December 2013

Rajeev Kohli
Joint Managing Director

Dear Industry Colleagues:

December already !! Time has flown indeed. It's been an interesting year for all of us in the global tourism industry, no matter where we are and which segment we work in. The reverberations of the economic meltdown have virtually left no one untouched. We in the travel industry have not seen such dramatic changes in travel patterns for a very long time and I will say that it has ensured that there is never a dull moment. 

What a year it has been for us in Creative. We won 3 prestigious awards over the year, including the World Travel Awards "Asia’s leading Destination Management Company" and "India’s leading Destination Management Company" and the TTG Travel Award for the third time. (read about those awards here).

And we close the year, we are proud to announce that we have won a fourth global accolade for the year – our 5th "Site Crystal Award". On December 8^th at a gala lunch of the Annual International Conference of SITE Global in Orlando, Florida, Creative Travel was honored with a 2013 SITE CRYSTAL AWARD. The SITE Crystal Award is considered to be the highest award in the global Incentive industry. We are delighted to have won this award for a 5^th time. What is special about a SITE Crystal is that it is a recognition that is judged by our peers in the global industry, making it a true achievement in every way.

When we come back in January, with our first issue if the year, we shall outline some of our plans for 2014.  We have some exciting ideas in the pipeline.

Till then, we in Team Creative look at 2014 as a year of hope, excitement and prosperity for all. Party hard and responsibly :-)

Thank you :-)

www.travel2india.com
 www.creative.travel

Site Global Vice President Rajeev Kohli takes a stand on Asia as a top destination for incentives and encourages planners to take a walk on the wild side..
Read the full artcile featured in the MEETME Magazine recently at  http://www.meetmiddleeast.com/articles/show/voyage-of-discovery

Woman taking up a job in the hospitality sector is not something new. But there won’t be many lawyers belonging to the fairer sex who enter the sector and build an enviable career. That’s what makes Mallika Dineshkumar, Destination Manager- South India, Creative Travel, special. The will to take up challenges and the confidence to succeed in difficult have seen her smooth sailing in the hospitality arena. A down to earth personality, for her success is a never ending journey and not a destination. Read more in the article featured recently on page 12 in the Asian Traveller magazine. http://issuu.com/mediastepsindia/docs/asian_traveller_oct.2013 

"The festival will be inaugurated by Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister of Karnataka. "The United Nationals Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared Hampi as a World Heritage Site. All steps have been taken to safeguard historical monuments at Hampi by providing round-the-clock security," P T Parameshwara Naik was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
 

You either love it or hate it. Or one day you wake up and realize where you fit into India and where India fits into you.

The country of 1.2 billion draws more than 7 million tourists a year, but there's far more to gain than spiritual enlightenment and an expanded waistline. read more...
 

Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister for Culture, Government of India, has launched a project, under which the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) collaborates with Google to create a 360-degree online imagery of 100 of India's most important heritage sites, including the Taj Mahal, Khajuraho, and the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. The detailed images will be readily available for public viewing over the Internet, as per a release. read more...
 

The cute quotient of GIR is soaring with some 100 lion cubs being sighted in the sanctuary and all the surrounding areas in the last few days. The number of new arrivals touching the three figure mark has elated forest officials, who see it as a stamp of approval on conservation efforts.

Gir, the world's only remaining home of wild Asiatic Lions, is used to 80-85 cubs every year. Studies however show that only 56% live to see the third year of their lives. Their first year is the most crucial and this is the first time foresters have seen a substantial jump in cub count, which means more lions are likely to cross that 12 month threshold.

The 48 year-old steam engine is one of the last surviving vintage steam locomotives in the country. Named after the great Mughal emperor Akbar, the Pacific class broad gauge loco is capable of speeds up to 110 kmph and used to haul prestigious express trains. read more...

The technical museum traces the evolution of lighthouse establishment in India. It displays vintage to the most modern lighthouse equipment and visitors to this museum will have a clear insight on the various facets of lighthouse engineering.

