Tourism and Travel Trends from India:

News and views on India's Travel and Hospitality Sector

Weekly News Related to Travel Industry in India

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1. Kerala tourism gears up for Onam
The Kerala government is gearing up to make the most of the tourism opportunity that the upcoming Onam harvest festival offers. The tourism ministry has planned a series of special programmes across the state.

"We are investing Rs.12 million in Onam celebrations which will begin Aug 24 and go on till Aug 28. The biggest celebrations would be in Kochi, Kozhikode and here. More than 5,000 local artistes are taking part in various cultural programmes across the state," state Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters Friday.

Reports indicate that a large number of foreign tourists have begun arriving in the state to witness the cultural extravaganza.

"We have got feedback that hotels are fully booked during the festival season. We carried out a series of campaigns through the India Tourism offices and also through tour operators to ensure that tourists know there is no fever scare in Kerala," Balakrishnan said.

As part of this year's Onam celebrations, the Kerala Folklore Academy will stage a range of cultural programmes to showcase the various art forms of the state.

The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation will also hold 'Payasam Melas' at 30 different locations across the state where several types of payasams (rice pudding made with milk, sugar and coconut) will be displayed and sold.
Ians
Aug 18, 2007
Source: MSN India

2. Its celebration time in Kerala!
The air in Kerala has turned festive as the state welcomed Chingam - the first month of the Malayalam calendar.

In schools and offices, people dressed in traditional attire participated in competitions to make floral designs on the ground to mark the beginning of the auspicious month of Chingam.

Coming up next is the harvest festival of Onam.

For Keralites, Chingam symbolises a new ray of hope in life after Karkidakam, a month of deprivation. The months prior to Chingam is the monsoon season during which life becomes miserable especially for the labour class.

"We really need a good year ahead because the last many months have been miserable on account of the viral fever that has affected close to 1.5 million Keralites. Then came the monsoon rains that have caused large-scale destruction of property," said Kurian Jacob, a rubber farmer in Kottayam district.

Several businesses were inaugurated across the state as the first day of Chingam is considered auspicious to begin new ventures.

The Congress party is making the most of the auspicious occasion. The top brass of the party's state unit is in New Delhi to see Sonia Gandhi launching Jai Hind TV, a Congress supported Malayalam television channel.

The Left government marked Chingam 1 with the launch of the second edition of the People's Plan. The first edition of the plan aimed at decentralisation and giving more powers to local bodies began in 1997.

The state government has announced a bonus pay packet for all government employees. Officials said salaries for August would be distributed on Aug 20, ahead of the Onam festival.

Chinagm 1 is also being celebrated as Karshaka Dinam (Farmers Day) during which the government announces awards for farmers. The government is likely to announce a slew of relief packages for farmers whose lost crops in the monsoon.
August 17, 2007
Source: MSN India

3. Conserving Majuli - world's largest river island
The Majuli Island in Assam is the world’s largest river island which has a unique biodiversity. Now the government is making special efforts to conserve this eco-diversity of the beautiful island.

The government has allotted Rs.865.6 million for Majuli to save it from the threat from floods and erosion.

Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni said the money would be given in three phases - Rs.412.8 million in the first phase, Rs.182.8 million in the second phase and Rs.270 million in the third phase. The move is based on the recommendations of a report prepared by the Brahmaputra Board.

Majuli is the world’s biggest riverine island and a principal place of pilgrimage for the Vaishnavites of Assam since the Ahom days.
Aug 17, 2007
Source: MSN India

Travel and Transportation Infrastructure

Sector: Aviation

1. SpiceJet to start Delhi-Kochi flight on Aug 29

SpiceJet, low-cost airline, which had already started its operations to Kochi (via Bangalore), would introduce direct flight from Delhi to Kochi from August 29, a top airline official said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters at the International Airport here, Ajay Singh, Director, SpiceJet, said the first flight to Kochi, via Bangalore had already started from August 15, commemorating 60th anniversary of India's independence, while the second direct flight from Delhi to Kochi was scheduled for August 29.

