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The Lalit Group, a trailblazer in luxury hospitality, successfully concluded its much-anticipated ‘Elphie’s Celebration Parade’ on Christmas Day. This one-of-a-kind event, a revitalized version of the iconic ‘Santa’s Fun Parade,’ unfolded as a magical journey of inclusivity, diversity, and boundless cheer. The parade, featuring Elphie, our vibrant mascot of inclusivity in rainbow hues, encapsulated the spirit of celebration without boundaries. In line with our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Elphie welcomed all, transcending differences of religion, caste, gender, and sexual preferences. The festivities commenced with Elphie traversing the city in a lively convoy, spreading joy and distributing sweets, candies, cookies, cakes, and special Elphie Books to children. Accompanied by bikers sporting The Lalit T-Shirts, the parade car weaved through a carefully planned route, sharing the holiday spirit starting from the main lobby of the hotel moving towards the International Airport onwards to Chakala and covering neighbouring areas of Marol Naka and finally returning to The Lalit Mumbai. Elphie’s Celebration Parade was not just an event; it was a manifestation of the Groups commitment to fostering joy, unity, and diversity. The overwhelming response from the community reflected the success of these endeavors. The Lalit Group extends heartfelt gratitude to the community, participants, and media for contributing to the success of Elphie’s Celebration Parade. The event epitomized The Lalit Group’s ethos of creating memorable experiences that resonate with the spirit of togetherness.

India is our third largest market globally. Our strong performance in this market gives us confidence to grow and Indian travel demand remains buoyant, mentioned Shivani Singh Deo, Country Manager – India, Virgin Atlantic. 2023 proved to be transformative for them, she added.

According to recent report released by Booking.com, lodging revenue back to 80% of pre COVID levels; steady growth projected for 2022-2024. The robust recovery is evident in the surge of lodging outlets, revenues, and revenue per available rooms (RevPAR).

Puneet Dhawan, SVP, Operations India & South Asia, said that Accor is poised to open 30 properties in the next 3-5 years. Accor has experienced unprecedented growth, reaffirming our commitment to delivering unparalleled hospitality experiences across India.

P A Mohammed Riyaz, Tourism Minister of Kerala, urges and says, “There is a huge potential for beach tourism in Kerala, and 580-km coastline will be utilised effectively. It will also investors has expressed their intent to investing in beach tourism and it would be under the public-private partnership model”.

The Indian hotel industry anticipates a robust fiscal year in 2024, with double-digit revenue growth, according to ICRA. The growth will be attributed to a combination of domestic and international factors, especially in the latter half of the fiscal year. Premium hotels in India are forecasted to achieve occupancy rates of around 70–72%, marking a significant recovery. Average room rates for these hotels are projected to be in the range of Rs. 6,000–6,200, maintaining a 20–25% discount relative to the FY2008 peak. Despite healthy occupancy, slight margin dips are anticipated in FY2024 due to extensive renovation and maintenance activities undertaken by hotels, surpassing pre-COVID levels. Mr. Prakash Bedi, Vice President of Clarks Safari shares key insights on 2024 hospitality trends., He believes the key metro cities will again lead to an increase in tourism due to MICE, business travellers, etc. The majority of the revenue in the tourism sector will flow from domestic travellers, but international travel will also pick up. At the same time, experiential travel and tier-2 cities will also witness a tourist surge due to infrastructural development. Technology will play a bigger role, and even boutique hotels will strengthen their IT infrastructure, to generate more footfalls. He further adds, “Tourists are becoming more aware of their preferences and choices, adventure tourism will witness a surge. The existing national parks infrastructure will be improved and a few new parks might open up. Wildlife tourism will attract more domestic and international tourists. With the opening of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, spiritual tourism will see a boost.  Also, sustainability will no longer remain a PR activity. The way climate concerns are being raised, and sustainable efforts are taken by the …

Sriharan Balan, Managing Director, Madura Travel Service, said, ‘Weddings have emerged as significant game-changers post-COVID. Europeans are increasingly interested in embracing the South Indian way of getting married. Pondicherry, in Tamil Nadu, is attracting numerous French nationals to wed in the South Indian style with a touch of beachside ceremonies. This trend has just begun, and we anticipate it to become a market worth a minimum of $10 million solely in Tamil Nadu by 2025.”

Monish Shah, Founder & Chief Business Officer, DreamSetGo said, “Post the pandemic, sports tourism has emerged as the first sector within tourism to recover. Sports travelers now constitute 10-12% of the entire outbound travel market, a notable increase from the mere 5-7% five years ago. Based on the current consumer sentiment, we anticipate 200% growth in the premium sports travel segment in 2024, mainly led by mega sporting events such as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”

Akmal Aziz, Deputy Director, Tourism Malaysia said, “In response to rising demand, the Malaysian government is negotiating with the Indian government to enhance the number of slots available under the bilateral aviation agreement. Following feasibility studies and market research, airlines are also considering launching new flights from tier II and III cites. Hopefully, flight frequency will increase in 2024.”

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has awarded VFS Global the global tender to provide visa and residence permit services in 52 countries across the globe. Under this new agreement, VFS Global will continue to operate on behalf of the Government of Norway in all regions worldwide – Americas, Australasia, China & Hong Kong, Europe & CIS, Middle East & North Africa, Russia, Belarus & Armenia, and South Asia, including India. VFS Global has worked with the Government of Norway since 2014 and has successfully handled nearly 1.5 million applications on their behalf. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “We look forward to a continued smooth and professional cooperation with VFS Global on provision of visa and residence permit services. The cooperation we have developed has proven to be effective and fruitful, with both our organizations working well together in performing their respective responsibilities and tasks.” Chris Dix, Head of Business Development, VFS Global, said: “VFS Global is delighted that we will continue to serve the Government of Norway as their sole service provider. We have enjoyed a strong partnership and welcome the opportunity to renew our services in the existing locations where we operate. We look forward to offering best-in-class visa solutions, and a seamless application process across all regions globally with an annual estimated customer count of 220,000. This is the eighth global contract win this year and is a testament to our dedicated efforts to provide all our client governments with top quality services.”