The number of premium rooms across 12 key cities is likely to go up from 82,800 in FY2018 to 98,900 as on FY2023, with ICRA research tracking about 16,100 premium rooms under construction and to be launched over the next five years. The Indian hotel industry witnessed its highest ever 10-year occupancy in FY2018 and its revenue per available room (RevPAR) was higher by 17 per cent compared to the 10-year low, witnessed in FY2014. Similarly, the pan-India average room rate (ARR) which stood at Rs 5,800 in FY2018, was also the highest since FY2014, according to a recent research by ICRA. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) into India slowed down from April 2018 onwards due to the Nipah virus scare and diversion of traffic to other global events such as the soccer world cup in Russia. While the FTAs growth picked up in Aug 2018, the Kerala floods impacted it in Sep and Oct 2018. Kerala witnessed decline in FTAs in Q2 (-4.6 per cent) and Q3 CY2018 (-13.6 per cent). In addition, there was general weakness in the global ITAs during Q3 CY2018. As for the domestic demand momentum, it has remained strong; the domestic revenue passenger kilometre (RPKM), a proxy for domestic travel grew by a robust 20.3 per cent year on year (YOY) in YTD October CY2018 at ~ 10.5 million passengers. Domestic demand in FY2019 will continue to be driven by increased air connectivity and higher appetite for domestic leisure travel. On the supply side, the supply of room is likely to lag demand over the medium term and grow at a subdued CAGR of 3.6 per cent over the next five years (FY19-23).

Ginger has opened its first prototype hotel with a complete new brand identity at Panjim, Goa, after an intensive repositioning exercise. The current portfolio of the other 45 plus hotels will be repositioned reflecting the new brand identity and brand promise. Ginger will introduce the lean luxe segment, the first of its kind in India. The new identity presents a co-existence of contrasts through re-imagined spaces blurring the lines of work and play, bringing about a fusion of global and local and create experiences that are vibrant, quirky, intuitive and smart. The redesigned spaces will bring together attractive public areas as well as spots designed for solitude, allowing the smooth transition from one to the other. They come alive with vivacious high energy glocal music and unique artwork installations. The all-day diner Café Et Cetera offers comfort food and doubles up as a personal workstation. The service style is designed around the on-the-go lifestyle of the target audience enabling them to do more whether it is on-the-go breakfast, express laundry service or quick munch snack bars.

To ensure a seamless golf experience exclusive to Thailand, The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), New Delhi, has launched the Thai Golf Pass Season-II after the success of  first-ever golf loyalty programme for any country. The new season of the programme aims to offer exciting rewards on redemption of loyalty points. The focus of Thai Golf Pass Season-II is to integrate its website with travel partners’ website while increasing the number of loyalty partners to 200 and membership’s base to cover 5000 golfers. Besides bringing all the suppliers under one platform, TAT is also looking to organise promotional events in India and Thailand. On the occasion, Isra Stapanaseth, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, New Delhi, said, “Amazing Thailand is a paradise for golfers with more than 250 international standard golf courses, professional caddies, warm hospitality, wellness and food, and entertainment. We are looking forward to Indian golfers to become a part of this loyalty programme and experience the services and offers.”

Keeping its growth plans in mind for 2019 in the Indian as well as overseas market, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts will launch 15 new properties next year. Ajay Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, says, “Sarovar will be launching close to 15 properties in 2019. Some of the locations chosen for the openings are – Gorakhpur, Katra, Dehradun, Dahisar, Jammu, Palolem Goa, Morbi, Dalhousie, Jalandhar etc. Also, 2018 overall was a good year. We predicted 5 per cent increase and did better than that. We opened sebven hotels in 2018 across the country and overseas. We hope 2019 to be on the same lines, but slightly better.” The international locations where the hotels will be launched include Dar Es Salaam and Auxum, Ethiopia.

GoAir has announced the launch of flight operations from Kannur with the launch of the newly commissioned international airport at Kannur. The Kannur schedule introduces direct daily flights connecting Bengaluru six times weekly,  Hyderabad four times weekly and Chennai thrice weekly. With this launch, GoAir will now operate more than 1600 weekly flights by the end of December. The airline plans to also commence its international operations from Kannur shortly post regulatory approvals. On the occasion of the launch, the airline is also operating a special flight between Delhi to Kannur to facilitate guest movement of Kannur International Airport. Cornelis Vrieswijk, CEO, GoAir said “Kannur is a key market and a significant base for business and tourism in the region. Adding Kannur with its ideal geographical location, we reinforce our commitment towards enhancing connectivity across the country. It is our constant endeavor to provide flexibility of choice to our customers along with on time, convenient and affordable flying experience.” Tickets for the new flights can be booked through the company website or online travel portals, GoAir Call Centre, airport ticketing offices, through travel agents and the GoAir mobile app that is available on both Apple iOS and Google Android. Passengers will be required to download the latest version of the App to be able to make the bookings.

