Canadians pack inaugural Allegiant flight to Las Vegas

An Elvis impersonator and a showgirl were at Grand Forks International Airport for Monday’s inaugural flight from Grand Forks to Las Vegas on Allegiant Air, bringing a little Vegas glitz to the occasion.

But make no mistake, the first packed flight to Las Vegas had a distinct Canadian flavor.

Allegiant officials would not disclose booking data about their customers, but there were clearly plenty of Winnipeg-area travelers on the first flight.

We have had a substantial amount of Canadians booking,” Allegiant spokeswoman Sabrina LoPiccolo said. “The border is so close. Flying out of an American airport they don’t have as many fees. It’s very cheap for them.”

A number of Canadian travelers on the inaugural flight to Las Vegas said Allegiant’s cheap fares and more convenient departure and arrival times in Grand Forks made the about two-hour drive from the Winnipeg area worthwhile.

A few travelers said Allegiant’s Grand Forks ticket prices were as much as half the price of flying to Las Vegas from Winnipeg on Canadian low-fare carrier WestJet.

“The price was the main thing,” said Doug Allard of Winnipeg Beach, Man., who said he flies to Vegas a couple times a year on WestJet. “We’re just trying to cut the price down.”

Christine Keller of Anola, Man., said she usually drives to Fargo to fly to Vegas on Allegiant. But she said the introduction of Allegiant’s Grand Forks service makes for a shorter drive.

“I’d rather fly out of Winnipeg,” she said. “But it’s cheaper. You guys have great deals.”

Trevor McKee of Winnipeg said he likes Grand Forks’ two-day-a-week service to and from Las Vegas on Mondays and Fridays.

“The flight times are fantastic,” he said, comparing the 1:30 p.m. departures from Grand Forks with late-night flights from Winnipeg. “The price is great, too. This is quite convenient. This is handy.”

But Canadians weren’t the only ones to take advantage of Allegiant’s new service Monday.

Pat and Mary Miller of Bemidji usually fly to Las Vegas every spring using Allegiant’s Fargo flights. But the introduction of Grand Forks service offers them a shorter drive.

“We had stressful summers office-wise, so we needed a break,” Pat Miller said. “This is a relaxing trip. We just like Vegas. It’s nice to go somewhere where people actually wait on you.”

LoPiccolo said Allegiant has been pleased with the bookings so far for the new Grand Forks service. She said that if the flights prove successful the carrier will consider adding more flights or another destination from Grand Forks.

Many travelers on the first flight to Las Vegas said they were on vacation and planned to fly back to Grand Forks on Friday. It is expected that many travelers also will spend weekends in Vegas, flying out of Grand Forks on a Friday and returning on a Monday.

But at least a few passengers are expected to take advantage of the Vegas flights for business travel, while a few others may use it as a way to connect to other westbound airports.

Kurt Brorby of Crookston was flying to Vegas on Monday to work for Caesars Palace dealing poker in a tournament — one of six tournaments he works a year.

“It’s way more convenient,” said Brorby, who usually flies to Las Vegas from Fargo. “It’s just easier. It’s so close that someone can drop you off at the airport, instead of driving to Fargo and paying to park your car.”

Arla Hendricks of Lancaster, Minn., was with a party flying to Las Vegas that will take an Alaska Airlines flight to Portland, Ore., from there.

Hendricks said having Grand Forks to Las Vegas service makes for a shorter drive than flying out of Fargo or Minneapolis to connect to the West Coast.

“It’s much cheaper,” she said. “It’s just nice to have another option.”

Source://grandforksherald

India's passage to tourism megabucks

India has caught up, belatedly and gingerly, in the race to attract foreign tourists, going by the World Trade Organisation's World Tourism Barometer.

Globally, it ranked 21st, with estimated earnings of US$8.9 billion (RM30 billion) in 2006. It rose to US$12 billion last year. But this is peanuts compared with the No. 1, the United States' US$85 billion, or even fifth-ranking China's US$33 billion.

But then, following the Indian philosophical tradition, everything must be seen in relative terms. In this case, it would be the post-1991 period, when the world opened up and India itself opened up with its economic reforms.

The revenue from international tourism rose from US$2.6 billion in 1995 to US$3.6 billion in 2000, US$6.2 billion in 2004 and US$7.5 billion in 2005.
The percentage increase in foreign exchange earnings from tourism was 13.3 per cent in 2006 and 16.8 per cent last year.

This makes a 15 to 20 per cent target achievable.

The last financial year, when more than five million tourists arrived, was the fourth running that India's growth in arrivals picked up pace, with an increase of 13 per cent from 2005 to 20006, according to governmental data. India expected to host six million tourists last year and 10 million by 2010.

The "Incredible India!" promotional campaign won the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) Gold Award last year.

With better tourist infrastructure, the government could capitalise on the country earning the coveted world No. 1 travel destination ranking in the latest Conde Nast Traveller UK awards.

