Tourism and Travel Trends from India:
News and views on India's Travel and Hospitality Sector

Weekly News Related to Travel Industry in India

Top Travel Destinations
Places in the news
Travel and transportation infrastructure
Medical Tourism
Religious Tourism
Holistic Healing Service Providers
Travel characteristics of Indians
Investment related
Travel and Tourism Support Industries …and much more

Top Travel Destinations

Places in the news

1. Festivities to mark Rajasthan Day celebrations
The Rajasthan government has lined up a series of events, festivals and competitions to celebrate Rajasthan Day during March 24-30.

The events will include performances by celebrities such as actor Hema Malini and singer Kailash Kher and plays by the Prithvi Theatre Group from Mumbai. Folk artistes have been also been roped in.

Rajasthan tourism department officials say that efforts are on to invite singing legend Asha Bhosle and musician A.R. Rahman.

The inaugural celebrations for 'Dhora Ri Dharti' (Land of the Desert), organised by the tourism department, will take place at the Sawai Mann Singh stadium here, Usha Punia, Rajasthan's minister of state for tourism said.

The ceremony will be followed by a dance performance by Hema Malini.

A variety of cultural programmes will be held against the backdrop of the Albert Hall Museum here over the week. These will include a concert by ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali at the Albert Hall. Prithvi Theatre Group will perform March 27.

The other events include a tattoo show, puppet shows, adventure sports, a golf tournament, a `Run for Rajasthan' and a maha aarti (prayers). Rural sports like kabbadi, kho-kho and tug-of-war will take place at the SMS Stadium.

Thursday, March 01, 2007
Source: MSN news

2. Heavy snowfall cuts off Chamba valley

Heavy snowfall  and incessant rains for last couple of days have cut off parts of the Chamba valley and frozen the famous Dal Lake at the Manimahesh pilgrimage centre.

The entire Kangra valley and the adjoining areas of Chamba valley remained in the grip of a severe cold wave following heavy rains and snowfall which have paralysed communication and transportation in the Bharmour and Pangi tribal sub-divisions of Chamba district.

The Dal Lake, situated at the famous pilgrimage centre of Manimahesh at an altitude of 3,170 metres above sea level in Bharmour, froze in sub zero temperatures.

Normal life also remained crippled in the entire Kangra district and vehicles on various interior roads could not ply.

The hill resorts of Triund near Dharamsala, Dalhousie, Khajjiar and Kareri were clad in a white mantle of snow.

Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education has decided to commence the annual examinations for Plus Two, Plus One and Class X students throughout the state from March 5. Snow and inclement weather could prove trying for the students to reach their examination centres.

Thursday, March 01, 2007
Source: MSN news

Travel and transportation infrastructure

Sector: Aviation

1. Job seekers crowd the cockpit
Pilot shortage and the lucrative pay packet that the offers is attracting people from myriad backgrounds to fly commercial aircraft. And it’s not just air force and naval officers who are ready to make a career switch but also dentists, architects, software engineers, flight pursers et al who are looking at flying as a new career.

According to industry experts, the average age of such professionals joining a flying school is 35 years. Sample this. SpiceJet has a former truck driver from Canada flying one of its planes. Another one is a former chartered accountant.

Jet Airways recently recruited a ground staff engineer who took pilot training and is a full time pilot on its rolls now. Air India, on the other hand, has a flight purser who now doesn’t serve food but is inside the cockpit flying the aircraft.

Similarly the common man’s airline Air Deccan has BPO executives flying its aircraft. It also had an ex merchant navy professional as its pilot who later joined some other airline.

“Chartered Accountants, people from merchant navy and with management background are now joining airlines as pilots We have witnessed this trend in the last 12 months,” says Captain J S Dhillon, executive vice president, flight operations, SpiceJet. Out of SpiceJet’s 120 pilots, 15% are those for whom flying is a second career. Most of them are in the age bracket of 30-35 years.

A senior official from the national carrier agrees with the trend and says “Besides professionals from defence forces, cabin crew members and ground instructors are also taking flying as their second career. At Air India we have quite a mix of pilots ranging between 22 year old to 55 year old”. Air India has around 600 pilots.

“With ample jobs available for pilots in India now people from different professions are taking up pilot training,” says Captain Rajiv Kothiyal, deputy vice president flight operations, Air Deccan. Out of the 400 pilots that Air Deccan has on its rolls, around 50 (including defence personnel) are those for whom flying is a second career.

“Looking at the value proposition i.e high salary and good lifestyle even I wouldn’t mind switching and becoming a pilot,” says Jeh Wadia, managing director, GoAir. In the last eight months the airline has received three applications from cabin crew members who are interested in pilot training. GoAir has a total of 121 pilots.

