February 2014

Rajeev Kohli
Joint Managing Director

Dear Industry Colleagues:

January was a great start for us. We had our Annual Chaat Party (street food party) for our friends from the hotel and airline industry. It was a great show with over 500 guests during the afternoon.

India is in election mode. Politics is in our DNA. We can talk about it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and some more. The Indian national elections are the biggest spectacle on Earth with over 800 million people eligible to vote. This is an election that will be a turning point for India. We do expect to see a change of government, but who will come in is still up for grabs.

With the end of the season approaching, we are working on some special options for industry professionals to come and visit India. Under our 2014 "Be our Guest" program, we have some exciting options at very special prices. Ask us for details. We are also working on some special low season pricing that will allow you to position the region more aggressively.

You shall see some new and exciting initiatives in the next season from Team Creative. New experiential inclusions, new circuits, new concepts... We take pride in our ability to make a trip to the Indian sub-continent something very different.

Through "Creatively Yours" we hope to keep you informed on the latest news in Team Creative and the destination. We hope you find this to be useful. Enjoy this issue of our award winning newsletter.  

www.travel2india.com
 www.creative.travel

Creative Travel was honoured with the National Tourism Award in the niche category as the Best MICE operator in India.

On the 18th of February, another milestone was achieved in our 37th year. At a glittering award ceremony of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Creative Travel was honoured with the National Tourism Award in the niche category as the Best MICE operator in India. This is our 14th National Tourism Award and our 41st award & recognition in our 37 years of operations. The award was presented by the H’nble Minister of Human Resources Development, Mr. Shashi Tharoor and received by Rajeev Kohli, Joint Managing Director and Priya Saigal, Senior Manager – Incentives.

We are proud of our team for this achievement. Over the years, our company has built on certain specialisations and apart from being one of the top inbound operators in the country for leisure travellers, our specialist MICE teams (who are independent operating teams within our company) have created their own space in the industry and is today the most awarded Incentives & Meetings team in South Asia. Over the years we have understood the importance of specializations and unlike a lot of other inbound companies in our destination, we made a conscious decision to bifurcate the skill set within the company. The Plan it ! Meetings team has its own set of dedicated professionals who do nothing but PCO related work. Our incentive team has skilled people who do nothing but incentives. This way, we have achieved a level of perfection that truly does justice to our claim of being the most awarded Meetings & Incentives team in South Asia.

The Ministry of Tourism presents the National Tourism Awards to various segments of the travel and tourism industry every year. These awards are presented to state Governments, hotels, heritage hotels, tour operators and individuals of other private organizations in recognition of their performances in their respective fields and also to encourage healthy competition with an aim to promote tourism. The selection of the awardees is made by a high powered Committee consisting of senior officials of the Ministry of Tourism and the travel trade representatives.
We want to thank all our partners in India and overseas for all the support they have shown us to make this possible. We are naturally very very excited, honoured and thrilled about this.

See more at https://www.facebook.com/CreativeTravelIndia
 

This April – May, we will see India going to elections to vote for a national government. A process involved over 800 million people, spread over 6 weeks is an unparalleled spectacle in the world. This election is done on electronic voting machines across the nation, an achievement very few other countries can boast of. Text messaging was also used as a management too in 2013 local polls. We have an extremely powerful and independent Election Commission in India that ensures free and fair voting, even in the hardest conditions. read more...

Changing flights is soon going to be a less painful experience at Delhi's IGI airport which hopes to become a world-class hub. Reacting to passenger complaints of several bottlenecks for transit flyers, aviation secretary Ashok Lavasa has directed different agencies to take steps for making change of flights a seamless affair at IGI.

Lavasa and a team of top aviation officials spent a night at IGI on January 29 to identify the problems faced by all types of transit flyers — international to international flight, domestic to domestic, domestic to international and vice versa. The visit came after reports of congestion at peak hours.  read more...

India announced it will extend visas on arrival (VoAs) to 180 countries and implement an online system for visa issuance in a major initiative to liberalise its visa regime.

The VOA facility will be initially rolled out at nine airports including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Hyderabad, Goa and Trivandrum, in time for the peak travel season in October. read more...

Elephants have always been a carrier of royalty in Indian culture and so The Elephant Festival was initiated keeping in mind the tourists coming to the city. So, while Bikaner celebrates the Ship of the Desert, Jaipur makes much of the elephant.

