new and current. Leona Meadows, Select Incentive Group Travel, South Africa

India has all the possible “ IT&CM traits

– structured appointments with potential buyers and connecting with industry colleagues to exchange ideas and promote India as the MICE destination to the world. Jivesh Sehgal, Kempinski Hotel Ambience Delhi

”

“

Attending IT&CM India gives me the opportunity to network with Indian hotel suppliers from other regions, and I can share the knowledge I garner with other HelmsBriscoe associates.

Vinita Kripalani, HelmsBriscoe, India

”

Mark Your Calendars! 18 – 20 August 2015

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Delhi, India

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Korea highlights MICE offerings for Indian market ROHIT HANGAL

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) organizes its annual incentive road show on 9 April for MICE travel in Mumbai, which was attended by more than 250 top MICE travel agents, event planners and corporate.

orea Tourism Organization (KTO) organized its annual incentive road show on 9 April for MICE travel in Mumbai, which was attended by more than 250 top MICE travel agents, event planners and corporates. 10 Korean exhibitors showcased their new products and offerings for the Indian audience among which were two regional tourism boards, the Busan Tourism Organization (BTO) and Jeju Convention & Visitors Bureau (JCVB). The DMCs who participated in the roadshow were US Travel, Jane Tour & DMC, Kim’s Travel Service, Bosuk Tour, Hana Tour, JBT Korea and music performance group ‘LIN’. More than 100 travel agencies met all the suppliers and received new product information from the tourism boards. The platform gave a good opportunity to the agents to know more about Korea’s MICE offerings and they will be exploring the possibilities to send groups to Korea this season.

This was followed by a gala evening called the Korea Incentive Night 2015, which had a destination presentation on Korea as a MICE destination and a live Korean traditional music performance. “Our MICE roadshow comes in the right time when all the event planners and companies are starting to plan their offsite events for the financial year. I am very pleased with positive response we received today especially with the presence of big corporate houses who are generally the final decision makers when it comes to incentive travel and events,” said Byungsun Lee, Director of Korea Tourism. South Korea appeals to the MICE segment leveraging on its world class infrastructure, global accessibility and fastest average internet connections in the world. While visa is a must for Indian travellers to the country, the visa is issued at Rs. 2400 for a single-entry per-

mit that is valid up to 90 days. The country lays claim to more than 115,000 rooms to cater to tourists and plans to add 3800 more hotel rooms and 8000 more general guest rooms by next year.

As for availability of Indian food, there are more than 100 Indian restaurants in Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island combined and can cater to groups up to 70-100 pax in a single restaurant. Outdoor catering of Indian food can be arranged, so also vegetarian/Jain meal requests.

ICCA names top destinations for meetings, conferences Courtesy: INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS REVIEW

he International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) annual statistics on the number of rotating international association meetings hosted by countries and cities indicate overall stability. Paris held on to the top rank, with Vienna swapping places with Madrid and moving up from three to two, and Berlin and Barcelona swapping places at four and five, respectively. London’s rank went up to the 6th place in 2014, one up from its position in 2013. The city’s conference highlights from 2014 include the International Liver Congress, which saw over 10,000 attendees, the European Society of Pathology’s congress which had a 23 percent increase in attendance compared to 2013 and the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology’s annual congress which hosted 7,000 delegates in the city. Edinburgh, meanwhile, moved up nine places to 31 in the city rankings, the highest it has reached since 2010. Con-

Voyager’s World > May 2015

vention Edinburgh has secured 208 new conference bid wins for the city in 201415 that are expected to bring more than 65,000 delegates in the coming years, generating over an estimated £91.5m to the local economy. Recent new bid wins for the city have included the European Society for Clinical Cell Analysis in October 2016 and the International Conference on Ocean Energy in 2016. These two events alone will bring a combined 1,600 delegates, and are estimated to be worth over £2.4M for the local economy. Edinburgh’s Ambassador Programme attracted more than 50 new members in the last year, particularly from Life Sciences and Commerce & Industry. With regular fighting for position between rival destinations, numerous short-term reasons why space isn’t always available for association meetings and with more meetings still to be discovered by ICCA and its members, these don’t represent any dramatic changes. Top Countries The top five countries all remain in that top echelon, with the United States re-

taining top ranking, Germany and Spain ranking No. 2 and No.3, while the UK and France swap places into fourth and fifth place, respectively. Germany, once again, performed well in the rankings, and Matthias Schultze, managing director of the German Convention Bureau, noted that of the international association conferences hosted in Germany last year, 8 percent are from the UK and 10 percent are from the US. More than 30 percent of international conventions in Germany are in the sector of technology and innovation and 23% in medicine and healthcare. This year, Munich is set to host the 18th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention with 1,000 international participants. Hamburg is will get around 5,000 delegates for Intermodal Europe, and the first Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, with 5,000 expected to attend, will be held next month in Berlin. IEEE is hosting the IEEE/RSJ International Conferences on Intelligent Robot Systems (IROS) in Hamburg this September,

and IPA will hold its 17th International Congress in Berlin this October. Estonia moved up five slots from the previous year’s position to reach 44th place globally. The number of association conferences held in the country jumped from 38 to 74 between 2013 and 2014, an increase of nearly 100%. The nation’s capital, Tallinn, also scored big in the city rankings, moving from 90th place to 46th. The city hosted 54 ICCA conferences last year compared to 27 in 2013. “What was striking in this year’s exercise is actually the very large number of meetings we identified over the last twelve months for the year 2013 – more than 600 meetings were identified worldwide, and we’re pretty certain we’ll have equal success in finding more qualifying 2014 meetings over the next twelve months,” ICCA CEO Martin Sirksaid in a statement. “Most commentators are naturally focusing on the new 2014 rankings, but the nature of this business means that we always continue to identify many qualifying meetings long after each annual announcement.

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risk management key to lowering stakes during events PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

Risks threaten venues, suppliers, organisers and the attendees across life, security, health, property and finance; so consider retaining a risk specialist, says Michael Kern, Executive Director, DEKON Group. When taking event insurance, the question is what you want to cover. Ensure all pre and post events, the setup and dismantle days are included. A general liability with high limit is the base; always check what is already covered by the venue. Stay away from contractors who cannot show you their insurance certificate.

EKON has been a player in servicing Professional Conference Organizing (PCO) for international clients for over two decades. Michael Kern, Executive Director, DEKON Group, says that it is important that a PCO evaluates all the likely risks and ascertain a suitable plan to manage the comeback and recovery, while also considering how to take the edge of possible risks. “Not all events bear the same risks, senior citizens trade fairs have different risks than a rock concert. However, for both of these meetings you might need more on-site medical support than for an ordinary conference, so a standard risk management plan won’t work,” says Michael. He believes that risk management is increasingly becoming a bigger focus area. Conference organizers are facing questions by participants and event owners about increased security measures for the events, and people are also becoming more cautious about daily risks. Even insurance coverage and risk averseness is still a cultural issue; still nobody wants to risk a lawsuit just because the organizer has been negligent. Examples of event insurances Event insurances are usually for the time of the event only, but when taking the insurance one must make sure that all pre and post events, as well as the setup and dismantle days are included. When it comes to choosing the right insurance, the question is what you want to cover. There are not only participants who can hurt themselves, they can hurt others or damage things. There is your own staff, but also suppliers who can damage floors and walls while building up your stage, or the exhibition hall. It is always advisable to consult a specialist, who is familiar with the local jurisdiction, especially if you organize like us meetings worldwide. In the next four weeks, we run congresses in the Netherlands, Hong Kong, the United States and France, and believe me, the needs are different in all destinations.

