Tourism and Travel Trends from India:

News and views on India's Travel and Hospitality Sector

Weekly News Related to Travel Industry in India

Places in the News

1. A rain-soaked Taj!

The monsoon has finally come calling on the Taj Mahal. Heavy rain has been bringing down the temperature steadilly, much to the delight of tourists.

The area around the Taj Mahal and Shah Jahan garden is lush green. Groups of foreign tourists were seen enjoying the cool breeze.

"The tourists had felt tortured and harassed by the long sultry and hot weather. But the sudden change in the weather promises a big turnout at the Taj Mahal," said a hopeful tourist guide, Aftab.

Next week Shah Jahan's annual Urs will be the major event, for which preparations are in full swing.

"Learning from last year's experiences, the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) has imposed some restrictions on movement of namazis for the Urs and on carrying of food items inside the premises," said an official.

The Urs of Ahmad Shah Bukhari and Mughal emperor Shah Jahan are to be held from Aug 7 to 11.

In Mathura and Vrindavan, pilgrims have started pouring in for the Hindola darshan and Sawan parikrama of Shiva temples. For a change the Yamuna is full of life again, with boats ferrying pilgrims across Mathura's Vishram Ghat.
August 03, 2007
Source: MSN India

Travel and Transportation Infrastructure

Sector: Aviation

1. IndiGo offers promotional fare of Rs 124

No-frill carrier IndiGo on Saturday announced promotional fares of Rs 124-500 on most sectors to mark the private airline's first anniversary.

This offer could be availed by booking a flight between August 4 and August10, and would be applicable for travel between August 11 and September 30, the company said in a statement.

IndiGo operates 78 daily flights to 15 destinations across the country.

"During our first year, despite the congestion, fog and other bad weather conditions at some of our key airports that affected all airlines, more than three-fourth of IndiGo's flights departed within 15 minutes of schedule time, and 86 per cent within half an hour," Chief Executive Officer IndiGo Bruce Ashley said.

IndiGo was the first low-cost carrier in the country to get a CAT III approval from Director General of Civil Aviation, the statement said.
August 4, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

2. Airfares to rise on higher fuel surcharge
Domestic air fares are heading north, riding on higher jet fuel prices. With oil marketing companies increasing price of aviation turbine fuel by around 3.3% in August, airlines have decided to pass on the hike to passengers, increasing fuel surcharge by Rs 150.

Only last month, they had increased fuel surcharge by Rs 50. Starting next week, air passengers will have to pay Rs 1,100 as fuel surcharge, up from Rs 950 last month. With this, the tax and surcharge component in an air ticket can vary between 50% and 100% of the total airfare.

Taxes and surcharge can add up to anywhere between Rs 1,400 and Rs 1,700 per ticket, depending on the airline. While the state-owned carrier Indian does not charge any congestion fee, most airlines charge it under various heads.

Tax and surcharge include passenger service fee (Rs 225), fuel surcharge (Rs 1,100), transaction surcharge (Rs 50-100) and the congestion fee (Rs 150). “We will increase our fuel surcharge by Rs 150 from next week,” confirmed Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer.

Senior executives from other airlines including SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air Deccan also indicated plans to up the fuel surcharge to Rs 1,100. In the past two months, jet fuel rates have gone up by around 5%. Aviation fuel accounts for around 30-35% of operating costs.

Interestingly, over the past one year, taxes and surcharge have in-creased from around Rs 750 to cross the Rs 1,400-mark. During the same time, airlines have kept their base fares competitive with expan-sion in seat capacity.

Travel agents point out that airlines save on commission payouts when they hike surcharge and taxes as they keep their base fares low. The tax and surcharge component directly goes to the airline company who pass on only the passenger service fee (PSF) to the government.

The move by airlines to pass on fuel hikes to passengers comes during monsoon months when the load factor is low with a majority record-ing operating losses. The airline industry finished financial year 2007 with Rs 2,000-crore losses. A consolidation process is currently in pro-gress among players, with the industry focusing on improving yields from seat.
August 4, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

Sector: Railways

Niche Tourism

Medical

1. TravelOrg Medical to introduce 'Signature Health' cards

The growing medical tourism segment in India has prompted TravelOrg Medical, to create a medical card, 'Signature Health.' The card, which will be introduced by September this year, will promote medical tourism in India across the globe. TravelOrg Medical, division for medical tourism of TravelOrg Holidays Pvt. Ltd. which is owned by TravelOrg Group, has set a target to sell about one lakh medical cards by March 2008.

