Tourism and Travel Trends from India:
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Weekly News Related to Travel Industry in India

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Top Travel Destinations

Places in the news

1. Fresh snowfall in Kashmir, temp dips further!

There was fresh snowfall in north Kashmir's Gulmarg resort, providing a fillip to the ongoing winter sports there.

"Four to five inches of fresh snow was recorded at Gulmarg, giving an extended lease of life to the winter sports. This fresh snowfall will extend the duration of the ongoing games," Farooq Ahmed, chief executive officer of Gulmarg Development Authority, told IANS.
The resort, which has world-class ski slopes and high ropeways, sees several domestic and foreign tourists during the winter sports.

"Gulmarg is presently receiving 200-300 domestic tourists every day. Foreign tourists also visit this resort for skiing and other winter sports," Farooq said.
The valley also received fresh rains, bringing the temperatures down.

The authorities have now extended the winter holidays of educational institutions by 10 days. Schools are set to re-open March 1.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Source: IANS via MSN News

2. Now tonga tourism at the Taj

Decorated horse driven carriages, colourful cycle rickshaws, camel carts, battery-operated cars and electric buses - visitors to the Taj Mahal can now take their pick and enjoy a 500-metre lazy ride right from the parking lot till the entrance to the famed monument to love.

And no worries of spoiling the pearly white marble exterior either - it's all eco-friendly.

With the annual 10-day Taj Mahotsav that began Feb 18, Agra has invited a large number of foreign tourists. The atmosphere is almost festive and speed crazy westerners seem to be enjoying the treat. The hotels in Agra are cashing in on the craze and are hiring horse drawn carriages, or tongas as they are popularly known, and rickshaws for groups of tourists who bump their way through with a bemused look.

"The foreigners who come to Agra enjoy rickshaw rides. Some hotels now have their own beautified rickshaws that take them on a leisurely tour of the Taj through the narrow lanes of Taj Ganj, or to Etmauddaula across the river via the crowded Belanganj area," said Jagdish, who owns a cycle rickshaw repair shop in the Jeoni Mandi area.

"The local rickshawpullers, many of whom have picked up a smattering of English, cater mainly to foreign tourists. In the Taj Ganj area you can see a number of decorated rickshaws with fancy chimes and photos of film stars adding to the charm of the conventional vehicle pedalled by a Romeo-type youth merrily singing the latest film songs to entertain his white guests," said hotelier Sandeep.

To check pollution in the vicinity, district authorities have also recently introduced a fleet of 20 CNG buses to augment the local bus service.
"These colourful eco-friendly modes of transport send out a positive message of our commitment to keeping the environment healthy and safe for the heritage monuments," said a pollution control board official.

Apart from encouraging tourism, at least some gains are filtering down to the humble cycle rickshaw puller and the tongawallas, otherwise looked down upon by motorists and abused by cops. Indeed, in the current craze for speed, their contribution to bringing down the levels of air pollution and providing the local residents with a cheaper mode of transport has been generally ignored.

The Uttar Pradesh Tourism Cooperation has plans to work out tonga packages to various sites in the heritage city. The only hitch is the distance between monuments. A two-kilometre traffic jam between the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort could easily take the romance out of the tour.

Friday, February 23, 2007
Source: IANS via MSN News

3. Skiing camp for the handicapped

Mentally and physically challenged ski enthusiasts have begun skiing on the spectacular snow-covered slopes of a resort in Himachal Pradesh, recently.

"Some 90 skiers have gathered from Himachal Pradesh and other parts of the country to take part in the week-long training course called 'Special Olympics Bharat' in Narkanda, 64 km from Shimla," said Sudeep Rawat, an official of Bharti Airtel, the chief organisers of the event.

"At the end of this training programme some of them will be selected for the International Winter Special Olympics at Nagano in Japan in 2009," said Rawat.

There was high excitement among the participants as they glided through the snow-covered slopes. A speech impaired teenager signalled with the help of sign language that he was delighted to be here and was confident of going to the special winter Olympics.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had backed out of the event at the last moment and decided not to fund the games saying it was too early to prepare. "Such an event is being organised for the first time in the state," said Mallika Nadda, chairperson Special Olympics Bharat.

Saturday, February 24, 2007
Source: IANS via MSN News

4. More Nizam palaces welcome tourists!
Two years after commoners were allowed a peek into Chowmohalla Palace, the seat of the nizams of Hyderabad, more palaces in the sprawling complex were thrown open to people, providing a rare glimpse into the royal lifestyle of the rulers of the former princely state.

The restored palaces and galleries showcasing the personal belongings of the nizams, the splendid collection of costumes of royal ladies and other rare artefacts have added to the charm of Chowmohalla, located near the historic Charminar.

Chowmohalla now offers new galleries including Taihniyat Mahal, once used by the nizams for official receptions, Mehtab Mahal, which has a series of rooms recreating royal ambience with restored furniture, Aslah Khana with its extraordinary collection of armoury and the Afzal Mahal that was used for banquets and receptions.

The palaces were revived after painstaking work by a team of conservationists, historians and restorers. The exhibits include a gold-threaded 'jhoola' that was once draped over the royal elephant of Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, the richest man of his time.

Also on display are his personal living room, dining room, rest rooms and recreational rooms, his stationery and vintage typewriter with an Urdu keyboard.
Siddharth Ghosh, a member of the restoration team, said they had renovated many artefacts and simulated the living quarters on the basis of information provided by family members, written material and photographs.
Special exhibitions have been opened at the renovated galleries. An exhibition titled 'Tamanna' at Mahtab Mahal showcases the splendour of royal women and their lifestyle. Costumes made of finest textiles including saris and salwar kameezes with gold and silver zari work are on display.

Saturday, February 24, 2007
Source: IANS via MSN News

Travel and transportation infrastructure

Sector: Aviation

1. Ministers' panel okays AI, Indian merger
The Group of Ministers headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has endorsed the civil aviation ministry's proposal to merge state-run carriers Air-India and Indian, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today.

"The issue will now go to the Cabinet. We intend to complete the process by March 31," he said after a meeting of the GoM. The transition period would be spread over one to two years.

Allay fears of any lay-offs Patel said: “No employee needs to be worried about job loss, transfers or redeployment. There is no reason for them to be concerned about their employment conditions, salaries or seniority."

The finance ministry has broadly endorsed the issues relating to stamp duty, registration and taxes, he added.

Wednesday Feb 21, 2007
Source : PTI via MSN News

2. India plans 'intelligent' airport terminals

As the roadmap for modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports nears completion, top Civil Aviation Ministry officials on Wednesday said new terminals coming up at major airports across the country would be "intelligent" and IT-enabled.

"We are awaiting a report from the Tamil Nadu government regarding land acquisition. We are likely to get the report in the next two to three weeks.
"As soon as we get the report, we will move the Union Cabinet on modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports", Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters after inaugurating the 'Inter Airport India' exhibition here.

He said the West Bengal government has already made it clear that the Kolkata airport would be modernised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Earlier, addressing the inaugural session of the exhibition, AAI chief K Ramalingam said major Indian airports in future would have "intelligent terminals" fitted with sensors to operate various facilities -- from lighting and air-conditioning to an IT-enabled building management system.

High-tech equipment would be deployed for the security and air traffic control (ATC) systems covering a wide range of activities -- from access control to perimeter security.

The Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS-ATM) system would be modernised and linked to the satellite-based system called GAGAN, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation.
"We will have a VSAT network to cover eight major airports" to begin with, Ramalingam said, adding even the baggage X-Ray and screening mechanisms would be upgraded considerably.

The Civil Aviation Secretary, in his address, said while Delhi and Mumbai airports were being modernised, the greenfield projects at Hyderabad and Bangalore would be ready by the middle of next year.

Observing that there was a "colossal requirement" of an estimated 10 billion dollars to modernise airports across the country, he said the focus necessarily would be to have public-private partnership.

"As a policy response, the foreign investment regime in airport development and air services have been made liberal. We are open to further liberalisation based on the needs of the industry", Chawla said.

Elaborating on the "exponential growth" in the Indian aviation sector, he said the passenger traffic has grown and would continue to grow at a fast pace. The number of scheduled passenger airline operators has grown to 15 and the number of aircraft in their fleet has risen to over 300.

During 2006, these scheduled airline operators have been given permission to import as many as 66 aircraft and another 350 aircraft are waiting to be imported by the airline operators over the coming four to five years, he said.
The Civil Aviation Secretary said such huge expansion in a short time had overburdened the limited available infrastructure.

The major challenges, which were currently being tackled by the government, included modernisation of airports and ATM, ensuring safety and security standards at par with global specifications, evolving a dynamic communication and navigation system and development of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facilities, Chawla added.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Source: PTI

3. Singapore's Changi Airports partners India's Tata Group in bid for India airports

Singapore's Changi Airports International and India's Tata Group have agreed to jointly bid to invest in and manage India's airports after they are privatized, Changi said Wednesday.

