About India Outbound Magazine
India Outbound, a bi-monthly print magazine with dynamic web and social media presence focused on outbound travel from India, is published by Media India Group. Distributed all over India, and in all the top tourism events across the world, India Outbound caters mainly to the tourism professionals and is looking to develop new and innovative circuits and promote new destinations to the high-end travellers.
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Sri Lanka tourism conducts roadshow in South India
Sri Lanka for the sea, the nature, the food, the culture or the casinos, the choice is yours, says Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) as it completed its roadshow in the South Indian market from August 14-16 in Chennai and Kochi.
The Sri Lankan delegation was led by John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism, Sri Lanka. “South India is our immediate neighbour and there has been a natural flow of tourists from this area to Sri Lanka. We have so much to offer to Indians, beyond the Ramayana Trail, such as adventure activities to notably tap the growing millennials in India,” Amaratunga told India Outbound Magazine while commenting on the Indian tourists arrival to Sri Lanka. India remains Sri Lanka’s largest market as about 400,000 Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2018.
“MICE and business travels have boosted the growth this year. SriLankan airlines offer exclusive services for business travellers. The airline was also nominated for the second time, the most punctual airline,” said S P Mohan, manager, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka at SriLankan Airlines.
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Flights resume at Hong Kong airport
Hong Kong International airport, one of Asia’s busiest airports resumed its flight services on August 14 after being grounded for two days due to the protests going on in the country. On Monday (August 11) all flights in and out of Hong Kong were cancelled and all flights not checked-in by Monday afternoon were grounded.
Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the airport due to the protests as many as 180 outgoing flights were cancelled. The situation also affected the incoming flights as many people use the airport as a transit point too. The passengers were left disgruntled due to lack of information about their flights.
On the resuming of services at the airport on August 14, protestors released a statement apologizing to air travellers for causing delays.
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TAT launches Give Me 5 off-peak season shopping campaign
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a new shopping campaign, Give Me 5, to entice an additional 200,000 visitors from India and six ASEAN countries during the off-peak season of July-September.
The campaign will target families, women and incentive groups from 19 cities in India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia, which are served by TAT’s campaign partner airlines, Thai Airways International and Thai Smile Airways.
Visitors travelling on the partner airlines on any of their flights between now and September 30, 2019, will be eligible to receive discounts of 5-50 pc on a broad range of products and services along with many other privileges at the campaign’s partner retail shopping outlets, The Mall Group, Central Group and the Ratchprasong Business District Association in Bangkok.
To overcome the baggage weight restrictions, the partner airlines will give the shoppers an extra allowance of five kilograms per person on the return sector to their home cities.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said, “The ‘Give Me 5’ tactical campaign is being launched in countries which have their school holidays and a number of long weekends during these off-peak months. It is expected to generate an estimated 200,000 visitors and THB 6.2 billion in additional revenue.
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Taiwan Tourism Bureau gets on track with the Mumbai Metro
The Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) has partnered with the Mumbai Metro, a rapid transit system serving the city of Mumbai, to expand awareness of Taiwan as a destination and promote tourism. Trust Lin, director, TTB, Singapore Office, flagged off the train wrapped in colourful campaign images from the Versova Metro Station in Mumbai.
Featuring photos of web-series stars, Sumeet Vyas and Sapna Pabbi on vacation in Taiwan, the vibrant imagery highlights the variety of holiday experiences offered by Taiwan, ‘The Heart of Asia’, as well as its rich history and scenic beauty. This special Mumbai Metro train will run from August 1 for a month.
This campaign is part of TTB’s continued efforts to raise awareness among Indian travellers and increase the number of Indian visitors to Taiwan. Also Indian nationals who hold a residency or valid visa for the US, Canada, the Schengen states, the UK, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand or Australia are now entitled to a free Taiwan visa, which can easily be applied for online. TTB, together with Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, are also offering some special fares and transit offers for travellers to Taiwan.
While talking about the marketing initiatives, Trust Lin said, “We want our Indian friends to recognize Taiwan’s beauty. Taiwan is an untapped territory with umpteen opportunities for travellers to explore and has witnessed an exponential growth of Indian tourists lately. With its close proximity to India, it is an ideal getaway for the Indian traveller with great options for adventure, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events), family fun, golf, romance and wellness.”
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Travel smart with the Seychelles Islands mobile application
Seychelles Travel Guide, the official mobile application of Seychelles Tourism Board, is your key to the holiday of a lifetime. Seychelles has so much more than sun, sea and sand; and while you plan your getaway to these islands, this app will be a perfect guide for all activities, attractions, accommodations and tourism services provided in the archipelago.
