Tag Archives: Managing Director

Sarovar Hotels has launched Singhania Sarovar Portico, Raipur, an upscale hotel strategically located in the hub of the city near AIIMS Hospital. The hotel was inaugurated by Gaurishankar Agrawal, Assembly Speaker, Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, in the presence of Ajay K. Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels; Rajesh Ranjan, Director of Development, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts and Kevin Wilkins, General Manager, Singhania Sarovar Portico, Raipur. Singhania Sarovar Portico, Raipur, has 60 beautifully crafted, spacious and well-appointed rooms offering modern amenities and personalised service. The hotel offers state-of-the-art business and conferencing facilities, fitness centre, an all-day dining multi-cuisine restaurant, in-room dining and a meeting room. Speaking on the occasion, Agrawal said, “Raipur is an evolving city and the gateway to tourist destinations in Chhattisgarh. I believe this hotel will be immensely beneficial to people travelling to this city, business as well as leisure and to the locals here with their excellent F&B and banquet services on offer.” Commenting on the launch, Bakaya said, “We are glad to be setting our footprints in this emerging state of Chhattisgarh. With our immense focus on providing quality accommodation and services at the best rates, we hope to ensure a pleasant stay for all our guests travelling to this region.”  

In its endeavour to strengthen its growing network, IndiGo has commenced operations in Colombo, Sri Lanka. With touch-down of 6E-1202 (Chennai-Colombo) at Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo became its eighth international and 49th overall destination on IndiGo’s network. The maiden flight was welcomed on January 20 with the traditional water cannon salute followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony. Commenting on the launch, Capt Ashim Mittra, VP Flight Operations, IndiGo said, “IndiGo is delighted to commence its new daily services to and from Colombo. These new connections will not only boost corporate and leisure travel but also contribute to significant growth in cross border trade and commerce. We are hopeful that these new flights will provide affordable travel experience to our passengers across the country and beyond.” Malinga Arsakularatne, Managing Director, Hemas Leisure Travel Aviation Group (IndiGo’s GSA) added, “We are honoured to partner with IndiGo in strengthening tourism to and from India. Together, we can create benefits for travellers and shareholders.”

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG released a whitepaper titled ‘The Digi-Smart Indian Business Traveller’ with a focus on how technology is rapidly revolutionising travel by maximising efficiencies, improving experience and increasing options for the average traveller worldwide and increasingly in the Indian market. Rakshit Desai, Managing Director, FCM Travel Solutions, said, “Digital technology today is rapidly growing. Self-booking tools, travel analytics, Artificial Intelligence and sharing economy services are not only here to stay but hold myriad and exciting possibilities for the future. The report aims to assist organisations that wish to serve today’s digi-smart travellers, understand their needs and make strategic decisions, based on these insights.” Jaideep Ghosh, Partner and Head, Transport, Leisure and Sports, KPMG in India commented, “Globally, technology has penetrated deep into business travel practices — it finds a host of applications in travel, including online booking tools, sharing economy services, travel analytics, virtual assistance, payments and compliance. With this whitepaper, we have set out to explore the concept of smart travellers, technology trends in business travel, their enabling ecosystem, as well as some potentially disrupting developments that could transform business travel landscape.”

SLW, a golf management company, in association with Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched Thai Golf Pass, a reward and loyalty programme to offer Indian golfers a seamless golf experience in Thailand. Every Indian golfer who plays golf in Thailand will receive points depending on the services used from the service providers. Anil Dev, Managing Director, SLW, stated, “Indian golfers can be a part of this amazing rewards programme whenever they tee off in amazing Thailand. A number of quality service providers like Thai Airways, Cox & Kings, Callaway and a number of golf courses, resorts and hotels have come together to partner this initiative.” “As India is a leading market for Thailand, we have launched Thai Golf Passport to ensure value added services. This will help golfers to enjoy the game in their favourite destination and help us in connecting with the golfing fraternity in India,” said Isra  Stapanaseth, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand. The Thai Golf Passport was launched in New Delhi by Stapanaseth along with Vani Kapoor, leading Indian golfer; Gajendra Panwar, Vice President, Cox & Kings and Prashant Singh, General Manager, Callaway Golf India.

The Hyderabad edition of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) will be conducted from June 28-30. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, GPS, announced the new dates at the first edition of GPS this year in Nagpur, which is going on till January 17. Hyderabad is the latest city to host GPS this year, taking the total count of the cities to eight. The event is dedicated towards Tier-II, and Tier-III cities in the country to empower agents in these cities.

