Hawaii Tourism Association appoints tourism Ambassador in India- immediaterelease.net

After recently appointing international tourism Ambassadors in Colombia and Singapore, the Hawaii Tourism Association (HiTA) today appointed Mr. Jayesh Ashar of Pearls Tevels as it's tourism Ambassador based in Delhi, India.

The Indian market is one of the fastest-growing outgoing markets in the world, and the potential is tremendous for the Hawaii tourism industry. India enjoys good airlinks, both east and westbound. Besides Air India, United Airlines, Delta, Jet Airways, and most European carriers and air alliances service US gateways with easy access to Hawaii. Also Middle East airlines Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, and other Middle East carriers have excellent one-stop connections to US gateways both east and west bound. Korean Airlines, Japan Airlines, and ANA also offer one-stop connections to Honolulu.

Indian travelers love to go to the US, said HiTA President Juergen T. Steinmetz, when pre-announcing the appointment during PATA Travel Mart in Delhi last week. He said: “I personally think the potential could surplus the China potential. English is spoken in India, and there is an ever-growing population of middle-class Indian travelers who enjoy exploring the world, with millionaires added to the potential every day.

“Indians are demanding travelers. They expect a fair value for their money, and Hawaii needs some training and education to please Indian tourists to Hawaii. HiTA is ready to provide this training together with US commercial services and our newly-appointed tourism Ambassador to India. I spoke with Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu recently, and they loved the idea of doing Indian weddings on their resort property. Indian weddings are celebrated not only for some hours, but for a full week with large groups of family and friends attending."

HiTA Ambassador Jayesh Ashar stated: “It was a pleasure indeed to have Juergen Steinmetz in Delhi, and I am honored to be appointed as a HiTA Ambassador. We discussed ideas to push Hawaii as a preferred destination for high-end India travelers.

“Travel Representation India [TRI] is extremely excited and honored to be appointed as the HiTA Ambassador for India. We believe the Indian market will be extremely lucrative for HiTA members and the destination in general.”

TRI has the following plans for marketing the destinations to the Indian market:

- Appoint 5 to 6 Preferred Sales Agents (PSA) in India to distribute the products in the B2C market through TRI.

- Send regular Hawaii promotional e-flyers to 5,000 agents in India.

- Invite HiTA members to road shows in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore, Chennai, and Kolkatta). TRI will host a few selected travel agents from neighboring cities to attend the road shows.

- Carry out advertisements in selected trade publications in India, with a maximum of 12 half-page ads in a year.

- Send the PSA network plus 2 media members on a familiarization trip to Hawaii.

- Push the film industry to carry out film shoots in Hawaii to promote the destination to the masses.

“We think the upcoming honeymoon season from November 2011 to March 2012, followed by school holidays from early April 2012 would be an opportune time to start targeting the B2B and B2C market segments,” Jayesh Ashar concluded.

Crosswoods holidays 2011

Goa Tourism Moves Beyond Beaches

Panaji, Sep 17 (IANS): If you feel Goa is all about beaches, think again. The custodians of tourism here are going for new hooks.


The tourism industry here plans to aggressively pitch the state as a destination with "hidden treasures" during the Goa International Tourism Mart (GITM) which gets under way next month.


GITM 2011, whose theme is 'Unearth The Hidden Treasures Of Goa', will see tourism and travel industry representatives from the world over.


They will be shown largely untouched tourism interest points such as heritage, spice farms, river cruises, spas and the tropical rainforests the state is blessed with.


"Goa is placed firmly on the global travel map. The first edition of GITM held last year spearheaded its growth further, bringing better opportunities to the travel and tourism trade," says Melvyn Vaz, managing director, Goa Tourism and Development Corporation (GTDC), which is organizing the event.


"GITM 2011, unlike other state-driven travel exhibitions that focus only on one state, will promote the entire western coast of India, bringing together many states on a common platform," the organizers said.


According to Vaz, an aggressive marketing strategy had been crafted to attract over 2,500 visitors to the event.


"The target is to have 450 hosted buyers, including a large number of international hosted buyers," he said.


