AVIATION

Air India extends ‘promotional fare scheme’ for travel in economy class on its domestic network till May 19

Air India's has extended its short term 'promotional fares offer' for travel in economy class on its domestic network till May 19, 2011. These special fares are available on 107 sectors, including 23 destinations from Delhi and 11 destinations from Mumbai. Similarly, fares from the other four major metros to other cities are also covered under the scheme

AGENTS

‘Lowest Price Guarantee’ offered to agents by Travelocity India

Through the latest ‘Lowest Price Guarantee’ campaign, Travelocity India is now going to offer the lowest price in airline (domestic + international) and hotel (domestic + international) segments said Himanshu Singh, MD Travelocity. He added that the revamped search engine not only checks the direct website of airline and hotel but also the consolidators, tour operators and other online players. Thus, the company is claiming to be a hybrid of both online travel company and meta search engine.

ASSOCIATIONS

Jyoti Mayal re-elected as Chairperson of TAAI Northern Region

As per the results of elections held on 12 May 2011, Jyoti Mayal of New Airways Travels, has been re-elected as the Chairperson of the TAAI Northern Region. George Kutty of Oasis Tours India had been elected as the Secretary and Neeraj Malhotra of Ganpati Travels had been elected as Treasurer. The term of the new team will be from 2011-2013.

MOT

Foreign tourist arrivals up by 17.7% in April

As per the recent statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism, the Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the Month of April 2011 was 4.17 lakh as compared to FTAs of 3.54 lakh during the month of April 2010 and 3.48 lakh in April 2009. There has been a growth of 17.7 per cent in April 2011 over April 2010 as compared to a growth of 2 per cent registered in April 2010 over April 2009. FTAs during the period January-April 2011 were 21.54 lakh with a growth of 12.3 per cent, as compared to the FTAs of 19.18 lakh with a growth of 8.9 per cent during January-April 2010 over the corresponding period of 2009. Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) in US$ terms during the month of April 2011 were US$ 1290 million as compared to FEE of US$ 1013 million during the month of April 2010 and US$ 811 million in April 2009.

Ministerial Delegation with travel agents and tour operators to visit USA on May 30

A Ministerial Delegation along with travel agents and tour operators will visit the United States of America (USA) on May 30. The Ministry had asked leading travel trade associations to suggest names of members keen to be part of the delegation. Presently, a ministerial delegation is visiting Thailand, Vietnam, and China. USA is the top source market for destination India. Moreover, as per the revised Country-wise distribution of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) for 2009 based on the data received from Bureau of Immigration and finalised by Ministry of Tourism the share of USA has marginally increased from 15.2 per cent in 2008 to 16 per cent in 2009.

NTO

Ireland relaxes visa requirements for Indian travellers holding UK visas effective July 1, 2011

The government of Ireland plans to relax visa requirements for visitors from 14 countries (including India) to attract more number of tourists. Under the pilot plan, effective July 1, 2011 till October 2012 visitors from India who have obtained and paid for UK visa and have used it to enter Britain will be allowed to enter Ireland without obtaining and paying for a separate visa.

Czech records 35 % growth in tourist arrivals from India

Czech Tourism, the national tourism agency of Czech Republic, has witnessed a growth of 35 per cent in tourist arrivals from India since it opened its India office in September last year. The NTO has, since it entered the Indian market, undertaken a number of initiatives to develop the Indian market, including organising trade workshops, participating in trade fare as well as activities focus on niche segments like promoting the destination in Indian movie industry for outdoors location shoot.

AIRLINES

Air India launches low-fare ticket offer on select sectors starting from Rs 100 valid till March 31, 2011

Air India has launched fares as low as Rs 100 on specific sectors in its domestic network. The tickets will be available in the 14-day advance booking category under the budget season promotion scheme between February 2011 and March 31, 2011. The advance purchase fare (one way) is available between Delhi and Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore and Delhi and Hyderabad. In addition, a 7-day advance purchase fare of Rs 370 (one way) between Kochi and Mumbai and one way instant purchase fare of Rs 499 between Coimbatore and Kozhikode is also on the offer. Passengers will only have to pay the normal fuel surcharge, passenger service fee, user development fee- wherever applicable- and the service tax. For more details click here

Jet Airways launches its 100th international flight

Jet Airways has achieved the landmark of becoming the first private Indian carrier to operate 100 daily flights to international destinations. The airline launched a fourth daily flight between Mumbai and Dammam (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and a third daily flight between Mumbai and Dubai effective February 14, 2011. In addition, the airline has also announced the launch of flights connecting Delhi and Bengaluru to Bhubaneshwar and Raipur from March 1, 2011. The airline will operate a Boeing 737 on these sectors. Services on Bengaluru-Bhubaneshwar-Raipur and Delhi-Raipur sectors will commence from March 1, 2011. Direct flights from Delhi and Hyderabad to Raipur will start from March 27, 2011.

ASSOCIATIONS

Nominations open for UNWTO Ulysses Awards for categories including Innovation in Governance, Enterprises and Non Governmental Organisations

Nominations are officially open for the 2011 UNWTO Ulysses Awards. The Awards seek to recognize highly innovative tourism projects which have contributed to tourism policy, governance, and other areas, such as the environment, socio-economic development and new technologies in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Nominations will be accepted until 31 March 2011. UNWTO confers three awards for each of the following categories: