The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace has appointed Deepak Verma as the Director of Sales and Marketing, spearheading the hotel’s business development, brand reputation and planning strategies to strengthen the positioning of the hotel. With 13 years of experience, Deepak has excelled in hospitality business development, strategic management and knowledge of various market segments. In his career, he has been associated with some of the leading Indian and global luxury brands, such as The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and Accor. In each of his previous roles, he contributed immensely towards creating milestone achievements for the respective organization. In his last assignment as Director of Sales at the Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity, Deepak was instrumental in boosting the collective business for the twin properties. A dynamic team leader, Deepak, in his current role, will be focusing not only on the business recovery of the hotel post the pandemic but would also work towards reinforcement of the brand and its core ethos. He will also strive to create new and sustainable business streams for the hotel. Hailing from West Bengal, Deepak was based out of New Delhi for most of his professional career. An ardent movie buff, he likes spending time at home, watching a series or a movie with his family.

Atout France – France Tourism Development Agency has announced that since July 17, all fully vaccinated travellers coming from countries classified as green, orange or red can enter France without restriction or without a compelling reason irrespective of the red, amber or green classification implemented by France. This implies that fully vaccinated Indians can travel to France. As of 18th July, France has also recognised Covishield in its list of approved vaccines. Travel is possible only 2 weeks after the second dose of Covishield has been administered. India has been classified as ‘red’ as of now. A random test may be performed upon arrival at the port of entry. Further information on visas and travel modalities will be shared once more details are available.

Applauding the progress of the work of Jewar Airport, Yogi Adityanath, CM, Uttar Pradesh, has said that the airport would not only prove to be a milestone in the development of Uttar Pradesh, but would also give a new dimension to  make air connectivity universal and world class in the country. “Jewar Airport is a great medium for us to pursue the future prospects, which will help in making Uttar Pradesh a one trillion economy,” he added. He further informed that the work on Kushinagar International Airport had been almost completed may start  international flights anytime.

Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South-West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, has said that they have signed Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Jalandhar to strengthen their footprint in Punjab and Holiday Inn Express Pokhra Lakeside in Nepal. “We are optimistic about the year ahead and are in active discussions to meaningfully expand our presence across key markets in the country,” he added.

Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), Managing Committee met Shripad Yesso Naik, Hon. Minister of State for Tourism & Shipping, in Goa. The team wished him for his new assignment. Also, they gave him a Memorandum with few requests, which will help in reviving tourism economy in Goa.

G Kishan Reddy, Cabinet Minister, Tourism & Culture, met with ML Khattar, CM, Haryana, where they discussed several matters pertaining to the overall development of tourism in the state & propagation of its cultural heritage. Also, he met Oinam Lukhoi Singh, Minister of Tourism, Manipur, and deliberated on key issues in improving tourism in the state of Manipur.

Tony Fernandes, Group CEO, Air Asia has said that intercontinental travel is going to take a hit for a while. “It will come back. However, I think long haul hub carriers will not recover as quickly as low-cost carriers, not because we’re better, but just the market is going to change. I think people would rather jump on a plane to Phuket, or even domestically, than schlep all the way to Australia,” he said while speaking at CAPA Live event.

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO and Pronab Sarkar, Immediate Past President, IATO met with Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister, in her office to thank her for the recent announcements for revival of tourism and also to seek support from the government on issues like SEIS, TCS, GST, ECLGS and export industry status. A communication from IATO mentioned that the meeting was historic and fruitful. On issue of ECLGS, she said that revised rules and guidelines are being issued to the banks. On the other issues raised by the IATO representatives, she gave a very patient hearing and assured to look into their suggestions/recommendations favourably based on its merit.

Bento Resorts has entered a partnership with Red Apple Travel, a global giant in the business of travel and hospitality. Under the new deal, Red Apple Travel will exclusively Market Bento resorts. Manish Tandon, Chairman, Bento Resorts said, “We wanted to bring more flavour and flair to the industry and therefore wanted to expand the scope and area of our operations within the country.”

First direct flight has been launched between Rajkot and Goa, which will be operated by SpiceJet. The daily flight will leave from Goa Airport at 2pm and will arrive at Rajkot Airport at 7:25pm. Jyotiraditya Scindia, Cabinet Minister, Civil Aviation, in a tweet called it a historic day for Saurashtra.