AirAsia India has said it will commence flight operations to Mumbai from January 2019. Sunil Bhaskaran, MD and CEO, AirAsia India, said, “We are pleased to make the much-awaited announcement of adding Mumbai to our network. This is a great way to end 2018, and is in line with our ultimate vision to focus on revolutionising air travel in the markets that we operate in. We’re also happy to welcome our 20th Airbus A320 aircraft to our fleet.” Source: IANS

Taj has opened its second hotel in Udaipur – Taj Aravali Resort & Spa. Nestled in the foothills of the picturesque Aravali mountain range, the resort is spread across 27 acres of lush landscaped gardens. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), said, “Taj has been instrumental in developing India’s tourism potential in Rajasthan and putting the state on the global map with the iconic Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, since 1970. With the opening of Taj Aravali Resort & Spa, we are enhancing our offering for the global traveller and reinforcing our commitment to Udaipur – the Venice of the East.” The resort has 92 luxurious rooms, suites and tents with panoramic views of the Aravalis. The design ethos is contemporary with a mix of traditional Rajasthani influences and furnishings inspired by Mewar’s world-class equestrian heritage. The hotel is conveniently located an hour away from the airport. Anand Nair, General Manager, Taj Aravali Resort & Spa, Udaipur, said, “Taj Aravali Resort & Spa is ideally located to enjoy nature while also staying connected to the pulse of Udaipur’s vibrant character. We look forward to welcoming guests to experience Taj’s legendary service.” Guests have a choice of distinctive culinary options which include an all-day diner – Tiri; a specialty vegetarian restaurant – Javitri; an alfresco grill – Ridgeview and a bar – Odeypore Lounge.

IndiGo and Turkish Airlines have signed codeshare and mutual cooperation agreement enabling both carriers to provide more flexibility of choice to their respective customers to fly on sectors between India and Istanbul, and beyond. As part of its international expansion strategy, this is the first codeshare agreement for IndiGo. Through this cooperation, Turkish Airlines will be offering new destinations in India as Marketing Carrier on IndiGo operated flights, while IndiGo customers will be able to reach many European destinations through Turkish Airlines’ extensive network. This reciprocal arrangement will allow TK and 6E to provide seamless connections to their customers, besides enabling them to use through check-in and many other facilities. IndiGo will place its code “6E” on 20 points beyond Istanbul operated by Turkish Airlines. Similarly, Turkish Airlines will use its code “TK” on IndiGo-operated flights within India. Rahul Bhatia, Director and Interim Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo, said, “We are excited to be launching our first codeshare with Turkish Airlines. Apart from supporting our upcoming direct services to Istanbul, this strategic partnership will expand the choices available to our customers for journeys beyond Istanbul, using Turkish Airlines’ extensive network. It will become possible for our customers to book itineraries into many cities in Europe on IndiGo, using Turkish Airlines and experiencing their renowned inflight service.” Bilal Ekşi, CEO and Deputy Chairman of the Board, Turkish Airlines, said, “We are happy to host new operators in our main hub Istanbul, and IndiGo will be the first Indian carrier starting flights to Turkey. We believe that it would be a great opportunity to improve our cooperation with our new codeshare partner IndiGo, which will provide new services and destinations for our passengers …

The overall Chennai hotel market displayed an average rate growth of 2.2 per cent in 2017-18 for the first time in little less than a decade, according to a recent study by Hotelivate. Over the past four years, while the city had seen an year-on-year increase in occupancy (with the exception of 2017-18), average rates remained under pressure. In fact, improving average rates has been an ongoing challenge, primarily due to the nature of demand in the city and hotels preferring to take the easier route of dropping rates to fill rooms. Moreover, several external forces such as the floods of 2015 and Cyclone Vardah in 2016 also hindered hotel performance, especially average rates, since these tragedies hit during peak season and hotels were forced to adopt a volume strategy to fill rooms. Looking at five years of historical data, occupancy across the city has grown at a CAGR of 3.7 per cent, while average rates depicted a negative CAGR of 1.8 per cent, over the same period.

Domestic air traffic has grown by 19.21 per cent from January-November YOY, according to a latest report by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-November 2018 were 1262.83 lakhs as against 1059.34 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year. The passenger load factor in the month of November 2018 is almost equal compared to previous month primarily due to the ongoing tourist season.