"We are highly delighted on commencing our services from Kochi, which has become the 15th destination that we are flying to," he said.

This year SpiceJet would add six more new Boeing aircraft and the increased fleet size will help the airline in adding more destinations to its existing network, increasing its daily flights to 130 from the present 89, he said.

S Bharath, Managing Director, Kochi International Airport Ltd (CIAL), said the airport would be developed into a hub for people in Kozhikode, Coimbatore and nearby region.

He said 350 airports in the country would be privatised in the coming years and this would see an amazing development in the aviation sector.

India has good small airports and they are equipped to meet the challenges on hand, Bharath said, to a query.
Aug 18, 2007
Source: Economic Times

2. Govt pulls up GVK-led consortium for slow progress in city airport modernisation

GVK-led consortium has drawn the flak of the government over the delay in execution of Mumbai airport project. While the company puts the blame on encroachments around the airport for the delay, civil aviation ministry says the consortium could still have carried out some significant work.

Speaking to ET, a top official in the civil aviation ministry said, “There are constraints such as land encroachment at the airport, but within constraints many works could have been done. We have told them that their work is not at all satisfactory.” The Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has, however, denied such allegations.

“All projects at the airport are on the schedule as per the operations management and development agreement (OMDA) agreement. While some mandatory projects have to be completed by March 2008, others have to be finished by 2010,” a company spokesperson said.

Interestingly, in a period of over 15 months MIAL could spent only Rs 500 crore in the project. It is expected to invest about Rs 5,800 crore over a period of four years to modernise the airport facilities. The contract was awarded to the company on May 3, 2006. MIAL is a 74:26 joint venture between the GVK-SA Consortium and Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The government officials also expressed thei concern over MIAL’s inability to construct a third runway at the airport. The company, however, said that construction of a third runway was technically impossible. “As per the OMDA agreement, we were supposed to look into the possibility of making a third runway.

But we don’t think we would be able to do so due to scarcity of land. As per the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) guidelines there should be a gap of 1,200 metres between the two parallel runways which means going beyond the boundary of the Mumbai airport,” the MIAL spokesperson said. Mumbai airport has two runways which cross each other. “Almost on daily basis we keep updating the government about the developmental works at the airport,” he added
Aug 17, 2007
Source: Economic Times

Sector: Railways

1. 'Palace on Wheels’ to chug along in Karnataka
After the success of the 'Palace on Wheels'  train-package run by the Indian Railways, a similar luxurious train service will soon start in Karnataka, to be run by the state government.

"The tentative itinerary is Bangalore-Srirangapatna-Mysore-Shravanabelagola-Hassan-Hospet-Gadag-Vasco/Dabolim-Bangalore," Minister of State for Railways R. Velu said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

"The manufacturing of the coaches is almost completed. The train is likely to become operational in tourist season 2007-08," the minister informed the lower house.

The proposal from the Karnataka government was to run the train throughout the year with 18 coaches, including 11 air-conditioned saloons, one air-conditioned bar car, one conference car, one air-conditioned restaurant car and a staff car.

Tourists were to be offered a weeklong package and the train was scheduled to cover nearly 2,000 km. Coastal areas such as Mangalore was to be included after the completion of gauge conversion between Hassan and Mangalore.
August 18, 2007
Source: MSN India

Sector: Waterways

Sector: Hotels & Restaurants

1. French dining in the NCR
Three brave new restaurants in and around Delhi are working towards making French food more accessible, more fun, and therefore, more in vogue.

Terroir is not a term you would expect to slip easily off most Indian tongues. Yet, it is being brandied about increasingly and not just in the trendy circles.

Thanks to the growing interest in wine and its rapid democratisation in the country, a lot of people have developed at least a nodding acquaintance with the word — used to suggest the climate and the soil and all factors responsible for a wine’s peculiar characteristics.

