Page 8 - Travel

94% Indian travellers plan trips influenced by hit shows, says report

The report reveals that 94 per cent Indians are inclined to take a trip to a destination that they have seen on screen, to immerse themselves in the iconic location of their favourite shows

Indians can travel to Thailand without visa from Nov 10 to May 10

Indians can travel to Thailand without a visa from November 10 to May 10, 2024 as the Southeast Asian country looks to boost tourism. India is one of the major tourism sources for Thailand. Indians can travel to Thailand without visa during the period from November 10, 2023 to May 10, 2024. On one entry, a person can stay for up to 30 days, Siriges-A-Nong Trirattanasongpol, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand at New Delhi Office, told PTI on Tuesday. Thailand is looking to boost tourism, including from India.

Indian tourist arrivals in Singapore up by 15.5% during Jan-Sept 2023

India is one of the fastest growing markets for tourist arrivals in Singapore post-pandemic, says Mark Shaw, Chairman of Orchard Road Business Association. In fact, we saw a huge surge of Indian tourists to the Republic this year, Shaw told PTI. Indian travellers come to Singapore to enjoy the country's many new attractions but we think they also find affinity in our Indian culture and heritage and feel at home here. Government data shows Indian visitor arrivals up 15.5 per cent to 792,935 for the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year. Shaw said according to an industry survey Indian travellers are among the highest spenders globally. We are confident that members of Orchard Road Business Association will be able to delight them with a wide range of interesting and innovative product and service offerings, said Shaw, citing the upcoming festival season in the city-state, with Deepavali on November 12 and then from November 16 the Christmas light-up a

UP govt to install CCTV, panic buttons in buses and cabs to ensure safety

A total of 21,155 buses, Ola and Uber have been identified to install panic buttons along with CCTV cameras to strengthen the safety of women and elderly people

India to resume some visa services in Canada from Thursday: High Commission

India on Wednesday said it will resume some visa services in Canada with effect from Thursday. In a post on X, the High Commission of India in Canada said that services for entry visa, business visa, medical visa, and conference visa will resume from October 26. The development comes days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday that India is looking at resuming visa services for Canadians "very soon" if it sees progress in the safety of its diplomats in Canada. The ties between India and Canada nosedived after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged on September 18 that there was a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June. New Delhi strongly trashed the charges. Days later, it announced temporarily suspending issuance of visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in India.

2,525 trains to be cancelled for work between Khar-Goregaon till Nov 6

As many as 2,525 suburban services will remain cancelled till November 6 due to a block undertaken for works that began on October 7 in connection with the construction of 6th line between Khar and Goregaon stations, Western Railway said on Monday. At least 230 to 316 Up (towards Churchgate) and Down (towards Virar/Dahanu) suburban trains will remain cancelled everyday, while 93 locals will be cancelled on November 4 and 110 on November 5, a WR release said. Due to non-interlocking work in connection with construction of 6th line between Khar and Goregaon stations, these 2,525 suburban services will remain cancelled, the release said. Sumit Thakur, WR chief public relations officer, said the block was meticulously planned to ensure minimum disruption to rail traffic and least inconvenience to passengers. Western Railway has undertaken the work of fast-tracking sixth line project between Khar and Goregaon stations, an 8.8 kilometre stretch, from October 7 and the work is progressing

Namo Bharat ridership to cross 10,000-mark on inaugural day: NCRTC

Services on a priority section of India's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor began on Saturday and the ridership is expected to cross the 10,000-mark on day one, a senior official of the NCRTC said. The much-anticipated commencement of commercial operations on the 17-km section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor began amid excitement among passengers. The inaugural 'Namo Bharat' train journey kicked off at 6 am, and the services received an "overwhelming response" from commuters, some of whom had arrived as early as 4.30 am, eager to be a part of this historic journey, even from nearby areas like Muradnagar and from far-off areas in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, a senior official of the NCRTC said. Vinay Kumar Singh, Managing Director of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) also took a ride on the inaugural day of the 'Namo Bharat' train services. He welcomed the first set of passengers of India's first 'Namo Bharat' train in the morning, and a