Which insurance to take? A general liability/public liability with high limit is the base, then you can include medical, fire, exhibits etc. But always check what is already covered by the venue, so you might not need to insure again. Also your contractors are supposed to be properly insured, stay away from contractors who cannot show you their insurance certificate. Last but not least you might want to insure your equipment against theft, fire etc. if not covered by the venue. Factors to consider First of all, one needs to take into account as to who should be insured - the exhibitors, participants or the organizers? Next, look into the local jurisdiction to learn what is needed in the country where the event is held. Determine how averse the event owner is to risk and since one cannot insure each possible risk, insurances can quickly become a big cost factor in the budget if every risk is taken care of. Well negotiated attrition and cancellation policies can save you a fortune in case of an imminent crisis. And there should be already an insurance for the venue in place; check that before getting an insurance. Possible hazards Michael says the likelihood of hazards often depends on the destination. “If you have a conference at a beach resort, then you should consider a storm and the flood that could occur, especially if it is the rainy season. But normally before a conference starts, everything that can happen during build up should be considered. Workers can be hurt, goods could be stuck in customs, delivery truck drivers can go on strike, there could be a bird flu outbreak and nobody might want to come. You cannot also rule out a volcano eruption with an ash cloud, so no participants can fly in (or out).

largely depends on the type of event. “First of all, walk the event through with open eyes and mind. Walk it through like a participant of the event, put yourself in the shoes of the average participant and you will find all risks easily,” he says. It is also very crucial to check the emer-

gency plans of the venue. Nothing is more confusing than conflicting emergency plans (the PCO’s and that of the venue). One should have a clear line of command prepared beforehand and a complete scenario of the event for each team member with the safety measures.

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30>>

International MICE Venues gear up for Indian event planners The top International MICE venues are expecting a double digit growth

CCIB

from the Indian outbound market

Ignacio Ducasse Gutierrez, Director and Tourism Counselor of Tourism Office of Spain in India Spain has seen an increase in the interest of Indian MICE planners and by the figures for visas for MICE trips.In the last three years, there has been a double-digit increase of MICE Tourism,with the major trade fair CPHI we are excepting an increase of 15-20%.

he Indian outbound market is considered to be an emerging and the growing market in terms of MICE. The MICE segment has been consistently growing from India especially with the top International MICE venues such as Kuala Lumpur Convention CentreThe Centre, Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) and the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB).Some of the MICE trends observed states that meetings and events are getting more tech-savvy , Apps downloaded on smart phones and iPads, easily accessible mobile sites and meeting-dedicated Facebook pages are assisting planners with the registration process and offering an easier method to gather feedback from participants after the events. Indian Market Sanjeet, Tourism Attache, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office – India says that,

Voyager’s World > May 2015

India is emerging as the world’s fastestgrowing outbound market. The growth in Indian outbound travel has been due to many factors that include more disposable income and greater connectivity. “MICE and business travel are areas that will boost outbound travel from India. The growing interest in MICE especially incentive trips has been phenomenal over the recent months. The preference of Indian travelers in both leisure and MICE segments for more experiential trips and exploring niche destinations apart from the regular and popular ones,” He added. Ignacio Ducasse Gutierrez, Director and Tourism Counselor of Tourism Office of Spain in India said, “There has been an increase in the interest shown by the Indian MICE planners to Spain as a MICE destination. The interest has increased both in terms of the variety of possible

destinations like Barcelona, Madrid or Valencia is considered for a second tour of incentives to Spain. It has been observed there has been an increased demand in these kinds of trips to Spain and the growth has been consistent in the figures for visas for MICE and business trips.” Ho Yoke Ping, General Manager – Business Events, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) states that the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) or business events market is a lucrative one and is also an industry with huge potentials for growth in Malaysia. The industry targets a greater flow of high-yield business visitors to Malaysia, with at least 8% of the overall total tourist arrivals by the year 2020. The trend for the business events market has been consistent for the past few years with India being one of the top 10 market sources for Malaysia.

“The corporate and incentive market, the association markets also find Malaysia attractive, because they can network and seek education opportunities, knowledge sharing and networking among the association professionals.Malaysia is an attractive destination for the Indian business events market for several reasons the accessibility between India and Malaysia and the close proximity, the valuefor-money proposition and the cultural similarities, especially in the arts, songs and cuisines,” She says. “The recent results of the recently released SITE Index Annual Analysis and Forecast for the Motivational Events Industry reveal continued optimism about the industry’s future and the incentive travel industry is growing and is predicted to continue to grow at a steady pace through 2016,”She added.

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre / Tourism Malaysia

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Ho Yoke Ping, General Manager – Business Events, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) The trend for the business events market has been consistent for the past few years with India being one of the top 10 markets for Malaysia. Malaysia is an attractive destination for India , with MyFEST 2015 celebrations, we are expecting growth in the arrivals from India.

Ignacio said, “In the last three years, there has been a double-digit increase for MICE Tourism to Spain. For 2015, with the major trade fair, CPHI to be held in October, we are excepting an increase of 15-20%.”

Marketing activities In the opinion of Sanjeet, Philippines is engaged in an aggressive marketing campaign, promoting its exotic destinations in the Indian market with several new initiatives including easing of visa rules, aggressive marketing initiatives and development of niche tourism products. The Road shows are further scheduled targeting tier II & tier III cities which started with a show in Hyderabad in the first week of February 2015 and the launch of ‘Visit the Philippines Year 2015’ campaign . In order to connect with the consumers directly, Philippines also organized consumer engagement program along with Mall Branding at Select CityWalk, Saket, Delhi.

Ho Yoke Ping states that Malaysia is riding high on the MyFEST 2015 celebrations, we are expecting some growth in the arrivals from India by end of the year.

Ignacio says organizing networking evenings between Spanish companies or Convention Bureaus for Indian corporate houses. We have hosted destination

Expected growth for 2015 Sanjeet says, “Over 61,000 Indians visited the Philippines in 2014, hence registering a growth of 17.14%.It is expected this number will rise to around 75,000 in 2015 and notch up to 100,000 by 2016 end with the visa relaxation and new tourism promotion activities.MICE business in the Philippines has grown by almost 65%in one year in 2014.”

familiarization trips for selected MICE focused Indian travel trade and also organizing meetings in India between Spanish companies or Convention Bureaus and MICE focused Indian travel trade, organizing presentations or training to travel trade and corporate houses during destination selection process. Ho Yoke Ping said that, for the corporate and incentives markets, we have also just launched the “Malaysia Like Never Before campaign and MTD-X.The campaign highlights the unique and unheard features of five key Malaysian destinations for event planners, namely; Langkawi, Georgetown, Kuala Lumpur, Mount Kinabalu, and Kuching. Each destination has its own theme, such as ‘Party like never before in Langkawi’ and ‘Soar like never before at Mount Kinabalu’. ‘Do’, ‘Stay’, and ‘Eat’ recommendations for the most unique and luxurious offerings

are listed for each destination. “The target audiences are meeting and incentive groups and also meeting planners.Along with Malaysia Like Never Before, MyCEB introduced the Malaysia Twin Deal X (MTDX) Programme, a continuation of its popular Malaysia Twin Deal ++ (MTD++) Programme in 2014. Similar to its predecessor, MTDX comprises two programmes, namely Deal 1 and Deal 2, which provides value added support for international corporate meeting and incentive groups and incentive rewards for international corporate meeting and incentive planners respectively depending on group size,” She says “The business event organizers and event planners can visit www.likeneverbefore.my to find out more about these new initiatives. The website also features an event proposal generator to help

www.voyagersworld.in

1888 Hotel Sydney

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SanJeet, Tourism Attache, Philippines Tourism Marketing Office – India India is emerging as the world’s fastest-growing outbound market and it is good news for the travel and tourism industry globally. The rapid growth in Indian outbound travel has been fuelled by many factors with more disposable income and greater connectivity. organizers get started on their journey to Malaysia,” She added. Best convention centers Sanjeet said, “Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Manila made history as Asia’s first convention center that provides the perfect venue for every gathering and purpose and offers excellent facilities for meetings, conventions, exhibits and special events – an extensive hall that can seat more than 3,500 people.” Ignacio says that, “The Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) is unique in Europe due to its modern installations, capacity, intelligent architectural design and technical resources. The convention centre has two inter-connected buildings the Convention Centre, with a capacity for 15000 people and the Forum Building Auditorium, seating 3140. The key features of the convention center are a great banquet hall and 36 meeting rooms and all column-free which equipped with cutting-edge technology. The Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) has become a special point of reference for major pharmaceutical and medical European, and World Congresses, such as EUROPCR or ECCO with 12,000 delegates each and ECCMID with 8,000 delegates. Some of the corporate events held, companies in the automotive industry such as Mercedes, Toyota and IT industry such as Microsoft with 8,000 delegates and SAP as well.

