Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Lords Hotels & Resorts has announced its latest property in Andhra Pradesh with Mourya Lords Inn, Kurnool. The hotel boasts of 117 guest rooms along with two F&B outlets, three banquet halls, a pool and a spa. Located in KJ complex at Bhagya Nagar, the hotel is just 1 km from Kurnool Railway Station. The nearest Airport is Rajiv Gandhi International Airport – Hyderabad which is at distance of 180 kms. Another nearest airport is Kurnool International Airport which is at a distance of 28 kms. Kurnool Airport will be operational from May 2019. Kurnool is the fifth most populous city in the state and is reckoned to be one of the gateways to Hindu Pilgrimage Sri Sailam. It is also an excellent place for history buffs since it’s full of historical monuments that offer the glimpse of fine ancient architecture. Kurnool district also has a number of oil mills, textile mills, stone polishing units, cement plants, and chemical industries.

After acquiring Arzoo.com recently, Parag Thakker, MD, Shri Mahalaxmi Vacations, has invested in JustClickKaro.com. Navjot Bhasin, Founder, JustClickKaro.com, announced that with this investment, Thakker would be a director in the company. “We are very excited to announce that Parag Thakker of Shri Mahalaxmi Vacations has made an investment of an undisclosed amount. With this, our 1.5 year long search for an investor has finally come to an end. The company has today become a one-stop shop for any B2B requirement, and with this investment we will be expanding our wings further.” Thakker added that he sees a great potential in the growth of JustClickKaro.com. “We are happy to be investing in JustClickKaro.com and we are sure that it will reach new heights very soon. We have many plans going forward for the company and you will hear many new announcements soon from our end.”

Marriott International has announced its three-year growth plan, which includes opening more than 1,700 hotels around the world, at its meeting with institutional investors and security analysts at the New York Marriott Marquis. Marriott will outline its plan to add between 275,000 and 295,000 rooms by 2021, supported by the strength of its record 478,000-room pipeline, including roughly 214,000 rooms already under construction. Marriott will disclose that its new room openings during this period could contribute $400 million in fee revenue in 2021 and $700 million annually when stabilized. The company’s three-year growth plan assumes, but does not forecast, comparable hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth of 1 and 3 percent, compounded annually.

The countries that have seen the most flight bookings to India for the period around the Holi festival are the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to analysis conducted by Travelport. As of 14 March 2019, a total of 14,300 advanced bookings had been made2 through all global distribution systems (GDS) for flights from the United States to India, scheduled between 19 and 24 March 2019. Flight bookings from the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stood at 12,200 and 11,000 respectively. Out of the ten countries with the largest flight booking volumes to India for the festival period, five were from the Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar). Bookings from Middle Eastern countries in the top ten totaled 35,300, half (49.8%) of total bookings made in top ten countries. With both the US and Canada making the list, the Americas registered the second most flight bookings (18,700; 26.4%), followed by Europe (12,400; 17.5%) and Asia Pacific (4,500; 6.3%). Global distribution systems (GDS) are vast hi-tech reservation networks that allow travel agents, travel management companies and large corporations, among others, to search and book airline seats, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel related items. Globally in 2017, Travelport alone processed 1 trillion transactions through its platform. The company also delivers mobile services and apps to the travel industry as well as advanced analytics products, such as Travelport Business Intelligence. Sandeep Dwivedi, Chief Operating Officer at InterGlobe Technology Quotient, Travelport’s Operator in six countries across the Asia Pacific region including India and Sri Lanka, said: “Tourists today, more than anything, are looking for truly …

Hotel Leela Venture Limited (HLVL) has entered into a binding agreement with a Brookfield Asset Management (Brookfield) sponsored private real estate fund, to sell by way of slump sale, four owned Leela hotels located in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Udaipur and the property that it owns in Agra. The transaction also includes assignment of all Hotel Management contracts currently in operation as well as all management contracts for hotels which are currently under development, along with the employees of the hotels. The total transaction value is Rs 3950 crore plus the applicable transaction costs. This is subject to approval of shareholders, lenders and other regulatory and statutory approvals. Simultaneously, the promoters who own the Leela brand would also be transferring the Leela brand to Brookfield for all hospitality businesses. JM Financial Limited acted as the exclusive financial advisor to HLVL for this transaction. Commenting on the transaction, Vivek Nair, Chairman and Managing Director, HLVL said, “The Leela is rated amongst the top hospitality brands in the world and I am confident that the brand will receive a boost and be further strengthened and continue to be known for its world-class services.” Ankur Gupta, Managing Director and Head-India Real Estate, Brookfield Asset Management remarked, “The Leela is one of the finest hospitality groups in India and over the years it has gained extraordinary recognition from some of the most prestigious authorities on travel and luxury in the world. We are excited with this opportunity and look forward to completing this transaction at the earliest, while ensuring that all operations remain unaffected.  We expect the Leela hotels to continue to be market leaders.”

Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) has elected Captain Swadesh Kumar, Managing Director, Shikhar Travels India, as President for 2019-2021. Sanjay Basu, Managing Director, Far Horizon Tours, has been elected as the Senior Vice President; Tejbir Singh Anand, Managing Director, Holiday Moods Adventures is the Vice President; Vaibhav Kala, Founder, Aquaterra Adventures, is the Treasurer and Vinayak Koul, Director, Snow Lion Expeditions is the new Secretary. The elected Executive Committee members are Akshay Kumar, CEO, Mercury Himalayan Exploration; Ajeet Bajaj, Managing Director, Snow Leopard Adventures; Rajesh Ojha, Co-founder, Banjara Camps and Retreats; Ravi S Kalra, Managing Director, Travel Inn; Vishwas Makhija, Founder & CEO, India Insight Tours; CDR Sam Samuel, Managing Director, Kalypso Adventures and Pradeep Murthy, Founder and Director, Muddy Boots Vacations. Speaking on his re-election, Kumar says, “The focus this term as President is to bring as many adventure tour operators as possible into the fold of the Association, since there are many tour operators in the unorganised sector. There are over 15,000 adventure tour operators in India. I want them to be a part of the Association and ensure that they all function within limits of safety. The second focus is to bring adventure tourism into the limelight and mainstream, instead of being limited to as just niche experiences and keep in focus the sustainable aspects of the eco-adventure destinations.”

Q4 has been an outstanding quarter for Sarovar Hotels Chain. Vijay Jaiswal, Senior Vice President- Sales and Marketing, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, says, “We have exceeded on our target in Occupancy, ADR and RevPar. We have seen a growth of 2% in Occupancy and ADR grew by 4% in Q4 2018 vis-à-vis Q4 2017. Amongst the cities that have performed well are all major metro cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and cities like Goa, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur. Cities that have not performed well for our hotels are Kerala and Mashobra(Shimla) due to heavy floods and monsoon in these regions. We are forecasting to do well in coming quarter and poised to meet our targets. This is based on our current trends for this quarter. However, the general elections in April & May can be an impeding in our performance.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, is in a process of drafting a National Green Aviation Policy. In this regard, a White Paper on the same has been developed for wide consultation of stakeholders. This vision document sets out a strategic framework to address the major environmental challenges of the aviation industry.

Expanding its network, AirAsia India has announced the launch of its new daily flight to Kolkata from Mumbai, starting from April 15. This would be the airline’s second destination from Mumbai after it started operating daily services to Bengaluru from the country’s financial capital. AirAsia India will now fly connecting Kolkata and Mumbai, with one daily flight, effective April 15, the airline said in a release. The introduction of Mumbai-Kolkata route comes close on the heels of AirAsia India adding eighth additional flights to its network of 19 destinations. “We recently introduced the first connection between Bengaluru and Mumbai and are now adding a new connection between Mumbai and Kolkata. It’s a key market for AirAsia and this flight will strengthen our operations in East. This new route is a manifestation of our future growth plan in these key and important business markets, said Sunil Bhaskaran, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia India. AirAsia India currently operates 19 domestic destinations with a fleet of 20 Airbus A320 planes. Source: PTI

Jalesh Cruises first premiere cruise line catering to the Indian domestic and international cruise business, received its first ship, Karnika, the erstwhile Pacific Jewel from P&O Australia, in Singapore recently. The vessel, which is the first in the fleet of the multi-destination cruise line Jalesh Cruises, will reach Mumbai on April 17. Keeping with tradition, the 2,000 passenger ship, which weighs 70,285 tons, will go through its naming ceremony at a gala event in Mumbai on April 19. Mr. Jurgen Bailom, President & CEO, Zen Cruises, said, “Today marks an important day for the Indian cruise tourism industry with the acceptance of Jalesh Cruises first ship. We are going to offer a memorable vacation to passengers on board with exotic culinary experiences, international hospitality and best of entertainment shows at high seas. With Karnika, we mark the beginning of memorable cruise holidays that will bring joy and delight to the Indian and global community.” Karnika will dry dock in Singapore at Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard over the next few weeks for a extensive refurbishment exercise to customize the ship to suit Indians travelers. It will then proceed from Singapore to Colombo via Kochi, New Mangalore, Goa and finally arrive in Mumbai on April 17. The cruise liner will be sailing initially between Mumbai and Goa for first few weeks till May, 2019 before proceeding to the Middle East where it will remain till mid-September. The cruise liner will be exploring the huge coastal length of India and giving the customer to enjoy and savor the same. Between May, 2019 and September, 2019, cruise passengers will have a choice of itineraries between Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Muscat and Sir Ban …