Category Archives: Hotels

Singapore based international hospitality brand, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has launched its new vertical Banyan Tree Lifestyle Services (BTLS) to cater to the growing demand of luxury products and services in the Indian market. BTLS encompasses the entire portfolio of hotels, resorts, residences and related services under the Banyan Tree Group. Currently, the Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts portfolio is grouped under four brands – Angsana, Banyan Tree, Cassia and Dhawa; and covers the different segment of evolved discerning travellers and thereby covers the A,B,C,D of segmented hotel portfolio. BTLS has 3 key offerings— Bespoke concierge service, Banyan Tree Private Collection and Banyan Tree Group Residences sales and owners club. BTLS will be promoted by recruiting independent consultants that have prior experience in luxury realty, in high ticket investments and are well connected  with HNI in the upscale segment that values the exclusive lifestyle benefits. They will also be conducting seminars and consumer connect events to educate the membership benefits and uniqueness to the potential consumers. It also entails visit and experience of various Banyan Tree locations so that the consumers can choose the right services and become a part of the growing Banyan Tree brands’ family.

ITC Ltd has appointed Sanjiv Puri as its Chief Operating Officer, signalling that he’s most likely to take over from YC Deveshwar as CEO when he steps down in February after two decades at the helm. As COO, 53-year-old Puri becomes the second most important executive in the tobacco-FMCG-hospitality conglomerate after Deveshwar, who will be staying on as non-executive chairman, according to the schedule announced last month. Puri will now oversee day-to-day operations of the company as COO, a position created for the first time at ITC. Puri is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and joined ITC in 1986. He has handled a wide range of responsibilities including manufacturing, operations and the IT business.

The resorts team from Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, a chain of 14 hotels and resorts in Sri Lanka, visited Delhi last week to meet with the travel agents. The team led by Sunimal Senanayake, Sector Head, Cinnamon’s resort properties in Sri Lanka & Maldives, included Senior Vice President Sales, marketing communications manager and sales manager of the resort properties, who were pleased to meet the travel agents and understand the perspective of the Indian traveller. Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts also participated in GPS, Chandigarh which was held on 21st and 22nd July 2016.

Lords Hotels & Resorts is aiming at adding 15 properties to its portfolio to take the total count to at least 40 properties by the year 2020. “We are slated to announce the launch of our second property in Nepal and are also looking at setting feet in Kenya and some other countries  in the African continent,” says P.R. Bansal, Chairman, Lords Hotels & Resorts. The hotel chain is also planning on strategic growth in the Tier ll and Tier lll cities and towns. “The scope for growth for hotels in the affordable sector especially in the Tier ll and Tier lll regions is larger. It is our target to add four hundred new rooms by 2020,” says Rishi Puri, Vice President, Lords Hotels and Resorts. “We recently added a couple of properties to our portfolio in the south including a lavish resort in Thissur. The east has a good potential for growth especially in the mid-market segment and with our strength in this area, we are positive that we would be able to quickly take a lead in the region,” says  Bansal. “We are focusing on expansion across all the categories. Of our three new launches, our properties in Jammu and Agra belong to the Lords Inn brand, while our property in Kerala belongs to the Lords Resorts brand. In the forthcoming phase we will also be looking to hard promote our five branded F&B outlets and one spa. As India claims its rightful place on the global tourism map, Lords is poised to tap this great opportunity to its optimum potential,” concludes Puri.

Ginger Hotels has announced the launch of its second hotel in Noida; Ginger Hotel Noida, East. Strategically located in the heart of Noida, Ginger Hotel Noida, East; provides convenient access to Noida Expo Centre, Electronic City, Corenthum Business Park, Pragati Maidan, Buddh International Racing Circuit and Delhi Expo Mart. The hotel is also in close proximity to Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Akshardham Temple and the Old Fort. The hotel’s location allows access to a multitude of other services like medical, entertainment and banking within the radius of a kilometer. With 96 rooms, this hotel offers free high-speed wireless Internet, multi-cuisine restaurant with 24/7 coffee shop, well-equipped fitness center, reliable security features and state of the art meeting facilities, for today’s value conscious traveller.  “This is an extremely proud moment for us as we launch our second hotel in Noida – a city that is continuously evolving as a business district and IT hotspot. Ginger is the largest chain of branded budget hotels in India with a resilient promise of safety, cleanliness, wonderful sleep experience, refreshing shower experience, a sumptuous breakfast and seamless internet connectivity. We assure travelers of a delightful experience with us,” said Rahul Pandit, MD & CEO, Ginger Hotels.

Travelport and OYO has announced a new agreement whereby 6,000 hotel properties offered by OYO will be made available through Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform to its travel agency users, both in India and around the world. OYO currently operates in more than 180 Indian cities, including Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Goa. Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform connects hotel providers and independent properties to its 68,000 connected agencies worldwide, in turn, offering travellers more hotel choices as Travelport now offers 650,000 unique hotel properties. Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, at OYO said, “We are pleased to partner with Travelport and take our offerings to a wider audience. Both OYO and Travelport are recognised for leveraging innovative technology capabilities. We are confident of utilising this synergy to unlock new growth areas for both partners.” The agreement with OYO is the latest example of Travelport responding to the needs of its agents to add the hotel content they need in their local regions.  It also responds to the needs of hoteliers by giving them access to the international travel booking industry. Once on Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform, travel agents globally have access to the hotel content through their normal workflow, eliminating time-consuming and inefficient bookings across different channels.

