Tag Archives: Chennai

Having grown its annual roadshow from five cities to six now, Mumbai-based U&I Holidays is keen on adding Tier-II cities from next year. Shyam Upadhyay, Director, U&I Holidays, says, “This time, we wanted to include a new city so we added Kolkata, which to our surprise was a hit. Most of the participants found good potential there. Every city got more than 100 attendees but Kolkata was at 150 which is really good for a city like that.” The six cities were Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. The roadshow had 32 participants from Bali of which 31 were hotels plus one caterer. Speaking about Kolkata, Ashish Indulkar, Director, U&I Holidays, adds, “Although we have been doing some activities in Kolkata, we never ventured full-fledge into the market. We were very happy with the turnout. It is a very interesting market because there are whispers that AirAsia India is planning to launch a direct Kolkata-Bali flight via Kuala Lumpur.” Upadhyay adds that next year’s roadshow will continue to travel to six cities but a new set of cities which will include a Tier-II city like Nagpur, Jaipur or Pune. U&I Holidays sent 15,000 Indian pax to Bali last year. “In 2015, it was 12,000, and this year we are expecting bigger numbers. We are focusing more on MICE as well,” Indulkar adds. U&I has its own office in Bali and they are also a DMC for Maldives. Last year, U&I Holidays entered the wellness segment by opening Ashoka Spa outlet in Mumbai. It opened another one in Bali in December 2016. It will now focus on hotel spas in Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra and are already in talks …

IndiGo has added 20 new flights to cities with high demand and expanding potential. The airline has added flights to Jammu and Srinagar from Delhi only for February 13 and 14. The airline has unveiled additional to and fro flights connecting Hyderabad and Chandigarh; Chennai and Chandigarh; Chennai and Hyderabad; and Chennai and Kochi, starting February 20. Targeting the business and leisure travellers, the airline will also add a second daily flight on its Chennai-Singapore route beginning March 05 2017. In East India, IndiGo will enhance operations from Delhi and Kolkata to Bagdogra with 4 additional flights to strengthen connectivity between metro cities and remote routes. With a total of 883 flights connecting 41 destinations, these new flights will further consolidate IndiGo’s position as the fastest growing airline in India. It recently launched two new non-stop daily flights to Sharjah and additional flight to Muscat in a bid to consolidate its position in the Middle East market. It now offers a total of 903 flights connecting 41 destinations.

IndiGo will double the frequency of its Delhi-Bagdogra service from daily to twice daily flights, as well as increase its Kolkata-Bagdogra route from twice to three times per day from February 16, 2017. IndiGo will add a series of flights, including a brand new daily service from Hyderabad to Chandigarh, an eighth daily service between Hyderabad and Chennai, a fifth daily flight between Kochi and Chennai, and a fourth daily flight between Kochi and Hyderabad. The following month will witness the LCC will boost one of its key international routes with the launch of a second daily flight between Chennai and Singapore, effective March 5, 2017. IndiGo operates all its routes using a fleet of modern, all-economy class Airbus A320 aircraft.

South African Tourism sets the pace for continued double digit growth in the coming year with its annual roadshow slated for this month. The roadshow will be held in Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai where suppliers from South Africa will network with Indian travel agents. Now in its 14th edition, the roadshow will start with Chennai on 30 January, and then go on to Bengaluru on 31 January, Delhi on 1 February and conclude in Mumbai on 3 February, 2017. About 10 per cent of the delegation will be first-timers and will include hotel chains, airlines, products, attractions, DMCs and local tourism offices. Indian agents will be able to meet representatives from boutique hotel chain Lion Roars Hotels & Lodges, adventure-focused attraction Tenikwa Wildlife, care-rental Multilayer Trade Corporation and DMC Africa Incoming. Domestic airline Safair has also signed up. Additionally, Air Seychelles (which many Indians use to fly to South Africa via Mahe) that is said to be starting a flight to Durban starting March will also be present. Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism India, said, “Up until the third quarter of 2016, we noted that arrivals had grown by 26.6 per cent in comparison to 2015 and we hope to have closed the year at 27 per cent growth. By September 2016, our arrivals had hit 73,902. This makes India South Africa’s eighth-largest long-haul tourism source market.” The tourism board is expecting between 600-1,000 travel agents to attend the roadshow.

Japan will open 13 new visa application centers in India. The centers will be opened at Gurgaon, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa, Bengaluru, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Puducherry and Hyderabad. This was informed by Ryoichi Matsuyama, President, Japan National Tourist Office at the opening ceremony of the 2017 the year of Japan-India Friendly Exchanges and the Announcement of Japan-India Collaboration Film Project. “Last year Japan saw 120,000 Indian arrivals whereas 230,000 Japanese visited India. Though the number of Indians visiting Japan is steadily increasing, the current figure is yet modest despite the vast size and scale of India and more so given the long-standing relationship between the two countries,” said Matsuyama. The Japan-India Collaboration Film Project was also announced. The event was attended by Kenko Sone, Minister, Economic and Development, Embassy of Japan; Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, Government of India, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Ayog, Government of India, Kenchi Takano, Executive Director- Preparation Office for New Delhi, JNTO amongst others. His Excellency Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India added that there will be a number of cultural and tourism related events are planned to be held all around India in 2017.