The two companies will first bid to invest in and operate the Kolkata and Chennai airports, a statement from Changi Airports said.

"At present, the air travel intensity per capita in India corresponds to 0.5 percent that of Singapore's and the West. India, on the whole, is likely to see sustained economic development approaching double digits, a proof that the momentum for growth is truly awesome," Changi Airports' chief executive Chow Kok Fong was quoted as saying in the statement.

Changi and Tata, which is a sprawling business conglomerate with interests spanning from salt to software, will set up a joint venture company in which Tata will hold a 51 percent stake and the Singapore company will own the rest, the statement said.

Changi said Chennai was India's third busiest airport with 6.77 million passengers a year, while Kolkata airport's passenger traffic numbered 4.4 million— making it the fifth-busiest in the country.

In September 2005, Changi withdrew a bid to modernize New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport because it objected to a clause demanding a steep fine if the performance by the new manager fell short of certain revenue and other targets.

Changi, wholly owned by the government's Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, was part of a three-company consortium in the New Delhi bid. A joint venture between India's GMR and Germany's Fraport AG, was chosen to privatize the airport.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Source: The Associated Press via IHT

4. Jet Airways to start flights to Brussels in August

India's largest private airline company Jet Airways will make a stopover in Brussels for its flights between Mumbai and New York in the US, according to local media reports.

The service that is due to start this August will provide the first direct air link between Belgium and India, says INEP.

At present travellers to India from Belgium have to take connecting flights from other cities including Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Next to the link Mumbai-Brussels-New York, Jet Airways also intends to start a connection between New Delhi and Toronto before 2007-end. This connection will also have a stop over in Brussels, 'Flandernews.com' reported.

However, in the Jet Airways office in Brussels there was nobody to confirm the report as the management was in a meeting. The tourism minister from the Flanders region of Belgium, Geert Bourgeois, currently visiting India, met Indian tourism minister Ambika Soni and the management of Jet Airways in Mumbai.

Since 2002, the number of outbound Indian tourists has annually grown by 12 percent. It is estimated that by 2010, some 11.5 million Indians will take a holiday abroad. The northern Belgium region of Flanders hopes to get a piece of the large Indian pie. Figures show that between 2001 and 2005, the number of Indian tourists to Flanders region has risen by over 30 percent.

Bourgeois believes the new air link may well prove to be a strong incentive for Indian tourism towards Flanders. The minister said that in order to promote the new link, he would encourage cooperation between Tourism Flanders and Jet Airways. In this respect, Bourgeois suggested the opening of a Tourism Flanders office in India might be appropriate, Flandernews said.

'I am deeply convinced we can tempt the Indian tourist with our unique range of art cities on such a small surface,' he said. Bourgeois further aims to highlight Flanders as a destination for war and peace tourism from 2014 onwards. The year 2014 marks the centenary of the start of World War I. There are many World War graves in the area.
Wednesday February 21,2007
Source: IANS via Yahoo! News

5. Kingfisher to fly new routes, add more flights

Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines plans to launch more flights on new routes in its summer schedule, beginning March besides introducing services connecting Tier-II cities in the western and southern regions.

"We will increase the number of flights on our trunk routes like Mumbai-Delhi, Mumbai-Bangalore, and Mumbai-Kolkata from March this year in our new summer schedules," Kingfisher Airlines general manager (sales) Manoj Chacko told PTI.

The airline, which has a fleet of 25 aircraft, will also fly two daily flights connecting Delhi-Chennai, he added. Currently, Kingfisher has seven Mumbai-Delhi flights daily, to which a couple of more would be added, while the Mumbai-Bangalore sector, which currently has five services daily, will be increased to six, he said.

The airline was also looking to start services from Mumbai to Baroda, Jamnagar, Bhuj, Indore and Nagpur. It will also start services on the Bangalore-Lakshwadeep, Chennai-Madurai, Chennai-Trichy and Chennai-Coimbatore routes, thereby connecting all important cities around Chennai, said Chacko.

The summer schedule begins on March 26 and will continue till October.
The airline had already filed this new schedule with the Slot Committee for approval and expects to get it very soon, Chacko said

Friday, February 23, 2007
Source: PTI via ET

6. Canadian institute, Winnipeg Aviation, to offer training in India
City-based Cubex India today signed an agreement with Winnipeg Aviation and Red River College of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) designed, it said, to help the Indian aviation industry.

The agreement will provide aviation management and aircraft maintenance engineering services which will meet the country's burgeoning demand in this fast growing sector, the parties announced.

