• Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

Where press releases are breaking news

  • Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

How does India travel? Let us count the 94 billion ways

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Bain & Company and Google India are together launching a report on “How Does India Travel.” According to the report, the Indian traveler has come of age, spending approximately $94 billion in 2018 on around 2 billion domestic and international trips. This has helped the Indian travel and tourism industry achieve unprecedented scale, and the momentum is expected to continue with the industry growing at a 13 percent CAGR to $136 billion by 2021, according to a report.

Fueled by digital, Indian travelers are expected to spend an additional $24 billion on online travel bookings over the next 3 years. The report outlines how India spends on travel, the influence of online channels in their purchase journey, and potential growth opportunities for travel businesses until 2021.

Deep diving into the $136 billion spends, the report cites a 12 percent growth in transportation ($50 billion), 13 percent growth in lodging ($21 billion) and consumption, which includes spends on shopping, recreation and food, to grow at 13 percent ($65 billion) over the next three years. Additionally, as more people come online, smartphone penetration improves and use of digital payments goes up, the report estimates that Indian travelers will spend an additional $24 billion on online travel bookings over the next three years, a growth from 25 percent in 2018 to 35 percent in 2021.

Online is a significant source of research

Elucidating the planning journey of Indian travelers, both for business and leisure, the report calls out five phases of a customer journey – Interest, Research, Booking, Experience and Sharing.  The report states that during key research-heavy phase of interest, research and experience, digital plays a pivotal role with over 86 percent of consumers being influenced by online channels. During this phase, travelers spend their maximum time on search, travel tour provider websites, price comparison websites, and travel articles. Online video too plays a significant role with 21 percent of travelers being influenced by this platform. In the booking and sharing phase, the report states that nearly 60 percent of customers book transport and lodging online, and over 50 percent share feedback online with social media being the dominant platform.

Talking about the market opportunities for online travel players, Vikas Agnihotri, Country Director – Sales, Google India said, “New users perceive that online channels are geared towards the more frequent flyers and experience-oriented travelers; and existing travelers research online but the lack of trust in payments and booking experience make them end up booking offline. If travel players tap these online users through personalized marketing, messaging and travel plans, they can further augment online travel bookings. This can be done by adopting digital technologies to influence customers early in the journey and moving from one-time engagement to ongoing relationships to have a positive impact.”

“There is a perception amongst consumers that online channels are geared towards premium customers, along with a marked distrust around payment and pricing terms. It is imperative for businesses to address these concerns in order to effectively tap into the growing base of users.” Arpan Sheth, partner Bain & Company said.

Decoding the Indian travelers

The report further identified the five cohorts of travelers in India, across business and leisure travel, and categorized each against their online research behavior:

  • Frequent flyers: Nearly 70 percent of them booked online, cumulatively spent $17 billion in 2018. They make their choices based on convenience, availability, brand preference and past experiences.
  • Budget business traveler: 86 percent of them researched online whereas only 60 percent book online, cumulatively spent $20 billion in 2018. This cohort makes their decisions based on cost of travel, availability and consultation amongst their personal business network.
  • Experience-oriented traveler: Around 70 percent of their bookings were done online. and cumulatively spent $22 billion in 2018. They extensively research both online and offline for ‘authentic’ experiences and convenience of options; display high loyalty towards preferred brand of airlines or hotels and actively share experiences.
  • Budget group traveler: 90 percent researched online and 55 percent booked online, cumulatively spent $29 billion in 2018. They make multiple decision-makers in the process and take the final decisions based on minimal cost.
  • Occasional travel visiting friends/relatives: 92 percent researched online but only 60 percent booked online, spent $6 billion in 2018. They maximize family convenience within a budget and believe online terms and conditions are restrictive.

However, challenges remain in meeting the expectations of these travelers. Customers perceive online channels geared towards premium cohorts (frequent flyer and experience-oriented traveler), while mass cohorts, with $55 billion in spending, remain underpenetrated. There are about 160 million non-transacting active Internet users in India with only 5 percent of online travelers from Tier-2 or Tier-3 cities. There is a significant (20 percent) difference between the booking rates of premium cohorts and mass cohorts, the latter being also dissatisfied with online channels (~33 percent satisfied) vs. premium cohorts (~42 percent). The second challenge is in penetrating existing users who exhibit a marked distrust in use of online channels to make bookings, especially around payment and pricing terms and booking experience compared with offline channels. Consequently, their online usage drops between the research (>86 percent online influence) and booking phases (~40 percent offline bookings).

How travel businesses need to adapt to the needs of online consumers

The report cites five major shifts that marketers need to make to market to the online travelers – First, alleviate consumer concerns by improving the booking and payment experience to build a trusted brand and increase adoption. Second, they need to address the negative customer perception issues by mass customization to drive higher share in the segment. They also need to utilize consumer technology to penetrate mass segments (standardize, enable sharing), reach non-transactors (build offline presence), and create new user access.  Moreover, they need to find innovative and frugal ways to package the experience to increase both adoption and retention.  Finally, they need to create a robust digital backend to adapt to customer needs across the purchase journey.