The app has some amazing features like the ability to share information with friends and family on Facebook, an interactive map, navigational guide, currency converter among many others. It helps you find information on various attractions, activities, hotels, restaurants and many more including their prices, opening hours, contact information and pictures. You also get an interactive map to guide you while you are in Seychelles.
The travel guide is available in multiple languages and creates personalized itineraries for your trip, based on your trip’s duration and interests, be it diving, sailing, nature or others. You can also call the DMCs listed on the app for customized itineraries.
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Mauritius Tourism conducts travel agents workshop and media interaction
Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) India in collaboration with Air Mauritius conducted a travel agents workshop and media interaction in New Delhi on August 6, 2019. Mauritian partners were six DMCs and seven hotel companies. While talking about the future marketing plans, Vivek Anand country manager, MTPA said, “We will continue promoting Mauritius as a MICE, Wedding, Honeymoon, Adventure, Golf, Family and Film destination in 2019. He added, “Indians visiting Mauritius are increasingly looking for ‘different experiences’ through a varied range of activities. In order to increase the visibility of Mauritius to the trade and MICE partners, “MTPA India will conduct trade presentations and seminars in all major cities, informed Anand.
Gagan Sharma, sales and marketing manager – North & East India & Nepal, Air Mauritius mentioned that they have four flights from Mumbai, two from Delhi and one flight each from Chennai and Bengaluru every week. A third weekly flight from Delhi is being added from November. The event was attended by around 180 travel agents and media persons.
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Indonesia tourism organises a roadshow in India
To promote Indonesia in the Indian tourism market the Ministry of Tourism of Republic of Indonesia (MoTRI) organised Sales Mission (tourism roadshow) in India in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Pune in July 2019. The event was aimed at increasing more transaction of tour packages between the Indonesian and Indian tourism Industry through B2B (table top) meetings. There were around 36 stakeholders who met around 100 travel agents in each city.
In order to overcome the challenge of not having any direct flights from the key markets of India, Indonesia Tourism had introduced Tourism Hub programme to attract tourists through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok as an effort to achieve the targeted tourist arrivals in 2019.
According to R Sigit Witjaksono, director of tourism marketing for South & Central Asia, Middle East and Africa of Indonesia Tourism, “Indonesia has identified Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia as tourism hubs this year as it seeks to benefit from around thousand flights a week from and through the island state. There are millions of potential tourists, who can be encouraged to visit Indonesia from and through these hubs.” He further added, “The Indian tourists for Indonesia have been escalating in the last couple of years. In term of visitors, the number of Indian visits is increasing YOY. There were close to 600,000 Indian visitors to Indonesia which is 12 pc more as compared to 2017”
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Vistara to fly daily to Dubai from August 21
Vistara added Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the second international destination to its network and opened bookings for daily flights between Mumbai and Dubai starting August 21, 2019. The airline will use its Airbus A320neo aircraft with three-class cabin configuration to fly to and from Dubai, making Vistara the first airline to offer the choice of Premium Economy class for travel between India and the UAE in addition to Economy and Business Class.
Customers can also take convenient one-stop connections to/from other cities beyond Mumbai, namely Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad and Kolkata, as well as Singapore.
Leslie Thng, chief executive officer, Vistara, said, “We’re delighted to add Dubai to our growing network, a city that has been constantly thriving for decades and always has something new to offer. With the continuous influx of international trade, business and tourists all year round, especially given the strong economic and cultural ties between India and the UAE, Dubai makes a key addition to our growing network. We’re very excited to offer India’s finest flying experience to travellers from both the countries.”
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Thomas Cook India introduces home collection services for visas
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. has launched Home Collection Services for its Visa Business, in a focussed initiative to empower customers with a two-pronged benefit of convenience and safety, coupled with a live-tracking feature to monitor the delivery of their visa documents. This facility is offered by Thomas Cook on a pan-India basis, in partnership with Blue Dart.
Thomas Cook India’s Home Collection service equips its customers with the flexibility to schedule their collection/pick-up date as per their convenience. Additionally, this service allows customers to track the delivery status of their documents on a real-time basis, via a live-tracker feature.
To avail this service, customers merely need to log on to www.thomascook.in/visa, and as part of their visa booking, select the “Collect from Home” option for their documents, and schedule a pick-up for delivery to the closest Thomas Cook India branch. Customers can also track their shipment and receive updates on the delivery status.
Amit Madhan, president & group head – Information Technology & eBusiness, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., said, “Visa processing is usually considered to be a stressful experience for travellers. Hence, to enhance convenience while saving time, and assuring the safety of their documents, we are delighted to launch our ‘Home Collection Services’ for Visa documents. Through this service, our aim is to provide a smooth, safe, and seamless customer experience.”
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