Tag Archives: Rajasthan

The Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) conducted its 6th Annual Convention this time in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The Convention was held from September 2-3, 2017, at Hotel Suryagarh in Jaisalmer. With an aim of trying to revive the rich, cultural, historical and architectural heritage of India IHHA 2017 saw the participation of several heritage hoteliers. The Association which was formed with only 14 members has now reached a whopping 198 members in 2017, with members spread over different parts of the country. This year’s theme – ‘Harnessing Heritage to Tourism Advantage’ also focused on reviving the traditional art, culture music and to provide local artisans opportunities to practice their craft. The convention was inaugurated on September 2 by the Minister of State for Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Krishnendra Kaur along with other dignitaries by lighting the traditional lamp. The session was headed by IHHA President, Maharaja Gajsingh of Jodhpur. The panel saw the participation of Deputy Speaker, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, Rao Rajendra Singh; Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, NC Goel; Vice President of IHHA, Jose Dominic; Principal Secretary Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Government of Punjab, Jaspal Singh; Member of Parliament, Yuvraj Sambhiraje Chattrapti and Joint Managing Director of Maharashtra Tourism, Ashutosh Rathore. The session witnessed discussions on several topics such as – India’s large young workforce, as its strength; promoting the art and culture of special regions and generating employment; framing a National policy on heritage tourism and promoting wellness tourism. The session was moderated by Mr. Rakesh Mathur. The vote of thanks was given by the Honorary General Secretary of IHHA, Randhir Vikram Singh. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje attended the heritage hotels convention on September 3 at …

Thomas Cook (India) has strengthened its presence with the opening of four new outlets in Delhi’s Rajouri Garden, Pitampura, Lajpat Nagar localities and Jodhpur in Rajasthan. This expansion augments Thomas Cook India’s distribution and reach in North India to 42 consumer access centres: 13 owned branches and 29 Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets. Thomas Cook India’s data has revealed high demand from India’s north markets, with strong growth of 25 per cent for January- August 2017 against the same period of the previous year. The year has seen significant uptake for favorites like USA & Canada, UK, France, Switzerland and Asia’s Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia; equally for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Emerging strongly are destinations like Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, Japan and Bali, as also exotic locales like Georgia and Azerbaijan. Rajeev Kale, ‎President & Country Head Leisure Travel & MICE, Thomas Cook (India), said “North India is a powerful source market for us at Thomas Cook India and we are witnessing strong growth of over 25% y-o-y across our leisure travel businesses lines. Our strategic intent is to maximise on this market potential via organic expansion and we’ve carefully selected high footfall centres for our new outlets in prime catchment locations within the larger NCR metro market; also Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Our new outlets give our customers in North India (across families, business travellers, millennials, senior citizens, students and NRIs) access to Thomas Cook’s experts right at their doorstep!”

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has announced plans to open Six Senses Fort Barwara featuring 48 suites in Rajasthan – its first in India. Situated 68 miles (110 kilometres) southeast of Jaipur, the property is located in the village of Chauth ka Barwara on the site of a 700-year-old fort, which was owned by the Rajasthani royal family. Prithviraj Singh, heir of the family, is now restoring the fort to its previous glory in tandem with Espire Group. The project team will seek the five-star green rating for the Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) certification, the highest classification of national sustainable design ratings in India. Bernhard Bohnenberger, President, Six Senses, said, “Six Senses Fort Barwara marks the second heritage property that Six Senses will manage. It is slated to open in late 2018.” Six Senses Fort Barwara will feature two restaurants, a bar and a lounge, a spa and a fitness centre spread over 30,000 sq ft, two swimming pools, a banquet space, a retail boutique and a kids club. The key focus of the landscape concept is at reinterpreting the gracious and regal ambiance experienced at Rajasthan’s royal forts and palaces. Rooted in the rich history of the fort, the design will include traditional gardens and water features as well. Shekhavati art will be used to depict the rich history of the fort in the landscape. A Six Senses Spa, located in the original women’s palace, will feature an extensive ayurveda programme, meditation and Six Senses Integrated Wellness programmes, including Six Senses Integrated Wellness and Sleep with Six Senses. Thirty minutes from the Ranthambhore National Park, Six Senses will offer daily safari drives into the 1,400 sq km park.

Australian hotel management company, StayWell Hospitality Group has extended its international footprint with the opening of its fifth property in Rajasthan, the Leisure Inn Shrey in Jodhpur. Rohit Vig, Managing Director for StayWell Hospitality Group in India, said that the opening of the new property solidifies the brand’s presence in the region. “We have signed 12 hotels under the Park Regis and Leisure Inn Brands, which will result in the opening of properties in Hyderabad, Goa, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Gurgaon–Sohna Road and Greater Noida,” he said. The opening of Leisure Inn Shrey in partnership with Hukam Constructions & Hotels Pvt. Ltd will deliver a roof-top restaurant and conference facilities along with well-appointed rooms and international service standards that the Leisure Inn brand is famous for. Additionally, the hotel will house the famous vegetarian restaurant ‘Grand Chanakya’ which has a sister restaurant under the same name in Jaipur at the Leisure Inn Grand Chanakya. Shranik Jain, Owner of Hukam Constructions & Hotels Pvt., said that the partnership with StayWell Hospitality Group was about aligning with the best possible global partner to enter the hospitality sector for the first time. “Our partnership will deliver premium hospitality expertise and a world-class experience to not only our guests but to the region, it’s an alignment we are extremely proud of as we feel we are in the best possible position for future success,” he said.