“The contribution of travel and tourism’s spend in India has reached developed market levels, from 6.7percent of GDP in 2013 to 9.4 percent in 2018. This growth, combined with a rapidly growing internet user base and adoption of online bookings will lead to $24 billion in incremental revenues through online channels by 2021. In order to benefit from this trend, businesses need to actively increase new user adoption and increase penetration in the existing user base across the purchase journey.” Joydeep Bhattacharya, partner Bain & Company said.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: amp, and, authentic, Bain, base, based, behavior, benefit, billion, book, booked, Booking, booking rates, bookings, brand, Breaking Travel News, budget, build, Business, business and leisure travel, business traveler, businesses, CAGR, challenge, challenges, channels, choices, CITES, cities, come, company, compared, concerns, conditions, consumers, consumption, continue, contribution, cost, cost of travel, country, create, customer, customers, decision, decisions, digital, director, display, dissatisfied, diving, domestic, drive, early, end, engagement, exhibit, existing, expectations, expected, experience, experiences, Family, find, first, flyer, flyers, food, frequent flyer, frequent flyers, friends, frugal, GDP, Google, Google India, Group, grow, Growing, Growth, high, higher, Hotels, impact, in, includes, increase, India, India travel, India Travel News, Indian, Indian travelers, Industry, influence, innovative, interest, International, Internet, issues, IT, journey, key, lack, launching, lead, Leisure, leisure travel, Let, lodging, loyalty, major, Make, Market, Marketing, mass, maximum, media, meeting, million, momentum, moving, nearly, need, needs, negative, network, New, News articles, Non, ongoing, online, online bookings, online travel, online video, only, opportunities, options, order, out, outlines, over, package, partner, past, payment, payments, People, percent, percent growth, perception, personal, planning, plans, platform, players, positive, potential, Preferred, premium, premium customers, presence, price, pricing, purchase, rates, recreation, relationships, report, research, revenues, role, s, said, Sales, scale, search, second, Segment, segments, Share, sharing, shopping, significant, social, social media, Source, spending, states, talking, TAP, Technology, terms, through, Tier, time, to, tour, tourism, Tourism Industry, transport, Transportation, Travel, travel and tourism, travel and tourism industry, travel bookings, travel businesses, Travel Destination News, travel plans, Traveler, travelers, Travelwire News, trend, trips, up, US, use, video, visiting, ways, websites, were, WHO, years

IndiGo airline under safety audit by India’s civil aviation regulator

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

India’s civil aviation regulator will conduct a special safety audit of the low-cost carrier IndiGo following concerns about the snag-ridden Pratt and Whitney (P&W) engines, which power the airline’s A320 Neo aircraft.

While an annual audit of IndiGo was due in April, a special Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) review will also be done of the airline’s operations and engineering departments.

“We confirm that there is currently a DGCA audit of IndiGo, which is combined with the annual main base audit. IndiGo has received a limited number of show-cause notices. IndiGo has responded accordingly and we can only comment on this matter after we have a discussion with the DGCA,” the airline said in a statement.

An airline source, however, dismissed reports that show-cause notices had been served on two senior officials of the airline.

Indian carriers IndiGo and GoAir have been inducting the P&W engine-powered A320 Neo aircraft since 2016. The former has 72 of these planes and the latter has 30.

Problems in engine

There have been problems in different parts of the engine, including the combustion chamber, knife edge seal, lift-off seal, front hub corrosion and heating of oil near lift-off seal leading to smoke on board a flight, apart from vibration during climb.

The engine-maker maintains that the problems are taking place as the engines are new into operations.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, annual, April, audit, aviation, Aviation News, aviation-website, base, board, Breaking Travel News, carrier, carriers, Cause, chamber, civil aviation, Civil Aviation regulator, climb, comment, concerns, Corporate News, cost, currently, departments, DGCA, different, discussion, dismissed, due, Edge, engine, Engineering, engines, flight, following, free, general, Government Affairs, hub, in, including, India, India Travel News, Indian, IndiGo, International Travel News, knife, leading, lift, Limited, low, low-cost, low-cost carrier, Main, matter, NEO, neo aircraft, New, News articles, notices, number, officials, Oil, on board, onboard, only, operations, Place, planes, power, powered, Pratt, problems, received, regulator, reports, responded, review, s, Safety, said, senior, show, smoke, Source, Special, statement, taking, to, tourism, Transportation News, Travel Disaster & Emergency News, Travel Technology News, Travelwire News, vibration, W, We, Whitney

India’s Jet Airways halts all international and domestic operations

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

One of India’s major airlines, Jet Airways, has announced it is temporarily halting flight operations on Wednesday after the carrier failed to secure the “critical interim funding” necessary for the company to remain afloat.