As part of ambitious expansion, GoAir has chosen Airbus for its further expansion plans by signing an MoU for 72 A320neo aircraft at the Farnborough International Airshow. The airline announced its latest order following a similar agreement for 72 A320neo placed in 2011 bringing the total order book to 144 aircraft. The first two aircraft from this order were delivered in June. GoAir CEO, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said, “The new A320neo provide us the competitive edge to achieve our growth targets and help us strengthening our presence in the wider region. It also reaffirms Go Air’s commitment to deliver the most modern, comfortable and excellent air travel experience to all customers as well as to strengthen the sustained positive growth and business expansion of the company. The new aircraft will help us in unlocking new domestic routes while providing a springboard for continued international network expansion in the years to come.”

AccorHotels Group officially announced the acquisition of FRHI Hotels & Resorts (FRHI) and its three prestigious luxury hotel brands: Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel. Following the approval of shareholders at the General Shareholders Meeting on July 12, 2016, the transaction with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) of Saudi Arabia provided $840 million (€768 million) cash payment and the issuance of 46.7 million AccorHotels shares in consideration for the contributed FRHI shares. Joining AccorHotels’ global network is a portfolio of globally admired brands, which includes management of many of the world’s most iconic and historic hotels located in key strategic cities around the world, including: The Savoy in London, Raffles Singapore, Fairmont San Francisco, New York’s The Plaza, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City, and Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris. The transaction gives QIA and KHC respective stakes of 10.4% and 5.8% in Accor’s share capital. Ali Bouzarif and Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo from QIA and Sarmad Zok from KHC will now join AccorHotels’ Board of Directors. AccorHotels plans to generate approximately €65 million in revenue and cost synergies thanks to the combination of brands, the maximization of hotel earnings, the increased efficiency of marketing, sales and distribution channel initiatives, and the optimization of support costs. Significant enhancements will also be made in terms of customer data, thanks to the integration of FRHI’s customer base that includes three million loyalty members, of which 75 percent are in North America.This addition of three remarkable brands instantly positions AccorHotels as a leading player in the global luxury hotel market, increases long term growth potential and profitability, and significantly expands the company’s footprint in North America, the world’s largest and most …

Stayzilla.com has expanded the number of homestays in North East, Sikkim and Bengal, given the remoteness and demand for stays in these areas. Stayzilla works closely with various state tourism departments for opening up more homestays across the hilly terrain of the East. It has also introduced homestays in Tawang, Bhalukpong and Bomdila, located along the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. While homestays in Bhalukpong are supervised by the forest division, the stays in Bomdilla are run by Monpa, Sherdukpen, Miji, Bugun and Aka tribes. Identifying the undersupply of stay options relative to demand in India, Stayzilla stays are surpassing geographical barriers to welcome diverse cultures experiences across remote places such as Majuli. With over ten homestays, local tribes of Majuli have been promoting spiritual and eco-tourism vigorously in the region. Majuli is located on the river Brahmaputra in Assam and is known as the largest river island in the country. With an array of homestay facilities available across Sikkim and Meghalaya, Stayzilla lists homestays that offer tourists an opportunity to live with the locals, discover and share their lifestyle. Stayzilla has been involved in promoting eco-tourism and rural home stays in the region. On revitalising village tourism, Ankit Rastogi, VP Marketplaces, Stayzilla said “Unlike most travel experiences, rural homestays focus on collaborating with locals in improving their community’s quality of living. We, at Stayzilla work closely with State Tourism departments to develop unique tourism experiences based on the community’s cultural heritage to enable tourists to experience local hospitality, cuisine, customs and traditions by staying with families.” Along with rural and wildlife tourism, religious destinations spearhead domestic tourism in the country. The Mayapur Tourism Department under ISKCON temple provides …

Cox & Kings-owned Meininger Hotels will open a property in close proximity to Leipzig’s main station at the beginning of 2017. The existing building and the former ibis Leipzig City (Germany) from the Accor Group which was closed in March 2016 will be converted in accordance with MEININGER standards and will ultimately have 404 beds available in 126 rooms. The hotel is located in the centre of Leipzig and is the perfect starting point from which to explore the city. Owing to its proximity to the main station, the hotel can be easily reached on public transport. The flexible room structure of MEININGER Hotels means that the accommodation options will range from traditional double rooms through private rooms with multiple beds right down to a bed in a shared dorm room. All the public spaces, such as the lobby, lounge, bar, breakfast room and terrace will be located on the ground floor of the building, as will the guest kitchen and games zone, which are also typical features of a MEININGER hotel. In the well-equipped guest kitchen customers will be able to prepare their own meals at any time, day or night. Moreover, the kitchen will also have a washing machine and a dryer. Peter Kerkar, Director, Cox & Kings, says, “This hotel in Leipzig will strengthen our portfolio of hotels in Germany where we have a presence in five other cities. Its proximity to the main station and city centre will attract a sizeable chunk of our clientele.”