Tag Archives: Executive Director

Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of Sarovar Premiere Jaipur. The upscale full-service hotel features 80 guest rooms and suites with modern interiors, stylish furnishings and spacious event and banquet space. The hotel also adds ease to those travelling to the city as it is conveniently located close to the airport, railway station, Vidhan Sabha and famous tourist attractions. The hotel was launched in the presence of Ajay Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels and Sandeep Sharma, Executive Director, R S Sharma & Co (Delhi), Jaipur. “This new hotel is a fantastic addition to our growing portfolio in Rajasthan,” said Bakaya. “Jaipur is one of the most significant destinations in India for leisure as well as business travel and this is our fourth hotel in the city after Sarovar Portico Jaipur, Nirwana Hometel Jaipur and Park Inn Jaipur. Sarovar Premiere Jaipur’s superior features, state-of-the-art amenities, and incredible location will make it a top destination here. The Sarovar brand continues to expand its presence and we are further opening hotels in Ajmer and Jaisalmer soon” The hotel offers exciting dining options, fitness centre, business centre, free Wi-Fi and swimming pool. The hotel can also serve as a venue for meetings and special events. The 1,800-square-foot meeting space can accommodate up to 200 people. Located at Lal Kothi in Tonk Road, Jaipur, the hotel is ideal for discerning corporate as well as leisure travellers.  

Travel Tours, the flagship leisure travel brand of FCM Travel Solutions, has inaugurated their second retail and first franchise store at Salt Lake City, Kolkata. The store was inaugurated by Shravan Gupta, Executive Director – Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions and Sitaram Sharma, President, Bharat Chamber of Commerce & The Consular General of Belarus. With the launch of this store, FCM Travel Solutions now has 28 operational Travel Tours stores across India. The new Travel Tours store in Kolkata aims at redefining travel experience from the region by focusing on both tailor-made vacations and group holidays catering to different kinds of travellers in the city. Spread over 1200 sq. ft., the outlet at Salt Lake City will cater to needs of up-market urban consumers – families, business travellers, honeymoon couples and groups of travellers. The new retail outlet will offer a range of products and services – domestic and international flights, customised and group holidays, hotels, car transfers, visa, cruise vacations, honeymoon packages, adventure holidays and more. Commenting on the launch, Gupta said, “Our second store in Kolkata is a reiteration of our strategic intent at Travel Tours, FCM to expand our footprint across key markets in East India. Through this launch, we aim to provide unbeatable travel experiences to our patrons in an untapped market.”    

FCM Travel Solutions has consolidated and rebranded its travel retail and holiday brand – Flight Shop under a single leisure brand ‘Travel Tours’. Known for its range of customised travel offerings, post the consolidation, Travel Tours promises ‘unbeatable’ services both in pricing and quality to its customers across India. Four decades old, Travel Tours will now offer travel services ranging from leisure, corporate travel, MICE, visas, inbound to wholesale and foreign exchange pan India. Shravan Gupta, Executive Director – Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions, said, “Travel Tours has a strong brand equity and heritage in large parts of the country. Through the rebranding, our intention is to put our entire strength and expertise of both our brands – Flight Shop and Travel Tours under one. This move supports our journey of going from a flight seller to being an FIT specialist.” He further added, “We are taking a step further from being a regional powerhouse to being a national player of repute as we move forward. The foundation for our rebrand is firmly in place; we are primed and ready to become Travel Tours”. The rebranding of all the 25 Flight Shop and Travel Tours stores spread across 17 cities was completed on January 31, 2018.

PATA India will be conducting its 6th Update & Outlook Meeting on November 15, 2017 at The Claridges, New Delhi. Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma will preside over the meeting. G. K. Chaukiyal, Executive Director, Airport Authority of India, will also give an overview of Regional Connectivity Scheme, near and medium term connectivity plan and how it will support tourism. One of the objectives of this initiative is to take aviation to the hinterland and to the doorstep of the common man. This will contribute towards developing tourism infrastructure and open new vistas for tourism as well.

FCM Travel Solutions, the Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), Australia, under its retail leisure arm ‘Flight Shop’ has launched Group Inclusive Tours (GITs) in the country. Foraying into the segment, Flight Shop has introduced new exclusive itineraries to Europe specially designed for large group travellers. The service will also offer customers the flexibility to choose dates and destinations in its group tours. Shravan Gupta, Executive Director, Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions, Indian subsidiary of FCTG, Australia said, “GITs are the biggest segment in the organised travel sector and are growing at 10-12 per cent every year. Travelling in a group costs lesser and is around 20-30 per cent cheaper than travelling solo to any destination. At Flight Shop, we believe that we have the required land and cruise holidays’ expertise to organise unbeatable group tour experiences for Indian travellers. While we want to experiment with the flexible tour concept, which is a pioneering concept in India, our GITs will have fixed departure dates and conventional packages too.” Offering travellers the opportunity to leverage and make the most of the services, Flight Shop has announced ‘Europe on Sale’ Campaign as an introductory offering to their customers. Flight Shop has curated over 200 Europe Group Tour itineraries with departures beginning from April 2018. Flight Shop specialists can also provide individual customization of itineraries for travelers requiring extensions on a trip, etc. Groups are also eligible for discounted deals on ‘Europe on Sale’ itineraries until December 10, 2017. Each tour group will include – Return Economy Airfare with Taxes, Visas, Insurance, Accommodation in Standard Hotels, Meals & Sightseeing as per Itinerary, Ground Transportation in Luxury Coaches and an Independent Tour …

