‘Destination Canada’ was in the Indian capital New Delhi to promote the country as a premier tourist hot-spot. The event ‘Experience Canada Workshop’ had representatives from Air Canada, High Commission of Canada and many others form the tourism trade.

The ballroom of a luxury hotel in New Delhi was set  for representatives from Destination Canada and Air Canada along with other key players from the tourism trade who were in the capital on September 27 to promote their travel brands.

‘Destination Canada’, the national tourism marketing organisation of Canada, promoted the country to the Indian tourists. Concerned people from the tourism trade attended the event with a workshop conducted to bridge the gap between India-Canada tourism businesses. Indian tour operators and agencies, visa authorities and representatives of Air Canada were among the many to attend the event.

Arun Pandeya, Air Canada’s country head and general manager for the Indian sub-continent, talked about the flights association with Air Canada in India. Talking of the initiatives they have taken lately Pandeya said, “Air Canada has restarted its flights with the right kind of aircraft last year from November 2 with a non-stop Toronto-Delhi flight; it is plying four times a week currently and will turn into a daily flight from November 6, 2016.”

“We have already announced a non-stop Vancouver-Delhi flight which can carry 297 passengers and will start operations from October 20, 2016,” he added, mentioning that this flight would be the fastest flight going towards the West.

He also said that Air Canada is largely looking at India to increase its tourist footprint besides the other key markets which include China and Japan. They are looking at a huge potential in business travellers and students.

Talking about the aircraft, Pandeya said, “It is an award-winning aircraft with business, premium economy and economy classes, and is equipped  for the 13-14 hours of travel time.”

The service and luxury on board have been well thought of and crafted according to the targeted passengers. The flight will have Hindi and Punjabi speaking flight attendants on board. It will also provide passengers with the option of viewing Bollywood movies which they can enjoy alongside the helpings of various available wines and spirits.

Speaking on the visa process, an official from the Canadian high commission addressed the crowd.

“There is the regular paperwork which one can go through for filing visa applications, but we want to promote more and more online applications, ”the official said, talking about the convenience online procedures bring.

“It doesn’t take  long to process the application, 34 days if you apply in India; processing times are public on our website which gives statistical and historical data,” he said.

“We received 200,000 temporary visa applications in 2015-2016 which is  historic. The applications have been increasing by 35 pc every year and include a lot of study and work permits,” he added.

To make the application process quicker, the staffs in Delhi, Chandigarh and Bengaluru handle the applications by sharing resources. The fee for visa applications is 100 Canadian dollars and if one has previously travelled to the USA or Canada, lesser documentation will be required.

“Canada does not have e-visa,” the official clarified saying that the online procedure should not be confused with it. He also talked about how one can apply for the visa even if they are travelling elsewhere as the commission does not retain the passport during the procedure.