Westin Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott International, Inc. announced the highly-anticipated opening of The Westin Pushkar Resort & Spa in Rajasthan. India’s seventh Westin property, The Westin Pushkar Resort & Spa is surrounded by the picturesque Aravalli Hills and spread across 11 acres. The property, Pushkar’s first internationally-branded hotel, offers 98 contemporary guestrooms, of which 44 feature private pools. Owned by Paradise Properties, the newly-built resort aims to bring the Westin brand’s innovative wellness initiatives to the renowned spiritual destination. “With more travellers looking to maintain their wellness routines while on the road, The Westin Pushkar Resort & Spa is thrilled to offer guests the brand’s signature amenities and programs, designed to evoke renewal and well-being,” said Jagdeep Nambiar, General Manager, The Westin Pushkar Resort & Spa. The Westin Pushkar Resort & Spa will offer over 19,000 square feet of versatile function space, including a ballroom and meeting rooms, as well as a beautiful garden for corporate events and weddings.

Rajasthan tourism department has initiated the formulation of a new tourism policy. Nihal Chand Goel, Additional Chief Secretary-Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, informed that the department has started consultation process with various stakeholders on a range of elements to be incorporated in the new policy and the tourism department plans a huge campaign in the coming days in the conventional as well as new emerging mediums to lure tourists to the state in a big way. “Rajasthan tourism will kick-off a multi-modal and a multi-crore global marketing campaign, inspired by the Incredible India campaign, and the success of states like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat in recent times,” he said. Besides organising music and folk festivals, new exhibitions and events for tourists will be organised to allow enable tourists to spend more time in the state. Goel further added that upgrading tourist facilities are a priority for the department which includes infrastructure like integrated plan for roads, tourist police, cleanliness drives and government-to-government partnerships. The launching of intra-state aviation connectivity between Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur is also part of the initiative to save time for tourists who require speedy travel modes, added Goel.

In order to boost tourism facilities in Rajasthan, the Government of Rajasthan has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore. “Singapore has been a close friend and partner of Rajasthan in infrastructure and tourism development. With these MoUs, we aim to deepen this association and develop the state as a world-class, global tourist destination with advanced urban infrastructure,” said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The MoU seeks to aggregate Singapore’s expertise through tripartite collaboration between the government, tourism institutions and industry partners to strengthen Rajasthan’s ‘knowledge capabilities.’ Rajasthan is also seeking to utilise Singapore’s public and private sector proficiency in the development of tourism. The otheragreement focuses on enhancing Rajasthan’s international appeal and connectivity, facilitation of private sector participation in a bid to rejuvenate the state’s heritage areas and critical urban and smart solutions. The MoU will also train 100 Rajasthan tourism officials. The 36-month programme is supported by the Temasek Foundation International with a $484,000 grant, and co-funded by the Rajasthan tourism department. Singapore will also share expertise in areas like inter-modal transport integration, waste management solutions and affordable wireless connection.

The Centre of Excellence for Tourism Training (CETT) in Udaipur is scheduled to begin operations later this year and will have an annual intake of 480 students. The centre has been established by Rajasthan’s Department of Skills, Employment and Entrepreneurship in collaboration with the Institute of Technical Education, Singapore and will provide skill and vocational training in services related to travel and tourism. The institute inaugurated by Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Government of Rajasthan and Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister, Government of Singapore, will offer up to six courses including retail services, hospitality operations and culinary arts. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Principal Secretary, Department of Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Government of Rajasthan said, “Tourism is one of the most important sectors in Rajasthan. We want to capture the entire tourism market throughout India and also abroad. The centre’s training could also help Rajasthan workers get jobs in cruise liners and airlines.” Skills development is a key area of cooperation between Singapore and India and the Udaipur centre is one of three institutes that Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is helping to start in India. The first, the World Class Skill Centre in New Delhi, is running, and another is being planned in the state of Assam in the North East.

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.

SpiceJet will start its direct flight between Delhi and Jodhpur from October 30, 2016. In Rajasthan, SpiceJet is already operating daily flights to Jaipur and Udaipur. Shilpa Bhatia, Sr. VP, Commercial, SpiceJet, said, “Regional connectivity has always played an important role in strengthening our network strategy. In our endeavour to continuously reach out to underserved destinations we are excited to initiate our services to Jodhpur. The new flight will present passengers with more travel options especially during the peak season.” Jodhpur is a popular tourist destination and with introduction of this flight it will be connected with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata.