Minor Hotels and NH Hotel Group are integrating their brands under a single corporate umbrella with presence in over 50 countries worldwide. Both groups are already sharing their know-how and experience in the sector with a view of materialising opportunities in the short term, taking advantage of the complementary nature of their hotel portfolios, the scope for economies of scale with a broader customer base and exploring the development of all of their brands in different markets. A first step in this direction is the upcoming transfer to NH Hotel Group of the operations of a portfolio of 15 Minor Hotels in Portugal and Brazil

Best Western Hotels & Resorts has launched its new SureStay Hotel Group concept in India with the opening of a brand new hotel in Amritsar. The hotel features 30 contemporary guestrooms, equipped with convenient amenities, including complimentary Wi-Fi, Café Sure – multi cuisine restaurant with bar, elegant banquet hall and Let’s Talk – the private dining room cum meeting room. Every morning, guests can start their day with a sumptuous buffet breakfast. “We are delighted to unveil SureStay Hotel by Best Western Amritsar, an exciting new hotel that will redefine the smart economy hotel sector,” said Atul Jain, Best Western’s Chief Operating Officer for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. “By combining the ease and affordability of economy hotels with the international standards of a global chain, SureStay Hotel Group is sure to appeal to business and leisure travelers alike”. Its strategic location confers on the SureStay Hotel by Best Western Amritsar, Ranjeet Avenue an unmatched advantage. Guests can reach the hotel from the international airport and railway station in just 10-15 minutes, and a visit to the Golden Temple takes only 15 minutes. “Chick, comfortable and convenient, this is an ideal concept for smart business and leisure guests seeking centrally located, international quality accommodation. We are seeing rising demand for branded economy and lower-midscale accommodation in key cities across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. SureStay Hotel Group is perfectly positioned to fill this gap in the market and we look forward to introducing this exciting new concept to more cities across the region in the future years,” Atul added. SureStay Hotel Group was first introduced in late 2016, and the concept made its Asia Pacific debut in October 2017 with …

United Airlines will continue its long-standing relationship with Travelport as part of a multi-year agreement that demonstrates a joint commitment to deliver customer support and solutions for the benefit of travellers and travel agents alike. United has already benefited from Travelport’s rich content and branding merchandising solution by differentiating its offerings and dynamically distributing content across the globe. This tool allows customers to easily compare airline offerings and take advantage of United’s comprehensive route network and improved customer experience. Both companies will continue to work together to enhance the delivery of United’s product offering, including ancillaries and fare families, to agencies and corporations through Travelport’s traditional ATPCO and API platforms, including deployment of United content made available consistent with IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard. “I’m delighted to announce that our relationship with United has been extended for a multi-year term. United has seen great success with our rich content and branding solution and extended global reach, We look forward to supporting United’s growth, its dedication to providing better experiences for agencies and travelers worldwide and pioneering NDC solutions,” said Damian Hickey, Global Head of Air Travel Partners, Travelport. “While direct volumes through our award-winning website and mobile app continue to grow, we want to be available across a variety of booking channels, and collaborating with Travelport helps us do that,” said Dave Bartels, Vice President of Pricing and Revenue Management, United Airlines. “United is excited to be working together with Travelport on our NDC initiative to provide tailored content to our customers through the Travelport subscriber network, which will allow customers to better customise their travel with different amenities and experiences.”

Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister, Civil Aviation, along with Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation, have released the passenger charter. If a domestic flight is expected to be delayed by more than six hours, the airline would offer an option of ‘alternate flight’ to the passenger within that time, or it will refund the full price of the ticket. The charter also stated that if the passenger is informed of a flight cancellation less than two weeks prior to departure, the airline has to give an alternate flight to passenger or refund the ticket completely. In fact, at the time of booking, the airline has to clearly indicate the amount of refund money that will be given to passenger in case of cancellation. In case a passenger is denied boarding due to over booking of a flight, the passenger shall not hold the airline liable for compensation in case he was given an alternate flight within one hour of original flight’s departure. The charter also states that passengers can cancel tickets without having to pay any amount within a day of the booking and also claim enhanced compensation for loss of baggage from airlines. However, the new charter states that zero cancellation charge won’t apply if the tickets are booked less than seven days before the scheduled departure time of the flight.      

