Tag Archives: Karnataka

New and upgraded Belagavi Airport has been inaugurated by P. Ashok GajapathiRaju, Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Karnataka. Belagavi is the second capital of Govt. of Karnataka and is 502 km from Bengaluru and 200 km from Goa Airport. The city is one of the 20 cities selected in the first phase, for development as a smart city under the Government of India’s Smart Cities Mission. The New Terminal, a centrally air-conditioned building, with an area of 3,600 sqm has a capacity to handle 300 peak hour passengers at a time. It has all essential passenger friendly amenities and conveniences and is provided with CUTE-enabled Check-in Counters, Baggage Conveyors, Elevator, Public Address System, Fire Fighting & Fire Alarm System, Flight Information Display System (FIDS), CCTV, Baggage scanners and Car parking etc. Inaugurating the terminal Raju, Union Minister of Civil Aviation said, “Belagavi is an important City in the state of Karnataka. With the Upgraded Airport, the City is all set to cater to more air passengers from the region. Since Belagavi is amongst the first 20 cities being transformed into Smart Cities, this was a much needed development.” Other dignitaries present for the occasion include Ananth Kumar, Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilisers and Parliamentary Affairs; R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, Govt. of Karnataka; D.K. Shivakumar, Minister of Energy and Power, Government of Karnataka, Ramesh L. Jarakiholi, Minister for Co-operation and Belagavi District Incharge Minister; Suresh C. Angadi, Member of Parliament (LokSabha); Dr. Prabhakar Kore, Member of Parliament (RajyaSabha); Sanjay B. Patil, Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Sanjyot Bandekar, Mayor, Belagavi City Corporation as the guests of honour.

The 52nd FHRAI Annual Convention is underway at Shangri-La Hotel, Bengaluru. At the three-day event, being held between September 14 and 16, delegates will get a chance to attend panel discussions on relevant topics and be able to network with fellow hoteliers. The theme chosen for this year’s convention is “Hospitality 2025 – The Future is NOW”. The inauguration ceremony was presided over by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who blessed the function. Ananth Kumar, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers; Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister of State, Department of Tourism, Government of Odisha; R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Large & Medium Industries & Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka, and many other dignitaries are also present at the event. Speaking at the ceremony, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, “Hospitality is in the DNA of Indians just like teamwork is in the DNA of Japanese, precision in that of the Germans, etiquette in the English, and marketing in the Americans. India is still lagging behind and needs improvement in infrastructure. We need to have Greece as the benchmark where tourism is soaring. We should host food festivals more often. Also, there is a need for more and more hotels. We do not necessarily have to ape the Europeans, we can set our own standards; an indigenous touch is always welcome. Apart from this, India needs more colleges to train youngsters.” Addressing the audience at the convention, Deshpande said, “Tourism is the highest employment generator but India’s biggest concern is employment as automation is taking over the human touch. Infrastructure has to be definitely looked at and we are getting there. Karnataka has the best connectivity in the entire country with some of …

Karnataka Tourism is planning to intensify its 2017 campaign ‘The Year of the Wild’ by installing intelligent displays at 279 railway stations, which will enable it to reach 10 crore people a month. The campaign is running across 7 states including Maharashtra, Telangana, Bihar, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka. This has been made possible as Karnataka Tourism has entered into collaboration with outdoor media company, Vyoma Technologies. From eco-trekking along the scenic Western Ghats, to celebrating the iconic Golden Chariot, tourism in Karnataka is definitely on the uptake, recording a 15.5% growth in tourism in 2016 as recorded by the Ministry of Tourism.

