Category: News

World Architecture Travel (WAT), an international network for architectural tours now presents WATconnect, an initiative that will present an architecturally immersive travel experience to one different location every month. Designed as an exclusive platform for selected architects to connect with each other on a national as well as an international scale, WATconnect aims to enhance professionalism and develop inbound architecture tourism through these connections. The team includes a selected 15 from the architect, curator and student fraternity respectively who will be guided to the architectural practices of the young and upcoming architects in order to explore their work culture and ... Read more

This year’s Wine & Food Tourism Conference, taking place at Spier near Stellenbosch on 18 September 2019, will feature South Africa’s most respected trends analyst, Dion Chang, as headline speaker. This year’s event, themed “The Future of Wine & Food Tourism”, will as per previous years provide an invaluable platform for participants to network and keep abreast of what is hot and happening in South African wine and food tourism. This is the fourth time this annual conference is being presented. Known as an innovator, creative thinker, and walking ideas bank, Chang takes the unique view of “trends as business ... Read more

Travel Money, the flagship Foreign Exchange brand of FCM Travel Solutions, the Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group, Australia has launched The Unbeatable Forex Festival to provide simplified foreign exchange solutions with best rates and better rewards to customers travelling abroad. The festival which will run from May to July 2019 coincides with the peak holiday season and will address the foreign exchange needs of Indians travelling overseas. In addition to holiday-goers, The Unbeatable Forex Festival will also be applicable for students seeking remittances to study abroad. Speaking about the new campaign, Gagan Malhotra, Brand Leader, Travel Money, Foreign ... Read more

In spite of the terrible weather and the other adverse conditions, the tourist season in Kerala was well on course beating the last year statistics and according to the Ministry of Tourism, the state’s tourism has recorded some good growth from unexpected markets in 2018. The bad weather, religious and political protests, increased competition from Sri Lanka and the devastating floods don’t seem to have affected the tourism industry through out Kerala as more and more visitors have arrived in the state from new markets. “There was rampant apprehension that Kerala’s tourism will take a long time to recover. But ... Read more

Fayfay.com, an e-commerce platform dedicated to authentic Vietnam travel experiences, and Vietnamobile, a mobile network in Vietnam, announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership to reach out to both inbound tourists in Vietnam and domestic Vietnamobile users. Fayfay.com will be the official partner of Vietnamobile in the travel sector, bringing exclusive benefits to consumers of both brands to enjoy all that Vietnam has to offer. FAY SIM, exclusively targeting inbound tourists to Vietnam, is the first collaboration to launch under the partnership. It is the first of its kind to be launched by an online travel agency and ... Read more

Hilton has announced the signing of a management agreement with Growthpoint Properties, South Africa’s largest REIT, to open a hotel under its lifestyle Canopy by Hilton brand. The 150 guestroom Canopy by Hilton Cape Town Longkloof is expected to begin welcoming guests in 2021 and will be the brand’s debut property in Africa. Canopy by Hilton launched in 2014 to appeal to travelers seeking locally inspired stays and wishing to immerse themselves in the culture and history of local neighbourhoods. It currently operates in nine destinations around the world with more than 35 properties in the pipeline, aiming to guarantee ... Read more

Travelstart, Africa’s leading online travel company has announced a new partnership with global private markets investment firm HarbourVest, with $58 billion under asset management, who will become a significant funding partner for the company. HarbourVest will support Travelstart’s further expansion in geographies and growth in new verticals in the continents $194 billion tourism and travel market. “The partnership with HarbourVest is a confirmation of the future opportunity in online travel in this continent, our business and our team,” said Stephan Ekbergh, founder and CEO of Travelstart. “We are very excited to have them on board.” The investment comes on the ... Read more

Israel Ministry of Tourism has appointed Sammy Yahia as the new Director of Tourism for India &Philippines markets effective 3rd June, 2019. He will be responsible to lead the tourism board’s initiatives in India while overseeing the development of policies and strategies to strengthen Israel’s reputation as a world-class tourism and travel destination. A champion marketer by profession, prior to his appointment to India, Sammy was the Director of Marketing &Communications for Israel Ministry of Tourism from 2012 to May 2019.During his tenure there, he was awarded ‘Employee of the Year – Civil Service Commission’ and a certificate of appreciation ... Read more