Manitoba is already an aviation hub for Indian students training to become pilots, with about forty pilots already licensed from here. This, the parties said, would go a long way towards meeting the growing demand for pilots in India.
Cubex said that pilot training in Manitoba was both cost and time effective

Friday, 23 February 2007
Source: domain b via Google news

Sector: Hotels and Hospitality

1. Kerala convention houseboat inaugurated
A spacious air-conditioned houseboat that can host large conventions was inaugurated in Kerala by Capt. Krishnan Nair, head of the Leela Group of Hotels.

Named 'Jala Samrat', it is a double-storey houseboat, believed to be the first of its kind. It is called Convention Castle.

It has a conference hall on the first floor that can seat 150 people and has been built by Alappuzha-based Pulickattil Tourism Group at a cost of over Rs.7 million.

The houseboat, combines the traditional with the modern, and the ground floor of the boat has three bedrooms with attached toilets and a lobby.

"This is a fully air-conditioned houseboat fitted with state-of-the-art audio, visual and telecommunication facilities," Tomy Pulickattil, the proud owner of the moving convention castle, told IANS.

"Bookings for the boat have already started, especially from leading companies keen to host meetings on it," said Pulickattil.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Source: IANS via MSN News

2. Govt plans Rs 237 cr capex for ITDC hotels
Ailing public sector unit India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) may get a fresh lease of life as the government plans to infuse equity capital of over Rs 237 crore for reviving Ashok Hotel, Samrat Hotel and Hotel Janpath in New Delhi.

The expenditure is set to be financed through market borrowings and government equity. The equity amounting to Rs 75 crore is proposed to be contributed by the tourism ministry, sources said. ITDC plans to raise Rs 97 crore through market borrowing from banks and financial institutions.

Moreover, chairman and managing director of ITDC, Parwez Dewan, announced that its profits for the period April-December 2006 increased from Rs 15.05 crore during the corresponding period in 2005 to an estimated Rs 44 crore in the first three quarters of 2006.

The tourism ministry had earlier announced that ITDC's profits had increased by a record 1346 per cent during the seven off-season months of April-October 2006 compared to the same period in 2005. The main growth has come from the Ashok Hotels Division which has made a profit of Rs 36 crore in April-December 2006, which is almost three times the profit earned in the same period in 2005. The duty-free business of the ITDC also showed an almost threefold rise in profits. Most divisions of the ITDC have shown improved performance over last year. However, within profitable divisions, some units such as the hotels at Jammu, Jaipur and Bhubaneshwar, continue to be in the red.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Source: Indian Express

Medical Tourism

1. Quacks threaten India's traditional ayurvedic health spas
Western tourists are flocking to luxury spas devoted to India's traditional ayurvedic cures, but lack of regulation has brought a flood of quacks into the industry.

Kerala state, with its coconut-palm-fringed coast, has been the most enthusiastic promoter of ayurveda, or long-life science, and lays claim to being India's health capital.

Hundreds of practitioners have set up shop here to take advantage of the growing popularity of the ancient healing medicine, which uses massage and special potions.

Just about every self-respecting hotel boasts a spa and ayurvedic massages.
But experienced providers warn that. But experienced providers warn that untrained newcomers risk causing more harm than good.

"The ayurveda practised in the majority of the resorts in the name of health tourism is not of quality," said Vinod Chandran, who runs a licensed ayurveda hospital in the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram.

Kovalam beach resort lies at the southernmost tip of India and is one of the best known seafronts in India -- with a string of hotels ranging from the big five-star chains to simple huts. Giant billboards advertise miracle cures and rejuvenation through ayurveda for as little as 50 dollars.

"Many doctors can't speak proper English or communicate with their clients, so they are not able to diagnose the real health problems of the patients," said Chandran. Ayurveda operates on the principle of balancing the body's "dosha," a type of mind and body combination, similar to the Greek concept of humours.
Kerala has been aggressively marketing ayurveda abroad over the past decade with roadshows in Europe and the Middle East, in its bid to position itself as a unique destination.

Almost 350,000 foreigners visited Kerala in 2005, where tourism is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, at 11 percent a year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. That raked in 1.7 billion dollars of revenue.
Some 7,000 private and 500 government clinics and hospitals provide the treatments today, as well as 59 accredited ayurvedic spa resorts, said Kerala's Association of Ayurvedic Hospitals. But established resort owners say the accreditation procedures are not a guarantee of proper treatment.

"Anybody can start an ayurvedic resort by registering the institution in the village council and hiring an ayurvedic doctor temporarily," said Poly Matthew, who runs the 17-year-old Somatheeram resort in Poovar town, outside the capital.
"Quacks will kill the industry. The government should set up strict norms for accreditation," said Matthew.

