K U M A R A S W A M Y - W O R L D W I D E
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TRAVELDOTS........
Raju Kumaraswamy, intnl. travel consultant by (IATA,UFTAA-Geneva), No4- 2nd Street, Subramaniyam Colony, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai-600041
Telephone: 24464187, 9283417528, 9444914004
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1. INDIA TO BE PARTNER COUNTRY AT ITB BERLIN 2007
New Delhi: On World Tourism Day (27 September) an agreement was singed by the Union tourism Ministry and Messe Germany making India the partner country at the ITB Berlin to be held 7-11 March 2007. The ITB Berlin is the largest Tourism Fair held in Berlin Germany each year. As partner country India would be in a position to showcase its tourism products to 5 to 6 million people for the duration of the Fair. As the partner country India would be represented by the organizers in all ITB advertising and at all press conferences and trade shows where ITB is promoted. India would also have exclusive rights to conceptualize and organize the opening ceremony at ITB 2007.
2. HOLLYWOOD STARS ANGELINA JOLIE AND BRAD PITT TAKE PUNE BY STORM
Pune: Pune is in a tizzy as Hollywood’s “hottest” couple Angelina Jolie and Brand Pitt, are in town for the shooting of “Mighty Heart” based on the life of assassinated American journalist Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Journal. The couple is staying at the Le Meridian and inspite of tight security, took time for an auto rickshaw ride to take in the sights.
3. AIR INDIA EXPRESS FLYING HIGH AS PROFIT SOARS
New Delhi: Air India Express, Air India’s low cost subsidiary, has made a net profit of US$ 438464 (Rs. 20 million) in its first year of operation ending March 2006. This is in contrast to the losses declared by Air Deccan (US$ 74 million (Rs 3400 million) for 15 months ending June 2006) and Kingfisher Air US$ 52 million (Rs 240 million). Air India Express seems to be the only no frills carrier to luck the trend. The airline that flies mostly to the Gulf is planning a huge expansion next year, as the 6 new Boeing 737-800s arrive in March 2007. Flights, Madras-Singapore, Pune-Dubai, Madras- Kuala Lumpur and Madras - Dubai are set to take off soon.
4. AIR INDIA EXPRESS STARTS SERVICES FROM AMRITSAR AND MANGALORE TO DUBAI
Amritsar: The Air India Express (Air India’s budget airline) will operate three times a week Delhi-Amritsar-Dubai. The inaugural flight was flagged off on 2 October to the beats of the Bhangra (Punjabs much loved folk dance) from Amritsar’s Raja Sansi International airport. Air India Express has also started Dubai services from Mangalore on 3 October. Mangalore airport is the second airport in Karnataka (capital Bangalore) to operate International flights. The Mangalore-Dubai flight will operate 3 times week.
5. 500 RAILWAY STATIONS SET FOR WI-FI CONNECTIVITY
New Delhi: 500 railways stations will soon be Wi-Fi enabled, a great help to laptop using travelers. In addition, “Call centers” will be set up at 14 stations to provide faster train arrival and departure information by dialing 139. This facility already exists at Bangalore and Patna.
6. LIMITED QUANTITIES OF LIQUID TOILETERIES PERMITTED IN AIRLINE HAND BAGGAGE
New Delhi: The Government has relaxed the ban on carrying liquid toiletries in hand baggage by airline passengers. Passengers can now carry upto 100 ml per liquid (shampoos, sun-tan lotion, colognes, gels, toothpaste etc) in a separate re-sealable transparent plastic bag long with their hand baggage. This can be brought from home and doesn’t have to he bought in duty free. The relaxation comes as a great relief to airline passengers.
7. HOLY SHRINE OF KEDARNATH CLOSES 24 OCTOBER FOR THE WINTER
Dehra Dun: The holy shrine of Kedarnath will close for the winter on 24 October. The Badrinath shrine will close on 16 November.
8. MARK SHAND, IN INDIA TO PROMOTE CARTIER ELEPHANT POLO CUP
New Delhi: Mark Shand brother of Camilla Parker Bowles (married to Prince Charles) is better known as the man who bought an elephant “Tara” and traveled on her across India and wrote a book “Travels on my elephant” He was in the capital to promote the Cartier Elephant Polo Cup to be played in Jaipur, November 18. He has visited India several times and works for the Conservation of the Asian elephant.