Major Indian associations like the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) have confirmed participation.
He added that industry leaders, including Incredible India mastermind Amitabh Kant and Kuoni India managing director Rajiv Duggal, will be among speakers at the event.
Rika Jean-François, Sales Director for South Asia & Pacific, Internationale Tourismus-Borse (ITB), Berlin, a major event in global tourism and a GITM partner, said that issues like sustainable tourism development would be addressed.


"Consideration of ecological as well as social aspects has become a must along the tourism supply chain," Rika said. "A seminar will deal with its importance."


The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has backed the event. "GITM offers a perfect platform for local entrepreneurs to network with global firms and forge positive alliances," GCCI president Manguirish Pai-Raikar said.


Revenue estimates of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa suggest that the tourism industry provides Rs.850 crore to the Goa government annually.



Crosswoods holidays 2011

Maharashtra gains top position in India State Ranking Survey 2011 by HVS - Travel Biz Monitor

Maharashtra has bagged the top position in India State Ranking Survey 2011 conducted by HVS, the world’s leading hospitality consulting and services organisation. The study, which was released recently, also mentions about Goa, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, apart from Maharashtra in the top five slots. The report has taken into account 29 states including Delhi and has omitted the Union Territories. It has taken eleven parameters to evaluate the different states. These parameters have been weighted to reflect their influence and/or impact on the hospitality industry.

According to a press release, the objective of the study is to identify the states in India that have a holistically supportive environment for a hotel to operate in. The travel and tourism industry is subject to numerous constraints and this survey aims at identifying some of the gaps in the industry and highlights initiatives and efforts (or lack thereof) by the different state governments in India.

“We hope that this effort will inspire the state governments and particularly the political leadership therein to do more for tourism. Perhaps the central government - through the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India - can start using these rankings as a reward to those states that have done well and have moved up the rankings when compared to our previous report. We also hope that the respective authorities would use this to identify ways and areas in which they can help the states that have not performed well,” said Manav Thadani, MRICS, Chairman, HVS South Asia.

Karnataka has witnessed the largest increase in rank, moving from twelfth place in 2009 to fourth place in the current edition. This is primarily due to two parameters: State Expenditure on Tourism and Effectiveness of Marketing Campaign. Karnataka increased its budgetary provision for travel and tourism from 0.03 per cent to 0.22 per cent and its results are evident as the state's website popularity has increased by seven ranks.

Tamil Nadu has fallen from first place in 2009 to fourth place this year. While it still continues to do well in most parameters, the state has reduced its budgetary provisions for travel and tourism. Furthermore, it scores low on Luxury Tax on hotels and its website popularity has dropped by three ranks.

Maharashtra, Delhi and Goa score high by virtue of being key commercial and leisure destinations in the country that have the necessary infrastructure and tourist arrivals to support hotel operations. States that have seen the largest variance since the last edition of this report include Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh.

The report states that some states have emerged as pleasant surprises while others have been a disappointment due to their lack of attention towards tourism. The report aims to encourages state governments to allocate more resources towards travel and tourism and realise the full potential of the industry.

The tables below summarise the key points outlined in this report:

Table 1 - Identified Parameters and Assigned Weights

Parameters Assigned	Weight	Impact
Luxury Tax on Hotels	25	High
State Expenditure on Tourism	25	High
Tourist Arrivals	20	High
Presence of Branded Hotel Rooms	10	Medium
GDP Per Capita	10	Medium
Effectiveness of Marketing Campaign	10	Medium
Urbanisation	10	Medium
Road and Railway Infrastructure	10	Medium
Aircraft Movement	10	Medium
Literacy Rates	5	Low
Intangible Aspects	15	Medium
Total	150