Another ayurvedic doctor, Adzeena Salim, said that most of the medical texts were written in ancient Sanskrit, making it difficult for locals to understand the complexities or for foreigners even to recognise an authentic experience.
Some resorts invent their own methods, said Salim, who also works in Poovar, at the Travancore Heritage Resort. "They fake treatment procedures and methods. Doctors working in private resorts were forced to follow the methods dictated by the resort owners," Salim told AFP. "They don't keep case histories or provide the details for the treatment procedures to the tourists."

At least one resort in Kovalam is entangled in a major legal dispute with an Austrian woman who filed a complaint with police alleging that she spent some 40,000 dollars for ayurvedic care during two stays, but was unhappy with the results. The resort, in turn, is trying to collect further funds from the tourist, with its owner telling AFP she did not disclose her history of mental illness and caused tens of thousands of dollars-worth of damage to furnishings. The state said it planned to set up committees to periodically inspect ayurvedic spas in the state.

"Ayurveda is a unique icon of Kerala. But we are aware that some illegal ayurvedic resorts are operating in the state," state tourism minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told AFP. The government also plans to introduce a bill in the next state assembly session, beginning next month, to better regulate health tourism and ayurveda, he said. But in the meantime, small operators such as Dinakar Balan, who helped out in a spa for five years before opening his own place, continue to offer their services to tourists who want to sample ayurveda on the cheap.

"You may think that foreign tourists are lavish with money. No, they count even a penny," said Balan, who offers oil massages for about 10 dollars out of three rooms on a crowded, narrow lane in Kovalam. "If you say I'm cheating tourists, it's not fair. I make a living."

Sunday, February 18, 2007
Source: AFP via Yahoo!News

2. Heading east in search of good health

Come to India for its natural splendour, man-made wonders and value-for-money hip replacement surgery? That’s the latest pitch from India’s tourism promotion board and the healthcare industry, as they try to take advantage of a growing appreciation of the high quality and low costs of Indian medical facilities, among patients in the West.

Heart surgery at any of India’s top hospitals would cost a patient about 6,000 dollars, as against 40,000 dollars in the US. The success and infection rates are on a par with leading hospitals in the West. Not surprisingly, private Indian hospitals are receiving more foreign patients, especially for cardiac, orthopedic and oncology procedures.

Wockhardt Hospitals performed over 500 surgeries on overseas patients in the last six months. At Apollo Hospitals, visitors from the US and the UK now account for a third of 30,000 foreign patients it treats annually.

Executive Director, Finance, Apollo Hospitals, Suneeta Reddy told CNBC-TV18, "Because of the case mix which gives us higher margins on the foreign patients – we don’t do simple procedures like plastic surgery, we do the more complex ones – and therefore the margins are higher. And they stay in the more expensive suites. So, in a way it also helps to subsidise our poorer patients who stay in the general wards. So, it’s a good strategy all round, for us."

Speaking during a visit to New York, prominent cardiosurgeon Dr Naresh Trehan dismissed any concerns that Indian hospitals would find it more lucrative to treat foreign patients at the cost of caring for Indians.

Executive Director, Escorts Heart Institute, Dr Naresh Trehan explains, "It’s not that the floodgates have opened or anything like that. They are coming in a steady flow. And more and more infrastructure is being built. So, I don’t think there will ever be that crisis - that you will actually have to deprive an Indian patient for the sake of a foreign patient, I don’t think that mismatch will happen."

India is now actively promoting itself as a healthcare destination. For the first time, the Indian tourism board and CII will jointly pitch Indian healthcare and medical facilities at the annual New York Times Travel Show this week.

Quality medical care at affordable costs – as the word spreads, the Indian healthcare industry should gear up for an outbreak of business from the West

Friday, February 23, 2007
Source : Moneycontrol.com

3. India tries to attract foreign investment in the health sector

Foreign investment opportunities in the fast expanding health sector in India are vast and profitable with a payback period of five to six years, an Indian delegation said here.

"Scope for foreign investments exists in the highly specialized areas where the Government is unlikely to invest because of heavy cost. The private sector has to fill the gap," Co chairs of Healthcare Committee of Confederation Indian Industry (CII) Naresh Trehan and Suneeta Reddy told a gathering of healthcare professionals and investors.

In their presentations, both stressed that expansion needs to be seen in the context of not only foreigners coming for treatment in India but also rising domestic demand for better healthcare facilities with high degree of efficiency.
Stating that the healthcare sector is in for a major expansion, currently India spends $22 billion or 6.1 per cent of GDP on healthcare and provide employment to 4 million people, they said in a seminar organized at the Indian Consulate here on Healthcare and Medical Tourism in India.

