West Bengal could be the Bharatiya Janata Party's real test case of its business-friendly policies, points out Kanika Datta.
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.
After three post-pandemic years of an upcycle, it was a mixed bag for the realty sector in 2025, with sales volumes in the residential real estate moderating across top cities, and commercial real estate and institutional investments emerging as standout performers. Residential: Volumes soften, value holds firm.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nuts, whiskey, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, cream... Can anything be more wicked?
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.
A few days back, Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India, presented a grim scenario of the crop's prospects in the 2024-25 season that starts in October. Addressing the association's annual general meeting, Ganatra said the area under the crop could go down by at least 10 per cent in the coming season due to falling yields and realisation, leading to farmers losing interest. The fear of a decline in acreage comes against the backdrop of India's cotton production probably falling to its lowest in a decade, according to estimates.
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.
From free salons to discounted room rates, hotels are offering it all.
This recognition is a testimony of India's strong belief in promoting entrepreneurship
Goa, Kerala, Maldives and Dubai are among the popular destinations.
With demand drying up, hotels are surviving on quarantine centres and isolation facilities.
The state is also the biggest market for TVS, another incumbent player, and together with Bajaj Auto, they accounted for 88 per cent of Maharashtra's total electric scooter sales last month. As many as 8,417 units were sold in Maharashtra in September. Bajaj Auto's contribution was 4,048 vehicles and that of TVS was 3,389, according to model- and state-wise data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
Shreekant Sambrani remembers P R S 'Biki' Oberoi, personal friend and hospitality icon, who passed into the ages this week.
It was August 2007. Tata Steel was turning 100. Jamshedpur, its hometown, had an air of celebration. The line-up for the special event included the launch of Air Deccan's commercial flight connecting Kolkata and Jamshedpur, and release of Russi Lala's new book, Romance of Tata Steel. There was also the screening of The Spirit of Steel, a 20-minute documentary directed by Zafar Hai showcasing Tata Steel's legacy, and a corporate anthem penned by Javed Akhtar and composed by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.
Of these, 150 million have not even completed primary education. Providing job-relevant vocational skills to these workers is a unique challenge that India faces, said the report.Vocational education from the secondary school level should be pursued, and efforts should be made to retrain 285 million adult workers with just primary schooling or less, according to Anu Madgavkar, senior fellow, McKinsey Global Institute.
What India's top restaurants are doing to satisfy your food cravings.
Roemer is currently the president of Centre for National Policy, a Washington-based think tank. An email sent to the CNP office of Roemer was not returned. Besides heading the CNP, Roemer serves on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, according to his bio-data posted on the CNP website.
Here is a compilation of some of the best photos from 2021...
'Demand in India has been outstripping supply.'
There are approximately 300 million domestic travellers each year and this number is expected to grow by 10-15 per cent every year.
Of the five towns planned, work is progressing in two, Dasve and Mogao.
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.
International hoteliers are betting big on budget hotels in Asia.
Let's take a look at some controversial fatwas.
Underworld don Abu Salem will remain in India as the top Portugal Court has observed that it was not obliged to extradite the gangster back to the European country after it was held there was violation of deportation rules by Indian authorities.
VIP security in Delhi will be trimmed very soon following a directive from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said.
Equating the accord with the Sharm-el-Sheikh joint statement between India and Pakistan, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley accused the government of 'spin doctoring' and trying to interpret the agreement differently.
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.
Nearly 60 per cent of married women in Bihar are victims of domestic violence, the highest in India, according to a survey by the Union Health and Family Affairs Ministry.An alarming 59 per cent of married women in Bihar suffer domestic violence with 50 per cent of wives enduring physical violence, 19 per cent sexual violence, two per cent emotional abuse and 59 per cent experiencing both physical and sexual violence.
Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and coach Javed Miandad were apparently upset over the latest illness to their strike bowler.
Hospitality chains are hosting dual brands on one property, looking for operational efficiencies without diluting their brands, says Shivani Shinde Nadhe.
