Tamarind Global has gone international by expanding its presence to Dubai, a huge source market for Indian weddings and events. The company already has a presence in Dubai for its tours vertical. It will now offer a bouquet of event and wedding services to support its domestic and international operations from the Dubai office. Weddings and events will be supported by destination selection, planning and budgeting, guest list and vendor management, hospitality, travel and logistics, décor, F&B, entertainment and fashion consultations for the bride and groom wear. Apart from this, MiCE events will also be supported. A team of two will start the base of operations at the Dubai office. Kunal Rai, Vice President – Events and Weddings, will head the Dubai vertical, “With the launch of our Dubai office, Tamarind now offers its services to a ‘global’ audience. We aim to lead the market by providing an all-inclusive bouquet of services to make each event unique, glamorous and memorable.” Elucidating on the reason for expanding to Dubai, he said, “With the progressive growth of the Middle East as a popular destination, Dubai is the best choice to set up a regional HQ. It will act as a start point that will drive maximum output to penetrate primarily the UAE and Middle East market.”  

Travel Air Representations, the B2B wholesale travel division of FCM Travel Solutions, has announced the launch of adventure travel brand, Intrepid Travel in India. It will distribute and promote Intrepid Travel products and services in India. Headquartered in Australia, Intrepid Travel has over 800 different itineraries across Europe, Asia, Africa, North & South America, the Middle East, Australia, and both the Arctic and Antarctica. Joseph K Jose, Vice President & Head – Wholesale, FCM Travel Solutions (India), said, “We are delighted to announce the launch of Intrepid Travel, yet another leading global travel brand, in India. The diverse offerings of Intrepid Travel have been well-received globally and will strengthen our endeavour to address unique requirements of India’s leisure traveller market. Through this collaboration, we aim to offer Intrepid Travel’s bouquet of travel products in the country while focusing on Tier -II and Tier-III markets.” On the partnership, Brett Mitchell, Regional Director – Asia Pacific, Intrepid Group, said “We look forward to working with Travel Air Representations to launch Intrepid Travel to the Indian market”.  Currently Travel Air Representations works with over 2100 agents (Business Partners) across 110 cities and towns in India, with a team of over 110 passionate and professional team members.”

AccorHotels has announced its acquisition of ResDiary, a platform for table reservation at restaurants. ResDiary provides venues with a high-end table management solution, using technology that optimises their food and beverage revenues and helps control operational costs. Its yield and channel management tools help restaurateurs maximise revenues, while limiting booking fees by controlling availability displayed on third-party channels. Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels, said, “I am delighted to see ResDiary join the range of services of the Group. Our ambition is to support ResDiary in its global expansion, consolidating its scale, and benefitting from its expertise to provide multiple attractive offers to our guests. This acquisition completes recent investments of AccorHotels in the Food & Beverage industry. It fully supports the Group’s ambition to increase touchpoints with a fast-growing customer base.” Mike Conyers, Co-founder and CEO, ResDiary said, “We have had a very successful relationship with AccorHotels in Asia Pacific, and the ResDiary team is thrilled to join the Group. We are looking forward to expanding our service on a more global level with AccorHotels.”

The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts will now operate and manage the Mahatma Mandir, the country’s largest convention and exhibition centre after winning the competitive bid and management contract. The brand will also launch The Leela Gandhinagar, a 300 room property expected to be the largest property in Gujarat’s capital city, informed Vivek Nair, Chairman and Managing Director, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. Commenting on the development, Nair said, “The addition of Mahatma Mandir and The Leela Gandhinagar to our MiCE portfolio reinforces our plans to expand further into the international conferences and events space. Together with the support of the Government of Gujarat, our endeavour is to help transform Gandhinagar into the convention capital of India.” The agreement, effective from April 1, 2018 has been signed with Gandhinagar Railway and Urban Development Corporation (GARUD)—a special purpose vehicle formed by the Government of Gujarat with the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC). R K Beniwal, Managing Director, Gandhinagar Railway and Urban Development Corporation said, “We are confident that The Leela Gandhinagar and Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre will be ably managed for a wider global distribution and accentuated positioning in the international and domestic MiCE market.” The 34-acre Mahatma Mandir Convention and exhibition Centre is a world-class facility for national and international conferences, exhibitions and events.

