Costa Cruises – Celebrates 3rd Season of Homeporting in the Indian Waters

• 4 nights Mumbai – Kochi to start from December 2018

• 3 nights Kochi – Maldives to start from December 2018

• 7 nights Maldives - Mumbai to start from December 2018


December 7, 2018, Mumbai: Europe’s No 1 cruising company, Costa Cruises, is commencing its India 
season for the 3rd time with the arrival of its ship, Costa neoRiviera at the Mumbai International cruise 
terminal today. The Mumbai home port starting today, was celebrated in the presence of Shri.Tawde, Hon'ble 
Minister School Education, Sports and Youth Welfare, Hon'ble Minister of State, Water Resources, Ms 
Stefania Costanza, Consul General of Italy, Shri. Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman of Mumbai Port Trust, Mr. 
Ashish Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary Transport and Ports, other senior Government officials, Marco 
Salvatico, Director, MICE & India Business Development, Costa Cruises and Smt. Nalini Gupta, Managing 
Director, Lotus Destinations, Representative of Costa Cruises in India. 
The event kicked off with an announcement of the sailing of Costa neoRiviera from Mumbai to Maldives via 
Cochin for the 3rd season. The sailings are from 08th December 2018 to 16th March 2019. This is the 3rd season 
that Costa Cruises will be homeporting in Indian waters and is the only international cruise liner in India to 
offer regular cruises directly from Mumbai to Maldives, confirming its strong interest in proactively 
developing the Indian cruise market.
This year Costa Cruises, has deployed its ship, Costa neoRiviera which will begin its first sailing from 
Mumbai with a Indian Wedding. The built-in infrastructure on the ship makes it particularly easy for groups 
to hold large events in one location. This classic cruise ship has a total of 654 cabins, including sea view 
cabins and suites with private balconies. With around 670 crew attending to approx. 1,700 passengers, the 
ship maintains its exclusivity and provides dedicated services to guests. Fully-equipped with a Casino, 
Theatre, Disco, Ballroom, Grand Bar, it aims to provide plenty in entertainment from Magic shows, 
operas and dancers that will captivate even the most well-travelled folks with spectacular performances.
The ship prides itself in serving up a culinary feast, catering to different dietary needs. Italian food is a 
speciality, with provision made to ensure customisation towards the Indian market by providing Indian 
& Jain meals. The wellness centre is spread across 1,300 sq. m with a gym, treatment rooms, sauna and 
steam room. It also has an outdoor jogging track, 4 Jacuzzis and 2 swimming pools. For those who would 
like to go shopping, the cruise ship has a duty-free shopping centre, and also offers a wide selection of books 
in the library for book lovers.
Massimo Brancaleoni, SVP Worldwide Sales, Costa Crociere, said keeping in mind the demand for cruises 
which is set to grow from India, Costa Cruises in 2019, will be bringing in an even larger ship, Costa 
Victoria with guest capacity of 2300 passenger. This has been in line with Costa Cruises being leaders in 
recognizing opportunities in new markets and paving the roads in fulfilling the same. 
Sanjay Bhatia Chairman Mumbai Port added “Cruise Tourism is a niche travel segment and its demand 
is expanding amongst Indians. Observing this trend, we have planned to encourage Cruise Tourism by 
inviting cruise liners to explore Indian waters. I am thankful to our Minister who acknowledged and 
supported our efforts to boost Cruise Tourism”.
Nalini Gupta, Managing Director, Lotus Destinations, GSA Costa cruise India, says “this is exciting times 
to be in the cruising industry in India. I am quite confident, every Indian who experiences cruising with 
neoRiviera, will take away nostalgic memories with them” .