India jumped ahead of Italy, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand among the world's top five most-preferred tourist destinations from fourth a year earlier and 10th in 2004.

A Lonely Planet survey of 167 countries also ranks India among the world's top five most popular destinations.

It is really looking up, what with conference tourism, beach tourism, health/medical tourism, mountaineering tourism, pilgrimage tourism and, since the Liz Hurley-Arun Nayar wedding, even marriage tourism contributing to the slow but steady pace of growth.

The flow is increasingly two-way, with countries far-off like Australia and Ireland and near like Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong targeting the fast-growing market of the Indians travelling as never before.

There are more and more flights, and they are not merely carrying Indian workers and NRIs (non-resident Indians) but real, splurging tourists.

Ditto domestic tourism. Look at the five-star luxury hotels across India: restaurant clientele and room occupancy have more Indians with buying power than ever before.

For several years, India had been singing Atithi Devo Bhava (A guest is like God) but few were willing to play God.

When India crossed the one million tourist mark, it was celebrated as a major achievement, amid the realisation that a tiny Hong Kong was doing much better.

India has travelled a long distance since then. Or has it?

Much as it seeks atithi, domestic and foreign, it lacks a tourism culture. An average Indian still views a splurging tourist as one indulging in something obscene.

The shopkeepers, guides, transporters and hoteliers think a rich tourist is someone to be fleeced.

And if he is ill-clad, simple, on a shoestring budget with a backpack, probably unshaven and unbathed, then he is seen as anathema to Indian cultural values and environment.

Old timers recall auto-rickshaw pullers and the general public beating up hippy couples smooching on Delhi roads in the 1970s. Now they are ignored.

They would also recall the shanty hotels and guest houses along Paharganj and in by-lanes doubling as dens for drugs and prostitution. Drugs in India were supposed to be cheap. Much of that has changed.

There is a positive side to Indian tourism, too. Good conceptualisation and planning have led to the success of medical and health tourism. For long, the ayurvedic ashrams were crying to be projected. It has slowly happened.

More than 150,000 medical tourists travelled to India in 2002, bringing in earnings of US$300 million. Since then, the number of such travellers has been increasing by 25 per cent every year. A CII-McKinsey report projects that earnings through medical tourism would go up to US$2 billion by 2012.

It is a global competition and keeping pace has not been easy. The real challenge to tourism is coming in the form of the Commonwealth Games 2010. It has meant creating a huge infrastructure, including hotels, both star and budget ones.

The tourism explosion has attracted domestic and international hotel chains to put their money and minds into more hotels.

Any visitor to New Delhi's Janpath cannot miss the row of colourfully dressed women selling handicraft and fabrics with mirror work. Unlettered they may seem, but they use a smattering of just about any language the foreign tourist may speak to sell their wares. Even their children do the act well.

Switch to the narrow by-lanes crisscrossing the lake city of Udaipur, touted as Venice of the East.

The entire city is geared to receive the foreign tourist. Wayside shops cater to German or Italian tourists, offering them not only the exotic India of the maharajas of yore, but also confectionery, coffee and wine that a European far away from home would fall for.

From roadside restaurants to the five-star luxury hotels, the food is non-greasy and non-spicy, to suit the European palate. Smiling bearers display tremendous patience with the visitor.

On a recent visit to Udaipur, I came across tourists from the US, Germany, France and Britain. Not part of large conducted group tours, most had come as couples or families.

A German group paid US$3,000 for 15 days across India. Quite cheap when compared with a European or American tour.

"Don't you feel cheated while shopping?" I asked.

"Oh, after a while, we learn to bargain," was how a woman put it, with a smile and no complaints.

Source://nst.com

Flights to India from Birmingham Airport

Passengers using Birmingham Airport will be able to get a taste of the Orient after Bilga Air announced it will be introducing new flights between the hub and India, according to reports.

The airline will fly to the city of Amritsar in the north of the country twice a week beginning on October 9th.

Jerry Blackett, chief executive of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, explained that the new route will help service one of the city's most prominent business communities.

He told the Birmingham Post: "I am not surprised really as it seems to me that the business communities that fly from Birmingham to India were there and it was only a matter of time before another airline came forward.

"Our greatest cultural asset is the Asian business community."

Birmingham Airport recently announced that August was its busiest month since it began operations in 1939.

This is the hub's sixth consecutive record breaking month, following growth in traffic throughout the five preceding months of the year.

Source://fhr-net

More flights

To cope with the passenger rush during the festive season, Air India will operate additional flights on the Kolkata-Bagdogra-Kolkata route between 14 September and 9 November. The additional flight IC 1721 will take off from Kolkata at 2 p.m. and arrive at Bagdogra at 2:55 p.m. The return flight IC 1722 will leave Bagdogra at 3:35 p.m. and reach Kolkata at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Sunday. Air India will also start operations to Yangon from 3 October on Monday and Friday. n SNS


Source://thestatesman.