Tag Archives: Bengaluru

In a bid to expand its footprint in India, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has plans to come up with 16 new properties by the end of 2019. With this move, it will be adding approximately 970 rooms to its current portfolio. As of now, the company has 6,000 rooms and manages three properties overseas and has a total of 73 hotels in the country. The upcoming hotels will be categorised under three brands— Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar Portico and Hometel Suites. These hotels will be located in multiple destinations which include Goa, Dehradun, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Udaipur, Junagadh, Dahisar, Dibrugarh, Morbi, Jammu, Bodh Gaya, and Dindi, among others. Amongst the 16 hotels, the majority will be under the Sarovar Portico brand, the hotel at Dahisar will be Hometel Suites brand while the property at Bodh Gaya will be under the Sarovar Premiere brand.

Qatar Airways has introduced a new online payment scheme for bookings made on its website exclusively for customers with credit cards issued by Indian banks. The new payment option now makes it possible for passengers to pay for their booking through monthly instalments of 3, 6, 9 or 12 months respectively. The service aims to ease and enhance passengers’ travelling experience by making their booking transactions much more affordable and flexible. It also makes it easier for travellers planning to fly with family and friends, with only a minimum installment fee needed to be paid to complete the purchase. Naveen Chawla, Senior Manager Commercial–ISC, Qatar Airways said, “The launch of the new EMI option gives our passengers tremendous benefits as they can now book their tickets online at their convenience through our website, and also instantly access our latest offers. Through this new user-friendly and affordable payment scheme, Qatar Airways passengers with credit cards issued by Indian banks will now have greater flexibility when it comes to planning their travel itinerary. Those who previously couldn’t book online due to their credit limit or a large outstanding balance will now be able to pay for their bookings effortlessly using their credit card. This service is testament to Qatar Airways’ ongoing commitment to be innovative when it comes to enhancing the travel experience of our customers.” Qatar Airways currently operates 102 weekly flights between Doha and 13 destinations in India, including Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram.  

Global Destinations is organising a four-city roadshow in the country in order to strengthen relations with the travel fraternity and various private players. Having kicked off in Delhi, the roadshow will travel to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. Pranav Kapadia, Founder & Director, Global Destinations, shared, “We have got 12 partners with for the roadshow, which includes five properties from Bintan Resorts and partners from Greece, Vietnam and Bulgaria. We’ve got  Swiss-Belhotel International from Bali, a partner from United states and Air New Zealand from New Zealand. We have invited very select agents for the roadshow. The idea is to either target agents who have the potential as we have not been getting the required support from them or look at agents who have been supporting Global Destinations and haven’t met the partners.”  

The Department of Tourism, Kerala organised Kerala Tourism Partnership Meet 2019 in Delhi to brief the media and trade about developments and initiatives in the state besides highlighting its marketing and promotional plan for the year. The presentation was followed by a cultural programme that showcased Kerala’s dance, art and music forms. On the occasion, BS Biju, Tourist Information Officer, Kerala Tourism informed, “Delhi is one of the most promising markets for us. Business meetings are being organised by Kerala Tourism in both domestic and international markets annually as part of our marketing strategy. 32 tourism industry players and trade partners including tour operators, hotels and other service providers from Kerala held meetings with their counterparts in Delhi.” To further reach out to the domestic market, a series of Partnership Meets are planned in 10 cities. After Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Delhi, the Meets will be organised in Jaipur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Madurai in February. According to the data released by Kerala Tourism, domestic arrivals in the state increased to 1,46,73,520 translating into an 11.39 per cent year-on -year growth in 2017 while international arrivals during the year was 10,91,870, an increase of 5.15 per cent over the 2016’s figures.

GoAir is set to expand its international footmark with the launch of direct flights on Kannur – Muscat – Kannur route effective February 28, 2019. The airline will operate three direct flight services per week and bookings are now open at an attractive all-inclusive one way fare starting from INR 4999. Speaking on the occasion, Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir said, “It gives us immense delight to add Muscat as our third international destination. Muscat is a key market for us and is in line with our growth strategy and more so for the Middle East. We are hopeful that this service would also prove equally popular with our flyers. We will continue to deliver convenient and hassle-free connections and we stand committed to provide our customers with superior experience at best affordable prices.” Recently, GoAir added Kannur as its 24th domestic destination and was the first and only domestic airline to launch services when the airport commenced its maiden operations. On the domestic front, the airline currently connects Kannur to Bengaluru with 13 weekly flights, Chennai with 4 weekly flights and Hyderabad with 3 weekly flights. On the international front, the airline has recently introduced direct daily connectivity to Phuket from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. It also operates 4 direct weekly flights on the Mumbai-Male route, 3 weekly flights on Delhi-Male and 2 weekly flights on Bengaluru-Male route.

