Tag Archives: Senior Vice President

Deepak Rawat, Senior Vice President, MakeMyTrip, has said that their internal team survey revealed, “75 per cent of Indians are willing to spend more than what they were doing pre-pandemic on their travel and 52 per cent are willing to take a loan to travel. He was speaking at a panel discussion on India tourism recovery at ATM.

India will need 2300 new airplanes by 2037, specially single-aisles as there is a huge growth in low cost carriers as well as domestic traffic, informed Dr Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President – Sales, Asia Pacific & India, Boeing Commercial Airplanes while presenting a forecast for the aviation industry – globally and for India – in New Delhi and in Mumbai recently. Outlining some highlights of the report, he said, “In the last 50 months, India has seen double-digit growth in the aviation sector. Clearly, it’s a country of single aisles.” He added that there has been a significant growth in the domestic market with more than 11.8 million passengers flying in 2018 till September.

Jet Airways is set to commence daily non-stop services from Pune to Singapore starting December 1, 2018. The new service will make Jet Airways the first airline to connect Pune directly with Singapore. The flight from Pune to Singapore, 9W 22 will depart Pune at 05:10 hrs (IST) and arrive in Singapore at 13:15 hrs (LT). On the return leg, flight 9W 21 will depart from Singapore at 21:00 hrs (LT) and arrive in Pune at 00:05 hrs (IST). To celebrate the launch of the new flight, Jet Airways has announced special ‘introductory’ return Economy fares from Pune, starting at Rs 23,999 only, as also a Premiere fare of INR 66,999. Guests can book tickets and enjoy attractive savings with these special fares, with the sale from October 24-31, 2018. These inaugural fares are applicable for journeys commencing from December 1, 2018 onwards. Raj Sivakumar, Senior Vice President–Worldwide Sales & Distribution, Jet Airways, said, “Jet Airways will be the first Indian airline to provide direct connectivity between Pune and Singapore. Singapore has seen over 36,000 visitor arrivals from Pune in 2017, which is the highest for an Indian city without a direct flight. The launch of this new non-stop, daily service will benefit both leisure and business travellers, as Singapore is one of the most popular destinations for tourists from Pune.” The new frequency will offer guests from Pune convenient connections to Auckland, Bangkok, Brisbane, Jakarta, Denpasar-Bali, Hanoi, Phuket, Jinjiang, Medan, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Manila, Nadi, Penang, Perth, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Yangon, Ho Chi Minh City, Surabaya and Sydney through two-way flights operated by codeshare partners, via Singapore.  

Hilton has expanded its footprint in the country by launching DoubleTree by Hilton in Goa – Panaji. A unit of Goldfinch Hotels and managed by Hilton, the hotel reiterates Hilton’s aim to double its presence in the country over the next few years. Navjit Ahluwalia, Senior Vice President and Country Head, Hilton India, said, “This property has a number of standout amenities that could offer all our guests unmatched experiences. We are committed to India for the long-term and will continue to make significant investments to expand our presence and further enrich our operational and management capabilities.” Prakash Shetty, Chairman, MRG Group, says, “This resort is testimony to my vision to bring world-class hospitality to Goa by partnering with Hilton. We have augmented a number of products and services across the property to deliver bespoke guest experiences to cater to the needs of global citizens. This resort will also be the first in Goa to offer Mangalorean cuisine at its specialty restaurant Feliz.” With 160 guestrooms including nine suites, equipped with signature DoubleTree by Hilton amenities, the resort features environmentally friendly smart lighting. DoubleTree by Hilton Goa – Panaji offers indoor and outdoor venues for conferences and events – a grand ballroom, two boardrooms and sunset lawns along with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology.

Continuing its focus on growing its domestic presence, Jet Airways is set to introduce 28 new flights in the coming month. Jet Airways’ new services – including industry firsts as well as a mix of non-stop and one-stop flights – will strengthen the airline’s footprint, enabling it to meet the rising demand for domestic and international air travel in emerging cities. The new services will also help connect guests with other cities including metros as well as the airline’s global network via its hubs in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. In a series of industry-firsts, Jet Airways will introduce daily flights from Indore, connecting the ‘largest city in Madhya Pradesh’ to Jodhpur as well as to Vadodara. In other notable firsts, Jet Airways is also set to commence flight operations between Chandigarh and Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Jodhpur as well as Vadodara and Jaipur. Jet Airways will be the only airline in the country operating these routes which will improve connectivity between north India and central as well as western India. Raj Sivakumar, Senior Vice President – Worldwide Sales & Distribution, Jet Airways, said, “As air travel gains prominence in emerging cities across India such as Indore, Jodhpur, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Vadodara, there is an increasing need to introduce connectivity solution for these cities. New flights, additional frequencies, greater capacity across more sectors are meant to offer our discerning guests additional choice, convenience, connectivity and superior comfort.”

