Tourism

March 10, 2023: The Department of Tourism (DOT), Government of Goa, recently participated in the Internationale Tourismus Börse (ITB) Berlin 2023, the world’s largest travel trade show held in Berlin, Germany, from 7th to 9th March. The Department had a clear objective at the trade fair to showcase the diversity of tourism options beyond the beaches and promote the state’s unique culture, heritage, and natural beauty.The Goa Pavilion at ITB Berlin 2023 received a notable visit and was inaugurated by Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary of Tourism, Government of India, and the Ambassador of India to Germany, His Excellency Shri Harish Parvathaneni. Under the theme of ‘Mastering Transformation,’ the Goa Pavilion showcased its exuberant culture and promoted its responsible tourism ethos to the global travel industry. The pavilion served as an excellent platform for promoting Goa’s tourism offerings. At ITB Berlin 2023, representatives from Goa Tourism engaged in a series of productive B2B meetings with travel agents and tour operators from Germany. The delegation also spoke with members of the press to promote Goa’s wide range of tourism offerings and upcoming events. Among the topics discussed was the recent addition of the new airport at Mopa, which is expected to enhance connectivity to the region. Additionally, the delegation highlighted the importance of the upcoming G20 meetings and the Exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier. Throughout the event, the travel trade showed particular interest in visa facilities, safety, accessibility, and new tourism offerings. In response, the delegation made a strong effort to promote Goa beyond its beaches, focusing on hinterland and eco tourism, waterfalls, etc. Goa Tourism put a significant effort into showcasing its diverse offerings beyond the beaches, including hinterland and eco-tourism, waterfalls, bird watching, monsoons, culture, and cuisine. The ITB Berlin 2023 was an excellent opportunity for Goa Tourism to strengthen existing relationships and establish new ones within the travel industry.

3rd March 2023, Mumbai: One Rep Global, India based sales and marketing representation company for ultra-luxury hotels and tourism boards, announces its appointment as the India sales and PR representative for ‘The Farm at San Benito’a exclusive wellness resort in the Philippines. The appointment comes as The Farm at San Benito seeks to expand its reach in India and promote health tourism in the Philippines on a global scale. The Farm at San Benito is no stranger to accolades, having received over 90 prestigious international awards, including the title of “Best Medical Wellness Resort in the World” by SENSES Germany. This eco-luxury, holistic, medical wellness resort situated in the heart of the lush green Lipa City, Batangas, boasts a magnificent view of the Malarayat mountains, pure fresh air, and an abundant microbiome ecology. The Farm at San Benito offers natural and holistic medically supervised health programs that address prevalent lifestyle illnesses such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, chronic pain, anxiety, stress, and depression. Its commitment to promoting modern technology, world-class facilities, and highly-skilled medical doctors and licensed health professionals aligns with the resort’s focus on wellness and healing. It’s no surprise that The Farm at San Benito has dedicated itself to transforming the lives of guests who seek transformative healing experiences. Preet Inder Singh, General Manager, The Farm at San Benito said, “Philippines is the ultimate destination for anyone seeking wellness and healing. The Farm at San Benito is dedicated to promoting the Philippines’ global health tourism while showcasing the highest international standards in healthcare, modern technology, world-class facilities, communication competencies, and exceptional care from highly-skilled medical doctors and licensed health professionals. The Filipino people’s warm hospitality, nurturing nature, compassion and cheerfulness are world-renowned and greatly contribute to faster healing and recovery, even jumpstarting the journey to optimum well-being. In selecting One Rep Global, The Farm at San Benito intends to attract health enthusiasts, wellness seekers, conscious consumers, and mindful travelers from India to experience a life-transformative healing holidays at The Farm at San Benito”. “Partnering with The Farm at San Benito, a proud member of Healing Hotels of the World is an exciting opportunity for One Rep Global to bring transformative healing experiences to India,” said Hemant Mediratta, CEO of One Rep Global. He further added, “The global wellness tourism industry is currently valued at over $436 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world, and India is a key player in this trend of outbound wellness travel. What sets The Farm at San Benito apart is their commitment to natural and holistic medical programs, world-class facilities, and highly-skilled medical staff, which have earned them over 90 prestigious international awards. Combined with the Filipinos’ exceptional service and genuine care, The Farm at San Benito provides an unparalleled destination for transformative wellness experiences. We look forward to expanding their reach through our partnership and promoting wellness tourism in India.”