According to Venkatesh K Rao, Chief Executive Officer, TravelOrg, "The USP of the card is that the holder gets a free consultancy from a team of doctors in India, and if detected with any illness, the person will get a flat 20 per cent discount on the treatment charges and about 40 per cent of the total available room nights for free in any of the Signature Crest property, a chain of service apartments in India."

According to a Mckinsey Report, India is viewed as a country with best quality of treatment at comparatively cheaper rates. The country can earn as much as USD 100 billion through medical tourism by 2012. "I think India is going to witness a growth of about 60 per cent in medical tourism by 2010 and our target is to tap a minimum of two per cent of the medical traffic by March 2008. We hope to have 10 per cent of the market share of medical tourism by 2010," said Rao. He informed that TravelOrg Medical is a representative of Asian Heart Institute, Asia's largest cardiac centre. "With the introduction of 'Signature Health,' card the company will be promoting medical tourism, as well as increasing the occupancy level of Signature Crest," claimed Rao.

TravelOrg in lieu of growing business is planning to set up office in Singapore by September end in Australia by October this year. The company started its operations in India in December 2006 and according to Rao, has already registered a turnover of Rs seven crore till March 2007 and is targeting a turnover of Rs 16 crore by March 2008, with an aim to touch a turnover of Rs 40 crore by 2009.

Currently the company has nine offices and 32 associate offices in India and has presence in Dubai, South Africa, London, United States and Colombo. TravelOrg Group of companies owns TravelOrg Holidays Pvt. Ltd., The Signature Crest (service apartment chain), Crest Media and Sports management division.
August 04, 2007
Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Spiritual & religious

1. ITDC for 'Temple tour'

Temples in Kerala will soon find a place in the tourism map of India with the India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (ITDC) proposing to launch a daily 'Temple Tour', taking visitors to five famous shrines from August one.

The tour would cover the famous Lord Krishna temple at Guruvayoor and the popular 'Nalambalam' (Four temples)-- which also includes a trip to the only Bharata temple in India at Irinjalakuda.

According to Vishnu Mohan, ITDC Manager here, the tour would cover the Lakshamana temple at Moozhikkalam, the Shatrugna temple at Payammel, Bharata temple at Irinjalakuda and Lord Rama temple at Triprayar. The ITDC is hoping that the tour becomes as great a success as its Chennai-Tirupati tour.

The corporation has no presence in the state at present after its two hotels at Thiruvanthapuram had been disinvested. The temple tour was an attempt to make their presence felt in God's Own country once again. "There will be good demand for the tour as there are a lot of tourists, especially from North India and Gujarat,who would like to visit the famous temples in Kerala," Mohan told media pesonnel, who were taken around for a tour of the temples.

The temple administrators are only too happy that the ITDC has come up with such a proposal. Efforts are being made by the administrators of the four 'Nalambalam' to provide all the ammentities that the visitors would need. According to Dhillon, an active committee member of the Payammel temple, which is not under any Devaswom board, "we have spent money to provide more toilets, including Western type, near the temple and acquired land near the temple for providing parking facilties"
July 29, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

Rural
Wine
Heritage

Adventure

1. Uttarakhand is all about adventure and eco-tourism’

If you are eco-friendly, you are politically, economically and socially correct. While the world gets hotter, Corporate India is busy doing a green audit of its energy utilisation. Not to be left behind, the hospitality sector is also jumping on to the green bandwagon, as it makes business sense for them in particular.

Leisure Hotels, a major player in the sub-Himalayan state of Uttarakhand has launched a major drive to preserve the fragile eco-system of the Garhwal hills, besides expanding their business. Vibhas Prasad, director, Leisure Hotels speaks about the company’s new initiatives.

Going green: The group is working to conserve the natural habitat in the state by creating awareness among local communities through seminars and films on conservation and its benefits and by taking up regular forestation efforts and plantation drives that involve the local people.

As part of the initiative, we have launched eco-friendly, luxury tented accommodation for tourists visiting the holy shrines at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. We are also promoting adventure tourism to drive home the point. And the response from tourists and the local community has been very encouraging.

Backward diversification: We are planning to backwardly integrate our business by bringing travellers from across India to Uttarakhand. For that, we are planning to set up a separate division, which will look into the areas of getting more bookings, having an online presence, thereby adding value to those wishing to stay at our hotels in
Uttarakhand.

