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
Travel and Transportation Infrastructure
Niche Tourism
Policy
Travel and Tourism Support Industries
Travel Characteristics of Indians

Places in the news

1. Himalayan ski village gets a Finnish boost

What began as a hunt for timber to build log houses at an upcoming 350 million euro ski resort in the Himalayan slopes of India has blossomed into a vibrant partnership involving the Finnish government, a municipality in the north of the country and a semi-government body supported by the European Union.

This collaboration has brought in Finnish experts in the fields of environmentally sustainable tourism, ecological snow management, resort development and best operational practices.

The Himalayan Ski Village (HSV) aims to create world-class infrastructure at Manali in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to position it amongst the world's best tourism destinations, the project's promoters say.

Even as HSV prepares for its groundbreaking ceremony later this year, the collaboration has already begun showing results. A group of 40 skiers from Manali have just completed a three-week training schedule at three slopes in the Lapland area of northern Finland to become instructors.

Not only that, Helsinki based Amer Sports, the world largest manufacturer of sporting goods, pitched in by providing equipment and clothing worth $2,200 free to each of the 40 skiers.

"Finland reached out to us and made it easy for us to connect with their businesses," said HSV managing director John Sims of the Nordic connection.

Sims, who divides his time between New Delhi and Manali, is a childhood friend of Henry Ford's great grandson Alfred Ford who is funding the Manali project.

In fact, the collaboration began over a cup of coffee suggested by New Delhi based business consultant Suvendu Banerjee.

"I represent various Finnish interests in India and also HSV. I suggested that Sims meet Seppo Keranen (who heads FINPRO, the Finnish Trade Office in New Delhi) over coffee and the rest, as they say, is history," Banerjee told IANS.

Keranen is also the Finnish commercial counsellor in India. He was so excited about the HSV project that he quickly brought on board Naturpolis, the semi-government Nordic Business Centre located in the municipality of Kuusamo that includes the Ruka ski resort and the tourist towns of Taivalkoski and Posio.

Thereafter, the Levi ski resort in Lapland, which is also an Alpine Skiing World Cup venue, was also brought into the loop.

All this led to the creation of FINEC or Finnish Ecological Construction for India that will focus on developing ski and leisure resorts in India, explained Ville Skinnari, the Naturpolis director for business development.

"Sims and his team visited Finland in December (2006) and we signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between FINPRO, Naturpolis, the Kuusamo municipality, and HSV to take the Manali resort forward," Skinnari added.

The MoU covers the seven critical areas of planning and architecture of ski resorts; winter sports education, equipment, clothing, timber and wood products, sustainable resort development and energy conservation.

A series of workshops will now be held in Finland between June and October after which a 'matchmaking' seminar will be held in India in October to put the final elements in place and formally launch FINEC in December, Skinnari stated.

By that time, HSV should have received its final ecological clearances from the Indian and Himachal Pradesh governments for beginning construction of the ski village.

Toward this end, HSV submitted its Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Himachal Pradesh government in April, outlining its detailed plans for development "while emphasizing its commitment to promote socially and environmentally responsible tourism", Sims explained.

The DPR lists specific strategies HSV will employ to mitigate the impact on the environment during both construction and operational stages of the project.

"The design, build and operations will be as 'green' as possible and will take into account strong waste disposal and water management strategies," Sims pointed out.

The project includes the development of luxury hotels, chalets, suites, conference facilities, an entertainment centre, restaurants and retail options. Access to the mountain area for skiing, trekking and other adventure activities will be provided by a network of gondolas and chairlifts.

The project aims to employ more than 3,500 people when fully developed and HSV will hire more than 70 percent of them from the villages around Manali.

HSV has also set up a training institute for winter sports operations. The first phase saw 75 skiers from local villages being trained for the roles of ski instructors, snow safety and search & rescue operations when the resort begins its operations. This group was then whittled down to 40 for advanced training in Finland.

According to Sims, in addition to direct employment, the HSV project will bring indirect employment and business opportunities to the local community through sourcing of local produce like fruits, flowers, milk, and vegetables for daily consumption in the resort and services like adventure and tour operation.