Colombo,22nd February 2023: SriLankan Airlines made an upbeat comeback to South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) for the first time since 2019 to reconnect with the trade and jump-start Indian outbound travel to Sri Lanka. SriLankan through their stall at the expo from 9 – 11 February 2023, successfully galvanized the support of visiting travel agents, tour operators and other industry allies for the airline as well as national efforts to restore tourism in Sri Lanka. Indian travellers flocked to Sri Lanka before the borders closed in 2019, encouraged by the short travel time and unmistakable similarities of culture. SriLankan Airlines was often the preferred conduit of travel between the two countries owing to its broad Indian network and unparalleled flight frequencies and connections to the East and beyond. The airline is well-placed to welcome Indian customers onboard and to the shores of Sri Lanka once again,and this was the core message driven home to agents at SATTE 2023. In supporting its commercial goals, SriLankan seized the platform offered by the SATTE expo to give a boost to SriLankan Holidays’ package, ‘Dil full of Sri Lanka,’that was introduced in India recently. The three-day package provides an unbeatable value proposition combining the airline’s warm and convenient service with four-star properties of partner hotel chains. SriLankan remains strongly committed to its Indian customers and currently operates 80 weekly flights between Colombo and nine Indian cities.

By Harminder Singh Ari In a world marred with boring content, customer engagement becomes the edge that the world’s leading travel and hospitality brands need. When done correctly, customer engagement enables businesses to gain a competitive advantage by fostering brand loyalty and awareness through personalized customer interactions and aids in prioritizing and extending relationships with customers between flights, stays, and experiences. New technologies have increased competition among tourism providers, emphasizing the importance of personalization. Hence, customer engagement strategies for tourism companies play a critical role in significantly growing a brand’s net sales and profit margin growth by providing both direct and indirect benefits. Why is customer engagement important? • It boosts sales funnel velocity and revenue • It fetches customer feedback and insights • And it helps sustain customer interest. Here are some strategies that Online Travel Aggregators (OTAs) can implement to build consistent customer journeys across touchpoints: 1. Leveraging Data Intelligence With Customer Data Platform (CDP): With every customer’s unique interaction with the platform comes the need for a 360-degree view of their attributes, behavior, and patterns to customize a user roadmap. A CDP helps travel companies unify & protect customer data and establish relevant insights to provide customers with a hyper-personalized omnichannel experience. 2. Personalization As A Key Tool For Customer Engagement: Personalization is no longer optional, and that’s the truth. The more brands personalize their content and communication and give them a holistic experience on their platform, the more likely are users to remain loyal and not churn. Moreover, personalization brings in a sizable increase in sales, ROI, and user engagement. Personalization & recommendation across channels and user segments ensure increasing user engagement. 3. Omnichannel Marketing: Companies must shift their focus from a channel-centric to a customer-centric approach to remain competitive in the travel industry. Omnichannel marketing is a great tool to enhance customer engagement and retention by creating a cohesive campaign that reaches customers across multiple touchpoints. 4. Breaking Data Silos: An organization’s silos must be broken down to think beyond channels. Data isolation makes it difficult for businesses to determine the extent of a particular team’s impact on CX activities. 5. Increasing Retention: When you pay attention to increasing user retention in your business, you invariably drive sales, increase conversions, and boost business. You decrease your CAC, nurture leads and users better, and incentivize users to remain loyal to your platform. It’s a well-known fact that the cost of acquiring new customers is often much higher than retaining existing ones. This is why investing in retention efforts can significantly impact a company’s bottom line. A user spending twice on your platform will always be more important than spending once and leaving. Needless to say, customer engagement is at the forefront of campaigns, companies, and currency (sales). Customer engagement is more important than ever in today’s fast-paced and constantly evolving business landscape. Companies that neglect to engage with their customers risk losing them to competitors who prioritize this vital aspect of business. To ensure they are meeting the needs and expectations of their customers, companies must first determine the actual cost of ignoring engagement. A great place to start is by evaluating where they stand in comparison to industry benchmarks in a post-pandemic world. By doing so, companies can gain valuable insight into where to improve to stay competitive. (The writer is Vice President – India Sales at WebEngage. Views expressed are personal)