Table 2 – Consolidated Rankings

	Total	Rank	Rank
	150	2011	2009	Variance
Maharashtra	105.5	1	4	3
Goa	101.0	2	3	1
Delhi	100.0	3	6	3
Tamil Nadu	91.0	4	1	-3
Karnataka	91.0	4	12	8
Kerala	87.0	6	2	-4
Gujarat	85.0	7	9	2
Uttarakhand	82.0	8	7	-1
Sikkim	81.0	9	8	-1
Jammu & Kashmir	79.5	10	5	-5
Punjab	78.0	11	15	4
Uttar Pradesh	75.5	12	19	7
Rajasthan	74.5	13	11	-2
West Bengal	72.5	14	13	-1
Andhra Pradesh	72.0	15	10	-5
Haryana	68.5	16	21	5
Himachal Pradesh	67.0	17	17	0
Madhya Pradesh	65.5	18	15	-3
Bihar	63.0	19	19	0
Orissa	57.5	20	17	-3
Mizoram	57.0	21	22	1
Arunachal Pradesh	53.0	22	14	-8
Nagaland	49.5	23	22	-1
Tripura	49.5	23	28	5
Jharkhand	48.5	25	24	-1
Manipur	47.5	26	25	-1
Assam	41.5	27	26	-1
Chhattisgarh	40.5	28	27	-1
Meghalaya	34.5	29	29	0

Crosswoods holidays 2011

Sabre to Launch World's First B2B App Centre for Travel Industry

SOUTHLAKE, Texas(BUSINESS WIRE) -- 

Sabre Travel Network announced today that it is building the world's first B2B application store for the travel industry. Scheduled to open in the coming months, the Sabre Red App Centre will be the first online marketplace to connect travel buyers, including travel agencies, travel management companies and leisure operators, with third party developers.

Sabre Travel Network is a global travel technology company, delivering innovative solutions that make it easy for travel buyers to shop, book and manage travel, and allow travel suppliers to effectively reach buyers through Sabre's global distribution system (GDS).

"The Sabre Red App Centre will open up a new world of possibilities for the travel industry and bring endless opportunities for creative and original applications to be brought to the market quickly," said Greg Webb, president of Sabre Travel Network. "Our agency customers will be able to improve their business and deliver enhanced services for travelers by tapping into the collective creativity of Red App developers from all over the world."

The Red App Centre will include Sabre-certified Red Apps built by third party developers, travel buyers and Sabre. The Red App Centre will connect to the Sabre Red Workspace, launched last year for travel agents to book and manage business and leisure travel. As a result, travel buyers will be able to easily shop for a wide range of applications that best meet their needs and then quickly deploy those applications down to the individual user. The selected Red Apps become part of the agent's workspace, leveraging the administrative controls and plug-in capabilities of the Eclipse Rich Client Platform, upon which the Red Workspace is built.

The Red App Centre provides current Sabre Authorized Developers a marketplace to promote and sell their certified Red Apps to Sabre-connected agencies globally, while at the same time providing a platform and business model to attract new developers to the industry. In addition to developing new Red Apps, developers will realize new sales opportunities by converting existing applications to Red Apps that will plug seamlessly into the Red Workspace. At launch, developers will be able to tap into more than 155,000 Sabre Red Workspace users in more than 116 countries.

Developers will use the Sabre Red App Developer Toolkit to create the Red Apps, and in the fourth quarter, Sabre will host a 'Developer Challenge' for developers around the world to compete to build the most innovative, break-through Red Apps.

"Every year, Sabre invests hundreds of millions of dollars and works closely with more than 130 authorized developers to research and develop new products that help our customers compete and win in a complex industry," said Webb. "Creating an online B2B marketplace will spur a whole new level of innovation for the benefit of Sabre connected agencies globally."

Travel buyers and developers can learn more at SabreRedAppCentre.com.

About Sabre Travel Network

Sabre Travel Network provides technology solutions to the global travel industry. It operates the world's largest travel marketplace, connecting travel buyers and sellers through the Sabre global distribution system (GDS). Its innovative software connects more than 350,000 travel professionals to more than 400 airlines, 93,000 hotels, 25 car rental brands, 50 rail providers, 13 cruise lines and other global travel suppliers. More than 300 million people purchase airline tickets through this channel annually.

Sabre Travel Network is part of Sabre Holdings, a global travel technology company serving the world's largest industry- travel and tourism. Its innovative technology is used by more than a billion people around the world to plan, book and get to their destination at a time and price that's right for them. For more information, please visit: www.sabre.com .