"These will be linked via specific HSV-sponsored rural development initiatives like cheese making, beehive products and green-house farming," Sims added

Friday, May 25, 2007
Source: IANS via Economic Times

2. Sikkim basks in the glory of its tourism achievements

With a 30 percent growth in tourism-related revenue, Sikkim, the smallest and youngest State in India's North East, is poised for both prosperity and development. The buzzing markets in Gangtok and the number of vehicles plying is indicative of how well things are moving.

"The growth of tourism in Sikkim has been tremendous. I think, in ten years, we have seen about 30 per cent growth. When we initially started this business in way nineties, tourism was almost as good as negative. Now over the years we have seen about 250 thousand domestic travellers which is a real boom to the economic growth in the state of Sikkim for tourism. And as far as the foreign clients are concerned we have about 5-10 thousand people visiting for various aspects of cultural nature and adventure tourism," S.K Pradhan, President of the Travel Agent Association of Sikkim. The region is endowed with diverse tourist attractions and each State has its own distinct features. The attractions and the people of the region constitute the tourism resources at large.
"I like cleanliness, greenery and mountains and everything. Sikkim is a good place," said Ankit, a tourist from Andhra Pradesh.

I am very much impressed with the development of tourism here. I think there is a lot for the tourists to see. It seems the government called the summit to put in some infrastructure which means tourists can come here and stay at very nice hotels. There is a lot to see there is a lot of History," said Seema, another tourist from Australia.

Recently, the fourth Sectoral Summit on Tourism and Hospitality of North Eastern Council was organised here on how to promote tourism in the region.

Union Minister for North East Affairs Mani Shankar Aiyar in his address said: "To give them really detailed exposure to all the sectors in which Thai investment can take place. And if it works then you'r really opening the gate to South East Asia." Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has appealed to the Centre to remove some legal barriers to boost tourism.

Representatives of other North Eastern states have suggested measures like improving infrastructure and basic amenities. The North East Summit decided to open hotel management institutes in all states of the region to promote tourism.
Today, Sikkim stands out as a model for other North Eastern states as to how the potential of the state can be utilised to its optimum if there is tranquillity, no unstable and uncertain political conditions.

Thursday, May24, 2007
Source: ANI via Yahoo

3. Himachal Pradesh hotels full as tourist season peaks
Many hotels in Himachal Pradesh are fully occupied till the next couple of weeks as tourists flock to the cool hills to escape the summer heat.

Hotels run by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) in Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala and Dalhousie among other places are booked to capacity till June 4, say HPTDC officials.

Private hotels usually have the capacity to accommodate many more people than HPTDC properties and are currently reporting around 70 to 80 per cent occupancy, which is likely to grow in the coming days, said travel agents.

The peak tourist season in the hills is likely to continue till the end of June when the monsoon hits many parts of northern India. Last year 6.5 million tourists including foreigners visited the hill state. This year the number is expected to further grow.
Thursday, May24, 2007
Source: IANS via Yahoo

4. 'City may be on World Heritage list soon'
The tourism scene in Chandigarh is certainly looking up. While the city is already being marketed as the hub of North India, it is also inching closer towards a permanent place among UnescO's World Heritage sites
Monday, May 21, 2007
Source: Indian Express

Travel and Transportation Infrastructure

Sector: Aviation

1. GoAir mulling over FIIs proposals to acquire stakes

Low cost carrier GoAir is considering several proposals by FIIs and high net worth individuals for acquiring its stake and could go for public offering in 2008-09.

"We are not looking at selling or off-loading equity. We have proposals from FIIs, high net worth individuals, merchant bankers and other strategic investors to acquire our stake. We are evaluating these proposals. "We will sell on our terms keeping financial and strategic interests in mind", GoAir MD Jeh Wadia said while responding to questions at a seminar on the future of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) business in India.

He also said the airline would consider going for an Initial Public Offer (IPO) by 2008-09. "By July or August", Wadias would launch an MRO - for line maintenance and heavy maintenance of aircraft - in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Engineering Company (SAEC), he said, adding that an investment of over 30 million US dollars was being envisaged for the purpose. While line maintenance would be carried out at major airports by this JV company, the location for the heavy maintenance MRO was being selected, Wadia said.

Addressing the seminar organised by the Aeronautical Society of India (Delhi), Air India CMD V Thulasidas said, the merged entity, also called Air India, would have special business units on MRO and ground handling, "for which we are looking at establishing joint ventures".

