Tag Archives: CEO

Ayana Hospitality, a joint venture between the ICS Group (India) and Mantis Group (South Africa), will open its new hotel in Kochi called Ayana Fort Kochi in November 2016. Located in the heart of Fort Kochi, Ayana will be a luxury boutique hotel offering local architecture, culture and cuisine. Akhil Behl, CEO, Ayana Hospitality, says, “This converted hotel has the distinction of having been the court house during the Portuguese occupation and is said to be almost 200 years old. The main hotel reception has high wooden sloping roof, showcasing the perfect venue for a court proceeding. All 16 rooms feature authentic Indian Athangudi tile floors, combined with classic Art Deco interiors, successfully blending history with modern luxurious comfort.”

Vistara inaugurated operations to Port Blair, as its flight UK 747 took off from Delhi for Port Blair via Kolkata, at 0720 hours on Sept 30. With the addition of Port Blair, Vistara now serves 18 destinations across the length and breadth of the country. The new service to Port Blair offers a daily flight from Delhi and Kolkata (same aircraft service via Kolkata), with arrival and departure timings that allow for convenient connections to ferry and catamaran services between Port Blair and Havelock Island. Commenting on the launch of the new services, Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara, said, “We are delighted to add Port Blair to our fast-growing network with a daily direct flight from Delhi via Kolkata. The Andamans are a beautiful part of India with rich history and breathtaking natural beauty. We are pleased to offer both the visitors, and the wonderful residents of this region, the chance to experience ‘the new feeling’ of flying Vistara, an airline that is setting new standards of service excellence, when they travel to and from Port Blair.” Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara, added, “Delivering on our brand promise to provide seamless, thoughtful and personalized services, we are pleased to introduce a variety of attractively priced packages in cooperation with top travel entities to offer our customers the most convenient travel in the Andamans. While Port Blair itself offers a lot to see and do, including the historic Cellular Jail and an excursion to the neighboring Ross Island, we have also timed our flights to offer the most convenient connections to and from the most popular inter-island ferries such as to Havelock Island.” Vistara also announced the addition …

Harmandeep Singh Anand, Co-founder, Global Panorama Showcase (GPS), has announced dates for the fifth edition of the B2B travel event. It will start with Nagpur from January 19-21, 2017, and then go on to other cities starting from July and through August 2017. He said, “The fourth edition of GPS Nagpur was extremely successful and registered an increase in visitor footfalls from Central India. The event was followed by four new shows into the portfolio namely: GPS Ahmedabad, GPS Chandigarh, GPS Kolkata and GPS Coimbatore. GPS 2016 saw a combined unique travel trade visitor registration of over 3,000 people, firmly cementing GPS as a premier B2B travel event to reckon with for the Tier II and Tier III cities of India. GPS 2017 will take place in six cities namely: Nagpur (January 19-21), Ahmedabad (July 13-15), Chandigarh (July 20-22), Kolkata (July 27-29), Kochi (August 3-5) and Pune (August 10-12). One day will be dedicated to learnings and workshops, alongside the business meetings that will take place over the three days. Raju Akolkar, CEO, GPS, adds, “For the Nagpur edition, we will launch Voluntourism packages as we have identified a few NGOs in the region. This will also help travel agents put forth an interesting tour product for the region, that will include wildlife and community service together with local sightseeing. We will also get a local travel industry expert to speak and highlight the tourism products that available in the region and how to make it available to the industry and also to throw light about the regions traveller behavior in the context of domestic as well as outbound tourism.” Madhu Saliankar, Sales & Marketing Director, Entreps, adds, “Tourism is a …

Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Africa Travel Association (ATA), a division of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), to strengthen the tourism links between Africa and the Asia Pacific region. Both the organisations have agreed to cooperate in a number of areas including market intelligence and proprietary research; conferences and events; advocacy themes and grass-roots development through Chapter networks. ATA will also contribute content for the PATA monthly Visitor Economy Bulletin and for the dedicated PATA website on sustainability. PATA will be seeking to use the good offices of the ATA to strengthen further its presence throughout the continent. The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority recently became the first government member from Africa to join the PATA. Dr. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA said, “I am very pleased that there is shared determination within our organisations to forge this new MoU into a worthwhile partnership that produces tangible and mutually beneficial benefits for ATA, PATA and all our members. The demand from source markets across the Asia Pacific to visit tourist destinations in Africa is unprecedented. We look forward to helping ATA and the nations of Africa as they bid to maintain a balanced and sustainable approach to managing even greater numbers of visitors to some of the world’s most famous attractions and landmarks.” Stephen Hayes, President & CEO, CCA, said, “We believe an active MoU with PATA is important to strengthen tourism to Africa. The potential for tourism in Africa is enormous and it offers very significant opportunities for business as well as environmental awareness. We couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

