|
|
AIRLINES
Service tax relief to flyers, but business and
first class air travel to be costlier by 10%
Much to the
respite of stakeholders in travel trade, while replying to the debate on
Finance Bill 2010 in Lok Sabha, the finance minister clarified that the levy
on air travel will not adversely impact the civil aviation sector, as
effective rates of levy, when they come into effect, would be a maximum of
Rs 100 per travel for domestic journey in any class and a maximum of Rs 500
per travel for international journey by economy class. Earlier, Pranab
Mukherjee, Union minister of finance, had proposed imposition of service tax
on international and domestic air passengers in the union budget.
Meanwhile, there will be a huge impact on business and first class travel as
it will get dearer by 10.3 per cent. As the tickets for these classes are
over Rs one lakh, they will be charged according to new rates, which will
include the new service tax.
For more details click here
Top
Kingfisher Airlines starts flights between
Mumbai-Dubai, Delhi-Dubai and Delhi-Kathmandu routes
Kingfisher
Airlines has announced a number of new international services on April 24.
The new international routes include Mumbai-Dubai, Delhi-Dubai and
Delhi-Kathmandu. Kingfisher Airlines launched direct flights from Mumbai to
Dubai. The flights on all these routes are being operated with Airbus A320
aircraft. The flights on the New Delhi-Dubai route will feature a dual-class
cabin with five-star luxury on Kingfisher First and Kingfisher Class, the
premium economy service, while the flights on the Delhi-Kathmandu and
Mumbai-Dubai route will feature Kingfisher Class.
For more details click here
Top
nasair to unveil three more routes to connect
Kochi, Kozhikode & New Delhi with Riyadh
nasair, the Saudi
carrier owned by private aviation group, National Air Services (NAS
Holding), plans to connect Kochi, Kozhikode and New Delhi in the coming
months. The airline, which commenced Indian operations with four flights a
week on Mumbai ─ Riyadh route from beginning of April is likely to commence
three flights a week on Kochi ─ Riyadh route from June 1, 2010, four flights
a week between Kozhikode ─ Riyadh starting July 1, 2010 and three flights a
week on New Delhi ─ Riyadh route from August 1, 2010.
For more details click here
Top
ASSOCIATION
India wins the bid to host PATA Travel Mart
2011
India has won
the bid to host the PATA Annual Meeting 2011 in New Delhi, which was
announced during the PATA Annual Meeting 2010, at Borneo Convention Centre
Kuching, Malaysia. The opening event of the calendar year 2011 will provide
a great opportunity to exhibit the state-of-the-art infrastructure, new
hotel capacity and other major attractions of destination India post the
Commonwealth Games. Ministry of Tourism will host a welcome dinner on
September 17 at Macau to invite all PATA members to join the 2011 Mart in
New Delhi.
For more details click here
Top
EXHIBITION
ITB Asia 2010 to receive 700 exhibitors from
60 countries
The third edition
of ITB Asia, which is taking place from October 20-22, 2010 in Singapore
will be attended by 700 exhibitors from 60 countries and 700 hosted buyers
from 47 countries. In 2009, the number of exhibitors and buyers were 650 and
600 respectively. Speaking at a press conference held in New Delhi, Nino
Gruettke, executive director, Messe Berlin, Singapore, informed that the
show will focus more on MICE tourism sector this year. In the meanwhile, ITB
Asia has already signed an agreement with different MICE tourism related
associations across the world. He is also expecting about 6500 trade
visitors in this year’s show. A significant number of exhibitors and buyers
are being expected from India.
For more details click here
Top
HOTEL
The Park Hotels launches its first property
in Hyderabad
The Park Hotels
has launched its first hotel in Hyderabad on April 22, which is located
adjacent to the Hussain Sagar Lake. With a total investment of Rs 340 crore,
this new 270 room flagship property is the ninth addition to the Apeejay
Surrendra Park Hotels’ collection of boutique hotels. The Park, Hyderabad is
a LEED GOLD certified green hotel by the US Green Building Council. It
maintains low outdoor heat absorption, high acoustic levels, minimal
emission levels, energy-efficient lighting, and utilises natural lighting to
maximum potential, among other sustainable practices.
For more details click here
Top
NTO
South African Tourism to commence 'Learn South
Africa' programme for Indian travel trade in 12 cities from July 10
The South
African Tourism (SAT) will kickstart its destination training programme
called ‘Learn South Africa’ targetted especially for the Indian trade to
help the trade grow business. The unique programme designed to train the
travel agents fraternity is exclusively designed by SAT for the India
market, and will be available nationally starting July 2010. The programme
will use audio-video tools by specially trained staff, helping them get
better knowledge and understanding about South Africa as a destination and
all its various tourist attractions.
For more details click here
Top
Singapore Tourism Board to expand its
presence in India with marketing representatives in Chennai and Bengaluru
In a strategic move to expand its
footprint in India, the Singapore Tourism Board will appoint marketing
representatives in the southern cities of Chennai and Bengaluru. These
representatives will assist the Singapore Tourism Board in promoting
Singapore as a destination for leisure, business travel, MICE and education.
As the tourism board’s representatives, they will be responsible for
business development, market intelligence, marketing plans, marketing
communications, promotions and partnerships. The tender exercise is open
from May 3-19, 2010.
For more details click here
Top
STATE
Air travel to North-Eastern region exempted
from service tax
While replying to the
debate on finance bill-2010 in Lok Sabha, Pranab Mukherjee, Union minister
of finance, announced that domestic air travel to and from the North-Eastern
sector would be exempt from levy on air travel. The travel trade had been
apprehensive about the adverse fall out on the civil aviation sector of the
levy on air travel, which would make air travel prohibitive, ever since
Pranab Mukherjee, Union minister of finance had proposed imposition of
service tax on international and domestic air passengers in the Union
Budget.
For more details click here
Top
Delhi Government extends mandatory
registration policy deadline till June 30
Delhi Government
has extended the date of mandatory registration policy for all travel trade
operators in the NCT region till 30 June 2010. The original date fixed by
the government for submission of applications for license in the tourism
department was March 31, 2010, which was then subsequently revised to April
30, 2010 on behest of the representations made by the various travel trade
associations in India.
For more details click here
Top
TRAVEL PORTAL
MakeMyTrip launches another B2B portal to strengthen its
footprint
MakeMyTrip
has launched Apnaagent.com, a new separate B2B platform to strengthen and
expand its B2B channel. Apnaagent.com in order to provide agents with easy
access to exclusive partnership benefits, tie-ups with India’s leading
travel portal and provide them with exclusively designed benefits. This new
platform will also help us cater to the needs of the growing number of
smaller agents that we are working with.
For more details click here
Top
|
