Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited (ASPHL) is delighted to announce the signing of Zone by The Park Digha, West Bengal. Situated in West Bengal’s ‘Brighton of the East’ – a prominent sea resort and tourist destination, the hotel is ideal for travelers & tourists seeking a relaxing getaway. ASPHL has entered into a long-term agreement with Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) and Digha Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) to manage and operate the hotel. The 65-rooms hotel consists of a 1,000 seater convention center with banquet halls and exhibition center spread over 5.5 acres of land. Commenting on the signing, Mr Vijay Dewan, Managing Director, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited said, “We are delighted to partner with KMDA and the government of West Bengal. The hotel will be a destination by itself and will be crucial for tourism development and employment generation in the area. We plan to be ready for the G20 meetings in January 2023 at Digha.” Zone by The Park Digha offers a midscale experience with unique design elements and at the best price. Zone by The Park, the midscale social catalyst brand by THE Park Hotels has its presence in Coimbatore, Jaipur, Chennai ORR, Bengaluru, Jodhpur, Jammu, Kolkata, Dimapur with upcoming hotels in Amritsar, Phalodi – Jodhpur, Muzzafarpur, Siliguri and Srinagar.

Marriott International has announced that it expects to open 14 additional luxury properties in Asia Pacific by the end of 2023. The planned additions highlight the strategic growth of Marriott International’s luxury hotel portfolio in the region, where it currently operates 156 luxury properties. Across 13 countries and regions in Asia Pacific, Marriott International’s portfolio of dynamic luxury brands continues to create bespoke experiences for today’s luxury traveler in ever popular cities including Tokyo and Melbourne, and is ready to bring these experiences to emerging destinations such as Jeju and Jiuzhaigou. With a collection of iconic brands such as The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, EDITION, JW Marriott and Bulgari, the company is set to meet the increasing demand for exceptional luxury travel experiences for our guests from all around the world. “Today’s luxury traveler is looking for authentic experiences that are personalized, thoughtful and uniquely meaningful,” said Bart Buiring, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Asia Pacific, Marriott International. “Our current portfolio of highly distinctive brands is well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of travelers, and these expected additions reflect our optimism for the future of luxury travel.” The Ritz-Carlton Brings Curated Luxury to New Destinations In 2021, The Ritz-Carlton arrived in the Maldives and the inimitable style and luxury of the brand is set to expand further in Japan with the expected opening of The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka in 2023. In Australia, the anticipated opening of The Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne in early 2023 will offer guests sweeping panoramic views above the city skyline, along with the brand’s acclaimed culinary offerings. Ritz-Carlton Reserve anticipates debuting its fourth rare estate in Asia Pacific in the historic Chinese valley of Jiuzhaigou …

flynas, the Saudi carrier and leading low-cost airline in the Middle East, announced the launch of weekly direct flights from Riyadh and Dammam to Mumbai, starting from 20thOctober 2022. Daily direct flynas flights will connect Riyadh with Mumbai, departing from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh back and forth, in addition to King Fahad International airport in Dammam,four direct weekly flynas flights departing on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday starting from October 31, andreservations are now open through all flynas booking channels. These routes came in light of flynas expansion strategy under the slogan launched recently under the title of “We Connect the World to the Kingdom” and after the growth achieved by the company in all its operations during the first half of 2022, in line the strategic vision of the Civil Aviation Authority aims to double the capacity and reach 330 million passengers annually, from more than 250 destinations from around world by 2030? flynas also announced the resumption of direct flights between Jeddah and Karachi starting from October 30 with three weekly flights, departing on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.In addition to the resumption of direct flights from Riyadh and Jeddah to the Egyptian city of Sohag by three weekly flights starting from October 30, departing on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday from King Abdulaziz international Airport in Jeddah, in addition to flights on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from King Khaid international Airport in Riyadh to Sohag International Airport. flynas succeeded in scaling up its fleet to 38 aircraft in June 2022 compared to 25 aircraft in January 2021, an increase of 52%. Meanwhile, the number of passengers on its flights increased to about 4 million passengers during the …

Ajay Bhat, Minister of State for Tourism and Defence, speaking at the National Tourism Awards ceremony in Delhi, said that the government’s vision is to increase the GDP contribution of the tourism sector in the economy of the country.

Liz Ortiguera, CEO, PATA, has said that there is an issue of the industry staffing gap across the world, which needs to be filled. For which, she has suggested many things for employers, including fair wages, acknowledging great service delivery, ensuring a culture of respect for staff, staff feedback and engagement, concern for staff welfare, support development, creating clear and fair career paths and introduce staff to leaders they can relate to.

In response to hotel industry’s demand for amendment in the definition of infrastructure status, Arvind Singh, Secretary, MOT said, “We are looking at changing the definition of infrastructure status for hotels to help the industry attract investment. It has the attention of the higher authorities and we will have an order on it shortly.  It is currently as per 2011 census and needs to change to accommodate the demands of hospitality business today.”

Everyone deserves a holiday break, but these days, with so much news about the impact of travel on our precious planet, it is hard not to be concerned about our effect on the environment. The good news is that we can still take a hard-earned vacation while minimising our carbon footprint and getting good vibes from our leisure time. It is called ‘travelling consciously’ and Cross Hotels and Resorts have loads of ideas and inspiration for that this month. The Meaningful Travel partnership with Socialgiver is an essential and generous collaboration directly supporting the health and welfare of our precious green resources. By booking packages through the Socialgiver website, half of whatever you spend will be donated to The Big Trees Project to support nature conservation and the protection of green spaces throughout Thailand. This is a feel-good and rewarding initiative. The hotels also have great ideas about participating in World Car Free Day in September. A venture that gives us reflection time about reducing our reliance on motor vehicles. Vehicles are convenient and offer many benefits, but they also contribute to a dangerous amount of pollution. World Car Free Day is great for raising awareness about these concerns and helping to reduce emissions. So, we are suggesting we all take the lead by stepping up, out, and into your day without motor vehicle keys. People are more conscious about what they consume, and the hotels are jazzed about the reopening of the exceptional vegan restaurant, Moreganic, at Away Chiang Mai Thapae Resort. It is nestled beside the hotel’s tropical gardens and offers a relaxed and tranquil ambience. The restaurant serves delectable drinks such as banana, cocoa, and almond milkshakes, …

Hotel Association of India (HAI) will be having its conclave on 29 September, 2022 at the Lalit New Delhi, which will be inaugurated by G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, revealed MP Bezbaruah, Secretary General, HAI.

Ministry of Tourism released the Dharamshala Declaration 2022 after the conclusion of the three-day National Conference of State Tourism Ministers in Dharamshala. The document lists the short-term and long-term goals to ensure positioning of India as one of the leaders in the tourism sector by 2047.

G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, has said that the Government of India will continue to support MSMEs in tourism and capitalise on the employment generation potential in the sector. Ministry is also paving the way for developing responsible and sustainable tourism destinations, he informed.