The company has hotels in areas where adventure tourism is proliferating like elephant/jeep safaris, nature walks/ treks/ hikes, bird watching, white water rafting, rock climbing/rappelling, river crossing. Since the age of travel agents is soon losing its essence with the rise of online presence, we are looking at backward diversification which would contribute to our business

Spiritual tourism: This segment is also gaining prominence in the country. Last year, Leisure Hotels started the Chardham Camps, an eco-friendly luxury tented accommodation for those wishing to go to the four holy sites: Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri. The Char Dham package is pretty popular with the NRIs. In fact, Chardham Camps is the first of its kind branded accommodation in the Uttarakhand circuit. Moving forward, we plan to erect semi-permanent and permanent sites at these places.

Camping a favourite with elders and youth: People who undertake a camping holiday with us are usually SEC-ABC, elders and youth segment, and a lot of NRIs. In fact, Anil Ambani checked in for the luxury camping at the Badrinath leg. The youth segment, in particular, is taking to this with their families. In less than 45 days, we have had 700-800 people, out of which 40 per cent are youngsters who come in with their families. They go for Chardham Camps because of its uniqueness.
August 2, 2007
Source: Economic Times

Education
Nature tourism
Luxury & rejuvenation ( ayurveda, spas, holistic healing, cruises, customized travel)
Others

Policy

1. IATO demands inquiry into Tourism Ministry decision

Tour operators, under the banner of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), on Saturday demanded an inquiry into the decision of Tourism Ministry of handing over the e-commerce business at the official website of 'Incredible India' to a foreign party "on a platter".

Demanding the closure of the portal, the operators alleged it hit the livelihood of lakhs of tour operators and agents as it connected customers directly to service providers.

"They have created an uneven ground in the tourism business and endangered the existence of lakhs of tour operators and travel agents. The industry has not been taken into confidence," IATO president Subhash Goyal told reporters here.

In a meeting held today, leading tour operator associations demanded the government show "transparency" on its tie-up with Eviivo, the UK-based technology partner, which has been authorised to conduct business through the official website www.incredibleindia.org.

Condemning the ministry's decision to appoint Eviivo as equity partner sharing the 'Incredible India' brand image worth millions of dollars, the operators said: "The business has been handed over on a platter to a foreign tour operator, bypassing all other stakeholders, tour operators, travel agents, domestic tour operators, adventure tour operators, Indian IT industry in a non-transparent manner."

"The industry demands the appointment of Eviivo should be cancelled and an enquiry instituted as to how such a major decision was taken affecting over 200,000 stake holders in the industry," the operators said in a statement.

"This step towards creating a monopolistic situation is not only against national interest but also raises many questions such as through what process was Eviivon selected? What was the criteria for approving it as the Ministry of Tourism partner?" the IATO president asked.

The tour operators also demanded to know the revenue sharing model of the government with Eviivo.

Raising suspicions on the "urgency" with which the e-commerce portal was launched, the IATO president alleged that even ten days after its launch, there are no bed and breakfast accommodations (B&Bs), no hotels in any city except a few in places like Delhi and Mumbai on the site.

Amidst great fanfare, the ministry on July 25 had announced its tie-up with Eviivo, for operating an e-commerce platform on its flagship portal.

During the launch, the Minister of Tourism Ambika Soni had said that as soon as the proposal of starting e-commerce was put before her, it was cleared "in five minutes."

The then Tourism Secretary Christy L Fernandez had pointed out that with tourism business going online, "danger lurked" for tour operators and asked the industry to brace up to face the new challenge.

Expressing shock at the move, Goyal said: "The government should not get involved in commerce and go beyond its role of a facilitator."

Besides IATO, other associations protesting the move included Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), and Indian Tourist Transporters Association (ITTA).
August 4, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

2. Train and sea cruises will serve up

The South India tourist confederation is working on various proposals, including launch of luxury train and sea cruises, with a view to showcasing the entire southern region as an attractive tourist destination and boost tourist arrivals, Indian media reported. The confederation, set up three years ago, has held a series of meeting to work out joint travel packages, where a tourist arriving in the southern region could have a glimpse of the entire southern region when he arrives and see some places of interest from each region, Balsubramanyam Reddy, joint director, Andhra Pradesh Tourism, told reporters. “We are planning to promote the tourist destinations in South India on the lines of the golden triangle in North India and are in the process of working out various joint proposals to bolster this initiative”, he said.

On the cards is the proposed 22-coach luxury train called the Southern Splendour, which is expected to commence operation in under two years. The proposal has received the clearance from the centre and the railway board. Details of the project are currently being worked out.