SOURCE: Sabre Travel Network

        
        Sabre Holdings 
        Heidi Castle, 682-605-4290 
        Mob: 214-681-8169 
        heidi.castle@sabre.com 
        or 
        Edelman for Sabre 
        Meredith McKee, 214-443-7555 
        Mob: 214-577-5896 
        meredith.mckee@edelman.com
        

Crosswoods holidays 2011

Celebrating Adventure Tourism Year

DECLARING 2011 AS ADVENTURE TOURISM YEAR WILL NO DOUBT REVIVE THE THEME OF ADVENTURE TOURISM, BUT WE NEED TO CELEBRATE IT NOT JUST IN LETTER, BUT IN SPIRIT TOO, WRITES MUHAMMAD YUSUF

Declaration of 2011 as the ‘Year of Adventure Tourism’ by the Tourism Ministry of Jammu and Kashmir state was a step in right direction towards revival and development of adventure and recreation tourism in the state but half of the year has already passed and non of the celebration events have been organised.


It was expected that the Ministry  will arrange seminars, sympsiums, meets, adventure training camps, adventure expos and festivals, distribute informative brochures, fix hoardings at focal points within and outside the state, organise trekking programmes for local youth and conduct international rafting championship at Sonamarg etc. during this festive year.


Astonishingly this very important sector of our tourism industry received big setback in Jammu and Kashmir particularly in Kashmir and Kishtwar Himalayas during last two decades because all the mountain sports activities came stand still and  remained restricted here during this period. The inflow of adventurers  considerably fell which badly dent upon our economy.


Adventure Tourism was in fact operative in J&K since time immemorial. The scores of foreign and national mountaineering and  trekking expeditions were regularly attempting our virgin and challenging peaks much before independence. Not many know that Lord John Hunt first climbed Mount.  Kolahoi in Kashmir and later he led the first successful Everest expedition in 1952. Kolahoi was his favorite peak and was recommending Europeans to Kashmir Himalayas for seeking high adventures here.  Our state has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the development of snow and water skiing in India during British Raj. Similarly, the J&K Ski and Mountaineering Association has done a commendable pioneering work in introducing Paragliding and Ski-mountaineering in early eighties.  Col N. Kumar, a famous climber, led first-ever white water rafting expedition on the treacherous waters of river Indus in Ladakh in mid-seventies. Surprisingly our neighboring Himalayan states could find opportunity to hijack all these out door pursuits due to our negligence. They gladly adopted adventure tourism and is now flourishing it there.  The reason for decline of adventure tourism in Kashmir is perhaps due to the prolonged turmoil, the wrong policies adopted by our tourism ministry and the callous attitude of Union Tourism Ministry.


The concept of tourism has altogether changed in the modern times. People earlier used to wander from one place to another with the intention either to undertake pilgrimage or explore different cultures and places but today Adventure Tourism has become increasingly popular amongst the youth all over the world. The youth today has the desire to explore new and virgin areas, know more about unknown places, and reach to the highest and lowest points of the blue planet. They dare to face all odds and challenges of life boldly. They venture out in deep sea, fly high in the air, run down the treacherous running rivers, climb difficult and virgin peaks, ski down impossible snow terrains, undertake bungee jumps into deep gorges and undertake many other extreme adventures. They are now gladly accepting all challenges of the nature, because a trip to mountains has a soothing effect on soul. There may be number of reasons as to why people today take to Mountain Sports but I think the most appropriate is that they are “fully alive on the high altitudes or in the depths of the sea”.


The mountain Sports were previously simply considered  adventure outdoor pursuits but the influence of competition has made adventure more popular. This is another reason as why youth take up to adventure. The mountaineers are attempting more and more high peaks through more difficult and challenging routes in shortest possible time and set records. Similarly someone is trying to run down the high graded treacherous rivers and someone is trying to fly in the air for longer periods. Competitions are also held in many adventure sports at state, national and international levels.  Adventure Tourism has in fact today gained world-wide recognition as an activity.


At this juncture our Tourism Ministry and other tourism players have a vital role to play. They have to be more responsive and more dedicative. Merely dedicating the year 2011 as the "Year of Adventure Tourism" is not enough. It will not help state unless the long term policies for development of adventure are formulated and the stakeholders are taken into confidence by the Government. There is need of encouraging the private sector and giving them incentives instead of charging them huge royalty by Tourism Development Authorities for operating adventure activities in their domian. There is also need of setting up the J&K Adventure Tour Operators Association which would act as mediator between the Government and adventure tour operators. There is also need of monitoring the working of all the Government tourism agencies like Tourism Departments, JKTDC and Tourism Development Authorities and other tourism players. Those who fail to deliver should be put to task. There is also need of creating and patronizing new adventure related products which we could offer to the intended tourists.