Voyager’s World > May 2015

Ho Yoke Ping states that, Malaysia has Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre comprising of two auditorium (seating 3,000 and 500 respectively), 9,710 sq meters of Exhibition Halls, a Grand Ballroom which seats 2,000 diners, a Banquet Hall for 500, a Conference Hall for 1,800 and 20 other meeting rooms, provides 20,059 sq meters of function space. MICE Trends In the opinion of Sanjeet, People can go around from organic coffee, local wines and handicrafts post a MICE event. Ignacio states that with the new age technology - Meetings and events are getting more tech-savvy than ever before. The Apps downloaded on smart phones and iPads, easily accessible mobile sites and meeting-dedicated Facebook pages are assisting planners with the registration process and offering an easier method to gather feedback from participants after the events. For most Indian MICE groups, shopping and nightlife have become an important part with cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Ibiza. Ho Yoke Ping concludes that the new trends that have been making tremendous progress in this segment are the increased focus on applying technology in meetings and events. The Mobile Apps and gaming are used in enhancing the delegates’ or participants’ experience while others include the seamless checkin applications.

MICE VENUES IN SYDNEY

ith an unmatched vista capturing the iconic Harbour Bridge, Opera House and city lights, Luna Park Venues offers versatile event spaces, professional service and first class catering from one of the most unique locations in Australia. Luna Park Venues offer 10,000sqm of exhibition space spread across 14 event spaces, that are easily accessible by car, train, bus and ferry, with a large multi-level onsite car park. Private charter transfers can be arranged from locations across the Sydney CBD. The Dockside Pavilion Darling Harbour in Sydney is a custom-designed event venue that sits on an anchored floating pontoon in the heart of the city. It can accommodate up to 2,000 guests, and offers impressive water and city views. With an event space of 1,470m2, Dockside Pavilion is equipped to host exhibitions, conferences, business events, gala events, festivals and public events. The 1888 Hotel Sydney, located in inner-city suburb of Pyrmont, is a heritage listed 90-bedroom boutique hotel, eatery, bar and event space that combines a little of Sydney’s old world charm with a lot of contemporary design and modern-day comfort. Built in 1888 and relaunched in 2013, 1888 Hotel was meticulously restored from an old wool shed and thoughtfully designed with rooms having 3m high ceilings, exposed brick walls, original Iron Bark Beams, recycled timber work stations, etc. Its main meeting space, the Geddes Room can be used as a meeting destination, corporate retreat, press events, photo shoots or a restful hideaway between presentations.

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Corporate Hotels.. dipping Weekend Occupancies... Go MICE! ROHIT HANGAL

he global Business Consultancy, Cushman & Wakefield reported that the Indian hospitality sector will add 52,000 new hotel rooms to be added in the next five years). This will lead to a rise of over 65 per cent in total hotel inventory in India. The National Capital Region (NCR) alone is expected to contribute around one-third to the total expected hotel rooms supply during the period. Diminishing occupancies, increasing inventory, too much reliance on Corporate Business has taken the wind out of its sails. The aggression showed by all and sundry in creating wealth in form of building hotels has resulted in the present glut. The last few years have seen India’s City hotels rise out of nowhere and touch record ARRs and occupancy rates and soon the inevitable fall from grace. Some, who justified the prevailing rates due to ‘India Shining’ syndrome, have now conveniently disappeared. In an era of higher occupancies due to limited inventory and a growing economy, what surprises more, is the utter lack of foresight to plan for the increase in inventory compounded with a slowed economy. Indian City hotels continue to disregard opportunities to create new markets for their properties. Indian city hotels other than those Delhi have successfully driven the leisure market out, and chased the MICE segment to Bangkok, Colombo and Kuala Lumpur. In comparison to occupancies from Monday to Wednesday, weekend business in hotels fluctuates wildly. I would love to see the hotels provide their ‘variations in occupancies’ figures, as eagerly as they flaunt their ARRs. The positives from spiraling rates in the

early part of the decade have resulted in the mushrooming of alternative accommodation like service apartments, guesthouses and homestays. Some service apartments which offer excellent value for money and have given three-star and four-star properties a run for their money. Companies are also creating their own in–house accommodation options. And truth be told, hoteliering can be outsourced and learnt, in order to provide the services professionally. Hoteliers should take a cue from markets such as Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, where it pays to create a larger ‘source market base’ and use sounder yield management techniques. Unlike other industry sectors, like the FMCG, Pharma or the Banking sector, Indian City hotels have been extremely shy of creating and nurturing new market segments, especially targeting MICE! It is surely not rocket science that Indian cities at most times are down by 60 70% from Thursday to Sunday, i.e., would be over a minimum of 200,000 unsold room nights! There has been virtually no effort being made by any of the major hotel associations to help hotels tieup with tourism boards, deal with major MICE Networks or even travel companies to help create a transparent room rate mechanism combined with a sound promotional strategy that would help generate business from varied markets such as MICE or leisure. With the expanding hotel scenario, where in all and sundry see themselves as a hotel owner and the International Hotel brands see an opportunity to fix their brands and get professional management to one of the world’s fastest growing hotel construction markets. In

the world changing Hotel ownership dynamics from traditional hotel owners and operators to the new real estate developers, who go by the name of ‘Asset Creators’! In a new found love of creating wealth, hotels are now a big part of the scheme to generate recognition and accrued valuation to raise more funds to expand their real estate ambitions. In such an era where the hotel ownership is myopic towards any long-term business plan, management is pressurized to cater to the whims of making quick money, without a desire to create a market, which involves a bit of patience and hard work! Leafing through newspaper articles which announce hotel projects in India (especially the ones announced by real estate biggies), it’s quite surprising that some of them have not even moved from the drawing board stage, for about a year. The announcement of new hotel projects with leading world hotel brands, adds value to the project’s real estate component and gets the necessary ‘pre-public issue’ attention from media. Word is soon bound to get around and hotel brands will get tired of attaching their brands to projects on the drawing board. As more and more hotel builders go in for multi-use models, creating MICE infrastructure will add immense value to their bottom lines. The new age city hotels have created a system of milking the already drained ‘Corporate Cows’ or the homegrown Revenue Manager’s diktats. The Revenue Manager’s role (primarily an imported concept), was introduced into Indian hotel system by the big multinational chains to maximize revenue. The Revenue Manager is accorded with powers to supersede the sales team’s control

over evaluating clientele and negotiated rates. Conflicts of interest between the Revenue Manager’s short-term goals and the end result of creating a long– term sustained business relationship is one of the key factors for hotels to refuse to look for alternate sources. Apart from the corporate MICE, that are always welcome, Indian Hotels across sectors have a large portion of revenues arising from Food & Beverage and taking into consideration the penchant for your countrymen to use hotels for weddings, anniversaries, birth-days, retirement send-offs, kitty parties and even childnaming ceremonies, the market for MICE will not go out of fashion in a hurry! Irrespective of the size of the hotel or its star category, it would help if an Event venue is incorporated, especially in India. Some European hotel brands, which do not have MICE as part of the standard design plan are now customizing to take on the Indian desire to celebrate! It does not make so much difference to add an event venue, even if you do not wish to manage it on your own. While doing business in India, there is always ‘Outsourcing’! Of late, there has been a concerted effort by leading hotel brands such as Marriott, Starwood, Hilton and Taj to create separate marketing teams to reach out to the MICE segment. Marketing MICE requires different skill-sets, not necessary aligns with that of the Revenue Managers. Hotels should create a business model, where Event managers, Associations and Professional Conference Organizers (PCOs) are partnered with and considered as part of their distribution strategy. And Yes. Commissions are important! They work in most international markets and will do good in India as well.