The train would touch the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. However, details of the tourist spots in each state are still being worked out. “We are planning various packages comprising various time period and tourist spots, including a hop-in, hop-out package for those interested only in specific tourist spots,” he said.

Destinations will have a blend of beaches, heritage, religious spots and adventure, he said.

Reddy said adding Rs250 million ($6.2 million) had been set aside for the project.
Also being discussed are sea cruise packages which will allow tourists to enjoy the beauty of the southern beaches. The packages will include a view of the southern ports including Vishakapatnam and the Andamans and Nicobar islands. The details are still being worked out. As of now, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have displayed an initiative in the cruise line project, he said.
August 2007
Source: ttnworldwide.com

3. Visa-on-arrival likely in Delhi, Mumbai by 2009
In a move that will help attract more foreign tourists into the country, India may allow visas on arrival facility in the upgraded and modernised Delhi and Mumbai airports by 2009, according to a media report. To start with, the service would be on offer on a trial basis for travellers coming from select countries, tourism & culture minister Ambika Soni told the country’s Economic Times.

The ministry has set an ambitious target of attracting 10 million tourists into the country by 2010. Around 4.2 million tourists visited the country last year. The minister said senior officials of the Union home ministry have assured her that the government might consider extending visa-on-arrival facility once the two major airports in Delhi and Mumbai are upgraded to handle more passengers.

The ministry of home and external affairs has been resisting this long-pending demand from the tourism industry, citing security concerns. Soni said the move will happen once airlines start providing advance passenger information to security agencies. Several neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia already offer the facility. 
August 2007
Source: ttnworldwide.com

Travel and Tourism Support Industries …and much more

Service providers

1. Land of curry fast gaining currency

Stomach this. Over the last 12 months, tour operator Cox & Kings has been raking in the moolah through its ‘Curry Spice Tour of India’. So has SITA Travels with its ‘Cuisines of India’ travel-pack aimed at the global foodie. Other tour operators are not averse to the idea either. Gourmet tourism (the wine curries favour too) has just found a new home — India.

The land of curry is fast gaining currency among other people, tingling their tastebuds and bringing them to India in droves. While tour operators cash in on the tastes of India with sugar-coated brochures promising gastronomic trails, ET goes the whole hog.

Though the 20-30% margin falls nothing short of mouthwatering, operators carp on volumes. “While there’s a growing awareness of Indian cuisine the world over, this is still not France or Italy where gastronomic tours are the norm.

India has a long way to go and this is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Himmat Anand, COO of SITA Travels, which brings four to five culinary groups annually into the country under its ‘Cuisines of India’ banner. Every group comprises 15-20 members. That makes it 100-odd from SITA. “Overall, not more than 500 gourmet tourists (a puddle in a sea of 4.4-million tourists who touch down in India every year) land up annually,” adds Anand.

To turn the trickle into a flow, now even the tourism ministry has something to chew on. Gastro-enteritis is out, gastro-entreatie is in. The ministry has identified gourmet tourism as one of the themes to promote India as a destination for foodies. “We’ve even cut a compact disc specifically aiming at the global tourists’ hunger drive, and are now distributing it across tour operators countrywide,” points out a ministry official.

A speed read through Cox & Kings’ Curry Spice Tour takes the gourmand traveller through cups of mishti doi (sweetened curd) in Kolkata, or chakna (spicy offal stew) in Hyderabad, or the narrow bye-lanes of Paranthewaale Gali in Delhi, the Royal Barge in Udaipur’s Lake Pichola with sweet champagne on ice, or for that matter, a late evening Chettinad meal at a private home in Chennai. “Gourmet tourism is targeted at a niche segment of high-end travelers. The concept is gaining popularity among tourists,” says Arup Sen, executive director, Cox & Kings.

The hospitality trade too is wheeling in sumptuous spreads to satiate global appetite. “Bukhara and Dum Pukht are destination restaurants. We have both groups and individuals coming to the (ITC Maurya) hotel only to relish cuisine at the two anchor restaurants,” he says, and the glint in his eye doesn’t betray Bill Clinton’s fave Bukhara Dal that went on to put Indian cuisine on the global map.