There is need of reviewing the functioning of the Tourism Development Authorities. The working of some Development Authorities is observed not satisfactory for some time. Since adventure is a risk taking segment of tourism so most of these authorities are discouraging them. Some Development Authorities have  turned into commercial institutions. Instead of encouraging adventure tourism in their areas they put the adventure related tourism activities to tender and charge huge royalty to adventure tour operators, which is not healthy step. We have high scope of promoting adventure related activities at several places like Sonamarg, Gurez, and Drass etc but these ramained out of focus of the Government.
Sonamarg was considered the play field of adventure sports. It has the potential of holding all kinds of adventures like rafting, kayaking, climbing, trekking, ski-touring, camping, grass skiing, orienteering, scree running, paragliding and riding etc. It has the potential of becoming the world class Adventure Park. There is possibility of holding Adventure Expos here but the resort  always remained out of focus of the authorities, though the present Chief Minister shows deep concern for  development of adventure.   Felling of gree jungle and construction of concrete jungle is at its peak at Sonamarg. A person who has some adventure background should be deputed here as Chief Executive Officer.  


Some years back the Kashmir University and Tourism Department were organizing rock-climbing courses for the youth at Kud in Patnitop area. The granite rocks were ideal for teaching climbing to the novices there. But alas!  the Patnitop Development Authority could not protect these rocks. The greedy people broke them into pieces for construction purposes. While training youth to adventure or providing pleasure rides to tourists one must ensure professional competence, adequate safety and proper infrastructure. There is need of encouraging these healthy outdoor pursuits among our youth through Schools, Colleges, Universities, voluntary Clubs, Associations and NGOs. Not only imparting training in adventure but the participants must be aware about preservation of flora and fauna and of the state.


The organizing agencies must have the acquaintance with First-aid, rescue work, high altitude sickness, navigation, survival in the mountains Only those tour operators should be permitted to operate adventure who possess ample knowledge and have proper equipment. The borrowed equipment should not be allowed which could sometimes prove very  fatal.


Merely dedicating the year 2011 to adventure tourism can no way help state promote adventure and recreation tourism unless necessary steps are not taken in the right direction. There is need to develop trained manpower who could work as guides and instructors, develop modern infrastructure, explore new and virgin areas, clean mass on rocks at hill resorts, aware people about the incentives, provided by the Government from time to time, develop  base camps and construct shelter huts in Lidder and sindh valleys etc.


(The author is Adventure Tour Consultant at Adventure Call Tours and Travels and bloger. He can be followed at http//vilsion-kashmir.blogspot.com or mailed at myusuf05@hotmail.com or called at 9419707307)

Crosswoods holidays 2011

India to hold International Tourism Exhibition next year

A conclave of countries having large Buddhist population will also be held in India in next year January/February to give a boost to the Buddhist Tourism.

India will hold its first ever International Tourism Exhibition on “ Global Travel Mart – India” next year. This was announced by Union Tourism Minister,  Subodh Kant Sahai in a press conference, here today. He said many foreign countries will participate in this exhibition.

The Minister said this will help in showcasing India’s Tourism potential to the world. He said Ministry of Tourism also plans to hold a conference of Tourism Minister of various countries who have signed MoU with India. This conference will also be held in India. A conclave of countries having large Buddhist population will also be held in India in next year January/February to give a boost to the Buddhist Tourism.

Sahai stressed upon to improve the connectivity between the nations and destinations to facilitate the tourist exchange Stressing upon the importance of close cooperation between the Tourism authorities and industries, the Minister said the tourists authorities can build infrastructure, do basic promotion and marketing but the ultimate results could depend upon the facts how active the Tourism industry is promote various destinations and tourism per se.