www.voyagersworld.in

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FESTIVALS OF June 2015

he Gwangju Toechon Tomato Festival is aimed at protecting producers and consumers through the direct trade of non-polluted farm products from Lake Paldang region. There are a variety of events during the festival like swimming in a pool of tomatoes, building a Tower of Babel, harvesting experience, cooking, tomato exhibitions and juice sampling, music and various performances among others. The highlight of the festival is the Tomato Well-being Food Tasting and Exhibition. Furthermore, there are a variety of events such as a wetland ecology management walk and a ‘love the environment’ drawing and composition contest as well as diverse participation events.

Gwangju Toechon Tomato Festival, Korea

20 - 22 May, 2015

nce again this year Ibiza hosts the prestigious International Music Summit, which brings together some of the top professionals from the world of electronic music. Electronic music comes out of the discos for a few days with this international event which includes a variety of round tables and talks on music production and the music business. What’s more, every night there’s a chance to enjoy hearing some of the best electronic music on the scene today in a range of venues around the island.

Ibiza International Music Summit, Spain

25 July 2015

17 - 23 August, 2015

adayawan festival is the main festival of Davao City celebrated every third week of August and a celebration of the plentiful harvests of fruits and orchids during the seaso. Kadayawan is derived from the prehistoric word ‘madayaw’ meaning a warm and friendly greeting used to explain a thing that is valuable, superior or beautiful. During the festival, floats of fresh flowers, fruits and street party are seen everywhere; also colourful tribes parade the street with their tribal costumes and jewellery.

Kadayawan Festival, Davao City, The Philippines Voyager’s World > May 2015

omorrowland is a unique fantasy amusement park setting, completed by the dance heavy line-up, featuring other similiar sub-genres. Incredible decorations and the world’s biggest DJ’s playing to the world’s best crowd. 2014 will be its 10th year and in that time Tomorrowland has expanded to one of the largest dance festivals in Europe. Two weekends are being organized for the 10th anniversary of Tomorrowland. Each day Tomorrowland offers you the greatest artists, representing the very best of your favourite music genre; whether it’s house, progressive, techno, dubstep, trance, hardstyle, electro, minimal or any other genre.

Tomorrowland, Flanders

35>>

THE WORLD 12 - 18 July, 2015

he sumfest every year is held in the city of Montego Bay and is attended by reggae loverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world wide. Famously known as the Greatest Reggae Show on Earth, the sumfest witnesses live performances from a number of acclaimed artists. Reggae Sumfest was first held in the year 1993 and has been growing big ever since then. Over the years the event has presented the best talents in Reggae while keeping the motto of Promoting Music, the Universal Force alive. Reggae Sumfest has successfully incorporated international artists to the line up such as Usher, Chris Brown, R Kelly, Rihanna, etc in past few years.

Reggae Sumfest, Montego, Jamaica

29 June, 2015

t is a festival celebrated with red wine, in the town of Haro in the La Rioja region of north Spain. People dressed in white shirts and red scarves carry jugs, bottles and other types of containers filled with red wine. Led by the townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mayor on horseback, the procession passes through the town to the Cliffs of Bilibio, where a mass is celebrated at the Hermitage of San Felices de Bilibio. After the mass, the red shower begins with everyone tossing wine on each other until all are soaked from head to foot. The origins of this tradition could go back to a dispute with the nearby village of Miranda de Ebro over the ownership of some local crags. First there is a mass, and then this peaceful battle between two sides begins.

Batalla del Vino â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Battle of Wine, La Rioja, Spain

03 - 06 August, 2015 02 - 07 August, 2015

his event is held in the Tohoku district on July 7 according to the Lunar calendar. Bamboo and wooden frames are covered with paper illustrated with historic figures and pictures of samurai warriors along with birds and beasts. These are illuminated from inside and set up on yatai floats and cars which proceed in the Aomori Nebuta parade. Today, the festivals organised in Aomori and Hirosaki are well known, attracting tourists from all areas of Japan.

kita Kanto Matsuri is a summer festival in Akita City for a plentiful harvest. A kanto is a bamboo pole with cross poles attached with 46 paper lanterns shaped like rice bales and decorated with shreds of paper to wrad off evil. At the festival, youngsters clad in short jackets, hachimaki headbands, white tabi socks and zori straw sandals take turns in hoisting up the kanto one at a time to the sound of flutes and drums and parade through the town. The men prop the poles upright on their hips, shoulders or foreheads and change postures while shouting stoicallly as they try to outdo each other.

Akita Kanto Matsuri, Japan Aomori Nebuta Matsuri, Japan www.voyagersworld.in

Fore x

36>>

new startups foray into india’s nascent online forex market

Foreign exchange seems to be the new entrant into the travel purchase basket, with entrepreneurs experimenting with currency exchange across the online platform, two start-ups being in Bangalore alone. PRIYAMVADHA BALARAM

he foreign exchange market on an online forum is a relatively new concept for India. It is a place exactly where numerous currencies are traded. Foreign exchange or forex indicates a industry place exactly where one currency is traded for an additional. The main players of this marketplace are banks, financial institution, huge companies, economic brokers and folks. In the recent years forex trading has gained tremendous reputation. These are distinctive by its big volume, extreme liquidity, 24 hour trading availability and various kinds of alternatives obtainable. Forex industry and India Indian forex marketplace is tiny when compared with other created nations but with the multinationals coming up and new government policies the path of expansion is on its new heights. The Indian government has now open up new ways to trade and regulated this market as well. India has shown fantastic rise in its forex turnover in final 3 years. Folks now feel comfy to trade in and exit from the market. New developments are in row and extremely quickly Indian marketplace would emerge as a higher potential foreign exchange industry place. The emergence of new players in the online foreign exchange market, which was thus far offline here in India, is expected to soon become the next investment venture more so because it is in

the nascent stage. With overseas travel trends here to stay and given Indians’ habit of last minute travel booking decisions, let us look at two new players in India who are experimenting with two different rules of dealing forex currency for travellers. The platform is commononline, but their strategy and operations are different. New trends in online forex Ananth Reddy, Managing Director of Buyforexonline.com has been in the foreign exchange industry for 18 years now and he always thought that one could take this service online. “Today, there are a lot of travel portals that help people buy their travel requirements online; I realised that forex was the only segment that was offline. So we launched Buyforexonline.com in late 2013 to complete the basket,” he says Being in the industry proved to be an advantage for Ananth as he knew the market well. “It was the technological aspects, domain name, etc. that we needed to focus on. At buyforexonline. com, customers can go online, see live rates and place the order and make the payment online.” In the traditional forex industry, once you fix the rate, the next challenge is the payment. If one makes payment by cheque, it takes two days to clear and in those two days, the rates may fluctuate. So through our website, one can make the payment immediately, which means the

Ananth Reddy Managing Director BuyForexOnline.com

I foresee a revolution in this industry because 70% of this market is grey, unaccounted transactions. I think there is business for everybody due to lack of choices. We have positioned ourselves in a way so as to keep our service top notch.

