Tag Archives: Visakhapatnam

Cygnett Hotels & Resorts has recently launched Cygnett Lite Ramachandra at Visakhapatnam, adding 42 keys to its repertoire. The hotel is strategically located at a distance of just 30 minutes’ drive from Visakhapatnam International Airport. The hotel emphasises on approachable design, has spacious and modern rooms and offers an all-day dining service. With its latest addition, the chain will now have a total of 15 operating hotels under its wings. Moreover, nine new properties are scheduled to open by December 2018, including Vishakhapatnam. Another seven to eight hotels will be lined up for opening by this financial year. “Our vision is to reinvent the definition of leisure and business travel, transforming the hotel into a preferred choice for guests. We are committed to creating memorable guest experiences by combining the Cygnetture brand experience and the city’s local attractions. Cygnett hotels are further expanding its brand portfolio, across the growing Tier-I and II cities in India and we foresee a great potential in becoming the favourite hospitality brand for travellers in the city,” said Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder & Managing Director, Cygnett Hotels & Resorts. “Reflecting the brand’s promise to provide what matters most to today’s independent travellers, the hotel offers the brand’s defining touches, including the Cygnett Comfort Bed, complimentary bottled water, free Wi-Fi and Cygnetture breakfast,” said Alok Verma, CEO, Cygnett Hotels & Resorts.

To reach out to the domestic market, Kerala Tourism is organising a string of Partnership Meets in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Kolkata, Patna and Delhi in the 1st quarter of 2018. At the Partnership Meet in Mumbai on January 09, Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Co-Operation, Tourism and Devaswom, Government of Kerala, said, “To ensure the accomplishment of an ambitious target of a 100% increase in arrival of foreign tourists and 50% in domestic tourists in five years, a tourism regulatory authority has been formed. This would help put a stop to any unhealthy practices and guarantee better intervention of the Tourism Department through scrutiny and a licensing system.” The new Kerala Tourism Policy also forms a major highlight of this year’s domestic campaign. The revamped fare with an array of new tourism products was showcased at Mumbai today.

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) will host its 8th Annual Convention-cum-Exhibition at Novotel, Varun Beach, Visakhapatnam from November 17-18, informed P P Khanna, President, ADTOI. The theme of the convention this year is ‘Domestic Tourism: Explore India – One Country, Many Worlds,’ under which the association will explore various facets of its convention venue – Visakhapatnam. Khanna says, “We are expecting over 300 delegates from across India. Through this convention, we hope to showcase the world-class facilities in Andhra Pradesh and its vast potential for domestic tourism. We will address key industry issues like GST and its impact on domestic tourism; the threat of online travel agents to the small and medium businesses and we will also deliberate on the ways the central government, state government and private players can work in collaboration to improve tourist infrastructure in the country.” Rajat Sawhney, Vice President and Convention Chairman, ADTOI, adds, “We realised that despite being a national association, we did not have a significant presence in South India. With this convention, we hope to leave an imprint in various parts of South India which will also benefit our members from the region. We also plan to start a state chapter in Andhra Pradesh soon.”

Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) will have their 2017 convention in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in November. P. P. Khanna, President, ADTOI, has revealed the tentative dates, and said that they are planning to hold the convention from November 17-19 followed by fam tours. More details regarding the convention will be subsequently shared by the ADTOI team.

Continuing its strategic focus on India, SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld airline alliance, will be adding three southern Indian cities namely, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam, to its network from July 8, 2017. The introduction of these new routes, along with the scheduled frequency increases in its Delhi and Mumbai services, will see SriLankan operating over 120 flights a week to 14 cities, thus becoming the carrier that serves the highest number of points in India. Commenting on the developments, SriLankan Airlines Chief Commercial Officer, Siva Ramachandran, stated, “India has been a vital part of our strategic expansion where we will continue to explore potential to consolidate our presence. At a time the industry observes consistently developing travel movements around tier two cities as opposed to the traditional hubs, it is timely to offer these connectivity options to our valued passengers. The new routes also reinforces our commitment to strengthen the deep commercial and bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka.” The new routes will be serviced by Airbus 320/321 aircraft which will feature an array of bespoke services, world-class in-flight entertainment including a combination of practical timings and signature SriLankan Airlines’ hospitality services. These new routes are introduced with the aim of providing passengers with added convenience, seamless travel and easy onward connectivity from Colombo. Currently serving key Indian cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum, Cochin, Madurai, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya, SriLankan will be introducing four additional frequencies to its daily services from Delhi and Mumbai in July this year.