Jet Airways will operate the last flight on Wednesday as it cancels all its international and domestic flights, the airline said in a statement. It explained that it cannot afford to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going, as all its months-long attempts to seek both interim and long-term funding were in vain.

“Unfortunately, despite its very best efforts, the airline has been left with no other choice today but to go ahead with a temporary suspension of flight operations,” the statement reads.

Earlier this month, the airline’s fleet was significantly reduced to just five aircraft and it was forced to suspend international operations. On Wednesday, the Jet Airways website listed only 37 domestic flights and had an additional nine-page list of canceled flights, saying that the schedule was impacted by “operational reasons.”

The troubled company failed to receive a stop-gap loan of about $217 million from its lenders as part of a rescue deal agreed in late March, Reuters earlier reported.

“Bankers did not want to go for a piecemeal approach which would keep the carrier flying for a few days and then again risk having Jet come back for more interim funding,” an unnamed bank source in the negotiations on the debt resolution process told the agency.

The uncertainty over the crucial funding crashed Jet Airways stock on Tuesday, with shares plunging around 20 percent.

Employees have been hit hardest by the crisis in the company and have reportedly not been paid in months. The pilots even called on the State Bank of India (SBI) to release the necessary funds and appealed to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save 20,000 jobs which may be lost in the shutdown.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, announced, Aviation News, aviation-website, bank, bankers, best, Breaking Travel News, canceled, canceled flights, carrier, choice, come, company, Corporate News, crashed, Crisis, critical, Days, deal, debt, domestic, domestic flights, domestic operations, earlier, efforts, employees, even, explained, Feature, fleet, flight, flight operations, flights, Flying, forced, fuel, funding, funds, GAP, GO!, halts, hit, in, India, India Travel News, Indias, interim, International, international and domestic flights, International Travel News, IT, jet, Jet Airways, Jobs, just, keep, last, late, lenders, list, Loan, lost, major, major airlines, march, May, million, minister, month, months, negotiations, News articles, only, operate, operational, operations, over, page, paid, pay, percent, pilots, Prime, Prime Minister, receive, release, reported, rescue, resolution, Reuters, Risk, s, said, save, saying, schedule, secure, seek, services, shares, shutdown, significantly, Source, State, statement, stock, stop, suspend, suspension, temporary, term, The Jet, to, today, told, tourism, Transportation News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, uncertainty, website, were, World News

How is Germany doing on its goal of 2 million Indian tourists?

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

At an annual media meeting today, April 16, in Delhi, India, Romit Theophilus, Director of Marketing & Sales Office India for the German National Tourist Office (GNTO), said it was hoping for growth of 6 to 8 percent.

The ultimate goal of the GNTO is to increase its tally of Indian tourists to 2 million a year by 2030, up from the present figure of 921,123 visitors overnight in 2018, making for growth of 8.1 percent.

The famous Bauhaus art school, which opened in Weimar in 1919, is celebrating 100 years this year, and steps are being taken to promote this art, design, and architecture as part of this tourism drive. 2020 will see the 250th anniversary of birth of Beethoven.

The German National Tourist Office is promoting the concept of affordable hospitality, stressing that tourists can enjoy leisure and other activities at costs cheaper than other European nations. The focus on a summer cities campaign is on the urban city, romance, holidays on the water, sightseeing, as well as art and culture.

Jasper Wieck, Deputy Head of Mission for the German Embassy, added a new dimension, pointing out that the two countries, India and Germany, have emotional links and mutual affection dating back centuries. He recalled that Tagore had also played a part in Indo-German links and that the number of students from India in Germany had doubled in the last 5 years, standing at 17,500. In addition, yoga is being practiced by a significant number of Germans and studies on India are being offered in over 16 universities and institutes.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: amp, and, anniversary, annual, April, Architecture, art, art and culture, birth, Breaking Travel News, campaign, cities, city, concept, costs, countries, culture, Delhi, deputy, Deputy Head, design, dimension, director, doing, drive, embassy, European, famous, German, German national, German National Tourist Office, Germans, Germany, Germany Travel News, GNTO, goal, Growth, head, holidays, hospitality, in, increase, India, India Travel News, Indian, Indian tourists, IndoGerman, IT, last, Leisure, links, Marketing, media, meeting, million, million Indian, mission, national, nations, New, News articles, number, office, opened, out, over, overnight, percent, present, promote, promoting, romance, said, Sales, sales office, school, see, sightseeing, significant, standing, students, studies, summer, to, today, tourism, tourism drive, tourist, tourist office, tourists, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, up, urban, visitors, water, year, years, yoga

Somatheeram, world’s first Ayurvedic resort, will join anniversary 25th edition of OTDYKH Leisure 2019

April 17, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Somatheeram will, once again, participate at the leading B2B travel exhibition OTDYKH Leisure, which will take place September 10-12, 2019.

