Tag Archives: Managing Director

In its latest move, the Tourism Committee of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (PHDCCI) has been reconstituted for the year 2020-21 with Anil Parashar, President & CEO, Interglobe Technology Quotient (ITQ) as the Chairman and Rajan Sehgal, Kishore Kaya & Ankush Nijhawan getting elected as the Co-Chairman. Vinod Zutshi, Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, GOI, continues to be the Hony. Member and Mentor for the Tourism Committee. The tenure of the newly constituted committee will be 1 year but it can be reconstituted before as well. The committee is dedicated towards the betterment of tourism in India, one that is sustainable and develops India’s heritage tourism.

Deepak Narula, Managing Director, GRNconnect, has said that besides the online B2B portal www.GRNconnect.com, where the company offers hotels, apartments, transfers, sightseeing and packages, they also now offer a White Label solution that includes flights. He adds that they have received a good response for it. In fact, the company also has a host of products lined up for an early-September release.

ISA Tourism (India Sales Associates, ISA), has been appointed as the Indian representation partner for BUCCARA – The Private Collection, owners of a bouquet of luxury villas, castles and yachts in bespoke destinations. The signing up of ISA Tourism is done to bring the unique and luxurious accommodation offerings of BUCCARA to the Indian Outbound market. Manas Sinha, Director of ISA Tourism said: “We are proud to be associated with BUCCARA – The Private Collection and to promote their bouquet of luxury properties in South Africa, Spain, Austria and private yachts in Spain. Their unique portfolio enhances the range of luxury products and experiences that we are able to offer to our key travel partners and corporate clients across India. Working with our key partners we look forward to introducing Indian guests to the BUCCARA brand and to experience their villas, castles and yachts.” “With the growing number of discerning luxury travellers from India, it is important for us to have a local presence and provide better customer service to the travel partners. We believe that the dedicated team of ISA Tourism professionals is a great fit for us to get the outreach and to engage with luxury travel bookers,” said Kashif Arif, Managing Director, BUCCARA.

RezLive.com, under Travel Designer Group, have announced the launch of ‘Affiliate.Travel’, which would empower travel agencies and professionals managing business travel with their own booking engines without investing in technology. Affiliate.Travel will help Indian travel and tourism industry to create new success avenues with the rise of business travel in the country. Affiliate.Travel, allows travel agents to distribute their own booking platform to their corporate clients for managing reservations. Afilliate.Travel is powered by RezLive.com’s robust booking engine with access to over 250,000+ hotels, 45000+ sightseeing options and 5000+ transfer options. The booking tool is packaged with the innovative features of RezLive.com, complete with a payment gateway for seamless payment collection from corporate clients. Jaal Shah, Managing Director, Travel Designer Group said, “We are confident that Affiliate.Travel will help travel agent community to take business travel segment in India to new global heights.”

The 9th annual convention of Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), supported by Gujarat Tourism as host state, was inaugurated at Hyatt Regency Ahmedabad. Speaking at the ceremony, Vasan Aahir, Minister of State for Tourism, Gujarat, said, “We are very glad that ADTOI has brought their annual convention to Gujarat. Rann of Kutch is the ideal example where tourism has been a means for developing an undeveloped destination, while giving employment to many people. We are developing many destinations in a similar manner in Gujarat.” ADTOI also unveiled its new logo at the inauguration ceremony. PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, welcomed the delegates at the convention and felicitated the dignitaries, which included Pradipsinh Jadeja, Minister of State- Home, Energy, Parliamentary Affairs, Law, Justice (Minister of State), Police housing, Border security, Civil defense, Gram Rakshak Dal, Jail, Prohibition and Excise, Coordination between voluntary organization, Non Resident Gujarati Department, Protocol (all independent charge), Government of Gujarat; Aashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; S.J. Haider, Principal Secretary, Gujarat Tourism; Jenu Devan, Managing Director, Gujarat Tourism; and Ashwani Lohani; CMD, Air India.

With one boutique hotel in Phaltan, Maharashtra which is dedicated to sustainable hospitality, Jakson Hospitality has now opened its second property called ‘The Tiger Groove in Jim Corbett’ and expect to put the same values into its new offering so that it grows up to influence all its stakeholder similarly. Sandeep Talaulicar, Managing Director, Jakson Hospitality, says, “We look forward to repositioning the Tiger Groove into a wilderness resort that creates memories for everyone that sleeps and eats in its arms. This is the dream on which we plan to build this hotel.” Located in the Kyari forest of Jim Corbett, ‘The Tiger Groove Corbett’ is positioned as a Jakson Resort and categorised under the mid-market segment. It is located 8km from Ramnagar and set almost 6km into the forest which makes one feel completely connected with nature. Built on three acres, the hotel has 50 rooms across five variants including luxury cottages that sleep four per cottage. The resort has a coffee shop, a swimming pool, a games area, a party hub, lawns that can host 500 pax, a banquet hall measuring 4,500sq feet and a host of adventure activities ranging from safaris to treks, biking, nature walks, para motor gliding, rock-climbing, rappelling, river crossing, etc.  