Never mind the accolades, gourmet tourism faces an uphill task. Ask India’s Cordon Bleu chef Sanjeev Kapoor and he retorts straight from the gut —“While the country offers some cuisines, gourmet tourism could face some challenge. Besides the notion that most Indian eating joints are unhygienic, there are logistical nightmares. Anyhow, this is a sunrise sector and I expect a lot of action in times to come.” No point in hurrying the curry. For tour operators, that’s the bottomline
August 3, 2007
Source: Economic Times

2. Gainwell Travels adopts the niche approach

Gainwell Travels, Kolkata-based outbound tour operator, recently added Istanbul, Greece, Re-union Island, Fiji Islands and Alaska to its itinerary, thereby augmenting its niche approach. "Our USP lies in offering off-beat destinations, not the run-of the-mill options. We essentially cater to high-end clientele, particularly the honeymoon and family segments," says Manoj Saraf, MD, Gainwell Travels. According to Saraf, last year 120 honeymoon couples availed of the company's services at a budget ranging from Rs 5-10 lakhs for each couple.

This year the company claims to have catered to about 1,200 outbound tourists, of which 300 travelled to Mauritius. New Zealand, Australia, Greece, South Africa, Turkey and Alaska are the other popular destinations. "Indians are keen to explore new tourists' hot-spots and there has been a definite increase in their spending capacity. This year we have recorded a 25 per cent increase in revenues as compared to last year," adds Saraf.

In terms of the inbound segment, Saraf maintains that the North-East has immense potential to be promoted as a major tourist attraction. "Domestic, as well as international tourists have already started showing interest in places like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Shillong," says an optimistic Saraf, who is also the Managing Committee Member of TAAI, Eastern India Chapter.
July 31, 2007
Source: Travel Biz Monitor

3. TravelPort ties with Salasar Retail to offer travel solutions

TravelPort, a Mumbai-based firm, has announced a strategic alliance with Delhi-based Salasar Retail to open travel terminals to provide a complete travel solutions in a customer friendly retail atmosphere.

Branded with 'TravelPort at Salasar', the terminals will provide various travel and tour products/services that will include airline/railway/coach/cruise tickets, passport and visa assistance, leisure holiday packages, hotel bookings, foreign exchange, money transfer, and travel insurance.

TravelPort VP (Marketing) Sandip Singh said, "We have been witnessing a trend where malls have become a one-stop shop for customers that provide range, comfort and convenience of the world's best brands. Riding on this trend, we are providing a suite of travel and tourism products and services at India's best lifestyle and convenience retail outlets and malls. Our tie-up with Salasar Retail Ltd is a step ahead in this direction in providing unparalleled value to the patrons of Salasar."

TravelPort, through its terminals, will work in association with malls to achieve the objective of increased footfalls and sales. In the initial phase TravelPort will have its terminals deployed in cities like Gwalior, Pune, Cuttack, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Guwahati and Jaipur stores.
August 2, 2007
Source: Indiantelevision.com

4. Greece-based Ace Travel to set up an office at Bangalore

Greece-based Ace Travel, is looking at expanding its operations in India and is setting up an office at Bangalore within a month. Already having an established network with travel agents in Delhi and Mumbai, it has partnered with the Travel Corporation of India to develop a network with agents based in Kochi and Bangalore in Karnataka as well those based in Kerala. That apart it is participating in road shows and exhibitions like the India International Travel Mart (IITM) which recently concluded in Bangalore and Chennai.

Ace Travel is an agency specialising in the Meetings Incentives Conventions Exhibitions (MICE) and Free Individual Traveller (FIT) - Luxury segments. Commenting on the most preferred destination in Greece, Christos Kazantzis, Sales Manager, Ace Travel, said, "Athens is the best seller, especially amongst corporates from India. April to May and September to October is the peak season for Athens. Apart from that, the islands of Mykonos, Santorini and Crete which are open to the public between April and October are also popular among travellers. During winters, Olympia, Delphi and Kalambaka are the preferred islands in Greece."

July 31, 2007
Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Travel ecommerce

1. Answering the call Travel trade takes to M-commerce

Mobile phones are too recent an invention to evince nostalgia but there probably is that select clique of users who reminisce the days when mobile phones were primarily used and appreciated for talking on the move. These days, mobile phone makers are criticised for not including wireless internet and auto focus cameras as standard features. Such is perception of the mobile phone that there is little to distinguish between the cell phone and computer, save for the minor detail that there are over 117 million of the former going around at this point. By 2010, more than 360 million Indians will have mobile phones, making it the world's single biggest user interface, outdoing even the television in its wake. This ready and familiar interface has been tapped by the retail industry in general, with initially mixed results but the recent series of successes scored online is an indication that M-commerce is more of an opportunity than a challenge. And already, there are players emerging within the travel trade, building their core business around this distribution interface. It's not just the retail universe but the telecom service providers themselves who are waking up to the opportunity. The Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) segment allows higher margins for telecom operators, at the same time offering mobile subscribers a better choice of services. MVAS is estimated to ring in nearly USD one billion by the end of 2007, rising from Rs 2,850 crore to Rs 4,560 crore. That should do enough to rush m-commerce up their priority list.