And now, a Gurgaon restaurant has taken the lead by christening itself, well, what else but Terroir. That’s really quite a fine name for a place that aspires to be a full-fledged wine bar and a French cuisine restaurant; dangerous propositions both — until lately — in a city known to disregard anything but Scotch and tandoori.

But things have obviously been changing rapidly in the NCR and one measure of it is in the refusal to be intimidated, any longer, by French gastronomy.

Terroir, the restaurant at the new Galaxy hotel in Gurgaon, serves some interesting mix-and-match cuisine: prawn mousse and potatoes, coffee bean-coated scallops and even a cream cheese cone. There are other European highlights too though the focus is French. But it signifies an important way in which our palates — and thoughts — are changing.

Till even two years ago, French would never be the dinner of one’s choice unless one was prepared to go through a sombre, stately and certainly very expensive experience at a five-star hotel.

The fabulous Orient Express at the Taj Palace in Delhi continues to position itself as a “celebration restaurant”, not the stuff of casual dining, and however much you may love Chef Hemant Oberoi’s camembert soufflés and pepper steaks at the Taj in Mumbai, the cuisine never became as accessible as, say, Italian for the young, 30-plus Indian, increasingly treating dining as entertainment.

Now, in the space of six months, three brave new restaurants in the NCR, our dining capital too, have changed all this remarkably. French food has become more accessible and more fun, therefore in vogue.

Nu Deli, which opened in the Greater Kailash II market almost two years ago, was the first off the mark. Set up by foodie Tenku Loond, an Indian national who returned from France after staying there for 30 years (and who decided to focus on food rather than his family’s garments business), it began serving what Loond calls “French food minus French manners”.

The waiters were friendly, the service and ambience no-fuss. Loond was savvy enough to realise that French food per se, perhaps because of its tag because, after all, there are many kinds, would not sell.

So he included bits of Moroccan and Spanish (the last was a favourite with French holidayers between the 1950s and the 1980s) — “French culture cuisines”, both obviously more in tune with the Indian palate— and focussed on the more flavourful dishes from the south.

Yet, by Loond’s own admission, “it was a struggle for the first couple of months” and it is only in the last six months that the cuisine has found its greatest acceptance.

Now, sole meuniere rubs shoulders with steaks and coq au vin, that one dish all Indian patrons French are familiar with, in terms of popularity. And despite a bar, Loond’s food: liquor sales are an overwhelming 70 per cent food.

If Nu Deli has built up a loyal contingent of fans in its short existence, six-month-old Cafe De Paris at Greater Kailash I probably gets a lot of walk-ins, people with Fabindia bags (yours truly included) plopped up on chairs.

The air of cheerfulness, the bustling energy and, yes, informality are all evident. There’s an Indian chef in charge (an expat chef was called in to do the basic menu and teach the staff but has since returned), chic young clientele is at most tables, and this is one place that has all the makings of a pleasant Parisian establishment — despite the lack of outdoors or a more charming facade.

As I go through some satisfying onion soup and later, prawns “Provencal-style”, nothing is further from my mind than images of sleepy, candle-lit meals.

Even as French chefs continue to vie for their Michelin stars (and in one famous case, relinquish them), one big trend that continues from the last few years is “gastro bistros”.

Essentially, a simplification of everything; Michelin star-worthy food served at affordable prices and in a warm bistro (small restaurant) ambience. Essentially, the democratisation of fine dining. While fancier restaurants are experimenting with Asian influences by way of spices and herbs, ginger and cardamom in their recipes, steaks, the French onion soup and coq au vin remain bistro staples — exactly the kind of fare the Indian restaurants are dishing out, this time in a more appropriate setting.

