Rajathi Group targets tier 2-3 cities for expansion

Courtesy: The Hindu business Line dt.28/8/08

Chennai, Aug. 28 Chennai-based Rajathi Group is planning to take its hotel brand — Breeze — to other cities.

http://www.blonnet.com/2008/08/29/stories/2008082951142100.htm

Taj Residency, Trivandum to open on 8th September.

News Courtesy: Malayala Manorama dt.29/8/08.

Taj Residency, Trivandum, promoted by TAJ Group will open itself to guests from 8th September. The 10 storied property has 137 rooms and conference facility for 600 people. The new property is the 8th Taj group hotel in Kerala. Mr.Manoj Mathew is the GM of the new property and Mr.Alexander Chanddy is executive chef.

The inauguration will be done by Mr.Kodiyeri Balakrishnan – Hon. Minister for Tourism, Kerala.

Olive Builders to diversify into hospitality & retail

News courtesy: Mathrubhumi dt.29/8/08.

25 year old Olive Builders based in Kochi is diversifying into hospitality, retail & IT according to V.P.Mathayi…

Phoenix partner firm lines up Rs 450-cr spend

Raghavendra Kamath / Mumbai
Courtesy: The Business Standard dt.29/8/08

The company is planning to build 10 hotels on top of its malls, offering a total of 1500 rooms….

for more details of the news click the following link..

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=332911

Shriram Properties eyeing mall development, hospitality projects

Courtesy: The Hindu business Line dt.29/8/08

Investment envisaged is around Rs 250 crore per asset in the retail category and Rs 20-30 crore per asset in the hospitality sector….

for more details of the news click the following link

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/08/29/stories/2008082951840500.htm

Royal Orchid to invest Rs 500 cr to add 8 new hotels by 2010

The Economic Times dt.26/8/08

NEW DELHI: Royal Orchid Hotel Group will invest Rs 500 crore to add eight new hotels by 2010 across its three brands of luxury hotels, service apartments and four-star hotels, reports Vishakha Talreja. The company is also looking at acquiring properties in tier II and tier III cities as the valuation of hotels is low at present. “Real estate developers are not very bullish about hotel projects now, so there are some good deals available,” says Royal Orchid Hotels CMD Chender Baljee.

Marriott’s India operations outpacing US, Asia

Courtesy: The Hindu business Line dt.26/8/08

for more details of the news click the following link


http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/08/26/stories/2008082651220300.htm

India’s largest shopping mall to coming up in Kochi

Courtesy: The Business Standard dt.26/8/08

Lulu’s 20 lakh sq feet International Shopping Mall in Kochi to have 50,000 sft food courts & 6 restaurants & a 5 start hotel with 300 rooms …….

for more details of the news click the following link
http://www.businessstandard.com/india/storypage.php?tp=on&autono=45269

Neesa Leisure to invest Rs 250 cr to add 600 rooms

Courtesy: Hindu Business Line dt 23/8/08

For complete story click on the following link….

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/08/23/stories/2008082350580500.htm

Pride Hotels to expand hospitality chain

Courtesy: Hindu Business Line dt 22/8/08

For complete story click on the following link…

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/11/08/stories/2007110850761200.htm

Hospitality set to cost dear – to hike tariff by 10-50%

The Economic Times dt.14/8/08

For complete story click the following link

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Hotels_to_hike_tariffs_from_September_by_50_/articleshow/3362638.cms

Rohini Hotels expands to Bangalore, Hyderabad , Andaman, Kochi….

Courtesy: Hindu Business Line dt 14/8/08

For complete story click the following link

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/08/14/stories/2008081451820500.htm

Sarovar Hotels to raise Rs 800 crore through SPV

Business Standard dt.13/8/08

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts will raise Rs 700-Rs 800 crore to fund its expansion plan that involves more than doubling its hotel count to 100 from the current 35 hotels in the country.

For complete story click on the following link

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=331239

Tourist accommodation in short supply

Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line dt 10/8/08

The surging demand for accommodation for tourists indicates that the present capacity will need to be doubled over the next five years.

The flow of tourists into the State has been growing at an average of 21 per cent year after year and the annual income from the sector has reached Rs 10,000 crore. Last year, 5.15 lakh foreign and 60 lakh domestic tourists visited the State, according to Dr V. Venu, Tourism Secretary….. to read more click on the following link

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/iw/2008/08/10/stories/2008081050691700.htm

Indian Hotels, ITC, EIH to expand footprint led by tourism growth

Hindu Business Line dt.10/8/08

9 Anticipating continued growth of the tourism sector, three of the leading domestic hotel chains — The Indian Hotels Co Ltd (which owns the Taj brand), ITC Ltd (with its Welcomgroup chain) and EIH Ltd (Trident brand) — are increasing their footprint, either on their own or through management contracts…… To read more click on the following link

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/08/10/stories/2008081051220600.htm

Gopinath plans foray into hospitality business

Mini Joseph Tejaswi & Anshul Dhamija TNN
Courtesy: Times of India 07/08/08

Bangalore: After having crafted a new space in the Indian aviation realm, Captain G R Gopinath is entering the hospitality business.
He with a couple of others, has incubated a hospitality venture to set up a countrywide chain of mid-tier business hotels and resorts.
The promoters are targeting to build the country's largest mid-tier business hospitality chain of some 1,000 hotels across 100 cities and towns over a span of ten years.
Each hotel will have about 125 rooms and will need an investment of up to Rs 50 crore.
The other promoters are Madhu Konety, an investment banker from the US, and Girish Rao, former head of Tangerin Hospitality and former marketing head of Leela Hotels, Palaces & Resorts. Konety has interest and investments in India, Europe and the US.
‘‘It would be tough for the company to develop such a large chain on its own. Therefore, the plan is to adopt multiple models including completely (land and brand) owned hotels or just brand-owned, franchised hotels. Acquisitions are also planned,'' said a source at a merchant bank.
When contacted, Gopinath confirmed he was entering the hospitality business but refused to divulge details. Sources said an official announcement is expected in September.
The promoters are currently talking to leading private equity players and institutional investors for funds, said sources.

