Tag Archives: leisure

Trip.com expands partnership with Amadeus to include Mobility content

By incorporating Amadeus Mobility into their portfolio of solutions, international online travel group Trip.com has further broadened the scope of Amadeus content offered beyond Air and Hotel Distribution to include Mobility on both Trip.com and Trip.Biz platforms.

Amadeus’ technology and functionality will better serve customers on each platform by providing them with a seamless and integrated end-to-end travel experience.

The new agreements with Amadeus Mobility will benefit both leisure and business travellers by increasing the number of mobility options available to them: car rental offers via Amadeus Cars Web Services with real-time rates from over 50 car rental providers in more than 40,000 locations worldwide.

New content provided on Trip.com will focus primarily on mobility options for leisure customers, while content added to Trip.Biz, the global digital Travel Management Company (TMC) powered by Trip.com Group, will include global car providers catering to business travellers’ needs.

Simon Song, CEO, Car Rental and Ride Hailing, Trip.com Group, said,“At Trip.com, our goal is to continuously expand in a way that enables us to effectively meet the needs of our customers and improve their shopping experience. We are extremely pleased with our growing relationship with Amadeus – a proven and trusted technology partner.”

Leisure and business travelers will be able to make better-informed travel decisions thanks to a wider range of available products and services from global, regional and local providers, thereby increasing their satisfaction with the site and growing their sense of loyalty. The expanded content means more choice, better value, and a smoother booking experience for leisure and business shoppers than ever before.

The announcement is a significant one for both online travel companies. By expanding their partnership with Amadeus to include the integration of Amadeus Cars’ extensive database, Trip.com and Trip.Biz teams will be able to streamline their operations, tap into new sources of revenue, and provide the sort of smooth travel experience – from looking to booking – that travelers these days so desire.

Joerg Schuler, Executive Vice President, Hospitality Media & Distribution, Amadeus: “We realize travelers’ needs are changing, and how important it is that Trip.com and Trip.Biz customers have access to all types of travel content, including mobility. We are delighted to help unlock these global travel leaders’ capabilities to serve all travel segments, including business and leisure.”

 

Experience Qatar appoints Qrius Connect as India Representative

Experience Qatar, an incoming travel company & DMC in Qatar, has partnered with Qrius Connect for creating brand awareness and business development in the Indian market.

In pursuance of this partnership, Qrius Connect will be primarily taking care of sales and marketing and the overall market expansion for the DMC in the Indian market.

As India is one of the top source markets for Qatar, the partnership realises a great potential of a strong positioning in India with differentiated services and value-based relationship with the Indian travel agencies.

Nishant Gulliya, CEO, Qrius Connect, said, “I am delighted to be partnering with Experience Qatar, and I feel confident about Qatar as a destination for our Indian travellers because of its rich culture & heritage, varied experiential offerings and warm Qatari hospitality. Through this partnership, we will be aiming to build a strategic approach to target the leisure and corporate segment, followed by luxury weddings, seen as another well growing potential segment for Qatar.”

Abdulrahman Amin, CEO, Experience Qatar, expressed his confidence in the partnership with Qrius Connect, highlighting the shared vision of delivering exceptional travel experiences to Indian tourists visiting Qatar.

He emphasised Experience Qatar’s commitment to providing personalised and immersive journeys that showcase the diverse offerings of Qatar, from its rich cultural heritage to its modern attractions. Amin emphasised that through this collaboration, Experience Qatar aims to establish itself as the preferred choice for Indian travellers seeking unforgettable experiences in Qatar, further solidifying the strong bond between the two nations.

SAT records 43% growth in Indian arrivals for 2023; Incentives emerges top reason for MICE travel

Keen to tap the Indian market with renewed vigour, South African Tourism (SAT) brought together a delegation of 42 exhibitors with 40% offering new products to India at its annual roadshow. This is because SAT has seen a 43% growth from India in 2023 with 79,774 arrivals compared to 55,506 in 2022. Moreover, SAT is keen to tap the millennials from India who are late bookers, and are indulging in hard adventure activities.

During 2019, SAT clocked in 95,621 arrivals from India, and the country still remains among the top three focus markets for the Rainbow Nation.

Addressing the press at the Mumbai leg of its four-city roadshow at ITC Grand Central, Neliswa Nkani – Hub Head – Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, South African Tourism, said, “These roadshows hosted over 12,000 meetings and generated more than 1,60,000 on the spot leads for South African Tourism, making the initiative a grand success.”

The roadshow was held in New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur (first time) as well.

Enumerating on the India numbers, she said, “Our target is to reach 100,000 arrivals from India. During 2023, we saw 45% traffic from leisure travellers, 46% MICE arrivals, out of which the Incentives movement contributed 21%. Incentive movement has emerged as the top MICE segment from India to travel to South Africa.”

She went on to explain that adventure travel is one of the top reasons for Indians to visit South Africa, and they indulge in extreme hard core activities. To make the value proposition more promising for Indian visitors, SAT has partnered with Ethiopian Airlines to offer competitive fares of INR 39,000, and connections from Mumbai to Johannesburg via Addis Ababa.