At Nu Deli, Loond tellingly says, “We don’t care whether you eat with your fingers or a fork.” He shouldn’t. But even at the fancier Terroir, a hotel-restaurant, the aim is to be trendy without being overbearing — wine (there are about 30 varieties on offer) is served in glasses without stems.
The idea obviously is to cater to a younger but well-heeled set that doesn’t stand on ceremony. And it is the right idea.
Aug 18, 2007
Source: Business Standard

2. Sahara ties-up with Carlson to develop 'Radisson Hotel' in Lucknow

Sahara India Club Royale Corporation Ltd. (SICRCL) has signed a management and licence agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide for setting up a Radisson Hotel at the Sahara City Homes in Lucknow. SICRCL will develop and own the property which will operate under a licence from Radisson Hotels International, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Carlson Hotels Worldwide. With an investment of Rs 100 crore, work on the project is scheduled to start soon and will be completed in early 2010 as per a company release. The property will have 135 rooms, 15 service apartments and three banquet halls with seating capacity for 800 guests. SICRCL is the hospitality subsidiary of Sahara Infrastructure and Housing.
Aug 17, 2007
Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Niche Tourism

Medical

1. Medical tourism’s no longer pep pill

Medical tourism in India may not be as booming as the industry makes it out to be. And even as hospitals try to woo patients from the developed countries, many still prefer to go for yoga and ayurveda, which is more a part of leisure and not medical tourism.

The term medical tourism is giving way to just medicare now. Though no official figures are available, estimated arrivals in the last one year range from anywhere between 2 and 4 lakh and is touted to be a $2-billion industry by 2012. But the most coveted international patients — those from the US and European countries — still remain largely elusive. Currently, most of the traffic comes from the neighbouring countries, African countries and the Middle East.

“The traffic from North America and UK has actually receded in the last year. In fact, medical tourism itself grew only by about 10-12% last year against the expected growth of 30% and above,” says B Arun Kumar, CEO of Mediescapes, a Delhi based organisation that offers medical tourism packages.

“There are some issues. For example, in the US, insurance companies are not backing the claims of people who avail of treatment in developing nations. And in the UK, opinion is divided over the benefits of travelling abroad for treatment,” Mr Kumar adds.

The central government has made medical tourism a part of the Incredible India campaign but it is being driven more by hospitals than by the travel industry. “Though we have good hospitals offering treatments at reasonable prices the perception of India is hindering the flow from developed countries.

The estimated 2.5 lakh arrival in 2005 is no big number at all. We had launched Sita Care unit with intention of combining treatment with leisure travel but we didn’t get good response to sustain the unit,” said Himmat Anand, COO (South Asia & India) of Sita, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuoni India.

However, the brand power of hospitals in India and the infrastructure they have built-up have seen their international patient flow grow, at least from the Asian region. Apollo Hospitals expect up to 30% of the turnover this year to come from international patients. “Last year we treated close to 50,000 international patients across cities. Of this, up to 25% came from the developed world, whereas till last year this figure was only 3-4%.

The main reason for this increase is the JCI (Joint Commission International) accreditation that our hospitals have secured,” says Apollo Hospitals president (corporate development) Anil Maini.

Wockhardt Hospitals have also seen a similar rise with a 38% increase in international patients last year, with almost 50% growth in the patients from US and Europe. “This could be a phenomenon unique to Wockhardt. Up to 75% of our international patients are from these regions and it has mostly been that way,” says Wockhardt Hospitals CEO Vishal Bali.

Hospitals are also launching sales and marketing arms overseas to attract the medicare traffic. For cheaper treatment options, India competes with markets like Thailand, Malaysia, Turkey, Jordan, Morocco, Costa Rica and Mexico, says Mr Maini.
Aug 16, 2007,
Source: Economic Times

Wine

1. Sanskruti Club to kick-start winery tours from October, 2007
Vintage Wines, ND Wines and Renaissance Winery, in collaboration with Sanskruti Club, a Mumbai-based travel agency, are all set to promote wine tourism in India. Targeting tourists from Australia, Ireland and France, the winery tours will kick-start from October this year. The trio have been in talks with Mumbai-based tour operators in order to tap on the niche segment that is popular globally, yet has to pick up in India. While ND Wines and Renaissance Winery are based in Nashik - the country's wine hub - Vintage Wines is located at Niphad, which is about 35 kms from Nashik.