Thomas Cook (India) has opened a new branch at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad to leverage the growing potential of Telangana. Present at the inauguration were Romil Pant, Senior Vice President- Leisure Travel, and V Pradeep, Associate Vice President, Foreign Exchange, Thomas Cook (India). This expansion extends Thomas Cook India’s presence in Telangana to 10 consumer access centres (4 owned branches and 6 Gold Circle Partner franchise outlets) across Saifabad, Begumpet, Hitech City, Gachibowli, Kukatpally, Banjara Hills, Attapur, Sainikpuri and Malakpet; with five additional outlets in Andhra Pradesh. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa & Passport Services, Thomas Cook (India) said, “At Thomas Cook, Telangana State has been identified as a prime driver and continues to deliver strong growth of 25 per cent YOY for our leisure travel business. Our new branch at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad (a key residential, commercial and retail centre), gives our consumers convenient access to a wide range of travel and foreign exchange services. Innovative products like our Holidays and Forex apps with doorstep delivery of foreign exchange; equally our cutting edge prepaid cards (Borderless and One Currency) are of great value to Hyderabad’s tech savvy travellers and we are confident of seeing a strong uptake.” Deepesh Varma, Senior Vice President– Sales & Relationship Management, Foreign Exchange, at Thomas Cook India said, “Given the impressive increase of 45% across our key Forex product-segments, we have identified Telangana State as a strategic source market. Telangana is also a significant outward remittances market for us; our Send Money Abroad service seeing increased uptake.”    

In its monthly luncheon meeting held at The Metropolitan Hotel and Spa, New Delhi, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) updated its members about its upcoming convention and participation in various roadshows with the Ministry as well as in the India Tourism Mart. Chairing the meeting was Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO; EM Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO and Rajesh Mudgill, Honorary Secretary, IATO. They attended to the queries of the members and solved their concerns regarding GST. The IATO Managing Committee also felicitated Ajeet Bajaj and his daughter Diya Bajaj for accomplishing the feat of climbing Mount Everest recently.  

Pegged at $40 to $50 billion, the Indian wedding industry is the second largest market in the world after the USA, revealed Rajeev Jain, Founder and Director, Rashi Entertainment at the 5th Travel Wedding Show, held recently at Jaipur Marriott Hotel. The event witnessed over 2000 B2B meetings between exhibitors and buyers spread across two days. Speaking on trends in the wedding industry, Jain said, “The global wedding industry is pegged at $300 billion. As far as international destination weddings are concerned, the most wanted destination initially was Thailand but now people are venturing to Turkey, UAE, Cyprus, Mauritius, Macau, Malta, Sri Lanka, Bali, London, among other new destinations.” A panel discussion was held on ‘Destination Weddings: An overview, India v/s International.’ Moderated by Jain, the session’s panelists included H Deniz Ersoz, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Embassy, New Delhi; Hemant Mediratta, Senior Vice President – Sales, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts; Saurabh Bhargava, AVP Sales, Indian Hotels Company; Shampa Dhali, Area Director, National Sales – India, Marriott International and Abinash Manghani, Area Manager and Head Travel, ITC Hotels. A knowledge book titled ‘An Insight on Weddings in India & abroad’ was also released on the occasion.  

Hotelivate has kicked off its 6th Hotel Operations Summit India (HOSI) at Taj Palace, New Delhi with stimulating discussions on topics pertaining to the hospitality industry. HOSI, the only dedicated forum for hotel professionals in the region, aims to empower today’s hospitality leaders through enabling conversations on management and operations-related issues, the rapidly evolving marketplace, latest industry trends, benchmarking and best practices. With the focus on increasing the diaspora of the speaker by bringing in leaders from businesses that are intricately tied up with the hospitality industry, the programme encompassed a series of keynote addresses by distinguished speakers and thought-provoking group discussions. Notable speakers included industry leaders such as Anshuman Bapna, Chief Product Officer, Goibibo; Dilip Puri, Founder and CEO, Indian School of Hospitality; Jiggs Kalra, Mentor and Culinary Director, Massive Restaurants; Raj Rana, Chief Executive Officer – South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group; Rattan Keswani, Deputy Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotels; Navjit Ahluwalia, Senior Vice President and Country Head – India, Hilton; Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, OYO Rooms; Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and CEO, Indian Hotels Company, to name a few.

Hilton has announced the appointment Matt Fry as Senior Vice President—Development in Asia Pacific (APAC). Effective August 6, 2018, Fry will oversee the team responsible for the overall development strategy for APAC. “We are thrilled to have Matt join our team and oversee the strategic growth in APAC,” said Ian Carter, President—Global Development, Architecture, Design and Construction, Hilton. “His appointment represents our commitment to building on our tremendous success and achievements there. Fry’s extensive experience in the real estate and development industry will be invaluable as we continue to expand our global footprint in this region.” A seasoned professional, Fry brings with him to Hilton over 20 years of experience in the real estate and development industry with nearly 18 years leading diverse teams at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Most recently, Fry served as the head of global real estate operations and America’s real estate at WeWork, a company growing rapidly around the world to provide shared workspaces with a strong emphasis on community for entrepreneurs, freelancers, small businesses and large enterprises. “I am excited to be joining the world’s most hospitable company and overseeing the development efforts for APAC,” said Fry. “Hilton has had incredible growth and the best-performing portfolio of brands in the business. This is a testament to the incredible global development team, which I am eager to work with during this exciting time for the company and industry.” Fry will be based in Hilton’s APAC regional office in Singapore and will report to Ian Carter, president, global development, architecture, design and construction.