Pan-India tourist train in the works

In a major public-private partnership (PPP) initiative, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is planning to start its own dedicated train which would be run on a pan-India tourism circuit.

Currently, the IRCTC runs region-specific package tours for tourists. The corporation has to book tickets for passengers in regular trains running on the these routes. By running a dedicated train, the state-owned company expects to enhance revenues.

The corporation had sent a proposal in this regard to the Railway Board last month. Approval is expected by the end of this year. The IRCTC officials say that the train could be a reality by October 2008. The train will be a luxurious one, air-conditioned, with around 23 coaches and it will target high-end passengers.

Travelspice.in Announces Soft Launch and Participation in Travel Distribution India

he Eye for India Travel Distribution Summit, 07 aims to bring major players of online travel industry to a common platform, where important aspects like the future of online travel, distribution and marketing models, purchasing behavior of Indian travel consumers and brand loyalty will be discussed. TravelSpice.in invites its customers, suppliers and potential investors to visit their exhibition space (stall # 4) at the event. Commenting on Travel Distribution India summit, Ramu Kallepalli, CEO of TravelSpice.in said, We are looking forward to meeting our customers, suppliers and potential investors, and explaining them our compelling business proposition.

India's north easy to reach

For the two weeks or so that you have, we suggest you head for north India and see some of the greatest sights in the country.

Starting with a few days in Delhi you'll want to see the National Museum and Humayun's Tomb before doing some serious shopping in the city's markets, bazaars and shopping emporiums. Also spend some time in Old Delhi'

Virgin Galactic woos Indian space tourists

NEW DELHI: So you own a yatch, drive a Ferrari and spend your weekends on the most exotic locales. Its time to move on... If you haven’t yet donned a spacesuit, you are way behind your global peers. Space tourism is a reality which is all set to make its presence felt in India.

And spending a cool Rs 80 lakh can put you into the leagues of Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen, Anousheh Ansari and Charles Simonyi — all non-professional astronauts.

M&A bug may soon bite online travel

The brick-and-mortar travel space segment in India has witnessed some consolidation in the past one year. Leading the M&A drive to enhance profits were companies like Thomas Cook, Kuoni and Cox & Kings, to name a few. And with the way every online travel company is vying for boosting its share of the business pie, industry players are of the view that a similar trend may be in the offing for the Indian online travel industry, too. Dhruv Shringi, co-founder & CEO of Yatra Online Pvt Ltd, said in his analysis of the business scenario, it should take between eight months to a year to happen. "In fact, if one had to give it a concrete timeframe, I think by next summer we should start witnessing some action in this space,"

Bitten by the luxe travel bug

India is expected to be the third fastest growing country in the world in travel and tourism demand over the next ten years, according to the Pacific AsIa Association . The growth potential along with the the 19.8 per cent increase in the number of the members living in India with financial assets of more than USD 1 million versus 6.5 per cent growth worldwide is showing its impact in this sector, according to the Total Tourism Study by the Pacific Asia Travel Association. "The market for leisure real estate continues to grow globally and should gain momentum over the next few years", says Kenneth May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Group RCI Global Vacation Network.

India drives global demand for air travel

NEW DELHI: Boosted by robust economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, the global demand for air travel has risen considerably in the recent past, reaching an all-time high during this normally lean season. Air traffic growth at 8.6 per cent this August was much higher than it was last year when security scare was witnessed in North America, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its latest revised projection of passenger and freight demand released yesterday. Maintaining that this was the "fastest growth rate for 16 months", the IATA report said the growth reflected "an underlying improvement in travel into the third quarter of 2007, as airlines in Asia-Pacific in particular benefit from traffic generated by robust economic growth in the region."