Indigo’s new schedule starting January 1, 2017, will see 10 additional frequencies connecting Hyderabad to Goa, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam. The airline also took delivery of its 13th Airbus A-320 Neo ‘VT–ITH’ aircraft. With this aircraft, the airline now has a 125 aircraft fleet in its 125th month of operation. Aditya Ghosh, President and whole-time Director, IndiGo, said, “The delivery of the 125th aircraft in the 125th month of our operation is indeed a landmark occasion for us. It reinforces our commitment towards the industry and living our promise of providing the best flying experience to our passengers. The entire IndiGo team has worked extremely hard to reach where we are today and we are raring to go. Here’s wishing each of you a wonderful 2017.” The new schedule has connections from Hyderabad to Goa, Coimbatore, Bhubaneshwar an Visakhapatnam.

Australian-owned Hotel Management Company StayWell Hospitality Group is opening a 72-room Park Regis Sanpra Beach in Visakhapatnam in the first quarter of 2017. Opening in partnership with Indian infrastructure company Sanpra Group, the property will be StayWell’s third across the country and first in southern India. StayWell Hospitality Group CEO Simon Wan said that opening and managing a hotel in the developing city of Visakhapatnam presents many benefits for both StayWell and the local region. “We are passionate about expanding our Park Regis and Leisure Inn brands internationally and see the opening of Park Regis Sanpra Beach in Visakhapatnam, a known Tier II city primed for future development, as a great opportunity to enter into the new market of Southern India,” Wan said. Property owner, P. Kiran Kumar said that joining forces with StayWell Hospitality Group to manage this hotel in early 2017 will bring increased efficiencies and an enhanced guest experience. “The new hotel management agreement with StayWell will bring new world-class operational systems and procedures to the region which both guests and staff will benefit from,” Kumar said. “We are delighted that the hotel matches the vision of the Andhra Pradesh government by bringing in the world-class infrastructure and associating with an international hotel management chain, StayWell Hospitality Group by signing with their upscale brand, Park Regis,” he said. StayWell Hospitality Group India’s Managing Director Rohit Vig also agrees that the brands future within India looks bright following the formalisation of this hotel management agreement which now represents a total of 12 hotels signed under the StayWell brands of Park Regis and Leisure Inn within India. “Park Regis Sanpra Beach is a great addition to the StayWell Portfolio …

Varun Beach Bheemili Resort managed by AccorHotels has opened doors for public. Located 25 kilometres northeast of Visakhapatnam, the resort has 28 rooms overlooking the Bay of Bengal. The room rate start from Rs. 5850. The resort is within walking distance to Bheemili beach. Bheemili is known for its rich history and traces of Buddhism which offers a culturally rich experience to the tourists. Bheemili Resort is also well connected to the Varun Beach by beautiful marine drives and is within relative proximity to the city’s airport and railway station (42 kilometres and 33 kilometres respectively). For outdoor team building activities or social events the resort offers five acres of outdoor space, perfect for any corporate weekend retreats. Jean-Michel Cassé, Senior Vice President, Operations, AccorHotels India says, “India is a priority market for us and one in which we are seeing solid growth momentum. By the end of this year, we expect to have a strong presence with a network of 45 hotels in the country. The state of Andhra Pradesh is integral to our development strategy and we are committed to opening more world class hotels here. The Varun Beach Bheemili Resort is our second hotel alongside the 225-room Novotel Visakhapatnam and we have plans to open another Novotel with a convention centre in Vijayawada sometime later.” Madhav Bellamkonda, General Manager, Varun Beach Bheemili Resort managed by AccorHotels & Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach says, “Varun Beach Bheemili Resort infuses local architectural elements with the warmth of Novotel hospitality, elegance and simplicity focused on the needs of the leisure or business traveller. Our large sea-facing rooms with balconies are the closest to a cruise experience on land made even more …

National carrier, Air India has become the first airline to launch self check-in kiosks for its domestic fliers that aims to make the check-in process expeditious. The exclusive service presently covers 26 domestic centers at Aurangabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Calicut, Coimbatore, Cochin, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Nagpur, New Delhi, Mumbai, Mangalore, Raipur, Rajkot, Trivandrum, Udaipur, Visakhapatnam and Varanasi. Under this initiative, started on May 1, 2016, customers can procure the boarding pass by using the self-check-in kiosks also known as CUSS (Common Use Self Service) near the check-in area at the airport.