The country?s Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism in Rupee terms increased 4.40% to INR8,513 crore as compared to INR8,154 crore in October 2012. During the first 10 months of 2013, the country registered FEEs of INR 83,727 crore with a growth of 12.8% as compared to FEEs of INR74,125 crore with a growth of 22.1% in October 2012.

JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts expands its luxury portfolio in India with the debut of the 523-room JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity. The hotel aims to offer guests a luxury experience paired with elegance and approachability, designed to reflect their own sophistication. read more...
 

Ranbanka Palace recently became the first hotel in Jodhpur to be classified as a Classic Heritage hotel. This honour was proffered by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India as Ranbanka Palace is traditional yet innovatively modern and the general features and ambiance of the hotel conform to the overall concept of heritage and architectural distinctiveness. read more...
 

Kempinski Hotels and Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts have mutually agreed to close the 25-year relationship. Following a progressive phase out which began in 2012, both parties will from now on promote their businesses separately.

The move will aid Leela to further consolidate sales and marketing network independently. Kempinski will also look at targeting through direct penetration the important Indian market. read more...
 

Sofitel Luxury Hotels will launch two new hotels in India by 2016 ? Sofitel Mulund and Sofitel So Mumbai Mulund after strong performance seen at Sofitel Mumbai BKC, the only Sofitel property in the country at the moment.

"Mulund is one of Mumbai?s first planned suburbs, and has become a testament today to India?s growing middle class and its aspirational style of living. We plan to cash in on this untouched location and make our mark as a unique luxury hotel," said Markland Blaiklock, senior vice president, Sofitel Asia Pacific." The openings will also mark Sofitel So?s debut in India. read more...
 

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced the opening of Crowne Plaza Greater Noida in Delhi (NCR) region. The hotel is the newest addition to IHG?s growing portfolio in India and is the sixth Crowne Plaza hotel in the country. The 398-room hotel is located in an upcoming commercial hub and offers a range of facilities to suit travellers on business, transit or leisure with five different F&B outlets to choose from and more than 1000sq mts of event space in total. read more...
 

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel has officially opened the doors of its first hotel in Bengaluru in India. The 277 room contemporary Ritz-Carlton hotel embraces tradition with the Jaali (lattice screen) design from the Mughal era and many architectural and interior design features, including pointed archways and ample white marble reminiscent of the Taj Mahal.

"We are redefining the international standard for luxury hospitality in India with a truly unique property in Bangalore," said Herve Humler, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. read more...

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has marked its presence in Punjab with the opening of Holiday Inn Amritsar Ranjit Avenue. The hotel is the newest addition to IHG?s growing portfolio in India and is the seventh Holiday Inn hotel in the country. The 145-room hotel also features a Grand Ballroom which can hold 450 people and will cater to a range of events, from weddings to corporate events and conferences.
read more...

The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group (an enterprise of Bharat Hotels) has expanded its footprint in Kolkata. Asia's first luxury hotel- The Great Eastern was unveiled as The Lalit Great Eastern today on the occasion of the 69th birth anniversary of Lalit Suri. Incidentally, the erstwhile The Great Eastern also started on this very date, 173 years ago. The inauguration ceremony was led by Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister, West Bengal and Dr. Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson & Managing Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group. The property will open in two phases.

Speaking on the occasion, Banerjee said, "The heritage property will conquer the minds and touch the hearts. The Lalit Great Eastern Kolkata has my support and best wishes for their goal. The Great Eastern was popular, is popular and will remain popular."
 

Accor announced to open Novotel, hotel brand under Accor's portfolio, in Pune this December recently. The new hotel will be Accor’s third property in the city. Located in Viman Nagar, close to Pune International Airport, the hotel would feature a total of 223 rooms - 164 standard rooms, 12 superior rooms with direct access to swimming pool, 33 premier rooms and 14 suites.