"In October, we are organising winery tours, first for a group of about 20 doctors, followed by one for business clients and then, for some catering students," said Mamta Shah, Director, Sanskruti Club. The tours are designed to get visitors acquainted with the wine-making process, followed by wine tasting session at all three wineries and then, every tourist is given a complementary wine bottle. "The winery tour is designed for wine lovers, corporate clients, hotel management graduates, hospitality professionals and basically, anybody who wants to know more about wines," offered Shah. "Our target is to cater to about 500 tourists by March, 2008," she added.

In keeping with this emerging tourism trend in Nashik, Renaissance Winery already has plans to set up a wine lounge. "We are soon looking to open Renaissance Restaurant and Wine Lounge, which will offer a complete wine and dine experience," said Pravin J Gaikwad, Technical Director, Renaissance Winery. Ashok Gaikwad, CMD, ND Wines, maintained, "The best way to introduce the wine culture in India is to educate people about the health benefits of wine. We want to make wine a common man's drink."

The Indian wine market is estimated to account for 10 million bottles, amounting to 7.5 lakh litres of wine every year. Maharashtra alone has 50 wineries, producing six million bottles annually. "And Nashik district alone has a Wine Park, along with 27 wineries, which is expected to increase to 30 in 2008," claimed Shah.
Aug 16, 2007
Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Adventure

1. Himalayan Ski Village approaches last bump

Skiing holidays have long been the preserve of the affluent, but things could change dramatically over the next few years when Himalayan Ski Village in Kullu Valley gets ready to give Indians the taste of this sensational sporty lifestyle for as low as Rs 3,000 a night.

The detailed project report for the 350 million Euro ski village promoted by Alfred Ford, the great grandson of Ford Motor founder Henry Ford, has been cleared by the Himachal Pradesh government and the company has now applied for environmental clearance to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF).

A 500-page Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report prepared by the Bhopal-based Indian Institute of Forest Management suggesting ways to mitigate the impact of the project on the local ecology has been submitted to the MEF, Himalayan Ski Village Managing Director John Sims said.

"It (EIA) is in the queue. (Clearance) may take two months or six months..." he said.

Once the clearance is received, work on the project could start as early as January 2008 and some hotel property developed by 2010.

"We will have a range of hotel prices from Rs 3,000 a night to Rs 15,000 a night. We will have the Rs 3,000 rooms in abundance for (the average) families," Sims said, adding that people would pay only for staying, as the hill for skiing comes for free.
Aug 12, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

Religious Tourism

1. TTDC sees 30 per cent increase in tourist traffic with launch of 'Sakthi Darshan'
The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) has decided to further promote religious tourism in the state by offering 'Sakthi Darshan', a package that covers visit to 108 shrines in Tamil Nadu. The five-day package priced at Rs 2,300 per person is mainly targeted at domestic tourists and includes transport as well as accommodation facilities. The circuit covers shrines dedicated to goddess 'Amman' in Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Kumbakonam, Karaikal, Nagapattinam, Mannarkudi, Thanjavur, Kanadukathan, Karaikudi, Thirupathur, Madurai, Trichy, Ulundurpet, and Villupuram.

"Sakthi Darshan has been introduced on July 1st and so far 1.17 lakh tourists have registered for it due to the sacred 'addi' period as per the Tamil Nadu calendar which falls in July and August. While the state received 3.90 lakh tourists from January to July this year, this package alone contributed a 30 per cent increase to the 3.90 lakh number," claims Bakthavatchalam, Deputy Director, TTDC.