सिंगापुर टूरिज्म बोर्ड ने यात्रियों को सिंगापुर घुमने का मौका देने के लिए ओला के साथ किया सहयोग

एसटीबी और ओला द्वारा ओला के यात्रियों को भ्रमण का अनूठा अनुभव प्रदान किया जायेगा

मुंबई, 4 दिसंबर, 2018: सिंगापुर टूरिज्म बोर्ड (एसटीबी) ने कार सुविधा प्रदान करने वाली दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी कंपनियों में से एक, ओला के सहयोग किये जाने की आज घोषणा की।

इस सहयोग के तहत, ओला ने पश्चिम और मध्य भारत के 19 शहरों1 अपने ग्राहकों के लिए अपने अपने प्लेटफॉर्म्स पर 1 से 15 दिसंबर तक अभियाने चलायेगा। इस अभियान के जरिए ओला के ग्राहकों कोसिंगापुर2 की सैर करने का मौका मिल सकेगा। ओला ग्राहकों को कंटेस्ट में भाग लेने के लिए ओला की कम-से-कम 3 राइड लेना होगा और प्रोमोकोड “SINGAPORE” दर्ज करना होगा। तीन जोड़ी विजेताओं काचयन किया जायेगा और 31 दिसंबर 2018 तक उन्हें ईमेल के जरिए सूचित किया जायेगा। इस अभियान के अलावा, एसटीबी के ब्रांड ‘पैशन मेड पॉसिबल’ को ओला के प्लेटफॉर्म्स पर प्रदर्शित कर इसे आगेमजबूत किया जायेगा।   

भारतीय ग्राहकों के लिए मोबिलिटी को तकनीक के जरिए पुनर्परिभाषित करने के साथ, एसटीबी का लक्ष्य इस पार्टनरशिप के जरिए ओला के प्लेटफॉर्म पर भारत के डिजिटल देशवासियों तक पहुंचना है। एसटीबीके क्षेत्रीय निदेशक - दक्षिण एशिया, मध्य पूर्व और अफ्रीका (एसएएमईए), जीबी श्रीथर ने कहा, ‘‘ओला भारतीय ग्राहकों के दैनिक जीवन का अनिवार्य अंग है। यह साझेदारी हमारी अनोखी विपणन पहलों में से एकहै, ताकि भारतीय ग्राहकों के साथ जुड़ सकें और उन्हें सिंगापुर आने व हमारी विभिन्न पेशकशों का अनुभव करने के लिए लुभा सकें। उदाहरण के लिए, भारतीय मिलेनियल्स डिजिटल स्पेस को अपने सोशलसर्किल; अपने दोस्तों और रिश्तेदारों का विस्तार मानते हैं। उन्हें शारीरिक रूप से नजदीक रहने या अन्य औपचारिक जुड़ावों के बजाये साझा शौक एवं जुनून के जरिए अधिक बेहतर तरीके से परिभाषित कियाजाता है। ओला के साथ हमारा करार इन भिन्न-भिन्न ‘‘पैशन ट्राइब्स’’ पर लक्षित अनुभवों को प्रदर्शित करने हेतु सिंगापुर के लिए एक असाधारण अवसर प्रदान करना है। ‘‘पैशन ट्राइब्स’’

के बारे में अधिक जानकारी हेतु अनुलग्नक ए देखें।

ओला के बिजनेस हेड, शेखर दत्ता ने कहा, ‘‘हमें अपने ग्राहकों के लिए शानदार राइडिंग अनुभव प्रदान करने पर गर्व है। हमें सिंगापुर टूरिज्म बोर्ड के साथ जुड़ने की खुशी हैं, ताकि अपने ग्राहकों को सिंगापुर मेंजाकर वहां की संस्कृति, खान-पान और विभिन्न पेशकशों को सराहने और उसमें तल्लीन हो जाने का मौका दे सकें, जहां दुनिया भर के पर्यटक आकर आनंद लेते हैं।’’