The hotel will be operational from December 5, 2013. Bandish Mehta, General Manager, Novotel Pune said, "Looking at the current scenario in Pune, we want to focus on different clientele. Though our prime focus will be business travellers and the MICE segment, we would also be looking at leisure travellers and family driven guests. We will also be targeting wedding and social events held in Pune."

Accor has announced the opening of Novotel Ahmedabad, the group’s seventh Novotel and Accor’s 23rd hotel to open in India. Ahmedabad is the fifth largest city in India.

Speaking about the hotel’s opening, Jean-Michel Cassé, Senior Vice President, Operations, Accor India, said, "We are delighted with the rapid growth of our Novotel network in India. The opening of Novotel Ahmedabad reinforces our focus on India as a key market for development. Our expansion plans for Novotel in this region are ambitious and we are confident about developing new markets and new segments in India with our network of hotels." He further added that, at Novotel Ahmedabad, Accor hopes to set new standards in the hospitality industry in fast growing cities such as Ahmedabad. "The property will deliver globally-renowned contemporary accommodation along with allied services and facilities, raising the bar for business hotels in the city," he concluded.

Air India has introduced direct flights between Mumbai ? Allahabad, Mumbai ? Agra and Mumbai ? Gwalior with effect from September 9, 2013. The flights will be operated by Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India. The flight from Mumbai to Allahabad -will operate four days a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
read more...

OUTBOUND tour operators from Malaysia are predicting stronger meeting and incentive demand for Sri Lanka following AirAsia X's commencement of four-weekly services between Kuala Lumpur and Colombo. With AirAsia X?s new service, the Kuala Lumpur-Colombo sector now has an additional 1,508 seats weekly. The route is also serviced by Malaysia Airlines? 10-weekly flights and SriLankan Airlines? 14-weekly services.
read more...

Domestic air traffic in India grew by over four per cent in the lean month of September, with Air India gaining strength in its market share and load factor than before, the PTI reported. All six Indian airlines together carried almost 457 lakh passengers between January and September as against 438 lakh during the same period in 2012, thereby registering a growth of 4.23 per cent, according to air traffic data released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). read more...
 

SpiceJet Ltd and IndiGo would operate over 20 per cent additional flights this winter than they flew in 2012, as per a PTI report. Domestic airlines would undertake a total of 11,886 weekly flights during the 2013 Winter Schedule, an increase of over nine per cent compared to 2012. The Winter Schedule begins from the last Sunday of October and goes on till the last Sunday in March. read more...
 

India?s tourist Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) scheme grew 19.9% in September 2013.
The country issued a total of 1,683 VoAs last month at Indian airports as compared to 1,404 VoAs issued during September 2012. The number of VoAs issued under this scheme for nationals of 11 countries of Japan (578), New Zealand (325), Indonesia (248), the Philippines (228), Singapore (219), Finland (47), Vietnam (16), Myanmar (8), Luxembourg (7), Cambodia (6) and Laos (1). read more...
 

The airline will add one extra flight between London-Chennai route, starting 27 October. With the addition, BA will fly six days a week, except Thursday with Boeing 777-200 aircraft offering three-class configuration.

Christopher Fordyce, regional commercial manager at British Airways in South Asia said, "The announcement on our additional flight to Chennai marks another milestone towards British Airways expansion and growth in India. Chennai forms a very critical part of our India strategy and through this initiative we would like to reiterate our commitment to the market. Being a commercial and cultural hub of South India, we have witnessed tremendous growth in Chennai from both business and leisure travel categories in the past and expect these segments to grow exponentially in future."
 

Having received the green signal from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for Singapore Airlines (SIA) to set up a full service airline in India in partnership with the Tata Group, Tata-SIA Airlines is all set to launch by May-June 2014. This was informed by Prasad Menon, Chairman, Tata SIA Airlines after a meeting of Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Group; Goh Choon Phong, CEO, SIA; with Anand Sharma, Commerce and Industry Minister, Govt of India; and Ajit Singh, Civil Aviation Minister read more...