Sunday, February 25, 2007
Source: Economic Times

2. Paramount to enter western Indian skies

Private carrier Paramount Airways, which has a strong presence in South India, would enter the Western Indian skies by the end of this year and add 15 more aircraft to its kitty in the next three years.

Talking to visiting reporters here after the launch of Paramount's fourth flight in the Chennai-Madurai sector last evening, company's Managing Director M Thiagarajan said the airline would try to provide maximum number of services across the cities in the Western region.

However, he did not divulge the cities the airliner would serve in the region.
"By early 2010, we will have a national presence," he added.

Paramount will induct 15 more Brazilian made 70-seater Embraer 170/175 and 110-seater Embraer 195 aircraft in phases within the next 36 months, he said.

The carrier already owns five Embraer 170/175 aircraft and connects eight destinations in South India through 50 daily flights. Though a newcomer in the aviation sector, the airliner carries an average 100 tonnes of cargo daily, he said. Paramount will also launch its services to Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu and Kozhikode in Kerala soon

Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

3. Cabinet gives green signal to AI-IA merger
The Union Cabinet has given the final nod on the mega-merger of the two national carriers, Air India and Indian. The merger would turn the new entity into a large airline, with a combined fleet of about 120 aircraft and a staff strength of 30,000, capable of taking global competition head-on. The public sector character of the merged airline would continue.

By 2010-11, when all the new aircraft ordered by the two carriers are inducted into the fleet, the merged entity's employee-aircraft ratio would come down to about 200:1, comparable with any major global airline. While Air India has ordered 68 Boeing planes, Indian has finalised the acquisition of 43 Airbus aircraft.

The Group of Ministers headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had on February 21 decided to complete the merger process by March 31. With the Union Cabinet's nod, work on legal formalities of the merger process would begin. This is likely to be completed within the next three months.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who has been holding meetings with employees' unions of the two airlines, has assured them that their interests, including employment conditions, wages, seniority and career progression, would be taken care of and a grievance redressal mechanism would be in place to protect their interests.

According to the report submitted by Accenture, there will be no manpower rationalization as the consultancy has suggested 'careful integration' of manpower at various levels. It has also suggested a top-to bottom integration of the employees. It is proposed that the pay-scales be revised to bring parity in promotion procedures.

This is in view of the fact that there is a discrepancy in the promotion procedures of both airlines. While one follows time-bound promotion, other does it on the out of turn also. As of now, Accenture has proposed that the general pay-scales remain the same.

As for the hierarchy of the merged entity, it has been proposed that it should consist of board members, Group CMD and CEOs' for ancilliary business units such as engineering, LCC, ground handling, integrated bsuinesses, MRO and others. It is proposed that members on the board of IA and AI should remain on the board of the merged entity and advocates complete involvement of the HR in the merger.

Asset sharing of the two companies will be on the basis of the models that the Cabinet finally approves. While both companies have more or less equal amounts of assets in valuation based in Maharashtra and Delhi, stamp duties and other levies will be dealt by the state government as it is a state government subject. However, all depends on the model that is chosen as both carriers have accumulated tax losses, but AI has more.

While the civil aviation ministry had also done its own study, the proposals were presented before the inter-ministerial group comprising the finance minister, law minister, minister for PSBs, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the civil aviation minister.

According to a member of the core group that had prepared the merger report, the roadmap had been prepared after studying eight models of merger across the globe including that of Lufthansa.

Accenture had suggested the five options for merger, of which demerger was one. However, earlier while talking to ET Online, the minister had said that demerger was ruled out, the other options have to be debated with their pros and cons.

Thursday, March 01, 2007
Source: Economic Times

4. Kingfisher to start flights to Lakshadweep
Kingfisher Airlines will launch flights to Lakshadweep, the first by any private carrier, from Saturday.
The Bangalore-Kochi-Agatti flight will operate thrice a week - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, airport sources said.
The airline would use a 42-seater aircraft for operating the service. The first flight will be landing at Agatti at 1.30 pm tomorrow, the sources said.

Friday, March 02, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

Sector: Hotels and Hospitality

1. Whitbread plans to take budget hotel chain to Asia

Whitbread, the leisure group behind David Lloyd Leisure and Beefeater Restaurants, is to export its fast-growing Premier Travel Inn chain to India and China to cash in on demand for budget hotels.

The news came as the group dispelled speculation that it would convert itself into a real estate investment trust (Reit), leaving analysts to conclude that it will opt for some form of securitisation when it announces refinancing plans in June.