वर्ष 2017 में भारत से सिंगापुर जाने वाले पर्यटकों की संख्या रिकॉर्ड 1.27 मिलियन से भी अधिक रही, जो आगंतुकों के आगमन के अनुसार वर्ष-दर-वर्ष आधार पर 16 प्रतिशत अधिक है और सिंगापुर के लिएभारत तीसरा सबसे बड़ा आगंतुक आगमन सोर्स मार्केट बन चुका है। एसटीबी को यह बताते हुए खुशी हो रही है कि जनवरी से सितंबर 2018 तक, सिंगापुर आने वाले भारतीय आगंतुकों की संख्या 1.1 मिलियनरही, जो वर्ष-दर-वर्ष आधार पर 14.6 प्रतिशत अधिक है।

PAMPER YOUR PET AT “DOGS DAY OUT”, INORBIT MALL MALAD

~ A special evening for the pets and pet parents ~

Get ready for an Awesome Pawsome evening with your canine friends at Inorbit Mall, Malad. Inorbit is all set to host the third season of “Dogs Day Out” – an extravagant social evening for the pets and their pet parents. Block your date on 9^th of December and spend an exciting evening with your pooches.  The current season gets bigger and better with whole lot of engagement zones, competitions and loads of surprises for your pets. Style your pets for the fancy dress fashion show to win whole lot of surprises and witness the pet obedience demonstration by experts. Your pet can participate in a special pet parade.

The event is a perfect way to show your compassion towards your pooch, by treating them to a Dog Spa by Just Dogs, Juhu or gifting them exclusive merchandise like clothes, jerseys, bows, leashes. You can also capture special moments with your pet at the special Photo booth or get a caricature done with you pooch. Inorbit has also associated with PALS NGO where you can give a new home to abandoned pets by adopting them.  

The Dogs Day out is one of the most popular annual events that has been conceptualized and hosted by Inorbit Mall and Living Dreamz Events. The event has garnered tremendous response from all age groups and the attendees of the event increase every years. The event is open for all and is not to be missed.

Join us for a fun filled evening with your pooch, only at Inorbit mall Malad

Details:

Date: 9^th December 2018

Time: 5 pm onwards

On spot registrations for Fancy dress fashion show for both Pets and Pet Parents

Samco Securities ventures into the Mutual fund Research and Distribution business with RankMF

www.RankMf.com answers the most popular question today -  “Kaunsa Mutual Fund Sahi hai”

Mumbai, 28 November 2018: Keeping in line with SAMCO’s tradition of excellence and innovations, SAMCO Securities is pleased to announce the introduction of RankMF, which will revolutionize the selection of mutual fund schemes with its proprietary ratings and rankings system that will help investors know “kaunsa mutual fund sahi hai”.

There are thousands of mutual fund schemes “Par Kaunsa Mutual Fund Sahih hai”?  RankMF’s innovative offering is a first-of-its-kind service in India that will empower millions of investors who are seeking accurate research. RankMF rates and ranks all mutual fund schemes so that none of the options “SAHI” for them are missed out. RankMF does not limit itself to outdated ranking methodologies used by the existing mutual fund ranking platforms.

RankMF ratings and ranks are completely independent. It not only rates and ranks on past performance, but also on a variety of factors by using over 20 million data points such as expense ratios, standard deviation, beta, market valuations and multiples, portfolio holdings and diversification/concentration of portfolio, the cash ratio of a fund, size of the fund, the predicted yields and others. RankMF analyses the most important factor which is the quality of actual portfolio holdings since that is going to deliver real returns to investors and not historical returns which are used by other ranking platforms.

RankMF provides the most basic but immensely important filters such as “if the time is right for investments” and “strength of mutual funds schemes”, alongside providing personalized and guided experience – be it lumpsum or SIP or readymade researched baskets – for meeting investors’ financial objectives.

Introducing the RankMF SmartSIP ^TM : SIP is not systematic or smart investing, it's simply automated investing, Starting a mutual fund SIP and continuing to invest in it at all times through market ups and down has nothing to do with systematic investing.  SIP is NOT a smart system. The RankMF SmartSIP ^TM System solves this problem. Based on the margin of safety in the markets, RankMF generates signals which you should follow for your SIPs.  What are these signals and what do they mean?

