While wellness-related facilities and activities used to be considered luxury offerings, hospitality industry executives note that it has now become a mainstream expectation among guests.
During this summer, Indian travel buffs are opting for destinations that provide an escape from the ominous heat, along with coastal regions within the country and countries offering visa-free travel.
The company is expanding across five brands, from its Formula One budget brand and Ibis economy hotel brand to the upmarket ones of Novotel, Sofitel and Pullman.
Australian hotel major Accor, with its joint venture partner Interglobe, has earmarked Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) for constructing mid-scale and economy hotels in Tier I and Tier II cities of the country.
With an eye at opening a chain of economy hotels in India, InterGlobe Enterprises of India and European hotel chain, Accor have entered into a 60:40 joint venture envisaging an investment of Rs 850 crore (Rs 8.5 billion) over a period of 10-12 years.
Emaar MGF and Accor on Monday announced a joint venture to bring the Formule 1 brand of budget hotels to India. The new venture, Budget Hotels India, has planned investments of $300 million over ten years.
'Demand in India has been outstripping supply.'
Rising real estate costs and lack of good locations in cities are driving hotel companies to rent space in malls and other commercial complexes. For instance, Accor Hotels is in talks with mall developers to build its Formulae 1 brand of budget hotels at the topfloor of malls in tier I and tier II cities.
Many leading hospitality companies looking at expansion are either deferring launches or stalling projects on the back of various challenges including fund crunch and roadblocks in getting permits.
India's hospitality sector is rolling out the red carpet for investors. A flurry of upcoming IPOs, or initial public offerings, the entry of new players, and ambitious expansion plans by Indian and global hotel brands are ushering in what could be the industry's most formalised era yet. Leading the charge are real estate titans, who are turning their hotel arms into global hospitality chains.
This recognition is a testimony of India's strong belief in promoting entrepreneurship
The world's first online hotel reference tool dedicated to Muslim travellers has been launched in Abu Dhabi.
The Old War Office (OWO) of Britain's World War II era prime minister Winston Churchill opened its doors as a brand-new luxury hotel in London with a glittering launch event, complete with surprise musical performances by musicians Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Andrea Bocelli. Princess Anne - the Princess Royal, the sister of King Charles III, officially unveiled the plaque for The OWO after a tour of the hotel with Hinduja Group co-chairman GP Hinduja on Tuesday evening. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also made a quick stopover, along with parliamentarians, entrepreneurs, hoteliers and stars of film and television.
Large chains like the Marriott and Taj that are estimated to consume two million plastic bottles a year have taken a conscious decision to first eliminate PET bottles on their premises and then reduce the use of single-use plastic altogether, saying they are all for a sustainably environment-friendly tomorrow.
Hospitality chains are hosting dual brands on one property, looking for operational efficiencies without diluting their brands, says Shivani Shinde Nadhe.
Currently, there are related party transactions in four areas -- real estate leased to IGAL, simulator training facilities, General Sales Agreements (GSAs) for limited foreign markets and crew accommodation at Accor Hotels, the IGE statement said. Citing unaudited numbers for 2018-19, the statement said the related party transactions in the four areas accounted for Rs 150.12 crore or 0.53 per cent of IGAL's consolidated turnover.
From free salons to discounted room rates, hotels are offering it all.
Accor president and chief operating officer Yann Caillere is delighted to have, after some initial hiccups, finally found the right partners in India for developing hotels to be run under its brand.
International hoteliers are betting big on budget hotels in Asia.
After a better-than-expected Dussehra weekend, hospitality firms are hopeful of ending the year on a positive note by doing good business over Christmas and the New Year. Typically, year-end bookings kick in two to four weeks before the season begins. Owing to pandemic-related uncertainties, hotels are seeing a significant reduction in the booking window, with travellers waiting till the last minute to make hotel reservations.
Encouraged by a steady recovery seen in the first two weeks of February, hospitality firms expect the business hotels in metros including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad that have been lagging the leisure hotels in terms of revenue per available room (RevPar) to catch up in the coming months. Huge pent-up demand for MICE (meetings, incentives, conference and exhibitions) as companies slowly return to hosting physical events coupled with easing of the recently announced restrictions on international travel, will also help in getting closer to pre-Covid levels of revenue, they said. The Omicron wave that peaked in January had derailed the strong month-on-month recovery seen by the hotels since August.
With demand drying up, hotels are surviving on quarantine centres and isolation facilities.
Hoteliers are tweaking their pricing strategies to adjust to the new stickiness in the market.
Chef Sudhakar adds a touch of sweetness to Diwali celebrations.
There are approximately 300 million domestic travellers each year and this number is expected to grow by 10-15 per cent every year.
Make this treat a part of your Republic Day celebration.
'I have the feeling that people [are] starting more and more to... respect what he has done in tennis more and more, because he continues to beat the records'.
The strident support from the hotels comes at a time when the industry is itself caught off guard with a sharp dip in both in-bound traffic from foreign markets, reduced domestic traction as well as a total shut-down of MICE business that has led the country top players by market cap to lose over half their value in just a little over a month.
Shreekant Sambrani remembers P R S 'Biki' Oberoi, personal friend and hospitality icon, who passed into the ages this week.
All the results from the matches played in the BNP Paribas Paris Masters on Tuesday
The data shows the average room rate of two-star hotels increased by 8.5 per cent in FY18, even though it lagged on occupancy at 61.8 per cent, down 1.4 per cent year-on-year
Given the hotel's prime location, it is obvious that there will be some serious bidders trying their luck when an auction is held in the second half of this calendar year.
Pop star Mariah Carey paid an emotional tribute to her friend Prince.
What India's top restaurants are doing to satisfy your food cravings.
The renovations at the old hotels will be complete in two and a half years and tariffs will range between Rs 2,500 and Rs 4,000
About Rs 12,000 crore are stuck in India's first hotel district, Delhi's Aerocity, because of red tape.
Time to celebrate the humble sweet potato. Extremely versatile, it lends itself for a festive dessert.
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