A CII-McKinsey analysis, they said projects that by 2012, India would be spending $45 billion or 8 per cent of GDP on healthcare and the sector would provide employment to 9 million people.

In her welcome address, Indian Consul General Neelam Deo stressed that the high rate of success in sophisticated medical procedures and high class nursing were among the factors in increasing medical tourism in India.

To cater to the projected demand, Trehan said, massive investments by both the Government and the private sectors are required. But the private sector would require to invest a major part of it. In recent years, the speakers said India has become a preferred destination for patients seeking specialized care.

The combination of high quality and low cost facilities is attracting growing number of international patients and last year an estimated 150,000 came in for treatment in a few specialized facilities, they said. But Reddy, Director (Finance) of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, spoke about India offering holistic medical service, yoga -- meditation, ayurveda besides modern medicine. Thus the number international patients coming to take advantage of multifaceted facilities would be much greater, the speakers pointed out.

Trehan, the executive director of Escort Health Institute and Research Centre, said patients come not only for specialized treatment but also simple treatments though the former gets more publicity. Stressing that some of the specialized treatments cost just one-sixth to one-tenth of the cost of similar procedures in advanced countries, Trehan said cost is only one of the factors in their decision to seek treatment in India.

India needs 7,50,000 hospital beds immediately including 1,00,000 in the specialized treatment category, they said. But Trehan said, "Medical Tourism" is not the right term and suggested using "Medical Value Travel" till "someone comes up with a better expression". Director of Quest Diagnostic, USA, Dr Harvey W. Kaufman said they plan to set up laboratories and diagnostic services in India in a big way.

February 24,2007
Source: PTI via The Hindu

Religious Tourism

Holistic Healing Service Providers

Travel characteristics of Indians

Investment related

Travel and Tourism Support Industries …and much more

Policy Related

1. Brussels to have tourism promotion office in India
Visiting Flemish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Media and Tourism, Geert Bourgeois on Monday said Brussels will explore possibilities of opening an office in India to promote tourism.

Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni, briefed the Flemish (a region in Belgium) Minister about the economic reforms introduced by New Delhi.

Also, both the Ministers agreed that today's meeting will help in promoting tourism and related activities.

Soni said with a view to attract investment in tourism sector, the hotel and tourism related industry has been declared as a high priority industry for foreign investment and now 100 per cent direct investment was possible in it.

She said Belgium experience can be brought in tourism infrastructure particularly in the hotel sector.

Bourgeois assured that in view of the proposed direct flight from New Delhi to Brussels by an Indian private airline, package tours to India will be encouraged.

The India tourism office located in Amsterdam that looks after tourism promotion aspects in Belgium is participating in tourism fairs being held in Charleroi, Brussels, Antwerpen and Wemmel in Belgium this month.

Belgium is one of important tourist generating markets for India. In 2005 more than 25,596 tourists visited India from Belgium and 19,479 tourists from India visited Belgium in 2004. (ANI)
Monday February 19, 2007
Source: ANI via Yahoo! News

2. Flemish region government for package tours to India

The government of the Flemish speaking region in Belgium will soon introduce package tours to India and explore the possibility of opening a tourism office here, said Flemish Foreign Affairs, Media and Tourism Minister Geert Bourgeois Monday.

Bourgeois, who met Tourism Minister Ambika Soni here, said the newly introduced direct flights from New Delhi to Brussels would increase the tourism in both regions.

Soni said Belgium could bring investors in the tourism infrastructure industry as 100 percent foreign direct investment was allowed and India had declared tourism-related industries 'high priority', said a press statement here.

The India tourism office in Amsterdam was participating in the ongoing tourism fairs in Belgium.

Belgium, which is divided into three regions, the Flemish, the Walloon and the Brussels Capital, is an important tourist market for India. While 25,596 tourists from Belgium visited India in 2005, 19,479 Indians travelled to Belgium.
Monday February 19, 2007
Source: IANS via Yahoo News

3. India, Italy sign cultural exchange programme
India and Italy have signed a cultural exchange Programme (CEP) of cultural cooperation for the years 2007-2009.

The CEP envisages cooperation in education, arts and visual events, archives, libraries and publishing, cooperation in the fields of restoration, preservation and protection of cultural heritage, information, radio and television cooperation and cooperation in tourism and youth affairs and sports.

Both the countries have agreed to cooperate in order to counter illicit trade in works of art with preventive, repressive, and remedial measures in accordance to the respective national legislations.

