Senior IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola has been appointed as the new CMD of disinvestment-bound Air India,, an official release said. Kharola would take over as the chairman and managing director of the flagship carrier from Rajiv Bansal, who was given an extension only last week. A 1985-batch Karnataka cadre officer, Kharola would be steering the national airline at a time when the government has started the process for its strategic disinvestment. Kharola has been appointed as the CMD of Air India in the rank and pay of Secretary to Government of India. He has been the managing director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd since February 2015. Among others, Kharola has worked in various posts in Karnataka, including as the chairman of Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation Ltd. He has also served as principal secretary to the Karnataka chief minister. Interestingly, Bansal — who is also additional secretary and financial adviser at the petroleum ministry — had got an extension as Air India CMD only last week after his initial three-month tenure ended on November 23. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its in-principle nod for the strategic disinvestment of Air India in June this year. The carrier, which has a debt burden of more than Rs 50,000 crore, managed to eke out operational profit for the first time in a decade in 2015-16. Under a turnaround plan approved by the previous UPA regime, Air India is to receive up to Rs 30,231 crore from the government subject to meeting certain performance thresholds. The ten-year bailout package began from 2012. So far, the embattled carrier has received around Rs 26,000 crore under the package. (Source: …

Cygnett Inn is set to open its new property-Cygnett Inn Silver Leaf- in Nawanshahr, Chandigarh on November 28, 2017. With its 44 rooms including 26 Deluxe Rooms, 12 Superior Rooms, 5 Suites and a Penthouse, restaurants, lounge bar, swimming pool and gym, the Cygnett Inn Silver Leaf Nawanshahr promises to host business and leisure travellers alike. The restaurants include all-dining restaurant ‘Cygnett Pavilion’, lobby level contemporary lounge bar ‘Metro Lounge, a 24-hour restaurant and Kebab Sutra. The hotel offers spacious conference facility to hold 35 to 225 guests comfortably.

Mahendra Vakharia, Managing Director, Pathfinders Holidays has been elected as the President while Himanshu Patil, Director, Kesari Tours is the new Vice President for Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI). The other office bearers are Chitra Bhatia, Director, Aashman Air Travels who is the new General Secretary; Gurdeep Gujaral, Founder Director, Gujral Tours and Travels continues to hold the post of Joint Secretary while Siddharth Khanna, Partner, Khanna Enterprises is the new Treasurer. The Executive Committee members include Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, Sujit Nair, Founder and Group Managing Director, Akquasun Group, Riaz Munshi, Managing Director, N. Chirag Travels, Shravan Bhalla, Chief Executive Officer, High Flyer, Adl Karim Director, Creative Tours and Travels (India) and Rajeev Sabharwal, CEO, Gaurav Travels. Vakharia says, “I feel extremely happy, privileged and honoured to be trusted with this position. Increasing our membership across India remains to be our top priority.” The state chairmen will be announced in due course of time, informs Vakharia.

Ambience Mall, Gurugram played host to a two-day Korea Festival showcasing South Korea’s art, culture and heritage for the visitors to the mall. Organised by (KTO), the event was targeted to the consumers and had a separate stall where travel partners for KTO also showcased their itineraries and travel products to people. The event was inaugurated by Min Hong Min, Executive Vice President, KTO and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. The event also saw high energy B-boying performances and Nanta performance by professionals flown in from South Korea, especially for the event.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Asia has announced the appointment of Jiali Wong as its new Regional Manager for Asia, based in Singapore. With almost 10 years’ experience in tourism, Wong will be responsible for growing industry engagement in the region and supporting the continued growth of cruise. This includes responsibilities for event development and growing CLIA’s Executive Partner programme in the region. Wong is seconded from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and most recently headed the Cruise Business Development team at STB where she forged strong interest and networks in the cruise industry. Joel Katz, Managing Director (Australasia & Asia), CLIA, says, “This is a new dedicated position, designed to support our members as the cruise industry continues to expand across Asia. We’re looking forward to working with Wong as we intensify our focus on advocating, educating, and promoting on behalf of the industry in the region. While the Asian cruise market has grown tremendously over the past four years – it has the potential to catapult ahead of competing markets.”  

