Meet on tourism, hospitality management at GITAM

On March 27 and 28, GITAM Hyderabad Business School is organizing a two-day international conference on ‘Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management’ in association with Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC).

Anand Bethapudi said the two-day events will have specific objectives like:

• Providing an interdisciplinary forum on tourism and hospitality designing,

• Sustainability of destinations for practitioners and academicians;

• Fostering dialogue among various stakeholders;

• Proposing multidisciplinary strategies for economic, socio-political, cultural and institutional changes;

• Allowing stakeholders to share their experiences and research outcomes;

• Discussing the complexities encountered in promoting tourism and development destinations; and

• Converging local-global partners for future research collaborations.

Hospitality Will Match India's Robust Growth

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) pegs India at no. 3 out of 185 countries of the world in terms of the travel and tourism industry’s total contribution to GDP during 2018. Demand largely depends on business travelers but tourist traffic is also on the rise because of a plethora of distinct leisure experiences that India has to offer like adventure, wellness, spiritual and eco-tourism.

The rising middle-class and increasing disposable incomes continue to support the growth of domestic and outbound tourism.

Competition is fierce in metros and Tier-I cities, while supply is slowly growing in Tier-II and Tier-III cities

Challenges and Disruptors

• Shortage of supply in the budget and mid-market segment 

•  Technology, digital innovation, and automation 

• The satisfaction of a guest and being part of their individual universe

  Smart Everything

• Adoption of smart technology - from operations to guest experience to marketing

• Remote check-in/check-out processes, mobile room keys, and smart room service systems are all enhancing guest conveniences.

• It is used to reduce operational costs and exploit new sources of revenue

• They capture real-time data to track and optimize energy consumption

  .The Decade Ahead

•  The hospitality industry will be a key revenue and employment generator

• Supply will emerge in Tier-II, III and IV markets

• Tier III-IV markets would become more sensitive to branded hotels there will be an increase in leisure getaways

• In key metros and Tier-I cities, mixed-use development projects comprising hospitality, commercial, residential and retail components would become more popular

  The Fortune List

• The rising number of business travelers and millennials emphasizing work-life balance, there is a huge scope in the mid-scale segment

• Its emphasis will be on strengthening the brand by expanding its portfolio with the right partners in the right markets

Nicholas Dumbell appointed as a General Manager -The St. Regis Mumbai

Nick is a multi-cultural global citizen with 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry

A veteran hotelier, Nicholas Dumbell, ‘Nick, as he is better known,’ is driven by passion and creativity.

He commenced his career in London with leading International hospitality chains, he soon became a part of  Marriott International’s myriad brands spanning the last two decades and has a proven record of implementing strategic initiatives delivering financial success in tandem with customer satisfaction

He will lead the dynamic luxury team to sustain the hotel’s positioning as one of the most awarded hotels and as the preferred destination for the social elite and focus on steering the team to drive revenue and maintain the property’s reputation of having the highest turnover in  South Asia while ensuring guest voice scores remain a priority for The St. Regis Mumbai.

Vivek Sharma appointed as a General Manager -Renaissance Ahmedabad

Extensive experience of more than 20 years in the hospitality industry Vivek Sharma joined as the General Manager at the Renaissance Ahmadabad. He is committed to providing strategic leadership expertise that ensures effective and efficient overall management at the hotel.

Prior to joining Renaissance, Vivek led the Hyatt Regency Ahmadabad for close to three years where he positioned the hotel to be the preferred choice for Heads of State and to cater to high profile large events.

He began his career with ITC Maurya, a Luxury Collection Hotel in 1999 as Assistant Manager - Food & Beverage.

He has led high performing teams as General Manager with multiple Hilton and Hyatt properties including opening the first DoubleTree Suites by Hilton of Asia Pacific

He believes in constant evolution, innovation, and collaborative leadership thereby achieving results through people.