The cooperation is also in accordance to the obligations ensuing the 1970 UNESCO International Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer in Ownership of Cultural Property.

The two countries will also cooperate in protection of submerged cultural heritage according to their respective legislation regarding submarine archaeology, and considering the principles contained in the 2001 UNESCO International Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.

They may develop bilateral co-operation in the field of the protection of intellectual property and copyright, and explore the possibility of co-operation between the respective relevant government bodies in this area.

Under the CEP, the two countries will encourage contacts and co-operation between their respective universities, institutions of higher artistic, musical education and other institutions of higher education through the signing of agreements and conventions, the exchange of teachers, data and information, as well as through the implementation of common research projects, seminars and conferences.

Both the sides will exchange annually on a reciprocal basis, one archivist, (except film archivist) for 10 days to study the archival systems as well as for study and research. The Parties will promote cooperation between their respective historical archives subject to their respective national laws, in order to realise the exchange of information and experience.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Source: ANI via Yahoo! News

4. Terror will not affect India's tourism - lobby group
Terror attacks in India will not deter tourists from visiting the country as it has emerged as a major global tourist destination, Peter de Jong, president and CEO of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), said on Thursday.

PATA is the biggest coalition of travel and tourism companies in Asia-Pacific.
India has witnessed a string of terror attacks on trains and public places in the recent past.

The latest attack on Sunday was on a train -- the Samjhauta Express , which connects the Indian capital New Delhi to the Pakistani city of Lahore -- which killed 68 people.

"I don't -- as a consumer, let's say -- don't associate India at all with that kind of a threat," Jong told Reuters on the sidelines of the launch of a tourism report on India. "I think India is seen in a very positive light and particularly in a culturally diverse light".

Despite lingering terror threats, particularly in key tourist destinations, visitors to India have increased. About 4.4 million tourists visited India last year, which is around 13 percent more than in 2005, government data showed.

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism rose 23.2 percent on year to $822.5 million in December and analysts say there is tremendous potential for growth.
Jong said India had the potential of being a leader in tourism if it urgently tackled problems in infrastructure, aviation and hygiene where it is lagging behind other Asian destinations.

"Between the growth potential and the growth realised, there is a margin that could be narrowed if initiatives were taken by the government and the industry together ... to bridge the gap," he said.

Best known on the world tourist map as home to the Taj Mahal, India has been running a campaign to woo tourists to its grand palaces, golden beaches, ancient temples and wildlife sanctuaries.
Thursday Feb 22, 2007
Source: Reuters

5. Tourism industry is booming
India needs further improvements in aviation and tourism infrastructure, if it wants to sustain the stellar growth in the country’s tourism industry in recent years, says a study by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

The study, Total Tourism India, points to the need for expanding airport capacity, further liberalise the airline policy, increase the hotel accomodation inventory with focus on mid-market and economy segments, reduce and simplify taxation, cut-out bureaucratic red tape, boost availability of skilled manpower and streamline visa processing.

While complementing the low cost carriers for giving a fillip to domestic tourism in the country, the report points out that the LCC model in India remains vulnerable due to the costly operating environment, high airport charges and low level of internet penetration. The airport infrastructure too needs to be upgraded with more private sector participation.

The study finds that number of domestic trips reached an all time high of 430 million in 2006, up 13% over the last one year, riding on the boom in low cost air travel.

International outbound travel by Indians touched 8.3 million in 2006, as against 7.2million in 2005. Close to 3 million Indians went to Asia Pacific destinations, making India the fourth largest source market behind China, Japan and Korea. This is expected to touch 4.3 million by 2009, the study said. Foreign tourist arrivals into the country was pegged at around 4.2 million in 2006, as against 3.9 million in 2005.

Though there has been rapid increase in airline seat capacity over the last one year, PATA report pointed out that the current policy of not allowing Indian carriers to operate internationally before five years of domestic operations is constraining the expansion of international air capacity operating in and out of the country.

On the issue of expansion of hotel room inventory, the report said that the country needs to focus on developing broader range of three and four-star accomodation. According to WTTC Tourism Satellite Accounts, the country needs to identify an additional 2.7 million skilled tourism related staff to support the projected growth in the travel industry.

The report forecasts that visitor exports - or amount of money spend by foreign travellers in India - is expected to come down from 3.3% of total tourism income in 2006 to 1.3% in 2016.

Friday, February 23, 2007
Source: Economic Times

6. Tourism in Gujarat gets vibrant

Gujarat, which celebrated last year as `Tourism Year' has begun this year on a high note in the tourism sector.