Held in Moscow each year, OTDYKH leisure is a perfect start for the upcoming winter season on the Russian inbound and outbound market.

Somatheeram Ayurveda Group in Kerala, India is the foremost resort group in the world for authentic Ayurvedic treatments, Yoga and Meditation.

Founded by Baby Matthews in 1985, today Somathreeram has five deluxe Ayurvedic resorts in Kerala and enchanting houseboats in the backwaters.  The mission of the Group is “to offer the essence and soul of the ancient medical science of Ayurveda and the art of Yoga and Meditation.”

AYURVEDA is a 5000 year old Indian traditional system of medicine. The healing power of Ayurveda has the answer to almost every known ailment.   It is considered to be the oldest form of health care in the world. Ayurveda maintains good health and corrects unstable health. It ensures an honest balance between you, your body and nature.  Ayurveda medicines and supplements are composed only of substances taken from nature. Because they have no side effects, patients do not become physically or psychologically dependent on them.

Somatheeram offers all Ayurveda clinical treatments and treatment packages.  You can choose from rejuvenation therapy, detoxification/body purification, slimming/weight reducing, anti-stress/stress management and beauty care.

Somatheeram is one of over 900 companies participating in the exhibition from every corner of the globe. Once again, OTDYKH team is expecting an outstanding Indiana exposition. In 2018 the expo welcomed India with a record-breaking number of companies. The country was represented by the collective stands of India Tourism and by regional stands of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation as well as by private resorts, hotels, hospitals and companies such as Caper, Sita Somatheeram etc.

Every year Somatheeram is using its presence at OTDYKH International Travel Market to showcase its wide and varied spectrum of Ayurveda treatments procedures.

Somatheeram team is looking forward to meet you at OTDYKH Leisure 2019, Moscow, Expocentre Fairgrounds, Pavilion 2, Hall 1.

Download a Somatheeram brochure.

If you are considering attending the show from September 10-12, 2019, please register free of charge online.

For information on exhibiting please contact Ms. Anna Huber at a.huber@euroexpo-vienna.com, International office: +43 1 230 85 35

eTN is a media partner for OTDYKH.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: ancient, and, anniversary, art, authentic, Ayurveda, Ayurvedic, Ayurvedic resorts, Ayurvedic treatments, balance, BB, beauty, body, breaking, Breaking Travel News, Brochure, catering, charge, collective, companies, contact, corner, Corporation, country, deluxe, detoxification, download, edition, effects, etc, eTN, exhibition, exhibition OTDYKH, Expo, exposition, first, form, Forward, free, Globe, Goa, good, Group, Hall, healing, HEALTH, health care, held, hospitals, Hotels, houseboats, in, inbound, India, India Tourism, Indian, Indiana, information, International, international travel, IT, join, Kerala, known, leading, Leisure, looking, management, Market, media, media partner, medical, Meditation, meet, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, mission, Moscow, Ms, nature, News articles, number, offer, offers, office, online, only, Otdykh, OTDYKH International, Otdykh LEISURE, outbound, outbound market, outstanding, over, packages, participate, partner, patients, pavilion, Place, power, presence, private, procedures, railway, record, regional, rejuvenation, represented, resort, resorts, Russia travel news, Russian, s, science, season, September, show, showcase, SITA, Somathreeram, Soul, stands, start, stress, system, team, The World, therapy, TN, to, TO BE, today, tourism, traditional, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, travel exhibition, travel market, Travelwire News, treatment, treatments, using, Vienna, weight, welcomed, winter, winter season, World, year, yoga

India’s tea gardens beckon tourists

April 15, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

India, one of the top tea producers in the world, is experimenting with tea tourism in view of the growing interest shown by tourists to visit tea plantations and tea factories. Ambling through a sprawling tea plantation with greenery all around in the early hours of the day watching a group of local women plucking two leaves and a bud at a fast pace with their nimble hands and collecting them into baskets slung on their shoulders is a winning sight for tourists. India now leads to give tea-buffs and tourists a closer understanding of tea by organizing tea tourism at places like Assam, Darjeeling (West Bengal), Nilgiris belt in Tamil Nadu, and a few pockets in Kerala and Karnataka.

Tea tourism is defined as tourism that is motivated by an interest in the history, culture, traditions and consumption of tea. Estate bungalows amidst sweeping acres of manicured tea plantations have now been converted into tourist accommodations. Not just staying in the midst of tea gardens, tea tourists  are taken to a tea factory, where they get to experience how the fresh green leaves are brought into the tea factory for withering to the rolling, drying and shifting stages, grading and packaging and followed by  a tea-tasting session where they could sip some of the finest tea that is grown in that area.