● Like Signal: Begin or continue your SIP. This shall be when markets are reasonably valued

● Skip SIP: Skip your SIP for the month since markets are in an expensive phase offering lower value for money

● Dislike Signal: Markets are extremely expensive and you should skip and sell your SIP

● 2 Likes Signal: Increase your investments or double your SIP since markets are relatively cheap and offer great margin of safety or value for money

Omkeshwar Singh, who has been the head of BSE StAR MF / Mutual Funds Market Segment, will lead Rank MF. Singh has almost two decades’ experience in financial services and is considered an expert on mutual funds distribution. He has worked across reputed organisations like BSE Ltd, ROMS Management Services Pvt Ltd, Anand Rathi, Net worth Stock Broking Ltd and Karvy Finance.

SAYO Ultrasonic Kitchen Sink launched for first time in India

                                    Cleans everything including chemicals, pesticides, dust, pathogens &bacteria from surface

Mumbai –1^st December 2018 - A Hi-tech ultrasonic kitchen sink manufacturedin China was launched last evening for the first time in India by a reputed companyhere in Mumbai. SAYO Ultrasonic Kitchen Sink uses a modern cutting-edgeAmerican technology of sound frequency conversion that cleans fruits,vegetables, seafood etc.of the harmful chemicals, pesticides, dust andother surface impurities including pathogens, bacteria and other livingorganisms on the surface of the product.

Shiv Shankar Kushwah, Director of SAYO Enterprises informed, "Ourultrasonic kitchen sink is based on a superior technology and is certifiedby TUV-SUD,a world leader in testing and product certification. While this product is extremely popular inNorth-American, EasternEurope and, we are now introducing it to Indian market. Inthe first year we aim to sell in excess of 1500 units of this high- techultrasonic kitchen sink across India."

Health advocacy in the recent times has many times warned about theill-effects of residual pesticides and chemicals present on the fruits &vegetables available in the grocery store.

Celebrity Chef, Kaviraj Khialini said, "With the increasing healthconsciousness among people it will be a boon for the people who cherish thegoodness of fruits like peaches, nectarines, cherries, strawberries, grapes,raspberries, pear and apples and vegetables like potatoes, spinach, bellpeppers and celery etc. Most of these fruits & vegetables are known tocontain pesticide residues and this product will givethem a choice ofeating healthy.

"In the last year, with this specialised product we cloaked sales of US$ 25Million globally with 70% of revenues coming from the North Americanmarkets. With India on its way to the fastest  growing economy, we see ahuge potential for such aproduct that offers a great healthy living alongwith upmarket lifestyle also," said Chen Yin Lin, Director, SAYOEnterprises.

Anand Talsania, Director, SAYO Enterprises informed, "While our initial operationswill kick off from Mumbai covering the western region, after the firstquarter, we will extend our distribution network to Southern, Northern andCentral India. We have observed a huge interest among the trade and in thenext 6-months our product will be available pan-India.

"Ultrasonic transducers fitted underneath the sink convert electrical energyto mechanical energy and vibrate in a vibrational frequency of 30,000 to40,000 Hz per second generating energy waves in water. This creates millionsof microscopic air cavities loaded with vacuum energy in water that createdblast energy equivalent of several hundred degrees of heat and thousands ofatmospheres It results in the quick separation of pesticides residue,carbons, chemicals, wax, germs, dust articles and many other harmfulpathogens from the surface," explained Shiv Shankar Kushwah.

According to Eric Tan, Director, SAYO Enterprises, globally the Kitchen Sinkmarket, which is growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.76%currentlyremains in excess of US$ 3,000 Million and is slated to cross US$3,400 Million inthe next 3-years' time by the year 2021. While the marketshare of this product issmall currently, it is expected to grow inexponential proportion in the next few years.

