Category Archives: Hotels

Far East Village Hotel Yokohama officially opens its doors today. The hotel is managed by Far East Hospitality (Headquarters: Singapore, Chief Executive Officer: Arthur Kiong), one of the leading operators of hotels and serviced residences in Singapore. This is Far East Hospitality’s second property in Japan. Far East Village Hotel Yokohama encourages its guests to “Live Like a Local” Each Village Hotel provides guests with a Village Passport which details unique experiences that guests can enjoy within the vicinity of the hotel. This includes information on nearby restaurants, cafés, and attractions that locals often visit. Commenting on the reason for expansion into Yokohama, Arthur Kiong, Chief Executive Officer of Far East Hospitality Management said, “At Far East Hospitality, we are constantly looking at ways to expand our footprint in the region. As intra-Asia travel is likely to increase in the future, a country such as Japan will be even more in demand. We are excited that we have the opportunity to open our second hotel in Japan within a year and we now have a presence in 2 of the most popular cities in Japan. Both of our hotels are synergistic in that they cater to domestic travellers looking to experience a flavour of Singapore even when travelling for a functional reason between Tokyo and Yokohama. This hospitality concept is relevant especially through this season where international travel is still largely on hold. Hence, domestic tourism will be the main staple for some time to come and FEH wants to be in the markets such as Japan where the domestic tourism growth is robust.” A marriage of Singaporean and Japanese cultures Singapore and Yokohama are port towns. Hence, the hotel …

To showcase the seriousness of the situation, the team at FHRAI visited New Delhi yesterday to meet Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel and Tourism Secretary Arvind Singh in person. Pradeep Shetty, Sr. Vice President, HRAWI, said, “We need urgent intervention and the MoT to back us. We have also been directly co-ordinating with the Finance Ministry and we have a meeting lined up with the MSME Ministry as well. We expect another 10-15% of hotels will not be able to open up after the second lockdown.”  

Sunjae Sharma, Vice President & Country Head – India, Hyatt, confirms, “As a result of no funds forthcoming from Asian Hotels (West) Ltd, the owner of Hyatt Regency Mumbai, to sustain the operations of the hotel, a decision has been taken to temporarily suspend all operations for Hyatt Regency Mumbai. The hotel will remain closed until further notice. Future reservations through Hyatt booking channels will remain temporarily unavailable. We are working closely with the hotel’s owner to resolve this situation.”

In a recent Tweet, Madhya Pradesh Tourism (MPT) Hotels & Resorts has stated that it is now ready to welcome guests back to its properties, wholly committed to providing them with completely sanitised rooms, and a safe & hygienic environment. MPT offers a wide variety of accommodation choices to suit every taste and budget.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has signed Ramada Encore by Wyndham in Indore. Nikhil Sharma, Regional Director Eurasia, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts EMEA said: “This upcoming opening adds to our existing portfolio of Wyndham-branded hotels in Madhya Pradesh and reaffirms our commitment to continued growth in this important market. We look forward to our partnership and to adding an internationally-recognised hotel brand to the city of Indore.” The new property, scheduled to open in 2022, will have a modern design and will feature 100 contemporary rooms, a lobby lounge, an all-day dining restaurant and bar, meetings and event spaces, a business centre, refreshing wellness areas and an outdoor rooftop swimming pool. Once operational, Ramada Encore by Wyndham Indore will provide more than 100 jobs to the Indore city.

Goa recorded highest RevPAR in absolute terms, despite the single digit decline of RevPAR by 1.1% in Q1 2021 as compared to Q1 2020, revealed JLL’s Hotel Momentum India (HMI) Q1 2021. The report highlighted that Bengaluru saw the sharpest decline of 60.6% in RevPAR compared to the same period of the previous year. High demand from domestic leisure travelers make Goa the fastest recovering market in absolute RevPAR terms

Mark Willis, CEO – Middle East and Africa, Accor, has said that in line with their expansion plans, with regard to openings in India, the group has over 25 hotels in the pipeline to open over the next 36 months. “Apart from the Raffles in Jaipur, other key openings for the year include a second ibis in Mumbai which will open late in the year,” he adds.

Absolute Hotel Services India has announced the signing of a Management Agreement with Rivergate Resort India Limited and has added to its portfolio, U Rivergate Karjat. The project encompasses 42 rooms and 100+ individual gated Villa Scheme. Sameer Dharkar, Managing Director, Absolute Hotel Services – South Asia & Middle East region said, “We are thrilled at the opportunity to partner with Mr. Chandan Parmar, Director – Rivergate Resort India Limited and bring to the fore another premium leisure property in Maharashtra. This partnership gives us an opportunity to leverage the State’s tourism treasure trove and offer discerning travelers a global brand which will cast indelible hospitality impressions.”

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has submitted a representation to PM Narendra Modi, FM Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of MSME Nitin Gadkari and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel requesting for urgent support to save the sector from imminent collapse. It has stated that financial reliefs extended during the first pandemic wave were inadequate and improperly implemented. The FHRAI has pleaded for immediate fiscal measures including a 3-year moratorium extension on all loans and a complete waiver of interest on loans.

Sharing his perspective on inbound tourism, Rohit Khosla, Executive Vice President – Operations, North & West India, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), says, “The hospitality and tourism industry needs to ensure that it is future-ready to tap all the potential growth opportunities and safeguard against all kinds of crisis situations, including national disasters and pandemics. I believe that 2023 is when international tourism will resume in India.”