Voyager’s World > May 2015

rate you see is the rate you get. Competition In the foreign exchange service, some players happen to be bidding agents while others are lead aggregators who pass on leads to the bank where the customers pay the balance money and take the forex and those players get a refund of 2% on completion of order. Buyforexonline.com, Ananth says, is purely an online portal wherein one can see and choose the rates based on requirements. “We offer the best rate through cash and prepaid forex card. The currency rates change based on demand supply of the currency in the market.” The portal recommends taking the prepaid forex card which is electronic money that can be reloaded if you run out of currency; you can withdraw from any ATM abroad and it comes with a spare card that comes in handy should you lose the card during the travel.

transparency and convenience and we charge 0.5% for our services. This, we think, is highly reasonable compared to using your debit card because when you swipe your debit card, there are charges for foreign usage besides few other charges including cross conversion which amounts to anywhere between 8% - 11%. The local agents ask anywhere between 1.5% – 2%, then you have to bargain with them and take the currency, out of which some notes could be outdated while others could be fake. The forex centres in the airport charge between 15%- 18%. In foreign exchange, there is a rate fixed by bank which cannot get lower than that, based on which we charge our margin and the maximum that you can levy 0.5%. Currency transactions depend on the market conditions and there could be days when you get close to the IVR rate.

As for competition, he foresees a revolution in this industry because 70% of this market is grey, unaccounted transactions. I think there is business for everybody due to lack of choices. We have positioned ourselves in a way so as to keep our service top notch.

Operations The portal began its pan-India operations at one go but the challenge that we have been facing is creating the awareness among travellers that they can buy forex online. We have a tie-up with MakeMyTrip.com and get leads through them, apart from search engine optimization marketing.

All the transactions are account payments on Buyforexonline.com. There are no cash transactions and we constantly watch the RBI regulations. Our USP is

Its services are available 24/7 for customers to transact online. Their forex will be delivered within 24 hours. We give a pre-loaded card with some currency

Abdul Hadi Shaikh CEO, Fxkart.com

The customer can either take the standard rates uploaded on the site or choose to go for a smart search. In a smart search, as soon as one posts his requisite real time, dealers can bid to give the best rates. We try to ensure a win-win situation for both of them.

Fore x

37>> to meet immediate expenses. We also have an international number for customers to reach us anytime during their travel. Ananth says: “We have observed our peak business hours to be from 6pm – 8pm when we convert 30%-40% of our transactions. Our main markets include Gurgaon, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Coimbatore.” Engaging with the travel trade “We are trying to build our relationship with the travel agents and tour operators. We are building a module for them which will fit on their desktop. Once the ticketing is done, they can trigger the lead to us. “

hedge from the bank. Best way to take currency abroad We found that using the debit card was the cheapest way. Customers gave the feedback about no transparency for cash transactions. By the time you fix a pact with the dealer and go to the store, the rates fluctuate which leads to haggling with the dealers. If one were to telephone a dealer and fix a deal, the rate may not be honoured if the call was made in the morning and the buying happens in the evening. To ease out all these minuses, Fxkart. com got all dealers together to upload their forex rates on our website. We have given tools to the dealers to help them understand how to bid better

when travellers post their requirements. If the customer and the dealer are situated at different ends of the city and make a deal for $1000, the exchange rate being INR 63, the two key factors that influence conversion would be proximity and cheapest rate.

asked about meeting competition, Abdul also mentions about a large business belonging to the grey market.

“The customer can either take the standard rates uploaded on the site or choose to go for a smart search. In a smart search, as soon as one posts his requisite real time, dealers can bid to give the best rates. We try to ensure a win-win situation for both of them.”

Abdul feels that banks are the most expensive medium for currency exchange. “We have found banks to be the most expensive, followed by the ones in airports. Reputed dealers like Centrum and Thomas Cook and the local agents in areas like Commercial Street in Bangalore come in next. In order to stay atop the market, we believe in research to be innovative and bring about tools to bid better and ensure quality. “

Fxkart.com educates the customers on what documents are required, like the passport, flight tickets, visa, etc. When

However, his opinion on meeting competition in this industry is slightly different from that of Buyforexonline.com.

Interestingly, while Buyforexonline.com works on the basis of giving the best rates and recommends pre-loaded card for travellers, there is another new player in the market, Fxkart.com that follows a different route to facilitate currency exchange online altogether. Headquartered in Dubai, Fxkart.com aggregates foreign exchange dealers on a single online platform to offer the best rates of foreign exchange for travellers. With its Research & Development department located in Bangalore, its CEO Abdul Hadi Shaikh says that the portal was started with a big vision of providing the Indian consumer with such financial information that is simple to use on a day-to-day basis. “We wanted to give the Indian consumer who is not a financial specialist a tool that helps him plan finances better. One aspect of finance that has not been served is foreign exchange.” Citing that 42 million Indians travelled overseas in 2013, Abdul notes that 20%30% of that travel was accounted for by India’s huge middle class population. With flights and international airports increasing, overseas travel will only be on an upward trajectory in India. It was decided to start Fxkart.com because nobody was doing it and people did not know the best way to spend in foreign currency. If the dollar – rupee value is at INR 62 today, customers have to pay at least 25% extra as the rupee value has depreciated. They could have saved it by thinking ahead by one rupee into the future. For instance, if an Indian student goes abroad and has to pay $50,000 for education, the bank would finance it in installments during the course period. But the loan value has to be repaid at INR. If the dollar – rupee value at the time of getting the loan was Rs. 50, it would stand at Rs. 62 by the time he clears the third or fourth payment and likewise the loan value increases as per the exchange rate, which is a huge burden for the applicant. Alternately, when one took the loan, one could have purchased a

Your gateway to the Indian Outbound Travel Market

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Flight Talk

38>>

Could these five tech concepts change aviation forever? : Tnooz.com Airbus undertakes brainstorming to find out what could be the way forward in aviation technology so in terms of preventing birdstrikes, wireless power transfer, etc.

irbus has taken to crowdsourcing to brainstorm new ideas for aviation technology, asking teams across the globe to deliver some new technologies that could push aviation further. The top five concepts take interesting approaches that tackle aviation’s 2% share of global carbon omissions, reduce bird strikes, eliminate collisions, re-configure the standard galley trolley and fully-electric ground operations. Reducing aviation with composite skin The idea of using new skins on airplane fuselages is growing in popularity, given advances in solar panels and thin conductive materials. MULTIFUN is a concept that covers a plane’s wings in a composite skin that harvest energy from the movement of the wings. The team explains: Piezoelectric fibres gather electrical charges from even the smallest movements during flight, storing the energy generated in battery panels integrated in the fuselage and using it to power auxiliary in-flight systems, such as lighting and entertainment systems. This

reduces the energy footprint of aircraft during flight and could even replace the entire power source for ground operations. The ability for this technology to be retrofit onto existing planes is especially appealing. Preventing birdstrikes Incidents involving birds and planes are on the rise and there are relatively few technologies in existence that focus exclusively on mitigating this aviation risk. The Birdport concept is one that uses drones as decoys and shepards to move birds away from airfields and onto a “birdport,” or nearby habitat created for the birds’ enjoyment. The concept works thusly: The drones use tactics of separation, alignment and cohesion to manipulate flocks and divert them to Birdport, where birdsong and decoys are used to create a natural and safe habitat for birds in the area. The idea is designed to reduce bird strikes to aircraft significantly and to enhance aircraft availability. Increased safety at airports is paramount — although adding another