Ringing it in
M-commerce is not fresh news by any means. In USA, Biztravel.com partnered with Nextel Communications as far back as December 2000 to enable mobile users to book air, rental car, and hotel reservations on Web-enabled mobile phones. M-commerce arrived in India much later, in about 2006, when VIA, formerly FlightRaja, announced it was offering the facility to book domestic airline tickets on the mobile phone. The process of booking a domestic flight through SMS entailed sending message to a particular number with destination and date details and the sender then receives the best fares and availability for the route, following which they can choose to send their credit card number and confirmation. Users would then receive a PNR, which they could show at the airport to receive their boarding pass. VIA plans to add international airlines, railways, car rentals and hotel rooms soon.

Smart phones and PDAs accounted for a good four per cent of the 65 million handsets sold in India in 2006 and the sales are only expected to double this year.

Travelmartindia.com was next to take the leap earlier this year, claiming to do better with "an end-to-end mobile telephony," according to Chairman, Dharmendra Gursahani. Notably, the OTA managed to port its entire Web site onto the .mobi domain using J2ME technology, making it easier to browse from PDA and smart phones. Gursahani says, "It's not merely about fulfillment on the mobile platform. It's about content access and display, similar to that available online." Smart phones and PDAs accounted for a good four per cent of the 65 million handsets sold in India in 2006 and the sales are only expected to double this year. Wireless transactions platform provider, Paymate powers the payment module. Commenting on m-commerce and the travel industry, Vijay Kesavan, COO, akbartravelsonline, says, "This technology will play a crucial role in the way the travel and tourism industry operates in the future. At Akbar Travels, we have tied up with Paymate to offer car hires through SMS, which is currently on offer in six cities and will expand to 10 within a few weeks." Gursahani, adds, "M-commerce is five times larger than E-commerce and the industry will have to wake up to this new trend, which is catching on fast. Through our .mobi domain, we also offer SMS ticketing applications and have tied up with UTI Bank for the payment options. Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds and the mobile will soon become the next major booking channel, be it for airlines, hotels or even travel companies."

Hang up, try again
Putting the earlier stated enthusiasm into historical perspective, as mentioned earlier, M-commerce is not a new phenomenon. In fact, it dates back to the previous decade, when American banking and retail firm sank a lot of money into setting up a transactional environment for mobile phones, only to find too few takers to continue. The idea that millions of people would replace their credit cards with mobile phones simply melted away. Mediocre user experience, bad user interfaces, slow-speed networks, security issues and the problematic distribution of money between content providers, retailers, carriers and handset vendors were ascribed as the chief reasons. The most recent instance is that of IRCTC, which in fact offers ticket booking through mobile phones and receives less than ten transactions a day on a daily inventory base, which is higher than the country's domestic airline industry's annual capacity. Does this therefore amount to a whole lot of empty ring tones? Not so, point out industry experts. The initial failure of M-commerce occurred in the absence of 3G and HSPDA technologies, which now make Internet surfing on cell phones as fast, if not more than, on computers and laptops. The transaction melee between suppliers and service providers has long been sorted out.

Japan is an ideal example to substantiate the shifting trend. Japan leads the world's mobile phone penetration with 95 per cent. Now, as cash and credit cards also move onto users' phones, these "mobile wallets," combined with GPS and location-based targeting, are providing unique new marketing possibilities. Far from being exotic, foreign concepts, they are literally models of the future for marketers and mobile service providers in the US and around the world. More damning evidence again for the skeptics is that more than 23 million Europeans used their mobile phones to buy travel products alone in 2005.

SMS transaction
SMS purchase is usually achieved by sending an SMS message containing a short code to a service number. A return message is sent containing the mobile ticket. The price of the ticket can be added to the users' mobile phone bill or debited from their pre-paid service. Different ticket types can be ordered with a different code. The use of different ordering codes enables creating a variety of ticket types either time-or distance based pricing and different zone systems.