Clarks Inn Group of Hotels has announced the signing of a hotel property in Belgaum, Karnataka. The new property, a 60-room strategically located business hotel, is currently in its last phase of development and is slated to start operation by the year end. The hotel is merely an hour’s drive from Goa. Speaking on the latest addition, Rahul Banerjee, Associate Vice President–Operations, Clarks Inn Group of Hotels, said, “Clarks Inn witnessed one of its biggest growth year in 2016 opening and signing a total of 21 new properties, including 12 operational, with the total tally reaching 75 hotels last year spread across 17 states in India and one in Nepal. With a strong development pipeline, we are expecting another year of robust growth in 2017. And with the latest addition at Belgaum we are confident of reaching a 100 hotel portfolio milestone by the end of the year.” With the latest addition Clarks Inn now boasts of a portfolio of 76 hotel properties, including 42 in operation, spread across 17 states in India and one in Kathmandu, Nepal. “The 60-key Clarks Inn Belgaum will be a vibrant hotel property with strategic location that will cater to all the needs of the modern day discerning business and as well as leisure travellers. As a hotel company, we now have the most widespread presence in Karnataka with as many eight hotels currently in operation at Badami, Bagalkot, Bengaluru, Gadag, Hampi, Hubli, Mysore and Shimoga and four more slated to open door over the next one year,” said Rupam Das, Area Director-Operations (South), Clarks Inn Group of Hotels.

Reinforcing its commitment to the south India market, IndiGo has announced Mangalore as its new destination. Effective May 1, 2017, IndiGo will operate daily non-stop flights from Mangalore to Bengaluru and Mumbai at fares starting Rs 1,499. Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo said, “Mangalore, an important seaport and a major commercial centre in Karnataka with the state’s second busiest airport, is fast gaining prominence as a business hub and a tourist gateway. We have been getting requests to connect the city of Mangalore for years. I am now delighted to announce the launch of IndiGo flights from Mangalore. With the inaugural flights attractively priced at Rs. 1499 onwards, we are hopeful that these routes will prove to be immensely popular amongst our flyers.” He further added, “Adding new flights and frequencies on our network is aligned with our commitment to expand affordable air travel in India. The new flights not only strengthen domestic network but also help us better serve increased demand in growing markets.”

Enterprising Travel Agent’s Association (ETAA) took their second Domestic Convention to Hyderabad which was held from Mar 3-5, 2017, at Leonia Holistic Destination. The event gathered over 200 attendees, informed Jagat Mehta, President, ETAA, and added that the edition saw a pan-India participation from different states of the country such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, New Delhi, West Bengal, to name a few. He elaborated, “We were very satisfied with the turnout and the response. While there were a few last minute cancellations, it did nothing to deter the spirit. Our first domestic convention was held back in 2011 with 180 members from Mumbai, Pune and a few from Gujarat so in comparison to that, we’ve managed to bring together a diverse crowd. Yes, business is the main aim but so is forging and strengthening bonds.” The three-day convention involved B2B meetings between buyers and sellers that was effective in connecting travel agents and tour operators from Tier II & III cities to travel suppliers, and also saw a host of team-building activities take place in the sprawling 150-acre property.

States like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh exchanged 86 MoUs, aggregating close to Rs 15,000 crores during the inaugural edition of Incredible India Tourism Investors Summit (IITIS) 2016. Gujarat exchanged MoUs close to Rs 9000 crores, Karnataka with Rs. 2600 crores, Rajasthan with Rs. 1000 crores, Uttarakhand with Rs. 500 crores and Chhattisgarh with Rs. 12 crores. Also, B. R. Shetty Group is keen to invest Rs. 450 crores and Costa Cruise Rs. 750 crores and Triveni Singapore close to Rs. 800 crores in the country. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, informed that IITIS will be held annually to boost tourism and will be supported by World Bank. The next edition of IITIS will be organized in September 2017. “World Bank is supporting India’s Buddhist Circuit development and will provide support for sustainable tourism development including through funds,” said Cecile Fruman, Global Director, Trade and Competitiveness, World Bank. At the Summit, organized by Ministry of Tourism (MoT) in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Tourism Finance Corporation of India, Zutshi also announced various initiatives like setting up of a task force headed by Secretary-Tourism, with membership from relevant ministries, state governments, and industry associations to undertake strategic planning; setting up of an investor facilitation desk to handhold investors and facilitate projects and organising investor meets in states with the support of MoT.