Come November and Excel London suddenly gains prominence and be it so as travel professionals all over the world arrive primarily into Heathrow to connect, reconnect, learn and unlearn about what their business has in store for them in the coming years. From Peru to Poland from Japan to Jamaica tourism boards and DMCs from across the globe meet to further their business opportunities. India has its own dedicated space at the event and most of the inbound tour operators who are at Excel London are hoping for some revival as the inbound business has witnessed a dip in the recent times. FAITH as an organisation is only being hopeful that some serious action be taken by the government in tandem with the private players to bring India back on the map for inbound tourism. FAITH has also shared with us that they are only hoping that the tourism offices get their designated leaders in strategic international markets to spread the word of India Tourism effectively.
However, amidst the sombre feeling the ministry of civil aviation has proposed an upfront subsidy to airlines by levying a two per cent fee on all domestic and international commercial flights in order to bring down the cost of air travel on non metro routes. The ministry said that it is also looking at liberalising the bilateral regime by permitting open skies between India and the SAARC nations. Once again all these developments goes on to further reiterate the fact that domestic tourism and tourism to our neighbouring countries is our strength and we need to give it the much needed attention it deserves.
The recent acquisition of Nature Trails by Sterling Resorts is proof enough that companies are looking at strengthening their domestic presence in the adventure tourism space, (which includes a series of activities both on land, sea and in air) – a niche business in domestic tourism that is slated to grow further. Finally our cover story this issue celebrates peninsular India’s blessed coastal chain. Experience quality tourism at some of the best beach accommodation facilities. You can meet industry torchbearer Pradip Madhavji in this issue and can also gain some interesting business lessons from GMJ Thampy on embracing change without fear.
Reema Lokesh
Editor