Marked by a range of interesting activities, Jaipur's day-long Elephant Festival is an event not to be missed. Organised every year by the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, the Elephant Festival is held at its official venue, Rambagh Polo Ground in Jaipur, and attracts thousands of eager tourists from across India and overseas.

Elephants, all in elegant attire, loaded with glitter and gold, fascinate the audience with their grand processions and decorated trunks and tusks. The scenes from the royal past are recreated, which is a wonderful sight!

Elephant polo is the most noticeable feature of this festival where, the players wear saffron and red turbans, sit on the elephants, and try to score goals with long sticks and a plastic football. Only female elephants take part in this festival. The Festival also provides platform for the folk tradition of Rajasthan. The festivities end with performances of folk dances; with a liberal splashing of Holi colours on all and sundry, and a spectacular display of fireworks.

Come to the festival and watch Jaipur come alive!

The festival’s main objective is to promote the link between the Rajasthani folk musicians and the legendary Flamenco and gypsy artists that live around the world.
JFG Festival will provide a meeting place for these musicians and dancers, and create a platform for their creative energy which can be shared with the world. It will highlight the rich heritage of Rajasthan and the importance of keeping folk music alive, as well as presenting a more contemporary view of desert music and dance. JFG would like to trace the routes that the nomadic gypsies of Rajasthan and Northern India took thousands of years ago, find artists with a gypsy background and bring them back to their ancestral roots.

The Kerala government has announced major tax concessions and a budget of US$33.2 million for the tourism sector this year. This was announced in the state budget by Kerala’s finance minister K M Mani last week, who said the luxury tax on hotels and resorts will be reduced from 12.5 per cent to five per cent during the low season of June to August. President of the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry, EM Najeeb, said: "High taxation in segments like MICE and hotels have been a bottleneck in the growth of the tourism sector. We welcome the government’s decision to earmark US$33.2 million for the sector and their decision to reduce luxury tax on hotels and convention facilities."

Kerala has allocated US$8 million to develop destinations such as Kovalam, Kumarakom, Thekkady, Fort Kochi, Munnar, Wayanad and Vagamon; US$161,000 towards a rural tourism project in Idukki; and US$79,715 for a sea life leisure park in the beach destination of Varkala.

This increase in tourist inflow is in sync with the expectations of Goa Tourism as the state is all geared up to build world-class tourist infrastructure and also begin operations in the new airport terminal this year, all of which they hope will only further fuel this growth. A stringent beach cleaning programme will be implemented over the next six months and the Tourism Department is hopeful that the shores of Goa will soon be listed as one of the cleanest beaches in South East Asia.

NTB will use the funds to develop and promote Nepal internationally through participation in trade events and roadshows. "With a bigger budget, NTB will now prepare and implement a five-year plan to penetrate the markets that have been unexplored before,’ explained Niraula. Foreign tourist arrivals to Nepal grew 0.3 per cent year-on-year in 2013 over 2012’s 803,092 arrivals. Visitors from India, its largest source market, declined 15.8 per cent. China ranks second followed by Sri Lanka, the US and the UK. Average length of stay for tourists is 12 to 13 days.

Lemon Tree Hotels launched its twin properties – the 287-key Lemon Tree Premier Delhi Aerocity and 207-room Red Fox Hotel Delhi Aerocity – at the end of December, becoming the second operator after Marriott International to open in the hospitality district near Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Said Rahul Pandit, president and executive director of Lemon Tree Hotels: "We expect good demand from the transit, cabin crew and corporate segment. read more...

Hilton Worldwide and DoubleTree by Hilton have announced the launch of the full-service, upscale DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Bangalore. The hotel is owned by Mantri Developers and managed by Hilton Worldwide. DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Bangalore boasts 172 stylishly-decorated rooms, including studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom suites featuring all modern conveniences.  read more...
 

Taj Samudra, Colombo re-opened its doors after an extensive renovation of USD 20 million. The hotel has introduced brand new Taj Club Rooms as well as renovated suites, including an all new Presidential Suite.

Renowned interior designer, David Edwards showcases a perfect blend of stylish design elements and heightened comfort. While all the rooms are equipped with state of the art technology and contemporary luxury amenities, Taj Club guests can enjoy exclusive access to the swank Taj Club Lounge – a private sanctuary with a range of features that includes lavish breakfast spreads, business facilities, conference rooms and even a small library. read more...