Sharing its operational plans from Colombo, IndiGo has announced that Colombo will become its eighth international destination effective January 20, 2018 with daily direct flights from Chennai and Bengaluru. With these new flights, the airline will also offer connections to and from Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and other major Indian cities. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “It gives us immense pleasure to add Colombo to our growing network, which will not only help us cater to the growing tourist potential of the city, but also provide affordable travel options to the Indian workforce who can now look forward to visiting the city more frequently. We are also delighted to partner with Hemas as our GSA partner in Sri Lanka for our sales and distribution services.” Malinga Arsakularatne, Managing Director, Hemas Leisure Travel Aviation Group added, “We welcome IndiGo to Sri Lanka and it is indeed our great pleasure to embark on this exciting partnership. We are confident that the team at Hemas Aviation would deliver the growth ambitions of the airline. We look forward to a long-lasting and a win-win relationship with IndiGo.”

The Nijhawan Group has been appointed as the Tourism Representative in India for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Commenting on this partnership, Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, added, “With Indian nationals looking for newer experiences and destinations, the demand for relatively new entrants like Bosnia and Herzegovina is only poised to grow. It is an exciting time for outbound tourism, and the Indian traveller will only benefit from this trend. Since Bosnia and Herzegovina is a new destination in the Indian market, we will actively work with the trade community to enhance their knowledge about the destination as well as help them in curating exciting itineraries for their clients since the country is a treasure trove of history.” Dr. Sabit Subasic, Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to India, said, “Bosnia and Herzegovina is predicted to be, according to World Tourism Organization, one of the fastest growing tourism destinations of the world in the period till 2025. And that prediction is getting confirmed and visible. Bosnia and Herzegovina is already known as a very attractive tourism destination and many tourists from all over the world come to this country. From India, however, we would like to welcome more tourists since we see potential in this market. Therefore, we decided to develop a strategy and promote Bosnia and Herzegovina as a tourism destination for Indian tourists.”

The Park Hotels enters Jodhpur with the launch of its second hotel in Rajasthan – ‘Zone by The Park’. With 90 guest rooms, the latest Zone by The Park Jodhpur is located at the city centre in close proximity to popular tourist destinations such as Umaid Bhawan Palace and scenic Kalyana Lake. The city airport and railway station are minutes away from the hotel making it convenient for the guests. Zone Jodhpur boasts of 7,600 sq. ft. banquet hall with a spill over 14,000 sq. ft. outdoor lawn for large weddings, exhibitions, social gatherings, celebrations and conferences. The hotel has two restaurants and a discotheque. Speaking at the launch, Vijay Dewan, Managing Director, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels said, “We are extremely delighted to launch our second property in Rajasthan, especially in Jodhpur as it is a discerning tourist’s destination with a reflection of history. The hotel is designed to meet the requirements of the price-conscious, design-conscious urban traveller. Witnessing the success of Zone Jaipur, we are confident that this hotel will play a key role in strengthening the brand. We are certain that the hotel will appeal to customers with its design and format.” Zone Jodhpur has 90 rooms in three categories at an average tariff of Rs. 3,000 – Rs. 7,400 per night. Zone by The Park is present in Coimbatore, Jaipur, Chennai ORR, Raipur, Bengaluru with upcoming hotels in Pondicherry, Igatpuri & Goa. The brand will have 17 properties by the year 2020; this will be about 1,500 keys in the next 4 years.

At the sixth edition of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) Nagpur two new products will be launched—RainbowCTM and Trip38—informs Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, GPS. A new membership card ‘GPS 10X Membership’ will also be launched at the show. The card will allow its holders to avail discounts on various products and services across India. “This will be a virtual card which would not be required to be carried physically but will be stored on the cardholder’s smart phones. Currently, GPS has a following of over 15,000 travel professionals across India and this would be a good opportunity for hotels, restaurants and FMCG industries to offer discounts to the GPS members. Those enrolling for GPS membership will have a full year access to the GPS App at no additional cost. All new tie-ups, offers and benefits would be available to the registered members. Exhibitors not only in India but overseas will also be able to promote their services and products to the Indian travel trade through the App and through the RainbowCTM platform. Trip38 would be a travel assistant tool for the agent’s client database,” says Anand.

Situated in the commercial hub of Goregaon in Mumbai, Radisson Mumbai Goregaon recently opened its doors to the financial capital. The hotel is surrounded by shopping districts, entertainment centers, tourist attractions, corporate set-ups and located in proximity to the international airport. “We are pleased to announce the opening of Radisson Mumbai Goregaon as this hotel marks an important addition to the Radisson brand family in a key gateway city. The Balwa Group are astute hoteliers and we are looking forward to expanding our relationship with the group,” said Raj Rana, CEO, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. “We are confident and delighted to be working with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. We are committed to offer a differentiated experience at Radisson Mumbai Goregaon and epitomise the business tradition of our city,” said Hussein Balwa, Managing Director, Balwa Group. Radisson Mumbai Goregaon features 98 contemporary rooms with modern amenities. The rooms are spread across three categories namely, superior, business class and suite. All rooms are equipped with amenities including free Wi-Fi, 42-inch LED TV with premium channels, and coffee and tea making facilities. With wellness as a brand pillar, the hotel features facilities such as an in-house spa, salon and a rooftop swimming pool.