A SLEW of measures to upgrade and modernise India’s rail network – including plans for its first bullet train – was proposed in Parliament yesterday as the new Indian government sought to live up to its election promises.

Railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda said India’s first bullet train will be launched on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector. On the table are also a planned ‘diamond quadrilateral’ network of high-speed rail connecting four metro cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai), and deployment of high-speed trains on the nine existing rail circuits.

“(The state-owned) Indian Railways is on its way to fulfil the long-cherished dream of running a bullet train. While bullet trains will require completely new infrastructure, higher speed for existing trains will be achieved by upgrading the present network,” said Gowda.

Routes where high-speed trains will be rolled out include Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, Bengaluru-Chennai and Mumbai-Goa. Some 58 new trains, as well as tourist trains to connect religious pilgrimage destinations, will be introduced.

Gowda gave no time frame for the proposed projects but said US$83 billion will be required over the next 10 years to fund these plans, and the ministry will seek a mix of private and foreign direct investment and public-private partnerships to this end.

Major railway stations will be improved with new food courts, while private companies will be roped in to maintain a higher standard of hygiene.

Welcoming the proposal, Subhash Goyal, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators, expects that an upgraded rail network will encourage international and domestic tourism, noting: “International tourists complain about the food quality and poor hygiene at railway stations.”

Madhavan Menon, managing director, Thomas Cook India lauded the budget as “visionary and a significant step towards developing new tourism hubs”.

Likewise Rajesh Magow, co-founder and CEO-India, MakeMyTrip, said: “This rail budget heralds positive developments for the domestic travel sector. We welcome the decision to push private-public partnerships and open foreign direct investment in rail infrastructure, as it will ensure better services and products for the traveller.”

TRAVEL and tourism employers in Asia must put their heads together to see how they can improve public perception of the industry in order to attract the best talent and skill sets, said panellists at the Asian Travel & Tourism Industry Dialogue: Developing Human Capital & Talent Management.

As a prelude to travel and tourism week TravelRave 2014, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) kickstarted this year’s multi-city media roundtable series with a panel discussion in Singapore that centred on how to attract more talent to join the industry. The session was moderated by Caroline Boey, senior correspondent-China/special projects, TTG Asia Media.

Solutions mooted included raising awareness of industry success stories, the range of opportunities in tourism and the international exposure the industry offers.

Neeta Lachmandas, assistant chief executive of STB, commented: “While the job opportunities within the tourism industry are phenomenal, we are competing with other sectors for talent. The competition and war for talent is stiff. We need to equip ourselves to make sure that we are getting the best talent, the best skillsets to join our industry.

“As we look at consumption patterns, the reality is that Millennials are going to consume differently. If we want to be relevant to them, I hope we are bringing in young talent into the industry and using the talent to design experiences for the future.”

SACEOS president, Janet Tan-Collis, shared that SACEOS has been developing internationally recognised courses to meet the needs of the next generation. “Let the young people come in and decide where they can make the change,” she urged.

Meanwhile, panellists also highlighted the need to ensure middle management posseses the right set of skills to sustain the industry.

Said Marc Dardenne, CEO of Patina Hotels and Resorts: “My recommendation is for Singaporean managers to travel and get experience out of Singapore. That is how you really learn – by going through challenging situations. In our profession, it is all about having international experience, understanding different customers, being open minded. You learn this when you go out of your comfort zone.”

Agreeing with Dardenne, Margaret Heng, executive director of the Singapore Hotel Association and CEO of SHATEC, commented: “The strongest link within the organisation to retain talent is the middle management. Middle managers play an important role in creating an environment to encourage retention.”

Yesterday’s media roundtable was the first in a series to be held around the region. The next session will take place in Bengaluru on July 10, followed by Beijing on July 21, Shanghai on July 23, and ends in Jakarta on August 26.

TravelRave 2014 will be held from October 27 to 31.

A NEW and sudden directive from India’s income tax authorities requiring travel consultants to report all customer payments exceeding Rs100,000 (US$1,671) within a month from transaction has put the trade in a dilemma.

Travel consultants TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to feel that the July 1 order, which covers cash, cheque and credit card payments, will upset customers who do not want such information being passed on to the Income Tax Department.

Sajan Gupta, managing director of Vayu Seva Tours Kolkata, lamented: “We will lose business if we insist on passing on client details. It is a breach of client confidentiality. Now clients will spread the business, buying four tickets from four agencies to keep each invoice below Rs100,000.”