New Delhi, 19th Jan 2023: Under the aegis of India’s G20 Presidency, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India shall be organizing the country’s first Global Tourism Summit in New Delhi from 10-12 April 2023, where all G-20 member countries will be invited to participate. CII is the Industry Partner for this event. In a roadshow held ahead of the summit at St Regis Hotel, Mumbai, the Tourism Ministry officials from various Western Region States emphasized how G20 will be the Union Tourism Ministry’s main area in 2023 to establish the country as a key tourism destination during its year-long leadership. Global perspective was given by various Consulates. Mr Prashant Ranjan, Director, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India shared that at the Global Tourism Investor’s Summit, India will be showcasing opportunities for investment and trade in various segments of tourism such as theme parks, adventure tourism, and wellness tourism. The Government of India has a vision of USD 56 Billion forex, creating around 140 million jobs in tourism by 2030 through inclusive growth and are particularly focusing on cruise tourism, ecotourism and adventure tourism. He also mentioned that the Indian government has been investing in infrastructure and promoting the tourism and hospitality sector through various schemes and initiatives, and are now introducing the scheme called Swadesh Darshan 2.0 which will focus on sustainable and responsible development of tourist destinations. Mr Saurabh Vijay, Principal Secretary – Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Government of Maharashtra highlighted that the Government is discussing the development of an online application portal to facilitate investment opportunities in the tourism industry in Maharashtra, India. They have identified various opportunities such as land for amusement parks, autism, cruise tourism, and ecotourism, and are also focusing on private investment and partnerships. GoM has identified specific locations and projects such as a mangrove park and aquarium project and are also exploring opportunities in MICE tourism and responsible tourism. Maharashtra has reduced the no. of licenses to 10 only for Ease of Doing Business’ “Mumbai is the Cruise Capital” and Tadoba is the ‘Tiger Capital’. Mr Vijay also thanked CII for organising this roadshow in Mumbai and Maharashtra would be happy to participate at the 1st Global Tourism Investors’ Summit, 2023. Mr Sunit Kothari, Co- Convener, CII Maharashtra Sub-group on Tourism and Aviation & Director, Kothari Group while welcoming the delegates said “The Indian travel and tourism industry is a rapidly growing and attractive investment destination, due to the growing middle class, efforts by the government to boost the industry, the diverse range of tourist experiences offered, the increasing digitalization of the industry, and the significant untapped potential for growth. Maharashtra, a state in western India, is a popular tourist destination known for its diverse range of attractions including beaches, hill stations, wildlife sanctuaries, ancient temples, and monuments. The state has the potential to become an ideal tourism destination, drawing on its many strengths and addressing its current limitations.” The State Officials of Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Daman & Diu, presented policy initiatives undertaken by their respective Tourism /Industries Department to improve ease of doing business and a summary of unique fiscal and non-fiscal incentives in the sector. They also presented investment success stories and reaffirmed their commitment towards utilizing the potential of the tourism sector as a vehicle for transformational socio-economic change. The roadshow created significant interest among the small and medium operators on the possibilities and promise of the upcoming summit.

With the arrival of 2023,Fareportal online travel agency brand CheapOair has shared its take on the travel and tourism trends shaping up for 2023. The blog explains “What To Expect in Air Travel and Beyond” in year ahead. In an article published last week on the CheapOair blogsite Miles Away ,the author sheds light on some of the bigger developments affecting travel in the next year, ranging from the changing requirements for European travel, into the future with a discussion on flying taxis.Trend 1: European Travel-Schengen and ETIAS The Schengen Area creates the largest visa-free travel zone in the world and comprises 26 European countries that have opened their borders to allow free travel among the various independent states. The European Travel Information and Authorization system, ETIAS, provides e-visas for travelers from outside the EU and Schengen areas. Trend 2: Real ID Scheduled for the spring of 2023, the official rollout of Real ID has been delayed until 2025. Why is the path to Real ID so long? Trend 3 : Bill of Rights for Disabled Passengers The Airline Passengers With Disabilities Bill of Rights has been around since 1986, but the US Department of Transportation recently issued a consolidated version to clarify what the Bill of Rights covers. Trend 4: Flying Taxis Sustainability is a topic that is being taken very seriously by the airlines, and the travel industry as a whole. Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Vehicles or eVTOLs are powered entirely by electricity and are being developed by innumerable start-ups around the world. How will the necessary infrastructure and regulatory oversight be created to support this dramatic new addition to transportation? Trend 5 : Authentic Travel As demand for travel grows, passengers are increasingly seeking an experience that is unique to their own personal tastes and areas of interest. One sought-after approach is for what is being called Authentic Travel. Advancing technology is providing the systems required to identify and experience locales at a deeper level. A variety of Apps are making it easier to create an authentic experience, providing support with local languages, guiding travelers to local eateries and identifying local events.

