EXHIBITION

International Film Festival of India scheduled for November 23-December 3 in Goa to partner with MOT, India to promote ‘Incredible India’ campaign on international level
 
The 42nd edition of the International Film Festival of India scheduled for November 23-December 3 in Goa will partner with the Ministry of Tourism, India to promote ‘Incredible India’ campaign on an international level. The festival, from 2011, also aims for a large-scale public participation, to ensure inclusiveness and local flavour. The 11-day film fiesta will have film makers coming from across the world, presenting their films at the festival. The festival will screen a range of films from around the world — various international award winners, film festival favourites, critics choices and box office hits in its International Competition and Cinema of the World Sections.
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MOT

Subodh Kant Sahai asks Indian businessmen in Russia to invest in country’s tourism sector, promises MOT’s total support
 
Addressing members of the Indo-Russian Business Alliance in Moscow recently, Sahai has invited the Indian businessmen to invest in India’s tourism sector. He said that the Prime Minister has taken a lead in the tourism field, as this is the largest poverty-alleviating industry. Sahai was in Moscow attending the Leisure 2011 Exhibition. Drawing attention to the shortage of hotels in India, Sahai informed that India needs at least 4,00,000 budget rooms. He assured the Indian businessmen of his total support. Subodh Kant Sahai, Minister of Tourism, Government of India, while addressing the members of the Indo-Russian Business Alliance in Moscow recently informed that the Russian market to India is increasing impressively. He informed that 1,20,000 Russian tourists have visited India this year, which was a 30 per cent increase over the previous year. In order to further grow the Russian market, the Minister has also promised to open a new tourism office in Moscow this year.
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MOT launches campaign to prevent exploitation and to promote safe tourism
 
With an aim to ensure international standards of safe tourism practices, Ministry of Tourism has finalised an action plan for an aggressive awareness campaign in certain ‘vulnerable’ destinations in India including a five day training programme for service providers. Destinations like Pahargunj in Delhi, selective places in Goa, Kerala and North East are likely to be identified in the first phase for focussed awareness campaign involving service providers.
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J&K receives 6.5 lac Amarnath Yatris with 1.3 million visitors to the valley and an estimated 21,000 foreign tourist arrivals in the state till now
 
Jammu & Kashmir has been receiving good incoming tourist traffic following the peace the state is observing. It has catapulted the tourist numbers in the state in comparison to last year with 6.5 lac Amarnath Yatris visited this year, told NN Vohra, Hon’ble Governor of the state. It was also noted that 1.3 million visitors came to the valley with an estimated 21,000 foreign tourist arrivals in the state.
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TECHNOLOGY


Indiahotelreview.com re-brands itself to expand further through external funding
 
Noida based OTA, Indiahotelreview.com (IHR) has re-branded itself to present budget destinations, weekend and pilgrimage packages on October 1, 2011. The portal has a strong base of 2,000 hotels from Tier-I cities and 9,000 from Tier-II and below cities. According to Ankit Rastogi, Co-Founder and Business Head of the travel portal, the company is trying to tap 80 per cent segment of domestic travellers who look at lesser known destinations and budget accommodations of INR 1,500 or below to stay in. “The demand is high for these options which are solely focussed towards weekend and pilgrimage segments, which is our strength,” he said. The company now looks to expand its network further and is open to external funding.
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Expedia Travel Agents Affiliate Programme gets better with new deals for their registered agents
 
Effective October 1, 2011, all the registered agents under Expedia Travel Agents Affiliate Programme (TAAP) will earn 10 per cent or more on Land content and 1.5 per cent on Air content for Expedia package bookings for all the airlines including low cost carrier. Conversely Expedia will stop paying commission on bookings for stand-alone flights. The Expedia TAAP partners with Bricks and Mortar Travel Agents offers commission for bookings made through the Expedia website. Carriers such as AirAsia (which will be exclusive on Expedia apart from AirAsia’s own website) and many other carriers are creating new destinations every day. Through packages, heavily discounted land content is available at these new ports as well as established destinations. Expedia offers access to numerous carriers which are not available through traditional GDS channels so this is a great additional option for agents.
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Sri Lanka to scrap ‘Visa-on-Arrival’ for 78 countries including India effective January 1, 2012
 
With effect from January 1, 2012, Sri Lanka will scrap the ‘Visa-on-Arrival’ system applicable to 78 countries including India (except Singaporean and Maldivian nationals) to streamline the issuance of travel documentation due to the abuse of on-arrival-visa policy by many foreign nationals. The new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system will issue visas at US$ 50 a person for a 30-day stay with double entry and will enable the authorities to track down any foreigner who will overstay in the country.
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India-Pakistan to launch liberal business visa scheme by next month
 
With an aim to improve business travel between India and Pakistan, both the countries have agreed to work towards introducing a liberalised business visa regime and launch it by next month. The new business visa scheme will allow multiple entries to business travellers and could be valid till a period of one year.
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