A total of 38 Memorandum Of Understanding (MOUs) for 69 projects in the tourism sector amounting to Rs 20,820.50 crores were signed at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor's Summit organised recently at Science City, Ahmedabad. The investors include eight Non Resident Indians (NRIs) with proposed investment of Rs 5,662 crore.

A total of 33 investor companies have signed MOUs for 64 projects in tourism while four companies have signed four projects in the civil aviation sector, and one party has signed an MOU for development of infrastructure for the Pavitra Yatra Dham Vikas Board. The breakdown of the total cost of projects with various departments is as follows:
1. Department of Tourism and Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd.-Rs 1,0785.5 crore
2. Civil Aviation Department-Rs 1,0027.5 crore
3. Pavitra Yatra Vikas Dham Board Rs-7.5 crore

In the past couple of years the Gujarat government has begun focusing on the tourism sector in a major way. It has realised the significance of the tourism sector in the overall development of the economy of the state. Tourism can also help the state in eradicating poverty as it provides immense employment opportunities. Last year, the state government allocated Rs 100 crore exclusively for improvement and up-gradation of tourism related infrastructure and basic facilities. Budget provisions were made on an Action Plan devised as part of the Integrated Tourism Development strategy.

Apart from this, there were number of policy level initiatives also undertaken by the government in the tourism sector. Some of these initiatives are:

• Formation of Tourism Promotion Council headed by the chief minister with tourism stakeholders as members
• Reduction of entertainment tax from 50 to 25 per cent
• Abolishing luxury tax up to tariff of Rs 500 and also rationalising and reducing it for a higher tariff bracket
• Introduction of Hotel Investment Scheme for 20 room hotels at select destinations, where investors can avail exemption from electricity duty and luxury tax for five years plus stamp duty exemption in case of purchase of private and reduction of electricity duty from 35 to 30 per cent
• Announcement of medical tourism policy.

The earnest efforts of the Gujarat Government seems to have worked in some measure as the state registered an increase of 32 per cent in tourist arrivals in 2006 compared to the figures of 2005.

NRI Investors
1. Capt. Savio De Silva, Singapore Seaways Maritime (I) India
2. Sunil Nayak, Apex Hospitality Corporation, USA
3. Rocky Israni, India Investment Pacifica Companies, USA
4. Vipul Patel,Stanton Capital, UK
5. Sharad Patel, Laxmi Franklin Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, USA
6. Ravindrabhai Patel, UK
7. Dadubhai Patel,UK
8. Randeep Waraich PGA Design Consulting USA & Florida Metal Trading.

Friday, February 23, 2007
Source: Indian Express

Service Providers

1. ezeego1.com goes live with many firsts to its credit
ezeego1.com has gone live and the portal offers comprehensive features with many unique firsts not seen before in the online travel market in India.

Speaking on this new venture, Peter Kerkar, global CEO, Cox & Kings, said, “ezeego1.com is unique in a way because it is a travel meta search site with booking capabilities. It is a platform where suppliers and end customers meet to get real time information and transaction capability online. All travel providers, both online and offline, will be represented on ezeego1.com.''

ezeego1.com uses the best technology platform in the Indian travel industry. The portal offers a real time web-based booking engine, which is seamlessly integrated to the mid and back office. Some of the unique features of the site are as follows:

(a) Rail Europe: ezeego1.com has an exclusive tie-up with Rail Europe. It enables passengers to book rail tickets anywhere in Europe where Rail Europe has a network. It is a seamless interface and a first for any website in India.

(b) Shopping cart concept: You do not have to make separate payments for multiple services bought on the site. Even if you purchase more than one product on the site, a single payment can be made for all services.

(c) Car transfers: ezeego1.com is the only website in India to provide car transfer facilities from the airport to the place or residence, office and vice versa.

(d) International cars: The site has a tie-up with major car rental companies in the world to provide transfers in most places in the world.

(e) EasyBill outlets: Indians are not accustomed to making huge payments online, due to a variety of reasons such as credit card limits etc. In order to provide a facility to make offline payments, the company has tied-up with EasyBill, which has 2,200 outlets across India.

(f) Holiday options: The site provides group tours, city breaks, package tours and branded products that are offered by tour operators.

(g) Secure payment gateway: The site has a secure payment gateway, which does not capture the customer's credit card details on the site. It moves directly to the respective bank's site. The payment gateway used follows the verified by Visa and Master Card Secure.

ezeego1.com also has a B2B component that would enable travel agents and tour operators to source products online.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Source: Indian Express