In Brief

Pride Goes To Bangalore

Pune-based Pride Hotels Pvt Ltd (PHPL) has confirmed plans to set up a 120-room hotel on Richmond Road, one of Bangalore's a prime localities. The hotel group has already purchased the land and expects to complete the greenfield project in the first quarter of 2006. Arun Nayar, vice-president - operations, (PHPL) says, "Construction has already begun on our 120-room Bangalore property. And once this hotel is up and running, we will start looking at other sites."

The group also plans to set up similar properties at Hyderabad, Chennai and Goa. Nayar says, "We prefer handling one project before we begin with another. So Hyderabad is on the anvil but only after Bangalore has been set up." The group already has three hotels - one each in Pune, Nagpur and Ahmedabad. While the property in Pune is branded as the Best Western Pride, the properties at Nagpur and Ahmedabad continue to be under the flagship brand name of the Pride.

Howard Johnson To Increase India Portfolio To 15 Hotels

Howard Johnson has confirmed plans on enlarging its imprint in another 15 Indian cities including Mumbai and other metros. The property in Goa and Puri would be the next on the cards, with Mumbai being very close on the heels of their expansion plans. The company also plans on launching their brand Howard Johnson Plaza their four-star brand and Howard Johnson Inn brand.

The company is already developing a three-star property in Puri, Orissa, which would be under the Howard Johnson Hotel brand, the same as their properties in Madumalai, Mysore and Ooty. Suharsh Bharadwaj, director of India operations, Howard Johnson says, "We are enlarging our portfolio slowly but surely. We are looking at setting up our properties in Puri, Goa and Mumbai very soon and the other metro cities as well." The company was supposed to finalise a hotel in Delhi on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road (a 60-room project) but the details on the development have not been made available. Bharadwaj also says, "We do plan on introducing the Howard Johnson Plaza a four-star property and are looking at the niche markets in B class and C class cities with hotels ranging from 60 to 80 rooms. Our prime target segment is the mid-market," says Bharadwaj.

Taj Enters Southeast Asia

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces marked its entry into Southeast Asia by recently entering a management contract with the Rebak Island Marina Berhad to operate and manage the Rebak Marina Resort, a 106-room resort in Langkawi, a cluster of 99 islands separated from the mainland of Malaysia by the Straits of Malacca. This is part of Taj's global strategy to establish its presence in key gateway cities and leisure destinations.

Raymond Bickson, managing director of The Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), said, " Our foray into Langkawi is a big step towards establishing a significant presence for the Taj brand in Southeast Asia."

Upon Taj assuming the day-to-day operations of the resort in several months, it will re-brand the property as a Taj premium leisure hotel. Simultaneously, the management will work with the owners to undertake a comprehensive US$5.26 million upgrade and renovation programme, which is scheduled to be completed over a period of 12 to 18 months.

Emirates Reaches For The Sky In Dubai

You would not expect an airline company to lose interest in altitude merely because it had crossed over into the hotel sector, and Emirates does not disappoint. Reports suggest that the company wants a five-star hotel it intends to build in Dubai to rise to 350 metres, a figure that would apparently gain the property on Sheikh Zayed Road an entry into the top five of the world's tallest hotels. Expectations are that the US$ 218 million 673-room property will be finished in 2008. The Sheikh Zayed Road will be the address from early 2006 of the Bavaria Executive Suites, which compensates for its relative lack of height (the building rises to a mere 40 storeys) with its offer of 2,100 suites. The property will be a first in the Middle East for German company Bavaria Hotels International.

RCI Affiliates The Club Mahindra Kodagu Valley Resort

RCI, the global provider of leisure travel services and leader in time-share holiday exchange, has affiliated The Club Mahindra Kodagu Valley Resort, Coorg. Situated 4,000 feet above the sea, the resort is set amidst the serene expanse of coffee plantations and lush valleys. With this affiliation, RCI now has 63 affiliated resorts in India providing its members a variety of holiday experiences.

"South India has a myriad of virgin beauty waiting to be explored and relatively unknown locations like Coorg, Hampi, Gokarna and Mysore are fast becoming popular destinations in Karnataka. The affiliation with Club Mahindra Kodagu Valley Resort is indicative of RCI's commitment to developing the south as a tourist destination. The new affiliation in Madikeri not only increases our footprint in the south but also introduces a new getaway for RCI members," said Radhika Shastry, general manager, RCI India operations.

Daman Hoteliers Unite To Change Perception Of The Destination

The Daman Hoteliers Association (DHA) is looking at giving the destination of Daman a facelift and changing its perception as an alcoholics paradise. The association is also looking at spreading awareness about the Union Territory (UT) and marketing it as a family, leisure and business destination. Themten Wadia, secretary, DHA says, "Daman receives most of its tourists either from Surat or Mumbai. What we aim at achieving is changing the perception that people have about this UT and attracting people from other destinations by creating and maintaining gardens and designated areas where families can spend time together."

Initiatives in developing areas with rides and a water park in Nani Daman and Moti Daman have received a response from tourists. The association is trying to spread the word around in larger circles of the state of Maharashtra, as a weekend getaway for people from Pune and Nashik.