In a parallel event to the 14th Philippine Business Mission (PBM) for tourism held in Japan, President Rodrigo Duterte met with leaders of the Japanese travel industry and invited them to invest in the Philippines, stating that now is the best time. The tourism and travel sector stand to benefit from the Build, Build, Build program, which has a number of ongoing transportation infrastructure development projects to achieve seamless travel to and around the archipelago. Organized by the Department of Tourism, the travel industry meeting with the President was a historic occasion, signaling the importance held by Japan as the ... Read more

From June 1rst onwards, agents and advisors booking flights for clients through the IATA’s Passenger Agency Program must ask travelers if they want their contact information shared with airlines in the case of operational disruptions. Agents and advisors will be required to enter the passenger contact information (phone number and/or e-mail address) when booking flights beginning June 1. Carriers will be able to use the information to advise passengers of irregular flight operations and disruptions. “In the event the passenger exercises his or her right not to provide contact details it is incumbent on the Agent to indicate that the ... Read more

For more than 60 years, sustainability has been part of Club Med’s DNA. Club Med resorts are extremely vigilant with energy efficiency, saving, treating and recycling water, promoting renewable energy sources, controlling the water treatment and recycling techniques. Sustainability Initiatives: Bye to single-use plastic: Club Med has taken efforts to eradicate single-use plastic items from all its resorts worldwide, to reduce their footprint and keep the ocean clean Green Globe certified: Currently 74 per cent of Club Med resorts worldwide have been awarded “Green Globe Certified” for Sustainable Tourism, including Club Med Bali, Club Med Cherating Beach, Club Med Phuket, ... Read more

Shrikant Wakharkar has joined Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty as the General Manager of the waterfront luxury resort and Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre. Wakharkar has a combined experience of 30 years in the areas of managing, mentoring, coaching and motivating in the hospitality industry. In his previous roles, Wakharkar has held leadership positions in Food & Beverages in Hyatt Regency Delhi, Taj Mahal Palace and Towers Mumbai and Taj President Mumbai. He actively contributed to the renovation projects of rooms, coffee shop, and bars at the Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo. He was instrumental in launching InterContinental Goa Resort as a ... Read more

At the recently concluded PATA Annual Summit & Board Meeting held at Cebu, Philippines, Yogendra Tripathi, Tourism Secretary, Government of India, Ravneet Kaur, Chairman & Managing Director, ITDC and Jatinder Taneja, Managing Director, Travel Spirit International, were appointed to the PATA Board. Yogendra Tripathi & Ravneet Kaur have also been appointed to the Government/Destination Committee of PATA. Vikram Madhok is already been a member of the Board since 2018. Thomas Thottathil, Vice President Cox & Kings India and SanJeet, Director DDP Publications are members of the board as Industry Council Proxy. The PATA Industry Council now has five members from ... Read more

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is all set fly from Bengaluru to Amsterdam, starting October 28, 2019. The launch of this new flight comes in line with the suspension of Jet Airways’ service to the route. The frequency of the flight will be thrice a week on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with a configuration of 30 seats in business class, 45 seats in the economy comfort class and 219 seats in economy. It was in 2017 that Jet Airways made Amsterdam its hub and launched its flight on the route in cooperation with Air France-KLM and the latter’s US partner, Delta Air ... Read more

Kuwaiti airline, Jazeera Airways will start flying from Ahmedabad to Bodrum, Turkey via Kuwait starting June 20. The inaugural flight will depart from Ahmedabad every Thursday at 5:35 am (IST) and will return to Ahmedabad every Monday. Economy class on the flight will cost around Rs 18,700. Kuwait’s leading low-cost airline, operating regionally and internationally, celebrated one year of operations from its dedicated Terminal 5 (T5) at the Kuwait International Airport, marking one of the few commercial terminals to be operated by a private airline in the world. The airline marked the milestone in a closed event attended by officials ... Read more