Apart from this, the TTDC is also planning to develop heritage sites in the state, Chettinadu topping its list. The region is equidistant from Trichy, Madurai and Thanjavur and houses several ancient mansions and temples that boast of architectural marvel. "While these sites were earlier used for hosting weddings and other functions, they are now lying unused since several years. However, Rs four crore has been invested recently for revamping these properties and developing better infrastructure in Chettinadu so as to promote it as a tourist interest destination. We have even received proposals for setting-up hotels in the region," informs Chalam.

Also, the Marina beach, the temple town of Srirangam and Elagiri - a hill station, will see beautification and development with an investment of Rs five crore each. The Marina beach project is being handled by the Tamil Nadu Municipal Corporation, The Public Works Department and other local bodies and is slated for completion by December, 2008. All these projects are part of the TTDC's aim to increase tourist arrivals in the state by providing more options and better facilities to the tourists. As per official records, Tamil Nadu received 73,12,540 domestic and 5,64,780 inbound tourists in 2006.
Aug 17, 2007
Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Policy

1. Chinese officials arrive to promote tourism

A high-powered official delegation from China will be on a week-long visit to India from Sunday to promote cooperation in tourism between the two countries.

Led by Shao Qiwei, chairman of the national tourism administration of the People's Republic of China (CNTA), the 32-member delegation is coming here on the invitation of tourism minister Ambika Soni. The visit is in line with the action plan of 'India-China Year of Friendship Through Tourism 2007'.

The China-India Tourism Forum will organise a joint meeting in Delhi on Monday which will be attended by the two ministers, apart from 120 delegates from the two countries.

"Tourism officials and industry representatives will get an opportunity to interact at the meeting. This will help them exchange information and enhance future cooperation between the two countries in the tourism sector," a release issued by Times Foundation, the facilitator of the visit, said.

For the China Tourism Night in Delhi and Mumbai, over 200 travel industry representatives in each city will be invited to meet their Chinese counterparts and explore business opportunities.

Shao Qiwei and Soni will inaugurate the China National Tourist Office in Delhi during the visit. It will soon be opened for business by Chinese ambassador Sun Yuxi.
Aug 19, 2007
Source: Times of India

2. India targets 10 mn tourist inflow by 2010: Union Tourism Minister

India expects a tourist inflow of around 10 million in 2010 when it will host the commonwealth games, Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said here today.

"We want 10 million tourist inflow in 2010," Soni said while inaugurating the travel and tourism fair here.

"We are looking at the hotel industry to come up to the challenge," she said, adding at least 1.5 lakh more rooms in all categories of hotels are required to cater to the increased tourist inflow.

The country's tourism sector was growing steadily with 3.92 million tourist inflow in 2005 and 4.43 million in 2006, the minister said and expressed confidence that the inflow would touch the five million mark in 2007.

With specialised types of tourism becoming a craze throughout the world, India is coming up with Dubai-type shopping tourism facilities at several places besides focusing on health tourism.

At least four such destinations would come up soon and another is likely in West Bengal if the infrastructure is ready by the end of 2007, Soni said.

Noida in Uttar Pradesh with world class facilities, Shilpagram near Hyderabad, permanent art and crafts fair at Bhubaneswar and another at Aurangabad near Ajanta-Ellora in Maharashtra are the shopping tourism destinations coming up.

Inviting other states to join the initiative, the minister further said that the centre would underwrite 25 per cent of the money spent in developing such projects, whether by the state or a private player.
Aug 18, 2007
Source: Zeenews via google

3. Government mulling visa on arrival for tourists

Visa on arrival could be a reality soon with the Union Tourism ministry keen on it to ensure more foreign tourist arrivals.

"We are working on providing visa on arrival to tourists and will take a decision after discussing the matter with the Union Home ministry," Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said here on Saturday.

"After the modernisation of different international airports in the country, I hope we shall also be able to provide visa on arrival facilities," she said.

Currently countries like Thailand provide visa on arrival to tourists from selected countries.

The Tourism ministry would have to get the nod of Home Ministry before starting such facilities, Soni said.