PATA India has partnered with Amity Institute of Travel & Tourism, Amity University, to conducted two training programmes in August and September. “We are confident that Amity University will bring required professionalism in our efforts to provide relevant training to our members and their employees. We propose to hold the following training in August & September, 2017,” said Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India chapter. The first training session on ‘Hiring for Success’ aims to help small business owners, senior managers & HR managers in their efforts to hire quality resources to deliver the organisations goals and objective. The curriculum of this training program will emphasis on building a job description and specification, role and responsibility, sourcing Identifying candidates through web sources, short listing/screening applicants, interview process, etc. The program will be held on August 25, 2017, at The Claridges Hotel, New Delh from 10 am to 6 pm. The subsequent training session on ‘Optimisation of Social Media in Tourism & Hospitality,’ aimed at supporting the business development efforts of Sales/Marketing Managers, Product Managers and Business Owners, covering related subjects will be held in September, date for which will be announced shortly.

PATA India Chapter is conducting roadshow to USA and Canada, in partnership with India Tourism from May 30 to June 8, 2017. Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India Chapter, said, “We are pleased to inform you that we have received necessary approvals to conduct Roadshow to  USA and Canada, in partnership with India Tourism. More details will be communicated in the coming week.” The roadshow will begin in Toronto (Canada) on May 30, then move to the US with Boston on May 31, Chicago on June 1, Houston on June 6, New York on June 7 and 8. Participants must confirm their participation by March 3.

Sarovar Hotels forayed into yet another international market as it signed a hotel in the Ethiopian capital city, Addis Ababa. The hotel in Ethiopia marks Sarovar’s presence in the fifth country in Africa after Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan and Zambia. This move comes after the group recently took over the management of a hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. The 101-rooms hotel will be called Sarovar Premiere Addis Ababa. This will be Sarovar Hotels’ seventh hotel in Africa. The group currently manages New Africa Hotel in Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), The Heron Portico in Nairobi, The Zehneria Portico in Nairobi and Panorama Sarovar Portico in South Sudan. The Lazizi Premiere opens in Nairobi in February 2017 and Sarovar Premiere Lusaka is expected to be opened in 2018. Commenting on the new endeavor, Ajay K. Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels, said, “We are very excited to be expanding to another new destination in the African region. With Sarovar Premiere Addis Ababa, we exceed a total of 1000 rooms in Africa. Being Ethiopia’s biggest commercial hub and the host location of the African Union headquarters, Addis Ababa has become a major destination for many travellers to the continent, business as well as leisure. We see great growth potential in this market with high demand and this development makes a momentous step in our growth and expansion strategy in the overseas market.”

Sarovar Hotels has signed an agreement for a 60-room hotel, Presidium Sarovar Portico, in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh and it is expected to be operational by the end of 2018. Presidium Sarovar Portico Dalhousie is Sarovar Groups’s third hotel in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The other two hotels are located in Mashobra and Palampur. The hotel will offer all modern facilities including an all-day dining restaurant, bar, gym, swimming pool, spa and banquet facilities. Commenting on the development, Ajay K. Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels, said, “We are happy to open a Sarovar Portico hotel in this charming town of Himachal Pradesh. With its unparalleled scenic beauty, Dalhousie is an important tourism destination with rising number of visitors from across the country. It is an important location for us and a significant addition to our portfolio. This hotel equipped with all amenities required by a modern day traveller is set to be the finest in the region.” The property is owned by Vikram Seth of Holy Heart Presidency School Amritsar.

TUI – Meetings & Incentives has announced that it is being rebranded as Pacific World India. Explaining this brand migration, Naveen Rizvi, Executive Director, Pacific World India, says, “Pacific World is the MICE setup of the TUI Group globally at present with presence in over 34 countries. The move comes as a strategic initiative to combine MICE Expertise of our global team with local knowledge to handle Meetings and Incentives within India and overseas. It will however be business as usual for our associates; only the brand name changes, nothing else. The parent company Le Passage to India Tours and Travels Pvt. Ltd and the management remain unchanged, as does the team handling the Meetings & Incentives. Our partners will now receive requests from us with the new brand name. The brand name change will have to be communicated to the concerned people in their organization.”