Category Archives: Trends

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), has signed a management agreement with Devatva for Holiday Inn Dehradun Mussoorie Diversion Road. Located on the main road that leads to Mussoorie, one of the most popular hill station in northern India, the hotel will open its doors and welcome guests in 2023. Popularly known as the gateway city of Uttarakhand, Dehradun is home to some of the most prestigious education institutions in India and is a popular tourist destination attracting domestic travellers for holidays.  The city has grown in popularity as a destination for MICE, attracting business from both corporate and social events segments. Additionally, setting up of small to medium scale industries in the state, in the last five to six years has boosted corporate travel into Dehradun and neighbouring regions. Adding to the convenience of the guests, the new Holiday Inn hotel will be located at a 20 minutes’ drive from the city centre and only a 50 minutes’ drive away from the nearest airport. Given the strategic location, the hotel will be well positioned to cater to the demands from both leisure and corporate travelers visiting Dehradun.

Radisson Hotel Group has announced an agreement with Zdrojowa Invest & Hotels group for two new-build Radisson resorts in Poland. The hotels span the country, from the foothills of the Karkonosze Mountains in Szklarska Poręba to the northern Baltic coast in Kołobrzeg. The hotels will be part of the upscale Radisson brand, bringing the group’s portfolio in Poland to 18 properties across five brands – including Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson and Park Inn by Radisson. Zdrojowa Invest & Hotels and Radisson Hotel Group have been partners since the 2017 opening of the Radisson Blu Resort, Świnoujście. Based on the success of the collaboration, Radisson Hotel Group will work hand-in-hand with Zdrojowa to develop and deliver new hotels. Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said: “We are excited to have signed this country development agreement with Zdrojowa Invest & Hotels group and thank them for their trust in our brands and people. We are glad to strengthen our position as the largest international operator for leisure destinations in Poland and look forward to working with our partners on future development projects.”

OYO Hotels & Homes has announced that Founder & CEO (Group), Ritesh Agarwal, through RA Hospitality Holdings (Cayman), has signed $2 billion primary and secondary management investment round, supported by global institutional banks and his financial partners, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. This year, the company has seen a 4.4x YOY growth in revenue in June 2019 (vs. June 2018), with 1 million rooms under management across hotels and homes; with over 200,000 rooms in India. The company’s strong growth, improved margins, superior improvements in customer experience led to this move, making it one of the first founder and executive-led management purchases in the technology and hospitality sector, globally. Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Sequoia India, OYO’s early supporters, are selling part of their holdings in order to help the founder increase his stake and thereby commitment while remaining invested significantly in the company’s long-term mission

Marriott International will launch its first Aloft-branded property in Nepal next month, the 167-room Aloft Kathmandu Thamel. The hotel will be managed by Shanti Hospitality Management Services, a vertical of India’s Shanti Hospitality Group which manages multiple brands across locations. Once open, the hotel will house a fine-dining restaurant, an all-day diner, a spa, a temperature-controlled swimming pool, and a banquet facility for conferences and gatherings. Aloft Kathmandu Thamel is located just six kilometres from Kathmandu’s international airport, making it a convenient stay option for those visiting the city.

With one boutique hotel in Phaltan, Maharashtra which is dedicated to sustainable hospitality, Jakson Hospitality has now opened its second property called ‘The Tiger Groove in Jim Corbett’ and expects to put the same values into its new offering so that it grows up to influence all its stakeholder similarly. Sandeep Talaulicar, Managing Director, Jakson Hospitality, says, “We look forward to repositioning The Tiger Groove into a wilderness resort that creates memories for everyone that sleeps and eats in its arms. This is the dream on which we plan to build this hotel.” Located in the Kyari forest of Jim Corbett, ‘The Tiger Groove Corbett’ is positioned as a Jakson Resort and categorised under the mid-market segment. It is located 8km from Ramnagar and set almost 6km into the forest which makes one feel completely connected with nature. Built on three acres, the hotel has 50 rooms across five variants including luxury cottages that sleep four per cottage. The resort has a coffee shop, a swimming pool, a games area, a party hub, lawns that can host 500 pax, a banquet hall measuring 4500 sqft, and a host of adventure activities ranging from safaris to treks, biking, nature walks, para motor gliding, rock-climbing, rappelling, river crossing, etc.