Amidst escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Air Canada temporarily suspended its flight services to India, following a decision by the Pakistan government to close its airspace. Air Canada cancelled one flight to Delhi from Vancouver, while another flight en-route to India returned to Toronto. Qatar Airways issued a statement asserting that due to the ongoing situation between India and Pakistan, its flight over the airspace of these two countries may experience delays due to rerouting. While Vistara issued a statement about the cancellations of flights on Amritsar, Srinagar, Chandigarh and Jammu; Singapore Airlines also released a statement about its flight delays. A Dubai-bound Jet Airways was asked by Pakistan ATC to return to Delhi. Flight operations across eight airports in Amritsar, Pathankot, Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla, Dharamshala, Kullu and Leh were shut briefly. However, the airports got operational after a few hours. As many as 47 flights were cancelled from Delhi airport, 25 were departures and 22 arrivals. Also, eight arrivals and eight departure flights were cancelled from the Mumbai Airport. Source: ANI  

Kempinski Hotels is conducting its three-city roadshows across Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, says, “Roadshows like these are very important for our industry to meet key hotels and partners across the world. We look forward to shaking hands with 450 key operators across three cities. The Indian traffic to Kempinski Hotels grew by 32 per cent in 2018 vis-à-vis 2017. The first couple of months have started well. The focus largely remains on leisure and corporate markets. Besides that, weddings as well as MiCE are also very important for Kempinski.”  

Atout France Tourism Development Agency and La Vallée Village organised an informal networking exchange in the form of an aperitif for key representatives of the trade at the recently-concluded second edition of the Luxury Lifestyle Weekend held at Jio Gardens in BKC Mumbai. This interaction allowed the guests an opportunity to actively engage in discussions and interact with Patrick Allais, Business Development Manager, La Vallée Village. He apprised the guests on all the latest offerings available for their clients at La Vallée Village.

Amadeus says customer information was stolen from Resbird Technologies, its independent distributor in India, in January 2019. In a statement, the distribution giant says that while there was no “unauthorised access to the system,” a Resbird employee who had rights to access the systems had illegally taken information from a number of passenger name records (PNRs). The employee is then believed to have passed the information to a third party that specializes in SIM cards for mobile phones. According to the Amadeus statement, the PNR information included name, contact details and travel itineraries. In a small number of cases, it may also have included passport details. The information accessed came from India-based travel agents and involved only tickets issued in India. The statement says a number of actions have been taken, including the employment terminated for the person involved and a report filed with the police in India. It is not known how many records were accessed, but Amadeus felt it was large enough to file a report with the Spanish data protection authority. The company is also conducting a review of the data compromised, which goes back to the end of June 2018. It has also sent a “cease and desist letter” to the SIM card company for the stolen information to be returned or destroyed.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated a Rs 25-crore project for the restoration of the heritage of the iconic Mascot Hotel, coinciding with the celebrations of 100 years of the hospitality pioneer in Thiruvananthapuram. The comprehensive project, drawn up by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), was unveiled close on the heels of Mascot Hotel bagging the five-star status. Vijayan also unveiled the plaque to mark the historic occasion and opened a month-long exhibition that depicts the 100 years of glorious service of the trail blazer in hospitality sector in the state. Minister for Co-operation, Devaswom and Tourism, Kadakampally Surendran presided over the function held at Mascot Hotel. Surendran said that Mascot has got the unique distinction of being the maiden five-star hotel in the public sector. Recalling the history and fame of the institution, he noted “In the hotel map published by the Bombay-based Indian Hotel Company in 1937, Mascot was one among the four hotels listed from South India. In 1965, it came under KTDC.” The Minister underscored the need to adopt quality service and new marketing strategies in order to compete with private players in the hospitality industry. M Vijayakumar, Chairman, KTDC, delivered a felicitation speech. He said, “Mascot Hotel is a priceless treasure of Kerala. It is the jewel in KTDC’s crown. The heritage restoration project will be carried out without in any way harming its distinguishing architectural features.” The project to strengthen and preserve the heritage property will be executed under the leadership of Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society. The works to be taken up include strengthening of the building, rooms, passages, beautification of the premises and improving the amenities. They will be completed in two phases within a …

The Department of Culture and Tourism of Inner Mongolia, autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China organised the Inner Mongolia Culture and Tourism Festival as part of the ongoing Chinese New Year festivities. Representing the travel trade, Chitra Bhatia, General Secretary, OTOAI and Rajeev Sabharwal, EC Member, OTOAI were present at the event. Hosted by the Chinese Embassy in India and the Government of Inner Mongolia, the promotional event was aimed to promote and attract tourists to the region of northern China. Briefing about the attractions in Inner Mongolia, Shi Mo, Deputy General Secretary, People’s Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, introduced the guests while Ai Lihua, Vice Chairman, People’s Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Zhu Xiaohong, Culural Counsellor, Chinese Embassy in India presented the welcome remarks. On the ocassion, He Zhiliang, Director of Department of Culture and Tourism, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region said, “This is the first time we have come to India to promote Inner Mongolia province. We are trying to promote the culture of Inner Mongolia by showcasing it through a art performance by ‘Anda Union’. I hope the Indian audience will like this event and visit Inner Mongolia.” During the event, a cooperation agreement was signed between Zhong Xin International Travel Co and Delhi-based Pettitts India Tours.