Hilton has announced the opening of DoubleTree by Hilton in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The property, which is the latest addition to Hilton’s growing portfolio in India, is centrally located in the heart of India’s first World Heritage City near the Sarkhej–Gandhinagar Highway. The property is a unit of Hirise Hospitality and is managed by Hilton. Navjit Ahluwalia, Senior Vice President and Country Head, Hilton India, said,“Ahmedabad is an important business and commercial destination, and we are thrilled to mark our presence with the opening of our first DoubleTree by Hilton property here. We are delighted with our collaboration with Hirise Hospitality and look forward to welcoming our guests with exceptional experiences and warm hospitality as we expand Hilton’s portfolio of world-class brands in the country.” Towering over the central business district, DoubleTree by Hilton Ahmedabad is ideally located to provide guests easy access to the city’s major industrial hubs, business district and shopping, and dining and entertainment arenas for a holistic destination experience. Tanmay Bathwal, Managing Director, Hirise Hospitality, said,  “DoubleTree by Hilton Ahmedabad is proof of our continued belief in the growth of Gujarat, particularly Ahmedabad city.”  The hotel offers comfortable accommodations, smartly-designed meeting spaces and the tastefully-curated food and beverage outlets in the city. We look forward to welcoming guests here.” DoubleTree by Hilton Ahmedabad offers a variety of dining and entertainment choices and boasts the city’s first outdoor rooftop swimming pool. The hotel presents two dining outlets, Wave, the all-day dining restaurant offering a delectable buffet spread of Indian, Southeast Asian and Western flavours, and Hop, the café-style lobby lounge that offers grab and go snacks and beverages. For guests who enjoy service round the clock, the hotel …

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has introduced business to business (B2B) online platform that offers a white-label reservation and ticketing solution for attractions and experiences to operate more efficiently. Launching in January 2019, the B2B ‘Attractions Marketplace’ has been designed to create a technological framework to further stimulate industry cohesion through the connectivity of the city’s attractions and experiences with the global industry’s network of B2B resellers. Guided by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, the UAE and Ruler, Dubai, and the government’s 10X Initiative, the online marketplace will give the city’s diverse portfolio of attractions and experiences a higher level of digital maturity through robust technology, mobile transactions and timely bookings by industry resellers. The platform has been developed by Dubai-based technology provider, PrioHub, in partnership with PrioTicket technology. His Excellency Helal Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, said, “The introduction of the Attractions Marketplace marks an important step towards providing the city’s attractions and experiences with the power to market themselves more effectively to a wider audience. There is a need for a hyper-connected business landscape to potentially revolutionise the tourism ecosystem in order to maintain global competitiveness. By bringing this powerful technology to Dubai’s varied leisure propositions, we continue to empower our industry partners, enabling them to create an immersive visitor experience for each customer, while addressing bottlenecks in bookings and occupancy management. The native, purpose-built platform aims to bring into focus the diversity and accessibility of the emirate’s wide range of attractions and experiences, with the online portal facilitating the interaction between all stakeholders to amplify Dubai’s reach globally. It will also create …

The India Tourism Mart (ITM), organised by the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) and the Ministry of Tourism (MOT), will be tentatively held from September 29 to October 1, 2019, announced Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH. He also told that these dates are tentative, considering that any other inbound travel show like KTM as well as the National Tourism Awards would not clash with the same. This year, ITM had around 250 foreign buyers in attendance with an equal number of exhibitors. He also revealed that they are expecting around 500 buyers to come for the next year’s edition as they will have enough time to plan the event unlike this time, when they organised it within 2.5 months.

The Federation of Associations in Indian Travel and Hospitality (FAITH) recently organised a farewell dinner for Rashmi Verma, Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, at the ITC Maurya, New Delhi. Verma superannuated from her position on November 30, 2018. Thanking her for her contribution to the inbound industry, Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, said, “Rashmi Verma has been a great support to the industry in her tenure and has been instrumental in taking many initiatives during her tenure that have proven to be a gamechanger for the industry. The number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) to India crossed the 10 million mark during her tenure. She was a great support for organising the first India Tourism Mart (ITM) in New Delhi recently. She was also a call away for all of us whenever there was an issue plaguing the industry. It has been a pleasure for the industry to work with her and we would like to thank her for being a constant support for all of us.” Also present on the occasion was Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, who has succeeded Verma recently. All the presidents and senior members of the associations that are part of FAITH were also present at the event.

Women in Aviation International, India Chapter and Lockheed Martin India, in association with Airports Authority of India (AAI), celebrated ‘Girls in Aviation Day’ on the ocassion of International Civil Aviation Day. With the vision to encourage girls to take up STEM subjects and explore career opportunities in related industries, Girls in Aviation Day is aimed at showcasing opportunities in the aviation and aerospace sectors. This initiative also aligns with the Government of India’s ‘Skill India’ initiative. As part of the programme, Women in Aviation International (India Chapter) invited 90 students from various schools for an informative session in New Delhi. Visiting students were given an opportunity to hear industry experts speak on the ‘Future of STEM in India’. The session stressed upon the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics and how these subjects can lead to fulfilling careers in aviation. Additionally, Women in Aviation gave out 10 IATA-sponsored course kits to underprivileged girls to empower them to kick start a career in aviation. Speaking on the occasion, Radha Bhatia, President, Women in Aviation International, India Chapter, shared,” This is the third year that the WAI India Chapter is celebrating ‘Girls in Aviation Day’ and we are delighted to host the same in the capital. This day is celebrated for the young girls to encourage them to choose aviation as a viable career opportunity. World over, India has the maximum number of female pilots, but there are many other avenues that are still unknown. With this celebration, our aim is to see girls from New Delhi explore exciting careers available to them as engineers, air traffic controllers and dozens of other jobs within the aviation.” Speaking about Lockheed Martin’s commitment …