Alan Parker, Whitbread’s chief executive, said: “We have no immediate intention of turning ourselves into a Reit.” He added that although there was still much growth potential for Premier Travel Inn (PTI) in the UK, where it expected to add 3,000 rooms in the next year, he was keen to tap the potential of emerging markets.

Last April, it announced a joint venture deal with Emirates Group to launch PTI in the Gulf region. The initial focus will be on developing three hotels in Dubai. Mr Parker said that in India Whitbread had held “exploratory talks with potential partners” after receiving several unsolicited approaches and had now identified “a couple of possibilities”.

The situation in China was less well advanced, although that could change this weekend when Mr Parker visits the country to look at opportunities for PTI and Costa, its coffee chain. It recently opened five Costa units in Shanghai in a joint venture with the Yueda Group and is aiming for 300 outlets within five years. Mr Parker said: “We are still reviewing the market for PTI in China. We know our Costa joint venture partner would be interested in talking about PTI, although we haven’t had those talks yet.”

The success of PTI in the UK helped Whitbread to report a 4.3 per cent jump in like-for-like sales in the first 50 weeks of the financial year, up from 3.9 per cent at the 39-week stage. PTI was the best-performing division, with like-for-like sales up 8.1 per cent.

All four divisions reported improved trading compared with the first 39 weeks, and Mr Parker expected full-year results to be at the top end of market forecasts. Analysts said that its strong trading would boost Whitbread’s chances of remaining independent.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Source: Times via Google News

2. Hotel cos relook at strategies to benefit from I-T sops

Hospitality majors who won in the recent auction of hotel sites in the NCR at astronomical rates are now concerned about the financial viability of building budget hotels there.

The recent Budget had announced a five year tax holiday to build budget hotels in the NCR. Sources say hotel majors had planned to build premium hotels in the region. Developers have made financial bids that will make it practically impossible for these budget hotels to generate profits due to high real estate costs. Each of the nodal development authorities had auctioned sites in an effort to increase hotel room supply.

“The recent income-tax benefit would expedite ongoing projects in the budget and the mid-market segments. However, post 2010 the Delhi market will see a oversupply of rooms,” says Manav Thadani, managing director of HVS International, a global hospitality tracking firm.

Consequently, more budget hotels (2,3,4 star)and convention centres are now expected to come up in the NCR of Delhi which will take the pressure off room tariffs following the five year tax holiday. Most of the development is in Gurgaon and neighbouring Noida, much of this is owing to the Commonwealth Games to be held in NCR in 2010.

Around 70-odd hotel projects are in various stages of development in the NCR, involving creation of 20,000 more rooms. Of these, around 40% fall under the two to four-star categories the rest being the premium categories. The NCR currently has around 7,030 rooms.

The new hotel projects are expected to be completed by April 2010. As the demand and supply mismatch continues, occupancies and room rates will see an upward trend till new room supply falls into place, industry sources said.

Many hotel companies are also taking a re-look at their strategies and announcing growth plans. Carlson Hospitality EVP (Asia Pacific) KB Kachru said, “Hotel developers and operators will expedite setting up of economy hotels. We will have a re-look at our strategy and emphasise on further development of our Country Inns & Suites, Park Plaza and Park Inn brands in the NCR. We already have three hotels under development in the NCR.”

Tourism has been given an impetus with an increased allocation to Rs 520 crore. While emphasising that the recent Budget did not give any tax relief to the premium hotel category, Mumbai as a financial capital will attract more tourists said Leelaventure VC Vivek Nair

Saturday, March 03, 2007
Source: Economic Times

Medical Tourism

1. Corporate hospitals see 15% earnings from foreign patients

With foreign patients coming to Indian hospitals for treatment expected to touch 2 lakh, inbound medical tourism is expected to contribute about 15% of corporate hospitals total earnings by 2009.

Max Healthcare, director Sales and Marketing Sanjay Rai told ET: "Currently , corporate hospitals earn about 8-9 % of their total revenue from overseas patients but this will grow to about 15% by 2009." Foreign patients contributed about Rs 15 crore of Max Healthcare's two super specialist hospitals of its total earning of Rs 180 crore, he added.

"Last year, foreign patients contributed about 12% of our total revenue of Rs 224 crore. We expect the revenue from overseas patients to touch 15% in 2 years. About 1,200 foreign patients were treated in our Delhi hospital last year and the number of foreign patients will also grow by over 10 %," added an Apollo Hospital Delhi official.

The share of overseas patients is still small for Fortis Healthcare but it expects it to grow significantly. “Overseas patients contributed about 6 8% of our total revenue of 443 crore. "By 2009, we expect the revenue from overseas pa tients to grow significantly, Fortis, director marketing Su darshan Mazumdar said refus ing to give any projections.

