October 2014

Rajeev Kohli
Joint Managing Director

Dear Industry Colleagues

For nine years, "Creatively Yours" has been going out to over 30,000 travel industry professionals around the world with the objective to keep you informed of the happenings in the world of Incredible India and its neighbours.

October has been a fabulously proud month for Team Creative. On October 2, at the 25th Annual TTG Asia Travel Award, Creative Travel was honoured with its fourth Best Travel Agency- India Award. This is an honour based on votes from the readers of TTG Asia across the continent. On October 10th  at a glittering award ceremony in New Delhi, we were honoured by the global travel industry with 3 World Travel Awards –  2014 Asia's Leading Destination Management Company,  2014 India's Leading Destination Management Company and a new category of 2014 India's Leading Luxury Travel Agency

We are very proud of the men and women who work for us who have one simple goal – to showcase the best of the best of the Indian sub-continent to guests from all over the world.
Thank you for everyone who voted for us. We are humbled and honoured…
 
You can read more about these below.

As a company, we are many things to many people. Some like us for our work in the premium travel market, others for our work on incentives. Some appreciate our handling of difficult clients while others our simplicity and grace. But the one common thread that holds us together is our heritage, our ideals and the foundations on which we stand that we are so very proud of......

What our team has achieved is due to its hard work and dedicated focus on bringing our partners the best the Indian sub-continent has to offer. We may be a company, we may have our corporate policies & strategies, but at the end of the day we are one thing that will never change.....we are a family. A family of the Kohlis, a family of our employees, a family of our partners & well wishers around the world.

We are what we are today because of the support of all of you. We dedicate this issue of "Creatively Yours" to you, whether you work with us or not, for we all have one thing in common, we work in an industry that is driven with a passion to creating memories and spreading smiles.

www.travel2india.com
www.creative.travel

On October 10, at a glittering ceremony in The Oberoi, New Delhi, Creative Travel is proud to have been awarded as "Asia's Leading Destination Management Company" (which we also won in 2013 & 2012), "India's Leading Destination Management Company" (which we also won in 2013, 2012 & 2011) and " India's Leading Luxury Travel Agency" at the 2014 World Travel Awards Ceremony. Hailed as "The Oscars of the Travel Industry, World Travel Awards celebrates its 21th Anniversary this year and is acknowledged across the globe as the ultimate travel accolade, and aims to celebrate those brands that are pushing the boundaries of industry excellence. The award ceremony was attended by over 300 industry leaders and dignitaries from all over Asia and the Pacific.

On October 2, in Bangkok, before an equally illustrious audience of tourism leaders from across Asia-Pacific, for the fourth time we were voted by the readers of TTG publications as the "Best Travel Agency in India" at the 25th Annual TTG Travel Awards 2014. The TTG Travel Awards has been recognising the best of Asia-Pacific's travel industry since 1989.TTG Travel Awards not only serves a benchmark for high standards across the industry but also as a trajectory for the travel industry's advancements. The TTG Travel Agent Awards recognizes the Best Travel Agent in its respective category in terms of Professionalism and excellence in staff and Best value-added services to client. This prestigious annual event honours stellar organisations and individuals in 4 categories: Travel Supplier, Travel Agency, Outstanding Achievement and Travel Hall of Fame. This TTG Travel Trade Publishing event is proudly organised by TTG Asia, with the support of TTG India, TTG China, TTGmice, TTG-BTmiceChina and TTG Asia Luxury.

India's Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "showing great personal courage" and their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education. read more...

The new order in Indian football announced its arrival with a bang on Sunday! With its exciting freshness, well-packaged avatar and a never-seen-before razzmatazz, the mass entertainment of Bollywood and football, riding on Indian cricket's shoulder, descended on the illuminated Salt Lake Stadium to set the ball rolling for Indian Super League. read more...

Started back in 2006, the Jaipur Literature Festival has been a guiding light for the budding writers as well as a showcase point for the established ones. This year, the Jaipur Literature Festival will be celebrated on the 21st of January and will last until 25th January. JLF is a full pack of fun, knowledge and learning and you should not miss this year’s extravagant festival that will satiate everyone’s expectations.

This year, the attendants will have a glorious chance to have their piece published on the official blog of the Jaipur Literature Festival. It comes under the Annual writing competition of the festival which invites writers from all over the globe.
It holds up each year in the month of January where the creative minds gather under one roof to share their opinion and knowledge. The legacy of JLF is resounded in several parts of the world and without any doubts; it is one of the best literature festivals held around the world. The event is carefully planned and crafted in order to match the mood of the audience. It takes place over a period of 3-4 days and each day, the audience is enlightened through the lectures given by the speakers. The speakers are usually writers but the festival is also attended by various celebrities including the likes of Kabir Bedi, Prasoon Pandey and several others.

In a bid to strengthen the ties between India and the US, the Indian government plans to issue visa-on-arrival for tourists from the US soon. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made several announcements regarding the consular and visa issues at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the US. Now it's time when we can expect some action to materialize the plans that were shared. "Systems are in place to introduce visa on arrival for US tourists in October itself," said the Prime Minister Office in a statement. Industry experts feel that the move will give a tremendous boost tourism industry in the country. read more...

Tourists visiting the desert state of Rajasthan can soon enjoy Camel Polo with the state government contemplating to introduce the entertaining activity in sand dunes.
Camel has been accorded the status of State Animal recently and now the government wants to further promote camel as one of the most important features of tourism in the state which is more popular as a destination of forts and palaces.  read more...

Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Chief Minister of Rajasthan during her inaugural address at the 49th annual Convention of Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) last evening in Jaipur said that creating right infrastructure and improving connectivity within the state are her government's priorities. Conceding that travel within the state is time consuming especially for tourists, she said that state government has partnered with Pawan Hans to connect all districts by air. read more...