Friday, May 25, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

2. SpiceJet suffers Rs 19 cr operating loss in ‘06-‘07

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Friday reported an operating loss of Rs 19 crore in 2006-07, but registered a robust growth of 121 per cent in its total revenue.

Announcing its audited results covering 10 months from June 1 last year to March 31, SpiceJet's CFO Partha Sarathi Basu said the company registered an income of Rs 640 crore and operating expense of Rs 659 crore, despite the fact that the reporting period did not include peak months of April and May.

On total revenue, he said it went up from Rs 339 crore in the 10-month period of the previous fiscal to Rs 748 crore in 2006-07.

Maintaining that the airline would now onwards follow the tax fiscal of April-March, Basu said the firm had adopted changes in its accounting policies "for certain capitalised/ deferred items which have now been written off. But for these, the net loss would have been lower by Rs 5.4 crore".

During the period, the carrier doubled its average deployed fleet (flights by each aircraft) to 8.17 as against 4.08 in the previous year.

The airline, which currently operates 11 aircraft to 14 destinations, also experienced a hike in the number of passengers flown, which went up from 1.34 million to 2.61 million. It would add eight more aircraft to its fleet in the current year.

Basu said the airline also managed to improve its net revenue per passenger to Rs 2,320 from Rs 2,209 in the previous year. SpiceJet CEO Siddhant Sharma recently said the company was likely to break-even in April-June quarter this fiscal, besides making profits next year.

"We expect to break even in the first quarter of the current fiscal in the overall cost and even make profit. We are ferrying three million passengers this year and aim to double it to six million by next year," he had said on the occasion of completion of two years of the airline.

He also ruled out further dilution of company equity in the carrier.

Friday, May 25, 2007
Source: PTI via Economic Times

3. Air Deccan launches Delhi-Leh flight

Air Deccan today flagged-off its maiden daily flight from Delhi to Leh.

A 180-seater Airbus-320 has been deployed on this route. With this launch, Air Deccan becomes the first low cost carrier to fly to the highest airport in the country.

Leh, the largest town of Ladakh is situated at an altitude of 10,800 ft above sea level. Leh is not only famous for its picturesque beauty, but also has popular tourist places. A blend of adventure and mysticism make for the unique allure of Ladakh, also known as India's Little Tibet, which is among the world's highest inhabited plateaus.

Warwick Brady, Chief Operating Officer Air Deccan said "The Leh airport is the only easy link for Ladakh to the rest of the country. With 7 months of snowfall disrupting all road-rail links in the region, Air Deccan's low-cost-easy travel option will enable more tourists to explore this rich cultural, religious and adventurous land."

"With tourist influx in Ladakh growing every year (40,000 tourists in 2006) and nearest rail link being 700 kms in Jammu, Air Deccan will definitely prove to be a catalyst in growth of tourism and economy in the region. The bookings for this sector which opened on 30th April, 2007 have already seen a huge influx of passengers, including domestic and foreign tourist groups. The overall load on this sector for the coming months is expected to be around 80% which is exceptional for a newly introduced flight, " Brady added.

The flight from Delhi will take off every day at 5.20 a.m. and land in Leh at 6.50 a.m. The flight from Leh to Delhi will take off at 7.20 a.m. and land in Delhi at 8.40 a.m.

Wednesday, May23, 2007
Source: ANI via Yahoo

Sector: Roads
Sector: Waterways

Sector: Hotels & Restaurants

1. Soldiers of yesteryears take to tourism

No aching bones or post retirement blues for them. Venturing into an altogether new horizon, the former men in Uniform are turning into tourism entrepreneurs in God's own country.

Called 'Veteran Homestays' project, the ex-servicemen, who once defended the country, have opened their homes for tourists. At least 200 rooms, both AC and Non-AC are available for visitors under the project. They also offer other facilities like Ayurvedic treatment, trekking, angling, bamboo rafting, plantation visit rubber and toddy tapping, coir making and much more.

"We are soldiers of yesteryears. Valued attributes and attainments in service by way of transparency in personal conduct, integrity and dependability, discipline and ability to converse in many Indian languages besides English qualify us to partner in mutually beneficial ventures aiming at tourism promotion through a chain of 'Home Stays' spread all over Kerala," Brigadier K John Kuruvilla, President Veteran Homestays, told the media.

