SATTE2014 looks forward to welcoming over 7,500 attendees, making it the largest gathering of core B2B travel professionals. SATTE2014 will have Indian buyers from 24 states of India and International buyers from 33 countries such as Ajman, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Poland, Zimbabwe to name a few.
First time participant Maria Theresa Nava, Programme Director- MICE, Agora, USA, looks forward to meeting MICE suppliers and believes that the expo offers an exceptional opportunity to network and study the Indian market. Domestic buyers also look forward to a power packed show. Vijay Mohan Raj, MD, Uniglobe Sameera Travel, Secunderabad aspires to build his business through SATTE by meeting quality suppliers.
Incredible India Promotional Calendar 2014 launched
The Ministry of Tourism recently launched the ‘Incredible India Promotional Calendar 2014′. The calendar containing 24 photographs on double sided paper was launched by Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan in a function in the Capital. Launching the calendar, Dewan said that every State has been covered and suitable regions/regional balance has been maintained. All the north-eastern States have also been represented in the calendar. Dewan commented that the calendar captures the rich variety and wide spectrum of destinations offered by India.
India needs to capitalise through PPP model: Favilla
According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, demand for international tourism remained strong throughout the first eight months of 2013. Between January and August, the number of international tourists worldwide grew by 5 per cent, driven by strong results in Europe, Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East. International tourist arrival in India grew by 13 per cent during the first nine months of 2013, recent UNWTO data revealed. India is also among the top 25 largest international tourism earners.
Indian outbound numbers have always been one of the key drivers of the travel industry for the past three to four years, but this trend is slowly shifting with more and more travellers wanting to fit India into their itineraries.
Sarovar eyeing better brand equity in coming years
Realising the fact that brand value will be the major differentiator in the hospitality marketplace in the coming years, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts is gearing up for a major image makeover as the company enters its 20th year of formation. The two decade old Sarovar Hotels, a leading hotel player in India today with an international presence (Sarovar has hotels in Kenya and Tanzania), will soon embark on a major brand building exercise that Anil Madhok, Managing Director of Sarovar Hotels & Resorts said that the company has not taken before.
India and Africa will remain Sarovar’s key focus markets and the hotel company is not looking at growth in other markets. Also, the company will be solely focussed on the asset light strategy to drive its future growth.
Sarovar currently has about 60 operating properties across India, including Chandigarh, Indore and Roorkee that it owns. It will add another of its own property at Chennai, where the work is expected to begin soon.
Karnataka woos private investment
Realising the fact that the economy of many countries are based on tourism, R V Deshpande, Minister for Tourism, Govt. of Karnataka, has taken up the task to promote Karnataka as a premium tourism destination in the country. “Karnataka offers ample variety of tourism. Be it beach, wildlife, eco, religious, heritage, rural and cultural tourism, Karnataka offers something to every visitors. We have not focused on the development of tourism to realise its full potential. We are now giving high priority to tourism and would like to take full advantage of its potential. We are building infrastructure and human resource,” he said.
Karnataka recently approached the Union Ministry of Environment seeking relaxation of regulations that do not permit resorts to come up within 200 metres of the coastline, he said and informed that Karnataka has 32 beaches and 11 islands along its 320–km coastline, which need to be developed for tourism. According to him, Karnataka will have the best tourism policy in India that will open doors for investors.
GNTO and Emirates host Media Study Tour to Germany
German National Tourist Office (GNTO), India, in association with Emirates – a global connector of people and places, recently organized a familiarisation trip to Germany for freelance travel writers from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru to witness the famous Christmas Markets in Germany. The group got an opportunity to explore the World renowned Christmas Market in Nuremburg as well as those in the cities of Dresden and Munich.
Jet Airways adds daily Abu Dhabi-Chennai service
Jet Airways has announced the introduction of a daily flight from Abu Dhabi to Chennai effective 16 January, 2014. With these new enhanced flights, Jet Airways will achieve the landmark milestone of becoming India’s first private airline to operate over 50 daily flights to multiple destinations in the Gulf. These include daily departures from and to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, Sharjah, Jeddah, Dammam, Muscat and Riyadh.