I ndia has probably just one Punjabi Scotsman. Writer and historian William Dalrymple lives in eccentric, oddball-style outside Delhi in a rambling bungalow in Mehrauli. He shares his home with two goats, a few stray dogs, roosters (whose sharp trill punctuates his dialogue), cockatoos, various other exotic birds and on a visit in October a few orange-robed Bauls, Bengali minstrels, were staying too. An Indian-style tent was anchored in the backyard. His tow-haired troupe of young sons rocketed about the home (he also has a 14-year-old daughter). Cups of Chai, soft drinks and Indian hospitality flowed as his wife and illustrator Olivia Fraser moved around the home making sure all was well. "Boys, do you need anything?" she asked of the pair of smiling Bauls, who were disappearing into the kitchen to cook either for themselves or for all.
"We are definitely beginning to see a pickup in the market," Madhavan Menon, managing director for Thomas Cook India, told Dow Jones Newswires by phone. "However, it is too early to say (if the recovery has begun) since the inbound traffic picks up around October while the outbound season starts from November." Fall in local hotel tariff will help to boost demand for travel, he said, but declined to give any earnings forecast for its next quarter or the full year ending Dec. 31. Thomas Cook India, which offers travel and foreign exchange services, saw its consolidated net profit for the half year ended June 30 more than halve to 106.3 million ($2.1 million) rupees from 218.63 million rupees a year earlier.
Shimla has been witnessing large number of tourist arrivals resulting in 100 per cent hotel occupancy. The rising mercury and extension of holidays in schools of Delhi and Punjab coupled with power cuts are making people travel to cooler places like Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie or even McLeodganj. Confirming this, Ajit Butail, Chairman of CII Tourism Cell, Himachal Pradesh said that on an average about 50000 plus tourists are coming to Shimla every day, which has a bed capacity of about 35000. A positive sign is that the forest department has given their rest houses on lease and opened Ecotourism camps at various places, as well as the home stay scheme of tourism department, whereby visitors are diverted to rural areas in the vicinity, preventing de-congestion of known tourist destinations. According to a report in Times of India, lauding the effort of people of Sangla Valley in Kinnaur district who had formed the House Owners Association last year and treated tourists to festival of ...
Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) will hold its 58th Indian Travel Congress (annual convention) in Dubai, this year. The convention will be held in the last week of September and first week of October 2009, however the exact dates for the convention were not disclosed. Confirming the same to TravelBiz Monitor, Iqbal Mulla, Treasurer, TAAI said, “The Managing Committee has decided to hold the convention in Dubai this year. This was agreed upon at a meeting conducted in New Delhi on June 18, 2009. We are still working out the convention details like the venue, cost and the FAM tours; however, we will make an official announcement with the confirmed dates in a week's time.” The Association was considering international destinations like Korea, China and also domestic destinations like Mumbai to hold the 58th Indian Travel Congress this year.
This will be a great relief for the tourism industry that recently saw a downside due to global meltdown and terrorist attacks in Mumbai. However, the international tourism experts present on the occasion felt that more can be done to accelerate growth of tourism. According to World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) India chairperson, Raymond Bickson, apart from the infrastructure status and lack of infrastructure, the Indian tourism products face challenges due to absence of facilities like visa-on-arrival facility and single-window clearance for tourism projects. He also mentioned that taxation has also been an issue of concern. The three-day travel bazaar is being jointly organized by Rajasthan state tourism department, Central ministry of tourism and FICCI. Nearly 180 foreign tour operators from around 40 countries are expected to hold over 3,500 meetings with over 1,500 tourism professionals of the state. The department of tourism, GoR and FICCI also signed an MOU to hold GITB ...