From Air Vice Marshals to an ordinary soldier, the ex-servicemen of all the three forces are in the field and are training themselves to become good hosts and entrepreneurs in the tourism arena.

"Kerala, which accounts for about 7.5 per cent of Ex-servicemen of the total 20 lakh in the country, ranks fourth in their population. Presently, this potent human resource is not being organised and utilised productively," Kuruvilla said.

Friday, May 25, 2007
Source: Economic Times

Niche Tourism

Medical
Spiritual & religious
Rural
Wine

Heritage

1. Rajasthan ropes in Liberty to develop heritage tourism hubs

Covent Garden is one of the popular tourist destinations in London, attracting 50 million tourists annually. Now, if all goes to plan, there could be a replica of Covent Garden in Rajasthan, courtesy, the state’s chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and real estate developer Liberty International.

The state, which is competing against Goa and Kerala for the tourism pie, has plans to redevelop its heritage properties into leisure and retail centres. The UK-based Liberty with over £8.2 billion in assets, owns and manages Covent Garden. Liberty, through its Indian joint venture Prozone Liberty, proposes to work with state governments to construct similar hubs across the country.

According to the MoU that the company has entered into with the Rajasthan government, Liberty will invest Rs 1,000 crore in the state. Said Ms Scindia, “The best way to maintain the state’s position as a premier tourist destination is to mix heritage with modernity. If we don’t inject something modern into it, tradition will fall by the wayside.”

Added Liberty CEO David Fischelm, “Economies across the world have driven their entire tourism potential on the back of shopping. Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia for instance. For a country as rich as India in terms of history, heritage and growth, creation of world class entertainment and retail centres will drive higher tourism spend.”

With every domestic and international retailer and real estate developer betting big on India, Fischel remains unfazed by the competition. “In our experience, such centres are destinations, where consumers spend time with their families and hence have a multiplier effect on job creation and revenues. Globally retail is the second largest employer in the world after the government,” he said.

India is Liberty’s fourth destination after being present in UK, South Africa and the US. Interestingly, it does not have a presence in China, the world’s fastest growing economy. Prozone Liberty, majority owned by apparel company Provogue, plans to invest in mixed use development projects that include hotels, entertainment and shopping centres.

The Mumbai-based company has already finalised plans to develop six retail malls in cities including Aurangabad, Surat, Indore and Jaipur. It envisages an investment of approximately Rs 500 crore in each development depending on the size of the land and its viability.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Source: Economic Times

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

Policy

1. India and China in the forefront of airport duty free growth

After a busy and productive week, TFWA Asia Pacific 2007, the 12th annual exhibition and conference for the duty free and travel retail industry in Asia, closed its works at the Singapore Suntec Centre. Industry  executives, including colleagues involved in the broader airport revenue generating businesses, gathered on Monday 14th May for the 4th Gate One commercial revenues conference in Singapore.

A total of 24 eminent speakers and two professional moderators assembled in panels to contribute their expertise on subjects ranging from airport development and the emergence of airport cities to strategic partnerships and the topical issue of aviation security. Over 200 delegates participated in the conference which at times became very animated.

On the morning of Tuesday 15th at the TFWA Asia Pacific Conference, TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen summarised the state of the global industry and highlighted India and China as the principal sources of growth.

In the first session, ‘The Indian Retail Revolution and its effects on Asia Pacific’, the 450 delegates were impressed to learn of the rapidly maturing trillion-dollar Indian economy, of the massive development in air transport infrastructure in India and the related growth in the duty free and travel retail market. He was followed by retailers, suppliers, operators, analysts and marketing professionals who engaged in discussion involving the audience on how best the industry could capitalise on this immense potential.

In the second session, aviation security and the current situation regarding liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) were analysed by Frank O’Connell, President of ETRC, leading the ETRC campaign to implement a global policy which will both safeguard passenger security and enable them to continue enjoying duty free and travel retail shopping. Representatives from a liquor and a perfume brand and the Australian DFA and APTRA joined the Singapore representative of the TSA to discuss the ongoing situation and proposals which might alleviate the situation. The industry was strongly urged to support the campaign to find workable solutions to the issue.

During the week three topical workshops were held to focus attention on issues of particular interest to sectors of the industry: e-tailing, consumer purchasing behaviour and onboard sales.

TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition assembled 199 international brand companies for the benefit of buyers, agents and distributors to the duty free and travel retail outlets in airports, border stores, ships, airlines and downtown stores. A total of 1,977 visitors attended the show, +1% increase on last year, of which 34% were key buyers and airport authorities (+1%) and 47% were agents (+12%). The balance was made up of press, guests and other trade visitors.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Source: Travel Daily News

2. A museum hub at India Gate
The area around the India Gate lawns could turn into a world-class museum hub before 2010, if a proposal of the Tourism Ministry currently being examined by the Planning Commission, is approved.

The proposal, shown to the prime minister, is to shift all the government offices in the India Gate area to some other location, and convert existing buildings there into nine theme museums, so as to turn the area around the war memorial into an even bigger tourist destination than it presently is.

There are also plans to introduce laser shows and sound-and-light shows at the spot, and build open-air theatres for music concerts. All vehicular traffic will be banned on the Rajpath stretch. The entire plan will cost Rs 821 crore.

"There is no rationale for having mundane government offices or defence officers' hostels at such a prime location," said a senior ministry official.
The ministry has recommended that all the prominent buildings - which once belonged to the erstwhile princely states - located on the periphery of the India Gate C-Hexagon roundabout, except Hyderabad House, should be converted into theme museums.

It has proposed that Baroda House (presently the Northern Railway headquarters) be converted into a Rail Museum, the Princes Park defence officers' hostel into a Space Museum, Patiala House (currently a district court) into a War Museum and Bikaner House (where the Rajasthan government has some offices) into an Earth Museum. The Jaipur House already has the National Gallery of Modern Art on its premises. The plan is to include the adjoining Air Force Officers' Mess and turn it into a full-scale Art Museum.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Source: MSN India

3. Will Munnar demolitions help Kerala tourism?
In the last one week, more than two dozen illegal tourist resorts in the picturesque hill station of Munnar have been razed and 200 more are to be demolished, a move that many say would harm Kerala's booming tourism industry. The demolition drive, by the no-nonsense Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, was launched to evict all those who had encroached on government land.

"The drive would be extended to other parts of the state like Kovalam and Kumarakom. We will under no circumstances be lenient on these encroachers," Achuthanandan declared.

But tourism watchers say the drive has come at a time when the state is anyway short of 10,000 rooms during the peak tourist season - October to March - and would result in millions of rupees in tourism investment going down the drain.

For investment-starved Kerala, tourism is the one sector where small and big investors have flocked in large numbers and has seen around Rs.10 billion investment in the last decade. And figures show that this has yielded results.

In 2006, the number of foreign tourists visiting Kerala went up by 23.67 percent over 2005 and touched a record 428,534. In the same year, as many as 6.2 million domestic visitors arrived in the state - up 5.41 percent from the previous year.

Munnar, a small tourist destination in Idukki district, has more than 3,500 small and big resorts and several wayside small hotels and restaurants.

Suresh Kumar, chief of the special team engaged in the demolition, said: "There are around 3,000 buildings which have to be razed in Munnar because of encroachments. We are doing the job that has been entrusted to us."

After the demolitions began last week, anxious resort owners approached the courts to get the move stayed. Even the apex court has ruled in favour of Achuthanandan. The demolition team is giving the targeted building and resort owners just 24 hours notice before bringing the bulldozers.

K. Sudish Kumar, who owns a premier resort in Kovalam beach, said the chief minister was "playing to the gallery" in his haste to get on with the demolitions, ignoring the growth of the money-spinning tourism industry.

"Even the courts have ruled in favour of the government, so why this undue haste? The government should put up notices with regard to the encroachments, showing the areas that have been encroached upon. Most of the targeted owners have invested without knowing that they were being duped. This certainly does not augur well," Kumar told IANS.

A case in point is of a leading resort owner in Munnar who has been handed a demolition notice for building on encroached land. The businessman had been holding the title deed of the land for the past 16 years and recently built a plush resort on it.

According to a source close to the owner, he built the resort after taking a loan from the state-owned Kerala Financial Corporation and the loan was given after all the land ownership documents were vetted.

"Now he has been served a notice. If the land title was doubtful, how come the state agency extended finances to build the resort," said the source on condition of anonymity.

According to reports, the banking sector too is in real trouble. The week of demolitions in Munnar has seen the banks lose more than Rs.2 billion because in all the cases, the owners had hypothecated the property against the loan. So now the illegal properties belong to the government.