Most importantly, these residual chemicals and pesticides that cannot beremoved with plain water easily and therefore while eating food, one isalways prone to consume them also. High levels of residual pesticides canprompt serious health problems like cancer, kidney and lung ailments,infections and mental health problems. SAYO ultrasonic kitchen sink willcreate new openings towards healthy living.

Regional Banking Conclave of WIRC of ICAI

Western India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (WIRC of ICAI) organized and hosted Regional Banking Conclave on Saturday, 24^th November, 2018 at Hotel Taj Santacruz, Mumbai.

It was inaugurated by CA. P. S. Jayakumar, Managing Director & CEO, Bank of Baroda, Mr. Arijit Basu, Managing Director (Commercial Clients Group & IT), State Bank of India and Mr. A. N. Prasad, Joint Director – CBI, Mumbai Zone and they shared their invaluable insights and suggestion to the participants. CA. Sandeep Jain, Chairman – WIRC also addressed more than 200 chartered accountants. 

Bloomberg Introduces Real-time GIFT IFSC Derivatives Data for International Investors

Data feeds provided by India International Exchange and National Stock Exchange track equity, commodity and currency derivatives in India's first International Financial Services Centre

National, November 29, 2018 – Bloomberg today announced that real-time Gujarat International Financial Tec-City (GIFT City) feeds have been added to its terminal, giving international investors data for derivatives contracts listed on NSE IFSC Limited and India INX, a subsidiary of Bombay Stock Exchange. Denominated in USD, these contracts allow foreign investors to trade India's derivatives tax-free inside India's first International Financial Services Centre. The instruments can be found on the terminal at CEM BGC <GO> and CEM NGC <GO>.

“Global investors now have access to real-time GIFT IFSC Derivatives Data through the Bloomberg terminal, which will further our goal for GIFT IFSC to become a new hub for international financial services,” said Dipesh Shah, Head of GIFT IFSC. "Bloomberg's ability to reach a large community of influential global investors will help draw significant interest to this region. This is just the start of a long-term partnership that will only help to strengthen GIFT IFSC's international reach."

“We are pleased to work with Bloomberg to publish price feeds of NSE IFSC products including Indian stock derivatives, index derivatives, currency derivatives and non-agriculture commodity derivatives," said Ravi Varanasi, Chief Business Development Officer at National Stock Exchange (NSE), India’s largest stock exchange "This development will enable global investors to track the dollar denominated prices of NIFTY 50 contracts, which is among the world’s largest traded derivatives contracts. We anticipate strong demand from foreign investors for our products, well supported by GIFT IFSC's longer trading hours, ease of access, trading in USD and regulatory support.”

"We are delighted that Bloomberg becomes the first global data feed vendor for India International Exchange at GIFT IFSC," said V. Balasubramaniam, MD and CEO of India International Exchange (India INX). "This is an important milestone in our journey and will enable us to realize the vision set out by Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to become a price setter in financial instruments and a hub for raising capital for corporates across Asia and Africa.  As India INX trades for 22 hours and transact in USD, the live data price feed through Bloomberg will enable global investors to track our markets across all time zones and further their participation in our exchange and GIFT IFSC.”

Launched in 2007, GIFT City is India’s first international financial services center, $12 billion smart city and special economic zone developed in the Ahmedabad metropolitan region as a greenfield development. Currently, over 200 companies are operational with more than 8,500 employed at GIFT City, including India International Exchange, Tata Communications, State Bank of India, Oracle, Reliance Capital and Dubai Multi Commodity Centre. In July 2018, NSE IFSC, NSE's International exchange at GIFT City, crossed the USD 500 million mark in daily trading value while India INX recorded a peak daily trading value of USD 1.7 billion on September 26, 2018.