This facility would ease the problems of tourists and ensure more arrivals, she said. "We want tourists to have a good experience in India.

"If a tourist has a good experience, he or she would like to come back again and also spread the good word for the destination," she said.
Aug 18, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

4. Southern India tourism grid to be formed

A 'Southern India tourism grid' will be formed by the four Southern states and the union territory of Puducherry for the integrated and efficient promotion of tourism.

A joint declaration in this regard was made at the third meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII-southern region) on 'building southern synergies and Tourism colloqium' organised by the CII here on Saturday.

Reduction of disparities in state taxes like luxury tax, road tax on vehicles and entertainment tax, cooperation among the states in training manpower and human resource development and building of infrastructure are highlights of the declaration, a CII press release said.

States would also exchange more information about tourism and allied sectors, promote integrated tourism circuits by identifying and developing destinations with geographical proximity, launch Eastern and Western coastal cruises and give a fillip to medical tourism.

Improved connectivity among capital cities to international locations, sharing networking of booking offices, marketing agents, promotion of theme based tour programmes like heritage and pilgrimage tourism are also planned.

The governments would promote local community participation in decision making, planning, development and environment protection. Private sector participation would be sought to develop tourism related infrastructure and marketing the Grid

Signatories to the declaration were Secretary to Tourism Department of Puducherry, A Anbarasu, Secretary to Tourism, Andhra Pradesh, Chitra Ramachandran and Director of Tourism of Kerala, Sanjay Kaul. The Chairman of CII (Southern Region) Hospitality and Tourism sub committee, Navas M Meeran signed the joint declaration on behalf of CII.
Aug 12, 2007
Source: Economic Times

Travel and Tourism Support Industries …and much more

Service providers

1. Now, YouTube.com showcases India's tourism potential

The Tourism Ministry has tied up with the Google's video-sharing platform, YouTube.com to showcase the country's tourism potential.

The Ministry, known worldwide for its "Incredible India" campaign, have made promotional videos available to the YouTube, the eighth most trafficked website.
From the Himalayas to the sun kissed beaches of Goa, or the boat ride in the backwaters of Kerala are now just a click away.

Launching the videos on the YouTube here today, Tourism Secretary Shilabhadra Banerjee said the venture would help boost India's image aboard. "This is to maximise the reach of the Incredible India campaign worldwide. It is important to not only project what India was and what India is today, but what attractions it holds for the people of the world. I think it is an excellent example of using technology for projecting India's image abroad," Banerjee said.

At present 18 film and other videos have been uploaded on the site.

Shailesh Rao, Managing Director, Google India said the arrangement, the first of its kind with any government, would help boost India's tourism income. "Videos that have been placed here are wonderful depiction of the wonder that India is today. And we really hope that we can play a small part in helping the world to understand how attractive India is as a place... a destination for visiting," Rao said.

According to a recent survey, YouTube.com has about 48 million users in the US itself. YouTube, started in early 2005, was taken over by Google in October last year. Apart from giving the net users a vast bank of videos from across the globe, it also gives registered users, option to upload unlimited number of videos. Tourism arrivals to the country have increased by 78 percent and foreign exchange earnings by 122 percent over the last five years.

In the first seven months of 2007, foreign exchange earning through tourism stood at 4.51 billion dollars, which is 18.2 percent increase from 3.95 billion dollars from same period last year.

The World Travel and Tourism Council has predicted India's annual growth rate at 8.8 percent over the next decade, the highest in the world. India is targeting 10 million tourist arrivals by 2010. (ANI)
Aug 13, 2007
Source: ANI via Yahoo

Travel ecommerce

1. Have Net, will Travel

First the good news. Over 15 million Internet users now surf the Net for travel products; out of which, nearly nine million also buy these products online.