Attracting private investors for effective implementation of tourism policy, the tourism board of Madhya Pradesh has procured above 849.077 hectare land for the tourism department at 144 places of 49 districts of the state and created a land bank for tourism projects in MP. Besides this, at 71 points, an additional 432 hectare land has been identified. Tenders have been invited to build hotels, resorts and other establishments that will encourage tourism. For this, noted groups like Mahendra Holiday, Orange County, State Express, Jahanuma Palace Hotel, Gen-X Hotel, Sristi Ventures have been included. Land procurement is in process and soon it will be transferred to the tourism department. Surendra Patwa, Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), informed that the state has been segregated in five tourism regions and potential of private investment has been identified. In Indore region, Indore, Dhar, Khanwa, Burhanpur, Khargone, Badwani, Alirajpur, Jhabua, Ujjain, Ratlam, Dewas, Agra Malwa, Mandsaur and Neemuch district in 43 areas around 233 hectare land has been transferred to tourism department by the board. In Jabalpur Region, land has been identified in Jabalpur, Katni, Narsinghpur, Chhindwara, Seoni, Mandla, Balaghat, Dindori, Shahdol, Umaria and Anuppur district at 28 areas around 82 hectare land has been transferred, while at 10 points 32 hectare additional land has been identified for land acquisition. Similarly, in Bhopal region at 33 points, around 135 hectare land has been transferred in Bhopal, Sihore, Rajgarh, Vidisha, Raisen, Hoshangabad, Betul, Harda districts.    

Manav Thadani, Founder Chairman, Hotelivate, announced on the sidelines of the annual hospitality event, Hotel Investment Conference-South Asia (HICSA) 2018, that the company has recently opened an office in Singapore and simultaneously announced a tie-up with American company called LW Hospitality Advisors (LWHA). It is a team of around 45 people with presence in New York, Atlanta, Seattle and San Diego. He says, “This is our fourth month as Hotelivate and we have opened our first office outside of India in Singapore. Stephane Regnault, Managing Director – Asset Management, Hotelivate, heads this office.  So now officially we have seven partner offices and I can start claiming that we are a global company.” The 14th edition of HICSA was held in Mumbai from April 4-5, 2018.

AirAsia India has announced the induction of its 18th aircraft and the introduction of four new routes connecting Kolkata. The 18th aircraft will be stationed in Kolkata, which is also the third base for AirAsia India, connecting it to Imphal, Pune, Vizag and Guwahati, in addition to increasing the frequency of flights between Kolkata and Bagdogra. Source:UNI

AccorHotels along with the MuthootPappachan Group, has opened its Novotel Kochi Infopark located in the IT Hub of Kakkanad Infopark, making it one of the first international mid-scale brands to debut in the industrial zone. The hotel is a 40-minute drive from the Kochi International Airport and 30-minute drive from the Ernakulam Railway Station. It features 128 rooms including eight suites and a room designed specifically for the specially-abled. “We are delighted to launch our first Novotel property in the commercial capital of Kerala. This is our second brand in the city, ibis Kochi City Centre being the first. We are excited to be associated with the MuthootPappachan Group for Novotel Kochi Infopark given their 131 years of legacy of trust and service excellence.” said Jean-Michel Cassé, Chief Operating Officer – India & South Asia, AccorHotels. Thomas John Muthoot, Chairman & Managing Director, MuthootPappachan Group said, “We are delighted to partner with AccorHotels on the opening of the first Novotel hotel in Kochi. We look forward to working with our partners and ensuring our company’s continued growth in the hospitality segment and the best for all our customers in all diverse businesses initiatives MuthootPappachan Group is into.” Recreational facilities include an infinity pool, gym and a dedicated kid’s corner.

The Travel Luxury Show, recently concluded in Jaipur, with 1800 successful meetings. Luxury buyers from across India had one-on-one meetings with the sellers. At the inauguration in a high profile group discussion, luxury trends were highlighted that included the growth statistics of this sector and the immense potential that India has to offer. The luxury Indian traveller is evolving and this platform was a perfect example of that. The show was inaugurated by Guldeep Singh Sahni, Former Founder President, OTOAI; Monica Suri, General Manger, Jaipur Marriott Hotel and Manish Kriplani, Chapter Head South, OTOAI. The next edition of the travel luxury show will be held on April 6 and 7, 2019.  

The 10th annual convention of the Events and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA), also known as EEMAgine, is slated to take place from May 6-8, 2018 at The Fairmont, Jaipur. ‘Discovering X’ is the central theme of the EEMAgine convention this year. Jaipur remains one of the most popular destinations for events in India. The event is Asia’s largest convention for the events and experience industry, and the perfect platform to discover and showcase the X factor, Xcitement and Xcellence that the association represents. The land of royalty, with its rich culture and well-conserved heritage will be the perfect backdrop for the finale of their 10 years celebrations.