With regards to source markets, Mumbai (56%) continued to lead followed by New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.

 

 

Fiji records over 300% growth in Indian arrivals during Dec 2023

The archipelago of Fiji has reached pre-Covid level of arrivals from India, and December 2023 saw approximately over 300% growth in numbers compared with the same month in 2022.

Sharing insights, Robert Thompson, Executive Director of Regions, Tourism Fiji, said, “Indian arrivals to the South Pacific Island nation in 2023 reached pre-Covid numbers of 2019, underlining the increased appetite for premium and experience-led travel. December saw the highest number of Indian arrivals in Fiji; increasing by approx. 300% over December arrivals in 2022.”

The average length of stay of Indian visitors to Fiji is 7.6 days depending on where they are flying from, either Singapore (bulk of traffic comes from here) or Australia. “India is a primary a honeymooners market, but what we have started seeing is multi-generational travel post Covid. It is good to see a diverse profile of visitors from India considering Fiji for their leisure travel experiences.”

Another reason to travel to Fiji is corporate Incentives that is seeing good traction from India. “There are large groups travelling to Australia for MICE, and we are positioned to host the top premium Incentives movement in Fiji. A pax of 150 is our sweet spot, and we manage that very well.”

With regards to their approach in India, he said they are looking at two-pronged strategy, support existing partners in key cities, and engage with agents in Tier-II and III cities. “Moreover, we are looking at elevating number of agents for our Matai Specialist Training Programme.”

Currently, Fiji Airways operate two flights a week from Singapore, and four weekly services from Hong Kong.

India recovers to pre-Covid level of visitations for New York City

With 336,000 Indians visiting New York City in 2023, the country has reached pre-Covid levels of arrivals for the key gateway city in the USA. During the Mumbai leg of their three-city India Sales Mission, Makiko Matsuda Healy, Senior Vice President, Tourism Market Development, NYC Tourism + Conventions spoke to TravelBiz Monitor about the “extremely important source market of India, and the long-staying Indian visitors”.

Healy said, “India is the fifth largest economy, and Indian visitors are long staying guests with an average length of stay of 11 days in NYC, which is an increase. Pre-Covid Indians spent less than 10 days in NYC. Currently, India is the second largest source market for NYC Tourism + Conventions, and 12th, globally. It has recovered to pre-Covid level of recovery with 336,000 Indian visiting NYC in 2023.” During 2022, NYC recorded 258,000 Indian visitors, and the forecast is to close 2024 with 383,000 visitors.

Elaborating further she said, Indian visitors spent USD 569 million in NYC during 2022, and the per-person per trip spend to NYC is USD 2,200. “During 2023, 68% Indians visited for leisure (including 35% VFR), and 32% for business. While NYC is the number one port of entry for Indians via Air India and United, Indians have options for one-stop flights via Middle East and Europe.”

She said with Mumbai and Delhi being primary markets, the travel trade in Ahmedabad is also well versed with knowledge about NYC because of a lot of VFR traffic moves to the US from Gujarat. “This time, I visited Ahmedabad for the second time after 2019, and with the international airport of Ahmedabad and now Surat, direct traffic coming into the US, make it more relevant for us.”

The NYC Travel Trade Academy, an online training programme, has been re-launched, and Healy is expecting good traction from the Indian market as well. With improvement in visa processing time and better air access, she is hopeful of consistent growth from the Indian market going forward.

Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau terms India as a “high-priority” market

Keen to tap MICE segment & Tier-II & III cities in the coming years

The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau is keen to foray into the Tier-II and III cities of India next year, after undertaking a series of sales activities via direct engagement and B2B roadshows and exhibitions in the key gateways in 2024.

Talking to TravelBiz Monitor in Mumbai, during his second visit to India, Joe Docal, Director of Travel Industry Sales – Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, said, “After seeing the potential that India has for the US and Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, I want to enhance our focus in the Indian market than what was in the past.” Docal is in India to participate in the Brand USA Sales Mission in Goa.

“I am meeting the travel trade in India for sales call presentations. In the absence of direct air connectivity to Miami Airport, I am currently getting my feet wet in the market, before foraying into Tier-II and III cities in India in 2025,” he said.

He spoke about the challenge in quantifying visitor numbers from India, but termed the country as ranking “high-  priority” market.

Docal informed that exploratory talks are underway with carriers in India to seek direct air access to Miami International Airport. “We are keen to bring in more MICE groups from India, especially incentives movement since we have the facilities to service and have the necessary hotel infrastructure in place. Of course, the larger chunk of visitors from India is leisure travellers to the USA.”

Shedding light on the popularity of Miami and the Miami Beach, he said soap operas and sitcoms have done a great job in creating awareness about the destination. In the past, the city and its beach were used as attractive locations for film shoots. Going forward, the plan is to tap that segment even in the Indian market with financial incentives.