Category Archives: Hotels

The Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) thanks the BMC and the Government of Maharashtra for the 3-month waiver on property tax for the industry. However, it has requested to grant waiver to all hotels as well as restaurants for a six-month period, during which they were asked to remain shut. Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, HRAWI, adds, “We have not been paid for the cost of operation borne by us towards quarantining essential workers.”

JB Singh, President & CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, has said that to drive the industry where we want to go, big policy intervention is needed. “One cannot drive policy intervention without changing the structure. I think the policy must have something that can do transformational change,” he said while speaking at CAPA India Webinar.

Strengthening their presence in the North, Cygnett Group of Hotels and Resorts have launched their First Hotel in Punjab— Cozzet Stay Amritsar, with 40 rooms, which is located about 400 meters from the Golden Temple.

Indian travel technology company, Qtech Software and AI-based SaaS start-up Vervotech have entered in a strategic partnership to provide Vervotech’s UNICA – hotel mapping and room mapping platform – as an integrated solution within Qtech’s travel ERP platform. Customers of Qtech Software will now have the option to choose a mapping solution of their choice.

Mandeep S Lamba, President (South Asia), HVS ANAROCK, during a webinar, has advised hotel owners in India to not sell right now. “This is not a great time to sell. But if your cash flows are not holding out and you have no other way of managing it, then there is no option but to sell. Other than that, I would advise everybody to hold on because valuations will be a little depressed if you sell now. So the best advice I can give hotel owners is that if you have the ability to manage your cash flows for the next 12 months, then just hold on,” he advises.

In today’s FHRAI webinar with Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Government of India suggested FHRAI to put forth their general problems along with other Associations like CII and FICCI. The main problem that Association addressed pertains to restructuring of loans and extending the moratorium period. They also said that onetime restructuring which was allowed till March 31 is not taken very seriously. Sanyal said that the restructuring guidelines addressed in KV Kamanth Committee will not be considered in a normal account, banks may not be taking the guidelines seriously but RBI is. Plus, he suggested that it is important to focus on the schemes that are already existing in the framework and push it forward. Association also requested that moratorium should continue until the situation is better and banks could get a solution. They also mentioned that Amitabh Kant is making some progress in deal with Saudi Arabia for a new credit line. To which Sanyal said that funds is not a problem, economy is doing good, there is liquidity in the market, the task is how to leverage it.

According to a JLL report, Bengaluru’s hotel sector performance declined 59% in RevPAR in YTD July 2020 (YoY) but is expected to bottom out in Q4 2020 as domestic travel gains momentum. Occupancy was also down 53% YTD July (YoY).

Ramada by Wyndham hotel at The Mall, Mussoorie, with an inventory of 45-rooms, has opened its doors. Owned by RKM Enterprises, the hotel is strategically located at Picture Palace on the Mall, which ensures that you are just a walk away from the best that Mussoorie has to offer. “It gives us great pleasure to be able to bring affordable luxury lodging accommodations to the Queen of Hills- Mussoorie community and we look forward to welcoming travellers to the area’s newest hotel,” said Mr. Rakesh Mediratta, the hotel’s owner. Nikhil Sharma, Area Director Eurasia, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts said: “Ramada by Wyndham Mussoorie Mall Road is our second hotel in hill state of Uttarakhand and our first hotel in Mussoorie, a sought-after destination known for its Colonial charm, beautiful churches and scenic surroundings. We are proud to introduce another Ramada by Wyndham hotel to the Uttarakhand market and we look forward to welcoming guests looking to venture out to pristine hills of the north.”

Manish Kriplani, MD, Baywatch Travels, has launched Baywatch Stayzz, which include serviced luxury villas and houses for rent. “There was a huge void of having luxury full-service villas, where travellers can relax with having dedicated butler service, and housekeeper, chef and other resources at their disposal. We found that there was demand and availability for the same, which was a great prospect. We have 9 villas as of now and we plan to have 50 such villas in the next 2-3 months in Chennai. While some villas we are obtaining on lease, some are on revenue share, while for others we are only doing sales & marketing. While we have made PDF brochures now, we are preparing a very robust e-commerce website portal, where we are going to host all these villas and which will have all the information about them.”

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts continues to expand its leisure portfolio with the signing of its second hotel in Mussoorie – Rasa Sarovar Premiere. An upscale hotel nestled in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayan range, will offer an array of dining choices, state-of-the- art fitness centre, Bar, Spa centre and a conference hall. All guest rooms will feature private pools and gardens.