"In most cases, permission and sanction to build on the land was given by the government authorities. In some cases, MoUs were inked with government officials for investment. After asking investors to invest in tourism projects, the government is turning its back on them," said an investor who did not wish to be named.
Monday, May21, 2007
Source: IANS via Economic Times

Travel and Tourism Support Industries …and much more

Service providers
Travel ecommerce
Events

Research and Market reports

1. Deloitte predicts hotel industry’s future
Successful hoteliers of the future will cater well to multi-generational requirements, embrace technology and respond to the aspirations of their clients, an industry expert has claimed.

Speaking at the first Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) conference in Dubai last month, Dr Costas Verginis, senior manager, real estate & hospitality consulting at Deloitte highlighted some of the key considerations for hoteliers globally.

He stressed that today's customer was more travel savvy and demanded an experience in addition to hotel facilities and services. Wellbeing facilities and experiences were also increasingly important hence the rising popularity of spas, he added.

The potential of the "silver" customer, those in their 50s, 60s and even 70s that were active and cash- and time-rich, was noted and Dr Verginis said it was important to cater to a wide range of ages, tastes and requirements.

"Are you prepared to welcome physically challenged and/or obese travellers?" he asked.

"Are your hotels ready for the first Chinese visitors?" he added.

In terms of sourcing future talent, hoteliers were told: "a new approach to HR was required".

"Flexible and lifestyle orientated employment" was key, with no maximum age requirement enforced," he added.

Hoteliers must look at a multi-naitonal, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, mutli-religious and cross-generational workforce said Dr Verginis. He also provided an update on key emerging travel markets making predictions for 2010:

China:

• The 150 airports will expand to 240 by 2010.

• Beijing Airport is undergoing renovations worth US $2 billion. The target is to accommodate 35 million passengers by 2007 rising to 45 million by 2008.

• The hotel room count will rise from 90,000 to 130,000 in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

• Between 10,000 and 25,000 new hotels will be in the mid-market/budget sector to cater primarily to domestic tourism.

India:

• The Ministry of Finance raised allocation for tourism by 60% for 2006.

• Tourism will focus on niche markets such as Buddhism, cruises, rural, adventure, spiritual and medical tourism.

• Between 5000 and 10,000 new hotels will be required in the mid-market/budget sector to cater primarily to domestic tourism.

• Visitor numbers to India are predicted to increase from 6 million to 10 million (by 2010) and to 25 million by 2029.

UAE:

• The UNWTO predicts the region will witness fastest arrivals growth globally at 7% per annum to 36 million visitors.

• Dubai is investing US $45 billion in infrastructure and tourism.

• The appetite for branded mid-market and budget hotels is increasing dramatically.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Source: ArabianBusiness.com

Human Resources & Training

2. Opportunity on a PLATTER
Remember how good you felt on getting that warm, sincere compliment on your culinary skills from a colleague of your spouse? Or the first time you tried your hands at an exotic dish for those “special” guests and it turned out so deliciously well?

Well, if you have a flair for cooking and serving, the world of hospitality management beckons you to an exciting career.

Check in:
The field is fit for you if you can serve with a smile; and the sky is the limit if you have that innovative bent of mind to add a little style to substance.
Hospitality management refers to the cluster of courses in which students are taught the business of running hotels, restaurants, besides travel agencies and other tourism-related businesses. These study programmes cover organising events, arranging lodging, meeting, and convention management, food, beverage and casino management.

Hospitality industry, which is an integral part of the tourism sector, is growing at a fast pace across the globe. The forthcoming Commonwealth Games to be organised in India are also likely to contribute a great deal to the growth of our hospitality sector.

Choices aplenty:
With the continuing upswing in the Indian economy, the hospitality sector is creating a wide range of career opportunities. It encompasses industries like hotels and restaurants, resorts, aviation, entertainment, catering, multiplexes, shopping malls, eating joints, food courts and so on.

The hospitality industry is also directly proportionate to the inbound tourism to any particular country. Countries like India, China, Mexico and Iraq, which were the seats of ancient civilisations, continue to be among the favorite destinations of tourists from all parts of the world.

In this era of globalisation, the hospitality industry or hotel management is assuming greater significance and is evolving as a lucrative career sector.