“As India's financial markets begin to accelerate, we want to ensure international investors have the right data to perform their investments,” said Gary Kotovets, Global Head of Data Acquisition and Data Management at Bloomberg. “Investors are naturally drawn to highly liquid markets and as GIFT IFSC becomes a key liquidity center for international firms, it was important that Bloomberg become the very first international market data vendor to provide investors with real time GIFT IFSC data through all of our products and services.”

OnMobile launches ONMO Videos in India with focus on curated regional content

OnMobile, the global leader in mobile entertainment, has launched ONMO Videos across 5 leading operators in India, Bangladesh and the Middle East. Across the globe, Indians take a deep sense of pride in their local language. They prefer content in their native language as it brings them closer to their culture and community but the challenge has always been that the desired content is available at different destinations and in different formats, across various channels. ONMO Videos is a ‘one-stop-destination’ portal on video entertainment which showcases rich and exclusive regional content in five Indian languages - Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Bengali to start with.

“9 out of every 10 new internet users in India over the next 5 years are likely to be Indian language users. With increased availability & affordability of data network and smartphones, there is a significant market for regional content consumption, digitally. ONMO Videos fulfills that gap with its holistic entertainment platform catering to varied interest needs of a region-specific audience in 12 categories”, says Mr. Sanjay Bhambri, President & Chief Operating Officer - India, Asia, Middle East & Africa, OnMobile Global.

So, whether one is a homemaker, college student, school kid, working professional or a senior citizen, ONMO Videos offers an eclectic mix of entertaining and engaging content curated in 12 categories. The categories include movie scenes, recipes, places of interest, beauty tips, kids’ entertainment, devotional, health, and fitness. With a low subscription fee, ONMO Videos comes packed with features like the recommendations, bookmarks, social sharing, and smart notifications to enrich the user experience. ONMO Videos is optimized for both web and mobile and can run on low bandwidth.

NCR Announces Multi-Year Managed Services Agreement with Punjab National Bank

NCR to deliver IT support services to Punjab National Bank’s network of ATMs

MUMBAI, November 28, 2018 – NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a leader in banking and commerce solutions, today announced a new managed services agreement with Punjab National Bank (PNB), India’s third largest public sector bank. The three-year agreement establishes NCR as Punjab National Bank’s key services support provider for a significant part of its global network of over 3,600 ATMs.

PNB is India’s sixth largest bank in terms of ATMs deployed in the country with 100 million customers, including approximately 40 million debit card holders. It maintains more than 6,692 branches and has a presence in nine countries.

“We are impressed with NCR in terms of innovation, quality of service provided and its commitment to us and our customers to improve availability of our banking services, drive operational efficiency and deliver proactive service,” said a PNB official.  “We are confident in NCR’s services approach and that the company will serve our needs well under this agreement.”

The new services agreement is another signal of NCR’s commitment to growing its services business in India. Specific services provided to PNB include incident management, cash management, electronic journal pulling services, content management & software distribution services, site management & maintenance services and general housekeeping and upkeep services.

“The expectation of an always-on, omni-present business model is now a given, and financial institutions need to ensure that their banking services are available to their customers when they want,” said Navroze Dastur, Managing Director, NCR India. “Our suite of managed services will help PNB to reduce the high costs of multiple service providers, scale support quickly and ultimately, decrease downtime through high-value managed services. We are committed to providing PNB excellent customer service and building on this tremendous relationship for years to come.”

Maestro Ilaiyaraaja takes a walk down memory lane with the Singapore Tourism Board

“Akkarai Seemai Azhaginiley”, his hit composition 40 years ago for the movie “Priya”, serves as background score for Isainyani’s experiences in Singapore

Mumbai, Nov 28, 2018: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) collaborated with legendary Indian musician maestro, Isainyani Ilaiyaraaja for a song video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Nk3uXOpZw, when he visited Singapore in August 2018 to conduct a sell-out concert for his fans from the region. At the concert, he performed with a full orchestra, including members of the Budapest orchestra, one of his iconic songs 'Akkarai Seemai Azhaginey (English translation: “my heart dances in the beauty of an overseas metropolis”) from the movie “Priya”. This song was about and filmed in Singapore and was a hit about 40 years ago. 