In a bid to expand its footprint in India, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has plans to come up with 16 new properties by the end of 2019. With this move, it will be adding approximately 970 rooms to its current portfolio. As of now, the company has 6,000 rooms and manages three properties overseas and has a total of 73 hotels in the country. The upcoming hotels will be categorised under three brands— Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar Portico and Hometel Suites. These hotels will be located in multiple destinations which include Goa, Dehradun, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Udaipur, Junagadh, Dahisar, Dibrugarh, Morbi, Jammu, Bodh Gaya, and Dindi, among others. Amongst the 16 hotels, the majority will be under the Sarovar Portico brand, the hotel at Dahisar will be under Hometel Suites, while the property at Bodh Gaya will be under the Sarovar Premiere brand.

Hong Kong-headquartered, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is targeting to open five more hotels in India by 2024. Shangri-La has two hotels in the country, in Delhi and Bengaluru, and is scouting for various locations including Mumbai, Goa, Kolkata and Hyderabad, said its Executive Vice President for the Middle East, India & Indian Ocean, John Northern. “The important thing for us is to find the right partner. Out two hotels in India are also under a management contract,” he added. (Source: PTI)

Radisson Hotel Group has announced the signing of the first Radisson-branded hotel in Georgia. The Radisson Tbilisi City Centre is set to arrive in Georgia’s capital in 2021. Alongside 200 guest rooms, the Radisson Tbilisi City Centre will also feature a restaurant, a bar and a meeting space equipped with the latest audio-visual technology (not to mention free high-speed Wi-Fi). With its variety of facilities, the hotel is expected to attract both business and leisure guests to the center of Georgia’s capital city. Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer for Radisson Hotel Group, said:“We are excited to bring a Radisson to Georgia which will complement the three existing properties that we have in the country, including the recently opened Radisson Collection. A warm welcome for our owners, Block Invest, to our family’’

In January 2019, ibis paved the way for a new kind of hospitality refocused on social interaction in order to satisfy the new expectations of customers. With a warm and personalised welcome and spaces that are entirely open to the outside world, ibis is developing its model and moving from a uniform and standardized approach to one that is more flexible and tailored. Ibis Tallinn Center, the first hotel to feature the brand’s new design standards Located right in the heart of the Estonian capital and opened on June 1, ibis Tallinn Center is the first ibis hotel in Estonia to feature the brand’s new hospitality experience. This begins in the lobby with a new check-in system, where “welcomers” greet guests and complete the mobile check-in process in a warm and relaxed atmosphere. The hotel features 190 guestrooms accommodating 1 to 6 people, with the new design, created by the studio INNOCAD ARCHITECTURE, combining modularity and flexibility to ensure that “home away from home” feel. The latest dining concept is also on offer at Charlie’s Corner the perfect location for both staying guests and locals to socialize. Charlie’s Corner is a beer-themed bar, where the menu changes depending on the time of day. In the morning, customers can enjoy a coffee, while in the evening they can discover the Beer Wall and its wide selection, with the bar open 24/7. Ibis places the customer experience at the heart of its strategy This hotel embodies the ibis brand’s new positioning, which places the customer experience right at the heart of its strategy. It offers travelers and locals an entirely new experience focused on hospitality, openness to the neighborhood and promoting social …

There are currently 295 properties and 44,119 rooms in India’s pipeline, representing a 15.4% increase on existing supply. The majority of this growth is expected to come from international brands, said STR Spokesperson- data and analytics specialist in an exclusive interview to Hospitality Breaking News. The growth of a number of established international hotel brands has been evident in India over the past 7 or 8 years and is showing little sign of stopping. In September 2018, IHG announced their goal to have 150 Indian hotels (both operational and in the pipleline), within 2 to 3 years, while Hyatt announced plans to open 14 new hotels over the next 2 years in March 2019. As recently as April of this year, Marriot stated that it has 50 hotels in the pipeline and could open more than that.