Common card for travel promises transport revolution in the country

The National Common Mobility Card will prompt the use of public transport, reduce the need for private vehicles and help the environment

'Travel for LiFE' fantastic initiative, worth replicating: PATA chairperson

India's 'Travel for LiFE' campaign is a "fantastic initiative" and worth replicating as it addresses both the demand and supply sides of the sector, the chairperson of Bangkok-based Pacific Asia Travel Association said here on Wednesday. PATA chief Peter Semone was addressing a large number of delegates who have gathered in Delhi for the 46th edition of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart being hosted at Pragati Maidan from October 4-6. At a formal opening of the global travel conclave, he congratulated India and the Ministry of Tourism for the 'Travel for LiFE' initiative. The opening ceremony was held at Hotel Ashoka here. The Ministry of Tourism, on the occasion of World Tourism Day on September 27, had globally launched the sustainable programme of 'Travel for LiFE, under the aegis of 'Mission LiFE', targeted towards the tourism sector, promoting tourists to follow responsible behaviour while travelling. "First of all I would like to congratulate the Governm

From paperwork to passport: Atlys' digital leap in visa processing

Mohak Nahta's Atlys is streamlining visas, winning travellers and investors alike

IRCTC North East packages: Visit Guwahati, Shillong for 10 nights/11 days

IRCTC is offering 10 nights and 11 days northeast travelling packages via trail. All the travel lovers who want to explore northeast can leverage this package

Child travel norms: Railways earned over Rs 2,800 cr more in 7 years

Indian Railways has earned an additional revenue of more than Rs 2,800 crore from child travellers in the last seven years by revising child travel fare norms, an RTI response has found. The response from the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act further indicates that the financial year of 2022-23 alone earned Rs 560 crore due to the amended norms making it the most profitable year. CRIS, an organization under the Ministry of Railways, provides IT solutions in core areas such as ticketing and passengers, freight services, train traffic control and operations, among others. On March 31, 2016, the ministry announced that the railways would charge full adult fare for children of age 5 years and under 12 years if they opted for separate berths or seats in a reserved coach. The revised norm was made applicable from April 21, 2016. Earlier, the railways used to offer separate berths to children between 5 and 12 years while charging only h

59% growth in TOEFL test takers in India post-pandemic, rise in share: ETS

TOEFL test takers in India have grown by 59 per cent since international travel resumed following suspension during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Educational Testing Service (ETS). Corresponding with the trend, Indians accounted for 12.3 per cent of the total test takers globally in 2022, up from 7.5 per cent the previous year, showed data from the Princeton-based ETS which conducts the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and Graduate Record Examination (GRE). According to data exclusively accessed by PTI, there was a 53 per cent growth in Indian TOEFL test takers in 2021 compared to the previous year. In 2022, the number of test takers saw a 59 per cent rise over 2021. "The numbers are clearly indicative of the rising aspirations of Indians in exploring foreign shores. The growth in Indian test takers is in sync with the rise in the number of Indians moving abroad for studies or immigration purposes. "The trends show that the interest is no longer limited to the US

Share sale of travel service provider Yatra Online IPO to open on Friday

The initial share sale of travel service provider Yatra Online Ltd will open for public subscription on Friday. The three-day Initial Public Offering (IPO) will conclude on September 20 and the bidding for anchor investors will open on September 14 and for retail on September 15, according to the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) filed on Friday. The online travel company had raised Rs 62 crore from a rights issue and allotted 26.27 lakh shares at a price of Rs 236 per share, which was a part of pre-IPO placement. Hence, the size of the fresh issue of Rs 750 crore has been reduced by Rs 148 crore, including the pre-IPO placement of Rs 62.01 crore, and accordingly, the fresh issue is Rs 602 crore. The company has revised its Offer For Sale (OFS) component from 93.28 lakh equity shares to 1.22 crore equity shares after its promoter, THCL Travel Holding Cyprus Ltd offloading more shares in the issue. The OFS now comprises up to 1.17 crore equity shares by THCL Travel Holding Cyprus Ltd an