The STB and its travel trade partners had the pleasure of hosting Mr Ilaiyaraaja to travel experiences across the city. Some of the city’s iconic precincts, landmarks and attractions featured in the video are Gardens By The Bay, Resorts World Sentosa, Victoria Theatre, Haji Lane, Madame Tussauds, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Sri Mariamman Temple, Little India, Cable car ride and Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa. The video shows Mr Ilaiyaraaja at various spots in Singapore, at the concert and snippets from an interview he did where he spoke about his experiences and long association with Singapore.

Sharing his thoughts about this unique musical collaboration, Mr. GB Srithar, Regional Director (South Asia, Middle East and Africa), Singapore Tourism Board stated “It was a privilege to work with Mr Ilayaraaja to capture on camera his thoughts about Singapore, him visiting well known places here and using his super-hit song composition from the late 1970s’ as a background score for the video. It was indeed a rare pleasure to hear from the legend himself of his admiration for Singapore and our tourism offerings. Raja sir has a huge fan following in India, especially in South India. As the STB continues to reach out to diverse audiences from across India, this collaboration allows us to go regional in our marketing efforts. We are happy to have Isainyani Ilaiyaraaja onboard in this important effort to engage the travellers from South India and welcome them to Singapore, to have their own appreciation of “Akkarai Seemai Azhaginiley”.

Apart from the main music video, audiences will be treated to an interview videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4taxtYofgo, where Mr Ilaiyaraaja talks about his long association with Singapore and how he considers the city as his second home, having ade multiple visits in the past four decades. He reminisces about the time spent in Shangri-la’s Rasa Sentosa Hotel & Spa to compose his iconic orchestration for “Thiruvasagam” and the changes he has seen the Lion city undergo. He also spoke about “Aarvam Niraiverum” (Tamil translation of Singapore’s “Passion Made Possible” brand). Another four thematic videos have been released, showcasing key attractions like Gardens By The Bay and Sentosa, the city’s cultural diversity and changing landscape. The videos were produced in partnership with Mr Ilaiyaraaja’s concert organisers Noise & Grains and Meshana and were directed by a French director Mr David Montfort.

Singapore has observed robust tourist traffic from South India. The short three (3) plus hours’ travel time, increased flight connectivity (nine (9) cities from South India have direct flight connections to Singapore) and quick weekend holidays contribute to the strong visitorship numbers to Singapore. Chennai and Bengaluru were among the top source cities for Visitor Arrivals from India to Singapore in 2017. Cities like Coimbatore, Trichy, Hyderabad and Kochi also registered growth in traveler numbers to Singapore.

In 2018, the STB has undertaken several marketing initiatives in South India. In January, it organised a consumer-centric mall activity in Bengaluru, featuring the various travel offerings one can indulge in while in Singapore. In the middle of the year, it conducted, together with key trade partners from Singapore, an extensive travel trade roadshow series across cities of Trichy, Coimbatore, Kochi and Visakhapatnam. 

Singapore has always been a popular international destination among Indian travelers, witnessing a year-on-year growth in tourist arrivals. Indian travellers, particularly the younger generation, are increasingly defined by their hobbies and interests, which are shaping not only their identities but who they relate to and how they choose to spend their time. These are ‘Passion Tribes’ https://www.visitsingapore.com/en_in/ whose principle motivation for travel is to fulfil such interests.  The STB’s partnership with Mr Ilaiyaraaja helps to connect with the Passion Tribes of Explorers (who love sightseeing and discovering places) and Culture Shapers (who seek experiences in arts and culture)

In 2017, Singapore recorded 1.27 million visitors from India, making India the 3^rd highest contributor of visitor arrivals to Singapore. India also registered the highest growth at 16% in visitors to Singapore and continued to be the leading source market for cruise travel.