According to a CII study, more than 1.5 lakh foreign patients visited India for medical proce dures last year and the number is growing by 15% a year. The global world health travellers market is $40 billion and growing at over 15% year-on year.

At present, India's medical tourism industry to be around $450 million, a report by FICCI and Ernst & Young said. A recent McKinsey study estimates In dia's medical tourism industry could yield as much as $2.2 bil lion a year by 2012. Currently India's total healthcare industry is about $17 billion and is grow ing at about 13% annually.

Friday, March 02, 2007
Source: Economic Times

2. Medical Tourism

Move over Mumbai. As medical tourism is slated to become a 2.3-billion dollar industry by 2012 — next only to IT and BPO — hospitals in Bangalore are gearing up to manage the swelling overseas market.

Be it introducing healing coaches for patients, incorporating aerobics centres, health spas or swimming pools or even building a separate 500-bed hospital exclusively for foreign patients, hospitals are leaving no stone unturned to offer worldclass facilities to foreign clientele, particularly from the Gulf.

"Flying in from 30 different countries, 'medical tourists' account for 10 per cent of patients in the top hospitals, but the majority are seen from UAE and Saudi Arabia," Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences chairman Dr Devi Shetty says.

To cater to the inflow of patients from West Asia, Narayana Hrudayalaya is planning to construct a five-star hotel near its premises to accommodate overseas clientele — a more feasible option than upgrading hospital rooms to suite class.

"This way patients could come to hospital for treatment and post, as well as recuperate in the hotel rooms," explains Shetty, whose 'Narayana Health City' a 5,000-bed, super-speciality hospital on a 30-acre land is also under way.

Manipal Hospital registers 3,000 patients from overseas, particularly the Gulf. No wonder Manipal Health Systems MD-CEO R Basil is excited about the new 650-bed hospital at Hebbal — an add-on to their existing 200-bed infrastructure on Airport Road.

St John's One World Hospital's USP of providing both allopathic and traditional mode of treatments adds to the buzz. "A single room for a patient who has undergone a complex heart operation bills him Rs 2.5 lakh — at least three times cheaper than in most other countries," Wockhardt Hospital CEO Vishal Bali says.

Connectivity is another factor — there are two direct flights plying from West Asia to Bangalore every day involving only three hours travel time.

Cashing in further on the buzzing industry, Emirates Airlines plans to fly down tour operators from across the Gulf — Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE — to Bangalore for a 'familiarisation' tour.

"Plans to bring in a team of doctors from Bangalore to show them around Dubai in the near future is also on the cards," Emirates commercial operations senior vicepresident (West Asia and Indian Ocean) Nabil Sultan reveals. Apart from introducing eight flights a week to Bangalore in late 2006, Emirates also added 20 more flights to India.

Wednesday, 28 Feb, 2007
Source: The Times of India

Religious Tourism

Holistic Healing Service Providers

Travel characteristics of Indians

Investment related

Travel and Tourism Support Industries …and much more

1. India partner country at ITB Berlin tourism expo
Riding a 15 percent annual growth in arrivals over the last four years, India will be the partner country at ITB Berlin, the world's largest travel and trade show March 6-11 where it will showcase its rich cultural and scenic diversity that is a huge draw globally.

'As a partner state, ITB Berlin will provide the ideal platform for showcasing India's unique tourism products and promoting India as a preferred destination,' a tourism ministry official said.

'Significantly, it gives an opportunity - Incredible India - to be the focus of five-six million people for one week and reach out to the largest audience of travel industry representatives, decision makers, the media and potential travellers,' the official added.

'The world is turning towards India and India is open for business like never before. In such an environment, Incredible India is boldly and surely taking on the world,' the official maintained.

As the partner state, India will host the opening ceremony, during which a cultural programme will feature a unique fashion and audio visual presentation - 'The Tree of Life' - portraying the country's rich textile craft heritage in contemporary terms, while retaining its cultural ethos.

The show will be a spectacular visual journey across some of the most craft rich areas of India and will tell the historic story of its 16 million crafts persons who, till today, practise their art much as their ancestors did.

Presented by Ritu Kumar, one of India's foremost fashion designers, the presentation will highlight the influence of Indian design motifs on the world.

The dance extravaganza thereafter will include the Kathak and Mohiniattam dance forms, musicians from Rajasthan, folk dancers from Gujarat and Orissa, drummers from Manipur, exuberant and rhythmic dancers from Punjab, martial dance forms, acrobatic acts and a lot more.