Hyatt Regency Delhi powers up for an eco-friendly future

Hyatt Regency Delhi is the first of many to be a plastic-free hotel and to introduce e-charging stations for electric cars with an aim to reduce their carbon footprint

A plastic-free hotel

The fully-automated water bottling plant at Hyatt Regency Delhi endeavors to eradicate approximately 1.08 million plastic bottles a year, by making the switch to reusable glass bottles! This process saves 28 tons of plastic waste every year

This fully automated plant can produce up to 500 bottles of water per hour

In a separate 500-liter tank, water is passed through a separate UV machine and 0.45-micron filter, to ensure that it is fit for drinking

The power of a million is a sustainable promise, keeping in mind the best interests of its patrons and our beautiful planet!

Electric charging points for electric cars

Hyatt Regency Delhi has become one of the few hotels to introduce e-charging stations for electric cars to provide a solution to the growing need of car charging points for electric cars and to propagate and encourage a sustainable and healthy lifestyle for their guests

It is a part of its sustainability initiative.

10 e-charging stations are currently available at the hotel and each one of them takes about 8-10 hours to fully charge any car

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts strengthens its foothold across EMEA region with new openings; also enters new markets

They strengthened their hotel footprints across Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA), with important new openings and a series of new market entries over the past year their  expansion included a number of important markets such as Greece, Germany, Portugal, Georgia as well as the Middle East, Africa, and India

It also ramped up its presence across the Middle East and Africa

They also announced three new hotels in Dubai as part of the Deira Waterfront Development by (Ithra) Dubai

In India seven new opening across important locations such as New Delhi, Bangalore, and Jaipur

The key openings by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts:

Comwell Aarhus, Dolce by Wyndham, Denmark: First hotel in the country is set near the harbour, surrounded by cosy cafes and restaurants

La Quinta by Wyndham Istanbul Gunesli, Turkey: It opened in December 2019

In 2020 they are planning to include more Super 8 by Wyndham hotels in Mainz and Augsburg (Germany)

Soneva opens recycling centers across Maldivian Islands

The resort operator Soneva is aiming to stop open burning of waste in the Maldives for that he has announced the launch of its Namoona Baa initiative, a drive to open recycling centers at islands across the Maldives

The islands of Dharavandhoo and Kihaadhoo in the Baa Atoll will receive ‘eco-centers’ to help with environmentally-friendly waste management and putting a stop to open burning of waste

The centers will allow workers to sort, recycle and reuse island waste and each member of each of the three islands’ councils pledged to end open burning at a workshop held at Soneva Fushi

Soneva used funds from its Soneva Save our Seas program “Maalhos can now produce wealth from its waste.

This is just the beginning, and we will roll out the eco-centers to Dharavandhoo and Kihaadhoo this year, and working with the government hopes to extend the project to the whole of Baa Atoll – making it truly Namoona Baa,”

Tourist visas in UAE will now be issued for a period of five years

Multiple-entry tourist visas will now be issued for five years earlier it was with a validity of 30 or 90 days for all nationalities being UAE as an international tourist destination, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum decided this so that the system of issuing tourist visa comes in a bid to support the UAE’s tourism economy, and establish the country’s position as a global tourist destination and it is also associated with the government’s wider plans to prepare the country for the next 50 years of development

Roseate Hotels Forays In Coworking, Opens Premium Space In Delhi

Owned and operated by the Bird Group, Roseate Hotels & Resorts opened its first premium segment of co-working space in one of its properties in New Delhi named Upstage Club is spread over 30K sq ft and offers more than 100 desks to startups and companies pricing for the desks, at the co-working space, starts from INR 60K per month

They have changed the traditional way of working. With beanbags, cafes libraries, among other offerings, the shared way of working is attracting millennium and is matching up with the startup culture

 In the first quarter of this year, the coworking space witnessed a 277% an upsurge in leasing to nearly 3 Mn sq ft as expected it will grow up by 70% every quarter

The competition has got really tough over the years as a competitor like WeWork, Innov8 backed by OYO Workspaces, 91springboard, and Awfis are giving tough competition so what new strategies they will implement to grow & survive in the market.

Mr Vikas Mehra Promoted to Director - Global Sourcing & International Placements

Connect with him

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eclatvikasmehra/

vikas.mehra@eclathospitality.com

Café Delhi Heights to set up smaller format stores

Vikrant Batra, co-founder said that they will set up smaller formats of its flagship brand as part of its expansion blueprint, where “Lower rentals, quicker break-even and servicing from centralized kitchens will give us more efficiencies on top line and profitability” We intend to go to markets where capex is low.