Air Italy and Vistara have signed an interline commercial agreement to offer single tickets for all customers from Italy to a range of Indian destinations with effect from January 7. Under the agreement, Air Italy will offer its customers the opportunity to fly to and from Chennai, Goa, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kolkata and Hyderabad, in connection with its Milan Malpensa-Delhi and Milan Malpensa-Mumbai flights launched respectively on December 6 and 13, 2018. Rossen Dimitrov, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Air Italy, said, The commencement of our partnership with Vistara is great news for passengers of both airlines. We are glad to strengthen our relations with our Indian partner which has rapidly expanded its network and services in a very short time. Our India-bound customers departing from the US and from Italy can now benefit from a wider selection of cities in addition to Delhi and Mumbai within a single ticket. Our aim is to ensure our passengers a smooth and enjoyable flight and along with our commercial partner to enable them to discover every part of this magnificent country.

Beginning January 6, 2019, SpiceJet will operate direct flights on Bhopal-Jaipur, Bhopal-Ahmedabad, Bhopal-Hyderabad, and Bhopal-Shirdi routes. The airline will also start direct flight services on the routes of Shirdi-Bengaluru, Shirdi-Jaipur, Shirdi-Bhopal and Shirdi-Ahmedabad and will also add additional frequency on the Shirdi-Hyderabad route.

Bloom Hotels has opened its latest property in the heart of Delhi at Janpath with bloomrooms @ Janpath. The rapid execution is part of the group’s growth plan to build 100 hotels by 2020 and also signals the launch of a comprehensive pan India roll-out. With properties in Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Goa, Bloom Hotels is now expanding across India with 50 hotels to be signed in Tier-II markets over the next few months. Speaking on the occasion at the launch of the hotel, Tom Welbury, Vice President Strategy, Bloom Hotel Group, says, “We are very positive about the success of the hotel. In this location, there isn’t any mid-scale hotel that offers quality. We are offering that to our customers and we will be catering both to the corporates and leisure guests. We have have set a new record by building and launching the entire property in less than 100 days. With this kind of pace and efficiency, I am sure we will meet our target.”

IndiGo is all set to operate daily direct flights connecting Kannur to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Hubli and Chennai with effect from January 2019. The introduction of these flights will further strengthen the airline’s operations, and will provide connectivity between Kannur and other key cities with all-inclusive fares starting from Rs 1799. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo, said, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to fly out of the new airport in Kannur starting January 2019. Kannur will be the 67th destination on our growing network and starting operations will further strengthen the air connectivity from Northern Kerala. IndiGo will operate daily non-stop return flights from Kannur to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Hubli. These new services will benefit our customers with more flying options and will also boost tourism stemming from nearby regional destinations, including Kasaragod and Wayanad in Kerala, and Coorg in Karnataka.”

GoAir has announced the launch of flight operations from Kannur with the launch of the newly commissioned international airport at Kannur. The Kannur schedule introduces direct daily flights connecting Bengaluru six times weekly,  Hyderabad four times weekly and Chennai thrice weekly. With this launch, GoAir will now operate more than 1600 weekly flights by the end of December. The airline plans to also commence its international operations from Kannur shortly post regulatory approvals. On the occasion of the launch, the airline is also operating a special flight between Delhi to Kannur to facilitate guest movement of Kannur International Airport. Cornelis Vrieswijk, CEO, GoAir said “Kannur is a key market and a significant base for business and tourism in the region. Adding Kannur with its ideal geographical location, we reinforce our commitment towards enhancing connectivity across the country. It is our constant endeavor to provide flexibility of choice to our customers along with on time, convenient and affordable flying experience.” Tickets for the new flights can be booked through the company website or online travel portals, GoAir Call Centre, airport ticketing offices, through travel agents and the GoAir mobile app that is available on both Apple iOS and Google Android. Passengers will be required to download the latest version of the App to be able to make the bookings.