Sahai said India today receives approximately 0.5% of International Tourist Arrivals. Ministry has set an objective to increase our share in the International Tourist Arrivals to 1% by the end of 12th Five Year Plan. This will take tourist arrival from 5.5. million to almost 12 million tourists.

Crosswoods holidays 2011

Singapore's new immigration policy makes work permits tougher for Indian workers with middle-level skills- THE ECONOMIC TIMES

The recent National Day Rally speech by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, where he talked about tightening of norms for foreign workers with middle-level skills, has raised concerns over Singapore removing the welcome mat for Indians.

"The middle, the lower middle level - foreigners are here, many on employment pass. Singaporeans are working - they are probably graduates or diploma holders, not hard up, not unskilled but not so confident of themselves that they are ready for unrestrained competition... I think at this middle level, we need to tighten a little bit further," is what the Singapore Prime Minister said in his speech.

The policy announcement is seen as the first step to rein in the unchecked inflow of foreign workers and to address the concern of the local workforce. The expats in Singapore are, in fact, not very surprised over the announcement since the government had warned about tougher immigration norms. Further, there are likely to be more changes in the policy requirements for foreign workers in the coming months.

Tougher for the Mid-segment

Under the new rules, the details of which have been unveiled by Singapore's ministry of manpower, starting January 2012, foreigners seeking employment in Singapore, in certain categories, will find it tougher to get work permits. The changes will apply to Q1 pass holders, which is the lowest category of employment passes, who have to earn at least S$3,000, up from the current S$2,800. The qualifying salary for P2 employment pass will go up from S$4,000 to S$4,500.

So is there reason for Indians to worry? "We can expect a moderate impact on Indian workers who apply under the Q1 and P2 categories. These are middle-level professional, managerial, engineering and technical talents. Although accurate figures are not available, Indians do comprise a significant portion of the foreign talent in this segment," says Satish Bakhda, manager with Rikvin Group, a firm which specialises in immigration and visa services.

However, typically, workers from India come with better qualifications and complement the local talent; therefore they command a relatively better salary. "The objective of the change in regulations is to tighten the eligibility requirements for entering lower and mid-level jobs. The more stringent requirements will include better educational qualifications and higher qualifying salaries. This will eventually have positive impact on the economy of Singapore," says Vijay Bajaj, principal, Positive Moves Consulting, an HR and executive search firm.

The changes are also likely to impact small and medium enterprises. With global slowdown already affecting many of them, the minimum salary threshold, will push up wage cost. Indian companies in Singapore, apart from employing significant number of local workers also employ foreign workers, especially from India.

Small companies like those engaged in trading or services with less than 10 employees are likely to tighten their recruitment process. Nina Alag Suri, president & CEO of executive search company Nastrac Group, doesn't see the new rules making a very big difference for highly skilled Indian workers.

"The Singapore government is being more selective than before in granting employment permits to foreigners and their requirements have been made more stringent with regards to education qualifications, type of college/university, experience etc. If a company feels the person has the required skills, the additional salary requirement is not going to be a deal breaker," she says. For now, the highly skilled professionals from India - especially in the IT and banking sectors - probably don't have a reason to worry. 

Crosswoods holidays 2011

James Bond Movie To Give Big Boost To Gujarat Tourism

The next James Bond movie has excited Gujarat tourism industry. The James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig will shoot in Gujarat that will boost tourism industry.


The unnamed film currently being called Bond 23 will be filmed in several parts of India including Gujarat. There would a action scene shot in Konkan Railways at Sabarmati. Another place being considered is a small town Navagam near Ahmedabad that has Torrent Power limited, ONGC and IOC installations. According to some media reports these installations will play a major part in the movie.

The next James Bond movie will give Gujarat tourism ministry a great chance to promote state around the world. The movie will be watched was people around the world that could potentially increase some interest towards Gujarat.

Although there is some hurdle for the film in Gujarat. Western Railways is not keen to give extremely busy rail line in Gujarat to the producer for shooting. However production is confident to solve out the issue with possible alternative railway line.

I believe Gujarat tourism should contact the producers and ask them to shoot movie in some other locations of Gujarat as well. This could further help tourism in Gujarat. The film needs to show some top attractions of Gujarat in the backdrop to keep tourists interested.


Crosswoods holidays 2011