Tag Archives: Gujarat

The National Tourism Advisory Council (NTAC) and other stakeholders recently met with Gujarat Tourism officials at Tent City, Statue of Unity, Kevadia in Gujarat to chalk out a strategy for bringing five million tourists to the Statue. The Council came to the conclusion that the number of tourists visiting the Statue would touch three million in 2019, taking into consideration the footfall during the last two months. Further, to reach the goal of five million tourists, a detailed proposal was made by the state government. After discussions, it was suggested that additional facilities should be created at the Statue of Unity like night safari, ropeway between the dam and safari, check dam to be constructed about 10 kms downstream of the dam so that boating and water sports would be possible for a length of over 10 kms from the check dam to the Statue, amusement park, tribal museum, state bhawans at the site, restaurant complex to be expanded with cuisines from all states, adventure tourism, boat riding in the dam, mid-segment hotels to be set up on land to be leased out by Narmada Valley Development Authority on long term lease, regular helicopter service to be started from the Statue to various towns in Gujarat, and seaplanes to be operational from the Dam to various destinations.  

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned four new projects for Rs 190.46 crores under the tourism infrastructure development schemes, Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD in Meghalaya, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Under north east circuit of Swadesh Darshan Scheme, the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned the project ‘Development of West Khasi Hills (Nongkhlaw- Krem Tirot – Khudoi & Kohmang Falls – Khri River- Mawthadraishan, Shillong), Jaintia Hills (Krang Suri Falls- Shyrmang- Iooksi), Garo Hills (Nokrek Reserve, Katta Beel, Siju Caves)’ in Meghalaya for Rs. 84.95 crore. Through this project, the Ministry will be developing facilities like festival grounds, tourist facilitation centre, last-mile connectivity, public conveniences, cable suspension bridge, cafeteria, trekking routes, boating facilities, illumination, solid waste management, drinking water facility, caving facilities, visitor centres, adventure sports activities, craft haats, etc. in the state. Development of Gorakhnath Temple (Gorakhpur), Devipattan Temple (Balrampur) and Vatvashni Temple (Domariyagunj) has also been sanctioned for Rs 21.16 Crores under spiritual circuit of Swadesh Darshan scheme. The facilities being developed under this project include tourist facilitation centre, toilet blocks, pathways, shelters, landscaping, gazebos, illumination, CCTV camera, benches, dustbins, informative and directional signages, etc. Under the PRASHAD scheme, the ministry has sanctioned the project ‘Development of Govardhan’ in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh for Rs 39.74 crores. The sites taken up in the project include Govardhan Parikrama Marg, Kusum Sarovar, Chandra Sarovar and Manasi Ganga. The facilities like development of bus stand, toilets, illumination of ghats, parking, pathways, landscaping and beautification, PA system, benches, toilets, etc. are also being developed under the project. The ministry has also sanctioned the project ‘Development of Pilgrimage Amenities at Somnath – Phase II’ for Rs 44.59 crores under the PRASHAD scheme. The facilities being developed …

Hilton has announced the opening of DoubleTree by Hilton in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The property, which is the latest addition to Hilton’s growing portfolio in India, is centrally located in the heart of India’s first World Heritage City near the Sarkhej–Gandhinagar Highway. The property is a unit of Hirise Hospitality and is managed by Hilton. Navjit Ahluwalia, Senior Vice President and Country Head, Hilton India, said,“Ahmedabad is an important business and commercial destination, and we are thrilled to mark our presence with the opening of our first DoubleTree by Hilton property here. We are delighted with our collaboration with Hirise Hospitality and look forward to welcoming our guests with exceptional experiences and warm hospitality as we expand Hilton’s portfolio of world-class brands in the country.” Towering over the central business district, DoubleTree by Hilton Ahmedabad is ideally located to provide guests easy access to the city’s major industrial hubs, business district and shopping, and dining and entertainment arenas for a holistic destination experience. Tanmay Bathwal, Managing Director, Hirise Hospitality, said,  “DoubleTree by Hilton Ahmedabad is proof of our continued belief in the growth of Gujarat, particularly Ahmedabad city.”  The hotel offers comfortable accommodations, smartly-designed meeting spaces and the tastefully-curated food and beverage outlets in the city. We look forward to welcoming guests here.” DoubleTree by Hilton Ahmedabad offers a variety of dining and entertainment choices and boasts the city’s first outdoor rooftop swimming pool. The hotel presents two dining outlets, Wave, the all-day dining restaurant offering a delectable buffet spread of Indian, Southeast Asian and Western flavours, and Hop, the café-style lobby lounge that offers grab and go snacks and beverages. For guests who enjoy service round the clock, the hotel …