The expansion will involve a mix of large and smaller format outlets, gradually to tap captive markets with relatively lower spending such as universities. Railway stations and airports are the other potential channels

We have to raise funds internally and have to maintain the cross sale of Rs 100 crore in 2019-20.

A food service report by National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) estimates the industry at over Rs 4 lakh crore in FY19, forecasted to grow to Rs 5.5 lakh crore by 2021

The government slashed GST rates on restaurants to 5% from 18% in November 2017

The withdrawal of the input tax credit has been a big setback on profitability and margins

World Luxury Hotel Awards

InterContinental Hanoi Westlake is proud to have won a World Luxury Hotel Awards in three the successive year 2017, 2018 and 2019

The pinnacle of achievement in the luxury hotel industry offering international recognition as voted by guests, travelers and industry players alike

OYO Reports $604 Mn Revenue In India With $83 Mn Loss In FY19

OYO says its business across markets is evolving across three key growth stages.

• Stage one: In this stage, the focus of the company is on scale and presence.

• Stage two: Here the major focus is on creating a strong brand resonance and ensuring improved gross margin.

• Stage three: In mature markets such as India, where OYO will focus on maintaining a strong brand presence and recall while ensuring a clear path to profitability, operational excellence, and a strong gross margin.

  Oyo Business Insight:

• The company reduced its losses from 24% to 14% of revenue in FY19

• OYO hosted over 180 Mn guests from over 120 nationalities in the calendar year 2019.

• India contributes to 63.5% of fiscal revenue while international markets generate 36.5% of total revenue

• Increase in both daily guest check-ins across its network as well as an increase in hotels and asset owners across the world,

• In 2019, over 90% revenue coming from repeat and organic users with repeat alone contributing to 73% of revenues

• Gross margin increased from 10.6% in FY18 to 14.7% in FY19, it indicates that the strength of its business model and a positive correlation between market share and economics

Trident Hyderabad and The Oberio Sukhvilas, Chandigarh win the “Chairman’s Trophy” for 2018 -19

Trident, Hyderabad and the Oberoi Sukhvilas, Chandigarh best hotels, won the “Chairman’s Trophy” for 2018 -19 they performed extraordinary for achieving this title.

Parameters on which they are qualified are as follow:

• Achieving high levels of guest satisfaction measured by the “Net Promoter Score” on guest questionnaires.

• Achieving high-quality standard based on” Leading Quality Assurance Audits.”

• Exceeding the financial performance budgeted for the year.

• Achieving high levels of employee engagement score (People Pulse)

An Incredible Journey “ 2018-19”

OYO Hotels & Homes elevates Gaurav Ajmera as COO, India & South Asia

Oyo Hotels & Homes appoint Gaurav Ajmera as Chief Operating 0fficer (COO) comes into high-quality from May 1, 2019

The mission behind this is to move a step closer to its goal of becoming the world’s largest and most preferred chain.

“In a short span of six years, we have expanded its footprints to over 800 cities in 80 countries. We have a robust, resilient and diversified group of leaders who personify distributed leadership. As we continue to grow from strength to strength and tap new opportunities, we need leaders who are passionate to create an impact and bring with them an entrepreneurial mindset so appointing him as COO will take us one step closer to our mission.

He is one of the early OYOpreneurs and individual at the back of the company’s growth and growth across Country during his 4-year stint as the head of the north region

His incredible insights and experience along with his customer-first and innovation-driven approach make him an excellent choice for this role. His appointment further strengthens OYO’s South Asia leadership that is dedicated and focused towards building the most loved and preferred hospitality brand.”

Reporting into Aditya Ghosh, chief executive officer, India & South Asia, OYO Hotels & Homes

As a key partner his responsibility are :

• Building and driving world-class capability in revenue management,

• Driving offline sales and

• Overall delivery of excellent customer experience for the core franchise business.

  Let’s know something about him

  Gaurav, a fitness enthusiast holds a B.Tech and M.Tech degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Before OYO, He had a successful stint with Schlumberger.

Impact of "New Business Model" by IHCL on Investors →

Investors in IHCL seem to be betting on its asset-light strategy.