9. FOREIGN TOURIST ARRIVALS REGISTER 10.5% GROWTH IN AUGUST
New Delhi: Foreign Tourist arrivals registered a rise of 10.5% in August with the arrivals reaching 299,211 (up from 270,779 last August). From January to August the number of foreign tourist arrivals is 27,85,328 an increase of 13.5% over the previous year. Foreign exchange earnings are up 16.2%.
10. SHARADOTSAV CELEBRATED BY GUJARAT TOURISM
New Delhi: The October full moon or Sharad Poornima is associated with Lord Krishna and his gopis. Gujarat Tourism celebrated it with a cultural program featuring the traditional dances of Garba and Dandia Raas and great food.
11. TRANSAERO STARTS AMRITSAR – MOSCOW SERVICE
Saint Petersburg: A private Russian carrier Transaero has started operating twice a week Amritsar - Moscow-Toronto from 4 October with the Russian ambassador to India flagging off the inaugural flight. Transaero also has flights Moscow - Goa and Saint Petersburg.
12. KAPURTHALA HERITAGE FESTIVAL 27-29 OCTOBER
Kapurthala: INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) and the Punjab Government are organsing the Kapurthala Heritage Festival once again at the Jagatjit Palace 27-29 October. The highlight of the festival will be the famous French style Jagatjit Palace which is being restored by INTACH conservationists.
13. INDIA AUSTRALIA ECO TOURISM CONCLAVE
New Delhi: An India Australia Ecotourism Conclave was organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Australia High Commission and Australian government at Ashok Hotel, New Delhi. The Australian delegate apprised the members of the travel industry how they are tackling the ecotourism issues in Australia and a rating system of tour operators developed by them.
14. ANANYA PRESENTS FESTIVAL OF DANCE AT PURANA QILA 12-16 OCTOBER
New Delhi: The ruins of Purana Qila (Old Fort) will once again reverberate to the sound of music and dance as Ananya in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism presents a feast of traditional and contemporary dance from 12-16 October.
15. TAJ HOTELS SET TO ACQUIRE PROPERTIES IN CHINA AND US
Bombay: Taj Hotels are eying Ningbo city in the eastern mainland of China, near the Yangtse river to set up a business hotel. Taj plans to build the property as a joint venture with a Chinese partner. With the Ningbo Government building an International Trade Mart, visitors to the city will rise to 40,000 daily as 10,000 international traders will also set up branches in the city. The Taj group is in the foray to buy the Ritz Carlton in Boston (for approximately $ 170 million). The 79 year old Ritz Carlton is Americas longest continuously run hotel and a Boston landmark.
16. DELHI HALF MARATHON 15 OCTOBER ATTRACTS TOP ATHLETES
New Delhi: The Delhi Half Marathan is expected to attract 26,000 people most of them running to raise money for charities. Top runners from Kenya, Russia and Ukraine will compete for top honours with world No. 3 Evans Cheruiyot of Kenya and No. 9 Irina Timofeyeva of Russia taking part. Several celebrities from Bollywood and the sports world will also run.
17. INDIA’S HOSPITALITY SECTOR SEES MAJOR GROWTH FOR THIRD YEAR RUNNING
New Delhi: The Indian Hospitality sector witnessed robust growth with the five star segment growing 28.8% and five star deluxe 26.6%. The four star category grew 23% compared to last year.
18. ICCO HOLDS FIRST SUMMIT IN ASIA IN NEW DELHI 4-6 OCTOBER
New Delhi: The International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO), an umbrella organization for over 850 public relations companies held its first summit in Asia in the Capital (4-6 October). With a change in media consumption worldwide, it is important to develop new strategies or “next practices.” Over 200 delegates attended. As more and more multinational companies are interested in business opportunities in India, ICCO felt Delhi was the right choice for the venue.
19. TWO TOURISM RELATED INSTITUTES FOR KERALA
Cochin: The Union Tourism Minister Ms. Ambika Soni announced the setting up of two tourism related institutes in Kerala to give a further boost to the tourism potential of the state. She made the announcement while inaugurating the Kerala Travel Mart. An institute of Hospitality Management will be set up in Calicut and a food craft Institute will also be opened in the State.
20. INDIAN RAIL PLANS SEVERAL PALACE ON WHEELS CLONES
New Delhi: With the success of the Palace on Wheels operating mostly in Rajasthan, Rajasthan Tourism started the Heritage on Wheels to cover the Shekhawati area. Maharashtra Tourism has its Deccan Odyssey and Gujarat the Royal Orient. The Oberoi Group is all set to start a luxury train as a joint venture with Rajasthan Tourism, on the Delhi Jaipur - Jodhpur-Jaselmer, Udaipur, Ranthamhore-Agra route. Palace on Wheels type trains are also planned for Karnataka, Kerala and the Punjab.