Ginger has signed a new hotel in Bharuch, a key city of Gujarat. The brand is already present in six cities in the state with hotels under development in Surat and Sanand. With this new addition, Ginger will have 10 hotels with a combined inventory of close to 800 rooms in Gujarat. Deepika Rao, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ginger said, “We are delighted to expand our presence in Gujarat and enter Bharuch by partnering Hotel Sethna Plaza Annexe. The modern day Bharuch is one of the biggest industrial areas in the state. The hotel will be ideally located to cater to the business guests.” With 55 comfortable rooms, an all-day diner, a banquet hall and a fitness centre; the new Ginger is located just a few minutes from the railway station amidst a commercial hub catering to chemical, textile and pharmaceutical companies. The hotel is a management contract and is slated to commence operations in 2019.    

In a bid to attract investors across the industry, a number of state tourism boards presented their ideas and prospect on tourism in their respective states during the 4th Tourism Investors Meet held at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi. The tourism boards of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur gave detailed presentations on how their state provides lucrative opportunities to investors. Each presentation counted on their USP and explained about the incentives and concessions provided by the respective state governments. The first presentation was given by the meet’s Theme State West Bengal Tourism which stressed on developing the state as an ‘ecotourism hub’. This was followed by a presentation by Partner State Rajasthan Tourism which focused on promoting heritage location and properties in the state. It also talked about opportunity of growth for adventure sports and MiCE in the state. Feature State Gujarat Tourism stressed on providing attractive incentives to investors with last mile connectivity for travellers in the state. The final presentation was given by Feature State Manipur Tourism. Highlighting the state’s rich culture and resources, the presentation talked about the prospect of developing Manipur as a ‘tourism hub’. The main focus was on Loktak lake, the largest fresh water lake in the Northeast.

Lords Hotels & Resorts has added a new property in Jamnagar, Gujarat to be launched under the ‘Eco Inn’ branding. It is the brand’s 15th hotel property in the state and overall, its 28th. The property is expected to commence operations in the fourth quarter of this year. Lords Eco Inn – Jamnagar will have 65 rooms with modern amenities and full-services. The property will have an elegant banquet hall attached to sprawling green lawns and will also have its trademark multi-cuisine restaurant – Blue Coriander. “We are pleased to officially announce the sign-up of Lords Eco Inn – Jamnagar and congratulate our partners for their new venture with us. From our first hotel Lords Plaza in Surat back in the year 2007 to the latest, Lords Hotels & Resorts has created a niche for itself in the region and is Gujarat’s ‘numero uno’ hospitality brand today,” says P R Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director, Lords Hotels & Resorts. Lords Eco Inn – Jamnagar is a partnership venture with entrepreneurs Sunil Lodaya and Kuldeep Sinh. “Our presence dots the western coast of Gujarat roughly at intervals of 130 km of each other. Lords Eco Inn – Jamnagar will be our seventh property in the region and with it, we will have created a complete beach circuit in Gujarat. All properties in the circuit cater to a mix of business, leisure, pilgrimage and adventure tourism, and Lords Hotels & Resorts enjoys a lion’s share in the region. Once launched, we are expecting Lords Eco Inn – Jamnagar to capture a significant part of business tourists visiting the city,” says Rishi Puri, Vice President, Lords Hotels & Resorts.

