Category Archives: Hotels

India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), has signed an MoU with Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited for development of heritage sites in the state. As part of the MoU, ITDC would provide consultancy services for innovative/ decorative lighting and illumination of important monuments and sound and light show at other important places in Gujarat. The MoU was signed by G Kamala Vardhana Rao, CMD, ITDC and Jenu Devan, Commissioner of Tourism and Managing Director, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat in the presence of Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State, Tourism, and Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister, Gujarat. Speaking at inaugural session, Prahlad Singh Patel said, “There is a great scope for developing tourism in Gujarat for which the state government has developed many more new focused sights to attract tourism. State Government may work in tandem with ITDC to promote and develop tourism through innovative and creative steps.”

Vilas Pawar, CEO, Choice Hotels India, has said, “We are evaluating various brands of Choice Hotels to open in the Indian market. We are scouting for properties/locations for our Ascend brand which is the most high-end brand of Choice. We are looking at the Indian market aggressively and will be opening about 7 hotels this year and all these properties will open in the next 7-8 months. We are looking at opening up 7-10 hotels every year. Besides, this, we are not looking for anything to develop in India. India is a difficult market vis-à-vis return on investment.”

Zubin Saxena, MD and VP, Operations, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, recently has said, “Over the last 5 years, we have signed close to 70 hotels, which means we have been signing 12-15 hotels every year and are opening 8-10 hotels every year. Our pace will continue and for this year again, we are looking at solid expansion where we are targeting to open 7-8 hotels. We are opening the first Radisson Red in Asia Pacific in Mohali, which will open in the third quarter of this year.”

According to HVS’ H2O (monthly newsletter),the year-on-year analysis of the 13 markets in India reveals that Bengaluru and Chennai recorded growth in RevPAR at 12.4 per cent (standing at Rs4,184) and 6.4 per cent (standing at Rs3,699), respectively. Ahmedabad and Kolkata witnessed a drop in RevPAR numbers by 5.1 per cent (standing at Rs3,147) and 3.3 per cent (standing at Rs4,922), respectively.

Accor Showcase is back with its fourth edition at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity on Wednesday, 26 February and Sofitel Mumbai BKC on Friday 28 February. This year, Showcase will be bigger and better with representatives from more than 45 Accor hotels and resorts globally coming together under one roof. Of the 50 properties, forty listed names are international properties such as, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Fairmont Singapore, Swissotel Al Ghurair, Swissotel Living Al Ghurair, Movenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives and Movenpick BDMS Wellness Resort, etc. Marking its 17th year in the industry worldwide, Accor Showcase 2020 will represent Accor’s new vision ALL – Accor Live Limitless which promises to provide an all-encompassing platform which enacts as a lifestyle companion integrating rewards, services and experiences. Aiming at bringing value, whether guests live, work or play, elevating Accor’s relationship, from transactional to emotional and encouraging them to Live Limitless.

Hotel performance in India was subdued in December 2019 due to temporary softening of demand, reveals Hotels & Hospitality Overview India (January 2020) by HVS. December recorded an ADR of Rs. 6697.8 in top 13 markets in India recording a Month-on-Month (M-o-M) decline of -1.10 % and Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) decrease of 0.63%. The occupancy was 70.5% with a 6.51% decline M-o-M and 0.35% decrease Y-o-Y. The RevPAR in December was Rs 4719.1, recording a -7.54 decrease M-o-M and 0.98% Y-o-Y.

The two-day conference and exposition, Hi AiM kickstarted in Delhi where the theme “Emerging Trends” will be explored. The conference is expected to bring key stakeholders, developers and designers of the industry together. K.B. Kachru, Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor- South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group said, “It’s a great privilege to be here amongst distinguished designers, owners and suppliers. It’s a great platform for people who work behind the scenes to get the hotel running and also it’s a valuable platform to discuss pertinent issues of the industry. With the theme of 2020 Hi AiM, “Emerging Trends”, the Indian hospitality industry want to be in sync with the current trends.”

Jean-Michel Cassé, Chief Operating Officer (COO) –India & South Asia, Accor has said that 2nd Fairmont in Mumbai with 646 rooms is in the pipeline. “Our upcoming properties for 2020 include the launch of Raffles Udaipur, Novotel Mumbai International Airport and ibis Mumbai LBS Road. We also have the Raffles Jaipur and Fairmont Mumbai Sahar, which are in the pipeline. Over the next few years, our focus is to continue to grow our regional network and introduce new brands. We have 25 hotels and approximately 5,000 keys in the pipeline and under active development.”

Pradipta Mohapatra, Asst. Vice President (Sales & Marketing), MAYFAIR Hotels & Resorts, says, “We are actively progressing in process of establishing a Golf Resort in Satapada region of Puri, Odisha wherein our group will be investing Rs 125 Crores. It will be a five star deluxe property featuring facilities like helipads. Other Projects in the pipeline include a 252-key five-star deluxe property in Kolkata- the work for which is also underway, and we plan to make it operational latest by early 2021.

The Hotels and Hospitality Overview India Report by HVS state that 106 branded hotels housing 9,316 rooms have opened in 2019 in India, while 223 hotels with 20,885 rooms have been signed during the same period. Also, according to HVS, hotel investments in India improved significantly in 2019, with the year setting a record for hotels transactions in the country.2019 witnessed transactions worth more than Rs 50 billion compared to just over Rs 5 Billion in the previous year. Transaction volumes have increased primarily on the back of opportunistic pricing of hotel assets.