Syrisa Travels Mumbai’s director, Sonal Swamy, predicted that this would put brick-and-mortar travel agencies at a disadvantage: “Corporate clients will stop booking through us and start buying online as it is not binding on airlines and online portals to pass on similar information.”

Some travel consultants believe an alternative is to separate a purchase into several invoices to circumvent the law.

TTG Asia e-Daily understands that reasons for making reporting transactions compulsory include identifying untaxed transactions and preventing the inflated invoicing of travel concessions for government employees.

A similar directive was issued in 2011 for cash payments but was rescinded after the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) voiced concerns.

Iqbal Mulla, president of TAAI at the time, commented on the present situation: “Instead of targeting travel consultants, tax authorities should seek these details from IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan…every sale across the world is recorded there.”

AN ENTIRE ship will be dedicated to Asian travellers for Avalon Waterways’ Christmas-time river cruise come December 14-22, 2015, as the river cruising arm of the Globus family of brands seeks to expose more Asians to such holidays.

Announcing this during the launch of Avalon Waterways’ 2015 itineraries in Kuala Lumpur this morning, Raymond Smith, GSA business development manager for the Globus family of brands, said this was the first time the company was dedicating an entire ship to the Asian market with the intention of introducing river cruising in Europe to non-English-speaking travellers in Asia.

The cruise, from Nuremberg, Germany to Vienna, Austria on the Danube river, will have dedicated local cruise guides conversant in local Asian languages on board the Panorama Suite ship, where all 83 cabins have a balcony.

Smith said that while Avalon Waterways’ river cruising is fast growing in popularity among Asian travellers, overall numbers remain small compared with more mature markets such as North America, Australia and New Zealand. Malaysia leads in Asia in terms of passenger volume, followed by Hong Kong and South Korea.

“River cruising in Europe is very popular with the Asian markets especially (on) the Danube and Rhine rivers. France has the potential to be popular as well, but Asians, who have the tendency to book last minute, never get to go as the particular cruise is (usually) sold out.”

To encourage Asians to book early, Avalon Waterways is offering special early booking deals for its 2015 season, limited only to North Asian and South-east Asian passengers.

Couples who book from now until December 31, 2014 can save between US$500 and US$1,000 on select European river cruises.

For next year’s programme, Avalon Waterways will deploy two new vessels on the Rhone and Seine rivers. They will join the existing two ships, doubling the capacity of previous years.

In Asia, the river cruise operator is also introducing its inaugural itineraries for Myanmar.

AIRLINES are restarting flights to Okinawa today as Typhoon Neoguri, with winds of up to 250km per hour, moves towards the north of the East China Sea.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) said normal operations are expected for domestic flights to and from Okinawa’s Naha, Miyako and Ishigaki airports today, except for a number of morning flights.

ANA advised: “Since all flights from Okinawa Naha airport were cancelled for yesterday (July 8), counters and security check points at Okinawa Naha airport expect to be congested today. Please allow extra time to get to the airport as check-in will be accepted from two hours before departure time. We apologise for any inconvenience, and appreciate your understanding.”

However, flights from or to the southern Kyushu region today and tomorrow may be diverted or turn around depending on weather conditions, with afternoon flights to Oita, Miyazaki and Kagoshima particularly likely to be affected. Certain flights have already been cancelled.

Passengers are advised to check their flight status beforehand.

Flag carrier Japan Airlines also stated that domestic operations would return to normal today, although Amami-Oshima Airport flights may experience irregular operations.

Originally a super typhoon, Typhoon Neoguri lost strength as it approached the islands of Okinawa where emergency rain and high-seas warnings were issued and over 100,000 people urged to evacuate.

International flights were cancelled earlier this week as Typhoon Neoguri approached.

According to Focus Taiwan news channel, China Airlines cancelled two roundtrip flights between Taipei and Okinawa on Tuesday and postponed flights from Taichung and Kaohsiung by subsidiary Mandarin Airlines to Wednesday. Eva Air pushed back its Taipei-Okinawa flight to early Wednesday morning while TransAsia Airways scrapped its Taipei-Okinawa Tuesday flight.

China information site eChinacities.com also reported that China Eastern Airlines cancelled its scheduled flights between Shanghai and Okinawa on Monday due to the typhoon.