layer of complexity with drones seems to be less than ideal. Gaming-inspired anti-collision system Motion sensing technology was the inspiration for a concept that uses wingtip sensors to avoid collisions between planes. Originally used in video games, the technology here would create an intra-aircraft guidance system while taxiing. From the pitch: The model uses infra-red and visual information to warn the pilot and ground crew of high-risk obstacles. This is designed to reduce the turnaround time of aircraft between flights and the cost of damage, saving airlines millions per year. Rethinking the galley trolley Sorting trash can be a huge headache in between flights, causing delays and operational challenges — especially for low-cost carriers. Of course, many airlines sort trash while they retrieve it during flight. However, that process is also challenged by the one-size fits all style of the classic trolley. The team refreshed

the trolley to facilitate sorting and recycling. From the pitch: The team’s bespoke trolley is designed to intelligently sort rubbish and recycling by minimising the volume of foils, paper and plastic and collecting residual fluid. In doing so, the weight of galley equipment can be reduced by up to 30kg reducing fuel consumption and offering more space inflight for refreshments. Wireless power transfer This one would be quite expensive and the disruption would be hard to manage in increasingly congested airports. The idea is to embed capture coils in the ground and on the planes that would create a wireless power transfer which could then reduce pollution, noise and vehicles required for ground ops. Transmitter sections on the ground, located just underneath the aircraft in the tarmac, transfer electrical power inductively to a receiver placed between the nose-wheels. This provides a sustainable energy source to power ground operations, reducing carbon emissions by half.

travellers show rising preference for in-flight wifi: gogo inc. More than 20% of passengers are keen on having Wi-fi while choosing an airline, says a study by Gogo Inc. on in-flight connectivity services. Courtesy: Skift.com

ogo Inc. recently conducted a global study on traveler interest in in-flight connectivity and connectivity related products and services. The study revealed that interest in these products and services is significantly higher outside the U.S. despite the fact that fewer connected aircraft are operating internationally as compared to within the U.S. In addition to showing more interest in connecting in flight, air travelers outside the U.S. are more likely to carry their own Wi-Fi-enabled devices on a plane and are more willing to pay for the services when compared to travelers in the U.S. When asked about their interest in inflight connectivity services, 83 percent of air travelers in regions outside the U.S. said they were interested in using

Voyager’s World > May 2015

Wi-Fi vs. just 74 percent of U.S. air travelers. When it comes to wireless in-flight entertainment, 71 percent of air travelers outside the U.S. show a strong interest vs. 59 percent in the U.S. “The number of global passengers topped 3 billion in 2013 and has grown by 37 percent in the last four years. Ubiquitous connectivity has become the norm around the globe and there are very few passengers these days boarding an aircraft without a Wi-Fi-enabled device,” said Ash ElDifrawi, Gogo’s chief commercial officer. “What’s surprising to us is that the demand and willingness to pay for these services is clearly higher outside the U.S. We have found that air travelers outside of the U.S. index higher on affluence relative to the general population in their markets.” Other interesting findings from the study

include: passengers outside the U.S. are 23 percent more likely to pay for in-flight Wi-Fi when compared to passengers in the U.S.; compared to the other regions included in the study, the U.S. had the lowest percentage of passengers boarding with a Wi-Fi-enabled device at 76 percent, and 1 in 3 passengers say they typically use at least 2 electronic devices on a plane. Today, more than 20 percent of passengers say they are looking for Wi-Fi when choosing an airline, which is up from 16 percent in a Gogo study conducted last year. This data was compiled from Gogo’s global traveler research study and represents participants across sixteen countries and four regions. All participants had taken a round-trip flight in the past twelve months.

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Online Travel

41>>

online startups, otas see huge business in indian market Courtesy: Skift.com

nline travel booking has been one of the big success stories in India. It is one of the sectors where online ecommerce first worked in a nascent Internet market, as the emerging country started using credit card payments in a big way over the last decade and other alternative and hybrid payments system (like cash-on-delivery) took off.

bile, of course, is the predominant method of Internet access in India, and is the world’s second largest mobile market after China. As apps become more common (Android is the biggest smartphone platform in India) and payment systems become more seamless, lots of formalization of the until recently unorganized sector will come in, and fast.

Almost 200 online travel companies, both large OTAs and startups, now function in India, according to a recent data compilation on the Indian online travel and startup market by Traxcn, a venture capital deals and company information tracking service.

The largest online travel agency MakeMyTrip is now offering coupons and discounts to users who book through its app, as a way of seeding the market.

Traxn reveals a number of interesting statistics and a great overview of the sector in India, and shows the still-early potential of the market — especially as mobile booking becomes lot earlier. Mo-

Almost $300 million has been invested in 40 travel startups over the year in India, according to Traxcn. The majority of it in online booking (OTAs and alternative accommodation booking) space. Of this, $55 million was invested in 2014 and $71 million of it invested in 2015 already across three big deals this year so far.

This is how the money invested splits among various travel segments in India India ranks 40 on the list of 100 preferred holiday destinations for Muslim tourists in the world. The rankings come from the Global Muslim Travel Index 2015, created by credit card firm MasterCard and CrescentRating, a travel service agency for Halal-conscious Muslim tourists. For each country, nine factors were weighed upon, including availability of Halal food eateries, accessibility of prayer rooms, accommodations, and safety. Under each of these nine criteria, countries were graded out of 100. An average was calculated for the final score. Muslim travellers are “searching for products and services that take into account their faith-based needs,” the report states, as seen “over the last decade by the accelerated growth of Halal food, Is-

lamic banking and lifestyle sectors.” Like people from any other religion, Muslims look for family-friendly holiday destinations, with ample options for shopping and sightseeing. Another criterion for the rankings was “safety from the perspective of a Muslim traveller,” the report states. So whether or not there have been specific cases of violence against people of their faith in a country, and any kind of resentment towards traditional Islamic attires for women, including the hijab and niqab, naturally factored in. For 2014, the Muslim travel sector has been estimated to be worth $145 billion (Rs9.06 lakh crore)—with 108 million Muslim travellers representing 10% of the global travel economy. By 2020, the number of travellers is projected at 150 million visitors—or 11% of the travel economy—worth some $200 billion (Rs12.5 lakh crore).

Smart Tourism Boards on favorite Instagram influencers

Aimed at the strategists, marketers and technologists in travel, the Skift Trends Reports shares inputs on the influence of Instagram on tourism boards. Courtesy: Skift.com Instagram Strategies for Travel Brands Tourism boards forge ahead with building their brand presence on this mobilefirst, image-based platform by publishing a combination of their own content, user-generated photos from their fans, and inviting influencers to experience and share their journey on the company account, as well as their own. The reality is there isn’t a metric that ties influencers trips to visits. Jesse Desjardins, Social Media and Advocacy Manager at Tourism Australia doesn’t subscribe to Instagram influencer marketing because, “It’s not scalable and repeatable. There’s only so many influencers you can bring in. You can’t expect someone who comes here for a week to have a deep understanding of the destination and most importantly follow through with supporting their feature on our account.” Instagram Takeovers Vs. Print Ads When Facebook claimed its throne from MySpace, and Friendster, social media content started to form an extra layer of consumption data that print magazines,

television, and radio still can’t provide. With Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in 2010, visual based communities blossomed, and so did advertisers. Measuring return on investment with Instagram influencer programs is not an exact science. However, when comparing the project with the ad dollars spent on print advertising, paying an influencer’s transportation, lodging, time, and expenses — some tourism boards pay up to $3,500 for an influencer’s participation — is more trackable. Skift asked the top five performing tourism boards about who they would like to work with in the future and why. Their top picks were people who were either local or from an area that is their target market with a digital media presence outside of Instagram with passions other than travel. Lastly, some of them picked publishers that continue to differentiate itself with its own creative community. Caroline Bean, Director of Social Media at Visit Philly: “Lately we’ve been check-

ing out Quinta Brunson, aka Quinta B., a comedienne from Philadelphia who stars in Buzzfeed videos and has a serious(ly funny) social media presence of her own including a YouTube series. We’d love to see her take on her hometown and think she has a new, younger audience that would be good for us to reach.” Chad Wiebesick, Director of Social Media and Interactive Marketing at Pure Michigan: “National Geographic because it is the #1 most followed brand in the world on Instagram with 17.2 million followers. Also, the U.S. of the Interior because Michigan has five national parks, also one of only twelve National Water Trails in America. And, an influencer from California or Texas, as those are important markets for Michigan with a real connection and real relationship with their followers.” Rishad Daroowala, Social Media Officer at Explore Canada: “VSCO is heavily involved in the community and never compromises on quality and curation standards. VSCO’s social channels and

