Clarks Inn Group of Hotels has signed one of mid-west Nepal’s most iconic properties, Hotel Sneha in Nepalgunj, now known as Sneha Clarks Inn Suites. The new addition marks Clarks Inn’s first operational debut in Nepal and the second property overall, including one in Kathmandu that is expected to open door later this year. Nepalgunj, a border town located just across the Indo-Nepal border along the state of UP, is fast emerging as a tourism hotspot of the mid-west region of Nepal. The border city serves as the gateway to the majestic Himalayas, wildlife and national parks, trekking routes and a host of water sports activities. Combining the old-world charm with cutting-edge guest services, Sneha Clarks Inn Suites is a more than 50 years old property with its colonial era architectural designs and the latest in amenities and world-class guest services. The 60-key property, currently a three-star hotel, is soon to be a four-star hotel as it has already applied for the four-star certification and is awaiting the same in about a month’s time. S N Srivastava, President & Co-founder, Clarks Inn Group of Hotels, said, “This is our operational debut in Nepal and we are doing so with a property that befits this special milestone for us. It’s a 60 key property spread over a huge area with big landscaped lush green lawns and international feel. The property will cater to guests with impeccable in-room guest amenities and provide facilities like swimming pool, for both adults and children, spa, health club and casino.” According to Bhawani Rana, Managing Director, Sneha Group of Companies, “Our tie-up with Clarks Inn is a step in the direction to strengthen border tourism and …

Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, is set to introduce flights between Pantnagar and Dehradun under the UDAN scheme from January 4, 2019. “Alliance Air will commence its flight on Pantnagar-Dehradun-Pantnagar route with an ATR-42 type aircraft. Flight AI-9823 will depart from Pantnagar at 13:40 hrs to land in Dehradun at 14:40 hrs,” Alliance Air said in a statement. Pantnagar is an important commercial and industrial hub in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. It is famous for having the first agricultural university in India known as the G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology. The Air India subsidiary said the return flight will depart from Dehradun at 15:05 hrs to land in Pantnagar at 15:55 hrs. It added that the flight will run four days a week – Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The primary objective of UDAN is to connect small cities of the country at affordable fares.

According to a latest report titled ‘Hospitality insights from the Indian CEO’s desk’ by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and PWC, more than one-third of the respondents indicate a willingness to invest in Tier II towns to capitalise on the growth of domestic travel. However, the survey also shows that Tier I cities, primarily Mumbai and Delhi, continue to be the most preferred locations for hotel expansion. Although most players are not looking for international locations actively, some (especially the larger Indian chains) are open to expanding internationally, provided an opportunity is available.  

India ranks 12th of all Asian cruise destinations with just 2 per cent of Asia’s total calls, according to a latest report titled ‘Asia Cruise Trends’ commissioned by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). India hosted 120 calls at its various ports in 2018, a 6 per cent decline from 2017. 88 of those calls are Transit, or 73 per cent of the total. Mumbai sees the most calls at 48, followed by 32 in Cochin. India’s five year CAGR and five-year growth are 6 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an advisory stating that airlines may consider using local language for in-flight announcements “to extent feasible”. Moreover, in order to enhance awareness about the cultural heritage of India, pilots can make in-flight announcements about important monuments or sites enroute the flight, the advisory said. Announcements in local language would be in addition to the ones made in Hindi and English, according to the DGCA advisory. The DGCA clarified in its latest advisory that airlines may make the aforementioned additional in-flight announcements without compromising any safety requirements or core job functions of crew members. “It is made clear that the above announcements be made without compromising safety of operations at any stage,” the advisory added. In 2016, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had issued a circular asking airports under its control to make public announcements in the local language followed by Hindi and English. There are more than 100 operational airports in India. “To enhance awareness about cultural heritage of India, pilot can make in-flight announcement about the important monument or site (such as the Taj Mahal, the Konark Temple, the Ajanta Ellora, the Statue of Unity, etc), which are enroute the flight,” the DGCA advisory stated.

Lords Hotels & Resorts has announced its latest property in Gujarat with S K Lords Eco Inn, Ahmedabad. The hotel boasts of 30 guest rooms along with a multi-cuisine restaurant, a rooftop restaurant, pillar-less banquet hall of 5000 sq ft. Located B/H Telephone Exchange, Off C G Road, Navarangpura, the hotel is only 15 km away from Ahmedabad Airport and Station. A rapidly growing metropolis, an industrial hub, an educational hotspot and a city with a magnificent past – Ahmedabad is one of the most important cities in Gujarat and is fast becoming a very popular tourist destination as well.

Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, K J Alphons recently handed over a Memorandum of Understanding under the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project to Resbird Technologies for development of a mobile audio guide app for five iconic sites. The five iconic sites for which the mobile Audio Guide App is to be developed are Amer Fort (Rajasthan), Kaziranga (Assam), Colva Beach (Goa), Kumarakom (Kerala) and Mahabodhi Temple (Bihar). During the function, Alphons also handed over the Letters of Intent to seven shortlisted agencies for consideration under the project in the presence of Tourism Secretary, Yogendra Tripathi. These agencies would become ‘Monument Mitras’ through the innovative concept of ‘Vision Bidding’, which will give them the opportunity to associate their CSR activities with a heritage site if the Vision Bid is selected. The ‘Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’ project is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and State/UTs Governments. It aims to involve public sector companies, private sector companies and corporate citizens/individuals to take up the responsibility for making our heritage and tourism more sustainable through development, operation and maintenance of world-class tourist infrastructure and amenities at ASI/ State heritage sites and other important tourist sites in India.  

Bangladesh alone constituted about 45 per cent of total foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) to India on medical visa in 2017, according to a FICCI study on ‘India: Innovating Transforming and Defining Medical Value Travel’. Bangladesh holds the eighth place among largest population countries in the world. The major destination countries include India, China, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the USA, the UK, Australia, Japan and Germany for treatments including cardiology, oncology, neurology and orthopaedic. Majority of deaths in Bangladesh are due to non-communicable diseases out of which cancer has a share of 10 per cent. However, the existing infrastructure caters to approximately 10 per cent of cancer patients with 16 cancer treatment centres in Bangladesh. High costs, poor services, long waiting lists, lack of technology in Bangladesh are the major reasons for medical value travel from Bangladesh.

Preferred Hotels & Resorts has announced 23 new properties scheduled to be launched across the globe in 2019 of which one will be The Chedi, Mumbai, housing 312 rooms and suites. Breathtaking views over the Powai Lake to Mumbai’s dramatic cityscape, this hotel will be a game-changing luxury in India’s City of Dreams. The Chedi, Mumbai welcomes business travellers with sophisticated meeting facilities, state-of-the-art equipment and communication technology.

SpiceJet has announced a daily direct flight on the Kolkata-Lilabari route under the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN. Reiterating its focus on regional connectivity, the airline also announced a new direct flight connecting Kolkata with Jabalpur and an additional frequency on Hyderabad-Jabalpur route. All new flights and frequencies are scheduled to commence from January 15. According to a statement released by the airline, “SpiceJet is celebrating the launch by announcing an introductory promotional fare starting at Rs 3,700 on Kolkata-Lilabari and Lilabari-Kolkata routes, Rs 3,969 on Kolkata-Jabalpur and Rs 3,949 on Jabalpur-Kolkata, routes.” The primary objective of (UDAN) scheme is to connect small cities of the country at affordable fares. Shilpa Bhatia, Chief Sales and Revenue Officer, SpiceJet, said, “Lilabari is our first destination in Assam under the UDAN scheme and we are confident that the new flight will provide impetus to the tourism potential of the state.”