Step taken by IHCL for Hotel Industry brought lot of changes in Market a major shift from Traditional Strategy to Asset Light Strategy focus on Equity Investment on those where an organization's expertise achieves the best return for investors.

Benefit of this Strategy are:

• Positive impact on investors

• IHCL and EIH Ltd have outperformed the Nifty Midcap Index on a one-year horizon

• Higher Returns on Investment (ROI)

• Ebitda (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization) rose by 16% after the implementation of Indian Accounting Standards -116 norms

• Higher operating performance implied costs are being in control.

• “Traction in new signings continued with addition of 1,257 rooms in Q1FY20 (April-June) across seven cities, which took the pipeline to 4,500-plus rooms (FY19: 4,000 rooms)."  According to Edelweiss Securities Ltd.

• Seven new contracts in Q1 added

• Occupancy rates in the industry moved up by 3% points to 69% year-on-year in FY2019, according to data from ICRA Ltd.

• UK & US business remain in cloud .

• Earnings Per Share (ERP) Increase by 35% average compounded rate due to Margin Expansion and Lower Capex Intensity.

source : ET

Vietnam Unveils Plans For Stunning Luxury Ecopark Resort

The award-winning architecture firm Chapman Taylor was recently given the green light to build an ecopark resort in Mui Dinh, the sleepy, sandy coastal town in southeastern Vietnam. The resort will cover 1,800 acres and consist of six resort hotels, one boutique hotel, a casino, a theme park, 500 ocean-facing villas, a beach club and a mountain clubhouse. When it’s all said and done, that’s 7,000 rooms of brand new hospitality plunking itself into an as-yet-undeveloped slice of southeastern Vietnam.

AISSMS CHMCT’s Grand Finale of the 12th edition of Atithya 2020

Winners of Champion of Champions Trophy- Team IHM Kolkata along with Shri Malojiraje Chhatrapati Hon.Secretary AISSM Society, Chief Guest Mr. Girish Sehgal , GM J.W.Marriott Pune, Dr. Sonali Jadhav Principal AISSMS CHMCT and  AISSM Society's Office Bearers.

Atithya 2020 closed on a high gambling note, complete with much ballyhoo and delight.

The third day opened with a game-changer competition ‘Match Thy Wits’. The teams with top 10 scores participated. In all participants contested in 12 competitions for a total score of 700. Some of our prominent Jury included celebrity Chef Shailendra Kekade and the sprity female bartenders Ms.Kasturi Banerjee and Ms.Khushnaaz Raghina

The Champion of champions was IHM Kolkatta, the 1 st runner up team was Jindal School of HM, Vadodara and the 2 nd runner up Bharati Vidyapeeth IHMCT, Pune.

The Chief Guest for Atithya 2020 Awards Night, Mr Girish Sehgal General Manager J.W. Marriott Pune, applauded the efforts of the faculty, staff and the students and congratulated the management. His words of encouragement were heartfelt and will be cherished by students in years to come.

Shri.  Malojiraje Chhtrapati, Hon. Secretary, AISSM Society, who presided over the function was generous in his praise for the event. He stated “I truly appreciate the efforts of entire AISSMS CHMCT team. He also added that the event has become bigger and better with each passing year.   The evening unfolded into a grand gala dinner positioned on a casino theme called ‘High Stakes” The food, the décor, the entertainment added to all the fun and frolic.

The organizing team was led by the following students of the Final year:

Food Production : Shubhankar Shellar, Bhushan Gavit

Food and Beverage Service : Samarjeet Sawant, Arpit Pradhan

Rooms Division : Sourabh Kothawade, Krutarth Naik

Marketing: Rushikesh Patil

Branding: Mayank Borkar, Pinac Bhat

Cultural: Nitish Nagarkar, Mansi Pande

Travel and Registration: Ayush Patwardhan, Rudra Patil

Competition: Tanmay Malusare, Prachi Jain, Jitendriya Dandekar, Sai Patki, Swarali Isware, Kaustubh Darekar

Lounge and Cafeteria : Mayur Mote, Avishkar Bhadauria

Stores : Shaunak Kanchan

Printing : Rajan Ambadkar

The event was supported by Savitribai Phule Pune University.

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