NEW DELHI, March 18, 2016. The world is moving towards a new business ecosystem enabled by technology. In keeping with the emerging scenario, FICCI conceived India’s first dedicated event on travel and hospitality technology, ‘Travel & Hospitality Tech Conclave’ to leverage technology to give a fillip to the sector, said Dr. Jyotsna Suri, Immediate Past President FICCI, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee and Chairperson & MD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group.
Addressing the two-day conclave, Dr. Suri said the government had already initiated ‘Digital India’ and ‘Startup India’. FICCI, on its part, would like to encourage travel start-ups, digital tourism and IT-based infrastructure development for the travel & hospitality sector. She added that the launch of e-visa for 150 countries and focus on infrastructure development are a few among various initiatives by the government in this area.
Dr. Suri said that in future everything will get automated but the challenge was the cost of implementation of technology, especially for the small scale travel companies and hoteliers. Hence, there was a need to look for economical and innovative solutions.
The conclave would address the technological advancement in the field of travel and hospitality and facilitate communication and exchange of ideas and knowledge between key industry stakeholders, conglomerates, influencers and policy makers.
On the occasion, Dr. Suri along with the other dignitaries released FICCI-RezNext knowledge paper, A brief summary on Travel & Hospitality Technology Landscape of India.
In his brief presentation on the paper, Zubin Bilimoria, Director, Global Sales, RezNext Global Solutions, said that this report on the technology landscape for travel and hospitality provides a quick look at the current pace of technology automation, consumer trends, impact of mobile technology and trends with online hotel distribution.
Bilimoria said that the rampant internet penetration has transformed the way the travel trade and hotels operate. The mobile boom in bookings is not just restricted to the elite in metros. Opportunities are immense for hoteliers and travel aggregators alike. He added that the customer is the king, and dynamic and personalised content is the cornerstone of any successful campaign to drive more bookings.
Dr. A. Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI, said that FICCI recognizes the critical role that technology plays in the field of travel and hospitality. Therefore, it has initiated this conclave which would augment service of the tourism and hospitality sector with technology as an enabler. He added that the conclave brought together global leaders, upstart innovators from the field of travel, hospitality, technology & marketing, to secure new business opportunities, increase brand awareness and to network with the key industry stakeholders.
In his vote of thanks Rahul Chakravarty Director & Head- Tourism, FICCI, said that the ‘Travel & Hospitality Tech Conclave’ was conceived as FICCI understands the importance and relevance of technology in the tourism and hospitality. He added that for the pursuit of excellence in travel and tourism industry with the help of technology, FICCI intends to make the conclave an annual event.