Thailand’s Minor Hotel Group (MHG) has signed an agreement with local partner Hemas Holdings for Sri Lanka's second Anantara resort, part of an influx of new hotels into the country's south.

Construction of the US$35 million project in the southern coastal town of Kalutara will commence this month and the resort is expected to open in mid-2015 with 141 rooms.
MHG and Hemas last September announced plans for the first Anantara property in Sri Lanka - a five-star, 154-room resort in Tangalle, also in the south. read more...

The Odisha government is inviting more airlines to fly into capital city Bhubaneswar, which is presently not serviced by any international carriers.

GoAir is scheduled to begin flights from Bengaluru and Mumbai to Bhubaneswar in May, while AirAsia will fly from Kuala Lumpur from March pending approval, according to Sharad Kumar, director of Biju Patnaik International Airport, which met with representatives of 20 international airlines last week. read more...

Etihad Airways has scaled up capacity on routes to India and will launch new flights to the country, driven by escalating demand for more seat capacity. The Middle Eastern carrier is scheduled to start a daily flight to Jaipur in 1Q2014.

It will also commence between seven and 14 flights per week to Kochi from June, to Bengaluru and Chennai from July, and to Hyderabad from October. New 174-seat Airbus A321 aircraft will be deployed on the Chennai and Kochi sectors. read more...

Emirates will move its operations to the new International Terminal 2 at Mumbai International Airport with effect from 12 February 2014. Emirates operate five daily flights from Mumbai to Dubai, connecting passengers onwards to over 130 destinations on its worldwide network. Departures at the new International Terminal 2 will take place from Level 4. Emirates’ has three check-in counters for First Class and Business Class passengers at Island 'P' and five check-in counters for Economy Class passengers at Island ‘M’ of the terminal. read more...

Low cost carrier IndiGo has introduced six new flights on its route connecting various destinations with effect from February 1.

The daily schedule will see the addition of a new daily non-stop flight between Delhi-Bagdogra, second non-stop flight between Kolkata-Bagdogra & Bengaluru-Chennai, fourth non-stop flight between Chennai-Kolkata, ninth non-stop flight between Mumbai-Bengaluru and one stop flight between Chennai-Bagdogra via Kolkata, providing seamless connection to the airline’s entire network within India. read more...

Drukair – Royal Bhutan Airlines is set to launch the only direct flights between Paro and Mumbai on May 1. The twice-weekly service will run on Thursdays and Sundays, offering 16 business class and 102 economy class seats.

Damcho Rinzin, international travel, trade & PR officer of the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB), expects the number of Indian and expat travellers to Bhutan to soar as a result of being able to transit at Mumbai for a direct flight. Mitesh Dani, managing director of Mumbai-based Parul Tours & Travels, said: "Bhutan is perceived as a high-end luxury destination and connectivity was an issue. Many clients preferred to charter aircraft. Now with a direct flight from Mumbai, Bhutan will be the flavour for travellers in the next holiday season. We expect increased bookings from now on as luxury hotel rooms are limited in Bhutan."

Jet Airways recently announced the introduction of a daily flight from Abu Dhabi to Chennai effective January 16, 2014.

Jet Airways flight 9W 525 will depart Abu Dhabi at 1045 hrs and arrive into Chennai at 1615 hrs (Local Time), offering onward connections on the domestic network. The return flight 9W 526 will depart Chennai at 2015 and arrive at Abu Dhabi at 2325 hrs (LT). Jet Airways guests from Chennai will now have the option of connecting not only to Abu Dhabi, but to several destinations of their choice in Europe and Africa, when they transit over Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways. read more...

Malindo Air will commence daily direct services between Kuala Lumpur and Kochi beginning April 24 in support of Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

Flights depart Kuala Lumpur at 21.10 and reach Kochi at 22.35, while return flights leave Kochi at 23.35 to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 06.00 the next day.
Chandran Rama Muthy, CEO of Malindo Air, said the new route was mounted in support of the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 project.

This is the fourth Indian destination the airline is serving after receiving approval from India’s aviation authorities. Malindo began New Delhi flights on December 30 last year and Trichy on January 2. Mumbai flights will take off on February 15.

To mark its latest flight, Malindo is rolling out promotional fares from RM399 (US$120) for economy class and from RM999 for business class, all-inclusive one way.

"Curd Toast" is a very simple and easy to cook recipe which can prepared for breakfast or as a snack. Click here to read the recipe.....