21. UNESCO LAUNCHES HERITAGE PASSPORT PROGRAM IN 4 STATES
New Delhi: At the recently held seminar on Heritage Tourism in India, in the Capital, the Indian Heritage passport program was launched as a collaborative effort of UNESCO, the Union Tourism ministry and the State governments of West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. Practices, to preserve the cultural diversity, successful in other countries will be replicated in India to help preserve the country’s cultural and natural resources. Activities proposed are, the mapping of local cultural resources and tourism facilities, development of themed itineraries such as Buddhist route, Legends of Shiva, yoga and Ayurveda healing etc Public and private partnership schemes will be encouraged.
22. RAIL EUROPE PLANS SUBSIDIARY IN INDIA
Bombay: Rail Europe (a joint venture between the French and Swiss national Railways) has plans to set up a subsidiary in India to attract greater numbers of Indian tourists. The company also plans to tie up with the Indian Railways to promote its rail passes online. It will also tie up with major travel agents to sell its tickets.
23. EMIRATES TO ADD BANGALORE TO ITS ROUTE MAP
Bangalore: Come 29 October, Emirates will launch its service to Bangalore with eight flights a week. This will increase its footprint in the South from its present 31 weekly flights to Madras, Hyderabad, Cochin and Trivandrum to 39 weekly flights.
24. KINGFISHER AIRLINES TO GET US$ 22 MILLION FOR AIRBUS A380 DELAYS
Bangalore: Kingfisher airlines had ordered 5 Airbus A380s last year with plans to induct these on high density routes. Now faced with delays airbus will deliver the aircraft only by 2011. It will however pay Kingfisher Airlines over US$ 22 million (Rs 1000 million) as compensation for delayed deliveries.
25. GOAIR SET TO LAUNCH 3 NEW ROUTES BY YEAR END
Bombay: The no frills carrier Go Air plans to launch 3 new routes by year end and hopes to break even by next year. The new routes are Bombay-Bangalore, Delhi - Hyderabad and Delhi - Jammu-Srinagar.
26. JET FLEET AND EUROPCAR IN TIE UP TO OPERATE IN CAPITAL
New Delhi: Jetfleet (a Jetair promoted company) and Europcar signed an agreement to start operating a car rented service in Delhi on 3 October. Operations will be extended to Bombay and Bangalore before the end of the year Future plans (by 2008) included footprints in Calcutta, Hyderabad, Madras, Agra, Jaipur, Goa and Ahmedabad. An ambitious fleet of 800-900 cars is planned with each one fitted with an advanced GPS system a mini fridge, laptop and mobile chargers etc. The agreement was signed in Delhi by CEO “Europecar Asia Pacific, Mr Douglas Hunt and Director Jetfleet Pvt Ltd, Mr. Mahiyar M. Sadri.
27. AIR SAHARA STARTS DELHI - INDORE SERVICE
New Delhi: Air Sahara has started two daily return flights Indore - New Delhi. Trivandrum has also been added to its network. Additional flights to 10 new destinations are in the offing.
28. AIR SAHARA GETS APPROVAL FOR INTERNATIONAL ROUTES, CHINA, SRILANKA AND THE MALDIVES
New Delhi: Air Sahara will become the first private sector airlines to fly non-stop to China operating daily flights Delhi-Guangzhou. It will also operate on the Delhi - Colombo-Mahe sector. At present Air India is the only Indian carrier operating flights to China.
29. INDIGO TO FLY TO 30 CITIES BY 2010
Bangalore: Indigo, a budget carrier plans to fly to 30 destinations by 2010. With a fleet of 40A-320s, it will add Bombay, Nagpur and Baroda to its network before the end of the year.
30. MALAYSIA ANNOUNCES VISA ON ARRIVAL FOR INDIAN TOURISTS Kuala Lumpur: The Tourism Minister of Malaysia announced “Visa on arrival” for Indian tourists visiting Malaysia at a charge of RM100. The facility will be available at 6 different entry points with the visa being valid for 30 days.
31. MR LALIT SURI OF BHARAT HOTELS PASSES AWAY
New Delhi: Mr. Lalit Suri, a prominent hotelier passed away in London where he had gone to attend the UK - India Trade summit. He was 60 years old. He was Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Hotels.