Now the bad. They continue to face the same problems as they did two to three years ago. 53 per cent surfers prefer to buy just train tickets and that too from a non-differentiated, not-so-happening government portal maintained by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). But they are not too happy about the IRCTC portal and, given a choice, are ready to switch to specialised travel sites such as makemytrip.com, travelguru.com and yatra.com. These are some of the surprise findings of JuxtConsult's recent "India Online 2007" end-user survey that covered 10,000 offline and 25,000 online respondents.

The internet business
Among the reasons cited for the Internet users' lack of interest in e-tickets and e-bookings for hotels were: slow website navigation, threat of spam, language barrier, lack of response, difficulty in connecting etc. These problems were attributed to all the top ten online travel portals, including IRCTC, which, not surprisingly, has lost 23 percentage points in consumer preference, according to this survey. This is a tad sad, as IRCTC still holds sway over railway ticket sells, which incidentally is the most bought travel product online. The sale of air tickets is a close second.

Currently, IRCTC rakes in around Rs 85 crore every month in just rail tickets through its portal. "With the planned revamp of the site, this might just double," says Sanjay Aggarwal, general manager (operations), IRCTC. Second in the running is makemytrip.com that did business worth Rs 500 crore (market share of 25 to 30 per cent) last year and aims for Rs 1,100 crore this year, according to Sachin Bhatia, founder and chief marketing officer of makemytrip.com.
Players like travelguru and yatra, account for another 20 and 10 per cent, of the share respectively, of the US$ 460 million online travel market that is predicted to grow to an estimated US$ two billion by 2008, according to a recent PhoCusWright Inc study titled "The Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in India."

"Although this may account for only eight to ten per cent of the total travel market, the statistic is good for a country with low Internet penetration," says Ashwini Damera, founder and chief executive officer of travelguru.com. The country's travel and tourism market is valued around US$ 50 billion; of which the online travel market makes up only around US$ one billion. This is because people still like planning complex itineraries face-to-face with a travel agent.
Yet sites like travelguru.com are doing well, primarily on the strength of their foreign customer base (15 per cent) and their specific focus on discount holiday packages with a tie-up with 400 Indian and 72,000 global properties. Business, according to Damera has been growing at 250 per cent every year against the market average of 55 to 60 per cent. The hotel booking segment is indeed so lucrative that all the recent market communications of makemytrip are also focused on it. "We have reviewed some 800 properties and posted 500 customer reviews on our relaunched website," says Bhatia.

As of now, the site sells 5,000 air tickets out of the 1,20,000 available every day and 500 room nights out of roughly the same pool size. "So the potential for growth in the hotel and non-air segment is tremendous," says Bhatia.
In the air segment also, only two to three per cent air tickets are sold online, the rest is still handled offline by travel agents and travel companies.

Changes ahead
But things are changing. The JuxtConsult survey indicates that small players like travelguru and yatra have gained substantially in terms of preferred usage; the latter as much as 16 per cent within the first year of its launch, owing perhaps to the promotional activities undertaken by Reliance ADAG, the TV18 Group, and NVP, the three big promoters of yatra.com.

All said and done, makemytrip retains its numero uno position in terms of both secondary preference share (including duplicated website usage) and primary preference share, according to Mrutyunjay Mishra, the co-founder and director of JuxtConsult. In contrast, IRCTC, which had a preference usage of 38 per cent last year, has now slid to the third position as a 'default' train ticket buying website with just 15 per cent preferred usage this year.

This decline is attributed partly to the popularity of low-cost carriers and the emergence of specialised travel portals that peddle not just the cheapest air fares but also hotel inventories and discounted holiday packages through exclusive tie-ups with all sorts of holiday properties and luxury resorts. Understandably, these portals have also dented the travel sales of generic portals like Google, Rediff, Indiatimes and Yahoo, where again, users land up mostly by default, when they can't find a specialised travel website. Nonetheless, a substantial 84 per cent of all online buyers are buying a travel product online, a statistic that would undoubtedly improve with broadband availability, simplified navigation and the introduction of other user-friendly e-tools.

Aug 2007
Source: Express travel world

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