MRG Group, the Bengaluru-based hospitality and real estate company that spearheads the lifestyle hotel brand Goldfinch Hotels & Resorts, announces the debut of Navi Mumbai Marriott Hotel, set in Navi Mumbai. Strategically positioned along the Thane Belapur Road, the Navi Mumbai Marriott Hotel stands as a beacon of convenience and accessibility. With a 26 km distance from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, it ensures a seamless journey for both domestic and international guests. Additionally, its close proximity, just 12 km, to the upcoming DB Patil International Airport positions it as a frontrunner in future connectivity.

ITC Hotels recently signed a management agreement with Jaipur based Dangayach Group, for a property under brand Storii, in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Storii by ITC Hotels, Jaisalmer is set to be a 119-key resort located towards the east of the city on Jodhpur-Jaisalmer Road. The resort will feature a restaurant, bar, approximately 7000 sqft of banquet and meeting space. Jaisalmer is one of the largest tourism districts in Rajasthan and is featured as a “must-visit” destination in most Rajasthan desert circuits. The city offers a perfect blend of art, architecture, hospitality, scenic beauty, and cuisine. Jaisalmer is renowned for its unconventional desert safari with camel rides, cultural performances, and adventure activities. The city’s yellow sandstone is known to glow during sunset, making it a high point in every tourist’s itinerary. The resort’s yellow-stone fort architecture is inspired by the regions landscape. The plush interiors and elegant décor shall provide an ambiance be-fitting the cultural significance of the city and showcase the very essence of brand Storii. Anil Chadha, Chief Executive, ITC Hotels, said “This project is a tremendous leap permitting a quick entry into a high visibility and popular leisure market with our cherished brand Storii. We are already present with over 800 keys across our various brands in Rajasthan. These include hotels in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Khimsar, Jaisalmer and Udaipur. Storii Jaisalmer will enable us to offer yet another unique destination experience in the Rajasthan desert circuit”. Harimohan Dangayach, Chairman & Founder and Atul Dangayach, Managing Director of Dangayach Group, expressed happiness at the signing ceremony and said, “We are delighted to sign Storii for our latest resort project in Jaisalmer. The resort’s positioning in a strong leisure market aligns well …

Forward ticket data for July and August 2024 indicates that European travellers are increasingly choosing to venture further afield to explore New Delhi with an 9 per cent increase compared to the same time in 2023. Highlighted by ForwardKeys, outbound travel from Europe is displaying clear trends, with year-on-year growth in long-haul travel to a diverse range of Asian markets.

The World Economic Forum published its 2024 edition of its Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) which measures factors and policies that enable sustainable and resilient development of the tourism sector. It offers insights into tourism economies’ strengths and areas for improvement, and the interconnected nature of tourism development, as well as facilitating strategic planning and multistakeholder dialogue to encourage sustainable growth.     United States The United States is the top scorer in the TTDI and the largest contributor to T&T GDP, both within the Americas region and globally. While the recent increase in sector wages has helped contribute to climbing operation costs, it has also helped partially bridge the T&T sector’s historically low wages in countries such as the United States. Thanks to typical advantages ranging from favourable business environments and open travel policies to well-developed transport, tourism and ICT infrastructure and natural, cultural and non-leisure attractions, United States ranked highest.   Portugal The growth in ‘bleisure’ travel and digital nomads has created new opportunities for businesses and destinations that can offer favourable conditions for business travel and leisure activities. In particular, economies that combine strong ICT infrastructure and healthcare standards, relatively reasonable cost of living, favourable visa policies and rich tourism attractions rank among the most attractive for digital nomads, with countries like Portugal and Spain ranking among the top for attractiveness for this new market.   Uzbekistan Newly ranked developing country of Uzbekistan experienced the greatest growth in TTDI scores between 2019 and 2024. While most high-income economies have experienced slight changes in their TTDI scores, the performance of Uzbekistan (+7.8%, 94th to 78th) has shown the most improvement in both score and rank compared to …