Tourism Minister Ambika Soni will inaugurate the India pavilion on March 7.

Set up in an area of 870 square metres, it will see the participation of 20 state tourism departments, organisations like Air India, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the India Tourism Development Corp, as also some 45 travel agents, tour operators, hotels and resorts.

The daily activities at the pavilion that will have 'Colours of India' as its theme will comprise cultural performances, live demonstration of Ayurveda and art and craft skills, application of henna, and distribution of brochures, posters, bindis, bangles and other promotional material.

A 100-strong cultural group from India will give a feel of Indian folk and traditional dance forms to the visitors.

This apart, graffiti splattered on the shuttle buses plying within the fair ground will further enhance the India ambience.

A host of seminars on subjects like business opportunities in India, trekking in the Himalayas, medical and wellness tourism, and scuba diving and river rafting will also be held on the occasion.

For 40 years, ITB Berlin has been a driving force in the worldwide travel industry, attracting high-ranking professionals with decision-making powers, and has shown a steady increase in the number of exhibitors and visitors year-on-year.

'As a principal destination for business travellers and tourists, India has established a firm place in world tourism. Due to the country's political stability, its strong economy and an increasingly favourable business and investment climate, the growth prospects for the country in tourism are substantial,' the tourism ministry official pointed out.

Proof of this is found in the fact that Conde Nast Traveller, the world's leading travel and tourism journal, has ranked India amongst the top four preferred holiday destinations of the world.

The website Lonely Planet has placed India amongst the top five destinations in a survey of 167 countries.

Thursday,March 1, 2007
Source: IANS via RxPG

2. China vs India – the heavyweight championship of Asia
It’s no rumble in the jungle, but rest assured this battle will be watched with more interest and by many more people than any Ali versus Foreman fight ever was.

Not only are India and China expected to dominate the Asian travel market place, but perhaps even the world if current trends are any indication.

The world’s focus is on both nations, and most refer to them as if in an equal phase of the growth cycle, bounding along from strength to strength. But scratch beneath the surface of opinion a little harder and in reality the experts are divided as to the supposed equal pegging of these massive emerging industries.

As a travel supplier this presents a rather interesting conundrum, that of which country to concentrate growth strategies on. Certainly this is true for suppliers with limited resources and budgets, or those that are not as established globally. Industry representatives from both nations will argue that theirs is the nation with the greatest potential, but how do you know for sure?
In light of this “dilemma”, perhaps the only way to get a clear picture of the situation is to factor like-for-like comparisons into the equation, beginning with country populations. China’s population (1.32 billion) is a paltry 200 million people bigger than neighboring India (1.12 billion), so immediately it’s not difficult to see what all the hype is about.   

Both countries have seen burgeoning middle classes in recent years, and their access to disposable income continues to increase where China are leading with 12% in 2006.

Comparing the 2005 GDP of the two nations, China grew by a staggering 10% while India experienced 8.5% growth, meaning both nations feature in the top four highest grossing countries of the world.

India originally adopted online technology far sooner then China, but in recent years the Chinese market has caught up and it is now widely regarded to be at the same level. Similarly both countries have seen significant growth in the number of people with access to the internet, China especially with its 123 million users compared to India’s 60 million. Interestingly however, the number of hosted websites in India is far greater with 1.5 million, approximately 1.3 million more than in China.

The current Indian labor force stands at around 798 million, while China is around the 509 million mark. This suggests that the fewer workers in China earn a higher average salary, and subsequently a higher level of disposable income.

From a marketing, distribution and travel booking perspective, it’s obvious to see why Asian travel companies are so keen to embrace the mobile revolution, when you consider that there are some 437 million mobile phone users in China and 140 million in India.
With regard to access, there are 486 airports China and 341 in India. The current growth rate in outbound traveler numbers in India is up 12% year upon year, and China (although more unsteady) seems to have stabilized around the 13% mark of late.
Perhaps the major overriding reason for all of this change and unprecedented growth however, is the freeing up of once restrictive government regulations of both nations. In 2006 the top destination for venture capitalists was China, which received around US$900 million in investment. While in third place was (you guessed it), India with US$746 million.

With so little separating these two huge countries, perhaps comparisons are not necessarily the best way to answer to the question of where to invest budget. Maybe the future lies in trying to understand which destination will be favored by next generations buying public, and where the outbound travelers of each are bound for.
Thursday,March 1, 2007
Source: Eyefortravel

3. India's Buoyant Economy will Drive 10 Per Cent Growth in Outbound Travel to 2009, Says PATA and VISA International Report

A strong, consumption-driven economy, a large and increasingly affluent middle class, and the on-going liberalisation of air transport will contribute to a 10 per cent annual growth in Indian outbound travellers to Asia Pacific over the next three years, according to a new report released last week.

