Category Archives: Hotels

Indian travellers are more likely to pick sustainable travel alternatives that cause the least damage to the environment, revealed a recent report by booking.com. According to the report, 91% of Indian travellers desire to travel sustainably over the next 12 months. Further, 88% of the travellers also expressed that they were much more likely to pick a sustainable travel option when it was presented to them, even if they weren’t actively looking for one.

On 11th April 2022, Spree opened a new resort Yantra Resort by Spree. Located in the prime location of the city just 3.5 Km away from Ooty Bus Stand. Spree Hospitality lists more than a million customers, 30 operating properties, 974 keys including hotels, resorts, clubhouses, and guest houses across India. The properties focus on modern decor, a full-service, cutting-edge technology, and a deep respect for the environment into the experience that it carefully crafts for its customers. Spree Hospitality remains profitable even during the pandemic, as it boasts a debt-free, cash surplus and an asset-light portfolio- a rarity in the hospitality sector. The new property Yantra Resort by Spree at Ooty provides an open lawn , bonfire, badminton court, restaurants, indoor game room, banquet hall and rose garden. This resort has 31 rooms with heater facilities. Their premium rooms provide fireplace along with jacuzzi.

Radisson Hotel Group is embarking on an exciting new era of hospitality in India, as it prepares to double its portfolio in the country. It will continue its focus on the market as a part of its Asia Pacific growth strategy. The Group has unveiled plans to more than double its Indian footprint, with 148 hotels and resorts to be added by 2025. These will be in addition to over 140 properties Radisson Hotel Group currently has in operation or under development nationwide, revealed Katerina Giannouka, President, Asia Pacific, Radisson Hotel Group.

The Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) FHRAI recently sent a representation to Santosh Sarangi, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), to extend the Export Obligation (EO) period under the EPCG Scheme for another 6 to 8 years for the past EPCG licenses where the EO period ended in February 2020 onwards. The association states that it should allow all hotels time to recover and generate foreign exchange to meet their export obligations.

In its Indian Tourism and Hospitality performance report 2021, Noesis states that the year 2021 saw 110 properties that have opened in various parts of the country while there were 161 hotels signed in the same year. The ARR was in the range of Rs 4,300-4,600, while the ARR in the fourth quarter was in the range of Rs 5,300-5,500, reaching almost 90% of the pre-COVID level. India’s top leisure and business destinations saw a surge in room rates during the third and fourth quarters of 2021.

According to the latest HVS Anarock latest report ‘India Hospitality Industry Overview 2021’ The sector ended the year with an India-wide occupancy of 42-45%, up 10-13 percentage points over the previous year. Driven by the strong recovery in demand, average rates also began to improve after the second wave, progressively approaching pre-COVID levels. The robust growth in occupancy and average room rates (ARR) resulted in a 24-27% increase in RevPAR to ₹1,800 – ₹2,100 in 2021.

India continues to have the largest share of inbound travellers to the APAC region, at 24.4% of total arrivals in Q1 as of 11 March. Not a bad result when considering the air ticketing data from ForwardKeys shows that international arrivals in APAC in Q1 was down by 86%. However, in terms of recovery India as a destination is performing at -59% vs 2019. The best performing region in APAC for on-the-book arrivals is Pakistan with a 0.2% increase v/s the same period in 2019. The Maldives and Bangladesh are also showing strong signs of resilience.

Vervotech, a SaaS-based travel technology company, has announced a new strategic partnership with GRN Connect, to address hotel data duplication challenges. Hotel mapping technology plays a vital role by enabling the vast distribution market to have standardized hotel content. Hotel mapping can help third-party distribution channels sell their hotel inventory smartly with zero duplication, minimal booking errors, and increased revenue. However, hotel mapping remains complex for most. Through this partnership, Vervotech is well-positioned to deliver their disruptive technology to remove duplicate hotel data and deliver standardized, real-time content. This will be an essential driving factor in providing GRN Connect’s client a paramount experience. Vervotech takes away the complexity with advanced technologies, including large-scale aggregation, AI-based processing, and ever-evolving ML models. Vervotech’s hotel mapping platform is powered with cutting-edge technology to de-duplicate hotel data map hotel content with 99.999% accuracy and a coverage of 98%. Additionally, their platform is completely agnostic to the source of the hotel content and delivers the latest content with real-time updates. Rajan B, Senior Director Partnerships at Vervotech, said, “We are working to streamline the complexities of unstructured data. When we resolve this with advanced technologies, it spurs innovation, helps businesses grow, and expands choices for consumers. And this partnership with GRN Connect advances us to our mission.” Deepak Narula, Managing Director at GRN Connect added, “We are excited to partner with Vervotech and leverage their hotel mapping technology to optimize our mapping process. We are confident that Vervotech’s disruptive AI-driven hotel mapping platform will enable us to be more efficient and create a differentiating customer experience in a highly competitive environment.”

Galle Fort Hotel, which is Sri Lanka’s most iconic heritage hotel, has opened its doors to tourists once again on 23rd February 2022, after an extensive two-year restoration process. The ultra- luxe boutique property is located inside the UNESCO World Heritage Galle Fort. It’s a Dutch mansion that dates back 300 years and was once a warehouse, which served as the residence of a renowned family of gem merchants during the British era. It was also used as Royal Air Force barracks and even a cricket pitch. The heritage restoration of the Galle Fort Hotel was done, working in line with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Archaeology to ensure that the building’s 300-year-old Dutch walls and facade were conserved as authentically as possible. The revamped Galle Fort Hotel features 11 luxurious suites with varying themes and decor. The Loft Suites have been given an entirely new look inspired by the Dutch East India Company, while the newly introduced Garden Suite draws its theme from the illustrations of a Dutch botanist. The Admiral Cheng Ho Suite features a Chinese-inspired decor, to reflect Galle as a historic crossroads of trade, while the entry- level Garden Room stands out with its massive hand painted wall, commissioned to a local artist. Expert restorers were brought in to work with the antiques, which are seen across the hotel and suites. One of the structural highlights of this property is the stunning Palladian colonnade verandah, which houses the Galle Fort Hotel Bar, with its exclusive selection of gins from across the globe. The adjoining gourmet restaurant is one of the best tables in the Galle Fort and serves up Western fusion cuisine. The architect who has …

Pratima Badhwar, Head – Commercial, Accor India & South Asia, shares that they have a strong pipeline of four openings this year across the region. “For India, we are aiming to reach 70 hotels by 2025. Our well-rounded portfolio of leading hotel brands across the luxury, premium, mid-scale, and economy categories compliments the multi-layered Indian market, while supporting our long-term growth strategy.