A view of Tea plucking in a tea garden of Assam

Assam in the lead for tea tourism

The first name that crops up in mind for tea tourism is Assam, the largest tea producing region in India.  The Assam Tea Tourism Festival held at Jorhat every year is a big hit with tourists. Staying in a rustic  colonial-era planter’s bungalow has its own charm. Home to more than 800 tea estates in the state,  where amidst luxury and serenity one can drift back in time to days of that elegant colonial aristocracy.  The B & A Limited operates through seven quality Tea Estates in the India’s largest tea growing region of Assam. The Guwahati Tea Action Centre, one of the busiest tea trading facilities in the world, is a place not to be missed. Others  include Corramore Tea Estate, Teloijan Tea Estate and Khongea Tea Estate besides a host of others.

Another major development which is currently in progress is the tourist-friendly makeover of  world’s oldest and biggest tea research center at Tocklai (Assam), with edifices  that each have a story to tell. A.K. Barooah, director of the Tea Research Association, said recently that the Tocklai Guest House, a heritage building, was home to  British tea planters A tea museum will be built with suitable dioramas, models and displays. He said Tocklai can tie-up with other tea tourism enterprises like Kaziranga Golf Resort (Bura Sahib bungalow), Banyan Grove and Thengal Manor bungalow in Jorhat district, the Mancotta chang bungalow and Chowkidingee chang bungalow situated in the heart of Dibrugarh town.”

West Bengal is also fast catching up with Assam in promoting tea tourism. Its Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last month mentioned that her government will consider tea tourism to benefit tea plantations in the state.

She said, “We have allocated more than Rs. 1,000 crore for the welfare of tea garden workers since 2011. Tea tourism is also under our consideration.”

The WB state government permits one acre of tea estates to be used for tourism purposes. Currently there are 87 operational tea gardens in Darjeeling district covering an aggregated area of about 19,000 hectares under tea plantation. Darjeeling surrounded by tea orchards that produce the famous light-colored and aromatic Darjeeling Tea has the right ingredients for tea tourism. Makaibari Tea Estate and Homestay in Kurseong, 37 kms from Darjeeling, is one of the top tea producing gardens in the world. In the vicinity of  Darjeeling is the Happy valley Tea Estate, one of the highest tea gardens in the world. Raj-era estates located in some of the most scenic destinations in India — the rolling Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling and Dooars beckon tourists. Some famous estates include Glenburn Tea Estate, Sourenee Tea Estate, Singtom Tea Estate and Resort, Ambootia Tea Garden, Barnesbeg Tea Estate and  Castleton Tea Estate among others. Goodricke Group Ltd. is offering tourism opportunities in one of its tea estates in  Darjeeling where it has five gardens.

South India also catching up fast

Besides the Northeast belt, in south it is Tamil Nadu which is home to some of the largest tea-growing belts in the country. Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu is the largest tea producing district in South India, and its tea is  renowned for its aroma and flavor. With Tamil Nadu producing  65% of tea in South India spanning an area of 65,000 hectares, the Nilgiris area offers great scope for tea tourism. Valparai, a quaint hill station located about 100 km from Coimbatore, is teeming with tea plantations. Billimalai Tea Estate at Glendale, about 10 kilometers from Coonoor, is a perfect place to experience  how tea is processed.

Munnar in Kerala is rustic belle of hill stations where acres and acres of tea plantations feast one’s eyes. A visit to country’s first Tea Museum at Nallathanni Estate is highly recommended at it narrates the history of tea production in the region. The Kundala Tea Plantation in Munnar offers tourists the tea making process in great detail. Tea Sanctuary here is home to refurbished vintage colonial style bungalows amidst misty tea plantations. Considered the  highest altitude tea plantation in the world, Kolukkumalai, near Munnar, is known for  preserving the British heritage in tea-making at the factory here. Wayanad in Kalpatta district produces substantial amount of tea whose lush green tea gardens are a feast for the sore eyes. The Wayanad Tea County in the midst  of the picturesque  395 acre estate, many  vantage viewpoints, and trekking routes is a better option.

In Karnataka, Coorg, and  the Baba Budan Hills in Chickmagalur are tea-producing regions, but tea tourism is yet to catch here.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: amp, and, area, Assam, Assam Tea, association, B, benefit, Bengal, better, big, biggest, Breaking Travel News, British, building, built, bungalows, busiest, caption, catch, center, Centre, charm, chief, colonial, consumption, Coorg, country, County, Cultural Travel News, culture, currently, Darjeeling, Darjeeling Tea, day, Days, Destinations, development, director, District, early, elegant, estate, experience, facilities, famous, feast, Festival, first, flavor, followed, Food Travel News, Fresh, friendly, Garden, gardens, golf, government, grading, green, greenery, Group, Growing, heart, held, heritage, highest, hill station, Hills, history, hit, home, homestay, host, hours, house, ID, in, India, India Travel News, interest, IT, just, Karnataka, Kerala, kilometers, km, known, largest, last, lead, leads, light, like, Limited, local, Luxury, major, makeover, mind, minister, month, most, museum, name, News articles, northeast, offering, offers, operational, opportunities, option, organizing, permits, Place, places, plantation, pockets, production, progress, promoting, quality, refurbished, region, regions, research, research center, resort, right, routes, Rs, rustic, s, Sahib, said, sanctuary, scenic, seven, sight, South, State, state government, Station, stations, story, Style, Tamil Nadu, tasting, Tea, Tea Estates, tea tourism, tea tourists, The Region, The World, through, TIE, time, to, TO BE, top, tourism, tourism enterprises, tourism festival, tourist, tourist-friendly, tourists, tourists India, town, trading, traditions, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, Trekking, up, used, valley, view, visit, WB, WB state, We, West, West Bengal, women, workers, World, world's oldest, year