There are 117 million cell phone users going around at this point. By 2010, more than 360 million Indians will have mobile phones, making it the world's single biggest user interface, outdoing even the television in its wake.

Yet, while M-commerce redoubtably promises rich dividend on the world stage, it has still to give in the Indian market, even in comparison to the online medium, which has grown substantially with far less than the unprecedented penetration that the mobile phone has achieved in the Indian market. Gursahani points to the fact that it is purely a matter of perception and uncertainty with regard to the mobile phone as an instrument of fulfillment. "Once that barrier is crossed, like it was with computers, growth in this segment will take a quantum leap," he says. Amitabh Pandey, President and Head, E-business, Thomas Cook India Ltd, on the other hand, believes that change of mind set is some way off, given the current ease of fulfillment and comfort of security that computers already offer. "M-commerce appears to be a simple enough avenue of distribution but Indian consumers at large simply do not trust this medium from the point of view of fulfillment or security.

There is still to be a proven instance of a viable business model based on this new distribution avenue in India." All said mobile phones in India have certainly come a long way from being a wireless instrument of communication to becoming possibly the most promising channel of distribution for travel products in the not so distant future. And whether or not there is another school of thought that begs to differ, there is unanimity on the fact that its time to take a call on it now.
July 30, 2007
Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Events

1. Kerala Tourism wins PATA awards
Kerala has won two awards of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for the category in cultural tourism and preparation of brochures.

In the cultural segment, the heritage village at Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district was chosen for the award. The brochures that won the award were those of the state's eco-tourism spots like Munnar, Wayanad, Thekkadi and Kumarakom.

The honour would encourage Kerala Tourism to come out with more new products and concepts, state Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in a release here yesterday.
July 31, 2007
Source: PTI via Hindu

Research and Market reports

Human Resources & Training

Travel Characteristics of Indians

1. Call from the Land of Pharaohs

The Land of Pharaohs, Egypt, has chalked out plans to double the inflow of Indian tourists with improvement in air connectivity and launch of an India-specific marketing campaign. Talks are currently on between the civil aviation authorities of the two countries to increase frequencies of direct flights from three to seven per week by the year-end.

EgyptAir, the national carrier, is looking at adding Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata on its network. It currently flies thrice a week from Mumbai. Industry sources said talks are also on between Egypt Air and Jet Airways for a code-share agreement.

“Egypt is positioning itself as a hub for Indian carriers to fly to Europe, Africa and West Asia,” said Egypt’s ambassador to India Mohamed Higazy. With improvement in air connectivity, he expects over 1.5 lakh Indians to visit the country by 2008 end. Last year, around 75,000 Indian tourists visited the Pyramid country.

Mr Higazy hoped that with the induction of the new fleet, Air India too will launch direct flights to Egypt and possibly use it as transit point for flying to Europe and Africa. A new promo marketing Egypt to Indians, Visit Egypt 2008, will be launched by the year end.

Apart from encouraging shooting of Indian films in Egypt, the country plans to host Bollywood award ceremonies to woo more number of Indian tourists. A tourism promotion office is likely to come up in Delhi by the year end to complement the one in Mumbai. An ‘Egypt Week’ showcasing the country’s art, culture and cinema, will also be organised in October this year. According to Mr Higazy, Egypt is not only about the famed Pyramids.

“Though Egypt is largely regarded as an open air museum, we also have many resorts, beeches and cheap shopping destinations,” Mr Higazy added. While Egypt offers three-year business visa for corporates and SMEs, for tourists there is visa-on-arrival.

Egypt is also being keenly pursued by IT and ITES companies and oil exploration companies. “Egypt is the hub for 11 languages and can be used by Indian IT companies to service global clients,” Mr Higazy said. IT companies such as Wipro, Satyam, TCS and HCL already have presence in the country.
August 4, 2007
Source: Economic Times

2. Desi tourists seek new thrills

India is going places, literally. With the country’s outbound tourist traffic slated to touch 16.2 million by 2011, the well-heeled desi lot seeking amazing, exotic vacations can no longer be counted on your finger tips.

So, while Cappadocia may not be familiar to many of us, the growing tribe of well-travelled Indians will tell you that it’s the name of a Turkish region with a cave hotel where you can ape the Flintstones.

Members of the same clan will also tell you that an ostrich egg omelette (ostrich meat is passe) is unbelievably bland and that Stewart Island Airways of New Zealand will weigh you along with your baggage before you are bundled into their little aircraft.