Titled Total Tourism India, the 280-page report is a comprehensive, independent and authoritative analysis on India's tourism sector released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Visa International. The report reviews all aspects of India's inbound, outbound and domestic tourism flows, and outlines a seven-point action plan to advance India's tourism development in achieving the sector's full potential.

PATA President & CEO Peter de Jong said, "With India being one of the fastest growing markets in our region, the eyes of the travel industry are turning to this country of 1.1 billion residents, and its rapidly expanding middle class."

The report shows that international outbound trips by resident nationals peaked at around 8.3 million in 2006. Close to three million arrivals were to Asia Pacific destinations, making India the region's fourth largest source market behind China, Japan and Korea.

This is expected to rise to over 3.6 million in 2007 and then increase by more than 10 percent each year to 2009. The top five destinations by percentage growth to 2009 will be Macau, Papua New Guinea, China, Cambodia and Malaysia. For volume growth over the same period, the top five will be Singapore, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the USA.

Mr de Jong urges PATA destination members and inbound tour operators to take a closer look at the myriad opportunities presented by India's burgeoning outbound tourism market. "As international travellers, Indians tend to take longer trips and often in large family groups, have a high repeat visitation to preferred destinations and an excellent yield," Mr de Jong said.

"Indians are among the highest spenders in key destinations around the region such as Singapore and Hong Kong SAR. And every year, millions more Indians move into an income bracket where they can afford to travel overseas. In very many ways, India is a market of incredible opportunity," Mr de Jong added.

Business travel dominates outbound travel and is expected to continue with strong growth, stimulated by India's buoyant economy; leisure travellers are still significant in volume though they are increasingly more sophisticated and demanding. Findings from leading surveys show that Mumbai is the leading source of India's outbound travellers with a market share of around 33 per cent, followed by Delhi at 26 per cent.

James Murray, executive vice president, South and Southeast Asia, Visa International Asia Pacific said, "India is a significant pillar to global tourism, both as an inbound destination and a rich source of visitors to many global destinations. International visitors to India spent Rs. 60 billion (US$1.4 billion) in India between July 2005 and June 2006 on their Visa cards, with cardholders from the European Union emerging as the biggest spenders."

Mr. Murray added, "This report paints one of the more complete pictures of India as a tourism industry player, and recognizes its current impact, potential and path for expansion. Tourist spending globally averages about US$2 billion a day. Nearly US$4 million of that is by international Visa cardholders contributing to India's tourism economy."

According to Mr. Murray, developing an electronic payment infrastructure has become increasingly critical to facilitate secure, convenient and easy payment options, for Indian and global travellers.

"Electronic payment is becoming an increasingly important channel for delivering tourism revenues and holds significant potential value in stimulating tourist spending," Mr. Murray said.

"Visa has been working with tourism authorities around the world - and very closely with PATA - to better understand the international visitor's mindset. Visa provides empirical data on cardholder spends through Visa's processing network that captures actual Visa transactions by international cardholders, giving a more accurate picture of spending habits. This enables businesses to plan and offer the kind of goods and services that appeal more to visitors and boost revenues."

In 2006, international inbound travel to India peaked at a record 4.4 million arrivals, driven in large part by the successful re-positioning of the destination brand through the Incredible India marketing campaign.

The report also confirms that India's domestic travel market has been booming steadily over the past 15 years, as Indian states increasingly awaken to the potential of home-grown tourism to stimulate economic growth and boost employment.

Domestic trips reached an all-time high of 430 million in 2006, up 13 percent on 2005. The average annual growth rate has been more than 10 percent since 2000, with the boom in low cost carriers bringing travel within the price range of millions of more households across the sub-continent.

Saturday, February 28, 2007
Source: travelvideo.tv

Service Providers

1. ITDC team gets Mumbai airport duty-free contract.

The Aldeasa-ITDC combine has bagged the Mumbai International Airport’s duty free retail contract for Rs 571 crore for the next three years. Aldeasa is a Spanish duty free major.

Others in the fray included DFS Group, the Nuance Group AG-Shoppers’ Stop joint venture, the Alpha Airports-Future Group consortium and the Dufry-Interglobe combine. Last month, the Alpha Airports-Future Group joint venture was awarded the duty free contract for the Delhi International airport for Rs 500 crore.

To be located in the international Terminal 2C at Mumbai, the duty free shopping area will be spread across 24,541 sq ft. Of this, 14,585 sq ft will be at the departure level, 8,395 sq ft at the arrival level and 1,560 sq ft will be for storage. Aldeasa-ITDC will be responsible for designing and building the shopping environment, sourcing a wide range of international luxury brands and developing a strong promotional strategy, a statement from Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) said.