redBus has launched its latest service, called Bus Hire, which would offer customers mini-buses or tempo-travellers if they are seeking to hire buses. Bus Hire will provide a one-stop access to leading chartered bus providers in a particular city who offer best-in-class vehicles and superior service quality. The platform gives transparent and all-inclusive prices along with value added information such as bus photos and convenient payment options to help customers make an informed and suitable choice. This service is presently available in seven cities across India- Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Ahmedabad and is soon being extended to other towns. The range of vehicles that customers can choose from is very extensive, and includes luxury buses, regular buses, mini buses, tempo travellers and cars. Prakash Sangam, CEO, redBus.in, expressed his enthusiasm about the new service, commenting, “Often group travel such as corporate outings, weddings and pilgrimages require a full vehicle to be hired. There was no easy way for travellers to connect with multiple vehicle providers to hire a bus of their choice. With our new Bus Hire product, we aim to simplify the process by providing customers with a customised, transparent and quick method of evaluating and choosing among different vehicle options. For charter bus operators, it opens up another avenue for attracting customers and growing their business.” Once a customer provides basic details of his or her desired trip, the bus operators on redBus Bus Hire platform respond with quotations that are transparent and all-inclusive. The base fare, driver charges, tolls, permit fees and taxes are all specified in the quotations. Customers can also view images of the bus before they confirm a booking. Customers can …

Jet Airways will deploy its higher seating capacity aircraft – 254-seater Airbus A330 in place of the existing Boeing 737- on two domestic and two international routes from January 2017 in order to cater to the growing passenger demand. While the wide-body service between Mumbai-Chennai-Mumbai is slated to begin from January 15, the airline will commence its Mumbai-Jeddah-Mumbai and Mumbai-Bangalore-Mumbai services from January 16 and the Mumbai-Kuwait-Mumbai service is scheduled to start from January 18. “The introduction of wide-body services on our key domestic routes allows Jet Airways to scale up capacity in response to increase in demand. The A330 aircraft is designed with a spacious cabin, greater leg-room, lie-flat beds in premiere,” said, Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways. The rolling out of the wide body aircraft with its two-cabin configuration of 18 seats in premiere (business) and 236 in economy class will also increase capacity on the key routes by as much as 50 per cent. Source: India Today

Hotel Formule1 has launched two hotels in Nashik and Chennai. With the new openings Hotel Formule1 expands its network across 9 cities in India. “Over the years, Hotel Formule1 has emerged as one the ideal choice for all travellers looking for comfortable, modern yet pocket friendly stay. The opening of Hotel Formule1 Nashik & Chennai OMR, is a step towards growing the brand portfolio keeping in line with the demand in the cities. Our hotels will strive to consistently provide guests a contemporary and refreshing stay experience at a great value,” says Balvinder Sahrawat, Vice-President, Hotel Formule1 India. Located in close proximity to industrial areas and popular tourist spots, the 101-room Hotel Formule1 Nashik has a self-service design concept best suited for business and leisure travellers to the city. Renowned as the holy city for Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, Nashik is one of the most up-and-coming cities in Maharashtra with a vibrant culture and entertainment ethos. Featuring 132 sound proof rooms, Hotel Formule1 Chennai OMR (old Mahabalipuram road), is strategically located amidst the business and IT hub of the city. Despite being an important city for manufacturing, health care, and IT, Chennai has developed as one of the cosmopolitan cities in India that plays an important part in the cultural, intellectual and historical growth of India. Hotel Formule1 rooms are indigenously designed and developed to make the best use of space that is conducive and comfortable.  Each room features a flat screen LED television Wi-Fi internet access and in-room amenities. F and B outlets include a lounge and a restaurant. The brand is the market’s first low-cost brand and it was revolutionized in 1985.  The hotel has a presence across …

A portfolio of seven Premier Inn hotels located in two of Thailand’s top destinations, Bangkok and Pattaya, as well as India’s most visited cities, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Goa, are being offered for sale through an international tender process with JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group. The tender for bids is scheduled from December 19 to 23, 2016. Owned by UK company Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants International, the portfolio offers two hotels in Thailand with a collective key count of 388: one property is located in the heart of Bangkok’s retail and entertainment precinct, Sukhumvit Soi 11, and is set to be completed in the first half of 2017; the other hotel is minutes away from Pattaya’s popular Second Road and enjoys close proximity to the town’s beaches, retail malls and famous Walking Street. Premier Inn’s India portfolio, comprising five hotels in prime locations in the nation’s best performing cities, will be among the largest hotel portfolios offered in India in recent times, with a total of 583 room keys. “Hotel portfolios with vacant possession, occupying prime central locations and of this scale are rare and hard to come by in the current market,” says Mr Mike Batchelor, Managing Director of Investments Sales, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, Asia. “There is an expected high level of interest from global, regional and domestic investors attracted to this opportunity as they are able to immediately rebrand the hotels to the operator of their choice upon purchase.” India continues to be ranked as one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a 2016 forecast GDP growth of 7.6 percent. On India’s growing hospitality investment sector, Paul Chakkrit, Senior Vice President, …

The Royal Thai Embassy New Delhi confirmed the temporary non-issue of visa services from November 21 to 25, according to a spokesperson from the embassy. No reason has so far been stated for the hold in services during the mentioned period. Those who require visas during this period may obtain visa-on-arrival or from Thai Consulates in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.