Author: Shayan Mallick | New Delhi

Dr. Nitin Mittal of Bengaluru-based Hotel & Apartment Group, has been appointed the National Coordinator for a two-year 2025-26 term The Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA) celebrated 10 years of its formation at a function organised at the iconic The Bristol in Gurgaon on February 7, 2025. The association, formed in 2014, has about 250 odd members and boasts of a national footprint. The event was attended by NIMA members, and industry stakeholders like NTOs, destination marketing companies, MICE operators, DMCs, airlines, and members of the press. The event was also marked by the announcement of a new 13-member…

It’s that time of the year when most of the Indian travel trade bodies are headed to their annual conventions. Early in October, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) concluded their 39th Annual Convention in Bhopal. And only last week, the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) were headed to Tawang for their Convention that was scheduled from December 3 – 8, a long six-day affair, and now, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) is headed to Vietnam next month for the same. Trade body annual conventions are a great platform to get a good peek into where…

India’s inbound tourism paints a very gloomy picture ahead. In the absence of adequate promotion, initiatives and funding, the inbound recovery was far from satisfactory the last year. However, and to the industry’s absolute chagrin, 2024 has been no different so far, probably even worse than the last year, amidst some clear indication that we would likely miss the bus in 2025 as well. Furthermore, as if a host of unfriendly measures like shutting down overseas Indian tourism offices, discontinuation of scheme that earned the inbound operators incentives on the foreign exchange they earned, among others, were not enough, the…

Aimed at facilitating event organisers and corporate entities, and growing destination’s incentives share, ‘Hong Kong Incentive Playbook’ offers over 100 authentic HK experiences and 40+ innovative team-building ideas, along with new funding schemes, professional planning, advisory support, and more. Hong Kong is renowned for its world-class business events and incentives offerings, and it’s recently launched captivating incentives programme ‘Hong Kong Incentives Playbook’ has only made it far more attractive for corporates and incentives organisers. The programme’s offerings include, from curated authentic experiences and team- building activities to funding schemes and professional planning and more, all aimed at enhancing organisers and…

Two things are happening in stark contrast of each other, and unsavory to both, India’s inbound trade and the Government. The gulf between inbound and outbound has continued to widen. In 2019, India’s best tourism year in terms of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs), the country received 10.9 million visitors against 26.9 million outbound Indian tourists. India was producing 2.5 tourists for every single tourist it received. In 2023, which was the first Covid-free travel year, India’s outbound tourism bounced back strongly, registering a record 27.1 million outbound visitors. However, inbound was different story. In the absence of any credible plan…

With over 1.2 million visitors recorded in the first seven months, for the anticipated peak season Oct-Nov-Dec windfall, Sri Lanka Tourism is confident of achieving its target of 2.3 million tourists for 2024. Chalaka Gajabahu, Chairman, SLTPB (Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau), spoke to Shayan Mallick in an exclusive chat. After a tumultuous few years that started with Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, followed by Covid-19 pandemic and lastly, the economic crisis of 2022, Sri Lanka is finally set to dominate the travel charts once again. The island nation looks comfortable to achieve its target of 2.3 million international tourist…

Convergence of technology and growing network of quality highways is redefining inter-city bus travel in the country. The online bus market is projected to reach 10 per cent but given the right eco-system could potentially breach the 25-per cent-mark too. Leading the transformation is IntrCity SmartBus, a tech-driven mobility brand and aggregator revolutionising the bus travel experience. Manish Rathi, CEO and CoFounder, IntrCity SmartBus, in an interaction with Shayan Mullick shares insights into the market and opportunity. Q. How big is the overall transportation economy and the share of bus transport in it? A. The Indian transportation sector is crucial…

During the event, it also unveiled the exclusive ‘Stay More Pay Less’ offer across all three hotels allowing guests to pay for 3 nights and stay for 5 nights. One of Dubai’s landmark hospitality address, Al Habtoor City Hotel Collection, a collection of three hotel properties boasting a collective inventory size of over 1,600 rooms, scores of restaurants serving world cuisines and large number of banquette and event spaces, to name a few, recently came calling to Delhi in order to showcase its vast offering in this growing source market. The event provided opportunity for attendees to discover the exquisite…

India is number one source market for Yas Island – Liam Findlay, CEO, Miral Destinations Amidst its growing destination popularity and bucking the post-Covid international visitors’ arrival trends, Yas Island, Middle East’s foremost entertainment destination, is now readying to launch its much-awaited marine life theme park SeaWorld Abu Dhabi on May 23, 2023 that will join its consortium of exciting theme parks, entertainment and other offering on the island. Yas has already given a sneak peek through the launch of Yas SeaWorld Research & Rescue, the region’s first dedicated marine research, rescue and rehabilitation center located next to SeaWorld Abu…

According to 2021 US Government Census Data, the LGBTQ+ is the fastest growing minority segment in the US with close to US$ 1.4 trillion in spending power. More than 7 per cent of the overall US population consider themselves LGBTQ+. Household income is approximately double the national average (Almost US$ 130,000 for Gay couples). Now that’s just one country where LGBTQ+ population feels more at home and therefore is vocal and open to identifying themselves as such along with their needs and preferences. That also lends credibility to the data. However, what such a data also makes remarkably clear is…