Journal are intertwined with true storytelling, which travelers can appreciate.” “Hannes Becker is one of Germany’s up and coming Instagrammers who’s account continues to make waves in the photography community. We love Hanne’s aesthetic and his eye for the great outdoors.” Nancy Smith, Social Media Manager at Travel Alberta: “Jacksgap, a young and very talented YouTube celebs who have travelled the globe with a humanitarian purpose. Open to similar influencers like Casey Neistat who not only has a notable Instagram following, but is also a talented YouTube creator, is active on Twitter and Snapchat.” Chris Chambers, Director of Digital Marketing at Tourism and Events Queensland: “Roger Federer has become a fan favourite in Brisbane for his regular appearances at the Brisbane International tennis tournament. He posted some great shots whilst he was in Brisbane recently, tagging with #thisisqueensland.”

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Happenings

42>>

Hotel Formule 1 wins Asian Customer Engagement Award

Gujarat Tourism unveils summer packages in Mumbai

otel Formule1 won the Asian Customer Engagement Award 2015 with Gold in ‘Best print promotion’ and Silver in ‘Best jingle audio’, both for its campaign- Feel Rest Assured. The awards ceremony was held in Mumbai recently. According to Madhu Joshi. Director Marketing & Communication, Hotel Formule1 India: “It gives us sense of pride to witness the brand campaign been recognized for such a prestigious award titles.” Hotel Formule1 launched its campaign ‘Feel Rest Assured’ in 2014. The campaign launched in various mediums- print, digital, audio, outdoor; was centered on customer as key focus. The message in each communication area focused on the experiential benefit of the brand and its promise to deliver a rest assured experience to its guests.

Dubai unveils Annual Visitor Report at ATM 2015

ubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) is using this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) from 4 - 7 May, to showcase a multitude of different ways to experience the city through a series of content and on-stand activation. Particular focuses will include the cultural heritage of Dubai, family attractions and the city’s year-round calendar of events. During the exhibition, Dubai Tourism will also release its inaugural Annual Visitor Report. Visitors can experience the extraordinary views of Dubai offered by Dubai 360, the online interactive tour of the city launched in January this year. 12 mini-documentaries following the journeys of 12 of the world’s most popular Instagrammers experiencing tailor-made itineraries of Dubai will be on show. Titled ‘MyDubaiTrip’, the project was a partnership between Dubai Tourism and social-travel experts Peeta Planet and saw the Instagrammers visit Dubai in late 2014 to experience itineraries curated by 12 of the Emirate’s most popular social-media storytellers.

Voyager’s World > April 2015

ith the onset of the summer holiday season, Gujarat Tourism organised an exclusive travel meet with leading tour operators of Mumbai recently. It had started its summer campaign from Chennai. 40 tour operators and hoteliers from Gujarat came to Mumbai to promote Gujarat-centric packages to their customers across Mumbai and beyond. On offer were various hotel packages from Gujarat and summer destinations like Gir, Saurashtra tour, Saputara and archaeological monuments, etc. Tourists can now book safari trips to Gir Sanctuary online. The Saurashtra Darshan trip operated by Gujarat Tourism takes the tourists to the holy shrines of Somnath and Dwarka along with historic destinations like Junagadh, Rajkot and Porbandar- the birth place of Gandhi.

Uttarakhand Tourism professionals to form association in Delhi

he Uttarakhand Tourism Professionals Meet 2015 took place in Delhi on 2 May in which about 80 professionals, working with various travel agencies, tour companies and hotels attended. It was unanimously decided by all in attendance to form an association of Uttarakhand tourism professionals based in Delhi to explore the underlying opportunities within the industry and the local government’s level. The core agenda will be to work towards people-to-people networking on a pan-India basis and also generate awareness about the state. An interim committee was formed with 15 members headed by Ravi Gosain of Erco Travels. A blueprint is being prepared to put in place different support groups for the people of Uttarakhand in tourism and hospitality to showcase its potential as well as to start afresh with a newer product line.

43>>

Indian TAs experience Tourism Trinidad & Tobago

ourism Trinidad & Tobago organised a familiarisation visit for five travel agents from India - Club7 Holidays, Kulin Kumar Holidays, Ottila International, Amazing Vacations and Trail Blazer Tours India.

Accompanied by Huzan Fraser Motivala, India Representative, Tourism Trinidad & Tobago, the agents learnt about what the twin-island republic offers visitors. They had the dual experiences of Trinidad and Tobago – from the cosmopolitan, bustling towns of Trinidad to sunbathing on pristine beaches in Tobago. From relaxing on palm tree-lined white sandy beaches, to swimming in aquamarine clear waters, from the Maracas Beach to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, the travel agents experienced a destination where thrill meets tranquility. The agents also experienced the cruise to No Man’s Land and a glass-bottomed boat ride through Buccoo Reef to explore the spectacular underwater life as well as the Yerette’s Hummingbird Sanctuary and the Gasparee Caves. The highlight of the trip for the travel trade was the opportunity to interact with Trinidad & Tobago and Chennai Super Kings cricketer Dwayne Bravo. Huzan Fraser Motivala, India Representative, Tourism Trinidad & Tobago said, “Trinidad and Tobago is a wonderful destination for honeymooners and families. The proximity of these two islands to North America, the no visa requirement for Indians and the opportunity to experience the true Caribbean flavour also makes this twin-island destination an ideal add-on destination for Indian travellers to the USA and Canada.”

Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts conducts four-city annual roadshow

Odisha Tourism Minister seeks assistance to promote state heritage

Further negotiations announced for India-Peru FTA

he Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts organized a multi-city training and road show in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and New Delhi, with the presence of sales leaders from exotic resorts at Banyan Tree Bali, Bintan, Seoul, Seychelles and LangCo in Central Vietnam who shared their extensive facilities and USPs with travel partner. The partners were offered the opportunity to enroll in the XTC (Xtraordinary Travel Consultant) program of the Banyan Tree Group, which is by invitation only, where the XTC members can earn credit by booking their clients at Banyan Tree or Angsana Resorts via any channel (B2B, DMC, direct with the hotel) and use it for their own stays at Banyan Tree or Angsana Hotels & Resorts.

he Tourism and Culture Minister of Odisha, Ashok Chandra Panda met the Union Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge), Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma in New Delhi this week. to brief the latter about boosting tourism in the state by promoting the rich cultural heritage of the state and improving connectivity. The minister sought help from the Union Tourism and Culture Minister to set up a Tagore Cultural Complex, Odisha dance Museum in memory of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra and set up an International Museum Day at Puri. He requested the release of funds worth Rs. 8 crore for eight projects.

eru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva announced that the Peruvian and Indian Government were coordinating the next visit of Rajeev Kher, Secretary in Department of Commerce who might arrive in Lima next May. “Secretary Kher would visit our country by early May to continue encouraging the opening of negotiations for a FTA between both countries and [therefore] begin with the face-to-face works, which are part of the Joint Feasibility Study,” the minister specified. Magali stated that the Joint Feasibility Study (JFS) — to be drafted by representatives of India and Peru — would be completed in the next six months and it was the first step to formal negotiations. Once the study is finished, India-Peru FTA negotiations would be officially launched.