V S Abdul Kareem, CEO & Managing Director, Creative Tours & Travels, has been conferred the Gallery of Legends trophy at the India Travel Awards South. Starting his career in 1976 with a passenger shipping company, Kareem had a clear aim to lead the travel and tourism industry. Within three years, he established a premium company in 1979 offering a comprehensive range of holidays, MiCE activities and other tourism services across South India. Accredited by IATA and approved by Government of India, he created a distinctive niche with focus on service excellence. He was quick to recognise the need of the travel industry and through his dedicated effort started another division of professionally managed B2B DMC for agents from North, East and Western India. As one of the first B2B organisations, he established his business on the basis of trust and reliability, offering clients, cost effective solutions and professional handling of their requirements.

Manish Kriplani, Managing Director of Baywatch Travels has been honoured with DDP Game Changer award. He joined his mother’s company in 1995 to learn the ropes of the travel industry. His enthusiasm soon saw him conceive the idea of a new company. Kriplani then travelled worldwide to inspect and identify contract suppliers to service the luxury segment and offer travellers bespoke holidays, MiCE facilities as well as destination weddings. He soon got into the online space where clients can book various services on his site at their convenience. He is the Chairman of the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India—Southern region. He is also on the advisory committee of the Australian High commission.

Twenty14 Holdings has announced plans to launch Port Muziris – South Asia’s first Tribute Portfolio hotel, part of Marriott International, near Cochin International Airport. The 55-room property is all set to be opened to the public in April. “We are thrilled to debut the first Tribute Portfolio in South Asia. At Twenty14 Holdings, we share the vision of offering a unique experience for guests,” said Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director, Twenty14 Holdings. “Kerala has long been one of the most sought-after destinations worldwide, and we are excited to be part of the state’s flourishing tourism sector. We look forward to extending our legacy of providing outstanding hospitality to guests across Kerala and India through our bespoke properties,” he said. Tribute Portfolio, launched by Marriott, is a collection of independent hotels around the globe with a focus on expressive design moments, vibrant public spaces, and a flexible food and beverage model. “We are delighted to announce the first Tribute Portfolio hotel in India with the opening of Port Muziris hotel in Kochi. This will also mark the debut of our 16th brand to join the Marriott International portfolio in India,” said Neeraj Govil, Area Vice President — South Asia, Marriott International. He added, “We are honoured to partner with Twenty14 Holdings for their first hotel in India. With its unique design and vibrant social spaces, we are sure this hotel will become a preference for leisure travellers.” Port Muziris which includes 55-keys, 2 F&B outlets and a 150-pax capacity ballroom is Twenty14 Holdings’ first property in India. Currently, the hospitality investment firm has over $750 million portfolio of properties around the world, including the Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – the Caledonian in Scotland, Sheraton …

Hotel Leela Venture Limited (HLVL) has entered into a binding agreement with a Brookfield Asset Management (Brookfield) sponsored private real estate fund, to sell by way of slump sale, four owned Leela hotels located in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Udaipur and the property that it owns in Agra. The transaction also includes assignment of all Hotel Management contracts currently in operation as well as all management contracts for hotels which are currently under development, along with the employees of the hotels. The total transaction value is Rs 3950 crore plus the applicable transaction costs. This is subject to approval of shareholders, lenders and other regulatory and statutory approvals. Simultaneously, the promoters who own the Leela brand would also be transferring the Leela brand to Brookfield for all hospitality businesses. JM Financial Limited acted as the exclusive financial advisor to HLVL for this transaction. Commenting on the transaction, Vivek Nair, Chairman and Managing Director, HLVL said, “The Leela is rated amongst the top hospitality brands in the world and I am confident that the brand will receive a boost and be further strengthened and continue to be known for its world-class services.” Ankur Gupta, Managing Director and Head-India Real Estate, Brookfield Asset Management remarked, “The Leela is one of the finest hospitality groups in India and over the years it has gained extraordinary recognition from some of the most prestigious authorities on travel and luxury in the world. We are excited with this opportunity and look forward to completing this transaction at the earliest, while ensuring that all operations remain unaffected.  We expect the Leela hotels to continue to be market leaders.”