Goa is seeking to reassure female travellers that the state is safe with the launch of a taxi service for women, driven by female drivers equipped with knowledge of martial arts, self-defence, first aid and tourist attractions. These taxis – found primarily at airports, railway stations, and bus stations – are equipped with both a GPS monitoring system and a panic call button. Optimal route assessment and journey planning is also available. Electronic fare meters allowing print-outs are being installed in the vehicles, and taxi services accept payment in cash or credit card. The movement of these taxis will be monitored by the control office and emergency numbers will be displayed inside each taxi.

Sonal Swamy, director of Syrisa Travels, felt this would help drive an increase in female travellers. “Introducing women drivers in taxis for women travellers is a proactive move to ensure a sense of safety," she said.

With a view to showcasing and projecting the Buddhist heritage and pilgrim sites of India, the Ministry of Tourism is organising the 4th International Buddhist Conclave in Bodhgaya and Sarnath, in collaboration with the State Governments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from 26-28 September 2014.  read more...

Foreign tourist arrivals into India has grown in the last few months, with June, July and August 2014 registering 9 per cent, 12.9 per cent and 16.9 per cent growth, respectively, as compared to those in the corresponding months of 2013. This growth trend is visible in foreign exchange earnings which grew 17.4 per cent, 19.3 per cent and 26.8 per cent in US dollar terms during June, July and August as compared to those in the corresponding months of 2013, according to an official statement. read more...

With Karnataka becoming the epicentre for surf training and the government taking a serious look at improving beach tourism, surfing is expected to get a boost along with other water sports. The Surfing Federation of India (SFI), recognised by the International Surfing Association, is in talks with the governments of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to make some of the country's beaches world surfing destinations. "Surfing enthusiasts from developed countries are willing to come to India for the pleasure of surfing. And they bring in foreign exchange. This is the point we want to drive home with the governments. read more...

Ibis, the international economy hotel brand of Accor has opened at Aerocity, the 43-acre hospitality and commercial precinct near Delhi International Airport. Ibis Delhi Airport is the ninth ibis hotel in India with the largest inventory of 316 rooms. To celebrate the opening of ibis Delhi Airport, the hotel has launched an online campaign ‘Pay What You Want' so customers can choose how much they would like to pay for their room. read more...

Novotel Chennai SIPCOT, a brand of Accor global hotel group, is the newest international hotel in Chennai. The property is located in close proximity to India's premier IT companies on the arterial Old Mahabalipuram Road. read more...

The state prohibition and excise department has decided to give managers of hotels with liquor shops the authority to issue tourist liquor permits to people coming to Gujarat from abroad or from some other states. Such licences are currently issued by the local prohibition and excise inspector.  read more...

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has opened Holiday Inn Jaipur City Centre, in the capital of the state of Rajasthan. The hotel, which is the ninth Holiday Inn property in India, is located right in the centre of the city and close to popular tourist and business destinations. read more...

Hotels are going the extra mile to woo guests who stay for a month or, sometimes, even years. Hoteliers say demand for extended stays is being driven by executives who are on work assignments in far-off cities, people travelling for medical treatments as well as those who are renovating their homes. read more...

Plaza Premium Lounge Management Limited, industry player in providing Premium Airport Services, introduced its first transit hotel in Bengaluru – the Day Hotel by Plaza Premium Lounge in Domestic Departures at Kempegowda International Airport. read more...

Tree of Life Resorts & Spa, promoted by Himmat Anand will open their third resort property in Varanasi in winter 2016. The 20-room resort is being set up in the outskirts of the city with typical Banarsi architectural design. According to Anand, the concept of Tree of Life will continue to be space and privacy and therefore prefer to be locations away from the city limits. Tree of Life properties will always have smaller inventories ranging from 1 to 30 rooms," he said. While their flagship property in Jaipur has 14 cottages in seven acres area, the second resort property in Rishikesh is a mountain lodge with eight rooms and two cottages.

Vistara announced a partnership with Amadeus, a leading technology partner for the global travel industry, to implement the Amadeus Altéa Suite of technology solutions. Vistara is the first airline in India to adopt the Amadeus Altéa Suite, which is already used by more than 120 airlines worldwide, including Singapore Airlines.  read more...
 

Marking yet another milestone in the history of Indian aviation, Lufthansa announced the launch of services by its flagship aircraft, the A380 between Delhi and Frankfurt. Delhi becomes the first city in India to welcome Lufthansa's flagship carrier and the world's largest commercial passenger jet. The launch of A380 services will be effective October 27, 2014 on the Delhi- Frankfurt route. read more...

Jet Airways has enhanced its connectivity with the United Arab Emirates through the introduction of a fifth daily service between the two financial hubs of Mumbai and Dubai. This is the fifth daily frequency being introduced between the two cities and is expected to provide guests with the convenience of an additional service. The airline will deploy its next - generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft, offering twin class configuration of Premiere and Economy class. read more...

British Airways started the super jumbo jet Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on its route to Chennai on October 27, 2014. The airline will also increase its frequency to daily direct flights on the Chennai-London route from the current six weekly flights. The daily service will cater to the growing customer demand from the market and provide more convenient options to business and leisure travellers from the city.

Christopher Fordyce, Regional Commercial Manager, British Airways, South Asia, said, "Expanding our service from Chennai and bringing our Boeing 787 Dreamliner is fantastic news for British Airways' customers, offering them even greater choice, along with our range of highly competitive fares, and great on board service. This year marks British Airways’ 90 years of service to India and the increase in services from Chennai reiterates our commitment to the market. The daily service will give business and leisure customers the opportunity to connect with British Airways' extensive global network from Heathrow. We welcome the customers to experience our luxurious Boeing 787 Dreamliner, now flying daily between Chennai."