In a recent interview to Hospitality Breaking News, Vivek Bhalla, Regional VP, South West Asia, IHG, says, “IHG is expanding in a big way in India. We are focussed on bringing InterContinental in a big way. We are in discussion for a couple of locations in India to expand Intercontinental brand in the country. We are growing Holiday Inn Express beyond the SAMHI portfolio. We are going to open Holiday Inn Express in Bengaluru and Kolkata which will not be with SAMHI. Depending on how our discussion go with our partners, hopefully we will also announce our new brand- voco in India. Holiday Inn Agra will be opening by next month.”

According to a report titled ‘Demystifying the Indian Online Traveller’ commissioned by BCG and Google, the Indian hospitality space is expected to accelerate to $13bn worth of gross bookings in 2020, $10bn of which constitutes hotel bookings and the remaining is constituted by bookings of short-term rentals and other lodgings. Players in these alternate spaces have the potential to innovate as travellers, both domestic and foreign, become more open to alternate stay options. In 2020, budget and luxury hotels are expected to be areas of growth. The former is expected to grow at 13.5 per cent driven by the growth of the Aspirers segment on the demand front and the consolidation, standardisation and branding of currently upbranded properties through aggregator-based start-ups on the supply front. Mid-scale hotels or the two-and three-star properties will continue to maintain their dominance.

Revenues from the passenger segment of Indian Railways have increased at a CAGR of 9.90 per cent to US$ 7.55 billion in FY18 from US$ 2.67 billion in FY07, according to a Railways report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). Passenger earnings of Indian Railways stood at Rs 8,534.71 crore (US$ 1.32 billion) during April-May 2018. With eight metro rail networks spread over a length of 370 kilometres (km) and over two dozen metro projects lined up, India’s metro rail network is expanding at a fast pace.

Chartered accountant-turned-politician, Piyush Goyal has been reappointed as the Minister of Railways. Goyal, who worked as an investment banker before becoming member of Rajya Sabha, has handled several key portfolios in the previous Modi government, including the Finance Ministry in the absence of Arun Jaitley. He has also been Power, Coal and Corporate Affairs Minster in the past. During his tenure as Railways Minister, he announced Railways Zone for Andhra Pradesh named South Coast Railways and was also instrumental in announcing new fast speed train, Vande Bharat Express. Born in Mumbai to Ved Prakash Goyal, who has been a Union Minister in the Vajpayee government, he followed his father’s footsteps and joined BJP in 1984. He holds a stellar academic record and is an all-India second rank holder Chartered Accountant and second rank holder in Law in Mumbai University. He also served on the Board of India’s largest commercial bank, the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

Nitin Gadkari will continue to handle Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, while also handling the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The minister has been credited for smooth construction and operation of bridges, flyovers and expressways in the previous cabinet. He is also known to have played a significant role in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Gadkari earned his spurs as PWD Minister in Maharashtra, by delivering the Mumbai-Pune expressway and 55 flyovers in Mumbai.

Former IFS officer Hardeep Singh Puri has been given the independent charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry in the new Modi government. He has been appointed as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Civil Aviation. He was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban in the previous government. He contested the recent Lok Sabha polls from Amritsar seat in Punjab and lost the election. He is also a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh. A career diplomat, Puri joined BJP in 2014, In his career spanning 39 years as an IFS officer, he served in senior positions at the Ministries of External Affairs and Defence, held ambassadorial level posts in the United Kingdom, Brazil and served as Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations both in Geneva and New York. He had earlier served in India’s Missions in Tokyo, and Colombo. Born on 15 February, 1952, Puri did BA (Hons) History from Hindu College, University of Delhi and was placed first in order of merit in 1971. He completed his MA (History) in 1973.  

Prahlad Singh Patel has been appointed as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. He is a five-time parliamentarian and was a front runner for Modi’s second cabinet. He also served as a Minister of State for coal in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He takes over from Alphons Kannanthanam. He defeated his nearest competitor Pratap Singh of Congress with a margin of 3,53,411. Patel holds BSc, LLB, MA (Philosophy) degrees. He was also a member of Executive Council of VV Giri National Labour Institute and member of the Consultative Committee in the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Discover the World has announced that it now represents Deutsche Hospitality in India alongside the other countries of France, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States and Russia. Deutsche Hospitality’s Vice President of Group Sales, Daniela Lindner said, “We have great experience with Discover the World representing us in other countries.  We wanted a trusted partner to enable us to expand our corporate and MICE opportunities.” “We are pleased Deutsche Hospitality has put their trust in us once again and this time in India,” said Ian Murray, Discover the World’s Executive Vice President.  “With us being so familiar with all of the hotel brands under the operation of Deutsche Hospitality, it will make it very easy to set up and begin selling and marketing their five well-known hotel brands—Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, MAXX by Steigenberger, Jaz in the City and IntercityHotel and Zleep Hotels—in India.”

In a recent mailer, Nepal Airlines has announced that Aadhar Card is not a valid document to travel to Nepal. It is mandatory to put contact number, email is of guest/agent and passport details or voter ID card number. Failing which, agent will not be entitled in case of any delays and cancellations of flights. The mailer also clarifies that no show with Aadhar Card, will not be entitled for any refund in any tickets.

The Israel Ministry of Tourism has appointed Sammy Yahia as Director of Tourism for India and Philippines. Effective 3 June 2019, Yahia will be taking over his new position, before which he was the Director of Marketing & Communications for Israel Ministry of Tourism from 2012 to May 2019. During his tenure there, he was awarded ‘Employee of the Year – Civil Service Commission’ and received a certificate of appreciation from the Minister of Tourism and the Director General for his valuable contributions. Commenting on the appointment Yahia said, “The arrivals from India have amassed expectations in the last few years to present some record-breaking numbers. While keeping the current momentum going, the goal is to place India as one of the top global source markets for Israel. Besides the metropolitan cities, continuing to capture Tier II cities would be the strategy to lure travellers to consider Israel for a leisure holiday offering dynamic experiences catering to varied interests. Having said this, our office will aggressively work towards increasing connectivity between India and Israel by introducing new airlines to service the route.” Yahia will be replacing Hassan Madah, who was at the helm of the Indian market for many years.