Seychelles records 62 per cent increase in tourist arrivals from India during January-July 2016, compared to the same period last year. This surge in the arrivals can be attributed to the India tourist office’s increasing focus on educating and hand holding the trade to better promote the destination, increase in Air Seychelles daily flights from four to five times a week, special efforts from the hotels and DMCs to tap the India market and increasing efforts to reach out to the customer through association with Bollywood and other avenues. Sherin Naiken, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board, said, “We are thrilled with the way India market has responded to our efforts. We have seen a phenomenal increase in arrivals since we opened office three years ago. However, this is not the time to bask in the current successes and relax. As we enter the pre-honeymoon and festival season we will double our efforts to reach out to both travel trade and consumers. We are fortunate to have supportive partners like Air Seychelles, the DMCs and the hotels who walk with us hand in hand in going the extra mile to support the India travel trade. As a result, owing to its diversity, we have been able to position Seychelles as a destination which is meant for all – families, couples, small groups, celebrations and MICE.” New hotels have opened in the Seychelles in the past one year giving tourists more options. Carana Beach Hotel, the 40 chalet four-star property in North Mahe, opened its doors to guests in April 2016. It is the only resort in its category to boast of in-villa plunge-in pools. Dubai-based H Hotel and Resort Management Company opened …

Vistara has launched its new multimedia brand campaign along with its first TV commercial that features actor Deepika Padukone. The campaign delivers on the brand  promise of “Fly the new feeling” through the eyes of the airline’s new brand ambassador. Through this campaign, Vistara wishes to reach out to its core audience of corporate and frequent flyers who are willing to pay a premium for the unique offerings provided by the full service airline. Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara, said, “We believe the journey should be as enjoyable as the destination. Our new brand campaign with Deepika Padukone highlights the unique feeling of flying Vistara. Through this campaign, she has brought to life the special spark of happiness that people feel when they fly with Vistara, the airline that is proud to carry the remarkable heritage of Tata group.” Within 19 months, Vistara has expanded its network from its hub in New Delhi and now serves 17 destinations across the country with 11 Airbus A320 aircraft flying 475 flights a week. By end of this year, Vistara’s fleet will grow to 13 Airbus A320 aircraft and it will fly over 500 flights a week to 18 destinations.

Keys Hotels, part of Berggruen group of hotels, was officially launched in Vishakhapatnam, inaugurated by guest of honour, Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister for Civil Aviation with Anshu Sarin, CEO, Berggruen Hotels. It is the second Keys Hotel in the state. Strategically located in the heart of the city, Keys Hotel, Vishakhapatnam is an ideal choice for both business and leisure travellers. The hotel is located close to the famous tourist attractions of the city such as Visakha Museum, Submarine Museum, R K Beach and the Kailasa Giri. Anshu Sarin, CEO, Berggruen Hotels Pvt. Ltd. said, “Southern part of the country, especially Andhra Pradesh is a critical market for us and the launch of the hotel in Vishakhapatnam will enhance our presence in the region reinforcing our commitment of growth in the state. Moreover, as part of our expansion strategy of entering into smart cities, we aim to attract business travelers from multiple industries besides leisure travelers. ”

Air India and SpiceJet have signed an MOU under which Air India will provide support to SpiceJet on maintenance of their B-737 aircraft and landing gear replacement at AIESL’s MRO facility at Nagpur. This will mean additional revenue for Air India while it will also enable SpiceJet to not only avail AI’s state of the art facilities and engineering expertise but also can save money and extra miles. Arun Kashyap, VP engineering and maintenance, SpiceJet said that SpiceJet will save nearly 25 per cent of total maintenance cost. H.R. Jagannathan, CEO, AIESL said that Air India is always ready to be a part of the Make in India programme. Air India has world class MRO facilities and any one can use the state of the art facilities. He said that aviation sector is growing rapidly so in the coming years MRO facilities can be used efficiently

Monarch Cruise has enrolled two cricketers from India’s playing XI in its already start-studded line-up for its themed cruises. And the good news for the trade is that agents can now partake in these experiences. Somesh Jagga, CEO, Monarch Cruise, in an exclusive to TravTalk revealed that Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and K.L. Rahul from the current Indian team have now signed up with Monarch to sail will the travellers onboard. He says, “We take special care of our travel agents and PSAs and hold events where they can meet the celebrities we have onboard, which is something they cherish for life. We also give them exclusive signed merchandise and certificates that they can exhibit in their offices. Special lunch and dinner opportunities with celebrities are provided to high performing agents. Monarch is all about experience, not only for its customers, but for its travel agents as well.”

Rajiv Duggal, CEO, Lavasa, won big at the third West India Travel Awards held at Novotel Pune Nagar Road on August 5, 2016. Besides being declared the Best Marketing Professional of the year for his contribution towards promoting Lavasa as a destination in its own right, Duggal also picked up the awards for Lavasa International Convention Centre which won the Best Convention Centre; and Lavasa Tourism which was named the Best All Seasons Destination. Talking about the sweeping victory at the event, the CEO of Lavasa, said, “It’s an overwhelming feeling to receive the three trophies and I am glad that the awards recognise the effort we’ve put behind the development and promotion of the destination.”