“Passengers will have access to leading international brands of liquor, premium whiskies, tobacco, cosmetics and perfumes,”said an MIAL spokesperson. clothing, hi-tech electronics, boutiques, and accessories,”

Headquartered in Madrid, Aldeasa, has been in the duty free business for more than 30 years and operates 183 airport shops at 40 airports in 14 countries. The duty free division of ITDC operates from 10 airports in the country. Aldeasa-ITDC combine start operating the new duty free area from June 1, 2007.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Source: Economic Times

2. Seeking Skills, Indians Find Career Path to Sky

This is a story that Abhinanda Shukla, 25, is fond of telling at job interviews, so perfectly honed that it has the ring of an overdrawn fairy tale.

As a child, she had flown only once, and was so riveted by the flight attendant that she determined to become one. Her father, a gas station owner in central India, was dead set against it. “He thought it was like being a waitress,” she said.
After months of needling, he relented. He said he would pay for the tuition at her preferred flight-attendant training school. Not only that, he would allow her to do what would have been considered radical not long ago — she could move from their home in Indore to Pune, a larger city to the west, where the opportunities would be greater, and then, she could fly across the world.

Until recently, many Indian families would have frowned on the idea of a young woman dressing in a short skirt and serving strangers on a plane. But a rapidly expanding economy has helped to transform the ambitions, habits and incomes of India’s middle class in ways that would have been unimaginable just a generation ago, not least for young women.

One consequence of India’s new prosperity is a hunger among the young to pursue careers that were simply unavailable to their parents, for wages that would have been beyond their elders’ comprehension.
A new crop of private airlines has provided one of the broadest avenues of opportunity, and their proliferation is among the earliest and most tangible fruits of economic growth.

Once entirely dependent on famous British-era railways, Indians are traveling by air more than ever before, so much so that last year, according to government figures, passenger traffic grew by a whopping 50 percent. The Civil Aviation Ministry projects growth of at least 20 percent a year for the next 10 years.
Four private carriers have started flying in just the past two years, doubling the number of private airlines. One headhunting firm estimated that India would need 40,000 cabin crew staff members in the next three to four years to meet the demand. Starting salaries are in the range of $500 a month, an astounding amount for a high school graduate, which is generally the educational prerequisite for a cabin crew position.

Even so, finding suitable workers is proving to be difficult in that industry and many others. Employers complain of a severe shortage of skilled workers and an education system largely unable to deliver what the economy demands. A majority of India’s population is under 25, and the swelling ranks of young people and their lack of skills are blamed for a rise in the urban unemployed, even as the economy grows.

Increasingly, that skills gap is being filled by a new crop of vocational schools, like the flight-attendant training school Ms. Shukla had chosen. She and her fellow students all had college degrees — Ms. Shukla had earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science — but they all felt they needed this extra reinforcement to enter the work force.
On this afternoon, her hair pulled back in a French roll, sitting as straight as a librarian, her lips trying to embrace the English language, which is plainly not her native tongue, Ms. Shukla sat in a small windowless office, undergoing a mock-interview at the Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training.

She recalled admiring the flight attendant as a child. She had herself weighed on a scale. She stumbled when asked what she would do in the event of a passenger having a heart attack. (She said she would “give very good first aid.”)
Her fellow students came one by one to the mock interview and gave their own best shots. “I am Amruta Patil, 20; I want to fly high,” a young woman in low-slung jeans said by way of introduction.

Asked why he was there, Pradeep Shukla, 22, no relation to Abhinanda, gave a reply at his session that came closest to having the ring of truth. “To be very honest, pay is very good,” he said. “I can go around almost every corner of the world. This is a very good industry.”

He later said in an aside that he had been on an airplane only once, and that it had been singularly unpleasant. He said he felt his stomach rising to his throat and could not stand the noise of the roaring engine. Still, at considerable expense, he had enrolled at this training school, and he was looking forward to a lucrative career in aviation.

The proliferation of the training schools, which, as private ventures, are entirely unregulated by the government, are a window on the dearth of skilled workers in every part of the economy, whether retail or finance or even the country’s legendary call centers.

No one keeps track of how many they enroll, nor how successful they are at preparing young strivers. But judging by the sheer number of billboards even in the smallest Indian town, schools like this one have surfaced everywhere, pitching training for a vast array of careers — would-be pedicurists, nurses’ aides, bartenders, technology workers and, most of all, flight attendants.