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Travel Technology

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Amadeus study reveals global travel trends by 2030

By 2030 more than 1.8 billion of us will travel internationally every year, and what motivates us as well as how we behave will be radically different to today. VW BUREAU

y 2030 more than 1.8 billion of us will travel internationally every year, and what motivates us as well as how we behave will be radically different to today. By the end of the next decade, some people will purchase and consume travel experiences almost entirely on the basis of how shareable they are, or how much ‘capital’ they generate, via social networks. Another group of travellers will demand total simplicity and freedom from having to arrange their own travel by 2030, wanting as much as possible to be done remotely, by third parties. At the same time, a dedicated group will emerge with a desire for only the most hedonistic, indulgent and must-have experiences. These are just some of the forecasts made in Future Traveller Tribes 2030: understanding tomorrow’s traveller, a major new report which launches today identifying the different traveller personalities and segments the industry can expect to emerge and become prominent over the next fifteen years. The research process involved interviews and workshops with industry experts as well as trend-spotting research with consumers in the relevant travel markets including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. Taking a psychographic rather than demographic approach, the report draws on Future Foundation’s proprietary consumer research forecasts to identify the six distinct traveller personalities as:

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• Social Capital Seekers will structure

their holidays almost exclusively with online audiences in mind, relying heavily on peer reviews and recommendations to validate their decisions. A whole new market may open up based on “profileboosting breaks”, filled with consciously feed-friendly moments • Cultural Purists will look at holidaymaking as a chance to immerse oneself in an alien - even uncomfortably so - culture, where enjoyment of the break depends on the authenticity of the experience • Ethical Travellers will make travel plans based on moral grounds, for example, decreasing their carbon footprint or improving the lives of others. They will often improvise or add some element of volunteering, community development or ecosustainable activity to their holidays • Simplicity Searchers will prefer bundled offers, seeking to avoid managing too many trip details themselves. Holidays for this tribe represent a rare time in life to pamper oneself with the assurance of their safety and enjoyment • Obligation Meeters will be driven by a specific purpose for travel, whether business or leisure, and thus have constraints on time and budget; they will seek smart algorithm based technology that is able to remove the hassle of travel. Reward Hunters are only interested in indulgent travel. Many have come to crave something that represents an extraordinary reward or ‘must have’ premium experience, a return on their hard earned investment of time and energy

in their working lives • “The traveller today has more power than ever before. They are increasingly complex, empowered, and no longer want to be siloed into demographic groups of age, nationality and income. By 2030, hyper-customisation will be the default expectation among many customers. With Asia Pacific set to lead global travel growth through to 2030, it is particularly critical for all providers, buyers and sellers of travel in the region to truly understand these emerging ‘traveller tribes’ and make the right investment decisions now to gear towards future traveller preferences. Amadeus is playing a leading role in driving the travel industry forward is are working closely with our customers and partners to deliver a future travel experience that is more per-

sonalised, connected and sustainable,” commented Angel Gallego, President, Amadeus Asia Pacific • Nick Chiarelli, Director, Future Foundation commented: “Our research shows not just that the type of experience demanded by travellers in 2030 will be different to 2015 but that the way travellers buy and engage with the industry is also set to change. Over the next 15 years the desire to share travel experiences will be profound, and so too the impact of sharing on inspiration and purchase trends will grow. As consumers in developed markets approach a post-material era we expect a much greater focus on, first of all, experience, and second of all, ethics, both environmental and social, to significantly influence people’s travel choices and behaviours.”

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Top Appointments

45>> Debanjan Kundu

Bjorn Thomas Fernandes

Director of Sales and Marketing, Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore

ebanjan Kundu has joined Ritz-Carlton Bangalore as the Director of Sales and Marketing. With over 12 years of experience, he previously worked at the Sheraton Bangalore, Westin Hyderabad Mindspace, the Oberoi Grand, Kolkata and Hyatt Regency, Kolkata.

Director of Sales, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu

jorn Thomas Fernandes has been appointed as the Director of Sales at JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu. He has been in the hotel industry from 2007 and worked with Marriott International and Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces. At Marriott Hotels India Private Ltd., he has been involved in business plans and pricing strategies.

Sachin Bhamri

K.M Chengappa

Head of Sales & Marketing, Myra Vineyards

General Manager, Leela Palace Chennai

he Leela Palace Chennai appointed KM Chengappa as the General Manager. He has been long associated with the Leela Group. Prior to the new role, he was working as the Resident Manager at the Leela Palace Bangalore and was part of the property’s pre-opening team. In his new role, Chengappa will oversee the running of the property.

Myra Vineyards elevated Sachin Bhamri to the post of Head of Sales and Marketing, Maharashtra and Goa (except Mumbai). He was previously responsible for the sales and marketing of Myra, in Goa. He was earlier working with Sula Vineyards where he was handling the sales, marketing and branding of the company.

Moran Birger

Pramod Dalvi

Regional Commercial Manager - South Asia, British Airways

oran Birger has been appointed as the new Regional Commercial Manager for South Asia and will be based in Gurgaon. She will be responsible for all sales and commercial activity for the region, including India, Sri Lanka and Maldives. He joined BA in 2011 and served stints in Ghana most previously as the carrier’s Commercial Manager.

ramod Dalvi has joined Kesari Tours Pvt. Ltd. as the Vice President - Public Relations. He brings with him more than 40 years of experience in the travel, airlines and hospitality industries and had worked with Thomas Cook India, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, P&O Travel India International Travel House (ITC Group), Korean Airlines, FCH Centrum Ltd.

Madhav Sehgal

Pranab Kumar Choudhury

General Manager, Hyatt Regency Chennai

Independent Director, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Ltd.

yatt Regency Chennai appointed Madhav Sehgal as its General Manager. He joined Hyatt in 2010 as the Director of Rooms at Hyatt Regency Delhi before moving to Hyatt Bangalore as the General Manager in 2013. Before joining Hyatt, Madhav held various positions in rooms in Canada and India.

VP - Public Relations, Kesari Tours Pvt. Ltd.

peejay Surrendra Park Hotels has appointed Pranab Kumar Choudhury as an independent Director on its board of directors. Pranab is ex-Chairman of ICRA limited and CEO of Group ICRA. With an experience of over 43 years, he has also worked in manufacturing and banking sectors.

Surbhi Vohra

Pankaj Jaswal

Regional Director – Sales, StayWell Hospitality Group India

Director of Sales & Marketing, Zuri Whitefield Bangalore

urbhi Vohra has joined StayWell Hospitality Group India as the Regional Director of Sales – India. She has 11 years of experience and worked with Hyatt, Shangri-la, Intercontinental, Lemon Tree Hotels. In her new role, Surbhi will oversee the sales efforts of the brand’s portfolio in India and will be responsible for implementing effective sales strategies to maximize revenue generation.

ankaj Jaswal has been appointed as the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Zuri Hotels & Resorts, Bangalore. Bringing in 14 years of experience, he previously worked with Chancery Hotel, Taj Group of Hotels, the Park Hotels, Kumarakom Lake Resort and most recently with Sterling Holiday Resorts India. In his new role, Pankaj will be in charge of driving sales and marketing efforts of the property.

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