Seychelles Tourism Board participation at EmQuest Cricket Mania 2019 – Dubai UAE

April 15, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The Seychelles has been seen on the Dubai Social scene this March as the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) participated in the EmQuest Cricket Mania 2019 which took place at the InSportz Indoor Cricket in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on March 22 and 29 2019 respectively.

The STB representative, Ms. Aliette Esther was present at the event on both days and seized the opportunity to showcase the beauty of the Seychelles Islands.

The EmQuest Cricket Mania 2019 – Dubai UAE, which is affiliated to Emirates, was organised for the 5th year and implicates cricket tournaments targeting the front staff/travel consultants of travel agencies across Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

The event, which provides the travel trade professionals with the occasion to compete against each other as well as participate in team building activities, is  attended by more than 50 teams, 500 players, comprising of the front-line travel agents and over 1000 guests.

Ms. Aliette Esther expressed her satisfaction to have been part of the event. She further explained that the STB’s participation in the Cricket Mania enabled the destination’s brand to be visible along other partners.

She reiterated on the importance of STB’s association with such events, as cricket is one of the biggest sports in countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which are very important markets for Seychelles.

“The STB’s participation in the EmQuest event has contributed in providing a platform for the tourism board to interact directly with the players, their families, the other sponsors and exhibitors at the event. The event definitely profited the Seychelles by increasing its reach and exposure to new clientele in the UAE market,” said Ms Esther.

Visitors included the travel agents, exhibitors, sponsors, families and other guests, were all welcome to the Seychelles kiosk. A video of the destination was played throughout the 2-day event displaying enticing activities taking place in the Seychelles.

The STB participation to the EmQuest Cricket Mania 2019 has unquestionably enhanced brand awareness and increased media exposure for the destination.

Seychelles andEmQuest have collaborated in previous events to increase the destinations visibility and the last event together was the “Sell Seychelles See Seychelles “campaign with Ethiopian Airlines and Constance Group of Hotels.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, andEmQuest, Arab, association, Awareness, Bangladesh, beauty, biggest, board, brand, brand awareness, Breaking Travel News, building, campaign, Constance, countries, cricket, Cricket Mania, day, Days, Destination, Destinations, directly, Dubai, em, Emirates, Ethiopian, Ethiopian Airlines, event, Events, exhibitors, explained, families, Group, guests, Hotels, importance, important, in, included, increase, increased, increasing, India, indoor, interact, islands, last, like, line, mania, march, Market, markets, media, Ms, Ms Esther, New, News articles, Northern, opportunity, over, Pakistan, participate, participation, partners, Place, platform, players, present, professionals, provides, representative, s, said, satisfaction, scene, see, seized, sell-off, Seychelles, Seychelles islands, Seychelles tourism, Seychelles Tourism Board, Seychelles travel news, showcase, social, sports, Sports news, staff, STB, STB participation, taking, targeting, team, team building, teams, The Seychelles, to, TO BE, tourism, tourism board, Trade, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel agencies, travel agents, travel consultants, Travel Destination News, travel trade, Travelwire News, UAE, United, United Arab Emirates, video, visitors, welcome, were, year

The place to visit today is Thailand: Happy Songkran 2019

April 14, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

If there was a better time to explore the uniqueness of Amazing Thailand, the Thai New Year, known as the Songkran Festival from April 13 to 16 is an event where an all-out water battle and ancient traditions somehow blend in an annual celebration. The country is coming to a business standstill, turning into a national party.

It’s unlike anything else in the world. And it’s wet. Venturing out onto Thailand’s streets on April 13 is an open invitation to have a bucket of water thrown at you or a loaded water super-soaker aimed in your direction. You WILL get wet.

For tourists, the event offers a huge water party breaking out in the streets of Thailand’s towns and villages. For locals, it is a time when they can spend moments with their families and visit temples to  make merit – and then get involved in the water fights as well.

This Songkran 2019 the Tourism Authority of Thailand has organized celebrations in three  tourist destinations – Tak, Mukdahan and Ranong – and is supporting activities in eight other provinces (Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Ayutthaya, Phuket and Songkhla).