Frankfinn, which opened its first training center in 2003 in the commercial capital, Mumbai, formerly Bombay, has 65 centers today, with nearly 15,000 students. At $200 a month, the roughly 12-month course at Frankfinn is costly, by Indian standards. There is no guarantee of a job at the end of the course.

Training includes grooming and communication skills, along with swimming, first aid, and serving cocktails. It also includes a week of sitting in a hulk of an ancient Airbus, built sometime in the early 1970s, long before most of Frankfinn’s students were born.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, the plane was packed full. This is how you check the water level, the students were instructed. This is how you make an announcement. This is how you open and close the airplane door. What’s that button for, someone yelled out. And that one? A flustered instructor, Sheetal Chauhan, finally confessed that the plane was old. The equipment inside the new planes, in which they might find themselves working, she said, would be considerably different.

No matter. Ms. Shukla said it was invaluable practice just being inside a plane. This afternoon, as she sat under the flight path of the planes taking off from the Delhi airport, Ms. Shukla said she was inching ever closer to her dream career.
She said she had gained confidence since her very first interview a few months ago with Kingfisher Airlines, which calls its flight attendants “flying models,” during which, she recalled, her whole body shivered.

She had now set her sights on a job with Qatar Airways. For an interview the next morning, she would dress in her best skirt and blazer. She had been taught in school to wear “glossy makeup.” She had not been taught what to do in the event of sexual harassment on the job. It is not part of the coursework.

Asked about marriage and family, Ms. Shukla said she would one day want to be a wife and a mother, but never by giving up her career. She was deeply aware that her life would be very much unlike that of her mother, a homemaker.
“I want to make my own identification,” is how she put it. “I want to enhance my personality. I want to famous my own name in my family and in my friends’ circle.”

She had already dismissed the prospects of working for a domestic airline. “I want to see the whole world,” she said. The foreign carriers, she admitted, also paid better.

By early February, Ms. Shukla had cleared the final round of interviews for Qatar Airways. Her mother had organized prayers at home. Soon, she said, she expected to hear about a job.

Monday, February 26, 2007
Source : New York Times

3. Tour operators line up offers for China trip

China may well turn out to be the flavour of outbound travel in the Summer of ’07. As both India and China gear up to woo tourists from either countries, travel agents expect at least 15-20% jump in outbound travel to China, this summer.

Tour operators too are gearing up for the rush with special packages for the Dragon country, with April-to-September being a good period to visit China. The average cost of a package to China offered by Cox & Kings is around Rs 60,000 for 5 nights-6 days (including airfare, accommodation, meals and sightseeing). SOTC is offering a two-city (Beijing and Shanghai) package for 8 days for Rs 1 lakh per person. Similarly, a three-city package for 11 days costs Rs 1,25,000, while a four-city tour package comes for Rs 1,40,000. “We surely see outbound to China increasing this summer. Last year, we arranged tours for around 1,900 leisure tourists and 1,000 business travellers visiting China. We are expecting around 15% growth in the number of leisure travellers this year,” says SOTC senior VP marketing Frederick Divecha.

The numbers are expected to grow further as airfares become cheaper with more direct flights between both the countries. Several Indian carriers, such as Jet and Air Sahara, are planning a stop-over in China in the second half this year. Currently, there are a dozen-odd direct flights a week from India. “We hope to increase the numbers to 50 per week in the next couple of years,” said a senior official from ministry of tourism. Over 4 lakh Indians visited China last year, the majority of them being business travellers, and growing 15% annually.

“With better connectivity China is surely gaining popularity among Indian leisure travellers. What also helps is ready availability of vegetarian food in China,” noted Mr Karan Anand, director contracting, Cox & Kings.

The Indian government and travel industry too is out to lay out the red carpet to woo Chinese tourists. The number of Chinese visitors to India was pegged around 47,000 in 2007. Experts point out that despite the infrastructural bottlenecks for attracting Chinese travellers to India, the numbers could gallop with more concerted effort in marketing India as a destination to the Chinese. “Just like the Indian middle class, the Chinese middle class too is doing well economically and is keen to travel out of the country and see the world,” points out India & South Asia, SITA COO Himmat Anand.

Chinese outbound travel numbers are estimated to touch 100 million annually over the next three years. Ministry of Tourism (MoT) recently launched the Chinese version of the Incredible India campaign while making India tourism’s literature available in the Chinese language. A senior MoT official said plans are to aggressively promote the Buddhist Circuit to attract Chinese tourists. Indian tourism and China National Tourism (CNTA) are also contemplating opening of offices in Shanghai and New Delhi

Saturday, March 03, 2007
Source: Economic Times