The main runway of the Mumbai airport is expected to be shut down between 9 am and 5 pm everyday from November 7till May 2014.

The eight hour closure has been scheduled to carry out construction work of two rapid exit taxiways. These will make possible for aircraft landing on the main runway to exit at higher speeds so as to reduce the runway occupancy time of landing aircraft. If aircraft take lesser time to land and exit the runway, ait traffic congestion of the Mumbai sky could be reduced. read more...

The Union Cabinet of India has declared Bhubaneswar, Odisha and Imphal, Manipur airports as international airports in the country.

The declaration of these two cities as international airports will offer improved connectivity, wider choice of services at competitive cost to the air travellers resulting in boosting international tourism and economic development of the region and the country. read more...

The Indian government issued a total of 1,911 visas last month under its Visa on Arrival (VOA) scheme, registering a 31.2 per cent growth as compared with the same month last year. The numbers of VoAs issued during October 2013 for nationals of the eleven countries covered in the scheme were 436 for Japan, 435 for New Zealand, 409 for the Philippines, 249 for Singapore, 220 for Indonesia, 97 for Finland, 27 for Myanmar, 24 for Vietnam, eight for Luxembourg, five for Cambodia, and one for Laos, a release stated.
read more...

Bhutan Airlines will commence flights to Kolkata next month. The airline will start daily flights on the Bangkok-Kolkata-Paro-Kolkata-Bangkok route later this month, after completing formalities with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

"We are eager to begin services to Kolkata that is evolving as an important market for tourist traffic to Bhutan," Ugyen Tenzin, Commercial Director of Bhutan Airlines was quoted as saying by the Times of India. read more...

KLM has rolled out fully flat beds on daily flights between New Delhi and Amsterdam, starting 28th October 2013. Starting this winter, all KLM international long-haul destination flights served by Boeing 747-400 will offer its business class passengers with these new seats. The new 180 degree horizontally reclining seats in the business class are longer with 2.07 meters in length, 63 inch wider with 17 inch video monitor for in-flight entertainment.

"KLM continues to invest in customer comfort across the world as this has been our top most priority. The guiding principle to introduce fully flat beds is a step towards enhancing customer comfort and privacy as befits KLM. The new full-flat seat also plays an important role in helping to strengthen our position as a preferred airline," said Yeshwant Pawar, General Manager for South Asia at KLM.
 

Air India commenced a new Delhi-Kochi service, augmenting its flight connectivity on the route. Flight AI477/478 Delhi-Kochi-Delhi with depart from the Delhi airport at 13:00 hours daily and arrive at Kochi at 15:55 hours, Air India sources said.
The return flight will leave at 16:35 hours to reach Delhi at 19:45 hours.

IndiGo will from December 1 commence daily flights on the Mumbai-Guwahati-Bagdogra and Bengaluru-Kolkata-Bagdogra routes. Bagdogra is a village in Darjeeling, West Bengal. The 6E 434 flight will leave from Mumbai at 7.25 am to reach Guwahati at 10.35 am, after which it will proceed to Bagdogra at 11.10 am, reaching the destination at 12.10 pm, as per information on the airline's website. The return 6E 433 flight will take off at 4.15 pm and reach Guwahati at 5.15 pm, later leaving for Mumbai at 5.55 pm and arriving at the destination at 9.35 pm.

On the second route, the 6E 433 aircraft will depart from Bengaluru at 11.05 am and stop over at Kolkata at 1.30 pm. From there, the flight will take off for Bagdogra at 2.35 pm, landing at the destination at 3.45 pm. On the way back, the 6E 434 plane will leave from Bagdogra at 12.45 pm and reach Kolkata at 1.45 pm. Further, it will take off at 2.20 pm and reach Bengaluru at 4.50 pm.

This dish is among the best known Indian foods all over the world. Its gravy can be made as hot or mild as you like so it suits most palates. Click here to read the recipe....