In the last 2-3 years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of those who have done the run-of-the-mill destinations and are seeking new travel thrills.

There were 6.2 million outbound tourists in 2005. “The indicators are only getting stronger by the day: the mushrooming of ‘special experience travel agents’, the new tourism offices opened by hitherto conservative countries like Poland, Ireland or the Netherlands in India in the last 2 years, and the travel road shows organised by Finland and New Zealand being just a few of them,’’ says Subhash Motwani of Compaq Travels, which organises tailor-made tours to exotic destinations.

“Last year, 600 Polish tourist visas were issued from India and the number will go up 30% this year. A few years back, the number was negligible,’’ says Polish consul general Januz Bylinski, attributing the spike in interest to the Hindi movie Fanaa which was shot there.

“A majority of Indian visitors are those on the central Europe tour, which includes the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Poland. They spend an average of four days in Poland in its highland mountain areas and well-preserved historic cities like Cracow,’’ he says.

“Indian tourists in Turkey have increased threefold over the last 3 years. Before 2004, it was very unusual to see an Indian tourist here,’’ says Maggie Cassidy, a book shop owner in Goreme who is also involved with Shoestrings, a cave hotel in Cappadocia. The general profile of the typical Indian visitor that she paints is rather flattering.

They are, she says, more likely to be educated, professional, well-read, interested in culture and people than tourists of other nationalities. “But they are less able to cope with the occasional blip in arrangements. They seem to expect a higher level of service for their money. I think that’s maybe because of their relative lack of experience in travel and higher social status when compared to other tourists,’’ she says.

These seekers of exotic destinations have little in common with the sun-tanned backpackers with matted hair clutching their worn-out Lonely Planet Guides.

If anything, these trendsetters represent a hybrid variety—one which does not comprise intrepid, hard core travellers, but tourists who are game enough to rough it out, all in the name of adventure travel. “While online bookings are on the rise, most prefer hand-holding by tour operators, who besides selling airline tickets, also help in organising local sightseeing,’’ says Pradip Madhavji, former chairman of Thomas Cook.

Vispy Mistry, a city-based businessman who did the Spain-Portugal-Morocco circuit in May and who will be heading to Scotland in September, chalks out his itinerary in consultation with his travel agent
July 30, 2007
Source:Times of India

3. Indian abroad tourists to double.

By 2010 the number of tourists travelling from India is expected to more than double, therefore tour operators are preparing to take advantage of this boom in the Indian travel market.

The total number of outbound travellers is set to reach 16.3 million in 2011 alone.

This dramatic rise in the number Indians travelling abroad, 132% over 2006 to 2011 according to Euromonitor International's latest research, is being driven by rising disposable incomes, more affordable holiday options and the growth of low cost carriers, enabling more Indians to travel abroad.

Budget airlines drive outbound travel

The growing strength of low cost carriers in India is one of the key factors boosting the Indian outbound travel market. Clement Wong, Travel and Tourism Account Manager comments, “Indian tourists now have more choice and options for travel outside the country, thanks to the continued growth in low cost carriers. At times, it is even for cheaper to travel to other countries in South East Asia than to other regions within India”.

Air Deccan, the first low cost carrier to operate in India, is currently the most prominent in the market. However, SpiceJet and Go Air have also joined the scene and the number of players looks set to rise.

With departures by air accounting for more than 98% of all departures from India, the air travel market is clearly on a high. In 2006, sales for low cost airlines grew by 115% in India, storming ahead of the industry average growth of 19.5%.

Singapore is currently benefiting from the bulk of Indian outbound tourism; however, as foreign travel becomes more affordable many Indian holidaymakers will set their sights further afield.

Countries fight for the Indian traveller

The US is predicted to be the most preferred destination for Indian travellers by 2011, according to Euromonitor International, receiving 10.2% of outbound tourists from India. The strengthening of business ties and a large number of Indians residing in the US will be the main drivers behind this trend.

The growing number of Indian tourists is now being more widely recognised and countries across the globe are increasingly trying to attract Indian tourists. A number of countries, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and South Korea, have already opened tourist offices in India to directly target Indians who want to holiday abroad. Euromonitor's Clement Wong comments, “Indian tourists are big spenders and as such are a boost to the tourism revenues of any country”.

Brand new forecasts from Euromonitor International show that outgoing tourism expenditure from India will grow by over 25.7% between 2006 and 2011 to reach a value of US$21 billion by 2011.

August4, 2007
Source: Euromonitor International via www.4hoteliers.com