New Delhi, 26th Nov 2022: In alignment with the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism and with an objective to enhance engagement and participation of industry stakeholders in transition of Tourism sector towards sustainability pathway, the Ministry of Tourism, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI organised a ‘CEO round table on Sustainable Tourism’. The round table aimed to enhance awareness of industry stakeholders on national and global priorities for sustainable tourism and share and promote best practices on sustainable tourism. The round table followed and drew linkages with the following three important initiatives on sustainable Tourism, which was signed by participants, with an objective to accelerate sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in tourism policies and practices for addressing the triple planetary crisis and accelerate low carbon, climate resilient and green economic transformation of tourism sector: On the occasion Secretary, Ministry of Tourism Mr. Arvind Singh, said , ‘Everybody wants to mainstream sustainability in all aspects of life, including tourism and highlighted the fact that with G20 around the corner it is important to step up our commitment towards it. He also informed that there are four tourism track meetings slated to be held during G-20. Shri Arvind Singh added that it is the ideal time that India should take the leadership position in responsible tourism. The round table saw participation from CEOs, senior-mid level representatives from the key industry groups, Ministry of Tourism, UN in India, UNEP, Responsible Tourism Society of India, and technical agencies/experts working on Sustainable Tourism. Tourism sector’s contribution to a growing economy and livelihoods for millions of people, is well recognised. It is an important driver for growth in economic activities and local livelihoods and an essential medium for showcasing natural and cultural heritage. Tourism was also one of the hardest hit sectors during the global COVID19 pandemic and is constantly dealing with growing threats of climate change, degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity loss. The COVID19 pandemic has further highlighted the link between human health risk, biodiversity, and the economic system, underscoring the need to simultaneously boost resilience and sustainability of the tourism sector, in response to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, to ensure prosperity for all. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector accounted for over 10% of global GDP and 10% of jobs worldwide with international tourist arrivals predicted to rise from 1.1 billion in 2014 to 1.8 billion in 2030[1]. Due to this, in a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario, by 2050 tourism sector (globally) is set for an increase of 154% in energy consumption, 131% in greenhouse gas emissions, 152% in water consumption and 251% in solid waste disposal. Travel & Tourism sector is known to leave significant environmental and carbon footprints. Additionally, the growing plastics production and use, needs special attention of the tourism sector to ensure reduction of plastic and enhance circularity in its use. In a post pandemic scenario, where tourism sector is gradually recovering from the effects of pandemic, there is an opportunity to accelerate transition of Tourism sector towards a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive industry. Its revival and sustainability will be critical to ensure its continued contribution to livelihoods and economies. In summary, sustainability needs to now define development of the tourism sector in the 21st century. On 4th June 2022, the Ministry of Tourism, in partnership with United Environment Program (UNEP) and Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI) organized the National Summit on Developing Sustainable & Responsible Tourist Destinations and launched the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Traveller Campaign. The National Strategy for sustainable tourism aims to mainstream sustainability in Indian tourism sector and ensure a more resilient, inclusive, carbon neutral and resource efficient tourism while safeguarding natural and cultural resources. Tourism Industry’s transition to sustainability pathways will require significant investment and innovation. Adopting low-emissions technologies, optimizing resource use, reduction in operation costs, and increase in efficiency would be essential for improving environmental performance and tackling climate change.

New Delhi, September 14, 2022: Southern Travels in its 50th year of celebration unveiled the new logo amid the presence of large number of travel trade partners and the Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy in Delhi. On this occasion, Southern Travels announced that it is the first company to have been awarded 18 rooms and 36 dormitory beds facility at the Kashi Vishwanath temple premises. “Today, I am delighted to manifest and comprehend the contribution of Southern Travels to travel and tourism in South India. Indeed, both have a golden history, a history based on commitments made with people, culture, and time,” said Union Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Culture, Government of India, G Kishan Reddy, adding, “50 years of excellent services, recipient of National Award, 8 times in a row, and the privilege of representing the country at WTM, ITB Berlin, ICCA, ATM, TANA and other events of international repute. And, it is the company’s staunch leadership, guided by ethical values embedded in Indian culture, has made this possible.” Established in 1970, Southern Travels has been offering travelers a gamut of options – individual holidays, fixed departures, incentive holidays, special interest tours, visas and hotel bookings across the globe. The company is now heading for an expansion spree. By March 2023, it will register its presence also as a service provider with Travel Brand Stores in over 50 cities in India. “Southern Travels is the first company to be awarded an 18-room + 36 Dormitory Beds facility inside the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Premises/Corridor make Southern Travels a really distinguished player in India’s tourism industry. This will certainly boost the traffic and allow senior citizens and NRIs to experience the Darshan from very closer quarters and comfortably. Apart from this, the company is poised to embark on overseas destinations with ambitious plans and viable strategies to exhibit India’s global vision – from South India to South East Asia by 2024 and gradually into other continents. Presently, the company owns 11 offices across India with a fleet of its own vehicles and caters to over 1.5 Lakhs tourists every year,” mentioned Managing Director of Southern Travels, A Krishna Mohan. Briefing the journey of Southern Travels, from a time when the country’s infrastructure was in a nascent stage and the travel and tourism sector was not as diverse as it is today, Jatinder Paul Singh, CEO of Southern Travels said,“The leadership and acumen of Shri Alapati Venkateswara Rao ji have been a source of inspiration to many budding entrepreneurs in this field. The journey is not yet over; of course, we have passed a milestone, but we will continue our journey to spread our wings all over the globe.”