Gujarat has received an overwhelming response in terms of investment in tourism projects after it launched its Tourism Policy 2015-2020 in September 2015, according to Jenu Devan, Managing Director, and Commissioner of Tourism, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited. He says, “It has become a tremendous success. Till date, there are 220 applications for various tourism projects like hotels, resorts, amusement parks, etc. worth Rs 9,000 crore. So in the next few years, Gujarat is poised to have a fantastic tourism infrastructure for both the inbound and domestic tourists.” Gujarat received a total of 448 lakhs tourists during 2016-17. This was 16.9 per cent higher than the flow in 2015-16. The flow of tourists within Gujarat also increased with a 15 per cent growth. Speaking about the source markets in India and abroad, he adds, “We see the entire India as our source market. However, we get maximum traffic from our neighboring states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Internationally, UK tops the list followed by USA. We would like to receive more traffic from the South East Asian markets as they are short-haul destinations for India.”

Mercure makes its debut in the holy city of Dwarka with the opening of Mercure Dwarka. Strategically located in the Devbhumi Dwarka district of Gujarat, the hotel is a short drive from the Dwarkadhish temple, popularly known as Jagat Mandir. The hotel is conveniently located at a five minute drive from the railway station, an hour’s drive from Porbandar Airport and a little over two hours from the Jamnagar Airport. The hotel is also in close proximity to Nageshwar Temple, Gopi Talav Theertham, Rukmani Devi Temple and Hanuman Mandir. The opening of Mercure Dwarka marks AccorHotels’ fourth property in the land of legends, Gujarat. Featuring 99 guest rooms, including one suite, the hotel offers spacious interiors and modern design; the rooms are equipped with in-room amenities and high speed Wi-Fi access. Fitness enthusiasts can also enjoy a refreshing work out at the state-of-the-art fitness centre. Rishabh Gupta, Co-founder & Director, Blue Rock Hospitality Ventures, said, “Mercure Dwarka is the first hotel of Blue Rock’s portfolio, set in the holy city of Dwarka. It marks a commitment to develop branded upper midscale hotels in holy cities, industrial hubs, emerging destinations & undersupplied pockets of developed cities, across the country. The development of Mercure Dwarka aims to bring emphasis on design with a commitment on service offerings to our guests staying at the property.” Aadil Muscatwala, Co-founder & Director, Blue Rock Hospitality Ventures said, “The opening of Mercure Dwarka is our first step in realizing Blue Rock’s vision of becoming a leading asset ownership company as India’s vibrant hotelier industry. We will continue to invest in high yielding operational assets to create new supply of hotel rooms through our green field developments …

VITS Hotel Worldwide has recently opened its Hotel VITS Devbhumi in Dwarka, located close to prominent landmarks of Dwarkadish temple, of Dwarka Devbhumi district of Gujarat. Announcing the launch, Vikram Kamat, Managing Director¸ VITS Luxury Business Hotels says, “This is our third property in Gujarat and we are extremely upbeat on the growth prospect in the region. VITS is positioned as a moderately priced full service luxury business hotel and enjoys high occupancy rate at all our 10 properties across India. We believe VITS Devbhumi Dwarka with its strategic location, imposing décor, banqueting and host of hospitality will appeal to both leisure and business tourists.” VITS Devbhumi Dwarka offers 58 rooms providing four-star deluxe experiences. It offers well-equipped conference room, travel desk, multi-cuisine restaurants, open air terrace restaurant, gaming zone and banqueting facilities. VITS Luxury Hotels presently operates 10 properties located in Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik, Latur, Ankleshwar, Silvassa, Agra, Chakan and Bhubaneshwar. The Hotel chain presently has inventory of 900 rooms with host of banqueting, conferencing, restaurant and lifestyle facilities. As part of its expansion plans VITS Hotel will unveil the VITS hospitality experience in Mumbai (Colaba), Nanded, Dahej, Ahmedabad and Mangalore by April 2018. The company plans to penetrate its reach nationally with 20 properties scheduled for launch primarily in Tier 2 and tier 3 in cities within the next three years.

About 50 travel agents gathered at Mumbai’s Ballard Pier to get onboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s luxury cruise ship called Seven Seas Voyager that made its way from Bangkok into the Indian Ocean and onwards to Rome. The agents were from Mumbai as well as other cities like New Delhi, Gujarat and even Bengaluru. They did a ship inspection followed by a sit-down lunch at one of the ship’s fine-dining restaurants while interacting with Steve Odell, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Promoted as the most luxurious ship ever built, Regent Seven Seas was docked in Mumbai for two days and had 99 per cent occupancy.