 

 

 

 

 

Songkran is the Thai New Year’s national holiday. Songkran is 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14 to 15 April. In 2018 the Thai cabinet extended the festival nationwide to five days, 12–16 April, to enable citizens to travel home for the holiday. In 2019, the holiday will be observed 12–16 April as 13 April falls on a Saturday. The word “Songkran” comes from the Sanskrit word saṃkrānti ,literally “astrological passage”, meaning transformation or change. The term was borrowed from Makar Sankranti, the name of a Hindu harvest festival celebrated in India in January to mark the arrival of spring. It coincides with the rising of Aries on the astrological chart and with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia, in keeping with the Buddhist/Hindu solar calendar.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: ancient, and, annual, April, arrival, Asia, authority, Ayutthaya, bangkok, battle, better, breaking, Breaking Travel News, bucket, Buddhist, Business, cabinet, calendar, celebrated, celebration, celebrations, change, Chiang, Chiang Mai, citizens, coming, country, Days, Destinations, direction, eight, event, explore, falls, families, Feature, Festival, Government Affairs, harvest, hindu, holiday, holiday period, home, in, India, International Travel News, invitation, IT, January, known, locals, Make, meaning, moments, name, national, Nationwide, nbsp, New, new year, News articles, offers, open, out, party, period, Phuket, Place, provinces, rising, s, Sankranti, solar, Songkhla, Songkran, Songkran Festival, South, Southeast, Southeast Asia, spring, Sukhothai, super, supporting, temples, term, Thai, Thai New Year, thailand, Thailand Travel News, Thailands, The World, time, to, today, tourism, tourism authority, Tourism Authority of Thailand, tourist, tourist destinations, tourists, towns, traditions, transformation, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, villages, visit, water, wet, word, World, year

Indian Hotels Company launches new hotel brand

April 12, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), South Asia’s largest hospitality company, today, announced the launch of a new hotel brand – “SeleQtions”, which is a collection of named and distinctive properties.

SeleQtions was launched with 12 hotels across the country. The vision for the brand is to celebrate individuality, by offering unique experiences through landmark hotels that have their own legacy and charm.

Speaking on the occasion, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL said, “SeleQtions will allow IHCL to cater to a broader audience of travelers who prefer staying in hotels with a distinctive character. SeleQtions also includes hotels that have a slice of history, defining location or a differentiated theme. We believe the brand has immense potential to grow.”

The 12 hotels in the first phase include properties present in seven key lodging markets of India: President, Mumbai; Ambassador, New Delhi; The Connaught, New Delhi; Blue Diamond, Pune; Cidade de Goa; Tajview, Agra and Devi Ratn, Jaipur. The other hotels are Pratap Mahal Ajmer; Savoy, Ooty; Gateway Coonoor; Gateway Chikmagalur and Gateway Varkala.

For those hotels which are independent – IHCL offers its robust infrastructure including global reservation systems, Taj InnerCircle loyalty program and sales and marketing support.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, announced, Asia, audience, brand, Breaking Travel News, cater, celebrate, charm, chief, chief executive, chief executive officer, collection, company, Corporate News, country, Delhi, Diamond, differentiated, director, executive, experiences, first, free, gateway, Global, Goa, grow, history, hospitality, hospitality company, Hospitality News, hotel, hotel brand, Hotel Travel News, Hotels, IHCL, in, includes, including, independent, India, India Travel News, Indian, Indian Hotels Company Limited, infrastructure, International Travel News, Jaipur, key, landmark, largest, launch, launched, launches, legacy, Limited, location, lodging, loyalty, loyalty program, Managing, managing director, Marketing, markets, Mumbai, named, New, New Delhi, new hotel, News articles, offering, offers, officer, Ooty, potential, present, president, program, properties, Pune, reservation, Resort News, s, said, Sales, sales and marketing, Savoy, seven, South, South Asia, support, Taj, theme, through, to, today, tourism, travelers, Travelwire News, unique, unique experiences, vision, We, WHO, World News

African Tourism Board Launch was a success: A new era just started for African Travel & Tourism

April 12, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The two arms of the African Tourism Board had their official launch event yesterday at the Cape Town International Convention Center Conference Theatre during World Tavel Market Africa.

The African Tourism Board Association and the African Tourism Board Marketing Association are joining under the brand African Tourism Board and are now seen as a new Chapter on how Africa becomes one tourism destination. Both arms have access to the “ATB friends of the media group”, and are coordinating activities and events whenever possible.

The Association is fully under African Leadership. It’s based in South Africa, and is forming an initial group of directors to work with newly appointed President Alain St. Ange from Seychelles.

On his team of supporters are Cuthbert Ncube, Regional Vice-Chair UNWTO Affiliate Membership and Chief Executive Director Kwela Fleet Management. The Hon. Minister or Tourism for the Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, Kwakye Donker, CEO African Tourism Partners in Ghana and South Africa, Francoise Kameni Lele, AFBS Cameron, the Hon. Minister Madam Memunatu B. Pratt, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs for Sierra Leone, among many others.