Royal Caribbean International welcomes the action-packed Ovation of the Seas to Singapore from October 2025 through March 2026. The fan favorite Quantum class ship brings a line-up of experiences that make for a memorable holiday for every type of traveler as they visit awe-inspiring destinations like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and more on 3- to 5-night getaways. Starting today, holidaymakers can be the first to mark their calendars and book the new holidays on Ovation on Royal Caribbean’s website.   With their pick of 3- and 4-night getaways, travellers of all ages have in store a taste of the sights and sounds of Southeast Asia, from indulging in renowned street food in the heart of UNESCO World Heritage Site George Town in Penang, Malaysia, to kicking back on the sandy beaches of Phuket, Thailand. Holidaymakers can also enjoy more time on holiday with longer adventures, such as a 5-night cruise that features a night in Phuket to explore the ever-popular night markets and an 8-night escape to Bali to indulge in culture and adventure while roaming the waterfalls and temples of Celukan Bawang in Bali and Lombok, Indonesia.   “Ovation is a ship packed full of adventure, and with the new season’s line-up of holidays, friends and families can choose to holiday their way between short getaways to Penang and Phuket and longer sailings to Indonesia or with nights out in Phuket,” said Angie Stephen, senior vice president, International, Royal Caribbean International. “Singapore is the gateway to explore many of Asia’s most loved destinations, and it’s the combination of all Southeast Asia has to offer and the variety of unparalleled Royal Caribbean experiences that has made this region a central part …

In a bid to attract foreign tourists to India during summer, MOT has come up with a campaign to develop destinations that have good weather during this time. Manisha Saxena, DG, MOT, says, “The idea is to dispel the notion that India is too hot in summers, and attract tourists from warmer countries like Middle East, South East Asia and African countries. We hve picked over 50 destinations to actively promote them as tourist attractions.” Efforts are on to develop places like Bir Billing, Kinnaur, Dalhousie and Tirthan in HP, Patnitop in Jammu & Kashmir, Auli in Uttarakhand, Wayanad in Kerala, Thenzawl in Mizoram and Kurseong in West Bengal.

The 2024 edition of the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) released by World Economic Forum states that India has climbed to the 39th position, while US topped the list. India also ranks the highest in South Asia among the lower-middle-income economies. Earlier, India was ranked 54th in 2021 published index. Covering 119 economies, the TTDI measures the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable and resilient development of the sector, which in turn contributes to the development of a country.

As Europe’s summer approaches, travel insights from digital travel platform Agoda reveal that Asia is a top choice for European globetrotters. Asia not only ranks as the most popular non-European region, but its popularity is increasing compared to last year, with Agoda noting 52% more accommodation searches by Europeans for travel to Asia, and 26% more accommodation searches for travel to India.

The Indian hospitality sector continued to witness Y-o-Y growth in performance in Q1 2024 (Jan-March), driven by a rise in ADR of 8.5% over Q1 2023, resulting in a RevPAR growth of 11.4%. Major factors contributing to this growth included an increase in corporate travel, weddings, and M!CE demand at the end of the financial year (FY24).

Girisons Airways India, the Direct Selling Agent of Cyprus Airways, along with Cyprus Airways announces special flight-hotel packages for Indian travellers. Cyprus Airways is the national carrier of Cyprus operates flights to all major cities of Europe & Dubai from Larnaca. Indian travellers can now visit Cyprus on their European holidays. To facilitate this, we have now introduced “Flight + Hotel” packages. This package includes return flight from Rome/Milan/Zurich/Paris/Brussels to Larnaca (Cyprus) plus three nights hotel accommodation on all inclusive basis. Shreyder Elena of Cyprus Airways and Vivek Jain of Girisons Airways, are very excited about this package and wish to introduce Cyprus as a holiday destination to Indian travellers. These packages can now be booked in India through Girisons Airways located in Colaba, Mumbai via +91 9820060421