From hatchbacks to holidays, consumers ready to loosen purse strings

Consumer goods firms expect 40-50% growth in premium segment; hospitality industry expects heightened activity in coming weeks

Samsonite grows 40% in H1 2023, eyes Rs 3,600 crore sales by December

Premium luggage manufacturer Samsonite has grown close to 40 per cent in the first half of 2023 and it aims to touch Rs 3,600 crore sales by December, a top company official has said. Samsonite, having 35 per cent share in the Rs 15,000-crore domestic organised luggage market, leads the premium segment with its various products labelled with the original name as well as under the brand of American Tourister. While its recent addition of Kamiliant brand competes with Safari and VIP in the value segment, American Tourister is positioned between Samsonite and Kamliant as a mass-premium brand. The company said it gets 20-25 per cent business from premium segment where it faces little competition. Founded by Jesse Shwayder in 1910 in Colorado, Denver, the American parent Samsonite International is traded on the Hong Kong exchange which earlier in the day reported a USD 1.04 billion in gross profit for the first six months of 2023, up 47.5 per cent on-year. Its revenue climbed 44.5 per

Oil rises on strong travel demand, China's move to soothe economic woes

Brent crude futures rose $1.24, or 1.5% to $84.70 a barrel by 11:18 a.m. ET (1518 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was up $1.48, or 1.8% at $80.86 a barrel

Seeing positive trends in travel, investing in tech: MakeMyTrip Group CTO

Travel is back with a vengeance after the difficult Covid years and online travel company MakeMyTrip has moved beyond the traditional business-to-consumer segment to line up new offerings and new partners, says its group CTO Sanjay Mohan. Over the last few years, we have expanded beyond our usual B2C space, and have become a travel platform, offering travel products to channels outside of our popular, consumer-facing, travel super-app, Mohan told PTI, citing new features such as myBiz for corporate, myPartner for travel agents and myAffiliate for affiliate partners. Moving swiftly to capitalise on the Indian diaspora in the Gulf countries where the brand is quite well-known, MakeMyTrip has also entered the Gulf market, he said. MakeMyTrip, which has a total transacted customer base of over 60 million, continues to invest in technology at a steady pace, he added. "Even during the Covid years, we were investing in technology and building interesting use cases for the ...

Free bus travel for women to continue in Karnataka: Minister Reddy

Karnataka Transport Minister R Ramalinga Reddy on Wednesday asserted that Shakti scheme offering free ride in non-luxury government buses to women in the state will continue for the next 10 years. His clarification comes following some rumours being spread in the social media against the scheme. "I would like to tell the people of Karnataka, especially the school children, that some people are spreading lies that one of the poll guarantees Shakti' scheme will be stopped. Trusting the rumours, some people went to ask for a bus pass," Reddy told reporters here. He said, "Shakti scheme is going to remain for at least 10 years. There is no need for women to buy passes. Some people, especially those from a specific party, are trying to play mischief by spreading lies in the social media." As Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a meeting with the ministers and MLAs from Bengaluru, reporters asked Reddy whether there was any discussion on the stalled municipal level public works in the ...

Adventure travel firm Intrepid expects to bring 12,000 travellers to India

Leading adventure travel company Intrepid Travel expects to bring more than 12,000 customers to India in 2024, returning to its pre-pandemic numbers, its CEO James Thornton has said. The company restarted operations in India in April 2022 and hopes to bring 8,000 customers to India in 2023. Expanding existing product ranges, notably in the premium space, and introducing new styles of travel like wildlife-focused trips will help its growth, Thornton told PTI in an interview. According to him, the new e-visa scheme is a big step forward, resulting in a significant increase in number of visitors to India. "By 2024, we expect to have returned to the inbound customer numbers we had pre-pandemic when we brought approximately 12,000 customers from Australia, Britain and North America to India. We expect to be able to reach 30,000 inbound customers a year by 2030," Intrepid Travel Managing Director Asia Natalie Kidd said. Thornton said that globally, the adventure travel market is valued