Placement prospects:
An individual can start his/her career in this field either as a management trainee or at an entry-level position. In case of the former, a person has to undergo training for two years before graduating to the position. In the latter case, the person has to work his/her way up in the organisation. And while the experience-based promotions have gone out of fashion, some hotels do recruit personnel at the mid/supervisory level.

The professionals can be absorbed into multifarious areas of hotel operations, including the front office, food and beverage services, food production or kitchens, housekeeping and marketing and sales. Coupled with this is the requirement for trained manpower in special areas such as airline and railway catering, industrial catering, institutional feeding, etc. This has warranted further augmentation of training capabilities and modernisation of existing facilities.

Course clues:
The admission to various degree, diploma and certificate courses in hospitality management is made through entrance tests or on the basis of merit in the qualifying examinations. Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and several other universities offer programmes in the discipline.

The other premier institutions in the field include:
• National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Library Avenue, Pusa Complex, New Delhi-110 012 administers admission to the hotel management programmes at the government-sponsored institutes of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Gurdaspur, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Shimla, Srinagar and Thiruvananthapuram.
• Indian Institute of Hotel Management (assisted by the Taj Group of Hotels), Rauza Bagh, Aurangabad 431 0001;
• Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development (Oberoi School of Hotel Management), 1 Sham Nath Marg, New Delhi 110 054;
• FHRAI Institute of Hospitality Management, Plot No 45, Knowledge Park III, Greater Noida-201306;
• Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Valley View, Manipal- 576119;
• Srinivas College of Hotel Management (Under Mangalore University), G.H.S. Road, Mangalore- 575 001;
• K.L.E. Society, Nijalingappa College (Bangalore University), Rajaji Nagar, Bangalore-560 010;
• International Institute of Hotel Management, EC 37, Salt Lake, Calcutta-700064;
• Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology, Sector 8, CBD, New Bombay-400614;
• Shri Shakti College of Hotel Management, Venus Plaza, adjacent to Airport, Begumpet, Hyderbad-500016;
• National Institute of Hotel & Tourism Management, Aurangabad-431005;
• R.N. Shetty College of Hotel Management & Catering Technology, No. 4 Kaviraja Marg, Bailappanavar Nagar, Hubli-580029;
• Indian Institute of Science'& Management, IISM Campus, Pundag, Ranchi-834004;
• Army Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology, C/o ASC Centre, (South), P.O. Agram, Bangalore-560007 ;
• Oriental School of Hotel Management, Valley View, Lakkidi-673576 (Kerala).

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Source: The Tribune

Travel Characteristics of Indians

1. Visit London woos Indian tourists
With Indian visitors to London spending more than visitors from Japan last year, Visit London welcomed an official Indian delegation in a bid to secure even more business from the second fastest  growing tourism economy in the world.

In 2006, London welcomed over 212,000 tourists from India with an overall annual spend of £139 million, overtaking spending from Japanese tourists (£123 million) for the first time.

Approximately 90% of bookings in India are made through travel agents and a delegation from the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is on an inspection visit to the capital, as London bids to host the influential TAAI Annual Convention in 2008.

TAAI is a membership association made up of travel agents, airlines, hotel and tour operators across India making it the largest travel association in the country with around 2000 people attending the Annual Convention.

Martine Ainsworth-Wells from Visit London said: “This is the first time that the Indian travel trade have looked towards Europe to hold their annual convention. We are delighted to welcome the delegation to show them London’s diverse attractions for both leisure and business travellers. If we succeed in winning the bid to host the convention, we could expect to see tourism from India grow by up to 30% in the years following.”

London’s bid to become the host destination for the TAAI 2008 Annual Convention is one of a number of initiatives to encourage Indian tourists to the capital including the appointment of a Visit London overseas representative to promote London directly to the Indian travel trade and consumers.

Supporting the Mayor of London’s programme of activities, Visit London will join a delegation to Mumbai and Delhi in November when the Mayor will meet with officials to encourage tourism, inward investment and study in London and to promote the mutual exchange of activity in these industries between the city and India.

During the summer, Visit London will be supporting “India Now” – the biggest ever celebration of Indian culture in London through three months of activity beginning in August. Taking place across a wide range of venues in the capital the celebrations culminate in an India-themed Festival on London`s Regent Street at the beginning of September.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Source: Travel Daily News