African Tourism Board Marketing Association is based in the United States and is providing overseas marketing support for Africa under the leadership of Juergen Steinmetz of the eTN Group in Hawaii, USA and Doris Woerfel in Pretoria, South Africa. Together with a team of global supporters, the marketing arm of ATB will explore new opportunities and cost-sharing projects for inbound tourism for the African Continent.

As a start at the ATB launch last night Dov Kalmann explained the potential of travelers from Israel for Africa and introduced the new African Tourism Board office in Tel Aviv.

Arjun Mukund from Delhi, India said 1.2 billion Indians are current and future potential travelers and he wanted to make sure the African Tourism Board in India will help to achieve growing interest for Indian tourists.

Additional ATB offices are planned in the United States and Germany to start with.

Chairman Juergen Steinmetz explained: “Sharing resources, going after potential niche markets, sharing costs and giving both destinations and stakeholders representation in key markets will help to raise awareness for the African continent. We like to open a window for large, medium and small businesses in a sustainable way.”

Newly appointed CEO Doris Woerfel sees huge potential for Africa from China and will be concentrating to build a broad membership base in Africa for ATB.

The launch was an action-packed event in Capetown hosted by Carol Weaving, Managing Director of Reed Exhibition Africa. She pledged the support of the World Travel Market for African Tourism Board.

Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy supported the need for an African Tourism Board in his welcome remark.

The highlight of the event was a 30-minute presentation by Dr. Peter Tarlow on security and safety. There is no tourism without security, he said in an engaging session last night. Dr. Tarlow was appointed as the new Travel & Security advisor for African Tourism Board Marketing Association. He is leading safertourism.com

The launch started with a dinner sponsored by Tony Smith of the HongKong based iFREE Group . The group also provided free ATB sim cards to everyone attending.

Professor Geoffrey Lipman introduced the African Lung initiative by video.

More information on African Tourism Board please visit www.africantourismboard.com 

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: amp, and, appointed, arms, association, ATB, ATB launch, Aviv, Awareness, B, base, based, billion, board, brand, Breaking Travel News, build, businesses, Cape, Cape Town, Cape Town International Convention Center Conference Theatre, Cape Town Tourism, cape town tourism ceo, Capetown, cards, center, CEO, CEO African, chair, Chairman, Chapter, chief, chief executive, China, conference, continent, convention, Convention Center, Corporate News, cost, costs, cultural, current, Delhi, Destination, Destinations, Dinner, director, directors, Dr, Dr. Peter Tarlow, Eswatini, eTN, event, Events, executive, Executive Director, exhibition, explained, explore, Feature, fleet, For immediate Release, free, friends, future, Geoffrey Lipman, Germany, Ghana, giving, Global, Government Affairs, Group, Growing, Hawaii, help, highlight, Hon, Hongkong, in, inbound, inbound tourism, India, Indian, Indian tourists, Indians, information, initiative, interest, International, introduced, Israel, IT, joining, Juergen, just, key, key markets, Kingdom, last, launch, launch started, leadership, leading, LGBTQ, like, Lipman, Make, management, Managing, managing director, Market, Marketing, markets, media, media group, Medium, membership, minister, Minister of Tourism, need, New, newly, News articles, Niche, night, office, offices, official, open, opportunities, overseas, packed, partners, planned, potential, presentation, president, Pretoria, Professor, projects, raise, regional, representation, resources, s, Safety, said, Security, Seychelles, sharing, Sierra Leone, SIM, small, small businesses, South, South Africa, South Africa travel news, St, stakeholders, start, started, states, Steinmetz, success, support, supported, sustainable, Swaziland, Tarlow, team, Tel, Tel Aviv, The Minister, the United States, The World, theatre, to, tourism, tourism board, tourism CEO, Tourism Destination, tourism partners, tourists, town, Town Tourism, Transportation News, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel market, travelers, Travelwire News, United, United States, UNWTO, USA, vice, video, visit, way, We, welcome, work, World, world travel, World Travel market, yesterday

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 6
  • Next Page »

Search




Recent Articles

  • Seychelles Remains a Destination for All
  • Bahamas Delegation Travels to Mexico to Meet with Top Tourism Officials
  • Sandals Resorts Makes Their Employees Heroes
  • Normalcy Returns to Jamaica’s International Airports – Bartlett
  • Fraport Traffic Figures – April 2022: Easter Travel Boosts Passenger Numbers Noticeably
  • Tourism Seychelles Team on the Road to Charm South African Partners
  • Blossom Hotel Houston Presents the Stay Longer Package
  • Seychelles amongst top 30 best countries for remote work
  • Fraport Group Interim Release – First Quarter 2022: Key Operating Figures Improve Noticeably
  • Emirates Airlines Now Selling Seats to Jamaica

Copyright © 2022 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in