VFS Global has appointed Jiten Vyas and Vinay Malhotra – both Regional Group COOs – as members of the company’s Executive Board. The Executive Board (EB), in collaboration with the Board of Directors, plays a pivotal role in the compamny’s strategic decision-making across various business verticals and its functions. The addition of  Vyas and Malhotra, with their respective vast individual career experiences, will further strengthen the EB to bring in the wider operational business perspective, in light of the company’s growth strategy. Vyas, a UK citizen, who joined the company in 2003 is responsible for all business operations in Africa (including Turkey), CIS and Eastern Europe, Europe and Americas and Australasia. Malhotra, an Indian citizen,  who joined the company in 2013 is responsible for all business operations in Middle East, South Asia and China. Both of them have handled various leadership responsibilities across geographies for the company, and are also responsible for the strengthening of key client government relationships. Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global, commented, “We are proud to have dynamic and experienced leaders of the calibre of Jiten and Vinay, who have been instrumental to our global success in growing rapidly and serving now 62 client governments. As we further expand our scope of business, we look forward to having their considerable and combined expertise add value to matters of strategy and corporate development.”

Blue Square Consultants has been appointed as the representative for Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) in India. It will be responsible to build and develop strong relations with key tourism and hospitality entities and trade partners to grow and strengthen the tourism potential of the destination in the Indian market. Confirming the appointment, Sevinj Zeynalli, International Market Management Director, Azerbaijan Tourism Board, said, “India being an important outbound market, we’re pleased to partner with a highly reputed organisation like Blue Square Consultants that has a strong foothold across different cities in India. Owing to their successful track record, we are confident that their expertise will help us gain greater visibility and we look forward to welcoming more Indians on their holiday to Azerbaijan”. Lubaina Sheerazi, COO, Blue Square Consultants, stated, “We are delighted to represent the magnificent country of Azerbaijan and drive it as a preferred leisure destination for Indian travellers. The strategy is to tap into the growing outbound market and change perceptions to showcase the tourism prospects of Azerbaijan. We have the requisite knowledge and an excellent track record in managing various tourism boards and the recent appointment is a reaffirmation of our proficiency in the travel sector”.

The domestic contributions to travel and tourism reached 87 per cent in India, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) annual economic impact data. Ranking fourth in domestic visitor spending, it is worth noting the rapid development of the domestic travel and tourism market in India, which grew by US$83 billion and rose from the eighth to the fourth largest domestic market between 2008 and 2017. Unsurprisingly, the largest developed countries dominate the top spots in terms of absolute size of domestic spending. Domestic travel is the main driving force behind travel and tourism in major economies. Strong domestic tourism in most of these countries is driven by a growing or sizeable middle-class population, an increase in spending power among domestic consumers, the sheer size of the countries, governments’ initiatives in promoting new locations, and strong or improving transportation infrastructure and economic links between different internal regions. For instance, the Indian government plans to build 100 new airports with a budget of US$60bn over the next 10 to 15 years to accommodate and stimulate the demand for domestic travel.

A CAPA India Inbound Tourism Report reveals that data from the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) shows that International Tourist Arrivals (ITAs) in India grew at a CAGR of 7.4 per cent in the three years to 2017. The report further tells that according to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), ITAs globally registered strong year-on-year growth of 6.7 per cent in 2017, to reach 1,322 million. This is the highest growth rate achieved for the last seven years. The last time visitor arrivals growth was this strong was in 2010, when the sector was rebounding after a decline in tourist arrivals during the prior year due to the global financial crisis. Europe reported the strongest growth in 2017, with 8.4 per cent higher international arrivals (671 million), followed by Africa at 7.8 per cent. Asia Pacific (5.8 per cent), the Middle East (4.8 per cent) and the Americas (2.9 per cent) — all grew at below-the-global-average rate. However, over a 10-year period from 2007 to 2017, Asia Pacific reported the highest average annual growth rate amongst all regions at 6.2 per cent.

United Airlines is set to introduce a new daily direct seasonal service between Delhi and San Francisco International starting December 7, 2019 – subject to government approval. The airline’s new route will be its third daily non-stop service from India in addition to the existing daily, year-round services from Mumbai and New Delhi to New York. Harvinder Singh, Country Manager, United Airlines, says, “This new flight strengthens our international route network and provides our customers from India with even greater travel choice, with connections from San Francisco to other destinations across the US and Canada. Connecting the Indian capital to the US west coast opens up new opportunities for both business and leisure travellers.” The revolutionary design of the Dreamliner offers customers many features for increased comfort such as large windows, spacious overhead storage and modern LED lighting to simulate a full day, helping passengers adjust their internal clock on the trans-Atlantic flight. In addition, a lower cabin altitude, cleaner air and smoother ride help customers feel rested on arrival.