Gandikota: Now on the tourism map

Courtesy: Times of India 07/08/08

Hyderabad: The AP government has opened one more door for investment in the state. This time in tourism sector, one of the booming sectors in world economy. To fulfill the objective of promoting tourism in the state and strengthen the economy of backward areas like Kadapa, government intends to develop an ‘Integrated Tourism snd Township Project’ on the bank of Penna river, situated amidst serene natural surroundings of the historic Gandikota Fort, Kadapa District Andhra Pradesh.
The proposed development is envisaged in 800 hectares of land situated between two hill slopes, and on the banks of Penna river. The proposed development will mainly focus on active recreational experience to cater to the tourism aspect in the form of a theme park, amusement park, water park and so on along with adventure tourism components and creation of social infrastructure for the region.
The other project components, which are likely to be integrated with the main theme are knowledge city, integrated township, ITES park, medicity (medical tourism), film city, sport city, science city and any other facility compatible with the main theme.
The project is proposed to be implemented through public private partnership (PPP) format and the developer will be selected through a competitive bidding process. APTDC has already started the process for selection of developer by inviting ‘Global Expression of Interest’ from developers.
A Greenfield International Airport in the district is proposed in addition to upgrading the existing airstrip in Kadapa Town. All these proposed developments in the district envisage large-scale employment generation and overall socio-economic growth resulting in demand for better facilities.
The proposed development is one of its kinds in the region which will benefit the region and will be a start for positive transformation of the region. Through the promotion and development of mega tourism project in the backward areas of Kadapa district, Government of Andhra Pradesh and APTDC wish to create more employment opportunities for the local people and regional economic development. The estimated Rs 600 crores investment in the tourism zone of proposed development will create around 12,600 jobs including around 7,200 direct jobs in the region.
APTDC is also planning to propose the project as a part of larger tourist circuit covering important tourism destinations of Humpi, Tirupati and Puttaparti in its ambit. Gandikota is likely going to become the epicenter of potentially promising tourism destinations of South India.

Kochi Tops in International Traffic International traffic grows at jet speed

Nirbhay Kumar & Vishakha Talreja
NEW DELHI
Courtesy: The Economic Times – 6/8/08

SOARING crude price may have hiked tariffs and pushed passenger traffic in the domestic aviation sector into the negative growth orbit, but it has failed to dent the morale of international air travellers. According to government data, international traffic continued to grow at a healthy clip during April-June, touching 20% in some airports like Kochi. International traffic from Chennai increased 13.3% while the busy Delhi airport witnessed a 8% growth. In comparison, domestic traffic across the country witnessed a negative growth in June. In the case of Chennai airport, domestic traffic declined by 5.24% during April-June while Delhi managed to stay in the positive turf with 8% growth.
“Even if the overall growth in the sector has stunted due to high cost of flying, airfare on international routes has significantly moderated. Airlines might have effected an increase in fuel surcharge due to soaring jet fuel price, but overall fares have remained more or less the same,” Singapore Airlines spokesperson said.
While capacity in the domestic sector has been cut 15%, international carriers have almost maintained their capacity on the routes connecting India. Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways are planing to increase their flights to India.
“Trade and commerce activities between India and the Middle-East has been growing. This means more and more people flying between the two points. In fact, supply is lower than the demand on India-Gulf sectors. If we have more opportunity to fly in terms of traffic rights we would further expand our operation in India. There is significant growth on India-Middle-East sector as compared to Europe and other countries in Asia Pacific,” Etihad Airways vice-president (communication) Iain Burns said.
Domestic air traffic has dipped significantly, thanks to increasing fuel surcharge and airlines withdrawing capacity from short-haul sectors. For the first time in three years, domestic traffic declined 4% in June. Domestic carriers flew 35.6-lakh passengers in June as against 36.5 lakh during the same period last year.
Says CAPA India head Kapil Kaul: “Going forward, in Q2 domestic traffic will dip by 10-15% whereas international will register modest growth. International traffic will witness this growth as Jet Airways and Air India Express are expanding and also Kingfisher will start flying on international routes. The international traveller is insulated from fare hike and double digit inflation. At the same time, owing to airfare increase, domestic traffic, especially on short-haul sectors such as Delhi-Mumbai has been affected.”

Etihad launches flights to Chennai

ETIHAD Airways, the national airline of the UAE, recently launched daily flight services from Abu Dhabi to Chennai, taking its number of Indian destinations to six, reports Our Bureau from Chennai. The airline has already been flying to Delhi and Mumbai.

15% increase in hotel booking in Kerala

(news courtesy Malayala Manorama dt 2/8/08)

Despite terrorist threat the tourist inflow to Kerala has shown a 15% increase compared to last year for 4 months from April. April-September is being promoted as the Dream Season to attract more tourists into the state during off-season.

The current status of hotel booking in Kerala shows that the trends looks upward till September.

From September to March the peak tourist season starts in Kerala. During December this year Kochi is also hosting Volvo Ocean Race which will make the room bookings more than supply.