The government has approved transfer of 3.7 acres of land at Pragati Maidan here to ITDC and ITPO on a 99-year lease for Rs 611 crore to set up a five-star hotel. Giving details, Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar, said India Trade Promotion Organisation, which manages Pragati Maidan, will undertake a mega project to redevelop the land into a world-class International Exhibition and Convention Centre. The implementation of the International Exhibition and Convention Centre (IECC) project is in full swing and scheduled to be completed in the year 2020-21, said an official release. The approval has been given for “transfer of 3.7 acres of land at Pragati Maidan on a 99-year fixed leasehold basis at a price of Rs 611 crore in favour of the special purpose vehicle (SPV), which will be formed by India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for development and operation of a five-star hotel.” In order to ensure completion of the hotel project in a fast track mode, the SPV will take necessary steps including selecting a suitable developer and operator third party through a transparent competitive bidding process to construct, run and manage (directly or through a professional brand) the hotel on a long-term fixed lease basis. Throughout the world, a hotel facility is an integral part of any Meetings, Initiatives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) hub/destination, the release said. “Hotel facility will add value to IECC project and promote India as a global destination for trade and commerce along with employment generation,” it said. The International Trade Fair which has lakhs of visitors and small traders participating every year will also benefit from the transformation of Pragati …

The Supreme Court has permitted building of an additional terminal at Agra airport near Taj Mahal but made it clear that it would not allow increase in air traffic on the airfield as that will be hazardous to environment and asked the Centre to consider luxurious trains like the ‘Palace on wheels’ to the city. The apex court also directed the Centre to consider an alternative airport site to meet the increase in the air traffic due to rise in tourist influx to visit the Taj Mahal and other destinations in and around Agra in Uttar Pradesh. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde made it clear that it was willing to allow the construction of additional terminal at the existing airport but was against increasing the air traffic which could “damage” the environment in an “eco-sensitive area” having some world heritage sites including Taj Mahal.

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts has opened Shravanthi Sarovar Portico in South Bengaluru. This will be brand’s sixth hotel after Davanam Sarovar Portico Suites, La Marvella Sarovar Premiere, Radha Hometel, Radisson Blu and RBD Sarovar Portico. The hotel offers easy access to the Central Business District and electronic city and is in close proximity to major tech parks and entertainment hubs. It offers 80 newly renovated guest rooms, an all-day dining restaurant, club bar, fitness center and conferencing facilities. The redecorated lobby is spacious and comprises of a coffee lounge, just the perfect setting for relaxation or business networking. Shravanthi Sarovar Portico has different decorative themes on each of the four floors. From Scandinavian to Spanish county to Manhattan to the Royal, the hotel’s theme floors and rooms will leave the traveler with a signature experience akin to none. On the launch, Ajay Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said, “We are happy to associate with Shravanthi Group for our new property in South Bangalore. We found great synergies with the group and are excited about our association. With an apt location and serene atmosphere, our new property will be a home away from home for both business and leisure travelers.”

Alliance Air flights will connect Guwahati-Dimapur & Dimapur-Imphal from December 7, 2019, revealed Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Civil Aviation Minister. The Guwahati-Dimapur flight will be twice-a-week, while the Dimapur-Imphal flight will operate thrice-a-week. He further mentioned that the new connection would enhance aviation connectivity to prominent cities of Northeast region. “Instead of the nearly seven hour bus ride between Guwahati & Dimapur, people can now fly between the cities in just 50 minutes. I will also provide connectivity with Imphal for the first time,” read his Tweet.