Air Deccan is all set to start flight operations under the regional connectivity scheme, also known as Udan (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), from December 15 this year,Shillong airport officials reportedly said. Air Deccan will use Shillong as a hub and Udan flights from there will connect to other destinations in the northeast such as Agartala, Aizawl and Imphal, according to a top official of the Shillong airport. The airline will also operate flights between Kolkata and Agartala. Under the government’s Udan regional connectivity scheme, air fares are capped at Rs 2,500 per person for an hour’s flight to Tier-II and Tier-III cities in which the government will provide subsidy for flying with such low fares. “Air Deccan authorities have given the schedule saying that they would start operating from December 15 this year,” said M.K. Nayak, the director of Shillong airport. Air Deccan will use an 18-20 seater aircraft for the Udan flights, he added. Source: PTI

Vitizen Hotels has launched VITS Park Maple Amritsar, the group’s first hotel in the city. The hotel is strategically located near Amritsar Junction Railway Station, adding to the convenience of both business and leisure tourists visiting the holy city. Announcing the launch, Vikram Kamat, Managing Director, Vitizen Hotels says, “We are delighted to launch our first property in Punjab in the sacred city of Amritsar that would enable us tap the growing potential of tourist inflow. VITS Park Maple will exceed expectations of our guests with its exceptional hospitality services.” VITS Park Maple offers 40 Deluxe and Super Deluxe rooms. It also has a multi-cuisine restaurant, an open air terrace restaurant and a large banquet hall that can accommodate 150 guests. G. S. Khurana, Managing Director, VITS Park Maple, says, “We are extremely pleased to launch the VITS hotel brand in Amritsar. VITS Park Maple brings fresh flavour to the city’s hospitality landscape that will make every guest’s stay a pleasurable experience”.

InterContinental Hotels Group has partnered with SAMHI to rebrand approximately 2000 rooms (operating and under construction) within its India hotel portfolio, to Holiday Inn Express® hotels. The recently signed portfolio comprises 14 hotels, including 10 open hotels across key cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai. The additional four hotels are under construction. The signing sees IHG grow its pipeline by 41 hotels, positioning IHG as one of the largest players in India’s growing midscale hotel market. All hotels in the portfolio will be closed while they are being refurbished and upgraded with the latest design directives, to ensure the portfolio is fully representative of the Holiday Inn Express brand globally. The hotels will feature the next-generation design, several additional public areas and feature brand hallmarks to enhance guest service delivery. Commenting on the announcement, Sudeep Jain, Vice President, Development, South West Asia, IHG said: “It is with great pride and excitement that we are announcing our partnership with SAMHI for conversion of their existing mid-market hotel portfolio in India to Holiday Inn Express. This is a significant move towards establishing IHG as a leading player in the midscale hotel segment in India, while we continue to build on our upscale and luxury offering in the country with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts.” Jain added: “With this signing, we now have close to 60 hotels open and in the pipeline, across the Holiday Inn Brand Family. SAMHI is keen to accelerate Holiday Inn Express’ highly efficient operating model and engage the brand’s growing familiarity in the country. Holiday Inn Express is the rest and go hotel brand that delivers a …

Goa has been ranked third in the list of top five states in tourism as per the 5th biennial Hotelivate State Ranking Survey for Tourism in association with the World Travel and Tourism Council-India Initiative (WTTC-II). While Delhi and Maharashtra occupy the top two places, Goa stands third followed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The survey   which looked  at states from the hospitality industry’s standpoint considered 11 parameters  namely, state expenditure on tourism, number of tourist visits, number of branded hotel rooms, GSDP per capital, literacy, aircraft movement, ease of doing business, urbanization, road and rail network, marketing campaigns and some intangible aspects. Manohar Ajgaonkar, Minister for Tourism, Goa, said, “Goa Tourism is in the spotlight again for achieving success in various tourism parameters. It should be our endeavour to get to the top and work on improving in those parameters where we are lagging behind so as to attract more tourists to Goa.” Nilesh Cabral, Chairman, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, said, “It has always been the endeavour of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation to work with various segments of tourism whether infrastructure, accommodation, tourism activities, tourism related development and so on.”

Ezeego1.com has opened a new franchise store at Kalbadevi Road in Mumbai to cater to the growing travel demands in South Mumbai. Managed by Ravi Mahatani, the outlet will provide travel services from leading travel suppliers from India and overseas. Services like flight tickets, hotels, packages, rail and cruise holidays are provided on a single platform from a diverse mix of travel suppliers. Neelu Singh, CEO and Director, Ezeego1, said, “Distribution is the key to success in the growing travel market and the opening of our new franchise will help us gain a foothold in this market. Our offerings are curated from a slew of travel aggregators and we enable and distribute it through our platform.” Ezeego1 will provide the franchisee with an active marketing, technical and store development support. The marketing activity will include print and radio advertising, attractive and preferential commercials. Store development support will include store designing to reinforce the brand’s look and feel. Training and technical support will be provided to all franchisee staff to effectively address the changing technology and enhance customer interface.