The second edition of PATA Tourism Powerhouse, presented by Inder Sharma Foundation, will present a huge line-up of speakers. The speakers include, Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary Tourism and Chairman, PATA India Chapter; Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA; John Koldowski, Professor, School of Tourism, Leshan Normal University, Sichuan Province, China; Sarah Mathews- Group Head of Destination Marketing APAC, TripAdvisor; Damian Cook, Founder and CEO of E- tourism Frontiers; Greg Klassen , Principal, Twenty31 Consulting; Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Atil, Founder and CEO, COTRI; Kapil Kaul, CEO & Director of CAPA South Asia; Sam McGoun, CEO, Impact Tourism; and Parishmita Gogoi, Student, Masters in Travel and Tourism Management, Amity University. Jatinder Taneja, Vice- Chairman, PATA India Chapter, revealed, “We have flown in a lot of international speakers who will be talking to us, or educating us about the global trends going on in tourism. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA international will also be coming. There will be Professor Wolfgang Georg Arit from China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), who will be speaking about Indo-China tourism and how we can get a lot of tourists from China. We are also going to talk about the perspective of the new generation traveller and what all he/ she are expecting from tourism and how they want to travel. At the same time, we have Sara Mathews from TripAdvisor, who will be speaking on high impact of social media on tourism. Hence, we have got many interesting subjects, and there will be a lot of learning from all these international speakers and we expect that it will go well.”

In a bid to boost untapped tourism in the state, MP Tourism will be organising a new festival in Orchha to celebrate cultural diversity, natural beauty and architectural heritage in the state. The Madhya Pradesh Government has identified tourism as one of the leading sectors for development and will be taking multiple initiatives to promote the state for both domestic and international travellers. The festival will showcase Madhya Pradesh in Orchha bringing it alive with music, dance, heritage tours, workshops, local cuisine, arts and handicrafts.

Government has implemented schemes for the promotion of local tourism in the country. Under the scheme, the Ministry undertakes promotions through advertising in print and electronic media, participation in fairs and exhibitions, organising seminars, workshops for stakeholders and service providers, as well as printing of brochures, collaterals etc. The various tourism products are also promoted on the Social Media accounts and website of the Ministry. Government is raising awareness regarding local tourism and to promote local religious and non-religious spots to the tourists coming from both outside and within the State. The Ministry of Tourism, under its Domestic Promotion and Publicity including Hospitality (DPPH) scheme for promotion of Domestic Tourism implements various measures for the promotion of tourism in the country. The main objective of DPPH Scheme is to create a general awareness among the domestic population about the potential tourist destinations in the country, which will help to increase the local / domestic tourism market. The Ministry through its 20 domestic India Tourism Offices located across the country, which also act as information centers, undertakes the promotional activities to promote India in a holistic manner which includes promotion of domestic/local tourism by raising awareness about local tourism products which include local religious and non-religious spots for the tourists coming from both outside and within the State.

In a recent interview, President and CEO of InterGlobe Hotels says, “We enter 2020 with enthusiasm and hope. We have 6 hotels with a total of approximately 1000 rooms under active development and are currently pursuing some very promising fresh deals in Pune, Goa, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. We expect the operating performance to generally improve as the fundamentals of the industry remain strong with a slowing supply graph and an improving demand curve which has historically been in the 8-10% range.”

Somon Air has started regular non-stop once-a-week flights from Dushanbe (Tajikistan) to Delhi. The new direct service will reduce the flying time between the two destinations to 2.5 hours from 10-12 hours. The flight currently flies on Sunday, and a second frequency will be added on Wednesday soon and would eventually be increased to thrice-a-week service. The flights are operated by a Boeing 737 aircraft. Speaking at the launch, Hallam, said, “India is a potential market and we are hoping that Indians discover the tourism potential of Tajikistan, which is a destination that will appeal to Indians a lot.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has recently announced that the Imphal-Mandalay route will soon be included in the ‘International UDAN’ scheme. Manipur government had been pursuing the introduction of flight operations between Imphal and Mandalay for quite some time, but instead of a scheduled flight service, permission for chartered flights just for a limited duration of time was granted. The bidding process for selection of airlines to be completed within two months. The service was launched on 23 November and will be run till December 7.   (Source: Indian Express)